eartsprinl)EUrt.
LETTERS FROM THE HOLY LAND. VII.
BY REV. EDWARD P. HAMMOND
We left Shechem early on the morning of
November 30th, and about three in the afternoon
our eyes rested . on SHIL6II. Its position is so mi
nutely described in Judges, xxi: 19, that there
was no doubt as to its locality :—" on the north
side of Beth-el, on the east of the highway that
goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the
south of Lebonah."
There, in that central position, the children of
Israel first permanently established the taberna
cle of the Lord. At its door, Joshua divided the
land by lot. There it was, that Hannah's pleading
prayer was answered, and thither it was that she
brought Samuel, in accordance with her vow
"unto the house of the Lord• in Shiloh" saying,
"I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he
liveth he shall be lent to the Lord." (1 Samuel,
i : 28.) There the little boy, "the child Samuel
grew before the Lord." (1 Samuel, ii : 21.)
there "he ministered before the Lord, being a
child, girded with a linen ephod" From Ita
mah his devoted mother came, over the same road
we were to travel that afternoon, to bring "a little
coat" " from year to year when she came up with
her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice." It
was in the temple upon that hill now before us,
covered with ruins, that Samuel was called three
times by the Lord; though Eli, with all his
piety, knew it not until the Lord had called the
child " the third time."
Oh, how often are Christians in our day igno
rant of the drawings of God's Spirit upon the
hearts of their children ! Often do little chil
dren hear the Saviour calling to them, but, for the
want of some guiding hand, are left for years to
wander in darkness, and perchance to stray into
f'orbidden paths of sin, and sorrow.
Somewhere on that hill-side before us sat Eli,
an old man—"ninety and eight years old," when
he heard that the ark of God was taken, and his
two sons slain by the Philistines, so "that he fell
from off the seat backward by the side of the
gate, and his neck brake, and he died." From
that hour "lehabod" was written upon Shiloh.
Yes, then " the, glory departed from Israel."
The ark never returned hither. From that time
the name was suggestive of God's hatred of
the form of godliness without the power.
To'it,.as a warning, Jeremiah. pointed, as he
stood "in the gate of the Lord's house" at Jeru
salem saying,." Go ye now unto ,my place, which
was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first,
and see what I did to. it fpr the ; wickedness of
my people Israel." Jer. vii : 12. And again he
uttered the solemn prediction,—" If ye will not
hearken unto me, then will I make this house
like Shiloh." What a sad sight it is in our day,
to see churches, and cities, which seem to have
been almost cast away from God's presence. They
have not seemed to know the importance of the
cry "Take not thy Holy Spirit from us." God
grant that the sad history of the once favored
Shiloh . may be a warning to such churches.
May they hear the admonition given to the church
of Ephesus, " I have somewhat against thee, be
cause thou hast left thy first love. Remember
therefore from whence . thou art fallen, and re
pent and do the first works, or else I will come
unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
from out of his place, except thou repent."
Just after turning our back on Shiloh we met
a party of Turkish soldiers, with long guns, com
ing towards us at an unusually rapid pace. As
they neared us one of their horses fell, and most
ungraciously down . came his rider. It was our
greatest wonder that all their horses, yes and
ours too, did not fall often, as they passed over
that rough road. When the fields by the Way
side are cultivated, the stones are very common
ly thrown into the highway; thus the poor
horses are often obliged to pick their way, as best
they can. But these Arabian and Syrian steeds
seldom make a misstep. My wife and I became
very much attached to our fine horses, and
learned at all times to trust them.
