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OH THE 
 
 Hiiilgit tl 
 
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 T. WATSON SMITH. 
 
 HALIFAX, N. 8. 
 Printbd bv William Macnab, 11 Pwnce Strbet. 
 
 1869. ' 
 
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REVIEW, &«. 
 
 To a bundle of pamphlets, always burdensome at times 
 of removal, we have lately — by purchase— added another. 
 This new pamphlet, from the " Colonial Standard Publish- 
 ing OflBce," bears the title — *' Sermon on the danger of ex- 
 citement," preached by the Rev. James Anderson, at Six 
 Mile Road, Wallace, N. S. The whole work contains 
 about sixteen pages, seven of which are covered by the 
 sermon ; the remaining nine t z*^ used for covers, fly-leaves, 
 and a solitary note. 
 
 The note alluded to is the c- nnecting link between that 
 pamphlet, and the ono now in the leader's hands. In it 
 the author states, that in consequence of the misrepresen- 
 tation of the sermon, by some who were present, he has 
 by request of friends, published the sermon, in order that 
 his congregation "may have in their hands the means of 
 contradicting these base misrepresentations." As these 
 "base misrepresentations'' are believed to be but the 
 simple statements of Methodists, principally resident on 
 the Six Mile Road, who formed the larger part of Mr. 
 Anderson's congregation on the occasion to which he 
 refers, and who felt deeply grieved by the course he 
 adopted, we, who had a seat near the desk at the time, 
 cannot allow the imputation to pass unnoticed. 
 
 The step now taken, is not taken willingly. The bur- 
 den of care, which the work of the ministry always in- 
 volves, has been in the past, in no small degree lessened 
 by the fact, that in our several spheres of labor, we have 
 enjoyed the friendship of worthy co-laborers, connected 
 with the various branches of the christian church. If 
 now, an act of unlooked for, unprovoked opposition — 
 justified, rather than regretted, by the party responsible 
 for it, — obliges us, like the Jews of old, to become at the 
 same time builder, and defender, and to take up weapons, 
 to the use of which we are not at all accustomed, we do 
 Qot assume the responsibility. During the weeks which 
 
r r 
 
 2 
 
 have elapsed since the preaching of the sermon about to 
 be reviewed, every proper effort has been made to cast 
 oil on the troubled waters ; for the sake of peace, false- 
 hoods in circulation have been allowed to pass with mere 
 private contradiction, and sincere satisfaction has been 
 felt because of a seeming abatement of public interest in 
 the matter ; now however, the publication of a part of the 
 sermon, and the aforesaid "note,'* renders farther silence 
 unadvisable. 
 
 Copies of the pamphlet, now on my desk, may have 
 fallen into the hands of persons quite ignorant of the cir- 
 cumstances under which the sermon was preached : to 
 aid such in ascertaining the probable aim of the preacher, 
 the following facts are stated. (1.) That during a three 
 years* residence at a distance of only three miles from iho 
 Six Mile Road school house, he had preached in that 
 neighborhood but once before. (2. ) That it is the general 
 custom, when numerous ministerial engagements admit 
 of only an occasional sermon in a certain locality, to take 
 advantage of the opportunity to enforce some leading 
 doctrine, or some rule of christian practice, liable to be 
 forgotten, where public religious services are " like 
 angels visits, few and far between." (3.) That at that 
 time extra services, with a view to the revival of the 
 work of God — such services as have been the means of 
 the conversion of thousands in Presbyterian as well as iu 
 Methodist churches — were being held on the Six Mile 
 Road. Of excitement, such as characterized the revivals 
 in McCheyne's church, in Scotland, or those in the Presby- 
 terian Churches in Ireland, a few years since, or that iu 
 connection with Theodore Cuyler's church iu Brooklyn, 
 two or three winters ago, — ^if we may judge from a prayer- 
 meeting we attended in that church some months after — 
 there was, we fear, not enough. We needed more 
 kindling-wood at the time, not water. Of ' ' proselytizing " 
 excitement there was none. Not a word, with a view to 
 this, was spoken, and during the services it was publicly 
 stated, that while we felt it to be the duty of every man 
 who was earnestly seeking, or had found peace with God, 
 to connect himself with some branch of the church, we 
 considered no man bound, because of benefit received in 
 these services, to become a member of the Methodist 
 church. No notice of closing had been given — for rumors 
 
 > > 
 If 
 
I'-r 
 
 we are not responsible — when a messaf^^ came on Sabbath 
 asking for Mr. Anderson the use of the school houae on 
 Wednesday evening. The request was at once granted, 
 the intended service announced on the following evenings, 
 and on Wednesday evening the sermon on excitement, the 
 largest part of which most of my readers have had in print 
 before them, was preached. (4.) Had Mr. Anderson wish- 
 ed to warn members of his own congregation against ex- 
 citement, he had the opportunity of doing so on Sabbath 
 at the Kirk in Wallace, where his people on the Six Mile 
 road attend. 
 
