CAtt,
gear Publishers will confer a favor by mentioning
the prices of all books sent to this Department.
The SERMONS or FRED. W. ROBERTSON, of
Brighton, have already taken their place among the
classics of the language. There is much both in
their fiats and their excellencies to insure their
success. They appeal to an age which the cease
less jar and jangle .of dogmatic theologians has
unsettled on many points of orthodox doctrine,
but which is sufficiently alive to spiritual issues
to welcome fresh and vigorous thought on re
ligious topics. They speak with no authority
but that of the author's earnestness of conviction;
they are so utterly candid and sincere that they
make you feel that tliese'words were not learned
by rote, but stood in earnest, vital relation to the
man's life. They eschew the speech of all schools
—Broad Church, Low. Church, High Church, and
Rationalist alike. They deal with matters of di
rectly personal concern; they force home the
great principles of Christian morality at,all times.
That they are deficient in their presentation of
several cardinal Christian doctrines will be the
judgment of all Evangelical readers. The Atone
ment is apprehended in them mainly on its moral
and regenerating side; its relation to 'the satis
faction of the Divine Law is either denied or
slurred over. The Christian Sabbath is treated
in a similarly objectionable style. Indeed the
want of a proper conception of 'law is- their au
thor's great dpfect.
But even with those who deplore these short
comings, Mr. Robertson is and always will be a
favorite author. His suggestiveness, his clear
ness, his thoughtfulness in treating of ordinary
matters, are not to be forgotten. And many lead
ers will doubtless rejoice that the competition of
his English publishers has forced Messrs, Tick
nor & Fields to publish a• Popular Edition of his
Sermons in two volumes, from the same plates in
which their five volume edition is printed, though
not on such fine paper. They sell, this edition at
the low price of three dollars. We hope, that
they will issue , his "Life and Letters" and his
" Lectures and Addresses" in another volume of
the same bulk.
The same publishers issue, in a neat volume,
a book with so striking a title that at first it looks
sensational : THE SEVEN CURSES OF LONDON,"
by James Greenwood, the "Amateur Casual,"
and author of seVeral wdrks of 'fact and fiction.
Mr. Greenwood has devoted no small pare'of his
life to the study of . the various , forms of sin and
misery, which abound in the greatest of metropo
lises, and serve to realize. the dictum of ;Jeffer
son " Great cities are great sores on the :body
politic." On one occasion he-passed , a night
amid the temporary population of the casual
ward of a London poor-house, and electrified all
readers of English by his narrative of his,
es
perienoes.
The seven heads under which.lhe sums up the
social evils of the great city are Neglected Child
ren, Professional Thieves, Professional Beggars,
Fallen Women, Drunkenness, Betting Gamblers
and Waste of Charity. His book is full of
curious facts and valuable suggestions, ; which may
be of use in other cities. One fact we notice,—
the professional thieves of London are decreasing
in number at the rate of 7 per cent. a year.
The book may be read with safety as a deli
cate, and with confidence as .a reliable, handling
of the unsavory topics to which it is devoted.
But it must be read with caution also; because it
deals with a single aspect of English Society, and
the wide eirculatibn of Reformatory works of this
clasi in America , has created an utterly false and
injurious impression as to English society as a
whole. Thank God there is an England which
Kaye's "Social Condition of England," Carlyle's
" Past and: Present," Lester's " Decline and Fall
of England," and other such works as this of
Mr. Greenwood's do not tell us' about, and these,
however valuable,, if not read with judgoient,
may mislead. Pp. 336, 16mo. Price $1.50.
Princeton ) like the Bourbons, " learns nothing
and forgets nothing;" unless, indeed, it be its own
liberal origin and that peaceful' poliey which char
acterized it till 1835. The COMMENTARY ON THE
WESTMINSTER. CONFESSION, which. the 0. S.
Board of Publication have just pnblish6d, and
which is from the pen of Prof. Hodge, of the West
ern Colony of Princeton, embodies just such a view
of the Calvinistic system as we had expected.
The letter of the Confession, and all its Cocceian
glosses, are accepted as the very truth of the Re
formed system, while all protest and dissent of
Calvinistic writers in matters of detail, are kept
out of sight. That Christ died to secure the sal_
vation of the elect only, that He bore the penalty
of sin, that:the Covenants are these of works made
with Adandand of grace made with Christ,—in a
word, the whele.lettei bf the Confession and the
whole mass of •Princeton traditiOn and gloss are
set forth as of, oAd ; less offensively, indeed, than
in his work ,oir the "Atonement," because with
less of controversid bitterness 'and more abundant
quotations of Serifothre to relieve the text. Pp.
