GENESEE EVANGELIST.---Whole No. 763.
/ottvg.
A CHILD AT PLAY.
BY REP. JAMES OILBORME, LIONS.
A rosy child went forth to play,
In the first flush of hope and, pride,
Where sands in silver beauty lay,
Made smooth by the retreating tide;
And, kneeling on the trackless waste,
Whence ebb'd the raters many a mile,
iliffaised in hot and trembling haste,
' Arch, wall, and tower,—a goodly pile.
But, when the shades of evening fell,
Veiling the blue
. and peaceful deep,
The tolling of the vesper bell
Call'd that boy builder home to sleep.
He pasted a long and restless night, .
Dreaming of etruclures tall and fair;
He came, with the returning light,
And lol—the faithless sands were bare.
Less wise than that unthinking child,
Are those deem'd great of mortal birth,
Who grasp, with strivings warm and wild,
The false and fading toys of Earth.
Gold, learning, gloryl—What are they
Without the faith that looks on high?—
The sand forts of a child et play,
Which are not when the wave goes by.
011, STEAL NOT THOU MY FAITH AWAY.
BY REY. JANES OILBORNE LYONS
Ohl steal not thou my faith away,
Nor tempt to doubt a lowly mind;
Make all that Earth can yield thy prey,
But leave this heavenly gift behind;
Our hope is but the aenboy's dream
When loud winds rise in wrath and gloom:
Our life—n faint and fitful beam
That lights us to the cold dial tomb.
Yet since, as ONE from heaven has said,
There lies beyond that dreary bourne
A region where the faithful dead
Eternally forget to mourn, '
Welcome the scoff, the sword, the chain,
The burning waste, the black abyss;
I shrink not from the path of pain,
Which leads me to that world of bliss.
Then hush, thou troubled heart, be still ;
Renounce thy vain philosophy;
Seek thou to work thy Maker's will,
And light from Heaven shall break on thee,
To glad thee in the weary strife,
Where strong men sink with failing breath,
To oheer thee in the noon of life,
And bless thee in the night of death.
For the American Presbyterian.
"HOW TO ENJOY LIFE:" OR PHYSICAL
AND MENTAL HYGIENE.*
CHAPTER 2.---PUBLIC WORSHIP.
CONCLUDED.
BY 'BB. ffi. COBNBII M. D.
rn the public worship of God, his power is seen
in renewing the heart; in imparting to it his
"saving health;" in transforming the soul into
his divine image, and pouring into it the light of
life and the joy of heaven.
In the public worship of God, too, Christians
are perfected in the divine life. The disciples of
Christy,Kien first hem of the 'Spirit, are children.
They are to be fed and nourished by spiritual food
till they attain "the full stature of perfect men in
Christ Jesus." It is as much a part of divine
physiology, that the child of grace should grow by
the preached word, and by the administered ordi-
MONS of the gospel, as that the newly-born in
fant should be nourished by its proper food. It
is by the application of divine truth that the Spi
rit carries on the work of sanctification. "Sanc
tify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."
"He takes of the things" of Christ "and shows
them to" the Christian; but he usually does it
through the instrumentality of human means. The
gospel is a "treasure in earthen vessels," and it is
God's appointment that these vessels should be
used in sanctifying human hearts.
It is in the public worship of God that Chris
tians have an opportunity of openly professing
their faith in the Saviour and their love to him.
Here they surround the table of the Lord and
commemorate his death. Here they proclaim to
the world that they are not ashamed "of Christ
crucified." Here they are seen "a peculiar peo
ple," holding communion with one another, and
with Christ their Head. Here their hearts, their
object, their all are one. Here they are preparing
for mansions of bliss at God's right hand. Their
prayers, their praises, yea, all their services ascend
before him, as sweet incense, when offered in faith
through the sacrifice of his Son. Here they are
formed into churches for the mutual edification of
each other, and "for the furtherance of the gos
pel," that they may send it abroad to all the na
tions of the earth, till the sound shall be heard
from pole to pole, "the kingdoms of this world,"
—its divided and jarring kingdoms—have become
the united and peaceful "kingdom of our God and
his Christ." Here the faithful minister of Jesus
"Establishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
And, armed himself in panoply•complete
Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms,
Bright as his own, and trains, by every rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war,
The sacramental boat of God's elect,"
'Such are some of the healthful effects of public
worship. Many more might be named, but these
are sufficient for our presentpurpose, to wit, that
of spiritual hygiene.
The gospel is a debtor to no man. No man can
do without a preached gospel. People sometimes
say, 44 We are not able to support the,' gospel;" and
parishes, that are not wealthy, sap , " We are not
able to support the gospel." Now, this language
conveys the idea that the gospel is a tax, that it
diminishes so much the wealth of the place, with
out rendering an equivalent. But this is a most
incorrect idea. The gospel more than supports
itself wherever it-is faithfully preached. In a
worldly point of view, merely, it saves more money
in curtailing extravagance, in the suppression of
crime, intemperance and vice of various kinds, than
it costs to support it. Would you see this proved ?
Compare those places that have a preached gospel
with those that have it not. Are the people who
enjoy it poorer than those who do not possess it?
Are they more ignorant as it respects worldly
knowledge? More illiterate? Stupid, indolent?
