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general mind, though explicable enough to those who have observed the physical charm which men who take pains to understand animals are able to exercise over them.

"Coleridge is the noticeable man with large grey eyes,' who, in the wellread description by his brother bard, would entice a congenial comrade to share his outdoor idlesse, the two together being as happy spirits as were ever

seen:

'If but a bird, to keep them company,

Or butterfly sate down, they were, I ween,

As pleased as if the same had been a maiden-queen.' Professor Lowell would have made a happy third-even if he had quizzed them afterwards, and himself. His essay on his Garden Acquaintance told us how all the birds looked on him as if he were a mere tenant-at-will, and they were landlords. With shame I confess it, I have been bullied even by a humming-bird.' Scarce a tree of his but has had, at some time or other, a happy homestead among its boughs. I love to bring these aborigines back to the mansuetude they showed to the early voyagers, and before (forgive the involuntary pun) they had grown accustomed to man and knew his savage ways. Savage Landor had anything but savage ways with the creatures fera naturæ on his estate, whether at Lanthony or at Fiesole; and proud he was to assert in octosyllabics his good fellowship with the good creatures in question, all and sundry:

'Cares if I had, I turned those cares
Toward my partridges and hares,
At every gun and dog I heard
Ill-auguring for some truant bird
Or whiskered friend of jet-tipt ear,
Until the frightened eld limpt near.

These knew me, and 'twas quite enough.'"

The Connection between Personal Holiness and Ministerial Usefulness.

A PAPER READ AT THE CONFERENCE OF THE PASTORS' COLLEGE, BY PASTOR W. J. INGLIS, OF SOHAM, CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

W

WHEN I was requested to prepare a paper for this Conference I was told that the choice of subject was left entirely to myself, but it was added that it was desirable the papers should bear upon personal religion, the minister's inner life, or anything which would conduce to greater consecration and usefulness. Thinking that such a subject as the title of my paper indicates would meet some of these requirements, concerning as it does our life and work, I selected this topic, and now submit it for your consideration.

Before we proceed more directly to the subject of our paper, it will be well, perhaps, to define our terms.

By personal holiness we do not intend the hollow, conventional sanctity which prevails at the present day. It does not consist in the cowl, the hood, or the garment of grey. To be holy is not to be wrapt in entranced and unearthly contemplation as was Simon Stylites; nor is it to besmatter our conversation with cant phrases or

religious

whinings, after the fashion of some very unsectarian sectaries who affect superiority in holiness. Neither do we understand by this term that religious life which can exist only in connection with social meetings and morbid excitement. Beecher well describes this state when he says, "They (the attendants)' get into an uncomfortable room; they sit stiff and dumb; some one opens a Bible and reads a chapter; then somebody turns round, kneels down, and makes a prayer; then another chapter, and then they sing. They get up, look solemn, and go out. They move off regularly, methodically, and mechanically, to their several businesses; and that is trying to grow in grace! You might just as well expect to make a shady forest in your garden with the bean poles you had cut and set out in the spring, as to make a Christian character by such a course as that. It lacks juice, and its juice lacks sugar." All this, brethren, is unsatisfying. To my mind, to be holy is to be real, natural, having our character stamped with the naturalness springing from redeemed and sanctified manhood, to be cheerful, indeed, to be imbued with the Spirit of Christ. Personal holiness draws its inspiration from the love of Christ, trusts for its acceptance to the death of Christ, finds its example in the life of Christ, depends for its subsistence upon intercourse with Christ, discovers its augmentation in the cultivation of the heart under the operation of the Holy Ghost, and presses towards its grand ideal-perfect conformity to the will of God. It is synonymous with living to God, nearness to God, walking with God, fellowship with God, having "been with Jesus,' and so caught the fragrance of his life, which clings to us as myrrh does to the garments, and is perceptible in all our intercourse and deportMay we be the possessors of this holiness as ministers of the

ment.

New Testament.

Ministerial usefulness is a comprehensive term, comprising, as it does, our whole work as God's ambassadors to men.

It includes nursing the babes in Christ, and feeding the lambs of the fold; training Christian manhood in the ways of God; consoling, and inspiring with hope the aged believer; teaching the ignorant, reproving the wayward, arousing the sluggish, exhorting the workers, encouraging the penitent, and in a word edifying the saints in love.

