Zion Presbyterian Cliurcli, Brautford, Ontario

THE CHURCH

AND

The COMMONWEALTH

DISCUSSIONS AND ORATIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY.

PRACTICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL,

EDUCATIONAL AND DOCTRINAL.

WRITTEN DURING A TWENTY YEARS MINISTRY

BY THE

REV. WM. COCHRANE, D.D.,

' BRANTFORD, ONTARIO,

Aui/zor of "Future Punishment, or Does Death End Piobation"

" Christ and Christian Life" " The Heavenlv Vision"

" Warning and Welcome" &€., &c.

WITH NUMEROUS & APPROPRIATE ILLUSTRATIONS.

BRANTFORD, ONTh.<IO, MELBOURNE AND PORT ADELAIDE,

AUSTRALIA : b b O O

BRADLEY, GARRETSON & CO^
1887.

PROPERTY 0#

umnm OF umm

\w-k K. r^^f

I )

/ i

< \

I i I ■ i

* ,' ■ , .■••• I

^yblishePS' ^pe§aG0.

!N INTRODUCING another book to the pubh'c, by the
Rev. Dr. Cochrane, whose work on " Future Punish-
ment" has met with such approval, the Publishers
would simply remind their thousands of readers, in the
Dominion and the United States, of the principles that
guide them in the selection of authors. In order to success,
even in a business point of view, it is necessary to keep in line with
those great intellectual, moral, and spiritual laws, which are recog-
nized as essential to the highest well-being of the State and the
individual, while at the same time the books chosen must be adap-
ted to the necessities of the great masses of the people. These
conditions, so far as can be judged by their rapid sale, are met in
the writings of the author of this volume. Three volumes of his
sermons, published ten years ago, have long been out of print, while
his more recent work on " Future Punishment," is already in its
thirteenth thousand. Our methods of business are such, that we
invite a thorough examination of every new book offered by our
Agents before a sale is made. That the present volume will stand
such an examination we feel assured. The great variety of the
';opics embraced, the candid and impartial manner in which they
are discussed, and the religious spirit which breathes throughout^
must make it acceptable to a very large circle of readers.

THE PUBLISHERS.
Brantford, Ontario, 1887.

(3)

CONTENTS.

Questi::)ns of the Day.

Christian Citizf-Nsiiip. — Its privilcj^cs and obligations. — In-
cludes individual sobriety and rcli;j;ious principle. — Sobriety means
temperance in the widest sense. — The intelligence required. — Gov-
ernments are the purest where the people canvass the actions of
the rulers. — In this land no excuse for political ignorance. — Reli-
gious principle also necessary in cd^r to stability of character. —
Expediency a dangerous guide in religious as well as political mat-
ters. — Such citizens would produce better legislator.":. — " Measures,
not Men," a false rallying cry in election campaigns. — The private
character of members of Parliament to be canvassed as v/cll as
their political views. — The future development of the nation calls
for the united efforts of all good men. Page 21.

Capital and Labor. — Delicacy and difficulty in speaking on
the question. — Books on political economy. — Societies which claim
to control the labor of our artisan population. — The writer a friend
of the workingman. — Taken as a whole, hi= character as high as
that of many employers. — Workingmen have a right to better their
condition. — Present agitation chiefly prompted by outside influen-
ces — Exaggerated statements— The workingman's condition greatly
changed since the sixteenth century. — His condition in Canada and
the United States. — The phrase " Workingman " meaningless in
Canada. — All are workingmen. — Labor should be recompensed as

(S)

6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

it is profitable. — Capitalistsdeservingof large compensation. — Con-
ferences between employers and employed. — Communism. — Boaz
and his reapers. — Should eight hours be a day's labor ? — The labor
question drifting into politics. — " Workingmen's Candidates " plent-
iful at parliamentary elections. — Intelligent mechanics not easily
deceived. Page 41.

Popular Amusements. — The book of Proverbs adapted to
every age. — Solomon addressing youth says, " Hast thou found
honey ? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled
therewith and vomit it." — Honey represents pleasure. — Must be
used in moderation. — The Bible nowhere prohibits innocent amuse-
ments. — Christianity not a repulsive thing. — Man's complex nature.
Relaxation necessary. — Lawful pleasures must be moderately in-
dulged in. — What amusements are consistent with a religious pro-
fession. — No definite rule can be laid down. — An enlightened
conscience the best judge. — Frivolity of Canadian youth. — Chris-
tian churches guilty of promoting many of the questionable amuse-
ments of the present day. Page 61.

Sceptical Objections to Prayer. — Infidel sentiment of the
age — "What profit should we have if we pray unto Him? — Men
everywhere pray according to their special modes. — The more com-
mon objections to prayer stated and answered. — Natural laws.
That they are perfect, does not supersede the necessity of prayer.
How God may answer prayer in harmony with the laws of nature.
The doctrine of Foreordination. — Inward subjective effect of prayer.
If there is a God, his ability to answer prayer must be admitted.
Bryant's poem on " The wild waterfowl." — No man should argue
against prayer, until he has proved that it is worthless. Page ^y.

Marks of a Genuine Revival. — Habakkuk's prophecy and
prayer. — Revivals of religion God's own work. — The word 'revival'
implies a languid state of spiritual existence. — A revival possible.
To be brought about by divine and human agencies. — Results of a
general revival. — Revivals to be judged not simply by the number
of converts made, but by their permanent results. Page 91.

Is THE Church of To- Day Apostolic? — The Day of Pen-
tecost. — Fulfilment of the promise that the Comforter would come.
" The baptism of fire " predicted by the Prophet Joel. — Needed by
the Apostolic Church. — Proofs of its reality. — Steadfast continu-
ance in the Apostle's doctrine. — Stated observance of the means

CONTENTS.

of grace. — Fellowship with the household of faith. — Pentecostal
scenes regarded with suspicion at the present day. — Such occasion?
to be expected and prayed for. Page 105.

Thanksgiving Memories. — Thanksgiving occasions in Pal-
estine, Great Britain and the United States. — The Puritans of New
England. — Looking back as well a.s forward. — The journey of the
Israelites. God's goodness to be remembered in the land which he
had given them. — The number and magnitude of our mercies tend
to forgetfulness. — Motives to thanksgiving, personal and national.
Sins to be confessed. — Neglect of God's Word. — Desecration of the
Sabbath. — Non-attendance upon ordinances. — Decline in public
integrity. — Extravagance in style of living. — Absence of religious
training. — Obligations resting upon the Church to keep pace with
commerce and civilization. Page 119.

Biographical Discourses.

Martin Luther. — Great and good men God's gifts. Birth,
parentage and training of the great German Reformer. — Choice of
profession. — Occasion of his conversion. — Ordination. — Professor-
ship in the University of Wittemburg. — Commissioner to Rome. —
Made Doctor of Divinity. — Pope Leo the Tenth. — Sale of indul-
gences. — Luther shocked at Tetzel's profanity. — His famous ninety-
-five propositions. — Controversy between Luther and Rome. —
Melancthon. — The Papal Bull. — The Diet of Worms. — Escape
from Worms as the hero of the German nation. — Offensive and
defensive alliance of Charles the Fifth against the Reformer. — The
Peasants' War. — Closing years of the great Reformer. — His mem-
ory imperishable. — Estimate of his character and work. — Germany
and her men of genius. — Romanism and Protestantism. — Theii
future history and influence upon the world. Page 141.

Thomas Carlyle. — Mission of John the Baptist — character
of the age in which he lived. — His preaching a call to repentance.
Every age has its reformers. — Those made by the times, those
made for and in advance of the times. — Characteristics of John's
preaching. — Thomas Carlyle to many " a voice crying in the wil-
derness." — His early life. — The Annan Gymnasium and Edinburgh

9 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

University. — Edward Irving and the school at Kirkaldy. — Address
as Rector of Edinburgh University. — A profound worshipper of the
divinity in man. — Marked eccentricities in his character. — Saw no
bright spots in the political horizon. — Intensely conservative, and
yet intensely revolutionary. — His religious views inexplicable. —
Not a philosophic Atheist, nor yet a defender of the Christian
faith. — Doubt and denunciation of creeds and dogmas supplanted
the simple trust of his fathers, — No merely negative philosophy can
cure the world's sorrows. Page 159.

George Brown. — David's lamentation over the death of Ab-
ner. — As statesman and journalist, George Rrown a kingly man.
The times in which he lived developed his wonderful powers. — Story
of his life. — Birth and training in Edinburgh. — Force of character,
tenacity of purpose and intense earnestness. — Characteristics of his
life. — Views on public questions, strong convictions, and downright
plainness of speech. — Measures promoted by his voice and pen. —
Confederation of the Provinces. — His hatred of slavery. — A Chris-
tian statesman, — His private life. — Loss of such a man to the com-
monwealth. Page 175.

ABRAHAM Lincoln. — The ablest men seem called away before
their work is completed. — No great enterprise permanently suffers
by the removal of human agents. — The Almighty not dependent
on mortals.— Good men comparatively few, good sort of men plen-
tiful. — Characteristics of each. — Value of good men to society and
the church. — When removed by death, the prayer should be,
"Help Lord." — 'Abraham Lincoln a great and good man. — Next to
Washington, the greatest of American Presidents. — His part in the
abolition of slavery. — Condition of the Republic in 1861, — His work
in some respects greater than that of Washington. — Washington
founded a new government. — Lincoln had to destroy, before recon-
structing. — Results. — Slavery and States Rights buried without
hope of resurrection. — Universal freedom. — Geographical and moral
distinctions blotted out as between North and South. — Great Britain
and America more closely united. Page 191

President Garfield.— The silence of grief.— The death of
Nadab and Abihu. — The sins of which they were guilty. — Aaron's
submission to the Divine will. — " Great sorrows are silent, light sor-
rows speak." — Feeling not to be measured by the wailings of the
death chamber. — The Shunamitish woman. — The Apostle of the
North. — National bereavements often produce silent grief. — Death

CONTENTS. 9

of Garfield. — Eminently qualified to rule a great nation. — A rcHfji-
ous man from his youth. — Mis preparedness for death. — Alike in
field and forum, a brave and God-fearing man. — The awful uncer-
tainty of life. — The vanity of earthly greatness. — The grandeur
of the Christian's 'Icath-bcd. — The best of patriots have no monu-
ments to marU their graves.— They need them not, their memory
is imperishable. Page 213.

Ghnkrat. Gkant. — Unity of Christian nations. — Sympathy
between Great Britain and the United States. — Queen Victoria's
messages to the widows of martyred Presidents. — Universal lamen-
tation at the death of Grant. — His rapid promotion to the Presi-
dential chair. — Lowly origin of the world's noblest benefactors.
The man who is called to rule men must first rule his own spirit. —
"The hour and the man." — Momentary depreciation of his military
genius. — His wisdom justified. — Traits of character. — Modest esti-
mate of his own services. — Hatred of war. — Causes of the Ameri-
can Rebellion. — Grant's eagerness to efface its scars. — Humility of
the dying soldier. — Incident in the life of Wellington. — His religious
belief. — His dying declarations. — A christian profession should not
be postponed. — His purity of speech. — Lessons of his life. — Canon
Farrar on America and England. Page 229.

Character and Culture.

Christian Manliness.— Many of Paul's illustrations taken
from the discipline and evolutions of the Roman army. — Christian
life in the first century a warfare. — Fortitude necessary in the con-
test with spiritual enemies. — Erroneous conceptions of the christian
life. — Elemen'^s of strength upon which men refy. — Bodily vigor.
Industry. — Knowledge. — Wealth. — God the source of all moral and
spiritual strength. — How to use God-given strength. — Strong in the
faith. — In defending the faith. — In integrity. — The full possession
of such strength the work of years. — Paul's exhortation specially
applicable to young men. — Ought to be the defenders of society
against moral evils. — Demands of the age. — God's ideal of man-
hood. — Manly piety. — Advanced thinkers. — Object of university
training. — Graduates should be men of unflinching faith and stain-
less honor, purity of heart and fidelity to God arid right. Page 251.

10 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Consecrated Work. —Solomon near the portals of the spiirt
world. — Realize? the brevity of a life spent largely in vanity. — Closes
the mournful retrospect by exhorting the young to improve every
moment. — Sowing in the morning better than in the evening. — He
who masters his early hours, wins the battle of life. — This principle
true in common affairs. — Capital and riches secured by industry.
The foundations of eminence in science laid in early life. — Without
earnestness of purpose, gifts whether natural or acquired, of little
value. — Continuous as well as consecrated work necessary to suc-
cess. — No false pride should prevent accepting the humblest sta-
tions. — No work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the
grave. — The end of a college course should not be the end of study.
Consecrated work for God, the noblest employment for an immortal
soul. Page 2,6j.

The Pattern Worker.— Labor not a curse.— No condition
of existence but what affords suitable employment for rational
beings. — Christ a life-long worker. — Was sent by his Father into the
world. — Service in itself never degrading. — Everything depends
upon the master. — Christ's life on earth a busy one, even regarded
from a human standpoint. — Sustained by communion with heaven.
Every human being sent into the world to work the works of God.
Much talk at the present day about overwork. — Men unduly tax
the brain. — Seldom overtax their powers for the good of humanity.
The luxury of working for God. Page 283.

Polished Corner Stones. — The true glory of a nation. —
Material riches of secondary importance. — Accomplished women to
society, what the polished stones were to the temple. — Special
culture needed for women's gentler nature. — High attainments
without conscious superiority. — Zeuxis the Grecian painter. — Eliza-
beth Barrett Browning. — The title of "lady," or "gentlewoman." —
True nobility stoops to the humblest vocations. — JLady Augusta
Stanley. — Genius alone, however brilliant, cannot make a useful life.

Page299.

The True Beauty of Womanhood.— The mother of King
Lemuel warns him as to his conduct and companionship. — Portrait
of a virtuous woman. — The woman that fears the Lord the noblest
of her sex. — A religioi i nature methodical in habit and abundant
in labor. — No incongruity between literary accomplishments and
sweetness of disposition. — Strong minded women. — Scholarship
modest and unassuming. — Mary Somerville, Caroline Herschell and

CONTENTS. II

Felicia Hemans. — A college training the starting point of intellec-
tual life. — No one can be a universal scholar. — He who masters
perfectly some one department of knowledge is truly learned. — No
incongruity between literary accomplishments and devoted piety. —
TKose who believe most the strongest characters. l*age 311.

Decision of Character. — The kingdom of Moab. — The
Moabitish stone. — The story of Ruth true to nature. — Naomi's bit-
ter experience. — Return to Bethlehem. — Critical moment for Ruth
and Orpah. — Ruth's decision. — Orpah in some respects a lovely
character. — Impulsive, but unreliable. — Ruth's conduct indicates
decision, affection and personal attachment. — Lost nothing by her
decision. — Won the heart of Boaz and became the mother of a
race from whom the Saviour sprang. — Success in every profession
depends upon decision cf character. — Ruth not gifted above her sex.
Rich in faith though wanting in the culture of the schools. — The
real woman is she who under the eye of the great Taskmaster,
addresses herself to the humblest employments of life. Page 323.

"With the Whole Heart." — The great painter Opie. — In-
telligence and common sense necessary in every profession. Heze-
kiah, a revolutionist in church and state. — Whatever he did, he did
with all his heart. — No reward offered to indolence. — Gifts and
graces, and success in secular callings attained by prosecuting
them with our whole heart. — Humility one of the best guarantees
for future greatness. — ^Sufferings of the Roman women in the earlier
ages of Christianity. — Harriet Martineau. — Life not extinguished
when death approaches. — Scholarship unchastened and unsancti-
fied, adds to unrest of mind. Pag^e 335.

The Best Knowledge.— Question of the age — " What know-
ledge is of most worth?" — That which enables a man to live com-
pletely ? — True in one sense, and untrue in another. — Physical and
mental culture not to be despised. — Meaning of the phrase, " to know
God." Speculative and experimental knowledge. — How they differ.
Natural knowledge insufficient to discover truths necessary to sal-
vation. — Egypt, Greece and Rome. — Athenian altar " to the un-
known God." — Natural knowledge cannot make man holy. — Solo-
mon, Byron, Sir Humphrey Davy. — Natural knowledge evil in its
effects. — Tends to pride and self-conceit. — Intellectual studies wear-
isome and unsatisfying. — The objects of spiritual knowledge are
above nature. — Includes cognition of things revealed. — Is spiritu-

12 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH. -

ally discerned. — Is blessed in its effect . — Brings with it no remorse
nor disappointment. Page 349.

The Highest Wisdom. — Wisdom personified in the book of
Proverbs. — Such wisdom beyond the range of academic teachintf. —
Wisdom is knowledge applied to the purposes of life. — It is genius
coupled with common sense. — Its possession obtained by rea.ling
and reflection. — Fiction, its use and abuse. — Reading of little value
unless accompanied by thought. — Four classes of readers. — Knowl-
edge not only power, but a source of happiness, — In order to gain
wisdom there must be observation. — No amount of secular knowl-
edge can save the soul. — The heart and not the head controls our
destinies. — Acquisitions in grace as varied as attainments in litera-
ture. — Many fall short of prizes in earthly pursuits. — In christian
service all receive a glorious recompense. Page 361.

The One Thing Needful, — Mary the type of the contempla-
tive christian. — Martha the practical and energetic. — The words
addressed to Martha not condemnation of her conduct. — Not a sel-
fish, worldly minded woman, — Her error lay in the reproach she
cast upon her sister. — Grace does not recreate the natural constitu-
tion. — The world needs both types of character, — Tendency of the
present day to copy Martha rather than that of Mary. — More
ways than one of serving Christ. — The Marys have their functions
as much as the Marthas. — Depth of religious feeling as necessary as
activity. — " The one thing needful" to live by .and die by. Page 375.

Religion and the State.

Saint Andrew's Day.— The Patron Saint of Scotland.— His
history, discipleship and death. — Effects of his preaching, — Inci-
dents of his martyrdom, — Benevolence a part of the christian reli-
gion. — Paganism and Deism have no place for it in their creeds. —
The benevolent and patriotic institutions of the land recognize the
brotherhood of humanity.-— Communism and the Apostolic church.
Twofold objects of national societies. — National pride a virtue. —
Foster self-reliance. — Poverty not in itself a crime. — Emigration
from the old world. — The rich need the poor. — The poor need the

« CONTENTS. , • 13

rich. — Pleasure in doing good. — Gifts pnly valuable as the motives
are pure. — Christian benevolence, unlike secularism, looks peyond
the present life. PagesSQ.

How BEST TO Provide for the Poor. — Povet-ty common to
every age. — Jewish provision for the poor. — Poverty irl many cases
the result of indolence, drunkenness or prodigality,; — The modern

cqdence of the economic.^ — ^7^0 ijnitigat^ present poverty ,nc)t enoi^gh.
The cause must be removed.— Evils of legalizeci cHarivy. — Under-
mines ma,r)ly independence.— Increases improvidence. — I^owers the
rrtatus of the industrious working man. — In a young nation, com-
pulsory provision for the poor unnecessary.— Oj^ltgation^ oif
churches. — Individual eff9rt.— Illust^tiops of true charity. — John
Howard. — I^loirence Nightingale. — iDav^id Livingstone.— Sympathy
that exhales in tracts and talk. — t^ractlcai religion the nest proof
of orthodoxy. Page 405.

A Religious People an Heroic People.— The Maccabeee
and theif followers.— Courage conip^tible with holiness ^nd meek-
ness. — Illustrations from ii)d|vidual liifi?. — Moses. — David. — Elijah.
Paul- — Lutner. — -Knox. — Nations moulded by their physical sur-
roundings.— l"© some extent true. — The color of a nation's piety
affected bv circumstances.; — Th? thing itself divine.— -Scottish hero-
ism.; — " Tqe Sble^tpn League and CQYenant.",--r-r)rumclog— -Bolhwell
fridge.— -The battle oi Airsijnoss. — jR.iclwid Cameron— -Jo^n ferowUi
the christian earner of Priesthill. — The Virgin Martyr of Oailoway
Argyle — Presbyterianism — Calvinism — Young meii standard bear
ers of the faith. — The age demands the same courage, though the
martyr's crown is absent Page 425.

, k|:LlGlON Tli? SopRCfi bF^NATIpN^t BpSfitNQ^.— What
cotistitutes national greatness. — ^The Hebrew affiiy on the borders
of Canaan. — Balaam and the King of Moab. — The false prophet
bles^ipfi instead of cur§itjg. — ",Hov\f^Boodly?ire thy.tent^ O Jacob!
aWd

r y THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

ferusalem and the Holy Land. — Scotchmen enshrine the temples
and simple faith of their ancestors in memory. — Every Briton glories
in his birthright. — " The bells of Limerick." — The exiled Scot. —
Departed worth should be remembered. — Training of the youth of
the present day. 5 ' % Page

The Old Paths and the New. — Modern changes in society
not all praiseworthy. — Lessons from the past. — Meaning of the
phrase " The Old Paths." — Doctrines and practices of our fore-
fathers, — Unmistakable belief in a living God. — The study of God's
Word in private and public. — Stern administration of the higher
law. — Over strictness of the past and laxity of the present. — The
Sabbath almost blotted out from the calendar of holy days. — Men
then valued for what they were. — Puritans of England and Coven-
anters of Scotland. — Scotland a century ago. — Scotland in the
nineteenth century. — Scepticism of the age. — Feverish desire for
wealth. — Prodigality and profligacy. — Arrogance of youth. — Sel-
fishness. — Remedy for such evils. Page

Jewish Love for Jerusalem. — The Psalms abound in praise
of Mount Zion. — All places not alike dear to the heart. — Associa-
tions of the Holy City.— Grandeur of the temple. — Attachment
of Scotchmen to their simple forms of worship. — Scottish piety, if
less rigid and austere than in the past, more attractive and ag-
gressive. — Changes in political and ecclesiastical affairs. — Union
among denominations holding the same creed. — Church and State
in Canada, a thing of the past. — Peculiar dangers of the Dominion.
.A.ntagonistic faiths. — Political incendiaries. — Freedom of conscience
the right of every citizen. Page

Christ's Kingdom— Its Glory and Perpetuity

Much Land to be Possessed. — Canaan to be divided among
the tribes. — Joshua near his end. — Speedy completion of his work'
necessary. — True respecting the world at large, that " there is much '
land to be possessed." — Population of the globe. — Christ to reign
over the vast masses of heathenism.-^The nations of the earth'
prepared to receive the gospel. — True respecting this and other '
christian nations, that " there is much land to be possessed." — '

CONTENTS.

Civilization opening up the most distant settlements. — Silent ad-
vance of the truth. — The gospel to be published in all nations,
preached to all nations, professed by all nations, practised in all
nations. — Indelible impressions of divine truth. — The midnight sun
in Swedish Lapland. — The fall of Troy.- -Success depends upon
the demonstration of the Spirit. Page 489.

Showers of Blessing. — Horrors of a protracted drouth. —
Only partially seen in our clin. ,. — Periods when spiritual feel-
ing is abundant. — Causes and consequences of spiritual drouth. —
Steals upon us insensibly. — Not the less fatal to true religion. —
Promise made to the church of the latter days. — Includes both
temporal and spiritual bestowments. — Primary signification. — Final
and more comprehensive fulfilment. — Extent and seasonableness
of the blessing. — Crusaders embarking for the Holy Land. Page 507.

God Dwelling With Men. — Jehovah's condescension. — His
majesty and glory contrasted with the creature's weakness and sin-
fulness. — This thought present to the mind of Solomon. — Dedica-
tion of the temple. — The gorgeous spectacle as seen by the con-
gregation. — Effect upon priest and congregation. — Prayer of the
King. — At the dedication of churches the prayer should be, Will
God dwell with men on earth ? — Jehovah not present to the senses.
No form of Ritualism can bring the Deity into loving contact with
human souls. — In different ways God dwells with men. — His pres-
ence everywhere. — Specially near to his children. — The work of the
Spirit. — The subject of special promise. — Insures the success of
the church in every conflict. — The earnest of permanent commu-
nion in the church "not made with hands." Page 525.

;.The Indestructible Kingdom.— The book of Daniel the
subject of much learned ingenuity. — Diverse interpretations. — In
one point all agreed. — Christ's church and kingdom to survive
all national convulsions. — Nebuchadnezzars dream. — Daniel's in-
terpretation. — Characteristics of this kingdom. — Founded by Christ.
Composed of all believers. — Divine in origin. — Indestructible. —
Immutable. — Triumphant. — Evidences of its growth. — Erection of
churches. — Growth of religious agencies. — Vast changes in the
future. . Page53gt

Through Death to Life. — Deadness to the law precedes
life in Christ.—" Crucified with Christ."— Cross-bearing.— Different
from what it was in the days of Christ. — Crucifixion a lingering
death. — Implies the surrender of everything that hinders the posses-

l6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

sion of the highest attainments. — Obedience to the divine com-
manas. — Deadness to the world. — Believers alive with Christ. —
" Nevertheless I live." — Source of spiritual life. — " Christ liveth in
me. — This life enjoyed on earth. — Is unlike that which the be-
lievers inherit by nature. — Is a life of faith. — God the author of this
life. — Experimental in its character. Page £51.

UESTIONS OF THE f^AY,

Christian Citizenship.

r.~-

♦* I am a man, which am a citizen of no mean city."

—Acts 21, V. 39.

^,:.!

Christian Citizenship.

HE apostle Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, thence to
Rome, where finally he suffered death. On his way
thither, he was violently assailed by excited and infuri-
ated Jews, who stirred up the people to lay hands upon
him. All sorts of false accusations were made against
him, the chief captain among others saying: " Art thou not
that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar,
and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were
murderers ?" In reply the apostle says : " I am a man which am
a Jew of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city."

We propose to speak from these words, on the privileges and
obligations of christian citizenship, with special reference to the
land in which we live, and of which we boast.

The public mind is at the present moment, as it rightly should
be, much exercised as to the coming elections, * It indicates a
healthy condition of the body politic, when the character and actions
of public men are closely investigated and narrowly criticised.
When a nation becomes so avaricious, or so indifferent to its honor
and welfare, that it allows men of no reputation to pass into office,
its existence is doomed. Apart, however, from the great political
* Delivexed on occasioB of a Parliamentary election.

92 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

questions Involved in the present contest, there are a few thoughts
concerning the character and qualifications of those who are called
to exercise the franchise, that may not be out of place. While it is
almost universally acknowledged that the extension of the franchise
in Canada and Great Britain has been an immense boon to all
concerned, it is nevertheless to be lamented, that many who are
put in possession of this tremendous power for good or for evil, use
it thoughtlessly and unwisely. What then, let us enquire, are some
of the qualifications of christian citizenship ?

Christian citizenship should include in the individual, sobriety,
intelligence, and religious principle. No man who does not possess
in some measure such qualifications, can benefit the nation of which
he is a member. By sobriety we ol course mean temperance,
chastity, and morality in the widest sense. No man who is unfit
to govern his appetites and restrain his passions can creditably take
part in the duties and obligations of good citizenship. No man can
have a higher aim for his country than he has for himself. He who
is ignorant of what :s best for his own happiness, and who acts in
direct opposition to the plainest dictates of reason in his manner ot
life, cannot choose what is best for the interest of his fellowmen in
their collective capacity. People may say of such a man, " that he
is his own worst enemy ;" but this is not the fact. In our collective
capacity, as members of society, every man's conduct has a bearing
upon that of his neighbor. " No man liveth to himself, and no man
dieth to himself," is a truth engraven in every department of social
life. In the commonwealth, men are not rated by their character
at the polling booth or the ballot box, but by their personality, so
that the most degraded and wicked man counts just as much
as the purest and most upright citizen. Hence the necessity, that
in laying the foundations of this new Dominion, we should insist on
sobriety as one of the most prominent and valuable traits of citizen-
ship. You have a direct interest and I have a direct interest in

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 9$

raising the standard of character ; in seeing to it that laws for the
prevention of crime are respected, and that such measures are
instituted and faithfully carried out, as shall tend to the promotion
of good government in the community and nation. You cannot, it
is said, make men virtuous by Act of Parliament. If so, the more
urgent is the call that christian influence should be brought to bear
against all that is dishonorable in the commonwealth, and that men
whose character is notorious for unblushing wickedness, should be
regarded as traitors to the nation and enemies to its prosperity.

Christian citizenship should also include a certain measure of
intelligence. Especially is this the case, where there is so much
equality, that no man need despair of attaining the highest civic
honors. We have a noble system of education so far as it goes, but
not specially adapted nor intended to afford the higher forms of
knowledge which christian citizenship demands. The intelligence
of which we speak is only to be gained by experience and study.
If, as in many lands, men had little or no interest in the selection of
their rulers, and but little opportunity of gaining an acquaintance
with social ethics, to demand such intelligence would be unwise as it
would be unnecessary. But our case is vastly different. Every citizen
of this country may, without the smallest difficulty, gain such an
amount of knowledge as will make him an intelligent and inde-
pendent agent, in every matter that concerns the commonwealth.
We do not believe in this land that ignorance is a virtue. We do
not believe that governments are the purest, where the inhabitants
are so stupid as not to canvass the actions of their rulers. On the
contrary, we believe that knowledge and intelligence are the
birthright of every class, and that wherever they are general, there
will be the greatest amount of individual happiness, the firmest
government, and the most righteous laws.

Every elector should, then, have general information on all the
leading questions of the past and present. We do not mean that

24 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

every man should be a university graduate, or a scholar in the
proper sense of the term ; but that knowledge should be possessed
by the humblest classes in our land, in such proportion as to qualify
them for the more important trusts of public life. Should not
every citizen have some knowledge of history — the history of his
own and other lands — of the changes that have taken place in the
customs, occupations, and habits of the people? Should he not
add to this some acquaintance with the political institutions of his
own and other lands ? How without such intelligent knowledge is
he to help to make the laws and repeal them? — to frame and
fashion local or general governments, or discharge all those duties
which belong to intelligent and responsible agents ? On moral
grounds — on patriotic grounds — we demand all this in every man
who lays claim to the privileges of the nation.

It is admitted that there never was a period when knowledge
was more generally diffused than at present. At the same time,
those who are most conversant with the literary tastes of the day,
declare that there never was a period when there was less demand
for the more solid and thoughtful productions of genius than there
is now. Nay, were there a demand for serial publications at all
proportioned to the citizenship of the nation, there would be little
cause for regret. But large masses of our population have no
knowledge but what comes to them second-hand ; — taken from the
lips of men who are not over faithful in certain circumstances to
facts of history. The extreme partizan or the prejudiced political
print, or the platform orator, arc the only authorities on all matters
affecting the destiny of the nation.

Now in such a land as ours, where books are so cheap, and where
the channels of information are so abundant and free, and where
there are so many inducements to rise to superior positions in
s )ciety, it is a shame for any man to be contented with the mere
tittle-tattle of the market-place. No man need call another master,

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 25

as regards the more common subjects that demand attention, and
he who values intelligence so poorly as to put forth no efforts to
obtain it, or goes about the streets gathering up the crumbs of
commonplace conversation, instead of refreshing himself at the
fountain-head, is unworthy to exercise the privileges of citizenship,
or obtain any honor within the gift of his fellow-men.

Christian citizenship should, finally, include religious principle.
If a man is not guided by principle in his business, men cease to
put faith in anything he does or says. It is just so in public life ;
principle, stern and unbending, must control every act that has for
its object the civil and social welfare of our fellow-men. Where
there is no principle there is no stability of character. A man
actuated by principle is not imposed upon, flattered, or persuaded,
or coaxed into doubtful positions by the false representations of
designing men. You are always sure where to find such a man,
and you honor him for his 'consistency and straightforward conduct,
though it should be opposed to your views, and at variance with
your creed.

It is often said in regard to religious matters, that it is danger-
ous for any man to make expediency his guide. It is so in regard
to political matters. It is no shame for a man to change his
opinions, provided there is sufficient cause for such a change, and
that on calm reflection his conscience demands it. But to move
hither and thither at the call of this or that faction, to renounce all
independence of thought and action, because self-interest, or expe-
diency, or the gratification of friends demands it, lowers a man in
the estimation of all who admire firmness and strength of
character.

Our acts as citizens, next to our public acts as christians, are
matters of serious importance. Church membership we regard as
a solemn transaction between the soul and its Maker. We invest
it with a responsibility which every thinking man acknowledges to

26 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

be just. But we look upon actions affecting the nation in a very
different light. And yet the difference is not so great after all.
The same sincerity, the same honest convictions, the same purity
of motive should be apparent in the one case as in the other. A
man is responsible at the bar of God, not simply for his religious
profession, but for the whole of his life, and where he suppresses
the clear convictions of conscience for the maxims of policy, he
renders himself amenable to a higher than human jurisciction.
There is no act of an intelligent man so insignificant in its results
as to be beneath the notice of the Almighty, and just in proportion
as the transact*'^ns he engages in are far-reaching and comprehen-
sive in there sweep, embracing the destinies of coming generations
and affecting the glory of God in the kingdoms of the world, do they
carry with them an importance and momentousness that can
scarcely be realized or weighed. When we render an account of
our stewardship there will be not only a classification of specific
acts, but a scrutiny of motives, a laying bare of the seqret springs
of action and a revealing of the hidden thoughts.

If we had such citizens, what a nation would be developed
within the next century ! What a power would this land exercise
in controlling the acts of other nations — what silent but omnipotent
influence would be felt wherever her name was mentioned ! If we
had such citizens, what senators, what legislators, what magistrates
would represent us in our highest places of honor ! Nor is there
any true panacea for the social and political evils which afflict us,
in common with other countries, but a raising of the entire
social structure. It is not by this or that government — it is
not by mere change of political leaders and measures, however
necessary at times, nor by the conflict of party, that true national
greatness can be achieved ; but by the prevalence of religious
principle among our inhabitants, by the spread of Bible truth, by
hallowed Sabbaths and well-filled churches. A standing army is

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 2/

good and useful in its place ; armories and arsenals and fleets of
war ships may give an external prestige and grandeur to a nation ;
but the best defence that any country can possess, is an enlightened,
moral and law-abiding citizenship ; an intelligent, laboring popula-
tion ; a free and complete system of education, so unsectarian and
non-denominational, as to meet the just demands of every fa'th and
every rank and condition of life. " Happy is the people that is in
such a case. Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord."
Still further ; — if we had such a sober, enlightened, and high-
minded citizenship, how easily would the machinery of government
be worked ! The friction of party strife, the endless bickerings,
criminations, and re-criminations which pass between respectable
men ; the unseemly if not dishonest and unchristian measures that
are so often resorted to for the accomplishing of certain ends*
would be unknown. The voice of the community and common-
wealth would frown down all attempts to fetter individual inde-
pendence, and hold np to righteous scorn any man or number of
men, who would venture to trade in the rights of citizenship.
Bribery, coercion, and intimidation would be unknown. Instead
of the hatred, hostility, and bitterness that prevail, there would be
good-will and forbearance, sympathy and assistance, mutual love
and kindness, among the different classes of society. We would
come nearer and nearer to the golden age of the past, sung Oi by
the poet, when he says : —

" Then none was for a parly.

Then all were for the state,
Then the great man helped the poor,

And the poor man loved the great.
Then lands were foirly portioned,

Then spoils were fairly sold ;
The Romans were like brothers,

In the brave days of old !"

Such a state of things Christianity is to produce. Not vapid
declamation about the rights of man and the wrongs of the oppres-

23 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

sed, but the healthy, heah'ng balm of religious truth, brought home
to the heart and conscience of the highest and lowest in the land.
We have entered as a Christian nation but recently on a new
phase of political existence* and what our future history shall be
among the kingdoms of the world is very much in our own hands.
Some of the young men who read these lines are destined to wield
a mighty power in our civic institutions. Surely it is worth their
while to seek after that knowledge and dignity of character, which
is far better than the proudest title conferred by royalty. The
world is not long in finding out the men who are born to command.
For a time they may be overlooked, and other less worthy charac-
ters usurp their place, but ultimately the sceptre falls into their
hands. Rich men without intellects or moral character, and cun-
ning crafty diplomats, devoid of conscience, are indeed most pitia-
ble objects ; but cultured minds, directed and inspired by holy
aims for the good of humanity and the glory of God, are the noblest
of all possessions. And it is such minds that in coming years are
to rule our land. The time is fast approaching when the only
rank recognized will be superiority of mental endowments, sterling
principle, and high-toned honor. Then civil distinctions shall no
longer be so lightly esteemed that they must be offered to each
and every man by turn, but when next to tho sacred office of the
ministry, the highest possible honor shall be rule and authority in
the state. To bring about such a desirable state of things is surely
worth the united effort of Christian citizens. It surely is worth
one's striving for, to increase the reputation of this nation, and
raise her to that position to which her name, her wide-spread ter-
ritory, her noble ancestry and traditions entitle her ; not to seek
office simply for personal gain or empty titles that perish ere they
are enjoyed, but to make her the instrument of untold blessings
to the world at large ; to lift up purity and rectitude and justice

* Referring to Confederation.

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 29

to their rightful place in the administration of law, and make
Canada, what the poet says of England, when it will be

Praise and boa."*, enough
In every clime and travel where we may
That we were born her children

If such a period is possible, there must be less boasting of the
individual and more of the nation ; there must be another kind of
patriotism than what is prevalent at the present day. Not how
can I profit by the nation, but how can I enrich the nation in all
the elements of manhood — in all those enterprises and projects
which indicate vitality and progress ; in all those stalwart and
robust virtues that ensure permanence and immortality ; such should
be the question of every citizen. Your promotion and my promo-
tion is a small matter compared with the general good. It is a
poor thing for a man to feel that he is but so much dead weight to
his country ; that but for his selfishness and indolence, she would
have been further advanced in the race of civilization and more
prolific of blessings to the world ; that by his personal actions he
has brought upon her the reproach and scoff of foreigners, and
exposed her to a rude and heartless but none the less truthful
criticism. Next to the duties we owe to the church of Christ are
our obligations to the nation — obligations which increase in number
and rise in importance, in proportion as we have enlarged concep-
tions of our indebtedness to the land in which we live. Let us then
at the present important juncture in our country's history realize
the responsibilities of citizenship, and act as christian men who
intend to give her such a name and standing as shall exalt our land
in the eyes of the world and start her in a new career of usefulness
and honor. While we love and pray for the prosperity of other
kingdoms, the welfare of this the land of our birth or adoption
must be the first wish of every patriot Yes : —

30 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

There is a land of every land the pride,

Bploved by heaven o'er all the world beside :

Where brighter suns dispense serener light,

And milder moons emparadise the night.

There is a spot of earth supremely blest,

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.

Where shall that land->that spot of earth be found 1

Art thou a roan ? a patriot 1 look around !

O, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,

That land thy country, and that spot thy home.

Man, through all ag'^s of revolving time —

Unchanging man, in every varying clime,

Deems his own laud, of every land the pride,

Beloved by heaven o'er all the world beside ;

His home the spot of earth supremely blest ;

A dearer sweeter spot than all the rest

Perhaps they are wrong and take too gloomy a view of society,
who assert that our towns and cities in Canada in many instances
are retrograding in the average morality of their inhabitants. And
yet the men who are often elected to oflfice in our town and county
councils and our parliaments, give occasion for such an opinion.
But seldom indeed, comparatively, do virtue and sobriety assert
their claims and carry their nominees. Men of easy-going morals
and suspicious honesty, and who can never seek for their country
a higher standard of character than they deem necessary for them-
selves, are in the majority of cases elected. The mantle of charity
which our electors throw over the imperfection and scandals which
attach to many of our leading politicians is verily broad and
accommodating. Indeed, were every christian man in our country
to exercise his rights, it is doubtful if they could outnumber the
masses who seem to have no regard for honesty, integrity and
honorable conduct. While in Great Britain, there is a very pre-
ceptible and gratifying change in this matter, here in Canada it is
in notable instances the reverse. Christian men of all classes admit
and mourn the fact — politicians confess it. It is the lament on all
hands, that the overwhelming power and controlling influence in

CHRISTIAN- CITIZENSHIP. 31

national affairs lies in the hands of that portion of our citizens
" who fear not God, nor regard men."

The rallying cry of many an election campaign has been
•' Measures, not Men." Like many similar phrases, it has a ring of
sincerity about it, that is apt to mislead unthinking minds. It only
needs, however, a moment's reflection to show how exceedingly
foolish and vicious such language is, when great interests are at
stake in the future of our country ; and that Christian electors, in
exercising the franchise, are bound to regard both measures and
men, when choosing citizens to represent them in Parliament and
other places of trust and honour. It is eminently right and proper
to know the views of candidates for Parliamentary honours, in
regard to important questions, that command the attention of all
classes, and involve the prosperity and happiness of the community
at large ; it is also wise to canvass the votes and speeches of our
legislators, with a view to a removal or withdrawal of our trust and
confidence, but it is no less the duty of reflecting minds to weigh
the private character of members of Parliament, and ask themselves
the question, whether such conduct is an earnest of honesty, purity
and unselfishness when the same man is called upon to deal with
matters affecting the welfare of his fellow citizens. We lay it down
as a principle that cannot be gainsayed, that no man can be more
honest in public than in private life, and that no man who has
consciously and flagrantly dishonored his private character, is fit to
be trusted in legislating for the nation, and guarding its interests
against overreaching and designing powers.

One would imagine that political parties of every shade of
opinion would admit the common sense of such a proposition ; but,
singular to say, it is frequently called in question, if not directly
denied. It is boldly asserted that a man's private character has
nothing to do with his public life ; — he may be dishonest, intem-
perate, unreliable, and break alniost every command of the deca-

".*

39 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

logue, and yet be our representative in the councils of the land.
In regard to certain leading statesmen and politicians, how often
do we hear their admirers making the remark, that " they are not
just what they should be in character, not over scrupulous in their
dealings, and not over rigid in their morality, not very decided or
pronounced in their political faith, but such good fellows, such cun-
ning, expert politicians, and such shrewd, successful manipulators
of men and measures, that they must not be too severely handled,
in our criticism of their secret faults."

It is perhaps wise and proper that when opposing candidates
meet together face to face on political platforms or on the hustings,
that public issues and public actions alone should be subject matter
for debate. But it is altogether different when constituencies are
called to elect men to represent them for a term of years in Parlia-
ment. They have a right and they are blameworthy if they do not
exercise the right of canvassing the history and opinions of these
candidates, and coming to an intelligent conclusion as regards
their fitness for certain important offices of trust and power.
Nothing is doing so much to sap the foundations of morality and
public integrity, as the theory so extensively promulgated and
practiced by so-called christian men that political adroitness and
trickery atone for all sorts of private sins, and that electors are to
vote blindly for the standard-bearers of their party, however shame-
ful is their private record before the world. In a short time, if we
go on as we are doing, virtuous living will count for nothing in our
country, and the veriest scapegraces occupy seats in our legislative
halls. We protest against such teaching and such conduct, as
unworthy of intelligent citizens and derogatory to the best interests
of society at large.

Let us see how such a theory works in other callings and rela-
tions of life. A merchant, for example)^ is in want of a confidential
clerk — one that can be entrusted with his correspondence — ^with

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 33

his accounts — with his books — with his monies — in a word, with
the entire char - of his establishment. He wants a man of char-
acter, who in the absence of the principal can take his place, having
in view in all his transactions the profit and honorable name of the
concern. Among many applicants, the situation is solicited by a
plausible, smart, and withal capable-looking person, whose abilities
are of first-class character, and who has in former years occupied
such positions of trust and responsibility. He is thoroughly versed
in book-keeping — knows all the mysteries of finance — has had an
extensive acquaintance with the leading wholesale houses in the
trade — and so far as knowledge and ability are concerned, is just
the man for the position. But his antecedents are of a decidedly
suspicious character. In fact, he has been too clever for his former
employers. With all his knowledge and energy, Ic has never
understood the distinction between " meum and tuum ;" in other
words, between what is rightfully his own, and what belongs to his
employer. As a consequence, he is shunned and rejected on all
hands. Where honesty is a first requisite, no amount of tact or
shrewdness can make up for its absence. A man with no other
credentials but what a term of service in the penitentiary affords,
is not the person to receive employment on any terms whatever.
Reformation is possible in every such case, but until there is good
evidence of the fact, no merchant would for a moment trust his
honor or his means in the custody of such a criminal.

Or the case may be somewhat different. The applicant may
not be guilty of fraud or embezzlement, but of drunkenness. He is
a good-hearted, genial, jovial, fellow, as the world says — generous to
a fault, and a true friend to those that need the kind of friendship he
has to offer. But he has no command whatever over his appetites.
He can not be depended upon for a single hour. His sobriety is
the exception — his intemperance the rule. Habitual indulgence in

such a vice has ruined body and soul, until he is now but a wreck
*3 .

34 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

of his former manhood. In sane and sensible moments, no man is
more penitent and grief-stricken for his folly. His promises of
reform and amendment are apparently firm and sincere, but when
temptation presents itself again, he is prostrate. The passion for
strong drink, like a very demon, asserts itself, and conquers his
better nature. Such a man is certainly not beyond the pale of
hope. Strong and persistent determine* ion to avoid the very ap-
pearance of evil, assisted by the grace of God, can clothe such a
man in his right mind again, and make him a useful member of
society, but until such a radical change has been effected, no mer-
chant in his senses would trust him with the pettiest details of com-
mon life, far less clothe him with the responsibilities of official work.
If, then, dishonest men, and immoral men, men treacherous,
crafty, intemperate and unreliable, are not to be trusted with the
common business of the world, shall we elect such men to represent
us in Parliament ? We speak in the interest of no party, but in
the interests of public integrity and good government, when we
unhesitatingly say, assuredly not ! If in the ranks of parties striv-
ing after political victory such men are to be found, let them be
left in the shades of private life, until good evidence is furnished
of a decided change in their habits and propensities. Suspend
them for a time, or put them on probation, as certain ecclesiastical
bodies do with guilty members. Give us good honest men, actua-
ted by principle, zealous for the country's good, possessed of un-
blemished records in their private life and dealings, and we can
trust such men to represent us, though their political creed may
not entirely meet our approbation. If the choice is given us,
whether to elect a sober, high-principled, straightforward man of
another political faith, or an intemperate, unscrupulous, deceitful
and selfish man of our own, we prefer the former. Guided by an
enlightened conscience, we have no misgivings as to his course of
conduct in matters affecting the national honour.

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 55

The matter before us may be put in a still stronger light. In
the ranks of the clergy, as in the ranks of politicians, there are to
be found unworthy characters — men who enter the office for a piece
of bread, regardless of the welfare of souls. Such men may for a
time, it is admitted, be the means of doing much good. So long
as their hypocrisy holds out, they may by force of natural talent
and an assumed earnestness and zeal, be instruments of making
other men better than they are themselves. But what congregation
of christians would choose such a man for its spiritual guide, whose
character was open to the least breath of suspicion ? No amount
of genius, or eloquence, or commanding pulpit power, can compen-
sate for the want of purity and consistency, in speech and behaviour.
The private life of the man gives tone to his public appearances,
and commends the religion he enforces to the heart and conscience
of his hearers. Apart from this, his words can have no value ; —
when wrong-doing is once discovered, the idol is dashed from the
throne of the affections, and branded with eternal ignominy.

It is so in every department of social life but in - olitics. What
is considered crime in every other case, is regarded in this but a
petty misdemeanor, which can be easily condoned or forgiven, on
account of past services or extraordinary ability ! And thus public
men are not only tolerated, but encouraged in their wickedness.
They may sacrifice the honour of their country for the sake of
personal aggrandisement ; they may stain the purity of office by
habitual and notorious immorality ; they may corrupt the fountain-
head of justice by the most scandalous acts of legislation, and still
remain secure in possession of their honors ! In proportion as a
man is endowed with brilliant and commanding gifts, he may con-
tinue to violate laws, both human and divine, and laugh at the
censures and criticisms of the few who remonstrate and condemn
such conduct ! Well may we say of such a state of affairs — " Woe
unto them that call evil good, and good evil — that put darkness

|6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

jfor light, and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and
sweet for bitter ; which justify the wicked for reward."

Public opinion, or rather prejudice, which sustains such conduct
and winks at such monstrous anomalies, will gradually come over
to the side of truth, and avenge itself upon unprincipled and reck-
less demagogues. Our country is rich enough, as an American
writer says, to afford to do without the greatest intellects God lets
the devil buy, and any name, however illustrious, which links itself
to abuses, is sure to be overwhelmed by the impetuous current of
society. The judgment of humanity in the end is just. Men who
are now fondled and courted and idolized as the political heroes of
the hour, shall yet receive a just and impartial verdict at the hands
of their fellow men. Of many a man thus honoured and exalted,
it shall yet be said —

He left a corsair's name to other times,
Linked with one virtue, and a thousand crimes.

Some of us in this countrj' take it for granted that our nation-
ality — English, Scotch, or Irish — is sufficient to make our reputa-
tion, without individual efforts, — to preserve the memories and
traditions of the past. The spirit of the age takes little account of
a man's moral character, provided he is a success in public life.
The pernicious maxim, that " the end justifies the means," is having
a damaging effect upon the stern uncompromising virtues that
flourished in a bygone generation, and blinding us to the essential
difference between right and wrong. Men who have been educated
to believe that — " worth makes the man, the want of it the fellow," —
are not slow to act a part, in strange antagonism to their creed,
provided place, power and prerogative are secured. Old-fashioned
maxims as to honest poverty, straightforward dealings and unselfish
patriotism, are laughed down as behind the age, and as uncongenial
and unprofitable. It may not appear so to the superficial observer,
but I venture to afiirm, that never until the 'hies of Christianity

CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP. 37

are general, can we hope for commercial integrity, confidence in
business relations, unselfish statesmanship, and gentlemanly con-
duct in the high places of the land.

The future development of this great nation calls for the earnest
and united efforts of all good men, until that happy period arrives
when, in the language of the poet, it can be said of this Dominion :

Then the progeny that springs

From the forests of our land,
Armed with thunder, clad with wings,

Shall a wider world command.

Befl[ions Cffisar never knew

Thy posterity shall sway ;
Where his eagles nev«r flew,

None invincible as they.

Capital and Labor.

The Reciprocal Rights of Employer and Employed.

" i3ear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

— Galatians 6, v. 2.

" bervants obey in all things your masters, according to the flesh ; not
with eye service as men pleasers." — Colossians 3, v. 22.

" Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal : knowing
that ye also have a Master in heaven.'' — Colossians 4, y. 1.

"The labourer is worthy of his hire." — Luke 10, v. 7.

Capital and Labor.

FEEL the delicacy and the difficulty of speaking upon
the question of Capital and Labour, and the relations
of employers and employees. It is not at all likely
that every statement made will be approved by all my
hearers. I feel, however, that if I make the smallest con-
tribution to a better feeling among the different classes in
our community, the effort will not be altogether vain.

I am not here to discuss in the abstract the many abstruse ques-
tions that belong to the science of political economy. I take it,
that comparatively few of our workingmen have ever read or
studied " Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations," or the more recent
works on the matter in dispute that are daily issued from the press.
Their constant efforts to provide for themselves and families from
day to day, preclude the leisure that may be profitably occupied by
students, in discussing and solving theories which seldom come
within the range of practical experience. Nor shall I refer, save in
the most general terms, to the aims of certain societies which claim
to direct and control the labour of our artizan population. I p*ss
no judgment upon the motives that actuate their leaders, although
I cannot help saying that the principles enunciated, when carried

42 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

out to their legitimate conclusions, seem in the opinion of many
christian men, to lead to absolute tyranny, and to forbid all free
and independent action.

I speak as the friend of the workingman in the fullest sense cf
the word. Naturally, my sympathies are with this class. I am
one of themselves. In boyhood I knew what it was to labor from
before the dawn of day till long after darkness, at wages which no
Canadian apprentice would accept My parents belonged to the
humbler classes of society, but were rich toward God, if not toward
men. And in all that affects, or can possibly forward the well-
being of the working classes, I have taken a deep interest since my
entrance upon the ministry. I feel, therefore, that above many, I
can bespeak their indulgence, whether the thoughts presented pro-
voke criticism or are adjudged as reasonable.

Once more — I speak in no patronizing way to the toilers of
society, who rightly despise all such affected condescension — far
less do I avail myself of the present occasion, to counsel them as
to their every day deportment. Taken as a whole, I believe that
the conduct of our artizans, to say the least, is as high as that of
many employers of labour. If there are instances of intemperance
and shiftlessness and prodigality among them, there are crimes of
not less magnitude to be found among those who rank among the
higher classes ; and refuse to mingle with the masses. To rebuke
the one, and not the other, is unfair. If the mechanic who neglects
his family for the tavern or the club room is deserving of censure,
so is the man who secretly indulges in debauchery, or lives extrav-
agantly, upon the gains ot oppression and dishonesty.

The rights of capital and labour, of masters and servants, is one
of the vexed questions of political economy, upon which much has
been written, but with very little definite results. The views of
economists and partizans — the selfishness in some cases of the
employer, and the unreasonableness in other cases of the employee

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 43

have kept apart classes, whose interests ought to be one. It s,
however, no time for repeating economic truisms, such as that the
laborer has a right to work or refuse working, and the employer to
employ or refuse employment. Every one admits this. The legiti-
macy of organization, for the purpose of bettering the condition of
workingmen, is generally acknowledged. All classes of citizens in
a free country, have the right to unite in trade or labor associations,
and use all legitimate means for the furtherance of their interests.
But while this is true, it is none the less worthy of note, that sym-
pathy with the working man ends, as soon as efforts for his im-
provement pass beyond moral and lawful means. The capitalist
who has been a laborer (and there are many such in Canada), and
the laborer who hopes to become a capitalist and master, know
equally well, that immoral and illegal means must lead to ruin.

There is much to i^e said on behalf of the workingman in his
effort to better his condition. The system of reckless competition
in trades and industries, that is now pursued in almost every civil-
ized country, is suicidal to the best interests of society. Merchants
and manufacturers, underselling each other, are compelled to reduce
wages, until existence for the workingman becomes a weary strug-
gle. Such a state of things produces combinations and trades
unions among workingmen. They urge their claim to what they
believe is only the just reward of honest toil, while capitalists resist
what they imagine is destructive of their interests. What is to be
the upshot of this unseemly strife ? Shall capital subjugate labor,
or labor capital? Or, rather, should not both parties unite on
some peaceable solution of their differences, to the mutual benefit
of both?

The present agitation has been chiefly promoted by outside
influences — by itinerant vendors of stale and wornout phrases as to
capital and labor, who are recent importations from the over-popula-
ted continental cities of Europe to the United States, and in a few

44 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

instances by certain parties who seek the position of leaders among
their fellow workmen, and assume the right to dictate to the indus-
trious mechanics of Canada, on what terms they shall sell their
labor to employers. In most cases these self-elected leaders are
men of the most limited mental capacity, making up, however, for
the lack of brains, by an amount of assurance that would indicate
the very highest attainments in the science of political economy
and good government. Their influence so far, where they have
exercised any influence whatever, has been most pernicious upon
the parties mostly interested, and the country at large. Strikes
have taken place in towns and cities, resulting in almost every
instance in grievous loss to the employee. For as matters now
stand, labor cannot coerce capital, save in very rare ?nd exceptional
cases. Better terms and more satisfactory relations between master
and servant are not to be brought about by such measures. They
but widen the chasm which already exists, and foster feelings of
mutual anger and resentment, which years cannot abate. Admit-
ting for the moment that the working classes are entitled to greater
privileges than they now possess, these privileges are not to be
secured by violent tirades and inflammatory denunciations and
noisy demonstrations against employers, but by the presentation
in courteous terms of their reasonable demands, and the exercise
of moderation and prudence, which are sure eventually to bring
negotiations to a successful issue.

It is comparatively easy, when facts are not tabulated, and when
the present prosperous condition of the working classes, as con-
trasted with the past, is studiously concealed, to make some men
believe that they are cruelly wronged, and are little better than
Russian serfs or West India slaves. Listening to certain speeches
recently delivered, one would imagine that the working men of
Canada lived under a despotism of the most debasing character,
where manhood and independence were systematically crushed by

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 45

rapacious millionaires for their own aggrandizement. '* Life to the
workingman is a ceaseless degradation, a daily martyrdom, a fun-
eral procession to the grave !" says one of the champions for the
rights of labor in Great Britain. Such talk is both false and foolish.
Every one knows the wonderful ameliorations that have taken
place in the lot of the workingman since the sixteenth century.
Every year, through the pressure of public opinion, grievances are
being redressed that hindered his advancement, and the way opened
up for his physical and moral improvement. Even in Great Britain,
where the privileges and remuneration of the workingman are
vastly inferior to Canada, a great improvement has taken place in
recent years. Any one in the smallest degree acquainted with the
state of society in England in the days of the Henrys' and Charles',
will gladly acknowledge the revolution that has taken place in the
condition of the working classes. In the beginning of the sixteenth
century, the houses of workingmen were built of mud, and in many
cases unfit for the shelter of cattle, not to speak of men. Their
food consisted wholly of beans and peas and the coarser vegeta-
bles. Wages were considered extravagant at a shilling a day, the
average being but sixpence. Members of the House of Commons
complained that owing to high wages paid mechanics — one shilling
a day — England could no longer compete with the looms of India.
Farm hands had five shillings a week in England, while in Scotland
and Ireland they had less. And while wages were thus low, pro-
visions were in many cases higher than at the present day. If
again we restrict our enquiry to the present century, we find a gra-
dual but steady improvement in the condition of the workingman*
In 1800 the wages of an English stone mason were sixteen shillings
per week — now they are thirty ; while the remuneration of mechan-
ics and skilful workmen js more than double what it was at the
beginning of the present century. These facts, which might be
indefinitely multiplied, show clearly how little foundation there is

40 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

for the vague and sweeping assertions, that workingmen do not
share in the general prosperity, and that capital and capitalists
absorb all the profits of the age.

No one will pretend to state otherwise, than that the average
condition of workingmen in Canada and the United States is in
advance of the old world. Mechanics in this city, who I am told
were paid 62^ cents per day, thirty years ago, now receive $2.50
and $3.00 per day ; indeed the vast emigration to the continent of
America, at the rate of one^ thousand a day during the summer
months, proves as much. These emigrants have good grounds for
believing that in the new world their chances for advancement and
acquiring a competency of this world's goods, are far more likely
than in their native country. Friends and relatives who have pre-
ceded them have vastly improved their condition, and are urging
those who still remain at home to follow. They have acquired
large tracts of land and herds of cattle, cU^ared their farms, erected
comfortable dwellings, and surrounded themselves with everything
that can conduce to material prosperity. Mechanics have risen to
be the employers of hundreds, and servants to be masters. In view
of all this, is it not foolish and criminal for any class of men to sow
the seeds of dissension between employers and employed, and
hinder the social advancement of all classes in the land ? What-
ever anomalies still exist, are to be removed or ameliorated by
mutual concessions and the interchange of kindly sentiment, not
by appeals to brute force. The intelligent mechanic is jtlst as
independent as the master, and can easily work his way in spite of
all opposition to place and power.

Indeed the phrase " workingman," as used in the old world, is
to a great extent, meaningless in such a land as Canada. We are
all workingmen. Different forms of labor exist, but how few can
live without hard labor and constant industry! In some countries
the term "workingman" may be used as the language of supercil-

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 47

ious contempt and haughty ignorance, but not in Canada. The
theory that any class should be doomed to ignorance, in order to
render a more servile obedience, should have no advocates, where
education is regarded as the birthright of every child. New and
better ideas prevail. " The body is not one member but many,"
says the apostle Paul. The eye cannot say unto the hand, " I have
no need of thee ;" nor again the head to the feet, " I have no need
of thee." And thci'nfore, he reasons, there should be no schism in
the body, but that the members should have the same care one of
another. For whether one member suffer, all the members suffer
with it ; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with
it. Applied to social economics, these verses teach, that the law of
rational creation is mutual dependence and co-operation. Every
man's work is honorable, if honest and virtuous, and necessary to
the welfare and happiness of the nation. The quarryman, who
blasts the rock and loosens the stone from its sleep of centuries, is
just as useful and necessary as the hewer, who prepares the carved
and chiselled blocks for the building. The man who digs the
foundation is as useful as the builder ; the miner as the smelter, or
machinist or goldsmith ; the lumberer, who with brawny arm fells
the stately oak, as the carpenter and joiner ; the compositor and
pressman, as the writer ; and the ship builder as the captain and
pilot. The fact, that we are apt to recognize that kind of work
which is most palpable and tangible, to the exclusion of what is
further removed from common observation, does not disprove our
assertion, that all kinds of labor are equally honorable and neces-
sary to the welfare of society. Until this idea is universally
accepted, we shall not be entirely free from occasional strife and
angry crimination. Until the master recognizes the workman as a
co-laborer in the great field of human industry, and the workman
regards the employer in the same light, there will be feuds, antag-
onisms and misunderstandings. More than a mere commercial

48 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

contract should bind employer and employed together. The
workmen should not be classed with the machinery — with cylinders
and pistons and wheels and cranks. Brains ought not to be
weighed with the dross of the furnace. Men ought to be valued
and recompensed, according as their labor is profitable, and not
used as beasts of burden !

At the same time it will be admitted by all reasonable men,
that the responsibilities of employers are deserving of large compen-
sation. We often fail to recognize the immense risks that capital-
ists take in embarking in new and large undertakings. Men who
by their energy, ingenuity and superior ability, have raised them-
selves to prominent positions in the mercantile world, merit honor
and emoluments. The largest possible return is often but a small
recompense for the toil and anxiety undergone. Among these
there are also many who are not only just, but generous, kind, sym-
pathetic and merciful in all their dealings, and whose highest am-
bition it is to better the condition of their workmen as well as
themselves. Many families in this city, I have reason to know,
have thus been cared for in times of sickness and death, when
friends were few and their wants were many.

As indicating the prevalence of this friendly and honorable
spirit, mention should be made of the method adopted by the
Messrs. Denny, the prominent ship builders on the Clyde, in deal-
ing with their workmen. Some time ago it was thought advisable
to revise and extend the yard rules. Instead of altering the rules
to suit their own desires, the Messrs. Denny asked the assistance
and co-operation of all classes of their workmen, in the task of
revision. For that purpose a series of conferences were held, which
were attended by the members of the firm, the members of the
staff, and delegates appointed by the workers. At the final confer-
ence, Mr. William Denny, addressing the delegates, said he believed
such conferences were the first in the whole history of labor in

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 49

which employer and employed had together discussed rules, and
come to a friendly and reasonable conclusion upon them. The
results of the ronfcrences were, that they had a workable, just, and
effective code of rules. He believed the code of rules agreed upon
would be more efficient from the workmen having had a share in
making them, and having given them their approval, and that in
the future solution of the labor question, these principles would be
widely recognized. I believe that the time is coming when the
workingman shall receive remuneration in proportion to the profits
of his industry, and when co-operation shall be more generally
adopted. But such a condition of affairs is not to be hastened by
combinations and strikes, and boycotting and dynamite explosions,
planned in almost every case, not by American or Canadian oper-
atives, but by infidel communists from the old world. For such
lawless and diabolical measures the better classes of our workmen
are, however, held responsible by many who cannot distinguish
between lawful and unlawful methods, that have recently been em-
ployed to adjust the differences between capital and labor. The
direct tendency of such strikes is to withdraw capital and prevent
new industries, while in almost every case, they far more seriously
affect the workingman than the master.

The teachings of infidel socialists and political agitators, so
prevalent in the western cities of the United States, are the great-
est curse that any civilized nation can be afflicted with. It has
been well said, that " the communism that would level all distinction
and sweep out of sight the inequalities that will and that must
arise, if men are to be what they ought to be, is irrational and un-
just. To say that private property ought not to exist, is to say
that individuals ought not to be themselves. It is to put a pre-
mium on idleness, and to present no adequate motive for the fullest
development of one's powers. All men have a common interest in
the world. It is their birth-place, their school, their workshop. It

50 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

is their temporary or preliminary home. They have the same sky,
and sea, and earth to look upon, and the same great problems of
life to solve. But it does not follow that all men ought, therefore
to have an equal share of the enjoyments and possessions of the
world. Such an affirmation would be false to universal life, to the
true nature of man, and to the end for which the world exists.
Justice demands an impartial administration of law, and the ren-
dering to every one that which is due. No one ought to be unduly
favored on the ground of purely fictitious circumstances, and no
one ought to be unfairly debarred from the possibility of showing
what is in him, and of improving his condition."

We have a very beautiful picture presented us in the second
chapter of the book of Ruth, of the kindly relations that ought to
exist, between masters and servants. It is an eastern harvest field,
with a long line of reapers, sickle in hand, cutting down the
precious grain. Boaz, the owner enters, and salutes the laborers in
God's name, " The Lord be with you ; " and they respond, " The
Lord bless thee." Such a mode of salutation appears to have been
common in the east, but it is all the more striking in view of the
relations between master and servant in patriarchal times. These
patriarchs were more than masters — they asserted unquestioned
supremacy over their servants, akin to the serfdom of the feudal
ages. There was no appeal from their mandates, and no such
personal freedom enjoyed as at the present day. And yet in
instances such as the one under consideration, there seems to have
been far more actual kindliness and good will than in many cases
exist between masters and servants at the present day.

Boaz exhibits a spirit of sympathy and kindness. Courtesy
towards inferiors, costs nothing. It is not incompatible with true
dignity. U does not lessen authority or respect, to use familiar
terms. It does not make servants less anxious to serve their
master's interests. That the working classes are so often found

•^

;§■-•

:^?-^:m9

%^^

zm^\

^r^?^;.

¥ii>y

■'yyy

■^

\ .^V- .i^

1,;(?^«

BOAZ AND RUTH.

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 5 1

disrespectful, is because of their rude and inconsiderate treatment,
Threats and curses more than kindly words are their lot. Thus
masters and servants stand apart, jealous of each other. The mas-
ter regards the servant as only useful to increase his capital,
and the servant works simply because he must, but with no regard
to the promotion of his employer's interest. Out of this con-
dition of affairs there come combinations, strikes, workingmen's
leagues and unions, social revolutions, and anarchy and bloodshed.

Now what is the remedy for this and all other social griev-
ances ? Not mere human adjustments, and acts of parliament, and
measures of expediency, that seem for a time to silence complaint,
but in the claims of christian brotherhood being more generally
recognized. Better terms cannot be dragged reluctantly from
unwilling and avaricious masters, nor selfish operatives driven to
render cheerful service. Differences in society there must be.
Equality in the communistic sense of the term is impossible. But
as all ranks are necessary to work out the problem of human exis-
tence there need be no jarring or conflict. The rich are as depen-
dent upon the poor as the poor are upon the rich. It is bad for a
nation when injustice leads to lawlessness, and brute force is
demanded to suppress open riot. Religion is the grand salve for
the sores of humanity — not the nostrum of politicians, but the
gospel of Christ In the body politic it teaches there should be no
schism, " but the members should have the same care, the one of
the other. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer
with it ; or one member honored, all the members rejoice with it."

The spirit of kindness manifested by Boaz towards the reapers
is perfectly compatible with a diligent circumspection. The faith-
ful servant has no cause to fear oversight and investigation, and
the master dare not neglect it. It is not good for either party to
be irresponsible. But watchfulness and supervision need not be

52 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

exercised in an inquisitorial and fault-finding spirit. It should just
as often lead to commendation and promotion, as to criticism.

Boaz also exhibits in his conduct simple, earnest, heartfelt piety.
He was not ashamed to acknowledge Israel's God, or to transact
his business as accountable at His bar. Because he feared God, he
loved his fellowmen. True sympathy for man takes its rise in love
to God. The religion he possessed himself, he desired for his lab-
orers. If the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, it also gives con-
tentment to the poor. There are good masters who make no pro-
fession of religion whatever. But the best ought to be found among
the professed followers of Christ. Where the standard of righteous-
ness and justice, as laid down in God's word, is enforced and
accep^-f''^ as the rule of individual action, there will b.^ no cause for
differences, and perfect accord will exist between man and man.

In view of these statements, we remark : (a) That masters
should have due regard to the physical welfare of their servants.
The demands made upon a human being ought to be different from
those made upon a machine. He ought not to be driven till his
strength gives way, and until seeds of disease are sown that inevit-
ably shorten life. The Christian public, as much as the employers
of labor, have much to do in abridging the hours of labor. At their
door lies the sin of unnecessary trading, when both master and ser-
vant ought to rest from toil, {b) Masters should have due regard
to the social welfare of their servants. They deserve fair remun-
eration. Advantage ought not to be taken of over supply. Labor
should be recompensed in proportion as it increases in value. The
workmen in large manufacturing establishments are really business
partners, and those above them for the time being, ought to think
of them, and manage affairs in their interest as well as their own.
Profit-sharing makes labor more efficient, and very materially redu-
ces the expense of supervision. The temporal comforts of em-
ployees have claims upon the employer. Young men coming from

CAPITAL AND LABOR. " S3

christian homes to strange cities, lonely and friendless, should be
introduced to good companions, invited to the houses of masters,
and made to feel that they are the objects of interest, beyond mere
civil contracts. The gain in such cases is the master's more than
the servant's. He has the choice of hands, and gains the good will
of the community, in preference to unprincipled and grasping world-
lings, (c) Masters should also have due regard to the religious
welfare of their servants. They have a right to enjoin attendance
upon ordinances, and enquire how their Sabbath days are spent. No
young man is fit for any position of trust who scoffs at religion and
dishonors God's day. Biit in order that such exercise of authority
may be of value and command respect, business must be conducted
on t^e principles of integrity. The religion of the master must be
visible to his servants, and practised on week days as well as the
Lord's day.

There is need, it seems to me, for such truths being oft repeated
at the present day. As business is now transacted, kindly relations
between masters and servants is essential to harmony and good
feeling. Machinery revolving at a rapid rate of speed, by constant
friction catches fire, and in a twinkling the entire premises may be
reduced to ashes. So of society as a whole. If we cannot return
to the old patriarchal habits, and begin the day by saying to our
employes, " The Lord be with you," let us at least endeavor to
introduce Old Testament civility into our homes and into the
haunts of commerce.

The cognate question, whether eight hours shall be a day's
labor is a complex one, and depends upon various considerations.
I have never felt that the workingmen of Canada had much sym-
pathy with it, or were dissatisfied with present arrangements. The
pica that it is intended for the mental and moral improvement of
the workingmen will not, I fear, hold good. Certainly our com-
munistic friends, who advoc,'\te the movement, are not in every case

54 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

patterns of sobriety and intelligence. That it is demanded on
physical grounds, has never so far been demonstrated. Nor can it
be argued on the basis of political economy. The earth will not
give the same results for eight hours labor as for ten. The manu-
facturer cannot produce the same quantity of goods, nor make the
same profits, under the eight hours system as the ten, and it follows
that if profits are reduced, wages are reduced. Not only so, but
the entire commonwealth suffers, as well as the individual operative
and his family. Of course, as has been well said : — If anybody
thinks he can make as much money as he needs by working eight
hours a day, he ought to have full liberty to try the experiment.
It is simply a question of personal choice. There is no question
that eight hours or even four hours per day of vigorous labor will
enable mankind to live. The blanket Indian can live on two hours'
work. He wears but little clothing, sleeps in a wigwam on the
ground, and eats his meat without fork or spoon. The question is
one of contentment. If we are willing to live on a lower plane of
living, and philosophically enjoy cheap surroundings, we can do so.
But the majority of healthy, ambitious young men, would rather
work sixteen hours than eight, provided the extra eight hours will
put them one-half ahead of their competitors. The sixteen hour
men will get there first, and be able to take a rest upon the moun-
tain top of success, and look down at the eight hour men plodding
below for a bare subsistence. And even should the eight hour
rule become universal — skill, talent, energy, brains, will have the
same relative advantage as they have now. But this can never
come. For a law declaring that no man should work more than
eight hours a day would be unconstitutional, and if the hours were
not limited by law, would not the ambitious work over hours, and
so practically annul the regulation ? In other words, can any rule
of labor be adopted, which will prevent the most industrious from
earning as much as he can, or which will keep the most active,

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 55

alert, aspiring, avaricious, frugal, sober and efficient men from get-
ting to the top and keeping there ? No man can get something
for nothing, and it is exceedingly doubtful if any new-fangled inven-
tion will be able to set aside the indestructible law of supply and
demand, or reduce to a dead level cf mediocrity the good and bad,
the trained and the ignorant, the intelligent and the stupid, the
industrious and the lazy, and all the various sorts and classes of
workingmen.

There are some industries where, by special arrangements be-
tween employers and employed, eight hours may be substituted for
ten. Where workmen are paid by the hour, there is no practical
difficulty ; the only effect is reduced wages. But it should be
remembered that at least one-half of all the laborers in the country,
such as fishermen, miners, railroad men and farmers, are so em-
ployed that an eight hour law cannot possibly apply to them at all.
The workmen who clamour so loudly for a reduction in the hours
of labor forget, I fear, how many toil ten or twelve hours for five
days in each week, and on Saturdays till near midnight. I have
great sympathy with the salesmen and saleswomen in our stores,
whose hours of labor are often lengthened by the thoughtlessness
of the buyers, among whom possibly are many of the men who
would have their own hours of labor lessened. And what shall we
say of farmers, who at certain seasons of the year toil fourteen and
sixteen out of the twenty-four, and professional men who have no
cessation night nor day.

This labor question is drifting away from its proper field of dis-
cussion, and becoming involved in politics. Very soon, as years
ago, when elections draw near, we shall hear of " the workingman's
candidate," and " the friend of the workingman," attached to certain
candidates for Parliamentary honors by their supporters, in hope
of securing the votes of intelligent mechanics. In many cases, the
men who profess such great sympathy with workingmen, have hith-

$6 * THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

erto been their worst enemies. They have spoken of them in the
language of contempt — they have trodden them under foot — they
have refused them the franchise — they have made laws directly
against their interests. But when elections are at hand, and the
votes of workingmen count for something, they represent them-
selves as the true friends of the workingman. "They desire to see
him raised to a higher position in society — they demand for him
better wages — less labor — more extended privileges ; in a word,
they want workingmen to occupy seats in Parliament, and sit side
by side with Knights and Baronets, making and unmaking laws,
and basking in the smiles of Royalty !"

A few may be found in the ranks of our intelligent mechanics
susceptible to such flattery and deceived by such absurd and insin-
cere pretentions. But we are greatly mistaken if the large majority
of the working classes do not heartily despise and loathe such
political tricksters. The working classes, as they are called, are
not so easily duped as certain demagogues imagine. They have
been watching for years the conduct of certain fair-spoken
legislators. That conduct they have found diametrically opposed
to the opinions they profess to entertain, and subversive of the
rights of working men. In these circumstances they are not likely
to lend their influence, in placing men in power who fawn and
flatter them, when dependent upon their votes, but who despise
them when in office, and deprive them of their just and honest
dues.

Meanwhile let those who contribute by manual labor to the
resources of the country, assert the independence and incorrupt-
ibility of their character and principles, by thinking and acting for
themselves, without the flatteries of time serving and insincere
politicians. As the poet better expresses it : —

CAPITAL AND LABOR. 57

I ' ..,'' Ho ! ye who at the anvil toil,

[ ' And strike the sounding blow,

? Where from the burning iron's breast,

The sparks fly to and fro.
Oh ! while ye feel 'tis hard to toil,

And sweat the long day through;
Remember it is harder still
To have no work to do.

Ho ! all who labor, all who strive,

Ye wield a mighty power.
Do with your might, do with your strength,

Fill every golden hour.
; .C This glorious privilege to do.

Is man's most noble dower.
Oh ! to your birthright and yourselves,

To your own souls be true ;
A weary, wretched life is theirs

Who have no work to do !

Popular Amusements.

Their Use and Abuse.

" Hast thou found honey ? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lost

thou be filled therewith and vomit it."

— Proverbs 35, v 16.

Popular Amusements.

HERE is no book so full of practical counsels as the
book of Proverbs. It takes cognizance of every age,
rank and condition of life. It points out not only the
more flagrant sins of society, but also the more secret
temptations against which it is our duty to guard, and
'^'P gives directions, that faithfully followed, are sure to add to
our happiness and welfare in the present and the future. Though
written long ago, these Proverbs are adapted to every age, and
approve themselves to every intelligent and candid mind.

The largest proportion of these Proverbs are addressed to
youth. The dark experience of Solomon and the bitter remorse
that followed, made him a fit teacher of others. Like beacons on
mountain tops, or light houses along rock-bound coasts, that warn
of coming danger, so Solomon stands out upon the pagfe of history,
sad evidence of the fact that genius, learning and wisdom are of
little avail, without the safeguard of religious principle. As ships
need ballast, to steady them on the ocean, so do men need the
grace of God, to keep them beyond the reach of temptation and

evil

(6i)

62 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

In one of these Proverbs, the wise king speaks as follows:—
" Hast thou found honey ? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee,
lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it" Honey represents
pleasure, — that which gratifies and pleases the mind, as honey does
the sense of taste. But honey must be taken in moderation ; a
surfeit of it is dangerous to our physical well-being. A little honey
may be beneficial, but more than what is sufficient will make a man
wretched. And so pleasures and pastimes, even though innocent
in themselves, are not to be unduly or too frequently indulged in.
They are intended not to oppress the mental powers, but to refresh
and invigorate the higher energies of our nature ; to fit and not to
disqualify for the real duties of life ; to be enjoyed in leisure mo-
ments, and not to fill up the entire measure of existence. Amuse-
ment is only lawful and allowable, for the sake of economising
strength, or fitting us to discharge the obligations and bear the
burdens of life. As a living writer says : " Mirth and music and
v/lt belong to the class of stimulant : they are good seasoning, but
poor food. Amusement is a piece of insertion put between solid
fabrics, and is ornamental in connecting them. No amusement is
good that unfits you for your regular duties in life ; it must not be
a rival, but a servant ; it must give an appetite for duty. Amuse-
ment is a whetstone ; after it, the faculties should be sharper than
they were before. The gayeties of society are extravagant, unnat-
ural and unwholesome. Innocent dances under the trees in
summer, or at home among friends, closing at an early hour, may
be commonded as not only harmless, but positively useful. But
all-night parties and balls set at naught every rational principle ;
they are condemned before they get half way up to moral consid-
eration. They dissipate, not recreate ; they destroy the body
they do not revive it ; they are a satire on amusement. Amuse-
ment should revive those faculties which regular work leaves
dormant ; and not tax those powers which are overworked."

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 6$

Solomon, then, does not prohibit pleasure, but excess of pleasure
— the abuse of what is in itself innocent, and as a matter of course
all pleasures that are untimely— that tend directly or indirectly tr
the development of the mere animal nature — that take their rise in
sinful passions, or lead to sin.

This teaching is in full accord with the spirit of Christianity.
The Bible nowhere rebukes nor prohibits innocent amusements.
It does not say it is wrong to laugh, and, although different inter-
pretations may be given of the inspired penman's words, it does
not say that it is wrong to dance. I am not now passing any
opinion on the more fashionable amusements of the day, but simply
stating what every Bible reader knows, that the religion of Jesus
Christ, so far from being a melancholy, gloomy, repulsive thing, is
a cheerful, happy experience ; that so far from demanding seclusion
from society, it recognizes the necessity of active commerce
between man and man, and the fullest enjoyment pf all that this
fair world affords, and that our heavenly Father has provided to
meet the wants of our complex nature.*

I say "complex nature," for man is the most wonderful, as he
is the grandest of all God's creatures. There is within him reason,
fancy, imagination, taste, the emotions of mirth and gladness, grief
and sorrow. He is not a mass of matter unaffected by the influ-
ences of the outside world, but a delicately formed organism,

♦Says Talmage, speaking of Christ's presence at the marriage of Cana
of Galilee : " Christ was tiot impatient with the festal joy. He was the
chief of the banqueters. When the wine gave out He supplied it ; and,
so I take it, he will not deny us the joys that are positively festal, and
that the children of God have more right to than any other people.
Christianity don't clip the wings of the soul. I take Christianity to be
simply a proclamation from the throne of God of emancipbtion for all the
enslaved. Yet men try to make us believe that God's children are on the
limits, and the chief refreshments and enjoyments of life are for outsiders
and not for his own children."

64 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

capable of being thrilled by a thousand different impulses. And
God who has thus myi>> -iously framed his being, has provided in
nature, in society, in art and literature and science, in communings
with the seen and unseen world, all that is necessary for his happi-
ness, and conducive to his comfort.

But while all men have these powers and emotions, they are
variously developed. Some men are destitute of reason ; others
have little or no imagination. The world to them is but a vast
workshop, and beneath its barren surface they never penetrate.
" There is no beauty nor mystery in the bloom and brightness or
decay of nature ; the stars light up no worlds of wonder to their
souls ; the seasons in their annual round wake up no sense of
* marvel " — as the poet has said of the unconscious, ignorant rustic
who goes through the fairest scenes of nature unimpressed :—

In vain through every changeful year,

Did nature lead him as before ;
A primrose by a river's brim,
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more.

The soft blue sky did never melt
Into his heart ; he never felt

The witchery of the soft blue sky.

There was a hardness in his cheek,

There was a hardness in his eye,
As if the mttn had fixed his face
In many a solitary place,

Against the wind and open sky.

Others again are grave, serious, and solemn, not easily excited ;
while many good and useful christian men and women are full of
mirth — easily moved to laughter, and overflowing with good nature.
Now it is not the part of the man void of fancy and imagination,
to rail at or depreciate his neighbor's love of the ideal ; nor is it
becoming in the man of grave and serious temperament, to denounce

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 6$

the happy and mirthful tendencies of his brother. Both are but
acting out the impulses put within them by an all-wise Creator.
The one perchance finds complete relaxation from the labor of life
in severe studies, — the other in the private or the more public
assemblies of social life ; the one finds perfect enjoyment in fellow-
ship with the mighty dead, the other in listening to the sweet
sounds of music, or the sparkling utterances of eloquence, all of
which help very materially to sweeten the machinery of life, and
make men forget or overcome the petty sorrows of existence.

The hardest students and the most diligent merchants of the
present day claim certain periods of perfect abandon, when books
and ledgers r.re closed, and when unrestrained by the ordinary avo-
cations of life, they can relax their energies. But for such relax-
ation, nature would succumb. Undue tension breaks the bow, and
overmuch travel founders the fleetest and strongest steed, and so
prolonged application of mind or body ends in brain disease and
madness, if not in suicide. No man can steadily work lor ten or
twelve hours a day, from week to week, without paying the penalty
of outraged nature. Mere drudgery, in which neither skill nor
thought is demr.nded, may be performed for a much longer period,
but solid work, directed by skill and demanding forethought a^d
steady application, cannot be profitably continued beyond a certain
point. " Profitableness in work depends not so much upon the
number of hours, as upon the number of faculties concentrated in
each ; upon how much mind you have been able to transform into
work. Four hours work by a healthy mind, is better than twelve
hours by one that is not invigorated by rest and amusement. It is
with thought as with an axe, the sharp edge economizes strength —
if sharp it cuts ; if dull it pounds. Haifa man's time well put in,
is better than the whole ; it is the concentration, — it is the cutting
edge that achieves."

Thus far, there is very little difference of opinion among chris-
tians. The necessity of recreation and innocent amusements is
*6

66 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

universally admitted. So far from seeking to reduce their number,
we would gladly hail their increase. There are too few opportyni-
ties for healthy, rational recreation in our towns and cities. In
many cases, business and mechanieal pursuits, — the toils of the
factory and workshop, — are so incessantly pursued, as to have a
most deleterious effect upon the animal vigor of the young. Em-
ployers of all classes would consult their own interests and the
welfare of their servants, if in some way the period of manual labor
could be reduced, so as to admit of more exercise and recreation
during daylight and in the open air, and thus preclude the neces-
sity, which is pleaded, for devoting the hours of midnight to amuse-
ments of a dangerous character. It is folly to say that the young
are never to enjoy themselves ; that they are never to laugh, or
romp, or play, or skate, or play ball and cricket, or indulge in the
innocent pastimes of the parlor and the drawing-room. It is against
nature and the wise ordination of a gracious Providence to find it
so in any instance. So far from fitting our youth for the more
staid and responsible duties of their subsequent life, such a cramp-
ing of their physical and emotional energies would produce a race,
anything but fitted to increase the happiness of society, or credit-
ably act their part in life. The cares and sorrows of riper years,
the responsibilities and burdens of business and home, the disap-
pointments and trials that are to be met with in every walk of life,
will soon enough wrinkle the brow and sadden the heart, without
encroaching upon the happy days of youth. But even innocent
and lawful pleasures must be moderately indulged in. Admitting
that the physical and mental energies demand relaxation — : iic
portion of time when manual labor shall be suspended and study
abandoned — it is also to be borne in mind that recreation ceases to
be recreation when it is more than an occasional indulgence. We
eat in order to continue the physical part of our constitution in
health — to sustain the body and enable it to perform its functions ;

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 6/

— not to pamper or satiate the appetite, or unduly oppress the
organs of digestion. We drink when thirsty to quench our thirst,
and not for drunkenness. So, in like manner, lawful pleasures and
innocent recreations must be engaged in ; not to kill time, or infuse
a momentary delirium into the spirit, but to refresh our whole sys-
tem and prepare it for future exertion. It must not intrude upon
the hours of business or work — it must not be of such a character
as to interfere with the time and thought necessary to the main
pursuits of life. It is intended only to diversify and change our
more serious and burdensome employments — to afford timeous
relief to the overtasked energies — but in no case to take the place
which should be given to solid work. It must not even interfere
with bodily repose, nor be allowed to exhaust by long continuance,
nor should it be of that character which inflames and excites the
passions, and indisposes us from returning to the ordinary avoca-
tions of life.

But there still remains the more difficult question, what pastimes

and amusements are safe for christian men and women to engage

in ? What is consistent with a profession of religion ? Are there

any, that while innocent in themselves, should be avoided on the

grounds of expediency ? There are amusements so-called, which

no christian man will for a moment defend, far less indulge in.

The race-course, the gamin • table, and the average character of

iheatrical representations, (which in our larger towns and cities

lander to the lowest passions of humanity, and are often supported

and patronized by men and women whose views of social obligations

.nd whose practice of impurity are so radically opposed to the

anons of morality, as to make them dangerous in any community),

)elong to that class. But leaving these out of sight, as matters

egarding which we are all agreed, what shall we say of many

ithers, that are rigidly condemned by some and as strongly advo-

atcd by others ? One class of the religious world eschew the lee-

f8 , THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

ture room, the concert room, and all assemblages outside the
brotherhood of the saints. Others deem it no sin to attend the
concert room, but regard it as a grievous wrong to listen to the
same singer in operatic melodies. Some relish manly field sports,
but condemn all indoor amusements, while others consider them as
equally innocent, and above reproach. Some think it right and
proper, in their own homes, to encourage and take part in games
and charades and tableaux, and delight to see their children "speak-
ing their pieces," and going through their dialogues, dressed in
costume ; but esteem it an offence against christian propriety, to
countenance such amusements when put upon the stage by persons
of mature age ! With such diversity of opinion, who shall presume
to act the part of judge, and frame a perfect code of laws for the
guidance of the christian community !

