INTERCESSION.
[To TIM EDITOR Cr TEl " tirECTATOR."] SIR,—We may take God's goodwill for granted; our prayers should be that our will may be conformed to it, that we may know and do it, our own conscience enlightening us, but we should not interfere overmuch with our neighbours' right and duty to judge for themselves. There is a real danger in the word "vicarious" and the phrase "imputed righteous- ness," if they weaken the deep sense of personal responsibility, which is the foundation of true nobility. Problems of pre- destination and free will are but metaphysical stumbling. blocks. The strong common-sense of Dr. Johnson rebukes all finesse. Why, Sir, you know your will is free. If punish- ment is needful to save the world from corruption, it is man's duty, for "Let cynics sneer and doctors rave,
God judges with intent to save."
Our Lord's way is plain. He condemns greed, hypocrisy—the worst symptom of which perhaps is cant—and pride. The Kaiser exemplifies all three. His people are guilty in allow- ing a madman to commandeer them. Jesus blesses their opposites—self-control, truthfulness, humility. Good fruit is the only test of goodness ; however scanty and stunted, it has its value, and a bearing branch may be grafted on a wild stock, only it requires purging. This is where men may intercede, i.e., intervene (but intercede is the better word), with kindly purpose, yet with wisdom and skill, for the fruitful shoot may be mistaken for the produce of the wild stock.—
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