right arm of that for the development and exaltation of humanity; that here in short, it may be recognized as the one omnipotent instrumentality by which Jehovah himself performs his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Yet it is perfectly evident that the extreme view of this doctrine, which makes man of no more account in the presence of this law than the lifeless atoms which it is the business of physical science to investigate, or which would even leave him down on the same low plane as the brute creation and lay aside entirely from the problem of destiny, his intelligence, his affections, and his moral powers, making him the mere puppet of blind, ungovernable and relentless forces, affording him no choice but to make what poor shifts he can for his own self-interest before a fate which is as cold, unpitying and cruel as any that ever held sway in the imaginations of Grecian and Roman stoics,— it is perfectly evident that such a view must vanish when brought face to face with facts as we find them in human nature, in human society, in human history and in individual experience. President E. H. Capen, D.D.

ARTICLE XII.

The Province of the Clergyman.

IN discussing this subject, I make a distinction between the clergyman and the preacher. The former is the more comprehensive term. The duties of the latter are embraced in the sphere of the former. The clergyman not only preaches, but performs all the duties pertaining to the care of the parish. His services in the pulpit are important and cannot be dispensed with, but he has other duties, perhaps equally important, which belong legitimately to his province and must be performed. His province covers everything pertaining to the care of souls and the welfare of his church and the world.

We do not limit his work to the church, for if we do we leave the world outside destitute of the means of moral and religious instruction. If he is to gain converts, he must seek them in the world, and this must also be the field of his operations. “The field is the world" and in that he must labor.

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But preliminary to the discussion of our main subject, comes the question which demands an answer: Is there any need of the Christian Ministry? Many say no. As the world grows more enlightened, there is less need of a special duty pertains to the sphere of religion. ligion is dying out, and science and philosophy are taking its place. The system of Comte is swaying many minds, and the rapid advances of natural science are overwhelming the religious element and plunging the world into the dark abyss of materialism. Hence the subject must be discussed anew: Is there any sphere left for the clergyman to occupy? We answer yes, not because this profession exists and we must find a place for it, but because there is a demand for it and this demand is based on a legitimate want.

Man is a religious being. All history proves this. Religion plays an important part in the history of past ages, and the progress of civilization and refinement does not weaken its power or narrow the sphere of its operations. The religious sentiment, ever active, is not smothered by the accumulation of scientific facts or philosophical speculations. Its activity may for a time be lessened, but not destroyed. After a season it renews its energies and achieves greater victories. In the earlier ages it revels in the mythical and the superstitious. In the later and more enlightened ages it accepts the results of advanced thinking and exhibits itself in more consistent and reasonable manifestations. Knowledge does not kill or weaken it, but only turns it into larger and more productive fields. Comte's doctrine that advance in civilization tends to destroy the religious sentiment, is not sustained by the facts of history.

The present age is one of great religious activity. And so long as the religious sentiment is alive in the human soul, its

wants must be supplied. And this supply must come chiefly from the word of God as presented in the Gospel of Jesus. This is as "cold water to the thirsty soul and good news from a far country." The figures used to express it show that it is adapted to man's higher nature. So long as this truth is needed to satisfy man's spiritual wants, men must be set apart and especially fitted for the work of explaining this truth and using it to awaken, restrain, guide, encourage and console men. Even if we admit that the power of the pulpit is declining, we cannot deny that Gospel truth is as precious as ever. The real worth of an article is not affected by the feelings of the people in relation to it. For more than eighteen hundred years has the institution of the Christian Ministry stood, enduring the shocks of time and the assaults of secret and open enemies, and it still stands unmoved and strongly entrenched in the hearts of men.

