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VOLUME XXXVIII. NO. 46.
Conlrihtiims.
The Lord’s Prayer.
BY KEY. W. KNOX.
XII. 'lhe Theory of Temptation.
Tbe petition now to be considered is
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil," —the same according to both
of the Evangelists. In tbe next number,
I shall consider temptation in connection
with this prayer: at present I propose to
discuss it as to its nature in general.
Temptation signifies trial The term is
used in both a good an t a bad sense, —as
indeed we may be tried for a good pur
pose, as well as an evil one. The sin of
the tempted does not consist in their
being tempted, but in their yielding to
the temptation; so the sin of the tempter
does not consist in the trial to which he
Bubjicts others, for it may be for their
good; but in the evil purpose he is seek
ing to subserve Hence it is, that we
have the seeming contradiction:— ‘ God
did tempt Abraham,” aud, “Let no man
say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God; for God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth He any man.”
In the first of these instances, the term
is used in a good sense. The meaning
is. Ood tried Abraham,—put his faith *nd
obedience to the test. The trial was a
severe one. That good old patriarch was
required to do what of all things was most
repugnant to his feelings as a father,—
the offering up of his only >-00, the son of
his old age, an 1 the ehild of promise,—
yea, the slaying of that son with his own
hands. BiU his fabh triumphed, and the
trial proved a great blessing to him, as
also it has proved to many since his day.
In this beautiful exemplification of his
faith an 1 obedience, he still lives, and
will ever live to bless the world.
In ih>. other quotation, the Apostle
Jame3 usoa tbe term in its bad sense, the
sense in which it is now almost always
ns9d, —an enticement to evil. It is plain
that God cannot entice any to do evil;
and whan any one is thus enticed, he
mnst not say that he is tempted of God;
for it would be to charge Him with evil.
The same Apostle in the next words
givos the trne theory of temptation: “But
every man is tempted, when he is drawn
away of his own lusts and is enticed."
These words, however, need explication,
or else it would be impossible to tell how
it was that the Lard Jeans was Himself
tempted.
The ambiguity consists in the two fold
meaning of the term lust. Literally it
means desire ; but desire may be either
good or bad. In the passage now under
consideration, it is used in a bad sense,
as signifying, the desire for evil things, or
things forbidden. A man is tempted
when ho is drawn away try his natural de
sires, or enticed towards some forbidden
obj'ct, cr evil thing; but does not sin,
until he yields to it, and is overcome by
it.
This is the true theory of temptation;
iirnl iu this way ouly can we account for
the origiu of evil, or at least its introduc
tion iut> onr world, and for the fact of
tho Saviour’s temptations. Let ns there
fore, consider cart fully these two in
stances, and dtvelope from them what is
true in general
The “tree of the knowledge of good
and evil” was planted in the garden, in
tbe midst of many others of various kinds;
and apart from any prohibition, the de
sire to partake of its fruit, wonld have
been just as innocent as the desire to par
take of any other. Eve, from the in
stincts of her natnre, could not but desire
to partake of that fruit, when her atten
tion was directed to it, and she was en
ticed by the great enemy of souls. She
saw that it was “good for food,” that it
was “pleasant to the eye,” and was jast
then informed that it was “desirable to
make one wise.” There eonld be nothing
wrong in such desire; and yet, in it was
the force of the temptation. If she had
had do desire for the Jrnit, there wonld
have been no temptation, and the stronger
the desire, the stonger the temptation.
The sin was not in the desire, nor in its
strength. If it had been resisted and over
come, the very strength of it would have
constituted its virtue. Her sin was in
yielding to that desire in doing what had
been forbidden. Hence, the Apostle last
quoted, proceeded to say, “Then when
Inst— desire —hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin.” The conception of the desire
was the purpose of eating, and in the eat
ing the sin was finished, —and being
“finished it brought forth death.”
In respect of Adam, the history informs
us that “the woman gave to him, and he
did eat.” It may be supposed that, apart
from any natural desire he may have had
for the fruit, the love he had for the
beautiful being who had been given him
for a companion, induced him to partake.
Yet that love, like Eve’s natural desire for
the fruit, was innocent in itself, and be
came a sin only, when he was influenced
by it to do what had b< ea prohibited.
Another Apostle tells us, that “the man
was not deceived, but the woman.” But
how deceived ? Why, I suppose, as to the
result. She was deceived in that she was
induced to believe that she would not die,
—that so far from suffering any evil con
sequences from merely eating an innocent
fruit, she would be greatly benefitted—
would become as gods knowing good and
evil. Thousands since her time have
reasoned in the same way. “There is no
harm in this or the other thing. Its in
dulgence will do me good, or it is a little
matter and can do me no harm. Why
prohibit me from doing it.” This decep
tion added to the force of the temptation,
aud rendered her an easier prey to the
tempter’s wily arts.
The man was not deceived. He saw
the consequences; but the love which he
had for the fair creature—his f reat Crea
tor’s gift—overtopping for the moment,
that which he had for the all-glorious
Giver, induced him to risk all and to
fellow her—to fall with her—to die with
h?r, “The woman gave him, and he did
eat! ’
The world’s precioas Redeemer was also
tempted; and the reason why He was sub
jected to temptation, is given,—namely,
that He might “know how to sucoor them
that are tempted;” so that in this, as in
other things, Ha became man’s great Ei
emplar.
In His temptation the same principles
SonUtecn ®htts)tatt inmate.
are observable, only they were intensified,
and the result was far different, altogether
glorious. In Him there was no sin, that
is, no yielding to the intensified desire ;
bat an entire and successful, yea, triumph
ant resistance of it. Before Him were the
objects of desire, with all their potent in
fluences. To say that he had no des re for
these objects would be to say that He was
not tempted. It is not, therefore, the
desire of things, although they may be
forbidden things, which constitutes the sin
of being tempted, but it is the yielding to
that desire so as to be overoome by it.
Let ns, for a moment, look at these ob
jects of desire as presented to the Saviour’s
mind, not forgetting that in the scenes
which we are now to view, He was essen
tially man, and met, and resisted, and
overcame the several temptations by
which He was then assailed simply as a
man, without calling into requisition the
divinity within Him. We must so oon
sider it, as otherwise the force of His ex
ample would be wholly lost to ns; for
what encouragement would it be to ns to
resist, bocause He, as the mighty God,
had successfully resisted ?
