muscle of the man, and the race, and the spirit of them, must possess their whole being. No shorter way is possible, if we would not have all our work undone before we have finished it, and be buried ourselves in its ruins.

I question not the propriety of calling in the aid of the civil arm in respect to evils which run into the sphere of human legislation; but if we rely upon that arm instead of relying on the great truths of the gospel, made effectual by the Holy Ghost, we abandon Jehovah, to trust in Assyria, and the sword on which we lean shall pierce through our own hand. An unchecked under current of moral corruption will sooner or later wear away all the foundations of your legislative enactments, and sweep every vestige of them from the statute book. I know not by what lessons God may teach his Church to trust not in man, neither to put confidence in princes, in respect to any work she has to do; but to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. Yet I cannot doubt she is to learn it in some way effectually and speedily. 3. Adaptations to the special mission of the preacher, viz., the conversion and sanctification of men.

It was for this reason alone that Paul made it his undivided business to preach the doctrines of the cross. The theme was a stumbling block to the Jew and to the Greek foolishness-but to those who are saved it was the power of God and the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is it, not only in its display of a plan of redemption, which none but the infinite intelligence could devise or fully comprehend, but in its adaptations of means to the immediate end for which the gospel is preached? For the accomplishment of the mightiest work that can be wrought in the human soul, it furnishes the mightiest, the sublimest truth made known to human intelligence. Slighter changes may be made by feebler means; changes of opinion, changes of pursuit, changes of social relations, changes of public profession-all that is superficial may be reached by means of the ordinary forms of truth-of every day's observation. But when it is sought to descend to the very bottom of the soul, to upturn the very foundations of character, and reconstruct the whole, so that to all moral intents and purposes there shall be a new man, old things passed away, and all things become new; and this to be done, in accordance with the laws of free intelligence, an instrument must be used that will cleave through one's being, dividing asunder the soul and spirit, the joints and the marrow, and laying bare the thoughts and in tents of the heart.

Just such is the doctrine of the cross. The death of the Son of God to atone for sin, and lift up fallen man from his degradation and ruin, demonstrates, as nothing else can demonstrate, the depth of human guilt, the completeness of man's ruin by sin, the worthlessness of all superficial renovations; and at the same time, it throws in upon the soul the inspiring stimulus furnished

by the worth of the soul, and the possibility of its restoration, in the assurance of heaven's interest and love and infinite power, drawn forth and pledged for its help. It tears away, on the one hand, all the foundations of hope which are found in the natural man, presenting in their place the everlasting rock on which he may build and rest secure; breaking up his confidences in every human arm, and reaching forth in sympathy and tenderness the arm of Omnipotence itself. It has been forcibly said, "that which man goes through to be regenerated to God, opens depths in the soul, down which, not only had he never looked before, but which, till then, had been unthought-of regions. The stillness which had brooded there is broken. Far, far down, deep is calling unto deep, and the waters of the dead sea move. O, if man would know something of that truly shoreless ocean, the soul-something of those caves which no line has fathomed-and feel the power of the Spirit which is moving there, let him see and feel himself a sinner before the Almighty God. If thou wouldst know the infinite capacity of thy nature, O, man, feel thyself a worm, and less than a worm, before thy God. To hear one prate of the light of reason and the dignity and perfectibility of his nature, who has never felt the searchings of conviction, and the agonizing throes of sin, how gaudy, how poor, how sad it is. What does such a man know of those depths out of which a redeemed one is come, or of the height and grandeur to which he is ascending?" The instrument by which at once the soul's vileness and worth is thus laid open is the doctrine of the cross. And it is worthy of note here, how in the facts of Christian experience, this simple truth that Christ died for man, is honored above all truth besides.

We have our various theories about the atonement, which we sometimes take with us into the pulpit. They may contribute to relieve our own or other minds of difficulties; but, let it be remembered, our theories are not objects of Christian faith. The soul of the believer rests not on them but on the living personal Christ, the Almighty Saviour. The faith that justifies the soul heeds not your questions of a limited or a general atonement, nor your speculations about imputation, and satisfaction, and equivalents, and the like. It asks not how can Christ save, but can he save. What is the testimony of God concerning his Son? Is he the Almighty Saviour, able and ready to save unto the uttermost? It overleaps all minor questions, and brings the soul at once to Christ crucified, for rest. Hence, Paul declared to the trembling jailer, in answer to that most thrilling question that ever sprung from human lips, "What shall I do to be saved," Panl declared, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Hence, also, from that day to this, wherever Christ crucified has been preached, under whatever forms of theology, from the highest Augustinian to the lowest Arminian, that

preaching has been effectual to bring men to God. And every where, all men alike, as well the Calvins, the Newtons and Edwardses, as the unlettered Greenlander and Hottentot, all alike, have bowed their spirit to the cross, and rested for eternity on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty Atoning Redeemer. And at the same time, simple as is the story of the cross, there is in it a depth of meaning so unfathomable, a comprehensiveness so vast and immeasurable, that the daily communion of the minister's soul with it, in his study and in his closet, is fitted above all things to give depth and power to his thinking and energy to his preaching-fitted to fire his soul with ardor in his work, a "woe is me if I preach not the gospel," which no discouragements or trials can dampen. O, how it fired the soul of the Apostle, when, in view of the fact of Christ's death, he looked out upon a world dead in sin, whose recovery and salvation is made possible by the blood of Christ! Men who had not learned the secret power that wrought within him, looked upon his career with amazement, and called him insane. But this he heeded not. "Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, and whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us."