Jesus chose twelve lowly men to receive and propagate his truth. He sent them forth to establish his church. He subjected them to rigid training and gave them special instructions to enable them better to perform the duties of their holy mission. They and their successors have been in the field from that day to this. They have built up and enlarged the kingdom which Jesus established. Their influence has been felt to the utmost borders of the world. Civilization has been promoted, the progress of the race secured, moral reform stimulated, sin banished, crime lessened, souls converted from the error of their ways, and introduced to the joys and privileges of the inner kingdom, mourners comforted and all the higher interests of humanity cared for. The condition of the world to-day is infinitely better than it would have been had the order of the Christian Ministry never been instituted. It was not enough that Jesus addressed the people that thronged to listen to his words in Palestine. His doctrine must be conveyed to others living in different lands and successive ages. Men were delegated to do this. By their personal efforts, "the truth as it is in Jesus" was brought in contact with souls yearning for it and thus made to do its appropriate

work in redeeming and uplifting these souls. These men burning with devotion and zeal constitute the order of the Christian Ministry and those who have received its benefits will not suffer it speedily to perish. The more its triumphs in the past are known and appreciated, the more firmly will men sustain it as an essential element of their spiritual growth and their support in life and in death. It is founded on the spiritual instincts of the human race, and so long as churches are erected and spires point towards heaven, so long as devout souls, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, crowd their seats and throng their aisles, the Christian Ministry will be sustained as a recognized need of humanity.

Recognizing the need of the clergyman as the dispenser of divine truth, I maintain that his province is not that of a priest. The distinction between the two is now clear, though a hundred years ago it was confused. He was then regarded as holding a priestly office, now that of a teacher and minister or helper. The Christian minister is not now regarded so much as a priest as a prophet, that is, one who proclaims the truth. The Jews in their earlier history had their priests; in later ages, their prophets. Jesus did not institute an order of priests. He sent forth the twelve to preach, found churches, and use all the resources within their reach to promote "the truth as it is in Jesus." But he did not ordain and set apart a band of men to act as his vicegerents on earth, and as mediators in his stead between God and man. Yet during "the dark ages" and down even to the present time, many in the Church recognized the clergyman as endowed with the power of the priest. The Pope of Rome is venerated as the great vicegerent of Christ. During the ceremonies in St. Peter's Church at Rome, on Christmas and Easter, he is borne along over the heads of the people on a pontificial throne and seated directly in front of the great altar, at the farther end of the church, and a screen is drawn up before the figure of Jesus on the cross, to hide it from view and bring the Pope more into prominence as the vicegerent of God in place of his Son. As the Pope is thus recognized as the great head of the

Church, the bishops in their dioceses and the priests in their parishes are regarded as sustaining within their limited and subordinate spheres the same character towards their people. And this custom is not confined to the Catholic Church. Many in the different Protestant churches hold certain superstitious notions concerning the minister which are the lineal descendants of medieval times. We observe it among the Lutherans of Germany, the Episcopalians of England and the Presbyterians of America. This idea is strikingly illustrated by an incident in the life of the celebrated Heinrich Stilling of Germany. When a boy he was noted for his independence of character. A pastor called on his parents and began to converse with them on religious topics and did not for some time notice the boy. Finally he turned to him with the salutation, "Good morning, my son." The boy said, "You are not my father." "I am your spiritual father, am I not?" "No!" was the spirited reply: "God is my spiritual father. You are a man!" However much we may suppose this precocious boy by his reply shocked the feelings of his parents and their pastor, he was right. The clergyman is only a man, as Washington, according to the well-known anecdote, though President, acknowledged that he was only a man like other men, not a supernatural being as the boy supposed. And as a man the minister cannot be the vicegerent of God or usurp the special functions of Christ the Mediator.

Dr. Arnold thus defines the priest: "The essential point in the notion of a priest is this, that he is a person made necessary to our intercourse with God, without being necessary or beneficial to us morally,— an unreasonable, unmoral, spiritual necessity." This idea of a priest, as a person who has authority and official influence apart from his personal character and the truths he inculcates, tended to fill the minds of the ignorant and superstitious worshippers of the middle ages with feelings of reverence and awe which unfitted them for a calm and deliberate investigation of religious themes. Jesus inculcated no such idea. Says Dr. Martineau The general spirit of our Lord's personal life and