ToL VII, No. 16.—Whole No. 358.
Use Me.
m m. bonar,
Mark use of me, my sbd ?
Let me be not forgot * -
A broken vessel oastasido—-
One whom thou needest not.
I am thy creature. Lord,
And made by bauds divine;
And I am part, however mean,
Of this great world of thine.
Thou usqst all thy works—
The weakest things that be;
Bach has,a'service of its own;
For-all things wait on thee/
Thon nsest the high Stars,
The tiny drops of dew,
The giant peak and'little hill;
My Gpd, oh, use me tori!
Thou nsest tree and flower,
The rivets vast aM small;
The eagle great, the little r bird
That sings upon the wall.
Thou j»sest the wide sea, ,
. The little hidden lake, ’
The pine upon the Alpine cliff.
The lily nr*the brake :
The huge rook in the vale,
The sapd grain by,the sea,,
The thunder of the rolling clOnid,
The murmur of the bee.
All things do serve thee here—
All creatures, great and small;
Make use of me, of me, my God,
The weakest of them all.
famspnienct.
THE CHURCH IN THE WOODS.
Just at the entrance of a beautiful forest,
near out* house; .there Stands a little old-fash
ioned ehuroh. Beside it; the grand old trees,
keep constant guard, and on the green space
around It, bloom many sweet and .delicate
wild dowers. Far from the. noise and bustle,,
of the world, in the deep, hush of the woods,
a. few Christians-meet here, on alternate
Sabbaths, to listen to. the word of God. The
good Methodist pastor has several churches
upon his circuit, yet he comes on the appoint
ed day, fresh and earnest, to speak 'to the
people. The most attentive and sometimes
the largest part of the congregation is com
posed of soldiers, who come from the Parole
Camp. Upon the last Sabbath, I saw two „
in tears, while the preaoher spoke from the
words, Will a man, rob God ?” Ai we left
the ehuroh, a tall fine-looking young man
addressed himself to the children dd our
company, saying:
“ You remind me of my little sisters' in
Indiana,” , <
“ How long, have you been,ia the service ?”
I inquired.
“ Two yearshe replied, have
been in many Dalitles, and, have, see : n*'at; good
many hardships—of tbe original number of
my company, only nine arb Remaining and I
am one of ll
“ God has beep very kind to in*spab
ing your life and heblth/' remarked one of
the ladies; “ I amglad that you try. to spend!
the Sabbath aright, andl hope you look, to
God for his blessing.”
“ Yes,’ * said the boy, “ I always try to
keep the Sabbath, and do as I ongh^—l
wish and hope, to live till the war is over,
and see my father and mother, and sisters
and brothers tin the west again.’* -
May God bless, all the brave boys* who.
amidst the .manifold temptations of camp and
field, are sincerely trying to do their duty.
May He lead them to rest on, the perfect
atoifoment of our Saviour.
Atintiono,
DR. GUTHRIE Ok PRESBYTERIAN UNION.
Otfb readers will be interested yrith fur
ther aeoounts of the great discussion in'the
Free Church Assembly, on Union. ‘ We give
below a large part of the fervent and cha
racteristic appeal of Rev. Dr. Cuthrie, in
favor df the measure : '
I shall 1 not detain the House longj nor do
I think it: will be necessary to do so. But
before proceeding further, there is another
confession perhaps I should make, and it is
this—that I have always had a. warm,side to
the Seceders.lt is a possible thing that
love may blind nay judgment; fe at f would
rather any day be blinded by love than
hatred. I am thankful: fdr the disposition
—if I possess it—to think tod well of people,
rather than too ill of them; ’ But my regard
for the seceders—-if I may toe allowed to
allude, to a personal matter-*-! would not
refer to it esoept in so far as it hearsiupon
this question, now before us—l say, py re
gard for seceders is not a causeless prejudice,
but is founded upon a better, knowledge of
that body than many in this Souse have.Oneof
my parents, sir, was a seceder, a holy and
sainted mother; and how she would have
rejoiced to ? See this day!, My mother abd
other two members of my family felt them
selves constrained, by the thrusting in of an
unpopular minister into the collegiate charge
of Brechin, to leave the parish church; and
in consequence of the accommodation m the
parish church bging rather deficient, when
we were yotihgwe were alh seceders We
were sent to the secession church, until
I came to was m thc
of sitting in the Burgher church until,
the time when X came to belong Fr^e
Church, and was otherwise engaged, ! gene
rally woirahippnd on thqSabba^^
the Burgher church of Brechin. I donot
thet mother .Wl'l'tat
reverenoe for the Bihte afl the P l ea rp.
of God, ore.l tree yet trety old; Aet 1 ton.
ed to regard the sanctity 0 .' £ g co t c b
that I learned
religion; and
those principles of civil and ?-|JPi^ e th e r
whichhave made mdhate opprdfeion, Whetne
iit appears 1 ih the shape of a Pope; or a pre
late, or a patroa r or an ecclesiastical dema
gogue, Sir, I- have been behind the soenesj
jof the secession body. I have seen them
outside in and inside out; ,1 know, more of
that .body than a very large number of those
here; and I shy, sir,''that 1 the name'(if a Se
nder is dear to me j it sounds in my ear like
music, and has*won* my heart. While saying
this, however, let me remark that l don’t say
they were perfect—l don’t, know anybody
that is perfect but my friend'there (Profes
sor Gibson), who lias nothing to confess at
all. Let ho man'say he Will not change.
