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DISCOURSES
AND ADDRESSES

GEORGE DOUGLAS, D.D., LL.D.

PRINCIPAL

csUgan f feeo. ColUgt,

MONTREAL, CANADA

"That they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.

TORONTO :

wiIvIvIAm: briggs

WESLEY BUILDINGS.
MDCCCJCCIV,

^;v i. 17

Entered, according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and ninety four, by William Bkigos,
Toronto, at the Department of Agriculture, Ottawa.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICES

REV. WM. ARTHUR, M.A.,

Honorary Secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society,
London, England,

REV. R. S. FOSTER. D.D.,

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston, Mass.,

REV. JOHN POTTS, D.D.,

Secretary of the Educational Society of the Methodist Church,

Canada.

■IMPI"

ORDKR OF CONTENTS.

British Tvtroduction .
American Introduction
Canadian Introduction
Biographical Sketch -

xiji

xvii

DISCOURSES.

Christ, the Servant of God

An Apostolic Sermon, and its Results

Works of God . ' * "

The UNCHAN(iEABLE PRIFST Tml- 0,^^ ,

House ^«»'*»t-1hl Glory of the Latter

Paul, our Example

What is Man

Elmah's Spirit in Double Portion

The Sacrifice of Service

This Year Thou Shalt Die .

A Goon Man, Full OF the Holy Ghost
IHE Spirit of Prophecy

The Sublime Role OF Privileges*
The Transcendence of Man
The Love of the Spikit
Tribulation .

1
22
44

103

120

143

162

170

188

206

224

242

268

wai

CONTENTS.

ADDRESSES.

G^cTMENiCAi. Addkksh, London, 1881 .
Ckntenary Akdrksh, Maritimk Provinces, 1882.

EnrcATioNAL Addrehs

Missionary Address, Albany, 1868
Fraternal Address to M. E. Church South, 1882
Address to Candidates for the Ministry .
(Ecumenical Address, Washington, 1891 .

277

286
21)0
•M2
:\2ii

349

BKITISII INTRODUCTION.

HowKVKR feebly, it is with «,Ma(lne.ss that I join my
voice to that of the many, and in particuhir to that of
my brethren in Canada, wlio are retui-ning thanks to the
Giver of all for the gocxl gift of George Douglas, which He
has V)een pleased now to call back to Himself. That gift
was of great price, and its benefits do not cease with its
presence. The lampstand is gone, the burner is quenched,
but the light still travels, and candles kindled at it will
shine for many days, and will pass on the Hame.

It was on the banks of the Potomac, amidst a great
gathering of brethren froin many nations, that I last saw
the notable figure of the blind old man, heard in play the
keys of the organ voice, and felt the sweep of that surging
tide of words — words w Inch rolled and flashed and rolled
again. Beside the meetings of that QEi^cumenical Cimfer-
ence, I had only once before stood face to face with Di-,
Dou jlas ; and that was in Montreal, among some of his
students and brethren. Brief as was that interview, it
sufficed to leave an impression of a rare and forcible
personality.

BllITISH INTIIODUCTIOM.

To liini, as lie stood there wiUi liis dhnnied vision, T felt
a tie which many would not feel. When I had worn out
my young eyes in India, and the doctors little expected
that I should ever get back the use of them ; and when, at
the end of five years, I succeeded for the first time in
reading through a volume ; and when, in years after, I
gradually ventured to look into my Greek Testament, and
so on ; and when it was decided at the Mission House that
I could not go — where Dr. Alder greatly wished me to go
— to Canada, because my eyes would nevei* stand the snow-
shine, with the glitter of tin roofs, — I was laying up a
store of recollections which made the spectacle of a man
bereft of sight, yet doing a work of light and love, to me
very touching. To him God had given much by nature,
and much more by grace ; and the force with which he
moved upon other men, a force which in any case would
have been impelling, became, by the power of the Spirit
of God, one impelling to lepentance, faith and holiness.
They who, through the instrumentality of his word, ceased
to do evil and learned to do well ; they who through it
had their faith restored, quickened, or established ; they
who through it were led to press on and attain to abun-
dance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, dwelling,
as some of them do, here below, or, as others of them do,
in our Father's house on high, form a better memorial
than any chant of eulogy, or monument made with hands.

Besides the work of a preacher and pastor, it was the

BRITISH INTRODUCTION.

ss.

lo,

ids.

,he

lot of Oeor<;p Doumlus to stjind in the sli|)pery plat;*' of a
Professor, a place crowned w itli opportunities and honors,
>)ut beset with peiil. There T lead that he was "con-
.servative," which I suppose means that the word of Christ
dwelt in him richly, and conserved his faith and his
courage in maintaining it, when others were moved by
the assailants of the faith, and seemed, if not halting
between two opinions, at least to be looking f)ut for
by-paths. T suppose it may mean that he was not forward
to display what some call an "advanced theology." The
only theology which that nam«> can fit is one that moves
up closer to the words and doctrines of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to those of His apostles, and to those of the men
who, at sundry times between His da}' and our own, have
made the Church bear witness that where they toiled the
wilderness became a fruitful field.

To any who studied at the feet of (leorge Douglas, I
would with deep respect say. If you ever hear men speak
of "advanced theology," when it is an advance toward
latitudinarianism, or an advance toward arianism, toward
socinianism, toward rationalism, or toward an}' of the
countless shifting and covert forms of those modes of
dealing with Christian doctrine, to which many Professoi-s
in different Churches show great deference, ask whei-e are
the deserts which any of these systems turneci into fruitful
fields. None of them is new, none untried, none without
its record. It has been my lot to see much on the con-

Vlll

BltlTISH INTllODUCnOJS'.

tinent of J^urope of fields which have been strewn with
the fertiHzers of sucli Professors, witli the result that,
instead of sear leaves being turned gi'een, what wei'e
watered gardens are dry and barren. We are often told
to stand in awe of the scholarship of such men. Rabbis
they, Pundits, wells of learning, deep learning, oh, so deep !
Do not fear, young man, as George Douglas would not have
feared, to put the (|uestion : Are these wells, or are they not
wells without water ? Do they make the grass grow 1 Are
their borders, " where <jnce a garden smiled," dry, sterile,
shrivelled ? Is it true that those who speak of their depth
never speak of the living streams which flow out from
them, nor of the " many trees on this side and on that,"
wherewith these streams clothe former wastes ? Then,
young man, turn from them, and seek an advanced the-
ology in trying to come up nearer to Christ and the
apostles, and to those whose business, like theirs, has
been to seek and to save the lost, and whose mark made
on the sands of time is that of one, like George Douglas,
"advancing" not backward but forward, not downward
but upward, not toward those whom the world hails, but
to those whom it knoweth not.

WM. ARTHUR.

•#

-1

AMERICAN INTRODUCTION.

ard

livvi

IS, but

L'R.

The place for the sermon seems to ))e the pulpit. The
conditions of success are the living voice, the illuminated
mind, the earnest soul palpitating with interest in the
theme, the influence of the Holy Spirit, a responsive
congregation quickened by sympatli}' and reverent atten-
tion into a receptive state. These conditions secured, the
sermon becomes a mighty power of upbuilding in faith
and life. The quickened soul, entranced and inspired, is
awakened to new zeal and holy fervor ; burdens are lifted,
consolation imparted, hope enkindled, and the life lifted
to a higher plane. There is no agency in the world to-day
comparable for good, for the most elevated and elevating
influence, with the Christian pulpit, despite its manifold
defects. It is, after all, the sheet-anchor — God's own
ordained agency, an instrument perhaps, more properly,
for the Christianization of the world. More than any
other agency, it has built and is building the ages.

As a rule, printed sermons, even of rare excellence, are
not interesting reading. Lacking environment, they are

AMERICAN INTIIODUCTION.

Ill

often dull and insipid, and one wonders liow they eoidd
ever have been of any profit. They were for the time
and place, and may have done great good, but with the
occasion their mission was ended ; and it were Ijetter they
shculd be permitted to die with the cadences of their
utterance.

But such are not all sermons. Rare souls are occasion-
ally lifted by exceptional inspirations into conceptions and
utterances which ouglit to live longer than the passing
hour which gave them birth, and which deserve to be
heard beyond the walls which limited them — on through
the ages and to the ends of the world. Massillon still
has an audience ; Fenelon still lives ; others less noted do
not die.

This vol' e of sei-mons by the gjeatly revered and
beloved Dr. Douglas will be read with entrancing inter-
est by many loving admirers in two hemispheres. They
sparkle in every line with poetic genius and Christian
fervor, and every page is freighted with the ripe results of
culture and scholarship. They are the best thoughts of
a gifted mind on the highest themes. Tt gives us great
pleasure to hail them as his last legacy to his loving
friends in America. He was of the Provinces, but belongs
to the world ; especially he is ours of the Methodist family,
as much in the States as in his own Canadian home. We
can never forget his appearance among us at the nation's

AMERICAN INTRODUCTIO.V.

Capital,- and the great words he there spoke still h-n<.er
in our ears and stir our hearts. "

Doubtless arrangements are made with our pubh'shin.
houses, such that every loving admirer can possess hin.elf
of the volume which voices his greatest and best thoughts
on various topics of living interest.

R. S. FOSTER.

Occasion, (Ecumenical Metliodist Conferenc

e, J891.

Hi if

1) f

CANADIAN INTRODUCTION.

A VOLUME of sermons and addresses by George Douglas,
the golden-mouthed Chrysostom of Canada, needs no intro-
duction to the people of this country. The announcement
of the purpose to publish such a volume was received with
joy by the multitudinous friends of the richly dowered
preacher and patriot. The name of Dr. Douglas is known
throughout the Methodist world as one of the foremost
men of the age, both as a pulpit and platform orator.
While he belonged to all, as a teacher of truth and
righteousness, he was, in a peculiar sense, our own Cana-
dian possession. Canada has no reason to be ashamed of
the leading men of the early history of Methodism in this
country, still it must be admitted that, in his own sphere,
Dr. Douglas was almost without a peer. His lofty elo-
quence gave him a proud pre-eminence in all the councils
of the Church, while his affectionate disposition and mani-
fest brotherliness made him the loved as well as honored
of all his brethren.

No man sympathized more than he with the plodding.

o»

XUl

;'r

XIV

CANADIAN INTRODUCTION.

i t

earnest toilers in the fields of soul-winning; nothing gave
him snch joy as tidings of revival ; aid nothing increased
his estimate of ministerial talent as much as to know that
a man was increasing the subjects of " Him whose right it
is to reign." His powerful advocacy was willingly given
to missions, education, temperance, social puHty, and to
the elevation and advancement of this land that he loved
so well.

While Dr. Douglas was at home with statesmen, philo-
sophers and scientists, and was easily abreast of the times
with any of them, he was peculiarly at home with a
returned missionary or with a pastor who could tell him
of the triumphs of th(^ adorable Redeemer. His ideal of
the ministry was high intellectually, but it was higher
spiritually.

The characteristic sermons and addresses of this volume
will be hailed with satisfaction by both the laity and
ministry of our Church, and Viy many l)eyond the bounds
of Canadian Methodism. No one can read this book
without admiring the gifted author, and feeling grateful
to (tod that he was spared to the Church so long, and
did such valiant service for the Church and country.

Alas, we shall see his face no more, nor hear that
organ-toned voice which fell upon the ears of multitudes
as a "joyful sound." Let us be thankful that loving
hands have selected from a plenitude of rich material, the

CANVDIAN INTRODT'CTION.

.se™„„., „f this ,..,,„„„, „.„i..h a,.e ove,.,.,..;,,,, „,th the
™,|o.st,c H,„| f,„„l„„„.ntal t„,tl, „f tho (;„„,,,,, ' x,„. ,„„,/
"f eo„.e, ,.c.„ ,„ „„,,„, p,,,,„,,_ ,^^ ,, ,^^^_^ ^^^ . _ .

and »„pe,.cn,.ti„„ of th„ ,„i„rf ,.„rf ,„„,,, „, «

departed friend, ^^ George Dougia,.

JOHN POTT.S.

fT^

lUOdKAlMliCAL SKKTCII,

T\ tho Ijoautilul \ ilhi;;*' of Ashkii'k, soveii miles I'roiii
Ahhotst'onl, lioiiie ol" Sir Waltor Scott, near tlu>
romantic TwiMMlsidc, aiul not far fi'om whore tlic
Aylcwater min<;lcs its silvery stream with tho rip-
plin^^ waters of theToviot, was born, on October 14th.
l(S2o, (ieor^e Douf^das.

Of stui-(ly Presbyterian stock were his ancestors;
his father, John Douglas, beinjj^ descended from one
of the bordoi" Douolases who played their part in
the heroic deeds of F'lodden Field and Dunbar, and
whose martial spirits were kindled by the ballads of
Chevy Chase and the border wars. His mother,
bonnie Mary Hood, belonged to that family of Hazel-
dean enshrined by Burns in his innnortal song.

Misfortune overtaking the once prosperous miller,
John Douglas, he determined to retrieve liis fortunes
in the New World, whither he went in 1831. Settling
in Montreal, his wife and three sons, James, John and
George, followed him, sailing from Greenock in the
smumer of 1832. After a voyage of six weeks, they
rejoined the husband and father at Quebec, whence
they took the steand)oat, the eld St. Patrick, for
Montreal. As a fellow-passenger was the tirst cholera

XVll

XVlll

BIO(iRAIMII('AL SKF/rrH,

(■

1 I

jtaticiit thai cainc t<» Montreal, tlw lu'fjijiiiliifj of fliat
(lirr (liMcaHc wliicli, as olfl residents will iTcolloct,
s\v«'|»t tliat city lor succM'.s.sivt', years, cai'ryin;,^ <l»'aili
aixl (jcsolatioii in its wake.

How litti*' aMvonc thouolit as tlu' sliv Srotcli i»aini
of six snniincrH st(']i|)('<l on the oI<l wliarl' of Mh' city
nf Moiitrral. that he would one day cclcltratc in
rhytlmiic and ins])irin<,^ eh (|M<'ticr the ;;lori('s of her
lloN'al Mount, tlic niaicstA' of JH-r nohlr St. liawi'oncc,
flic excellency of the cultuic ol" Ini- institutes of

learnin«^"

The laniily. now In their new lionie, united theni-
Holves with the old Presbyterian St. ( iahriel ('hnrch,
one of the pioncMU l^rotcstant chuivhes of the city.
For some time tlu> l'ath(M' pt'i'lormed clerical work in
coimection with the coj'])()ration, when he i-eccivcd an
ap])ointment as chirk in the customs, which position
he held, honor(M| and respected till his death in 1S()0.

Soon after theii* comin;^" to Montreal, Mr. Adam
Millrr, an earnest worker an«l visitoi' in connection
with th<' Methodist ( 'hurch, called at their home and
invite<l the three Scotch laddies to attend the Sah-
i)ath School. This mai"ke(l their tii'st introduction to
Methodism. 'I'hcy continued th«Mi- attendance at the
Presbytei'ian (/hurch, but as the youths yivnv, parents
and childi-en little by little drifted into th(^ Methodist
fold, lured by the warmth of its services and the
(Christian devotion of its membei-.s.

In early boyhood, George was not I'obust, and for
a number of years after coming to this conntrv, was

BIOCJKAPIUCAI, SKETCH.

XIX

Ihiii

wiirn
citv

•

:,o in
r bov

cs oi"

thtMn-

mrcb,

. city.

irk in
{h\ ;\n

)siti<)n
1 S()0.
Adiun
ection
(• an<l
> Sal)-
ion to
lat the
Mvents
liodist
d the

IkI for

in ilclicatc Iwalth ; indeed, it w.is only in curly man-
hood that hr. hccanK- niodcrati'ly vi^airous. 'I'hosc
who knew Inni in those hy-jr<»n«' days aHscri that lie
was of decidedly ]»rej)ossessin;; appearance, notwith-
standinjr his own d«'claration to the contraiy, b(Mn^
t> trenu'lv retirin*^ and diHident, in disposition and
hahits, and associating; Imt little with those oF liis
own ajje.

Soon at'tei" his ai'rival hei-e, he, with his hrothers,
entore<l the l^i-itisli and (^inadian School, whore lie
pni'sued his studies Tor a nuinhei' of years. That,
school was favored witli the services of Mi*. Minshall,
a teaclfer of respectable! scliolarship and exce[)tional
professional ability. Ho l)ecanie especially interested
in Geor<;'o, and naxc hini instruction in several
branches not inchide<l in the I'ctj^ular school course,
.such as hi^i'her niatheinatics, foi- which the boy
po.ssesse<l s[)ecial aptitudt;. Leavin^^' this school lie
wa.s placed under the car(> of the Rev. Mr. Black,
IVesV)yteiMan niini.ster of baprairie, and hoio h(» ox-
tended the lan^'o of his .studios into the i-udinionts
of the cla.ssics, of wliich he was an inten.se .stuch'nt-
chiefly, however, throu<;h the niediuni of English
translations.

Having an absijrbingr passion for tlie sea, together
with a strong mechanical taste, young George con-
ceived the idea of becoming a marine engineer; and
to tlioroughly fit himself for this work, entered the
ostabhshment of Sutherland & Burnett, ironworkers,
his evenings being spent in attending such cla.sse.s for

1 ' I

' : I

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

desigiiiu';' and otlier studios as were then oftbrod. It
was this experience wliich lias led to the nunierons
erroneous statements as to his having been ap|)ren-
ticed to learn blacksniithing. Nothing was further
removed from the intentions of tlie l)road-minded
Scotch lad, who, however, all througli his life lionored
the honest toiler in every sphere, yet for himself he
used the workshop as a stepping-stone to equip for
higher scenes of labor. Oft has he asserted how
eagerly he would have embraced the op})ortunities
now atibrded on the Mc(}ill campus to those seeking
an education as mechanical and civil engineers.

The extreme physical labor and exposure to great
heat entailed in fusing the metal, riveting boilers,
etc., told in time on the youth's constitution, and a
severe illness forced him to desist from his chosen
pursuit : and somewhat broken in health, lie followed
his mechanical bent by entering an establishment
where his love for fine workmanship, in those days
performed by manual labor, earned for him the
reputation of a skilled workman, vv^hile every night
found him at special classes for self-improvement and
culture. It was just at the entrance to this latter
chapter in his history tliat the great crisis of his life
occurred.

In his early days, amid a (piiet Scottish home, his
young mind had been well stored with the Scripture,
the Shorter Catechism, and the Psalms. In boyhood
his religious susceptibility was keen, and his respect
for and belief in revealed Christianity spontaneous,

.">>
4

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXI

. It

3ro\ift
pren-
rther
indcd
nored
alt' he
ip for
I how
unties

eeking

) ^rcat

boiU'i's,

i, and a

chosen
lowed
niient
! days
ni the
night
nt and
hatter
his Ut'e

me, his
'ipture,
)yhood
Irespect
lancous,

until duriu*'- liis residence witli Mr. Black at La-
pi-airie,' the lad found some infidel books, such as
Paine and Voltaire, which he devoured with his usual
rapacity, tlie fangs of the serpent leavin^^ their poison
in the tender uiind, shakino; his confidence in Chris-
tian revelation and creating grim giants oF doubt
that had to be slain a thousand times. Never, how-
over, did he degenerate into the pronounced unbe-
liever, but kept all these things and pondered them
in his heart.

In the beginning of the year 1843, George beino-
then in his eighteenth year, a series of special revival
services was held in the old St. James' Street Meth-
odist Church. These services were conducted by the
Rev. William Sijuire, a gifted and godly man, power-
ful in appeal, scrupulously conscientious, and who
has for many years been crowned with the coronal of
fidelity unto death. For weeks these services con-
tinued, but George, except on the Sabbath, avoided
being prei^ent, excusing himself on the ground of
his membership in the evening class of mechanical
drawing. At length, yielding to the oft-repeated and
sweet persuasions of a gentle mother, he one evening
entered the meeting. Impelled hy that same all-
conquering force, he returned again and yet again,
when the arrow of conviction, winged by the S[)irit
Divine, smote him to the heart and brou<»-ht him in
penitence to the foot of the cross. In vain did the
monster Unbelief seek to claim him as his prey: in
vain did his philosophic mind assert that all vva':)

¥"*

!;!

'::i;

ill

XXll

lilOGRAPHK'AI. SKfcTCtt.

mental cxcitcineiit, to evaiiisli lik(> tlie moi-nin^" dew
bel'oi-e tlie jipproacli of the king of day : in vain di<l
tlie iibsence of emotion, as experienced by others, seek
to chill his new-found love or shroud the radiant
form of liope now rising before Ins vision, as, with a
strong hand, his faith laid hold of the principles of
salvation — Christ, His death and resurrection — and
bidding defiance to all doubts, he planted himself on
these eternal truths — truths which from that day
formed the motor-power of his life ; truths to declare
which called forth tlie strength of his intellect, stirred
tlie depths of his emotions, and winged his imagina-
tion to soar beyond the realms of earth and time.

George being now won for Christ, his feet turned
into the paths of righteousness, the family circle was
complete. The father had, by his thrift, purchased a
cottage surrounded by a garden, which stills stands
ott' Dorchester Street, where his gentle wife, after a
social cup of tea with her congenial friends, was wont
to walk about and discourse in broad Scotch accent
on the rare radiance of the African marigold and the
modest beauty of the many-tinted pansy. Here
gathered from week to week, men an<l women good
and gracious, to read the Holy Book, sing the jisalms
and sacred songs, and encourage one another by
Christian fellowship. Here have oft been heard the
voices of the saintly and now sainted Dr. and Mrs.
Slade Robinson, pouring out their prayers, whicli,
like sweet incense, seemed to rise to the very throne
of God.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXlll

lew
(lid
seek
iant
I til a
iS of
-and

If OH

) day
3clare
fcivred
loiiia-

Aimed

^e was

ased a
tands
ter a,
wont
accent
id the
Here
n good .
)salnis
ler by
rd the
d Mrs.
Kvhich,
throne

An interesting ]>ieture did that cottage iioinc pre-
sent: At its licad, a finely-developed, broad-chesteil
Lowlander, niai-kcd hy firnuiess and quiet reticence,
and the niothei-, with Full Scotch face and soft grey
eye, ever connnanding the love and respect of her
thi-ee stalwart sons, the |)atlis of whom tlirougli life
(livei'fed so wi<lely. James, the eldest, became a
contractor and jiropi'ietor of planing-mills, but, owing
to a disastrous tire and other serious losses, went out
to the Western States, where he remained for a num-
ber of years, but as the almond blossoms began to
gathi'i- alxjut his bi-ow, his heart fondly yearned for
the haunts of eai-ly days, and he lias returned to the
home of his youth, awaiting the summons to ascend
to the mountains of myrrh and frankincense.

John, the second son, entered the well-known
establishment of Laurie, from behind whose counters
emerged men whose names have become known to
fame, such as the late Sir J. J. C. Abbott, the late Dr.
Howard, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, McGill
University, and others who have occupied positions
of respect ami influence in this city. From this
establishment, prompted by the voice Divine, John
went forth to [)reach the (Jospel, and was received
into the ministi'v of the Wesleyan Church, in which
sphere he labored for eight or ten years, till a severe
affection of the throat necessitated his retirement
from the pul[)it and his return to mercantile life.
Leaving (^uiada, he afterwards became an officer of

r?'^

XXIV

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

:i!::

the Treasury ])('p{xrtinent of tlie United States, and
is now niaiia^^er of a loan company in St. Paul, Minn.

These two, with Geor^-e, were the fruit of a conse-
crated Scottish home, where princi})le born of trutli
vv^as the soil in which they were nourished, and gentle
self-resti-aint the atmosphere by wliich they were
surrounded. Oft has George referred to that happy
home and the hours he spent witli that mother, prun-
ing her trees, caring for the bees, or putting the skill
of his strong arm into those carpentering adjustmentH
in which the mother of a home delip-jits ; her soft-
toned thanks, like the fragrance of the rose about a
broken vase, lingering down to life's latest hour.

Impelled by the power of his new affection, George
was now regularly to be found at all the means of
grace. Soon his power in prayer was discovered, and
he was appointed to the leadership of a class in which
were found as members John Mathewson, Dr. Howard
before mentioned, Thomas Kay and others, now gone
to enrich the heavens. His extraordinary gift of
language and rare ability in the exposition of Scrip-
ture, together with a keen spiritual insight, made it
evident to many that the pulpit was his indubitable
sphere, and little by little the conviction came in upon
his own soul, " Woe is me if I preach not the gospel."
Trampling in the dust a natural diffidence and that
self that ever sought retirement, from hencefoi'th, like
Paul of old, " forgetting the things that were behind,"
he pressed with all the energy of his being towards
this mark — the Christian ministiy.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXV

and

111.

nsc-

ruth

were

appy
)run-

skiU
uentH

sot't-
lout a

Jeorge
ans of
(1, awl
which
oNvard
gone
ift ol'
Scrip-
ade it
table
1 upon
ospel."
1 that
h, like
hind,"
wards

Wliile pursnino; lii.s daily vocation, hia every spare
liour was Hllcd witli those studies whicli would best
tit him for his life-work. Lacking the great advan-
tages of an academic and collegiate training, he never-
theless, by virtue of a phenomenally retentive and
capacious menioiy, a diligent and unwearying appli-
cation, attained a scholarship tliat was broad and
comprehensive, and in many departments thorough
and exact. Accepting the maxim of Dr. Adam Clarke,
that a Methodist minister should "intermeddle with
all wisdom," infoi'mation in any department and from
any s(jurce, whether mechanical, scientific, literary or
artistic, was seized upon, absorbed and assimilated, to
be utilized as opportunity should serve.

Appointed as a local preacher, he delivered his first
sermon in the Mcmtreal General Hospital, the white-
ca])ped heads and pale faces, as he afterwards said,
almost putting to flight the thoughts of the youthful
preacher. But a strength was his of which he knew
not the source, for at the door of that room, out
of sight, stood, as in olden days were wont to stand
near by the Preacher Divine, two Marys, down whose
faces rolled great tears of joy, pearls of great price,
for they came from the profound depths of an ocean
of love, fi'om hearts overflowing with devotion to their
Sa\iour and thanksgiving to their God that they had
lived to see this day — the one woman was Mary
Hood Douglas, the happy mother of the youthful
})reach(^r : the other, Mary Sla<]e Robinson, a nu^ther
in Israel, whose prayei's for his conversion had oft-

ir**'

mmp

XXVI

BIOUKAPHICAL SKETCH.

I *

\ I

times Jis^('ii(l('(l to tlie thr(jn(' of i::i*fiC('. Sti'uiijjt'
coincidence tliat around this youn<;' preacher, orowin;.^
old, lioverecl another Mary, wiio.se ])rayor.s and faitli
uphold him as on eagles' wings.

Fi'(jm this time he preached frecpiently in the city,
at St. Leonard's, Longiieuil and other places near by.
In 1848, going down to Quebec, he successfully passed
his theoloiiical examinations before the auijust Dr.
Richey, who now sleeps in the Acadian vale of
Nova Scotia.

Desirous of l)eing fully equipped foi" his great life-
work, he now turned his tlunights toward the Theo-
logical College in Richmond, England, having obtained
the means to attend this School of the Pro2)hets by liis
own Scotch prudence and ardent zeal, which, together
with an innate independence, marked his whole career
— an independence which was a distinguishing chai'-
acteristic throughout his entire life, leading him to
ask favors of nom;, and accept them of but few.

Accordingly, with this in view, in December, 1849,
lie bade a fond farewell to that mother he loved so
well ; that mother standing in the cottage; door, bowed
and broken with weeping: that mother into whose
tender, tearful eyes he should look never again until
they two should stan<l in the presence of the Lamb,
where all tea] 's are wi])ed away from ofl'all faces.

Sailing from New York, buoyant with ex])ectation,
the young man of four and twenty reached England,
made his way to London, and presented himself at
the Mission House. Received into the home of Dr.

felOnilAI'HICAL SKETCH.

xxvi'i

AY ill ^:
t'aitU

e city,
av by.

passed
st Dr.
ale ol'

at life-
i Theo-
btaiiu'd
s by bis
.ou-etbor
i career
()• ciiar-
Ivim to
evv.

|.r, 1849,
loved so
bowed
) whose
in until
Lamb,

ices.

sctatioii,

uo-Uind,

iiselt' at

ol' Dr.

Alder, one oi' the missionary secretaries, he awaited
his a<lmission to the <^oal of his ardent desin^, Rich-
mond CoUe'^e. Havini"- been examined to the abun-
dant satisfaction of those concerned, he was about to
urjis]) the object of his desideratum, when, lo 1 a cry
came up iVom those Southei-n isles of the sea. Tlie
youth from the land of the North star was selected to
bear the a'lad evannfel to the swarthy sons of sweet
Bermuda's isles.

Ordained in St. John's Square Chapel, on March
1st, 1850, by the Rev. I'hcmias .Jackson, assisted by
Dr. Alder and Mr. Beecham, and buiyino- Ids chei"ished
hopes, he, in company with the Rev. J<jhn Wood,
sailed from Southam])ton, March 2nd, bound foi' nns-
si(jn work in the Bahamas' District. After a somewhat
leno'thy v(jya^e, tlu?y si^-hted those isles of beauty,
i^orgeous with their groves of blossoming magnolia
and full-blown South Sea rose, whose fragrance kissed
the storm-worn mariner's brow and hailed him wel-
come to their quiet harbors; those isles wdiere the
blooming ct'reus, fanned by the breath of the sable
goddess Night, flings back her waxen portals to greet
the gaze of the midnight star; those isles andd whose
leafy shade dwell birds of plumage rivalling the
brillianc(! of the rainbow ; those isles where fish of
golden, amber and blue sportively chase each <jther
through the translucent waters; those isles against
whose rocky shores the crested billows of the ocean
lift them.selves up as if in supplication, while tlie
sparkling spray falls like a benediction on mountain,

P'l

XXVlll

BIOGRAPEK'AL SKETClt.

liill jiiid \'}ilo; tliose islus vvhicli sliake to tlieii" tinii
touiidatioiis at tlie voice of His tlmiulor, and lui'idlv
Maiiu' wlu'ii His lio-litiuii<(s flash; tliose isles canopied
with cloudless sky, hlue as Neapolitan sea, while
nightly o'er this sleeping beauty keeji watcli Orion
and the IHeiades.

To these isles, thus adorned by nature's prodigal
hand, came Georo-e Douglas in the spi-ing of 1850.
At St. (leorge's, Hamilton and St. David's were ap-
pointments of much interest. Among the families
from England and the United States, then settled
here, was to be found a high degree of culture, while
homes of elegance and grace were not wanting. But
it was among the blacks, those sable sons of Adam's
race, that he delighted to labor. To hear Aunt Sally's
tales " ob de trubbles ob dis wurld," as she turned
aside from her wash-tub to greet the approaching
minister : to soothe the rising indignation o'' him
whose small farm-yard stock had suddenly been re-
duced, while a gentle reproof was administered to the
neighbor whose stock-in-trade had as suddenly been
augmented ; to stand before a congregation whose
ebony faces, even in the brightness of day, suggested
the shadow of night, and pour into their listening
ears the wonderful tale of redemption, till the eyeballs
rolled, the white teeth, like polished ivory, were dis-
closed, the great forms began to oscillate, and as in
tones pathetic he discloses a Saviour " wounded for
their transgressions," as if the fountains of the mighty
deep were opened, the great tears would rain down

; :l!:i

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXIX

tinn

ridly

jpied

while

Jrion

j(lij;'al
1H50.

[•e ap-
inilieH
settled
, whiU;
. But
^.dain'H
Sally's
turned
aching
)'' him
ien re-
to the
y been
whose
IrC'ested
iteuing
lyeballs
ire dis-
[\ as in
led for

;.k

inii

hty
down

tlioir shining Faces, their luige frames would sway as
swMy the forest trees at tlie api)roaching storm, and
then' would arise sohhings as if from broken hearts,
swelling into tlw organ-tones of a iliapason dirge, till
the preacher's voice was drowned in the raging storm
of emotion; — tliese were the scenes o'er whieli liis
memory loved to wake and fondly brood with miser
care, and o'er these his heart grew tender down to
life's latest days.

Anf)ther source of interest was the Highland n'gi-
mciit, the " Black Watch," which was at this time
stationed at Hamilton. There being no Presbyterian
Church that they could attend, the Methodist service
was chosen in preference to the Anglican, as being
more Presbyterian in its form of worship, and there-
fore more congenial to their Scotch instinct : hence,
during their stay in the island the young Methodist
nnnister was their cha])lain. What an inspiration to
l()(jk into the faces of men composing a regiment with
record so brilliant I This famous "Black Watch," the
42nd Highlan<lers, deriving their name from their
dark-colored tartan, was the tii-st Highland corps in
the British service, and ever renowned for their cour-
age. They had served at Seringapatani, 'mid the
fevers of India, and had trod the deserts of Egypt,
'neath the shadow of the pyramids ; they had fought
in the weaiy campaigns of the Peninsular War, and
won laurels on the bloody field of Watei-loo, while
many who then in " the piping times of peace " list-
ened to the Bcrnnida missionary, in but a few years

I !

11 : I

XXX

RiOdRAPHir'AL SKKTCH.

]>()urod out tlu'ir lil'^'-hlood on the cruel Ci'iinoaii ticld
and left their hones to whiten neath the sunniier
.suns of Sehustopol. From intei'course with these men
was formed an a(M|naintance with the life of the
Bi'itish .soldi(H' which invested him with an interest
thron'diout his latei* ministerial life.

Dni'in^' his sojourn in the Bernuidas, he was asso-
ciated with the Rev. »I. I^rownell. while he made his
home with Mr. ()uter})rid^(;, a ;^^odly man, whose
saintly wWc surrounded the youn;;' minister with all
the cond'oi'ts that a mother's thou(2^htl'uin<'ss could
su^^est. It was here in Hamilton that the tirst i)lat-
form a<ldress was made. TIk; occasion was a work-
in^'men's convention. All the <4;i"eater and lesser lights
of the islands wen; ^atlu'i'ed, and amon^^ them came
the tall, pale-laced, raven-locked youth of twenty-
live, who cai'ried his audi(^nc(; with him as he depictr^l
the onward mai'ch of civilization, who with dexterous
hand dis])layed the hidden secrets of nature and laid
them at the feet ol' the workin<^man. But it was the
trophies of ^race won for the Master Divine that
satisfied the lon^in^' soul, and in after years compen-
sated for a life of suflerin<r. Manv li'ems for the
Saviour's crown were ^"athered here, some of whom
remain unto this day, and, by letters received but a
few months a^o, attest their fidelity to the Saviour,
whom they learned to love throu^'h his instrumen-
tal it v^

Rut as fi'hastly death is wont to veil her face
beneath a covering' of pure white flowers, so 'neath

ill' I

niOOHAFHIM^M- SKPrrCH.

XXXl

ticM
Miner
i ineTi
l" the
terest.

i asso-
,(le his
whoso,
■ith all
[ colli' I
^t i^lat-
i worh-
>r liohts
in caiiu>
t\v(>iity-
Icpictcd
xterous
n«l lai<l
was the
ne that
oin pen-
tor the
f whom
I'd hilt fi
avioiir,
truiiien-

lior

face

the IVaoivmt hreo/ivs wafted from tlio ticlds of radiant
lilifs. lurUtMl tile di-cad malaria, that was cvci- rcacliiii^-
outlier hoiiy lint;vrs, s('l('ctin<i- her prey, and foldinn-
it in a lifrdoii;^^ (Mnhi-arc Xoj-<lid tlie youn«»; mission-
ary escape. Fever seized liis fi-ame, a violent attack
of luemoptysis laid him low, and notwithstanding^ the
tende)- nn"nistrations of his kind Bermuda mother, he
was forcecl to hid adieu to those isles of beauty, about
whose scenes lineoed a i-omantic atf'ection 'which
tin,i;'e(l and tinte(l all his subse(|Uent life, and weak,
wasted and bi'okeu, i-etui-ne<| in the s))rino- of 1852 to
his (Janadian home. No mother was there to j^reet
him, for she had o-oiie to th<^ land whei-e partin<j^s are
forever ])ast, but a father's arms received him with
wai'm wtdcome as one reclaimed from the gTave.

Dnrin^r the ensuin^^ summer, he gathered stren^^th,
but as his physician pronounced him utterly unfitted
for the ministi'v, he decided to ])ursu<'; a course in
medicine, and for that ])urpose matriculated at McCiill
Medical School the following autumn. Witli enthu-
siasm and rai'e enjoyment h<' ])rosecute(l his studies
dui'in*,^ the winter of 1852 and 1S5.S, when, his health
being nnich improved, he, contraiy to the wish of the
professors, forsook medicine, returned to his love<l
calling in the spring of 185)1 and was appointed as
a supi)ly to Melboui'ue. Here he successfully labored
for some months, wlu^n by reason of his pulpit ability
he was removed to the city of Montreal, and appointed
as minister of the church in the Quebec suburbs, now

lo neat 1 1

XXXll

BIOOUAI'HICAI, SKETCH.

! t. I

"!i i

callf'd tlic Kfist Knd ('Imrch. Hut few i-ciuMin of tlic
old C()n;4,i(';;;ati()n, Mr. mikI Mrs. ( JcorMc Holers, to wlioiii
lie ol'tcii rcfciTcd, itciii^ po'liaps the only iiiciiilH'r.s
who liii't r vet awhile. In those early tiines the
circuit sN'stein oi»tained. 'Phei-e were three Weslevan
churches in the city, whose tlii'ee pastors preached in
I'otation in the ditVereiit ciuirches. This hroutfht him
into close association with the Hev. Wni. S(|uii'e and
th(^ Kev. .lohn .Jenkins, which lipened into mutual
art'ection and reji^ard.

In .lune, 1854, hv. was ap})ointe<l to Kingston, where
ho lahored with the Hev. .lohn Ryerson and the Hev.
Samuel J). Rice. J)urino- his n»inistry in the Lime-
stone city, he was married to Mai'ia Pearson, daughter
of Robei't Pearson, clerk in the ('rown office, Toi'onto.
Ai'ter three years of increasin*;" influence, dui-ino-
which he first became acquainted with the youthful
Irish lad, .John l^)tts, which ac(piaintanc(^ deepenec'
into a life-lon<i^ friendship, he was appointe<l to
Toronto, where, notwithstantlin^ his youth, heinn-
then in his thirty-second year, he was made Superin-
tendent of the West Circuit, all Toronto then Jiein^*
comprised in two circuits, tlie east and the west,
(jireat was the responsibility of this charge, and
heavily did it press upon his earnest soul, whose zeal
in pastoral work, despite an oft-cxhau.sted frame, and
whose tireless endeavor to put his best skill into
every pulpit effort, be it city church or mission station,
knew no limitation. Here were associated with him

mOORAPHTCAL SKETCH.

XXXIll

vUonJ

H the
■^Iryan

\t huu
re iiu<l
mutviiil

I, whi'iT
,he Kev.
ic Lime-
liui^hter

(hivinsj;
voutblH^

ute«\ to
[U, beinj;-

he west.

hose 7.cal
iunc, and
kill into
n station,

tvitli hii"

tlic K.'vs. .laJMcs I'lslio)), Jolm Li'jiroyd, WilliHiu Scnti/
Clmrlt's Fisli, and Williaiii K*. I'arkcr.

At this time tlio malarial poison coiitnictcd in tlio
F^cniMidas coHnnonc'i'd to show its cU'rcts, and now

1, an the di-ciul halth^ of wcll-ni^h f'oi'ty years.

lla\ inj,^ completed his term ol' three years in Toronto,
he was appointed to Hamilton. Here he lahorcd in
eompfiny with Rev. Richai'd W'liitin*;-, his "Cornish
IViend," W. W. Koss, and Hcniy Beeson. Soon after
comin;,^ here he made a sorrow I'ul Jcairney to Montreal,
in the bleak Novend)er of 1<S()0, to Ijiy away Ijehind
the mountain his nuichdoved I'athei-, who, I'nll of years
and respected l)y all, suddenly exehan^vd the mortal
for the innnortal state.

In Hamilton his malarial ti'ouhh' inci'eased. By
some proce.ss of atrophy of the nerves and nuiscles of
the lind»s, he lost sensation and the power to nse the
pen with his right hand, and after ae([uIrino; the
ability to use the left, it too lost its cunnint^, and
only by a most ingenious writing machine was he
ever again enabled to hold the pen.

Then followed a journey to England to C(jnsult \)v.
I)rown-8e(piard, that Franco-English nerve specialist
but lately deceased. His diagnosis of the case was
most accurate, and his treatment, as palliative, to
I some extent successfid. To the sutlerer he held out
the prospect of length of days — days, not of vigor,
but of ever-accnmulating intirmitv — and, endued with
a God-given courage, he returned to his home and his
work, determined to tight the battle to the bitter end.

'li
I

iBj ■■Mia- iinwinftth I 11 iwi t

II'' i

XXXIV

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

" With thy sliielfl, or on it," was the motto of the
Spartan mother as she sent lorth licr son to wiold the
sword in defence of iionie and country, and such was
his determination. " Tliis one thing I do," liis motto,
forgetting tlie afflictions, tlie linn'tations, the weak-
nesses — forgetting tlie tilings that were behind, ay,
and the things that wei'e present — he pressed on and
on with a heroism born of heaven, and e((nalled only
by tliat of his loving wife, wlio cheered when he was
sad, encouraged when his foot faltered, and sup])le-
niented what his once agile frame now refused to
accomplish.

Broken in health, he, at the end of three years,
reliiKjuished his chai-ge in Hamilton, and, by his
own recpiest l)eing left without an appointment, he
came down to Montreal. A year of i-etirement found
him somewhat improved, and he was sent as min-
ister to the old (h-ifflntown church, where three
useful years were passed, his colleagues being the
Rev. James Gordon, of sainted memory, and Rev.
Hugh Johnston, whom, through his entire life, he
loved tenderly as a son and over his successes ever
rejoiced. While connected with this cliurch, sickness
invaded the family, now composed of four little girls,
and the angel of death hovered over the home, and
then, 'mid April tears stooping, kissed away the dai*-
ling of the liouse to be the sister of angels. Oft to
this little green grave did the father's thoughts revert
when he stood by the sorrow -stricken, crushed b}'

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXXV

f the
d the

\ was
notto,
Acak-

'l ay,
n and
[ (inly
le, was
uppk'-
sed to

years,
by hiH
ent, Uo
■j found
.s min-
threc
\if the
I Kev.
life, he
es ever
ickness
le girls,
me, and
he dar-
0ft to
s revert
shed by

bereavement, and sou<xht to pour in tlu,' healinjj^ balm
to bi'uised and bleeding- liearts.

From Griffintown he was removed to be the min-
ister of St. James' Street Church, which w^as then in
its prime. How he delif;hted to dwell on the roll of
honored men who at that time were numbered amon^-
its cono-re^ation and membership — men whose names
were household words throuo-hout the Methodism of
Canada. Durin<;' his ministry here he had associated
with him, as colleague, the Rev. J. B. CUirkson, whom
he had already known for a number of years. Refer-
ring to their long acquaintance, Mr. Clarkson says :
" For thirty-seven years I have enjoyed his intimate
friendship, and my ideal of my friend surpasses infin-
itely my ability to express the admiration of his
genius which I liave always entertained. He seemed
to know everything. Like an electric ball, which
snaps tire at every touch, he was always chai'ged on
every important question, and freely poured out the
wealth of his information."

During the winter of 1860, revival services were
held in St. James' Church, which extended over
several months, sweeping many of the sons and
daughters of the membership into the church, some
of whom have already passed into the heavens, while
others stand to-day as pillars in the house of our Cod.

Referring to these services, Mr. Clarks(jn says:
" Of his passion for saving souls I could give aston-
ishing testimony, and of his anguish for others which
the Holy Ghost had produced in him." Continuing,

■^

f— ii

XXXVl

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

:h ii

he writes : " Self-abnegation was his native air, while
as to his compassion for sntFerintr, you never lieard
such prayers as broke from liis aching heart, when
comforting the afflicted. The sterling wortli of his
friendship was very manifest. He never sold an^'one.
There was diplomacy in his methods, but always true
and thorough honor toward everybody. His decisions
Avere carefully and calmly made, and his object always
secured, no matter how much patience was required
to effect the achievement. His innnense will-power
bore him through and over every obstruction. Thro'
years of increasing infirmity, I never heard him mur-
mur, and as the gloom of approaching darkness rested
upon him, like Scio's bard he plumed an ampler wing
and touched the melody of a deeper, sweeter strain."

During George Douglas' ministry in St. James'
Church, he made several visits to the United States
in the interests of Young Men's Christian Association
and other conventions ; but in his estimation the
work of the Christian pastor was the preaching of
the Gospel for the edification of the saints and the
conversion of sinners. Largely through his eftbrts a
mission was started in the West End of the city, he
having preached to a small company in a bowling-
alley on St. Joseph Street. Tlie little cause prospered,
and a church was built, of which he accepted the
pastorate in 1870, upon his term expiring in St.
James' Church. After a year he was appointed to
Dominion Square Church, where he continued for
two years, preaching alternately here and in St.

,ed the

in St.

ited to

led for

in St.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXXVU

Josepli Street Clun-eli, wliich 1ih<1 given him up upon
this condition. Durin^r these years he was associated
with tlie liev. (Jleorge Meacham and the Rev. J. W.
Sparling.

It liad been felt i'or some time that the Methodism
of Cana(hi East, as it was then called, would l)e greatly
strengthened, and that of Canada West broadened, by
tlie foundation of a theological college in Montreal
which would stand as a monument of evangelical
truth amid the overshadowing hierarchy of ritualistic
Koine, while it would secure to the Church that
prestige which an educational institution ever confers.
Accordingly, in 1878, the Wesleyan Theological College
of Montreal was founded, with the Hon. James Ferrier
as the Chairman of the Board of Directors : and
CJeorge Douglas, on whom the University of McGill
had been pleased to confer the degree of LL.D. (Vic-
toria later adding that of D.D.), was appointed its first
principal.

This opened another chapter of his life's history,
and he entered upon the labors of building up a college
which would be both an ornament and benediction to
the Church of his love. Such labors can only be
performed once in the history of any institution, and
the peculiar relation of the inaugurator of any move-
ment can never be shared by his successors, be they
ever so devoted to the interests of the organization.
The prayers, the tears, the fears, the joys, the sorrows,
the encouragements, the disappijintments, are they not
all recorded, indelibly recorded, with the life-blood

n 1'

1 ' :''

i 1

' 1

XXXVlll

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

lit

of Hiin wlio seeks to IjuiM on a sure fouiulution u
structure tliat shall beatify and l)less the generations
yet unl)orn.

Opening his college life with six students, theii*
place of meeting a room in the basement of ])ominion
Scjuare Church, he closed it after twenty-one years on
the McGill campus in a college building free from
debt, thanks to the noble laymen associated with
him in the work, with the names of seventy-two
students ein-olled for the year ; while of the ministry
now in the Methodist Church of Canada, one out of
every five has passed through this institution, many
of the chief pulpits of the land being tilled by those
who claim her as their Ahna Mater. Surely he and
his confederates have whereof to praise (Jod.

" Wlien he linst the wcn'k begun,
Siufill and feeble wtvs his day ; "

and it seemed as though difficulties beset them on
every side. But prayer is almighty when wielded in
the cause of God ; and this institution, being planted
by praj^er, M'atered by prayers and tears, stands as a
Mount Carmel, a moimment of a pra^^er-hearing and
prayer-answering God.

But while this work was being carried forward,
George Douglas was bearing a burden of affliction
known to but few. Official position, entailing both
honor and labor, having been generously laid upon
him by his brethren, when infirmity would have
cushioned him in the comforts of home, far other-

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

XXXIX

311 a
tions

their

iiiioH

Ts on

from

with
y^-two
[listry
)ut of
many

those
le and

em on
(led in
hinted
Is as a
n<2; and

ward,
fliction
,p- both
I upon
d have
■ other-

wise was it. New schemes were ever beinj,^ evolved
tor the wideninj,^ of the intiuenee of his Zion beloved,
to accomplish wliich miles of travel were covered,
difficulties sui^mountyd, privations endured, and self
and sutf'erino- ioiujred for the upbuilding- of the cause
of Christ and His Church, at home and abroad.

To the Methodism of ^fontreal his relation was
peculiar. He had witnessed its growth from infancy.
He had been present at the corner-stone laying or
dedication of every Methodist church in the city, save
one, almost his last public act (November, 189^1) being-
connected with the corner-stone laying of the Hope
Mission Chapel, Point St. Charles. His afi'ectionate
interest in the families, rich and poor, of Methodism,
was manifest in the groups that gathered around to
bid him welcome wherever he went.

In the year l!S77 the shadow of a great cross fell o'er
his pathway, and an impending calamity seemed to
threaten destruction. The malaria which had deprived
him of sensation in his limbs, now threatened to invade
his vision, and before him there loomed up the grim,
gaunt form of uselessness. He (juailed not at suffer-
ing, he shrank not back before pale-faced pain, but
before uselessness he stood affrighted. Darker grew
the gloom and deeper the shadows. All hope of
medical aid failed, and he entered his Gethsemaiie
where from a crushed and broken spirit was wrung
out the cry, " My God, wdiy hast thou forsaken me."
But he was not forsaken. Tlie arms Divine encircled
him ; the voice Divine whispered, " I will not break

I-

■'
v'

■w? I

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

ill iri:

ill

the bruised reed." Human affectioii watcliin^- with
hiui, not " one," but many liours, cheered his fainting
lieai't, and folded in tlie em])race of faith, Hfted him out
of (hirk despaii', till his trend)lin^' lips murnuired, "Not
my will, but tliine be done," and sweetly the comfortino-
Spirit responded, " I will make thee to drink of the
river of my pleasures." Comforted, strent^thened,
uplifted, he arose with renewed purpose to overcome
all difficulties, set himself to the herculean task of
committing;' to memory, wh(3n read by other eyes, all
the material necessary for the thcoloo-ical, homiletic
and other departments of his collegiate work, and
then with his " guardian angel," as Rev. Richard
Whiting was w^ont to call his devoted wife, ever by
his side, he responded to the calls for service from the

lenji'th and breadth of the land, cheerfully carried his
))urden, thanking God that though the printed page
had vanished, and the forms of those he loved had
grown dim, yet the light of heaven was not entirely
denied him, and the monotony of total darkness was
not his appointed lot.

Oft di<l he express his gratitude for mental vigor,
and that while sensation was destroyed, his voice and
lungs remained unimpaired to the end of life.

The swetitness of his spirit : the cheerful acceptance
of his ciivumstances, whether of undue pressure in
work oi- enforced inactivity, whether of ease or of
discomfort : his cool, calm method of weighing any pro-
blem ])resented for solution ; his large-hearted sympa-
thy, which equally adapted itself to simple rustic or

-i

■sS.

iJIOGllAt^HIC'AL SKETCH.

xli

cultiirod intellect : his tender love for his l)rethren in
the ministry, especially the niore spiritual anion^-
them : liis ahsorhing passion for soiil-winninj;-, before
which all honor, position or fame ^n-ew dim; his
ardent desire that his students should be men of God,
spiritually-minde<l and endued with pulpit power;
his ri^-hteous indignation, which flanuMl when mio-lit
tiampled on weakness and riglit went down before a
st'ltish power: the Ijreadth of his interest, which fol-
lowed, step by step, Bishop Taylor into the heart of
the Dark Continent, David Hill into Central China,
or the Sistei's of the People into the haunts and hovels
of Whitechapel : his love of nature in all her moods,
and of anytliing with life, from the " wee sleekit
mousie " of field or barn, or humming-bird which sips
tlie nectar of the opening Hower, to elephantine
monster which followed in the train of Barnum ; his
wide knowledge in the world of science, and keen
interest in its onward march of discovery ; his deep
appreciation of any kindness, coupled with an abso-
lute absence of self-thought, which never expected
any favor and never claimed a right which had not
already been bestowed — these are the lineaments
which all wdio truly knew him will recognize, over
which may be thrown the veil of a humility of whicli
he was not even conscious, and which but added
another charm to his unique personality.

The Rev. Dr. Hugh Johnston, now of Washington,
D.C., a former colleague and much attached admirer,

.gr^

xlii

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

ii 1 1

tlms strews his liowei's ol* i-cnieiiibranci', wet with
tears, o'ei' the iiieiiiory of his friend:

" I^^'oiii tlie time tliat I became liis assistant in tlie
old (iriffintown Circuit, twenty-ei^lit years a^^o, 1
have liad tlie privilege of an intimate ac(|uaintanee
with liim : and liow. n-reatly I I'evered him, liow
deeply I Joved liim ! J)r. Don^-his was world-known
for his transcendent *4'i fts of eloquence. The versatility
of his powers, the brilliancy and activity of his mind,
the greatness and heroic courage of his soul, were
I'ecot^nized throughout the entire Church. His fame
extended through every ])art of the United States,
for many of his most splendid efforts in the pulpit
and on the platform were before the thousands in the
great American cities.

" There are nuiltitudes in this land to whom his
death has ccmie in the sense of personal bereave-
ment, and in the National Capital, where during the
(J^cvnnenical Conference he was one of the most ven-
erated and conspicuous personalities, the tribute paid
to his memory in the Metropolitan Memorial Church
met with as tender and sympathetic a response as
ever thrilled in the hearts of a Canadian congrega-
tion.

" My thoughts are directed, not to his great intel-
lectual endowments and resources, or to the vast
sphere which he filled in the Church, but rather to
his character, which always impressed me as even
nobler than his rare genius. He was not in ' the roll
of common men.' Full of affability, there was yet a

BIOfJRAPHICAL SKETCH.

xliii

(li<^nity jukI inborn stiitclinoss, whicli iikkIo faniili-
urity impossible except to his most intimate friends.
A son of the liills, dowered witli an indomitable will,
he had nevertheless the tenderness of a child. He
was ' lord of a vrvvnt heart.' His home was a ' holy of
holies' in the beautiful affection which he clierished
f(jr his loved ones.

" His n-i-eat afflictions, particulai-Iy that of impaired
vision, profoundly eni'iched his spiritual bein^-. In
the earlier years he wrestled with <riant doubts con-
cerning- the future, ami many a time he has interro-
(^ated me i'e<.(ardin^" the last utterances and deepest
feelin^-s of nmtual friends, in the supreme moment of
dissolution. But of later years he had passed through
the ' sunless gulfs of doubt,' and reached the delectable
land where ' the sun shines always, and the Palace
Beautiful is in sight.' He was keenly sensitive to
the things of God, dwelt in the presence of the living
Christ, looked up into His face, took Him by the
hand, and felt the personal transforming of His
indwelling life.

"The Divine meaning of night is that the outward
is shrouded, and the eyes are carried to the far dis-
tances and fixed on the great lights in the infinite
abysses of space. So, as he walked in night, removed
fnjin the outer world, there was opened to his soul
the visions of the unseen and the spiritual, and he
'endured as seeing him who is invisible' He had
the inward eye, which is the ' bliss of solitude/ and

xliv

HtOGRAPHICAL SKteTCff.

;,! I

this mail who exorcised, pei'luips, the ^Teatest, de{?pest
and most l)eiieficial infhience on the Cliui-cli, acquired
his insight and power by a perpetual a])soi'pti<)n in
the tliinf^s that are invisible, and by having climbed
those liei^^hts that are not sij^hted by ordinary experi-
ence. This is why his later utterances respecting
political, social and ecclesiastical (juestions were often
misundei'stood. He saw with the seer's vision, and
in the light that falls not upon sea or land. It was
rather the prophet uttering his warnings with no
faltering accent, but with sharp-cut and convincing-
speech.

" Into the pi'ivacy of his daily life of suffering,
which he bore as a hero, we must not intrude. He
knew what crucifixion meant. He had his Getli-
semane and his Calvary. He suffered with tlie ' Man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief,' and by such
discipline was brought into the glorious company of
such ministers as Paul, with his thorn in the flesh,
Robert Hall, with his excruciating pain, and Spurgeon,
with his life-long and intense suflerings.

" Blessings, a thousand blessings, upon the Church
for which he labored so heroically and so faithfully !
Blessings, a thousand blessings, upon the army of
young ministers inspired by his teaching and example.
Blessings, a thousand blessings, upon that sorrowing-
widow, that angel of mercy, through whose tender
and self-sacrificing love and care he was able to furnish
his herculean service to the Church ; and upon those

BIOrmAPHICAL SKETCH.

xlv

enng,
, He
Geth-
'Man

such
my of

flesh,

hurch

i'uUy 1
my of
ample,
rowing
tender
furnish
Du those

lovint'- (lauirlitrrs, wlio wen- eyes and hands to liiiii,
Mild who rrtui-ned 'is aH'cction witli a love unceasing-

and al)idiiigl "

His lioine was liis holy ])laco, liis lila-ary liis " lioly
(.r holit's." \vli(>re, shut in with a friend, they would
discuss tlie world of niiud and mattta', the tilings
pertaining to time and to eternity — a merry laugh
and humorous tale brightening like meadow Howors
the graver Holds of discussion. Here, when the
shades of eN'ening began to fall, gathered the family.
The daily news was read, and other literature ; a
cln)ice extract being to him " a thing of beauty and a
joy forever." His cheerful spirit pervaded all; his
well-stored rrpcrtoire supplied the needed inf(>rma-
tion ; his ever-fruitful anecdote and playful repartee
enlivened the scene, while the spiritual atmosphere
which surrounded his everyday life seemed to breathe
forth a fi'agrance as if wafted from Elysian fields of
bliss. Thus he lived and loved, labored and suli'ered.

During his last illness, the same gentle patience as
had marked his whole career characterized him ; but
there was a more frecjuent expression of resignation
to the will Divine, less reference to the future and its
pi-essing duties. This, how^ever, omened naught to
his loved ones, for, while fullv alive to the interests
of the hour, he had had, more and more during the
last few years and months, his conversation in heaven.
He delighted to repeat those beautiful lines of Whit-
tier;

.pr-

xlvi

nior.uAPHirAL sketch.

'ii't'

" And when the angel of simdow

Ile.sts his feet on wave and Hhoro,
And our vyvn <,'ro\v dim vvitli weeping,

And our hearts faint, at tlie oar,
Happy is lie who heareth
• The signal <>f his release

In the hells of the Holy City,
The chimes of eternal peace."

Tu his trustcfj nud iiuicli-lovod pliysici.'in, wIiohc
coining caiTiod Hunsliiiie, in whicli ])1().shoiiu'(! the
ilovvors of liopo and clieer, ho exprcHHod his ])orfoct
Me((niosconce in wliatever should bo tlio ultinuituni.
'I\) liis t'riond, l)i-. Potts, ho j;"avo tlio assuranco that
tliou^li in sliadows hero, all was lifjlit beyond, and lie
was resting' on the Rook of Ao-cs,

His brother .John, wlio luul visited liiiu during liis
illness, in parting', said, "I shall expect Uj meet you,
George, next summer, among tlie Thousand Islands."
He replied, " Yes, wo shall meet in the isles of the
blest." From those isles of the blest he seemed to
hear " many voices calling him away," tenderly call-
ing over the jasper sea. And so, with a firm faith in
he eternal, ivsting on the Rock of Ages, gently,
peacefully I'oclining on the bosom of his Saviour, the
grasp of tilings earthly was loosened, the veil was
rent asunder, and with undinunod vision he beheld
the King in His beauty, the land that is very fai- off".
Just as his spirit, freed from the earthly tabernacle,
took its everlasting flight, his loving friend, the Rev.
William Hall, breathed a prayer of thanksgiving to

{:ihl!lili

BIOURArHICAI. SKETCH.

xlvii

llic KMtlH'i- of .ill iiiorcit'S, ihtxt on this Saturday arttT-
noon, h'hniaiy lOtli, 1S()4, all tlio work of the week
hf'iii;;" doiu', the (|ui«>t rest of the Sahhath was about
to fall on the weary world, so His weary servant,
lia\iii«; finished his week's work, had entered intt)
that Sabhath-day rest which knows no ending'.

Methinks throuo-h tliat rended veil* "we cateh a
glimpse of the eni])yi'ean ^'lory, and see the n-}i,||<>ried
heiirhts of the throned chanil)ei' of (iod and the
Land). Wliy bend ye over, ye an^el watcliers : why
thrill youi" hearts; why sin^ your roundelay of wel-
come ? Why? Who is this that conies from afai",
arrayed in white robes ^ "J'his is one who has come
out of ;;reat tribulation, and washed his robes and
made them white in the blood of tlii' I^and).

"The ' well done' from the lips of the Land) is foi'
you; the wiping away of tears by tlu' hand that was
pierced is for you; the throne, the crown, is foi- you,
and you shall reii>'n ' foi'cver and ever.' "

All that is mortal of Geor^-e Douj^'las is laid by the
side of his sainted father and mother, in the (piiet
vale behind the Royal Mount, where, as the

*' Last sunsliiue of exj)iring day

In .sinnmer twilight weeps itself away ; "

like a sweet maiden, she lingers but for a moment,
scintillates through the leafy grove, lights up e\ery
blade of grass, sits like a dove of peace on every

All, extract from the last sermon preached liy Dr. T)ougla.s,

.is^

xlviii

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

mound, goldeiis the broken cohinm, silvers the heaven -
pointing- shaft, Hashes lier briUIance into the vaulted
gloom, then o-athering her shining robes about iier,
and with the smile of retnn-rection hope upoii her face,
beckons away and away to the sea of glory beyond,
as ' Dm her lips we catch the accents of the words
inscribed upon his tomb, " He is not here, but is
risen."
Montreal, 1894.

l: I

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

CHRIST, thp: servant

OF GOD.

" Ilehohi my servant, whom I uphold ; mine elect, in whom my
soul delighteth ; I have put my spirit upon him : he shall V>rijig
forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift xip, nor
cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he
not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench : he shall bring
forth judgment anto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged,
till he have set judgment in the earth : and the isles shall wait for
his law." — Isaiah xlii. 1-4.

It is a singular fact that both antique Jew, holding
the keys of the past, and aggressive Gentile, holding
the keys of the future, are alike in regarding this
passage as one of the finest of Messianic prophecies.
Twice pronounced by the lips of Jesus, as descriptive
of His work, it is enshrined in dignity and sacred
forever. Unlike the Creek intellect, which was s])ecu-
lative, ideal and constructive, the Semitic or Hebrew
was personal, direct, practical. As the organ of
inspiration, this Semitic mind has left its impress on
this prophecy before us. Throughout all time this
vshall stand as a record of God's purpose and plan for
the regeneration and uplifting of the race, " till he

'W^^^

|i ir

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

luive set jiulo'inent in tlie eartli : and the i.sles .shall
wait for his law."

Ill the analysis of our text, we have a Purpose, an
Ao-ent. a Work, a !\Ietho(l, and a Result.

I. We have a Purpose, a poetic statement of a
trliine jrurpose. Of all poetry, the son^s of the
})rop]iets stand peerless and alone, 'j^ake, if you will,
the fruit of all poetic skill in its unaided endeavor,
from the descriptive brilliance of Hellenic metres
down to the weird strains of an Ossian : from the
sweet sonatas up to the ascending heio-hts of the
dramatic Master of all time, — between all such and
the prophetic singers there is a distinction and a
distance wide as intinitv.

Prophetic riong! How it enthrones sweet peace in
the bosom of abiding conflict, like nestling flowers
that crown the creviced peaks of volcanic desolation !
How it stands in the spirit temple, and like a mighty
magician compels every power of intellect and emo-
tion to own the touch of its divining rod, while out
of the midst of disaster and defeat it emerges all-
radiant with songs of deliverance and victory !

But here we find prophetic song in a new and
loftier role, as unfolding to us the fundamental truth
and purpose of a Triune God. " Behold," says the
Father in prophetic purpose, " my son and servant, I
have put my spirit upon him."

It is a common but superficial indictment of science
that it is the stern and imperious antagonist of reli-
gious faith. Science the antagonist of religion?

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF CSOD.

all
an

f "'
tl\e

svill,

IV or,

litres

I the

[ the

L an(l

,nd a

ace in
owers

atiou :

uo-hty

emo-

tle out

res all-

k\v and
ll truth
Lys the
Kant, I

science

lof reli-
sh gion ?

Never! Science its friend and luuKhnaid ever! The
rio-ht hand of science has readied down and uncov-
ered and traced out tlie deep intuitions of the soul,
an<l deinonsti-ated their harmony witli tlie essentials
of Clu'istianity. 'I'lie reco^-nition of a God, tlie sense
of responsibility, the yearning after the immortal, the
avi'iio-ino' conscience that can find no rest but in
atonement, and I will add the Trinity in Godhead ; —
these instincts and intuitions are as divinely in-
vvronsiht in the fibre of the soul as in this revelation
itself.

If objection be made to the statement that the
conception of trinity is an intuition, how otherwise
can you account for the fact that in every type of
religious thought formulated by the intelligence of
man, we are confronted with this germinal idea of a
triune God, — the triads of the ancients, the triunes
of the Brahmins, down to the plurality implied in the
last thinkings of Germanic philosophers, who assei't
that if there be an eternal (Jod of Love there must be
an eternal objective personality ; for love is not only
subjective but objective ; if there be an " I " that
loves, there must be i " Thou " that is loved, or, as
the text puts it, an " elect " one in whom the divine
soul delighteth. In the light of this evidence, who
shall gainsay that trinity is intuitional in the soul.
Before this great mystery of the Godhead, Reason
makes an emphatic pause and rejects utterly all
attempted analysis. It is enough to observe, with
Hodge, that there is something in the Father that is

rl. .;•>

^fpT

'II i!

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

not in the Son or Spirit ; soniething in tlie Son whicli
is not in tlie Father or Spirit ; and something in the
Spirit wliich is neither in tlie Fatlier nor Son. And
yet this Triune God is essentially one in the unity of
His Being. Here is the foundation on which stands
the temple of evangelic truth, into which all must
enter who would find mental and spiritual repose.

Ye thinkers of the ages! ye philosophic adventur-
eis gifted and profound, who have aspired to climb
with daring footsteps to the very heights of Godhead
— how do your speculations pale as into darkness
before the brilliancy of that revealing of a redemp-
tional trinity in our text, so sacred, so awful that yon
six-winged seraphim veil their tremulous gaze !

Would we climb the hills ? Would we ascend the
mountains and from the highest pinnacle sweep the
horizon of the eternities to discover the mystery of
love in its triune purpose to redeem ? Then must we
turn to the text and hear the Father say, " Behold
my son (my servant), whom I uphold ; mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my spirit upon
him : he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.'

" Let there be light," said God in creation, and
behold a trinity 1 — the chemical ray, the heat ray, the
light ray, combined to give light and life to the world.
" Let there be light," said God in redemption, and
behold a trinity ! The triune purpose found its con-
sununation in Him who said, " I am the light of the
world ; " " A light to lighten the Gentiles ;" " The light
of my people Israel."

•f

V'.U.

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF GOD.

II. An Agent, a tvondrnus Agent, gifted to us by
God. Who shall (Icehire the antecedent conditions of
ahnost any ^dft?

Poverty stands naked and perishing. Charity says,
"I will clothe this nakedness and lave the perishing."
But see you what forces have been at work to enable
ehai-ity to bestow its gift. The lieavens give their
rain, the earth gives its herbage, the animal or bleat-
intr sheei) absorbs the one and the other ; forces of
winter without, for^-^s of animal life within, give fortli
the fleece. The intelligence of man gives it to the
spindle, s!. ittle and loom. It comes forth a fabric.
The chemistries of earth color it, artistic skill shapes
it and unites it, and thus you see that forces of heaven
and earth, the human and Divine, combine to empower
charity to clothe the naked and save the perishing.

In like manner, when Divine charity would dower
our perishing race, what antecedent forces came into
play ? The eternal councils of the Triune, the an-
nijuncement of the great evangel simultaneous with
the apostasy of the race, the institution of the spirit-
ual law, the appointment of material sacrifices, the
inspiration of prophetic w^atchers, the advent in time,
the baptism in Jordan, the descent of the Spirit's
afflatus in the form of a dove — forces of heaven and
earth. Divine and human, combine as antecedent con-
ditions before Divine charity could say to our world,
" Behold, my servant."

But here we ask you to consider the intrinsic
qualities which pertain to this Divine agent.

f I

i il

DISCOURSES ANO ADDHESSKS.

It is stran^'e, but true, tliat I'oi' a condensed state-
ment of the qualities of our oivut Redeemer, we must
^'o, not to epistles or gospels, not to Psalmist oi' minor
jjrophets, but to that man who cari'ied the Hebrew
powei- of expression and ecstatic song to its highest
excellence — we must go to the impassioned Isaiah.
And what (piestion can you ask touching our Re-
deemer that this pi'ophetic oracle does n(3t answer {
Is Christ the mystery of God ? His name shall be
called " Wonderful." What Coleridire said of reliiiion
we apply to Christ: "In wonder His Divint; person-
ality began, in wonder He continues, in wonder He
shall be pei'petuated as wonder-worker forever."