The minister will be useful, too, in other ways. As a pioneer he will break up new ground, thus preparing the way for others. As a standard-bearer he will unfurl the colours, bidding them catch the breeze. As a defender of the faith he will guard with a jealous eye the citadel of truth. As a soldier he will dash into the thick of the fight, smiting the enemies of the Lord and winning victories for Jesus; while as a messenger of peace he will be "anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

But beyond every other form of usefulness the true minister of Christ will greatly covet the honour of being a winner of souls. To be permitted to edify the saints and build up the church of God is no mean privilege, but no minister is in the highest degree successful who is not instrumental in bringing souls to God. The grand aim of the Christian ministry is soul-saving. The Holy Ghost sets much store by this.

Hear him: "Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. They that be wise shall shine as the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and ever. He that winneth souls is wise." Our ministrations may be largely attended, appreciated by our people, and conducted with propriety; the people of God may be fed with food convenient, and our church organisation be in perfect order; we may be valiant defenders of the faith, or great at knocking down men of straw, or eulogised by the religious press as men of power; but if our ministry be not fruitful in bringing men to Christ, though it possess many marks of excellence it lacks the noblest of all, and is not in the greatest degree useful. The best test of the worth of a ministry is its power to save souls. Brethren, may we be saturated with a desire for souls, may this desire become a passion absorbing our whole being, and may every effort have for its ultimate aim, saving men. Having this, with other things, our ministry will be in the broadest, fullest sense, useful.

Let us now look at the connection between holiness and usefulness. I take it for granted, then, that whether as individuals or as a band of brothers, our great desire is for continued and extended usefulness in the work to which we have consecrated our life and energies. This being the case it will be well to remember there are conditions under which this blessing may be expected. One of these (the one we have to do with now) is Personal Holiness.

Other things being equal (as ability, faithfulness, earnestness, and affection in preaching the word) it may be affirmed as a general principle that the man who lives near to God will have the smile of heaven resting upon his work.

Here, perhaps, will arise the question, How is it that some men, who are undoubtedly holy, labour without success? To this we might reply we must, in this as in other things, take into consideration the sovereignty of God; that God sometimes grants his blessing to one, and withholds it from another, even when both the men are unquestionably pious. To mortals he gives no account of his affairs, and while it is a great mystery, this truth should never be overlooked in connection with our work. But let us not forget that the success of all is not alike visible, though it may be equally real, so that the brother who does not see his work prospering shall have the acclamation "Well done!" accorded him as readily as that other worker whose prosperity has been our satisfaction and our joy.

Notwithstanding this objection, the principle just now affirmed remains the same. True, it is possible that men may enter the ministry destitute of grace, who for awhile shall blaze like a meteor, or splash like a leviathan, and even be the means of doing some good, but the course of such is generally short. Balaam was made the channel by which God communicated precious truths to his people, yet he knew not the Lord. It is on record that God used Cyrus to accomplish his purposes, with reference to his ancient people, yet God declared concerning him, "Thou hast not known me." And why may it not be so in the present day? The thing that has been may yet be. But he in whom the fire of love to God burns upon the altar of the heart, and in

whose life the flame of piety is kept alive, being fed from on high, he is the man who may expect a blessing in the service of his Lord.

Holy men God deigns to bless; for the command is as imperative to the ministry of the nineteenth century as it was to those to whom it was first given, "Be ye clean who bear the vessels of the Lord." The brazen laver must be used by the priests of old ere they approached the altar; the priest of God was clothed in fine linen, and bore upon his mitre, "Holiness to the Lord." In all this we learn the necessity of purity of life in the minister of Jesus Christ. Besides, we are ever insisting upon a godly life in our people; surely, then, we should exemplify it in ourselves! God has made us, to a great extent, the channels of communication between himself and his people; hence the importance that the conduit pipes be kept always pure. I read the other day that, in New York glass-lined iron pipes are being used to convey water; the friction is lessened, the pipes are always clean, and the purity of the water is preserved. So may those who convey the water of life to the parched and perishing multitudes, though human, and therefore sinful in themselves, be so sanctified by God the Holy Ghost, and so Christlike in their lives, that the truths of the gospel may remain unsullied in their conveyance to men.

