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The Founder, Exemplar, King.

499

of their Supernatural authority; that powers of the world to come accompanied them, that the continual presence of God, the all-pervading wisdom of the Holy Ghost, gave them the victory.

During many later ages we have not seen public manifestations of outer material miracles; but the ancient marvels may now be evidenced and tested by inner and spiritual operations. In the prophets' days, in the time of Christ's manhood, in the times of those who had seen Him, visible signs were given; but signs having been given, and the world having received manifestation of the Divine Nature by Personal Presence, the further proof was that of holy influence. Miracles have never ceased, their sphere of action has been almost wholly changed: they are now wrought within, seldom without, the man. Every regeneration, every conversion from unfaith to faith, is a miracle: it is Creation in a new form (Gal. ii. 20).

THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST.

He is the Founder, Exemplar, King of our Faith; the Messiah, now refused, but to be accepted, of the Jews; His originality and power of character raised Him above the plane of human nature-yet, how human is He! Not in Roman, Greek, or Jew, can we discover the elements of so rare a creation. The Holy Personality was not the slow combined product of a world spirit stirring, with high culture, a greatly gifted race; nor a moral development-equipped in the school and cultured in the palace. Jesus, the Child of poor parents, educated as a carpenter's son, nurtured in Nazareth, of almost homeless poverty, was it possible for such a child, if but a child, to become that God-man of work so mighty? Contrast His humility with Jewish pride, His charity with their fanaticism, His expansiveness and their narrowness; you will say that He is one whom they could neither produce nor invent. The prophesied of, yet Secret One-ever hidden from their eyes; their honour and their shame; inextricably woven into their history, yet always nationally refused. For nineteen hundred years He has been the centre and cause of all moral and spiritual development amongst the wisest nations; outside

of these nations exists little knowledge. Around His life, work, death, the world gathers. His profound acquaintance with the human heart, His grand morality, His wonderful knowledge, yet-except in early childhood-He never stepped beyond the confines of Palestine, render Him the greatest of

men.

He declared that the world should bow down to Him, the nations worship Him, that He would judge quick and dead. Are they pretensions of a straw-crowned Bedlam monarch? are they declarations of impious ambition, or midsummer madness? No, beautiful in humility, a little child is symbol of those who enter His kingdom: bitterest enemies could not convict Him of pride or sin. Around the Nazarene of obscurity, of poverty, of suffering, gathers a halo of glory to which no hero, nor history, nor romance, can pretend. He lived in holiness that knew no frailty, yet conciliated human infirmity with heavenly sympathy. With courage that no fear could daunt, no death dismay, He endured all horrors. His gentleness bound up the broken heart, poured consolation for every mourner-"If the life and death of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God."

At no other time, by no other man, was so supreme a start from such low degree to manifestation of higher life; no other man has done so much for men; none but Jesus could be Jesus. Some thousand workers come up in this century to be forgotten in the next; but the silver cord of Christ is not loosed, nor the golden bowl of doctrine broken. Time sits as a refiner, the dross is cast away and the pure gold preserved; Time chronicles centuries, myriads die; Jesus, imperishable as gold, lives for ever; binds the heart of the world to Himself with electric chain; tells how the soul, weak and wandering like a storm-driven bird, may nestle in the bosom of our Holy Father. In the spirits of men, where sin has opened an unfathomable depth of anguish, He causes streams of consolation to flow and fill that depth. He makes our eye to sparkle with light, and our cheek to glow with the strangely sweet aspect of those who look into far-off worlds and gladly hasten thither.

Ever-growing Power.

