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April ai, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIA ger of the body, nor the toil and sorrow of life, but the sin which is the spring of all these things. A multitude of sinful souls moved the Savior of men to a profound compassion. They were estranged from God, and had no care. They were sinful, and had no repentance. They were dying and had no hope of hfe. They were perishing for the bread of life, and no man had given unto them. They were in the far off land and had no thought of return to the Father's house. Surely .a multitude of sinful, unrepenting, and ' unsaved men is a sight pitiful beyond measure. It is not, said that our Lord was moved with anger or indignation. He was moved with compassion, for they were as sheep without a shepherd, and "He began to teach them." He began at once to tell them of the love of God, and of the Good Shepherd they so sadly reeded. "He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever." He has the same compassion for the multitude today, for the city full, for the great assembly, for the thousands scattered in the mountains, for the swarming people of the great continent. How can it be that we who are his, and have the mind and the spirit that were in him, are not moved with the same compassion? There are so many around us, so many in our home land, so lpanv across the seas, as siieep without a shepherd. Mortality is upon them all, and burdens of want and pain, of toil and sorrow. And beneath, and far worse, the awful disease of sinful, unbelieving heart. May the same compassion so touch our hearts, that it be a supreme desire to send and to go to tell them that there is a Shepherd and green pastures and an eternal fold. nPTTMTCM T7AT CJT7? AVin i-r.T-.TTT-. A aimawiM) xnj-<0?i A1N1/ lHU?i. Expectancy of increasing good must be rational and reverent. There is a reckless way of assuming that all is going well, which betokens little care as to whether it be so or not, or else a superficial estimate of the real merit of serious, problems. The Calvinist is essentially an optimist. He believes that God hath for his own glory foreordained whatsoever conies to pass. He believes that God is sovereign in human affairs and that he is glorified whether by life or by death. The optimism of faith made the Covenanters the valiant and indomitable people that they were, because they knew that their God was supreme, and they believed that he would vindicate the right, as he had enabled them to see it. Through weary years their expectations were not realized, for many a fond hope was disappointed, many a cherished tie was severed and many a high aspiration was doomed to disappointment in literal fulfillment. But it is wonderful how their courage did not waver and their faith failed not. These were optimistic not because all seemed to be going merrily. There were "killing times" that broke their heart-strings and filled their homes with mourning, but their faith failed not. Why this undaunted courage, this persevering confidence? Because they believe.-f in their sovereign God and that their slain and ascended Lord was on the throne. They believed that he was a covenant keeping God who fulfilled the promise made unto the fathers. They were not optimistic because they superficially re4 ' i * N OF THE SOUTH. 5 garded serious, deplorable, tragical conditions, nor because they thought lightly of iniquity and esteemed sin and righteousness as only relative terms. They could weep with a depth of sorrow which shallower minds could not feel, but they could praise and rejoice in their Redeemer and plead his promises as they looked into his face through their tears. They were apprehensive of the enormity of prevailing sin at the very time that they exulted in the fact that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. They believed in the ultimate triumph of truth even when the enemy was coming in like a flood and the powers of darkness seemed utterly unrestrained. Their confidence was unshaken by the earthquakes of violence and steadfast amidst tempests and floods of human passion. In the writings of the apostle we discern the same master principle. No man ever saw the hideousness of sin with clearer vision, nor regarded it with profounder loathing, nor was more sensible of its peril or the ruin which it wrought. His heart bled as he contemplated it and his words flamed as lie depicted it. His sentences descriptive of pharisaical hypocrisy and of heathen sensuality arc at once the expression of profound indignation and of poignant grief. Yet when he turns to the triumphs of the Cross his words glow with rapturous anticipation. He at once gets a vision of unfailing fruition and of boundless progress. He stands on heights that storms do not reach and on a foundation that can not be moved. "All things are yours," says he, "All are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's." There is much of spurious optimism in the nonchalance with which many regard present day conditions. These are times of impending change. Moral forces are in action which threaten the foundations. Home life is neglected. Social life abounds in improprieties and worse. Public affairs are corrupt. Commerce is on the basis of the strong against the weak. Religion pleads for minimizing the divine element and stressing the human. Inspired truth is sneered at and the most modern human devices are exalted. It ft well to look on the bright side, with a cheerful face and a happy heart, but it is brazen and cruel to ignore the portentious agencies of evil and the industrial and moral enslavement of the submerged one-half. To calmly contemplate the panorama of life's tragedy is overwhelming. There is a call to vigilance and action such as the Church has rarely heard, and he who believes in his soul that "the Lord of hosts is with us and the God of Jacob is our refuge" will most effectually and expectantly respond to that call. M. Some attribute the lack of any special leadership in the Church to the fact that most of our men who would ordinarily be leaders "are occupied with schemes that mean eitner service to tneir own ambition or else the building up of an ecclesiastical machine." It is undoubtedly true that if half the energy that is spent in "organizing" were spent upon the direct work of the Church for souls the ingathering would be greater, and . tho ministry of many would be richer.