foot which struck from the sward of Cowper's mild and silent life a joyous Castalie, a fountain deep as Milton's fire, and like it, tinctured with each learned and sacred thing it touched in rising, but soft and full as Siloah's fount, which flowed fast by the oracle of God. And that Gospel was the torch which on the hills of Renfrewshire fired a young spirit, himself both sacrifice and altar-pile, till Britain spied the light, and wondered at the brief but brilliant beacon. But why name the individual instances? What is modern learning, and the march of intellect, and the reading million, but one great monument of the Gospel's quickening power? Three hundred years ago the classics were revived; but three hundred years ago the Gospel was restored. Digging in the Pompeii of the middle age, Lorenzo and Leo found the lamps in which the old classic fires once burned; but there was no oil in the lamps, and they had long since gone out. For models of candelabra and oil-bearers there could not be better than Livy and Horace, and Plato and Pindar; but the faith which once filled them,' the old Pagan fervour, was long since extinct, and the lamps were only fit for the shelf of the antiquary. But it was then that in the crypt of the convent, Luther and Zwingle and Melancthon observed a line of supernatural light, and with lever and mattock lifted the grave-stone, and found the Gospel which the Papist had buried. There it had flamed "a light shining in a dark place," through unsuspected ages, unquenchable in its own immortality, the long-lost lamp of the sepulchre. Jupiter was dead, and Minerva had melted into

ether, and Apollo was grey with eld, and the most elegant idols of antiquity had gone to the moles and the bats. But

there is One who cannot die and does not

change; and the sempiternal fountain of learning is He who is also the Fountain of Life, the Alpha and Omega, Jesus the Son of God. From his Gospel it was that the old classic lamps, when filled with fresh oil, were kindled again; at that Gospel it was that Bacon and Locke and Milton and Newton, and all the mighty spirits of modern Europe, caught the fire which made them blaze the meteors and marvels of their time.

and

newspaper readers, let him remember that nothing can immortalize the works of genius if there be no Gospel in them. The facts of that Gospel are the world's main stock of truth, the fire of that Gospel is the only Promethean spark that can ignite our dead truths into quenchless and world-quickening powers.

[The lecture ended by quoting some testimonies which men of letters have borne to the moral power of the Bible on their own minds, with a plea for its devout and reverent perusal, and with the suggestion of some services which the man of letters might render to the cause of vital Christianity. But to insert these at full would be an undue encroachment on limited space.]

CONSECRATED PLACES.-It is written, that God dwells not in temples made with hands, nor is worshipped with any work of man's hands; but he is a Spirit, an invisible substance, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth; not in outward words only of the lips, but with the deep sighs and groanings of the heart; and therefore he doth not so much require of us to build him a house of stone and timber, but hath willed us to pray in all places, and hath taken away that Jewish and Popish holiness than in another. All the earth is the which is thought to be more in one place Lord's, and he is in all places, hearing him in faith. Therefore, those bishops the petitions of them which call upon who think with their conjured water to make one place more holy than the rest, are no better than Jews, deceiving the people, and teaching that only to be holy which they have censed and crossed, said to the woman, thinking one place to oiled and breathed upon. For as Christ be holier than another, “Woman, believe the time is come when ye shall worship neither in Jerusalem nor in this hill; but the true worshippers shall worso it is ship God in spirit and in truth; now said, the place makes not the man holy, but the man makes the place holy. -Pilkington.

me,

Ir is every way as reasonable that we be content, however God dispose of us, as that we be obedient to whatever he commands us.-Flavel.

-

I. The first of these positions rests on the plain ground that "the labourer is worthy of his reward;" "as the Scripture saith," quoted in 1 Timothy v. 18. When our Lord first sent forth the disciples to preach the Gospel, he said to them, "Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither get two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves; not meaning that manna was to be rained down for them, nor that their garments would not wax old, nor their shoes wear out, but simply that others, and not they themselves, were to provide what things were necessary for their maintenance; "for," it is added, "the workman is worthy of his meat.' (Matthew x. 9, 10; Mark vi. 8-10; Luke x. 4-7.) "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach by the Gospel should live of the Gospel." (1 Cor. ix. 7, 13, 14.)

