ARTICLE VIII.

NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

I. DR. CANNON'S PASTORAL THEOLOGY.1

By Rev. C. Van Santvoord, Saugerties, N. Y.

THE office of professor in theology has about it little of that glare which attracts the notice or excites the wonder of the multitude. Compared with the popular preacher who appears week after week before a crowd, hushed and subdued by the tones of a stirring oratory, it might seem, at the first view, that the office of the former was insignificant and his work barren of results. Judged by superficial tests-and these sometimes have a surprisingly wide and potent sway-the superior importance and utility of the preacher's labors, would seem hardly to admit of a question. According to such tests, if truth is to be preserved, or its influence widened, or infidelity to be rebuked, or rationalism undermined, or "spiritual wickedness in high places" discomfited, and Gospel light conveyed to benighted minds most irresistibly, he is the likeliest to effect such results, whose power to move and melt is confessed by captivated crowds, loving to be charmed by accents which are to them "as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well upon an instrument."

What equal claims to honor can the professor advance? He is a quiet, unobserved man. He has his home and the arena of his labors usually "remote from cities," or, if in them, he can hardly be said to be of them. Though having exercised the functions of the preacher in years gone by, and wielded the influence of the honored pastor, he no more addresses, except occasionally and by way of digression from the tread-mill routine of every-day duty, the "great congregation," or visits from house to house, the many-hued minds which an adapted Gospel is given to guide, comfort or impress. The lecture-room, rather than the church, is the theatre whereon his skill and prowess are to be displayed. A few disciples, rather than a promiscuous gathering, constitute his stated auditory; and the subjects for the reception of lessons, whose design is to qualify fit and faithful workmen for the service of the sanctuary. Day after day, and month after month, he passes backward and forward from the house to the lecture-room with the regularity of a machine. He gathers noiselessly his little class around him. He opens to inquisitive and earnest minds treasures of sacred lore, which

1 Lectures on Pastoral Theology, by the Rev. James S. Cannon, D. D., late Professor of Pastoral Theology and Ecclesiastical History and Government, in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Dutch Church, New Brunswick, N. J. New York: Charles Scribner, 145 Nassau Street. 1853.

long and laborious diligence has accumulated, more precious, in their effects at least, than those brought by devout Magi to the cradle of the infant Christ. He is not covetous of the applauses of the bustling crowd without, who hold on their accustomed way, heeding neither him nor his teachings. Their indifference gives him no concern. It is enough for him, to be invested with the honor, and with the responsibility not less, of guiding and instructing those, who are soon to become the guides and instructors of the people. And it matters very little to him, whether the world know his name familiarly or not, if he can but succeed in furnishing for the great battle with the enemies of Zion, those who shall valiantly and devotedly uphold the sacred cause of truth.

And thus it comes to pass not unfrequently, that a person who has long occupied such a position as this, and occupied it too most creditably and usefully, dies without having acquired any wide-spread distinction, and at his departure is followed with no general deep-drawn sigh, "how is the mighty fallen." His name, even as it appears on the list of the dead, may be coldly glanced at by the world as being almost that of a stranger. But fame is not the measure of utility. The obscure life is not the insignificant life. What has been wrought for the good of humanity, is not to be estimated by any degree of worldly distinction, or any amount of worldly adulation or applause. The truth lies deeper. The true teacher of theology is one of the great powers of this earth. He moves—what the lever of Archimedes, however favorably adjusted, never could move - human minds, dispositions, volitions, affections. The knowledge which he imparts has not been easily obtained, but is the fruit of weary and toilful years, brought from far and near, and amassed as a common hoard, for the benefit of those who stretch forth their hands at his bidding and gather what they may. His knowledge is not all theory; has not all been gleaned from books. His own experience of the pastor's wants and trials; of his discouragements and supports; of what he should be, and what he should do, and what he must or may suffer, imparts to his teaching a practical character, which enhances its value; for the professor has, in most instances, been himself an overseer of the flock of Christ. The lessons thus given to those who are to be pastors, embody theoretical with experimental knowledge. The choicest fruits of an active and inquiring intellect, of the diligent study of the "lively oracles," of fatiguing but successful excursions into all fields where valuable sheaves were awaiting the gatherer's hand, of counsels made sagacious by intercourse with men, and life made blameless by stern discipline and trial, are brought forth, and freely offered to those who can hardly partake for months and years of such a repast, without finding health increase, and the heart grow strong for grappling with the great work which the pastor has to do.