 These facts presented, the reader is of course free to 
 draw his own conclusions. From the same facts nearly, 
 if not quite, all the Methodists present — who had of course 
 the advantage the hearer possesses over the reader — that 
 of being able to judge by voice, gesture, &c. — drew the 
 inference that the intended purpose was to crush out the 
 revival. Let it be remembered, that the inference was 
 drawn by a congregation strongly prepossessed in the 
 preacher's favour, some of whom had not hesitated to 
 shew their personal regard for him by tangible proofs, 
 when tangible proofs were needed. 
 
 We have spoken at length concerning the intention of 
 the discourse ; let us now inquire into the correctness of 
 its teachings. Two passages from the Gospel according 
 to Matthew, make up a double text. The one, Matt. xxi. 
 9, describes the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem^ 
 the other. Matt, xxvii. 22, the clamor of the Chief Priests 
 and the multitude for his blood. The two scenes are 
 pourtrayed and placed in contrast with each other ; it is 
 taken for granted that those who shouted, " Hosanna to 
 the Son of David," and they who cried to Pilate, "Let 
 him be crucified," did not only " belong to the same race 
 and city, speak the same language, and profess the same 
 faith," but, with a few exceptions, were the same indi- 
 viduals. On this assumption are based sundry exhorta- 
 tions to beware of ** mere excitement." 
 
 It is stated, see page 1, that 
 
 *' These passages have often been quoted to describe the charac- 
 ter of the religious professors who under the solemn and holy influ- 
 ence of the service of the sanctuary, have been moved to vomt and 
 resolve allegiance and attachment to Jesus Christ ; yet who have been 
 found when the solemnity of the occasion, and the warning, earnest 
 words of the man of God have become things of the past, as harden- 
 
T 
 
 cd and callous as ever, etc There are other passages 
 
 and incidents in the Bible which set forth and illustrate the strange 
 and sad pliase of human nature, but none so clear and forcible as our 
 text." 
 
 For the honor of the pulpit, we hope that it is not true 
 that these passages have, been often quoted to teach " the 
 strange and sad phase of' human nature referred to." If 
 so, there is little cause for wonder that such pulpits have 
 been powerless for good. l)o these passages, we would 
 ask, illustrate at all, " that phase of human nature ? " Th 
 more pleasant scene of the two — all the more pleasant be- 
 cause seldom witnessed — that in which Christ, as the 
 King of Kings, receives homage from man is thus describ- 
 ed : 
 
 " Looking back through the vista of eighteen hundred years, we 
 see Jerusalem on a certain day pouring forth from street and lane, 
 exultant thousands to welcome her King to his capital ' Hosanna, 
 
 to the Son of David.* Such is the cry of welcome, etc 
 
 Now this jubilant multitude belong not to one class. It has repre- 
 sentatives from all classes and conditions of the inhabitants of Jeru-. 
 salem. The occasion has allured the young and the old, the rich 
 and poor. Merchant and artizan, lawyer and client, teacher and pu- 
 pil, crowd and jostle with one another to get a sight of Jesus, and to 
 pay court to him who is called King of the Jews t " 
 
 The passage is fine, we admit, but is it true ? We 
 have sought in the Bible for any foundation frr it, but in 
 vain. Whether the germ of the idea is to be found in 
 Ingraham's "Prince of the House of David," we cannot 
 say. That book was once on our library shelves, but is 
 not there now. This much we gather from the Evange- 
 lists, concerning the scene, " Much people (according to 
 Matthew a very great multitude) not of Jerusalem, but 
 who were come to the feast, where they heard that Jesus 
 was coming to Jerusalem, " took branches of palm trees, 
 and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna, Blessed 
 is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.'' 
 John xii. 12. When these had escorted him into Jerusa- 
 lem ** all the city was moved, saying Who is this ?" — 
 Matt. xxi. 10. Who the actors in the scene were let Luke 
 answer, "And when he was come nigh, even now at the 
 descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of 
 the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud 
 voice for all the mighty works that they had seen ; saying 
 Blessed be the Kiac that cometh in the name of the Lord ; 
 