I do not imagine that any definite rule, can be laid down in
such matters. Wiser men than the writer have again and again
attempted to specify what amusements are or are not in accordance
with christian propriety, and have signally failed in securing any-
thing like unanimity of sentiment on the subject. Good men differ
in regard to such matters as they do in politics and theology.
Churches make rules, and profess to be guided in the admission of
membf 3 and the discipline of offenders by such rules, while prac-
tically they are a dead letter. And laws that cannot be en.brced
had far better not be made. If you cannot carry with you the
individual conscience, you cannot hope to change the individual
practice. ^ : ',■

In regard, then, to this vexed question, I hold that christian
men and women must regulate their conduct according to the
dictates of an enlightened conscience. Each to his own master
stands or falls. If we feel that we are the better physically, men-
tally and morally, by moderate indulgence in innocent pleasures,
then whatever be the opinion of our fellow-men, or the views of

POPULAR AMI EMENTS. 69

esteemed brethren who cannot see eye to eye with us in such
matters, we have a right to use them — in so far as they invigorate
and strengthen us for the severer toils, and the more arduous tasks
of life, but no further. As it has been well put : — No amusement
is innocent that hurts the participant, no matter whether it is right
per se or not. Nothing is wrong in itself or right in itself, — that is
right wh'ch does good, and that is wrong which does harm. What
may be right for me may be wrong for my neighbor. Every man
must discriminate, and select or reject pleasure, not by fashion or
other people's experience, but according to its good or bad effect
on himself

There comes in next, the question of christian expediency.
What I may or may not do is to be regulated, not simply by my
own feelings or preferences, but by a consideration of the influence
exerted upon the conduct of others. " No man livcth to himself"
\ In a most important sense, we are our brother's keeper, and charge-
able with his blood, if through our example he perish. "All things,"
says Paul, -'are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient ; all
things are lawful for me, but all things edify not."

The young men and women of our land Siiould ponder well the
words already quoted. "Hast thou found honey? eat so much as
is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it."
Habitual or even occasional attendance upon questionable places
of amusement, or undue, indulgence in innocent pleasure is produc-
tive of moral injury. No man can become physically strong, who
lives on sweetmeats, and no man can attain a robust manhood by
cultivating a taste for the more frivolous amusements of the present
day. It is indeed, with certain amusements, as with the poisonous
Manchineel, a tree which grows in the West Indies. Its appear-
ance is attractive, and its fruit most beautiful to the eye. The
apple, resembling a golden pippin, which hangs on its branches,
looks very tempting and smells very fragrant, but to eat of it is

70 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

instant death, and its sap or juice is so poisonous, that if a few
drops of it fall upon the skin, it raises blisters and occasions great
pain. The Indians dip their artows into the juice, that they may
poison the enemies they wound. So sin, partially robed in fascin-
ating colors, looks pleasing to the eye ; and men desire it, cat of it,
and die. Many a promising young man has thus been ruined for
time and eternity. Of such an one the poet says :

He was a lovely youth ! I guess
The panther in the wilderness, .

Was not so fair as he.

* ♦ ♦''"'■■-■

A youth to whom was given
So much of earth, so much of heaven, j

And such innpetuous blood.

* * * , ,
But ill he lived, much evil saw,
With men to whom no better law.

Nor bttter life was known.

* * *

His genius and his moral frame
Were thus impaired, and he became
V The slave of low desires ;

A man who without self-control,
Would seek what the degraded soul
Unworthily admires

The spirit of frivolity that characterizes a large proportion of
our Canadian youth is much to be regretted. It would seem as if
there was little or no inclination for employment, pursuit or
recreation, that calls into existence anything beyond the most
superficial qualities of mind. Fashion, custom, public display, a love
of the gaudy and glittering pleasures of the moment, are the pre-
vailing tastes and passion of youthful society, although the mind be
left barren and void of all refinement and cultivation. To dress
like the upper classes — to imitate the customs and follow the foot-
steps of those who are considered the leaders of fashion — is their
study. Bible classes and Sabbath schools and christian associa-

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 7'

tions are considered beneath their notice — an unnecessary part of
modern education. What is the result? A race of men and
women are growing up, very different from the sturdy pioneers of
this western Canada of ours — men and women who with strong
arms and heroic hearts cleared our forests, and laid the foundations
of that fresh and vigorous nation whicn we now possess. Our
fashionable follies are raising up men and women effeminate and
feeble, both in mind and body — so artificial and unnacural in their
habits as to be unfitted for the sober concerns of life. There is
also a wilfulness at the present day characteristic of youth, which
augurs ill for their future welfare in society ; in many cases sons
and daughters, by their love of pleasure more than home, bring
bitter sorrow into parents' hearts ? No spot on earth should be so
endearing and attractive as home, aud no society preferable to a
mother's. The time must cor-ie, when, with wisdom and years to
warrant such a step, they shall leave the family circle and take an
independent position in life ; but until that time arrives, the more
frequently our young men and women are found around the
hearthstone the better for themselves and the better for their
friends. As society is now constituted, the years spent at home
are brief at the longest, to learn those lessons of prudence, sobriety
and virtue, which are best taught by christian parents, without
being unduly diminished by withdrawal to other scenes and indul-
ging in dangerous sports.

We speak thus with no bitterness of feeling, but in sorrow. We
would have the young realize the value of life and the importance
of redeeming the present hour. It is to be feared that some of our
youth madly fondle pleasure and engage in unhallowed revelry, to
drown the very thought of a hereafter. This sad tendency was
strikingly illustrated in the case of Burton, a celebrated actor, who
died a few years ago in New York. A year or two before his
death he became alarmingly ill, and despaired of life. His physi-

72 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

clan told him he was affected with disease of the heart, which
would inevitably prove fatal unless he abandoned the stage and
gave up all his theatrical engagements. He advised him to retire
on his abundant means, and lead for the short time he might be
spared a life of ease, and one in harmony with his approaching
end. His reply was : — " I cannot abandon the stage. It furnishes
me with the excitement which I cannot live without. I should be
driven to think of myself, and should go crazy." This was the
secret of his continued active, volatile, and consuming life. It kept
him from reflecting upon his condition, and he preferred it on that
account, although it hastened his end. To forecast the future,
while we moderately enjoy the present, is the dictate of reason and
conscience. Those who thus act from day to day have the best
assurance of a long, useful life, and a happy, peaceful death,
unshadowed by dark reminiscences of mis-spent and wasted hours.
Finally, let me add, that the christian churches are guiltv to a
great extent, in promoting many of the questionable amus> icnts
of the present day, by condescending to the use of means for raising
funds, in behalf of religious objects, altogether opposed to the spirit
and the practice of the gospel. Is it not true that many religious
people give their countenance to tableaux, charades, lotteries and
other amusements of a questionable character ? Is it not true that
churches are desecrated by secular concerts and foolish exhibitions,
in order to procure funds for the support of preaching the gospel,
or the liquidation of church debts, and that men who make no
profession of religion whatever and scoff at Christianity, are impor-
tuned to assist in this way, what in other circumstances they
despise ? Until reformation begins in the house of God, we cannot
expect that manifestoes or protests will be of any value in warning
our youth against amusements — injurious and sinful in themselves,
or because of their associations. Possibly I hold somewhat rigid
notions regarding church buildings. Edifices erected for and con-

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 73

secrated to the worship of God, should, I apprehend, be devoted to
such or kindred objects, and not given up to entertainments that
had better be held in public halls ; and churches that cannot exist
u Mn the free-will offering of the people, have no right in my opin-
ion, to extort contributions from an unwilling public, by conde-
scending to the use of means at variance with the teachings of the
religion they profess.

--^^^^^^^^^^

Sceptical Objections

TO TI^KYBI^.

" What is the Almighty that we should serve him ? And what profit

should we have if we pray unto hiui 1"

—Job 21, V. 15.

Sceptical Objections to Prayer.

''N THE context, Job tells us that this is the language of
the wicked. They see no immediate benefit in serving
God, and therefore refuse him rightful homage. And
what was true in the earlier age of the world, is even
more strikingly exemplified in the present day.
There are many, who, if they do not utter the atheistic sen-
timent of the text, cherish it secretly in their hearts, and live accord-
ing to its belief. They have no regard for anything beyond the
present. The thorough selfishness and sordidness of their nature
despises tho better blessings of the future. If prayer would increase
their riches, add to their possessions, and meet the covetous desires
of their hearts, none would be more frequently in the attitude of
suppliants. But inasmuch as spiritual blessings first, and temporal
blessings afterwards, is the order in which God answers prayer, and
that the latter as a rule are only given where there is a proper
appreciation of the former, the* sensual worldling exclaims, " What
profit should we have if we pray unto him ?"

In the face of such blasphemous sentiments, it is worthy of
remark, that men everywhere, both in pagan and civilized countries,
have prayed, after their special modes. The Phoenician supplicates

(77)

78 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Baal ; the Roman. Jupiter ; the Egyptian, the Nile ; and the Indian,
the Great Unknown Spirit. As the poet says :

His untutored mind,
Spps God in clouds, or hears him in the wind.
His soul, proud science never teught to stray,
Far as the solar walk, or milky way ;
Yet siniple nature to his hope has given
Behind the cloud topped hill, an humbler heaven.

Rousseau, a professed atheist, speaks of a certain bewildering
ecstacy which his mind experienced, as if in communion with an
invisible power, causing him to cry out, " O, great Being ! O, great
Being !" What does all this prove, but that in some form or other
the act of prayer is inseparable from humanity. A universal feel-
ing of dependence and weakness pervades all ranks and conditions
of men, felt just as strongly where there is no faith in the true God
as where there is, and compelling the creature to look beyond self
for support. Men in the abundance of this world's favors, may
affect to despise such feelings, 1 l there comes a period in the his-
tory of i.he most defiant sinner, when he is driven for refuge and
consolation to that God, whose very existence he formerly denied

Let us briefly state and answer a few of the more common
objections to prayer, which are fittingly embodied in the language
of the text.

Granted, says the sceptic, that there is a God, who created and
governs the world, it is foolish to expect him to listen to the cries
of all the creatures of his hand. Enthroned in the highest heavens
— the central attraction of its lofty intelligences — independent of
the homage of man or angel, and ruling with absolute and unques-
tioned authority, — what madness to expect him to lend a listening
ear to the prayers of mortals ? The pure angelic spirits that bow
before his throne, " may catch his eye and obtain a transient
recognition," but to imagine for a moment, that he is interested in

SCEPTICAL OBJECTIONS TO PRAYER. 79

the endless round of human hopes and fears, that agitate the minds
of men, is to degrade and insult the character of the eternal.

What is meant by such language ? It is that God cannot, or
will not condescend, to hear and answer prayer : — that while he
disposes of the greater affairs of the universe, he cannot or will not
trouble himself with the petty and insignificant details of human
experience? if it is meant that God cannot then there is an end
to debate, for the very idea of a God implies an omnipotent power
— ability to rule over much or over I'ttle — an utter indifference,
whether it be the affairs of one or a thousand worlds that solicit his
attention. If he cannot atterd to the separate wants of his crea-
tures, then he cannot govern the world as a whole, for it is only by
knowing the special demands of the individual that he can provide
for the collective wants of the mass. Or does the objector mean
that he will not stoop to listen to the mj-riad cries of his dependent
creatures ? Then in that case, he cannot be such a b^ing as the
Bible represents him to be — a God not only of matchless power,
but also of infinite love — a God, who so far from creating man, and
abandoning him to his fate, watches over him with an ever increas-
ing and deepening interest, despite of guilt and wickedness which
deserve the outpourings of vengeance. Or is it meant that this
world is so insignificant, compared with other parts of creation,
that it cannot share the interest of his infinite mind ? It is true
that this earth is small compared with the collected grandeur and
■lory of the divine workmanship. When we survey the heavens,
vhich are the work of his fingers, the moon, and the stars which
lie has ordained, one may well exclaim, what is man that thou art
nindful of him, or the son of man, that thou dost visit him ? But
ivhile in this aspect, our world appears insignifi.-ant, in other
Respects for aught we know, it may be the noblest work of God.
"•mall though it be, it has been peopled by a race immortal in their
lature. Man is but a little lower than the angels. That sun

80 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

which in its endless journey shoots forth heat and flames of light to
attendant worlds, is not for a moment to be compared with the
smallest orb that rolls in space, if but a single being treads its
surface.

Herein lies the moral grandeur and significance of our world.
It has been, and is still to be, the arena of events more momentous
far than the page of history has recorded. God in human form has
tabernacled among men. Redemption has been purchased. Para-
dise has been regained. Death has been despoiled of its terrors,
and the grave of its victory. Yet a little while, and the son of God
shall descend to crown his chosen ones with a deathless immortal-
ity, procured by his sufferings. Thus we conclude, that this earth,
with all its inferiority, is still the grandest of all God's works, and
that He not only can, but does hear the prayers of his children,
when offered in a simple confiding faith.

But, continues the objector, granted that the Almighty is both
able and willing to hear and answer prayer, how can He do so, in
consistency with the arrangement of natural laws? Everything
has been from all eternity ordained by God. Like the several
links in a chain, so are the events of the world. No change can be
made in a single instance, without leading to confusion in the
whole. The world, like to a watch, was, so to speak, wound up by
its Maker at creation. Certain laws were then established, and set
in motion for the government of men and provision for their wants,
and these cannot be set aside to meet every new emergency of the
creature. Miraculous interposition, in answer to prayer, is thus an
utter impossibility. A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature,
and as our experience has established the unvarying uniformity of
these laws, to believe in their suspension even for a single moment,
in order that prayer may be answered, is alike opposed to comrnon
sense, as it is in direct conflict with the teachings of philosophy
and science.

SCEPTICAL OBJECTIONS PO PRAYER. 8l

This is just a reproduction of the doctrine of Fate, as held by
the ancients. Destitute of the knowledge of God, they ascribed
the government of the world to a blind destiny, or necessity, per-
sonified. We, with clearer views of truth, recognize no such thing as
Fate. Physical and moral laws are the ordination and creation of
God. The question simply resolves itself into this : — Has the
Creator no power over the thing created ? Has the machinist no
influence over that which is the work of his hand and the offspring
of his brain ? Can he not modify, regulate, increase, or retard its
motion ? Can he not even insert some new principle of action,
without interfering with the general design and working of the
machine? There can be but one answer to all such questionings.
Most certainly. He who at first framed and fashioned this world,
and so beautifully harmonized the laws of nature for the welfare of
his creatures, can when occasion demands, change or modify their
action. If you give to the mechanic the power to regulate the
work of his hands, surely this much must be accorded the Almighty.
If not, he has become the slave of nature. Answers to prayer, in
whatever form they come, can never honestly be described as vio-
lations of the laws of nature. " These laws are nothing but the
common operations of divine power in the government of the world,
which depend entirely for their existence and continuance on the
infinite will of the Creator. Miraculous interposition is nothing but
the exertion of divine power, in a way different from that which is
common," but in perfect harmony, if we could only see it with the
original design whith the Almighty planned for the government of
the world, and the continuous supply of his creatures' wants.

All are but parts of one stupendous whole, ,

Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.

He sees with equal eye, as God of all, j

A hero perish, or a sparrow fall ;

Atoms or systems into ruin hurled,

And now a bubble burst, and now a world. a-^_,-,",-^

82 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

But it may be replied, that our illustration or argument is not
in all respects legitimate or logical. The chronometer and the
machine of the artist or artizan, are not perfect They are not
regarded so by their framers. Improvements are to be expected,
corresponding to the discoveries of science. But when God made
the laws of nature, He made them perfect, and the idea of perfec-
tion precludes improvement. If perfection is stamped upon these
laws, then prayer, however importunate, cannot induce the Almighty
to change the order of the universe.

Our answer to this objection is, that while fully admitting the
perfection of nature's laws at creation, it does not follow that they
should serve every end, or supersede the necessity of prayer. And
even ;::ranting that at the moment of creation these laws fully met
all the wants of the creature, it does not follow that in man's sinful
and fallen condition, they are equally efficient. God has not changed,
or if the sceptic prefers it, Nature has not changed, but man has
changed. Man and Nature are now in conflict. His condition is
no longer sinless and happy, but guilty and miserable. To meet
his new wants and ameliorate his sufferings, why may not the
Almighty influence nature, changing and modifying its operations,
in accordance with man's altered condition ? Without presuming
to enquire into the secret things of God, or be wise above what is
written, one or two methods may reverently be suggested, in virtue
of which God can answer prayer, in perfect harmony with the laws
of nature. *

{a) God may influence the laws of nature without either an-cst-
I'ng or changing their known arrangements. We can trace back
the operations of nature but a very little way. Beyond this limit,
how easy it is for God to interpose without our knowledge

* See The Rationale of Prayer, by Rev. Dr. G. 0. Hutton, of Scot-
land, where this train of thought is admirably presented.

SCEPTICAL OBJECTIONS TO PRAYQR. 83

r {b) Why may not prayer and its answer be joined together as
cause and effect ? May not the omniscient God, who foresees every
prayer that is offered, so arrange it, that the blessing asked shall
come in connection with t' j prayer offered, while at the same time
the laws of nature remain as the medium of its transmission ?

{c) Or may we not believe, that prayer and its answer, form a
separate law of nature — the answer to our prayers coming, as the
result of laws arranged for this very purpose? If we accept this
explanation, then the Almighty need not interpose by miracle or
otherwise, but simply by the agency of separate laws, in perfect
harmony with the operations of Nature, answer the prayers of his
children. If, as has been remarked, there is a way by which God
can answer prayer, without disturbing his own laws, it is safest to
conclude that this is the actual method employed.

If the possibility of player being answered is still denied — if it
is affirmed, that the doctrine of foreordination is so rigid, that
nothing but what is thus predestinated can happen, and that every-
;hing must happen, independent of human exertion or prayer, then
,ve reply, that such a theory would put an end to every form of
luman endeavor. Why need a man labor, if he shall receive, inde-
lendent of effort ? Why should the husbandman till the ground
nd sow his seed? Why should the merchant busy himself in his
ounting house or on the exchange? Why, in a word, need any
man plan for the future, seeing that all things thus foreordained
must come to pass, according to the iron law of necessity ? Surely
the statement of such a doctrine is all that is needed to ensure
its condemnation ! It is a mere pretext put forth by wicked men,
to conceal their hatred of the Almighty, and their unwillingness to
admit their dependence upon his supreme omnipotence, unerring
ivisdom, and fatherly care.

But why prolong such a discussion in the hearing of christian
en ? The pious heart seeks not to know how prayer is answered,

84 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

being fully convinced of the fact. Every good man knows by
experience, the profit that results from communion with his Maker.
For prayer is not to be valued simply by the external blessings
conferred upon the suppliant. There is, besides, an inward subjec-
tive effect — a composure of mind and tranquility of soul beyond
expression ; — a peace and joy and rapture, which the world can
neither give nor take away. The christian rises from his knees,
with his countenance irradiated with heaven's glory, as was the
face of Moses, when he descended from the mount. The character
of the praying saint assumes a beauty, and emits a fragrance other-
wise unknown. Life, despite of its woes and sorrows, is rendered
divine, and the soul prepared for the unbroken and sinless fellow-
ship of heaven. ■ ,,

That believers have always such strong confidence in the effi-
cacy of prayer, I do not assert. There are times when God seems
to cast off his people — when the promise tarries — when they cry
and are not heard — when their importunity seems to avail nothing
— when they are so beset with trouble, and so persistently baffled
in their purposes, that they almost despair and stagger on the very
brink of apostacy. Weak faith cries out :

^ " If I could only surely know

' ' That all these things that tire me so

Were uoiiced by ray Lord —
The pangs that cut me like a knife,
The lesser pains of daily life,
The noise, the weariness, the strife, —
What peace it would afford !

I wonder if he fpally shares
. . In all my little human cares,

This mighty King of kings ;
If He who guides each blazing star,
Through realms of boundless space afar,
• • Without confusion, sound or jar,

- -— -^ Stoops to these petty things. £^„_;„^ _

►

SCEPTICAL OBJECTIONS TO PRAYER. 8$

►

But to all such enquiries, there comes at last perfect trust and
unshaken confidence. The darkness is scattered and the language
of full assurance is attained :

Dear Lord, my heart hath nol a doubt
That Thou dost compass me about

With sympathy divine.
The love for me once crucified , ,, i

Is not a love to leave my side,
But waiteth ever to divide

Each snallest care of mine.

Beneath the skeptical sneers of the age at prayer, there lies the
prior question, is there a God at all ? I know that some men who
profess to have implicit faith in the existence of a supreme being,
deny the efficacy of prayer, save in so far as it has a reflex influ-
I ence upon the suppliant. But surely if there is a God, his ability
to hear and answer prayer must be admitted. We cannot philoso-
phically separate the two things. If there is no God, then most
certainly prayer is a mockery. But who that takes the most
ursory glance at this wisely appointed and curiously fashioned
Material world, can deny the existence of a creating and pre-
siding deity? Have you ever stood in a serene summer mid-
night, under the blue dome of the heavens ? The sky is without a
cloud, the moon is gradually waning at the distant approach of
dawn, and the attendant stars add to the scene a brilliancy all their
wn. Almost imperceptibly, the faint streaks of returning day
shoot across the horizon, the smaller stars like little children sinking
rst to rest, followed by the brighter constellations. " Steadily the
wondrous transfiguration goes on. Hands of angels hidden from
mortal eyes shift the scenery of the heavens until the glories of
night dissolve into the glories of the dawn. Faint streaks of purple
•lush along the sky : inflowing tides of morning light bathe the
ntire celestial concave in one great ocean of radiance, until finally
. flash of fire blazes out from above the horizon, turning the dewy

86 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

t :ar drops of flower and leaf into rubies and diamonds. The ever-
lasting gates of the morning are now thrown wide open, and the
lord of day, arrayed in glories too severe for the gaze of man,
begins his course." Such a scene — one of many — that evoke the
adnn'ration and adoration of the most stolid and unimpassioned, is
surely in itself overwhelming demonstration as to the existence of
a God. But I am told that this first great cause has now with-
drawn from all further superintendence of his works, and left his
creatures to be the sport and pastime of wayward passions, and the
victims ot a fierce despair, that hurries them to the grave, without
a ray of light, or a gleam of hope upon their rugged pathway !
No, it cannot be. As Bryant beautifully soliliquizes, when looking
at a wild water-fowl passing over him in the twilight : —

Whither, midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue

Thy solitary way ?

There is a power whose care ,:

Teaches thy way along the pathless coast,
The desert and illiraitable air,

Lone wandering, but not lost

He who, from zone to zone.
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone, -|

Will lead my steps aright.

There are some, doubtless, who have no such sceptical opinions
regarding prayer, yet still neglect it. Perhaps they have omitted
the duty so long, that they feel ashamed to begin again. That
same cowardice, which prevents many from professing Christ, fol-
lows them into the secrecy of the family. At times conscience
troubles them, and they resolve no longer to live in such wilful
neglect of God, but under the whisperings of Satan, that their
motive cannot be sincere, they continue to live strangers to a throne

CLPTICAL OBJECTIONS TO PRAYER. C7

of grace. Others neglect prayer, because of alleged inability.
Their early educational advantages have not been of such a nature
as to qualify them for the exercise, in what they regard as a becom-
ing manner. They have not the language in which to convey their
thoughts and express their feelings. In certain families, also, dif-
ferences of religious opinion between parents, or rather the lack of
f religion on the part of one or both, prevents family worship. To
[ all such let me say, that neglect of known duty in the past is no
I excuse for continued refusal. The longer a man has practised indif-
i ference, the sooner should he reverse his conduct. Repentance,
however late, if sincere, is acceptable, and prayer offered at the
eleventh hour can secure the favor of heaven. The value of prayer
consists not in the language, but in the spirit that animates the
petitioner. The unuttered breathings of the soul ; the silent sobs
of the bruised and broken spirit ; the rude, unlettered speech of the
half-civilized barbarian — the broken and feeble accents of childhood
and infancy, are as pleasing in the sight of God as the chaste and
fervent prayers of the matured christian or the scholarly divine.

Finally, — No man should argue against the efficacy of prayer,
until he has proved by infallible tests, that it is worthless. Arro-
gant blasphemers content themselves with scoffs and sneers, which
are of no value, as against the experience of one believing soul. If
prayer is a mere form, then the scriptures are false throughout, and
the testimony of Old and New Testament saints unreliable. But
it is not so. A sound philosophy echoes the poet's words :

\ More things are wrought by prayer

; Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice

Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
\ For what are men better than sheep or goats

! That nourish a blind life within the brain,

If knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer,

Both for themselves and those who call them friend ] '

For so the who e round earth is every way,

Bound by gold chains, about the feet of God.

What are the Marks

OF A

qE]sri;i]srE ijEYiv^ii ?

>: ■

" O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years : in the midat of
the years make known :" in wrath remember mercy."

— Habakkuk 8, v. 2.

Marks of a Genuine Revival.

HE prophecy of Habakkuk was uttered some six hun-
dred years before the advent of Christ. It refers to
the invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans, and foretells
the total overthrow of the Babylonish Empire, and the
ultimate deliverance of God's own chosen people. The
prophet's heart sinks within him, as he rolls back the cur-
tain that veiled the future, and reveals the approaching vengeance
of an angry God. " Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause
me to behold grievance ?" He next proceeds to set forth in vivid
colors, the flagrant violations of God's law of which the nation was
guilty. For their pride, their covetousness, their sensuality and
their cruelty, it was necessary that God should vindicate His holi-
ness, and visit them with judgment. Then follow the words of the
text. Before, he has been addressing man, or listening in the pres-
ence of Jehovah. Now he seeks relief from his agony of soul in
importunate prayer. " O Lord, I have heard Thy speech, and was
afraid : O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years ; in the
midst of the years make known ; in wrath remember mercy."

The entire prophecy contains passages unequalled for sublimity
of conception and grandeur of illustration, but the portion contained

(91)

92 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

in this third chapter excels in the boldness and rapidity of its
flights, and the magnificence of its imagery. The prophet stands
as mediator between a guilty nation and an angry God. In the
spirit of a true patriot, while he loves his country, he conceals not
her faults. It was just possible that God might yet put forth His
hand and save. True, the Chaldean army had already begun the
work of destruction, but that same power, which in former days
had baffled mighty armies, could defeat their plans, and bring to
naught their councils. " The Lord is strong and mighty : the Lord
is mighty in battle."

The meaning of the prayer is obvious The work spoken of is
twofold, (a) The bestowment of grace upon his chosen but back-
sliding people, and (6) their deliverance from the might of the
oppressors. " Perfect the work of rescuing Thy people from cap-
tivity ; do not let the promises made of old to their fathers lie
dead ; sanctify those terrible calamities to the nation's good, and
at the same time revive the nation's piety. Now that our afflictions
are at their height, put forth Thy power, and glorify Thy name."
To the same purport are the words of Psalm 80, v. 14-19, when the
Psalmist prayed that God's favor might again be extended to the
nation, and the desolate vineyard restored to its former beauty.

In its general application, the text teaches us these important
truths : —

I. A revival of religion is always God's own work. Apart from
His gracious aid, no revival is possible. It is only as churches
and individuals are acted upon by the supernatural power of God's
Holy Spirit, that saints are comforted, refreshed and stimulated, and
sinners awakened, quickened, convicted and converted. " Restore
unto me the joys c ,' Thy salvation ; then will I teach transgres-
sors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee."

There is unspeakable comfort in this thought. The work is
not man's, but God's. He is pledged to its success. It cannot

MARKS OF A GENUINE REVIVAL. 93

fail. Its advancement depends not upon the caprice of individuals,
but on the sworn decree of God himself. Redemption in its con-
ception, progress and results, is all of grace. He at first out of His
infinite love, decreed salvation for the human family ; He still
makes the free offer to guilty sinners, and by His spirit inclines the
heart to seek after pardon. His promise to complete the work and
prosper every instrumentality that has for its aim the conversion
of the world, is our best plea at the mercy seat, when asking God
to bless His people. "Revive Thy work ; wilt Thou not revive
us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee."

H. A revival of religion implies a previous languid, and lifeless
state of spiritual existence. Where there is life and activity there
is no need for revival. When a person faints away and is restored
to consciousness the word is applicable. Or when the almost
drowned or suffocated are restored to animation we use the same
term. It is the word that can only be legitimately applied to a
living being. That which never lived before cannot be revived.
Those who have never had the divine life in their soul cannot
properly be quickened. In their case, there must first be the
implanting of the new principle of grace, before there can be any
impulses Godward and heavenward.

A revival of religion thus implies, that the mass of professing
christians are indifferent and unconcerned ; careless regarding the
progress of spiritual life in their souls, or in the souls of others.
Personal piety is decaying and drooping ; ordinances are lightly
valued ; private and social prayer is formal and irregular. " The
eye of faith is dim and overcast, and seldom fiashes with holy joy ;
the spiritual countenance is hollow and sunken with doubts and
fears, the tongue of praise is partially paralyzed, and has little to
say for Jesus ; the spiritual frame is lethargic ; a horrible numbness
»nd dreadful insensibility prevades the entire being.

94 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Nor is it necessary to be in this perilous condition, that the
mass of church members should be guilty of flagrant sins. Many
seem to think, that so long as the Sabbath is moderately observed
and ordinances statedly administered, nothing can be seriously
wrong. There never was a greater mistake. Apathy and unconcern
are ominous of danger. It Is when the atmosphere is suUry, and not
a breath of wind moves the trees, and life seems a very burden,
that the elements of nature break loose, and the lightning flash and
thunderbolt work saddest havoc in the world. So drooping and
decaying spiritual life, is the procursor of God's vengeance and
av'ful wrath.

That we need a revival of religion who will deny ? As a nation
we have for a long period been highly favored. Quiet Sabbaths,
abundant ministerial service, social meetings for prayer, and Sab-
bath school instruction, are but a few of our many blessings. We
have worshipped according to the dictates of conscience, none
daring to molest us, and not as in other days, when God's elect
ones, hid themselves in dens and caves, from the wrath of man.
And yet what is our condition to-day? Have our privileges been
improved and valued as they might have been ? In some few
cases doubtless, christians have entered upon the higher christian
life. Here and there brands are being plucked from the burning
and dry bones inspired with the energy of the spirit, but where has
been the progress in spiritual things, and those ingatherings to the
fold of Christ, that might have been expected ?

III. A revival is possible. What is beyond man's power in the
realm of nature, is easy of accomplishment with God, and there
are no impossibilities in the sphere of grace. That same power
that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and Lazarus from the tomb,
is almighty to revive His church. That church can never perish.
It has in times past survived the fiercest opposition. The fires of

MARKS OF A GENUINE REVIVAL. 95

persecution cannot extinguish it. The maledictions of tyrants and
the anathemas of devils cannot quench the Spirit's power.

But in order to a genuine revival of religion, as has already
been implied, the church must look to a higher power than human
agency. The vital spark comes from heaven. When the inhabi-
tants of Judea sicken on the plains, they climb the hills and breathe
the more bracing air of the upper regions. And so languid souls
need to get nearer God. We must drink from the fountain head,
and not at human cisterns. We must not rest upon the eloquence
of man, but look to the great Head of the church, who anoints with
the heavenly oil, and transforms human language into the voice of
God. Vital godliness is never aided by excitement, by crowded
meetings, by startling paradoxes, but by the opening of the win-
dows of heaven, and the refreshing breezes of the Spirit. When
Elijah was distressed, because of the impiety of the Israelites, and
hid himself in the cave, he was commanded to go forth and stand
upon the mount of God, and then mark what followed. " Behold
the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind rent the mountains and
broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in
the wind ; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not
in the earthquake ; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord
was not in the fire ; and after the fire a "still small voice." It was
the still small voice, and not the earthquake, nor wind, nor fire,
that brought comfort and peace and hope to the prophets soul !

But it may be replied, if revivals of religion are so directly and
entirely the work of God's spirit, then there is nothing for man to
do, but to stand idly by ?.nd fold his arms ! By no means. Spir-
itual blessings are given in answer to prayer. Revivals of religion
never come to churches or individuals, who are either indifferent or
reluctant to receive them. If we are to witness a genuine revival,
it will be brought about by earnest importunity at a throne of grace.
On our knees we must implore God's long-suffering mercy. We

go THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

must mourn and fast in godly sorrow, and seek in the language of
the text, that in the midst of deserved wrath, God may remember
mercy. No real revival of religion ever took place without deep
confession of sin, and a sincere feeling of our utter unworthiness
in the sight of God.

In the moral government of Jehovah, and the administration
of His affairs on the earth, there is a calling of churches and indi-
viduals to judgment He that walks among the seven golden
candlesticks, marks our conduct If year after year he has lavished
upon us more than ordinary care and no fruit appears upon the
branches, the great husbandman will assuredly say : " Cut them
down, why cumber they the ground ?" God in his infinitr mercy,
prevent such a fearful end !

What then are some of the legitimate and invariable results of
a genuine revival of religion ?

(a). A deepening and rejoicing conviction of our safety in
Christ Assurance is possible and to be sought after. Its absence,
however, does not prove God's displeasure. Plants in the sunshine
and trees by living waters are green and flourishing. Such should
be the condition of all God'3 people after a season of revival. A
man who has been in doubt as to his physical soundness wears a
smile upon his face when assured by his physician that all is well
And so a sense of reconciliation to God, and the enjoyment of his
favor should make the step firm and the heart glad.

(d) More consistent living on the part of professing christians. It
has been well said, that a revival that does not exalt and ennoble busi-
ness life, political life,social life, and home life, is unworthy of the
name. Religion is for the school-girl at her studies, the apprentice 01
workman at the bench, the merchant in the store, the banker at his
desk, the physician in his visits, the advocate at the bar, the teachei
in his class-room, the sailor before the mast, the pilot at the helm,.
as well as the sufferer upon a bed of languishing, or nearing the

MARKS OF A GENUINE REVIVAL. - 97

portals of eternity. Religion is a thing to be lived day by day, on
Monday as well as on Sunday. Longfellow beautifully says, that
the warm days in spring bring forth passion flowers and forget me-
nots ; but it is after midsummer, when the days grow shorter and
hotter, that fruit begins to appear. And thus it is with seasons of
revival. Their value is not always seen at the time, nor their genu-
ineness proved by the numbers of professedly re-animated chris-
tians, but by the character of their future lives. After a heavy rain
or freshet, the water for a while finds unaccustomed beds in isolated
pools ; but when the rain ceases, if not fed by some perennial spring,
the water eventually subsides to its standard level into the familiar
lakes and streams, and the unsightly gulleys and gorges that have
been washed out by the sudden torrent, and where so lately they
carried a seemingly irresistible flood are left so many fetid and pes-
tilential swamps. And so, unless the soul is continuously replen-
ished by a living stream of heavenly impulses and holy aspirations,
its high and noble resolutions will come to naught, until at last
there is nothing left "but the unsightly gorge of memory that
marks where the rills of grace so lately ran."

Need I say that the preaching of the Sabbath is either inten-
sified or nullified by the practice of the week. The minister by one
careless act may destroy the labors of a year, and the membership
by unholy and frivolous conduct bring religion into contempt and
drive souls to hell.

I (c) Intensified, individual effort. In many churches the zeal ol
i the members is at and below zero. They have never gathered a
single sheaf into the Lord's garner house, and never serionsly at-
tempted it. In churches of a thousand members nine hundred are
asleep. This is surely not as it should be. A revived christian is
a man who is not satisfied with his own interest in Christ ; but

realizing that men around him are dying unsaved, he seeks to

♦7

98 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

bring them into the ark of safety. He acts as a man in earnest to
rescue souls from eternal destruction.

It is stated on good authority that the statistics of the evan-
gelical churches in the United States for the past twenty-five years
show an average of two souls converted every year. And in these
same congregations there are on an average four or five deaths.
What a commentary upon the sincerity of the christian church !

Revival work must then be judged, not by the number of con-
verts made, but by its permanent fruits. The world has a right to
expect, after a season of refreshing, that men and women bearing
the name of Christ will be characterized by the loftiest self-sacrifice
and most self-denying acts in behalf of the faith they profess :
" That in the exercise of such virtue as patience, power and love
they will help the helpless, comfort the comfortless, restore the
erring, bring back the wanderers, and kindle fresh life in despairing
souls."

{(i). As a result of a genuine revival, there should be a purer
atmosphere in the community, a higher standard of honesty, more
integrity, more honor, more upright dealing, greater consistency
and circumspection in the ordinary details of life. It is a constant
subject of remark, and not without reason, that in certain localities,
seasons of extraordinary zeal and singular devotion are followed
by periods of absolute disregard of the commonest laws of mor-
ality ; when prominent leaders, from mini.stering at the altar, sink to
the lowest level of the ungodly and bring grievous scandal upon the
church of Christ. Making all allowance for the scoff of the infidel,
who stigmatizes all religious enthusiasm as hypocrisy and pretense,
and exaggerates the short-comings of the weak and erring disciple,
the fact is patent, that religion is too often made a passport to
position. Sudden declension from the faith, and marked irregu-
larities in business life, are not the fruits of religion. The revival

MARKS OF A GENUINE REVIVAL. $9

has been spasmodic, where such things are found, the product of
sinful man, and not the work of God.

(c) If our church and our land were to experience such a glori-
ous season, our ministers, like the apostles, would preach more
earnestly and more effectually. " The pulpit would become warmed
up,'' and the minister become a flame of fire in God's service. So
it was in the case of Peter. He had often preached before to atten-
tive congregations, but after the " Baptism of Fire," he preached
with supernatural power, and the result was proportionate to the
power exerted. Our churches and congregations would not only
increase, but be characterized by a spirit of earnest enquiry and
alarm. Men and women, now Sabbath breakers and scoffers at
religion, would feel themselves unconsciously drawn to the house
of God, and would be forced to cry out, *• What must we do to be
saved ?" The services of the sanctuary would become more and
more impressive, and the words of the preacher pierce more keenly
the hardened conscience. The house of prayer would become in-
vested with a new solemnity, and the language of Jacob be that of
every heart, " How dreadful is this place ! This is none other than
the house of God, and this is the very gate of heaven." Our noon-
day prayer meetings, and our week evening prayer meetings would
be crowded. Excuses, which now keep christians away, would no
longer be tenable — our prayers would be characterized by unwonted
power and force — the conversation of christians would be all about
religion — not about the preacher ; his style ; his eloquence ; his
excellencies or defects ; but as to the application of his words to
their individual souls. The prophecy of Malachi would then be
fulfilled, and they "that fear the Lord speak often one to another."
Every season of communion at a mercy seat would be longed for,
as the most interesting moment in life, and the most blessed season
of christian experience. The ungodly world would soon also reap
the benefit of such a revival. Like the sceptical unbelieving Jews,

lOO THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

in the days of Peter, for a while, as in recent times, it might be
incredulous, and characterize it as enthusiasm and fanaticism. But,
by and \;>y, the swelling tide of grace would reach the most aban-
doned sinners. Organic reformation would end in real conversion.
Commercial dishonesty, reckless speculation, and political corrup-
tion v/ould in a great measure cease. Anarchy, confusion, fraternal
recrimination, threatened war and bloodshed would be averted, and
the nation as a unit, joined. Province to province, and brother to
brother, in the bands of christian love, we would go forward for the
enlightenment and emancipation of a groaning world. The church,
collectively, would feel its power. Denominationalism would be
lost sight of, in so far as it hinders the spread of Bible truth. Dis-
putes about words and forms would be hushed to silence, and like
a solid phalanx, the church would march on to victory, and storm
the citadel of Satan. The clarion note from distant lands would
chord with the joyous praises of the church at home, and uniting
with the redeemed around the throne, swell the song of redemp-
tion's dawn.

Why do I speak so ? that the members of this church are worse
than others? I trust not. But because we all need the quickening
influence of God's spirit to make us in our individual and church
relations to the world a greater power for good. Are we, brethren,
satisfied with the state of religion that exists ? Are not many of
God's children convinced that their attitude and example, in pre-
sence of the frivilous and foolish and idle portion of the commun-
ity, is not what should be expected from those who belong to the
communion of saints ? At the present day, when a choice has to
be made between the church and the world, the church goes under.
A man is accounted a fool who leaves a secular engagement in the
interest of religion. The prayer meeting has no chance as against
the concert room, the theatre, or the social gathering. A decent,
formal, moral life (and not, I fear, always so), is deemed sufficient

MARKS OF A GENUINE REVIVAL. lOI

to secure entrance to and honor in the church. Those who ought
to be distinguished for their sanctity of deportment and consuming
anxiety for the prosperity of Zion deem it no discredit to be
numbered among the vain and pleasure seeking throng, of whom
the apostle says : " Many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you, even weeping, that they arc the enemies of the
cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly,
and whose glory is in their shame, whose mind earthly things." No
amount of professed reverence for God's house can atone for such
conduct. The Almighty demands purity in the inward parts and
consistency of the life. To the hypocrite and backslider He
says : " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto
me ? When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this
at your hand to tread my courts ? Bring no more vain oblations :
incense is an abomination unto me. Your appointed feasts my
soul hateth ; they are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear
thciTi. When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes
from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear." If
such a condition of things exist, well may we say : " Except the
Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should
have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto
Gomorrah !"

I have thus far been trying to awaken reflection in God's own

people for their own safety, and arouse them to earnest endeavor
to save the perishing. What shall I say to unconverted souls, ere
I close ? Said Robert Murray McCheyne, when mourning over
the want of spiritual life in Scotland : " Dear unconverted sinners,
ye little know how much you are interested, in that this should be
a time of reviving from the presence of the Lord. It is not our
part to tell you of coming judgm.:nts — of fire from heaven, or fire
from hell ; but this we can plainly sec, that unless the Spirit of God
shall come down on our parishes, like rain on the mown grass,

102 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

many souls that are now in the land of peace, shall soon be in the
world of anguish. There may be no sudden judgment ; fire and
brimstone may not be rained down from heaven, as upon Sodom ;
the earth may not yawn to receive her prey, as in the camp of
Israel ; but Sabbath breakers, liars, swearers, drunkards, unclean
persons, formalists, worldlings and hypocrites, yea all Christless
souls, will quickly slip away, one by one, into an undone eternity."
You believe in a day of wrath, of awful moment to every immor-
tal soul. Are you ready for it? Robert Pollock had a glimpse of
that day — for which all other days are made — and thus describes it :

Begin the woe. ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds,
And doleful winds wail to the howling hill»,
And howling hills mourn to the dismal valeo,
And dismal vales sigh to the sorrowing brooks,
And eorrowing brooks weep to the weeping stream,
And weeping stream awake the groaning deep ;
Ye heavens, great archway of the universe, put sackcloth on ;
And ocean, veil thyself in gaib of widowhood,
And gather all thy waves into a groan, and utter it,
Long, loud, deep, piercing, dolorous, immense,
The occasion asks it. Nature dies, and angols come to lay her in
her grave.

Is the Christian Church

OF TO-Bay apOSTOMG ?

" They continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers : daily with one accord in the
t< mple, and breaking bread from house to house, they did eat their meat
with gladness and singleness of heart ; and the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved."

—Acts 2, V. 4?, 46, 47.

Is THE Church of To-Day Apostolic ?

HE outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pente-
cost, as recorded in the second chapter of the Acts of
the Apostles, has ever been a subject of the greatest
interest to the Church of Christ and individual believ-
, ^^ ers. It not only proves the faithfulness of the Saviour's
^y promise, that "the Comforter" would come, but it gives us
(.instantly to hope for similar manifestations in all ages of the
church. Before his crucifixion, the Saviour comforted his downcast
disciples with the assurance that "the Spirit of truth" would come
and guide them into all truth. But before His coming, it was
necessary that He should depart. " Nevertheless I tell you the
truth ; it is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away,
the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send
him unto you." Again, after the resurrection, in the evening of the
first day of the week, "when the doors were shut," Christ appeared
to these same disciples, and reassured them of the coming of the
Holy Spirit. "Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me,
even so send I you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Again, upon
a mountain top in Galilee, we find Him with the eleven disciples,
giving them their commission, and uttering His farewell benedic-

(105)

I06 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH. t-

tion. " All power is {riven urto me in heaven and in earth. Go
ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of t^he Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them
to observe al things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo,
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, amen." But
before engaging in their great work, they must wait for the Saviour's
ascension, and the promised baptism of fire. They must "tarry
in the city of Jerusalem, until endued with power from on high,"
and " wait for the promise of the Father ;" and finally, after rebuk-
ing their ignorance, as to the spiritual character of the Messianic
kingdom, which they were about to establish in the world, and im-
mediately before his ascension, he foretells their future glorious
ministry — a ministry, not to be confined to Palestine or the borders
of Ihe Holy Land, but embracing the entire world. "Ye shall re-
ceive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye
shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles gives the fulfil-
ment of the promise. The Saviour has now ascended. The dis-
ciples are now assembled in the upper room at Jerusalem — their
master has gone — their hearts are full of sorrow — but still they
plead for the promised outpouring. Christ's absence did not weaken
their faith, nor lessen the earnestness of their prayers ; nor should
the absence of the Saviour weaken the faith of pious hearts, who
are looking forward to his second coming. Day after day passes»
but the looked for and longed for blessing tarries. The first day
of the week has again dawned upon the world, but the promise
remains unfulfilled. Still they wait. Anxious as the disciples were
to enter upon their work, they must abide " the baptism of fire," to
confirm their ministerial vv^cation.

At last, the day of Pentecost comes around. The little christian
church is again assembled with one accord in one place, when sud-

IS THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY APOSTOLIC? lO/

denly there comes a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing
wind, and it fills all the house where they are sitting. It was not
the product of human power, nor felt elsewhere out of that little
circle, but sent direct from heaven. A mysterious silence broods
over the little company — they were all filled with the Holy Ghost
— every eye glistens — every countenance becomes irradiated — every
heart inflamed with love, and every tongue loosened to declare
God's glory. No marvel that the multitude were confounded at
such a scene, and ascribed the revival to other causes than the Holy
Spirit. They had not heard the promise of the Saviour, nor did
they remember the prophecy given long before by the mouth of
the prophet Joel. " It shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons
and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see
visions and your old men shall dream dreams." ^ ■

In the days of the Apostles there was a necessity for an out-
pouring of the Spirit. Christ came not so much to fully organize
and establish the church, as to select and train those who should,
after his ascension. For the great work of preaching the gospel,
something more was needed than a certain amount of doctrinal
knowledge. Intellectual qualifications — a clear discernment of the
truths of Scripture — was not enough. The disciples needed a bap-
tism of the Holy Spirit. It was necessary that the faith of the
disciples should be strengthened and confirmed in the new religion
by overwhelming evidences ; — it was necessary that the truths of
Christianity, despised and reproached, should be attested by signs
and wonders, not less than the conversion of souls ; and it was
necessary that the little band of christian converts, who met day
after day in the upper room at Jerusalem, should have their hearts
encouraged, and their numbers largely increased.

The reality of the day of Pentecost is not founded alone upon
the mysterious transactions of that day. There is given us a full

I08 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

and detailed account of the subsequent history of the little apos-
tclic church, from which we can easily gather the permanency of
the change that took place on the occasion referred to. In addition
to the fact stated, that they gladly received the word and were bap-
tized, it is recorded that they continued steadfastly in the apostles'
doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers ;
that a most tender bond of christian love bound all the members
together, so that they were rather members of one family than of
a church ; that a common interest and sympathy pervaded all ranks
and classes, and that thus carrying out into practical life the prin-
ciples of our holy religion, the Lord continued to add daily to the
church such as should be saved.

The evidences of the supernatural and astounding presence of
God's spirit on the day of Pentecost, then, are these : Steadfast
continuance in the truth, regular attendance upon the means of
grace and the special ordinances of God's house, and a degree of
fellowship and tenderness of dealing the one towards the other, as
has never before been seen in that assembly. These are still the
only evidences that we can look for of a genuine revival, and they
are amply sufficient to confirm our faith in the reality of the work.

It has been remarked that churches and individuals, graciously
revived, have been more tenacious than ever of sound doctrine.
They may not have preached in a forbidden aspect, the mysterious
truths of an evangelical creed, but none the less have they valued
them as of inestimable importance and unspeakable comfort. A
church truly revived has no tendency to laxity, it has no sympathy
with that false liberalism which regards one creed as good as
another, provided a man means well and does well ; it has no place
for those who call in question fundamental truths, or tone down the
more awful declarations of scripture against the sinner, because
they grate harshly upon the delicate ear of modern society. On
the contrary, piety quickened, enlightened and strengthened by the

IS THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY APOSTOLIC? 109

outpouring of God's spirit, holds with a firm grasp eternal truth,
against all who attempt to undermine it, or explain away its mean-
ing. Such preaching and teaching it values beyond the refine-
ments of philosophy and the deductions of reason, as better adapted
to the wants of sinners, and most refreshing to the souls of saints.
This is the first characteristic of the Pentecostal church. " They
continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine."

But in addition, we read that they continued daily in the tem-
ple ; — that is, they observed with becoming regularity the means of
grace, and availed themselves of every opportunity of hearing the
word. We would expect this, and take it for granted, were it not
intimated by the inspired penman. It was under the preaching of
Peter they had experienced a change of heart, and had been
brought to the enjoyment of peace in believing. And now the
more they heard about Christ and the glorious truths of Christian-
ity, the more they desired to hear. They never became tired of
listening to divine things. As often as the church was assembled,
all the members were present to take part. It is also to be borne
in mind, that meetings for worship in the apostolic church were
more frequent than with us. The pious few went up to the temple
every day, and the members of the Pentecostal church, following
the good example of the old dispensation, went daily into the tem-
ple for devotional exercises. Poor though they were as a general
rule, and compelled from day to day to labor for their bread, they
gladly devoted the necessary hours that the claims of religion de-
manded, to the service of God.

Looking at the matter calmly, can it be possible for any true
believer to act otherwise? Can you imagine a christian satiated
with gospel ordinances, — who has attained to such a state of spir-
itual strength, that he no longer needs the worship of God's house,
and the enjoyment of communion with God's people ? Such a
thing would entirely reverse the order of spiritual life. Should we

no 1IIK CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

not rather expect that as years roll on, he will become more devo-
ted and exemplary in religious duties ; that his longings after the
divine presence will be stronger and stronger, and his attendance
upon the house of God more constant ? And if in any one instance
we find it otherwise, we may safely conclude that the man never
had any religion to begin with, or that spiritual and fatal decline
has begun its work upon the soul.

The third characteristic of this Pentecostal church was their
fellowship, or the interest they took in one another. This is evi-
dently a matter of no small moment, for the Evangelist makes
special mention of. the fact that they continued steadfastly in the
fellowship of the saints. It is well to have correct notions ot what
this fellowship consists in. If good for the apostolic church, and
if it contributed to the spiritual prosperity of the entire body, then
surely it is the part of churches at the present day to follow their
example. All churches recognize the fellowship of the saints,
although in some instances it is exceedingly hard for them to de-
fine what they mean by the phrase. According to some, christian
fellowship is simply and only the breaking of bread together from
time to time in commemoration of Christ's death, and in token of
our acceptance of the christian faith. " The communion of the
body of Christ " is indeed a binding duty upon all believers, and a
most precious means of extending brotherly love in the church of
God, but not by any means all that is meant by the fellowship of
the saints. If a man's fellowship with God's people is not more
frequent than at the sacramental table, it is of little value. Others,
again, regard this christian fellowship as nothing more than the
act of worshipping together in the same church, and meeting acci-
dentally upon the Sabbath day. Because they sit together, and
sing together, and engage in the same outward acts of devotion,
they conclude that they are enjoying christian fellowship.

IS THE CHURCH OF TO-DAV APOSTOLIC? HI

Now we hold very different views of this matter. God's void
in speaking of this fellowship gives it a far more extended meaning
than churches at the present day seem to imagine, and just because
we fall short of our duty in this matter, we pauperize our own
souls, bring coldness and indifference into our meetings, and repel
anxious inquirers from the house of God. The coldness, the
unfriendliness, the haughty bearing of members of the church of
Christ, are among the greatest stumbling blocks to a general
acceptance of Christianity, and do more to neutralize a gospel min-
istry, however faithfully exercised, than all the infidelity that has
been published from the days of Voltaire down to the present age.

What then, is it asked, is the scriptural idea of apostolic fellow-
ship ? Let the history of the apostolic church supply an answer.
I only ask a careful and candid perusal of that age to convince
every one that the fellowship spoken of was of the most liberal
and comprehensive kind. Bear in mind the condition of the mem-
bers of this church. They were for the most part poor, uninfluential,
unknown, and destitute. They had just abandoned different forms
of faith, and become banded together as believers in Christ and
members of his church. They were exposed to persecution, and had
doubtless already suffered for their fidelity. They had no friends
in the world, outside this little christian comi.iunity — none to whom
they dare entrust their affairs, or in whose confidence they could
rely. They had no opportunities apart from the meetings of the
church, for counsel and conference in regard to momentous and
urgent matters, affecting the interests of their religion. In times o.
sickness or suffering or bereavement, — in poverty and want, — there
were none beyond the membership of the church to whom they
could apply for sympathy, for assistance, and all those little acts of
love that sweeten the journey of life and alleviate its sorrows ; they
were absolutely dependent upon the mutual friendship, good will,
affection and brotherly attachments of the church. If these were

1 18 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMCNNVEALTH.

denied them, their case was indeed pitiable, and heartrending in
the extreme.

But the fellowship of the church anticipated and provided for
all such emergencies. Next to the reality of their communion wilh
God in Christ, was their friendship for one another. The conver-
sion they had experienced produced a holy fellowship. They recog-
nized their duties to the household of faith ; they were members
one of another, and if one member suffered all the members suffered
with it. The evidence of their faith was the exercise of love and
sympathy towards the brethren, for as John says, " Every one that
loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him."
That is, if the children love the parent, they cannot but love one
another, and desire each other's welfare. The picture presented us
is not so much a church as a family, where a common feeling binds
every soul together, where peace and good will, charity and self-
denial are the crowning graces ; where the bright sunshine of heaven
is never clouded by hatred, or variance, suspicion or distrust ; and
where all are aiming at a common object, and contributing of their
influence to the general good.

Now, what is the church but a family of saints ? We know no
distinctions here. At a common footstool and around the table of the
Lord, the rich and the poor meet together, for the Lord is the
maker and the Saviour of them all. Class distinctions and social
classifications sliould be unknown in the church of Christ. It is no
condescension for the rich man to recognize the poor, nor is it any
honor for the poor man to be favored by the recognition of the
rich, save in so far as he is rich in faith and an heir to the kingdom.
All pride, all vanity, all haughty looks, everything that savors of
conscious superiority in one church member towards another, is out
of place in tshe house of God. In society and the secular affairs of
life, there must of necessity be superiors and inferiors, — masters and
servants, — those who occupy the highest and those who occupy

IS THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY Al'OSTOLIC ? II3

the lowest rounds of the ladder, but no such accidental differences
of rank should ever be recognized in the sanctuary. The peer and
the peasant, the king and the subject, the prince and the pauper,
should all meet as brethren in the church on earth, if they arc to
gain an humble place in the church in heaven.

Is there such fellowship in evangelical churches at the present
day ? We bring no accusations against any man or any church.
But truth compels us to say that there are many who never prac-
tice the christian fellowship of the apostolic age. We ask nothing
impossible of any member. W^e do not overlook the fact that the
urgencies of business and the claims of home often hinder the en-
joyment of christian fellowship, where, but for these, there is a
willing mind. But making every allowance, are we not all guilty
in this matter? Is it not a fact that some people come to the
church Sabbath after Sabbath, week after week, and month after
month, without a single enquiry being made as to their circumstan-
ces, residence or church relations? Is it not true that young men
come and go without any of those attentions and friendly regards,
which it is the duty of christians in the church to show to such as
have not the advantages of home and the oversight of parents ? Is
it not a fact that members pass each other on the street without
recognition, or just with such recognition as intimates the fact that
they move in different orbits, and belong to an entirely different
order of society? Is it not true that sickness and death and desti-
tution prevail in families, without the knowledge or without the
sympathy and assistance that should be given by professed mem-
bers of the church? )s it not imagined by some good people, that
they have fully discharged their duties and relieved their con-
sciences of all burdens, when they come to the church or prayer
meeting, and give for the support of ordinances ? Is it not the
feeling of many church members that the minister is to do all the
regular pastoral visitation, all the frierjdly and social calls, all the
♦8

114 THE CHURCH and the commonwealth.

ministrations demanded by sick beds and funerals, and give all the
counsel and advice that theeidless wants of congregations Impose,
without the aid and support, or co-operation of q single member?
Are there not in all our churches such mistaken views as to the
nature and obligations of christian membership?

If it were merely to cultivate a friendly spirit, or to increase
congregations numerically, we should not so earnestly allude to
this matter, although such a consideration is surely of some weight.
But we plead for christian fellowship on higher grounds. There
can be no growth in grace, where there is indifference to each other's
welfare. There can be no moral influence, where there is no unity
of feeling and concentration of aim. There can be no real zeal,
little true devotion, and little achievement in the work of the Lord,
where every man looks upon his own things and not those of his
n.Mghbor. " Bear ye one another's burdens," is the law of christian
life. The strong are to support the weak, the wise to instruct the
ignorant, the rich to aid the poor. The vitality of any church is
based upon these inequalities in christian life, diawing forth the
sympathies and affections of the soul, and thus making the entire
existence a ministry of gentleness and goodness. "By one spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into
one spirit. That there should be no schism in the body ; but that
the members should have the same care one for another."

I very much fear that the scenes of the day of Pentecost, are
in many cases regarded with suspicion by christians at the present
day. On account of the low state of religion in many of our
churches, the exhibition of such terrible earnestnesr In u*" matter
of salvation, seems little short of madness or fanaticism. We read
with wonder of thousands of men and women crying out simul-
taneously, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" of additions to
the church, such as have never been equalled in modern days, and

IS THE CHURCH OF TO-DAV APOSTOLIC? 11$

of a dcvotcclncss and zeal in the cause of God that fairly puts to
shame our indolence and apathy. If we admit the facts narrated
by the evangelist, then, to save ourselves from the charge of spirit-
ual cicadness in the Lord's work, we say, that such a state of things
was altogether exceptional, that under no circumstances can they
be repeated, that the days of miracles are past, that true conversion
is not to be looked for in connection with mighty convulsions ot the
church, and that the silent, unperceived, but all effectual work of
God's spirit in the soul, is more reliable than any outward demon-
strations of anxiety for sin.

These statements contain some truth. We admit that the age
of miracles is past, and that such an occasion as the day of Pente-
cost is not the normal condition of the church. It is also true
that although \vc have not such mighty and numerous conversions
as characterized the apostolic age, we are not to conclude that the
church is forsaken or that piety is extinct. But admitting all this,
it is not to be concluded, that in the event of God's spirit being plen-
tifully poured down upon churches and nations, we may not again
witness the supernatural and incontrovertible evidences of conver-
sion. They may, we hold, be repeated at any t'me ; the tongues
of fire and the gifts of language may be absent, but loud cries of
broken hearts and awakened consciences, are the natural effects of
a faithful and heaven-blessed ministry.

We need such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Ministers
and missionaries need it to qualify them for their work. Learning,
eloquence and orthodoxy are good and necessary, but of themselves
impotent for saving souls. Theological training and severe mental
discipline are not enough— the Holy Spirit must fire the heart and
purify the affections, and teach the arm how to wield the weapon
of God's word. The church needs it. Our services are cold and
formal— our prayer meetings lifeless — the standard of piety is low
—faith is feeble— love Is lukewarm, and christian effort for the

lie THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

salvatiem of souls, all but extinct. The faithful Israels in our
congregations are desponding, and almost beginning to doubt the
fulfilment of the promise. Our evangelical churches are divided.
Sectarianism, denominationalism, and petty strifes are keeping
pious hearts asunder, while Satan builds up his kingdom upon the
ruins of the church, and error lifts up her head defiantly toward
heaven. The world needs it— the power of divine truth requires
renewed attestation from time to time— the pulpit must be lifted to
its true position, and ungodly men taught that there is a power
above and beyond all human combinations. Souls at the present
day in thousands are leaping blind-folded into hell, amid the shout
of fiends and wail of angels. Surely we need in our land another
day of Pentecost!

How are we to obtain such an outpouring of the Spirit ? God
works by means in the world of grace, as well as in the domain of
nature. Just in the same way as the disciples obtained the Pente-
costal baptism of fire. They expected it ; they waited for it ; they
continued, day after day, of one accord, in one place, and the result
was that the spirit came. Only thus are real revivals commenced
and carried on. No man, whatever be his talents and endowments,
can savingly impress or convert a soul. Revivals, so called, begun
and continued under the mere pressure of emotional excitement,
produce no real reformations, and in the end react to the disgrace
of the church at large. It is only by waiting upon God, by
expecting the promised blessing, by lifting up the hands and voice
and heart to heaven, by wrestling, struggling, and holding on to
the promise, in spite of all discouragements and secret fears, that
vve can obtain it. If we would but sincerely expect an answer to
our prayers, and think it strange if we did not receive it, and if, to
our prayers we added constant effort, working, and praying and
praying and working, we should soon receive such a blessing as
would far exceed our most sanguine expectations.

Thankssfivins: Memories.

"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy uod, O Zion : for i.o

hath strengthened the bars of thy gates : he hath blessed thy childrfu

within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, aiid filleth thee with tin;

finest of the wheat. He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and

his judgments unto Israel."

—Psalm 147, v. 12, 13, 14, 19.

" And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath
led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove
thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his
commandments or no."

— Deuteronomy 8, ^. 12

Thanksgiving Memories.

HANKSGIVING held a prominent place in the Jewish
religion. An undevout and unthankful Jew was an
anomaly. Every year, at the beginning and close of
harvest, the temple was thronged with worshippers to
celebrate God's goodness ; while at other seasons offerings
were made in token of gratitude for individual and national
mercies. With glad and joyful hearts, " they remembered all the
way which the Lord their God had led their fathers, forty years in
the wilderness," and the fulfilment of his promises, that they should
possess a land of hills and valleys, where the early and latter rain
should fall in due season ; a land abounding in corn, in wine and
in oil, with grass in the fields for cattle, and plenty for all to eat
and be full. And just so long as the Jews remained faithful to
Jehovah, were these temporal mercies continued. The covenant
made with their fathers was kept to the very letter. " The Lord
thy God will love thee, and bless thee and multiply thee ; he will
also bins the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn,
and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine and the flocks
of thy sheep — thou shalt be blessed above all people."

("9)

I20 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Every christian land, more or less, has followed the pious Jew
in this comely service. Throughout Great Britain, alike in grand
cathedral and humble ivy-covered chapel, there are sung the same
exultant hymns of praise, while on this continent of America, from
the time when the Pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth rock in the
little " Mayflower," on to the present, the day has been hailed as
one for universal joy. These Puritans were not the austere men
that some regard them. They had for every day a sort of joy, but
one stately day of joy they set aside in every year. Thanksgiving
morning rose in New England, stiff as their pines, and solemn as
their granite hills. The boys who laughed, were as guilty as if
they laughed on Sunday. The church bells rang out, not cheerily
perhaps, but solemnly, tolling the people to the house of worship.
They went up gravely, and awfully, and worshipped. But the ser-
mon over, the old Puritan relaxed, and unclasped his buckle and
threw off his belt. Merry laughter rang out from the children of
the household, and the old homestead was vocal with joy. The
tables smoked and groaned with unaccustomed luxuries, and with
gladness and gratitude the day was closed.

We must look back as well as forward. The future is moulded
and directed by the past. Sailing on a river ste?.mboat, you have
noticed how the man at the wheel steers the vessel by certain head-
lands that indicate his course. He looks behind from time to time
as well as forward ; the bends and curves and windings of the
channel through which he has passed indicate his position and
mark his course. In like manner the lessons of our past lives are
to be studied with reference to the future. As nations and indi-
viduals we are to remember all the way which the Lord has led us
in the wilderness, to prove us and know what was in our hearts,
and whether we would keep His commandments or not.

Moses is now near his journey's end. He is not permitted to
enter Canaan. That honor was reserved for Joshua, his successor

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 131

in command. But before parting from the Israelites he rehearses
in their hearing what the Lord had done for them, and what was
expected of them. During their pilgrimage in the wilderness the
goodness of God had been conspicuously manifest. Bodily com-
forts and spiritual provision had never failed them. The dealings
of Providence in the way of chastisements, had all been directed
towards their future welfare. Their condition in Egypt, leading a
rude, barbarian and slavish life, was not such as to qualify them
for possessing and governing Canaan. The policy of Pharaoh, like
that of tyrants in every age, was to keep them ignorant of higher
and nobler things, for when knowledge enters men's souls, they
begin to demand their rights and assert their independence Hence
their need of discipline, that when they entered the promised land,
they might do so creditably — with intelligence and courage suffi-
cient to inspire them with the success of their enterprise, and their
enemies with fear. Their forty years' probation life was thus
mingled judgment and mercy. Their chastisements were all
directed by infinite wisdom and love. If they were humbled and
suffered to hunger, and fed with manna, it was that they might
know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. During all these
forty years their raiment had not waxed old, neither had their feet
swelled, and now says Moses : " The Lord thy God bringeth thee
into a good land, a land of brooks and water, of fountains and
depths that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of wheat and
badey, and vines, and fig-trees and pomegranates ; a land of olive
oil and honey ; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarce-
ness ; a land whose stones are iron, and whose hills are brass."

There was danger, not only that the Israelites would forget
God and his dealings with them in the wilderness, but that their
hearts would be unduly lifted up, in view of the noble patrimony
that had so mysteriously come into their hands, and that so far

122 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

exceeded their most sanguine anticipations. Take any race of
slaves — more or less educated, as the case may be — and make
them masters of the situation ; put into their hands the reins of
government, and bestow upon them the highest honors of the
commonwealth, and is there not danger that they will rule with a
rod of iron, and exhibit that pride and haughtiness of soul which
is the mark of foolish ignorance and degraded origin ? Therefore
says Moses : " Beware, lest when thou hast eaten and are full, and
hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein ; and when thy herds
and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied,
that thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt and from the house
of bondage ; and thou say in thine heart. My power and the might
of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth." Such conduct would
inevitably provoke God's anger and hasten their destruction. Lik?
the idolatrous nations which the Lord had driven out from before
them, so would they perish and be blotted out from the memory
of men. In order then, that they might secure a continuance of
national and individual blessings, constant and grateful acknow-
ledgment of past mercies was necessary. " When thou hast eaten
and art full then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good
land which he hath given thee."

The very number, magnitude and regular occurrence of our
mercies produce forgetfulness. It is only when they are withheld
that we begin to value them. One eclipse of the sun makes a
greater impression than the shining of a year. The sickness of a
few days makes us more sensible of the value of health, than years
of uninterrupted strength and soundness of frame. The failure of
one harvest makes us realize the presence of God in nature more
than the overflowing granaries of a score of years. The goodness
of God in providing a gourd to screen the prophet Jonah from the
scorching heat of the sun, was only appreciated when the gourd

a.
3

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 1 23

withered and died So long as the manna falls and hunger is met,
we care not to thin' of the source. So long as the cistern is full,
and thirst is quenched, we live in forgetfulness of Him who gathers
the clouds and pours down upon the earth the refreshing rain !

Such unmindfulness of God's mercies is criminal. It evinces
the basest ingratituHe. Nor is it a sin restricted to theoretical
atheists and materialists, who ignore the providence of God in the
world, and live in utter disregard of heaven's bounties. Professing
christians are often chargeable with forgetfulness of God's good-
ness. Beyond a formal thanksgiving service, there is no summing
up of the abundant causes for gratitude, nor becoming sacrifice of
praise.

To-day we are called as individuals and as christian citizens of
this nation, to remember the way by which we have been led dur-
ing the closing year. We are to place our mercies in review ; make
them stand out one by one in bold relief, so that each mercy may
inspire a hymn of praise. This review of God's goodness should
be a daily exercise. You cannot fill up faithfully the details of
each day's transactions in your diary or ledger, if left for weeks or
months untouched, nor can you once a year honestly record God's
goodness. As Keble, the Christian poet, says :

New every morning is the ve
Our wakening and uprising prove ;
Through sleep and darkness safely brought,
Restored to life and power and thought.

New mercies, each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray ;
New perils past, new sins forgiven.
New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.

.Ve never forget our trials ; nay, a large number of christians
make complaining and murmuring a religious duty — a matter of
conscience. Every case of sickness ; every unsuccessful specula-
tion ; every disappointment is carefully noted down. Had it not

ia4 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

been for this or that, how much richer, happier, or more prosperous
would they have been ! No attempt is made to relieve the dark
picture, by throwing in the warm glowing tints of God's loving
kindness and unmerited favors so unremittingly bestowed. What
of all the bygonv- years of health? of profitable investments? of
the savings laid past for old age ? of the victories achieved in the
battle of life ? Put the one against the other, and in magnitude
and number, our trials are but a drop of water compared with the
boundless unfathomable ocean of God's love.

In order to prompt you to thanksgiving, think for a moment
of the more common benefits bestowed upon you during the year.
Continued existence and physical strength, while others have been
laid upon beds of sickness, and many have been called away. Signal
deliverances from danger, which have overtaken thousands by sea
and land. Special favors and singular good fortune, which have
added immensely to the happiness of life, while in the case of others
the common mercies of Providence have been withheld, and heart-
broken, they have sunk under crushing woes. Extend your view.
Take into account your social comforts ; the unbroken family
circle ; the daily joyous meetings at the table and family altar ; the
good night and good morning, and all the greetings of household
love that have brightened and sweetened your dwelling, while in
other families there have been breaches, separations, desolation and
misfortune in rapid succession — the graveyard visited again and
again, and parent and child laid side by side ! Surely the mere
mention of such things must compel the most indifferent and reck-
less to say, " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His
benefits ; who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all thy
diseases ; w^ho redeemeth thy life from destruction ; who crowneth
thee with loving kindness and tender mercies."

As christians, we have still stronger reasons to remember with
gratitude the way we have been led during the closing year. Con-

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 125

tfnued powers of mind to mark and enjoy God's goodness as
manifested in Providence and grace ; the enjoyment of gospel
ordinances ; strength given to bear chastisement ; meekness and
resignation given us in parting with all we deemed precious on
earth, and hopes of glory brightened, when standing by the grave's
mouth ; — the aid of the Holy Spirit in advancing us in the divine
life ; purifying our desires ; enlarging our vision, and giving us a
clearer and firmer grasp of the promised and purchased blessings
of the better world !

Let us now briefly look at some causes for national thanksgiv-
ing. In brief these may be stated as peace, plenty and gospel
privileges. Peace — " He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates.
he niaketh peace in thy borders." Plenty — " He filleth thee
with the finest of wheat." Gospel privileges — " He sheweth his
word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel."

First then, we have cause for thanksgiving that we are at peace
within ourselves, and with all the world.

It has not been so everywhere during the year. Nations have
not yet agreed to settle their quarrels by arbitration. The prophecy
seems yet far distant from fulfilment — " They shall beat their swords
into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks ; nation shall
not lift up sword against ..ation, neither shall they learn war any
more." The recent Afghan and Zulu and Egyptian wars, which
have left behind them woe and desolation in many homes, both
civilized and savage, are only the last of a long series of bloody
conflicts in which christian nations have been engaged. We pass
no judgment upon the ostensible causes or the probable results of
such fearful concussions. But all right thinking men must regret
that the policy of " peace with honor," to use the words of a British
statesman, has not prevailed without recourse to brutal wars. To
me, one of the saddest features of our age, is the willingness — nay
the alacrity, with whirh christian nations enter upon hostilities

126 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

National honor is indeed a noble sentiment, but it may be main-
tained at too great a cost of blood and treasure. As with individ-
ual christians, so ought it to be with christian commonwealths.
That charity which is not easily provoked — which beareth all things
— hopcth all things, and endureth all things — is a far nobler pos-
session than magnificent victories on the battle-field — the forced
submission of savage tribes, or the acquisition of territory and
supremacy in the far-off regions of the globe.

Peace hath her victories
No less renowned than War.

A few years since, we looked upon a wonderfully vivid panor-
ama of the siege of Paris, when the German army for long months
surrounded the white-walled city with a belt of fire. So life-like
was the picture, and on so vast a scale, we could almost imagine
ourselves spectators or actors in the struggle, and see the shells
exploding behind the breastworks. What Paris must have been
during that awful period of suspense, no human being can describe.
The streets silent as death, save the hurried tramp of armed men ;
famishing womgn and children crying for bread to eat, while within
and without the walls lay the unburied dead, bleaching and morti-
fying in the sight of heaven. And when added to this picture of
horrors, we saw the piece of bone from the shattered skull of the
Archbishop of Paris, who was shot by the infuriated mob, we felt
as we never felt before, how terrible is the scourge, and how great
the responsibility of those who light the torch and blow the blast
of war ! Napoleon, like his great predecessor, imagined he could
defy the world. His immense army must have amusement, and
the prestige of France be maintained. If there are no real enemies
to fight with, they mu=t be made. " Louis has had his first baptism
of fire," so ran the E'">^^ror's telegram to Eugenie, at the opening
of the war.

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 12/

They baptized you in Jordan water,

Baptized as a Christian I mean ;
But you come of the race of CiDsar,

And thus have their baptisms been.

Baptized in true Caesar fashion,

Remember through all your years.
That your font was a burning city,

And your water its widows' tears.

But alas ! "let not him that girdeth on his harness, boast him-
self as he that putteth it off." A dead exiled Emperor, and a dead
Trince, lying side by side at Chiselhurst, make but a sad tribute to
the praise of war. Well has the poet Covvper said :

Great princes have great playthings.
Some seek diversion in the tented field.
And make the sorows of mankind t^eir sport.
But war's a game which, were their subjects wise,
Kings would not play at. Nations would <^n well
To extort their truncheons from the puny ha ds
Of heroes, whose infirm and baby minds
Are gratified with mischief, and who spoil
Because men suffer it, their toy, the world.

It might have been so with us. Our security lies not in a st. nd-
ing army. We cannot — we would not — boast, like an American
preacher, " that our soldiers and sailors are better than any other
nation, and that we can oppose millions to any hundreds of thous-
ands that can be landed on our shores." Our defence is not in
man. Our safety is from the Lord. It is He that maketh peace
within our borders — who gives us rest from all our enemies, so
that the morning brings on its breeze no sound of cannon, or clash-
ing bayonets, or groans of the wounded, or cries of widows and
orphans, or streets and fields slippery with blood, and filled with
the dying and the dead ; and the evening no invasions of foreign
soldiery, or the violence and plunder of the assassin. The delights

I2H THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

of the sanctuary are unbroken by anarchy and revolution. We sit
every man under his vine and under his fig tree, with none to
make us afraid.

Secondly, — We have cause for thanksgiving, in view of the
abundant harvests of the year. In the words of the Psalmist, we
may well say : " Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it ; Thou
greatly enrichest it with the rivers of God, which is full of water ;
Thou preparcst them corn when Thou hast so provided for it ;
Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly ; Thou settlest the
furrows thereof; Thou makest it soft with showers ; Thou blessest
the springing thereof ; Thou crownest the year with thy goodness,
and thy paths drop fatness ; They drop upon the pastures of the
wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side ; the pastures
are clothed with flocks , the valleys also are covered with corn ;
they shout for joy, they also sing." " They that sowed in tears
have reaped in joy ; they that went forth weeping, bearing precious
seed, have returned rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them."
Our storehouses are filled to repletion with the plenteous produce
of the field, and the treasury of the nation replenished by the gold
and silver of other nations, who depend on us for food to sustain
their teeming millions. On this day of thanksgiving we gladly
acknowledge that all things are His that we enjoy. Health of body
and vigor of mind — food and raiment — house and friends — the
genial sunshine — the gentle rains — the distilling dews — the grateful
winds — the blushing fruit — the waving harvests — the bursting gran-
aries — the bleating flocks, and the lowing herds — the ocean's com-
merce and the country's gain. Men may, in accordance with the
teachings of a false philosophy, ascribe plenteous harvests and the
revival of trade to other causes, but christian men will humbly
acknowledge the bounty of the great benefactor, who maketh the
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and the unjust. The seasons as they change are but the varied God.

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 129

The rolling year
Is full of Thee.
God is ever present, ever felt
In the void waste as in the city full ;
And where He vital spreads there must le joy.

I cannot go
Where universal love, not smiles around,
Sustaining all your orbs j and all their suns. "

Brethren, when we contrast our condition to-day as a nation,
witli what might have been had God withheld from us his favor,
and blighted and blasted our crops, or by deluges of rain, rotted
them in the fields and prevented their ingathering — surely there is
cause for most devout gratitude. Poverty there is in the land.
Destitution still exists and will exist in spite of abundant harvests.
But what would have been our condition if commercial stagna-
tion had been followed by famine, pestilence and death ?

Thirdly, we have cause for thanksgiving, in view of the con-
tinuance of gospel privileges.

This is the best of all our blessings, although not tangible.
Without an open Bible, and the ordinances of religion, a nation is
poor indeed. Kingdoms are great, not in proportion as wealth and
power and material, or brute forces predominate, but as they excel
in the higher moral and intellectual qualities, which are inseparable
from a pure Christianity. When mercy and truth meet together,
and righteousness and peace kiss each other ; when truth springs
out of the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven, then
glory dwells in the land and the land yields her increase.

The return of the weekly Sabbath, in itself is an event precious
beyond computation. This one day, consecrated to communion
between man and his Maker, when the looms and spindles and
machinery of our great factories are silent, and the store and count-
ing house are forgotten, and the maddening noise of brokers and

I30 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

stock exchange is suspended, supplies the life blood of a nation.
Blot out this red letter day of the week, and you open the flood-
gates of vice, and sap the foundations of morality.

In the matter of Sabbath observance and attendance upon God's
house, we are deserving of censure. The day is fast becoming a
holiday — not a holy day. The sacredness which in olden times
was associated with the Sabbath, is a thing of the past, and chris-
tian fathers and mothers are educating their children to become
open Sabbath breakers, by their own indifference to the claims of
religion. I know well the usual stereotype excuses that are made
by sceptics and secularists for such ungodliness. " The universe is
God's temple. I can worship God anywhere. Religion does not
consist of outward and audible service, but in the breathings of the
heart." Not thus did the Psalmist David speak or act. As king,
statesman, warrior and poet, burdened with the cares of empire, he
gladly went up to the sanctuary, that the divine life within his soul
might be sustained by contact with the altar fire 1

Now a days, Puritanic and Covenanting Sabbaths are spoken
of with derision by men unworthy to unloose the shoelatchets of
their ancestors. Would that we had such Sabbaths back again,
with all their austerity and severity ; when in every home, and
through every street, might be heard morning and evening the voice
of praise and prayer, and " when a Sabbath stillness marked the
commencement and the close of each day, and a deep religious
repose rested on the land I"

Do men who make light of the Bible and its hallowed associa-
tions, and seek to banish it from our homes and schools, understand
what this means? It means the destruction of liberty — law and
government — of faith between man and man — of the eternal basis
of right and wrong. It means the utter annihilation of our
hopes for time and eternity, the enthronement of ignorance and
superstition and barbarism in the world, and the return of dark

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. I3I

days when brute force reigned supreme, and the criminal passions
were satiated by cruelty and rapine. No nation has prospered
whose inhabitants have despised the word of God, profaned the
Sabbath, and neglected the sanctuary. Such nations are mutable
and evanescent — forever surging on the brink of revolution — fos-
tering corruption among the rulers, and debauchery among the
ruled. "■ ^:- ■•'""■/ '-■■: ■ ■';:'^. ■'■■,■■■'■•■ ''^''"^ ^'■.■■■

0n such a day of thanksgiving, it becomes us humbly to acknow-
ledge our wrong-doing as a nation. Crime increases in every form.
Gigantic frauds in banking and mercantile institutions — flagrant
dishonesties by master and servant — perjury, drunkenness, gamb-
ling ; unbridled and open licentiousness, practised under the very
eyes and winked at by our officials ; dens of iniquity sending to
perdition many of our youth, and party spirit that knows no limit
to vituperation and slander. Were it not for strong faith in the
indestructible power of truth, and the resistless force of the mani-
fold christian agencies that are at work, we should almost despair
of our land. Nor is the outlook over the world more hopeful. Yet
let us not despond. The day is near at hand, when holiness shall
be written upon the very bells of the horses, and when crested war-
riors shall no longer dip their plumes in blood.

True loyalty is not to be measured by loud and vapid outbursts
ot patriotic sentiment, and theretore before closing, let me point
out one or two dangers to which we are exposed, deserving the
serious consideration of every man who wishes well to his country
and the world.

No one can shut his eyes to the fact that there has been, in
recent years, a very marked decline in public integrity. We have
no longer to go to the United States for examples of corruption
and bribery and malfeasance in office. The scandals in political
life that are constantly being unmasked — the wholesale bribery
engaged in at elections, where men are bought and sold at the

132 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

polling-booths, like so many cattle in the market, make every hon-
est man blush for shame and hang his head in sorrow. Here, as
in the United States, cunning and trickery, with wealth at com-
mand to buy constituencies, are esteemed most fitting attributes
for official position. So thoroughly has this evil permeated our
country and wi*;hstood all efforts of a reforming character, that in
the estimate of many good men, our political condition is hopeless !
They abstain from all active interference in the affairs of the com-
monwealth, and are loud in their lamentations over the social and
political degeneracy of the age, but do nothing to raise the stand-
ard of public integrity in the high places of the land.

I am not of the opinion that things have become so hopelessly
bad. But if a change is to be brought about, it is to be done by
christian men, and not by the decisions of Judges nor acts of Par-
liament. The sooner we get rid of the notion that christian men
are ineligible to high position, and that church members and min-
isters are to stand aloof from all parliamentary and municipal con-
tests, the better ; unless, indeed, we are prepared for a condition of
affairs that shall rival the neighboring republic, where civil honors
and emoluments belong to the most ignorant and debased in the
community — to men whose very names are a synonym for all that
is dishonest and demoralizing.

The terrible extra /agance in style of living which is prevalent
at the present day, is also matter for serious concern to every good
man. If Canadian pioneers were to rise from their graves, and
look at the dress and conduct of their children and their grand-
children, they would be astounded beyond measure. In their days,
wealth was acquired slowly but surely — a competency for old age
gained by honest industry was the height of a man's ambition.
Men paid their debts, or the pillory stared them in the face, without
the alternative of an insolvent court. But in our day the maxims
of our ancestors are laughed at as childish. The log cabin has not

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 133

only given place to the substantial brick or stone dwelling, but the
fittings and furnishings (bought but unpaid in many cases) rival
the palaces of royalty. There is nothing wrong in any man amass-
ing wealth and surrounding himself with the comforts of existence,
provided the money has been gained by honest industry. But in
many cases the reverse is the case. Systematic fraud and swind-
ling is now reduced to a science, and the man who makes an
assignment and transfers his belongings to another, out of reach of
his creditors, is called a wise and prudent man ! The more labori-
ous handicrafts are now despised. Servant girls scorn the drudgery^
as they style it, of a christian home, and prefer the sewing machine
and the factory and the freedom of town and city life, to the
wholesome restraints of a well regulated family. Farmers' sons
hurry from the farmstead to be clerks, and salesmen and physicians
and lawyers, and their daughters go out into the world clothed in
all the tinsel and finery that money can procure, but lamentably
unfit to adorn a home, or become the wives of sensible men. And
this is called civilization and refinement and enterprise ! And we
laugh at the vulgarity and simplicity and homeliness of our sires,
whose practical knowledge and sound attainments in every depart-
ment of literature and science, puts to shame the mere smatterings
of our modern aristocracy, who bulk so4argely in the public view.
Once more, the absence of religious training among the young
is a matter of serious thought to christian men and women of our
land. The history of nations shows that Bible principles instilled into
the heart of youth, is the only hope for permanent and solid growth.
There is no true civilization apart from christian ethics. But this
cannot be done by Sabbath Schools, however efficiently equipped,
nor can it be done by common schools. If done at all it must be
done by christian parents. But even supposing that all the chris-
tian parents in the land faithfully discharged their duty in this
respect, what of the tens of thousands of children, who are left

134 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

uncared for, born in ignorance of God — growing up to manhood
and womanhood degraded and debauched — ulcers and plague
spots in the community? The time has come, it seems to me,
when the Bible must be used as a text book in our common
schools, and when we must have confidence in the religious char-
acter of every man and woman entrusted with the training of our
youth. It needs not that debated points in theology and church
government be taken up, but that the high standard of christian
living, which the Bible recognizes as the safeguard of men and
nations, be impressed upon the plastic minds of our youth. Mere
secular knowledge never has, and never can, make law-abiding
subjects or real patriots.

As christian men, let us anew gird ourselves to the great work
of removing these' evils, and evangelizing this entire nation, in its
length and in its breadth. There is much land yet to be possessed.
Narrowing our view to the continent of America, comprising Can-
ada and the United States, the great Northwest, British Columbia,
Australia, and other colonies, what fields for missionary enterprise
stretch out before the eye ! Why has our place been appointed for
us in this goodly land ? Not sirnply to increase our riches and add
to our individual happiness, but that from us the true religion may
flow forth to more remote and destitute portions of the earth. The
church must keep pace with commerce and civilization. Distant
regions opened up by the discoveriefj of travellers must be possessed
for Christ, and the true religion planted on every citadel of Satan.
Faith in the purpose and promise of God, courage to conquer, and
a generous consecration of our means to God's cause, will ensure
us victory.

In grateful praise lies our hope of continued bestowment of
God's favor. Thanksgiving is the beginning of heaven. But
thanksgiving is a mockery without corresponding sacrifice. Thanks-
giving is good, but a continued thankful life is better. Out of our

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES. 135

abundance we are to give freely for the good of our fellow men.
The liberal soul shall be made fat. There is that scattereth and
yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet and
it tendeth to poverty. " To deal thy bread to the hungry, and to
clothi^ the naked, and bring the poor that are cast out into thy
house," are the best evidences of a thankful soul. " How much
owest thou unto my Lord ?" Such a question rightly pondered
will make you respond, " What shall I render unto the Lord for all
his benefits towards me?"

God of the swiftly rolling year !

Thy bounties lie on every hand ;
How rich thy varied gifts appear,

While 'neath the arching skies we stand :
With countless sheaves of golden grain
The joyful reapers strew the plain.

Pensile from every drooping bough,

Fair in the sunlight's ruddy glow,
The ripening fruits are bending now —

From lavish hands our blessings flow.

With thankful hearts our lips repeat

God's goodness to this latest hour j
lift to Him each voice in praise

Whose bounteous love hath crowned our days.

J^IOGRAPHICAL.

MARTIN LUTHER.

Martin Luther.

On occasion of the Special Services, commeniGratii^e of
the Four Hundretti A.nniDersary of the great German
Reformer.

"A mighty, valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters,
and the Lord is with him."

Ist Samuel, Ifi, v. 18.

" Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

— Galatians 5, v. 1.

Martin Luther.

(tV^v

^REAT and good men are God's gifts. As such, without
. _ , idolatrous homage, their deeds in behalf of humanity
^^^ ought to be kept in everlasting remembrance, and the
[^ ■ lessons of their lives pondered by those who enjoy the
heritage they have left behind them. There never has been a period
in the history of church or state that God has not special agents
prepared for special emergencies — men endowed with more than
the average measure of courage, fidelity and daring, to speak in His
name and defend His truth. Having found it themselves after
great and sore travail, they cannot but make it known to others,
that the suffering brotherhood of souls may enjoy the glorious lib-
erty of the sons of God. Such a man was Martin Luther.

