Miscellaneous Papers.

HIGH AND LOW AGAINST THE

GOD OF THE SABBATH.

"Thou hast profaned my Sabbaths.... Thy dishonest gain."—EZEK. xxii. 8, 13.

men with hundreds a year of salary did) to risk his soul, he remaining there the whole Sabbath, with its monster excursion trains, at the half-a-crown before specified. If he took stimulants to keep up his exhausted strength, who could wonder? Over-worked and over-stimuAlated, who can be surprised at a Sabbath catastrophe?

GOD makes his Sabbath a sign between himself and a people. It is sorrowful, indeed, when it is despised. few Sabbaths ago (Aug. 25th), we find the two eldest princes of our Royal But then, "dishonest gain" appears Family deliberately breaking it, by driv- further, in their deliberately and freing in from the camp to Dublin, and not quently violating their own regulation, going to any place of worship. It is so, which limits the number of carriages in alas! their return to God for the be- a train to twenty, while for lucre they reavement he sent in taking their grand-put on twenty-four or twenty-five. mother away so recently; this their Their dishonesty appears further in not return for his kind protection over them in their recent voyaging and travelling in various lands.

The same day, one boy is killed, and another is lamed in breaking the Sabbath in travelling on an omnibus on the new street-railway in London.

The same day twenty-two Sabbathbreakers are crushed or scalded to death in the Clayton tunnel; two sisters stretched in death side by side, a grandfather and grandson; a father, mother, and son! they left Brighton for London, and they landed in eternity. The railway-god advertised, Who will risk his soul for 2s. 6d. third class? Endless misery going cheap! Who'll buy? They bought, and they will never lose their purchase! The railway is so powerful, that some of the London newspapers, afraid of losing its advertisements, are afraid to speak out. But what is its whole course, but in Ezekiel's words, "Dishonest gain." Starving the line to make more money. Endangering the lives every day, and in addition, the souls on Sabbath, to have large dividends. And, on the Tuesday, while the mangled bodies are awaiting the inquest, the shareholders meet to petition Parliament (or Government), that the compensation to the slain by railways may be more limited in amount. Amazing impudence that, in view of the corpses, which that Tuesday swelled to twenty-three! Their gain nor dishonesty became them: for 2s. 10d. a day they expected the signal-man (who gave a far more honest evidence at the inquest than

furnishing the servants at that tunnel (and no doubt elsewhere) with the means of keeping their lamps right-oil that is useless and won't light! This great railway company is not ashamed to practise deceptions which a poor trader in a little shop, on the verge of a bankruptcy (never out of sight for him), might be pitied for indulging in.

Was the Company more honest when, putting out a pompous circular on the evening of the catastrophe about full inquiry, their officials, knowing doubtless what their masters really wished, endeavoured to keep back the most disagreeable part of the truth? The circular was a blind, and practically turned out a lie.

The signal-man was dishonest (or untruthful) in not reporting the nonworking of the signal on the Saturday morning. But that twenty-four hours' delinquency of his had been taught him by his (socially) betters. The dishonest master can never look for a servant morally the opposite of himself!

And then, the utter needlessness of all this wickedness! For their own characters' sake, and that of the people in their employment-were there no other considerations-how well were it were their lines closed on Sabbath! The Sabbath-breaking company must expect to enlist the swearer, the lustful man, the thief, the man of no principle, in its ranks of employés. Where there is no Sabbath, no religion; and where no religion, no more morality than can be helped!

A FEW REMARKS UPON PRAYER

MEETINGS.

the table-pew, and pray for twenty minutes or half-an-hour, and then conclude by asking forgiveness for his shortcomings—a petition which was hardly sanctioned by those who had undergone the penance of endeavouring to join in his long-winded discourse. A good cure for this is for the minister judiciously to admonish the bro ther to study brevity; and if this avail not, to jog his elbow when the people are getting weary. This fault, which is the ruin of all fervency, ought to be extirpated by all means, even at the expense of the personal feelings of the offender.