Is Christ the wisdom of God ^ His name shall be
called "Counsellor," in whom are hid all treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. Counselloi', who has given
forth the resources of this revelation, who is gathei'ing
around His name the intelligence and civilization of
the ages, and is the eternal fountain of all wisdom to
the universe of intelligent being.

Is Christ the power of God ^ His name shall be
called the " Mighty God." The ultimate of might or
power, where shall it be found ^ Power in water dis-
solves solids, fire dissolves water, electric force dis-
solves fire, finite thought dissolves fire, water, every-
thing, while infinite thought is the ultimate power
that controls the universe. This power is in Jesus.
He connnanded matter, He commanded mind, He
commanded angels, He connnanded, and oh, n»ystery

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF CJOD.

of tlu' rnfinitc, tlio eternal Spirit himself responded to

His behest.

Is Christ the sympathy and love of God ? His
nanie shall be called the " Everlastino- Father." Oh,
bHssful revelation of tenderness Divine! Orphaned
world ! here is a Father's heart. Weary world ! on
this breast you may pillow your weary head. Weep-
inf world ! here is the hand that shall wipe away all
tears I'roni oil* all faces. Yes, for His coronal of honor
is " Piince of Peace." Antlienticated by the angelic
son*'' at His advent. His mission was to establish a
spii'itual kin<]^dom of peace which, like a stone hewn
out of the mountain without hands, should break the
imai>e of discord and enthrone love forever with
peace. His work of righteousness is peace, and its
effect quietness and assurance forever.

Sleeper on the Galilean lake. Weeper with the
weepers of Bethany, Wanderer who had not where to
lay His head, afflicted One who said " 1 thirst," dying
One who wailed out " Forsaken " amid the shadows of
darkness, — are these stupendous attributes thy right-
ful possession ? And art thou in the world, and in the
Church, and in this house, and by our side, and at and
in our very heart ?

O ti'uant heai't ! slow to believe. O apostate
Peter 1 following afar oti' come near and see. O
doubting Thomas, reach hither thy finger and put it
into the print of the nails ; but nay, better still,
"Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have
believed." Believe ! Believe what ? Believed the

I ! '1

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES,

i
II

promises. " Lo, I am witli you alway." " Lo, this is
our God, we have waited for Him, we will sin^- and
rejoice," " Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Jeru-
salem, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the
midst of thee." Mighty to save.

III. A Work, a prophetic reference to a great work.
" He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles," or,
as it is rendered, " deliverance to the people." It is a
principle in nature that every work corresponds to
the power of the agent. The insect bee constructs its
geometric cell, extracts the treasures of a thousand
flowers and fills that cell with honeyed sweetness.
The work is worthy of the agent.

The artistic oriole builds its hanging nest that,
from the stately elm, swings like a censer in the
summer breeze, while she greets with w^arbling songs
the opening day. The work is worthy of the agent.

Gifted with intelligence and constructive skill, man
builds his palaces, invents his enginery, weaves his
philosophic theories, sings in strains that charm the
ages and evokes the harmonies of all science. The
work is worthy of the agent, who is Wonderful, Coun-
sellor and Mighty God.

The work of Christ is threefold as relating to
Matter, as relating to Spirit, as relating to Redemp-
tion. It was the utterance of that crowned prince of
modern thinkers, the philosophic Kant, that there
were two things in the universe that woke his soul
to sublimity : the sidereal heavens and the moral
consciousness of man.

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF COT).

man

;s his

the

The

;oun-

ig to
lemp-
Uce of
there
soul
Imoral

Behold the grandeur and limitation of Christ's
work in Matter ! Wlien the disciples passed out of
tlu^ maonificer^t teini)le which crowned Moriah, turn-
ing to admire and wonder, they exclaimed, " Master,
see what manner of stones and wdiat buildings are
here !" And the Master answered, " Seest thou these
«»Teat huildinii's / there sliall not be left one stone
upon anothei- that shall not be thrown down." In
like manner, standing before the temple of the side-
i-eal heavens, whose maker and builder was Christ,
we exclaim, "What manner of stones and what build-
ings ai"e here!" But the Master, by the voice of
appointed law, declares that " there shall not be left
one stone upon another."

There is but one law for the universe, which touches
alike the tiniest leaflet and grandest world — the law
of initiation, of development, of life-bearing, of deca-
dence, of death and dissolution. As sure as grass
withers and flowers fade, worlds are dying. It is
believed that a thousand ages have gone since the
last flower bloomed and bird sang in our lunar world.
Beneath the shadow of the dying satellite we point
to all worlds and say, " They shall perish, but thou
remainest ; they sliall wax old as doth a garment, and
as a vesture they shall be changed and pass away."

Now, against the limitation w^hich belongs to the
work of Christ in matter, behold and see His work in
Spirit. A child is born ; a spiritual and ascending
force is begun. It opens to the reception of all
knowledge ; it rises to moral consciousness, driven

!i ''

1 I

DISCOURSES AND ADDUESSES.

onward hy the power of an endless life. Tt is de-
signed evermore to aj)proxiniate in intelligence and
moral likenyss toward (lod, hut the eternities shall
never record its ultimate and tinished development.

And is there a <jjrander work than the creation oi'
spirit i* I stand hei'e to declare that the culminating
work of Christ is found in the Redeynption of spii-it
from ruin. That work is worthy of the agent. And
why? For here the whole J)eity is known. In
creation, Power spake and worlds were made; Powei-
conunanded, and they stood fast. While the moral
attributes of God play hut little part in creation, in
the work of redemption every natui'al and moral
perfection in the (Jodhead is brought into fullest
exercise. And now, what is this work of redemption i
Our text states that Christ will bring forth judgment
or deliverance to the Gentiles. Deliverance! Why
deliverance ( Because there are forces of evil and sin
that hold a destroying empire over our enslaved race.

The deliverance which Christ accomplishes is two-
fold :

1st. Deliverance from sin in its guilt and impend-
ing ruin. Deliverance ! V^e cold and logical foi*ms
of a dry and technical theology of atonement, stand
aside here. It is deliv^erance !

The night is dark, the wind liowls through the
rigging like spirits distracted. Amid the blinding
tempest, a vessel fleeing for refuge misses the light,
and is driven against the Portland breakwatei*. Every
soul but one perishes that awful night. Clinging to

CHKIST, THK SKKVANT OK (lOlX

u i'nin-iiK'iit, lie Moated ofi* in tlir ,siirniii(r waters. Not
far off lav a iiii;'lit\' ironelntl. A (,'lu-iHtinii sailor,
John Kiimiaiiuel Hai-nes (let his name he liekl in
honor), on his \vatcii, thou;;ht he heai'd a cry oi' dis-
tress. He I'l'jioi'ted it. The otHeer said, " We eannot
launch a hoat t<j-ni<;ht and risk six lives to save one."
" Li't nie ti'V to save," said the Christian hei'o, when,
lasliin;;' a rope around hinisell*. he spran*;' into the
wintry waves. As if Heaviui smiled propitious, the
clouds rifted foi" a moment and the moon shone. He
^^I'asped the pei'ishinn- man, and was lifted to the deck.
When the rescui'd came to consciousness and looked
at his deliverei', bursting- into teais he Hunt;" his arms
about his neck and sobb'jd out, " Voui" name I will
remendjer and love forever!"

Dcnd-

U the
nding
llight,
i^ivery
Ing to

j'l

"Plunged in a gulf of dark despair,
We wretched sinners lay."

With the eye of infinite pity, the Prince of Peace
beheld. Winged with infinite compassion, He flew.
He plunged into tlie de^jths, and by His cross and
passion has brought up untold millions from tlie
N'crge of dcvvch and the gates of hell.

Who art tliou, blasphemer, persecutor injurious ?
Ah, thou Saul of Tarsus, brought up from the depths
of guilt ! And what is thy testimony ? " The love of
Chi'ist constraineth me."

Who art thou, drunkard, outcast, vagabond ? John
Bunyan, brought up from the depths of shame to
dream of Pilgrim and Beulah Land ! And what is

■T'm^-

DlSCOniSES AND Al)DUksSK^^.

thy work i "To tell of orat'c aljouiidiM^ to the clii*-!'
oi* Minneris."

Who ai"t thou ? Forty-Hoven ycui'H out of a life of
sixty in a pi'isoii as a criniiiial and robber — Michael
Dunn, l)rou<;ht \i\) from the dejjths of crime. And
what is thy work i "To lend to the wayward and
lost a clue to find the C/rueified."

This is the mission of the <^reat Dt^liverer. All
over this world, in every missicjn stati(m. He is reach-
in*^ down a hand which the vilest and worst may
grasp to-ni<;ht by faith, and rise and live forever.

2nd. But the deliverance of Christ is, again, deliv-
ei'ance from sin in its ])ower and pollution.

The autunnial rains liave changed the verdant land
into a miry waste. The autnnnial wiiuls have swept
every leaf from every tree and shrub, 'i'he autumnal
night, cold and drear, closes o\er a landscape bereft
of every trace of beauty. But, lo ! the morning light
breaks upon a scene of rare magnificence. The gaunt
trees are robed in wliiteness like unto the white-robed
company. Every shrub bows its head, like a feath-
ered plume, fit to adorn the brow of beauty. The
withered grass sparkles, as if sown with diamonds.
The very mire is glorified into purity. Wizard hand
of nature ! How hast thou wrought this sudden
transformation ? The cool, pure breath of night
cleansed and crystallized the murky fogs, and behold
" old things are passed away, and all things are made
new."

What autumnal storms are to nature, that sin is

, tl

fe of

Ana
I and

All
•each-
may
r.
deliv-

it land
swept
mnnal
bereft
o< light
o-aunt
-robed
feath-
. The
vnonds.

hand
sudden

night

behold

re made

It sin is

CHRIST, THE SERVAXT OF 'lOD.

to (Mir spirituul heiii;^-. It has deFaced its l)eauty,
dcs|K)iIed its ))urity, destroyed its Hl'e.

Faintlv .iiid most impei-fectiy does tiiis autumnal
radiance symholi/e the work of Chi'ist, accompHslied
by the Spirit in its regenerative effects.

Vou see a man, you liave known Ins manner of life
fi'om liis youth u])ward, I'ither that lie was a moi-alist,
cold aii<l selfish, or a tainted and polluteil votaiy ol'
vic«'. But the hour of destiny is stiMick, the J)ivine
breath comes to the valley of vision. Th(i dry bones
live, animated by this new lifi^ of holiness. Th<^ man
stands robed in purity, i-edeenwd, regenerated, fn^e, a
son of God, an heir innnortal.

Kxile of I'atmos, lend m«^ your winged power to
tell th(^ grandeur of this double deliverance in the
redemption of spirit. It is an axiom of science that
the power tliat comprehends is always greater than
the object com])rehended. That Newtonian intellect,
that spelt out and mastered the laws written on the
universe, is greater than the universe. If that New-
tonian intellect in its infancy transcends the universe,
what shall it be wlien it has travelled the eternities
with ever-augmenting powers? Exile of Patmos, canst
thou declare ? Yet, this is thy work, thou Son and
servant, captain of our salvation, to redeem spirits
for eternal development in holiness and purity, and
thus bring deliverance to the Gentiles.

IV. A Method, a divinely apjiointed method.

1st. Observe this method is unostentatious. " He
shnll not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard

DISCOURSES AND ADDllKSSES.

'!l

t PI

in tlie street." In the doiiiuiiis of iiuitter and mind
silent forces are always most potential. What is tiie
power that lifts up the waters and sends them marcli-
ing, like mighty battalions, up the estuaries, around
the lieadlands and into the bays ? That lunar attrac-
tion which rolls up the tides is voiceless and silent.
It was the silent directinf)^ thought of a Moltke which,
more than the thundering- of artilleiy, won Sedan and
lost an empire to Napoleon. And thus is it ever with
the primal forces wielded by God. How finely is this
principle illustrated in the work and mission of Christ!
Take the great thought-forces which He handled,
and in evei'v instance thev w^ere unostentatiously
announced and ap})lied. Wearied He sits yonder by
the mossy brink of Jacob's well. Every disciple has
gone into the neighboring city. A lone woman comes
to that well for water. Alone to her He says,
" Woman, God is a Spirit." " He did not cry nor lift
up, nor cause his voice to be lieard in the street." Yet
in that announcement He started a force that will
srnite every idol to the dust and vindicate the spiritual
worship of a spiritual God.

In the silences of night a timid seeker sought and
foun<l the Master. Alone to that disciple, -lesus said :
" Nicodemus, except a man be born again lie cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven." " He did not cry nor
lift u}), nor cause his voice to be lieard in the sti'eet."
Yet in this statement he started a thought trememlous
that is thrilling the ages, that regenerative change is

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF (iOD.

IT)

till; only key tliat can open the khio-dom oi" God to

lllMll.

The disciples, tender and teai-i'ul, encircle the de-
])artino- Master. With the sweetness of an all-pene-
tratino- pathos, He speaks to the sorrovvinjn;; : " Let
not v'our hearts be troubled, I (;'o to prepare a place
lor you." " He did not cry nor lift up, nor cause his
voice to be heard in the street." Yet in these words
He uncovered immortality, and started a power of
inspiration which has o-one to the weary sufferer,
stood by the bereaved beneath the shades of the
weeping willow, and which shall stand as the minister
of hope to unborn millions to the end of time. And
this is the method by which His triumph is achieved.
It is in a sense ever true, that the kingdom of God
Cometh not with observation. Grander than ocean
tides are the spiritual forces which are working in the
liidden recesses of human hearts all over this earth.
This is our confidence that Christ is, though unseen,
in the world and in the Church, by His thought-
foi'ces overcoming. Silent as the snow-flake, yet
potent as the thunder, He advances to victory.

2nd. But again the Divine method is gentle in its
administration. "He will not break the bruised reed.
He \yill not quench the smoking flax." How Divine
is this revelation in contrast with the revealings of
nature ! Nothing is more terrible than the stern
selfishness which seemingly is impressed on universal
nature. Thei-e might seems right, there weakness
goes down ' "*^ore strength, and the relentless law of

'irt

I ' /■

ii i f

1 f

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES,

the "survival of the fittest" sweeps through tlie lower
orders of being, up to the conditions of civilized life.
I have looked tlu'ough the microscope at a drop of
water, and seen the stronger nujnad destroy the
weaker. I have seen the quivering songster in the
grasp of the devouring hawk, and even in the realm
of intelligence, your men of strength, and talent, an<l
wealtli are ever unwittingly driving weakness and
poverty to the wall. Oh, terrible revelation of nature
without mercy and without hope !

Gladly we turn from this repellent picture to the
revealings of our text, and bless our God that omnipo-
tence is on the side of weakness in its uttermost
degree. " He will not break the bruised reed."
Bruised reed ! Who cares for it ? The thirsty ox
tramples it in the mire as he seeks the water. Bruised
reed, a weak and worthless thing that cannot hold
itself up, yet this is God's figure to set forth the
sympathy of His heart. A Christian visitor found
a lone child in a London cellar, bruised, beaten, dying,
deserted by an intemperate father. " When my
mother lived," said the dying girl, "she taught me

the words:

' Gentle Jeaus, ineek and mild,

Look upon a little child,'

and now I think the gentle Jesus is with me." The
good man, saying he would return, went to bring her
some helpful agencies. When he came the child was
glorified. The bruised reed was not broken nor for-
saken, but taken to the bosom of God.

■ri

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF GOD.

" He will not quench tlie smoking flax," Smokin<^
flax ! The oil is wasted and the flame is gone ; only
a spark smoulders, which a breath will extinguish.
Smoking flax ! He will not quench the trembling
spark of grace, He will hold it in life.

There is a waif of the street, wasted and lost. No
human sympathy for that " one more unfortunate
weary of breath." As slie passes the door of a mid-
night mission, she hears the words of the song floating
on the silent air,

"All may come, whoever will,
This Man receiveth sinners still."

A spark of grace trembles in her heart. She enters.
The weeping Magdalene, kneeling, cries, " Lord,
take my blistered feet from ofl" these red-hot pa\^e-
iiients of hell." Is the spark quenched ? No, it is
fanned into a flame of love. Loving much, for much
has been forgiven. I could sooner believe God would
quench every light in the midnight heavens and leave
the universe in darkness, than quench the trembling
spark. " He will not quench the smoking flax."

If I may be pardoned in a personal allusion : When
this text came to my mind, I was in weakness and
pain extreme. As the iron hand of sufl'ering held me,
my spirit reached out after sympathy Divine, and the
words came, " He will not break the bruised reed, He
will not quench the smoking flax." Oh, the royalty
of this revelation ! The triumph of the Son of God is
not that of warrior with confused noise and garments

1! i!

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

ill

rolled in blood, but it is the triumph of the Comforter
who, with the right hand of sympathy, reaches down
to the weeper, " till he shall bring forth judgment
unto truth," or demonstrate His deliverance.

3rd. And then look at this method in its persis-
tency. " He shall not fail nor be discouraged." Why
should He fail ^ Counsellor in wisdom. Mighty God
in power, His cpiiver is full of the resources of time
and eternity. Look at the history of the Church.
How he brings out of that (piiver men for the times.
Shall truth be definetl ? Atlni'>asius and Cyril and
Augustine appear. Shall music and song be evoked ?
John of Damascus, Ambrose of Milan, attune the lyre
of Christendom to unwonted melodies. Shall paintings
tell the Gospel tale ? The Umbrian and Florentine
schools incarnate Gospel histories in fresco and on
canvas. Shall the romance of missions wake the
Church ? Xavier teaches the ages how to toil and
how to suffer. Shall the light of reform appear ?
Luther rips up the moss-covered hatches of supersti-
tion and lets in the light of truth on Romish darkness.
Shall evangelizing forces be set in motion ? From
Wesley to the living Moody, men have ever been
found ready for every good work.

Unostentatious, gentle, persistent, might Divine
shall spring from seeming weakness, for " he must
reign till he hath set judgment in the earth."

V. Finally, lue have the Result, the certainty of the
result. " Till he have set judgment in the earth :
and the isles shall wait for his law."

V !

111

M' Hi

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF GOD.

Tlie coming and ultimate triumpli of ChriKt corre-
sponds to tlie triumpli of nature. When the sun
iK'oins to soften the reign of winter, the spring-time
and summer are coming. But it darkens, and the
storms fill the air ; still the spring-time and summer

are coming.

The frosts seem to gather strength, and

throw us backward ; yet spring-time and summer are
coniirg. At length the strengthening sun breaks the
spell of this refluent action, and lo ! the winter is over
and gone. " The voice of the turtle is heard in the
land;" the vines ripen into fruition; the glory of the
summer-time is come. In like manner, amid all rever-
sals, the triumph of the Son of God is coming.

I have a friend who holds to the dogma of Advent-
ism, that the world is growing worse and worse,
but I tell him the triumph is coming. With all its
selfishness and sin, there is kindness and sympathy,
there are asylums and institutions of mercy that tell
us that the spirit of the Master is possessing human
hearts and that the triumph is coming, when He shall
set judgment in the earth.

Man on thy way to Damascus, leader of the mur-
derous cavalcade, what aileth thee ? A light from
heaven has smitten him to the dust, a voice from
heaven has pierced to the heart. Redeemed, recon-
structed, regenerated, he rises and says, "Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do ? " "I wait for thy law."

Isles of Greece and the western ocean, isles of
Japan and the Indian Archipelago, isles that gem the
bosom of the great Pacific, isles with your redeemed

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

!;■;

millions — ye shall call to the continents, and the
mountains to the valleys, with the ans\verin<( Paul,
" Lord, what wilt thou have us to do ? We wait for
thy law." And what is the essential idea of all
Christian law, but to build up manhood, to glorify
God as witnesses on earth and examples in heaven of
His redeeming love ?

In one of England's finest cathedrals Ihure is a
marvellous window. I think it is Macaulay who
tells the tale of its construction. Genius found its
home in a glazier's youthful apprentice. When the
master was absent, the youth, to amuse his leisure,
gathered some fragments of colored glass. He selected
his pieces, he cut them, he adjusted them into beauti-
ful mosaics and flowers and figures and festoons of
surpassing magnificence. When the master saw it,
he recognized the work of genius. It was presented
and placed in the cathedral, and for centuries has
reflected the glory of that youthful genius. Oh, if
those worthless fragments of glass could but have
been gifted with intelligence, and foreseen a possible
destiny, would they not have come and laid them-
selves before that youth and said, " Oh, take me and
put me into some humble place in tli}^ work, and let
me reflect the glory of thy genius ! " Now, in the
great temple of God above, He is gathering from the
continents and isles of the sea every shade and every
coloring of redeemed humanity, and He is fitting
them and adjusting them into forms of beauty that
are to reflect His glory forever. Oh, shall we not

CHRIST, THE SERVANT OF GOD.

come and lay ourselves before this Master and say,
" Take me and fit me and give me some humble place
where in this great eternal transparency I shall reflect
that glory forever !"

Methinks that ten thousand voices from all over
this continent and the isles of the sea cry to us
to-night, " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies " — your
substance, your all — a living sacrifice to this work of
redeeming the world.

AX APOSTOLIC SEEMOX AND
ITS RESULTS.

•' While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Gliost fell on all
them which heard the word." — Acts x. 44.

In this historic passage, which stands related to tlie
conversion of CorneHns and his liousehold, there are
two points that will merit attention : A type of
apostolic preaching in the words spoken, and the
special and remarkable descent of the Spirit. " The
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word."

I. A type of apostolic preaching. All true preach-
ing is at once a science and an art — a science in the
wise arrangement of truth, an art in the application
of that truth to the consciences of men. And here 1 ask
you to note these two principles of science and art as
permeating every department of Peter's discourse.

1st. The words spoken open with the announcemant
of the impartiality of God. " Of a truth," says
Peter, "I perceive that God is no respecter of persons."
In the autobiography of John Stuart Mill, one of the
finest but most sceptical intellects of our age, it is
manifest that he was mentally and morally wrecked
by the mistaken conviction, that if there were a God
in the universe He was partial, intensely partial, in
His administration towards men — trampling one under
the frosty foot of adversity, crowning another with

i" ''

An afostolk: sermon anu its results.

orient benediction. Could this ^reat philosophic
tliinker but have caught up the idea before us, tliat
in all things pertaining to man's highest and innnortal
interests, CJod is no respecter of persons, how it would
have lifted his colossal spirit out of its irreparable
darkness and ruin into light celestial. Impartiality
in God is the everlasting law of His administi-ation,
written in legible form on every one of His greatest
gifts in nature. I turn to tli(3 tumbling waters of the
ocean ; the incumbent an<l arid air stoops down and
Hfts these waters of the Atlantic and Pacific in its
arms, carries them over the mountains, into the
valleys, lays those oc(ianic watei's at the i-oot of every
corn-stalk, beside every black' of grass, on the petal
of every Hower, moistening every leaf, percolating
the hills, singing their way down to the I'iver courses
and then marching back with gladsome step to their
home in the oceans. 'J'he waters of the seas are freely
uiven to the life of the continents.

I turn to the conservative power of gravitation.
It holds the grain of sand, it holds every life-form, it
holds the lowly hut and stately palace; it holds the
mountains, the world, the universe in its keeping
with undistinguishing regard. Impartiality in God 1
This is the glory of our Christianity. It was the
theory of the Greek that the blest were the favorites
of the gods ; it was the maxim of the Israelites that
salvation was alone of the Jews, but what is the wel-
come of the Gospel s* Generous as the heart of God,
it is " whosoever will." " Whosoever will !" I would

tr>

DISCOURSES ANt) ADDUESSfcS.

write it over every promise in the treasury of heaven
and stamp it on the frontispiece of every Bible.
" Wliosoever will !" I would set it as an ensign over
the portal of every temple of worsliip, and carve it
on every granite cliff around this world. " Whosoever
will !" I would ' ng the constellations of God in the
heavens so the very universe might spell it out.

" Whosoever wia, may come and take of the waters
of life freely." No bar-sinister, no fell decree holds
you back. Wherever is found a heaven-erected brow
bearing the stamp of a God-given intellect and a
beating heart, which tells of a spirit panting for an
immortal good, the living waters are for liim.

" Ye are witnesses," cries the apostle, " of these
tilings." From the ranks of youth and age, of poverty
and wealth, from the ranks of ignorance and culture,
from the ranks of the civilized and barbaric, from every
clime, from under every sun, from every nation there
rises a great cloud of witnesses to testify that God is
no respecter of persons, for in every nation he that
feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted
of Him — witnesses that there is not a resource in
Christ, not a gift of the Spirit, not an inheritance
beyond, not a beatitude along the un travelled eter-
nities but is for you. Why break we not into thanks-
giving at the plenitude of this revelation which thus
lays the wealth of the spiritual universe at our feet —
which says, " Take what thou wilt and be enriched
forever." Impartiality in God ! Is not this a truth
which the Holv Ghost will honor ?

AN APOSTOLIC SEHAION AND ITS RESULTS.

2nfl. Observe, again, tlie word spoken proclaims the
Triune Deity in sympathy with man. " God," says
Peter, " wlio anointed Jesus of Nazaretli with the
Holy Ghost and with power," What a revealing is
this of the inter-action of the Godheatl in woricing
out the redemption of our race I Before finite life had
sprung into being ; before rolling worlds had begun
their march through the immensities, or ultimate
matter had falh^n from tiie Hand Divine, the infinite
and absolute God existed in the trinity of His nature ;
an<l what is every evolution of His creative jjower,
but the demonstration of an economical trinity ?
Light ! what art thou with thy ministry of revealing ?
The chemical ray, the light ray, the heat ray — these
unfold the eternal principle of triunity tlu'ough the
medium of resplendent light. Elemental substances
around us 1 What is your testimony ? The solid
earth, the subtle air, the translucent Avatei-s, holding
in tlufir relations form, size and color, tell of a double
trinitv in this one world. Our manhood's nature, with
its triads, we pass it by, " a living epistle read and
known of all men." Deep inductions and last results
of the reasoning faculty have concluded that if God
1)(' infinite, then not one but every form of existence
nmst be in Him, not alone unity but plurality or
triunity of being: and if God be eternal love, then
His love could not be subjective, ever turning in upon
Himself, but objective, the responsive love of the
triune persons of the Godhead.

How grand is the confirmation of all speculative

i II;

'In

■ m

"tilt

niSCOUIlSES AM) ADDUKSSKS.

thou;,^lit in tlic i*('Voiiliii<rs oi* this Ijook ! Tiiist' the
(luctriiies of iimnortality and nMlciiiption, tliut of tlic
Trinity ('HU'1';^('s IVoni its curly ohsciiritics into the
i'lihu^sH ol' its Ap()CHly])tie ^iory. 'I'rinity ! 1 scie it
in tlie trinnu bernsdiotion of Most^s : "Jeliovah bless
thee and keep thoe ; .lehovali make his face shine
upon thee; Jehovah <^ive thee peace.' 1 see it in the
thrioe-holy ascriptio.- <jf Isaiah, when he saw the Lijrd
hit^h and lifted up. 1 see; it in the Divine coniniission
to disciple all nations in the name of the: Kather,
Son and Holy (Jhost. 1 see it in the apostolic dis-
missal, "The ^race of the Lord Jesus Chi'ist, the love
of (Jod and the fellowship of the Holy (Jhost be with
thee." I see it in the consunnnatinij^ rev^elation of
John when he refers to the throne of (Jod and of tlie
Lamb and of the Spirit in the churches. 'I'l'inity,
redemptional, cannot be I'eleo-ated into the background
of mystery and discarded, since without this there is
no theolot^y, no Christolooy, no redemption. Trinity!
the commission of the Father, the atontmient of the
Son, the administration of the Spirit — these are the
foundation stones of our salv^ation. Trinity I it opens
the only portal of approach to an unseen and ever-
silent God, for it is through Him, that is, Christ, we
have access by one Spirit \uito the Father. Trinity '
it is the ))asis of sonsliip and spiritual gift, for God
hatli sent forth the Spirit, the witnessing Spirit of
His Son, into your liearts, crying " Abim Father." In
a word. Trinity involves the a})otheosis of our human-
ity. What do we behold ? The love of Father, Son

.Mm

AN APOSTOLIC SEllMON AND ITS HESULTS.

;iii(l S))ii'it Hiidint^ its i'ot'ul point in man, and man
cncircleil vvitli tliis triuno love, risin;;- to a distinct and
jici'sonal f'ellovvsliip with tlu' Katlu'i', with the Son,
and with tn- - ioly (iliost. In all the round and ivahn
of tlio unive. je, tliere is nothing- more divinely trans-
cendental than this, and yet the testimony of a Mar-
(|uis de Route, of a Lady Maxwell, of those elect
saints of early Methodism who ascended to the hei<rhts
of a rapt devotion, authenticate the reality of this
fellowship with the Persons of the Triune God.
Templed in immortality, thrice holy in its sanctity
we take this mystic truth of ti'inity, and wra|)pin^'
us in its folds, look up and cry,

" "Pis mystery all, lut earth aiU>re,
Let Jiii^el niiiuls eii(|unv no iikmv."

Ti'initv, Redem])tional Trinity, is not this a truth
which the Holy Ghost will honor s*

.'h'd. A^ain, the w^ords spoken proclaim a numifested
and atoning- God, Jesus of Nazai'eth, who was slain
and hani;"ed on a tree, 'i'he deepest and divinest
thoui;hts which arise in tlx' mind ai'e the intuitional.
Without reasonintr, without ivsearch, they come in on
the S[)irit as light Hashes on the eye. They are the
u(l\-enturous and crowned princes of tliou«;ht that
wield empire in the realm of moral beintj^. Now, this
apostolic truth of a manifested God, like immortality,
must be held as an intuition of the soul, since it has
ol)tained in all ages and among all peoples.

Take the two prinuil races of man, the Turanian or

I i:^'i'i?lil'

fi '

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

fi i

race of darkness, the Aryan or race of light. Incar-
nation crowned their every concejjtion of the gods.
This was pre-eminently true of the Aryan and their
Hindu and Greek descendants. Their incarnated gods
were said to watch the lotus, to guard the waving
corn, to keep ward over childhood and the family, to
strengthen every virtue, to kindle the true Promethean
lire for lofty thought and heroic endeavor; indeed,
they were believed to liold the treasures of all tender-
ness and the resources of all deliverance. But why
do we thus refer to this intuitional thought of incar-
nation ? Why, because there is not a truth in our
Christianity wliich makes such an imperative demand
on our faith. The idea that the Architect and Up-
holder of tlie universe, who threw off worlds like
sparks from an anvil, ever walked this planet, this

fragment, this atom of creation, in the

guise

of a

^11

manhood, to which He is allied forever, is a thought
which confronts reason and astounds intelli"-ence.
But we plant ourselves on this intuition of the soul,
as the assurance of an answering reality which is
attested by this triumphant revelation of the Incar-
nate Son of God. Under its guidance I take my
stand, like the dying Stephen, and looking up I see
Heaven opened. I see Jesus sitting at the right hand
of God — nay, the place is vacant. I see the galleried
heights of the empyrean heavens and angelic princi-
palities and powers bending over in rapt and worship-
ping gaze at this far-off world. Paul, thou expositor
of the deep things of God, caught up to the third

AN APOSTOLIC SERMON AND ITS RESULTS.

heaven and hearing things unlawful to utter. Paul,
canst thou not interpret this celestial phenomenon ?
It is given, " And when he bringeth liis first begotten
into the world, he saith, ' Let all the angels of God
worship him.' "

"Tell me thy name, thy nature tell, thou wondrous
Galilean peasant, whom sixty generations hear, as
did the fisherman of old, and at whose bidding heaven
and earth respond ; tell me thy name, thy nature
toll. It is God with man, it is Jesus, the Nazarene —
and what was the high commission of this Divine
Xazarene whose life culminated in seeming disaster,
who was slain and hanged on a tree ? I answer in
o'le word that wakes the music of heaven and earth,
that word is Atonement. How tremendous is the law
of all being, which pervades the known universe, the
law of vicarious sacrifice, of life by death.

Imperious nature has uttered her voice. The death
of the mineral is the life of the vegetable. The death
of the vegetable is the life of the animal. The death
of innocence as seen in the gentle dove destroyed by
the pursuing hawk — the death of the innocent is the
life of the aggressor. The death of all is the life of
lan. Behold ! I see a wonder in heaven, cried the
seer of vision. I stand here to declare a wonder on
earth. This tremendous law of life by death is lifted
up and glorified as the law of redemption. We live
by the Rede'^mer's death. We may be told by the
advocates of the so-cjilled New Theology, that the
doath of Christ was in no sense a propitiation of

r, Ml

lift

■r "■•?•■

'«! mil

■esMi

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Gad or an expiation of sin, but a sublime finale to
a beautiful life that revealed the character of God:
a spectacular mission this, which it is said would
reconcile the world to the Father Divine.

But my nature, my conscience, demands sometliino^
\-;istly more than this. I will suppose that Othello, the
Moor, as pictured in Shakespearian drama, noble and
generous, yet dishonored and hounded by villainy to
the death — I will suppose that he were resurrected
and said to lago, his destroyer, " I will foi-give thee, I
will welcome thee." Could that villain, red-handed in
his crime, marble-hearted as a fiend — couhl that villain
ever come into that presence without change and re-
paration ? Never, never. And can we, as sinners, whose
lives are forfeited by the violation of law, who have
outrao-ed and insulted infinite love, ever stand rififht
in the presence of God without change and reparation?
" My conscience hath a thousand various tongues,"
and every tongue cries out, " It is forever impossible."
Oh, Divine expedient ! Oh, merciful device ! The slain
victim — hanged on a tree, exalted as the ever-living
Intercessor— supplies the only ground possible in the
universe on which God can meet the sinaer and
clasp hands in token of reconciliation. It ^vas this
supernal display of love which woke the enthusiasm
of the great apostle and led him to exclaim, Oh, the
depth of his riches ! " God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ " — Jesus
who is the culminating flower of the universe.

And what is the ever-abiding mission amongst men

till'

I and
this
lasn>
th«)
hlory
lesus

AN Al'OSTOLIC SKRMOX AND ITS RESULTS.

of this ji;Te{it, tliis atoninfj^, this resurrected and Divine
lunuanity i I answer, it is the effective sympathy of
tlie man, the sympatliy of tlie (Jod. Tliis world is
for most of us, no Andahisian vale of rest, no Arcadian
abode of purple vine and fra^-rant deli^-lit where flow
the spai'klino; waters of some Guadahpiiver. This
world, it is the theatre of conflict, it is the valley of
weeping, " where liearts hroken with losses and weary
with dragging the crosses, too heavy for mortals to
hear," respond to the wailing dirge of Barrett Brown-
ing:

*' We are so tired, my henrt and I,
We scarce can look at even
A little child or (IikI's blue heaven,
We are so tired, so very tired.
My heart and I."

Ah, there arc i

Shelley

nany

of us that can say with poor

I could lie down like a tired child

And weep away the life of care

Which I have borne and still must bear.

Who is that with thee in the fiery furnace heated
seven times more than it is wont to be ? It is One like
unto the Son of man. " Behold and see if any sori'ow
was like unto His sorrow." Touched with the feeling
of your infirmities, tempted in all points like as you
are — able to save. With thee, Divinest Comforter,
we shall return and conn* to Zion with everlasting
joy and gladness ui)on our heads, and sorrow and
sighing shall affrighted forever flee away. Incarnate

Vim

'■ 1

\i j

1 1

i! 8

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

and atoning Lamb, we preach thee, and is not this a
truth which the Holy Ghost will honor ?

4th. Then once again here, the words spoken assert
the responsibility of man to coming judgment : Jesus
ordained of God to be the judge of the (piick and
dead. Manifold and magnificent are the powers with
which our nature is endowed. What grandeur is
there in the simple consciousness of pleasure or of*
pain. If I, an Alpine traveller, am caught in some
mountain pathway by a fragment of an avalanche
and hurled into some deep crevasse, there to moan
out my anguished life, in that moment of agony 1
can lift my bruised arm and say, " thou Alpine
avalanche, thou knowest not that tliou hast crushed
me, but I feel, and because I feel, I am consciously
greater than thou." There is grandeur in this. There
is grandeur in the play of intellectual energy. That
pale and midnight watcher who looks out on the
jewelled sky can say of the sun, Be thou my vassal
artist ; of the planets, I have graduated your orbits ;
and of the disporting comets, I can tell the time of
your coming again. Yes, but there is something sub-
limer far than this. When that greatest statesman
which this American continent ever gave for the
guidance of a nation, Daniel Webster, was asked,
what was the mightiest thought that ever crosseid the
horizon of his intelligence, with, emphatic pause,
he answered, " A sense of my responsibility to God."
Now, this responsibilitj/ stands related to retributive
justice. Jt is the everlasting law for time and eternity

I.. !

AN APOSTOLIC SERMON AND ITS RESULTS.

tluit " wliatsouver n man soweth, tluit sliall lie also
]\-d\)." There is Jacolj, the supphmter ; Jacob, the
falsitier, recreant to lionor and i-i^lit. Jacob told one
lie. In time his sons told ten lies to him. Jacob
smote the heai't of his father with soi-row. His sons
in turn smote his heart witli an aiiii'uish lastino- as
Hfe. Ah, Jacob, thou hast sown to the winds and
hast reaped in the whirlwind.

There is ])avid, the base and infamous David, who,
witli nnnxlerous act invaded and ruined the sanctitv
of a home. What shall the harvest be ^ Ruin came
to his own dau^'hter, and the eclnjino; wail of "
Absalom, mv son Absalom," told that the sword with
which he pierced others had entered his own heart.
Ah, David, thou hast sown to the winds and reaped in
the whirlwind. We advance with this law into the
eternities. Verily, verily, the hour is cominf]^ when the
resurrected millions, both small and great, shall stand
before the great white throne and the face of Him
at whose gaze the heavens and earth shall flee away.
Then the books of destin}^ shall be opened, and the
secret histories of life revealed ; then, O man, who hast
sought to cover thy sin and hide thine ini(}uity, that
which was hidden shall be made known, and that
which was done in secret shall be published upon the
house-tops before assembled worlds. Then shall God
let loose the wolves of remorse that shall hound and
Muguish thy spirit forever. The works done in the
body will meet us at tlie judgment, evoking the " Well
(lone, good 'lud faithful servant," when God shall
3

' •. .JMHI Il

■Uib

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

diadem tl»e ri«^lit, or tlic "DcpMrt" tliat dr()])s tli(^
curtain over a lost iininoi'tality, .lud^jjinent to come !
Here

"Truth is ever on tlie scafloM,

Wrong, forever on the throne ;
But that scaft'old sways the futin-e,

And behind tlio dim unknown
Standeth (iod, within the shadow,

Keeping watcli above His own."

Judfjjniciit to come I Tliis will redress tlio wronijj, this
will vindicate the eternal ri<^ht, and is not this a
truth that the Holy (Jhost will honor ?

Bronzed and rou^^h-handed fisherman of (Jalilee,
trusted by the Master and anointed with power, we
bless thy memory for the ever-abiding truth which
thou hast o^iven us, truth that commands the con-
science, truth that is honored by the Holy (diost.

II. And this brings ns to consider the special and
re))iarkahle descent of the Spirit. "The Holy Ghost
fell upon all them that heard the word." Here all
the external phenomena of Pentecost are waiitini;-.
No miijfhtv rushinir wind, no cloven tonoues of tire,
no miraculous gifts of speech signalized this hour.
It was while Peter yet spake to the smallest of con-
gregations that the Holy Ghost fell upon them that
heard the woi'd.

1st. You will observe that the H0I3' Ghost fell upon
them as the Spirit of fjife. The highest otticifil
work of the Spirit is found in this, tliat He is the
Prince an<l ( Jiver of Life. We are familiar with the

i;:i

AN APOSTOMC SERMON AND ITS RESUI/PS.

ffict. tluit tlioiv arc two worMs in wliicli we dwell, h
woi'ld oi' lif(} <'in<l a woi-M ol' death, while an inipas-
sahlo (;'nlt' sej^aratt^s the one Fi-om the other. It
would now appear that every theoiy of spontaneous
"cneration, the self-omniiization of dead matter into
life, is forever ini])Ossil)le. 'I'he last word of science
is now l)elieved to havc^ been spoken that all life
must couie from life, and the ori<^in of all life is fi"f)ni
(!od. How impr(>ssive is the analofi^y here between
the natural and the spiritual! In lan(,nia^-e which
cannot be mistaken, spii-itual death is ever presented
in Scripture as the inevitable condition of evory nnm
hy nature. Take the loveliest ty])e of unsanctified
Innnanity that ever ^-i-aced a home or walked the
cai'th,— that soul is dead. Could you, with the scalpel
of the anatomist, lav bare the thoup'hts and intents of
that heart, wouhl you find love to the holy there ?
Xay, you Avould find enmity ag-ainst God, and this is
spiritual death, which ripens into the loathsome, the
leprous, and the foul, as seen in the desccndino- im-
inoralities of unbridled depravity.

In the lands of the Orient, it is a l)eautiful custom
to surrouiid the pale face of the dead with the rarest
llowers of aromatic fragrance. These veil, for a time,
the <leformities of death, but thev leave it death still.
And, tell me, is not this illustrative of moral condi-
tions :* What is all cultuiv, refinement and artistic
pkill in the gracing of oui' poor humanity { ( )nly the
Orient flowers that veil tln' deformities of s])iritual
dc'ith, but leave it death still.

•ilii

lie

DISCOURSKS AND ADDRESSKS.

AikI how, its it is tlic in'over.siljk' law of iiatuiv!,
that life only comes IVoiii HI'l', ho it is the nnclian;;!!!^-
law of th(; spiritual that the Holy (Jhost can alone
o•i^'(i life. Valley of Kzekifl, valley of vision ! 'I'lic
hills (letili! oil either liand. ^Phe bones of a slain
army lie scatterc^d ov(.'r its arid sands. They are very
many and veiy dry. [ see the [)rophet encer the
valley. The (juestion is askeil, "'Can these dry boiu^s
live i " Live ! We laugh the (iU<;'gestion to scorn.
The c(3mmand comes, " Son of man, |)ro])hesy to these
dry bones." Responsive to the appeal, a noise is
heard, a tremblino- shak(!S the valley; behold, the
bleached bones bfoin to move, they fly to their
appointeil place and become ccjmpacted tof^tither; and
now on the bleached bones there comi^ up tlu; sinew,
the tissue, the nerve and tlu; skin, but there is nt^ life.
Again, tlie conunand comes, " Son of man, proj)hesy
to the wind." The ciT is heard, "Come from the four
winds, () breath, and breathe upon these shiin," and
lo, a divine breath sweeps through the valley, aiul a
mighty army arises, (piickened by the breath divine.

This is the vision, what is its realistic fulfilment;'
You ha\'e seen the efi'ects of an invisible ])ower that
has fallen on a gathered company. Thei-e was m
shakinix amon<j the dry bones. You have heard the
noise and the cry, " What wilt thou have me to <lo ?"
— bone comes to bone. " What nmst I do to be
saved ? " — bone comes to bone. " I will arise and o-o
to my father," — a covering is coming over the bones,
but there is yet no life. A mystic awe rolls over tho

^1' '!

' 1

1 1

AN AI'OSTOLIC SKUMON AND ITS UKSULTS.

:J7

jiHHeiiil)ly, and a imiltltiKlc sprino- into u lii'o oC faith,
ol' love, and of traiiHportiii*;' joy. Wliat has done it?
Not tl?e ('lo(jU('nc(; of <^ifti'd ton<j;iU', not the powci- of
intellect, not the nian-netisni of sympathy. Nay,
verily, " It was the Holy (ihost that fell n[)on tlieni
as at the beo;innino-," [ stand aina/e(l at the stupen-
dous enei-<^y of the' Spirit, fillin<jj the earth, the aii-,
the water, with the nivJ'ia<l forms of \\i\) and l)eautv :
hut His grandest work is the lif«! of (lod o-iven to the
soul of man. Ye that dwell in the eoiu'ts of the Lord,
keep not silent, and ^-ive Him no rt!st until the
descending- S[»irit gives us life, and o-ives it more
abundantly,

2nd. Obs(!i-ve, a^ain, the Holy Oliost fell u[)on them
as the Spirit of lioliness. Holiness in (Jod, holiness
in man ! " T would that my tongue could uttei-," could
tell out th(! beauty of holiness. Whatever may be
implied in the gradual upbuilding of character in the
final growtli and blossoming which marks the perfect
Tnan and the upright, it is certain that every distinc-
tive j)rivilege of the ( lospel is, in its initial stage,
immediate and instantaneous in its bestowment. Justi-
lication, that is an act in the mintl of (iod. Regener-
ate life, that is accomplished by one sti-oke of power
within us. 'i'he sonship of adoption, the crucial
moment of an entire sanctitication, — these are the
swift attendants on the fiat divine. \Vhei'e\er the
Holy Ghost falls, He enriches with the instant endow-
ment of gospel privilege in plenitude aii<l conscious
power. Oh, the sui'passing beauty which the descend-

!! Im-

: ^

i)lSCOUHSES AXn ADDUKSSES.

i, ! 1 III ■ :.ri .l...l;t

iiio- Spirit l)rin^^s into tlic cluiracter of men adonicd
witli these priviK';;"es 1 We are laiiiiiiar with the raj)-
tures of the poets over thr radiances of nature, wlicn
tliev sinii' of the bendinfj; Iminehes of tlie trees tliat
se(^ni like tlie notes of some mvat insti'unient o-ivin'-'
foi-th tlu'ir sweet celestial symphonies; when they
sin<^ of the splendid scenery of the sky, o'er whose
sai)[)hii-(! sea the royal sun seems sailing- like a o-oldcn
a'alleon ; when thev sino- of the cloud-lands in the
west, whose steep sierras lift their summits white
with drifts. But what are all the resplendencies of
nature to the moral grandeur that is wrought in tlie
soul by the Spirit of (Jod ? And why should it Ix'
thought a thing incredible that (Jod should thus
endow man ? When 1 think of the transformini*'
plienomena that are ever advancing in nature ; when
we think that the foulest substances on earth, absorbed
by the roots and carried by the alembics into the
laboratories of the inner plant life, are changed into
the fragrance of the attar of roses ; when we remem-
ber that out of the darkness the modern dynamic
gathers and concentrates that energy which flames
into a light that rivals the lustre of the sun, what
shall we not believe as to the Spirit's power in pos-
sessing, exalting and adorning our humanity ^ What
constitutes the difference between the w^orks of the
iiesh, hatred, variance and sti-ife, and the fruits of
the Spirit, beautiful as the golden pomegranates of
Paradise ? The difFerence between Julian, the apos-
tate, and John, the apostle of love ; between Caligula,

AN AI'OSTOMC SEKMON AND ITS RESULTS.

the Ten'i))l(\ and Prter, tlic aposth^ of liopc ; lu'twccn
ll()l)L'spi(!nv and Mirahcau, the iiu'ii of Mood, and
Paul, the evaii<^elist of peace i Wliafc constitutes the
(MHcreiice ^ It is the ti-ansforniin*;- ministry of the
Holy (Jhost. Find me the vilest and most unlovely
man in this liouse, or in this city or land, let the Holy
(Jhost fall upon him, an<l he shall stand fortli in all
the beauty of holiness.

In one of the westiu'ii States, tlien^ was an a^ed
woman of seventy, a munleress who for twenty-seven
years was the terror of the penitentiary. As the law
had faile<l, it was determined to try the effect of
Christianity upon her. (/hained at her wrists and
ankles to a chair, she was carried l»y armed men and
set down in the vestibule of a Christian reformatory.
When the matron, a Quaker lady full of the blessed
S{)ii'it, came to receive her, though the ^lare of a fiend
was in the felon eye, she demanded her instant release.
The guards remonstrated, but she insisted. Innnedi-
ately on her release, the matron stepped up, and
placing- her hand on her shoulder, kissed her cheek.
Instantly the eyes, long unused to weep, were suffused
with tears, and falling at the feet of her benefactor,
she kissed the hem of her garment, baptizing her feet
with her tears. In a brief space she was converted,
in three months she became thesrlnt of the place,
and in three years she became the angel of that re-
formatory. What did it ? The Holy Ghost fell upon
her, and she stood forth, like the Kino-'s dauo-hter, all

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

glorious within. Oh, for faith in the all-conquering
energy of the Holy Ghost !

3r(l. Observe, finally, the Holy Ghost fell upon them
as the Spirit of power for service. In the streets of
an Italian city, a wandering minstrel had found some-
where an old and tarnished violin, from which he
was bringing forth the discordant notes of a familiar
melody. The ([uick ear of genius, in passing, was
arrested, liaving detected some latent possibilities in
what seemed a worthless instrument. He purchased
it from the minstrel, he adjusted it, he stringed it, he
attuned it to chromatic harmony, and now I see him
standing before entranced thousands in the great
halls of Europe, and by the fire of his genius, and by
the tremolo, and by the staccato, and by the crescendo,
and by the skill of his technique, evoking divinest
harmonies, descending to sepulchral depths, striking
notes that vibrate on every chord of the human heart,
and then springing elastic, like the lark, to trill in
strains celestial, dissolving into tears or kindling
to enthusiasm, wherever he goes, till a continent
echoes and re-echoes with the name of the mightiest
master the violin has ever known. Now, if the power
of unaided genius can thus bring out of a seemingly
worthless instrument such transcendent forces, what
cannot the Spirit of God bring out of such an instru-
ment as man ?

On the plains of Indiana there is a youth of rustic
form, with low brow, with deep-set eyes, with a
thin and trebly voice, without the graces of speech,

AN AFOSTOI.rc SEHMON AND ITS RESULTS. 41

as lie ti;lls us, or power of (Icclaination, but tht- hour
caiiie when a divine afflatus i'ell upon that youth
and kindled his innermost beinijf, A invent cry
awoke in his heart, " Woe, woe is me if I preach
not the Gospel." He cai'ried the burden, he strug-
o-jed with his atiections, foi' he was the only son of
his iiiothci', and she was a widow. How eould he
leav(j hei" { At len<;-th, amid tlu' sweet fellowship of a
Sabbath eve, he said, ""Mother, do you know, 1 some-
times til ink T will have to leave you to ^o and preach
the (lospel." As if an electric sliock had <^one throui;h
her, that mother rose, and bursting;' into tears, Hun^-
her arms about his neck, and said, " V.v son, I have
heen expecting this, since the day you were born.
When your father lay dying, when he was dissolving
into death, he said, ' Pillow me up and put my son
into my arms, that we may consecrate him to God and
to the service of His Church.' 1 have been expecting
thi . Go, my son, and God shall go with thee."

I am standing in the tented grove of an American
camp-moeting ; ten thousand listening worshippei-s are
around. Yonder a form rises, a familiar form. There
are the deep-set eyes but they ilame, the stooping
form but it stands in pillared majesty. I hear the
thill and trebly voice, but it cai'i-ies with it an all-
pciietrating pathos. He reasons, it is logic on tire;
he expounds, it is intellect fused into white heat ; he
declaims, the winged arrows of conviction pierce the
iieart. Like the noise of the wind on the top of the
mulberry trees, his emotional imtui'e is let loose and

I ,'- ■

DISCOURSES AND ADDKESSES.

sweejDS over the audience, wakin<j^ to ecstatic raptures.
I am cauglit up into the chariot of his power and
harnessed to the fiery steeds of liis iina<i;ination. 1
sweep up beyond the planetary, the stellar worlds,
until I stand on the remotest fraoiuent of the uni-
verse, and under his guidance I look up and see the
throne of God. I see more. I see my surety before
that throne, and oh, the rapture, — my name, your
name, sin-for<^iven man, is written on His hands.
Indiana boy, what gave thee this mastery over mind !"
Not ivlone native ability, not what culture and col-
leges can giv(;, helps though they be. It was the
Holy Ghost which fell upon thee, Simpson, as at the
beginning. ])oes any man believe that the Holy
Ghost would have fallen as Peter preached the Word,
if it had not been for the upper room, the ten days'
waiting, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost ? I tell
you, my friends, old and young, you hold possibilities
for service of which you little dream, if you will only
seek the upper room, the ten days of waiting, and
the endowment of the Holy Spirit. Standing, as we
do, tcv\'U'ds the closing days of a somewhat extended
ministry, I would, with all the emphasis of my being,
urge an immediate surrender to the power of the
Holy Ghost.

This wdll kindle your intellect, this will let loose
your emotions, this will invest you with a magnetism
that will sweep others into the kingdom of God. I
stand, I pause, I wait. I pray, S})irit of burning,
come and fall upon all in this house that hear the

■If]

An apostolic sermon and its results.

Word ; And now 1 appeal to ovciy individual in this
o;atliei'ed company, who lias been moved by the Holy
(Jhost. Beware how you grieve Hin). Remember,
if vou .sin aiifain.st the Father, there is still the atone-
iiient of the Son ; if you sin against the Son,
there are the pleadings of the Spirit; but if you
sin against the Holy Ghost, you sin past the Triune
God, you destroy your moral nature, and come to that
extremity of woe where there is no foi'giveness neither
in this world nor in the world to come. In the utter-
most eternities of the lost, there is nothing more
appalling than this. Oh, if there are gentle pleading-
influences in your heart to-night, cherish them as you
would your life. They will lead you to Christ, they
will lead you to peace and triumpli over death, they
will lead at last up to the "great arch and through
the portals into the city immortal." Vision of etei-
nity ! vision of the Lamb in the midst of the throne
and of the city ! Be that our beatitude forever and
forever. Amen.

AVOEKS OF GOD

"For thou, Lord, hast made nie glad through thy work : I will
trimnph in the works of thy hands." — PsA. xcii. 4.

Of all productions of thought, of artistic skill, and
of creative genius, the most unchanging in form and
duration is that of poetry and song. 'Jlie songs of
the Vedas, the Iliad of Homer, the tales of Cliaucer,
these have travelled down to us from i-emote anti-
quities, and still with eye undinmied and natural
strength unabated, they fling defiance in the face of
time, and liold a divinity witliin them which age can
nev^er kill. And what is the secret of this undecay-
ing, undying power of song ? Manifestly, because it
crystallizes thought into the rall^nng cries of liberty ;
into the instincts of deep affection ; into the ideals of
beauty that ascend to the di\ iiie : into just that which
our humanity decrees shall never die. Seldom, if
ever, has the world witnessed a finer illustration of
all this than in the Psalm before us. Hoar with age,
yet crowned with perennial youth, they come to us
with songs — songs pathetic and tender as tears ; songs
tliat breathe sweetest devotion ; songs of conflict and
triinnph, empire and victory ; songs that strike every
note in the scale of possible experience, from exultant
joy down to avenging remorse ; songs that stand as
God's great heritage to the Church thi-oughout all

ages and generations.

WORKS OF GOD.

Our text tliis iiioriiiiii>' is one of those crvstallized
tlionghts, true in the experience oF the; unknown
psahnist, true, forever true. " Tliou, Lord, hast made
me glad tlirough thy work : I will triumph in the
works of thy hands." We do not propose to subject
this text to any severe analysis, but simply to ask
your prayerful contemplation of some of God's works
as the source of gladness and triumph to the Christian.

I. Woi'ks of God — Work of Nature. The method
of all anti-Christian science is to begin with the atom,
and by natural evolution advance to an atheistic and
ultimate negation of an intelligent designer. The
method of Christian science is to begin with an infinite
thinker and trace his handiwork to its last analysis.
In this material universe we have matter unorganized,
matter organized into life, and then that life ascending
to alliance with intelligence. Take matter unorgan-
ized, pulverize and sift it, fuse it with fire, dissolve it
with li(pnds, analyze it down to its ultimate atom.
In that unseen atom you find law and force — the Uw
ot elective affinity, and a force working according to
law which leads these atoms to rush into each other's
embrace, build themselves up into crystalline forms
that corruscate into beauty, up into those granite
heights that stand as ministers of sublimity to men ;
iuid as the laws of matter are alike in all worlds, up
into those flaming suns and systems that swing the
rounds of immensity.

"Forever singing as they shine,
The hand that uia4e ug i^ Divine."

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Take apiin, matter organized into life. All seeds
hold within them m slumbering and germinal power.
Let o]ie be deposite<l in the soil : it wakes from its
long sleep, reaches out and aggregates to itself appro-
priate material, which, by a hidden chemistry, it
transmits into tissue and tibre, it builds its cylinder,
it forces its way through the earth, it invokes the aid
of light and heat, it throws out its scaffolding of
leaves, lined and curved according to a direction
within it, it blossmns in the bud, it dnmasks in the
rose, goldens in the fruit and diffuses like benediction
its perfume all aroun<l. Before this, deepest science
and highest art uncover and bow their reverential
heads, and with united voice declare " the builder
and maker is God." 'I'hen take life in its highest
forms : the wondrous o])tics of the eagle eye, the un-
ceasing enginery of the heart, the thrill of the nerve,
the tine frenz\^ of the animal nature up to the cul-
minating beauty of that ph3'sical manhood which
becomes the place of abiding for that searching intel-
ligence that graduates the laws of the universe and
reveals the thinkings of (iod. Standing amid the
amplitude of the universe, with evidence everywhere
of an infinite and personal thinker, of an infinite and
artistic worker, who delights in beaut}', who expresses
the sympathy of His heart in the universal mother-
love, who manipulates the nni\ 'M"se so that it is
working tow;n-d righteousness, how just the testi-
nmny, liow kindling the thought, that the hand of a
Father-Ciod is in all. " Thou, Lord, hast made mo

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WORKS OF OOD.

c;lad tlirou(;li thy work : T will triumph in tlie works
of thy liarids." O ye iiiinistors of God, study tho
Ijliononion.'i of nature, liold it U]) as a iiiivror, that
tlioae to wlioni you minister may, too, triumpli in the
work of His hand.

II. Works of God — Work of Revelation. What
fjrandeur pertains to this revelation of God ! Like an
antique and stately temple, it has gone up through
the ages, stone upon ston'% holding many a dark
crypt, and niche, and oriole of beauty. Its two
portals face the two eternities. Out of the eternity
of the past you enter its genesis of creation ; out of
its apocalypse of consunnnation, you march into the
eternity to come ; while aycending its altar steps of
gradual development, you climb to the mystic heights
^f (Jodhead.

With this grandeur, how commanding the evidence
of its divinity ! Look at it as an intellectual and
jirogressive force in this world. It has ever gone
before, and beckoned onward the civilization of the
ages. Since this truth was first given, what changes
liave taken place ! Instead of the frail bark groping
iiloufr the Levantine shore, we have the stately steamer
that steers by the stars ; instead of the swift-footed
coui'ier, we have the flash of the telegraph across
I'outinents and beneath the seas; instead of the
ilroiiiedaries of Midian and Ephali, we have tlie
pfdatial car which sweeps along on rails of steel ;
instead of the weary linger of " ^ scribe, we have the
ini;;]iiy printing press, which multiplies a million-fold

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

the productioiiH of tlie luinJ; instead ot* the .sliit'tiiiy-
tent ol* the Arab, we have the coloHHal eities with
their niu^-nificent });ilace.s. Art Jii'ts up lier head ;
liberty unrolls her eliai-ter; religion builds her temple
wherever the influence ol" this iwelation obtains, and
still it holds aloft its banner of " Excelsior," and cries
out to the civilization of the nineteenth century,
" Not as thouoh you had already attainetl, either were
already perfect." Ad%'ance with nje. I lead the way
to the infinite ideals of God possible to man. With
the intellectual quickening which belongs to this reve-
lation, we ask you to mark its universality of adapta-
tion. Light of the world ! " Light," says Plato, " is
the shadow of Divinity." What a symbol of His
truth is light. Light ! It tips the mountain summit :
it shines in the valley; it spreads itself over the
plains ; it gilds the domes of mighty cities ; it glad-
dens the Aveary eyes that watch for the morning;
it looks in on the prisoner in his cell ; it smiles
on every fiower; it forgets no blade of grass, is
over all, around all, blessing all. How finely does
this figure the universal fitness which belongs to the
revelation of God ! Divine Truth ! It challenges
science and says, " Search the strata and the stars.
and find out a God more adapted to man than the
Being I reveal." It confronts philos(j[)hy and demands
that it shall show an attribute of the Sj^irit or an
inner w^ant which it does not meet. Divine Truth 1
It goes out into a far country, a land of darkness and
the shadow of death, and standing amid corruption

WORKS OF GOD.

and the gnive, points to a morn, a glorious morn, of
resurrection, and an immortality whose innnortelles
shall fade them never; descending to an uttermost
despair and looking up, it points to the possibility of
an ever-ascending and uttermost salvation. Divine
Truth ! It smites with a drawn sword, piercing to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thouglits and intents
of the heart, while its promises hang like brilliants in
that firmament wliich over-arches human condition.
Oh, the darkness of that Gethsemane into which we
may enter. Oh, the wailing cry, " My (Jod, why hast
thou forsaken me," which blighting anguish may
wring from the desolated heart. When Dr. Punshon
lay dying, a friend who was with him, went to Mr.
Spurgeon and asked the prayers of his congregation.
Mr. Spurgeon asked, " Is the doctor much depressed ? "
When answered in the affirmative, he added, " Ah,
I have gone down to the depths of sorrow, but there
is no darkness, no depth where the light of promise
does not shine."

Nothing authenticates the divinity of this truth
more than its lifting and sustaining power. " Tread
^>ot"tly," said an attendant to the ministerial visitant
to the Hospital for Incurables near London ; '• tread
s(jftly, and I will show you our greatest sufferer."
Coming to her couch, he looked into her face. It
seemed worn as if a century of years had gone over
it, though she was only fifty. Ever since she was
born, exquisite pain, through pressure on the brain,

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niscomisEs and addresses

Imd been her lot. Oh, the leasoii of that inoiiient, a.s
.she whispered, " I would not have it otherwise, for
the prouiises of God are my support ! " All hail ye
proniises of God ! Crowned as com forte rs are ye all !
Maxima of Socrates, the thinker; pi'inciples of
Plato, the pliilosoplier; wisdom of the all-unveiling-
dramatist; deep inductions of Baconian research,
coined into the currencies of literature, held in lionoi'
and trusted by the a<^es, — can ye convert despair into
hope, liglit the lano'uid eye into a new brilliance,
sustain the faintinjr heart, when age fails, when
childhood bows its head in death, and sorrow sits
enthroned? Nameless shall be the men who, with
infamous intent, have sought to break down the
authority of Revelation and rob us of our last hope
— men who, with an arrogant assumption that lifts
itself against the very heavens, dare to assert that
the (iospel of our Christianity is becoming effete;
that the thought and intelligence of the age demands
another and a better Bible. Another Bible ! Is that
possible ? Go gather what Joseph Cook calls a great
symposium. Bring statesmanship, with its wisdom,
and scholarship, with its resources ; bring poetry, with
its beauty, and all deep philosophies of life, with the
reverence and piety of the ages, and can they give us
a better Bible, to dry the widow's tears, to hold up
the bowed and broken, to arraign conscience, to im-
peach truant powers, to tell of forgiveness, to give a
more glorious vision than that which greeted the
dying Stephen, and to proclaim a nobler immortality '{

WORKS OF GOD.

Another Bible ? Metliink.s the heavens hiuj^h antl
the earth reHponds with derision, while the universe
cries out " Impossible ! " Another Bible !

" Should all the forms that men devise
Assault my faith with treacherous art,
I'd call them vanity and lies,

And bind thy Gospel to my heart."

Brethren, be it ours to hold up this truth of God in
its simplicity and power.

III. Works of God — Work of the Person and
Mission of Christ The upbuilding of tlie Person of
Christ must ever be regarded as God's grandest work.
" His name shall be called Wonderful," and justly so,
for in that Person He has seemed to gather all things
to himself.

This universe holds matter and mind conditioned
into a six-fold life : life vegetable, that grows ; life
animal, that feels ; life intellectual, tliat thinks ; life
emotional, that thrills ; life moral, that oscillates
between right and wrong ; life spiritual, that ascends
to God. Every form of life known on this planet
and beyond it, is thus gathered together into one.
And now, behold the infinite personality of the Son,
stooping with an infinite stooping and lifting this
six-fold life into an everlasting union with himself,
and you at once see that your Saviour and mine is
Mediator for the universe, embracing all things within
His wondrous personality.

In one ov the great palaces of Kome, there is freg-

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i i; I

ooed on u lofty coiling, the " Aurora," one oi' (jiuido's
finest productions. Ah you stand and look up at the
dim distance, all is nebulous and obscure. But on
the fioor there is a reflecting- mirror into which you
may look and study the details of the painting.
Looking up, all is dim and distant ; looking down, all
is near and distinct. Looking up, "no man hath seen
God at any time;" looking down, " tin; oidy-begotten
of the Father, he hath declared him." Ah, it is this
near image, this character of Jesus, that is dominating
the ages and will mould humanity to its likeness.
With such a Saviour as this, what are miracles to
Him ? What is it that "the water blushes into
wine" at His word, or that the billows (|uiet at
His bidding? What is it that sepulchred death
departs at His command, or that foul leprosy and
shivering paralysis flee before Him, and the lieirshi]i
of strength and beauty returns ? With such a Saviour
as this, who shall doubt the plenitude of that abilit}',
which, "travelling in the greatness of his strength,"
is " mighty to save " ?

If I would see the dignity of man, and the terrors
of that impending calamity to which he is exposed, T
nuist take my stand beneath the shadow of th(? Cross,
and ask, What must have been the issues which
demanded the sacrifice of an incarnate God ? Specu-
lative systems on law, justice, and atonement, that
have agitated the ages, get you hence ! In the incar-
nate Son of God, we have a Being who lived and died

WORKS OF GOD.

to tell the world one word — tliat word was Love, — a
Ijt'iiif; who built the altar of Calvary and laid himself
on it as an atonement to give the royal proclamation
of a Father reconcile<l to every one of the redeemed
of the blood royal of the race.

I may be told that this world is but as a ijfrain of
sand on ocean shore to the magnitudes of the uni-
verse, too insio-niticant utterly to be the theatre on
which the phenomenon of incarnation was to be
enacted ; but we forget that sometimes God dehghts
to put dignity on insignificance. Long was it believed
that the magnetic pole was some stupendous mountain
sending out its attractive forces all over the earth;
i)ut when Sir John Ross discovered this pole, lie
found neither hill nor mount, but a dreary waste.
Vet from that centre there went out the power which
makes every needle shake to the pole, guiding the
mariner over unknown seas. The thunder of the
Reformation, which shook the mighty despotism of
Rome, was not forged in a London nor a Paris, but in
the petty, marshy village of Worms. And lo, in like
manner, (Jod has dignified this world by making it
the place of sojourn of His love. His cross and
passion, with their infinite agonies, made this world
a mysterion, arresting the gaze of angelic principa-
lities and powers. His death and burial transformed
this world for a time into a sarcophagus carried in
the hands of the eternal laws through the veiled
darkness of immensities.

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

"Ah, the pathway is not given,
All, the goal I cannot near,
Earth shall never reach to heaven,
Never shall the there be here,''

was the wail of Schiller, but the re.surrected Son of
God, standing upon this earth, bid defiance to the
forces that held Him here. Ascending up on high.
He entered the everlasting gates which had for Him
lifted up their heads, and left behind Him a shining
track, along which the lowly and the lost may in
pardon and in peace pilgrimage to the skies. Oh,
mystery and mercy of God's works and ways, that
He hath crowned with everlasting dignit}^ this world
and our race by the advent of His Son. We clasp
Him in the arms of faith an I hold Him to our heart
of hearts, as we cry out, " Tliou, Lord, liast made me
glad througli thy work : I will tiiumph in the works
of thy hands." Brethren, be it ours to stand firm,
dauntless and heroic by the cross, and cry,

"Happy, if with my latest breath,
I may but gasp his name.
Preach him to all and cry in death.
Behold, behold the Lamb."

IV. Works of God— Work of the Spirit It is
never to be forgotten that if the Son of God is tin-
organ of Divine manifestation, the Spirit of God is
the organ of Divine execution. What is creation but
the work of the Spirit? "Thou sendest forth thy
Spirit and they are created : thou renewest the face
of the earth." No sooner were the mountains brought

WOKKS OF GOD.