He was born at Eisleben in Upper Saxony, on the lOth of
November, 1483, and because he was baptized on St. Martin's day,
he was named after that saint. His great grandfather and grand-
father were Saxon peasants. His father, John Luther, was origin-
ally a miner, but latterly a proprietor of mines, and chief magistrate
of the city of Mansfield. His mother's name was Margaret Lin-
dcrman. Both parents are described as somewhat rough and hot

. (HI)

142 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

tempered, but pious, true and honest at heart, and trained their son
in the fear of God. At the age of fourteen years, he was sent to
the grammar school of Madgeburg, where he remained a year.
From this he went to his father's birthplace, Eisenach, in Thuringia,
where he continued his studies, and made such marked progress as
indicated future greatness.

In 1 501 he entered the University of Erfurt, and at the age ol
twenty, in 1503, was admitted Master of Arts. His determination
now was to practice law, but events happened that entirely changed
his plans and future destiny.

The change in his choice of profession is variously accounted
for. The generally received opinion is, that while walking with a
companion, they were overtaken by a thunder storm, both stricken
down, and his companion killed by his side. Others say that he
fell dangerously ill, and feared he would die ; others th'at a dear
friend of his was assassinated, and he felt as if the grave yawned at
his feet. Melancthon says that it was brought about by alarming
convictions of sin, and apprehensions of divine vengeance, follow-
ing the sudden death of a companion. It is sufficient for us to
know that he was by some startling Providence or the operations
of grace, awakened to realize tie value of eternity over all the vain
ambitions of youth.

The state of religion at that time was low. Our Lord's passion
was regarded as a mere human tragedy ; the righteousness which
is by faith was ignored ; the intercession of priests and saints and
t!\e Virgin Mary, were deemed essential to pacify divine wrath.
Such as c")uld not make atonement for sin by offerings which went
to the enrichment of the clergy, were doomed, if not to hell, at Last
to purgatory, until satisfaction was made. Unmeaning and grossly
superstitious ceremonies, and unedifying discourses on rites and
processions, formed the staple of worship, while the wickedness and

MARTIN LUTHER. .;^ 143

scandalous lives of priest and people, were covered over and ab-
solved by indulgences.

Luther, like other awakened converts of that age, sought refuge
in the monastic retreat of Erfurt, and was admitted. His parents
objected. "Take care," said his father, "that you are not ensnared
by a delusion of the devil." Luther insisted that he had a call
from God, and persevered in his withdrawal from the world, which
took place on the 17th of July, 1505.

He did not, however, find peace within the convent. His con-
science was greatly troubled. Fasts and penance did not meet
his spiritual wants, or remove the burden that weighed upon his
heart. He passed through great mental struggles, sometimes shut-
ting himself up in his cell for days, and once was found lying sense-
less upon the floor. At length when his mind was filled with
distressing anxieties about his state, he stumbled upon a copy of
the Bible in Latin, which he had never seen before. He read it
with avidity, but still was far from knowing the way of pardon.
Seeking the advice of an aged God-fearing monk, he was pointed
to personal faith in the son of God, as the only method for the
remission of sins, and after much further study and prayer and
great mental conflict, was led to perfect rest by a saving applica-
tion of the words : ** The j,ust shall live by faith," (Romans i, v. 17).
He now became entirely changed. The righteousness of God,
which had been before this a stumbling block, became sweet to his
soul, and the entrance on a blessed assurance of a full salvation.

Leaving the walls of the convent, he was ordained in 1507. His
ministrations at once attracted the attention of many notables,
among whom was Frederick the Elector of Saxony. Next year he
was appointed to a professorship in the University of Wittemberg.
Here, besides teaching philosophy, he preached with such power,
and presented the gospel in such a new light, that crowds were
attracted to hear him.

144 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

In 1510 he was sent as a Commissioner to Rome under a deep
sense of the sacredness of that place, and sincere veneration for the
reigning Pope. On his way thither he halted at certain convents,
and was shocked at the gross sensuality and informalism that pre-
vailed. Reaching Rome, he visited every sacred spot, but found
his feelings in sad contrast with the levity and worldliness that he
everywhere encountered. The mass was repeated with the utmost
flippancy ; the priests at the altar indulged in the most blasphem-
ous jests, and many of them openly avowed their disbelief of the
doctrines they were ordained to preach. With strangely disturbed
and conflicting feelings he returned to Germany, and in 15 12 was
made Doctor of Divinity. He now gave himself up to the study
of the scriptures in the original languages, and began expositions
on the Psalms and the epistle to the Romans. In all he wrote or
spoke, he pointed to the Lamb of God, who alone taketh away the
sin of the world, and hastened to tell others how and where he had
found peace to his soul.

At this juncture an event occurred that hastened the entrance
of the great reformer on the work of his life. Leo X succeeded to
the Papal throne in 1513. Saint Peter's had been begun, but re-
mained unfinished for lack of means. To raise the required amount
of money, a general indulgence was proclaimed throughout Europe
to all who should give towards the building of Saint Peter's. To
overcome the objections of foreign princes, who objected to their
subjects giving money to Rome, Leo promised Henry VIII a third
of the Papal spoils. Tetzel was one of the salesmen of the indul-
gences, and most unblushingly did he go about his businc-s. He
assured his purchasers, that this indulgence would cover both guilt
and penance, and was all-efficacious to deliver souls out of purga-
tory. In his own Irreverent style he said. " that as soon as the
money tinkled in the box, the souls of their relations received a
full discharge, and bolted upward direct to heaven !"

MARTIN LUTHER. 14S

Such doctrine was very different from the belief and teaching
of Luther, who, although still a devout Catholic, was shocked at
Tetzel's profanity. It made his blood boil. He looked upon the
whole thing as a cheat, and refused to absolve from their sins such
as had bought Tetzel's indulgences. He was then attacked for
resisting the Pope's authority, and in reply drew up his famous
ninety-five propositions setting forth his views. He sent a copy to
the Archbishop, and on the day before the festival of " All Saints,"
when crowds of the country people were flocking into the town, he
nailed them upon the gates of the castle of Wittemberg, with his
name as defender, and read them on All Saints' Day to the people
in the great parish church. In these propositions Luther admits
the power of the church to remit by indulgence what she has herself
imposed, but nothing more. She could not deliver souls from pur-
gatory, nor free them from mortal sins. These propositions were
the cry of an oppressed conscience — of revolt and anguish, at the
baseness of men, who could thus prostitute God's truth for sordid
mammon.

The great controversy between Luther and Rome now waxed
hotter and stronger, until at last be was enabled like the Apostles
of old, to place the authority of scripture above the church, with
her Popes and cardinals and monks, and publicly to condemn the
Papal See. But this radical change of opinion was not reached at
once. In a discussion to which he was challenged by a noted Rom-
anist, Luther, while opposing the extravagant notions entertained
of the Pope's authority, did not altogether deny it. Pressed by his
opponent with the passage in Matthew 16, v. 18, 19, which Rome
interprets as applying to every Pope as well as Peter, but which
Luther regarded as only personal to the Apostle, he was led to
further study of the pretensions of his church, and finally declared
the whole system of the Papal hierarchy to be a satanic invention,
and the Pope the real anti-Christ !
*10

146 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Luther was backed by the Elector of Saxony, and at this
period also, Melancthon — a man of gentle and affectionate nature,
just the opposite to Luther, and yet the very man he needed, to
help him in his arguments against Rome, — came as his colleague
in the University of Wittemberg. Students flocked to their
classes, and the Reformers of Wittemberg thus spread their views
far and wide over all the land.

The Pope now made up his mind to issue a Papal Bull against
the reformer. Luther instead of being alarmed was defiant, and
published two pamphlets on the matters in dispute, full of bitter
sarcasm and stinging rebukes of the priests and the Papacy.
Then the Papal Bull arrived and the Elector of Saxony was
ordered by the Pope to deliver up the heretic Martin Luther. The
question now was, what would Luther do with the Pope's Bull, and
what would th^ elector do with Luther ? The elector remained
the friend of Luther, and Luther on the 4th of December 1520,
burned the Pope's Bull, and along with it all the Roman law books
he could find, thus setting free, as far as he was concerned, the
German nation from the jurisdiction of Rome. "Germany must
abandon Rome. Liberty for ever. The die is cast" Such was
the war cry of the popular German rhymes.

The next event in the history of the Reformation is the Diet
of Worms, opened by Charles V. on the 20th of January, 1521.
At this council the accusations of Luther against the court of Rome
were lo be considered. Luther having been summoned before the
Diet, and an imperial herald sent to bring him, left Wittemberg
on the 2nd of April. His friends thought he was going to his
death, but Luther replied : " Christ lives, and we will enter Worms
in spite of hell and the powers of the air." Afterwards speaking
of his fearlessness to the Emperor of Saxony, he said: "The
devil saw in my heart that even had I known there would be as
many devils at Worms as tiles upon the house roofs still I would

MARTIN LUTHER. 147

joyfully have plunged among them." When Luther appeared
before the Diet he was asked to acknowledge as his the books he
had written against the Papacy, and next to retract the heretical
doctrines therein contained. Luther acknowledged their author-
ship, but refused to retract one title. " If I had a thousand heads,"
he said, " I would allow them all to be cut off, rather than recant a
single word. If your imperial majesty requires a plain answer, I
will give one with horns and teeth. It is this, that I am bound by
the scriptures which I have quoted. My conscience is submissive
to the word of God, therefore I may not, and will not recant,
because to act against my conscience is unholy and unsafe — so
help me God !"

The Emperor then declared his intention to regard Luther as
an heretic, and an attempt was made to violate the promise made
him, of safe conduct back to Wittemburg. Indeed it was hinted
that the best thing would be to burn him there and then, and cast
his ashes like those of John Huss into the Rhine. But 400 knights
and 8,000 footmen gave the Emperor to understand that they
would defend Luther against Rome to the death ! Accordingly on
the 26th of April he was ordered to depart, and left Worms the
hero of the German nation. " Single-handed he had fought the
battle of Germany against the Pope, and endangered his life for
his country." And in this victory over brute force and against
mental bondage, Luther vindicated the right of every man to exer-
cise liberty of thought and speech, in matters appertaining to his
eternal well-being.

What follows may be briefly told. Charles and the Pope en-
tered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, against the Reformer.
On the eighth day of May they signed a treaty, binding themselves
to crush out this insurrection against Rome. The Emperor then
issued an edict against Luther, condemning him to be burnt, as his
books had been, but elsewhere, all over Germany, they were read

148 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Still more and more. Meanwhile Luther scattered over the land
an account of the doings of the Diet of Worms, and roused popular
indignation against his cruel judges. His friends carried him safely
to the castle of Wurtburg, where, although silent in speech, he
busily engaged in translating the Bible into German. The mob,
in his absence, became wild and exasperated against Rome, and
meditated revenge. Luther, hearing of this, left the castle of Wurt-
burg, and at the risk of his life suddenly appeared in his old pulpit
in Wittemberg to calm the excitement. The revolutionary prophets
of that age were dismissed, and order restored, and before the end
of the year the New Testament was translated into the German
tongue, and the Bible acknowledged as the rule of faith.

The peasants' war which followed, and raged for years, and
during which over 100,000 perished, was strongly objected to by
Luther, who opposed the use of the sword against the civil power.
This war, wrongly ascribed to the Reformativ^n movement of Luther,
was in reality a revolt of the poor German peasantry against the
yoke of the feudal serfdom. Had timely reforms been granted,
revolution and bloodshed would have been averted.

The collateral results of the Reformation in Germany, were the
suppression or purification of the monasteries, and the use of their
vast revenues for educational purposes, or for the preaching of the
gospel to the poor. Monks and nuns were allowed to marry. The
German language was used in wo^^ship, instead of Latin. The
youths were taught in the schools their native tongue, and Luther's
German Bible and German hymns came into general use ; and
when in 1529 the Diet of Spires passed a decree, re-enacting the
edict of the Diet of Worms, the Lutheran princes protested, and so
earned for themselves and all likeminded men the name of Protest-
ant, while Protestant schools, and states adopting Lutheran doc-
trines, sprang up in every corner of the land.

MARTIN LUTHER. 1 49

While Luther lived, the Emperor never carried out his threat,
to crush the Protestant heresy by the sword. The peace of Augs-
bur{^ followed, with its legal recognition of the Protestant states,
but it was after all but a mock toleration ; for after the great Re-
former's death, the German nation was plunged into the terrible
thirty years' war, and to this day bears the marks of the terrible
ordeal through which it passed, before her national freedom and
unity were gained.

The closing years of the Reformer were marked by frequent
attacks of sickness, and the death of friends and relations ; and his
mind was often the prey of despondency, caused by sorrow and
dissatisfaction at the impiety and immorality of the age. and the
conduct of public affairs. " I am an old man," he says, "and no
more of any use. 1 have finished my course ; there rema/^cth only
that God gather me to my fathers, and give my body to the worms."
As the end drew near, his prayers were answered : " Pray God that
He may give me a peaceful and happy death." His thoughts
went back to his birthplace, and his conversation, which related to
death, eternity, and the recognition of friends in heaven, was unusu-
ally rich and impressive. And so, on the loth of February; 1546,
with his hands folded upon his breast, he repeated thrice the words,
" Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit — thou hast redeemed
me, thou faithful God," and gently passed away.

Luther's name and memory are imperishable. His was the
mighty mind which spoke for freedom, million tongued, in tones
that still thunder round the world, and down the ages. He had
his faults, because he was mortal, but his regal bearing and heroic
deeds were sublime. His greatness is not, as has been said, of a
polished work of art, but of an Alpine mountain, with towering
peaks, rough granite blocks, deep abysses, sweeping torrents, fresh
fountains and green meadows. His character was transparent for
honesty, as the sunlight For dissimulation and cowardice he had

ISO THE CHURCH and the common wkalth

the bitterest scorn. He was a son of thunder, and never gained
perfect mastery of his passion, but the ajje in which he lived, and
the men he had to deal with, demanded such a spirit. The man of
such serene temper that nothing can excite, is not the highest type
of christian character. In his own language he was rough, boister-
- ous, stormy, and altogether warlike, born to fight innumerable
devils and monsters, to remove stumps and stones, to cut down
thistles and thorns, and to clear the wild woods. Hut underneath
the lion, there was the gentleness of the lamb. Taking him all in
all, we may say of him, in the language of Thomas Carlyle : '• He
was a true man, great in intellect, in courage, affection and integ-
rity ; one of the most loveable and precious of men ; a right spir-
itual hero ; a true son of nature, for whom these centuries, and
many that are yet to come, will be thankful to heaven." To-day,
both Roman Catholic countries and Protestant kingdoms unite to
honor his memory, and the wide world ranks him among her
noblest benefactors.

On occasion of such an anniversary, we cannot but contrast the
condition of the world and the church at the present moment with
what it was 400 years ago. The church was then the sworn antag-
onist of both political and religious freedom. Church and state
were welded together by chains of iron, and the civil magistrate
made to yield to the mandates of the Pope. The crown of every
monarch was his gift. The hierarchy held the world in fee simple,
and crowned and excommunicated kings at will. The stroke of
one man's pen absolved the ruled from the ruler, and made coun-
tries so interdicted scenes of desolation. The church bell was
seldom heard, and the earth " was denied its office to hold the
bodies of the dead." Salvation was offered for money, and not on
the grounds of free grace, Vv'hile idolatory and superstition mocked
men's reason, and rendered impossible all intelligent and rational
worship of the Divine Being. A faithful devotee of the church in

MARTIN LUTUl.k. 15I

that age had his choice of worshipping the following relics : " A
splinter of Noah's ark ; a finger of St. Andrew ; a finger of John
the Baptist ; the thumb of St. Thomas ; a tooth of our Lord ; a
rib of our Lord ; the hem of our Lord's garment which cured the
diseased woman ; the seamless coat of our Lord ; a tear which our
Lord shed over Lazarus, preserved by an angel, who gave it in a
vial to Mary Magdalene ; two sprigs from the rod with which our
Saviour was scourged ; the crocks in which the Son of God turned
the water into wine at the bridal feast of Cana ; the rod of Moses,
with which he performed his miracles ; a feather of the Holy
Ghost ; a feather of the angel Gabriel ; the slippers of the ante-
diluvian Enoch ; and some of the rays of the star that appeared to
the Magi." If the human mind has been emancipated from such
thraldom that crushed out all manly and noble aspirations ; if the
right of private judgment is now enjoyed without let or hindrance I
if we are permitted freedom of speech and action, and can read
from an unfettered Bible, without the fear of priestly anathema*
let us gratefully remember Martin Luther in our joy.

Luther lived only to see the dawn of the glorious day of intel-
lectual freedom, that the world now enjoys. He passed away when
his beloved fatherland was in the pangs of national strife, and
hurrying on to bloodshed. With something like prophetic eye, he
seemed to anticipate sad days of sorrow, when the faith of his
trusted followers would be tested, with the alternatives of death or
ignominious servitude to an alien power. And in just such a crisis
was Scotland when John Knox laid himself down to die, saying;
•'The world is weary of me, so am I of it." But these men planted
the strong roots of the liberties we now enjoy. We gather the
fruit, and prayer, and efforts of men, who, hundreds of years ago
passed away with unsatisfied eyes — the hot eyes stifled after the
storms of life, and the seal of death upon the faithful brow

152 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

There are some people at the present day, who think that the
world were all the better if such men as Martin Luther had never
lived. They hate strife and deplore men of impetuous iron will,
who will face death rather than yield their manhood. Not such
have been the heroes of history, cither sacred or profane. They
were men of piety, but at the same time of large and comprehen-
sive views, of executive ability, and untiring energy, who never left
undone any task they had begun, and who scorned ease and
luxury, if God's truth demanded self-denial and exposure to
danger. They have their successors, but few in numoer. The
present age is largely effeminate, compared with that of Martin
Luther. It abounds in obscure, mediocre men, whose piety may
be sincere, but who wield no influence whatever, over their fellow
men, who busy themselves with petty pastimes and undertakings,
that men of Luther's manhood would have scorned, and content-
edly sit at ease, thanking God that their lot has been cast in less
troublesome times !

There are others greatly alarmed lest the commemoration of
Luther's birthday, should do harm instead of good. They depre-
cate uncharitable utterances and ill-feeling between the members of
that church, whose servile dogmas Luther opposed 400 years ago,
and the present generation of Protestants. Not that they — good
souls — believe in error, but because converts are not to be made by
denunciation, but by loving appeals and the exhibition of gentle
lives. And so say we. But the man who thinks and tries with
soft words to bridge over the chasm, that exists between such hos-
tile systems of religion as Protestantism and Romanism, is a fool.
We gladly acknowledge the reformation in that church since the
days of Luther. Tetzel, with his wholesale offer of indulgences,
would receive less toleration now than in the days of Luther. The
injurious traffic which aroused the Reformer's wrath, is considerably
abridged, at least in our latitude. Nor would we forget the noble,

MARTIN LUTHER. 153

simple, unimpeachable lives, that men, born and trained in the
Catholic church, have lived, and the value of their labors and writ-
ings. Sweeter, nobler natures, than the school to which such men
as Fenelon and Blaise Paschal belonged, have never breathed.
The sacrifices that her priests have made for the dogmas they be-
lieve in, arc worthy of commendation. I would, too, that some of
the women in our Protestant churches — without immuring thcm-
.sclves in nunneries — did but emulate the self-denial and gentleness
and patient tenderness of those sisterhoods, who shrink from no
office, however menial, by the bedside of the sick and dying —
whether in tne hospital or in the trenches — and proffer their ser-
vices irrespective of creed or country. But when all this is cheer-
fully admitted, let us not forget, that it is not by ignoring funda-
mental differences, that keep two great communions apart, that the
cause of truth is to be served and good will continued, but by manly
declaration of our belief, and unswerving loyalty to conscience.

Germany has given many men of genius since the days of Luther
to the world. Her seats of learning have long been haunts of stu-
dents, who leave the college halls of their native land to drink the
inspiration at the fountain head, and from scholars whose attain-
ments in special subjects have made them famous, and reflected
glory upon the nation. Her soldiers, trained from youth for active
service, are all but invincible upon the battle field. Her statesmen
have achieved diplomatic triumphs that other nations en'.y ; but
better than all these are the men and women in the humbler ranks
of life, who, with a strength of will and stubborn tenacity of pur-
pose, overcome all obstacles and carve out for themselves honorable
positions in every walk of life. What makes them so ? Why are
they not sluggish, indolent and unambitious, like the natives of
more balmy climes ? Why are they sought after by the people of
the American continent as in the main, frugal, honest, peaceful,
law-abiding subjects, and why are they invariably found, when

154 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

occasion arises, in the vanguard of the fight? Simply becau.e the
spirit of the past still lingers in the nation —

Their altars and their fires,
The green graves of their sires,

are not forgotten. That matchless fortitude that enabled Martin
Luther to dare oppression is not extinguished, but ready when
called r.pon to maintain the right.

Since the days of the Reformer, liberty of conscience has been
fought for in other lands, sometimes with but partial success. The
green sod has again and again been stained by the blood of brave
patriotic spirits. But the day is near when the right to worship
God, unfettered by state authority, shall everywhere be regarded
as the inalienable birthright of every man. Stronger than brute
force is the omnipotence of truth. As Lord Brougham said more
than half a century ago, " Let the soldier be abroad, if he will, he
can do nothing in this age. The schoolmaster is abroad, and I
trust to him, armed with his primer, against the soldier in full mili-
tary array."

The outworn rite, the old abuse.

The pious fraud, transparent grown,

The wood held captive in the use
Of wrong alone.

These wait their doom,
And fresher life the world shall draw
From their decay.

God works in all things.
Wake thou and watch ! — the world is gray
With morning light ! '

Steadily down the march of ages, above the disputations and
ambitions of despots, and in spite of the secret "machinations of
crowned oligarchs, who join hands to stay the triumphal car of lib-

MARTIN LUTHER.

erty, she rushes on, destroying in her progress hoary systems of
superstition that have long held the human soul in fetters. It can-
not be otherwise, for — ,-

Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeathed by I leeding sire to son,
Though battled oft, is ever won.

God knows, I have no ill will toward the members of the church
of Rome. Many of them are my friends. Within her pale,
despite of what Protestants deem unscriptural dogmas and gross
idolatry, souls yearning for fellowship wit'i heaven, may find it,
and make the crucifix the symbol of their faith. I have no quarrel
with her devotees, who up to the light they possess, follow faith-
fully her mandates, and relinquish their reason to the superior
judgment of the church, under the threat of pains and penalties
that embrace both worlds. In all that relates to liberty of consci-
ence, Protestants and Romanists have equal rights, but when the
Pope or any other man claims infallibility and the right to dictate
to others, on the pain of excommunication, what they shall believe,
I resist such presumptuous demands. They may be exacted from
slaves — never from free men ! I recognize the reigning sovereign
of the realm, as supreme in civil matters, within constitutionil
rule ; I give to my maker the direct homage of my heart, without
the intervention of saint, or angel, or pope ! What shall be the
ultimate result of this great conflict of the ages ? Which of these
great spiritual forces that have for centuries fought for the con-
quest of the world, shall gain the victory, I cannot for a moment
doubt. I do not depreciate the vast influence — the magnificent
organization — the ten i'lousand agencies and emissaries and wil-
ling servants that the Vatican controls. Her tactics are marvcl-
ously wise, and adapted to satisfy the passions of the human soul.
It may be, as Macaulay says : " That she shall exist in undimin-
ished vigor, when some traveller from New England, shall in the

l$6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London
bridge, to sketch the ruins of St Paul." But it will be as a
reformed church, freed from the shackles that now, but cannot
always be worn, by men of intelligence who know their account-
ability to God, for their beliefs and actions, and who, without
intercession of priests, enter /the holiest by the blood of Jesus !
God hasten that day, when there shall be but one fold, and one
shepherd. Amen.

THOMAS CARLYLE.

Thomas Carlyle.

" In these days came John the fiaptiht, preaching in the wilderness
of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

—Matthew 3, v. 1, 2.

Thomas Carlyle.

y(ll|i--|^A^EN John the Baptist appeared, the world was in a state
j^mjy^^ of mental agitation. The Old Testament prophet;, had
K/^^^K filled and fired the Jewish heart with fond expectations
^^ of a new kingdom, and a coming deliverer. Uneasiness,

<vs discontent, and yearnings after something better, char-

acterized the age. His mission was to rebuke the sinful practices
of the day, and prepare for the coming of Christ. For five hundred
years there had been no reforming prophet. He was the last of
the race, and in many respects the greatest of all, and formed the
connecting link and transition between Judaism and Christianity.

The prominent feature in the Jewish religion of that period was
its hypocrisy — its unreality — hollowness — ostentation — barren or-
thodoxy, and formalism. The Scribes and Pharisees, however*
af^ainst whom John the Baptist directed his fiercest scorn and sting-
ing rebukes, were in some respects far in advance of many profes-
sors of religion at the present day. They attended with a praise-
worthy diligence to all their forms of worship, and in the sight of
all men performed their devotions. They were loyally attached to
the doctrines and discipline of their church. They gave liberally

(159) .

l60 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

and ungrudgingly for the support of ordinances — not resorting to
the questionable methods for raising monies, common at the pres-
ent moment ; and their zeal and active efforts to make converts
and proselytes knew no bounds. Their morality and righteousness
was good, so far as it went, but it was regarded as sufficient for
salvation, and as a ground of merit and reward in the sight of God.
They boasted of their virtues, and sought the good opinion of men
by performing certain outward acts of devotion, after a mechanical
and routine fashion, rather than yielding spontaneously to God the
sincere homage of the heart

Despising such hypocrisy, and in order to mark his contempt
for the reputed leaders of the synagogue John the Baptist with-
drew himself to the wilderness — living solitary and apart — brood-
ing over the divine communications of heaven, which from time to
time he uttered in the ears of his astonished countrymen.

His education was in the desert : far from refined society, where
destitute of luxuries, and living on the plainest fare, he became
inured to hardships and fitted to become the mouthpiece of God
to men. Thus prepared, like all great reformers of the past and
present, he confronted the bitterest enemies of Christianity, and
gave form and definitions to dreams of a better day, for the Jewish
nation and the world. He became the interpreter of grand and
startling truths, which Grecian culture and philosophy never could
discover or reveal to men.

The burden of his theme was repentance. He did not attempt
to settle theological disputes, nor form any one school of religious
thought. But he endeavored to lead men to the practice of holi-
ness, and the abandonment of sin. " Repent." " Bring forth
fruits meet for repentance." " Flee from the wrath to come."
These were the keynotes of his message. He sought after no
refinement of manner, or delicacy of language. He listened to no
excuses, he had neither smiles, nor conciliation for the formalists

THOMAS CAULYLE. l6l

and infidels of the age, but openly denounced their wickedness,
and unmasked the secret abominations that were concealed under
the garb of sanctimoniousness, and affected holiness.

His mission was a solemn and serious one. The duty imposed
upon him was terrible. To accuse men of the grossest crimes, and
the most loathsome wickedness ; to rebuke the proud ; to uncover
crooked and dishonest policies ; to pierce the conscience, awaken
reflection, and produce conviction, was no easy task. Yet he did
all this. Society was shaken to its very depths. Alone, unaided,
and unbefriended, he overcame the passions of the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, and from their ranks made converts to the truth
Crowds attended his ministry, and listened with personal applica-
tion of his words. " There went out to him Jerusalem, and all
Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized
of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." Such is the power pos-
sessed by aicere man, who speaks in the name of God, to disarm
opposition, and overcome the bitterest prejudices.

Every age has its reformers, in church and state. They are of
two classes, (a) Those made by the times, (d) Those made for,
and in advance of the times. Of the latter class was John. His
preaching was what the age demanded. He had not the fancy,
imagination, or sublime visions of an Isaiah, or the tender lamen-
tations of a Jeremiah, or the cloudy mysteriousness of a Daniel or
an Ezekiel, but he had the direct and telling home thrusts that pro-
duce instant effect. His words, accompanied by heaven's fire, acted
instantaneously upon the conscience.

Such preachers are not usually welcome. In proportion as
forms and rules are .set aside, and the corruptions of society dealt
with, and immoralities and dishonesties unveiled, the prophet and
the preacher are traduced. It is said, "The servants of Christ
should be meek and lowly, like their Master — their message is
peace and good will to men ; the gospel should be like the falling
*11

l62 THE CHURCH AND THL COMMONWEALTH.

dew, upon the hcarls of sinners," All so far true. The dew is
needful, but so also is the thunder peal and the lightning flash.
Indeed the preacher's mission is ended when no alarm is needed.
The preaching of John the Baptist was practical, searching, pointed
and withering. Such was Paul's. Such was Stephen's. Such was
Christ'.^. One of the marked characteristics of the Apostle's teach-
ing, was the unconditional requisite of moral purity. The very first
step towards the new life, was personal purification. They did not
call upon men to join the church, or begin a round of ceremonies,
or become partizans of this or that creed or school, so much as tc
repent of their sins, and accept with undivided heart of the Lord
Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist was not a prudent man, in the ordinary accep-
tation of the word. He did not speak in silken tones. He pre-
ferred a good conscience to the honor and approval of men.

Prudential preaching is not the want of this age. There is toe
much of it already. Plain, homely, earnest appeals are needed.
Human nature is very much what it was in the days of the Baptist.
Nominal professors are as prevalent, and the masses are as im-
penitent and indifferent. Conviction of sin must be aimed at in
every sermon. Invariably it precedes genuine conversion. War
first — then peace : the ploughshare, then the harvest : the blasting
of the rock, before the buildi ig rises : demolition, before reforma-
tion. The hurricane clears away the poisonous miasma, that breeds
disease and death. And so the blast of God's threatenings must
reach the conscience, before hardened sinners are melted into tears.

John's preaching was not a complete gospel by any means.
But it prepared the way for the coming of Christ. His moral
dissection made men feel their need of a physician.

Like John, we call upon men to repent. What it means every

nan knows instinctively. Turn round. Change your purpose.

Mourn over, while ye confess your sins. Hate evil and turn to

THOMAS CARL YLE, 1 63

holiness. Men have power to repent, and break away from their
sins. But the innate haughtiness of the human heart must first
be subdued, for pride and repentance cannot dwell in the same soul.
The crowds that waited upon John's ministry gave evidence of
their sincerity by "confessing their sins." There is a way of con-
fessing sin that is of no moral value, and indicates no moral change.
Men are perfectly willing as a rule, to confess their sinfulness, and
the original and utter depravity of their nature, but they dislike to
confess those special acts of wickedness, that make up the deprav-
ity. Indeed in many cases the fact of original depravity is pled as
a valid excuse for the wilful commission of sin. Men are held to
be, by a natural law of the universe, unable to avoid sinning, so
that just as mighty tornadoes uproot trees and overturn dwellings
so temptation prostrates men and entangles them in vice and
wrong doing. It is not difficult to find men saying : " I am a
sinner — all men sin — nothing else is to be expected, but that men
should sin. Sin is as universal in its grasp as the law of gravita-
tion." But how few confess to particular acts of wickedness, to
pride and selfishness, dishonorable actions, violations of truth and
purity, cnvyings and jealousies, back-biting, false witness bearing,
illicit pleasures, and the long dark catalogue of evils that mark the
daily life of millions, dishonoring to God, while debasing to our com-
mon humanity? God judges men not in the mass, but as individ-
uals ; nor is pardon given but to individuals. And thus it follows,
that such general confession of sin means nothing and effects
nothing. It is a mere pretence to humility — a palliation to a
guilty conscience — a mocking of that broken-heartcdncss and con-
trition of spirit, which alone is acceptable in the sight of God.
Nay further, a man may confess to a special sin, and yet be none
the better for it. You meet with such every day in the world. " I
know I have a failing. I sometimes do what I ought not to do
I am sorry for it." Next day or next hour, straightway and

l64 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

deliberately, " the failing " is repeated, and the man flatters himself
that the confession of his special sin deserves commendation, while
the sin itself is hardly worthy of condemnation. Men who are in
reality sorry for their sins, put forth tremendous efforts to overcome
them, and by the assistance of God's grace succeed.

To all such we say, Repent — repent now. Flee from wrath to
come. Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. " The axe is laid
unto the root of the tree : every tree, therefore, which bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." Salvation's
overtures may soon end. The Judge is at the door. Eternity is at
hand. God is merciful ; — yes, but he is towards the wilfully im-
penitent an angry God. Let no man deceive himself, or calm con-
science by imagining otherwise. The inner consciousness asserts
it, and experience teaches it. His wrath against defiant sinners is
unappeasable, nor can it be escaped.

On another occasion, this same John the Baptist, seemg jesus
coming to him, said, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sins of the world." Calls to repentance were in vain, without
the hope of forgiveness. This is the gospel we preach, for if we
confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.

During the past week, * there has passed away a man who, to
many of the present generation, seemed very much a John the Bap-
tist — a voice crying in the wilderness. He occupied no official
position, and he sought no honors. His private life was secluded ,
his dwelling an humble one ; his tastes and manners simple ; and
yet no man of the present century has been more widely known or
more highly respected. The outlines of his life may be condensed
within a few sentences : Born on the 4th December, 1795, in the

* February 4th, 1881. ; /

THOMAS CARLYLE. l6$

* • * . . .

small village of Ecclcfcchan, in Scotland — his parents in very mod-
rrate circumstances, but respected for ihc'i moral worth and supe-
rior intelligence — Thomas Carlyle began life with advantages
perhaps superior to many Scottish youths who have risen to dis-
tinction, but with nothing to indicate the grand achievements of
his life. His humble parentage was his boast. " VVouldst thou
rather be a peasant's son, who knew, were it never so rudely, there
was a God in heaven and in man ; or a duke's son, that only knew
there were two and thirty quarters on the family coach ?" This
question, which occurs in one of his earliest books, was emphatically
answered by his life.

From the parish school, after two or three years training, Car-
lyle was sent to the Annan gymnasium, where he was prepared for
the Edinburgh University. Here he distinguished himself by his
mastery of the subjects taught, and excelled in mathematics. Then
he studied theology, and delivered a sermon before his professors,
which gave high promise of future power and excellence as a
preacher. Troubled, however, with " paroxysms of doubt," he felt
lliat he could not honestly pursue the path intended for him by his
parents, and so after studying law, he finally settled down to be a
village schoolmaster of the old type — stern, methodical, and thor-
ough. We have a glimpse of his life at this stage, when he assisted
the great Edward Irving in the seminary at Kirkaldy, in which he
pays a touching tribute to his dear friend's memory. He says :

" I had gone through the University of Edinburgh, and had
been invited by an old friend to become associated with him in the
conduct of a school at Kirkaldy. It was Edward Irving — my old
friend Edward Irving. Together we talked and wrought and
thought ; together we strove, by virtue of birch and book, to initiate
the urchins into what is called the rudiments of learning, until, at
length, the hand of the Lord was laid upon him, and the voice of
his God spake to him saying : " Arise, and get thee hence, for this

l66 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

is not thy rest." And he arose and girded up his loins, and putting
the trump^i; of the Almighty to his h'ps, he blew such a blast as
that men started up with surprise, and said that the like of it had
not been seen since the days of the covenant itself. And from
Scotland he came to this great Babel ; and he stood up in the pul-
pit of the Hatton Garden chapel, the eyes of him blazing, and the
herculean form of him erect. And the great and the learned, the
high and the titled, the gifted and the beautiful, came around about
him, and sat mute and spell-bound listening to his wonderful
words. And they thought — for fools will ever think according to
their folly, which is the law of their being — they thought that
because they were looking at him, he was looking at them. He
was not looking at them at all. He was trying to do what no man
can do and live — trying to see God face to face. I have heard
that the eagle .s eye suffers eclipse ; that the curtain of darkness
falls over the pupil of his eye by the steadfast gazing at the bright-
ness of the sun. It was thus with my poor friend Irving. The
fools said — let the fools have their way, they know no better — the
fools said that Irving was daft — that his head was turned with the
popular applause. He was not daft, he v. as dazed. The curtains
of darkness fell over the eagle's eye by too steadfast gazing at the
sun. In blindness and loneliness he sobbed the great heart of him
to sleep."

After this, Carlyle became tutor in a private family, and finally
retired from contact with men, to startle the world by his quaint
massive sayings, which, for more than fifty years, have made him
the best known man in Britain — a name worthy of enrolment with
the mighties of his ago, and of a burial place in the consecrated
shrine of Westminster, had he not preferred to lie in the graveyard
of his native village ; for as Tennyson says :

'T is little ; but it looks in truth

Ae if the quiet bones were blest

Among familiar names to rest,
And in the places of his youth.

THOMAS CARLNLK. I67

Referring to his early years, in an address delivered as Rector
of Edinburgh University, ui 1866, he says :

"There are now fifty-six years gone, last November, since I first
entered your city, a boy of not quite fourteen — fifty-six years ago —
to attend classes here and gain knowledge of all kinds, I knew not
what, with feelings of wonder and aue-struck expectation ; and
now, after a long. long course, this is what we have come to. There
is something touching and tragic, and yet at the same tiinc beauti-
ful, to see the third generation, as it were, of my dear old native
land rising up and saying, ' Well, you are not altogc'^her an un-
worthy laborer in the vineyard ; you have toiled through a variety
of fortunes, and have had many judges.' As the old proverb says,
' lie that builds by the wayside has many masters.' We must ex-
pect a variety of judges, but the voice of Young Scotland, through
you, is of some value to me, and I return ycu many thanks for it,
though I cannot describe my emotions to you, and, perhaps, they
will be much more conceivable if expressed in silence."

No man, indeed, has been judged so variously as Thomas Car-
lylc. Hy some he has almost been worshipped ; by others wondered
at ; by others ridiculed ; but in every case his powerful intellect and
weird-like prophecies have been acknowledged as a powerful factor
in the social history of the age ; it' not in the moulding of men's
opinion, in causing reflection and turning attention to problems
that are as yet unsolved in the hist(jry of nations. When we find
him spoken of as the "greatest bibliographic writer of the age,"
and acknowledged by eminent men now living as having exerted
an influence upon their style and mode of thought beyond all other
writers, we can easily imagine how regal must have been his mind,
and how deep the impression made upon his contemporaries.

It is not necessary that we should agree with such a man in his
opinions in order to unite with the world of letters in laying our
humble tribute upon his grave. He sought the good of his race

l68 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMON WEALTIi

in his own peculiar way, and endeavored, by a bluntness of speech
and merciless casti^jation of all that was hollow-hearted and hypo-
critical, to prepare the world for the dawn of a better and brighter
end. He was a profound worshipper of what he called the divinity
in man, and indr'^^ed the hope that this hidden nobleness — this
internal light of the human soul — would produce a perfect man-
hood, and usher in a golden age. To our mind, such a prospect is
baseless, apart from the humanizing and evangelizing influences of
God's spirit upon men, and on society at large. His views also
regarding the treatment of criminals, were hardly in keeping with
that tenderness, which, while it hates sin, loves and pities, and
seeks to reclaim the sinner. The new testament certainly does not
teach that " Revenge and the natural hatred of scoundrels is a
correct and divine feeling in the mind." liut in spite of such marked
eccentricities, which he seemed to hold more tenaciously as he
grew older, his downright earnestness and honesty ; his shrewd
common sense ; his hatred of all shams and pretension ; his denun-
ciation of selfishness ; his contempt for aristocratic birth and
pedigree, when destitute of moral worth, and his oft-repeated
ma.xim that rank, power and possei:sion should be graduated by
ability, endear him to all lovers of humanity, wherever civilization
and manliness prevail.

There are two aspects in which the world may be looked at in
the present day — as getting worse, or as getting better. Thomas
Carlyle thought the former. He saw few redeeming features, and
no bright spots in the horizon. His mental vision of late years
was too much confined to what was passing under his eye in the
great metropolis of liritain — certainly not the best place to gain
impressions of human progress. The policies and diplomacies of
governments based upon mere expediency, or maintained by
threats of arms ; the monster iniquities, daily committed and
chronicled in the daily press ; th? astounding rascalities of men in

THOMAS CAKLVLE. 1C9

hif];h places, and the dark crimes committed under the very shadow
of hoary cathedrals and within the sound of a hundred Sabbath
bells ; and the frequent tolling of the knell at Newgate, as it hurried
off some poor wretch to eternity ; all these things shockv d his
moral sense, and led hirn hastily and erroneously, we think, to
conclude that civilization was being exchanged for the barbarism
of the dark ages. To him, indeed, all things seemed unfixed, and
"floating distractedly in an ocean of talk." lie looked upo\i the
present with scorn and disgust, as "days of endless calamity, dis-
ruption, confusion worse confounded — days of utter despair ; there
must be a new world, if there is to be any world at all !"

Intensely conservative, and yet, strange to say, intensely radical
and revolutionizing, he was also in his religious views — not perhaps
fickle — but, at least, undecided and inexplicable. He certainly
cannot be classed with philosophic atheists of the nineteenth cen-
tury. On the other hand, he cannot be ranked among the earnest
defenders and propagators of the Christian faith. His mind seems
to have been in some way, and to some degree, warped, and his
earlier predelictions in favor of the simple trust of his fathers
changed to doubt and emphatic denunciation of creeds and dogmas-
One of his critics sums up his creed as follows : lielicf in the
immortality of the soul, the existence of a God, and the responsi-
bility of man to God ; denial of the divinity of Christ, the
resurrection of the body, and final judgment. But we can hardly
come to such a conclusion from his writings. Dogmatic in the
highest degree himself, he had but little tolerance for formulated
beliefs. But he never assailed the foundations of the christian
faith, nor denied the existence and power of conscience, nor spoke
irreverently of the divine being. It were strange, nay, almost
impossible that he should, trained as he was by a father, who
rc;rarded the highest form of manhood attainable, that of the
christian, and who was remarkable for his profound religious fer-

170 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

vor.* Carlyle was a passionate admirer of the Covenanters in
his boyhood days, and never ceased to cherish their memory with
a strength and tenderness that developed with his appreciation of
their nobility, and assigned them a lofty niche in the gallery of the
world's best heroes. If he turned away with detestation, and some
degree of bitterness, from the religious life of the present, it was
because of his fond idolatry of such men, and the contrast presented
in our day of weakness, insincerity and indifference, both in church
and state.

Rugged in exterior, but tender in heart ; morose and melan-
choly, yet quaint in a humor peculiarly his own ; unforgiving, yet
pitying; doubting and dreaming, yet held by the moorings of his
youth to an eternal, all- wise, just and righteous God, — the hoary
sage, the fast friend, the affectionate husband, the marvellous word-
painter, the doleful philosopher, has passed away into that far-off
infinite immensity, that for years troubled and distracted his soul-
He now knows all.

The veiled dark portal,
Goal of all mortal,

has been passed, and the stillness and fullness of eternity entered
upon. Further we may not follow him.

♦Speaking of Carlyle's father, a writer says : " Measured by the
ordinary standards of the world, how cramped it is ! how short in its
ranaje ! how insignifioant ! What does one builder of peasants' cottages
more or less matter'? But, IJien, can we look at that life in that way 1
Can we look at any life in that way ! It is plain to us all that we cannot,
for life everywhere establishes connections and creatfs consequences.
. . . Indeed, it is doubtful if the real sum total of any man's life can
be stated until the end of all things. This humble mechanic, for instance,
was the father of a son whose name is known and honored wherever the
English languarge is spoken. To James Carlyle's narrow life in the vil-
lage and in the kirk, and in his own cottage, must be added the sum of
Thomas Carlyle's life, and the influence of his writings, a>id the influence
of the men whose thought has been stimulated or shaped by those writ-
inas. And so the son himself says : '* Let me not mourn for my father ; let
me do worthily of him ; so shall he still live even here in me, and his
worth plant itself h<jiorably forth into new generations."

THOMAS CARLYLE. 17 1

No further seek his merits to disclose,

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode :

There they alike in trembling hope repose,
The bosom of his father and his God.

Carlyle's life and works have not been in vain. His terse
thoughts and strange axiomatic utterances will not soon be for-
gotten. But the grandest life is incomplete, and the highest aspir-
ations of genius remain unfulfilled on earth. So with Thomas Car-
lylc. His aims were grand — who can doubt it? But of their fail-
ure, who can gainsay it ? The prophet fretted away his great life,
battering against shams with little tangible results. Indeed, the
nearer he approached the grave, the more unsatisfactory to himself
did his work appear. The more than half century spent in fiery
invective against social anomalies, seemed to result in nothing.
Nor can any merely negative philosophy cure the world's sorrows,
or cleanse its plague spots. The graphic and touching resources
of Charles Dickens, and the biting sarcasm and scorn of a Thack-
eray, are helpful in calling attention to social wrongs, and unmask-
ing traditional follies, but there is needed the positive, constructive
regenerating power of the gospel, " to arrange the world in beauty,
so that there shall be no discord and no lamentation any more."
It is Divine love for human souls that alone conciliates and con-
quers the world. He that would successfully elevate the masses —
equalize inequalities — redress wrongs — remove cruelties, and banish
wretchedness from earth, must not only cry aloud and spare not,
but must point to " The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world."

GEORGE BROWN.

George Brown.

" And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour."

—1st Kings, 11, V. 28.

** Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters ; as a man
falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again
over him. And the King said unto his servants, know ye not, that there
is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel."

2nd Samuel, 3, 34, 38.

J._

George Brown.

HESE words were spoken by King David, as he wept
over the grave of Abner. Abner had been comman-
der-in-chief of the armies of Israel under King Saul.
For years after Saul's death, he maintained a fruitless
warfare, in alliance with Ishbosheth, against the reign of
►^2^ David, but eventually, on condition that he should have com-
mand of the armies of the hitherto rival kingdoms, he made over-
tures to David for a re-union and reconciliation. Abner's proposals
found favor with the king, and Joab, who was commander-in-chief
of David's armies, was set aside for the sake of Abner. Dreading
the superior influence which such a man as Abner might have over
the king, and eager to take vengeance upon Abner on account of
his brother Asahel, who perished in a former feud, Joab stealthily
calls Abner aside, in the gate of the palace, and under the guise of
friendship thrust his sword into his body. The king, hearing of
this foul crime, not only lamented his death, but gave orders for a
general mourning, he and his people following the b»er to the grave,
and weeping aloud. The unexpected, and peculiarly atrocious
manner of his death, is set forth in the words now read : " Thy
hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters : as a man fall-

(175)

176 THE CHURCH AND THE COM ON'VVEALTH.

eth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wepi
again over him. And the king said unto his servants, know ye not
that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel."

There has been laid in the grave, since last we assembled in the
house of God, a kingly man, — one who for many years has by
unanimous consent been ranked among the princes of the land,
Over his grave the people have also wept, and a feeling of un-
feigned sadness has possessed all hearts, because of his untimely
end. As christian citizens, it surely becomes us, when the righteous
perish, that we should lay it to heart, and endeavor to read and
profit by the lessons of their lives.

To say that the lamented statesman and journalist was a man
of wonderful force of character and intellect, is what all admit. By
singular energy and high aspiration, he acquired an influence in
Canada second to none, — if not indeed superior to all his compeers.
His advent fell upon times most propitious to foster and develop
the versatile talents and prodigious powers he possessed. So that
if the man was raised up by Providence to do a special work, the
circumstances of the country were favorable to the man. It has
been said, and I think with great truth, that a great man is only
possible under certain conditions — that every genius can be ac-
counted for ; that he is the product of his time — has come forth in
answer to a call — in a word, that he is a response, and not a new
creation. It was the condition of the church, and the protests
which had been made against darkness and bondage, which made
a Lutiier possible. Cromwell would have farmed in Huntingdon
to the end of his days, probably, had Charles been a wiser and a
better king. But though a man cannot create circumstances to
suit himself, and afford coportunity for becoming conspicuous, he
can take things as they are, and by the force of his character chanp^c

GEORGE B'iOWN. 177

and reform existing wrongs and abuses, until the theories and prin-
ciples he has long believed in, become incarnated with the very
life's blood of the nation. This is what George Brown did in Can-
ada. Doubtless, had he lived longer, he would have attempted
more, but enough has been accomplished to indicate the place to
which he is entitled, in the estimation of a people for whom he
labored with a zeal and unselfishness that knew no bounds.

It needs not that I repeat the story of his life as briefly sketched
by the daily press. Born in Edinburgh, though with a dash of
impetuous Celtic blood in his veins, and educated in its academies,
he was surrounded from childhood with influences and favored
with privileges, well calculated to develop a naturally strong and
vigorous mind. But though intended for professional life, he
chose, instead of entering the University, the wider arena of the
world, where until the day of his death, he manfully struggled and
overcame obstacles that would have crushed arkd conquered feebler
souls. In early manhood, as well as in maturer age, we find
the same hopeful, buoyant, indom-table spirit, that knew nothing
of defeat. Whether battling successfully against family reverses,
or vindicating the liberty of the press against the threats of tyrants,
and in spite of suits at law ; or denouncing with fierce invective
dishonesty and double-dealing in men occupying high places in
the land ; or vindicating the honor of his adopted country from
the insults and false accusations of foreign nations : — in every
condition he was the same courageous and intrepid spirit that
counted not the cost, that the desired end might eventually be
gained. His motto was :

Dare to hf right ! Dare to be true !
Af\l the world's scorning can never harm you,
Stand by your conscience, your honor, your faith,
Stand like a hero, and battle till death.

He was possessed of indomitable perseverance. This wSs

manifested in every action and enterprise of his life. He may rioi
*12

178 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

have had genius, in the technical meaning of the word, but he had
what is far better for all practical purposes, untiring and continuous
application to the business in hand. Indeed, we may say that he
possessed talent and genius combined. Genius, as commonly
defined, has no doubts — leaps to conclusions, and acts by inspira-
tion and impulse, while talent reasons and plods. Both are neces-
sary, we apprehend, and are generally found in the nature and
achievements of truly great men. Placed as Mr. Brown was in
early life, genius without singular force of character and tenacity
of purpose could accomplish nothing. He never waited, as some
dreamy, sentimental visionaries do, upon what they blasphemously
call the leadings of Providence, or in modern phraseology, "for
something to turn up." But he girded himself manfully to the
labor of life, and took advantage of everything that seemed likely
to secure his advancement in the world, and enable him to reach
an honorable independence. He firmly believed that the great
Creator intended man to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow,
and to exercise the talents entrusted him with diligence and
earnestness, whether in the workshop or the senate chamber.
Bayard Taylor, in some respects a man of kindred spirit, once
said : " I have always reverently accepted, first — Labor. Nothing
can be had for nothing. Whatever a man achieves, he must pay
for it, and no favor of fortune can absolve him from duty. Second,
Patience and forbearance, which are simply dependent on the slow
justice of time. Thirdly — and most important, faith. Unless a
man believes in s 'mething infinitely purer and grander than he can
ever become — unless he has an instinct of an order beyond his
dreams, of laws beyond his comprehension, of beauty and good
and justice, beside which his own ideals are dark, he will fail in
every loftier form of ambition, and ought to fail." This was Mr.
Brown's creed, and how nobly he practiced it, his life declares !

GEORGE BROWN. 1 79

Having gained a commanding position in society, and become
a recognized power in moulding the opinions and directing the
judgments and convictions of his fellow-men, his every word and
tone were marked by intense earnestness, the sincerity of a man
who believed, rightly or wrongly, in what he uttered. He did not
assume the role of sentimental humanitarianism, adapting his prin-
ciples and ideas to the prevailing temper of the age in which he
lived. Had he done so. he might possibly have become a more
popular statesman with a certain class, and secured for himself even
higher honors than were accorded him in life. We have no reason
to doubt, as he stated to Dr. Gregg, who had been his pastor for
many years, that in deciding whether he would give or withhold
his support from public measures, he asked first. Is it right? Sec-
ond, Is it for the good of the country? And third. Will it benefit
the party? Or, in other words, principle first ; patriotism, second ;
and party last. That he often seemed impractical, unyielding, dog-
matic, and imperious in his attitude, even to his best friends, arose
from his strong decided convictions of duty. He was tenacious of
his opinions, and seldom changed — and indeed the history of Cana-
dian politics shows that he was seldom wrong. His views on pub-
lic questions — once deemed extreme and violent — are now being
slowly adopted by men, who derided them when first enunciated.
Having patiently and conscientiously studied the great social and
economic questions which effect the welfare and stability of nations,
he arrived at conclusions which seemed to him as clear as the dem-
onstrations of Euclid. Opponents might scoff, and friends might
advise, but in vain. His attitude and response to political antag-
onists, as well as allies, was that of Fitzjames in the " Lady of

the Lake :"

His back against a rock he bore,
And firmly placed his foot before :
Come oue, come all, this rock shall fly
From its Hrni base, as soon as L

l80 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

As a natural result of strong convictions there was a downright
plainness of speech, not always acceptable either to friends or to
foes. When he struck it was with the clenched hand, and with
terrible effect His denunciation was unsparing, and continued if
necessary for months, without one grain of pity for his victim. He
possessed that severe cast of mind, that cannot easily take into
account the manifold imperfections of public men, and make
allowance for their frailty, when placed amid temptations. And
yet no one for a moment questioned his thorough sincerity. His
attacks were open and straightforward, he never stabbed in the
dark, or covertly sought the overthrow of an enemy. As has been
remarked by one who knew him well ; he was an honest opponent,
who might sometimes use a bludgeon, instead of the orthodox
rapier, but who never resorted to the stiletto, and never even in
moments of the greatest excitement hit below the belt.

Such a man of necessity made enemies. His positive opinions
and assertions seemed strange and fanatical to men whose princi-
ples were held for the sake of office and emolument, and who were
ready to barter them at any moment for personal ends. Nor did
he chafe under misrepresentation, and satire, and obloquy. He
fully expected such treatment, and regarded censure and abuse as
the natural consequence of the line of conduct he had adopted
For as the poet says :

He who surpasses or subdues mankind,

Must look down on the hate of them below ;

Though high above, the sun of glory glows.

Bound him are icy rocks, and loudly blow : *

Contending tempests on the naked head,

And thus reward the toils which to those summits led.

With all his alleged imperiotisndss and dogmatism, he was
emphatically the tribune of the common people, and rid name
throughout the length and breadth of Canada was held in higher
esteem than that ot George Brown.

GEORGE BROWN. l8l

One blast upon his bugle horn
Was worth a thousand men.

His political struggles were all on behalf of the masses, as
against aristocratic domination, and that haughty disdain, which
is too often found associated with men who have sprung by acci-
dent from poverty to place and power. The measures he inaugur-
ated or promoted, by voice and pen, were all intended to conserve
the rights of citizenship, and to give the humblest son of toil a
part in the government of the country. Such questions as the
"Clergy Reserves," "Seignorial Tenure," "Representation by Popu-
lation," and the " Confederation of the British Provinces," in all of
which he occupied a prominent place, were urged from motives of
the highest patriotism. He loved his adopted country with singu-
lar attachment and upheld its institutions with a fervor which has
never been excelled ; while at the same time he was a staunch
defender of British rule. Some of you may remember the thril-
ling peroration of his great parliamentary speech on Confederation,
in which he drew a glowing picture of the vastness of territory
that would then be included in the Dominion by the contemplated
accessions to Briti-sh territory. Addressing the Speaker of the
House of Commons, he said : " Look, sir, at the map of the
zontinent of America, and mark that island (Newfoundland) com-
manding the mouth of the noble river that almost cuts the conti-
nent in twain. Well, sir, that island is equal in extent to the
kingdom of Portugal. Cross the straits of the main land, and you
touch the hospitable shores of Nova Scotia, a country as large as
the kingdom of Greece. Then mark the sister province of New
Brunswick, equal in extent to Denmark and Switzerland combined.
Pass up the river St. Lawrence to Lower Canada, a country as
large as France. Pass on to Upper Canada, a country twenty
thousand square miles larger than Great Britain and Ireland put
together. Cross over the continent, to the shores of the Pacific

l82 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

and you are in British Columbia, the land of golden promise, equal
in extent to the Austrian Empire. I speak not now of the vast
Indian territories that lie between — greater in extent than the
whole soil of Russia, and that will ere long, I trust, be opened up to
civilization under the auspices of the British American Confedera-
tion. Well, sir, the bold scheme in your hands, is nothing less
than to gather all those countries into one, to organize them all
under one government, with the protection of the British flag."
If to-day we stand in the presence of that great fact of British
American Union, which its most enthusiastic promoters scarcely
hoped for for many years, the praise is largely due to George
Brown, who along with other eminent statesmen, sunk their politi-.
cal differences to g lin thi 5 most desirable end.

It is hardly necessary to say that he was one of the most pro-
nounced and bitter er nri es of slavery, in any and every form, that
the age has produced. I f e was a disciple of Wilberforce and Bux-
ton, and in thorough sympathy on this question vith such Ameri-
can statesmen and philanthropists as Phillips, and Sumner, and
Garrison. Indeed, I can hardly conceive of any man born in the
metropolis of Scotland, and conversant with the terrible persecu-
tions and martyrdoms of the prelatic age, to be anything else. I
can imagine the great statesman and journalist in boyhood, stand-
ing on the old castle rock of Edinburgh, or on the Calton Hill, and
looking down upon spots made memorable in all times coming, by
the death of men who gladly shed their life's blood to conserve the
rights of conscience and the cause of freedom. Yonder stands old
Holyrood, where Queen Mary encountered John Knox, whom the
beautiful Queen could never bend to her will by fascinations of
person or speech. — of whom Morton said over his grave, that " he
never feared the face of man," and who said of himself, when asked
if he was not afraid to speak so boldly to his Queen, " Why should
the fair face of a gentlewoman frighten me? I have looked in the

GEORGE BROWN. 1 83

face of many angry men, and have not been afraid above measure.''
And there stands the house where the great Reformer died, and
yonder is Parliament square where he lies buried. Yonder is Saint
Giles, where Jenny Geddes' stool was sent flying at the Bishop's
head — the first blow struck in that battle which ended in the Refor-
mation and the banishment of the Stuart dynasty from the realm, —
and near to this spot is the Grassmarket, where the martyrs suf-
fered, and Greyfriars churchyard, where the solemn league and
covenant was sealed and signed in blood, and where the dust of
nobles and commoners lie side by side. With such surroundings
in boyhood, we can easily understand how the great Canadian
statesman could never become the apologist of slavery in any form.
Possibly his pen seemed too trenchant in his attacks against slave-
holders, even to men who held his views, but with his winning love
of liberty, and his detestation of all forms of human vassalage and
oppression, it could not be otherwise. The eloquent speech he
made in Toronto on the subject of the American war and slavery,
immediately after the proclamation of freedom, attracted the atten-
tion of both British and American statesmen. England — aristo-
cratic England, and not the masses, while holding perfect neutrality
between the Notch and South — was suspected of a secret desire to
see the Union shattered, and said lit*:le, and did less, to show her
sympathy with the North in that awful war. When Lincoln issued
his proclamation as a war measure, Engli.shmen replied, that it was
not for love to the slave that freedom had been proclaimed, and
that the North deserved no credit for the act. Replying to such
criticism, Mr. Brown said : " I care not to pry narrowly into the
motives of all those who have contributed to bring about this
change in the Republic. I care not to discuss the arguments by
which it has been promoted and defended. What to us signifies
all this? We see before us the great fact, that the chains have
already fallen from the hands of tens of thousands of human chat-

i84 THE CHURCH and thf, commonwkalth.

tcls ; we sec that if the pohcy of the present Government at Wash-
inj^ton prevails, the curse of human slavery will be swept from our
continent forever, and our hearts go up with earnest petitions to
the God of battles, that he will strenji^then the hands of Abraham
Lincoln, and give wisdom to his councils. For myself, whatever
may be the result of the present strife, I shall always feel the high-
est satisfaction in recollecting, that with the sin of sympathizing
with slavery my hands arc not defiled ; but that from the com-
mencement of the struggle my earnest aspirations have gone with
the friends of freedom !"

But we pay our humble tribute to the memory of the fallen
chief, not simply because of his mental endowments, and unwearied
industry, and patriotic deeds, and love of liberty, but because
coupled with all these, and adorning all, he was a christian man.
Judged by those who knew him best, his virtue was spotless, and
his integrity incorruptible. He was a firm believer in the funda-
mental truths of our holy religion, smd not ashamed to avow his
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only ground of acceptance in
the sight of God. He was emphatically a christian statesman, a
name which I regret to say is nowadays held up to scorn, as a thing
impossible in political life. It is said by men who ought to know
better, that whatever be the failings of our politicians, we have no
right to refer to their private life, and that it indicates lack of char-
ity, and base ingratitude, to enquire too minutely into their con-
duct. Such a principle, if acted upon, v/ould sap the very founda-
tions of morals, and exalt villainy to the highest heaven. If it is
right to expect that the magistrate or the judge shall be men of
unimpeachable virtues, is it not equally necessary that those who
rule the nation, and occupy commanding positions of trust and
responsibility, shall in private life command the respect of those by
whose suffrages they have been elected. Public men represent the
interest of society, as well as principles and policies, and in accept-

GEOIUiE BROWN. 1 85

injT such prominent positions, they must expect to bear such close
inquisition as the life and health of the nation, and the community
demand.

It is unnecessary to say in the hearin^^ of this coni^regation that
Mr. Brown was a regular attender of God's house, and valued
highly religious ordinances. During his frequeni visits to Brant-
ford, I had many conversations with him on the uncertainty tif
life and the vanity of all earthly glory. Only those, indeed, who
had such opportunities, knew anything of the tender heart that
was concealed under a somewhat abrupt and rugged exterior.
Some eight years ago we met at Hamilton, on his way to Bow
Park. He had just been speaking to one of our prominent men,
who was considerably advanced in years beyond Mr. Brown. " I

have just been speaking, he said, to Mr. , and remarking that

both of us ought to think more seriously of the end of life, but he
laughed at me, and said that he did not wish to think of death for
twenty years. For my part, I feel that I am drawing near my end,
nor indeed do I regret it, for if all is well, death is a grateful release
to a busy life." On a Sabbath afternoon we were walking ovv r
the fields at Bow Park at the close of the service. A prominent
politician had died the day before, and our conversation turned
upon his life. " I sat down yesterday," he said, " and wrote out a
sketch of his life and character, but as I proceeded I felt I knew
too much about him to write the truth, without wounding the
feelings of his friends, so I destroyed what I had written and
committed the task to other hands." If he could not honestly
eulogize, he would not unnecessarily pain. From all that I knew
of him, I can verify what was said over his cofifin, that " he enter-
tained a high reverence for everything good and holy ; that he
walked under the power of unseen realities ; that his anchor was
cast within the veil, and that in the intense sufTering of his last
days, he rested upon Christ as his bright hope of that eternal

l86 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

kingdom, into which, we trust, he has entered." To the friends
and fanriily of the departed, and to her who now mourns the death
of a beloved husband, the knowledge, that by his countrymen, and
far beyond the limits of this land, he is sadly missed, must be a
source of consolation, but better far is the assurance that he died
as a christian man can die, having, by anticipation, vanquished
death and the grave through the merits of his ascended Lord.
Such a memory is better than untold wealth. A good name is the
best of all bequests, for a man is measured, not by what he has,
but by what he is.

He has passed away, and it is only now the country begins to
realize her loss.

It is not the tear, at this moment shed.

When the cold turf has now been laid o'er him,

That can tell how beloved was he that is fled,
Or how deep in our hearts we deplore him.

Death, removing him from the outward eye, enables us to see
him inwardly and truly. Thus have we looked at a mountain and
only seen the creeping mists and clouds which concealed it. But
the wind moves the air, and the vapors suddenly disperse, and
the pure snow summits, come out in bold outline against the
blue sky. Death does the office of the wind. Passion and party
strife at an end, we see the man in his true proportions. Those
who were his most violent opponents cast the first garlands upon
his tomb. When God places his seal upon a man, although he
may be slandered and denounced for years, in the end he shines
forth bright and beautiful. He may go under the waves for a
time, but at last rises to the surface, stronger and purer, from the
very combat he has had with them.

Who shall fill his place ? upon whom shall the chieftain's mantle
descend ? Let those of his own personal friends, who perchance
have fretted under his supremacy, answer the question. As lor the

GEORGE BROWN. iT/

future of Canada — for the death of such a man, must of neces-
sity affect its policy, if not its destinies — let us be assured, that he
who raised up the departed statesman to do such noble work, can
furnish others to perpetuate his unselfish efforts. The lesson of his
life is, that there is no royal road to greatness. To every young
man there is given opportunity to make his mark in the world, and
die regretted. As I stood last Wednesday gazing on that vast
funeral cortege that had gathered from every part of the land to
honor the memory of the dead senator, I felt that true moral worth
and unselfish labor will not be forgotten. Ungrateful as both
monarchies and republics sometimes are, good men do not pass
away forgotten. They live in the affection of their fellowmen, and
their graves are watered with their tears. George Brown well
deserves a statue, but bronze or marble can but faintly symbolize
or perpetuate the widespread sorrow that fills the land. His name
will be handed down from sire to son as one who is worthy of
imperishable honor ; as one :

— Who never brought
His conscience to the pui'lio mart,
But lived himself the truth he taught,

Whit^ souled, clean handed, pure of heart.

He went about his work — such work as few
Ever had laid on head, and heart, and hand —

As one who knows, where there's task to do,

Man's honest will must heaven's good grace command.

And now the martyr's crown has crowned a life,
With much to praise — little to be forgiven.
The old world and the new, from sea to sea,

Utter one voice of sympathy and shame !
Strong hea»"t, sc stopped, when its throbs beat high,
Brave life cut short, just as its triumph came.

-N.*

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Abrahclffl Lincoln,

" Help Lord : for the godly man ceaseth : for the faithful fail from
among the children of men."

—Psalm 12, V. 1.

Abraham Lincoln.

^HE righteous perish, and no man layeth it to heart ; and
merciful men are taken away, none considering that the
righteous is taken away from the evil to come. Such was
the lamentation of Isaiah, when many pious Jews suffered
a violent death, and the great mass of the nation seemed quite un-
concerned and indifferent.

It seems strange in so many cases that God should call to Him-
self His most efficient agents in the world before their work seems
to be accomplished. "One soweth and another reapeth," is an
almost universal law in christian enterprise. Just at the very
moment when success seems to reward previous toil, and enjoyment
to follow labor, does the active brain cease to plan, the busy hand
to execute, and the throbbing heart to beat. God's ways are mys-
terious and past finding out. " Help Lord, for the godly man fail-
eth," we exclaim, while standard-bearer after standard-bearer falls
upon the battle-field ; christian hearts despond, and the hosts of
hell press on to what seems certain victory !
--- (191)

192 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

We mistake, however, in saying that God's servants are evei
taken before their work is finished. In no case is it so. We, who
only see but a small portion of God's providential designs, think so.
The removal of useful, earnest, intelligent men from the church and
the world seems to be disastrous, unwise, and fatal to the great
interests in which they are engaged ; whereas, such an event may
be the starting point of new life and vigor to the cause in question.
The very name and memory of such men may act as a power upon
those who are left behind, inspiring them with new zeal and enthu-
siasm in the object to which their lives were devoted. Nor must
we forget that man's immortal powers have another field for their
exercise, than this disjointed rudimentary state of being. The
world is at best but a training school "for higher efforts, and the
ablest intellects and ripest scholars are the first removed.

We cannot point out any religious or moral enterprise that ever
permanently suffered by the removal of human agents. Others are
invariably raised up sooner or later to occupy the place of those
who fall, and carry forward the work beyond the point aimed at by
their predecessors. The leaves of autumn that soon will cover the
ground and be trodden under foot, but give place to others that
shall adorn the trees in coming spring. They filled up their ap-
pointed time of life in the vegetable world, and now according to
the fixed laws of nature drop off from the naked branches. So it
is with man, in the more extensive field of human activity. One
generation cometh and another goeth, but the vast and intricate
purposes of Almighty Wisdom continue to be advanced and
perfected.

But should no workers rise up to take the place of thos who
fall, is the .Almighty dependent uf)on the aid of mortals ? Does
infinite power and wisdorn need the co-operation of feeble men ?
Is the hand that spanned the firmament, and set the sun in mid-
hcavcns, and gave bounds to the ocean which it cannot pass,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I93

become so powerless, that the care of the universe Is a burden and
the upholding of created things a weariness? Has that infinite
intellect that at first planned the order of the universe and through
countless centuries of duration has continued to direct and super-
intend the affairs of men become so weak and foolish as no longer
to be able to direct and guide, and to be altogether dependent
upon the counsel and wisdom of fallible and short -sighted men?
No ; far from it. Did no human beings exist, were He left alone,
as in a past eternity, without angels to adore or creatures to praise
His plans and purposes would be as. certain of fulfilment, as if
surrounded by the hosts of heaven, and myriads of the redeemed
in heaven and saints on earth to execute His commands.

Old Lyman Bcecher was a man not usually given to despond-
ency ; but at times he almost lost his faith in God. When Dr.
Cornelius, Secretary of the American Board of Foreign Missions
died, one of his sons tells us he had a very dark day. " I cannot
understand," he said, " what the Lord means when His work needs
just such a man as Cornelius, and He takes him away in the prime
of life, at a time when he is carrying on the work successfully, and
there is nobody to take his place." But there was somebody
ready. Dr. Wisner took it, but he only carried it on a few years
and died also. " I well remember," says his son, " the morning
when father was preparing the sermon to preach over Dr. Wisner.
The wheels dragged heavily. He was very much cast down.
Though I was quite young, he said to me : ' Henry, it is all done I
It is all done ! I cannot see what the Lord means. He is makiner
breach after breach. There is so much to do, and so few to do it I
He is taking the best of them.'" And so perhaps we have al}
felt, when year after year God smites the tall cedars of Lebanon,
and shatters the pillars of the church and the state. Yet in spite
of these removals, the world goes on, and the cause of truth
advances to completion.
*13

194 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

David, in our text, regards the withdrawal of good men from
the world as a public calamity, which should be felt more or less
by all who share their friendship. The example of such men ;
their lives and prayers and active labors for the good of humanity
arc no ordinary blessings. When these end, the commonwealth
suffers a heavy loss. It indicates a low state of piety and patriot-
ism, when the community or nation fail to mark such bereavements,
or, as when is not unfrequently the case, the departure of the
righteous is an occasion for joy. All good men feel how becoming
are the words of the Psalmist : " Help Lord : for the godly man
ceaseth ; for the faithful fail among the children of men."

Such good and godly men are comparatively few ; while good
sort of men are plentiful. The world acknowledges the fact in the
kind of encomiums it passes upon its friends. For once that you
hear a man spoken of without qualification as a good man, you
hear the expression, " a good sort of man," a thousand times. " He
had his faults, to be sure," say the companions of such a man after
his death, " but on the whole was rather a good sort of man — a gen-
erous fellow : he had a warm heart and a sociable disposition. He
was not a bad sort of fellow, after all."

When we come to examine the record which these "good sort
of men " leave beMnd, we find it in many cases the reverse of what
is honorable and virtuous. The language is used indiscriminately
towards the most indifferent and unworthy characters. Men who
have no decided principles — who follow the customs of the ma-
jority — who are timid and craven-hearted in the presence of evil,
if not positive evil-doers themselves ; — who have no determination
to resist temptation, and who float with the current of the age ; —
these, in most cases, are what the world calls " good sort of men."
It has thus become a stereotyped phrase, to conceal defects and
positive wrong-doing, which the grave cannot entirely blot out
of memory.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 195

" Good sort of men " have no positive virtues. Their character
is a bundle of negatives. Where positive immorality cannot be
charged against them, they are useless for all active labor on behalf
of God and humanity. They are so much dead weight upon the
body politic. Their influence for good is of the lowest grade.
What talents they possess lie unexercised. They dream existence
away, regardless of individual responsibility, and imagine that "good
intentions" and "doing no harm to others" entitle them to saint-
ship. It is not of such that the Psalmist speaks.

A good man, in the highest sense, is a man of the strictest in-
tegrity. His word is as good as his oath ; his promise as reliable
as his bond. He can be trusted with the gravest responsibilities
His dealings are marked by straightforwardness and honesty. He
is the very soul of honor. Meanness of every description he des-
pises. He cannot stoop to fraud in speech or action. He takes no
undue advantage of the ignorance and misfortunes of another. He
speaks what he thinks, and is the same to a man's face that he is
behind his back. The secrets of others, committed to him, are in-
violate. If he finds occasion to rebuke a friend, it is given with
candor, openly and frankly. His duties to society he regards as
next in importance to those that are due his Maker. He eats hon-
est bread. What he owes he pays. The obligations he is under
to his native or adopted country he cheerfully discharges. As a
citizen, recognizing his responsibilities as well as his rights, he bears
his share of civil burdens, and obeys the call of authority at what-
ever personal sacrifice. Such a man comes up to the poet's con-
ception of true moral heroism :

Dare to be right ! dare to be true !
All the world's scorning can never harm you ;
Stand by your conscience, your honor, your faith,
Stand like a hero and battle till death.

A good man is also a man of the severest virtue. He loathes
that laxity in speech and behaviour too prevalent among so-called

ig6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

respectable men at the present day. lie is pure in thought and
chaste i.i conversation. He takes his stand upon the morality of
the New Testament, and endeavors to inculcate it upon the mem-
bers of his own family — in the circle of his acquaintances, and
among his ^"llow-workmen. Foolish jesting, unseemly insinuations
and covert muendoes he loathes and spurns with holy indignation
In the society of the profane and irreverent he cannot live ; if he
cannot change its tone, he must withdraw.

Such a good man is still further characterized by the strongest
beni^volence. There is something in his very voice and counten-
ance that tells the generosity of his nature. He strives to live for
the good of others. He is not simply a man who harms no one
but he seeks the positive good of his fellow-men. His ear is ever
open to the call of the destitute, and his hand ever ready to give
for their relief. To see the prosperity of others is his delight.
Envy and hatred have no place in his nature. To strengthen the
weak, advise the young, reclaim the fallen, restore the backslider,
and bless all men, are the motives that govern his life. Such
benevolence is a daily practice. It is not abnormal or spasmodic,
or called into activity on extraordinary occasions, but sweetly
colors and perfumes every action of his life.

A good man also, is in the highest sense a man of sincerest
piety. It is deep, earnest, heartfelt. It consists not only in the
acceptance c* doctrines, but in the practice of holiness. An
abiding sense of God's presence.; a lOverential regard for His
commands ; a confident trust in His promises ; and implicit reliance
upon His mercy, characterize such a man. Such piety may be
more or less prominent, according to gifts bestowed and opportu-
nities given. In many cases it is retiring ; but even then it wields
a mighty influence for good. In every case it is pronounced and
patent to the world. It makes no secret of the choice that has
been made and the master whom it serves.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 197

It Is supposed that this Psalm was written when Saul was per-
secuting David and those who were friendly to his cause and person.
It was a time when deceitfulness and cruelty were in the ascen-
dancy, and no means honorable or dishonorable regarded as
immoral, in order that certain ends might be secured. Flattery,
dcuble-dealing and oppression were rampant — the wicked and the
vile were exalted to high position, and the godly despised and
trampled on.

The persons spoken of are the "godly" and the " faithful." The
one term indicates the inner spiritual life — the other its outward
manifestation or effects. Religion in the heart is the source of all
real purity and honor, and is the only guarantee for honesty and
justice in society. Men who have no fear of God and no love of
truth; who think it but a venial sin to violate the sanctions of,
heaven, can have no scruples about human law. When once a man
ignores the claims of his Maker, and becomes careless in the obser-
vance of religious obligations, there is nothing to prevent the com-
mission of flagrant crimes. The word of a man who sincerely
professes his faith in Christianity, and consistently acts up to the
requirements of his creed, is better than the oath of a man who
neither recognizes nor reverences the Divine being. The feeling
that every action and thought is open to the inspection of the
Almighty, is the best of safeguards against the practice of dishon-
esty in word or deed. When such godly men are plentiful, the
nation prospers commercially, politically and religiously, but when
they are few, and the influence of the few is overborne by the vicious
and depiaved, the downfall of the state is certain.

The death of such good men, although most keenly felt by kin-
dred spirits, is not always passed over with indifference, even by
men of no religious principle. " Let me die the death of the
righteous," is frequently found upon the lips of evildoers, when 3ome
tall cedar of Lebanon bends before the blast. Although the

jgS THE CHURCH and the commonwealth.

upn'ffht life of such a man may have been for years a standing rebuke
against their immorahty and wickedness, they cannot but testify
to the consistent and noble career prematurely closed. And thus
it is, that religion extorts from its enemies the highest praise ; — that
men are bound to honor qualities in others which they systemati-
cally and wilfully ignore, and pas*' sentence of condemnation upon
their own wanton and wicked lives.

Let us briefly indicate the value of such good men to society
and the church of God.

Godly and faithful men are the ornaments and support of the
christian church. Their life is spent in her service. Their prayers
ascend for her welfare. Their means are generously devoted to
her advancement. The great aim of their existence is the pros-
perity of Zion and the conversion of the world. The loss of such
men cannot but be felt, just in proportion to their zeal and the
prominence of their labors. If, as is often the case, they have been
watchmen upon the high towers, men whose daily occupation has
been the sacred duties of religion, and who have planned and
directed measures necessary for successful aggression in the world,
the blank seems all the more painful and the cause all the more
hopeless. The rank and file of the army look around for the well-
known voice of the commander, who has so often led them on to
victory, and are for the time panic-struck and crest-fallen. Such
men are also the hope of the world. They adorn whatever profes-
sion of life they follow. If science, they stand at the top of the
ladder, reverently endeavoring to unfold the mysteries of nature to
the wondering gaze of thousands less gifted ; to reconcile the
teachings of philosophy with the declarations of scripture, and
glorify the power and wisdom of the Creator, who has so lavishly
spread before man the variegated and suggestive volume of His
handiwork. If it is true that "the undevout astronomer is mad,"
it is no less true that the philosopher who affects to teach any

AltUAIlAM LINCOLN. IQQ

branch of science apart from the great Creator, mistakes the end of
all investigation. Such men there have been, and still are, but
benefactors of their race they cannot be regarded as being. To
dissever God from the universe, and teach that matter is eternal,
and subject to no higher law, is surely a' miserable calling for any
man, however gifted in intellect, or shrewd in speculation. While a
passing feeling of regret may be expended on such men when they
pass away, it is rather for genius misdirected and misapplied, than
for the loss the world sustains. Those men who endeavor to unfold
to the common gaze the majesty of Jehovah, as seen in the mag-
nificence and variety of creation, are the men whose names pos-
terity will not willingly let die.

Godly and fait'.ful men are the hope of the world. They
adorn whatever department or profession of life they occupy
Their integrity is incorruptible — their honesty above impeachment
— their honor untarnished. In times of public distrust and agita-
tion and uncertainty, when men's minds are distracted by conflict-
ing opinions, and the foundations of rectitude are undermined, such
characters afe invaluable. Men whose daily policy is expediency ;
who trim and vacillate to meet the demands of popular clamour ;
whose idea of office is emolument and place and power, are not to
be relied upon. In times of danger, a steady recognition of a higher
tribunal than that of men ; moral worth and inflexible principle
united to intellectual power, are the elements which constitute
good citizens and good statesmen. Blessed is the nation that
enjoys such rulers ; blessed is the community that possesses
such sterling men of worth, at whose death the words of the text
are spoken : " Help Lord, for the godly man ceaseth : for the
the faithful fail among the children of men."

There is still another reason why the death of such good men
is lamented. Those of us who remain feel our personal need of
such characters. There are persons whose society breathes per-

200 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

pctual fragrance ; whose words drop like balm ; whose gentle
demeanor and spiritual conversation, raises us above the grovelling
atmosphere of earth, and makes us feel nearer heaven. Their life
is a perpetual inspiration. Their piety is of that cheerful healthy
kind, that drives away despondency, and confirms weak faith.
Such characters are to be found more or less in every church. We
do not value such persons when alive as they deserve, or prize their
unobtrusive graces and moral worth ; and hence our bitterness
when they are removed. We feel that the world has suddenly
grown darker — that the path is more desolate and stormy — that our
hopes are less bright and assuring, now that they no longer greet
us with their smile and enliven us by their stimulating fellowship.
What, then, is our comfort, when the godly man ceaseth and
the faithful are taken away? David in the text indicates the only
source of aid, " Help Lord." " God is our refuge and our strength,
a very present help in trouble."

Now in regard to this prayer, notice first, its brevity. It is a
kind of angel's word, to be turned every way, and to be used on all
occasions. The cry for help is the earliest cry upon the lips of
childhood, when seeking protection from the parent, and it is the
most simple and natural cry of the believing soul. It indicates
felt weakness ; that so far as man is concerned, there is no remedy
and no assistance possible ; and that reason of herself can suggest
no way of escape from impending desolation. " Help Lord," says
a living writer, " is a very useful ejaculation, which one inay dart
up to heaven on occasions of emergency, whether in labor, learning,
suffering, fighting, living ot dying. As small ships can sail into
harbors where larger vessels cannot enter, so our brief cries and
short petitions may trade with heaven, when our soul is wind bound
as to longer exercises of devotion, and when the stream of grace
. seems at too low an ebb to float a more laborious supplication."
In going to our Maker in times of sudden grief, we need not des-

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 20I

cribc every feeling of the soul, nor enter into the particulars of our
sorrow. " Help Lord " is sufficient. It is the cry of the drowning
man, exhausted, and hardly able to articulate ; it is the cry of the
fugitive who seeks a hiding place ; it is the cry of the man surroun-
ded by the flames of fire — his head already singed and his body
livid with the scorching heat ; it is the cry of despairing humanity
in its varied hours of want and weariness — " I am undone, oppressed,
undertake for me." .

Notice, again, its seasonableness and serviccablencss. When
good men are removed, we are to look to God for others to supply
their place. Prayer in such cases, to be acceptable, must be imme-
diate. We ought at once to betake ourselves to a throne of grace,
laying the case before our Maker and confiding in his gracious aid-
It is not when all other means have failed, that we are to ask the
aid of heaven. Such prayers are not seasonable. To act thus, is
like a man buffeting for hours with the angry billows, when the
life-boat has all the while been near him, and only taking refuge in
its strength and buoyancy, when at the point of death.

Such a prayer is also serviceable. In many periods of the
church's history, such a brief ejaculation has been more cffccLual
than the collective wisdom of an assembly. The defeat of the
Amalekites was duo 'co the intercession of Moses, more than the
military strength of the Israelites or the skill of their commanders.
And no better service can be rendered the church than earnest im-
portunate cries for divine interposition in times of bereavement.
Those who have not the capacity or strength for active labor, can
accomplish in the secret retirement of the closet more than many
who participate in the contest. To such pleading praying ones we
are indebted for gracious seasons of revival in times of spiritual
dcadness, and large accessions of laborers to reap the fields that
are white unto the harvest.

202 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Finally, this prayer is the prayer of faith. Our cries are only
effectual in so far as they are sincere. True faith does not dictate
— it waits patiently and submissively on the will of heaven. It
looks beyond human wisdom, to Him who knows what agents are
most suitable, and when and where their services are most urgently
required. It holds the promise fast, that God will provide the in-
struments necessary to fulfil his plans, and that failure cannot pos-
sibly overtake his designs. It is wrong for us to despond because
good and faithful men are translated to a higher sphere. Our duty
is to cultivate hope and maintain our confidence in a prayer-hearing
God. The cause which is dear to us, is stiil dearer to him. His
son gave his life for the salvation of men, and the agents necessary
to hasten on the millennial day glory shall not be withheld. If
Moses dies before the Israelites cross the Jordan, Joshua is ready
to take his place. If Elijah ascends in the chariot of fire, the man-
tle falls upon Elisha. So it has been in every age. Our prayers
may not be instantly answered. Help may not at once be given ;
nay, the vacant place may be left unoccupied, and the work ad-
vanced by altogether unexpected methods, but the result will be
the same :

In some way or oth^r, the Lord will provide :
It may not be my way,
It may not be thy way.
And yet in his own way
The Lord will provide.

Despond, then, no longer, the Lord will provide :
And this be the token —
No word he hath spoken
Was ever yet broken ;
The Lord will provide.

The frequent remo^'als of great and good men teach us the
comparative insignificance of any one man in the field of chris-
tian effort. We may not boast of our wisdom or importance in the

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 203

scale of being. How little can any one individual accomplish !
When we survey the work that awaits completion — the vast details
of human ignorance and suffering that stretches out on every hand
— the feeling of utter helplessness, rather than self-sufficiency,
should be uppermost in the mind. We can do so little that at
times it seems as if it were no use to put forth effort ; and were it
not for the assurance that along with us myriads of workers are
engaged in the same sublime and noble work, and that God Him-
self stands behind and above us, superintending," directing and
crowning all with His blessed spirit, we should despair of anything
like adequate results. They teach us also, that in the successful
advancement of christian enterprises and in the reforming of public
wrongs, the efforts oT the many are demanded, and not the extra-
ordinary energies of the few. In such circumstances, it becomes
us not only to cry : " Help Lord, for the godly man ceascth," but to
ask ourselves what we are doing by our example and our efforts, to
ameliorate human wretchedness and lessen human woe. " Be not
slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises." " Remember them which have the rule over
you, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation,
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and for ever."

God give us men !
Men whom the lust of office cannot kill ;

Men whom the spoil of office cannot buy ;
Mpn who have opinions and a will ;

Men who have honor — men who will uot lie 1

A good and in many respects a great man has been suddenly
called away. Abraham Lincoln, a name henceforth to be held in
highest honor is no more.* It is only in the briefest possible terms
that we can speak of the character and actions of the dead Presi-

*April, 1865. ^'

204 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

dent. The more secret virtues and private graces of his character

are apt to be overlooked, by reason of the exalted station he

occupied :

That best portion of a good man's life, . ;' 't

His little, name'ess, unremembered acta ■ <; '
Of kindness and of love.

It is not often, indeed, that v/e are called to mourn the loss of
such a man, for only once in a century does Providence ^'we to the
world, one in whom so many public and private virtues are so
harmoniously blended. As statesman, as citizen, and as christian,
where since the days of Washington and the earlier years of the
Republic, shall we find such a President? Firm in matters of
principle — cautious (to a fault it has been thought) in his public
actions, unflinching in his determination at all hazards to advance
the cause of truth and liberty and good government — kind and
conciliating on all occasions to foreign powers and their represen-
tatives — forgiving to those who for the last four years have deluged
the land with blood — and pure and virtuous in his private life — his
character stands out before us, a noble example for princes and
presidents to copy. His public and private record, so pure and
untarnished, may well be the boast of his loving countrymen, and
his memory dear to liberty-loving christians throughout the world.
On such an occasion as the present we are brought to realize
the power of a good man's life. " He being dead yet speaketh."
His influence then really begins to influence the world, and mould
the society in which he moved. Why is the lamentation to-day so
universal, from Maine to California, from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and through this and the neighboring British provinces? Why are
there here gathered, not simply members of all the different evan-
gelical denominations, but of every shade of politics? Because
"a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel." Great-
ness and goodness are not always associated in life — too seldom,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 205

indeed, in public men. In Mr. Lincoln's case they were. He was
great in the moral qualities, with which, by a kind Providence, he
had been endowed. He was great for what he did in behalf of his
nation. We do not eulogize him as a great politician in the now
much degenerated meaning of the word. To be a politician at the
present day demands neither moral calibre nor earnest thought. A
man destitute of these and all the other requisites of true greatness,
can speedily attain political distinction — nay, the absence of prin-
ciple will be all the more in his favor, if worldly promotion is his
sole object in life, provided he has cunning, deceit, and the more
dishonorable and dishonest practices that stain the character of so
many public met;. In this sense Mr. Lincoln was not great. But
he was one of the greatest statesmen of his age and country, and
subsequent critics will confirm our verdict when the mists of pas-
sion and prejudice shall have cleared away. America, since the
Revolution, has had many great and good men in her Cabinets and
in her Presidential chair ; but Abraham Lincoln, next to Washing-
ton himself, was in many respects the greatest. His greatness did
not consist in any one special faculty or power overtopping and
overshadowing all the other elements of his mind and character,
but in the blending of many amiable qualities into one, giving to
his conduct a solidity and a harmony it would not otherwise have
possessed. He was great for what he was in himself. As you have
heard already, he was a man of prayer. His piety was of that
modest and unobtrusive character that shrinks from public obser-
vation, but it could not be concealed. He was no stranger to his
closet ; the dawn of morning, ere he entered upon his official duties,
found him on his knees before his Maker, and doubtless his last
act at the close of day was communion with his God. Not only
so, but the most common affairs of state were permeated by the
spirit of religion. " Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, ser-
ving the Lord," was the rule of his life. To this, what may be

206 [ THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

called the fundamental quality of his life, may be added sterling
honesty, great decision of character, strong affection for all good
men, genuine patriotism in the interests of his beloved land, and
sincere sympathy for the oppressed. All these ele.nents were in
his character, long before he was called to the Presidential chair,
and because of the existence of such elements did his fellow-
countrymen (directed by an all-wise Providence) choose him for
the position he has for the past four years so singularly adorned.

