scolding and complaining, but rather by the diffusion of a spirit, an atmosphere, in the meeting--an all-pervasive, homelike feeling--which will banish embarrassment and draw them out. The timid and backward may also be helped by an occasional question, the answering of which will accustom them to their own voices and induce spontaneous expression. Something also maybe done in private personal words of encouragement. Above all, place distinctly before all minds the fact that in the prayer-meeting the main thing, next to prayer, is the interchange of Christian experience, and what is required, therefore, from each one is, not a homily, an exposition, or an exhortation, but a simple statement of what he has thought and felt amidst the experiences of life; and, as every soul has its own peculiar life, it has an experience of real value as helpful and comforting to other lives. 7. Make careful arrangements for good spirited singing, but usually not more than two or three verses at a time. To secure this, if you do not yourself sing, arrange with one or more good singers to lead whenever a pause occurs. Indeed, if you are a singer, it is often best not to take on yourself the responsibility of leading; the care is too much, and by distracting and exhausting your force it may diminish your power in the general guidance of the exercises. Do not fail to have good books, with hymns and tunes, in sufficient number to give all opportunity to join in the singing. 8. Great care should be taken, if the room is not full, to have people sit together and near the leader. No meeting will ordinarily be _social,_ in any proper sense, where a few people are scattered in a large room. Attention should also be given to the ventilation and temperature of the room; otherwise, the meeting may fail from purely physical causes, in spite of the best efforts of pastor and people. Right physical conditions are simply attempts to conform to God's physical laws, and are absolutely essential to the highest success in social religious meetings; no pastor, therefore, should deem them unworthy of careful and persistent attention. Finally, it should be remembered that it is a _social_ meeting. Divest it of all formality, stiffness, or sameness. Make it cheerful, familiar, homelike, as a gathering of God's children in their Father's family. If this is done, old and young will be attracted to it, and will alike feel free to share its services. II. THE COVENANT MEETING.