These contributions to a general panic were presented in 1848. Had the prophet followed the advice of Horace, -"nonumque prematur in annum,”

he would not have incurred at once the censure which falls upon the false prophet and the alarmist. But some birds can see best in the dark; others fly only in a storm: the former make night hideous with their hootings; the latter add to the terrors of the tempest by their unearthly screams. The modern prophet combines the characteristics of both. When the political heavens gather blackness, he is on the wing. When the night of misfortune broods over a nation, his voice is heard presaging ills. Big with conceit, he comes as the herald of an angry God, to proclaim to a guilty world its approaching doom. His mission is to increase the excitement which ever attends national calamities, to give intensity to despair, and pronounce the bow of hope for ever dissolved. The clouds are big with wrath -no mercy shines behind them. The sun has hid his face in impenetrable gloom, and no bright future remains for the age. The dark forebodings of a gloomy imagination colour the dreadful picture. The awful language of inspiration is chosen to pourtray coming desolations. The majority of the ancient prophets lived in a declining and corrupt age; they addressed an apostate people; they were the heralds of coming woe to their nation; their messages were grand, gloomy, and peculiar. The Jews were the "chosen " chosen" depositaries of God's revealed will. The prophets were his "inspired ambassadors. Such relations can never exist again. The condition of no nation can be precisely analogous to that of the Israelites. Modern prophets have nothing of the inspiration of ancient seers but their language; and the more dark and enigmatical this is, the better will it answer their purpose of immediate effect. They have taken their position, and they must maintain it. They have predicted that the "end of the world is at end," and they must prove it. Where the signs of the times cannot be enlisted as witnesses, they have recourse to exaggeration, and bold and startling assertions. In this new Pandora's box which they have opened, no hope for the doomed millions now living lingers at the bot

tom. The elect are already gathered in; the last seal has been broken; the last trumpet has sounded, and the last vial has been poured out; and the accumulated woes portended by these symbols are now rolling like billows over the earth. The end must come, do what we may; it cannot be delayed. The chariot wheels of the "King of kings are now moving on the highway to fearful judgments. The wrath of God will burn to the lowest hell. The Gospel has been preached 66 as a witness," and failed to convince the world of sin; now it must prove a savour of death unto death to all that live; still, the ministers of Christ must preach, though they know that their labour in the Lord will be in vain, and that their efforts to enlighten their flocks will only enhance their condemnation and misery throughout eternity. Such busy speculators live in a continual fever. Their eyes, like telescopes, bring distant objects near, and magnify those that are at hand. Their ears, like hearing-trumpets, catch the secret whispers of coming events, and gather them to a focus, so as to render them audible to the unpractised multitude. At every dawning day, they are ready to cry out, with Lennox, in "Macbeth"

"I see," says Dr. Cumming, "the shadows of a dark night already forecast upon the world; I see dark and ominous shadows creeping, like birds of night, from every point of the horizon, all giving tokens of an approaching storm, that will rend and split Europe into fragments. We may, very speedily, have to witness men's souls looking with fear for the things that are coming upon the earth."* The evidences adduced in proof of this bold assertion are the revolutions then taking place in Europe, the eruption * Apocalyptic Sketches, First Series, p. 488.

of Vesuvius in 1850 and an accompanying earthquake, the potato blight, the cholera, the increase of Popery, and the increase of knowledge. Strange to say, a theorist can extract poison from the sweetest flowers of life. "An

other sign of the advent of Christ," says the reverend seer, "will be the spread of knowledge. Daniel gives this indication when he says, 'Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.' Do we not see the signs of this around us?" Then he proceeds to enumerate the evidences of Satanic agency, to wit, the discoveries in science and art, the use of steam and electricity in social intercourse, the exploring of the depths of ocean and the caves of mountains, together with the godless speculations of philosophers.* But such things have occurred before. The world has always been slowly progressing in knowledge, and has always been subjected to physical and social evils. The reading of any child's history might have convinced the critic that calamities are not peculiar to this age. Every year since the birth of Christ the alarmist might exclaim with the utmost truth:

"War, Famine, Pest, Volcano, Storm and Fire,

Intestine broils, Oppression, with her heart

Wrapt up in triple brass, besiege mankind."

