and of conscience: an infinite reality, over- of theologizing here exhibited. We attach whelming our astonished spirits." indeed no supreme importance to the old "II. Our Doctrine ofNature. Here, all around us, is a material Universe apparently entirely an- methods of expression in theology-indeed tipodal to Spirit. Matter and Spirit seem, in- we are disposed to admit, that the dialecdeed, to stand in a sharp antagonism, dividing tics of the Scotch school of metaphysicians the Universe between them."

"Natural Theology in our day, with its Bridge- are too narrow in their measure for the water Treatises, is very confident of its ability full discussion of Calvinism in all its bearto reason out the Existence, Power, Wisdom, and ings. And perhaps many of the heresies Goodness of God from the works of Nature. But that have troubled the Church in their one of its positions, which it has to take, is a last days, have their origin in the straitIt is not in every instance, but only in "a vast ened and contracted dialectics of the men plurality of instances," that the Divine Good- who have undertaken to expound the Calness is affirmed to be clearly visible. Some vinistic Theology, according to the Scotch

virtual confession of lameness in the argument.

evils are admitted to exist. What shall be done

with them? Paley says, they have only to be Metaphysics. We are disposed, therefore, voted down. The voices of gladness, it is argu- to accept some of the fundamental points ed, are against the voices of wailing as a hun- of the modern transcendental dialectics, dred to one. And so we settle the question with not only as true, but also as necessary to

a pencil upon our slates."

As to the disorders observed in Nature, Chris- many of the higher discussions of our Thetianity looks down upon them with entire com-ology. But at the same time we are jealposure from a lofty height. The solution is ous of the new methods, with a godly jealsimply this, that the world was left imperfect in anticipation of its moral history. It was precon-ousy, and we apprehend most serious refigured to its career of sin. The Drama required sults to the "truth as it is in Jesus," from a fitting Theatre. Sin needed its shadows and any general adoption of Professor Hitchechoes in an eclipsed and discordant economy: cock's methods of expounding and illusBut sin is not alone here. Redemption is

wrestling mightily against it. The world, then, trating the doctrines of grace. (3.) We is not a prison but a school-room; not a grave- are disposed to except very strongly to some yard, but a battle field. We are here for con- of the incidental utterances of this disflict, and for discipline. Christ is at once our

Captain, and our Example. Voices from Hea- course, as inconsistent altogether with the ven cheer us on. Angels of God whisper courage simplicity of the Gospel. We are not preand patience. The evils and miseries appoint- pared, for instance, to join in the sentied us, are only spurs and stimulants to virtue. ment-"prayer seeking palpable enforceIII. Our Doctrine of Man. First of all, the essential character of man has been a sore puzzle to ment in the architecture of the building it(( self"-whose mere Philosophy." 'glowing windows and "Such is the Religion of Christ our Lord. A starry roof proclaim the dignity of a rapt Positive Religion, attested abundantly by most and reverent communion with God." It conspicuous Providences, by Miracles and Pro

phecies; with an immense crowd of witnesses, is a sentiment which sounds strangely to out of all ages and nations, gathered, and gath- us, as coming from the land of the stern ering, to do it reverence. For Doctrine, it lays Old Puritans-who, not because of their open to us the very bosom of our God; it explains the mysteries of Nature; it unfolds the uncultivated rudeness, as canting Formacharacter and destiny of man. And so it floods lists will have it, but because of a profoundwith heavenly light every problem of our Phi- er philosophy perceived that a mere worship losophy, every period of our majestic and end-of the imagination or the taste-a worship less career."(Pp. 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23.) that art and architecture could inspire, is If we may be indulged in a remark or no true worship of a God who is a Spirit; two-not in the spirit of a cold, carping who reasoned very justly, that if such aidscriticism, but of a cordial interest in the au- to devotion were needed-then instead of thor of the sermon and his future career- seeking inspiration from temples made with we would say: 1. That whilst disposed hands-instead of "glowing windows and to applaud this discourse as by a College starry roof" of man's device-it would be Professor, delivered to college students, on far more philosophical to have no house of an interesting public occasion, we earnestly worship at all-but wander forth to the hope that this style of discourse may not true "starry roof" of God's great temple get currency among the students of the N. and the "glowing windows" that circle York Seminary, by reason of the brilliant that dome of immensity-and there let success of the Professor elect in this meth-"prayer seek palpable enforcement" in od of preaching. We cannot conceive of the architecture," not of the building, but any peculiarity in a professor more likely of great nature itself.