It was a long ride that day from Shechem to
Bethel. We were in our saddles from a little
after sun-rise till it was quite dark. Yes, it
really was dark when we reached our encamp
ment. We wondered if Jacob was more fa
tigued, when he selected some smooth spot, with
a stone for his pillow, and laid himself down on
that hill-top. After dinner we turned to the
twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis and read :
"And Jacob went out from Beer-sbeba„ and went
toward Reran. And he lightbd upon a certain place,
and tarried there all night, because the sun was
set; and he took of the stones of that place, and
put them for his pillow', and lay down in that
place to sleep." Surely, we thought, he had not
far to go to find stones enough for his pillow. It
must have been a more difficult task to find a
place free enough from stones where he might
stretch his 'weary limbs for a night's repose. No
wonder that he did not sleep very soundly. But
though his was a hard pillow, yet he was blessed
with heavenly dreams. "And he dreamed and,
behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the
top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the
.angels of God ascending and descending on it,
.and, behold the Lord stood above it and said : I
m with thee.' " It is not surprising that when Ja
cob awakened put of his sleep, he said : " Surely
1867.
THURSDAY MAY 2,
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the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. This
is none other but the house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven." Well might he call " the,
name of that place Bethel—the house of God."
That night we slept soundly in our tents, but
we could not' remember of any heavenly visions
granted to us. We were up early to get time
for a look at the stones of Bethel. I say stones,
for there is not much else to be seen. We could
not find any remains of the temple which Jero
boam built after an Egyptian model, that it might
rival the one of Jerusalem. But in the thir
teenth chapter of 1 Kings we read of how
this wicked king, " who made Israel to sin," found
his hand suddenly " dried up so that he could
not pull it in again to him," after he had sought
to lay hold on the man of God, who "cried against
the altar in Bethel." This idolatrous worship of
the "golden calf" gave to Bethel the name of
Bethaven, " the house of idols."
A most wretched set of people in a few poor
houses now occupy the second site. AmOs' words
are verified : "Seek not Bethel, nor enter into
Gilgal, for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
and Bethel shall come to nought."' 'Amos v : 5.
A little way from our encampment, we sa;t a
small company burying' a man who had been
murdered, or, at least, found dead, the:day before.
The sight made us feel — thankfulthat we had es
caped so many dangers. I could but seek to ex
amine myself to learn whether my heart might
truthfully be called Bethel—the house of God:
How solemn those words sounded to me " Know
ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is
in you, except ye be reprobates."
Allow me to ask you, my dear reader, is your
heart a Bethel, a" house of 'God," or a Bethaven,
a " house of idols?" Is, it a temple for the con
stant indwelling of the Holy Spirit ? Has your
sad song been, of late—
"What peaceful hours once enjoyed,
HOW sweet their memory still,
But they have left an aching
The world can never fill'?"
O, let your prayer in Chrises'name be, "Turn'
us, 0 God of our salvation, and cause Thine anger
toward us to cease," and then in the' words of
that same sweet eighty-fifth psalm, you can•say:
"I will hear what God the Lord will speak : for
He will speak peace unto His people, and . to His
saints : but let them not turn again to folly.
Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him;
that glory may dwell in our land." •
CLOGS IN THE PULPIT.
BY REV. E. E. ApAms,
The preacher meets a great variety of hinder
ances to the effectual delivery of his sermon. He
may have prepared it with prayerfulnesS and
study. Its heads may be well ordered and its de
tails properly wrought out; it mayhave logic and
illustration, pathos and point; it may begin well
and end well, according to the rules of Homilet
ics; but when it is spread out on the pulpit, to be
proclaimed and enforced, it may fail to realize
the hope and purpose of the speaker, and the end
of preaching. Sometimes the obstacle to success
is in the pews. The people are chilled by the
wintry atmosphere, or debilitated by summer
fevers; or sluggish and languid for want of sleep
—the hot breath of the ball-room, on the previ
ous night, has not yet left their lungs and brains;
the burden of a late supper still weighs on their
vital energies; the champagne has left a dull
pain in their brows; or " the race for riches"
during the week has jaded all their faculties, and
they are not to be roused by the themes of eter•
nity;—but too often the failure of a sermon is
due to an incident or fact which the preacher can
remedy at the time—or - which might have been
prevented by a little care and foresight. I ven
ture to suggest a few little things for the aid of
brethren who, doubtless, like myself, are at times,
greatly disappointed and grieved to find that
their sermons seemed to fail both to secure atten
tion and produce the desired impression.