jßurghers and anti-Burghers, Lifters and
anti-Lifters, have 1 Changed 1 ' immensely since
the olderi time, with- their aversions* in times
past to paraphrases and hymns, to gowns
and'hands, to a cross On the outside of the
church or,any ornament whatever in the in-,;
side, and there is no denying, that our friends,
were a little harrow. There are more things
however, in the world thaii narrowness, ,
though we are told that .tjie way of life is
harrOW. There are jots and tittles in the
Word of God—-there are pins as well as pil
lars in the tabernacle ; arid while I am not a
man of, points,, but a man -of principles, arid '
points and principles axe as far asunder as
the two poles, nevertheless, I , have lived , long
enough to see that broad things,may be more
s?;Pg er , o h s than narrow, and that a) broad
Church may he more unsafe for a man to be
in than a narrow orie. r
It is said that my friends the seceders were
narrow and gharled, but I 1 say that if they,
were so, they were a 'gnarled oak, sound to
the core, and firinly'fixed in-the ground, and
they possessed the temper, above all others,
out of which meii like to build ships in which
they are to fight battles or ride out the storm.
I know the, old seceders well. Perhaps we
may find that there wasj.not so muoh differ
ence between the old seceders and us now, as
there used to be, and this may not be because
the old seceders. haye come down to us, but
because we hav*e risen up to thefh. I do not
think that they have now 1 any right to the
exclusive honor of having their name made
a reproach because of their piety, but Pre
member the day when it was so. I remem
her the time that when any man would not
swear apd, would not .drink, and who held
family, worship, and would talk to a man
about, his soul, and rebuke a man for his
fault—l say, I remember the time when such
j a man was sheered at as a seceder. Iremem
ber very will being tdld once by Dr. Burns,
of Kilsyth, that he was l once traveling in a :
Stage coach; north of Aberdeen, when'he en
countered, a farmer, who it turned out, was
on the way to see his njinister about baptism.
Dr. Burns seized the opportunity of putting
in a word into the,man’s ear, and speaking
to'him about the importance of the ordinance,
.whereupon the man looked at him astonish
ed, and said, “Ye’ll be a Siribeder man ’ ’ and
when' Dr. Burns repudiated' the connectiorr
and told him that he was mistaken, that, so
far. from, being, a seceder, he; was a minister
of the Established , Church —the man was
more astonished-still, and said. to him, “ If
,yer no a seceder, then ye’ll be frae the,
i South.” He added, “ We dinna trouble our
sels much about these things here; The
fact is, if the lairds are guid to uS,we dinna
fash oursels about the ministers.” I will '
here add another case from my own experi
ence. I was going down once to my own”
'village of Arbirlot, upoii the coach, when,
'between Dundee and that; place, a man came,
up, upon the vehicle, who was pretty drunk.
■He was,not, drunk, fc the, old definition of
the term, for he could both speak, and in a
measure he could walk.. This man had no
sopner got on the.top of the coach than he
began swearing immensely, and while I was
thinking how I should close up the blasphe
mer’s mouth, and whether such an attempt
would not be like casting pearls before swine,
hisineighbor om the. other sidb of the coach'
turned, round to him, and solemnly and affec- *
tionately rebuked him-; whereupon,, with his •
eyes rolling, in his head, and his speech thick :
.in his mouth, and a. fiendish sneer mantling, ~
his cheeks, looked, round to the man whq :
had rebuked him, and said: “ Ye’ll doubtless
be a seceder.” In this case the drunken
man uttered a truth. I, knew that the gen
tleman who had rebuked him was a secession
minister. I tell you, however, and tell my
friends who are sitting in this House to-day,
that the day has gone by for, such remarks
as. this, and the seceders, have no longer the
right tobe reproached in that jway
for godliness., , I hope that thrill make, the
union all the more hearty and easy, for I re
peat the seceders have not come down: to us,
but the Free Chureb people have gone up to
them;' That being the state of matters, I
say I don’t believe-the descendants of those
secedersj know for
feited their title to be considered worthy of
their, ancestry. riqr; ( have I any; such; fears.
It is quite true that we bad with them rather
a keen controversy a.good many years ago,
and I took part in that controversy. They
very gallantly" attacked the Established
Church, and* I along with' others did my best
very gallantly to defend it. The war was
very hot, arid as shell 1 and shot were going,
some- men were lost* and we had wounds, at
least some of ns had, wounds to heal. In re
gard to myself, however, allow me to say,,
sir, that my wounds were healed, long , ago.
