the pastor inquires, "Where shall be my field next year ?" The church, " Who shall be our pastor?" What causes this anxiety? The churches have a custom from whose fetters they can scarcely free themselves, of calling their ministerial supply annually. This makes the life of the preacher precarious. It causes restlessness among ministers. Its occasions changes which would not have otherwise occurred, and oftentimes leaves churches looking in vain for a shepherd. Oh, the agony of the next meeting, when the church is to make her call! What wrestling will seize the breast of the pastor? What commotion will stir the church ? It is not a question of life and death; but it is a question of happiness and success. This custom is productive of incalculable evils. Let the relation of church and pastor be more like that of husband and wife, indissoluble accept for the weightiest reasons. It is a relation which God established. It is by divine appointment entirely essential to the welfare of the church and the progress of the cause of Christ in general. Why then should a question of a change be raised every twelve months, and with great injury agited? I confess I can see but one reason and that is that members may have a chance once a year to exercise their divine right to vote, and sometimes to electioneer o! n this most important question. Oh, liberty! Thou art wounded in the house of thy friends! So delicate is this relation that all precautions, it would seem, should be taken, and all safeguards should be applied to preserve undisturbed the union of the church and pastor; but instead of this all the valves of discontent are opened, and fault-finding and scheming commence their work. This, instead of creating a presumption in favor of long pastorates, precipitates a change. It may be expected there will always be dissatisfied parties, and it can hardly ever be expected that any minister will give universal satisfaction; but disaffection, which would not otherwise have been heard of, will grow rank in the breach which the annual call of the pastor lays oopen. What causes have prevailed to fix the custom of the ammual call? Are the interests involved so trivial that the relation may be dissolved at every recurrence of the annual season? What has brought this high and holy responsibility so low that it has come to be regarded as of little more importance than hiring a fiedl hand to make a crop? I can confess it seems to me that the custom of making a yearly call threatens to render ineffective the pastoral relation. How can a minister, in any true sense be a pastor of a people whom he does not know? To be a pastor indeed, he must be acquainted with the people and their wants. He must be in sympathy with them, and they must feel his sympathy. He must have a hold on their affection, so as to guide them rightly in spiritual things. This implies not a temporary connection, but permanent oversight and care. I submit