That God does own holy men, who are fountains of blessing to hundreds and thousands of their fellows, the records of the Christian church most conclusively prove. A crowd of instances rush into our minds. Time would fail to tell of the sainted McCheyne, the apostolic Brainerd, the venerable Moffatt, the devoted Page, the undaunted Judson, the self-denying Martyn, the martyred Williams, and, towering above all, for the simple grandeur of his life and the constancy and comprehensiveness of his labours, the immortal Apostle of the Gentiles. These men, and a host of others, were eminently holy in life and marvellously useful in the service of Christ; and who will say that there was not a close connection between their deep-toned piety and their abundant usefulness?

The impression grows upon some of us, and is fast ripening into conviction, that what our ministry needs, in order to a larger amount of blessing, is more attention to the culture of our own hearts. We are apt to lose sight of our own spiritual condition while attending to the wants of others, the care of whom devolves upon us in our office as ministers. Is there not a tendency to cold officialism, which stunts the growth of our piety and hinders communion with God? Are we not in danger of regarding the word of God rather as a fund of texts than as food for the soul? Is there not a fear lest private prayer should consist too much in laying before God our churches and congregations, to the partial exclusion of a presentment of our own personal necessities, as believers, at the throne of grace? I fear so; and if we are not more careful in this matter there is a possibility that the confession of the spouse" They have made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept "-may be more appropriate than, perhaps, at present we are willing to acknowledge.

Moreover, just now we hear a great outcry for a polished, cultured, philosophical ministry. Some would-be-thought superior people are sighing for intellectual preaching, and for men who are "advanced

thinkers." Our colleges, too, with some noble exceptions, are pandering to this taste, and endeavouring to turn out men who shall be accounted erudite and profound. Let it not, however, be supposed that we depreciate scholastic attainments, profound learning, or brilliant abilities. No! we admire them, for these may co-exist with heartculture and conduce to the usefulness of the minister of Christ; but what we do deprecate is, that so much time should be devoted to training the intellect while the heart is almost entirely forgotten.

The servant of Christ needs the animal part of his nature brought into subjection, the tone of his inner life raised, the piety of his daily life intensified, and the work of grace deepened, in order to true success in his work. He cannot obtain this without heart-culture. This we must have. Brethren, it is not the head so much as the heart that is to bring the world to Christ. It is the glowing enthusiasm born of love to God, springing from personal holiness and nearness to God, rather than the brilliancy of intellect and the coruscations of genius, which wins the masses to the Saviour, and brings the Christian minister abundant prosperity. Hear the testimony of the late Dr. Campbell upon this point: he says, "What is wanted is less mental than moral virtue. Exalted usefulness is really within the reach of all; but the conditions are severe. He who is endowed by nature with genius and with eloquence may obtain glory on easy terms; but centring in self, it is, after all, of little worth. Other things being equal, these are gifts of unutterable value, which may be used for the glory of the Master; but while few can shine, all can burn. John was a burning and a shining light,' and he worked wonders. We have, at the present day, many burning and shining lights who are doing exceedingly great things in the cause of the Gospel; but we have also many who are burning without shining, who have attained to great excellence, and are entitled to equal consideration." This witness is true.

Look at the Apostle Paul. It is admitted on all hands that he was the possessor of rare abilities. He had enjoyed educational advantages to which his brethren in the apostleship were strangers. It is easy to see that he had a well-balanced mind, was a logical reasoner, and could at once perceive the weak points in an opponent's arguments. Nevertheless, I believe it might be proved that his success was attributable more to his heart than to his head, to the purity of his life rather than to his brilliant attainments. There is so much of heart in the man that in the midst of a long argument, at the very mention of the name of Christ, he falls into raptures of delight, extols the Saviour in endearing terms, making sometimes a long digression. We find him, too, looking after his spiritual progress, and exclaiming, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." In the seventh chapter of Romans we get a glimpse into the working of his inner life; and the same again in Galatians, where he says, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Evidently, this man has not only the form but the power of godliness. Hence

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