Such is the ordinance of God, of which

| the reasonableness is obvious, and so is the reason, viz., that the work of the ministry requires any man's undivided time and attention and strength. By whatever rites outwardly consecrated or ordained, and by whomsoever outwardly called and sent, all ministers ought to be wholly set apart for the work of the Lord. They are to "meditate upon these things;" to "give themselves wholly unto them; "to continue in them; "to do the work of evangelists, making full proof of, and taking heed to, the ministry they have received of the Lord that they fulfil it." (1 Timothy iv. 15, 16; 2 Tim. iv. 5; Rom. xii. 7; Colossians iv. 17.)

It is true that the Apostle Paul himself wrought with his own hands at Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, who were tentmakers (Acts xviii. 3), and at the same time he reasoned and preached in the synagogue every Sabbath-day. (Ver. 4.) But he takes care to shew and to leave on record, 1st. That this was because of his own spontaneous and selfdenying generosity. 2d. That he had as full right to maintenance as any of the apostles, and that his case was never to be taken as an example or precedent. And 3dly. That the Corinthian Church was greatly to blame for suffering him thus to labour. "Behold," he said, "the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you; for I seek not your's, but you." 66 We have not used this power, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ.' But when other apostles claim their rights, "I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?" "In nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing." "And what is it wherein ye were inferior to other Churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? "Therefore as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. viii. 1—12; xi. 7—10; xii. 13, 14; 1 Thess. ii. 9; 2 Thess. iii. 8.)

It is notorious how far this first principle concerning the support of the ministry has been departed from in all the Churches of Christ in this land. A large proportion of Christian ministers

are compelled to maintain themselves by labours unconnected with their ministerial office. In the Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches many are engaged in the secular instruction of youth, or in literary and scientific occupation, in order to gain a livelihood. And among the Dissenting denominations in England, especially the Baptists and Independents, the position in which the greatest number of their ministers is kept is a disgrace and scandal to religion. Talk of the unequal distribution of wealth in the Established Church,-why, the inequality is tenfold greater among Congregational ministers, some of whom have almost prelatic revenues, while their poor brethren in the same union or district have scarce enough to keep body and soul together, were it not for their manual labour during the week. Now and then there appears an Eldad or a Medad (Numb. xi. 26),—a tinker Bunyan or a cobbler Howe among the unlearned and irregular Dissenting preachers: but such are rare exceptions. While study and learning are not essential for personal piety, there are few who ought without them to undertake to be public teachers and instructors of others. And, in order to be rightly prepared either for the defence or the setting forth of the truth, they that preach the Gospel should so live of the Gospel as to be able to give themselves wholly to the things connected with their sacred office.

II. The second general principle is, that the maintenance of the minister should be sufficient and suitable to the office. This needs little illustration or proof. Where there is constant anxiety and carefulness there can be little activity or heartiness in any sort of work. And without sufficient means it is quite impossible to fulfil the instructions, or obey the commands put upon a bishop-a scriptural bishop or pastorin the Word of God. How can a man be "given to hospitality,' "ready to distribute,' "willing to communicate," who hardly knows how to provide things for himself honest in the sight of all men? How can a man feed the hungry, clothe the naked, relieve the poor, who has barely enough allowed him for the supply of his own wants?

One of the most eminent Dissenting ministers in London, in giving a public Charge to a young brother recently appointed to a congregation, actually warned him against keeping a spare bed,

else it would always be occupied, and involve him in needless expense! How different from the apostolic exhortation to be a lover of good men, and not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares ! (1 Tim. iii. 2; Tit. i. 8; Rom. xii. 13; Heb. xiii. 2.)

Without saying more of the individual and private bearing of this principle, we would point out its connexion with the general and public character of the Gospel ministry. And this will be best done by quoting one or two passages from a very interesting article which appeared some time since in the "Original Secession Magazine," in Scotland, and which was reprinted and circulated by the Sustentation Committee of the Free Church :

"There is no class of official persons in the country-and, indeed, no class of private individuals-whose labours are so miserably remunerated as are those of non-established ministers in general, and of our denomination in particular. Let the income of our ministers be fairly and impartially compared with those of persons engaged in manual labour, and it will be found that, in point of real remuneration, that of three-fourths of them is inferior to the income of ordinary miners and masons and joiners, and other artisans, and that it is, in point of fact, in many cases considerably below that even of the worst remunerated hinds in the country. This statement, however paradoxical it may seem when first enunciated, is capable of being so strictly demonstrated as to secure the assent of every person of reflection and candour."

