The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-30 00:00:00

But the stern asceticism which would check the
innocent laugh of childhood, and teach us that it Is
part of a Christian's duty to be gloomy and un-
social, found little favour in the sight of the
preacher. In his lecture on the passage in which
St. Paul charges the Corinthians to " use the world
as not abusing it," he writes as follows
It is therefore a distinct duty to use life, while we are
here. We are citizens of the world, we may not shrink
from it. We must share its duties, dangers, sorrows, and
joys. Time is short; therefore opportunities are so much
the more valuable. There is an infinite value stamped
upon them. Therefore, use the world. But then it is a
duty equally distinct, to live above the world. Unworldli-
ness is the spirit of holding all things as not our own, in
the perpetual conviction that they will not last. It is not
to put life and God's lovely world aside with self-torturing
hand. It is to have the world, and not to let the world
have you ; to be its master and not its slave. To have
Christ hidden in the heart, calming all, and making all else
seem by comparison poor and small.

" This is a N ery important principle for consideration in
the present day. There is a growing tendency to look on
a life of contemplation and retirement, of separation from
all earthly ties,—in a word, asceticism—as the higher life.
Let us understand that God has so made man, that ordi-
narily he who lives alone leaves part of his heart unculti-
vated ; for Ged made man for domestic life. He who would
be wiser than his Maker is only wise in appearance. He
who cultivates one part of his nature at the expense of the
rest has not produced a perfect man, but ,an exaggeration.
It is easy, in silence and solitude, for the hermit to be ab-
stracted from all human interests and hopes, to be dead to
honour, dead to pleasure. But, then, the sympathies which
make him a man with men—how shall they grow ? He is
not the highest Christian who lives alone and single, but
he who, whether single or married, lives superior to this
earth ;'he who, in the midst of domestic cares, petty an-
noyances, or daily vexations, can still be calm, and serene,
and sweet. That is real unworldliness ; and, in comparison
with this, the mere hermit's life is easy indeed.
" They that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not.'
Christ's religion is no grim, ghastly system of gloom. God's
world is not like the fabled place of punishment where
waters of refreshment rise brimming to the lips, while a
stern prohibition sounds forth, Touch not, taste not, handle
not.' You will observe, the joy spoken of here is not spiri-
tual, but earthly joy; for, if it had been spiritual joy, the
Apostle could not have put any limitation to it. Therefore,
Christians may have earthly joy. And they that rejoice
are emphatically the young. Let the young be happy.
Health, spirit, youth, society, accomplishments—let them
enjoy these, and thank God with no misgiving. Let there
be no half. remorseful sensations, as though they were stolen
joys. Christ had no sympathy with that tone of mind
which scowls on human happiness : His first manifestation
of power was at a marriage feast. Who would check the
swallow's flight, or silence the gush of happy melody which
the thrush pours forth in spring ? Look round this beauti-
ful world of God's : ocean dimpled into myriad smiles : the
sky a trembling, quivering mass of blue, thrilling hearts
with ecstacy ; every tint, every form replete with beauty.
You cannot, except wilfully, misread its meaning. God
says, Be glad l' Do not force young, happy hearts to an
unnatural solemnity, as if to be happy were a crime. Let
us hear their loud, merry, ringing laugh, even if sterner
hearts can be glad no longer ; to see innocent mirth and
joy does the heart good.
" But now, observe, everlasting considerations are to
come in, not to sadden joy, but to calm it, to moderate its
transports, and make even worldly joy a sublime thing.
We are to be calm, cheerful, self-possessed; to sit loose to
all these sources of enjoyment, masters of ourselves.
" The Apostle lays down no rule respecting worldly
amusements. He does not say, You must avoid this or
that, but he lays down broad principles. People often come
to ministers, and ask them to draw a boundary line, within
which they may safely walk. There is none. It is at our
peril that we attempt to define where God has not defined.
We cannot say, ' This amusement is right, and that is
wrong.' And herein is the greater responsibility laid upon
all, for we have to live out principles rather than maxims;
and the principle here is, Re unworldly."
The depreciation of intellectual acquirements and
powers he also censured, showing that all such were
gifts, and that it was little honour to the Giver to
undervalue or despise them, though they should
not be ranked above the moral qualities. This mis-
take, into which many well-meaning but narrow-
minded persons are apt to fall, is thus rectified :
" There is a mistake into which religious people are apt
to fall, but which the Apostle avoids : and this is one of the
negative marks of his inspiration. The Apostles were never
fanatical; but ordinary men, when strongly influenced,
exaggerate. Now the world makes very little of charity;
and religious men, perceiving the transcendent excellence
of this grace, make very little of talents : nay, some depre-
ciate them as almost worthless. They talk contemptuously
of the mere moral man.' They speak of cleverness and
gifts of intellect, as in themselves bad and dangerous.
They weed the finest works of human genius from their
libraries. And hence the religious character has a tendency
to become feeble, to lose all breadth of view, and all manly
grasp of realities. Now, on the contrary, St. Paul prays
that the whole soul, Ikoxi, the natural man as well
as the spirit, may ' be preserved blameless till the coming of
Christ.'
" And again he allows a distinction—' the best gifts.'
" The same Apostle who so earnestly urged contentment
with the gifts we have, and forbade contemptuous scorn of
others with feeble gifts, bids us yet to aspire. And just as
St. Peter said, Add to your faith, virtue ; and to virtue,
knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ;' so would St.
Paul have said, Add to your nobility of rank, nobleness of
mind ; to your naturally-strong constitution, health by
exercise; to your memory, judgment; to your power of
imitating, invention.' He permits no dream of fantastic
equality, no pretence that all gifts are equal, or all alike
precious. He never would have said that the builder who
executed was equal to the architect who planned."
The spirit of sectarianism and bitterness which in-
trudes itself more or less into all religious societies
is constantly referred to and deprecated. lie
takes the occasion of St. Paul's censure of
the Corinthians for their partisanship and
following of rival teachers, to speak forcibly
upon this point. The wide range of subjects
which are brought under discussion, and the straight-
forwardness and singleness of purpose with which
they are treated, will render this collection of lec-
tures most valuable and interesting to a very large
sphere of readers. We cordially recommend it to
all who seek for clear and practical instruction, for
careful and thoughtful exposition of the principles
laid down in these epistles, assisted moreover by.
historical and geographical reference which will
better enable the reader to comprehend the full.
bearing of many obscure passages. We conclude
with the following extract, which, as maybe gussed,
is taken from the lecture on the 15th chapter :
" And again, if the soul be not immortal, Christian life,
not merely apostolic devotedness, is ' a grand impertinense.'
Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,' was the motto
and epitaph of Sardanapalus : and if this life be all, we defy
you to disprove the wisdom of such reasoning. How many
of the myriads of the human race would do right, for the
sake of right, if they were only to live fifty years, and then
die for evermore ? Go to the sensualist, and tell him that a
noble life is better than a base one, even for that time, and
he will answer, I like pleasure better than virtue : you can
do as you please ; for me, I will wisely enjoy my time. It
is merely a matter of taste. By taking away my hope of
resurrection you have dwarfed good and evil, and shortened
their consequences. If lam only to live sixty or seventy
years, there is no eternal right or wrong. By destroying
the thought of immortality, I have lost the sense of the in-
finitude of evil, and the eternal nature of good.'
" Besides, with our hopes of immortality gone, the value
of Humanity ceases, and people become not worth living
for. We have not got a motive strong enough to keep us
from sin. Christianity is to redeem from evil : it loses its
power if ale idea of immortal life be taken away. Go, then,
to the sensualist, and tell him that though the theory of a
Life to come be a dream, yet that here the pleasure of doing
right is a sublimer existence than that of self-indulgence.
He will answer you, ' Yes, but my appetites are strong, and
it will cost me much to master them. Tke struggle will be
with pain ; and, at last, only a few years will be left. The
victory is uncertain, and the present enjoyment is sure, an
there is the banquet of life before me, and the wine sparkling
in the cup, and passion rising in its might; why should
refrain ?'
4, Do you think you can arrest that with some fine send-.
m ent about nobler and baser being ? Why, you have made
him out base already. He dies, you tell him, like a dog.;
why should he live like an angel ? You have the angelic
tendency, and prefer the higher life. Well, live according
to your nature; but he has the baser craving, and prefers
the brute life. Why should he not live it ? Ye, who den"'
the resurrection to immortality, answer me that
" No, my brethren, the instincts of the animal will be,
more than a match for all the transcendental reasonings 19'
the philosopher. If there be in us only that which is boil
of the flesh, only the mortal Adam, and not the immortal
Christ, if to-marrow we die, then the conclusion cann°
be put aside—' Let us eat and drink, for the Present is our
All."'

