V/ - Wm . 2>., XX. H>. ‘ Pastor First ‘Baptist Cbuich, ‘Philadelphia Butbor of “Seven Great Lights,” “ ‘Robertson’s Living Thoughts,” “ T)ia\, the ^Apostle of Cuba,” “ / VII. MARTIN LUTHER 237 GLADSTONE AND OTHER ADDRESSES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/gladstoneotheradOOtupp_O MtlUain TOarren XanOrum, ID. D. e ~Pastor First ^Baptist Church, (Atlanta, Ga. MY COMPANION IN YOUTH MY CLASSMATE IN COLLEGE AND SEMINARY MY CO-WORKER IN THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY Ubls worfe Is, without bis knowledge Olost BffectionatelE 5>eDicateD WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE e Address delivered before the Young Men’s League of the Emmanuel Baptist Church , 'Brooklyn, CT(. Y., December , 1894, in celebration of the eighty-fifth anniversary of Gladstone* s birthday I AMONG the great nations that have deeply impressed human records and widely influenced hu- . . , ^ ~ . National Iberoee man history, Great Britain stands pre-eminent for its proud and noble list of national heroes. In evidence of this fact one has but to recall a few names only of the vast host, radiant in the splen¬ did galaxy of English genius — statesmen like Alfred and Burke, soldiers like Marl¬ borough and Wellington, poets like Shakes¬ peare and Milton, philosophers like Bacon and Locke, litterateurs like Macaulay and Johnson, scientists like Newton and Davy, reformers like Whitfield and Wesley, mar¬ tyrs like Bradford and Wycliffe, orators like Fox and Pitt, political leaders like Peel and Palmerston, philanthropists like Howard and Nightingale, and preachers like Hall and Spurgeon. Confessedly no other people of the past or of the present 3 William Bwart Gladstone can furnish among its heroes so magnifi¬ cent, so inspiring, so varied an exhibition of genius and influence as this land of cul¬ ture and civilization. And yet, one of the greatest names in all English history — as the great count greatness — has not been thus far men¬ tioned in our enumeration of noted British characters. Conspicuous on the roll of England’s foremost citizens must ever appear the name of one, recognized far and wide as a mighty moral force as well as a unique, attractive personality, Wil¬ liam Ewart Gladstone — A name to fright all tyrants with ; a light Unsetting as the Polar star ; a great voice Heard in the breathless pauses of the fight By truth and freedom ever waged with wrong. ©lactone anl> ©rowtb For three-score years this heroic man has been one of the leading spirits in Eng¬ lish politics, “ making and unmaking cabinets, serving his queen and his country in almost every capacity in office and op¬ position.” In 1833 he attracted attention by his memorable maiden speech against 4 <3laDetone anD <3rowtb the abolition of slavery in the Colonies, and in 1893 he created unbounded enthusiasm and admiration, not only as the central figure in the British Parliament, but also as the finest type of statesman in the world. What changes England has wit¬ nessed during these wonderful, progress¬ ive decades ! — development of material interests, growth in art and science and philosophy and literature, expansion of popular liberties, modification of vested rights, abolition of West Indies slave trade, removal of both Jewish and Roman Cath¬ olic disabilities, advance in municipal, po¬ litical, and industrial reform, improvement of poor laws and prison conditions, more intelligent apprehension and exercise of civil and religious liberty ; and the might¬ iest factor in all these events, epochs, revolutions, accelerated movements in thought and action, has been the late powerful leader of English Liberal forces. Not extravagant is the estimate of a gifted writer, when, in treating of Mr. Glad¬ stone’s rare combination of varied ac¬ complishments, he says : 5 " TOUUlam JE watt (BlaDstone Chatham could inspire a nation with his energy, but, compared with Gladstone, he was poorly furnished with ideas and knowledge. Pitt, as probably the strongest minister that ever directed the destinies of his country, has left no monument of legislation by which he can be remembered. Canning was a foreign minister, and nothing else. Sir Robert Peel, whom Gladstone recognized as his master, although an estimable administrator, a useful debater, and competent tactician, never showed a trace of the divine spark of genius which reveals itself at every turn in Gladstone’s career. And this author gives it as his careful, candid opinion, that Mr. Gladstone com¬ bines the eloquence of Fox, the experi¬ ence of Chatham, the courage of Pitt, and the financial and administrative capacity of Peel, and all this with a many-sided catholicity of mind to which none of the others might justly lay claim. And indeed, some such comments as these, have been almost universal in the British Empire, both cariEic'e c°ms among Mr. Gladstone’s po¬ litical opponents and advo¬ cates. Thomas Carlyle appears to stand alone in his lack of admiration of the 6 ©tber Undbents premier, describing him “as an orator that knew nothing as it ought to be known, and the worst kind of a repre¬ sentative of the numerous cants of the age.” Poor old growler, we can forgive him and not feel sorry for Mr. Gladstone either under his faint praise, when we recall that the old Scotch iconoclast de¬ nominated Keble as “an ape,” declared that Cardinal Newman had “ no more brain than an ordinary rabbit,” con¬ demned Adam Bede as “ simply dull,” and characterized Daniel O’Connell as “the chief of quacks and Demosthenes of Blarney.” Mr. Gladstone will thrive un¬ der the blows of such a critic. He has had recently other humorous accidents ! A short time ago his eye was injured by a ginger-bread \ „ J ©tber UnctoentB nut, thrown in the “sheer exuberance of enthusiasm,” by an old lady who admired him, and that nut cre¬ ated an excitement akin to that produced by a Nihilist’s bomb in Russia. A little later he was trampled on by an angry cow in his Hawarden Park, and the cow 7 'WHtlUam J6wart (Slafcstone got such notoriety, from contact with the great statesman, that after her death each of her teeth sold for a shilling, and her calf was promised as one of the wonders of the World’s Fair at Chicago. More recently a cabman ran over him, and a crank shot at him, but he still lives, able to bear all attacks, whether by Carlyle or cow, cabman or crank, illustrating the declaration of the old English woman some years ago, as in admiration she watched him fell a tree, “ Well, well, that’s the ag-i-list old gent I ever see ! ” To Americans, for special reasons, is Mr. Gladstone endeared as are few char¬ acters beyond the sea. No subject of a foreign realm, perhaps, has so frequently, and with such generosity as he, spoken in admiration of the American nation as a people and of American institutions as natural products of a free republic. From his lip and heart have come such words as these: “The American Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose 8 ©laDetone anb Bmericans of man, and the Senate of the United States the most remarkable of all the inventions of modern politics.” In noble impartiality he likewise writes in his “Kin Beyond the Sea”: “America will probably become what England is to-day, the head steward in the great household of the world, the employer of all the employed, because her service will be the most and the ablest.” And when a little more than a quarter of a century ago England and the United States were look¬ ing across the sea at each other with glances anything but those of love, it was Mr. Gladstone who, in a deeply impressive address, spoke these calm, judicious words: “ To me it appears that the two cardinal aims we ought to keep in view in the whole discussion of this question are, first, peace and a thoroughly cordial under¬ standing with America; and, second, the honor and fame of England.” Well does Hon. J. L. M. Curry, formerly United States Minister to Spain, congratulate both Mr. Gladstone and America upon these noble words, as he pleads for the most 9 Wiliam JEwart Gladstone attractive and responsive relationship be¬ tween mother and daughter countries, elo¬ quently writing as a ground for his plea: Each speaks our noble English tongue in its freedom, its dignity, its massive simplicity, and to¬ gether they furnish the richest, purest, most varied literature. Each has the common law and an in¬ dependent judiciary, universal education, equality of citizenship before the law, and an unchained Bible. And so well may each join the other in do¬ ing honor to the noblest living champion of justice and right, honor and freedom, peace and good-will, this lover of man and servant of God. So broad and comprehensive is the life of Mr. Gladstone that one should not attempt in a popular address like the present an exhaustive treatment of it; and so, sketching the leading events in his career, we shall seek only to analyze the character and conditions which have rendered him facile princeps among Brit¬ ish statesmen and imparted to him that name and fame which have crossed all seas. William Ewart Gladstone was born in Liverpool, December 29, 1809, that nota- 10 ^Sirtb anD parentage ble year which gave birth to Tennyson, Darwin, Mendelssohn, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Edgar Allan Poe. Though he first saw the light in English Lancashire, which produced two other orators of recent times, John Bright and Lord Derby, our subject was Scotch in ancestry. “ The memory of the parents to whom I owe my being,” writes he, “combines, with various other considerations, to make me glad and thankful that the blood that runs in my veins is exclusively Scottish.” Originally, the family name was Glede- stanes, or rock-hawks; later, Gledstanes, then Gladstanes, then Gladstones ; and finally, in 1835, it was written Gladstone, as all the world knows it to-day. Like most notable characters of history, Mr. Gladstone descended from parents of sterling and conspicuous worth, the mar¬ riage of his father and mother uniting, as a historian has expressed it, the robust and business-like qualities of the Scotch Lowlander with the poetic imagination, ■Militant tEwart (Blabetone the sensibility, and fire of the Gaul. The father was a man of pre-eminent ability, beginning his business life as a humble clerk, developing into a merchant prince of Liverpool, becoming, finally, a baronet and member of Parliament. At the ripe age of eighty-seven years he passed away, crowned with the benedictions of a grate¬ ful nation, “a man of unbending will, of inexhaustible energy, of absolute self- reliance; a stern, strong, imperious nature, pre-eminent in all those qualities that overcome obstacles, conquer fortunes, and command the respect of the world. ” He was a typical citizen of the nation that has made itself so dominant. As we are charmed with Burns’ eulogy on his revered father, engraved as an epitaph, so we de¬ light to read Gladstone’s portrait of his noble father as possessed of that “eager¬ ness of affection, keen appreciation of humor, indescribable frankness and sim¬ plicity of character, which, crowning other qualities, made him, I think, — and I strive to think impartially, — nearly or quite the most interesting old man I ever knew.” 12 flQaln afacts flUatn ffacts Glance now at the main facts in Mr. Gladstone’s life, as in rapid panoramic review they are presented : his entrance, after careful home-training under a wise father and tender mother, at the age of twelve years at Eton, and his diligent prosecution of studies there for six years ; his associa¬ tion at this famous school with Frederick Tennyson, brother of the great poet and himself a poet, Alexander Kinglake, author of “ Eothen,” James Bruce, afterward Earl of Elgin, Charles Canning, later Earl and Viceroy of India, and with Arthur Hallam, whom Tennyson has immortalized in his “In Memoriam,” the two youths editors together of the “ Eton Miscel¬ lany ” ; Hallam’s testimony of his youth¬ ful colleague’s worth in the lines, “What¬ ever may be our lot, I am confident that Gladstone is a bud that will bloom with a richer fragrance than almost any whose early promise I have witnessed ” ; his private studies for two years under Dr. Turner, afterward Bishop of Calcutta ; his graduation at Christ Church College, 13 Wiliam Bwart Gladstone Oxford, at the age of twenty-two, bearing off the “ double first ” honor in his class ; his prominence, while a student, as a de¬ bater, with equal ease discussing intelli¬ gently and impressively such questions as Catholic Emancipation, Jewish Disabil¬ ities, Whig Reform Bills, and the Wel¬ lington Administration, displaying gener¬ ally, we are told, “a habit of rigorous definition, a microscopic care in the choice of words, and a notable tendency to ana¬ lyze every sentiment and phrase, and to distinguish with intense precaution be¬ tween declarations almost exactly simi¬ lar ” ; his stay of seven months after graduation on the continent ; his call from Italy in 1832, when England was in a state of political upheaval and revolution, to become conservative candidate from New¬ ark ; his election and his maiden speech, May 17, 1833, on the radical project of abolishing Colonial slavery ; his appoint¬ ment by Sir Robert Peel as Junior Lord of the Treasury ; his retirement after the Peel Ministry ; his promotion in 1835 to Under-Secretary for the Colonies ; his 14 fllain tfacte return to Parliament upon Queen Vic¬ toria’s accession ; the formation of a new ministry by Peel, and Mr. Gladstone’s appointment as Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint; his first published work on “ The State in its Relation to the Church,” which Ma¬ caulay, even when adversely criticising it, generously eulogized ; the publication by him a little later of “ Church Principles Considered,” and “A Chapter in Church and State ” ; his marriage in 1839 to Catherine Glynn, a lady of intelligence and culture ; his resignation from the government “for conscientious reasons connected with ecclesiastical principles ” ; his return as a member from Oxford ; his memorable debates by the side of Peel and Palmerston, on the Corn Law Repeal Act ; his frequent contests later with Dis¬ raeli ; the death of Peel, the disaffection of his party, and Mr. Gladstone’s with¬ drawal from both Whigs and Tories; his visit in 1851 to Naples, and his influence through vigorous letters in overthrowing Ferdinand’s system of cruelty in connec- 15 THUUltam Bwart Gladstone tion with Neapolitan prison life ; his un¬ expected, though firm and intelligent, conversion to the Liberal party ; his acceptance of the honorable position of Chancellor of the Exchequer under the Aberdeen Administration ; his first Budget speech in 1853, when, for five consecutive hours, “he poured forth a flood of oratory which made arithmetic astonishingly easy and gave an unaccustomed grace to sta¬ tistics ” ; his marvelous ability in finan¬ ciering during the Crimean War ; his appointment as Lord High Commissioner Extraordinary to the Ionian Isles ; his vol¬ untary resignation in 1855 ; his devotion at this time to the study of Homer and the Homeric age ; his union again with the Palmerston ministry ; his unjust rejection for paltry political reasons by his Oxford constituency ; his appointment in 1865 as Lord Rector of Edinburgh University ; his re-election by South Lancashire, “an un¬ muzzled representative”; his defeat by Disraeli ; his election as premier in 1868 ; the wonderful years of ’69, ’70, ’71, and ’72, which witnessed under Mr. Glad- 16 friatn Jfacts stone’s leadership the passage of the Irish Church Act, Endowed School Bill, Bankruptcy Bill, Habitual Criminal Bill, Elementary Education Act, University Tests Bill, Trades’ Union Bill, Scotch Education Act, along with the settlement of the Alabama Claims and the conclu¬ sions of a new French treaty ; the inevi¬ table reaction in 1873 that followed all these triumphal Gladstonian marches and the great premier’s retirement ; the ever irrepressible Eastern Question and Mr. Gladstone’s fearless assistance of right and heroic resistance of wrong ; his cour¬ ageous condemnation of the Afghan and Zulu wars ; his election in 1874 f°r the second time as Prime Minister, “the un¬ questioned chief, the idol, the pride of the victorious army of Liberalism ” ; his resig¬ nation in 1885, and his refusal of an earl¬ dom ; his re-election in 1886 for the third term as Prime Minister ; his succession by Lord Salisbury ; his elevation for the fourth time as England’s Premier, and that too, in the magnificence and splendor of his well-preserved powers, though a B 17 TKHUUam JEwart Gladstone man eighty-four years old, and finally his graceful, voluntary retirement into private life. With all this it is no wonder that the world elevates him to a unique place. It is no wonder too, that he could include in his last cabinet such men as Mr. Morley, the Irish Secretary, one of the ablest of living writers of English ; Prof. Bryce, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancashire, both historian and author on political economy ; Sir George O. Trevelyan, Sec¬ retary for Scotland, nephew and biogra¬ pher of Lord Macaulay ; Lord Houghton, Viceroy of Ireland, a poet of varied gifts ; and Lord Roseberry, the Foreign Secre¬ tary, an author of an attractive life of Pitt — all men of intellectual culture and moral worth — Men whom the lust of lucre cannot kill, Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy, Men who possess opinions and a will, Men who have honor and will not die. Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty and in private thinking. With this rapidly drawn sketch before us we may now take a brief glance at Mr. 18 StuDent anD Butbor Stubent anb Hutbor Gladstone as he appears in four distinct and notable directions : as student, as statesman, as orator, and as man. In the first place, the distinguished premier present to us an interesting and stimulating study as student and author. As far back as 1827, we find Mr. Gladstone, a youth then of only eighteen years, win¬ ning for himself golden opinions as editor of the “ Eton Miscellany, ” “ writing with equal facility in prose and poetry, and translating with ease from the Greek and Latin. ” He graduated, as has been pointed out, at the age of twenty-two years with double honors at Oxford. During his busy, bustling, palpitating political career, he has always found time to gather information, stimulate brain, and grow in wisdom. He has wide acquaint¬ ance with the laws of language and thought, of nature and numbers. He has both appetite and aptitude for mental culture. “ So wide are his reading and sympathies,” writes an admiring biogra¬ pher, “such the variety and plenitude of 19 TKHUltam Bwart (BlaDstone his intellectual powers, that his writings are both numerous and inclusive of a vast range of topics — historical, political, ecclesiastical, religious, artistic, economic, literary, and practical. ” His library con¬ tains twenty-four thousand volumes, every volume of which has been put “ into its nest ” with his own hands. His daughter wrote recently : Every day he looks over a number of book¬ sellers’ catalogues, and there are certain subjects — anything, for instance, about witchcraft, strange religions, dueling, gypsies, marriage, Homer, Shakespeare, Dante — which are sure of getting an order. He usually has three books on hand at once, of various degrees of solidity, the eve¬ ning one generally a novel. Aristotle, St. Augus¬ tine, Dante, and Bishop Butler are the authorities that have most deeply impressed him, so he him¬ self has written. His literary versatility may be illus¬ trated by the fact that during his last Midlothian campaign and general election, he had in preparation simultaneously an article on Home Rule, a dissertation on the Psalms, a paper for the Oriental Congress, and his noted Oxford lecture 20 XtteratE Studies on “The Rise and Progress of Learning in the University of Oxford.” Take his studies of Homer and the times of the great poet. Few works upon this inspiring and difficult , . , , . literary StuMes subject have been more thorough and satisfactory than that of Mr. Gladstone, as with wide reach of in¬ tellectual power and a generous stock of information he discusses Homer’s place in literature, the trustworthiness of his writings, the fundamental aims of the poet, along with the ethnology and my¬ thology of the Greek races — the whole production a mighty monument of learn¬ ing and industry. And in other directions Mr. Gladstone’s studies have been careful and broad, as evinced by his essays on Vaticanism, Ritualism, Divorce, Church of England, Throne and Prince Consort, Socrates, Tennyson, Kin Beyond the Sea, Hellenic Factor in the Eastern Problem, Aggressions in Egypt, Freedom in the East, Impregnable Rock of the Scriptures, and minor writings. Now, as poet, he analyzes Davidic psalms and Homeric 2 I William Bwart Gladstone poems ; now, as scientist, he discusses the Creative Week ; now, as jurist, he examines Mosaic legislation ; now, as ethnologist and archaeologist, he brings corroborative evidences of scriptural in¬ spiration from Egyptian sepulchres and Palestinian rivers. The political world needs more such gifted spirits. There is a pressing demand on every hand for the Gladstonian type of statesman. Our age cries out for more public-spirited men, with minds devel¬ oped, trained, refined by communion with the higher forms of thought. Such alone can stand before our proud age of enlight¬ enment and progress and declare with marked, effective force that our beautiful Christian fabric is never to be overthrown nor even jostled by the strongest crowbar of human science. It is not surprising that an intellectual power like Mr. Glad¬ stone, even though in retirement, is able to gather about him to-day the strongest minds, the sublimest ideas, the ripest scholarship, and the most far-reaching plans of the British Empire. One smiles, 22 Bs Statesman yet sympathizes, with the mistake when he reads that recently a rural minister in Kent, examining a class of boys, asked, “Who is the patron saint of England? ” and received the reply, with one voice, “Mr. Gladstone. ” As a statesman, however, even more than as a litterateur , Mr. Gladstone arrests attention and commands ad- . .. . Bs Statesman miration. Eloquently has an American editor lately written of this as¬ pect of the life of Hawarden’s sage, as he declares that — For three-score memorable years this tireless gladiator has led the vanguard in assaults on entrenched wrong, as under his magnetic leader¬ ship traditional and deep-rooted heresies in Church and State have been swept away, suffrage broad¬ ened, burdens removed, public servants held to a higher plane of services, and corporations held in the rigid vise of responsibility ; in short, England, under Gladstone, has been given a cleaner official air to breathe, wider latitudes of citizenship, stronger safeguards of law, and more potent codes of equity in foreign relations. Of course, occasions may be found here and there in Mr. Gladstone's public career 23 TOlUam 3Ewart Gladstone when he subjects himself to adverse criti¬ cism, for, with all his greatness, the man is not perfect; but take his political life as a whole, and it is found to be marvelously noble and true. In this connection we shall not deal with him in a general way, but rather specify the peculiar elements that enter into his statesmanlike char¬ acter and honorable career. As a financier, our subject’s history has been most remarkable. “Beyond any man that has ever lived,’’ R 0 financier , , . , declares a rather too enthu¬ siastic writer, “Mr. Gladstone has accom¬ plished the impossible and squared the circle in finance. He has thrown a halo around this science, and brought it, as well as other great questions of adminis¬ tration, within the realm of popular appre¬ hension.” Contemplate some significant facts: In 1853, under the Earl of Aber¬ deen, he became chancellor of the ex¬ chequer; in 1855, under Palmerston, he was “counted” chancellor of the ex¬ chequer; in 1857, under Earl Russell, he once again became chancellor of the ex- 24 Bs a XeaDer chequer; in 1873 and 1880, while premier, he acted as chancellor of the exchequer. And how grandly our statesman hero car¬ ried into practical effect his strong finan¬ cial views may be inferred from these few facts which are presented by Mr. Glad¬ stone’s most reliable biographer : From 1856 to 1890, England’s national debt was reduced from £800,800,000 to £694,000,- 000; from 1862 to 1865, taxation reduction amounted to £3,000,000 annually; from 1857 to 1878, taxes were repealed to the amount of £39,000,000; in 1861, Mr. Glad¬ stone reduced the income tax and abol¬ ished paper duty; in 1863, taxes were again reduced £3,500,000; in 1864, £3,000,000; in 1866, £5,000,000; and in 1874, he turned over “the most flourishing revenue ever handed by a Parliament to its successor and a surplus of £6,000,000.” So much for these interesting and easily to be re¬ membered statistics. Again we must admire Mr. Gladstone as a leader of men, a molder , , ,. , . Bs a Xea£»er of public sentiment, a gigan¬ tic director of national affairs, at home 25 William JEwart Gladstone and abroad. In his masterful Character Sketch of our subject, W. T. Stead does not hesitate to say that to Mr. Gladstone, more than any other influence, must be attributed the destruction of Turkish dominion in Europe, the enlargement of Greece, the establishment of British power in Egypt, the annexation of New Guinea and North Borneo, the reform of the tariff, the extension of franchise to the workman, the disestablishment and disendowing of a national church, and the repeal of uni¬ versity tests. Who will deny that the accomplishment of such ends as these, in the face of tradition and extraordinary opposition, could have been wrought only by one of Herculean strength, Napoleonic planning, Cromwell-like faith in God and right ? Whether we agree with all the positions assumed and defended by this great leader of mighty and far-reaching movements, or not, we can admit with the great-brained John Stuart Mill, when he declares, that if ever there was a states¬ man in whom the spirit of improvement is incarnate, of whose career as a minister 26 Mis Oratorical powers the characteristic feature has been to seek out things which required or admitted of improvement, instead of waiting to be com¬ pelled or even solicited to do it, that honor belongs to William Ewart Gladstone. The oratorical powers of Mr. Gladstone present us next a study of delightful in¬ terest. The testimony on this point by Justin Me- Carthy is very forceful, when he writes : We are not inclined to call Gladstone the greatest English orator of our times when we recall some of the finest speeches of Bright ; but did we regard parliamentary speaking as a mere instrument of parliamentary business and debate, then unques¬ tionably Gladstone is not only the greatest, but by far the greatest English orator of our times, for he has a richer combination of gifts than any other man we can recall, and he uses them oftenest with effect. The men for whom we would claim ora¬ torical gifts superior to those of the late premier are Macaulay, Pitt, Fox, Burke, Chatham, Bright, and Disraeli ; but while the first of these leaders presented more 27 William Bwart Gladstone carefully prepared productions, the second and third had more graces of manner, the fourth was more finished in style, the fifth excelled more as an actor, the sixth was more simple and direct in utterance, and the last more witty and satirical, not one of them perhaps combined as many ele¬ ments of effective speaking as does Mr. Gladstone. Intelligent in thought, coura¬ geous of heart, direct and fearless in speech, he is ready for any controversial antagonist. At times pathetic, at times stormful, always sincere and without cant, he carries conviction whenever he speaks. Read his great speech of 1850, in answer to Lord Palmerston, on Eng¬ land’s Relation to Greece, and mark the skill with which he makes point after point out of his opponent’s Civis Romanus sum: Sir, great as is the influence and power of Britain, she cannot afford to follow for any length of time a self-isolating policy. It would be a con¬ travention of the law of nature and of God, if it were possible for any single nation of Christen¬ dom to emancipate itself from the obligations which bind all other nations, and to arrogate in 28 IHte Oratorical powers the face of mankind, a position of peculiar priv¬ ilege. And now I will grapple with the noble lord on the ground which he selected for himself, in the most triumphant portion of his speech, by his reference to those emphatic words, Civis T{omanus sum. He vaunted, amid the cheers of his sup¬ porters, that under his administration an English¬ man should be, throughout the world, what the citizen of Rome had been. What, then, sir, was a Roman citizen? He was the member of a priv¬ ileged caste ; he belonged to a conquering race, to a nation that held all others bound down by the strong arm of power. For him there was to be an exceptional system of law ; for him principles were to be asserted, and by him rights were to be enjoyed that were denied to the rest of the world. Is such, then, the view of the noble lord as to the relation which is to subsist between England and other countries? Does he make the claim for us that we are to be uplifted upon a platform high above the standing-ground of all other nations? It is, indeed, too clear, not only from the expres¬ sions, but from the whole tone of the speech of the noble viscount, that too much of this notion is lurking in his mind ; that he adopts, in part, that vain conception that we, forsooth, have a mission to be the censors of vice and folly, of abuse and imperfection, among the other countries of the world ; that we are to be the universal school¬ masters ; that all those who hesitate to recognize our office can be governed only by prejudice or per- 29 William JEwart ©labstone sonal animosity, and should have the blind war of diplomacy forthwith declared against them. And certainly, if the business of a foreign secretary properly were to carry on diplomatic wars, all must admit that the noble lord is a master in the discharge of his functions. What, sir, ought a foreign secretary to be? Is he to be like some gallant knight at a tournament of old, pricking forth into the lists, armed at all points, confiding in his sinews and his skill, challenging all comers for the sake of honor, and having no other duty than to lay as many as possible of his adversaries sprawling in the dust? If such is the idea of a good foreign secretary, I, for one, would vote to the noble lord his present appointment for life. But, sir, I do not understand the duty of a sec¬ retary for foreign affairs to be of such a character. 