Such are the men whom God in every age has most highly honored, as instruments in the conversion of souls; men, who like Whitefield and Wesley, and Tennent and Davies, and Nettleton, knew nothing among men, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Having won many to righteousness, they shine as the stars in the firmament forever and ever. Blessed is that church to whom God gives such a ministry.

He then, that like Paul, purposes to know nothing but Christ crucified, does not thereby limit himself to a narrow sphere of life; he does not cramp his mind, by fastening it to one narrow round of duty and study. The farthest from it, possible. As he devotes himself to him whose name is above every name, so he devotes himself, his being, to the one work of fathoming and unfolding and impressing the one idea, which is above every other idea revealed to man; most sublime, most comprehensive, most mighty, vast enough for an angel's study through eternity; mighty enough to justify his reliance upon it under God, to accomplish all the purposes of his office.

Fathers and Brethren of the General Assembly:

At the close of another ecclesiastical year, under the care of the great Head of the Church, we are gathered here, from our various fields of labor, to mingle our sympathies and prayers, and to inquire what we can do to promote the interests of our common Zion. It is not for me to designate the particular topics of our inquiry, nor to indicate the specific results we should endeavor to

secure. But may I not remind you that we all meet in these assemblies never but once. What we do may be reviewed in other assemblies, but we ourselves shall never all meet to review it till we stand before the throne of God. I see before me but few of those with whom I was called to act a year ago. Most of them are yet in the field, but some have fallen asleep. It becomes us, therefore, to act on this occasion as in full view of the solemnities of eternity. We are reminded, too, by the history of each year, as it passes, that our time is short, and what we have to do for Christ we must do quickly. I cannot speak of all whom God hath taken from the number of our ministry the past year; but there are three of whom I cannot doubt you will permit me to speak for one moment, especially since they illustrate the truths I have endeavored to present.

There are few men who have been the means, in the hands of God, of the conversion of more souls to Christ than the late Rev. JAMES GALLAHER, of Missouri. In Tennessee, his native State, in Kentucky, in Ohio, in Illinois and Missouri, not to speak of transient labors in this eastern portion of the field, his labors in the pastoral office, but pre-eminently in revivals, for nearly forty years, have been abundant and greatly successful. His plain, clear, and earnest presentation of the great truths of the gospel, and especially of the plan of redemption, told with amazing ef fect upon his hearers. In the "big meetings," so called, of the west, few have been so popular, or wielded so much power. He was eminently at home in them. He loved their sacred songs. He loved beyond all things to point the inquirer to the Lamb of God. The call from Heaven to come up higher found him in his favorite work, with the harness on and appointments out, yet to be fulfilled. The call was sudden, unexpected, but he was ready. The mercy of God in Christ on which he had rested in life, gave him repose in death. The 103d Psalm, and the 53d chapter of Isaiah, always favorite portions of scriptures with him, were peculiarly expressive and precious then. They speak of the mercy of the Lord from everlasting to everlasting, through Him that was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. As this had been the great theme of his preaching, so was it the source of his joy and triumph in the hour of dissolution.

From another and a very different sphere of labor, and yet one most intimately connected with the enlargement of the borders of our Zion, and the salvation of souls, the excellent and beloved CHARLES HALL has been called to his rest. Familiar, from its earliest beginnings, with our Home Missionary cause, in its general plans and in its minutest details, with a mind fitted to appreciate the magnitude of the enterprise, with a heart that responded to its very centre to the cry of the needy, with wisdom to plan, and energy to execute rarely equalled, with a soul so filled with the love of Christ as to make him entirely impartial in the manage

ment of possibly conflicting interests, toiling for twenty-seven years with unsparing faithfulness, in weariness and painfulness often, in afflictions, in anxieties, in sicknesses, until at length the overtasked frame gave way-the silver cord was loosed, and the pitcher broken at the fountain; it is not strange that the intelligence of his death vibrated painfully through the heart of the Church, and especially through the hearts of those who have been the special objects of his prayers and labors throughout the Home Missionary field. It is not for us to measure the relative influence of men in different departments of labor; but no one can doubt that, though never filling the pastoral office, yet, considering his connection with the vast work of supplying the destitute throughout the land with an evangelical ministry, and considering too his eminent qualifications for the office he filled so long, few if any can have accomplished more for the cause of Christ than he. Seldom has there been exhibited a more striking example of what an undivided purpose and an eye single to the glory of God will enable a man to accomplish.

Your thoughts, my brethren, anticipate me as they turn to the office in this Assembly made vacant by death. Dr. E. W. GILBERT held the office of Permanent Clerk of the Assembly from the memorable era of disruption, 1838, to his death. Long will his memory be cherished by all that knew him. We love to speak of his kindness and patience, of his promptness and fidelity, of his deep solicitude and earnest love for the Church of his affections, her order, her doctrines, her peace and her prosperity. I must be permitted in this public manner to express my own personal obligations for the timely suggestions of his riper experience, in the discharge of the duties to which I was called by the last Assembly. But it is to his language, in immediate view of death that I call your special attention. If I ever preach again, is his language, I will preach Christ more. I have preached too much to the intellect, too little to the heart. Thus to us all, will this work of preaching appear, as we look back from the bed of death. Could he have known, when we were about to dissolve the last Assembly, in a few months his work on earth would be at an end, I doubt not he would have arrested our proceedings by an appeal which would have thrilled our every heart.-Brethren, preach Christ more! And now from that bed of death he speaks to us in the earnestness of a soul that was seeing earthly things in the light of eternity, "Brethren, preach Christ more. Know nothing among men, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified."