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there is sin in exaggerated development, and little but sin. In the coveted and cherished adornments of our persons and our homes, from the princely splendours of our Fifth Avenue down through all the struggling, aspiring, and emulous grades of fashion's idolatry, even to the servant and cottager, God sees this abominable thing.

The manifest origin of the present difficulties (says the "New-York Observer") is to be found in that dishonest and gambling spirit increasing in that portion of our commercial community who have left the legitimate walks of trade, to become the mere dealers in money and its apparent representatives. To a very great extent, this class has been made up of those who are more determined to be rich than to be honest.............This gambling spirit is most infectious. It has insinuated itself into the legitimate branches of trade. And men, wearied and dissatisfied with the slow gains of honest enterprise and economy, have vainly added to their lawful investments speculations in mere bubbles of the imagination......... Never was vice more extravagant in its expenditures, or gambling more paramount in its plans and display. Theatres are crowded in this city, taking, it is said, ten thousand dollars a night for the support of thousands who thus rob an honest community, to whose prosperity they contribute nothing. Restless self-indulgence goes on to its utmost extent of gratification, by multitudes who spend continually what is not their own.

To the Boston "Witness and Advocate" it seems that a prominent thing to be learned is a lesson on our individual and national extravagance. In this respect there is no precedent or parallel in the history of our race. The possessor, or supposed possessor, of a given amount of money in the United States, will spend far more in business and household establishment, in equipage, dress, and all personal luxuries, than any of his equals in any portion of the globe...... The pride, the ostentation, the folly of our country, are the banes of the social body,-the cankers which eat into its life......... And then, again, look at our actual dishonesty. It is a harsh word to record; and yet, in faithfulness, we must call it up, and realize what a heavy blot it is on our fame. Extravagance, by a moral necessity, produces a sad relaxation of principle.

In the Philadelphia "Episcopal Recorder" we read :-The failures by which we are surrounded must find their origin in something else than mere business-disorganization. A primary cause is, the personal extravagance which has made magnificent dwelling-houses the almost invariable accompaniments of commercial enterprise....... The palace-like house, with its palace-like entertainments, have to be paid for in funds which, in too many cases, must be drawn from banks, which the extravagance and necessities of their customers force to an unnatural expansion of their circulation. The luxuries of the country are the cause of its over-banking, much more than its business-activity..........The expansion is unnatural. The first shock that comes produces a crash. The banks find themselves unable to meet the demands upon their own counters, much less to continue the accommodations they have heretofore so liberally extended. The result

is, the distress and want which are the accompaniments of a great commercial crisis. But the troubles of the present will not be without their value, if they teach us the necessity of a frugal disbursement of wealth, as a great trust-fund which we hold, not for our own gratification, but for the glory of God.

A CAUSE ECCLESIASTICAL-WHEN DOES A CHURCH

DIE?*

"ARE you in possession of any facts and documents which would be available towards deciding the knotty question, at what precise point a church in the progress of decline loses its collective capacity, and becomes de facto extinct-so as, for instance, to cease to be entitled to an endowment? If you can help me at all towards solving this enigma, pray write immediately."

The case referred to in the preceding extract was a curious one; and, if it be regarded as affording a precedent in reference to the usages and principles of Protestant Dissenters, an important one. It was one referred to the general body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, by the trustees of the estates of the Sabbatarian Protestant Dissenters, in the year 1831. The case submitted to the body states, that "the Sabbatarian churches hitherto existing in London were, first, that assembling in Mill-yard, Goodman's Fields, formerly under the pastorship of the Rev. William Slater, who died in 1819, and since then without a Pastor; and, secondly, that assembling in Still's-alley, Devonshire-square, under the pastorship of the Rev. Robert Burnside, and afterwards removed to the Welsh chapel in Eldon-street, Finsbury, under the pastorship of the Rev. J. B. Shenstone, the present Minister. During the later period of Mr. Slater's ministry, the church in Mill-yard, which had, together with the Sabbatarian interest generally, been long experiencing great decay, consisted of three male members, (nephews of the Minister,) and seven female members, five of whom were also of the family of Slater. For some years previous to the death of the Rev. W. Slater, the three male members discontinued the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, and were in attendance on the worship of the Church of England; but one or two of them still continued to attend on the days of communion, in order to act as Deacons in the office of the ordinance, down to the period of Mr Slater's death."

It is further stated, that on Mr. Slater's death the chapel was shut up, and fell into gradual decay, no attempt having been made to secure a successor. The property was at that time in Chancery, and the suit did not terminate till 1826. New trustees were appointed by the Court to act

"Josiah Conder: A Memoir." See SELECT LITERARY NOTICES, p. 67.

VOL. IV.-FIFTH SERIES.

E

with the surviving trustee; and, though not themselves Dissenters, they endeavoured to carry out the trust. They repaired the chapel; advertised for a Minister holding Sabbatarian, Baptist, and Arminian sentiments; and appointed, ad interim, the Rev. Thomas Russell,. A.M., to officiate. This state of things continued until the year 1830, during which time one member had withdrawn, and two died; and, of the remaining four, one had become confined to her bed by infirmity: but, it is added, "three others (daughters of Mrs. W. Slater) were, on the 5th of August, 1826, admitted as members by the unanimous suffrages of the five other members then assembled, and in the presence of Mr. Russell. The existing number therefore, assuming the three last-mentioned to have been duly admitted, is seven females; of whom, from three to six have uniformly assembled at worship."