 
 I 
 
 
I 
 
 peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." — Luke xix. 
 37-8. We know of no other actors in the scene than the 
 disciples ; Pharisees were there, but afraid of excitement 
 they did not " praise God with a loud voice," but went 
 with injured countenances to the Master and said, " Mas- 
 ter rebuke the disciples." — Luke xix. 39. Let those who 
 see in this scene a " mere excitement, the rcsu'.t of a 
 wave of unintelligent popularity," remember the Master's 
 answer to the Pharisees, " If these should hold their peace 
 the stones would immediately cry out." — Luke xix. 40 ; 
 and his answer to the chief priest and scribes, who, of- 
 fended when children in the temple caught from worship- 
 ping disciples tlie strains of praise, and chanted "their 
 young Hosannas to His name," sought from the Master 
 Un order for silence, " Have ye never read, out of the 
 iTiouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected 
 praise." — Matt. xxi. 15. These passages escaped the 
 preacher's eye. The earnest pleading of a child of God 
 on earth with Ilim whom he is taught in the New Testa- 
 ment to regard as his Father in Uoaven, are spoken of in 
 the discourse as "forwardness," "unbecoming familiar- 
 ity/' " presumption." Do not these terms more fitly de- 
 signate the conduct of those who speak of " perfected 
 praise," and of utterance so heartfelt, that silence would 
 cause even the stones to cry out, as mere excitement, a 
 ^* wave of unintelligent popularity." " What God hath 
 cleansed that call not thou common or unclean." 
 
 At page 3rd the reader is asked to turn his eye, 
 
 *' To the disorderly and infuriated rabble that rage around Pilate's 
 
 Judgment hall Instead of Hosannas to the Son of David, 
 
 the cry that vibrates in the air is ' Let him be crucified.' How tre- 
 mendous the change in every look, and tone, and gesture ! The 
 eye that a little before beamed reverence and respect on Jesus, now 
 flashes with anger and malice; the lips on which a little before play- 
 ed the smile of good-will and welcome, now tremble with hatred. 
 Surely the actors in both these scenes cannot in any way be related? 
 But let us look at those crying ' Let him be crucified.' And as we 
 pass our eye from individual to individual we observe not only simi- 
 larity, but sameness of features. True we miss the disciples of our 
 Lord, and a few friends. But strange, we recognize many of those 
 who exclaimed vociferously ' Hosanna to the Son of David.' " 
 
 We are short-sighted mortals ; we cannot see clearly 
 as can some through the " vista of eighteen hundred 
 j'ears;" mists are Heating about near the hither side, 
 
 n 
 
 y^ 
 
which shut out our view. We therefore rest upon the 
 testimony of those who lived when the stirring events of 
 which our author wrote were taking place. A man " on 
 that side of the bank of the river " tells us whence the 
 " Hosann as " proceeded — from the "whole multitude of 
 the disciples :'Mn his narrative of the second and sadder 
 scene, he tells us of timid disciples who fled, and even of 
 one who with curses tlenied bis Master, but gives us no 
 intimation, however slight, that a single disciple, who 
 shouted Hosanna, lifted np his voice in that terrible out- 
 cry which startled heaven and earth, *' Let him be cruci- 
 fied." A man on "this side of the bank of the river" 
 confuses us. He writes, *' true we miss the disciples of 
 our Lord, and a few friends." Thus the disciples, the 
 very men who shouted " Hosanna," are dismissed from 
 the scene, and yet, as he compares the triumphal crowd 
 with the rabble, those who gathered around the Saviour 
 at the descent of Olivet, and those who clamoured for his 
 blood at Pilate's judgment hall, he ** observes not only 
 similarity but sameness of features." As if a little lad 
 should say, " lake two from two and two remain." 
 
 A noted divine of a former generation, with no small 
 labor, prepared and published an edition of Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress, with notes, intended to aid the uneducated reader. 
 Meeting one day a man of this class, into whose hands 
 the work had fallen, the author asked his opinion of it, 
 and was not a little surprised by the man's reply, that ho 
 liked the main part of the book very well, but could not 
 understand the notes I Just such is our own diflSculty ; 
 we can understand the text, but not the notes. 
 
 He errs, we think, who supposes that among the mul- 
 titude who followed the Saviour to the cress, there were 
 DO bleeding hearts except those of the women, and of the 
 twelve who had courage to face that sad death scene ; no 
 cross-bearers toiling up the ascent of Calvary save Simon 
 the Oyrenian. Had Simeon and had Anna left no followers 
 of their faith ? 
 