1. Commence your sermon with a brief, pointed
statement. A long, involved, blind sentence at
the outset fails to take the attention, discourages
effort on the part of the hearers to follow the
speaker, leads them at once to prepare for a prosy
and sleepy discourse, whereas if it be introduced
by a plain but striking thought, that can be easily
seized, the mind will be set in motion and more
easily kept in the track.
2. In the delivery of the sermon, begin with
your ordinary tone—neither below nor above it.
If you pitch your voice on a key too low, the
people cannot hear the first sentence, and that
will disturb them; if too high, you will find your
self speaking to the steeple throughout the dis
course. You will be painfully conscious of fail
ure, exhausted at the close, and chagrined on
account of your folly. Whereas, if you begin to
speak in your ordinary tone, you can rise or fall
afterward, according to the varied sentiments of
discourse, and the size of the room and congre
gation. All will be natural, easy, impressive.
3., Don't address yourself to those who are va- -
cant, sluggish, indifferent. You may, sometimes,
throw your voice into a deaf ear, and awaken the
slumbering soul within. You may look keenly.
into'a vacant eye and elicit a responsive sparkle
of intelligence; but if you allow your eyes con
tinually to . fall on a persistent sleeper, or on one
who evidently does .not think of ; what you are
saying, you will find yourself either laboring via-
lently to get your thoughts into their dull heads,
or else in despair conclude that your own dulness
and want of adaptation occasions the indifference
of your hearers. \Select a few pews which you
see turned toward 'you as if already glowing with
interesi'in tire `theme. Speak to those responsive
eyes, those open ears, those thirsting souls. For
get all beside. Feel the magnetic play of emo
tion. Throw yourself into the stream of sympa
thy, and you shall find at the close that you have
reached - the hearts of the people, done good, and
preached with real satisfaction to yourself.
4. Don't preach in a fight collar. It will
make you uneasy; you will twist and pull at it,
almost unconsciously while speaking, thus dis
tracting your own mind, interfering with proper
action, and diverting the thOughti of the • audi
ence. Moreover, when you kindle with the sub
ject and the blood flows more rapidly, you'will
experience pressure and head-ache,'rendering the
Sabbath anything but a' delight'
5. Do'n't preach wish 00 coarbuttoned...
Were you at the bar,'or speakingto a political
assembly where You "would meet an antagonist,
and must measure your argument with his, you
might naturally gird you!r , coat close, abbut you
and button it to the'chin; as if "putting on armor
and strengthening your" heart :for the enceunter.
But in the pulpit you are to take a more humble
and I,et an easy- attitude. Nothing that looks
like preparation for 'Oratory, like assumed dignity,
like being wrapped in self, willlbetaccepted. The
preacher must have the air'of generous abarrdon
ment,. of accessibility. 116". must bend '-to his
hearers, with open arms and heart. • On this ac
count "gown and' bands" are' objectionable.
Perhaps soine men can preich better in them.
They may conceal the awkward angles of a cleri
cal 'Polyphemus, and give apparent dignity to
those who find not adequate dignity in their of
fice and their the'mes.'.
6. Don't preach in' jloves. They savor of af
fectation. Whatever, in the pulpit, indicates the
pretence or the conciousness of gentility, detracts
from its power. You cannot preach earnestly in
gloves. An audience , likes to see the speaker's
hand. Half his eloquence is there—" the hiding
of Ms power." Put your gloves in your pocket,
my genteel brother, and 'let the fire of'your soul
sparkle in your naked fingers as the truth burns
on your lips! Let the whole man speak.
7. Don't preach in your surtout. It makes
you look and feel heavy. It binds you arms, and
sinothers your soul. There is as much difference
between preaching with an overcoat and without
one, as there is between'the sound of a muffled
dram, and the cleat, thrilling battle tone that vi
brates from the smooth, uncovered parchment.
If you are celd.,lpsrour theme and your action
warm you. 'PM - your 'siirtout on the seat-behind
you. It will be needed after sermon, if you have
preached as you ought.
