Mr. Carter is a master chimney-sweeper, is a short, thick-set, pleasant man, with small twinkling eyes that seem to preach happiness, and a high forehead indicative of abilities of no ordinary cast. Apparently he is between forty and fifty years of age. For some years before be occupied the prominent position which he now holds amongst evangelists, he was in the habit of journeying in his trap to the outlying districts of London, preaching in season and out of season. On the Sabbath morn he would address the haymakers of several districts, returning to preach to two thousand persons on Hampstead Heath at night. His success was at that time very encouraging; and his fervour led him to yearn over the masses of the metropolis, for whom no special provision outside public places of worship was made. In his curious and most interesting little book on the results of his preaching,* he gives an eminently characteristic anecdote relative to a visit made on business to Dorset, and which he turned to great advantage. It is to this effect. Believing there were some Christians in Dorset, he resolved to find them out. << Beginning at one end of the town, I determined to go through the whole place until I found some. I knocked at each door, and when opened asked, 'Is there any one living in this house who loves the Lord Jesus Christ?' The effect was like electricity. Some trembled, others shut the door in my face,"-conduct which, though not altogether polite, is explainable. He went over nearly half the place in this way without success until he found a godly woman who welcomed and introduced him to some Christian people, to whom he afterwards ministered the word of life. He found chapels and rooms open for him, and after leaving one building on a certain occasion, the congregation accompanied him through a wood which lay in his way home, the while singing praises to God. "When we got through the copse, the dear believers formed a ring around me. I then commended them to God in prayer, and they all lifted up their voices and wept." Such a scene and display of affection is, I fear, uncommon in England, although far from being so in Germany. Mr. Carter was, it appears, the first to apply for the opening of theatres for preaching. For some time he was unsuccessful. He opened a "penny gaff-which is, O exquisite reader, slang for theatre -in the Euston-road. It may be interesting to state that Richard Weaver first preached to a London audience in that building, at the invitation of Mr. Carter. In return Weaver introduced Carter to a crowded theatre in Sheffield, where his labours were rewarded by results which read like the strange and marvellous effects produced by rare John Berridge's powerful ministratious. In September, 1860, Mr. Weaver first preached in the Victoria Theatre, which will accommodate about four thousand persons. With unaffected modesty Mr. Carter relates the circumstance of his first address in that building. "I stood on the stage and candidly confessed to the people that I was not the man to stand for Richard Weaver-for in the first place I was not a natural orator like him; and in the second place, I could not interest them with the recital of the numerous thrilling anecdotes which compose so great a part of his addresses; but I said, God helping me, I can A book not half so well known as it deserves. Messrs. Morgan and Chase are its publishers, and the reader will do well to invest one shilling upon it, preach Jesus and the resurrection, which I hope to do this night." No one canfeel surprised at the intimacy which existed between these two doughty champions of a free grace gospel. While each have distinctive characteristics, their one object is the same, and the method of gaining that object somewhat similar. Mr. Carter, finding his services appreciated by the attendants of the Sabbath evening meetings at the Victoria Theatre, again preached for Mr. Weaver. Other theatres were now opened for similar purposes under the sanction of a committee, of which the Earl of Shaftesbury was the moving spirit. This committee, however, perpetrated a grand mistake by the exclusion of the so-called "lay element." The blunder, though not rectified, was soon neutralised by the voluntary efforts of a few gentlemen who engaged other theatres for Reginald Radcliff, William Carter, and Richard Weaver. The addresses of these out-spoken preachers were marvellously blessed, and as Carter himself says, the last day alone will declare the wonders God wrought by their endeavours. Ever actively engaged in the work on which his heart was set, he visited various towns in the midland counties, preaching at one place to hundreds of mechanics during their dinner hours, at another to the riff-raff of the market, or in goods-sheds, and elsewhere to boarding-school ladies and merchants in drawing-rooms. His ambition, however, was to minister to the working classes of the metropolis. A cheque for £50 sent by a well-wisher to God's cause was invested in opening the Victoria Theatre for six nights. Sinners were converted in good numbers; and the interest of the people was unabated. Money flowed in after earnest prayer had been offered, and the theatre was reopened for seven months. Some of the converts were desperate and depraved characters. Their natures are now changed, their desires and passions are the antipodes of what they were prior to conversion. Mr. Carter has cause to be proud of his converts, for they are notoriously consistent Christians. He can point you to thieves, harlots, drunkards, beggars, and vagabonds who once were "the blackest sinners out of hell," but now they are washed they maintain most rigorously their profession. Indeed, he is always happy to point out some hundreds of these converts, who have