had been delivered from a long and raving madness was nothing to them, in comparison with a loss of their property! had been saved; but that was nothing-their swine were dead, and that was something. When Paul was it Philippi, a demon was expelled from a young woman, quite to the discomfort of her masters, who had speculated out of her sad affliction, and made large gains by the fortune-telling of the poor lunatic. Her redemption was a matter of no congratulation; and Paul and Silas -for the deed of mercy had the usual fee-were beaten with many stripes, cast into the inner prison, and their feet were made fast in the stocks. But with unfettered souls they prayed and sang praises to God; and the prisoners heard them, and Heaven heard them, and a great earthquake came, with a writ of habeas corpus for the prisoners, and of quo warranto for the jailor. There was a great disturbance. And yet Paul-rasli enthusiast that he was, and miserable fanatic, as some would pretend-knew no better than to plunge straightway into another melee of the same sort at Ephesus. The account of it is in the nineteenth

chapter of Acts:

"And the same time there arose no small stir about that way: for a certain man, named Demetrius, a silver-smith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen, whom he called together, with the workmen of like occupation and said: Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover, ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying, that they be no gods, which are made with hands so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

"And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! And the whole city was filled with confusion, and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another; for the assembly was confused, and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

Here was another disturbance! And Paul was all his life-long getting into just such difficulities. And the Gospel, when faithfully administered, has many a time, in the hands of other preachers of it, produced similair commotions in neighbourhoods, communities, and nations. And it will continue to do so until all the devils, whose name is legion, are dislodged and driven into the Lake of Genesaret, or some other.

When the Duke of Albermarle was expostulated with on the danger to which he exposed himself at the Battle of Chatham, and was entreated to retire, he replied, very coolly: Sir, if I had been afraid of bullets, I should have quitted this trade of a soldier long ago." The Reformer who is frightened at the sound of battle, had better adopt some other profession. A physician who administers a cathartic or emetic must understand his therapeutics and pharmacy well enough not to expect the same sort of sedative influence as follows a potion of morphine. An artillery

man must know that when he touches off a 200 pounder, there will be a noise, and somebody may be hurt when the shell bursts. If he is not prepared for such unpleasant results, he had better not enlist; and especially if he be an officer of such a company and can not bear to fire a gun, lest he should irritate the enemy, he had better throw up his commission. The Church of Christ is such an artillery company-the gospel is a brass piece of the largest caliber and longest range, and its locker is full of shot and shell for every wrong on earth; and every minister is an officer in such a company; and the soldier of Christ who does not understand what the church millitant means. and who supposes that he is never to use any but "Quaker guns" in storming the forts of his Satanic Excellency (who is at the head of all the confederate forces engaged in this secession from God's govenrment) ought to study better his tactics and his orders, and accustom himself to the smell of powder, the explosion of shells, and the stern realities. of bloody fight. Ministers especially, whose business it is to administer the gospel, must understand that there are tonics and purgatives and irritants in its Materia Medica as well as sedatives and anodynes.

Crabbe has left us this picture of the Vicar :

"To what famed College we our Vicar owe,
To what fair country let historians show;

Few now remember when the mild young man,
Ruddy and fair his Sunday task began;
Few live to speak of that soft-soothing look
He cast around as he prepared his book;
It was a kind of supplicating smile,
But nothing hopeless of applause the while;
And when he finished, his corrected pride
Felt the desert, and yet the praise denied.

Thus he his race began, and to the end
His constant care was no man to offend;

No haughty virtues stirred his peaceful mind;
Nor urged the priest to leave the flock behind;
He was his Master's soldier, but not one
To lead an army of his martyrs on:

Fear was his ruling passion."

If this be praise, we covet blame. It was probably intended for irony; but if not it is only the keener irony for not being intended.

The Gospel is in its nature aggressive-systematically and powerfully aggressive upon all evil. It is not to fall in with established opinions, and organized wrongs, but to assail and correct them. It is not to stand simply upon the defensive. It is positive in its character, and revolutionary in its aims. The world is wrong, and it is to be made right; and Christianity has undertaken the work. Sins, established or unestablished, organic or inorganic, individual or social, have no rights that anybody "is bound to respect." All evils are usurpers, holding only by a robber's right. It is the purpose of the Gospel to dislodge them, and to enthrone the lawful king, whose right only it is to reign.

The religion of Christ is to prevail over all false religions-all infidelity, all immorality, all impiety, and all inhumanity. And these will not yeild without a desperate struggle. It is not therefore to stand with cowed aspect, as though it asked pardon of men for being in the world; but to assert its claims and assume its rightful authority. Dubius, in Cowper, is no ideal of ours; you may remember him :

"Dubius is such a scrupulous good man

Yes-you may catch him tripping if you can.
He would not with a peremptory tone,
Assert the nose upon his face his own;
With hesitation admirably slow

He humbly hopes-presumes-it may be so.
His evidence, if he were called by law,

To swear to some enormity he saw,

For want of prominence and just relief,
Would hang an honest man, and save a thief.
Though constant dread of giving truth offence,
He ties up all his hearers in suspense;
Knows what he knows as if he knew it not;
What he remembers seems to have forgot;
His sole opinion, whatsoe'r befall,
Centreing at last in having none at all."

