Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses ;" and "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Let all learners in the school of theology look at the fall in the light of the restoration, and they will see not only the reasonableness of the justification of the ungodly when they believe, but the justice of exclusion from God's presence of those who believe not. J. S.

WE

ART. VII.-THE PREACHING ADAPTED TO THE AGE.* know of no means by which any truth or doctrine can be so readily and effectively impressed upon the minds of men as the right use of the human voice. True, a book is an easy and convenient medium of information. It is the instrument by which holy men of old enlighten us, and by which good men of modern times instruct us; they being dead yet speak to us. They tell us at our own firesides what they saw, heard, thought and felt in distant ages, and in distant parts of the world. Yet, beyond a doubt, there is a charm and fascination about a living speaker, who knows how to speak, which no book can supply. His voice with its varied intonations, his person, his attitude, and the expression of his countenance, combine to produce an effect upon the minds and hearts of men, which no mere book can ever accomplish. A book is artificial, an orator is natural, and therefore more effective. We hence see the wisdom and goodness of God in commanding his servants to preach the Gospel. A large proportion of preachers may be dull and uninteresting speakers, yet undoubtedly, the ministers of the Gospel address every week a far greater number of people than any other class of teachers in Europe, or America, or perhaps in the whole world.

Human nature is the same in all ages. Man has ever felt himself a sinner, and felt the want of a Saviour, "What shall I do to be saved?" is a cry which has been heard in every age and in every land. Hence false religion as well as the true, has supplied a priest to intercede for the sinner, and a sacrifice to atone for his guilt. So offensive to God has sin been believed to be, that this truth has been engraved upon the hearts of all nations, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission."

But while this feeling is universal it differs very much in degree. In some men it is deep, in others it is shallow. The former anxiously listen to the earnest and faithful minister of God's word, while the latter listen to no minister at all, or it may be crowd around him, who affords them the most entertainment. Thus it has been in all ages. But the present age is distinguished by a

* An Essay, read before the Preachers' Association of the Sunderland District in May, 1865.

few characteristics, which, if they did exist in former ages, do at least exist in a greater degree in this age.

I. THE FIRST IS EDUCATION, which is not peculiar to our day, but is certainly more extensively diffused than in any former period. Until within a century ago very few below the middle classes could afford to educate their children, and fewer still had the disposition to do so, consequently generation after generation grew up in ignorance; and education was almost confined to those persons who held respectable positions in life. But now this boon is not peculiar to any class, it is common to all. Artisans and miners are better educated than the esquires of former times, young children possess a larger store of information than their aged parents; and it is against nature and reason that they should submit to be instructed by those who are less intelligent than themselves. Our fathers who were so extensively useful in the infancy of the connexion were for the most part men of very moderate education, but those whom they were the means of bringing to God were certainly more illiterate than themselves. And as an illiterate ministry can only teach those who are more illiterate than themselves, they can only be of service to one portion of the community, and that portion is diminishing every day, and must continue to diminish as knowledge increases. The divine command is to preach the Gospel to every creature. But an educated people will not listen to an uneducated preacher, he is therefore unable to preach the Gospel to a large and increasing class of his countrymen, and consequently fails so far to fulfil the divine commission. Yet it must be confessed that there is still a large field in which an illiterate ministry may find plenty of work for some time to come. And as long as one good and earnest man can persuade a poor sinner to turn from his wickedness, let him continue to work with all his might in his Master's vineyard, never doubting that his Master's blessing will attend his faithful labours. But certainly the preaching adapted to the age, in the full sense of that phrase, must be such as can reach and influence these two large classes of the community. The uneducated preacher can only teach the one class, the educated preacher can teach both, and all other things being equal he must be the more extensively useful in turning sinners from darkness to light, for he has a wider field to work in, and is more likely to secure the aid of the more influential class to spread light and knowledge among the other class. Suppose the educated minister were useless among the ignorant, is that a greater calamity than the uneducated minister being useless among the enlightened? Hardly, if at all, for be it observed the enlightened class is large and increasing, and the other is decreasing; besides this, the ignorant party is more influenced by the intelligent, than the intelligent is influenced by

the ignorant. But why should a good and wise man be less useful among the unenlightened for being educated? Would Paul, Wycliffe, Luther, or Wesley have been more successful in converting the lower orders of society from sin and error to virtue and truth if they had been illiterate men? Surely not. And as this age exceeds all others in the extent of its education and intelligence, the ministry of this age should be more extensively educated and intelligent than that of any previous age. And the good and wise man whom God has called to deliver his solemn message to the people, will do it more effectively for having been favoured with a liberal education.