He had not tasted food for forty days
and nights, and “ was afterwards an hun
gered.” How intense, indeed, mast have
been His desire for food I How almost
resistlessiy strong must have been His in
clination to convert those stones, knowing
that He eonld do it, into bread, and thns
to appease the hungry cravings of His ap
petite !
Again : the devil doubtless appearel to
Him in the form of some dignified hnman
being, as one having an interest in Him,
and a believer in the Holy Scriptures ; and
as one anxious on his own account, ss
well as on the part of the Saviour, to have
the groat qnestion tested, whether or not
He was the Son of God ; for his reasoning
•eems to be, that if H* was truly the Son
of God, no harm could befall Him by cast
ing Himself from the temple, as tbe angels
would bear Him np and prevent His dash
ing His foot against a stone. I know not
bat that it may be added, that oar Lord,
np to that time, knew Dot the character
of the one addressing Him. There were
some things which He, in His hnman na
ture, did not know; and the nature of tbe
circumstances, or the force of the tempta
tion, seems to require ns to regard this as
one of them. How strong, then, mnst
have been the desire to convince this
seemingly illnstrions stranger, as they
stood there upon the wing of the temple
and looked down into the fearfnl depths
beneath them, that Ha was indeed the
Son of God, by c isting Himself from the
giddy height, knowing that no evil eonld
befall him, bat that He would be borne
tranquilly and safely to the foot of the
great yawning preoipioe I
Once more : the great and glorious ob
ject for which onr blessed Lord came into
the world was that He might save the
world—might save man everywhere, and
throughout all his generations, from his
sins here, and make him an heir of eternal
life in the world to come. The grand ob
stacle in the way of effecting this purpose
was found in that very devil who was then
tempting Him, and whose real character
the Saviour now very well knew, for, baf
fled in the two previous instances, he now
comes ont undisguised and appears in his
proper person. Now, it certainly mnst
have been an objact of very intense dasir#
with our Lord, considered in His human
nature, to have this devil ont of His way,
eo as to exert the fall influences of the
ever blessed gospel upon the thoughts
and affections of men, with no tempter
to beguile them away from their trne
interests, and to interfere in any degree
with ths means adopted for the salvation
of men.
In the lost instance, I have assumed
what may not ba readily admitted, that
when the devil offered our Lord “the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of
them,” he meant that he would retire and
give to Jesus an unopposed field in which
to carry on the operations of the gospel.
I see not how otherwise it could be an ob
ject of desire to the Saviour; for, remem
ber, I am not speaking of what the devil
might consider desirable, but of what
would be really so to Christ; because, un
less i,t was an object of desire to Him, it
oonld not have been a temptation.
I repeat here what has been said before:
to say that our blessed Lord did not desire
the objects presented, would be to say that
He was not tempted, and I will add that
to say He did not have a strong desire for
them, would be to say that He was not
strongly tempted.
As to the question, what would have
been the oonsequences if our blessed Sa
viour had yielded to these influences ? or
the question involved in this, Was it pos
sible for Him to have so yielded ? I feel
that it is one with which I have nothing
to do. I have listened to elaborate argu
ments tending to show the possibility of
His fall; but I felt like “ taking off my
vhoes;” the place was becoming too sa
cred. My own mind was at onoe satisfied
with the reflection that He, the Omnis
cient, with whom the future was as the
present or the past, saw from the begin
ning that the result would be as it was,
gloriously triumphant; and I cannot but
imagine that, had He foreseen a failure in
any way, or to any extent, as much as He
loved His fallen, helpless, hopeless crea
tures, the experiment to save them in that
way would never have been made. But
why dwell a moment here; for there can
be none who care less than I for a mere
abstraction. He was tempted, but—and
this is enough—“ He knew no sin;” and
having “ been tempted, He knows how to
succor them that are tempted.”
By a fair induction, we have come to eee
that temptation implies an object of desire
more or less intensive, and a being capa
ble of being excited by it. We must not
include more than this in the abstract
theory, or eise it will be impossible to see
how any could be tempted before moral
evil entered into the universe, as was the
case with those who “kept not their first
estate.” In the instances to which I have
had reference, and in all concerning which
we have any information, there was, there
is, a tempter; but the first who fell were
led away by their own desires for some
unhallowed or interdicted object. What
that object was, or those objects were, and
how they became their own self-tempters,
and were led away and overcome, are pro
found mysteries, as yet uncovered to our
view.
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
MACON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1875.
Close Communion Further Dis
cussed.
Mr. Editor: I would not farther pursue
this delicate qnestion if I did not under
stand the writer of the article, when he
added, “ Modal baptism,” in the Index of
the 14th, as intending to show me why
my efforts in favor of general Christian
fraternity eonld not be acceeded to, in so
far as the Baptist Church is concerned,
and because I am not satiffied with his
apology. If I understand bis heart and
mind aright, his denying tons, and giving
it as the sense of bis Chnrch, the frater
nal honcr of a free communion with them
does not turn in him, or in them, on the
gronnd of onr want of the Christian re
ligion, in personal Christian graces and
Christian experience ; but wholly because
we are not Baptist—npon their imagina
ry belief—of a sncceseional line of im
mersionists. And, as the writtr lam re
viewing substantially deck res, in this very
defence of immersion, giving to it apes
tolio authority and historic certainty. I
will say, Iu my place, that it is, in my
opinion, without apostolic authority, and
in as far as my historic researches in re
ference to it have ever brought my mind to
any definite conclusions, they were that
it had always existed, as it does now,
mainly by sectarian dogmatising, or its
being the only sense of a Greek word,
from which onr baptizing scale all came.
