POPUL.A_R, PREACHER: MR. J. R. GILLIES.* THIS thin volume, containing

only five sermons,—none of them long sermons,--exemplifies many of the best qualities and some of the faults, though none of the worst faults, of a popular preacher. In the first place, they have a genuine insight and earnestness in them, though the earnestness seems to us sometimes spoiled by the desire to be effective. Then they have dashes of the picturesque ; they indicate a study of Carlyle,—of his passionate though rather unpractical respect for silence,—and of his contempt for formula ; they have here and there gleams of the sort of sicklied sentiment which the age seems most to appreciate ; but they are heartily Christian, though, curiously enough, Mr. Gillies says of Christ (p. 47), "Thank God ! He is no theologian," which seems to us the very oddest judgment ever passed on him by one who evidently regards him as divine, considering that the greater part of his teaching, and almost all his teaching in the Gospel of St. John, seems to us pure theology. But this remark is probably only the tribute paid to the modern " Time-spirit " by one who, at bottom, does not heartily reverence that spirt at all. To begin with Mr. Gillies's best side. What can be better in its way than this remark on our Lord's Beatitudes, in which, as the preacher justly remarks, we first meet him as a teacher ?—

" The first word is noteworthy : Blessed.' It is an epitome of Christ's teaching, of His life from the manger to the grave. He came to bless. In Him was fulfilled the promise given so long before to Abraham : In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' But it is particularly noteworthy as uttered here. Shortly before this our Lord had been driven from His home in Nazareth. Already, wherever He went, His steps were dogged by Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, on the watch to catch Him in His speech. Yet He lifted up His eyes on those who despised and hated Him, and said, Blessed are ye.' Is there anything more God-like about Jesus of Nazareth than this infinite sweetness, this fulness of love in a heart that will not be soured and cannot be dried up, which opens its lips only to bless ? Have we not proved it so ? We drive God from us, how often ? We dog His steps daily, silent, sullen, only to pick a quarrel with His providence; yet He has no thought save peace toward us, no words but words of blessing."

That is said with all the truth, all the simplicity, and all the force which brings it right home to the heart. And here is another specimen of Mr. Gillies at his best. He is remarking on the new character given to Simon Peter, with his new name of Cephas, or Rock :—

" I do not think we sufficiently consider this question of character in its relation to Christ. Consider what character is. It is not nature. Nature is the raw material : character the manufactured goods. Nature is the capital with which a man starts business in life : character the net result, the profit (or loss) made out of it. Nature is something given you, complete and unalterable from the first : character something superinduced, the stamp imprinted on the wax, the mould into which the metal has been cast. Every- thing, however small, that affects you, goes to form character. The books you read, the friendships you make, the models you adopt, each in turn helps to put the final and ineffaceable stamp, the character upon the man. But there are some things which act more powerfully than others in this way,—e.g., a great passion, the reverence inspired by a great teacher. Now such an influence, pre-eminently, is the faith of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to believe on Him, to find one's life in Him, to spend even a few years as Peter did in His company, without becoming a new man. How many an evil habit has been broken—how many a life, tainted and drained by sin, has become sweet and strong in His presence who is His people's health. One does not leave this presence as the leper did, in a moment made clean. One lingers there. Henceforth Christ is Himself our life : 'We put on the Lord Jesus Christ'—we are transformed into His likeness. For observe, the formation of character is gradual. Already, and from this hour onwards, Simon is Peter the Rockman, baptized by

• Mantle and Staff: Thoughts about the Christian Life. By J. B. Gfilies, London: James Niabet.

Christ's own hand. -Yet months after this Christ chides him for his most unrocklike instability, and years after a brother-apostle had to rebuke him for vacillation and deceit. But that did not make him less Peter. The germ of the new character was there from the first. Christ saw it, in his better hours the man felt it, in the end all men acknowledged it. You remember, too, how this gift of the new name was solemnly reaffirmed on occasion of Peter's memorable confession. 'And Peter answered and said : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus

answered and said : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona and I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.' So must it be with us. How often in a lifetime God's gracious purpose must reaffirm itself, the baptism of the Holy Spirit be renewed, ere the work is done. Yet amid the imperfections of a half-formed character, Christ sees the new idea working itself out—sees the ripened fruit in the early blossom."

It would not be easy to say that better than it is here said, and nothing can be more important than the distinction between Nature and Character,—the impress stamped on Nature by a faithful will steadily working for years together in the service of Christ. In passages such as these, you see something better than any merely popular preacher, a preacher who is popular not because he bite the fancy or stirs the imagination of his hearers, but because he really touches their consciences and lifts their whole minds to a higher level. But though the popular preacher never appears in any seriously disagreeable form in these sermons, there are traces enough of a wish to be effective beyond the intrinsic capabilities of the subject treated. For example, take this on Christ's temptation in the wilderness :—