The fact isj ]C have, a. good constitution, and
in mv case wounds, do not run into running
sorbs*. My wounds, I say, are not only all
healed, bijt skmned over. We defended Es
tablishments as long as we thought them
worth defending; and'in doing so we did
what ? We did our- duty, sir. It is a very
curious thmgHhat.all those, with hardly any
exception, who defended Establishments in
1848, left them, and left, them never to re
turn, and left them never thinking of return
ing. And we have cause to bless God with
all our hearts for his kindness to us since that
.day. Well, T say that'the whole question of
Church endowment so far it is a practical
question, is dead and.’gone;, and I say you
must not get up that old ghost to frighten
me with. You may aS well: insist upon a
community of sentiment in regard to many
questions. If you are going to stirt all man
ner of theoretical questions like these, you
will riot only prevent union between these two
Churches, but you will prevent union between
men and women in this world. I heard them
in Geneva talk a great deal about indi
viduality. I do not altogether understand
■ what (they meant by that, but I say, if you
go ori in this way, you will reduce, the whole
M. B. M.
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1863:
CbHrefies' of Cfiristendota' to mdividuaiity,
and Bring us all into the condition of tfic
most worthy, pious, able, and, ns he thought,
logicaXmafo; Dr. Stewart. This worthy man
was in the positiomof havingeno living souk
to worship,with him, except his hoUSekeeper;
and when, his housekeeper died he, was left,
alone.
, But supposing I had to, face the, question
as W whether .Government would wish us
again to go bank and form the. Established
Church—l say it is a, most imlikelysuppo
sition—but supposing, I Say, that the State
were to come to our door here,* with their
representative, and should say to us as the
Free Church;!“Gomeback on your own conrj
ditions ; we will, grant you all that you "ask.”
I for one would beverymuch inclined to an
swer them.according to, the Scotch fashion,
asking another question, and it would, he
this : “ When did. the State ever do anything
of the kind'?” I believe the State Will do
that when his Holiness the Pope will destroy
the medal that commemorates the massacre
of St. Bartholomew. Ifj'hdwevei-; any man
would push me into such a corner, and say,
“ I insist upon a direct answer to my ques
tion,” I am,gr<qjared to give an answer, to; it
in this way,: “If the State,offers us everything
that we demanded in 1848, —if she offers us
spiritual independence, the abolition of pa
tronage, protection from the Court of Session
-if;- in fact,* she‘offers us everything we
want,’/on the understanding that we take it
and restore the union between the Church
and State, and, the question! were, then put
to. uSj “ Wilhyou unite with the Seceders or
with State ?” .1 would; prefer tbpsece
dcrs, X would say I would not take it. And
I. will tell you the reason. I would not re
fuse to take it so much on account of any
theoretical idea I Way have—although I
have no hesitation in saying that I now- as*
minister of Free St. John’s, see the connec
tion, between Church and State from a dif
ferent stand-point than I saw it when I was
minister of Old St., John’s; but;l would not
take it for this, reason, that the States of this
world are hot in the condition to entertain
that question. Bring them, you say ? Well
I think itpjrill be time enough to consider the
questions*#heh they come up to that point;
but I repeat, they are not in that - position
which would warrant the union of Church
and State; hut rather in the condition which’
makes Paul foi bid the banns, and: say, “Be
not unequally yoked’together;with,unbeliev
ers.” " , ,
Moreover, I turn up the page of history,
and I find that the State has never kept
faith with the Church in any age. Age after
age, and by act after act, and in spite of the *
most solemn obligations, they have tried to •
restrain the liberties of the Church of Christ.
I can now walk on my own feet, and when
the State comes and offers me a pair of
crutches, I say to her, keep them to yourself.
For the-moment 1 take the crutches, become
accustomed 1 to them, and lose the power of :
my own limbs, she comes to me, knocks the
crutches from beneath me, and I fall a slave
at her feet. I therefore say I decline such
a proposition. But then Why should we hear
anything about it ? Our friends, the. United
Presbyterians say, “We, are quite willing to
make this an open question.” Why, did we
not make the descending obligations of the
Covenant ah open question with the Old
Lights ? We left the Old Lights to hold •
their opinion, and the Old Lights left some ’
of us who did hot believe about the descend- j
ing, obligations ofi the; Covenant. That is the i
very thing which our United Presbyterian
friends propose to do., One would suppose,
frpm the speeches that have been delivered,
that they have been asking us to give up,
our principles and our Confession of Faith, !
and that we wdiild see no more of them, but ■
that they would be “ dolin' the wiater,” as the ‘
old woman said about the minister’s papers. -
And I venture to say; from! whatl know* of
seceders, that there are no men in all Scot
land or Great Britain, who will stand more
firmly to the .great principles of the Confes
sion. ~, . .... . ~ ’. . . ,
An appeal has been made to the Susten
tation Fund fears. lam sorry for that, and
I will' tell you how. There; were appeals
made t ! o our ministers about their livings
before the Disruption, and, : to' the honor of
our ministers; they! said, The livings ! mo
ney is not the-question here ; it is-tke prineir
pie: ,it is a Divine principle; it is a matter
of Christian duty.” Now, that is the ques
tion here, K and with one Confession, one Cat
echism, and one mode of worship, and, one
mode of discipline, andoiie form of'govern
ment, and one attachment 'to' the principles of
the Disruption', and one opinion as to the spi
ritual independence of ■■ the Church arid the
liberties of ~ Christ’s people, I for myself—l
give, fuller edit to others—hut I-could not but
support this union—with tkese.mews 1 could,
not oppose it, unless through "pride, or passion,
or prejudice. Now, I don’t say lam above
the influence of such feelings—we are all
liable to err—and others ihay be undfer the
influence of them also ; but I just hope and
trust that this House, by the decision to
which it will-come, will show that she can
rise-above fears: connected with ,the: Disrup
tion. Wo did a magnanimous act that day;
and I have no hesitation in saying, that if,
, in,seeking to unite with another Church, we
shall rise above passion, and prejudice, and
pride, we shall again crown ourselves with as
rich and noble honors as on the day when,
rising above the fear of oiir families, parting
with our livings, parting with* our; homes,
parting with all our cherished affections; we
made ail that sacrifice, not for the sake of
unity, but for the sake of separation., That
day saw faith and hope most illustriously
exemplified by an act that brought to, men’s
minds the olden times, when o ( ur forefathers
went down the Bow;, and sang their last
Psalnl in the Grass-marke.t, and laid* 'down
their life for Christ’s Crown and Covenant.
