victory, and may say triumphantly (nay, he may keep silence and the servants of Christ will say it for him), Without me ye can do nothing.' "--pp. xiv-xvi.

Having started the topic of expediency, he proceeds to an irrelevant flourishing about "poetry," and "politics, and economics, and chrestomathics, and such other thistle-like productions;" and then turning round to the same topic, he thus exclaimeth

"Truth will not retaliate upon prudence the evil aim which she hath bent against her and all her daughters: but, upon the other hand, will bestow even upon prudence a heavenly form. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, and therefore is ever looking onward; it is the evidence of things unseen, and is therefore ever looking beyond the present. Futurity is its dwelling-place. And, therefore, as it grows in the soul, it makes it full of forecast and consideration. And forecast

and consideration being in the soul, it must be prudent, provident and prudent, with a true wisdom, which, making its calculations for eternity, applies them also to time. Hence it is written, that godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, as well as of the life that is to come.

Hence, also, the moment you make a poor man religious, you make him sober and economical and prudent. Hence, also, the most faithful and religious nation upon the earth, is also the most prudent and prosperous on the earth. So that prudence, in the end, will grow upon that same stem whereon grow poetry, sentiment, honour, patriotism, virtue, and every other form of invisible truth-upon the stem of that tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations."--pp. xvii, xviii.

66

We pass by the characteristic eulogium on the well known cardinal virtue of his countrymen, and ask, on what grounds Mr. Irving was led to the forced and unwarrantable construction of this same prudence," when he heard it extolled in a public meeting, as an essential and indispensable qualification for a missionary? Could he believe, that the respected and highly esteemed individual who made the statement, that excited so much "horror" in his sensitive mind, meant by prudence, either the cunning of a low and secular spirit, or the political expediency

of an intriguing and ambitious spirit? It is obvious, in spite of all the misrepresentations of Mr. Irving, that by "prudence" was intended-not jesuitical manœuvring, but an enlightened and judicious adaptation of Christian principles to all the circumstances in which a missionary might be placed a conformity to the apostolic precedent, of "becoming all things to all men, if, by any means, some might be saved." The Caledonian orator might have felt a similar "horror and apprehension," on reading the apostle's exposition of his prudential principles: and have condemned a still higher authority that enjoins christian ministers to be "wise as serpents," and to "beware of men!"

Still more unjustifiable is the insinuation, that by prudence, was meant a selfish regard to pecuniary consideration! Let Mr. I. calmly reflect on the censorious animadversion he has thrown on the advocates of the missionary cause, by representing them as the votaries of "mammon," and his almost impious appropriation of the sacred phraseology of our Lord, to the spirit of dependence on

money," and he will find ample materials for self-reproach and condemnation! It was not necessary for a christian preacher to " join issue" with the avaricious and the profligate, the blasphemer and the infidel in the imputation of base and interested motives to the friends and supporters of the missionary cause. The professors of religion are not yet too liberal in their pecuniary distributions, to require this unwarrantable reflection, in order to restrain their generosity. The treasury of christian missions is not yet so overflowing, as to need an interdict on future contributions. As yet, nothing approaching to adequate exertion has been made, either in the amount given, or the numbers who have come forward as candidates for the work of evan

gelization; and, therefore, if the circulating medium, which is as essential to the provision and temporal support of missionaries abroad, as of pastors at home, be withdrawn-if the missionaries sent forth cannot live" on angels' food," but must have the ordinary means of subsistence within their reach-if they are to "go forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles"and if the number must be immensely augmented, in order to meet the spiritual exigencies of the heathen world-then we assert confidently" more money" must be given, more sacrifices at home must be made, and christian churches of every order must exhibit, on a far more extended scale than they have ever yet exhibited, "the riches of their liberality."

