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222

THE CHRISTIAN TOURISTS.

From Malta's temples to the gates of Rome,

Following the track of Paul,

And where the Alps gird round the Switzer's home
Their vast, eternal wall;

They paused not by the ruins of old time,

They scanned no pictures rare,

Nor lingered where the snow-locked mountains climb
The cold abyss of air!

But unto prisons, where men lay in chains,
To haunts where Hunger pined,

To kings and courts forgetful of the pains
And wants of human kind,

Scattering sweet words, and quiet deeds of good,
Along their way, like flowers,
Or, pleading as Christ's freemen only could,
With princes and with powers;

Their single aim the purpose to fulfil
Of Truth, from day to day,
Simply obedient to its guiding will,

They held their pilgrim way,

Yet dream not, hence the beautiful and old
Were wasted on their sight,

Who in the school of Christ had learned to hold
All outward things aright.

Not less to them the breath of vineyards blown
From off the Cyprian shore,

Not less for them the Alps in sunset shone,
That man they valued more.

A life of beauty lends to all it sees

The beauty of its thought;

And fairest forms and sweetest harmonies

Make glad its way, unsought.

READING NOT KNOWLEDGE.

In sweet accordancy of praise and love,
The singing waters run;

And sunset mountains wear in light above
The smile of duty done;

Sure stands the promise-ever to the meek
A heritage is given;

Nor lose they Earth, who, single-hearted, seek
The righteousness of Heaven!

223

J. G. WHITTIER.

Keading not Knowledge.

Ir may be questioned whether the reading of what are called good books may not be carried too far-whether it may not hinder reflection, promote self-ignorance, flatter with the name of a good work, and terminate in mere profession and spiritual pride. All the books in the world will not let us into the knowledge of our hearts, unless we take them there ourselves by meditation. The very innocence of the employment renders a man too careless of what should be going on within. He is like a person who, having a large acquaintance with men of agreeable manners, wide information, and good character, spends all his time among them, without looking to his domestic concerns. And the consequence is likely to be the same-a home in disorder and con. fusion. Let those companions be the most pious of men, the result will not be otherwise; and let the student's occupation be sacred literature itself, he will not escape the evil effects of too exclusively outward attention, unless he is careful, by frequent meditation, to apply the results of his studies to practical improvement.

EVANS'S BIOG. OF THE EARLY CHURCH.

The Quaker of the Olden Vime.

AN ARGUMENT FOR FREE PRODUCE.

THE Quaker of the olden time!—
How calm and firm and true!
Unspotted by its wrong and crime
He walked the dark earth through!
The lust of power, the love of gain,
The thousand lures of sin
Around him, had no power to stain
The purity within.

With that deep insight, which detects
All great things in the small,

And knows how each man's life affects
The spiritual life of all,

He walked by faith and not by sight,
By love and not by law ;

The presence of the wrong or right,
He rather felt than saw.

He felt that wrong with wrong partakes,
That nothing stands alone,

That whoso gives the motive, makes

His brother's sin his own.
And pausing not for doubtful choice
Of evils great or small,

He listened to that inward voice
Which called away from all.

Oh, spirit of that early day!
So pure and strong and true,
Be with us in the narrow way
Our faithful fathers knew.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 225

Give strength the evil to forsake,

The cross of Truth to bear,

And love and reverent fear to make

Our daily lives a prayer!

J. G. WHITTIER.

Observations on the Christian Ministry.

I CONCEIVE that the Christian Church at large is much indebted to George Fox and his brethren, for the bold, clear, and steadfast manner in which they maintained the doctrines of universal and saving Light. Happily they are held by a large and very increasing proportion of Christian believers. The late William Wilberforce, so well known as an evangelical member of the Church of England, emphatically expressed to me, on two occasions, his full conviction that an effective offer of salvation is made to "every man born into the world:" and how can such an offer be made, except by a visitation of the Holy Spirit?

Little as I am inclined to cast any blame upon others who are evidently accepted and assisted by their "own Master," I conceive it to be a duty, plainly laid upon the Society of Friends, to hold up a still higher and purer standard respecting the Christian ministry. It is a principle generally understood and admitted by the members of that Society, that the faculty of the Christian ministry is a gift of the Spirit, which cannot be rightly exercised otherwise than under the direct and immediate influence of that Spirit. Friends are not, therefore, satisfied with any general impression, that it is their duty to preach the Gospel nor do they venture, under such impression, either

226

OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

to employ their own intellectual exertions as a preparation for the service, or to select their own time for performing it. If it be the divine will that they should minister, they believe it will be manifested to them, by the divine Spirit, when they are to speak, whom they are to address, and what things they are to express. In the exercise of so high and sacred a function, they dare not depend, either in a greater or less degree, upon their own strength or wisdom; but they feel constrained to place their sole reliance upon Him who "searcheth the reins and the hearts;" upon Him who "hath the key of David;" who "openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth." The use of the Christian ministry, whether in preaching or in prayer, whether in the public congregation, or even in the more private circle,-is immediately connected with the worship of God. It is universally understood to constitute a part of that worship. The sentiments of Friends, therefore, on this subject, like those on the rites of baptism and the supper, arise out of that part of the divine law as revealed under the New Covenant, which declares that God is a Spirit, and must be worshipped, by his followers, in spirit and in truth.

According to our apprehension, the hiring of preachers degrades the character, and corrupts the practical operation of the ministry of the Gospel. It is evident that such a system is closely connected with the notion, that the preacher may exersise his high functions on the authority, and according to the pleasure of man: and, in practice, it obviously tends, in a very injurious manner, to confirm and establish that notion. Were it true that the ministry of the Gospel is properly the work of man, requiring no other sanction than his appointment, and no other forces than his exertions, no objection whatever, could be made to such a method of proceeding. In that case,

it would arise out of those fundamental laws of justice, which ought ever to regulate transactions between man and man.

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