Abraham Lincoln was indeed one of the nobles of the earth.
Because of his greatness and goodness was he called to the great
work of ruling thirty millions of his fellow-countrymen. He was
raised up to perform a great work. Providence had determined
the overthrow of slavery on the American continent, and Abraham
Lincoln was the appointed instrument for its destruction. Great
men are raised up and specially trained for great exigencies in
society and in the church. Moses, to be the commander and leader
of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage to freedom ; Calvin, Knox
and Luther, to carry on the work of ecclesiastical reformation ;
Washington, to achieve the independence of America, and plant
on firm foundations the new Republic ; and Wellington, to drive
back the great Napoleon from the conquest of the world. It was
not the exalted position of Abraham Lincoln that made him the
great man and the good man he was. Circumstances can do noth-
ing more than develop true greatness, whether in prince or peasant.
The sun and the r lin from heaven cannot develop brambles into
oak trees, nor can the honors of the Presidential chair transform
fools into statesmen. Abraham Lincoln was by nature and grace
an uncommon man, but his noble qualities were rendered all the
more conspicuous and illustrious, when roused into action by the
agitations amid which he spent the last four years of his earthly life.

Great in himself, he was great for what he did in behalf of his
nation. He prepared the nation for its baptism of blood. His

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 207

speeches and addresses in various parts of the Union, long before
the end of Buchanan's Presidency, did much to foster the anti-
slavery sentiment of the North and prepare for days of coming:
trial. And what has he accomplished during the brief space of the
last four years ? The state of the nation when Abraham Lincoln
was called in 1861, to assume the responsible duties of government
was desperate. For years, the corruption that festered in and around
Washington, had made the very name of American Democracy
a standing reproach throughout Europe. Traitors were everywhere
— in the cabinet, and out of the cabinet. To dethrone avarice — to
cleanse the fountains of the national life — to elevate justice —
honor — honesty and christian principle to their true position was
a task seldom given to any man. In this respect, the work of
Lincoln was greater than that of Washington. Washington laid
the foundations of a new government — Lincoln had to destroy —
cut up by the roots, that poisonous system that for years had
undermined the social fabric, before the first elements of reconstruc-
tion could be initiated.

Chosen at the most critical period in her history since the Revo-
lution to guide the national councils, how wisely and prudently did
he discharge his solemn responsibilities until, at last, we see the
omens of returning peace and prosperity in that sadly desolated
land. He revived the purity of the Presidential Chair — abolished
slavery — of which he was ever a consistent opponent " I am natur-
ally anti-slavery, he wrote a year ago to Mr. Hodges, of Kentucky.
If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember
when I did not so think and feel. " And amid all the anxieties
consequent upon the last four years of bloody war, he not only pre-
served the integrity of the national life, but restrained the passions
of more impetuous and impulsive politicians, who would gladly have
added a foreign war to that of civil discord. For this of itself,
Abraham Lincoln deserves the lasting gratitude of Britons as well

208 THE CHURL I AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

as American Christians. But now he is gone, and what are the les-
sons so impressively taught us by the sad event ? His death should
certainly unite Britons and Americans closer than ever in the bonds
of fraternal love ; the circumstances of that death, so atrocious and
repulsive to the feelings of our common humanity, should teach us
more plainly than ever what certain apologists of slavery are capa-
ble of. And if there are any who, notwithstanding the wonder-
ful progress made by the North, are still dubious as to the issue of
the contest, let them now understand that the death of Abraham
Lincoln means universal freedom. There can be no Joubt as to
the issue. Slavery is at an end — the doctrine of States rights has
been buried without any hope of resurrection. A real union will
henceforth exist between the North and South, or rather I should
say, there will henceforth be no such geographical or moral distinc-
tions as North and South. The moral influence of the United
States will be greater than ever over the globe, and her conquests
in the field of christian civilization greater than they have ever been
upon the battlefield. And may wc not hope soon to see the day
when Britain and America, forgetting all their criminations and
recriminations, shall, as in days gone by, unite together for the
spread of justice, liberty and christian missions throughout the
world.

Abraham Lincoln has gone — but great men never die before
their time. His is

One of the few — the Immortal names
That were not born to die.

He is gone — not ir. tl'.e nature*! course of disease, but by the
hands of the ass'^issin. Four years of anxious care and ceaseless
toil had furrowed his brow and mellowed his heart ; but he was thus
all the better fit<^«'d for the important work before him in the recon-
struction of his bleeding country. " One soweth and another reap-

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 209

eth. " He has sowed the seeds of liberty, but others in more
peacefi' times shall gather the fruit. " They never (ail, who die in
a good cause." Patriot Martyr ! thy blood, so cruelly shed, has
not been shed in vain. It will rouse into action the nobler impul-
ses of his bereaved nation, and ring the death-knell of slavery
throughout the world.

— .Oi

p^^^°—

•14

%:;.

ii^->

JAMES A. GARFIELD.

President Garfield.

"And Aaron held his peace."

— -lieviticus 10, v. 3.

Prestdent Garfield.

'N FORMER chapters, an account is given of the public
consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood.
The ram of consecration having been slaughtered,
Moses took the blood, and applying it to the ears, and
hands, and feet of Aaron and his sons, set them apart for
the service of the tabernacle. Following this solemn act, the
congregation of Israel was summoned before the Lord, and the
newly consecrated priests made atonement for themselves and for
the people. The glory of the Lord then appeared, and the fire
came down, consuming the burnt offering and the fat upon the
altar, while the congregation shouted and fell upon their faces.
Everything was now complete connected wirh the tabernacle ser-
vice. The priests had been duly robed and mitred : the sacrifice
offered and accepted : the priestly benedictions given to the people,
and the visible manifestation of God's glory witnessed by the awe-
struck congregation. Truly it was a sublime and memorable spec-
tacle : a day long to be remembered in the history of Israel, and
an earnest of still better days in store. _ _

"v-^^ (213) :" ■' "

214 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

But the joy was not of Ipng continuance. Scarcely had the
shout of victory and gladness passed away, before the voice of wail-
ing was heard in the camp of Israel. Nadab and Abihu had but
entered on the priestly office, when in the act of offering strange
fire before the Lord, they were swiftly deposed from their holy
vocation. Scarcely had the fire from heaven consumed the offering
upon the altar, when that same fire returned to execute summary
vengeance upon two of those very men, who but a little while be-
fore had ministered in presence of the congregation. "Nadab and
Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them a censor, and put
incense thereon, and put fire therein, and offered strange fire before
the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire
from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord !"

What was the sin of which they were guilty ?

There was, first, a wilful disregard of God's command. They
set up their own reason in opposition to the divine will. There was
no room left for the introduction of anything of human origin, how-
ever expedient it might appear. Every, part of the tabernacle ser-
vice was most minutely detailed by God to Moses, and by Moses
to the priests. Nor was there reasonable ground for doubt as to
the meaning of the instructions given. What Grd had commanded,
they were scrupulously to follow : what he had not commanded,
they were to shun.

Secondly, — Not only did they burn incense without God's com-
mand, but they took common or " strange fire," with which to burn
it. The fire from off the altar, kindled by the flame from heaven,
was alone to be used for consuming sacrifices and burning incense.
But instead of conforming to the divine instructions, they took fire
used in preparing the flesh of the peace offerings. In their estima-
tion, the one kind of fire was as good as the other. Thus to the
sin of disobedience, they added insult.

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 21$

Thirdly, — There are good grounds for beh'eving that when they
committed this act of disobedience, they were intoxicated with
wine. In the eighth verse of this chapter God says to Aaron :
"Do not drink wine, nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee,
when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die."
Such a command, given immediately after this sad occurrence,
leads us to infer that, forgetting the sanctity of their office and their
persons, Nadab and Abihu became for the time the slaves of that
vice, which from that hour to this has again and again dishonored
the ministry, and blighted the most promising careers ! How
needful that God's servants, when appearing in the sanctuary,
should in the quaint words of old George Herbert, pray "that
nothing may befall them unworthy of that majesty before which
they are to present themselves, and that how or whensoever he
punish them, it may not be in the act of the ministry." To die at
the altar or in the pulpit is not indeed a translation to be dreaded
by the faithful minister ; but to be smitten down by fire from
heaven in the manifest exercise of judgment is a death beyond all
others to be dreaded.

The fire did not burn them to ashes — nay, did not so much as
singe their garments. Wrapped in their robes of office, sprinkled
and anointed, there they lay, a fearful monument of God's anger. As
the Levites carried their dead bodies through the streets of the
camp, what a solemn lesson was taught the people of becoming
reverence in the worship of God ? God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all them
that are about him." When we pass within the veil and take our
places as ministering priests in His sanctuary, our inmost thoughts
are disclosed to that eye that penetrates the darkness and com-
passest the utmost bounds of space. He takes in at a glance the
hosts of heaven and the lost in hell.

2l6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

And this brings me to speak more particularly of my theme —
" The silence of grief." What were the feelings of the aged High
Priest when he saw his two sons struck down by his side, we can
but faintly conceive ! What affliction comparable to his? But a
little while before they stood at the altar clothed in their garments
of glory and beauty ; they saw the beams of the Divine brightness
darting from the shekinah, and heard the shout of adoring wor-
shippers ; now they lay cold in the grasp of death ! " Aaron felt
that the very pillars of his house were shaken " by the thunders of
divine judgment, but he kept silence. It was not the silence of
stoical indifference, but of submission to the divine will. He
acknowledged the justice of their doom, and bowed his head beneath
the rod. And so we read : "Moses said unto Aarjn, this is it that
the Lord spake saying : ' I will be sanctified in them that come
nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.' And Aaron
held his peace."

" Great sorrows," says an old philosopher, " are silent — light sor-
rows speak." There are times when silence is more becoming and
impressive than language : when we cannot speak. It was well
for Aaron that he could thus restrain himself Whatever were his
feelings as a father, as God's representative he dare not give way
to tears. Both he and his remaining sons are prohibited from
exhibiting' the usual tokens of grief " Moses said unto Aaron, and
unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his sons : ' Uncover not your heads,
neither rend your clothes, lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all
the people : but your brethren, the whole house of Israel, let them
bewail the burning, which the Lord hath kindled." And so, under
the shadow of this awful sorrow, Aaron performs his duties, as the
consecrated priest of the Most High. It is his part not to weep nor
mourn, but to worship and silently submit. What God hath done
must be right, however painful for the human heart to bear.

PRESIDENT GARFIELD, 217

In similar terms Ezekiel the prophet was commanded to abstain
from mourning for his wife. " Son of man, behold, I take away
from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke ; yet, neither shalt
thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear
to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head
upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy
lips, and eat not the bread of man. So I spake unto the people in
the morning, and at even my wife died, and I did in the morning
as I was commanded." Very beautiful has a living poet described
the feelings of Ezekiel, when submissively he yielded up his " only
one to the will of heaven."

The clouds had parted now,
The love of God was shed abroad, within
My broken heart. I could not say Him nay,
Nor question Him. I laid my sacrifice
Upon His altar, not denying Him

Mine only one.

I bent to kiss her cheek,
And blessed her softly in the name of God,
And bade h^r go in peace. Yea, with a smile
Which God had given me, I loosed mv hold,
And suffered her to rise and go with Him.

This silence of grief, then, when the heart is so full that it almost
breaks, is most impressive and significant. It tells that the bereav-
ed heart has gained the victory over the human passions of the soul
and bears resignedly the loss, and bows submissively to the wise
though mysterious decree of heaven. "Rebellion speaks — resigna-
tion holds its peace."

We are not always, then, to measure the depth of inward feeling
by the wailings of the chamber of death in the hour of bereavement.
Nor are we to conclude that where there are no tears and no out-
spoken words, there is but little heartfelt sorrow. Hearts are often
so lacerated and bruised that they cannot find words to express the

3l8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

acuteness of the pain endured. The agony of the soul so disar-
ranges the entire system of nature that tears cannot flow. " Better,
indeed, it is in such moments to retire within one's self, to collect
our thoughts and meditate alone upon the heavy loss sustained,
letting our tears fall back into the heart."

But in the case of Aaron, this silence was not only symbolical of
unutterable grief, but it also indicated acquiescence in the bereave-
ment. This is what few of us attain in the hour of trial. We are
so stupified and stunned by the suddenness and apparent severity
of the blow, that we can do nothing else than hold our peace, but
not in the spirit of the Psalmist -vhen he says : " I was dumb, I
opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. " The Shunamitish
woman, after the death of her son, when asked by Gehazi, the ser-
vant of the prophet : " Is it well with thee? Is it vvell with thy
husband ? Is it well with the child ?" answered, "it is well." Madame
Guyon, it is said, buried her children without shedding tears, be-
cause the God who had made them smile in infancy, made them
smile more happily in another land. To her the day, cloudy and
dark, or sunshine, was alike precious ; winter's storm was as wel-
come as summer's calm. She lived not in the narrowness of self,
but in the wider expanse of the Almighty. But it is not given to
us all to concur in His will, who orders every event for the highest
good. We fret and inveigh against the dealings of supreme wisdom,
as if the Almighty were under obligations to disclose to us the
reasons of his acts and the ultimate design of his sovereign will !

Need I say that such conduct implies distrust of God's good-
ness, and lack of faith in his wisdom. To acquiesce in his provi-
dential dealings, it is not necessary that we should understand at
once the meaning of his chastisements : — why they are so sudden
— to human judgment so perplexing, and in circumstances so dis-
tressing. That He has done it, should be enough to quell every

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 219

rising complaint, and hush to silence every murmur. " The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be his holy name."

Now there are just such periods when we are called upon to
make proof of our submission, under severe calamities. " There
are great tidal waves of sorrow, that sweep through the sea of life
from time to time, and cover the soul with their dark impenetrable
surge, and shut out the sunlight like a grave. They come without
warning, and we cannot understand their cause. When they roll
back, they leave us with changed lives. Much that we have been
for a long time building up, is swept away : treasures that we
counted great, are left in ruin, and all our moral nature left a
stranded debris." It is in such crises of life, that we are to bridle
our tongue, and keep watch over our lips. The world is quick to
judge of the inconsistencies in the conduct of those who profess to
be the children of God, and when they find irritability, bitterness,
and revenge, where there should be quiet resignation and childlike
trust in all God's appointments, they conclude that religion has no
power to change the life.

Dr. Macdonald, the great apostle of the North, had a son in the
ministry, who at the call of providence surrendered his charge in
the great city of London, to go forth as a missionary to India. Just
when on the threshold of his work, he was called away. Kow his
aged father received the sorrowful tidings is told in his memoirs,
and strikingly illustrates the spirit of the text. In 1847, when on
one of his preaching tours in Perthshire, and just before entering
the pulpit, a letter was put into his hands. Intent upon his work,
he put it unopened into his pocket. Next day as he was travelling,
he recollected the letter, and on opening it found the tidings of his
son's death. A few groans from a father's wounded heart, and a
few tears from a fond father's eyes, and the christian triumphed
over the man ; and with his heart he said, " It is well." On reach-
ing home, he preached from these words in his own pulpit. It is

220 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH. *

well, he said, that he was born : it is well that he was educated : it
is better far, that he was born again : it is well that he was licensed
to preach the gospel : it is well that he was ordained as a pastor :
it is well that he went to India ; and above all, it is well for him
that he died : for thus, though away from us, and absent from the
body, he has secured the gain of being for ever with the Lord. Such
language is the spirit of the text, and such should be our attitude
under the bitterest griefs, that leave the urn empty, and darken the
lights of the dwelling.

Give me thy joy in sorrow, gracious Lord,
And sorrow's self shall like to joy appear !
Although the woild should waver iu its sphere,
I tremble not, if thou thy peace afford.

Peace then my heart,
Beyond the world's sad vibrating, and in thyself
Circle me, that I may feel no touches save of thee.

Thus far we have spoken of the text in its relation to personal
afflictions that are beyond our ken — that perplex the profoundest
thought and make the strongest faith to falter. But similar be-
reavements take place in the church and nation that compel men
to pause amid the busy hum of life and stand aghast, petrified as it
were, under the blow that makes the ship of state to tremble and
the pillars of the commonwealth to shake. High hopes are in a
moment crushed. The leaders of thought and valiant champions
of truth and righteousness fall in the ranks, and the host wavers in
the face of the enemy. It is as when in a moment the brightness
of a summer's day is eclipsed by storm and darkness, and the gentle
sighings of the wind give place to the thunder peal, and the angry
breath of the simoon sweeps over the plain, spreading devastation,
and death in its pathway. Reason stands abashed in presence of
such unthought of and sudden tragedies, and can only say: " He
maketh the clouds his chariots, and walketh upon the wings of the
wind. He toucheth the land and it melts, and all that dwell there-

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 221

in mourn. He makes darkness his secret place, his pavilion round
about him are dark waters and thick clouds of the skies ;" while
faith replies : " Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of
his throne. Shall mortal man be more just than God ? Shall a
man be more pure than his Maker ? The Lord reigneth, let the
earth rejoice." Before such mysterious deeps of providence that
confound human wisdom, we mu.'t be silent.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain ;
God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for his grace ;
Behind a frowning providence,

He hides a smiling face.

You can easily understand why I have selected these words for my
discourse. In common with our stricken brethren in the United
States, we are stunned and sorely amazed under the heavy calamity
that has occupied the thoughts of our citizens and filled the columns
of our newspapers during the last few days. It is indeed hard to
realize that one so eminently qualified to be the ruler of a great
nation ; so well fitted by nature and grace, by culture of mind and
tenderness of soul — should be smitten by the hand of the assassin,
and after weary days and nights of intense agony, when the courage
and patience of the sufiferer, and the skill and watchfulness of friends
and physicians, battled against death, should at last give up the
struggle and sink into that slumber that knows no waking till the
resurrection morn ! To moralize in the presence of such an over-
whelming grief is useless. It becomes us, like Aaron, to hold our
peace, believing that what we know not now, we shall know here-

222 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

after, when wc no longer see as through a glass darkly, but face to
(ace. '*■ ■ '■■^ ■'■■■■

It is unnecessary to recite the details of his life. His recent
elevation to the highest gift within the offer of his countrymen, and
his sudden, sad, and tragic end, have invested them with a singular
and profound interest. His death has but reflected the fortitude
and endurance of his youth and manhood, and brought into view
the indomitable will that enabled him to rise superior to obstacles
that overcome ordinary men. Religion was to him no new thing*
We are told that when a college boy, camping among the moun-
tains, he used at eventide to take out his Bible and say : — " Boys,
at this time of evening I a.ii apt to read a passage of Scripture ; if
you would like to hear it, I will read a chapter now." And then
one of his companions was called upon to pray, and they all knelt
in their summer tent. In the war he acted as chaplain to his men.
His last solemn act, before leaving Mentor for Washington, was to
take the holy sacrament of the supper, while tears of emotion rolled
down his cheek. On the first opportunity offered, after he was
shot, he said to Doctor Sunderland that he trusted all in the Lord's
hand, for he was equally ready to die or live. And not long since,
when the end seemed near, his attendant physicians said : " There
is no need telling him he has to die, for he said at the start he had
no preparations to make." God saw fit to beat and bruise the poor
body upon the anvil and refine the soul in the sevenfold heated
furnace, that when at length the hour of release arrived he should
at once awake in the image of his Saviour. But at last, sweetly
calm, like the passing away of a strain of music, or the dy'ng out
of the light of a summer's day, he escaped from pain and weakness
to rest and immortal youth. Swift was the transition from the
seeming unconsciousness of the death bed surroundings to the full
realization of heaven's wonders. The weary voyager stepped
on shore, and that shore was paradise ; he took hold of a hand, and

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 223

found it the hand of his elder brother ; he breathed a new air, and
found it celestial air ; he passed from storm and tempest to unbrok-
en calm ; he awoke and found it glory.

President Garfield was the product of his age and country,
where, in common with our own land, the highest honors are within
the reach of the humblest sons of toil. Every step from the canal
boat to the White House was marked by earnest, conscientious
effort. Alike in the field and in the forum, he was the same brave,
self-reliant. God-fearing man. In the words of Tennyson, wc may
describe him as —

A divinely gifted man,
Whose life in low estate began,
And on a simple village green,

' Who breaks his birth's invidious bar,

And grasps the skirts of happy chance,
And breasts the blows of circumstance,
And grapples with his evil star.

Who makes by force his merit known,

And lives to clutch the golden keys,

To mould a mighty state's decrees.
And shape the whisper of the throne.

And moving up from high to higher.

Becomes on fortune's crowning slope.

The pillar of a nation's hope,
The centre of a world's desire.

And now, what are some of the lessons taught us by the death
of such a i^ood and gifted man ?

First, — The awful uncertainty of life. Possessed of a noble
physique, and a sound constitution, that had been braced and buili
up by healthy exercise, and a stranger to those liquors and indul-
gences that so often sow the seeds of disease in the human frame —
who so likely to live to fourscore years as President Garfield ? He
seemed as one who, after serving his day and generation well, would

224 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

enjoy a long evening of repose, free from the cares of public office,
and come to his grave like a shock of corn fully ripe.

The afternoon had just begun,

When came the calm of even time ;

Men said his life was at the prime ;
God said, His servant's task was done.

Death plies his sickle among the green grain as well as the ripe,
and blights the most promising forms of manhood long before, to
human conception, the life is complete and fully rounded out.

Secondly, — We are taught the vanity of earthly greatness.
Higher, socially and politically, he could not go. In an incredibly
short space of time he had vaulted from poverty to comparative
affluence ; from obscurity to the Republican throne. When he took
the oath of office, amid the rejoicings of a loyal people, how bright
seemed the prospect before him ! The head of fifty millions of
freemen, the equal in point of influence and power and intellect of
the crowned heads of Europe ; grasping the reins of office at a
time when the dark lines of separation between the North and
South were growing dim, and when everything betokened content-
ment and harmony within the land — how grand and enviable seemed
his lot ! Men regarded him as raised up and selected by Provi-
dence to break down faction and blot out the party strifes of for-
mer years, and heal the wounds of bleeding hearts, made by an
unnatural war that decimated so many homes. Not many weeks
before his inauguration as President, he was present and spoke on
the occasion of the unveiling of a monument to the memory of
soldiers who died in that unhappy rebellion. Among other things
he said : " I once entered a house in old Massachussets, where
over its doors were two crossed swords. One was the sword car-
ried by the grandfather of its owner on the field of Bunker Hill,
and the other was the sword carried by the English grand sire of
his wife, on the same field, and on the same day of conflict. Under

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 22$

those crossed swords, in the restored harmony of domestic peace,
lived a happy and contented and free family, under the hght of our
repubh'can hberties. And so I trust the time 's not far distar.t,
when under the crossed swords and the locked shields of Ame li-
cans, North and South, our people shall sl'.-ep in peace, and rise in
liberty, love, and harmony, under the union of one flag of the stais
and stripes," Such a prophecy will yet be verified, but the lips that
spoke such noble sentiments are now cold, and the heart that cher-
ished them has passed away. Well may we say :

The boast of hpraldry, the pomp of power,
And al! th»t beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,

Await alike the inevitable hour ;

The path of glory leads but to the grave.

Thirdly, — We are taught the grandeur of the Christian's death-
bed. Not as a stoic, defiant of disease, and nerving himself against
pain by an almost superhuman effort, but as a sinner, saved by
atoning blood, did he face the enemy. The sting of death was ex-
tracted — its venom removed. Some call it a manly death — it was
all this and more. It was an heroic death, because faith in the in-
visible made suffering easy of endurance.

It is ever so. In that dread hour when heart and flesh faint
and fail ; when we approach the dark mysteries of the valley ; when
the eye loses its lustre, the tongue its speech, the mind its retentive-
ness, and the soul its consciousness ; nothing can give assured hope
of a blissful immortality but simple trust in the merits of the cruci-
fied one.

The consciousness that we have lived to some purpose, and that
we have possibly served the state faithfully in the Senate or on the
field, is of value. " To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."
But the best of patriots and benefactors have no monuments to
mark their graves. Nor do they need them, for their memory is
imperishable.
♦15

226 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

On fame's eternal camping ground,

Their silent tents are spread ;
While glory guards, with solemn round,

The bivouac of the dead.

Better far is the knowledge in a dying hour that Jesus waits us*
to give us a crown of immortelles that never fades.

U. S. GRANT.

-:^^:■

General Grant.

«« Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it."

— 1st Corinthians 12, v. 26.

General Grant.

HERE is no schism in the human body. It is so con-
stituted that the eye and the ear, the foot and the arm
are intimately connected and interested in the well-
being of each other. All alike are necessary to the
complete physical organization of the individual man. The
body is one, though composed of different members. There
is a common consciousness. You cannot pain the one without
causing pain in the very centre of life. Thus if one member suffers,
all the members suffer with it ; or if one member be honored, all
the members rejoice with it.

So it should be with the church of Christ. The visible body of
believers is made up of individuals, not isolated nor independent, but
related to each other in the closest bonds. From this union there
springs sympathy — a bearing of each other's burdens — a sharing of
each other s sorrows. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep
with them that weep, is the law of christian fellowship. " For
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one
member be honored, all the members rejoice with it"

(229)

^230 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

The same ought to be true of christian nations. As the welfare
of the individual state or province depends upon the conduct of
the units that compose it, so the best interests of society and the
world at large are served by the co-operation of christian states
and nations, in all that is productive of virtue and integrity, and by
each showing sympathy with the other in whatever appeals to the
better instincts of our common humanity. More especially it be-
comes nations that have sprung from a common ancestry, who are
of one blood and one language, whose laws and customs arc in the
main alike, and whose institutions are founded upon a common
Christianity, to testify to the world that geographical boundaries
and minor differences in forms of government cannot restrain or
repress that overflow of genuine 1 cling, when sister common-
wealths suffer the loss of eminent statesmen, or stand around the
grave of those who have fought their battles, vindicated their honor,
and advanced the world-wide cause of humanity and freedom.

Such sympathy has not been wanting in later years between
Great Britain and the United States, and it is in itself one of the
strongest evidences of that good feeling which exists and is increas-
ing between two nations, which should mutually and conjointly
seek, above their own private interests, the good of mankind in
every clime and country. The touching messages flashed beneath
the ocean from Queen Victoria to the widows of martyred Presi-
dents and dead commanders, have done more to cement the old
and new worlds in bonds of lasting brotherhood, 'han all the treaties
and diplomacies of skilled and crafty statesmen.

It is, therefore, eminently fitting that in this land and in this
city and church, where many present have assembled in former
years to pay the tribute of affectionate regard to the memories of
Lincoln and Garfield, we should seek to know something of those
elements of character that made the life of General Grant so con-
spicuous, his death so lamented, and his memory so dear to the

GENERAL GRANT. 23 1

nation that he loved and served so well. Not to speak words of
extravagant eulogy over the dead, nor seek to minimize or excuse
any faults and failings which may have marked the life of the dead
soldier, are we met to-night, but to unite with the great heart of
the world, which is ever just, in paying homage to the memory of
a man, who fearlessly, faithfully and unselfishly did his duty accord-
ing to the light he had ; and to magnify that grace by which he
was ultimately led in childlike faith to acknowledge his dependence
upon Him who made him what he was, and gave him strength to
do what he did.

The death of General Grant has called forth in almost every
quarter of the civilized world unmistakable declarations that true
nobility of nature, independent of accidental birth and fortune, com-
mands universal regard, and deserves the highest honors. West-
minster Abbey (when the flags on the royal residences of Windsor
and Osborne were lowered), crowded with the representatives of
royalty and the bravest English hearts, all united in paying respect
to the memory of one, not of their ovv n but of another land, pre-
sented a sight that only at great intervals occurs in the history of
civilized and christian nations. The barriers of rank and party, and
national differences, disappear on such occasions. Palace, castle
and hovel are alike in tears. By men who inhabit distant lands
and speak diverse tongues, the pangs of a personal bereavement
are felt as they joi i in solemn service in memory of the dead. As
Federal and Confederate soldiers lift the bier, word comes across
the ocean that the nations of the earth bow their heads in silent
grief. It is no blind and sudden impulse which impels such deep
and wide-spread mourning. It is the verdict of mankind upon a
great character (who.se deeds have electrified the world), now unex-
pectedly closed, after a long and painful sickness. As has been
aptly said, " those who fear that religious faith is dying, and that
science has shaken the hold of moral law upon the minds of men,

232 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

are staggered and rebuked by the sight." No base or ignoble
passions could so move the nations of the earth. But a single life
is stricken down, and a dark cloud .seems to settle on the sky and
obscure the sun. Men speak with bated breath. The minute gun,
the muffled drum, the tolling bell, silence in senate chambers and
courts of justice and halls of learning, public buildings draped in
black, mourners marching by the tens of thousands with measured
step to the saddest music, the land filled with lamentations " from
the savannahs of the South to the snow-capped hills of the North,
and from where the Atlantic moans along its ancient coast, to where
the Pacific sobs on its golden shore," — all tell that a king among
men is dead !

Who was this man thus followed to the tomb by a hundred
thousand of his own countrymen ? I need not give details of his
early life. These are to be found in the pages of biography. Like
Abraham Lincoln, the rail splitter and Mississippi boatman, who
finally became the most honest and God-fearing of modern states-
men ; like Garfield, who, from a poor shoeless child, rose to be
teacher, preacher and President — so Grant, from the tannery of
Galena, became the foremost man of his age, the hero of many
battles and the chief citizen of a nation, which, second to none
other, moulds the civilization and directs the destinies of the world.
How different the circumstances connected with the birth of men !
The birth of a prince is announced by salvos of artillery and the
ringing of joy bells in city, town and hamlet ; but the poor man's
son enters the world unnoticed. " Weigh them both in the scale
of eternity and the difference between them is not perceptible. In
both cases a life has begun which shall never end — a heart begins
to throb which must be filled with delight or anguish — a soul has
sprung into being which shall outlive the earth and see the sun ex-
tinguished as a taper in the sky." In both cases the conduct of the
individual, independent of the adventitious circumstances of ranker

GENERAL GRANT. 233

fortune, makes the life commonplace or grand, a source of blessing
or a perpetual curse !

General Grant was born in a sphere far off from the one for
which God ultimately intended him. For some forty years he lived
in comparative obscurity, giving but little indication of his wonder-
ful genius and strength of will. But these years were not lost.
During that period he was being prepared for the great work of
his life, when called not simply to save a nation from dismember-
ment, but to give a new direction to the civilization of the world,
" The workings of his masterful mind were hidden beneath the
silence of his lips ; but when the supreme moment came, there
came also an intellectual elevation, an up-liftingof the whole being,
a transformation of the silent, thoughtful General, which surprised
his foes and astonished his friends. He culminated at the crisis,
and was at his best when most needed." It is Longfellow, I think,
who says that great men stand like solitary towers in the city of God,
and secret passages running deep beneath external nature, give
their thoughts intercourse with higher intelligences, which strength-
ens and consoles them, and of which the laborers on the surface do
not even dream. It was so in the case of Grant. He did more
than was expected of him. Other men of more brilliant records
failed where he was successful. Undemonstrative, taciturn and
silent, he passed on from victory to victory, so unheralded and
quietly as to win for him the gratitude of his own people and the
admiration of the world. In General Grant's case, as in the case of
many others who have served their country, it may be said :

The strength that makes a nation great,

In secret is supplied ;
The energies that build the state,

In humble virtues bide.

From christian homes among the hills,

The streams of influence flow ;
The force that fights with earthly ills,

And overcomes the foe.

234 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

The noblest benefactors of the world, in science, literature, phil-
anthropy and religion, have sprung from lowly origin. Sextus the
fifth from being a swineherd, was called to wave a sceptre ; Fergu-
son spent his early days in tending sheep ; God called him to look
after stars, and be a shepherd watching the flocks of light " on the
hill sides of heaven." Hogarth, the wonderful artist and painter,
began life by engraving pewter pots ; Bloomfield sat for a time on
the shoemaker's bench ; God called him to sit in the chair of a
philosopher and scholar ; Hawley was called from soap boiling in
London, to become one of the greatest astronomers of England ;
Martin Luther was the son of a peasant miner ; Virgil, the son of a
potter ; Demosthenes, of a smith ; Columbus, of a cloth weaver ;
Ben Johnson of a brick layer ; Shakespeare of a wool trader ; Burns,
of a cotter ; Whitfield, of an inn-keeper ; Carlyle of an Ecclefechan
farmer ; Henry Kirke White, that poetic genius, whose dust lies
outside the walls of Rome awaiting a blessed resurrection, was the
son of a Nottingham butcher, and David Livingstone, whose re-
mains rest in Westminster Abbey — the model missionary of the
world — was, when a boy, a cotton piecer and spinner. As the
poet says :

These souls flash out like the stars of God,
From the midnight of the mine :
' No castle is theirs, no palace great,

' .. No princely pillared hall ;

But they well can laugh at the roofs of state,
'Neath the heaven which is over all.

- Each bares his arm for the ringing strife,

That marshals the sons of the soil,
And the swea;;-drops shed in the battle of life

Are gems in the crown of toil ;
And prouder their well-worn wreaths, I trow,

Than laurels with life-blood wet ;
And nobler the arch of a bare, bold brow, ,

Than the clasp of a coronet. "^■'^T.^':^'"'-"^". T"^^"

GENERAL GRAJJT. 235

Hard work and poverty, self-control and misfortune, often make
self-reliant, courageous, and victorious spirits. Rich men's sons arc
heavily weighted in the race of existence. " A basketful of bonds
and debentures is the heaviest burden that a young man can carry.
The temptations of wealth and affluence are such as to sink the
most promising lives." Had such been the lot of Grant, how dif-
ferent in all likelihood would have been the meridian and close of
his life I It was the early discipline he underwent and the drud-
gery of mental toil that prepared him for the command of the
American army, and subsequently for the onerous duties of the
Presidential chair. No man can become a ruler of men, who does
not rule his own spirit and deny himself ease and indulgence in
early years. He who steadily and patiently applies himself to the
work of to-day, and discharges his duties to his fellow-men in a
spirit of unselfishness and as under the eye of his Maker, is the man
who when the crisis comes is found equal to its demands. The
hour came when the Republic needed a strong, calm, iron-clad will .
to direct its armies and save its very life, and with the hour came
the man. At once he was recognized as a dominant magnetic spirit,
mighty in grasp of details ; strong in purpose ; facile in execution ;
not easily daunted or discouraged ; far-seeing and determined ; a
man who reasoned out his campaigns, and fought them with a ten-
acity of purpose that inspired confidence in his colleagues and sub-
ordinates. The nation at. once felt the touch of a master's hand,
and the rebellion was crushed under the potency of his iron will.
It was not mere good fortune or luck, as some historians have
asserted, that made Grant the saviour of his country, although it
need not be disputed that he was called to command at an oppor-
tune hour, but " by the upward gravitation of natural forces," by
inflexible faithfulness, indomitable resolution, sleepless energy and
persistent tenacity, he rose step by step to the highest position a
nation can offer a citizen.

236 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

And yet, like many brave men who preceded him in command
of the norihern army, there was a time when it looked as if he also
might be recalled and added to the many who had failed to satisfy
the eager, impetuous, and at times unreasonable cry for a speedy
termination of the war — a war that for extent and fierceness has
but seldom been equalled in the history of the world. Seward, the
able and acute Secretary of State, prophesied that in ninety days
peace would be restored, and on this false, though not unnatural
assumption, many able generals, who had in succession commanded
the army of the Republic, but who could not accomplish impossi-
bilities, were consigned to private life, or relegated to inferior posi-
tions. Grant's military genius suffered such momentary deprecia-
tion. The nation, bleeding at every pore, and almost driven to
desperation, became impatient, exacting, and clamorous for immed-
iate results. But Grant heard, as if he heard it not. He had the
rare grace of silence under provocation. He knew that time was
essential to the mighty undertaking entrusted to his hands, and
that neither civilians nor carping editors could grasp the deadly
struggle in which the nation was engaged. He waited patiently
for the storm to pass ; uttered no word of complaint ; attempted no
explanation nor vindication of his plans ; and kept on assured of
ultimate success. Like all self-possessed men, who have thorough-
ly matured and mastered their powers, he heeded not public clamor.
To the cry for speedy victories, he only replied : " I propose to
fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer. " He did so, and
the end justified the wisdom of the great General, and the means
employed to crush the rebellion, and restore lasting peace and good
will between North and South.

Among many exceedingly pleasing traits of character illustrated
in his life, may be found the following :

I. The modest estimate he entertained of his own part in the
war for the preservation of the Union, and the generous and un-

GENERAL GRANT. 237

Stinted praise which he lavished on offiicers and men. In the
battles of the Wilderness he illustrated the saying of Wellington
at Waterloo, " Hard pounding, gentlemen ; we shall see who will
pound the longest : " and he won that campaign by simple pertina-
cious pounding. But in the campaign against Vicksburg, an ap-
parently invulnerable fortress was captured "by a combination of
brilliant conception, execution and patient perseverance, against
what were at first superior odds, and despite serious difficulties
within his own camp, and in the attitude of both government and
people behind his back." And yet so far from taking any special
credit to himself for what was admitted on all hands to be the
greatest military triumph of the war, he simply said : " The cam-
paign of Vicksburg was suggested and developed by circumstances ;
Providence directed its course, while the army of the Tennesee ex-
ecuted the decree 1 "

II. Like all really great and good commanders, he hated wan
and was by inclination a man of peace. It was not that he delight-
ed in battle's stern array, that he stood in the breach at the call of
his countrymen, and directed movements that resulted in the death
of many foemen worthy of a nobler end. He regarded war as a
ghastly monster, " whose march is to the widow's sigh and the or-
phan's cry." In his London speech of 1877 he said : — " Although a
soldier by education and profession, I have never felt any sort of
fondness for war and I have never advocated it, except as a means
of peace." This is the right view to take of war. Battles are grand
to read about, when looked at from afar, and often are grand in
their results, but those who take part in them and know most about
them are far from lavish in their praise. Louis Napoleon, although
seemingly regardless of bloodshed, had his dreams badly haunted
by the slaughter of Solferino. The field of Waterloo and such
scenes made Wellington devest its ravages and lament its necessity.
Indeed, every rightly constituted mind must join in the Psalmist's

238 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

prayer : " Scatter thou the people that deh'ght in , .r." But bad
as war is, there are some things worse. When war is the only al-
ternative to redress national grievances, or end flagrant wrongs, it
is right and proper, despite of its horrors. While we deprecate :ts
evils, and pray that it may never again touch our borders, we are
not of those who regard it as the greatest calamity that can afflict
a nation. While war has slain its thousands, peace has slain its
tens of thousands. In the breast of all noble minded men there
has been implanted the feeling that war, and even death, in a good
and virtuous cause, is preferable to ignominious servitude. To use
the language put into the mouth of a Roman Senator :

A Christian people cannot long debate
Which of the two to choose — Slavery or Death t
A day, an hour of virtuous liberty
Is worth a whole eternity of bondage.

If such views be correct, then that nation which prepares for
war in times of peace shows the highest wisdom. In surrounding
herself with the necessary elements of defence, and having ready at
her call strong arms and willing hearts to vindicate the country's
honor and bear aloft the flag of freedom, she ensures her safety and
perpetuity. It was this feeling that prompted Grant to accept the
leadership of the northern army, and fight against men with whom
he had much in common. Personal friendships he sacrificed on the
altar of his country's liberties. He felt that nothing but the sever-
est measures could preserve the Union inviolable, and blend all its
parts and parties in more indissoluble bonds than ever they had
been before.

It is neither the time nor place to refer at length to the war
that brought General Grant into such prominence. Now that it is
a thing of the past, and North and South have been welded as one
over the grave of the dead hero, it is better to be silent than rake
up the smouldering ashes of those fires that for a tirae burned so

GENERAL GRANT. 239

fiercely. But this much may be ventured, that the two elements
that had existed for a century in the United States (indeed piior
to the revolution of 1776), could not in the nature of things con-
tinue for ever. The so-called irrepressible conflict between abo-
litionists and pro-slavery men, could not be put down. It meant
either the annihilation of the Union, or the annihilation of slavery.
It ended as we all know in the latter, in the emancipation and en-
franchisement of the negro, but not as some would have it, in the
humiliation of the South. Rapidly recovering from what she lost,
by a system entailed upon her by preceding generations, she bids
fair to become the rival of the Northern States, in all that apper-
tains to the highest cVilization and the purest morality.

The conduct of General Grant after the war, in his eagerness to
efface all scars and put an end to estrangements and bitter ani-
mosities, is still lovingly remembered by the Southern States. It
is well known that after the lamented death of Lincoln, President
Johnson was determined to make an example of such Southern
generals as Lee and others, who had been foremost in defying the
Northern arms. Grant protested against and resisted such pro-
ceedings. He said that the honor of the nation was at stake — that
by the conditions of surrender such men could not be sacrificed.
The manly courage of a soldier's heart thus saved many Confeder-
ates from an ignominious death. For this, is it wonderful, that the
South respected him when living, and honor him when dead ! .

III. The humility of the dying soldier, his consideration for those
who waited upon him through his long days and nights of suffer-
ing ; his chastened resignation to God's will ; his calm, unostenta-
tious, but implicit trust in the mercy of God, are among the sweet-
est recollections that can be cherished of his memory.

The closing days of the Duke of Wellington were marked by
the same childlike simplicity and gratitude. After one of his last
and greatest victories, he went to receive the sacrament, and as he

240 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

was kneeling in the church a poor man came and knelt beside him.
The church warden said : " Go away, this is the Duke of Welling-
ton." The great conqueror of Waterloo replied : " Let him alone
— we are equal here ! " And when the Duke was dying, the last
thing he took was a little tea. On his servant's handing it to him
in a saucer, and asking him if he would have it, he replied in the
last words he spoke, " Yes, if you please." How much kindness
and courtesy is expressed in them ! He who had commanded the
greatest armies in Europe and had long been accustomed to the
throne of authority, did not despise or overlook the smallest cour-
tesies of life.

It was very much the same with General Grant. He was gently
considerate of those who waited upon him, and often urged them
to take rest. On the night preceding his death he turned to those
who were watching lovingly by his bedside and said : " Do not
stop up — do not distress yourselves on my account." To his son
he said, indicating his solicitude for her, who had so long shared his
humble and his grander life : " I hope mother will bear up," while
to herself he said : " Do as I do, take it quietly ; I give myself not
the least concern. If I knew the end was to-morrow, I would just
try as hard to get rest in the meantime. Go to sleep and feel
happy, that is what I want to do, and am going to try, for I am
happy when out of pain. Consider how happy you ought to be.
Good night." And such was the tenderness of his love for her, he
surprised her by a letter found upon his person after death: He
had written it at intervals and secretly, and carried the missive for
fourteen days, knowing that she would find it after his death. It
read as follows : " Look after our dear children, and direct them
in che paths of rectitude. It would distress me far more to think
that one of them should depart from an honorable, upright, and
virtuous life, than it would be to know that they were prostrated
on a bed of sickness from which they were never to arise alive.

GENERAL GRANT. 24I

They have never given us any cause for alarm on their account, and
I earnestly pray they never will. With these few injunctions and
the knowledge I have of your love and affection, and of the dutiful
affection of all our children, I bid you a final farewell, until we
meet in another and I trust a better world. You will find this on
my person after my demise."

But it is asked, what of General Grant's religious belief? How
did he meet the last enemy ? Was he merely reconciled to the
inevitable stroke of death by a soldier's stoicism ? ' Were his fears
all removed ? Was his acceptance of Christ and the atonement
real ? Was his end perfect peace ? Was the dark valley illumin-
ated by the radiance of the New Jerusalem ? I think that no one
who places any confidence in the honesty and dying declarations
of the dead soldier can doubt his simple faith in the merits of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His best friends and admirers would doubtless
have wished that long before his last illness, he had been more pro-
nounced and outspoken regarding that faith in which he died. Like
many who preceded him in the Presidential chair, Grant was not a
member in full communion of any church. Though he regularly
attended puolic worship and took considerable interest in congre-
gational affairs, he never sat down at the Lord's table, and was
baptized but a short tin e before his dr xth. Referring to this fact,
Dr. Byron Sutherland, of Washington, in whose church General
Grant for some time worshipped (and where President Cleveland
attends), said in his memorial sermon : " On this topic, at a most
solemn moment in the experience of the nation, I will not forbear
to avow, what I have many times repeated on former occasions,
that no more essential or important duty belongs to our public
men, than making a public profession of their christian faith through
the solemn ordinances of the christian church. The value of such
testimony, ['iven in such a manner to the contemporary and com-
ing generations, is simply priceless. If men believe in Christ, let
*16 ■■" iZ _

242 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

them have the candor and courage to confess, and that in the most
solemn forms which the rites of the church impose. It is not good
to postpone this profession against all the chances of a sudden
death, for while a man may count on the divine compassion to the
last moment, he ought not to hazard the opportunity of leaving
behind him the most positive evidence he can ever give of his peace
with God through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord."

With such manly words we heartily agree. In spite of his many
noble qualities. General Grant is not held up as a perfect example.
But what shall we say of the many in all our churches, who, in cir-
cumstances perhaps more favorable to decision for Christ, still delay
to act ? Grey hairs are upon their heads, and they know it not
And what shall we say of those, who although for many years
members of christian churches, can hardly be distinguished from
the most ungodly around them? In the character of General
Grant, the gold and iron were mingled with the clay. But in the
case of many of his detractors, there is the clay without the gold
and iron. To-night, therefore, in thankfulness for what God made
him by nature, and still more by grace, we bury his faults in the
grave and make his virtues bloom above it. We magnify that
divine spirit that enabled the hero of so many battles, even at the
last to acknowledge his dependence upon the mercy of God, and
cling to covenant promises in a dying hour ; while at the same time
we warn the careless ones not to rest contented with the hope that
they may enjoy the same. " Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his," is a very pious sentiment, but un-
less accompanied by personal faith and practical godliness, is of
no avail.

In this connection it may not be out of place to refer to the
purity of his speech and his utter abhorrence of everything that
savored of profanity. In an age like this, when oaths and reckless
appeals to the Almighty, and unchaste inuendoes are found upon

GENERAL GRANT. 243

the lips of men of far greater pretensions to piety than General
Grant, such an example should not be without value. Even in the
stress of battle an oath never polluted his lips. His speech was
pure up to the standard of maidenly chastity. Mr. Pierpdnt, the
American Minister to Great Britain in 1877, tells of one occasion
when he and General Grant dined at the house of a distinguished
politician. The subject of religion in some way was introduced,
and one man present treated it with mockery. Grant showed his
feelings by abstaining from all further conversation with the man,
and on leaving said to the ambassador, " the conversation of that
man so shocked me, that I could not talk nor enjoy the dinner."
On the General's staff during the war, in one of his campaigns, was
a rough and ready fighter, full of strange oaths and stranger vul-
garities. One evening, in the presence of Grant and several brother
officers, he opened the conversation in some such way as this, " I
have got a mighty good thing to tell you. It would hardly do to
repeat, of course, in the presence of ladies." " Well-," said the Gen-
eral, interrupting him in his firm, but quiet way, "allow me to sug-
gest, then, that it might be advisable to omit it in the presence of
gentlemen." Need I add to this well timed rebuke, that profanity
has no possible justification. No man worthy of the name ought
to indulge in it It indicates an unclean and sensual nature where
the spirit of God cannot dwell. It debases and degrades manhood.
The presence of unclean lips in society — or those who curse their
fellows in the holy name of the Divine being — is an immeasurable
evil. No condemnation is too great for such a vice, no punishment
too swift or severe.

And now all is over so far as the life on earth of the great Gen-
eral is concerned.

Samson hath quit himself like Samson,
And heroically hath ended
A life heroic.

244 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

The battles he fought and won ; the acts of his administration ;
the honors paid him by the monarchs of the old world, when a few
years ago he passed from kingdom to kingdom ; the skill and at-
tention of physicians ; the unwearied attendance of relatives around
his bedside, and the prayers of his own and other nations, all
availed nothing to stay the remorseless king of terrors. The palace
of the king and hut of the peasant cannot resist his summons.
" Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty
man glory in his might ; let not the rich man glory in his riches,
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he undcrstandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the Lord wh'ch exercise loving kindness,
judgment and righteousness in the earth." Here is the true ground
for glorying. Wisdom, might, and riches are at the present day
sought after as affording the highest happiness. In old Testament
times, strength and martial valor were regarded as pre-eminent vir-
tues. Muscular prowess and the ability to lead victorious armies
to and from the battle field, were accounted of far more value than
mental superiority. Samson and Saul, head and shoulders above
the people, were looked upon as demi-gods, objects of envy and
wonder to the masses. And the possession of power in some form
or other, is still regarded as the highest possible attainment. To
exercise authority in church or state ; to control gigantic corpora-
tions ; to occupy high positions in the commercial or political world,
is the life long passion of millions. But neither wisdom nor power
nor riches are permanent on earth. God often turnr wisdom into
foolishness, might into impotency, and riches into poverty, while at
death they are all left behind. When men draw near the invisible
world these things are of little service. Then we need a per-
sonal God ; the firm hold of a hand that controls the destinies of
the universe ; and confider.ce in his faithfulnc!^'? who is never ab-
sent from the bedside of ti-^* dying saint. A Saviour slain is the
only boast of a dying sinner. How weak is he who has nothing

GENERAL GRANT. 245

beyond an arm of flesh to lean upon in the hour of dissolution ?
How sad are the last pulsations of the" mighty man, who has ruled
over kingdoms or republics, and struck terror into the hearts of
millions, but at last trembles at the cold touch of death! Better
far is he, however poor and unknown, who, as he places in Christ's
hand his weal or his woe for eternity, can say :

In the cross of Christ I glory.

Towering o'er the wrecks of time,
All the lights of sacred story

Gather round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o'ertake me,

Hopes deceive and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me,

Lo ! it glows with peace and joy.

The death of General Grant, preceded by the sad and lamented
deaths of such unselfish lives as those of Lincoln and Garfield,
ought not to be lost upon the nation they loved and served so well.
Long cavalcades of mourners are not out of place, nor will their
graves be neglected. In coming years pilgrims from foreign lands
will stand in reverent homage with uncovered heads around the
mausoleum at Riverside, as they do over Washington's at Mount
Vernon ; and tourists passing up and down the beautiful Hudson,
will strain their eyes to catch a glimpse of the spot where lies the
body of the great soldier. But better far will it be, if the people
who lament his death, take to heart the lessons of his life, his cour-
age, patience, integrity, steadfastness and love of justice. During
the war one of America's most eloquent orators prophesied that the
time would come when the North and South, cleansed from the
iniquity of slavery, should cordially grasp the hands of freemen for
freedom. That day in part has come, its full realization let us hope
and pray for. Only second to that of her own people, is the inter-
est of Canada and Britain in the prosperity of the United States.
As Canon Farrar said, in his admirable sermon on the death of

246 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

General Grant : " Whatever there be between the two nations to
forgive and forget, is forgiven and forgotten. If the two peoples
which are one, be true to their duty, who can doubt that the des-
tinies of the world are in their hands ? Let America and England
march in the van of freedom and progress, showing the world not
only a magnificent spectacle of human happiness, but a still more
magnificent spectacle of two peoples united, loving righteousness
and hating iniquity, inflexibly faithful to the principles of eternal
justice, which are the unchanging law of God." If at times our
brethren across the lines should, in the exercise of a not unnatural
pride, speak disparagingly of monarchies and boast of their repub-
lican simplicity, at heart they are not insensible to the greatness
and glory of the land whence they sprang. As one of their poets
says : —

Thicker than water, in one rill,

Through centuries of story,
Our Saxon blood has flowed, and still
We share with you the good and ill.

The shadow and the glory.

(haracter and (^ture.

Christian Manliness.

" Be strong in the Lord, and in the powor nf his might*

— Ephes ana 0, v. 10.

Christian Manliness.

.HEN Saint Paul wrote these words, he was breathing a
\^ military atmosphere, and brought into contact with all
the minutiae of a soldier's life. The epistle was written
from the Praetorian camp at Rome, where the Apostle was
a constant spectator of the discipline, evolutions and
equipment of the Roman army. There were believing men in that
army to whom Paul preached, and in his addresses and epistles it
was most natural that he should make use of just such metaphors
as are contained in this letter. He was thoroughly aware, that in
order to success in preaching, he must not only use language under-
stood by his hearers, but also select his illustrations from the special
walk in life in which they moved.

Christian life in the first century was literally a warfare. It was
not simply a conflict with spiritual enemies, but a constant encoun-
ter with the civil power. No measures were regarded too severe in
order to extirpate the true religion from the earth and crush its
professors. Bonds and imprisonments, scourgings and cruel tor-
tures, were the daily experience of all who refused conformity to

(251)

252 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Paganism. To such a life every christian was called at the very
outset of his discipleship. The trials before him were well known.
Nothing was concealed. He was enjoined to count the cost, and
weigh well the consequences of becoming a "cnvert to Christianity.
The loss of life was indeed such a certainty, that Christ was accus-
tomed, in speaking of it, to promise as an offset life everlasting in
the world to come.

Before proceeding to enumerate the different parts of the chris-
tian's armor, the Apostle insists upon strength as an essential qual-
ity in a good soldier. A man to be successful in military life,
whether as a private or an officer, must possess courage and bravery
— a certain measure of reckless daring, and a disregard of minor
consequences and hardships, which are inseparable from active
duty. Strength of body and firmness of muscle, without heroism
of soul, are unwieldy elements in modern warfare. To clothe a
timid, craven-hearted coward in a coat of mail, is folly. Only those
who are strong in themselves, are fit to put on armci or use it on
the battle-field.

This principle, so far as regards physical strength and perfect
h?alth, is well understood and acted upon in recruiting for the army.
Unless in times when conscription is necessary, and governments
are all but desperate for new levies, the most searching scrutiny is
made of volunteers. None that are unsound or defective in their
bodily organs, or laboring under disease, are admitted to the ranks.
Now, says the Apostle, what is demanded as a pre-requisite in a
common soldier, is absolutely necessary in the fiery contest with
spiritual enemies, to which every believer is called. The church
has no room for weak, unsteady members ; for such as break the
ranks through cowardice, or cause panic and alarm when she is on
the eve of victory. It is not the force of numbers, but the discip-
line and fortitude of the few, that achieves the mightiest results.

CHRISTIAN MANLINESS. 253

Then five can chase an hundred, and an hundred put ten thousand
to flight.

As the christian life is conceived of by many at the present day,
strength seems to be the very last quality demanded. Nothing is
considered more incongruous than such an exhortation. Meek-
ness, gentleness and forbearance — a certain effeminacy of disposi-
tion and backwardness of action, are recognised as the most be-
coming traits of christian character, just as if these might not be
united to firmness of purpose and determination of will. Nothing
is so beautiful in inorganic matter as i polished pillar, but in order
to stand polishing, it needs solidity and strength. It is very true
that the man of God should be gentle ; not given to strife or con-
tention ; a lover of peace, and an example of long-suffering and
patience. But these qualities are not incompatible with the injunc-
tion of the text. The scriptural idea of christian character is net a
mere collection of negatives, which require but little sacrifice to
practise. On the contrary, believers are exhorted to seek after the
highest qualities of true manhood, chief ot which is moral and
spiritual strength ; that supernatural power conferred upon God's
children, whereby they are enabled not only to overcome inherent
evil, but combat successfully against the temptations and wiles of a
seductive world. Never did General seek to inspire his soldiers
with enthusiasm and valor on the eve of a mighty conflict as Pauj
does, when addressing these Ephesian converts.

But it may be objected that all natures are not constituted
alike ; that in the church as in the world, there are diversities of
gifts and graces ; and that it is well nigh impossible to graft upon
a naturally timid temperament, the element of strength. If by this
it is meant that there will always be found some who are less ardent
and fervent in their manifestations of zeal, we are agreed. But if
it is maintained that some men never can possess the element of
strength referred to in the text, we reply that the Word of God

254 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

teaches far differently. The strength spoken of is not self acquired ;
it is not created or fostered by our own unaided efforts ; we are to
rely upon the strength of God for our strength and draw from that
source all the higher energies of our being. This mysterious power
is the result of the union of the human with the Divine, in virtue of
which we can, like Jacob of old, successfully contend with the
Angel of the Covenant. Says this same Apostle elsewhere, enu-
merating the heroes of old Testament days : " Through faith they
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped
the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed
valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."

The usual elements of strength upon which the great majority
of men rely in the struggle of life, are by no means to be despised.
(a) Bodily vigor for example — the healthy action of all the physi-
cal powers is not to be undervalued. There is a most intimate
connection between mind and body. They act and re-act the one
upon the other. And thus the healthy action of the body tends to
the healthy action of the mind, and is intimately related to manli-
ness and morals, (d) Industry is another source of strength ; and
one that is much insisted upon in the Word of God. It produces
self-reliance and independence of character, and gives to life a dig-
nity and a lustre which profligacy and prodigality never can attain.
(c) Knowledge is another element of strength, and one that cannot
be unduly exalted. Knowledge of men and things, whether gained
by study, or the result of observation and experience, is of incalcu-
lable importance. In secular affairs it is head .hat governs the
world, and not hands. Knowledge conjoined with industry raises
a man to an immeasurable height above his fellows, and gives him
a place among the peers and princes of earth. Embracing both
means and ends it directs labor to a successful issue, and makes
material objects becx^me the handmaids of the soul. And (d)

CHRISTIAN MANLINESS. 255

finally, I need hardly add that wealth is one of the chief elements
of strength at the present day, and is likely to continue so. Nor is
it wrong that money should be sought after, provided the power
and influence and standing thus acquired, is expended for the good
of men. It is a poor thing to rely upon wealth alone for moral
strength, to gather it year by year, simply to be called a millionaire,
and die bankrupt in soul while rich in material things. But if, as
stewards of God's bounties, we honestly acquire a larger share of
this world's goods, than falls to the lot of our fellowmen, and dis-
burse them for the advancement of His glory, we can wield a power
second to none other in this world for the good of men. But while
all these elements of strength are recognised in Scripture as worthy
of possession, the christian, in view of his higher wants, is enjoined
to lay hold of that Divine strength, which is derived from com-
munion with Heaven, and a continuous sense of God's presence in
and around us. What men most need in the turmoil of existence*
is not outward material support, but hidden resources of Almighty
strength that can stand the pressure of sorrow and the shock of
adversity. They want something upon which they can rely, when
days of danger and darkness overtake them, and earthly friendships
fail ; something that will invigorate the fainting heart in sickness,
sorrow, and disappointment, and sustain in the Pnal struggle with
the King of Terrors, never once abandoning them, until the yearn-
ings and aspirations of the soul are satisfied with the fulness of
eternity.

These remarks prepare us, I think, for a better understanding
of the text. " Finally, my brethren," — to end the discussion and
sum up all that has been said — " be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of His might." As if Paul said, " I am about to specify the
dififerent pieces of armour provided for your conflict with the Prince
of Darkness. But unless you possess Divine power, you cannot
wield them to purpose." It were like covering the stripling David

256 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

with Saul's heavy coat of mail, to put into the hands of a weak and
trembling saint, such mighty and destructive weapons. It needs a
strong arm to wield the sword of the spirit, and a practised eye to
use the shield of faith.

In view, then, of what has been already advanced, we remark :
First, — That God is the source of all moral and spiritual strength.
" In himself," says an old writer, " a christian is wondrous weak,
even vanity itself, but take him as he is built upon the promises,
and as he is in God, and then he is a kind of almighty person." It
is when a man realizes his own personal inability and emptiness,
that he is filled with all the fulness of the Godhead, and is enabled
to resist every adversary. Thus Paul says elsewhere : " We are
troubled on every side, yet not distressed : we are perplexed, but
not in despair : persecuted, but not forsaken : cast down, but not
destroyed." "Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in re-
proaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ's sake,
for when I am weak, then am I strong. I can do all things through
Christ, which strengtheneth me." This is not the language of
boasting, but the experience of one who had endured more suffer-
ing, and performed more labor in the cause of Christ, than perhaps
fell to the lot of any human being. And in order that others may
be incited to similar self-denial and courage, with the hope of suc-
cess against abounding evils, he holr'j^ himself up as an example of
what is possible to every man in every condition of life. " I can do
all things :" resist temptation, suffer affliction, enjoy prosperity, en-
dure adversity, defy the powers of earth and hell — in a word, carry
myself heroically in every calling and condition of life. And not
to weary you with quotations, when this same Apostle speaks of
his incessant labors in the establishment of the early churches, in
order that all the glory and honor might redound to the Master
he says : " By the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which
was bestowed on me was not in vain : but I labored more abun-

CHRISTIAN MANLINESS. 257

dantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was
with me."

Out of Christ, indeed, there i" no real power to advance in per-
sonal holiness, or benefit our fellow-men. As the heads of those
rivers that ran through Paradise were out of Paradise, so the foun-
tain-head of those streams that water the heart of the believer, is
outside of himself As the branch severed from the tree is lifeless
so man apart from Christ is barren, powerless, dead. As without
the beam.s of the natural sun, and the constant moisture of the
clouds, the earth becomes a parched and desert wilderness, so with-
out the gracious influences of Heaven, and the contact of God's
spirit within the soul, there can be no vigor in the higher life. As
the chords of the harp must be touched by the fingers of the musi-
cian before any sound is heard, so the chords of the human heart
must be tuned and sanctified by God's spirit before they can sound
His praise.

Secondly, — Let us enquire how we should use this God-given
strength.

(a) We should be strong in the faith. By " the faith " is meant
the gospel, which contains the foundation of all our hope for time
and eternity. The Bible may be accented as a creed, and believed
in as a system of doctrine, without any real profit to the soul. Its
promises may excite no more interest than the highly colored and
fascinating visions of dreamland, which gratify the imagination '
of childhood. This cold speculating way of holding the truths of
revelation, is too common among professing christians. They re-
gard the Bible with a sort of superstitious reverence. They accord
it the highest place in literature as the words of inspiration, but
they refuse to follow its counsels, or trust in the mercy it offers.
There is no appropriation of its vital truths to meet the yearnings
of the soul, and no reliance upon the pledges of infinite love, made
over to us by the death of Christ. Baxter's words are as true to-
*17

2S8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

day as when they were spoken : " I take it to be the greatest cause
of coldness in duty, weakness in grace, boldness in sinning, and
unwillingness to die, that our faith in the divine authority of the
Scriptures is cither unsound or infirm. Christians in many cases
receive the truth by tradition. Godly ministers and friends tell
them so and so : it is impious to doubt, and therefore they believe
it. Faith in the verity of Scripture would be an exceeding help to
the joy of the saints."

Now such a respectful regard for God's Word is of no practical
value. Christian life as a consequence remains monotonous, lethar-
gic, and stagnant as the slimy pools of water, that have neither
current nor outlet. For in order that a man may become strong
physically, his food must be incorporated with his system, and as-
similated to meet the demands of daily toil. And in order that
man may reach the highest stage of spiritual development, there
must be a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and an actual
participation in the divine life and strength. As the tendrils of the
ivy cling around the old ruin, so must the powers of the soul go
forth in quest of supernatural sustenance ; for, as has been well
said, unbelief is no longer regarded as a qualification for eminent
saintship, nor doubt and distrust the evidences of a deep experience.

{b) We should be strong in maintaining and defending the faith.
We live in an age of scepticism, when strenuous efforts are put
forth to unsettle men's minds, and cast suspicion upon the most
solemn questions that can engage the attention of immortal beings.
.The very word 'doctrine' in our day is repulsive. Sound theology
is despised. Men who avow themselves as attached to no one creed
more than another, are glorified and admired. Confessions of faith
are regarded as superfluous, and those who value them, as behind
the age. To charge any man with heresy or unsound views regard-
ding the Atonement or inspiration of the Scriptures, is declared to
be bigotry. Now whilst the enemies of religion are busy in dis-

CHRISTIAN MANLINESS. 2'q

scmlnating error, the friend.'; of truth make but h'ttle effort to coun-
teract their evil influence. Many are ashamed to be known as
christians. In the presence of the profane and the ungodly, they
acquiesce by their silence in the most blasphemous assaults against
the truth. This moral cowardice is one of the greatest hindrances to
the spread of godliness. The want of the church is aggressiveness.
Timidity is the curse of the age We speak in apologetic tones
when called upon to defend God's word, and vindicate religion
before the world. Not thus is the day to be hastened, when Chris-
tianity shall rule the globe, and sit enthroned in the hearts of mil-
lions ! The darkness and prejudice of centuries will not pass away
without a struggle, nor can our present privileges and liberties be
retained but by the exercise of ceaseless vigilance and untiring zeal.
(c) Finally, we should be strong in our integrity, thoroughly
candid and upright in all the transactions and avocations of life.
Religion, to be of any value, should go into a man's business, and
inspire his every professional act. More especially in times when
fraud and dishonesty and falsehood are accounted but venial sins,
and the most sacred moral obligations are violated without com-
punction, imperative necessity is laid upon every christian to main-
tain his truthfulness and honor stainless before the world. It is
good to br orthodox and have a name and standing in the church,
and be regular in our devotion, but it is wrong to allow our religion
to be in advance of our morality and forget the obligations we owe
to our fellow men. " The worst heresies that lay hold of the
strength of the church, and tie her hands and paralyze her tongue,
and poison her atmosphere, are lying, and stealing, and av^arice,
and selfishness." The old-fashioned form of speech, used half a
century ago in denouncing villainy, is now wholly unknown. A
forger is a speculator ; a thief is a sharp, shrewd fellow ; a man who
fails in business, without enriching himself at the expense of his
creditors, is called a fool. Fraud is reduced to a science. The end

260 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

— avaricious money-making — ^justifies the means ! Hence we have
wheat corners, and gold corners, and bribery in high places. Every
man for himself, is the cry of selfish humanity, while God looks
down upon all such unhallowed traffic, and speedy vengeance fol-
lows. Assuredly if a man is going to lose his soul, he should have
large returns in the present. The robber's giins need be great, for
perpetual banishment from God's presence iollo'vs !

Now in this strength of the Lord, we are more than equal to all
our adversaries, and more than able to cope with every form of
temptation. With our loins girt about "/Ith the girdle of truth ;
having on the breast plate of righteousness ; having our feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; and in the strength of
the most High, wielding the sword of the spirit, we need not go
faint-hearted into the battle. Greater are they that are for us, than
all that are against us. Thus the ruddy shepherd boy vanquished
his great enemy. " Thou comest to me with a sword and with a
spear, and with a shield ; but I come to thee in the name of the
Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast
defied." And thus it ever is, when in God's strength we undertake
to crush gigantic evils. "Though hosts encamp against us, we
need not fear. The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the Lord of Jacob
is our refuge."

The full possession of this strength Is the work of years. Let
none be discouraged, because they have not the boldness to do or
to suffer all at once. The best graces are the longest in coming to
maturity. The sunflower growing side by side with the sapling
oak reaches perfection of growth and stature much sooner. The
oak seems slow, compared with the ephemeral plant, that lives for
a day. But if slow it is sure, and the results proportionate and
permanent. And so by patient perseverance in well-doing the
most diffident and unobtrusive may acquire firnmess and fortitude.
What unassisted human nature cannot accomplish, grace can, mak-

CHRISTIAN MANLINESS. 26l

ing men more than conquerors. The strong men of the world are
not always most conspicuous, they arc often found among the poor
and the weak ; having the least exterior power, they possess the
most inward strength ; despised here, they wear crowns in heaven.
If not great, as the world counts greatness, the humblest soul may
be useful, becoming as the poet says :

A chalice of dew to the weary heart,
A sunbeam of joy bidding sorrow depart,
A beckoning hand to a far off goal,
An angel of love, to each friendless soul.

I address many to-day* who stand upon the threshold of man-
hood, and are soon to go forth from these halls of learning to enter
on the serious business of life. It is an intensely solemn moment.
What word^ more appropriate than these : " Be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of His might." I trust I can add in the language
of the beloved apostle John ; " I speak unto you, young men, be-
cause ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye
have overcome the wicked one." God calls you because you are
strong, to greater strength ; because you are wise, to greater wis-
dom ; because you are good to greater goodness — to help the weak
by making them strong. Those characterized in the new Testa-
ment as young men were of military age, who, in times of war, be-
came soldiers. To them the nation looked for defence against
aggression. But young men ought to be the defenders of society
against all forms of moral evil. The times in which your lot is
cast ; the culture and mental training you have enjoyed, and the
moral agencies that surround you, demand lives of noble aim and
holy consecration.

The crisis presses on us. face to face with us it stands.
With solemn lips of question, like the sphinx in Egypt sands ;
This day we fashion destiny, the web of fate we spin,
This day for all hereafter, choose we holiners or sin ;

* Queens University, Kingston, 1883,

262 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Even new from starry Oerizim, or Ebal'a cloudy crown,
We call the dews of blessing, or the bolts of cuising down.

Decide not rashly. The decision made
Can never be recalled.
Choice and occasion, once being passed,
Return no more.

" Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."
Use your courage. Exercise your bravery. Purpose great things,
and attain to them, in the strength of the Lord. God's idea of
manhood is purity of heart, conversation and action : an unobtru-
sive and unostentatious declaration of our principles in the face of
opposition and obliquy. Many of the world's greatest heroes pos-
sess this manliness, unknown and unpraised, for suffering in behalf
of Christ in any form is truest manliness. I shall not attempt to
answer the question, which many great minds are debating, — whe-
ther after all our efforts, virtue and truthfulness are keeping pace
with the scholarship of the age. One thing I think is evident, that
the rugged honesty and transparency of character of former days,
when culture and refinement were not within the reach of the
masses as they are to-day, are too seldom met with, even in our
educated men. Most significant indeed is the statement, that a
friend of Marquette College, Milwaukee, has given $25 in gold to
the Faculty, to be made into a medal " for the foremost student in
manly piety." Does not this seem to indicate a prevalent opinion,
that learning when unsanctified is apt to lead away from, rather
than to God : that many of our most promising students are
ashamed to acknowledge Christ as a personal Saviour, and that our
advanced thinkers shrink from boldly and unhesitatingly avowing
their faith in a supreme being. It ought not to be so. It has not
always been so. Our forefathers not only provided for the train-
ing of the intellect, in schools and colleges, but they held that no

CHRISTIAN MANLINKSS. 263

one could do his iluty to Goil and man, unless he lived a pious,
honest, and truthful life. " That simple, noble creed were ill ex-
changed for the superficial accomplishments, which in some quar-
ters pass for education. It made Scotland what it was, the home
of civil and religious freedom ; it triumphed over the disadvantages
of a rigorous climate and barren soil ; it sent young men of stront;,
robust, manly piety to all parts of the world, to earn honorable
rewards in fame and fortune, and to make the blood of a Scotch-
man widely recognized, as in some measure a guarantee for integ-
rity, for courage, intelligence and perseverance."

It is such men that this college and university is intended to
furnish for important positions in church and state, and the mould-
ing of our national life in its varied and complex relations. The
aim of its founders, and the efforts of all who are now engaged,
directly or indirectly, in its faculty or management, is to make men
of broad, strong moral nature", who shall use their scholarship in
advancing the highest forms of christian civilization : — men of
.symmetrical, well-balanced minds, incapable of being swayed by
prejudice or moved by passion : — men complete and thoroughly
equipped in a far higher .sense than Horace ever conceived of, when
describing such an one as self-reliant and regular, and even in his
disposition and desires he says :

•' In se ipso t')tus, teres, atque rotundus."

I am sure the Principal of this college is ready to endorse the
language of one holding a similar office in the neighboring Repub-
lic when he says — describing the true functions and objects of such
an institution : "Touching the inner life, the soul and spirit, the
heart of a college, it should simply be christian in the grand catho-
lic gospel acceptation of the term — no more, no less. The legend
upon its banner should be, Religion and Learning ; Christ and Cul-
ture. In these two words is enfolded the essence of the earthly

264 . TTIE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

and heavenly life — the elements of man's present duty and happi-
ness, and his immortal destiny and glory. . The one comprehends
all that pertains to his spiritual nature, the other all that concerns
him as a rational intelligent being. The one links him in blessed
fellowship with the pure in heart, the other with the brotherhcod
of the wise and cultured. The one anchors the soul in rest and
peace in the haven of faith, the other gives wings to knowledge of
God through his works, and lifts the mind to mountain summits of
contemplation. The one leads him forth to the fields of earthly
lore, and art, and genius — to the fountains of eloquence, poetry and
song ; — the other, into the green pastures and beside the still waters
of the River of Life. The one plants his feet upon the immutable
principia of the intellectual and physical universe ; the other sets
them in everlasting security upon the Rock of Ages. The one
brings the noble delights of mental conflicts and victories ; the
other the grander triumph of a renewed life, and the ineffable
blessedness of a soul at peace with God. The one adds beauty and
radiance to lifv,, the other brightens the dark valley of the shadow
of death. Without culture a man is blind in a world of beauty,
deaf in a world of song, insensible in a world of sublimity and
pathos ; without religion he is a " lost pleiad," a wandering star, out
of his spiritual orbit, out of harmony with the rhythmic forces
of the moral and spiritual universe, drifting alone in a sunless
firma.-nent."

May all the graduates of this College be men of unflinching
faith, lovers of truth, stainless in honor, pure in heart, patriotic for
God and the right, for as the poet pays —

To thine own self be true,
And it doth follow, as the night the day,
Thou can'st not then be false to any man.

Consecrated Work.

* " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy
hand : for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or
whether they shall both be alike good."

— Ecclesiastes 11, v. 6.

' "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might : for
there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave,
whither thou goest."

— Ecclesiastes 9, v. 10.

• Thi= «ni1 tlie followinp eipht discourses were delivered to Ora.laating Classes of
the Braiitford Yi u 'p LaiMes' College.

CoNSECRAl ED WoRK.

HE man who uttered these words was, in his own esti-
mation, very near the portals ci the spirit world.
None more than he had enjoyed life, or indulged in
its pleasures. Wealth flowed into his treasury ; peace
blessed his reign, and wisdom dignified his manhood. The
civilized world acknowledged the might and majesty of
King Solomon. Nor need we for a moment, in spite of his crimes
and follies, deny how much his genius has blessed mankind. But
when he stood almost within the shadows of the eternal world and
realized the brevity of a life spent too largely in idle dreams and
vanity ; when he thought how little good he had accomplished for
the sake of humanity, with his vast stores of knowledge and his
splendid opportunities — he closes the mournful retrospect by warn-
ing those who should succeed him to improve their every moment,
and use their every talent. " In the morning sow thy seed, and in
the evening withhold not thine hand ; whatsoever thy hand findeth
to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom in the gravp whither thou goest."

(267)

268 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

These two passages taken together may be regarded as an argu-
ment for earnestness and diligence in the prosecution of the com-
monest duties of life, as well as the higher studies of christian
scholarship and christian attainments. They exhort to timely,
continuous and consecrated work, because life at the longest is brief,
and the day when labor ceases uncertain.

" In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not
thine hand ; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper or whether
they both shall be alike good." That is, do good when opportunity
offers and when you may not see immediate results. Work indus-
triously, morning and evening, early and late in life ; work on a
generous scale ; work hopefully for both may prosper ; work trust-
fully, for thou knowest not the effect produced by any act. Under
all conditions, walk by faith and not by sight. If the sowing of
the morning fail, that of the evening may yield an abundant
harvest.

Still, sowing in the morning is better than in the evening. Day-
light is better than either twilight or darkness. Avail yourself of
nature's aid. The mental powers are more vigorous in the morn-
ing, and more and better work can then be accomplished. The
repose of the night re "reshes and gives clearness to the brain and
nerve to the muscle. The cares and gloom of the darkness give
place to hope and courage. Unexpected hindrances may come
before the evening, preventing the seed from being sown at all.
Before the sun is high in the heavens work can be easier done, and
the rest of noon is all the more enjoyable after the early labor of
the dawn.

It has been well said that he who can master his early hours
has won the battle of life. When the morning is lost the day is
spoiled. When the first train is missed, the connections are missed^
It is so with many lives. Having made a false start, or rather hav-
ing delayed to start, they never came near the goal. They were

CONSECRATED WORK. 269

hopelessly distanced by less brilliant, but more plodding and per-
severing competitors.

Men regard this principle as true in common afTairs. He who
has a long and arduous journey before him, rises before the sun.
The farmer in spring time, just as soon as the ground is free from
frost, ploughs and sows. Every day counts ; the crops will be all
the sooner ripe, and the ears of corn or wheat all the better filled,
if the labor is attended to at the proper time.

Capital and riches are secured by industry, self-denial and pru-
dence in the morning of life. They that bear the yoke in youth,
can afford to rest in old age. Frivolity, recklessness, and even inno-
cent pleasures, immoderately indulged in, are fatal to success.
Moral ruin and social degradation follow such conduct. As every
seed bears its own peculiar kind of fruit, so every thought and deed
have their corresponding results. The rewards of the future are
conditioned upon the conduct of the present. As duties are hon-
estly discharged and honor and integrity maintained in early life,
so will old age enjoy the respect and regard of men, the approval
of conscience, and favor of God.

Many, however, act as if in manhood or womanhood, or even in
old age, they could undo the evils of youth. But this never can be
done. Grafting is not a very promising method for securing good
fruit. Better to sow the pure seed, than attempt afterwards to weed
out the tares and thistles. The tree not only lies where it falls, but
it falls as it leans.

The foundations of eminence in science and letters must be laid
in early life. Genius is but another name for industry. It has
been well remarked that there is no man born so great that he can
afford to be indolent. There is no man, though his head be as
massive as Webster's, but needs to study and to ponder. There is
no man, though he be endowed like Michael Angelo, but needs to
be what he was — the most laborious man of his age. Though, like

270 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Titian, one has all artistic taste, and lives to the age of one hundred
years, it is not simply his genius, but the power with which he ap-
plies himself, that marks his talent and registers his usefulness. A
man in life with one talent will be greatly useful if he knows how
to keep that talent wisely employed ; but a man with ever so many
talents will be of little use if he does not know how to employ them
wisely. And this leads me to remark, that it is not only timely
but continuous and consecrated work that is enjoined in the text.
" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Alex-
ander the Great, on being asked how he had conquered the world,
replied, "by not delaying." True greatness in secular callings is
never attained without unflagging zeal. Men never accomplish
anything sublime for humanity, without intense consecration of
head and heart. Astronomers and men of science have been so
absorbed in their speculations and calculations, as to neglect the
wants of the body. The eye has been so transfixed on far-off ob-
jects, and the mind so filled with conceptions of the immensity and
grandeur of the universe, that for the time being they are uncon-
scious of the earthly and material. During the Crimean war, a
newly arrived chaplain called upon a godly sergeant, and asked
him as to how best he could conduct his work among the soldiers.
" Come with me," said Hector MacPherson, the sergeant in question,
"to the hill top. Now look around you. See yonder the pickets
of Liprandi's army. See yon batteries on the right and the men at
the guns. Mark yon trains of ammunition. Hear the roar of the
cannon. Look where you may, it is all earnest here. There is not
a man but feels it is a death struggle. If we don't conquer the
Russians, the Russians will conquer us. We are all in earnest, sir ;
we are not playing soldieis hcjre. And if you would do good, you
must be in earnest too !'

It is this doing with our might whatever our hand findeth to
do, that makes us achieve victories in the world of matter and mind

CONSECRATED WORK. 27 1

" Madam," said a great statesman to a princess, " if the thing is
only difficult, it is done ; if it is impossible, it shall be done." This
indomitable spirit that rises superior to obstacles and knows no
defeat, is not always found, even among educated men and women^
After having passed through a college course, they settle down to
the lowest kind of routine life, and give no practical proof of the
advantages they have enjoyed. Like the sea anemone, they hardly
give tokens of intelligent action. They are but a bridge between
maiter and spirit. They contain the germs of immortality, but
never rise above the lowest sensations. You shall find (says a liv-
ing writer), in almost every neighborhood, men and women that
have the admiration of all that know them, on account of their sup-
posed capacity. It is said, " Why, here are men and women who
know so much, that if they had a mind to, they could turn the world
over. Their reasoning power, their genius, their ability is wonder-
ful !" They live ten years, and it never drops out, and nobody sees
it. They live ten years more, and yet it does not manifest itself
It is as if one should walk in a navy-yard, and seeing long rows of
cannon, should say, "Oh ! what power there is in these cannon !"
There would be great power in them if they were only fired ; but
a cannon cannot be fired without powder, and somebody must put
the powder in and touch it off. These men and women who are
thought to have such capacity, but who never display it, are gen-
erally like artillery without powder. They have not enough animal
power to propel the organization of the intellectual and moral sen-
timents ; and the consequence is that they are always making an
impression of capacity, but never of efficiency."

Those whom I especially address are supposed to possess in
some degree the knowledge and the wisdom that makes men and
women useful and influential above the average >f humanity. But
without earnestness of purpose, gifts, whether natural or acquired,
are of little value. Do with thy might whatever thy hand findeth

2/2 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

to do. Throw your whole soul into whatever you undertake, for
success in any undertaking largely depends upon the spirit in which
you engage in it. If we have little faith in its utility, if we are
dragged into it reluctantly, and prosecute it mechanically, the re-
sults are sure to be insignificant, if not indeed, entire failure. Such
is the meaning of the poet's words when he says :

The honest, earnest man must stand and work;
The woman also, otherwise she drags
At once below the dignity of man,
Accepting serfdom. Free men freely work,
Whoever fears God fears to sit at ease.
True, after Adam, work was curse ;
The natural creature labors, sweats and frets,
But, after Christ, work turns to privilege.
And henceforth, one with our humanity.
The Six Day Worker, working etill in us,
Has called us to work on with bim
In high companionship.

But the text insists on continuous as well as consecrated work.
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do." " In the morning sow thy
seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand." Says Isaiah
" Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." In order to do this,
we ought not to be over fastidious or exacting as to this or that
department of work, provided it is honest, and gives opportunity
for self improvement and doing good to others. Some are never
satisfied unless they can select their vocation. They prefer this or
that kind of labor, they think their talents are only adapted to spe-
cific professions, and as there does not appear a present demand
for the exercise of their special gifts, they remain indolent and
inactive.

Now, it is not to be denied that in both secular and religious
matters, work is the better and more speedily performed, if the dif-
ferent branches are prosecuted by men and women, skilful and
facile in their different departments. This the Apostle Paul recog-

CONSECRATED WORK. 273

niaes in setting up the framework of the early churches. All the
members of the one body have not the same office. There are
gifts differing according to the grace given us, and whatever be our
special gift or excellence, that we ought to exercise to the very ut-
most. But should there be no opening in that special department
of labor for which we have been trained, and for which we think
ourselves especially adapted, let us not reject other callings where
we may perhaps not less successfully serve our fellow men and
glorify the Master. When a soldier enlists in the army, he swears
allegiance to his sovereign and prompt obedience to the orders of
his commander. It is not for him to say where he will go ; what
enemy he will fight, or what place on the battlefield he will occupy.
These details are arranged according to the exigencies of the case.
He must go where he is sent, and endure whatever hardships are
connected with the campaign, and resist though it should be unto
death. And so it should be with every young christian. As re-
gards our fields of labor, we should have little preference in their
selection. We should lie submissively in the hands of Providence^
going where he directs, and working as he appoints. No false
pride nor desire of approbation should prevent us accepting the
humblest stations. While ever seeking after higher attainments
and c_ualifications, and cherishing an unselfish aspiration for nobler
opportunities of usefulness, let us not wait idly until, as some say,
" Providence opens the door." These are always open, if we had
eyes to see them and willingness to enter.

Be not too proud to do anything God tells you to do. For the
lack of a right disposition in this respect the world is strewn with
wandering Hagars and Ishmaels. God has given each one of us a
work tO do. You carry a scuttle of coal up that dark alley. You
distribute that christian tract. You give $10,000 to the missionary
cause. You, for fifteen years, sit with chronic rheumatism, display-
ing the beauty of christian submission. Whatever God calls you
«18

274 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

to do, whether it win hissing or huzza ; whether to walk under
triumphal arch or lift the sot out of the ditch ; whether it be to
preach on a Pentecost, or t«ll some wanderer of the street of the
mercy of the Christ to Mary Magdalen ; whether it be to weave a
garland for a laughing child on a spring morning, and call her a
May queen, or to comb out the tangled locks of a waifof the street,
and cut up one of your old dresses to fit her out for the sanctuary
— do it, and do it right away. Whether it be a crown or a yoke, do
not fidget Everlasting honors upon those who do their work*
and do their whole work, and are contented in the sphere in which
God has put them.

Notice finally the reason given why we should thus work with
all our might. " There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor
wisdom in the grave."

Our hearts though stout and brave,

Still like muffled drums are beating,

Funeral marches to the grave. • ^

At death our opportunities for usefulness in this state are at an
end. The record is then finished — the account closed — the history
written up. Nothing can be added and nothing can be changed.

The fact of our mortality seldom distresses us. We act as if
we had a special immortality. This is specially true of the young.
Nor is it strange that it should be so. And yet how often are we
summoned to the deathbed of the young ! One graduate and sev-
eral students of this college in former years have been called away
during the past few months on the very threshold of what seemed
happy and useful lives. Such unexpected calls ought to make us
work with unwonted zeal. The brevity of life at its longest should
intensify our appreciation of opportunities for serving man and
honoring God. " No labor should be regarded as irksome — no bur-
den too heavy to carry. Every moment should be occupied — every
faculty disciplined, and every occasion turned to the best account

CONSECRATED WORK. 2/5

This is a scene of activity — not of rest ; a battlefield where victory
belongs to the most courageous ; a school of training, where the
industrious student gains the prize. The deathbed is sweet when
filled with memories of patient work and bright anticipations of
angelic greetings in the deathless land beyond the grave.

