The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1861-11-02
Three Sermons on one Text.

Upon a public fast at COvent-Garden
church, for the prosecuted Protestants in
the valleys of Piedmont, Dr. Manton had
got Mr. Baxter, who happened then to oe
in London, and Dr. Wilkins, who was after
wards Bishop of Chester, to assist him
The services lasted several hours in those
days, three sermons following each other.
Mr.. Baxter opened the day, and preached
1lpon the words of the Prophet, Amos. vi: 6;
Bnt they are not grieved for the affections
of Joseph" He, after his manner, took
great compass and grasped the whole sub
ject. DR.. Manton succeeded him, and had
chosen the same text; he was obliged often
to refer to the former discourse, and to say,
every now and then, "As it has been OBJ
served by my reverend brother" DR.. VIII
kins sat cruelty uneasy, and reckoned that
between them both he should have nothing
left to say; for he had got the same text
too. He insisted upon being excused, but
DR.. Manton obliged him to go up into the
pulpit, and by an ingenious artifce, he sue
ceeded admirably. Before he named his
tskt, he prepared lis aEdience, By express
M the 4eays of their narrow spnitedness.
aud little concern for the interest of God in
the world: For" says he, "withOut any
knowledge or design of our own, we have
all three been directed to the same words"
Which, spoken with the majesty and au-
tbonty peculiar to the presence and spirit
"a
attention, and disposed the minds of the
people, that he was heard with more re-
gard, and was thought to do more good
than both the former, though he had scarce
a 81, gle thought throughout the sermon dis
tinct from the other two.
Life Of Dr. Thomas Manton.
= INTERCESSoRY l'RAYER.-At the close Of
that most pathetic and poetical delineation
of the sorrows of the man of Uz, we read
that 1.-THE Lord turned his captivity"
When was it turned 7 When he incurred
in the bitterness of his soul, and cast male
dictions on the day of his birth9 When he
depicted with such touching eloquence the
fralty of IMAM born of woman, who hath
but few days to live, and is full of vanity;
who cometh forth like flower, and is cut
down; who feetb also as a shadow, and con-
tinueth not2" When, gathering boIdness
fron anguish, he said to the Almighty,
"Show me wherefore thou COntendeSt with
me7"
No; neither to his lamentations, to his
eloquence, nor to his despair, was the boon
accorded. The deliverance came when he
prayed.
And for what did he pray? For himself2
that the crushing weight of his Affections
might be removedl his fearful desoIations
be rebuiltl his riaed wealth restored ? Not
so. "The Lord turned the captivity of Job,
when he prayed for his friends" Job xiii;
TO-
HOME We have rarely ever seen q SIM
ple eh:la-stcry tha. mos 5caohe4 as yhau
the following, which we fad in an exchange;
This is my home!" cried a little one,
treasured boy of four summers, as fresh
and rosy, he came in from school, at the
close of short winters afternoon. Indeed,
little Wilhe," said his mothers visitors,
"how is ii Suppose you go out on the side
walk, and try the next door; suppose you
step into the entry, throw off your little
sack, as you have here, and proceed to the
parlor-wouldn't that be your home ?''-
"No, indeed" said Willie, THAT wouldn't
be it, ''But tell me why not?" Willie had
never thought of this. He paused for mo-
ment, then directing his eyes to where bis
mother sat quietly sewing, he replied, with
an earnest gesture. She Ines here"
TIME-ITs IMpoRrANCr.-The eloquent
Robert Hall thus moralzes upon this Oft
repeated subject: Time is the most precious
of all our possessions; by far the greatest
deposit we have received, in regard to what
depends on its use. There is nothing in eter-
nifty but what springs out of time All The
good which eternity has in store, and all
the evil, all the promises and all the threat
enings of God in Scripture, all will be re-
alized in consequence of, and in proportion
to the Improvement or abuse of the present
dime of our probation. Time is the seed of
eternity. At the judgment, the question
which will decide your destiny will be no
other than this-how you have used your
time. And the less there remains of this
precious article, the more valuable it should
appear. The narrower becomes the isthmus
that separates us from eternity, the more
time seems to enlarge itself in moral mag
nitude. In a word, to squauder time is to
.qra1ler all. -