away; nor let us lose it in running from house to house, under the idea that this is pastoral visitation, or that this will atone for those sins of omission which the pulpit will reveal as in the light of day. Visitation is good if it bring the pastor and the people into closer or more immediate spiritual contact; otherwise it is reduced to the merest gossip, and time is thus lost which might have given life and power, fire and force, to the pulpit. --- We speak of the power of the press: but it is exceeded by the power of the pulpit. If it be true, that "in every Christian land the learned mind has poured its choicest gifts into theology;" this may account for the fact of our private libraries being so well replenished with volumes of sermons. For two hundred years or more, "the sermon shaped and nourished the English mind;" and for this kind of literature, in its higher form, there is still a sound and healthy taste. Now if sermons be good to read, they should be good to hear. To borrow the words of a living author "Why should sleep and sermon be longer accepted as synonymes by the vulgar? A judge and a master recommended Demosthenes to the village preacher. Surely, any style is better than that which is plain in the complete absence of expression, and simple in having no thoughts to convey. Is it surprising if the dead masses slumber under such appeals? The fervour of the old eloquence is needed to strike heat into the sinner. His cure is to be wrought by no servile hand. Gehazi might have laid Elisha's staff for ever upon the Shunamite's child. The eyes open only to the Prophet's call. The kindled lips of inspired Genius must breathe over the benumbed soul before the colour of health will return, the baptismal flame be fanned into warmth, and the Son of the Church be delivered to his Mother." If there be any subject on which the soul should catch the fire of a sublimer enthusiasm, it is in connection with those themes which more properly belong to the Christian pulpit. The pulpit challenges the highest and most sanctified eloquence. It can claim the learning of Lightfoot -the strength of Charnock-the massiveness of Owen-the grandeur of Howe-the sanctity and savour of Leighton-the glow of Baxter-the philosophy of Barrow the splendour of Bates-the analogy of Butler-the intellect of Hall-the enchaining power and burning eloquence of Chalmers. Nor is there any reason why the pulpit should now lose its peculiar hold on the mind and the heart of the people. The ancient legend, "which gave the sweetest song to nightingales that built their nests near to the tomb of Orpheus," may teach us the folly of those who seek to detach themselves from the past. Those great masters in theology, who belong to the ages which are gone, are worthy of our most profound study. And to make the pulpit of the present equal to the pulpit of the past, it is only needful that we should yield our soul to the full influence of God's living truth, and be blessed with a richer baptism of the Spirit. The hallowed fire which is burning within our own souls, will send its kindly and its enkindling glow from heart to heart, till all are wrapped in one living flame. This witness assuredly is true, and it is cheering to find sentiments so solid, healthful, and practical, mixed up with Pastoral Counsels to the rising Ministry. The discourse is one of the best of its class, and such as will most amply reward perusal. RULES FOR OPEN-AIR PREACHING. 1. Prepare carefully, no matter how familiar the passage may be to you. 2. Seek for plain, simple, and yet pointed illustrations. "The human mind loves a story." 3. Make each sermon a matter of earnest prayer. Pray For the Spirit's teaching. For courage. For a blessing on the Word. 4. Preach to twelve persons as though a thousand stood before you. 5. Do not engage in any controversy. Your work is to preach the Gospel. Offer, if you will, to answer questions, put in a proper spirit, at the conclusion of the service. 6. Let the burthen of each address beMan's sin; the work of redemption; the necessary sanctification of the Spirit. Most, if not all, your hearers are practically ignorant of the vital truths of Christianity. 7. From first to last act in simple dependence upon God's power and promise. Rest assured the Word will not return unto Him void. Be not weary in well doing. In due time ye shall reap, if ye faint not. MILTON ON MINISTERIAL ORDI NATION. As for ordination, what is it, but the laying on of hands, an outward sign or symbol of admission? It creates nothing, it confers nothing. It is the inward calling of God that makes a minister, and his own painful study and diligence that manures and improves his ministerial gifts. In the primitive times many, before even they had received ordination from the apostles, had done the church noble service, as Apollos and others. It is but an orderly form of receiving a man already fitted, and committing to him a particular charge. The employment of preaching is as holy, and far more excellent; the care also, and judgment to be used in the winning of souls, which is thought to be sufficient in every worthy minister, is an ability above that which is required in ordination; for many may be able to judge who is fit to be made a minister, that would not be found fit to be made ministers themselves; as it will not be denied, that he may be the competent judge of a neat picture or elegant poem that cannot limn the like. - John Milton. BAXTER AS A PREACHER. Baxter was one of the most powerful preachers that ever addressed an English congregation. He seems to have possessed all the gifts which are generally considered to make a perfect master of assemblies. He had an amazing