 Of the common people, who had heard him gladly, or 
 of those who saw his miracles, or to whom and to whose 
 friends he had given sight, hearing, speech, and given 
 back the life that had fled, were there none among the 
 " much people that were come up to the feast " to shout 
 his praises and weep over his death f There was a Joseph 
 
 ■""^Ki 
 
 (v 
 
-r^ 
 
 oi Arimathea, a Zaccheus, one borne at Bethauy contain- 
 ed Mary* Martha and LazaruB, between whom and Christ 
 there existed a mutual attachment ; were these the only 
 disciples, beside the twelve ? Forty days later, when the 
 shepherd had been smitten and the sheep scattered, one 
 r undred and twenty persons met in an upper room at 
 Jerusalem, to await in a prayer meeting the baptism of 
 the Holy Ohost. Where then is the necessity of assum- 
 ing that the multitude who offered to Christ praise in the 
 day of his triumph, was the one which clamoured for his 
 blood in the day of his humiliation ? 
 
 We pass by the question, "whence the sudden change," 
 for the simple reason that no sudden change took place, 
 but duty forbids us to pass without notice those severe 
 denunciations of excitement which make up the remaining 
 part of the discourse. And here let us pause to say that 
 we have read the discourse, and have had it read to us, 
 and yet cannot bring ourselves to believe that it is in 
 every respect the same sermon as that to which we lis- 
 tened so attentively at the six mile road school house a 
 few weeks since. With any additional embellishments 
 we find no fault — we do not remember the " solemn pic- 
 ture gallery," or the "balloon" — for custom permits a 
 minister to take his sermon home and polish it up, and 
 the politician to revise his speech, and then publish it as 
 the sermon or speech delivered at such a time and place ; 
 as far as the welfare of the general reader is concerned, 
 we are rather pleased than pained by the suppression of 
 certain strong language ; but as the sermon is placed in 
 the hands of Mr. Anderson's congregation, to enable 
 them to contradict certain "base misrepresentations/' 
 they should have it, not as it was written, but as it fell 
 from the preacher's lips, or not at all. An ordinary 
 reader would read the printed sermon in fiftc * or twenty 
 minutes ; we believe that the delivery of the sermon oc- 
 cupied twice that length of time. Suffice it to say, that 
 the denunciations of the lip were stronger than those of the 
 pen. 
 
 Had the preacher that evening remembered that "over- 
 doing is the devil's way of undoing" and expressed his 
 fears, warning against the evil, while he took care to 
 encourage the good, he would have attracted towards 
 himself the christian love of anxious hearts, who might 
 
'r^' 
 
 r 
 
 have remembered his name in connection with their 
 religious experience throughout their term of service in 
 the church militant, and through the eternity of joy in 
 the church tiiumpbant. We had that day, in another 
 part of the circuit, committed to the grave the remains of 
 one whose relig'ious iito commenced during a revival, 
 many years ago, and who from his bed of death had tau^t 
 us by his patience and meek, yet unwavering confidence, 
 new lessons concerning the supporting power of the 
 Redeemer, in pain, and in death ; an aged friend, at whose 
 fireside W3 had taken a seat for a short time, on our way 
 home, had been telling' us of the conversion in a revival, 
 of some of his children, who had since passed away, 
 leaving behind them a good testimony ; so that it is pos- 
 sible that wo were less prepared to listen to wholesale 
 denunciation of religious "excitement," than on an ordi- 
 nary occasion. As it was, we felt that the preacher wa» 
 that evening pursuing a dangeror.s course ; and now with 
 his admissions in the pamphlet before us, we feel our con- 
 viction to that effect strengthened. The danger in such 
 cases, is a two-fold one. " A religions revival " is said 
 in the sermon, to be " the work of God ;" " a religious 
 excitement," " the result of man^s plans and purposes ;" 
 Man plans and purposes, when evil, can only be prompted 
 by the devil, who, H is admitted in the sermon, may 
 *' appear as an angel of light, and take of the things of 
 Christ to further his own evil purposes." "A religious 
 revival " then, is the work of God ; a religious excitement 
 the work of the devil. Yet, remarks the preacher, "the 
 appearances are alike, the difference lies in the heart." 
 Then, if the difierence lie in the heart, that mystery of 
 mysteries", who should veutu-e to judge, save God alone? 
 It was the rash declaration Oi envious Jews, " He castcth 
 out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils," which 
 brought out in the teachings of Christ, that.most solemn 
 and startling of all the lessons ho taught, that on the sin 
 against the Holy Ghost. There is a danger in this direc- 
 tion, but there may also be danger in another direction. 
 Words, like small things generally, are mighty in their 
 influence — too mighty to be strung together like beads, 
 and thrown at random into a crowd. Wholesale denun- 
 ciation of wrong may possibly blind some to what is right ; 
 advice unguardedly given, may possibly lead somb friend 
 
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 into dangers of which wo never dreamed. So we have 
 
 thought, while reading some sentences on the fourth 
 
 page of the pamphlet before us. A few of these sentences 
 
 we transfer. 
 