549,
—The New Jerusalem Messenger gives the
following concernin g lte — Hon. Henry J. Bige
low, who succeeds the late 'How. Henry J. Ray
mond as editor of the New York .nme " k 11 -r.
Bigelow is a biucere and avoweoprew, 91k,91,'Pa
man, (Swedenborgian ) ) anti rekiice that T he
has resumed his connection with th'dlitelitPulider
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, AUGUST, 26, 1869.
circumstances which will give him frequent op
portunities of rendering service to the Church."
LITERARY ITEMS.
—The editor of the Kirchenfreund, as a direc
tor of Wittenberg College, (Lutheran) insist
on the election of a German professor, or at least
on one whose special duty it would be to impart
instruction in the German language. In Dr.
Sprecher the College has a fine German scholar ;
but as the study of German is optional with the
students, they neglect. In Germany, says the
editor of the Kirchenfreund, a teacher, clergy
man, or professor, would be ashamed if he could
not also speak English; but in America, men are
proud in not being able to understand a word of
German. These remarks he makes for the spe
cial benefit of the 161 students of Wittenberg
College, but be apprehends that they will not'do
much good, because he fears that hardly, Single
one of them will, learn enough German to under
stand what he ha's written.
—The wealthiest novelist in Germany is John
Tourgenueff, the Russian exile. Berthold, Auer
bach received •since 1844 about $120,000 'for
his books, and has accumulated a wry handsome
fortune. Carl Gutzkow is poor., Louisa Muhl
bach, who rreeeived. about $BO,OOO since she
entered the field of .literature,•bas.spent•every
thing and is now obliged to write for a living:
Fritz Reuter, the .1 5 1att,dentsche romanaist is in
comfortable circumstances ; his "- books being
more popular and saleable than those any
High-German novelist. He has a splendid t vilLa
near Eisenach, infull, view of the Warthb - ur...
Ferdinand' Spieihagen, who, now, at the head
of 'the younger generatiOn' of German roman
cists, is making money by his nov,els, but spends
more than he earns., Gustave Fyeytig his .a
handsome competency, and saves annually 'a
thousand dollars or two.
—A committee of fourteen, seven from each
branch pf the, about to be united .Presbyterian
Churches, have issued in Chicago, a prospectus
of a new weekly paper a forthcoming organ of
said - Churches. The basis is a' joint stock com
pany with eapital enough to insure the probation
inevitable =to every new periodical. The North
western Presbyterian, is discontinued; so, with
a clear coast, cordial denominational support and
judicious conduct, we do not see room for even
the shadow of failure.—.Y. W. Advocate.•
—Messrs. Nesbit and Co., the well-known
book-publishers •of London, are about to. issue
from their press " The Memoir of. Rev. James
D. Burns," a minister of the Free , Church of
Scotland who died in 1864. The preparation
of this Memoir was the last literarPwork, of ,tbe
late excellent and lamented Rev. Dr. • James
Hamilton, of the Regent Square (Scotch)
Church, London. It will have tnelattelaoly ,in
terest to many , a reader.
Biuttiaitunto,
DR. AUGUSTUS THOLTTOL
BY IL S. BURRAGE, A. M
Recently I gave the readers of the' Watch
man a rapid sketch of the life of Dr. Tho
luck. I wish: now to' speak of his , i)resent
position and influence. Although in the
seventy-first year of his age, he still, retains
his place at the head ofthe Theological Fac
ulty of the University of Halle, and is ac
tively engaged in all the daties of his office.
His lectures are largely attended ; indeed,
more so than those of the other professors.
Daring the last autumn and winter he went
through the Epistle to the Romans, and 'al
though he had lectured on this epistle for
many years, he prepared his course anew,
dictating each morning to his amanuensis
the licture for the day. 'ln the lecture:Town,
however, he very rarely referred to his man
uscript, his prodigious memory holding-the
contents—ifnot the exact form of the written
lecture. His Greek Testament lay : open on
the desk before him, and as, he is very near
sighted, he was obliged in turning to it, to
bend over until his face almost touched the
printed page. Then having caught the word
or words which demanded explanation, he
would raise his head, taking occasionally a
large pinch of snuff, and give, the exegesis,
speaking fast or slow; according to the im
portance of the ,remark. At times he would
speak. so ,slowly that he might, be
_said 'to
dictate. Here and there he would intro
duce an anecdote, or some apt quotation,
yet never for its, own sake. In Tholuck's
best moods, 'however, one who'had, studied
exegesis under. Dr. Hackett would long
for the days gone by. And, this, reminds
me of a remark of Dr. ,Tholuck which is
worthy of mention here. He waaspeaking
of the leading commentaries which have ap
peared in America—those of Stuart, Hodge,
&c.—and he said that he regarded Dr.' Hack
ett's commentary on, the Acts of the Apos
tles as the very best. It is also worthy of
remark in the same vonnectiOn that the only
American exegetical works which are no
ticed ,in Denier's "History of. Protestant
Theology,"—a work recently published,
which even a Roman Catholic reviewer calls,
an honor to Protestant theology—are Dr.