Nor do we assert this under any diminished impression, as to the necessity of an infinitely higher order of agency for the purposes of eventual success. There must be the energy of faith, and the fervour and constancy of prayer, and the spirit of an entire and simple dependence on the promised influences of HIM," without whom we can do nothing;" but let these principles operate, and these affection be excited, and the evidence of their genuineness and sincerity will appear in a proportionate and corresponding generosity. The treasury of christian benevolence will be more amply replenished, and increasing facilities will be secured for the support of missionary operations.

We have been the more explicit on this subject, because it is precisely the point affected by the practical bearing of Mr. Irving's hypothesis. The "seventy disciples" were forbidden to "provide scrip or purse." This, and all the other instructions adapted to the circumstances and temporary mission of the seventy, he considers as applicable to the apostolic mission; and he contends for the

"perpetuity of this constitution;" asserting, that "the character of the missionary, the nature of his qualifications, and the methods of his proceedings are to be taken with the same exactness with which we take the character of a pastor, and the nature of his duties, the character of a private christian, and the nature of his duties from the other constitutions of the Lord and his apostles." (p. xiv.) That our readers may be put in possession of Mr. Irving's" exactness" in the application of his principles, we shall lay before them several extracts illustrative of his "new doctrine, in opposition to the universal practice of the

churches."

Adverting to the apostles, he

says

"If money and provisions, if goods and possessions had been necessary, why were they not bestowed at this time, when Hea

ven furnished out its ministers to all nations? But that needed not to be bestowed from Heaven, which was soon forthcoming in all abundance. For in these times, as soon as the Spirit took hold of the converts, he made them indifferent to

all outward distinctions and emoluments wherein they formerly prided themselves. And not only the missionaries, but even the converts of the missionaries, becoming careless of purse and scrip, and possessions, forgot the distinctions of thine and mine, and parted their all to such as had need. Now the Apostles, when plenty of every thing came flowing into their power, kept free from the worldly incumbrance, and continued breaking bread from house to

house, and did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. And when they went forth to the temple, so true kept they by Christ's first instructions, that they said unto a man who sought an alms, Silver and gold have we none." And when the converts brought their all and poured it at their feet, not only would they not own any of it, but they would not for the sake of holy Charity and sacred Justice, be diverted by its distribution, ing themselves wholly to the ministry of from the higher and better calling, of giv the word and to prayer. And they continued as they began; for throughout the whole book of the Acts there is not one word from which it can be gathered that in journeying from town to town, and from region to region, they had any convenience of travel, abode in any houses of

public entertainment, possessed any property which they could call their own, or in any way deviated from the spirit, or from the very letter, of our Lord's instructions. While they abode in a place, they continued, according to the commandment of the Lord, in the house of one man, whom, when writing letters from the place, they call their host. When Paul went up to Jerusalem, he communicated that Gospel which he preached among the Gentiles to them only which were of reputation, using the privilege of inquiring after the most Worthy. When the Jews of any town would no longer hear him, he condemned them, and turned unto the Gentiles; and when with one accord both Jews and Gentiles rose up against him, he shook off the dust of his feet against that city, and proceeded on his course. In short, I find not one of the instructions which they did not literally carry into effect. They had no wages; they depended upon no remittances: they lived all along and altogether upon the brethren.". pp. 58, 59.

After describing the conduct of the Apostle Paul, in "working with his hands"--he thus animadverts on modern missionaries.

"Truly, we moderns have taken the very means to create that stumbling-block which Paul found in his way at Corinth, by so constituting the Missionary office, as that the men of this world might have in their mouth the very words of which Paul reproved the Corinthians, and to disprove which he needed to adopt this voluntary act of self-humiliation. To cure this, our shallow prudence, if we would use the lesson given by this leader of the Missionary army, we would do well. for as many years as we have fed and hired men, to require that they should go, as Paul did, into the other extreme of not even eating and drinking at any one's expense, but that they should support themselves by the labour of their hands, and glory thereby over the false prejudice with which the cause, by our mismanagement, hath come to be circumvented. This is the proper use of the Apostle's deviation." pp. 64, 65.