L-kS

It is

til*'

lod is

in but

II thy

face

i'urtli and tlie eartli and tlie liills formed by the
Spii'it tlian a new and higlier nianil'e.station was pro-
posed, (iod liad created matter. God had created
and organized Spirit. As tlioiight is the logical ante-
cedent of action, so a tliouglit — I had almost said, a
new thought — came to the mind of (lod. He will
tabernacle Spii-it with flesh, and appoint immortality
to dwell with dust. He will create a new order of
being that will wake the wonder of the universe — a
pliysico-spii'itual being, with a consciousness, with an
intelligence, with an affection — a being who would
shed on his Creator the full summer-bloom of a heart's
intcnsest love. That Divine thought took form in the
creation of om* race, designed for etei'nal fellowship
and beatitude. I need not tell you the old, old stoiy,
liow the purpose and polic}' of Heaven were seem-
ingly defeated and our humanity involved in ruin.
The litei'ature of that ruin is read and known of all
men in living epistles around us, written within and
without, with mourning, lamentation and woe. " Hy
wliom shall Jacob arise and who shall deliver Israel V
11" we accepted much of the current teaching of our
age, another gospel is being promulgated, which is
not a gospel — the gospel of culture, the gospel of self-
education — which proposes a self -regeneration, inde-
pendent of God, of the Holy Ghost. Can it be done /
A man says, " I will build my scattbld, set up ladders,
mix the colors, and tint and a<lorn those dark, por-
tentous storm-clouds into beauty." Can he do it ?
Never, never. But look how God accomplishes the

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

task ! He rolls the sun beneath the hill-tops, Hashes
an oblique light athwart the coming darkness, antl
lo ! the storm-clouds become continents of silver,
islands of gold and purple-crowned summits, while
the canopy of heaven becomes an aqua-marine, rival-
ing the beauty of the ocean. A man says, " I will set
up my scafiblding, and with my colors of culture, I
will adorn the dark, unholy elements of my character
with the beaut}'' of lu^liness." Can he do it ? Never.
But behold the method oi' God ! With one flash of
the light which comes from the Holy (ihost, every
(element of the man's beinjj; is transformed intcj thr
likeness of the Divine. The soul of man is an empire
into which none can enti;r without permission save
the Spirit of God himself. When He sheds His
transforminiT '' ht there, then tht» distortinir frown
of guilt is changed into the smile of peace ; then the
foul imagery of the imagination is cartooned into the
likeness of the heavenly ; then the prodigal in rags,
and polluted from his companionship with swine, is
robe<l, ringed, feted and songed amid exultant joy
that the " lost is found." God the Spirit is templed in
the heart in grander than Pantheistic sense and

*' The Spirit answers to the bloixi,
And tells that he is born of G<i(l,"

while on every line and lineament is written, " Holi-
ness unto the Lord." And what finite intelligence
can measure the greatness of this work of God ?
When the Spirit converted tiery John, it was not

ao-s,

rence
not

WORKS OF GOD.

merely thcit a soul was saved from death. That work
meant giving- to Jesus a beloved disciple ; giving to
t)ie world the intelligence that " God is a Spirit,"
that " God is light," that " God is love ; " giving to the
ages and eternities to come all the inspiration that
come from his character and writintrs.

When the Spirit shot the arrow of conviction
through the hearts of W(\sle3' and Whitetield, like
hinary stars they shone out over the Churches :
they started evangelistic forces that have influenced
millions for good. And there is not a minister of God
before me but becomes the centre of an influence,
the ever-widening circumference of which is telling
the greatness of this woi'k of God.

Grand as is the Spirit's work, that which kindles
the heart is the condescending sympathy of that
Spirit to the lowliest possible conditions. A strong-
minded New England mother determined that her
son should form his own religious views. 'J'he names
of Jesus, Saviour, Heaven had never been spoken in
his ears. The boy of six sickened and lay dying.
The anguished mother awoke to her folly. As she
watched her dying boy, he opened his e^^es and said,
" Mother, what country is that I see, beyond the high
mountains?" The mother said, "My son, there are
no high mountains, you are with us, here in the
room." But the boy insisted that he saw a beautiful
country, where little ones were calling him to come,
and appealingly cried, " Oh, won't you help me over
the high mountains ?" They sought to comfort him,

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DISCOURSKS AND ADDUESSKM.

when turning witli more tlian uujrtal briglitne.ss in
his eyes, he said, " Mother, mother, don't be afraid,
the strong man lias rome to carryme over tlie high
mountains," and he was gone. Ah, the Spirit was
there to tell to that vounir heai-t of a Deliverer
though he knew not the name. In the light o ' the
Spirit's all-comprehending woi'k, who is not ready to
exclaim, " Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through
thy work : I will triumph in the works of thy hands."
Have confidence, ye ministers, in the work of the
Holy Ghost, He is ever working befort- you.

V. Work^ of God — T. jvk of Provvlenee in thf
Develojwient of the Church. No study is more worthy
the Christian student than t(j trace the footprints of
God on the line of history. " How great and marvel-
lous are thy works. Lord God Almighty." Not moi"e
difficult is it to stem Niagara, stop the tides, or hold
the sun, than it is to control the mighty nationalities
of earth. Yet ever nd anon we see that Gotl brings
out leaders who shape tlie movements of nations so
that they work out His purposes.

I will not stop to speak of the deliverance from
Egypt, or the return from the Babylonish captivity,
but I ask you to look at the foot])rints of God as
seen in the post-advent history of the Church. When
God would give forth truth and f<jrmulate it into
symbols that will endure while the Church lives, He
built up that wondrous Greek language, to which all
ages look as the finest vehicle for the articulation of
spiritual thought, and with this gave that Greek

WORKS OF GOD.

intellect which has defined forever tlie fundamentals
of our faith. When God would break down the old
civilizations^ Ha rr^r,cc,^^ ^^iq vandal hordes in the
German forests and fired them with an inspiration
that is the unsolved problem of all historians, and
launched them against the power of Rome, so that the
highways which she had built up over the continents
to perpetuate her dominion, became the hi<j;l:ways
for the spread of the Gospel. When God would break
down the fetters of Feudalism, when He would bring
nations together as the first-fruits of a coming brother-
liood of the race, the watchword tliat woke Europe
into enthusiasm and brought the age of the crusade,
was the rescue of the sepulchre from the infidels.
When God would develop the highest, broadest and,
perhaps, ultimate form of Christian civilization, He
impelled Columbus and Cartier westward over un-
known seas to plant the Cross of Christianity on this
continent. And now, w^hen distance is being anni-
hilated, and the time is coming when a single voice
w^ill whisper around the world ; when forces of nature
are being let loose, who can doubt that God is work-
ing for the development and coming glory of the
Church ? What shall result from this Divine work-
ing? What shall we soon hear? One song shall
employ all nations :

*' Worthy the Lamb that died, they cry,
For he was slain for us."

Animated by this prospect, we exclaim, "Thou,

•I ,r

f '' '

fit
1,1

DISCOUKSES AXb ADDRESSES.

Lord, hast made ine i^bul throunlj thywork: 1 will
triumph in the works of thy haiuls." Biothren, have
confidence; we seem in the minority, but if God be
for us, as He is, the majority is on oui' side in His
work.

VI. Works of God — Work of Gonsniinination. Out
of all the syniV)olizin<;'H of Scripture, none convey to
us a higher conception of that dwelling-place to
which we hope to go, than the statement of Paul
that " God hath prepared foi* them a city." The
grandest productions of man on this cai'th ai'e cities.
They are the expression of all that the intellect and
skill of man can devise and execute — Calcutta on the
(ianires : Stamboul on the Dardanelles: Home on the
Tiber : Floivnce on the Arno : Paixs on the Seine ;
London on the Thames, the golden gateway of the
continent. Here wealth has concentrated in sumptu-
ous palaces and architectural glory ; in the rush and
thunder of commerce ; in the culminating of social
refinement ; in the gathering of all resources to
minister to man. If such be the splendor which
hangs about the cities which have been built by man,
what shall be said of the city whose Builder and
Maker is God \ Those apocalyptic texts which, as
one has said, seem to have fallen from the sky like
fragments from the jasper walls and golden pavement
of the city of God, and which flash before our eyes
with a blinding refulgence, do not tell us too much of
that heavenly citv. No, we are well assured that
God, who poured out the wealth of His divinity to

WORK OF GOD.

redeoiii, will, in HIh provision for our great future,
triinscend all that tongue can utter or heart conceive.
Cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces of heavenly
splendor will be there ; but that object which, above
all others, will wake the immortal song of the re-
deemed, will Ix', 'The Lamb in the midst of the
throne and of the citv." Oh, the beatitude of that
city, where the gates shall be open night and day !
Shades of the departed that have gont; fi'om our
midst, can ye not come back and tell us of your bliss i
But, no, we need you not. (lod hath told us in words
which our own })oet Burns could not read without
tears, '' Thev shall huniier no more — neither thirst
any more — there shall be no more death — neithei'
shall there be any more })ain — but the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be in it — and they shall reign
for ever and ever." Captain of our salvation, whose
magnificent titles are the Resurrection and the Life,
to thee we connnit our souls and bodies, in the sure
and certain hope that thou hast prepai'ed for us a
city, for " Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through
thy work : I will triumph in the works of thy
hands."

And now, does the contemplation of God's work
wake you to gladness and triumph ? The Son of God
hath said, ' He that is not for me," that is, in sym-
pathy with my work, " is against me." Against God '
Against His work ! " Let the potsherds strive with
the potslierds, but woe unto him that striveth with
his maker." Haste you to ground the weapons of

i .

DISCOURSES AND ADDllESSES.

your rebellion. "Behold, I come (jiiickly." What
you do, you must do soon, or leave undone forever.

And now, ye ministers of God, what are ye but
workers to<^etlier with God ; builders of the great
temples of humanit}' — temples whose turret-lieights
reach high as thoughts can rise ; temples whose
gorgeous adorning is only limited by unbounded
powers of imagination ; temples redolent with incense
of thanksgiving ; temples vocal with melodies forever.
Oh, to be consecrated to this great work ! Oh, to say
with the apostle, "None of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I may
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I
have received of the Lord Jesus." Amen.

<:1
I 'I

THE UISX^HAI^J'GEABLE PRIEST-

THE GLORY OF THE

LAll^ER HOUSE.

" The glory of this latter house shall V)e greater than of the
former, saith the Lord of hosts : and in this place will I give peace,
saith the Lord of hosts." — Haooai ii. 0.

" But this man, hecause he continueth ever, hath an unchange-
ahle priesthood. Wherefore he is al)le also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them." — Heb. vii. 24, 25.

You will observe that these two impressive and
classical passages are the complement and endorsation
of each othei*. What the prophetic text atfirms, that
tlie apostolic illustrates and confirms. Let lis enter
this great temple of truth ; let us put off the slioes of
secular thought from off' our feet, and in reverential
and devout spirit contemplate the greater glory of
the latter house, or spiritual Christianity, in three
particulars.

I. The greater glory of the latter house is seen in
its higher conception of mans spii^iiual nature and
need of salvation. Nothing is more astonishing than
the fact that when the intelligence of man is, with
imperious authority, compelling universal Nature to
reveal her innermost secrets, that same intelligence
in a Huxley or a Frederic Harrison seems eager to
proclaim its own degradation, as child of the dust,

?■•

s ':

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

without a(lc(|iiat«' destiny, Ijlossoniin^ lik«' tlic llowor
for a day, a!id then t'adiiio; out forever.

Now, it is evident that .such a view ol" our man-
hood at once strikes down the entire superstructure
ot" redeni[)tion, since it is forever unthinkable tliat
God would interpose on behalf of a creature, wliosc
only future is like that of the fiutterin^ bird sinn-in;;-
out its little day and then pei'ishino- in an utter
extinction. The very foundation of redenn)tion rests
on the intrinsic preciousness of man— an axiomatic
truth tliis of all Scriptui-e. do back to the times of
Israel's crowned an<l kiiiiilv singer. Standini"- amid the
grandeur of the midnij^ht hour, he exclaims, " When
I consider the heavens, the work of tli\' Hnoers, the
moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what
is man (what must be the value of man) that thou art
mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest
him." This testimony of the Psalmist has even a
hiiiher aiffniiicance in our times. Davi<rs heavens are
not our heavens. David saw through the natural
eye but a fragment of what we now behold by
the instrumentations of science. Yet with David's
heavens multiplied a million-fold, we can still with
him exclaim, " What nuist be the value of man,
that thou art mindful of him, and that thou hast set
thy heai't upon him."

Now, what constitutes this preciousness of man ?
It can only be found in the fact that he bears the
Divine impress. He was made in the image of God,
and I ask you to contemplate this image as expressed

""^'■'■•'olM-ng tl.ouj;l,t. I see , V"''"'^""« ^P'^'ity of

;"^'<'-' this ,,i.,.et, ti.,-.s f,.,::; ,t' i;';;"'" ."""^ «'"■"'-

''« '"olv-f up into tl,„ i, " "'" ""ivoi-se. As

'"■•"ion miie«every, ,;,'';''' '•'"'' "''' ''^ '"'

'"'■'» it^ "•m.y wi„X in ; 't''"'^' "'"' e<"culation
l"'''»vay of tLt :,; -,2 T''/" ''■-'^ out the

^ '■ated the unity of n,at a'^ t 'la ""^' *'"°°-
t prosses onward in thou.tAl « ""^ ^^erywhere,
«ods creation, wbile 3^(1° ' T '"'^ ''"''^°«t« «
-■ti»t. the n,ind3 prod^a ! ', " ""'"^'« •=^^''«v«
I'-vor, «,veeps out over abls 7° "T '" ''' <"''««<=
a-end« and con,pas Jthet^l'^J-'^ "':>'-. «nti] it
and Father-Ood.' Ther L n'L ? " "' "" '"''"''«
■!" angel in heaven, not even G„m"-^' °° '''"'^^' '"'*'
""■ted the adventurous Zee^V'^''''' "'" '^-
ultimate truth. It is th,\ M ^ ^"''"^ after

of .nind which practiS V ""r""'.''"''"'^' PO"'^'-
n«nite. and justffie' 2 L, ''"! *'"^ ^^'^ °f the
he sings : ^^ "^"^auscendental poet when

"I am owner of all the sphere,

Of the seven ,,tars and the solar year

Of Ws hand and PJato's brain
Of drvmest heart an,! «!, i '

and Shakespeare's strain. "

i I

DISCOUltSES AND ADDRESSES.

And tell nie wluit mast be tlie value of your mind
with possibilities sucli as tliese.

Attributes of Spirit! Take the powers of emotion.
Out of the manifold, we select but one, the property
of love — queen of all tlie graces. Love is the passion
of self-^ivin^, freely breaking its alabastei* box of
most fragrant service. Wliat tenderness lianas about
that love, which came to us in the halcyon days of
childhood; love, which for us knew no weariness in
midnight vigil, nor sacrifice in its winsome gifts;
love, which, when its step grew weary with age, was
wont to sit witli misty eyes and watch our footfalls
on the Hoor, dewing the clieek at tlie thought that it
could serve no longer. Oh, this lingering dream of a
mother-love ! How it gilds for us the ever-vanished
past.

But, from the tenderness we turn to the sul)liiiiity
of this (jueenly grace. What are the grandest woi-ks
of God ? You say, continents, planets, suns, systems {
The grandest creation is that which you have nevn-
seen, can never touch. It is the invisible ether, which
bears up the wings of light;, which holds in its hands
the chains of gravitation, binding interstellar systems
together ; which carries worlds in its arms like a
foster-mother; which is above all, beneath all, and
tilling all — this is God's greatest creation. Now, what
this unseen ether is in the realm of matter, this
unseen love is in the realm of the Spirit. Tlui love
of the parent encircles the I'andly ; the love of the
pastor, like another Wesley, cries out, " The world is

THE UNCHANGEABLE PRIEST.

my pui"iwli;" tlio love of tlic saint rcaclius up to angelic
principalities and powers, and to every ci'eatun; (Jod
liatli made; the love serapliic compasses the intinite,
so tluit he that dwelU'th in love, God dwelleth in
hi 111. And tell me what must ho the value of your
eiiKjtional l)ein<^, witli possibilities for love like these
attributes of Spirit!

'^rake the powei's of moral beino;. Here we a<:jain
select but one, and that is the authoi'ity of conscience.
When the hyena s})rin^s upon the African child in
tlu^ .i'm^'^' '^'^*^ devours it, there is no cruelty, no
murder, no moi'al action possible in the hyena nature,
and this is the impassable chasm between the animal
and the man, which no Darwinianism can ever bridge,
riie universal conscience, the sense of right and
wrong, is (lod's vice-regent in the soul of man. Con-
science liidss earth with heaven, the highest seraph
with the lowliest man. Conscience is a creator; it
can build a home celestial or excavate a hell. Con-
scioncc holrls in its keeping angelic raptures or the
toi-ror of rage, remorse and despair. O Conscience
reconciled ! Nestling near the heart like a sweet biivl
of ])eace, with thee "ills have no weight, and tears no
bitterness." King's daughter art thou, making all
^^lorious within.

And then look at the culminating attribute of oui*
being. " Innnortality, unthinkable as God is un-
believable," writes that child of genius, yet of misery
and of shame, Geoi'ge Eliot. Immortality ! " I see no
reason why Harriet Martineau should be continued,"

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

writes that doubting, denying cynic, tlic woman of
her time. Immortality ! This is the crown jewel of
our being, which gives transcendence to every other
attribute. This is the flower whicli will never fade,
the light which will never darken, or the being which
knows no decay ; the life which will part company
with death forever. Immortality, this is man's nearest
ap2)roach to an absolute perfection in God.

Oh, the greatness of our nature, disrupted and
ruined, carrying the eternities in a bosom that ofttimes
holds a breaking heart —like a caged eagle conscious
of powers that demand a grander sphere, beating its
wings against the bars, a poor prodigal child, a lost
sheep of the wilderness with its appealing cry, " Pity
me, help me." Eclipse the light of heaven, rock this
planet into ruin, let loose the demon of chaos that shall
crumble the universe into dust, the impending and
possible loss of one poor wait, one outcast of our
streets, is a calamity greater far. In the light of all
this we can see the greater glory of the latter house,
and understand how the Divine compassion would
develop, even at an infinite cost, a scheme of redemp-
tion of salvation for all that come unto God by Him.

II. TJie exceeding glory of the latter house is seen in
the nobility of its method of salvation. It is salvation
by Priesthood.

1st. If we go down to the primal truths of our
consciousness, we find the law of mediation, priestl}'
mediation, between God and man as the felt neces-
sity of our moral being. From the Brahmins <»l

and
our
all
liouse.
oul»l
emp-

^en in
atioii

)i o\u-
:iestly
[neces-

lins "^

THE UNCHANGEABLE PRIEST.

Benares in the I'ar ea.st tc^ Alyoncjnin Indians in
remotest west, a mediator in form of priest, necro-
mancer or ma<^ic liealer is universally recognized.
Never did the defiant apostle of agnosticism, Herbert
Spencer, utter a more unwortliy thought than when
lie attributed the intuitional idea of a God and of
]iriestly mediation to the affrighted and surfeited
dream of a prehistoric savage. With the effulgent
opening of direct revelation, mediation stands as the
pillar that uphoMs the moral and material universe.
It is the scarlet thread that binds the two testaments
together. For a right understanding of this priestly or
mediatorial office, we must apprehend the nature of
the ancient tabernacle —the tabernacle of God. Go,
stand beneath the shadow of Sinai ; go, mark out an
oblong area on the desert sand, forty-five feet in length
by fifteen feet in breadth. Set up your beams and
boards of acacia wood in their sockets of silver. Bind
them together with bands of gold, throw over the struc-
ture the threefold curtaining of blue, of white and of
red. Plant your five golden pillars at the eastern and
only portal. Festoon its interior with tapestries figured
with the palm entwined with the cherubim. Then
thirty feet from the portal hang your veil (jf brilliant
blue, separating the holy place from the holiest of
all, and you have the house of the Lord. I pass over
the veiled Christianity, symb(jlized by the golden
furniture of the holy place, and would fix the mind
on the three salient and essential points connected
with this tabernacle.

I-

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Ill the. Holy of liolies, thci'e is tlu' urk of tlie cove-
nant. Wliut mysteiy, wluit ni.ijcsty uiid mercy
cliLster about tliis ai'k ! Only a snuiU and simple
chest of fragrant wood. Within this ark W(!re the
two tables reconhn**- the eternal moral law, written
by the linger of God : symbols these of the severities
of justice and the thunders of penalty. Covering this
ark and the law was the golden lid, known as the
mercy-seat, and on either side were the golden cheru-
])im, winged and stooping, with eyes fixed on the
atoning blood-drops on the golden slab, while from
the mercy-seat there Hanied up the Sliekinah, tlie
mystic presence of the ])ivine, flashing in the face
of the cherubim, filling the holy place with the glory
of God.

Yonder, in the outer court, stands the representative
siinier afar ott*. The venwance of broken law forbids
liis approach to the holy i)lace to catch the radiance
of the Shekinah, tlie smile of God. Behold and see
the Divine expedient 1 Between him and that law
there rises a bi'azen altar outside the portal of the
tabernacle, beside whicli stands the high-priest. He
takes the ottering pi'ovided for the sinner, he catches
the life-blood of that victim in a golden vessel, carries
it behind the veil, and spriidvles that blood upon the
mercy-seat. The flashing of the Shekinah tells of
Divine approval. He returns to tlie congregation,
amid songs and rejoicings, and pronounces the triune
benediction of })eace, reconciling the sinner to God.
These great Aaronic symbols constitute the glory of

t<
111
ill

THE UNCHANGEAHLE PRIEST.

till- lonner liouse. Wluit arc tlicir C'liristiuii anulot^iu's
w liicli reveal the higher ^loiy of tlie lattei' ^ 'I'ht'y
point us to a royal priest, J)ivine yet iiuiiian, of nobler
name — a priest who ottered himself a saeritice on
earth, and for us intercedes in heaven. They point
us to a grander tabernacle.

Poetic genius in its sacred mood delights to picture
this universe as the great tabernacle, with mountains
for its altar, the jasper seas for its lavers, the sky
its covering of blue, its incense the breath of morn,
while the very throne-chamber of the Infinite is its
Holy of holies. All this may be poetic, but it falls
infinitely short of the Divine reality. The Christian
tabernacle is a spiritual temple. Here stands the
I'ace of sinners in the outer court; there in the heavens
is the Holy of holies, where is throned the majesty
of rectoral justice in the Divine, surmounted by the
mercy-seat of infinite love. Between that justice and
tlie sinner I see the everlasting High Priest ; I see the
altar of the cross arise ; I see Him lay himself upon
tliat altar. Awake, O Sword, against the Man that is
tiiy fellow, and smite the Shepherd ! That sword of
justice smote Him, and smote Him from Gethsemane
to Calvary, until it fell at the foot of the cross,
hushed and forever pacified. And now the everlast-
ing High Priest, from the elevation of the cross,
stretches out the hand of propitiation and grasps the
hand of Divine justice, from which the sword has
fallen, while, reaching out the other hand of expiation
and self-sacrificing love, He grasps that of the siiuier,

(T*"

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Ill

and thus liiiviiig made peace by tlie cross, He unites
God and man in the l)onds of reconcihation.

I have followed in the wake of tlie pestilence that
walketh in darkness and the destruction that wastetli
at noonday ; I have seen the thunderstorm burst over
the mountain-brow, and by its lijn^htnings rend the
rocks and break its waving forests. Grim-visag-ed
war, with its blood-red testament of death, has in
our time done its worst; but neither in one nor all
of these have we such an expression of terrible ven-
geance as when justice exhausted its demands on
the cross. Nor shall the eternities ever disclose a
grander revelation of self-sacrificing love.

In the magnificent Dresden gallery of art, there
hang two pictures of the crucifixion, executed by
Rubens and VanDyke. On the canvas of Rubens,
there is the cross and the victim tragicalh^ portrayed,
but around and over the cross tliere are hoverino-
angels, so etherealized, so Divine in their beauty, so
full of wondering sympathy in every look, that the
victim is forgotten in admiration of the angels. On
the canvas of VanDyke, the scene is laid in the ninth
hour, when darkness was over all the land. The
cross and the Sufferer are wrapt in the silence and
solitude of the atoning hour ; all is august and solemn
in its tragic majesty. Once seen, it is a memory and
a hope forever.

Let the rationalistic sceptics criticise and deride
our doctrine of the cross if they will. We recumb
our spirits upon it as the one rest of the heart in life,

ii I

"Mercy, immense ami free,
For oh, my (Jod, it found out me !"

THE UNCHANGEABLK PUIEST.

the ono hope tliat transcends the lieavens. Oh, this
(TOSS of Christ! It is tlie lano^uage of heaven trans-
lated into the dialect of earth, teUing of mercy for all.

!(!>

iilfi"

2nd. But the priesthood of Christ implied not only
sacrifice on earth in the past, hut intercession in the
l)resent. Our Cliristianity is justly called a historical
rt'litjjion, but it is not alone a tradition of the dead
and vanished past. The miracles of Christ were not
all accomj^lished in Judea. He is achieving higher
miracles of grace this day in Montreal. In all true
churches, the spiritually dead are being quickened,
the spiritually blind are receiving sight, the spiritually
]wssessed are l)eing exorcised of devils, and He is as
truly saying, " Thy sins be forgiven thee," as when
He whispered it in olden times. Nor did His priestly
work terminate sixty generations ago. Ring out the
words, " Jesus lives, lives to-day, He lives to save."

Beyond the empyrean heavens, in the heaven of
lieavens — ah ! who shall tell where ? — there stands
the humanity of Jesus, our Elder Brother, guised as
the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, with vesture
• lipped in blood. He bears the meritorious scars of
contlict, that with the mute eloquence of heaven seem
to say, " For the sake of what I have suffered to
magnify the law and make it honorable, let mercy be
shown to my sinning, suffering, but repentant brother

r*^

DISCOUUSES AND ADDRESSES.

— iiifiii." And the Paracletos prevails, "for )iini tlie
Fatliei- lieareth alway."

In (^ai'lyle's Ix'aiitil'nl " Life of Stei-lin«(," lie frankly
acknow ledges that the character of Je.sus awakened
in him no enthusiasm. It was too gentle and feminine
in its caste. That great, colossal, fiery intellect misse<l
the profound, the beneficent idea that it was His
gentleness which made Him great and has given the
name of Jesus an ascendence forever more.

What is the heart of Christ ? It is a vast meti'op-
olis of tenderest sympathy. To this great centre, the
anguished nerves, like telephonic wires, come fi'om
myriads of breaking hearts, and from this heart of
sympathy there is whispered back the sweet resultant
of blessed intercession ; sweet as the bugle call of
hope to the lost on tlie mountains ; sweet as the .joy-
song of Spi'ing when she garlands the ruins with
beauty.

Forever is it true that the world's hope, the world's
great balm for soitow, the world's joy is found in
the ever-living — living wdien the loved have left oui*
side to come no more — ever-interceding this hour and
every hour — the ever-interceding High Priest of (Jod.

See you here the argument of our text for salvation
by priesthood ? This man held all power in heaven
and on earth, and yet, if this man had been nothing
more than the onniipotent Son of God, He could not
have met one demand of the Father, He could not
have saved an individual soul.

How shall what Milton calls " the unconquerable

' ':

THE UNCHANGEABLE PlllEST.

will," l>t' won to the loyalty of u ivo-ciuTfite lile? By
poNVci'/ J say, iiev'«»r ! How .sliall the best love of
the heart be won to tlfo Holy? By coiiiinaiul ? You
cannot compel love. There is only one power in the
known universe that can awaken loyalty and love,
and that is the spectacle of self-sacriticinfjj love in
Christ applied by the Holy Ghost. All this have I
seen under the sun. I have seen the soul of beauty,
purity and sweetness clinf:r to the man that shattered
her fortune, wrecked her hopes and broke her heart;
yet, as the drunkard, villain, outcast, leper descended
to the depths of festering infamy, her love flamed
into an ever-increasiug strength, stronger than death,
which many waters could not quench, neither could
tlie floods drown. And so the tremendous and
mvsterious advent of sin drew out the clinmna",
Haming compassion of Jesus in a way it could never
otherwise have been known, and there it stands as a
mighty lodestone to draw men's love to himself,
and " 1, if I be lifted up shall draw all men unto me."
Able to save.

1 II. The greater glory of the latter house is found
in the measure of its salvation. " Able to save to
the uttermost." Uttermost : this is a term of super-
lative degree, beyond which you can never pass.

1st. Observe, our High Priest is able to save to the
uttermost of desperate guilt. I turn to that Julian,
the apostate of the Jew^ish throne, Manasseh. Amid
heaven's clearest light, he was the avenging patron of
idolatry. With blasphemous sacrilege, he threw down

rt;

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

the Mlfcui's of (i(xl, and with iiuii'diu'ous hjiiids ho .slew
tlie priests of the Most Hif:^h. Cun tlie hlood of tlie
Lamb avail for tliis Nero of a former a^e i In
ca])tivity, in darkness, in the dungeon with blood-
stains on his conscience, weeping, mercy found him
out, and the pardoned Manasseh sings to-day his
jubilee of praise, as a brand phicked out of the
burning.

You remember the Master's commission to tlie
apostles, " Go, preach my gospel, begiiuiing at Jeru-
salem." How astonishing is this ! We would have
supposed the commission would have been this, " Go
everywhere and preach, but come not nigh to Jeru-
salem. They have murdered my prophets, rejected
my messengers, and filled up their cup of iniquity by
crucifying the Lord of glory. Go everywhere, only
come not nigh Jerusalem."

Instead of this, however, it was, " Go, but begin at
Jerusalem," as if He had said, " Let those who smote
the rock, first drink of its living waters ; let those
who shed my blood, first feel its healing virtue, and
if you meet the man that thrust the spear into my
side, tell him there is a nearer way to my heart ; if
he will but come, I will cherish him in the bosom he
has wounded, and my blood shall be atonement for
his sin in shedding it."

Faithful to their commission, the apostles took their
stand on the day of Pentecost, not far from Calvary,
and three thousand were converted. So that amongst

liliiiii!'

THE UNCHANGEABLE PRIEST.

W-

the fir.st members ui' the Chri.stiaii Church were the
uiurcUirers of our Lord.

" Tliou art the mati," thundered the pr()})liet, and
lo, the royal apo.state, liar, aihdterer, nuinh-rer, stands
convicted, and penitent cries, " Have niei'cy on nie,
my sin — the gliost oi' the nuirdered Uriali — is ever
before \)h\" Is tliere mercy ? What strain is that I
liear from the upper skies ? " He has taken my feet
out of the mire and tlie chiy," and " hath put a new
song in my moutli, a song of salvation forever." Oh,
the compassion and mercy of Jesus ! Let a man bo a
desperado in crime, deiiowered of every virtue, sin-
saturated in wickedness, let hell open to receive, yet
the repentant sinner can never pass beyond the ability
of Christ to save.

2nd. Again, our High Priest is able to save unto
the uttermost of ecstatic holiness. Descending to the
Maritime Provinces some years ago, a simple accident
detained me at a wayside inn. As I stepped out of
the cars, the night was dark ; a drizzling rain was
falling, the dismal wind was howling. All was drear
and obscure. But on the early morn a scene of ex-
quisite beauty burst upon the vision. The sun was
in the eastern heavens, the mists hung like turbans
on the mountain peaks. The autumnal tints lingered
and garnished the foliage into splendor. The flitting
clouds, as they passed, flung their shadows like skip-
ping lambs upon the hills, while the entire scene was
reflected in tlie passive waters of the Restigouche, as
it calmly flowed on to the bay. The night — that is,

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mSCOUUHES AND ADDRESSES.

Nature, dark, diisiiial, liinltod ; tlio iiioni — that is, the
lij^ht of (}()(!, "the Ii<^l»t that never wan on sea or
shore ; " li^ht tliat eye has never Heen, or lieart con-
ceived ; li^lit openin^^ the mind to hij^diei* conceptions
oC trutii than nature e'er can ^ive. A transhitioii
from (hirkness into li^'ht.

Who art thou, stran<j^ely sweet and a^^etl man,
wliose look is tendeiMiess, whose expression is peace,
and whose voice is lik(^ the /epliyr tliat fans tliy Fijian
Ish) ? " That man," said tlie missic^nai-y narrator to
the speaker, " was some thirty years a^o the terror of
tlie kinn;'s pahice. On tlie occasion of a l)an(juet an
attendant shive displeased him. In a frenzy he struck
her arm with a club, severing it from the ])ody, and
demanded that she should devour her own arm. She
falntinj;- from excess of pain, he himself })ecame the
cannibal in his ra^t;. Hut the Gospel of salvation
came with the power of the Holy (Jliost to that man,
the ti^er became the hind), the devil incarnate became
the an^el of the island. And now," said the mission-
ary, "wherever there is sicknesS or soitow, or a
weary heart, this man is there to pour consolation
into the wounded spirit." It was tianslation from
darkness to lijjfht, from Satan to God. It was the
beauty of holiness.

Oh, this holiness ! It is not an emasculatinfr process
that reduces the man to a psalm-sin^in^ nonentity.
Koliness! Carry it to the kitchen, it lifts the maid.
Carry it to the workshop, it elevates the mechanic.
Carry it to the merchant, it gives integrity. Carry

THE UNTHANfJEABI.E IMUEST.

it to the iMild'H, it nlxdislics t\\v hIuuii statcsiuaiisliip
of «'xj»<>(Ii('iK',y. (Jnny it to tlir tliinkcr, it |>liini('H hi.s
\viii<;s for lol'ticr llin;lit, uiid still its nmrcli is u])W>ir(ls.

Lone isle of tlw ( ■vclfidcs, witli tliv Mcaiv Patmos-
i.-iii li('i;,dits, canst tiiou not la-in^ hack thy wondi-ous
exile, whose ^n'eat proplietic soul was carried to
li(>iehts oi" lieavenly revelation, uni'eached ])y fellow-
man ? H(^ eonu^s to us, lie stands and speaks, " Now,
!ii-e we the sons of God" — oh, joy unspeakahle — "it
(lotli not yet appear what we shall ))e " — we wait
expectant— " hut this we know, that when lit; shall
appear" — our hope takes win^ — "we shall he like
Ilim" — oil, the rapture, like Him in hody, in spirit
and in holiness — "for we shall see Him as He is."
Tins h(vitiHc vision of the Triune in Christ shall
cany tlie finite in eternal projj^ression towards the
infinitude of (?od. We shall he like Him. This is
the si^n manual that He is ahle to save.

8rd. And then once a^ain and finally. He is able to
save to the uttermost, that is, alon^ the eternal years.
In the city of Glasgow, an eminent and Christian
])liysician lay dying. Friends beloved whispered, " He
is gone." At that moment the medical attendant
moistened his lips with an elixir, when he revived.
( )pening his eyes, he exclaimed, " Am I yet here ! I
thought I was in heaven." When asked how he felt
when he 8eeme<l to be passing away, " Felt," said the
ilying man, " I felt in a rapture, I felt He was able to
■save to the uttermost."

Out of the dust we shall be resurrected by the

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

power of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life,
j^.long the eternities we shall go, I trust, with many
of those who worshipped with us in the former house,
and with many of tliose who shall be perfected in
grace in this temple which we this day open, and
the inspiration of the eternal years shall be that the
Lamb Himself will lead us to fountains of living
waters of refreshing, while under His guidance we
shall ascend into the realms of a grander being, that
shall widen and widen forever more.

When Handel, the genius of music, was completing
his great Oratorio of the Messiah, sitting before his
instrument he was observed to kindle into a sublime
rapture, as if a vision opened before him. Striking
the note, he burst into tears, and with quivering voice
began to sing,

"He shall reign, Hallelujah.
He shall reign, Halleluiah, Hallelujah.
He shall reign, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
He shall reign, for ever and ever, Hallelujah."

King of saints, able to save unto the uttermost !

Behold the tabernacle of God is with man. The
mercy-seat is here, the altar of the cross is here. Let
us come to the mercy-seat by the cross. This day
shall never be forgotten. Let it be signalized by sur-
rendering yourselves to Christ. As the glory of this
latter house transcends the foi-mer in architectural
splendor, so may it in spiritual result exceed that of
the former, glorious as it was. that the generations
yet unborn may rise up and cnll it blessed.

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

"This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of tlie high calling of God in Christ
Jesus." — Philippians iii. 13, 14.

These words arc the expression of one who was
not only a man and a brother, but a renowned apostle
of God, throned in a historic greatness which admits
of no rival claim. True greatness, in which intrinsic
manhood flowers into noblest individual excellence,
adorning the highways of history — true greatness is
never sporadic, springing up, as in a night, but is
ever the result of long accumulating conditions with-
out, and aggressive powers within, the man.

It demanded the skilled and classic drama of the
Greek, the tragic tales and cantatas of mediaeval times,
the rude ideal of the olden Saxon, to empower the
Bard of Avon to weave Lis crown of honor in those
subtle fancies of the brain, which stand undinnued
by age, by time left unimpaired. It was the reverent
research of ancient seekers, the unveiling gaze of him
who cried, " It moves !" the deep analysis of the Leon-
ardos, that lined the path along which Newtonian
intellect advanced to its goal, as expositor of law for
the universe. There can be no doubt that but for
the undaunted witness of early confessors, on whose
martyr brows the fiery flame could write no epitaph
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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

of fear, we had never known the man, tlie reformer,
whose words shook the continent, whose pen was
terrible as an army with banners. In hke manner,
the heroic faith of patriarch, the deep significance of
priestly sacrifice, the exultant sweep of prophetic
vision, the pathetic yearning of Jews of the Interval,
all find their consummation in him who is crowned
as their final exponent for all time.

And now, combined with these, what were the
inner powers which evolved tliis grandest type of
consecrated manhood on which the bending heavens
ever looked down ? It is the old tale of the Olym-
piads. There is the trained and stripped athlete, witli
eye fixed upon the goal, and deep intent in every
feature. With strained muscle and eager, bending
form on flying feet, he cries, " This one thing I do,
renouncing the past, I press toward the mark."

Singleness of aim, persistency of purpose, were the
forces which, under God, gave to the Church and the
world this first of the apostle band. " Brethren," he
says, " be imitators together of us and mark them
which so walk, as ye have them for an ensample."

Our subject is the example of Paul.

I. We may claim for the youthful Saul of Tarsus
the sentiment of our text, "This one thing I do, I
press toward the mark for the prize." What prize ?
A place in the Sanhedrim, and better far.

Tarsus! The very name proclaims our manhood's
dignity. The standard of all value on this earth is
found in the intelligence of man. What are your

iihooiVs
sarth iH
•0 your

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

silver and gold, your treasures of artistic skill, your
scenes which Hoften into beauty or ascend to the
sn))liuie, your places with immortal memories? Take
s[)ii'it from ott'this planet, and what have we ? Only
liiero<^lyphics without an interpreter. It was the
advent of this Saul, son of an exile Jew, driven hither
l)y tlie opj^ression of Antiochus the Brilliant or his
successors, which has redeemed the name of Tarsus
from oblivion, and surrounded it with imperishable
lusti'e. This Cilician city was founded on a plain
that rolled up its flowery fragrance against the bosom
of the Tauritian mountains, which, in turn, bowed
their snowy heads and rained their grateful tears,
diffusing fertility over the land. Caravans from the
Orient and fleets from the Occident poured out their
wealth of manhood and treasure here. Here the
Greek language and literature were taught with a
mastery that rivalled Athens itself. Here was ex-
pounded the deep philosophy of that Roman law
wliich still holds empire over our ministries of justice.
While here, the schools of eloquence revealed a style
and finish which left their impress on the most cul-
tured cities of the age.

And now, plant a gifted and impetuous nature in
such a centre, with its throl)bings of social and intel-
lectual life, and what possibilities may you not
pivdicate of his future ? " This one thing I do," and
Saul masters the marvels of Hellenic literature. Of
what avail was this to a Jewish boy ? Behold, he
«liall yet handle the Greek poets on the very Areo-

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

t;!

pagus to vindicate the fatherhood of God. " This one
thing I do," and the philosopliies of Koman law
uncover their secrets before him. Of what avail was
this to the son of the oppressed ? Behold, he, a
prisoner, shall with legal skill confound the Roman
officer, assert his citizenship, and win opportunities of
service for the Master Divine. " This one tliino; I do,"
and his tongue is trained alike to the whispering
cadences and rolling periods of impassioned eloquence.
Of what avail is this ? Behold, he shall stand before
governors and kings, and by the splendor of his
rhetoric and the thunder of his appeal, smite a Felix
with trembling and almost persuade an Agrippa to
become a Christian !

Who that hears this tale of the youth of Tarsus,
sees not the lesson ? Ye young men and ministers of
God, gather, hoard witli miser care every fragment ot'
beneficial knowledge, for the time will come when
you may transform it into an argument for God.

But the ideals of Saul were not to be realized amid
the limitations of Tarsus ; Jerusalem was his goal. I
have thought of the wealtli of sympathy in Saul's
nature, and have asked, with sucli a son, wliat must
have been the mother ? I liaye thought of him, who
mingled his tears at parting with the elders of
Ephesus by the sounding sea, and have asked, what
has been the strain on liis young heai-t when he
gazed on his mother for the last time ? Ah ! ye that,
like the speaker, have looked amid blinding tears
into the face of a mother that you would see no more,

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PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

ye can understand the imperious power wliicli urged
that young man forward. " Tliis one thing I do." Tlie
Levantine waves are braved, the brigands of tlie
mountains are faced, tlie feet of GamaHel are reached.
Witli an insatiable thirst lie absorbed into his intel-
lectual being the resources of the Hebrew scriptures
and Rabbinical literature. Gifted with a plenitude of
manhood, with a resolve that laughed defiance in the
face of difficulty, and a fiery zeal that devoured
()[)posing forces, he reached the goal and grasped, says
Farrar, the prize of his aspiration — a place in the
Sanhedrim. Aspiration ! Of all sublime problems
in tliis universe, I think the divinest is that of human
aspiration. I see the Greek -artist, who holds the
secret of the chisel, as he seeks to impress on the
marble his ideals which lie hidden in the curves of
pi'i'fect beauty ; but though advancing ever, he never
reaches his ideal. It is ever beyond, away in the
infinite beauty of God. I see in the times of the
Renaissance, Raphael, whose kindly genius crowned
his figures with the Aurora, with heaven in the eye ;
and Angelo, whose works express the intensity of
despair in striving after the Infinite. They group,
tliey line, they color, they leave the ages to admire
their creative power, yet still, their works, like ship-
wrecked mariners, all hopeless cry after a coloring
and a. beauty only found in the ideals of God. I
listen to the masses of Mozart and the rhapsodies of
Liszt, and as I listen, I feel that there are notes and
symphonies which can only be touched and interpreted

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DISCOUHSES AND ADDRESSES.

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by tlio liand Divino ; wliile tlie aspirations of o-reat
Houls to build up a mental and nioi-al manhood point
to the ideal, throned in the Example ])ivine. Oh, this
gospel of our text Ih a great gospel. It is not a
gospel of stagnation. It hails every human aspiration.
It welcomes it. It ap2)lauds it. It tells unconscious
Saul that he was building better than he knew, that
he was ac(iuiring those transcendent elements of
character, that would make him a light to lighten, an
inspiration to inspire on till the heavens shall open
and time shall be no more.

II. " This one thing I do," said Paul the converted,
"/ press toiuard the mark for the prize" What
prize ? " That I may hnovj Him" that is, Christ Jesus.

The supernatural in the (iospel is our Thermopyla)
Pass, which nuist be held with steadfast purpose or
all is lost. The coming of God, not by secondaiy
causes or helpful culturings, but by direct impact on
the Spirit, in transforming power, is oin* citadel of
hope never to be surrendered. How commanding is
the demonstration of the Divine in the convei'sion of
Saul. Here is a man — a man — a rejector — a reviling
rejector of Jesus. Here is a frenzied persecutor, on
whose ears the wail of anguish fell as nuisic, and to
whose eyes the sight of Christian blood was grateful
as the orient light. Here is a fiery zealot, whose cal-
cined nature could witness, with no emotion but
vengeance, the stoned and mangled Stephen breathe
out his raptured spirit into the bosom of Jesus. Say,
what power in the universe can bow that haughty

PXtit, OUR EXAMPLE.

iiitt'llect, break dcfijint will and melt relentless heart
to clasp with fond end)i-ace its object of intensest hate.
What power ^ " At mid-day, kin^, I saw a light
fioui lieaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining
lonnd about me, and I heard a voice, saying, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me, I am Jesus w^hom
thou persecutest." Trembling and astonished, the
eun(|uei-ed but willing captive cries, " Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do ?"

If we go back in thought to the times of the
apostle, and take our stand beneath the shadow of
the cross, three civilizations surround us, three types
of intellect direct their searching gaze to that central
()))ject of the universe — the legal intellect of the
Roman, the philosophic of the Greek, the traditional
of the Hebrew. How impressive is the beneficence
of God in giving to the ages a man, who could, from
every standpoint, become the experimental expositor
of the Divine Son.

1st. As Roman citizen. I think of Paul as saying,
" This one thing I do, I press toward the knowledge
of Christ in His atoning relation to law." " Law,"
says Hooker, "Divine law ! Her home is the bosom of
God, her voice the harmony of worlds." All things
in heaven and on earth pay homage to her — the least,
as feeling her care ; the greatest, as not exempt from
her power. Divine law ! Honor her, she shall fold
tlvee in her arms, gentle as a mother's love. Renounce
her, like a fury she shall destroy. In his vision
at Damascus, the reproachful impeachment, " I am

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

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Jesus whom thou persecutest," flashed like lightning
into the conscience of Saul. Oh, tremendous power
of law to wake remorse. If the poet, in his fancy,
pictures a Macboth, a blood-stained Macbeth, whose
guilt would incarnadine the ocean, whose foul spirit
no seas could cleanse, tell me, Saul, persecutor
of infinite innocence, what can set thee right with
an outraged conscience and an offended God ? A
vision, a dissolving vision, rises before his eyes.
He sees a cross and a victim evidently set forth ; he
sees a bleeding brow and pierced feet ; he sees the
quivering lij:)S as they whisper, " Father, forgive," and
wail the dirge, " Forsaken," that shakes the darkened
universe. He sees the prophetic scroll above unroll-
ing, and in characters of living light, reads and
wonders as he reads, " Wounded for my ti-ansgressions,
bruised for my iniquities, the chastisement of my
peace laid upon him : healed by his stripes." Oli,
glad Eureka, he has found it — solved the problem of
the universe. He sees injured and infinite love give
forth a propitiation, which in mystic ways maintains
the holiness of God, the honor of law tliroughout the
]-ealms of moral being, while it diffuses through the
conscience the music of gladness and peace that breaks
upon the heart like some sweet Christmas chime.
Kising in the rapture of a sin-forgiven man, standing
in the consciousness that he was justified before his
(Jod, his great intellect was let loose in its triumphal
march of investigation. From his first Epistle to the
Thessalonians, like rising steps he ascends in his sue-

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

cessive writings till in the maturity of his logic of
the Komans, he fx^rmulates the legal language of all
theology, consunnnates his argument with the chal-
lenge, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect ? It is God that justifieth, who is he that con-
deiuneth ? It is Christ that died."

I have read in one of De Quincey's essays how
that when the telescope was defining the outline of
I'c'inotest nebula?, on that profile there were revealed
tlie lines of a face of more than earthly beauty, look-
ing up with apj)ealing gaze to the infinite heights. Its
u])per half expressed pathetic pleading; its lower
liull*, anguish and despair, suggesting the thought that
sorrow and sin may have traNelled throughout the
universe. As if anticipating that thought, Paul asserts
that " the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
together in pain," and then rising to the sublime con-
ception that atonement read a lesson to all worlds,
he adds, "Now imto principalities and powers in
heaveidy places are made known through the Clmrch
the manifold wisdom of God " in redemption. Throned
in the heights of his great deliverance, we understand
liim when he cries, "God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

2nd. But again, as the cultured and philosophic
Hellenist, Paul saj's, " This one thing I do, I press to
the knowledge of Christ in His person and indwelling."
The finest instrument of thought which God ever
vouchsafed to man is found in the cultured intellect
of the Greek. How searching and subtle its power !

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Its pliilosophit'H of iiiiiid jiro potent to-day as in tlie
tinlL^s of the Academy and the throve. Now, when
tlie niysteiy of Christ's life was acconipHslied and
His ])ivine personaHty be^i^aii to appear, Hke as the
skilled botanist selects his plant, dissects it, traces
its fibrous folds from uncomely root up to calyx and
corolla, so this Creek intelligence laid hold of His
won<lrous constitution an<l subjected it to the most
searchin<4' and fiery analysis. The Ebionite asserted
that He was only a man ; the (Jnostic that He was
only an eonic God in the sendjlance of man ; the
Nestorian, that He was a double personality, both
man and God ; while Paul, ascending the hei«^hts of
the Divine, proclaimed that Jesus was one Divine-
human personality, unicjue and alone in the universe.
" Whose are the fathers, of whom concerning- the
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for-
ever more."

But the aspirations of Paul did not rest in mental
apprehension ; he pressed to the mark for the prize of
an indwellinii' Jesus. This truth of Divine indwellini:'
lias travelled down to us from remote antic^uities.
It was the doctrine of the Arian Vedics, and was a
primal thout;ht in the Greek myth(jlo<(ies. Not a
sculptor, not an orator or poet, but held that he might
be possessed by the gods and feel the true Promethean
fire to wake his genius and empower foi* high endea-
vor. The profoundest truth which can come to the
intelligence of man is the indwelling of spirit in spirit.
Tell me of matter, and I can measure it, I can weigh

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PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

\ean
lea-
the
irit.
reigU

it, ] eun }iiialy/(i it uiid (It'Huc tlic relations of one
])()(ly to another. Tell uie of H])irit, an<l I am at once
confronted witli the mystery of bein^. lam conscious
that I liave a body. Daniel the proj)het tells me that
1 have a spirit in the midst of my body, that holds
within it the attributes of all thought and emotion.
I am told that there ai'e spirits of evil than can enter
my spii'it with malij^n intent, and touch the vary
lountains of moi-al life. But oh, divinest and blissful
mystery, I am assured that ('hrist can enter an«l
thrtme Himself in my innermost bein^, and, by a law
of which we know nothin<j;', njy spirit can dwell in
Chi'ist in grander than Pantheistic sense. Methinks
I hear a sceptic Nicodemus asking, " How can these
things be?" Tell me, thou doubtin«j^ rabbi, how the
electric tii*e catches the tones of the human voice and
carries them through the solid metal, whispei'inn; them
a thousand miles away; or how the hand of Borealis
shakes and folds his crimson curtain along the north-
ern sky. ^J'ell me that. Till then, we hold the
blissful truth of an indwellint4" Christ. Christ in you.
This was the watchword of Pauline Christology. "It
pleased (iod, who called me, to reveal his Son in me."
And what was the evidence of its reality ? While the
crystal (jjrows by a<j^<^Tegations from without, the plant
and tree grow by a life-power from within. Now, it
was this indwelling power of Christ, our life, which
took hold of the Apostle's great nature and opened it
up into a beauty that has enamored the ages. How
it softens, gentle as girlhood; how it stands undaunted,

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with no quailing heart, in face of tyrant power; witli
a patience tJiat faileth never; with an outpouring
fuhiess of generosity that a frosty ingratitude! could
not arrest ; with an abounding consolation that bap-
tized his suffering life with an abounding bliss.
Divine indwelling made his tragic history of sorrow
an excelsior song of jjcrpetual rejoicing. Christ in
you ! Ring it through the ages. This sounds the
depths of all spiritual phenomena, regenerative,
sanctifying, and comforting. O lone one, desolated
perchance by death, not alone art thou when He is
with you ! Ah, weary heart, breaking with a hidden
anguish, His abiding healeth the broken in heai't.
Ye ministers of God, this abiding will give you unc-
tion and power, spiritual empire, and victory. That
I may know Him !

8rd. Then as the Traditional Hebrew, Paul exclaims,
" This one thing I do ; I press to the knowledge of
Christ as IVIessiah, Master, Lord." I thiidc it is
Matthew Arnold who claims for the Hebrew the
honor of having given to the world the purest mor-
ality, "nstitution of the family, and the noblest
e^ >f fealty to friends and leader. How mani-
.. this Hebrew attribute in the loyalty of Paul
to his Master. From the hour when heaven opened
in the vision at Damascus, till the hour of his corona-
tion at Rome, every throb of his great heart was one
of loyalty and ever-increasing love to his Lord. Love !
Love to Christ ! It w^as the root of all his graces and
the ground of his spiritual temple, " Rooted and

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

irroiin<K'fl in love." It lifted him to the realm of con-
tidence wliieli knew no fear, for "perfect love castetli
out fear." It was the armor of his defence — " the
breast-])late of faith and love." It was the l)racelet
iliat held the other ^jjraces in compact, at once a pro-
tection and a dceoiation, for "love is the bond of
perfectness." It was the power of inspiration that
attvuied his genius to highest endeavor in that im-
mortal ode and pi'ean song of cliarity which he sang
to the Corinthians. O Love ! ]Jivinest power in this
world of woe. Time writes no wriidvle on her brow,
and age smites with no paralysis of weakness. Where
she abides is hea\'en ; departing thence is pi'ofoundest
hell. Along the eternities she shall go, holding in her
hands a cornucopia of blessing, for, says Wesley,
" Eternity has nothing better to offer than the highest
heaven of Jesus' love." " To be able to comprehend
with all saints and know the love of Christ " was the
sublime prize after which the apostle aspired. Christ
in His atonement for justification ; Christ in the
mystery of His person, commanding the adoration of
His intellect; Christ in His indwelling as the source
of holiness and consolation; Christ the object of
loyalty and highest love — Christ was his all and in
all. We are sometimes told that amid the din of this
restless and speculative age, there are Eolian voices,
seductive and charming, leading the thought of the
age av^ay from Christ and Christianity ; voices of the
positive philosophy, that tell that man's highest wor-
ship is the worship of humanity ; voices that promise

I irr ' ■

•

Sfll

I! wmr

) !l

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i:i

rest to tlie weary in agnostic negation ; voices that
assure of a heaven in the harmonies of art and
tertiary coloring. Ah, broken cisterns, vanishing
shadows, fatal dreams ! Who will join with the
speaker in saying, " Thou, O Christ, art all I want,"
the prize of ' y high calling to till the measure of my
being forever ?

III. " This one thing I do," cried the apostle, " I
press toiuard the inark for the prize of my high call-
ing." What prize ? " That I may save some."

Singleness of aim has ever been the condition of
great achievement. " This one thing I do," said the
mariner of Genoa, and heading his ship through
unknown seas, he gave a New Woi*ld to the Old and
doubled the capacity for the triumph of Cliristianity.
" This one tiling I do," said Lockyer, and by his spec-
trum analysis, he interrogates the light and commands
it to tell the secret of all worlds, by revealing the
elements of which they are composed. " This one
thing I do, ' said Lincoln, and around his bleeding
brow the nationalities of earth bind the innnortelles
of great achievement in smiting slavery to the dust
and uplifting forever the genius of liberty. In like
manner, the enthusiasm of the apostle was concen-
tre *^8d on the accomplishment of one work — the
redemption of man. What an epitome of all values
in the universe art thou, O Man — man, mineral and
organized, amenable to the laws of gravitation ; man,
vegetable, demanding water, light and air ; man, born
like other mammalia and subject to their conditions ;

"^TT

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

man, crowned with a cerebral sphere that copies
the circling heavens, and witli lustrous eyes that
reflect the brilliance of the stars ; man, marching
tluout^h time and space and all triumphant, springing
to the contemplation of the archetypes of nature
of which all things material are but the "! adows ;
man, holding the eternities in his being, ;'uined but
redeemed, designed to ascend through everlasting ages
to the beatitudes of God ; man — to the great intelli-
gence of Paul, over all the earth, there was nothing
so great, so lasting, so precious, so princely, and royal
as man. " This one thing I do," that I may redeem
weeping, dying man.

How profoundly instructive is it to notice the
method in which the apostle would compass this great
woi k. Like the age in which we live, when men are
renouncing Moses for Darwin ; when material forces
are regarded as the solution of all mental phenomena

and " out of nothing, into nothing" is their only
gospel — so the age of the apostle was one of mental
disruption and moral decadence. The saintship of
the Pharisee was lost in the ritualistic follies of
the Tahnud. The haughty Sadducee had renounced
faith in resurrection life. Tl e spiritual and pure
theism of Plato had gone down in the sensual of
Ai'istotle. The logic of the kStoic was exchanged for
the voluptuous and destructive canonics of Epicurus.
Though universal nature, whose centre is everywhere
and circumference is nowhere, from farthest star,
that shines resplendent in the Milky Way, down to

mill!"

flit i

ii^l

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

the atom cast up by rolling billow, has no voice to
pronounce the word "annihilation," yet the homage
of the age of Paul was directed to that goddess
of Fate, who is represented as snapping her fingers
against the heavens, crying, " Let us eat, let us drink,
let UL 5njoy life ; nothing, nothing is beyond."

And how did the Apostle confront this overwhelm-
ing tide of sensuous materialism ? He did not stand
as the apologist of the Gospel seeking to vindicate its
truths. Like as God, in the beginning, assumed His
own existence, so the Apostle everywhere assumed
the trutli of Christianity, and for Corinth, that had
drunk the cancerous wine of all concupiscence ; and
for Phrygia, with its barbaric hordes ; and for Athens,
with its ideals of beauty and its didactic philoso-
phies ; and for Rome, with its majestic imperialism ;
and for Jerusalem, with her sacred histories — he had
but one truth, " We preach Christ crucified, unto the
Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolish-
ness." Foolishness ? Yes, but truth transcendent
still, for wide as the world is its connnand over con-
science ; vast as eternity its expression of love ; firm
as a rock in its foundation ; innnortal, it shall live
when rolling years shall cease to move.

And here I ask you to note how the Apostle
preaches the Crucified. Not simply as an liistoric
fact, but as a truth that had wrought itself into his
deepest consciousness. This empowered the Apostle to
declare that the truth, which appealed to the intellect,
had triumplied in the regeneration of his moral being,

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

nil

and hence his ministry was an experimental witness
in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
And, tell me, what has given power to the ministry
of the Gospel in every age ? Ye fathers, passed into
tlie heavens, that braved the ferocity of the de])as(Ml
and wasted in the motherland, melting and mouMing
them into the sweetness and beantv of Christian
(lisci[)leship ; ye fathers that roamed through th(^
forests primeval, and attracted the lone settler, mak-
ing the wilderness and solitary places glad with the
songs of the regenerate, — what was your power ?
Not that you could sweep the strings of a divine
elo(|uence ; not that you could incarnate philosophic
thought in the brilliance of enrapturing diction, but
that with tears and with tenderness, and with the
enthusiasm of sublime conviction and soul-penetrating
force, you could tell the tale of the Crucified. That
was your power. Oh, that we could as a Church
recover this power, then would we grasp the prize of
our high calling, by sweeping multitudes into the
kingdom of God ! Men of Israel, help 1

"This one thinof I do." Like a true master and
leader, Paul sought to marshal the forces of the
Church to give permanence and power to his min-
istry. It is remarkable that out of all the Epistles —
epistles argumentative and expository ; epistles that
breathe the tenderness of a father, and I had almost
said the gentleness of a mother ; epistles that im-
peached and stinuilated — not one is directed to the
unconverted. AU are for the perfecting of the saints
7

■ '; I

nv r--^

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i-1

and edifying of the body of Christ. Like; as the
strength of tlie galvanic instrument is increased by
every additional jar that is charged, so Paul felt that
the nu)i-al power of the Chui'ch would become aggres-
sive to build the cities of s])iritual Judea out of the
ruined fortresses of sinful Samaria, when every mem-
ber was made potential by the baptism of the Holy
(Jhost. Brethren, you know the truth of this.

What a sublime spectacle of ministe)"ial consecra-
tion liave we in the (\\ample before us ! Paul ! I
think of him, his mind replenished wath all knowledge,
his tastes cultured to the perceptions of all beauty.
He had seen the isles of Greece, like lilies on the sea;
he ha<i climbed the pine-clad mountains of Cilicia,
and from their throne of perpetual winter looked
down on the verdant summer; he had stood before the
temples the wrecks of which still attract over land and
sea, to trace their beauties; he had mingled with men
of every clime, and listened to the raptures of Attic
elo(|uence. Seductive forces, wooing him to ease and
honor and wealth, surrounded him on eveiy hand.
He renounced them all, never named them in his
letters. With the ardor of an intense devotion that
is an ever-increasing wonder, he cries, "This one thing
I do, forgetting the past, I press toward the mark."
Oh, that the mantle of his consecration might Fall on
us! Spirit of burning, baptize us now with lire, with
cloven tongues, with pentecostal power !

IV. " This one thivfi I do," said Paul the aged, " 7
'press toward, fhr mark for the prize." What 2)rizel

PAUL, OUR EXAMPLE.

>kc(l
tbv

ineu
ttie

his
t\v.\t

^avk."

^d, " i
hrhe ?

" Tkat I may ji/nish my course iidtli joy, and the
ministry ichivh I have received of the Lord Jesus."
Of all mysteries which overluirif^ this ])laiiet, none is
<:;roater than the mystery of sufferiiijjj. Tliis world
lias told to f!^eoloo;y its epochs and ages, hut it. has told
more — it has proclaimed in almost <wery rock the
tact that with the coming of life, there came the
hlood-red tooth and claw of arronv and death. But
the mystery of sn tiering has not only thrown its
shadow over the earth preadnivite. With the coming
(if intelligence and moral heing, it has projected its
influence along the iine of history till like a prophetic
scroll, it is written within and without, with mourn-
ing, lamentation and woe. And the mystery deepens
when we see that it not only touches the criminal,
but follows and darkens and cuhninates in the man-
a]iostle,who was the apotheosis of every Divine quality
that has adorned humanity. Mystery of suffering 1
Out of its darkness there shines a light, for is it not
true that out of suffering there came atonement and
sal Nation ? Is it not true that out of suffering there
came a power which transfigured and glorified the
ministry of Paul ? Beaten with stripes, with Weed-
ing back, at Philippi ; fighting with beasts at Ephesus ;
stoned at Lystra ; dragged out of the city and left
I'oi- (lead. Oh, sufierer, surely thou wilt abandon this
thy course of lif(>. Abandon it ? With flashing eye
111" t'.Kclaims, " Abandon it for these light aflilictions ?
X<'vor. The love of Christ constraineth me. This
"no thing T do, I press toward the mark for the prize."

100

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

I il

Shi])\vreckcd on a wintry coast, well-ni^h pcrisliin;.
with no companions but felons, croucliin^ over a fire,
surely, Paul, the a^ed, wrecked in life, thy heai-t must
fail thee now. "Fail! None of tlu^se things move
me, neith«;r ccMint I my life dear unto me, so that I
may finish my course with joy; I press towar<l the
mark."

The knell of destiny is struck, the apostle has
bearded the Neronian tiger in his den. Tliere sits
the monster whose crimes aftri<;"lit tlu; a^j^es ; there
stands the man, bowed and br<jken, who has conse-
crated his life to the Master ])ivine. B(; astonished,
O Heavens, and j^'ive ear, () earth. This Ma^j^nificent
in inicpiity consigns untainted innocence to the doom
of a felon's death. Remanded to the rocky Romnn
dungeon, most terrible on earth, there he sits in its
dark, dank and dismal gloom. No churches of his
early love send him greetings now. Friends, cherished
friends from his Asiatic Hock, have Forsaken him and
fled. Not an earthly object of hope lightens his dark-
ness, the shadows of a seeming failure deepen into
absolute gloom. Oh, mystery of suffering, mystei'v
of God, whei'e is tlui interpretation ? All is lost,
lost, lost ! With lonely, yearning heart, he will write
the last epistle to his well-beloved Timothy. But
once, and only once, he alludes to his privation.
Doubtless, shivering in the chill gloom, he writes,
"Bring me the cloak, the old cloak that servc^d iiic
well, that I may wrap mo in its kindly folds." Tt is
the infirmity of age that it too often is anchoi-ed in tlir
Dead Sea of indelible recollections that break awav

' m

PAUL, OUU EXAMPLE.

101

cent
Loom
luivn
A its

lisbc'l

;\n<l

liivU-

into

sU'vy

lost,

But

•atiou,

led u\»'

It is

in t^»'

aloii^' tlu' iiK'laiicholy slioi'O of ren-i-t'tl'ul, ronioi'scful,
pt'tul.'uit and bittci* nicniuries, as seen in a Oarlyle,
But O trinnipliant <;race ! Not a trace of sucli can
be found in this last of liis epistles. The old man in
his distress becomes a comforter: " Timothy, my son,
let not your heart be troubled at my desolations ; the
foundation of Ood standeth sure, the Lord knoweth
them that are his." With uncjuailing- heart, he says,
'I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand." Winged and exultant, he cries,
"I have fought a good tight, henceforth there is laid
up for me." What ! Hear the agnostic singer as she
tells her hope, " Oh, I shall die, yet live again in
flowers and song and birds and sunnnei- skies, and
sweet remembrances of friends ; my dust atomic shall
live for aye." And this is all for her. Hear the
a})0stle of (lod, "Henceforth there is laid up forme
a crown, a crown of righteousness." The curtain
drops; the mortal life is ended; the everlasting gates
are Hfted ; the victor has reached the mark and won
tlic pi-ize, amid the plaudits of the moi'al universe —
the crown of righteousness, gi\en by his Lord the
righteous Judge, is his forever."

I thank my God that this is no highly wrought,
di'aniatic picture of triumph over desolation and
• leath. When Gilbert Haven had almost reached the
mark, when he was dissolving into death, his jubilant
soul lighted his countenance as he said, " I tind no
dark I'iver here. It is all light, light forever." When
Alfred Cookman was anguished with uinitterable
pain, and had almost grasped the prize, turning, he

iw!

I^f

II hi'

102

t)lSCOlJRSES AND ADDIlESSEhl.

said in triuin})]i, " T niii sweeping tlii'ou<j^l» tlie n-atcs,
Wiisbed in tl»e Llood of the Lainb." Crowned apostle,
tlironed on bigli, we catch thy generons woi'ds, "The
crown is not only I'or me, but for all that love his
ap})earing." One by (jne my aged brethren are pass-
ing through the gates to the crown. Soon, with Paul,
theirs shall be the prize of the high calling of God
in Christ Jesus. Who will fill up the ranks of the
fallen ? Who will this hour make a soul election,
enter the arena and say, "This one thing I do, I will
j)ress towards the mark." Do it to-day. Do it now,
and eternity will hail thee with its undying beatitudes.
O ye ministers of God, ye young ministers, will ye
not come to-day, in this supreme hour of your life,
and pledge yourselves before God and man to this
work, following in the footsteps of this our gi*eat
example ?

I have read of the Venus of Milo that was seen
only with ecstasy. Like as that ancient goddess,
with her beautiful severity, her majestic purity, the
grace and. serenity of her brow, and that spirituelle
which seemed to look through her iimnovable eyes.
Like as this unrivalled goddess woke the admiration
and ambition of the artistic age, which vainly sought
to rival, though bettered by the sight, so v/e lujld up
this great example, this masterpiece of God, to rouse
the soul and waken ambition, though we at ])est must
follow but afar, as feeble copyists of the great ideal.
Shall we not be better for the sight, and win a nobler
mark, and grasp at last a higher prize. Angel of the
covenant, grant it. Amen.

til

i!ll|i

AYTTAT IS MAN?

"What is man, tliat thou shouhlest magnify liim ? and that
tliou shouldest set thine heart upon him?" — JoT! vii. 17.

]\I()ST expositors of Scripture re^'iird this book of
Job as perliaps tlie most uiicient in the ins2)ire<l
Canon. For forty centuries tlie colossal s])hinx has
lifted high its head amid E<,^yptian sands, and seemed
to watch with dreamv fflize the civilizations which
have come and gone in the valley of the Nile. As if
its stony lips were to break the silence of tlie cen-
turies and tell the secrets of these mystic and far-ofl'
times, so this book of Job speaks to us out of a
prehistoric age. And what a testimony does it bring !
Testimon}^ of a literary dexterity of poetic thought,
and grace, and rhythm, which rivals the choicest of
Attic songs ; testimony of dramatic power, which
linds no compeer but in the dramatic Master of all
time ; testimony of a profound knowledge of nature,
which, with the exception of fossils, is worthy of our
most advanced science ; and above all, testimony of
an elevation and plenitude of religious thought, which
is the wonder and admiration of all ages and genera-
tions.

Who this man of the far-off — this Job — was and
where he dwelt, we may conjecture but cannot tell.
How he looms up before the mind in stately patri-
urclial form, with the flashing light of passion in his

103

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104

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

eye, the stamp of thonj^lit on liis ample l)row, and tlie
lines of patient .sorrow on his manly face ! Out of
this chapter of perplexity, in accents hiuh and elea)-,
he proclaims at once his estimate of man and his
confidence in a personal God, " What is man, that
thou art mindful of him ? " There are two avenues
into the heart of this passage, both sanctioned by
<livines. The first is that which minifies man as a
creature, insio-niticant amid the ann)litudes of the
universe, to magnify the greatness of the Divine con-
descension. Tlie second is that which magnifies man
as of priceless value to justify the Divine regai-d. 1
need hardly say we incline to the latter as most in
harmony with the analogy of God's Word.