And all the time, in a large minority of
witne-sae, when considered in relation to
all evangelical denonunations, every one
of which has just as mnch interest in the
truth as it is in Jesns, a3 tbe Baptists
have, and among whom tueie are es good
linguists and scholars as among the Bap
tists. I dtm md a categoiial answer. Do
jon believe that we pedobaptists are so
corrupt and hypocritical as to know your
translation of this mother word to be trne,
and the only mental offspring it can ever
give without illegitimate conception ? Say
so. Bat if yon ere modest and self-dis
trusting enongh to admit yon are some
times mistaken, then confess we may be
right in the main, even us right as your
selves, and Christian fraternity will grow
on its own stalk as readily as any other
ontgrowth. It is the misfortnne of all
claims to sncoessional ohnrchism, to be
come sectarian in some way to their pre
judice. Whenever one chnrch becomes
so apostolical in ordination or in baptism
as to ronder proselyting from other
churches a duty in order to set deluded
sonls right, all hope of anything like
heaven born Christian charity is dead ont.
My reviewer claims his immersion as
apostolical in its institution. Here I take
issue with him. I am, logically, more
certain the Apostles did not immerse, than
he can be that they did. In the first place,
the Apostles were all Hebrews. I do not
suppose there was a single one of them
that had ever seen, cr L’o-rd of Baptidzo.
They did not, therefore get their idea of
a single modo in baptising, or else no
baptism, as onr Baptist friends professed
ly do. Wrest this translation from them,
and the bottom is ont. In the second
place, the Christian baptism was inaugu
rated in Jerusalem on the day of Pente
cost ; the administrators were all Jews,
and had never seen immersion nsed in the
religious ablutions, or dedicatory devo
tion of men or things to sacred uses. It
is therefore absurd to suppose these ad
ministrators eonld have introduced a mode
of baptising on this occasion, unknown
and nnnsed before. “Bnt,” says one,
“ Doctor, lam surprised at yon. They
did it after the example of John the
Baptist.” Well, I foresaw yon would try
to head me off here, and I wanted yon to
do it. r I have always believed that in
cantions Baptists tie on to J ohn as their
hnman fonnder, as we do to John Wesley.
They, however, only as the baptizer, be
cause they believe he was John the im
meraer. I suppose the denominational
title of yonr Chnrch hinged on this claim,
that you are the real baptizers, deservedly
oalled Baptists, because you have duly
dipped. Anyhow, as to John, if immer
sion has to lap back to him, either for
example or for anthority, it is dead ; ob
liged to be, for John said of himself, “ I
must decrease,’’that is,subside—give place
to one who is about to usher in a dispen
sation, after which, there will be no more
changes. “He will increase,” that is,
abide forever. But if John’s baptism,
in any one of its phases, had been for the
Christian age and nse, he conld not have
decreased—that is, died out, for he would
have been as present to-day, in baptism,
as Abraham is in the covonant, and for
the same reason, because he was part of
it. But the Scripture testimony is, that
in as far as his baptism and the doctrine
of his baptism were concerned, they
were utterly eliminated from the Christian
Church. This is evident from the annull
ing of his baptism by St. Paul, as recorded
in Acts, 19 ch., and the baptising of these
disciples in the name of the Lord Jesns,
thus showing that the Christian baptism
derives its validity from its immediate
connection with the whole Godhead. But
John’s baptism could not do this. At its
opening, the Son was not made manifest;
and at its close, the Holy Ghost was not
given. The Christian baptism was or
dained after the resurrection, and inau
gurated after the gift of the Holy Ghost.
It is only in this light that I can see the
meaning oi Christ’s words to John at hib
ceremonial washing, here called his bap
tism: “Suffer it to be so now, for”—it must
be so now, as I am about thirty years old.
and about entering on my priestly office,
“thus it becomes us to fulfill ali righteous
ness.” The like necessity can never occur
again, as I shall have no succession. This
is the end of legal righteousness, and here
ended John’s commission. He decreased,
or, if yon please, went out. Hence,
Christ’s baptism was no more an example
for ns to follow, than his fasting forty
days in the wilderness was. And the
elimination of John’s dispensation with its
order from the Christian dispensation, ib
further declared in the case of Apollos, a
Jew from Alexandria, whose case is re
ported in Acts, xviii. ch. Him, when Ac
quila and Priscilla heard, although mighty
in the Scriptures, they found deficient,
knowing only the baptism of John.
That is, knowing nothing on the subject
of baptism, but John’s baptism. And
they took him and taught him the way
of the Lord more perfectly. There is hel|
needed right here, until this day. Very
recently, I received an elegant letter from
a Baptist, explaining his reasons for de-
dining Christian fraternity with me on
account of onr infidelity to this command
of Christ, as he understood it, to all to be
immersed. And, to give sanction and sano
tity to it, he quoted Christ’s immersion—
as he understood it—as an example for be
lievers to follow. I deolare to yon, breth
ren, I was religiously shocked, saying to
myself, Can it be that such a Baptist
brother as this can be so bereft of res son
by his love of immersion, as to believe
Christ was immersed by John as an ex
ample for his children, knowing, as doubt
less he did, that John’s baptism would be
discarded and not allowed to be recog
nized as baptism at all, in the Christian
Chnrch? It is folly too egregious to be
believed by sober minds. Christ knew
John's baptism would decrease, die ont,
and eonld not transmit as a living example.
Bnt I have said that I was logically more
certain the Apostles did not immerse, than
my Baptist brother could be that they did.
I nsed the word logically with intent. Did
so, because I reaoh my conclusion by ra
tional dednetion, while he can only reach
his by violent presumption ; for, in the
third place, it is unreasonable to suppose
this three thousand converts, suddenly
and unexpectedly called to baptism, were
prepared for immersion ; and no leas un
reasonable to suppose they were immersed
in their wearing apparel. And, in the
fourth place, it is unreasonable to suppose
that there, in the midst of Jerusalem,
without any knowledge of the want, there
were convmiences. natural or artificial, in
the way of water, for the immirfion of
three thousand converts in one afternoon,
for all this was in one day, and, of coarse,
in the afternoon of the day. The idea of
baptism, as deduced from the Jewish re
ligious ceremonial use of water, that is by
affusion made this baptismal service pos
sible and reasonable, while its perform
ance by immersion was, rationally consid
ered, so ntterly unlikely and seemingly
impossible, as to make violent presump
tion its only chance. And I submit,
whether anything in the line of revealed
religion that has to be f resumed, and
then assumed as true, can be a part of re
vealed religion. And, finally, it is un
reasonable to snppose that the baptism of
tbe jailor and his household, of Conelins,
his kinsmvD, and friends, and of Saul of
Tarsus, in the house of Jndas, and, as is
evident, iu tbe very room where Ananias
found him, were immersed. Civilized life
famishes no evidence that domestic habi
tations have ever nsed bathing conveni
ences in which adnlt persons eonld be
immersed. And as to the baptism of the
Enunc-h, it is only by a violent assumption
that immersion in his case can be
claimed. He was baptiz'd in the first
water they came to, and every one knows
that in a country like that, we cross a
dozen spring bianohes to every cre.k deep
enongh for immersion. And, as for the
w >rd into, so strongly relied on, its nse
in oases where overwhelming eonld not
be involved, proves it to be only a dernier
appeal. And now, as all rational proba
bility is against immersion, and in favor
of affusion in Apostolic baptizing, I in
sist on it, that yonr plea for close com
mnnion is not well enough sustained to
j notify this schism in the body of Christ.
As Christians, we are all one in Christ
Jesus. Yon mnst, therefore, assnme that
this alone in Christ Jesns begins and
ends in the Baptist Chnrch, or close Bap
tist communion must be given up. If I
am one with yon in Christ, yon mnst not
ignore me. L Pierbe.
Circulate Church Literature;
Brother Kennedy: The distinguishing
feature of our age is the unprecedented
amount of brain work performed, and the
general spread of intelligence among the
masses of the people. The three past
centuries are each noted for great reform
ations in the Church. The lost one, in the
eighteenth century, inaugurated by John
Wesley, has been truthfully declared by
a noted Presbyterian writer—to have
been of equal importance to that of the
sixteenth oentury and of greater necessity
to pure evangelical religion, than the Pu
ritan reformation of the seventeenth.
The nineteenth oentury is characterized
by a gradual, yet perceptible reform, going
on in the Ohurohes, keeping pao3 with the
progress of the age; and the earnest pray
er of every Christian is, that they may
prove a blessing to our fallen race com
mensurate with their opportunity for
doing good. Necessary ignoranoe is lim
ited to the unfortunate few in this coun
try, and they are the especial wards and
pensioners of the Churches. Christians
are declar and to be the light of the world
by Him who “spake as never man spake;”
and it will prove a difficult problem to rec
oncile wilful ignorance, especially of the
Bible, with religion. I presume it will
not be doubted that a general circulation
of our paper would greatly aid the Church
in breaking the shackles of ignoranoe that
so greatly impede her progress. The
work can be accomplished, if entered into
with proper zeal, with but little pecuni
ary aid. There would not be many heads
of families who would refuse to take it,
if able, when made to feel its importance
to them and their families; and those not
able to take it would be supplied by their
respective Churches with rare exception,
if the membership were made to feel it an
imperative duty.
Having concluded that it is practicable
to place it in every family, and stated the
general effeot on its readers and the
Church, the reflex influence on the paper
itself is easily inferred. It would be a
better and cheaper paper; and the con
sciousness of a great duty performed, with
the paper thus improved, would be nosmall
reward to its present patrons. With thir
ty thousand subscribers, advertisements
could be dispensed with, and the price re
duced to one dollar and a half, and do
better financially than it does now.
Methodism was the natural outgrowth
of the last great reformation in the Church
and her high mission is continuous re
formation. Little more than a century old,
what a reformation she has effected 1 Her
membership is numbered by millions, her
zeal has fired the Christian world, and her
work and influence are blessing nearly
every section of the globe. Much has
been given her by the Master, and much
will be required. God is with us, and no
work to advance His cause is too great for
us. He requires a great work of Metho
dism. Her responsibility is folly equal
to her opportunity and extended iofla
once. Every year opens wider fields, and
imposes heavier taxes on her resources.
Will she be prepared to meet them?
More intelligence, more spiritnal life,
more knowledge, in a word a higher civ
ilization generally among the member
ship of onr Church is needed, especially
ia this country, to enable her to carry ont
fully her great mission at home and bless
t.e dying millions abroad.
Get the old and yonng to attend Sun
daj-schools and inspire more zsal for their
success, circulate Chnrch literature gen
erally, foster schools and oolleges every
where, and especially send onr Chnrch
paper along with the preacher to every
fonjily, and success will reward the effort,
■"SS ihe Church will be blessed'- with an
ict-illigent membership, who will realize
more fully their individual responsibility
to their God, the Chnrch, and their fel
low men.
Permit me in conclusion, to urge feel
ingly the snbjeot with all its seope and
bearings on the prayerful consideration of
every reader of the Advocate.
M. H. Talbot.
Twilight.
BT ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH.
This tranquil hour of twilight rest
I cooscrate to prayer:
With folded hands upon my breast
I lay aside all care.
And, knowing, Lord, Thy tender love,
I feel Thy presence here—
Sufficing love, all love above,
Excludes misgiving fear.
I see the wounds within Thy side,
Upon Thy hands and feet,
The thorns, Thy sacred forehead dyed,
The agony and sweat:
And thus I cleave unto Thy cross
With all its mighty pica,
Count all I have and am but loss
Before Thy Cross and Thee.
O twilight time, that brings my Lord
To be my heavenly guest,
And brings to miad his every word
At this calm hour of rest, —
I see tbe beamings of his face
All through the tender shade,
And, nearing my sequestered place,
He says, “Be not afraid."
O worldly Martha, troubled much,
Here with the Master meet;
Let this calm hour thy spirit touch
To sit at Jesus’ feet:
Methinks at twilight’s hour did he
Bpeak to sweet Mary’s heart,
When, meekly waiting at his knee,
She chose the better part.
— S. S. Times
Pulpit Fog.
Of all tbe seasons of humiliation and
distress whieh are incident to the life of a
preacher, there are none which, at the
time, are more poignant and perplexing
than those of pnlpit embarassment. At
each times the sinews of energy seem com
pletely severed; former joys have fled;
past triumphs are forgotten; and, agon
ized with a sense of inefficiency which
reason fails to mitigate, and religion it
self seems powerless to allay, he is apt to
q** .lien not only the validity of his call
to tne ministry, bnt the genuineness of
his Christian profession.
Like all hnman woes this has its grades.