Go into a town where the gospel is preached,
where it is decently and honorably supported, and
where the sanctuary is regularly and punctually
visited; are there more marks of wretchedness,
poverty and decay there, than where the gospel is
not preached ? Are the houses more wanting in
decency? Are there more brokeq panes of glass;
more roofs which "through the idleness of the
hands, drop through?" Are the walls and fences
I (Entered according to /Lot of libnitiss, la the year 1860, by Wiir
CORNILL, la the Clerk's Office of the Dlatrlat Court of the United
Mates, for the Pader"' Dletrlat of Penneyleanht.]
more dilapidated? Does the ground more resem
ble the "sluggard's vineyard," covered with net
ties and thorns? Are these marks of decay mere
prevalent where the gospel is preached, even among
a sparse population, than where it is not? Every
man must answer these questions in the negative.
Come with me to our beautiful .city of "Bro
therly Love." Do you find the best population
in those streets and lanes where public worship is
neglected.? Are the most learned, elevated and
refined people there? Where do you find the
best houses;the finest stores, the most industrious
and wealthy citizens? Not, surely, itt those little
filthy, dirty streets and alleys, where every other
dot opens to a grog-shop, atid where .the wretch
ed inhabitants rarely or never go to church.
Are youa merchant--in whiclittown would you
prefer to open your stnie ip ,the , country, where the
gospel is. preached; or Wherptirlictintr7 - 11r which
street: in the city would you , prefer -to establish
your son in business, where the.people are church
going,-or !Olere they are not? , These are, plain
matters of fact. Doctors have to deal with facts
when they talk about health, and they ought to
deal with facts when they speak of spiritual hy
giene as, well as bodily.
Setting all moral and religious considerations
aside, and contemplating those only which refer to
a lucrative employment, who would not prefer to
dwell among a church-going pe?ple? '
But, I can safely go one step farther, and as
leng sermons are seldom good or ' much liked,
this remark shall end the present chapter. Mau
needs the relaxation of the Sabbath. He re
quires public worship, and he cannot " enjoy . life,"
and it is doubtful whether he could exist in a
civilized state without these blessings. The eX
periment has been tried. That infidel nation,
France, at the period styled the "French Revolu
tion," burned the Bible, blotted out the Sabbath,
and' destroyed public worship. Were they then,
better off?, No; they found they could not at
tend to the common avocations of life. They
needed a day of relaxation from labor, and the
constant routine of dissipation. They would not
have a seventh, day's rest,•because it had been ap
pointed by God and sanctioned by Christianity,
which hitter they wished to annibilath. But they
appointed a tenth day's relaxation, a Decae as they
'called it. Here• learn the wisdom of God in the
appointment of the Sabbath, and the institution of
public worship, and the consummate folly of man
when attempting to refine, upon, or annul divine
institutions.
ror thidimeriein Presbyterian.
LETTER FROM IT.,I4BANON.
DEAR EDITOR:—
Your readers will be interested to learn-that
Fuad Naha has returned from Damascus to `Beirut,
and that the French troops, with thuexception of
wteletsehmeeit-at Irtiddeerr; 'Near-Detre MYW,)
have left the mountains and encamped about three
hours' ride from us, at the east and west in Beirut,
and Kob Elias in the Bukaa. As we anticipated,
they found no occasion to fight the Dames in Mount
Lebanon.
The mixed Commiesion is in session at Beirut
for the trial of the Druse Sheikhs. Said BeteTne
blat, their Commander-in-Chief, and wealthiest
prince, was or; trial before the Turkish tribunal,
and it was evidently the design of that tribunal
to find him guilty, irrespective of the evidence,
and confiscate his property. Lord Dufferin, the
English Commissioner., interfered, and introduced
five representatives of himself and the other Euro
pean Commissioners, in order to secure a fair and
impartial trial. , Thirteen of these Sheikhs pre
sented themselves in obedience to the.summons,
a ij were apprehended and regarded as guilty un
le7T9my can prove their innocence. The other
Sheikhs who did not obey the summons, were pro
nounced guilty and rebellious," and all their pro
perky was confiscated. The trial is secret, and the
most that we hear is, that there is no progress.
Lord Dufferin remarked to me on Saturday last,
"Only England and America, in such cases, regard
all persons innocent until they are preyed guilty;
and that such trials in Europe are usually secret."
The Lord will overrule their counsels for His own
glory.
The decision of this Turkish tribunal will be re
vised by the mixed Commission, upon the mem
hers 'of which devolves the heavy responsibility of
enacting what is right in resolving the Syrian
question, and providing an efficient government
for this ,unhappy country. The present position
of affairs is remarkable as the events themselves,
which have attracted the attention and awakened
the sympathies of the civilized world. Indeed, all
the world is interested, since all the races of men
and all their religions have their origin and meet
ing-place in this quarter of the globe: and it is
consonant to my office and the aim of my life, un
der all circumstances, amid all kinds of religion,
in behalf of all races, or rather all divisions of our
one race of men upon the earth, by all possible
instrumentalities, to labor for an increased interest
of all mankind, in the welfare of one another, and
in the advancement of their common Redeemer's
cause under the whole heavens. lam fully per
suaded that the Lord is in all the past events and
in the present attitude of affairs, with a provi
dential concern for a brighter prospect in the
future; and. in this persuasion I am content to
await the issue;
It is matter of thankful record that no Ameri
can missionaries have been lost amid the massacres,
and. that we have so many of us continued at our
stations and at our work. Our Druse neighbors
have said more than once, that a hundred men
like your bumble correspondent in Mount Leba
non, would have prevented all this war. And
ought not the United States of America to have
furnished that hundred missionaries for this goodly
mountain many years ago, or now to send them
hither? Of a hundred missionaries in Mount
Lebanon, each would have a parish of half a dozen
villages, and a population of three thousand souls,
of all religions except the true. Such a demon
stration from the United States would k look as
though we intended and expected to evangelize
the Mountain. France has just sent 5000 soldiers
to subdue the .Druse country, and found no occa
sion .to fire a gun. All were afraid, and many fled.