Bradshaw's handbook to the Bombay Presideno

and the North-Western Provinces of India.
There is no more striking illustration of the
mighty advance which railway enterprise has rea',°
than the gradual increase in size of " Bradshaw 6
Railway Guide for the United Kingdom" and the
numerous offshoots from the parent stem to „,
facili-
tate the tourist in his continental travels. I"-
complication of the great lines of railway with
their various branches renders it difficult for til
uninitated to understand the time table of a singt°
:
company, the bulk of which at present often ego"
that of Bradshaw's entire volume in olden time'
Ever on the move, and striving to keep pace Wit',
the advance of the age, the proprietors of this Nor.*
have entered upon a new field, now that India 1!,
likely to be more traversed by Europeans, and Fall.
way communications are being opened in all three
tions. The present handbook will be found 05
useful to travellers in the Bombay Presidency.
will shortly be followed by two. others descriptive to
Madras and Bengal. The object of this work 19,t
supersede the four large quarto volumes issued.%
the local Government of each presidency, and which
merely contains the mileage and a- partial account
of the country. While Bradshaw's handbook s,fur-
nishes in a condensed form all necessary infortnit
tion relating. to roads, railways, and stations,,th
contains 280 routes across the country, with 9
descriptions.r of the country, tables of distances'
mileage, &c., a vocabulary of the native languagelii
a glossary of Indian words, and a chronologle a
table. from the year B.C. 2188. With such a ifuipne
of information, it is not surprising that the vclted
extends to 564 pages. It contains a well-exec-led
m:,p of the Bombay Presidency, and is conlPl
with care and regularity.

Mr. Rarey has returned to England
er g
absence of some thirteen weeks in Italy and the East'doort
among the Arabs, whose horse
time was principally occupied by his travels in the . 0 to
specially went to observe. It is, we (Illustrated i°tract,
News) believe, his wish to complete his cavalr tiedllpg-
and give fifty more public exhibitions in the Un :400,
doru, and then leave for America in the autumn. '7.
where ho goes next week, is the first town on his list,
handling peculiarittend,o