How sad have been the closing hours of men of genius and in-
tellect, who never seem to have realized the end for which they
were born into the world, until they were ready to go out of it.
Lord Chesterfield at the close of his life said : " I have recently
read Solomon with a kind of sympathetic feeling. I have bci is
wicked and vain, though not so wise as he, but now I an. old
enough to feel the truth of his reflection, ' all is vanity and vexation
of spirit.' " La Fontaine, the poet, after his wild excesses and par-
tial reform, wrote to a friend : " To die is nothing ; but do you
know that I must appear before God ? You are aware how I livec^.
Ere you receive this note, the gates of eternity will perhaps have
opened for me." Said Napoleon towards the close of his wonder-
ful career: "Why did the cannon ball spare me to die in this
manner? How fallen I am. I was Napoleon — now I am no
longer anything. Said the guilty Borgia : I have provided in the
course of my life for everything, except death, and now, alas, I am
to die, although wholly unprepared." How different the closing
hours of those who have been honored in saving souls ? Said Nor-
man McLeod, a little while before his departure : " I am an old
man, and have passed through many experiences, but now all is
perfect calm and perfect peace. I have glimpses of heaven that no
tongue, nor pen, nor words can describe." Said Duncan Mathie-
son, the Scottish evangelist who literally wore out his physical
frame in the cause of his Master, " Victory I Victory ! Jesus only.
This room is filled with the heavenly host." And as night came
on — the last brief period of darkness to him for ever — he cried out
" Light all the lights, and let not this be a charnel house. How is

276 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

it the King tarries when the chariot wheels are so near ? Lord
Jesus, come quickly ! Oh, come quickly."

The end of a college course is not, I trust, the end of study to
many of you, but to all it is the beginning of existence on a larger
scale than that which you have experienced in the past. I charge
you to give your earliest and best days to God. Let your life motto
be — " Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
Be eminent scholars and brilliant artists if you will, but above all
else, be great in goodness and sanctified attainments. Piety adorns
every walk in life, and gives to its close a grandeur and glory
that mere scholarship never can confer. As no one can become a
proficient in any calling, without earnest and prolonged effort, so
no one can reach high altitudes in God's kingdom without prayers
and pains. Those who seek after an incorruptible crown, must
possess an enthusiasm and courage that will equal — nay, surpass —
that which has characterized their secular endeavors. Lukewarm-
ness is out of place in religious matters. Those only who are in
earnest can achieve anything of value to humanity. Inspired with
a supernatural power, they overcome obstacles. The world may
call them eccentric and singular, but it is a glorious singularity to
live in the presence of the invisible, disdaining earth, honor, pleas-
ures and pastimes, that degrade the moral nature. What to such
are the petty concerns and troubles of the present — the downfall
of empires and the destruction of thrones? They are working for
the advancement of a kingdom that shall never be moved, and a
seat of honor higher and more stable than that of earthly kings.

I address for the last time not a few who, it is to be hoped, have
such an ideal character before them, towards which they will aspire
with all the energies of their being. The time has come to say
farewell. Some who for years have taken part with us in the ser-
vice ot this sanc^jary, go hence to return no more. Pleasure and
pain commingle in the thought. To leave companions and teach-

CONSECRATED WORK 277

ers is trying, to enter upon the dignity of womanhood is full of
joyful anticipation. While I would not unduly cloud the bright
prospect that lies before them in the future, we cannot forget that
soon the realities of life, with its sad memories of the past, will suc-
ceed the bright dreams of youth, when the touching lines of the
poet will fitly describe their feelings :

Those college days ! I ne'er shall see V, e like 1

I had not buried then so many hopes !

1 had not buried then so many friends !

I've turned my back on what was then before me ;

And the bright feces of my young companions

Are wrinkled like my own, or are no more.

There comes a time, no matter how prosperous and honored
the life, when the heart yearns for something more enduring than
human friendships ; when like old Bazillai, pressed by King David
to make his home in the palace at Jerusalem, we feel that our
strongest attachments lie beyond the grave. " How long have I to
live, that I should go up with the King unto Jerusalem ? I am
this day fourscore years old, and can I discern between good and
evil ? Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink ? Can I
hear any more the voice of singing men and singing won^en?
Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my Lord
the King?" Happy are the graduates of this college, who having
been spared to such a green old age, shall be able to say :

God ! who wert my childhood's love,

My girlhood's pure delight ;
A presence felt the live long day,

A welcome fear at night.

With age Thou growest more divine,

More glorious than before ;
T feared Thee with a deeper fear,

Because I loved Thee more.

2/8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Apart from your scholastic attainments, I follow you with ten-
der interest in your journey through life. I cannot but feel that to
many of you my preaching has been the savor of life unto life, or
death unto death. I hope to have all of you as seals of my min-
istry in glory. The teacher has for his great aim to make schol?irs
of his pupils ; the minister to make christians. The one educates
the mind, the other moulds the soul. I have served in both capa-
cities in the college, but I need hardly say that I have ever regarded
the latter as the most important part of my work. Many of the
graduates of the present year have under my ministry made public
profession of Christ. Several of them are the daughters of esteemed
brethren in the ministry and eldership of the church, whose fellow-
ship for many years I have enjoyed. Need I say, that I regard
you with very tender feelings, and that I entertain very high hopes
of your future career. My greatest joy will be to know that you
have honored the college where you have been educated, and the
church with which you have been so long identified. In order to
this it is needful that your character should bear the inspection not
only of companions, but also of the society in which you shall be
called to mingle in riper years. The great want of the age is men
and women who are not ashamed of their church membership, and
whose every act is consistent with their profession ; who live as in
the presence of the Eternal, and as accountable to a higher tribunal
than human law ; who walk with God, commune with heaven, and
make religion real and practical in the sight of men. Not a few of
you, I am glad to know, have been accustomed to meet for social
prayer within the college walls. Although soon to be separated,
you need not forego the privilege of communion with each other.
Spirits can meet and blend at a common mercy seat, though far
apart, and feel the sympathy of kindred souls. The memory of
such precious hours spent together should have a solemnizing and
inspiring influence upon you. Of such as have thus secretly given

CONSECRATED WORK. 279

themselves to God, a high and holy consecration is expected.
While cheerful, hopeful and helpful, they ought none the less to be
sober, earnest and serious — mindful of their origin and destiny.
The prayer of each should be :

Make me feel
Tli( t in the gay and care-forgetting crowd
Thou art as near me as in solitude. ,

Keep Thou the portals cf my lips, lest words '

Of levity, or censure undeserved
Abuse the freedom of my mirthful hours,
Tinge my each word and action with the hue
Of heart-born courage and holy love ;
That in the use of every social gift
The happiness of others may be mine.

Or as another sweet singer has put it ;

Be food, sweet maid, and let who will be clever ;

Bo noble things, not dream them, all day long ;
And so make life, death, and the vast forever

One grand sweet song.

" I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, who is
able to build vou up, and to give you an inheritance among all
them that are sanctified."

The Pattern Worker.

" I must work the works of Him that sent me, whilp it is day ; the
night Cometh when no man can work."

— John y, V. 4.

The Pattern Worker.

'•T HAS been, and is still, too much the custom to regard
labor as a curse. Because after man's fall the decree
went forth, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread till thou return to the ground," it has been falsely
concluded that labor, whether of the body or the mind, is
a mark of social degradation, and that it is lawful, if not in-
deed praiseworthy, to escape its burdens. That such an interpre-
tation of the passage is opposed to the teachings of philosophy and
the experience of life, it is not difficult to show. It is very true
that the conditions of existence have been changed in some respects
since the fall, but we can conceive of no situation in life that does
not afford suitable and profitable employment for rational beings.
Had Adam retained his holiness, doubtless he and his posterity
would have had their daily allotted tasks — not perhaps so exhaust-
ing and laborious as are the average employments of a sinful race,
but not less continuous. To live without the performance of stated
duties would be the most miserable of all possible conditions of ex-
istence. Body and mind, from what we know of their constitution,
demand regular exercise, and only in so far as they conform to this

(283)

284 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTIL

great law, do they minister to human happiness, and fill up the
grand design of their Creator.

Jesus Christ himself was a life long worker. His sinless hum.in-
ity was not exempted from daily toil. He became bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh, not simply as regards the finer sensi-
bilities of our nature, but in respect to the humblest and most ex-
hausting toils of mechanical life. In early years he bore the yoke
of service, and in riper manhood he cheerfully discharged the obli-
gations that appertain to the commonest avocations of life. His
example thus stands before us for imitation. Let no man nor wo-
man despise work of any kind, if it is pure and honorable and hon-
est. The real nobility of man is determined, not by the material
with which he is employed, but by the manner in which he exe-
cutes his work. Angels work, and the redeemed in heaven work.
It is the law of the universe, and inseparable from rational ex-
istence :

He only is the truly great,

The only truly rich is he.
Whose wealth is in his mind's estate,

And child of Qod his pedigree.

This great truth is brought before us in the text. The Saviour
looks with compassion upon a poor blind man, who is soon, — and
for the first time to behold the light of day. In answer to one of
those profitless questions, that the disciples so frequently put to the
master, Christ declares the great end of his mission to the world.
•* I musi work the works of him that sent me, while it is day ; the
night Cometh when no man can work."

Notice first, that Christ was sent by his Father into the world
Long before his advent, he was spoken of as the servant of his
Father. " Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me : I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea thy law is within my
heart." The position of a servant he regarded as honorable. ** My

THE PATTERN WORKER. 285

meat," he says, " is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish
his work." To inculcate the duty and value of the humblest min-
istrations for the good of others, he washed the feet of the disciples,
saying : " If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet,
ye ought also to wash one another's feet." And the apostle, when
contrasting his earthly humiliation with his exalted glory, says :
" He took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the like-
ness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross."

Service in itself is never degrading. To work for the benefit of
another may be as noble an occupation as to wield a sceptre or
command an army. Everything depends upon the character of
the master we serve, the nature of the service demanded, and the
value of the reward. So long as the world lasts, and society main-
tains its present order, there must be gradations ; those who com-
mand and those who obey ; those who plan and those who exe-
cute. Any theory that attempts to change this divine arrangement,
attempts simply what is impossible. What God has determined
for the v/elfare of his creatures, let no man dare to alter.

Our conception of the grandeur of voluntary service will appear
still clearer, if we imagine a case where the master has become the
servant It is seldom that a man is found, born to a noble position
in life, who willingly resigns an exalted station, and cheerfully be-
comes the inferior of another, for any purpose whatever. Such a
case is, however, supposable. A man of royal rank and destiny
may for the welfare of his country and the highest interests of his
fellow-men, renounce the sceptre and the coronet, and condescend
to the humblest avocations of the subject. In such a case, there is
cause for the highest admiration. There is conferred upon such a
servant a far greater glory than could possibly belong to a
sovereign.

286 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Now, this is what has been verified in the life of Jesus Christ
Creator of worlds, supreme ruler of the universe and all the hosts of
heaven, adored and beloved by the highest and purest intelligen-
ces. He stooped from his lofty throne, laid aside the insignia of
his power and bowed to his Father's will, that he might carry out
the purposes of redemption toward guilty man. Not reluctantly,
not as forced or constrained to obey the behests of duty, nor as if
the change involved what men call social degradation and obscu-
rity, but cheerfully, spontaneously and eagerly did Christ become
the servant of heaven and its ambassador to a ruined world. And
never did greater glory surround the mercy seat than when the
incarnate God left for a time the place of honor at his Father's
right hand to tabernacle among weak and wicked men. Service
has thus been made honorable. By so much the more as it is dif-
ficult for human nature to serve than rule, is the servant above the
master. As old George Herbert says :

Teach me, my God and King,

In all things thee to see ;
And what I do in anything

To do it as for Thee.

A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine ;
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,

Makes that and the actic tine.

Such considerations were doubtless present to the mind of the
Apostle Paul, when writing to the members of the Apostolic
churches. He speaks of himself and his brethren, as servants and
co-workers in the faith, as if these were the noblest of all designa-
tions. " Paul a servant of Jesus Christ," " Phoebe our sister, who
is a servant of the church ;" " Let a man so account of us, as the
ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God ; " As
ambassadors for Christ, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye recon-
ciled to God."

THE PATTERN WORKER. 28/

Whatever then may be our social differences, we are all servants.
One is our master, even Christ, and all we are brethren. As such,
by mutual sympathy and by faithful efforts in the departments of
labor appointed us, we are to glorify the Master. In the church of
Christ the peer and the peasant, the rich and the poor, the king and
the subject, stand upon an equality, and shall all alike be judged
by the same unerring standard. We need to be reminded of this
from time to time. The same spirit of unholy ambition that mani-
fested itself occasionally in the disciples, still exists more or less in
the hearts of professing christians. Prosperous in business, suc-
cessful in study, and more or less conspicuous in the eyes of the
world for our benevolence and meritorious acts, we are apt to forget
that we are at best only servants. Our time is not our own, the
results of our labor are not our own. To each there is given the
command, " occupy till I come." " Blessed are those servants,
whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching. Verily, I say
unto you, that he shall gird himself and make them sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them."

Notice, secondly, that Christ was sent to work his Father's
work. He came into this world for a specified object, and with a
definite purpose in view, and with a perfect knowledge of what his
mission was intended to accomplish. That work may be looked at
in different aspects, as passive and active, as suffering and aoing.
The consummation of his life's work, was his death. Without this,
all that preceded would have been vain. Toward this all was
directed, and by this his divinity and the infinite value of his work
was proved.

The life of Christ while on earth was a busy one. Even re-
garded from a human standpoint, how constant were his efforts in
behalf of humanity ! Read the record of labor performed during
the three years of his active ministry — the diverse and exhausting
toils pressed together hour after hour, from early dawn until far

a88 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

into the shadows and darkness of the night, and where can we find
its equal among the busiest of the sons of men ? No call of mercy
was ever disregarded. Now preaching the gospel to thousands
upon the mountain side, or gathered by the sea of Galilee ; now
instructing the disciples in the things of the kingdom ; now work-
ing miracles in attestation of his Messiahship and the truths of
Christianity ; opening the eyes of the blind, curing the infirm and
paralyzed, and raising the dead to life ; and again seated in the
home of poverty and sorrow, comforting the bereaved and binding
up the broken in heart. Often indeed the physical nature of the
Saviour was exhausted. The body, under the pressure of almost
superhuman anxieties and burdens, became fatigued, but the soul
maintained its wakefulness and vigor. You remember how that on
one occasion, wearied with the toils of the day, he must needs cross
to the other side of the Lake of Gennesaret in order to cure a man
afflicted with an unclean spirit, whose dwelling was among the
tombs ; and how that as he lay fast asleep in the hinder part of the
vessel, he was awakened by the terror-stricken disciples, who cried
out, " Master, carest thou not tha«: we perish ?" Although his presence
in the little boat should of itself have assured the disciples of safety,
he murmurs not that his slumbers have been disturbed. At once
he rebukes the wind, and says to the sea, " Peace be st'll," and then
tenderly rebukes their lack of faith that produced such unnecessary
fear. \Vhat matchless patience, tenderness and love !

Under such a pressure of bodily and mental anxiety, what sup-
ported the humanity of Christ ? Just what sustains the most emi-
nent servants of God at the present day. Reading the biographies
of such men, we wonder at their achievements ; how they plan,
project and accomplish innumerable schemes for the well-being of
their fellow-men. Weak in physical organization, oftentimes they
surpass in endurance the strongest and most robust frames. We
account for this by their nervous temperament, their impulsiveness,

THE PATTERN WORKER. 389

and their iigular adaptation to the many details of christian liL\
But these arc but secondary causes, and in themselves wholly in-
adequate to produce such results. They are simply to the man
what ^^'c n^.achinery is to the steam engine. Before motion can be
reach 2d and the wheels begin to revolve, steam power must be ap-
plied. And so without constant communion from heaven no man
can be an active christian worker. Christ while on earth spent
whole nights in prayer. By this he was refreshed, strengthened
and comforted, amid all his discouragements and trials.

The work set before him was far from inviting. Yet he shrank
not from it. To be adjudged as responsible for the sins of others,
to be treated as a malefactor when personally innocent, to bear
pain and shame of death, and the wrath of an angry God, presents
us with an accumulation of woe beyond mortal conception or en-
durance. There were indeed periods in his existence — especially
towards its close — when his human nature seemed to stagger under
desperate encounters with the powers of hell. But these were but
for a moment. With a fortitude and heroism altogether unexam-
pled in the history of martyrdom. He drank the bitter cup, and
finished the work given him to do. No marvel that nature, at the
sight of such superhuman sufferings, shook to her very foundations ;
that the quaking earth, and rending rocks, and opening graves, and
darkening sun, attested the magnitude of the work, and thus sig-
nificantly announced the reconciliation of man to God, and earth
to heaven.

Notice, thirdly, that the work given Christ was to be completed
in a given time. It is called in the text "a day." The period was
brief, as indeed the entire life of Christ on earth was short. The
brevity of his mortal existence pressed itself upon the mind of
Christ frequently. There was no time for rest or leisure ; for the
lighter and more congenial occupations of the day ; for the phil-
osophic and speculative discussions of the schools. The burden of
#19

290 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

immortal souls weighed him down. He was straightened in spirit,
until his work was accomplished. The joy set before him also in-
creased his earnestness. He looked forward to the moment of
victory, when having trodden the wine press, he should receive the
welcome of his Father, and through ranks of shining angels pass
on to the mediatorial throne, and when in myriads of redeemed
and glorified ones, He should see of the travail of his soul and be
satisfied.

And now, by way of application, let me add that each man and
woman has been sent into the world to work the works of God.
No one can relinquish his moral obligations. Those especially who
have accepted Christ as their Saviour, are under the strongest ob-
ligations to render Him efficient service. The time for work is
short. We are passing rapidly to the grave. The day will soon
end, and the night close in upon our labor. Now is the time to
exercise all those God-given faculties with which we have been en-
dowed in behalf of the sinful and the sorrowing. Living such useful
and unselfish lives, our dying moments shall be peaceful and our
future rest glorious.

There is much talk in the present day of overwork. Men un-
duly tax the brain and draw upon the vital resources of life, and
strain their energies beyond the limits of safety and moderation,
and fall in the prime of life victims to over anxiety and care and
inordinate ambition. But how seldom do we read of men and
women over taxing their powers for the good of humanity, and
wearing out their lives in the service of God ? Is it not true that
many professing christians hardly acknowledge Christ's claims upon
their time and service ? They are, as has been said, capital soldiers
on parade days, but are not worth a rush before the cannon's mouth.
They are loud in profession before a battle, and loud in exultation
after a victory, but during the fight they are always missing. Such
a state of things is wrong. Christians should be the most indus-

THE PATTERN WORKER. 29I

trious of men and women. Religion, so far from paralyzing effort,
should increase it. From the moment of consecration there should
be intelligent and continuous service. The christian worker should
be a model hero, and should never dream of defeat Through
faith, he can appropriate infinite wisdom and almighty strength for
every emergency. History tells us, that among the prisoners at
Waterloo, there was a Highland piper. Napoleon asked him to play
a pibroch, and the Highlander played. " Play a march," said Na-
poleon, and he played it. " Play a retreat," again said the French
General. " No, no," said the H'^hlander, " I never learned to play
a retreat !" And so in working for God, we should never dream of
defeat or disaster. Repulses in the christian life will meet us, and
obstacles test our courage, but with God upon our side we are sure
of victory.

The night is coming to all of us — how soon we cannot tell. All
men admit the certainty of death and the shortness of life, but it is
only when we compare the fondly cherished hopes and plans of
early years, with the small amount of actual work accomplished,
that we realize its exceeding brevity. The longest life seems alto-
gether too short to do anything worthy of immortality. In the
morning of existence we promise ourselves noble achievements.
Splendid visions of the future dawn upon the soul. After a long
and busy life, we expect our own sun to set in a halo of glory, every
expectation realized and every purpose completed. But how sad
in most cases is the retrospect ! Cut down in the very middle of
life, when we are just beginning to see the result of our labors, we
ask why life is such a failure ? Or, as the poet says :

A walking shadow ; a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. * * A tele
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

292 THE CHLRCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Such, indeed, is life to the man or woman who has lived simply
for its pleasures and unsubstantial honors. But it is not to those
who make work for God a daily and hourly task. Measured by
years and public notoriety, it may seem brief, fragmentary and
uneventful, but judged by its far-reaching results, it is as enduring
as eternity.

Happy the man, and happy he alone,

He who can c ill to-day his own ;

He who secure within, can say,

To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to- day.

How rcpidly the years seem to glide as we approach the end.
Silently but surely, like the continuous ticking of the clock that
measures moments, and minutes, and hours, and days, and weeks,
and finally comes to the last minute, when the pendulum swings
irresolutely and unsteadily, and then ceases to swing at all, so is
the life of man 1 Just as we pass milestone after milestone on the
railway, one after another in rapid succession, so do we rush on
from childhood to youth, from youth to manhood and womanhood,
and thence to the grave. It is not till time with reckless hand has
torn out half the leaves from the book of human life, to light the
fires of passion with, that we begin to see that the leaves that re-
main are few in number. But however few remain, let them not
increase the accusations of a reproachful memory. Let us live lives
that shall be earnest of that prolonged immortality that awaits the
faithful toilers upon earth. " Dead he is not, but departed," should
be the inscription on our grave stone :

" Non abit, sed emi^ravit," the tombstone read,

And 'neath it lay a hero dead,

Who had fallen, fallen like a star

In the summer sky, that darts afar

Its golden ray of mellow light,

O'er the tresses of the queenly night.

Oh, if you but knew the luxury of working for God and living
to purpose, there would be no need of inviting you to engage in

THE PATTERN WORKER. 293

christian work. The aimless, irresolute lives, that many young
people lead, bring no satisfaction. Capacities and opportunities
undeveloped and unimproved, make old age a sad retrospect, and
render death unwelcome. If we do not serve here, we can neither
serve nor reign hereafter. The joy of the heavenly ministry is
theirs, who have labored in lonely and forbidding fields on
earth, for

If sweet below
To minister to those whom God doth love,
What will it be to minister above 1

His praise to show,
In some new strain amid the ransomed choir,
To tunch their joy and love with notes of living fire.

Such thoughts I deem not altogether inappropriate, when ad-
dressing a goodly number of young women, who having completed
a college course, are about to leave, in many cases never to return.
I exhort such to engage in some department of christian work.

Rest not ! Life is sweeping by ;
Go and dare before you die ;
Something mighty and sublime
Leave behind to conquer time.
Glorious 'tis to live for aye,
When the forms have passed away.

A Ladies' College graduate is often spoken of as one who has
" finished her education," A recent writer says — although his re-
marks do not, I trust, apply to Canadian college graduates : — " She
has passed the usual examinations, has received the diploma of
average excellence, and is now permitted to go forth untramelled
and free, to do as she chooses in the great social world that seems
so inviting. She understands the French phrases in the last society
novel, and so she has finished the modern languages. She can play
a dozen set pieces on the piano, if she has her notes, and is not out
of practice ; so she has finished her musical education. She has

294 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

brought home in her trunk half a dozen crayon copies from pic-
tures given her by her master, and after he has gone over them and
touched them up, they present a very respectable appearance ; so
she is a finished artist. She has read the First Book of Milton's
' Paradise Lost,' and parsed most of it ; so she has finished English
literature. She can rattle off the names of the crowned heads of
England, and knows that William the Conqueror won the battle of
Hastings, that Henry VHI. was not a model husband, and that
Charles ^. was beheaded by Cromwell ; so she has finished English
history. She has committed to memory the greater part of Butler's
' Analogy,' and recited it ; so she is finished in Moral Philosophy."

" Finished !" Yes, literally so, for when a young woman imag-
ines that he education is completed on leaving college, there is
little more to be expected from her, however long her life and mani-
fold her advantages. Do I speak uncharitably when I say that
many graduates of ladies' colleges spend the best days of their lives,
if not in abject idleness, in frivolous amusements, doing nothing
worthy of their training and opportunities, and taking no part in
the practical duties and cares of life ? Their brothers are roused
at an early hour to attend to business, but the sisters having nothing
particularly to do, make their appearance some hours later, and
seek in the merest trifles to pass the day. Thus they grow up in-
dolent, selfish and conceited, fonder of personal adornments and
luxuries than industry, frugality, and the simplicities of life, which
are the true adornments of cultivated christian womanhood.

I counsel you to lead entirely different lives. If as in the case
of many, abstruse studies are now ended, begin to work for God.
Let your lives be devoted to tender and loving ministrations, not
only in your own homes, but far beyond. It is not necessary that
you should go to heathen lands to find scope for christian activity
and self-denial. Opportunities lie all around you, and in propor-
tion to the work accomplished here, shall be the joy of heaven.

THE PATTERN WO IKER. 295

Above, beyond the starry vault of heaven,
Will a great God reward you.

It has been well said that while society praises the adept in
small talk, the world will remember only those who by cultivated
intellect and purified hearts, have assisted mankind and helped to
make the world better. We always think kindly of Florence Night-
ingale, who by her unselfish devotion to the sick and wounded in
the Crimea, made her name a household word ; of Harriet Hosmer,
who, finding that she possessed talent, developed it and became the
best modeller in clay and sculptor in marble known in the history
of our country ; of Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose book before it
was a year old was translated into all languages, and proved an
important factor in the emancipation of slavery, and hastened to
uplift the whole continent to a broader and more charitable emi-
nence ; and the wife of Sir John Franklin, who, lying upon what
proved to be her death-bed, bade her husband depart on his voyage
to the North Pole. Such women as these are spoken of after the
beauties of the world are forgotten.

I read recently of a dream that a young lady once had that im-
pressed me much, and with that I close this sermon, leaving you to
make the application. She was a good girl and a member of a
christian church. She dreamed that she died and went to heaven,
and that she was carried. beyond all the bounds of imagination into
the beauties and glories of the world up yonder. She dreamed that
she was at home in the city of God, and that she was there to live
evermore ; that she had passed to the judgment bar of God, and
that she had become crystalized in holiness, to be forever a child
of God, in the city of God, and she said : " O, what ecstacies swept
over my soul as J dreamed of the bliss of heaven ! All at once, we
were standing around God, the Father of us all, and were singing,
' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches'
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

296 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Over the brilliant and blazing countenances as they shone forth, I
saw ten thousand diadems shining in the crowns of those around
me, and I turned to a sister spirit and said, ' What do these diadems
represent in these crowns ?' ' Oh,' she said, ' these represent souls
that we have been enabled to win to Christ.' I pulled off my crown
and looked at it, and it was as black as night, and I began to be
miserable in heaven, and in a few minutes I opened my eyes, and I
said, ' Glory to God, if I have a few more years I will spend the
residue ol" them doing service for Christ, and I will get my recog-
nition in heaven in the sweet by and by.' "

Polished Corner Stones.

"That our daughters may be as comer stones, polishf-d after the

similitude of a palace." ^ . ,

*^ —Psalm 144, v. 12.

Polished Corner Stones.

ilSllj^ VVID in this psalm is praying for the highest prosperity
^SlfiJjiSy of the nation. Material riches in his estimation are of
AJ-^^r secondary importance. Where mental cultivation and
;^jw moral purity are wanting, they are dangerous to the
^ state. The garners may be full and overflowing with the

products of a bountiful harvest, and the cattle may be numbered
by the tens of thousands, and all the elements of commercial great-
ness possessed, but unless "our sons grow up in th-^ir youth as
plants," vigorous, virtuous, and ripe for the duties of life, and unless
our daughters are "as corner stones, polished after the similitude
of a palace," decay and ruin will eventually overtake the nation.

The figure in the text is that of a building not only strong,
massive and imposing, and having good foundations, but fair in its
proportions and pleasing to the eye. A building upon which the
skill of the architect and sculptor has been lavished, and in which
polished corner stones, set in conspicuous places, add much to the
effect. The word denotes more than polished. It is cut — hewn —
carved after the similitude of a palace or a temple. In all likeli-
hood there is no allusion to the costly materials then in preparation

(299)

300 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTIL

for the building of the temple. No labor or expense was grudged
to make the sanctuary surpassingly beautiful and attractive. And
what the earved stones and sculptured pillars were to the temp'c,
so are accomplished and virtuous women to society. Christian
culture has for its object, not simply the imparting of knowledge
and the exercise of the judgment, but the refining and polishing of
the entire person — the development of head and heart, and all that
makes character winsome and conduct praiseworthy.

The larger proportion of our young women can never go be-
yond the common school ; nor can there be any belter training for
the ordinary work of life. Those who advance no further are none
the less honorable and useful members of society. Often, indeed,
by sheer force of natural abilities and strength of will, they secure
for themselves positions of honor beyond more favored rivals. But
it is equally imperative that there should be a goodly number
whose education has been carried on to a further limit, and who, in
virtue of their more favored circumstances, will give tone to society
and confer honor upon their sex, and become, in certain depart-
ments, the ruling spirits of the age. The true queens of society
are women of christian culture. They may not sit upon thrones
and sway material sceptres, but their power and influence far sur-
fass that which is merely inherited by noble birth and pedigree.
Not within their own household merely do such women reign, but
over all who come within the range of their sphere of action. They
may not exercise their gifts in the rough, open world, where oft-
times the strongest are worsted and repulsed ; but wherever coun-
sel, decision, penetration and kindly sympathy are needed, they are
never found wanting. Theirs is the power to heal, to succor, to
guide and to guard. A gifted female writer of the present century,
describes Christianity as making a circuit of the earth in the guise
of a young maiden. She enters the hovels of the poor, and gives
cheery words and sunny smiles to the weary burdened sons of toil

POLISHED CORNER STONES. 301

Through great cities and humble villages alike she makes her way
leaving behind a blessing.

And ever ai she went along

Sweet flowers sprang 'neath her feet ;

All flowers that were most beautiful,
Of virtues strong and sweet.

And ever as she went along

The desert beasts grew tame ;
And man, the savage, dyed with blood,

The merciful became.

Sometimes within the baron's hall,

A lodging the would And ;
And never went she from the door,

But blessings stayed behind.

Such are the women the age and country demand, and the
means to secure them is the training of the home and the culture
of the Christian college. Blessed is the nation which possesses such
daughters, and happy is that people whose God is the Lord.

For thus speaking of the influence that Christian women exert
upon society, women adorned with all the solid accomplishments
that schools can give, and souls savingly touched with sovereign
grace, v/e by no means advocate that superficial, showy, and fash-
ionable education, which has tco long been common in certain
quarters, and is still coveted by fond and foolish mothers for their
daughters. It requires months and years of labor before the pol-
ished stone and fluted column stand out before the admiring gaze.
It also requires good material to receive a lasting polish. A good
foundation, embracing English literature, the sciences and mathe-
matical studies, are necessary to further accomplishments. These
branches are common to the individual man or woman. But the
peculiar character, relations and work of women, demand in some
respect a different training from that of men. Not from any belief
that intellectually they are inferior, and therefore unable to contend
in the same arena, do we argue the necessity of separate schools or

302 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMCNV/EALTH.

colleges, but because a special culture seems more in keeping with
their gentler nature. The influences which a cultivated woman ex-
erts, while as potent as those of man, are more noiseless and unob-
trusive. Her power ij not in words, but deeds. She constrains
and moulds, not so much by direct force of character, as by a gen-
tle persuasion that captivates and subdues the strongest spirit:..
Superadded to the ordinary branches which every youth should
possess, there are certain studies and pursuits which seem peculiarly
her own, and which give her in every ition of life an enviable
sup-emacy and an attractive gracefulness which can hardly be de-
scribed. Who has not felt the charms of Christian womanhood
thus adorned ? With an ear for the harmony of sound and the
touch of a fairy hand ; an eye for the lights and shadows of the
ever changing landscape, and a pencil facile in execution ; with a
keen penetration that discovers the secrets of nature, and minutely
detects in every leaflet and wild flower the marvellous design and
infinite skill of the great Creator ! Such accomplishments and
mental culture are quite compatible with the retiring virtues and
unassuming necessity of the sex and command respect. " Before
the myrtle crown and stainless sceptre of true womanhood the
world will ever bow."

To possess the attainments spoken of, and at the same time be
guiltless of conscious superiority over less fortunate companions, is
not often found. There is an air of affectation which too frequently
accompanies cultured woman that greatly detracts from simplicity
of charicter. Genius, Jn its highest conditions, shows personal no-
toriety, and shrinks from vulgar criticism. You have heard of the
Grecian painter Zeuxis, who in painting his Helen, sought to em-
body in the face the ideal of perfect beauty He sent to Crotona,
famous for its handsome women, for six ma'dens, from the combi-
nations of whose charms he hoped to secure perfection of feature
and expression ; but one of the six could not be prevailed upon to

POLISIIEED CORNER STONES. JOJ

unveil her face, so sensitive was she of the gaze of strangers. When
the picture was finished it called forth the rapt admiration of the
people ; but the painter himself was dissatisfied. He felt lliaL one
charm of the picture was wanting, and exclaimed, " Oh, for the
blush of the sixth maiden !" And how often do we feel as did the
painter, when we see women of great personal attractions, and ex-
ceptional culture, patronizing their humbler sisters with an air of
condescension that proves the existence of secret pride, and an un-
due regard for what are, after all, not the essentials, but the adorn-
ments of female character. It is said of Elizabeth Barrett Brown-
ing, whose writings are known in every land, but whose books fall
far short of the goodness of her heart, that she was shy with stran-
gers, and utterly unconscious of her almost matchless genius that
gave her a world-wide fame. That woman, of whom it has been
said that she never made an insignificant remark, "was a most
patient, conscientious listener to others, giving you her mind and
heart, as well as her magnetic eyes. Persons were never her theme,
unless public characters were under discussion, or friends were to
be praised. Yourself — not herself — was always a pleasant subject
to her, calling out all her best sympathies in joy, and yet more
in sorrow." Of such an one, in her own well-known lines, we
may say :

She was not as pretty as women we know,
And yet all your best made of sunshine and snow
Drop to shade, melt to naught in the long-trodden warp,
While she's still remembered.

She never found fault with you, never implied

You wrong by her right, and yet men at her side ',

Grrow nobler, girls purer, as through the whole to#n,

The children were gladder, that pulled at her gown. ,

''^he weak and the gentle, the ribald and rude,

bi 'ook as she found them, and did them all good ;

It V ~ always so with her, see what you have 1

She L s made the grass greener, even here, with her grave.

304 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Such a woman, crowned with the ^reen laurels of her country-
men, and illustrious alike for her learning, her sweetness of temper,
tenderness of heart and depth of feeling, making up a beautiful and
fragrant life the world will not soon forget.

Her works nn I alms, and all her good endeavours.
Staid not behind, nor in the grave were trod.

To live such lives of usefulness and unobtrusive moral worth is
within the reach of all. The title of " lady " or " gentlewoman,"
that once belonged exclusively to aristocracy, hi s now a much
wider meaning. The word " lady " means a " bread giver," or loaf
giver — one who distributes to the multitude and helpj suffering hu-
manity ; not one who, as in olden times, was followed by a train of
vassals, to serve and favor and flatter, but whose benignant smile
and gracious deportment compel the homage of the great and the
benedictions of the poor. True nobility of nature stoops to the
humblest vocations. Royalty is never so exalted as when it deigns
to succor the disconsolate and comfort the sorrowing. Not long
ago there was laid in Westminster Abbey all that was mortal of
one who gave dignity to high born rank, one who was followed to
the grave by the tears and lamentations alike of Queen Victoria
and the meanest of her subjects — Lady Augusta Stanley. It is re-
lated of her that a few years ago, when the Westminister Hospital
gathered its nurses whence and as it could, a poor woman, suffering
from an acute and dangerous disorder, was admitted as a patient,
and on her sick bed was succored and comforted by Lady Stanley,
who was a frequent visitor to the hospital. In a sudden crisis after
malady, it was decided by the physicians that the only means of
saving life was by an immediate and terrible operation. The choice
was submitted to her of certain death or this fearful passage to re-
covery. The poor woman shrank at first from even life at such a
price ; then, trembling, she said : — " I think if Lady Stanley were
but with me, I could go through it." In haste a messenger was

POLISHED CORNER STONES. 305

sent to the deanery, where Lady Augusta was found dressed, in
readiness to fulfil an engagement at Buckingham Palace. Without
a moment's notice, she wrapped a cloak over her magnificent attire,
and went straight to the hospital. When Christ called her, in the
person of His suffering poor, then royalty itself must wait. She
stayed with the poor, torti^red woman, nerving her to endurance by
the strength of her sympathy and presence, until the surgeon's
work was ended and rest had come ; and then from the hospital
ward went to the palace, to apologize to the Queen for her late
appearance. -

I think 1 can enter into your feelings as you come near the hour
of parting from teachers and companions. You have looked for-
ward with longing desire to the day, when, having honorably com-
pleted your studies, you should go forth with the seal of our ap-
proval and the rewards of honest toil. But now, when the time
has come to say farewell, you dread the parting. You came to our
city and college comparative strangers, but you have made many
friends, whom you have learned to love. Better than all, not a few
during your stay with us have found what is paramount to all sec-
ular learning, the saving knowledge of a crucified Saviour. These
walls have witnessed your profession of faith and the membership
of the church follow you with loving memories. Seldom indeed
can it be said of a graduating class, that all, without a solitary ex-
ception are in Christ. My dear young friends, let not your future
life disappoint the high hopes we entertain regarding you. On the
margin of life's stormy and tempestuous sea, commit your destiny
to Him who alone knows the way and can safely guide.

Standing with reluctant feet.
Where tlio brook and river meet,
Womanhood and childhood fleet !

O, thou child of many prayers !
Life hath quicksands, life hath snares !
Care and age come unawares I
•20

306 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Bear in mind that talent, however sedulously cultivated, and
genius however brilliant, cannot alone make honorable or useful
lives, apart from genuine piety and moral worth. Consecrate to
Him who made you the vigor of your youth ; whatever mental
accomplishments you have, lay them at His feet, who rightly claims
the homage and service of the highest angel ; prove to the world
that there is nothing incompatible between devotion to art and
science, and unblemished purity of soul and chastity of speech.
The best security against the blandishments of pleasure and that
mental indolence which enslaves so many at the present day is con-
stant employment, the maintenance of habits of study and the ex-
ercise of those more tender and benevolent emotions which consti-
tute the crown and glory of Christian womanhood. In maintaining
a conscience void of offense between God and man, in overcoming
the evil propensities of your nature, in defending at all hazards the
cause of righteousness against error, in humble submission and
cheerful resignation to God's will, whether joy or sorrow should
form the major part of your existence : in working single handed,
like brave women, who untrammelled by the ties and burdens of
home, make humanity at large their debtors ; or, as the centres of
happy households, shedding a quiet and benignant light on all the
members — in either and every walk of life you will find much to
sadden and depress. But when the goal is reached and you look
back in the sunset, over the rugged pathway traversed, you will be
able to say : —

I have made a changeful journey,
Up the hill of life since morn ;

I have gathered flowers and blossoms,
I've been pierced by many a thorn.

But from out the core of sorrow,
- — -,- - : J,. I have plucked a jewel rare :

The strength which mortals gather,
^ ..__^ In their ceaseless strife with care.

POLISHED CORNER STONES. 307

Members of the Graduating Class, let me counsel you in parting
to maintain a spotless purity in thought, conversation and action
before tV^ world. Much is expected of you. Your advantages
have be*, jreat. Your privileges have been many. The good
name of the college is to a certain extent in your hands. Your
teachers follow you with earnest prayers, that God may guide you
and guard you, and that at last we may all meet together in a sin-
less world, where tears and parting are no more.

Finally, my. beloved young friends, farewell. " Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely»
whatsoever things are of good report : if there be any virtue, and
if there be any praise, think on these things. Be perfect, be of good
comfort, be of one mind, live in peace ; and the God of love and
peace be with you. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord
make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The
Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

*^^<^

Beauty of Womanhood

"Favour is deceitfal and beauty is vain ; but a woman that feateth
the Lord, she shall be praised.'^

—Proverbs 81, v. 30.

The True Beauty of Womanhood.

HE mother of King Lemuel is giving him advice and
warning as to his conduct and companionship. Who
he was and who his mother was, we are not informed.
Enough that she was a God-fearing woman, and that
her son valued and profited by her counsel. The memory
of such a mother was pleasing, and to eulogise her was his
delight. He was not ashamed to acknowledge that whatever good
fortune attended him was due to the lessons of infancy and boy-
hood. Instead of setting up his own judgment and following the
inclinations of his youthful passions, he listened attentively to her
admonitions and practised her precepts.

In this chapter she draws for him the full length portrait of a
virtuous woman. The term is not used as the counterpart of vul-
garity and unchastity, but as indicating all that goes to constitute
a symmetrical character. Such a woman is the most valuable of
earthly blessings. Her price is far above rubies. She is not the
product of schools and colleges, though these may do much toper-
feet her natural gifts and excellencies, but the direct creation of the
Almighty. Her many practical virtues are then enumerated. She

(311)

313 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALVH.

is worthy of all confidence and her fidelity is unimpeachable. "The
heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have
no need of spoil," — v ii. She is industrious. "She seeketh wool
and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the
merchants' ships, she bringeth her food from afar," — v 13-14- She
is an early riser. " She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth
meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens," — v 15. She
is benevolent and generous. " She strctcheth out her hand to the
poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy," — v 20. She
is thoughtful in providing against the future. " She is not afraid
of the snow for her household ; for all her household are clothed
with scarlet," — v2i. She dresses elegantly and becomingly. "She
makelh herself coverings of tapestry ; her clothing is silk and pur-
ple," — V 22. Her influence upon her husband is elevating. " Her
husband is known in the gates, where he sitteth among the elders
of the land," — v 23. She is discreet and winning in her speech.
" She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the
law of kindness," v 26. She superintends the details of her house-
hold, and takes cognizance of everything under her control. "She
looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread
of idleness," — v 27. Finally, when old age weakens her activity
and impairs her mental faculties, she receives the grateful vener^i-
tion and tender ministrations of her children. " Her children arise
up and call her blessed." As the guardian of their infancy, they
requite her care, by smoothing her declining years with unwearied
attention to her wants, and fond expressions of their love.

A woman combining so many excellencies is but seldom found.
Hence we read : " Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou
excellest them all." But however far any one may come short of
this picture of a perfect woman, there is one thing within the reach
of all. A woman that fears the Lord is the noblest type of her
sex. Her religious nature is the source of her methodical habits

THE TRUE BEAUTY OF WOMANHOOD. 313

and abundant labors, " Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain ; but
a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised." Birth and
pedigree, queenly deportment and artistic culture, are not compar-
able to the unaffected graces of genuine piety. As the poet laure-
ate of England says in one of his best known poems :

Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere,

From yon blue hpavens above us bent,
The gardener Adam and his wife

Smile at the claims of long descent.
How e'er it be, it seems to me,

'Tis only noble to be good,
Kind hearts are more than coronets,

And simple faith than Norman blood.

My first remark then is, that there is no necessary incongruity
between literary accomplishments and sweetness of disposition.
There is a prevalent opinion that just in so far as a woman attains
a high degree of scholarship, she loses that gentleness of deportment
which is the crowning glory of her sex. Certain marked instances
of what the world calls strong minded women give color to this
opinion. But such an idea is wholly unsupported by evidence.
Such women are almost invariably found destitute of true culture.
Their wearisome advocacy of certain social questions, and their un-
becoming prominence on the platform and in the political arena, is
the result of narrow and contracted views, as to the place and power
that God has assigned them in the world. Such women are not
thinkers ; " they p»ide themselves upon the very little that they
know ; and incapable of understanding the humility which is in-
separable from true knowledge, they force upon others their petty
and superficial attainments." To such the words of Pope arc speci-
ally applicable :

A litt'e learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring ;
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain ;
But drinking largely sobers us again.

314 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Your course of biographical reading thus far, has I am sure,
convinced you that the women whose names adorn literature and
science, were remarkably modest, unostentatious, and unassuming.
Their simplicity of manner and gentle persuasiveness, were as con-
spicuous as their untiring industry and their surpassing genius.
Mary Sommerville and Caroline Herschell and Elizabeth Barrett
Browning, working out in spare moments the profound problems
of the material creation, or weaving into verse the far reaching
questions of philosophy, were the most fascinating and winning of
their sex. A sweet fragrance still encircles their memory. It is
not the unequalled genius, but the unequalled lives of such women
that make their names immortal. As Mrs. Browning beautifully said
of Mrs. Hemans :

Albeit softly in our ears her silver song was ringing,

The footfall of her parting soul was softer than her singing.

The time has gone by when women were denied the delight,
and pleasure, and honors that result from the study of science and
literature. They are no longer condescendingly complimented
upon the smallest indication of thought and competency to spell !
They have taken their place side by side with the foremost minds
of the age, as the exponents of all that is noble and elevating. To
the work of perpetuating this change in public sentiment, and show-
ing that there is nothing in the constitution of your minds opposed
to the greatest efforts and triumphs, you are now called. Suffer
me, then, ere I bid you farewell, to say a few things that maybe of
value in coming years.

The hope of reaching and wearing the honors of a college grad-
uate has doubtless sustained and cheered you for many years.
When wearied and exhausted by the ceaseless strain of the mental
powers, the prospect of success has quickened your flagging ener-
gies — when with well-earned honors you would leave behind the

THE TRUE BEAUTY OF WOMANHOOD. * 315

drudjjery of academic life. You have now all but gained that po-
sition. Your future careers in life will doubtless be very different.
Some go forth to impart to others the learning they ha«"» acquired
— others for years to be the light and joy of happy homes., and
others it may be to exhibit those charms which not only grace the
daughter, but " adorn the wife." But whatever be your special
vocation, let me remind you, that no one deserves the name of
scholar who does not maintain more or less through life the same
habits of diligence and perseverance to which she has been discip-
lined in early life. The few years spent at college can do nothing
more than lay the foundation for subsequent achievements. Your
present proficiency, be what it may, is but the starting point of
intellectual life. There cannot be a mistake more fatal, than to
suppose that a college graduate is a complete and perfect scholar,
and that such young men or women have a right to look down with
sovereign contempt upon those whom Providence has less highly
favored. Humility is the brightest adornment of the christian
scholar. In proportion as the mind is enriched and new problems
in philosophy and science mastered, and brighter points of vision
gained, we should become the more impressed with our ignorance,
the crudeness of our ideas, and the imperfection and mcagreness of
our attainments. Herein lies the modesty of true scholarship and
the only certain guarantee for future greatness.

Let me say further, that as no one can be a universal scholar, no
student should attempt to include within his or her range of study
more than they can successfully and somewhat thoroughly investi-
gate. The most accomplished and comprehensive scholars are,
after all, what Sir Isaac Newton said of himself at the close of his
life, like boys playing by the sea shore, amused with finding a
smoother pebble and a prettier shell than ordinarily, while the great
ocean of unexplored truth lies all undiscovered before him. The
great evil of our day is the mass of superficial talkers and thinkers

3l6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

that abound ; inflated egotists and conceited scientists who profess
to lead pubh'c opinion and mould the character of society, while
destitute themselves of any fixed principles of thought or action.
It is not the amount of a man's learning, nor the variety of his
studies that makes him really useful to the world. All this he may
possess and yet be no more than

A bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head.

It is the perfect mastery of some one department of knowledge
so as to make it available for broader generalizations in the future,
and of practical value to the world that makes one truly learned.
Life is far too short for the thorough study of every department of
literature and science. All that you can possibly accomplish con-
sistent with other duties, is to select some few topics out of the
wide field over which you have hastily traversed, bringing to bear
upon them all the strength of your intellect and all the resources
of your mind. Go to fundamental principles — know accurately
that which you are desirous of knowing, and however little that
may be, upon that basis you will the more easily build up a future
superstructure.

After all that has been done for you by earnest teachers, and in
spite of special advantages that you may hereafter enj^y, your fu-
ture position in life is to a great extent of your own choosing. Into
your own hands is committed your destiny — whether to spend life
frivolously and unprofitably, or to live in the esteem and affection
of the truly good, and die amid regrets and tears. No graduate of
our college should rest satisfied with merely passing through life
with no stain upon her christian character. The aim of each should
be to rise superior to the mass around them ; to act in such a man-
ner that her name shall be immortal and her memory fi agrant ; for
thus " to live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." In the words
of John Milton, " I counsel you to be inflamed with the study of

THE TRUE BEAUTY OF WOMANHOOD. 317

fearning and the admiration of virtue ; to be stirred up with high
hopes of living to be brave women, dear to God and famous to all
ages."

I do not forget that even the most praiseworthy efforts and
patient self denial, often come short of expectations. Fortune, or
I should rather say Providence, seems frequently to bestow favora
whore they are least deserved, so that in some cases it is true,

The world knows nothing of its greatest men.

Patronage and influence oftfen more than compensate for solid
acquirements, and persons who are void alike of character and tal-
ent are raised to eminent positions in the world. But in spite of
such exceptions, it remains equally true, especially in this country,
that there is no royal road to learning, and that solid and substan-
tial qualities cannot long pass unrerognized and unrewarded.

My second and final remark is, that there is no necessary in-
congruity between literary accomplishments and the most devoted
piety. " Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain ; but a woman that
feareth the Lord she shall be praised." That there are notable ex-
amples both of men and women, whose researches in nature and
philosophy have rather undermined than confirmed their faith in
an all-wise Creator and Preserver, is true. But these, whether as
regards numbers or influence, occupy a very insignificant place at
the present day. The leaders of public opinion in church and state
— the profoundest theologians and most earnest workers for the
good of humanity are men and women who love and trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ.

That you may meet with difficulties and experience doubts in
your further prosecution of the truth is not unlikely. Few minds
that are at all speculative pass through life without occasional peri-
ods of distress and darkness, and the only sure preservative from
error or permanent scepticism is simple faith in the Saviour of men.

3l8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH,

With the divinity and atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
cardinal doctrine of your creed, you cannot go far astray or be
hopelessly lost by the conflicting suggestions of human reason.
While giving fullest liberty to those faculties which God has con-
ferred upon you, let them ever be held in subjection to the declara-
tions of God's Word, however perplexing and mysterious these
may be. There can be no true peace of mind where doubts exist,
however honest are these doubts. Nor can we put that intensity
into our work which the age demands, if constantly pressed by un-
belief. It has been well said : " There is no such invigorating
principle as faith. Men who believe most are the strongest men.
Doubt never accomplished anything. Doubters never discovered a
new world, nor invented the printing press, nor steam engine, nor
power loom, nor sewing machine. Doubters never constructed a
pacific railroad, nor the ocean telegraph. A doubter never won a
battle nor founded an empire, nor added a statue to the temple of
fame. The world's best and bravest work has been done by be-
lievers and not by doubters. It is not necessary that you should
be able to harmonize all the apparent discrepancies that exist be-
tween science and revelation, nor explain the inscrutable acts of the
Divine Being. Sufficient that you understand your personal rela-
tions to the Almighty, and the way of safety through the cross. As
the pilot of the vessel, who was asked if he knew all the rocks along
the coast, replied, " No ; it is only necessary to know where there
are no rocks," so in like manner, looking unto Christ, the soul is
secure and beyond the reach of peril.

" Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain." The opinion of the
world is in many cases unreliable. Personal graces and accom-
plishments, however pleasing and fascinating, are shortlived. The
woman who finds pleasure in the empty flatteries of gay admirers
is to be pitied. " But the woman that fears the Lord, she shall be
praised." I do not ask for you, riches nor high position, but I pray

THE TRUE BEAUTY OF WOMANHOOD. 319

that you may be found in every changing condition of life true to
yourselves and to the Master whom you profess to serve. You go
forth from this college with high expectations entertained regard-
ing you, and the subject of many prayers. We have endeavored
to give you not only a sound education, but to lay the foundations
of sound religious principles, which will be found valuable in com-
ing years. As the graduates of a christian seminary, the eyes of
the world are upon you. You occupy a prominent position. Your
intellectual attainments, however varied, cannot atone for lack of
lady-like deportment, and those higher graces which are the bestow-
ment of God's Holy Spirit. Cultivate humility — purity of heart
and conversation. " Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things."

While I counsel you to continue, as opportunity may be givcn^
a faithful prosecution of your duties, I exhort you to make full proof
of your attainments in consecrated labor for God. Never was there
a period in the history of the church when there were louder calls
for the highest gifts and the most unselfish sacrifices than at the
present day. Whatever talents you possess, use them tor the ad-
vancement of His Kingdom, whose subjects you are. Are there
any here who have not yet given themselves to Christ ? I beseech
you with all the solicitude of one deeply interested in your eternal
welfare, delay no longer. Whatever may be your capacities and
gifts, without personal religion they are of little value. Our efforts
in your behalf will have proved a lamentable failure, if we have not
succeeded in bringing you to the cross of Christ, there to leave be-
hind the burden of your sins, and in heaven to cast your crowns
before His throne. As you now enter upon a new stage of exist-
ence, exposed to manifold temptations and varied trials, take Him

THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

for your friend, whose love is lasting and whose sympathy is infi-
nite. Say in the words of the Christian poet :

I waste no more in idle dreams, my life, my soul away,
I wake to know my better self — I wake to watch and pray ;
Thought, feeling, time, and idols vain, I've lavished all too lon^ ;
Henceforth to holier purposes, I pledge myself, my song.

Said Hedley Vicars, after his remarkable conversion, in a letter
to his youngest sister : " Be sure you will feel far happier in this
world even by making religion your chief business and study, than
by all the pleasures and gaieties which your young heart may be
longing after." With these words I close. We part, never all to
meet again, as we do to-night

Oh for the time when in our seraph wings,
We veil our brows before the eternji! throne—

The day when drinking knowledge at its springs
We know as we are known.

V >

Decision of Character.

*2l

" And Buth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee ; for whither thou goest, I will go : and where thoa
lodgest I will lodge : thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God ;
where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried : the Lord do so to
m-, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."

—Ruth 1, V. 16, 17

Decision of Character.

jUCH interest is naturally attached to the kingdom of
Moab, and much is said concerning it in the Old Testa-
ment scriptures. The Moabites and Israelites were near
relatives. Lot, the father of Moab, was nephew to Abra-
ham, and both were descended from Terah. The history of both
peoples began about the same time, for Moab and Isaac, the son of
Abraham, were probably born in the same year, and the histories
of their descendants run side by side for nearly 1,500 years. They
were also near neighbors, for part of Israel occupied a portion of
the Moabitish territory, and a great body of the nation was severed
from the land of Moab simply by the river Jordan. Balak, who
hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel, was King of Moab.
Mount Nebo, from whence the Lord showed Moses the land which
he had promised to give to the seed of Abraham, was in the land
of Moab, and Ruth, the faithful and affectionate daughter-in-law
of Naomi, who abandoned her idols and her native land, was a
Moabitess.

Until very lately, however, nothing but the extensive ruins of
Moab, told of her ancient grandeur. No inscription had been found

(323)

324 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

to corroborate the page of inspiration. But some few years ago a
remarkable record was found in an old basaltic stone, covered with
the ancient language of the country. Attempts were made by
Europeans to purchase the stone, but the Arabs finding it valuable,
became exorbitant in their demands, asking as much as five thous-
and dollars. Finally the various Arab chiefs, putting in their
claims on different grounds, came to angry words and blows, and
making a fire round the stone and pouring water upon it when
heated, split it into a number of fragments. These fragments,
however, have been in part recovered, and the inscription upon the
stone so far as legible verifies the Old Testament scriptures. The
inscription makes reference to the visitations of Moab under suc-
cessive Israelitish monarchs, to certain victories of Moab when she
recovered her freedom, and to the names of mountains, cities, local-
ities, kings and divinities of Moab. It also mentions Jehovah, un-
der whose guidance and protection, the chosen people conquered,
and because of whose anger Moab suffered. All these things in-
vest the history of Ruth with more than common interest to every
Bible student.

The story itself is touching and true to nature. Bethlehem,
" the house of bread," is stricken with famine, and necessity compels
a separation for a time, from the sacred associations of home and
friends. People do not generally leave their native land without
good cause. The emigrant on the vessel's deck with tear dimmed
eye, takes the last fond look of his home and country, and with
emotion that almost chokes his utterance, bids it a long farewell.
But if it is hard to leave one's native soil, it is sad beyond expres-
sion when emigrants in a strange land, in their loneliness and friend-
lessness, are smitten by death. Such was the bitter experience of
Naomi. Elimelech, her husband, and shortly afterwards her two
sons, who had married Moabitish women, die in the land of Moab.
Those upon whom she fondly leaned were taken from her. The

DECISION OF CHARACTER. 325

Strong arm was laid low. Her counsellor, stay and solace, was no
niore. It was a triple grief. She was a widow, indeed, in a strange
land. Bereavements at home are hard enough to bear, when we
are surrounded by sympathetic friends, but to bury one's friends in
a foreign land, is sad indeed ! And now the poor widow, bereaved
of husband and sons, prepares to return to her native land. What
more natural than that she should do so ? There was now nothing
to detain her in Moab. A foreign country had no attractions, save
that its graves contained her dead, and so we read : " She arose
with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country
of Moab, and they went on the way to return into the land of Judah."
It was a critical moment for Ruth and Orpah, her daughters-in-
law. They had lived together from infancy, and had been com-
panions and neighbors from youth ; had played around the same
palm tree ; sat at the same cottage door ; wandered on the same hills
of Moab; enjoyed the same religious privileges, and suffered the same
bereavement. The time had now come when they must determine
to go with Naomi, or remain behind. The boundary line was now
reached between the two countries, when Naomi says : " Go return
each to her mother's house ; the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye
have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that ye
may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband ; and they
lifted up their voice and wept," It was a sad scene. I think I see
the three women standing in the highway, discussing whether to
say farewell or not. " Naomi with eyes full of eager entreaty, and
lips quivering with pain ; Orpah moved to weeping, yet perplexed
— wondering what decision to make, and casting a glance ever and
anon back on the road they had come ; Ruth standing, grasping
her mother's hand, with unwavering resolve in every line of her
face and attitude." Both at first determined to accompany Naomi,
saying, " Surely, we will return with thee unto thy people." But
Naomi will still further test the strength of their affection and the

326 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

firmness of their resolutions. " Turn again, my daughters," she
says, " why will ye go with me ? Are there yet any more sons in
my womb, that may be your husbands ? Turn again, my daugh-
ters, go your way, for I am too old to have an husband. If I should
say I have hope, if I should have an husband to-night, and should
also bear sons, would ye tarry for them from having husbands ?
Nay, my daughters, for it grieveth me much for your sakes, that
the hand of the Lord is against me." And now comes the final
decision — Orpah changes her determination to go to the land of
Judah, and resolves to stay in Moab. She began to count the
cost. She had a mother to shelter her, while Naomi could only
bestow her blessing, and so she contents herself with kissing he*"
mother-in-law, and going back to her country and her gods.

Orpah was in some respects a lovely character. Had no such
severe test been sprung upon her, she would have won our admira-
tion equally with Ruth. She was of a gentle, affectionate disposi-
tion. She had been a kind, loving wife for ten years to her now dead
husband, and a tender, dutiful daughter-in-law to Naomi. Her
human attachments were strong. She had that fervid, sentimental,
attractive grace, which often passes for true religion, but which
cannot surrender present pleasures and comforts for nobler prospec-
tive rewards. She was unreliable; with good impulses, but want-
ing strength of character to sustain them. Like the maiden decked
for the grave, looking lovely even in death, so are such characters.
But there is no life, and the beauty and comeliness soon turn to
rottenness and decay.

Ruth was an entirely different character. She came unto Naomi
saying : " Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from follow-
ing after thee ; for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou
lodgest I will lodge ; thy people shall be my people, and thy God
my God ; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but death part thee

DECISION OF CHARACTER. 32/

and me." In other words, she is prepared for poverty, for long
widowhood, for exile from home and country, for all that shall fol-
low faithfulness to her mother-in-law. Here we have complete
identification of interests, and thorough surrender of will. She will
embrace her religion, dwell, travel, die, and be buried with Naomi.

In reviewing this touching story, we learn these lessons :

First, — Ruth's conduct indicates great decision of character.
She clave unto Naomi. It is a quality of vast importance in reli-
gious matters. Vacillation, hesitancy, inconstancy, are productive
of serious evils. Halting between two opinions is alike unmanly
and perilous. Unreliable, wavering, and fickle natures never com-
mand confidence and respect. Where duty is plain, immediate
action is the part of wisdom.

Second,— -R.uth's conduct indicates strong affection and personal
attachment. She and Naomi were kindred spirits. They had
grown up into each other, as the tender vine entwines itself around
the stronger oak. Their lives were bound together, so that they
could not live apart. The character of Naomi commended her
religion. She was spiritual mother, as well as mother-in-law, to
Ruth. She was her instructor in divine things, and the instrument
of winning her heart to the God of Israel.

Very often, as in the present instance, the influence of a sweet
and holy life attracts and decides another for Christ. Naomi made
religion lovely. Ruth accepted her creed as translated in her char-
acter, and was thus led to cast in her lot with the people of God.
As the apostle says in writing to the Corinthian church, " Ye are
our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men."

Third, — Ruth lost nothing by her decision. For a time, doubt-
less, she and Naomi endured poverty and hardships. Their return
to Bethlehem Judah, was indeed sad. A poor widow returning
poorer than when she left home, seeking shelter for her lonely head
after her husband's death. Such is the picture of Naomi, as she

328 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

enters the city gates. Her old companions and friends could hardly
recognize her. " Is this Naomi ?" they asked, the one of the other.
She had gone forth in the pride of womanhood ; now she returns
with bent form and careworn countenance. These ten years had
brought many wrinkles on her brow, and whitened the hairs of her
head. No wonder that she said, " Call me not Naomi, call me
Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went
out full, and the Lord hath brought me again home empty."

But ultimately neither Naomi nor Ruth had cause to regret the
step they took. Ruth gained a home and position that amply re-
compensed her for leaving Moab, and renouncing her kindred and
her gods. She won the heart of Boaz, who, overcoming the preju-
dice of his nation against the Moabites, married her, and Boaz was
revv'arded in his union to one, whose love to her widowed mother-
in-law was the best of all pledges that she would be a faithful wife.
Thus Ruth became the mother of a great race, including King
David, from whom the Saviour sprang.

The conduct of Ruth should be copied by every young christian.
What means profession of faith and sitting at the Lord's table?
Nothing less than life-long service. It is union not only for life,
but beyond death. It should be the starting point for holy activity
and concentrated zeal. As the hymn says :

My spirit, soul and body,

Jesus, I give to thee ;
A consecrated offering,

Tliine over more to be.
My all is on the altar,

I'm wai<^ing for the fire ;
Waiting, \saiting, waiting,

I'm waiting for the fire.

Ruth's conduct should be copied by those who are not as yet
God's people. To some here this may be the moment of decision.
The call may never be renewed. Which of the two courses of

DECISION OF CHARACTER. 339

conduct will you adopt? Orpah's or Ruth's? Will you kiss or
cleave? After all the entreaties addressed you. ha^o you resolved
to go back to your country and your gods, or can you say with
Ruth, "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God?"
While I speak, bands of angels arc hovering over you, eager to pro-
claim the glad tidings that another soul has been saved and added
to the number of the redeemed. Straightway act. Yield to Christ.
The soul expands and grows by active consecration ; doubts dis-
perse ; accusations and fears cease to torment, and peace reigns
within. No mm or woman ever suffered by deciding for Christ.
Present material sacrifices are more than compensated for by sub-
sequent spiritual gains. Godliness with contentment is great gain,
having the promise of the life that now is, and that which is
to come.

Finally, this decision of character is equally necessary to suc-
cess in every secular profession in which you may engage. When
once you have found out the proper sphere for the exercise of the
talents entrusted you, prosecute your calling with singleness of aim,
and seek the highest place among your compeers. Put your best
intelligence into whatever you do, and regard life as useful only in
so far as you are the means of happiness to others. Forget self,
and rise superior to the empty plaudits of petty minds, whose flat-
tery is as worthless as it is insincere. Resolve to make each day
memorable by performing some good action. As Carlyle says :
" Know what thou can'st do, then work at it like a Hercules,"
When Jenny Lind, the great singer, in the year 1850, was going
through the United States, electrifying crowded audiences by her
marvellous voice, she went down the Mississippi by steamboat, and
as the boat stopped at various places, crowds of blacks gathered
around her to hear her sing. It is said by Sir Jules Benedict, who
accompanied her, that she sang on these occasions with as much
conscientiousness and pains, as if she had been before one of the

330 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

most critical audiences of the metropolis. On being asked why
she took such pains before such people, who could not appreciate
her, she replied : " I love my art too well to engage in any of its
exercises otherwise than with all the skill I possess." This is an
unfailing mark of true nobleness of mind.

It is very true that the strength of woman lies chiefly in her
heart ; that it shows itself in their strong love and instinctive per-
ception of right and wrong, and that her noblest and most effective
endowments lie within the domain of the affections, for which no
amount of intellectual force or grasp of logic can be substituted.
But it is none the less true, that the world needs women of culture
and force of character ; — women who by their educational training,
may indirectly at least mould the destiny of nations, and become
potent factors in the elevation, not only of their own sex, but of
humanity at large. As has been well said : " When there ccmes a
generation, with minds large enough to provide impartially, ade-
quately and wisely for the young of both sexes, the completer life
of the household and of the race will come forward with a rush of
angels' wings, like a fulfilment of Tennyson's fine prophecy :

The man be more of woman, she of man ;
He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care,
Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind ;
Till at last she set herself to man,
Like perfect music unto noble words.
And so these twain, upon the skirts of time,
Sit side by side full sunned in all their powers,
Dispensing harvest, sowing the to-be.
Self-reverent each, and reverencing each,

Distinct in individualities —

* ♦ * * ^ ,

Then comes the statelier Eden back to man. ^

Student life is not finished when the college halls are abandoned.
The text book is necessary and preparatory to a wider arena, where
the mental powers and social sympathies may be more fully devel-

DECISION OF CHARACTER. 33 1

oped. Books are useful and indispensable to the acquisition of
knowledge, but they are after all only the tools and materials by
which we are enabled to explore new fields and enter upon untrav-
ersed regions of thought. They should never be regarded as more
than guide books to nature's "jnders and mysteries. If we can
discover the hidden path without them, so much the better. Emi-
nence in scholarship is not attained by miscellaneous reading, and
in picking up random scraps of information, but in the earnest and
thoughtful mastery of some one subject. The sceptic is the one
who sees only the pieces of things fragmcntarily and detached »
the believer is the one who sees things in wholes. As Lord Bacon
says: "A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but
depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."

Young ladies of the graduating class, the time has come when
you must bid farewell to teachers and companions, whose fellow-
ship and efforts on your behaif you doubtless value. Bright as the
prospect is, the hour o^ separation brings with it sorrow. With
many of you I have been on intimate terms for years, nor have I
failed to mark your growth in grace, as well as in secular know-
ledge ; and now as you leave us to hear other voices on the Sabbath
day, and learn from other teachers in the great practical school of
life, my prayers go with you, that God may sanctify the learning
you have acquired, and help you to use it for the Master's glory.
The best recompense you can make your teachers, is to prove by
your deportment the lasting value of their labors. Some of you
will dignify christian homes by the sweet gentleness of pure and
holy lives ; and is not this the most exalted and potent of all con-
ditions for doing good ? Others of you, doubtless, enter other insti-
tutions of le irning, and carry forward to higher stages of efficiency
the work of education in our land ; while some I trust, if called
upon, will not be found unwilling to go far hence, and seek to raise
their degraded sisters in heathen lands. All these are but different

332 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

departments of God's work. As the Hebrew women of old finished
the old tabernacle in blue, and purple, and scarlet, and gold, so may
you be honored in adorning the living temple of the human soul.

Oh, Christian women, for the temples set,
Throughout earth's desert lands — do not forget
The sanctuary curtains neer^ your 'broidery yet.

The character I have to-night thus fragmentarily portrayed is
not beyond your reach. Ruth was not gifted above her sex. She
had none of those advantages which christian women of the pres-
ent day possess. She was destitute of the culture of the schools,
but rich in faith. In her own proper sphere she acted a part that
gained for her the commendation alike of God and man. You
cannot all alike become famous, but you may all attain that sweet-
ness and symmetry of deportment that renders very ordinary en-
dowments of surpassing value to society. The real " womanly
woman " is not the one who seeks to overstep the bounds of her
sex, daring to do strange things that excite remark and challenge
criticism ; but she who from day to day, under the eye of the great
taskmaster, conscientiously, and with single aim, addresses herself
to the humblest enterprises, who is not ashamed to say :

Yes, God has made me a woman,

And I am content to be
Just what He meant, not reaching out

For other things, since He,
Who knows me best and loves me most,

Has ordered this for me.

A woman to live my life out

In quiet womanly ways,
Hearing the far-ofif battle,

Seeing as through a haze,
The crowding, struggling world of men.

Fight through their busy days.

With the Whole Heart.

" He did it with all his heart, and prospered."

—2nd Chronicles 31, v. 21.

with the Whole Heart.

^^i^AHE great painter, Opie, was once asked, "What do you
^Slf^i n^ix your colors with ?" To which he replied' " With
■c^^^ brains, sir." A truth of vast practical importance is im-
*(^^'' plied, namely, that intelligence, devotion, zeal and com-
mon sense are necessary in order to success in any and every
profession.

Hezekiah, we are told in the context, did that which was right
before God. He repaired the house of the Lord ; cast out the un-
cleanness ; sanctified the sanctuary and the people ; offered sacri-
fices and made atonement ; proclaimed and kept the passover ;
brake the images in pieces ; cut down the groves and destroyed the
altars. He did everything with his heart, and prospered. God not
only approved his deeds, but commended his zeal.

He was a thorough reformer in church and state — a moral revo-
lutionist. There was no temporizing nor expediency in his actions.
He consulted neither the opinions nor caprices of his subjects or
courtiers, but sought to know the will of heaven, and acted ac-
cordingly.

(335)

336 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Such men are often very unpopular. Fanatics, enthusiasts and
destructionists are the names applied to them. They are regarded
as possessed of but one idea ; narrow-minded — illiberal. But such
characters the age demands and God approves.

Let us, then, as somewhat appropriate on the present occasion,
enquire into the meaning of the phrase, "He did it with all his
heart"

It implies that in religious matters success is in exact propor-
tion as we give to them our whole heart. It is good to be zeal-
ously affected always in a good thing. " My meat and my drink,"
.said Christ, " is to do the will of Him that sent me" " I must work
the works of him that sent me, while it is day ; the night cometh
when no man can work." " I have a baptism to be baptized with ;
and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." " The zeal of
mine house hath eaten me up."

Every man, then, who would gain eternal life, must set about
it with his whole heart. No toil, no rest. Rest is sweet, but ser-
vice in proportion to love is sweeter still. No cross, no crown.
God does not offer future rewards as premiums for indolence. We
must agonize, and strive, and wrestle, and labor, in order to enter
upon rest. As men running the rapids and straining every nerve
to avoid the jagged rocks, so must we summon up all the energies
of our nature to secure salvation.

It follows, also, that in the attainment of specific gifts and graces,
success is in proportion as we give to the work our whole heart.
There is undue blame put upon God oftentimes by christians, for
their spiritual deadness, when their own indolence ought rather to
be rebuked. " Covet earnestly the best gifts," " Desire spiritual
gifts," says the apostle. " Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect. Forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in

WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 33/

Christ Jesus." " So fight I, not as one that beateth the air." The
testimony of scripture everywhere is to the effect that christians
are not mere passive recipients of heavenly influences, but that in
the strengthening and developing of their gifts and graces, they
are active agents. Man is not a mere senseless block of marble,
unconscious and unmoved under the chisel of the sculptor ; but as
flowers open under the warming influences of the sun, so is the
heart and its sympathies to respond to the touch of God's spirit.
The ivy instinctively clasps and runs up the ruins, and the soul of
man, once breathed upon by God's grace, is to seek after higher
and nobler attainments until perfection is reached. A man in the
common affairs of life cannot without application prosper ; if he is
contented with the very lowest style of civilization, he need not
exert his powers, physical or mental. The instinct of the animal'
is soon developed, but there are no limits to the possibilities of
reason, and just as men aspire after something grander and loftier
than mere manual drudgery, are self-denial and persistent effort
demanded.

A christian may thus remain at the very lowest possible grade
of spiritual life, satisfied with the rudiments of Christianity, and the
more elementary attainments of the babe, without aspirations after
more fully developed gifts and graces and perfect manhood. The
round of stated observances may be observed, and some benefit de-
rived. Duties may be formally and perfunctorily discharged, and
the laws of spiritual living be literally obeyed, while their spirit is
ignored and all yearnings after moral excel'ence and superior worth
suppressed and stilled.

Now I take it that God never intended converted men and
women to live after such a fashion. When religion is once accepted
and professed, it should be the business of the life. And surely if
in the ordinary employments of the age, men are honored accord-
ing as they give to them their individual attention, it is becoming

•22

338 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

that in prosecuting the christian life, they should do it with their
whole heart. To be content with the lowest rank, when we might
fill the highest place ; to be saved by fire, when we might even now
be polished shafts, and in eternity shine as stars in the heavenly
firmament, is hardly in keeping with our duty and our destiny.

Every christian possesses certain gifts. But in very few instan-
ces are they cultivated as they nijght be. And thus when called
to occupy positions of responsibility, they plead unfitness and in-
capacity. They have the spiritual weapons, but they lie unused.
They remind one of the armour room in the Tower of London.
There you see the armour of kings and dukes and nobles — the
mere external forms of iron and steel of those who wore them cen-
turies ago. But there is not a single arm that can be lifted up,
and so christians go on parade once in a while, and flourish their
regimentals, and go through certain mechanical gestures, but no
one is ever killed, and no sin is ever slain. They spend a great
deal of time in denouncing iniquity, but the blows fall short of the
enemy. They have a certain kind of piety, but it belongs more to
the cloistered cell than the busy world. They are rigidly orthodox,
intelligent, truthful, and blameless, but their religion never becomes
aggressive, and never clo.sei in upon surrounding ungodliness.

Novv in the church, as in the world, and as it is in every well
organized army, every member should have his place. Having
gifts differing according to the grace that is given us, we are to
teach, or rule, or exhort, according to our individual ability, not as
child's play, but with our whole heart. Five years of consecrated
labor is better than fifty spent in dreamy indolence. A sharp axe
in the hands of a skilled woodsman will accomplish more than a
dozen amateurs whose muscles have never been exercised. It is
the spirit that prompts us to work, and the earnestness with which
we engage in it, that conquers difficulties and gains results. The
most honored servants of God arc not the most learned, nor the

WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 339

most talented, but the most whole hearted. What they do they do
with all their heart, forgetting themselves in the great business of
the Master, and sacrificing all personal considerations for its ad-
vancement. Heart power or spiritual force is the great element in
effective work. The lips touched with the live coal from the altar,
and the heart warmed by the fires of divine love can do and dare
what mere cultured intellect cannot undertake.

The time is short and eternity is near and long. Souls are per-
ishing. Be up then and doing. Your utmost diligence and devo-
tion will seem all too small, when you look up the record of your
lives. Find your work and qualify yourselves for it. Do something.
Do it now. Where good can be done love is fertile in expedients
for overtaking it. Be not slothful, but followers of them who
through fnith and patience inherit the promises. "Whatsoever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor
devise, nor knowledg lor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest"
Be not readily nor unduly discouraged over failures. The human
agents in carrying out God's plans must expect such, but the end
is victory, as the poet says ;

We must take our turn at the mill,

And grind out the golden grain ;
And work at our task with a resolute will,

Over and over again.

Once doing may not suffice,

Though doing be not in vain ;
And a blessing failing us once or twice,

Will come if we try again.

The text also implies that success in secular callings is in pro-
portion as we engage in them with our whole heart. There is no
royal road to riches. A few are born so. Others grow rich easily
— everything that they touch seems to turn to gold. But the rule
is, that industry, perseverance and application win the day. Per-
haps it is not theologically true, but practically it is that —

340 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

AH are architects of Fate,

Working in these walls of Time ;
Some with massive deeds and groat,

Some with ornaments of rhyme.

This indeed is the teaching of scripture. " The hand of the diligent
maketh rich. Seest thou a man diligent in business? He shall
stand before kings. Not slothful in businesk ; fervent in spirit ;
serving the Lord." In the ordinary business of life there is enough
to tax the most capacious mind. To be equally great and success-
ful in mercantile, literary and political pursuits, is impossible. The
pursuit of such different avocations is not only uncongenial to most
minds, but in the long run dissipating and unprofitable. Men who
attempt all are failures, for any one of them demands the entire
energies of the brain.

Illustrations of this truth abound. In business, Budgett and
Peabody ; in literature, Macaulay and Thackeray, Dickens and
Carlyle ; in statesmanship, Pitt and Peel, Cobden and Bright, Bea-
consfield and Gladstone. The telescope cannot sweep the heavens
all at once. The angle of observation must be changed. Great
names are always associated with some one enterprise or move-
ment adapted to their pecuHa' cast of mind. Howard and Wilber-
force, Mrs. Sommerville and Florence Nightingale are evidences of
this fact. In professional life men become famous in specialties.
Labor is constantly being sub-divided, as civilization extends and
expands. The writer, the orator, and the pleader, are now separ-
ate professions. The dentist, the druggist, and the doctor are dif-
ferent callings. Natural tastes determine different callings. Kep-
ler, Galileo, Michael Angelo, James Watt, Christopher Wren and
Gustavus Dore had a passion for their favorite studies, which began
youth. Artists are of two kinds. The true artist must paint, or
.rve, or play, to satisfy the cravings of the mind, and realize the
creations of his br? in. Not so the man who paints, or carves, or

WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 34I

sings for a mere livelihood. The former is the man of jjcnius, and
invariably attains the highest degree of excellence. The latter
never gees beyond mechanical rules. But genius is nothing with-
out intense heart and brain work. The soul on fire with some
noble idea is for the moment inspired, and often surpasses what
it proposes. Poets thus sing of the birds — their hearts are in every
song. But apart from the steady application of the mental powers,
genius can accomplish nothing of lasting value :

Not in the clamor of the crowded street,

Nob in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,
But in oursolvos are triumph and defeat.

There are doubtless a few exceptions where men of extraordi-
nary genius excel easily in everything they undertake. But these
exceptions only prove the rule.

It may be answered truthfully that ability, earnestness and fru-
gality are not always prosperous. Abundant crops do not, every
season, bless the faithful husbandman. But it is equally true that
no crops whatever come in to the sluggard, save thorns and thistles.
The years that are often spent in frivilous pursuits and sordid aims
bring no return whatever but remorse and penury. Hence the wis-
dom of the poet's utterance :

Count that day lost whose low descending sun
Views from thy hand no worthy action done.

It follows then, from what has been said, that our range of
studies and labor must be restricted if we work with all our heart.
Life is far too short, and mind too feeble to gain excellence in ever>»
department, Hezekiah did not attempt the work of Solomon, nor
David that of Joshua. Our mental powers are incapable of intense
concentration on a vast variety of subjects. To attempt too much
at first is to make life a failure. True greatness begins in small
things, and moves on from one achievement to another with in-

143 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

creased power and confidence. Small duties and meagre oppor-
tunities are the training schools of success, and no one gets the
prize who does not take his degree in them. Many young men
and women are ruined by suddenly acquiring fame. They are un-
equal to the position into which they have been thrust, more by a
conjunction of circumstances th*n their own individual merits.
They do not possess the courage and endurance necessary to sus-
tain them in maintaining the honors conferred upon them, and
reaching forward to still greater conquests. They lack the incen-
tive of a strong motive, and dream life away in common place and
idle pursuits, which render no return, and neither benefit man nor
glorify God. They become cold, selfish and indifferent to the
wants of humanity — repulsive and tmlovely rather than attractive —
living and dying, undistinguished by any act of moral heroism or
mental effort that might have secured for them a place in the tem-
ple of fame.

Young ladies of the graduating class, you have arrived at a
point of momentous interest to yourselves, and great rejoicing to
your friends. Your teachers have been trying

To mould
And fashion plastic newness into grace,
To make the youthful heart heroic,
And light with thought the maiden's face.

You are now looking forward to years of happiness, freed from the
cares and sorrows of student life. But whatever you may become
will be due to what you have undergone as undergraduates of this
college, of which you are soon to be alumni. As one very beauti-
fully says : What weie womanhood without the preparatory stages
of infancy, childhood and youth. With their experiences, glad and
sad, their struggles and victories, their disappointments and chast-
enings, their tears and prayers and hopes and fears, their precious
legacy of many memories ! The very conception of a life with such
an hiatus of blankness and nothingness yawning between infancy

WITH IHE WHOLE HEART, 343

and maturity, if not indeed impossible, is cold and weird and cheer-
less. In going forth, be not over-confident of continued triumphs.
Longfellow, in his poem, '• My Lost Youth," says :

I remember the gleams and glooms that dart

Across the school girl's brain,
The song and the silence in the heart,
That in part are prophecies, and in part

Are longings wild and vain.

Humility is one of the best guarantees for the achievement of
future greatness. Nor is it unequal to the noblest endurance and
self-sacrificing zeal. The Roman women, in the earlier ages of
Christianity, were celebrated for their constancy and adherence to
the faith. Their sufferings and death, under the most brutal and
ignominious martyrdoms on the cross, or in the bloody arena, form
the most touching incidents in Christian tradition. In every gen-
eration, the strong religious convictions of women have been the
mainstay of our holy religion. The tru^ sisters of charity are not
the women immured within the bars of a convent, or within the
damp walls of a dreary cell, but such as spend their lives in active
labors of love for the good of all with whom they come in contact,
or can reach by their voice or pen. It were a sad thing for the
world if our cultivated women were all like Harriet Martineau, who
lost all faith in God and immortality, and hesitated not to say, at
the close of her long and not uneventful life : " I feel no solicitude
about a parting which will bring no pain. I am frankly satisfied
to have done with life. I have had a noble share of it, and I desire
no more. I neither wish to live longer here, nor to find life again
elsewhere. It seems to me simply absurd to expect it." With all
your triumphs here, it were surely a painful thought tiiat this short
period of probation was the end ; that life should be extinguished
when death approaches ; that there should be no future where the
intellect, that has just begun to open to the reception of the truth,
shall bla/.e forth under the direct illumination of God himself.

344 THE CHURCH and the commonwealth.

In such a moment as !his the joy that naturally accompanies
the day of graduation, must be somewhat mellowed by the prospect
of parting from companions and friends whose smile has lightened
days of toil. But what is life but change ? Like

Sliips that pas3 in the night and speak each other in passing,
So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another ;
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

Blessed be God, there is a land where the r.nion of friends is
permanent, and where no cloud shall shade the sunlight of exist-
ence. Is this your hope ? Are you anticipating the day when you
shall be crowned with deathless laurels — when you shall enter upon
grander studies than can possibly employ human thought, and at-
tain a higher standing than fails to the lot of the most diligent stu-
dent on earth? There is nothing that can compensate for the lack
of a religious hope ; nothing that can make life attractive and death
desirable, but the personal knowledge that Christ has pardoned sin,
and rendered immortality a certainty, and that come what may,
nothing can separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

In leaving this church and the college where you have spent so
many days, I ask for you only what a loving father sees fit to send.
Riches are unstable and cannot satisfy the soul ; beauty is fading
and cannot exert a permanent influence ; scholarship unchastened
and unsanctified, only adds to perplexity and unrest of mind. But
the consc'ous presence of Christ keeps the heart undismayed
and stable, amid the fiercest agitations and fieriest trials.
If like Esther of old, you are to obtain favor in the king's
sight and wear the royal crown, there must be more or less
discipline in the present life. It is related that in Germany there
stood two vast towers far apart on the extreme of a castle ; and
that the old baron to whom the castle belonged stretched huge
wires across from one to the other, thus constructing an i^olian
harp. Ordinary winds produced no effect upon it, but when fierce

WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 34$

Storms and mighty winds roused themselves up, and came rushing
down the sides of the mountains, and through the valleys, the wires
rolled out majestic music. And thus when God would make our
lives sublime, He tosses us about in violent tempests, and brings
out the deeper and sweeter tones of our better nature. School days
are not over with you yet All through life, be it long or short, we
are under training. Whether it be sorrow, or disappointment, or
failure, all is intended to lead us to the infinite source of good, where
the thirst of the soul shall be quenched forever. Then amid the
glories and felicities of the heavenly state, the more painful memo -
ies of the life below shall be forgotten or transformed. We are told
of a mystic fountain in Florida, the purity of whose waters is such
that, though two hundred feet in depth, every object is visible. Be-
neath its limpid waters the most hideous objects shine with all the
colors of the rainbow, as the light passes down the mighty prism of
the water. Thus may it be with us in that world illuminated by
the light of God, passing through the sea of glory, that all the sad
r^.eimories we have cherished here shall be submerged in the sea of
paternal love, irradiated with the rays of the sun of righteousness.

We know there may be tempests,

And we kuowthere will be showers ;
Yet we know they only hasten *

Summer's richer crown of flowers. '

The Best Knowledge.

" In much wisdom is much grief : and he that increaseth knowledge
increaseth sorrow."

— Eoclesiastes 1, v. 18.

"This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

—John 17, V. 3.

The Best Knowledge,

i^NE of the leading philosophical writers of the age, in dis-
^V cussing the question, What knowledge is of most worth ?
replies, that it is the knowledge that enables a man to
live completely. And certainly if the phrase, " a com-
plete man," is used in its fullest signification, as including
the highest development of the moral and spiritual powers of the
soul, the definition may be readily accepted. But when we find
that all that is meant by a complete life is the mere development
of the physical being, and that the culture which more directly aims
at ennobling the soul, and moulding the character, is either unpro-
vided for or practically ignored, we must reject such a statement as
radically defective and untrue.

We need not despise physical or mental culture, while exalting
a higher education than the schools afford. But there is a know-
ledge which lies beyond the limits of human discovery — of priceless
value and of lasting importance. It leads to and embraces a change
of heart, through transformation of the affections, and supreme love
to our Maker. Or in the words read : " This is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom

thou, hast sent"

^.___ (349)

350 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Mind is undoubtedly one of the most v/onderful things, among
the many mysteries of our nature. Scarcely less wonderful is the
power of speech, by which we communicate the hidden operations
of the mind. But language entirely fails to represent the different
shades of thought and feeling, of which the mind is susceptible.
Therefore, in all languages, the same word is used to represent
many forms of thought. The heathen are said "to know God,"
and in other passages " not to know God." Knowledge is at one
time depreciated as worthless as vanity, and as a weariness of the
flesh, while again it is declared to be "life eternal." In such state-
ments there is, after all, no real contradiction. The scriptures speak
of two kinds of knowledge : Intellectual or speculative knowledge
on the one hand, and spiritual or experimental on the other. These
differ in their objects and in their effects. Speculative knowledge
is called in scripture, natural knowledge, because possessed by the
natural man, and discoverable by the light of nature. A knowledge
of science and art ; of the productions and phenomena of the natu-
ral world — a knowledge of mankind, whether drawn from personal
observation or the records of history ; a knowledge of the philos-
ophy of mind and morals, considered simply as matters of specu-
lative enquiry,— these are included in natural knowledge. Spirit-
ual or experimental knowledge, on the other hand, is distinguished
by the rature of its objects and the state of the recipient's mind.
It is due, in great measure, to the influences of a divine power
operating upon the mind, enlarging the faculty of perception, and
revealing important truths not otherwise understood by unassisted
human reason.

Let us briefly point out the superiority of spiritual to that of
natural or speculative knowledge.