Accordingly, if we would estimate the professor's work aright, we must cast our glance abroad over the church and over the world, and let it "enter within the soil" that hides the coming years. The young man, well instructed in the theory and practice of winning souls, goes forth to become

himself the teacher and guide of men. He goes forth like trusting Abraham, not knowing whither the Divine will shall lead him. The field is the world. The harvests are whitening around him. The laborers are few. The heavenly voice bidding him enter and reap, is decisive and urgent. He goes whither he is guided, and enters on his toils with the ardor of a volunteer, rather than the slow and lingering pace of one who undertakes reluctantly a task for which he has no relish. The effects of his careful and conscientious training soon appear. As a "man of God thoroughly furnished unto all good works," he makes his mark upon the district where he is called to labor. He wields, in spite of every hostile array, the influence which is well-nigh inseparable from educated, well-directed and devoted piety everywhere. The church is edified, strengthened, expanded; vice and irreligion, though entrenched behind power, are made to tremble, as Felix did, at the winged "words of truth and soberness;" error and delusion vanish before the sword of the Lord as brandished by His accredited and loyal ambassador, and from the little circle within which a single standard-bearer has planted his foot and displayed his banner, inscribed with "Christ and him crucified,” an influence, as benign and purifying as it is gentle, is conveyed to surrounding minds and habitations, and through these still more remotely abroad, so that the entire measure of the good achieved baffles the power of present calculation. Or, if the Macedonian cry "come over and help us," has given the energies of the devoted soldier another direction, and he goes forth to win trophies for his Lord on the foreign field, there, too, his works attest his zeal and heroism. The wilderness and solitary place are made glad by his presence; the desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose. The heart of the church is cheered, perchance, by tidings wafted from beyond the sea, of temples, whose altars smoked with the blood of human victims, supplanted by those which Jehovah's praises and presence fill, and from the myriads of a pagan world many devout worshippers "turned to God from idols, to serve henceforth the living and true God."

Such results may be wrought through God's guiding and aiding Spirit, by a single well-disciplined mind, whose powers have been trained and consecrated in some school of the prophets. These are among the fruits of those lessons given in the lecture-room; lessons, unregarded by the throng of bustling men, daily repeated without noise or display; wearisome at times to the teacher, from their monotony; to the careless observer, utterly unpromising. But in God's time the harvest has succeeded the seed season, and the multitude of garnered sheaves will never be fully known to us, till the great day come whereon "the Lord shall count when He writeth up the people that this and that man was born there." What surprising revelations await "the pure in heart who shall see God," and rejoice that they no longer “see through a glass darkly."

The author of the book before us, illustrates to some extent the idea designed to be conveyed by the foregoing paragraphs. He became a teacher of theology in the full maturity of his powers, having served for thirty years previously, in the work of the ministry. During all this period, he continued

the pastor of the same congregation, thus furnishing an example of the "steadfast and unmovable," which, in this day of comparative instability, it is quite refreshing to see. He discharged the duties of his pastorate, laboriously, faithfully, unblamably and usefully, and, with the ripe experience of so many years, passed into the professor's chair, to which the confidence of the church he belonged to, had elected him. The change occurred in 1826, from which period till his death in 1852, he performed, in a faithful and exemplary manner, the duties which his office demanded, giving instruction not only to the classes in the Theological School, but also to those in the Literary Institution, connected with it. The Seminary with which his name is honorably and now indissolubly connected, belongs to a church, which, though among the smallest of the denominational families that compose our American Israel, is yet venerable for its age and associations, estimable for the unbending firmness with which it has held fast to the great doctrines of the Reformation, and exemplary for its exemption from those internal feuds and collisions, by which other sections of the Christian church have been distracted and torn. And, if somewhat deficient hitherto, in that aggressive and enterprising spirit, which has served to extend other denominations more widely and rapidly, yet evincing ever a liberal, earnest and catholic disposition, to cooperate with all true Christian hearts, in sustaining and carrying forward those good and great enterprises, which owe their birth and vigor equally to the gift and genius of our common Christianity.

