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D., D.l)., (Edin.) Printed for Private Circulation by a Member of the Congregation. ^ /Montreal: Mitchell & Wilson, Printer.s, 1727 \oTre IUme Street. leoo. "LEST THOU FORGET." " Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them to thy sons, and thy sons' sons." — Deuteronomy iv. 9. This book of Deuteronomy assumes the form of a valedictory address Moses, the man of God, is pre- sented, at the end of the " Desert Wandering," in the aspect of a departing leader, very careful that, when he is gone, the people who have followed him may continue to walk in the right path, by which he has led them. So, with all the earnestness of a dying father counselling, for the last time, his children ga- thered round his death-bed, he takes great pains to impress the tribes, to whom he has been as a father, that, when he is gone, they may remember his last words and obey them. His one concern is lest they should forget the lessons of wisdom and experience, which they had been taught in striking circumstances, and couched in language often both forcible, and pa- thetic. They are to give their minds diligently to recall these lessons, and teach them to their children, that they also may grow up instructed in the ways of righteousness, and in their duty to Jehovah. He would not leave either the remembrance, or the instruction to hap-hazard. f hey should make it their business when he is no longer there to appeal to them, to re- fresh their memories, from time to time, by a set effort, in order that the lessons of wisdom and experience iiiay become the live thought and feeling by whieli the lives of men are nurtured and governed. The good leader had his anxieties and fears about the people from whom he was so soon to [)art. They were but men, and he knew how easy it is for men to forget. Time and again, in those forty years, forget- fulness had been just the great fault of omission with which he had to chai'ge them, and for which he had to rebuke them in pungent terms. We can, therefore, understand his anxiety ; and admii'e both the spirit and the substance of his valedictory. Men and wo- men are so ready to forget — forget favors, and when reminded of them, claim that they were rights— forget adversity, and in the day of prosperity sometimes indignantly decry the mention of it — forget trials, and utterly ignoring the wholesome lessons which they teach, land themselves by and by in heavier trials still. There seems to be noth,ug easier than for some natures to forget the offices of kindness, or wise counsel, or to profit by the obvious teaching of stern experience. Selfish souls are those and thought- less, with no true sense of responsibility, or worthy ideals of propriety, gratitude, or justice. Try to im- press such poor specimens of humanity as you will, it seems to be all the same. Help them out of ninety-nine difficulties, and at the hundredth they will abuse the generous friend who has sacrificed for them again and again, because weary and discouraged lie cannot go the fool the hundredth time. Counsel them wisely again and again, and, trusting to their profuse promises of amendment, give them another chance to regain lost confidence, and just when you expect them to be most helpful and reliable, find to & your iiiiiittei'iible di-gust that they have failed you worst of all, and proved how utterly forgetful they were of every i)r()niise and how indiflerent to every duty. Have not we all seen such like mortals rescued from sickness as if by the skin of their teeth, and solemnly warned by their physician to be strictly- regular and sensible in their future life ; yet, in a short space, they forgot all their suderings, and all the warnings of the doctor, only to plunge themselves into an abyss dee])er still from which no human hand could rescue thera. Moses had some such in his mind's eye when he spoke his valedictory ; but there were others also for whom he meant his counsel. It is possible "not to forget" outrageously, as the unworthy specimens I have quoted, and yet "to forget" really. There is such a thing as to remember respectably and senti- mentally, and yet in reality to forget. After a long course of trial and hardship, such as the Israelites had undergone in the wilderness, Moses could fore- see that there should be some who would be ready to go to the other extreme, and think, that in goodly Canaan it should be their chance to enjoy inglorious ease, and sip in idleness the milk and honey which had been so graciously promised them. Something like hundreds of immigrants to American shores who expected to get twice as much here for half the labour of the Old Land, and who were quite content to do no labour at all if they could only loaf through life in the New Land of prosperity and abundance. The chief item of forgetfulness in all such minds is, that the time of hardness and trial is really a discipline. Men and women are to come * e tliroug-li it and bo, not jii.st sis they were before, but better, for the experience. And tlie worst result of liardsliip jipiJOiirs in idleness, or even partially relaxed enerijjv. For deliberate idleness is the mother of all the vices. It is plausible to argue, that after a time of struggle, one should have a long rest — that after severe pain one sh(udd have a season of giddy pleasure — as if to even-up things and give one his due. Even those who ought to know better are occasionally found arguing in that fashion, and uncDUsciously dropping into a serious mental delusion. Rest is for refresh- ment, and refreshment is for renewed, and, if possible more vigorous, work ; not for idleness. Pleasure is for health}- relaxation, and to be a cure for })ain ; not an anodyne merely. Systematic