very utmost, and by all the channels available to us, to spread the incense of that saving name, to make known the riches of Him that became poor, to bring others to taste of the sweetness of the Gospel and to hear the music of the joyful sound, is the best proof to God and to man, and to all, that we have felt its excellency ourselves, and rejoice in fulfilling the Master's great law, which requires, as we have been blessed ourselves, that we try to be blessings to all mankind.

CHAPTER X.

GENTLENESS OF PAUL-HIS APOSTLESHIP-DIVERSITIES OF GIFTS

TRUE GLORY.

IT appears that Paul, even though an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, felt it a duty at times to vindicate his conduct in the presence of those he addressed; and to show that some of their misapprehensions or misrepresentations of him were not founded on fact, or sustained by that charity which "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." And in this chapter Paul speaks with somewhat of a tinge of sarcasm when he says, "I beseech you, in the meekness of Christ, who in presence am base among you;" supposing that I am what you pronounce me to be— but being absent, you will admit that, as I am not awed by your presence, which you assume to be very imposing, I may please to be bold at a distance towards you. And then he says, "But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some;' that is, "I do not wish to indulge in that strain; I would rather address you as a mother her children, than rebuke you as a teacher pupils who are walking inconsistently with his prescriptions. And I wish you," says the apostle, "to understand that whether I

be base, or whether I seem insignificant, or whatever I may be, absent or present, you will understand that I do not trust for success to outward presence, I do not "expect a blessing upon the mere tinsel of human speech; I trust to God's blessing upon the use of the weapons that he has sanctioned, and upon the cause to which he has committed me; and I am quite sure that however insignificant the instrument, that is, the apostle, may be, the cause has weight and worth; and the God that inspired it, and to whom it belongs, will not leave it without a blessing. And therefore," he says, "if any man among you thinks that he is Christ's, then let him know that in that respect I am on a level with him, for I am Christ's also; and I might boast of my authority, but," he says, "I prefer not to do so. But you are constantly assuming that it is not the message, but the messenger that we must look to as the great source of success; and hence you say of me, Paul's letters "—that is, his Epistles addressed to the Corinthians-"are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence "-his look or his speech, "is con

temptible."

No doubt they exaggerated these defects; although it seems by referring to the Acts of the Apostles, that when those that were struck with the eloquence of Paul and Barnabas heard them, they assumed that Barnabas was Jupiter, the grand and imposing presence, and Paul they set down as Mercury, celebrated more for his tact and cunning and eloquence, than for his imposing presence as one of the gods in the heathen Pantheon. And therefore, it has been thought, and indeed, it has been shown from history, that Paul was a very little man, that he was lame, that

he had a defect in his speech; and yet with all these defects, there was a weight, a force, a fervour, a success, in all he said, that raised churches where there were none before, shook even the stability of Cæsar's empire, and opened up the wide world to the unsearchable riches of Christ. Now there is a distinction here which may exist still. They said his letters were very weighty, but his living lessons were not so. Every man has his proper gift. One man can write well, but speaks very badly; another can speak well, who writes very badly; the two are not always combined. Some of the greatest orators have not left behind them the most lasting memorials of their speech; and some of the greatest writers have never been able to express themselves in ten consecutive sentences with tolerable propriety and correctness. It has been argued that all deep thinkers must be bad speakers; it seems a very severe judgment; it was at least the opinion of the classic Addison, who, admitted into the senate, began to make a speech, and sat down after he had repeated two words three times; and when asked the reason, he said he had plenty of money in his bank, but he had only a few halfpence in his pocket; that is, his mind was stored with great truths, but he had not the tact of turning them into currency, or ready and available account. And it has been said that the emptiest minds must speak fastest and most eloquently, just as thin churches are soonest emptied.

This, probably, was the sort of reasoning indulged in by those that listened to Paul; or they may have been the very opposite, that though his speech was contemptible, and his presence was weak, they were at least constrained to admit that in the epistles which

they read, there was the reasoning of a great logician, the sanctified eloquence of a Christian orator; and if they were not edified by hearing the minister preach, they could not but be impressed by reading what the minister had written.

And

Well, the apostle proceeds to say, however, "You must not suppose that I am at all anxious upon these subjects. I do not wish to compare myself with others; I do not wish to make others my standard; I compare myself by him who is the great standard I aspire to ; for I am accountable to God, not for the gifts I have not, but for the gifts which he has given me. I shall never have used these as I think they ought to be used, until I shall have approximated to the zeal, the untiring energy, the self-sacrifice, the devotedness of him who spent his nights in prayer, his days in active effort, and both in sacrifices and meditations for the well-being of mankind. And at all events, if we are to glory at all," the apostle concludes, "let him that glorieth, glory not in his eloquence, his wisdom, his riches, his strength; but glory in him who can make weak things strong, and little things mighty, and the feeblest things the trophies of his power, and all things to contribute to his glory and to his praise."