In this text, we have, first, the object of the Divine
regard, and secondly, the manner of its expression.

I. In turning to the object, the Patriarch asks,
" What is man ?"

There can be no question that in every age a largei-
amount of profound, subtle, anxious thought has been
directed to the nature of man than aught beside.
Around this theme, poetic skill hath entwined its
choicest flowers, like the acanthus around the Corin-
thian capital, while deep j^liilo-'^ophy has searched
with exhaustive analysis, and still the science of all
sciences, which connnands the homage and play of
intellect, is the science of man.

1st. In approaching this question of man, the first
and most obvious point is his physical constitution.
It belongs to the physiologist rather than the preacher

WHAT IS MAN ?

i05

I :

to dilate on tlic pli^'sicul stnictuiv with wliicl) we are
("jkIowimI. And yet we may be permitted to way that
all laniiUJiJX*' t'lii'w to set fortli the creative and artistic
sl<ill indicated in the n])lmil(Hn<j^ of cmi" physical hein^.
Every type of life known on this planet, from tlie
most Mini])le green cell, up thron<;h vegetatin*;" forms,
to the most ex((uisite adjustment of animal forces, is
found in our beinj;'. Imperial science, standing before
this physical structure of ours, exclaims with despair-
ing accent : To compi'ehend all that is hidden away
ill this structure is too vast for any single mind or
life, and so to one of her sons she says, take thou the
tye ; and to another, take thou the ear; and to
another, take the nerve or circulatoiy system ; give
your lives to the investigation. And now, see you
these men, when the eye is dim with age and the
almond blossoms are on the brow, testifying that
these organisms held secrets and refinements shading
away into mysteiy, which their life-labor failed to
discover or explain. What meanest thou, Raphael, and
thou, Salvator Rosa, aged and trenmlous, toiling on in
weakness ? What meanest thou ? " Uh," they exclaim,
"we would incarna' J in our marble and on our can-
vas, diviner forms of human beauty than have yet
ht'cn attained, before we die." (3h, this physical hu-
manity of ours 1 However familiarity may diminish
the sL'iise of beauty, yet must it stand as the cul-
minating flower of the ages, wherein God hath taken
matter and refined it, and etherealized it, and subli-
mated it into an image and likeness of such intx'insic

I(lf

a ;.

100

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

4 ii

I: . ■

III

1 ■;

boauty Jiiul vnluo, that thou<]jh it be l)('^'riiM('(l and
soil«'(l by sill and wasted b}'' disease, in jj^anvt or cellar,
yet (Jod proposes to resurrect from ruin, and trans-
li<;ure and ^dorify and enthrone it lorevei- by His
side amid the royalties of the heavenly universe.
"Thine eye shall see the king in his beauty, our feet
shall stand within thy j^ates, O Jerusalem."

2nd. But (Kjain — For an answer to the question.
"What is man?" we must go deeper than tlic
])hysical nature. This body with all its endowments
is not the man, although the world over, it be so
regarded. What is the man? What is tiiat some-
thing within, unseen by mortal eye, which we call
the "I," the "I am," the "ego"? What is that self-
conscious personality which lifts itself up and claims
supieme authority at once over matter and mind —
which says, "My body and my spirit in the mid.st
of my body"? Who shall solve the sublime mystery
which hangs around this personality? As maii}^ here
know, jifter all the searchings of the Greek intellect,
after all the analysis of the Latin, the intro.spection
of the Germanic and Celtic intellects, what has been
discovered, what has become known ? Absolutely
nothing more than in the old Platonic times before
Christ had walked the earth. If the apostle assert
that " No man hath seen God at any time," it may
be truly said, " No man hath seen man." If the
Patriarch of antiquity ask, " Who by searching can
find out God?" we may add, "Who by searching can
find out man to perfection ? " The mystery of man

WHAT IS MAN ?

10?

at tliiH hour is us ^reat as the iiiy.stcry of CioJ, " for-
cvfi- iinHcarcliahlc and past tindiii*^ out,"

And lu'i-f I ask you to cousider the wonderful pi-o-
pi'i'tit'H wliidi pci'tain to tliis self-coiiscioUH personality.

(\)nsider its sotifade an<l woldtion. How do we
ill tile midst of nii;^lity imdtitudes dwell apart and
alone ? Like one who stands in vast cathedral when
the siiadows of ni^ditfall he<;in to till the ])hice, and
who, lookin;;- to the dim, vasty heio-hts above and
into darkened crypts and frescoed corners, feels a
strange sense of loneliness and fear creejD over him,
so there are times which have come to most of us —
Injurs of sickness and pain; hours of hidden anguish,
when a great sorrow has seemed to break the heart ;
hours when we feel oppressed and alarmed at our
solitude in the stately temple of the soul. " Oh," says
Pascal, the tinest intellect of his age, " I am atirighted
at the thought that I am abandoned to myself, shut
in and alone amidst the myriads of the universe."
How we try to comnmnicate ourselves to others,
when one is departing ; how we would pour out our
being and know all things, and oh ! the inettable
sweetness of that love, that wouhl break down all
partitions and would pour itself each into the other,
ami vet everv soul has its secrets, its solitude, which
no other soul ever traversed, its regions of untravelled
separation. Lone as cloudlet in a cloudless sky, lone
as sepulchred dead, lone as one in lone isle of the sea,
loiu' as dweller in a deserted temple, and thus we go
on through life, death and the vast forever, with no

i^i

' !

! f '

f' : 111

108

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

^.i i

visitant to break the inner silence of tlie soul, save
tlio ji^reat Eternal himself.

But again, I ask you to contemplate the imviuta-
hility which pertains to his self-conscious personality.
What constitutes the identity of man through all
time ? What is that which is not fugitive but abid-
ing ? We all know by the light of familiar science,
that there is not a material atom belonging to the
body but is ever changing, so that by the process of
attrition, waste and repair, the man is not the same
man physically. Many here are not the same we
knew in the years that are gone. The old has been
replaced by the new. But ainid the mutations of the
physical, contrast the unchanging self-conscious some-
thing within us. It is in this we have the sublime fact
which flings defiance in the face of all materialistic
theories. Matter is ever changing; mind in its essential
personality is the same yesterday, to-day and forever.
Go remount the river of your years, and you find
that like a living chain, consciousness binds you to
all the past. If I may be pardoned in a personal
allusion : some four seasons ago, I was permitted to
revisit the scenes of my childhood. Though forty
years and more had elapsed since I left the place, yet
the moment my eyes beheld it, every spot was as
familiar as if I had left it but a day. And as I stood
in the very door of the house in which I was born,
and trod the old paths where the sweet forget-me-
nots blossomed as of yore, for but a little a dream
came over me, and I thought in tearfulness, I was

WHAT IS MAN ?

109

iv^nm a child, led by a fond mother's hand and com-
t'()i-te<l by her words. AUis ! the liand is lon^ turned
to dust and tlie tongue silent in the sepulclire, the
cliild is changed into the man be^innin^ to feel the
winter of years, and yet there is something in the
man that was in the child and something in the child
tluit is in the man. Oh, yes ; the material of my
body is fugitive and evanishing, but the spiritual
consciousness is ever abiding. A thousand, yea, ten
thousand ages hence, this identity of consciousness
will remain as an everlasting monument to the immu-
tability and grandeur of our spiritual being.

Again, we ask you to contemplate the authority of
this personality over our 'powers of intellect. No
kingly Jiuthoi-ity ever reigned over such vassal powers
ns are given to this personality within. Vassals, did
I say ? Behold the power of v^'dl — that initial force
in all human action, which God liath let loose to do
its pleasure — will, which knows no compelling power
in the universe — will, which makes its own election,
t'itlier to harmonize with (Jod, or bear the blight-
ing thunders of the eternal and unchanged. Will
stands obedient to the bidding of its master within.
Vassals ! See you the power of reason — that frag-
ment of inbreathing of divinity entrusted to man —
ivason, that sports and plays with all knowledge
—reason, that builds up its principia of matter, and
labors to construct its theodices or harmonies of the
moral universe — reas(^n, though it be the reason of a
Kepler or Gavei. .sh, amongst the finest ever entiusted

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to man, yet reason bows its stately lieatl and owns
allegiance to its Lord in the soul.

Vassals ! Behold the power of imagination, the
most regal attribute of the soul. Say what can limit
its wondrous power. How it flings the spell of its
enchantment over the lowliest and most unlovely of
things and robes them in beauty ! It enshrines the
little field mouse in song, and lo, it is a joy forever.
It sings of the " one more unfortunate, weary of
breath, gone to the death," slimy, loathsome, dripping,
yet sings with a pathos which will wake the foun-
tains of tears and sympathy tlnY)ugh long generations,
'riie ideals of tliis power always transcend the possible
in achievement. There never was a statue or painting
but this power could think of a finer. There is not a
mountain that lifts high its jewelled head in upper
air ; there is not a crested billow of the sea that sings
in thunder tones along the shore ; there is not a
storm-cloud advancing like hosts of war; there is not
a world — a universe — yea, the golden cit}^ of God
itself, but this winged power could thirdv of a grandiM-.
Its limit is only found in the Infinite hims(>lf. And
who shall declare the realistic power of this mighty
principle? How it makes the past the present, and
brings the future near — how it stands as the liaml-
maid of sweetest piety, aiding us to realize the Invis-
ible, and to feel that Christ and the Holy One nro
near, that we can well-nigh feel the breathing of tlic
(.^omforter Divine. Rut regal though iiiiaginntion
be, it 1m>ws bcl'ore the liord within.

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And now, toll mo wliat an array of wondrous
faculties are liere. I have stood on the deck of the
Great Eastern as she was lifted by the mid-Atlantic
wave. T have gone down and seen her blazin<j^ fur-
naces, lier palpitating engines, her palatial saloons,
and I have thought, what must 1k> the grandeur of
that spiritual constitution that could plan and forge
and frame an<l Imild up to perfection this leviathan
structure in tlie hidden chambers of tlie brain, before
a line was drawn or rivet forged for its construction.
And what that God who could so magnify man hy
the bestowment of intellect so grand !

And here I ask j^ou to contemplate a singular
attribute of our being, that while this self-conscious
personality connnands the intellect, it is in turn com-
manded by our emotional and moral powers. Look
at the authoritv of love. How radiant and all-com-
luanding is love — a motlier's love — divinest of all
that has come down from the fall, for it came after
the fall. When the little velvety fingers reach up
and fondle on the mother's cheek, like the rod of
Moses that smote the rock and made the waters flow.
so they wake the fountain of tears and sjnnpathy,
iuid enkindle a sublime affection stronger than death,
which many waters cannot (juench nor floods drown.
The child may go out from the mother, become sin-
saturated, become a marble-hearted fiend — lost utterly
and ripe for hell, yet to one heart he is still dear;
and if the prodigal die, sentencecl by all, one heart,
pjishrines him in aff'ection's tears, and pours the

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fragrant elixir of undying love around lii.s memory.
Oh, triumphant power of love against will and reason,
how it connnand.s the man !

And then, look at the (iwthorUy of conscience, that
incorruptil)le warrior, who keeps witli jealous care
the temple of the heart. Conscience is the minister of
highest Joy, for "our rejoicing is this, the testimony of
a good conscience." And who shall declai-e its aveng-
ing power, when it comes home with condenniation ?
Conscience — it will blanch Belshazzar's cheek before
the propluit's lips trace out the mystic characters
which blaze upon the wall. Conscience — it will
startle Herod into ashen tremor, as he dreams the
murdered Baptist risen from the dead. Conscience —
it will hound the traitoi", Judas, to his tr^-st witli
death. When every other faculty has gone over t(j
the eneni}', this stands tru«^ for truth and God. Like
a judge Divine, it impeaches and condemns the man,
and thrills his being with a terror terrible as hell.

And here it may be ask(Ml why we thus dwell at
length on the nature of man. Why, because without
a just conception f)f our peerless value, what is oui'
ministry and what is this Gospel, but a sham and
delusion :' Oh, for the power of the Spirit to impress
our hearts with the inconceivable grandeur and value
of this central personality — this being that writes
history, that elaborates science, that paints inniioi'tai
pictures, ami kindles at the sight of beauty; that
knows riglit and wrong, etcniity and God : that lilts
up its head in proud exultation amid tlie immensities

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of the universe, and exclaims, "Ye heavens above and
earth beneath, I am greater than you all ! Ye know
not, but I can graduate your orbits and tell the times
of your coming."

Who shall measure the might of those influences
which slumber in this manhood of ours ? Can you
count the stars of heaven, or sound with plummet the
infinite depths ? Can you walk the course of the
lightnings, or rival the thunders ? Can you ? Then
can you tell the influence of man, which, like the
light, radiates outward and onward forever.

Tell me, ye goodly apostolic band, ye noble army
of martyrs, ye Wesleys and Whitefields in worlds of
light, and tell me, Voltaire, Mahomet, Buddha, in
worlds of darkness — ye that have influenced millions
for weal or woe — tell me what is the power of that
spiritual being wdiich, standing on life's uttermost
verge, weary of earth and the limitations of time,
would spring all-triumphant and rise and wing its
way to the realms of the Infinite and Eternal ? Ah,
ye can never tell how God hath magnified man.

But now, we come briefly to note —

II. The manner of the expression of the Divine
rerfard.

" And hath set thine heart upon him." Wherever
the heart is set and the love enkindled, its appro-
priate expression is to confer blessing on the object
beloved. How sublimely hath God expressed His
regard !

1st. Take the arrangevient of our dwelling-iAaor.

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

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It is an instructive law of nature, by a kind fore-
thought, to provide for the coming of spi-ing. Before;
the bud appears, the leafy shelter has been provided.
By a like law, the mother-bird builds her nest, and
even our manhood feels its authority. Now, when God
would provide for the coming of man, He did it on a
scale connnensurate with the dignity of the creatui'c
and the grandeur of His being. And what a dwelling-
place is this world of ours ! Who shall tell the solemn
march of the ages through which this world hatli
passed in preparation for man ? Go study the volume
of nature — go turn over its stony leaves, decipher its
hieroglyphics, read its literature of successive crea-
tions, and you find that when man appeared, creation
ceased and God rested from His labors. All was
designed for man. For hi]n volcanic tires had fused
and crystallized the granite and piled it up into table-
lands. For him the never wearying waters had worn
and washed it down into valleys and vegetable soil.
For him all precious substances were hidden in veins
and pockets of the rocks. All nature brings the keys
of her magnificent treasure house and lays them n
vassal at the feet of man.

But this world is not simply designed to be a larder
and dormitory for the supply of his animal wants.
It has a grander significance. It was designed to be
a school, an academy, a theatre in which to develop
his mental and moral being.

Why has God put laws, and functions, and forms
requiring the study of a life-time into the moss, and

WHAT IS MAN ?

115

into the t'erii, and into tlie flower, and into the animal?
Wliy rise tlie liills in lines of beauty and tlie moun-
tains in shadows of sublimity ? Wli3^ do yon brilliant
battalions, marshalled by Orion and the Pleiades,
nightly march across the dusky pavements of the
sky ? They see not tlieir own li^lit and beauty or
the hiws and functions of their bein^. But when
man came endowed with intelligence, he became the
hi^h priest, the interpreter of God's j^reat purposes
in nature, which were to educate the spirit of man
and by nature lift to a knowledge of himself. And
so, for liim, the heavens declare the Divine jj^lory and
the firmament His handiwork — the mountains pro-
claim His faithfulness, and indeed all nature down and
down, till it is " go to the ant." Yes, even the little ant
becomes a minister of morality to man. Oh, this
dwelling place ! Carpeted with green, enamelled with
flowers, silvered with w^aters, goldened w^ith sunshine,
pictured and walled with mountains, roofed with
worlds. How hath God magnifled man !

2nd. Take, again, the expression of the Divine
regard as seen in our deliverance from ruin. I w^ill
suppose a world has swung loose from its central sun.
As it drives ott' like a prodigal child, it is going from
light to darkness, from heat to cold, from life to death
and utter desolation. But an invisible and attracting
power goes after it and encircles it, and gradually
JU'rests it. It stops — it treml)les with its momentum,
and then slowly begins to return to life, to light, to
beauty and to song. How truly does this symbolize

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the moral world of man. It, too, has swiiiit;- loose
from its centre of light and life. How shall the world
of human hearts be brought back to loyalty and
love ? By wisdom ? There is not wisdom enough in
the Godhead, By po\s^er ? There is not omnipotence
enough to do it! You cannot command love. You
cannot enforce it by the right arm of power. 1'here
is only one force in the universe can do it, and that is
. self-sacrilicing love. "And I, if I be lifted up, will
draw all men mito me." Oh, tliis world has seen its
darkest davs. In the cross, I see the centre from
whence have issued the influences that have encircled
the world and are drawing it back to God. And this
is why we glor}' in and preach tlu) Cross.

Oh, the sovereign power of triumphant love. Why
is the name of Abraham Lincoln the best loved on
this American continent ? Undoubtedly, because his
great loving heart delighted to forgive. When his
frequent pardoning of delinquents and deserters was
felt to be an injury to army discipline, and the public
called for justice and punishment, Lincoln published
that he would grant no more pardons. Soon after a
fine young soldier was found asleep at his post. He
had watched for a sick comrade, and then stood his
own guard, and nature overpowered, he slept. The
penalty was death, and no reprieve could be obtained.
When the intelligence came to a quiet country home
that the son and brother should die, amid the over-
whelming grief a little sister of twelve said, " I will go
and plead for his life." She hastened to Washington.

WHAT IS MAN ?

117

Slie was atVuid of the seiitiy, Imt he passed Iut into
the State Chaiii))ei-. The IVJInister of State and tlie
President were tluTe. Tnrnin*^ to tlie little ^irl, he
asked, with kindly lip and eye, what she wanted.
Pale with fear, she told how her brother had watched
with a sick soldier niglit after night, and then slept
at his post and was doomed to die, and oh ! would he
not forgive ^ Bursting into tears, the great man rose
and exclainuMl, "Law or no law, 1 will take all risks
and pardon your hrotluu-. He shall live." Ever green
shall be the nienu^ry of the num who stood ready to
take all risks that he might forgive. And this is the
power of Jesus' name — at all risks He would forgive.
Because He became obedient unto death and fiom the
cross went down to the grave that He might save,
tiierefore, His name is above evei'v name. Herein is
love. Who feels not its power ? How grandly hath
(lod magnified man in redemption !

3rd, Take, finally, the expre^nion of Divine regard
in the provision for our (jreat hereafter. It is a
point worth noting that modern thought is coming
to harmonize with the Christian idea of a heavenly
state. Science now classifies the universe into the
atmosphere, the .sidereal and spiritual heavens, which
lie beyond all rolling worlds. It is the utterance of
Sir William Thompson that as sure as the weights of
a clock run down, so this universe is wearing out.
All suns and worlds are giving off forces of light and
heat and life into space, and the theory is that these
are being gathered into the spiiitual lieavens, so that

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DISCO UllSES AND ADDRESSES.

tlie new hoavon.s and tlie new cartli will hold all tliat
is worth .srtvinjjf from the ruin.s of the univorHo. In
that temple of God, in that house of many mansionH,
with immortality for its walls and eternity for its
lin;]it, all the mon 1 and intellectual ^ood of the
universe is to be ' red. Or<^anized manhood is to

be there — a <^loriv , oody and beatified spirit filled
with the raptures enkindled ])y the presence of the
loved and lost, and of bein<; with Christ, which is far
better.

And how glorious is the Christian's entrance into
this world of joy ! Dyin*^ day ! We have stood on
the hi^h banks of the Lower St. Lawrence and
watched the <lyinfr of the day. The shadows fell on
the river like a pull, till it seemed like the river of
death, over which the day had ^one to rest beyond
the western hills. For a moment all was chill, drear,
silent, with no sound save the moui'nful re(]uiem of
the ripplin*;- waters that fell on the pebbly shore.
Now a silvery light comes up from beyond the hills.
It silvers into amber ; it ambers into gold ; it goldens
into purple ; it fills the heavens, till every cloudlet is
fringed and burnished like a chariot. And now, the
ti'iumphal march begins, and methinks I hear the
music as the dying day goes to the orient gateways
of the morning. Well done, departing day ! Thou
hast shed thy light and heat and filled the world with
joy. Well done ! Well done ! Re^t ! Rest !

A beautiful emblem of the Christian's departing.
For but a small moment the sickness, the shadow, the

What is man ?

IID

si'pulclirc — tlu'ii tlu' livoi'lastiii;;' «(ute\vays of otcriial
morn, lif"tin<^ ln<^^l» thv'w licads; tlion clu'rul)ic lotions
mianliiiir liome and slioutin<; welconio to the skies;
tlien the plan<lit, " Well done," and " Forever with
tlie Lord, Amen, so let it be ! " Verily, " wliat is
man, that thou shouldst magnify him?"

And now, if such be God's estimate of man, O dear
brethren, what should our estimate of man be ? How
we stand ready to weep that we have so li<ihtly esti-
mated him ! By th'3 regard of God, shall we not go
forth with high resolve and holy purpose to live,
labor and die for man ? May we exclaim, with Paul,
" None of these things move me, neither count I my
life dear unto me" — that I may save some, plant some
gems in the coronet of Jesus, and add some to the
great white company before the throne.

And I beseech all the unsaved to judge of the risk.
Oh, by the regard of God for you, regard yourselves !
Before the cross, I cry in the language of tlie Sufferer,
" What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole
world and lose liis own soul ? " Haste to the refuge
set before you. God hath promised, and I might
believe that the heavens might fall and the earth flee
away, but the promise of God fail — never, never !

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ELIJAH'S SPIRIT m DOUBLE

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" And Elisha Hiiid, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit
he upon me." — 2 KiNcis ii .,,

Such was the appeal which Elislia addreHHed to
Elijali, tlie dopartiiin- prophet of Horeb. In EHJali
we have the most romantic and briUiant cliaractei*
recorded in tlie ancient Scriptures. Son of the moun-
tain, he rises before us, bold, nomadic and aggressive.
Like anotlier Melcliizedek, he is ann(junced as witli-
out father and without mother. Rapliaelian art
dehglits to picture liim as robed in skins of semi-
barbaric type, as broa<l-cht^sted, thin-tlanked, swift-
footed, like Bedouin of the desert, with rapt sublimity
in eveiy line and feature of his countenance. How
imperial was the autliority of this prophet of God I
All royalties and peoples tremble before the greatness
of his magnetic personality. Prevalent with God, lie
commanded the resources of heaven and earth. When
rising to seraphic holiness, he stepped into the chariot
of tire and ascended on high, only once again to
appear amid the serene beauty and fellowship of the
Mount of Transfiguration. Verily, Elijah stands with
scarce a compeei" in the roll of those of whom the
world was not worthy.

And now, what a conti-ast, statuesque and striking,

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(Iocs tlir liistoiT of our text pri'Hciit. Like tiif lunar
linht, sul)(lui'<l and .shadowv after the l)la/t' of meteoric
('H'uI<;"('iK!e, so tlie youthful KHslia, in his rustic sim-
plicity, stcix ' as tlio faint shachnv of that splendor
which enshr :ed liis remnant leader. In the li^ht of
this conti'ast, how ama/in<^, liow seemingly presump-
tuous, is tlu^ demand of Elisha. Is it not as if the
ri[)plin^ rivulet were to say to the mij^-ht}'' river, let
irie swell to <l(Mi])Ie your capacity ; as if the lowly
hill were to look up to the cloud-ca[)ped mountains
and say, let me ascend to double your altitude. ()
Elisha, ask wealth and empire if you will, but dream
not of a double endowment to that which lii-aced
your gp^-eat idiMil. Behold and see the vindication of
his appeal. As the representative of God, Elijah
says, " Ask what thou wilt, ask what I shall do for
thee." On this authority the kindled Elisha cries,
" My father, I pray thee let a double portion of th}'
spirit be upon me," and his prayer prevailed. Now,
as we take it, this is the attitude of God. He is say-
ing to the Church, to the individual, and to each of
us, "Ask what thou wilt, ask what I shall do for
thee." On this basis we build up the masonry of our
proposition, that there is no moral or spiritual attain-
ments of saintship in the past, which may not be
possessed in double measure along the ascending life
of the Church. In the illustration of this proposition,
we will first consider the spirit of Elijah as suggest-
ing to us the line of possible spiritual attainments ;
and secondly, the grounds upon which we are justified

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

in praying for and anticipating a double portion of
this spirit.

I. First, then, we have the spirit of Elijah.

1st. And here we observe that tlie spirit of Elijah
implied the supreme consecration of all his manhood's
powers and influence. When the great apostle asserted
that no man liveth unto himself, he announced a
principle which applies to life universal, for the
intiuence of all life outreaches itself. Influence !
There is the stone, cold, inert, lifeless, at the zero
of influence. Beside this stone there springs up the
plant ; it blossoms into beauty, distils its nectar and
exhales its fragrance, which the soft breath of sum-
mer sweeps out into ever-widening circles. That is
the influence of life vegetable. A bird, a Imnnning
bird, garnished with every hue and tint of beauty,
fluttering like a free spirit, sips the nectar of the
flower and wings its flight, it builds its nest, it
cherishes its young, it sends its species along the
years. That is the influence of life animal. Intelli-
gence, arrested by this creature of beauty, examines
its structure, its habits, its instincts, rises to a con-
ception of organized nature, }-';cognizes in all a design-
ing {ind artistic God, and transmits its thinkings by
speech or literature along the years. That is the
influence of life intellectual.

Moral sense and intuition of man sees in this God
of nature, the God of revelation, and of holiness.
Standing in the attitude of loyalty or rebellion to
this God, he projects his influence into the remotest

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125

eternities and affects for weal or woe the immortal
destiny of others. That is the influence of life moral
and spiritual. Oh, crowned and kingly manhood, it
is given to each, it is given to all that hear my voice,
to start forces which will aid in lifting some to an
ever-ascending heav^in or doom to an ever-deepening
despair. Observe here the degrees of individual power
entrusted to man. It is the law of all worlds that
magnitudes and quantity control, just as the planets
command the satellites and the sun the planets, and
central forces the systems of the universe ; so intel-
lectual and moral magnitudes are controlling forces
among men. When a child is born, when a spirit is
I'lunched into being, ye angels that excel in strength
hearkening to the voice of His word, can ye tell, what
man cannot tell, the probable extent of his powers
!ind influence. Shall he be only a negative, a waif,
tossed on the sea of circumstances, an expiation, an
apology for living, or shall he realize the poet's
dream —

' ' Man is his own sfcfir,
He commands all light, all influence, all fate.
Nothing for him is too early or too late.
His deeds his angels are, for good or ill,
Ti'-At wing their flight along the infinite of years."

Wlien I think of Plato, the sage of Greece, projecting
his thinkings down the centuries; wdien I think of
Caligula and Napoleon, as the demons of destruction;
wlien I reflect on Gautama and Mahomet, giving a
destroyin^^ faith to unnumbered millions — I stand

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DISCOURSES ANb ADDkESSESi

aixl trciiihlc ;ii the ^'reatiiess of tliose possihilitics
inherent to man. Now, in Elijali, we liave one of
tli(! first magnitudes amongst men— a man wlio lield
within him a plenitude of powers. Not, however, for
the splendor of his native endowment do we hold
him up to-day. It was his a])Sohite abandon, tlie
consecration of his entire being to God, wliich has
surrounded his name with an imperis]iabl(! lustre and
developed that flaming enthusiasm which made him
a factor, a great factor, in working out tin; pui'[)oses
of God. Now, this supreme consecration is a possible
attainment to all. I do not say that it will give to
untutored ignorance the power of cultured intellect
or equalize the conditions of men, but it will give
to evei'y man the highest possi})ilities for efi'ective
servic(! oC which his nature is capal)le. And here I
would ask, with all the emphasis of my being, who
amongst us has ever reached the ultimate of possible
conseci-ation to God ? Have you, have I ?

Come walk with me the corj-idors of time and
survey the niches which hold tlu^ memories of the
sainted dead. (yome, lowly maid ; c(jme, t(jiling
worker: come, ye ministers of God, and look at the
illustrious ari4iy. From the sweet saintshij) o' a Jane
Cooper, who was, as the King's daughtei-, all-glorious
within; from the seraphic love of Fletcher, whose
radiant face was a perjx'tual <loxology of praise;
from exultant Baxter, who reflected the gloiy of his
"saints' everlasting rest," up to the goodly company
of apostles and ncble army of martyrs, and there is

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125

not one of them of whom it niay not be said that a
<l()u])h^ portion of their spirit may he ours. Oh, that
the Spirit, the Prince and Giver of Life, nii^ht tliis
moment baptize ns with a ch^arer h'^ht and sweep us
into that abandon whicli would k;ad us to say,

" n'ake luy life, and let it l)e,
Consecrated, Lord, to thee."

Then woidd we, as ^kdsome, toilinj^; ])ilgrims, walk
with elastic step in the Kind's highway, and return
and come to Zion with son^s and everlasting joy and
gladness upon our lieads, and the days of oui* moinni-
ing would be ended.

2nd. But ag'ain, the spirit of Klijah is the spirit of
absolute confidence in a personal and responsive God.
When the searching and subtle intellect of Job leads
him to ask, " Who is the Lord or the Almighty that I
should serve him, and what profit shall I have when
i pray unto him?" how truly did he voice the ques-
tioning, tremulous heart of humanity.

Who is the Lord ? Go, ask the dwellers of far-off
times, and they wdll tell you that He is power — that
is, a God dynamic, without mercy, without compassion,
without responsive moral (jualities, who "svields the
forces of nature to accomplish an inevitable destiny.
And it is not a little singular that the scientific
atheism of tliis age is actually going back to this
I'lidiinental conception of God. For, says the modern
materialist, " Matter I know, and force I know, but
what is God?" Force, force, relentless force, and

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notliing more, Wlio is tlio Loivl ? Go ask tho priest
and Levite of Mosaisiii,aii(l tliey will tell you that He
is a ruler — that is, a God <lyiiastie, who rules in the
armies of heaven and amon^j^st the inhabitants of this
earth. Righteous, inflexible, reco<i^nizin^ moral char-
acter and rendering to every man accoi'ding to his
works. Wlio is the Lord ? Go inteiTogate a per-
fected revelation, and ask its final expositors, Paul
and John, and they will tell you that He is not only
a God dynamic and dynastic, but a God personal and
paternal, a Father-God, infinite in His personality,
whose nature and whose name is love. Oh, divine
and blissful revelation which came through the lips
of Jesus, enfi-anchising every one of the blood-royal
of the race with the right to say " our Father which
art in heaven ! "

" Now, grant," says one of our great theologians,
" grant me an infinite, personal Father-God, and a
belief in the efficacy of prayer is an inevitable neces-
sary correlative," " Never," says Sir William Dawson,
"is physical science more unscientific than when it
impeaches and denies the efficacy of prayer," For is
it not true that God has belted and made vocal this
whole planet with the voice of prayer ? Every cry
of every fledgling to mother-bird tells of prayer:
every bleating of every lamb in every flock tells of
praj^'r; -^very sob of every infant that touches mother-
heart tells of prayer. There is not a drooping fiower,
there is not an arid ])lade of grass, that nnitely appeals
to the dewy heavens, but tells of prayer. And is it

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Elijah's spirit in double portion.

127

not forever true tluit tlie deepest intuitions of the
liuniHii soul echo and re-echo the universul cry of
])rnyer. Wlien the poet Slielley, tliat l^lataut atlieist,
was caun;lit in a cyclone in Napolitan sea, he was
the first in the boat to throw himself on his knees
and injplore tlie protection of Heaven, telling that
the Divine instinct will neither down nor die.

Now, in Elijah we have a man, a consecrated man,
who furnished the most resplendent example of the
power of prayer. Carmel ! from whose lofty summit
we can see the blue w^aters of the Mediterranean, the
silvery sheen of Gennesaret, the snow-clad peaks of
Lebanon, the flowery plains of Esdraelon and ever-
sacred Nazareth, — Carmel, not for these art thou held
in honor, but because thou standest as a pedestal on
which God demonstrated for all ages the sublime
etticacy of all-commanding prayer. Cry aloud, ye
modern priests of the modern Baal, who worship at
his shrines of unbelief, of pleasure, wealth, or folly.
Cry aloud, for he is a god ; yes, but a sleeping god,
who will answer you never. There is but one respon-
sive God in the universe who answereth by fire — the
Lord, He is God.

Beneath the shadow of Carmel we this morning
stand and triumphantly ask what has thrown around
man such dignity, such surpassing dignity as this
privilege of prayer. Tell me that he can unbraid the
light and let loose the fiery llame that laughs at the
tardiness of time. Tell me that he will soon whisper
to the antipodes and holds in his keeping forces which

128

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

can rend the mountains. Tell me that lie can unveil
the structure of the universe. What is that to the
dignity whicli God has given to the lowliest son of
Adam, who standing, the earth heneath his feet and
the heavens bending above him, looks up to the
infinite and hears him say, " Command ye me con-
cerning the works of my hands." " Ask what thou
wilt." " Ask what I shall do for thee." Oh, divine
gift of God, how little we value it! We lisp it in
infancy and are taught it in youth, and faintly exercise
it in maturer years, yet is there a man amongst us
who has ever come within the circumference of testing
the power of prayer. It is an equation with an
unknown qunntity that has never been solved. In-
spiring are the examples of the power of prayer, of a
Knox and a Livingstone that moved Scotland, of a
Bramwell, a Stoner and a Walsh that opened heaven
with their mighty pleading, and many another
anointed prince who prevailed with God. Shall we
not, with our advantage, cry, " Let a double portion
of their spirit be upon us."

Oh, for a grand alliance ! oh, for a solemn league
and covenant to test the uttermost power of prayer !
Then with us would the light of the moon be as the
light of the sun, and the light of the sun as seven
days; then would our Christianity emerge as th«>
light. I see her all radiant, winged with prayer,
skipping along the hills and stepping upon the
mountains, and from her sunlit pinnacles stooping
down to the streets, and lanes, and alleys, and garrets

ELIJAHS SPIRIT IN DOUBLE PORTION.

120

and cellarH of our city, and liftin<^ up liunianity and
clasj)inf( it to litu- heart of love. Spirit of tli(^ prophet,
in d(jubk' niea-surc I'cst upon us !

*h'd. Ajj^ain, the .spirit of Elijah was a spii'it of
sustained fortitude in adversity. Nothin*;' in tlu^
Sci'iptures brings this au^'ust ])rophet so near as the
intimation of James, that " he was a man of like
passions with us." Nothing begets such connnunity
of feeling as the fellowshi]) of suffering and son-ow ;
that touch of natui'e makes us all akin. What a.
grim catalogue of ills, what an experience of bitter-
ness and grief came to Elijah ! F'ollowed 1)v the
vengeance of Ahab, imperilled by the treaclu^iy of
Jezebel, desponch'ut that he was alone of all the
Lord's prophets, banished to tiie brook Clierith, faint-
ing amid the enforced inactivities of the wilderness,
weakened by the fast of forty days, above; all, over-
whelmed with the feeling that his life-work after all
was a failure by I'eason of the perversity of Tsi-ael,
we can understand how his weary so\d was wrought
to the dire extremity which said, "It is enough; ()
Lord, take away my life." Tell me, is this des])aii-ing
weeper, beneath the juniper tree, the man of iron
nerve and eagle eye who was ever in the forefront of
danger? Oh, this ministry of sorrow ! How it finds
us out, breaks the spirit and lays us low in the dust.
An«l is it not suggestive that there is not one of God's
Jinointed who has not had pai-!igi-aphs and passages
in his history \vhen he walked out into the extremities
'iljoiguish 'r\]u] desolation. Look at Moses the leader:

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Moses the lawgiver; Moses who moi-e tliaii an}- man
belield God i'aee to face; yet tliis Moses was baffl<Ml,
(lisa})poiiited, dispirited, distractt^l, and in his ex-
tremity cried, " () Lord, let m(^ die. " 'I'hcn see yon
crowned and kingly David, the IVarU'SM warrior, th«'
exultant singer, see him in his bursting grief, weephig
like many j^notlier broken-hearttnl fath<'r over his lost
prodigal, and wailing out the miserere of all time,
"() Absalom, my son Absalom, would (lod I had died
in thy stead." And brethren, is not this tremendous
discipline of sorrow still the appointment { We have
seen the man of Christian honor, in his fancied dis-
honoi', stand amid the wreck of his fortune, and, with
tears of anguish, long for death. We have seen the
gt'ntle mother softly fold the little di'esses that hei-
darling used to weai-, and long years after the idol of
lu'r heart had climbed the golden stair, yearn with
sobbing heart to join her there. And are there not
some of us here to-day who have hveu bowed and
la-okcn, <lefeated and darkened, till out of the depths
we liave cried, " Let me <lie."

O Daniel, greatly beloved and excellent in wis-
dom, canst thou not come forth and interpret thi.-^
handwriting of adversity, which the walls of oui'
life history reveal ? Nay, we neeil thee not. God is
His own i)iterpreter, and He will make it plain. I
am standing amid the discordances of a crowded
workshop ; J see one passing the metal through the
tire and moulding it into forms, and on<' with axe
and hammer l)uildinrr a frame : nnd one with crucial

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131

et thi-
of our
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cliisel and piano, forming tlie nionstcn- tubes; and one
adjustin;,^ tln' kvys. No niclodioH, no liannonifs tliero.
Rut the scene elianges. I am standing in a vaulted
enthedral, witli its soft, dim, religious light. Yonder
is the stately instrument with genius at the keys.
Hark ! there com«^ whisperings of m(dody, rip}dings
of melody, <lrippings of melody, gushings of melody,
trumpet-tones of melody, orchestral burstings of
melody, diapason thunders of melody, that roll
tlu'ough the arched magnificence. Time is the work-
shop, eternity the vaulted cathedral ; time the process,
eternity the completion ; time the discordance, eter-
nity the melodies, the song, the j ubilate forever, " For
our light aiflictions which are but for a moment, work
out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory." Out of his discipline of sorrow, Elijah
emerged into a sweeter, nobler manhood on earth, till
liis ripened spirit ascended in the chariot of God, and
yet Elijah did not climb to the sunnnit of a possibh-
beatitude by suffering ; that honor was reserved for
his coming Lord, who, with the bitter cup in hand,
could sa}^ " Not my will, but thine be done," and who
from the elevation of the cross glorified its sufferings
by the litany of prayer for His nnirderers, " Father,
forgive." This is the ultimate to which sanctified
suffering aspires. And now, in the presence of pale-
laced sorrow, refine<l and ennobled, shall we not sa}',
" \i>'i a double portion of their spirit be upon us."
Then like the statue of Memnon that gave forth its
song when the light of the morning sun fell upon its

132

DISCOURSES AND ADD H ESSES.

nijiJjjcd I'catures, our bn!akiii<j luiarts will wake to

lly !

melody when through the ^^ates fijai* wv catch tln'
\\<S,\\t that comes IVom the n-pcat white eom])any wlio
luive "come out of ^n*eat trihulatioii and wasiied their
i-oh(»s and made them white In the. blood of the liamh."
4th. Then ouci^ a^-ain, here tlie .spirit of Elijah was a
spirit of nnfalterin<j^ loyalty to the unch<tngeable Word.
Amid the mutations of time, no instinct in our bein^^
is more s]iar])ly detine(I than tht^ <lesi)-e for what is
permanent orabidin^'. Life with us, wliat is it? But
chan<jfe or decay. Trust the fickle winds, trust April
skies, trust the inconstant sea, but trust not in life:
it is an exlialation, a vapor that vanisheth away. ( )\}y
social surroun(lino;,s, wliat are they, with their silken
l)onds and enfoldin^s of lovo that canopy tlie home :*
Ijike the cyclone of the prairie, the tempest of trou])I('
comes; our roof- tree falls, tlie idols of the lieart ar(>
scatteriMl, and we stand amid the wreck of our affec-
tions. Oh, ye mountains, symbols of the imnnitabic
( lod, will ye not abide? Science tells us that tlif
<ijlaciers are ^rimhnpf them to dust, and the waters arc
washin<j^ them to the valle}'. (Hve but time, and the
very mountains shall be brought to nought and pass
away. Where is the permanent and abiding- ^ How
impressive were the DiN'ine teachings to Elijah ! 1
see the prophet standint^ in tlie cleft of the mount,
surrounded by the ^Tandeui's of his vision scene. Tlie
winds of the wilderness, bending the foi-est and swec])
ing the sands of the desert into crested billows, pa^s
him, but God is not in the unstable wind. The eartli

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VA'A

(luakc, iliai .s]iak«',s miuI itiids the iiiouiitains to tlicir
(Irrp roiiiidation, t'oiiios and ^^(H'h, l)ut (Jod is not in
tlic tivniulous cai'tlujuakc^ The dcvouriii^^' llain»',
like a destroying aii<;'('l, passes, l)ut God is not in tlie
consuming' tiiv. Sil«'nce Tails u])()n the proplict : a
still, sni.dl voice tlirills his soul, he wraps Ins mantle
about hin», and feels that God is in the voice. Whal
that voic(! uttered was imperishable, unchanj^i'ablr,
eternal truth. Eternal truth. Yes, her eye shall
never dim, her step shall nevci- falter. Hold her l)y
the hand, and she shall lead thee up the stee[)s of
time and on to the forever. What suhlime mvsterv
is there in the conception that the only permanent
and ahiding thin^' ^iven to man is thouo-ht, Divine
thought, whispered in words, treasurccl in memory,
transmitted alono- the generations in this written
page. Go search throughout the universe, go walk
the highways of the heavens, where flaming worlds
stand as the lamps of the Almighty, lighting the way
to the infinite. There is not one object outside the
Triune God on which I can rest my trend)ling spii'it
for eternitv but this living and abiding Woi-d of God.
What is the everlasting ground of right and hope
but this living Word? "This living Word," says
Mai'tineau, "invests moral distinctions with innnen-
sity and eternity, lifting them out of earthly con-
fjitions to the imperishable theatre of all beings."
Hut this Divine Word not onlv I'stablishes moi'al
distinction, it is of universal adaptation.

1 have read the Persian tale, how that the genii

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ffave to a royal prince a simple nut, which held
within it the materials of a tent, so elastic that it
would cover the palace, cover the court-yard, cover
the country, cover the army, cover, cover the world.
And this is the attribute which belongs to this simple
Word of God, It embodies purposes, principles, pro-
mises which, like the materials of the Persian tent,
cover every condition of our race, bringing illumina-
tion to the mind by its revealings of Christ ; bringing
regenerative truth and promises that, like a sovereign
elixir, bind up the broken-hearted and dry tears of
sore distress — a Word that adds to the limitation of
time the untravelled areas of eternity. Who shall
declare the insanity of those- men who, with fell
intent, are trying to hush and drown and deny its
divinity ?

But, brethren, I ask you to note that there is not a
form of scepticism that goes masquerading across the
stage of our times but is the exhumed and ghastly
skeleton of some old heresy tliat has been slain again
and again. Fortress of eternal truth, no tunnelling
of science can undermine your deep foundations ; no
destructive criticism can dismantle your battlements ;
no charge of a worn-out dogma can leave thee
deserted. Thou standest, and shalt forever stand, an
asylum, a refuge, and a rest for the spirit of man.

Now, the grandeur of Elijah's character was his
loyalty to the voice of God. True, he had his wintry
times of doubt, when, chilled by unbelief, he faltered
in the line of duty ; but the voice of the Lord was to

ELIJAHS SIMIUT IN DOUBLE POUTION. 135

liini a clarion cry to \vliicli he over responded to
l)attlo for the ri^lit.

Bretliren, wliat is our responsibility hut to take our
stand, firm, daunth'ss and heroic, by this altar of truth.
In tliis respect let us pray, " Let a double poi-tion of
tliy s})irit be upon us." Say, what an ideal Christian
nianliood and ministry would we have if a double
portion of the spirit of Elijali were ours ! A suprenu'
consecration, according to tlie measure of eidi<i^hten-
iiient, absolute confidence in a personal and responsive
(Jod, sustained fortitude in the midst of adversity,
loyal in all things to His Word — this would realiz(^
the crown-height of apostolic thought when he
ascended the stairway of his climax, and tells us of
assurance — higher than this, of full assurance — higher
than tiiis, of the riches of a full assui-ance of a perfect
man in Chi'ist Jesus.

II. The grounds upon which we are jiistified in
pvaijing for and anticipating a douhle portion of
the S2)irit of Elijah. Here, I remark, that the well
authenticated promises of God are all-suflicient as a
ground o ' confidence. Nevertheless to give strength
and dignity to our faith, behold our three-fold advan-
tage over the aggregate Church of the past.

1st. We have the advantage of a profounder insight
into a completed revelation.

If we remount the river of the years long gone, it
is difficult to realize that the entire Scripture known
to Elijah was the Pentateuch, and the entire known
to the major and minor prophets was the Pentateuch

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and Hagioi^rapha or tliu sacrod sono-s and psalms.
For we must remember the completed canon of the
Old Testament was not authenticated until after
the persecutions of Antiochus the Brilliant, and no
individual inspirations can ever equal tlie completed
revelation of truth. Coming down to the Apostles
we find that they had but fragments of the gospels
and epistles, in addition to the early Scriptures, and
this was true of the post-apostolic and early patristic
age, since the canon of New Testament was not
completed till the fourth century under the persecu-
tions of Diocletian. Then look at the medieval age,
how the Scriptures were interned in the legendary
rubbish of that period. Against all this, what coign of
vantage have we in holding in our hands this volume
of inspired truth. And here observe it is with the
Book of Revelation as with that of nature. Go back
to the opening of the Christian era, and how infantile
was their knowledge of nature. But now its stone
leaves have been opened and its fossil hieroglyphics
deciphered; now the telescope has uiu'olled the scroll
and read the literature of the heavens ; now the micro-
scope has I'evealed that no less wondrous universe of
atoms; now the tires of the chemist and the analvses of
the philosopher are laying bare alike the elements of
matter and of mind : now our knowledge of nature as
much transcends the past as the wisdom of mature
age surpasses the fancies of childhood. The develop-
ment of its doctrine and the profound research into
its hidden meaning left us high in point of \antagv
ovei- all antiquity, and still its wealth is unexhausted ;

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Elijah's spirit in double portion.

137

of
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into
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Its li«'i((hts and depths are iinexploi-ed, aii<l still, as
Wordswoi'th expresses it in liis ode to Imnioi'tality,
we stand like children watching on the shores of
that immortal sea of truth and hear its mighty waters
rolling evermore. For this volume liolds the think-
ings of Divinity, they are infinite as the infinite God.
Xow in the light of this, how great is our responsi-
bility and how deep our dishonor if a double poi'tion
of the spirit of past saintship be not ours !

2nil. Then, again, we hav^e the advantage of a juster
conception of the character of God in the generous
plenitude of liis provision of all grace for man. To
Klijah, who knew no Scripture but the Pentateucli,
(iod was mainly a God, judicial, governmental, but
in the light of the perfected revelation, how full-
orbed does that divine character appear. Who is the
revealer? " No man hath seen God at any tii.je; the
only begotten of the Father, he hath declared him."
" FTe that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Now
in pi'oportion as the character of Christ becomes
Inininous we find our way to the very heart of God.

What was Christ to the post-apostolic Greek intel-
lect ? If you turn to the great Nicene symbol or
cived you have a dea<l Christ, a dissected Christ,
an analysed Christ, where subtle and peerless intel-
lect has done its utmost to define, but not the
warm and living Christ of Christianity^ What
was Christ to the schoolmen of the middle ages ?
< >nly a sacrificial victim to appease the Father's
w ruth, who was to their minds as a consuming fire,
luit out of the cloud of obscurity the historic Christ

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is ever emerging as tlie Bright and Morning Star.
So tliat the finest intellects of the age, sceptical and
iinfriendl}^ thongh they be, are compelled to cast their
homage at His feet ; thus Goethe, in whom culminated
the genius of Germanic intellect, declares Him to be
the exemplar of all possible virtue ; thus Stuart Mill
asserts that He is the divine picture for the human
soul to copy. And to-day, what do we recognize in
Him i Not only the Christ of Atonement, but the
i-evelation of the Father as revealing the personality
of God, as revealing the character of God, all-radiant
with love, as revealing the accessibility of God, on
whose bosom sin and sorrow find rest and peace. All
discords in the universe, says Pascal, are concords
in Christ, for He has harmonized the character of
God as never before. Jesus Christ, the same yes-
terday, to-day and forever. Out of the eternities,
He was incarnated in time, the same. Out of His
incarnate flesh. He now in spirit walks amid the
seven golden candlesticks of the Churches, the same.
lu this church to-night, beside every living heart, the
same as ever. "Able to do exceeding abundantly
above what we ask or think ;" able to make all grace
abound toward you ; able to keep 3'^ou from falling ;
able to save to the uttei'most ; able to enrich with a
double portion of the spirit of Elijah, and willing to
bestow it now.

3rd. And then finally we have the advantages of
assured and ever -increasing manifestations of the
Spirit. Never did the apostle pen a more potent
appeal than when he wrote, " Now I beseech you,

Elijahs spirit in doubf.e portion.

139

bretlireii, for the sake of the Lorn Jesus Clirist and
for tlie love of the Spirit." It must be remembered
that the spirit of love has ever been the executive
agent of the Triune God, bringing the infinite into
relation with the finite creature.

Now, what is the law of the Spirit's working ? I
answer, that of indefinite development, for great and
marvellous are thy works, thou evolving Spirit of
Love. I see Him brooding over the waters of chaos.
I see Him creating and renewing the face of the
earth, building up the strata of the mountains and
rolling out the valleys. I see Him covering the earth
with the enamelled beauty of forest and of flower.
I see Him revealing the mystery of life and marching
up to the climax of man. Nor does the law of
development cease here, for out of the ruin of death
lie is to be resurrected into the inuiiortal life of
lieaven. River of Ezekiel, river of God, flowing out
from beneath the temple. At first but reaching the
ankle, it deepens to the knees, it deepens to the loins,
it deepens till the prophet can swim in it ; it deepens
und widens, beauty arises upon its banks, life abounds
in its waters, for everything liveth whither the river
Cometh. River of Ezekiel, what art thou but the
promise and assurance of an ever-doubling portion of
the Spirit given to the Church. River of Ezekiel,
river of God. Oh, if this Spirit is given, what does
it mean ? It means purit}' of heart, it means to
kindle the intellect, it means to fire the emotions for
God, it means to transform everyone into the likeness
of Jesus and send us about doing good.

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DISCOUKSES AND ADDRKSSES.

IF t^vei' Ji double portion of the Spirit i.s ikMnfinded
by tlie Chui'cli, it is to-<lay. The H[)ii'it of Klijuli is
needed to witness uyainst wron^*, to labcjr lor the
abolition of the li(j[Uor curse ; of the despotic })ovver
of a false Ciiristianity in our midst; of Snl)bath
<lesecration. This Spirit is demanded to lift tlie
Church to higher life and consecration in the face of
i-ebuke and blasphemy that abound on every side.
With this blessed baptism of the Spirit, tlie life of the
humblest believer will be made sublime. He shall
turn man}'' to righteousness and shine as the stars
forever and ever.

And now, let us turn to the circumstances atten-
dant on the divine fulfilment of Elisha's prayer. In
all the round and realm of lyric poetry, never surely
was there a thrilling tale that embodied such sub-
limity, fidelity and pathos as the record of the last
hours in the earthly career of Elijah. Sublimity !
Yes, Here is a man that defied kings, that brought
fire from heaven, that swept the false prophets from
oft* tlie face of the earth, that stood as an avenger of
wrong. But all is now softened into the sweetness of
fatherly tenderness. See his fidelity ! As he ad-
vances to the climax of his adventurous life, he will
visit the schools of the prophets to leave a last
inspiration amongst those who were to stand as the
witnesses of God whe^^ he was gone. Then see you
the pathos of his parting with Elisha. To save him
from the anguish of the final hour of separation, he
said, " Tarry here while J go ovei- Jordan." But

ELIJAHS SPIRIT IN DOUBLE PORTION.

141

the soul of Elisha clun<i^ to liis great master, and ho
exclaims, "As tlie Lord liveth, and as my soul liveth,
1 will not leave thee." They ^^o from Gil^j^al to Bethel,
from Bethel to Jej-icho. With his mantle the prophet
divides the waters of the Jordan and they pass over
diy-shod. The mighty soul of Elijah swells into
sympathy for the Elisha of his love, whom he is to
leave behind, and he says, " My sou, ask what I shall
do for you," and Elisha responds, "Let a double por-
tion of thy spirit be upon me." " Ah," said the
ileparting jirophet, " thou hast asked a hard thing, but
if thou art with me when I am taken from thee, it
shall be done." Behold ! the chariot of tire and the
horses of fire sweep down and pai-t them. As the
prophet ascends, I fancy he looks back at the watch-
ing and waiting Elisha. He drops his mantle, pledge
and symbol of the descending spirit, when lo ! the
timid and shrinking Elisha becomes the incarnation
of an Elijah. With the mantle he returns to Jordan.
Smiting the waters, he cries, "Where is the Lord God
f Elijah?" The waters divide, and he passes over
ry-shod. On the further shore, the watching sons
f the prophets fall before him and exclaim, " The
spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha." The prayer was
answered, the double portion was given. Standing
on the sununit of Olivet, our Elijah, bidding defiance
to the forces that held him to the earth, and ascending
up on high, gave to His Elishas the assurance, " Ye
shall receive poA after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you," when, from the throne of His royalty. He
sent down the pentecostal baptism of the Spirit, with

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

its fiery tongues — symbol of tlie higlier power that
had come to His people.

Never was there an hour since creation when the
livint^ waters of the Spirit were so wirlely diftused,
and still the promise of God remains unexhausted, "I
will pour out my spirit upon all fiesh, and as floods
upon the dry ground and showers that water the
earth, then, instead of tlie thorn shall come up tlie
fir tree, and instea<l of the briar shall come up the
myrtle ti'ce." Then Christian manhood shall ripen
into the fruition of highest perfection and power.

Now, with the advantage of a deeper insight into a
])erfected revelation, with a clearer conception of God
MS seen in Jesus Christ, and with an enlarged visita-
tion of the Spirit, is not our proposition vindicated,
that thei-e is not a moral or spiritual attainment of
saintship in the past that may not be possessed in
ilouble measure along the ascending life of the Church:'

Brethren, what shall the harvest b(^ of this service !
Oh, to make this liour historic by a high resolve and
holy pui'pose to become replenished with all possible
grace, that a double portion of the spirit of the
fathers may be ours. And then

When the angul of shadows

Rests his feet on wave and shore,
Ai\(l our eyes grow dim with watching,

And our hearts faint at life's oar,
Happy is he that hearetli

The signal of his release ;
The bells of the Holy City -

The chiuies of eternal peace."

Amen and amen.

ilii'

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THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.

" I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of ( iod, that ye
present yonr bodies a living siuiitice, holy, acreptable unto (iod,
which is your reasonable service. " -Romans xii. 1.

In the analysis of this impressive passage, two
things merit our attention : First, the duty of Chris-
tian sacritiee in its elemental qualities ; and secondly,
the motives (li\ine and human by which this duty is
enforced.

I. We have the duty. Here I ask you to consider,
1st. Christian sacrifice in its prhnal nature and
ronditions. If you select any one of the fundamental
principles of Scripture, and trace it hack to its origin,
you find that it enters into the deep foundations of
the universe, and, indeed, the veiy nature of the
Triune God. Take this rudi mental idea of sacrifice,
the surrender of the one for the advantage of another,
as seen in all nature. There is not a type of life on
earth but exists by the perpetual sacrifice of life ;
there is not a form of beauty but springs out of
decay, while every object that meets the eye is resur-
rected out of the ruin of other formations. Go stand
in the stately forest, and the fluttering aatunmal
leaves come to the eartli as to an altar, where they
give forth their vitalizing power, entering into new
conditions of being. Go walk amid herbal an»l
carni^'oral animals : sacrificers are thev all. What is

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J)ISCOLJHSES AND ADDUESSKS.

tliis j>l}UU't hut God'.s hi^li altar s\viii<,nii^ tlirouj;li
the iiniuciiHitieH, ctornal laws, His iiiinistciinn- priests,
])y whom th<; sacrificial process is ever advancinj^,
responsive to the impressive deniands of ordained
creation. Now, th<' j^enius of Christianity reco»^nizes
the stern, relenthsss principle of nature, and lifts it
into the arena of intelligence, of volition and morals.
Christianity ! It illuminates, it transHn^uj'es, it glorifies
this law of sacrifice as the divinest tluju^ht in the
spiritual realm, and an eternal necessity in the nature
of God himself — a necessity which found its inter-
pretation in the face more marred than that of any
man, in the transfixed hands, in the pierced side of
Him whose high encomium it was, " He saved others,
himself he could not save." Tell me, what iK the
ideal of sacrifice which God has given us f There is
nothing in the heavens uuovc, nor in the earth
beneath, nor in Deity itself, that is held as too good
to become a pattern for man, since He, the incarnate
Sufferer, left us an example that we should follow in
His footsteps.

Our text, you observe, is cast in the Levitical
mould. We have presentation, holiness and conse-
quent acceptance. I go back in thought to the times
of Sanuiel the prophet, and Solomon the temple-
Imildcr. I am standing amid the hills of Judea, or
the slopes of L(d)anon, adoi'ned with their Heecy
flocks. I see a man take a lamb from his flock, an<l
carry it to the dooi- of the temple. That lamb is
given to the waiting priest; is given to the sacrifici.d

THE SAf'RIFICE OF SERVICE.

145

knife ; is ^iven to the altar an«l tlic tiro ; is <riv«'n as
an atonement or tliank-off'eiin^ to God, His property
absolute and entire. Why doe.s tlu^ apostle assert
that this Mosaic economy, hoar with a^e and crowneil
with sanctity, had no ^loiy by reason of the ^lory
that excelleth ? Behold, and hvv. When the land)
was j^iven to the sacrificial knife, if that knife revealed
taint, disease or blemish in the land), no Levitical
waters could cleansi^, no altar fii-es purify. It was
I'ejectcd utterly, carted away to the valley of Gehenna,
and cast into the pit, where the worm dieth not and
the fire is not (pienched. How tremendcnis is the
issue here synd)olized, that (nitside of Chi'istianity
there is no regenerative power in the known universe
which can redeem the dislocated and ruined spirit of
man. " Who can bring a clean thing out of an un-
clean ? " is the cry of all ages. I turn to the siiges
juid poets of anti(|uity, and find that every Greek
drama is keyed to the note of hopelessness before the
depravity of man. I turn to the man of all time, who
walked the inner sanctuary of the soul, laid l)are the
ribs of the heart, and flashed the torcldight of his
genius into the remotest cliand)ers of the nnnd, and
what is the key-note of every Shakespearian drama
hut the cry of conscience over sin and perversity,
wliich admits of no alleviation or remedy ; while the
changes rung by atheistic philosophies on the energy
of discipline, tlie power of environment and the
forces of culture, tell that to bring a clean thing
out of an unclean is, to man, a task as impossible as

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

to curtain tlie sun and liold back the tides of rollintr
ocean.

But see you the excelling glory of our Christianity.
There is never a sacrifice wliich comes to tlie Christian
altar of which it may not be said that " the wliole
head is sick and the whole heart faint, and there is
nought but wounds, bruises and deca}'." Wliat can
bring purity to this pollution? Nothing but tlic
blood of Jesus. Wliat can change the skin of the
Ethiopian or the spots of the moral leopard ? Notli-
ing but the blood of Jesus. What made the lamb in
tlie hands of the priest or on the altar more lioly
than the flocks on the hillside ? The Divine appoint-
ment that whatsoever touclieth tlie altar is holy. I see
in vision, the temple divine i-ise before me ; I see the
ev(M-lasting High Priest mitred and girdled with His
divinit}', standing on the sapjihire pavement hard by
the altar of God, waiting with benignant look to
receive the ottering. Who then is willing this day to
consecrate his servic<is unto the Lord ? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and heart — the word of
faith. One act of abandon and faith, and you touch
the altar an<l become holy and acceptable to the Lord.
All hail, ye consecrated trusters! It is yours to take
the banner of an immortal hope and plant it on the
citadel of despair ; yours to surrender to Him, to
catch up the pnean song of " Thanks be to God that
giveth us the victory " — over sin, over self, over the
world ; aye, over every alien power — victory through

THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.

147

our Lord Jesus Christ, our priest forever after the
order of Melehizedek,

2nd. Again, consider this duty of Christian sacrifice
in its internal agency.

All self-sacrifice is the outcome of our deepest
being. It has been well said that no philosophy of
man from the old Platonic onward to tluit of Kant
and Hamilton, rivals in depth the insight of Scripture.
i^Ixamine, if you will, the Pauline philosophy of our
text. The apostle says, " I beseech you, present your
bodies," and elsewhere, " Glorify God with your bodies
and spirits." Who is the "you," the subjective " you,"
that presents the body and glorifies with the body and
spirit as if these were objective or segregated entities
— entities subject to the authority of this " you." Our
science tells us of the " I am " or " Ego," the self or
self-conscious personality which stands alone and be-
hind every attribute of mind. Where dwells this won-
drous " Ego " ? In the cerebrum of the brain, in the
ever-beating heart, in the ganglion of nerves, where
is its place of abiding ? We speak of the mystery of
God, and men stumble at the mysteries of our Chris-
tianity, but every man that hears my voice, holds
within him a mystery, a self-conscious, undiscovered
})ersonality which no man hath seen, nor can see, nor
understand; a mystery second only to that of the
Inlinite himself. And what royal prerogatives per-
tain to this inner self ? Never did a Ccesar stretch
out his sceptre over such an empire as is given to
this self. It can let loose its powers and fly where

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES

' i

win^ of Koinan engle never beat the uir. Here I
Htand, but in a moment my thought is at the anti-
podes. I see the iridescent pUnnage of the bird of
j)aradise, inliale the fragrance of the niagnoha and
stand beneath the shadow of the crystal-crowned
Himalayas. Here I stand, but in a moment my
tliought is beyond the stellar worlds, where the light
of Orion and the Pleiades is lost in the darkness.
Here I stand, but I walk again the Phydian galleries
of art, and kindle before the portraits of Titian, the
frescoes of Snlvator Rosa and the cartoons of Raphael.
Here I stand, but I dwell romantic with Tennyson in
liis " Idylls of the King," and tremble at the dread
dream of Clarence in dramatic vision. Here I stand,
but I mount and wing my flight to the very foot of
the eternal throne, where the harpers are harping in
the heavenly cities, and I am again witli the loved
a^d the lost. Yes, here we stand, and tliei-e are
moments when the innnensity of the spirit's powers
gives us to feel that we are cribbed, cabined and con-
fined in the very universe itself. Nor does tlie
mystery end liere. Tliis inner self, lone in its empire,
is yet not alone. I would not s])eculate, yet tlxi
researches of Max Mliller and others into compai-a-
tive religions authenticate nothing more suggestive
than the fact that from the lowest fetish up to tlui
highest theistic conception, the docti'ine of Divine
and spiritual indwelling is the attribute of all known
religions on this earth. And wliat is tliis but a con-
firmation of the testimony of God. " We know,"

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THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.

149

siiys Jolui, "tliatGod dwcllctlj in uh hy the spirit
that He hath ^ivon us." " We know tliat the spirit
of \vieke(hiess worketli in the eliihlren of disoljedi-
eiice," and wliere then; is woi'k tliere nnist be the
ji^ent. Wiiat nnist be the j^randeiir an<l vahie of tliis
personality, wliicli ])rinti|;s into competitive C(jnflict
the forces of tlie Infinite ami Satanic foi' its possession,
and what its powers to make its immortal election for
the one or the otliei*.

I am sittinjj;; with others in a I'ail-car. Tlie speed
is qnickenino-; the cai* is rockinj^; we sweep I'ound
tlie curves and fly past the stations; the I'ed li<^ht of
d!in<;*er is disre^-arded. Soon it is whispei-ed that a
madman in liis maniac fury liolds the bar of the
enfifine. Evei'y cheek pales with teri'or. Wi-eck, I'uin
and death are innninent. But in the crisis, a stront;"er
than a strong man sprin<4*s forward, ^-rasps the bar,
controls the entwine and averts appalling- deatli. Give
to that' engine, if you can, the power of intellio'ence
and will to resist or yield to maniac fury or sti'on*;--
iirmed man, ami how truly does this synd^olize human
conditions. I look at a man, «;ifted and cultured,
inaidy and generous, but lo 1 a change comes o'er his
seeming. I see him with blood-shot eye, with pro-
fauity on his lips, foul in his person, in mental and
iiioi'al ruin. What is destroying^ The personality
is there, but it has resigned itself to a demoniac
force, that is wrecking the enginery of his manhood.
wretched man! Who shall deliver^ Deliver?
The invited power of the Holy Ghost comes to the

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

nicl of that enslaved personality, the l)oncls are broken,
the self is emancipated, and now stands in loyal con-
secration to God.

Do you ask what is the soul and centre of all Chris-
tian sacrifice ? I answer, the absolute suj-render of
this self to Christ. This is liberty, for whom tlie 8on
maketh free, he shall be free indeed. Standing in this
freedom the man is master of himself. He conwiiands
conscience, and like a faithful sentinel, it keeps the
portals of the king's palace, that nothing unholy enters
there. He commands will, and, like a feudal I'etainer, it
pants to manifest its championship for its Lor<l. He
commands memory, and it clings with miser care to
every fragment of beneficial knowledge, and trans-
forms it into an ai-gument for loyalty to God. He
commands imagination, that vagrant and wanton
daughter of the mind, which quenches its strange
fires and relights a nobler flame at the altar of the
cross, swinging high its censer full of the aromatic
fragrance of whatsoever things are pure, lovely, and
of good report. He commands, and the time of the
singing birds has come to the heart, and every affec-
tion gives out its music,

'* That gentler on the .spirit lien
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes."

O house of Israel, come and let us walk in the light
of the Lord ! Ye heavens above, the abode of love,
and earth, the abode of duty, I call you to witness the
Divine possibility given to every man this hour, to

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151

swiiiiT his beintr into the nrnis of infinito iiicre^' ami
•guidance. J)o it, and t'ternity shall tell the beatific
result. Pi-esent yourself unto God.

3rd. Aj^ain, consider this duty ol* Christian sacri-
fice in its oniivard experience. Nothing is more
sin<;ular than the fact that when God would give a
s))iritual revelation to man, the very first note whicli
He sti'ikes is matei'ial. "In the beginning, Go<l cre-
ated the heavens and the earth," and this reveals one
of the dee[)est laws of Divine working. It would
seem as if creation itself, in all its departments — man,
the worM, the universe — is an interpretation of (Jod,
in which He expresses the beauty, the skill, and infi-
nite wealth of the eternal mind. Now, in subordinate
degree, a like necessity pertains to man. He, too,
must fiash into consciousness an<l breathe in outwai'*!
lorms until all that slee])s in his intellect and ti'embles
in his heart is expressed in sculptured beaut}', in the
masteries of matter and the melodies of song, and in
the ten thousan<l creative manifestations of social,
mechanical, connnercial, or adventurous life. Now,
this law finds its application in our text. How is the
loyalty of the inner self, its holiness and conseciation,
to fiipil expression but in the responsive moralities
which are revealed through the actions of the bodv i
Therefore, the command is, "Present your bodies and
spirit a living sacrifice for service." A living sacrifice !
Is not this a misnomer ? Every ministration Mo.saic
was from life to death : the living victim became the
dead sacrifice. But the ministration of the Spirit is

WlfPiff'- .^=3i

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DtsciouRSES And ADDllteSfiE^.

! \

i i* r 1^

■ '.

! : ! !'i

tVoin «U'{ith to VA'c. What (IciiuHiHtrattMl tlu' super-
natui'al in th« Levitieal cconoiiiy ^ Not tlu; tabernacle
or temple ; not the altar or veiled cherubim of j^oM.
Man coubl create these. It was the descent oF the
Divine tire, as on the summit of Car!iiel, which con-
sumed the saci'itice, \Vha>' d'jiwo istrates the super-
natural in Chi'istianity ? Not the Cliurch ; not its
ministiy or i-itual. Man can ci'eate these. Jt was
the baptism of tii'e, the cloven ton<^U(^s of tire, which
opened the pentecostal disj)ensation of Him who is
the Princ< Mud Giver of Life, of all life — the tire of
Divine life alouii' the current ayes of the (-hurch.
Oh, that the tire from heaven mitiht fall and «;'ive us
life, and ^ive it more abundantly !

" Present youi* bodies."

In creation, observe God nev^er repeats himself.
Thei'e is never a Hower, or livin<^ form, or stailit
world that is like any other. Everything- has its
appointed place and its work to accomplish. It was
the theory of the patristic and medieval a^'es, that
all saintship must be uniform, as in the I'obed f rial's
and nuns of Romanism, but this is not the order of
Goil. Infinite vai'iety is the Divine law.

All types of character, of talent and of piety are
wanted. Present your bodies, whether weak or strong,
ru«j^jj^ed o)' gentle; present your voices in their indi-
vidualities to warble or witness for Jesus; present
your manhood's stren<j^th to walk the thorny wa^'
of self-denyinj;- duty. " Present your bodies." If age
has weakened, if you can uo longer run with the

ill

TilE SACRIFICE OF SEUVICE.

l53

isel I .
iirlit
,s its
was
Unit
riars
r of

ti'on^,
indi-

t'CHOUt

way

[f aj,n'

Ih the

r<)<)tinan but are woaiy, still you can " bo a true
disciple sittin*; at the Master's feet."

Oh, woudi'ous luechanisiii of the body, whicli com-
hiiies with the spiritual in the accouiplislunent of
sj)iiitual and eternal results. My material tonjg^e
vii)r{ites against the material air, pi'oducin*;' a matei'ial
s()un«l which cai'ries a spiritual thou*,dit that per-
chance wakes a soul and starts it on its hij^hway
march alonj^' the blissful foi-ever. My foot may carry
•UK I my hand may ministei' to a weary, doubting
heart, and lea<l it to clasj) tlu^ Redeemer in the arms
of a faith that life or death shall never dissolve.
Who would deprecate the ministrations (jf the body?
They are pi'e<;nant with possibilities that will project
themselves onwai'd, while lift and thouj;ht and beinj^
last or innnortality endui'es. " Ah ! " .says the apo.stle,
" we liave this trea.sure in earthen vessels, but the
excellency of the power is of God." Like as light
shining through the prism dissolves and corru.scates
into brilliance, .so heart con.secration shining through
tlu' boily dis.solves an<l corruscates into the rachance
of those graces that adorned the humanity of Je.sus.

" Present your bodies."

4th. Consider yet once again the <luty of Christian
siicritice in the intrinsic value of its i'easonal)le service.
If you enter the Turner Gallery of Art in London,
you are at once arrested by the flaming j)ictures of
nm'ivalle<l magnificence. You have sum-i.ses that
come blushing o'er the incense-breathing morn and
sunsets that seem to open the very gateways oi

Itll

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154

DISCOURSES AND ADDUESSES,

glory — suns in their meridian .spl.Midor, suns sliinin*^-
through tlie rifted clouds, giving ex(|uisite shadows,
turning t!ie water into silvery sheen and clotliing the
heathery hillsides in purple robes. If you exaniin(»
what gives brilliance to these pictures — ^jewels and
all precious stones, think you ? Notliing of the kind.
The genius of Turner took tlie worthless metallic
oxides and pigments whicli were pulverized, cleansed
and assimilated — sacrificed, if you please — and tlien
handled to incarnate on the canvas the ideal ci-eations
of his mind, and now the worthless pigments are
transmuted into a value which the wealth of a
Vanderbilt could not purchase from the nation How
fine is the analogy here. If the surrender of these
worthless pigments to the hands of a Turner lifts
them to such peerless value, making them the min-
isters of beauty through the ages, the surrender of
any soul to God gives the services of that soul an
inconceivable preciousness.

Go to the men who control senates, like a Gambetta
or Bismarck ; go to the men who bear aloft the torcli
of discovery — and ask them to direct a soul to the
feet of Jesus, to put joy into a human heart, that will
perish never. Can they do it ? It is forever impos-
sible. But look at the lowliest spirit consecrated to
God. It can touch the springs of spiritual powei-
that will vibrate forever. All histoiy reveals the
stupendous power of individual influence — how it
can live on and permeate and accumulate till the
fugitive Egyptian slave becomes the Moses of history,

tHE SACRIFICE OF SEUVICfi.

155

and the maker and nioiiMcr of nationalities, and a
power potential for all time.

Now, Christianity taices l.oM of this principle of in-
fluence and turns it into the channels of righteousness,
wliicli sweep like oceanic currents into th'i kingdom
of goodness and God. Oh, the marvels which follow
sanctified influence ! Never is the maxim that truth
is stranger than fiction, more verified than here. Who
kindled the heart of a William Arthur? A nameless
man of feeble, consecrated powers preached to the lad
and onl}' two others. Yet, from that service came
" the tongue of fire" that has kindled the fires of the
Holy (ihost in a thousand thousand heaiis.

Who filled the higliest pulpit in Christendom with
that electric voice that has rung around the world ?
A forgotten but saintly man cried in the ears of
Charles Spurgeon, "Look unto me and be ye saved,"
and straightway he became one of the greatest moral
forces of our age. Wlio sent a Simpson with his
Haming evangel over the continents, touching the
hearts of millions? The sweet persuasion of his
lone and widowed mother, who had given herself and
given her son as sacrifices to God. ye Christian
workers, who have turned many to righteousness,
\Nhen ye go back to the forces that determined you
lor God, how many feel, like the speaker, that they
came from the gentle influences of a conseci-ated
mother's love ?

And now, what transcendence Christian sacrifice
<,nves to life ! Cultivate the intellect, it is well ; give

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DISCOUUSES AND ADDRESSES.

tliys«'ir to lii^jjli Jiiul noble pui-poso in life, it is well;
Imt the coiisecratioji of your entire nijinliood to God
puts tlie inipreHH of divinity upon your life-work.
Under this inHpiration, you .shall rise in power of
achievement; you shall I'ise in excelsior triumph over
adversities: you shall rise thi'ou^'h the yeai's, yes,
throu<;h the evei'lastin^- ao-e.s ; y(ju shall I'ise to a
ci'ovvn, for " Many will be the crown of your rejoicinj^"
in the <lay of the Lonl Jesus."

Now, 1 ask this C()n<;reoation if such powei' comes
to a man fi'om conseci'ation. In the lij;ht o\' time an<l
etei'nity, in the li;;ht of God and man, is it not his
reasonable service :*

II. And now lei us turn hviejly to the mot Ices
Divine and human by 'w/dck this diUy is enforced.

1st. I beseech you, by the mercies of God. What
an arj^ument is this — mercies of God — mei'cies of
environment. We nuist remend)ei' that man is not
made for this world, but this world is made for uian.
What is this world to every man in this house ? What
is this world ( It is a moral gymnasium, in which
the sinews and muscles of the soul are toughened and
strenijjthened in the wrestlintr and conflicts of life.
What is this world but a conservatory of divinest
art, in which God has scattered Ijeauty everywhere
with prodi<(al hand — beauty in the turbaned moun-
tains — beauty in the ravined desolations that by
refracted li^ht become like orient gatewa3^s of g'old,
leadinjr to Alhambras of splendor — beauty in all
t'ornis, down to the little flower that, as the pout

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THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.

157

hat
licL
and
life,
iiiest
'liere
louu-

o-old,

expresses it, " lioMs in it a wraith of thouj^ht tcM)
tlcep foi" teai's." Wlio can tell the unconseioiis jk)\V('1"
of retinenient and exaltation, which coiiies from tlie
fellowship of nature { What is this world hut God's
own university into which all have entered.

Last autumn it was my privilege to listen to some
of the finest scientific intellects of the a^e, and hy
nothing was I more impresse<l than their reverential
humility. Th()U<(h they told us of their discoveries
of the invisihle bacteria, fifty millions of which spoi't,
live and perish in their little world, the one-luuKlredth
part of a cubic inch, and then of ascending worlds
multiplied b}^ millions, yet they acknowled;;ed that
they had only touched the outermost frin<ife of the
^Q'eat pro])lems of thought an<l bein^ that Cod had
treasured in His universe. They told us that nature
still hel<l a wealth of literature unwritten, of poetry
3'et unsung, and a science many-si<led, which woujd
l)eckon onward the intellij^ence of the a<jjes, till time
should bo no more. And what is the finale to which
all research tends, but to reveal the eternal power
and Godhead of that Father of mercies, vdiose we
are and whom we should serve with our const crated
])owers.

Mercies of (^(i— mercies of Divine Discipline. Of
all great truths which our Lord revealed, none is
more sublime than the companionship of (iod with
man in the continuous ministries of His providence.
It is easy to sinj^ of the mercies of God when ours
is a heritage of peace, and prosperity gladdens our

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

life, but wliuii the Hlmdows conu; and the dcMul loaves
of departed joys ru.stle round the acliin^^ heart; when
we sit alone in our grief, and long

"... for the touch of a vanishod hand,
And the Hound of a voice that is still ! "

— is there mercy then ? Ah, yes.

" Two little "eet wont pattering by

Years ago ;
They wandered off to the sunny sky

Years ago.

Two little feet—
They crept never back to the love tliey left,
They climbed never more to the arms bereft,

Years ago.

Again I shall hear the two little feet

Pattering by,
Their music a thousand times more sweet

In the sky ;
1 joy to think that a Father's care
Will hold them safe till I meet them there.

By and by."

What softened your nature, refined your spirit and
transferred your atiections to tlie heavenly .' Was it
not the discipline of sorrow ? Sorrow came to your
dwelling, shrouded in gloom. Sorrow said, " I will
abide," and your heart was riven. Sorrow walked
by your side, and little by little, uncovered her face,
when lo, it was to you the face of an angel. And now
you can glory in tribulations — tribulations, like skilful
artisans that work out for you a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory.

THK SACRIFICE OF SEHVICK,

159

as it
your
will
Hked
face,
now
ilful
iding

Mercies of God — iiu'rcio.s of Redeeinimj Love. Tlii.s
is tlu' crowninjj^ apix'al. Wliat a inaHter and dread
picture of our luunanity does tlie a})OHtle .sketch in
tlie oiK'uiii;;" of tins episth;. The very resources of
tlie Greek laii^ua;^^*' are taxed to describe its ho[)eless
and terrihlt' dcpi'avity. Hear it: " Tlieir throat is an
open sepulclire, with tli«'ir lips tliey have used deceit,
tile poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is
full of cursin<^ and bitterness, and their feet are swift
to siied blood." But look at the condescension of the
Son of God, stoopin<i- down with an infinite stoopin^r,
taking this lost humanity and leading it up tiirough
the fourth chapter, through the fifth and sixth chap-
ters with their aboundings of love, until he comes to
the eight)) chapter, wliich holds the gramlest cliartei-
of Christian ])i-iviK'ge wliich the Scriptures record.
O wondi'ous chapter ! It would seem as if mercy
here set up a ladder from earth to heaven and com-
manded every believer to "climb up to God." Look
at its rounds : "freedom from condemnation ; freedom
from the law of sin and death ; freedom from the
body of corruption ; freedom from the spii-it of bond-
age ; sonsliip with the Father: joint-heir.shij) with
the Son; fellowship with Cliri.st ; predestinated to
His image ; all things working together for good ;
more than coiuiueror;" and then thi^ final assurance,
" [ am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
pre.sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth." —
Methinks the imagination of the gre^t apo.stle catches

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160

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

fire, and I funcy I liuar him say, " If thuru he a
creature, that is neither an^el, nc^r devil, n(3r man,
nor mi*^hty monster in the liidden innncnsities, tliat
would liold nie back, that creature shall not be able
' to separate me from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus, our Lord.' "

Standing on these supernal heights, the apostle says,
if you would ascend, if you would reach the sunnnit
of God's purpose, " I beseech you therefore, brethren,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice/'

2nd. / beseech you — this is the hitman motive
Oh, the inspiration of this appeal coming from such
a man I

It is not the appeal of ignorance, for in Paul, as
you know, we have a man of transcendent intellect,
keen as a Damascus ))lade and potent as the dis-
solving fiame— a man whose gifted tongue C(nild roll
like the thunder and whisper like the breeze, and on
the wings of thought sublime, spring elastic to the
very heavens — a man of warmest heart that ever
beat in human bosom — a man of tenderness and tears,
who wept at parting with the elders of E})hesus, who
could wisli himself accursed from Christ in the wealth
of his generous love for his kinsmen according to the
flesh— n man who sounded the depths of Christian
sacrifice, for who ever presented such a living sacri-
fice as Paul ^ I see him with famine in his look, with
beggary on his back, with infirmity on his brow,
manacled and in chains. Before royalties, he cries,
'"I am not mad, most noble Festus/ I am not mad

— t'ni j^'ipi'i ;

THE SACRIFICE OF SERVICE.

161

in this Cliristiaii .sucriticc, for it is my roasonable
service."

This is the man who cries through my voice to-day,
"Present your bodies a living sacrifice." Now, what
response will you make to this appeal to-night ? Shall
it be in vain, or shall it tell its tale of blessing in
coming days ?

" I can give thee nothing," said a lowly one to an
eminent philosopher. " Give me Unself," said the
great teacher, " and I will give thee back more than
thyself." Give thyself to Jesus and He will give thee
back more than thyself. Give yourselves to Jesus, ye
ministers of God, and the wilderness and the solitary
places shall be glad for you, and the moral desert
shall rejoice and blos.soni as the rose ; yea, it shall
blossom abundantly.

Oh, that we might arise and gird us afresh for the
conflict ! What has life to offer ?

" The boast oi heraldry, the poinp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour,

The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

To the man of consecrated powers, life has a diviner
issue, a more blissful culmination. " They that be
wise shall shine as the firmament, and they that turn
many to righteousness as the stars forever."
Be this our lot and this our great reward. Amen.

■iU,

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"THIS YEAR THOU SHAUr

DIE."

"Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will oiist thee from
off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die." -Jkrkmiah
xxviii. 16.

The mission of tlie minister is twofold, namely,
that of a shepherd and that of a watchman. As a
shepherd, he is required to feed the flock of God, over
which the Holy Ghost liath made him an overseer.
As a watchman, he is recjuired to stand on the walls
of Zion and sound an alarm of coming danger. In
the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel, we have a state-
ment of the watchman's res])onsibility. Observe how
God speaks: "Also, O son of man, I have set thee a
watchman to the house of Israel ; liierefore thou shalt
hear the word at my mouth, an<l warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou
shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the
* wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in
his iniquity; but his blood will I require at, thine
hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked and he
turn not fi-om his way, lie shall die in his iniquity;
but thou hast delivered thy soul. "

On this the first Sabbath of a now year, we would
perform the watchman's solemi\ task, put the trumpet
to our lips and sound the alarm — " Therefore thus
sRith the Lord ; BehoM. I will cast thee ofl^the face of

THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE.

163

tlic earth : this year thou shalt die." First, we have
th(; aniiouiiceineiit of a soh-uin and eoininj^ event — •
"thou shalt <lie." Secondly, the consequences which
follow the event — " I will cast thee off' the face of the
earth." Thirdly, man's sacred responsibility to his
soul in view of this event.

1. Let us look at the announcevievt, " thin year
fhoii shalt die." And here I I'cniark that this event
is possible to all, probable to many, and certain to
some.

I say it is possible to all. The great conditions in
(lod's universe are the conditions of life and death.
Wherever there is physical life, there nuist be its
relative, physical death. There is nothing around us
hut bears the impress of possible and progressive
decay. Every inspii'ation of every breath tells of
death ; every beating of every pulse tells of deatli ;
every throbbing of every heart tells of death. Death
is not only seen in the snow scattered on the head of
age, but in the brightness that flashes in the eye of
infancy, and in the damask that adorns the cheek of
vouth. Death is in all seasons — in the witherings of
juitunni, in the storms of winter, in the blossomings
of spring, and in the fruitions of sunnner. There is
not a flower that blooms, not a tree that lifts its
statelv^ head to the heavens ; there is not an insect or
animal, there is not a granite cliff or crystal-crowned
mountain, there is not a rolling workl in the universe
that is not dying. And oh, stupendous calamity,
enough to drape the heavens in darkness, there is not

. i

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104

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

a man or woMaii this night, hi this houses, Imt is
(le.stined to phy.sical death, and in danger of death
eternal.

'* What aro the hving { Hark, the sound
From grave and cradle crying !
By earth and ocean echoed round — •
The living are the dying."

" This year thon shalt die." This event is probable
to many. It is the sentiment of tlie poet, that every
heart is like a muffled drum, beating funeral marches
to the grave. What a solemn mystery overhangs the
year tliat has just opened ! We are evermore march-
ing out into the unknown. The thunderbolts of God
in the form of accident or disease have already been
striking and will strike to the dust. How startling
are the warning words of Jesus, " Be ye also ready,
for at such an hour as ye think not" — tlie Imur of
sport, and folly, and sin— at sucli an hcmr the mid-
night cry will be heard — "tlie Son of man cometh!"
Though you are young, you may die; though yon
are seeking by education or apprenticeship to prepar
for life, you may die ; though immersed in busines?
and having no time, God will see that you have tiin
to die. No powei- Ixmeath tlie eternal tlirone can
avert the strokes of the destroyer. The elo(|uence of
a Cicero, the science of a Newton, the wealth of a
Vanderbilt, the saintship of an apostle, cannot holil
back the destroying angel. Then^ is a tremendous
probability of death overhanging many before me.

Again, " This year thou shalt die." This event is

THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE.

165

absolutely certain to some now bet'o/'e Ciocl. Metliiiiks
I lieai' someone say, " Wlio art tliou, fallible man,
to stand and thus predict death to any in this house ? "
Behold and see ! Now, science has made it plain.
Out of every thousand in this city, between twenty
and thirty, or in other words, one out of every forty
or fifty go down yearly to death. This Church has
been in existence for forty years. There has never
been a minister in this pulpit, on the first Sabbath
evening of a new year, who could not truthfully say
of some in his congregation, " This year thou shalt
<lie," and the sequel would prove it true. It is more
than possible, it is more than probable, it is all but
absolutely certain, that I am speaking this night to
some whose death warrant is signed, and who will
never see the first Sabbath in the new year. You
may smile at this and forget it, but it may prove a
reality. Ah, you say, I am in the midst of life, and
of health, and of strength, and of prosperity. Look
at the man in the Gospel. He was a man of health
and strength. He had been successful in life, and was
going on with his schemes to pull down and build
anew his barns of greater capacity. I see him sitting
alone in his room, going over his gains and saying,
" I am rich and increased in goods, and have need of
nothing — nothing. Soul, thou art safe, thou hast
much laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat,
drink and ])e merry." Many years ! What is that ?
A voice, like thunder out of heaven, cries, " Thou fool,
this night tliy soul shall be recjuired of thee." Death

106

DISCOURSES ANP ADDRESSED.

strikes and hell receives. As we pronounce tlie solenni
doom of iiiv text, " Tliis year thou shalt die," let every
soul sjiy, " Lord, is it IT'

II. Look at the consequences v^hich follow this event.

" Behold, 1 will cast thee from off the face of the
earth," that is, cast thy body to the ^rave and dismiss
thy soul to the unseen and eternal world. All Scrip-
ture agrees in describing death as an overwhelming-
calamity to the wicked. Oriental imaiiination has
dipped its pencil in the darkest colors to depict the
kin«( of terrors. Turn to the book of Revelation,
sixth chapter and seventh verse, and read a passage,
which I can never think of without a feeling of alarm :
" And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard
the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
And I looked and behold a pale horse : and his name
that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with
him." Nearly twenty years ago, it was my lot to see
Benjamin West's great picture of the " pale horse and
his rider." I can never forget it, and can never
desci'ibe it. There was the pale horse, there was the
grim and ghastly spectre Death, an<l his eyes had all
the seeming of a (lemon's that are gleaming — with
thunder in his look and armed with the deadly
weapon. There was a father stri\'ing to hold back
the horse that was trampling beneath its feet the
mother and child. There was a man in the midst of
his sports, whose back was toward the ricler, at whom
the weapon was levelled. Behind the horse there
were the fluttering myrmidons of the past gathering

h I

THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE.

1G7

up tile (load un<l cuHtiug tlu'in oft' the t'nec of the earth
into liell. Tliis was the stroke ol* <((!iiius, and it has
an alarming reality. Behold if God casts thee off the
face of the earth this yeai", probation is ended. What
is probation ? It is opportunity — when you can
decide foi* or against God, for heaven or hell, for
happiness or love. That power is with everyone in
this house. When the everlasting God gavt; you a
will, He gave you one of the mightiest things in the
universe. The gentlest girl can will to defy Omnip-
otence, and Omnipotence will never break her will-
power ; or she can will to resist the devil, and there
is no Satanic power that can conquer lier, for God
the Holy Ghost will help her. But if you let proba-
tion go, golden opportunities are gone and all is lost.
Look at the closing revelation of God. When proba-
tion is ended, then he that is holy let him be holy
still ; he that is righteous, let him be righteous still ;
he that is unjust, let him be unjust still : and he that
is tilth}^ — filthy forever. If God by death cast thee
off the face of the earth unsaved, the door of destiny
is closed upon thee forever. We cast aside all specu-
lation and theories as to the perpetuity of punishment.
The revised \'ersion has strengthened the truth :
" These shall go away into eternal punishment, and
the righteous into eternal life." Oh, to be companions
with the outcasts of the universe amidst the rage of
agony, remorse and despair. How overwhelming the
thought ! W^ith memories, immortal memories, of this
^'ery church, this very night, of a salvation which

I ^Vi#

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

iiiiylit linvc been t'ouinl, hut is lo.st forevor ! Ye moun-
tains of Gilboa and thou vale of Ashkelon, wliy })re;ik
ye not into weeping and lamentation ? Ye fatliers,
friends and saints, wliy mourn ye not over an impend-
ing disaster so terrible i*

III, Lastlij, look at mans sacred responsibilities to
his soul in view of this event

" Who shall abide the day of his coming, and who
shall stand when he appeareth at death." Lest God
should east thee off' the face of the earth this year by
death, I call upon you for innnediate repentance.
What is it to repent ? It is to be sorry for sin — it is
more. It is to make restitution. Hear the word of
the Lord in Exodus, twenty-second chapter, " He shall
make restitution for his theft or die." Who is a dis-
honest man or woman, as a servant, as a clerk, as a
trader, as a merchant, as a banker — I care not what
— if you have, what you have dishonestly accjuired,
give it back, or you are a lost man. Every dishonest
act is digging an impassable gulf over which you can
never cross to Jesus until you have filled it up with
restitution. You can as soon climb to the stars with
your clay feet as enter heaven without making resti-
tution to the uttermost farthing, if in your power.
God spurns repentance that has not amendment and
restitution. If thou art to be cast off the face of the
earth this year, I tell thee that repentance alone will
not save thee : you must come by faith to the atoning
Lamb. " Who is this that cometh from Edom with
dyed garments from Bozrah, this that is glorious in

"this year thou SHALT DIE."

1G9

his jippai'el, trnvellin*:^ in the groatncss of hi.s stivn^th ?
I tliat sj)eak in ri<^liti'()UHnesH, nii^lity to savi'." Ali,
there was a cry from Golgotha for you ; there was a
wail from tlie cross for you ; there was a blee(hn^"
l)row and pierced feet for you : there was a voice
that said, " F'atlier, forgive them, they know not that
hy me they live." Here I stand. 1 otter you Christ,
l)ut it is to-nijj^lit : I ofier you salvation, but it is now.
Delay and all may be lost.

Said a bi-other minister last Fi-iday ni^ht : "I quoted
this passage, ' Tliis year thou shalt die,' in a discourse
some years ago. A young man was outraged, and
said that I had prophesied against him. In two weeks
he was dead.

O God, on what a slender thread hang everlasting
things ! " Because I have called and ye refused ; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.
But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would
none of my reproof ; I also will laugh at your calam-
ity, I will mock when your fear cometh : when your
feer cometh as desolation, and your destruction
cometh as a whirlwind."

1 : » ,

1 '■;

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1 ''
i 1

" Almost persuaded, now to believe,
Almost persuaded, Christ to receive ;
Almost cannot avail,
Almost is but to fail,
Sad, sad that bitter wail —
Almost — but lost."

i liiii

A GOOD MAN, FULL OF TI[E
HOLY GHOST.

" For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of
faith : and niucli people was added unto the Lord." — Acts xi. '24.

These vvoi-ds, you observe, are not so iiiucli doo-ina-
tic as experimental in tlieir nature. They introduce
us to a man and minister, whose liistory was replete
with interest. Barnabas, frank, generous and pathetic,
was born in the Levantine isle of Cyprus. Educated
as a Jew, he was a Levite by profession. Earl}' eon-
verted to Christianity, what Silas was to Paul, the
apostle of faith, that also was Barnabas, his trusted
companion in travel, in labor, in conHict and in bril-
liant achievement. This fragment of apostc^lie experi-
ence is instinct with life and quivers with emotion.
It tells of the incoming of God to the spirit of man
and the consequent expulsion of the satanic forces of
evil. It reveals the possibility of a transfiguration
amid earthly conditions, into a life of beatitude, of
triumph and of victory. It is the apotheosis of
goodness as a power potential in the Church and in
the world. Earth can show nothing higher, more
rare, more grand and divine than a good man, full of
the Holy Ghost and of faith. We propose to consider
the constituent elements which gave elevation and
effectiveness to the character of Barnabas, and for the

170

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A CJOOD MAN, VV\A. OK THE HOLY OHOST. 17 1

sake (>r l();;icul prot^ross wv will rrvci-sc the ordei- of
the text, aiul —

I. First and fundamentally lue will consider
Barnabas an a man of fa If h. Wliat a <livinity and
iiitiiiite range sonietiTues slnn\l)ei- in the HinalleKt
woni.s. Like as the native born amid the niountain.s
never sees tlie s])lendor of the Alpine hei<;hts ; like
as the dweller by the cataract never heai's tlie
thnnders of Nia<^ara ; so our ]ia])itual use of certain
words, simple yet colossal, diminishes their power and
obscures their deep significance, 'j'ake, for example,
faith, the familiar term of our text. What a pleni-
tude of meaning does it enfold.

1st. Observe this fundamental principle is the law
and condition of all intelligent life. Let the Divine
but reach out His omnipotent hand and touch the
principle of faith in the estaljlished order of nature.
Let men but believe that lire will not burn; that
water will not drown ; that poison will not kill : that
gravitation will not precipitate ; let, I say, this change
be wrought, and it would involve an immediate and
more terrible destruction to the i-ace than if fi-om
Olympian heights, Jupiter Maxinnis were to hurl his
thunderbolts of ruin. It is evident that we live by
faith. It is the law and condition of oui- material
existence on this earth. Ascending to the realm of
things spiritual, we find that the same law is ojjera-
tive. I think of the Son of God coming out of the
eternities of the past. By an act, a mysterious act
of exinanition, He empties himself by renouncing

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DISCOUUSES AND ADUUESStS.

tli« ;;;l<)i'y whicli We lui<l with tlu' KatlM-i-. lit' stooiu-d
to eartli and the limitations of oui- natui'f : U»' drank
at tlie well of Hori'ow, and annd tcai's, an;;uish and
blood advances to the croH.s and j^ives His lii'e for tiie
life of man. When re.surrected from the dust of death,
He ascended to His coronation, havinj^ wi'itten on His
vesture and on His thi;(h, " Kin;;' of kin^s and Loi-d
of lords." "Mighty to save." From tlie times of
Pilate the recreant, down to those of Rousseau and
Carlyle, candid doubt and denial have evei* bowtsd
before the grandeur of Jesus Christ, even in His
earthly conditions. I sliall never forget the I'ever-
ence of atheistic Frank Adler, when I heai'd him
speak with pause and awe of " the great Nazareue."
But the revelation of Jesus inspires more than
reverence : it is life, I think of the sinner, bearing
in himself the sentence of death, hasting to a lost
immortality. Arrested by the vision of a Divine
Deliverer, he stands, he looks, and heaven springs up
in his heart. He believes, and the mighty impulse of
a new life comes to him — life judicial, from the
avenging of the law ; life regenerate, the life of
adoption and sonship ; life eternal, that like the foun-
tain, is ever springing up into the everlasting life of
heaven. One act of faith that holds within it all
possiVjle acts, reverses his innnortality, and crowns
him with the power of an endless life. Oh, tlie
grandeur of this faith, how shall we define it! Simple
as the sweet lispings of infancy, sublime as archangel
power. We are accustomed to eulogize the triumphs,

i f

A GOOD MAN, FULL OF THE HOLY OHOST. 173

the luuHtcrv oF mitul. Mind ! It lias built \\\) tlio
^^n'cat pliil()s<)[)lii(.',s in all tlu'ii' Niip'Tl) aiul stately
coiK'luHions. Miinl! With advciituroUH footstep, it
luiH vvalkt'd out into tlie tt'i-ritorics of the unknown.
Asffiulin^ .step by .step, it lias outi'cached to tlie very
su))url)N of the univorso it. elf, and has dared to pizo
int(j the face, yea, the very es.sence of the Triune Gon.
Mind I I for one shall never di.scount the ^ran<leur
of intellect, destine(l by its inner laws to expand for-
ever. But what after all is mind achievement to the
ti'anscendence of faith ? In its simplest exercise,
every attribute of our beinj^ is })rouj^ht into play.
There is the imperial power of inti^llect, ^raspin^ the
{)ropositions of the (Jospel ; the cogency of rea.son
that recognizes their claim for our credence ; tlie
opulence of imagination that reali.stically sets before
our eyes the Martyr-Lamb crucified and slain ; the
imperial will that makes its final election to .serve
the Son of God ; the adoi'ing ati'ection that garlands
Him with love ; the confiding tru.st that recumbs on
the Infinite ; and then tlie ever-watchful con.science
that smiles approval of the act. In a word, by the
simple act of faith, your personality gathers up its
faculties and powers, and throwing itself i?.lj the
arms of mercy Divim\ finds the life of God in tlie
life of man. It was this faith that brought to the
Levantine Levite, Barnabas, a new life, a grander life,
a life that widened into the immortal. And this life
is for you, as it is for all — life through His name.
2nd. Then observe thi.s faith is the law and con-

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174

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

dition of our highest knowledge. It is a familiar
axiom, a proposition wliicli cannot be denied, that
the foundation of all knowledge rests upon the
adamant of faith. What is the idtimate atom which
is the scientific basis of matter ? Invisible and
indivisible, you cannot see it ; you cannot handle it,
or measure it. There is not a materialist, liowevei*
rampant, Ijut must receive it by faith. Who can tell
how the atomic structure of the brain stands con-
nected with formulation of thought, that sings in the
strains of a Tennyson, or philosophizes in a Stuart
Mill ; yet, Tyndall being my witness, all this is
received by faith. What are the terms we use in
mental science, sucli as the intuitions or iidoorn ideas,
the primal truths of consciousness, the first principles
or postulates that cannot be proved, since they tran-
scend all reason — postulates wdiich, like the being of
God, responsibility and immortality, are the assumed
starting points that lead into the entire temple of
moral truth ? What mean these terms ? We can only
receive them on the evidence of faith. To deny these
premises is to reject the conclusion ; it is to shut the
door against all possible argument, either inductive
or deductive. There is not a great leader of thouglit
along the ages but has justified {ind glorified the
•' credo," I believe. Solon, the wise ; Scotus Erigena,
the mystic ; Laplace, the astronomer ; Pascal, the
mathematician, the great dramatist, that immortal
diver into the ocean depths of the human soul : Kant,
the expositor of the higher reason ; and Sir William

I;!!

A GOOD MAN, FULL OF THE HOLY OHOST. 175

Tlionip.son, tlic modern scientist, all n^cognize the
essential power of faith as an instrument by whicli
they are carried forward to the uttermost limits of
human knowledge. Faith is the great prerogative
of the aristocracy of mind, as it deals with the
democracy of life and universal phenomena.

Who shall lay an embargo of limitation on this
all-embracing power of the soul ? I walk out with
my faith and stand beneath the shadow of the Cross,
that great centre in the moral history of the universe.
From this centr<^ my faith goes back and back into
the infinitudes of the past. I see the eternal counsels
and purposes in the mind of God taking form. I sse
how the world came into being ; how man appeared,
and fell ; how the proto-evangelism M'as given ; how
Abraham was called, and the great Mosaism was
liuilt up ; how the Davidic line began ; how the
prophets in their triumphant song foretold the coming
Deliverer, and then hushed into silence ; how thf;
star of Bethlehem arose ; how the great Life was
lived, that closed with its coronal of suffering and its
crown of consummation on the cross. And then from
this cross I look forward on to the Pentecost ; on to
the apostolic and medifcval churches ; on to the great
reform ; on to the mission era ; on to the millennium.
1 seem to hear the angel lift up his voice and swear
that "time shall be no more." And then, beyond is
the great white throne of judgment ; and beyond,
the retribution ; and beyond, the kingdom delivered
up to the Father ; and beyond, the trackless pilgrim-

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

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ago on to the blissful forever. Beneath, I say, the
shadow of the Cross, my faith has taken its stand,
and stretching out its arms into the eternity of the
past, and into the eternity of the future, it gathers
the vast economies of God into my bosom. Barnabas,
this was thy faith. With this capacity of being, thou
canst not die. Thy body shall not sleep forever in
the grave. The signature of God is upon thy being ;
thou shalt arise and live forever, live with God. This
was thy faith, and this shall be thy great reward,
" to know as even also thou art known."

3rd. But again, faith is the law and condition of
all noble achievevient When the great Napoleon
purposed the conquest of Ital}^ between him and the
plains of Lombardy there rose the impassable Alj)s,
crested with the eternal snows. All undaunted, he
sent out the engineer corps to open the way, but so
stupendous were the precipices and gorges, that the
head of the corps returned to say, " The task is impos-
sible." " Impossible," cried the indignant Emperor :
" impossible ! Nothing is impossible to the star of
Napoleon. Forward, forward ! " And the power of
the man inspired the army, "^rhey built the highwa}-,
and when the horse, the artillery and the legions had
passed the summit, Italy fell in a day. What was
the agency that achieved the concpiest ? It was the
power of the future and the distant. They saw in
vision the towers of Milan, the silvery waters of the
bay of Naples, the beauty of Florence, the magnifi-
cence of Rome, and abject millions at the conqueror's

A GOOD MAN, FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST. 177

feet — this was the taUsinan that carried them to
victory — and tliis power of faith in the distant future
and what it contains is the inspiration wliich achieves
conquest in commerce, in science, in tlie StanU'V dis-
coveries, in every reaUn and round of life. Now, if
this be true of a faith which is natural and which
springs from the resources of man, what shall be
said of that faith wliich is Divine and rests upon tlie
resources of God ? I go back to that magnificent epic,
that great idyl of the Kings of Faith, that tragic
record which is perennial in its power to thrill tlie
spirits of men, and what do I learn ? I am told that
"through faith," they "subdued kingdoms, wrouglit
righteousness, obtaii^ed promises, stop])ed the mouths
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of
aliens, were destitute, afflicted, tormented, not accept-
ing deliverance." What was the power ? It was the
power of faith. They endured as seeing him who
is invisible and looked for a city which hath foun-
dations, whose builder and maker is God.

But here arises a question. Are the achievements
of the present comparable to those of antique past ? I
declare my belief that the world lias never vritnessed
greater than those of the present. If you tell me that
" by faith " Abraham went into a land, not knowing
whither he was going, at the command of God, and
there offered his Isaac, I point you to a William

Taylor, who, with the weight of seventy winters on
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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

his brow, is ever marching, weary-footed, througli
the forests and fever swamps of Africa, not knowing
whither he goes ; and from his own lips I received
the testimony tliat in the midst of these forests, witli
the noise of wild beasts and fiercer men around, and
the trail of the serpent beneath his very couch, he
could lie down in the night and rest as peacefully
as if his head were pillowed on the bosom of Jesus
and the everlasting arms were beneatli him. What
inspired this noble man ? It is the Father-love in
the present, while he sees in the future the dusk}-
contingents of redeemed millions sent up from the
valley of the Congo to cast their tribute at the feet
of Jesus and hail Him as Lord of all. You tell me of
the ecstatic finale of tlie regnant apostle in Maincrtinc
prison, as he pens his last pavin of triumph on t]m eve
of his execution, " I have fought a good figlit, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith, I shall bo
crowned." I point you to the recent record of Bishop
Hanington, whicli I liave just read, one of the most
valiant souls that ever trod tins eai'th ; a man whose
severity of suffering rivalled that of the apostle ; a
man who, with life in hand, walked into the very
valley of death without a quiver, and who, when
seized by the barbaric hosts that seemed as if they
would rend limb from limb as they hurried him to
death, could sublimely sing, "Safe in the arms of
Jesus." What was tlie power that sustained this
modern martyr ? His faith pictured the Central
Lakes and Uganda country won for Christ and

wrn"

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when

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A GOOD MAN, FULL OP THE HOLY GHOST. 179

planted as stars in His diadem of honor. Who art
thou, discouraged one, ready to say, " my task is
impossible." Impossible ! there is nothing impossi])le
to the star of our Immanuel.

But come down from the mount of liigh achieve-
ment into the valley. In lowly homes, I have seen
weepers all resigned, sob out the anguish of a break-
ing heart on the bosom of God. I have seen joyous
martyrs on their couch of affliction suffer more than
did a Ridley or a Cranmer in the fiery flames. We
turn here to the blessed memory of our Williams,
who wears to-day the martyr's crown. I think of
liim, frien<l of my youth, companion of my riper
years. I think of my last visit, wlien I parted with
1dm forever on earth Placing his han<l upon my
head, he sai<l, " George, I am going home, I am only
a poor worm, but

" He calls a worm his friend,
He calls himself, my God,
And he shall save me to the end,
Through Jesus' hlood."

And then brightening, he went on :

" He, by himself, hath sworn,

I, on his oath, depend,
On eagle wings upborne,

I shall to heaven ascend.
I shall behold his face,

I shall his power adore,
And sing the wonders of his grace

Forever more,"

180

DISCOUllSES AND ADDRESSES.

What sustained that weary spirit beloved amid the
long continued agonies of dissolving nature ? It was
the presence of Jesus and the power of faith in the
distant and future. He saw by faith the hills of God,
the city with innnortality for its walls, and eternity
for its light — the better, even the heavenly country.
He clasped again the loved and the lost, and fell at
the feet of the Lamb in the midst of the throne and
of the city. Tell me, if you can, the royalty of this
power of faith ? I seem to see her standing on high,
mantled with light and triumph in her eye. Take me
as God's pure gift, she cries, and you shall have life
and all the resources of knowledge. Take me and
you shall have conquest. I take this faith to my
heart's embrace. It is mine, and with the apostle I
exclaim, "This is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith."

II. And now we come to the effect of faith. Bar-
nabas was full of the Holy Ghost, or in other words,
filled tuith the indwelling of God.

What a tribute is it to the grandeur of our nature
that the Divine can temple himself in our hearts.
It is well for us to remember, that of all persons in
the Triune, the Spirit is the most intimately identified
with man. Out of the eternities the Father speaks ;
during the limitations of the advent life, the Son of
God achieved His redeeming work, but the mission of
the Spirit is to abide with and in man forever. What
the orient zephyr is, kissing, caressing tlie lowly
flowers and shrubs of the valley, and fondling the

A GOOD MAN, FULL OF THE llOLV GHOST. l8l

leaves of the forest, that the Spirit is with His sweet
and genial influence to our entire nature. I shall
never forget the moment when tlie thought came in
on my mind that I was as near to God, that He was
as immanent within me as He ever could be to all
eternity ; and yet, this is the truth, for says the
apostle, " In him we live and move, and have our
being."

1st. And here I ask you to note that there is a sense
in which this immanence of God is unconditional and
universal. If you go back to the great apostasy which
separated man from God, quick as the lightning flash
the atoning purpose guaranteed the return of that
Spirit to abide with man. Who writes the law on
the heart ? Who lights the torch of conscience ?
Christ, by His Spirit, is the true Light, and lighteth
every man that cometli into the world, and this is the
ground of universal responsibility. You have the
light and power to do the good. Will you do it ?

2nd. But then there is a sense in which this
immanence of the Spirit is conditional and specific.
How shall I illustrate this distinction between
universal and specific? Here I stand — the atmosphere
is around me. I inhale it as the breath of life ; but
in this air which I breathe there are forces that lie
undeveloped. But now science comes in — it sets in
motion the dynamo ; that instrument gatliers up and
concentrates the electric forces of the air; it flames
into light, and I can walk the city in the midnight
hour ; it carries my voice a thousand miles ; it flashes

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my ine.sHa«;e around tlie world ; it tlirill.s and intei'-
pcnctratt'H my very being as a remedial agent. It is
only air, but it is air tliat is conditioned l)y a power
that lias broufflit out its forces. What tlie dynamo is
to the atmosphere, that faith is to the Divine within
us. It fills the being with light and life.

3rd. And this indwelling of the Holy Ghost by
faith, becomes in us the Spirit of Holiness. What is
holiness ? It is negatively the removal of all pol-
lution by the cleansing energy of the Spirit. It is
positively the consecration of the being to God as
a living and acceptable sacrifice. What is holiness ?
It is the restoration of the tarnished and defaced
image. It is the rebuilding of the dismantled temple,
which is made radiant by the glory of the Lord,
What is holiness ? It is the credential, the passport
of safety through this and every other moral world.
Holiness ! Thrice blessed Holiness ! Then the will of
God becometh my tranquility, and

'* Out of the ruin of the past
Cometh tlie perfect dower at last."

•iW

4th. And then, this indwelling of the Holy Ghost
by faith becomes the Spirit of Power. What consti-
tutes the difference between the aboriginal dweller in
the wilderness and the son of civilization ? Chiefly
in the fact that by culture and science he can bring
to his aid those resources which multiply his power
a thousand-fold over that of his barbaric brother.
You say of a man, that he can travel from the Atlan-

A GOOD MAX. Fl'I.L OF THE HOLY GHOST. l8.S

tic to tlio Pacific in Hcven dayH. Hut to acliieve this
feat lie calls to liis aid the forces of enyineiy in tho
locomotive; the powers that shiinher in water and
fire: with tlie adjustments of the car and I'ail, \\'hen
on the win^s of tlie wind lie sweeps across the con-
tinent from sea to sea. You say ol' a man, that he
lias seen the j^'alaxy of the Pleiatles. But he calls to
his aid the extended tube; he grinds the lens: he
adjusts the angles of the telescope, when theif comes
in on the eye the impression of ten thousand woiKls
in the circle of the Pleiades.

Now, in the sphere of the spiritual, this fulness
of the Holy Ghost gives to man a superadded
energy. Isaiah, the singer, the captive weeper o\t'i'
Zion, the flaming apostles of faith and love, what
are ye but examples of pow^er to kindle the intellect
to know the deep things of God ; power to melt the
soul and make it magnetic to draw to the feet Divine.
1 have asked myself again and again. What is the
gift of power promised to man ? I believe it is none
other than the baptism of all-embracing love. Come,
siniimer sun, come through the gateways of the early
morn. He lifts the mantle of night from oft" the
emerald bosom of the earth. He smiles, and the
gloomy sea flashes like a sapphire gem. Walking
into the landscape, he commands, and beauty springs
at his feet, all-spangled and jewelled by the diamond
dew-drops, and the waving corn hastes to yield its
stores. To every tree in esery forest, he says, "Put

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blSOOUUSES AKI) ADDRESStS.

on th}^ beautiful garments." All light, all life, all
beauty, come with the sun.

Now, what that sun is in the domain of nature,
that love is in the realm of the Spirit. Outside the
abodes of despaii*, there is not a moral being in the
universe of God that is not amenable to the forces of
love. It is the strength of man as it is the strength
of the Infinite himself.

"A loving worm within its clod,
Is better than u lovele.ss God,
In all his worlds, I'll dare to say."

What statesmanship could not do, what wealth
could not do, what kingly power could not do, that
the little Hebrew maid ccjuld do, by the sympatlietic
love that said, " Would God my master were with the
prophet of Israel, then would he be recovered of his
U.iprosy." It was love that led him to wash and be
clean. And thus it is ever with love.

I know a man, an ordinary man, full of infirmity.
He desired to know something of the power of the
Spirit. So he went to one of the great American
camp-meetings, listened to the ins})iration of Simp-
son, sat at the feet of those translated saints. Dr.
and Mrs. Palmer, caught something of the spirit of
the gathering, and returned home. Sitting in his
study, he said, " Have I received any power ? I shall
test the matter." He selected a family who had sadly
apostatized from God, often visited without result.
He entered that home, and asked to see the members

A (JOOU MAN, FULL OK THE HOLY OHOST. US.')

•lean
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une by one. Looking into i\w face of the first wlio
earn into the room, he spoke a few simple words.
The tears bej^an to flow, the lieart melted, and was
yielded to Christ ; and to-day that redeemed one
sleeps the sleep of hope amid the marshy lands of
Louisiana. The result of that single visit brought
every member of the household back to the fold of
Christ. This opened the way for a revi\'al of the
work of God, which extended over four months and
swept hundreds into the kingdom. That man and
minister was an ordinary man, a man of infirmity,
full of fault and failure in his spiritual life, but
invested for the time with a spiritual power which
made him a factor for good in the accomplishment of
work for God. I speak as a fool, I put self beneath
my feet, when I say that man speaks to you to-day.
For nearly twenty years, as you know, I have been
dealing with young men for our ministry. Power of
incisive intellect, the gift of elocpience that on the
wings of thought sublime can spring elastic to the
spheres — these are but rare gifts, seldom given to the
average minister ; but here is a power, an endowment
which may be universally possessed, ten-fold greater
than any natural talents, however brilliant.

Look at Barnabas, the sweetly simple man, without
the grandeur and learning of Paul ; without the fieiy
enthusiasm of an impassioned Peter; without tlu;
mystic depths and spirituelle of a John ; he yet, full
of the Holy Ghost and of faith, ad<led much people
unto the Lord.

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DTSfOURStS AND ADnuteSSES.

Oil, tluit tlu^ uii^el of Jehovali, tlic Spii-it, iiiioht
touch our lips with a live conl From off' tho liiiiihont
altar of love !

HI. We have the combined rpmilt of the indlvUlKal
faith and the Divine hidweUinc) — Barnabas was a
(food man.

What is the mo.st intrinsically precious of all
thintj^s ? I answer, " A ^ood man." All the thoufi^hts
of God; all the work of Christ; all the minis-
tries of the spirit; all the culturings of the Church
have for their finale the production of a good
man. Not like the sponge, absorbing but nevei*
giving out. A good man —not a negative, but a
positive. A good man, full of faith that sweeps the
horizon of the possible and full of the Holy Ghost.
The Church and the woi'ld wait for the coming of
good men, and God waits.

It was the saying of Kepler that God waited six
thousand years for the coming of a Newton to ex-
pound the laws of His universe, and it is ec^ually true
that God waited long centuries foi" the coming of
grand old Luther to proclaim the doctrine of justiti-
cation by faith alone ; and He waited for fifteen
centuries for the coming of a Wesley to tell of the
witness of the Spirit and the possibility of a per-
fection in love. And He is waiting, still waiting, and
the Methodist Church is waiting, and the pulpits of
our land are waiting, waiting for the coming of good
men, better men than we have been — men free from
the lust of pre-eminence, and place, and power and

!'!"

A GOOD MAN, FULL OF T51K HOLY fiHOST. 1«7

all

|u'ir — W}iitiii<j^ for iiH'H *fhu] for any station wliorc
they can do woi-k for (Jod. T say God and tlu'
Church arc waiting for men full of tl»e Holy Ghost,
full of ^<)()<lnoss : t^oodncss the jewel of the universe;
goodness the coina^^^ of heaven passed into the cur-
rency of earth, to buy back the world's heart to the
Divine: <^oodness the excellency of God, interpreted
•n the life of holiness. Who will arise in this con-
<]^rej^ation and absolutely commit himself to a life of
faith, of consecration, of abiding spii-itual power?

" i paint for eternity," cried the ^reat Italian artist,
as he placed his immortal creations on the dome of
the Basilica at Kome. He knew that ten thousand
times ten thousand eyes would look upon his work
and carry the impression along the eternal. " 1
})reach foi* eternity " should be on every lip, for we
ai'e mouldin<4'the character and planting the memories
and fashioning the destiny of lives immortal that
shall abide when rolling years shall cease to move.

" Sunset and evening star ! . . .

What though from out the bounds of time and place

The floods sweep me afar,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face,"

And hear his words, ' Well done, well done,*
" When I have crossed the bar."

IW'V.

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THE SPIRIT OF PEOPIIEOY.

"For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." — Rev,
xix. 10.

There is a supreme hopefulness in these oracles of
God. Like as the Christian life rises out of sorrow
into song and ultimate beatitude, so this book divine
emerges out of its genesis of disaster into psalms
both glad and plaintive ; into prophecies of promise
and resurrection ; into jubilant evangels of rejoicing,
and then into this apocalypse of Unal restoration. It
opens with a song of creation, which soon deepens
into the diapason notes of woe and tlie dirge of ruin.
It closes with the paean song of a new creation, which
strikes no minor key — " For behold I create all things
new." It opens with the advent of man from whose
head the crown has fallen, and whose innnortalitv
death hath trampled in the dust. It closes with man
redeemed from the grave and crowned and enthroned
for evermore. Darkened at the beginning by a para-
dise lost and gone, it brightens into a paradise regained,
where lurks no serpent to destro}^ and where its fruits
and flowers abide through an ever-brighteningsunnner.

As we pronounce these words the cjuestion naturally

arises, " By what potential energy has recovery been

born out of ruin, and life sprung triumphant from the

embrace of death into a plenitude of being grander

than that which Adam lost ? " Our text supplies the

188

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHEC.'V.

189

answer, and the only answer wliieh can ever be given
— by that energy, wliich belongs to the testimony of
Jesus, which is the Spirit of Proplieey.

We make no pretensions to trace the highly
dramatic connection of our text. Like a lone star it
shines out of darkness, but like a star it holds a world
of light and truth and ^eauty. This passage, to
which we ask your thoughtful attention, holds within
it a single proposition of two members — that Jesus is
at once the source and subject of prophetic testimony.
In the illustration of this proposition you will observa;
that the term prophecy has a nuich wider import
from a Xew Testament standpoint than in the Old
Testament. Thus to prophesy is to predict, but more
than this : to prophesy is to teach or preach, and to
prophesy is to testify for Jesus.

I. Jesus is at once the source and subject of pro-
phetic testimony in the sense of pn'ediction.

True prophecy has ever been regarded as the highest
evidence of the divinity of this book, and justly so,
for if miraculous acts are miracles of power, prophecies
are miracles of knowledge. And who shall gainsay
tlie divinity which pertains to the prophetic office ^
'J'ake the most regally endowed and gifted of men.
Let his be the sagacity of highest wisdom ; let his be
the knowledge of all history, and its cycles of ever-
recurring events with the power to forecast and
balance the probabilities of coming time. And now
demand that he shall tell what the immediate future
will be. And lo ! that future makes him to drink tl^e

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190

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

wine of astonishment, and laugli in derision at his
fancied predictions. But here we see a power of
revelation ji^iven not to one eminent and peerless, but
to a long succession of every class and condition ;
p^iven to the patriarch in his simplicity, and to the
courtly scliolar in his polished wisdom ; given to
royalty on the throne and statesmanship in its lofty
offices ; given to the lowly toiler in the field, and
captive dweller in the lone Cyclades ; given to saintly
and seraphic piety, and oh, np'stery of the Infinite !
given to one who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
(liven by whom ? Given by that pre-existent Jesus,
who is both your Saviour and mine. Sun of the
morning that openeth the gates of day, and cometh
blushing o'er the land and sea, lifting the covering of
darkness and revealing this world in its tinted beauty :
stars of the midnight hour that softly draw aside the
curtains of night, which hide the infinities and print
on the retina of the eye a thousand flaming worlds,
what are ye but symbols of Him who has unveiled, by
His supernal power, all time and the eternities to the
finite intelligence of man ; on through the mighty
cori-idors of coming history, till angelic voice shall
swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, that
" time shall be no more ; " on till the mystery of God
is finished, when Christ shall deliver up the kingdom
to the Father ; yes, on to the uttermost life of God,
for He shall reign for ever and ever.

Say what grandeur pertains to this prophetic reve-
lation, and how finely does Peter authenticate this as

rids,
^d,by

bo the

If God
igdom
God,

reve-
Ihis as

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

191

the work of Jesus. "Searching what, or what manner
of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforeliand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory which should follow," To the
Ancient of Days belongs the honor of prophetic inspi-
ration in all the magnificence of its disclosures.

And here I ask you to observe that in Jesus we
liave not only the source but the subject of prophetic
testimony. To Him gave all the prophets witness.
It is the primal law of prophetic witness that it ever
holds up the Redeemer as the beacon light of hope to
all that dwell in despair. Take but a few examples
of this prophetic testimony :

Testimony for Jesus. The deed was done which
was to make the ages mourn and fill the scroll of
human history with lamentation and woe. But in
this supreme hour, when the ruin of primeval man
was complete, radiant as celestial light the prophetic
promise flashed hope into the bosom of despair, telling
that the spoiler should be despoiled. " For the seed
of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head."

Testimony for Jesus. Oh, spectacle of sorrow! Oh,
pathetic tragedy of woe ! When sununer is fading
out of the aged heart, when the last green thing to
which affection clings is dying, and nought remains
but winter all the years — such was the condition of
Abraham when on his dread mission to fulfil the
command of God. Every step as he ascended the
mount was a step into deeper darkixess, till the climax
of his agony had come, when Isaac, his son, his only

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192

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES,

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son Isaac, said, " My father, here is tlie altar and the
wood, but wliere is the lamb for the burnt-otfering ? "
In that hour of more than mortal agony, the light of
prophetic vision came to the troubled soul of the
patriarch. Through the vista of two thousand years
he looked and saw the day of Christ, how that on
this very Moriah God would provide a Lamb for the
sacrifice that would bless the world.

Testimony for Jesus. In the land of the Pharaohs,
almost beneath the pyramids, and nigh to the glitter-
ing domes of Memphis, that flash their sheen on the
placid waters of the Nile, the aged patriarch is dying,
leaning upon his staff. Fond memory carries him
back to the sunny scenes of earlier days, when he
dwelt amid the green vales of his loved Canaan. All
hope of nationality lias died out of his aged heart,
but his fainting soul and failing eyes are kindled as
he sees afar the coming glor3^ Though the land of
his love shall be taken captive by the king of Baby-
lon, though Ptolemy and Pompey shall trample it
under foot, yet he sees that the royalty of his line
shall be perpetuated forever, for " the sceptre shall
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet until Sliiloh come," and " unto him shall the
gathering of the nations be."

Testimony for Jesus. The royal singer of Israel,
whose genius has touched every fibre of the human
heart, that harp of a thousand strings, when his life
and throne were threatened — oh, bitterest of all
sorrows — by his own son Absalom, he snatches a

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THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

193

higher light and sings of one whose royalty shall fail
him never, who shall iling <letiance in the face of
death, for He shall not see corruption, but spring
triumphant to the skies, leading captivity captive.

Tcstmioniy for Jesus. How grand was the Chaldean
civilization. Chaklea, as we have seen in the British
museum, was the home of art before (ireece had been
redeemed from barbarism, and here literature had
long flourished ere yet the name of Athens was
known. Its military power had been handled by
God to cha..1;th,e His people. Carried as captives into a
strange land, with harps hung upon the willows, no
songs could they sing for grief at the memory of
Zion forsaken and desolate. It was at this time the
prophet cried aloud, " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy
King cometh unto thee : he is just, and having sal-
vation."

And thus the tide of prophecy swept on for three
thousand years with ever-increasing volume of testi-
mony for Jesus. He was to be a child of virgin born,
yet wonderful counsellor — a son, yet the everlasting
Father. Travelling in the greatness of His strength
through the ages. He was to be known as " Mighty
to save."

But grand as the pre-advent prophecies may be,
touching nationalities and telling of the fall of Egypt,
■md Edom, and Nineveh and Tyre before tlie march
of Christ's great purposes, the post-advent rises into
liigher sublimity. Never did the spirit of prophf^cv
IS

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

robe itself in more august dignity than in this
apocalypse. How it liandh's the very magnitudes of
nature to set forth at once the tragedy and triumph
of the Church! "The sun shall be dai-kened; tho
moon turned into blood; tlie stars fall from heaven
like a tig-tree shaken with untimely winds." Tho
earth trembles, and now emerging from this conflict,
thus symbolize^J by imagery so terrible, heaven opens
and the Captain of our salvation is seen riding on
a white horse, crowned with many crowns, followed
by a white-robed company gathered from every
nation, who join in the jubilate of the universe, that
the kingdoms are become the kingdoms of our Lord
and His Christ. How impressive and brilliant is this
culminating testimony of Jesus ! Ever since the
times of Porphyry and Julian the Apostate, unbelief
has sought to drive the ploughshare of ruin through
this book divine. It has sought to wield the im-
plements of scepticism to rase and destroy, but every-
where these implements have been blunted and
broken by striking the rock of God's prophetic truth.
On the face of every Jew, in every ruined city that
lies along Levantine shore, tliere are evidences of
prophetic fulfilment, while every Christian churcii
and hospital tell that the Jesus of prophecy, the Jesus
of Nazareth, is the Jesus of liistory, whose Spirit \f^
immortal for good. Oh, we have not followed cun-
ningl}^ devised fables. The Messianic prophecies
alone are sufficient to vindicate the divinity of this

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THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

195

this
iS of
mph
the
a veil
Tho
iflict,
Dpens
ipr on
Lowed
every
3, that
• Lord
is this
ce the
nbeliei"
iirough
he im-
every-
d aivl
truth.
t>' that
ces ot
churcb
ie Jesus
Spirit \^
[ed cun-
)phecies
of this

book and render it an impregnable fortress of Chris-
tian confidence and hope and joy.

II. But again, Jesus is at once the source and sub-
ject of prophecy in the sense of teaching or preaching.

Covet earnestly the best gifts to prophesy, for he
that prophesieth speaketh to the edification of the
Church. Here manifestl^^ the import of the terms
is to teach or preach.

What a spiritual phenomenon does the ministry of
the Church present ! This world has had on its roll
of fame, names great and illustrious, conquerors that
have held empire over myriads, and philoso[)hic sages
tJiat have wielded a mightier empire over tlie intel-
ligence of many generations. When these men
renowned were silenced in death, who ever said that
they were commissioned by a Socrates or a C«sar to
advocate their claims through the ages ? But, behold
and see Him who was reviled of the Pharisees and
the renounced of the scribes, doomed to death as a
malefactor amid unspeakable barbarit}^ Who shall
declare the mighty legion that have stood as witnesses
for His truth ? Go wherever the foot of gospel
minister is found. Ask him by what authority he
preaches, and he will tell 3^ou that an inner voice
came to the depths of his being, which said, " Go
preach my Gospel." What sublimity pertains to this
fact that all over this earth there stand up men as
truly inspired by the Spirit of Christ as in the genera-
tions of old ! But Jesus is not only the source of

196

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

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inspiration to the prccaclier, but the supreme object of
preaching.

1st. To t(!stify for Jesus is to proclaim Him as the
desire of all nations.

All true thinkers are now agreed that the know-
ledge of God is intuitional in the mind, and it is
equally true that the mighty yearnings of the world's
heart have been for a (Jod with man. Take as the
interpretation of these yearnings the two greatest
types of natural religions ever fornmlated— the Ori-
ental or Indian, and the Occidental or Hellenic — and
you find the idea of a God incarnated with man. It
was the faith of the old Greek that every man heroic
and virtuous in high degree might clind) the heights
and become a God. It is the faith of the Hindu thai
the Vishnu might incarnate himself in man. In the
one the man ascends to the God ; in the other the
God descends to the man. But in contrast with thesi;
dini yearnings of the soul, how grandly independent is
this fundamental idea of the Gospel. Divinest of all
thoughts which ever came toman is that of God mani-
fest in the flesh. Well does the apostle emphasize
this event when he pictures principalities and powers
bending over the galleried heights of the heavenly
universe with adoring admiration. For " when he
bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith,
Let all the angels of God worship him." And wlu)
shall declare how this truth comes to the heart of
weary manhood ? Oh, the world wanted a mighty
mother-heart, human yet divine, and lo! through the

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197

jiiius Hu ci-ics, " Surt'er the little chiklreii to come niito
me." Heart of Christ, cup most ^'olden ! out of thee
tlie mourniiio- di'iuk, Weepiiij^ with tlie weepei's of
Betliany, He cries, " Th}^ brother shall rise Jij^ain."
The cry of incarnate tenderness, " Neither do I con-
demn thee," has given golden hope to guilty hearts,
and the " Go in peace " has thrilled millions with
gratitude and love for Jesus' name.

And then, who can tell the dignity which this
truth of incarnation flings over this humanity of
ours? I know not what beings this universe of
worlds may hold, but this I do know, that the Son of
God made His election to take mv humanity into the
bonds of an eternal union, and carried it up to the
very heights of Godhead. He is forever sat down at
the right hand of the majesty on high. O Temple
of Truth ! Its broken cohunns, shafts and capitals
had been scattered in the thinkings of the million
hearts, and still they could not combine and har-
monize into beauty ; but when He came, every stone
and capital in that great temple found its place in
Him, and stood in pillared majesty. Before the
world. He said, I am the Truth — its templed embodi-
ment — as well as the Life. It has been said by some,
that as the worship of Rome had degenerated into
tlie worship of Maiy, the worship of Protestantism
has fallen to the worship of Mary's Son. We accept
the charge, we inscribe it on our banners, we fling it
out to every breeze as our badge of highest honor,
that the woi'ship of the Christian Church is supremely

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DISCOURSES AND ADDUESSES.

triveii to tlie Son of Mary, tlie Son ol' (iod, who is (Jod
over all, Ijlcsscd for ovennore.

2nd. But again, to testify of Jesus is to proclaim
Him as the Atonincj Reconciler.

What an immensity of thought ])ertains to the
atoning work of Chri.st I The stars of the patriarchs
are our stars and their earth is our earth : yet, by the
aid of science, we may almost say that new heavens
and a new earth are being evol\'(M:l. When the violet
is put into the crucible of the chemist, he can tell its
properties, but he cannot tell how it grows into lines
of beauty, how its tinted shades blush into loveliness,
or how it distils the fragrance that perfumes the even-
incr o-ale. Like the stars, the truths of atonement are
ever evolving into nobler forms. Like the growth of
the violet, mystery hangs over atonement still. The
incarnate Jesus is a representation of the character
of God, blessed and beautiful, a revealer to the world
of truths which will forever command the intellectual
homage of the ages. But, thank God, He is vastly
more. We hail Him as a self-sacrificing substitute for
the world of sinners to magnify the law and make
it honorable. And who shall declare how this truth
takes hold of man in the noblest elements of his
being as no other truth in the universe of thought
touches him ?

Some years ago, one of New England's finest edu-
cators had a select school for the sons of the wealthy,
which became utterly demoralized. Threatening and
punishment availed nothing. Perplexed and discour-

THE Sl'IRIT OF l'llOrHE(,'Y.

191)

tx^od, it one day Haslied on his mind — try the (JoHpol
inctliod of substitution. Soon after, a younjj^ lad,
defiant, broke tlio law of the school. With heavy
heart, tlie teacher called him up in presence of all,
explained the law, how it nnist be maintained at any
cost, and then with solemn an<l ten<ler emphasis
announced thnt he would take the punishment in his
own ]K'rson, {T^iving tl\e rod and demanding that he
should strike. The lad paled and trendiled and fell
on his knees in penitence. The spectacle was mafj^-
netic and wroug'ht a mighty regeneration. Hence-
forth loyalty and love prevailed. An<l this is the
power which comes from the Cross, which connnands
the intelligence and holds the moral being as no
other powder in i;]ie universe can ever do. Let it not
be supposed, as is sometimes said, that the work of
Christ was to appease an angr}?" God. No, behind
the love of Calvary there was the oceanic love which
dwelt in the bosom of the Father — "God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." Oh, the
boundless beneficence of this love ! Like the science
of the schools, it holds an unknown quantity which
can never be measured. A father seeks to save his
fatnily, a citizen to save his city, a patriot to save his
countr}^, but Christ proposes to save a world, along
the cycles of its mighty generations, on to the last
man that shall look upon the dying sun, and lay him
down in death. Ye logical forms of a dry divinity,
stand aside here. The power of the atoning work is
the passionate cry of infinite love, " Come unto me."

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DISCOURSES AND ADDUESSEJi.

Oil, <^^ivo but this int('lli<^<MU'(; to the world, bum it
into buiufiM hcaits, and it would fill tlic world with
joy. YoH, it wouM niuUc the HiiiiMluyus as Tabor,
and tlu' Andos as Mount Zion. Every river would
become a Joidan, in which men would be baptized
for the reniisHion of sins : and every sea a Chililee, on
which would .sail fisher.s of men.

3r<l. But to testify of Jesus is to 2)roclaim Him as
the poiver of God.

It is interesting to mark the beneficent tendencies
of nature in its perpetual effort to repair the damage
which accident or calamity may have entailed. When
the fire has swept over the broad pi'airie-lands, the
clouds gather and hang incumbent and drop their
dewy tears of sympathy on the bosom of mother-
earth, coaxing and lifting her blighted offspring
again into floweiy beauty and fragrance o'er the
land. By what power has this been accomplished ?
Not by the seen or tangible, but by the invisible
forces of nature. Never must we forget that God's
grandest forces are invisible forces. Who would
believe that the sunlight, so silent and gentle that it
w^akes no sleeper by its coming, holds within it a
power which by expansion daily lifts the mighl-iest
monument on this continent ? It is given to man to
measure the power which propels the rocket or shell,
but he has no power to keep them in motion ; yet, in
the realms of space, by an invisible energy, myriads of
worlds are kept swinging round their orbits, returning
to the thousandth part of a second. Now, it is thus

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201

with tlu' jK)\V('i* of (Jod, in the realm of tlie spiritiuil.
TluTe is an unknown (juantity of force in Jesus — for
says tlie apostle, " Wherefoi'e, he is able to .save unto
the uttermost." Oli, tliis manliood of ours ! Standinjj;
before the mountains, it says, " Tell me your secrets,"
and heliold tliev declare it. Tnten'oiratinii' tlie heavens,
every ))lanet i^ives an account of its ways mito
Kim. But, () soul, who can interrogate thee ? What
))hnnmet-lin(^ can sound the depths of thy sorrow ^
What win<jjs rise to thy possibilities ? What power
take hold of thy inner beinj^ and transform from sin
to lioliness ? None but the power Divine. Power of
•Jesus! MiUions of transgj-essors poor, it lias saved,
and ever-increasing millions, yes, tliough multiplied
a thousand-fohl, it shall save.

What a testimony for Jesus is this: Union with
our humanity forever, reconciliation of earth and
heaven, power-forces, grander than those that hold
the spheres, lifting human hearts into the likeness of
the Divine and flinging over them the eternal beauty
of heaven.

III. The Son of God, Jesus, is at once the source
and subject of all prophetic testimony, that is, experi-
mental witnessinf/.

The apostle speaks of all the Church prophesying,
and expositors regai'd this as experimental testimony,

It is the order of God that everything wdiich has
life should testify in some form of the inner power
with which it is endowed. What is the opening and
expanding of the tulip, the ripening of the autumnal

202

DlSCOUllSES AND ADDRESSES.

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fruits, the bubbling of the living spring, the thunder
and flame of the volcano, but testinionv to a life
within? Now, it is thus with the spirit and life of
Christ in the Cliristian heart, it ever seeks for expres-
sion by lip or life. And who shall declare the power
which belongs to this testimony ? The Apocalypse
asserts that the saints overcame by the blood of the
Lamb and the word of their testimony. And how ?
Because, in the simplest testimony for Jesus, there is
a recognition of the grandest principles which can
move the spirit of man.

1st. The Christian testifies of faith in Jesus.

And who does not know that this familiar word
holds within it a plenitude of meaning beyond all
expression. In its lowest sense, faith commands the
resources of all knowledge ; waving aloft its wand of
enchantment, it brings the univer,",e to its feet. Just
as I have never seen the world's greatest mountains,
cities and landscapes, but know that they exist, by
faith in testimonj^, so, by faith, we know the unseen
grandeurs of the heavenly world.

Ye men of the telescope, ye philosophers that specu-
late upon the unseen universe, stand aside, for the man
of simple faith can sweep out beyond you all. Yes,
with clear eye he can see Jesus standing at the right
hand of God, and, as he looks and spells out the
letters, his soul is kindled into ecstasy by the sight,
and he cries, " My name is written on his hand."
Prophesy, for there is power in the testimony of faitli.

2nd. But the Christian testifies of love to Jesus.