Our Gospel is no Dubius! It is, on the contrary, most decidedly positive in its principles and peremptory in its teachings. Its unequivocal injunction is: "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil!" Those who stand as its advocates and representatives must be expected, therefore, to have a force of character that shall awaken, sometimes, stern opposition. "Wo unto you wheu all men shall speak well of you!" You have read, perhaps, of one, who, when

praised by some unscrupulous knave, started up, exclaiming: "What wickedness have I done, that this fellow praises me?" The encomiums of some men are very equivocal compliments. Their maledictions are to be chosen rather that their benedictions. A quaint old minister said, some years ago in my hearing, that he always expected to find the noblest men and the most earnest workers maligned and belied; just as he had always noticed that the fruit trees that were the fullest of clubs, were those that bore the best fruit. Good comfort to the persecuted for righteousness sake. Men may be persecuted for other sake than that. Marauders and pirates are sometimes hunted as well as prophets and martyrs. A man is not to take it for granted that the persecution which he suffers is conclusive evidence of his heroic virtue and his self-sacrificing devotion. But, on the other hand, it is certainly not to be assumed that a martyr is simply the victim of his own fanaticism, or folly, or head strong rashness, or self-willed obstinacy. It may be the result of his incorruptible integrity, and his answerving fidelity of the truth. "They that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution," is probably not yet an obsolete saying; it may continue in force until the millennium is fully come, which certainly is not yet.

All reformatory movements have been attended by agitation. They must be of course. They could not be reformatory without. And the greater the reformation, the greater the commotion. Revolutions can only come by war-in fact or in figure-and whoever has not the courage to meet the revolutionary war must abide a Tory. Before Luther, was Erasmus-learned and acute; but a coward. He didn't care to ride on the whirlwind. He knew the truth, but lacked the courage to avow it. He preferred to abide in peace. And so the reformation tarried until the stormgod-Martin of Erfurth-appeared. He was willing to ride with the Almighty, making the clouds his chariot, and the winds his messengers. "Were there as many devils at Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of their houses, I'd go!" reveals the man, and shows us the hiding of his power. He dared and did. There were mighty thunderings and earthquakes in divers places. But he knew that when the earthquakes should cease, there would be a deeper and truer quiet-and more lasting.

Thunder-storms come often, and many there are that tremble as peal follows peal, and flash succeeds flash in the darkened skies, but we have learned that this is God's way of purifying the air, that man may breathe easier, and burning up the malaria that they may breathe larger. Storms at sea are sometimes unwelcome to the timid-mariner; but without them the clear blue sea, exhaling its life-giving vapors to water and beautify the earth, would become a great mass of pestilence and death to every thing that hath breath by land and by sea. So God causeth the waves to

clap their hands in praise of him who sendeth the winds to stir them up.

Members of the Senior Class: In going forth to the more public and practical duties of life, we trust it is that you may make the world the better for your having lived in it. But, let me say to you, you will not find it stretching its hands imploringly and beseeching you to reform it. It is not anxiously waiting for you or anybody else to come around and heal it of its diseases, and receive its liberal and cheerfully-rendered fee for your medical advice and your proffered aid. Its devils will shriek when you attempt to cast them out; and your compensation for honest efforts to make the world better will often be no other than that of the Great reformer. Remember the words which he has said unto you: "The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you." That is the fee for your best services.

ure.

He who goes forth into such a world as this, and moves among men without stirring up somebody, may write his life down a failHis commander-in-chief has sent him into a rebellous province, and if he didn't at least now and then meet with some collision, as he encounters the enemies of his king, it is because he is chargeable with compounding of felony, or misprison of treason. It is war to which he is called-war upon wrong everywhere. His life is the life of a soldier intent upon quelling an insurrection and recovering the rebels to their allegiance. It will be no downy bed of ease on which such an one will be carried to the skies.

Moral courage is needed for moral conflicts. An American soldier at the siege of Quebec, being placed in a position of some danger, requested his officer to change his situation. Being asked his reason, he replied with felicitous serio-comic style, " that he didn't know how it was, but somehow he didn't feel himself bold enough to stay there!" There are many such positions in the great campaign. The reformer who lacks courage for the hour of battle, has mistaken his calling.

And what is a man's life worth unless he is in the true sense a reformer, working to make man nobler, truer, diviner, by virtue of his worthy living? He who merely elbows his way along through the world with no other ambition than to get safely through it and out of it, has missed the road to true glory and honor and immortality. The warrior has always been the world's hero. He always will. It is not in human nature to withhold its homage from the truly brave. But as ideas advance, the courage that dares defend the right against all assailants will be crowned with honor above all other courage; and the Christian warrior will be the acknowledged hero of heroes.

With two words to each one of you, as you go forth into a wider life, I close this, our last sermon. Let the first be the counsel of