And, Moderator, if, taking all precautions—
if,, doing: the. thingfslowly,j and well, and,
wisely—we shall comb; to unite/ with our.
friends ,of the United Pr e shy teri an Chur.ch
as one brotherhood, one Church, one in
Christ,, and one before the wond, we shall
I illustrate a, yet nobler grace than faith and
hope—we shall illustrate the grace bf love;
and wlien met in this House,' perhaps that'
united Assembly shall* raise the' Psalm with
which we began-to-day— i n '
11 “ Behold how good a thing it is, • -
; And how becoming well,
■ Together, such as brethren are,
Ei unity to dwell.” ' ' ’
I can fancy Paul bendiiig from ,KsthrOneih
heaven to listen to music'liketlfe music of
the spheres, and recalling to his own recol-
Section that blessed sentence; “ How abideth'
(faith, hope, and charity but the greatest of
these is charity.”
AUGUSTINE’S DIPENCE OF CHRISTIAN
■ I-JJ; '
( - WnEN Rome was being taken by the Goths,
the disaster was imputed to* the apostacy
from the ancient*, faith, ,;i. e.,, heathenism.,
“Has,the Eternal City really fallen.! ”’ was.
the. universal exclamation, throughout the
.'empire, when it became known that Alarie
had. taken Rome. ,¥alre were not wanting
maiiy of the atisteemre' families and' phillj
soph'er3 who imputed the disaster to the pub
lic apostacy, and in their shame and suffer
ing loudly proclaimed thejnation? was :
justly punished for itsiabahdohment of the
gods of its forefathers* the gods who, had
given victory and empire. It became. he«?e,s r
sary for the Church to. nieet this accusation,
which, while it was openly, urged by thou
sands, was dohbtless believed to be true by
the silent, and timid, and panic-stricken mil
lions. With the intentipinof defenejpg Chris
tianity, St. Augustine, jpne of the ablest of,
the fathers, solemnly devoted .thirteen, years,
of his life to the composition of his great,
wprk, entitled .“ ThejOity, of God.” , Ht ie
interesting for us tb rbniafk .the ’tone of some',
of thesb; replies 'of the Christian to' th ! eif'
pagan adversaries. 1 ! ‘
Augnstine says r the manifest dele--
rioration of Roman! 1 manners, and for the
impending.dissolufcion. of the State, paganism
itself is responsible. (; Our political power *is
only of yesterday; it 'jg in no manner, (3on r ,
. corned with the gradual development of lux-,
ury, and wickedness which has been going
for the last thousand; years. Your ancestors
made war a trade; they laid' under tribute
and enslaved the adjacefit nations ; but were
not profusion, 1 extravagance; dissipation,'the
necessary consequencWof conquest ? Was
not Roman idleness the inevitable result of
filling Italyfwith slayeg l, * *. We did
not suggest to Oaracalia rto admit,all, sorts
of people to Roman citizenship, nor dislocate
the population by a wild, pursuit of civil
.offices I 'or the discharge of military, duties.
We did not crowd Italy with'slaves. * *
We are not respoMible fof the inevitable .in
surrections* poisonings, assassinations, ven
geance. We did not demoralize the popu
lace by providing tHeih food; games, races,
theatres; we have been-persecuted because
we would not set our feet in a theatre. We
did, not ruin; the Senate'and aristocracy by
sacrificing .everything, even ourselves, for
the Julian family. * * The fall of the
Senate . anteeeded, by afew years, the origin
of Christianity; you will not surelysay that,
we jrerc the inciters of the usurpations of the
•Caesars ? What have we'to do with the army,
that engine of violence, which In ninety-two
years gave-.you thirty-two emperors and 7
twpnty-scven pretenders to the' throne ? We
did not suggest to the Praetorian Guards to
put up the. empire at’auction. ;; ' i
“ Caif* *you -really wonder that .all this
should come to. an end ? We do not wonder;
on the contrary Ae thank God for it The,
sighing of the prisoner, the prayer ,of the
captive are heard at last. Yet the judgment
'has been tempered with mercy. Had the
pagan Radogast taken ’ Rome, not' a life
!Would have been spared. - The ' Christian
,Alarie, though* a Goth, respects his Christian
brethren.and for their sakes you are sayed.
,As to the .gods, those,demons, in 'whom,you
trust, did they always ;saye. f y,ou from calam
ity ? How long did Hannibal, insult them ?
'Was it a goose or agod that saved the capi
tal from Brennus ?'
