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he least fruitful aspect of his work is the impulse he has given to a higher style of preaching. Few men have done more to ennoble the pulpit, both in our own and other churches. We have it on good authority that the late Mr. Binney was so deeply affected by his missionary sermon on "The Secret of Power," that, when a friend spoke to him at its close, he was, through the sheer strength of his emotion, unable to reply. On the following day he told this friend that he went home and wept, and humbled himself before God, for not only had he not reached the ideal which had been held up, but he feared he had scarcely tried to reach it. Many others could join in the confession, and are thankful for the help which, on this point, they have received from one who has been in so true a sense a preacher to preachers.

We have left ourselves no space to speak of Mr. Maclaren's style. Its main features are its clearness, its directness and its force. It has at times a quaint and rugged beauty-it is full of rich suggestiveness, telling of "a more behind" which no words can adequately express. It abounds in pithy Saxon, is often as terse as a proverb, and fixes on the memory the truth it conveys. We may recall Mr. Maclaren's sentences (as was said of Macaulay's) to judge of their full force, never to comprehend their meaning. His style is a part of himself, as every man's style must be. Mr. Ruskin rightly holds that "all the virtues of language are in their roots moral; it becomes accurate if the speaker desires to be true; clear, if he speaks with sympathy and a desire to be intelligible; powerful, if he has earnestness; pleasant, if he has some sense of rhythm and order. . . . No noble nor right style was ever yet founded but out of a sincere heart."

On this and on every other ground we should deprecate all attempts to "imitate" Mr. Maclaren. The man who can do so successfully is too strong to need to do it, and he who cannot do it successfully will, in plain words, make a fool of himself. Every man in his own order. And Mr. Maclaren's noble and successful ministry seems to us to teach no lessons so impressively as these. Be natural, be true to yourself, and true to God. Preach what you yourself know, and feel and live as you preach. Very few among us have gifts that will compare with his, but we may, at any rate, be animated by the same spirit, and labour in our own way for the same ends.

Our sketch is sadly imperfect, and fails to do justice to its subject. It has, however, been prompted by a profound appreciation of the worth of Mr. Maclaren's ministry, and by sincere gratitude for its inspiring and invigorating influence. So far as we have written in eulogy, our article, we know, will not gain Mr. Maclaren's approval. But if we induce others to read and study his sermons, and if they reap from them the same benefit that we have done, even he will forgive us. We are not given to hero-worship, and it would be a gross calamity, were the noblest of men to stand between us and our Divine Master. It is because Mr. Maclaren's words point us so distinctly to Christ, and because in his sermons we see no man save

Jesus only," that we value his ministry so highly. And with words. that illustrate this we bring our review to a close :

All that others can do for us is but surface-work after all. It must be straight from Jesus Christ that we must get our power. There, within the veil, where He is, we must dwell, if any radiance is to be on our faces when we come among men. In many a hidden hour of quiet communion, in many a toilsome hour of patient thought, we must learn to know Him at first hand, as He only discloses Himself to the solitary soul waiting before Him. A life hidden with Christ in God is the indispensable condition of a life revealing Christ in the world. Whatever else we may have or lack we shall be as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal unless we constantly renew our impulses and repeat our consecration at His feet. Failing that, we cannot but succumb to the temptations of a profession. With it we shall rise to the height of a calling. Our power will be far more the power of our personality than of our mere words, and such power is but the impression that men receive of our own fellowship with Christ. All our power, of whatever kind it be, is His gift; let us keep close beside Him and we shall not lack. As with David of old, so with us: we come weary, famished, weaponless to the sanctuary. There within the curtains we may find our High Priest, and be fed by Him with sacred bread. And when we ask of Him that He would arm us for the fight, He offers us the sword which He keeps laid up in the inmost shrine behind the ephod, saying, "There is none here but it; if thou wilt take it, take it." Be our answer, "There is none like that; give me it.

The Recent London School Board Election.

BY E. B. UNDERHILL, LL.D.

THE advocates of unsectarian education undoubtedly entered on

hensions of defeat. The opponents of the Education Act of 1870 had been greatly encouraged by the attitude of the Government towards it in the late session of Parliament, and by the success of those members of the House of Commons who, by their amendments, had sought the entire subversion of the national system. During the last three years of their attendance at the Board, the denominational party had taken every opportunity of obstructing its work. By motions for fresh inquiries on points already sufficiently understood; by prolonged discussions and talking against time; by incessant misrepresentations, and by perpetual protests, the clerical section of the Board endeavoured to check every advance. The school-buildings, they affirmed, were placed in localities where new schools were not required. The structures were extravagantly built, and furnished at reckless cost. The number of children in attendance was exaggerated, and the places vacant were enormously large. The parsimony of the

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parish vestries was appealed to, and from time to time deputations were encouraged to present memorials accusing the majority of the Board, in unmeasured terms, of the wildest extravagance. teachers of the schools, it was said, were too highly paid, while the education they gave was unsuitable, and sometimes altogether of too high a kind for the class of children attending the schools. Religious bigotry was freely appealed to from the pulpit and elsewhere. By some denominationalist candidates,-and their supporters, it was untruly affirmed that no religious instruction was given in the schools, because sectarian books were excluded. So good a man as Canon Miller, rector of Greenwich, is represented as having stated, at the St. James's Hall meeting, presided over by the Bishop of London, that for six years he had tried without success to find out what kind of religious education the School Board gave the children in its schools; while Lord Hervey boldly said that School Boards had, in fact, retarded the cause of education.