I. Natural knowledge is insufficient to lead men to a discovery
of those truths which are necessary to salvation. The world by
wisdom, ays the Apostle, knew not God, neither as the independ-

The Queen of Sheba's Visit to Solomon.

THE BEST KNOWLEDGE. 35 I

cnt, eternal, and unchangeaole Jehovah revealed in scripture, nor
as the Redeemer of men. For ages the world was left to solve the
problem, as to what man could do untaught of God, and signally
failed in the attempt. Egypt, Greece and Rome — nay, the entire
world, with the exception of Palestine, was covered with ;he gross-
est darkness, and groaned under false religions and f?ise concep-
tions of the Deity, " Ye men of Athens," said Paul, when speaking
on Mars Hill, " I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar
with the inscription, ' To the Unknown God.' And what was true
of Athens, is true to-day of the heathen world, where the light of
nature but reveals the moral and spiritual darkness which prevail.
II. Natural knowledge is insufficient to make men holy! No
amount of it can make a man good. The mere knowledge of super-
natural truths cannot predispose to a holy life. Men talk about look-
ing up from nature to nature's God, as if nature in itself were sufficient
to solemnize and sanctify the soul. To the christian, it is true, all
nature speaks of God, but to the infidel, nature's voices are unin-
telligible. It is not by mere intellectual culture that the world is
to be converted and society reformed, but by the gospel of Jesus
Christ, brought by the Holy Spirit in contact with, the soul of man.
Need we quote the testimony of individuals, famous on the page of
history, as to the worthlessness of human learning? Take the case
of Solomon himself — artist, poet, naturalist, zoologist, moralist, poli-
tician, and king, all combined in one — with an eloquence and wis-
dom that dazzled the oriental world, and yet what is his language?
" In much wisdom there is much grief, and he that increaseth know-
ledge increaseth sorrow. Of making many books there is no end,
and much study is a weariness to the flesh." Take the case of
Byron, possessed of fine sympathies and susceptibilities — majestic
in intellect, with a genius almost superhuman ; and yet with a char-
acter immoral, cruel, and repulsive in the last degree, trampling

352 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

down the rights of social life — " a lover, yet scorner of his race " —
and listen to his own words at the close of his brief career :

My days am in the yellow leaf,

The flowers, the fruit of love are gone ;

The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mina alone !

Listen to what Sir Humphrey Davy says, himself — orator, poet,
philosopher, and world-wide renowned by his discoveries — a favored
son of science, flattered by the world, and honored by the great ;
yet what were his words amid these very plaudits ? " Valde mis-
eta' i/is ! valde miserabilis r — very miserable I very miserable!
Hear his last confession in his fatal illness : " I envy no quality of
mind or intellect in others ; nor genius, power nor fancy ; but if I
could choose what would be most delightful to me — I believe most
useful — I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other bless-
ing. This makes up a discipline of goodness — creates new hopes
when all earthly hopes vanish, and throws over the decay and des-
truction of existence the most gorgeous of all lights, and brings up
the most delightful of ''11 visions, when the sensualist and the scep-
tic have only gloom and decay and annihilation."

III. Natural knowledge of itself is evil in its effects. It tends
to pride and self-conceit. It puffeth up. It makes a man think
more highly of himself than he ought to think, so that, wise in his
own eyes, he becomes a fool. Conceited ignorance is an offence in
the eyes of men ; how much more in the sight of God. Intellec-
tual pride produces self-confidence, and almost invariably tends to
scepticism, which results in open infidelity. As Lord Bacon well
remarks : " A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but
depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." But
apart from the fact that human knowledge is utterly worthless to
make men wise unto salvation, is it not true —

THE BEST KNOWLEDGE. 353

IV. That mere intellectual studies are wearisome and unsatis-
fying. Much study is a weariness of the flesh, ICxtraordrnary
attainments, in any one branch of science or literature, cannot be
attained but by untiring diligence — constant and prolonged self-
denial. Manual labor is not, as many hastily conclude, the severest
form of human toil. The sleep of the laboring man is sweet after
the exhausting toils of the day, but the study and research of the
man of letters is too often followed by sleepless nights and a wasted
constitution. He who would gain eminence among his fellows,
must not only deny himself many innocent enjoyments, but lay his
account to endure positive suffering, from which the mass of men
arc exempted. Many are the disappointments, too, which accom-
pany such a life. Success is not always gained, even when the
faculties are strained to their utmost tension. Often the plodding,
persevering student is mortified to find all his hopes frustrated, his
plans thwarted, and the much coveted prize snatched from his
grasp by some far less-deserving rival. Long tried experiments
often end in failure ; favorite theories are exploded and overthrown,
and results secured altogether trifling compared with the vast
amount of labor expended. Nay, even when success rewards the
diligent student, the knowledge acquired is far from satisfying. The
more we know of our own character, and of the world in which wc
live, the greater oftentimes is our sorrow. We cannot extend our
researches to any great extent, without meeting with sad evidences
of the effects of sin, the inhumanity of man, and the fearful ruin of
our race. Blood and carnage, cries of distress and despair, tyranny,
injustice and oppression, cover many a page in the history of hu-
manity. And, finally, after all our efTorts, how little can the long-
est life accomplish in the difTerent departments of science and lit-
erature? The more we know, but reveals the little we actually do
know. The further we penetrate the secrets of nature, but reveals
mysteries beyond our ken, paths we cannot tread, questions we
*23

354 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

cannot answer, depths we cannot fathom ! We know but in part,
and that part is very limited. After all our boasting as to the pow-
ers of the human intellect and the achievements of the human mind,
we have to confess that like children, we are but entering upon the
elemental principles of all true knowledge. Were it not for the
thought that a deeper, clearer, and more satisfactory insight into
the works of God is before us in another sphere, we would stop
short at the very threshold of our investigations. Enjoyment there
is certainly in studying the works of nature, but apart from the
knowledge of the true God it is unsatisfactory and transitory.

This leads me to speak of spiritual knowledge. It differs from
natural knowledge.

I. As to its objects. These are above nature, and unattainable
by the natural man. Says the Apostle : " We speak wisdom
among them that are perfect — not the wisdom of this world, nor of
the princes of this world that come to naught, but we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, for God has revealed them unto us by
his Spirit, for the spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things
of God."

II. Spiritual knowledge includes intellectual cognition and ap-
preciation of things revealed. The Scriptures do not depreciate
speculative studies. They only teach that they are insufficient to
sanctify and save. Intellectual knowledge is absolutely necessary.
God does not enlighten men's minds in secular truth by means of
miracles, nor does he spiritually illuminate a mind, where there is
no knowledge. Intellectual knowledge may be said to be necessary
for the Holy Spirit to operate upon. Fot anything we know, in-
deed, the glory and happiness of the saints in heaven may be in
proportion to their knowledge upon earth. Mind and soul should
therefore be used together in our search after truth.

III. Spiritual knowledge is spiritually discerned. The things
perceived are the spiritual qualities of the truth. The natural man

THE BEST KNOWLEDGE. 35$

takes account only of the intellectual phases of truth. The christ-
ian sees from a different standpoint, looks with a different eye, and
sees in a different light. A man unskilled in painting may look
upon a beautiful picture, and yet not perceive the blending of the
different colors and the proportions of light and shade that render
it so perfect and pleasing. The very things which, in the estima-
tion of the artist, are the glory of the painting, may have no inter-
est in his eyes. So it is in regard to divine truth. Spiritual dis-
cernment is due to the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It is not
an objective operation, like the shining of the sun upon the object
looked at. It is inward and subjective. The spirit pours celestial
light upon the eye balls ; he moves in a mysterious way, in the
deep recesses of our nature, rendering the vision clear, and making
the most mysterious of Bible truths simple and sure to the believ-
ing soul.

IV. Spiritual knowledge is thus blessed in "its effects. It pro-
duces right affections toward God ; we become like God. By be-
holding him we are changed from glory to glory ; and this knowl-
edge of divine truth here is followed by the beatific vision hereafter.
The knowledge of God is life eternal, and what is heaven but the
beatific vision of God in Christ.

Surely such knowledge is better than gold ; more to be desired
than rubies ; all the things that may be desired are not to be com-
pared to it. It brings with it no remorse, no weariness, no disap-
pointment. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are
peace ; while at the close of life it introduces to a world of sinless
perfection.

Young ladies of the graduating class. — The Faculty of the col-
lege have diligently endeavored, during your term of study, to train
you in those branches which are now regarded as essential to edu-
cated womanhood. But they have done more. The Institution in
which you have spent so many happy days is a christian institution.

356 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

It aims at something more than a secular education. It is not
trammelled by statutes that forbid the reading and teaching of God's
word. Unsectarian and non-denominational in the fullest sense, so
far as peculiar doctrines are concerned, it endeavors none the less
to- emphasize the eternal verities of inspiration which lie at the
foundation of all the cardinal virtues, and are the source of all true
greatness.

Although no longer under the direction of teachers, I take it for
granted that the progress you have already made, will impel you
to seek after greater attainments. Let me therefore affectionately
counsel you to cultivate in all your researches, a spirit of reverence
and devotion. You need divine guidance in order to appreciate
the beauties of the present world, as well as to anticipate the glories
of the next. While your minds are exercised in the different de-
partments of science, and literature, and art, approach such studies
in an humble childlike spirit, and with a sincere desire to glorify
the Creator as seen in his handiworks. A firm faith in the exist-
ence of God and implicit trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, will not
detract from the charms of philosophy. It is very true and sadly to
be lamented, that some of the greatest minds in ancient, as well as in
modern times, have known nothing of God's gracious dealings with
their souls. Able to compute the distances of the stars ; to read
the his -.ory of our race in the records of geology, and dazzle the
world with their learning and their eloquence, they have remained
painfully ignorant of the way of salvation, through a living Re-
deemer. But on the other hand, there are many instances of sin-
cere and devoted piety, united with marvellous intellectual power,
— where simple faith in the blood of Jesus has shed a lustre around
the sublime achievements of the scholar, and afforded sweetest sat-
isfaction in the hour of death. For when called to grapple with the
King of Terrors, neither our learning nor our scholarship can avail
us aught The applause and hosannahs of the nnultitude may be

THE BEST KNOWLEDGE. 357

sweet in the day of health, but 'tis but an empty hollow sound in
the ear of a dying man.

But while some of you, doubtless, look forward to a life of con-
tinuous study, others, and perhaps the greater number, will be
engaged in the more practical duties of life. There are few women
in our land who can enjoy perfect leisure and immunity from the
ordinary cares of life. Indeed a mere recluse — however vast and
varied the subjects mastered — is often of far less value to the world
than a less capacious mind. It is better for all purposes that the
useful and elegant be combined. It is not the. occupation so much
as the spirit that actuates the worker, that makes the life noble.
Honest effort, if it does not always reap a rich material reward,
strengthens and enriches the soul. The true lady is one who can
take her place in any station, and command respect in all ; who
makes all around her happy by her chec rful, sunny smile and kindly
acts ; who, whatever ^c her circumstances, can say at the close of
each day that she has not eaten the bread of idleness. Where there
is conscientious performance of duty, the poet's words are true :

Everyday toil is everyday blessing,

Though poverty's cottage and crust we may share ;

Weak is the back on which burdens are pressing,

But stout is the heart that is strengthened by prayer.

Somehow or other the pathway grows brighter,
Just when we mourn there are none to befriend ;

Hope in the heart makes the burden grow lighter.
And, somehow or other, we get to the end.

Finally, and ere you leave this place, where I have often spoken
to you on the highest themes that can engage the attention of im-
mortal beings, let me warn you against unholy alliances in after
life. To choose riches without goodness is to choose perdition. I
cannot say less, when so many promising young women sacrifice
the fairest hopes of life upon the unhallowed shrine of mammon.
There came recently under my notice a sweet little poem entitled,

358 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

" Elsie and the Lady," descriptive of the misery of a life destitute
of pure affection. The lady is looking forward to the day when a
coronet will deck her brow, and her hand will lie in that of Eng-
land's proudest peer. Elsie, who brings to her mistress her robes
of velvet, and toys with her glittering hair, is to marry an humble
son of toil, but yet says the peeress :

Her'g will be the brightest home

On all the lady's land.
For Elsie knows the stately brow,

She binds the gems above —
Unlike her own, will never wear

The diadem of love.

Thus musing upon the mockery of noble blood and livened ser-
vants, who come and go at her command, but destitute of sympa-
thy, which the heart most needs, the peeress mournfully says :

Mo coronet gilds Elsie's brow,

Like that which g.eama on mine ;
No ermine drapes her little form.

Or gold or jewels shine.
No lips speak loving words to me,

Or stoop to kiss my hand ;
The love is Elsie's ; mine the place

Of a lady in the land.

Some day the pageant will be o'er,

And at the close of life,
When death shall claim, with stern command,

Both peer's and peasant's wife ;
Elsie may wear a crown of gold

Shaped by an angel hand.
And love may warm the lonely heart,

Of the lady in the land.
All love to her, all wealth to me,

Has on the earth been given,
A fairer balance will be struck

Beyond the stars in heaven.

May God go with you, through all the changing scenes of life,
and bring you home to His presence above, to receive the reward
of faithful service ! Amen.

The Highest Wisdom.

"Wisdom is tha prin ;ipal thing: therefore get wisdom."

— Proverbs 4, v, 7.

"Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister, and call understandinij thy
kinswoman."

— Proverbs 7, v. 4

The Highest Wisdom.

'N THIS book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified. She
is represented as crying without and uttering her voice
in the streets, in the chief places of concourse, in the
opening of the gates, saying, " how long, ye simple ones,
will ye love simplicity, and fools hate knowledge ? " She
is represented in the text as clothed with the most attrac-
tive attributes. Her merchandise is better than the merchandise
of silver, and the gain thereof better than fine gold. She is more
precious than rubies, and to be sought for as men seek for hidden
treasures. She gives to the head an ornament of grace and a crown
of glory. Her fruit is better than gold and her revenue than choice
silver. To sum up all in the language of the wise man : " Blessed
is the man that heareth her, watching daily at her gates, waiting at
the posts of her doors. For whoso findeth her, findeth life, and
shall obtain favor of the Lord."

The wisdom referred to primarily is beyond the range of aca-
demic teaching and training. Elsewhere we read, "the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom ; " not meaning that secular wis-
dom and scholarly attainments are of little importance, but that

(361)

i6i THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

without that higher knowledge which God's spirit alone can impart,
the learning of the schools is unsatisfying — incapable of giving
comfort in the hour of trial and peace in the hour of death.

It is concerning such wisdom that Solomon speaks when he
says : *' Wisdom is the principal thing — therefore get wisdonj —
say unto wisdom, thou art my sister ; and call understanding thy
kinswoman." If it cost thee all thy wealth it is worth more than
the price paid for it. Get wisdom at any price. Cultivate habits
of intimacy with wisdom and understanding.

Addressing more directly on the present occasion, the students
of the Young Ladies' College, and especially the graduates who are
soon to go forth from its walls, let us regard the text as enforcing
the value of wisdom, human and divine, in all the relations and
conditions of life.

Wisdom may be defined as knowledge practically applied to
the purposes of life. It is that power which enables us to judge
accurately and discern skilfully. It is genius coupled with common
sense ; the power of turning the highest mental attainments into
action at the right moment and for the best ends.

In order to gain wisdom there must be : I. Reading and reflec-
tion. The reading must be timely, the books select, and the reflec-
tion constant. The amount of unhealthy, pernicious literature in
circulation at the present day, is astounding, and well fitted to cause
alarm. The greatest social evils of our age have their origin in the
immaterial and morbid excitement of the imagination, caused by
fictitious representations of human nature. The appetite grows as
it is fed by sensational novels until body and mind are weakened,
and the reason totters on the brink of a hopeless insanity. Young
women especially with leisure for mental improvement are thus
brought into contact with frivolity, profanity and immorality, which
if met with in the living person, would be loathed and spurned.
The feeling of repulsion at first expeiienced is soon overcome, and

THE HIGHEST WISDOM. 363

the mind (gradually familiarized with sin, becomes saturated with
impurity, and finally, lovingly lingers over the polluted page.

Arc wc never then to read pure fiction? Is there no relief from
the severe studies of the college and the cloister, in the pages of
poetry and romance ? By all means. The mind needs recreation
as well as the body. There is a large amount of fiction whose heal-
thy tone and invigorating impetus, no one now calls in question.
Poetry and fiction have a most important sphere in the develop-
ment of character and the education of society. Though it may
not be the direct aim of the philosophic novelist to teach morality, •
much that is elevating and instructive is to be found embedded in
the ; ntcntious sayings that are put into the lips of humanity, as
idealized in the creations of the novelist. P'or, to use thc'words of
another, " Every ideal picture of human life should be so construct-
ed as to bring out three things : first, the hidden greatness and
wonder of life ; secondly, the unity or harmony of life, and thirdly
the moral grandeur that pervades life, and the ultimate triumph of
good which is involved in the condition of life." But when we have
granted all this, let me add that even t>e best works of fiction are
to be sparingly used. They should never be considered as the
staple of our reading, no more than condiments and spices and
sweetmeats are to be regarded as the chief sources of our physical
strength. The pages of romance may refresh and stimulate a class
of feelings that are apt to become callous and extinct, by the con-
stant friction of business and daily anxieties, but beyond this, their
use is baneful, and relaxing to a degree that unfits for the honorable
discharge of the practical duties of life. It is not in the pages of
the novelist that we are to learn the real woes and sorrows oi' hu-
manity, and acquire that intrepidity of soul that will help us to
conquer the uprisings of evil in the heart, and the seductive temp-
tations of the world. Indeed the heart is apt to become insensible
to the misfortunes and distresses of our fellowmen, in proportion as

364 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

wc arc amused and fascinated by the highly colored and exagger-
ated pictures of human wretchedness and suffering, which are
painted on the page of fiction.

I cannot but in the briefest terms indicate what books are best
calculated to create within you noble ambitions, and render life not
only useful but sublime. There nre certain books that by univer-
sal consent of christian scholarship are recognized as books for all
time, and not for the passing hour ; books which contain truths and
principles of far-reaching application ; books which illustrate the
• power of goodness and the dignity of self-sacrifice ; books which
bring us into contact with the dead of by-gone ages, and elevate
our conceptions of the importance of the present and the nobler
existence yet to come. In the study and thoughtful perusal of such
books, you will find treasures of wisdom. They will satisfy, while
they purify ; they will strengthen, while they adorn the mind.

Now, one of the principal objects of a liberal education is to
help us in our choice of books, so that we may discard the frivolous
and retain the good. To glance at, far less read, one thousandth
part of the mass of printed matter that issues daily from the press,
is an impossibility, nor would it be profitable, if practicable. Read-
ing is of little value, save it is accompanied by thought And un-
less you have had your intellectual powers so cultivated as to make
study and reflection inseparable from reading, your college training
has been of little value. To pass dreamily over the pages without
mental effort is dissipating in the highest degree. There must be
assimilation, or there is no gain of strength, just as the food must
be digested to make the blood. Coleridge tells us of four clasees
of readers. The first like the hour glass — their reading like the
sand running in and then out, and leaving not a vestige behind.
The second like the sponge, which imbibes everything, only to re-
turn it in the same state, or perhaps viler. The third, like the jelly-
bag, allowing the pure to pass away, and keeping only the refuse

THE HKiHEST »VISDOM. 365

and dregs. And the fourth, like the slaves in the mines of Gol-
conda, casting aside all that which is worthless, and retaining only
the diamonds and gems. To this last class every college graduate
should belong. The best of human books that come under notice
demand discrimination. To select what is of immediate and last-
ing value, and reject what is ephemeral and commonplace, is an
attainment not reached by every one, but of supreme importance
in the cultivation of the mind and formation of character. To edu-
cate the thinking powers, as well as to enlarge our stock of ideas,
should be the grand aim of all our reading.

" Knowledge is power," says the great philosopher Ricon. It
is more than this. It is a great source of happiness, ^'v>rc it in-
capable of nobler results than the mere gratification of the individ-
ual mind, its possession would be invaluable. There is in healthy
literature inherent elements of delight, worthy of being sought after,
apart altogether from their humanizing effect upon society at large.
Ignorance is the parent of misery and wretchedness, while ktiow-
ledge and mental culture are the springs of all true pleasure and
enjoyment. The man whose knowledge is circumscribed by the
events of tne passing hour, has gathered no information whereby
he rnay act his part in the world with any degree of credit to him-
self or profit to his race. The other, assisted by the records of the
past, lives and moves in another atmosphere, and acts his part with
definite aim and purpose. Brought into contact with the leading
spirits of by-gone ages, he imbibes their principles, adop*^s their
views, and becomes associated with them in thought and feeling.
The creations of intellect bequeathed to us by the mighty dead
enable us to penetrate the mysteries of nature — teach us how to
use the powers and faculties of the mind, and thus comprehending
in some measure the glorious works of the great I Am, we are led
to adore that all-wise and all-powerful Being, whose arm sustains
the entire universe of existence. The pages of biography bring us

$66 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

into sympathy with the noblest of the earth, with characters whose
bravery, philanth/opy and high-toned morality have adorned hu-
manity and shed a lustr6 upon our race. If we have a taste for
history, with all its exciting themes ; if we love to scan the suc-
cessive ameliorations which society has undergone, we have only to
express the wish to enjoy the pleasure. We can seat the historian
by our side, and hear from his lips strange tales of former days —
the birth and death, the glory and desolation of mighty kingdoms
— the dark deeds of ages of superstition and barbarism, when op-
posing hosts marched forth to gory battlefields, and offered up their
lives on altars of mistaken heroism. Or, if we prefer the muses, we
can listen to the sanctified imagination of a Milton, as he paints
the angelic glory of the heavenly world, or leads us in measures
grand and solemn to the gloomy depths of unutterable woe, where
hope has for ever fled. Or we may take for our companions in explor-
ing the secrets of matter, the Newtons and Keplers of other days,
and the Bucklands, Brewsters, Lyells and Millers of our own.
Guided by such teachers, we may survey the starry vault of heaven,

Those immortal lights which live along the sky,
tracing

World beyond world in infinite extent,
Profusely scattered through the blue immense,

until compared with so glorious a creation, our own earth dwindles
into very insignificance. Or finally, examining the geological strata
of the earth, we may gather from its stony records overwhelming
evidence of the truths of revelation. The knowledp-e thus acquired
and the happiness experienced in such studies are permanent pos-
sessions. Of such an one the poet has beautifully said :

Enter the sacred temple of his breast,
And gaze and wonder there, a ravished guest ;
Wander through all the glories of his mind,
Gaze upon all the treasures he shall find.

THE HIGHEST WISDOM. j67

II. In order to gain wisdom there must be observation. The
mind must be strengthened and disciplined from without, as well as
from within. Everything that can educate the eye and ear should
be sought after. Many students of books are but superficial stu-
dents of nature and society. The intense occupation of the brain
in private seems to unfit them for recognizing or participating in
what is going on around them. Scholarly men, so far as books are
concerned — learned beyond the great mass, often walk among scenes
of surpassing beauty with no eye to perceive it, and no conception
of the adaotation and harmonies of creation. The vastness and
mysteries of life in its ten thousand forms, suggest no enquiries and
occasion no surprise. The records of the earth written in the stony
chronicles of the rock are never read, and the wonders of the starry
heavens unfolded by the telescope are never admired. No true
student will so act. The reverential and devout scholar sees God
in all his works, and admires the unerring design that is everywhere
manifested. The smallest flower displays His power and wisdom,
alike with the most stupendous of creation's acts. Every particle
of dust, in its varied adaptations and changes, bears testimony to
that masterly skill and foreknowledge which regulates the world of
matter and rules the world of mind.

There is a lesson in oach flower,
A story in each stream and bower,
On every herb on which we tread,
Are written words, which, rightly read,
, ' Willlead us from earth's fragrant sod
To Hope and Holiness and God.

There are others, again, who are close and diligent observers of
nature, but who are utterly ignorant of humanity, and unfitted for
the demands of every day existence. They are theorists and spec-
ulatists. They can, according to the laws of mental science, des-
cribe the varied faculties and emotions of mind and soul in all their
complexity and intricate workings, but they have no knowledge

368 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

whatever of men and the movements of society. The influence of
such persons upon the great movements of humanity is of necessity
comparatively small. A part of their nature is undeveloped. They
never expand beyond the class-room, and never gain that practical
knowledge which makes the man of letters a controlling force in
society at large. Need I say, that sympathy with nature should
not be incompatible with sympathy for men, nor the study of books
preclude the study of men. Those who have enjoyed the advan-
tages of a liberal education, should take an interest in all that ap-
pertains to the well-being of the commonwealth — not only for the
good of others, but to acquire that breadth of view and liber-
ality of sentiment which is indispensable to all who guide public
I opinion. Nor is it necessary to this end, that the delicacy and
refinement of christian womanhood should be sacrificed by undue
contact with the turbulent factions of the political arena, or the
excitement of angry debate. The gentlest characters overpower
by their meekness. Soft words and kindly deeds are more per-
suasive than fiery declamation or pointed steel.

But III ; Bear in mind that no amount of secular knowledge or
wisdom,can save the soul or qualify for entrance into heaven. Some
men speak as if the rapid diffusion of literature and science, is the
panacea for all the ills of life, and the true method for the world's
regeneration from vice and sin. The power that is to restore her
comeliness and make her Master rejoice, is to be found, they argue,
in advancing civilization and the culture of the intellect ; in the de-
velopment of man's physical and mental constitution and all the
accompaniments of well ordered society.

Now, it may be admitted that the more secular knowledge the
world possesses, accompanied with the higher ethics of Christianity,
the more likely is the gospel to be embraced by the masses. In
general, the more intellectual a man is, the more capable is he of
weighing the evidence which the gospel offers to candid minds, of

THE HIGHEST WISDOM. 369

its divine character and claims, and the better qualified Is he to ap-
preciate the wisdom and greatness of God in the scheme of mercy
offered for the a^-eptance of the guilty. But while this is granted^
it is also to be borne in mind that every human system of morality
has failed — that nature and science cannot explain many of the
most wonderful phenomena in the world around us, and that there
is nothing within the range of what are technically termed scholas-
tic studies to satisfy man's spiritual and immortal nature.

Briefly then on this subject — for you have frequently heard the
same views presented from this pulpit, — secular knowledge can
never elevate men nor purify nations — it can never change the heart
— it can never reach the springs of conduct — all the knowledge in
the world cannot make the drunkard temperate — the licentious,
virtuous — the selfish, generous or the dishonest man just. Many
of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity, not only pro-
mulgated most questionable theories of morality, but were them-
selves dissolute and debased. Egypt with her science and astrology
— Greece with her statesmen and poets — Rome with her heroes and
historians, and China and India with their vast systems of idolatry
and superstition, never produced a pure morality. Of itself, secular
knowledge helps men to hide their wickedness by simulating piety
— to break human laws — and by cunning and strategy evade the
penalty. It is the heart and not the head, that controls our des-
tinies and moulds our lives.

The lesson which all this teaches is plain. It is not schools, nor
colleges, nor universities, nor literature, nor statesmanship, but the
pure Gospel of Christ that is to elevate modern thought and sweeten
society. It is not bayonets in heathen lands that raise men from
barbarism to the amenities of refined and polished society, but the
" wisdom which is from above," the truth accompanied with the
spirit's power. While, therefore, we endeavor by the highest mental
discipline to prepare the youth of our land for honorable positions

*24

370 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

in life, it is not to withdraw their interest from that noblest of all
books and that grandest specimen of all literature — the Bible. The
influence of all other books upon the world have been trifling and
unimpoitant in comparison with what the inspired volume has
achieved in the past, and is destined to accomplish in the future-
Make this the companion of your solitude, the director of your
lives, your constant guide and counsellor, and in anticipation of
that happy period, when literature and science shall be pervaded
by its sentiments, and reason bow Before its shrine, let us join in
the prayer of the Christian poet :

Return, O light, return to this thy world,

And purify the human intellect.

How glorious then, when every mental power,

Baptized to thee, and by thy hand controlled,

Shall yield its valued tribute at thy feet.

Art shall adore, and science worship thee,

The pulpit preach the g'ories of thy name,

Philosophy majestic in her stops

Shall bear her priceless treasures to thy throne,

And feel herself exalted to a height

Of unexampled grandeur.

And poetry redeemed from infamy,

Rise to the height of her celestial powers,

And grasping heaven and earth in her embrace,

Sing in melodious thunder, they are one.

Young ladies of the Graduating Class : — I address you collect-
ively for the last time from this place. Before another week you
will be scattered far and wide, never more to meet again in the lov-
ing relations you have sustained for these many months and years-
In the hour of parting I express for myself and all my associates
in Church and College work, the most earnest desire for your wel-
fare. - Many of you during the past two years have given yourselves
publicly to the Lord Jesus Christ, and entered upon the enjoy-
ments of christian life. In now passing out from the guardianship
and necessary restraints of student life, let your conduct be such

THE HIGIiiSST WISDOM. 3/1

as will assure the world that your profession has been sincere.
When Hedley Vicars returned to ius home in England, after his
conversion, it is said " the heart of his widowed mother san j for
joy, as she marked the exceeding grace of God in her son." I
trust that the loved ones in your different homes may see an
amiability in your conduct which mental culture n^ r can produce-
An educated woman, whose heart has been divinely possessed, has
possibilities of vast influence. Her opportunities are many and her
responsibilities great Nor can she ever engage in a nobler work
than devoting her highest attainments to the advancement of God's
cause and kingdom upon earth.

Your attainments in literature and science are varied, and so
will be your acquisitions in grace. Where one gains the prize in
earthly pursuits, many fall short. But in christian service there is
not only a place for the humblest agent, but none come short of a
glorious recompense. You may not all occupy prominent positions,
but you can conscientiously do something in your different spheres
to add to the sum of human happiness. The rippling streamlet
moves not for itself alone, but adds its quota to the mighty ocean,
where fleets of ships carry the merchandize of the world. And a
soul fired with holy zeal may put in motion mighty forces, that
shall move society and elevate the race. It is indeed pitiful to see
how many educated women, at the close of their college curriculum,
enter upon lives of fashionable folly, and act as if existence were a
masquerade, and toil of mind and body rude and vulgar. Educa-
tion has certainly not served its purpose, when it leaves man or
woman supercilious, haughty, indolent and sluggish ; far less, when
it leads them to devote precious time and talents to trifling employ-
ments that are unworthy of an immortal soul. The experience and
reward of her who dreams life away in luxury and voluptuousness,
and by plunging into scenes of excitement and passion strives to
suppress the thought of a coming judgment, must be sad indeed.

373 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

She has chosen the world

And its paltry crowd,
She has chosen the world

And an endless shroud ;
She has chosen the world

With its misnamed pleasures,
She has chosen the world

Before heaven's best treasures.

We hope better things of you, though we thus speak. When
you go back to your several places of abode, let your sunny smile
and happy temperament cheer and beautify your several dwellings ;
disappoint not the fond hopes of parents and friends, who now re-
joice with you in your joy ; live so that you may be missed and
mourned when death calls you home, and then it shall be said to
you : " Well done, thou good and faithful servant : thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things :
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

The One Thing Needful.

"Martha, Martha, thoa'Art careful and troubled about many thiiigs ;
but one thing is needfnl, and Mary bath chosen that good part, which
shall not be taken away from her."

-Luke 10, V. 41.

The One Thing Needful.

HE narrative from which the text is taken illustrates a
striking characteristic of our Lord's teaching : that of
deducing practical truths, and enforcing spiritual les-
sons from the most common-place occurrences of every
c^ day life. Nothing connected with humanity was beneath
the Saviour's notice.
Christ was on a visit to the sisters at Bethany. He was their
intimate friend, and gladly shared their hospitality, giving them in
return words of commendation or gentle rebuke as occasion de-
manded. Mary and Martha, although sisters, moved in entirely
different spheres, and were cast in different moulds. Their tem-
pers and dispositions were exceedingly unlike. Mary was the type
of the contemplative christian. The serenity and repose of her
countenance indicated the holy calm that reigned within. She
seerijed too gentle for this world — one of those angelic beings, whom
God sends once in a while to bless the world, before they take their
flight to their native heaven. In the world, she was not of it. She
was absorbed in higher themes than earth afforded. Her love had

(375)

37^ THE CIIURCn AND THE COMMONWKALTH.

hci^^hts and depths, but little outward expression. She sat at the
feet of Jesus drinking; in the words that fell from his lips, and in
silent worship bending down before the adorable Redeemer. On
the other hand, Martha was the type of an active, energetic, self-
denying and self-sacrificing christian. When Christ came to Heth-
any, nothing was left undone that could possibly minister to his
comfort. She made the house ring with her quick flying footsteps,
and with her practical turn of mind was admirably suited for the
cares of the household.

Both sisters were sincere followers and friends of Christ, although
they manifested their love in very different ways. Mary gave evi-
dence of her regard by simply listening and looking into the face
of Christ — Martha by busying herself ovcnnuch to show kindness
to her Lord. Such was the aspect of the family at Bethany when
Christ uttered the words of the text. Martha had been bustling
f(jr hours, attending to the wants of the household, when she came
upon her sister Mary, who was sitting in calm composure at the
feet of Jesus. She seemed annoyed that she should take so little
interest in what, to her, were matters of great importance ; and in
a spirit of censoriousness said : " Lord, dost thou not care that my
sister hath left me to serve alone ? Bid her therefore that she help
me." Jesus reminds her in his reply, that while this present life
demands attction, there is a nobler existence which must not be
neglected. While the poor perishing body must be fed, the yearn-
ings of the immortal soul must also be satisfied. For as he else-
where says : " Man shall not live by bread aione, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

I do not understand the words addressed to Martha to be such
a direct condemnation of her conduct as some affirm. Indeed, it is
open to question whether Jesus rebuked Martha at all. There are
two different ways in which the language may be construed. " Mar-
tha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, of

THE ONE THING NEEDFUL. 377

comparative minor importance, but Mary htis chosen the pood part
— has done right In contrast with thy wrong," or " Martha, Martha,
thou art careful and troubled about many things" — which is com-
mendable, but Mary's course, though different from thine, is also
commendable, for she hath chosen the good part." Martha is
nowhere represented as a selfish, worldly woman, but a genuine
child of God. It was Martha, standing near the grave of her brother,
who said : " I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God,
God will give it thee. I know that he shall rise again in the resur-
rection at the last day. Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the
Christ, the son of God, which should come into the world." The
common idea that Jesus had a decided preference for Mary over
Martha, and that pensive, meditative, passive christians, arc better
than active, healthy workers, is not sustained by the text. Christ
loved both the sisters. Martha's error lay not so much in her ac-
tivity and zeal, as in the seemingly unjust reproach she cast upon
her sister Mary. She thought that Mary was idle when she sat at
the Saviour's feet, while Jesus assures her that the highest service
upon earth is communion with heaven. We are not hastily to con-
clude that all christians must have the contemplative character of
Mary to ensure the Saviour's commendation. Some can never be
like Mary, and others can never be like Martha. Grace, while it
ennobles the affections, purifies the desires, and gives to life a
grander and higher aim than before conversion, does not recre-
ate the natural constitution. It leaves the man of active, sanguine,
impulsive temperament as active and as busy as before, but it turns
the energies of his nature in another direction. It leaves the man
of reserved and meditative mind as reserved and studious as before,
but places before him grander subjects than the philosophies or
sciences of the earth. The world at the present day needs both
types of character. She needs her Moses and Aaron and Hurr,
praying upon the mount, and her valiant soldiers fighting in the

378 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

valley ; her Johns as well as her Peters ; her sweet persuaslx'c
preachers, as well as her sons of thunder. She needs men and
women, who by the omnipotent power of a holy life prove the real-
ity of religion, as well as her consecrated ministers upon the watch
towers of Zion. There is room for all, and a place where each one
may do his part. Only let the active cultivate a spirit of devotion,
and the contemplative dedicate their talents to the practical duties
of a holy life. As the poet says :

Be Martha still in deed and good behavior,
In faith like Mary at his feet forever.

The question has often been debated whether society is most
indebted to men of thought or men of action. Both are necessary.
" The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee." That
form of piety that works upon visible materials, and that which
works upon the invisible : — the piety which is developed toward
this world, and that which is developed toward the other world, —
are each in their own place, working out the same grand designs.
The one is busy with acts — the other with thoughts ; the one is
doing — the other is pondering. The Marys who sit at the feet of
Jesus, know not how much they owe to the Marthas, who take the
burden of the household cares ; nor do the Marthas realize how
much of their success in the busy activities of life, is due to the
Marys, who by their secret intercessions, call down upon them the
benediction of heaven !

Now, the tendency of the present day, it seems to me, is to copy
Martha rather than Mary. The intense activity of the age is pro-
ducing a class of women, who, if not equal in faith to Martha, have
in a large measure her spirit of censoriousness and fault-finding.
They are cumbered with much serving, not at home, but in com-
mittee rooms and other public places of resort. And, because
others have not the same gifts or tastes, they rebuke them for being
indifferent to the claims of humanity. These women are doubtless

THE ONE THING NEEDFUL. 379

clever and voluble — they have little sympathy with delicate feel-
ings, and are at home in ail the externals of religion. They can
pray and preach in public — rebuke and exhort — canvass from door
to door like trained politicians, and courageous ly withstand criti-
cism and reproach. To use the words of another, " They are never
cool, but when in hot water, and never sleep, but as a top on the
spin." • .

We do not question the piety or zeal of such workers. As the
sappers and miners of the army, they do the roughest worK of Chris-
tianity. But let them not forget that there are more ways than
one of serving Christ. In a grand organ no two pipes give forth
the same sound. Yet the same breath gives voice to all, and all
are made to speak by the same master, each pipe according to its
size and voicing. " The little piccolo that makes the melody glitter
as if a bird were singing in mid air, is doing quite as well as the
deep bass tones that uphold all tunes." A strife, arising among
the pipes, because one speaks oftener and louder than another,
would not be more foolish than are the uncharitable judgments
passed upon the best of women by their stronger and less sensitive
sisters. Because a woman cannot speak on a platform — cannot
grasp the details of business — cannot besiege the strongholds of
sin according to the modern style of assault — let it not be said that
her life is in vain. Constant activity of the kind so popular at the
present day is far more dangerous than protracted devotions. It is
calculated to rob woman of all that is gentle and amiable, and to
lessen that indescribable influence which she possesses in society,
not by mingling with party combatants, but by standing apart and
silently rebuking existing wrongs. The Marys have their functions
in the church and the world, as much h3 the Marthas. "The
Marthas supply the business-like prose — the Marys the poetry of
religion. The Marthas rear the needful things of life in the garden
of the Lord — the Marys cultivate its flowers. The Marthas serve

380 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

the meals of the household of faith — the Marys bring the costly
spikenard. In the divine ceremonial, the Marthas give the sacri-
fices, the Marys the sweet incense ; and as "the house was filled
with the odor of her ointment," so the spiritual temple of God is
fragrant with their perfumes. If the refinement and sensibility of
the Marys did nothing else than breathe a softness into, and spread
a bloom over service and work, otherwise hard and coarse, they
would still be precious.

Remembering that Christ's words were addressed to a christian
woman, it surely cannot be out of pla'-e to ask the questions, are
not many of God's people cumbered with much serving, and careful
and troubled about many things ? Is there not a danger of allow-
ing personal piety to decay by over-much attention to inferior con-
cerns ? The evil is not in being busy, but in the method — the ex-
tent — the objects which engross the attention. The business of life
and the distractions and harassing cares of the household and the
world, unfit for spiritual enjoyment, and steal from us precious
hours that should be sacred and devoted to fellowship with the un-
seen. The demands of daily existence and the abundant mission-
ary efforts and enterprises which evangelical churches are engaged
in, have the tendency to make us forget personal piety. We lack
the depth of religious feeling, and the glowof piety which prevailed
in earlier times. While cultivating the vineyards of others, we are
in danger of neglecting our own.

Now, says Christ, one thing is needful. We need the working
activity, and we also need the silent tenderness. We are not to
spend all our time in meditation, but we are to go about our work
without undue noise — moving as the planets, with their calm light
and placid majesty, around the orbs of heaven. Addressing as I
do, those who stand upon the threshold of active life — who are soon
to mingle in society, and leave their impress for weal or woe upon
companions and society at large — need I say, that many things are

THE ONE THING NEEDFUL. 381

needful. Culture and education of mind and manners are needful :
purity of soul and chastity of lips are needful : grace in deportment
and gracefulness are needed : decision of character and woman-
liness are necessary, — firmness in resisting evil — tenderness towards
the unfortunate and sympathy for the afflicted are needful ; — in a
word, whatever will make your lives more illustrious and commen-
dable in the sight of God and man. " Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be
any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
" Covet earnestly the best gifts," but yet, as the apostle adds, 1 show
unto you a more excellent way. Recognizing eternity in the near
distance, only one thing is needful, — a simple faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and child-like reliance upon the promises of the gos-
pel. What was needful in the days of Martha and Mary, is needful
now. We have no new gospel to offer, and no other remedy for
the salvation of the soul. All other schemes have failed. " Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

This is the one thing needful, for if not possessed, there is noth-
ing else that can supply its place. Earthly riches are not to be
despised, and the good opinion of our fellow-men is desirable, and
rectitude of life is praiseworthy, but none or these things can atone
for past sins, or secure our acceptance in the great day of God.
The young ruler who came to Christ had all these qualities, but in
the end was a castaway. " Men who content themselves with mere
negative righteousness, will at last find heaven's gates bolted upon
them with a double bolt." It is needful to iive by. Supposing
there was no other existence beyond the present, faith in Jesus
Christ, and a life devoted to the requirements of the christian re-
ligion, are a positive advantage. " Godliness is profitable unto all
things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is
to come." It is needful to die by. Even Baalam the false prophet

383 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

admitted this, when he said : " Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his." To many of you death seems far
in the distance, and need not for many years be anticipated, but as
Seneca says, " Though death is before the old man's face, yet he
may be as near the young man's back." If it find you out of Christ
no power can save you. The one thing needful is available now,
not then. " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon
him while he is near."

Away then — Oh fly

From the joys of earth I
Her smile is a lie — ^^ ' i •

There's a ating in her mirth. ,

Come, leave the dreams

Of this transient night,
And bask in the beams

Of an endless light.
For the human heart

Can ne'er conceive
What joys are the part , .

Of them who believe.

If you would have an old age calm and beautiful, you must, like
Mary, sit much at the feet of Jesus. Never neglect private devo-
tion — never neglect daily communion with God through His Word
— never let a day pass without aiming to do something for the good
of others. Longfellow, the American poet, in a pleasant letter to a
friend, recently wrote : " To those who ask how I can write so
many things that sound as if I were as happy as a boy, please say
that there is in this neighborhood a pear tree planted by Governor
Endicott 200 years ago, and that it still bears fruit, not to be dis-
tinguished from the young tree in flavor. I suppose the tree makes
new wood every year, so that some part of it is always young.
Perhaps that is the way with some men when they grow old. I
hope it is so with me." The morning of life improved prepares us
for a long day of usefulness, and ensures a golden sunset. " Those

THE ONE THING NEEDFUL. 383

that be planted in the house of the Lod shall flourish in the courts
of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age ; they
shall be fat and flourishing."

Young ladies of the graduating class, — This evening, as under-
graduates of the college, you listen for the last time to my voice.
Although we have no certainty when we leave the house of God at
any time that we shall all meet again, there is an almost absolute
certainty in present circumstances that we never shall. It is, there-
fore, to speaker and hearers a solemn moment. I cannot but feel
that your future conduct has been to some extent moulded and
directed by the impressions made in this place, nor can I cease to
follow you with my fervent prayers and fondest wishes. I look
beyond this little span of life to the judgment seat of Christ, and I
ask myself, shall our relations to each other be as pleasant as they
have been during past years ? Shall we continue to study together
those higher problems that belong to the exalted state beyond the
grave ?

My relations to you have been — as friend, teacher and pastor —
of the happiest kind. There has been unbroken harmony from the
beginning to the end of your college course. And now, ere you
leave, allow me to say, that the brightest adornment of woman's
character is piety. I have admired your lady-like deportment, your
devotion to study, your progress in knowledge, and your purity of
conversation. But above and beyond all these, I charge you to
seek holiness of heart, without which the brightest attainments and
the most fascinating graces are worthless. I have no cause to doubt
that you have already chosen the good part, which shall never be
taken from you. Some of you have been led under my ministry
to give yourself to Christ, and all of you, I feel, are in heart the
Lord's. My dear young friends, do not stand upon the threshold
of the christian life, debating as to what is the path of duty, but
constrained by Him who died for you, give yourselves, body and

3^)4 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

soul and spirit, to the service of Christ, for time and eternity ! Life
is brief. Although since the establishment of the college no death
has occurred among the students, there have been many breaches
in your households. Fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers,
have been taken. What do such visitations teach ? That our time
on earth is uncertain — that our opportunities for work arc fast pass-
ing away. "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom
in the grave, whither thou gocst." The present is to you the seed
time of life. Upon it depends what your place shall be, and what
part you shall act in coming years. Improved, it will render life
memorable and useful. Unimproved or misimproved, it will fill
the heart with woe, and the memory with sorrow.

There are gains for all our Ios8o«,
There are balms for all our painp,

But when youth, the dream departs,

It takes something from our hearts,
And it never comes again.

Something beautiful is vanished,
And we sigh for it in vain,
But it never comes again.

JJ^LIGION AND THE QjTATE

•25

Saint Andrew's Day.

t .■■ - ; , ■■■ ■<' '

* " One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first 6ndeth his own brother Simon,
and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is being inter*
preted the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus."

—John 1, V. 40, 41, 42.

*Thi8 difloonne, and the following five, wen addressed to the Saint Andrew's
Benevolent Sooiety, of Brantford.

Saint Andrew's Day.

ME day carries us back in memory to martyr times. On
the thirtieth of November, St. Andrew, now known as the
patron saint of Scotland, died, after two days' suffering
upon the cross. The history of the Apostle is compara-
tively brief. From the Gospel record we learn that he
was a native of Bethsaida, a town of Galilef:, on the shore of the
lake of Gcnesareth : — that he was a fisherman by occupation, and
brother of the Apostle Peter. While prosecuting his business, he
became a disciple of John the Baptist, and finally was called by
Christ to become a fisher of men. From the passage before us we
also learn that he was one of the two disciples who accompanied
John the Baptist, when looking upon Jesus, the preacher of the
desert exclaimed : " Behold the Lamb of God."

Having been baptized he became a follower and disciple of
Jesus. His name is mentioned as present on several important oc-
casions when Christ manifested his miraculous power, notably at
the mc.vellous draught of fishes, and when the five thousand were
fed with the five barley loaves and two fishes. Having at the com-

(389)

»00 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTIL

mand of Christ left his fishing boat he gave himself entirely to the
work of tnc Apostlcship. From the pages of history we learn that
taking Scyihia and thi adjoining countries for his province, he
travelled over Cappadocia, Galatia and Uithynia teaching and
preaching the gospel and baptizing converts to the faith. Thence
wc follow him to the Kuxine sea, to Nice, Nicomcdia and Chalcc-
don and other parts, where he met with great discouragements, and
suffered fierce persecution, chiefly at the hands of his Jewish coun-
trymen. On one occasion an attempt was made to burti the room
in which i.e dwelt. He was also treated with savage cruelty, beat
with clubs, pelted with stones, lacerated in the flesh, and cast with-
out the city as dead. Having recovered, he resumed his work, trav-
elling over large tracts of country until he came to Byzantium, the
modern Constantinople, where he founded the first christian church
and ordained the first Bishop of that place. Banished again out of
that city, he went over Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Achaia and
Epirus, and finally came to Patrae, acity of Achaia, where he sealed
his testimony with his blood.

The immediate cause o<* his martyrdom was the effects of his
preaching upon the populace. Multitudes of the inhabitants hav-
ing renounced Paganism and embraced Christianity, the pro-Consul
denounced him as an innovator and propagator of that superstition,
whose author the Jews had crucified upon the cross, and threatened
him with like crucifixion, should he continue to seduce the people
from sacrificing to the gods. Refusing to desist he was cast into
prison. Rejecting all overtures of clemency, conditioned upon his
abjuring the christian religion, sentence of death was passed upon
him — a death preceded by the most excruciating tortures which
have ever bet. .iflicted upon mortal man. First he was scourged,
seven lictors in succession lashing his naked body, and then, in
order more surely to add to his agony, and task the invincible
patience and fortitude he had exhibited, he was commanded to be

SAINT ANDREW'S DAY. 39I

crucified — not fastened, however, with nails to the cross, as was
customary, but with curds, so that his death might be more linger*
ing and painful.

Arriving at the cross, he spoke cheerfully of his approaching
end — that he had long desired and expected that happy hour —
that the cross had been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging
upon it, and adorned with his members as with so many inestimable
jewels ; that he came joyful and triumphant to it, that it might re-
ceive him as a disciple and follower of Him who once hung upon it
and be the means to carry him safely to his Master and Redeemer.
Having hung for forty-eight hours upon the cross, he prayed earn-
estly that he might depart, and seal the truth of his religion with
his blood, which he did on the last day of November, towards the
close of the first christian century.

It is of little importance why St. Andrew, rather than any other
of the Apostles, has been chosen as the patron saint of Scotland.
The mythical and marvellous stories invented, concerning his bones
may be passed by as part of the superstitions of a by-gone agCf
characterized by the worship of relics, and pilgrimages to the tombs
and shrines of martyrs. More important is it that we should study
his life, and endeavor to emulate his labors foi the good of men and
the glory of God. A society that takes his name ought to have
such objects in view as are in keeping with the religion and prac-
tice of the apostolic age.

St. Andrew was possessed of an earnest desire to benefit his
race Saved himself, he was eager to bring others to a knowledge
of the truth. He did not hide his light under a bushel, but regarded
himself as under obligation to make converts wherever his lot was
cast. His earliest efforts were put forth in behalf of his own rela-
tions. " He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto
him, we have found the Christ." Nor did he rest until he had
brought him to Jesus. Thus having been instrumental in adding

392 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

another one to the little band of Christ's followers — one who be-
came a mighty man of faith and valor — he was prepared to go to
the regions beyond, and preach the gospel alike to the heathen and
Jewish world.

This society then, on behalf of which we plead, is a christian
society. It is the product of that religion which Christ founded in
the world, and which men like St. Andrew were commissioned to
preach.

It is indeed the only system of religion that has made syste-
matic benevolence a part of its piety, and enforced upon its mem-
bers the duty and privilege of caring for the bodies, as well as the
souls of men. Par;anism never taught its devotees the charity and
humanity of the New Testament. Deism has no place in its creed
for the true exercise of such emotions. Nor have the most polished
and cultivated nations of antiquity ever recognized or fostered such
impulses. You search literature in vain, prior to the advent of
Christ and the promulgation of Christianity, for such language as is
used by the Apostle James when enforcing the royal law of love.
" Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and
heirs of His Kingdom. If a brother or sister be naked and desti-
tute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, ' Depart in peace,
be ye warmed and filled ; ' notwithstanding ye give them not those
things which are needful for the boly ; what doth it profit? Even
so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

We glory in the benevolent and patriotic institutions of our land
— our hospitals — our asylums for the blind, the deaf and dumb, and
the insane — our homes for the incurable and for the inebriate — and
our educational system, which has no superior in the world. And
we have cause for gratitude that we live in an age and in a country
where such things exist. But to what are these due ? They are
the natural results of those grand fundamental principles, enunci-
ated by Christ in his sermon on the mount — principles which are

SAINT ANDREW'S DAY. 393

fast becoming the accepted creed of every nation under heaven ;
and among which stands pre-eminent, " Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy."

As a Christian Society, it recognizes the brotherhood of human-
ity — that God hath made of one blood, all nations of men, for to
dwell on all the face of the earth ; — that the body politic is one and
hath many meinbers, and that we are each dependent, the one upon
the other. " The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of
thee ; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. The
members should have the same care one for another, and whether
one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one member
be honored, all the members rejoice with it."

This principle was literally accepted and acted upon by the
early Apostolic Church. After the day of Pentecost, " they had all
things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted
them to all men, as every man had need." In our day, and in the
greatly altered circumstances of society, such an equalization of
this world's goods may neither be desirable nor practicable. Com-
munism, as now advocated, is antagonistic to Christianity, and sub-
versive of law and order. But the poor we shall always have with
us, whatever be the commercial condition of the country. " The
poor shall never cease out of the land," said Moses to the Israelites,
prior to their occupation of Canaan ; " therefore I command thee,
saying. Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy
poor, and to thy needy." Nor ought we to regard appeals made
in their behalf as vexatious. The rich need the poor as much as
the poor need the rich. It is hard to say which is most benefited
by the commerce of human sympathy that passes from the one to
the other. " He that hath pity upon the poor lendcth unto the
Lord ; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Not
as a ground of self-righteousness, but as a practical evidence of our
holy religion, let us covet the high distinction claimed by the patri-

394 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

arch Job : " When the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and when
the eye saw me, it gave witness of me. Because I delivered the
poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help
him. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. The
blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I
caused the widow's heart to sing for joy."

I appeal to-night m behalf of a society which has for its main
object the succor of the poor and the helping of the friendless and
unfortunate. As such it has a special claim upon the natives of
Scotland and their descendants in Canada. In the dispensing of
charity its object is two-fold ; to give at this season of the year
timely assistance to the widows and families of Scotchmen, who
have been left to fight a hard battle against poverty, and who are
exceedingly reticent as to their pressing wants ; and next to aid
Scotchmen who have been reduced in worldly circumstances by no
act of their own, and who are forced to wander from place to place
in search of work. I can testify to the good that this society has
accomplished during the past year in both these respects. Every
dollar of members' fees and other monies collected, have been
sacredly devoted to the relieving of the pocr. Nor has this been
done indiscriminately. Every case has been minutely examined,
and only the really deserving have been aided.

I enter into these details, for I am aware that there are some
Scotchmen, who, instead of aiding, rather depreciate the work of
this society. Fault finding is so easy and so useful, when the
claims of such societies are urged, that I do not wonder it is so.
There are men who have reasons always at hand for refusing aid
to every good object in the church and out of it. They give noth-
ing to Home Missions or Foreign Missions — to christian associa-
tions, or St. Andrew's Societies. They refuse to give to the one
class of objects, because they are denominational, and they refuse to
give to the other, because they are not denominational. With such

SAINT ANDREW'S DAY. |95

men it is folly to reason. They are so encased in selfishness as to
be deaf to all appeals. But there are other good men, who stand
aloof and refuse to associate with such societies, from a feeling that
they accomplish but little in the way of relieving the distressed.
Need I say that even were it so, such an attitude is unpatriotic and
unwise. Imperfections adhere to every society on earth. The
Church of Christ itself is far from a perfect organization. But just
in so far as such national benevolent societies are capable of im-
provement in the details of management, do they appeal to the
best men in our community for support and counsel. Every
Scotchman who has a particle of love for his native land, should be
enrolled as a member, and cheerfully assist his brethren in the noble
work of rescuing the perishing and giving food to the famishing,
who are bound to us by the tender ties of blood and kindred.

I will not waste time to discuss the oft-repeated absurdity that
English or Irish or Scottish societies foster bigotry, and detract
from that pure fervid love of our adopted country that so becomes
us. Those who talk so, seldom do anything for their country, and
are the first to leave it when danger threatens. Apart from the
actual charity disbursed from year to year, such societies by their
annual celebrations not only preserve the hallowed memories of
other days, but help us to value all the more highly the land which
the Lord hath given us. Surely it is becoming to think well of
and speak well of our native soil, —while at the same time we bend
our energies to build up new nations, that are destined to perpetu-
ate, and it may be, excel the glory of the past. National pride,
when subject to reason and justice, and void of annoyance towards
others, is a virtue. Apart, however, from this consideration, the
existence of such societies is a necessity in our land. Where they
are rightly administered by skilful officers, they afford relief to the
deserving poor and the distressed in times of need, while they pre-
vent imposition and dishonesty. And to the man of most slender

39^ THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

means, they present an opportunity of sharing in the honor of pre-
serving that noble independence which has so long been associated
with Scottish character.

We are comparatively a young nation. As such we have the
making of our character, and the adjusting of our taxation. Any-
thing that footers self-reliance, industry and independence, should
be regarded with favor. Once a man becomes so destitute of self-
respect as to prefer the workhouse to an honest livelihood, his use-
fulness as a member of society is at an end. If you ask of British
statesmen what is the greatest drain upon the national exchequer,
and what is the greatest social problem of the age, they will answer
— pauperism. The time was, when in Scotland paupers were almost
unknown. Half a centurj' ago, when George the Fourth visited
Edinburgh, he was so struck with the well-dressed and comfortable
crowds of people that greeted his arrival, that he asked where all
the poor people were. But a change rapid and alarming has taken
place since that date. Now, we are told, one in nine of the popu-
lation is more or less dependent upon state aid. How is this to be
accounted for ? Pauperism has beaten philanthropy ! No country
in the world has more charities than Scotland, but the more
numerous the charities the faster is the increase of misery and
destitution !

The lesson taught us is plain. It is not by legalizing pauper-
ism or building workhouses that we best promote thrift and indus-
try ; but by rendering timely aid to those who, if neglected too
long, may lose heart in the struggle for existence, and become per-
manent burdens upon society.

Surely then I need say nothing in behalf of such charity. Many
whom I now address look back upon the time, when strangers in a
strange land, sympathy and aid, however small, was encouraging,
and breathed hope into the heart. It is not the amount so much
as the spirit that prompts the gift that is valued by the honest, but

SAINT ANDREW'S DAY. 397

hard driven sojourner. It is the feeh'ng that poverty is not a crime,
and that there is help and respect for those who bravely set them-
selves to conquer in the struggle of existence, and win an honorable
name among their fellowmen. By some of us, I fear, it is consid-
ered wicked to be poor, as has been well said by a writer in a weekly
journal: "In church we avouch the blessedness of poverty, and
accept with fervor all the fine things that can be said about it. But
this is poverty in the abstract. Picturesque poverty — long ago
poverty, mellowed and tempered with the halo of ages, and not the
actual poverty of the day is the sort of thing we associate with bea-
titudes. On Sunday when it does not intrude itself in church, we
half admit that real poverty may be cousin-german to scriptural
poverty. But that impression does not survive Monday morning*
Then our sentimental notions are dissipated, and we act in a man-
ner that implies that the rich are the salt of the earth, that to " get
on " : J the true kingdom of heaven, and that misfortune is a sin '

It is sad, but true, that the only alternatives offered, to a very
large proportion of the population of Scotland, is emigration or
poverty. And of those who by dire necessity have been compelled
to leave their native land, many have risen to distinction. They
have proved themselves :

A manly race
Of unsabmitting spirit, wise and brave,
Impatient, and by tempting glory borne
O'er every land — for every land their life,
Has flowed profuse.

Brethren, we cannot afford to refuse charity. I put it on the
low ground of one's own interests. The heart demands some ob-
ject to call forth sympathy. We need to be brought into contact
with poverty and suffering that the higher and tenderer emotions
of our nature may be exercised. The poor and the rich are equally
and mutually dependent. The poor need the rich to help them —
the rich need the poor to expand their sympathies and develop the

398 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMON>VEALTH.

^race of benevolence. Nay, even when we know that our alms
have been misapplied, if we have given in the right spirit, we are
abundantly rewarded, although the gift has been abused. The
man who systematically refuses aid to the poor and perishing, be-
cause he has been repeatedly imposed upon, is impoverishing his
own soul, and will eventually become a sordid and avaricious de-
votee of the world, as dead and dormant in his affections and sym-
pathies as the Egyptian mummy of the Pyramids, that has been
hidden for many thousand years in the damp and gloomy vault.

Do I need to stimulate the members of this society and christ-
ians in general to the practice of charity ? Have you never felt the
joy of doing good, that costs some sacrifice and self-denial ? The
act may after all be insignificant, but like spring flowers, it breathes
forth the sweetest incense. Ah ! there are men and women here, I
fear, who never make sacrifices to help the Lord's poor, and seldom
give the smallest mite out of their abundance to mitigate human
suffering. I have known professing christian women, who could
weep by the hour over the latest novel, with its imaginary case of
disappointed love, and yet the next day " turn away with cold in-
difference from the homeless orphan, whose bony hand is extended
for charity, and whose very rap pleads with an eloquence stronger
and more touching than words." I have known not a few, who
aimed to be leaders of the fashionable world, and were never absent
from " the opening day " at our millinery stores — who were too
poor to give a dollar to a bereaved family and sent the starving
beggar from the door, without even a crust of bread I And I have
known professing christian men, who could spend large amounts in
political contests, and in costly entertainments, who begrudged
their paltry dollar to aid the members of this society, in helping
their poorer brethren and sisters in the cold of winter ! The riches
of such men shall yet be corrupted and their garments moth eaten.
Their gold and silver shall become cankered, the rust of them shall

SAINT ANDREW'S DAY. 399

be a witness against them, and shall eat their flesh as it were fire.
Ye who dispise the Lord's poor ones, and close your cars to the
pitying cry of want, and steel your hearts against their pressing
importunities, hear what the Almighty says : " Hath not God
chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the king-
dom. He that oppresseth the poor reproachcth his Maker ; but he
that honoreth Him hath mercy on the poor. If there be among
you a poor man of one of thy brethren, thou shalt not harden thy
heart nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother ; but thou shalt
open thine hand wide unto him. For the poor shall never cease
out of the land ; therefore I command thcc saying : Thou shalt
open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy
needy in thy land."

Far above all national considerations, the grand motive that
should impel us to every act of charity is love to the Master we
profess. Our gifts arc not so valuable when given from other mo-
tives. No man can love his fellow-man with unselfish affection,
who does not love his Creator. It is a sense of our indebtedness
to sovereign grace that makes the heart overflow with sympathy
and tenderness towards the unfortunate. In the person of the poor
we tenderly touch the heart of the Saviour, who will not forget our
acts of self-denial. " I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I
was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took
me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; sick, and ye visited me ; in
prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king-
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Presuming that you count it a far greater honor to be members
of Christ's Church, than of any society on earth, permit me to say,
that our work is only begun when we have cared for men's tem-
poral wants. Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. Our fellow-

400 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

men may not lack this world's goods, but every human being,
whatever his outward circumstances arc, needs a Saviour from sin.
And when occasion offers, if we do not follow the example of the
apostle, we are unworthy of his name. " Silver and gold have I
none, but such as I have I give thee,'' said Peter to the lame man,
who begged alms at the temple. He received more than he
expected ; for immediately, at the bidding of the apostle, he rose
up, walking and leaping and praising God. And thus may we also
be instrumental in ministering to the more claimant necessities of
the soul, while we care for the body. In this, Christianity has
greatly the advantage of secularism, which looks no farther than
the present life. It regards man as immortal — as possessed of
yearnings and aspirations, which time can never satisfy. It teaches
that while the bread that perisheth is needful for present susten-
ance, the bread which cometh down from heaven can alone appease
the hunger of the soul. Of that bread, if a man eats, he shall
never die.

There are two extremes to be avoided in dealing with the poor.
One is, unduly pressing upon them religious obligations when hun-
ger remams unsatisfied, and when they are driven to desperation
in their endeavors to provide the necessaries of life. The other is,
abstaining entirely from all reference to religious matters when dis-
pensing our charity. Many good people, lacking in tact and com-
mon sense, create opposition and destroy their good intentions by
untimely conversations on the most solemn topics that can engross
the mind ; while others, forgetful of the one thing needful, satisfy
themselves by providing for temporal wants alone. Not thus did
Christ By a wise and wonderful use of the common blessings of
life, to illustrate the deeper wants cf man's spiritual nature, He
never failed to call attention to the imperishable treasures at God's
rigfht fend.

SAINT ANDREW'S DAY.

401

Christian citizenship, my brethren, is a vast responsibility. To
live as related to both worlds— to shrink from no burden imposed
upon us by the commonwealth, while at the same time loyal to the
higher claims of heaven, is a task which few of us discharge. God
grant us increasing grace and wisdom to act with due regard
to both.

•26

l^OW BEST QTLJi WE

Provide for the Poor?

"Blesifld is he that conaidereth the poor ; the Lord will deliver him

in time of trouble."

—Psalm 41, V. 1.

" For the poor shall never cease out of the land ; therefore I com-
mand thee, saying. Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to

thy poor, and to thy needy in the land."

— Deuteronomy JB, v. 11.

" What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith
and have not works 1 Oan faith save him Y If a brother or sister be
naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them. Depart
in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those
things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit 1 Even so faith,
if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

—James 2, v. 14 17.

How Best Can we Provide for the Poor ?

E ARE accustomed to think that poverty belongs only to
a modern age, and that it is mainly the result of inordi-
nate selfishness and greed, which makes one portion of
society the prey of the other, and yet we find, in the land
that flowed with milk and honey, and where the people
were directly God-governed, that the indigent and poor were found,
and made a peculiar charge upon their richer brethren. Nor are
we to expect that it will ever be otherwise.

In all conditions of society, and in every age of the world, there
will be the poor and destitute, who depend for their precarious sup-
port, or for such help as enables them to live, upon the kindness of
others. It is of God's appointment that it should be so. " The
Lord maketh poor and maketh rich ; He bringeth low and lifteth
up." " The poor shall never cease out of the land : therefore I
command thee, saying : Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy
brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy in the land." In the spirit
of such statements, we find that under the Jewish law provision
was made for the poor of the congregation of Israel. " Six years
thou shalt sow the land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof ; but

(40s)

406 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

the seventh year, thou shalt let it rest and h'e still ; that the poor
of thy people may eat." "When ye reap the harvest of your land,
thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt
thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. Thou shalt leave them
for the poor and the stranger." "If there be among you a poor
man, of one of thy brethren, in thy land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand
from thy poor brother ; but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto
him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which
he wanteth." In the New Testament we also find the members of
the Apostolic Church sharing their substance with their poorer
brethren. On the day of Pentecost they sold their possessions, and
parted them to all men, as every man had need. The churches of
Macedonia were specially distinguished for assistance rendered the
poor saints at Jerusalem. " Beyond their power they are willing —
praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and
take upon us the ministering to ♦^he saints." And in this connec-
tion the Apostle Paul states the grand motive to the exercise of
christian charity. " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich."

The scriptures abundantly show the care which the Almighty
has for the poor. -He forgets not their distresses ; He hears their
prayers ; He maintains their rights ; He delivers them from ex-
pected ill, and is their refuge in the day of trouble. This care of
the poor is also a duty devolving upon all God's people. To neg-
lect it is inconsistent with the christian profession, and is accounted
neglect of Christ himself " Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye
did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

Doubtless in many cases poverty is the result of indolence,
drunkenness and prodigality. Begging has become a profession.
If the statements we read in the newspapers are true, " the tramp "

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 407

moves about with as much precision and order in his caUing as the
most energetic and pushing commercial traveller. The land is
mapped out, and assigned to mendicants, according to their experi-
ence and proficiency in their calling. That there is much truth in
such statements, every householder in town or city will be ready to
corroborate. At certain seasons of the year they swarm like the
locusts of Egypt, but in every season they arc abundantly plentiful
They meet in bands at the corners of our streets, where th'.y con-
sult and plan out the campaign ; then separating, take their respect-
ive beats, and meet again at an appointed rendezvous, to divide the
spoils and count their gains.

As a class their physical man belies their calling, for life in the
open air and plenty of good food, and the absence of hard labor
gives them a hearty and ruddy appearance that cannot be ap-
proached by our respectable mechanics. And when winter draws
near and they find pedestrian exercise uncongenial, then our jails
are open to them, where they are comfortably housed and fed until
spring again sends the brood broadcast upon a long suffering peo-
ple. It is for such vagabonds that we need a workhouse in the city
where they should eat their bread by the sweat of their brow, and
learn by hard experience that honest industry is better than penal
labor. '

We may take it for granted that the duty of providing for the
poor is admitted by all good men. But how best to bestow our
benefactions and relieve the distressed, while at the same time pre-
serving the spirit of independence in the recipient, is a question
which to-day, as in past years, has taxed the ingenuity and baffled
the most thoughtful students of political economy. In the nations
of the old world the problem has now been well nigh given up as
beyond solution. Pauperism has become a legalized gigantic fact,
and tens of thousands have no desire, as they have little prospect, of

408 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

providing for themselves an honest living apart from the aid afforded
by the State,

Now the texts quoted recognize the poor as having a just claim
upon the care of society ; but qualify the benediction bestowed
upon the alms-giver. " Blessed is he that considereth the poor,"
who remembers them in their destitution, and prudently disburses
his means for their relief. In the original it reads : " Blessed is he
who acteth wisely towards the poor." It is not indiscriminate giv-
ing, without knowledge of the character and condition of the appli-
cants, that is spoken of, but c^^passion towards the deserving poor.
To act wisely towards the poor demands an amount of penetration
and keen insight of human character that is rarely found. The
pitiful cry of the hypocritical vagrant can hardly be distinguished
from th'' real tale of woe. Nor is it always possible to investigate
thoroughly the numerous cases that appeal to our sympathy. As
a rule, we are apt to bestow our benefactions upon the most impor-
tunate and persistent, who are often found the most inveterate fal-
sifiers and the most consummate knaves ! V

There are two methods which may be resorted to, for assisting
our poor, the compulsory or the voluntary. Both of these have
been tried, and although the former is almost universal in the Old
World, it is not because it has been proved the best, but because
christian men and christian churches rid themselves of a duty which
properly belongs to them and not to the state. The history of
English pauperism proves that legalized charity but increases the
evil it seeks to cure. As Dr. Chalmers said, when pleading for the
voluntary system of support, as against the compulsory : " It gener-
ates a feeling of security as to future maintenance, altogether inde-
pendent of present character or conduct. It destroys that strong-
est of all natural incitements to industry and prudence which oper-
ates when a man knows that if he do not work, or if he thoughtlessly
squander, he and his family must starve. It relaxes the obligations

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 409

of friendship and relationship, throwing upon the public for support
those whom it should be the pride and pleasure of their own child-
ren or other relatives co sustain ; and it weakens the force of all
those kindly sympathies which want or suffering is sure to awaken
in every neighborhood, where nature is left to her own unchecked
operations. It checks the private ministrations of the wealthy, who
the more they give upon compulsion, have the less to give upon
the impulse of compassion. It strips of its true character the char-
ity which it enforces, leaving nothing to spontaneous generosity in
the giver, and awakens a sentiment very different from that of grati-
tude in the receiver."

The same is now as true of the United States. Fully one-half
of the taxes raised are for the support of penal, reformatory, or
benevolent institutions, and this amount is becoming larger year
by year. There is a feeling of alarm at the increasing pauper-
ism, and a well-grounded belief that instead of helping the helpless
it is ministering to vice, and indolence, and crime of every kind and
degree. Still further, and in perfect harmony with the views ex-
pressed in these pages, it is added : " People in general, kind, soft-
hearted, and so far conscientious as they are, feel it to be enough
to provide for the accommodation and support of those who are
thought incapable of self-support. They do not think it necessary
to trouble themselves with enquiries as to whether their charitable
contributions really effect the good intended. They give, and
that is sufficient. If there is maladministration or positive waste
and thievery, they are not responsible. The result has been
that, according to the authorative statements of those who have
given great attention to these subjects, fully one-half of the money
expended in the United States for public, charitable and penal
establishments has been wasted through the ignorance and roguery
of the officials, unchecked by sufficient, competent and honest sup-
erintendence, and the softhearted ignorance of indiscriminate givers
and the impulsively sympathetic."

4IO THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

In the efforts of Governments to raise the masses from threat-
ened poverty and degradation, it has too often been forgotten that
in every improvement in the individual and the mass, the moral
must take precedence of the economic. If we wish to civilize
heathen lands, we must first instil in the minds of the natives the
principles of practical godliness, and upon this broad foundation,
base all subsequent efforts for their amelioration. Or, if we wish
to benefit the unfortunate in lands already civilized, and to some
ext tnt christianized, we must seek not simply to mitigate present
evils, but to remove the cause or causes of these evils. This has
not been done, I venture to say, by that system of legalized charity,
better known as the " Poor Laws of England." So far from
bettering the condition of those for whom these laws were framed,
the system has been pronounced an almost total failure by some of
the cleverest intellects of that land. So far from removing the
causes of social misery, the " Poor Laws " have swelled the number
of the wretched, and prevented the operation of more effective rem-
edies which nature has provided for the relief of existing misery.
What are some of the radical evils that have followed and are cer-
tain to follow every system of legalized charity ? First, — There is
a gradual undermining of that manly spirit of independence, which
is one of the best guarantees for national prosperity. As in the
natural, so in the moral world, — a healthy vigorous plant needs no
support. Stays and props and ligaments but prevent its free growth.
Nature intended that the root should be strong enough to support
the stock, and should supply sufficient sap to the farthest extremity.
So it is in society. Once you teach a man that the community in
which he dwells, or the national treasury, will provide for all his
wants, and the manifold necessities of his family, you lay a dead
weight upon his energies and choke that spirit of self-reliance, which
rightly exercised, produces bone and sinew in the individual and
solid virtue in the nation. I do not assert that invariably this has

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 41I

been the result of legalized national charity. Exceptional cases
there doubtless have been, where, but for these same poor laws, in-
conceivable misery and destitution would have followed, but num-
erous cases have come to light where the national charity has be-
come a premium for indolence and parental indifference, and where
worthless parents, refusing to provide for the necessities of their
children, have handed them over to the guardianship of the poor
Second, — This system of legalized charity has actually increased
the wretchedness and improvidence of the poorer classes. So far
from ameliorating actual suffering and gradually healing the ulcer
the very fact that Government has bound itself to provide for the
idle and indolent, has tenfold increased their number. The most
shameful expedients and subterfuges are resorted to, in order to
share parochial relief. If the poor law overseer refuses to meet the
demands of some able bodied scoundrel too lazy to dig but not
ashamed to beg — on the ground that provision can only be made
for married men and their families, then straightway he goes and
marries, and compels the parish not only to support himself, but to
provide for his family ! Or if support is denied on the ground that
the claimant has personal means of support, he very soon removes
this objection by squandering his all in dissipation in order to be-
come a permanent burden upon the nation. And finally — for we can-
not enter at length upon this wide subject — the system of English
pauperism has reduced the wages and lowered the honorable status
of the honest, well-doing workingman. By supplementing wages
with a certain grant from the national exchequer, the most mis-
chievous and deteriorating influence has been exerted upon the
bjdy politic. " Let a man be ever so industrious and ever so sober
and ever so prudent, it is absolutely impossible for him to better
his condition, so long as pauperism sends forth her myriads of la-
borers to compete with him at any price, however low, wh'ch the
employer may offer. How then are we to save our young and ris-

412 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

ing country from such evils ? By the efforts of this and other kin-
dred societies, to call into play the sympathies and affections of our
common nature ; by stimulating that spirit ofhoncst and honorable
independence which trusts to its own efforts rather than depends
upon the aid of others, and not only thinks of the future, but pro-
vides against it.

In this young land of ours, at all events, there should be no ne-
cessity for any method of compulsory provision for the poor. We
have not such a dense population, that renders individual and vol-
untary aid an impossijjility. The land can more than maintain all
that will come to our shores for ^he next century, in comparative
comfort

How then, do you ask, are the poor, the indigent, the unfortu-
nate, in a word, the really well deserving, to be helped ? I answer,
by national societies, such as that of Saint Andrew's, caring for
necessitous emigrants from the old world, and as far as possible
beyond this, ministering to the wants of their poorer countrymen
resident in the city ; and by each church supporting its own poor.
Shame upon the churches of this city, Protestant and Roman Cath-
olic alike, if they cannot relieve the state of this burden. So far
from regarding this as a hardship, it should be considered an honor
and a privilege to supply the wants of their poorer brethren.
'■\ The experiment of relieving the poor in such a way has been
tried, and found eminently successful. For ten years it was carried
out in St. John's Parish, Glasgow, by Dr. Chalmers, and the result
proved that if all the churches had followed his example, the poor
of that city would have been cared for at an annual expense of
$60,000, as against $600,000, paid by the city. That was some fifty
years ago. In that same city, from 1840 to 1849, the population
increased about 20 per cent., and the cost of pauperism increased
430 per cent I Since that date the population has increased in a
vastly augmented proportion, and pauperism has more than kept

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 413

pace with it. Of course such a scheme depends altogether upon
the watchful vigilance of those who administer the funds, and de-
mands considerable labor, but surely in no better cause can the
executive ability of christian office-bearers be employed.

But while I earnestly commend this and kindred societies, as
worthy of generous support, let it not be imagined that any society
can fulfil our personal obligations to the poor ; when we have done
to the very utmost, as societies, there will always be found oppor-
tunities for unostentatious acts of kindness. Thank God that it is
so. We need for our own good to be brought into contatt with
poverty, that our sympathies may be drawn forth, and our better
nature enriched. Associated charity is good, but a^ts of benevo-
lence done by the individual are better. The benediction of the
text is pronounced upon him, who in addition to his support of
public charities, allows no case of want to appeal to him in vain.
" He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which
he hath given, He will pay him again." As the poet says :

We can all do more than we have done,

And not be a whit the worse ;
It never was loving that emptied the heart,

Nor giving that emptied the purse.

Every rich man, after having provided reasonable legacies for
his children, ought to appropriate what remains for the good of his
fellow men. In so doing he is but fulfilling his part as a steward of
God's bounties. In two ways we may do this : while we live or at
our death. The former is surely the wisest method. It is better
to enjoy the present luxury of making others happy around us than
to die, leaving behind a vast fortune, to be applied by others to ob-
jects of religion and benevolence.

But it does not require that a man shoald be a millionaire to
enjoy the blessedness pronounced ip the text. The privilege of
doing good belongs to no one class exclusively. If we give in pro-

414 THE CHURCH ANb THE COMMONWEALTH.

portion as wc possess, however small may be our contributions to
charitable purposes, we receive a recompense as much as the most
liberal minded philanthropist, who gives his million to the poor
Large and princely benefactions strike the imagination and call for
public eulogy, but in God's sight the motive and the ability, rather
than the gift itself, are recognized.

What is benevolence ? Need I say that it ranks among the
noblest of human virtues. It is not simply charity, but it is an un-
selfish love of all mankind, whenever and wherever opportunity
offers. Or if we retain the word, let it be accompanied with the
description of the poet : i . ' ^

True charity, a plant divinoly nursed,

Fed by the love from which it rose at first,

Thrives against hope, and, in the rudest scene,

StoroQs but enliven its unfading greon,

Exuberant is the shadow it supplies,

Its fruit on earth, its growth above the skies.

In the exercise of this God-given excellence, John Howard went
forth to the prisons of Europe, " when despotism sat at the gate
holding the keys, and v/hen pestilence cowered in the vaults, filling
them with death ; " Florence Nightingale hurried forth to the hos-
pitals and camps of Balaklava and Sebastopol, to minister relief
to dying soldiers and tenderly close the eyes of husbands and bro-
thers, over whose pillow no widowed wife could weep, nor tender
hearted sister lavish tears ; and David Livingstone spent a long
and noble life in the jungles of the African forest, ministering to
the bodies and the souls of enslaved humanity. Benevolence is a
nobler virtue than mere pity and compassion. The purse may be
opened and the hand outstretched with the alms of charity while
the soul remains cold and chilly, like a northern iceberg that rears
its head heavenward in proud defiance of the glorious sun. And
need I say that the field for the exercise of christian charity is ever
increasing. Kind words, cheerful countenances, prudent counsels,

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 415

and friendly assistance ; — the cherishing of love and good will be-
tween man and man, and the smothering of petty jealousies, which
foster hatred and revenge — all these come within the range of gen-
uine benevolence. Between the extremes of society it effects a
solid and lasting union. " It carries the rich to the cottage of the
poor, and allows the poor admission to the palaces of the rich, and
both become the richer, because to both there is an accession of
happiness. The wealthy obtain the pleasure of doing good and of
knowing that there are hearts to bless them, the indigent obtain
the relief of urgent necessities and the pleasure of loving a gracious
benefactor." As the poet describes the blessedness of charity :

Meek and lowly, pure and holy,

Chief among the blessed three ;
Turning sadness into gladness.

Heaven born art thou, charity !

Fity dwelleth in thy bosom,

Kindness reigneth o'er the heart ;

Gentle thoughts alone can sway thee,
Judgment hath in thee no part.

Hoping ever, failing never ;

Though deceived, believing still ;
Long abiding, all confiding

To thy Heavenly Father's will.

Never weary of well doing,

Never fearful of the end ;
Claiming all mankind as brothers

Thou dost all alike befriend.

Amid gigantic schemes of reform, and comprehensive measures
for the amelioration of social evils in the nation, we are apt to over-
look the not less urgent claims of those to whom we are affiliated
by the ties of blood and a common ancestry. I love and honor
that cosmopolitan spirit, which, overlooking the narrow boundaries
of creed and country, is at all times ready to succor the distressed.
But, at the same time, we have no sympathy with that form of

4l6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

charity which only gives to far-off objects, neglecting the not less
claimant cries of home and kindred. That " distance lends en-
chantment to the view " is a maxim, the truth of which we see too
often exemplified in our efforts to reach the sinking and sunken
masses of our land, " God help the poor," is an expression fre-
quently found upon the lips of a certain class of sentimental relig-
ionists at the approach of winter's cold embrace and in seasons of
commercial depression. The prayer is orthodox ; but when, as is
often the case, nothing more is offered upon the shrine of charity,
it is despicable hypocrisy. I know, and rejoice to know, that the
age is advancing in generosity, but notwithstanding, there are still
found in every community amazing numbers largely endowed with
this world's riches, whose niggardliness and hard-heartedness is a
disgrace to our common humanity. As a compensation for their
uncharitable natures, " they are much given to theoretical piety,
great in prayer-meetings, church meetings and Bible meetings, with
an absorbing interest in certain formal and doctrinal points, which
do not change the nature, nor require a change of nature. They
profess to be very anxious for the heathen, and on rare occasions
give sixpence at missionary meetings, but their sympathy for the
poor at home exhales in tracts and talk. These are, it is true,
edifying to the receiver, but they cost nothing to the giver. If ihey
were accompanied with a basin of broth, or a cup of jelly, or a com-
fortable swathe of flannel, it would be different, but then the earthly
would be mingled with the spiritual — and the earthly costing money
is abhorent to such skin-'lints, who are always rich in spiritualities,
which are inexpensive luxuries." It is so far well, that such m, ,ers
leave behind them the means to perpetuate their memories and
record their names on monumental urns and tablets ; but certain
it is, that the widow's sigh and the orphan's tears will never disturb
their slumbers in the grave !

now BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 417

It \s only professional men, whose duties call them to homes of
penury and want, that can paint the pictures of wretchedness that
everywhere exist. We know well that brave and manly spirit of
independence, which fires the Scottish breast and chokes the cry
for want. Many would prefer the companionship of the dead rather
than make known their sorrows to the living. Hut even among
these, are there not some who would gladly avail themselves of the
modest charity of this society, and gather the crumbs that fall from
the well plenished tables of their more prosperous countrymen ?
Our land has not yet realized that fearful stage of human misery,
which compels five hundred women annually to throw themselves
into the river Thames.

Mad with life's history,
Cilad of death's mystery,
Swift to he hurled,

Anywhere, anywhere
Out of the world.

But young as is our country, prosperous as is its commerce, and
abundant as are the fruits of the earth, how often do we meet in
our wanderings with the old and careworn sons of toil, the weary,
desolate pilgrim, far from the land of his birth, the homo of his
youth and the graves of his ancestors, while his palsied tongue
seems to whisper the sad feelings of his heart :

I've seen yon weary winter sun

Twice forty tinies return.
And every time has added proofs

That man was nitlde to mourn. ^ ■

, O, death ! the poor man's dearest friend.

The kindest and the best !
, Welcome the hour my aged limbs

Are laid with thee at rest.

Blest be the arm that stays the trembling frame — that smooths
the furrowed brow, and dries the tears of aged want ! If his eyes
shall never more gaze upon the scenes of youth, if his bones may
*27

4l8 TIIK C11UK( II AND TIIK COMMONWEALTH.

not mingle w'th sacrcti dust, rcposinjj peacefully across the wide
waste of waters, oh ! let his lonely journey to the grave be cheered
by a brother's voice ; let his ears hear once more the rude, but to
him sweet dialect of his beloved Scotland — let his pillow be guarded
by the eye of affection, and his body laid in its narrow house by
the hands of Scotia's sons Who has not wept v hen reading the
sad and plaintive cry of the Scottish maiden, as she breathed her
last among strangers in a foreign land :

My ain dear mither little kent

Her Mary is iae ill,
For 'tween us there's a weary gate

O' itoriny sea and hill;
And will I never see her face,

Or hear her speak my name,
Or clasp my arms about her neck—

Oh, it's hard to die frae hante I

I thank ye a' beside me here,

For the love ye've shown to me,
Y<''ve gien me meat — ye've glen me claes.

And gien a gentle fee :
To think o't makes my heart grow grit.

And makes me feel like shame ;
But yet — forgie me if I sav't —

Oh, its hard to die frae hame !

Christian men have a two-fold mission in the world, ist, to
evince the sanctifying power of true religion in their hearts and
lives ; and 2nd, to prove its reality before the world, by active efforts
in behalf of the sorrowing and downcast.

Genuine faith invariably produces holiness. Perfect purity out-
wardly and inwardly is not to be expected in the present state of
being. But the line of demarcation between the followers of Christ
and the mass of ungodly men, should be patent to every eye. They
are commanded to be holy as Christ is holy — to have the same
mind in them that was in Him — not to be conformed to the world*
but to be transformed through the renewing of their mind — using

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 419

it but not abusin(; it A christian is a holy man. Amusements,
pastimes and indulgences which occupy the time of other men, are
to be discarded, and x.nsual pleasures despised. His entire de-
portment is to be a reflexion of his Master's life, so tliat whether he
mingles in social fellowship, or transacts business in the market
place, or takes part in the church of God, no man shall mistake the
sincerity of his devotion and the incorruptible character of his in-
tegrity. Just as the fragrance of the rosebud in the garden spreads
its sweetness all around, so the perfume of a holy life is to be such,
that even ungodly men shall be constrained to acknowledge the
grace of God, in the person of his saints, and those who scoff at the
doctrines of the IJiblc be compelled to admit the purity and sur-
passing excellence of christian ethics.

But this is only part of the christian's duty ; he is next to prove
the reality of his faith by his works. The life of the child of
God should be a perpetual sacrifice for the temporal and spiritual
good of those around him. He is not to rest contented with the
enjoyment of personal comforts, but to spend his time in scattering
blessings all along his path ; in cheering the downcast, comforting
the mourning, consoling the bereaved, pouring joy into stricken
hearts, and drying up the tears of the widow and the fatherless ; as
David says, " making wells in the valley of Baca." Such is every-
where the representation of Scripture as to what constitutes a living
faith. Orthodoxy is good — denominational zeal is good — but with-
out large hearted charity it is worthless. That form of religion
which is only exhibited in the House of God, and in the public re-
lations of life, where men's actions are canvassed and their good
deeds are recorded, is an abomination in the sight of God. It is
good to speak of Christ and preach salvation at deathbeds ; good
to distribute tracts in crowded lanes and tenements of our densely
populated cities, but it is well to remember that the poor have bod-
ies as well as souls, and that access to the latter can oftentimes only

420 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

be secured by kindness bestowed upon the forme. It is easy to
express pity and compassion, and make flaming oratiors Jjrimful of
tender emotion for the sufferings and woes of our fellowmen, but it
is quite a different thing to exercise practical every day religioii —
to go about as Christ did from door to door doing good, making
the widow's heart to rejoice and causing the orphan's tongue to
sing for joy — this, says the Apostle, is the best of all evidences of
our growing likeness to the Saviour.