“In the place 1 of this earthly city, this'
vaunted* mistress of the world; whose fall
closes a long career off superstition and sin,-*
there shall arise the ‘City of God.’ The pm-;
rifying fire of the Barbarians shall remove
her. heathenish defilements, and. make her fit
for the kingdijm ojfGhiist,, i
Of those who,'in such sentiments defon-,
ded the cause of the new religiqiij'.Si. Aiigus
'tine *was the chief. In' his ’ great f wqrk,‘ ‘The
Ci ty of God; ’* which may be regarded* as the
ablest specimetfofthe ea(rly'Christian liform'
,ture, ! he piirsnes‘his thenie; : if not ih ! the lan
guage, at least: in the spirit here presented,
and through »(copions detail of many books;
— Dr. Draper. ■ ; >
THE 10YE OF CHRIST.
“ 0 the love of Christ that passethknow
ledge !” Where shall I begin my thoughts
on this; subject ?. and when begun, how shall
I make an end;?: Thjj love, Lord, is, ancient;,
thou loyedst us. first, and that when tipere,
was no eyq/ tp, pity; thou tookest not on
thee “ the nature of angels, but the seed of
Abraham ;” they afeLound with chains, of
darkness whilst'thou art drawing' iis with
cords of love. Yea, thou lovedst us when
enemies. To have spared our lives had been
unexpected,. undeserved 1 mercy ;■ for “ who
finds his enemy and lets him go well away?”
But, Lord,,thou hast found.me. in mine en
mity, and hast pitied me.;, yea, when my.
hand, was lifted up against thee, thine arms
have been open to embrace.me.. Nay, thou,
hast opened thy very heart to lodge thy pro- L
fessed energies who have trodden thee under
foot. Thy heart burned with 1 affection to
ward them that cruelly pierced it. ; “ Here- 1
in Christ hath commended his * love to us,
that while We were sinners Christ died for
us.” 0. astonishing love ! that the general
should die for. the soldier, the, physician for
the patient, the master fpr the servant, the
shepherd ,%r the sheep, the innocent for the
guilty, the just for the unjust, the prince for
the rebel, the Lord of glory for the children
of disobedience ! He that Was without‘all
.sin, for him' that Was without all righteous
ness ; yea, theCreator' for?: ‘the * creature,
~Grod for many Whe* righteous Judge, to ' put:
himself in , the malefactor’s clothes * and
‘room„and suffer death,,for him! For the
blessed. Son of God to jnterppse, .his,; own
innocent breast to receive* those mortal
wounds due "to ,U 8 ! Behold God all, suffi
cient exposed td’ huhger and’ihirst, 1 grief and
weariness, reproach“ iS and* indignities of all
sorts! Behold, the world’s Saviour -wounded,;
mangled, and kiUed' by ungrateful man
whom he came to save ! Glorious Saviour,
what love was this, that thou- shouldst be
come “a' man of ' sorrows * and, acquainted
with grief ;” il thaf from the Wdjnb tb the'
■ tomb, from the cradle to the cross, thy Whole
life should; be a. continued martyrdom! That -
thou shouldst be content to; be: born among,
beasts, live, among murderers, and die
(thieves; and all to obtain aplace among the
blessed for us.!. 1 0 the unfathomable joye of
Jesus ! His name is love, his nature isiTove,
his words were lovh, and his : actions w6re
WilMsori'g Sacramental Directory.
THE LATITUDINARIAN TENDENCY OP
, MODERN JOURNALISM. ,
.; JouHNALlSM'in.all its form 3, from its light
est leaves appearing in the, morning. of each
day, to those; more serious collections, wjfich
count their dates, byweeks, pr mo.nthsT—jour Ti
nalism .occupies a constantly-increasing sgace
in the clbmsiiii of pubfie atterffibn. There are
'shine joutHals devoted* to the defense of fixed;
principles, but their readersare comparative
ly few in number. To which,'then, belongs 7
the widest circulation ?- ITo those periodicals
which, perhaps,, if, not to political,
principles, at least to the interests, and pas
sions of pne.elass of society, yet present, in ,
other respects, : the most, complete mixture of
opinions the most cqntradictpry. As to, their,
morality, an article of a pure tendency may
stand side;by I 'side with a most pernicious
novel; ■ " ■ 7 * : 1 : .■ 1
A mother 1 will forbid such reading to her
daughter. As-do. religion,wan apology for
Catholicism,’a. defense of Protestant: princi
ples; a eulogy on Deism * may befound'und er : :
the same. cover which equally shelters the
theses of atheism and,, the doptrines .of nihil
ism. , Literary criticism is distinguished by,
a dispbMtihh'to .compriso all, in ,order to jus
tify all;bYthis refinement, of tolerance which '
tolerates 'everything, evil‘as well’as good.
Doubtless; ih these facts we 'see primarily a
manifestation of the general state of public
opinion; for journalists.see.kfor readers, and
study the taste ,;of their subscribers. But
thi.s manifestation itself becomes a. cause.
These’journals and reviews are" read; but
how are they read? " Is it in : a serious add
active frame; judging-gravely of the thoughts
which pass heforei the eye of the mind ? Do
we enter, into these Bazaars Of.'the. intellect
with the fir.m ,purpose to prove. all things, and
hold fast only that which is good? Such,;
indeed’, is the disposition of some,, at lpast,
at certain times. B,ut, in general,, periodicals,
are not 1 reckoned among oixr serious studies,
but are read 'as a pleasant recreation. We
open the newspaper‘ at the breakfast-table,
we cast our eyes over it hastily before going
out, to,the business or amusement of the day. >
The review, is, .taken up at (our leisure mo
ments, is opened, thrown aside and opened; i
again, without any efforts of thought or
steady exereike of judgment.’ This'is all .
very well as* regards the passing politics of
the, .day, the ,local news;! :or the harmless
effusions of the imagination. Rut moral and }
relisiwo occupy a : .da,ily : increasing ,
aplace in these fugitive publications; On-the.,.,
great subjects of. God Himself, of the soul,
and of its destiny, we find, in the same '
journal, the most contradictory opinions
under the deceptive unity of the same sheet
or of the same cover;' When I close* the
volumes, of, Pascal: or’Bossuet to open those
of. Ypltaire, I am well aware that lam pass-"
ing from one region of, the intellectual ;world
into, a region wholly different. , If I read the '
newspaper, of one party after the newspaper
of the. party opposed to it, I am not ignorant.,
that I have listened to the advocates of op- •
posite 1 principles. But in the present state
of the' periodical press, ideas the most con- ;
tradictory'pass'before the ininds of carejess
readers, who find nothing to* arouse them
'from ; this. carelessness, and who are not Warn
ed by any exterior, circumstances, that they
are. passing from the writings* of, a. Christian,
to those of a deist, or from the.writings of a
deist to those of an atheist. . <’The. result of
assured, is a ( great unsettling of all
belief. Eornted in a school like' this, the
youhg co'ntrAcfr the habit of hearing'with in
difference' the holiest trutlis affirihed 1 and de
nied by turns. Before they have any fixed.
Opinions,: .they learn tin listen! to those who! (
tell, them [that firm belief is a, mark of (ignor-;
'anee anfifolly, and that the proof of superir
ority of mind And .elevation of thought is to
wander freely, in the world of intellect with-,
out ever fieing steady to anything.. This is
one of the serious ; dangers of our time, and '
points out to Us a great diity. I propose to
you, gentlemen, a work : which I know to he
difficult,;; b,ut when was it 'ever easy, to aci
complish anything great ? ,We must labor, to
annihilate this corrupt,and mercenary press,
which seeks success alone, careless of the
true interest of souls, and which has' directly
Inherited the ' sophisms' of ancient Athens;
Jt is necessary that a stable opiriion should
be formed and prominently brought forward,
so as carry with it the Wnters’Who occupy 1
the place of organs and directors of public
thought. Without,any proper calhor, authori
ty the door must no; longer be; carelessly
opened to articles which one day glorify. God
and the next day deny, . Him,, , which one
morning praise the holiness of, Christian
.morality and' the following morning "labor to
sap it iff its ihostsaered precepts. In ancient
times; the' Greek' Carneades secured the
applause of the Roman youth by pronoun
cing an eloquent speehh in praise' of justice,
and afterward demonstrating with similar
eloquence that j ustice is nothing. Cato the
Elder, demanded that this - dangerous,man
should be immediately expelled, fromthe city.
Many of our journals are like Carneades,but
the Catos among their subscribers are few.’
T-Prof. Navttle of Geneva.
Stated Bible Reading. —l had for many
years made it a.pratiee to read through the
Bible once a year.. . My custoinis to read
four or five, , chapters, eyery morniqg . imme
diately after rising from my bed. It em
ploys about an hour of my time, and seems to
me the most, suitable 1 manner of beginning
the day. In what ’light soever we regard
the Bible'Whether with reference to revela
tion, to history, or to morality, it is an invalu
able and inexhaustibleimine of knowledge and
virtue —John Quincy Adams.
Passing Away. There is a world of
beautiful meaning in, the following, rather
liberal translation from Freville:
‘ ‘ As the clock strikes the hour, how often we say.
Time fliek; when ’tis 'vie that are passiiig avfciy. '
THE MOST WONDERFUL BOOK.|
The most wonderful volume in existence*.
i% beyond a doubt, the Bible. It is wonder
ful .fof its high; pretensions, for its almost in
credible claims to, divine origin, foir its ex
ceeding antiquity. It is wonderful in its re
velation of the being of God, and its decla
rations concerning the attributes of this al
mighty Spirit. It is wonderful fdr its pro
fessed revelation of the creation of the uni
verse, the formation of a man, the origin of
evil,man’s fall from innocence, and his
restoration, to,happiness. - It is wonderful for
its daring, chronology, its positive., history,
ijts prophetic declarations., It is, wonderful
on account of its sublime philosophy, its ex- ,
quisite ‘poetry, its magnificent figures, its
overwhelming r language of description. It is
diverse ln p their attainiiients, 1 ctfuritries, lan
guages; and educatibh: 1 f "lt‘ is wohdbrfiil foir
its boldness- in the use of illustrations, meta
phors, figures drawn from every department
of human knowledge, from, natural history,
from meteorology,: from optics, from astro
nomy. It is wonderful for the superior eon
eeptihns ofpts writers of the grandeur and
magnificence of the; physical universe. It is
wonderful it has exposed itself to attack
and- destruction at ;every, point of time, ij»y
eyer,y ;! discpyery' of man,, by the revelations
of geology, chronology, history,, ancient.re
maiiis ’ disemboweled, from the : earth, by as
tronomy, by‘the diWoVeriekof natural histbry,
and above all, by the " non-fulfilment of its ’
historical predictions. Andit is most of all
wonderful, that up to-the present time, in the
opinion of hundreds of thousands of the, judi
cious,-reflecting, and reasoning among earth’s, >
inhabitants,, during .three thousand; years
since its .first book was -written, it has, .main
tained ijts ,high authority, and Has retained
m ail this vast lapse of time a powerful sway
over the human mind.