Such testimony in favour of any theory is utterly worthless. Some men seem to think that discoursing about the kingdom of heaven indicates a nearness to it; hence they substitute speculations about the future age for efficient effort during the present age. Commentaries on the Apocalypse always abound in periods of religious declension. They affect the spiritual system as artificial stimulants do the physical. Revivals of religion have for the last thirty years been so few, that even good men begin to despair of the efficacy of the Gospel, and are looking for a miraculous interposition of the Saviour. They have become weary of waiting for sinners to repent, and they imagine that heaven must sympathize with their impatience. They comfort themselves with the hope of a restored earth and a new dispensation. But unbelievers may well say, in the language of tragedy,

Apocalyptic Sketches, First Series, p. 495.

"Of comfort no man speak; Let's talk of graves, and worms, and epitaphs,

Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth."

The influence of such a belief is highly prejudicial to the spiritual welfare both of pastors and people. It leads them to undervalue the ordinary means of grace, and to withdraw from the benevolent operations of the day. It destroys hope. No man can labour who knows that he must labour in vain. Those who believe that the day of the Lordis "at the very doors," cannot engage in missionary enterprises with hearty earnestness, because that would imply the expectation of a remote future for this world. They feel much as the elder Adams did, when near the close of life. To a friend, inquiring for his health, he said, in substance, “This mortal tenement is very much shattered and disordered; and, as near as I can learn, the Landlord does not intend to repair." Such is the view which the pre-millennialists entertain of this disordered earth and its effete nations. It is soon to be burnt up, and its inhabitants are to be destroyed (except a remnant) by the brightness of Christ's coming. For this they daily pray, whenever they repeat the petition,

Thy kingdom come;" and they believe that "the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much.” If all believers in Christ should adopt the same views, and labour for the same results, within fifty years the church would become extinct.

IMPROPRIETIES IN PRAYER. SIR, I beg leave to offer a few observations on the use of the phrases," We beseech thee," and "We pray thee," in prayer. These words are clearly admissible only on the principle that they are intensive-a prayer upon a prayer. Their legitimate use, therefore, is necessarily infrequent and limited to matters specially emphatic. By incessant recurrence, they become wholly divested of their peculiar character: they cease to be intensive at all; and not only so, but clog_expression and deaden devotion. By their use in excess, ordinary feeling is embodied in extraordinary language. To the extent, therefore, of the difference, the fire is wanting; nay, to all intents and purposes, it is false-a sad draw

back this, in the matter of devotion, where everything ought to be living and true.

Now, Sir, it consists with my knowledge, that the evil is one of extensive prevalence. My lot in life has been so cast as very extensively to furnish me with an opportunity of speaking from personal observation. Illustrations abound, both among ministers and laymen; ministers and laymen, too, of superior worth and intelligence. So far as I have observed, however, the worst cases have been among the latter. I have known laymen, officers of churches and others, whose prayer, it would be no exaggeration to say, was made up of "We beseech thee," and "We pray thee," to the extent of one fourth! Had such prayers been reported by a competent short-hand writer, they would have presented quite a spectacle, the sight of which, in print, would probably have sufficed to correct the evil, even in the worst cases.

Per

haps the next best thing to such a report, by way of cure, would be to take a prayer, inserting throughout a fair proportion of these phrases. The following, from the excellent volume of prayers of the Rev. George Smith, I offer as an illustration:

O God, thou art our God, early will we seek thee. Thou hast made us rational and immortal creatures, capable of knowing and of loving thee for ever. Thou hast redeemed us, not with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ. We approach thee, at this hour, with convictions of our sinfulness and varied wants. We come to thee to be enlightened, pardoned, and purified. Blessed with the means of grace, we supplicate that mercy which they are instituted to convey. Send down upon us [we beseech thee] thy Holy Spirit, to convince us of sin, and to conduct us to the Saviour of guilty men. Bestow upon us [we beseech thee] the salvation which He died to procure, and is now exalted to impart. Work in us [we pray thee] both to will and to do of thy good pleasure, that we may work out our own salvation, with fear and trembling. Redeem us [we beseech thee] from the curse of the law, from the pollution of the present world, and from the condemnation of the world to come. Unite us [we beseech thee] by faith to Christ, who is the author of justifying righteousness; adorn us [we pray thee] with the fruits of the Spirit, and grant that we may stand complete in all thy will.

