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time almost unparalleled, commenced. Mr. Binney was the man of all men to win the sympathies of young men; he knew how to fire their imaginations, to stir up their best ambitions, to build them up in robust manly faith, and it soon followed that his congregation comprised more young men than probably any other congregation in London. They saw in him a man intensely in earnest, whose one object was to implant in them a zeal for truth, uprightness, and purity; a man deeply impressed with the sense of the boundless possibilities in every life; a man too much in earnest in his mission to talk to them of dry theology, or to tickle their ears with fanciful essays, but who would reason with them of duty and of righteousness and of responsibility.

He made religion attractive by revealing the beautiful and the natural, as well as the spiritual and practical, in it. His constant exhortation to young men was, to follow after whatsoever things are just, pure, true, honest, lovely, and of good report. He was wont to say that "innocence is better than repentance-an unsullied life better than pardon;" and that "God's preventing goodness is greater than His pardoning mercy, for it is better not to sin than to be saved from sin."

Moreover, he made the order of service in the Weigh House attractive. Instead of allowing the old monotonous psalmody to be droned by the congregation, as had been the case up to that time in nearly all Nonconformist places of worship, he introduced a

book of "Congregational Church Music"; he lectured upon the duty of rendering the "Service of Song in the House of the Lord" as effective as possible; he organized classes, under professional instructors, for the study and practice of harmony, and, in course of time, the musical part of the service at the Weigh House was altogether exceptional in its excellence; part-singing became general, Gregorian and other chants, anthems, and German chorales were introduced into the ordinary services; and the example thus set gave an impetus to reform in music in all Nonconformist congregations.

Again, it was objected in that day, as it is in this, that the prayers in Dissenting chapels were only the utterances of the preacher. It may be hoped that the time is not far distant when Dissenters will recognize the suitability of adopting a liturgy which shall contain in it the inspiration and the aspiration of the generations which have passed away, instead of confining their public prayers to the chance inspiration of an extempore speaker. Be this as it may, Mr. Binney was keenly alive to this point, and, although he did not introduce a liturgy, he invariably took as much pains with the devotional part of the service as he did with the didactic, introducing in each service appropriate supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings, and concluding the worship, as in the Church of England, with the Benediction.

Mr. Binney was, moreover, essentially a practical man, and believed in a practical Christianity. He

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did not invariably take as his models men who had lived a millennium ago, if he could draw from a model in contemporaneous history; he did not invariably go to Bible times for a text to warrant his assertion. that God was guiding the destiny of men and of nations, if he could find that the Almighty was still acting in the world on identical principles. Many of his sermons, therefore, had reference to the times. then present, and the lessons of current events were judiciously noticed and applied in his discourses.

Although not what has since been termed a 'political dissenter," Mr. Binney never shunned a reference to great questions of national interest when, by so doing, he could enforce truths and principles which lie scattered throughout the Sacred Volume, and are as applicable to one age as to another.

Such was the man, such the teaching, and such the Church, which were to exercise a most important influence on the life of Samuel Morley. If he was spiritually the son of James Parsons, of York, he was mentally the son of Thomas Binney, of the Weigh House. His robust, manly Christianity, his steadfast adherence to the principles of Dissent, his utter abhorrence of canting, pseudoreligiousness, his willingness to accept good, from whatever quarter it came, his dislike to conventional forms, his breadth and large-heartedness and his genial social qualities, all combined to win for him the admiration and allegiance of Samuel Morley. There

sprang up a strong personal friendship between the popular preacher and the popular young merchant, and, each in his sphere, was to be the helper of the other. We have dwelt at some length on the characteristics of Mr. Binney because they had an important influence in moulding the character and shaping the career of Samuel Morley. There were few men in the world whom he loved more than Mr. Parsons; there was probably no man whom he admired more than Mr. Binney.

Like seeks like, and the two men gravitated towards each other. In many points their characters were singularly alike, although in mental attainment they were wide apart. For instance, the Rev. Josiah Viney, a brother-in-law of Mr. Binney, wrote of him thus: "In the best sense, he was a man of the world; looked beyond his study and his books to men and things; had his eyes and ears open to what was transpiring around; felt himself a citizen of earth as well as of heaven, and endeavoured to utilize as well as to elevate life. Withal he was very manly; meanness, littleness, double-dealing, untruthfulness, prevarication, shuffling, trick, whether in business or Church life, he loathed and scorned, and would not hesitate to show it." These words were as applicable to Samuel Morley as to Thomas Binney, and it may surely be said that what Samuel Morley was in his business in Wood Street, Thomas Binney was in his business in the Weigh House.

CHAPTER V.

1835-1843.

A Continental Tour-Imprisonment for Conscience Sake-Lord John Russell and National Education-Mr. Morley, sen., retires from Business-The Wilsons of Highbury-The Hopes of Liverpool - Marriage-Bride and Bridegroom-Rev. William Jay, of Bath-A Quaint Text-Five Houses, Lower Clapton-The Firstborn-Nonconformist Newspaper-Anti-Corn Law League-A City Election-The Disruption in Scotland-Sir James Graham's Factories Education Bill-The British Anti-State Church Association " Founded-Dissenting Colleges.

In the manuscript book of travels from which we have already quoted, there are "Memoranda of a Tour through Belgium and Switzerland (via the Rhine) in the Summer of 1836," giving an account of a pleasant journey taken by Samuel Morley in company with his brother John. He narrates the fact that at Ghent they "went to the convent of the Beguins to hear the vespers, and were very much delighted with the service"; he attended a "splendid service" in the Church of St. Charles Borroméo, in Antwerp, and considered the scenic display at the Church of the Dominicans "a very interesting representation of Calvary." In visiting the citadel, he saw "the cell where General Chassé hid himself, secure from harm, while his soldiers were being killed by hundreds and the citadel destroyed, without the slightest chance of successfully holding out-a species of infamous