There is indeed a moral power in mere numbers;
and how can the church of God achieve the moral
conquest, of the world, without sending forth her
choicest sons and.daughters, and consecrating,her
accumulated trasureaand energies to this glorious
and bloodless conflict? Omnipotence is pledged
to crown every well directed effort with an endless
PHILADELPHIA, ~-.TIIO
income of joy. But, alas! notwithstanding tho
clearest promises of God, all men seek their own,
and not the things of our Lord Jesus Christ, in
the predicted and promised renovation of the whole
Oath.
Now, permit me, sir;to transcribe the following
"Petition'of all the Sheikh's and commons of the
Druse nation of Mount Lebanon, addressed 'to
her 'imperial authority, the Queen / of England.
May God grant her continuance of royal power
and its increase, in the name of God! Amen.
." Whereas, God has spared His peolij? and be
stowed uponthem, your Imperial Higlinss and
government filled with mercy and com Passion to
all His creatures, whosoever they may be,
and to whatever sect -they may'belong; more"espe
cially towards those who may be judged without
justice andwithoirt nvidenee; wherefore„, vie,your
serviiqopproach : rair tliron'tcliegaTeng
that the mercy oryour Imperial Highness may pro
tect us; and praying Obi regarded by the eye of
compassion,that justice maybe done to us We are :
einbaldened to present this petition to thesogin- -
meat of England, just and comPassionateCwards
the worshippers of God; and we are emboldened
to include a journal containing an explanation of
the events which have happened between us and
the Maronite nation of Mount Lebarren, in order
that all'the occurrences which this journal contains
from the commencement to the end, may be told,
to your Imperial ears. We pray that your Impe
rial compassion may cover us, and that your judg
ment may be according to justice and impartial
evidence. Now, we bend and fall down before
the throne of your Imperial Highness, that you may
be cornpassionate unto - us in doing justice and in
concerting with our Ottoman government,' the Most
high, and with other exalted pdivers, in order that
we may not be treated according to the false am
•sations of our enemies, or punished before we are
tried or found 'guilty. God forbid that Imperial
monarchs should - do any thing that is unjust,
This is what we are emboldened to petition for at
the throne of your Imperial Highness. May God
preserve her! In the name of God. Amen.
the humble servant, because this petition is in the
name of the Druse nation, when it is not customary
to affix the seals of all, have affixed my name and
seal in testimony of its being theirs.
"Aug. 17, 1860."
The signer of this Oriental and royal petition,
is the same Sheikh upon whom the Rev. J. WI,.
and myself called. Re is one of the Chief Akkals.
Praying that our favored countrymen will take a
deeper interest in the Druses and other inhabi
tants of Mount Lebanon, I remain, in Christian
love, ever your brother,
WILLIAM A. BENTON.
For the American Presbyterian.
DENOMINATIONAL, CAM - OLIO, ORTHO-
If ,our Presbyterian Church is.true and worthy,
I ask, why be ashamed of her? why blink the
question of love for her, living for her, commend
ing her, fighting for her, on principles uf Christian
polemics and controversy apostolical? That there
is much good, doing and, done, in other evangeli
. cal bodies, we are, and should be, glad to recog
nise and confess. We are not the representatives
of a miserable hierarchical island, afloat, and taken
in tow by the ship, "Royalty," and hence called
an "Establishment;" though driven of the winds
anti tossed into Puseyism, Rationalism, Broad-
Churchism, Organic Comprehensionism, Plural- ,
ism, Short-sightedism, and so especially Exelu
sionism—though, when an island excludes a con
tinent, it only isolates, dissenterizes, excommuni
cates itself! "Establishment"—indeed! "Con
firmation"—remarkable ! The universe—in a nut
shell I "I" said a harlequin in a circus, as we
are told—" Please you, all people, and Ladies
and, gentlemen, I—am human nature ! I am
mankind ! I am the species—and let none of you
dare to doubt or deny it, after this !" Perhaps,
some extemporized monarch, or his prelatic chap
lain, had lately "established" and " confirmed"
him. No ! we are not insular; not afloat; not
taken in tow;. and if we are not a continent, it is
because we are=a world; we go for the world;
preaching the gospel to every creature, as our Sa
viour commands us; and showing every creature
that salvation, in the infinitely catholic mediation
and expiation of the Son of God, is made THE
DIVINE BASIS of life eternal, offered to him, indi
vidually; offered not by us—the mere echoes of his
truth, but by God-himself; offered sincerely, with
no catch, or equivoke, or ambiguity, or duplicity,
or triangulation of inconsistency or hypothesis—
es if God's immanent purpose were in conflict with
his overt mercy, his benign manifestation and
command to all men, everywhere, to repent and
believe the gospel—tint is, in his own right and
keg way to be saved, to go to heaven; as he AIN
CERELY desires all of us promptly to do! We
are truly generic Calvinists, all of us. We have
a "basis," not new indeed; nor laid by,R. J. B.
