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Moderator of the Gen«ra! Assembly. • i^e Pevfect Book or tt^c pecfect ^att^er, - Hcd. Dr. Campbv Presbyterian' College, Montreal. 'ottrcs to ZUtssionary tOork, Hep. a. ©anbicr, B*U, >e lesson of (gcclesiastes, - - - - 3otjn JDatdon, €C.D. Professor of Moral Philosophy, Queen's. mtinuity anb Progress, - - Het). Herbert Ssmoiibs, ZTt.Cl. Rector of St. Mark'^, Ashburnham. e Cf^rtst anb ^is Ceucljtn(5 Supersebcb? Professor of Apologetics, Queen's. Hco. Th. Hosft le 3nflueitce of Dailij Occupations anb Surrounbin^s on ttje Cife of ttje People, abam S^ortt, TXl.a. ristiart Union, rist is Dlmbeb, Professor of Political Science, Queen's. Het). (0. 3. tow, m.a> Rect- r of Almonte. k e Baccalaureate* Sermon, ■/ice-Principal, Queen's. M5 - principal <5rai|| Hep. Dr. IPilliamsom fSK««^^ PUBLISHIED BY THB 5TUDENTS. A 252 .Sa'7 ^1.1 K ^j.m^w, fc.vu-uw^a»^ I .1 m f /I SUNDAY iFTERNOON ADDRESSES IN CONVOCATION HALL, 1893. PUBLISHED BV THE STUDENTS. 4fiM-T ^ PREFATORY NOTE. These Addresses, which form the Third Series of Sunday Afternoon Addresses, have been delivered in Convocation Hall, Queen's University, under the auspices of the students. In presenting? this pamphlet to the public we desire to thank all who have encouraged us in our former publication. It will be noticed that this series was opened by an address from Principal Caven, Moderator of the General Assembly, and that he has, been followed by distinguished scholars from the Methodist, Anglican and Presbyterian denominations. In this way this pamphlet is more repre- sentatixe than former ones. We trust that in future publications more prominence will be given to this feature. Our special thanks are due to the Principal and Professors who have so kindly assisted us in making this series successful, and also to those who have come from a distance at no small sacrifice of time and convenience. We assure them all that the students of Queen's have derived much benefit from listening to the spoken words and hope thai in this form their influence may reach many others and may contribute to set forth some fractional part of " the unsearchable riches of Christ." The Publishing Committee. I ^tudi} Bqd ^piPituBl Life. How shall study be so prosecuted as not to hurt the life of the soul, but, on the contrary, to minister to its growth and completeness ? A question, this, of much importance not only to students of theology but to all students ; for all who engage in study, whatever may be their career, are under obligation to cultivate the spiritual life, which is the true life, and to glority God. Nay, the question is one of great interest to all classes of persons, inasmuch as the character both of those who address us from the pulpit, and of those who occupy the other positions which students will fill, must tell powerfully upon the moral and spiritual welfare of the whole community. To have the highest style of Christian character represented in our ministers, physicians, lawyers, teachers, statesmen, and all others who have had the benefic of a superior education would do very much to lift up the entire people. That every human being is bound to serve God and live a holy life is a very primary truth, but one of unspeakable im- portance ; and nothing, surely, could augur worse for the learned professions, or for general society, than the prevalence of the feeling that the character and life which are very requisite in the case of religious teachers are hardly to be expected in any marked degree among those in secular (jalliugs. Piety is in much danger of disap- pearing from the pulpit when men come to think that this is almost the only place where it should be required. To the question we have put, viz : How shall we so conduct study as not to hinder but rather to help religious life ? some would reply that study is necessarily injurious to spiritual well-being, and that we cannot prevent this result; while others, possibly, would say that study is attended with no moral risk, but must certainly develop and strengthen both intellectual and spiritual life. Both answers are wrong, as abundant instances testify : some have killed the soul through study, others have constantly nourished it. The proper work of a student is study. To acquire large and accurate knowledge of the subjects of his course is a student's conten- tion and aim. Whatever the special field of study may be— language, philosophy, science — the true student wishes to make the largest acquirements possible, and to comprehend as completely as may be all that lies within his province. The real student is not amusing him- self with a little intellectual excitation, nor seeking merely to pass examinations and get his standing ; he is striving to master his sub- jects, as far as ability and opportunity admit. The tnio student, therefore, is zealous in study. He puts nothing before it : he allows nothing to appropriate the time and energy which should be given to it. Having wisely chosen his field of study he de- votes to it all the strength and enthusiasm of wiiich he is possessed. Were it otherwise his success would be indifferent, and ho should even count hioj self guilty of wasting his time. We may properly say to the student: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." You are not required to sacrifice your health. You must not neglect those duties towards (rod and your fellow men which are common to all situations and em- ploy ments; but, with these reservations, give your heart to your studies. You are mistaken if you imagine that a half-hearted appli- cati on to them will protect you from the spiritual danger connected with clo ce intellectual occupation. Rather, you will incur greater dangers for then two evils are in your path. You are sinning by wasting your precious time, and neglecting to make attainments which might the better fit you for serving God in after life ; and, in the relaxed condition of mind attendant on idleness, you are exposing yourself to many temptations. The house that is empty, swept and garnished will be sure to find an occupant. Were we seeking for the student whose " soul prospers and is in health," we should not find him among those who take little interest in their studies, and are glad ot anything which may furnish an apology for neglecting them. You may indeed discover great students who have no high moral purpose— whose aims have respect solely to self— but amongst the idle and indifferent the Christian graces cannot flourish. The full occupation of the mind with legitimate subjects of thought is good and healthful, bracing and purifying, while it closes many avenues of temptation. In a place such as this there is proba- bly little need to i'lsist upon the duty of earnest study, — so many things tend to stimulate to the utmost ; but if any one should fancy that by slackness in intellectual work he secures himself against the spiritual risks of the student's life it is necessary to tell him plainly that no one can well be in greater danger than he. Nevertheless, devotion to study is attended with danger to the spiritual interests, as every faithful student, who also strives to keep the heart, is taught by experience. This danger besets exceeding appli- cation to any kind of study, — religious not less, perhaps, than secular study ;— the scientific study of the Bible and Theology not less than the study of philosophy or physics. Candidates for the ministry will not think, therefore, that the topic under consideration has no direct bearing on their case. Wherein lies the danger ? In the fact that study implies, for the most part, the activity of the intellectual faculties mainly. The un- derstanding and judgment are in constant exercise, and the energy of the soul IS thrown into their work, but the spiritual and religious side ■*$ of the man 18 not necGfisarily active, or active in anv corrpspondiuc degree. But should our studies be of such character as to draw largely upon the .esthetic faculties, the danger is not less : „ay. it mav be greater, inasmuch as .esthetic sentiment is so easily mi otakr^n for re hgious emotion. But the /wart is the special .eat of religion, and its powers and affections may be unengaged while the intulloct is in strenu 0U8 exercise. Here is the situation : the mind is concentrated upon the apprehension of some truth or proposition, or the comparison Tone fact or statement with another, or the ded,ictio,i of one Truth from an- other, but a vivid sense of the presence of God and the right exercise of the affections towards Him do not distinctly enter into the mental condition. The limitation of the mind, and the impossibility o simultaneously exercising all its powers, mai^e it impossible that faith hope and charity should be in the foreground while purely intellectuai processes engross the man. Suppose, now, mentaUctiou almost en- tirely intellectual going vigorously forward during most of the wakina hours, or intermitted only when utter weariness comes on and tl f mind refuses to energize at all ; suppose this continued from day to day. fi-om week to week, from month to month, what must the effect th«Tnv ,^^lfS;°"« "ature -on the spiritual life ? This surely, that he love of higher things is weakened, an must be apprehended bj iy and painfully soughi, appropriated and secured, of feeling merely, in which tu. character and life. And the truth ■nding. Sometimes it is earnest- '.ontention and wrestling of soul 1 not a blind instinct, or thing -andiug has no office to perform"! TT ,, , " ' " jiixjuiug una nu umce 10 pei'iorm Hence the exhortation : "In unaerstanding be men." "He who caused the hght to shine out of darkness shines into our heart, to give Uirist. But the entrance of this heavenly light quickens the whole uature-the conscience and the affections equally with the intellect and leads captive every thought to the obedience of Christ " God' Christ, salvation, dufy, holiness, eternal iife-these must be much in the mind, and become the theme of frequent meditation. Unless the mind dwe Is much upon these high things there can be little spiritual growth should spiritual life even be po.ssible. How remote these great objects of thought may be to the eager student we too well t"Z; *"f .<^*^""g^P°«it!^-« ""belief or ungodly feeling has ncc pos- session of him he lives m a region far distant from Bethlehem or Calvary, and breathes an atmosphere which has nothin^r of Heaven in -fl- it. A few wearied raomonts given to the fiayi. ^ of » prayer, or the reading of a brief portion of Scripture, fail to restore the spiritual vitaUty of a mind exhausted by intonso ind prolonged application. The danger of having the reUgious afVections become cold is, as 1 have Haid, connion to studejits in all departments. In keeping the Leart the student of Theology would seem to have the advantage ; for he in occupied with the study of divine truth. The very things in whicli roligion consists are much before his thought, and the world of evil and temptation seems almost nhufc out. A man who is reading and speaking and thinking of spiritual things all the time can hardly help being a religious man, and being filled with the Spirit always. So it might seem. Well, it is a great privilege, and should be a great joy, to engage in studies which bring us very near to God and Heavenly things; and if we do but rightly prosecute such studies they will constantly minister to our " growth in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior*', ,Jesus Christ." lUit Theoiogy must be studied as a science ; and its scientific ; spects may occupy the mind to the virtual exclusion of the practical and experimental uses of divine truth. The theological student is also preparmg for a profimon (for we may so call the Christian ministry, in a sense), and liere again danger may lurk. The temptation may be to become a popular preacher, or an accomplished theologian, rather than a true herald and minister of Jesus Christ. And should some wrong conception of his work and office take possession of his mind, some wrong motive insinuate itself, the very sacredness of the material with which the theological student deals will make his spiritual peril the greater. lUniyan saw that there is a road which leads to hell from the gate of the Celestial City, as well as from the City of Destruc- tion; and there is a way of considering and handling the truth of the Bible which may blind the eyes and harden the heart as certainly as will the undcvout study of matter and force. How then may study—earnest study — become safe, and even helpful to spiritual life? How shall we devote to our studies the energy necessary to success, and yet find our sense of divine things and our interest in them not impaired but enhanced? First ot all, the danger attendant on study must be fully recog- nized. That persons can take the superficial view of this matter, to wlilch reference has been made in relation to theological pursuits, clearly shows that a word of warning is not unnecessary. On a sub- ject of this kind few were better entitled to speak than John Owen, the great Pnv'tan divine, and he has used very mipressive words as to the special ri .Ks to piety connected with the professional study of theology and the discharge of ministerial duty. For protection agahist all injury io religious lift in ihe case of the student, the lievotional readimi of the Scriptures and Proi/er are of the I ■ 'I do not mean a t'lan that made by "7- ittnwBt value. By the '.evotioual reading of Sci '[••.. use of the sacred volume less intelligent, in its 'ay the critical student. But the aim and method are notliieTamalirthe two cases. For whilst in the one case the immediate object is to ascertain what is true in Criticism or Doctrine, in the rather case spiritual truth Vi applied to the heart and life. God's Word is both food and medicine to the soul. It enlightens, purities, -strenfftheno warms, comforts, elevates. There is no nurpose of correction or improvement wh.ch, as applied by the Heavenly Teacher, it does not accomplish. - The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul- the tesiimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; Aw statutes ot the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment ot the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." In the believint. sym- pathetic perusal of Scripture the wearied student will find all his po\'ers relreshed and revived, and the evils which accompany the too exc usive possession of the mind by secular idoas prevented • and if a student of theology he will reap this further benefit, that his profes- sional studies will bo immensely forwarded by the dearer insight into the ueart of divme truth which the devotional use of the Bible will give: " Pectus tacit thcologum." May ^ ,' grefore, exhort my young friends the students present, never for ; .aigle day to omit the read- ing ot the Bible for personal profit ; for preventing the spiritual dead- nesK which constant intellectual tension will produce, and for elevat- ing the soul to something higher than the loftiest intellectual effort can reach. " Let the Word of God dwell in you richly, In all wisdom and spiritual under, landing." Then, too. will you "be able to say, O how love I thj/ law, it is my meditation all the day I" And if Scripture is lovingly employed for devout and practical ends, prayer will ever, and inevitably, be associated with the reading ol It. Ihe heart that is filled with the divine Word burns with desire to get nearer to the glorious and blessed One who is therein revealed and thus prayer becomes a necessity. For prayer is, on our part the proper response to the voice of God heard in Scripture. He speaks to us in the Bible, we reply in confession, supplication and thanks- giving. No one may prescribe the exact portion of time which the student (or any person) should dedicate to these allied duties of readin<^ and prayer. But some part of our time should be thus, appropriated- enough to make it possible to receive the impress of liigher things and to have real fellowship with Heaven. To say that a few moments will sufece would betray ignorance of the conditions under which the human mind acts and is acted upon. But if the heart is right we shall wish rather to lengthen than to shorten the season^ in which we are nearest to God. So engrossing may study become that the devotee is utterly unconscious of the passing of time. An excellent minister , whom 1 knew well, told ine that when a student in a Scotch University he took up a somewhat difficult problem in mathematics on a Saturday even- ing, and when he came to himself the light of the Sabbath morning was shining through his wmdovv curtains. So humiliated was he that he resolved never again to touch his favorite study when the Lord's day was at hand. After hours and hours of hard study it is physically impossible that in a mnuite you should adjust the mind to engage, with reverent attention and lively interest, in service of a different kind. That we may read the Scriptures and pray aright a little breathing time is re«at was no special gospel of the Father. The Old Testament writers did not know the Father: therefore Jesus SV^.rT^ ^'^v. ^^ ^^"^ *° '^'' Athenians, so JeTus virttlly Jfnto vou ''"""b: '^?°'^, '^'''^''' '' '^'"'^''^'^y worship Him d la^ 1 unto jou He not only msisted upon His oneness with the Father but expressly declared that He spoke and did nothing of Himself h[s ' houg^its and emotions. His words and deeds were tho e of H m that rosL^XtaUonrn?^H • '^" *'^ ''1''' ^^^^^^^ ^^^ speaks\n S;ri " orfh as an ind™'-^ \T'' '°*'''^^ the mind of Jesus to set Himself lonn as an independent divine personage. He was tho Father's ax I?Him"fZ '"'^'Tr '''f "^^" ^'^^' ^"°- Hi" -d hon u Hi n! omnaierl w^h f ^ T'^ *^ '"'^^ "^ ^^"^' ^ ^^i'l ««^all voice, unac companied with thunder and storm wind, earthquake and fire When miL7:tLflZ''r '^ ^'^ ''r' «^ -"- °f neces^^ into t^ Ta Mnfilli? r /"'^'"'''/°' ^^^^^^ constitute the world's physi- Sba a Hl'b :"VT'''"'^ atmosphere. Whether they app a. at are not G^l pW 1 ^i"^^'^: °' ^" ^^' ^^^ Testament Scriptures, they - are not Crocl, else has Christ come in vain. ^ kppnH.'i ''^^'xi'Pf1''*= H" '^-^^P^' ^as ever kept, and ever will tVo d lT.vp ^'^ ^^"'J nature, which Christ Himself sublimated n field of sninZi f/^°^d which Paul extoUed above all others in the Two ^ ,'P"'^"^' i'^^' and which John made synonymous with God wrre L ghtZltffr' 'tl'^f '" ''T ''' ''"'^"^y *'^^ SoM, and these Seas tle^s L^/ i ^'^* ^ ^'^■'''* ^^^^^^ *'^^«« *l^ree concepts make as they stand alone pure and unalloyed just as they are in God and in Him is no darkness at all." We take the other two and add- no hatVSa'u 't^:"^ " 7 ^^^^ ""' '''' ^°^ ^« ^-' and in Him fs of evil is not of ^n^'t^"' !^"'* ^''^' ^'"°^" *^"^ ^^'^ ^"^^'^'i'^" thorn in the flpL«f "^*c'!' °' ^^' 7°'^^'^ "°* ^^^« recognized his thrrwei of ?hp «f "" ^.^*^"' "°^ ^^^^'^ ^^^''^^^^d dehnquents into tne powei of the adversary for punishment, yet the language he em mell nSTf d'^" ''"'T'' ^J ^^^ ^^^ eiLuraged the o'ld Test": Tes not nshfv T?"' '•'^'^''' ^^^^^ *^^^ revelation of God in Christ ooes not justify. There is punishment for sin both in this life and in ona^t :?th%*.° ''"^'AV' 'f^'^' ^"^ ^^ naturalfy aTbur'ing f^ ows contact with fire, and deatn the use of poison. Christ said • " Wl.n soevercommittethsin is the servant o'f sin." pl"ihe 1^ . 'W —16— truth lother form : •' To wbc . . _„ ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteou.sness." Man's sin becomes his master, and, hke Actaeou's dogs, the iniquity of his heels compasses him about for his destruction. God's law is plain, but neither sin nor the penalty of sin are parts of His perfect nature. I want to know my perfect Father, iind go with a Prophet who has said " I and My Father are one," following in the vr:::;; that shouts Hosanna • all the way from Bethany to Jerusaiem. He stops on the brow of Olivet where the city comes into sight, and He knows that city is doomed to destruction for its long service of sin, including rejection of Himself. How will the Father behave in this case? Taught by His revealers, I listen for the curse, and hear the heart- breaking " Jerusalem !" I look for the thunderbolt and behold tears. This is God sorrowing over sin and its punishment, or rather over no abstract sin but concrete sinners who had sold themselves to a hard task-master. I will not give up this view of God at the call of any theologian, no nor at that of any lesser revealer of God in any other part of Scripture. I understand now how it was that Bossuet and Fenelon took opposite sides on the question, Is there such a thing as love to God independent of the hope of reward and the fear of pun- ishment ? Bossuet said No, because his God was the Old Testament's and the theologian's Dmty. Fenelon answered Yes, because his soul was at once drawn to the vision of God in Christ. Yet, some minds seem unable to take in the vSon's revelation of the Father in character and in work. A suffering Father is an offence to them, as the cross of Jesus is an offence to others. To one man's thought God is govern- ment by ordination, to another strict retributive justice, to another general benevolence, h\u in all cases sovereignty. Jesus Christ reveals a God whose perfection is boundless love, manifested in service and long-suffering. Such is our perfect model, a model that attracts sinful and suffering man as no other can do, that kindles love in human hearts, and makes greatness possible along Christ's line " whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." " Behold my servant," says Isaiah in the name of God, and adds, •' I have put ray Spirit upon Him." So when the servant came, and labored to restore many wrecks of humanity. He said : " My Father worketh hitherto and I work." The glory of God is service wlren He upholds the world with the everlasting arms, shelters His people beneath the covering wings, giveth to all life and breath and all things. Christ shares these among us as one that soweth. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledged or not, has wrought in many hearts in many lands God-likeness in this respect, so t!iatr.iany of the world's greatest rejoice in being able to serve their fellows, and forego ease an'I comfort, worldly honours and reputation,, to devote themselves in some of. the numerous forms of ministry to God's poor, ignorant and * ■$ "•!> lervants to ato death, lis master, him about he penalty jphet who vr::::i that He stops He knows including 'his case ? the heart- ud behold , or rather selves to a the call of 3d in any t Bossuet ch a thing ar of pun- 3stament's ie his soul me minds character the cross is govern- ) another ist reveals jrvice and acts sinful in human whosoever and adds, 3arae, and 'ly Father wljen He is people all things, ace of the my hparts lie world's •rego ease Qselves in arant and -17- amicted. Should they not have the joy of reali/mg that in this work itVeiU which "T f ''f ''^'^? "^ ^'^'^^^"' ^^' that the hkrei lias begun, w iich is to stamp with everlasting glory the sons ,in.l daughters ol the Lord God Almighty ? SoveiJgnty ^^as liad a lo^^ day to Itself, like other ciejure things that can be att fbuted to GoT Yon can trace the serving God in the Old Testament, in Moses' history, in the Psalms, and m several of the prophets IsalhZn represents God as .aying "Thou hast made Ve' to serve withlhv d ha^is^l^^;f'"^'.'^r«^^ a d hnf f. n ""'•• ^^"'^ '' '" ^^'' ^^d Testament, therefore and t at from the beginnmg; but these indications of agreement v'th Christ s perfect revelation lie side by side with visions thafn^nn I glJL ot death With life, ot wrath with love. Neither Christ nor His Ti^t'tr .''n'"'^*°'^°^V^"*^P^«^^J "^'^ Testamei God We are not to tremble as slaves before His frown but to r\^n V.fn ! atmosphereof peace and confidence, hearinTlIun s^^ FeaVnot I fl f ¥' '" ^^'f '"''^"^^^ °^ t'^« -fiebrew fathers we meet a spirit of heul'Cb oTS ''""^^"^' "Vr^"«"^' ^^^ are'otyVe'lp-ri world How ^«n l^ f ' T' T""^ ^^^'' '^'''^' ^^« S°"« o"t i'^to the wona. How can we try tUera ? Here it s : " Every spirit that onn • esseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.'' Note thi ' - that Jesus Christ is come," pot Moses nor David nor S no; Paul, nor John, although God spake by all these men Tak^ awav the right to search the Scriptures, to test scripture by script!irno iLliL^^^^^^^ " ^°"^^ divided agai.fst t sel^ Tie nalible teaching of Christ reveals the fallibility of preceding teachers t^ in bvr^l'^^^ ^^- P-l'-'-. but o fulfil law ofiv. ?^ their moral enactments to the higher, all embracing law ot. love, by emphasizing sin and its reward, and by irivirm I rt's' :T.°' ^'^ '^'T "" ''^'y ^'^^ ^^^--d- Tlie law wa g fen ^ xvu' ^■'} ^.'T ^''^ ^"^""^ «"^^^ by Jesus Christ. ^ ..l.nJJf ^'^.^o*^. allow men, holy men, to err in describing the divine dee' " Tl^s IV^K?,' '' ^^^'^ ^^^^* ^^« ^ot His in^lo d and Sgium'n T^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^°"^' ti^« greatest lewiloTSol . ^l /^-^"''^ •" ^rr^^sl^tible grace overcoming ■II U it« off 1 ' ^'u'"". '" inspiration ihat made speaking lutomataol the prophets ; but he who knows that man is free and atfecJed fhe"t;r ^°"^-°^--V^ '''' ''"^'"'^^ ''''' --^-«tand Cw It attected the transmission ot the message. Manasseh Ben TsvapI n L man'V"' '''''^ ^^'"'f i^"^ ^''^^' ^ ^^-' expression Let " Zl.uTJ' ^^""^^^*l^^ Y.