fluency, an enormous store of matter, a most clear and lucid style, a pithy, pointed, emphatic way of presenting truth, a singularly imoving and pathetic voice, and an earnestness of manner which swept everything before it like a torrent. He used to say, "It must be serious preaching which will make men serious in hearing and obeying it." Two well-known lines of his show you the man: "I'll preach as though I ne'er should preach again, And as a dying man to dying men." THE ENDS OF PREACHING. Baxter, in several places and in several forms, expresses the idea, that if he did not believe that men must be converted or perish for ever, he would sooner be a scavenger than a preacher of the Gospel. It is this grand issue of the Gospel dispensation which gives importance to the work of the preacher. And if this issue is left out, and the Gospel made no Gospel, whether in the minister's creed, or in his purpose of preaching, his preaching degenerates into a work which every honest man ought to despise and abhor. And yet how easily, and we may say how extensively, is this purpose lost sight of by preachers who think they are preaching the Gospel! PUNGENT PREACHING. We verily believe that to "prophesy smooth things" is as contrary to the general wishes of hearers, as it is incompatible with ministerial duty, in our promiscuous assemblies, of which sinners constitute so large a portion. The following facts, we doubt not, express the feelings and judgment of all wakeful per sons: An old man, having been asked his opinion of a sermon, replied, "I liked it very well, except that there was no pinch to it. I always like to have a pinch to every sermon." I was reminded of this anecdote by the remark of a son of Neptune, from Nantucket, whom I met in the gallery of a crowded church one Sabbath evening. He said it was a hand. some sermon, but he "would have liked it better if it had stuck the harpoon into th conscience of the sinner." LIFE OF A BISHOP IN THE FIFTH CENTURY. St. Hilary rose very early in the morning; he always dwelt in the town; from the time that he rose any one who wished to see him was received; he heard complaints, adjusted differences, performed the office of a justice of the peace; he afterwards repaired to the church, performed service, preached, taught, sometimes for many hours consecutively. Returned home, he took his repast, and while this lasted he heard some pious reading, or else he dictated, and the people entered freely and listened. He also performed manual labour, sometimes spinning for the poor, sometimes cultivating the fields of his church. Thus passed his day, in the midst of his people, in grave, useful occupations of a public interest, while every hour had some result.-Guizot's History of Civilization. HOW TO HEAR THE GOSPEL. Some people are very squeamish about the delivery of different ministers who preach the same Gospel. Suppose you were attending to hear a will read, where you expected a legacy to be left you, would you employ the time when it was reading in criticising the manner in which the lawyer read it? No you would not; you would be giving all ear to hear if anything was left you, and how much it was. This is the way I would advise you to hear the Gospel.-Rowland Hill. THE PREACHING CARPENTER. Mr. Newton tells of a pious carpenter who used to expound in a room. When he came to a difficult verse, he would say, "We shall pass over this,"-for he was a humble man. It would be well if some other preachers would do as the carpenter did, and not waste time in trying to unravel mysteries which do not affect the salvation of men, or the comfort of believers. SHORT SERMONS. Whitefield is reported to have said that a man with the eloquence of an angel ought not to exceed forty minutes in the length of a sermon, and it is well known that Wesley seldom exceeded thirty. "I have always found," says another eminent preacher, "that the last fifteen minutes of a sermon, an hour in length, was worse than lost, both upon the preacher and the congregation." A WORTHY AMBITION. I had rather be the means of comforting one of God's dear children than gain the applause of a nation. Biography. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL THOMAS BEST JERVIS.* THE REV. Geo. Wilkins has embalmed the character and memory of his friend Col. Jervis, in a very excellent sermon, as will appear from the following extract: The late Lieut.-Col. Thomas Best Jervis was born at Jaffnapatam, in Ceylon. He was deprived of his parents while very young; his father having died in India shortly before, and his mother shortly after, he was sent home to be educated. He was committed to the guardianship of an uncle, then Lord Chief Justice of England, and one of whose sons also was subsequently elevated to be one of the judges. Shortly after his arrival here, however, he was transferred to the care of another relative, to an excellent lady, who at once felt the responsibility of her charge, and the importance of exerting a useful influence. At As branch of the Indian army. At the age of eighteen he proceeded in the fleet bound to Bombay, and a career of public life was begun which was always subsequently distinguished by the greatest honour to himself, equally for the vastness of his mental acquirements, the practical utility of his plans, and the success with which they were executed. Here at Bombay there was at that time little known of God. At the station to which he was sent the ignorance was even more profound -the spiritual interests of the troops were neglected, Christ's name uncared for, and the Sabbath only recognized by the hoisting of a flag; its observance as a day of rest was utterly unknown. The mind of Captain Jervis now had