The Press. — London, England, 1857-10-17 00:00:00

1016 Yittraturt. Sermons. By the late Rev. F. W. Robertson. Third Series. London : Smith, Elder, and Co. Tux reading of this series of sermons by the late Mr. Robertson has afforded us an intel lectual treat. They contain the development of many very beautiful thoughts and reflec tions which have occurred to a highly culti vated and spiritual mind upon several most important questions of Christian faith and practice. The originality in setting forth well-known truths, the vigorous style, and the freshness and elegance of their illustrations, must have possessed infinite powers in awakening the most lively interest in the minds of his hearers, as they cannot fail of affording delight to the reader. In a word, they seem to possess in a remarkable degree that rare but most valuable quality which the greatest of our modern philosophers has attributed to the highest class of genius, that of restoring old and universally-acknowledged truths to their original life and power. Thus those common truths which seem to lose half their force from the circumstance of their universal acceptance, in these sermons gather new life and spirit from the novel mode of the Writer's expression. But in any sound and comprehensive expo sition of the great body of Christian truth this volume is wholly deficient. It is not only originality of thought and varied mode of ex hibiting truths that is required in the preacher of this day, but a comprehensive grasp of the whole truth in all its manifold and harmonious proportions, and a soundness of judgment in its t-tpositio it. The Church does not in this age lack talent nr originality ; but what she calls for is an orthodox faith and wisdom to guide and sober the exuberant powers of the highly cultivated intellect of the nineteenth century. The peculiarity which distinguishes these sermons, and in our Judgment renders them an unsafe guide, is the vividness and force with which isolated truths are set forth with out reference to other doctrines in close con nection with them. It is, no doubt, a trite remark, but most important, that partial truth is positive error, and this is often forgotten by writers whose mental powers become entirely concentrated on some indi vidual object of interest. These sermons may be admirably calculated to pour fresh streams of spiritual thought and devotion into the Church so far as they go; but some of the most important questions of the day, being only regarded from one point of view, are treated in language that is calculated to lead the reader into positive error. And this is the less excusable in the writer of these sermons, since he has made himself a severe reprover of all the great parties of the day, and con stantly proposes to correct the errors of others. He should have remembered that if in exposing an error we only establish a fragment of truth, we do but remove one error to make room for another. After these remarks we will give a few ex tracts in illustration of what we have said. In the third sermon, " The Dispensations of the Spirit," we meet with some very striking and touching passages. But when he treats of the spiritual unity of the Church as the work of the same Spirit, why should he have altogether omitted any reference to that outward and visible unity which is the necessary framework of the inward epitit? On referring to the eleventh sermon, in which he proposes to give a definition of the Church of Christ, we find the same deficiency—an absolute ignoring of the grand scheme of Christian polity in which true spiritual unity ever has dwelt, and by which alone it can effectually and permanently operate. Taking the practice of the Apostles together with the disjointed precepts scattered through their writings, the early Church felt itself justified in building up upon them that grand system of ecclesiastical polity which is still an existing fact in the Christian world. The question is, are we justified, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, in departing from their model' Tll3 same fact—namely, the long THE PRESS, OCTOBER 17, 1857. intervening period—will afford to some minds the most conclusive argument in favour of doing so. Some, again, will say the farther we progress from those who have known Christ the less likely are we to understand what He meant, while the constant growth of sects and conflicting opinions creates such con• fusion in religion that we had best cling to what we have already got. But upon others the same facts will have precisely the contrary effect, according to whether they regard the Christian dispensation as the final manifesta tion of God upon earth, and that the duration of the world is to be conjectured from the literal interpretation of Scripture, or whether they prefer to believe the contrary of these things. Yet, even in the latter case, we might surely well ask preachers such as Mr. Robert son why we are not to look for precisely the same authority for the modification of the Church now as regulated her polity in the transition from the patriarchial to the Jewish, and from the Jewish to the Christian dispen sation? If a direct revelation was necessary to the one, why not to the other? Holding this opinion strongly ourselves, we can but deeply regret to find such passages as these in the sermons before us : Institutions pass—churches alter—old forms change, and highminded and good men cling to them as if they were the only things by which God would regenerate the world. To mourn over old superstitions and effete creeds is just as unwise as is the grief of the mother mourning over the form which was once her child. She cannot separate her affection from that form—those hands—those limbs— those features—are they not her child? The true answer is, her child is not there, it is only the form of her child; and it is as unwise to mourn over the decay of those in stitutions—the change of human forms—as it was unwise in Jonah to mourn with that passionate sorrow over the decay of the gourd which had sheltered him from the heat of the noontide sun. And so, brethren, all things change, all things outward change and alter, but the God of the Church lives on. The Church of God remains under fresh forms, the one holy entire family in heaven and earth. Now, this divorcing of the spiritual unity of the Church from that visible polity which God himself hath instituted is alike unscriptural, contrary to the testimony of catholic antiquity, and therefore highly dangerous, especially in such days as these. Again, in the same sermon, and also in " The Law of Christian Conscience," Mr. Robertson has expressed himself in terms that would lead many to adopt conclusions from which himself would shrink with horror. For example, what would these words, taken by themselves, lead to ?-- The belief of the whole world cannot make that thing true to me which to me seems false. The conscience of the whole world cannot make a thing right to me if in my heart I believe it wrong. Again, in applying this principle, he says : It may be a mistaken principle, but there is no doubt that it causes much pain to many Christians to see a car riage used on the Lord's Day. But you, with higher views of the spirit of Christianity, who know that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, who can enter more deeply into the truth taught by our Blessed Lord that every day is to be dedicated to Him, and consecrated to His service—upon the high principle of Christian liberty you can use your carriage, you can exercise your liberty. Now, would not Mr. Robertson have acted more wisely if he had added to these state ments a salutary admonition that the indivi dual conscience must be subjected to the out ward law of God, and when left to itself may become so perverted as to lose the power of discerning between truth and error, even as the optic nerve, becoming diseased, sees blue as green, and black as white. The warning of Scripture might well have come in here— " Woe to him that putteth darkness for light " and light for darkness." Again, we cannot speak too strongly against the rationalistic spirit in which he approaches the doctrine of the Trinity ; neither can we conceive the spiritual state of a congregation in the English Church which could make such a statement as the following necessary or ad visable : Here, then, my Christian brethren, are the three con sciousnesses by which He becomes known to us; three, we said, known to us. We dare not to limit God, we dare not presume to say that there are in God only three per sonalities--only three consciousnesses. All that we dare presume to say is that there are three in reference to us, and only three; that a fourth there is not; that, per chance (?), in the present state a fourth you cannot add to these,Vreator, Redeemer, SauctiMr. Surely, such a passage is not calculated to settle the minds of young men—over whom Mr. Robertson is said to have had such great influence—in the confession of the true faith, and to keep them stedfast in that faith. In the sermon on Absolution, he maintains most warmly the absolute need of human ab- solution, and then propounds an entirely new form for its exercise, or rather for the people's reception of it, which seems to amount to very little, while he leaves untouched all those godly exercises by which the mind of the Christian may attain to peace through the sacrifice of Christ. We know of no sermon so likely to lead unsettled minds to Rome as this fifth sermon of Mr. Robertson. Many similar references might be made to his mode of handling other vital questions, but we have said enough to point out the most mischievous tendency of teaching which springs from a highly wrought intellect with out sobriety, judgment, and orthodox faith to guide and direct it. Recreations of Christopher North. Vol. I. (Works of Professor Wilson. Vol. IX.) Lon don : Blackwoods. THE contents of this volume do not differ materially from those of the Essays recently given to the public. Like those, tha " Recre• ations " appeared originally in Blackwood: Magazine, and form a similar admixture of fun, sense, and sentiment. If we have a fault to find with them, it is perhaps that they are slightly monotonous. " Christopher in his Sporting Jacket," and " Christopher on the Moors," though written in a style that might have made even Dr. Johnson a sportsman, contain too much repetition; the air of rhap sody is sustained too long; and we crave sometimes to be let down into the common air, and to hear a few genuine and circum stantial stories of grouse•shooting and trout fishing. But Christopher is at once too mur derous and too changeable to suit our own taste, who like one thing at a time, and not to take out fishing-rod, fowling-piece, and rifle for a single day's sport. There is, however, this one crowning merit in Wilson's sporting papers,—they exhibit in unmistakable colours the real poetry of field sports. If he had done nothing more, he would for this alone deserve the gratitude of all educated sportsmen, whose number has much increased since the days of Chesterfield and Squire Western. From the first of these papers we extract the following amusing passage upon " boys":— - _ What I surely if you have the happiness of being a parent, you would not wish your only boy—your son and heir—the blended image of his mother's loveliness and his father's manly beauty—to be a smug, smooth, prim, and proper prig, with his hair always combed down on his forehead, hands always unglaured, and without spot or blemish on his white-thread stockings? Yon would not wish him, surely, to be always moping and musing in a corner with a good book held close to his nose—botanising with his maiden aunts—doing the pretty at tea-tables with tabbies, in handing round the shortbread, taking cups, and attending to the kettle—telling tales on all naughty boys and girls—laying up his penny a week pocket money in a penny pig—keeping all his clothes neatly folded up in an untumbled drawer—having his own peg for his uncrushed hat—saying his prayers exactly as the clock strikes nine, while his companions are yet at blind-man's-buff —and puffed up every Sabbath eve by the parson's praises of his uncommon memory for a sermon, while all the other boys are scolded for having fallen asleep before Tenthly ? You would not wish him, surely, to write sermons at his tender years—nay, even to be able to give you chapter and verse (or every quotation from the Bible ? No. Better far that he should begin early to break your heart, by taking no care even of his Sunday clothes—blotting his copy — impiously pinning pieces of paper to the Dominie's tail who to him was a second father—going to the fishing no , only without leave, but against orders—bathing in the fort bidden pool, where the tailor was drowned—drying' powder before the schoolroom fire, and blowing himself and two crack•skulled cronies to the ceiling—tying kettles to the tails of dogs—shooting an old woman's laying hen — galloping bare-backed shelties down stony steeps—climbing trees to the slenderest twig on which bird could build, and up the tooth-oftime•indented aides of old castles after wallflowers and starlings—being run away with in carts by colts against turnpike gates—buying bad ballads from young gipsy girls, who, on receiving a sixpence, give ever so many kisses in return, saying, " Take your change out of that;"—on a borrowed broken•knee'd pony, with a switch tail—a devil for galloping—not only attending country races for a saddle and collar, but entering for and winning the prize—dancing like a devil in barns at kirns— seeing his blooming partner homo over the blooming heather, most perilous adventure of all in which virgin puberty can be involved—fighting with a rival in corduroy breeches, and poll shorn beneath a caup, till his eyes just twinkle through the swollen blue—and, to conclude "thus