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208

What a charm and insph-ation belon*;' to love ! In
its natural sense, it is the soul of all di-ama and song,
giving- the poetry of life. Love, in its divinest form
of moral aff'tiction, is the highest attribute of which
the soul is susce[)tible. There are some things, sucli
as light and life, which are alike in all moral beings,
and love is of this class. The love that fills the bosom
of God, that kindles angelic powers, is the love that
trembles in the heart of the lowliest believer. I see
the dew-drop that hangs pendent and tremuhjus from
the edge of the leaf — that is water. I see the rolling-
ocean that moans along the shore — that is water.
Dew-drop and ocean are alike in nature, they only
differ in degree. And such is love in God and love in
man ; alike in nature, but different in degree.

Oh, the dignity and bliss Avhich this gives to the
lowliest conditions of life 1 In early days, I knew a
humble man who lived in a single room nigh to our
hospital. All his kindred had gone to the dust and
he was alone, his only life-work the humble task of
mending shoes. How poor seemed the purpose of his

being — that intellect which could reach out to the
infinite. Those eyes of wondrous optics and muscles
marvellously adjusted were all directed to the lowly
task of mending shoes. Yet I have seen that man,
aged and tremulous, sublimated and glorified into a
kingly grandeur by the power of love, wlien heaven
seemed to open to his prayer, and his testimony for
Jesus was a power potential to sweep the affections

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

towards Clirist. Prophesy, for there is power in tlie
testimony of love.

3rd. Then the Cliristian testifies of hope. How the
Scriptures ring the changes on this word hope ! Hope
of inlieritance — incorruptible. Hand of time, it is
the hand of destruction ; tooth of time, it devours :
hreatli of time, it witliers, but tlie inheritance fadetli
not away. And then, oh, blessed hope of reunion and
fellowship. What is life as we journey, but memories
of loss— the day when the warbler of the houseliold
stopped suddenly, and like a broken string of ^olian
harp, never played out the melody — the day when
the light of our eyes bowed her head, and nought
remains but the ringlet of liair and the garments she
used to wear. But wliat see we ? A form robed in
liglit, crowned with immortelle, ascending from the
very sepulchre the stairways of the hereafter into
that temple — yes, home, where heaven liolds all that
was lost ; that form is Christian liope. Prophesy, for
there is bliss in the testimony of liopc.

And now, what is the conclusion but that all the
Lord's people are prophets ; called, commissioned are
they all. Perish the hand that would hold back one
witness for Jesus — yes, down to tlie Sunday School
singing child. It is by tliy power the world is to be
conquered. When the stately snowdrift in the winter
time lifts liigh its curled head, it flings defiance in the
face of the north wind, and meets in disdain the frost
and storm. Thev cannot move it. But when the
soft breath of spring comes and fans its cheek, when

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205

the warm sun feels around it, it bows its stately head,
dissolves into tears and weeps itself away, and flowers
of loveliness blossom in its stead. Like the snow-
drift, the hostility of the soul to God lifts high its
head of pride and flings deliance in the face of all
law and government ; but when the soft breath of
love and the sunlight of a true testimony for Jesus
feels around it, it, too, bows its stately head and weeps
itself away, and the flowers of holiness blossom in its
stead. Testimony for Jesus, it shall take the world.
Let us hold fast to this power of testimony, and our
Church shall advance, glorious as an army with
banners. Amen.

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TPIE SUBLIME EOLL OF
PRIYILEGES.

"All things are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or
the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ;
all are yours ; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." — 1 CoR.
iii. 21-23.

There are few exercises more instructive and
interesting than to trace effects up to their primal
causes. Our text has for its originating cause certain
conditions in the Corinthian Church, which largely
arose from the state of the city itself. The ancient
Corinth was in every way remarkable. It was the
Sebastopol of the Orient, from Mdiose rocky heights
of two thousand feet the citadel looked calmly down.
It was the London of the Mediterranean, into whose
isthmian ports came the corn ships of Alexandria, all
metals from lands of the AVest, and wines and silks
from beyond the Hellespont. It was the second eye
of Greece, when the philosophers of Athens blossomed
into new vi£»;or and beautv. Sons of the sword, sons
of the sea, and of the schools, the white Caucasian
and swarthy Asiatic, with adventurers from every
land, formed its motley society. Demoralized by that
wealth which ever follows in the train of conmierce,
boldly defiant and sceptical through their vain phil-
osophies, and ever rife for strife and division, you see

at a glance the condition of this truly cosmopolitan

206

THE SUBLIME ROLL OF PRIVILEGES.

207

city. How far the dread degradation of this great
city invaded and demoralized the Corinthian Churcli,
let the abounding and withering reproof of these
epistles declare.

It is a singular coincidence that the sublime lan-
guage of our text was born out of the low and tur-
bulent conditions of the Churcli. Like the kingly
eagle that rises from the midst of the marshy vale,
and spreads his wings and soars, and with dry eye
looks towards the sun, so the grand intelligence of
the apostle rises from the midst of these low and
petty divisions in the Corinthian Church, and sweeps
upward to behold the vast harmonies of God. As if
he had said, " O ye Corinthians, why this jealousy
and strife ? Behold the grandeur of your common
heritage. ' All things are yours ; whether Paul, or
Apollos, or CejDhas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come ; all are yours ; and
ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' "

I. Note the import of these words: '^ All things are
yours."

On the threshold of this passage, to which we ask
your prayerful attention, the question naturally arises.
In what sense are we to understand the language,
" All things are yours " ?

If wo may answer this question by an illustration,
1 will suppose that two persons are standing in the
halls of a stately mansion or ducal palace, with its
appointments of art, elegance and grandein-. The
one has developed only the lower side of his being,

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

the animal side; the other has cultured his mental
and moral power. The one is living alone for th(^
present, a base and sensuous life ; the other is build-
ing himself up for a noble future. The one has made
his election as a bond slave in the house of corruption ;
the other aspires to be an adopted son, an heir. What
mean all literature and art to the one ? He is blind
to their beauty and value. What mean they to the
other ? To him they are inspirations and instruments
by which he aspires to the development of his highest
being. That Rubens or Van Dyke on the wall, that
ancient statuary, kindles him into high conceptions
of artistic power ; that wealth of literature replenishes
his mind at the fountains of enduring thought ; the
surrounding scenerj^ brings him into connnunion with
nature in its sublimating forms. All things are for
him to ennoble with the qualities of a grander man-
hood, and fit for a loftier future.

And is not this the true standpoint from which to
contemplate the text, and is not this the apostolic
idea ? All things are yours — not yours who arc
sensuous and vv orldly, who live alone in the present,
w^ith no outlook for the future — but yours who arc
Christ's redeemed, regenerated, adopted, loyally con-
secrated in all your powers — yours to enrich the
intellect and refine the moral being into fitness foi-
service on eartli with service and beatitude in heaven.

II. Acceptir.g this as the true interpretation of tho
apostle's rtieaoring, me novj turn to the sublime roll
of imiiiiinities which is given to ever/j Christian to

THE SUBLIME ROLL OF PRIVILEGES.

209

evjoy and employ in the development of his being
along the ever-coming future.

And iir.st on the list, the apostle says, Paul^ Apol-
los, Cephas arc yours. Tliere is perhaps more in
these names than at first sight appears. We take
them as representing (pialities in the ministry of the
Church through the ages. In Paul we have the head,
or intellectual expositor ; in Apollos, the tongue, or
eloquent declaimer ; in Cephas, or Peter, the heart or
experimental appealer. Look for a moment at Paul.
It would be difficult in any age to fix upon a man
more marvellously endowed and more providentially
Favored for the development of his great powers than
the young tent-maker of Tarsus. Renowned as the
centre of Greek and Rabbinical learning, this Tarsus
to which nudtitudes flocked was a fitting place in
rhich to train the man, the great apostle to tradi-
tional Jew, to polished Greek and barbarian. From
liis student life at the feet of Gamaliel, he was led
oilt to an ever- widening sphere of culture, till
languages became his alphabet, peoples his text-
l)ook, cities his companions, continents his oppor-
tunities, the God of Abraham his inspiration, and the
Christ of Nazareth his glory.

As in southern lands we have seen the magnolia

find oleander clustering around some object, gracing

it with new beauty and perfuming it with fragrance,

so the apostle brought his vare and wondrous gifts to

cluster around the Cross. With mental glance as

<{uick as lightning, and mental grasp as strong as
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niSCOURSES AND ADDRESSKS.

ticbh' brass, he bi'ou^lit out ol' tiiis mystery of tlie
C^roHH thou^lits i^raiid as the universe of Go<l, and
flun^ ov(!r it tlie brilliance of an imaginative <»race
an<l beauty never sui'passed. Royally gifted on ever}-
side of his character, his intellect stands peei'less
above all. If we accept the dictum of some in the
present, all intellect is out of place in a gospel 2)ulpit,
for, say they, its ritual and simple truths are long-
established, and only re((uire recital.

When the daughters of Jerusalem went to the sep-
ulchre seeking a dead Christ, a voice angelic cried,
" He is not here, he is risen and goeth before." Like
the foolish (laughters, so these men would seek foi-
Christ in the dead forms of a dead and buried past:
but a Divine voice cries, " He is not here, he is risen."
He is risen in thought ; He is risen in the harmon\'
of all science with Scripture ; He is risen in a deepci-
insight into its spiritual meaning. Yes, He is risen
and goeth before; through the glad forever He shall
lead the way and plant the banner of intel'igence on
the highest possibility to which intelligence oan aspire.
Ever, then, must there be a place for intellect in the
exposition of truth divine, for while the Gospel is so
simple that a child can tell the old, old story, arch-
angel mind must ever fail to fathom its relations, vast
as the being of God and far-reaching as eternity. All
intellect in the Church is for you.

But return again to Apollos.

ApoUos is known to history as an Alexandrian Jew
and an eloijuent declaimer. The most eminent of all

THE SUBLIME ROLL OF PRlVlLE(iES.

211

schools in the East was the Alexandrian, which was
founded to harmonize Platonic thought with Chris-
tian doctrine. This school took the wondrous (ireek
lan^ua^e, which held the treasures of secular elo-
(]|uenc<', an<l so adjusted it to the expression of spirit-
ual thought that it became the vehicle of the highest
forms of Christian elo(|uence, so that its disciples
were renowned for power of ex})ression all over the
apostolic Church. Coming from such a school, we can
readily understand how Apollos was an eloquent man.
And say how marvellous is the power of eloquence !
Next to the poetic insight which "sees a light that
never was on sea or shore," is the power of eloquence.
Eloquence ! How it ripples and rolls like living waters,
and then thunders like another Niagar^i ! How it
scintillates, and shines, and coruscates into brilliance!
Eloquence ! How it breathes, soft as balmy zephyrs,
and then sweeps like angry tempest ! Looking down
it transfigures the lowliest things and then springs
triumphant to the spheres. In every age it has been
a power imperial to sway the passions of men. It
has shamed a Herod, caused a Felix to tremble, almost
persuaded an Agrippa to become a Christian, and
shaken a continent in the time of the Crusaders.

Who shall measure the power of eloquence for
good, when the Cross is its theme, the Spirit its inspi-
ration, and the salvation of men its object. Like tlie
lightning it has smitten, like the balm of Gllead it
has healed, by pointing to the Redeemer's blood. All
silvery-tongued eloquence in the Church is yours.

tiff I

fll"

f«

lf*''l)!

*'-'...:'

212

DISCOURSES AND ADDHESSES.

And now we tui*n to (A'pliuH, oi* Pctci*, the bronzed
und rou^li-lumded Hslienniin of (jialilee. How he
iMHes bd'orc us hh the rugged, viilu^nient and unstabhi
disciple, with heart as generous and tender as evei*
beat in lu' um bosom. Save in the single exception
of the r Oavid, he was perhaps never surpassed

in variety nt experience. From the ecstatic Mount of
Transfiguration, where his i-estless spirit longed to
build an abiding tabernacle, down to the avenging
hour of remoi'se when he stood a weeping and peni-
tent apostate; from the time of his denial to his
triumph in martyrdom, every possible experience was
his, and, therefore, to the ages he stands as the apostle
and minister of Hope — hope for the unstabh' that he
shall yet be faithful unto death— hope for the apos-
tate that he shall regain the confidence of his Lord,
and a blessed hope of inheritance when the earth has
faded away. Hopeful Peter! How the heai-t clings
to him ! And who can tell the advantage of a nn'nis-
try of experience ? Better than the inspiration of
intellect or the charm of elocpience is the appeal of
experience. " I have heard," says an eminent man,
" every form of pulpit power on both continents, but
all is gone from me sav^e the personal testimony of
godly men, which lives with me and will forever."

" And now," says Paul, " all ministries are yours."

Like the colors of the prism, which, blending, form

essential light, so every order of ministry combines to

! form that spiritual light which leads us uj) to God.

Intellect, elo(juence, emotion, experience, all are yours.

THE SUJILIME ROLL OF PUIVILECIES.

213

But again, the world is yours. V^y tlic term world
we do not mean the world of man or the world oF
mannei-s — that wicked world of which John .speaks —
hut the world of matter around us. And in what
.sense is this world ours ;" Not certainly in the way
of po.s.session, for God hath chosen the poor of this
world. When tl ' apostle a.sserts that the world is
ours, he means that it is ours to lift to nobler concep-
tions of God in His relations to man. And what an
expression of the Divine mind do we find in this
world. Just as the works of the poet tell something-
of the wealth and beauty of the poet's mind, just as
the .stately temple tells the creative skill of the artist,
HO this world tells something of the intelligence of
(Jod. And what a wondrous revelation does it supply.
This age of ours is an age of science, an<l what is all
science but a glad endeavor to uncover the think-
ings of God. All the .searchings of the botani.st and
anatomi.st amid the forms of life, all the analyses of
the chemi.st are but the bringing to light of those
laws which the Divine intellect hath put into matter
for its conservation.

And how do the mighty phenomena of nature in
her grander moods sublimate our conceptions of God ?
(Jb.serve how the royal bard speaks: "When He is
wroth, the earth trembles and the perpetual hills do
bow; wdien He thundereth in the heavens and the
Highest giveth His voice, hailstones and coals of lire
pass befoi'e Him ; at the blast of the breath of His
nostrils the channels of w^ater are seen, and the

nm '

]

214

tUSCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Mil'

fonndutionH of tlie eartli are discovorod." It is tlms
when the fi-aiii(nvork of natui'o troiublcs that we see
the majesty of God, who rideth on tlie win<:fH of tlie
wind and maketh inv. vviililvvind His chariot. And
liow does tliis world reflect the beauty of tiie eternal
mind? Say with wdiat piodi^al hand huth God
scattered ^ ^auty everywhere — beauty in the valley
silvered with waters, and in the hillside <>-oldeiUMl
with ^rain — beauty in the autumnal tints of the
forest when it would seem as if the summer rainbow
had become incarnate to veil the deformity of death
— beauty when the

" Midnight moon stoops to lave
Her forehead in the silvery wave,"

and when

" The creeping slirub of a thousand dyea
Waves to the west wind's summer sighs."

— beauty that intensifies as you descend to a point
microscopic beyond the ken of man. Oh, this God
of ours is not a Jupiter Olympus who thunders
only to destroy, but a God who has dropped beauty
everywhere, gentle as the dew-drop from the eye-
lids of the morning. And then, how does the world
express the benevolent purposes of God to man ? No
sooner had God enshrined His image in organized
matter and called that being man than He gave him
dominion over the works of his hands. And what
was the design but that the unclouded intellect of
man should search out the utility of all material

THE SlJliMMK KOLL OF I'UI V1I,K(JES.

215

tiling's uiid Imriu'ss tlu'iii in liis Hcrvict' as vaHHal.s to
do his plcasuii;.

Blin<i('(l l)v sill and <K'l)ast'd l)v Ids ai)ostasv, lu' lost
uit donnnioii. Vov six thousand vt'ars the t'h'cti'ic
till' l)as hoeii waitiii}^ to leap forward at his hiddiii;^'
as his iiiL'Sseiio*'!', and tho forces whicli slumher in
water to cai'i'V him on the winirs of the wind and <lo
his handiwork. P'or six thousand vears Iwaveii's
sunli^lit has heen ea<j^er to ])ecoine his artist and the
iiases to iiolit his wav in ilarkness, and vet he knew it
not. Hut under the beni<rn iiiHueiice of C'liristianitv,
dominion is comin;;- ))aek to man, Christian science
is iettiuii- loose these forces of nature in his service.
Oh, a millennium, yes, even a material millennium, is
surt'ly comiii};- to man when Christian sci' nee shall
have liberated the undiscovered powers and forces
of nature, and man redeemed from the slavery of
wasting" toil shall here, in thouj^ht and purity and
joy, serve and ^lorify Cod. Yes, this world is yours.
Krom jewelled mountain to deepest vale, fi'om rip-
])linj;- stream to murmuring ocean, from blushino-
Mower to lord of the foi'est, all work for your yood,
and all are yours to lift to Cod.

But again, life is yours. And what does life com-
])rehend but discipline and duty, trial and opportun-
ity. It is one of the mysteries of Cod that in all
things material and spiritual, discipline and trial
should be the condition of highest excellence. How
we see this in the material ! Take the iron stones,
how worthless they are ; but cast into the furnace they

Mi' ■ !

216

DISCOURSES AnIi iDDRfeSSfiS.

are fused and How out into tlie mould ; broken iiito
pieces, tliey are returned a<i^ain to the furnace ; brou^-lit
out undei" tlie steam liannner, tliey are fortj^ed : heated
again, they are passed through and through the
rollers, and finally annealed in an oven. Oh, ha(l
this metal heart and nerve and feeling, how would it
cr}" out against the crucial process. But observe, it
was this process which gave it its value to become all
useful and precious things, down to the needle that
shakes to the pole, and the spring that trembles in
the watch, more precious than gold tried in the fire.
And now, in higher sense, is not this the condition
of all spiritual (^xci'llence ? What gave peerless faith
to adventui'ous Abraham but the anguish of Mount
Moriah ^ What gave meekness to the statesmanship
of Moses but the provocation of the wilderness ?
Was it not the dread alternative of sinful compromise
or the lion's den which gave constancy to Daniel, the
counsellor of kings ? Yes, verily. It was the dis-
cipline of trial which has flung around these scrip-
tural worthies an imperishable brilliance which shall
never fade away. And this pi'inciple obtains in every
age down to the present. Did but the time permit, how
we would gladly linger here — linger with the widow
bereaved, on whose pale face there rests the stamp of
iieavenly resignation : linger with the man boweil
and broken, who has gone through more fires than
any martyr to maintain his honor, and who, stripped
and counted out, yet looks up with tearful eye and
blesses the hand that has taken his all away ; linger

THE StBLIME ROLL OF PRIVI1.EGES.

217

witli iiuiiiy a lone sutterer who will walk no more till
they tread with elastic step tlie crystal pavements oi'
the sky, robed for the coronation of the redeemed;
lin<^er, ah, we cannot, but who shall declare the pre-
ciousness of such in the estimation of God ? Oh, could
you take worlds as the child plucks the flowers and
bind them as a garland around the head of the
Redeemer ; could you take cities and set them as
jewels in His coronal, think you that He would value
them as He does the lowly ones made perfect through
sutt'ering ? Nay, verily. " For they shall be mine,
saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I make up
my jewels." Life is yours to become jewels for God.
And then, life is marked by duty as the result of
opportunity. If you ask for that word which above
all others proclaims the dignity and value of life,
that word is duty — duty in its origin and efi'ects.
Duty behind this is responsibility. Responsibility
to whom ? To that ever-blessed God who, by in-
tuitional laws written on the heart, has chained all
moral beings to His throne ; and duty, which in its
•'fleets, puts joy into human hearts and sends them
singing thi'ough the ages of the great hereaftei". Duty
oi- lesponsibility to God ! By this every soul, down t ,
sweet childhood by your side, is linked to the Infinite.
And what is duty but taking opportunity by the
iii)nd to do that which is right in the sight of God
.Hid man. Like the descending rain-drops that distil
ill benediction on lowliest blade and blushing flower,
SL oppoi'tunity comes to all. Lisping infancy and

218

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

swoet pe)'suadin<^ yoiitli, uiunhood in pulpit oi- pew ,
womanhood in hor home life, even patient snH'o-iiio-,
may be the mini.stei's of' (iod to win he.artH for lieaven.

And now, can you tell what posHi})ilities Ix^lonj^ to
this life, and wliat ^lory it may ensuiH; ? Sun of the
mornino', tliat openewt th(! oate.s of day and comest
bhiwhin^ o'er the land and sea, why mai'che.st thou
to thy meridian throne, filling;- the hi'mament with
.splendor ? Ah, it is to symbolize the comiii^ <4' lory of
the wise. "They that b(^ wise shall shine as the
lii-manuuit." Stai-s of tlui evening who have shone
resplendent on patriarch and prophet, waking- tlic
wond(!i' and admiration of all ages an<l genci'ations,
why thy ceaseless blaze; ? Ah, it is to show the
abidin<jj brilliance of the soul-winner. "They that
turn many to rij^hteousness shall shine as the stars
forever and ever." Oh, life is yours, to hv finally
crowned with joy. "For ye are our joy and crown
of rcjoicino- in the day of the Lord Jesus."

But aijjain, sohnnn antithesis, death is yours. The
old belief that death was unknown in this woiM
prior to the apostasy of man, lies long since been
abandoned. By the light of that science which
aspires to walk the ages of the mighty past an<l un-
cover its secrets, we find that its t^very <!p<;ch as
taught in our school-})ooks is but a i-ecord of death.
Its Silurian and Devonian ages tell of the death of
all dwellers ifi watery deeps, fts cai'boniferous an<l
trassic ages t(!ll of death ovei" all the eaith to vege-
table and animal, even the mighty mastodon itself

THE SUBLIME ROLL OF PR1VILE(JES.

219

And wlijit iuv tlic roclvH Imt iiiauscjleuiiis niid iiionn-
inontsol* flontli ? And now wliut is the belief relative
to mnn ? Wliy, that when (jlod built him up in Hi.s
iina^e and likenesH, He desif^ned that he .should stand
as a contrast to the al)oundin(»; d.-ath, witli the trade-
mark of imniortal on liis brow. By the fell apostasy
th(! purpose of Heaven was defeated, and death be-
came the sif^n-manual and signal of dislujnor and
ruin.

iiow divine is the mission of CJhristianity to
reverse tin; I'uin of the fall! T\\o process of sin is
from life to death ; the; procr\ss of ;(rac(! is from deatli
to life — eternal life with Christ in heaven. What is
death to the Chi'istian but the minister of God to
(h'aw aside the curtain of tlie invisi])le and usiier him
into tlie l)eatitudes of th(; blest? What is deatli ])ut
the day when he comes of age and claims his iidierit-
unce ? Wliat is death but tlie favoring gale wliich
caii-ies the long toss(Ml mai'incr into the haven of
i<!pose ? What is death ? It is the moment wli(!n the
long (Hiduring patient shakes off the last symptom of
disease. "Oh," says Paul, " to livi; is Chi'ist, but to
die is gain." All hail, thou king of terroi'S disi'obed
and uncrowned. The <lying saints that h'ft oui* sides
never saw thee in thy teri'ors but only as a fricMid,
iiiid smiling with the(; went home to God.

And now, as a close to the wondrous roll, thinfjs
present and things to coma are yours. How this
covers the entire realm of being! " Things to come."

m:W^

220

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

What sliall tliey be? How the lieart trembles at the
thoii^lit ot" what tlie unknown may bring. This is
tlie confidence, things to come are for your weal.
" My health had utterly failed," says an eminent ser-
vant of the Church, " and I was travelling in the East
for its recovery. Worn and dispirited, I one day rode
out of the suburbs of Jerusalem to see the tombs of
the kings in the valley. Suddenly a storm came up
from the Mediterranean and I sought refuge in one of
the open tombs. Standing and looking out at the
storm as it raged around the hills of Judea, I ob-
served a shepherd boy followed by his flock coming
to the tomb for shelter. As he drew near I noticed
that his bosom was distended. Opening his sliephei'd
cloak, he disclosed one little lamb and then another
and another. The poor lambs would have perished
in the storm had not the shepherd boy carried them
in his bosom. 0\\" says the sickly man, " with what
a revelation did this come to my fearful heart. In-
stantly did my thoughts go over the seas and away
beyond the AUeghanies to where the little landjs of
my flock abode. I wc>uld likely never see them
again, but I was comforted with the thought that the
(iood Shepherd would carry my lambs in His besom,
!ind so 1 was strengthened to face the things to come."
May this confldence be ours.

And now, stepping fi'om the present life, with the
I'ight hand of (JodVi own word we open the door of
innnortality and look at the things which are to eomc

^"' lll ''

.if*

THE SUBLIME ROLL OF PIUVILEGES.

221

"Things to come." " Oli," says .John, "it doth not
yet appear wliat we sluill })e, but tliis we know, that
when he sliall appear we sliall be like liini, tor we
sliall see liini as lie is." Oh, fi^lorions assurance ! The
Captain of our salvation, who is the Resurrection and
the Life, shall change our vile body and fashion it
Hke unto His glorious body. And how <loes Jolni
iiuthenticate this in his vision of Patnios. What
must have been the glory of that being which hv
mistook for the Son of God, and fell at his feet and
worshipped till a warning voice said, " Arise, worship
(}()d, for I am thy brother," Oh, the reHnement and
lieauty of that body which shall l)e yours when every
form and every face is beaveidy and divine.

" Things to come." " In my Father's house are many
mansions." It is not, ol)serve, that everyone shall
have a mansion, as we sometimes sing. It is that
everyone shall have the freedom of the Father's
house. I cannot tell if these mansions are worlds, as
Landell thinks, or in some distant sphere as others
imagine. But whatever of beauty, whatever of satis-
faction, whatever of surprise, whatever of society,
sweet and lasting, the many mansioned home can
siqiply, will be the birthright of every child in the
family of God. All shall be yours.

" Things to come." " Behold the tabernacle of God
is with men." " And thev shall hunirer no more
neither thirst any more." " And God shall wipe
away tears from ort* all faces." " And thei'e shall be
no more death."

222

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i '

Oh, "thiii^H to come." God .shall lead u.s along the
mighty highways ot the forever. We shall rise — we
shall rise througli the centuries and ages ; we shall
rise and ascend forever nearer to our Father and oui-
God. For all to come is vours.

And now, having climbed up through this passage,
from the sunniiit behold and see the sublime harmony
that like a circle sweeps round the eternities. If you
go back in thought to a period before the mountains
were brought forth, or even the earth or the hills
were made, before the morning stars sang togethei-,
in that far-ofi' beginning we find that God gave out
matter, flinging off worlds into space, as sparks fly
from tlie anvil. He gave forth man as its intelligent
expositor. When man became ruined by sin. He gave
forth His Son, and now to complete the circle of
harmony the process is reversed. To man redeemed
all things are given ; to the Son, redeemed humanity.
And then cometh the end, when the Son resiirninir
His mediatorial office is given up to the Father and
the Triune God is all in all. Oh, mystery of tlic
infinite purposes and plans. We take that mystery,
and wrapping ourselves in its folds exclaim, " Oh,
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judg-
ments, and his ways past finding out, yet love crowns
all." I am relieved from the necessity of any apj^h
cation. I close with the words, " Freely ye have
received, by the gift of all things so generously on

THE SUBLIME ROLL OF PRIVILEGES.

223

J the
—we
8lmll
I our

liioiiy
f you
itains
; hills
;etlier,
re out
ks fl}-
lligeiit
e gave
cle of
eeined
anity.
lignin^-

the pai't of God." Give yourselves first of all, and
then wliat you can to a Master so good. His cause
demands it. May we say with Paul, "as sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ;
as having nothing, yet possessing all things." Then
in the coming times, it will be to us an eternal joy if
\VG have aided to put any living stone into that
living temple which is to stand forever, yes, for
ever, lighted by God and vocal with enduring praise.
Amen.

71-

THE TRANSCE^'DEi^OP] OF MAX.

"That in the ages to come he iniijlit show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." —
Eph. ii. 7.

It is recorded of Dr. Chalmers, tlie prince of the
Scottisli pulpit, that tlie inspiration and charm of his
ministry did not so much consist in any grace of per-
son or art of <le]ivery as in the fact that whatever
subject he touched he raised it, he ennobled and sub-
limated it, by the mastery of that intelligence which
was the wonder of the age. In higher sense and
more pre-eminent degree, this was the attribute, the
distinguishing attribute, of the Pauline method. Take,
for example, the words of our text. With wluit
comprehensive dignity are they endowed. Though
penned some two thousand years ago, yet they seem
to anticipate every objection raised by modern thought
against the fundamentals of our ( liristianity. " Is
there a God in the universe," and if so, " Can His
character be known ? " are the (piestions of the hour.
Our text affirms, in the pronoun " He," that God is,
while the exceeding riches of grace and kindness
adorn and beautify His character.

"Is man a spirit, destined to the immortal," or "is
he nothing but organized matter, doomed to extinc-
tion amid irretrievable decay ? " Extinction ! Our
text asserts that he shall ab!de through the ages to

324

THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

225

lor "IS

Ixtinc-

Our

come, hlosHoiiiin*;- l)y ^-racc and kindness into hi^lier
conditions of bein^-. And then, is it not baseless cre-
dulity to believe that God is synipath(>tic and helpful
to man :* Baseless it is not, since the revelation of
Christ Jesus and His kindness authenticate divinest
compassion with our race. Thus we see that the
inspired intellect of Paul anticipated and answered
here the crucial (juestionin^s of our times. Now, be-
neath and behind all this, I ask you to observe the
^reat underlying thought of our text, namely : The
transcendence of nuni as first in the thinkings and
'Work of God, as he should he first in the thovfjht and
work of the ministry. It is a familiar objection
advanced by the sceptic science of the day that
Cyhristianity altogether over-estimates the importance
of man ; that it is essentially an egotistic system
assigning to him a place peerless in our known uni-
verse, whereas he is but a feeble thing vanishing
before the magnitudes in time and space. Now, in
\ in<lication of the transcendence of man, I ask you to
})()nder the two-fold proposition :

First, That the workings of God in the ages of the
past find their ultimate 'purpose in the advent of
man; and Secondly, That the luorkinf/s of God in the
ages of the future tvill find their ultimate defjign in
the eternal development of man.

I. That the workings of God in the ages of the past
had for their idtimate purpose the advent of man.

When the botanist plants what is to you an un-
known seed, you cannot tell wliat will be the nature of

1.")

mr^

I li|

22(i

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSKS.

ipi'

its wood, tli(! I'onii of its U-al*, its blossoms or its fruit,
and tlins it is with ovory woi-k oi' iiiun. Vou can
nev(ir <loterniino its end from the signs of its bogin-
niiijj;.

Yonder, in a vacant lot in our city, is a man ; with
rod in liand lie is measui'in<j^ out its areas. Ke com
mands and men begin to excavate; lie commands and
in remote (juarries workmen are fashioning the stones:
he commands and the forests of the Ottawa give their
timber. What meanetli all this activity ? Wait. A
stately building begins to rise. At his bidding art
tills the windows with tinted glass, and skill develops
an instrument with its thousand melodies, while tapes-
tries adorn the interior of the edifice.

What was the ultimate design in that artistic mind ?
To create a building, stately and magnificent, arched
and aureoled. What was the ultimate ^ It was the
adjustment of that building for the physical conveni-
ence of man, in which he might catch the inspiration
of the place and ascend to the worship of the Divine.
Time explains the design.

Now, I ask you to turn from the works of man to
the works of God, wdiich will demand the ages to
come to determine their final meaning. You will
hear with me while I here take an umisual libert^'.
I would, for the moment, close; this book of inspira-
tion and o])en the book of nature. I would disp(Mis(>
with the teachings of Moses, Isaiah and Paul. 1
would leave these and invoke the leadership and
guidance ol those great masters of science who are

THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

227

solving th(3 pr()l)l('iiis of the uiii\ (Thc T wouM do
tliis, an<l I want jiiat here to say that tlie pul))its of
Mcthoflisiu t'vor (lesire to Ix' in accord with all true
science. Conio, tlien, with nu'. Under tlie ^uidaiice
of tliese masters, we roW hack tlie surface of the earth,
and what do we find { An orderly ari'an^cnient of
rocks — leaves are they in God's great volume of tlie
cosmos. Turn o\'cr tin; first of these ston\' leaves
and you come to a mighty strata of death. There is
not a shib of marble, not a fragment of chalk or slmle
hut is built up of animal remains, belting this world
with decay and making it a vast charnel-house of
death.

Turn over the leaf and you come to the great
[a'imitive granites, which give evidence of having
been fused, and twisted and crj'stallized by fire. Thus
far we are conducted by science, and now, on the
adventurous wings of inductive thought, we ai'e
carried into the eternities of the past, and reverently
take our stand beside the infinite Creator and primal
cause of all. He thinks, the ideal of the universe is
horn. He speaks, and a fiery mist comes into being.
He connnands, and every atomic element begins to
move, to vibrate. He ordains, and that elemental mist
I'olls itself into fiery orbs that begin their flaming
march along the infinities. Before this display of
almighty energy we stand with trenmlous heart and
in reverent spirit exclaim, " The thunder of his power,
who can understand?" — tliankful that this awful God
is ours, our Father and our Love.

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DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

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Turning now to the history of our own phmot,
througli long niillenniuniH, it is believed to have
cooled and condensed. By the ministries and inter-
action of air, tire and water, its rocky elements are
dissolved into the soils of our earth.

Behold now, the first of the great life-epochs of
God! The mystery of life is revealed in its vegetating
form. The earth is mantled in green and enamelle<'
in beauty. Beauty, did I say ? Yes, where the
daffodil, and the heliotrope, and the many tintetl rose,
and the festooning vine blossom into splendor, wOiile
the eucal^'ptus tree an<l Calivera pines wave their
leafy crowns in the summer air. Oh, the gracions-
ness of our God in putting the impress of beauty on
every form in nature ! But was it the ultimate pui--
pose of God's creative work to make this world
merely a garden andjrosial, without an eye to take in
the beauty, without a sense to inhale the fragrance,
without intelligence to apprehend its order? It could
never be. Behold again, another and higher epoch of
(jrod. The silences of this w^orld are broken by the
aboundings of animal life. Listen to the mocking-
bird and to the song of the amorous nightingale, to
the chorus of the mighty army of the living. From
the Leviathan downwards, what infinite kindness is
manifested in ordaining the laws of paternity, in
waking the mother-love, so that the seal of the Nortli
sea will weep for the suffering of her young, and the
very tiger of the jungle will fondle with her cubs.
But was this world built np for no higher purpose

^HE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

229

tlian to be the huntiiig-<^rouii(l of the leopard and
the eagle, where animal forms should appear and
then vanish away ? A grander design than this was
in the original thinking of God, Who is that? ])(^
you see him walking amid the trees of the garden,
with erect form, with uplifted brow, with kindling-
eye, with intelligence on every line of the counten-
ance, with a mind that apprehends the design of
nature and a heart that throbs with emotion i Who is
that ? Behold, the mystery is explained, the ultimate
of God's purpose is made manifest. This world is
made for Man. For him the tulip is striped and the
amethyst warbler sings. For him

*' The last sunshine of expiring day
In summer twilight weeps itself away."

For him the mountains defile into lines of grandeur
and the hanging heavens in their galaxied splendor
tell their tale of infinite power. Contemplating
the scene, he rises to a conception of a Divine and
stands confessed as transcendent over all. Tran-
scendent over all ? Yes, for what is opening before
the research of our age ? Young man, read Norman
Lockyer on the chemistries of the sun. Every gas
and element on this earth is found there, and it is
believed that the substance of our world is that of all
\\orlds ; that the history of this earth will be dupli-
cated throughout the universe ; that the order of life
here will be the order in all worlds, finding its con-
Hunniiation in the form and Hkeness of man. Wliy

f":

230

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSfeS.

'. ' !■

<loe.s speculative thouglit turn in this direction /
Wliy ? Because man is made in tlie image and like-
ness of God, and can anything in His universe be
found better than His image ' Out of the eternities
there comes tiie echoing cry, " Notliing, notliing better
than the image Divine." And then, as the final possi-
bility beyond which God himself cannot pass, He
takes this human nature into the bonds of a union
with His essence, a bond which shall be perpetuated
forev^er.

Oh, strong Son of God, the Alpha and Omega in
the universe, we now understand in higher measure
tlian ever before, tlie deep significance of the question
thou dost ask, " What shall man, transcendent man-
irive in exchange for his soul ? "

II. The workings of God in the ages to come wilt
find their idtimate design in the eternal developrnenl
of man.

The history of our humanity is a volume held by
two golden clasps, bound at one end by the paradise
of Eden, bound at the other by the eternal life of
heaven; while the literature it contains tells out
the mystery, the grandeur and the Divine uplifting
which marks his immortal being. How low and
inadec|[uate are the conceptions which obtain relati\ e
to man. You see him in the arenas of life, walking
in the street, toiling in the shop or office, handling
the materialities of commerce, absorbed in the little-
nesses of domestic conditions. All is animal and
material. It is a question of food, of raiment, of

THE TKANSCENDENCE OK MAN.

231

loll '(
like-

lities

possi-
9, He
union
iuated

32:a 1^^
easure

lestion

t mail'

le will
)pmenl

eld by
iradise
life of
Is out
liftin(r
DW and
relative
walking];
andling
little-
nal and
nent, of

shelter, of imniuiiity from want ; and this is the
realm in which most men habitually live and move.
If the capacities of man were limited to the animal
and material, how could we vindicate his ratlical
transcendence ?

But our nature has a diviner side. Would you see
the transcendence of man? Look at his physical
being. When Ood made the lower animal forms, such
as lizards or fishes, " He gave," says Agassi/, " but a
single segment of brain power." When Ciod brought
forth the higher mammalia, as seen in the domestic
animal, He added another and active segment to the
brain. When God introduce*! man, He completed the
arch and crowned him with the finished dome of
thought ; so that he stands as the highest and final
type of organized life on this earth. Behind this
organized, this visible man, there is the great invisible
— invisible as God himself.

Invisible man ! What is that ? We call it spirit.
Spii'it! You cannot see it; you cannot handle it.
You have no chemistries that will detect it. How do
I come to the knowledge of matter? It is by my
senses, revealing its form, its size, its color. How do
I come to the knowledge of spirit ? It is by the con-
sciousness of thought, of will and of emotion within
my being. It is this spiritual nature, this august
and unseen personality, that constitutes the essential
royalty, the jewel of the man. Where do you dwell ?
You say, " In this house, or in that street." Nay, that
is not the place of your abiding. You dwell in the

isi^i

] ; 1 1 :

232

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

tabernacle of the body. Its every organism and mem-
ber is your servant. You are behind the eye and
look out upon the plenitudes of nature. You are be-
hind the ear and catch up the tones of friendship, or
wake to the raptures of melody. You employ the
tongue to tell your tale of love or sorrow and articu-
late the thought that outreaches to the Infinite; while
the hand that creates works cff utility or of art is but
the slave of the autocrat that dwells and dictates from
within.

Survey the process of man's development. A child
comes into being. At tirst it is only a palpitating-
fragment of living matter. You look into the eye, it
is vacancy; but in a given time a light comes into
that eye, a point of intelligence flashes there, which
indicates that the inborn dweller has come to con-
sciousness and has begun its march on to the immor-
talities. In twenty swift- winged years, the child is
a man, with mind kindled and cultured with all
knowledge from the highest heavens where God doth
dwell down to the atomic dust beneath his feet.

In fifty years, the child is rounded out into finished
proportions, with the light of eternity on his brow, a
being of stupendous beginnings, which will demand
the forever for his development. mother ! do you
realize that the infant lisper, who looks up into your
face, is innnortality in your arms ?

Would you see the transcendence of man ? I ask
you to go back in thought to the hour when man
appeared as the consummating touch of God's creative

THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

233

illli

work. On the authority of God's Woid, we believe
that man be^an not lowly but loftily. Not that he
ei'awled out of the slimy depths and strugj^led through
the monad, the moUusk and the monkey to manhood.
The theory that inteUigence and moral consciousness
came out of such materialistic beginnings is an out-
rage on reason and all true science, and, says Professor
Calderwood, will doubtless be modified or disappear.

Man began so high, so divine was the impress which
he bore, that for liis coming " the morning stars sang
together and the sons of God shouted for joy."

But how stupendous was his descent, how appalling
his ruin, no tongue can ever declare. In the Duke of
Argyle's great work on " The Unities of Nature,' we
learn that man is the only discordant anomaly in
the universe. Worlds swing in their orbits without
collisions. Plants and trees of the like species har-
monize with each other. The very hyena is kindly
to its kind. Buh when you come to man, you find
that, whether as nations, tribes or individuals, the
<lestruction of man by man is the great historic
record. I am not citing Scripture but science when
I say that intellectual and moral manhood, like a
mighty, dismantled, deserted temple, stands ruined
and degraded. Ring out the fall of a Nineveh,
Babylon or Thebes, with their royal splendor ; wreck,
if you will, the astonishing magnificence of unintel-
ligent creation and leave it void, the ruir; of any man,
any poor drunkard or victim of vice, with archangel

234

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

powers and Titiin forces tliat can defy the InfiIlit(^
is a calamity f^i'^'Jiter far.

O regal man! Son of the morning! Witli the
nimbus of divinity around thy brow, how art thon
fallen, utterly fallen !

Would you see the transcendence of man ? We
close the cliapter of ruin and despair, and open the
vision of the coming redemption. Simultaneous with
the apostasy of our race, omnipotent provision was
made for his recovery. The very heart of the triune
God of love was moved to achieve his deliverance.
In the epochs of the past, the Persons of the Godhead
took our humanity by the hand and led it up the
hills of time, out of the barbaric into the civilized,
waking those great powers of his nature which hiid
been slundjei-ing through the ages.

As sure as God gave skill to Basilicus to fashion
the curious work of the tabernacle, He gave science
to the dwellers on the banks of the Nile. As sure as
God directed the Hebrew temple-builders, He lired the
bai'baric Greeks with a sense of beauty, as expressed
in the Corinthian architecture, in Phydian sculpture,
in the raptures of Homeric verse, and in the rhythm
of that language which God elected to be the vehicle
of His most spiritual revelation, and to which we
still go back to come nearest to the thinkings of God
— the wondrous language o*^ the Greek. As sure as
God gave wisdom to Solomon, He gave direction to
the band of robbers on the banks of the Tiber how
to aggregate Roman power and formulate those phil-

THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

285

osophies of Justice and law to wliicli tribunals still
appeal. Intellect, kno\vled<(e, these alone can nevi-r
save. " Never," says Paul, " for the world by wisdom
knew not God," and without (Jod, we must abide in
moral ruin.

Would you see the tramsrendence of man? Sin^-, O
heavens, and i-ejoice, earth, the Lord hath spoken.
I dwell with the huinhle and with the contrite.
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with man in the
person of Emmanuel — (Jod with us. No man hath
.seen God at any time : the only-beo-otten of the
Father. He hath declared him. Oli, divinest moment
in the history of the universe, when the incarnate
Jesus became the interpretei- of God, and the
delivei'er of man ! ])eliverer ? Tell me, if you can,
the price which must be paitl to become a reformer
or deliverer of man. To attain the adoration of
future generations, to ascend the altars of histor3^ to
reach the apotheosis of inuiiortality, your deliverers
have to sweat great drops of blood in their (Jeth-
semanes, to endure insults in courts of justice, to
receive tlie buffet of infamy fi'om an insolent popu-
lace, to drain to the dregs the cup of gall and ingrati-
tude, to wear the crown of thorns and stretch their
limbs upon a cross, amid the cries of " Away with
lum !

In diviner sense and superlative degree, amid the
agony and wailing cry of "Lama sabachthani ?" — "My
God! why hast thou "saken me?" — the Ancient of
1 )ays, the Son of the 1 ather, walked alone the royal

2:K)

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

I'oad, the via (hAorosa, to achieve our deliveranc*'
iVom cui'.se and shanic "Dead!" crie«l tlie Koiimui
<(uard, a.s lie tlini.st hiw ^leamiii^" spra)* into tin* silLJiit
lieart, " Dead I " sobbed the <biii<(hterH of Jei'usaleiii,
in their ^rleF. J)ead, dead as an atonement.

"Stung by the scorpion sin,
My poor expiring .soul
The bahny sound drinks in,
And is at once made whole ;
See there my Lord upon the tree !
1 he.ir, I feel, he died for me."

Beneath the shadow of the cross we trusting stand,
justified, accepted, reconciled to God.

Would you see the transcendence of man ? '^i'hou
mystic Spirit Divine, that moved upon the face of
the waters, bringing order out of chaos, and renewing
the face of the earth, we glorify thy mission and
ministries to man as the secjuel of the Cross. "Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God " — sons
of God, gifted with fellowship, with the power of
all-connnanding prayer. And this is thy work, thou
adopting and indwelling Spirit of all grace.

Can you count the stars of heaven ? Can you
number the drops of the ocean ? As soon tell out
our sonship's great inheritance in the thirty thousand
promises of this book which are applied and sealed
by the Spirit Divine. Who was with you when you
hung over the sufferer and closed the eyes in death,
when with desolated heart you felt lone and forsaken f

THE THANSCENDEXCE OF MAN.

237

Who wliispci-cd to thy spirit, " Be oF ^oo«l cheer, I
will be vvitli tliee un«l comfort tliee " i Who Hurrounds
our pathway with tliose softening and h<!lpt'ul iiifiu-
ences tliat sweep hke tidal waves toward a noble
life ?

But lately, in our city, a worthy father lay shrouded
in death. When his prodigal boy looked into the
serene face of that father, whose heart he had well-
nigh broken, and beheld his sorrowing mother, over-
whelmed with grief he fell upon his knees an«l sobbed
out his anguish, while the mother clasped him around
the neck and rained her mother tears upon his head.
Who was there to help that prodigal homeward to
goodness and to God ? It was the Spirit Divine.
You wouM have shut the door against the stranger,
i-eckless prodigal. You would have renounced the
infamous tramp, but the Holy Ghost deserts none.
He is with them ever, and this is my argument for
tlie greatness and preciousness of man.

Dew of the night, unseen by mortal eye, falling
tlirough the centuries, ever falling on the continents
and islands of the sea, lifting up the drooping blade,
bi'ightening the face of the hidden flower, freshening
every plant and leaf, and robing universal nature in
new life and beauty — dew of the night, what art
tlum but a symbol of that Spirit of God, who along
the ages to come will ever lift to a nobler life and to
a grander destiny the sons and ilaughters of our
race ?

O redeemed man, redeemed from barbaric degra-

iS(^^"^

238

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

(lation in liis pliy.sical; redeomcd from mind limitation
by the openinj^ up of univei-sal nature, so tliat tlic
very forces electric tliat lau^li at time aid distance
are his servants; redeemed into the l^eanty of hoH-
ness, the likeness of Jesus : redeemed till th(; elastic
soul, dis<laininf^ the limitations of the earthly, looks
vip with lonj^inj^ aspiration for an immortal state, and
still " it doth not yet app(^ar what we shall be."

Would you .see the transcendence of man? (Jo
back to the babe of whom J spoke, [n sixty years,
the lattice is drawn, the crape is on the door. You
say, "He is gone." (Jone where? Out into the
cold, into the black blue air, into nu man knows
where, into nothing or despair. Nothing or despair.
This is the language of the agnostic, but unknown in
the gospel of our Christianity. " We know," says
Paul, " that if our earthly hous ^ of this tal)ernacle
be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. '

Some years ago, I stood by the couch of a <lying
friend. As he was appi-oaching his end, he turned
. and asked, " Oh ! can you tell me where I am going,
where, where?" I replied, "One thing I know, you
are going to be with Christ, for He hath said, ' Where
I am, there also shall my servant be.'" He answered,
"That is enough, enough for me," and with a sublime
confidence went to the bosom of his Lord.

Where henven is we cannot tell, but of this we
are assured, it will be the scene of eternal develop-
ment. Yes, along the ages to come, the exceeding

THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

239

k you

'"here
Iwered,

his \vp
ivelop-
teeding

riches of ^^racu and kindiicsH throii^li .Icsus Clirist
will k'ud our nMlocnu'd Immanity u|> tlu' Aljiinc
lici^^hts of eternity, where tlie secrets of God's uni-
verse shall be disclosed, where the vision of fJod anil
of the Lamb shall open out to us ev*'r ascen<linM
avenues of thought, of lioliness and of joy. And
then, when millions of a^es have come and j^one
attain and a^ain, it will still be the unfoldin*;- of the
(exceeding riches of grace through Christ Jesus for-
ever and ever.

" In hope of that ecstatic l)li,ss,
We now the Cross sustain,
And gladly wander up and down
And smile at toil and ])ain."

Oh, when I look out upon this world, when I see
men and women bowed with sorrow, mothers weeping
lor their children, and weary men in this weary world
struggling to keep their hold of life, in my impa-
tience I am ready to cry out, " Great God, why hast
thou made such a world, so full of sin, of suffering
and of sorrow ?" But then, a little beyond the tents
are taken down. I see the great white compan}',
which no man could number. I see them ; they have
come out of great tribulation, having washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb, and therefore they are before the throne.

When I se(; this my exulting soul cries out, " Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor
and power, for thou hast created and everlastingly

■P ^'T n

240

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i il

redeemed and glorified thy favorite creature, man."
My friend, holding this transcendent nature, will you
be here ?

I have heard of a dream where the dreamer
thought that he was falling. Falling out of light
into twilight ; falling out of twilight into darkness ;
falling out of darkness into outer darkness ; falling,
ever falling. And as he descended his voice sepul-
chral came up from the depths, saying, " When shall
I reach the limit of my fall T' And the answer that
went down was, "Reach it ? Never, never, never."

As sure as there is a possibility of ever ascending
liigher and higher towards God, there is the possi-
bility of falling, ever falling from God into outer
darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of
teeth.

" Lo, on a narrow neck of land,
'Twixt two unbound'id seas, I stand,

Secure — insensible
A point of time, a moment's space,
Removes me to tliat iieavenly place,

Or shuts me up in hell."

" Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found, call
ye upon him, while he is near " — this night, in this
house.

By the transcendence of man, I argue the greatness
of the ministry, whose mission it is, to seek and to
save the lost.

I charge you to beconte enamored with the work

THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MAN.

241

of soul-saving. Let tliis be your master passion, your
soul enthusiasm. And then, in the coming time, the
joy of the apostle will be yours— ransomed llosts
gathered by your ministry will be vour crown of
rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. Remember,
remember our theme— that in the universe of God, in
the ages to come, we will know nothing outside' of
divinity more transcendent than man.

TEE LC)\^E OF THE Sl^lKlT.

i :

" Now 1 beseech you, brethren, for the I^onl .lesus Christ's sake,
and for the love of the Spirit." — Romans xv. 30.

The love oF tlie Spirit! Wliat is Spirit? A thou-
sand times along the ages has this qaestion been
proposed — proposed, yes verily — but never answered.
While universal nature is gra<lually disclosing the
hidings of its power to the searching and subtle intel-
ligence of man, spirit still holds the secret of its
essence and as absolutely refuses to declare it, as in
times Socratic on Hellenic shore. All attempts to
discover its secret by definition have proved unavail-
ing. The Latin "spiritus" means simply a breathing
forth. The Greek " pneuma" denotes nothing more
than an unseen energy known only by its effects,
without color, without geometric form, without spe-
cific gravity, without chemical quality, intangible,
invisible. Spirit in its essence, my spirit, your spirit,
is forever unsearchable and past finding out. Ascend-
ing from the limitations of our finite minds to the
Infinite Spirit, the mystery deepens and widens, but
herein lies the glory of the Divine revealings. Just
as we know matter by its properties of form and
color, so we know spirit by the revelation of its attri-
butes. Now, what attribute is here distinguished ?
In our text, like a lone star rare and lunnnous, shines
the love, the personal love, of the Spirit as a motive

242

!i|fj

THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT.

243

's sake,

tliou-

been
vvcrod.
\fr the
; Intel -

of its
■>, as in
ipts to
navail-
nithino-

r more
effects,
ut spe-
ngihle,
[' spirit,
Hccnd-
to the
ns, but
Just
•ni and
,s attri-
lislied ?
shines
motive

power to sti'ive for the ri^lit, the holy and the true.
And this is our momentous theme, but how shall we
apprehend it ? Love, supeiMial love, indefinable as the
rose, ineffable as the witchery of sweet music heard in
dreams, ecstatic as the vision of God ! CV)ld analysis
retires before the mystery and mastery of love, 'i'o
understand the love of the Spirit we nnist behol<l it
in its activities for man. " I beseech you," says Paul,
" for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and the love of
the Spirit."

In the illustration of this proposition or theme,
observe

I. The love of the Spirit Jinds its inte'rpretation in
His creative work.

I am standing before a vast manufactory, many-
storied in height. I enter at its base and witness the
mill rending and tearing the fibre of the cotton.
Ignorance might ask, where is the evidence of intelli-
gence or beneficent design, since all is waste and cha-
otic here ? But ascend. That rent and riven cotton is
carded, is spun, is woven, is tinted, and now you have
the material that ministers to the adornment and
comfort of man, which was the end and design of its
creation. And so, in like manner, we stand before
this vast universe, many-storied, with heights that
nimble-footed minds shall never scale nor reach, and
everywhere there are evidences of a skilled and be-
nevolent Spirit Creator. Begin, if you will, where all
science begins, at the base of unorganized matter.
Ascend, and to this matter thero conies energy, the

[Iff

\ m

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

energy of lieat, of electric power, of motion. Ascend,
and to energized matter there come.s life, the mystery
of life botanic and zoologic. Ascend, and to matter
vitalize<] there comes tlie power of intellect and moral
being. Ascend, and oh, mystery of tlie Infinite, the
incarnate God comes into alliance witli material crea-
tion, the nltimate design of which is to put the mag-
nolia of divinity on the sterilities of our manliood's
being, that tlu'ough a material creation man may
climb to God.

And then see you the Spirit omnipotent in His con-
servative energy. By one mighty act of volition He
started a force which ascends to tlie highest heaven,
which descends to tlic profoundest depths, which fills
the immensities of space, which interpenetrates the
substanc^ of all worlds, which touches w^ith fingers
soft as sweet breath of summer, while it holds with
Cyclopean grasp, which is instantaneous and universal
in its actions — a mighty Master-builder, ever repairing.

Force, stupendous force ! I can shut out the light,
I can shut out the heat, I can shut out tl^e potencies
of matter, but I can never shut out the power of
gravitation. Symbol of the Spirit art thou ! Ever
with me, around and about me, liolding my physical
in-being, His minister of mercy, liis angelic protector
to man.

I know that nature has its dark and terrible aspect.
I know that the very rocks are full of relentless ruins,
the handiwork of gigantic death. But right here,
with the knowledge of this mystery, we affirm the

-, Iff '...

II < . I .n

tHE LOVE OF THE Sl'IKIt.

245

rith

L'sal
:iiig.

^pect.

L-uins,

here,

the

uiidcrlyino- beiievoleiiec oi' the Spii'it's creation. See
you the kindliness, the heunty, the patlios of natniv :*
Kindlines><, did I say ( Yes; in tlie univei-sal mother-
love, strong as death ; in the providence wliich opens
its hand and supplies the want of every living thing:
kindliness even in the sanguinary law controlling the
carnivora, so that by a stroke, as Livingstone tells us,
when struck by the lion, death is disarmed of its ter-
rors. Yes, kindliness, which aftei* all discount puts
the maximum of joy on the mininuim of sorrow in
universal life.

And what is thy testimony, all-radiant Beauty?
When the tine and fiery genius of Michael Angelo
had broken down the rigidities of mediaeval art, when
he carved his rough-hewn Moses, and, in the passion
of his soul, tossed his colors against the walls of the
Sistine Chapel till they glowed with all the wild, the
gorgeous and sweet angel forms of the "Last Judg-
ment." How truly did he symbolize the magnificent
beauty of the Spirit's work when he tossed his color-
ing on the versatilities of nature ? It has been well
shown by Peabody that beauty is one of our strongest
apologetics to authenticate the bene\'olence of God,
since it appeals to all that is true and noble and
exalted in our being, for what is material beauty but
the counterpart of the beauty of holiness, of the Christ-
life of all that is spiritually resplendent in man ^

And then, see you the Pathos of nature which thrills
poetic hearts ? The melancholy of the mountains, the
sadness of the templed hills, the moan of the sea, the

r^r

240

DISCOITRSES AND ADDRESSES.

appealing tenderness of flowers, and the dewy eve,
which " In summer twihglit weeps itself away" — these
revealings of the creating spirit uncover the tender-
ness of His heart divine. Surrounded with the vasti-
tudes of nature, there are moments when all that is
within and without seem to feel a tende; and melan-
choly thrill ; there are momentr, vvhen the mighty
songster in the windy pine seems to pour the sadness
of its spirit into mine, and the very stars in their
azure seem to stoop and whisper that there be some
things in heaven and earth that love me, even me.
Who has not witnessed the pathetic power of nature ?
You have seen the aged, widowed and blessed mother
sitting, wasted and weary, with that far-away and
misty look that tells that she will soon cross to the
watchers on the evergreen shore. You have seen
sweet childhood lay their offering of flowers in her
lap — flowers that for the moment brought back the
light of other days, when the long-vanished hand in
some green 1 aglish lane plucked the early primrose
and entwined it and enshrined it 'mid the clusters of
her hair — flowers which were a prophecy and promise,
waking the fountain of glad tears in aged eyes. Who
hath ordained this universe that it should minister to
highest intellect, to the moralities and to deepest
emotions ? Creation ! In thy kindliness, beauty and
pathos, thou standest evermore as a w^itness of the
Spirit's love.

II. The love of the Spirit finds its interpretation
in its twofold provision for redemptive work.

TT?

THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT.

247

Take its provision for enl'\()htenment. How sub-
limely benevolent is the Spirit's work .is Revealer !
For sixty ^generations He overlooked \/ith diseriniin-
atin<^- care, and out of the millions of the race selected
just those men who were best adapted by intellect,
by moral (juality and by association, to become the
organs of savins- truth to man. How commanding is
the evidence of unity in His work as Revealer ! Who
ai'e the authors of this book ? Undaunted warriors,
rugj>-ed prophets, anointed king^s, priests and orators,
rough-handed fishermen of Galilee. Yet the Spirit
makes them one. Who are the authors ? The rever-
ent Jew, the polished Greek, with their Attic, their
Semitic and their Egyptian culture and untutored
simplicity ; but the Spirit makes them one. I have
heard a hundred orchestral performers, each with his
separate instrument playing his distinctive part,
mingling and connuingling together, yet it was the
genius of Haydn that blended all in tiie grandeur
of his "Creation." And so in this book I see its many
authors distinctively performing their parts, from
their Genesis of loveliness, their Exodus of sorrow,
their Psalms both glad and plaintive, their prophecies
of promise and resurrection, on to tlu; great Life, the
interpreting Epistles and the unveiling Apocalypse ;
but the Spirit blends them in the wondrous oratorio
of Redemption. "All scripture is given by inspii-ation
of God."

In our time a destructive criticism is abroad, which
would extinguish Moses, dislocate Isaiah, deny Daniel

i '-<

\ h

^ 1

248

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?!l

W III!

and a))()li.sh Jolm, l)ut " let not your liourt be troubled,"
tlii.s J)ivin(j book sliall stand in its integrity "tower-
ing o'(3r the wreck of time," liolding witliin its keep-
ing tlie tliinkings of Crod, as with lofty derision it
lauglis to scorn the impotent pretences of man.

And then, as its crowning excellence, this book
is the revelation of saLvntioii and promise. What
majesty is couched in its very terms — the righteous-
ness of Christ, the law of reconciliation, the great
]n'Opitiation, the mercy-seat hard by the Cross, the
everliving Intercessor, the beatific vision : these are
the strong ribs, which form the ark of salvation, built
up by the Spirit of love and guaranteed by promises
which shall abide when every star has gi'own cold
and ceases to shine. Oh, the promises of Cod ! Take
the first promise given, which holds within it every
other. ] think of this world with its millions drift-
ing off from Clod into the darkness of despair. I
think of God the Spirit throwing out this golden
chain of promise encircling this world, enchaining
this world, and drawing it back to himself, for the
seed of tlie woman it shall spoil the spoiler, destroy
the destroyer, and bruise the serpent's head. What
the crystal waters are to desert lands, that the pro-
mises of (Jod are to desolated hearts. You are alone,
you are misunderstood, you carry a grief which you
cannot disclose ; heart-heavy art thou. Hide thee,
my brethren, my sisters, in this sanctuary of promise
until the indignation be o'erpast. Everything is
drifting. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the

1'Hfc J.OVE OF TH£ spirit.

5>49

proinisos of (lod, tlity shall i'ail — fail ? Never, never,
never.

And then, with this provision of revelation, we
have the Spirit's most stupendous work, the upbuild-
ing of the humanity of Christ. What is the loftiest
credential of Christianity? What the supreme miracle?
I answer, the incarnate Jesus His, life, His death.
His resurrection.

In the economy of redemption, its pi-imal purpose
was to give to us a full-orbed revelation of the moral
character of God. Where in the heavens above oi"
earth beneath could this be found ? Oo into any
cathedral, into tliat masterpiece of Milano, with its
magnificent conception, its symmetrical beauty, its
exquisite detail. These attest the intellectual (piality
of the architect, but I defy you to prove the moral
character of the man from his woi'ks. Go into the
temple of this universe, and behind the splendor of
its heavens and the adjustment of its earthly mechan-
ism, you find the play of infinite mind ; though, as we
have seen through the opacities of nature, there are
outshinings of beauty and tenderness, we deny that
nature can ever reveal the fulness of the savinjj'
character of God. Now, it was the Spirit of love
which revealed the God of love in the gift of Jesus.
From the ancient prophecies we read, *' Behold my
servant, I have put my spirit upon him." Kesponsive
to this at the hour of the advent, it was the Holy
Ghost and the power of the Highest that gave us
our Immanuel in the holy child Jesus. It was the

I \

ifiBrn^

i id

Mii

SoO

Discourses and addresses.

Spirit that crownod Him in l)a])tisiii, onlaiiiin<jf and
Hustninin^ for His work. Opening His ministry in
the synaj^o^iiu, He said, " The spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because lie liath oi'dained me to preach, to
bind up tlie broken-lieai'ted." Broken-hearted ! All,
Hke many of you, I, too, have known tlie broken
lieart, bi'oken by sin, by fears of suffei"in<j^ and of
death, by tlie sorrows of bereavement. How did the
Spirit anoint Jesus to bind up my broken heart ?

Christianity, angel of the moiMiino; ! I see her
standin<i^ on high, with uplifted, blood-stained cross
and ensign, on which is inscribed, " The Lord is risen."
I see her resurrecting every grave and lifting the
curtain that hides the innnortalities. Nearly fjhirty
years ago, I laid beneath the greensward of the
Royal Mount, the Mariana of my heart, my youngest
daughter. I was young then, my eye undinuned and
my strength but little abated. Infirmity and age
have come to me now, but ever since I stood by the
cross ; ever since I watched w^ith the Roman guard
and saw the angel roll away the stone ; ever since I
beheld the same Jesus walk forth, His face like light-
ning. His raiment white as snow, and heard Him say,
" All hail ! I am the Resurrection and the Life ; " ever
since I stood with the live hundred on Olivet and
witnessed the triumphant ascent into heaven, and
heard the voice, "I will come again" — ever since
that, healing has come to my heart and I have felt,
with many a poor weeper here, that the loved and

r :

THE LOVE OF THK SPIRIT.

Sol

and
age
the
ijfuard
nice I
light-
n say,
ever
t and
and
since
le felt,
and

lost arc not lost, for we shall meet and know each
other there, "when the mists are rollecl away."

Oh, tlu' ^(randeur of this revelation of atonement,
of resnrreetion, of innnortality, of reunion ! Witnesses
are they of the Spirit's love.

HI. The love of the Spirit finds its interpretation
in its experimental ivork

What are the primal instincts of that love which
pours itself out to rescue the imperilled and tho lost ?
Three words furnish the answer — to awaken, assure,
and abide. Tell me what is the vocation of the
Gospel but the cry of love to alarm. Intrinsically
grand in its comprehension is this call. I think of
the Spirit as standing in the midst of this universe
and wielding every known and unknown force for
the conviction of individual man. There is not a
power in the world without, not a voice of nature,
not a movement of Providence, not a bereavement,
not a sting of ingratitude, not a night of weeping nor
a morning of joy ; there is not a power in the world
without or within but is handled by the Spirit as an
adjunct to the ministry in awakening man.

Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance, lame but colossal
of stature ! With huge left hand she grasps her victim,
while with the other she holds aloft the unsheathed
sword to destroy. Nemesis ! More terrible than this
fabled goddess is the power of sin. What is the
Spirit's call but the cry, "Escape for thy life." When,
responsive to that cry, there is a penitent trust in the

li^i

252

DISCOURSES AND AUDUESSfcS.

■ li'ii

atoning' Ijjunb, the Nemrsi.s, vcnj^oancc cU'parts, and
the .sinner, canopied with mercy, exiiltiii^ly exchiims,
"It iH(jod that justitietli, who is he that condemnetli?"
And then, the instinct of love is not only to tell of
danger but to assure of safety. Here we approach
the most crucial and thrillinjr truth in experimental
('hristianity. Dean Stanley', cold and rationalistic,
asserts that the Church of the future would know
nothint^ of the supernatural. We repudiate the idea
of an absentee God, and take our stand, firm and
undaunted, by the old truth. Behold, I show you a
mystery ! When the penitent trust on earth is regis-
tered in heaven above us bont, the S[)ii'it of God
signalizes acceptance to the spirit of man. Deny it !
do you say V What in philosophic language is the
ultimate ground of assurance respecting any truth ;*
What but the self-consciousness of man ? Ten thou-
sand times ten thousand in this nineteenth century
have rung out the affirmation, " We know whom we
have believed," " We know that we have passed from
death unto life," "We know the things that are freely
given us of God." And who shall gainsay this test ?
Ye ministers of God, stand hy the supernatural, stand
by that old hynni,

" The Spirit answers to the blood,
And tells me I am born of God."

And then the instinct of love is to come into abid-
ing fellowship. This, observe, is the climacteric of

THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT.

253

condi'HCM'Hsioii Divine. No apotheosis of love, like
tluit of the (^I'oss, thrilliiio- tlie inonil univMTsc, nmrks
tlie gentle, lowly, self-HUC'ritiein<; love of the iiidwel-
linpf Spii-it. Ah, this Spirit of love, I cnniiot join Him
in yonder heaven. He nuist come to me, stand at the
dim door of my mortal home and knock, lift the low
latch of life, enter and sit at the hearth of my
affections, my gnest on earth, loving my love and
sorrowing in my j^rief. He nnist come to me.

Be astonished, O heavens, and ^ive ear, O earth !
We proclaim the truth, that never in the eternities
will the Holy Ghost be Jiearer to your hearts than at
this moment, and He is here this mornin<^ to trans-
figure, to glorify our hunwuiity, by the great discipline
of life.

Many years ago I witnessed in the city of Kingston,
the return of a regiment from the C/rimea, How
came those valiant men to carry victory in their eye
and march to the nmsic of conquerors ? Were those
English lads made victors by the gay uniform and
the drill of the parade ? How did they become
victors ? I will tell you. Their manhood's courage
was tramped into them by long marches, rained into
them by storm and tempest, frozen into them by
wintry watches in the trenches, starved into them by
famine in the leaguered camp, burned into them by
the hospital fever at Scutari, blown into them by
shot and shell at Balaklava, driven into them by
the bayonets of Inkerman. It was the blood-red

254

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i imm^

<1 ^■Ulii .''

. on m"HT'

(lisciplinc of war that nmdo them good soldiers and
victors.

Whence come the good soldiers of Jesus Christ ^
The men of power, tlie men of consecration, men
valiant for the Master. Whence ? They are th(>
drilled and disciplined of the Spirit of love. I know
a man, son of an English officer. He was a prodigal,
fin outcast and a vagabond. He had wandered over
well-nigh every country in Europe. He had duelled
with knives and })istols in Peru. He had gambled
with desperadoes in every city from Valparaiso to
Panama. Stricken with Chagres fever, lie had tramped
across the Isihnms in wretchedness, sleeping among
the serpents by night. He had, in New York, gone
down to the very dives and cellars of depravity, and
in rags, starvation and utter ruin, in the last extrem-
ity of prodigal experience he said, " I will arise and
go unto my Father," and the Holy (diost met him
and said, " I will abide with you." That Spirit of
love took this terrible man, and by poverty, by
famine, by sickness and sorrow, and by His sanctify-
ing power transformed him into a valiant warrior of
the Cross, tender and true, beautiful in holiness.

And wliat is this awakening, this assuring, this
abiding experience but the witness of the Spirit's
love and an incentive to strive.

IV. The love of the Spirit finds its interpretation
in its ivork as a Comforter.

The term comforter, in its last analysis, has for

1 1

THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT.

255

s ami

Christ ^
m, men
arc the

I know
prodigal,
red over
I duelled
ofunbled
araiso to
tramped
g amonj;'
)rk, j^one
A'ity, and
t extrem-
arise and

met him

Spirit of
^erty, by

sanctify -
^varrior of
ness.

ring, this
le Spirit's

rpretation

is, has for

its Latin e(]|nivalent, the words com an<l fortis,
which iniply companionship with strength. Com-
panionship with strength gives the con) fort of con-
scious efficiency and power in character. Righteous
and effective character nmst ever stand as God's
grandest work. Righteous cliaracter — while it plants
its foot upon the earth, its head is in the heavens.
Righteous character — it holds in its one hand the
immortalities of excelsior beatitude, while with the
other, like tlie Master, it scatters benedictions. Right-
eous character — it shall never die, the tomb is its en-
IVanchisement for ever-widening influence. It shall
outreach away and away till it touches the shores of
the Infinite. I think of the Holy Ghost as giving
efficiency of character in ministerial power to turn
many to righteousness, who shall shine as the stars
forever. What comfort in earth or heaven can com-
pare with this ? But the mission of the Spirit as
Comforter is pre-eminently the benign and tender, a
ministry of consolation. Most of life's sorrows are
such as admit of no earthly alleviation : their con-
ditions are irreparable. Who could comfort an Esau
when he had lost his birthright ; comfort a Saul
when he had lost his kingdom and his crown ;
comfort a David when he had lost his prodigal
Absalom over whom he pronounced the dirge of the
ages ; comfort a Rachel when she had lost the young
life that fondly clasped her round the neck — comfort

256

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

liji

!*l

you wlien the Adelaide of your heart is kissed away
to be the sister of angels ? Who shall comfort ?

I heard a voice once on earth, now calling to me
from the heavens, " I will not leave you comfortless,
but will come unto you." I point you to the sym-
{lathy of the infinite heart. "As one whom his mother
comforteth, so will I comfort thee."

If I may be pardoned in a personal allusion, when
the great affliction of my life fell upon me, when my
days were a sorrow, and my nights a distress, when
the radiances of nature grew dim, when the printed
page faded out, and the faces of friends had vanished
forever on earth, I remember one drear, wintry morn,
just as the day was dawning, that there came to my
heart a flash from the Spirit inteqDreting the words,
" I will make you to drink of the river of my pleas-
ure." It is not a fountain, not a rivulet, not even a
palm-shaded well, but a river, the river of God, the
river of His pleasure. Oh, there is no sorrow, no
darkness, no depth where the Comforter, the love of
the Spirit, cannot find us out by His creative work,
by His redemptive work, by His experimental work,
by His work as Comforter, and we authenticate His
love as an argument and an appeal to strive for life's
highest and holiest end — the glory of the Triune God.
Because I believe in the love of the Spirit, I look for
a grander Pentecost than the Church has ever known,
a Pentecost that shall kindle your intellect, a Pente-

THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT.

257

cost that shal) wake your emotion, a Pentecost that
shall give you tongues of fire. I beseech you, for the
sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the love of the
Spirit, strive after this. Grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God. You cannot grieve an enemy, you cannot
grieve an alien, but you can grieve a friend, and by
how much the more tender by so much the deeper
grief. Grieve not, quench not, for the result is dark-
ness, is loss, is damnation.

" Paint me a picture," said a great master to his
favorite pupil, " paint me a picture." " I cannot," said
the student, "create a picture worthy of such a
master." " Ah, but paint it for my sake —for my sake,"
said the master. The student retired and hid himself
away for weeks and months, till at length one day he
returned and said, " Master, come and see." The cur-
tain fell, and before him was the greatest picture of
the ages, The Last Supper of our Lord, by Leonardo
da Vinci.

My young brethren, I seem to hear the blessed
Spirit of love saying to each of you, " For my sake,
paint me a picture of consecrated service." Do not
say you cannot, for help is assured. Remember, it is
" for my sake." Do it, and some day as we walk the
corridors of the immortal, mayhap on the jasper walls
we shall behold your pictures of consecrated service
to the glory of the " Name forever blest."

TRIBULATIONS^.

iillll'

1 1
1

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also."— Romans
V. 3.

This text is the distinctive badge, the heraldic
ensign of every true minister of God. The term
tribulation, as you know, is a Latin derivative. It
comes from the antique word " tribulum," which
means a flail or threshing instrument. To tribulate is,
literally, to thresh out the corn. It implies to crush,
to lacerate or disintegrate, to separate the wheat from
the chaff, the gold from the dross, and the intrin-
sically precious from the refuse, which the wind
driveth away. In its higher and moral significance,
tribulation is the equivalent of suffering. Whatever
comes to us from the world without, whatever arises
in our world within, that can generate pain, sorrow
or conflict, is covered by the term " tribulation."
When this appointment enters into the moral dis-
cipline of God, it has for its ultimate the betterance,
the laureation, of man, and hence the accentuated
words of the apostle, " We glory, we exalt, in tribula-
tions also." And now, what a mighty principle is here
uncovered by the incisive intellect of Paul, namely,
that tribulation or the mystery of suffering is the
conditional means of evolving highest excellence.

In the illustration of this proposition, we have to
note,

258

TRIBULATION.

259

Romans

eraldic
e term
tve. It

which
ulate is,
o crush,
;at from
i intrin-
le wind
kificance,
Whatever
er arises

sorrow
ulation."
oral dis-

terance,
entuated

tribula-

e is here

namely,

Licr is the

ence.
have to

I. That tribulation or conflict is the underlying
law of the universe.

If we assume, as we must, that all things consid-
ered this world is the best possible world which the
creative and artistic skill of the Divine could produce,
then we must also assume that tribulation is the best
possible means which God could organize to put the
stamp of perfection on His universe. Read, if you
will, the literature Divine imprinted on all material
objects. What is the light that comos rippling in
upon us this morning ? Science has taken captive
the fugitive ray and divided and subdivided it ; thus
we have the revealing ray, which prints upon the
eye the opulent splendors of the universe ; thus we
have the heat ray, that brings all vitalizing forces,
without which the silence of our planet would never
have been broken by the voices of life ; thus we have
the chemical ray, which puts the impress of beauty
on the phenomena of natiu-e ; all revealing, all life
and beauty come with the light. And tell me, all-
wondrous light, where wast thou born ? Born in
yonder sun. What is that sun, and all suns in the
immensities of God, but, as Lockyer has said, the
theatres of combustions, of antagonisms, of chemical
conflicts, that fling off" the undulations of light to
dissipate our darkness? Resplendent light! Life's
benefactor and joy, who, after all, art thou but the
castaway child of physical tribulation ?

And then, what was the condition of our earth,
when it had condensed and cooled, but one vast re vol-

260

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

ving mass of solidified granite ? It is interesting to
observe that modern discovery has demonstrate*! with-
out doubt, that everything was originally treasured
in the granite — the germ of the wheat, the albumen
of the egg, the tissue of the nerve, the tint and
fragrance of the flowers. Every object in nature
slumbered in the granite, .and would fore\er have
slumbered but for tribulation. See you the workings
of God ? By fire He fused ; by earthquake He rent ;
by mighty battalions of glaciers, ever marching to
the south. He ground the granite to dust; by the
washing of water, by tl\e corrodings and drif tings
of air, all handled by time's decaying Angers, the
treasures fast bound in the granite were let loose in
the soils of our earth, so that when plant and animal
life came to this planet, it found ready made by
tribulation, the resources upon which to build itself
up even to the height of becoming the tabernacle for
intelligence in man.

And then, as we advance into the domain of life,
what mean the terms which our literature employs,
such as " natural selection," " the struggle for exist-
ence," " the survival of the fittest"? What are these
but a comment on the Pauline words, " that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in
pain until now " ? They indicate that every plant has
its parasite ; every animal its foe ; that life is a
prolonged conflict; a battle for existence, out of
which emerge the radiant flower, the stately elm,
the winged eagle, the bounding gazelle, in all their

TRIBULATION.

261

physical, tlieir .syiiiuietrical beauty. Jt is tribulation
that plants the crown of completeness on universal
life.

Then, if we ascend to the realm of the mental,
what is the condition of all mind activity ;' Whoever
looked into tlie face of sweet childhood as it be^an
to study the alphabet ; whoever sat before a collenje
class during an examination without seeing the lines
of anguish, of distress, telling of a tnental suti'ering as
they wrestled with the problems of thought ! There
is not a pioneer in discovery, not a writer, who by
creative power has dazzled the world, but has gone
through a Gethsemane of sorrow. " I am in despaii-,
in darkness absolute, every day," writes that unhappy
woman, George Eliot, when she was producing one
of her greatest works. Yes, genius, as we know, is
wider than the world, deeper than the sea, holding
the infinite range of thought in its keeping, yet even
the face of genius is sicklied over with the pale cast
of thought, and wears upon its brow the crown of
thorns in the very hour and power of its loftiest
achievement.

Here then, we have a great underlying law, an-
terior to the advent of sin in our planet, founded by
the wisdom of God. We hail it, we accept it, we
welcome it as heaven's agent in the development of
highest excellence. Justified by the teaching of the
universe itself, we glory in tribulation.

II. Tribulation is the law or condition of all noblt
addevementa.

•202

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSEli^.

Wliat is all liistory but a I'ocord of huiiiau progress
and saciifice in that proyross ? Every footprint of
advance is nioistt^ned with the blood and tears of suf-
fering^. There is not a social upliftinj^, not a loosenino-
of despotic bond, not an advance in moral and spirit-
ual bein<(, but is set to the music of sorrow, but is
transfigured with the blood of the martyr. Take the
history of our continent. If we go back to the times
of the Pilgrim Fathers, what a record of suffering was
theirs. Persecuted and driven from their homes for
the testimony of Jesus, they crossed stormy seas, they
})lanted themselves on the sterile New England coast.
They braved the severities of winter ; they battled
with starvation, disease and death. Decimated bv
Indian wars, yet all- valiant and victorious, out of this
conflict came tlie great Puritanic manhood, wliicli has
put its moral impress on every eastern city, on every
prairie waving w^ith corn, on the valley of the Missis-
sippi, on the lands beyond the mountains, even to
where the Pacific sings its low refrain to the evening-
star ; and everywhere this manhood is in the ascend-
ant. Yes, and when the bitter cry of agony came out
of the long night of slavery, it was the conscience and
the courage of the Puritanic mind that lifted up its
voice of protest, and, through much tribulation, the
sorrows of which can never be told, wiped oft* the
black dishonor of three hundred years and ga\'e this
continent for evermore to justice and liberty.

And then, what a luminous example of this prin-
ciple have we in the man who achieved the unity and

TRIBULATION.

263

lit of

f sul"-

enin^",

spirit-
but is

tte the
times

lof was

les for

s, they

I coast.

batthnl

ted by
of this

ich has
every
Vlissis-
ven to

evening
asceiid-
iiiie out
nee and
up its
ion, the
oft' the
ave this

is prin-
inity and

indcjH'iidcncp of Italy. Wlicn (lai'ilKiNh raised the
standard of revolt atTfainst existing <lespotisni — when
multitudes Hocked to that standard and ask'-d, "What
shall we have if we follow you ^ " " Have ? " cried the
])atriot, "Have? You shall have cold, hunfjor and
nakedness: vou shall have loui; marches and the ter-
ror of ni<;ht-watches : vou shall have l)attles and
wounds, and disease an<l death. You shall liave these,
but Italy shall be free." And if to-day that sunny
land, which accepted the Renaissance of art but re-
jected the reformation of faith, which for twelve cen-
turies was under the heel of the oppressor — if that
land rejoice in I'eligious liberty ; if the power of the
Vatican be ])roken and a Methodist Church be even
at its gate ; if the Pontift' be a prisoner and the \Val-
denses be free, this marvel of our age is the fruitage
of great tribulation.

In this centennial year, our minds have been
recalled to the founder of Methodism. Whoever be-
held the likeness of Wesley the aged, without being
touched by the pathetic sadness which that portrait
expresses ? What was his life but a continuous an-
guish ? Anguished by his early ascetic life before
his heart was strangely warmed ; anguished by the
disappointments and persecutions when he faced the
brutalized thousands of the mother-land : anguished
by physical suffering, hidden and intense ; anguished
by that great domestic sorrow which for thirty years
infiltrated his life with the bitterness of death ; an-
guished, yet out of this discipline he graduated into a

■till'

II '

264

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

power imperial aiuid the a^es. Wliat was the influ-
ence of the Cloud King Mountain which Stanley dis-
covered in Central Africa ? Phmted in the malarial
and torrid region of the equator, it lifted its snow-
capped head some twenty thousand feet into the
upper air ; it attracted every rain-cloud ; it compelled
them to give forth their life-giving waters ; dencend-
ing its rent and riven sides, these waters flowed oft' to
the north by the Nile, to the east by the Zambesi, to
the west by the Congo, giving life, beauty and ver-
dure to tlie continent. Like this African mountain,
the founder of Methodism, lifting up his head of moral
supi'emacy amid the malarial conditions of the eigh-
teenth century, attracted to himself all good forces,
that have sent out life-giving waters not to one but
to a thousand isles of the sea ; not to one but to every
continent on this earth, while thirty million pay hom-
age to the name of the man who accomplished his
work through much tribulation.

What is true of Wesley, has been the distinguish-
ing (piality of the world's greatest benefactors and
saviours. I look down the vista of the ages and catch
the echoes of the distant footsteps of those who once
walked the corridors of time. I know them all, the
aged, the saintly, the familiar faces. Who are the
pioneers of civilization ? Who are the prophets of
thought ? Who are the high priests of science ? Who
are the reformers of the faith ? Men whose bones
lie in unknown graves, and their ashes scattered to
the winds — the Cranmers, the Ridleys, the Savona-

TRIBULATION.

S>65

>avona-

rolus, tlu' BrnnoH, tlie Miltons, tlic Jolm HrownH, sons
of sorrow are they all, confederates of the martyr
liost. And yet I stand, and pause, and worship, as
one more fi^^ure rises before me. His face is more
marred than that of any man. "His head is filled
with dew, and his locks with the drops of the ni^ht."
He spake as neva^r man spake, and came to seek and
save that which was lost. Planting His foot upon
the serpent's head, its fangs piei'ce<l Him. Spoiling
principalities and powers, He made an open show of
them all, and yet in the act, from the elevation of
the cross, He bowed His head in death. V^ictorious
amid seeming disaster and defeat, what are Thy
teachings, Thou despised and rejected Nazarene ?
No salvation without sufiering, no redemption with-
out a Cross, no heaven without a bleeding Lamb, no
eternal beatitude without tribulation. This is the ever-
lasting law. Who is compassed about with difficulty
and disappointment ? Your circuit is hard ; your
means are limited ; you health is feeble. Behold, my
brother, this is the hour for your grandest achieve-
ment. You can stand as a living apologetic, a demon-
stration of the Gospel. Beneath the shadow of the
cross of Christ, we glory in tribulation as God's great
opportunity given to us to build our temple of sacri-
fice, of service to the honor of His truth and name.

III. Trihidatiori is the Divine laiu which enters
into the formation of eocalted character. ,

Do you ask me what is God's grandest work in His
moral universe ? I answer, the upbuilding of char-

1 ; i;

iill

206

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

uctcr. Kvi^'iy iiiaterial ami spii'itual ri'soiircc in tlu'
ivpiTtory of the TtiHiiite is laid uinitT tribute to.socun'
this cnliuinatin*^ result. Tt is ri;;ht for ine distinctly
to assert here tliat pain and sorrow have no inherent
power to rej^enerate or ^fWa (ethical pui'ity to cliar-
acter, since it is forever true that tlu^ sorrow of tliis
world worketh death ; and yet it is e(|ually ti-ue that
sorrow wielded by the Holy Spirit is ever an instru-
ment potential to f^ive beauty, to give value, to give
efficiency to charact(M'.

1st. I say. Beauty. In the city of Rome there
stands a magnificent statue. Twenty centuries ago
the marble block was taken from the Italian (|uarries.
[ will suppose that this block of marble was instinct
with life, with brain, with heart and nerve, quivering
all over with exquisite sensibility. I will suppose
that every stroke of the artist's hammer sent a pang
to the heart, that every splinter struck off' by chisel
was an agony, that every rasp of the steel was a
prolonged anguish. Yet, on and on, month by month,
and year by year, the artist chiselled and chiselled,
until at lengtli the completed statue was lifted to its
pedestal, and hailed as the Apollo Belvidere, which
for two thousand years has kindled the enthusiasm
of unnumbered millions, and raised them to loftier
ideals of beauty incarnated in sculptured stone. If
that Apollo Belvidere, at the beginning of its develop-
ment, could have foreseen its brilliant destiny, how
would it have welcomed, have gloried in the pain,
the agony, that lifted it to its peerless pre-eminence.

TRIBULATION.

267

And HO, my brctlnvii, like tluit iiiai'l)!*' Ijlock. vvm' lit'
in ihv lijuuls ol' tlio Artist Diviiio. When you liavo
been Htrickcn, })o\vt'<l and Iji'oken ; when the knife of
a Hocret hoitovv ontored your soul and seonicd to
<larken the hori/on of v'our future : when you
advanced to the hier on wliich j-ested a fatlier, a
mother, or one dearer still, and placed there your
wreath of remend)ra!ice, wet with tears ; when tln'
little feet <^re\v weary, and were (juieted forever, an<l
the voice of 3'^our prattlei' was silent; when the great
love of God stooped down and lifted the Leonora of
your heart to be the sister of anj^els, and a strange
stillness fell on your home, broken only by the deep
sobbhigs of the f.oul, what was the design of the
Artist, but to bi-ing to you a chastened beauty, a
serene resignation, a winsome ten<Ierness and a sub-
lime aspiration, which lifted you above the earthly,
and put on youi* brow in time the very radiance of tlu;
innnortal ? All unconscious you may be of the change,
but others have welcomed it as the earthly begiiniing
of your enshrinement in the beauty of the beatific
state.

2nd. And what ralite does tribulation bring to
character ? See you tiiose miners deep down in the
darkness, drilling and blasting the ([uartz. It is
brought up to the light ; it is crushed into powder ;
it is passed through the furnace ; it is rolled and
beaten ; it is cut into forms and stamped, and now
you have the golden coin that conmiands all value;

i r^' w

208

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

you have the bracelet, the restint^-place of finest
geniH; you have the royal crown that adorns the
brow of the ujonarch. What lifted it out of the
depths of the mine to its place of incomparable
splendor and value but the tribulation through whicli
it has passed ? "Ah !" says Job, "when He hath tried
me, stripped me of my property, broken my heart by
})ereavements, branded me with disease, stung me
with ingratitude ; when He hath tried me I shall
come forth as gold, more precious than gold tried in
the fire, the fine gold of holiness the only coin current
in earth and in heaven."

8rd. And what effi,ciency does tribulation give to
character i When the king asked Ole Bull, the
virtuoso of the violin, where he caught the i-apturous
tones which he brought out of his instrument, the
artist replied, " I caught them, your majesty, from the
mountains of Norway." He had climbed the moun-
tains and listened to the storm ; he had footed the
lofty cliffs and heard the vespers of the pines at the
time of the sunset breeze ; he had heard the mid-
night litany of the cascades in the darkness. When
interpreting these voices of nature, he thrilled the
world's great heart. What gives some men power
beyond others to move and thrill ? It is because they
have ascended the mountains and gone down into the
valleys of sorrow, and there caught up the tones of
tenderness, and of subdued strength and confidence,
which have made them John Howes, to discourse on

TRIBULATION.

269

the " Rcdeeinor's Tenrs," Fletcher.s, to tell out nouie-
thing of " Love's Bottomless Abyss," and Whitefields,
to I'oll the thunder of alarm along the affrighted
ranks of folly. It is sorrow that gives the tongue of
the learned to know how to speak a word to them
that are weary. When I hear of a minister who has
never had a day's illness, nor a sorrow, nor a little
green grave to which his heart fondly turns, you tell
me he is eloquent, and gifted and applauded. To me,
without the baptism of sorrow, he is but as the
sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. He can never
move my heart, never tlirill my spirit, never bring
me near to the bosom of Jesus. Tribulation is God's
own school, through which His only Son had to
pass, that being made perfect through suffering. He
might be made a merciful High Priest. Because pain,
suffering, sorrow give power to move and thrill the
spirit of men, therefore, " we glory in tribulations."

IV. Tribulation is the pledge of divinest sympathy.
If the expositors of nature tell us that she is relent-
less ; if her code be that might makes right and
weakness goes down before strength, there is another
side to nature, the side of sympathy and succour for
weakness and suffering. In a recent lecture which
I heard on the habits of the ants, the naturalist
observed that for the weakest pupa? there were
provided the warmest spot and the most nutritious
food, a law which he hinted might obtain amongst
all insect an«l animal species.

Ascending to tli"

f i H : <^; ■ 1

'i.

270

DISCOURSES AKD ADDRESSES.

circle of home life, on whom is the wealth of the
mother's love bestowed ? On the wasted, the crippled,
on the sickly one, the child whose infirmity makes
him the most dependent in the household. Hear how
a mother tells out the compassions of her soul for the
child who had never heard the music of her voice,
for he was born both deaf and dumb :

" My silent boy, I hold thee to my breast,
Just as I did when thou wert newly born ;
It may be sinful but 1 love thee best
And kiss thy lips the longest, night and moi*n.
Oh, thou art dear to nie beyond all others,
And when I breathe niy trust and bend my knee,
For blessings on thy sisters and thy brothers,
God seems the nighest when I pray for thee."

" As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort thee," saith the Lord. Oh, the sympathy of
God ! Take every mother-love of every mother in
this and every world, what is it but as a drop to the
oceanic sympathy of God. Higlier than the highest
lieavens, deeper than the deepest depths, is its mea-
sure, forever unsearcliable and past finding out
Weeper with the weepers of Bethany, touched witli
the feeling of our infirmities, Binder-up of the brokcn-
liearted, how sweetly tender, how soft are thine ever-
lasting arms to pillow thy crushed and stricken cliild.

Some time ago, when in Toronto, I visited that
child of genius, of sorrow, that sweetly simple saint,
wliom many of you knew — our brother Jeflery. For

TRIBULATION.

271

four months he had sat in a chair, and would never
again lay his head on a pillow, by reason of heart
trouble, while dropsy of the limbs was a perpetual
distress. Yet that weary sutferer declared to me,
amid tears of joy, how the presence of Jesus was so
real and abiding that the wakeful hours of the night
seemed all too short, so blessed was the fellowship
Divine. The sympathy of God so compassed him
about that he gloried in tribulation. Methinks I
hear the voice of my translated brother

"Tenderly calling, calling to me,
Over the jasper sea."

But from the shadow of suffering and of death, I
lift my eyes to the empyrean heavens, and seem to
see the galleried heights of the throned chambers of
God and of the Lamb. Why bend ye over, ye angel
watchers ? Why thrill your hearts ? Why sing your
roundelay of welcome ? Why ? Who are these that
come from afar, arrayed in white robes ? " These arc
they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb." They advance, they ascend,
they bow and worship. Who are nearest the eternal
throne ? Ye martyr host ! Ye silent sufferers ! Ye
lonely ones on earth, forgotten by the multitudes !
The " well done " upon the lips of the Lamb is for
yon ; the wiping away of tears by the hand that whs
pierced is for you ; the throne and the crown are for

272

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

you, and ye shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah 1
So let it be. " We glory in tribulation."

And now, my brethren, companions in tribulation
are we all, and, I trust, in the kingdom and patience
of Jesus. There is not an eye here but will weep,
not a heart but will thrill with sorrow, not a j^hysical
frame but will quiver with pain. I ask you, in the
face of this coming sorrow, to take Jesus with you.
His compassions will make you more than conquerors.
I ask you to stand to your post and quit you like
men.

T have heard of a noble youth, who, like another
Byron, was wont to sport w^ith the 'breakers on his
New England coast, when the wind was high and
the sea was on. While a college student in Chicago,
a summer cyclone swept Lake Michigan one awful
night. On the morrow a mighty steamer, the Lady
Elgin, was stranded nigh to the harbor, with three
hundred passengers aboard. There in the offing lay
the steamer, fast going to pieces under the strokes of
the waves. So stupendous were the billows that it
was found impossible to launch a life-boat. Attracted
to the spot, where thousands had gathered in their
lielplessness, the young man alone divested himself
and plunged into the billows. Little by little he
forged his way out to the vessel, grasped a poor
trembling, helpless one, and succeeded in planting
him on the shore. He returned again and again,
until he had rescued some seventeen souls, before tliQ

;-iy'.-.:

TRIBULATION.

273

vessel went down and the rest perished. All ex-
hausted, he sank on the sand. Wrapped in blankets
he was carried to his room. His name was flashed
across the ocean to London, to Paris, to Berlin The
papers published his name as the hero of his a^e
But his ear heard it not. Overtaxed nature could
not be restored. Just before the final moment, turn-
ing his face to his friend, he whispered, " Willie
Wilhe, did I do my best ? " and then he expired

In the midst of our tribulation, brothers, by the
help of God, let us do our best, even unto death
Amen.

{! '

! >

■

ADDBESSES.

f'l

!)i ;: V

ADDRESSES.

ADDKESS

Delivered at CEcumenical Couxcil, London,
September, 1881.

Mr. President :

In rising to respond to the words of welcome,
which hold within them the wisdom and sagacity of
age, I count myself happy, sir, in being permitted
to bring the greetings of two thousand Canadian
ministers with their flocks, and present them to this
Council. Althougli we be but little among the thou-
sands of our American Israel, yet we are thankful
that God has given us a place in that land and has
opened a door of resplendent opportunity in the
immediate future. The history of this Empire is
full-orbed in its meridian splendor, and it has sent
out its intellectual and moral light over all the earth.
The history of the great Republic is on the ascendant,
advancing with an ever-increasing power and com-
bining its light with that of this Motherland, while
the history of our Dominion of Canada is but tipping

277

27S

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

tlie liorizon, but it «^ives a pi'(j|)ht'cy and proinist' oi'
noble development. We are thankful for this great
heritage, this field for high endeavor which (}od has
given us. From the sunrise side, where the rude
Atlantic tosses its crested billows against the granite
cliffs of Newfoundland, amid the hoarse voices of
wintry storms, to the sunset side, where the broad
Pacific " tells to the beach her summer dreams, in sea-
blown murmurs faint and low," we have a distance
greater by a thousand miles than that which lies
between this city and that city of Montreal in which
we dwell. While from the imaginar}' line which
separates us from the neighboring Republic, we
stretch away, literally, to the very end of the earth.
Rich in undeveloped resources in the older provinces,
the amazing discoveries in our Great Lone Land tell
that our hyperion of hope is throned in the flaming
Empire of the West, whose virgin soil will yet tremble
to the tread of free-born millions. This is the broad
material foundation which God has laid for us, on
which we are building the spiritual and intellectual
temple of Canadian Methodism, which will, we believe,
be a home, an asylum of blessing to coming and fai'-
oif generations.

Already God hath mven us a full measure of en-
couragement. Though confronted by one of the most
richly endowed and organized types of Catholicism
on this earth, making the Province of Quebec a Ther-
mopylae of conflict, and though we came after the
Anglicans and Presbyterians, yet we are thankful to

ADDRESS AT (KCUMENICAI. COUNCIL.

279

say thut one out ol" every six oi' tlu^ entire populntion,
and o se out oi' evei'y four ol' our Protestant popula-
tion, pays homage to the teac*hin<j^s and institutions
ol* Methodism, while it is daily l)ecomino- a more
important factor in the intellectual and political life
of our land.

This conference, IMr. President, will Ije olad to learn
that the Methodism of our Dominion of Canada has
made its election, and svveai's its fealty to the old
theology. We are not insensible to the conHict of
thought that is abroad, to the ([uestionings and unrest
which the scientific atheism of this Old World, the
transcendental and pantheistic philosophies of New
England, and so-called higher ci'iticism are evolving;
but, sir, that system of truth, which was formulated
and propounded here by its author, is the theodicy,
the harmony of God's ways, with which we confront
every assault of our adversaries.

We rejoice that this theology proclaims the essen-
tial royalty of man as a moi-al agent, and vindicates
it against that sensuous philosophy of Locke, which
I'ipened into French materialism and consunnnated
in the positive philosophy of Comte. We i-ejoice that
it asserts the reality of a living and ever-present
Jesus, vindicating his realistic personality against
the mythic theories of Strauss and legendary ideas
of Renan, that it lifts itself up in antngonisTn to the
rising tides of Agnosticism, and against that "agnosis"
vindicates the Christian " gnosis." " We know whom
we have believed," " We know that we have passed

){'

^80

blSCOURSteS AKd ADbUESSIilM.

i'rom death unto life," tliut aj^ainst vW tlieories of
limitation it fearle.sHly asserts that wherever is found
a spirit pantin<^ after an immortal ^ood, there is the
inalienable birth-ri^ht and blood-rijL^ht for spiritual
emancipation and divinest liberty — there is a man
for whou) Christ died.

We rejoice to believe that this is rapidly becoming
the most controUint^ formula of religious thought in
our Dominion and indeed on the American continent.
From the flowery lands of the Saskatchewan to the
ever-glades of Floi'ida ; from the frozen realms of
Labrador, where the tall pine tops bend before the
breath of the north wind, to the cane-brakes of
Arkansas and the ranches of Texas ; from the misty
isles of Fundy to the crystal peaks of the Sierra
Nevada — there is not a city, there is not a town,
there is not a village or a neighborhood where the
influence of Methodist theology is not felt as a mental
stimulant and as a force in moral regeneration. While
we hail and hold this theology in all its integrity, it
is our labor to incarnate it in synunetrical Christian
character. We recognize with you that our great
mission is to build up manhood and evolve that most
precious thing in the universe of God, holiness of
character.

I will not disguise the fact that, amidst the cry of
culture an<l aesthetic development of manhood, we
are old-fashioned enough to desire Christian man-
hood after the old Methodist type. In common with
you we are assailed by the emasculating forces of

great
most

les8 of

[cry of
|d, we

man-
with

jes of

ALH)RESS AT IKCIIMENICAL COUNCIL.

281

the world, and yet, in the face of much false teaching
and tem[)tation to a hixuriona Helf-in(Udgence, we
persist in ringing out the cry for penitence and
ascetic reinmciation of the world. Against the mate-
rializing tendencies which would relegate the super-
natural out of the Church and indeed out of the
world, we stand by Divine communication, and sing
an' Uiank God, experience that " The Spirit answers
to the blood, and tells us we are born of God."

Above all, I rejoice to say, that amongst the rising
ministiy and membership of our churches, there is a
growing sympathy with that distinctive truth which
slumbered in the Quietism of Pascal and the Port
Royalists of France and the Molinos of Spain, and
whicli, robed in evangelic vigor and beauty, it was
the honor of early Methodism to give to the Christian
world, and I believe there are to be found amongst
us, maitlens as " beautiful in holiness" as Jane Coopei',
the memory of whose character moistened the eyes
of our founder twenty years after she was gone, and
matrons as consecrated as Hester Ann Rogers, who
oft wept and worshipped in this sanctuary of prayer.

We believe there is a growing conviction that the
mission of Methodism is to spread Scriptural holiness
throughout the land, and I trust that with self-
abnegation, that with charity, that with the abandon
of an entire consecration our Church will hold aloft
this her banner of excelsior, that from this council
we will go forth with high resolves and holy pur-

2b2

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

iis?

poses to live and witness t'oi- a sanctifieation tliat is
entire and a love that is perfected by grace divine.

We are not insensible to the resjDonsibility of the
Church to give the higliest intellectual culture to
her sons and daughters. With our universities at
Cobourg, Belleville and Sackville, with subsidiary
colleges controlled by men gifted as educators and
loyal to Christianity, we are from year to year win-
ning a higher position in the ranks of professional
and public life. The great anxiety of Canadian
Methodism is to solve the problem how to develop a
ministry which shall be consonant with the demands
of the age in the breadth of its culture, in the deptli
of its scholarship, in its sympathy with the living-
issues of the day, while at the same time it shall
retain that evangelical simplicity, that enthusiasm
and impassioned power which made the ministry of
Methodism a force potential amongst men. We want
men like the colored brother who said he would first
explain the text, then apply the text, and then bring-
on the 'rousements, lightning and thunder. We want
men who can wield the polished logic of Wesley, the
impassioned appeal of Whitetield, and the searching
unction of Fletc-her.

We have four Theological colleges, which are seek-
ing to culture the rising ministry, anil I trust this
Council will not pass without wise suggestions to
perpetuate the enthusiasm and power of appeal which
have distinguished the ministry of Methodism.

Manifold are our shortcomings and we mourn them ;

ADDRESS AT (ECUMENICAL COUNCIL.

283

that is
nne.

of the
ture to
ities at
Dsidiary
ors and
>ar win-
'essional
anadian
evelop a
leinaiids
le depth
le living

it shall
bhusiasni
nistry of
We want
ould first
len bring
We want
esley, the
searching-

are seek-
,rust this
istions to
leal which
nil.
arn them ;

yel» we are thankful to say that we are not degene-
rate sons of a noble ancestry in the departments of
missionary endeavor. This day our missionaries are
found ministering to fishermen in Greenland seas,
following the trail of the Indian around the Great
Slave Lake and upper waters of the McKenzie, and
clasping hands with y .u.rs in the isles of Japan
and the Chinese Sea. Loyal to every institution of
Methodism, our cliief enthusiasm gathers around this
missionary cause ; but lately our Clmrch arose in hei-
strength and more than wiped out all indebtedness of
our exchequer that she might be free to fulfil her
glad evangel.

Mr. President, we have come to this mother Church,
this centre, to catch a higher inspiration, to light
afresh our altar fii-es of an entire consecration, that
we may return to our fields witli high pur})ose to
live, to labor, to die for Christ. We remember the
great traditions of this land, and how God hath
made it a theatre on which the grandest triumphs of
Christianity have been achieved. We remember that
when Rome was changed from brick to marble, when
her power had culminated in an imperialism never
sui'passed, when the eloquence of Cicero lingered in
her halls, i.nd the songs of Ovid and Virgil were sung
in her homes, — we remember that our ancestors were
roaming and tattooed savages, sunk in the depths of
barbaric degradation ; we remember that the Gospel
came to these Celtic, Norse and Norman tribes and
assimilated them, and combined them, and built them

' '1

i.m

III

284

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

up into the great Anglo-Saxon race. We remember
that this Gospel woke the slumbering intellect which
blossomed into that transcendent genius which will
forever walk with stately tread the inner sanctuary
of the soul, and flash the torchlight of its revealing
into every hidden chamber of emotional and imagin-
ative life. We remember that this Gospel uplifted
the genius of liberty, and the proud Plantagenets, the
haughty Tudors, the powerful Edwards and the fickle
Stuarts went down before it, and freedom of worship
and conscience became triumphant. W^e remember
that brilliant array of men who have trod this soil,
who have, by their intelligence and sanctity, diffused
light and heat to lands that are afar ofl*. We remem-
ber the man whose name we bear, whose dust lies
behind as, whose heart was " strangely warmed " not
far from where we stand; who was a reformer in
temperance a hundred years before the Maine Law
and the Kansas Constitution were framed ; who
originated cheap literature before tract societies were
dreamed of ; whose great soul was fired with the mis-
sionary spirit when as yet it was deemed a Utopian
idea — the fires of whose zeal many waters could not
quench, neither could the floods drown ; who, being
dead, yet speaks in ten thousand tongues, and, more
than any man that ever lived, has kindled the world
into the melodies of song ; whose line has gone out
into all the earth, and his words to the ends of the
world — some twenty millions dwelling under that
vine and fig tree which the right hand of his min-

ni r

ADDRESS AT (ECUMENICAL COUNCIL. 285

istry planted. We remember this that we may go to
our continental homes with higlier confidence in the
Divinity of that Christianity — if you please, Methodist
type of Christianity — to build up a Christian civiliza-
tion which shall develop a redeemed humanity on the
earth and lift them to the skies. Wesley, with thy
five thousand saints sleeping around this church and
millions that lie in the dust in this land. Case, with
thy ten thousand times ten thousand in the Dominion
of Canada. Asbury, with thy millions in the great
republic. John Hunt, with thy bronzed disciples
from the isles of the sea. Lee and Waterhouse with
vour thousand ransomed ones from beneath the
Southern Cross. Methinks they look on us to-night.
May we catch their spirit, be worthy of our spiritual
ancestry till the isles shall cry to the continents and
the valleys to the mountains, " We wait for thy law ;
the earth is filled with thy glory."

ADDKESS

Delivered at the Centenary of Methodism in
THE Maritime Provinces, June 23, 1882.

Mr. President and Christian Friends :

I greatly congratulate you in being permitted to
celebrate the centennial of Methodism in these Mari-
time Provinces of our Dominion. I regard myself as
happy in being with you to record our tribute of
thanks for the status which God hath given to our
Church in this land. If we accepted the doctrine of
some, Methodism has largely fulfilled her mission, and
should be relegated out of existence by absorption
into the great historic Churches which liave been
evolved through the ages. But we are not willing to
accept this dictum and be thus relegated. We plant
ourselves upon the premises that Methodism had a
great mission in the past, and holds a still greater in
the future; and it is for us, this hour, out of our
history of the past, to find inspiration and instruction
to win grander triumphs in the future.

I. And observe what inspiration comes to every
minister and member of Methodism from a review of
the life-work of our illustrious founder.

If we walk the galleries of the past and stand

before those historic niches in which are enshrined

286

THE CENTENARY OF METHODISM.

287

ODISM IN

1882.

:mitted to
hese Mari-
myself as
tribute of
-en to our
loctrine of
lission, and
absorption
liave been
willing to
We plant
lism had a
greater in
out of our
instruction

}s to every
a review of

and stand
e enshrined

the records of those mighty reformatory spirits which
God hath given to the ages and the Church, in every
instance they ate marked by an individuality and
those distinctive attributes which adjusted them to
their great work. Thus, in Judas Maccabeus we have
the miUtary hero, whi repelled to the death those
vandal hordes who sought to pollute the temple and
altars of God. Thus, when the post-apostolic and
patristic ages declined in their spiritual life; when
aqueous baptism was declared to be the condition and
instrun nt of pneumatic baptism. When the Genu-
flects held that posture was attendant to grace,
Montanus, mystical, fanatical, but true to the doctrine
of divine indwelling, rang out over the orient his truth
— the life of God in the life of man. When the Church
was advancing in power, Pope Innocent III., mistaken
though sincere, aspired to subjugate all kingly power
and win for her an empire temporal as well as spirit-
ual over universal humanity. When the decadence of
the Papacy had begun, and its brilliant assumptions
were defeated. Pope Boniface VIII. — of whom it is
said that " he grasped power like the fox, wielded it
like the lion, and resigned it like the defeated dog" —
held that his commission was to restore the Papacy
to the splendor of the times of Hildebrand. All
unconscious of the grandeur of their mission, Petrarch,
Boccaccio, and Dante climbed with adventurous step
the mountain heights that first catch and kiss the
morning light, and sighted from afar the coming day
of intellectual and spiritual emancipation.

288

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Erasmus, the recluse, organizing the first Greel<:
Testament; Zwingli, the true, witnessing for the
simplicities of Christian worship ; Melanethon, formu-
lating the concensus of evangelical truth ; Luther, the
aggressive herald, who flashed upon the age tlie old
truth of justification ; Wycliffe, loyal to the Scrip-
tures ; how the brilliant array pass before our vision
in their lustrous individuality ! And what was the
commanding power which lifted the founder of
Methodism to an elevation which finds scarcely a
parallel along the Christian ages. Wesley was the
scholar logical and classical, but he was more. " Wes-
ley," says Macaulay, "had the genius of a Richelieu for
government ; " but he was more. " Wesley," observed
Southey, "could gather and hold the elements of
power ; " but he was more. " Wesley," writes Sir
Walter Scott, "had but few equals in power of popular
address ; " but he M^as more. Wesley had the soul of
an adventurer, that, like Columbus, would seek out
new continents ; but he was more. Wesley had a
will power that would look defiant in the face of
difficulty, and never beat a retreat ; but he was more.
What constituted the triumphant power which lifted
Wesley to pre-eminence ? It was his profound, entire
and absolute consecration to God. Wesley, as the
Oxford ascetic, was impotent; as the adventurer to
Georgia, a visionary, who returned from his bootless
journey with the impress of failure; but from the
hour when he became a consecrated man, kindled into
enthusiasm by the power and love of an indwelling

THE CENTENARY OF METHODISM.

289

Christ, every element ol' liis great elinnieter opened
out and made liiiri one of the most potential Factors
which the centuries have given to the world.

And is there not an inspiration in this thought to
every minister and member of Methodism :* Wliat
lesson do I read on this centennial occasion from the
history of Wesley ? Let every minister and every
mend:>er he baptized with Wesley's consecration, and
their manhood and womaidiood will be lifted to their
highest possibilities for the accomplishment of (lod's
great work among men. Give Wesley's consecration
to every minister, and it will send us back to oui-
circuits with a passion to save men, and baptize all
our churches with a new life that will carry us along
the coming century to a more pregnant spiritual
destiny that holds within it the assurance and acclaims
of ultimate victory.

II. And then, again, what instruction conies to us
from our historical development as a Church ?

Of all epochs in the history of England, one of the
most stagnant and utterly hopeless was that which
marked the opening of the eighteenth centuiy.
Whether you read the charming pages of Green ;
the massive notations of Lecky, or the caustic and
searching critiques of Leslie Stephens, all unite in
depicting a state of moral degradation and of blas-
phemous impiety well-nigh surpassing belief. With
the brilliant Marlborough corrupting the higher life
of the nations ; with Horace Walpole reducing all
politics to a game of bribes; with Congrcve and
19

K'..

290

DISCOUllSES AND ADDRESSES.

Wyclu'i'lcy, tlie di-ainatists of tlie Ucfstoration, for a
politt' literature ; witli ;i poetry witlumt exaltation, a
philosophy without insight, and ti'ilmnals without
justice ; with an insolent infidelity which, from the
days of Stilliu<^rteet to Bolinohroke, last of the deists,
held captive the leadin<jj intellects of the nation, while
it smote with paralysis an effete clergy ; with a univer-
sal wassail and riot and profanity, sinking the lower
classes into nameless depths of infamy — what pencil
can adequately picture the repellant features of this
repulsive age ^ Like the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, the ministry of Wesley began to be heard.
It gathered to itself the elements of power, it multi-
plied its forces till with ten thousand tongues it rang
out the Gospel in every nook and corner of the
Motherland.

What Johnson, the moralist, could not do; what
Hogarth, the caricaturist of vice, could not do ; what
Dean Swift, the satirist, could not do ; what the
philosophy of Berkeley, the ethics of Butler, tlie evi-
dences of Paley, could not do : what the men of lawn
sleeves and stately ritualism could not do in reform-
ing the age — that John Wesley with his grand evan-
gelism, that Charles Wesley with his hynnis, sobbing
in penitence, weeping in joy, ringing the battle-cry
of advance along the line, springing triumphant on
ecstatic wings to the heavens at the thought that
" Jesus shall reign " — that John and Charles Wesley
accomplished in the name and by the grace of God.

It has been well said by a recent writer, that the

THE CENTENARY OF METHODISM.

291

for a
bion, M
itlnnit
111 the
deists,
1, while
iniver-
: lower

peneil
of this
f in the
3 heard.
b multi-
t, it raii<5
• of the

o; what

o ; what
lat the
the evi-
of lawn
refonn-

nd evan-
sol)bin<;
ittle-ery

ihant on
ght that
s Wesley
f God.
that the

unbelief of the ei<^hteenth century was not arrested and
overthrown by Butler's analogy of religion, the twelve
witnesses of Paley, or tlu^ didactics of the day, but
by the power of (Jod authenticatin<^ the divinity of
that (^lii'istianity as expressed by the early pi'eachers
of Methodism, which woke with a mighty resurrection
the barbaric toilers in coal-pits of the noi'th, plou^'h-
in^ their ^riniy faces with the tears of ])enitence ;
the wasted nniltitudes in the dens of London, cleans-
ing their foulness ; and the Cornish miners in their
deep pdleries, where, in the intervals of toil, they
could hear above them the sobbings of the sea.

Now, if there is one lesson more impressive than
another, which the history of our Church reads us, it
is to lay hold of every means to ensure success.
Wesley in early life was a Churchman, an intolerant
and bigoted Churchman, but when God led him out he
was willing to go into untried paths and to employ
agencies of which the history of the Church supplied
no parallel. He invoked the splendor of scholarship
and seraphic culture, as in the case of Fletcher;
but he did more, he took John Nelson, the mason ;
Alexander Mather, the baker; Thomas Oliver, the
shoemaker ; John Haine, the private soldier, and
Pawson, the draper, all uncultured, and in the name
of God commissioned them to go with homely speech
to the perishing masses, justifying the utterance of
the historian that as by speech the nation was
governed, by speech freighted with gospel truth the
nation was morally regenerated. The genius of

292

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Mcfchodism not only coiiiiiiijssioue'l man, but it vimli-
catos tlic ininistry of woman.

I have stood bi'l'oro the- sopulchros of .statesmen,
orators, poets and di\in(>s wliose name and fame liave
IiIUmI the world, but I never felt a deeper emotion
than when standing by the tomb of Susannah Wesley.
In that presence the orator is dumb, poetry has no
lines and music no notes to tell the grandeur of liei"
womanhood. Conservative, yet radical and aggressive.
Deferential to authority, yet Hrm in her God-like
purpose. No mystic was she, though gifted with a
depth of insight seldom surpassed. Graceful in per-
son, her tender eyes looked love, and wise in her
motherhood.

It has been well said that if John Wesley ruled
Methodism, his mother ruled John Wesley and re-
vealed to him a power of womanhood as an agency
gentle and persistent in building up the spiritual
Church of God. And now, out of this history, what
lesson do I read ?

Conservative in essentials, yet radical and aggres-
sive in action, I would have every minister remembei-
that he is ordained for victory and should command
success. " Now thanks be unto God which always
causeth us to triumph in Christ." I would com-
mission every son and daughter to prophesy in the
name of the Lord. Methodism has no greater danger
than a decorous respectability that resists all innovn-
tion. If ordinary appliances fail to draw the people
to Christ, I would invoke the very forces of the

THE CENTENARY OF MKTIIODISM.

*i9n

imli-

ivsinen,
c have
notion

has no
of her
n^ssive,
o(l-liko
witli a
in per-
il! her

y ruled
and re-
agency
spiritual
•y, what

aggres-
inember
oinmand

always
dd coiu-
y in the

danger

innovn-
\e people
s of the

Salvation Army ; I \voul<l put trumpets in men's
hands to call the people to repent<-mce. Anything,
anything! The spirit of Methodism wjfjres.dvr, it
shall live; stagnant, it shall die dishonored, an anach-
ronism amongst men.

And then look at the sweep of this Methodism of
ours. If we go back one lumdred and twenty years,
I see a man in clerical attii-e passing under the arch
that led into the quadrangle of the old (dasgow Uni-
versity. Above the arch, in a little room, sits a homely
toiler engaged in sketching a design. What prophet
of destiny could have predicted that, more than kings,
statesmen and congresses, these two men, John Wesley
and James Watt, w^ould shape the destinies of this
American continent ': It was the acinus of James
Watt who harnessed the forces which shnnbered in
the water and gave steam boats to every river and
steam cars to every valley and prairie on this conti-
nent, thus giving to it in a single centuiy a degree of
civilization that without these would have demanded
a thousand years' and more. It was the genius of
John Wesley to project on this continent his original
conception of an itinerant ministry which would fol-
low the tidal wave of humanity that has ditt'used
itself from Atlantic to Pacific, and but for this would
have sunk into a degradation vandal and destructive
as those that follow^ed in the train of Alaric and (ien-
seric of old. Before his eyes closed in death, he had
sent Lawrence Coughlin to the misty isles of New-
foundland, Strawbridge to the sunny south, Asbury

ir-

'294

DISCOURSES AND ADDllESSfeS.

boyoiwl the Allc^luinies, \\\'l)l) alon;^ the valley of the
St. Lawrence, and your own William Blaek to be
the standard-bearer of Methodism alon^ the valleys
and bays of fair Acadia.

While the I'ollin;^^ ti<les of tlie ocean Hm(f their
thundtn's alon<i^ your coast and toss their crested spray
a<;ainst the (granite ellti's, coruscating^ into perpetual
brilliance, the name of William Black shall be held in
lumor thr()u<^hout this land. Mi^n of Nova Scotia,
you will stand true to the traditions and spirit of
these honored men, and, with your brethren in the
West, advance with ^lad endeavor till this Dominion
of Canada is possessed by Christian forces and ^iven
as a j^em to adorn the crown of the Redeemer.

IIJ. And then, once a^ain, what inspiration comes
to us from the full-orbed the(3lo(^y which is our heri-
ta<^e and the foundation of our power. In our times
of pretentious, speculative and unsettling thought, a
damaging impeachment is laid at the door of dogmatic
theology. It is lield by some that he who enters here
must abandon hope of progressive research, since its
dogmas are immutable and its spirit in antagonism to
the life and progress of the ages, but never was
impeachment more false. What is the history of i'elig-
ious thought but one of sublimest evolution ? Look
at the record ! The Oriental, or Greek, Church formu-
lated the doctrines of the Trinity and the Person of
Christ, and established them for all time. The early
Latin Church revealed this humanity of ours and
formulated at once the doctrine of sin and grace. It

THE CENTENAUY OF METHODISM.

29."

was tlio honor of the MvsticH and I'oi't llovnlistH to
unl'old tlu' hlissl'iil possihilitics of coninnmion with
the Divine, and was it not tlu^ J('<>i'y <»f the Kpfoniia-
tory a<^e tliat it (Mhicatcil tht> conHcicncc and l)i-oUL;lit
out broad and clear the doctrinoH of forLdvcncs.s and
Divine acceptance, wliile the RenionHtrants atlirnied
the universality of atonement.

ThuH, from a<;-e to a«,a', the evolution of Christian
do<;'ma has o-one foi'ward, and the etei'nities slmll
never see the consunnnation. Theolot^y a stagnant
science! I affirm it is the most pro^jfi-essive on the
face of this earth, for is not the truth of (Jod infinite,
and will not tlie finite intellect be ascending- fcjrever-
more in the apprehending of its wcmdrous hai'monies :*

And now, what constituted the central truth which
John Wesley published in a<lvance of all others, and
which has rallied tlie millions ? I answer, the radical
existence of a free spirit as the crown of our human-
ity. When Wesley appeared, the intuitional phil-
osophy of Descartes, of Spinoza, and aftervvnr<l of
Kant and Coleridge, had gone into an eclipse, while
the materialistic philosophy of Hobbes and Locke
and Hume and Berkley and Priestley, which asserted
that the world without controlled the world within
the man, was everywhere triumphant. The vindica-
tion of the universality of atonement, and the freedom
of will and spiritual witness by God to man's inner
consciousness, smote to the death this philosophy of
necessity that still languishes in Buckle and Tyndall,

296

DlSCOtTRSES AND ADDHESSES.

while it uplifted the intuitional philosophy which
stands by the truth that man is a prinna potentia, an
originating will force, while God is no respecter of
persons. And so it comes to pass that the theology
of Methodism is on the ascendant all ever this earth.

I think the sublimest event in the CEcumenical Con-
ference was the attestation of this truth. There were
gathered men who had come from beneath almost
every sky. They had come from the fiords and
steppes of Scandinavia; they had come from the
confederated empire of Germany ; they had come
from the vine-clad hills and sunny vales of France,
and from the mountain passes of Switzerland ; they
had come from the wildering fragrance of Andalusian
Spain, and from beneath the shadow of the Quirinal,
the Horse of Praxiteles, and the Vatican of Kome;
they had come from where Stamboul proudly over-
looks the Hellespont ; they had come from the death-
dealing malarial coasts of Western Africa, and from
the arid plains of Kafi'raria ; they had come from the
shadow of the Himalayas, where the cactus and mag-
nolia fling their fragrance at the feet of those colossal
heights which bear upon their brow the crystal crown
of an eternal winter ; they had come from the ancient
lands of Northern and Southern China, whose stand-
ing wonder is the multiplied millions of men ; they
had come from the isles of Japan, where nestling
flowers adorn the creviced heights of volcanic desola-
tion, and from every colony of great Australia ; from

IHE CENTENARY OF METHODISM.

297

Tasmania, and the fern valleys of New Zealand ; tliey
had come from the isles of the south, that, like emer-
alds set in cameos of coral whiteness, gem the bosom
of the great Pacific ; they had come froni the cooling
shades of the palms that skirt the pampas of South
America ; they had come from the tropic isles of the
West Indies; from the silver canyons of Mexico;
from almost every State in the great Republic, and
from most of the Provinces of our Dominion. And
what was their testimony ? That the Gospel which
your Black, a hundred years ago, began to sound
throughout this land, is the Gospel which has brought
salvation to uncounted thousands, and to which this
night twenty-five millions within the bounds of oecu-
menical Methodism pay homage, while thousands
without accept it as their faith.

" When he first the work begun,
Small and feeble was his day ;
Now the word doth swiftly run,
Now it wins its widening way."

I sliall never forget, when my eye was undimmed
and the dew of youth was on my brow, standing on
the highest hill in the Bermudas, and watching the
sun as she grandly marched to her seeming rest, and
reflected her glory on the sparkling waters. Dipping
into darkness as if by magic, a triumphal arch a?'ose
out of the water, which was wide as the canopy of
heaven, festooned with brilliant blue and garnished

298

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSER.

with purple and with gold, while far in there seemed
an overpowering splendor and glory too great to
behold. Symbol of our future. As we bid farewell
to the century that is gone, rich in its inheritance of
history, tender in its memories, I believe we are
marching as through a triumphal archway into a
century of more resplendent triumph upon earth. Be
it ours to well perform our work, serve our generation,
and then rejoin that blissful company whose eyes
once met our glance, whose voices fell upon our ears,
but who are now enthroned as victors forever.

EDUCATIONAL ADDRESS.

Mr. Chairman:

With becoming modesty, I may way that I have had
a somewhat wide and varied experience in public
address. I have spoken before the dusky dwellers in
southern isles of the sea, and the bronzed and hardy
fishermen of the Labrador coast; I have spoken in
mighty London, and many of the chief cities on
this continent, and in the bleak wilds of Anticosti ; I
have spoken before royalty, the royal son of a right
royal mother — the Queen, and the president and
governors of the great Republic ; and I have spoken
before rogues and jail-birds, and patients in our city
hospitals ; I have spoken before thousands in tented
groves, and the " twos and threes " in log shanties :
but, sir, in all my attempts at speaking, I never felt
the need of what the colored brother calls " insp-i-ra-
tion," as when speaking of education.

Education is the great question of the day which,
above all others, holds the interests of this land and
our Church in its keeping. If we go back to the
history of the mighty past and interrogate its annals
what do we find ? Why, that those colossal, prophetic
and benignant intellects of history, who, from their
elevation, looked ahead and beheld what would best
minister to the weal of man in w(jrking out his
highest destiny, with one accord became the patrons

299

I
V

ii II

mmj^

■

~^w

slifii'

,i|h

"' 1 '

noo

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

and strenuous advocates of moral and mental edu-
cation. Look at that man whose genius built up that
vast empire of the early medijeval times — tliat empire
which stretched from the Adriatic to the Atlantic,
from the blue waters of the Mediterranean to the
forest fastnesses of Scandinavia ; the man that handled
with unrivalled skill the resources of diplomacy and
war, and who has given to history one of tlie greatest
names of which any age can boast. Look, I say, at
this man. When he sought to consolidate his empire
and to build his people "p in prosperity, on what did
he depend ? Not on the skill of his diplomatists, not
on the powers of his army, but on the higher power
of mental and moral culture ; and so in history the
name of Charlemagne stands fore^^er honored as the
hrst to originate a system of national education.

Look, again, at the earlier history of the Mother-
land, and what are its teachings ? Why, that when
the feeble heptarchies had gone down before the fierce
Yikingr and Danish pirates of the ninth century ;
that when universal ruin and calamity had fallen on
the land, the very first thing that Alfred the Great
did for the recovery of that land was to found Oxford,
and by a mental and moral training built up an invin-
cible manhood, which has never been conquered.

And, sir, let the student of English history testify
that from this era began that natural development
which for a thousand years has been ever widening
till " its line has gone out through all the earth, and

EDUCATIONAL ADDRESS.

301

,1 edii-
Lp that
empire
tlantic,
to tlie
landled
cy and
greatest
say, at
einpii'e
hat did
ists, not
' power
ory the
d as the
)n.

Mother-
it when
he fierce

entury ;
alien on
le Great

Oxford,
m invin-
:ed.
y testify

lopnient
widenino;
irth, and

its words unto the end of the world " — a development
which, we believe, will culminate never.

And now, sir, if we take the principles wliich these
^reat men and kindred spirits accepted, and formulate
them, we have a compound proposition of three
members :

The Jirst is that mental education is essential to
the weal of the individual or society.

The second is that it is the moral which ^ives value
to the mental, and

The third, that it is the responsibility of the Churcli
to give mental and moral training to her children.

And here I would ask if this comjwund proposition,
built up out of old-time principles, does not conmiand
the intelligent conviction of every mind present. And
justly so, for the more profoundly this question of
education is studied, the more is it seen to cover the
many-sided wants of our manhood's being.

Beginning with that which is lowest, what, I ask,
lies at the foundation of all material develojjment ?
Undeniably the mental and then tlie moral.

It is interesting to observe how the great econo-
mists, Adam Smith, Stuart Mill, Ricardo and others,
base their economies of wealth an<l trade on the
implied culture of man. The primal source of all
wealth, say they, is found in that which is taken out
of tlie earth and in the enhanced value which is
given to the raw material by the e<lucatod skill and
industry of miiii. The primal force wliicli leadw to
the development of wealth is found in the funda-

302

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

mental wants of man. Witli no wants there would
have been no material development. And here I ask
you to note the place which educational culture takes.
Contrast, if you please, the wants of the ahoi-iginal
man with tliosc of your cultured citizens. The one
lives on the lish he takes out of the water, and the
aninril he traps ; the other must have on his table
the fruits and productions of every land. Hence
arise the intricate and wealth-producing economies of
commerce. The one is clothed in the skins of the
animals which he has devoured ; for the other, sheep
are raised, and silks gathered, and cotton ^.^rown, and
the mighty system of manufacturing in all its skilful
details brought into play to produce the reipiisite
fabrics of clothing. The one liv^es in a mud kraal or
wigwam; the other builds up a stately and beautiful
dwelling which calls into being manifold handicrafts
and arts. The untutored child of nature is a strano-er
to the aesthetic and intellectual, but for the other the
world of art and literature is set in motion to enfran-
chise the min<l with all the resources of knowledge.
Now, from all this, nothing is more manifest than
that the entire superstructure of material prosperity
is based upon the intelligence of the individuals wdio
compose society. Take a million of the free men of
your Ontario and contrast them with a million of our
Franco-Canadians, and what is the commercial value
of the one as contrasted with the other. When I
have gone into our wholesale houses, I have found
that the refuse of conunerce is sent to our poor

EDUCATIONAL ADDRESS.

303

Canadians, wliilc all ])rocious tliin<4-.s are sliipped to
your West. And wliy :* Because the intellin-ence of
the one is sta<;nant and nil, while that of Ontario is
a*i^{j^)'essive, and hence the ever-increasin;^- demand
with the skilled power of supply. It is thus we see
that intellio-ence is fundamental to all material pros-
perity. But here, I must point you to a factor which
has been overlooked by the ^reat masters in political
economy — a factor which gives ^3e/'7>i(t72^^7i6'e and
value to the material. 1 refer to the moral.

If you take the vast array of ancient cities whicli
stretch from the valley of the Euphrates to where
the chiselled colunnis of Carthaj'e lie buried in
African sands, in this re<^ion you have evidences of a
former wealth and splendor which the world has
never seen surpassed. Let the discoveries of Dr.
Schleiman in the tond^s of Aganiennion declare.
What is it that smote these vast cities with destruc-
tion and wiped out their conunerce utterly ? They had
a literature, let the Chaldean histories exhumed by
Smith declare; they had science, as the pyramids live
to testify , but morality an<l justice had died out of
the lands, and the civilization of three thousand years
went down forever, while the pillars of Baalbec, the
mounds of Nineveh and the ruins of Tadmor stand
as everlasting monuments that all material prosperity
which is not built on the foundation of morality
nnist issue in hopeless and hapless ruin. Now, it is
from this standpoint, the material, that we argue for
the fostering care of the Church over the moral and

^ '1

lii

304

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

religions training of socioty. It lias ])eeu sai<l that
For every dollar that England lias expended in mis-
sionary and edncational work, fifty dollars have come
hack to lier own coffers as the resnlt of an improved
condition of society. In like maimer, I fearlessly
assert that every dollar expended by the Methodist
Church in higher ed\ication will bring })ack a return
of not thirty, nor sixty, but an hundred-fold even, in
the form of material development.

But again this question of mental and moral edu-
cation stands inseparably connected with fhe social
forces of t'le individual and of the Church.

If we examine this term " education," as you are
all aware, it is two-sided. To educate is to train, to
develop to polish ; and, if I mistake not, the Latin
dictionary sanctions the application of the term to
animals, to plants, and even to stones, so that you
may educate a stone.

When the Kohinoor diamond was taken in hand
by the lapidaries, when they ground the facets and
polished them, they educated that royal gem and
brought out the resplendent brilliance wdiich had
been hidden for the ages beneath its uncomely sur-
face : and what is the work of the educators of the
Church but that of mental lapidaries and culturists —
and who shall say how many gems of purest ray
serene they have fished out of the caves of this land
and polished into brilliance, and how many flowers
that otherwise might have blushed unseen have they
cultivated into beauty an<l fragrance.

EDUCATIONAL ADDRESS.

305

I that
n mis-
i como
:)rove(l
rlossly
jhodist
return
veil, in

al edu-
; social

/■on arc
;rain, to
e Latin
term to
lat you

n hand
ets and
teni and
ich had
lely sur-
s of the
jurists —
rest ray
]iis land
flowers
ave they

But education, in the fuhiess of its ineanin^^ is not
only the training and poHsh of our powers, it has
a higher signiticanee. It is the augmenting of tlie
mental (piantity of the man. What is knowledge,
but power in its concentrate(l essence i (live know-
ledge to a man, and you increase his dynamic force ;
and the more knowle<lge, tlie more force is in tlie
man, all things being ecjual. Give knowledge and
you give a momentum by wliich the man can project
himself upwards and liecome a potential factor to
control in every realm of society.

And here I ask you to look at the part 'which the
moral plays in this connection. It is the moral and
religious which supply the only stimulus to, and realm
for, indefinite mental development. If you study the
tendencies of mind, you will find tliat the mental
attitude is ever to look upward. Beginning with
average endowment, you find it looks up to talent,
talent looks up to capacity and power of manliood ;
capacity of manhood looks up to that indefinable, crea-
tive, transcendent something we call genius, where
the intellect of man flowers into its highest brilliance
of power. But to what does genius look up ? If
you go back to the classic times of Greece, when the
finest type of intellect ever entrusted to man was
sharpened into a power of analysis and a creative
brilliance that stands as the wonder of the ag(,'S, to
what had that great intellect to look uj) ? Absolutely
nothing, and so they formulated their mytliologies of
frenzied folly and flung around them tlie splendors
•20

Sfi'

H^'illP''

l/f: .. ■!

'iiH

J^OP)

DISCOTTRSES AND ADDRESSES.

of an ima^'iiiatiid inyHteiy, hopiii;^" iVoiii tlicncc) to
catcli the tru«^ Pi-oiiietlu^an fire tliat would .sweep
them up to yet loftier endeavor; but as tlie finite
mind could never rise lii^'lier than itself for want
of an infinite ideal, the intellect of Greece })owed its
liead, its fires went out, art perished and literatuj'*;
was 1' amid the wreck of mental and moral decay.

B k at the injiiience ivhich the coming of

Chrlstlanit// exerted, openinnj the vista of the ideal
and infinite. Genius rekindled her fires at this altai*
and the sacred poi'traits of Titian, and the cartoons
of Kaphael, and the crucifixion scenes of Van Dyke,
and the cantatas of Ambrose, and the Gregorian
chants of Gre^'ory, tell how divine ideals winded
immortal ^vnius for hi<;-her fii^-hts in art and son^'
than the a<;'es had ever witnessed before. And then,
if we come (hnvn to the history of the Motherland
and look at the brilliant galaxy which culminated in
the Elizabethan period, what is the admission of
cold and cynical Hallam, no friend of Christianity ?
why that the power that woke the genius of En^-land,
which warmed and vitalized it into peerless achieve-
ment, was the translation into the vernacular of the
blessed Bible. It was this that ^avo to the world-
minded Shakespeare a sense of the inherent royalty
of man, and empowered him to walk with steady
step the inner sanctuary of the soul ; it was this
which fiun<)f open the portals of the Invisible and
woke the soul of Milton into his song of Paradise
Lost and Regained; it was this that gave to the

EDUCATIONAL ADDRESS.

307

nic«) to
sweep
B finite
r want
iwed its
jerature
decay.
\iing of
lie ideal
lis altar
cartoons
Ln Dyke,
regorian
( winged
tnd Honjj;
,nd tluMi,
)therland
inated in
ission ol'
stianity ?
j^ngland,
achieve-
ar of the
u; world-
royalty
1 steady
was this
sible and
Paradise
e to the

reverend Ni^wton tliat supei'nal power by wliich he
made worlds Ids stt'i)pint;-Htones to clind) np and
jifi*a<luate the universe.

ir then^ l)e one tinng wliieh God liatli written in
red letters on the pa<>-e oi' history — in red letters,
winch all may read, it is that tlu; den;i-,'ulution of
morality and reli<i^ion woi-ks ruin u])on the litei-ature
ot* that age. Contrast the come(lies of the times of
Charles the Second with the literature which fol-
lowed that great revival of religion which Wesley
and Whitelield began, when Colei-idge, Southey,
Wordsworth and Scott redeemed it from its degrada-
tion and lifted it into the arena of the beautiful an<l
pure. If we look at the names that stand pi-ominent in
the literature of tins age, we all know that Macaulay
came out of the nudst of the sainted Clapham sect,
and the colossal Carlyle out of the bosom of his
Bible-loving family, and who, after the vagai'ies and
wanderings of his life, flings the nnght of his aged
manhood against the Gospel of Dirt and comes back
to the Catechism which he learned at his mother's
knee for a true conception of the destiny of man,
"which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

I would note this fact, liecause in some of the
pretentious literature which emanates from this city
I have observed a sympathy with tlie scientific athe-
ism which is abroad, and an ill-concealed insolence
towards evangelistic Christianity. I take these as a
solemn warning of the evil of divorcing intellect from
conscience, and as a solemn admonition to the Church

I w

s.i

308

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

to ^uanl hvv risiii;^ iiwuihood l)y prox idiii;^ fciiose
appliances wliicli will tniiii in loyalty, witli truth
divine, as well as for the highest poHsihilitie.s of intel-
lectual achievement.

Look, a<;ain, at the power of mevfal and moral
culture on the civil institutions of the land. What
is our civilization? What, but the eclectic einhodi-
nient of all thought and social experiments which
have ten(\<l to the goo<l of our humanity. The
Greek exhausted the idea that philosophy was alone
essential to the well-being of num. The Roman
exhausted tin; double idea of Liw and war as being
alone the instruments for the attainment of the rights
and inuiiunities of enfranchised manhood. The Jew
exhausted the idea of symbolism, religious symbolism
and isolation as alone essential to the moi-al cultui-e
of numkind. Imperial individualism, which culmin-
ated in the times of Hildebrand and Pope Innocent
III., exhausted the idea of the essential advantage of
Church and State. The feudalism of mediaeval times,
which has projected its power down to the 23resent,
though, thank God, it is perishing from the earth,
exhausted the idea of the divine rights of kings and
the men of noble birth to rule over the millions.

And now, upon the experimenting oi three thousand
years, our civilization has been built up into its fair
proportions. The man is not for the State, but the
State is held for the man ; man is not for the ruler,
but the rulers are for the good of the man. All
things conspire for the development of highest civil

EDUCATIONAL ADDHKSS.

lilx'rty, so that tli»' iiidividunl innn iiuiy, acconlin*^' to
the inherent power within liiui, cHnih to tln' ])roii(le.st
positions wliieli society holds as its j^it't to cc^nl'er.

