ments, that we are especially called upon to seck, giving ourselves continually to prayer for the anointing of the Spirit, and calling our people round us, and asking them to unite with us in pleading for the same.

There are about twelve hundred parish ministers in Scotland; or, including evangelical dissenters, there are nearly two thousand

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end, and say, they are leaving the event to God. No, they would perceive that means are in themselves nothing more than hollow pipes, and that when the end to which they are adapted is not answered, it is because the pipes are empty,—that is, because the means have no life in them; and they would also understand that whilst it is indeed their business to procure the 'golden pipes,' it is equally their business, and certainly their most important business, to supply those golden pipes' with 'golden oil. The two olive trees' stood by the golden candlestick,' one on either side of it; indeed, so very near to it as to receive the 'golden oil' from it: now, these be the anointed ones,' the ministers. Zech. iv. 2, 3, 11—14. The great business of the minister, therefore, is to take heed unto himself, that he is standing in such nearness to God, and so close to the fountain of life, as to be receiving the golden oil' of God's grace from God himself to fill the golden pipes' with, and so to furnish life to dying souls. Such is the nature of the connection between God as the fountain of life, ministers as the medium of life, means of grace as the channels of life, and human souls as the recipients of life! and such is the necessity of this connection being preserved, that if any part of it be broken, the flow of life to dying souls is interrupted. There must be souls as vessels to receive the golden oil; there must be means of grace as golden pipes to convey the golden oil; there must be ministers of some sort as olive branches to supply the golden pipes with golden oil; and there must be God as a living fountain to furnish golden oil for the whole. Where all parts of this spiritual machinery are supplied, there (unless some part of the machinery be out of order) the end to which it is adapted will really be obtained ;souls really will be converted, sinners really will be saved, God really will be glorified! "The truth must be told; confession must be made; that part of the machinery which is mostly out of order are the olive branches; it is we, the anointed ones,' that are in fault; the golden pipes' are provided, but they themselves are not supplied with golden oil' by the olive branches:' and why? because the olive trees' do not keep their proper standing by the 'golden candlestick; they are not near to it enough to receive the golden oil' from it to supply the golden pipes.' The real truth is, ministers do not live sufficiently near to God; their walk with God is not close enough; their intercourse with God is not frequent enough; their communion with God is not deep enough; and therefore they do not receive from God life enough to fill the 'golden pipes' with 'golden oil' to give life to dying souls. There is in most of us a lightness of manner, a worldliness of mind, an allowedness of the flesh, and a regard to our personal ease, comfort, and convenience, which are in direct opposition to that serious mind, that self-denying spirit, and that habitual crucifixion of the flesh which are indispensably necessary to a close walk, and a deep and spiritual communion with God: and if some of us are more outwardly devoted than others; if our doctrine be more sound, our preaching more scriptural, and our use of outward means more diligent and zealous, it is to be feared that even we are greatly wanting in that inward and spiritual devotion to which alone the rest must owe its value. Most of us are taking more heed to fit out our pipes well, than to supply them with oil; and some of us are even excusing our deficiency in the latter by pleading the attention we are giving to the former. Certain it is, however, that no degree of attention to external duties, no zeal in outward engagements, can ever compensate for, or supply the place of, that frequent, fervent, persevering prayer, that inward devotion, spiritual life, and boly walk, that near-living, close-dealing, and deep communion with God, which constitute the beginning, the middle, and I had almost said the end, of ministerial power, and by which alone the minister can draw life from God to give it to his people." VOL. XV. NO. III.

