HOW TO DISCOURAGE A MINISTER.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 225, 16 December 1859, Page 4

HOW TO DISCOURAGE A MINISTER.

(From the Church.) It is a maxim well understood and acknowledged, "To do anything well we must do it heartily," and if this be true in the common affairs of life, it must be preeminently so in ministerial labours. This will appear in a moment if we reflect on the nature of the engagement. A philosophical lecture may be given with perfect calmness, the facts may be stated, and well stated, so as to answer every purpose intended, without calling into exercise any emotions or feelings of the heart, either on the part of the lecturer or his audience. But can this be the case with the gospel ? The merest tyro in religious knowledge will answer emphatically, No ! The gospel is intended, indeed, to reach the intellect, but preeminently to reach the heart, to touch the very spring of feeling, to awaken in the sinner a, consciousness of his condition, and to lead him to a heart-broken confession of sin and a cordial trust in Jesus for salvation, call out the ardent affections of the saint, andt arouse and strengthenin him a feeling of ar--dent love and gratitude that will arm him against temptation, and 'lead to a renewal of entire consecration to Christ.J Need it be asked when this ,is best done ? Every one knows by experience it is when the minister speaks from the depth of tys feelings, and when the glow of his own heart dictates his thoughts and words. It necessarily follows that anything that tends to depress a minister's feelings must have an injurious influence, and it, therefore, becomes a matter of the greatest importance for every Christian to avoid it most scrupulously. My object is to point out one way in which a minister's feelings are effectually chilled, and his heart thoroughly depressed. By a habit in which some members of churches indulge, of gadding (I use the word gadding advisedly) about to other places and neglecting their own services. Only let it be known that any extra service will be held at a another chapel, or a new or popular minister preach, and away theygp. And what does the minster find. when lie goes to his own place ? : a dreary array, of empty places, and those that are there dispirited and gloomy; a damp is thrown over every kindling emotion of his own heart, —• the deadness and gloom is felt by all, —the meeting is attended by an injurious influence, —those present go away with the feeling, and express the feeling to others, "What a few there were at the prayermeeting," or other service, what ever it may be. And who does not know what such a feeling inevitably leads to ? first, a general disinclination to attend, short attendance, and then, discontent with the minister, although the fault is not his, but lays at the complainer's door. Where this all it would be sufficient to shew the injuriousness of such a course, but there is something further in it than this. Those who indulge this propensity justly come under the apostle's description, " Having itching ears." The usual services become insipid and tasteless, and personal piety necessarily declines. It is, too, an indication of the want of a ■warm and heartfelt interest in the prosperity of the church with which they are connected. 1 appeal to such characters, and ask, Did you feel your strongest and dearest interests were bound up in its welfare, and did the welfare engage your earnest and constant exertions and prayers, could you desert the prayer-meeting or the other service for personal gratification? (I will not say profit, for profit is only to be obtained in the path of duty.) I know if you respond honestly to this appeal you will answer, No! You stand, then,, convicted, by your own confession, of a want of interest in the welfare of the church. In other words, of a want' of affectionate allegiance to Christ. And be assured if this wandering spirit is indulged, your interest in the welfare of the church must necessarily decline, the one is incompatible with the other, it is impossible they can exist together. There is yet another aspect of the case, — these very wanderers of course expect their minister to fill his place. T hey may be absent. They may go here or there as fancy, leads, but he must be at his post like a solitary sentinel deserted by the army. Now, what is the feeling of" the minister under such desertion? A feeling of the keenest anguish, and bitterest disappointment. He feels and mourns over the fact that his people's interest in the prosperity of "tiie cause is deficient, and knowing if this be the <;ase God's blessing is in vain expected, he anticipates, and anticipates truly, that it will be his lot in solitude to mourn in the prophet's words, "Who hath believed our report, and to'whom is the "arm of the Lord revealed?"

It is also to be remembered that in every congregation there are nnmbers of unconverted^ ungodly, whose interest in religious things is very slight, broken easily as a thread. The effect on them is this, they feel, and say too, "If so and so, members of the church, stay away, it cannot be of any consequence my going." I must also point to its effect on the enquirer, but 1 forbear. Members of Christian churches ! if you wish to hinder the prosperity of the church and to discourage your minister, you cannot take a more effectual mode than absenting yourselves from the services of the house of God. There may, indeed be special cases in which these remarks will not apply. There are among other denominations special services at which it is right to lend a helping hand by our presence and contributions, and far be it from me to wish to throw a barrier between the interchange of such a Christian communion. In such cases let the usual meeting be postoned, and minister and people go together; or if this cannot be done, in a special case no minister would object to recommend his people to go, and a short meeting would be productive of no evil but rather of good. I recommend these few thoughts to the ;|>rcyer,fttV cpiiwleir^ipii of yfon^nflg

members of Christian churches, and trust they may be awakened to consideration of the evilk attached] to their course. And that they may henceforth possess a feeling like the woman who, when she was asked if the king or captain of the host should be spoken to in her behalf, beautifully replied, "I dwell among mine own people,;" or the feeling the Psalmist so earnestly expressed, "If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I dp, no t remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." Experience- as well as the scripture teaches it is only when such feelings are cherished that a church can expect prosperity.