1 understand it to be his duty to conciliate peace with dignity. I think it to be the very first of all his duties studiously to observe, and to exalt in honor among mankind, that great code of princi¬ ples which is termed the law of nations. I, for my part, am of opinion that England will stand shorn of a chief part of her glory and pride if she shall be found to have separated herself through the policy she pursues abroad, from the moral supports which the general and fixed convictions of man¬ kind afford, if the day shall come when she may continue to excite the wonder and the fear of other nations, but in which she shall have no part in their affection and regard. No, sir, let it not be 30 Mis Oratorical powers so ; let us recognize, and let us recognize with frankness, the equality of the weak with the strong, the principles of brotherhood among na¬ tions, and of their sacred independence. When we are seeking for the maintenance of the rights which belong to our fellow-subjects resident in Greece, let us do as we would be done by, and let us pay all the respect to a feeble State, and to the infancy of free institutions, which we should desire and should exact from others toward their maturity and their strength. Let us refrain from all gratuitous and arbitrary meddling in the internal concerns of other States, even as we would resent the same interference if it were attempted to be practised toward ourselves. If the noble lord has indeed acted on these princi¬ ples, let the government to which he belongs have your verdict in its favor ; but if he has departed from them, as I contend, as I humbly think and urge upon you that it has been too amply proved, then the House of Commons must not shrink from the performance of its duty under whatever expectations of momentary obloquy and reproach, because we shall have done what is right ; we shall enjoy the peace of our own consciences, and receive, whether a little sooner or a little later, the approval of the public voice for having entered our solemn protest against a system of policy, which we believe, nay, we know, whatever may be its first aspect, must of necessity in its final re¬ sults be unfavorable even to the security of British 3i William JSwart ©laDstone subjects resident abroad, which it professes so much to study ; unfavorable to the dignity of the country, which the motion of the honorable and learned member asserts it preserves ; and equally unfavorable to that other great and sacred object which also it suggests to our recollection, the main¬ tenance of peace with the nations of the world. And again, hear the conclusion of Mr. Gladstone’s eloquent speech on the Irish Church in 1868 : There are many who think that to lay hands upon the national church establishment of a coun¬ try is a profane and unhallowed act. I respect that feeling. I sympathize with it, while I think it my duty to overcome and repress it. But, if it be an error, it is an error entitled to respect. There is something in the idea of a national estab¬ lishment of religion, of a solemn appropriation of a part of the commonwealth for conferring upon all those who are ready to receive it what we know to be an inestimable benefit ; of saving that por¬ tion of the inheritance from private selfishness, in order to extract from it, if we can, pure and un¬ mixed advantages of the highest order for the population at large. There is something in this so attractive that it is an image that must always command the homage of the many. It is some¬ what like the kingly ghost in “ Hamlet,” of which one of the characters of Shakespeare says : 32 me Oratorical powers We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it the show of violence ; For it is as the air, invulnerable. And our vain blows malicious mockery. But, sir, this is to view a religious establish¬ ment upon one side only, upon what I may call the ethereal side. It has likewise a side of earth ; and here I cannot do better than quote some lines written by the present Archbishop of Dublin, at a time when his genius was devoted to the muses. He said, in speaking of mankind ; We who did our lineage high Draw from beyond the starry sky. And yet upon the other side, To earth and to its dust allied. And so the Church Establishment, regarded in its theory and in its aim, is beautiful and attract¬ ive. Yet what is it but an appropriation of public property — an appropriation of the fruits of labor and of skill to certain purposes? and unless these purposes are fulfilled, that appropriation cannot be justified. Therefore, sir, I cannot but feel that we must set aside fears which thrust themselves upon the imagination and act upon the sober dictates of our judgment. I do not know in what country so great a change, so great a transition has been proposed for the ministers of a religious communion who have en¬ joyed for many ages the preferred position of an Established Church. I can well understand that to many in the Irish Establishment that such a c 33 William JEwart OlaDstone change appears to be nothing less than ruin and destruction ; from the height on which they now stand, the future is to them an abyss, and their fears recall the words used in “ King Lear,” when Edgar endeavors to persuade Gloucester that he has fallen over the cliffs of Dover, and says : Ten masts at each make not the altitude Which thou hast perpendicularly fallen ; Thy life’s a miracle ! And yet but a little while after, the old man is re¬ lieved from his delusion, and finds that he has not fallen at all. So 1 trust that when, instead of the factitious and adventitious aid on which we have too long taught the Irish Establishment to lean, it should come to place its trust in its own resources, in its own great mission, in all that it can draw from the energy of its ministers and its members, and the high hopes and promises of the gospel that it teaches, it will find that it has entered upon a new era of existence — an era bright with hope and potent for good. At any rate, I think the day has certainly come when an end is to be put to that union, not between the church and religious asso¬ ciation, but between the Establishment and the State, which was commenced under circumstances little auspicious, and has endured to be a source of unhappiness to Ireland and of discredit and scan¬ dal to England. There is more to say. This measure is in every sense a great measure — great in its principles, 34 TOs Oratorical powers great in the multitude of its dry, technical, but in¬ teresting detail, and great as a testing measure ; for it will show for one and all of us of what metal we are made. Upon us all it brings a great re¬ sponsibility — great and foremost on those who occupy this bench. We are especially chargeable, nay, deeply guilty, if we have either dishonestly, as some think, or even prematurely or unwisely, challenged so gigantic an issue. I am deeply con¬ vinced that when the final consummation shall arrive, and when the words are spoken that shall give the force of law to the work embodied in this measure — the work of peace and justice — those words will be echoed upon every shore where the name of Ireland or the name of Great Britain has been heard, and the answer to them will come back in the approving verdict of civilized mankind. And, finally, the magnificent peroration of Mr. Gladstone’s speech on the great and irrepressible Eastern Question, in 1877: Sir, there were other days when England was the hope of freedom. Wherever in this world a high aspiration was entertained or a noble blow was struck, it was to England that the eyes of the oppressed were always turned — to this favorite, this darling home of so much privilege and so much happiness, where the people that had built up a noble edifice for themselves, would, it was well known, be ready to do what in them lay to 35 William Bwart Gladstone secure the benefit of the same inestimable boon for others. You talk to me of the established tradition and policy in regard to Turkey. I appeal to an established tradition, older, wider, nobler far— a tradition not which disregards British interests, but which teaches you to seek the promotion of these interests in obeying the dictates of honor and justice. And, sir, what is to be the end of this? Are we to dress up the fantastic ideas some people entertain about this policy and that policy in the garb of British interests, and then, with a new and base idolatry, fall down and worship them ? Or, are we to look, not at the sentiment, but at the hard facts of the case which Lord Derby told us fifteen years ago — viz. : that it is the populations of those countries that will ultimately possess them — that will ultimately determine their abiding condition? It is to this fact, this law that we should look. There is now before the world a glorious prize. A portion of those unhappy people are still as yet making an effort to retrieve what they have lost so long, but have not ceased to love and to desire. They have told you that they do not seek alliance with Russia or with any foreign power, but that they seek to be delivered from an in¬ tolerable burden of woe and shame. That burden of woe and shame — the greatest that exists on God’s earth — is one that we thought united Europe was about to remove, but to removing which, for the present, you seem to have no efficacious means of offering even the smallest practical contribution. 36 IKte Oratorical powers But, sir, the removal of that load of woe and shame is a great and noble prize. It is a prize worth competing for. It is not yet too late to try to win it. I believe there are men in the Cabinet who would try to win it if they were free to act on their own beliefs and aspirations. It is not yet too late, I say, to become competitors for that prize, but be assured that, whether you mean to claim for yourselves even a single leaf in that immortal chaplet of renown which will be the reward of true labor in that cause, or whether you turn your backs upon that cause and upon your ov/n duty, I believe for one that the knell of Turkish tyranny in these provinces has sounded. So far as human eye can judge, it is about to be destroyed. The destruction may not come in the way or by the means that we should choose; but, come this boon from what hands it may, it will be a noble boon, and as a noble boon will be gladly accepted by Christendom and the world. However, the time is short ; the sands of the hour-glass are running out. The longer you delay, the less in all likeli¬ hood you will be able to save from the wreck of the integrity and independence of the Turkish Em¬ pire. If Russia should fail, her failure would be a disaster to mankind, and the condition of the suffering races, for whom we are supposed to have labored, will be worse than it was before. If she succeeds, and if her conduct be honorable, nay, even if it be but tolerably prudent, the performance of the work she has in hand will, notwithstanding 37 TKlUlliam JEwart ©lafcstone all your jealousies and all your reproaches, secure for her an undying fame. When that work shall be accomplished, though it be not in the way and by the means I would have chosen, as an English¬ man I shall hide my head, but as a man I shall rejoice. Nevertheless, to my latest day I will ex¬ claim, Would to God that in this crisis the voice of the nation had been suffered to prevail ! would to God that in this holy deed, England had not been refused her share ! We may well leave Gladstone as an orator, pleading as he has always pleaded for right against wrong, justice against injustice, and truth against falsehood, for¬ getting not that memorable seventeenth day of February, 1893, when in his eighty- fourth year, the Grand Old Man stood on his feet four consecutive hours and poured out appeals, at times fearful and touching, for the autonomy and political self-govern¬ ment of downtrodden Ireland. Our last glance at Mr. Gladstone will be directed to him as a man, possessed of those qualities which fit him so pre-eminently to stand out in grand proportions as student and statesman, financier and orator, and which 38 Ba a flHan Bs a Allan have led one of the most conservative writers of our day to declare respecting him what another had said of Edmund Burke: “He brought to politics a horror of crime, a deep humanity, a keen sensi¬ bility, a singular vivacity, and sincerity of conscience.” His heart is as sincere as his talents are great and his achievements magnificent. He has a manly body and a manly mind, but above this, a manly soul with high transcendent virtues which are at once to him garment of beauty and girdle of strength. Better than all else — more than wit or eloquence, position or titles, his character has dignity, purity, power. Always and everywere it is rec¬ ognized and felt as an invisible yet irre¬ sistible power. It possesses that which is more beautiful than color or contour as seen in the tint of flowers or the winding of the seashore. Mr. Gladstone is a man of character. His is that devotion to right in a large way and on a generous scale which abides in the world’s memory and love. His whole theory of life can be summed up in his own words: “Precept 39 TOUiam Bwart (BlaDstone freezes while example warms. Precept addresses us, example lays hold on us. Precept is a marble statue, example glows with life — a thing of flesh and blood.” It is said on reliable authority that since the year 1842 Mr. Gladstone when in good health and at home •OMS Jfaitb , , . has never been known to intermit one Sunday morning service at half-past eight o’clock at his church, three- quarters of a mile from Hawarden Castle ; commenting on which fact, his daughter has recently written : “ This is only carry¬ ing out a principle which was exemplified in his earlier days by the daily prayers which he had with his two servants when, a young man, he lodged in the Albany, in London.” It is the man Gladstone who, when on one occasion the Queen said to him, “Sir, remember I am the Queen of England,” replied with dignity and firm¬ ness, “Madame, remember who I am. 1 am the people of England.” It was the man of God, Gladstone, who yielding to Christianity not simply intellectual assent but spiritual consent, could speak such 40 Mis Jfattb words as these at the opening of the Col¬ legiate Institute at Liverpool: “Take a human being and make an accomplished man in natural philosophy, in mathemat¬ ics, as a merchant, as a lawyer, or a phy¬ sician, and conceal from him a knowledge and power of the Christian faith, and he would go forth into the world poor and miserable and blind and naked.” In a letter received from his own hand by the present speaker last year, Mr. Gladstone thus briefly expresses himself in response to an inquiry relating to his Christian be¬ lief : “All I think, all I hope, all I write, all I live for, is based upon the divinity of Jesus Christ, the central joy of my poor, wayward life.” Could Christian faith be declared with more positiveness, compre¬ hension, and brevity? “If asked,” said he on another occasion, “what is the remedy for the deepest sorrows of the human heart — what a man should chiefly look to in his progress through life as the power that is to sustain him under trials and enable him manfully to confront his afflictions, I must point him to something 4i William JEwart (BlaDstone which in a well-known hymn is called ‘ The old, old story/ told of in an old, old book, and taught with an old, old teach¬ ing which is the greatest and best gift ever given to mankind.” These few words from the great pre¬ mier reveal the man in the simplicity of a faith that looks up to God, in the ardor of hope that is centered in God, and in the constancy of a love that delights to do with fidelity the will of God. Most force¬ fully has Russell, in his captivating biog¬ raphy of our subject, analyzed his religious character thus : The religion in which Mr. Gladstone lives and moves and has his being is an intensely vivid and energetic principle — passionate in its emotional side, definite in its theory, imperious in its demands — in the practical, visible, complex, and variegated web of his long and chequered life. In his own personal habits, known to all men of systematic devotion ; in his rigorous reservation of the Sunday for sacred uses; in his written and spoken utterances; in his favorite studies ; in his administration of public affairs ; in the ground on which he has based his opposition to policies of which he has disapproved — he has steadily and constantly as¬ serted for the claims of religion a permanent place 42 Summing THp in public consideration, and has reproved the State socialism which thinks, or affects to think, that Christianity as a spring of human action is an exhausted force. Mr. Gladstone represents and incar¬ nates the essential elements of genuine worth. To come in contact ... , . . , , , ,, . Summing tUp with him is to behold hero¬ ism, majesty, purity, sympathy inter- blended in character and exhibited in life, forming an image of beautiful proportions and after a heavenly original. The man matches creed with deed. He translates high thought into daily life. With him truth lived is more than truth taught. A Christian hero through and through, Wil¬ liam Ewart Gladstone has proved himself to be the noblest premier that has ever blessed great England’s history. Grand Old Man, No fitting mete wand hath to-day For measuring spirits of thy stature — Only the future can reach up to lay The laurel on thy lofty nature — Bard, who, with some diviner art Has touched the bard’s true lyre, the na¬ tion’s heart. 43 JOHN KNOX t Address in celebration of the three hundred and ninetieth anniversary of Knox’s birthday , delivered in the First "Baptist Church, ‘ Denver , November, 189 5 II IT means much that so judicious and dis¬ interested a writer as Froude, after designating John Knox as the “ one supremely great man u^on°Mim that Scotland possessed — the one man without whom Scotland, as the modern world has known it, would have no existence, ” should indulge in a eulogy upon him so unreserved as this : His was the voice that taught the peasant of the Lothians that he was a free man, the equal in the sight of God with the proudest peer or prelate that had trampled on his forefathers. He was the one antagonist that Mary Stuart could not soften nor Maitland deceive. He it was that raised the poor commons of his country into a stern and rugged people, who might be hard, narrow, super¬ stitious, and fanatical, but who, nevertheless, were men whom neither king, noble, nor priest could force again to submit to tyranny. It means much too, when so calm and critical a writer as Carlyle appears car- 47 3obn Umoi ried away, as by some irresistible tidal wave, with the mighty effects of the Ref¬ ormation by Knox, denominating it “the one epoch in all the history of Scotland ; an internal fire under the ribs of outward material death ; the noblest of causes, kindling itself like a beacon set on high ; high as heaven yet all from earth, where¬ by the meanest man becomes not only a citizen, but a member of Christ’s visible church.” Who is this man that is enabled, under God’s guiding eye and protecting arm, to accomplish so much for his native land, for the continent of Europe, for the Chris¬ tian church ? Who is this man, the utter¬ ance of whose sentiments is felt even to this far-off age of ours, gathering force and momentum with all the years, pro¬ ducing in turn English Non-Conforming churches, Scotch Covenanters, and, in part, the principles upon which our own American nation has been reared so grad¬ ually, grandly, and gloriously ? Who is this man, without whose great brain, true heart, and imperishable deeds Scotland 48 ftlte IHumble parentage might have been lost to Protestantism in the most critical period of its eventful his¬ tory, and in reference to whom a noted author has so forcefully declared the his¬ tory of Scotland as the history of the Reformation, and the history of the Ref¬ ormation as the biography of one man — John Knox ? We cannot fail to be inter¬ ested in and instructed by the heroic career of this Savonarola of Scotland — this John the Baptist of the sixteenth cen¬ tury. Like many of the great men of history that have stamped their generation with their personal influence, Knox was born of humble parents, who pos¬ sessed neither rank nor rep- utation, fortune nor favor ; and, like the most gifted of Greek bards, this most distinguished of Scotch Re¬ formers had a birthplace unknown to day to the world, some historians contending that it was at Haddington that our subject first saw the light in 1 505, It is interesting to note how often from inconspicuous line¬ age and circumstances there arises con- d 49 5obn Iknoi spicuous genius — Gregory VII., the son of a carpenter; Sextus V., a shepherd; Adrian VI., a bargeman ; Copernicus, the son of a baker ; and Kepler, the son of a publican — each adding force to the trite but true lines, Honor and shame from no condition rise ; Act well your part — there all the honor lies. The century whose opening days gave birth to Knox may be accounted one of the richest in all the annals H Century UB ^luman race* A few weeks hence the world will be celebrating the birthday of Robert Burns, and orators will tell with fervid eloquence of how, around that proud year 1 759, when the peasant poet was born, the great of earth did cluster in the glory of their personality and in the majesty of their achievements — Watt working with steam, and Hargreaves with the spinning- jenny, and Wedgewood with household wares ; Gray with his elegy, and John¬ son with his dictionary ; Edmund Burke with his essay on the sublime and beau- 50 U fiQarvelous Century tiful ; Garrick the first of actors and Rey¬ nolds the first of painters ; with Gibbon and Hume and Robertson as historians. A marvelous century indeed, laden with the fruit of exalted thought and labor. But a richer century in genius was that of Knox than was that of Burns. In its broad compass this sixteenth century encircled Kepler and Copernicus, astronomers ; Elizabeth and Mary, queens ; Wolsey, cardinal ; Gustavus Adolphus, soldier ; Shakespeare, Spenser, and Tasso, poets ; Erasmus and Reuchlin, scholars ; Angelo, Raphael, and Da Vinci, artists ; Calvin and Luther, Zwingli and Melancthon, Reformers, with others high in rank in the realm of art and science, of philoso¬ phy and literature, of war and states¬ manship — a century blossoming with ge¬ nius, even as Southern gardens blossom with flowers. Well was it that in so rich a literary period Knox’s parents put him in his youth at the Haddington school, whence, after his acquisition of the principles of the Latin grammar, he entered at the age of 5i John Iknoi sixteen years the University of Glasgow, where he prosecuted with marked vigor and success the studies assigned to him — most probably the Aristotelian philosophy, scholastic theology, and canon law studies which fitted him afterward to write on theology, discuss with heretics, confront kings and queens, and in a multitude of ways bear a heroic part for God and hu¬ manity. And the condition of Scotland, both politically and religiously, in the sixteenth century, how favorable in ^of scotian&n itself for the awakening of Knox’s peculiar genius, the calling out of his special gifts, and the accomplishment of his reforming deeds 1 Look first at its political condition. Car¬ lyle describes this country as “a poor, barren country, full of continual broils, dissensions, and massacrings ; a people in the last stage of rudeness and destitu¬ tion, a little better, perhaps, than Ireland to-day; a country as yet without a soul, nothing developed in it but what was rude, external, semi-animal/’ A sad pic- 52 abe Condition of Scotland ture this, by the sage of Chelsea, who loved so tenderly his own native land ; it would seem that patriotism had well- nigh vanished from the heart and hearth¬ stones of this people, each inhabitant more a clansman than a Scotchman, and all the nation in an indescribably sad and chaotic condition. Truly, if any people ever needed God’s pure and purifying leaven to permeate and save its hetero¬ geneous mass, that nation was Scotland at the beginning of the sixteenth century. And Scotland religiously, or rather irre¬ ligiously, was worse even, if possible, than Scotland politically. No truer, more im¬ pressive picture of its moral state has been furnished than that given by the au¬ thor of “Heretics of Yesterday,” when he writes : Nowhere, outside of Italy, was the church so corrupt, or so shameless in its corruption. It held in its grasp the largest share of the wealth of the kingdom. The lives of its prelates and priests were scandalous to a degree that no language that is now permissible would enable us to express. Severe as the language of Knox was in the pulpit, and broad even almost to grossness as it now reads 53 3obn IFmoi upon the pages of history, it is more than borne out in the stinging lines of that Chaucer of Scot¬ land, Sir David Lindsay, of the mount of St. Michael. Indeed, Chaucer’s most realistic pic¬ tures of the fourteenth century are tame when compared with Sir David’s description of the Scot¬ tish clergy in the sixteenth century. The Beatons, in licentiousness of life, in insatiableness of avarice, and in the cruelty of their judicial murders, main¬ tained the traditions of a system made famous by John XXIII. and Alexander VI. The churches had ceased to be the resorts of men in need of spiritual grace or hungering for the bread of life, and had become mere marts for trafficking in in¬ dulgences, relics, anathemas, and the common clergy were themselves densely ignorant of the meaning of the prayers which they were paid to mumble. And all this sanctioned by Queen Mary of Guise and David Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrew’s and cardinal of the church, — no, not of the church, but of the so- called, because so degenerated, church of God. Think of it, Beaton an archbishop, sanctioned and supported by the church, yet he prevailing, in the name of Jehovah, upon James V. to violate his promise to Henry VIII. at Newcastle ; and worse 54 Gbe Condition of Scotland still, putting to death those whom he re¬ garded heretics — pure Protestant heroes — with as little concern of conscience as the infamous Nero murdered his own mother and wrapped in flames that gave him joy thousands of Roman saints ! Oh, the dark, deep crimes that have drawn their trail of blood over the annals of history, and that too, in the name of the gentle, un¬ resisting, patient Christ ! God save the church from ever becoming again the mere marble effigy of an entombed excellence ! No wonder the people of Scotland — politi¬ cal chaos on one hand and moral corrup¬ tion on the other — were ready for marked and growing revolution and reformation. Things must change or the nation sink. The foul, base murders by the papacy of George Wishart, the godly preacher of righteousness, and of Patrick Hamilton, the gifted nobleman, aroused the whole nation to the necessity of change. Forma¬ tion had changed to deformation ; now de¬ formation must change to reformation. And how gloriously God has been pre¬ paring the land for the coming Reforma- 55 3obn Iftnoi tion ! First, Scotland received from Eng¬ land some of Wycliffe’s evangelical truths, which Lollards, full of sym- TCrtovmatlon Pathy with them> had scat' tered near and far ; then Scottish students visited Wittenberg, and learned of Luther and Melancthon, whose words, “ Half-battles,” were arous¬ ing all Europe ; then there was the ele¬ vation of the queen dowager to the Scot¬ tish and of Mary to the English throne — events which God in his power caused eventually to work for the Reformation ; then there was the diffusion of the Scrip¬ tures, the work of English and German Reformers, which are everywhere the center of the world’s illumination ; then, there was the sympathy of such noblemen as William, earl of Glencairn, and Wil¬ liam, earl of Errol, and William, lord of Ruthven, and of such scholars as Sir David Lindsay, and Henry Balnaves, and George Buchanan, Knox’s contemporary at Glasgow ; then there were the plays cvf the pantomimes of satirists, in which the vices of the papal clergy and the suf- 56 Ittte J£ntt£ Hlpon bie Work ferings of the Protestants were held up in bold, bald relief ; then there was the martyrdom of Wishart and Hamilton, whose blood truly became the seed of the church, Who lived unknown till persecution Dragged them into fame, and chased them Up to heaven ; whose blood was shed In confirmation of the noblest claim — Our claim to feed upon the immortal truth, To soar, and to anticipate the skies. All this was just one year previous to the Diet of Spires, — when the name Prot¬ estant was born, — two years from the production of the ®^oruf{pon Augsburg Confession, and eight years after Luther had consigned to flames at Wittenberg the papal bulls ; after which there was the opening up of the castle of St. Andrew’s as “a kind of sanctuary for all who were seeking relief or refuge from the oppression of rulers in Church and State,” and the flocking to it of many noble and true spirits. Into this St. Andrew’s Castle Knox was one of the first to enter. He was now a 57 3obn Iknoi man of forty-two years, mature in wisdom and ripening in grace. He had had fine advantages. At Glasgow University he had been under the careful instruction of John Major, doctor of the Sorbonne, prin¬ cipal of the university, and professor of divinity — a man who, abreast of his times, could project such truths as this in a period like that: “A free people first gives strength to a king, and a king depends for power upon a free people ” ; and, “ A people can discard or depose a king and his children for misconduct, just as they appoint him at first.” Such sentiments as these taught by Major in the class¬ room, were reiterated by Knox with such mighty force, and so widely diffused in the nation, that “ in due season the divine right of the Stuarts was exploded, and the beginning of a new order of things in¬ troduced.” In the midst of a monarchical government such expositions of popular attention and power could not fail to at¬ tract attention and demand consideration. It was in this St. Andrew’s Castle that Knox got his first strong, irresistible call 58 IHis Bntrp upon bis TMovk to the public ministry of the word. He had already left the Romish priesthood, with which he was connected in 1543, and, under the influence of Thomas Guil- lame and George Wishart and God’s Spirit, received the truth as it is in Jesus. By degrees he found himself greatly in¬ terested in giving public expositions of the Scriptures and of the catechism. These public lectures received profound atten¬ tion. To them flocked the most thought¬ ful minds in the castle. So deep and wide an impression was made by them that there came to Knox, unsought, both a divine and human call to the ministry, from which he could now no more turn away than could the rude Gothic hordes of the North turn away from Italy after once their eyes had rested on its sunny slopes. The scene in the castle was unique, interesting, thrilling. One morn¬ ing John Rough, the regular preacher at the castle, preached a sermon on “ Call to the Ministry.” Turning at the close of his discourse to Knox, who was seated near him, he addressed these words : “ Be 59 Tobn Iknox not offended if I speak to you personally. In the name of God and his Son Jesus Christ, and in the names of those present, who speak to you by my mouth, I charge you that you refuse not this holy voca¬ tion ; but that, as you regard the glory of God, the increase of his kingdom, the edification of your brethren, you take upon you the public office and charge of preaching even as you look to God’s dis¬ pleasure, and desire that he multiply his graces with you.” Then, looking over the congregation, Rough put this ques¬ tion, “ Was not this your charge to me ? ” Unitedly their voices responded, “ It was, and we approve it.” What was the effect of all this upon Knox ? We are reminded, as we look upon him in these circumstances, of two other great heroes of history in similar conditions, the one exclaiming, ‘ Ah, Lord God, behold ! I cannot speak, for I am a child ! ” the other, “ Who is sufficient for these things ? ” Picturesquely has a bi¬ ographer set before us Knox’s emotions at this time : 60 IHte Bntrs upon bis ‘lHHorft The combined suddenness and solemnity of the appeal completely unmanned him. He burst into tears, and hastened to his closet, where we may well believe he sought light from God ; and the result was that he was led to take up that ministry which he laid down only with his life. Not from the impulse of caprice, nor because he desired the position of a preacher, but because he could not otherwise meet the responsibility which God had laid upon him, did he enter on that high and hon¬ orable vocation. He was to do a work for his countrymen not unlike that which Moses was to do for his kinsmen ; and so, like Moses, he was called to it in the full maturity of his powers, and entered upon it with a conviction that God had given him his commission and he dared not dis¬ obey. No wonder that, like Saul of Tarsus converted on the way to Damascus, and straightway preaching in the synagogue that Jesus is the Christ, Knox now with¬ out delay went forth to engage in a con¬ troversy with the papist Dean Armand, to deliver sermons exploding papal doctrine respecting justification, and to inculcate God’s word largely untainted by human tradition ; and all this so conscientiously and vigorously that one present at one 61 3obn Umoi of his discourses significantly cried out : “Others lopped off the branches of pa¬ pistry, but Knox strikes at the roots to destroy the whole ! ” He was not a man to mince words, wink at error, court favor, seek popularity. Having as a possession a good God, a good conscience, and a good cause, this preacher of truth and righteousness went forth in courage, vic¬ torious for Jehovah and Scotland. But Knox’s path of duty was no prim¬ rose way. God had raised him up for great deeds, and so must re- ^re©uffedngan& flne anh Pur^Y him in the fire of great suffering. Fol¬ lowing the death of Henry VIII., in Eng¬ land, in 1547, and in the same year that of Francis I., of France, who was suc¬ ceeded by Henry II., St. Andrew’s Castle, where Knox had done such noble work for truth, was besieged by a French fleet, whose attack resulted in its surrender. The vanquished were carried