What

to be contagious among students, or more likely to do harm by becoming so. So again turning to graver matters-we is truly excellent in it, will rarely be at- are not at all ready to take it for granted tained by an imitation-whilst what is as proved by "Fossil Geology," that death most objectionable in it, will surely be ex-with all its attendant fears and sufferings, aggerated, in every attempt at imitation. was here, ages before man-in any such A far simpler gospel than this, is that which sense as can affect the question of the relathe Holy Spirit attends with power. And tion of man's fall, to the question, why (2.) aside from the style of preaching, we the "whole creation groaneth." But our gravely doubt the expediency of the style straitened limits admonish us to forbear.

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CHOICE OF A FIELD Soldiers of the Cross coming foward to FOR MINISTERIAL LABOR: being the Annu- claim the peril and the honor as theirs! al Address before the Society of Alumni Against the desire of having any preof Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, eminence in the church except the pre-emiMay, 1855. By Rev. Wm. T. Richard- nence of the most abundant and most disson, of Waynesborough, Va. Printed interested labors, Christ carefully warned by the Society. his disciples. In honor, christians should The leading purpose of this address is, prefer each other; but in labor each should to present strive to excel. But if it be true that the some considerations which should influence a Minister in the choice of posts of greatest difficulty be posts of greata field of labor:"-and the author aims est honor, there is reason to fear that this especially to show that "the preference christian grace of giving the preference to should be given to the waste rather than to others is carried quite too far. When Chalmers had won a fame such the cultivated field;" that it is "a higher and nobler exercise of ministerial office to as few men ever attained-after he had held plant new churches, and to build up fee- the highest and richest places in the gift of ble ones, than it is to preside over and his church-after he had been the great serve such as are already well established." leader of the Free Church Movement-in Among the considerations adduced to the Sabbath of his life-at an age when show that destitute fields ought to be pre- most men retire from active pursuits-he ferred, is this one; "that it would open a performed the noblest of all his labors as a wide door of usefulness for many who now missionary in West Port, the most destiseem to have nothing to do, or are waiting tute and depraved of all the precincts of to be called." We are sorry that we can- Edinburg. Nor do we hesitate to say that not transfer to our pages, all that is said Chalmers, preaching in the Tan loft of upon this point. We regard the strictures West Port, to an assembly of ragged outof the author as eminently judicious and casts, was greater than Chalmers preachtimely and we honor him the more, be- in the Tron Church, to which the wealth cause it required some courage to make and fashion of Scotland crowded-greater them. There is no rage so fierce as that of too than Chalmers in the Chair of Theolo mediocrity. We cannot deny ourselves the gy."

It

CLECTIC, June and July, '55. J. R.
Graves, and J. M. Pendleton, Editors,
Nashville.

THE CHRISTIAN UNION MAGAZINE, a Southern
Monthly Periodical, containing contribu
tions by Southern Clergymen and others of
known talents and piety-ANTI-SECTARIAN

-Wm. Potter, Editor and Proprietor, Richmond, Va.