"We

[WE are indebted to the "Baptist Magazine" for the following characteristic paper, from the pen of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.] Our meetings for prayer have very greatly improved during the last few years. A gracious Revival has shed a benign influence upon many of the churches, the spirit of supplication has been rekindled, and the fire of prayer remains while the flash of excitement has departed. It would be too flattering to hope that the beneficial change is universal, but our observation Cant phrases were another evil. leads us to believe that it is very general. would not rush into thy presence as the The hard-shelled brethren whom no enthu- unthinking (! !) horse into the battle." As siasm can penetrate, and no arguments it horses ever did think, and as if it were arouse, continue in their usual petrified con- not better to exhibit the spirit and energy of dition, mumbling forth prayers which ex- the horse rather than the sluggishness and ercise none of the Christian graces, except stupidity of the ass. As the verse from the patience of those who are doomed to which we imagine this fine sentence to be listen to them; but their influence and su-derived has more to do with sinning than premacy are on the wane even in their own circles. Encompassed with solid bulwarks of ice, there are some churches which are impenetrable to any genial warmth from without, and far removed from the possibility of a thaw from within; but these, we think, are rare exceptions, demanding our deepest humiliation before God, but not forbidding our fervent expectation of better things in the Church at large. Perhaps even these are rather apparent than real exceptions; even here an irresistible undercurrent of earnestness may be setting in, destined in due time to quicken the sluggish tide which now conceals it. It is our own conviction that the most sorrowful cases of immovable indifference are not without signs of progress; the very dullest of our Adullams have been disturbed with echoes which have startled their hollow caverns, and Zoar itself has become weary of its boasted littleness. Where zeal for Christ, love for souls, and earnest pleading with men are still suspected to be dangerously unorthodox, there is neverthelesss an alteration in tone and manner, indicating a secret revolution of which the men themselves are unconscious; so unconscious, indeed, that they would repel the blessed impeachment with contempt if it were pleaded in their hearing. If the prayer meetings of our Baptist churches were all visited, there would be found to be a very considerable advance in the numbers attending them, the spirit of the supplication, and the manner of utterance. We may be wrong, but making all allowance for the cases at which we have hinted, we speak with much confidence, and believe that our estimate is a correct one.

The old faults, which are gradually disappearing, were mainly these:-Excessive length: a brother would pitch himself against

with praying, we are glad that the phrase is
on its last legs.-" Go from heart to heart,
as oil from vessel to vessel," which is pro-
bably a quotation from the nursery romance
of "Ali Baba, and the Forty Thieves," but
as destitute of sense, Scripture, and poetry
as ever sentence could be conceived to be.
We are not aware that oil runs from one
vessel to another in any very mysterious or
wonderful manner; it is true it is rather
slow in coming out, and is therefore an apt
symbol of some people's earnestness; but
surely it would be better to have the grace
direct from heaven than to have it out of
another vessel-a Popish idea which the
metaphor seems to insinuate, if indeed it
has any meaning at all. "Thy poor un-
worthy dust,"-
'—an epithet generally applied
to themselves by the proudest men in the
congregation, and not seldom by the most
moneyed and grovelling, in which case the
last two words are not so very inappropriate.
We have heard of a good man who, in
pleading for his children and grandchildren,
was so completely beclouded in the blind-
ing influence of this expression, that he
exclaimed, “O Lord, save thy dust, and
thy dust's dust, and thy dust's dust's dust."
When Abraham said, "I have taken upon
me to speak unto the Lord, which am but
dust and ashes," the utterance was forcible
and deeply expressive; but in its misquoted,
perverted, and abused form, the sooner it
is consigned to its own element the better.
Very many other perversions of Scripture,
uncouth similes and ridiculous metaphors,
will recall themselves to the reader; we
have neither time nor patience to recapitu
late them they are a sort of spiritual slang,
the offspring of unholy ignorance, unmanly
imitation, or graceless hypocrisy; they are
at once a dishonour to those who constantly

:

repeat them, and an intolerable nuisance to improvement. "Advance" must still those whose ears are jaded with them. They be our motto, and in the matter of the have had the most baneful effects upon our prayer-meeting it will be found most prayer-meetings, and we rejoice to assist in suitable. bringing them to their deserved end.