away in ves¬ sels, some to Cherbourg, others to St. Michael’s Mount ; Knox himself, because a prominent Protestant leader, being 62 ©teat BeeDs anD Suffering doomed to be a slave in the galleys. What that means may be inferred from a description given us by a well-known author : The life of a galley slave was peculiarly calcu¬ lated to crush the very spirit out of a man. As a punishment it was brutal and imbruting — the men chained together and to their oars, with insuffi¬ cient room for any muscular action, sometimes under a stifling deck ; compelled oftentimes to tug at the oars without cessation for twenty-four hours together ; their very food put into their mouths by their masters ; the slightest relaxation of effort visited by stinging lashes ; if one sank exhausted he was speedily thrown overboard, and another chained in his place ; all this tending first to em¬ bitter, then dehumanize and make ferocious, and finally stupefy. Is it strange that Knox was stricken with fever, and became painfully emaci¬ ated ? How pathetically does he speak of his bitter experiences in these circum¬ stances of woe: “In this town and church,,, writes he in relation to St. An¬ drew’s, “ began God first to call me to the dignity of a preacher, from the which I was reft by the tyranny of France, by 63 3obn Iknox procurements of bishops, as ye all well know. How long I continued a prisoner, what torments I endured in the galleys, and what were the sobs of my heart, is now no time to consider.” Oh, how true it is that God’s servants must suffer from God’s enemies for God’s truth — Daniel in a den and the Hebrew children in flames of persecution ; Stephen dying from the blows of an infuriated mob, and Paul chained in a Roman cell, and martyred in a Roman arena ; Peter ascending to glory from a tree of crucifixion, and John an exile on Patmos ; Cranmer and Bradford expiring in flames, and Hooper on the scaffold ; Tauler cast into Strasburg Ca¬ thedral, and Latimer in the London Tower; Huguenots persecuted in the hid¬ ing-places of the Pyrenees, and Wald- enses in the fastnesses of Piedmont, and so all down the ages ! We suffer with God that we may be also glorified with him. But though in chains and racked with fever during his confinement, Knox uses his pen to propagate truth. Hear his 64 Great Deebs anD Suffering dedication to Balnave’s “Treatise on Jus¬ tification, ” how Paul-like in form and spirit: “ John Knox, the bound servant of Jesus Christ, unto his beloved brethren of St. Andrew’s congregation and to all professors of Christ’s true evangel ; grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, with perpetual consolation from the Holy Spirit.” Are we surprised at this calm, tranquil resignation and faith amid condi¬ tions so hard ? Was it not in a dungeon that Savonarola wrote his commentary on Ps. 31, and George Withers his “ Medita¬ tions,” and Sir Francis Baker his “Jeru¬ salem, my Happy Home,” and Judson his “Lord’s Prayer Paraphrase,” and Bun- yan his marvelous allegory, and Madame Guyon her song of triumph, These prison walls cannot control The flight, the freedom of my soul. What a commentary each of these cases is on the word of him whom Galilean winds obeyed, “Lo, I am with you alway.” And the faith of Knox while in base and bitter confinement, how unshaken, both e 65 3obn 1 ftnoi in God and in his own future success! It reminds us of Daniel’s fortitude before the king, and Paul’s courage jfortttu&e ami won the victory for the Reformation, and was hereafter to take his place even alongside the noble Ger¬ man Reformer, Martin Luther. His work was now done. His hand may now rest. His eyes may now close. His heart may now cease to beat. On November 24, 1572, the summons comes to him from the great Captain of his salvation to lay aside his sword of warfare for a fadeless chaplet of victory; which summons he gladly obeys, like Paul, reviewing his course with joy. Hear his words just before his spirit takes its flight to enjoy 72 1Ht6 Character reward : “ I profess before God and his holy angels that I never made merchan¬ dise of the sacred work of God ; never studied to please men ; never indulged my own private passions for those of others, but rejoice in the testimony of a good conscience.” Who wonders that on that solemn November day, as the mortal remains of John Knox were lowered to their last resting-place in the old church¬ yard of St. Giles, the earl of Morton should be heard uttering these words, slowly and feelingly: “Here lieth a man who in his life never feared the face of man ; who hath often been threatened with the dagger, but yet hath ended his days in peace and honor.” Analyzing, in conclusion, Knox’s char¬ acter, we are impressed first of all, by his consecrated activity. Truly . T , , Ibis Character the zeal of Jehovah con¬ sumed him. We find him at times during his career preaching every Sunday, and three times during the week. Once each week he would hold a conference with his elders, and once each week a conference 73 3obn Iknoi with ministers for the study of the Scrip¬ tures. Only one sermon did he publish, but in that one he tells of the great in¬ creasing purpose that ran through his life, “to instruct the ignorant, comfort the sor¬ rowful, confirm the weak, and to rebuke the proud by pen and living voice and to this high vocation he devoted his days to preaching and his nights to writing. It was as a preacher, and not as a writer, that he did his grandest work. Dr. Tay¬ lor has well said : The pulpit was the throne of his peculiar and pre-eminent power. Other men might equal or surpass him elsewhere, but there he was supreme. The pulpit was the glass which focused all his powers into a point, and quickened their exercise into a burning intensity which kindled everything he touched. It brightened his intellect, enlivened his imagination, clarified his judgment, inflamed his courage, and gave fiery energy to his utter¬ ance. He was a born preacher, as Tennyson was a born poet, and Gladstone a born states¬ man. No wonder that, even with the disadvantage of a weak body, and of a 74 Iftnoi anD Xutbcr ministry not beginning until he was forty- five years old and ending at sixty-seven, and of the further fact that these twenty- two years were sadly interrupted — two in slavery, five in England, three on the continent, and two made almost ineffec¬ tual by paralysis — Knox was enabled to do a work that elevated all Scotland and thrilled the very eternities with joy and salvation. Again, like Luther, Knox was a man of notable, marvelous moral courage, the outgrowth of an ever-devel- , , 0 Iftnox anfc Xutber oping faith in God. See him in his earlier life going before George Wishart with a two-branded sword, and protecting his friend as he preached the gospel. Study a little but significant in¬ cident connected with him as a galley slave at Nantes. An image of the Virgin Mary was held before him and he was commanded to kiss it. Refusing imme¬ diately and peremptorily, he was told to at least handle it, when, taking up the image he threw it with force into the water, exclaiming with an Elijah-like 75 3obn Iknox irony, as he heard it splash in the water : “ Let our Lady now save herself, if she be a god ; she is light enough, let her swim ! ” He himself tells of the inci¬ dent, adding with quiet humor : “ After that, no other Scotchman was urged with idolatry.” Once during an ad¬ dress, strong and even vehement, before Queen Mary, Knox was interrupted by one of the nobles with the words : “You forget yourself ; you are not in your pul¬ pit ! ” “ That is true,” replied our hero, “but I am in the place where I am de¬ manded by my conscience to speak the truth, and therefore the truth I speak ; impugn it whoso list.” Are we surprised at times at Knox’s language when, for example, he speaks of “ Gardiner and his black brood,” and of the wafer of the host as “the round- clipped god”; declares that “the wily devil rages in his obedient servants cruel Winchester, dreaming Durham, bloody Bonner, with the rest of the bloody, butchering brood”; and that “Jezebel never erected half so many gallows in all 76 Umoi anD Xutber Israel as mischievous Mary hath erected in London alone”; let us bear in mind that all this was true, and that Knox was raised up and educated of God to tell the truth, come what might — anger to a queen or death to himself. He had learned, he tells us, “from Isaiah and Jeremiah and others, to call a spade a spade,” and it was awkward for him to denominate it an agri¬ cultural implement. Life to him was too real and earnest to ever encourage duplicity, insincerity, cowardice. Like Cromwell’s Ironsides, he was dispos¬ sessed of all fear of man, and fully pos¬ sessed of the true fear of God. And yet, as another has beautifully said, Knox was no heartless stoic ; but rather, like the granite mountains of his native land, he had within all his strength and sublimity, fountains of tenderness and valleys laugh¬ ing with cheer. He was a man of his time and for his time. No gentle expostu¬ lation would have taken the place of his stern denunciations. He had to be what he was in order to accomplish what he did. McCrie sums his nature up in the 77 3obn umoi forceful declaration that he was austere, but not unfeeling ; stern, but not savage ; vehement, but not vindictive. Beneath all his sternness of face and manner there was a heart of tenderness and deep emo¬ tion. But with all Knox’s supreme virtues, like all other men he had his faults. We would not conceal the error Ibis faults . , . , , . , . of which he was guilty in the publication of his “ First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women,” a work produced when burn¬ ing with righteous indignation at the atro¬ cities of the bloody Mary, and his unwill¬ ing exile from the land in which he yearned to labor. As illustrative of its trend, take one sentence : “To promote a woman to bear rule, superiority, do¬ minion, or empire above any realm, na¬ tion, or city, is repugnant to nature, con¬ tumely against God, and a subversion of all good order, of all equality and justice.” Knox subsequently realized the mistake he had made in his composition, and candidly declares: “My first blast hath blown 78 Bt IRest from me all my friends.” But this was not Knox’s greatest error. We find him in 1560 guilty of a deception which can¬ not be overlooked nor excused. It is where, for the sake of advancing the Reformation’s cause, he advises Sir James Craft to deceive the government by claim¬ ing that certain men, whose help he needed, were enemies of the Reforma¬ tion, and thereby save them from sus¬ picion. A sad, sorrowful sin ! How weak poor human nature is at its very best ! How much evil is mixed with good ! How the light is attended by shadows ! How near to the finest fiber is oftentimes the flaw ! How many the limitations of the most finely tempered integrity ! Abra¬ ham, Moses, Paul, John, Luther, Cranmer, Knox — how each, though possessed of mighty strength, had weaknesses which may neither be extenuated nor vindicated, but must be confessed and lamented ! But casting over Knox’s faults and frail¬ ties a veil of charity, and re¬ calling with joy and inspira¬ tion his qualities of such greatness and 79 mt IRest 5obn Iknoi glory, we think of him at this hour as at rest from all his labors, and free from all his frailties — an emancipated, triumphant spirit in the presence of his King. Soldier of Christ, well done ! Praise be thy new employ ; And while eternal ages run, Rest in thy Saviour’s joy. 80 BAPTISTS AND LITERATURE ^Address before the "Baptist {Ministers’ Con¬ ference, "Philadelphia, November 23, 1896. Ill THERE has existed in all ages,” writes a distinguished American essayist, A class of men, called at different periods by different names, but generally comprehended under the name of authors. They hold the same rela¬ tion to the mind of man that the agriculturist and manufacturer bear to his body ; and by virtue of their sway over the realm of thought and emo¬ tion, they have exercised a vast influence upon human affairs, which has too often been denied or overlooked by earth’s industrial or political sover¬ eigns. Without taking into view the lives and thoughts of such, history becomes to us an enigma ; we read of wars, crusades, persecutions, ameliorations, of mighty and convulsive changes in opinions and manners, without obtaining any clue to the real causes of events, any insight into the laws of God’s providence. Without weaving literary into civil history, we gain no knowledge of the annals of human nature. We have the body of history without the soul, events without ideas, effects without causes, the very atheism of narrative. 83 JBapttsts anD Xiterature With this exalted estimate of literature and its potent influence upon all aspects of human life, upon art and science, upon philosophy and religion, upon domestic, social, and political economy, we come to the question proposed for our thought at this hour — The relation of Baptists to the world’s literature. We interpret litera¬ ture here in the broad sense used by William R. Williams, when he writes : The term “literature” comprises all the intel¬ lectual products of a nation, from the encyclopaedia to the newspaper ; the epic poem and Sunday- school hymn, the sermon and epigram, the essay and sonnet, the oration and street ballad, all that represents and awakens the popular mind, all that interprets by the use of words the nation to them¬ selves and to other nations of earth. The subject is, of course, too broad and comprehensive for adequate treatment in the time allotted this address. We must, therefore, content ourselves with the sug¬ gestion and discussion of a few only of the more salient and important facts in¬ volved. The relation of which we speak may be 84 £belt Influence on JBtble translation classified and set forth as two-fold in its character — direct and indirect. Each of these points demands special attention and separate investigation. In their direct influence upon literature Baptists have achieved, in all their his- tory, no grander, no more U6dc ,nfluence far-reaching results than in on Bible their labors upon the sacred 'Cran0latlon text of Scripture, as these are revealed in critical, exegetical, and linguistic works. Not to go back further in Baptist annals than the sixteenth century of the Chris¬ tian era (if indeed there be a more remote period that invites investigation in this direction), we learn that in the year 1526, several years before the publication of Luther’s Bible, two Anabaptists, Denk and Hastzer, undertook in Strasburg a translation of the Hebrew Bible, one part of which (the Prophets) was published the following year. This greatly needed, and, under the circumstances, well-exe¬ cuted translation, marks the beginning of a new epoch in the history of Bible trans¬ lation. In 1660, the Rev. Henry Jessey, 35 JSapttets and Xlterature a Baptist scholar of no mean attainments, began work in the same line, but severe and unexpected persecutions in England prevented the publication of his studies. Prior to the year 1834, Dr. William Carey — of whom the distinguished Wilberforce, in the British House of Commons, said, “His proficiency in Sanscrit is acknowl¬ edged to be greater than that of Sir Wil¬ liam Jones or any other European” — translated the Bible into more than a score of dialects and languages ; and the state¬ ment is made, upon reliable authority, that before his death, and without ques¬ tion, as a reward of his inspiration and work, the missionary press of Serampore had sent forth the Scriptures in forty dif¬ ferent languages and dialects, the tongue of thirty-three millions of human beings. The work of Dr. Judson’s Bible transla¬ tion for the Burmese, of Dr. Marshman’s for the Chinese, of Dr. Nathan Brown’s for the Japanese, of Dr. Mason’s for the Karens, of Cushing’s translation of the Bible into the Shan language, and of Dr. H. F. Buckner’s self-denying toil in trans- 86 baptist Commentaries lating the Gospel of John into the lan¬ guages of the Creek Indians, are each a grand monument of consecrated industry and ability which the Christian world may well acknowledge, and for which every Baptist heart should be devoutly grateful to God. Besides these, we have Bowen’s vocabulary and grammar of the Yoruban language, a proof of the excellence of which is found in the fact that it is a pub¬ lication of the Smithsonian Institution. And time would fail me here to speak at any length of John Gill’s Commen¬ tary ; of Robert and James A. Haldane’s Expositions, ^entader* respectively, of Romans and Galatians ; of Ripley’s Notes on the Gos¬ pels, Acts, Romans, and Hebrews ; of Spurgeon’s “Treasury of David”; of Mitchell’s Revised Davies’ Hebrew Lexi¬ con ; of William Jones’ “Dictionary of Sacred Writings”; of Green’s “Hand¬ book to the Grammar of the New Testa¬ ment ” ; of Hutchinson’s “Syriac Gram¬ mar and Chrestomathy ” ; of Clifford’s “Old Testament Characters”; of Pat- 87 baptists anfc literature tison’s Ephesians and Hinton’s Daniel ; of Reach’s Parables and Clark’s Com¬ mentaries ; of Sherwood’s New Testa¬ ment, Explanatory and Practical ; of Johnson’s “Quotations of the New Tes¬ tament from the Old ” ; of Kendrick’s Olshausen Commentary on the New Tes¬ tament ; of Stevens’ and Burton’s “ Exe- getical Studies ” ; of Whitney’s “ Revisers of the Greek Text” ; of Conant’s Gese- nius’ Hebrew Grammar and New Trans¬ lation of the Book of Job ; of King’s “Our Gospels” and Henderson’s “Development of Doctrine ” ; of Hackett’s Original Text of Acts, Chaldee Grammar, and edition of Smith’s Dictionary ; of the American Commentary, by Baptist scholars like Ho- vey, Hackett, Broadus, and Clarke ; of Malcom’s Bible Dictionary, with its im¬ mense circulation of nearly two hundred thousand copies ; and lastly, of the valu¬ able service rendered from time to time by our scholars in the revision of the word of God. Surely Baptists have accomplished in the matter of expounding and translating 88 Sermontc literature the Bible and giving it in intelligent form to the nations, a work both unique and magnificent. In sermonic literature Baptists have not been so prominent as in the exposition and translation of the Scrip¬ tures, still the place they Serm°"^cXltcrs hold here is quite creditable. The one name, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, confers upon our denomination a grand distinction. It may be with a feeling of commendable pride that a single body of the great Christian fraternity is able to class among its constituents Milton, the poet ; Bunyan, the allegorist ; and Spur¬ geon, the preacher — three names than which no other names in English annals hold higher position in their respective spheres. So popular have been Mr. Spur¬ geon’s sermons that many of them have been translated into German, Welsh, Swedish, French, Danish, Italian, and other European tongues. But Spurgeon stands not alone in the history of the Baptist pulpit, a great preacher of righteousness. Before him 89 baptists anD Xiterature and along by his side there have been, and to-day are, men of our pulpit pre¬ eminent for piety, intellectual power, and oratorical talent of the highest order — men whose spoken and published thought has done no little in influencing and mold¬ ing the thought and literature of our day. We have but to recall the names of such ambassadors of Christ as Christmas Evans, the brightest ornament of the Welsh pulpit ; of Robert Hall who, as Dugald Stewart says, combined in his writings the beauty of Johnson, Addison, and Burke, without their imperfections ; of the noted Stillman, whose sermons on the Stamp Act (1776) and before Congress (1770) and on the French Revolution (1794), made him so conspicuous a per¬ sonage ; of Brantley and Parkinson, Rich¬ ard Fuller and Leland, Elton and Staugh- ton, Wayland and Stow, Manly and Furman and Brown of days gone by, and McLaren, Hull, Robinson, Armitage, Winkler, Henson, Boardman, Lorimer, MacArthur, and others of our own time. And in this connection should be men- 90 ^Theological anD IReligious lldotks tioned Armitage’s “Preaching; Its Inner and Ideal Life,” and Broadus’ “ Prepara¬ tion and Delivery of Sermons,” the latter acknowledged in our land to be the best American work on preaching, and one which has gained most gratifying recep¬ tion and circulation in some colleges of England. Among theological and religious works by Baptists we notice such books as Gill’s “ Body of Divinity ”; Marsh- man’s “Deity and Atone- jEbeoiog(caian& J IReltgious TIClorfes ment of Christ”; Brown’s “ Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge ”; Andrew Fuller’s extensive works ; Dagg’s “ Moral Science and Manual of Theol¬ ogy ” ; Pendleton’s “ Christian Doc¬ trine ” ; Brine’s “ Vindication of Natural Religion ” ; Parkinson’s “ Ministry of the Word ” ; Howell’s “ Way of Salvation ”; Boyce’s “Systematic Theology”; Wil¬ liams’ “ Lord’s Prayer and Religious Prog¬ ress ” ; Magoon’s “Republican Christi¬ anity”; Winkler’s “ Spirit of Missions”; Hovey’s “ Systematic Theology and Chris¬ tian Ethics” ; Smith’s “Canon of Scrip- 91 baptists anD ^Literature ture and its Inspiration ” ; Angus’ “ Hand¬ book of the Bible Lorimer’s “ Argument for Christianity ” ; Boardman’s “Crea¬ tive Week ” and “ Mountain Instruc¬ tion ” ; Johnson’s “ Outlines of System¬ atic Theology ” ; Reach’s “ Gospel Mys¬ teries Unveiled ” ; the six volumes of Archibald McLean’s works ; Merrill’s “ Parchments of the Faith ” ; Wayland’s essays on questions educational, philo¬ sophical, and religious ; Spurgeon’s “ De¬ votional Writings”; Pattison’s “History of the English Bible Belcher’s “ Religious Denominations”; Turnbull’s “Christ in History”; Milton’s “True Religion and Prelatical Episcopacy,” which “abounds in passages compared with which the finest declarations of Burke sink into in¬ significance ”; and lastly, the productions of the “Immortal Dreamer,” who has more readers, next to inspired men, than any other who has had his thoughts to “trickle through his pen ” — Bunyan, one of whose works, “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” has been translated into some thirty or more languages and dialects ; a book of 92 GbeolOQlcal anfc IRcltetous Udorfts which England’s most gifted nineteenth century critic says, “ There is no book in our literature on which we should so readily stake the fame of the old unpol¬ luted English, no book which shows so well how rich our language is in its own proper wealth.” Of this gifted author we may sing with the poet: Nothing can cover his high name but heaven ; No monument set off his memories But the eternal substance of his greatness. Macaulay utters no extravagant words when he writes : “We are not afraid to say that, though there were many clever men in England during the latter part of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. One of these minds produced the ‘ Paradise Lost/ the other the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’”; com¬ menting on which judgment an author has written : One of these two great creative minds, the Shakespeare of the spiritual drama for mankind, the matchless delineator of the unseen workings of the human spirit in its struggles after God, in 93 baptists anfc Xiterature its conflicts with the unseen, in its aspirings after the powers of the world to come, was immured in prison twelve years, for declaring the primitive gospel and administering the primitive ordinances as a Baptist preacher, abundant in labors for his Master ; the other composed his two most elaborate, painstaking volumes to prove from the Scriptures the divine origin and authority of the distinguish¬ ing principles of Baptists. It may be well just here to specify a few of the more polemical treatises that have come from the pen of IPolernical^Urcas gap^-js^Sj for much 0f their literature has, of necessity, been of a dogmatic and denominational character : “ Philosophy of Atheism,” by B. Goodwin ; “ Anti-Pedobaptism,” by John Tombes ; Jeter's “ Campbellism Examined ” ; “ Infant Baptism a Part and Pillar of Popery,” by Gill ; “ Bap¬ tism in its Mode and Subjects,” by Alex¬ ander Carson ; Williams' “ Apostolic Church Polity”; Cathcart’s “Baptism of the Ages”; Cote’s “Baptism and Baptisteries”; “The Position of Bap¬ tism in the Christian System,” by H. H. Tucker; Broaddus' “Church Disci- 94 lpoleirtfcal {Treatises pline ” ; Reynolds’ “Church Order”; Wayland’s “ Principles and Practices of Baptist Churches ” ; Curtis’ “ Commun¬ ion ” ; Hague’s “Eight Views of Bap¬ tism ” ; Gotch’s “ Baptism ” ; Hosken’s “ Infant Baptism ” ; Jones’ “ Spirit, Policy, and Influence of Baptists ” ; Howell’s “ Evils of Infant Baptism ” ; Anderson’s “ Vindication of Baptism ” ; Jones’ “ Plea for Baptist Principles ” ; Bates’ “ Defense of Baptism ; ” and Con- ant’s “ Meaning and Use of Baptizein Phi- lologically and Historically Considered,” which is without question the most schol¬ arly and convincing production on the subject extant, and Newman’s “ Anti- Pedobaptism,” named last but not least. But it has not been alone in defense of our distinctive views that Baptists have used their pens with vigor and learning, but also in behalf of the great funda¬ mental principles on which the whole fabric of pure unemasculated Christianity stands. With simple mention we point to Holcombe’s “Anti-Mission Principles Exposed ” ; Cathcart’s “ Papal System 95 JBaptlets anD ^Literature Curry’s “ Establishment and Disestab¬ lishment ” ; Andrew’s “Moral Tendency of Universalism ” ; Parker’s “Harmony of the Ages ” ; Waffle’s “ Sabbath ” ; Faunce’s “ Prayer ” and “ Inspiration as a Trend ” ; and Dowling’s “ History of Ro¬ manism.” From the above it will be ob¬ served that the literature of Baptists has been predominantly a religious litera¬ ture. Our most eminent scholars have been among our most consecrated men. This may or may not add to the lustre of their names in the present age of the world, but in the long run, and on the whole, will be to their honor. And from the peculiarities of our faith, it need hardly be said that our religious literature is eminently bib- fctterature jjcap The Scriptures are not only our rule of faith, but the only allowed source of authorita¬ tive teaching.” The earnest and unfal¬ tering advocates of such views as these, Baptists, even in their literary activity, must be expected to produce a mighty influence upon religion and the Bible. 96 3Biograpb£ Macaulay’s eloquence voices a great truth when, in his essay on Mitford’s “ History of Greece,” he writes, that wherever lit¬ erature consoles sorrow or assuages pain, there is exhibited the noblest form and the immortal influence of letters ; and we re- t joice that it is in behalf of literature of this pure and exalted kind that Baptists have produced their most noted and far-reach¬ ing works. Only the light and ages of eternity can reveal the cheer and conso¬ lation borne to weary, burdened spirits through such Baptist works as Spurgeon’s “ Morning by Morning ” and “ Evening by Evening,” Fuller’s “ Power of the Cross,” Fish’s “ Primitive Piety,” Carson’s “ Knowledge of Jesus,” Hoyt’s “ Gleams from Paul’s Prisons,” Gordon’s “Minis¬ try of the Spirit,” and Montague’s “ Heaven,” each with message so tender. Of the many biographies or biographical sketches by Baptists which might here be enumerated, the following , . , , a u 4. are most important and best known : “Memoir of Adoniram Judson,” by Francis Wayland ; “ Life of Luther g 97 baptists anb Xiterature Rice,” by J. B. Taylor ; “ Life of Rich¬ ard Fuller,” by J. H. Cuthbert ; “Life of Adoniram Judson,” by Edward Jud- son ; Fuller’s “ Memoir of Andrew Ful¬ ler ” ; “ Life and Correspondence of John Foster,” by J. E. Ryland ; Belcher’s “Baptist Martyrs”; “Eras and Char¬ acters of Flistory,” by W. R. Williams; lives of Carey, Marshman, and Ward, by J. C. Marshman ; “ Memoir of Christ¬ mas Evans,” by D. W. Phillips; “Life of Martin Luther,” by B. Sears; Hill’s “Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant”; “Life of John Bunyan,” by Ira Chase; Wyeth’s “ Judsons ” — Mrs. Ann H., Sarah B., and Emily C. — and his “ Galaxy in the Burman Sky ” ; “ Life of Mrs. Emily C. Judson,” by A. C. Ken¬ drick ; Ivimey’s “ Life of Milton ” ; Pat- tison’s “ Making of William Carey ” ; Knowles’ “ Life of Roger Williams ” ; “ Life and Times of James Manning,” by Reuben A. Guild ; “ Life and Times of Backus,” by A. Hovey ; Kendrick’s “ Bi¬ ography of Martin B. Anderson ” ; “ Life of James P. Boyce,” by John A. Broadus ; 98 ;JBlO0rapb£ “Life of J. B. Jeter,” by William E. Hatcher; “Life of George Dana Board- man,” by Alonzo King, and Gregory’s “Life of Robert Hall.” These biogra¬ phies, though largely denominational, are full of information and of thrilling inter* est to the whole Christian world, fur¬ nishing as they do telling accounts of the life and deeds of noble servants of God, some of whom gave up home and com¬ fort and even life itself for the glory of our common Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The relation of Baptists to history and historical research has been neither so extensive nor so satisfactory as we might desire. We need the talent of some strong intellect to be devoted for years to thorough research in the libraries of our land and of the old countries, determin¬ ing what Baptists have been and done, and thus become prepared to furnish the world with a scholarly, unbiased standard work on Baptist history. This I believe to be a great desideratum of the Baptist denomination at this period of its life. 99 baptists an£> Xitcrature Ifotetorical TKHorfts But Baptist pens have not been idle in this work of contributing to history. All along the track of our prog¬ ress are noble monuments of historical investigation : Robinson’s “ Historical Researches ” ; Vedder’s “Dawn of Christianity” and “ History of Baptists”; Chowles’ edition of Neal’s “History of the Puritans” and Foster’s “ Statesmen of the Common¬ wealth ” ; Newman’s “History of the Baptists ” ; Banvard’s “ Plymouth and the Pilgrims ” ; Burrage’s “ Anabaptists of Switzerland ” ; Hinton’s “ History of the United States ” ; Mrs. Conant’s “New England Theocracy”; Smith’s “ Modern Church History ” ; Ross’ “Civil and Religious History of Rhode Island ” Anderson’s “Annals of the English Bible ” Tupper’s “ Decade of Foreign Missions ” Moss’ “ Annals of the Christian Commis¬ sion ” ; to speak not specifically of the works of Keach and Orchard, of Backus and Semple, of Cutting and Crosby, of Cathcart and Curtis. In these valuable labors of love there is furnished the world ioo baptist poets a wealth of material which thus far has been too little recognized. Nor can we forget that it was Robert Haldane, a Bap¬ tist, who was instrumental in the awak¬ ening and conversion of D’Aubigne, and who therefore is indirectly connected with the production of the noblest history of the sixteenth century Reformation. If we have a right to claim, as a Bap¬ tist, John Milton with his Arian tenden¬ cies, his name, of course, must stand first among Bap¬ tist poets. His “Paradise Lost” and “Samson Agonistes ” entitle him to the eulogy of one of the greatest of English essayists, when he declares that Milton, the prince of poets, with Bacon, the prince of philosophers, made the Eliza¬ bethan Age a more glorious and important era in the history of human thought than Pericles, or Augustus, or Leo. Dryden furnishes this fine tribute to Milton : 36aptlst ipoets Three poets in three distant ages born ; Greece, Italy, and England did adorn, The first in loftiness of thought surpassed ; The next in majesty ; in both the last ; IOI baptists anD Xiterature The force of nature could no further go, To make a third she joined the former two. “ In Milton’s age there were many poets who ranked in popular esteem above him, but two hundred years of reflection have worn the gilt off the common iron of their work and burnished the gold of his.” Did time permit we should like to dwell at length and separately upon the poems, religious and other, of such Baptist authors as Fawcett, Steele, Beddome, Wallen, Medley, Fellows, Turner, Swain, Sten- nett, Rippon, Mote, Turney, Washburn, Knowles, Furman, S. F. Smith, Thurber, Brown, Phelps, Curtis, Gilmore, Lowry, Richards, Dyer, Doane, Robinson, Wilkin¬ son, and others, poets who have given the world no fewer than a thousand produc¬ tions in verse, some of them of great poeti¬ cal value, all of them breathing the lofty spirit of Christian consecration and faith. It is no small source of gratification to us that some of the most popular and soul-stirring of church hymns are the composition of Baptists. As illustrative of this, recall these : 102 MEmn Milters •fc^mn TKHdters “ Come, Holy Spirit, come,” by Benj. Beddome ; “Jesus, thou art the sinner’s Friend,” by Richard Burn¬ ham; “ Oh, could I find from day to day,” by Benj. Cleavland ; “ Safe in the arms of Jesus,” by W. H. Doane ; “ Ye Christian heroes, go proclaim,” by B. H. Draper ; “ Blest be the tie that binds,” by John Fawcett; “He leadeth. me, oh, blessed thought,” by J. H. Gil¬ more ; “ Come, humble sinner, in whose breast,” by Edmund Jones; “How firm a foundation,” by George Keith ; “ My hope is built on nothing less,” by Edward Mote ; “ Come, thou fount of every bless¬ ing,” by Robert Robinson ; “ My country, ’tis of thee,” by S. F. Smith ; “ The Sav¬ iour, oh, what endless charms,” by Anne Steele. Besides all these, Ballondi, of Venice, a Baptist evangelist, has given to the world a collection of sacred songs which has already a wide circulation and promises to receive recognition as a work of great merit. It is a noteworthy fact that to Baptists 103 Baptiste anD Xtterature the world is indebted for the most popular national hymn of our language, “ My country, ’tis of thee ” ; for the two most popular hymns perhaps of the church, if we except “Jesus, lover of my soul,” and “ Rock of ages,” viz., “ Come, thou Fount of every blessing,” and “ Blest be the tie that binds.” The influence of these hymns will never be known in this world. They have charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophy of earth. In eternity alone we shall witness the ex¬ tent of their beneficent power. In the realm of literature no Baptist holds a higher place — indeed few writers of the English language rank °enCaturTtCrs higher — than John Foster, whose essays, in the opin¬ ion of Sir James Macintosh, entitle him to the reputation of being “ one of the most profound and eloquent writers that England has produced.” His “ Deci¬ sion of Character” has a worldwide re¬ nown. Among the names of Ameri¬ can essayists that of William Matthews, author of “Orators and Oratory,” “Use 104 General Xlterature and Abuse of Words,” and several other interesting books, ranks most credita¬ bly. Dr. William R. Williams, of New York, was one of the most chaste and charming writers of our age. It is to be regretted that he gave to the public no more works of the order of his “ Miscel- lanies,” “ Conservative Principle in our Literature,” and “Eras and Characters of History.” No mean rank may be as¬ signed to Angus’ “ Handbook of English Literature,” Gregory’s “ Handbook of History,” Ash’s “Grammar and Diction¬ ary of the English Language,” Shute’s “Manual of Anglo-Saxon,” Leechman’s “Logic,” Hill’s “Elements of Rhetoric and Genetic Philosophy,” Morey’s “Ro¬ man Law,” and Hinton’s “ History of the United States.” One is surprised also at both the literary industry and literary finish of Rufus W. Griswold, who “gave to the world, from time to time, without his name, partly or entirely written by himself, six or eight works on history and biography, a novel, seven discourses on historical and philosophical subjects, and io5 baptists anD Xiterature contributions to magazines and newspa¬ pers sufficient to fill a dozen octavo vol¬ umes. ” His “ Curiosities of American Literature,” and “ The Poets and Poetry of America,” are of a high literary order. Besides these there are some rather widely read works of fiction by Baptist authors : Banvard’s “Priscilla,” Dayton’s “Theo¬ dosia,” Ford’s “Grace Truman,” Chap¬ lin’s “ Convent and Manse,” Eddy’s “ Saxenhurst,” and the attractive works of Mrs. E. C. Judson, as “Fanny For¬ ester,” some of whose writings have had a gratifying circulation. As in literary, so also in linguistic studies and writings not bearing on the Scriptures, Baptists have reached and X©tuMe0C maintained no ordinary posi¬ tion. Carey’s Mahratta, Sanscrit, Punjabi, and Telinga Gram¬ mars, together with his four foreign dic¬ tionaries ; Judson’s Burmese Dictionary ; Wade’s Karen Dictionary ; Buckner’s “ Grammar of the Creek Indians ” ; Gill’s “ Hebrew Language,” these are all works the worth and influence of which are uni- 106 Xlngutetic Studies versally recognized, “the precious life¬ blood of master spirits embalmed and treasured up to a life beyond life.” In addition to these we have Hackett’s translation of Winer’s “ Chaldee Gram* mar ” and Plutarch on the “ Delay of Deity,” Sears’ “Ciceronian,” Kendrick’s “ Study of the Greek Language ” and his edition of the “ Anabasis,” Richardson’s “Orthoepy,” Staughton’s “Virgil” and “Greek Grammar,” Boise’s seven vol¬ umes of Greek text-books, Harkness’ eight volumes Latin and Greek text-books, Har¬ per’s “Linguistic Studies,” Lincoln’s edi¬ tion of Livy and Horace, Knapp’s French Grammar and Chrestomathy, Robin¬ son’s translation of Neander’s “ Planting and Training,” Champlin’s edition of Demosthenes and AEschines, each evin¬ cing a high order of scholarship. “ It may be said with justice, that leading Baptist scholars have been second to none in thoroughness and breadth of learning, and that the standard by which attainment in all departments of knowledge is tested has been set and kept at a high point.” 107 baptists anD Xiterature How far this judgment quoted is just in the direction of scientific productions may be seen in part in the splen- did contributions of Daniel H. Barnes, some of which were made use of by Humboldt ; Loomis’ writings on Anatomy, Physiology, Geol¬ ogy, and Philosophy, MacGowan’s “ Chinese Horology,” Coles’ “ Treatise on Physiology,” Comstock’s “ Notes on Arrakan” — a contribution to the “ Journal of the American Oriental Society,” Clarke’s “ Differential and Integral Cal¬ culus,” Davis’ “Deductive Logic,” San¬ ford’s series of arithmetics, Olney’s series of mathematical text-books, the ornithological collections of J. H. Linsley, the works of Dr. A. A. Gould on natural history, Willet’s “Wonders of Insect Life,” and the contributions of Rufus Griswold to American bibliography. In view of such an array of learned and widely circulated works, who will not admit that Baptist literature has rendered noble service to the best interests of man, “to the defense, the exposition, and the 108 TReltgtoue journalism propagation of Christianity ; to the ad¬ vancement of science, of education, of culture in its most liberal extent ; to the arts that support and adorn life, and to the advocacy of enlightened charities. It includes books without which the scholar would find his resources impaired, and such also as address the common mind and have moved men in masses. . . The amount of activity and the worth of achievement are alike fairly equal to the measure of a reasonable expectation.” We thank God for all this and take cour- age I No statement of the contribution of Baptists to the world’s literature would be complete or at all satis¬ factory without a mention of 1ReU9ni°lu(^ours the religious journals which have been, and are now, published under the auspices of our denomination, journals of which we may say, as Chalmers de¬ clared regarding those of his time, they contain often editorials which would be highly praised if found forming pages in elaborate volumes. In England there are 109 J6apti0t0 anD Xitcrature the weekly, monthly, and yearly publi¬ cations, as “The Baptist Magazine,” “Sword and Trowel,” and “The Free¬ man,” more than a score in number; in Wales, journals like “The Teacher” and “ The Star of Wales ” ; in Scotland, “ The Scottish Magazine ” ; in Italy, The “ Semi- natore ” ; while in America the circulation to the extent of some three hundred thou¬ sand copies of weekly publications alone gives us some idea of the work doing by Baptists in journalism. Of American Baptist religious papers, “ The Exam¬ iner,” of New York, “ The Watchman,” of Boston, “The Commonwealth,” of Philadelphia, “ The Journal and Messen¬ ger,” of Cincinnati, “ The Standard,” of Chicago, “ The Christian Herald,” of De¬ troit, “The Pacific Baptist,” of Portland, “ The Central Baptist,” of St. Louis, “The Religious Herald,” of Richmond, and “The Baptist Courier,” of Greenville, S. C., are among the most prominent and influential, each an honored instrument in God’s hand for the spiritual edification of the church and the spread of the gospel. Zin UnDirect IRelationsbip Reducing the reading matter of Baptist papers to i8mo volumes of three hun¬ dred and fifty pages, we should have ac¬ cording to a reliable statistician’s calcula¬ tion, no fewer than four million volumes yearly sent out from Baptist presses. These facts are as astonishing as they are gratifying. We have thus far reviewed the direct relation of Baptists to the world’s litera¬ ture — to the sacred text, to sermons, to theological and religious works, to biogra¬ phy, history, and poetry, to literary, lin¬ guistic, and scientific productions, and finally to religious journalism. We come now to consider briefly the indirect rela¬ tion of our denomination to the world of letters. What do we mean by this indirect in¬ fluence ? This : The literature that has been produced by Baptists through others of a differ- ent communion, or in other words, the literature for which the world is largely indebted, not to Baptist pens, but to Baptist thought and influence. This in ^Baptists anO Xiterature relation is manifold, touching, as it does, varied and various spheres. We have time on this occasion to look into a few only of the many points that might legiti¬ mately come under this head. There are three grand tenets of Chris¬ tianity taught by Christ and his apostles, which during the Dark Ages of the church appear to have been lost, and in the res¬ toration of which to the church Baptists claim to have been potentially instru¬ mental. If this claim is well founded, it follows that indirectly Baptists sustain a most intimate relation to all the literature produced during the past century or so in defense of these doctrines. This point deserves careful thought. What are the three doctrines to which reference is here made ? These : A popu¬ lar form of church government, a divine call to the ministry, and freedom of con¬ science in matters of religion. What is the part that Baptists have performed by their thought, speech, and action, in re¬ storing to the church, after their apparent loss, these three apostolic teachings ? Bn Indirect IRelationsbip Look first at the popular form of church government. The ablest of church his¬ torians are a unit in the teaching that a hierarchy, with different orders of minis¬ try, was not the original form of the church. D’Aubigne represents the mo#st intelligent ecclesiastical conviction regard¬ ing this matter when he says, “ The church was, in the beginning, a commu¬ nity of brethren, but in the gradual pro¬ gress of the centuries this plant reached such gigantic proportions that in the Mid¬ dle Ages it brooded in one dense shadow over Christendom.” Now, while the leaders of the Reformation scarcely touched the fundamental principles of church government, the Baptists firmly held that “ all the members of the house¬ hold of faith form a brotherhood and stand upon the footing of essential equality.” We are all acquainted with the reported saying of Jefferson, that he considered the Baptist church a typical democracy. This teaching of brotherhood and equality once marked us as a separate and peculiar people. H 113 baptists anD Xiterature Again, as to a divine call to the minis¬ try. Years ago Baptists stood almost, if not entirely, alone in the advocacy of the doctrine that “ no one had a scriptural right to exercise the functions of the sacred office excepting those who were called of God, as Aaron was.” History recites the fact that some hundred years ago all New England was excited to in¬ dignation because, forsooth, Whitfield had uttered the words, “ An unconverted min¬ istry is the bane of the church ” ; and that Gilbert Tennent was scoffed at for preaching and publishing a sermon on “ The Dangers of an Unconverted Minis¬ try.” Baptists, however, have always maintained that something more is needed for this onerous, heaven-imposed office than hereditary right, or social position, or intellectual attainments, that each am¬ bassador of God must have the Spirit of God and a divine call to dedicate his best gifts to the exalted vocation. Further, as to freedom of conscience in matters of religion. It was once regarded by the Christian church to be a right of 114 Bn InDlrect IRelationebip civil government to make and impose ec¬ clesiastical laws. Even so good and dis¬ tinguished a man as the great Scotch Re¬ former, Knox, is reported to have taught that any one opposing this idea should be punished with the sword. How do Bap¬ tists stand, how have Baptists always stood, in relation to the unscriptural view? In the language of the noted John Locke, we answer, “ Baptists, from the begin¬ ning, were the friends and advocates of absolute liberty — just and true liberty — equal and impartial liberty.” Schaff in his “Creeds of Christendom,” declares that “ the large and most respectable de¬ nomination of Baptists took its rise in the great religious commotion of England dur¬ ing the seventeenth century, and differed from the Puritans only in the doctrine of baptism and in the steadfast advocacy of religious freedom ” ; and that “ their ear¬ liest publications were pleas for liberty of conscience.” Were it necessary here, the latter statement of this distinguished author could be easily corroborated and illustrated by the records of Swiss Ana- 115 baptists anD Xiterature baptists, and English and American Bap¬ tists, by the famous letter of Grebel, Manz, and others, to MUnster, by Leon¬ ard Busher’s “ Religious Peace, ” by the Confession of 1644, by the Orthodox Creed of 1678, and by the no uncertain words and acts of Roger Williams and his denominational descendants. It was Dutch Anabaptists who, in 1573, secured of William the Silent soul-liberty for Hol¬ land. Now, what is the present position of the Christian world on these three questions — Popular Church Govern- Ub«r®«e"tton8 ment- Divine Cal1 t0 the Ministry, Religious Liberty ? In regard to the first of these there has been great advance toward its restora¬ tion, while the last two doctrines are almost universally, if not universally, held and advocated among evangelical Christians. What has wrought the change ? We answer in all humility, yet with a firm conviction of its truth, in no small degree Baptist thought and speech and writings. Many and notable are 1 16 Closing 'UGlorbs the works of Freedom of Conscience and Call to the Ministry that are issuing year after year from the pens of learned con¬ stituents of other communions than our own, which two centuries ago were either silent upon, or opposed to, these impor¬ tant truths ; and for such literature the Christian world is largely indebted to that people who, in all their checkered history have contended earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and proved themselves always and every¬ where the uncompromising advocates of a pure gospel and an apostolic church. What more shall we say on this in¬ spiring theme ? That in the literature of the English tongue God , . f , ; ? , Closing 1Clort>s has given to our fathers and brethren so exalted and noble a place should call forth from the whole Bap¬ tist brotherhood thanksgiving profound and constant. In humility and joyous¬ ness of soul we record our gratitude at this hour for this one token of divine favor ; gratitude for men like Judson and 117 ^Baptists anD Xiterature Carey and Marshman, Brown and Mason and Buckner, with all their consecrated and successful labor in Bible translation ; for the biblical lore of Gill and Ripley, Clarke and Haldane, Weston and Broadus; for the linguistic attainments of Hackett and Conant, Green, Lincoln, and Ken¬ drick ; for the clear and massive theolog¬ ical teaching of Fuller and Hovey, John¬ son and Strong ; for the preaching power of Spurgeon and Evans, Robinson and McLaren, Hall and Fuller ; for the schol¬ arly productions of Foster and Matthews and Williams, and the learned disquisitions of Wayland and Dagg ; for the historical researches of Keach and Orchard and Benedict and Robinson ; for the poetical genius of Milton and Fawcett and S. F. Smith ; for the scientific treatises of Loomis and Olney, Barnes and Clarke ; for the strong defense of Baptist princi¬ ples and practices from the pens of such men as Carson and Gill and Mell and Cathcart ; and along with this, the expo¬ sure of ecclesiastical and theological error by such lovers of truth as Godwin and 1 18 Closing HOorOs Dowling, Holcombe and Andrews ; and last, for the sweet, elevating, and ennob¬ ling writings of Bunyan and Spurgeoh, and an innumerable host of others, who though of our communion, have sent out their works among all nations to the glory of God, the comfort of the saints, and the uplift of the race. Baptists do not themselves sufficiently realize or appreciate the service they have rendered to the world in their advocacy of principles upon which others were silent, and which they were the first to espouse. Perhaps more than one have asked why such a position was taken by them. Has it been because they were better than others ? Has it been because they were more intellectual and farther-visioned than others ? Has it been because they have loved their fellows more than others? Neither the one nor the other of these things is true. Is it not then because, and solely because, of their loyalty to God’s word ? The principles they have defended, and for which they have suffered, are in that word — confessedly so by others than XI9 ^Saptiets anD Xtterature Baptists now. Is their position not a confir¬ mation of the passage, “them that honour me I will honour ? ” Baptists honored God’s word, and along the lines indicated he has given them the pre-eminence. One is exhorted not to think of himself above what he ought to think. But per¬ haps he fails no less when he does not credit himself with that which belongs to him. It is well, at least, for Baptists to realize the heritage by which they are enriched. 120 THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY Inaugural (Address upon assuming the pastorate of the First 'Baptist Church, Philadelphia (March 29, 1896 IV A SUGGESTIVE remark it is of Pascal, that the notable men of the world’s life move and shine in three . . j . ... Ubree ©rblts distinct and glorious orbits — the orbit of heroism, the orbit of intellec¬ tuality, and the orbit of personal moral worth. As intelligent students of history we must be impressed with the many il¬ lustrations of this truth. In the first orbit we note the Caesars, the Charlemagnes, the Napoleons of history — men of mighty military prowess and splendid martial achievements. In the second, we mark the Platos and the Homers, the Senecas and the Bacons of the different ages — men of genuine mental worth and vast range of intellectual power. In the third sphere, standing out in consummate glory are the Martyns, the Wilberforces, the Judsons, and the Careys of history — men whose chief excellency consists, not in 123 XTbe Gbeme of tbe Christian flHintetr^ heroism as the world counts the hero, nor in mere intellectuality, but rather in a sublime renunciation of self, a passionate love of God and a Christlike devotion to the highest interests of their fellows — men who, now as missionaries, now as martyrs, now as philanthropists, now as teachers, go up and down our earth il¬ lustrating what the poet sings : To honor God, to benefit mankind, To serve with lowly gifts the little needs Of the poor race for which the God-man died, And do it all for love — ah ! this is great, And he who does this will achieve a name Not only great, but good. Now it is in this last orbit — to use the figure of our Christian philosopher — that there moves and shines in “ conspicuous splendor the Apostle Paul, whom, in this inspiring presence to-day, I would take as an inspiration and pattern. Though a magnificent hero whom the world strove in vain to bend or conquer, revealing ele¬ ments of will and cpurage such as have been exhibited by few whose deeds of 124 Zbe ©tbit of fl>aul daring have been told in classic story or on the more sober pages of prosaic his¬ tory ; though a superb intellectual poten¬ tate whose thoughts and words, from the day of his speech on Mars Hill even to the present hour, have stirred mankind as the teachings of Greek and Roman philosophers have had no power to do, still neither heroism, in the popular sense of that word, nor mere intellectuality, is the distinguishing mark of Paul’s char¬ acter and life, after the one has become renewed and the other remodeled by the spirit of God. His is a loftier differen¬ tiating characteristic. Self-renunciation, self-sacrifice, self-immolation even ; and this illustrated, not as in Marcus Curtius at the Roman Forum or in Arnold Winkelried in the presence of a serried line of oppos¬ ing spearsmen, but as in the self-denying Lord of light and glory, who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor ; self- renunciation and self-immolation for God’s highest glory and humanity’s highest good ; this, than which there can be re¬ vealed in human character nothing nobler, 125 Gbe £beme of tbe Christian fultnistcg nothing more Godlike, stands out in bold relief as the master impulse and the sub- limest motive power of our noble apostle. It is this man who, surpassing Wilber- force or Howard in the depth and extent and beneficence of his philanthropy, could look out upon his nation and exclaim, “ I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,’ ’ and then look up to heaven, and with ecstasy declare, “ I count all things lost for the excellency of the knowl¬ edge of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.” The difference between Paul and many others of his day who approached him most nearly in the vigor and supremacy of their powers and in the faculty for ap¬ prehending and communicating truths, was not, as another has said, so much a differ¬ ence of degree as of kind ; not simply the difference “between fluent water and crystal ice, between the small mountain and the mighty Matterhorn, between the circumscribed lake and the boundless ocean, but the more essential, intrinsic, 1 26 M IRoble ^Utterance remarkable difference of personal moral elements — the difference between the star and the lighthouse, nay, between light it¬ self and the darkness which contrasts it.” The fact is, Paul stood on a higher ped¬ estal, breathed a purer atmosphere, was inspired by a holier, diviner spirit than any of his competitors or coadjutors. In a peculiar, unique sense, for him to live was Christ. Now one of the noblest utterances of this noble ambassador of the cross appeals to your pastor to-day as he stands on the threshold of a new relationship with you, and has been chosen by him as his pas¬ toral motto, “ I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Where find you a more beautiful exhibition, a more attractive illustration of pure, absolute self-forget¬ fulness, linked with a consuming devotion to Jesus Christ and his redemptive cross than is furnished in this weighty expres¬ sion of deep conviction and intense re¬ ligious fervor ? Recall the circumstances 127 m moble ■(Utterance £be fTbeme of tbc Christian ministry amid which it is uttered ; they invest the apostolic words with singular force. Paul is here addressing the Corinthian church, extraordinarily heterogeneous and pain¬ fully divided — a people craving an exhibi¬ tion on his part of worldly wisdom and philosophical speculation — nay, a people among many of whom the gospel in its purity was an unwelcome evangel and Golgotha’s brow a rock of offense. And yet his message among these surround¬ ings is — what ? An appeal to intellectual, social, or aesthetic taste ? A proclama¬ tion looking toward self-exaltation or self- interest ? A word shaped to please rather than probe a people proud with philosophy ? Far from it. His attitude is diametrically opposite. Commissioned of God to preach the gospel in the fullness and supremacy of its truth and power, Paul appears to sink self out of sight, and, standing on the high levels of divine life, with mind and spirit quickened and eyes drinking in with delight inexpressible the infinite glories of Calvary, proclaims the un¬ searchable riches of grace centered in 128 B Single purpose and flowing out of an ever-blessed Re¬ deemer. Brethren, the picture is mag¬ nificent. Jesus Christ and him crucified was to the proud, ritualistic Jew a stum¬ bling-block, and to the scholarly, cultured Greek the very consummation of foolish¬ ness ; but yet here in Corinth — great, re¬ fined, wicked Corinth, made up of Jews and Greeks, the man of God plants his banner and points to its inscription, em¬ blazoned in letters of gold, aye, of blood, “ Jesus Christ and him crucified. ” “God forbid,” he exultantly exclaims, “that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Analyzing these words of the text as expressive of Paul’s great purpose and motive power in life, certain features im¬ press us, and impress us deeply. In the first place it is a single purpose, an all-absorbing determination, that here thrills and moves our de- voted apostle. “I deter- ®®‘"o«1ce mined not to know anything save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” It is said of Wordsworth that when engaged i 129 Gbe Gbeme ot tbe Christian flilinistrs in writing his “ Excursion,” one thing covered the whole range of his thought. More may be said of Paul : one thing covers the whole range of his being — thoughts, words, acts — and that is the re¬ demption through Christ. This great, ennobling truth of the cross fills his very consciousness, stirs the very depths of his inmost soul, constrains him, drives to the proclamation ever of that grandest and most marvelous fact in all divine and human history, God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,’ not through a strange, mysterious incarnation, though Christ was “God manifest in the flesh,” nor through the illumination of matchless doctrine, though of Christ it was said, “Never man spake like this man,” nor through the glory of spotless character, though Christ “knew no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth,” nor through the majesty of miraculous deeds, though Christ cured the sick and healed the blind and raised the dead, but God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself through the blood of a transcendent, an all-suffi- 130 B Single lpurpoee cient, an unrepeatable atonement for human redemption — Jesus Christ and him crucified. This, I say, was the keynote of Paul’s preaching, and its power too. Much of the preaching in our day, even in evan¬ gelical pulpits, is struck to a lower key. It is Christ to be sure, but not Christ crucified. It deals much with the life of Christ, in its tender human sympathies — the Christ whose face was sculptured benevolence, whose hand was friendship’s symbol, whose eye was liquid sympathy for all human burdens and woes ; much with the works of Christ as the pattern and inspiration of all helpful doing ; much with the words of Christ as a divine phi¬ losophy, with heights to which no human imagination has ascended, and depths which no human plummet has fathomed, and breadths which no human mind has compassed. Now, these are well enough in their place, but they are not central and funda¬ mental. They are incidental rather than essential, ephemeral rather than eternal, {The ^berne of the Christian ministry facts rather than truths, mere clippings, as it were, from the grand corner-stone on which is reared the everlasting and everglorious superstructure of divine glory and human redemption. The cross is the central truth of the gospel ; Paul recog¬ nizes it, and hence Jesus Christ and him crucified becomes the single, all-absorbing, all-animating theme of his heart and life, that which satisfies his own soul and thrills with ecstatic delight the longing multitudes that hear his words of life, becoming unto them, believing, the very power of God unto salvation. To him, as never to Constantine, had the vision ap¬ peared, “ By this sign thou shalt con¬ quer.” It is interesting, brethren, to study the recorded history of Paul with a view to see how Jesus Christ pervades his whole thought and being. From the moment of his conversion to the hour of his death ‘‘one increasing purpose ran through his career, gathering force and volume as it ran, namely, that he might serve Christ, know Christ, become like Christ.” The 132 B Single purpose Apostle John is full of love; the Apostle James, of good works ; the Apostle Peter, of faith ; the Apostle Paul, of him for whom should be all human love and faith and works, Jesus, the Crucified. You must have noted this in reading the book of Acts and the matchless Pauline Epistles, how all Paul’s preaching, all his discus¬ sions, all his defenses, all his writings, all his conduct, even his denunciations and exorcisms, point directly to Christ. In¬ deed, it passed into a proverb, so that the vagabond Jew exorcists said to the evil spirits, “We adjure you by the Je¬ sus that Paul preacheth.” The disciples were first called Christians, where ? At Antioch, where Paul preached. “Not at the holy city that reclined on the slopes of Mt. Zion, but in the pagan town that lay on the northern side of Mt. Sylphius ; not by the Jordan which had parted its waters at the pressure of the ark, but by the Orontes, the banks of which were disgraced by heathen legends and prac¬ tices ; not on the spot where three thou¬ sand in one day were added to the church, I33 £be Gbeme of tbe Cbrietian ftlinistrg but where luxury and dissipation held perpetual sway.” Here men were first called Christians, where Paul preached Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is wonderful. The ambitious student of Gamaliel, the cruel witness of Stephen’s shameless and shameful martyrdom, the fiery and self-righteous zealot of Phari- seeism, who in the past had breathed out threatenings and slaughter against defenseless disciples and made havoc of the church of Jesus, has been conquered and won over by this same Jesus, and he alone can be the God of his life. Marvel¬ ous change ! He has entirely changed front ! Henceforth his face is toward, not Jerusalem, but Calvary — not the stirring synagogue, but the empty tomb ! Do you ask the reason of the change, so radical, so deeply wrought ? Go back in our apostle’s history a few years- 1° an earlier time a strange thing had occurred in the history of this man. On his way to Damascus one day he saw a vision, he heard a voice, he beheld a light, and that i34 Gbe Bpostle’s IHtstors vision, voice, and light — outward seals of an inward revelation ensphered in his spirit — were more than stamped on his memory ; they were burned into the very core of his existence, and their influence pervaded his whole being as light and heat pervade the surroundings of fire. For three days he saw nothing, heard nothing, tasted nothing but the Lord Jesus. For three years, immediately suc¬ ceeding, during a portion of which time he retired into Arabia, without conferring with flesh and blood, he was doubtless wrapped up in the study and adoration of this new God of his life. And now, henceforth, wherever he goes, whatever he does, that name is the inspiration of his powers. Whether in the great center of religious truth, Jerusalem, or in the extreme limits of his missionary field among the heathen ; whether in the syna¬ gogue of the Jews or in the schoolhouse of the Greeks ; whether locked up in prison or tossed about on the sea ; whether beaten with stripes or extolled as a god ; whether in barbarous Lystra, G5 £be flbeme of tbe Cbdsttan ministry or elegant Athens, or cultured Corinth ; whether in the flood-tide of success or offered a victim on the altar of martyr¬ dom — everywhere the cross shines before him in resplendent glory, his light in darkness, solace in perplexity, peace in death. The light not vainly glowed On that Damascus road ; Oh ! not for naught that Voice Divine was heard ; The foeman was o’erthrown, The champion made thine own When right against thee in hot haste he spurred, Then streamed forth, the world to win, The mighty burning flame of love which hate had been. Henceforth Saul of Tarsus takes his stand, not at Bethlehem, though there became incarnate the Ancient of Days, nor at Bethany, though there omnific power raised the dead, nor at Capernaum, though in its synagogue taught the great Teacher of the ages, but by the cross of Calvary where was shed once for all the redemptive blood of the Son of God ! Christ and him crucified becomes now and 1 36 B IKeroic purpose forever “the theme of his preaching, the burden of his service, the ground of his boast, the source of his inspiration, the foundation of his hopes, the occupant of his heart, and the law of his life. ? ? Two things, once exclaimed Goethe, awaken sublimity within me — the starry heavens and man’s moral nature. Two things Paul might have exclaimed, awaken enthusi¬ asm within me — the cross of Jesus and man’s moral nature redeemed and ele¬ vated by its divine influence and power. Again, it is a bold, heroic purpose that here inspires our apostle. Sometimes, when in search for examples of heroism, we bring before ^^p^0 our minds such scenes as Chrysostom before Eudoxia, or Athanasius before Constantine in the streets of Con¬ stantinople, or Ambrose before Theodosius in the porch of Milan cathedral, or Savon¬ arola before Lorenzo, or Luther at Worms ; but, to my mind, the annals of human history present us but few grander pic¬ tures of boldness of purpose, stability of character, independence of soul, moral i37 Z be ftbeme of tbe Christian fiHinistr^ heroism, than the one in the text : such a a man as Paul at such a time as this, de¬ claring such words as these ; a man, almost friendless and alone — behind him Athens and its skepticism and Philippi and its scourgings ; before him martyrdom for the sake of truth ; about him a city where human wisdom is exalted, the cross de¬ spised, and its victim hated ; and yet, bold as a lion, his face turns still toward Cal¬ vary, and his voice still lifts up the cry : “ I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” How grandly Paul actualizes in his superb attitude here the poet’s conception : As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, Though round its head the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head. Ah ! this is the man that for the gospel of the cross can sacrifice the pride of birth and position and learning and religion to join himself to a despised sect, be stoned at Lystra, assaulted at Iconium, attacked 138 B IRattonal purpose at Ephesus ; can reprove the ruler who holds his life in his hands, pronounce ter¬ rible anathemas against the corrupters of the gospel, preach the truth in the house¬ hold of brutal Nero, and at last await the martyr’s death with the calm, brave words: “I am ready to be offered.” Heroic soul ! Well deservest thou the crown which now thou dost wear in glory amid the ineffable splendors of the New Jerusalem ! More still : Not only is the purpose of the text single, all-absorbing, and heroic, it is also rational, well- grounded, and divinely Bp*apt‘o0"al guided. Our apostle was always intelligent in his utterances. His emotions never ran away with his judg¬ ment ; his knowledge and zeal kept equal pace. His naturally superb powers were quickened by grace in all their parts. His intellect was too vast to be cramped in any narrow view of truth, any restricted range of sentiment, any circumscribed conception of Christianity. And when, in the text, he speaks as he does, he utters i39 tlbe Gbeme of tbe Christian flilinistr^ no language of fanaticism or ignorance, but speaks the words of soberness and truth, of intelligence and wisdom. Jesus Christ and him crucified is the central and fundamental and energizing truth of the Christian system — not Christ the perfect man, nor Christ the elevating teacher, nor Christ the self-sacrificing philanthro¬ pist, but Christ “ mighty to save ” through the unlimited power of his redeeming blood. For, as another has expressed it, the heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitu¬ tionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. Christianity’s center is the cross. From this scene of shame and glory, anguish and victory, all the radii of the gospel go out in lines of living light. Redemption is the grand principle into which all our re¬ ligion — doctrinal, experimental, and prac¬ tical — may be generalized. There is no truth in revelation that does not point to the atoning Son of God ; no right desire of human nature that does not meet in him ; no duty in life of which he is not either the perfect fulfillment or the most 140 21 IRational purpose cogent incentive. In the cross, says Spur¬ geon truly, man may behold the con¬ centration of eternal thought, the focus of infinite purpose, the center of divine and illimitable wisdom ; for Christ cruci¬ fied is the corner-stone of all Christian creed and practice, worship and discipline, union and extension. From this great central truth, therefore, Paul expands his intellect in every direc¬ tion, compassing the whole circumference of divine revelation from the eternal de¬ crees of Jehovah to the eternal destiny of the human soul. The Epistle to the Romans is one of the most comprehensive, the Epistle to the Galatians one of the most complete, the Epistle to the Hebrews one of the most wonderful emanations of the Divine Spirit through the human mind ; and the center of each, the inspiration of each, is Jesus Christ and him crucified. The wisdom of Corinth might esteem our author a con¬ tracted bigot, and Herod himself and Festus sneer at him as “ mad,” but his was the most expansive philosophy, the 141 Gbe Gbeme of tbe Christian filllnistrs most elevated morality, the most Godlike philanthropy, and the most genuine piety the world had ever known, as taught and illustrated by a mere man, and all had its source and power in the simlpe yet sub¬ lime, the contemptible yet glorious, the repulsive yet attractive, doctrine of an In¬ carnate Christ and his redemptive cross. Let us look more carefully and minutely into the intelligence of Paul’s position in the text. Among the many thoughts connected with the cross in its relation to Christianity, three stand out in bold relief : First, Jesus Christ and him crucified is pre-eminently and gloriously a Bible theme. Mark, I do not say ubemcC New Testament, but Bible theme. The whole word of God finds its central doctrine and reaches its most glorious culmination in the person and work of an atoning Redeemer. It is a noted saying of the great French preacher, Massillon, that all the lines of past human history converge in Jesus, and all the lines of history to come diverge 142 U m\)lc tlbeme from him. With equal truth we may say that all the revelation of God gathers in and about the crucified Christ. All the older revelation points to him and centers in him ; all the newer revelation proceeds from him. The lines of God’s eternal truth cross and recross in him. Here emphatically The Old Testament is the New Testament con¬ cealed, The New Testament is the Old Testament re¬ vealed. In arguing this proposition, we need, I think, devote no time to proving that the cross is the center of the New Testament teaching, for it is but an axiom to say that Christ crucified is the heart of Chris¬ tianity. But we would emphasize — be¬ cause the fact is not sufficiently realized — that so also is it in the Old Testament. He reads this grand old book amiss who fails to see running, like a thread of gold, through all its warp and woof, through genealogy, type, prophecy, psalm, and history, both national and individual, the M3 Zhc tTbeme of tbe Christian fMlinistn? glorious doctrine of redemption through a future Messiah, slain from the foundation of the world. The former revelation is the shadow of that of which the latter is the substance, the illustration of that of which it is the reality. At the heart of the Old dwells the glory of the New, “ as a rich jewel may flash from the center of a curious, antique setting/’ We mistake when we calculate our Christian era as only two thousand years old. Christ the eternal Son, lived in our world before he was born into our world. Eighteen hun¬ dred and ninety years ago he was born of Mary, but six thousand years ago he was born in human hearts, the basis and center of human hopes. As Robertson forcefully puts it : The eternal Word whispered in the souls of men before it spoke articulately aloud in the Incarnation. It was a divine thought before it became a divine expression. It was the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world before it blazed into the dayspring from on high which visited us. The mind of Christ — the spirit of the years yet future — blended itself with life before he came, for his words were the eternal verities of our humanity. 144 B 3Bible tlbeme Eternally Jesus existed. Abraham saw his day and rejoiced. The dying Jacob hailed him as Shiloh. He was the star of Balaam’s prophecy. Job beheld him as the divine Daysman, laying his hand on both God and man. He was the branch of Isaiah, consumed for human salvation. He was Micah’s being of Pre-existence, and Malachi’s Angel of the Covenant. Yea, from that glad day when Jehovah whispered in the ear of Eve, “ The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head,” even down to the hour when angels chanted the cradle hymn over the new-born babe of Bethlehem, Christ had lived on earth, a mighty, though invisible power, inspiring patriarchs to rejoice in his coming, psalmists to sing his praises, and prophets to ring out clarion notes in honor of his name. And the grand climax of all this Christ-teaching in the older revela¬ tion is contained in the magnificent and wondrous language of the fifth evangelist, “ He was wounded for our transgressions ; he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, k 145 Gbe fTbeme of tbc Christian fifllnlsttE and by his stripes we are healed.” Christ the Redeemer not in the Old Testament ! As well tear out this heart from my breast and call my body a living being as extract Jesus crucified from the pages of this old writing, and call it the word of God. Beautifully has Bushnell said that Christ is the Sun to hold all the minor orbs of rev¬ elation in their places and power — a sover¬ eign, self-evidencing light into all religion. To proclaim then Jesus Christ and him crucified, is to proclaim Bible truth in its most exalted heights, its most magnificent breadths, its most unfathomable depths. For this reason, if no other, Paul was intelligent in the position he takes before the Corinthians ; for this reason, if for no other, the cross may well be, what a great mind has urged that it be, the perpetual text of all preaching, the perpetual theme of all religionists, the unceasing object of all devout scholarship. In the cross of Christ I glory, Towering o’er the wrecks of time, All the light of sacred story, Gathers round its head sublime. 146 U Consoling IRevelation Further, Jesus Christ and him crucified presents the truest, the most authoritative, the most consoling revelation of God, the only perfect mir- ror of the moral and affec¬ tionate nature of the Eternal Father. In¬ stinctively the human heart yearns to know God. “ Shew us the Father and it suffices us,” is as truly the cry of univer¬ sal humanity as of the ancient disciple, Philip. And yet when men try to grasp God in the abstract, as a purely spiritual, invisible, intangible Being, the conception is altogether unsatisfactory. The idea is too sublime and awful, if not too vague. We recall the oft-quoted passage from Ma¬ caulay : Logicians may reason about abstractions, but the great mass of mankind never feel the least in¬ terest in them. They must have images. God, the uncreated, the invisible, the incomprehensible, attracted few worshipers. It was before Deity embodied in human form, walking among men, partaking of their infirmities, leaning on their bosoms, weeping over their graves, slumbering in their manger, bleeding on the cross, that the prejudices of the synagogue and the doubts of the 147 Gbe Gbeme of tbe Cbdetian fiOinietr^ academy and the pride of the portico and the fasces of the lictors and the swords of thirty legions were humbled in the dust. Nothing is truer. To awaken and keep in exercise greatest energy and deepest affection of human nature, there must be something real and tangible before the heart. The merely ideal cannot long sus¬ tain enthusiasm and devotion. And men, in going out after images or revelations of God, have been disappointed in every direction, except in Jesus Christ, “God manifest in the flesh”; disap¬ pointed as they sought him in nature, this great, gorgeous material universe of sun and star and planet, of land and air and ocean ; disappointed as they have sought him in providence, the daily movement of individual and national history, with its strange intermixture of joy and sorrow, perplexity and adversity ; disappointed as they have sought him even in the Old Testament, that early revelation of God through patriarch, psalmist, and prophet, with their yearning soul and anticipative song and future hope. No one of these 148 B Consoling IRevelatton media presents God in that fullness and glory of his moral affectionate attributes which cause the tired human heart to lean upon him as Father. In each he is Jehovah, far-off, inaccessible, awful. Though nature is “the living garment in which the Invisible One has robed his mysterious loveliness,” yet within all her domain there is no revelation of moral at¬ tributes. Though the Old Testament speaks of God as “ a great rock in a weary land,” and a “ Sun and shield,” still some¬ thing more is needed. To see the sun, says Emerson, a man must have a sunny eye. So to understand a personal God requires a Personal Revealer. The boundless One must be limited. The Spiritual One must be incarnated. The invisible One must be seen. The intangible One must be felt. “ No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten hath revealed him,” or better, led him forth. Christ is repre¬ sented as the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person — more literally, the outflashing of his being and the character of his essence. 149 flbe Gbeme of tbe Christian fiQtmetrE In other words, he is for humanity Deity’s expression, Deity’s actualization, without which no man has ever seen God, nay, more, has ever felt the perfect joy of his glorious presence. How many hearts sympathize with the poet’s lines : Till God in human flesh I see, My thoughts no comfort find ; The sacred, just, and awful Three, Are terrors to my mind. But when Immanuel’s face appears, My hopes, my joys begin, His grace relieves my slavish fears, His blood doth cleanse my sin. Let Jews on their own law rely, And Greek of wisdom boast, I love the incarnate mystery, And there I fix my trust. And nowhere has our Lord and Master so revealed God in the beauty and glory of his moral attributes as on the cross. Divinity’s reflection is here complete. Is God a God of love ? See Christ here yielding up his life for the world’s re¬ demption — love in its illimitableness and in its far-reaching aim. Is God a God of *5° B Coneoling IRevelation forgiveness ? Gaze upon Jesus as, throw¬ ing the arms of divine sympathy around hardened soldier and mocking Pharisee, he intercedes for their pardon. Is God a God of salvation ? Hear the words of eternal life which the Master here speaks to the dying robber. Oh ! brethren and friends, is it too much to declare that in the amplitude of the infinite love of Jesus Christ and him crucified every other ele¬ ment and characteristic of divinity has been manifested to the world ? If poor Carlyle had seen God thus, he would never have been overheard saying, just before his death, “ I can believe in a God only that does something ; God has done nothing. ” His was the intuitive belief of mind, a belief drawn from nature and his¬ tory. Had he laid hold by faith on the historic Christ, he would never have ex¬ claimed, “ God has done nothing,” but would have beheld Jehovah as a God who had rent the veil of heaven and come forth incarnate — a God with whom every soul may have personal, conscious, responsible relations in duty — a God who 151 £be ftbeme of tbe Cbrietian fffhrUstr^ in the infinitude of his compassion has given his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for sin. O blessed Christ, he that hath seen thee hath seen the Father in the might of his power, the magnificence of his glory, the tenderness of his compas¬ sion. Finally, Jesus Christ and him crucified is the only propitiation for human sin and the divinely wrought magnet basnet t0 draW human hearts to God. From the earliest day of man’s existence on earth, the supreme question of his immortal being has been the vexed old question that puzzled even the “perfect and upright” patriarch of Uz, How shall man be just with God ? Says an eminent writer : It may be an offering of first-fruits or the shed¬ ding of blood of rams or bullocks ; it may be the sacrifice of the fairest of the captives ; it may be sprinkling of human blood upon an idol ; it may be a father burning his children on the brazen knees of Moloch, or a mother throwing her babe in the Ganges, or a devotee submitting his own person to torture on an iron hook, or lying down on a bed of spikes, or living year by year tor- 152 B Divinely 'Wlttougbt fulagnct mented by sackcloth and flagellations, fastings and vigils. Yet everywhere there is the same heart- moving cry : How shall man be just with God ? Now, it is not within the province of science or philosophy or ethics to answer this question. None of these can bind together the sinless and the sinful, the Infinite and the finite, the Creator and the creature. Nor does natural relig¬ ion hold out any hope here. Buddhism, Brahminism, Confucianism, the cry of each of these systems is but the echo of Lady Macbeth’s exclamation of anguish : Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand ? Socrates could say to Plato, “ It may be that the gods can forgive deliberate sin, but how, I can never tell.” Now, before the bowed head and bleed¬ ing heart of impotent humanity steps forth Christianity with its crucified Lord, and declares, as it points to the world’s Redeemer, “ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a T53 XLhc ftbeme ot tbe Christian flllinistrE curse for us”; “he tasted death for every man ” ; “he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world ” ; “ his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” And then that magnificent decla¬ ration which sums up all, “If the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God.” Yes, in that Christ, and him alone, find we a personal revelation and a satisfactory demonstration of an atoning sacrifice for sin. To use Krummacher’s beautiful figure, the cross is the condition which carries off the destroying flesh from our race by Christ attracting it to himself. “ I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to me,” that is the divine decree, the eternal fiat. “ Lifted up.” Not through physical force ; Mo¬ hammed and Picardian hermit may trust to the sword. Not through merely in- *54 B Divinely TKHrouQbt fnla^net tellectual supremacy ; Plato and Socra¬ tes excelled in that. Not simply through moral teaching ; Seneca is conspicuous as a moralist. Not through any nor through all of these would the Son of Man lift the universe to the throne of God, but through the reconciliation of man to God by the all-efficacious blood of the ever¬ lasting covenant. “ Sacrifice,” says Baron Bunsen, “is the fundamental mys¬ tery of all religion, whether considered as worship or life. ’ ^ A great truth Luthardt expresses when he writes, “ Heathenism was the seeking religion and Judaism the hoping religion ; Christianity is the reality of all that heathenism sought and Juda¬ ism hoped for.” “ Only this I know,” writes De Wette in closing his commen¬ tary, “ in no other is there salvation save in Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Let me to-day, fathers and brethren, emphasize that truth with all the fervor and power of deep conviction. This doc¬ trine is in danger, I am convinced, of at least partial eclipse in our day. Opening a book lately, I read these words : “ Accord- 155 Ube ^beme of tbe Cbriettan {ministry ing to the doctrines of the old-school men we are condemned of a sin not our own and rescued by a righteousness equally not our own. But intelligent men are casting away that superstition to-day, and holding that man stands before his Creator for what he, and not another, is.” And again, “Jesus is a Saviour, not because he died, but because he lived. There was no magic power in his death. The cross plays no part in human redemption.” What ! no part in human redemption ! “I, if I be lifted up,” “this,” adds the evangelist, “said he, signifying what death he should die.” If language means anything, if words have any force, here is projected the glorious, magnificent, heaven-born conception of the cross as the power of God unto salvation to all believing spirits. Believe me, friends, there is no per- adventure here. The cross is no ex¬ periment. As surely as Jesus was cru¬ cified and as surely as the oath of God is true, so true is it that there is redemption on Calvary, and there alone. The wis- i56 Cwo lpractical Xessons dom which conceived the plan of the satisfaction of the divine government by the sacrifice of the Son of God him¬ self in the place of the sinner, is unerring wisdom. The authority which commanded the execution and promised redemption, is as unquestioned as the right of the Al¬ mighty to the throne of the universe. The power which is arranged for the ac¬ complishment of the purpose, is the power able to bring under contribution to this end the whole machinery of nature and grace, even the power of the Lord God Omnipotent. And the love which in¬ spired the wisdom to conceive and the authority to command and the power to execute, is the unchangeable nature of Jehovah himself. O glorious cross, Faith trusts the day to see When hope shall turn all eyes, love draw all hearts to thee. Two practical lessons for us to-day, as we begin our work together as pastor and people. The one lesson is that Je¬ sus Christ and him crucified is the cen- r57 Uwo lpractical lessons Gbe Gbeme of tbe Christian fullnistrg tral theme of the Christian ministry. Dr. Payson realized this when, in ad¬ dressing a body of ministers, he earn¬ estly said: “I beseech you, brethren, paint Jesus upon your canvas, and then hold it up for the applause of an admiring world.” The great French preacher, Bourdaloue, realized this; when told by Louis XIV. that all the world was moved by his eloquence and learning, he humbly expressed the wish that all the human praise which his eloquence and learning evoked might be hung as a gar¬ land on the cross of calvary. A conse¬ crated father of the early Christian church realized this, when, full of the Spirit of God, he exclaimed: “Were the highest heaven my pulpit, and the whole host of the redeemed my audience, and eternity my day, Jesus alone would be my theme.” Ah ! well do these men of God thus speak ! The message of the pulpit should be char¬ acteristically and invariably Christo-cen¬ tric — Christ the God, Christ the man, Christ the God-man, the dying Christ, the risen Christ, the reigning Christ, 158 Hwo practical Wessons Christ the end of the law to every one that believeth. Of all the themes that inspire human hearts and fire human lips, this alone is sufficient to magnify the name of God, exalt the divine Son, convict and convert human souls, and transform a Paradise Lost, with all its blight and woe into a Paradise Regained, with all its ce¬ lestial songs and eternal triumphs ; and prompted by this conviction — nay, held by it as yon planet is held in its orbit by the law of gravity — each ambassador of Christ should, with his face turned to his Master, lift the prayer : In offering thy salvation free Let all absorbing thoughts of thee My mind and soul engross ; And when all hearts are moved and stirred Beneath the influence of thy word, Hide me behind thy cross ! Christ! Christ! Not ethics nor moral philosophy, not astronomy nor geology, not history nor political economy, but Christ on Calvary’s summit, the center of humanity’s highest hopes, noblest as¬ pirations, and divinest life. As Fra An- I59 Gbe Gbeme of tbe Christian flflinistrE gelico, the saintly Italian painter, would never go to his palette and brush to do work on the figure of Jesus without first partaking of the communion, so let us, each Christian minister, precede his pulpit duties by a prayerful visit to Calvary and its cross. The other lesson is, that Jesus Christ and him crucified should be our grandest inspiration in all church work and mission¬ ary enterprise. “ Wherever,” writes the author of “Christianity’s Challenge,” “wherever Christ crucified has been ex¬ punged from the creed and the life, there has been no aggressive force, no regen¬ erative influence, no transforming power.” This may seem to some the language of exaggeration, if not fanaticism, but it is a great, solemn fact — a fact taught in God’s word, confirmed by observation, and veri¬ fied by experience : “ Without Me ye can do nothing,” “ I, if I be lifted up . . . will draw all men unto me.” Eradicate the cross, exclaims a gifted prophet of to¬ day, eradicate the cross, and faith fails, hope dies, love grows cold, and the whole 160 Zwo ipracttcal Xessons Christian profession becomes as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal ; emphasize the cross, and all Christians develop in beauty and strength, and under the ennobling influence the believer is in¬ spired to exclaim, “ The love of Christ constrains us, because he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again.” The cross is Christianity’s hope as well as Christian¬ ity’s center. Already the mightiest cur¬ rents of feeling flowing through the world have their source in the crucified Son of God, and under his triumphant banner the church of the living God is marching forth, bright as the sun, fair as the moon, terrible as an army with banners against every opposing element, hastening the One far-off, divine event To which the whole creation moves — the subduing of the kingdoms of this world by the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ ! God give each one some humble part in l 161 Gbe Gbeme of tbe Christian nilinistrtf this glad consummation for his name’s sake ! God bind our hearts, as pastor and people, in hearty, consecrated en¬ deavor for the honor of his name and the salvation of the world ! 162 IMMIGRATION AND CHRISTIANITY (Address delivered before the American Home (Mis¬ sion Society , at the Rational Anniversaries held in Cincinnati , £May, 1892 V RECENT popular writer has clearly A pointed out, by an intelligent sur¬ vey of the centuries, that emigration and immigra- Ub^pf^or12 tion, as we conceive of them to-day, are phenomena of modern life ; that although there have been, in every period of human history, migrations of men, it is only in the last years of the world’s life that this migratory impulse has assumed a systematic and well-organ¬ ized shape. Especially is it true that the migration of men into America, in any¬ thing like large numbers, is a feature of the present century of our Christian era. It was only in 1820 that the United States of America opened its official immigration records. And yet during the time that has elapsed between 1820 and 1891, a period comprising two-thirds of a century, the most progressive and marvelous the 165 Immigration anD CbristianitE world has ever known, what a host of men and women from other lands have flocked to our shores ! In so vast num¬ bers have these come that to-day, accord¬ ing to the most reliable statistics, our for¬ eign-born population and their offspring among us are no fewer than twenty-one million three hundred and eighty-five thousand souls, or more than thirty-three per cent, of our total population. From European countries alone there have been received by us, within this time, about eleven million, of whom eight million have arrived during the last thirty years, five million since 1880, and two million six hundred and sixty-six thousand since 1885. That mighty race instinct which in the fifth century, led the Saxon tribes to England, and in the ninth century, the Norsemen to France, and in the tenth century, the Danes to Scottish-Northumbria, as in later days the great Oriental nations to Europe across the Balkans and the Helles¬ pont, has in this nineteenth century of enlightenment and progress, impelled European and Asiatic peoples to the 166 Gbe fiQtgratorE Umpulse fuller, freer, more glorious civilization on this side of the Atlantic. These millions from abroad, now driven by the expellent influences of the Old World, now drawn by the attractive influences of our new continent, have come from every direc¬ tion — from fickle France and overtaxed Italy, from sturdy Germany and restless England, from substantial Scandinavia and uneasy Ireland, from socialistic Aus¬ tria and nihilistic Russia, from progres¬ sive Japan and conservative China — an ever-increasing and irresistible army, mightier than Henry Clay dreamed of when, standing on the Alleghany heights, he was led to exclaim prophetically, “ I hear the tread of coming millions ! ” And on the basis of past increase, an eminent statistician reckons that our for¬ eign population at the beginning of the twentieth century, less than ten years in the future, will be not fewer than forty- three million souls. From 1820 to 1830 we received some twelve thousand immi¬ grants annually ; in 1830-1835 the num¬ ber increased to an average of seventeen 167 Immigration anD Christianity thousand a year; in 1842, to one hundred thousand ; in 1854, to four hundred and twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and thirty-three ; in 1872, to four hundred and thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and fifty ; while in 1882 the annual immigra¬ tion was six hundred and ten thousand one hundred and eighty-seven ; while during 1881-1884 there was an aggregate immigration to our shores of two million seven hundred and twenty-two thousand. In 1887 there came to us from abroad five hundred and sixteen thousand nine i hundred and thirty-three persons ; in 1888, five hundred and twenty-five thou¬ sand and nineteen ; in 1890, four hundred and fifty-three thousand three hundred and two. Of the sixteen million foreigners who have landed at our seaports in the last seventy years, more than one-half have arrived during the last twenty years. A few more of these interesting and easily remembered statis- llnterestlng J statistics of these sixteen millions — to give the figures of another — three 168 linteresting Statistics million three hundred and eighty-seven thousand two hundred and seventy-nine came from Ireland ; one million five hun¬ dred and twenty thousand seven hundred and ninety-two from England and Wales ; three hundred and twelve thousand nine hundred and twenty-four from Scotland ; four million three hundred and fifty-nine thousand one hundred and twenty-one from Germany ; eight hundred and fifty- seven thousand and eighty-three from Norway and Sweden; one hundred and twenty-seven thousand six hundred and forty-two from Denmark ; three hundred and fifty-seven thousand three hundred and thirty-three from France ; one hun¬ dred and sixty thousand two hundred and one from Switzerland ; and three hundred and twenty thousand seven hun¬ dred and ninety-six from Italy. In our republic to-day we have nearly twice as many Irishmen as there are at present in all Ireland ; one Norwegian for every three in Norway ; one Swede for every five in Sweden, and one Dane for every eight in Denmark. In 1880 there were forty- 169 Hmmigratton anD Christianity four thousand two hundred and thirty Italians on our shores ; in 1890 this num¬ ber had grown to three hundred and seven thousand three hundred and ten, while during the month of March just passed, notwithstanding our stricter im¬ migration laws, the number of these peo¬ ple — and who can say how many among them are in sympathy with the creed and deed of the base Mafia organization ? — exceeded that of any previous month in the history of our continent. Of the two thousand one hundred and five immigrants that landed yesterday at New York port, one thousand four hundred and twenty- three, the morning’s dispatches tell us, are reported as Italians, while thirty-five Italians were barred from landing because of being ex-convicts, or likely to become public charities. Such as these are mak¬ ing America the world’s degraded dump¬ ing ground. From Hungary, in 1890, we received twenty-two thousand, as against eleven thousand in 1889; from Poland, eleven thousand and seventy-three, as against four thousand nine hundred and 1 70 Unteresting Statistics twenty-two ; from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, exclusive of Bohemians, twenty- nine thousand six hundred and eleven, as against twenty thousand one hundred and twenty-two. In 1889 there were four hundred and twenty-seven thousand immigrants to the United States ; in 