The lightest and most freqnent form of
the visitation i that in which the viotim
finds his mental faenlties nnder a myste
rious constraint. He is able to speak
and he is able to gesticulate; bnt his voice
seems to belong to someone else. He
fails to say what he studies to say. His
gestures iuetead of being natural and ap
propriate, are formal as an automaton's or
extravagant as a buffoon’s, bnt in either
case are wholly destitnte of power. At
snoh times all the deficiencies and flaws in
his sermons swell into appalling magni
tude. His oatline is too obvioas; his
best thoughts too timid; and the whole
affair whioh he once deemed equal to star
occasions, appears a miserable iailnre. He
is like a martyr tied to a stake at low tide,
who perceives his fate approaching every
moment, but an invisible network of ropes
prevents his launching into the deep; and,
in a vain straggle to meet his doom, he
evidently does not conciade his discourse,
bat ceases to speak.
Bat the dryest form is what may be
called intellectual obfnsoation-and eclipse.
When in thiß state his great trouble is
not so mnoh that his ideas are feeble, as
that he cannot express them, snob as they
are. His vocabulary, usually sufficiently
opulent, is now hopelessly sealed. His
mental treasury, ordinarily well famished,
is absolutely empty. He ntters a few
rapid sentences, he recalls them. He mis
quotes a passage of Scripture, and when
half recited perceives that it is complete
ly inapposite. He discovers to his horror
that he has nothing mnch to say. He
perspires as though ne was mentally con
tending with destiny while destiny was
gaining the upper hand. For a moment
or two he stands like Simon Stylites on a
pillar, with an awfnl abyss on every side,
bnt without the saint’s composure and
equilibrium, and then yields to his fate,
and by an unmistakeabie “break down,”
closes the scene.
Limited space will not allow the writer
to follow him; and a true friend will ab
stain from attempting to do so. If some
“waste land” should be adjacent,
“ Where no one comes,
Nor hath come since the making of the world,”
or some “vast wilderness, some bound
less contiguity of shade,” be will most
likely “make” for its most impenetrable
solitude, where no human eye can pierce
the gloom; but as snob retreats are seldom
available, his only alternative is to retire
into “the depths of his own conscious
ness” in taciturnity and grief.
It can only be ill-natured persons, who
in such cases question a preacher’s ability
or piety. There are causes for this and
every other psychological phenomenon if
we could only get at them; and in most
instances they have no bearing whatever
on the moral condition of the sufferer.
Of oourse the man who enters the pulpit
as an ambassador for Christ, whilst con
sciously a delinquent, can expect nothing
better than that his “month” should “be
stopped;” and a speedy application to the
atonement will be necessary not only to
enable him to preach with liberty, but to
prevent “some worse thing” from be
falling him, and it m<*y be fairly pre
sumed that such a serious state of things
is exceedingly rare among Methodist
preachers. In almost every instance pul
pit embsrassment may be traced to one of
the following causes:
1. A want of preparation. He has heard
members in the love feast eulogize spirit
ual food which has “come to them hot
from the hearth-stone. ” He resolves that
this shall be the character of the viands
he will distribute. But such spiritual
aliment is usually as objectionable as do
mestic bread would be if prepared in the
same way. All bread needs a kind of
ripeuiug before it is fit to be eaten, and
that “hot bread,” is too often like “a cake
untamed.” In the haste with which it
is seized and broken, it will lack the
nitrogenous, the life sustaining property
which a thorough aud patient preparation
would have imparted; and will not only
be unsavory by being unequally baked,
but innutritions. It is said of John Elias,
who seems to have caught the mantle of
his namesake the prophet of fire, that
after preaching to an afternoon congrega
tion in Wales, with great embarrassment,
he observed to a friend, “If the Lord will
only forgive me this time, I will never
enter the pulpit again without thorough
preparation.”
2. Oocscioui inferiority is a fruitful
cause of embarrassment, especially to
young preachers. Your congregation
have just been listening to what they de-
scribe as a “grand effort,” from a brother
minister. Yonr Presiding Elder is on
the rostrnm with his eyes and ears
open. That local magnate who “onght
to do something for the support of the
gospel,” has for onoe condescended to be
come yonr hearer. Or, the lady who cor
responds for the Daily Scalpel is taking
notes of yonr discourse with a view to
“take yon down a peg or two,” and you
have only an unpretentious and practical
series of reflections to present to their at
tention. So terrible was the tortnre which
a young English brother experienced in
anticipation of snoh an ordeal, that one
evening, long after the service should have
commenced, he was found by two of the
stewards who had come to seek him, stalk
ing np and down the street in an agony
of anxiety. They remonstrated with him
on the impropriety of keeping the andi
enoe waiting, and said, “Brother V., yon
mnst return with ns instantly; the house
is fall, and yon are bound to occupy the
pulpit.” His only reply was, “Oh, loan't
preach! I can’t preach 1” “It will kill me
to preach!” Bnt the good brethren were
not to be put off. One grasped an arm
on one side, and the other on the opposite
side, and thns they marohed their captive
through the street, to the foot of the pul
pit stairs. It is stated that he subsequent
ly preached with extraordinary power.
3. An nnnsnally slender congregation is
a source of embarrassment, inasmuch as
it opens the way for a thousand doubts
and misgivings respecting personal ac
ceptability, the wane of religions influ
ence, and other unpleasant matters, which
may have acoonnted for it.
4. Nervous irritability is another. The
decease of a friend; the loss of a night’s
sleep; worrying all the week about an un
paid bill; or incipient disease, may each
or any of them contribute to affect the
nerves so as to incapacitate for the con
centration and self-possession which the
pnlpit demands.
5. Tbe last cause to be mentioned, and
probably the chief one is, the direct agency
of Satan. There is certainly no imple
ment so successful in crashing the power,
thwarting the designs, and weakening the
prestige of the prince of darkness as the
preaching of the gospel. We know from
scriptural authority that he opposes the
entrance of men into the ministry; that he
frustrates their plans with regard to the
scene of their ministry, and that he ob
structs them in the work of preparing for
the ministry; and it is not unreasonable
to conciade that in very many instances
the mental obsonrity, the emotional per
turbation, and the prostrate volition,
whioh are associated with pnlpit embar
rassment are tbe result of forces pat in
motion by principalities and powers, who
entertain an inveterate hostility to Christ
and goodness. —Central Christian Advocate.