& Co. in 1837-8. It is as old as reason, common
sense, universal conscience, and the ever-blessed
book of God. On this account, it ever irks me to
hear the nick-name of "New School" applied to
us—who adhere to the old basis; when others—
neophytes laid the new; who kept the CoNSTITU-
TioN, actis et factis, when others vaunted them
selves its prime propagators, expounder; defend
ers, exemplars—and then terribly violated it; as
it was never before known in all Presbyterian his
tory; and since the times of the Culdees, the
Waldenses, the Paulicians, and the A.postles of
Christ: or, in more modern times, and since John
Knox inaugurated the General Assembly of Scot
land, with an old-basis sermon; just now, Decem
ber 20, three hundred years ago—glory to God!
Esto perpetua, ecclesia presbyteriana ! -
If earnest in this, .I am consciously not at all
rancorous or implacable, hating no man; only
saying, for our cause, and in reference to the deep
injuries we have and yet in part sustain, what
righteousness requires. In this last respect, to touch
the least, rather than the greatest of our account
under the head of INJURIES RECEIVED, I name
something material in two senses; which ought
to "lie heavy" on their consciences, who did the
sin or who now profit of it; as the murdered Duncan
on the souls of Macbeth and his wife :—THEY are.
NOPOLIZED ALL OUR COMMON PROPERTY; and
they hold it ever since; worth about one-third to
one half of a million of dollars! This indeed they
had exactly as much right to do, as has the bur
glar at , midnight, after murdering the good man
of the house, to take his money, too ! Oh, no
64 11ADIDAN BELMINI
OAY, DECE3II3ER 27, 1860.
i ,
It was not right, xi yrak done now toward
one-fourth of a qintury go—yet, hovt old ought
the felony to be,4 lose.* nature; to make no
obligation of repe*tance ; to be transformed—at
the resurrection, ofie just even, or even after, into
the righteousness tif,q 9 a, ir any part thereof ? . I
regard thatoncrete abstraction :: as symbolical of
the moral whole Of the transaction; the perfidy,
the rampant, ickedness, of that' deplorable °coa
ct
sion—too me ora le, too horrible, to be often re
peated or ever fo .. ton. - • ,
In my nestpa , r, I intend to remind the tw
it
nest men of te oher, •the NEw basis branch, arid;
all others of them„too v of what, the people at large
think of it; what the secular press said of it;
what editors thought ef the measure , in its peon
niary aspects, at ' Anne, and after it, years,agt)
Some potions pr T
,_,,,,, ,, f5y , 4acrbid-pasee f •are,nc
11
so bitter, idt thOir Mar'
~ SAMUEL HANSON COX.
Leroy, Dee. 150,,E1860. -
or the . American Presbyterian.
r
i t
PRAYS i FOIL REVIVALS.
ITS NATUIt ' TNoirtTrirEs TO IT.
In all genuine yer for revivals, the believer * l
recognises,great .p • ciPles. The holiness of the
divine government,)the -eternal ill desert of sin, I
the all-sufficient a ' efficacious atonement; the
free offer of mercy ' all, on condition of faith in
Christ, the native and total depravity ,of the
1
human heart, the , essity of a• radical change of
heart, in order, to i bre salvation, and the .power.!
and. willingness. of ' , noly Spirit to regederate
and sanctify in sue 4 manner and, to such an ex
tent
,as the natuire end highest interest of the
divine government eqUire--these are the great
truths implied in r ival prayer. It,: moreover,
implies sense of. , , ; rldetice on God—submission
o his hay-favilll4 -;'. - : -forhis glory, and willing
ness to oc4;iieratlq:‘....:le workefor which we pray..
It implies intellAiit and strong confidence in
God. , . \, ~ t .
Such are the -pri fides involved. The enno
rtit,
bling nature of - sue 'Prayer will be seen at' once.
It enlarges the hea ' * .and'elevates the soul to the
sublimest heights of . 'ora.l experience. For a soul
to be in such a prey,frful state is to have sweet
fellowship with the , rest, noblest and greatest
;
truths, objects an • *finds, 'which the universe
contains: It is to e ter into the very life and spi
rit of the gospel ;Is to consecrate one's self to
the accomplishment las benevolent designs, and
thus to make the :l dam of God our meat and
drink, our'joy and lie:
Revival prayin . 1 ; m any Church implies-unity
of desire and petit 9:::It implies that a few, or
‘
many, or all, shall beinoved by the same impulse .
of God's Spirit, to , unite in'their requests for this
one rglorions Object. kin :each praying .soul,, God
beholds 9 1 /...,e o Yfficgk. ~ . •It , M..tgaght , WlLZigi , .
?MO
and in whose heart' e himself has kindled the
holy fires which thns seek vent in supplication.
The more there are to unite, the greater will the
descending blessing be. As the spirit of prayer
is also the spirit of self-denying labor, it gives
evidence of a more iextensive preparation for the
outpouring of the Spirit.
Faith is an element 4 prayer. tine revival The
kind of faith requirdd is that, which embracing
the grace of general confidence in God, and ardent
love to his cause, add moreover, a certain con
genial yearning for so m e immediate and visible
add, moreover,
of God's saving power. In pre
paring the way of the Lord, the , Holy Spirit often
employs some common providence, to impress the
hearts of several persons to. pray especially for a
particular individual. , ;As , the sovereign Spirit
moves to the selected i dwelling, he takes along
with him, by the sweep of the providential
agency, the spirit of special prayer., Thus circle
after circleiswfortnetakinnut . several individuals,
and the sour 1 R risint , intOtiofty intit, often feels
beyond all doubt, thatGod' is corning to bring
~.
salvation.