At all times there is ample room for the exercise of christian
benevolence. In the church and outside of the church ; in our own
immediate neighborhood, and in the world at large, the calls are
many and urgent. Our duty is plain. We are not to stand by
and deplore the miseries of starvation, without extending a helping
hand. The ties of our common humanity and the sympathies of
our nature, apart altogether from our christian profession, should
prompt to speedy action. We are the keepers of our brothers'
bodies, as well as their souls, in so far as acts of kindness can miti-
gate their sorrows, and deeds of generosity cheer their hearts. Nor,
indeed, does it matter much who they are, to what church they
belong, or whether they have ever professed faith in any church.
Whilst the "household of faith" have first claims upon our benevo-
lence, our hearts should be large enough and our sympathies tender
enough to embrace the whole family of the suffering. Church
boundaries, and denominational differences, and sectional lines,
should never render us insensible to the cry of want. On the battle
field the soldier binds up the wounds of his dying brother, though
but recently he may have been his deadly enemy. So likewise
should Christ's disciples. When the tear of sorrow appeals to your
heart ; when the tattered beggar, or homeless orphan, or sorrow-
stricken widow stands at your door, begging a cruit of bread, an
old cast-off garment or coverlet, to protect her and her fatherless
children from the chilly blasts of winter, be not insensible to the cry

HOW BEST CAN WE PROVIDE FOR THE POOR. 421

of pity. Do not let sectarian bigotry )r national exclusiveness, or
that spirit of distrust and suspicion and over-cautiousness, which is
so prevalent, steel your hearts against the claims of the suffering
poor. Be it yours to compassionate. It is Christ-like. Thus will
you make religion more lovely and attractive in the eyes of the
world ; thus will you enrich your own souls, and ensure for your-
selves the eulogium of Him who has said : " Forasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me."

•>■■

I \

A Religious People,

-AN-

Heroic People.

" The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."

— Dauiel 11, v. 32.

A Religious People an Heroic People.

'•N THIS chapter the prophet foretells a period of great
tribulation, consequent upon the struggles of rival mon-
archies for supremacy, when every form of iniquity
and oppression should flourish. Of the Macabees and
their followers, whose wonderful sufferings under repeated
persecutions, the page of history narrates, and their singu-
larly grand and noble bearing against fearful odds, it is said : —
" The people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
The idea expressed in the text is that experimental, personal,
saving knowledge of God, as a friend and helper in times of trouble
nerves to unflinching endurance of wrong, and heroic deeds in be-
half of right ; that religion gives tone and vigor to conduct ; that
strength of mind is pre-eminently a characteristic of religious na-
tures, while timidity, cowardice and indecision belong to men of no
fixed principles, and no abiding faith in God.

Before applying this thought to nations in their corporate and
collective capacity, we may for a moment look at it, as illustrated
in the case of individuals. We shall thus find that courage is not in-
compatible with holiness and meekness, and that none are so brave

(425)

426 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

in times of danger, as thoso whc, consciously weak in themselves,
are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Moses is described as one of the meekest men that ever lived,
the very last to become a leader, and fight the battles of two mil-
lions of bondmen. When called to confront the King of Egypt,
and demand the liberation of the Israelites, it was not in the spirit
of mock humility that he said : " Whom am I that I should go
unto Pharoah, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel
out of Egypt?" but from a conscientious feeling of his utter inade-
quacy to the task assigned him. But once assured that God was
with him and would give him utterance and boldness, he never fal-
tered in his mission until the song of victory was sung by Miriam
and the daughters of Israel, and the horsemen of Egypt were silent
under the waters of the sea. Gideon, the instrument in the hands
of God, of saving Israel from the Midianites, is another example of
holy courage. The promise of Jehovah : " Go in this thy might ;
have not I sent thee ; surely I will be with thee " — enabled him,
though least in His Father's house, to smite the Midianites as one
man. " The sword of the Lord and of Gideon " put thousands to
flight, as the three thousand blew their trumpets and broke their
pitchers. And so of David, when selected as the champion of Is-
rael against the great Goliath. He had no confidence in his own
personal bravery, skilled though he was in the use of sling and
stone. There is a marvelous representation in marble of the young
David, by Michael Angelo, in the city of Florence. He stands
with firm foothold, yet with his whole frame drawn back as if to
gain momentum for the stone that is in a moment to speed on its
errand of death. The furrowed brow and eyes set intently upon
the giant show him aware of the awful crisis, and that all Israel is
breathlessly looking on ; but the firmly set lips also di xlose the
fact that the God of Israel is nerving him within. His courage was
supernatural. " I am come to thee in the name of the Lord of

A RELIGIOUS TEOrLE AN HEROIC PEOPLE. 427

Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."
And not to multiply illustrations, it was in the same spirit of reli-
ance upon God's presence and favor, that Elijah confronted Ahab,
challenged the priests of Baal, and proved the might of Israel's God.
'• What shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of those
who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob-
tained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of aliens."

In apostolic times, the defiant bearing of such men as Paul, be-
fore their judges and accusers, and in more recent days, the Reform-
ation movements, carried on under the mighty impulse of Luther,
"that solitary monk that shook the world," and John Knox, who
liberated his nation and his countrymen from the yoke of supersti-
tion, are striking instances of what the text affirms : " The peo-
ple that know their God shall be strong and do exploits."

What is characteristic of the individual, is true of certain na-
tions. The religious sentiment — call it so if you will — is found in
certain countries more strongly developed than in others, and just
in proportion have they left their mark upon the world, and made
the present age their debtors. Where it is nothing better than fan-
aticism, or superstitious fear of the Divine Being, it leads to nothing
worthy or noble — as for example in the crusades of the middle ages
for the capture of Jerusalem, — but where it springs from an intelli-
gent apprehension of man's relation to his God, and his readiness
to help in every time of need, it inspires to marvellous deeds of
daring, and to the sacrifice of life itself This religious sentiment,
or rather faith, was the mainspring of that long succession of strug-
gles which has made Scotland bulk so largely in the history of the
world ; that has raised her — poor, and small, and insignificant
among the nations, to a rank equal with those of the foremost — not
it may be in material wealth and greatness, but in all that consti-

428 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

tutes true moral grandeur. Her sons and daughters endured as
seeing Him who is invisible They bore up under repeated reverses
that would have crushed feebler souls. Immured in dungeons, or
banished into exile, or hemmed in by the wild waves of the ocean
in rocky prisons, their voices rang out in notes of praise above the
storm. The wintry winds, the rage of arctic storms, famine, soli-
tude and chilly cells racked the frames and broke the health of
many of Scotland's noblest sons, but never once shaked their reso-
lution nor their trust in God. On the scaffold and at the stake they
met their doom with calm resignation, " sustained by the bright vis-
ions of the martyr's crown." " Firm as the rock they rested their
hopes on the foundations of eternal truth, and submitted to insults,
wrongs, and privations, with a calmness and constancy of spirit
which the malice of their enemies could not move." How were
they enabled to endure in those times,

Whose echo rings through Scotland till this hour ]

There was with them, as with the Hebrew children in the fur-
nace, one whose forip was like unto the Son of God. He heard
their prayers, lightened their burdens, sustained their sinking souls,
and irradiated the gloom of the lonely prison with his own glorious
presence.

There is a theory that nations are moulded by their physical
surroundings, and that faith and courage are results in great mea-
sure of certain climatic conditions. The man who breathes the
bracing mountain air, and inhabits the frigid regions of the Arctic
zone is doubtless very different from the man of the plain or the
torrid belt. The material world, upon him who has an eye for
beauty, exercises a powerful and constant influence. Hence it is
argued that the highest forms of civilization centre in rugged re-
gions where men have to battle with difficulties, and not in rich fer-
tile valleys, where the human race is stationary, because there is

A RELIGIOUS I'EOI'LK AN HEROIC PEOPLE, 429

nothing; to draw out the strortfjer elements of manhood. The severe
and somewhat uncongenial religious life of Scotland has thus, it is
said, sprung out of its physical conditions. " The soil is largely
hard and unproductive, its sky is cloudy, its climate severe, its seas
stormy. It is a land pierced with deep, shadowy glens — on whose
mountain summits thick mists brood, or creep along their sides in
weird and mysterious forms ; a land whose far stretching hills and
deep ravines, have their silence broken only by the foot fall of the
deer, or the rustle of the partridge's wings." Such features, it is
said, could not fail to effect the religious life of the people, and im-
press upon them qualities of reverence, solemn pathos and strong
endurance. To some extent this is true, but whatever the color of
the nation's piety the thing itself is divine in its origin. The men
of a by-gone age communed with God in solitude and gained in-
spiration for holy deeds of daring in the pavilion of the Most High*
It was their religion that made them valiant and gave them that
superiority of mind that scorned ease and opulence and chose the
loss of all that was dear to man on earth rather than betray con-
science and yield up the sacred birthright that belongs to every
child of God !

What has singled out Scotland from other nations is the fact
that the religious sentiment, coupled with a considerable degree of
intelligence and rational conviction, has been found, not simply nor
so much among her nobles and educated classes, as among the
masses of the population. Whatever reforms have been accom-
plished in church or state, has been the fesult of united action on
the part of the entire nation. A few who valued royal patronage
and emoluments, more than constitutional liberty, and who cared
little fpr any form of faith whatever, stood aloof from such strug-
gles for national freedom, as at Bannockburn, and the contendings
for purity of worship in martyr times. But with such trifling excep-
tions, all classes ranked under the same banner, and fought side by

430 THE CHURCil AND THi: COMMONWEALTH.

side. No one conversant with the sipninp of the " Solemn Leap^e
and Covenant," or the details of those unecjual and bloody cnga^'C-
mcnts at Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge, can doubt for a moment
the united demand of a long-suffering people for the redress of
grievances. The very appearance of the Covenanters, when sud-
denly called to face the enemy, destitute of all the usual imple-
ments of war, and but ill prepared to resist the avalanche of trained
battalions, shows who were the men and what were their occupa-
tions, that willingly surrendered life rather than their God-given
liberties. The description given of their arms and ammunition in
a burlesque poem of that age, however highly colored, contains not
a little truth : . i

Some had halborts, some had dirks,
Soino had crooked swords like Turks,
Home had slinks, some had flails,
Knit with eel and oxen tails ;
Homn had spears and some had pikes,
Some had spades that delved dykes,
Some had fiery peats for matches.
Some had guns with rusty ratches ;
Some had bows, but wanted arrows,
» Some had pistols without marrows,

Some had the coulter of a plough.
Some scythes both men and horse to hough.

In order to prove that this strong religious sentiment animated
all classes of the commonwealth, down to the humblest sons of toil,
let me select at random one of the instances of the exploits done
by the men " who knew their God," in the days of old. I have
often thought, that could artistic genius be found capable of deline-
ating in panoramic view the heroic deeds of that bloody age, it
would far out-rival the brightest gems of mediaeval art. What a
glorious subject for the artist's pencil, the battle of Airsmoss, where
Richard Cameron and a small body of brother Covenanters were
surprised and murdered in cold blood. Cameron hunted like a

■3

3
if)

O
■Ji

o
sc

'35

to
o

A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AN HEROIC PEOPLE. 431

deer upon the mountains from place to place, has just — with thrill-
ing eloq'v'cnce — been exhorting his hearers to accept of Christ — the
whole congregation weeping as if their faces had been washed with
a shower of rain. It was his last sermon. As he passed across the
moor in company with friends, the troopers overtook them. See
that noble form, ere the battle has been joined, commending his
little company to the God of battles, and adding with peculiar
fervor : " Lord spare the green and take the ripe. This is the day
I have prayed for — the day I have longed for — the day I shall get
the crown ; come let us fight to the last." Nobly but briefly did
that little band resist ; they fought uke lions till they could fight
no more, and soon the roar of battle was hushed upon the moor.
" I die," said he, " as a witness for Christ, and what a privilege it is !
Weep not, but continue steadfast in the faith, and not fear suffer-
ing." Two or three hard breaths, and he was at rest. They gath-
ered the blooming heather and strewed it in his grave, — gently laid
him down on the moor where ho fell — strewed more heather blos-
soms over his loved form, and left him alone, and went their way,
to do and suffer the like for Christ.

Upon the wild and lone Airsmoss, down sank the twilight grey ,
In storm and cloud the evening closed upon that cheerless day.

Nature seemed a reluctant spectator of such cruelty, and con-
cealed the beauty of a summer's eve in premature darkness. But
how different the scene in the spirit world !

When the righteous had fallen and the combat had ended,
A chariot of fire through the dark cloud descended ;
The drivers were angels on horsf'S of whiteness.
And his burning wheels turned upon axles of brightness.

A seraph unfolded its doors, bright and shining,
All dazzling like gold of the seventh refining.
And the souls that come forth out of great tribulation,
Have mounted the chariot and steeds of salvation.

432 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

On the arch of the rainbow the chariot is gliding,
Through tli© paths of thunder the horsemen are riding ;
Glide swiftly, bright spirits, the prize is before ye,
A crown never fading, a kingdom of glory.

Truthfully did his murderers say, when deliverinir up the head
and hands of the martyr to the officers of the council in Edinburgh :
" These are the head and hands of a man who lived praying and
preaching, and died praying and fighting."

Another scene — John Brown, the christian carrier of Priesthill,
after morning worship, has left his humble cottage for his daily
toil. He is found by Claverhouse and his ruffian soldiery, and
brought back, walking before his murderers, more like a conqueror
than a captive. Refusing to turn recreant to his Maker, and swear
against his conscience, he is ordered to his knees to prepare to die.
He kneels down and prays with such fervor and fluency, despite
a stammering tongue, that the stout hearts of the dragoons were
melted, and their eyes suffused with tears. Rising from his knees
he says to his wife, who, with her babes, are spectators of this
bloody tragedy. " This is the day I spoke to you of when first I
proposed marriage," and asks if she is willing to part with him.
" Heartily willing," said she. " This is all I desire," said the dying
martyr, " I have nothing more now to do but die." Kissing her
and his children, and praying that all purchased and promised
blessing", may be multiplied unto them, Claverhouse interrupts
his sp'^ech, places the pistol close to the covenanter's head, and
shatters his skull ! Do you wonder that curses rest upon the man
that could do so foul a deed, or that Scotland is proud of her sons
and daughters who could act their part so well ?

Once more, and I drop the curtain : The scene is on the Gal-
loway sea shore ; Margaret Wilson, the virgin martyr of eighteen
years, and an aged and pious widow, are dragged forth to die. The
victims are folloAved to the place of doom by crowds who can hardly
believe that men in God's image can venture on such a horrid deed.

a
o

>
to

A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AN HEROIC PEOPLE. 433

The sentence is that they be tied to stakes fixed within the flood
mark, where the river meets the sea, and there be drowned with the
risinj^ tide. The stakes are driven into the oozy sand — the widow's
furthest in — that she may die the first. The tide begins to flow,
the hoarse, rough billows come advancing on, swelling and mount-
ing inch by inch, over limb and breast and neck and lip of the aged
heroine, while the younger victim still in shallower water, gazes on
the awful spectacle, knowing that in a few minutes more her agon-
ies will be the same. Docs she flinch? When for a moment the
cords that bind her to the stake are cut, and she is offered life if
she will recant and deny the faith, docs she yield ? No I She
spurns the abjurations oath, and so, plunged again into the heav-
ing waters, after a brief struggle, the spirit of the virgin martyr
enters upon eternal joy. Well may we say, as we read such
histories, —

There are no colors in the fairest sky so fair as these,
Methinks their very lines shine still and bri<;ht,
Apart— like glow-worms in the woods of spring —
Or lonely tapers shooting from a light.

That guides and cheers,

Or, seen like stars on high.

Satellites, turning in a lucid rin<?,

Around the Covenanter's heavenly memory.

But the valiant exploits of that age were by no means confined
to men of humble rank. Among the titled nobles of the land there
was found the same heroic defence of the ancient faith. On the
27th day of May, 1661, first in time and first in rank of Charles'
victims, the Marquis of Argyle suffered death, as the Proto Martyr
of covenanting times. History records no grander event than the
bearing of Archibald, Earl of Argyle, when condemned and on the
scaffold. Receiving his sentence kneeling, he rose and said, " I had
the honor to set the rrown upon the King's head, and now he has-
tens me to a better crown than his own." On the day of his exe-
•28

434 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

cution, when his attendant clcrj^yman put the question, " what cheer,
my lord ? " " Good cheer, sir," was the reply, " the Lord hath again
confirmed and said to me from heaven, son, be of [j^ood cheer, thy
sins be forgiven thee." Then with steady step, calm pulse, and un-
moved countenance, after earnest prayer he kneeled before the axc»
gave the signal and the weapon fell. " I could die as a Roman,
said Argyle, but choose rather to die as a christian," and as such he
died. Twenty-four years afterwards, on June 30th, 1685, another
Argyle died under the executioner's axe, saying as he went to join
his martyred father : " I die not only a Protestant, but with a
heart hatred of Popery, Prelacy, and all superstition whatever."
These noblemen — noble not only by birth but by gracious endow-
ments, have left behind them characters which their enemies have
failed to depreciate or asperse. So long as the heath covered moun-
tains of Scotland remain, the name of Argyle will be gratefully re-
membered. That name means liberty of conscience, freedom of
speech, constitutional government, obedience to just rulers, and dis-
interested patriotism towards the land we live in, and the land of
our birth.

I know that it may be said, that the valor and immortal acts of
many of Scotland's sons were due more to simple patriotism than
the religious element in their nature. In reply, I ask, can there be
genuine love of country without reverence for God ? Are not piety
and patriotism kindred virtues ? Do they not proceed alike from
the same fountain of unselfish and God-like emotions? Have you
ever known a man, truly loyal and devoted in the maintenance of
the nation's honor, and the vindication of her liberties, who had no
religious feelings ? So far as we can understand the inner life of
Scottish patriots, we recognize stern fidelity to truth, and jealous
watchfulness of the rights of the greater King, as the motives to
action. Not for the acquisition of territory did they draw the
sword, but that what heaven had given them, in soil and sacred

A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AN HEROIC PEOPLE. 435

heritage, might never in all time coming be outraged by the fo^<t
of the usurper.

The Presbyterian type of religion has often been, and still is
caricatured by ignorance and envy, as something that degrades
both God and man. In the pre^s and from the platform, Calvin-
ism — that form of doctrinal bcliif which the majority of our coun-
trymen accept — is denounced and misrepresented by pigmies, whose
souls cannot approach those mysterious truths that the great Re-
former taught. It is customary at the present day for backboneless
religionists to disparage all religious fervor as mere cant. " Bigotry
intolerance, fanaticism and puritanic zeal," are the names applied
to earnest endeavors to revive the purity and holy passions of by-
gone days. Strange that Calvinistic doctrines, if so unreasonable
and pernicious, should have made such heroes, and left their imprint
upon a little kingdom that has given constitutional liberty to many
parts of Europe '

No human system of theology is perfect, but for Calvinism we
claim the highest standard of morality, for states as well as indi-
viduals — the most defiant and successful opposition to every form
of violence and iniquity, and the development of the sweetest and
tenderest characters the world has ever seen. Such illustrious na-
tures as William the Silent, Luther, Knox, Melville, Cromwell,
Milton, John Bunyan, Whitfield and Chalmers wptp not formed by
a narrow and cruel creed. And such are the men that Calvinism
has produced in every age. Its grand doctrines commanded obedi-
ence when conflict meant death or victory, oftentimes death in vic-
tory, and when its stern call to duty kindled the fires of martyrdom.
Standing firm on the eternal rock of thc'r faith, such men breasted
the tumultuous seas of civil and religious persecution, and won for
their posterity priceless blessings, which can never more be alien-
ated. Their characters were the product of their faith, and their
actions the result of direct personal communion with the unseen

436 THE CHURCH AND THK COMMONWEALTH.

worlfl. The God of the Calvinistic system of religion is the noblest
bcinjj of which the human mind can conceive. Mis glorious attri-
butes are exalted, while man the creature bends a lowly knee
"before Jehovah's awful throne." Holiness, justice and truth blend
in beauteous harmony with goodness, mercy and love, for all arc
united in the work of redemption for fallen man. The divine sov-
ereignty and ceaseless watchfulness and controlling decrees of infi-
nite wisdom, and the fact that nothing is left to blind chance or
mere contingencies, gives to him who accepts it confidence and
solid footing amid the ever-changing current of human events. Life
is thus made sublime, for its destiny is fixed, and God is ever pres-
ent in all that concerns the creature. Systems of religion are known
by their results, and tried by this, Calvinism need not fear com-
parison with any existing form of theological belief Eminent men
on both sides of the Atlantic, who have no great sympathy with
Presbyterian doctrine, are the loudest in its praise. " There is no
system," says Mr. Beechcr, " which equals Calvinism in intensifying
to the last degree ideals of moral excellence and purity of charac-
ter. There never was a system since the world stood which puts
upon a man such motives to holiness, or which builds batteries that
sweep the whole ground of sin with such horrible artillery." Says
Froudc, the historian of England : "When all else has failed ; when
patriotism has covered its face and human courage has broken
down, that form of belief called Calvinism, in one or other of its
many forms, has borne ever an inflexible frontto illusion and men-
dacity, and has preferred rather to be ground to powder like flint,
than to bend before violence or melt under enervating temptation.'*
Not to glorify the sainted dead do we recall the past, but that
their descendants may act the same manly part in this the land of
their adoption. Young men were pre-eminently the standard bear-
ers of the faith, in the days gone by. In every grave crisis they
stood firm, and gave life away with a readiness that seemed strange

A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AN HEROIC PEOPLE. 437

in souls so young. Patrick Hamilton, a mcic youth, led the way
to martyrdom ; Hugh McKail, and "the boy Renwick," met death
with steady nerve ; and of the three or four hundred ministers who
in 1662 abandoned their livings for conscience sake, the great ma-
jority were between twenty and forty years of age. Every age has
its speci.il dangers, rnd needs the same piety and firmness that
characterized the past. Ihc martyr's crown may not be so com-
mon in otr day, but to every one who manfully confesses Christ
before men, there is in store the same reward.

Tho l)ftnnor may fall but the spirit lives,

And livetli for cvcrinnre ;
And Scotland claims m hor noblest names,

The covenant men of yore.

O for the brave, true hearts of old,
That bled when the banner perished ;

for the f lith that was strong in death —
The faith that our fathers cherished.

The piety of our forefathers was not a mere sentiment, but a
rational conviction. They spake because they believed. W^iththe
Bible in one hand and the sword in the other, they alternately
preached and fought. Often worsted in battles of fearful odds,
their principles, instinct with divine life, were never crushed.
Let us, following in their footsteps, and wisely wielding the sword
of the spirit, which is the word of God, imitate the courage of the
aged covenanter, who thus apostrophizes the old sword, that had
seen hard service at Airsmoss and Drumclog and Hothwell Bridge :

Thy blade is dimmed with dying martyrs' breath,
'T is tyrant blood that rusts thee, trusty blade.

Bright hast thou flashed, my faithful sword,
When battle raged, blaspheming foemen fell

Beneath thy sweep — the battles of the Lord,
The league, the covenant, thy legend* tell.

438 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

And though thou art hacked and r^d with rust,
Yet from thy Bcabbard wouldat thou (lauh again,

As lightning would thou dash unto tho duat,
The tyrant who would show to thee a chain.

Yea, our posterity will keep thee bright,
A 8yinl)ol of the daring heart and hand

Wnich used thee well for liberty and right,
Aid built Fame's altar in our native land."

•^.^^^t^

Religion the Source of

" How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob ! and thy tabernacles, O Israel !"

— Numl)er8 24, v. 5.

" I remenibor the days of oH, which we have heard and known, and
our fathers have told us "

—Psalm 143, V. 5.

"We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the genera-
tions to come the praises of the Lord, and the wonderful works that he
hath done."

— Psa m 78, v. 8, 4.

Religion the Source of National Blessings.

?HERE is nothing at the present day regarding which
greater difference of opinion prevails than as to what con-
stitutes national greatness. In former periods consider-
able unanimity of sentiment prevailed, and the statement
accepted : " Righteousness exalteth a nation." But in modern
times this principle is practically denied. The actions of many
public men would lead us to the conclusion that national greatness
consists, not so much in a reputation for integrity and honorable
dealing, as in transcendent pomp and splendor, extensive territorieii
and vast political power. In opposition to such a theory, history,
both sacred and profane, presents manifold instances of kingdoms
sunk in moral degradation, while at the same time possessing all
that the loftiest ambition could desire, or that riches could procure.
On the other hand, comparative poverty and obscurity have often
been found associated with genuine worth and moral grandeur.

In illustrating this truth, there is no instance more to our pur-
pose than the eulogy pronounced upon the Israelites when en-
camped on the borders of Canaan, No finer subject for the artist's
pencil can be found than that of the Hebrew army as it lay out-

(440

44-2 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Stretched on the plains of Moab. Hitherto sustained by Almighty
power, God's chosen people had vanquished all their enemies, and
the fame of their victorious battles had spread itself on every hand.
Heathen monarchs were alarmed and troubled on their thrones.
The King of Moab, whose territory they had now entered,, fearing
lest he too should be vanquished, sends a deputation to the false
prophet Balaam, with the reward of divination in their hands, beg-
ging him to come to his aid and devote the army to destruction.
'Come now therefore I pray thee; curse me this people, for they
are too mighty for me ; for I wot <^hat he whom thou blessest is
blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed."

Had Balaam been a righteous man he would at once have
spurned the offer, but the bribe was attractive to his covetous soul.
Accordingly he delays the mesijengers, and consults the Lord as to
the path of duty. God prohibits him from going on such a wicked
errand, saying : — " Thou shalt not go with them ; thou shalt not
curse the people, for they are blessed." A second application fol-
lows, more urgent and more tempting, but Balaam replies : — " If
Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go
beyond the word of the Lord my God." Still there is an evident
desire on the part of Balaam to accompany the King's messengers,
if the permission of Jehovah can be secured. Finally, we read that
God allows the false prophet to go, but not to curse. Balaam's
desire was to earn the proffered reward, but this was only obtain-
able by his obeying the King's mandate. As he proceeds the angel
of the Lord blocks up his way. The dumb animal on which he
rode rebukes him, and the angel, with drawn sword in hand, con-
fronts the wicked prophet on his entrance of the Moabitish terri-
tory. The King meets him with becoming dignity. Sacrifices are
offered, and the prophet retires to consult the Lord. Returning to
the King, he says : " How shall I curse, whom God hath not
cursed ? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied ? For

RELIGION THE SOURCE OF NATIONAL BLESSINGS. 443

from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold
him : Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned
among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the
fourth part of Israel ?"

Foiled in this effort, Balak takes the prophet to a higher point
of vision, where he may see the extended hosts of Israel. Again
sacrifices are offered, again the Lord is consulted, and again Balaam
refuses to curse the people. As a last resource, Balak leads the
prophet to the top of Peor, in the hope that if he will not curse the
people, he may at least remain neutral : " Neither cursing them at
all, nor blessing them at all." The altars are accordingly once
more erected, and the rams and bullocks sacrificed. There, upon
the height, overlooking the camp of Israel, stands the false prophet
and the King of Moab. The army of Israel, extended on the
plains beneath for many miles, meets the prophet's eye : — " their
tents spread out as gardens by the riverside — as the trees of lign-
aloes — as cedar trees beside the w iters, which the Lord hath plant-
ed." In the midst stands the tabernacle, with the pillar of fire and
cloud overhead, a covering from the sun and a defence from the
enemy. Struck with the beauty and moral grandeur of the scene,
Balaam gives utterance to the words of our text ; " How goodly
are thy tents, O Jacob ! and thy tabernacles, O Israel I

Why was it that the prophet rendered such a tribute of praise
and spoke in such commendatory terms of Israel ?

(a). Not because of their military strength and prowess in war.
The many signal victories they had achieved were due not to their
personal bravery, but to God. Never was there a more undiscip-
lined army than that which Moses led forth out of Egypt. Not by
strategry nor sheer force of will had they been brought so far upon
their march, and even at this period, with all their experience of
nearly forty years, they could not have overcome the Moabites un-
less aided and directed by a higher power. The King of Moab

444 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

recognized the presence of a mightier foe than the Israelites ; he
trembled not for Jacob's seed, but for Jacob's God I

{b). Not because of their riches and worldly possessions. Wit-
ness the condition of the people in Egyptian bondage, and the bor-
rowing of their neighbors' jewels on the eve of their departure!
They were the poorest of the poor — worse in many respects than
the Crusaders when they started on their march to Palestine. Their
temporal comforts were few. They were daily dependent upon the
bounty of heaven. Tent life upon the battle-field, exposed to dan-
ger, and far from enviable was their condition. To the eye of sense
there was nothing attractive in this singular, yet invincible host.

(c). Not because of their national prestige. As yet they could
hardly be called a nation, in the ordinary acceptation of the term*
They had no reputation as such by heathen kingdoms. Their pro-
spective territory was as yet in possession of other people. Their
settlement in the land of Canaan was in the future, and only to be
attained by aggression, and the continuance of hostilities. They
had no King — no Cabinet — no Government to treat with other na-
tions, and enter into alliances for the enforcement of laws, and the
maintenance of rights. They had no place in history, and to the
eye of sense seemed but a wandering superstitious horde, doomed
to extinction sooner or later, when confronted by mightier or more
skilful foes !

Why then did Balaam so much admire the spectacle spread out
before him ?

Because he saw that God was with them. He traced all their
blessings, temporal and spiritual, to the existence of true religion
in their midst. The tabernacle was the place v/here Jehovah's pres-
ence was manifested, and the standing symbol of his protection.
Although Baalam had never savingly experienced the saving power
of grace upon his own heart, he acknowledged the value of religion
in the camp of Israel. The tent and the tabernacle were the repre-

RELIGION THE SOURCE OF NATIONAL BLESSINGS. 445

sentativcs of family piety and public ordinances, and the results
were national religion and national prosperity. They were pre-
eminently blcased, not because of their superiority to other kinjj-
doms in valor, or fjenius, or political diplomacy, but because they
worshipped the true God, and acknowledged His claims to their
homage.

This leads me to speak briefly of the means used to fo-stcr at-
tachment for the ordinances of the tabernacle and temple, in the
descendants of Abraham. Says the Psalmist : " The days of old
which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us, we
will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generations
to come the praises of the Lord, and the wonderful works that he
hath done "

In days when books and printing presses were unknown, his-
tory was handed down from, sire to son. But for such traditionary
lore, the stirring events and memorable deeds which have rendered
nations imperishable, and their actions immortal, would have been
lost to view.

The Jewish nation perpetuated its history, and inspired that
fervent patriotism which still possesses the race, by handing down
from generation to generation the story of God's mighty acts. It
was a direct command of Jehovah that their children should be
early indoctrinated in Bible truth, and made to understand the way
by which their fathers had been led : " These words, which I com-
mand thee this day, shall be in thine heart ; and thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up." " Take heed to thyself,
lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, but teach
them thy sons, and thy son's sons." The meaning of every new
event and institution in the history of Israel, was to be explained
and impressed upon the minds of the young. Thus in regard to

446 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

the Passover : *• When thy son askcth thee in time to come, saying,
What is this? Thou shalt say unto him. By strength of hand the
Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage." And
after their entrance into Canaan, when they asked the meaning of
the stones placed in the Jordan, they were to tell them that these
stones were for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever, of
the drying up of the Jordan, when the ark of the covenant and the
people passed over on dry ground. It is in reference to these
teachings of childhood that the Psalmist David says: "We have
heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work
thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive
out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them ; how thou didst
afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in
possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them ;
but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance,
because thou hadst a favour unto them."

The result of such careful home instruction was just what might
be expected. Their love of country was intense, and their devo-
tion to its interests supreme. When near Mount Zion, and within
sight of the Holy city, their joy was unbounded ; when separ-
ated by exile their sorrovv was too deep for expression, and bor-
dered on despair. How fondly they loved their land, and mourned
over their own back-slidings and the desolation of the sanctuary, as
touchingly expressed in the 137th Psalm. The temple was in
ruins, and the once busy streets of Jerusalem now deserted. The
land was waste and inhabited by foreigners, while far from home,
strangers and exiles, they sat by the rivers of Babylon. In such
circumstances, what could they do but weep in silence as they re-
membered Zion. " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps
upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried
us away captive required of us a song ; and they that wasted us re-

'■'^i^^i

.__ ^M,

RELIGION THE SOURCE OF NATIONAL BLESSINGS. 447

quired of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion. I low
shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ? If I forget thee,
O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning ; if I do not re-
member thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ! "

To keep alive and quicken this undying love of country and
transmit it to those who are to follow us, is one of the objects for
which this and kindred national societies have been instituted.
Next to the Jewish nation, Scotland has just such a charm in the
eyes of foreigners, while to her loyal and leal-hearted sons her tem-
ples and her simple faith are enshrined in the heart of hearts. For
has not the church in Scotland been the primary source of all the
nation's greatness, whether we look at her in an ecclesiastical, edu-
cational or political point of view ?

Like the Jew, we are not ashamed to avow our patriotism. We
hold it to be quite compatible with a faithful discharge of citizen-
ship in our adopted land, that wc reverence our native soil. To-
night, our tcndcrest memories cluster around the scenes of boyhood
and the simple delights of early years. In bolder outlines than ever
artist's skill transferred to canvass, we seem once more to gaze upon
her bosky glens, her moorland ridges, her rushing torrents, her
miles of purple heather, her snow-capped and mist-veiled moun-
tains, her hills and valleys that once echoed to the cry of freedom,
and sheltered martyrs from the fiery blast of persecution. We
think of past and parted friendships, of the humble cottage nestling
among the trees, of the parish school and kirk where first intelli-
gence was awakened and reason stimulated, and finally of the " auld
kirk yard," where fathers r.nd mothers, brothers and sisters, now
quietly sleep under God's watching eye, awaiting the resurrection
of the just.

Dear to our spirit, Scotland, hast thou been,
Since infant years, in all thy glens of green,
Land of our birth, and of our father's grave,
The eagle's home and eyrie of the brave !

448 THE CHURCH and thk commonwkalth.

Unrivallod land of lecipnce and of arta ;
Land of fair fact'H and of faithful twarts ;
Land wIuti) ruii^ion paves h<>r Itoavniiward road,
Lnud of thfl toinplcs of tho living (lod !
Yt't d»»ar to fonlin;,', Scotland, nn thou art —
iShould'Ht thou \hnt ^lorioua ttwnplo e'er destsrt ;
Wo would dificlaim th(><' — avi^W tho dJHtant ahoro
Of 8omo fair isle — and then return no moie I "

But not these things alone, to-night, demand our reverence. We
pay hom.'i'Te to the past, because of the privileges it has conferred
upon us in the present. If civilization anil learning have now at-
tained a point in advance of any former age, let us never forget the
men, nor despise their labors, who gave a stimulus to thought and
laid the foundation of* moral work: and social happiness in days
long gone by. Those civil and political principles and institutions
which arc now the glory of christian lands, were wrought out and
built up, in days when the few had to fight the many — when men
looked to the invisible more than the tangible, and when honest,
outspoken sentiments were rewarded by fetters, imprisonment antl
death. To the wisdom of her statesmen — the heroism of her Cov-
enanters — the valor of her soldier citizens — ^thc industry of her
peasantry — in a word, to that unquenchable faith of God's sover-
eignty, which possessed the inmost heart of the Scoctish nation, do
we owe our noblest gifts in the nineteenth century — our peaceful
homes, our law abiding communities — our undisturbed sanctuaries,
and our constitutional liberties. As the great Edward Irving,
apostrophizing his countrymen, well and truly says : " Ye were a
nation of families, and every head of a family was a king and a
priest in his house, which was a house of God and a gate of heaven.
Yop peasantry were as the sons of kings, in their gravity and wis-
dom. They were men who held communion with the King of
heaven. Oh, never again till our King comes, shall the world wit-
ness such a chosen seed and noble vine, as were planted in the
desolat " wilds of the north."

RELIGION THE SOURCE OF NATIONAL BLESSINGS. 449

Do I need to apolof^izc for such feelings ? The man who has
no peculiar love for his native soil is a monstrosity. There is some
sad defect in his organization. Every Hriton, be he Knglishman,
Irishman or Scotchman, glories in his birthright. A finer illustra-
tion of this undying love of country has never been repeated than
the following : In the cathedral of Limerick there hangs a chime of
bells which were cast in Italy by an enthusiast in his trade, who
fixed his home near the monastery where they were first hung, that
he might enjoy their sweet, solemn music. In a political revolution
the bells were taken away to some distant land, and the maker
himself became a refugee and exile. Me lost his all, and after the
passing of the storm found himself preserved alone amid the wreck
of fortune, friends, family and home. The convent in which the
bells were hung was razed to the earth, and the bells carried away
to another land. The unfortunate Italian, haunted by his mem-
ories and deserted by his hopes, became a wanderer over Europe.
His hair grew grey and his heart withered. In this desolation of
spirit, he formed the resolution of seeking the place to which the
treasures of his memory had been finally borne. His wanderings
brought him, after many years, to Ireland. Proceeding up the
Shannon, the vessel anchored in the port of Limerick, and he hired
a small boat for the purpose of landing. The city was now before
him, and he beheld St. Mary's steeple lifting its turreted head above
the smoke and mist of the old town. It was an evening so calm
and beautiful as to remind him of his own native land in the sweet-
est time of the year, the death of spring. The broad stream ap-
peared like one smooth mirror, and the little vessel glided through
it with almost a noiseless expedition. On a sudden, amid the gen-
eral stillness, the evening chimes pealed forth from the cathedral
towers. His experienced ear caught the sweet sounds, and he knew
that his lost treasures were found. His early home, his friends, his
beloved native land, all the best associations of his life were in those

*29

450 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

sounds. He laid himself back in the boat, crossed his arms upon
his breast, and listened to the music. The boat reached the wharf,
but still the poor Italian lay there silent and motionless. They
spoke to him, but he did not answer. They went to him, but his
spirit had fled. The tide of memories that came vibrating through
his heart at that well-known chime, had snapped its life-strings.
I'^ar from his sunny Italy the Italian died and was buried, but his
last thoughts were of his home.' Is not the feeling natural ? As
the exiled Scot, dying far from friends and country, says :

And oh ! to sleep where my kindred sleep.

In the green auld kirkyard's hallowed ground,
Where Sabbath bells and Sabbath psalms

In holy numbers float around.
My rest, methinks, would be mair sweet,

Gin the footfa' o' a frien' was near —
If loving hands would deck my grave,

An' worth bedew it with a tear.

But strangers' earth maun be my bed,

An' strangers' sod maun be my pillow ;
An' strangers' hands maun bear the load.

An' lay me 'neath the pale green willow.
Then farewell, friends ; but why repine.

Because frae thee and hame I'm riven,
What boots it where we part on earth,

When hopes are high to meet in heaven.

Down sank the sun. His golden rays
Lingered a 8pace — then all was night ;

As his last beamlet passed away.

The soul of the emigrant winged its flight.

But it is not only meet that we should j^ ratefully remember de-
parted worth, and record their names and deeds in granite and
marble columns ; — we owe it to them, when we pass away, that
their memory shall be held as sacredly and appreciated as highly
by our successors. " Those things that our fathers have told us, we
mu;;t not hide from our children, but show to the generation to

RELIGION THE SOURCE OF NATIONAL BLESSINGS. 4$ I

come the wonderful works that the Lord hath done." If we cannot
fjo with them hand in hand, and stand by Bannockburn, Drumclog,
Bothwcll Bridge, Airsmoss, the Grassmarket and Greyfriars' church-
yard, where mighty battles of the faith were fought — if not always
won — we can picture to them such scenes, and as the Grecian pat-
riot appealed to the shades of those who fell at Marathon and
Salamis, inspire their hearts with the noblest emotions, and rouse
their enthusiasm to like deeds of daring. We can tell them what
made and kept Scotland free from the tyranny of priestcraft and
the perfidiousness of kings — how it was she was seldom vanquished
and never conquered — how that in these days of storm and conflict
there sprung up freedom of thought and action— the right to judge
of rulers and overthrow tyranny — the principle that the many are
not made for the few, but the government for the elevation of the
many, and the good of society at large. We can tell them of her
admirable system of education, her schools and universities for rich
and poor alike ; where the shepherd's son sits side by side with the
son of the peer, in the halls of science, letters and theology, and
better still, of that religious training associated with Scottish homes
and Scottish Sabbaths, whereby piety became ingrained in the
heart of youth, and God-fearing men were prepared to become the
pillars of the state. By such careful instruction, may we not hope
to foster in our children a love for the grand old past, and a sincere

desire to

Snatch from the ashes of their sires
The embers of their former fires.

There is need for such training of the youth of the present age.
Our young men and women are thoroughly drilled in the Greek
and Roman classics. They are far ahead of their fathers in the
range of their studies. But these are so general and discursive as
to ignore to a great extent the history of periods that were momen-
tous in the results for good to the human race. The time afforded

452 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH,

in our schools for the study of the endless subjects that now form
the curriculum, does not admit of more than the merest outline of
national characteristics. And perhaps it is just as well that the
principles which underlie great periods in our national history
should be explained by men who have a love for what is manly
and honorable in conduct, and not left to ignorant, conceited and
prejudiced literateurs, who scofif at what is sacred, and eulogize
what is infamous and vile. What is wanted is that fathers and
mothers, after the example of Sir Walter Scott, though with greater
love for historical facts, should tell their children and grandchildren
of a hoary past never to be forgotten, and names that can never be
mentioned but with reverence.

We remark, then, in view of what has been said, that

I. True religion is the source of national morality. It is not
every form of religion that produces morality. France, Spain and
Italy, and heathen nations like India and China, prove that all
methods of social reform, apart from evangelical truth, are failures.
To hope for lasting results from these alone, is like tying apples
on the branches of a decaying trunk. They perish without pro-
ducing fruit. Moral and social reforms are not to be expected from
political combinations and party creeds, but from a living Christi-
anity made the basis of all civil enactments. No nation can pros-
per that ignores the christian virtues.

II. True religion is the source of all real freedom. We seem to
think that because of our constitutional form of government we are
the freest people in the world, and so do our neighbors across the
line, under a different rule. It is not so. Free speech and civil
liberty are the results of Christianity. It matters little what is the
outward form of government. Both monarchial and republican
forms of rule have been as despotic and as opposed to real freedom
as was the reign of Nero. Popular liberty under both may degen-

RELIGION THE SOURCE OF NATIONAL BLESSINGS. 453

erate into licentiousness and revolution, and all the horrors of un-
mitigated serfdom. But on the other hand, wherever religion is
recogn'~'?d as a living power, civil liberty will be enjoyed to the
fullest extent ; — intellect will expand — science will be prosecuted
with vigor, and conscience be protected against persecution.

III. Religion is the source of national prosperity. Certain na-
tions not professedly christian have prospered for a time. Some
of the most wicked governments the world has ever seen — rotten
to the very core — have been permitted to flourish, in order that
their downfall may at last be the more apparent. In the very mo-
ment of the nation's pagan revelry, Babylon was destroyed. And
so it has been with every nation that systematically ignores God's
word. Taken all in all, the nation that practises virtue and honors
christian principles, flourishes and grows strong in all those ele-
ments that enter into national greatness.

With the privileges we enjoy, as great as those of Israel, why
may not our land become another theocracy — God-governed, God-
protected — a people happy, because holy, surpassing the palmiest
days of old.

Goodly were thy tents, O Israel,
- ", Spread along the river side ; '

' ' Bright thy star which rose prophetic,

Herald of dominion wide.

Fairer are the homes of freemen.

Scattered o'er our broad domain ;
Brighter is our shining day-star,

Ushering in a purer reign.

The Old Paths & the New.

i< 'VI

Thus saith the Loid, stand ye in the way?, and see, and ask for »he
good oia paths ; where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall
liud rest for your touls."

' • --Jeremiah 6, v. 16.

The Old Paths and the New.

HESE words, addressed by the prophet to the inhabi-
tants of Judah, are applicable to ourselves and the age
in which we live. It nnay seem foolish that the en-
lightened, progressive and highly eulogized present
should take lessons from the conservative and ignorant past.
And yet we may possibly find that modern changes in
society and departures from old ways of thinking and living, are
not all praiseworthy, and that whatever real improvement and ad-
vancement has been made is due to the labors, institutions and
principles undergone, maintained and asserted, by our ancestors in
days gone by. The remark of Emerson, " that while society has
acquired new arts, it has lost its old instincts," is literally true of the
present, as contrasted with the past.

We do not say that in everything the former days were better
than these. We are not pessimists. We recognize with gratitude
the onward march of civilization and culture that the nineteenth
century boasts of, and the earnests of a still better future for our
land and for the world. We do not claim for our forefathers a
monopoly of wisdom, or prudence, or virtue, or religion. They

(457)

458 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

were fallible, as we arc. They had imperfections, and follies, and
mistakes in judgment. VVc do not take them for our guides in
solving many intricate questions that were not agitated in their
day, and are the outcome of a different state of society than that
in which their lot was cast. Nor need we slavishly follow them in
manners and customs, which are but the accidents of existence.
But believing that in the main they endeavored to conform their
lives to the requisitions of a sound morality, and were thus pros-
pered in their endeavors to found systems of civil and religious
polity that continue to be the admiration of the world, it is surely
the part of wisdom to study their character, the principles which
directed them, and the paths in which they walked. If it is the
duty of the individual to scan the lessons of the past, so it is of the
nation. Young in years compared with the old world, and that
empire from which many of us have sprung, it is well to know how
in circumstances far more unpropitious than ours, and in spite of
persecution and opposition, they acquired such a goodly heritage
as they have bequeathed to their descendants. With us it is but
the beginning of an empire, destined we fondly hope to occupy no

mean place in the fulfilment of God's grand designs with humanity
at large. Without being over sanguine, every true patriot can say:

I hear the tread of pioneers,

Of nations yet to be ;
The first low wash of waves, where soon

Shall roll a human sea.
The rudiments of empire here,

Are plastic yet and warm ;
The chaos of a mighty world.

Is rounding into form.

The phrase, " old paths," means methods of living, maxims ap-
proved, truths believed, and principles adopted. The language
gives us a hint of the primitive modes of travel in Palestine, where
there were, and still are but few roads, and where communication

THE OLD I'ATIKS AND THE NEW. 459

between distant tribes was difficult and tedious. Then by an easy
and natural transition, it is used for the habits, manners and dispo-
sitions of men, or the fixed methods of legislation and government
either in church or state. We know from scripture what Israel was
in the days when faithful to her law-giver, and observant of his
testimonies, she enjoyed his favor and protection. We know, also,
why God visited her with judgment and dimmed her glory. In
the text, the prophet exhorts the Jews to cease from backsliding
and divisive courses, that have been so pernicious and productive
of evil. " Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see, and
ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and
ye shall find rest for your souls." This evening, as appropriate to
the occasion, we use the text as an exhortation to study the history
of that land whence our fathers came, that wc may copy those vir-
tues and excellencies that made her so conspicuous and so honor-
able in the eyes cf other nations.

Enquiring into the doctrines and practice of our fathers in days
gone by, we find :

I. Unmistakable belief in a living God ; in an overruling provi-
dence ; in a revelation from the Almighty to the soul of every man,
and in a coming day of judgment. Details as to creeds and con-
fessions, which they at times perhaps unduly magnified, and held
too obstinately, need not be referred to. But in regard to those
great fundamental actions that are inseparable from any system of
religion worthy of the name, they gave forth no uncertain sound.

II. Regarding the word of God as inspired and profitable for
doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness, they
made it a daily study in their homes and in their schools, and en-
deavored to regulate, not only their individual conduct, but the
nation in its corporate capacity, by its demands. The conduct of
rulers, as well as ruled, was judged by its standard of integrity and
honor. What was wrong in the humblest was regarded as a greater

460 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

wrong in the hip[hcst citizen. Frauds {)erpctrated in high places
were considered more dangerous to morals than breach^ of the
law in private life. With unsparing and impartial justice, king and
cottager, prince and peasant, were arraigned before the bar of pub-
lic opinion and the courts of law, regardless of consequences.

III. This stern administration of the higher law brought with
it into family and social life a rigor and severity that cannot be
understood, and is often most ignorantly and unreasonably vilified.
The fact that the oldest members of the family were entitled to the
respect and obedience of the younger, that their commands were to
be peremptorily obeyed, that parents were the sole and supreme
arbiters in cases of dispute, were matters universally recognized as
right and proper, and never called in question. The prompt and
impressive infliction of punishment for wrong-doing may at times
have been excessive, and may have hindered the full flow of that
mutual love which secures confidence and attracts the young to the
old, but it was infinitely superior to that utter disregard of law and
order which prevails in the great majority of Canadian homes. The
Sabbath in such homes was literally a day of rest. The house of
God was the meeting place for all ages. The Bible and the cate-
chism, and the works of old Puritan and covenanting fathers, were
the books read and pondered. These were the moulding and dis-
ciplining agencies of the last century, and the subjects of discourse
in schcol and by cottage fireside. '* The proud pre-eminence of
every Scotchman was not only that he could read his Bible, but
knew its meaning word for word equally with the most learned in
the land. Alone of all the peasantry of Europe, the Scottish peas-
antry as a body could do this, and often by ingleside and wayside,

Reasoned high
Of Providence, foreknowledge, will and fate,
Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute.

Thus her religion and her schools gave her a people which for in-
tellectual fire and sustained strength of purpose has have no equal,

THE OLD PATHS AND THE NEW. 461

and amonp which there were grand outstandinf; types of human
nature, which continue to this day to exercise a most commanding
influence upon the civilisation of the world. The mental food was
perhaps heavy, and often incomprehensible to tender years. Hut
it produced strong men — thoughtful and critical in the highest
degree. With all our improvements in models of Sabbath school
ttMching and the manifold helps afforded, the youth of the present
d»/ know far less of God's word and the saving truths of religion,
than the children of a by-gone century, whose theology was gained
from the lips of pious mothers by humble cottage firesides.

We are free to confess that in some cases the sweetness and
sunshine which the Sabbath should bring with it were absent, and
that trifling infringements and childlike encroachments on the
sacredness of the day were magnified into mortal sins, and dealt
with accordingly. But if our fathers erred on the side of strict-
ness, have we not erred in a laxity of behaviour th.u threatens to
blot out the Sabbath from the calendar of holy days? It is here
as a nation that we are rapidly deviating from " the old paths," in
which the fathers walked. The youth of the present know nothing
of the stillness of that day of days, and the blessed i-ffccts it left
behind upon all classes of the population. Poetry and prose have
striven in vain to picture the impressiveness of the Scottish Sab-
bath morning, when the holy murmur of retired prayer mingled
with the chant of the cotterman's psalm, and when old men and
maidens spent the twilight of the day with the Bible in their hands
and solemn thoughts of unseen things within their hearts, and when
God's children met in the solitude of the forest to enter anew into
covenant with their King, and feast upon the bread of life.

Lulled the sea this Sabbath morning^

Calm th» golden-created glens ;
And the white clouds upward passing

Leave unveiled the Azure Bens-^
Altars pure to lift to heaven,

Human hearts' unheard amens.

462 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Snyi old Alcxar.clcr Wallah, " Such prayers — such sermons ; none
such to be heard now-a-days. It was a scene on which God's eye
mi^jht love to look. What are your cathedrals, your choirs, your
organs ? God laid the foundations of our temple on the pillars of
the earth ; our floor was nature's verdant carpet ; our canopy was
the vaulted sky, the heaver in which the Creator dwells. Nature
in all the luxuriance of loveliness ; — and lovelier still, and infinitely
dearer to God, multitudes of redeemed souls, and hearts purified
by faith, sinfjinpf his praise in ^rave sweet melodies."

IV. In the common relations of life they valued men for what
they were, and not for what they h.id. Mind and morals were
esteemed of vastly greater importance than wealth associated with
wickedness. The standard of true nobility was that of the poet,
when he says :

Worth makes the man, the want of it the fellow.

A man's immoralities were not shielded or excused by his social
standing, accidental or acquired. No bribe could change the ver-
dict of the populace or the bar. Forgiveness there might be, but
condemnation none the less. Crimes which to-day are palliated
and passed over, if not indeed regarded as virtues, were branded
with the heated indignation of public opinion. The swindler who
by sharp practice robs the widow and orphan, and embezzles the
funds of public institutions, but nevertheless walks proudly at lib-
erty, while the petty thief is sent to the penitentiary, would have
fared differently in these by-gone days. It was not the clothing of
the outward man that gave a passport to homes of refinement, but
the character that he bore for purity of thought, chastity of conver-
sation, and sincerity of deed. The christian sentiment of the age
regarded the great brotherhood of humanity as strongest of all ties,
and blended antagonistic and diverse dements Into one. And so
it should ever be.

THE OLD PATHS AND THE NEW. 463

The rich«« of tho conunonwoalth

Arf> fn*«*, aironit iiiiiult, and lii'artn of hoaltli ;

And nioro to hnr than ){old or iirtkxv,

The cunning hand and culturud hrain.

In the parish schools the rich man's son and the poor man's son
sat side by side, and iniiepcndcnt of the accident of birth, were
treated alike. Position did not excuse stupidity, nor did poverty
prevent the attainment of highest honors. Those whom the vorld
venerates to-day and holds in hirh esteem, owe the grandeur o'
their lives to the tremendous dillficultics which they encountered
and overcome. The hard rocks which they quarried arc engraven
with their names, which are now immortal.

Finally, into the broader fields of national affairs they carried
those principles that influenced them as individuals. Politics, as
now understood and made merchandise of, they despised. They
argued that what was good for the unit, was good for the mass ;
that an intelligent people were the source of all lawful authority,
and had a right to decide what the national faith and life should
be. Herein lies the grand dificrencc between the Puritans of l'2ng-
land and the Covenanters of Scotland. The Puritan claimed indi-
vidual liberty, but the Covenanter was not satisfied until he secured
the same privileges for his country. The Puritan exiles crossed the
.sea to enjoy liberty of conscience and freedom of worship without
the oppressive enactments of human law; but the Covenanters
stood firm on their native soil, and fought and gained against over-
whelming numbers the battle of the faith. The idea that the word
of God should have no recognition in the legislative halls of the
nation is a modern and monstrous theory. Our fathers believed
that in elevating men to civic honors, regard should be had to
morals and christian principle more than to party and politics. In
our day we place partyism and political creed above character : in
those days both were taken into account, and no man deemed

464 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

worthy of responsible office, whose private h'fe did not stand the
honest, candid, but charitable scrutiny of his fellow-men.

Thus far I have been speaking of what Scotland was a century
ago, and subsequent to the Treaty of Union, which did much to
raise her commercially, socially and politically in the scale of
nations. I am not speaking of what she is now. In commerce, in
wealth, in the increased comforts of the middle classes, in the more
general diffusion of secular knowledge, and in many details of social
life, she has made substantial progress. But in what constitutes
the higher and nobler elements of national greatness, I hardly think
she has improved, if indeed she has equalled the past. It is greatly
to be feared that in later years Scotland has not maintained the
faith and virtues of the fathers. In solid learning she has never
excelled the scholarship of the past, though in superficial and inge-
nious criticisms of long established and accepted beliefs she is at the
present day singularly advanced. In piety and devotion she has
sadly retrograded since the days of Samuel Rutherford, although
in modes of worship she has made radical changes, and possibly
some improvements. In morals (speaking of the impression made
upon a casual visitor), she has sensibly declined, in spite of all the
activity of the churches, and the countless agencies at work for the
elevation of the masses. In her crowded cities, especially, there is
little to encourage the hope that drunkenness, immorality and
wretchedness are lessening, under the combined efforts of national
education and awakened religious life. And yet, with all these
drawbacks and blemishes, she will even now bear favorable com-
parison with the new world, and in some things be found worthy
of imitation.

Our land is indeed a goodly land. No country or' the face of
the earth gives greater promise of a magnificent future. Its vast
extent of territory ; its fertile soil ; its agricultural and mining re-
sources ; its bracing atmosphere ; its constitutional government j

Tin: OLD PATHS AND Till'. NF.V/. 465

its equal rights and privileges, and its so far peaceful Sabbaths,
make it indeed the prospective home for millions of free, independ-
ent, prosperous, law-abiding subjects. The changes ami marvellous
progress of the past fifty years cannot indeed be unduly magnified.
As, from some mount of vision, we look back and see how the Lord
hath led us, and hopefully survey the future, have we not good
reason to say :

What change ! Through pathless wilds .10 more

The tierce and naked savage loanis:
Sweet praise along the cu'tured shore.

Breaks from ten thousand hnppy homes.

Laws, freedom, truth and faith in God,
Came with our fathers o'er the waves ;

And where their pilgrim feet have trod,
The God they trusted guards their graves.

And here thy name, O God of love,

Their children's children shaH adore.
Till these eternal hills remove,
. ' . And spring adorns the earth no more.

But with our advancement in material and social comforts, there
is I fear little attachment to fundamental truths, and less regard to
the practice of every day virtues that constitute real and abiding
national growth. Among the nr.ore prominent evils which every
true patriot laments, let me mention, —

First, — The scepticism of the age. A large number laugh to
scorn those " old paths " in which the fathers walked. They can-
not see in them either solid happiness to the individual or stability
to the nation. The spirit of the age is in revolt against the past.
Discoveries in art and science, speculations in philosophy and the-
ology, appliances and adaptations and conveniences to meet the
demands of extended commerce and increased facilities for the ex-
change of thought and good-fellowship among the dificrent peoples
of the earth, generate the idea that we had better ignore the expe-
♦30

466 THE CHURCH and the commonwealth.

rience and gains of the past, and follow an entirely different line of
conduct. Never was there a period when the spirit of unrest, dis-
trust, doubt and disbelief was so prevalent, when men cared less for
fixed laws of conduct in the business of cvery-day life and the ad-
ministration of justice. What are called liberty of conscience, of
thought and belief, are tending towards the complete renunciation
of settled beliefs, which in olden times were entwined in the moral
sense, and are essential to right living. Morality itself is in some
quarters regarded as a matter of exp'^diency, and religious restraint
cast aside as beneath the notice of full grown men. In this whirl-
pool of uncertainty, many promising youths are not simply giving
up old for new faiths, but are in danger of giving up all faith in the
primary verities of existence here and hereafter. Nations also are
renouncing old established beliefs and customs for novel and un-
tried theories of government, which must inevitably tend to decay
and disintegration. It is said that the Legislature of Connecticut,
when they first got together before the Revolution, resolved that
the colony should be governed by the laws of God in the Old Tes-
tament, until they had time to make better. I do not know that
either as a colony of Great Britain, or a state of the Republic, it
has ever yet made better ones. Nor can any nation improve upon
the theocratic teachings of the Old Testament oi' the christian ethics
of the new. The details of government and the customs of the
Orient may change, but the ten commandments and the sermon on
the Mount are* of universal and continuous application.

Secondly, — I mention the race for riches. Another character-
istic of our age, is the mad and feverish desire to accumulate wealth,
regardless of the means employed. Half a century ago there were
rich men and millionaires, as there are now, but as a rule, capital
was gained by plodding perseverance, and not as at the present
day by unrighteous speculation and dangerous ventures, that par-
take more of the nature of gambling than honest business transac-

THE OLD PATHS AND THi: NEW. 46)

tions. Young men are not satisfied th salaries far beyond what
their fathers started with in life. They affect a style of living, and
assume an air of importance, that is seldom justified by their means,
and ultimately ends in bankruptcy or criminal disgrace. Nor is
this tendency confined to young men. The young women of to-day
are not guiltless in the matter. To gratify the extravagant whims
of fashion, and the senseless demand for rank and social position,
that has become a mania with certain women, homes once happy
are ruined, and their peace and contentment destroyed.

Riches need not be despised, but they may be, and are, over-
valued. Lives are wrecked to possess what after all confers but a
nominal advantage. In what is an Astor, or a Gould, or a Van-
derbilt, or a Rothschild, better than the honest workingman, who
renders ten hours toil from day to day ? Indeed the mechanic or
average business man, who has just enough for his day's wants,
ought to be far happier than the man who, with his immense estates
and increasing wealth, passes sleepless nights in worriment about
his investments, and in peril lest sudden revulsion in the money
market may rob him of his means. He has no dread of robbers to
waylay him by night, or snatch his body from the grave when dead.
He has none of the vexatious annoyances of law suits, that drive
some rich men mad. Contented with such things as he has and as-
sured of the fulfilment of the promise, that the righteous shall not
be forsaken, nor his seed begging bread, he seeks no more than his
Father sees fit to give :

Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes ;
Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees it close ;
Something attempted, something done.

Has earned a night's repose.

When will men cease worshipping the golden calf, under the
delusion that riches increase happiness ? Happiness only increases

468 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

with a man's earnings up to a certain point, the point necessary to
secure the comforts of life. All beyond this is superfluous, and
productive of no good whatever. The richer the man the greater
is the probability that his sons will live on billiards, and horse rac-
ing, and die in an inebriate asylum. With a moderate income and
contentment of soul, a man may be happier than a prince. With-
out contentment he is miserable, even though his wealth equalled
the rent roll of a Croesus.

Thirdly, — I mention prodigality and profligacy. As a result of
the increased wealth of our day, these evils are alarmingly preva-
lent. I name them together, for they are almost invariably associ-
ated. Whether the miser or the spendthrift is the more useless to
the commonwealth, is immaterial, but certainly at the present day,
the latter class far exceeds the former. Riches seem to be sought
after, not for the opportunities they afford of doing good, but simply
for the gratification of the senses. Thousands arc squandered in
adorning the body and pampering the appetite that would go far
to relieve the claimant necessities of the poor. Anyone who is ac-
quainted with the paltry sums given by the rich men, and so called
" fashionable churches " for the support of the gospel and benevolent
purposes, in contrast with the amount expended upon amusements
and pleasures (not always moral or elevating) cannot fail to mark
the tendencies of the age. " Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof—
whose god is their belly, and who mind earthly things," is as fitting
a description of our age as of Greece and Rome in days of unbrid-
led voluptuousness. Such a style of living is moral ruin to any
land. The icebergs of Greenland are safer than the luxuriant foli-
age of a South American forest where death lurks ; and the hard
fare of a century ago was better than the pampered life of the
present.

THE OLD PATHS AND THE NEW. 469

Fourthly, — I mention the arrogance of youth. The premature
development of so-called " men " on the American continent is re-
marked by every foreigner. Long before they are out of their teens
our youth arc introduced to society, and fond mothers arc anxiously
looking round for " suitable settlements " for their children, liefore
our young men can construe a sentence grammatically, or can
repeat the books of the Bible, or have read the history of their own
land, far less that of the old world, they are candidates for political
honors, and announce their opinions with an air and authority that
is amusing to older men ; and long before their fathers thought of
starting in business on their own account, they open up large estab-
lishments — succumb to financial depression — defraud their credit-
ors — make over " their estates " to official assignees, and begin to
live the lives of gentlemen of leisure ! Any one who knows any-
thing of Canadian youth at the present day, will not deny that such
is the prevailing type of embryo manhood. Far be it from me to
make an indiscriminate onslaught on the really clever, pure-minded
and aspiring minds of the country. The very extravagances and
absurdities which are laughed at, may have in them promise of
better things to come, while the sober and sensible and bashful
young man, may become nothing more than a very common-place
citizen. But as a rule, genius is not always the product of self-
conceit.

The strongest minds
Are often those of whom the world
Hears least.

The real men of mark wait recognition and do not force their
crude ideas upon the public. The Country Parson, in his essay on
" Immaturity," says : " A calf knows it is a calf It may think
itself bigger and wiser than an ox, but if it be a reasonable calf,
modest and free from prejudice, it is well aware that the joints it
will yield after its demise will be very different from those of the

470 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

Stately and well consolidated ox, which ruminates in the pasture
near it. But the human boy (we may change it to the Canadian
boy) thinks he is a man, and even more than a man. He fancies
that his mental stature is as big and solid as it will ever become,
and that his mental productions are just what they ought always
to be. If he be spared in the world, and if he be one of those whom
years make wiser, he will look back with amazement, if not with
shame, upon the crude productions of his youth." Were I address-
ing to-night a company of young men instead of older ones, I should
say to them, in something of the same strain that an editor once
preached a sermon to certain college graduates : " Remember that
the world is older than you are by several years, and that for thous-
ands of years it has been full of smarter young men than you, and
that when the old world went whirling on, not one man in ten
millions went to their funeral, nor even heard of their death. Be
as smart as you can ; know as much as you can ; shed the light of
your wisdom abroad in the world, but don't imagine a thing is so
simply because you say it is, and don't be too sorry for your father,
because he knows so much less than you. The world has great
need of young men, but no greater need than young men have of
it. Your clothes fit you better than your father's fit him, and cost
more money ; and your whole appearance is more stylish ; but his
homely scr.- mbling signature on the business end of a cheque will
draw more money out of the bank in five minutes than you could
get out with a ream of paper and a copper-plate signature in six
months. Do not be afraid that your merits will not be discovered
If worth finding you will be found. A diamond is not so easily
found as a quartz pebble, but people search for it all the more
intensely.

Fifthly and finally, — I mention selfishness. The spirit of sel-
fishness, which takes no interest in the welfare of others, if personal
9nds are served, and class distinctions or what is familiarly known

THE OLD I'ATIIS AND TIIK SEW. 4/1

as "caste," arc as prevalent in the new world as in the old. The
interests of the rich and the poor man have little in common. Cap-
' ital and labor stand apart and frown at each other. Oppression
and heartless dealing on the part of the one, and insubordination
and insurrection on the part of the other are inaugurating a state of
things that make thoughtful men tremble lest the infidel commun-
ism of the old world may become common in the new. In bygone
days, Christian feeling and free intercourse between master and ser-
vants made them one. As Macaulay says :

Tho Romans >»ere like brothers
In the bravo days of old.

While we cannot at once remove the cause for such unseemly
strife, let us work and pray for the good time coming, when on the
part of large employers there shall be greater consideration shown
for the feelings, the health, and the social and moral welfare of their
servants ; and when workmen shall reasonably judge for themselves
as to their rights and obligations, without the inflammatory har-
angues of demagogues, and shall co-operate with their masters in
what is best for their mutual interests. " Give me," says a christian
philanthropist, " workshops filled with christian men, and then con-
fidence in the character of such workers will take the place of sus-
picion, and consideration of the master's difficulties will have a
place in the workman's thoughts. Work purified from eye service
will then be rendered for wages received, and quietly and gradually,
but surely, sweetness, humanity and justice will come up into the
important relationship between masters and men." In our churches
we shall also see a better state of things. It is true that the rich
and poor meet here together, but that is all. They keep apart.
The richer members have no knowledge, and but little sympathy,
with the claimant necessities of the poor, and the poor are afraid
to touch the garments of the rich, lest they should be rudely re-
pulsed. And yet these are " brethren in Christ !" They belong to

472 TIIF CMURCM AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

the communion and household of saints ; they arc members of the
same spiritual family, and have the same Father and elder brother I
What a mockery of relijjion ! How different from apostolic days,
when tlw; members of the early church had all things in common,
and parted with their possessions as every man had need. " Blessed
is he that considcreth the poor : the Lord will deliver him in trouble,
and he shall be blessed upon the earth."

Brethren of the Saint Andrew's Society, these growing evils in
the body politic arc not beyond cure. To you and all patriotic
citizens is committed the task of rectifying what is wrong, extir-
pating what is bad, and propagating what is pure and virtuous, so
that of all Britain's colonial possessions Canada may become the
fairest and the best.

We cross tho prairifi as of old,

Our fathers crossed the sea.
To make tho A\'e -t, as they the East,

Tho honicstoati of the free !

Is it by individual effort that great reforms are effected and
nations elevated. Let your lives be spent

In pulses .stirred to j^onorosity,

in deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn

For miserable aims that end with self,

and then when the battle is over, you shall pass away, if not Kmid
the lamentations and wailings of the land you have loved, at least
with the feeling that you have befriended your brother man, and
made the world your debtor. And then, as was lately done to one
of Scotia's sons, they shall put upon your coffin a St. Andrew's
cross of lilies to speak of Scotland and charity ; a palm leaf, emble-
matic of victory ; a sheaf of wheat, to tell of a life fruitful and
ripe, and a pillow of immortelles, to speak of rest and immortality.
May a life so beautiful, and an cnO. so happy, be the lot of
one and all !

Jewish Love for Jerusalem.

" Walk aViout Zion and go round about her ; tell the towers thereof.
Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces : that ye may tell it to
the generation following."

^Psalm 48, v. 12, 13.

Jewish Love for Jerusalem.

(i^LARGE portion of the Psalms abound In praise of Mount
Zion and the holy city. No subject was better fitted to
call forth the sublime and inspired poetry of the writer.
As the spot where the temple was built ; where God's
presence was signally and gloriously manifested ; where the
law was read ; where the Levites and congretjation shouted songs
of praise ; where the tribes assembled in their joyous gatherings
from year to year ; where sacrifices were offered and peace and par-
don proclaimed — Mount Zion, of all the places in the land of Pal-
estine, was dear to every pious and patriotic Jew, and afforded a
theme of undying interest to the poet laureate of the nation.

It was not mere sentiment that singled out the temple upon
Mount Zion as a holy place, and made its dust precious to God's
saints. Nor is this feeling of passionate love for Mount Zion ex-
tinct in the children of Abraham. Wherever vou find a genuine
Jew, whatever be his obscurity and outward condition, you find -a
lover of Jerusalem ; one whose heart thrills at the very mention <5f
her name, and who delights^ to anticipate her restoration, when the

(475)

476 TIIK CHURCH ANI> THE COMMONNVKALTH.

set time to favor her shall come, and the Lord shall build up her
ruined walls and appear in ({lory.

AM places arc not alike dear to the heart. There are lonely,
dreary spots of jarth, possessing no s{)ecial beauty to the painter's
eye, that a'-e invested with a charm that is indescribable, but none
the less real. There arc homely, humble dwellings, unadorned and
rude in structure, that surpass in our estimation the marble palaces
of royalty. There perhaps oi" eyes first opened to the light of
day, and we learned to lisp the name of mother, there we witnessed
sec OS of joy and sorrow that can never be effaced from memory,
and there in silence and in sorrow we closed the eyes of the nearest
and the dearest friends on earth. And is it not such feelings in a
strangely intensified degree that makes Scotchmen and their de-
scendants so tenacious of the past, that leads them on such occa-
sions as the present to expatiate upon the weird beauties of their
native land, to revisit in memory its hallowed spots and dwell with
enthusiasm upon the lessons of the historic page.

Dear is the shed to which his soul conforms.
And dear thn hill ivhich lifts hini to the storms.
And as the child, when soarinj; winda molest,
Clings clo^e and closer to its mother's hreast ;
So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar.
But bind him to his native mountains more.

We can thus easily understand how sweetly solemn were the
associations of the Holy City and the Holy Land, and how the
Jewish heart glowed with becoming pride as they repeated the well
known lines " Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is
Mount "^ion, on the sides of the north, the city of the Great King."
Pray for .ae peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee,
peace be within thy palaces, and prosperity within thy bordeia, •■
in the words of the text, in the version of Strenhold and Hopkins

"3
X

JEWISH LOVE FOR JERUSALEM. 47;

Oo walke about all Syon hill, yea rounrl about her go,

And tell the towres that there upon are builded in a roe.

And marke you well her bulwarks all, behold her towres there,

That ye may tell thereof to them that after shall t>e here ;

For this God is our God, forever more is H«?,

Yea and unto the death also our guider shall He be.

Mount Zion and the temple and her solemn ordinances wen
the glory of the nation, and the admiration of every Jew. Tht
peace and prosperity of God's house, above all else, was dear to hi;
heart. Their children were taught to esteem and reverence a;
sacred everything connected with the sanctuary. The temple oc-
cupied a lofty and commanding position. It was seen afar off, anc
was an object of terror and envy to surrounding nations. " The
kings assembled saw it, and marvelled ; they were troubled and
hasted away." From its summit the pious Jew looked around and
gazed upon the land that God gave by promise to his fathers, in all
its length and in all its breadth. In strength, in stateliness, in
beauty of proportion, it was necessarily perfect, for it was heaven-
designed. Its internal fittings were in keeping with its outward
appearance. Its altar was overlaid with gold ; its doors were oi
olive and cedar, covered with cherubims, and its foundations ol
costly stones. Hiram, King of Tyre, sent goodly cedars from Leb-
anon, and three thousand Israelites hewed out costly stones from
the mountain for the foundations of the house. No one was ex-
empted from service, and no contribution was deemed insignificant.
Towards the enriching and garnishing of the gorgeous edifice every
Jew contributed of his means and labor. The whole congregation
of Israel consecrated their service to the Lord, and gave willingly
with a perfect heart.

But it was not the building, graceful and elegant though its
architectural proportions were, nor the outward adornment of the
altar, but the recognized presence of Almighty God in the hearts
of the worshippers, that drew forth the affections of the nation. It

478 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

was this that made the sanctuary upon Mount Zion so grandly sol-
emn and so awe-inspiring. When the glory of God filled the. house ;
when the spiritual fire came down from heaven ; when the high
priest came forth from the Holy of Holies with pardon and recon-
ciliation for guilty men, the gladness and joy were exceedingly
great !

Next indeed to the Jew, has been the attachment of Scotchmen
for their temples and their simple forms of worship. As Dr. John
Kerr well says : *' Before the multitude will be drawn to mere cer-
emonies, the nature of the Scottish people must be made over
again, their most hallowed associations destroyed, the most heroic
pages of their history blotted out, and the last old stone dug up
that lifts its head from the grey hillside to tell where martyred dust
is sleeping." The old, weatherbeaten, homely structures, with their
moss grown ivy, but with no architectural beauty to attract the eye,
and offering but little bodily comfort through the long hours of ser-
vice, customary in other days, had in them a charm inexplicable,
apart from the devotional feeling that possessed the worshippers.
They felt the truth of the poet's words :

Not th« fair palaces,

To which the great resort ;
Are once to be compared with this

Where Jesus holds His court.

Nor was this a blind and bigoted attachment to forms and non-
essentials. The church of the living God was regarded by them as
the source of all national prosperity in the best sense of the term.
It was not only a spiritual centre — a never failing source of hope
and comfort to struggling humanity, and a teacher of saving truth
to the masses, but it upheld good government inculcated ..b'uience
to rulers, and insisted upon the practice of all those social virtues
that characterise a happy and contented people. And is not this
still the opinion of all right thinking men ? It is through the in-

JEWISH LOVE FOR JERUSALEM. 47S

flucnce of the church that the fetters of the slave have been broken ;
that despotism and tyranny have been ended in many parts of the
world, that the chariot of war has been stayed in its career of deso-
lation and civilization carried to its highest forms of development.
Where churches are few or where they are corrupt : — where
infidelity, rationalism and superstition prevail, there insurrection-
bloodshed and licentiousness abound. The only civilization bene-
ficial to the world, comes from the application of Bible truth to
the heart of the commonwealth.

And although during the past century Scotland has undergone
many denominational changes there is still the same unmistakable
love for the ordinances of religion. It only needs adequate occasion
to call forth the latent feelings of the nation on behalf of principles
that have been handed down by bleeding sires^ and show how
deeply entrenched are the memories of the past. It is not to be
expected, nor is it desirable, that there should be the same tenacious
adherence to minor details in forms of worship that characterized
the years immediately succeeding the Reformation and covenant-
ing struggles ; nor that there should be the same uncompromising
protest against certain ceremonies, which were then rightly regarded
as symbolical of superstition and priestly domination. But in
all that constitutes the essentials of religion, there is still, we feel
assured, no lack of fervor and intelligent interest. Indeed, in some
respects, Scottish piety, if less rigid and austere than in past days,
is more attractive and aggressive. Never was there a time when
evangelistic movements on behalf of home heathen were prosecuted
with such zeal and success as at the present moment, and despite
j'the strongly marked and distinctive lines that still exist between
the different religious sects, the spirit of brotherly charity pre-
vails to an extent altogether unknown in years gone by, leading to
harmonious and united effort in behalf of those grand social and
moral eforras, which now press for speedy solution at the hands of

480 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

christian statesmen. Presbyterianism in Scotland, while indeed the
most important factor in its religious life, does not now stand alone
as it once did, the champion of free speech and free thought. Men
of marked ability and noble spirit in the Congregational and Bap-
tist bodies are allies and co-workers with the Presbyterian Church,
in all the great movements that tend to the elevation of humanity,
while the religious press (notably the " Christian Leader " of Glas-
gow), is adapting itself to meet the demands of an age character-
ized by feverish unrest and energy, but at the same time by lofty
aim and purpose. Sha41 we, with jealous eye, regard the growing
influence of other denominations, called it may be by other names,
but one with us in spirit, and part of the great sacramental host of
God's elect? Far from it. In this new religious quickening in
Scotland we see the dawn of that better day, which martyrs longed
for and saw with prophetic eye ; when Scotland shall realize in her
own and other lands the fruit of her contendings, and await the
coming of her King 1

Early — early on our mountains,

Presage of a glorious day ;
Pure as from the native fountain,

Faintly broke the gospel ray.

Storm and cloud the pathway coven.

By our rude forefathers trod —
Yet that dawning brightness hovers.

Where St. Columb walked with God.

Now unto the hilltops get thee —

Where the sunshine we descry—
Nightly on the watch tower sit thee,

For his coming draweth nigh !

Greater changes than those mentioned may be at hand in both
the political and ecclesiastical affairs of Scotland. These, however,
we cannot regard with the same sad forebod' .gs that seem to pos-
sess many mind& Around the past history and contendings of the

JEWISH LOVE FOR JERUSALEM. 48I

church of Scotland tender memories cluster that can never be
effaced. Even those who by successive secessions and disruptions
have left her pale, cannot but remember her with a fond and filial
affection. It is not for us, removed at such a distance from the
srene of somewhat fierce and bitter contendings that at present
convulse the mother land, to express opinions or proffer advice.
Doubtless in the Canadian church, as in the churches of Scotland,
different opinions prevail on the question of disestablishment and
the probable issue of the present agitation. Some there are who
conscientiously deprecate and strenuously oppose any speedy
change in the position of the established Church of Scotland, not
from personal or selfish motives, but because they regard her as not
only the symbol of national piety, but the source of much of that
widespread intelligence and robust manhood which have for ages
characterized the Scottish peasantry. Others there are who in the
present divided state of religious and theological opinion, compared
with what it was a century ago, when the Church of Scotland was
numerically and socially the church of the nation, demand dises-
tablishment and the parity of all the different Presbyterian churches,
and the discontinuance of State aid and recognition ; while a third
party, and one which comprises many of the thoughtful leaders of
public opinion, would prefer the comprehensive union of all the
Presbyterian churches, brought about by mutual concessions and
friendly arrangements on the part of all who have at heart the best
interests of the nation, rather than by the violent demolition of ex-
isting claims. That such a union shall ultimately in some way be
brought about we cannot doubt. The difficulties may be great,
but they are not insurmountable. What has been accomplished in
Canada and Australia can be done in Scotland. A united Presby-
terian Church in Canada has done for the Dominion what never
could have been attained by three separate Presbyterian bodies,
holding in the main the same doctrines and practising the same
*31

483 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTIi

discipline ; each eager to gain a foothold in every hamlet and the
vantage ground over its rival. The Union in Canada has ended
much unseemly and bitter rivalry ; it has raised the stipend of our
more poorly paid ministers to at least a moderate living, and enabled
us by uniting and husbanding our resources to do much more for
the cause of Christ in distant fields. Let us hope that similarly
wise counsels may soon prevail in that land we love so much, that
dissension may soon end, brotherly intercourse be resumed, and a
basis for united co-operation or incorporation be accepted, Wc
cannot, in view of its past glorious history, fear the future of Tres-
bytcrianism in bcotland. The bush has often burned, but has never
been consumed. " God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be
moved ; God shall help her, and that right early."

The questions which at present agitate the old world have long
since been settled in Canada, where now all religions are upon an
equality, and none may dare to coerce or oppress the other. But
if the vexed problem of church and state is no longer with us a
disturbing clement, there are others which need careful handling on
the part of all true patriots. It is different with us here from what
it was in the land we left. There the great mass of the population
are Protestant, here we have a mixed multitude of Bleu and Rouge ;
Catholics of French and Irish extraction ; Orangemen, and Protest-
ants of milder or fiercer type or creed, all living under the same
flag and professing allegiance to the same authority. Our danger
is not from monarchial despotism or foreign interference, but from
intestine strife, from a war of races and creeds, fiercer and more
terrible in its results than hostile invasion from another land. There
are times in the history of nations when inconsiderate speech on
the part of political incendiaries may excite the basest passions and
arouse animosities that take years to quench. May we not be on
the verge of just such a crisis ? We have just by the strong arm ot
law stamped out one rebellion — woe be to the men or party that

JEWISH LOVE FOR JERUSALEM. 483

recklessly incite another ! At such a time there is needed the calm
counsels of those who, guided by the teachings of the past, can act
wisely in the present. To allay sectional differences, and restrain
extremists from dangerous measures, and help to redress wrongs
where such exist, is the mission of the true patriot. Scotchmen,
whose ancestors paid such a price for liberty of conscience and
freedom of speech, are peculiarly fitted to mediate between and
moderate contending factions. If it be true, as has been said, " that
where local affections are the strongc 5t, there the hearts of the peo-
ple are soundest, and there the arm of the patriot is ever ready to
defend and preserve the unexampled privileges which the people
enjoy," it should be ours to maintain inviolate the constitutional
rights of the humblest citizen. In a land where no man dare inter-
fere with our religious belief, and we no longer have to defend our
liberties with broadaxe and claymore, let us carefully conserve to
others the freedom we enjoy. While ever ready to repel aggression
upon our cherished faith, saying in the language of the great refor-
mer, John Knox, " Thus far shalt thou go and no farther," let us
none the less cultivate good will and friendship between man and
man, and unite with all nationalities in making this Dominion of
Canada second to none other under heaven. If Scotland is dear
to us because of its martyred dead, so should this our adopted land.
With a large sum our government purchased those wide-spreading
prairies in the great North- West, but with costlier treasure, the
blood of British and Canadian youth, it has been redeemed. This
year dates the beginning of many a lifelong sorrow. Tears have
fallen " like drops of molten lead,"

For first-born sons, who from their mother's aide, , ;

• Went forth exultant in their country's pride, ; ..

And in the fierce assault, unfaltering, died.

Some one has said that "a land without memories is a land
without liberty. The land that wears a laurel crown may be fair to

484 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

look upon, but twine a few sad cypress leaves around its brow, and
it becomes lovely in its coronet of sorrow. Crowns of roses fade,
crowns of thorns endure. Calvaries and crosses take deepest hold
of humanity." All true perhaps, and yet we would rather have had
the bloody page of history that marks the year unwritten, and been
spared the memories of death upon the plains and death upon the
scaffold. As it is, let us hope that the lessons taught us may not
be forgotten, and that the battle cry may never be heard again.
Better than monumental stones piled high over the fallen brave,
whose life-blood stained the soil " they fought to save," will be the
spread of those principles of righteousness and justice that alone
make nations great. " Peace hath her victories, no less renowned
than war," says Milton ; he might have added, greater and grander
far. He that fashions a ploughshare is greater than he who whets
the sword ; he who tills the soil, better than he who fertilizes it
with human gore. " There's a grandeur in graves, there's a glory
in gloom," says the poet. Why ?

For out of the gloom future brightness is bom,
And after the night looms the sunrise of morn ;
And the graves of the dead, with the grass overgrown,
May yet form the footstool of Liberty's throne,
Aiid each single wreck in the warpath of night,
Shall yet be a rock in the vemple of Right.

In order that this good feeling should continue to exist in our
land, between men of different political creeds and faiths, we ought
as citizens, to cultivate good will between all classes and nationali-
ties, in our several communities. There are small minded men in
Canada as there have been at times in the neighboring Republic —
men of no account in themselves, or whose opinions are of any value
where they are known — who endeavor by flippant foolish writing
in the columns of certain papers, to sow the seeds of dissension be-
tween brethren who have lived in peace for many years, and who
use insulting langu:;ge towards citizens who are among the most

JEWISH LOVE FOR JERUSALEM. 485

liberal minded and enterprising of our merchants and manufac-
turers. Such irresponsible characters are beneath the notice of all
respectable men, and merit, as they indeed receive, silent but pro-
found contempt.

I have left but little time to enforce the claims of the St. An-
drew's Society upon the sympathies of Scotchmen and their des-
cendants. But is it necessary ? The existence of such benevolent
institutions have done much to smooth the rugged road of many a
weary pilgrim, and help him to maintain that manly spirit of inde-
pendence which once lost is hardly ever regained. Even in the land
of plenty, the cry of honest poverty is not unfamiliar. It is not often
heard in the public street, and does not appeal obtrusively for help
from door to door, but all the more, it deserves the aid of all those
who, in the spirit of the religion they profess, deliver the poor and
the fatherless, make the widow's heart to sing for joy, deal their
bread to the hungry and clothe the outcast poor. As Jennie Deans
says in the " Heart of Midlothian " : " It is na when we sleep soft
and wake merrily oursels that we think on other people's su fieri ngs.
Our hearts are waxed light within us then, and we are for righting
our own wrongs and fighting our own battles. But when the hour
o' trouble comes to the mind or to the body, and when the hour o'
death comes to high and low, then it is na what we hae dune for
oursels, but what we hae dune for others, that we think on maist
pleasantly." Sir Walter Scott very beautifully says : " The race
of mankind would perish did they cease to help each other. Fi om
the time that the mother binds the child's head, till the moment
that some kind assistant wipes the damp from the brow of the dying,
we cannot exist without mutual aid ; all, therefore, that need aid
have right to ask it from their fellow-mortals. None who hold the
power of granting help can refuse it without guilt." Beyond the
narrow limits then of kindred, creed or race, cultivate that, broad
sympathy and compassion, which knows no nationality in the pre-

4S6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTIL

sencc of distress. Love humanity with a broad, deep, unselfish
afTection. Seek according to opportunity to advance the welfare
of every man with whom you come into contact. They are your
brethren, whatever the complexion of their skin, or the dialect of
their tongue. They are travelling with you along the great high-
w.iy of life, to the same great goal — creatures of the same God and
heirs through His grace of the same patrimony. In the great
Catholic communion of saints " there is neither Greek nor Jew, cir-
cumcision nor unciscumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free ;
but Christ is all and in all." Of every true man it may be said :

Thy nati ve homo is whereso'er

Christ's spirit breathes a holier air ;

Where Christ like faith is keen to seek

What truth or conscience freely speak ;

What Christ-like love delights to span,

The rents that sever man from man ;

Where round God's throne his just ones stand— >

There, Christian, is thy fatherland.

(milSTS J^GDOM.
ITS qiiOijv jij^jw fHtirKa'triTY.

Much Land to be Possessed

* "There remainoth yet very much land to l.e posWaned."

— Joshua 13, V. 1.

•This and the f lowing discourses were delivered before the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Cliurch in Canada, or at the d-dicatioa of new church edifices.

Much Land to be Possessed.