Hackett's Acts of the Apostles and Dr. Co
,naet's Matthew.
Dr. Tholuck's influence on his students
does not cease with his labors in the lecture
room. ' The mornin g lecture ends at 11 o'clock.
FioM that hour until one o'clodk the doctor
takes his daily walk, -accbMpanied always
by two students, who have been summoned
for thia purpose by Carl, Tholuck's' well
known man-servant. Ifthe weather is fair,
the trio, the doctor in di craentre, wend their
way into the suburbs of, Halle, especially by
the road which leads to Wittekind, or by
that which follows the course of the Seale
to Giebichenstein ; if it is a rainy day the
walk is in the covered way in the
. garden
back of the doctor's house. It is on these
walks that Dr. Tholhck studies the Mind
aid 'character of his studenti. Question
' folloWs question' in rapid successioa . , and
Very rarely does the 'doctiir rotting to his
houge without having quite accurately 'as-
certained the quality and aims of the men
with whom he has walked. On the other
hand the students, too, have had an oppor
tunity for asking questions, and many a one,
using the words of Wagner in Goethe's
Faust, has said, at the close of such a walk,
" To walk with you, Herr Doctor, is both
honor and gain." These social walks do not
belong to Tholuck's old ago merely, they
date back to his early years; and hardly an
American has visited Halle, who has not
carried away some pleasing reminiscences
connected with them. The example is one
which might well be followed by those who
occupy like positions on this side of the At
lantic. Walks of this kind furnish that in
tercourse with older and more cultivated
minds which every true student , desires, and
at the same time they afford the professor a
better opportunity for personal influence
over those whom he 'daily meets in the class
room than can be otherwise obtained.
Dr. Tholuck, hciwever, is not only a pro
fessor, he is also the: University preacher.
This is an office which he has long filled, as
he was made an assistant to the University
preacher.soon after his arrival in Halle. In
a short time his audiences weia so much
larger than those of his senior that the lat
ter very wisely - resigned, and Tholuck was
made his successor. Here in this old cathe
dral he has wielded an influence perhaps
greater than in his lecture-room; for Many
of the sermons here delivered have' been
printed and •scattered as wide ati 'thufGerl
man langnage is spoken, while some ;of
them have been translated and have had a
wide circulation in foreign countries. The
'first sermon of Dr. Tiklack which I read
wits'on Luther; arid by a happy coincidence
the first one I heard from his lips was on
the same 'subject; ii, very appropriate one
for the day,:since a few days before occurred
the anniversary of Luther's nailing his
theses to the door of the church in Witten
berg, and two days 'after, November 10th,
was Luther's birthday. A large number: of
students - were present, sitting, for the most
part, on the benches which occupy the space
around the pulpit, While the rest of the
large church was crowded with men and
women, representatives of the leading fami
lies in the
• City. The services opened with
the singing; by the congregation; ef a verse
of a hymn commencing, "Arta: us .with
power from the Lord," during which Tho
luck, in his preaching robes,) entered the
an from n ante-room and his place'
in the reading desk below th pulpit Dr.
Tholuck then read a short ' - prayer, after
which a choir of students in hp organ loft
sang, without accompaniment Cordau's " Je
sus, rny Redeemer, come to t e aid of Thy
servant's flock, Thou .who h st ,purchased
all with Thine own precious ood." As the
last notes of the anthem died away among
the distant arches, Dr.. Tholu k
• said, " The
Lord be with" Yon," and th congregation
replied, singing, "And' wit thy, spirit'
"Glory be to God in the highes," added. Tho
luck ; and the choir respond d, 4 'Peace on
earth and good will to men. Amen." After
another short prayer, to which the congre
gation responded "Amen," A°, ,choir sung
Vulpin's "Blessed be God iar - the highest,
together with His only horn Son, who has
made satisfaction for us all. Hallelujah."