: Revival prayer must be importainate. It may
well be so. It involves such an amount of reli
gious truth, that the 14nger it lasts the more the
soul grows; It so enla g,its'the heart and enkindles
the whole man, that tie . longer it continues the
better. Its
.persevering exercise causes us to
know how much mot- important are the things
prayed for, than at fi `t we thought them to be.
God is honored by oft importunity, much in the
same manner as he is bur faith. A vast result
is sought, and it well' ' eserves long and faithful
pleading. No one kn4ws how
,great—how tran
scendent' the bleisieg ' y be. When we consider
the infinite important ' of such prayer in the
churche4, we shall fee that it is high time for
them to arise and call upon their God. He is
willing to hear and b ess. " He looks' from his
throne upon his 'plea bag -. Church with 'tender
love. He knowalfet . than we Can ever know
the infinite worth of thif'greatebjeceto'be secured
in a deep, thorOughPaajoyful revival.
Look Abroad; theti;' all'ye who love your Sa
viour's honor,: and the everlasting welfare of your
fellow-men,, and reflect how glorious will be
another genuine and geiteral revival. God is able
to move the laud. His ,Spirit is omnipresent.
He waits to be graeionS. Oar country .can be
saved only;by an everlwhere spreading work of
true regeneration. The,cause of missions through
out the world must-be *Stained by revivals, or it
will languish - and die. ' '
If this consideration;shall awaken the spirit of
prayer in the mind, we further and finally suggest
that there •is great.encouragement to pray. It is
an age of revivals and will be so more and more.
We live on the confines`.of> great moral changes,
for which revivals only can prepare the world.
God has announced his adoption of the system of
revivals, and his intention to make brighter and
brighter displays of his-glory in-his manner, until
the world shall be filled-with the knowledge of
God. We may Weed appioadh him in faith.
We repeat -itrhe- , doei not forbid- us to plead with
him. We may urge' oar great requests, may be
long at his feet, may pirtur"o4t all our hearts; may
get as many of his people to-unite with•ns as we
can, and may even resolve to give him no rest un
til he shall appear
,in his glory. Then let the
churches awake and 'arise. Begin this day, Qye
who feel an impulse of life, as you value the souls
of dying men, as you prize the cause of religion in
your own country;and in the whole world, go be
fore the throne of grace, in the spirit of persevering
prayer, crying,- " 0 Lord, revive thy work. In the
midst of the years make known; in wrath remem
ber mercy v=-:-and. in rthis day. of mercy, let salva
tion become a mighty flood.
THE 'WESTMINSTER REVIEW AND THE
BROAD CHURCH
Under the title of "Neo.Christianity J., this Quar
terly of the "extreme left" of the party of reli
gious progress, takes in hand the recent volume of
,several leading clergymen, (one—a layman) of the
liberal.wing of, the English Church, called "Essays
and Reviews." While welcoming these able allies
of its own work in an elaborate analySis of each of
these essays, it reads them quite a lecture for not
carrying out their principles of free interpretation
to their legitimate results, which omission this re
viewer proceeds to supply with<Orracteristio bold
ness; and utterly denies the pOSility of their
'professed attempt to re-construdt a, scriptural and
opular Christianity upon 0. snorly laid founds
ticin. These learned gent • • e distinctly told
that by their theory of " Idet • ,;," theyhave turned
the historic truth of the Bible from Genesis, to
grmadi,..o • ;Tokinto ftibia,6l-
- the gravest doubts,
obscuring•nlike thli'pairiaraalibistories, and the
nativity, acts, resurrection and ascension of Christ.
Moreover, that under ,their treatment, have also
ditiappefied from the - Gospels,lothe cardinal doc
trines of the Protestant churches, from the apostacy
of man to the final and endless punishment of the
wicked. With respect to this last tenet of Ortho
doxy, the reviewer explicitly affirms that it is
taught in many. Seripturettexts, and that it runs
through the entire spirit of the sacred canon. All
this work of 'demolition,:the Westminster is very
glad to have done to iti-hand almost; as well as it
self has done it, many scores of times, But it
cannot repress its astonishment that,the doers of
it should come from the ranks of those who wear a
surplice in Episcopal Pulpits, and have signed the
thirty-nine articles.
Another stricture is made upon the effort of
these essayists to erect a basis of a true Christian
life in' a religious sentiment of spiritual fervor, as
distinguished from a *triad platform of belief.
On this subject some very truthful • sentences are
set down, which should have even more impressive
ness as coming from such an outside source. The
reviewer says:
"Every religion which ever flourished, did so
by the strength of a body of doctrine and a system
of definite axioms. Nothing else could give unity
and permanence to its teaching. No collection of
maxims Or rule oflife can last long when-deprived
of dogmatic basis, and common intellectual-assent.
The whole teaching and influence of every religion
has rested ultimately and entirely on cardinal pro
positions universally received as true. Nothing
but such a basis can satisfy the mind of ail inquirer
or give coherence to the social body. Moral prin
ciples have been found to lead to strife when made
the foundations of communities. Endless attempts
have been made towards union in an ideal of life.
They have ended invariably in chimera and con
' fusion. The moment one cardinal dogma is sur
rendered as uncertain, or even provisional, the
whole intellectual frame-workgives way. All the
repose, the unity, all the permanence which rest
upon undoubted truths are gone. The unguided
feelings, the variety and fluctuation of moral con
ceptions, take their place in endless agitation and
discord. Such a work indeed undoes the labor of
St. Paul, brought to perfection by the Church.
