(a) Wealth brings with it a burden of anxiety. (Eccles. v. 12.) (b) Rich men are often troubled with gout and indigestion. (c) There is a disease well known to physicians, and peculiar to rich men. It consists in a belief by the patient that he is poor, or on the verge of ruin. Of all the poor, pitiable creatures on the face of the earth he is the poorest and the most pitiable who Starves amidst his store, Broods o'er his gold, and, gripping still at more, Sits sadly pining, and believes he's poor. (d) The selfish rich man is an object of indifference and contempt to all right-thinking people. Do you admit to your confidence and gratitude a man who has no concern for anything outside his own interests? It is the rich man who loves his fellow men, and is ready to give up his influence and wealth unstintedly for their good, that the people "delight to honour." (e) Men who are only rich, who have no other claim to distinction, pass away and leave no memorial behind them which the world will love to cherish in its heart. You may erect a monument, most costly and beautiful, and write on it for you can write nothing else "HE WAS A RICH MAN;" but people will not pause to ponder over such a miserable record. was "Rothschild's celebrity will expire on the day of his death. Immortality can be earned, not bought. Here are before us the effigies of men" (referring to some busts of poets, and painters, and musicians with which the room adorned) "who have gloriously cultivated liberal arts; their busts I have met with in every part of Europe; but nowhere have I found a statue erected to the honour of a man who has devoted his life to making money.” (From a speech.) My conviction is that no men are less mourned when they die, even by their families and kindred, than rich men. When a rich man dies, the one absorbing thought among the relatives very often is as to the provisions of the will. And in few cases do these provisions give entire satisfaction. (f) The Great Teacher, to whom alone it was possible to disclose the secrets of the future life, has given us the description of a rich man enduring the penalty of his mammon-worship. It is eminently affecting and suggestive. (Read Luke xvi. 22, 24.) Speaking on this subject, one has well said: He goes into eternity"-i. e., the man who has lived to make money -"the wretched bond-slave of a sordid secularity, all his principles, habits, aims, susceptibilities, and desires adjusted to this world, and utterly alien from the constitution of of things in the spiritual empire of which he is henceforth to be a denizen. Could he destroy his identity, or annihilate his memory, existence might be tolerable. But this cannot be. The passions he has nurtured into such gigantic strength are a part of his being, and now, deprived of their proper external objects, and energised by an avenging conscience, they will turn upon the soul with unappeasable fury, and 'their torment will be like the torment of a scorpion." (g) The fortunes left by rich men frequently prove a curse to those who get them into their possession. The rapidity with which money disappears, after it has left the keeping of its frugal collectors, is a matter of universal observation and experience. In Lancashire they have a proverb, "Twice clogs, once boots." The meaning is that the first man wore clogs and amassed "a power o' money," his rich son spent it, and the third generation had to take again to clogs. of your moral and intellect- Wealth a the heart from higher objects. It should only, on the other hand, become a help in pursuing the true purpose of life, and should be the occasion of a splendid benevolence, princely generosity, which shall place its owner in that noble line of philanthropists which the world cherishes as a most sacred memory. "For the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance." "And the memory of the just is blessed." BRISTOL A. F. FORREST. REST.-"The best reward for having wrought well already is to have more to do: and he that has been faithful over a few things must find his account in being made ruler over many things. That is the true and heroical rest, which only is worthy of gentlemen and sons of God. And for those who, either in this world or the world to come, look for idleness, and hope that God shall feed them with pleasant things, as it were with a spoon, I count them cowards and base, even though they call themselves saints and elect. Do thou thy duty like a man to thy country, thy Queen, and thy God, and count thy life a worthless thing, as did the holy men of old."