“Little Country Churches.”
A yonng man who had jast graduated
and entered the ministry, was asked by a
friend where he was stationed. With an
expression of sadness, he replied, “O, at
a little country chnrch ; I never heard of
the place before.” The incident suggests
some thoughts which may be of value to
tbe pastors and members of “little coun
try churches.”
Lot us suppose, then, that the yonng
brother is at this time reading his Meth
odist. We wish to give him a little ad
vice, not cynioal, but sympathetic. De
spise not the little country chnrch. De
spise it not because it is little. If it were
large you eonld at best bnt keep it where
it is. Yon eonld not have the delightful
experience of seeing it grow. To see a
congregition beoome sixty which was bnt
thirty, is better than to see a congregation
become fonr hundred which was five hun
dred. Four hundred are more than sixty,
but sixty from thirty is life, growth and
prosperity; and fonr hundred from five
hundred is “ a journey toward the tomb.”
Despise it not because it is little, for yon
are little. A little chnrch and a little
minister. Yon do not believe it? Of
coarse you do not. We thought “we had
ol imbed where Moses stood ” when we
were of yonr age, bnt we know better now.
We concede that you have capacity. Bnt
you are as yet untried. The heavy tread
of the commander of an ocean steamer
would almost swamp the sloop he first set
sail in. Bnt he might not be safe for the
steamer if he had not began in the sloop
or the forecastle.
Despise it not because your people have
not “city manners.” Among an nnaffect
ed country people is the place to study
human nature. They are not ashamed to
shout or cry, and if they show other spirits
sometimes without sufficient reason, do
not forget that so did St. Peter. Study
them well, and if you should ever get into
the city you will b 9 a clairvoyant and read
human nature to-day through the past;
and people will wonder how you find their
hearts. Despise not the sons and daugh
ters of farmers and mechanics, for three
quarters of the leading men and women
of city churches were converted at conn
try altars in their boyhood and girlhood.
Despise not your church because it is
in the country. “God made the country,
man made the town.” In the city you
could not get your head above water, so
that people three blocks from your church
would know your name in three years. In
the country you will be known and loved
in a month by the whole community.
Head Wordsworth’s poems, learn to com
mune with nature, love the flower, the
faded leaf, the hill, the valley, the lonely
walk, the cattle in the meadow, yes, and
the storm ; and in the winter love the roar
of the wood fire. You will fill your reper
tory with images of beauty that will make
yonr discourse sparkle down to old age.
“ But the salary is too small.” Preaoh
pray, work and visit, so that they will
raise it out of pure love to you and the
cause. Meanwhile, live on it, and save
money on it. Baida city Baptist minis
ter to ns once, “ My salary is 32,000 a
year, but I cannot live on it.” We said,
“ How do you get along?” 3*id be, “I
eke it out with what I saved when I was
on Cape Cod at a salary of 3500 per year.”
Go thou and do likewise. Live country
fashion, not city fashion. "Bat my class
mate has gone to a city church, and why
conld not I?” Well, better be called from
country to city than have people wonder
how you got into the city. Hear, young
brother: If your class-mate, without pre
vious experience, has gone into the city,
he may succeed, but it will require a nnion
of extraordinary good fortune with the
most incredible exertions But be may
not succeed, and having been weighed in
the balance of a merciless pubic, he will
be remanded without hope. Envy him
not. Build up your health, read, study,
preach, visit, preserve a cultivated da
meanor as a man, use a chaste though fer
vent style as a speaker, and you will in
due time hear a voice saying, “Friend,
come up higher ” —that is, if a city ap
pointment is higher.
But if you fume, and fret, and whine,
and tell the people that you expected
something better, you will fail where you
are and never rise, but rather sink.
Someone reading thus far, may say :
“Ah, me! I have been in the ministry
twenty years and never had anything but
a couutrv church, and those of the poorest
sort.” Brother, read these words and
think well of them. Which have you neg
lected ? preparation for the pulpit, pas
toral visiting, or personal manners ?
which—one, two or three ? Must you
confess that yon have depended on the
inspiration of the occasion for the sermon,
or only visited at random, or have die-sed
and performed your public duties in a
slovenly manner ? If so, “’Tis never too
late to mend.” Bat if you can conscien
tiously sy that you have done your best
in these things, then bow revereutly to
Him who hss ord- red your lot in life, and
know that for tvery good thing and all
patient endarance, “ von -hall in nowise
lose your reward.”— N. Y, Methodist,
F. fH. KENNEDY, O. B4IIW.
J. W BURKE .Assistant Hdttsr,
A. C. HAYGOOD, I>. D., Editorial Correspondent.
Religious Controversy.
The law of Christ in respect to contro
versy may be learned from His own ex
ample, and from the precepts of his word.
His example is a safe gnide. He was
often, daring his ministry, in controversy
with the most unreasonable men. Bnt
in no instance do we find Him resort to
sophistry in defenoe and advooacy of the
troth. He never seeks to silence an ad
versary by appeals to popular hatred. He
never indulges in ridicule. He never mis
represents the opinion of others ; never
puts a false constrnotion on their condnot,
is never guilty of deceit. Though he
could not be deterred by fear from utter
ing the troth, he eonld not even speak the
troth for the pleasure of inflicting pain by
it. He oameinto the woildon an errand
of love, not to the righteous, bnt to the
wicked ; not to friends, bnt to enemies ;
and their opposition to Him, even to the
shedding of His blood, never damped the
ardor of His charity. In this spirit only—
the spirit of love, is it lawful for ns to as
snme in the Chnrch the word of contro
versy. In this spirit of Christ we should
imitate the example of Christ. We shonld
hesitate to employ, in defence of His
cause, any weapon whieh he, in his integ
rity or wisdom, refrained from using. So
far as bis example has force as a law to ns,
the path of duty is plain. But he has
made it still plainer in his word. He tells
ns by his apostle, 2 Tim. ii: 24-26, that
“ The servant of the Lord mnst not strive,
bnt be gentle to all men ; apt to teaeh ;
patient, in meekness instructing them
that oppose themselves, if God will per
adventnre give them repentance to the ac
knowledgment of the truth.” What a
different speetaole from this do most theo
logical combatants present to the world 1
One would jndge from their pages that
meekness was the last graoe to be expeot
ed in controversy, and patienoe next to
the last. Victory seems to be their sole
aim ; any means, however dishonorable,
of accomplishing so good an end, they
appear to think quite pardonable. Were
we to accept the account whioh they give
of each other as correct, we mnst consider
both parties destitute, not only of Chris
tian principle, bnt of common honesty.