°''^^ ^'^^^^^^^ t« doubt his simple unity en let him err. Even m the reported words of Christ there are ■ —18- Horue vvhich ^ive occaHJon to error, such a., I.ead m tiot into temnta tiou, T ,01, art I'oter. This is ,uy body. 1„ there anyth n. , Z^l n. H.a.arhherty or hahility to eru;r reigning ni tl^ ^^iud of t ?o 3alTirror ^" ^/-'t-ry such wo^ld be inconn^loZ t coKlance with Gods attitude towards human frec-dom, which above a thnys m man, He respects. Why did the chronic er of the books called hanniel say that (}od tempted David to number Israe and he of the Chrome es nnpute the act to Satan ? Because they were free to view the act from their own standpoint. There cai be no do h? which IS the more truthful. The divine perfectioi s s t f rth in £ New Testament declare the untrutlifulness of the statemen i Samud The miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit does not nec^ZrHv i'r!n 'LTr Sau[ ^"'7';^", ''% -^-«tandn.,. Balin ^TpS^ sieii ana hmg haul, and Jnaas Iscar ot wroimht miraclds I>»mI wrote to „om« inspired Coriothians to whom tie Holy Spirit Imd g;™» tongues, au.lthe power to interpret them, with revektion ami Ghos • e,n »n ' 'T'""" ""'■ "'*"'"' »"'ie«eension of the Hdy wiiere the bpnit of the Lord is there is liberty. The advocates of tl,o bSal'T '"""" "'™'-I ™^; " ^"^ ""'■■« i^ "»'. t .ere ." t ;,°ora ! P.MlT' '^. f r'"'""'!™ "^ "itlividuality, so that God only speaks " trn I, Tl,! ^"'V' "^a propliot, knew that he was speaking tie B bleitse It " "t"''^ "'" '"''''"" "' "'"Piration m the hgh of e ^ ,„,,«•! ' ' "r ^ ™ overwhelmed at the contemplation of God's io fr s«l red fo" n T V''' 7"' T''''""^ '»" TTvine char h.s ge^fpri-t^XTof :ry'' St t ti^trr °f ng ma': Tet S 'rth"e' S^^^''^ '"'■p-««-"y° Wndrrs1he?r apologize for i- fhp Pafif. 7 !^, -^ ^°^"^- ■^^i®'^® ^^ nothing to The facts are doubtkss tr Zl ^ t^t^ toGod by the ancient writerj'^p " h' 'dtt"ortr;r:^s"Z into tempta- ^ unnatural inds of the oniplote ac- liioh, above )f the books ael, and he y were free e no doubt orth in the in Samuel. necessarily im prophe- iles. Paul Spirit had ilation and il and con- tho Holy And yet, iates of the temporary y speaks." prophets," ;aking the ight of the m of God's vine char- 1 as an in- iction and lidance of 3 letter of iders their se. Such 'aith gives jition that iial manu- 38 it, is to as Christ, and alto- ire being 3thing to evelation fficulties. 1 of them orns of a -10- dilomma, in a choico betwc»>ii t\m in»'.n;i i n .■ Hook. I „,se,l to try. as ^^ no iti ' f "^''?[ "'"' '''" •"^""i*^'^ Hway, but found, to ny lame iL^^ the mo.al difficulties wounding tho Father over a. i'n t . explannng God away, ered tiaat I had been seel ing to x l r" r "^ -^^^ ^'''''^'' ' ^^'«««v- laws by the ,„axim The K u. !?..? i '^ ' •"'••actions of Hi. own ;•• a clitferent sen"; tl a„ t a wl ich"if''-'°;'^' V'' ''^ *^"« °^ ^^^ Tiieir offences are condoned an TS. *'"'; °^ """''>' '^oimrcUH. •fe not imputed to them lut o . 1 T'^'T 'T''"'° °^' "^«»- ^ank, to Him every infractor of he la w ol" I *' '^'' '^''''^'^'' ^^ ^'"'^ r was a child, I spake as a chid T /i ^ ^ '"' •napossibility. When child- world 01 ce, ^ ad tlZ it snokn t ,"' \ '^''^'^- '^^"^'^ ^^' a '•ad a Father, and it had ^'.^ ^ 'tL Cf ' '"'" '•''■"°^'' gobhn, though a liar was vp.-v r! i f' , ""^^'^^ ''^^ ''««'' and the l^ved in the TntJ^^v betw c^tL darh?' "' ^'Ml" ^'T ^^^'^^ ^'•i'd-world "i-e indistinct and men wa k I s «H ^i"^ ^^^'^ ^'^^'"' ^^'^^'^ tl^i"f?« i^ather and loved Him as eTon^^^^^^^^ 1^7^".?^ '^'F ^"^" '*'« gobhn for the Father nr the FaU er fo t ^ i ""^^T ^^'""^ '""^^ *^'« and terribly perplexed TL«r;.! "'® ?""''" «"d were sore afraid i" their diuiiirSNhe rtb f '''''''n'*^^'*^^^'^^ ^^'^^e down '•ome a grown r;t^:ta^';;f"j^s f^^f,' ''' ^T' ^ ^^°" ^' ■sent this Son. ^ayinL^ " thev lviU°Z if*'"'''"' ''^"'^ '^st of all He the difi^once beUin ^ ^^^U^^^ ^''''i^V''''' *°-^^""^ dawn, when the shadows had drifWl ! , ^ '® ^°" ^^'^^ "• the Him and came to H?m The littll pH" T^' '"'^ "^' child-world saw and poor httle womeiTand plrl '"^ *"' "^°'^^^^' were such on account oTthe^goblh^a.^H ^^"^^«^""«1«. because they we have been looking for " and Hp'.n 'J '"'4 ' " ^'"'^ '' ^^ ^hom do not be afraid of" me bnr T\f a'7T^' " ^^'' ^ ''^ the Father, harm you." ' ^"' ^^ '^^''^'^ °* the goblin for he wants To suci.^^^!^^^,:t^l!::::r^/t:^,^'^^ t^^ ^-^^^ ^^^*- ^- Baid ? Let the accumulatcdl,u ni, J of cj 'tn? ^'^ '° ■ ^^1°"^ ^" ^^ mentary and spurious sv^t^rn o /^ centuries in misleading com- the Father in tTe rrts^of ^^^''1 ^" '"''"^'^ "^^'"^°"' «° ^^^ to save ••^fallible Book Wha are 1 e o^^^^^^^ "^^^ be said of the old time, "An eye f^an eye ^,1 t^"n '"^'! °V^^'"^ ^^^^« ^^'^ i" the love of God ? OurFattv' .^^^ ' ^^^ ^1°°^'^'" ^o^^Pared with in time past, and stiH t ley 1 ^ t on r'd T'''' IT^'' ^^P^^^^ •lor tempt to impurity nor lilf olT^nuJ'"''' ''"* ^'^' "^^ «teal. and damnation L in^ h U d\ of me^"^l\?' T^'^ *" ^^ ^°d- «in are of God. He leads in tL n th. n?^ w '^ °^ "''"'^''' ^^^ ««ther curses not. There s a iulm! f °^"^',^teousness; He blesses and Men .judge themsdv I'n frTy o klr^^MT '"' f '"^P^'"*^^^^ «"-• hell by its subjective dep^t^re rom God r \ T^ "","^^'^^^ '^' °^^'» the making of either. ^ You':^",, '^':::^'^ ::^^ -20 whother it be as proacliers of i.jljIiIcouhuchh hh lioulcrs of tli.' body, as advocates of jiis+ice. or as liclpors cf Mio Koiionil weal, a!! servants like the Father, aixl you wiJl all be helped by carrying,' Ood's pictiuo with you. God give you ranch success, and many pleasant days of His sunshine in this place of our pilgrimage, but when the evil days come, as come they will, for through great tribulation your robes must bo made white, do not impute them to the Father, even if the old boolc says so, but remember that you, like laul, till up that which is behind of the afllictions of Christ in your Hc-li, for His body's sake, which is the church. Thus will you he tl'd children of your Father which is in Heaven, perfect sons of a perfcc Fatlier. A great problem will face you, perhaps it has faced you already, in the matter of moral governmeiit, the problem of the innocent siilVer- lug for the guilty. When you look around, you will also find that the guilty are oftc..i benefitted by the innocent, the corrupt are saved for a time by the salt of the earth. Deistical writers have regarded the vicarious suil-nugs of Christ as immoral, but the fact is that we all Bufler vicarious' ■ .vuo are seeking to do (Jod's will and follow Christ. Individual respc asibility is a very important doctrine, but it will not enable you to set up your own private government iih many think. You are an item in the federation of Canada, and in the advantages or burdens of that federation you must share. So Adam's race is a feder- ation by descent, by Fatherhood, by redemptiun, giving us tlie solidar- ity of the human family. We live for oiir brothers and sisters of humanity fiom Atlantic to Pacific and from Pole to Pole. When we pray " Thy Kingdom come," we mean over all of tiiem; when we add '' Thy will be done," it is on earth and over all the earth they inhabit. Courage brothers I for our task is great. Whether of endurance or of labour. While that world sins and suffers, we must suffer too. Keep your house never so pure, and the pestilence bred in the filth of Cen- tral Asia will yet be wafted across continents and oceans for your affliction and loss. The wages of sin should visit the wicked man of a lar off city, but they do not ; he flourishes like a green bav tree Where is the W8,ge gone ? Hundreds of miles away it may be to a quiet Christian home thence to snatch a loved one and make sorrow- ing people say How inscrutable are the ways of Providence ! Courage bro hers, fire^, to bear all this, and not complain against God, whose ye belovf . bon went that way, and whose own face, could we but see It outlined against the heavens, is one of syrapaaiy, blending hope with sadness, adding to an experience of creation's praisin«r the radiance of the redemption promi Courage, next for labour. In some way, if we are to do our woia as-- followers of Christ, as perfect children of a perfect Father, we must toach that great world in its sohdarity, excite some Iiealthful ripple in our corner of humanity's ocean that shall rise and fall in ever widening wavelets, till it wash up some sand grains on the utmost shore. Many a beautiful Psalm and -21- and an ceaaing to Irgue for a p e^^ Book' w ' ^''^ ?'^?'^^ '" ^^^"'i^t. CHlI. "He yo therefore penG evo , as ^^1^? ''"V^^ '^^^"'« Heaven iH perfect." y""*^ leather which ia hi J. Caj mi'hell. ou nlrondy, icont siiffer- iiul that the saved for a gardod the ihat we all low Chiist. it will not any tliinii. vantages or e is a feder- tljo i-olidar- sisters of When we lien we add ley inhal)it. ranee or of ;oo. Keep th of Cen- s for your icd man of I bay tree, y be to a ike sorrow- Courage, od, whose we but see iditig hope aising the ibour. In as perfect >rld in its lumanity's it wash up ^salm and I -22- BJotiVe? to lV[i?gioi]ai °' ^?'^'* ^"^ ought to be a most powerful one tL wnH a n^ ^- "'°*^^^' ^^^ condition of those individua L who have no Cht'f ^Y'f . '^^'' '^^ where He is not known is emZh t ? i f*' """'^ °^ "^^^^ lands hardened by rejection of Chrst^Yon^]^^^^ '"T ^T\^ '^'^^'' "^^ i^^^^f describe society whether in thp .1,? . ' °"^^ *° ^'^^' ^ Missionary India, Africa, ti;el am[s"VlTe t.to be'^ ^""'' f /f^' '' "^ ^^--' are lost -lost to God an uXess I'o ? fn 1 0^'"''^ that these people in trespasses and sins anVotrwtid in w^S ^^^T"' ^^^^^ of preaching the gospel to pvp, v . 1 f wretchedness. The work wretched peasI^S^:^ '*l :T\"\uL{^^ T"^^ '^"^^ ^^ ^'- of weeds, chopped bark chaTl d pv!? f n""^''' ^''^^'" ^ •^^^t^re times an addition of mudfo m 1 ^ffi f sweepings, with some- begin to realize how teribtn„?sirtf^r ^°"r.«*,«"«y' we would food upon men. "^ "'"^ ^'""^'^^" ^^"cli can force such . My hearers, do we think as we slmnl,! nf n i , spiritual destitution of men an( wZph w i '^ ^oul'^nnger, the not strange to see man vvbn „ JT '° ^'f'^ ""^ ^^^"•^«t ? Is it trying to Lisfy ^r^^S :^ nZeyZt^r"^, ^'^^ "^^^'^ ^^ ^"d. horse racing, all manner of sPn^nll ifi "' ' .^^^"'^'ing, gambling, siousness '/'Ah ! It Is^? . ^e" t ad '^"'t^^^^^^ ^hor.^n^.l, licen-' said, " I am the bread of I fp l,p .? / ^^ ^'"""^ "°* ^^^us who bnnger ; and he tl a? bel ev tli on M TT *° .f -^ ^^^^^" "^^- having this bread of hfe soleribri;^^^ ^hall never thirst," and ;ot filling themselves with food as caSlv .nTl^'l^ '^'^K'^''^ ^''''''^ ^^ We pass through the nations of -^l.p.l 'f^ ^' "hunger-bread." ous idoIs,\.ead the t'l of t^^° filt i^^oi:"^^'"^' '"' ''''' '^''^' '"^^- enduring all manner of self nflw-f' i Y. ""^ ' !f ^^'^aciated devotees "pon the banks of the ( ai.rand . b '7'/ f ^f^ ^''""^'^^^ *« ^^'^ sands, millions goinfon pi W p. ^^" *' ^^?^'^ ^''"' ''' «'^^'''«d -.« i» sacred J^..L, 'J^t^^S:;: :^,Y:^ l^^^ -7 J^e. I -24- Ininger-bread. These and such like things are the only substitute millions ot our race possess for Christ and iJis glorious "ospel True they are not conscious that they need Christ as people suf- iering trom physical hunger are conscious that they need bread Thev may at hrst oppose the introduction of the gospel "because they do not know how sweet and nourishing is the broad of life, but ihe kind of food with which they seek to satisfy their souls proves beyond doubt how dire is their need. Third. A third motive that should arouse the disciples of Christ to take an interest in Christian Missions, is the nmiiraiion of our Hob, helKjion before the mitiom. The so-called Christian nation ;, while pro- fessing to give the heathen bread have too often given them a stone We are told that merchants bearing the Christian name have so prosecuted the liquor traffic as to curse and demoralize the Africans tar beyond the power of xAIissionaries to bless and moralize them We are told that the opium trafhc forced upon China by the most Christian country is working ten-fold more injury than our Missionar- ies are working good. We are told that the labour traffic in the New Hebrides and other groups, threatens to destroy the fruit of that glorious work m those Islands for which our Martyr Missionaries laid down their ives. We are told that sailors and traders of Christian nationality have scattered vice and iniquity, even beyond the know- ledge of heathendom m the sea-ports of Asia, Africa and the islands ol the sea, have repeatedly committed such barbarous atrocities in their mtercourse with natives that thoughtful heathen arc praving to be delivered from Christianity. ' ^ Such statements as these, and doubtless they are all too true bring disappointment that is heart-sickening to every earnest Mission- ary, every enthusiastic Christian. They weigh down the spirit of every one who loves his fellows like some awful nightmare. Li are we on this account to give up our effort ? Is the devil to have the whole held to himself? Are Mie nations to have no knowledge of Christianity save that it is the religion of those people who deluge them with body and soul destroying drink, who force upon them'the opium traffic with its attendant evils, and all for the sp' e of money S Are they to know nothing of our Holy Scriptures save tnat they are the sacix^d books ol he nations from which come sailors, traders, and lesiden s, who rob and kill most ruthlessly where they have the powe and outvie themselves m not and disgusting impurity ? Are they to irninn^'T "' '^'f "''" '^'^"^ '^''' '^'' People who force theii way luo all lands under heaven m order to extract treasure therefrom, and Fellow-Christians, do you not think it time for the Church of ; '!"!Ki;!''f ^'' '"■"''•'^'' ''^^'-^^'l*' ').'"V^^«'^^ '^" c*^'^rt to convince the world ii'i," no part of Christianity, that they are in direct that these things y substitute 5pel, people suf- read. They cliey do riot i-lie kind of yond doubt of Christ to /' our Holji , while pro- 1 a stone, ue have so le Africans thcra. »y the most Missionar- in the New lit of that naries laid Christian the know- XiQ islands rocities in praying to 1 too true, st Mission- 3 spirit of But are -0 have the )wledjn;e of 'ho dehige them tlie )f money ? Iiey are the iders, and the power ■e they to their way 3from, and isibility of Jliurcli of ) the world in diroct -25- opposition to the spirit of Chri•■' "reth- to the greater .We" *"'' "" """""" "P^^inS "orselves and pure and beautiful not a ^iJn^f rV ^^""l"^ "'^-^ '^^ ^^eet And when appealed to for oLTf 1 r'* ""' T""^""' ^'^^l"" ^^'M- wretched easf end LenVents Thiol lift 1?' ^"^ ^'"^^'^^' *° P"* ^he min. into a more sSrv rm^^Tf """^ ''^^'"^ ^^^^^ ^^""^an ver- tune that peopL C so mis.r.l v 1 ^f '^ n^ ^"''^^^^•' " ^* ^^ ^ ^^^^o,. I have looked aft r my fSlel'otbrS^^f/' '' "° ^^^^^'-^ ^^*' '^"><^' conce.-n of his P ^J ^^:t^^^:::ri^: ^-^ ^^ ^^ - aiway?L^yt^rrard^.f:rofJir -/-'^ ^r^-^^^ ^^- -^ the liouse of this ^^ealthv cif^.on f P^.f ^"tions tliere may come to be claimed no rlspon "iili?v fcl^ 1"'^,°"''' ^^'^^ "^*^^^ ^^^^^ ^«^' ^vhich will work sad havoc In hi; Lme ^ ^'""^^ ^^"'^^ ^""^"^ ^'^^^^t day, year S)S'^nrdt^;!;S;:eTfl;d"to^ to us that every twelfth wash away their sins in H.p «.!. a 1 ^^^^^ar on the Ganges to make to L hat the 1 u In wf '"'"• ^^'^^^^ ^^'«"^^'^"^« d«es \i driven out l)y persec'^t on s; In^ "" "' '''■'^"^^^^^ P^^^^'^^ and is and l.oalthy;Vl y rto 4d to fro.^l.l' '"" '? <^«'^/"tabIe and clean tH>ns and filthy Jhams ot 1 e.il endom T^^T T "".' '''' '''^'''^^ after thefus^ I . B^tTe Chira w^'f '"" ""'if "'^^ °*' -"''^ *« ^-k of the Hindoo, and finds onnm^,n,fT^'^^^ If ''""''^ '" *''« '^'''^ «ity ^^'"•opo^soutc;.t, doe stts^avwn^^^ the wretched conditions of of society, passes on ^oothLtnnh^^ ^\ ''''''^'' "^^^^^ classes vessels, LS threatens i^te^ An ;SlseI ''^' Tb""^^ "' ?"^^^"^ "ection between heathenism •.u.lnlZr ,.^''*^'e ^^^ a clear con- I'^^nrope and AtnericXd rbectsP K '■ ^"I'^'f '''''^' '^'^'^^'^ t« to send India the gospel ^ """°^' ^"'^ ^'"^^'^'^ ''av. failed If we would destroy some of the worst scourges of CJ'ous faith that loaves no room for a morbM Telf- consciousness. "The sign of health," he tells us, " is unconsciousnes Self-contemplatioi,, on the other hand, is infalHbly the symptom of disease. While the Decii are rushing with devoted bodL on the enemies of Home what need of preaching Patriotism ? The virtue of t on"be^::^e I't r '""'^ "i"' '''"" ''' ^""'^'^^' all-transcendent condi! tion, be toie It has received a name." Siuiij.nrly, " so soon as Prophecv hTZ' t "f^^--.^-f ^«fa«-^- then did the iign of ArgumZS begin , and the ancient Theocracy, in its Sadduceeisms and Pharisee- of It had Hed. Carlyle would therefore counsel us, not to waste our energies in abstract speculation on the uUunate nature of things or". elves'to'^l' '' -^'''^ .'^''- i"^^P'---^l'le; but, surrendering our- selves to the inspiring intuitions of the imagination, to seek for harmony with ourselves in resolutely doing the Tvork that lie.^n tr s to us. Consider," he says, " how in the meanest kind of laboni the who e sou of a man is composed to harmonv as soon as he ets him self to work. Properly, thou hast no other 'kno wledge b t what Zu astgot by working: the rest is all a hypothesis of know '^4-" thing be argued about in the schools-a tiling tloatin. in he clouds m endless logic vortices. Doubt of whatever \ind can 1^ ended bv action a one." Now, I shall not stay to enquire how far Carly le's ad^ vice contains an element, and even a large element oftmthinit T shall only remark that it manifestly springs out of that vrreie tion which he counsels us to avoid as the disease of a morbid a'^d scelti A '^'" wJf^";:^,!'^^^;:.^^'^^"^!^^^'^^'- ^-^« high and". Sr «ii 1 ii 1 I'lii.-n; uus to action as an IS vainly. of enthu- law, with lese times no longer ly "sick- he world )f faith in bat it can 3S, which hem ivith licli men rbid self- iousness. nptom of i on the virtue of lit condi- ^rophecy entation ^harisee- the soul. aste our gs, or in ng our- neek for nearest Jonr the its hira- lat thou iilge— a 3 clouds iided by ^le's ad- in it ; I flection 3eptical leart is as an m —29- anodynefbr despair ; untmuhle.l l,y doubt, they have no more antici nation of the disquiet and gloom that lie m wait lor thei stL us feel hat h^i nntl T'' f^T' ^^^'"^ *° ^°»"««1 ^ "^^^ who ittJs that he IS not sound ni body to make no effort to find out tho cause o his sickness, unless indeed he has reason to kiow hat s case IS beyond the physician's aid. Itosolute forgetfulness of pfd , U a. ot bodily disease can oidy be advisable if the disease is desner e I no satistaction can be found for those 'V.bsti,H.te yu'sUoill^s ' of human life and aestiny. which are a marked feature of the a" emwhicl we live hen indeed we shall do well to forget them as wella we ct Imt If, like other spectres, the spectre of doubt is best laid b^ beh J ye" ' 1 ;r t oia^r" ^""'r.r r"'^'-"^ '' ^^^^'^ ^ iixedi;nd resdu ^ alt to t iK / H in ' f'"' ""^t'^ ^"'^ ''''''''' "*■ °"^ '^^y 1^'^ve not been Matt : A,-n; f 1 ''''" ^" "."^"'^^^'^ ^-'^^•^^^•f"^ ^ ^""n ^« tJ^« Jate silly: "^^^' '''^'''''' what many have felt, when he says "The sua of fuitli Was once too, at tlio full, and ro.ui.l earth's shore Lay like the folds of a hright girdle fiul'd • l>tit now I only iiear ' Its melancholy, long, withdravvini; roar, Ketreating to the breath Of the night wind ^^' "t'^nks aloud;" to facts as he sees th rhe Imf uo ^ n^'f. ' ^^^^^ r'^'"^^"'^"^ ^^'^^^^y difficulties or to malivuZ. .. ." "f ^elt Ihis utter can- they would uotollferwie have S V°^'' ^'"^ '°''"^"^^^ ^^^''^'^ i^aer^ge fa, to j.tract thet^e^son LTn the."^'" ''''' ' '" '^ ^ It is now ffeneiX ZL7f^ A\ ^^''"\' ^^^^* '"^'' ^^^ ^'auity?" ."•t earher thf^th:' K?°on L pL-tn'r^ '' Ecclestiaste's lived belore the birth of CJirist. Now if wp -pH ' '' '" ,'°"^' '^^^^ y^^''^ of society under which he and') 7'g be poor fruits of his labo n tie so a p f , "'f f ^ ""' '"^^^^^ ^« ^^^P ^^en feed tiie ava.icc of the sat • ,n . , 1 f ;"^'^^-^ snatched from him to uufeeimgde-pot lnms:]^^Vm:L;n::^::^:3r °'"*^^^^^ "p^^^^^- for their wisoom or character ''o"!^?^^'^'^""-^ ^^'^ «"t chosen * «o I understand v .- 9 " ^ '' ''^ '" ^''""^ ^'g^^^y ' and the Je adiuission iveread into nk tliat wo all tlie more in God and inn in in,y 3xity which survival of lis aloud;" lous fidelity pass over sometimes utter can- Jity which if we of a man life ? uity?" istes lived 950 years I'upt state that time •plexed in unhnpi^y under the 'here was I'y justice, tvas there; le natural •t to find )le wrong uch of a 3 tears of the side jforter. " ! seemed t course, ^rting of i.e. give St wring f!ap even hira to ip to the t chosen and the not ,„,„„ U „ good wil of l,i, V ,1 ■ "' " '"'■■"''"'■ '■""'"'« "P"" 'w™ ""^ liis life may breatheT'io fati.a ""'"''"'"•. '""l ■"> man who value, of violence an,ro,r; on f^^:,':7,:; »«""-'.''« "-' ''-'al acts misnUeofauOrrenwis; l™' within 7 '"" S^'iT'' ""l-"- ""> cnrninf fw^.,.,,* T ''.l""^.''^'!^' witli its succession of low-bon- ury ; Its coi^Dt^an un^us , d'es ■• '^,i;^'t'>^^'^".f ^ ; its shameful lux- .potism such as this wh <>hl f i , '! \"evitable result of a des- humanity, i eiUi r tol^ o itaTl I?"l?* ''l '''•'"^ °^ •'"•^*'«« ^"^^ to throw them bad i non 1 omll J /' """^ '"''■^>' °^ ^^'^ I'««Pl"' o^' when we remember 1 e n w , ^"/^f 1'""''^"'^ «^ "^ revolt. Now. stand that^^c^ d lot H.! '''^'^ the author was, we can under-' Persian despot,'^'i ^^j t such "tf'^ir '^ '"'''' ^"'^^«^« °f ^^^^ Forhecame of anro d nn, .. of things without a struggle, as the people o Jehovl d?'"'""' Tf ' '""'"""^ "^ ^ "^'"lue de.^tiny ofjustLeL/riSliei^n r;;;:' J^''1?^ refused to subnnt to sh vp.-v i' . , , ""^ ancestors it was who tant sense of na ona mii v Tul tf ' '/'jf ^^*^« f ^P^^^'^^^d their exul- battles in the insm red sm^^^^ "i ^''^« invincible God of discomfiture of TllehostrS PhS,.!''""^ '''' "^'^ ^^''^-^'^ ^'t-" the and its f^ith in Jehc;:^llt i^^ii^u:^ ^^ul^^^r^^^^ °^ ""^^' lVAif!i '^^'It *'"f'"**'^ P^"«'^' Lord : ^^^:'^^tf::^^:^^'::^ri f^^ '"" ^^^-f national uie under Solomon.^ B ttS -dtion. .': '^''"'''' of universal empire ut>ited nation had been In it in 1 71 'T. "°'" ^'^"S I'^^t. The the southern Idnc^dor^ h td su.^^. m' i\ ^P^ **^' ""^'^''^"^ ^"^ then and the Babylonian J^d^ t o u'h o; -i^ .1 T''' i"' *''^ ^^^'^'^^^^ Jewish exiles to return to tiehnlfho7 '""""r^ aremnant of the walls of Jerusalem he nat o^ i 7 "i '"^^ ''^""^^ ^'^^^ dismantled - wH... Of Bccieit^: vri,ot:w=r:^-xrs^ 32- iill tliat sctiiiuMl worth liviiij^' lor wiis f^'oiio. l-or four ccnturios tlu uortlioni kiii<,'(loiii. and for two c(aituri('s ihv soiitliorii kiiif^doiu, Imd botMi a tliiii},' of the pa^t. Goneratioii after <;oneration and century a*"tcr centin-y the same monotonous despotism had weighed upon the spirits of a proud and freedom-loving peoph', and a conviction of the utter hopelessness of revolt had heen burnt into their souls. All through those weary years they had retained then- sense of being the chosen people of Jehovah, but their fiiith was sorely tried. The pro- pliets had taught their countrymen that God is not merely a God of might, but a(jod of righteousness, and had insjtired them with a hatred of injustice and oppression. It is therefore the defeat of all the high hopes of Israel- the loss of its nationality and the apparent triumpli of unrighteousness— that weighs so heavily upon the writer of this book-. He cannot shut Jiis eyes to facts. He still clings to his faith in the goodness of (jod, but he is forced to seek for an interpretation of the world which recognizes that the independence of his nation is gone for ever, and that might is tiie only right. Wiia. .;pprosses his spirit is the hopelessness of any change in the political condition of his countrymen. A cruel despotism has destroyed the hope, though not the desire, of freedom. Jiike a brute mechanical force it moves on remorselessly, heedless of its victims' cries for justice and humanity. Thus the writer turns away in despair from the outward sphere of the state. What wondisr. then, that, musing sadly on the lot of man, he seems to find in the course of nature the same pitiless law. One gen- eration of men after another comes out of the dark abyss of nothingness, takes visible shape for a little, and then vanishes away into the night from which it emerged. What is permanent is not man but nature. /Ml unheeding of the beating; of human hearts, the great steadfast earth abides, the sun continues to .ise and set, the rivers flow on for ever to the sea, and the winds move round in the same monotonous circuit. The " fitful fever " of human life burns out, and leaves no trace behind ; each geneiation but repeats the fruitless toil of the past : "There is nothing new unJer the sun." By an irresistible impulse man seeks to solve the riddit .>f the painful earth, but the end of all his toil of thought is an imensificd consciousness of the vanity of all human wishes. He cannot throw off " the heavy and the weary weight of all this unintelligible world." And if he" turns for satisfaction to the pleasures of eye and ear, building costly palaces and embellishing them with the fairest products of art, surround- ing himself with troops of obedient servants ready to minister to his every want, and seeking to forget himself m the refined delights of music and song, the result is still the same -a conviction that "all is vanity and a pursuit of wind." Man is not made to be happy. He is the victim of a relentless law to which he must needs submit. He comes out of an unknown past ; he goes into an unknown future. The consciousness of his superiority to the brutes only 1 ■iitiirics tlit igdom, Imd nd century d upon tlio ;tion of the souls. All f being the Tho pro- I a (lod of itli a hatred II the lii^'h nt triunipli Iter of this his faith in iretation of tiou is gone s his spirit ■AQw of his though not moves on humanity, here of the r)f man, he One gen- othingnes^, ) the night Jut nature, it steadfast flow on for Qonotonous I leaves no of the past : i)le impulse the end of the vanity y and the B turns for 'tly palaces surround- luniister to ed delights miction that nade to lie must needs .n unknown rutes only incren-.s his wretchednosH. Like thorn his short life is soon oxtia- gmshc. for over, hut unlike them he is tortured by a forcsiL^ of the n.evitahe doom which awaits hini. But even if man S li/o for everon the earth what consolation were that to one whose hfe is hopelessly sad? In a world where injustice is triumphant, why ill he V. -aye to prolong his life nay. why should he desire to be\t aH ' sun and M.nn H r^"' "' ^l'^°l^Pr«««ions that are done under the sun. ad behold the tears of such as w "re oppressed, and thev had nocomtorter; and on the side of their oppressors thire ITl^lt b u they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living whicl/are yet ahveyT better ban them both did 1 esteem him which hath not yet been. Vho hath not seen the evil work that is done uniter the sun " No picture of human life could well be darker. It seems to be spin oi (.od is not dead in him, when he turns to ask how a man sliou d order his life in a world that does violence t- all his aspirations ihe hope of the restoration of his nation he has abandoned comfort nZr^l'T^ rT '"'''^ "/ ^'"'^^"" ^^^^' "^ t^^° satisfaction of his natural desire lor happiness, he puts resolutely from him- but he does not lose his faith in God. Man's life is inexpressibly sad.'birt ven m the wreck of a 1 his hopes something remains for which to be grate iul. Ihc hope of transforming society after the. pattern of righteous- ness, he glad consciousness of preparing the way for (he future eleva- tiou of his race, the enthusiasm which forgets self in the consciousness ot working for great public ends : all these things are denied him • but one hmgremams.