for the last four years walked as becometh God's children. The seven months' engagement of the theatre having expired, "the dear young converts were most importunate in praver to God that he would keep it open for a lighthouse for the south of London," and united prayer was heard. The building was engaged for twelve more months, and during the whole of that time the attendance was on an average about three thousand souls. Since then Mr. Carter's ministrations there and at the Victoria Hall, a contiguous but smaller building, have been continuous. The other Sunday he had nine preaching stations open in various parts of the metropolis, principally theatres and saloons, some more respectable than others. He invites only the unconverted, and says that though delighted to receive the sympathies of Christians, he does not wish them to leave their places of worship to fill the rooms opened for special services. Mr. Carter is now the pastor of a New Testament Church. He is particularly jealous over his converts, and I have been told is sometimes a little displeased when they leave him to join other churches. The formation of a church grew out of his mission. A spiritual father cannot easily forget his children, or cease to watch over them. The 66 strong attachment existing between a pastor and those who have savingly profited by his appeals, is not to be measured by words nor to be readily dissolved. Mr. Carter and nineteen converts first met at the communion-table in a room opposite the Surrey Theatre. Soon after about two hundred were in communion, "and many of them," says he, were greatly concerned about baptism. It is very difficult in London to baptize in the public baths, so I said to them, Now, my lads, if you will take up the flooring in the hall, and dig out the hole and build up the walls, I will buy the materials! They gladly acquiesced, and most willingly did they work. Some gave one day, others two days, many worked all night; so that within a week the baptistery was well built, and yet there was not a carpenter or a bricklayer among the converts who did the work." One regrets, however, that Mr. Carter should, on some occasions, have violated Scripture precept and the practice of ages by baptizing in the name of only one Person of the Trinity, inasmuch as such a singular course seriously involves the question of the validity of the ordinance. A few weeks since, upwards of 700 persons formed themselves into a church at Kennington in connection with the Victoria Hall. Members of other churches frequently wish to join this one, but I believe they are invariably refused, as it is Mr. Carter's desire that they should be shining lights in their own spheres. The services at the Victoria Theatre are of course of an unique character. Prior to the doors being opened, a venerable man addresses in a by-street those who are waiting for the commencement of the service inside. This person does not fail to be rather roughly answered by self-important sceptics and drunken wiseacres, who amuse bystanders by explaining their peculiar views of theology in general and morality in particular. The doors opened, the crowds surge in, the more respectable being anxious for a prominent position in the boxes or first gallery. The meanest clad women flock to the hatchways, where they are happy in being less observed than if they chose the open pit. Although plenty of buzzing, there is little else not to remind you of a respectable conventicle. There are no cat-calls, the so-called " gods" in the top gallery behave themselves with remarkable discretion, and it is only when the speakers enter on the platform that any signs of approbation or irreverence are manifested. Flauntily-dressed females, with the sinner's trade stamped heavily upon their otherwise interesting features, are scattered here and there; costermongers with their necks well bandaged by gaudy silk handkerchiefs (which are indispensable to the craft); fustianed labourers who only honour the Sabbath by using soap and water; poorly-clad ragamuffins who have crept in for a little warmthit is wet and chilly outside;-boys of various ages, who wriggle into innumerable shapes and quietly poke fun at each other until the speaker manages to arrest their attention; girls who manifest their interest in the proceedings by criticising the fashionable shortcomings of the betterdressed visitors; and decently-clad artisans and their homely wives make up the major portion of the assembly. Order reigns after the singing of the first hymn, although if the speaker's words are not afterwards distinctly heard, a repetition of the aforementioned buzzings occurs. Two assistants engage in prayer. The words are roughly spoken but they are appropriate; and when one of the suppliants begged the Saviour's special compassion on those present without homes, clothes or food, an undercurrent of sensitiveness or sympathetic feeling passed through the crowded theatre. A chapter was read, and partly expounded; and a short address was given by one who described himself as a very bad character before converted, and his looks did not belie his description of himself. He mentioned the case of a sceptic whom he saw that afternoon on his dying bed, and who two months before had threatened to cut his wife's throat for attending the meetings there. This sceptic had sent for him, had begged his prayers, and expressed in piteous wails his anxiety for pardon. A terrible instance of the results of following vicious courses during sixteen years, was also told with a simplicity and artlessness that were in themselves verifications of the story. These thrilling anecdotes are frequently interspersed with the addresses, and form their choicest power. I noticed too that the common phrases used in addressing