We have known intentional misrepresen
tation abundantly charged, and, in some
oases, proved npon man, who in any office
bnt that of defenders of the faith, would
be esteemed worthy of all credit. Were we
to suppress thiß faot, especially if we were
to deny it lest it shonld reflect some dis
honor upon religion, we shonld be gnilty
of the very crime whieh we condemn. Tbe
history of the Christian Chnrob, if writ
ten as it actually passed nnder the eye of
Omniscience, wonld probably reveal moral
obliquities in good men that would over
whelm ns with astonishment and shame ;
yet it shonld be added, to the honor of
Christianity, that she extends no counte
nance to the wiokedness of her professors.
It iB the dishonor of hnman nature, not of
religion, that even the renewing grace of
God does not at onee raise man to a state
of immaculate purity. We know of no
other way of accounting for the particu
lar obliquity of whioh we speak, bnt to
snppose there is still larking in the Pro
testant Chnroh that most corrupt princi
ple, that tbe end sanctifies the means.
This we have been accustomed to regard
as the peculiar corruption of the Chnroh
of Home ; yet Protestants are certainty
sadly infected by it. Nor is it very diffl
onlt to aooonnt for tbe fact. Good men
are easily drawn by a desire to do good,
into approbation of what seem to them
the most efficient means. A measure of
seeming utility, though unlawful, is sel
dom regarded with nnmingled disappro
bation. It was, we may charitably sup
pose, nnder this blinding influence, that
good men in the early age of Christianity,
fabricated epistles and memoirs, in the
names of apostles and saints, and pnb
fished them to the world as genuine works.
Their object was to oheok the spread of
heresy; and to do so great a good by what
appeared to them to be a harmless artifice,
occasioned probably no very paiufal com
punctions.—New Englander.
The Mark-
It iB said that no person can walk
straight in any direction unless he follows
some mark or path, or is guided by some
distant object, toward which he may di
reot his course. Let a man be blindfolded,
and if he attempt to walk in a right line
he will invariably find himself describing
a cirole, as persons lost in forests or on
trackless wastes usually travel round and
round, sometimes wunderiDg for days and
yet never going far from the point from
whence they started.
The reason assigned for this is the un
equal strength on the two sides of the
human body, one foot walking a little
faster than the other, and so turning the
stepß from a straight line to a circular
course, and sending a man round and
round in aimless and endless wanderings.
Indeed, let any person be blindfolded
and placed in a large field, and told to find
his way to any distant point in the inclo
sure, and he will probably be utterly un
able to direct his steps so as to reach the
place he desires. Nothing but sight can
guide the steps; and the sight must be
rightly directed and steadily fixed on some
distant objeot, or the steps will uncon
sciously diverge from the desired oourse.
A person looking carefully at his feet
while walking through a field will find
that his path is far from straight. He can
only make a straight path by turning his
eye away from his feet, and shaping his
oourse toward some objeot afar off.
The spiritual lesson illustrated by this
faot is obvious. Men, blinded by the god
of this world, wander round and round,
without aim or end, and even when their
eyes are opened to know the folly of their
oourse, they either follow in a path which
others have trodden, pursuing it in all its
windings and turnings to and fro, or. in
passing over an untrodden way, their feet
unconsciously turn aside and stray far
from the course which they desired to
pursue. One way alone remains. He
who would make straight paths for his
feet, lest that whioh is lame be turned out
of the way, who would, in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation, pursue
a steadfast course, must fix his eye npon
some mark toward which he may direct
his steps with steady and unflagging
zeal.
“ Wh refore, laying aside every weight,
and the sin that doth so easily beset us.
let us run with patience the race that is
set before us, looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith.”
Taking Him for our pattern, our guide,
onr beacon, our bright and mornings ar,
we may walk boldly and confidently
through this world of cares and sn>ir s, of
errors and mistakes, assured that so long
as onr eye is fixed on Jesus our feet can
not go far from the narrow way. Forget
ting the things that are behind, we may
tbns reach forward to the things that are
before, and press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus,
The Sin of Fretting.
There is one sin which it seems to me is
everywhere by everybody underestimated,
tolerated with undue tolerance, and quite
too much overlooked in our valuations of
character. It is the sin of fretting. It is
as common as air, as universal as speech;
so common that unless it rises above its
nsual monotone we do not even observe it.
Watch any ordinary ooming together of
people, and see how many minutes it will
be before somebody frets—that is, makes
a more or less complaining statement of
something or other whioh, most probably,
every one in the room, or stage, or the
car, or the street corner, as it may be,
knew before, and which, most probably,
nobody can help. Why say anything
about it ? It is oold, it is hot, it is wet.
it is dry; somebody has broken an ap-
WHOLE NUMBER 1970
pointment, ill-cooked a meal; stupidity er
bad faith somewhere has resulted ia dis
comfort There are always plenty of
things to fret about. The days will
always have more or leu bad weather, or
weather inconvenient to sosaebody’s fixed
plan. All man go astray, speaking lise
and making blunders as soon as thoy are
born. It is simply astonishing how aiaeh
annoyanoe and discomfort may ba fonad
in the coarse of every day’s living, even
at tbe simplest if one only keeps a sharp
eye ont on that aids of things. Mvm
Holy Writ says we are born unto (roable
as the sparks fiynpward. Bnt even to
the sparks flying npward in the blackest
of smoke, there is a bine sky above, md
the leu time they watte on the road the
sooner they will reaoh it Fretting is ell
time wasted on the road.— Helen Hunt, tn
the Independent,
A Touching Incident.
Not many years sinoe certain miners,
working far nnder gronnd, came npon the
body of a poor yonng fellow who had per
ished in the inffooating pit forty years
before. Some chemical agent to whieh
the body had been subjected—an agent
prepared in the laboratory of natnre—had
effectually arrested the progress of deeay.