If has not n escaped‘oveithrow for lack of
enemies; It has been-assailed at every point
—its history, its theology, its chronology its
cosmogony, its astronomy, its geology, - all
these in their turn .have been .attacked :by
the cultivators of science, and by the onward
movement and development of each succeed
ing age: .All .else dies, while the Bible sur
vives: Evefi the nation from whence it
sprang, -the languages ifi which it was com
posed, the countries of its' birth, - scarcely
exist but ; in its marvellous pages. If indeed
it-be thel word of the ever-living God, then
indeed the mystery,, is revealed; but if this
high ; claim; cannot be maintained, he who
disb.elieves-must frame a theory by which the
present facts may be reasonably explained.
—-Prof . 0. M. Mitchell-
PIOUS MEN THE NATION’S HOPE.
) .Such is.the. .title, of an able and timely
sermon from thcpen’of Dr. G. B- He of the
•First Baptist Church, Springfield, Massachu
setts. had; the effect of
leading .Christian men to examine,more nar T
rowly than ever before into the character of
our Constitution and and to test
them by the supreme stattflard—God’s law.
And the examination hab l not lproved satis
factory, i - The eyes of-many havc : Wen open
ed to the, moral defects of both. DKJde, at
the beginning. of his scrmon, makes tfiesfol
lowing wholesome remarks in regard to the.
■prevalent disposition of human governments'
•to ignore the law and authority of God. Though
:therb is not that distinct recognition of the
kingship of Jesus which'We would like, yet
ithe truth is partially reached.
“In nothing, perhaps, is the spirit of prac
tical infidelity more manifest, than; in the
views which are generally entertained re
specting the connection of God. with human
governments. By many the very idea of
any such connection, involving as it does the
fact of His imsSediate, control over them, and
consequently of their public and absolute ac
countability to Him, 1 is derided as the off
spring of'fanaticism or of felfy. 'Multitudes;
who acknowledge the existence of a great
First Cause —the Maker and Upholder of
the universe—virtually repudiate the truth
that. Hc superintends the affairs of nations,
setting up. one and putting down another,
and dispensing to all their appointed desti
nies.’ Eveja those who adrift the personal
responsibility under which He has placed
them,'and fecognize’Hisdiw aSthe rule by
which they are now "to live, and by which
theyare hereafter to be judged,sehm,in numer
ous instances, to forget that He exercises the
same; sovereign -authority over man in his
Polleptiye capacity, as in his individual dbn
ditipn, snd eharacteij. ; ;
“ If we would know, the extent to which this
denial of God as the Supreme, Euler actual
ly prevails, we have but to cast oiir eyes over
Christendom, to' perceive everywhere the,
proofs of its 'mournful and guilty predomi J
nance. On the lands so denominated has'
shone the light of-a dispensation that-is full
of God, and which sets Him forth as the
omniscient.. Inspector and, Judge; of human
conduct. lu' the hands of their .population
is found thaf inspired Volume, in which the
Almighty has declared His will, and asser
ted His sovereignty; and by many of them
Christianity, in a form more or less Corrupt,
is vauntingly proclaimed as the religion of
the State. But where shall we look for the
evidence that* its power is felt and its pre
cepts obeyed ? Where is.: the government
that is either founded and administered on
principles strictly Christian? Of what na
tion can we pronounce, that in its structure,
its institutions, its legislation, its internal
polity, its foreign relations, in a word, its
whole - official character, it God as
its Author and Defender, and bows with holy
fear to His supremacy ? There is hot, pro-;
perly speaking, a Christian government on
earth. Whatever; the profession they, make;
: or the name they, bear, they are all deeply
pervaded by an,impious disregard of the Di
vine authority and , superintendence. The
whole world has revolted from its . rightful
King; and nations, no less than‘individuals,
have conspired to * break His bands asun
der, arid cast His cords from them.’
• “Abd yet Revelation most clearly teaches
that? Jehovah is the absolute Disposer of na
tional welfare, and the-immediate Arbiter of
national conduct; ‘ The Most High ruleth:
in the kingdoms of men.’ ‘He is Gover
nor among, the nations.’ ‘He doeth ac
cordjng.to His will in the army, of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of. the earth, and
J none cah stay His hand,' or say -unto Him,
UESESEK BVAIGELIST.-—WhoJs: 10. 895.
Wh.a.t doest Thou?’ His supervision ex
tends to the whole human family, alike in
its separate members, and in its aggregate
bodies. ‘He hath determined their times,
and the bounds of their habitation.’ What
ever of civil freedom, of social advantage, of
public seciirity and happiness they enjoy, is;
all bestowed and by Him. And
when disaster and; ruin overtake them, it is
hand' ,thent for their sins, and
vindicating His insulted majesty. “ When
He .giveth quietness, who; then can make
trouble? And (when He judeth His face,
who then caft behold Him, whether it be
dime against a nation, or a man only?”