pleasure of quoting the following passages: THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST REVIEW AND EC"If we would take a correct view of destitute fields, not only would many enter them who are now idle, but those who labor in them would be more successful. is too common for those who go to such fields to look upon their situation as a temporary one. They do not feel permanently settled, but rather as if they were only serving a kind of apprenticeship; and so are all the time on the look out for what they These are two new monthlies,—both call a wider field of usefulness; which be- Southern. The first named seems to be a ing rightly interpreted, often means, a more very spirited and earnest journal, for the comfortable position. The consequence is, exposition and defence of the gospel accordthey do not half cultivate the field while ing to the views of the Baptists, and whilst in it; as a tenant by the year will never we wholly dissent from those views, in so improve like one who has settled for life. far as they are peculiar, we are pleased with They who go then to destitute places, should the energy and life with which they press go with the resolution to accomplish the the Gospel as they understand it. work of God there as far as he shall enable The other Magazine signalizes itself by them. Why should the work of laying the somewhat ostentatious parade of “Antithe foundations, and building up be consid- Sectarian" upon its title page, and in conered as fit only for the young and inexpe- formity with the usual appendages of that rienced, or for such as can find nothing idea, a remarkable thinness of ideas. For else to do? This work of planting and it contains in all just sixteen pages of matbuilding was once called apostolical and ter,-and that of the most pointless kind. evangelical. It was the noblest work to To each of these Magazines the subscription which the servants of Christ could aspire. price is two dollars per annum; whilst Is there not danger that we shall under-one contains sixty-four pages, and the othrate it, or that we shall too readily shrink er sixteen. We fear the cause of Anti-Secfrom the difficulties of it? Who are sent tarianism will suffer sadly at the South, to the waste fields? Who are expected to if left to combat with these Sectarian Bapendure the hardships and surmount the dif- tists alone, at such odds of pages-16 to 64 ficulties of establishing the Gospel in new-and at certainly an odds of 1 to 100 in places? Do we find the tried and veteran the way of ideas.

After all that has been said in this periodical, it is not necessary for us in a general article like this, to enter upon the discussion of those great questions which lie at the bottom of the whole action of the Church through Boards. For any thing of that sort we refer our readers to the previous numbers of the Critic. Moreover, the General Assembly had the advantage of having in its bosom, probably the ablest man in the Church; and no competent judge, we presume, has any other opinion than that Dr. Thornwell's speeches on this whole subject, were incomparably superior, in all respects, to any thing else in the entire discussions in the body on all subjects. Even if those remarkable efforts should be considered as having failed, in any degree, in their immediate design, they at least had the extremely happy effect of recalling to the Assembly the conviction that it had great men and great objects; and of making men see the immense difference between empty, superficial, and incoherent harangueing, and that noble simplicity and force, which so justly characterize the best debates of that venerable court. This is the greater praise-because the most of those who took occasional part in the debates of the last Assembly, did so in a spirit and manner, eminently right; and because there were cases of another sort, that stood in eminent need of correction, by example.

The Church can have no other object in the use of any Board, than to do, in the most effectual manner, the work committed to her by the Lord. But the Reports of all the Boards to the late General Assembly, show that not so much as one half of the congregations in our body, gave any thing at all, or manifested the least interest at all, during the preceding year, in either of them. Yet this is the practical result, after many years of effort, after many years of boasting that the machinery was perfect, after the most lordly hectoring over every one who ventured to suggest that the machinery was faulty. Here is the practical state of the affair. Now the question is, is it satisfactory; and if not, can it be improved? The answer

of one part of the Church is, that the machinery is without fault, and shall not be changed; but rather, more of it, of the same sort, shall be added. The answer of the other part of the Church is, that the machinery is extremely imperfect, and that it not only, can easily be greatly improved, but that the fundamental principles of our religious system require that it should be. In the last Assembly, Dr. Plumer and Dr. Boardman were the most conspicuous representatives of the former opinion, representing a condition of the Church in which one-half look idly on, doing nothing for any Board: and Dr. Thornwell was the most conspicuous representative of the latter opinion, demanding such practical improvements as both experience and reason prove, would easily enable and powerfully induce the whole Church to take part in every great enterprise. Of course, in a Church accustomed to think and really desirous of serving God, there can be ultimately, but one issue to such a controversy at this. Various circumstances may obstruct for a time, the grand conclusion. But it is impossible to imagine, that in the end, the people of God will not secure for themselves the opportunity to promote the cause of Christ, in some manner that will be effectual; and that the more they cast about for the means of doing this, the more they will rejoice to find that God himself has provided the means in the divine model of the Church itself.

THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS.