He taught faith, hope and charity, insisting indeed
chiefly on tbe moral truth, but resting it on , a sys
tem of immutable doctrine. He zreached a life
of rightentariesia 111 This worla= we d fry
certain- glory, in the next. He preached Christ
and him-crucified. Once doubt the, certainty of
the story or the of the sacrifice, and to what
will the preacher appeal? He will be left to the
+truism- 4 to be good, for it is good to be good.'
* *lt is not this which can bring order out of
the intellectual anarchy around us, control the
whole moral energy of the present, and heal the
deep dis Pases in societies and states."
We almost forget in this reading, what pages we
have opened: The paragraphs have a decidedly
Orthodox taste; some even of our evangelieal peo
ple may think rather strongly so. But the drift
of the quotation shows us, where the alert leaders
of the other side, are marking out the battle field
on which they know that the final issues must be
tried. A doctrinal and not a sentimental religion,
or no-religion, must hold the ground in dispute be
tween Christ and a skeptical Anti-Christ.
It is possible- that the Reviewer may have put
constructions upon some parts of the volume in
question which its authors would repudiate But
this can be only a very partial plea in abatement
of their great offence against Christian truth and
salvation. .Meanwhile, (says the Quarterly,) not
a - whisper of condemnation or censure has been
heard from any accredited functionary of "The
Church.
THE END OF INFIDELITY
The following incident was related at a recent
noon-day prayer meeting in this city, as reported
by the S. S. Times.
One old man, living in a small town, bad made
himself conspicuous by his open infidel opinions.
He was infidel in thought,ln feeling, in views, in
everything. He kept a Bible, and on the margin
with a pencil made annotations of the most fear
fully blasphemous character; so that the Book was
talked about in the town as—'s Bible. He be
came a most loathsome being. He was dreaded
and shunned by the town people, and could hardly
be endured in their midst. No notice was taken
of him. He became desperate. Finding none to
befriend or even to molest him, and goaded by most
terrible thoughts, he made way with himself. For
a whole week his house was noticed to be shut.
People ,wondered what had become of the old man.
And, it, was not until the offensive stench of his
_
dean bOdy attracted, the attention of the dwellers
in the, vicinity, that his door was broken open and
the fearful end of this wretched being was revealed.
Three months afterwards the house was offered for
sale. Not a man in all the county would bid a
dime for it. It was also declared that not a man
would have it as a gift, A short time after this fruit
less attempt to sell it, an alarm of fire was sounded
in the village, and the house was consumed. A
year or two afterwards, remarked the , speaker, I
saw the ruins crumbling, mouldering, brick by
brick. Not a man would remove its rubbish. This
is only infidelity g-ne to seed, infidelity developed.
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.
" Uwe live in the Spirit; let us also walk in the Spirit."
—Galatians v. 25.
The Spirit of God lives in us, as the source of
our sanctification ; and we are to live in the Spirit,
as if he were the atmosphere we breathed, the tem
ple in which he is worshipped, or the habitation in
which we dwelt. To live in the Spirit, is to live
under his influence, according to his word, recog
nising his presence with us always. So, to walk
in the Spirit, is to walk as influenced, directed,
and assisted by him; looking to him for wisdom
to guide us, grace to help us, and power to pre
serve us. To walk in the Spirit, is to live as a
man delivered from the law, rescued from the pre
sent evil world, freed from the dominion or sin,
and set apart for God's glory and praise. The Spi
rit is our teacher, leader, and comforter. We yield
ourselves to him, and seek to please and - honour
him. We are careful not to grieve him, or resist
him, or quench his holy influences. To walk in
the Spirit, is to breathe the spirit of Christ, and
exhibit the temper and disposition of Christ in the
midst of opposition, persecution, irritation, and
many self-mortifying duties. =lt is to walk as Je
sus walked, taking him for our pattern, ancheeking
grace from the Comforter, to think, feeli and act
as Jesus thought, felt, and acted: Blessed Com
forter! teach us to live in the Spirit in thelibkent
day, and to walk in the Spirit as we walk thron,gb
the wilderness of this world. Oh to walk as Jesus
walked, to live as Jesus lived, constantly present
ing ourselves to God, for his service and praise!
May we render our bodies a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable
service; and not be eonfortued to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Oh
to be unearthly! Oh to be deeply spiritual!
When Ethelred, the Saxon, king of Northum
berland, invaded Wales, and was about to give
battle to the Britons, be observed near the enemy
a host of unarmed men. Be inquired who they
were, and what they were doing. He was told.
they were monks of Bangor,, praying for tho.,
success of their (Countrymen. “Then," said the
heatkon.prixce; ‘4 . ..,kOrthspra:chegantht Tght`agiiimtit
Vth
us,, . attae em
So any unperverted mind will conceive of the
scriptural idea of prayer, as that of one of the most
downright, sturdy realities in the universe. Right
in the heart of God's plan of government it is
lodged.as a power. Amidst the conflicts which
are going on in the evolution of that plan it stands
as a, power. Into all the intricacies of Divine
working and the mysteries of Divine decree, it
reaches out silently as a power. In the mind of
God we may be assured, the conception of prayer
is no fiction, whatever man may think of it.
It has, and God has determined that it should
have, a. positive and appreciable influence in di
recting the course of human life. It is, and God
has purposed . that it should be, a link of connec
tion between human mind and Divine mind, by
which through His infinite condescension, we may
actually move Hiswill. It is, and God has decreed
that it should be, a power in the universe, as dis
tinct, as real, as natural, and as uniform, as the
power of gravitation, or of light, or of electricity.