 *' Take, for example, a man of quick feelings, and see how soon 
 he is wrought upon ; a hymn beautifully sung irill make him quiver. 
 When the love of God is spoken of or the glories of the Ne :v Jeru- 
 salem described ; when the sufferings of the martyrs, or tlie death- 
 beds of the saints are described, he is moved with much feeling, and 
 perhaps tears trickle down his face, and then he persuades himself 
 that, because he is the subject of these emotions, his heart is religi- 
 ous, and that he is converted, or being converted." 
 
 Too much promiuence cannot be given in the pulpit to 
 the truth taught in the passage. Right glad shall we be 
 if here, our readers will pause, and ask as in the sight of 
 God, the reason of the hope which is in them. Yet though 
 these passages are followed by exhortations, a hidden 
 danger lurks near. Is it not possible that hearts softened 
 by these influences, and ready to pray, may remember 
 the above quoted utterance, and say, " this is only ex- 
 citement," and rush back into paths of heedlessness ? Take 
 hymns, for instance, even " exciting " hymns, spoken of 
 in another page. Who that has marked their influence 
 upon the Reformation of the sixteenth century, or their 
 influence upon individual hearts in every branch of the 
 Church, can overrate their value ? A singer in one of our 
 church choirs, — like too many in that position, trifling 
 aiid thoughtless, suddenly pauses as his lips are about to 
 utter those words of Watts, " Let those refuse to sing, 
 who never knew our God ;" he cannot sing thein ; he asks 
 himself why? The reason is soon found, and henceforth 
 he seeks pardon of sin, and worships while he bings. A 
 Scotchman, unmindful of the teachings of a pious Presby- 
 terian mother, goes on in crime till he is found awaiting 
 in prison the extreme penalty of the law ; a minister who 
 visits him, finds him deaf to all entreaties and arguments; 
 when one day he sings "• Mother dear Jerusalem " and 
 the fountains of the deep are broken up, as the criminal 
 remembers childhood's prayer at a mother's knee ; hence- 
 forth his heart is open to receive the teachings of the 
 gospel. An actress, attracted by the musio, enters a 
 Methodist church, in one of the largest cities of England, 
 just as the congregation are singing "no room for mirth 
 or trifling here," is convinced of sin, experiencef:* pardon, 
 and leads henceforth a new life. 
 
 ^f7*- 
 
T 
 
 IT 
 
 10 
 
 Would Mr. Anderson be willing to tell any member of 
 his congregation, who, awakened by some Buch " excit- 
 ing'' hymn, should come to him for spiritual guidance — 
 that such feelings were " mere excitement ?" We hardly 
 think that he would, and yet we might infer so from the 
 remarks we have quoted. Or "when the love of God is 
 spoken of" especially the manifestation ot it in the death 
 of Christ, which led a Greenlander to weep, as the 
 missionary related it, and to say, as tears trickled down 
 his cheeks, "tell me that again," and to become the 
 first fruits unto Christ in that land, and a feeling of sor- 
 row came over the heart, must a man repress that feeling 
 which may be tfte first dawn of repentance, for fear of ex- 
 citement. Or if on some certain occasion the " glories 
 of the New Jerusalem" are described, or "the sufferings 
 of martyrs," or '* the death-bed scenes of saints " des- 
 cribed, and some voice within prompt the hearer to pray 
 for an interest in the blood of Him, who has prepared for 
 men the mansions above, and has enabled martyrs to 
 shout in the fires, and poor fallen men like himself to die 
 triumphantly, must he refuse to pray until he has satisfied 
 himself that he is not "excited." On this point there 
 should be no uncertain sound. A watchful pastor, who 
 has become acquainted with the religious life of his 
 people, will often be surprised at the influences which 
 have led them to a life of faith in the Son of God. 
 