more orderly assemblies, and which, alas! fall often without effect upon the dull hearts of Gospel-hardened unbelievers, produced a sensation amongst some who were at least terrified by the language employed. And in describing the power of Christ's blood to wash away the accumulated sins of years, a convicted thief, who had suffered in Newgate, and from the cat on board ship, but worse still from his own debauchery, gave force to his assertions, pointing to himself as a living witness of their truth. The charm of these speeches consists in their appropriateness. They amount to this. You see what I was before saved. You know how wretched you are without Christ. Why not be happy as I am; I am only a poor man, but I have a rich God to go to and you have not. I'll tell you how I was saved. Why by believing! I was told, on God's authority, that wHOSOEVER believeth on the Son HATH everlasting lifethese words are capitalised by the speaker, and, repeated three or four times by a stentorian voice, they seem to shake the hearts of those previously affected by the appeals made. The singing is highly creditable to the congregation, well-known simple ditties being adapted to some suitable hymns with choruses attached. One chorus, as follows, was sung with great spirit and zest: "In Christ Jesus is salvation, yea, plenteous redemption, If you only now believe Him, there is heav'n for thee; There is heav'n for poor sinners, if they now believe in Jesus, "Yes." An admirable feature in all these meetings is the visitation made by the theatre converts to those who remain after the conclusion of the service. Even prior to the service, there are a number of gospel sharpshooters distributed throughout the building, who seem solicitous for the spiritual welfare of the regular attendants. "Haven't seen you for some months," remarked one of these "helps," to a young man sitting by my side. "Do you still follow the Lord?' The youth replied honestly, "No." "Gone back to the world then?" "How is that?" And then followed a tale of declension from the path of inquiry, which revealed to me quite a new class of temptations. The after service conversations are, however, a great blessing to seeking souls. Mr. Carter never fails to impress upon his followers the advisability of speaking to visitors. The writer of this paper has reason to know that many burdened consciences might be greatly relieved were that aristocratic stiffness which exists amongst Christians broken. "I have regularly attended Chapel for five years without on inquiry being made as to whether I knew the Lord or had rejoiced in His name," is a confession often heard. To the credit of Carter's young band it should be observed that the way in which they seek to converse with inquirers and thoughtless persons is such that none but querulous fools can withstand. I would that all Christians were as courteous and open-hearted. And though for the most part illiterate, half-orthodox and hard-working, these earnest preachers are engaged in a work that it were a worthy ambition to emulate. To be the instrument of saving one immortal soul is the noblest honour God can confer upon a Christian man, but to save hundreds! Lest I indulge in an envious spirit I stop here, leaving my intended description of Mr. Carter's special mission among thieves, fallen women, costermongers, chimney sweeps, policemen, cabmen, and others for another occasion. Numbers of these semi-outcasts have been saved through his endeavours, and an account of their conversion will not fai to be interesting to the readers of this magazine. The Lord's Day: ITS DIVINE AUTHORITY AND PERPETUAL OBLIGATION. HATEVER belongs specially to the Lord Jesus Christ should be WH held in high estimation by all his faithful followers. His name is as ointment poured forth; and all that is identified with it is perfumed with its divine fragrance. As believers in Christ, we ought to love his people, because they are his and bear his image. We should prize his Word because he is both its author and its theme. We are bound to honour his ordinances and institutions, because they are stamped with his authority, and, as symbols, set forth before our eyes the great fundamental truths of the gospel. Among those institutions, baptism, although without any inherent efficacy, is not less a privilege than a duty to the believer because, in addition to the sanction of his Master's command and example, it is a sign to him of his union and communion with his Lord in his death, burial, resurrection, and glory. The sacred supper is to be observed by the Church continually, with deep solemnity and holy joy, as a memorial of the Saviour's dying love till he come again. So the day which is sacred to his name should be loved and revered by every Christian above all other days, because it commemorates the resurrection of his Lord from the dead, and the completion of the glorious work of redemption. This day has various names. Some call it "Sunday," a name in my opinion decidedly objectionable, because it was so called by heathens as a day devoted to the worship of the sun. True, no such idea is now attached to the name, and we have heathen names for all the other days of the week; but, for the other days, we have no other names. For the day commonly called "Sunday," we have Scripture names; and, surely, Christians should prefer a scriptural name to one of heathen origin, though sanctioned by the world. This day is called in the Scriptures, "the Sabbath." Some object to this title on the ground that it is a Jewish name. What is the meaning of the word "Sabbath?" REST. And is not the first day of the week a day of rest to the Christian as much as the seventh day was to the Jew? The name, however, which seems most expressive and appro |