become spiritually enlightened; such a state of things, therefore, could not be endured by him, so that at once, under strong religious convictions of duty and privilege, he set himself to the task of attempting some amendment. His first efforts seem to have been made on behalf of the native labourers in his employ, who, till now, had worked on the Sabbath as on other days, their employment generally being the erection of public buildings, the construction of bridges, and making roads. His earnest efforts in this direction were immediately sustained by other coadjutors, and especially by his intimate and excellent friend, Sir Robert Grant, who felt with himself that the Christian's privileges in respect to the Sabbath must not only be enjoyed by themselves, but by the heathen too. After much toil, and even years of labour, the end was gained; the Government conceded the point, and the Christian Sabbath has ever since been regarded as a day of rest. tached to the principles of Christianity herself, she endeavoured to imbue the mind and heart of her young nephew with a deep conviction of their importance. She required the daily reading of some portion of the sacred Scriptures, and drew his youthful attention to the Prayer-book, as containing within it much which, under God's blessing, might be useful to him. No immediate spiritual result appears to have been produced by attention to these duties; but at least they were means of sowing seed-the springing and the harvest was yet to come. he grew into boyhood and advancing youth, new spheres awaited him; and having passed from one school to another, at length the time came for him to enter the Military College at Addiscombe, which he did in his seventeenth year. With a mind thirsting for all knowledge, he applied himself with unusual energy to his studies, and soon occupied that high place which is always the reward of persevering diligence and unremitting application. He passed the necessary examination with great honour, and there was secured for him a position in the first *"The Voice of the Dead." A Funeral Sermon. By the Rev. GEORGE WILKINS. It was the custom of the departed to assemble all his assistants, and the most educated native engineers in his employ, for the purpose of studying the word of God, he inviting them to state their difficulties and doubts; and many were the Hindoo and Mohammedan prejudices which he had the London: John Snow. VOL. XIV. 2 D happiness to see broken down and removed, as the result of these unostentatious but Christian efforts. His oft-expressed conviction was, that the official teachers of the glorious Gospel were not alone to be the active workers in the cause of Christ; that all Christian men were to be lights and missionaries. "If the clergy alone teach," he would say, "and the congregations only listen, we shall soon have a barren vineyard." While stationed as superintendent engineer of the southern Konkan at Belgaum, his constant care was to have a service regularly performed on each alternate Sunday during the absence of the chaplain. For a length of time the officers and artillery soldiers met in his own house for the worship of God, until at last he designed, built, and completed a beautiful little church, henceforth to be appropriated for the high festivities of public Christian service. He was deeply sensible of the peculiar temptations to which the artillerymen were exposed by their residence in the midst of a heathen population. He saw the grossness of vice in all its forms, the appalling immorality which abounded, and he knew the guilt that was incurred by it, and therefore directed his personal attention to meet this condition of things; and amongst other means employed by him, he placed his library at the disposal of the men, lent them his books, encouraged a reading habit, and often bore the testimony, "that never once had he lost a book which had been borrowed from him by these men." The early missionaries, Carey and Crawford, were intimate friends of the late Colonel, and later, in life, those devoted men, Drs. Wilson and Duff, from Scotland, with Fjeldstkdt, a Swede, shared largely in his sympathies and esteem. His own conversion to God was indeed one of the results of missionary labour, which naturally occasioned a deep interest in their grand and noble work. His large heart had learned from the experiences of life to rise above the trammels of all sects. From the time of his conversion it was Christ he loved and sought, not party. Where Christ was preached he went to hear. That was the building he selected where the Gospel was most fully preached; and though he had his preferences in re gard to modes of ecclesiastical government, and principles that were fixed in relation to it, these were always held subordinate to Christian doctrine and religious life. His warmest friends could scarcely tell his views of discipline, while even comparative strangers could see at once the spiritual doctrines that he believed and loved. The citizen and the Christian were thus beautifully combined; the man of feeling and of principle. The latter never being sacrificed, and the former never being allowed to become morbid. The personal opinions of our late friend, in reference to the social interests of India, her laws and government, the manner of treating her native population, and the best means of securing the stability of the empire, are already in print. Suffice it here, therefore, only to observe, that India was the subject of his constant thought, his deep reflection, and his earnest prayers; while many papers and tables of a scientific order are still extant, which were expressly prepared by him for the education of the Hindoos. We