S. Don't preach in overshoes. They are heavy,
and when you move in the pulpit you will feel as
if a weight were checking your motions, and hold
ing your feet to the floor. This sense of heavi
ness affects the whole body, and the mind; and
you labor through your sermon with discomfort,
to feel that your effort was a 'failure. I have
spoiled more than one good discourse by such
fetters. Paul and Silas prayed and sung praises
to God in the stocks, but I doubt whether they
could have preached well in heavy, steaming;
rubber overshoes. Enter the pulpit stripped for,
action, yet with zeal tempered by the grandeur
and glory of your office, with a soul throbbing to
utter the truth of God, and these appendages will
be cast off.
WORK ON BAPTISM.
NOTE FROM REV. DR. DUFFIELD
MR. EDITOR :—Allow me through your col
umns to direct the attention of your readers to a
work which has passed through its second 'edi
tion, and is subserving the cause of truth in these
Western regions with great effect. It is entitled
"Scn:ptare Baptism Defended, and Anabaptist
notions proved to be anti-Scriptural nofelties, by
Rev. John Levington." Mr. Levington is an
earnest and useful preacher of the Methodist
Episcopal Church—much respected and beloved
for his learning and piety. He has prepared a
work on the subject of Baptism which meets the
present state of the Christian community. It is
not a rabid polemical affair, nor a dry didactic
discussion of abstract doctrines; nor a sectarian
or denominational apology or defense; but a
straight-forward presentation, in an argumenta
tive manner, and with as much logical force as
popular and attractive style, of the great and im
portant points of difference between those who
do and do, not practice infant Baptism and who
differ as to the mode of administering the ordi
nance. It• has vindicated the faith and practice
of Evangelical churches which regard the validity,
and belief in the perpetuity, of the Abrahamic
covenant. Ministers will find it an excellent
work to circulate where the subject of Baptism
as to its mode, and as to infants, is exciting atten
tion or disturbing the minds of any of their mem
bers. It will interest both old and young and
should have a place in Sunday-school Libraries..
The, book was published in Chicago by Poe &
Hitchcock, and although aWestern pioduction, has
strong claims upon Eastern readers, and all who
would counteract the efforts made to dissuade from
infant baptism, and consign to neglect the seal of
the covenant made by God with Abraham and
still kept by Him with his believing seed from
generation to generation.
Detroit, April, 1867
FRAGMENTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF A
MISSIONARY TOUR IN INDIA. III•
Since my last date we have encountered no in
cident of moment but the breakage of our cart,
on the rough roads, involving a delay of two days
to repair it, but no loss of time. We keep on
with our work, finding villages and hearers in all
directions.
This (Kapsee) is a small town of about 3000
inhabitants, the capital of another small Jagtire,
embracing 16 villages and 150 square miles of
territory. It is held .by the third branch of the
house of •Ghorepudiy, one of the Oldest'in the
Mahratta Empire. The late chief, RamchUnder
Bao Ghorepuday, came to his title and inheri
tancein 1836 and died three years ago. His
son, the present chief, a'young man of 20 years,
enjoys the whole revenue of the Jaghire, paying
a small annual tribute of Rs. 200 to the Kolapoor
Government, and the whole administration, poli
tical and judicial, is conducted in his name. The
chief of this state holds the rank of Sanaputti, or
General, in the Kolapoor army, being honoredas
one of the eight of the highest in the Mahratta
Empire, below the Empror himself. This rank
necessitates his attendance on the Kolapoor King
on all special occasions, and consequently he is
absent from his capital just now, attending on our
young King, who has gone to Poon - a to be for
mally recognized and installed on his gadi.(throne)
by our Governor, Sir Bartle Frere—an imposing
Durbar with native chiefs from all parts of the
Presidency baying been summoned for the occa
sion. Our late King's only sister, Aka Saheb,
and her husband (one of the highest in rank
among the nobility) were invited by the Gover
nor to this Pooria Durbar; and as a little item,,
showing the feelings •of our highest classes to
wards' us and our mission, I nay mention that'
Aka Saheb sent both her husband and Son to in
vite Mrs. Wilder to accompany her to Poona and
be with her in ,lier interviews with Lady Frere
and her daughters. She could not leave her
family and mission work so long, or she would
gladly have gratified the King's sister by going
with her.
