SERMON II.

THE PROPHET'S SPIRIT AND PROPHET'S

COURSE.

PROVERBS Xvii. 3.

SILVER IS TRIED IN THE CRUCIBLE, GOLD IN THE FURNACE, BUT MAN BY WHAT HE PRAISES.

If it be your desire, my friends, to become thoroughly acquainted with individuals whom you value, or who are important to you, yet with whom you have little intercourse, and whose conduct and proceedings you have little opportunity of observing,-if you would know them without deceit or guile, mark well the wishes they express; and from these it will be manifest, what is their peculiar character; they will often thus unconsciously disclose to you their whole being; and you will obtain a deep insight into their mind and heart. First, listen to the wishes which unguardedly pass men's lips: how one desires repose, another action; one superabundance, the other moderate competence; how one would see all mankind surrounded by mist and darkness, another by light; how one wishes a rapid progress in the domain of arts and sciences, another improvements in the world of religion and morals;-then go and observe closely those who have expressed these wishes, and you will find that

in them they have represented themselves, and that their actions and conduct stand in close relation to their desires; you will then fully comprehend the passage, "SILVER IS TRIED IN THE CRUCIBLE, GOLD IN THE FURNACE, BUT MAN BY WHAT HE PRAISES."

Not only our contemporaries, but also past generations are reflected in their wishes. Tell us the wishes of such men as are termed great and worthy, but whose greatness and worthiness we doubt, and you have placed in our hands the surest index to a knowledge of their hearts and characters. We shall soon cease to doubt of what they sought to do, and of what they really accomplished; we shall find the maxim confirmed, "SILVEr is tried IN THE CRUCIBLE, GOLD IN THE FURNACE, BUT MAN BY WHAT HE PRAISES."

Besides, if those whose peculiar qualities we wish to know, lived in periods so remote, that their mode of life. and action must, from the long interval which separates us from them, remain unknown to us, and it be thence impossible for us to become thoroughly acquainted with their innermost being, as manifested in their works and actions-because we cannot know how much the circumstances of the period may have influenced their conduct, we cannot know whether they would not have acted differently, if Providence had permitted them to live in another age-in such cases, I say, men's wishes speak more certainly and distinctly than their deeds. Their actions are frequently not their own, but their desires spring from their hearts and minds; their actions are limited by the period of which they are the fruit, but

their wishes are not necessarily checked and determined by the time. Yes, verily, "SILVER IS TRIED IN THE

CRUCIBLE, GOLD IN THE FURNACE, BUT MAN BY WHAT HE PRAISES."

And in the present hour, a comprehensive wish will give us an insight into the soul of a man, closely connected with us, and with the rest of mankind, but who has never yet been duly known and understood. You will find in this wish ample food for reflection. In the fourth book of Moses, chap. xi. ver. 29, it is expressed in the original as follows:

"WOULD GOD, THAT ALL THE LORD'S PEOPLE WERE PROPHETS, And that the LORD WOULD PUT HIS SPIRIT UPON THEM."

Few words! much meaning! A heart full of love, an understanding full of light, the welfare of all mankind, all are told in this single wish. The world would have assumed a goodlier aspect, had this wish been long since fulfilled; it would be better for our generation were its accomplishment at hand. All that is good, beautiful, true, great, and exalted, would be more justly recognised, more sincerely loved, more zealously promoted. All that is ignoble and impure, all that is offensive to the mind and the heart, would be hated, rejected, and banished; healthfulness and purity, without and within, would be sought after and attained; sin, ignorance, disorder, error, strife, war, misery, and want would

and, finally, the

Aid us, O God,

disappear from among men- -men of one race, of one family, of one calling; men who had all become Prophets of the Lord. Let us first learn the occasion of this wish, then examine the wish itself, conditions by which it may be realised. to seek and to find; put Thy spirit upon us, in order that we may all discern the way in which the servants of Thy word, Thy prophets, must walk, if they would behold Thee face to face! O Father, our eyes are raised unto Thee; let not thy children seek Thee in vain! Amen.

WOULD GOD THAT ALL THE LORD'S PEOPLE WERE PROPHETS, AND THAT THE LORD WOULD PUT HIS SPIRIT UPON THEM. This is the remarkable answer given by Moses, the man of God, when Joshua required his gifted master to interrupt the public teachings of the men Eldad and Medad, upon whom the spirit of the Lord had come down, and who were prophesying to the people in the camp, and seeking to cast upon others the light which shone upon them. My Lord, Moses, forbid them, said the young disciple, who feared lest it should become too light in the camp, and among the people. But Moses, who was more enlightened than any man upon earth, answered, "ENVIEST THOU FOR MY SAKE? WOULD GOD THAT ALL THE LORD'S PEOPLE WERE PROPHETS," that the holy spirit of understanding and truth were poured out upon every human being,-upon men and women, sons and daughters, old men and young men, upon manservants and maid-servants.

In all times there have been narrow spirits who have considered it to be dangerous to instruct and enlighten

the people on matters the most important to them. They held the selfish opinion, (and many still hold it,) that a troop of blind are more easily led than a body of clear-sighted men. Hence they maintained that the knowledge given to the people should be as limited as possible, that their mental powers should remain unemployed, their conceptions undeveloped, in order that they might assume no higher position than the beasts of the field, and thus remain longer passive tools in the hands of those who presume to degrade the people, by using them as means to unworthy ends. In consequence of these views, many nations never awakened to a sense of their dignity as human beings, and never were that, which they could and would have become. History is also, herein, the tribunal of the world. But no man could entertain such a wish, on whom the spirit of the Lord had so often rested,-to whom the Lord had shewn all His glory, had communicated all His goodness; no man who had learned to know God in all his greatness, and man in all his dignity. He embraced all his brethren with heart and soul; his people shall first of all learn, and then teach others to see, hear, feel, think and understand. If they are all children of one God, they shall all acknowledge one God; if they are all created in God's image, they shall all likewise seek to comprehend, guard, improve, develope, and perfect that image; if they are all endowed with mind and heart, they shall all think and feel;-they shall not remain children, who must be led, step by step, but they shall grow in the knowledge of God,--they shall go forward with him, and in him, further and further. WOULD GOD THAT ALL the Lord's PEOPLE WERE PROPHETS, AND THAT THE