loafing is dishonour ; and dishonour is the unhappiness of degraded manhojd. Anodyne treatment of the ills of life is cowardice ; and we don't call a coward a m;.n. All the worse for him if a man does not realize the dishonour or the cowardice of indolence. That circumstance only reveals how far down in the scale of being he has sunk. There are others, however, who, while not forget- ting, do not remember energetically enough. They would feel insulted, if any one should charge them with forgetfulness of the lessons of past experience, or of insensibility to the responsibilities and duties which these lessons entail. Nevertheless thej^ do not fulfil their responsibilities with the enthusiasm which these deserve. They do no give themselves to care- ful study of the scope of their responsibilities, and of the most creditable and efficient mode of fulfill- ing them. Through that failure ''to remember" at their best, they in reality are guilty of in some sense "forgetting." It was for the enlightment of that great mass, wliicli formed a large element of the na- tional life, that Moses specially spoke. The '• selfish loafers were in tiie minority ; but the nnconseious "'forgetters" were in the majority. These were the men who luul the destinies of Israel in their hands. She was but an infant as yet, and they were to nourish her to nobh' womanhood. They had been promised ])ossession of a good land, and Moses would have them enter upon possession in a spirit worthy of it. For that enterprise they were to take heed to themselves. On their own right hand waxQ they to rely, but tiiat hand shouhl be electrified ))V the fuU-ciiarged battery of a thoughtful spirit, and a glowing imagination at the recollection of the things which they had seen with their eyes, and which they should be careful never to let depart from their hearts, all the days of their life. Those things were the facts of experi- ence, and, though those facts had been stern enough sometimes, in the very sternness lay their virtue and their value. Inspired by the enthusiasm for liberty they had gladly followed Moses out of Goshen. Having sounded the depths of hu: filiation under the tyranny of the oppressor, their very misery had made the prospect of libertj'^ as presented by Moses all the more brilliant. But thev had hardly entered on their journey to Palestine before it was made very apparent, how utterly untit they were to strike for the much coveted prize. They had to learn that self-reliance is the conquering virtue — a truth that n^ight well be inscribed over the jjortals of every place where young men do congregate ; but they had been slow to learn the lesson nmch to the worry of Moses many a time. And now that they were about! to enter upon the conquest of Canaan, the self-reliance which they had 8 gained should stand thoni in good ])art. Tlie\' bad also learned anotlier still more imj)ortant lesson, that the true basis of all nianlv power lies in the frank recou;- nition of what the idea of God represents to the obe- dient mind, of honour, truth, justice, and rightousuess. Those Israelites had to know and recognize, that only in sul)missi()n to these great princi[)les embodied in their leader's ideal of Jehovah, could they rise to that height of nnmly power and governance which should nudve for their nationality an enduring name for high character and imperishable renown. Religion and self-reliance, godliness and grasp, manliness and nu)n- archy — these in living alliance were the only ho[)e of Moses for the nation which he had already made famous. These were the things which thev should never forget ; but on the contrarv which thev shoiUd treasure in their heart of hearts for ever and for ever. The history of Israel is a great standing illustration of the wisdom of the farewell charge of Moses. The Israelites needed the admonition and all nations have needed it. Just because of the too prevalent tendency to forget the essential conditions of human life and progress, the i)rophets of the people have to keep sounding in their ears the great principles underlying national strength, which are the only guarantees for national greatness. Lest they forget ! Lest they forget ! The British Empire, at this moment, is presenting to the civilized world the spectacle of a people true to themselves, and to the lessons of history and experi- ence. Had not Great Britain given heed to herself, and kept her soul diligently, and not forgotten the things which her eyes have seen, where would she have been to-day with the dark hordes of selfishness, 9 jealoUHV and iiumonility ariiivtMl ngainst her? Slio «hould liavo had no hoart to stand ; and she shoiiUl Inive g(nie down like the great monarchies ol" tlie ancient worhl. Hut wliat have we seen ? With checks, dissippointnients, and disastrous h)>.s of lite in the pre- sent war, very searching and very trying, the soul of the Empire in every (juarter of its glohe-encircling round has risen steadily to a •>;h)wing and indomitahle heroism. For those checks, disappointments and dis- asters have had no dishonour in them, and have brought no disgrace to the imperial character. The ])eople ha\e known that the great cause of Christian <'ivili'/ation is at stake, and they can never be recreant to that. Had it been a question of Boer and Briton merely, the Imi)erial Government might w^ell have treated the Boer as a semi-barbarian, who should be treated as a child; and, while the IJoer would have been the loser, the world at large might have been no ,sufterer. But the peoples of our vast Empire recog- nized with our imperial statesmen that the life of South Africa was at stake, and the prestige of our common humanity was in peril. So they readily re- sponded to the call of justice and righteousness, and €onsidered uot their sous too great a sacrifice to offer for the sake of civilisation. Realising as never before the unity of imperial interest at the great imperial gathering of 1887, the imperial heart was then stirred to the very depths, and needed only such an oppor- tunity as this unhappy war has afforded, to demonstrate the genuineness of the conviction that Great Britain must stand as the champion of right, freedom, and pro- gress before all the nations. That is really the sub- lime issue at stake. Shall the nations have l)efore them Great Britain the example of the highest civili- 10 sation, strong in her sonncl head, her true heart, her sensitive conscience, her wide grasp of affairs, her far- seeing vision of the goal of humanity, or shall they not? Shall honour, and virtue, and uprightness, and religion be in the ascendant in the closing days of the century, or shall they not? We care not what other nationalities may have to say to that question. Great Britain in every corner of her vast empire can have only one reply. She dare not relinquish the honourable task. She dare not shrink from the Christian responsibility. She cannot forget what her e^es have seen, nor the lessons which she has learned from history-. Russia may intrigue with her unscrupulous diplomacy and barbaric selfishness ; Ger- many may domineer with her divine right of kings, and a hard militarism under which her people groan; France, the most corrupt of the three, may shriek ribaldry and indecency in her maudlin infatuation. What care we ? The fancied strength of all such governments will inevitably be their weakness sooner or later. What sane man would trust the cause of civilization and humanity to any one of these ? And who is there besides to take up the sacred torch and bear it on credita'>ly ? I tling out the challenge upon llie breezes, and echo only answers. Who? It is because of tlrs latent conviction in the heart of the British Empire to-day, that her peoples with one heart and voice have insisted, that they all should have the opportunity to testify that they do not forget what they owe to her and to humanity. Many among us have for years been planning and talking how to promote imperial federation. As I said in a sermon some little time ago, *Hhe soul of the people have feder- ated the Empire by the meeting of her sons,as brothers. 11 on African plains, to fight for righteousness and liberty" To-day, I can go farther and say with pride, though with sorrow, that the blood of her sons have cemented for ever the fabric of imperial unity. Yes! the blood of brave Australian, and Canadian, and native-born Briton each rising to attest his loyalty to the great principles which our Empire stands to represent, calls from the red battlefield wit ha voice that reverberates, round the globe, and awakens an echo in every British bosom that shall never die out, as it carries with it a lesson that can never be forgotten. When the sad tidings reached us last week that eighteen Canadians had fallen, and many more been wounded, our hearts were sore as we said to one an- other, "'This brings the war very near to us." And our sympathies went out very freely and fully to those who were mourning for the dead heroes, or who were anxious for the wounded. But, when we had time to reflect, our souls were stirred with the burn- ing assurance, that these men's blood had not been shed in vain. They fell in a righteous cause, and their testimony will compare favourably with that of many who have earned the crown of martyrdom. They had imbibed the spirit of Britain's imperial greatness, and their names will never perish from her roll of imperial heroes. We hear much of loyalty for Canada, and willing- ness to defend her shores, from those who seem to have only the vision of a patriotic spirit bounded by the limits of their native parish. For such I have no blame that they do not enjoy a wider vision. They have it not; and they cannot realize what the good of civilization and humanitv in :he larirer sense means. They are honest enough to tell us what they see, and 12 we can only pity them that they do not see farther and .see better. Such vision, thank God, is not the vision of the people of this Dominion — the people who have made Cannda what it is, and who will vet adorn Canada's name in the front rank among the nations of tlie earth. For those who see shall lead, and those who do not see must, bv a law of the Divine govern- ment from the operation of A\'hich they cannot escape and no one can save them, be for ever followers. These small-visioned ones cannot be blamed for forgetting. Thev have never known the things which the larjre- visioned have seen. God help the small-visioned to the light ; God help the large-visioned never to for- c~p t Imperial Rome fell not because she was weak at the extremities, but because she was weak at the heart. What could her remote subjects do to save a Rome that was living Rome no more ? Those who tell us, that they will tight Britain's battles like heroes when the battlefield is transferred to Canadian soil, seem to forget, that when Great Britain has to leave them to light her battles in Canada there will then be no "Great" Britain to light for. The loyal Canadians are those who have the vision to ])erceive that Great Britain was never so great as in this splendid cham- pionship of liberty and the progress of humanity ; and that to hesitate in this day of crisis were to perpetrate a crime against Canada and plant in her bosom the deadliest wound. Thank God ! Canada will be spared such dishonour and Avrong ; but small thanks to the tardy loyalists of the parochial type. Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be the praise, world without end. Amen.