1890, four hundred and fifty-three thousand three hundred and two, of whom four hundred and forty- three thousand two hundred and twenty- five were Europeans in the following pro¬ portions : Germans, ninety-two thousand four hundred and twenty-seven ; English, fifty-seven thousand and twenty ; Irish, fifty -three thousand and twenty-four ; Italians, fifty-two thousand and three ; Swedes, twenty-nine thousand six hun¬ dred and thirty-two ; Scotch, twelve thou¬ sand and forty-one; Norwegians, eleven thousand three hundred and seventy ; Danes, nine thousand three hundred and sixty-six ; Swiss, six thousand nine hun¬ dred and ninety-three; French, six thou¬ sand five hundred and eighty-five ; not specified, one hundred and twelve thou- 171 Hmmteratlon anO CbrtetianttE sand seven hundred and sixty-four; total Europeans, four hundred and forty-three thousand two hundred and twenty-five ; all others, twelve thousand and seven. During the last ten years the influx from abroad into our country exceeds the number of the population of Holland or Belgium, of Norway or Sweden, of Greece or Switzerland. During the last eight months two hundred and sixty-four thou¬ sand and sixty-five immigrants have en¬ tered into American ports, as against two hundred and eighteen thousand six hun¬ dred and fifty-three in the corresponding period of last year. During the past month sixty thousand four hundred and forty-nine foreigners landed at Castle Garden, while in April of last year there were but forty-nine thousand one hun¬ dred and eighty-four, which is the highest number for any April since 1882, during which year we were invaded by a foreign host of six hundred and ten thousand one hundred and eighty-seven. Now, through this almost unrestricted influx, it begins to look as though our 172 Unteresttng Statistics American cities, themselves the very nerve centers of our national life, would cease to be American. Those best acquainted with the subject tell us that thirty-four per cent, of the persons of foreign birth now in the United States are to be found in our cities. Thus : Of the Irish, forty -five per cent. ; of the Germans, thirty-eight per cent. ; of the English and Scotch, thirty per cent. ; of Italians, forty per cent. Eighty per cent, of the total popu¬ lation of New York City is constituted of foreigners, by birth or parentage. One- third of the population of New York City, and one-fourth of the population of Bos¬ ton, are Irish. The former city has more Roman Catholics than Vienna, and Vienna has more than six hundred thousand of this priest-guided people. Of the one hundred and seventy-two thousand seven hundred and fifty-six votes recently cast at an election in Chicago, eighty-eight thousand five hundred and nine are re¬ ported as being given by naturalized citi¬ zens, as follows: Germans, thirty-three thousand and two ; Irish, twenty thousand i73 Hmmigratton and Christianity two hundred and fifty-three ; Swedes, six thousand eight hundred and four ; English, five thousand six hundred and twenty ; Canadians, four thousand four hundred and two ; Bohemians, three thousand four hundred and forty-seven; Norwegians, two thousand nine hundred and ninety- eight ; Poles, two thousand seven hundred and seventy-four ; Scotch, one thousand eight hundred and ten ; Austrians, one thousand five hundred and seven ; Danes, one thousand two hundred and sixty- seven ; Russians, nine hundred and sixty ; Hollanders, nine hundred and eleven ; Ital¬ ians, six hundred and eighty-six ; Swiss, six hundred and eighty-eight; French, five hundred and forty-seven; Hungarians, one hundred and sixty-nine ; and others, four hundred and two. The foreign element in St. Louis, by birth and parentage, is thirteen per cent.; in Detroit, fifteen ; in Cincinnati, eight¬ een ; in Milwaukee, twenty-seven. Is there not basis for the fear expressed by Dr. Strong that our cities are fast becom¬ ing miniature Europes, with a little Ireland 174 Interesting Statistics here, a little Germany there, a little Italy yonder ? Our more than one hundred American cities with a population each of over twenty-five thousand inhabitants, hold to-day of our native-born popula¬ tion only eighteen and fifty-six one-hun¬ dredths per cent., while of their foreign- born they have forty-four and thirteen one-hundredths per cent., the former ag¬ gregating nine million nine hundred and seven thousand six hundred and forty- one ; the latter, four million eighty-one thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven. And what a class from abroad congre¬ gates in these centers: Forty-four and eighteen one-hundredths per cent, of Hun¬ garians, forty-eight and thirty-three one- hundredths of Bohemians, fifty-seven and eleven one-hundredths of Poles, fifty- seven and ninety one-hundredths of Rus¬ sians, and sixty-four and eleven one-hun¬ dredths of Italians ! We are not surprised that in view of such immigrants as these a distinguished American statesman has recently declared with vigor : “It is immigration that has fed fat the i75 Hmmfgratfon anD Christianity liquor traffic, and there is your liquor vote ; it is immigration that B ^national pert! , ’ has furnished most of the victims of Mormonism, and there is your Mormon vote ; it is immigration that is the strength of the Roman Catholic Church, and there is your Catholic vote ; it is immigration that is the mother and nurse of American Socialism, and there is your socialistic vote ” ; and it is these facts that give complexion and direction to our rab¬ ble-ruled cities. Men and brethren, let us remember that it was because of the degradation of their cities ages ago, that ancient Assyria and queenly Persia and classic Greece and imperial Rome so sadly fell ; and if our blood-bought and blood-consecrated America ever falls (as Macaulay predicts it will in the twentieth century), it will be because in our cities the best elements have stepped aside and thrown the reins of the government to the . great thronging multitudes of ignorance and vice, who would drive the car of State into danger and destruction. If the bullet ever takes the place of the ballot in our 1 76 U tfurtber Unquiet republic, that sad transfer of power will begin in our cities. God, almighty and all-gracious, save our American cities from the ignorant and the base, and thus save our American nation from decay and death ! So much for immigration numer¬ ically. A further inquiry : What of this large and increasing immigration from Asiatic nations and Continental Eu- rope, so greatly molding the * formative character of our republic ? It is simple truth to say that in a multitude of cases it does not add to, but, on the other hand, in a large measure does sadly detract from, the higher pros¬ perity of our republic. Of course, here we must discriminate. In many instances those who come to us from abroad are, we gladly acknowledge, enterprising, helpful citizens, men and women in full sympathy with our free institutions and the funda¬ mental ideas upon which our national edi¬ fice has been reared, and desiring to aid us in the propagation and establishment of a pure Christianity and an enlightened civ- m 177 ^Immigration anD Christianity ilization, thus proving themselves potent elements in the protection of our govern¬ ment and in the preservation of our morals. We welcome all such, rejoiced that true representatives of every nation may find on our shores a safe asylum and an impartial justice. Better would it be for us as a nation, had we, as another has recommended, more of English self-reli¬ ance, more of Scotch independence, more of German acquisitiveness, more of Irish vivacity, more of French enthusiasm, more of Norwegian simplicity, and per¬ vading all this, purifying all this, spiritual¬ izing all this, more of that Christ-likeness which is destined to bring the human back into the image of the Divine. “ That nation is broadest and strongest and most likely to endure which has received the largest contribution from other nations, provided only that that contribution be safe and pure. What we want is not America for Americans, but Americans for America. It is not birth, nor language, nor complexion that constitutes a person an alien as distinguished from an Amer- 178 *UlnDe0irable Immigration ican, but the attitude of such a person toward the government and people of the United States. ” Now, to this desirable class of citizens, it must be confessed, do not belong the great mass of immigrants who seek in America a new ^n&cslra,JIe Immigration home. To the best interests of our republic they are a hindrance rather than a help, a curse rather than a bless¬ ing. Many of these are paupers ; more of them are criminals, “beings low in the scale, moral, intellectual, and social, without the slightest comprehension of republican government, familiar only with the habits and thoughts of a cruel despot¬ ism, destitute of resources and strangers to lofty ambition.” Illiteracy among our foreign-born population is thirty-eight per cent, greater than among our native-born white population. Not five per cent, of the Italians and Hungarians now coming to us can either read or write. During 1893 the immigrants arriving were three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, of whom fifty-seven thousand could not read, 179 Hmmigration anD Christianity fifty-nine thousand could not write, and sixty-one thousand could not both read and write. Think of that and blush, ye American people ! Think of that and re¬ call our immigrants of other days — the Puritans of England, the Huguenots of France, and the Moravians of Germany. It is said on good authority that previously to a recent election in New York City, some foreigners presented themselves for naturalization who supposed that we had a king in this country, others who did not know how the president was elected, others still who did not know the pres¬ ident’s name ; and yet these are Amer¬ ican voters, as ignorant of our laws and institutions as an untutored savage is ignorant of “ Bryce’s Commonwealth,” their unfitness for citizenship equaled only by our folly in granting it to them. Oh ! that as a nation we might hear and heed the words of wisdom from the lips of Joseph Cook: “The ages will respect no State which is not made up, as the famous Plymouth monument, of education, law, morality, and freedom, presided over by a 180 TUnDesirable Hmmtgration genius having in its arms the volume of religious instruction, of political sanity, of patriotism, of pure home, of self-help, and pointing upward perpetually, not to a priesthood, not to the dome of St. Peter, but to the unobscured celestial constella¬ tions with whose motions our political and educational movements must harmonize or end at last in chaos.” Old Carlyle, sitting in his study across the sea, uttered one day a sentence which should make us think : “ My severest criticism,” said he, “on America is this: There the vote of a Judas is as potent and decisive as the vote of a Jesus.” In his recent report to the Secretary of the T reas- ury, Surgeon-General Hamilton declares that “ there is no country in the world in which citizenship is so cheaply obtained as in the United States,” and brings to attention the fact of the fifteen insane per¬ sons and eleven idiots reported on a given occasion by the medical officer at New York, four of the idiots and all of the in¬ sane were allowed to land ; and that while only three thousand three hundred and 181 Immigration anD Christianity sixty men skilled in the professions and fifty-nine thousand nine hundred and eighty-five skilled laborers came into our country last year, there were among the immigrants about three hundred thousand common laborers and “ miscellaneous. ” In Dorchester’s “ Problem of Religious Progress” we are told, and doubtless cor¬ rectly, that seventy-four per cent, of the Irish discharged convicts have found their way to America. A careful author has calculated and found that taking the annual average immigra¬ tion for the seven years from 1874 to 1881 as compared with that of the like period from 1882 to 1889 it is found that immigra¬ tion from Great Britain and Ireland in¬ creased only sixty-seven and eight-tenths per cent., and that from Germany only seventy-six and seven-tenths, while that from Poland increased one hundred and sixty-six per cent., that from Italy two hundred and eighty-six per cent., that from Russia two hundred and ninety-six per cent., and that from Hungary four hundred and seventy-six per cent. In 1870 our im- 182 B Stubs of Criminal IRecotDs migrants from Austria, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Russia were only three thou¬ sand five hundred, while from England, France, Germany, and Scandinavia there were two hundred and sixty thousand and eighty-three ; in 1892 immigration from these former countries was two hundred and fifty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven, while from the latter coun¬ tries three hundred and twelve thousand six hundred and one. A study of our criminal records reveals facts that are startling in the extreme. Consider such as these : The number of men and women in our American penitentia¬ ries in 1890 was larger by about ten thou¬ sand than that of our convicts in 1880, and the convictions for crime in 1890 exceeded those in 1880 by eleven thousand seven hundred and forty-one. In 1850, with our population of twenty-three million, fewer than seven thousand convicts were in our jails and penitentiaries ; in i860, with our population of thirty-one million the number had increased to nineteen thou- 183 Hmmigration anb Christianity sand ; in 1870, with our population of thirty-eight million, we had thirty-two thousand prisoners ; in 1880, with our population of fifty million, we had fifty- eight thousand prisoners ; and there is reason to fear that when all the returns now collecting are in, we shall have re¬ vealed the awful condition of things which shows about seventy-five thousand con¬ victed criminals among a population of about sixty-four million. Most painfully significant is all this, in connection with our so-called free and glorious American nation, when we recall the fact that the criminal convictions in England were nine thousand three hundred and forty-eight in 1889, as against fifteen thousand and thirty-seven in 1868 ; in Scotland one thousand seven hundred and three, as against two thousand four hundred and thirty-nine ; and in Ireland one thousand three hundred and ten as against three thousand and twenty-six. How do we account for this large in¬ crease of crime in America ? Let Prof. Boyesen — himself a foreigner — answer our 184 B StuDg of Criminal IRecorDs question in a few sentences from his calm, conservative address before the General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance in Washington in 1887 : Recent statistics prove that our immigration is being drawn from lower and lower strata of Euro¬ pean society. Formerly we received the majority of our Italian immigration from Parma and the northern provinces, — Piedmont, Tuscany, and Lombardy — where the people, as a rule, are self- respecting and industrious ; but during recent years Naples and the province of Sicily have taken the lead and poured down upon us a torrent of peanut venders and organ-grinders. Since 1880 the Italians have nearly trebled their numbers, and the Bohemians, Poles, and Hungarians have powerfully reinforced and are daily reinforcing our growing army of discontent and disorder, as they import all sorts of notions, religious, irreligious, anarchic, socialistic, nihilistic. They have but little regard for the Sabbath, almost no knowledge of and less reverence for the Bible, and are totally ignorant of the Anglo-American ideas of civil liberty and spiritual religion. Awfully significant all this is when we recall that of our immigration last year the number of persons who could not read nor write their own language in each one hun- 185 Immigration attD Christianity dred was in this proportion : from Sweden, one; from Norway, Scotland, and Ger¬ many, two ; from England, three ; from Ire¬ land, seven ; from Hungary, twenty-five ; from Russia, twenty-six ; from Poland, twenty-eight ; and from Italy thirty-six. And consonant with the sentiment of Boyeson just quoted is the testimony of Prof. James Bryce also, in his masterful “American Commonwealth, ” in which he declares that these immigrants are, in many cases, ignorant of our country, our statesmen, and our political issues, and also affirms that to let such become citi¬ zens is to make a foolish sacrifice of com¬ mon sense to abstract principles. It is not surprising that one of the most gifted editors of our land should have given ex¬ pression last month after the disgraceful crimes of Italians in Louisiana’s beautiful metropolis, to the generally recognized thought that “thousands and thousands of this vast total of immigrants are men and women undesirable from every point of view.” No wonder that skepticism, Mormonism, Romanism, socialism, nihil - 186 B 5tu£>£ of Criminal IRecorbe ism, illiteracy, intemperance, Sabbath desecration, each nourished and strength¬ ened by the miserable and misery-creat¬ ing elements from abroad, menace the free institutions of our land and threaten the very life of our national government and our God-given religion. No wonder that in the presence of all the corrupt and corrupting influences from anarchical rev¬ olutionists in Chicago and communistic insurrectionists in Pennsylvania and the Mafia organizations in New Orleans, one of the dominant questions before us to¬ day — a question arresting the attention and demanding the consideration of every patriot that loves his country, every phi¬ lanthropist that loves his fellow, and every Christian that loves his God — is this : How shall we Americanize these hetero¬ geneous and discordant elements before they foreignize us ? How Christianize them before they demoralize us ? How save them before they sink us ? Important, absorbing question this be¬ fore our republic to-day ! Phillips Brooks uttered recently sentiments on the ques- 187 Immigration anfc Christianity tion, which it were well to have engraved on the heart and memory of Bn Bbsorbtng American citizens. May 1 be ©ueetion permitted to quote them in full ? Says he : No nation, as no man, has a right to take pos¬ session of a choice bit of God’s earth, to exclude the foreigner from its territory, that it may live more comfortably and be a little more at peace. But if to this particular nation there has been given the development of a certain part of God’s earth for universal purposes, if the world in the great march of centuries is going to be richer for the development of a certain national character, built up by a larger type of manhood here, then for the world’s sake, for the sake of every nation that would pour in upon that which would disturb that development, we have a right to stand guard over it. We are to develop here in America a type of national character, we believe, for which the world is to be richer always. It may be the last great ex¬ periment for God’s wandering humanity upon earth. We have a right to stand guard over the conditions of that experiment, letting nothing inter¬ fere with it, drawing into it the richness that is to come by the entrance of many men from many nations, and they in sympathy with our constitu¬ tion and laws. And how, we ask, is this desired end to 1 88 XL be Tlnfluence of tbe (Sospel be accomplished ? To this supreme query of our American Govern¬ ment there is, it seems to Ub*^n«uc!!cf ot ’ tbe ©ospel me, but one well-founded, satisfactory answer. It is this : The im¬ migration problem can never be solved ; these foreign elements, by nature and by education antagonistic to our civilization, can never be controlled ; this mighty in¬ flux that threatens the integrity of our free institutions can never be turned into channels safe and salutary, except through the omnific power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is both Sovereign and Saviour — that gospel which, in Talleyrand’s day, and according to his own admission, made Geneva the grain of musk that perfumed all Europe. Much, I grant, may be accomplished toward the settlement of this question by legislative acts which would more rigidly keep from being dumped on our shores all of the crime and pauperism which now inundate us ; much also, by requiring each immigrant who lands to show from some accredited diplomatic representative a cer- 189 Immigration anD Cbrietianit^ tificate that he sympathizes with and will be on the side of the existing laws of the United States; much too, by the enact¬ ment of a law which will allow no adult immigrant to land on our shores who can¬ not prove his intelligence and training by his ability to read and write in his own native language ; much also, by demand¬ ing that the time for naturalization be ex¬ tended and educational qualifications pre¬ scribed for suffrage ; much too, by just, heroic legal measures which shall punish all from abroad, as all born at home, who shall break our laws ; more still may be wrought through the agency of our noble system of popular education, with its ele¬ vating and refining influences. But each of these, as of all of these combined, is insufficient, because they are remedies local, external, evanescent, touching only the surface of life, while that which hu¬ manity demands for its essential ameliora¬ tion, individual and national, is some mighty, majestic, permeating, permanent principle which is internal and motive- producing, “some supreme energy de- 190 Zbc Unfluence of tbe <3ospel scending from the heights of the creative and kingly authority that resides in heaven. ” Believe me, men and women, fathers and brethren, this mighty mass of heterogeneous material can never be so¬ lidified and unified, naturalized and Amer¬ icanized, saved and made safe, except through the genial yet powerful influences of the regenerating and reforming princi¬ ples of the Prophet of Nazareth. Not through immigration laws, however just they may be ; nor through our public schools and our colleges, however well equipped ; nor through any other agency of association looking toward social and edu¬ cational elevation ; but through the gospel alone. Evangelization is the only salva¬ tion. All external means are powerless save as they are permeated and animated, sustained and guided, by the gospel of Christ. Is it true, as stated, that while it requires one hundred thousand gendarmes and troops to keep Paris in order, three thousand policemen suffice for London, a city twice the size of Paris ? And why ? Because while the people of the former city 191 Immigration anD Christianity have flung away from heart and life the words of the mighty Master of the ages, the queen of the latter people proudly takes up and holds up before a pagan ambassador the word of life, and says with reverence, “ The Bible is the secret of England’s greatness and England’s glory.” Only yesterday I met with this sugges¬ tive illustration : In one of the Southern States there is a deep basin hid between lofty mountain peaks, and at the bottom of the chasm lies a beautiful lake, which receives the waters from the mountain sides — streams from the east and the west and the north and the south plunging down to feed the sleeping reservoir. But with all the refuse of the earth which finds a hiding-place there, the lake is always pure and sweet, because it has a subterra¬ nean connection with the sea, and is thereby kept in healthful motion by the ocean’s tides. From all shores comes the stream of immigration into the social and political reservoir of American life. It is sometimes a troubled pool, sometimes a crucible of war, sometimes a laboratory of dark problems ; but if we can only keep its waters in the throb of the great sea of faith and love which touches here the doors of the Christian church, and yon¬ der the gates of heaven, much of righteousness 192 Gbe influence of tbe (Sospel can be eliminated and our nation saved to honor, truth, and God. And realizing that the only hope of our nation in these critical periods is the gos¬ pel, our noble American Baptist Home Mission Society is devoting its mightiest, most consecrated energies to the dissemi¬ nation all over our country of the truth as it is in Jesus. As Helena, the queen mother, when searching for the true cross on Golgotha, arranged a line of beacons from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and bade the watchers light the resinous gum when the holy wood should be found, so our Society is marshaling its forces as never before, to seek, not in Jerusalem the decaying wood, but in America the everlasting glory of the Redeemer’s cross, that its light might shine with effulgence divine among all the unchurched people of our Eastern States, and all the church¬ less people of our Western territory, un¬ til the broad domain of our American Re¬ public shall be full of the light of Jehovah and beautified with the resplendent beams of the Sun of Righteousness n 193 Hmmigratton anD Christianity And in two ways, let me emphasize in conclusion, does this gospel of the Son of God meet the question before us in con¬ nection with our foreign population : First, by the personal regeneration, the moral elevation, and the spiritual culture of these diverse and natu- ift generation ra,,y diverging elements. A great English statesman, some fifty years ago, predicted that through the usurpation of some modern Caesar or Napoleon, or by the inroads of some modern Goths and Vandals, the owls and bats of ruin would, in the coming century, brood over the mutilated and demolished magnificence of our national capitol, and the bards of succeeding time sing the sad story of the decline and fall of the American Commonwealth. The prediction, I believe, will be unfulfilled. Our land shall long stand as an arena of Jehovah’s mightiest efforts in these ends of the earth in behalf of the human race. But let us realize this, that our only safety from this tremendous calamity is fidelity to God and his eternal word, fearless and 194 Ipersonal IRegeneraticm constant emphasis upon and illustration of personal repentance, personal faith, per¬ sonal regeneration. In his divine govern¬ ment, intelligently declares a Christian journal, Christ reconstructed society by regulating men’s hearts, teaching that the only way to secure better conditions is to get better people, since if the units are right the masses cannot fail to be right. And so our Lord emphasized and reiterated individual, personal, conscious regenera¬ tion through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. He knew that right¬ eousness alone exalted a nation, that righteousness alone is the palladium of empire or republic. Not law nor litera¬ ture, nor art nor armies, nor poetry nor philosophy, nor revenue, nor reason, but truth, integrity, honor, — personal, inalien¬ able, incorruptible, untransmissible, — and these crowned by the favor of Him who sitteth in the broad circle of national life and swayeth his scepter over the children of men. The salvation of a nation de¬ pends upon the salvation of the units com¬ posing it, and these units the gospel can i95 Immigration anD Christianity make of men who gladly place principle above party, religion above revenue, mo¬ rality above money, and character above circumstance — Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty and in private thinking. As the Roman Empire was conquered by Christianity, as one by one men and women out of that empire became sons of God and heirs of immortality, — now a mantuamaker and now a jailer, now a Dionysius and now a Damaris, — so also must America be redeemed, and her het¬ erogeneous masses of people be saved. The personal method of Jesus Christ, not the national method of Constantine, or of Charlemagne, or of Xavier, is the true and effective method. By it, and it alone, shall our immigration problem be solved, labor and capital reconciled, the American Sabbath restored, the infamous traffic in liquor annihilated, the mighty and grow¬ ing revolutions of anarchists, communists, and nihilists controlled, and our whole government, lifted to an exalted height of 196 Christianity Blone a IRemeDy social and national honor, made, as far as practicable, an image of the divine sover¬ eignty above. Truly has Goldwin Smith declared, “ Not democracy in America, but free Christianity in America, is the real key of American glory. ” Secondly, as our American Baptist Home Mission Society realizes, Chris¬ tianity alone can prevail in uniting and solidifying the Xfa'mmets numerous classes of our for¬ eign population. There is no need to argue that a nation, in order to be pros¬ perous, must be united. Forcefully has Richard Mayo Skith, in his recent work on “Emigration and Immigration,” after quoting Edmund Burke’s memorable say¬ ing, that to make us love our country our country ought to be lovely, emphasized the thought that in order that we may take a pride in our nationality and be will¬ ing to make sacrifices for our country, it is necessary that it should satisfy, in some measure, our ideal of what a nation should be ; and then our author intelli¬ gently adds : “A nation is great, not on i97 Hmmigration and Christianity account of the individuals contained within its boundaries, but through the strength begotten of common national ideals and aspirations. No nation can exist and be powerful that is not homogeneous in this sense. And the great ethnic problem we have before us is to fuse these diverse elements into one common nationality, having one language, one political prac¬ tice, one patriotism, and one ideal of social development/’ And this the gospel can do as can no other force. It knows no such distinction as Jew and Gentile, Ger¬ man and Italian, Slavonian and Scandi¬ navian, African and American. Paul on Mars Hill pricked the bubble of the autoch- thonic theory of the Greeks with a single sentence in his matchless address, “God hath made of one blood all nations” — the scholarly, refined, philosophical Greek ; the brave, heroic, ambitious Roman ; the rude, savage, uncultured Cythian. Along with the doctrine of Jehovah’s exalted Fatherhood Christ inculcated the correla¬ tive doctrine of humanity’s sympathetic brotherhood, the mighty, divinely given 198 Christianity Blone a IRemeDy law of human interdependence, the heaven-born teaching that the whole social fabric, from base to apex, is a compact and finely knit organism. Or, as Sir Edwin Arnold has beautifully put it in his “Light of the World,” our Lord taught that He who loves his brother, seen and known. Loves God, unseen, unknown ; and who, by faith, Finds the far Father in the close, sweet Son, Is one with both. In his attractive work on “ The Divine Origin of Christianity,” Dr. Richard S. Storrs, dealing with this subject, predicts that the coming ages will present, through f the influence of our divine religion, a unity such as was never dreamed of by the Ro¬ man Empire when it strove to bring all na¬ tions under its sway, nor by Charlemagne when he sought to unite disorganized Eu¬ rope, nor by Napoleon I., when he fought to bring a continent in submission to his sovereignty ; and he confidently looks forward to the consummation of a plan when, as he eloquently says, “the differ¬ ent nations, each with its idioms of custom 199 Immigration anfc Christianity and language, shall be united in a bond of peace which knows no suspicion and ad¬ mits no suspension, because resulting from the voluntary subjection of each and all to the rule of a common King, the Lord of hosts.” Naturalism may attribute the present increasing fraternization of the races to the rough collision of arms, to skillful invention, to widespread com¬ merce, or to other great industrial move¬ ments of modern civilization ; but the intelligent Christian knows that it is the result rather of divine teaching in Chris¬ tianity that “the fellowship of humanity is deeper and mightier than the aliena¬ tions of race ; that the characteristics of humanity are essential and permanent, the differences of race accidental and evanescent ; that the mighty race prej¬ udice must give way as men, alien by birth, find themselves brethren in Jesus Christ.” Yes, it is a Christ-wrought pic¬ ture portrayed by a Christian poet when he sings : For I dipt into the future far as human eye could see, 200 Christianity Blone a IRcmeDy Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be ; »!