-to do his duty from day to day, thanking' God *"^,/^^.? satisfaction which comes from honest toil. " This also is a gilt ot God. We cannot reconcile the anomalies of life, try as we may ; we cannot overcome the injustice and oppression of the power- n.flnl' Tf can govern our own lives wisely, saying little, cultivating patience, thankfully receiving prosperity when God sends it to us, and submitting to adversity which also comes from His hand. Another solace remains. In the privacy of domestic life, in the close union of i.'eart with heart, the writer finds, like manv of his countrymen then and since, a measure of compensation for the loss of country and the bitter wrongs of the oppressed. How natural is this falling back for consolation on the inner circle of the family, may be seen in the poem lom which I ha-e already quoted. From the defeat of faith Arnold turns to his wife and says : "All. love, let us be true To one another ! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams. So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy. nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain ; And we are hei c as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and fight, vv here ignorant eirmies clash by night. " -34- The writiir of KcelcHiastes hUowh tliat much of his Hadoess HpringH from a fe;'rapathotic heart, when he ^ooh on to counsel uuHtiritod kind- nesH and henevolence. Linked toj^nthor by the common bond of wretchedness, we ouglit to aid one another to the best of our power. •• Give a portion to seven, yea, even unto eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth." With more of human pity in his soul, he reaches the same conclusion as the Ulysses of Sophocles, when his rivalry of Ajax was turned into commiseration by the sad fate of his enemy : •' I pity him, So wretciied now, although mine enemy, liecmiHc an evil fate has come on him. And thinking i!iat it touches me as well. For this I see, that we, all we thnt live. Are but vain shadows, ur.aubstantial dreams." But the tenderness of our old Hebrew writer is nowhere so conspicu- ously shown as in his sympathy for the young. Looking back wist- fully to his own early days, he does not counsel those who are beginning life to abate their natural joy in living, but he asks thrm to remember that, while grateful to God for the gift, they muet not " run heedless as the wind," but remember that only by obedience to the law of the Eternal can they escape the after-stings of remorse and the inevitable punishment chat follows evil deeds. And there is one other source of comfort which he mentions, though he does not dwell upon it : de- light in the beauty of external nature, " God hath made everything beautiful in its time. . . Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun." Thus, in all his gloom and despondency, the writer still clings to his faith in the goodness of God. He does not draw from his sad musings the lesson of the epicure or the cynic, but holding by his faith la God and morality, he bids us be grateful for the gift of pleasure in doing our duty, the gift of the sweet intercourse of domestic life, the gift of buoyant youth, and the gift of delight in nature. " This is the end of the matter ; all hath been heard : fear God, and kee^/ his cc>mmandments ; for this is the whole of man." Thus, almost in spite of limself, our author pronounces life to be worth living nobly and seriously. He is perplexed, but at last he escapes from despair. Whatever man''" fate, — and to him it seems unutterably sad, — life has a meaning, so long as we hold fast by the eternal dis- tinction between good and evil. Clinging to this instinctive faith, the writer, like many men of high and noble character in periods of general scepticism, extracted a kind of optimism from the depths of despair. There is a form of pessimism, as a study of this instructive book ought to teach us, which is truer to life than the shallow optimism that is merely the reflex of high spirits or of unbroken prosperity. The pessimism of Ecclesiastes is far beyond " The baren optimistic sophistries Of comfortable moles." *|:- ,1? ■jeas Hprings tinted kind- on bond of our power, knowest not 1 pity in hia locles, when sad fate of so conspicu- ; back wist- ,re beginning to remember run heedless e law of the le inevitable ler source of ipon it : de- e everything easant thing )ndency, the le does not e cynic, but grateful for b intercourse if delight in leen heard : Die of man." ) to be worth 3scapes from unutterably eternal dis- ictive faith, 1 periods of e depths of 8 instructive )w optimism . prosperity. 1 do not tlnnk tlmt the IVrsian satrupH, who oppressed and tlocced a patient and long-sutfering people, wore disturbu.l by such sad rofloc- tioiiH. It IS not those who think the world a very comfortable place to hte m, tlmt show tlio deepest faith in (iod. It was the contrast between the ideal law of righteousr.Gss whicli ought to prevail and the law of unrighteousness which actually seemed to prevail, that gave rise to our author's sad roflecti ,ns. If he could only have found the promise ot botter things in what he saw around him his pessimism would have vanished. So far we have been considering the pessimistic conclusions and the traces of a latent optimism in Ecclesiastos, as these were present to the mind of the writer himself. But, when we take a wider view wo shall find reason to hold that the book really indicates an advance upon previous thought, and was the preparation for that supreme lorm^oi optimism which is embodied in the Christian faith. The early consciousness of God among the Hebrew people was of a Being of great and terrible power, who uttered Himself in the thunder and lightning, in the tempest which broke on the mountains ot Kmai and rolled across the desert, and in the earthquahv. iiich de- voured the unuelieving. In the prophets of the eighth century, again. Nature is conceived rather as melting before the might of the Lord than as revealing His wisdom. What they insist upon i« the absolute hohness and righteousness of God, not His presence in the outer world. Now, it is true that the author of Ecclesiastes is far from the truth expressed by our Lord, that Nature is a manifestation of the love of God for all His creatures and especially for man. He rather regards the processes of nature as so remote from the life of man. that they have no bearing upon his fate. But, while this is true, we must not omit to note how strongly he is impressed by the order and law which per- vades the world, an order and law which he regards as ordained by God. He doe& not, like a great modern Christian poet, find in Nature " A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all object'- - all thought And rolls through all things ; ' for him, as for earlier thinkers of his race, God is beyond nature, or only related to it as the artist to the material to which he gives shape; but he dwells, not upon the anomalous aspects of nature, but upon the harmony which it everywhere displays. And not only so, but he has an appreciation of the beauty of thu earth, which is found in Hebrew literature only in some of the lator Psalms. In all this we cannot but see that, while our author has none of that unconquerable faith in the ultimate triumph of justice and righteousness which gives such marvellous power to the " winged words" of the prophets, he has a virtual consciousness of the immediate presence of God in the outer world which is not found in writers of an earlier time. And it is only another form of the same advance, that he conceives of God as related — 3«— not to the nation but to the individual soul. Like the later prophets he is conscious of the responsibility of the individual for his own deeds; and it is in connection with this consciousness that he is perplexed to explain the provilence of God. With that absolute sincerity in deal- ing with facts which is so marked a feature of his character, he recog- nizes that the righteous man is not always prosperous, nor the wicked man punished. " There be righteous men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked ; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth accordmg to the work of the righteous." Now, this clear perception of the truth, that outward prosperity cannot be taken as an infallible index of righteousness, or adversity as a proof of wickedness— a truth which is also taught in another late book, the Book of Job— leads, when it is followed out, to a much deeper com- prehension of the providence of God than an earlier age had reached. But, while we recognize that the conception of life expressed in Ecclesiastes marks an advance upon the superficial optimism of a less reflective age, we must not forget how far short it comes of that abso- lute faith in the Fatherhood of God which Christianity has brought to light. To the writer nature was indeed ruled by a wise God, who allotted to everything its place, and made everything beautiful in its season ; but in this wise arrangement no regard was had to the hopes and aspirations of man. In the life of conscious beings there seemed to be no law of progress, by which the toil and the tears of one a"e bear fruit in the higher spirituality of the next. Our author has Io°st faith in the restoration of the Jewish nationality, a faith which was the inspiration of earher and more sanguine thinkers of his race, but he has not yet attained to the higher idea of the essential unity of all men in their common relation to one Father in Heaven. From him was hidden what is now clear to us, that the destruction of Israel as a nation was an essential step towards the consciousness of a wider and deeper unity ; that the gloom and despair which darkened his life was a necessary incident in the process by which the impure element of national exclusiveness was burnt out. We can see, as he could not, that the stream of human history deepens and widens as it flows : that each successive age builds upon the labours of its predecessors, and IS thus enabled to penetrate more deeply into the inexhaustible riches of the divine nature. At every period of transition through which man v asses, even the noblest ramds are prone to take a despairing view of the future ; when the crisis is past, it becomes apparent that a new era has dawned, in which the old is transfigured under the clearer shining of the light of heaven. To Plato, in the decay of the narrow Greek state, when patriotism had degenerated into Action, nothing seemed left but to stand aside and take refuge under a wall as the storm of dust and the hurricane drove past ; Dante could see no hope for man but in the impossible restoration of the medieval ideal of one emperor and one 31" propliets own deeds; 31'ploxed to fcy in deal- , he recog- ilie wicked liappenetli d men, to s." Now, cannot be a proof of book, the eper com- i reached. Dressed in u of a less that abso- )rought to God, who tiful in its the hopes re seemed )f one age >r has lost 3h was the ce, but he lity of all b'rom him [srael as a wider and is life was lement of 3ould not, nvs : that 3sors, and ble riches , even the re ; when wned, in 3 light of ite, when ft but to t and the it in the and one -37- pope, each absolute in his own nroner qnbpi-n . t^vu iu i . of the English co,™onweal™lE.a4rdiyofhatt'??";r°''™ evil days." in all these cases a x^iA^ J ^ I naving fallen on would have taught norsaSs bnTw/''' ^"^ ^ '^'°"g«^' ^^^"^ providence of God. Ihitaught L f^^e''^fl ' 1 ''^ "^ '^'' g°°d ity, and the teaching of So v we nnn""T ^'^^I °^ Christian- world are come," are stillanMnfr^^^^ f f '^^'°*'' *^^ ^°*^«of tl^e f-hiugs proves to iCe a wilswe^p t^'° tlT^ ''^'" '^'' '^^^'^ «f a study of this old HebreTwritIr oaSrtrttl'"*^"?w^' ^""''^^^ difficulties and perplexities we mly hte, "'' *^^'^' ''^^^''''' "(iod's in his heaven. All's right with the world." one-sided views of the world And is ifnA f """^^ /^.^^ "arrow and the Christian principle of the omninnf 'T' *l'^* "' *^««« ^^^^ transformation^of tl fwor d s slZfn. ff? "^ " ^^'"^^ ^^^^ "^ "''« ever before ? Men feeTZt they "i Ihe^ 'Z^C'sY'''''^ "^'^^^ very real sense : that to live for the regZratimi of tL^''^"' '", ** solution of life's eni-ma • 'MVliosoPvp/Iln \ the race is the lose it ; and whosoeCslmll lo riifsl^e J if ''' ^"^ '^'^' ^"' ^'^ «^^^" we are ,|ustified in saying llirslwy't^r^^ £' ' ^f^^ deal finds reahV.ation, as age follows -.Ifl.f^' ■.■ ^Imstian becomes always more and more pe^^r ThAfr.''T'''V.^ ''''''y in the midst of vou " Man i, LVi . kingdom of heaven is is.continuany JZ., 1 -iT,!^, /^ Srlrr'aStri^'i''^ friend. The real foes of nnvl !"^"'y ""^ ^" ^"emy for a things are elevated, whatsoever things are iust wlUnl' 'I^*^^^^^'- pure, whatsoever tbiiigs are amiab Ip wb«V! ' ^Im soever thmgs are report" let them hav' trseT^hdr ^ fd Te!^ t "^.1'" i°f '''^ upon these ; and let them lonvn L 1' '"^'^ thoughts run ings of party warfail whetbt LlV .^'""^'^'"T '^"^ l^eart-burn- wlTose mindJ aTfcloud d by nre^in t? "', «f ^^^iastical, to those straightened by a narrow LeJd^T^^^^^^^^^ ''^'''' sympathies are best avoid the quagm re of e^^^^^ ^" "^^ ^^^^^ »W become <. f. J- workers wil^S '^n t 'Cm^^^f^, ™: John Watkon. -38- .1:. dontinuiti] aqd pi^ogre??. in the pretty little churchyard of the parish of Trumpingtou, near Cambridge, lie the remains of one of the most remarkable Phiglishrnen of this century— Henry Fawcett, the blind Professor of Political Economy, Member of Parliament, and Postmaster General. The spot is marked by a plain flat stone, bearing his name, and below, the words addressed by Jehovah to Moses, " Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." No better epitaph could have been found or composed. Dissatisfaction with the present, and a firm faith in the possibility of improving it, were the motives that enabled him to overcome what many would have regarded as ihsuper- flble obstacles. May we not believe that the same Voice that spoke to Moses, sounded also in his ears, " Speak unto the people that they go forward ! " The sentiment of progress is one which always strongly appeals to a large section of the community. It is stimulated to action by the imagination which pictures to the mind the perfect state— the Repub- lic of Plato— the New Jerusalem of St. John— St. Augustine's City of God. No disappointments can entirely destroy it, it lives on from age to age, because of man's blessed faculty of faith, because he has an inextinguishable conviction that the city of God will be built, and is eager to be one of its masons, even though he may lay but a single stone. On the other hand there is the conservative element, pervading in various quantities both individuals and societies. It counts up its present possessions, and cries, " A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Nay, even in the presence of confessed evils, its tendency is to endure the present ills, rather than to fly to other that it knows not of. It regards with dislike, not unmingled with contempt the pioneer as he shoulders his axe and strides alone into the forest to hew out a new road to wealth and hapi iiess. Its ideals belong to the past, and to preserve all it can nf the past, to prevent the spread of innovations unless they take the form of revivals of the past is its peculiar mission. Now the underlying truth of this tendency, which justifies and even necessitates it as an element in human society, is the fact of the continuity of life. If the } rogressive spirit were not balanced and weighted by the conservat'^.e, society would become like a whirlpool. There would be movement enough, and noise and stir enough, but no real progress, only endless change, which would be endless confusion. Continuity and progress, the tonaciou^ grip of the past, and the out- I toil, near glishmen Political ime, and unto the ph could sent, and tives that insuper- lat spoke :liat they J appeals on by the le Repnb- 's City of from age le has an It, and is t a single pervading its up its two in the iidency is inows not le pioneer lew out a past, and novations r mission, tifies and ict of the meed and whirlpool, h, but no :;onfusion. 1 the out- -39— reach towards the future, these are both essential to life. As Mr Gore says in the Preface to Lu^ Mandi <' The real development of heology IS the process in which the Church, standing firm in her old truths, enters into the apprehension of the new social and^iSeJlectual movements o adage; and because the truth makefher free L able to assimilate all new material, to welcome and give ts Ice to all new knowledge to throw herself into the sanctificlJon of each new social order, bringing forth out of her treasures things new and oM a^d shewing again and again her power of witnessing^ uS changed conditions to the catholic capacity of her faith and life " ^ of fhP OM Tw """I moderate statement of the results'of the criticism of the Old Testament be regarded as established, the history of IsraS supplies numerous examples of the play of these complemenTary forces The contemplation of the continnity of Israel's religion as it finds ex pression through the medium of law-givers and prophes historians and psalmists, poets and sages, spread over many ceXries affords TstltrturtH""^ ^/r"^^"*^ '^^ *^^ Ins'piration'f'the OM iZnM ;i ^"<^*^f^o^«e of the argument is rendered tenfold more cogent by the consideration of the equally patent fact of ^.roZ. The religion of the period of the Judges is fundamentally the samras that o the period of Isaiah. Both are the product of the same t^ee but a different stages of its growth. The Bible is a very different hoik from the Talmud wherein in spite of great show of acLity we never ^^ any forwarder. It is a very different book from the Koran the ofo duct of one mind, coloured and varied only by the different' staLs in t11 i^ h^ ^"i««P^«i-lly by the different moods of an individual The Bible combines continuity and progress. Continuity a?o„e mav be amazing. We are astonished at the pyramids of Egyp^t yet weT^l that they are but the mementos of a dead past. WeTre fascTna ed by the fiery course of the meteor as it blazed over the heavens vet ^ seems to us that it is going nowhere and accomphsiing noth-ng^ Ld eTce Coiiti "t'v' "°?'' '" ' '"'^^^"* '"* ^^'^'*- -3 aimS'ex!st ence. Goitmuity and progress are needed if we would have hfe H nlT'f ^^i'' K""^'"'' ^^' the human mmd which so early manifests those traits which forecast the destiny of the man. nay mav we no? m favour ofProgress. such as "Look unto the rock wCce ye are hewn and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged ''or on tl e other hand ''New wine must be put into new boS," or agat Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven S unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his uToT/''T. t7 ^''^ °''^'" ^^^'•^^^ botn continuity and progress a e Hidicated.-but I desire now to pass on to themam sul^ect ofr/address _40~ There are ages in which progress is imperative to life, and it seems tt me that it is in such a period that we are living. Upon us the end of one of the ages has come. We look with difiereut eyes, and when we look we see different things in this world of ours than our forefathers. Their conceptions of God and man and life were in- dubitably conditioned by their conceptions of the world, and in like manner must ours be conditioned. We cannot without sense of in- ward discord hold fast to the letter of the old theological conceptions, and at the same time be earnest students of the new conceptions of the universe. And unless we be the latter we may rest assured that' the world of thinking men, which in the long run controls the world of thoughtless men, will move farther and farther from the faith of their fathers and be lost to the Church of Christ. Regarding this as absolutely certain, the really urgent questions are concerning the ivhither and the how, and it is to their solution that I now venture with a deep sense of unworthiness, but out of a full heart, to briefly elucidate the principles of Continuity and Progress. Perhaps the safest and the most profitable method of accomplish- ing our end will be to undertake an investigation of other ages of pro- gress, with which we may compare our own, in the hope that certain clear principles may emerge, which can be confidently applied to meet our particular needs. For this purpose I select, for especial attention the first, and then for cursory view the sixteenth century, as being ages of marked progress, and upon which history sheds clear light. Christianity was a new birth rather than a ioew creation. A new creation is independent of any conection with the past. For example: here is an apple tree. I dig it up and burn it, and plant a peach tree in its place. Certainly the relation between Christianity and Judaism IS not analogous to the relation between these. But when we call Chustianity a new birth we imply some connection between it and that which preceeded it. It issued out of the womb of Judaism. Th- ' Judaism in its best periods was conscious of its universal mission is perfectly clear. "In thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.'' Even the law made provision for the admission of foreign- ers to the Jewish commonwealth and its covenanted privileges. Mes- sianic prophecy in various forms looks forward to the coming of the Universal Iving, and the formation of the world-wide Kingdom of Heaven. This view of the relations between Christianity and Judaism IS strictly that of the New Testament writers, nav, of our Lord Him- self. " Think not." said He, " that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy but to fulfil." (Matt, v., 17) Wrapped up in the external and temporary commands of Judaism lay hidden the eternal principles of Christian morality. Our Lord remov- ed the wrappings in order to expose to view the treasures they con- cealed. So too, St. Paul declares that it was "in the fulness of time that God sent forth His Son, an expression implying a prelimi- ife, and it Upon us ereut eyes, ours than ife were in- md in like snse of in- ouceptions, ceptious of^ isured that 3 the world he faith of t questions )lution that it of a full Progress, iccomplish- iges of pro- hat certain ied to meet 1 attention y, as being ar light. >u. A new )r example: peach tree id Judaism m we call it and that sra. Th' ' mission is th shall be of foreign - ges. Mes- ling of the ingdom of id Judaism Lord Him- law or the t. v., 17.) udaism lay ord remov- 3 they con- fuhiess of ; a prelimi- -41- tTeYaH'ath^Srto. fo"h '""' "'"'' ^«" ^^ »-»" " that And lastly, tto T«tho"; X^^ZiZT H^r''" '"''■ '"- ^*^ liavmg ol old time spoken ZtothTt!tu Hebrews writes : " God portions and in divers r^anne" TJCuJ" 'J'%P"Phets by divers nnto us in a Son." (Heb i r t !!"' °^"'«'"= ''"J"' spoken speaking in Judaism it wa "even the sZo «"»« ^od who was but whereas then He SDukT tl!Jfli ° message He announced, fragmentarily, now i^ the as dav? wT ™P"fe«t,»'edium, and only .■eceive it, He 'uttered HtatelfthmulX if '™'"''' T"' '^''^'"^ '» altars are erected for the ref-Pnfinnoff I «•• • " Christian lands no but surely Ciiristians unders^rnri ^' °^'""^' °^ '-^""^ ^nd goats, fice better than eTertheS^'J^t', T"!"^ f."^ "^^ P^^^** ^^ ^^^ri: less it was an age o progress The !'! V'^^.'^^elves. Neverthe- everlasting truths had bS?eretofo,e .f "^\ ^°"^' ^° ^^"^^^ '^^^^ very tenacity with whicliThe Tew Si ^"^^^""^? ""^'^ worn out. The ^t. For the Spirit Spas ed out ofZf ? '^l'\ ^"'^^^^^ Proved TJ)e Temple, for example was the svn hT' f^^^ '^''^ ^"^^ ^^ "<>*. declare that it was not n II ^^""l "^ ^^'^ Presence of God. To They cared more for tl e symboTthL fo?H "^.Z*- ''^'^ " ^^" °^ ^^»«^««- prepare the Jews for the n^w era of -'^^ '' "^' symbolized. To of John the Baptist. No oTe could K F'""^'''' ''^' *^^« "^^'^'^on point than lie did. " Thin no? '• s«S . ^.?^" "'^'^ ^^'^^^'^ *« ^lie We have Abraham to our Father for T t"' ^' '"^ ^^,^^"" yourselves, of these stones to raise up ch dren to^ ^'^ '' ^b>« say, appeal to precedent to t e ^p " l^T^T' ^" "°^' ^^'^^ '« to Abraham. Do not empiv ou ofTl ^- °^ ^'^^'^"^^ ^J««««»t from spiritual content and tl^.irobnr^n7''''^'-^^?^.**^^^ '^«ral and fulfilment of mere exteSa ,d JaiL^l^'P "*"^*^^^^^^^"g^' ^^ ^'^^ to hear the echo of the e wo'ds wl en Sf P ?"'• . ^" ^" "°* ««««^ a Jew which is one outwa^ nd her^^ ' t^f.t T'"'' '• ^^"^" ^^^ ^^ "°* outward in tlie flesh. But he ilTZi !\ \ ""'^'""^^s^o" which is astl/;iSroTrs:i:f/atJi!',?e^"^S!