They bronght it np to the snrfaoe, and
for a while, till thoroughly exposed to the
atmosphere, it lay—the image of a fine,
sturdy yonng man. No convulsion! had
passed over the faoe in death—the fee*
tares were tranquil; the hair was bleak as
jet. No one recognised the face; a gene
ration had grown np sinoe the mines
went down into the shaft for the last Hns.
Bnt a tottering old woman who had hur
ried from her cottage at hearing the news
oame np, and she knew again the faee
whioh through all these long yean she
had not forgotten. The miner ms to
have been her husband on the day after
that on whioh ha died. There were ae
dry eyes when the grey-headed old pil
grim oast herself npon the yonthfnl corpse
and ponred into his deaf ear many words
of endearment nnnsed for forty years. It
was a touching contrast—the one so old,
the other so-yonng. They had both been
yonng these long years ago, bnt time had
gone on with the living and stood still
with the dead.— London Herald.
Miscellanea.
Tub Italian government appears to be
following closely in the footeteps of the
Germans. A bill is soon to be bronght
into Parliament for the suppression of
Roman Oatholio olnbs and 00 -fraternities
of laymen.
Thb London Watchman contains the
following : “ The Italo-Amerioan Meth
odists in Rome have jast paid a large snm
for a very eligible plot of bonding ground
on the Piazzi Poll, next to the Chnroh of
the Orooifferi, npon whioh they propose
to bnild a chapel. There will be only A
partition wall between the Roman attd
the Methodist ohnrohes."
It is said that one fourth of all the pas
torates in the Evangelical Chnroh of FimS
sia are vacant, and the Lutherans deplore
the low state of religion in Berlin. The
nnmber of eommnmoanfcs is only twelve
per cent of the population ; there ia only
one ehnroh for every 20 000 souls, ana
eighty per cent of the bnrlals take place
without a minister.
At the fnneral of his favorite daughter
the Khedive distributed among the orowd
460 000 pieces of silver ooin, from one to
five paxtres each. Upon the lid of the
oofflo the jewelry of the deceased, valned
at 3 000,000 florins was exhtbited. Twen
ty-fonr buffaloes were killed by the priests
before the Mosqnes Rilah at Cairo, roasted
and eaten, and then 8,000 priest* said
prayers by the tomb for seven days.
Fob the year 1870, 9106 900 has been
collected for Moravian foreign missions
in tbe American, British, and German pro
vinous, and the disbnrsemen ta h *ve reached
8103 500 Besides this, 826, T 66 has been
oofieoted to pay off a former debt, and the
year has began with a balance of 866.000
in the treasury. Tbe nnmber of mission
aries employed Is 336 ; there are 92 sta
tions and 15 ont stations, and 67,795 per
sons are nnder the oars of the miMloß*-
ries.
From reports made to the Hamburg
Conference of the Young Men's Chris
tian Association, it appears that there ore
now on the continent of Europe about
five hundred Associations, and half M
many more exist in Great Britain and
Ireland. The latter group of societies
has been in many oases greatly prospered
the past year, notably in the cities where
a wonderful work of graoe has accom
panied the labors of Messrs. Moody and
Sankey.
ConPOBTAun in Jerusalem — Jacob
Hishmek is succeeding wonderfully itt
selling tracts and portions of scripture in
Jerusalem. Daring sixty days he sold
5 036 oopies of Russian, Bulgarian, Greek,
Arminian and Arablo tracts. The details
of his conversations with pilgrims are
very interesting. The Coptio pilgrims
who would not take one list year, have
this year bought freely Arabic oopies of
the sermon on the Mount, the twenty
fifth ohapter of Matthew, etc.
The Bible is still the book of the Mad
agascar Christians, as it wisin the days of
persecution. For some time the stock of
Bibles at the mission was exhausted, and
it was painful to be obliged to tnrn eager
inquirers for the volumes away. At last
the English Bible Society sent five thous
and Bibles. These were all sold in a few
days, and hundreds of people who came
too late had to be sent away. One man
sold his principal garment (a kind of
shirt) in order to make up the required
shilling.
The Sixth General Conference of the
Evangelioal Association met in Fourth
street Church, Philadelphia, Ootober 14.
The first General Conference was held
fifty-nine years ago in a private house in
Union county, Pennsylvania. According
to the latest reports the Evangelioal As
sociation, formerly known as Albrights,
have T 79 itinerant and 519 looal preaoh
ers, 95,247 membsrs, 1,244 churches,
worth 33 034.891, 353 parsonages, worth
3418,935, and r-ised during the la*t year,
for missions, 365.165, and for Sunday
sohools and tracts, 32 108. They have
1,635 Sunday schools, 17 166 officers and
teachers, and 92.086 tonulars.
It is estimated that there are 146,000
drinking saloons in thisoountry ; 128,000
school-houses ; 54,000 church buildings.
There are about four liquor dealers to each
school teacher, and twelve for every
preacher. There are supposed to be
5 000 000 daily customers at the drinking
saloons, or about one-sr-v. nth of the pop
ulation, who drink the 72 600 000 gallons
of liquor made by the 29 000 distilleries,
besides wine, beer, and adulterations
which we might missure by the milldem
full. With these facta before us, we ean
estimate the work the churob, the school,
and the temperanoe men have on hand.
The Archbishop of Toulouse has Just
issued a kind of pastoral, directed against
the believers in Spiritualism. He ac
knowledges the existence of spirits, but
affirms that those eonsulted by the “ me
diums ” are evil ones, sent by Satan to de
lude those who are weak enongh to believe
them. “ The Holy Soriptures,” he says,
“ BDd the history of the Church, teach ml
that God has often spoken by the voioe of
His angels and His saints, but it was under
conditions in oonformity with the teach
ings of the Catholic faith, and gnaranteed
by the infallible control of the Ohurok.
Therefore these revelations, under the
form of public or private revelation, have
beoome the oompass of the human reason.
Spiritism, on the contrary, converses will
the invisible world in contempt of Divine
injunctions, and the authority of the
Church. Therefore their revelations are
ohaos.”