Then to Dr. Tholuck's . " Lift up year hearts,"
the congregation, singing,' replied,." We
have lifted our hearts to the Lord?' The
reading of the so-called Apostles' Creed fol
lclived, and I never shall forget the appear
ance of Tholuck, as, .drawing himself up to
his fall height, he said, "And now. let us
with the whole Christian Church on, earth,
declare our faith,: I believe in Ged,"'&c.,
Tholtick repealing the wOrdi and the don
gregation-reEiponding• "Amen." A short an
them followed, and then a'hymn. At the
Close of :the hymn, Tholuck, -who, in the
mean time * had retired to the ante-room,
aseended the pulpit, and announced as' his
text 2 Cor. 4: 5, the whole congregation
standing while the passage 'was read. 'He
commenced his sermon by 'an allusion to
the 'dedication of the Luther memorial at
Worms, in the preceding" summer, to the
anniversary of the nailing of the theses 'to
the door Of the church in Wittenberg, whfch
occurred a,few days before; arid to the cele
bration-of Luther's birthday, which was So
soon to follow. , It is well', he said, that
d
these festiveays are stilliiernembered by.
,
the German people. :Then he spoke of Lu
ther,' of hi's great gifts, ' intellectual and,
spiritual :''yet, it ,is not on account of these
that we honor him - ,
he said ; it is because he
- preached Jesus 'Clirist, and• the forgiveness
of, sins through faith in Him. In closing he
turnedto the Students and asked, " lf Luther
Were to come among us to-day, what would
he say to you, young Men?" Then as if
Luther had"indeed appeared •in the place;
he poured fOrth •a: tide of 'earnest exhorta
tion which might 'well have come from the
lips of the fiery reformer himself. It was a
plea for the exercise of a warm, earnest
Christian faith; such a'pleaaS could cot' e
only from a deep experience. A verse of a
hymy`folloired,, and then the congregation
'quietly withdrew. It was an occasion never
to be forgotten. I heard Dr. Tholuek preach
several times -afterwards, and ,also his col
league, Dr. Beyschlag, and can well under-
Stand the remark which a colonel in the
Prussian army once made to me ; "When I
hear Prof. Beyschlag I am pleased, but when
I hear Dr. Tholuck, I am ,edified."
This year Dr. Tholuck celebrates his fif
tieth jubilee—that is, it is' fifty years since
he received his appointment as .professor
and at some time during the year he•pro
poses to gather around him all those who
have in' his long and laborious life served
' him as amanuenses. The • Univertity of
Halle' will also probably celebrate this 'fif
tieth jubilee of its senior professor; and
would it not be a fitting' recognition , 'of
many kin'dnesses if thoseen this side of-the
Sea who have received the attentions and
enjoyed the hospitalities of the venerable
professor ' should come together, and, as; a
body,'Send him a friendly greeting? , • ,
EaVing passed now his threescore years
and ten, Dr. Tholuck naturally expects a re
lease from his watch-post. Patiently, though
weary from bodily sufferings, he awaits the
call, as he said to me on that last night, for
ever sacred in my memory, as the last night
is with all those who have known, for any
length of time, this truly sainted man : " I
know not how long the Lord may wish me
to go back and forth through these streets
in the performance of my duties at the TJni
vergity, as I have done for so many years;
but as long as He wishes me to do so, I am
willing to go, and when he is ready for me
to. depart, I shall receive the summons with
joy." ,The king of Prussia sent Dr. Tholuck,
during the last winter, the Maltese cross of
the''order of the Red Eagle, the highest
honor which one can receive in- Germany
unless of royal blood. To me that day,- B 0
full of gladness to all of Tholuck's friends,
was only, a, faint emblem of that more glo
riOuis day when to him the sacred promise
shall be fulfilled, "Be thou faithful unto
death, and I' will give thee a crown of life."
—The Watchman and Reflector.