This organization keeping itself perfectly clear of every thing but its own glorious work, and sticking to it with a noble energy and zeal, goes on to advance in strength, and to enlarge its operations from year to year, as fast and as far as the means put at its disposal will permit. It is by all odds the most successful of all our general and organized operationsand that in the most difficult field, by far. It is by all odds too, in its whole spirit, as well as its working, the nearest approach we have to what such an organization should be. That the Presbyterian Church in this country, should do even as much as it has done for the cause of Foreign Missions, under the whole circumstances of the case, seems to us a living proof of its own immense vitality. And we have no sort of doubt, that if that great cause were once put on such a footing, that the whole power of conviction could operate freely, through the whole form of the Church,— without any doubtful contrivances to obstruct it, and with the moral force of the body fairly and systematically applied,-we should immediately see results which our distrust of God and of the efficacy of his own forms, so deplorably hinder at present. There is one fact worthy of special attention. This Board has used no paid agency to collect money during the past year: and yet the voluntary ordinary contributions to it are not only far larger than those to any of the other Boards,-(indeed we believe about as large as all three united,) but larger than in any preceding year; though the last year was one of wide-spread pecuniary embarrassment in the country. God's Church has done this, through its own regular action. The same party in our Church so fierce now when even a finger is pointed at any defect in any Board, was, not long ago, equally fierce if any one presumed to intimate a word against a regular system of paid agencies for collecting the ordinary incomes of all these Boards; and scoffed at the notion that such agencies cost far more than they come to. Behold the first perfect demonstration! Cannot men believe in the existence of the power of God? Have they no convictions as to the piety of God's people? Have

they no faith in the efficacy of the means and forms created by Christ? Do they suppose there is neither sense nor reality in that part of the most ancient creed of God's people, which professes to believe in the Holy Catholic Church? They ought to be more moderate in their unmannerly sarcasms, lest men should be tempted to intimate, that in fact, they know themselves better than others do, and that their principles are but the reflection of a state of faith, which being capable of very little, easily believes that the Church of Christ is capable of as little.

THE BOARD OF DOMESTIC MISSIONS.

It is en

There is not in the world a more important work, than that committed to this Board: for there is no work of evangelization on earth, more important than the spread of the Presbyterian Church on this continent. Moreover, the work entrusted to this Board is peculiarly complex-and therefore peculiarly difficult to be reduced to a few simple laws. trusted with the support of our weak congregations, and the aid of our poor and illy-paid ministers who are engaged in their regular calling. A distinct work, and one of immense importance; for the Church ought not to allow the very feeblest of its congregations to perish, nor the humblest of its ministers to suffer, in this land of plenty. Besides this, it is entrusted with the glorious work of evangelization; and that in two very distinct departments. First, within the limits of the Old Church organizations; secondly, in the new and immense regions rapidly filling up. Both of these departments of evangelization are of vital importance to the Church and to the country. Now either one of these three great classes of labor, well performed, would produce incalculable fruits; and either one of them completely executed, would fully engross, and justly immortalize any one man: for all three of them, are immense in extent, and boundless in their issues. Fully impressed with these truths,-while we have always felt the great need of caution and forbearance in meddling with the practical control of this Board, and forcing changes which were resisted by those having the responsible control of it; we have, at the same time felt it to be our duty to point out what we conceived to be its theoretical defects, and its practical mistakes; leaving to others, and especially to its immediate managers, the responsibility, which seemed to belong to them rather than to us, of actually making reforms. In the mean time, we have never had a doubt, that it was the duty of us all, to co-operate with the Board, while it was the organ of the Church; and do it uprightly and zealously, in such manner as was permitted to us: and this we have always done. Dr. Plumer was pleased to say in the Assembly, "that he loathed this constant irritation of our public officers:" that "as for this constant, underhand, stealthy, stabbing of them, his soul loathed it;" &c., &c. We suppose he alluded to somebody; and if he did, as he failed to make it apparent who it was he meant, his soul-loathing, was so far evangelical, that it could not avoid being directed against what he was then doing himself, in the "underhand, stealthy, stabbing" of somebody. As for us, this periodical, and the conductors of it, and the contributors to it, though we had the honor of being denounced, on more than one occasion, by more than one distinguished member of the late Assembly, we cannot allow ourselves to believe so poorly of Dr. Plumer's understanding or love of truth, as to suppose he could have had any allusion to such a course of conduct as that we have stated above, on our part. What we have done, may, for any thing we know, have irri