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in all throughout the land. Were God to pour out his Spirit on these, making every one of them a living minister of the cross, what might be the result, not only at home in their parishes and congregations, but abroad throughout the earth? Two thousand faithful witnesses for Christ lifting up their voices every Sabbath day! Would that it were so! Ŏ that there were even half that number! But when we think how many of these are openly inconsistent, how many have nothing of the minister about them but the name or the garb, how many sum up the extent of ministerial qualifications in frigid orthodoxy and a reputable life, how many, professedly evangelical, preach so defective a gospel that the people can find in it no glad tidings at all, how many run who have not been sent, and prophesy, to whom God has not spoken, when we think of the amount of unfaithfulness, and coldness, and self-pleasing even among the godly, we almost despond, and fear lest the fate of the seven Asian churches may ere long be the doom of ours! O that we were wise, and would listen to words such as these from the lips of Him who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.' O that our present and approaching tribulation might work us back to primitive love and zeal, to apostolic faith and holiness and power!

Let us seek, then, and strive to strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, watching unto prayer unceasingly, spending and being spent, making ready for a coming Lord and a coming kingdom, of which the big and ominous events of the passing day forewarn the near approach; that, having been found faithful in the Master's service here, whether labouring or suffering, we may receive hereafter from his hands the recompense of unfading glory, bearing aloft in triumph the conqueror's palm, or,-if darkening signs deceive not,-circled, it may be, with THE MARTYR'S CROWN!

ART. III.-1. The Great Commission. By the Rev. JOHN HARRIS, D.D. London, 1842.

2. Missions: their Authority, Scope, and Encouragement. By the Rev. R. W. HAMILTON. London, 1842.

3. The Jubilee of the World. By the Rev. JOHN M'FARLANE. Glasgow, 1842.

The attention of the church may be awakened to subjects which have not adequately engaged its sympathies, and its energies drawn out to their illustration and defence, by various means.

A sum of

money may be offered for the best discussion of the point. And it is this plan which has been adopted in the case of the Essays that stand at the head of our article. Another mode was preferred by the Bridgewater trustees, who on their own responsibility chose the individuals most fit to manage the argument, with the vindication of which they had been entrusted. Sometimes a chair has been established in one of our universities, for the express and exclusive study of a special department in literature or theology. Lastly, there is the course pursued by the founders of the Boyle or Bampton Lectures, where an influential and enlightened board annually appoints some student of promise to take up any essential topic he may have thoroughly investigated, in a short series of discourses to be published after delivery.

Of all these schemes, the one which will best secure the end in view, is not, we are persuaded, that which is now most in favour, but the one which has come down to us from more thoughtful and less mercenary times. To us, it is the Boyle and Bampton plan which appears best adapted for concentrating upon any momentous theme, either a general interest, or the regards of fresh and energetic minds. For under this system, in the first place, a new intellect is set at work on the same, or an allied subject, from year to year. Then there are no restrictions to fetter or intimidate the lecturer, but, his topic assigned, he is at liberty, and expected, to seek for truth, wherever his inquiries lead. The result, too, of all the investigation, is condensed within a space, which no one can complain of as irksome, yet which is not too limited to be unsatisfactory. And, finally, the series immediately becomes, through the press, a part of our authoritative literature, and is rendered accessible to all.

On the contrary, we must maintain, that the plan fixed upon in the case of the Essays now before us, and in most recent instances of a similar nature, is by far the least efficient and the most objectionable. Even though we should go no farther, this at all events must be admitted, that no prize essay was ever known to give an impulse to national sentiment, and no prize essay ever engaged the master spirits of a nation. In regard to some other things, for obvious reasons, it may be different; but in regard to literature and religion, it is a fact, that prize essays have uniformly been the production of a nation's subsidiary minds, and give us but the elegant classification of truth already known,-never the venturous foresight and irrepressible daring of intellects that outstrip their generation. But is not the system objectionable as well as inefficient? Even that a large number of our most illustrious writers should themselves be precluded from the discussion that is called for, by their requisite nomination as adjudicators, is of itself an objection upon

As a matter of course,

which considerable stress might be laid. too, it will follow, wherever judges are chosen, that all of their character and standing will feel instinctively that the competition is not meant for them, and the universal impression will be, that the whole affair is to be left in the hands of our subalterns. Whilst it is ever to be borne on mind, that there is a class of minds, who, though certain of success, will yet shrink from the very idea of having their efforts judged by others, and their merit made the subject of a vote, put up, as it were, to auction. It is no ordinary disadvantage, therefore, under which the system we are speaking of labours, viewed as a means of stimulating intellectual inquiry, that it inevitably either disqualifies or discourages many whose aid might have been of important service.

