But not such is our latter-day, nineteenth century Evangelist, as he is commonly seen and known. He is not sent out by and under direction of the apostles, nor does he, as a rule, go in the name of any branch of the organized church. Not unto the heathen or pagan, not even unto the “waste places” where souls are in ignorance, perishing for lack of opportunity to hear the Gospel. No, the “Evangelist” in this age and country is an individual whose call has come in such a way that the organized church is often ignored. He does not precede civilization, but follows it on the railway train—not to the frontier, but to the goodly town or city. Once there, if his preference is consulted, it is not the “ragged portion,” with its sin and neglect, but the most popular church with all its auxiliaries of organ, choir, comfortable inquiry room, and the pastor as first subordinate. For gathering a crowd he calls to his aid that valuable assistant, the press. He is a “magnetic” man. He usually brings along with him some marked improvements in methods and theology. The latter sometimes consist in a new and improved definition of conversion, and a short-cut path through the old-fashioned wilderness of repentance. A few weeks of “work,” “hundreds of souls,” a goodly number of collections for the Evangelist interlarded, and he moves on to the next engagement. Now that he is gone let us look around and see what he has left behind him. He has made his impression, men say. Yes, and he has left impressions, also. Here is one of them: It is that the regular pastor, to whose zeal and faithfulness the whole work must be indebted if it is to abide and amount to anything, as a servant and workman of the Lord, is very inferior to the stranger who made such a stir during the few weeks of his sojourn. The impression obtains in the church that they need not expect conversions under the regular ministry, but must await the coming of another Evangelist. The result is the lessening of the pastor’s influence in his church and community, and the education of the people to expect no more than a “tiding over” of the church till the time of another effort under similar leadership.