-::S - a Wmre, .iust ...t the authorities were aU^T^.S ^ XSly' t fl^' -42- ers dwindled away, like the seed which fell upon the rock they sprang up quickly, but when persecution arose they withered away until at last only a faithful remnant of a few hundreds was left. When we consider the claims which our Lord made, and further the way in which history has vindicated them, how terrible does His rejection at the hands of the Jews appear. The Son of God rejected in the name of God, by the people of God. And how necessary is it that we should clearly understand the principles which underlay His teaching, and those in accordance with which He was rejected. The progress at which our Lord aimed was spiritual. A com- inandment written on stone may be obeyed by the carnal man through fear of consequences or desire of reward. But to be spiritual is to act according to principle. It is clear from the beginning to the end of th(! (iospel that our Lord's appeal was to the heart of men. The beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are pronounced upon men who have cultivated and acquired certain dispositions — the meek, the merciful, the lover of peace, the man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, the pure in heart. Correspondent with these are the doniujciatious directed against the evil disposition which makes a man angry with his brother without a cause, or the impure heart, which seeks opportunity for the gratification of its lusts. The whole of this teaching finds a condensed expression in the words, " Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." (Matt. v. 17, 18). An examin- ation of the parables would lead to the same result, whilst the doc- trine rocoives its most perfect expression in the Gospel of St. John, " A now conunandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, oven as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (St. John xiii. H4). Love is not an action, though it must manifest itself in action, but it is a disposition of the heart. How then did it become possible for the people of God to reject Jesus (Christ? I have already indicated the reply to this question, but it is necessary to dwell upon it a little longer. They exalted the letter above the Spirit, the external above the internal, the husk above the kernel, the casket above the jewel it con- tained. Mark that both these are necessary. Man himself is a com- posite being, he is, in his body, his words, his deeds, the external and visible sign of the spiritual being, the real man within. But both are not equally necessary, nor equally unchaugeable. " The things t^at are not soon " alone are eternal and unchanging. God, Eighteousness, Self- Sacrifice, Love — these never change. "But the things that are seen are temporal." The external, the form, the letter, all these are but means for the realization of the spiritual, and because the circumstances of our life are always changing the means whereby we realize the eternal, are themselves always subject to change. I may le len. sy sprang until at d further does His I rejected sary is it erlay His d. A com- n through ,1 is to act end of The ipon men meek, the irsts after e are the makes a ire heart, Che whole , " Every ;eth forth ler can a 1 examin- the doc- St. John, I another, (St. John I itself in to reject question, above the 'el it con- is a com- ernal and : both are lings t)iat ieousness, ings that all these cause the lereby we . I may -43— end, and therefore thaUbaoTutey'otW ""^ f^™» '" »» necessary or unchanging ^ notmng external can be essentially writin^g7eilr;Ctt;^^^^^^^^ although his own "xr^Xsiro^n??^^^^^^^ when the Monarchy wis w^^^^^^ ^^' Monarchy ; S return from ca/tivfty'nevr^^ev^ed * "tL^S '?'^°.°^' ^"^-^- dom was now one, and now divS nJf ^ "°* '^^ ^^''^ ^^'^ ^^ing- finally the nation ^astranlfoSLn^ ^""^"^1" destroyed, and how it was necessary now oeZt^tfhf "7^- ^^'7^'^ "«* ««« now to denounce them- Tnd fin"^Mv n }. ^^^^''^^Is of worship, and ject was not either J Leshin or M ?"^ "°^'"" ^^°^ ^^^ great ob Feast Day, or clean or uncK beaZ'^V"'?/"'^^^' °^ Sacrifice, or Jehovah to the people, and t^conseettion o?i^^^'' '^'^ '''^^^*^^° '^^ " And now Israel whaf rJnflTft t ^ f *^'® P^^P^^ of Jehovah ^ut to fear the Lord hy God f w^^^^^^^^ ^«^"-^ of thee,' Hun, and to serve the Lord thy GoTtitLal ?'^^^^^ ^^^ ^o love thy soul?" (Deut. X., 12.) ^ehoir-' . i i^ ^''*'' ^"'^ ^^^h all obey is better than sacrifice an^ n i ' T^'^ ,*''^ ^^^^ prophet, " to ;• The sacrifices of God 'cries «tpiT'-'f "^"" ^^' *«* ^^ ^ams.'' broken and contrite Srt God T^,.^ T*u ""?. ^ ^^°^^» ^P^rit. a •' To what purpose is thp trM,lfi?^ '^" '^^'^ "^^^ despise." (Pg {; ^ the Lord : ? aS/ ofl e^ ^o^S^of ?"^'"^ ^i' "^^^^^ beasts ; and I dehght not in fcl e blooS uL T' ^''^^ ^^' ^^^ °^ ^'^ goats. Bring no more vain rli ? bullocks or of rams or of he unto Me; thf new Tons and SSs' 'i^V' ^" abominati^! cannot away with. Wash you make -ou ott ''""¥ "^ assemblies I your doings from before mine ;yl Li'" ^IT ' f "^"^ ^^'' ^^" ^^ «eek judgment, relieve the opmessed Tndi H '7';.^^^" ^^ '^^ ^v«". the widow." In such nasSfw! ^^ ''i .f *^'® fatherless, plead for of the Old Testamen rEon Zt'th '^^r^r " "^ ^^' -«-«« day were not heretics, in tl e ecc Wi^I '^^^^^^ "^^"^ lord's ing error. /^», fj,„, .e,-. 'r'SrS! "'' /^^"'^ ^^^^ "o<^ <^each- estima^ing theological values we aivpfr'f'/'V"' '^ '''' ^'•"^''«- In second to form-the first place tofll l '' ^l'^ ^^^'^ *° «P^"<^ ^^d the enshrines it. But the J ws x^^td t h ! n l' ''''f '' "^^ ^^^^^ ^l^^* ' -ost awful sin that any nat on pv!. A^'' m°^ "° committed the sublimest teachings, ?1 ey behekl W 7'"^ ^^''^ ^''^^^^^ to the passion, they sawVlifetC Sly dev^^ '''' ^^^ -- of man, and not all these put foaLtT,!^ ''^^^'^^ of God and -« men, n. '^eordiSl^^lt^^r^.irTSi-'';: ■ 44— are mistaken. I cannot believe that tbi ee were not amongst them many most excellent men, who valued highly things spiritual and moral ; they had both sides of the truth, but they did not hold them in their proper order. And so they came to apply to our Lord and His life a thoroughly false test, the test of external conformity. And if that be the true test then indeed He stood condemned ! From the study then of our Lord's life and teaching, and of its reception at the hands of the Jews, we gain a clear idea of true and false continuity. There is not a single element in the long prepara- tory training of the Jews, but finds its spiritual counterpart in Chris- tianity. Law, and prophecy, and sacrifice, all find expression in the new covenant. We may smile at some of the types and antitypes of the allegorical school of the Fathers, but it is scarcely possible to deny that Christianity is, in its whole content, the antitype of Judaism. But it was a progressive continuity. It was the continuity of life which grows ; it was the continuity of the mind, which expands. " When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child ; now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things." (J Cor. xiii., 11.) On the other hand, the false continuity demanded the preservation of external institution, rite and observance, regardless of the adaptibility of those institutions and rites to the pur- pose for which they were ordained. Given the body, and the Jew cared not that it was a coipse. And no,, glance down the stream of time and see the operation of the same causes to produce the same effects over and over again. The Eeformation was primarily a stand for the supremacy of spi it over form, and was excited by flagrant immorality. No heresy ever anathematized was equal to tiie heresy of Tetzel, authorized by the Pope, winked at if not approved by the whole Catholic Church, for it was absolutely destructive of spirituality and virtue. Let us not sup- pose that Luther never had misgivings about his work. In his quaint way he tells us that the Devil camo to him and said, " See what you have done. Behold this ancient Church, this Mother of Saints pollut- ed and defiled by brutal violence. And it is you, a poor ignorant monk, that have set the people on to their unholy work. Are you so much wiser than the saints who approved the things you have de- nounced '? Popes, bishops, clergy, kings, emperors, are none of these, are not all these together wiser than Martin Luther the Monk ?" And then he says he fell into great fits of doubt, humiliation and despond- ency. (Froude's Short Studies, " Krosnins ".) Or take his famous saying, " Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God help me." Does not that " cannot " seems to be wrung out of him. As if he had said, "I would if I could. 1 would that I could." Or again, sec the same conflict of spirit and letter, splitting the ranks of the Reformers, and transforming them into new scholas- tics. Or see the Puritan fathers exiled from their own country and I) n 'fit a] ^>" di pi fr( in CI ch de \ Pr ad am det we «^ or I sigj doe fest thei wh€ ^ the} to il swei exte give Men banc everj Refoi God ortho Let u philoi dous ( that i Celsuj the di] ' The g( Sf.the irn -are th( Manki igst them itual and Id them in d and His ^ And if and of its f true and I prepara- in Chris- ion in the ititypes of )le to deny Judaism. fcy of Hfe expands. I thought y childish continuity 3servance, ,0 the pur- 1 the Jew operation ver again. • of spi t ^resy ever 3d by the :ch, for it s not sup- his quaint what you nts polhit- • ignorant re you so have de- le of these, k?" And J despond- otherwise, ng out of Id that I , sphtting w scholas- uutry and -45- begiiining afresh in a new world <,.n fi i men enactm^ t/>nr hiws of persoc iio,? « ,f '^?«f "'^^''^^ "f t'le same Hud what not. And mv deu F.^. i ' ^"P ^'^^^^ "^ Connecticut cliiHclence, Knowing th7lX em VLl ^'^^^"-^-» with "jl pro-enunent for sanctity-do we not spp \h^^ condemnation cf men rom the disproportionate estima e= of H.p .f^'""" f^''' ^''^' ^"'^"S ing amongst ourselves, not 7n onelrnn nn '' T^ ^^' '^'''^ "P^^^t^ Church, or the Anglican or lW.v?'°'\?"'y' "«^ "' 'he Eoman churches, alone, but irall"fVh?m^'' h'" T Tl'^'''^ ''' ^"^ ^^'-^ demands as the si„e qu„ .o,/a heren/p t "^?,^^°^^» Catholic who Protestant who doubts of tl e savatiro "fl 1. ^^^^""^^ ^^'^ ^^ ^^^^ adhere to ,t. Here is one wlmdlrdsEnL '"'""' ^''^'''' ^'^ ^"^'^ another who cries Verbal InsnirS?;, nn ' P""'^.^' essential, here rejects everyone's Baptism b t U at of hi« ^"^' ^"^ ^'^ ^ ^^''^ ^^'^ dear friends are we not al i. search of pv?""" f f "^""ioa. Oh my we not demand an infallibiitv xtwu} T'^' *"''« "^ truth. Do or of logic rather than of ^ ^ Are 4' nbt o "' *° "" ^^'^^ '' -"- «ign which cannot be given u <> ' Tp H " V''''^'''^ '°'^« ""^ward doest these things" cried the J^^. rrf "' ^^ ^'^^^ authority thou fested all around' them"in wo^U^l' deS"and7th " ^" ^"^^ "^-^- there they could not have read / «n T m^ '''^''^^ "<^<^ »"ead it whether the J3aptism of John ere or^''- ^^"^ ^^^''^ ^^^ tell hey S.W repentant crowds- because L^TT "' °^ '^'^^'^ ^^^^^^"g'i , -t, ai^.0, tVulmg to answe/^ ^-[.^^f W^Sf !, ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^'Z^t:lZ^Z^:i.^^^^^ «^1-^e. The give appropriate expression to 1^/ i f T'f ^y ^^^cl' to Men's hearts are failing tl em or fpTr^f T/° ''" ^'^''^'''^^ down. . hand of man is laid upo tbe ark of r "' r^l" *° '"'"'• ^^^ ^'"^^^ every hallowed spot. L h w/s tal p^ ' ^"^/^J^^^ boldly invades Eeformation period creeds of hL ' granted. Symbols of the f^'-^^^^^f^^-^^^^^^^^^ t^e word o? U^S;:whi:h^JS^ of traditional Let „g also beware of the extreL ] */ V!f "^ T^' °^ P^^^^°»« ages, philosophy which has no li^ks 'S Ip ' r'' °^ ^P^ci^^^ or of any ^ The study of the Cxosjels s^fficientlv f '"' ^''^""'^ "^ *he past. ^ dous errors traditionahsrmay ^ah TI^ f -T "'/"^^ ^^^^* ^^upen- that inspiration to high hvSs nnf ^^^^'f^'^y f tli« world shows Celsus or a Voltaire. Abo ^a et us P'^'^^^ '^ ^adducees, by a ^;e din and turmoil around us to hVa th e's t if ''"'n '"^ '''' '^''^'' ^^ The general course of Revelation iffrL f^ '"'^" ^°^«® of God. the '^aterial to the spiritual TWeJ^c^^ to the higher, from are the spiritual things. The ScTnlp of A ''"^^ ""'''^'^^ ^"^ *'^ese Mankmd has alwayslught':t^l^pry^?ryl^d t^^^^^^ -4H- oxpniHsion of its faith !iaH novor been pure. Continuity Hiiys, Cleave to faith ni f Heaven by ipplause, the l|.roug|, „p^are,U lo»J vie „ry ,"™' , ''"" »''"!' '"' 'i*?'''-" «» in tho law of life, ,„oh wa; the I„?„f cS """'"tery def.»t ; „„„!, ix into a we°„lli;";faee°''?''.^|?,;'i,""" ' "\^ 1''""' '''""e'^test ns out Imareth fortl, good sod sl-ahinhnr' ^*"' °" '"" ™.V weeping ami his sheaves with him." ' "•"" ''""''"o"' come again with joy, betri„g Herbert Symon ns. W-- Are Christ and Hi? Teaching Superseded ? Art 'ilioii Ik" tliat cometli or loi.k we for another ?— Mutt, xl : .'{. This in the voice of one ci i^' in the wilderness of dotibt. It is tho pHHSioniite outburst of a soul that lias poiidored long and earnestly over Uie religious outlook, and has been unable to discern the drift of tlie higher thongLt and life of the time. Of the men of that age none was gieater than John the iiaptist. He lived in close fellowship with the Invisible. He understood his place in tho great historic proces- sion of Israel's teachers. He announced himself as pre])arin.' the way lor the connng of a mightier than ho. When he hoard Jesus of Nazai-eth declared to be the Son of (iod, he was convinced that tiiis must be the Messiah who was to regenerate the political and religious liteot the land, and introduce an eia of peace and good-will among men. He carried on a ciusade against religious formalism, and social injustice and discontent, and grinding exaction. His preaching produced a great ferment throughout Judea. Men of all classes came to liim conscence-stricken ami asked, " what shall we do ">" ]5ut his fidelity to truth and righteousness brought on him the vengeance of the lung who cast him into prison. In his confinement he reflected on wJiat had taken place since Jesus commenced his ministry. Such a reformation as he liad looked for had not been wrought. The tides ot righteousness seemed to Oc making little advance. The voice of 1 ri.th was not heeded by the giddy, thoughtless multitude. Ho who had come m the spirit and power of Elijah was a prisoner. Could these things be if Jesus were the Messiah? He became deeply per- plexed His soul was racked with fear lest his belief had bee;;" illus- ory. But '; he fought his doubts and gathered strength." He would not rest satisfied until he appealed to Jesus Himself and learned the truth. He sent two of his di'^ciples to ask the question, " art thou he that cometh or should we look for another?" To his honest doubt there came the assuring reply : Go and tell John the things which :edohearaudsee; what was foretold of the Messiah is finding its The same inquiry is made with intense earnestness by many who are perplexed m taith in our day. Is Jesus of Na.areth what he is said by he Gpspels and the creeds of Cliristendora to be- The Son of (rod, able to deliver men from the guilt and burden of their sins, and make them realize an ideal which is higher than their own best con ceptions ? Are the claim. He makes concerning His nature and 40- le )3 HH.l ...fused tho spi.-it of brotl.orW, at 1 i-l "•^/"•"'ta.,.s, yi'l.ftor a.Hl Havimu- of the race lio'; , , . f ro«'t.-c e.l as tl.o .mtio. 8 / J he Cl.nstia.is of tho apoatoh'c uao believod that it wn , fleet the re«enerat.o„ of the world by the end of t o i sf ce iturv a, ' oS ^ vn ?r^ ""^ »"Hf ishne^s aud peace fiIH.,« the whol(- A.. mefnr« nii. -^.f'"' ^'^'"^^ "' 'P'*^ of Christian influences. hi to V h Tfi "Vi" ''P -sonousnesH, is it by means of tho Christ of 0. a^nd^^n f-'^r-^^'' *° ^' transformed into a Paradisaical condi- ookfootho.fr? '' '" f m'" ^5" '''^'''^ development, or should we K)o tl e c vin ll r '"'^/m ''' ^"'"'^ *^ ""^^ °»t the feud of rich and Xhr^ess Jnd In" r'"^ ''^°. '-P'*''- "^^ "^^^o^vin. lust of gold, the ]Vn.nv ^?^;;"Pt'on, and rmg in the thousand years of peace ? fusin! n hi "'" "If'lV^ ^^"^^ *1"^ ^"««tion for the.nsolves by re- m•eat"tp?.^ 'v*^'^*'^''"' of Nazareth difters essentially from other H. d P oiresToT ;r' "^^^^"t"" ^'\' ^°"^'^"^^^^ *« *l^^ enlightenment n a s^ cool.i!. f '"''• ,TlH-oughout the historic period there has ^ rldVnood n ' ''''" "^ 7^V "''^°°' "^ P'-^Pl^^t'^ i^^igJ^^' into the ZlJhZ ' -'^'^ "^^"^'' ^^''^^ ^'''^^'"^^^ i^^eals of xndividual life he r n . :^°«'ety winch were in advance of their generation. In than ; Ti T '^/^'''"^ l";"'*'^"^ °^ t^'^ ^^"^'-J^^' t»^«y have given a a on If /''f/^^^«l"P>^ent of mankind, but none of them has been II fpW ^ thedemands which the progressive movement of thought h ve beeiT rt'n'']'^^; V''r'^'^ ^'^^ '^"^^'^^^^'^ '^^'^' ^-Vstems. wllch u, 1 ,W °f/f "« ^f Nazareth, who was a teacher mighty in word )•• n novo ..''', '?'''''^^' ''' P^^"'" "" t'^e *^>^'il'^«d '^Orld which has ■ c m. pa allel in histo.-y. His teaching ..as a wonderful revelation veii.^Sffl ^""'V ^^'""^ ^''''^^ f^'™- It e^l'P'^ed the wisdom of the V ciliated sages of Israel. Wherever it was proclaimed it cai^tivated —50— the hearts of men by answering to their deepest needs. But it is be- ing superseded by the more advanced ideas of to-day. Hcience has taught us that the operation of the forces of nature is invariable. It is stripping away from Jesus the supernatural garb which an ignorant and uncritical age had woven around Hira. The miraculous deeds ascribed to Him are not historical facts. The story of His literal resurrection is untrue. That He was the Son of God in a unique sense cannot be admitted. A careful study of man and the world com- pels us to accept the idea of development as furnishing the clue to the mysteries that beset us. It best explains the process of the formation of worlds and suns. It gives the most satisfactory account of the way in which the manifold varieties of creatures have been brought into existence. It shows that there is a gradual progression in the order of life from the lowest organism up to man, and that his intellectual and moral qualities are found in rudimentary condition in the lower annuals. He differs from them in degree, not in land ; and St. Fran- cis was not so far from the truth when he called the birds and beasts his brothers. The line of continuity is unbroken through the whole range of living creatures. The demand of our reason for unity is met by this view of man's creation from the dust of the ground by a long succession of steps upwards. Science leaves no room for supernatural interferences such as the Uospels record. A knowledge of natural laws is the best gospel for the world to-day. Through this knowledge civilization has been making astounding progress. The comforts of life have been multiplied a thousand fold. The poor are sharers in the munificent ministries which it exercises, though their condition is far from what it ought to be. Science has been greatly reducing the amount and intensity of human suffering through its splendid dis- coveries. It is tracking to their hiding-place those sui»tle diseases before whose ravages mankind have so long helplessly trembled, and it hopes to render their appearance impossible. It is banishing superstitious feais by its revelation of the mysteries which have been hid from ages, and demonstrating that plague, and epidemic, and other physical ills which visit men, are not judgments from heaven upon them for their sins, but the vengeance which the laws of nature take upon them for their neglect or ignorance. Political Science is unfolding the principles on which the welfare of communities depends. Society is an organism which is out of joint. Many of its members are at variance with the rest. The feet and hands are in revolt agamst the head. Powerful monopolies are building up colossal fortunes by grinding the poor. Capital is witholding from the labourer a just share of the profits which he is a means of producing. Industrial con- flicts, which are not always bloodless, take place between workmen and employers. The discord is loud and deep; and excites well- grounded anxietj'. Institutions and vested interests are threatened to be swept away regardless of the prescriptive rights of time, and the -51- imyimut in good faith of fail- values. - Political Science ,s prescribing remedies lor he evils that exist, and pointing out how a proper ad justment of the relations between man and man may be made so that he general good may become the concern and the interest of each. 1 has Its bright Utopia which it preaches with a fervour and an em- phasis of authority that arrests attention, even when it-fails to produce conviction. ^ Again there is a great deal tliat is unlove]- in human life. Man- ners are course and vulgar. Tastes and tendencies are unrefined. Art, with its Gospel of the Beautiful, comes to the eager questioners after the highest good. It promises to inspire them with lofty thoughts, to knidle in them devotion to ideals of grace, to lift their life out of the commonplace and unworthy, and to exercise such a trans- torming influence upon them that their actions will be in harmony with whatsoever things are lovely. The ministry of sculpture, and architecture, and painting, and music, and poetry, will quicken their better feelings into such activity and strength that the passions will be kept in restraint and the highest development will bo attained. Only let galleries of art be established, it is said, where men may gaze upon representations of great events in history, or ideal forms of beauty, or portraits of those who have left their mark on the world's history, or whose lives have been a benediction to mankind, and an elevation of thought and sentiment will be the result. The spirit of grace and beauty will pervade domestic and social relations, and the golden age of the world will have appeared. That the march of intellect, the discovery and application of the principles of physical, political, and social science to the increase of human comfort and enjoyment, and the ministry of art in fostering the love of beauty in color and form and sound have done much to better man's condition in his relations to this life is a most blessed fact. They have also been helpful to us in giving a fuller and more perfect expression of our religious feelings and aspirations. They have been the gracious handmaids of religion, which exacts tribute from all departments of human thought and effort. The fruits of genius of every kind she impresses into her sacred service. But while offering this acknowledgment we must resist the attempt which is being oo sincerely and earnestly made to substitute science and art for religion. ^Vo must not forget that this life does not round up or com- plete our existence. We have cravings and aspirations to which they can offer no real satisfaction. We have a spiritual nature that is at discord with itself and with the eternal righteousness. We are con- scious of a struggle going on between our better self and desires which it condemns. When we would do good evil is present with us. Our defeat arises from spiritual weakness, a diseased condition of our in- ward nature. Call it what you please, the soul is suft'eriuT from a dicorder that paralyses its energies and hinders the rccomplishment -52— „.. , , , If ;« fnrhirod too, bv the convictiou of having S t Xre ^h.hnr if t^' la'o/ havh.g iuc...ed the Ois- Seatire the Master who gives to every ^^^^/^^^^^l^'/J t^^'^^:.