The writer then gives a table of estimated expenses of a minister with 1007. a-year, from which it appears that,

66

deducting from that sum all necessary expenses, all expenses which he must have, all expenses which he cannot help having, which he can only cease to have by ceasing to be a minister, or by sinking down into a position in which no minister can maintain his respectability before the public, the income of a minister with the receipt of 100l. is much inferior to that of ordinary artisans, and not in any degree superior to that of our requited labourers.' "These estimates," it is added, "are framed by one who has had some little experience on the subject of ministerial expenditure, and who has also enjoyed larger opportunities than most ministers of knowing the actual

worst

and necessary expenditure of persons of various classes in the more ordinary stations of life." The result is, that "after all the expenses which necessarily attend his station, not the expenses which he may have, but the expenses which he cannot help having, after these are deducted, it appears that a minister with 100l. a-year is no better than a labourer with 33. This is only 17. 16s. more than the labourer who receives 2s. per day; it is 67. per annum below the labourer who receives 2s. 6d. per day; and it is 191. per annum in comfort below the joiner who receives 1. per week; and 291. 8s. in comfort below the artisan who receives a weekly remuneration of 24s."

“The extreme inadequacy of ministerial remuneration has exercised, and is exercising, a most baneful effect on ministerial energy, and on the general prosperity of the body; and it threatens, unless something be done, to bring matters to a most calamitous issue. The state of mind into which a minister is thrown by an income which causes him to be either constantly embarrassed, or constantly on the stretch in devising new methods of self-denial to escape embarrassment, is one that has a peculiar tendency to unfit him for the duties of his station. This may, in some degree, be understood by all persons who have had perplexities in their worldly affairs; but it bears with tenfold pressure and severity on persons engaged in employments where the mind rather than the body requires to be exerted. All mental exertions require mental calm, and a copious supply, not only of the animal spirits, but of that fine energy and vivacity which spring from a mind habituated to pleasurable sensations, is indispensably necessary to animation in a public speaker. But a painful sense of worldly embarrassment agitates the mind, dries up the sap of the soul, withers the bloom and the foliage of the lighter faculties, and smothers, if it cannot quench, the fire of immortal genius; and, just as surely as any law of nature, produces a class of men who, it may be, are able in point of talent,-who, it may be, are strong and excellent, and elevated in point of character, but who will just as certainly be deficient in the readiness, and the liveliness, and the fire which are necessary qualifications of the effective and attractive public speaker. It is no doubt true, adversity is one of the best

of all teachers; but, as certain kinds of food go chiefly to nourish the solid parts of the body, so adversity goes chiefly to nourish the solids of the soul, the accessions which it makes go all to strengthen the character of the man, and not to increase the accomplishments of the minister; it grows all into grace, and none of it into gift. . . .

"And this is not the only evil caused by the embarrassed circumstances of our ministers. It has a tendency, like all adversity, to make men solitaries; to confine them too much to their closets and studies; to deprive them of the heart for those frequent outgoings among a people widely scattered which might be beneficial. And where the spirit is made of materials not to be so easily subdued into pensiveness, it will cause the individual to engage in literary or other pursuits, which is always to be deplored when it is the result of circumstances; for though the voluntary exercise of his pen will in all respects invigorate a minister's mind, he had better, for the health of his character, make tents like the apostle, than wield a mercenary pen; and we fear that the present inadequate remuneration of ministers among all Dissenting bodies is likely to introduce an amphibious class of office-bearers. 'cleric before and lay behind,' who, after acting for a time as the mercenaries of literature, will become the drones of religion.

"And besides, under the influence of such discouragement, it is to be expected that there will always be some, now and then, whose faith and patience give way under the trials to which they are exposed, and who, unable longer to bear their privations, embrace other openings, and are lost to the cause. It is wonderful that there has been so little of this, when we consider the frailty of human nature, and the temptations to unfaithfulness by which our ministers have been beset. It is wonderful that so many of them have been enabled to bear as they have done. Whatever they have suffered, we may say, we believe, respecting them all-the world has not heard of it-their own congregations have never heard of it. They have been enabled, almost to a man, to be examples of contentment under hardships, and of a thorough honesty in the midst of deep poverty, and of a spirit of lofty disinterestedness, and a resolute self-denial, and a contentment that was silent as the grave in