Again,

"Christ wished none but spiritual men to take this office upon themselves; and of the spiritual men in the church, he wished those who were strongest in faith, and those alone, to venture forth. Therefore, he set the mark to the most unearthly standard, and appointed that there should be no purse, that is no pecuniary emolument; no scrip, that is no possessions; no change of raiment, that is no pleasures or accommodations of the body; no staff, that is no ease or pleasure of travel; no

salutations by the way, that is no ends of natural or social affection."-p. 93.

"Even supposing the present Missionaries had more divinity of nature than the apostles, and that they could possess purse, scrip, and all other accommodations, without being thereby unspiritualized, how shall they hinder the evil interpretation of the heathens, who see them hired, paid, accommodated, befriended, and in all outward things better conditioned than themselves? They speak to us of faith, let them show us their own. They speak to us of the providence of God, but they ventured not hither without every security. They tell us of Christ's disinterestedness to us, but what lessons give they us of the same ? And so forth through every particular of their condition, by which Christ intended that they should evidence the doctrine which they taught. I cannot understand, therefore, in any way, how the condition of the Missionary work should be changed, when the work itself remaineth the same; or how the instruction which Christ gave for the propagation of of his kingdom should now be null and void, when it is same kingdom that is to be propagated, and the difficulties and impediments are still the same, over the head of which its propagation is to be effected."-pp. 105, 106.

We have been thus particular in our citations, that the precise character and complexion of the novel hypothesis may be distinctly ascertained. Other passages marked by a contemptuous defiance of opposite opinions, and the most overweening self-complacency might have been adduced, as amusing illustrations of the temper and mood of this admirer of missionary chivalry. One especially we cannot forbear presenting to our readers, as our closing extract, after which we shall state, with all due gravity, our convictions on the subject of Mr. Irving's speculations.

"Therefore I say, let this type of the Missionary stand, that he is a man without a purse, without a scrip, without a change of raiment, without a staff, without the care of making friends, or keeping friends, without the hope or desire of worldly good, without the apprehension of worldly loss, without the care of life, without the fear of death; of no rank, of no country, of no condition; a man of one thought, the Gospel of Christ; a man of one purpose, the glory of God; a fool, and content to be reckoned a fool, for

Christ; a madman, and content to be reckoned a madman, for Christ. Let him be enthusiast, fanatic, babbler, or any other outlandish non-descript the world may choose to denominate him. But still let him be a non-descript, a man that cannot be classed under any of their categories, or defined by any of their convenient and conventional names. When they can call him pensioner, trader, householder, citizen; man of substance, man of the world, man of science, man of learning, or even man of common sense, it is all over with

his missionary character. He may innocently have some of these forms of character, some of them he cannot innocently have; but they will be far subordinate, deep in the shade, covered and extinguished to the world's incurious gaze, by the strange incoherent and unaccountable character, to which he surrendereth himself mainly. The world knoweth the Missionary not, because it knew Messiah not. The nature of his life is hid with Christ in God; he is not a man, but the spirit of a man, he is a spirit that hath divested itself of all earthiness, save the continent body, which it keepeth down and useth as its tabernacle, and its vehicle, and its mechanical tool for speech and for action."pp. 108, 109.

The remark obviously suggesting itself on the perusal of Mr. Irving's reasonings is, that they proceed on a principle which confounds local and temporary arrangements with permanent obligations. His argument extends all the instructions given to the seventy disciples, to the future and more important mission of the apostles; and what was peculiar to the apostolic mission, is applied to missionaries in all succeeding ages. The mission of the seventy was evidently specific and limited. Its object was the announcement of the approaching reign of the Messiah. The disciples were forbidden to go beyond the precincts of Judæa, and were not even to " enter the villages of the Samaritans." The reasons of this limitation may be found in the prejudices of the Jews themselves, and especially in the predictions which stated, that "out of Zion was to go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Hence," to the Jew first," the proclamation of