A man may use it, as trustingly and as soberly as
he would use either of these- It is as truly the
dictate of good sense, that a man should expect
to achieve something by praying, as it is that he
should expect to achieve something by a telescope,
or the mariner's compass, or the electric tele
graph.
This intense practicalness characterizes the
scriptural idea of prayer. TA Scriptures make
it a reality, and not a reverie. They never bury
it in the notion of a poetic or philosophic contem
plation of God. They do not merge it in the
mental fiction of prayer by action iii any other or
all other duties of life. They have not, concealed
the fact of prayer beneath the mystery of prayer.
The scriptural utterances on the subject of prayer
admit of no such reduction of tone, and confusion
of sense, as men often put forth in imitating them.
Up, on the • level of inspired thought, prayer is
Powga—a distinct, unique, elemental power in
the spiritual universe, as pervasive, and as constant
as the great occult powers of nature.
Our conviction on this point must be as definite
and is fixed - as our trust in the evidence of
our senses. It must become as natural to us to obey
one as the other. If we suffer our faith to drop
down from the lofty conception of prayer as having
a lodgment in the very counsels of God, by which
the universe is swayed; the plain practicalness of
prayer as the Scriptures teach it, and as prophets
and apostles and: our Lord himself, performed it,
niPs , 4lnWticalatein , maCia.Oatpropert*,zur
motive - to prayer dwindles. Of necessity, then,
our devotions become spiritless. Our Supplica
tions cannot, under the , impulse of such a faith,
go,
as one has expressed it, " is the right line to
to God."
It was once noised through Europe as a won
drous fact, that the monarch of a mighty empire
had laid aside his sceptre, and in the attire of a
simple traveller was journeying from land to land,
investigating the arts and • industry of each ; that
through this lowly quest, he might enlighten and
eleiate his beloved people. Well might the world
wonder at such a kingly condescension.
But how much greater was the love displayed,
when He who was in the bosom of the Father,
stripped himself of the glories of the Godhead, de
scended from his exalted throne, and came down
through the starry worlds to this revolted eartb,
taking upon him the form of man; by such con
descension making
Ah l friends, can we conceive of the humiliation
•of the God incarnate, who dwelt with men, became
the friend , of sinners, and the benefactor of the
world 2
Congregationalist
What riches of love were manifested in that
life of the Son of God, in such a nature, and in
such a world I Look into that work-shop in the
vale of Nazareth, at the well of Sycbar, into that
dwelling place in Bethany, and of the grace and
tenderness which brings the world's Creator
into such relations of obedience, guidance, and af
fection, what can you say more fitly than the
Apostle's words : " Herein is love ?"
But when you think that God sent his Son to
die a willing sacrifice for human guilt, how does
this love expand to an infinite and overflowing
magnitude! The death of Christ for human sin,
by which innocence bleeds for guilt; in which the
beloved Son falls stricken by the 'Father's hand;
in which every bursting sigh, every blood-drop,
and every pang, are -pleas for the redemption of
those who hung Him to the tree; oh ! if we ac
knowledge that , this has been, must we not also
feel that on, this transaction the force and wealth
of an infinite love has been expended,'and God
has offered unto man the very- fulness of his
heart.
1. Is it because I am afraid of ridicule, and of
what others may say of me ?
" Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of
my words, of him shall the Soo of man be
ashamed."
2. Is it because of the inconsistencies of pro
fessing Christians
"Every man shall give an account of himself
to God."
3. Is it because I am not willing to give up all
for Christ?
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul ?
4. Is it because I am afraid that I shall not be
accepted?
• "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out."_
5. Is'it because I fear I am too great a sinner?
"The blood of Jesus Christ eleanseth from all
sin."
6. Is it because I am afraid that I shall not
hold out.' -
He that hath begun a good work in you, will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.'
7. Is it because I am thinking that I will do as
well as I can, and that God ought to be satisfied
with that?
" Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all.'
8. Is it because I am postponing the matter
without any ,definite reason?
"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou know
eat not what a day may bring forth."
9. Is it because I am trying to save myself by
morality, or any other way of my owaY
" There is , none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved."
10. Is it because I do not clearly see the way
to be saved? •
"Repent ye, and believe the Gospel." "God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
PRAYER A POWER
THE MANIFESTATION OF LOVE.
" Our vexed, accursed humanity, as worn by him,
Begin to be a blessed, yea, a sacred thing
For awe and love, and ministering!" •
WHY.AII I NOT A CHRISTIAN?
VOL. V.—NO. 18.—Whole No. 235.
Rev. James Smith
The Still flour.
Rev. Robert R. Booth.
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life (John iii. 16.)
THE WAR OF DEATH
Even the bloody Druses of Lebanon usually
spared the women and female children. The war,
that rushed like a tornado through Italy last year,
prostrating tens of thousands in its terrible sweep,
destroyed but a small part of the people. And
the war that is now surging through the length of
that fair land is overwhelming but one man among
thousands of its inhabitants.—But even here, in
our quiet villages, in, our dear homes, there is ano
ther kind of war, alrogether more
. dittily There
is a cordon drawn around every houM t '.,.ere
is a deadly array, set'before every ma ' Y .
a fatal aim levelled every human /tea *, •
every step of your foot, with ever, 'beat of the
"muffled drum within your breast, you .are ap
proaching that point where you will receive not a
discharge from the war, but a fatal.charge from an
enemy who will pierce you through and through.