 Here and there an admission is made which startles us. 
 Here is one. " In nine cases out of ten such religion — 
 (religion that has its growth in the hot-bed of mere ex- 
 citement) — is only temporary and vanishing before the 
 serenity of life's journey." We are glad to hear it admit- 
 ted, though for our part we are delicate about judging in 
 such matters, that one in ten of those who start for heaven 
 from "the hot-bed of mere excitement," walks worthy of 
 his high calling. Admitting this measurement to bo cor- 
 rect, any attack on the " hot-bed " should be carefully 
 planned, lest through our indiscretion even that tenth 
 ** brother, for whom Christ died, should perish." Far- 
 ther criticism might be indulged in here, but we for- 
 bear. It is admitted that the results of excitement are 
 precisely the same as the results of the Saviour's labours 
 on that occasion when he cleansed ten lepers, only one 
 of whom returned to give glory to God. Is it not possi- 
 
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 ble thai the condemnation of the one may involve the 
 condemnation of the other ? 
 
 If at any time we may even suspect, what some may 
 call " a revival of religion," to be mere excitement, let 
 us take the advice of one learned in the law, '• Refrain 
 from these men, and let them alone ; for if this counsel or 
 this work be of men, it will come to naught ; but if it be 
 of God ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply ye be found 
 even to fight against God." Acts v., 38-39. 
 
 With great pleasure we learn from one of the conclud- 
 ing paragraphs that Mr. Anderson does believe in revi- 
 vals ; ye*; as on the last three pages of tl^ sermon there 
 are candid statements of doubts and feari^such as would 
 have prevented him from standing boldly with Peter and 
 the rest of the apostles on the day of Pentecost, or from 
 holding up the hands of brethren worn down by excessive 
 labor in Scottish and Irish revivals of which we have 
 read, it will be to us a not unpleasant task to notice these 
 difficulties, and, if possible, remove them. When Natha- 
 nael asked Philip, "can there any good thing come out of 
 Nazareth ?" Philip answered, "come and see." The ac- 
 ceptance of a like invitation, which with all our heart wc 
 tender, would render our task an easier one. It would 
 be wrong to speak of these suspected dangers in a trifling 
 spirit ; attendance on even the ordinary services of the 
 Sabbath has its dangers, in no way avoided by him who 
 for this reason neglects them ; the ministry of the preacher 
 whose sermon we review is to the congregation he ad- 
 dresses a ministry of condemnation, if not of salvation. 
 
 Yet we are in no part of scripture taught, thai because 
 earnest labor involves increased responsibility, and con- 
 sequently increased danger, we are to relax our labors ; 
 on the contrary, the example of Paul, struggling under 
 his burden, and groaning out, *' who is sufficient for these 
 things," yet girding himself up for fresh efforts, "if by 
 any means he might save some," teaches us plainly in 
 what direction our path of duty lies. 
 
 The first difficulty wc note is the fear of excitement. 
 Yet why, we ask, should a minister be so fearful of ex- 
 citement ? " Is it not enough for the servant that he be 
 as his master ?" Surelj' the life of Jesus will not be con- 
 demned ; or his works be lightly spoken of because thev 
 were not done in a corner. Excitement surrounded his 
 
 

 12 
 
 cradle ; it was seen in gifts bestowed by wise men from 
 the East, in the terror and anxiety of Herod's court, in 
 the weeping" and wailing of Jewish mothers who refused 
 to be comforted for their children whom Herod had ruth- 
 lessly slain. When He threw himself heart and soul into 
 " His Father's business/' friends sent out to lay hands 
 upon him, because, they said, " He is beside himself." 
 When He cast the devil out of the child brought to him 
 by an anxious father, the devil threw the child down and 
 tore him. and bruising him hardly departed from him. Ex- 
 cited multitudes listened to him in the streets, and follow- 
 ed him from p^e to place, to be relieved of their evils, or 
 to see others relieved by his miraculous power. When 
 men honoured him with shouts of praise, he defended their 
 excitement against the cold, hard-hearted Pharisees. He 
 cried " It is finished," and gave up the ghost in the midst 
 of excitement, in which not only good men and bad men 
 but even the heavens and the earth participated, Roman 
 guards, stern, bold men, and disciples, weak and timid, 
 were excited by his resurrection. When, according to 
 his promise, the Holy Ghost, the comforter, descended on 
 the day of Pentecost on the '"blest disciples," on-lookers 
 declared " these men are full of new wine." That chapter 
 in the early history of the Christian Church, the Acts of the 
 Apoiitles, is bat a repetition of stirring, exciting scenes, 
 compared with which the highest pitch of religious excite- 
 ment in the present day is dullness itself. And just as 
 long as there is a soul unsaved whom Jesus seeks for ano- 
 ther trophy of his love and pov/er, and whom Satan seeks 
 to lead to eternal banishment, there must and there will be 
 excitement. Let no true minister be fearful of it. You 
 can do little with men in matters secular or sacred till you 
 have succeeded in arousing their feelings. '* Let us pray," 
 says the author of the sermon, " that God's Spirit may 
 descend to awaken souls from the sleep of sin." We re- 
 spond Amen, But as travellers who in some unexplored 
 regions, overtaken by the darkness of the night, have lain 
 down to sleep on the brink of some precipice, are excited 
 when the dawn of morning shows them that there has 
 been but one step between them and death, so men awa- 
 kened from the sleep of sin, to find that 
 