-CANON KINGSLEY. HUMAN LIFE.- "Out of God's boundless Bosom, the Fount of Life, we came; through selfish, stormy youth, and contrite tears-just not too late; through manhood not altogether useless; through slow and chill old age we return from whence we came to the Bosom of God once more, to go forth again, it may be, with fresh knowledge, and fresh powers, and nobler work.”—Canon KingSLEY. Selected Seedlings.-May Meetings, 1883. THE MINISTER-A TOILER. "When Christ set out on a precursive ministry the first home missionaries in Judæa, what did He select as the symbol of their calling? Garland of delight? sheaf of flowers? harp of praise? No, a plough. 'No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.' 'Plough' means hard work -the work of a man who must mind what he is about. It seems to suggest ploughman's place, ploughman's fare, ploughman's fame."-Dr. Stanford. THE CONVERSION OF THE JEWS.-" The coming of spring in Canada after the long reign of winter was sudden, and in a moment when the spring came the thaw came, the trees put forth their leaves, and the flowers sprang up from the earth, and what was before a land of ice and hardness became a land of bright spring beauty and gladness, and he believed that something of this kind would happen when God's time came for the Jews."-Bishop of Bath and Wells. "ONE SOWETH AND ANOTHER REAPETH."- "The barns whence our supplies are drawn were not stored with wheat without sweat of brow, and, therefore, it seems to be meet and right that we, taking some of the incorruptible seed in our hands, should go forth, even under wintry skies if need be, and scatter the golden grain in the furrows of the world, where God will bless it with rain and sunshine. Our comforts, when traced back, are seen to have been obtained by the hunger and cold and homelessness of numerous benefactors, whose works remain, though their names have disappeared."-Rev. J. W. Henderson. IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHER'S WORK.-"The importance of the teacher's work cannot be exaggerated. It is to quicken the germ of spiritual life as yet latent. The glory of building a church must pale before the glory of laying the foundation of a spiritual life, full of hope and of blessedness. It is prayer which gives the teacher his power. Oh pray, pray fervently before you tamper with an immortal soul!". Canon Barker. MAKING ETERNITY.- -"The future is the fruit of the present. You are making 'to-morrow' by 'to-day.' You are making eternity by time. Do not fence with words; do not try to avoid the great Scriptural appeal. You know what you are sowing, and 'whatsoever a man soweth shall he also reap.'"-Dr. Parker. T. BROUGHTON KNIGHT Correspondence Page. [Enquiries or Answers will be inserted here concerning Books, or about Texts suitable for Special Occasions, or as to Sermons on given Verses or Topics. Brief letters on any matter that pertains to the work of the Gospel Preacher or Student will also be welcomed.] ANSWERS. OUR LORD'S DIVINITY. Out of a very great number of volumes upon the above subject, the following may be "studied" or at least consulted :-"Pearson on the Creed" and the Notes therein. "Bishop Brown on the Thirty-nine Articles," cf. Article Second. "Dorner's Doctrine of the Person of Christ" (Clark's For. Theol. Lib.). "Liddon's Bampton Lectures" (probably the most popular and useful book upon the question). Cardinal Newman's "Arians." "Church History to End of Fourth Century," by Robertson. "Ecce Deus," by Dr. Parker. Gospel for Nineteenth Century," Part Three. Farrar's "Witness of History to Christ." Bushnell's "Nature and the Supernatural," cf. the Chapter on "Christ's Character." Of course every student will read or consult the standard books upon Christ's life by Neander, De Pressensé, Lange, and Stier. ANTHORPE RECTORY, LINCOLNSHIRE. We should add to Mr. Foster's list, Dr. Young's as being, perhaps, the best work on the great theme. J. FOSTER, B.A. "Christ of History," EDITOR. QUESTIONS. DIVINE JUDGMENTS. Can any of the interpositions and judgments of God-e.g. the parting of the Red Sea for the children of Israel, and the falling down of the walls of Jericho, be called with strict propriety a miracle or a miraculous work occasioned by Divine Providence? LOWESTOFT. SALVATION ARMY. C. R. T. Is the work of this organization deteriorating ?-QUERY. |