Bless to us [we beseech thee] the daily reading of thy holy word. May we understand its meaning, and by it be made wise unto salvation. May our morning and evening approaches to thy throne never degenerate into formal acts of worship, but may we pray with the spirit and with the understand

ing. May those who are placed at the head of this family [we beseech thee] rule it in the fear of God, and show piety at home. May the servants of the household be the children of God [we beseech thee], and be prepared for that world where all social distinctions are done away. Give to our children the blessing of early devotedness to thee [we beseech thee]. While they are yet young

may they begin to cry to thee, Thou art my Father, the guide of my youth. Let them not grow up to be wicked, impenitent, and unbelieving [we beseech thee], but may they serve God in the gospel of his Son. May they be dutiful to their parents and teachers [we beseech thee], be kind and loving to each other, and thus prove that they love that Redeemer, who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God."

Give mercy [we beseech thee] to our dear relations and friends, scattered up and down in this world of imperfection and woe. May any of them [we pray thee] who have forsaken the guide of their youth and forgotten the covenant of their God, be brought back with penitence and faith to the Shepherd and Bishop of Souls. Let those who love thee receive increase of grace [we beseech thee], and while separated widely from us may we and they meet before thy mercy seat, and realize the communion of saints, and finally stand with acceptance before thy throne.

We pray to thee for our neighbours and acquaintance. May we have compassion on the ignorant [we beseech thee], and endeavour, by a holy example, to lead them to the fountain of Divine light. Bless [we be.. seech thee] all the means employed to awaken their attention to the things which belong to their peace, and where sin hath abounded let grace much more abound.

Hear us [we beseech thee] when we pray for our country. Let all the people of this land praise thee. May the rich [we beseech thee] lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the day of God, and the poor become rich in faith, and heirs of thy kingdom.

Command thy blessing [we pray thee] on British seamen, and grant that they may become as eminent for piety as they have been distinguished by bravery and skill. They get their bread by the peril of their lives, and endure privations and hardships peculiar to their employment. Let thy providence [we beseech thee] watch over and preserve them. May their lives be precious in thy sight [we beseech thee], and when delivered from danger and from death may they celebrate thy goodness, and return to thee, through Christ, as to the God who hath dealt bountifully with them.

And oh [we beseech thee] let it please thee to have mercy upon all men. Let thy way be known [we pray thee] upon earth, and thy saving health among all nations. Bring the fulness of the Gentiles into the Christian church [we beseech thee], and let all Israel be saved. May the children of Abraham, the friend of God [we beseech thee], look on the Messiah, and find in him the great prophet and priest of the world.

We now commend ourselves to thee and to the word of thy grace. Keep us [we beseech thee] in thy fear through all the hours of this day, so that we may not wickedly depart from the Lord our God. Let the assurance of thy love cheer our hearts [we pray thee]. Guide us with thine eye [we beseech thee], and when we hear not thy voice, and see not thy hand, may our faith recognize thy look of guidance and approbation. Grant these blessings, O God [we pray thee], in much mercy, for the righteousness' sake of our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Now, this is in no degree overdone. It is an unexaggerated specimen of a multitude of prayers I have heard uttered, and I submit, that such prayers, to cultivated people, are not only unedifying, but offensive. It will be seen that the foregoing prayer of Mr. Smith is complete without these expletives, and that there is not one of them in the original prayer. Nay, it may be proper to state, that after thoroughly searching every one of the 325 pages of this incomparable book of its class, I have met with only one instance of the use of the phrase, " We beseech thee," of an expletive character. That phrase indeed occurs repeatedly, but in every case as the verb of the sentence, and not as an expletive. It may be helpful for those who have fallen into the error, if they will take Cruden's Concordance, and ascertain the extent of the use of these phrases in the whole of the Sacred Volume. Doing this, they will perhaps be not a little surprised to find, that they themselves use it as frequently in two or three minutes, as it is employed throughout both the Old and the New Testaments! Smith's Concordance gives it only twenty-five times in the whole Scriptures! It is in every case incorporated with devotions of the most intense character, devotions arising almost or altogether to agony. But even prayers of this description, in the highest conceivable degree, may be offered without any such phraseology; even then, it is admissible, but not indispensable. It is worthy of particular attention that the great Master himself supplies a sublime example. In none of the recorded prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ have we any deviation from simple language-language without one superfluous

word.

I may perhaps be allowed to observe, that an error of the same kind has prevailed in the excessive use of the

vocative case with respect to the Father. There are many good people who, at almost every sentence, inject the phrase, "O God," "O Father; now this is equally a violation of reason and of Scripture; and it has not been improperly represented as one of the many ways of taking the "name of God in vain." Such a style of language would not be tolerated in addressing a superior on some special point; and it would be wholly improper towards our equal, though a personal friend.