II. THE FORM AND EXTENT OF INFIDELITY. Infidelity is as old as sin, and belongs to every age. In past times it was coarse, insolent, and blasphemous. It was an illshaped and hideous monster, and few people would confess to holding any intercourse with it. But now, it assumes a rational, modest, and respectful demeanour. It does not denounce all religion as false, and all Christians as fools or knaves, but speaks of religion with reverence, and treats religious people with respect. It is scepticism, rather than infidelity. It affirms or denies little, but doubts everything; the Bible may or may not be true, it wants to know which it is; it professes to be honestly in search of truth, and promises to be satisfied when it is found, whether it be for or against religion. The Bible and science, it says, contradict each other; if they agreed, then sceptics would accept the Bible, believes its doctrines, and practise its precepts. Much of this no doubt is mere pretence, but it would be unjust to say that there is no honesty in scepticism. The discoveries of science and the assumptions and reasonings of such writers as Darwin and Lyell can hardly fail to suggest doubts of the truth of Bible history to the minds of earnest persons who are not rooted and grounded in the faith. And doubts of the truth of Bible history suggests doubts of the truth of all the Bible contains. It is sadly evident that great numbers of our countrymen are subjects of these doubts, some in consequence of great ignorance, and others in consequence of great sins, both finding some relief to their consciences by questioning the truth of Holy Writ. But there is reason to believe that a large portion of them can neither be charged with gross ignorance, nor gross sins. They do not fly to scepticism to justify vice, or to allay their fears of the future, but are sincere, perplexed and restless in their indecision, earnestly longing to know the truth, and willing to abide by it, as soon as they shall have found it. These are found in many of our large congregations, attentively listening to earnest and thoughtful preachers of the gospel. They cannot be ignored, and ought not be treated with silent contempt, and still less with abuse. Such treatment could not fail to increase their doubts, and drive them further from the truth.

It is an important question, what sort of preaching is best adapted to this class of persons? Shall we take no notice of their doubts and perplexities, but address them as mere sinners, and preach Christ to them as their only Saviour? Beyond all doubt, such is the adaptability of the gospel to every sinner's case, that when earnestly, faithfully, and wisely preached to such men as mere sinners, many a poor sceptic is convinced of his errors and brought to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Yet a knowledge of the reasons of the sceptic's doubts, of his arguments, and his prejudices, must aid in awakening our sympathy with him, and arousing our compassion for him in his melancholy condition. The more deeply we feel for him, the more useful we shall be to him. It would be well, one is inclined to think, if this feeling could be obtained without undergoing the disagreeable, and to the undecided, dangerous task of reading the heretical books which have driven so many of this generation astray, but to some extent it must be done. Feeling will not spring up in obedience to our will or command. Knowledge is power in this case, it is necessary to feeling, it goes before it; we know before we love, and we only pity those whose condition we understand, and in order to feel deeply for the sceptic, and successfully work for his conversion, we must understand his state of mind, by acquainting ourselves with the principles and arguments which have confused and bewildered him. And while this knowledge is necessary to the required sympathy, it is also necessary to enable us to meet his objections, and overturn his reasonings. And is not an unbeliever more likely to submit to the instructions of a preacher who understands his case, and sympathises with him in his difficulties, than to one who has but little knowledge of him, and consequently but little feeling for him? The wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove are of great service in winning such a soul to Christ.

III. THE RAPIDITY WITH WHICH EVERYTHING IS DONE. In old times everything was done slowly, our forefathers did nothing in haste, they worked like men who were sure of long lives and plenty of time to do all things leisurely. They drove their flying coaches at the speed of six miles an hour, and conveyed their merchandise in waggons which moved along the narrow roads at the rate of two miles an hour. One person and one machine working together did only spin one thread at a time, and in this slow and tedious way was all the thread and yarn produced which clothed our grandfathers and their industrious wives. Public worship was conducted in the same slow and leisurely manner. Psalms and hymns of great length were sung; a prayer which lasted an hour and a half was not considered unreasonably long; and a sermon which required only two hours to deliver it, was thought to be sufficiently short. The construction of the sermon was in harmony

with its length. The preacher knew what he was about, knew the goal at which he aimed, but often took a very circuitous route to find it, consuming a great deal of time, making it difficult for his hearers to follow him, and requiring their utmost attention to understand him. But as a Lincolnshire river, deep and sluggish, doubling and winding in all directions, in its tortuous course to reach the sea, does at length find it; so did the preacher of those days, slowly but surely lead his congregation to the ocean of eternal truth. The people were in no more haste than the preacher, they were willing to wait his time, and attentively listen to his voice, as long as he thought good to instruct them, believing that the conclusion of the long and intricate argument would amply repay them for their patient attention. Happy the congregation who had such a preacher, and happy the preacher who had such a congregation. But oh! shall I say alas! how times have changed, what a light and flippant age this appears compared with that! Our forefathers walked like men with a slow, firm, and dignified step, but we run, leap, and skip like children. The deep river runs slowly, the shallow river runs rapidly.

Science has done wonders for our times, it has supplied us with many conveniences, comforts, and luxuries unknown to our fathers. We travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour, our merchandise is conveyed at nearly the same speed, the yarn of which our garments are woven is spun by a machine with five hundred spindles; a message is sent from Edinburgh to London in one minute; and the spark which fires the time-guns on the river Tyne is conveyed from Greenwich to Newcastle in the twentieth part of a second. A similar velocity is communicated to everything else, everybody is in haste, everything must be done in a hurry, and that which can only be accomplished by a slow and tedious process is often left undone. Boys are in haste to be men, and men are in haste to be great and powerful. All classes are infected with this disease. The sage, the grave man of science, does not escape it. He makes a few scratches here and there upon the surface of this great world, picks up a few flints and fossils, and at once proceeds to build a theory with these scanty materials which contradicts the most ancient history ever written, and opposes the universal faith of all ages.

The infection reaches the house of God, haste and impatience reign there. One of the most pious and useful of modern preachers has said, "This is an age of short sermons, short prayers, and short religion." The people will not listen to long and sober discourses, and an argument of any length is too great a tax upon their patience. A sermon of such depth, breadth, and length, as was preached by many a Puritan, to the great edification of his hearers, would ruin the congregations of these times. Now, how