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4 THE PRESBYTERIA
pose of reading the church notices for next day. 1
read the notices of more than seventy Presbyterian
Churches, and all the churches did not have notices.
That does very well for a city of three hundred thousand
people.
i aid not wait until Sunday morning, this time, to
find the churches at which I would worship. I soon
made out my program. 1 planned to attend St.
George's Free Church in the morning and hear Dr.
John Kelman, St. Giles' Established Church at three
in the afternoon and hear Dr. McGregor, and Charlotte
Baptist Chapel in the evening, and hear Rev.
Joseph Kemp. When my program was complete. I
sallied forth to locate my church, so that I migrht not
have the least hitch on Sunday to mar the day. I
soon located St. George's Free Church, yet I was not
right sure, for there was no sign of any kind on it to
tell the stranger what kind of a church it is, or at
what hours they hold the service. I wonder why? It
may be because they always have more people than
they can seat without advertising in anyway. They
have always had good preachers. But I would like to
SUfjrest that tlipv nut ht, c- ' ~ ~ -? ? i-i?i '1
OB UJJ a oi^'l U1 3U1UC hlllll 1<J ICll
the stranger who they are, and what they are doing.
I would like to make the same suggestion to all
our own churches in America, no matter how large or
how small.
I located the Baptist Chapel about a half-dozen
blocks away from St. George's. It is a very modest
building on a rather obscure street, but there is no
trouble for the stranger to learn its name, or what
is going on. There are good big red letter advertisements
which are replaced from week to week.
I went back to my hotel on Princes street and
waited for Sunday to come. Edinburgh never saw a
more beautiful Sundav morninp\ It was a little
v O" " "VV4V "1 vv 1
eight when I came down from my room and walked
out on Princes street, which is Edinburgh's great
thoroughfare. I have never seen a city so quiet. Indeed,
I did not imagine that a city of three hundred
thousand people could ever become so still. The
streets were deserted. There was not a car, nor the
sound of a car on all the horizon. All places of business
were tightly closed, and the screens were down.
Even the restaurants were closed. The truth of the
matter is, that Edinburgh begins on Saturday afternoon
to prepare for the Sabbath. Stores and offices
close early on Saturday afternoon.. It is just the opposite
in many places in America.' The stores are
keot ooen verv murti 1at<?r r*n Qatiir^nr ~j.t-.~
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days, and the clerks and delivery men are driven until
nearfy midnight delivering the goods bought by late
purchasers. I am sure that this is all wrong. I am
sometimes asked to preach a good, old-time sermon 011
Sabbath observance, and I feel that there is need for
it, but I feel that there is greater need for a sermon
on the proper observance of Saturday night. We
could learn something along this line from Edinburgh.
As a proof that it is thoroughly practical, I may say
tVlot ?Vlo ,1 i i - ?- " A . 1 . '
w.o>. iuv lai^si ut|Mi LinciiL store in .'\nania closes at
one o'clock on Saturdays, in spite of the fact that all of
its competitors keep wide open. Nor does that store
fill the Sunday papers with advertisements. The explanation
is that back of it are out and out Christian
men.
N OF THE SOUTH. September 15, 1909.
At ten o'clock the cars began to run, and almost
suddenly there were signs of life everywhere. Great
crowds thronged the streets. No wonder the young
woman from America in Kate Douglas Wiggin's "Penelope's
Progress in Scotland" wanted to know if there
was a murder or a fire. As a matter of fart
, ---were
sinply going to church. At the evening hour of
church the crowds were even greater.
My friends and I were not in any great hurry about
starting to church. We planned to get their about five
minutes before service, which we did. It was by the
skin of our teeth that we got a seat. The church was
crowded, galleries and all, and the people were still
coming. St. George's Free Church has always been a
popular church, but I had no idea that it would be
that popular in the middle of August. We were shown
up to the "Amen Corner," and there I saw what I
never saw before?a woman usher. She was no longer
a young woman, and was not in the least self-conscious,
and did her work well. I was seated by a woman
with a cultured and spiritual face. She was verv
kind about handing me a iiible and finding the place
in the hymn book for me. After service I thanked her
for this, and found that she was the minister's wife.
She was very cordial and very gracious. I have heard
it said that a committee of laymen ought to be appointed
to choose wives for our young ministers.
There was never a grosser slander. I could nrnvp
_ ? I * ~
this by hundreds of living witnesses who can be
found in our manses.
Dr. John Kelnian, the pastor, was in the pulpit. He
was just back from Northfield, where he had
been speaking for ten days. His sermon was one of
a series on Naaman, and was a most excellent and
helpful sermon. It was deeply spiritual, and there was
a freshness about it that held one's attention. During
the vacation that followed my first year in the
Seminary, an old Methodist minister whom I had
never seen before, and whom I have never seen since,
laid his hand upon my shoulder and said: "There are
two secrets of success in the ministry?keep close to
God and keep fresh." Those words are worth pondering.
I believe that Dr. John Kelman does both,
JTt -t* . * . *
ana i Deneve tnat accounts tor the great success of his
ministry.
There were several things that especially struck
me about this service; things that I liked, and I am
going to jot them down here:
1. All the people had Bibles. There are Bibles in
these Scotch churches for everybody, and the usher
or somebody will see that you get a Bible. When
the minister turns to the lesson the people turn to it,
too, and when he reads they follow him. When he
announces his text they turn to it, and read it and then
lay the open Bible on the back in front of them, where
they can refer to it during the sermon. As a result,
these Scotch people know more about the Bible than
any other people in the world. As another result, the
preachers are encouraged to do a great deal of expository
preaching, which is the best kind of preaching
in the world, when it is well done.
2. All the oeoole sane. There was tm rhr>ir itn in
the organ loft. There were perhaps a dozen of the
best singers of the congregation down in front of the
pulpit to lead the people. There were no solos, or