If I might hit at the cause of these errors, I would say it arises with many from a hurried manner; the tongue outruns the intellect. There is consequently a want of matter; and hence these phrases are ever and anon thrown in to fill up the hiatus. This, with one class, is the true philosophy of the thing. The speaker feels as if there must be no break or pause; and hence he runs on, making up his wants as he best can. Now, the assumption is not only without foundation, but seriously at fault. Pauses, in finished speaking, are matters of the highest moment, in order to variety, relief, comprehension, and impression. But if required in first rate oratory, how much more so in what Cowper terms

"Language soft as adoration breathes!"

Pauses in prayer are a thing of incalculable importance in every view. If the assembly are to be not mere auditors, whose ears may follow the speaker, but joint suppliants, to whose heart-emotions the latter is giving utterance, not only is great deliberationfar more than frequently obtains-necessary, but full pauses in all transitions from one department of prayer to another. The thing is not merely seemly, but proper in itself; and is required to essential unity of hearts in public devotion. On the other hand, nothing is so indecent, unedifying, to the cultivated ear so annoying, and to a sense of propriety so offensive, as a rapid, unbroken stream of words by way of an address to the Most High. With respect to another class, it is purely an affair of habit.

But I must no further intrude, although I think the subject is one of such moment as to justify the most thorough discussion.

Sept. 1855.

AN OBSERVER.

PAUL'S THORN IN THE FLESH. DR. EDWARD BEECHER, of Boston, has just contributed a dissertation to the Bibliotheca Sacra, on the subject of Paul's Thorn in the Flesh, in which he presents a digest of the entire erudition of the subject; the learning and the labour which have been bestowed upon it, however, have not cleared up the matter. Thick darkness still broods over this part of the Apostolic history; but, notwithstanding this, there is a great deal in the essay that is otherwise instructive and edifying. The close, in particular, is important, more especially at the present time, as setting forth some of the principal perils to which the Church of God, both in the United States and amongst ourselves, is exposed. The dissertation closes with the following paragraphs, which comprise much thought, at once sound and valuable. Referring to the views he has given of the thorn in the flesh, which he seems to consider as identical with weakness, affliction, and trial, he proceeds as follows to apply the whole:

Such being our results, let us endeavour to derive some spiritual benefit from this view. It teaches us most emphatically that the outward and worldly strength of position and organic influence, which all are so prone to covet, is not the highest and most desirable strength, but always involves an element of temptation and danger. Many a man, following his delusive conception as to power, has been weakened and paralyzed by an elevated position and a wealthy church, in a great centre. Judson, the missionary, became powerful by rejecting them for weakness and suffering. And when God desired to develop the highest form of power through Edwards, he sent upon him outward weakness and distress. He turned his people against him, and sent him, in advanced years, and with a large family, into the wilderness. In scenes of outward weakness like these, was his highest intellectual and moral power developed through the indwelling energy of Christ.

The great want of the ministers and churches of the present age is more of this inward power of God, and there is no greater problem than this: How can the Church have outward prosperity, and yet permanently enjoy this inward power?

One thing is plain, that to sacrifice principle for the sake of retaining the favour of men of wealth and of political power, to which all American Christians are strongly tempted, is spiritual suicide. It is better to be despised and contemned by all the wealthy and powerful of this age than to forfeit the inward strength which God alone confers. The great danger of the ministers of God and of his churches, in these days of worldly prosperity, is, that they will forget this fact, and be paralyzed and ruined in their aspirations after outward power.

The

great question of the age is: How shall this danger be averted, and the inward strength of God be obtained and secured, without afflictions and persecutions?

No question is so intimately concerned with the advent of the millennium as this. But, without going fully into its discussion, we will only say, that one of the most powerful means of securing the desired result is habitual sympathy with the life and experience of Paul. In him God wrought a work for the church in all ages. He was, by the dealings of God, eminently crucified to the world and the world to him; and, if we live in sympathy with him, we shall see and feel as he did the dangers of outward and worldly power, and seek that inward strength which God alone can give.

The case of Paul, thus understood, will no doubt touch a chord of sympathy in many a mind. For the necessity of weakening the children of God has not ceased, and God knows how to effect it still, in various and unlike ways. Every man knows how God has weakened him, and may find in the Divine providence the same purposes of watchful love which were discovered by Paul. Happy is he who is conducted thereby to the same auspicious results, and who, with Paul, can glory in his weakness, because when he is weak then he is strong, being able to do or to endure all things through Christ, who giveth him strength.

This subject also teaches us how