The young, the old, the rich, the poor, the sick,
the well, the sober, the reckless, the gay, the
gloomy,all are hastening, in one never-halting pro
cession, with the tramp of manhood's heavy tread,
and the patter of childhood's lightest footsteps, to
the very point of death's fatal ambush, and against
his myriad forms of doom. There is no discharge
in this war. The victims fall thick and fast as
the leaves of the forest when the cloud, full of
thunder, spreads over the earth like night, and the
hail mangles and ruins the beauty of every tree.
You cannot escape. Strength will not save you.
Beauty will not save you. Youth will not save
you. Wisdom will not save you. The hoary head
of honor will not save you. The anguish of fond
pai eats will not save you. Asi•ter . s love, or a more
passionate affection that swells another's heart, will
not save you. All the affection of the most glow
ing human soul will not save you. Nothing of the
kind, nothing at all, can give you a discharge in
this war.
THE PRINCE OF WALES IN AMERICA.
We extract from the North American's late Lon
don letter, the following accountof Lord Palmer
ston's speech in which be nobly recognises the
courtesy shown by our people to the heir of the Bri
tish Crown.
It was a strange circumstance that, about the
time the Himalaya first sighted the Hero, and the
latter was making the coast of England, Lord Pal
merston, an invited guest of the Salters' Company,
at a brilliant banquet, was upon his feet, addressing
the distinguished company assembled upon the
visit of the Prince of Wales to the United States.
"Lt was to be expected," exclaimed his lordship,
frequently interrupted by great and enthusiastic
cheering, "that when the future hope of England
visited the subjects of her Majesty in our North
American provinces, he would be received with
that enthusiastic affection which becomes a loyal
and an attached people. Our anticipations have
not been disapointed. The reception of the Prince
has been worthy of the people who gave it, and
honorable to the family of which be is so distin
guished a member, and we may hope that that
visit will cement wore closely those ties which I
trust atelcin g destined to bind together that p. don
of the Queen's dominions and the mother country.
But we had not an equal right to expect that when
his Royal Highness visited the United states he
would be received with anything more than the
courtesy which civilized nations accord to distin
guished members of the reigning family of an
other country. But I must say it has been most
gratifying to witness the cordiality, the heart
felt kindness, the generous hospitality, and 1 may
say the enthusiastic delight with which that illus
trious Prince was welcomed by our cousins
in the United States. They have shown them
selves, indeed, to be a noble and a generous people.
They have shown that they have not forgotten
the common stock from which they and we have
sprung; and in spite of events which, if not buried
in oblivion, might have produced some slight alien
ation -between us, they received our future sove
reign—and I trust that future day may be long
distant—they received the oldest son of our gracious
sovereign, not as if he were a stranger belonging
to another land, but as if he had been born in their
own country, and had been a citizen of their own
republic. I trust, gentlemen, that the remem
brance of the generous kindness thus exhibited
by the people of the United States will ever be
cherished by the people of these kingdoms. I
believe the memory of the Prince's visit will long
survive in the.breasts of the American nation, and
that their mutual recollection will tend more closely
than ever to knit together tnose two great people.'
The burst of cheering that followed these well
conceived observations of Lord Palmerston, woke
up the echoes of the roof of the noble hall of the
Salters' Company. Nothing could have passed off
more harmoniously from th outset to the close
than the visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada
and the United States, and may all the good anti
cipated from it come to pass.
ABIDETH FOR EVER
A late number of the North. British Review eon
tains the following very truthful statement regard
ing the preservation of the original writings of the
Holy Scriptures.
" It is a matter of congratulation that the Bible
has passed triumphantly through the ordeal of ver
bal criticism. English infidels of the last century
raised a premature pman over the discovery and
publication of so many various readings. They
imagined that the popular mind would be rudely
and thoroughly shaken, that Christianity would
be placed in imminent peril of extinction, and that
the church would be dispirited, and ashamed at the
sight of the tattered shreds of its Magna Charta.
But the result has blasted all their hopes, and the
Oracles of God are found to have been preserved
iu immaculate integrity.
" The storm which shakes the oak only loosens
the earth around its root 3, and its violence enables
the tree to strike its roots deeper in the soil. So
it is that Scripture has gloriously surmounted every
trial. There gather around it a dense 'cloud of
witnesses' from the ruins of Nineveh and the val
leys of the Nile; from the slabs and bas•relicfa
Sennaeherib and the tombs and monuments of Pha
raoh, from the rolls of Chaldee paraphrast and
Syrian versiouists; from the cells and libraries or
monastic scribes, and the dry and dusty labors of
scholars and antiquarians.
"Our present Bibles are undiluted by the lapse
of ages. These Oracles, written amid such strange
diversity of time, place, and condition—among the
sands and cliffs of Arabia, the fields and hills of
Palestine, in the palaces of Babylon, and in the
dangeons of Rome—have come down to us in such
unimpaired fulness and accuracy, that we are placed
as advantageously toward thew as the genera
tion which hung on the lips of J esus, as he recited
a parable on the shores of the Galileau lake, or
those churches which received from Paul or Peter
one of their epistles of warning exposition.
" Yes, the river of life, which issues out from
beneath the throne of God and of the Lamb, may,
as it flows through so many countries, sometimes
bear with it the earthly evidences of its chequered
progress; but the great volume of its waters has
neither been dimmed in its transparency, nor be
reft of its healing virtues."
The Revival in Wales.—Rev. Mr. Venn, of the
English Episcopal Church, estimates the clear in.
crease to the various orthodox religious bodies in the
Principality, during the recent revival, at not less
than 100,000, or about one twentieth of the whole
population, while the defections from profession aro
not greater than in ordinary times.
Rev. Eph. Whitaker.