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This is characteristic. Non-Catholics are to be here taught ho the problems of the age in such a way that they shall be foun tent with Romish theology; and the first thing which they ar that the acceptance of this theology is essential as a key to the In other words, the philosophy is brought forward to justify and then the faith is declared to be indispensable to a compreh the philosophy, And then farther on (page 65) we are told t act of faith is above the natural power of the human mind. It is supernatural, and possible only by the aid of supernatural grace converts are to be made from non-Catholic circles in view of all not very clearly appear, and the faith which anticipates it must sort of desperate bravery.

The second treatise in the volume is not very satisfactory. It doubtful whether the author has any adequate comprehension of t man whom he claims to be studying, and the motive animating th seems too thoroughly partisan to promise any real success. Au has usually been regarded as in some sense the father of the Cal theology, and he is the last man who would be quoted in support pretensions of Popery. But Father Hewit undertakes to pro "neither the saint himself nor the church of his period held the istic or Evangelical system," but, instead, that both he and the "held the system of Catholic doctrine prescribed by the See of R the present day." That would be sufficiently ingenuous to provoke itable smile, if it were not so audacious as to excite astonishment. Paulist Fathers must do better than this, if they are to capture the lect of America and bear it as a trophy to the Vatican.

THE

FREEWILL BAPTIST QUARTERLY.

No. LXIV. OCTOBER, 1868.

ART. 1.-CHRIST'S VITAL RELATIONS TO MEN.

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In the early summer, especially, Nature every where gives emphasis to the illustration of the conditions of spiritual life, which is found in the fifteenth chapter of John's gospel, where Christ sets himself forth as the Vine and his disciples as the branches. The illustration is equally forcible and beautiful. The branches that maintain their vital connection with the parent stalk are full of vigor. The boughs are green with foliage, each twig is bursting into buds, and all the buds are flashing into blosThe limbs of old trees, stiff with the toughness of their fibers or with the hardening influence of their many years, grow flexible and sway to the music which is poured all the day along the aisles of the forest. Roses are blushing as if at their own beauty; honeysuckles clamber up the lattices and breathe fragrance in at every open window; the clover nods in every field to the daisy; the lily puts on the robes which no attire of eastern monarchs can rival; every bush by the road-side is hanging out its bannerets; the fruit-trees already bend beneath the weight of promises that are hastening into fulfillment, and the most barren mountains are carrying verdure far up their sides toward the crest, or bursting out into miniature oases wherever

a little tuft of grass can push its way up through the cre the rock. The brownest heaths grow beautiful, the moss the stone gather new greenness, and the desert blossoms the help of metaphors. And all these struggles and sv and triumphs of life owe themselves to the organic unity etation; the stem keeps its hold upon the root, the abides in the vine, the loftiest twig preserves its vital con with the deepest and minutest radicle.

Sever the thriftiest branch, and death hastens its work pletion. The sap stagnates in the channels, the chemic cesses that went on without interruption are suspended, th lose their flexibility and then stiffen into brittleness, the wilts and then grows crispy, and decay and decomposition to end the process. No artificial appliances avail. Cem string may keep the member in its old position, but they restore nor preserve the vitality. The stream of life ha cut off from the fountain, and so the channels must run d

How different, too, is this life of nature from the best and est imitations of it in the spheres of art! The best paint the canvas is a poor thing compared with the landscape it seeks to reproduce. The grass in the picture has no m the clouds keep their old shapes day after day; the brook er sparkles nor sings; there is no murmur through the the shadows cast by the sun neither lengthen nor chang night dims the scene with no unusual suggestiveness, an morning floods it with no new splendor. An oak in a p elaborated by the chemistry of a hundred seasons, is a tho times nobler than a cedar of Lebanon in a picture-gallery up of painters' pigments. A rose of wax, however sk fashioned, is a contemptible thing when compared with queen of the parterre swinging in the breezes of June. painted cluster of cherries which tempted the bird to the dow where it hung, how vastly inferior was it to the produ the fruit-tree, which would have fed instead of cheating called out a new hymn of thanksgiving from the throat o warbler. By so much as substance is better than show, as ities are superior to shams, as great deeds are above skilful glery, as spontaneous movement is to be preferredto auton

impulse, as a leap of life signifies more than a galvanic contortion, by so much are vital products to be chosen rather than mechanical, and God's inspiration before man's philosophy.

In these words of Christ, that show his vital relation to the true life of the human soul, are stated both the highest fact and the deepest philosophy of the gospel. All genuine spiritual life is the result of that vital influence which is poured from the divine heart into the currents of the human spirit. The amount of this influence received and appropriated measures the strength of the religious character and the fruitfulness of the religious life. Without this the soul is weak and effort ineffectual; with it, even frail natures become strong, and exertion that seemed to promise little, issues in achievements which wake the wonder of men and win the smile of God.

Vitality is the test of every thing. Whatever helps us does so by adding to our life. All true teachers quicken ;—they are not set simply to sooth and subdue. We do not want powers crushed out, but rendered normal and consecrated to vigorous work. The difficulty with men now is, that only half the faculties are awake, and those that sleep are the noblest. The intense and exhausting action that is complained of is usually partial action, which throws the soul out of tune ;- -as the tyro musician injures his instrument and wearies out the patience of himself and his auditors by always playing music in the key of D. The test of a system or a sermon is its power to quicken the recipient and hearer. Anything that sets fettered powers free, that expands the sphere of thought, that opens new channels of enterprise, that exalts aim, that solidifies purpose, that enlarges the play of imagination, that makes the movements of the will resolute, and thus increases the dynamic forces of men, is set down as a blessing and a condition of real gain. The whole plan of the world is such that it is meant evidently to stimulate and normalize the human powers. The hiding of resources that they may be sought for; the curse and dishonor put upon selfishness and indolence; the reward held out to a wise industry; the victories promised to persevering toil; the joys that blossom in the pathway of learning and discovery; the honors that wait as a crown of heroism; the monuments which men build in their

mon natures till they became historic and wonderful. had scarcely been known, save about the shores of Gen till Jesus commissioned him ;-after that, he filled all Je and Judea with wonder and alarm by his bold and m speech. Paul had set as a student at the feet of Gama the gospel stung him into frenzy; and then, having acce ministry, he makes all Asia Minor ring with his name a come reverent before the messages which go out from his Not more surely does morning dawn to wake the earth f slumbers, than Christ comes to quicken humanity and stagnant souls. Not more surely do the monotonous change into fruitful gardens along the highways of civili than does the desert of human experience blossom out into ty when the life-giving spirit of God finds a channel along may flow through the torpid heart.

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It is this perpetual presence of Christ that constitutes the of his gospel, and gives it the chief promise of success. pledge," Lo I am with you alway," rightly interpreted, highest guaranty that his word shall not return void, no servants speak it in feebleness. It gives the speaker new a ity and fervor, and it makes the hearer realize that he is 1 ing to no common message. Christ's ministry was not s the proclamation of a system, or the founding of a new reli party; it was chiefly meant to bring a new vitality to the w He did more than to make our planet a visit, to show his condescension and assert the forgotten dignity of men. comes to dwell in humanity, and build up of souls into heavenly majesty and beauty.

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