 •' A point of time, a moment's space 
 Kcmoves tliem to that heavenly place, 
 Or shuts them up in hell," 
 
 •~-Afc-i 
 
 W 
 

 '■ 
 
 13 
 
 will be excited ; and ministers will find that " daily in the 
 temple and from house to house " they must, like the 
 apostles, " cease not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ." 
 
 It is feared that excitement may lead to unbecoming 
 familiarity (1.) in prayer. "The actors in these exciting 
 scents," it is said, "show a forwarmess and presump- 
 tion of communication in their addresses to Almighty God 
 which a man would not dare show his next door neigh- 
 bor." What the preacher may have heard in another 
 land we of course cannot say, but within the range of our 
 own experience the danger has never been realized. We 
 have listened to child-like prayers utterod#)y those who 
 had been taught the New Testament doctrine that a Chris- 
 tian is a child of God, dependent upon a Father in heaven, 
 who is not offended by being asked for " daily bread." 
 We have heard earnest prayers with deep satisfaction, be- 
 cause we remembered " that the kingdom of heaven suf- 
 fereth violence and the violent take it by force ;" implor- 
 ing prayers seldom if ever equalled by the pleading of the 
 Syro-Phenecian woman, " truth Lord, yet the dogs eat the 
 crumbs which fall from the children's table," or the en- 
 treaty of the blind man, " Thou Son of David have mercy 
 upon me ;" and we have heard stately prayers, such as 
 addressed to a next door neighbor, would lead him to 
 ask. Is the man in earnest? Of the two kinds we admit 
 a strong preference for the former. It is just possible 
 that there may be irreverence in prayer, irreverence 
 amounting even to a trespass upon the fourth command- 
 ment, but the danger is much greater where cold, lifeless 
 souls ask for what they do not mean, than when souls in 
 earnest ask for what they feel they must have, and are 
 entitled to claim according to the promises of a Father in 
 heaven. 
 
 Respecting familiarity, 2ndly, in speaking of the hope 
 that is in us, a few words may be said. It is remarked 
 that "man cannot without loss expose to every curious 
 gaze the holiest feelings of his soul, or talk often of his 
 secret experiences without these becoming things of the 
 past." There are treasured up in the memory of all ear- 
 nest Christians recollections of joys and experiences of 
 which they cannot speak: if they would, for they are '* un- 
 speakable and full of glory ;" they only can be spoken 
 of freely, when the mortal shall put on immortality ; yet, 
 
14 
 
 of general Christian experience, confidence, supporting 
 grace and hope of the glory of God, any man in whose 
 heart there has lodged a spark of the Saviour's burning 
 charity will feel that if even a natural interest in the well- 
 fare of others may not lead him to search to make another 
 happy his duty as a '* witness '' for God will cause him to 
 speak out. If in so doing the fountain of feeling be dried 
 up it cannot have been supplied from the river of water 
 of life. Against the quotation by which the idea just aU 
 luded to is sought to be sustained, and which, like much 
 poetry in our day, is poor theology, let us place the 
 words of a keen observer and reader of human nature. 
 
 " Thoughts shut up spoil, 
 
 Like bales unopened to the sun." 
 
 Is the reader into whose hands this little pamphlet has 
 fallen, conscious of decline in spiritual life 'i We leave 
 him to answer a solemn question. Was the first symp- 
 toms of decline a more than usual willingness to speak 
 for Christ, or was it a blush to own His name ? At the 
 same time we ask our unconverted readers whether the 
 reticence of Christians, respecting the gospel they profess 
 so highly to esteem, has not been one of the greatest 
 stumbling-blocks in their way ? 
 