" The previous temptations have been directed to our Lord's nature, as man with ordinary instincts and appetites, and again as the God-man, with special privileges and prerogatives. In both the Tempter has failed. But many men, too noble to swerve by a hair's-breadth from the path of duty to save themselves, have yielded for their work's sake. It may be so here. 'Then the devil talceth Him up into an high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto Him, All these will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.' All these were His by His Father's gift : He had come to make them His. But how ? How well He knew the way ! By obedience, suffering, death. Quickly His eye runs along the way to the cross that already casts its withering shadow over all life's joy. It was not the agony and shame that made Him shrink. It was the thought of what these meant for others—the inevitable misunderstandings, the disappointed hopes, the outraged pre- judices—all that is implied in the offence of the cross.' How easily it might be prevented if Ile chose to accommodate Him- self to the popular idea of the Messiah, to play the part of an earthly ruler. A little trimming—call it diplomacy—and the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them had lain at His feet. Yes ; but was that the right way, the way the Father had chosen for Him ? How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled ?' Can it be again—? At the thought, the shadow of the Tempter seemed to flit across His path. Yes, it is he, thank God, discovered_ 'Get thee behind Me, Satan : it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' Is there not a lesson here for us who are Christians ? In working for God we are tempted sometimes to use questionable means to attain ends in themselves good, to secure popularity (not for ourselves, but) for our goodness by some concession of principle, the slightest suspicion of a lie. Worship the devil ? Never ! But why not lift your hat to the devil as he rolls by you in his carriage, or wishes you good-morning across the street ? Why not leave your card for him if he is a person of some consequence and lives on the Heath ? In the name of all that is sweetly reasonable and decently civil, why not ? If you can cheat the devil into doing God a service, is it not a good thing done ? No, it is not; and never can be. Good can never come out of evil. God's kingdom can never stand on the semblance of a lie. It is written, Thou shalt wor- ship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.'" We cannot say that we like at all the ad captandunt passage about "lifting your hat to the devil as he rolls by you in his carriage." If it means anything, it means that men really know who is possessed by the spirit of evil and who is not. If it only means that a man whom you have good reason to think ill of, and whose acquaintance your better nature leads you to shun, should not be cultivated by you simply because you think that he may be of use to you in your best work, it is very badly expressed. If it means that men can really often discern the evil from the good on a superficial acquaintance, and have any right to say to themselves on slight evidence or on the strength of the scandal of society : "That man is a bad man, and I will cut him because he is a bad man," it means what is very mischievous, and in either case the passage has an ad captandum flavour which seems to us to illustrate one of the greatest dangers of the popular preacher.

Again, take Mr. Gillies's occasionally very unreal applica- tions of Carlyle's ideas to the interpretation of Scripture. The sermons on Elijah and Elisha are, on the whole, not only graphic, but fine sermons, full of true insight into the wonder- ful stories of the two great Israelite prophets. But what shall we say to this allegorising on Elijah's mantle ?— " It is more particulary of Elijah's mantle I have just now to speak. Those of you who have visited the Stewart Gallery know the interest that attaches to the relics of great men—a rusty weapon, an old psalter, the shred of a garment worn on some historic field. These things have power to make the past live. Touching them, you seem to touch the men who used them. So it is with Elijah's mantle. Beading Sartor Resartus,' and believing EIS you do in the philosophy of clothes, you know that, however it may be in an age when men worship fashion, clothes were meant to be symbolic, are so : as really characteristic of the man as the body is of the spirit which informs it. No man can do his own tailoring as Elijah did, without putting something of himself into the very coat he wears. Now there are four passages in which this mantle is mentioned ; and each, I think, is fitted to teach a distinct lesson. I. The first thing we are told of the mantle is, that when the prophet heard the still small voice at Horeb, he 'wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave' (1 Kings xix., 13). He had been driven into the wilderness by the hatred of Jezebel, and had found his way, after forty days, to Horeb, the mount of God. He had been spectator of one of the grandest sights Nature has to offer : had seen the earth shaken, the fire gleaming, the rocks rent by a mighty wind. Now, in the still small voice that speaks, he recognises the voice of God, and goes forth to meet him. 'Wrapped in his mantle.' It is the gesture of reverence, of awestruck wonder such as befits the creature in the presence of the Creator, a man before his God. If, instead of the word 'mantle,' you insert an equivalent, 'habit,' you will see the spiritual significance of this. It speaks of that reverence which was characteristic of the man, a way he had of seeing God in everything. It was his habit."

