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 They paused not by the ruins of old time, They scanned no pictures rare, Nor lingered where the snow-locked mountains climb But unto prisons, where men lay in chains, To kings and courts forgetful of the pains Scattering sweet words, and quiet deeds of good, Their single aim the purpose to fulfil They held their pilgrim way, Yet dream not, hence the beautiful and old Who in the school of Christ had learned to hold Not less to them the breath of vineyards blown Not less for them the Alps in sunset shone, 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, And sunset mountains wear in light above Sure stands the promise-ever to the meek Nor lose they Earth, who, single-hearted, seek 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!— With that deep insight, which detects And knows how each man's life affects He walked by faith and not by sight, The presence of the wrong or right, He felt that wrong with wrong partakes, That whoso gives the motive, makes His brother's sin his own. He listened to that inward voice Oh, spirit of that early day! 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. |