Another evil was, mistaking preaching for prayer. The friends who were reputed to be "gifted," indulged themselves in public prayer with a review of their own experience, a recapitulation of their creed, an occasional running commentary upon a chapter or psalm, or even a criticism upon the pastor and his sermons. It was too often quite forgotten that the brother was addressing the Divine majesty, before whose wisdom a display of our knowledge is impertinence, and before whose glory an attempt at swell ing words and pompous periods is little short of profanity; the harangue was evidently intended for man rather than God, and on some occasions did not contain a

single petition from beginning to end. We hope that in our own time good men are leaving this unhallowed practice, and are beginning to see that sermons and doctrinal disquisitions are miserable substitutes for earnest wrestling prayers, when our place is the mercy-seat, and our engagement is intercession.

OC

Our brethren will excuse our offering them advice, and must take it only for what it is worth: but having to superintend a large church and to conduct a prayer meeting, which scarcely ever numbers less than from 1,000 to 1,200 attendants, we will simply give our own notions as to the efficient means of promoting and sustaining these holy gatherings:

1. Let the minister himself set a very him frequently speak of it as being dear to his high value upon this means of grace; let own heart; let him prove his words by throwing all his vigour into it, being absent as seldom as possible, and doing all in his power to give an interest to the meeting. If our pastors set the ill-example of coming in late, of frequently staying away, or conducting the engagements in a drowsy formal way, we shall soon see our people despising the exercise and forsaking the assembling of themselves together. A warm-hearted address of ten minutes, with a few lively words interposed between the prayers, will do much, with God's blessing, to foster a love to the prayer-meeting.

Monotonous repetition frequently curred, and is not yet extinct. Christian men who object to forms of prayer will nevertheless use the same words, th 2. Let the brethren labour after brevity. same sentences, the identical address If each person will offer the petition most at commencement, and the exact ascrip- laid upon his heart by the Holy Spirit, and tions at conclusions. We have known th n make room for another, the evening some brethren's prayers by heart, so that we will be far more profitable, and the prayers could calculate within a few seconds when incomparably more fervent, than if each they would conclude. Now this cometh of brother ran round the whole circle of petievil. All that can be said against the tion without dwelling upon any one point. prayers of the Church of England, which Compare the subjects of prayer to so many were many of them composed by eminent nails; it will be better for a petitioner Christians, and are, some of them, as beauti- to drive one nail home with repeated ful as they are scriptural, must apply with blows, than to deal one ineffectual tap to tenfold force to those dreary compositions them one after another. Let as many as which have little virtue left, since their ex- possible take part in the utterance of the tempore character is clearly disproved. O! Church's desires; the change of voice will for warm hearts, burning with red-hot de- prevent weariness, and the variety of subsires which make a channel from the lip in jects will excite attention. Better to have glowing words; then, indeed, this complaint six pleading earnestly, than two drowsily; far would never be made. "What is the use better for the whole meeting that the many of my going to the prayer-meeting, when wants should be represented experimentally I know all that will be said if So-and-So by many intercessors, than formally by two is called on ?" is not an uncommon ex- or three. As a general rule, meetings in cuse for staying away; and, really, while which no prayer exceeds ten minutes, and flesh is weak, it is not so very unreasonable the most are under five, will exhibit a plea we have heard far worse apologies the most fervour and life; in fact, for greater offences. If our (so-called) length is a deathblow to earnestness, "praying men" drive the people away and brevity is an assistant to zeal. When by their everlasting repetitions, one-half, at least, of the fault lies at their door.

Most of these diseases, we trust, are finding their cure; but the man would be hardy, not to say fool-hardy, who should affirm that there is now no room for further

we have had ten prayers in the hour, varied with the singing of single verses, we have far oftener been in the Spirit, than when only four persons have engaged. This is an observation confirmed by the opinion of our fellow-worshippers; it might not

hold good in all cases, but it is so with us, and therefore we thus witness.

the most two, between the prayers, and let those be such as shall not distract the mind from the subject by being alien from the spirit of the meeting. Why need to sing about the temptations of Satan just after an earnest prayer for the conversion of sinners? and when a brother has just had joyous fellowship with Christ in intercession, why drag him down by singing, ""Tis a point I long to know"?