Under these circumstances, the trustees were of opinion "that, in the absence of any indications of revival, it was impossible to consider the remaining members of Mill-yard as constituting a church, or even the nucleus of a church." They therefore decided that the ad interim arrangement could no longer be continued, and resolved to offer the place of worship to the Rev. Mr. Shenstone, "the only acting Minister of the Sabbatarian persuasion in London," and to his congregation. The seven ladies, however, asserted that they were a church, and that no one had a right to obtrude a Minister on them contrary to their choice. They refused to elect Mr. Shenstone, and protested against the decision of the trustees. After considerable discussion, all parties united in the following agreement : "We agree to give jurisdiction to the general body of Dissenting Ministers, meeting at Dr. Williams's Library in Redcross-street, to determine the question, Whether the existing members of Mill-yard Sabbatarian Meeting are or are not a church, with the power of choosing a Pastor? and to join in all such arrangements as shall be expedient for the purpose of procuring that question to be properly submitted to the body, and obtaining their decision upon it, which decision is to be final."

Mr. Conder was requested by the trustees to act as their advocate, the case having been previously submitted to him for his private opinion. He at first refused, not from the slightest hesitation as to what appeared to him the only common-sense view of the question, but from the fear that he might be regarded as stepping out of his line, and that some personal feeling against himself might prejudice the cause of his clients. Finding, however, that he was more likely to damage them by declining, he consented. The case was heard in May, 1831, at three several sittings, the Rev. Dr. Pye Smith occupying the chair. The Rev. Mr. Russell appeared, to maintain the existence and rights of the "church." The case was argued on the grounds of abstract principle, authority, and precedent. Mr. Russell, on behalf of the protesters, spoke first. Mr. Conder's argument, in reply, occupied several hours, and the report of that part of it delivered on the second day of hearing fills one hundred and twenty-eight folios. He completed his argument at the third day's sitting, and Mr. Russell

rejoined. The question involved was a knotty one: At what period in the downward progress of decay does an Independent Church cease to exist? Obviously, the question is one of no practical importance, except where endowments are concerned; for, where there is no endowment, as soon as the congregation sinks to that ebb at which it can no longer sustain public worship, the society naturally dissolves itself. An endowment, however, causes the life to linger in the body ecclesiastical with an amazing tenacity. Some curious illustrative facts were quoted on this occasion. "I know," said Mr. Conder, "a number of churches, so called, of the real validity of which I should entertain doubts. I heard the other day of a church, so called, of three women, existing, and an endowed church also. I happened to fall in with a reverend gentleman of the Baptist denomination, to whom I put the question, 'How many sisters make a brotherhood?' and he immediately told me of this church; and I said, 'Do you call it a church ?' (for, observe, this very Minister was in the habit of going over to preach to them.) He shook his head. No,' said he; 'a very odd sort of church: certainly I could not.' Now this is a fact. I could mention the place. They keep themselves together for the sake of the endowment, and he goes over to them and preaches; but he himself doubted whether they were a church in any proper sense of the word.............I knew another church' consisting of one man, his wife, and his maid, who were in possession of a considerable endowment. Now, will you in the face of the world say that these are precedents establishing the nature of a Christian church, and that these abuses, which, if they were known, would excite general indignation, are the constituent principles of Independency?"

The verdict of the assembled Ministers, after hearing the arguments on both sides, was, that "the existing members of Mill-yard Meeting" did constitute "a church, with the power of choosing a Pastor." The copy of their resolution, signed by Dr. Pye Smith, is dated June 2d, 1831.

THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR.

ANOTHER year has passed away-another period of my short life is gone for ever. Shall I not stop, and review the past?

1. The mercies of the past year-how have I received them? Have I remembered that each one was bought with the blood of Jesus?

2. The sermons I have heard from Ministers of Christ-what effect have they had upon me?

3. My Sabbaths-how have I spent them?

4. My Bible-how have I used it?

5. My talents-how have I improved them? Have they been hid in the earth, or have I been gaining other talents beside them?

6. My influence-has it been exerted for good or for evil?

7. My property-how have I expended it? How much of it has been given to God?

8. My time-how have I employed it? Has it been spent with reference to eternity?

9. My duties-how have they been performed?

10. My object-what has it been?

11. My companions-who have they been? How have they influenced me?

12. My amusements-what has been their nature and character? Have they afforded me satisfaction?

13. My sins-what has been their number?

14. My soul-is it saved?

AMELIA.

HORE BIBLICÆ.

No. LX. "THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID."

(2 SAM. XXIII. 1—7.*)

:

Of these last, or later words of David, (see the Hebrew,) it seems certain that they were neither the last words he ever spoke, nor the last he uttered by inspiration. The origin of the title, we conceive, is to be found partly in the peculiar character of the prophecy contained in them, and in its relation to all the inspired words spoken afterwards by David. The words refer to Christ; they describe His kingly glory and they are applicable to other rulers, only in so far as these are animated by Christ's spirit. This view of Christ's kingly glory seems to have been, in substance, the last Divine communication that David received; the great thought that hereafter filled his prophetic soul. The leading points of this passage re-appear in his charge to Solomon, (1 Kings ii.,) in his prayer for Solomon, (Psalm lxxii.,) and in some other compositions that seem to belong to this period of his life.

The first thing that strikes us is the formality and solemnity of the oftrepeating introduction :

"David, the Son of Jesse, said,

And the man who was raised up on high;

The anointed of the God of Jacob,
The sweet Psalmist of Israel, said:

"The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
And His word was in my tongue.
The God of Israel said,

The Rock of Israel spake to me."

The first four clauses represent David as the speaker; the second four represent God as inspiring his words. The word translated "said" is peculiar; being restricted to solemn, prophetical utterances.

* Abridged from " David, King of Israel." See SELECT LITERARY NOTICES, A.D. 1857, page 928.

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