These gross misrepresentations, long continued and re-asserted in the face of every denial and correction, naturally produced the impression that the work of the Board was unpopular, and that, by a united and well-conceived assault, the progress of six years might be stayed, if not utterly overthrown. The National Society accordingly entered vigorously into the conflict. In every borough it put forth its candidates, and, indeed, appealed to its supporters for their general assistance, and for liberal subscriptions towards their expenses. In some districts the Conservative party associations were called into play, and, at least in one borough, an attempt at intimidation of the voters was made. Although the evangelical section of the Established Church could not sympathize with the plans and aims of the party represented by Canons Gregory and Cromwell and Dr. Irons, yet its organs urged their friends everywhere to vote against the School Board policy. Mr. Samuel Morley did not hesitate to stigmatize the exertions of these gentlemen as a "clerical conspiracy," and for the moment everything augured their success. At the very least, Canon Gregory calculated on a majority of ten, and the sure discomfiture of the upholders of the School Board policy.

Such were the circumstances and the array of opposition, under which the advocates of unsectarian education entered on the conflict. Numbers, wealth, bigotry, party spirit, and proud reliance on inexhaustible resources were on the side of their foes. The other side was in a large measure unprepared, had little expectation of success, and had to create on the spot the organizations by which to meet the onslaught. Admirable service was done by the School Board Policy Defence Committee. The excellent papers they issued did much to remove misapprehensions, and to set the work of the Board in a fair light. A wise policy was also pursued by the Borough organizations, which were quickly formed, in putting forth candidates only in sufficient numbers to secure a working majority on the Board. As will be seen, the arrogant confidence displayed by their opponents in

the attempt to displace all the supporters of the Board, met with the complete failure which it deserved.

What are the results? The number of members constituting the Board is fifty, and seventy-eight candidates went to the poll.

34 School Board candidates polled 463,897 votes, an average of 13,644 each. 21 Denominationalists

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The winning candidates polled as follows:

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31 Board School candidates, 456,055 votes, an average of 14,711 each.

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Thus the result is a "crowning victory" for the Board School Policy, and an overwhelming defeat for the clerical and denominationalist parties.

Let the following facts further illustrate the completeness and nature of the victory.

In every division, except Southwark, the advocates of unsectarian education were placed at the head of the poll. The exception, the Rev. R. Maguire, a popular and highly-esteemed clergyman, is one of the clergymen elected the least obstructive to the School Board policy.

To be the mark of clerical obloquy was a sure passport to success. This was especially seen in the case of Mr. Firth, who was elected at the head of the poll for Chelsea.

Of the list of candidates, thirty in all, supported by the School Board Policy Defence Committee, only one failed to obtain a seat; and of the twenty-eight candidates rejected only one was a supporter of the School Board.

Nearly every one of the High Church party failed of success; and the protest against priestism and sacerdotalism is the more marked by the fact, that all the Roman Catholic candidates also, with one exception, were rejected. The plumpers given by the Roman Catholic voters, and which won several seats at the last election, were of no avail against the multitudes who recorded their votes on the other side. The Evangelicals suffered to a less extent than the High Church party in this conflict.

There is a clear majority of eleven on the Board in favour of a national and unsectarian education, as against a system of ecclesiastical instruction.

Thirteen Nonconformists have found seats on the Board, of whom Sir Charles Reed and Mr. Stiff, with the exception of Mrs. Westlake, polled the heaviest vote of all, and were at the head of the poll in their respective districts. It may be interesting to our readers to mention that Sir Charles Reed, who is also the chairman of the new

Board, as he was of the old one, is an Independent, and Mr. Stiff is a Baptist.

In every division, except in Southwark and Greenwich, the Board candidates polled more votes than all the other candidates together, and in most divisions the majorities were very large.

These facts sufficiently show how complete and thorough the victory has been. But we should be mistaken in our judgment of them, if we regard the triumph either as a Nonconformist or purely Liberal one. Certainly, Nonconformists took a leading place on all the polls; but there were many liberal Churchmen who were disgusted with the arrogance and with the priestly claims of the High Church party, and who gave their votes for the unsectarian but truly religious education of the Board schools. Large numbers abstained from the unseemly strife altogether, and it is the lament of clerical organs that the apathy of Churchmen was one of the main causes of defeat; indeed, the Guardian newspaper does not hesitate to say, "that the battle was fought rather too much by clerical hands." They think that it was natural for the clergy to stand prominently forth to resist what they imagine will be the extinction of their schools by the extension of the rate-supported Board schools. But the Guardian adds, "It is always unfortunate if the 'Church party' be considered the clerical party.' People have come seriously to think that the clergy have some private interest in Church schools. There is a certain jealousy of clerical domination in the lay mind, often misguided enough, but powerful when provoked." In the opinion that this feeling greatly influenced the constituency we entirely concur, and look upon the result as a healthy sign of a reaction against the claims of sacerdotal supremacy now so rife in all clerical circles.

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This clerical influence also met with a powerful protest from the working classes. In some districts, notably in Lambeth, Finsbury, Westminster, and Chelsea, the vote of the artisans was conspicuously large.

This element in popular elections is one of vast moment; and, from their numbers, the influence of working-men, more especially in cases where the accumulative vote prevails, becomes every year more distinct and powerful. Education will both aid and correct this influence; but the Guardian is perfectly justified in the fear it expresses of the issue, should the cause of the Church of England become identified with political Conservatism. Even without this union, it may be doubted whether the artisans of this country will be found on the side of a church which puts forth such absolute claims to the control of the spiritual nature of man as are now held and asserted by large numbers of the clergy of the Establishment. Certainly it has been made clear to their minds that the anxiety of the clerical party is excited not so much by the desire to educate the masses of the people as to keep them under clerical control, and to make their education subordinate and conducive to the interests of the Church. It could not be concealed that "voluntary schools," so

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