3. Persuade all the brethren to engage. If the younger and less instructed members shrink from the privilege, tell them that they are not to speak to man but to God. Assure them that it does us all good to hear their groans and ineffectual attempts at utterance. For our own part, a few breakdowns generally come very sweetly home, and awakening our sympathies, constrain us Of course, we ought to have said all manto aid the brother by our more earnest ner of good things about the necessity of wrestlings. It gives a reality and life to the the Holy Spirit, but upon that point we are whole matter to hear those trembling lips all agreed, knowing right well that all must utter thanks for new life just received, and be in vain without His presence. Our obto hear that choking voice confessing the sin ject has rather been to gather out the stones from which it has just escaped. The cries from the way than to speak of that divine of the lambs must mingle with the bleating life which alone can enable us to run of the sheep, or the flock will lack much of therein.

its natural music. As Mr. Beecher well says,

"humble prayers, timid prayers, half-inaudible prayers, the utterances of uncultured

BY JAMES ROSS SNOWDEN,

Director of the U.S. Mint, Philadelphia.

"And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."

-MATT. XX. 22.

lips, may cut a poor figure as lecture-room COINS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. literature. But are they to be scornfully disdained? If a child may not talk at all till it can speak fluent English, will it ever learn to speak well? There should be a process of education going on continually, by which all the members of the church shall be able to contribute of their experiences and gifts; and in such a course of development, the first hesitating, stumbling, ungrammatical prayer of a confused Christian may be worth more to the Church than the best prayer of the most eloquent pastor."

Every man feeling that he is to take part in the meeting at some time or other, will become at once interested, and from interest may advance to love. Some of those who have now the best gifts, had few enough when they began.

4. Encourage the attendants to send in special requests for prayer as often as they feel constrained to do so. Those little scraps of paper, in themselves most truly prayers, may be used as kindling to the fire in the whole assembly.

5. Suffer neither hymn, nor chapter, nor address to supplant prayer. We remember hearing seven verses of a hymn, ending in "he hates to put away," until we lost all relish for the service, and have hardly been reconciled to the hymn ever since. Remember that we meet for prayer, and let it be prayer; and oh! that it may be that genuine, familiar converse with God which shall drive out the formality and pomposity which mar so much our public supplications.

6. It is not at all amiss to let two, or even three competent brethren succeed each other without a pause, but this must be done judiciously; and if one of the three should become prolix, let the pause come in as soon as he is done. Sing only one verse, or at

A PENNY a day seems a small compensa. tion for a labourer; but the coin in question was not the penny of the present day, but was a denarius, a silver coin, the intrinsic value of which was fifteen cents. This gives one a better idea of the value of labour at that time; and it shows that the good Samaritan was more liberal and generous than the usual reading of the text would indicate (Luke x. 35). He gave the poor man that fell among thieves two silver coins of the value of thirty cents. We have reason to believe that silver was at that period ten times as valuable as it is at present; in other words, thirty cents would buy as much as three dollars would now. It thus appears that the Samaritan, besides the other valuable things, wine and oil, which he bestowed upon the injured man, gave the "host" money enough to pay the boarding of his guest for some time, perhaps for several weeks, because this interesting event happened in the hill country of Judea, between Jerusalem and Jericho, where the charges at the inn were probably quite moderate. Thus a liberal provision was made for the intervening time which would elapse before the benevolent man would return from Jerusalem. And in case he should be delayed in his return, he said to the inn-keeper," Take care of this man, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee." This generous and neighbourly conduct of the good Samaritan our Lord commends, with the

injunction, "Go thou and do likewise" | composed of a troy pound weight of silver. (ver. 37).

A PROFESSOR that hath not forsaken his iniquity, Bunyan says, is like one that comes out of the pest house, among the whole, with his plague-sores running upon him. This is the man that hath the breath of a dragon; he poisons the air round about him. This is the man that stays his children, his kinsmen, his friend, and himself. What shall I say? a man that nameth the name of Christ and departeth not from iniquity, to whom may he be compared ? "The Pharisees, for that they professed religion but walked not answerable thereto, unto what doth Christ compare them but to serpents and vipers; what doth ne call them but hypocrites, whited walls, painted sepulchres, fools, and blind; and tells them that they made men more the children of hell than they were before! Wherefore such a one cannot go out of the world by himself; for as he gave occasion to scandal when he was in the world, so he is the cause of the damnation of many.