Were it even quite otherwise than we have just supposed, another cause may be pointed out, as most unhappily interfering under the prize essay scheme, to limit that range of free inquiry which it really is intended to promote. We would throw no blame upon the adjudicators. But necessarily those individuals are appointed for that office, whose views upon all essential matters coincide, and at least, upon the subject of the essay, they are understood to be as nearly of the same mind as possible. Productions, consequently, of one kind or calibre, will alone sustain their ordeal, and one of two results undoubtedly ensues,-either that they whose sentiments cannot be brought into accordance with those of their judges, will refrain from the competition, or they will abate their peculiarities in submission to the landmark of their advertised judges. To a certain extent, there may be a range of licence tacitly assumed by prize judges, and under favour of an excepting clause, they may sometimes relax so far as to sanction an essay, in all the views of which they do not acquiesce. This, however, is a very limited indulgence, and most discreetly used, on all occasions. For the most part, adjudicators do not feel warranted in giving an imprimatur to a work whose opinions, as well as principles, collateral or main, they cannot personally homologate, and though an expression favourable to the cause of establishments might be tolerated, should some of the judges hold the view, we are at the same time convinced, that no transcendency of merit would secure a single suffrage to an essay which assumed the Millennarian hypothesis, for instance, should it happen that it was a scheme repudiated by all the judges.

Whilst the system on which we are animadverting acts repressively, if not prohibitively, upon much sanctified talent, that might have lifted up a banner for the truth, it is open to a graver objection on the other side, as admitting to a sacred investigation competitors of any character. How would it be relished were the de

fence of Christian plans and agencies taken up in sport, or greed, by the infidel himself? Yet under the system now pursued so generally, what is to hinder Bowring, or Owen, in covetousness or merriment, taking up the theme of a prize essay, and carrying off the palm? In this anonymous and mercenary rivalry, where gain is the stimulus,-where, till the decision is announced, character must be unknown,-and where any one may understand the views he needs to advocate, by the judges who shall award the prize, it is obvious that if superior minds are excluded, the most open access at the same time is provided for competitors, however profane and secular.

Actual experience may be thought against us in these remarks. The truth, however, is, that we are not in circumstances for judging in this way, and for the manifest reason, that it cannot be expected that the disappointed candidates in a competition, will have fortitude enough to proclaim their defeat,-more or less allied to shame, -by giving the postponed essays to the public; and hence it is not possible to decide positively upon what have been rejected. It is our shrewd conjecture, however, that had we but all the manuscripts lodged for any prize upon our table, we would find, in the first place, many competing whose motive alone could be the prospect of gain; and it would next turn out that the judges' verdict of preference might be as often reversed as affirmed. At least, in reference to this latter observation, we are bold enough to say, that in most cases where the public has had an opportunity of estimating the award of prize adjudications, it has demurred, if it has not always dissented. We will not aver that this happened in the instance of Mammon;' but we are quite prepared to avow, that we rather would have been the author of Treffrey's than of Harris' work. And in the case of Burnet's prize, all now admit that Sumner's essay, which was placed second by the judges, was indisputably intitled to rank first; though we are not sure but that Drew's treatise in the same competition, should have taken precedence of both.*

As yet the system that has called forth these remarks, we are free to admit, though it has done little good, has not done a great deal of mischief. It has led to the misapplication of funds, indeed, which, if more wisely managed, would have, under the blessing of God, led to results of permanent and comprehensive value. We are not, however, prepared to say, that, thus far, it has wrought

No one had a better right to be heard upon the comparative merit of metaphysical works than the late Professor Kidd of Aberdeen; and in writing to Drew, he thus expresses himself, “ It strikes me at present, that the extreme profundity of thought which your essay contains was against it. I hesitate not to say, that the one which gained the prize is nothing like so deep."