Dr. Cannon was connected with this Seminary more than a quarter of a century. During this period, a succession of thoroughly educated young preachers have gone forth into the world; some to exercise their gifts within the bounds of their own church, at home; some to prove the skill and excellence of their preparatory training, within the pale of sister denominations; others to break ground for themselves and build, with Christ to help them, on no other man's foundation, amid the prairies and wildernesses of the far western country, and a few, of whom the lamented Abeel was the pioneer, to sow the seed of the Word on soil moistened and fattened by the blood of human sacrifices. What good has been achieved by the consecrated ener gies of all these educated minds, brought thus in contact with a "world which by wisdom knows not God," and how far the influence of one faithful and pains-taking professor, not widely known to fame, has contributed to produce the united result, whatever that result may be, it is of course impossible to say. The aggregate of fruits, shall only be seen when, "in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming," the "crowns of rejoicing" shall appear, and the world witness the spectacle.

The lectures which form this volume are thirty-six in number, the result of the diligent years during which the author held the responsible position of professor, the matters treated in them having been all along subject to such improvements as his taste and judgment might suggest. A glance through the pages of the book will show how wide and comprehensive is the range of topics discussed, and that they who undervalue the importance of this branch of theology as compared with other branches, might find it hard

to rest their preference on good and substantial grounds. In fact, among the subjects treated are some of the gravest and most important character, which, no workman who would not be ashamed, can venture to slight or disparage. The portion of the volume which exhibits the graces of the Divine life, the fruits of piety, whose earnest cultivation is essential, not only to the pastor's growing usefulness, but to his personal comfort in the trying work which has received his consecration, is one of high interest and value. There is the subject of prayer-public, private, social — treated with great fulness and force; its importance and its qualifications shown; the argument in behalf of extemporary prayer clearly stated; the argument against the exclu sive use of liturgical forms pungently put; how the grace and gift of prayer may be improved; how they may be made to dwindle, and in what should consist the matter, order and manner of those prayers in the sanctuary, by means of which the pastor conducts the devotions of his flock. There are also discussed the Christian sacraments, as compared with those of the past dispensation; their nature, design, extent and efficacy explained; who are the proper subjects to receive the benefits of these significant rites; the difference between John's baptism and that of Christ; the corruptions engrafted on these simple ordinances by the Romish church, and other hardly less scrupulous sects. These topics, together with those which refer directly to what is requisite to prepare the pastor to preach the Gospel most effectively, are all treated in a style of argument both clear and cogent, and with a copiousness which leaves little ground for the charge that they have received at the lecturer's hands no more than a hasty and superficial survey.

The lectures are marked by clearness and discrimination. The "large sound roundabout sense," as Mr. Locke calls it, which every page discloses, forms a very observable feature. The lecturer's well-poised judgment never betrays him into sentimental improprieties, and rarely suffers his expression to relax into a tone unbecoming the gravity of the subjects discussed. He appears throughout to estimate profoundly the worth and dignity of the ministerial office, and to desire heartily that his own convictions should fix themselves in the minds of his pupils. So great is his earnestness in this respect, that the didactic style is occasionally merged and lost in the hortatory, and the transition, instead of offending, rather gives us pleasure, as revealing the workings of a warm heart intent on reaching the heart as well as the understanding of the neophyte. A tone of deeply pious feeling pervades the lectures, rising at times, in the closing parts, which are occupied with practical reflections, into a style of remark impressively devout. The high place which "the law and testimony" held in the lecturer's mind, and the degree to which his mind was imbued both with its sentiments and language, everywhere appear. Expressions occur not unfrequently, distinctly pointing to the copious well-spring whence the thought was drawn, almost insensibly to the writer perchance, while literal Scriptural passages illustrating his idea, are interwoven through his pages, selected with his usual judgment, and often very happily introduced. To illustrate these VOL. XI. No. 42. 36