^^" pieabuie ui I ^^^ secrets of every hfe. iliib pointed a <^^^y J. ,7^^^'^^^ such a tragic pathos to many a Wlnt can miS to one who is in such state ? What can remove tlinVcordTofh^^ What can cleanse the fountam of its dis- oa e^> What an p^^^^ strength to do the good he would and re- sfst he evil he would not ? What can deliver him from his tears o off nded us ice ? Science and Art say we have no i^emedy. It is not hfrto 'res ore the broken chords of the soul, so hat it may yie d 1 vine harmonies We have no power to remove the sense of guilt, STe 'rd usUh^-disordered ener^es of the spirit. O^r mission is o the physical, intellectual and aesthetic nature. To these we can mpar com ort, light, pleasure, but we cannot set man m right rela- Zfto his Make? and' Judge. We can ^'^^e witlnn Inm a lo^^^^^^^^^ what is beautiful a.ul fitting in speech an.l conduct, bu we canno give him the spirit of holiness. We can do much by way ot he mg hm to derive a larger enjoyment of this present hie but we cannot rnslm. t him in righteousness, and qualify hnn for participating m the ioy and blessedness of the Heavenly state. i^:*„.,,„i ^ ^ It is onlv when the true position of man as a religious being and the nature of his profoundest cravings are apprehended hat this con- fession of the inability of the modern substitutes for the <-' ^^^ o^J'^^" tory is made. Even then the admission is too often reluctantly otlei- cd We are thus driven back to ask if the spirit of his teachmg and life is such as the world of to-day, with its complex civilization, needs to give it direction and stimulus towards a more perfect state, ihat it is I shall endeavor to show. , n i ;i n- 1 It gives expression to the fact of human brotherliood. it thus responds to one of the most significant movements of our gener- ation whose aim is to break down the artificial barriers that separate men, and bring them into closer and more sympathetic relations to each other. This is the avowed object of Socialism. The methods by which it proposes to bring about this new condition of society may not be the wisest and most effective, but that its propagandists are throw- ing themselves with burning enthusiasm into the task is beyoud ques- tion. Many of them are filled with a zeal as intense, and are as tuDy consecrated to the work of regenoratiug society, as are the Christian missionaries who go to enlighten and set free from oppressive social customs and usages the savage tribes of Central Africa. "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity " is the motto inscribed on the banner under which tiiey are advancing to cgtablisii the reign of universal brother- hood, when there shall be an abolition of competitive labour, and in- -5,^- dividual ownersbip of the instruments of production, when the people shall own and control the surplus wealth of the community, when one kind of honest work shall not be looked upon as demeaning and another ennobling. Then the spirit of humanity which is latent in every heart, being quickened into activity, will develop into that family feeling which shall make men clasp hands the world over, ac- knowledging their common brotherhood. Now the teaching of Jesus gives special emphasis to the fact of the brotherhood of man and the duties arising out of this relationship. To the multitudes he says, " One is your Father which is in Heaven.'' This Heavenly Father bestows His providential gifts alike on the evil and the good, and we are also to love not merely those who do us good, but even those that hate us, that we may be perfect in this respect as He is perfect. All being children of a common Father are brethren. To ignore this fact is to sm against our own soul. In the early Christian Church the spirit of brotherhood was so marked a characteristic that it excited the wonder of the heathen. The social idea of the Gospel was realized in the beginning, but in process of time the Church was 'eavened by pride. Equality of feehng vanished. Outward distinctions were emphasized and became objects of unholy ambition. This departure from the simplicity of the Gospel ideal has hindered the growth and influence of Christianity during the last half century to an incalculable extent. Many have assumed an attitude of hostility to it because they consider it to be opposed to the instinct tliat every man is a child of God, and should be regarded by those who profess; to be Christians with tender solicitude and sympathy. A more candid study of the New Testament would show them that the religion of Jesus is not to blame, but the imperfect or perverted expression of its spirit. The ideal Christian community is a democracy. But out- ward distinctions must necessarily exist. Differences in condition will of course arise in consequence of the diversity of natural gifts which men possess. But these distinctions are to be used for the benefit of otliers. The man in a position of power will aid the weak and less I'ortunate. Tlie man with large and cultivated intellect will devote iiimself to the stiv.ly and investigation of those things which benefit others. In the various professional and business activities each one will feel that, while he is engaged in his special work, the common weal demands from him a portion of the fruits of his labours. But at the same time there is room in the Christian community for an aristocracy, not founded on l)irth or education or manners, but on service. " Who- soever shall become great among you shall be your minister, and who- ever would be first among you shall be your minister." Even as the Son of Man came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to ^'ivo His life a ransom for many, so also must those who occupy high rank in the gospel kingdom spend and bt; spent for the service of others. Jesus was an example of what all who claim to be His dis- —54— ciples should be. And were His teaching only translated into the life of our time, were our social institutions and usages moulded accord- ing to its spirit, it would completely meet the longing for a universal commonwealth founded upon the conviction that all are brethren, and that all men's good should be each man's rule. What ou'ght to be done, then, is to present this truth with such earnestiiess that it shall take possession of men's thoughts and hearts, and kindle in them a passion for the welfare and happiness of all. 2. The spirit of unselfish devotion to duty is one of the urgent needs of the world to-day. That self-interest is a controlling influence in human affairs must be frankly admitted, after making due allowance for the enterprise and beneficence that are exercised in promoting the highest good of others. In trade and commerce, in the professions, in manufactures, among the toiling millions, there is a struggle for supremacy, for what is vulgarly called success. The love of gain, the ambition for place and power, and the desire for fame, are common incentives to effort. Every man for himself is a widely approved motto, and so long as the interests of self are advanced duty is thought to be well done. But duty involves obligations to others who are members of the social organism. If we neglect these obligations we suffer the penalty of mu-al degeneration, and ac the same time inflict injury upon the community. The lack of disinterested devotion to duty in publiq affairs has brought humiliation on civilized nations in the Old World and the New. Positions of trust involving grave responsibilities are being constantly abused. Confidences are Letrayed for a consideration. The franchise is bartered for money or offict>, instead of being exercised for the common welfare. A venal press sets its price and obsequiously champions interests and motives that are opposed to the general good. The spirit which exalts self above the claims of country, and fellow- men, and God is a canker on our civilisation. It is eating into the vitals of society, and destroying the moral fibre of the people. Every- body who is not wilfully ignorant; knows this, and is also aware of the disastrous consequences tliat must follow, unless there is a speedy re- action in favour of a higher standard of life and manners. The world's great need to-day is to be delivered from the spirit of selfishness in purpose and act which taints both public and private life, and hinders real progress. That all should do the right because it is right, and possess a conscience void of offence toward God and man, is an imperaHve requirement. To set the public interest and the rights of others above all personal considerations, to labour and to wait, forgetful of self, and mindful only to make the world better, is what is supremely needed. " If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning," cried the patriotic Jew when he re- flected upon the woes brought upon his native land by the self-seeking and time-servini/ of its rulers and i)eople. Fidelity to God had the chief place in his thoughts, and this included duty to his country and bo the life d accord- universal hren, and a;ht to be isliall them a 3 it it 16 urgent : influence allowance Qoting the issions, in uggle for gain, the common red motto, ight to be members suffer the jury upon in publiq )ld World jilities are 3ideration. ; exercised sequiously loral good, lid fellow- j into the !. Every- vare of the ^peedy re- le spirit of nd private it because God and erest and Dur and to better, is 'm, let my lion he re- 3lf-seeking d had the Lintry and -55— its sacred institutions, which were Divine gifts. For every man to be animated by such devotion is the ideal condition of the state But is it attainable ? If so, under what inspiring influence ? What power can bring about a consummation so devoutly to be wished for '? The teaching and example of Jesus. The sermon on the Mount lays down the principle that unselfishness should govern our conduct. The in- stinct to gratify our own ambitions or desires must be overruled by a magnanimous and beneficent consideration for what is due to others " Thou Shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The great Master of truth and reality surely knew what was in man, and the difficulties and temptations, so great and affecting, which beset him on the way to better things, but he insists on the cultivation of that spirit which is ready to give itself for worthy and noble reasons, for duty, for the good of others, for a higher life. The sacrifices and self-denials which He would have us practise represent the price that must be paid for the attainment of the truest development of our nature, and the fulfil- ment of our obligations to God and man. His example of self-devotion to His mission of saving a lost race ought to be a stimulus in the same direction, more powerful even than His words. He, the perfect Man, pleased not Himself. He come down from heaven, not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him. In his loyalty to this high purpose He dared to face death upon the Cross. He died that men raigh^ live forever. It is with this self-sacrificing temper that our civilization needs to be animated, if the blemishes which disfigure it are to disappear, and the righteousness which exalts humanity is to prevail. 8. Another of the world's needs which Christ's life and teaching empi'Rsize is reverence for the spiritual aud unseen. The invisible and supernatural are too apt to be depreciated and behttled in an age which has witnessed the solution of many of the mysteries of the phy- sical universe. There is a conviction abroad that everything may be explained in terms of matter and force, and that spiritii as something different in kind from them, is a conception which must be abandoned in the light of advancing knowledge. The universe is an organism pervaded by subtle agencies which weave and shape all things into the form they bear, and produce the rythmic movements " which disturb us with the joy of elevated thoughts." The order, and adjustments, and adaptations, which we perceive, are due, not to the activity of an In- telligence that is in all and above all, but to the play of forces which are eternal. This interpretation of the vast system of things with which we are connected is undermining faith in God, and a life to come, and a final award to every man according to the tenor of his mortal life. B'.it to hold that these arc not verities on which we can securely rest, that there is nothing higher than man in the universe, and that when he dies his mental and physical energies pass on into the circle of the correlated forces, is fatal to the best aspirations of -56— our nature, to the spirit of reverence and adoration, and the desire to enter into a larger and diviner hfe. To surrender faith in all that gives grandeur and sacredness to our existence is to diminish men's regard for whatsoever things are true and honourable and just and pure. That this is a dange'' from which society is already suifering every careful observer must have perceived. History warns us that its influence is disastrous. The decline of faith in the invisible, and the consequent neglect of religious duty and of the cultivation of the spiritual life, led to the corruption of morals, and issued in the disso- lution of ancient Greece and Borne, To be living under the power of unseen realities, and to discharge the obligations involved in our relation to them as spiritual beings, is indispensible to the robust life and growth of nations as well as of individuals. And a material- ism which would eliminate spirit and what it implies from the uni- verse is a menace to the stabiUty of society and its progress towards all that constitutes true greatness. The only safeguard against this peril is to be found in the teach- ing of the Gospels, ir their record be authentic, we have to set over against the guesses of materialistic speculation Christ's authoritative statements that we are living amid a supernatural environment, that there is an invisible but most real presence everywhere, clothing the grass, beautifying the liiies, feeding the ravens, caring for us ; that He is a spirit and we are His children ; that there is an endless life for the just and the unjust; that our first effort should be to bring our- selves into harmonious relations with the Author of our existence, and the goal of all our striving should be the perfection of our manhood. If men were- only to receive these truths with open mind and heart they would be constrained to live as seeing Him who is invisible. All their thinking and acting would be done as under the great Task- master's eye. Earth would be transfigured to their vision, and be radiant with the Divine glory. Its sights and sounds would fill them with reverence and adoring wonder, and cause them to bow with lowliest humility before Him who liveth and reigneth forever. It is acknowledged that the ideal of lunuan life and society out- lined in the Gospels is the most beautiful that has ever been presented to the world. P,ut it is pronounced to be incapable of realization. No one could take the Sermon on the Mount as a rule of life for a single day, it IS said, without suffering personal loss or injury. Self-asser- tion IS indispensable in the struggle for existence. To " do unto others as you would that they should do unto you " is possible only in a regenerated social state. But how is society to be brought into that condition ? By the influence of the Gospel, "for it is the power of God unto the salvation of men, and, therefore, is able to transform the world. U iiy, then, has it not done so tu a greater degree ? Why has the purifying process been so slow ? Is it a suflicient replv that the world s antagonistic forces are so migjity that millenniums are needed -57- to subdue them and that the progress of righteousness has been as great as we might reasonably expect ? Or would it be nearer the ruth to say that the Christian Church is to blame b cans 'mem bors have no regulated their life in the world by the spirit ofthe (xospel, and have not applied themselves with a self-devot on like that ot their Master to he work He has given them to do ? Has no 'the imita ion of Christ ''been too much with them only a pious sent me and the imitation of the world the principle that has chiefly influenced tlieir practice? Who will dare to say that the self-seeking sph"t- which was not the mind of Christ -has not a large place hi those who compose His Church ? Can it be wondered, thfn. tVa tl e t aiis! formation of the world into a kingdom of righteousness should be ad- vancing so slowly When Christians cling to traditions as if they were vital, and se up their idols in the form of dogmas which usurp the place of Christ, when they are intolerant in matters of faith, but lax in matters of practice, and adopt the methods of the market place and the play house to get money for carrying on the work of the Lord IS It surprising that Christianity is shorn of its power to purify and elevate the world, and that the Philistines are making merry over its olhes and predicting that its days are numbered ? Did the Church truly carry out the method and secret of Jesus, its eftbrts to infuse the spirit ot His Gospel into the millions that know nothing of its power and saving influence would be more effective. It would give such con- vincing evidence of its Divine character that men would no longer re- gard its ideal as unattainable, and cease looking for anv other substi- tute for It. On us the spirit and aims of the Church of the future in this land depend. Let our life be hid with Christ in God. and let us in the strength of God do what we can to hasten on that day when the Ivingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Donald Ross. m —58- The Influeqce of Daili} Occupation? and ^ur'i'ounding? on the Life of the people. We CaDadians are a young people, and, unlike raanv other nation^ have as yet many of the most important lines of our 'destiny in our own hands. At no future time shall we be able with so little difficulty to give to those hnes their wisest direction. I wish to call attention to some thn)gs which may retard and others which may help on our progress as a people towards a more complete life ; and a complete or perfect life I regard as the groat object of all religion. In this busy age of the world's history, and especially in all new countries most people, both in their public and private life, are so very much absorbed in their immediate interests that they have not the time to seriously ask and answer such questions as these • What IS the exact meaning of all tliis hurry and bustle ? Whence does it come and whither is it tending ? What eflect does our daily work produce on our conception of life and its aims ? • For the great majority of our active bu.smess men their business IS not mere y the means of making a living, which, after a certain point, IS quite a secondary ma. jr ; seldom is it a means for helping on he progress of the world, which is usually left to take care of itself ; but it IS apuisr.it which in itself makes the serious purpose of life. Ihis IS akin to he absorption of the scientific man in a special branch ot science, and 1ms in it some quite admirable features. It affords in some cases a kind of discipline and development which is possible, with a little supp.ementing, of being of a fairly high order. A man tor instance who identifies himself with the building up of a great railroad system finds scope for a wide range of capacity. And so it is m varying degrees with other lines of work. To make one's busines what may be called a scientiiic success is, so far as it goes no un- .^rthy object The chief danger is that, instead of the bifsines beh g an ins rument for the perfecting of the man, it may quite absorb th? man and make him a mere instrument for its perfection. Thus so St ong ,s the influence of constant association that, by attending faith- fullv to business m itself, the man of commerce obtains at once his own high approval and the approval of the world in which he moves! llieu too, when busmess and the getting o( money become not mere- npn,^ f'T ^''^ '^^''^''''l :'^ ^^■""^■'^' '^"* ^ ««i^»tific pursuit having a pecial in teres of its own, hke that of collecting every possible variety of a certain order of plant or animal, there comes to be no recognized -69— sonal gratification It i,re^'''°'',iT''^.'°^ ?'"'= "'« '" Pof" tho object. The man who wfa c™ j Wa° mHh-^ "^7*,'"' "'™'' '» of carrying on Lis businp,, in M,„ i;,^ !"% """""s tlnnks no more of ca4i.| it on iu'rhHel^l'Vf'tTuWi?'""'' "'' '""''^ '"" wm r;ori^e?a":^,":^i';;i,rbt3Tr'- "^r- "--'"^ tliat as employers tliev win lJV„Lf i ' ''" '"'" '"•'•<"y oxpect »nrro,„H)i4s S tL r Torlen frorl'l r ^""?n "'' °'=™l'"«°'>s and marked that " men arp qp],lnm t.,^ • vviieii JJr. Johnson re- tliey are maldnrmorv •' he u " 1', innocently employed than when spiritual fei it ''"^,,«1«"»>' .between tl.e business life and the cise Rnf ?^7 n ^P^ "* *^^®'^ "0™al Vigor only throudi exer- £:fLte;''V;rvxreSi'^^^^^ clLT"; ''^ "T" "', '">= i"''="'='='nal and nK,raf „ faltTes 1 as tb„ |Vo,n nature, condit.on^lna/^'et lllte 'c'Zf ' 1' ll' ^ Sgl'S^Tls: m bejond them or even come into conflict with them Thus ^f m,v Sl'.'.es;"^ ""..."•'""■al object of life, devotion to i "'s d«ly wi 1 or ..as oS ;■' ^:r;:4 ^^:^: :i!- ,;'^-'me!?Thi: lx '"; , f"™' ',"' ™'g'''' if indulged, lead to man's uudoin.. it U the Mionm no so bard a taskmaster. Oin- conscious id'otts after nni- snn Z:\Ci^Z%''^'ry ■"-''. ■" ^■l-l<. weare:!;wld to sTy MOW oxpeiioncc the ado.piacy or inadequacy of our purposes. -60- But the very urgency of his natural wants often denies to man the freedom to choose his own way of satisfying them; iu other words, of making a hving. I'lider strpss of providing for food and clothing most lahourmg men are forced to find employment where it firf.t offers Thus great numbers of people have to do work which they would gladly avoid, lint the kinds of work which the labouring classes must do are fixed by the kinds of wares, and the '(uantitics of them, which people will buy. Ifthey buy an unnecessary nmount of food, clothing and other mere bodily gratifications, if they build unneeded railroads fac- tories and siraiiar works, but want little good literature, art, entertain- ment and instruction, then great numbers of men must live by the lower forms of labour and few by the higher. This brings us to our central question, what influences have the various occupations upon those who must follow them ? To what ex- tent IS one more elevating or more degrading than another ? Or is it true that there is little difference in the kinds of work, the great point being the spirit in which the work is done? It may help us to a better judgment in this matter if we notice lie changes which have taken place m the relation of the labourer to Ills work All the earliest forms of work were devoted to the making of something winch was for the use or interest of the producer. The Indian m foi-ming his canoe saw always, with personal interest, the end which It was to serve. This constant recognition of purpose was surely a stimulating and elevating discipline. There was no separa- tion of the work of the body from that of the mind. One Indian did not plan the canoe, another invent the instruments and process of manufacture, and several do the manual labour. Each one liad the beneht of the whole process. At a more advanced stage shepherds nnTnvH ?"''"r ''.' '/^^^.r'" ''''' ^'■^'•^^'' I^"^'«t« ''^'^ scientists; poets own wnn "^^ ^,^f \f^"^'';>; f?^'""!' «"PpHed the greater number of its dopendent. But in the course of their history, and mainly within a Th. !Zr ' f- ^°T''''^^ "f ^'"^'^ ^'^''' 1^^^««'^ f'lr beyond this stage. The greater portion of our work is done iu an impersonal, uninterest ing, commercial way. A certain interest in the work iself oudi ot in the ultima e purpose of it, remains to those who produce a com plete ai-ticle, involving the exercise of their own intelligence. Yet even ere he cons ant repetition of the same work will deaden the livehes nitial interest. But usually the modern workman has not the adva' tage of urning out a complete article. He makes a mere fmgmen^^ Z::'t^Zn:r'\^''''''^'''^' '"'''^ ^^ - interest! Xso?e bv imo nr^ niPc '" ^f^ ''""t ^^ "^"^'^ ^^^""^•' ^^^^^her measured itt evPn fb^n ' '^"^^^'^e'/^^^^-G'^^^ order to get so much money, o b! n 1 ^°"f fti^'» l^^fcween the quantity and quality of labour ZilXCuTf^"' ""'"'^ '^^^^^^ '^ «» the other, quite lost 111 the maze of modern economic production and exchange -61- Siinilarly tlie coimecti wUiU on is lost bct\ l)iit it is inanont own garden, under his ovv.7c;;c;";u;r';:;;ontiur?'l?;.ncn ^H ' ^^at n.on.ont as regards the ..^^h^ii;: a^lL ^ 7,:ily T use. lake this snuplo illustration: Lot any one -row in hh .-.len under his own care and attention, a bunc^of Tw^^^^^ c her the indirec and impersonal result of his labour. to look t the same matter from the olhor side what mnn .vnnhi f„i v! interest in working ibr hire in his noi^Jlb^u^gi' hSe t uld^ working in his own garden, even though his ireighbou pa d h n ib flowe'r s""' ''' ''"'' "' ^"^ ""'^^ ''''' '''' -'- i" 1^°"^ cases, namely We seldom recognize how inucn we have lost in breaking so com pletely the connection between production and use. ()ui clmri i ysteni so well adapted to the satislying of such wants as aie 3^^^ Ind vl ?i ''^ffVre.outcouahious, has yet introduced between wo and what is got for it a medium well nig), perfectly non-conducting t human interest .-namely, .^oney. Carlyle speak Jof the 3i a f„ " as the only bond left between employer and workman. We n H t and/bo "" '^'^i^}^^'^ a« tho only bond left between wlk do le and the means ot living received for it The ordinary workman h s he interest in the use to which his work is put, and\rt X i gets to supply his wants represents none of his life either of body or The great purpose which gives meaning and completeness to our lo IS the bringing out of all that is best in us. Our most earnest and unselfish in ei-est in the good of our fellows is a phase of our own self- development, for in its higher forms it is the verv antithesis of selfish- ness. Man enters the world gif^.i with indefinite capacities, but for tUese he can find expression only as a member of society. There' is iiowever, a very great difference between finding expression for our capacities and finding satisfaction for our wants. True, man has been made what he is through the satisfying of his wants, but it is possible to have a sys em of satisfying wants which kills off the higher wants and rev-ei-ses his progress If a man in providing for his daily bread lb orced to do work which will rob him of any appetite for the bread 01 the higher life then his work seems to me more self-contradictory tJuin It he earned his bread by doing work which destroyed his life J'Ut. as 1 have just pointed out, the presont system of ma'kinggoods is one that is lessening, for the working classes in narticular, the chance 01 nuding a reasonable training for life in their daily work This -62- tniiiiing is to 1)0 fouml iiow-a-days only i.. tho lnghost trmloH, und is HO rare ns to have its very rarity ("xpioited. Thus tl.o rocotuiuoudation oi laiKt made ha* Ijccomo tho basis of additional luouey value Next to the cash insulator as destroying human interest in goods, conies tho niaclnne, which has made 'naiiy things that were once highly prized as specimens of the craftsman's skill almost of no interest and of liltle va ue. This reveal to us the fact that many things have almost their only interest and use in the fact that they express human purpose or in a sense, cmhody humnn hfe. We still purchase human life in iost Kmds of goods, but It IS usually as so mucli vital energy and might as well have been heat energy for all the interest it excites " Ihe destruction of the workman's interest in his work is one of • I P T'rST^''^ influences leading to tho degradation of labor. By oLrX T «fJ''^"%I moan not only all that which positivelv Xed 1 1 th ?"?• f "^^'^''^ '\'^'' ^^^^''^■^"^' ^""»- '^"t- ^^'1^-t ^^ less noticed, all that which prevents him from keeping pace with the gen- eral progress of civilizati(,n, or irom using or desiring tusothoso nSue'tn^"" ^''If'^'f ""^r' ^'''' "^»'-^^- «- *•- - this 1 hfe u I. 'r > !♦• •"^''■'?" 'l'"'''''^'' '^"^ ^^'^ deliberate choice of a ow lite-N nch itself may be due to degradation in the line of par- ol ago-on the part of tiio workman, ho is not responsible bu/ wo maHnt -il ^'" to constantly degrading infliieneos ' w Lu mo! iwn ? '''''T''^^^'" P'*^^'^^'"'^ f^'- counteracting them, are itu abide t( 1 a while : Does not the real dignity or iiidicrnitv of labour ItT^d ne"?