«••••• Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. God speed the day when every kindred and tongue, and tribe and people — all Europe and Asia, Africa and America — shall gather in sympathetic, soul-moving union around the throne of Him who hath made them of one blood, and there offer the prayer and sing the song of a divinely formed and an eternally cemented brother¬ hood : “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” 201 * THE SUPREME MISSION OF BAPTISTS t Address delivered at the Second Annual Convention of the ^Baptist Young Peoples’ Union of America, held in Detroit July, 1892 VI Ubree SHsttnct lpropoaitlons IN answering the question presented for brief discussion at this hour, What is the Supreme Mission of Bap¬ tists in the World ? we may, by way of introduc¬ tion, lay down as fundamental and impor¬ tant three distinct propositions : First proposition : Everything from the hand of God — whether animate or inani¬ mate, rational or irrational, material or im¬ material — has a mission, and that mission definite and distinct. Intelligent activity is the law of the universe. The whole world of mind and matter, from the first to the last link in the long chain of cre¬ ation — from the lovely violet that blooms in the valley to the majestic mountain that towers above the clouds ; from the in¬ significant mote that floats in the sunbeam to the most massive planet that adorns the sky — atom and insect, fish and bird, beast 205 Gbe Supreme emission of baptists and man, all have their appointed place and plan and purpose. Nothing useless is or low, Each thing in its place is best ; And what seems but idle show Strengthens and supports the rest. Second proposition : Especially true and glorious is this law in relation to man, the highest expression of divine wisdom and power. There is such a thing as the di¬ vine creation of natural adaptations ; by which I mean to say, that every person is the expression of a divine purpose de¬ signed for the accomplishment of a special work. In other words, if each of our na¬ tures could be taken to pieces and minutely studied, even as the skillful jeweler ex¬ amines the chronometer of Geneva or Liverpool or Waltham, there would be pal¬ pable to every intelligent observer an in¬ genious construction of faculties peculiarly adapted to the performance of some specific life-work. God has no more created a hu¬ man being with nothing to do than he has created a planet with no calling to motion, 206 Gbree Distinct propositions or an animal with no vocation to action. The truly abnormal thing among men is the idle, doleless creature, without aspira¬ tion and inspiration, without a noble oc¬ cupation and an exalted aim. The God of heaven looks humanity in the face, and says, as he takes a full survey of its broad circle of existence, “ To every man his own work ” — a work which he himself must do or allow to remain undone for¬ ever. Third proposition : As with man, so also with the system of truth given to man, each has its special purpose, accord¬ ing to the character and end of the truth revealed. For instance, Judaism was in¬ stituted among a chosen race to teach, amid all the polytheism of its day, the doc¬ trine of the true and living God, and to prepare the world for the marvelous, mi¬ raculous, majestic scene of divinity in humanity ; while Christianity, succeeding it, was to proclaim in clearer notes and with a wider sweep of vision a universal religion of grace and love for the aspiring brotherhood of man. No truth of nature, 207 flbe Supreme fflltssion of Baptists of providence, of revelation, is without an elevating and ennobling mission. Now, among the prominent systems of religious truth conspicuous in our day and generation, we find one sap fists ant> ujetr pnown the world as Bap- flRisslort * tist — a name, by the way, given to a body of Christians centuries ago, not by themselves, but by their enemies, but accepted now as, in part at least, expressive and significant. This system is embraced by a people, more than four million in numbers, and with a gain last year, in this land alone, of one hundred and ten thousand.1 1 Taking a survey of Baptist interests in the United States we discover among its 3,820,000 members, 41,000 church or¬ ganizations, 28,000 ordained ministers, 7 theological semi¬ naries, with $3,500,000 property ; 27 educational institutions for women, with $1,500,000 property ; 51 seminaries and acade¬ mies, with $3,000,000 worth of property ; and 36 universities and colleges, with $16,000,000 worth of property ; while 130 periodicals among us devote their energy to the uplifting of the race and the glory of God. The growth of Baptists has been phenomenal, especially in America. In 1784 there was 1 Baptist in our country to 92 of the population ; in x8xo, 1 to 42 ; in 1840, 1 to 30 ; in i860, 1 to 22. Multiplying our total membership by three, we can safely estimate the number of people in the United States that have Baptist affinities to be no fewer than 12,000,000. 208 ^Baptists anD Gbetr fffhssion This people stand up and out before the world for certain marked and remarkable features of faith and practice. With char¬ acteristic grace and liberality Dr. George Dana Boardman, of Philadelphia, summa¬ rizes the various Christian denominations thus : Romanism gives play to the sense side of re¬ ligion ; Episcopacy to the aesthetic side ; Pres¬ byterianism to the theological side ; Methodism to the active side ; Quakerism to the passive side ; Congregationalism to the independent side ; while Baptists emphasize and illustrate the exact side. The characterization, so far at least as Baptists are concerned, is, I believe, ab¬ solutely and gloriously correct. As a de¬ nomination we are marked by a certain exactness in theological belief and eccle¬ siastical polity and practice unknown, it seems to me, to any other religious system besides our own — an exactness so universal and so distinguishing that the very name Baptist is a synonym for something def¬ inite, distinct, decided, differentiating, dutiful, and that something always and everywhere the same, o 209 Z be Supreme ffllisston ot baptists We are interested then, in asking, What is the supreme mission of this people ? As a body, what is their characteristic tenet ? As an organization, what is their peculiar work ? As a system, what is their dominant principle — mark, I say principle, not principles — what is the one dominant principle that underlies the de¬ nomination, the natural and logical in¬ fluence of which is to produce a class of Christians such as Baptists ? What would the world gain, or what lose, were our fun¬ damental, determining principle carried out to its legitimate results, accumulating force and power with each revolving age ? In short, what does the great body of more than four million stand for and battle for, like Cromwell’s Ironsides, in the fear of God and without the fear of man ? The inquiry is most important ; let us seek to answer it fervidly but not fiercely, courageously but not controversially, bib¬ lically but not bigotedly, without reserve as to what we believe but not without re¬ spect for what others believe, contending for truth rather than for victory. 210 baptists anb Gbetr flllssion Now, if I interpret aright the genesis and genius, the principle and purpose of our own beloved denomination — God bless it and cause his face ever to shine upon it ! — its supreme mission may be expressed in a single sentence, and that sentence this : to maintain in its own ranks and to propagate and develop among others absolute and inviolable loyalty to God’s word, both in creed and in deed. Permit me to repeat this sentence, for it embodies the basal idea of our whole system ; to maintain among ourselves, and to propa¬ gate and develop among others absolute loyalty to God’s word in belief and in life ; to win the world to Christ, to develop the church of God, and to advance hu¬ manity in the highest principles of Chris¬ tian civilization upon the basis and through the agency of the Holy Scriptures as the sufficient and final revelation of God’s will and way to man ; this one, definite, exalted aim and end comprehending all else connected with our faith, even as the tubes of the telescope comprehend within themselves the far-away fields of heavenly 21 I XTbe Supreme flUissioit of JSaptists space. We believe, as another has so well expressed it, that Christianity and the Scriptures are inseparably identified ; that Christianity has no real nor vital existence apart from the inspired records ; that the divine oracles are of universal obligatoriness ; that every appeal to human authority, to public opinion, to convenience or worldly propriety, as a means of disobedience to divine commands, or of pallia¬ tion or modification of the strictness of divine law, is a departure, more or less criminal, from what has been prescribed in the word of God. With no uncertain sound Baptists have ever declared that the foundation of all true religion is the truth as it is in Jesus, and that truth unchanged and unchange¬ able ; that the Bible is the only divine standard of piety and only true code of morals ; that the principles of the old book are eternal, its law divine, and its obligations binding. More than this : we hold with an un¬ wavering tenacity to the conviction that this word in its absolute entirety must be believed, defended, obeyed. Indeed, our separation from other Christian denomina- 212 baptists anD Ebetr mitsston tions is most pronounced and conspicuous just here — not, as it is too often thought by those who put things incidental in the plan of things fundamental, or who sub¬ stitute effect for cause, not in a regenerated church-membership, nor in the apostolic action and subjects of baptism, nor in the independency of the churches, nor in lib¬ erty of conscience, nor in the separation of Church and State ; but rather in this, out of which all these great teachings come, as light from the sun and leaves from the sap, this : the supreme authority of the Scriptures in all matters of Christian faith and practice — our banner bearing ever this God-honoring motto : The Bible, no ad¬ dition to it, no subtraction from it, no alteration in it to the end of time ; the Bible uncovered by human ritualism, un¬ tainted by human tradition. We are rejoiced to know, as our own Dr. Strong has said, that Baptists are not alone in assigning to the Scrip¬ tures a position of authority in determining Chris¬ tian truth, but we do think (and we have a right to think) that our allegiance to this principle has 213 Gbe Supreme emission ot JBaptlsts been more consistent than that of any other body. We attach less sacredness to early councils, creeds, traditions, to church action, to the consensus of re¬ ligious thought, than do other great historic sects of Christendom, and we insist more uniformly and confidently than they upon the solitary pre-eminence of the canonical record, believing that it is sufficient, when rightly interpreted, to guide men into all ways of truth and duty. To quote Dr. Wayland’s memorable words : We profess to take for our guide, in all matters of Christian faith and practice, the New Testa¬ ment, the whole New Testament, and nothing but the New Testament. Whatever we find there we esteem binding on our consciences ; whatever is not there commended is not binding. No matter by what reverence for antiquity, by what tradi¬ tion, by what councils, by what consent any branch of the church or of the whole church, at any particular time an opinion or practice may be sustained by the command or example of Christ or of his apostles, we value it only as an opinion or a precept of man, and treat it accordingly. We disavow the authority of man to add to, or to take from, the teachings of inspiration as they are found in the New Testament. Hence, to the Bap¬ tist all appeals to the “ Fathers,” or to antiquity, or to general practice in the early centuries or in later 214 baptists anD ^betr flUfsefon times, are irrelevant and unsatisfactory. He asks for divine authority, and if this be not produced, his answer is ever this : “ In vain do ye worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” We are firm and intelligent believers in the inspiration of both Old and New Testaments, in the divine nature and atoning death and glori¬ ous resurrection and radiant ascension of Jesus Christ, in the personality and deityhood of the Holy Spirit, in the depravity of man and his need of renewal from above, in the preservation and eternal salvation of God’s children, in the final and endless punishment of the impenitent, in a spiritual church-membership, in the ordinances of the church and their intelligent observance as insti¬ tuted by Christ, both as to form and order, in the freedom of the local church from all control, civil and ecclesiastical, and in the inalienable and glori¬ ous right of private judgment and private interpre¬ tation. And all this, why ? Because God’s word reveals it, and what that word re¬ veals we accept, just as what that word enjoins we obey. As individuals gener¬ ally, as a denomination largely, we reject the elective principle in biblical interpre¬ tation. We seek for no exception, make no selection, play no part of eclectics in accepting the Scriptures. We discourage 215 Zhc Supreme emission of baptists the tendency, so prevalent to-day, of dis¬ paraging faith in zeal to promote works, of becoming latitudinarian under the guise of charity, of yielding to the growing process in some quarters of eliminating the so-called “ non-essentials ” in Scrip¬ ture. With Baptists there are no non- essentials in God’s word. One truth may be more important and more valuable than another, but no reve- IRomon. Iati0n 0f the H°'y SP‘rit essentials in may be slighted or ignored. Scripture ^ was mjghty Master of the ages and the Sovereign Saviour of our souls who, eighteen hundred years ago, took up the ancient scroll as we have it to-day, composed of Law, Prophecy, and the Hagiographa, or Sacred Writings, and said, “It is written,” “The Scrip¬ tures cannot be broken,” thus throwing the broad shield of his infallible truthful¬ ness over all the parts of the divine canon then existing ; and my supreme mission in life, and yours, and that of every child of God, is to accept, believe, illustrate, propagate, defend this word of truth just 216 Tflo IRonseesentials in Scripture as it came from the throne of God to the hearts of men, listening to no voice but that of Jehovah, claiming no master but Jesus Christ, and having no creed but the Holy Scriptures, the manual of our devo¬ tion, the oracle of our faith, the charter of our liberty, the inspiration of our life. Here, then, we have a system whose foundation is narrowed down to a single point without the possibility of its ever being enlarged. On this eternal and im¬ mutable principle, which though so sim¬ ple, is as broad as the universe and as comprehensive as the wants of man and the mind of the Spirit, every true Baptist must stand, and stand trammeled by no machinery, tied to no set worship, fettered by no tradition, but free to go, to come, to think, to teach, to plan, to labor just as he may choose, provided only that he cling close to the infallible Oracle of heaven, called into question by no pope or bishop, proscribed by no conference or synod. What is the supreme mission of Baptists in the church and in the world ? This : to stand 217 XLbc Supreme fifttssion of baptists For the restoration of the Scriptures to their proper place and purpose : (i) As against the assaults of rationalists who deny the possibility of revelation ; (2) as against the Romish claim for tradition as of equal authority with the Scriptures ; (3) as against Protestant creed-makers, who formulate human systems and make them the basis of denomina¬ tional fellowship and ecclesiastical life. Far from us to hold that as a denomi¬ nation we are superior in every respect to ztc supremacy other bodies of Christians- of tbe God forgive us, that we are scriptures so unW0rthy ! — but we do contend that, with all our faults and fail¬ ings, we have always stood bravely and unflinchingly, in calm and in storm, in good report and in evil report, for this one supreme, all-important truth, the suprem¬ acy of the Scriptures. It is our constant and heroic attitude on this one point that has recently led one of the Andover Theo¬ logical Seminary professors — the calm, conservative thinker, Dr. Woods — to write in the public press these notable words : I have wished that our denomination were as free from erratic speculations and as well grounded 218 fEbe Supremacy of tbc Scriptures in the doctrines and experimental principles of the Puritans as are the Baptists. It seems to me that this people are likely to maintain pure Christianity, and to hold fast to the form of sound words, while many Congregationalists are rather loose in their opinions, and are trying to introduce innova¬ tions into the system of evangelical doctrines. Consonant with this testimony are those of Drs. Withrow and Kittredge, the two eminent Presbyterian ministers of Amer¬ ica. Dr. Withrow writes : I speak with no fulsome praise when I say that there is not a denomination of evangelical Chris¬ tians which is throughout so sound theologically as the Baptist denomination. Sound as my own church is, and sound as some others are, I do say that, in my humble judgment, there is not a de¬ nomination of Christians in America to-day which is so true to the simple, plain gospel of God, as recorded in the New Testament, as the Baptists. And what a testimony it is we have from Dr. A. E. Kittridge, of New York City, in his famous address before the Chicago Baptist Social Union. His words are manly and noble, as out from the depths of his heart he speaks with enthu¬ siasm : 2 19 STbe Supreme ffMesfon of baptists I honor the Baptists for their unflinching loyalty to sound doctrine, for no one has ever had any difficulty in knowing just where this denomina¬ tion has stood with regard to those great, massive doctrines which are the mighty foundation stones of the temple of Christianity. Brethren, we want, we could have, no higher eulogy than this ; and may I not say it ? we deserve it. Unworthy we may have been in other things, but here we have stood as in a solid phalanx through all the years of our God-illumined history, unmoved by philosophy or perse¬ cution, unshaken by sophistry or scoffing. From this heaven-inspired position gold has never bought us, nor power coerced us, nor authority driven us. We have ever felt it our supreme mission to exalt the word above all else ; above reason, above conscience, above creed, above church-— the revelation of God’s nature, the depository of God’s thoughts, the record of God’s deeds, the sublime expo¬ sition of God’s matchless wisdom and illimitable love. We have said, with one of our most noble leaders : 220 Gbe Supremacy of tbe Scrtpturee Accept in God’s stead your own feeble reason, the public opinion of the masses of men, the voice of the many or the cry of the sharp-sighted few, and your feet must stumble ; but let God’s word reign, and there is the brightness of Pentecost, the dawn of millennium splendors, the very atmosphere of that city and land where God’s people walk to go out no more forever and forever. And this position respecting the Bible we hold, not blindly but intelligently, for the Bible contains all man needs to know in relation to God’s will among us. There is no more danger in deserting every human system and theory, and trusting to the simple word of God, than in giving a well- built and well-manned ship full sea-room in a storm. There can be no harm in the fullest liberty and expansion of mind and spirit, so long as that mind and spirit are held by the divine truth ; but mark this : the sway of the divine must be constant, glorious, omnific. In the case of the noted Church of England minister, Priestly, this was not so, and you recall the road he was led to travel. Once he wrote, “I am a Calvinist, and that of the strictest sort” ; two years later he wrote: “Recently I 221 £be Supreme mission of baptists became an Arian, then a low Arian ; then a Socinian, and now a low Socinian.” Just before his death the man penned the sad words, “I have gone so far from the Bible that my creed to-day has lost all form and fixity.” Poor Priestly! The ruins of his whole system were lying all around him, because he had pulled away the first stone. It was a wise saying of the old Latins, “Watch the beginnings of things.” No creed, no church which does not square with God’s word can long stand, but must sooner or later sink into degeneracy and decay. And, brethren of the Baptist denomination, hear our own McLaren say to us: “If anything has crept into our faith which was not in the faith of the apostles, let us have courage to cast it out, and cast it out immediately and universally. Only thus can we honor our name and our sublime historic devo¬ tion to truth.” Nothing is settled that is not right, nothing permanent that is not true. Now out of this basal principle of Bap¬ tists, which it is their supreme mission to 222 B Step ifartber maintain, defend, and promulgate — abso¬ lute fidelity to God’s word , , , , B Step ffartber unchanged and unchange¬ able — there grow three other important principles for which we have ever con¬ tended, and in which we are still called upon to instruct the church and the world with unswerving loyaly to truth, i. The first of these principles is the accountability of each soul to God, and God alone, in matters of Christian faith and practice. On the ground of divine truth Baptists emphasize individuality, encourage the developing of individualism, holding that every soul is a unit, with an endowment of personality which no other may violate in his approach to him. The play of personal faculties, the movements of thought, feeling, action, the exercise of the moral sense and the judicial faculty by which we decide and choose and finally act, are possessions of individuals, and in them none other than their possessors can have a share. Baptists lay down this principle as a fundamental, ineradicable fact in human experience and life, as they 223 XLh c Supreme mission of baptists hear and heed the voice of inspiration, “ We must obey God rather than man.” Here we hold a unique position among the religious denominations of the world. With Roman Catholicism it b Tflniqiic • the church, not the indi- Iposltion * vidual. Declares Archbishop Kenrick, in his address before the Vatican Council, “ General Councils, in declaring faith, cannot err.” Puseyism in England asserts in “Tracts for the Times,” “ Pri¬ vate interpretation of the Scriptures must yield to the sense of the church catho¬ lic.” Even Dr. Forbes, in his inaugural as Dean of the General Theological Sem¬ inary of the Episcopal Church of the United States, speaks thus to his young students: “You must no longer think your own thoughts nor form your own plans, but learn what the church teaches, and obey what the church commands.” Over against all this Baptists stand and say : No priest, prelate, or prince, no community of men, whether civil or ecclesiastical, may rightly claim authority to legislate in religious matters, to 224 B TUnique position prescribe articles of faith, to ordain or change rites or ceremonies, or in any way to exercise lordship over the human conscience. The one great Law¬ giver is the Lord God Almighty, and to him and him alone man owes allegiance. It is well that there is one influential body of Christians that stands up and out in defense of this all important truth. Holding these views Baptists have al¬ ways been firm advocates of freedom of conscience and the separation of Church and State. Ages ago our Master said : “ Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”; keep the two distinct — the one the kingdom of man, the other the king¬ dom of Jehovah. And all candid histo¬ rians agree with John Locke when he writes, “The Baptists from the beginning were the friends and advocates of abso¬ lute liberty, just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty,” and with Bancroft when he declares, “ Freedom of con¬ science, unlimited freedom of mind, was from the first a trophy of Baptists.” The first modern treatise written on the sub- p 225 ftbe Supreme flThssion of Baptists ject of religious liberty was by Leonard Busher, a Baptist, in 1614, entitled “ Re¬ ligious Peace ; or, A Plea for Liberty of Conscience.” Among its words are these : “ It may be lawful for every per¬ son, whether Jew or Turk, pagan or papist, to unite, dispute, confer, and rea¬ son, print and publish any matter touch¬ ing any religion, either for or against whomsoever ! ” Noble, brave words these for the opening years of the seven¬ teenth century ! The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1611 declares: “We believe that the magistrate is not to meddle with religion or matters of conscience, nor compel men to this or that form of re¬ ligion, because Christ is the King and Lawgiver of the church and of the con¬ science.” It is a well known fact that one of the Baptist churches in England addressed James L, then on the throne, with these words, “ Earthly authority be¬ longs to earthly things, but spiritual au¬ thority belongs to that spiritual kingdom which is from heaven.” It is Milton, a quasi-Baptist, that sings : 226 B TUntque position Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword To force our consciences which Christ set free, And ride as with a classic hierarchy ? Help us to save free conscience from the paw Of hireling wolves whose gospel is their maw. Robert Southey describes Roger Wil¬ liams, the Baptist, as “the man that be¬ gan the first civil government that gives equal liberty of conscience ” ; and Judge Story describes the “ Providence Planta- • tions,” now the State of Rhode Island, which was founded by Roger Williams, as “ the first Commonwealth in the history of jurisprudence to fully recognize the prin¬ ciple of religious liberty.” In vain does one look in all Baptist history for such documents as the 1580 National Covenant of the Presbyterian Church, or the 1578 Book of Discipline, each of which projects the teaching that the civil power may con¬ trol the church. To our immortal glory, four things may be and have been said of us : (1) That we have never sought to force men by legal enactment to embrace our views ; (2) that we have never ad¬ vocated union of Church and State ; (3) 227 Gbe Supreme emission of Baptiste that we have never used persecution or opposition of any kind ; (4) that we have utterly renounced all compulsion through sword and stake, gibbet and rack. We hold to-day, we have ever held, and we shall always hold, on biblical ground, to the personal accountability of every human soul to God and God alone, as Sovereign and Saviour. 2. Another teaching which we have believed it our mission to propagate as those loyal to the Scriptures, ^ tbe^pwt ^ v*z-> Regeneration by the Holy Spirit as an antecedent condition of church-membership. We hold that “ a visible church of Christ is a con¬ gregation of baptized believers, voluntarily associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances as once for all delivered to the saints, rendering obedience to the laws of Christ, and spreading the gospel through¬ out the whole world — a voluntary, inde¬ pendent association of redeemed, obedient believers, united for spiritual ends and in the use of spiritual means. ” 228 ©bebience to tbc Cburcb's TKeab For us, to use the figure of the sainted William R. Williams : Citizenship in Christ’s kingdom begins with the new birth, faith in Christ the very first out- gush of the new-found spiritual life ; true religion is never a matter of heritage ; God’s progeny are never saved by virtue of blood. Hence, Baptists receive none, baptize none, who are not professing, confessing, and as far as we can see, possessing believers in Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. We deny the two assumptions of the Roman Cath¬ olic Church in the third century when they intro¬ duced infant baptism, viz., that salvation depends upon baptism and that the church, as Christ’s vice¬ gerent, can add to Christ’s commands. Here as else¬ where we say, “ To the law and to the testimony.” 3. A third truth growing out of our fundamental principle : The new life of the believer is one of unqualified obedience to the great Head of the church. (1) In the matter of church ordinances. Of these there are two, and only two, as originally instituted in the Christian church, baptism %£%%%£' and the Lord’s Supper — or¬ dinances equally important and equally binding — neither of them intrinsically ef- 229 Zhc Supreme fiHtsston of Baptiste ficacious, each of them simply symbolic. The former, which is the immersion of the believer in water into the name of the Triune God, symbolizes the great cardinal truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God, and is typical also of the believer’s death to sin and his resur¬ rection into newness of life ; the latter, which is reverential partaking of bread and wine, sets forth the substitutionary and sacrificial character of Christ’s death, and is a solemn, sacred memorial of his redemptive work for man. And in respect to these two rites, we hold that neither may be changed one iota, and that one proof of the truly regenerate life is the acceptance of these ordinances in form and order just as Christ instituted them. I am well aware that as a people we are sometimes charged with making too much of baptism, exaggerating both its place and its importance ; as a matter of fact, however, we assign no more and no less importance to it than Christ assigns. It has been left to a Unitarian minister of Brooklyn, Dr. J. W. Chadwick, to make 23° ©beblence to tbe Gburcb's THeab the truest representation of our position I have ever met beyond our own limits. Says he : It is one of the absurdest misconceptions of re¬ ligious people that Baptists have magnified the sacrament of baptism. They are the people who have minimized baptism as a sacrament. What they have magnified is the free act of the soul, giving itself to God. With them baptism is no sacrament in the strict sense of the term. It is simply a symbolic act of a free soul ; the sacra¬ ment, the sacred thing, is the deliberate choice which baptism implies. Nothing could be truer than this. To the words of Dr. Chadwick we add : For us baptism is nothing more nor less than a symbol of the new birth, a profession of faith in Christ as Saviour, the putting on, by the new soldier, of a significant uniform . Where there is the consciousness of salvation, baptism proclaims it ; where there is no salvation, baptism is nothing. In itself it effects nothing, means nothing. It is simply a symbolical representation of our faith in a risen Saviour and our consciousness of redemption through him. We put baptism where the New Tes¬ tament puts it, and declare that no bishop 231 Cbe Supreme mission ot baptists nor pope, no council nor convention, no church nor convocation, has power to change its original form or subjects or its divine significance. Respecting baptism our denomination on Bible grounds holds and proclaims intelligently and with un¬ wavering fidelity, four great facts: (i) It is a divinely Jfour Great Jfacts appointed duty as revealed by God’s posi¬ tive precept and biblical Christian exam¬ ple ; (2) it is immersion, as shown by the original meaning of the word in the New T estament, by the attending circumstances of the act as recorded in the Scripture, by the most learned lexicographers of the Greek language, by the admissions of the most eminent ecclesiastical writers, ancient and modern, and by the universal and con¬ stant practice of the Christian church ; (3) it is the immersion of a believer in Jesus Christ, as declared by the com¬ mands and precepts of Scripture and the highest Pedobaptist authority ; (4) it is pre¬ requisite to participation in the Lord’s Supper according to Christ’s commission, 232 ©bebience in %itc the practice of the apostolic churches and the testimony of unbiased authors in other communions than our own. If the speaker may be pardoned a per¬ sonal reference, he would say just here that not a month ago, at the close of a sermon by himself, on “What Baptists Stand For,” one of the leading Presby¬ terian ministers of America, who heard the sermon, uttered these exact words : “The position of Baptists on the com¬ munion question is impregnable, their ar¬ gument in favor of immersion unanswer¬ able.” We lay down this syllogism as correct in its principles and uncontroverti¬ ble in its conclusion : Baptism is prereq¬ uisite to communion at the Lord’s Supper ; immersion is essential to baptism ; there¬ fore immersion is prerequisite to com¬ munion at the Lord’s Supper. More than this. Baptists joyfully insist upon, emphasize, and seek to illustrate day by day, ®bc^”ecctn obedience to the great Head of the church in life as well as in ordi¬ nances. We would obey our Lord in all 233 flbe Supreme flflission of baptists things and at all times, listening ever to his voice and heeding ever his instruction. It is this noble spirit, I believe, that has given Baptists so proud and notable a place in the plan of the world’s evangelization during the past one hundred years. It is one of the glories of our beloved denomination that it has here set an example to the whole Christian world in hearkening to the last commission of the risen Christ to go spread his kingdom among the nations of earth. It was the Baptists that formed in Kettering, England, in 1792, the first foreign missionary society of modern times. It was the Baptist, Carey, who, a century ago, stirred all England in the matter of foreign missions. It was the Baptist, Hughes, who became the moving spirit in the establishment of the first great Bible society for sending the Scriptures to the nations. It was the Baptists who first translated the Scriptures into heathen lan¬ guages. It was the Baptists who planted the first Christian churches in India, Burma, and China. It is Baptists whose marvelous growth in America is one of the 234 ©bebtence In Xtfe wonders of our age.1 And whence their inspiration in these heroic endeavors ? Our people have believed God’s word and have sought to do God’s will, and this is from that word and will: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” More perhaps is not necessary here to say. The hope of Baptists in the future, as the glory of Baptists in the past, is in absolute, unflinching loyalty to Christian truth as revealed in the word of God ; not in numerical strength, nor in educational institutions, nor in ecclesiastical appoint¬ ments, nor in scholarly attainments, nor in social culture, important and desirable as each of these may be ; but in fidelity to the unchangeable oracles of the Most High, once for all delivered to the saints. Oh ! brethren in Christ and in church- fellowship, if there is one prayer that you and I should offer more fervently and con¬ stantly than another day by day, in this 1 In 1784, 1 Baptist here to every 94 of our population ; in 1812, 1 to every 42 ; in 1840, 1 to every 30 ; in 1860, 1 to every 23 ; in 1890, i to every 22. with a Baptist constituency of some 12,000,000 persons. 