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difficulties in the way are not to be kept out of sight. It is not to be supposed that a monster of selfishness, such as the pew system, which has been fostered and made "respectable" by custom, is to be quietly and easily destroyed. No, far otherwise; all who act rightly in this cause, which is indeed the cause of God and the Church against the world, will meet with trouble and conflict. They must be prepared for the pains of giving offence, very great offence; but the cause is worth it, infinitely more than worth it. They who value the gratification of their pride[1] and love of ease more than the honour of God's house and the salvation of men, must not be allowed to stand in the way of such work as this; and they themselves may be benefitted by the conflict; the latent selfishness which is manifested may startle them into self-knowledge, and lead to their conversion.
"The churches for the people and the people for the churches;" for this we must agitate and strive. Anything short of this is wrong, or useless, or inadequate. We do not want music-halls; We do not want newly-arranged "third services;" we do not want a new church here and there for the working class. We want to use what we have, to turn to good account what we already possess. We want the parish churches in London, and all the churches, open and free to all classes. This is what we want; and in the name of the working class, and of the whole Church, we must demand it, insist upon it, and work for it, till we get it.
Good is always more powerful than evil, though it often seems otherwise; evil men being, in general, more in earnest than good men. All that is wanted to the success of the cause is real earnestness. There must be an earnest and determined, and, if possible, a combined movement. There must, above all, be faith that the
- ↑ When our Churches were first built, people had not yet thought of cramming them with pews as a stable is filled with stalls. When they had reared a fine and noble building, they did not dream of disfiguring the inside of it by filling its floor with large and deep boxes made of deal boards; in short, the floor was the place for the worshippers to stand and to kneel; and there was no distinction no high place and no low place—all were upon a level before God at any rate. Some were not stuck into pews lined with green or red cloth, while others were crammed into corners to stand erect, or sit on the floor. Those who built these Churches made their calculations as to the people to be contained in them, not making any allowance for the deal boards."—The late William Cobbett.