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
In the apostolic age there, was but one
rank of ministers, sometimes termed elders
and at others' bishops. These' names were
evidently - designations of the same 'office
and the same perions, being as fully synony
mous/ as are the terms pastor, ,minister,
clergyman„ &c. at present. See Acts 20 :
17 ; 28. Tit. 1: 5, 7. Phil.l : 1. 1 Tim. 3:
I;l3:This fact . ' is als4• - distinctly affirmed by
Jeronie, the celebrated and confessedly most
learned Latin thurch-father of the earlier
centuries. " Presbyter and Bishop," says he,
" are the same. office,, and until by the insti
gation or the devil, 'divisions arose in re
ligion, and men beian to say I am of Paul,
and I Of Apollos, - and. I of Cephas, the
churches ;were governed by the joint coun
sel of the presbyters." , After death had re
moved the apostles and their 'immediate
disciples, had naturally exerted a con
trdlling inflaence in - the churches; the pres
byters (i. e. elders)" in cities who generally
presided at the. provincial; Synods in the
third century, gradually acquired influence
over those in smaller neighboring churches,
the title of bishop was gradually confined
-to them, whilst, the less prominent ministers
Were still termed presbyters, i. e. elders.
Yet -their ordination was the same. Each
of ,them ,was a presbyter or elder, but ,the
hishop
• had priority, in that whilst every
bishop was a presbyter, not every presbyter
was a bishop. In short the bishop was pri
mus inter pares, first among his equals. The
dignity of: the bishops was gradually in
creased, and thus the church lapsed from
the primitive simplicity of her government.
The next important change in the posi
tion of the ministry, resulted from the be
lief which prevailed in the third 'century,
that a compact union was necessary in the,
external • organization of the church, of which
bishops and councils', or, synods, were to, be
the cementing bonds. The moral unity l or
essential'identity of purpose, in all engaged
in promoting the kingdom of God, is Obvi
ously just. But' the necessity of external
unity of Organization throughout the.whole
ohureh; conflicts with' the primitive purity
of'' Ministers, as well as 'with the indepen
dence of each individual congregation of
believers, as„ constituted by the -.apostles.
The ,idea ,of one universal (i. A. Catholic)
church, tended greatly to increase the dig
nity and prerogatives of diocesan bishops.
After Churbh -and- State had been united'
under Constantine and his.successors, these
Christian emperors, doubtless from,,the best
of motives, conferred, various • privileges., on
the church ,and her ministers; nor were the
bishops theMselves sloW'to improve every
opportunity for adding to their immunities.
The clergy! were released from• Various civil
duties. Church, property was for a, season ,
exeinpted from taxation. Under the merle ror Jastinian, the bishOp.s hid 'Civil jurisdic
tion assigned giant over' mOnksi nuns a,rk'd
clergy.' These concessions to ,niinisters in
volved, their submission
,on 1,4 p other points
to the will of the emperors, who often sug
gested or dictated measures to "the bishop's,
and even wrote lawa and Sent them - to the,
councils for their adoption:'‘; Lithe mean
tinie the hishopg of -several 'larger cities ; of
Alexandria, Antioch,: Constantinople, arid
Rome were, about the close of the fourth
century, termed , patriarchs, and invested
with general oversight of large, portions of
the Church in their respective sections of
the Empire. These; atriarchs thus became
rivals, arid-for a long tine each one conten
ded for the claims 'of - his own pa,triarchate,
until about the , year A. D. 606, when the
bishop of Reme,',Boniface 111, was acknowl
edged, as .Universal "Bishop of the whole
Church, by the El-reek Ethperor Phocas, who
had murdered his rival klauricins.—Lutheran
Observer. F• '
_
BIGHT USE OF TEXTS.
An exchan,ge charges that, much as the
pulpit censures profanity, it is sometimes
guilty of the'sanie sin. It refers, in proof,
to a repent lecture, by a reverend gentle
man, on "Mud," based on the text, "Prepare
ye the way of the Lord;" to anOther
mon, preliminary to a summer vacation,
from tip words; "I go a.fishing;" , to a third;
,addressed. to fast young, men,- from,ithe
words, "..Let ,her . drive." Such perversion
of Scripture by those who have been set
apart to defend, unfold and enfoiice it, cannot
be too strongly condemned.. We know of
hardly anything more calculated to bring
the Word Of God' into onntempt. - It id un
doubted profanity. It is downright trifling
with „sacred, things.. No ,herm,' 1,8 meant?
Of course net. The profane .man ; outside
the pulpit. means none.. .tOth; too, alike;
bite at a-naked hook: - ' " •
The wrong 'use of texts, ho*ever;ls net
confined those who use them..profanely.
A g American; divine, _ptsome ,eminence
,our own denp,m i inatipn, weached a dis r
course on certain PrOtiastant tendencies to=
wards Popery 'from ' the *bids df 'l4 e 're=
—The London correspondent of The National
Baptist writes':
The principal topic of interest among the
Baptitts just now ; relates to the•question of send
ing out , our missionaries unmarried. The present
rule is, not indeed to, require ' but strongly to ad
vise, all missionaries to marry before goin g abroad.
