Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

* r IO THE PRESBYTERIAh his doctrinal system are as old as the life of the Church. Paul taught them, and Augustinus, the Venerable Bede and Alcuin, Anslem and St. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas and Savonarola. All the great leaders of theological thought had felt, before Calvin, as they do after him, the inspiration of the idea of divine sovereignty. What we call Calvinism is therefore older than Calvin and it survived him. It stands for an organic process in the history of theology, and is capable of extension and modification, its main principles alone remaining abso luteiy nxed. J\o man was ever more deeply loved and more bitterly hated than Calvin. Whilst the historical pictures of the other great Reformers have come down to us, from their own times, with a tolerably fiexd outline, that of Calvin was distorted by his apologists and caricaturists alike. But history spoke definitely and fairly. , The countries and nations, which came under his influence, became the strongest in the world. His touch created men and women of steel and marble, men and women of fixed purpose and large hopes, liberty-loving men and women, fearing God alone and dreading no man, in whose nostrils was the breath of life. . The Huguenots were the life of France, and their extinction and exile made the inferno of the great revolution possible. The Dutch followers of Calvin founded a republic, which became the wonder of the world and tne pattern oi our own. The English Pruitans re-made English history, and the Puritans of America impressed their stamp indelibly on all the later history of this country, according to the testimony of our best historians. Dr. A. Kuvper has truly said?"Calvinism is the guarantee of constitutional liberty." The very name, however, unfortunately became a synonym for oppression and narrowmindedness, through the reaction, which began with the Illumination in Germany, a hundred years ago, the theology of Geneva seemed puerile and' hopelessly passe. The Erfnrh Rpvnlntinn '-1* *- '' ....itiiuoc iviuuic cuccis are ieu to tlllS day, in the lives of the nations, magnified man at the expense of God, banished serious thinking, and caricatured the love of liberty, which the Reformed doctrine inculcates. Geneva itself erected a statue to Rousseau, and utterly forgot the man who made it great. And the very followers of Calvin, who in point of time stood nearest to him, caused his name to be execrated, through a slovish imitation of his methods. The stern repressive laws by which the gross immoralities of Geneva were seared out, were adopted in countries and under environments, where they were wholly unneeded. Thus a straight jacket was put on a perfectly sane patient, and the process was justly resented. But as the years rolled on, Calvin began to be better understood. Henry gave his picture to the world in 1835, Staedelin another in 1863, perhaps till this day the fullest generally available biographies of the man. The re-action against Rationalism, which went on in Holland for the last seventy-five years, raised able defenders of the name and true teachings of the Reformer. The Calvin literature, in the German Universities, expanded year I OF THE SOUTH. January 13, 1909. by year, till its volume exceeded the possibility of keeping up with it. The day of Calvin is still coming. Those who deem him dead and buried are dealing with a corpse of surprising vitality. The best and greatest biography, perhaps ever written of any man. is that of Calvin by D . r t? r roi. 11. uouinergue, of Montauban, begun in 1899, which, in five folio volumes, of which three arc complete, treats the life of the Reformer, from every point of view, with marvelous erudition and skill. Dr. Williston Walker, of Yale, has boiled down all present available data of the Calvin literature in his "John Calvin," published among "The Heroes of the Reformation," in 1906. We thank God that our Presbyterian Churches still have sufficient reverence for the name of Calvin to pause and remember his great work, as we celebrate-his four hundredth jubilee. In broad outlines, we will endeavor to draw a popular picture of the man and his labors, in a few articles, which will treat of his parentage, youth, and early trials, his work at Geneva and Strasburg, his character, his place among the Reformer* hie - ^ ?f <?iu >3viiv/iai?iii|j? 111b organizing talent, his system and his significance for the twentieth century. .? i MILTON'S SONNET ON HIS BLINDNESS. When I consider how my light Is spent Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide? Doth God exact day-labour, light denied? I fondly ask:?But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies: God doth not need Either man's works, or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best: his state Is kingly; thousands at his bidding ansoH And )?ost o'er land and ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait. For the Presbyterian of the South. "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION." Phil. 3: 10. By Mr. Wm. Laurie Hill. More than nineteen centuries have passed away, and all Christendom has been engaged in commemorating, once again, the advent of the world's Redeemer. It is not the birthday of any ordinary king that hath stopped the wheels of trade, silenced the throb of the nrADn II nor ? 1 1 r * vauicu d nusn ox joy ana peace to settle down upon a sinful world; that has given rest to weary toilers in shop and mart and mine, has stilled the plow, and given pause to the faithful beasts in byre and stall, that they, too, may enjoy with man (both under the curse of labor), a sweet refreshing on this hallowed day. The glad song of the angels comes down the ages? "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a.Savior ?which is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." This old song, ever new, is as fresh and sweet in this