501

We have not fully realised our mental conception of the wonderful manner in which science reveals the truth, beauty, and power of Holy Scripture; but we take courage in the thought that Eternal Truths do not rest solely for support on human championship; they are God Himself speaking to the minds and hearts and consciences of men. Generation after generation passes away, but Revealed Truth shines with everbrightening flame as the atmosphere of reason becomes more clear and pure. Philosophers, many shallow, some profound, follow one upon another; every one in turn puzzles men for a moment, and then departs in the long procession of dead men, of dead creeds, to a common grave. Christ alone has the power of endless life, and He gives this life to the thoughtful mind, the susceptible heart, the poetic genius, with strength for duty and comfort in sorrow. In revelation of immortality, by His supreme wisdom and truth, He carries the beauty of holiness and the ardour of love to elevate the humblest, enrich the poorest, make wise the least instructed, and to take away fear of all that lies beyond the grave. At those moments in history, when unbelieving men predicted the end of Christianity, its youth has been renewed; and at this time, when dissolution is confidently foretold, it arms itself for new victories, and goes forth to conquer the world. The kingdom of God contains in itself the evidence that it is the kingdom of God. Verbum domini manet in æternum. Blessed are all who know it to be the Word of the Lord. They may be weary and stricken in the fight against the Powers of Darkness; but, in full sincerity baring their spirit before the Immensity and Eternity, they are conscious of a Divine Presence in their own personality; that their life will not be wrecked by failure and disappointment, but be safe for ever against all storms-a new life; reincarnate by Divine generation of the great God Man, Jesus, our Lord.

Those whom we have been refuting may not join in our prayer, but will believe in its sincerity: we implore the Infinite Unseen Power to reveal to them also undying truths, lead them into the Peace of God, make them brilliant, heartelevating, fruitful in good works for Divine honour and human welfare!

SOLI DEO GLORIA.

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poetic fancy, 479

Angels, 300; fall of, 300, 301
Animal magnetism, 388

Animals, their forms cannot be mechani-

cally explained, 62; types of animal
structure, 240-2; an advance on
plants, 265; natural origin of species,
270; plant-like, 410

Anomalies, physical, 411; chemical,
420; indicate the existence of an un-
known and higher law, 420
Ants, 414; some use aphide as cows,
415; make slaves, 415
Aphidæ, 415

Arius Boakei, how hatched, 413
Arts and sciences, incapable of regener-
ating mankind, 27; no substitutes for
religion, 28; not incompatible with
moral degradation, 478

Ascidian, the, blood circulation of, 407
Astronomy, 86-9; Babylonian, 150;
wonders of, 423-6
Atavism, 412

Atheism, incapable of proof, 35; modern

but not new, 432

Atmosphere, 86; pressure, 170; power
of, to suspend water, 170, 172; prim-
eval, 172, 186; uniform constitution
of, 175; sun's, 224

Atomic theory no explanation of the
creative mystery, 82

Atoms, size, 78; movements of, 78, 79 ;
types of the book of Nature, 82;
affinities of, 83

Attacus cecropia, the changing cater-
pillar, 416

Automatism, 351, 387

B

Babbage's calculating machine, 399
Bamboo rice, 404

Bees, 414

Beetles, viviparous, 417

Beginning, the, 58; meaning of, 70;
"In the beginning," 120; all sciences
point to a, 459

Bible, contains the highest and best
ethical ideal, 10; marvellous com-
pleteness and power of, 19, 20; con-
tains its own evidence, 22; written
for all time, 48; its account of
creation misrepresented, 49, 50, yet
scientifically correct, 50, 138; ex-
hibits the connection of the natural
with the supernatural, 138; contains
hidden truths, 164, 165; of great
literary merit, 170; not to be re-
garded as a scientific book, 432;
popular language of, 432, explains
many difficulties, 437-9; verities
regarded as myths, 444, 445; a
spiritual organism, 464; unity and
variety of, 487; monotheistic teaching
of, 487; co-ordinates morality with
religion, 488; religion of, not in-
vented or evolved, 489; peculiarities
of, 491; prophecies concerning Mes-
siah, 494, 495; excellences of, 496
Birds, 251; scientific classification of,
251; of passage, 408

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