 It is feared that this excitement may be deceptive and 
 injurious. That there is a fearfal possibility of self-de- 
 ception all must admit. Against this danger, frequent 
 warnings were sounded by Christ and his Apostles. 
 Pastors of the present day need carefully to follow their 
 example. At those special periods, when parties present 
 themselves for church-membership, whether during the 
 special services of the communion week, or those more 
 extended services, such as were being held when the ser- 
 mon under review was preached, no uncertain sound 
 should be uttered. If it be possible that any dream of 
 conversion, because of a *' mere momentary elevation of 
 leeling,'' no remissness of the pastor should encourage 
 him to dream on ; on the other hand, care should be taken 
 lest some weak, yet sincere soul, with his face heaven- 
 ward, should be disheartened by a comparison with some 
 advanced christian who has reached, we will not say &n 
 Alpine height, — the idea is too cold, — but some one of 
 those Pisgah heights, whence he may catch near glimpses 
 of the promised land. To the "freshet'' illustration we 
 
 I 
 
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 a 
 
15 
 
 object. It has been our happiness to spend several years 
 of ministerial life on the banks of the beautiful river which 
 w*nds its waj two hundred miles and more through the 
 rich lands of the neighboring Province, and we know that 
 when the drought of summer has parched the highlands, 
 and rendered the supply of food for man and for beast, 
 uncertain, the farmer casts a hopeful glance upon those 
 rich intervals over which a short time before the waters 
 of the spring freshet rolled grandly along. Still more 
 decidedly do we object to the idea intended to be con- 
 veyed by the illustration "that religious excitement 
 sweeping over the soul of man, leaves it harder than 
 ever," We commend to our readers the timely remark 
 which follows : *' The world, which is very quick-eyed, 
 learns and weighs Christianity, not so much from the 
 pulpit and the press, as from the character of its profes- 
 sors." Let this truth be carefully borne in mind, at the 
 present season, so often devoted to frolicking and danc- 
 ing, for carelessness on the part of church-members will 
 '* give occasion i > the world to curl its lips in derision, 
 and to point the finger of scorn at religion and its profes- 
 
 >f 
 
 sors. 
 
 The assertion that " excitement gives but & very partial 
 and one-sided view of the truth as it is in Jesus," we 
 have never heard before. We have always been accus- 
 tomed to pulpits whence rang out full and clear the doc- 
 trine that godly sorrow for sin, and a firm determination 
 by Divine aid to go and sin no more, must precede pardon 
 for past sin. It is a fact w^orthy of note that in general 
 a consistent conduct, and a godly conversation are more 
 frequently urged upon members in those churches where 
 a certain amount of religious excitement finds favor, than 
 in those where it does not. 
 
 To the next paragraph we have already devoted a few 
 lines of this review. We therefore only pause to ask. 
 Does the preacher really mean to teach his readers that 
 religion is like a plant indigenous to the soil, and is not 
 an exotic? 
 
 Words are sometimes used to conceal, not reveal our 
 meaning. There seems to be an effort so to use them in 
 the sentence, "Sin easily forgiven is easily committed.'' 
 It is possible that this obscure sentence is intended to 
 meauf that sin quickly forgiven, or forgiven at any pre- 
 
 tlA 
 
16 
 
 cise time, is more likely to be committed again. If b 
 may be replied, that the great sacrifice for the sins ol 
 world has been offered : the message of God to mai 
 '-' believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shal, 
 saved/' By Him all that believe are justified fro« 
 things from which ye could not be justified by the la 
 Moses/' If forgiveness of sin did depend upoii penii 
 ial sighs and tears, it might be long withheld, but i| 
 pends upon Him who dying upon the Qtoss cried, " ] 
 finished." Therefore, as a New Testament saint vf 
 from experience, "if we confess our sins/ He is faithful 
 just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all 
 righteousness." Sudden conversions are the rule, noj 
 exception of the New Testament. Sin is repented 
 faith ill Christ is exercised, God according to pronj 
 pardons. How easily, it is not for man to say. -|l 
 
 From experience we can confirm one remark ii| 
 sermon. " very mysterious " indeed " is the way iii vi 
 God uses man for his own eternal purpose." j 
 
 The authoi* of this hastily written review, cannot 
 down the pent and hand his manuscript to the prit 
 without acknowledging his deep indebtedness to' 
 author of the sermon on excitement. 
 
 He has been led to look into the philosophy of revi 
 to mark theii results upon the Church at large and i 
 the lives of private individuals, to call to mind many n 
 bers of the Church above and the Church below, w 
 lives of faith and labors of true Christian love commei 
 in seasons of religious excitement; he remembers thai 
 branch of the Church with which he esteems it to be 
 honor to be connected has grown up and prospered 
 spread around a goodly influence, mainly by means o 
 vivals, and he returns from the unattramtive work oi 
 fence to the pleasanter work of building up, well ple^ 
 if he may be the instrument by any means, of saving sj 
 and thankful to the writer who has been the age^ 
 " Stirling up his mind by way of remembrance." 
 
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