He continues the allegorising in his account of Elijah's ilividing of the Jordan :— " The third passage before us tells how Elijah was taken up to heaven (2 Kings ii., 8). It is a beautiful picture of the close of a good man's life. When the summons came there was no haste. He goes to Bethel, to Gilgal, to Jericho, the schools of the prophets, visiting his friends, leaving with them last words of counsel re- garding the evil days to come. Then, having wound up his earthly affairs, he turns his steps to Jordan. The river is in flood, and the fords are impassable ; but the prophet, gathering his mantle up into his hand till it becomes like a rod, smites the waters so that they are dried up, and passes over dryshod. The incident is suggestive of Christian Experience and its results. In every life trials come, difficulties and hindrances are met, regarding which we feel powerless. What then ? Grasp the mantle. Gather all the memories of the past ; days when you made a covenant with Jehovah as at Horeb, and took Him to be your God ; days when He promised never to forsake you, when you called on Him and He answered you. Gather them up into your hand, and smite the waters. Say, He who was, still is; He who has promised will perform ; He who bath delivered will yet deliver. You re- member the psalmist's experience ? 'Will the Lord cast off for ever. Will he be favourable no more ? Is His mercy clean gone for ever ? Doth His promise fail for evermore ? "lath God forgotten to be gracious ? Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies ? And I said, This is mine infirmity ; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of the Lord : surely I will remember Thy wonders of -old.' He gathered up his mantle, the gracious experience of his past life, and smote the waters. Oh for such an experience, and the grace to use it ! You remember how, when Christian was crossing the river, flesh and heart began to fail. He began to sink. ` Ah !' he cried, 'the sorrows of death compass me. I shall not see the good land. Ah ! brother, surely if I were right, He would now arise to help me; but for my sins He hath brought me into this snare and left me.' But Hopeful made answer : These troubles are sent to try you, whether you will call to mind that which hitherto you have received of His goodness, and live upon Him now in your distress.' Whereon Christian was in a muse for a while, and suddenly brake out with a loud voice : ` Oh ! I see Him again, and He tells me : When thou passest through the rivers I will be with thee, and through the waters, they shall not overflow thee.' Christian presently found ground to stand on, and after that the river was shallow. Ah ! how we wrong our- selves, shivering by the river's brink, when if we would but use the mantle we might pass over dryshod. You, too, have a gracious experience behind you. Thank God for it. Is it only for show, to hang loose about you like a garment, or like the prophet's mantle for use on such a day as this ? In your own life, if you will seek it thoughtfully, prayerfully, you shall find the solution -of most of the difficult questions that face you. Let the past speak to the present, and the way will open up."

All that seems to us showy and unreal. Does Mr. Gillies mean that the drift is allegorical, or not? There seems to us not the least sign of any intention of allegory in the writer. Moreover, the mantle, as Mr. Gilliea himself asserts, was not a habit. A habit fits close to the body, and hence its suitability to express that which fits close to the mind, the " second nature," as habit has been very justly called. But Elijah's mantle was, according to Mr. Gillies (we wonder, by-the- way, how he knows), a loose sheepskin, which did not fit close to his body, and was not at all specially suited to express any- thing but the ruggedness of the prophet's nature, certainly not

the reverence of that nature, which is just what Mr. Gillies makes it express. There is a dash of superficial and unreal philosophy about all that identification of Elijah's mantle with the habits of his mind, which seems to us to come of the too great desire to be picturesque and effective.

Again, here is a. passage concerning the evil of undermining the sacredness of the Bible by throwing doubts on the literal authority of texts, which seems be us very unreal, and even dangerous :— "But we see also how to meet temptation. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. 'It is written.' The Bible is like an arsenal, full of weapons, both offensive and defensive. He who knows his Bible best, who can lay hands on such texts as may suit his varying need, is most likely to come off victorious. Two young Christians were talking together. How do you do when you are tempted ?' one asked of the other.—' Sometimes I pray, and sometimes I sing a hymn ; but often I am as hard pressed as ever.'—` The next time the devil tries you, nail him with a text : he cannot stand a text.' But then we must accept the Bible as the Word of God before we can use it thus. How would our Lord have fared, if, instead of resting on the authority of Scripture, He had been occupied with some of the questions of modern science : who wrote Deuteronomy? whether inspiration is verbal or not ? whether the Bible is the Word of God, or only an earthly echo of it ? Think again, in this connection, of our first parents. 'Hate God said, Ye shall surely die?' It was the first attempt at Biblical criticism ; and made with what damaging results ! 'Surely you have misunderstood the passage ? Is the reading correct ? What of exegesis ?' Once inject into a man's mind the idea that Scripture is not really binding, or that it is quite uncertain what it really says, and you leave him defenceless in the great conflict. Views as to inspiration are not purely theoretical : they are in- tensely practical. What shall a man do if he cannot trust his weapons : expects his sword at every thrust to double back upon himself ? If you are going to fight, you want at least a firm footing. If you cannot put your foot down like Christ and say, It is mitten, you need not begin the unequal conflict."

But Mr. Gillies knows as well as any man that single texts are not of easy interpretation, that it needs either inspired wisdom, or a long and careful study of the Bible by trained minds, to be sure of the meaning of isolated passages; and, again, that there are passages in the Authorised Version which are not authentic, and which ought not to be relied upon at all. The answer to such difficulties as he suggests is not that we ought never to doubt whether this or that text is final in the sense in which we have supposed it to be final, but that for all our daily duties, and for the guidance of our thoughts and actions, we need never be dependent on a single doubtful passage here or there, but may lean on a continuous stream of collective evidence which tells us what the voice of Revelation has said in all the ages.

We have criticised Mr. Gillie,s's little book because it seems to us to be, on the whole, a genuine book by a preacher who deserves to be popular, but who should be on his guard against the dangers of popularity. But the five sermons it contains are earnest and simple sermons, and good specimens of what the popular preacher can do.