,AN A AN was now occupied. So far, Joshua's mission was
completed. Hut the territory already acquired, and what
yet remained to be conquered, had still to be divided
among the tribes. Both belonged to the Israelites, by
God's decree, so that what would in ordinary cases have
been foolish, was in the present instance the dictate of wisdom.
Saving Caleb and Joshua, all the others who left Sinai had per-
ished. Joshua also must soon pass away, and prudence therefore
dictated a speedy completion of his work. Ere he passes away he
must see each tribe provided for. There would thus be no room
for future quarrels. As Moses had led them to Jordan, Joshua
must appoint them their habitations on the other side, and put them
in possession of the land promised to their fathers. He could not
hope to live until all their enemies were subdued, and each tribe
occupying his portion of the inheritance. But when the time ar-
rived for them to settle down they would fight, and take possession
of what they now held by the decree of Heaven. There was much
land to be possessed. Many of the tribes were as yet unprovided

(4«9)

490

THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

for. Moses had made certain allotments before the Israelites
crossed the Jordan, but Joshua had made subsequent victories, and
t le entire unconquercd land must be apportioned. He therefore
at once sets himself to divide the inheritance, the details of which
are given in this chapter, and it is worthy of remark as show-
ing the fulfilment of prophecy, that in the directions given each
tribe receives the possession predicted by the patriarch Jacob on
his death-bed many years before. The land of Canaan was to be
occupied by the Jews for a special purpose. It was not simply to
be a place for profitable industry and social enjoyment, but where
the true religion might have a centre. This was implied in the
promise made to Abraham. In his seed all the nations of the earth
ware to be blessed. The Caananites were to be driven out because
of their sins. Caanan was to become the Holy Land and the
dwelling-place of Jehovah, a spot where piety, peace and plenty
W3re to go hand in hand, and where the results of obedience to
Heaven's laws were to be witnessed. And that it was so for many
years, during the reigns of sucn monarchs as David and Solomon,
the page of history testifies. Palestine was the envy and the dread
of neighboring nations. " The kings saw it and marvelled ;
they were troubled and hasted away." Just so long as Israel re-
mained faithful to God did they enjoy His blessing upon all the
labor of their hands.

Applying the words of the text to the world at large, we may
say, " There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed." Of
the entire population of the globe, variously estimated from 1,100,-
000,000 up to 1,197,000,000, only 410,000,000 lire Christians, and
this number includes the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches.
But Christ is yet to reign over this vast mass of heathenism. The
world is His inheritance, as Canaan was that of the Israelites. The
uttermost parts of the earth are to be His possession. His domin-
ion is to extend from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends

MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED. , 49I

of the earth. All kings are to fall down before Him, and all na-
tions serve Him. And just as Joshua was commanded to possess
the land of Canaan, so the Christian church is commissioned to
send forth her ambassadors and fill the world with the glad tidings of
salvation. The same spirit that achieved victory then is demanded
now : faith in the promises and purpose of God, and courage to
conquer in His name. We do not need, like Joshua and the Israel-
ites, to fight for possession. " The v.eapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalitie:>,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places." The nations of the
earth are for the most part ready and eager to receive the gospel.
When missionary labor began, the highest civilizations of the world
were heathen. There was no one place on the globe where Chris-
tianity was in the ascendant. The whole commerce of the world,
the military power of the world, the literature and learning and art
of the world, were heathen. As has been strikingly said : " Every
statue spoke a lie ; in every picture was painted a lie ; forms and
colors were the handmaids and instruments of lies ; there was not
a book or a parchment, which was not the vehicle of a lie — the
whole world, with the exception of Palestine, was written all over
with heathenism." Now, after 1,800 years of missionary enterprise,
what do we find ? That there is not a single Government of any
considerable power that is not Christian, and that those Govern-
ments that are lowest in morality and intelligence are heathen ; that
the missionaries of the cross are everywhere invited and welcomed ;
that false religions no longer wage war against Christianity, as in
past days ; and that even the enemies of the faith seem to admit
that eventually superstition and paganism must fall before the su-
premacy of the truth as it is in Jesus. It is only a question of time
when the waste and desolate places shall be beautified and the

492 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

desert made the garden of the Lord, and the day of universal jubi-
lee will be ail the sooner, as the Church is faithful to her trust.

Applying the language of the text to our own and other chris-
tian lands, we may say : " There remaineth yet very much land to
be possessed." Narrowing the view to the continent of America,
comprising the United States and Canada, with the great North-
West — Australia and such colonies — a field is presented sufficient
to tax the energies of the christian church for many years. These
territories are capable of sustaining vast myriads. They offer
abundant room and scope for the overflowing population of Europe
and other lands. Commerce -.nd steam and applied science are
now opening up the most distant parts for settlement, and the
church is called upon to follow with the blessings of that highest
of all civilizations, which the Bible alone can give. Taking then
the text in its widest application, are we not expressly taught ir^
the Word of God that the supremacy of Christianity is at hand ?
'' The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea." " They shall teach no more every man his neigh-
bor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord ; for they
shall know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them,
saith the Lord." If, as is admitted, one of these passages has a
special and primary reference to the Jewish nation, it does not ex-
clude a wider application, for the Apostle Paul distinctly intimates
that the restoration of the Jews to God's favor, and their acceptance
of the truth, shall be the fulness of the Gentiles. Both then may
be regarded as prophetic of the preaching and reception of the gos-
pel in every land, and its influence upon society at large.

The mighty power and sweep of christian truth is foreshadowed
by the phrase, " As the waters cover the sea." In ages long gone
by a mighty flood of waters destroyed all flesh, but in the latter
days streams of living water shall penetrate every part of the hab-
itable globe, and bless all nations. Most aptly does the rise and

MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED. 493

rush of waters describe the onward advance of the gospel — silent,
equable, far spreading and irresistible ; giving little token of its
coming, but fraught with tremendous results to all opposing ob-
stacles ; sapping the foundations of strongholds, undermining the
most solid masonry, and laughing to scorn the petty resistance of
human skill. In the vision of Ezekiel the water came first to the
ankles, then to the knees, then to the loins, then it was a river to
swim in, that could not be passed over ; and thus the gospel does
not take sudden and immediate possession of the world, but rather
flows over it, as the tide, wave by wave, beats against the shore.
"But whithersoever the rivers come there everything shall live."
As that great word painter. Dr. Guthrie, says : " It does not follow
that there is little doing because very little appears to be done.
The roar and the flash of cannon, the shells shrieking through the
tormented air, the bugle sounding for the stormers — these fill the
eyes and ears of the spectators ; but that may be a less successful
mode of attack than the silent, the secret, the undemonstrative
labors of the men who are mining beneath the surface of the earth,
and preparing for the day when a dull and muffled sound is heard,
when the earth trembles and shakes ; — when the black cloud has
blown away, battery, battlement, and bastion all lie in the dust."
Among other things taught us in the passages quoted arc these :
The gospel shall be published in all nations ; the gospel shall be
preached to all nations ; the gospel shall be professed by all nations ;
the gospel shall be practised in all nations. A few words on each
of these points must suffice.

J. The gospel shall be published in all nations. The angelic
song that announced the birth of Christ intimated the universal
spread of the christian religion. The good tidings of great joy
were to be to all people. If we admit that God has given a revela-
tion of His will, it follows that His creatures must possess it. Why
that revelation was not given all at once in a completed form, and

494 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

why to this day millions of the human family are ignorant of its
existence, are questions apart from our present theme. But what
such passages assert is that the christian religion shall yet be uni-
versally disseminated, and every man in his own tongue be able to
read the wonderful words and works of God. The marvellous
spread of the truth at the present day, the translation of the Bible
into so many dialects and languages, and its eager perusal by bar-
barous tribes, all increase our faith in the speedy fulfilment of the
promise, that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.
In the first 1,500 years of the history of Christianity it gained 100,-
000,000 of adherents ; in the next 30b years 100,000,000 more ; but
in the last 100 years it has gained 210,000,000 more — that is, in the
last 83 years, Christianity has gained more adherents than in the
previous eighteen centuries. At this rate of progress, is it Utopian
to believe that before the close of the present era there will be
1,200,000,000 nominal christians in the world?

II. The gospel shall be preached to all nations. "The Lord
gave the word ; great was the company of those that published it."
" This Gospel of the Kingdom," says Christ, " shall be preached in
all the world for a witness unto all nations." And in the book of
Revelation John says : — " I saw another angel fly in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that
dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and
people." That the ministry is of divine ordination need not be
proved. That it is one of the chief agencies in evangelizing the
world the Scriptures everywhere assert. Without the voice of the
living preacher and the accompanying omnipotent power of God's
spirit, the truth of itself effects but little. The Ethiopian eunuch,
although he had in his hands the marvellous and minute prediction
of Isaiah concerning Christ's humiliation and death, understood not
its meaning. Not that the Bible is a sealed book to all save priests
and learned men, and that none else may presume to unlock its

MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED. 495

treasures, but that in addition to the printed page there is needed
the earnest appeal and the pointed application of the preacher. The
results of missionary labor in heathen lands, as seen in the aban-
donment of idolatry, and the rapid growth of christian congrega-
tions, the conviction of sin and repentance towards God, which fol-
low the preaching of the word, prove the necessity and value of the
living voice.

III. The gospel shall be professed or avowed by all nations.
" Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing
mothers." " From one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath
to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the
Lord." "The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms
of our Lord, and of His Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and
ever." The condition of the world is still perplexing, even to the
eye of faith. There is so much that is hopeful and so much that is
discouraging in the affairs of nations, that we are often weary in
waiting for the reign of righteousness and peace, and good will to
men. But the light is bright within the cloud. Vast changes are
taking place in the kingdoms of the earth. In almost every in-
stance, a higher kind of civilization is being sought after. Despot-
isms are being softened ; autocrats are gradually acknowledging
the rights of the oppressed, and there is at least a nominal recog-
nition of the great principle, that " Righteousness exalteth a nation,
and that sin is a reproach to any people."

IV. The gospel shall be practised in all nations. The making
known to the world that a revelation has been given, is but the
initial step in the progress of Christianity. Obedience and holy
living must follow. " He will teach us of His ways, and we will
walk in His paths." " Men shall beat their swords into plough-
shares and their spears into pruning hooks ; nations shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." " The
wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down

49<5 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

with the kid ; and the calf and the young h'on and the fatling
together, and a little child shall lead them." " All ends of the world
shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before Thee." " There shall be upon the bells
of the horses, holiness unto the Lord." '"Yea, every pot in Jerusa-
lem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of Hosts." Ac-
cording to His promise we look for the new heavens and the new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. That the practice of New
Testament morality is steadily advancing, and that men are valued
and respected not so much by their creed as by their conduct, can-
not I think be gainsaid. There is still great disparity between the
profession and conduct of manv christians. But to be a nominal
church member without corresponding purity of life, is now regar-
ded as an insult alike to God and man. In the high places of the
land it is not now so unusual to find men of pronounced evangel-
ical views, whose characters give weight to their opinions, and whose
sincerity and honesty are beyond all question. And beyond the
geographical limits of christian lands a higher standard of conduct
is now demanded. Cunning, deceit, falsehood, intemperance, and
laxity of morals are regarded as incompatible with the discharge
of the ordinary obligations of life, and prejudicial to the best inter-
ests of society.

But in addition to national integrity the masses shall then pos-
sess a saving knowledge of the g6spel. Not that even then there
shall be perfection in the individual or the nation. But religious
feeling and devout reverence for the name of God shall prevail far
more widely, and operate more potently than now. " I will put my
law in their inward parts," says the prophet, speaking in the name
of the Almighty, " and write it in their hearts. They shall all know
me, from the least of them unto the greatest." This implies indel-
ible impressions of divine truth. They shall acknowledge, submit
to, and delight in Zion's King. Not Israel alone, nor Europe alone,

MUCH LAND TO DE POSSESSED. 497

but the dusky sons of Ethiopia, the wild savage of the desert, who
now roams the forest and dies without the fear of man, from the
least to the greatest, all shall know the Lord. Religious life at
the present day is formal, a sentiment, a comely garment It is
held by a loose grasp. It does not direct the life. It is assumed
in too many cases for display, as the Pharisees wore their phylac-
teries. It is restricted to stated seasons and solemnities, instead
of touching the life at every point. Men are afraid to own their
faith and publicly avow their principles. The motto of the chris-
tian's conduct, " Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord," is but partially interpreted and acted out. The single
men that keep alive the divine light, but glimmer r\s watchers' tapers
by the bedside of the dying. But all this hollow, half-hearted
espousal of the truth, shall take end in the days of which we speak.
Moral darkness shall vanish before the rising of the sun of right-
eousness, as the king of day dispels the shadows of the dawn. In
Swedish Lapland, during six weeks of the year, there is seen the
singular spectacle of a midnight sun. There is scarcely any night,
for the sun never sets. On the 24th of June, when the midnight
sun is seen in all its glory, large numbers come from all parts of the
globe to gaze upon this singular phenomenon. But faith looks for- .
ward to something grander than the midnight sun, when the light
of the gospel shall flash from shore to shore, continent to continent,
and pole to pole. The land of the midnight sun occupkjs but a
small portion of our globe, but the day draws near when it shall be
said of every spot of earth, "There is no night there." "Thy sun
shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light
and thy God thy glory." For ten years the Grecian sentinels kept
their watchtowers, waiting and watching anxiously for the beacon
fires which should announce the fall of Troy. At last the signal
came — a flash of light — and from tower to tower the fiery message
leaped, over land and sea, until from Ida to Argos the news of vic-
*32

4S)8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

tory had been carried on the wing of flame. And thus shall it be
w'licn the watchmen on the walls of Zion proclaim to an expectant
world the final victories of the truth. That day is coming. Re-
demption is drawing nigh.

Watchman, toll us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn ;
Traveller, darkness takes its Hight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn :
Watchman, let thy wanderings cease,
Hie thee to thy quiet homo ;
Traveller, lo I the Prince of Peace,
Lo ! the Son of God is corao.

And now, finally, that we may be incited to seek nothing less
than the ultimate christianization of the globe, let me remind you
of Christ's last words to his disciples : " All power is given unto
Me in Heaven and in earth ; Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I
have commanded you ; and, lo 1 I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world." All Christ's sayings are precious. Those
after his resurrection are the most precious and fragrant in the
Bible. The crucifixion was over. The resurrection was now an
acknowledged fact. For the last time on earth he appears to the
disciples upon a mountain top in Galilee, and gives them their com-
mission and his farewell benediction. Christ's work on earth was
not to fully establish and consolidate the church, but to appoint and
prepare others to do this. The time had now come when, under
the dispensation of the spirit, his servants should begin that cam-
paign, which goes on without cessation until he shall see of the tra-
vail of his soul and be satisfied. And what language was better fitted
to cheer them and give them the assurance of ultimate victory than
this : " All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth," — here
is kingly omnipotence. "Go ye therefore and teach or make dis-
ciples," — the weapon being the word of God ? " All nations," — here

MUCH LAND TO HE POSSESSED. 499

is the extent. " Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," — here is the mark ofsonshipand
citizenship in the new kingdom. And then follows the promise,
"Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." To
whom were these words addressed ? Primarily, but not exclusively
to the apostles. The great work to which they were called was not
to be accomplished in one or many generations. The subjects of
this promise were to exist long after the death of the apostles. Nor
is the commission limited to their immediate official successors.
The apostolic office was not permanent. There is no proof in
scripture of what is technically called apostolic succession. It seems
strange in view cf the clear statements of God's word and the prac-
tice of the early christian church that such a dogma should be held.
Presbyters and bishops were on a perfect equality for several cen-
turies after the ascension of Christ, and it was only when corruption
began to infect the church, and the clergy sought preferment and
worldly honors, that the different orders were introduced and the
purity of the ministry subverted.

The true application of these words is to the church universal,
collectively and individually, specially to ministers, but not less to
all professing christians, whether office-bearers in the church or not.
As applied to Christ's ambassadors, it implies that He will qualify
them for their work. With the command he gives the ability. He
imparts to them a knowledge of the truth, not from human reason,
but by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and he gives them
faith in the truth, by a personal and experimental acquaintance
with its power ; for no man can preach comfortably, and seldom
successfully, without a firm beliefin the omnipotence of God's word.
It further implies that He will accompany their message by His
spirit. All k useless apart from this. The dry bones in the valley
apart from the Ireath of the four winds, remained passive. But
when the brea h came upon them they lived and stood upon their

$00 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

feet, an exceeding great army. Paul depended for success, not on
the enticing words of man's wisdom, but upon the demonstration of
the spirit, that the faith of his hearers should not stand in the wis-
dom of men, but in the power of God. God is never absent from
His church. Whatever of failure or declension there is in the car-
rying out of His plans for the salvation of the world is not charge-
able to the Almighty. We often in our prayers speak as if Me
was indifferent and lukewarm — at a distance from us — only coming
on special occasions to rouse His people from torpor and spiritual
lethargy, whereas the cause of our deadness is in our own idleness.
He has never once been absent from His church since its organiza-
tion. Nor has there ever been any cessation in the progress of His
kingdom. The work wrought out in the night of the dark ages
was about as important as that which has been accomplished in the
daylight of the world. There is no standing still of God's work.
" It rests as trees rest in winter, when they are preparing for stron-
ger growth in spring." All the tokens of good that as churches
and office-bearers we experience are due to His presence. The in-
crease of our membership, the conversion of sinners, the edifying of
believers, the zeal and activity which is manifested in the different
departments of christian labor, are due to the power of God's Spirit
brooding over His church and inflaming the hearts of his servants.
But it is needful to bear in mind that the promise of His presence,
so that it might be felt in mighty revivals of religion, depends upon
our faithful adherence to the terms of the commission, " Go teach
all nations." Preach Christ, initiate by baptism, admit by personal
profession of faith, hold up the cross as the Alpha and Omega of
the ministry. So doing we have a right to expect, nay to demand,
a blessing. A plant does two things— it maintains and it propagates
itself. And a living healthy church will maintain and extend itself.
The same marvellous success that crowned the efiforts of the Apos-
tolic church is ours, if we are steadfast and persistent in our endeav-

MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED 50I

ors to evangelize the world, and spread the savour of Christ's name
among all the nations of the earth. If we had constantly this
promise before us in our holy engagements, how it would inspire us
to noble deeds of daring ! The joy of heaven consists in the divine
presence, but that peace and hopefulness and courage, which arc so
necessary upon earth, are the possession of God's servants even
now. Nothing but the knowledge that when Christ departed from
the disciples in bodily form, he was to remain a living and control-
ling force in their lives, could have sustained them amid their ardu-
ous labors. Nay, they were taught that by His spirit he could and
would do more for them than if he had continued in the flesh.
Believing this fact they went everywhere as m'^n moving in a region
above the noise and tumult of faction and passion, resisting all at-
tempts to seduce them from their ministry, and joyfully bearing
whatever pain and shame attended them. So rapidly, indeed, did
they carry the gospel to the very furthest limits of the then known
world, that had its progress in succeeding ages corresponded with
the Apostolic era, " They had not been long in heaven ere they had
seen the work done which they had so well begun." We feel an
inspiration for the ordinary work of life when in the presence of a
friend wiser and stronger than ourselves. The fact that we arc
watched by eager eyes of love is an impulse to attain the highest
possible distinction. And such a feeling, intensified by the sense of
God's presence with us, has a marvellous effect on the work of the
ministry. Whether, as some believe, the spirits of the departed
look down upon us from their starry homes we know not. But of
this we are certain, that the Saviour from his exalted seat in the
heavens, is an interested onlooker of the great conflict in which we
are engaged. The days of His earthly sojourning are en Jed, but
not H's communion with His saints. He has risen. The grave is
vacant. The glory of the opening heavens has hid Him from our
v'ew, but He lives again in the lives of all believers and renders

503 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH

them Invincible against the hosts of hell. " He that is with us is
more than "!l they that arc against us." Trusting His grace, which
is sufficient for us. and in His strength, which is made perfect in
weakness, glorying and taking pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,
in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, and
magnifying the grandeur of our vocation, let us possess the land.
No kingly throne is ever to be compared with a christian pulpit.
For, in the words of Kcblc :

Noafpst Heaven has >)adn thee atand,

Tlif) ark to touch and bear,
With incense of pure hearts* desire

To lump tho i:on8«r'8 nacred fire,
The snow-whit«) «iphod wear.

Why should we crave the worldling's breath
On whom the Saviour deigned to breathe.

To whom His kings arc given,
Who lead the choir where angels meet,
With angel's food our brethren greet,

And pour the drink of Heaven 1

Fathers and Brethren, — Although my theme to-night may be
considered somewhat commonplace, I do not deem it inappropriate,
when addressing the representatives of a church, whose great work
in missions, and whose energies at the present moment are being
directed towards the fullest equipment of our theological halls, in
order that a learned and godly ministry may be trained. We be-
lieve in the science of theology ; that men must be taught to
teach that science, as much as astronomy, and geology, and cognate
themes. We believe in creeds, for no man can act or think intel-
ligently without a creed. We believe that a man's moral convic-
tions must take permanent form, in order to practical results. We
revtience those men of God, of whom many here are descendants,
who wisely concluded that without ample preparation for the gos-
pel ministry, a man was in great measure powerless to cope with
infidelity in the abstract or unbelief in the concrete. We believe

MUCH LAND TO nR POSglJUIX 503

fn the commission to preach the gospel to every creature, but not
that every creature is to preach it, without the call of God or man.
The principles which ^juiilcd our forefathers in laying the fountla-
tions of th' church were eternally true, and the men they sent into
the pulpit '.new thoroughly what they professed to teach, and spoke
because t\cy believed. We, following at a great distan'-'' ''ndecd
these mig.ity men of God, seek to imbibe their spirit and carry out
their designs. Believing in God's absolute sovereignty, while at the
same time recognizing man's individual icsponsibility, we send forth
our missionaries to preach a full and free salvation in every corner
of our land, and far beyond its vast limits. Our aim is —

To build tho Univemal Church,
Lofty AH is tho lovo of fJod,
And ample as the wants of man.

Showers of Blessing.

" The showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter

— Jeremiah 3, v. 3.

«' I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing ;
and I will cause the shower to come down in his season : there shall b^

showers of blessing." ,:, , • i o. o«

— Ezekiel 34, v. 26.

Showers of Blessing.

N THE fourteenth chapter of this book of Jeremiah, we have
a striking picture of the terrible horrors resulting from a
protracted drought, when the heavens are as brass and the
earth is as iron. "Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof
languish ; they are black unto the ground ; and the cry of
Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles have sent their little ones
to the waters ; they came to the pits, and found no water ; they
returned with their vessels emptj ; they were ashamed and con-
founded, and covered their heads. lea, the hind also calved in the
field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. And the wild
asses did ^itand in the high places ; they snuffed up the wind like
dragons ; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass." The
cause of such a judgment we are at no loss to understand. It was
for the iniquities and backsliding of his people, that God sealed up
the clouds of water, and brought barrenness and famine upon the
inhabitants of the land. By such dealings God would have them
realize that He was cognizant of their sinful conduct, and would be
avenged because of their ingratitude.

(507) •

508 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

In CHir own climate we know full well the evil effects of drought.
Although such a calamity has never prevailed to the extent of
famine, in some cases it has materially affected the social comforts
of the inhabitants, and paralyzed the energies of commerce. At
such a season of the year as the present, we need frequent showers
to promote vegetation, and ripen the crops of the field. A few
weeks scorching heat, untempered by genial and copious rains,
makes a vast difference in the returns of the husbandman.

It is entirely different in other portions of the globe. In Egypt
the Nile periodically overflows its banks and hastens growth. By
a wise arrangement of Providence to meet the lack of rain and dew,
it seldom fails at the appointed time. In other countries provision
is made in the soil and roots, to remain for a much longer period
without rain than in our Northern Zone. Although the ground
may be dry and burned, the roots carry with them a life superior
to the accidents and severity of drought. In our climate, ere the
refreshing rain came down, the seeds and roots would die beyond
all hope of germination, but there they quicken into life, unaffected
by the long periods of scorching heat, that have long retarded their
growth and seemingly exhausted their vitality.

The analogies that exist between the natural and the spiritual
world are many and obviv^us. It may not, therefore, be unprofit-
able in present circumstances to enquire into the causes and con-
sequences of spiritual drought in the church and in individual souls,
and also for our eneouragement to glance at the promises of spir-
itual refreshing that are promised the church under the New
Testament dispensation. The condition described by the prophet
Jeremiah is a sad one : " The showers have been withholden, and
there have been no latter rain," — that of Ezekiel is full of encour-
agement and hope : " I will make them and the places around my
hill a blessing ; and I will cause the shower tp come down in his
season ; there shall be showers of blessing."

SHOWERS OF BLESSING. 509

I remark, first, that in the church of God, as in the natural
world, we need constant refreshing showers to promote the growth
of individual christians and advance the cause of righteousness.
Occasions indeed intervene when more is needed in the natural
world than the refreshing shower ; when the rain descends not
gently and noiselessly but in torrents, tearing deep furrows and
fissures in the earth, and crushing the tender plants that cannot
stand such violent treatment. No one disputes the value of such
occasional deluges, whatever temporary hurt may follow ; but the
very necessity for such avalanches of rain proves how much better
are the nightly dews and timely showers of spring and summer. It
is just because these have been withheld for a protracted period
that floods of water, accompanied by the thunder storm and light-
ning, are demanded to drench the ground, purify the atmosphere,
and save from famine.

Now, in the history of God's kingdom upon earth, there are
periods when revivals of religion are so powerful as to indicate an
unusual abundance of spiritual feeling. Without such seasons, cer-
tain churches would lose all their vitality. As we thank God for
unusual deluges of rain, to make the burnt up grass put on new
verdure, and fill the heads of corn, so we have good cause to feel
grateful when such mighty convulsions and spiritual quickenings
occur in christian communities. But better than the occasional
thunder storm are the regular descending rains and the nightly dew
drops that fringe the leaves of flowers and sparkle like diamonds
on the grass ; and better than exceptional and wondrous outpour-
ings of God's Spirit are the constant manifestations of His grace,
unattended though they may be by moral revolutions, but not less
quietly but effectively building up and maturing souls for the para-
dise above. But for these long seasons of drought, when the ground
is chapt, and the wells are waterless, and the wild asses snuff" up the
wind like dragons, and their eyes fail them because there is no

510 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

grass, there would be no occasion for the rain storms that refresh
the thirsty ground ; and, but for long periods of spiritual dec?.y in
the church, when prayer is fitful and christian activity all but dead,
there would be less occasion for special agencies, which the Holy
Spirit often blesses to revive declining churches and prevent indi-
viduals from complete paralysis of religious feeling.

Every church should seek constant baptisms of the Holy Spirit.
If we suffer from spiritual drought, let us not foolishly talk about
a mysterious Providence that waters other portions of the vineyard
and leaves our special corner dry and parched. It is the great de-
sire of Christ that His church should prosper — that it should be
continuously faithful — that, without long periods of weakness and
inactivity, it should go forward to greater conquests. If it isothcr-
wi.se, let us see to it, as ministers and office-bearers and members,
that we are not guilty in the sight of God. Where prayer is res-
trained, and family religion is neglected, and attendance upon ordi-
nances is fitful, where there is greater relish for the pleasures and
amusements of the fashionable world than fellowship with the
unseen and eternal, nothing can be expected but the decline of piety.
" The showers are withholden, and there is no latter rain."

This leads me to remark secondly, that seasons of spiritual
drought are generally the consequences of despising or misimprov-
ing the means of grace. The whole history of Israel is evidence of
this fact. For their sins and provocations, God frequently visited
His chosen people with a famine of bread as well as c. famine of the
Word of life. Temporal mercies, when undervalued or abused, are
often withdrawn, and gcspe! ble".si;igs, when slighted, are often
diminished. "Jerusalem," says the prophet, "remembered in the
days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things
which she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the
hand of the enemy and none did help her." In the silence and
solitude of the Babylonish captivity, how strikingly was this veri-

SHOWERS OF BLESSING. $11

ficd, as sitting by the streams of Rabcl the Jews thought upon the
past ! " We wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our
harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. How shall we sing
the Lord's song in a strange land ?"

A famine of bread is a terrible scourge, but far greater is the
evil when the candlestick of ordinances is removed, and men perish
for divine sustenance. This was the culmination of God's anger
against His chosen people as well as the unfaithful chuiches of Asia
Minor. " Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a
famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but
of hearing the word of God." Again, speaking by the mouth of
Isaiah, and reproving them for despising their privileges, he says:
" I will lay the vineyard waste ; it shall not be pruned nor digged.
I will also command the clouds that they rain not upon it." And
to the church in Ephesus, John is commanded to say : " Remember
from whence thou art fallen and repent, and do the first works, or
eise I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
out of its place except thou repent."

Worldly-minded men cannot feel the loss of public or private
means of grace ; but God's own children deeply mourn the with-
drawal of such privileges. The christians of Antioch, when Chrys-
ostom their minister was banished, judged it a greater deprivation
than the absence of the sun in the firmament. In the days of Popish
persecution, when God's servants were hurried away to martyrdom,
their flocks met them on the way to prison with their little ones in
their arms, and throwing themselves at their feet, cried out : " Who
shall instruct these poor babes ? Who shall ease our afflicted con-
science ? Who shall lead us in the way of life ?" Nor can there
be anything but intense sorrow, where gospel ordinances long en-
joyed and appreciated are removed. The prosperity of the nation,
the stability of civil government, and the prevalence of virtue, as
well as the salvation of souls, depend upon the continuance of the
faithful preaching of the Word.

513 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

I remark, thirdly, that seasons of spiritual drought are not less
fatal to the interests of true religion, because they steal upon us
insensibly and unobserved. It is so with drought in the natural
world. We cannot predict its coming, nor are we probably aware
of its length until we see the sad results in the burnt up ground.
One, two, or three weeks pass without rain, before we begin to real-
ize the actual condition of affairs, or are alarmed for the future. It
is just so in periods of spiritual decline. Outwardly we see no
symptoms of change. The church is open. The means of grace
are waited upon, after a certain formal routine. The prayer- meet-
ing is kept alive. There is the usual amount of religious talk and
prayer for the extension of Christ's kingdom. But in all this, there
is rto real longing after greater holiness and fxirfection of character.
At last we begin to see a palpable deterioration in the spiritual
power of the membership ; a deadness of feeling and indifference,
that threaten disaster and ruin to the risible body of believers. Nay,
in some cases things are so hopeless that there is scarce vitality
remaining to measure the extent of the evil, or to agonize in prayer
for Almighty aid to quicken the dead !

Nearly every congregation contains more or less nominal chris-
tians, whose zeal and enthusiasm have sadly diminished since their
reception into the church. The gleanings of former harvests were
more than the entire vintage now. The things which remain are
ready to die. A spiritual lethargy and lukewarmnessin the service
of the Master, strangely contradictory of the glowing fervor of by-
gone years, prevails. The heart is uncultivated. There is a sour-
ness in the conversation that ill comports with the disciples of the
meek and lowly Jesus. Means are no longer used to keep the
graces polished, and the armor sharp and glittering. There is little
or none of the pleasure formerly experienced in christian fellowship,
in sacramental seasons and the general work of the denomination.
The soil is hard — unmoistened by th« refreshing rain — unproductive
and unprofitable.

SHOWERS OF BLESSING. 513

Need I say that such a condition is dangerous ? It is a dishon-
orable one for any child of God to occupy. It may not be fatal, for
the ploughshare of severe discipline can bring the most callous
backslider to consciousness of guilt and penitence for sin :

S[ .nt barren land you can restore and nourish ;
Decayed Christians, God can cause to flourish.

But it is only after severe pruning that spiritual life is revived
and the soul restored to its normal condition. Before the dews of
heaven can benefit such souls, and the fallow ground become pro-
ductive, a preparatory process is needful to quicken the hard, stolid,
passionless affections, and convulse to their very foundations that
deep seated avarice and indolence which prevent consecration to the
cause of God.

A worldly minded church, however generous and lavish its con-
tributions may be to charitable and missionary objects, is the great-
est of all hindrances to the spread and success of the gospel. The
more numerous the membership in such a case, the greater is the
evil. However sincere young converts are in entering such a com-
munion, unless special grace prevents, their piety will soon reach
the low level of the mass. Apart from the constant operations of
God's spirit, manifested in holy deeds of self-denial, a church may
become a hindrance to the progress of the truth, a stumbling block
to enquirers, and a byword on the lips of scoffers.

This brings us briefly to speak of the passage in Ezekiel so full
of encouragement and hope to all who seek the prosperity of Zion.
The language refers to Messianic times, when God's controversy
with His people should cease, the scattered ones be restored to
Jerusalem, and blessings in large abundance crown the latter days.
Peace is to prevail throughout the land ; the wild beasts of the for-
est are no longer to molest or terrify the traveller, so that he may
dwell in the wilderness in safety, and sleep in the woods unharmed.
The trees of the field are to yield their fruit, and the land give forth
*33

514 Tin: ciiUFicii and the commonwealth.

its increase, ami the yoke f)f slavery be forever broken. I'or in the
words already (juotcd, which may be rejjarded as a summation of
all these covenanted mercies — " I will make them, saith the Lord,
and the places round about m}' hill a blessing ; and I will cause
the showers to come down in hi.i season ; there shall be showers of
blcssin;;." There can be no doubt, I think, but that the prophecy
refers to the gospel dispensation. The final ingathering of the
Jews, the restoration of Mount Zioti, and the rebuilding of Jerusa-
lem, belong to a period which precedes the winding up of the pres-
ent dispensation. The nature of the blessings spoken of, however,
admit of different interpretations. Is it temporal blessings only of
which the projihct spi-'aks — or spiritual, or both combined ? Are
wc to take the language in a literal or figurative sense? Are we
to understand the seasonable showers mentioned as nothing be-
yond Ihe s[)ring and summer rains, or are the words typical of
heavenly blessings and the outpouring of God's Spirit upon His
chosen people ?

In its primary signification, I doubt not, the prophet referred
to temporal blessings. If you read over carefully the judgments
threatened Israel, you will find that the blessings promised in the
context are exactly their counterpart. The judgments included
)-ears of trouble and desolation, famine and pestilence, war and
bloodshed, calamities of every form and degree of severity, even
approaching to the bondage of Egypt and the sufferings of the
wilderness. God's anger was to be manifested in these more tan-
gible and striking evils. His presence as the avenger of their sins
was to be seen in the withdrawal of all those comforts which con-
stitute national prosperity, and tne prevalence of all those plagues
which accompany overthrow and destruction. But now the scene
changes. The temporal blessings long withheld are restored. In-
stead of famine, there is plenty ; instead of war, peace ; instead of
internal commotion and disorder, complete security and protection.

SHOWKkS UK ULKSSING. 515

The holy city becomes again the joy of the whole earth and the
centre of the world's salvation. Nay, not only does Mount Zion
enjoy the special favor of heaven, but all the environs of the hill
— the places round about it, and the people inhabitin^j the adjacent
territories — share in the manifold blcssinj^s predicted.

But, while I understand this to be the primary meaning of the
text, there can be no doubt that spiritual blessings are also implied.
The entire prophecy speaks of a condition of things wherein God
and Mis people would stand towards each other in an entirely dif-
ferent relationship from that which formerly existed. These tem-
poral gifts are in reality the smallest part of the blessings promised.
They are indicative of the richest outpourings of grace, and a proof
that God will again return and dwell among His chosen people, re-
storing to them privileges and honors with which the glory and
grandeur of a bygone dispensation, could not for a moment com-
pare. The pious Jew, I doubt not, regarded such prophecies of
coming good in this higher sense. I\ was by such general state-
ments that he was led to recognize imperfectly at least, the charac-
ter of gospel ti nes, and look forward to the advent of a greater than
King David who should build another temple of fairer proportions
than the first, and repair the desolations of Jerusalem.

Intended originally for the comfort of God's ancient people, the
promise has a direct application to the church at i-hc present day.
All the blessi'ngs promised Israel are ours. When the words of the
text are verified there shall be but one fold and one shepherd. The
unbelief of the scattered nation shall give place to unfeigned loyalty
and hearty reception of the truths of Christianity, We do not yet
see its entire fulfilment, but we live in an age when the beginning
of the end can be clearly discerned. It is ours to pray and to la-
bor, that the christian church may enjoy these showers of blessing,
that the parched soil may be softened and made ready for an abund-
ant harvest.

51(5 THE CHUKCU AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

From these words then we are taught, first, that the church of
the latter clays is to be the recipient of special favors : " I will
cause the shower to come clown in his season ; there shall be show-
ers of blessing." I am not careful whether you include the literal
as well as the spiritual meaning in its application to the church ot
the present day. I believe that the time is coming when God's
blessing shall rest to a much larger extent than at present upon the
productions of the field, and when the husbandman shall reap far
more abundant harvests than are at present secured under the most
favorable conditions. Secondly, and taking the passage in its
higher meaning, as indicating the outpourii gs of the Spirit, notice
(a) the extent of the blessing ; not drops, but showers of ram ; not
the slight and all but imperceptible rustling of the leaves, but the
mighty wind that brings abundance of rain. In a word, it is a re-
currence of Pentecostal times, when the presence of God in His
church shall be plainly recognized by mighty awakenings and in-
gatherings, not occurring only once in a century or after long peri-
ods of spiritual drouth, but accompanying and sealing the simple
proclamation of the gospel from year to year. Notice again (d)
that these showers are to be seasonable. How much we long for
timely rains to water the earth, and how much depends upon their
coming I It is not good to have sunshine always. The plants and
shrubs and flowers wither under continued scorching heat There
must be showers in spring and showers in summer to fill the ears
of corn with sap and substance, that harvest home may be a time
of grateful joy. And just such seasonable showers oi grace are
needed in the church of Christ. We may labor perseveringly with
human souls, and the gospel ploughshare may turn up the fallow
soil, and good seed may be plentifully sown, but all is in vain until

God the plenteous shower bestows,
And sends salvation down.

SHOWERS OF IJLESSING. 5 17

flow frequently have wc witnessed such emergencies inourdif-
frrcnt fields ! There have been indications of a glorious work of
grace ; unwonted seriousness and solemnity have prevailed in the
congregation ; the truth has seemed to fall impressively upon both
young and old ; the little cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, be-
gins, as we fondly imagine, to cover the horizon, and wc look for
floods of mercy to fall upon the hearts of sinners, when lo! it passes
by, and our hoi)es are disappointed. If the seasonable showers had
but fallen, what rich clusters of fruit might have been gathered, ami
how many precious souls saved from death !

Now, in the period spoken of there shall be no such failures.
The showers shall be copious and seasonable. There shall be no
drawbacks in spiritual husbandry. The sower shall return bringing
his sheaves with him.

Notice again (f) that the blessings thus conferred upon the
church of the latter days shall mightily increase her efTiciency in
evangelizing the world. Individual believers shall become centres
of blessing to all within the reach of their influence. We speak of
the efforts and victories of the church too frequently as if it were an
agency quite distinct from the membership. We lose sight of per-
sonal obligations. Many who take credit for work accomplished
deserve, in reality, nothing of the honor that belongs to it. The
n>ore willing and zealous bear the burdens, while the mass rest sat-
i.' fied, looking on and applauding results. Not more than one-third
of the moral power of the church is practically developed, whilst the
unemployed talents of the others act as a heavy drag upon her pro-
gress. It is not by such indifference and neutrality that gospel
victories are to be hastened. We may not all be equally gifted or
occupy the same vantage ground. The stars and planets arc not
all of equal magnitude and brilliancy, but there is not a star that
twinkles in the midnight sky but has its important mission to fulfil.
To everything in nature a distinct part has been assigned, and to

5lS THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

every intelligent being a separate work has been allotted.

Now, in the period spoken of, every gospel hearer shall become
a positive blessing to his fellowmen. God's people shall be willing
in the day of His power. The love of Christ will constrain and
impel. The name of christian will be a synonym for all that is
noble and pure and elevating. The whole neighborhood will feel
the influence of holy lives. Men of the world will recognize the
spirit and impress of the Master, as the coin bears the image of the
sovereign. Not only so, but the church in her collective capacity
shall more than ever bless the world. Mount Zion shall not only
be the recipient of special favors, but a source of unmingled good
to all the places round about it. The visible body of Christ s fol-
lowers shall be the most powerful agency in society. It shall be
fel in every department of the state ; it shall direct the councils of
the nation ; it shall mould public opinion on all important ques-
tions affecting man's highest welfare. It shall command universal
reverence and respect, for to be associated with the church in any
capacity whatever will be regard id as the highest hone

This whole subject is well fitted to gladden the hearts of God's
servants who are seeking after a larger measure of personal holiness
and who are longing for the set time to favor Zion. Not in human
organizations, although these are necessary, does the vitality of the
church consist, but in the spirit of the living God. The pipes and
reservoirs and waterworks of a city are valuable, but capacious re-
servoirs and the most comprehensive net work of mains and hy-
drants will not alone give water. The clouds full and overflowing
are essential to the effectiveness of the whole. The old log pumps
or the old oaken bucket will bring forth more water out of the farm
house well fed by a living spring than the most costly and compli-
cated hydraulic apparatus out of a lake whose springs are dried up.
And so it is in religious efforts ; unless showers of blessing come in
their season, all human devices and appointments are in vain.

SHOWERS OF BLESSING. 519

" Neither is he that plantcth anything, neither he that watcrcth, but

God that giveth the increase."

Out in the harbor of Marseilles, says tradition, four galleons arc

standing with their prows turned eastward, and their sails idly

flapping in the wind. Their decks are filled with crusaders eager

to embark for the Holy Land. A week has elapsed, and still the

vessels have not rr;Oved their anchorage. At length, impatient of

delay, raising their helmets they all with one accord join in the

hymn : " Veni Creator Spiritus" As they lowered their arms

bearmg the symbol of the cross, the sound of a rushing wind was

heard, and that same evening, with sails set in the name of God,

and filled with His breath, they were flying eastward on the open

sea. And thus, when our spiritual life and energies are becalmed,

we pray that gales from heaven may quicken the pulsations of

our being.

Lord, we gather silently, and hush our breath,

And look and wait —
A longing eager multitude,

AVithin ana round Thy gate, t
Lord, we wait the sound from heaven,
. Which shall revive our drooping love,

And make us strong and make us wise,

And tit us for the life above.
O Spirit, come with power divine,
And make these waiting people Thine !

Fathers and Brethren, — We meet again in General Assembly
to review the work of another year : to sum up results, and to re-
cord our sense of God's goodness in the different departments of
christian labor in which we are engaged. I have not attempted an
elaborate or learned discussion of debated points in theology, which
more or less engaj^e the attention of thoughtful men at the present
day. These we can safely leave in the hands of our professors, to
be dealt with in the class-room. Seldom, indeed, ought they to
form the theme of ordinary pulpit discourse, and only in very ex-

520 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

ccptional circumstances is it needful to make them the subject of
an Assembly sermon. No one questions the imperative necessity
of a learned ministry, in an age when the faith of God's saints is
attacked by an insidious rationalism that seeks to deify human
reason at the expense of infinite wisdom. But beyond this we need
in our pulpits "the tongue of fire," and the fire ever burning upon
the altars of our homes. This, and this alone, can make our work
permanent and progressive. There is some danger, when the re-
sources of a church are equal to the outlay, of resting satisfied with
tangible results as satisfactory evidence of vital godliness in the
membership at large. But is it always so ? We gladly acknow-
ledge the greatly increased liberality of our membership for the
spread of the gospel at home and abroad. The silver and the gold
for the beautifying and enrichment of the temple are not withheld.
Nor dare we for a moment question the sincerity of the motives
that makes magnificent gifts to the Church of Christ in these latter
days. But is there not, in spite of all, good grounds for asking —
are we, as ministers and office-bearers, growing in holiness ? Is the
religion of the age characterized by greater personal sanctity than
formerly, or is the wide-spread and bustling activity that prevails
due to other causes than the direct operations of God's spirit ? In
Christ's parable of the vine and branches. He not only insists upon
the union of the branches with the vine in order to increase fruit-
bearing, but also that the fruit should remain. " I have chosen you
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth truit, and that
your fruit should remain." Indwelling abiding piety produces ever-
green christians. They flourish like the palm tree, and grow like
cedars in Lebanon. They bring forth fruit in old age. And so it
is with churches. The secret of their abiding strength and vigor is
in constant communication with the Most High. " There is a river,
the streams whereof make glad the city of God. God is in the
midst of her : she sh? 1 not be moved : God shall help her, and that

SHOWERS OF BLESSING. 521

right early." As we find it said of the waters that Ezekiel saw in
vision by the banks of the Chebar, intended, doubtless, to symbol-
ize the onward majestic sweep of the gospel — "Everything shall
live, whither the river cometh. On this side and on that shall grow
all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit
be consumed, because their waters issued out of the sanctuary."

The past year has been marked by considerable commercial de-
pression. Almost every class has felt the stringency. Mercantile
institutions have been forced to limit their operations or suspend
payment. Large business houses, enjoying the confidence of the
community, have gone down ; and men, esteemed millionaires, re-
duced to comparative want. Does all this mean nothing? Are
there no lessons for christian churches to learn ? Are monetary
convulsions and failures in harvests to be referred to accident and
unforeseen calamities? Nay, verily, much of it is God's judgment
upon unrighteous speculation and undue love of riches, which still
withholds God's claims for the evangelizing of the world. By such
visitations are we taught that men are but stev. ards of God's boun-
ties ; that there is something nobler than to hoard up riches, and
that penurious giving sooner or later brings a curse I

**>^^^

God Dwelling with Men.

" But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? Behold
heaven nnd the Finavf-n of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less
this house which I have built !"

— l^nd Chronicles 6, v. 18.

God Dwelling With Men.

HE condecension of God in dwelling with men upon the
earth, is one of the most amazing, and at the same time
comforting truths of Scripture. When we take into ac-
count Jehovah's entire independence of the creature —
His majesty and glory — His absolute and infinite great-
ness and holiness ; and contrast all this with the weakness, the sin-
fulness, the ignorance and degradation of fallen humanity, it seems
impossible to entertain such a thought. There is really nothing in
man to attract the notice or regard of his Maker. To a holy being
there is rather everything to repel, in our guilty and polluted world.
The original purity and innocence, which for a brief period brought
heaven and earth into friendly contact, no longer exists. And yet,
marvellous though it be, it is none the I'^ss true, that God delights
to dwell with man upon the earth. The pure society and rapturous
adoration of heaven are not more pleasing to Him than the praises
and reverential worship of dependent mortals. He not only bends
a listening ear to their cries, and accepts their sacrifices, but, in a
more than merely figurative sense, dwells among them, giving the

(525)

536 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

most Satisfactory and conclusive evidences of His presence to the
eye of faith. " The Lord lovcth the gates of Zion, more than all
the dwellings of Jacob."

It was this thoufjht that filled the mind of Solomon when he
gave utterance to the words of the text. It was no ordinary occa-
sion when, as the representative of the assembled Israelites, he of-
fered up this prayer, and led the devotions of the people. It was a
day long looked forward to with joyful anticipations, and long after-
wards remembered by the pious Jew. The tabernacle that had
accompanied the Israelites in their wanderings for forty years was
now folded past The trials and hardships of the journey were
ended. Caanan was possessed, and the enemies of Israel subdued
on every hand. Peace was now established throughout the land,
happiness beamed in every eye, and thankfulness thrilled every
heart. " Over all the Holy Land there rested a blissful serenity*
the calm which follows when successful war is crowned with con-
quest, — a calm which was only stirred by the proud joy of posses-
sion, and then hallowed and intensified again by the sense of Jeho-
vah's favor." Only one thing remained to consummate the giory
of the commonwealth, — the completion of the temple, and its dedi-
cation to the worship of Jehovah. Many years before this, King
David had purposed in his heart to build a house for the Lord God
of Israel, in Jerusalem. " Surely I will not come into the taberna-
cle of my house, nor go up unto my bed ; I will not give sleep to
mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for
the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." But
although the intention was approved, the honor was reserved for
Solomon. " Thou shalt not build Me an house to dwell in," said
the prophet to the king, " but it shall come to pass, when thy days
be expired that thou must go to thy fathers, that I will raise up
thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons. He shall build Me
an house, and I will establish his throne forever." The time had

COD DWKLLING WITH MKN. 527

now .nrrivcd for the fulfilment of the promise. After seven years
had been spent in building the sacred edifice, it now stood forth, the
grandest and costliest of earthly temples ever seen by the eye of
man I

Conceive, if you can, the gorgeous spectacle that presented itself
to the congregation of Israel. The elders have brought up the ark
of the covenant, accompanied with innumerable sacrifices and burnt
offerings, for its permanent location in the temple, under the wings
of the cherubim and in the most holy place. The priests and Lc-
vites, specially sanctified for the work before them, and the singers
of the congregation, arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and
psalteries and harps, stand at the east end of the altar, and with
them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets.
And now as the procession passes on, high above the noise of mus-
ical instruments, is heard the song of praise, " The Lord is good ;
His mercy endureth forever," while in token of God's acceptance of
the offered worship we are told the house was filled " with the glory
of the Lord." What that glory must have been we can but faintly
conceive. The effect upon the assembled congregation was so
awful that the priests were unable to continue their ministrations.
So overwhelming was the impression, and so universal and real the
feeling that the Lord was there, that the services were for a time
suspended. The priests could not stand to minister by rcdcjn of
the cloud. This cloud was the visible manifestation of Him who
dwells in light inaccessible and full of glory. In this way he took
possession of the building erected for His worship and declared His
willingness to dwell among them, accepting their gifts and impart-
ing His blessings.

And now the king, arrayed in becoming vestments, stands be-
fore the altar of the Lord, and having blessed the congregation,
spreads forth his hands in prayer. Like a father in the midst of
his family — for a time laying aside his kingly authority and rule —

528 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

he dedicates the temple, and the people of Israel, to the service of
Jehovah. He speaks of God's goodness to his father David, in
having permitted him to gather the materials for the building, now
so happily completed, and supplicates the favor of heaven upon
the nation, in all its varied circumstances and future emergencies.
The prayer ended, the fire comes down, the burnt offerings and
sacrifices arc consumed, the glory of the Lord once again fills the
house, while the entire congregation bow their faces to the ground
and worship, saying, "The Lord is good ; His mercy endureth for
ever." Truly, the grandeur and solemnity of such a scene exceeds
all descriptive power.

Each pillar of the temple rang,

The trumpets sounded loud and keen,

And while the minstrels sang and play'd
The mystic cloud of glory fell,

That shadowy light, that splendid shade,
In which Jehovah pleas'd to dwell.

The king cast of! his crown of pride,

And bent him to the ground,
And priest and warrior, side by side,

Knelt humbly all around.

Deep awe fell down on every soul,

Since God was present there.
And not the slightest breathing stole

Upon the stilly air.

They bow'd them on the spacious floor,

With heaven -averted eye,
And blessed His name who deign'd to pour

His presence from on high.

Now what was the prevailing thought in the mind of Solomon
on this grand and solemn occasion? Was he intoxicated with
pride on account of his position ? Did he say, as did the foolish
King of Babylon when he walked in his palace, " Is this not great
Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the

GOD i)wi;llin(; with mkn. • 529

mij^'ht of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" There
was much fitted to call forth other fcclin^js than those of humility
There was much to dazzle the eye and create a feelin^j of personal
satisfaction, as he looked at the maj^Miitude of the buildin^j. the
grandeur of its fittings, and the vast con^^regation of devoted sub-
jects that stood reverently before him. Hut far tlifTerent were his
feelin^js. The temple was after all but the outward shrine — a jjoodly
house indeed, but nothing more, unless filled by the presence of the
Lord. He felt that " Kxccpt the Lord build the house they labor
in vain that buiUI it," and under this solemn im[)ression his j^reat
anxiety was, that in keeping with the outward grandeur, and in the
presence of this vast congregation, God's power and glory should
be so signally manifested as to leave no room for doubt that the
labor of his hand was accepted. " Hut will God in very deed dwell
with men on earth? behold heaven ami the heaven of heavens cannot
contain thee, how much less this house which I have built." The
words do not imply any doubt that God would meet with His peo-
ple and hallow their fellowship, but the moie he thought of such
condescension, on the part of the Infinite, the more he was amazed.
Like David, when he contemplated the glory of the starry heavens,
and the insignificance of the creature, he felt, " Lord, what is man
that thou art miiulful of him, and the son of man, that thou visit-
est him I"

The promised presence of the Almighty was not exclusively
given to the worship of the temple. Long before, when Moses was
instructed to erect the tabernacle, God said : " Let them make Me
a sanctuary that I may dwell among them, and there will I meet
with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat ; " and when the tabernacle was completed, " the cloud covered
the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the
tabernacle, so that Moses was not able to enter into the tent, be-
cause of the cloud that abode thereon," and this cloud by day, and
*34

530 THE IHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

fire by night, remained in the sight of all Israel, throughout their
journeyings to the promised land. To us also, as to Moses and
Solomon, God's presence is pledged in all the ordinances of His
house. " Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Amen."

Now, when we build and dedicate churches for the worship of
Jehovah, our chief anxiety should be that God's presence should be
felt in every service. It is praiseworthy and commendable that the
highest style of art should be displayed and the greatest comfort
obtained. But this may easily be attained without spiritual success.
Crowded congregations may assemble, and eloquent sermons be
preached, and much outward enthusiasm be manifested, but all is
in vain, unless God condescends to dwell with His worshipping
people. Our prayer should ever be, " Will God in very deed dwell
with men on earth?"

When we speak of God's presence in His earthly temples, what
is meant ? Not, of course, that he is visible to the senses, nor that
by any priestly incantation, the elements of the sacramental table
can be changed into his real person. Not that any form of ritual-
ism or swinging of incense laden censers, or outward display of
material excellence, can bring the Deity into loving contact with
human souls. Such methods have been, and are still, resorted to
in order to produce a sort of mystical, unintelligent, and dreamy
consciousness of a present God, but all in vain. It is not thus that
Jehovah is to be apprehended. It is not thus that the house of God
beromes the gate of heaven, or that we are permitted to wrestle
with the Angel of the Covenant. Just in so far as we rise upon the
wings of faith, above and beyond the mere outward surroundings
of the sanctuary — beyond the symbol to the thing symbolized, be-
yond the Word that is read and preached, to Him who is the Word
itself; beyond ordinances and sacraments, to Him who is the life

GOD DWELLING WITH MEN. 531

and vital source of all christian worship — shall we realize God's pre-
sence in His temple, and within our souls.

In different points of view it is true that God dwells with men.
He is infinite. His presence is everywhere and illimitable. The
heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. Everything in nature calls
up His nearness and constant superintendence. His voice is in the
thunder and His glance in the lightning. In the cedars as they
sway under the fury of the tempest, and the breath which moves
the tender leaf, we hear the whispers of His presence. It is no
marvel that feelings of reverence possess the soul when standing
under the lofty domes of venerable cathedrals, and that sensitive
natures should be filled with dread, in view of the solemn associa-
tions and mute symbols of such a place. But none the less should
reverential awe occupy the mind, when in the grcatouter temple of
nature we gaze upon altars and symbols and paintings, " untouched
by human fingers, and closely linked in association with the hand
and mind of God."

But in a higher sense than in nature God is near to His child-
ren, and most intimately associated with their lives and conduct.
" Thus saith the high and lofty one, that inheriteth eternity, whose
name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." The relation
of parent to child is very different from that v/hich he bears to the
world at large. There may be pity and good will in the one case,
but there is undying affection and tender compassion in the other.
In this way we may in some faint measure understand how God
dwells with His people, just as intimately and as really as when He
was upon the earth and held loving intercourse with the sisters at
Bethany. No one doubts for a moment the fact of the incarnation :
that God in very deed became man, that He was made flesh and
dwelt among men, that He took part in all that vitally afifected

532 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

humanity, that He was not only seen upon earth, but His voice
heard and His power manifested in the working of stupendous mir-
acles that compelled the most sceptical to confess that He was the
Son of God. Nor is He less really with His people now. He has
long since left this world, but by His spirit He dwells among men.
Before His exaltation to His Father's right hand, He promised to
give higher manifestations of His presence than were possible to
His fleshly nature. ' The Comforter," He says, "shall abide with
you forever." " He d'^^elleth with you and shall be in you." "Where
two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in their midst
to bless them." : . i }

Nay, God's presence with His Church is made the subject of
special promise. As the Temple upon Mount Zion was the meet-
ing place of Jehovah and His covenant people, so the Church upon
earth is the trysting place of the believing soul, where sweet com-
munion and foretastes of better things to come are enjoyed. " The
Lord hath chosen Zion," says David, " He hath desired it for His
habitation' This is my rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have
desired it." " This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in. Yea,
the Lord will dwell in it forever." Far Detter things were promised
the second temple, after the return from captivity, than character-
ized the first, and- far more glorious privileges are now associated
with the church of the new dispensation than appertained to the
old. When the Jews, broken-hearted and dispirited, returned from
Babylon, they wept when they saw their beautiful house in ruins,
and the walls of Jerusalem laid in the dust. But the prophet
cheered them with the announcement of the Saviour's advent, saying,
" I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come,
and I will fill this house with my glory, saith the Lord of Hosts."
This glory, arising from God's presence with His church, is ours
to-day as much as theirs. Both these temples have passed away,
but the temple of the living God never perishes. In architectural

GOD DWELLING WITH MEN. . 533

beauty our churches may come far short of Solomon's beautiful
house. In decoration and ceremonial display, in the gold and silvv r
that adorned the altar, we may not claim for them equality, but in
all that constitutes the essentials of true and acceptable worship,
have we not the pre-eminence ? The cloud oftentimes obscured
the altar from the sight of the congregation of Israel, but no cloud,
save that which arises from unbelief, obscures our view of Christ.
The Jews might enter the inner temple, but no farther. The priests
might enter the holy place from time to time, but no farther. The
high priest only, and he but once a year, might enter the holiest of
all. The responses of the sacred oracle were only given occasion-
ally, and regarding the more important matters of the theocracy,
and the answers by Urim and Thummim were only for those of
royal rank. But no such hindrances prevent the access of the hum-
blest soul into the presence of its Maker. Directly and without the
aid of priestly intercession, we can plead our case at the bar of
heaven, and through the advocacy of Jesus Christ re'y upon gra-
cious pardon. " We have access v/ith boldness into the holiest of
all, through the precious blood of Christ."

The doctrine under discussion — Christ's continued presence with
His church — should

(a) Be a source of joy to believers. When the disciples saw the
Lord, after the resurrection, they were glad. They were previously
cast down. There was a sadness in their fellowship, and a heavi-
ness in their conversation, which nothing could remove save the
knowledge that the Lord was risen indeed. But just as soon as
they heard his voice again they resumed their natural cheerfulness.
Their fears and doubts all fled, and confidence resumed possession
of their hearts. It should be so with us in all the devotions of the
sanctuary. How cold and unprofitable the ordinances of God's
house when the Master of assemblies is absent ! How unavailing
the best efforts of the preacher I How barren the results ! To

534 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

labor in holy things, without the consciousness of divine aid, is the
most irksome drudgery to which any human being can be called.
But the presence of Christ changes all this. The countenance be-
comes suffused with joy, smiles take the place of tears, and sorrow
gives way to abounding gratitude, the earthly sanctuary becomes
the most delightful spot on earth, because the place above all others
where Jesus reveals the shinings of His face.

{b) This doctrine also insures the success of the church in every
conflict. It is still, " not by might, nor by power, but by the spirit
of the Lord." The marvellous revivals of Pentecost and subsequ:^nt
periods, were all due to God's dwelling in His church. No voice
but one could raise the dead Lazarus to life, and no voice but that
of the Son of God can call dead sinners to repentance. The la-
mentations of christians over impenitent souls are due to the spirit
of worldliness that possesses the church and precludes His saviug
presence. But final victory is assured. " The Lord reigns. God
is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved." " No weapon that
is formed against her can prosper, and every tongue that shall rise
up in judgment against her shall be condemned." " I, saith the
Lord, shall be unto her a wall of fire round about, and the glory in
the midst of her." In view of such promises we can hopefully an-
ticipate the universal spread of the true religion, when the apoc-
alyptic vision shall be realized. " Behold the tabernacle of God is
with men and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God shall be with them and be their God."

Brethren, need I add that in order to Christ's continued pres-
ence with His visible church, he must dwell in the hearts of the
members. Isolated from each and every other creature, the indi-
vidual soul must seek and cherish the indwelling of the spirit. It
is the presence of the Most High in the individual worshippers that
consecrates the temple. Thus dwelling with Him now we have as-
surance of sitting with Him on His throne, in the upper kingdom

GOD DWELLING WITH MEN. , 535

of his glory. While in the body, our communion cannot be so sat-
isfying as when perfected humanity engages in the sinless service
of heaven. " It cannot be with us in the tabernacle as it will be in
the house." " Sense is slow to lean on aught else but that which
it sees." But God's presence, if not so immediate, may be as real,
and of the same nature, as we shall enter upon when the fleshly
vestment no longer keeps the soul apart, from face to face vision of
the King. Every soul, in living and loving communion with God,
now brings heaven and earth so much the nearer to jach other, and
of every church whose members are hidden in the secret of the tab-
ernacle, it may be said, " Surely the Lord is in this place. This is
none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'*
Spirits freed and spirits fettered mingle in the common atmosphere
of praise.

Indestructible Kingdom.

" And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven SHt up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."

—Daniel 2, v. 44.

The Indestructible Kingdom.

6" _

j^f^^O'^VAST amount of learned ingenuity and scholarly research

yj^J^r have been expended on the book of Daniel. Eminent
«^Vjl^«^ saints of God, desirous of understanding the signs of the
«^>,yr times, and forecasting coming events in the history of
the world and the church, have devoted much time to a
solution of its spiritual meaning. As large a number, perhaps out
of mere curiosity, have endeavored to interpret its prophecies and
fix with certainty the time of the end. As in all such cases, where
men presume unduly to search out the secret things of God, but
little satisfactory results have been reached in regard to mere de-
tails. All are, however, agreed on one point, that Christ's church
and kingdom shall survive all ecclesiastical and national convul-
sions, and that the vast changes which are now transpiring through-
out the world are but the precursors of a glorious end, when the
kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our
Lord and his Christ, and He shall reign for ever.

It IS this fact that is brought before us in the text. Nebuchad-
nezzar, the King of Babylon, has dreamed a dream, which greatly
disturbs his peace of mind. The wise men of the kingdom, who

(539)

540 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

professed by the aid of their gods to interpret dreams and foretell
coming events, arc called upon to shew its meaning, and allay the
king's anxiety. A serious difficulty, however, existed, from the
fact that while the king retained a sort of hazy recollection of the
dream, he could not recall it in so many words. " The dream had
gone from him," so that he required of the wise men, not only the
interpretation of the dream, but the dream itself. Such an unlooked-
for and unreasonable request staggered the Chaldean soothsayers.
" There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's mat-
ter, therefore there is no king, lord nor ruler, that asketh such
things at any magician or astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a rare
thing that the king requireth, and there is none other than can
shew it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with
flesh." In this dilemma, when a decree had gone forth, consigning
all the wise men of Babylon to death, Daniel boldly presumes to
show the king the dream and its interpretation. Having spread
the matter before his God, and received a favorable answer, Daniel
is ushered into the presence of the king and explains the meaning
of the dream. "The secret which the king hath demanded, the
wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers, can-
not shew unto the king, but there is a God in heaven that revealeth
secrets'and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall
be in the latter days."

It is not our present intention to discuss the detailed interpre-
tation of the dream. The barest outline must suffice. The king
beheld a great image, whose brightness was excellent, and whose
form was ';errib!e. Its head was of fine gold, its breast and arms
of silver, its thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet partly iron
and partly clay. Suddenly a stone, cut out of the mountain with-
out hands, smote the image, until the iron and clay, the brass, the
silver, and the gold, became like chaff of the threshing floors. The
wind carried them away, and no place was found for them, while

THE INDKSTRUCTIULI': KINGDOM. 54 1

the Stone that smote the imapjc became a fjrcat mountain, and filled
the whole earth. The interpretation is briefly as follows : The King
of Habylon is the head of gold. " Thou, O king, art a king of kings,
for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and
strength and glory ; thou art this head of gold." The kingdom
represented by the breast and arms of silver, is that of the Mcdo-
Persian, founded by Cyrus at the conquest of liabylon. The king-
dom represented by the brass is the Macedonian empire, founded
by Alexander the Great, on the ruins of the I'crsian monarchy ;
and the fourth kingdom, represented by the legs of iron, and the
feet partly clay and partly iron, refers to the Roman power, distin-
guished for its strength and insatiable desiic for dominion, which
made it for a time the mistress of the world ; until internal dissen-
sions broke it into pieces, and hastened its downfall. Now says
Daniel : " In the days of these kings, a kingdom shall be estab-
lished, that shall never pass away." Before the last of these mon-
archs have died a new kingdom, differing in its origin and purpose,
shall be s'^t up, that shall never be destroyed ; — a kingdom whose
conquests shall not be achieved by the swo''d : that shall enter into
no alliances with earthly kingdoms, but shall prevail over and ab-
sorb all temporal pcwers, until alone it embraces the world and
commands the homage of all intelligent beings. The kingdom
indicated by Daniel, in its rise, progress and final glorious issue, is
that kingdom which Christ founded — 'which is composed of all true
believers, and which we usually term the church of the living God.
Not any one sect or denomination, but the Catholic Church, em-
bracing all in every visibk. organization who acknowledge Christ's
supremacy, as king and head. No one body of believers dare arro-
gate to itself all the virtues and holiness of the communion of saints.
From all churches, and out of all nations and kindreds and people
and tongues, the multitude of the redeemed shall be gathered, until
finally there shall be but one fold and one shepherd.

542 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

I. Let US consider the origin of this kingdom. That it is divine
and not the product of human wisdom, is distinctly declared. " The
God of heaven shall set up a kingdom." Whatever difference of
opinion exists regarding the kingdoms referred to in the image,
there can be none regarding this one. Elsewhere in this same pro-
phecy it is stated " that one like unto the son of man came with the
clouds of heaven ; and tliere was given him an everlasting dominion
which shall not pass away, and a kingdom which shall not be des-
troyed." Now, whether we take the expression " kingdom of
heaven " to mean the true church of God, embracing all believers,
which shall be merged in the kingdom of glory, or the king-
dom of grace in the hearts of individual believers, in both cases it
is true that in its inception, progress and results, the work belongs
to God alone. It is divine in its origin because due to the purpose
of God in a past eternity, who determined to found an empire in this
world, whose citizens should be saints and whose fellowship should
be heavenly. The terms of entrance to this kingdom are declared
to be not earthly honors, nor worldly renown, nor wealth nor intel-
lectual greatness, but faith in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus
Christ and obedience to His authority. His kingdom was announ-
ced contemporary with the creation and fall of man. It was the
theme of prophecy and the song of inspired minstrelsy in the long
twilight of the Jewish dispensation, ere Christ came into the world
and gave it form and reality in the eyes of men. In other words,
God purposed from eternity to save by the death of His Son a
multitude of the human family, over whom Christ should exercise
a special oversight — towards whom he should stand in a special re-
lationship, and for whom there should be reserved special hortors.
Upon the i uins of the fall this kingdom was to rise ; through the
long ages of conflict and blood, subsequent to the entrance of sin
into our world, and prior to the universal spread of holiness, this
kingdom v/as to increase and spread in power and influence, until

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM. 543

a new heavens and anew earth should appear, and che new Jerusa-
lem come down from God as a bride adorned for her husband.

Men acquire kingdoms by conquest or purchase, by poh'tical
convulsions or diplomatic alliances, but the kingdom of God was
founded by the shedding of precious blood. " I appoint unto you
a kingdom," said Christ to his disciples at the possover table, and
straightway prepared to pass through those terrible agonies that
culminated in the cross of Calvary. There amid rending rocks and
darkening heavens the Saviour died, and dying passed away to his
mediatorial throne on high. But from that cross and grave a reli'
gion sprang forth, destined to outlive all forms of worship and flour-
ish throughout ages in immortal youth.

II. Consider the indestructibility of this kingdom. "It shall
never be destroyed." We should expect this when we reflect upon
its origin, and the purpose for which it is founded. Unless supe-
rior to the conspiracies of open foes and the treachery of professed
friends, it could not accomplish the will of heaven. That it should
have to pass through many fiery ordeals, and at times seem al! but
crushed, is implied in the language of the text. And such has been
the history of the church of God, from its beginning in Eden, down
through patriarchal and apostolic ages to the present. Idolatry
has endeavored to suppress and conceal its simple faith ; civil des-
potisms have attempted, by force of law, to shake its foundations ;
paganism has essayed to defile its purity ; scepticism and infidelity,
by repeated and violent assaults from age to age, have vainly
sought to give to human reason the royal honors of Jehovah. But
all have failed. To-day the church of God stands forth before the
nations of the earth, stronger and fairer than ever — with no scars
upon her brow, and no traces of the conflict upon her form. Men
who make no professions to faith in Christ's divinity, secular phil-
osophers and ' ationalists, weary of fruitless endeavors to undermine
this kingdonr , now begin to sing the praises of Zion's King. On

544 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

many a well fought battle-field, Christianity has not only vindica-
ted her claims, but laid prostrate heaps upon heaps, the powers of
darkness. Alone of all systems of religion, that during the past
1900 years have presumed to bless humanity, she remains to-day
with strength undiminished and veracity unimpeached ; and just
in proportion as the nations of the earth have adopted the prin-
ciples of this kingdom, have they flourished or decayed. Based
upon the dictates of mere expediency, they have gone down in the
day of trial, and sunk amid the wild tumults of human passion, like
vessels in a storm. Where to-day do you find true manhood, in-
flexible integrity, impartial laws and stable government? Not in
Turkey and other portions of the East, where Mohammedanism
prevails and poisons the fountain head of social purity ; not in Spain
or Italy or Austria, or even sunny France ; not in India, with its
Buddhism, or China, with its curious medley of diverse creeds, where
until recently, the air was foul with the smoke of altars, consuming
human sacrifices to unknown divinities ; — no, not in these, but in
our own loved land — in Britain and her colonies, and in the neigh-
boring republic, nations conservative of what is true, and progress-
ive in what is good,

III. Consider the immutability of this kingdom. "The king-
dom shall not be left to other people." The throne shall never
surrender to other powers, nor the sceptre pass into other hands.
Reference is doubtless made to the fate of other kingdoms, tlien or
subsequently existing, whose sovereigns were deposed, and whose
liberties were crushed by the usurper. The Babyionian princes
yielded to Cyrus the Persian ; the Persian power to Alexander the
Macedonian ; and that again to the Romans, and so it has been
with many kingdoms during the Christian era. The map of Europe*
by the absorption of territory, and the snatching of empire by the
avaricious despots, has again and again been changed, and new
boundaries affixed. The strong have swallowed up the weak, and

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM. 545

kingdoms or e famous in history, have all but perished from the
memory. But in the kingdom of which we speak, no such trans-
ference of power can ever happen. The administration is perpet-
ual, and the laws unchangeable. Of no other kingdom indeed, can
this be said. The most stable thrones have a succession of kings,
for death as it changed the high priest of old, changes the occu-
pants of earthly thrones. But the King of Zion rules for ever, of
His government there is no end. Calm and unmoved by the over-
turnings of the nations, and the revolutions of society, He sits in
majesty, controlling their destinies, and making all contribute to
the glory of His name. None may presume to dethrone Him, or
call in question His supremacy. " The counsel of the Lord stand -
eth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. The law
of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; the testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord
are right, rejoicing the heart ; the commandment of the Lord is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, endur-
ing for ever ; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether."

IV. And finally, consider the glorious triumph of this kingdom.
*' It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever." The kingdom shall not only never be des-
troyed itself, but it shall silently, but effectively, attack other king-
doms, until alone it fills the whole world. The language, though
plainly indicating victdry after conflict, does not necessarily imply
that violent measures are to be resorted to, in the conquest of
heathendom. We know from other portions of scripture, that it is
by the gentle, persuasive influences of the Holy Spirit that the
church of the living God is to extend her boundaries. The little
stone cut out of the mountain — small and insignificant at first, com-
pared with the gigantic systems of paganism — gradually increases
in magnitude and strength, until it subdues all other powers, and

*36

546 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

brings despocic thrones to dust ; such has been the method adopted
from the advent of the Saviour to the present day. Christ's king-
dom has never sought the shelter of royalty, nor the force of arms,
in order to spread its principles or conserve its liberties. It seeks
no favor, it goes forth in confident reliance upon the inherent force
of truth over error, when accompanied by the Divine Spirit. Its
weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling
down of strongholds, and everything that exalteth itself against the
faith. The legend that represents Constantine as seeing a glitter-
ing cross in the heavens, and above it the inscription, " By this we
conquer," is the motto of Christ's kingdom to the end of time.

We need to have just such a promise of ultimate victory to sus-
tain us in the conflict we are called to wage with the powers of
darkness. We walk too much by sight and too little by faith, when
studying the progress of Christ's kingdom. We are apt to be dis-
couraged by what seem repulses and defeats, but which are really
onward movements and mighty impulses. Long periods of time
are demanded ere the temple is completed and the corner stone
laid amid rejoicings. But eventually the heathen shall be given to
the Saviour for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for His possession.

In churches multiplied and scattered all over the world, and the
growth of other religious agencies, we see direct evidence of the
spread of Christ's kingdom. But in society at large, not less surely
are the principles of righteousness at work correcting abuses, mel-
lowing animosities, purifying literature, abolishing slavery, extend-
ing charity and good will to men, and advancing with civilization
in the subjugation of barbarous tribes, until the entire earth is
opened up to christian commerce. What vast changes are yet in
the future when this kingdom shall be universal, it is not within the
power of human language to describe, or imagination to conceive.
Then the golden age, so long sung of by poets, shall be refalized.

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM. 547

and our long sin -trodden and accursed \vorld be restored to the
bright sisterhood of sinless orbs, shall become best and brightest of
all, because the dwelling place of the world's Redeemer. For in
the language of the well known hymn :

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run ,
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

One question ol a personal character remains. Do we belong
to this kingdom? Have we been translated into the kingdom of
God's own dear son ? Have we received that kingdom which shall
never be moved ? Are we rich in faith, and heirs of that kingdom
which God hath promised to them that love Him ? Are we assured
that, delivered from every evil work, we shall be presented to this
kingdom, and at last when our work on earth is done, that an en-
trance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlastinpf
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ?

Through Death to Life.

" I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live : yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live \>y
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

— Galatians 2, v. 20.

Through Death to Life.

I HE text is an explanation of the preceding verse, where
Paul says, " that through the law he has become dead to
the law, that he might live unto God," .Jo be dead to
the law is to be free from its dominion. '• The law is rey
presented in scripture as an hard and cruel taskmaster.
Sinners are in the position of slaves, under the control and subject
to the command of this master. This relation continues during the
life of the slave, only ending at death, when " he hears not the voice
of the oppressor and the servant is free from his master." Paul
was once thus in bondage to the law, but was now set free. Its
rites and ceremonies were no longer binding upon his conscience,
nor had its condemning sentence any longer influence over his
heart and life. Furthermore, the law itself had occasioned this
dcadness to the law. It so accused and terrified him, when a guilty
sinner, by its woes and threatenings as to drive him to Christ, who
by his death has fully met all the demands of violated justice, and
freed the sinner from its obligations. But this experience or state
is not a final one in the history of the awakened sinner It is but

(550

552 Tin-: church and the commonwealth.

a means to an end, preparatory to entrance upon a nobler life,
"that he mi^jht live unto God." Then follows the language of the
text : " I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live ; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved mc and gave him-
self for me."

" I am crucified with Christ." The language is strange and
striking. Is it mere paradox or metaphor ? Is there really such a
change in the views, experience and conversation of the converted
man, that calls for such language to describe it? Christ, says an
old writer, was crucified between two malefactors. Paul was not
one of them. He was at the feet of Gamaliel, not at the foot of
the cross on Mount Calvary. Had he been there, he would rather
have helped to crucify him, than yielded to be crucified with him.
How, then, are we to explain such language ?

Cross-bearing, according to the Saviour's words, is an inevitable
mark of disciplcship. " He that taketh not up his cross and follow-
eth after mc, is not worthy of me." From the earliest days of
Christianity to the present time, cross-bearing implies the possession
of all those noble qualities that constitute men heroes in the church
and in the world. To bear the cross is not simply to profess Christ,
but to do so, i need be, in the face of superhuman obstacles.
Everything that militates against undivided allegiance must be
cheerfully surrendered, and every form of persecution willingly en-
dured. Right hands must be cut off, and right eyes plucked out ;
father and mother, wife and children, brethren and sisters, houses
and lands, nay, even life itself be freely given up, in order to bear
the cross. But even all this is not the worst form of cross-bearing.
Cross-bearing before the world is comparatively easy ; but cross-
bearing in the secret domain of a man's own heart is much more
difficult. Many a man who would cheerfully bear the cross in the
sight of his fellow-men, has utterly failed in what seem the insig-

THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 553

ntficant details of life. The curbing of the passions — the restrain-
ing of unlawful appetites — the ruling of the temper and the sacri-
ficing of self interest for the good of our fellow men : — in a word-
the bringing of the whole man, body, soul and spirit, intellectual
pursuits, emotional delights and imaginative pleasures, into har-
mony and concurrence with a living Christianity — this is what is
meant by cross-bearing in the enlarged sense of the word.

To bear the cross now is a very different thing from what it was
in the days of Christ and the apostles. Even in our own day cir-
cumstanccs lessen or augment the pain of cross-bearing. Hut to
bear the cross in the scriptural sense of the expression is at alj
times in opposition to the natural heart. The very selection of
such a figure by Christ and the apostles proves this much. Cruci-
fixion was a Roman, not a Jewish form of punishment. Before the
time of Christ it had no moral significance whatever. Crucifixion
was regarded as the most disgraceful form of capital punishment,
reserved for criminals of the blackest dye. What it was to symbol-
ize in the christian economy, was learned first, and most conspicu-
ously in the example of Christ, and afterwards in the illustrious
lives and heroic deaths of such men as Paul, and the noble army of
martyrs, who went through Gethsemanes of suffering and Golgo-_
thas of blood for the love they bore to the truth. " Christ changed
the cross from the lowest of things to one that is higher now than
the sword or the pen ; the morning kisses it upon the cathedral
spire, and farewell glitters upon it as the sun departs."

Cross-bearing is thus but an initiatory step in entering Christ's
kingdom. Christ not only carried the cross, bnt was crucified upon
it. It was not the simple act of bearing the cross, nor the magna-
nimity displayed and suffering endured on the way to Calvary, that
purchased the redemption of the world. It was not the solitariness
of Gethsemane, nor the bloody sweat of the garden, nor the heart

THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. $$5

of the saints In light, there is no hardship felt in making the greatest
of earthly sacrifices.

Secondly, — There is a willing obedience to the divine com-
mands. In this the disciple must imitate his Master. " Not my
will but thine be done," is the watchword of the christian life
There should be no reluctance in the pcrfornjance of duty, and no
hesitation in going forward to the severest trials. " Speak, LorJ,
for thy servant heareth," should be the christian's invariable res-
ponse. A man who lives the life of Paul, and possesses in any
measure his faith, will not be continually talking about his services
and sacrifices. True religion demands not simply obedience, but a
cheerful obedience. The strength if our love is measured by our
readiness to suffer, and all that we can do for Christ in the most
trying emergencies of life, is nothing compared with what He has
done for us, in saving us from eternal ruin, and purchasing for us
eternal blessings.

Thirdly, — There is a marked and increasing deadness to the
world. " I am crucified," says Paul. Interest in the events of the
present life henceforth to a great extent ceases. The lifeless body
feels nothing, hears nothing, sees nothing of what is going on
around it. And such in point of fact is actually the case with the
regenerated soul. Not that henceforth the child of God withdraws
from society, and takes no part in the business of the world and
the cares of the commonwealth ; but such a revolution takes place
in his feelings and desires — in the value he attaches to outward
prosperity and earthly advancement, that he is in great measure
indifferent to questions that are of absorbing interest in the eyes of
his fellow-men.

It is thus, in one aspect of the case, no easy thing to be a chris-
tian after the pattern of the Apostle Paul. But this is the darkest
side of the picture. Christ Jesus by his death has purchased fc; lae
believer, not only present blessings but future glory. Having

$$6 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

become obedient unto death, He has been highly exalted — a name

has been given Him above every name, that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow. Who is he that sits upon the throne ?

John tells us, that " in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts

and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain."

It is the once crucified but now glorified Saviour, who now receives

the adorations of the angels and the praises of the redeemed. And

where are such men as Paul and the cloud of witnesses, who counted

not their lives dear unto them, that they might finish their course

with joy ? They are now near the throne, kings and priests unto

God ; they sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, apparelled in

garments that rival the brightness and splendor of the sun. " It is

a faithful saying, if we be dead with him we shall also live with

him. If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him ?" Beyond

the cross

I look and see a throne,
Christ's throne and mine in one;

Hallelujah!
Throne and Cross for ever.

To bear the cross, then, may be bitter — to crucify the old man
may be a desperate life-long struggle, but the end is sweet. Though
Christ died upon the rugged summit of Mount Calvary, "yet having
borne the cross, he was laid in the sepulchre, and the sepulchre
was in a garden. Roses wet with the dew of the morning were
round about the door of the sepulchre. It was the nodding daisies
and lilies that first called Him, knocking mutely at the sepulchre's
mouth ; and when He came forth in glory. He came forth in the
garden, with fruits and flowers on every side of Him. Christian,
go with Christ to the cross, and die with Christ, that like Christ you
may stand in the garden amid all fruits and flowers."

But, says the Apostle, while " I am crucified with Christ, "never-
theless I live." My existence is not ended, but materially changed.
I am no longer what I was. Before, I lived for the world — now I

THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 55;

live for God. Formerly, I loved sin — now I hate it. Formerly,
this body was the tabernacle of Satan — now it is the temple of the
Holy Ghost As great a change has taken place in my moral na-
ture, as took place in my sentient existence at the moment of birth
into the world. " For if any man be in Christ he is a new creature ;
old things are passed away ; behold all things are become new."

A man recovering from some painful disease, says, " I live in a
new world," and in like manner the regenerated soul exclaims, " I
am crucified with Christ." " nevertheless I live." But, continues the
Apostle, " I live, yet not I." The paradoxes of the verse are not
ended. He first tells us that he has been crucified with Christ, then
again that he lives. Now again he says, " Not I." After all, there
is no real contradiction. It is evident that this clause is inserted
to show the source of his new-found spiritual life. He desires noth-
ing of the glory resulting from this wonderful change. Not by his
own inherent powers or efforts after this nobler existence had he
attained it He owes all to the free sovereign grace of God.

This seemingly contradictory language is further explained
when he says, " I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." In other
words, the Lord Jesus Christ imparts to the believer, at the moment
of conversion, of his own nature, in virtue of which he may be said
to dwell in the believer's heart He is the author — the fountain*
head of his spiritual being. This life, so abundantly stored up in
the Godhead, is conveyed to all the children of God. In virtue of
that union which exists between the Saviour and his people, they
are one. This is not mere figurative language. The head and the
members are one. The root and the branches are one. The foun-
tain and the stream are one. The husband and wife are one. So
between Christ and the believer, there is a substantial union, though
a union that can only be spiritually discerned and gradually expe-
rienced in the growing sanctification of the child of God. Not

5S8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

more really does the soul quicken the mortal body with life, than
does Christ quicken the heart of the believer.

Paul finally explains how Christ dwells in him, and the mode
of its operation. " The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Notice, among other things, that

I. This spiritual life is enjoyed by the boliever upon earth. It
is a life lived in the flesh — in this mortal body. A man may live
spiritually in a sinful dying body. Paul does not say, "The life
which I live to the flesh," but in the flesh. These two things are
essentially different.

I I. This life is altogether unlike that which the believer inherits
by nature. A contrast is indicated — the past with the present.
The old record was a melancholy one. Before, says Paul, I was
dead, I thought I was alive, but now I see how great was my error.
He has brought me up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry
clay — a new song has been put into my mouth, even praise to God.

III. This spiritual life is a life of faith. Faith i£ the most won-
derful power in the universe. " It has a kind of omnipotence in it
— it can remove mountains, command the sun to stand still, and
raise the dead." It crucifies, vivifies, purifies, justifies, glorifies. By
faith the believer is united to that Saviour, who now sits upon the
throne.

IV. God is the author of this life of faith. " I live by faith of
the Son of God. Christ is the author and finisher — the revealer
and object of this faith." Paul speaks not of material, nor intellec-
tual, nor emotional faith, nor of the faith of devils, but of saving
faith. The faith by which a believer can bear up under the trials
of life, and by which he can triumphantly die, must have a divine
being for its object.

V. This faith is experimental in its character. It is appropri-
ating faith. " It is faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me."

THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE. 559

You may start many difficulties connected with the plan of sal-
vation, and puzzle the humble christian regarding many doctrines
in his creed, and suggest many metaphysical contradictions con-
nected with the exercise of faith, but you cannot take from the soul
the sure knowledge and experience of the love of Christ. No argu-
ment can overturn this sure pledge of heaven's regard, " The Lord
knoweth them that are His." " Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ ? Shall tribulations, or distress, or persecutions, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

" He loved me," says the Apostle, — " far back in the counsels of
eternity, before the heavenly bodies were placed in their appointed
orbits, or goodness had decked the earth in lavish beauty, — before
the angels sang the choral of creation or the advent of Christ, this
Saviour loved me." Says the prophet, " I have loved thee with an
everlasting love." And why such a manifestation of love ? Not
because of merit in my character. Apart from the infinite and
overflowing tenderness of the divine nature, there was no motive to
prompt such an exercise of love towards the Apostle or any sinner.
" He loved me," says Paul, no common sinner, but the vilest of the
vile — a persecutor, an outcast, an enemy to Jesus Christ and his
religion — one who gloried in his wickedness, and boasted of his
cruelty. Oh ! the height and the depth, the length and the breadth
of this love of Christ, it passeth knowledge !

" He gave himself for me," adds the Apostle. This is the in-
controvertible proof of love. " In due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Scarcely for a righteous man will one die — peradventure
for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commend-
eth his love toward us, in that while we were sinners Christ died
for us." He gave himself. We could not purchase salvation — all
must be of grace. He who was the son of God, the brightness of
his Father's glory, the express image of his person, the adored of

S60 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMONWEALTH.

angels, and the central attraction of the heavenly world, suffered
death that man might live.

And now, by way of application, let me add : If Christ lives in
us, we can never die. We can, in other words, never fall away from
grace. Christ once died, and now forever lives. , They that are in
Christ die to sin, and forever after live to God. The benefits of
Christ's death are lasting and inexhaustible. The believer can
never want. The spiritual life enjoyed on earth merges into eter-
nal life beyond the grave, and thus we can go on saying :

Thou art my life, O Saviour ! by faith I live on Thee ;
I was a sufiering captive, but Thou hast made me free ;
I passed my life in si^hintr, but Thou hast made me sing ;
I was alone and lonely — Thou art my Friend and King,

I would not fear the dangers that lie along the way,
I would not doubt or question, but only trust and pray ;
The old life left behind me, the new life I would live.
In faith on Thee, Jesus, who caust Thy spirit give.

^^^^i:^