Answer of the English Clergymen to the
AMress of the French Protestant
Pear Brethren :—We, whose names are
share in' your views, we rejoice l
in your zeal, and we are thankful for your
exhortations. It is honorable to France, and
to -French Protestantism, that you so heartily
wish the destruction of the slave system,
which makes four millions.of negroes wretch
ed, debases their masters, has been a vast
calamity to a great" Protestant. nation, and
dishonors Christ; by whose professed ser
vants it 1 is upheld.
Like yourselves, we feel a deep compas
sion for the slaves, who are a part of the
human family, we wish by all means in our
[lower to discourage those who are seeking
to.foupd an empire on their degradation;
and we wish success to all just and humane
measures for their deliverance.
With these .Sentiments,, we beg to assure
you, that, following where you have so nobly
taken the lead, we shall do what we can to
accomplish those benevolent objects to which
you invite our-attention.
Accept, our fraternal wishes that you may
enjoy, the favor and blessing of God, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. .
Baptist W. Noel, London. .
Thomas Guthrie, D.D., Edinburgh.
Newman Hall, LL.B., London.
-J. Burns, D.D., London.
J. J. Taylor, 8.A., London.
J. Bayley, M.A., Ph. Dr., London.
'J. W. Massie, 8.D., LL.D., London.
J. H. Bylance, A.K.C., London.
; Wni. Arthur, London:
J. ou'rwir!, l j laistow, London.
W-Dorling, London.
S S. Percy, Guildford.
‘3. C. Street, Manchester.
Good wynßarmhy, WestgateParsonage, W akefield.
,M. Bowie, D.D., : Kinghorn Manse.
Marmaduke Miller, Darlington.
Thomas Raffles, D.B;, LL.D-, Liverpool.
Alexander Thomas, M.A., Manchester.
C. M. Birreil, Liverpool.
/S. D. D .D.,, London. \
Robert B. Drummond, 8.A., Edinburgh.
H. Gale, 8.C.L., Near Taunton.
W,; Walters,; Newcastle: .. .4
T. Pulsford,-Exeter.
And nearly four thousand MORE.
BRACE WITHOUT SENSIBLE COMFORT.
Many are apt to think nothing is a feast
unless they get smiles from God, joy, peace
and sensible manifestations of his love; hut
.there may be great bounty shown to us with
out these ; particularly if you have got any
more sense of-sin’s evil, or concern for the
-hardness of y our hearts ; if you have got any
'higher, os,teem, of Christ, and of the coatri-
Vanceof salvation through his mediation;
if you any, more hanger and thirst after
Christ, ana more love to holiness and the
ways of Christ, ‘ any more desire after his
presence m'duties and ordinances, anymore
sense of your heed of the fountain of his
blood; then all these are gracious tokens of
his bounty to,your soul, ; for which you have
cause to bless and magnify the Lord; . We
may enjoy the saving influences of the Spi
rit, when we do not feel his more abundant
consolations. God may graciously accept
of us,, though he d'o not testify it by' giving
us extraordinary joys. The' truest commu
nion with God is to enjby communion with
him in his graces, whereby our souls are
.made conformable unto God, and are stamp
ed with his image. Well, if you have got
any, more grace, be thankful to God, though
you have got no more comfort. Though you ;
do-not enjoy much of God in the ordinances
here, yet be thankful if you get your desires
mordenlarged after the full'enjoyment of
God above. The kindness of God must not
be overlooked, nor the day of small things
despised; but the least crumb of grace is to
be noticed and received with thankfulness;
and this is the way to get more.— Willisons
Sacramental Directory. •
THE HIGHER EXPERIENCE.
A person may. he lifted up into such a
sympathy with God, and elevated into such
a moral state, that he shall know how to
clasp'an evil, and wear it. So it was with the.
apostle. God, sent him a tljorn in the flesh,
where it and gave him extreme
pain; Thrice he besought God to remove it;
but God’s reply to him was, “My grace is
sufficient for * thee; ” He asked that the
thorn might be taken away, and his prayer
was answered; but it was, answered by a
better method than removing the evil—by
making him willing and able to bear it. Bor
I tell you that trouble which we can hear
joyfully, is better treated'than trouble that is
taken away. There ;is under it more manhood,
more strength, more conscious power of being.
And so God . hears the prayers of those that
importune Him,, and then lifts them up into
such sympathy with Himself, and such near
ness to eternal things, that in , a high state
of mind they learn to bear troubles which in
a lower state would crush them.
The unrestricted development of all our
faculties the inferior as well as the more ele
vated, is the highest.attainment, yet he who
finds by experience' that he'cannot cultivate'
certain faculties^—the artistic for example—
without injury to his holiest feelings, ‘must
renounce their : cultivation, and first of all
preserve, by painstaking fidelity, the central
principle of his soul, the life imparted by
Christ, which, in the manifold distraction of
his powers, can so easily be lost.—Olshau
sen. '
Rity and patience are the two keys which
uhlObk fhe'human heart. '