the coming kingdom was to be made and on a similar principle, "the good tidings of the reign," when it had actually commenced, were afterwards proclaimed in the same order, though the restrictive clause no longer existed. The seventy disciples had not only a specific and temporary object, but they were sent amongst their Countrymen, whose language they knew, with whose customs and manners they were acquainted, to whose habitations they would easily gain access, and to whom their miraculous would be, powers in numerous cases, a sufficient introduction, and the exercise of those powers an ample compensation for the entertainment they received. In every part of the small province which they occupied, there were individuals and families" waiting for the consolation of Israel," and therefore prepared to receive them favourably. Mr. Irving interprets "the Son of Peace" to be the Redeemer himself, and frequently alludes to this assumption in subsequent parts of his oration! As far as we are acquainted with ancient and modern expositors, we must confess that none before Mr. I. ever advanced such a strange and unnatural conception. The phrase is evidently a Hebraism, descriptive of a pacific and benevolent spirit; and it cannot, without the most forced construction, be otherwise applied. Many such "sons of peace,' it may be presumed, would open their houses to the first disciples; and the "joy" with which the seventy returned, when they had accomplished their mission, arising particularly from their triumphant power over demons, is a proof that their success had equalled their expectations. (Luke x. 17-20.) They were forbidden on this short journey to encumber themselves by troublesome and expensive preparations. Their miraculous gifts secured their recep

tion, and the interposition of divine Providence was specially exercised on their behalf. The recollections of this memorable journey would afterwards console them when in far different circumstances, and furnish powerful inducements to a cheerful and habitual reliance on the presence and grace of their Lord.

Now the questions arising out of Mr. Irving's hypothesis areWhether these prohibitions, respecting purse and scrip, &c. were intended by our Lord to apply absolutely and without qualification to the apostolic mission ?and if it were admitted that they did thus apply, whether it was the intention of the Great Head of the Church that the application should on these unmodified principles, be perpetual and universal? We apprehend the negative, on both these points, may be deeisively proved.

In the first place, there is no proof that the first missions to the Gentiles were in literal accordance with these primary instructions. The apostles, for some time after the ascension of their Lord, remained in Jerusalem. The persecution that succeeded the death of Stephen caused many of the converts to be "scattered abroad," and by this dispersion, the truth of the Gospel was more extensively circulated throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria." The first recorded account of an apostolic mission to the heathen is that of Peter to Cæsarea; but what were its circumstances? Peter and Cornelius were under the influence of a supernatural dictation. The vision of Peter was intended to justify his reception of the Gentiles to the privileges of the Christian Church; and the arrangements made by Cornelius, and the deputation sent by him to Joppa, were at once satisfactory confirmations of his impressions. Peter, accompanied by " certain breNEW SERIES, No. 4.

thren," went to Cæsarea, found a number of persons assembled together at the house of Cornelius, opened his apostolic mission, proclaimed to them the message of mercy, and received them by baptism into the fellowship of the Church of Christ. Now, in the whole of this transaction, what is there resembling the peculiar mission of the seventy disciples? Can we suppose that Peter and the "six brethren from Joppa," (Acts xi. 12.) together with the three sent by Cornelius, travelled to Cæsarea, without any preparation or provision, or that they understood the instructions given to the seventy, prohibited the use of "shoes and staves,"- -or rendered it improper to have either " gold, silver, or brass, in their purses," for the supply of their necessities on the way? About the time of those transactions the miraculous conversion of Saul of Tarsus took place, by which, in a pre-eminent sense, an ambassador to the Gentiles" was provided. Now it must be confessed that this missionary was, to use Mr. Irving's description of what he affirms all missionaries ought to be," three times super-human;" though, to infer an ordinary mode of procedure, from his extraordinary line of operations, would be the height of absurdity and extravagance. Yet even this truly "super-human" missionary did not act on the principles assumed by Mr. I., as the exclusive interpretation of the Saviour's instructions. He accepted the provision of the churches, that he might preach the gospel freely, where Christ had not been named. Whether the remittances were regular or occasional, expected or unexpected, has nothing to do with the principle of accepting such provision. It was provision; it was not merely a temporary supply that met the passing exigency, but such as authorised him to say, on some occa2 E