Salmon.—- At a recent sitting., of the Soc6tie\d* Acclimation, Dr. Cloquet read an interesting paper on a successful experiment recently made by M. Coste, in a pond situated at St. Cucufa, one of the domains of the Emperor, near St. Cloud. It had been considered' impossible to reproduce salmon in a state of domesticity, without their emigrating to sea: M. Coste's experiment proves the contrary. The small pond above alluded to, situated in a shady valley does not cover a surface of more than two and a half acres. It greatest depth is six metres, from which the bottom rises in a gentle slope to the grassy bank. It receives its'waters by transsudatian from the high ground with which it is surrounded. Three years ago it was emptied for repairs, and . when it afterwards again received its usual quantity of water, M. Coste stocked it with some trout which are now four years old, and about a foot and a half in length. In April and May, 1854, he added several thousand Liliputian salmon, bred at the College de France two months before, and, not withstanding the havoc committed by ; their voracious enemies the trout, they have : thriven so well that some time ago, in the presence of their Majesties, upwards of 200 kilogrammes' weight of these fish were brought up in a single draught of a net. They were on a average about a foot in length. But the most important circumi stance which &. Coste remarked on this occasion, and which adds a new fact to science, w,as that all these fish -were in a state of .reproduction; the spawn which they contained had come to maturity, and it has since been subjected to artificial fecundation; the embryos resulting therefrom are so far developed that they must soon be hatched. Hence it is proved that salmon may be propagated in close waters; and also, that salmon, like trout, begin to spawn at the age of 18 months. The Wax Tree. —The Americans boast of a wax tree. People who have not crossed the Atlantic, but have visited Paris, may have seen two specimens of this tree in the Jardin dcs Plantes. There are ten different species of the wax tree, only two of which appear capable of acclimatisation in Europe, namely the Myrica cerafera of Carolina,, and the Myrica Penmijhania of Pennsylvania. The tree, in addition to yielding wax, purifies the air, and in hot weather gives an aromatic odour; and while its roots possess medical virtue, its leaves preserve cloth from the ravages of insects. Until recently no attempt has been made to extract wax from these American settlers in Paris; the attempt, however, has now been made, and the experiment has proved highly satisfactory. The chemical composition of the wax yielded by the tree is pretty nearly the same as that of bees-wax. In Algeria, the French have turned the wax tree to profitable account, and having answered so well in their colonies, a project is a-foot for cultivating it extensively at home. Breach of Promise of Marriage. — Linfoot v. 'Kirk. —This was an action for breach of promise of marriage. The plaintiff, it appeared, was the widow of a butcher, carrying on her late husband's trade in the city jof York, and haying several children. The defendant is a farmer in the neighborhood of York, having dealings with the plaintiff in the way of her trade in cattle and sheep, and aged 45, On a Sunday in June, 1858, the.defendant, having apparently made up his niind to propose marriage to the plaintiff, went to her house in York to see her. She was out taking tea with a friend, and the defendant was asked to walk in and he did so, and waited for the return of the plaintiff, till 12 at night. When she came home she expressed her surprise at seeing him there, and said' "What on earth do you want here at this time of night?" the defendant said, "I have to ask you a question, to which I want an answer—yes or no." The plaintiff said, • "Well,,what is. it?" The defendant said, "Do' you"intend to marry again?' 5 The? plaintiff replied, " Yes, I do, if I can get a father for my children and a good husband; for myself." Thereupon the defendant said, " Well, I will.make a father for your children and a good husband to yourself." When he had said this, according to the : female servant's testimony, who was present, "they shook hands and made it up between them." As it was late he was asked to remain, and a bed was made up on a sofa for the plaintiff, and the defendant slept in the piainttff's bed that night. After this his visits to the plaintiff were frequent,' and, according to the evidence of the plaintiff's slaughterman, on; one of the? defendant's visits to the plaintiff's: shop, he asked him for a days coursing over his farm, and the defendant replied, "he could not give it, as he was about to be married to her ladyship there," pointing to the plaintiff, and in cross-examination the witness said, " defendant cast sheep's-eyes at her." On another occasion the defendant. called on a Miss Ward, who lived in the neighborhood of York, at whose house the plaintiff was taking tea, and drove home in her gig-with her. The toll bar woman, as they went through, said she hoped he would make it all right with Mrs. Linfoot before they got home. He said he would, and put his arm round her waist. After hii

visits had Continued for Bonie time^the marriage was fixed to take place in January last.. Before that time the plaintiff received att anonymous letter, stating that c the defendant was pfcying his addresses to another lady, a Miss Hardcastle. The plaintiff accused him of this,, but he protested his devotion to the plaintiff and denied the fact; and, the letter being anonymous, no further regard was paid to it. From one cause or another the marriage was put off till May. The plaintiff again heard,rumours about the defendant being married, and,, becomr ing suspicious, in March last she caused a search to be made in the register of marriages at St. Lawrence's Church, in this city, where secret marriages appear to be frequent, and there she discovered that the defendant had been married on the 12th of January to Miss Hardcastle. Shortly after the defendant called at her shop as usual, and then the plaintiff, accused him of being married, presented him with his " marriage lines," and told him "he was a nasty dirty scoundrel, and ordered him to go out of her shop, and not to show his deceitful face no more." The result was that the plaintiff had been exposed tp ;the ridicule of those not friendly to her and had lost a fitting match. The defence urged was, that the defendant said all the things imputed to him in joke and fun, and not by way of serious engagement, and that his circumstances were not so good as had been represented. The learned Judge said that, if the defendant chose to amuse himself in this way, he must pay for his fun. The question was one of damages. His Lordship then summed up the evidence. The jury found a verdict; for the plaintiff— Damages, £100. ; . ■ :. y ■