235 Gbe Supreme flQteston ot baptists present dangerous period of theological agitation and even revolution, that prayer is that our own beloved denomination, so honored and blessed in years gone by, shall, with all the Christian world, be true always and true everywhere to the infal¬ lible word of the Eternal God, as the sole and supreme authority in all matters of Christian faith and practice. Our princi¬ ples are vital ; let us make them vigorous, and in God’s good time we shall behold them victorious. Oh ! who would not brave champion be In this, the lordlier chivalry, For there are hearts that ache to see The day dawn of our victory. Fight, brothers, fight with heart and brain, We’ll win the golden day again ; And love’s millennium morn shall rise O’er happy hearts and radiant eyes ; I will, you will, brave champion be In this, the lordlier chivalry. 236 MARTIN LUTHER c Address in celebration of the four hundred and tenth ^Anniversary of Luther's birthday , de¬ livered in the First Lutheran Church Denver , [November, 1893 VII ttutber’s position ONE of the most suggestive and attrac¬ tive pictures among all European works of art is Kaulbach’s Era of the Reformation. It hangs to-day in the noted museum at Berlin, invested with interest to every serious, thoughtful soul. Gazing upon it, one is impressed as never before, per¬ haps, with the many mighty heroes who trod up and down the continent of Europe in the sixteenth century of our Christian era. Science is here represented by Kep¬ ler and Copernicus ; royalty, by Queen Elizabeth ; art, by Albert Diirer ; litera¬ ture, by Shakespeare ; scholarship, by Reuchlin and Erasmus ; statesmanship and warriorship, by Gustavus Adolphus ; and religion by Martin Luther. And the last- named hero occupies the central and most prominent position in this splendid galaxy of artists and astronomers, poets and 239 fiQarttn 3Lutber philosphers, scholars and scientists, rulers and warriors. To the artist the monk, with open Bible in hand and heart, is the master spirit of that noted period. Nor is Kaulbach alone in attributing to Luther the first and most exalted place among his compeers and companions. We turn to the writings of Lessing, one of Germany’s most eminent poets, and a man certainly not biased in the Reformer’s favor, and find him saying : “ Luther is one of the greatest men the world has ever known. The traits in him which prove him to have been only a human being after all, are as dear to me as the most overpowering of his perfections.” “ Luther,” says Ernst Arndt, Germany’s patriotic singer, “was the highest de¬ veloped flower of the spiritual life of his time, produced in word and song. He it was that imprinted in the German lan¬ guage the stamp of majesty.” In his famous “ Letters in Furtherance of Hu¬ manity,” that sweet-souled poet-philoso¬ pher, Herder, in writing of Luther as a patriot and a man, declares : 240 Mis {position As a teacher of the German nation, as one of the reformers of cultured Europe, he has been ap¬ preciated long ages ago. With the strength of Hercules he attacked the religious despotism which neutralized and undermined all free and healthy thought. The power of his language and his simple mind became united with the sciences he had helped to strengthen and revive. Nor is that noted Shakespearean trans¬ lator, Friedrich von Schlegel, less enthusi¬ astic in his praise when, in his “Philoso¬ phy of Religion,” he asserts that Luther marks an epoch, not only in the history of the German language, but also in the development of European science and of spiritual culture in general. Open “The Salon ” of that master sat¬ irist and poet, Heinrich Heine, and find on its pages this unequivocal testimony : “ Luther is not only the greatest, but also the most German, man in our history. All hail to Luther ! Eternal praise to the dear man to whom we owe the preserva¬ tion of our noblest treasures, and on whose gifts we are feasting to this very day ! Luther’s ‘ Stronghold Sure ’ was ‘ The Mar¬ seillaise’ of the Reformation.” And side Q 241 fniartin Xutber by side with all these noted authors stands the German historian, Gustav Freytag, testifying thus in his “ Century of the Ref¬ ormation ”: “All Confessions have rea¬ son to trace back to Luther all that which to-day is making their faith soul-inspiring and a blessing for their life in this world. The heretic of Wittenberg has been a Re¬ former for the German Catholics just as well as for the Protestants.” How each of these intelligent estimates agrees with that of Carlyle, who, in his London lec¬ tures on literature, delivered in 1838, but now published for the first time, describes our hero as “the image of a large, sub¬ stantial, deep man that stands upon truth, justice, fairness ; that fears nothing ; con¬ siders the right, calculates on nothing else, and adheres to it deliberately and calmly, through good report and bad.” Surely the life, character, times, and work of such a man as this Reformer — in achievement above Wycliffe and Tyndale, Huss and Melancthon, Knox and Calvin, yea, all his distinguished contemporaries, or even predecessors in moral revolution, 242 :©trtb anb Mlstor^ Jesus Christ himself excepted — presents a study of fascinating interest. To study Germany with this great personage elimi¬ nated, is like studying Greek without Leonidas and Themistocles, Rome without Cassar and Seneca, France without St. Louis, England without Alfred, Scotland without Bruce, Holland without William the Silent, Sweden without Gustavus Adolphus, Switzerland without Arnold Winkelried, and America without George Washington. Martin Luther was born in the year of our Lord, 1483, and on St. Martin's Day, November 10, hence his name Martin. His birth- place was Eisleben, Ger¬ many — no insignificant fact, as D’Au- bigne points out. “As Judea, the birth¬ place of our religion, lay in the center of the ancient world, so Germany lay in the midst of Christian nations. She looked upon the Netherlands, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, and Denmark. It was fit that the principle of life should develop itself in 243 fiQartin 3Lutber the heart of Europe, that its pulses might circulate through all the arteries of the body the generous blood desired to re¬ vivify its members. ” Time forbids, nor is it necessary in this century of enlightenment and general intelligence, that we recount in detail Luther’s history : his birth in the cottage of a poor miner, as was Melancthon’s in an armorer’s workshop and Zwingli’s in a shepherd’s hut ; his early struggles with poverty ; his days of severity at school ; his painful privations at Eisenach, where he was obliged to sing by day and by night to get bread to keep him alive ; his marvelous advancement in literature and art at the age of eighteen years ; his dis¬ covery of a Bible one day in the Erfurth Library, the first Bible in its entirety that he had ever seen ; his entrance into a convent, to become, not a great genius, but a great Bible scholar, to find the ali¬ ment of true and God-honoring piety ; his securing, in 1509, the degree of Doctor of Divinity ; his visit, in 1510, to Rome in the interest of the church, and his almost 244 JBtrtb anD Mistor^ miraculous conversion when ascending the noted “Santa Scala ” ; his almost daily discourses in explanation and eluci¬ dation of the Bible, especially the Epistle to the Romans ; his first vigorous grasp on the central truth of this Epistle, as God’s Spirit opens to his mind the glorious revelation of justification without merits and salvation without works ; and his thorough, heaven-conferred equipment for his grand, heroic part in connection with one of the most momentous historical movements that ever agitated our earth — a movement which marks the emancipa¬ tion of the human mind and the rise of free institutions; a movement which freed the world from galling shackles, turned the stream of centuries into fresh and noble channels, and proclaimed a new and glorious era to the priest-ridden church of God and the suffering race of man. Not that Martin Luther created this movement — for harbingers of the Ref¬ ormation had already appeared in such colossal personages as Savonarola in Italy, Erasmus in Holland, Wycliffe in England, 245 fnlartin Xutber and Huss and Jerome in Bohemia — but that this consecrated German monk gave the Reformation a personal, heroic, con¬ stantly accelerating impetus, whose influ¬ ence is felt to-day in every land whose heritage is an open Bible and religious liberty. And what times those were, that at¬ tracted Luther’s attention and called out his consecrated energies as a mighty son of thunder ! You students of history know something of that period. The history of so-called religion contains no more dis¬ graceful page. Eloquently and sadly does Dr. John Lord, in his “ Beacon Lights,” describe the condition of things, when picturesquely he exclaims : Xutbcr's Uimcs How flagrant those evils ! — who can deny them? — the papal despotism, and the frauds on which it was based ; monastic corruptions ; pen¬ ance and indulgences for sin, and the sale of them, more harmful still ; the secular character of the clergy ; the pomp, wealth, and arrogance of bishops ; auricular confession ; celibacy of the clergy, their idle and dissolute life, their ignorance and superstition ; the worship of the images of 246 Xutber's {Times saints, and the masses for the dead ; the gorgeous ritualism of the mass ; the substitution of legends for the Scriptures, which were not translated nor read by the people ; pilgrimages, processions, idle pomp and the multiplication of holy days ; above all, the . grinding spiritual despotism exercised by priests, with their inquisitions and excommunica¬ tions all centering in the terrible usurpation of the pope, keeping the human mind in bondage and suppressing all intellectual independence — these evils prevailed everywhere. Had there been nothing at this period but the infamous system of “ indulgences,” that were black and dire enough. Its oc¬ casion and history are generally familiar. Pope Leo X. is bankrupt ; his profligacy has brought him to want. St. Peter’s Church — “the crowning glory of papal magnificence ” — must be finished. To aid in this, Leo brings to the front once again a base custom which men had dreamed was buried, never to see a resur¬ rection, beneath the debris of a by-gone age of darkness — the custom of selling in¬ dulgences for sin. In every direction agents are sent out to promote the vile scheme. Chief among these is a Domin- 247 ffllartin Xutber ican monk, known to history as Tetzel. In his vulgarity and insincerity he appears in Saxony, with these shameful and shame¬ less claims born out of the degradation of that degenerate day : Draw near, and I will give you letters duly sealed, by which even the sins you shall hereafter desire to commit shall be forgiven you. I would not exchange my privileges for those of St. Peter in heaven, for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than he by his sermons. There is no sin so great that the indulgence cannot remit; and even if any should, which is impossible — ravish the holy mother of God — let him only pay largely, and it shall be forgiven him. The very moment the money goes into the pope’s box, that moment even the condemned soul of the sinner flies to heaven. This quotation, reported in Millot’s his¬ tory, is corroborated by Von Ranke’s statement that “the most nefarious sin of the day was the sale of indulgences for the commission of sin. Italian religion had become the art of plundering the people.” Universally and pathetically the appeal is heard for some hand, human or divine — 248 Xutber’s flQanful BttituDe nay, for two hands, the human and the divine, closely joined in glad successful co-operation — to be raised for the rescue of a church covered all over with ritual and tainted all through with tradition. It is time that “ that great organization which had painted sinless Madonnas and had shown the immaculate faces of Mother and Son to the barbarians from the north, and carried these pure ideals upon a march of thirteen hundred years, should begin to demand that the morality seen on canvas begin to appear in human life.” The world, national and Christian, must relapse into barbarism unless something be done to enlighten mind, purify heart, and transform life. And the help soon comes. God is ever true to his word, and it is his word that de¬ clares, respecting the church, Xutbcr>s that “the gates of Hades /manful shall not prevail against it” Bttitu&e — his own body born in heaven, its di¬ vine imprimatur stamped with Geth- semane’s groans and sealed with Cal¬ vary’s blood. On the arena appears 249 ffllartin ILutber Luther. As gentle as a lamb in assisting right, he is as bold as a lion in resisting wrong. He is just the man for reforma¬ tory work — the John the Baptist of the sixteenth century “ Sprung from the people ; poor, popular, fervent ; educated amid privations ; religious by nature, yet with exuberant animal spirits ; dogmatic, boisterous, intrepid, practical, untiring, generous, learned ; emancipated from the terrors of the Middle Ages ; scorning the Middle Ages ; progressive in his spirit, lofty in his character, earnest in his piety ; believing in the future and in God ; bold, audacious, with deep convictions and rapid intellectual processes ; prompt, decided, brave, he loved the storms of battle, he impersonated revolutionary ideas. ” As Athanasius was raised up by God in the early centuries to defend the divine dignity of the Son of God, so was Luther raised up at this period to declare with a stento¬ rian voice, a leonine heart, and a Pauline spirit, the great truths of liberty of con¬ science, of private judgment, an open Bible, and salvation alone through belief 250 Mle Hmmortal Tlheeee in Jesus Christ, man’s divine Sovereign and Saviour. With careful thought this man of God prepared his theses — ninety-five strong, unanswerable propositions — against the crime of indul- gences, and with brave heart and firm hand, on October 31, 1517, nailed them to the Schlosskirche at Wit¬ tenberg. In consequence of the act an intense excitement was produced in all directions and on the part of all classes — now among abbots and bishops ; now among university students and the great masses of the people. All Rome espe¬ cially was stirred from center to circum¬ ference. The pope summoned Luther to the Eternal City, but, befriended by Sax¬ ony’s king, he refused to obey the call. A learned father of the church was com¬ missioned to visit him, with the view of changing his opinions or of conquering his will ; but the interview accomplished naught, save to strengthen the Reformer’s convictions. The distinguished controver¬ sialist, Dr. Eck, challenged him to a pub- 251 flflartin Xutber lie debate ; but failed to gain a victory over the man that placed triumphantly over against all ecclesiastical traditions and council decrees the infallible word of the Eternal God. The pope excommuni¬ cated him ; but he fearlessly consigned to flames the worthless “ Bull,” exclaiming as he flings it into the fire : “As thou (the pope) hast troubled the holy one of the Lord, may the eternal fire trouble and consume thee !” He was ordered to the diet of Worms, but all efforts to make him recant had no effect on the strong- hearted Teuton, as he appeared before the splendid array of potentates, national and ecclesiastical, with the immortal declara¬ tion : “ On God’s word I take my stand ; I cannot do otherwise. God help me ! Amen.’" As a fitting characterization of him, we repeat the poet’s splendid picture : As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head. 252 Gbe ^Battle ot tbe IReformation The battle of the Reformation was now begun. Luther had arrayed the two forces over against each ubc mtUe other : on the one side tra- of tbe dition, the pope, papal coun- 1Reformatlon cils ; on the other, the Bible, conscience, private judgment. Especially now was the Bible to have free course and to be glorified. Heretofore it had been bound to chains or concealed on shelves in dark libraries ; now it was to go forth, conquer¬ ing and to conquer, imparting liberty to the individual conscience, character to law, stability to national life, and thus opening up vast and varied fields for men¬ tal, social, and moral development. Hear Luther strike the keynote to his grandest mission in these words: What ! Keep the Light of Life from the people ; take away their guide to heaven ; keep them in ignorance of what is most precious and most ex¬ alted ; deprive them of the blessed consolations that sustain the soul in trial and in death ; deny the most palpable truths, because dignitaries put on them a construction to bolster up their power ! What an abomination ! What treachery to heaven ! What perils to the souls of men ! 253 miartin Xutbcr And Luther has another mission, im¬ posed of God, in the great work before him. He is both to revolutionize and to advance the science of education among his people. Says Lecky, in his “History of Rationalism in Europe” : There is scarcely a disposition that marks the love of abstract truth, and scarcely a rule which reason teaches as essential for its attainment, that theologians did not for centuries stigma¬ tize as offensive to the Almighty. By destroy¬ ing every book that could generate discussion ; by diffusing through every field of knowledge a spirit of boundless credulity ; and above all, by persecuting with atrocious cruelty those who differed from their opinions, they succeeded for a long period in almost arresting the action of the European mind, and in persuading men that a critical, impartial spirit was the worst form of vice. Heretofore Latin had been the language of science and religion. With Latin the people were unfamiliar, and so the great body of them were in ignorance, cut off from the privileges and advantages of mental development and acquisition. The Reformer of Eisleben preached in Ger- 254 flbe battle of tbe IReformation man and wrote in German. The effect was immediate and glorious. Knowledge was popularized, and the craving for it became eager and general. Schools sprang up and flourished. Books were published, circulated, and read with avid¬ ity. The printing press carries far and wide the results of research in art and philosophy, science, and religion. The lonely miner’s son, with the heart of a lion, has struck the blow that has broken the shackles of superstition and priestcraft. Men can now study, think, act, without reference to the dogmas of a corrupt church. A paralyzed literary and Christian world is infused with fresh blood and new forces, and all the new energies of its being start up and diffuse themselves into grander chan¬ nels of development and progress. * A new era had come upon the world ; not created, as some have thought, by the march of the Crusaders, or by the in¬ vention of the compass, or by printing, or by gunpowder, but by the Spirit of the living God through the spirit of an earnest man. And in the face of what determined 255 flQartln Xutber foes, against what formidable odds, was this grand work, to which Luther gave so noble an impulse, to grow blessings"1' anc* strengthen ! A rich, voluptuous hierarchy ; the mighty power of the German empire, re¬ posing then in the Austrian House of Hapsburg ; the strong hosts of Spain ; the hot flames of the stake ; the heartless rack of the inquisition ; the red carnage of the Thirty Years’ War, with its terrific destruction of life and devastation of property, all these things arrayed in gigantic opposition to this work of God ! And yet, because God’s work, how it developed and conquered, slowly, surely, gloriously, until its principles of light and life, of freedom and progress, are found triumphant to-day in Germany and Scan¬ dinavia, Holland and Switzerland, England and Scotland, and our own fair America on this side of the Atlantic ! And what blessings it has scattered all along its pathway of glory ! The most noted Jewish rabbi in America perhaps, writes : 256 Obstacles anD blessings We can fairly say that a comparison of the in¬ tellectual condition of countries where Catholicism holds sway undisputed, with that of the territories reclaimed by Protestantism, shows that without Luther’s Reformation our modern science could not have spread her pinions. Even the Catholic Church has felt this man’s influence. The gross abuses of which Luther complained ; the venality of the higher dignitaries, the shameless immorality of the mitred shepherds, are blemishes which to¬ day cannot be pointed out in the Catholics, which would not have been the case if the Reformation had not been successful. Weighty words these, from one who, neither a Protestant nor a Catholic, surveys this whole matter with the eye of a critic and a historian. The Reformation was far from a perfect achievement ; but more than any other event in human history, save the establishment of that of Chris¬ tianity, of which it was a beautiful pro¬ duct, it has been instrumental in giving to our world and age priceless personal liberty, exalted educational privileges, universal political equality, and joyous, absolute, unrestricted religious freedom. When on that sad day in February, r 257 fiilarttn ftutber 1546, Martin Luther died, earth lost one of its noblest champions of the right of private judgment and the MisSJeatb , , ® , glory of liberty of conscience — each man’s privilege to think and act as he himself may decide, in the fear of God and without the fear of man. To the victory of this principle the world owes its truest progress. As Isaac Taylor well puts it : The absolutely unrestricted development and the strict conservatism of religious differences is a principal and indeed, an indispensable condition, of social advancement and of the progress of a people toward a state of equipoise without stagna¬ tion. Religious differences well defined, firmly maintained, and fully developed, and in such a condition that they are not merely elements, but are energies within the social mass, when duly attempered, stand, if not foremost, quite prominent, among the forces that are carrying us forward to¬ ward a higher civilization. We have time but for a remaining question : What was it in Luther — the man, the hero, the theologian, which, in connection with a higher power, produced such a work as that which all unprejudiced 258 Cbief Cbaracteri6tic9 Cbfef Cbaractedstics minds to-day admire and praise ; a work which has been celebrated so widely and so enthusiastically ; a work which to-day, after a lapse of more than four hundred years, is fondly remembered by two hundred millions of the human race ? One of the chief elements of greatness in our hero was his deep sincerity and earnestness of purpose. Other men excelled him in other qualities, Erasmus in classic culture, Zwingli in intellectual acumen, Calvin in organizing capacity, Melancthon in learning and spiritual life ; but above each of these men of God stood out and up “the little monk,” as George of Freudsburg used to call him, in strong conviction and unwavering de¬ termination. Mark the emphasis with which he speaks when taking the oath of Doctor of Divinity: “I swear to defend evangelical truth with all my might ! ” and the man meant it. He hated cant, hypocrisy, dissimulation, as the very off¬ spring of the devil himself. “ If I despised the pope,” he once said, “ as those men 259 fillartln Xutber despise him who praise him with their lips, I should tremble lest the earth should instantly open and swallow me alive, like Korah and his company. ” He hurled, with such tremendous power, thunder¬ bolts at Leo X. and Henry VIII. because he scorned their insincerity and perfidy. He burned the papal bull, because aroused to a conviction of no man’s right over another’s conscience. He stood unmoved at the diet of Worms, because his faith rested on a Petrine foundation that could not be moved. It has well been said that this one element of sincerity and purpose makes the great hot heart of Luther the livest thing in Europe to-day. Another noble characteristic of the German Reformer, indeed the basal stone of all his grandest success, was his supreme, sublime, surpassing faith in Almighty God. To him Jehovah was always near, real, tangible by his hand of aspiration, visible by his eye of faith. He seemed to pierce the veil that separates the unseen from the seen. He lived be¬ yond the sense realm. The supernatural 260 Cblef Characteristics with him was tremendously a fact. God was the inspiration of his strength, his courage, his every achievement. “What¬ ever I do,” exclaimed he on one occasion, “will not be done by the prudence of man, but by the counsel of God. If the work be of God, who can stop it ? If of man, who can forward it ? ” And as the Baptist recognized himself decreasing before the increasing greatness of the Christ, so Luther felt his nothing¬ ness in the presence of the Infinite and the Eternal. You recall how, when on his way from Wittenberg to meet Cajetan in discussion at Augsburg, the multitude made the air ring with the cry of adula¬ tion, “Martin Luther forever!” he turned, and looking upon them, quietly exclaimed, “ God forever, and his word ! ” and when they respond, “ Courage, master, and God will help you ! ” he, the right chord having been struck in his con¬ secrated soul, replied, “Amen and Amen!” To God, his Protector and Guide, would he have the glory and honor universally ascribed. He used to sing with rapture : 261 flUartin Xutbcr A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing. A third grand and admirable trait of Luther was his magnificent natural cour¬ age. One picture of this may suffice. It is when this mighty iconoclast is sum¬ moned to appear at the Diet of Worms, this time not by papal but kingly power. Bring the scene before you. It has its counterpart in Elijah before Baal's proph¬ ets on the slopes of Carmel. Charles V. the emperor, is there ; and there also are bishops, dignitaries, generals, legates. Over against them the little monk ; but he, with God, is the majority. What is his speech ? Terse, pointed, epigram¬ matic : “ Unless you confute me by argu¬ ments drawn from Scripture, I cannot and will not recant anything. Here I stand ; I cannot otherwise. God help me! Amen.” What a scene ! What a man ! It is John before Herod, Knox before Mary, Chrysostom before Eudoxia. He fears no ecclesiastical authority, no kingly power, no papal bull, no infuriated mob. Like his noble predecessor in theology, 262 Chief Characteristics he can face the whole world, and with unshaken courage exclaim, “None of these things move me.” Well was it for Luther that he had in him such stuff as made him always and everywhere a mighty man of valor. His whole life, after his conversion, was a battle — a heroic struggle. And inevitably was this so. He who ascends the mountain tops shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapped in clouds and storms, Though high above the sun of glory shines, And far beneath the earth and ocean spread, Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow Contending tempests on his naked head Finally, Martin Luther was a man of clear, unhesitating acceptance, as far as he had light, of the Holy Scriptures as the God-given guide of Christian faith and practice. The Bible he meant to make his code and creed, not human tra¬ dition nor council decrees nor papal authority, but the infallible word of the infallible God. The memorable words of Chillingworth he would make the rallying 263 flllattfn Xutfter cry of the Reformation : “ The Bible ! the Bible alone ! the religion of Protestants ! ” With firm, abiding faith in its all-sufficiency, when faithfully received and interpreted, he could calmly say to the knight who offered him his arms to protect him : “ By the word the world was conquered ; by the word the church has been saved ; and by the word both world and church may gain their highest triumphs.” And when struggling along for twelve studious years in preparing for his nation that remark¬ able translation of the Bible, in which now for three hundred years the Germans have read God’s word, how earnestly, enthusiastically, he reiterates such senti¬ ments as these : The Scriptures are the legacy of the early church to universal humanity ; the equal and treasured inheritance of all nations and tribes and kindreds on the face of the earth ! It was in¬ tended that they should be diffused, and that every one should read and interpret them for him¬ self ; for each has a soul to save, and he does not trust such a precious thing as the soul to the keep¬ ing of the priests. No, I say, let the Scriptures be put into the hands of every one ; let every one Chief Characteristics interpret it for himself, according to the light he has ; let spiritual liberty be revived as in apos¬ tolic days. Then only will the people be emanci¬ pated from the Middle Ages, arise in their power and majesty, obey the voice of enlightened con¬ science, be true to their convictions, practise the virtues which Christianity commands, obey God rather than man, defy all persecutors and martyr¬ dom, possessed of a serene, abiding faith in the glorious gospel ! What a ring of truth and power in such words as these ! How Luther exalted that only book, which, with God as its author and salvation as its object, has come down the ages, revealing the very power of God unto salvation to every one that believes. With this book he went ; through it he saw ; by it he conquered, striking cruel shackles from mind and spirit, dispelling dark clouds that covered the firmament of the church, and crown¬ ing his day and ours with benefits and possibilities vouchsafed to no other age of the world’s checkered life, and winning for himself meanwhile a fame that is im¬ mortal. We leave our interesting subject, recall- 265 flQactm Hutber ing, as we retire, the poet’s lines of which the noted German Reformer is so striking an illustration : Great offices will have Great talents ; and God gives to every man The virtue, temper, understanding, taste, That lift him into life, and let him fall Just in the niche he was ordained to fill. 266 Princeton leological Seminary Libraries 1 012 01235 8620 TUPP-CRi. liilf