are indebted to him for many edifices of usefulness, which his engineering skill completed to the entire satisfaction of the whole community; more especially, in addition to those which are connected with the Government, he erected the Scotch, Mission House in Bombay. The late Colonel Jervis, it may be said in summing up this brief memorial, was no ordinary man. He was possessed of a mind which, for power of grasp, strength, beauty, and taste, pre-eminently fitted him to occupy any position. In his own immediate vocation he was, in the real and best sense, an enthusiast. His whole nature was deeply and intensely interested in it. It was not the routine of military life that excited his interest, nor the honours or emoluments of it that awakened his ambition. He had the name and titles of a soldier, and never shrank from any of its obligations. Indeed, from the peculiar conscientiousness of his mind and heart, he must have fulfilled those duties from the highest sense of duty; but he was no man of war; peace was his element. He was not for the sword, but for science, literature, art, and religion. In these departments his intellect and heart were so fully and constantly engrossed, that no research was too re condite, and no mathematical problem too difficult. Largely possessed of the power of acquiring language, so he used that power to such an extent, that he was literally master of many of the oriental tongues and dialects, as well as perfectly familiar with most of the languages of Europe. His religious convictions, as well as his taste, led him naturally also to acquire such a knowledge of the ancient Hebrew and of Greek, that he might study the Sacred Scriptures in their original tongues; and in the possession of these he delighted, as one who had gained great spoil. He was honoured with a place in most of the literary and scientific societies of the day, and contributed papers of great value to many of them. On the subject of education and learning he held strong convictions. Of nothing had he so great dread, in bringing up his children or in superintending the education of others, than leaving Christian duties in the background, or laying them aside. Solomon's words were often inculcated by him "The fear of the Lord, that is the beginning of wisdom." Education and learning he always regarded as essentially different; the latter as only a methodical and judicious storing of the mind for similar purposes; but the former an object of marvellously greater importance. Education respects the whole nature of man; learning is for time: education equally for eternity, and hence he strenuously advocated and sought to inculcate the principle, that all teaching should be based upon, and combined with, scriptural instruction. Very much might be said of his multifarious labours, and especially in connection with those geographical and topographical departments with which he was officially connected; and were we attempting to give a biography of a great man, apart from goodness and Christian excellence, and were this the proper time and place to dilate upon them, we doubt whether many men could be found of whom so much could be truly said. We have, however, only to sketch his character, to draw an outline of what he did and was, that it may be filled up by others who knew him better. Our province is especially to speak of him as a Christian; and we can do this from our own knowledge. His religion, bre thren, sanctified everything. This was the back-ground which gave adornment even to all his intellectual wealth. It sanctified it in all its uses and applications, and because he was religious literature and science shone the brighter as he exhibited it. Often has the preacher sat and listened with astonishment and admiration, while the departed poured forth literally streams of knowledge and information; and the more from the fact, that the religious elements of his heart gleamed in bright and beautiful coruscations in every part; and let the topic of conversation be what it might, it always aimed at the elucidation of either Christian experience or religious history. His piety was proportioned and symmetrical; humble, but yet dignified; grand, but yet simple. Nothing charmed him so much as the love of Christ, and nothing so won his heart as to speak to him of Jesus. If we dared venture to say what his character always appeared to us to be, we should do it in a few words by saying, that it was greatness combined with simplicity, and goodness exemplified in benevolence. But even such a life, brethren, must have its close; and we must now, therefore, draw near to look at this. And what a voice should we now hear, while contemplating the departure of such a man out of time into eternity! Little did the preacher think, though often with him, that the period of dissolution was so close at hand, and that his work was so nearly done. Disease had evidently been long doing its secret work, and from which he suffered much; but such was his wondrous energy, that, though bis strength was wasting, he still consecrated all that remained to him in the earnest prosecution of his labours in connection with his official duties in the war department of his country. His mind, indeed, literally may be said to have survived his body: the latter could endure no longer the mighty influence of the former, until at last both entirely gave way, the one to be deposited in the grave, and the other to take its flight to heaven. We cannot better speak of the last hours of our friend than in the words of those who were with him. "When he knew he was about to depart, he laid aside with resignation the contemplation of those vast schemes and employments which had |