^ iTin!" '^"' °' '''''' '''''''''' "^^^ ''^^ ^^^^^ - winch 'oiit andnnnn 7!/"'^ answer ;yithout hesitation that it is the ^^^ L tS °^ '^', T^' ''^'''^' determines its value for the II recognized n ts true purpose, to be made noble through the elevat 't I nd o?: ".''^ '' f ^^°"" ^^^^''^ '^'^' -'^i«l^ - normally the i^l. a a d .nlr ' 'f ^' "' ^''^"^"^ '° ''«l'^i°^'« instruction, literattfre viro tnt if^^^^^^^^^^ ""^^^1"^^^ r^o-rdloss ofltsen- .oe^ fdHife then it s onTr'^. 1^"'! "'' '"^'"'^ " ^''^'' «^"«"'»« to Otherwise htr.r^m \ m^ ^"^^'^ ''^'"'"'t one to find it elsewhere. cm S ev 2 :i; 'rn^^ Inbor which is carric^d or offonsiTo to an^o fs;,^^^^^^^ "^"^1^ K'''^'^'' *^^-^' relation tn Li • , ' ^^' ^""^ nistauce, cleanliness has any dea Zei f ^^^^'^^^'^^.f civilization, then an occupation •••i which clodnlmess ,s impossible must, unless specially counteracted, ^t a —63- coiiHtaut Htrain ou the workoi'^ c/n.ii;.. ^ How can wo expect J^ to ro.S r,;"]'' »'?^^'"'^" '" -vili.ation. who have to .pond more thai^t vo Lird of fh"' "»'V'*"""y «ei.sitiv. •V coal, iron, or other mines Tn/.S ?.?'^""' ^^'■'^'"« liourH down snmlar works, employed in dt f f. o "''^' ^l'- ''^''^"^'^^ '">« .n.de. in many chemical work rtw i I'^'u^^T'^' 'j""^ '^ '^'' "'«" i"y"g and similar trades, as we 1 a in a wS"^'' ^?"'"^'' "*' ••«- only parts of whicl, have a de/rndin .1.. 7 V'^'F ^^ ««cupationH moral and social ideal can InS " ^'"'^^'^^y ? A reasonably good continually oflended vhe e 1 L'^'nl'r''''''''^ ''^'T '^'' ^-'««'^ar into degrading channels a fd the rfler V^f^''^ "^ diverted It. It is a matter of co nZn oSi^ft n '' ^'1'^' ^'^^'^ *° '"^«'-««t under such conditions as I )2eten io t '• '"''''" "''" '^^'^ ^^^^"8 creations too often taJco the fm-m If ^ tl^eir amusements and . senses, as though they l"llosThr^^^^ ^"T '^P^'^^^l^ to t.. a milder nature. "^ capacity to respond to anything of tiiefSTl"ui:^:^;.S;;,i^ reflection is ed most of those degrad g Leu mU ol ^f ''? T'^'^ ^^'^^ ^«^«''^P- to be regretted, it has "S^^^^^^ And, ^hat ks perhap. more men have nothing butdSin, f /• T^' '^ ^iegrce t.> ^ ,nany must live under con antiri? .^'"^t'ons to perform, so tlini they smother all anient enf,.? ^^*^""o»-«tnig influences, which te-d to moral and lel^t^' e" ir'a^^'f rf"' f ''''''' ^^"'^^ the "t hard stolid m^fn;7:f ^^T^ ^^"^^" "^« «oul and pro- fuces 01 those who ar^r. Id • ^'" ''^''1' ""' ^^ ^^^^^ «^« i» tlie roundiugs. It is no^ Pnonn /""'^ ''""'^ ""' live amid such sur- of their daily wo 1 wh :r Sd ti r .T'"''^' '"'%' '' ''''' ^'^ '''^<^^^^- ix^ation ; while now we mu^ftlo «n ? "'"^ ^'"^^ ^^^^"^'-^ *« «ivil- work f;om reduchirrnv men '^^^^^^^^^ to prevent their dnily savagery. ^ ^"^ '"'" ^"^^ ^O'nen from civilization to oncie?:'^ ich" I t^'l^i'^^lf'^'y '^ ^°^^ ^° ^'-^^ *^- *-^d- even religion and the familvll i "^''^ matter of experience that mgs. loss of in erest in wLk "'''" ^'^^ *^"*' ^^^^^'^^^ «^»'rouMd- I'eautiful forms TCnLslTatio^r"'?? '^ "f "^° "^ ''' "^r"^-' "^ stncke "rogLns if all^^^^^^^^^^^ ^" T^'°" ^^^'^ ^'^^"^ l^"o^vn poverty -G4-- the inlluenco of lawful and oi-.li.iary work on those who have to do it Again, 1 am far aoni d.Miyiii- that away back lu the inuldle ages there was a good deal of squalor and misery among the poor people. iWit it was mainly due to poverty, ignorance, and a generallv backward state ot civilization Lven then, however, we find ranch that spoke hope- ully lor the luture. The people were on the way from a lower to a Mgiier plane ot civilization. JUit hi Arthur Young's description of aits Prance before the Revolution, we recognize squalor and misery vMthouthope, owing to political and social oppression. The modern ovi IS more subtle than either of these. It is not due to a backward state ot civilization, nor to a vicious system of tyrannous oppression • It comes, not only in spite of, but even in conseaueuce of many phases ot progress, as we have already noticed. It is not to be got rid of by iiouTsZr T V'^' ^■'■'"'■^"f'l '' ^^'^"^y l-'.ulier wages and shorter wi In 1 ^''"^ '"' ^",°^^' ^"* ""^y beginnings of the remedy, and, with nothing else, may only give to men the opportunity to express Z Loir tf T'^P^' 'f "'"'^^ ''''''''' ^^-' -^'^ itsUocia'ons Oui Lower Canadian French peasantry with a smaller income, lon..c.- he.is, hough not always so hard, with less school education and les access to the products of civilization than most laborers yet do no common maik of the deterioration which comes from occupation and surroundings m spite oi short hours and good wages '"'P'''^"" "'"'^ free hl'Z! °^" T '"^^' ''' f'''^^"^' ""'' ''' "^^ ^'^'^ ''■ Canada almost hee tiom these evils, inasmuch as we have few industries whose ten dency ,, clegi-admg, and those few are for the most par^^mll land car' nod on amid redeeming influences ? I quite admit this ™ d it s fust because wo are ns yet so free from the extreme forms of this evil la I am so anxious f , have it recognized. For if we are not nrenaror In bri;:r:rv"!ulr^^^7^^° ^" 't '^ -rirat^hr Sei out necessaiy callings as they arise, then it seems to me that nitnre has been quite favourable in denving to us in many Hnes tl eTeadv however w tl e nil' f \ r""' ""Y '''''^ ^'^^entable defect, which, lowtver witn tbe aid of patru^tic zeal, we may vet overcome Tl.n« us wjth .ts work instead of por.nanenti;t;V "h^ la^^^^ beauty from which we could have taken tiriber graduallv a^ d ?n W 1 reasonable quantity for our wants for all time weSd havel {if ened barren waste whose hideousness and desolation roneca'ril^e" wi)3 has not seen the like. Need we ask what would be ?he "^0,1 our Ingiier natures while engaged in such woik 9 "'''^ °'' It does however, seem reasonable to ask why we should do all n cl^s" n^^ndZ'n ''^'," ''T '''T' ''''^'' "'^"'^^ beeom:^ stttly Sts/ ThiJ ' -^ With such provision as to lessen the evil fleets > The answers given to like questions by our politicians and liamen'r Tl" I" '''''T'''' -^i^--'«- "^ i^^-vie^. depStatioTs to par ^wi Tu ^^"'^^^^t 'P'''^'^^' ^'^ *° ^'"^ etfect.-unless we do all h.swe chall have left on our hands some monstrous encumbrance nown as undeveloped natural resources, which, it appea rs, To self- re pectnjg nation should retain longer than is absolutely n cessary. nat onal debt, tax oui-selves at every turn, and give up all thought of ei ure, culture and if need be, religion itself, than allow this rep^-oacl to est upon us and our land. As yet. however, the reproach is great . nd our numbers are few. But what is the worth of statesmanship if not to overcome difficulties like these ? We all known how much in- genuity and money our Canadian statesmen have devoted to this mat- ter in the past, and with what h.different results. We can appreciate therefore the joy with which our High :^3mmi3sioner and our Minister ot tie interior rejoice at the passage of a recent Act by the Unitetl bcates government excluding from that country a large number of the lowest elements of the European immigration, for surely now that element will bo d-erted into our country and will lend a helping hand to take away our reproach. More nonsense to such men must be the words of iMnerson, "The true test of civilization is, not the census iior the si/e of cities, nor the crops, but the kind of men the country turns out." Nevertheless there are those of us who believe that li^merson is right, who hold that the type of men we produce, and not the nuniber of them, the use we make of our wealth, and not the quantity ot it, are by tar the bnst indications of national greatness. I con(ess I cannot understand all this anxiety to get rid u. uur natural resources, as thougli they constituted a national disgrace. Why should B —66- mneral deposits for those who are to come after us ? The wl olT teaching of economies is against a rapid using up of our mi S wealth, rrovided we are getting from iur country a^s muc a wran invn^ ^. T/'r '"PP^^ "^ ""^ ''''^'' ''' '^^y l^^^ve the re.t for he enjoyment ot future generations. In the meantime we should devoe part of our attention towards making those future generation canlbe h 'rr.^-'i' '''''^' *" ^'^'''' ^^'^''^^Se than we are doing We can bpst do this by improvmg ourselves, and by giving to our own geneia tiou a better conception of the relation of their commerdri fo W social and spiritua life. So long, for instance, as rcanget ou necessary iron and coal from other countries, in exchanged o agricultural or similar products, it will be much better fo us^ to do so In the first place we could get them with less labour on the part of ylncli. it It IS not always elevating, is it least very greatly superior to he iron and coal industries. In earlier times agrLuiture was U.e Tow mti'ofp^^r'^Tire^^^ 'n ""^^^^'^r '^ an/rnsilreraWc: afibr^all thrmLns^:^2^;:j;L"1t"^ '^'T' ^f''' "^ ^^^^^ circumstances, not degrading h'tstndi '""P^' 'VJ*^''/'^^""'"'^' patible, when supplemSd hv L *'"^"^«7' ^"^^ ^^ therefore com- tion and culture^w rtTo it nf uT T^ °PP«rtunities of educa- ous people \\^ hav oi I t ' ^f " n'^°?'^^' ^'^^^^ ""^^ P^^^P^^'" that greater numberlof mn- ^„ regret in the mterests of our country, they do tT tr tlZs of / ™'f ^?.r^ ^''' '"°^^ "^tt^^tion thai imp^-ove theltnSofti d lirzaiioiil' h'te^T f 'f/' "^'^^'^''^ '^ improvement of the peopirwe It; !^1 attending to Lhe with a much infer or clas iJlo u . ""t'^'''^"' '° ^'^ °»'* «°"»try assistance less deL'mb "Us F Srv "'it ifl'" ^,7'°^ "'^^-^ "^^'^ m economics that the introdnrHnn nf r ;. ^'^^^^ ^'"°''" P"'^<^ir'e to drive out goLd mmiev nn l n ^^^ "'^"f^' "^^° '^ <^^""tn' te. ds people; the nfrod^cdon of wn" J ' T'^ ^'^" "^P'^^ "^ *'^« <^'^«- ^'f cl:-ive out workman a hig ;;S"ordei' w"""' "•',"' ?" *^"^ ^« or . more elevated -ti^^ :^;:lt^:!:;^,::^- ^tiifVhig^ -67- ptandard of national resuect \Vp aro i a " the life is more thanXt anc ItL hn h'"^'"' '* ^■"^•^^^"^■%' that realize what is necessary for th sp dtual^n ?"r'''"^'">'' ^"^^^ ^^e of the people we have we are no n P'°^?!^^'«" ^"'^ clcvelopment country a low foreign dement ilV'/^'-'l^"./" ^''''^ ^"*« 0"r of those most desirous ofTet 1 it w^'' T^'""^, "«* ^^'^ Purpose as means for the production of mnL'uV T^"'*"'"' "^"^ *« «s^' ^^^ly how to benefit. King I ?1 inkcoll ""'r ^ 7^'''^' "^^^ ^''^' '^'^^' pacity of such persons to use veiVS "f'"^^ ^^^ ^""y the inca- which they favour of geuZ il )„ ' f 'f ""'^'"^ *^^^" ^^^^ '^^ans the direction ni which we arVmovS. J cine danger at present lies in gard to our present nepd. nn l ^V .^^ Prevalent ideas with re- pe.;erted,anior"na;]S ^:i::^i:i^^^ f^ ?! ?"^^« us to right them. When we nmrfW % i *''® slightest helping try with any kind of peopir-t d hnt ' 'I *^^ f^'l ^^^ "P *^^^ ^^"'^ resources at any pi°.e^. Xy shouWof itf"''' ^'' ^^^^eloping natural all efforts to cofn^ert these neo,7. n^^ lea^t encourage in every way, ^ons, we get for rej v a ^ax C hn ^'^ "j^elligent and creditable citi- tion and culture unJot^^'dn^r '"*^ ""''^ '^^''' '^^^"« o*" «d"ca- tion is entirTcbL^l XT'"^' "?^'f our system of produc- Poi ed ot" ''' rr S^«^1-f'^"^f«thers. But, as I hLT lead' I Af ' ^ f-'^'"^^*^°'"^ ^^^'^^ ^^«^'^ ''^ ^'0. depend largelv on tie er in. n^ ""^%^' "''•. '^^^^ ^^'"^^ of goods we most'requi e dt e ves to t '•r'"?^'^^- ' '''' ^«"'^^»^«"' who tend to adjust then - o hers t tTmZ nnf T T'I'^'T'- ^^' *^^«"' ''' "«« ^^'^ teach o reioVrrh.i f ^ ^^^-^^^^-^ ^^^^ ^««« and fewer to ih ''%>"^ T'" '"'" ^° ^^'' ^'^^''' occupations ■uKi icwer to the lower. This, however, will afford onlv i nirds one anotherfand of the Church before the World, it is a grand thing that our ronre- sentatives now meet together to discuss this question, and give respect- tu attention to each other's views and prejudices, i'erhaps the idea will yet ckwn upon us all that no one denomination has a%nonopoly of all trutn, or has any chance, like Aaron's rod, .f swallowing up all Its nvals ; and that it is better that we should band together in one so Id host, to resist the numerous and well-skilled foes of our common faXfpnd; *''?". 'P'"^^ our time in trying to keep up our ancic.t a Illy feuds. It is a grand thing that, though the sectarian war is stil wagmg, yet the Hag of truce has been held out, and our plenipo- entiaries are now engaged in solemn conclave, seeking a bas7of peace with honour " for all concerned It is high time -for while Philosophy, Science and Art, work- ng in concert like sisters, are by their combined action produc i. sue i oK'.nln^ 'T'"*''/^^' f pity that they should be looking^dow her only Sr." ""'^' '' ^' '^''''' ^^"^^"' ^''^ ^^^^^^^ ^ "Motley's Let us take a brief survey of the state of religion throughout this ed wTtf rSlr'^'f'l'f' ^""•"" '" "^^ ""'^ ^^-^^^ wfaretnfr^^^^^ ed with a s ate of things unique in religious and in secular matters oHhe' O'U W^orli^ "f'^ T ""'f f ^^ 'r'''^'^ ^"^ nati^ tl rngu"; win. it , f 1 f^' particular class of these immigrants brought with It, na urally and properly, its own religious observances and rult? Toir" 1 uf mor'"' ''T' '''' '''' ^'"'^ side T/IiTon t^^ nuittul sou. 13ut, moreover, the genius of the native-born American so mventivem all other things, could not be expected to rest content with foreign importations, even in its religion ; it must needs se to work to raise new species and varieties of its own ; and the ou ci^n of tVSLt'oHl r '^'TT- 1 ''T- Ecimond About,Thr:f tty' i leucn autlioi of the days of Napoleon III, said in one of his worki th fthr^T ^^---" lad made it His ambitiorthal blTe oHm^ a if eSlisL^ , -shoud, among other things, have made a luituiK iiuu estaoiisJied a new religious sect. -71- ,-n ilif T"!? *; W^** *.'"' ''«'^ ^^^' ^^^iation has reached its climax in that wonderful place, that centre of material progress and "ue C ual activity that vortex of high-pressure life and 5 olhrthat nara" dis of restlessness, the city of Chicago Th^rl p1 ? "lat para- among the Preshyterians, Dr^hoa'as^f the S dfs f Mr^ Chrnef of the Episcopalians Mr. McArthur of the Baptists, and I know 3 how many more each "established a new religious sect'' of iTs own There hey publish all sorts of journals advocating every con eivaWe ind of religious and philosophic thought, ancient and modern and sftion ' ?Sd' """"'^"^ " ' ^'^ '^'^'^ ^ ^'''' ^^^" ^^^' -" ' -Po But there must be a limit to these variations, as far at least as ?nZri"''^''ur'^'"'^= and I think that limit has been reached Indeed he would be an ingenious man who could to-day invent au^ new point of diftercntiation out of the Bible whereon to <' establish a new rehgious sect." 8o. failing in this direction, our e^t rpSi' cousins are having recourse to other literature ; and we have reh no s baHed on Positivism. Dualism, Monism, Materialism. Spiritual sm Sf I'^'^r/S"^'"' «l»all have the importation of a new cult trom the island of Hawaii. Now grotesque as all this is, it is very saddening. It gives some grounds for that discussion which you may have" notice^d in some Lnghsh papers lately on the gruesome question, " Is Christianity played out ? It seems to verify the diagnosis of some philosophers that the dissolution which is always attendant upon Evolution has woTm '''' '^'"*'^' ^'*' '° ^°"^ ^'*'''^ ''^*^ ''''^' *^'^ civilized But is this the case ? Every believer must emphatically say No I It we look below the surface we shall see that there never was a time when Christianity was so intensely earnest as she is now, and withal so practical and so candid, so willing to acknowledge past mistakes, to retrace false steps and to follow the Truth whithersoever it leads Ihere never was a time when Protestant Christianity felt so keenly that an end must be put to this incessant subdividing, and that the closing up of the ranks has become a logical and practical necessity. ^ To timid souls, no doubt, tliis is a trying time. To them the Kehgion of Christ, viewed at large, will seem as his personal religion did to Professor Drummond when the apparent divergence between liehgion and Science began to haunt him. In his preface to " The Natural Law in the Spiritual World " he says that he felt as if every- thing of Christian Doctrine was in " a state of flux." This expression I am sure aptly represents to many a frightened soul the present con- dition of Christianity at large. lii III' ■ -72- But we need not be alarmed at this state of thiugs. We are only experiencing in the theological world what k being experienced iii every department of 1 hough t and action. Modern research and dis- covery, not only in physics, but in philosophy, archseolocry, history criticism and every branch of learning, are revolutionizing* our ideas and our practises. Every new di-^covery, everv now nieclmnical ap- pliance, more or less shifts tlio centre of griivity of the whole social fabric. To take an instance in the department of agriculture. What with our steam ploughs and combination reapers, it will not be lonL' before the very memory of the old-fashioned sickle will have died away • and we may conceive of the young preachers of that coming dav be^nnninrr the exegesis of such a text as " Thrust in the sickle and reap '"by ex- plamingto their hearers that the word "sickle" signified a certain rude instrument wherewith their simple forefathers used to cut down their grain. Now the disuse of the sickle, and the introduction of the reaper and binder has enaliled one man to do the work of-let us say —three. So the dairying and other facilities have diminished the work of the women of the farm. Consequently fewer hands, male and lemale, are required on the farm: consequently fewer hands are re- nuired in a whole township of farms : consequently the superfluous hands must seek fresh helds and pastures new ; or else they must be- take themselves to constructing the machines now required on the nT^;o3 i" ? f^^'Pf t«r and joiner now gets his boards planed and matched, and his doors and sashes made by machinery. The village shoemaker has little else to do than to cobble the boots and shoes made m the city factory ; and as to the village weaver, his occu- pation IS gone more irrevocably than Othello's. Consolidation- combination centralization -is the order of the day It is the Zeit-^/eist, the spirit of the age. which must influence us in th', vehgious world, just as it is affecting all our movements in the secular world. It is of no use to bewail the diminishing of the niral population and the engorgement of the manufacturing cf ntres If we want to see the farming districts thronged with a busy populace I know of no method save the total prohibition of city-made S ne' - or even of al applied science. The method which was once adopled by the farm hands of the old country-of burning the hay stSof any landlord who inti^oduced a labour-saving .machine o7his farm- did not work very well. nnlv )!?'" l"*'"'"^- "' ''^'f "'"' ^^''''^ *'^' law of natural selection is not the only factor of organic evolution. Combination, co-operation, has been a most important factor, though hitherto much overlooked as Prince Kmpotkm Sir John Lubbock and others have shewn? • ' Go to the ant thou sluggard," and thou student of sociology, go to the locus s and the comes, as the book of Proverbs enjoins-go to the bees tie wdd aquatic birds, the crows, and other\n-egaiius c e turJ^^' a d 3 are only :ienced iu and dis- , history, our ideas uiical ap- ole social /hat with n'^; before vay ; and •eginning " by ex- a certain 311 1 down on of the 3t us say the work lale and s are re- )erflnous must be- I on the s planed y. The 3ots and lis occu- • of the lence us i in the le rural If we ulace, I hines — adopted acks of farm — not the as been Prince to tiie locusts es, the js, and -73- learn how co-operation and combination serve to the survival of the «n ff! "' T '?-^^^ ^?' existence against the tiger or hawk or other solitary and egoistic bird or beast of prey. Consolidation is the order of the day in the political world. In he time of the Crimean War it was the fashion to deprecate any intor- torence with the smaller states of Europe for fear of disturbing what was called the 'balance of power' and the sub-di vision of the oountrios into petty principalities was looked upon as a good thing. Now we see with general satisfaction the consolidation of Germany and Italy into great powers by absorbing the little dukedoms. We Canadians liave consolidated into one great Dominion ; and we are looking for- ward-I for one eagerly and hopefully -to a still larger confederation ot the whole British Empire. Consolidation is the order of the day in the industrial world In ray youth there was a saying, "familiar in our mouths as household words, VIZ :— "Competition is the life of trade." But to-day, I think a more generally accepted maxim would be, " Combination is the soul ot money-making." Combines, trusts, syndicates abound. Indeed it may be-I will not undertake to say positively— that this spirit is be- ing carried too far; and that an occasional wholesome counter-check by some individual competitor is welcomed. Combines may be for evil as well as for good. There are those who, if they have to be de- voured, would rather it were done by a solitary tii,'er or bear than by a pack of wolves. Nfvertheless, it remains true thu.t the grandest achievements of modern times have been wrouglit by combination and co-operation. The spirit of the age, thus evinced in the social, the natural, the political, and the industrial world, is slowly, perhaps, but surely per- meating the christian world. We are looking about us for ways and means to remedy the evil results, which are so glaring, of our needless ecclesiastical rivalries. Dr. Washington Gladdon, in the " Review of Reviews," writes: " The trouble about Christian Union is in the application of prin- ciples to which everybody agrees. Theoretically we are all united now. We can get together in union meetings and talk beautifully about our love for one another ; we are all ready to affirm that our differences are about non-essentials ; but when we go out into our field of labour we crowd one another to the wall and cut one another's throats, eccles- iastically, with very little compunction." " In the rural communities which are stationary or decaying . . . it is not at all uncommon to find six churches in a population of one thousand people — most of them dying of gangrene or anemia ; and although the breath of life seems to be in them we find that the respiration is mainly artificial— that it is sustained by a vigorous working of the bellows with home missionary money contributed by the city churches. " A Presbyterian in the North West Territories," writing to the m !M -74- young Canadia,, Nortl \VeT '• ^ . L r^^''* '" '"'^^ P^^* °^ 0"r the joint efforts of the lomil^tfl- , «'^'"'""'"^y. which with all testint church and on p2 'fs fourTw tirH'"'^-.'"^?'/^ ^"« P^'" es, three or four pastors Inl' 1^. , "" V ^ ''*'*' "° ''"'' c''»''ch- spiritless and SaTly dta^ng ""'' '""'^^ •'^'"^^^' «^«-'^" ^«-k. "nite^'i^ rlSa'sttr!' ''•^^^^'' of these communities were three or four rraTeS S^'^'^^^'^"', ««'f-«"PPorfcing, instead o? by courtesy ..M.L'Uar;''Fu.S'^'^^ "'''' *'^ contributions, called from^.^:?;|;;i^^t 'Icl^l^l'^r^^^^ ^'-- ^« ^^^« ^^« tone variable tin,,, like the S' /^f^omic affairs of men '? Is it a slave of the Z^it geis rf ^ 1? r m" ''"'^^ " • ^^ '^ '''' ^^ ^e the *i'vine •> Is it not •' thn F.^f i /"'''' "'P^'''^^" ^^ ''^''J this as being futs." oU.hi:i:LZXll''^^^^ .^Wivered to'th? shall be :> •• Again from an on oTi?. '" *''^,'^«^5'nmng, is now, and ever the Christian lieli^ioii ^hen ? S ''^?".^P°"^^^t '^^y be n.ked-fs you, lor the sake ofchmru ir c 'f ll"- ?'^^ f'^''^''^ '^ ^Vonld ^nia you deprive us ofte' ll^^.^r iie^^^r^S^lS'tl tl-^g'?^'l^S:3bSrii^:;.i^ tiie Christnui Religion a variable It depends on what we ne' , bv ^h n '"^;«"^^;« tl^i"? ? we answer: term is meant : all thatTs taud t and hilt'". ^^'r^"' ^^ ^y ^''^^ doctrines, psalms, internreta bns a ,1 r"^"' *'^'^' "^™« = a" "'^ logical systems a. d vS aud spL ' :'\7''^<^'?"«' with all the theo- then we answer : The very vaiaUot.'i T^^'^ ""'^ organizations- enough that the Ciiristia7Sinn • '*'"^- \", °"'* '"''^«* ^^e proof refer to that Faith o wTich S h d J! '" -7"""^^^ ^^ing. Bat if we fac.s!;„d'eCs ihich form '^hh?" Olaistianity-we mean certain «.e two great quesUons Sh ie artlli. ?'"■ ^";^'°"- '''''"'•V ''''fe'- '" tlie two great mysteries Jomhntini I '°,'!"!''"""', <" "11 theology- even pure Theism. Tliey ale * '^"""' """'«'" "I'atJver, 'St. What God is. 2n,i. How God communicates with Man ^ Dr. Glftd. irt of our b with all one Pro- r churoli- -all weak, ties were II stead of lis, called 5 its tone ' Is it a to be the as being 3tl to tlje and ever "iked —Is Would mould ? made us variable answer: by that all the le theo- .tions — !"e proof it if we jlivered factor, hen let ;aining certain ifer to ogy— .tever, -75- Or we may express them as questions concerning Ist. The Nature of the Deity. 2nd. The Relation between God and Man. Both of these questions are mysteries ; and mysteries inso'iible by the human mmd they must ever remain. If we answer the first question by saying, " God is a spirit," we do not solve the mystery • tor the question then arises, What is spirit ? Is it matter ? Is" it pure energy \> Is it a tertium quid ! If we pursue this thouglit into the reams of pure reason, we shall inevitably find oi;rselveH, with the great German philosopher, Kant, involved in what ho cal' i " paralo- gisms " and " antinomies "—or else we must just confess in the words of the great English philosopher, Herbert Speacer, that we are con- fronted by " mysteries which grow the more mysterious the more tliey are thought about." The 2nd question, respecting the Relations between (jod and Man, IS equally involved in mystery. Are these relations subjective only or objective also ? And so forth,— « w^. ". Ilii8 subjective religjoa „,|| vi"rcrc tlv " '',''™''- ""^ " ■l'«'"» "f - accoiili,,). t„ tlie teraperamenf S"."" "-"-"""igli not on its main iines ami 0,0 ITniio,] ()|„„.„i, ,„,,i ,, , T ™""'"'l',» »'-e rifc-iit ^..,i proper ™y not onl, of her Im^Z "t, f?, '^"- .,*"'^, 1""^' '^ »"« ^ vision tor annlvino ami »«.;,„■.■ '""''"'■"'""<''"»," but of her pro time ,„ the very selection oT c hi ot i', ", ''' n"^ ", P^^"«'«" f"''"" As then, ao now, so alwavV M,« ^? °""" "'""''■'i »' ■'» kirth nation attracts to \l o.Ve;: SrS^^^-'^r^' P^^-^'- ^-omi- for those of similar temperame^^^^^^ "f mind ; so the tende.icy is centres ; and this se.re|rorin^^^h ^r "^ ^''^"^^elves round sepam e neutralize that wholLol^' h U^ f^.^^'^j^'^ ^'f^^ tends to cheik a!^ «uch good service in the body polil "^'''^*^^'«^^'«P««'tions which does tljereas^ninf ^l^i!^^;^- l?eligion--would co..prise all ^ instian Faith-all the coTol a des " d i? "?-^*^' **^" '-^^^icles of the all the propositions drawn lom the nvi "'^f'? ^^^^^ therefrom- «ome may he obvious and nece^sarv . '% "( '^'^ ^''''^- Of these n;ay he true or false ; thev mav bp ^n T'"'" f, *'^^"^ debatable. They ol the individur", or by tjfe dom.-n! ?V?^ ^^ ^^'^ ^'^bits of thou^h^ attitude of science, or bv .Tortrl''"' "'^^^''^^ ^^ ^''^ ^^^^^ or by ?l?e iliese all furnish a legitimate fi^Mf'-r *"""'" ^"'^ men's manners •' «-uld never t. ^^^^ "^'i^' ^'^^'y ^^ o,:nion ; but these ^ade-the grounds .. ^eparTt^l.^^^^^S Jave^^ -o^.^,;^ ^ >nSC/^^^i:;i~ ^^'la/^ 7 Who were to blame, the who e matter we would r", ^1 H '; h "* *^^""^ '^ ^^'o^d view of duiduahsm and what is nov^ I biVev!. Tf f^^, dangers both in In Individnahsm carried to excess ends in V '''\'''^ ^'o^lectivism. Wl>ile ■ proposed ' articulus W'Oi.Jd i„. 'ivj Vaith I the foai" '1 life, to pacts of "tin lines f)ni-aents i proper, e able to lier pro- iiod urn it for all tfl birth. le room ical, re- ntative, leuomi- leiicy is eparate 3clv and uh does •ise all 1 of the Vom— these. They longht by the ners." these been faniz- lauae, w of 1 In- Vhile ■ — so ■m of ■ated The -77- Chnrch, which was ontrustea by her J)ivine Fotu.dor with a certain spec. he comm.Hsion, in tiuje succnn.lx.l to the teniptat.on incident to .11 'Collectivistu. She bocarue too .u-bitrary ; she wanted to b.y (loNvn the law on every httlo pon.t; she was always achin" to turn ..uitters of opnnon into articles ./..//'/<'; she exceeded her commission ; she act edulfn, vins. Ibe recoil of Individualism against excessive Col- lectiviMn has culmniated in tbe distractions of to-day. Is It not the cas that many of the controversies' which have dis- turbed the Church are traceable to two opposing lines which seem to attend all philosophic thought, ancient and modern, Christian and non- Un-istian ? In the intern.mable iliscussious between Nominalism and Koalism, Idealism and Common sense, Free Will and Determinism Individuahsm and Collectivism, .U-.. we see lines of thought opposite as the poles, apparently irrccoiicilable. lUit if we could only see far enough, should wo not find that these opposing lines of tbo'uglit are — like the magnetic poles -correlative, complementary, corrective of each other ? ^ Let thought then be allowed full play in the theological as in the phi.osophic world. Only let it be remembered that while ThooL.gvs business is to philosophi/.e on the facts of the Catholic Faith "as enounced m Uie Creed, it is the Cliuich's business to proclaim those facts. Let Theology have due liberty in her endeavours to "justify the ways of God to man " : but tbe Church, in her corporate capacity, must over with no uncertain f^ound (Ur'fire the ways of God to man. Where could we fhidgrenter dillerencesin the ways of looking »t things tlian in the writings of such fathers as Cyprian, Augustine ami Oiigen ? Yet they all tsstify to the same faith, each from hiu o»mi point of view. We want these diversities now a.^ ever. It will of course be objected that such a Imion as outlined is all very well in theory ; but there is a practical difficulty. The United Church when organized must have some regimen, some constitution. What is to be the regimen of the pro])osed Church? I grant that this presents the chief difficulty, and will be a hin- drance to complete union for some time to come. When I say com- plete union, I do not expect there will ever come a time when we shall be entirely free from sectism : there never was such a time, that I know of, in the whole history of the Church. But Idoexpect, andhope, that the great bulk of those who profess and call themselves Christians, in this our own country, will so combine that the Organic Union which shall be formed will reflect the genius and voice the will of the com- munity in religious matters, just as Parliament does in temporal affairs. But while the hinlrauce raised by this question of government is a grave one, I do not think it insuperable. It may be premature to discuss it just now ; but let us see how far we can agree eveu on this point. Ill -78— the (lavs^I? rS^" ^^'"'^'^''^^ «-^i,t"«« "f tl'e Visible Church since iiic (lays 01 thusfc. Here it is on earth now ; here it has ) ,i throu-^h all the centuries. riiough with a scornful wonder Men see her p ,(c oppressed, Hy schisms rent asunder, Hy heresies distressed, construeHnnT'' ^^^ '^Z Proposed Churdi Union must be no new vKbl^cLS': '° "-''""'° ""''°' "-Historical Coluiluyof the O.J,i"'n,imri',rf"''°;*''f''' "«'• ""' ""'y are we talking about once.1 the religi: \v„'m of'o::^l "'t^l - ''''-''.V ™stly i„fl„. -;^ ^^o'sir^-tSSilT - ?™ ^ - '^ - tion. Mav tS Sph?"of fir '^'^' ^^ ^^^^ right direc- und near!4l telnet" of inan 1. v^f ""^""'^^'■^^» "^^ the stubborness I aru dad o tl? n ' ^''^^ "^""''^ ""^^ ^^^^ end. alists\:wa?i:Vn'io '^tuhi;re"p^ """"? *^^^ Congregation, ^lovoutly to be wish "d Hv nn 1 1 ^ "?"''~" ^'' ^ consummation iVesbyterians . d le'tho -L ^''^^'^^^V^^ we may hear of the 'novement to. 1 ,, ; "«g'>tiaimg in order to coalesce. Eyery C'lnMstian.forevr^th"^^^^^^^^^^ '"'"'^' ^^'^ ^^^'^^''t' «f «very 0^ onr hoi.s ^^1 s;:;^!:rno o;:; ^^e:^^ '---'^ ^'^ ^^^^-^^-^^ —79- works, and ye. a CLn.^„binl "0% I'o'r''"" ''' '"''"''''•'"''« *'°°'' liberty,,, •• „o„.esse„tial» ; '• wl,e -e L^ ,i ''' ^^^^''^ Po*"' old docu„ieu,s, shall be not vi„l„!,M '""l""">8. "'"i old views, aud but allowed toexistsido by sWe fo 1 r ''°''?'' ^ .'"""P^'' «P»". be born, not of compromii b ,t '„f . '"" ' °^ "'« *"i""re ma«l old views 0,- old tradS a,ed, 0° dSST™"- ',' ""^ "' "'- to die a naturd death """'Me'lited aud decaying, let them alone, blessing, with a solidaWU wch iiil H "Tf'. '^"^ ''''^'^''S His should always have cW tl^P F f) T '^•"'^^*- ^« ^^'^ ^^^^rch hood of manfthe CLurc i ' he' t in °^ '' -^''^ ""''^ ^'^« ^^'«ther- how to solve the terrib le so i^ .-nhl m^ Pos.t.oa to shew the world the philosopher and the st t" n . "^0^^: f/,^ ^ "7 ^'r?'^"^'"" our divisions, Christianity is powei'less Tn ho 1 7"'.^'"' ' ^'"'"''^'^ festly impending. For the ciLVlmf? i \*^^«o«laI storm so marii- ealousies of secular society a r^^^^^^^ ''^''''' rivalries and chiss fied by the sect Uredt^^ri^^^^^^^^ ^'!^^ exag^ratad and inteusi- Christendom. ^ '''*^ ''^^^^'^^^ »»*! sect jealousies of eftectually done r W „« ir "^""""^ '^°''^ ^^'^'^^^ cannot be of thouglft lo2 g^Seo Ht'rer^'iftr''''""'-'^^"'^' '■''' -'-'>! every body who cannot pro ,oulri?;;.fl^[;nl^";^' ''''\\ ^-l-'on in every expression or turn nf ihn ^^ ^ ^o eth, scenting heiesy woriarefortoisinfll "f thought which is unfamiliar The FaithJonines which would "''"' ^^^/f-^^S^tics-a Defence of tl le philosophy orthl pre enri^^^^^ hemselves to the science and the old Ihies rousted S .^/'i /'''"" °" "ew lines, but on thought. iLheSrrWnofTn^^^^^ '' T^'''' knowledge and cized bv Kant h Mn f i ^/ /° -^''^'^ abstract reasonings criti- I .m p«-stdid't,;:r il^ti ,;;"^r':T,;^s:d":'s:r,i?i io%e of ti lS;r"s ,,'''„,,d''g>,S''f.Nt,r PTr"'","^.'"""- dreamt of m the ffreat R,«l,nn'c i tN '^'^ture,--a knowledge un- snrmises coulee uLLino.^^i^^r,- ^''^'" ^"^ anticipations aud work was an eftbrt in tr di^f *'/ "T" ^''°^^^^«^- ^rummoud's of his.-- TU M V . T ''»«C'on: for after all that happy phrase to tho'coS:;!^" ^rj; u^::' 7 Nal;^^?^j[f ^^t^^^^^r" '>nnnmond's presentment of [he Sninh Wo ' ""^^•'^""^'^v. S;s^of^t f ^ ^^^t' -'^- i-;;l^oi.c^i^:'^t^:; property of the many. We want to see Drummond's modernization -80— ■ ot HuMer's iirf,niiiiont appliotl to to tlio Ilevoaled HoMj^ion of the (h'oed. This ciui only be done by those theologians who on the one hand are fnlly embued with the power of that Faith, and on the other hand, are fairly conversant (which I fear many of otir clergy are not) with the new departures in the realms of physical and biologicaF science, of which Prof. Drumrnond has shewn himself a master. Let me just outline the argument I iiave in view. \\e know now something of the wonderful chain and sequence and kinship of all organic life, from the speck of protoplasm, or tlie moss upon the stone, or the " eozoon cauadense," to the " primate," man. We can see how these forms of life merge into one another ; but, as Professor Huxley admits, -,ve cannot tell what that life itself is, or whence it sprang. l>ut wlien we read in the Scriptures how " the Spirit of God moved upon the fac-^ jf the waters " at Creation, and so is the author of primiil oni/oiir life - how that same Spirit made man and so is the author oi Imimin life -how that same s-pirit entei-ed iJezaleel and Aholiab to endue them with mechanical skill, and into prophets and kings to enduo them with wisdom and understanding, and so is the author of intellect mil life — and how that same Spirit dividing to every man severally as He will to fit each for his place in the Kingdom of God on earth, is the author of all a/dritunl life— surely we can see a fitness in " projecting that Natural Law " of sequence in to that etennil life which it is promised that same Spirit shall work in us, and so we learn to say with fuller meaning than ever hefore, "1 believe in the Holy Ghost- ro xufuoi', xac to ;'«>o,to;ov— the Lord, and the Life-Giver." Agam. with re^-ard to the mystery of the Incarnation and its con- sequences " for us men and for our salvation " — have we not all felt how unsatisfaclory and iiiedequato are the illustrations of the Atone- mody, urless those elements have first passed through some other hlMMeof life. To sustain the hie of one human boing, lives uf o^un- org.misms must be daily sacrificed. The lite of the vegetable world mu'*< be given iff) to sustain the life of the animal world ; the animal world experiences a constant t^^;^ -81 — transmutation of life, one creature feeding on another. All this has been beautifully described by Professor Huxley. Let me quote a short passage of his , — " Physiology writes ove. ♦he portals of life " Debenair morti nos nostracjue," with a profounder meaning than the Roman poet attached to that mel- ancholy line. Under whatever disguises it takes refuge, whether fungus or oak, worm or man, the living protoplasm not only ultimately dies and is resolved into its mineral and lifeless constituents, but is always dying, and, strange as the paradox may sound, could not live unless it died." Again, the same master of science elsewhere gives us this striking aphorism, " The law of sacrifice is the law of life." There is the " Natural Law ;" let us " project it into the spiritual world." Let us learn that spiritual life, hue phv ical life, must bo sustained by life. Let us remember that the ordinances of the old law, which were figures of the true, foreshadowed this 'ruth ; for the sacrifice did not consist in the mere slaughter, but the coiisumption also of the victim. Let us remember that at the first Passover i i the Lr -id of Egypt, the lamb that was slain furnished the f )od and sustenance of the Israelites on their midnight march. Let is realize that " Christ, our Passover, is sacri- ficed for us," and therefore wo "keep the feast." Let us dwell less on the Christ imputed and more on the Christ imparted — and then we shall see how those afore- mentioned illustrations, drawn from the forensic and judicial procedures of a bye-gone age, or from the usages of a despotic oriental court, sink into insignificance before the illustra- tions drawn from the Natural Law and given us bv the Lord Himself —the Lamb of God -The Bread of Life -The True Vine. Po, too, our faith in the mystery of the Trinity might be ^randly vindicated. and illustrated by the Natural T^aw of the Conservation of Energy ; and the doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church as a visible kingdom shewn to be the projection into the spiritual world of the Natural Law of Sociology as propounded by Mr. Herbert Spencer. Time would fail me to enlarge on thefje and similar points ; I have only sketched out the work which remains for the Church of the Future to do. Such then, br<)iiiren. is the positior. which we hope the United Church of Canpda will yet occupy; and such is the work— practical and theological, j ulanthropic and ape >getic- which lies before her. Let !s, each : al), do our share tov,ards hastening this end. Let our aims and hopes and prayers be that the woild may yet acknowledge that Christianity is not "played out," that she is entering, not upon a period of 'lisH^Uition, but nj^on a nobler grander phase of her evolu- tion, by evinuiting, according to Mr. Herbert Spencer's own defini- tion, '• a coherence of heterogeneity." So, in God's go ul time, may the hitherto severed denominations — " rising on stepping-stones of their der.d selves to higher things "—gather round one Altar, in " one body aii'i. one spirit," and— all partakers of that One Bread — " shew forth the Loid's Death until He come." G. J. Low. •82- dhiii^t i^ Divided. I Why preach now against slavery and drui kenness ? No one denies that these are sins. Is it not more necessary to preach against dividing (yJirist and to ask whether we are in any way guilty'? But, in opposition to Paul, who says, " I exhort you to call your- selves by one common name," Modern Denominationalism offers a regu- -86- lar argument in its defence. Its plea is substantially this :— Men must be faithful to the truth that has been revealed to them, and to allow difterences of opinion in the same Church is to be unfaithful to the truth. Well,. Paul evidently thought nothing of this argument. The differences between believers in his day were more formidable than any that separate our Canadian Chuvche.s, yet he always contended that the Church should not be divided. Were truth and error to be allow- ed to exist side by side in the same body ? Yes, because all that truth demands is a fair field and tnne. Truth can afford to be tolerant. It shines by its own light and prevails in the end. It needs no artificial defences. Time, however, as well as a fair field, is needed, because truth dawns slowly on the mind. We seem to forget that those who are in error believe that they have the truth, and that they are our breth- ren. They are not likely to be enlightened if they are driven out from us and for:;ed to erect entrenchments round their views and to fight for them with all the zeal that party spirit and a sense of ni justice in- spire. Error or half-truth is timid and timidity combined' with the nistmct of self-preservation will consent to almost any injustice. It is alarmed at a new form of words. A plea for toleration is enough to make it suspect the pleader. It will not see that if difterences of opunon take shape as sects, partial views are crystallized and Christ is thereby permanently divided ; whereas if allowed to exist side by side, there is room for the healing influences of time, which brings with it co-operation in common work, new points of view, more light, enlarged horizons a)id all the benign influences of the Spirit. The difterences in Corinth did not result in the formation of sects, and consequently they died out. The factious spirit survived, for it was a malady of the Greek race, and fifty years afterwards Clemens wrote to the Church from Rome contrasting the factions then with those in Paul's day "Then as well as now," he says, "you formed parties; but that party siDiiit was less sinful, because it was directed to Apostles and a man approved by them." Sinful enough, Paul thought it, but he at any rate prevented the divisions from becoming stereotyped. Think for a moment of the difterences in the Church during the hie of Paul. They extended to the interpretation of the Scriptures as regards dogma, ritual, the priesthood, Church order. Church govern- ment and discipline, Civil Society and Social Life, yet Paul contended tliat the Church should embrace all those varieties of opinion and practice. Give the truth a fair field and time, he in eft'ect contended and it will win the day. It did so. .Jewish Christian.ity graduallv died out and the dcsinsed i>,i,reini Gentile Christianity conquered for Christ the lioman Empire, the world of that epoch. Think of the positions that Jewish believers considered fundamental and jou may cease to wonder that they regarded Paul as a heretic, though vou will adnnre hnn tlie more, for that all comprehending charity which was ^. -m -87- the result not of indifference to truth but of a right conceDtinn nf what was due to Christ, to brethren and to the humali mmd ^ In the first place, the Jewish believer had been circumcised Ihat rite was fundamental. It had preceded Mosaism. It had bTe„ given by God Himself to the Father of the faithful as the sign an r. 'i '!ir^^^*'°"^?^rf ^■?"^'\ ft "^'g''^ thus be considered no i v,-f« n ".="• "-"."... e'yc tu ixiiu, lu connection with the sacred lite the name of Jesus or Saviour, as the angel had commanded. And now Paul i^reached that this Sacrament mi|ht be dispensed with and that it profited nothing. Anparently this view had dawned slowly on lus own mind. For some time after his conversion, though reiectinir he position that the law of Moses had to be kept by believers, he stifl held Circumcision to be obligatory and he therefore " preached Cir- cumcision." And it was only after he came to see that it too must be cassed among " the weak and beggarly elements," from the bondage of which he desired to free the soul that he sufiered persecution We can hardly wonder that Jewish Christians should have refused to tolerate teaching that went such lengths. Paul seemed to them to be making himself wiser than God, and to be holding that believers did not need what Jesus needed. The Old Testament Scriptures were wliollv on their side, nor had Christ said one word to indicate that Circum'- cision was to be dispensed with. Yet Paul was right and they were wrong Hut though wrong, Paul was willing to tolerate them m the Uiarcli. Not only so, he went very far to meet and conciliate them He circumcised Timothy. In all probability he consented that his companion -the Gentile Titus-should be circumcised, thoucrh he did so only as a concession to the prejudices of the Jerusalem believers wliose " principles " would not allow them to associate with an " uncir- cu incised dog." In the next place, Jewish believers had been trained under a law given by (lod as a guide of life and worship, as well as a way of ac- ceptance with Himself. The whole Old Testament was regarded by them as law. All their religion was associated with the laws of Moses, the priesthood, the sacrifices and the holy days. Without these they would be no better than Gentiles. Paul therefore seemed to them to be discarding the whole body of Scripture. He taught that there was no need of any law but Christ's, no need of priest, temple or sacrifice, and that the Christian was not to be judged in respect of meat or of drink or of a holy day, of the new moon" or of the Sabbath ; all which he dechired to be a shadow while the body is Christ. That must have seemed to Jewish Christians not only to sweep away all that bound them to a glorious God-guided past, all that God had given to preserve them from sin and train them in the way of holiness, but to abolish the Scriptures themselves. It was not -88- 80. Paul had a far truer conception of the Scriptures than they, but while they vested in the letter ho taught that the letter killeth. Where they saw only law he saw the revelation of a God of grace. There was no possibility, however, of concealing the fact that there was a fundamental antagonism between the two positions. There seemf"! -lo possibility of mediation or compromise. The ground taken by thn /ewi.sh Christians in the city where the antagonism first came to a hoad was, except ye be circumcised and obey Moses, ye cannot be saved. " It is useless," they argued, " to tell us that you believe in Christ and that you have received the Holy Ghost ; to point out to ua that the fruits of the Spirit are manifest among you, that your love to God breaks forth in psalms of praise and holy joy, and that your love to man makes you minister to the poor saints and send the Gospel to distant lands. We cannot rejoice with you nor wish you God-speed. Something more is needed than holy living. Did not Jesus say, Sal ■ vation is of the Jews ? How can you be saved, if you cut yourselves oft' from God's ancient Church ? How can we have fellowship with you save on the basis of the laws that God gave us ? We know that God spake to Abraham and that He spake to Moses, anc as Jesus said, the Scripture cannot be broken. We desire peace, but we must be first pure, then peaceable." The Church at Antioch was troubled, and the churches of Galatia subsequently were convinced by such argu- ments. They have been used a hundred times since. Good men use tliem still, apparently unaware that God set His seal of condemnation on them once and forever. Paul carried the question to headquarters and fought for liberty within the Church. He got little help, even from the pillar apostles, but he at length convinced them that the new wine must not be confined within the old bottles, ami a compromise was agreed to. The compromise did not really meet the difiiculty. How could believing Hebrews ever eat with believing Gentiles, with- out breach of the Mosaic law ? Peter in consequence soon found him- ■ seli, when at Antioch, on the horns of a dilemma. Paul, too, a few years after, when writing to the Corinthian and Roman churches re- garding pollutions of idols, discussed the matter on its merits and made no reference- to the Jerusalem compromise. But a great deal had been gained. The principle of Gentile Christianity had been conceded. It had been declared that the unity of the Church did not require uniformity of ritual nor unanimity of o'Diuion with regard to the interpretation of Scripture. This lesson, writ in such large letters, and backed with the authority of all the Apostles, the Church has not yet learned. What is the reason ? This, that the Church has had neither the practical wisdom nor the confidence in the truth that the Holy Spirit gave to Paul and the pillar Apostles. What has been the result of this failure to imitate Paul to obey his entreaty ? This, that the Church has divided Christ a thousand times. False zeal has made the Church -89- shed the blood ot Hi8 sHints like water, and when prevented by the world from do.ng that ,t haa cast them out into the wilderneHj. It has fought for talHohood as if the salvation of the world dononded on if crude notions and interpretations. It has shut its eyei t^ o • ^ 'J and banned the prophets of God. It has been scrupulous abont the mint anise and cummiM of opinion, and neglected the infnitelv weightier matters of duty to society at its door, and to cmitinen ts o i which a worse than Egyptian darkness rested. Is it any Z le" tin natioJl^S;^!^^^^^ an astonishing extent the conception and method of the Church Tl e great divisions that have paralysed modern Christendom owe their origm to the convictions that Christianity is a complicated dogmatic and eccesiastical system rather than a life flowing from the^ "reat power of God and that allegiance to this system must be enforced by violence We find these ideas paramount, for instance, in the discus- sions of the Genera Councils of Constance and Basel, where good men aboured so earnest^ to preserve the unity of the Church against the heresies of Wychflfe and Huss. down to discussions ^l^r a e taking place in our own day. It seemed monstrous to the bishops heologians doctors of Universities, and others who constituted tlie Council of Constance and who represented the Western Church so ully that they had overthrown the i>ope himself, wiien Huss proposed o defend his opinions from the early Fathers and the Scriptmes. To them the rule of faith was the old dogmatic system. The Church was represented by the Council and no deviation from its view could be allowed or could conceivably be true. It was for them to say what opinions were erroneous, and when they had decided, Huss had noth- ing to do but submit. As a wise friend told him, " If tlie Council were to assert that you Imve only one eye, you ought to agree with tije Council s opinion." Huss answered, " If the whole world were to tell me so, I could not, so long as I have the reason tliat I now enjoy agree without doing violence to my conscience." At the Diet of Worms, in the next century, Luther stood on the same ground Eck in the name of the Emperor an(? -e Chuich, told him that it was use- less to dispute about views th.tt had already been condemned and demanded that he should answer, " without horns," whether he would recant or not. He got tlie answer :— " Unless I am refuted and con- victed by testimonies of the Scriptures, or by clear arguments, I can- not and will not recant anything, since it is unsafe and dangerous to do auytlnng against the conscience." Ou tliis ground of Holy Scrip- ture.interpreted by our reason and conscience with the aid of allthe light attainable in hisday,Huss had stood before him. So interpreting Scrip- ture, he arrived at views that differed in some respects from those of IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I '-lilM IM KiOi — — — ■^ IIIIM 112 2 I!: 1^ 1^ I. ^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ (," — ► V] <^ ^l a -f^m °w /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4b r/. ^ ii «v' ^ -90- the Church. One of the Bishops said indignantly, •• Will vou be wiser than the whole Council ? '■ Huss answered. ''Show me the Teas' member o the Counc 1 who will inform me bette- out of th^ Scriptures and I will forthwith retract." " He is obstmate in his heresy '' exclaimed the prelates ! Huss was degraded from the priesthood ex communicated from the Church, and landed over to thTciv 1 power" It burnea him. as a civil punishment for his heresy, as well as to pre' vent him from forming a sect and so dividng Christ E were consistent m these days. If a man deserved to be deposed h-om Christ's ministry and cast out from the communr of believers there ought to be no place for him in God's universe He should be delivered to Satan. That is rII inn fi.oV^i Church ever did Even the Inquisitio^' dTd not burn t et 's' No It handed them over to the Civil power, stating that thev had becm convicted of heresy and imploring that th!y be dealt with tenderly. State functionaries then inflicted on them the sentence decreed against heresy by the law of the land Since those days the State has become lax. The punishments for rftWn opinion from u majority in the Church have been wiped from the om method. When the Hussites had annihilated the armies of tho Church, and it was found impossible to organize auouTr crusad« against them, the Council of Basel consented to a con erence " Re urn to the Ch,,cl,,'' it was said to the Hussit delegates' "We ave never departed from the Churcl,," they answered « we abhor eresy ; and we have come here to ask you to be uniTed w thTs in the Gospel ' There was a shout of laughter for replv Thrrln.nVo o tlie lion. The Hussites msisteil at any rate ou toleration n !„ . tic inculeiit niiglit have taught the ConneU that d spnted matter" ? h ^Lrltl/'S'u!'- r ''"l ""T"' "' '"' floeleltrhShe ma n 1 Cb Ll T ''^' ^' V^^^'^^ted, if the Czechs were to re- -SI- with horror from the thought. We have only to read the four articles of Prague, that formea the charter of the Hussites, to see how moder- ate, their views were, and how reasonable their request for toleration. It was exactly the same with Luther. He laboured and hoped for a reformation within the Catholic Church, under the Bishops, too. All that he desired was liberty to preach the Word of God, and especially the doetruje of Justification of Faith. But the Church would not give him that liberty. It cast him out, and put him and his followers to the ban, and he was therefcre forced to organize a new Church for Germany. Even after his excommunication, he stood out resolutely against Carlstadt and the Zwickau fanatics who wished to make radi- cal changes. He preached that the tyranny of radicalism, which would force the conscience against forms, was as bad as the tyranny which would force the conscience in the opposite direction. " No man has a right to compel his brother in matters that are left free ; and among these are marriage, living in convents, private confession, fast- ing and eating, images in churches." Give time, and the Word of God will do all that is necessary. By such preaching he checked the violent disturbances that would have wrecked the Heformation ; but of course the Zwickau Prophets denounced him 'as a new Pope! and the enemy of spiritual religion. Luther did the same kind of work in the sixteenth that Paul did in the first century ; but the great differ- ence between the two men was, that while Paul's spiritual develop- ment went on to the end of his life, Luther's was arrested, and after 1527 he became reactionary. He wiio had contended for tne right of every man to read the Scriptures, became intolerant of any interpre- tbl^ion of the Scriptures but his own. He who had pleaded for unity in diversity and diversity in unity, in his own case, would not concede it to the noble Swiss Reformers. He could hardly be induced to confer.and he would not unite with thorn, though the existence of Protestantism depended on union. " How can we unite with people who strive against God and the Sacrament '?" he cried. "This is the road to damnation, for body and soul." The Swiss view was due to the in- spiration of the devil, to wlioin Luther referred all the evil in the world. "He believed," says Dr. Scl ff, " in the presence and power of the devil, as much as in the omnipresence of God an(' the ubiquity of Christ's body." And so, Christ was divided agriiii," The fundamental weakness of Protestantism has beeii that every- where it has imitated Luther in this fatal inconsistency. It fought for liberty until it gained power, and then it became intolerant. The difforetices between the Remonstrants and contra-Remonstrants in Holland were verbal and metaphysical, but none the less the latter felt it their duty to persecute the former. No method of extinguishing differences of opinion seemed possible to the victorious Calvinists but the method of viuience, from which they themselves had suffered so cruelly. It was the same in England. Laud, from a sincere love of -92- what was to him -the beauty of holiness," persecuted the Puritans and fciccd his prayer book on the Scotch, till lie aroused a force that swept ^^w'?'f^^'^^"^•?^'''• ^'^^^" Presbyteriamsm triumphed t showed Itself equally intolerant. The Covenant was imposed on all wif!i?'^^''*^^'^"''^^\^^^ "^r^J^^r measures st Zl nrnVf T ^.^^^f °f ^»« ^y Cromwell, who as an Independent had protested against Presbyterian intolerance. Violence again fail- ed. It provoked reaction, and so at the Restoration a Parliament, J^piscopahan in sentiment, was returned by the people of England It followed the same bad method. It not only did away with he Covenant but enacted the Bill of Uniformity and prescribed oaths ^mt forced from their hvings two thousand of the best ministers in England men who objected neither to a Liturgy nor to an Episco pate. Not one of the contending parties seemed able to understand the method or appreciate the wisdom of Paul. And so Christ wna divided and subdivided, and He is divided still. Protltantism ^^^^^^^^^ ,5w"^ J f r- V*' °-''? f""^a™e"tal principle, the Supremacy of the Word of God as in erpreted by the Holy Spirit, the Supreme Judge by whom alone all controversies ca., be decided. In otC words. Protestantism was pledged from its birth to be faithful to the authority of Scripture and the authority of reason and conscience, but It has given to them at the best only a wavb-ing and half-heartpd allegiance When men are told to read the Bib.e^ i^ is imp id hat hey must interpret or understand it, and in order to do U at they must use diligently and faithfully all the light that the Holy Spirit casts on it from age to age. The Bible is a history and a coniplete though condensed literature ; and the special gift of God to ou? cen t^iry IS a truer interpretation of ancient history and ancient literatures. Ho who despises tnis charism de.pises the Spirit, and he who allege that the canons of criticism, which are the canons of universal judg- ment, should be applied to all literature save to the best shows that he hns more fai h in Jewish Scribes and Rabbis, whose successors cruci! faed Christ than he has in the human mind or the Word of God. To declare that the Lord settled literary questions by His use of the popular language of His day is the same as saying that He denied that the Sun IS the centre of the Solar system because he spoke of the Sun rising. It IS really to forbid investigation. For, how can we hives i ga e what has been settled by authority ? The authority is theclsual stood^ "' °^^ ^ ^''™' "'^^ ^^'' ^'''''^'' ^°"'^ ^^'^^« ''"^er- and m«ll^l>'f divides Christ when it pronounces on these questions and makeh Its decisions dogmas or articles of faith. Such questions canno be decided by majority votes or newspaper methods, any more than the Counci ot Constance could properlv decide as to Huss' Bo hemian books which thej- had not read. Their ignorance did lot pre- —93- But questions of interpretation can be settled only by the slow aXshould he%T"^- • «^''-'-«.'^i«-. f- allthe'evidenceis;;" « nnii 1 if ^''"'^" ^'^"^ '' *^*'^^^^0" '"^d enforce it by violence The alf ^^ r'' '"?'^^ '". '^" ^^""^^^^^ ^"^^ ^''i"^^^ °f ^^e past sistent xvft f f y^f °^ ''^"'^ fenomnmtionalism rests is then' inccn^ bistent Mith the fundamental position of Protestantism It i« uUn of cS^^Vhe n'^ t^-^1^^^^ T^^^P^'°" «^ "- ^-^"- tte^Bo^ ot Christ. The Church is turned into a club or voluntary societv for the defence and propagation of the opinions of some good man orUd men who po3sibly had less light than we enjoy, and whose op nions are va uable snnply because they reflectel the only poi^tfof Ww a Tr ^^. y '"'^' n* ^'^''^ 'assumed as much from the fact that Paul so regarded it as well as from the .judgment of history, that wherever tousrZ '"I ^'T f^'^'^r^ r^'''''^'y '^' ^-"^^^ "l^-ve been S trous to the great ends for winch the Church was founded by its Head. ih. rf ^^l^*^"''f'| "o<^ to l^«ve a Creed, it may be asked hero '> Yes read N^^'f, ^°^ that is written so plainly that he who runs mav TL. T? '*" '^"""^^i "^^*^ "'" ^P^'*^''^'^ ''^'^ '^ «^-«ed nor doubt wlmt Tl . . ^vfnli '^ expressed it again and again in a single sentence. mat?inH S n Tr'T"^ *''1 ''"'!^'^' '^''"' ^«<"^»ded, glorified Son of they witnessed in their life, their worship and their work. But the Church should be careful how it adds to this Creed, when it impos, s it as act nn?v '"T""" °' ^^ o'^'"'^- ^^'' ^^'''''^' '' ^^^"^^'s body and must Its ^".,}^'%"''^^."«-. How can it exclude those whom He does not lmnl;n7 r ^"^7°gag«iy«t Him, and forcing that division, the thought of which so shocked the Apostle ? I agree with the views ex- Eil r ^""il '^ ^^; ^•"•"^"' °f ^'^^^•^«-' - the last Baii'l il! XI n ®. non-fundamental articles of faith ought to have no place in the Creed. They are not needed either for the fellowship of behevers or for the manifestation of that personal Lord and Saviour on wnom the Church calls the world to believe. The Church has rrr/i''T u^?"u^^. *''*^"'°"y to them. . . . Put into the Lreed nothing but what is essential to the existence of the Church in tne unity ot Head and members. Let speculation be free upon all other points. Besides its Creed, the Church will give its testimony irom time to time, ..s it may see cause, on any subjonts on which its •'""f ''iTuf . '^ be iieard, but on these it will not pretend to speak with intallibihty Its voice will have weight according to its wisdom, and IS authority wil be moral and not legal. No christian will think any t le less of its authority on that account, for to the christian the moral is always higher than the merely legal. This distinction between Creed and^ testimony is observed in the life of the Church to-day. The *The Ascension of our F^ord, pp. 325-9. I —94— Church does not pretend to bind the conscience or the conduct of men on the opium or hquor traffic, on questions of meat, drink. amusemenTor kbour, on the opening of the Chicago Exposition on the LoXd ay that tTould "t-r^^t''^ ?7^'''^l '' '^^y be of immense importance that It should testify. Doubtless, the Creeds of most Churches extend over a vasly wider range tiian that indicated by Dr. Mil i^an but o e and not 1 t tf iJT ^T'^r'''''^' ^^ ^^"^^^^^ or testimon scapeTwhonf f Jn?T'^ ^"'' their successors had not es- hiK J f ^ l\ ^ \«,|"echanical conception of the Bible which they nherited from the middle ages and the Rabbis, they believed wi h ' he unTimit; onln' tlHT"' ?")• ^"' ''T' ^'^^ '--rintdlectual 3 DosJiWe ^" *^^V*^t«'^^»ts Of a complicated doctrinal system was q ute possible We know now that it is impossible. To put hundreds We TreTadf to Ti^ '^'''l'^T' '' "°* ^^ «^«^-^^^ b"* to hide ChS instead oT'^W V'"?''n^ ^-^ ^'"1^°^**^°"^ '^^ «" ^l^« «^i"e plane, als?divided. '^^^ ^^''''^'' ^^''''^y dishonoured and He is VVhat. then, is our duty at the present moment 9 Is it to a°"« -"'I i"«"lt Davud to tL hn f'^'^'^'^^Y'V^f^ for friendly aid in return, provoked tl eateno 1 ^ reso ution of a terrible revenge, intimation of the t er^^^^^^^ 'if 7 '''^ ^''"""^^^ '" .^^^"^ "^-^ ""^ °^ *'^« shepherds. " Now tuereoie. said he, after communicating the intelligence, "know and 2::^Z:t:Lf''''^:^'''''r .^f ^^oubtless thou^it it'betterl ' ]sf3^t f ^^''«^ ^'^' '''^^' '' ^«"«ib^^ ^o'^an than with irth stZ^ She at once saw the necessity of taking without ciciay tlie steps which shejndged best fitted to avert if nossible tho. Drdtir"'"^' '^ "" Ijospitablesuppheswithwlfirshe'me e2^^^^^^ companions and her impressive pleading with him and hrv^^on u« 1 ,'7' "^ '".' ''"'^ P"^'A^°^^' ^""'''^^ 1"^^ aside from tiie vengeance which he contemplated. In her wise foresight Rnd t-hfrit^^lTlf 'i",^^l^ vividly realized the loss 'of lorlc^rgoodt ad 0] anfaJon?.J \''^V'';' ^^""^^^^^t^ ^f ^^^" ^' '^'^ herself ware expos- fid, and adopted the best means of safety not only by her liberal eifts but by convincing David himself of the sinfulness^/hi^ destn ^ considemt^?^ «.'V" '° '^?-'"° '^^'^^^'^ "^^tance of that Thoughtful Tu eCs ' ^"'^.'"T*^^ ^'^ e^«^"ti^l to success in wniU It involves, the exhortation both of reason and of Scripture is Ind m Z'^i'^^"^'^^^- ^^?f' ^^ °"gl^* t« ^°." aud to do it wiK a wat S * '"•' ^'''P^^^'^'l-V are we called upon to ponder well our tuSi^l-^t^^^ be established, at particular seasons aZ S rT wL r' ^^'1/-' ^V', "r ^'^^^^ yo". Graduates of this ^u^Z ^' ? t^'''"^ obtained the distinctions which your diligence ? walira"!.d :!''' '"'"M ''' ""^^- ^^ y°" ''^'^-•^ *« g« ^«^th 'from ^)sterini ca,t wJH f ''^°''' '^?""^ ^'' -^'^^ °° ^^'^^'^ »'^^' ^^o'^^e and men to pnii! i '°'"' ^''^'•?" ^^^'^^ ^^ ^°"»««1 and encourage- -97- First of all, then, know your own selves, and remombor Rnn.l n.« future career I scarcely need, however, to remind Z of what f Sr vour ba?k w .. f ^°"' *^* ^^^ ^'^ "°* ^^^^^y^ ^e ab e to bieer your bark with favounng breeze over a gentlv heavin/r kpa where no stcumy winds and billows threaten to^rvrwSVou; Know, then, and bo well assured of the opposing forces which you have to face, that forewarned you may be forearmel Y^ur bmvc young hearts have no reason to be' depressed by the prospect Yet vill such assaults assuredly sharply t(4t the temper of^^ourarmour and you have need to consider and deliberate, what you oughtTo do to brace yourselves for the fight, and how you can most fftLtuallv meet and overcome them. What, then, must be your eouipmenrfor cTn b^ Z '^'" ''^P'^^^ °!-^'^ • ^"^ °"^y ^"^ ^1 BufficZt an wer can be given. The celestial panoply of love to Cxod, and to your mSr ^^/°"^-^^S^.^f ' ^i 1 ^^one enable you to be steadfast andTm- more pi. n ' ^^^^'f '.^"^^ ^o achieve far greater and nobler than Tnd vZ ^i'°"^"''*.' "' y^"'^ encounters with trials and temptations. lnv« ?nr'^r- ^"-^^o^^^raining principles, love to God and love to man. N ?1 n '' """^ ^''* ^"^ ^''^^'''^ ^"^y- b"t J«^^« to o"r neighbour is f m ?If 1." '"?"'"'' ^"m ^««o°^Paniment, for from love to God, and t 2ll •/^i"'?''^"^^^^^'- ^'^^^^ "^ tlie whole history of \Zlhf r' *° "^^^^^^*» brotherhood emanated from fallen man for Tni ?''°!.-^"''^. *^'!. '^•^^^^"^ ^^ ^^^^g^ t^'ibes, the contem-jt for those of a different nation, of Greek and Roman pride, of Maho- metan mto lerance. Hindoo caste, or Chinese arrogance and isolatioi Nor can either mental culture and ability, or Science, or human frl°'°?^^^T^ "^ "' ^^"^ ^^^^^^^ b°^*" i«^« to man. It gprhig nn« nf • A^ '' 'T'"-. ^" *^^" contemplation of the divine perfec- tions of wisdom and goodness in the works of creation, providence and redemption, and of the infinite depths to which the Son of God descended, and of all He spake, and suffered, and is still doing on our -9a- bchalf. Htill bending on earth a brother's eye, we behold the love of (.0(1 to the children of men, and are taught by the strongest and n'os affectnig motives as tlie objects of His loving kindness and His grace while we love Him and magnify and praise His name, at the same tmie as His creatures, and after the divine image and example to We W«H°r^°f *nT' ^u'*\''" ^^ "^^"'^^°^' He. «ays the Apostle. '• who loveth God will love hie brother alao." i' «. wno «v „^5^ i"" °^^°" *"; ^l;«<^«v«r be the posts which you are to occu- man t!' rT ^^^^^^^^^ «^«*' » *« ««rve God by your service to Z?rf.^ "''° ^''^^'^ y°"' "^y y°""« f"«»«^^^' to cherish love to your fellow men as your great practical rule and guide in your la hours, for only when your energies are inspired by a loving heart wUl ^ey most effectually accomplish the object which you have in vilw Wonderful and beneficent have been the results to which this Chrirtm^i* love has ed An incident in tlie narrative of the progress of the firs T.TVv '?^^ ?^^^'''^'.^ ""« "^ '^' Society llnds of the South Seas, strikingly illustrates the mighty and blissful influence of this ed ;h!^'?"P.^ ^"l ^^ rT ^^' ^^i««io"^"es had faithfully labou nib ; f ^^i%^P'i.V^'^ of the time apparently in vain and in im- h. l"f r "^^^/fj^^^^ ?«^o»g a people idolatrous and depravedTo the last degree of the most revengeful passions, and of almost incon ceiveable cruelty towards their enemies. At length the seed wlikh they had sown m tears began to their joy bear fruit, and their converts gradually increased until they filled the Church which they had bult. One day while at worship there they were attacked by a body of their still heathen countrymen. In the combat which ensued the Christian natives who had taken arms with them for se"f- defence signally defeated and put to flight their assailants. Far, however from displaying towards the dead and wounded among the r enemies th^ TZyellt'^f "";^^*° "^r'^ *^"y ^^^ °'- been ac^usl'iS' ed. they exhibited towards ihem the same tendei care which thev showed to their sufferers on their own side. So strikTng and admir^ able a change from their former practices was a reSion to th k astonished foes and so convinced them of the superiority of a religion which had produced it. that they at once professed theiselves Si SI'LZuTYI ""^-^'^ as one man. with those whom they had lately sought to destroy m committing their idols to the flames Love to man. which was thus so remarkably displayed in tlie case of a Christian community, giving them power over thei/former selves and the liappiest influence over others, is obviously no less potent fo^ good in the case of individuals in whose bosom it" s he govern'"^ motive. This It was which led the Saviour Himself, whichled mf Apos les, and those who were His in every age. to the paS and un daunted endurance of the difficulties, trials, and toils, which they had to undergo in their missions of beneficence to mankind And so It will be will be with you if you have this heaven y tove -ftfl- them to enthral and degrade. It will lead ion St L '"'"'"■ neighbour's excellencies! and to rero e tn Z 'id '„ °eme„T"'?t'rn be not only one of the most certain evidences 'rtle rSy ot v^ur taith, bnt an nnerr ng guide of vour liv^.i It -in il ,™'"y "' yo«r «nl.e of your ad.■it/in^he dtr^oZitte^' " you/'^r;' rit will give stimulus and enjoyment in vour studio, for il,I r tT argement of your minds/a^d prepaSn tTou'rwor^^ aXurptayeS!'™"'' "^ ""^ '«''"'"«' >"--«»' "o" »" ^ourSs love (?m,^°'"i'^f '?" '"'''"»'">».)'. this impress and refieKion of God's love to man, while it ought to guide the lives of all in all their varied circumstances will of coarse have special application in he s™era :arr/v:i';t?xzrh.'""°"- "- ^o™" *-«- '- -^"^- 1 anaifv:;^;^^^^^^^^^^^ bnghter worlds, yourself to lead the way. The physician tlm/I him self suffering from a hidden and dangerous diseL' „ ay st n be Z'e to go on his rounds of visits and be the means of r;8rorTng pafcien s to health and strength, but to be successful in the cuJe of souls the Christian pastor must himself first be healed m -' ' " • his people to be, mu3t be an example to the'flc him. He must guard against giving by word o of offence, and commend the doctrine of Go-^ I If love to your people dwell in your breasts you pendence on God's blessing to piepare yourselves tc of vour ability for the faithful discharge of both the public anc m... prival unctions of your sacred office, and not allow any other study oHur s^ut however attractive, to absorb too much of your regard ^and weaken your efforts in their behalf. In your pulpit minltrations Sr;r": ^^ \"°' ^' ^^'^^y discourses, or dLp^isqZitc^^rre: garding points of lesser moment. There will be liaturally character istic diversities of style, manner, and impressiveness in tie Soarses of each but they wi 1 all be heartfelt inculcations of the vital prTncipes of the Gospel. Their great aim will be the spiritual profit^ olTou hearers m the conversion of sinners, and the edifying of the body of Sli ^""i' ]>:l"le fearless in the denouncement of sin, you will be tenderly affectionate in reproving, and pleading with the Snner Carry this spint of love not only into the House of God, but whereve; you are and wherever you enter. The other less prominent but not -rtt he desires > all around just cause - his life. I in de- of your ijll —100— less important parts of yoiir pastoral work will theu never be services porforraod in a half-hearted and perfunctory way. Your visits from house to house, comforting the sick, the sorrowful, and the dvinir re heving the poor, lifting np the fallen, cheering the despomiin-r instructing the young, and reclaiming the vicious and erring, will all freely flow forth in the channel of emotions far deeper than anv human friendship, those of Christian sympathy anu love. Nor will this svm- pathy br conhned to those in your own spiiere. It will be wide as'tlie world, aud embrace the whole frater.-.ity of mankind, and especially will you delight to hold communion with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity by whatever name among men they may be called and .end your cordial aid in assisting to remove any walls of partition winch still tend to keep asunder those whom God lias joined Ixraduates in Medicine let it be yours to follow in the footsteps of the Gi'eat Healer of the body as well as of the soul, who out of a heart full of compassion restored health and strength to the diseased. Let iove to your fellowmen be your governing motive in your capacity of members of your noble profession, and your supreme desire b. to bo benefactors to your race to the utmost . your power, by alleviating human sufferings and rejoicing the hearts of the families to whom you minister by preserving, if possible, the lives of a beloved father or mother, or child \ou will thus also have the most crtain and strongest incentive to make yourselves more thoroughly masters of that know- edge of the best treatment of the bodily ills to which flesh is heir, of the new i;emedies which have been discovered, and the new ins ru- ments which have been devised for the relief of every varied malady which IS so essential for the most successful practice. You will thus be raised tar above any petty jealousies with regard to vour fellow- pracbitioners, and anything unbecoming the honour of vou"r profession. You will be ready to hasten at every call of duty by night, and by c'av in calm or m storm, and by your genial presence and watchful care! by the bedsides alike ot the rich and of the poor, will win the coml dence of your patients, and shew the skilful physician to be at the ^ame time their kind and sympathizing friend. Graduates in Arts, I cordially congratulate you on this honour- able termination of vour course for the several degrees which you have attained from the survey which you have thus far taken in ?he realms of literature, science and philosophy, you cannot fail to have perceived how vast is the world of knowledge, and how much you have yet to know to become fully acquainted with even one of its domains, and that you have need to be students still. Is this, however, all -^ Are your regards to be self-confined ? Are your studies to terminate m yourselves ? Are your intellectual gains to be coveted or hoarded up only for your own gratification -^ Par fr. .1 it. You are not to be isolated beings, or like the Pharisee in religion, members of a ca.te. saying like the heathen poet, " Odi profanum vulgus et arceo " keep re -101- Broo! ; hH. ' oT S ;r' «-^^'y/.^« J<»o^i»g faculties active, as Philip urooks im.i .,oJ. ,ftul h^ve ysi to know tiie Hocrot of a victorious li'e m dio harrnomoui blending of the knowinf,' and \omTllZn-l^^' Attainments m Arts and Scicu... while they enrich a ulimrve the n md. and are sourcoH of nnalloyed plea....ro to thei X Tme but the meauH by V Inch you may be hotter fitted as the^Tld on of vo nfuTV-'^^'^rf^"'^'"'"^' iellow-workers with illm K e Ld " man for being the centres of instruction to others, for L^ivi i / addUiona impulse to the progress of the race by further re^clarcl a d s otery and to t lie elevation of mankind in all that i.s pure, and jus , a id Irie' whet Pr r"r'i"^ young friends, your future line of life^ ilmt t nay' ot^e let Wfn'v''" ^r''^' ^^^'^'^""^' Law or Education, or aYj o he , let love to your fellowmen ever inspire and guide you in fulfilling the duties of jour several positions of usefnlnoss^ Let this love bt enthroned in your hearts, and speak by yonr deeds and vo-rwHl L ! a calfeiV'"""' ''' ^^'" vouifselvesU blest and w on' t ks you mr ?n vb.V? ^''' r '*" '"'?""' "^y^"-^ stewardship, and of the man- ner i„ which you have employed the talents and opportunities w h whcli you have been intrusted, yours will be the grado^ weir ! and -eward of good and faithful servants. ^ " Jamks Whjjamson. ERRATA. P. 10, 1. 8, for 'intention ' read 'intuition.' P. 11, 1. 5 from bottom, for ' this ' read • His.' ?. 16, 1. 6 from bottom, should read ' Christ says I am among you as one that serveth.' P. 20, 1. 1, insert comma after ' righteousness.' P. 20, 1. 7 from bottom, for ' praising ' read ' groanings.' I ft I' 1 I I I I I A ■ k^. Hd 1 -.. •< These Pamphlets may be obtained from all lei mg Booksellers, or from The Students' Publishi Syndicate, P.O. Box ,104, Kingston, Ont., at 25 ce per copy. I