But for many reasons the wisdom of this is
dnubtful. The', fitness of a, missionary for. his
work, his ability,to bear the, effects of the climate,
his power . Of acquiring the language of the coun
try so as Steak it `with fluency, can never be
judged beforehand. He may, go out and fail in
-one or all, of Ahese respects. • If he go alone, the
expense of his failure and, return is but small.
If he, haswife, : the cost is more than doubled.
Besides - thiS, it is felt that in a new country a man
would be' better' able to "rough it" if he were
alone. TTlie presence of a wife must, to a certain
extent, be :a check upon his movements. He can
hardly diepley the same
,spirit of adventure, the
same indifference to personal ease and security,
if he has a Wife:with him and dependent upon
him; that'ilie, might ,if he has no one to . care for
hut,himlitelf.„ Yet further, i it.is urged •that„for the
work.of the mission an addiiiOnal test of earnest
ness and seledenial is valuable. A man who is
•prepared to go.ont alone; to leave behind him all
-thosiiThe , loves, for a time at least, and single
handed to ~encounter the hardships of a mission
ary life, has .gives preof, that he is prepared to
make. every sacrifice, which may be required at
his h , anda. It is, therefore, proposed' that' for the
future the •iiiinainhary shall in the first instance
go out alone . and unmarried. At the expiration
of ,a,periocl•to, be, agreed upon,—say two years,—
if he has given satisfactory proof' of his fitness
for the work, his betrothed shall 'be sent out to
Join:him and be married.. If, on : the other hand,
he does not ,giv,e the requisite evidence, it will be
,easy, to bring him home again, at a small cost to
the Society, with little difficulty to himself. Gen
r,.,.ly'speaking the plaivis finding fai•or. It has,
howevelyrifiet with unfaAtrable criticisms in some
quarters, and the missionaries now actually in the
field, seam to be, on the whole, against its adopt
ion. This was perhaps to be expected. Some
thing is clearly needed to revive the spirit of
liberality in Churches, and the spirit of
heroic daring amongst our missionaries. But I
doubt whether this will be effectual to the pur
pose..,
MEMNI
specting Paul's journey, " And so we jour
neyed toward Rome." 1)r. Porter, in his
Homiletics, tells us of a minister who preach
ed a number of sermons from the smallest
possible fragment of a sentence, the inter
jection "0." If this is not "handling the
Word of God docitfully," it is next to it, and
tends greatly to lower the popular rever
ence for it and to kill out confidence in it as
an ultimate standard of truth.
Others force a passage to their purpose
by the omission of important portions and
thus wrest it from its true meaning. Others,
taking a complete passage and expounding
it in its obvious import, accommodate it to
a theme having not the slightesioconnection
with it, except in a certain identity of terms,
the words being the same but the ideas dif
ferent. Others, again, employ texts whose
adaptation to their subjects is based on some
word which, having become obsolete in its
ancient , use, they well, enough know does
not, in its modern acceptation, and as they
employ, it, represent
.the ; original Greek or
Hebrew. For instance ) a theological pro
fessor delivered to the graduating class a
very sound discourse on- "Conversation,"
based on "this word in our common version,
which every scliolar knows does not, as now,
mean familiar interchange , of thought, but
the every day behaviour and the general
conduct of the life. Now we hold that all
this is wrong in principle and injurious in
practice- The,preacher's authority to preach
.is 'derived solely from the Holy Scriptures,
and here, too, alone is found the subject
matter of his preaching. A sermon is sim
ply a text ;unfoldedand applied. Hence, to
use a text as the foundation of a discourse,
when, in act, the l preadher knows that the
latter does not rest 'on the' former, is not
honest, and must, to a greater or less ex
tent, be followed'by the usual• consequences
of dishonesty; his ,words do not carry
weight with them as the words of an ac
credited' eXpounder of God's truth. He may
be witty, and men may laugh. He may be
eloquent, and . ,men may be charmed. He
may be logical, and men may assent to the
connection 'between premise and conclusion.
He does not 'speak, however, as one having
authority. The whole general effect is dis
astrous. It, helps to bring the Bible down
to the plane of nian 7 tnade books.
We will our brethren in the ministry
would be on their Aitiid in this thing.
Along side of Chillingworth's great saying,
" The Bible, the Bible alone is the religion
of Protestants," we need to place another
in equal prominence : " The meaning, the
meaning of the Bible is the Bible—Watch
man and Reflector.
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