The chief of Kapsee not being at home, his
minister, an intelligent Brahmin, comes to see'
me in the temple, where I find a resting place,
and now for two and a half hours an audience of
fully 300 has given a very attentive hearing - to
my message. Having wandered some ten fittiles
from my family and camp, I am obliged to break
off my discourse abruptly, and even then fail to
reach our camp till after 9 P. M., having only a
dim starlight for the last five miles.
Kapsee is another desirable mission centre, 12
miles from Neepani and 30 from Kolapoor. I
have all confidence that the young Mabratta
chief would extend a cordial welcome to a mis
sionary, and that large results would crown per
severing efforts to make known Christ and his
great salvation here.
The young chief has established a good school,
anduthe demand for our tracts and books was so
great - that, since returning to camp, I have sent
than fresh supply. * * * *
.1
This is another town of 3000 idolaters, some
10 miles from Kapsee and 24 miles from Kola
poor—another good centre for missionary effort.
As we travel westward into the vicinity of the
mountains, we find fewer readers and less appre
ciation of education. For this large population
of 3000 there is no school of any kind; but all
listen so respectfully to our message, that we long
for men and means to bring them under daily
Christian teaching.
Mrs. W. being unwell we, have remained here
five days, but this has given me an opportunity
to visit many surrounding villages. At Yemga,
with a population of 1000, 250 men came out to
hear me. I made the stone steps of their largest
temple my pulpit, and the 300 shining rupees,
imbedded in the upper step as native offerings'
to the idol, my text, but found a short way to the
true and living God as a more worthy object of
worship and vows, and to Jesus Christ as the
only Saviour of sinful man.
These rupees frequently found imbedded in
the steps of idol temples, have been placed there
in fulfilment of vows. If a man is sick, he goes
to the temple and makes a vow, promising the
god to do this or that if he will heal him. If he
wants a field, or oxen to plow it, or a wife, or
Child, a vow to the god is the first thing thought
of. If the person is poor, he vows to perform
some kind of penance in honor of the god. If
he has means, he generally prefers to give grain
or money, and frequently the vow takes this form
of a promise to inlay a certain number of rupees
in the steps of the idol's temple. At Mulga, we
counted in the steps of Bhairooba's temple 1301
rupees. Two empty holes led us to ask if some
one had dug out and stolen the two rupees. The
people seemed unwilling to admit. this, and yet
their looks quite convinced me that our suspi
cions were correct. A Hindu who would dare
commit. such a sacrilege must be worse than a
common thief or robber in their estimation, for he
dares the vengeance of their gods; and such an
GEo. DIJFFIELD
KAPSEE, Dec. 7, 1866
MARGOOD, *Dec. 1.2
act is probably far more rare in India than the
plunder and destruction of churches in Christian
lands.
At Gungapoor I found the opinion prevailed
that the superiority of us white people, in con
quest, as well as our superior skill in the inven
tion of railroads, steamboats, and telegraphs, of
which they had heard, arose from our greater
knowledge and skill in the black arts of Mantra.
At Kurjeewun, a small village high up among
the mountains, I was surprised and grieved to
find no hearers. Only two mahars (low caste
men) appeared. Having waited in vain at the
Chowdi, the common place of gathering, I made
them-lead me to the 'house of the Patil (chief
officer of the village.) Not a soul appeared there,
but the woman inside replied to our inquiries,
assuring us the Patil was not at home. My ef
forts to gather an audience and gain a hearing
seemed wholly in vain, and I was about to give
up the attempt, when a bright little girl of ten
summers, with a child's curiosity, peeped out of
the door to catch a glimpse of the white stranger.
