Page:Preaching the Gospel to the working classes impossible under the pew system.djvu/9

 and they will not rest till they have overcome it. There cannot he a cause more fitted to enlist the sympathies and excite the energies of all earnest men. It does not involve the smallest degree of party feeling; and as it aims at the benefit, so should it have the aid, of all classes of people.

It is impossible to over-state or over-estimate the evil of the pew-system in its principle or in its effect. Many tolerated practices are inconsistent with the Gospel, but this essentially and directly contradicts it. It fosters and manifests pride, selfishness, and exclusiveness in the holy places where, if at all, men must learn to mortify and cast off these vices. It introduces distinctions founded on wealth and rank, where the Bible declares there are no such—viz.: in the presence of God. It divides into private properties the House of God, which belongs to Him only, and which, according to His will, is for the free use, in His service, of all His children. It says, in unmistakeable language—You shall not come freely to worship God and hear the message of the Gospel; He says—"Whosoever will, let him come freely." In effect, it renders churches useless except for services which the same families and individuals attend, and so makes it impossible to have multiplied services for different congregations. It has driven many altogether from Church by its intense selfishness and insolent exclusiveness. It repels all but those who either have seats allotted to them, or who have attained the habit of Church attendance, or the great desire to attend, in spite of every discouragement; and therefore it destroys the use of our churches as places for missionary effort. And further, it paralyses the efforts of men who would rouse and win those who are negligent and estranged, because it prevents there being churches into which to invite and gather them. It at once, in the highest degree, promotes the work of the evil one, and hinders the work of Christ. God's curse is on this system, and will assuredly fall on the Church of England if we continue to tolerate it.

Go into almost any town church, especially in London, and what do you see? Possibly, as the Times says of the Exeter Hall