Now, it is this i'uiKhmunital fact wliicli <^ives value

> the (Mitire of o\ir educational movement. T see in

this ethicational selieme a mi^dity enj^ine, wliicli, ii'

ri^^htly worked, will yet uplift our pe()])le throu<^hout

the lenfjtli and bi'eadth of our great land.

And here I ask you to observe how nuich the
religious element of education has had to do with
freedom of thought and conscience, 'i'hc conflict of
the ages lias turned upon independence in the domain
of intelligence and conscience. This was the conflict
of Socrates and Anytus, of the Stoic philosophers and
the Emperors, of Heniy the Fourth and the League,
of the Hollanders and Philip the Second, of the Cos-
sacks of the Don and Impi'rialism, of the Koniish
hierarchy and its victims. From the time that
Augustine invoked the civil arm against the J)ona-
tists, th(i spirit of religious proscription has been
abroad, and nowhere is it more rife than in the
Province from which I come, where anathemas are
hurled against fi'ee thought, are hurled from every
Romish altar in the Province of Quebec, and in his
insolence the Bishop of Rimouski would by his man-
damus doom our Judges to perdition for a righteous
administration of law, because it vindicated liberty of
conscience and of thought.

What can redeem our fair land from this despotism
of the ages ? Nothing but an education founded on

;jio

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

our Bil)lo (Jhi'istiaiiity. And this is a (Icpartiiiciit ol"
the educational work of our Cliui'cli, which nuist
claim a liio-her place in the syinpathies of our Zion.
It is to our dishonoi" that I am (j])li^od to say that
the Methodist Churcli of Canada has to bea" favors at
tlie hands of Presl)yterianism in relation to French
education. Can this be re^'ai"ded as }i'>noi'a})le to the
mnnerically stron<(est Chui'ch in tlie Dominion of
Canada ^ Give us but the e(hicati(mal appliancs,
and thei'e is comino- to oui" land a time swift-footed
and sure, a lilierty unsung by poets, unpi'onounced
by orators, a liberty which no fla^' ever secured, and
no I'epublic ever ^ave, when man with unfettered
thou<^'ht shall woi'k out that hi(;h dcsstiny which
heaven has desij^ned.

And then look at the power of this moral com-
bined with, mental education to jiiiuj around the
fiocial institutions the atmosphere of purity and
benevolence.

We all know wliat a spark hi and ;^ran(hnir per-
tained to the Au<;ustine a<^(! of Roman litei'ature,
when Vir<^il san^ and Cicei'o declaimed. But amidst
this int(^llectual i"'tin(.'ment, liow appalling- is tlie view
of Roman lile which J)r. Doninn-ci' presents of tliesi.
tinuis of the Ca)sars : Cruelty and crime with unblush-
u\^ front and nameh.'ss enoi-mity stalked a})i'(jad,
but the manti(! falls; we j^la<lly consign them to the
oblivion of tlu^ past. Who shall declare tlie bene-
diction which has come to man by an education based
on the moral and relii^ious.

EDUCATIONAL ADDRESS.

:ui

merit of
;li must
i\ir Zion.
say that
'avors at
, French
le t(j tlie
inion ol'
)pli aliens,
i"t-f(><)te<l
jiiouiiced
ured, and
nTettiuvd
ly which

)ral com-
ound i}i(''
rity and

deur ptn*-
literature,
lit amidst
s the view
is of thesv.
luihhisli-
(d ahiHjad,
\vn\ U) the
the bene-
ition bused

In tlie art ^Mlleiy of tlie Centennial Kxl)il)Ition
tliei'e were two pictures repi'esentiii;;- the time' of the
Caisars, and oni* (Miristian a^^e. Tlie scene of the
former is the Colosseum. ()verwhehnin<i: thousands
are ^'athered to ))(! amused bv^ a hoi'i'ibh. traL^edw
"^riie em))eroi' is ther*; ; tin; vestal vii-;4-ins are by his
side; tin! wild beasts are in the arena; the Chi'istian
Cfiptives avvait tlieii* fate. Is thei-c no tenderness in
those; vii't^in hearts, that hold the balances of lib;?
Tenderness! As well ap])eal to ti^'er thii'stin^- for
blood. No. 'i'he'y j'aisci the signal, the nniltitude.s
shout, the ca])tives are (^'iven to the lions and devoui'ed.

Thi+4 is the w<ji'l<l as it was. The scene of the
otluir is a Crimean hos])ital. Tin; houi" is midnight;
a fra<^"ile form, with lamj) in on<.' Iiand and hel[)ful
C(3mfoi'ts in tlu; other, passes tlii'(ju;;h the ward, min-
istering first to OIK! and tluMi anotlusr. As she; passes,
a wounded soldier is seen to rise and kiss the passing
sIkuIow on the wall. And this but illusti'ates the
spirit of oui' a<;-e. What has transb^rmed the heai't
of woman Irom cru(;lty to tenderness ? What lias
sui'i'ounded the institution of the bimily with sanc-
tity ^ What ci'owns lib' with security anj ])eace ?
What but the moral powers that are abi'oad :* Let
the pure bi'eath of a moral culture sweep over e.xist-
\n<r society, desolated by ignorance and sin, ... I 't
shall be n-|()i-ifi(>d into moral beauty and purified for
a " Paradise Ueirained."

lifl

MISSIONARY ADDRESS

Delivered at Albany, 1868.

Mr. Chairman and Christian Friends :

I suppose, sir, your Excellency is sufficiently con-
versant with Methodistic polity to recognize the fact
that it is always legitimate in a Methodist gathering
to relate personal experiences. Well, sir, I propose
for a moment to avail myself of the privilege. You
will permit me to say that I stand to-night as the
fruit of missionary toil, and in the years that are
gone my first call was to cross tlie sea and in South-
ern isles lahor and suffer as a humljle toiler in the
gi'(?at mission cause. Ever and anon the recollections
of that period of my life come o'er my spirit like
a spell ot" l)lissful memory, and forevermore must I
cherish a pi'ofound sympathy for this great and holy
enterprise of Christian missions. I have come, sir,
obedient to the kind invitation of your committee of
arrangement, as a humble representative from tlu;
chief city of our new-found Domin'on of Canada.

I have come to express in feeble terms the debt of
gi-atitude which we owe to some of the Fathers of
American Methodism, those kingly and heroic men
who, ])idding defiance to difficulty and with high
liopes which spi'ang elastic from all despondency,
turned their faces to the North Star, and through

312

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

313

the wilderness went f'ortli witli the ^hid evan;;-el of
peace to the lonely settlers on tin; north of the fjreat
lakes and alona" the vallev of the Lower St. Lawrence.
Ever fra^^rant shall be the name of Bang, the apostle
of Montreal ; Gari-etson, Giiorge and others whose
record is on high and who have gone to enrich the
heavens. But though the Elijahs have gone, their
mantle has fallen on their successors. That goodly
tree which they planted with much toil and many
tears has lifted up its head and flourished. It has
flung out its branches over all the land and it is
to-night bearing its fruit unto holiness. LTpwards of
twelve hundr(Ml uiinisters are publishing our grand
theology, which is mystic as John, practical as James,
doctrinal as Paul and generous as God's sunlight, ten-
dering to every man that walks the earth a plenary
salvation, and I rejoice to say that one-fourth of the
Protestant element of our Dominion hails to our
Methodist Zion.

I trust, sir, I am not (Jut of order in speaking thus,
in that we are debtors to you. With much love and
much a<lmii'ation, we rejoice to see your triumphal
strides over all this land. Youi= ti'iumphs are our
triumphs, for Methodism over all the earth is one
and inseparable, singing the same hymns, holding
the same truths, kindling to the same experiences
and fired with the lofty purp<jse of redeeming that
humanity, which has misery in the state but grandeur
in the destiny, from the tyraruiy of sin, home to God.

That our race will he elevated is, I take it, an

III'

liflP

I'll

■1

:U4

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

axiomatic truth. On all sides it is ailniitted that a
grand millennial age is destined to dawn on this
world when redeemed and jubilant voices will hail
it as a Paradise regained. The most visionary dis-
ciples of the millennarian school and the most idtra-
transcendentalist that sing to the divinity of man
are alike in the conviction that an auspicious era is
coming on apace, swift-footed and sure in the train
of human progress, when the wrong shall be abolished
and the right shall universally and triumphantly
prevail. But while this great statement is accepted,
wliat is the great problem which engages the leading
minds of the day ^ Is it not the (piestion, What are
the best intifruTnentalities for the elevation of the
race ? It is a fact well known to those who are
conversant with the higher departments of curi-ent
literature that many of the first philosophic intellects
of the age are employing all their great powers
through the medium of the press to destroy con-
fidence in Christianity as the world's hope for ameli-
oration and deliverance.

And what, I ask, is the substitute which these so-
called advanced thinkers would supply to uplift the
teeming millions that are sunk in the depths of social
<legradation and a])original ignorance? Why, they
would establish a grand mission, intellectual and
commercial, to redeem the worn and wasted millions
to the good ami regenei'ate, to the true. In other
words, these thinkers would rest the hopes of the

|:!fi

MISSIONARY At)DRfeSS.

815

that a
II tills
11 hail

•y '^i^-

ultra-
►i' man

era is
13 train
olished
jhantly
!cepto(l,
leadinjj;-
hat are

of the
'ho are
current

tellects

powers
oy con-
v anieli-

hese so-
)Uft the
of social
ly, they
liial and
millions
In other
i of the

worM ratlier in the triumplis of existiii<4' civilization
than in those of C'hristianity.

Against this assumption we venture to suo^frest the
teachings of liistory, and to plant oui'selves on the
very premises sanctioned hy Buckle in his liistory of
civilization (who, hy the way, was no friend of
Christianity), that civilizati(m has neither a principle
of ditliision nor a ])owei' of assimilation; tliat it is a
thin*;' of gi'owth throut;'h the centuries, and while it
lifts some to ciilture and eminent condition, it hui'ls
many to the depths of social de*;iadatioii. We may
safely challeno-e the warmest advocates of civilization
to prove that it evei- went foi'th on a mission to
improve humanity.

But, say these advanced thinkers, if the highest
weal of man is to be secured, he nnist be cultured in
art, science and literature. If there be oni; watch-
word more characteristic of the age than another, it
is this, that to ennoble and bless our humanity you
nmst educate and train the intellect. Fav be it iVom
us to raise a doubt relative to education. I say, edu-
cate to the last degree ; but that mental training
separate from the moral, will ever confer lasting-
advantage on the I'ace, we most emphatically deny.
If aught were re(|uisite to authenticate this position
beyond controversy, we have only to turn to India.
Some thirty year.^ wjothe Indian Govcrvinmt, undar
the auspic(,'s of Lord Kllenborough, am'mated by a
time-serving policy, established a series of educational
institutions in which religion was utterly ignored.

iB5

1 I'

316

DISOOlJllSES AND ADDRESSES.

4 n

Hundrcfls of India's clioiecst sons <^nuhiato(l to tliu
lii<^liest intellectual culture; thoy became faniiliari/ed
with the most classic de])artmeiits of our literature ;
and as I heard that prince of missionaiies, l)i-. Duff,
d(^clare, they could speak our lan^ua^e with an
ele<^ance and propriety which hd't notliini^ to be
desired. An<l what was the result? Why, these
educated men not only discai-ded Jh-ahmiuism, but
Christianity also. They sent to Europe; for the woi'ks
of Voltaire, Rousseau, Bohiif^broke and Hume, indnbed
their statements, and bc^canu; the propagandists of
their infernal principles. I would that Christian
Enj^land liad renounced this old traditional policy,
but in every government school the brand is still on
the Bible. The Koran of the Mussulman is there :
the Shastras of the paji^an are theiv : the Zendavesta
of the Parsee is there ; and theii- lessons, sanguinary,
sensuous or silly, are taught by the agents of govern-
mental authority ; but that book which Christendom
acknowledges as the source of highest inspiration and
loftiest morals, from whose pure precepts all sublime
ethics are dei'ived; which gives sanction to govern-
ment and majesty to law ; on which senators swear
their allegiance, and royalty takes its coronation oath
— that book is subjected to an in<Jex expurgation as
riiiid as ever issued from Rome.

Seldom, if ever, in the wide sweep of the ages has
tiie woild ever read such a lesson of the ejfectfi of god-
less ednoation as in the recent history of India. I
speak on the authority of a worthy prelate of the

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

317

Enf.Hisli Estahlishinciit. Tlwit incanuitc Hcnd, the
sataiiic Imu'o of the (Jawiiporc; massacre, Nana Sahib,
was ('(hicat(Ml on this very pi'iiiciple. He luid the
personal aeconiplishiiients oF tlie most refinecl j^entle-
man, hut th(^ lieart oC tlie veriest demon. Forever-
more sliall that name he transfixed on the darkest
pa<((.'S of infamy, wliile the ))lood of no])h; women and
Cliristian motiiers, with their irmocents — emhirinj:^
ordy as En^hmd's an<l Amcn-ica's (hiunliters can enchire
— the ])loo(l of these b(;trayed but lieroic anrl immor-
talize<l ones, cries out fi'om the dust of TiKh'a's pahiiy
plains a<^ainst the dread folly of that education which
divorces intellect from conscience, cuts ott' tlu; mind
from the <^ravitatin^ power of goodness, and lea<ls
the world frovii instisad of to Ood. Can your tsecular
education redeevi man from the wrong ?■ I ansiuer,
never.

But again, it has been contended by our commer-
cial economists that the extending interlacings of
commerce will surely inaugurate the bi'otherhood of
man. It is gi'anted that in all ages the centres of
commerce have been identical with those of reh'nement
and civilization. Ta<lmor, the mart of Central Asia,
the golden horn of the Hellespont, that drew the
caravans of the east, and the silver of Spain ; Corinth,
wdiose ships swejjt far west of the pillars of Hercules
— these were all renowned as the centres of highest
culture, and such are the connncrcial emporiums of
to-day. T)Ut where is the evidence that commerce
has ever gone forth as the minister of philanthropy

'if!

■¥'

:i; f:

318

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

to man ? Wlioii tliu corn laws wero abolished in
England, and the free-trade policy was inaugurated
by Sir Robert Peel, as the result of the labors of
Richard Cobden, the man that declined the proffered
ribbon because he was one of natun^'s unribboned
nobility, the man whose last public act was to vindi-
cate the claims of your land amid much prejudice —
I say, as the result of his labors, the tide of material
prosperity which rolled in on the commercial classes
fairly bewildered them, and straightway the Man-
chester school of political economists became the
apostles of another ^"ospel of peace : they would
establish their treaties of commerce, and, forsooth,
the nations would henceforth learn the art of war no
more.

Well, sir, the commercial civilization of the nine-
teenth century riptnied into the great industrial
exhibition of 1851, when the representatives of all
nations gathered. The psalmists and prophets of
fancied connnercial millenniums declared that the
hour was ripe when swords should be beaten into
ploughshares and sjjears into pruning-hooks, and war
be no more. And what was the se(j[uel of this bril-
liant })romise of peace ? ' Why, scarcely three years
elapsed before the very nations represented in that
jubilee of commerce and of peace were arrayed in
deadly combat on the heights of the Crimea, a war
mainly, as some think, in the interests of that com-
merce which was held up as the minister of peace.
Six years after came the Austro-Italian campaign,

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

319

wliich closed on tlie blood-stained fields of Soll'erino.
And only ten years elapsed when the <jfa^e of battle
was laid down on this continent, and those who were
bound by every li<^ature of connnerce and brother-
hood became arrayed in terrible conflict, which, hap-
pily for the world, has given to this continent justice
and liberty forever.

Can civilization take hold of humdnitj/, ennoble
and bless ? The verdict of every right-thinking man
is a thousand times, No.

But it may be asked why we thus dwell on the
insufliciency of civilization and its manifold appli-
ances. Why ? Because that class of literature which
lauds this system we have been repudiating, possesses
a peculiar charm for the speculative and progressive
minds of the better class of young men ; because tliis
literature tends to shipwreck all confidence in the
grand agencies which the Church employs for the
world's good ; and because there are men of the free-
thinking class who, by lectures and otherwise with
dexterous adroitness, covertly ply their wit and
eloquence to ridicule the benevolent efibrts of Chris-
tian men, and caricature, as I observed one did, not
long ago, all missionary agencies as the moral hand-
kerchiefs by which fools and fanatics hope to wipe
the grimy sweat from the heads and hearts of the
great unwashed.

Now, sir, we think it is high time that those w^ho
stand on Christian platforms should hurl back the
imputation, and show that if fools and fanatics there

i t;

320

DISCOUHSES AND AI)DKP:S.SE.S.

! I

be, fclwy ;ii-(' tli*? hiinrrsoiiH, (JurtiHCiS, and inaterialiHts
of the John Stuait Mill ty|»(\ who vvouM ask us to
fliii;^ ',\HuU'. tho sun and walk in the li;(ht ol' thoir
(lickn-ijirr tapiirs; to i(^t ^o our Nia<,nira torrent of
lir('-;^ivin<^ WMtcrs and accojtt of th(! ni('a<^n'(! (h-ops
.s((U('('/,(!d }in<l vvrun^ out of their pliilosophie.s. 'I'lieir
names .shall perisli from the earth, hut ( Christianity
sliail iiv(! forever. Tlieir j))iilos()phi(!S shall bo tlun;^
aside as worn-out V(^stments, but the. |)riiiciples of
eternal truth shall flourish h^n^^ as the sun and moon
(iudure.

All the r/reat systeyns of human device are only

fragmentary, Clirldianity is fiiU-orbed. It com<!S to

the ^rc^at republic of ev(!ry individuid mind in fulKist

adaptation to man physical and nuaital, mortal and

immortal.

To ^iv(i Christianity to any peopk; who can esti-
mate the grandeur of the consecpiencos which it en-
tails — to ^ive C^hristiam'ty is to ^ive man <lominion
over the matei-ial eleinents. It is to ^ive. him tin;
spirit which Watt evoked from the waters, and which
moves the world as the |)ower of st(;am. It is to ^ive
that spirit which Franklin evoked from the heavens,
and which, swift as aji^^elic messen<^er, annihilates
space in the celerity of its movem(!nts. It is to {^ive
the triumphal car which sweeps over the contiiKaits
on lines of iron, the palatial steamer that traverses
the seas, and the ten thousand thiri<^s which redeem
life from barbarism. To ^ive Christianity ! It is to
wake the slumbering mind with all the appliances of

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

321

lejU'iiiTi^r. Tt is t/o '/\y*\ in iiiuc, tlir, iiMliictivc )>liilf).s(»-

pliy of lijlCOD, tllCl Hci<'MC(! of N(l\vt011, MIkI the Hl'Jilpllic

poetiy of MiltoM, jiloti^^ with tlmt, Itrilliant ui-niy w iio
luivc |)()nr(Ml t'ortli tlicir irisjtiDition in iininorlal soii;^.
To <;iv(' ( Miri.stianiiy is io uplift the nvnius (»f lil,(.')-t,y.
It is to puhlish the. Mii^ni.i Clmrtaof liuiiiaii i-i;^rlits,
proclaim tiic i-oyalty of tlif one hlood Iliat lca[)S in
tii(' V(!ins, and hoMly assert, amid tlic most ^^'indin;;
despotisms, that \\'h<!n'-vor is found tlnj hcavcn-ci-cctcd
})rovv ht'a.i'iri^ tlu^ stamj) of a (Jod-<^iv(-n intellect,
and a heatin;^' lieai't which tells of a spii-it paiitin;.^
for an immoftal ^^ood, there is the inalienahle hirth-
ri^dit and hlood-ri^ht to civil and ndi^ious lioerty.
To ^^'wii Ciiristianity is to vindicate the sanctity of
th(^ fann'ly and lay broad and deep tlu^ foundation of
those moral and civil institutions which e<lucate the;
spirits of men for their sacred responsihilities. In
one word, to f^ive Christianity is to hrinj^ Divinity
into alliance with man. It is to ^ive (Jhrist, and a<M
to the limitations of tinse the {)eerless thoujj^hts of an
immortal future. Whei'evcr Christianity has ^one, it
has led the way in social and national development.
" Look," says Macaulay, " at the; An^^lo branch of the
^reat Teutonic rac(^" tlu^ race that is repi'esented in
this house to nif^ht. C()nt(Mn])oraneous with the
Augustine a;^^«; of tlu; Roman Emitire, when the lustre
of (Jicero's (docpK^nce yet lin(;ei-e(l in her halls, and the
poetic wit of Horacf;, Virgil and Ovid illunn'ned her
palaces, when luxury and elegance were everywhere

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322

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

in the ascciKlaiit — conteinporanoous with this there
were (Iwellin;:^ on a far-off' isle to the west of tlie
European continent, a race of tattooe<l savaji^es wlio
roainerl the wilds ami dwelt in ca\es. Cliristianitv

came to that race and took them by the hand. Thou(;li
often con(|uored, still, by an absor[)tion of the best
blood of the old sea-kinj^s of the north, tht; V^ikinor
that snifled the brine, and the men of Norman blood, it
fired tlie intellect, it kindled the asj)irations, it led the
way to liberty, it planted them as a power, and ^'dxc
this continent to their dominion. And now Britannia
and her eldest born Columbia. Wliat see we ? The
one shakin<; ofl* the incubus of feudalism by reform,
and the other wiping oft' from her escutcheon the
black dishonor of three hundred years. What see we ^
United they rule the wave. Their line is ^one out
throuj^h all the earth, their speech unto the end of the
world, and their power for good is felt from ^'arthest
Ind to the blue crag that beetles o'er the western
sea. This powei- of Christianity was never greater
than at the pi-esent. Look at that Italian land, whose
diplomatic history has lately been arresting universal
attention, that land to which the world stands a
debtoi", that land on whose walls there yet remain
those matchless colors which, before printing was in-
vented or common schools instituted, were a sacred
literature — the painter's brush and the sculptor's
chisel br'ing the world's printing press, in which gran<l
natures left us nol)le thoughts aiKl inspiration on

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

323

there
ni tlic
>s who
binnity
']\()U^h
le host ..

ilood, it
led the
id fi;avr
•itaniiia
? Tho
reform,
ion the
see we ^
one out
I of the
arthest
western
greater
whose
niversal
:,ands a
remain
was in-
i sacred
ulptor's
;h grand
ition on

canvas, fresco and architectural stone. From that
land we liave received a wealtl of civil law aii<l phi-
losopliies of justice for which we can never repay
them. Look at that land: for twelve hundred vears
she has been trodden under the heel of the most
terriV)le despotism that this world ever witnessed ;
gradually, however, since the days of the martyr
Savonarola, light lias been entering the Italian heart,
till at length, in the allotments of God, a master spirit
came forth. He took down the harj) that for a thou-
sand years Jiad hung upon the willows, while Italia's
daughters wept over her desolation. He took down
the harp, strung his fingers across it, when, responsive
to its music, twenty millions cast off the yoke of the
oppressor and sprang into liberty. Long sliall live in
loving hearts that noblest of all modern heroes; meek-
eyed women shall strew his way with flowers, and
strong men grow tender at his coming. Ever green
shall be the memory of the all-commanding Garibaldi,
whose watchword is Christianity, the cannon that
must liberate Italy. Vanquished, he will be victorious,
and Rome shall yet be given to free speech, a free press
and a free Bible. And, sir, I think we cannot but
rejoice with the world's Christianity over the grow-
ing liberty of Europe. The house of Hapsburg has
gone down ; the house of HohenzoUern has goni^ n\) ;
the policy of Bismarck has checkmated Napoleon ;
the power consolidated on the Rhine bulwarked the
Seine ; the last vestige of the holy Roman Empii'c

324

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

i II

i''

i\.

'(;;: , :

has been swept from the earth, and Protestant Chris-
tianity is ascendant in the councils of Europe.

But what we record of Europe is applicable to the
world. There is not at this hour one strong, stalwart,
sinewy and vigorous superstition on the face of the
eartli. Where now are the porch and the academy,
the dialectics of Aristotle and the philosopliy of Plato,
that graced idolatry in the past ? They are utterly
gone. What is Chinese belief but a mummy which
the breath of free tliought will crumble and drive
away ? What are the systems of India but a mighty
giant smitten with a hopeless paralysis, and Rome,
the mighty somnambulist, is ever weakening at her
centre and dying at her extremities by the forces of
Christianity. Christianity, thou angel of tlie morn-
ing ! I see thee skipping along the hills and stepping
on the mountains, and from thy sunlit pinnacle thou
art evermore lifting up humanity and clasping to thy
heart of love. Advance, flee onward on thy mission,
till Christ shall all the nations bless.

Seven miles from my native village was Abbots-
ford, the home of the great Sir Walter Scott. When
that great wizard of the north lay dying, turning to
his well-beloved Lockhart, he said, " Rax me the
book." " What book ? " aske<l the tender friend.
" Ah," said the dying genius, who had often waved
aloft his wonder-working wand and flung out the
spells of his sorcery, who had made millions weej)
over his " Heart of Midlothian," niillions shudder at

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

325

■fe'

his "Astrologer," and millions rise to ecstasy ovei
his "Fair Maid of Perth,"— " Ah," said the dyin
Sir Walter, " there is but one book for a dyinL,^' mun
and that is the Bible ; rax me the Bible." And, lo !
the surging, weary, dying world cry out, "Rax us
Christianity, rax us the Bible." May we be baptized
to higher work, to nobler endeavor, in and through
the name forever blest. Amen.

!■'

; * ' ' ';

' "';;i

ADDEESS

Delivered at Atlanta before the Conference of

THE Methodist Episcopal Church

South, 1882.

Honored Fathers and Brethren : '

In responding to the call of the cliair, I count
myself happy in being permitted to participate in the
exercises of this auspicious occasion. We have come
from the land beyond the lakes, the valley of the
St. Lawrence, where the Borealis flash their sportive
light athwart the darkness of the midniglit sky, and
where the mists like tented fields hang o'er the shores
of Fundy. We come as the forerunners of what I
trust will be a long succession of friendly delegations,
down to latest ages and generations. We come bear-
ing the greetings of well-nigh a thousand ministers
and many thousand members, wdio hold with you a
like precious faith and a like blissful experience of
our sovereign Christianity. And though we bring no
alabaster box of precious ointment to break in your
midst, we bring what is better, loyalty to a Master
Divine and the perfume of a sincere brotherly affec-
tion to those whom we hail as companions in tribu-
lation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus.

326

ADDRESS TO M. E. CHUllOH SOUTH.

n-27

When some four yetirs a^^o, it was foun<l tl'ut tlie
development of our Church hud been sueli that a new
autonomy was demanded to oive it a greater adapta-
tion to our age and ever-extending field, at the meet-
ing of our first General Confe.rence we were rejoiced
to welcome tlie venerable Dr. Sargeant, whose grace-
ful urbanity and sagacious elocpience were to us an
inspiration and a joy. Though lie did not appear as
an official I'epresentative of your Church, yet he ten-
dered to us a semi-official inxitation to send a delega-
tion to your Conference, and our presence in your
midst to-day is tlie response to that invitation, and
the expression of our Church's desire to join hands
with you in the work of spreading Scriptural holi-
ness over this grand Amtricnn continent.

To you dwellers in this suiuiy land of the south, it
is, perhaps, well that we men of the far north, coming
as strangers, should once for all state the characteris-
tics of that field which God hath given us to cultivate.

The field of" the Methodist Church of Canjida ex-
tends from the summer isles of the Bernmda to the
bleak shores of Labrador ; and from \7here the rude
Atlantic flings its thundering billows against the
granite cliffs of Newfoundland to where the great
Pacific Ocean sends up her placid tides to kiss the
sandy shores of green Vancouver's isle. In this vast
area, we have a territorial division into provinces
which rival in their extent some of the most historic
kingdoms and nationalities on the European continent.

If we begin on the sunrise side of this continent,

,•^28

DISCOURSES AND ADDKESSfil^.

V' :

:!■ r

:'^ -t I

we have tlie Island of Newfoun<Uaii<l lyin^ at the
mouth of the Gulf, which is large as the conil)ine(l
kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the old
Scandinavian homes of the great sea-kings of the
north. Though bleak in its clime and surrounded
with stormy seas, yet here the Methodist Church has
established a Conference, holding within its folds
one-third of the entire population of the island, and
has a magnificent band of consecrated men who
emulate by their self-sacrifice the most heroic ages of
the Methodist Church, and who with jubilant spirit
are proclaiming the Gospel to the fishermen around
the headlands and bays of that seagirt isle. Coming
to the mainland we have the Province of Nov^: Scotia,
that ec^uals in area that old Scotland to which many
so fondly turn. This peninsula has some th'ee thou-
sand miles of seaboard; her hardy sons are to be found
on every sea. In this province we have our second
conference, and Methodism has won a position of
much influence, being marked by an unusual degree
of culture and refinement. Passing to the Province of
New Brunswick, we have a territory large as the
united kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, and with
it that gem of the Gulf — Prince Edward's Iijle, which
is as large as the grand duchy of Parma. In this Pro-
vince of New Brunswick, we have our third confer-
ence, vigorous and aggressive, full of promise for the
future.

Advancing to the great Province of Quebec, we
have a territory large as the entire republic of France.

ADDRESS TO M. E. CHURCH SOUTH.

'A29

i the
billed
le old
f the
iinded
ih has
folds
d, and
who
.ges of
spirit
iround
loining"
Scotia,
I many
i thou-
; found
second
ion of
degree
ince of
as the
id with
which
lis Pro-
confer-
for the

lec, we
France.

Througli tlu' midst of it iniiis tlie rival ol" y( mi-
Mississippi, tlie noble St. Lawrence, whose tributaries
surpass in magnitude some ot* the most historic rivers
on the face of the earth; as, for instance, the Ottawa,
which is longer than the Rhine, and e(]uals tiie
Danube in its volume, draining an area eiglit times
the size of Vermont, and twelve times the size of
Massachusetts, and cap.ible of sustaining some eiglit
millions of people, while its pineries are among the
finest in the world. This province contains a popula-
tion of upwards of a million and a li.ilF, out of which
a million and a <{uarter are of French-Canadian origin.
When it was coiuiuered from France, the ever-gener-
ous instinct of the coiKjueror left the old feudal laws
untouched, and here we have one of the most defiant
and aggressive types of Romanism on the face of the
earth, and it is the misfortune of this province that
it is the only country on this continent, at least
north of the Rio Grande, where the Church holds
power to tithe the land, the direct result of which
has been to impoverish the country, and give to the
Church of Rome unbounded resources. In the very
city from which I come, we have some of the most
colossal churches of this continent, on whose frescoed
walls may be seen copies of the great conceptions
of Raphael and Correggio, frescoes which were to
the Italian people an inspiration and a song before
the schoolmaster was abroad, or yet popular litera-
tu -vas born. Coming from that land where the
despotic and suppressing power of Romanism has

H30

i)lSCOUllSES AND AbDUtSSES.

:• ? «l

^fh'^

kept the [)()[)iil{ition in infantile i^^norunce, you will
pardon us it* we reiterate in your lieai'ing the cry
that the price of .spiritual liberty is (l(;athless vi<f\\-
ance a<^ainst the subtle ai^gressicjus of Rome. We
utter this cry because we have heard from afar of
the Romish conspiracy to, if possible, capture and
dominate this land of the south. In tliis Province
ol* Quebec we have our fourth C/onference, which
embraces one-sixth of the Pi"otestant population, and
no tongue can ade(|uately describe the weary conflict
which our Church has to wage against the over-
shadowings of that spiritual despotism which is
dominant in our land.

And now we come to the Province of Ontario, oiie
ot* the fairest fields on the face of this earth. This
land is triumphantly Protestant. It is ecpial in size
to the empire of Prussia, including the annexations
of Alsace and Lorraine. By the genius of the vener-
able Dr. Ryerson, a system of education has been
developed, which holds the best points in the Prussian
system, the best in the American system, and the best
in the High School system of the motherland, a sys-
tem which has given to the people of this province
educational opportunities second to none. In this
province Methodism has won some of her finest
triumphs.

Sweeping out to the far west, we have the Provinces
of Manitoba, Keewatin and Saskatchewan, which
united are nearly as large as European Russia, with
uncounted lakes and rivers unknown to history and

Address to m. e. church sourii.

i\:n

to Hong ; aiul already tlie vaii^Uiii-<l of jiopuljition is
coming into these fertile lands, wliich will yet tremble
to the tread of freeborn millions. ]jeyond the moun-
tains we have British Columbia, lar^jjo as the Spanish
peninsula, and closing with Vancouver Isle, which
rivals in ext'^nt that verdant isle that, as we all know,
has given out more eloquence and song than any
other. Over this vast territory our Church has
planted missions which in the future will become the
nuclei of Tiew conferences.

It is to us a matter of profound and par<lonabl('
satisfaction that though our Cyhui-ch came after the
Anglican, and after the Presbyterian, yet at this hour
there are more in the Dominion of Canada that hail
to the Methodist Church than to any other Protestant
denomination in the land.

The honor of founding the Methodist Church of
Canada belongs equally to the mother Church in
England and to the Methodism of this great republic
Ever green shall be the memory of those heroic men
who, at the close of the last and the commencement of
the present century, crossed the great lakes and went
through the trackless wilderness seeking for the lost
sheep that were scattered over these lands of the
north star. It is a singular circumstance that the
very first founder of Methodism on this continent
found her last resting-place on our Canadian soil nigh
where our thundering rapids evermore lift up their
pealing voices to the heavens, and sing their ceaseless

■y\ <

332

DISCOUUSKS AND ADDRESSES.

'I f

imr-

re(|iii('iii o'er tlie saiiited doad. Around tlu; nainoH
of Barbara Heck, (jlarrot.soii, Banc's, Bisliop Aslmry,
Soule and McKcndi-ee, vvc Canadians ])ind the inunor-
telle of a doathlesH fame. While the American
Methodist Cliurch thus poured its evan^ehzing agen-
cies into the west, the British Conference, as early as
the time of Wesley, sent out its agents into the
eastern part of our land, and thus it is in the pro-
vidence of God that Canadian Methodism is a com-
bination of the aggressive elements of American
Methodism and the conservative elements of English
Methodism. It is necessary to keep these traditions
of our origin in view, in order to understand the
nature of the Church polity which we have adopted.
As has been already stated, when the development
of our Church w^ ' such as to necessitate organic
changes, especially when the spirit of union had gone
abroad and the Eastern and New Connexion Con-
ferences had joined their fortunes with the larger
Wesleyan Conference as one organic whole — Ameri-
can, with the Americans we accepted your scheme of
confederated conferences, while at the same time, we
have perpetuated the Presbyterian principle which
obtains in the constitution of English Methodism,
and are bound together as you are by the affinity
which arises from loyalty to discipline and a oneness
in faitli and experimental life. Not as though we
had already attained, either were already perfect, we
are still students and watch with anxious solicitude

names
Vslmry,
iminor-
[iierican
1^ ageii-
sarly as
nto the
he pro-
a coiii-
merican
Enj^lish
aditions
md tlie
adopted,
lopment
organic
lad gone
on Con-
e larger
Ameri-
heme of
;ime, we
e which
thodism,
affinity
oneness
)Ugli we
rfect, we
olicitudo

ADDRESS TO M. E. CHURCH SOUTH.

n33

the sohition of some unsolved pi-ohlcms— How to
strengtlien our position in the cities; liow to per-
])etuate tlie original ficslniess and power of the class-
meeting ; how to secure m eonniiingling ( f the forces
of the Clmrcli to ])i"oniote a healthy unity, and how
to put our polity into the hest possible shape for
working out the highest destiny for owv beloved
Methodism — these are problems which we are seek-
ing to solve. Recognizing how suljordinate all the
little <liversities in our polity are, we rejoice to say
that we are one with you in the distinguishing attri-
butes which constitute the Methodist Church all
over the vvorl 1. We are ])le(lged by solemn league
and covenant to stand by the itiniu-ancy, to hold
fast to the fellowship of saints as it finds expres-
sion in class-meetings and love-feasts, and above
all I rejoice that we are one with vou in holdine'
fast to that theology, which is generous as God's
own sunlight, looking every man in the fac(^ and
saying, I have a message of good news foi' you
— a theology which is deep in spiritual meaning
beyond the (h'cam of medineval mystics of the Mon-
tanist, Bernard and Jansenist schools, proclaiming a
supernatural union witli and Divine attestation to the
spirit of man — a theology which hoMs up before the
spirit the possibilities of a progressive perfection,
which l)egun in time shall be perpetuate<l forever-
more — a theology which stands upon a historic basis
which claims for itself a Scriptural authority, and

f.i.

J-1 1 t

■ f ■ ; j

334

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

wliich we believe will largely be the theology of the
Clmrcli ol' the fiitm-e. Handled by the ministry of
Methodism, wluM'ever it finds a heaven-erected brow
and beating heart, which tell of a spirit panting for
an innnoi'tal good, it conuiiands the intellect and finds
a response in the deepest elements of the being.

I r(ijoice to say that our Church is seeking to
recognize its responsibilities to the great age and all
pregnant issues that are upon us. In our Dominion,
as with you, the spirit of (questioning and of doubt is
abroad. Philosophic research and scientific analysis
are driving the j)loughsliare through all systems of
thought. This scepticism is not the roystering infi-
delity of the S(}venteenth and eighteenth centuries,
but infidelity with the pale cast of thought upon its
brow, with anxiety in its look, and hesitation in its
tread, wailing out the admission, " I would gladly
believe, if I ccnild, for I seek and find no Gospel in
the ultimate truth to \vhich I am being driven." This
infidelity, specious and seductive, is appearing to
some of the best lainds of our land, and is taking
captive some of the most promising and speculative of
our young men. In the face of this, our Church has
taken higher education under her special guidance,
and I am glad to say, we have two universities which
are sending out a large proportion of the educated
sons of the Church, arme<l with culture and science
from its Christian standpoint, who in the walks of
professional and public life arc giving strength to

-.:1N.;|

•

' >

1 t !

■ ' ^ 1 L

,1' ;'!,]■ ,

liJ:

iiffli:

of the
stry of
A brow
ting for
id finds

king to
and all
nuinion,
doubt is
analysis
items of
ing infi-
enturies,
upon its
)n in its
I gladly
Jospel in
n." This
iring to
s taking
ative of
iirch has
guidance,
es which
lucated
science
walks of
ength to

ADDRESS TO M. E. (.'HUIICH SOUTH.

335

public sentiment on tin; side of a spiritual (■liris-
tianity, while some four colleges are successfully
engaged in giving refinement and culture to the
daughters of Canadian Methodism.

Our Canadian Methodism holds in hoiioi- men of
the past. Still there linger in our midst some of tin*
fathers, whose faces, worn with a thousand storms,
are in our eyes transfigui'ed and glorified by the
thought of the moral victories which they have Mon,
and nothing is more delightful than to notice their
solicitude for the coming ministry, that it shouM
be educated up to the requirements of the times.
For the accomplishment of this, three theological col-
leges have been established, through which the large
proportion of our rising ministry passes and who,
e(piipped with the highest resources of modern culture
and yet fired with the Methodistic enthusiasm of
the old thundering legions, that are gone, will carry
the trimnphal banner of our Church along coming
generations.

I rejoice to say that with you we recognize the
tremendous forces which belong to literature, how
more than all other agencies, it walks the earth with
giant tread and searching gaze as a power foi- weal
or woe beyond all computation. To aid in giving
this force a direction for good, we have established
our Book C(jncerns in Toi-onto, Montreal and Halifax,
from the presses of which issue our weeklies and
periodicals that are potential for tfie accomplishment
(^f g(K)d.

1 ■ 'i-i i

i '

[ ■

■■:'''

! . r . £ It" I

i ft'^il,, :

JR'""-'' '^' '"

1 iKi.

330

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Nothinji^ takes hoM of the heart of our Canadian
Metliodism like the great missionary cause. For this
purpose, upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars a e annually raised, which is rather more than
one dollar per member. We have missions to the
French, missions to the (Jerinans, missions to the
Indians of our great North- West, which latter have
been specially (jwned of God in sending not a few to
enrich the heavens from those aboriginal races that
are speedily perishing from the face of the earth,
while, feeling our responsibility to the w<3i'ld at large,
with you and the Northern Chui'ch we have gone out
and side by side planted our mission in the empire of
Japan.

Mr. President, I greatly fear that I have encroache<l
upon your time, and I will therefore close. I do so
by expressing the hope that, as holding with you a
like precious faith and a like blessed experience, we
shall stand shoulder to shoidder in the woi'k of con-
quering this world for Christ, one and inseparable
now and forever.

Some few days ago, I crossed the suspension bridge
that spans the mighty gulf of Niagara. As I looked
at that wondrous cataract, I observed that the waters
of the American Fall and the waters of the Canadian
Fall, commingling at their base, sent up a misty in-
cense towards the heavens which, embraced an<l kissed
by the sunlight, blushed and blossomed into a rain-
bow, binding the Canadian shore with the American

Canadian
For this
thousand
lore than
IS to the
4 to the
,tcr have
a few to
aces that
lie earth,
at h\v^^(\
^one out

nnpire

icroached
I do so
ith you a
"ieuee, we
k of cou-
iseparable

ion bridge
s I looked
he waters
Cauadiaii
misty in-
iiud kissed
to a rain-
Auierican

ADDRESS TO M. E. CHURCH SOUTH.

337

shore, and hovering there forevenuore as the symbol
of peace.

Like tliose rushing waters, so I trust the Methodism
of the south and the Methodism of tlie fa'r nortli will
send up a commingling incense of brotherly affection
which forevermore will blossom into the rainbow of
peace, that united on earth ours may be the beatitude
of turning many to righteousness and shining as the
stars forever and ever.

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ADDKESS

To Candidates for the Ministry.

]¥hat is the mission of the ininistry ? It is tlic
mission of ^\iid tidings.

In rofulino- tliat most oriental of all the Greek
classics, yEschylus— oriental because of the splendor of
the imagery that abounds in his dramas — I was par-
ticularly struck with the grandeur of his conceptions
in dramatizing the " Tale of Troy." Troy had been
a power imperious and despotic; Troy had absorbed
the resources of the nations, and in the pi-ide of her
arrogance ha<l flung defiance in the face of the world.
It was ordained that when Agamenuion should com-
pass the fall of I'roy, the intelligence should be
heralded all over the land, till it should reach the
house of Ilius, the home of the concpieror. And so,
on every hill-top, watchers were set, who, when they
saw the flames of Tioy, lighted their beacon-fires in
(juick succession along the continent and across the
sea, until the land was changed to purple and the sea
to blood, while every crested isle of the ^gean sea
shone resplendent from afar, with the intelligence
that Troy had forever fallen, that her insolence was

silenced, and the nations were free.

338

ADDRESS TO CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY. 339

It is the

LC (jrrcck
leiidor of
was par-
iiceptions
liad been
absorbed
le of her
lie world,
nld coin-
lould be
each the
And so,
1011 they
ii-fires in
cross the
d the sea
gcan sea
belligence
ence was

How finely does this symbolize the triumph of the
Son of God, who spoiled tho^o principalities and
powers that had wrought ruin on our race, making
an open show of them all ! How finely does this
illustrate the mission of the ministry, to stand on the
hill-tops of society and lieraM the intelligence that
sin, death, hell have been coiKpiered and heav(>n
opened to the redeemed of our race, till the glad
evangel shall sweep around the world, and the echoes
of its triumph ascend to the lunise of many mansions
and the bosom of God.

This, ye ministers of God, is your high commission
— high, because it holds immortalities within it; high,
because your fidelity to this commission will enrich
the heavens ; high, because reci'eancy to your trust
will augment the woes of eternity.

What is the mission of the ministry ? It is a
mission of leadership in the realm of intelligence and
moral endeavor.

When the British Association gathered in our city
last autumn, I was interested in visiting the various
sections, that I might form some conception of the
scope and magnitude of its objects. I went to the
section of anthropology, or the science of man ; to
that of biology, or the science of life ; of chemistry,
or the science of elements; of mathematics, or the
science of dynamic ecjuations ; of geography, or the
science of terrestrial areas, and of geology, or the
science of world-building. And as I listened to the

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340

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

flower of Rriti.sli intellect, giving forth their prelec-
tions on the various phenomena of nature, from
intinitesimnl monads up to the silurian monsters that
lie interned in the Siei-i-as of the West ; from the
ph(!nomena that research ha."- revealed in the six-mile
<leptlis of ocean, up to tlio rci'raction of the dew-drop
that trembles on the eyelid of the morning ; from the
unseen atom that holds the law of elective affinity up
to the Borealis that shakes and folds its crimson
curtain alon^ the northern sky — I became over-
whehncd with a sense of the grandeur of those
attrioutes which constitute the intelligence of man
and the royalty which encircled the brows of those
men wdio were the leaders in the triumphal march of
discovery.

But what is the leadership of a Humboldt, of a
Faraday, of a Clerk -Maxwell, of a Roscoe, of a Sir
William Thompson, to the leadershij) of a Wesley, of
a Asbury, of a Simpson — yes, down to the leadership
of the humblest man in this house, who has made the
most of himself and given his best service for the
development of holiness. What is the difference ?
The leadership of the former is limited to the tem-
poral and perishable, the leadership of the latter
relates to the eternal and imperishable. All the
culture, all the scholarship, all the consecration at-
tainable are demanded for this great work to which
you are giving your lives.

Wfiat is the mission of the ministry? It is a

Address to candidates Eou the ministry. 341

Divine iniHsion to prevail with God and prevail with
man. All mastery implies the knowled^^e of the
object to be mastered. The finest test of ability is
the knowledge of man. In man we have not only
the noblest but the most intricate and all-compre-
liending work of God. To know man demands the
highest gifts and keenest perceptions. All knowledge
is a graduating (juantity. A man may know a wag-
gon in its simplicities, but not the complexities of a
locomotive. He may know the organism of the
clinging oyster, but not the intricacies of the reptile.
He may know animals amphibious, but not the
bounding antelope or the frenzied tiger. He may
have mastered the structure of the mammalia, but
not the wondrous mechanism of physical man. He
may have gone through the anatomy of man physical,
but stand ignorant of man intellectual, moral and
spiritual. What are the liighest names on the roll
of fame ? Not those wlio sing the sweetest songs,
carve the finest statues, paint the truest pictures, or
compass the grandest discoveries, but those who
interpret man and can handle and mould and build
him up into the image and likeness of that Divine
ideal that is throned in the highest heavens. Next
to the science of God, the science of man is demanded.
And what a science is this ! Every minister should
know him in the attributes of his intellect, in the
emotions of his heart, in the motives that actuate, in
his foibles and weaknesses, and the grandeur of those

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34'2

MSCOtTRSES ANt) ADt^RfiSSIlS.

])<)SHil)ilitioH whieli inliere i'l his beint(, poHsibilities
wliich let loose the win^H of thou^lit to .soar into
tlie reuliiiH of all spiritual and scientific truth, ever
seeking but never finding the ultimate ideals of his
heart's desire but in God alone. This knowledge is
essential to prevail with and w^in men.

Who are the men that have moved the masses ? Our
Caugheys, our Moodys, our Spurgeons, our Ratten-
burys ? These were the masters of that science which
compasses the profoundest knowledge of our human
nature in its attributes and secret workings. Now,
this mission of winning men finds its divinest instru-
ment in the theology of Methodism. I have heard
men say that they would rather have a minister
graduate in arts w^ithout theology, than study theol-
ogy without graduating in arts.

I pronounce such a dictum as founded in folly.
The very men who put forward this pretension will
not adhere to its logical consequences. If a lawyer
had graduated in arts but not in law, would they
employ him ? If a doctor had graduated in arts but
not in medicine, would they risk their lives in his
hands ? I trow not. We have evidence from the
personal testimony of John Bright, England's greatest
orator, and many others, that the power of eloquent
and convincing speech can be obtained without the
endorsement of university degrees.

But luhat is theology ? The most comprehensive and
transcendent of all sciences. Just take the theology

i'lT^

ADDRESS to CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY. t]^V,

of Mctliodisiii. Who has v\vv niastcrtMl \t { Foe
twenty yoai-s 1 have Ix'cii ciidcavoi-ino- to teacli it.
and yet 1 am .s'lndino- as on the niai-^in ol* apprc-
Ii(3ndini,f its sii})liinity. The more ]>roFoundly I look
at it, the more does its ;,n-and'jiir ap})eai-. Evitn-
theoloo-ical system lormiilated througli the a^es has
C'ontribute<I its best elements, while their fallacies
have been repudiated.

It accepts the An^-ustinian doctrine of sin, Init
rejects its tlieory of decrees. It accepts the Pelagian
doctrine of the will, but rejects its denial of human
depravity and tlie necessity of spii-ituai aid. It
acce2)ts in pai"t tlie moral influence theory of Abelavd,
and the substitutional theory of Anselm relative to
tlie work of Christ, but utterly rejects the rationalism
of the former and the quid 'pro quo of the lattei-.
It accepts the Perfectionist theory and deep spiritu-
ality taug-ht by Pascal and the Port Royalists, but
i-ejects their Quietist teachings which destro}^ all the
benevolent activities of Christian life. It accepts the
doctrine of universal redemption as taught by the
early Arminians, but is careful to reject the semi-
Pelagian laxity which marks the teachings of the
later school of Remonstrants. It joins with the
several Socinian and LTniversalist schools in exalting
the benevolence and mercy of God, but never falteiv
in its declaration of the perpetuity of punishment.
Magnifying the efficiency of Divine grace with the
most earnest of Cahinists, it at the same time asserts

■I ' \'M

U4>

blSCOttlSES AND Ai)DhESSE^.

. u.

tliat .salvation i." dependent on the volitions of a will
that is ra<lically free. (Jlenerous as God's own .sun-
light, it looks every man in the face and says, " Christ
died for you." It publishes the j^lad evanj^el of an
indwelling' and witnes.sin^ S[)irit in the heart. It
hoMsoutthe possibility of a victory over the ajuxstate
nature Ijy a.ssertin^ a .sanctitication wiiich is entire,
and a perfection in love which is not ultimate and
final but progre.ssive in its development forever.

This is the theology which God hath <riven us. By
this the Methodist Church has won its victories over
all the world. This will be the theology of the future,
and as we master and handle this theology, we will
be powerful to prevail with men,

" To lead them to the open side
The .sheep fur whom the Shepherd died."

What is the mission of the ministry ? But to
stand as monuments of faith — faith in the sufficiency
of the Gospel for all ages. I am not insensible to the
aboundings of unbelief and destructive .scepticism in
our times, but what are the difficulties of our age to
those which marked the time when Methodism arose.
What were Europe and America at that time ? I
think of Spain. Philip the Second, the Duke of Alva
and Torquemada, by their despotisms and the In-
quisition, had brought down that proud Lucifer, sun
of the morning, to rags, poverty and utter desolation.
I think of Italy, the Italy of Justinian, who gave

Address to (iandidatks for thk MrNisTRV. 345

his pliilosopliy oF justict; to the natioiiH and the a«,'eH.
The Boui-buu deHpotisni had ahcjli.shed all law, the
literature of her ])ante, Boccaccio an<l P«'trarch had
f,^one down in the nlinie of po.st-inediajval depavity. I
think of Germany. The el)l)in;r tide of the Reforma-
tion was followed by intellectual doubt and moral
deterioration and relapse. I think of Fi-ance. The
policy of Richelieu, which made royalty everythin<(
and the people notliin^r, which consiirned one-third (jf
the population to bitter starvation and death. Of
France, bli^dited by the infidelity of Voltaire and
Rousseau, without a God, witliout an inmiortal hojie—
wasted utterly. I think of En^rland— its aristocracy
infidel to tlie core, its Church without Christ or a
nioi-al purpose, its philosophies the ao-nostic denials of
a Hume or Bolingbroke, its conunon people brutalized
to the last degree; while in Amei-ica, under the leader-
ship of Paine and others, the worst phases of French
infidelity were sweeping the young men of the time
into the vortex of abandoned profligacy. This was
the age rife with doubt and denial : this was the au-e
seemingly forsaken of God ; this was the age when,
like the " voice of one crying in the wilderness,"
Methodism began to be heard. The age was one of
indulgence, but Methodism met it with a more than
Puritanic asreticism. The age denied a God ; Meth-
odism did not argue, but prayed and believed. The
age questioned the autliority of the Scriptures;
Methodism did not stop to prove them, but used

■};

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DISCOUHSES AND ADDUESSt^S.

ilu'iii, and 1'uiukI that tlicy were tlie power t)!' (iod
unto .salvation. Tlie Cluirch jj^athenMl up her ski its
of i'eHpeetal)ility, and with a\>i-ted I'aee passed \}y
the perishing niilliouH; Methodi.sni went out into tlie
fields, and lifting up her voice, cried :

" Come, all ye souls by sin opprest,
Ye restless vvaiulerers after rest,
Ye poor, and maimed, and halt, and blind,
In Christ a hearty welcome tiud."

Voltaire cried, " (Jive me hut a (juart(^i' of a century,
and my philo.sophy shall triumph, and Chi'istianity
shall peri.sh from the earth." John Wesley answered,
" Give me a band of men that fear nothintr hut sin
and love nothino- hut holiness, and I will pledjj^e this
world for Christ." The name of Voltaire has o(3iie
into the shades of utter contempt, while twenty-five
million of the followers of We.sley, and millions more
that he has in.spired, join in the pajan sono-, "All hail
the power of Je.sus' name."

Now, I ask, with .such traditions as the.se, which
demon.sti'ate the power of the CJospel, how connnand-
ing shoukl he our faith in its .sufficiency to meet the
deman<ls (^f this and all time. Hoar with age, yet
crowned with perennial youth, 1 see hei* with hope in
lier eye, .strength in her nuiscle, and elasticity in lier
tread, advancing to the concjuest of the world. It is
your.s, ye young ministers, to have unfaltering con-
fidence in this Gospel, which is the power of God and
the wisdom of God.

"i 1

ADDRESS TO CANDIDATES Foil THE MINISTUY. 847

It lins been 8)ii(l that tlw fourtrcntli centiny was
the a<^<' of feudalism, of tournamcMtH, an<l lordly
j^allantrieH, when de<^radati<)ii was for the many and
advanta<;t' for the few ; that tlie tifteentli century
was tlie aj^e of tlio llcnaisHance, wlien art revived and
litei'ature be<^an to lift up lier head ; that the sixteenth
century was the age of rid'orm, wlien awakened intel-
lect and conscience smote the monster superstition,
which had ti'ampled on the lilx'rty of the nations;
that the eighti^enth century was the a<(e of revolution,
when despotic royalties went down before the aveng-
ing Nemesis of freedom, and the rights of man began
to be recognized. But what is this nineteenth cen-
tury ? It is the age of discoveries, when the un- .
fettered intellect is harnessing the forces of natui-e
to its service ; it is the age of iconoclastic temerit\',
in which men are seeking to pull down the very
temples of all belief in the supernatural, and leave
us in the agnostic wilderness of a di-eaiy mtitei'ialism ;
it stands pre-eminent as the age of missions, when
every mountain height and every valley and pampas,
steppe and generous pi'airie, when e\'ery mighty city,
island of the sea and continent becomes a Macedonia,
sending out its many-voiced ciy to the sleeping,
dreamy Church in its Troas of rest, "Come over and
help us."

What is coming in ten years ? I seem to see the
Lireat electric twentieth centurv risino' before me like
a mighty colossus with its swinging gait, with its

Jilu

fitSiiil:!!!;;;! •

348

biSCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

resonant tread, witli its eajjjle-questioning eye, and its
tremendous energy lined in ever^'^ feature coming on
apace. What is the responsibility of the Church, but
to meet tliat age witli an intelligence, with a culture,
with a consecrated ministry tliat shall lead it forth
out of the darkness into the light, out of the bondage
of scepticism, that it may come with benediction,
come with its glad evangel, come with tliat triumphal
song that was first heanron the plains )f Bethlehem,
and will yet go up from a regenerated world, " Peace
on earth, good-will toward men." This is what your
eyes shall see. May God fit you to well perform
your part. Amen. ,

and its
ling on
rch, but
mlture,
it forth
londage
diction,
uinphal
Idehein,
" Peace
at your
Derform

ADDEESS

Delivered Befoiie (Eciimenical Counx-il,
Washington, October, 1891.

Mr. President : ^

It is twenty years since I last stood on a Washing-
ton platform. The occasion was eminently historic.
A great, a Christian, convention had assembled in
this city, consisting of a thousand representative men
from every State of this Republic and the Dominion
of Canada. To this convention the citizens had ten-
dered a brilliant reception. The platfoi-m was hon-
ored by the presence of General Grant, with some of
the ministers of his Government and men of dis-
tinction from the North and South. The President,
whose habitual reticence entitled him to be called the
" William the Silent," signalized the occasion by a
brief but warm and enthusiastic address of welcome.

Coming as we did from the Dominion of Canada,
and doubtless because an alien, we were invited to
respond to his kindly words. I remember the deep
emotions of the hour, arising from a felt diplomatic
strain then existing between England and America,
and also from the fact that the night before the
Senate of this Republic had ratified the Washingto^

349

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350

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Treaty, ordainiiif:^ that the principle of arbitration
should be the nietliod of settlement for all our national
controversies. I remember on that occasion, ventur-
ing to tell that great soldier, that illustrious head of
this people, that the ages would bless the memory of
the man representing the injured nation, the warrior,
the famed warrior, who had lent his influence to in-
augurate an era when national antagonism should be
settled, not by the blood-red testament of war, but by
the friendly councils of peace, since by this act he
bound our imperial, unconquerable race, on both sides
the Atlantic, who speak the same ascendant language
of the future, who hold in their thinking the genius
of liberty, and who are aggregating moral forces all
over the world, he bound them in the bonds of a con-
cord which, in the words of Webster, makes them one
and inseparal)le now and fore'^er ; entwining the red-
cross flag of old England with tlie star-spangled
banner on every sea, in every land.

And now again, we stand on a Washington platform
to join with you in welcoming those brethren beloved
who have come from afar, who have come over what
the Greeks delighted to call the "wo-A// OaXaffffa,"
the beautiful sea, which I doubt not you found beauti-
ful. Brethren beloved ! did I sa,y ? Yes, men from
that isle we love to call the motherland — home of an
open Bible, cradle of our beloved Methodism; men
from dear old ever-green and ever-troubled Ireland,
whose sanctified sons have given their ekxpience like

fECUMENIOAL ADDRESS, WASHINGTON.

351

fcration
ational
/entiir-
lead ol"
lory of
warrior,
3 to in-
M\\d be
but by

act lie
ih sides
nguafije

jrenius
Tces all
t a con-
em one
,he red-
langled

latforin
beloved
31' what

beauti-
sn from
18 of an
n ; men
Ireland,
nee like

a Guard and enthusiasm to the churches of this land ;
men from the vales and fiords of Scandinavia, who
sing of a nobler Valhalla than Norsemen ever dreamed ;
men from the land of Luther, Melancthon, and Hpener
the pietist; men from the vine-clad hills of sunny
France, where Coligny, with the Huguenot Confessors,
witnessed with their blood, and from the home of
Savonarola, Boccaccio and Peti-arch ; m(>n who njpre-
sent the Methodism of the Dark Continent, wliich,
like Stanley's Clou<l King Mountain, is sending its
living waters across the aridities of that land which
will yet blossom into beauty amid soups of thanks-
giving and the voice of melody ; men whos(> eyes have
seen the Taj-Mahal, symbol of the splendors of India
and the coming glory of her redemption ; valiant men
who have uplifted the blood-stained banner amid the
teeming myriads of China and .Japan ; men who are
laying the moral foundations of that great P]mpire,
the commonwealth of Australia, which is rising be-
neath the Southern Cross; men from the southern
isles, those emerald gems, set in cameos of coral white-
ness, redolent forever with names of Cai-(nll, Hunt
and Lytli ; men from the pampas of South America,
on to the misty shores of Xewfoun<lland, all around
the world, from farthest Ind to the blue crags that
beetle o'er the western sea — we clasp hands as holding
the same faith, singing the same hynujs, thrilling
with the same jubilant emotions as sin-forgiN'en men
— wc clasp hands with those wlio represent worlfl-

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352

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

wide Metli dism as one and inseparable now and
forever.

We welcome you to the inspiration and resjxmsi-
bility of this Council. On this American continent
we are confronted witli the most stupendous moral
problems which ever appealed for solution to the
Christianity of any age — " problems," says Gladstone,
"arising from the complexities and perplexities of
conserving the morale, the integi'ity of modern Chris-
tian civilization." From the sub-arctic lands of
Iceland to the everglades of the Ionian isles and
shores of the Hellespont : from the Spanish peninsula
to the fastnesses of the Caucasus, leading the way to
Siberia, there is not a nation, not a tribe or people
but is sending its mighty contingent, wasted by
despotism, brutalized b}^ ignorance and poverty, cor-
rupted by vice, into the eastei-n portals of our con-
tinent ; while the Celestials, non-assimilative, are
knocking at the door and forcing entrance into the
West. These millions from Europe mainly swell our
urban population. The great cities of this Union and
the minor cities of our Dominion are being crowded
with men who speak the polyglot languages of Europe
— men atheistic, men socialistic, men Romanistic, men
Nihilistic, men at war with the Christian Sabbath
and Christian institutes, men who have rounded their
Cape of Good Hope and drifted down to the Mozam-
bique of an utter, utter ruin, to whom come no moral
zephyrs from an Araby the Blest.

(ECUMENTCAL ADDRESS, WASHINGTON.

.353

and

We welcome you who come from an older civiliza-
tion, the home of the race, where it ha.s ascended out
of aboriginal conditions; where it has built up a
magnificent literature ; where it has shaken off feudal
institutes and asserted the radical equality of man ;
where Protestant Christianity was formulated and
launched on its evangelistic career — we welcome you
to aid us in the solution of those mighty problems by
the higher and better adjustment of Methodism to
the issues of our time, that we may stand as potent
factors with the militant host of God's elect in rescu-
ing our cities from the domain of evil, and planting
them as gems in the coronal of our Redeemei-. on
whose head are many crowns. We welcome you to
the task of joining with us in the organization of the
latent and undeveloped forces of oecumenical Meth-
odism as a pan-reformatory power. I would that in
the fires of this Council there might be forged a moral
projectile that shall smite the opium curse in Asia:
that shall strike down the drink traffic of Europe
and this continent ; that shall slay the hydra-headed
monster vice ; on and on, until

" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run."

We trust this Council shall not pass without the
introduction of a resolution in support of British
Christians, who are endeavoring to repeal the legisla-
tive injustice and remove the opium curse, a calamity
23

354

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

'■ M

1 1
I

i: '

and a ruin whicli ton<;iU' can never declare. In tlie
name of ourCliriHtianity, I ask tliat this Council shall
endorse the su«;'^estion.

Coming as we do From the land of the Rorealis,
from the valley of the lakes and Lower St. Lawrence,
we welcome our hi-ethren to the vast areas of oui*
Dominion, areas fortv times those of tlie British
Isles, seventeen times those of the Empire of Prussia,
and twelve times that of the Republic of France— a
land that has still rivers unknown to song and valleys
untrod by the foot of civilization, which will yet
tremble to the tread of free-born millions manifold,
vast as the population of Europe.

We welcome you to a land where there is only
one Methodism, a iniited Methodism, the Methoilist
Church of Canada, which stands to-day as a humble
light to encourage Methodism all over the world to
combine in an organic unity, that shall husband its
monetary and spiritual resources for the advantage
of universal man. Vigorous and aggressive, one out
of four of the Protestant population worship in her
temples and swear fealty to her faith.

We welcome you to our hearts and shall not cease
to pray that the inspiration of your presence and
ministry may lift our Churches to a higher life and
nobler consecration.

Mr. President, I seem to stand between the past
and the present, between the living and the dead. I
have clasped hands with Jabez Bunting, at once the

(ECUMENICAL ADDllESS, WASHINGTON.

355

{.'uloHsus and Ricliolit'U, wlio put the iiii[)mss of liis
coiiwtnictive and legislative Genius oii British Meth-
odism. 1 have i'ellowshipped with Dr. Lovick Pierce,
son of the Sunny South, who in his ninety-third
year, told me God held him in life to witness foi- a
sanetitication entii-e. 1 have looked into the auroral
face of Dr. Dixon, whose philosophic «,n-andeur and
imaginative wealth, made him peerless in the pulpits
of England. I have travelled with Bishop Thomps»)n.
an Erasmus in learning, a Chrysostom in elo([uence.
I have listened to the silvery sweetness of a Di-.
Hanna, who educated more ministers than anv man
of his age ; and have seen the stately Dr. McClintock,
primus as a theological educator in the American
Church. I have been cheered in youth bv the words
of William Harvard, who conunitted the mortal
remains of Dr. Coke to the deep, his winding-sheet
the waters of the Lidian Ocean, his requiem the
breezes which came from Ceylon's Isle. On my head
rested the hand of the sagacious Jackson : while the
portals of the ministry were opened to me by Dr.
Matthew Riche}', who sleeps nigli to the land of
Evangeline in Nova Scotia. 1 have kindled under
the uni(|ue and lofty utterances of Dr. Beaumont as
he rolled like the thunder, whispered like the breeze,
and on the wings of thought sublime sprang elastic
to the very spheres. 1 have tabernacled with Joseph
Dare, the Apollos of Au.stralia, and count it the honor
of my life to have shared the friendship of Bishop

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356

DISCOURSES AND ADDRESSES.

Simpson, whose logic was fire, whose argument was
irresistible, whose emotional power was like unto the
noise of the wind in the mulljerry trees, swaying
the multitudes and lifting them to a sublimity and
rapture transcendental — Simpson, it may be doubted
whether the generations will witness an approach to
his pulpit power. Time would fail me to speak of
Payne the gentle, of Janes the apostolic, of Kavanagh
the fearless, of Gilbert Haven the aggressive, of
Doggett the pride of Virginia, of Applebee the saintly,
of Rattenbury the pathetic, of Caughey the flaming
evangelist, of Peter Cartwright the Boanerges, and
Father Taylor, immortalized by the genius of Dickens.
I knew them all. Shades of the departed, throned on
high, they stand in the empyrean and wear the ama-
ranth of " well done " forever.

Mr. President, we pause. We advance to the shrine
which holds tlie names ever dear f George Osborne,
Matthew Simpson, John McTeiyere, with others who
graced and adorned the platform of the last (Ecumeni-
cal Council. We a<lvance to that shrine ; we place our
wreath of remembrance wet with tears.

From the affluent and tender memoi'ies of the
past we turn our faces to the opening portals of the
twentieth century, and M'ith high resolve and holy
purpose detei'mine to stand by the eclectic theology
of Methodism, which serenely looks on all destructive
criticism, Germanic, Anglican, or American, with defi-
ant disdain— to stand by its polity, to stand by its

it >,

(KCUMENICAL address, WASHINGTON.

357

experimental life, and seek to lift it to a higher plane
and more realistic power. We pledge each other to
attest the innnanence of God in man as an unshaken
and eternal verity.

I have stood on the New England coast and looked
out at the granite rock as it lifted its head above the
troubled waters ; I have seen the mighty billows,
driven by the south-west wind, lift themselves and
overwhelm the rock, and for a moment it seemed to
be gone. But it was only for a moment ; that rock
tossed back the billows, and as they fell in spray,
coruscated into a rainbow brilliance, making it more
beautiful than ever. That rock symbolizes the ex-
perimental life of Methodism, those waters the ever-
shifting speculations of men. Driven by the winds
of prejudice and unbelief, they sometimes seem to
sweep over the Church, and we say, " it is gone ! "
But only for a moment : our Methodism tosses them
back, and stands more beautiful than ever.

Mr. President, I feel at this moment something like
the ideal statesman of this continent, Henry Clay.
He had climbed with some friends the heights of the
Alleghanies ; he had gone out on a Jutting crag. Look-
ing toward the valley of tlie Ohio and the prairie
lands, as yet all silent and desolate, in statuesque
grandeur, he was seen to bend his liead as if listening
to a sound that came from afar. "What hearest thou,
Senator from Kentucky ? " asked his familiar friend.
" Hear ? " responded the great statesman, " I hear the

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DISCOrilSES AND ADDHESSKS.

tliundur tread o\' tlio c()iniii«;' niillioiis, who arc nuircli-
\\\^ ow'V till' inoimtaiMH to [johhchs tlicsc [)niirit' lauds,
away and away to tlie .setting sun. "

In tlie presence of these representatives, I seem to
heai" tlie tliunder ti'ead of tlie coniinti" millions of
Methodism, who will ascend to the mountains of
myi'rh and frankincense, when the day breaks and
the shad(jws forever tlee away.

'" Post tfMehras lux," cried the hero of Geneva —
after darkness, li^ht : after the labor, the conflict, the
shadows, the nij^lit of earth, we shall clasp hands in
the light of heaven, the beatific vision of God.

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