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IO THE PRESBYTERIA
Devotional and Selections
A SUNDAY IN LONDON.
Donald Fraser, in Toronto Presbyterian.
Being in London last summer on Whitsundav. Tunc
/, it was my privilege to hear Canon Hensley Hensor.
preach in St. Margaret's, Westminster, on "The Sword
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." The service
was fully choral, and the chanting of the Nicer.c
Creed by the choir impressed upon a humble Presbyterian,
who admires simplicity and directness in religious
service, the value of a measure of elaborateness
and the fittingness of seeking the beauty of
holiness in the public worship of God. The sermon
was closely read, but it was most scholarly and eloquent,
abounding in practical applications. Its manner
was clear-cut, decisive, and with a nervous energy
which riveted your attention from the start. Its note
was strongly evangelical, broadly appreciative of Puritanism,
quoting with approval from John Owen,
though putting in a disclaimer as to his exclusive
spirit of what was churchly. You felt thrilled as he
spake of the need of a positive and pungent flavor in
the moral tone of those who would witness for God
iiimu me conventionalities ot modern social life. Bishop
Mann, of Dakota, who was a fellow passenger on the
steamer from Quebec, and whom I heard preach on
Sabbath morning at sea with great pleasure from the
words, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel," was in the congregation that morning.
At the close of the service, walking down Trafalgar
square, he told me that he was agreeably dis
appointed in tne sermon. He apparently had expected
something more sensational.
That evening, my first and only Sunday in London,
I chose Regent square, above all the thousand ecclesiastical
attractions in this vast metropolis of the world,
as my place of worship, and chiefly for these reasons:
that not only was it near my boarding-house on Brunswick
square, and that I could see on the way the house
in Hunter street where one of the crreatect
English prose, as well as the most eminent English
art critic, John Ruskin, first saw the light of day, February
8, 1819; but also that in this church the great
Edward Irving, the friend of Carlyle, whose noble
statue I saw in the market square of the old border
town of Annan, was minister for some years before his
ejection for heresy in 1832. He had been called from
Glasgow, where he had been assistant to Dr. Chalmers
in the Town church, to Halton Garden Caledonian
church, London, in 1822. Here he met with unparalleled
popularity for a few years. "The doors were crowded,"
says Carlyle, in his Reminiscences, "long before opening,
and you got in by ticket; but the first sublime rush
of what once seemed more than popularity, and had
been nothing more?Lady Jersey sitting on the pulpit
steps, Canning, Brougham, Macintosh, etc., pushing
r\ ?w - - * *
?.?y aim utt_y?was now quire over, and there remained
only a popularity of the people'; not of the plebs at all,
hut never higher than of the well-dressed populus
henceforth, which was a sad change to the sanguine
man," This sad change was the result of his own va
N OF THE SOUTH. May 12,
garies, his calculations concerning our Lord's second
coming, his theories of latter day miracles, gifts of ton(Time
on/1 ? ?? 1 0 *
?..u piupuct)-nigs. in le^o lie was convicted of
heresy by the London Presbytery, and ultimately del>osed
from the ministry in a church in Annan, only a
stone's throw from the humble cottage where lie was
born. John Currie, chimney-sweep, now occupies it.
Over its door there is a small slab of granite with this
inscription: "In this house Edward Irving was bom
4th Aug., 1792. He left neither an enemy nor a wrong
behind him." He died in 1834.
Ivor Robertson is now pastor of this historic cliurchHe
was the preacher this evening, and his theme was,
"The average man in religion." His text was I Kings
18: 12, "But I thy servant fear the Lord front my
youtha character sketch of Obadiah. It was a helpful
analysis and portrayal of the man in humble circumstances
who was acting from principle, and in a
courageous, heroic spirit. Such a man, true to God and
his cause, was appreciated even by an ungodly master,
and though only a common man was in reality most
uncommon TIia "
?. kji jjiaise in mis cnurcn was
especially noteworthy. The choir-leader was the allimportant
figure?an elderly man with a rich, full voice.
Before the service proper began there was a season of
singing, in which the skill of the precentor was distinctly
felt; then, at the close of the service, there was
another free rendering of hymns unannounced; and
then, in the most leisurely and delightful way, after
lingering lor silent prayer, the congregation dismissed,
as though loath to leave. To the stranger it was all
most impressive.
Bass River, N. S.
PREACHING CHRIST.
The interesting reminiscences of an able and perstia
sivc prcacner, ten now ne was led into the sort of
preaching that made his ministry effective. Going at
once from the seminary to the pastorate of a large city
church, he was somewhat alarmed as to the sufficiency
of his furnishing for his exacting task. It occurred to
him that he would preach chiefly upon the direct teachings
of Jesus Christ, ^until he should have grown somewhat
in fliAiirrkto ' T T *" *
... ...uugu? anu t.xpti icncc. nc aia maKe tne
words of Christ the chief theme of his preaching
throughout his entire ministry, and did not miss the
growth in thought and experience which he desired.
Me always had something to preach, and he could
preach it with authority. The rest of the New Testament
would center itself al)out the word of Christ. The
Old Testament would illustrate and illumine the teaching
of the New, centering in Christ. And thus the doctrine
of the whole divine Book, permeated with the
direct teaching of Jesus, would be found applicable to
the thought and condition of the modern time. It
would be for the great profit of the church and the
world if more modern preachers could find out that
there is plenty for their preaching in what Jesus said
and taught.?Philadelphia Presbyterian.
It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a
Bible reading people.?Horace Greely.