I asked her name, and as my Mahratta words
fell on her ear, without pausing to think, she re
plied, " Mainee," and dodged quickly back out of
sight. But after my repeatedly calling her by
name and offering to show her a beautiful pic
ture book, she at length timidly ventured in
sight again.. When she first retreated, I could
hear the women chiding her for venturing in my
sight; but at length their womanly curiosity so
far prevailed as to hold their rebukes in check,
and little Mainee very properly inferred they
were consenting.to,her second return.
I must not continue the incident in detail.
Suffice it to say, the picture book and kind, words
availed. Little Mainee banished her fears and
came to me outside. Soon a , half dozen women
appeared in the doorway and verandah; and last
of all the old Patil himself and seven other fall
grown men came out of his house. Other villa
gers now gathered, and a more interesting and
interested audience I have not found on my tour.
The simple, plain, precious truths of our holy
faith elicited a hearty response from these unso
phisticated minds. I have never been sanguine as
to the results of hearing the Gospel only once in
the life time of the hearer. But when I find men
drinking in•the words of life with so much sin
cerity and earnestness, the thought that God can
make His word a message of salvation, even
though heard but once, does bring comfort to my
heart amidst the exposure and fatigue of this
work.
The inquiry will arise, why the Patil and villa
gers at first hid themselves. My questions on
this point elicited nothing satisfactory at the
time, and I could only attribute it to the exces
sive timidity of these more simple people of the
mountains. But as I came away, the two Ma
hars, who accompanied me a short distance, inti
mated that it was the result of some outrage per
petrated by subordinate Europeans, superintend
ing work on a road passing over the mountains
to Gudh Ingluz. How sad that those represent
ing th,g Christian faith should belie and dishonor
it in the presence of these heathen.
But these poor people have often suffered
wrong and outrage from native officials, and where
they have come to know much of the better class
of European officers, they learn to expect more
even handed justice from them than from native
Rulers. Hence a Missionary is, constantly be
sieged with petitions which he is obliged to re
spect, even at, the risk of being thought unkind
and unmerciful. A petitioner of this class, a
Desaie, and a man of some intelligence, formerly
enjoying form lands under the Kolapoor Gov
' ernment, pressed me with his petition at the vil
lage of Koor. The amount of his petition was,
that the, brother of a former King, in a fit of pas
sion, shot his grandfather; and to pacify the rela
tites the murderer got the King, his brother, to
give certain lands to the family of the murdered
man in perpetuo—that these lands had been en
joyed by his father during his life-time and then
by himself for many years; but that recently they
had been forcibly taken from him—confiscated
for no offence or reason. I quoted to him the
saying of our Saviour in a similar case, Luke xii:
14, and tried to turn his thoughts to abetter and
more enduring inheritance, but clinging to the
hope of aid from one preaching universal brother
hood and the Divine law of love to our neighbor.
he followed me five miles to our camp, and per
sisted in entreating me to help him regain his
lands with an importunity hard to bear. 0 for
such earnestness and importunity in the matter of
their souls' salvation. Then would our work
here become a joy indeed. Then should we
speedily see their idols abolished, and the king
dom of God coming with power. And for this
let us cease not to pray.
In the love and service of this blessed kingdom,
Yours sincerely, R. G. WILDER.
THE PRINCESS DAGMAR'S RENUNCIATION
OF LIITHERANISM.—After expressing her be
lief in the seven sacraments, transubstan
tiation, and the adoration of pictures and
prayers to the saints, her royal Highness
was made to say, "I believe and confess
that the Foundation-liead and Supreme Pas
tor and Bishop of the Holy Greco-Russian
Church is our Lord Jesus Christ; and that
from Him all bishops, pastors, and teachers
are ordained ; and that the Ruler and Gov
ernor of the said Church is the Holy Ghost.
That this Church is the Bride of Christ, I
also confess ; and that in Her is true salva
tion to
,be found, and that no one can possi
bly be saved in any other except Her ; I
believe." All her relatives are still groping
in Lutheran darkness, far from the Holy
Drthodox Church !—Londoit Pall Mall Ga
zette.