Mr. Von Meter, from Rome, at Buxton. to which he replied in the affirmative. He was then asked whether he had ever taken quinine (the natives have great faith in quinine) and been cured by it? to which he again gave an affirmative reply. When asked, however, to explain how it was that quinine checked and removed his fever, he was at a loss for an answer. So he was reminded it was with regard to the remedy for the disease of sin. About the physician and the medicine there was much that he could not understand; but that if, instead of cavilling, he would try the remedy, he would get spiritually healed-healed, even though he might not understand the modus operandi. To show that the natives have not only read our books, but how quick they are in detecting fallacies or raising objections I may just state that one of the brethren said, as the car was passing, "How can Juggernath be God? Why, if he were not tied up, he would fall down." "What you say is very true, replied a man, "he is tied up like a thief, and would fall if he were not; but was not your Jesus Christ fastened to the cross? If He were God, why did He allow Himself to be thus fastened? Why did He not show His power and come down? He will save us, you say, and yet He could not save Himself." From this and other remarks made by our hearers, it is evident not only that the Scriptures are read, but that, at the same time, many of the more intelligent natives are better acquainted with the infidel objections of Europe and America than they are with the truths of the gospel. To prevent accidents the cars were placed under the control of the inspector of police, so "the lord of the world" was not allowed to move till a police officer gave the order. On the order being given crowds of people tugged away at the thick cocoa ropes, and in this way the three principal carscontaining respectively Juggernath, his brother, and his sister-were dragged along the road, being directed and guarded by policemen. The whole performance seemed to be regarded rather as a piece of fun than a religious ceremony; and if there ever was any solemnity about the observance that time has passed away. As regards the cars themselves they were the 363 most rickety, forlorn, disreputable objects for gods to ride upon I have ever seen. The towers, or canopies, rising up from the top of the cars were only partly covered with cloth-cloth which seemed to have been thrown over them regardless of order, and which was coarse, old, and dirty. A more miserable turn-out for a car festival I have never witnessed. Even the customary offerings of plaintains, cocoa-nuts, and sweet-meats, appeared to be withheld, and the whole aspect of affairs clearly indicated that the self-sacrificing devotion, and ardent enthusiasm of former days had passed away. After proceeding some distance down the street the principal car stuck fast in the gutter, and as it was growing dusk the police gave orders that the god was to remain there for the night. Even the regulations and restrictions under which the gods are placed will, doubtless, tend to shake the faith of the people in their divinity, and by degrees to bring them into contempt. As accidents in connection with the dragging of cars are continually taking place there is an increasing outcry against the practice. The rajah of Burdwan and other influential natives think that dangerously large cars should not be allowed. The Lieut.-Governor of Bengal has brought the whole subject before the Government of India, and his Excellency the GovernorGeneral in Council is of opinion that while it is undesirable to interfere with the custom of car-dragging, it is necessary to secure those who engage in it from injury of life or limb; and also to prevent any from being compelled to drag cars against their will. European magistrates are authorized to see that proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents, and to proceed against any parties through whose neglect or carelessness accidents may occur. During the last festival six women were killed by a car in Bengal; and when a few of Juggernath's priests have been convicted of manslaughter, then doubtless the god will be made to ride on cars less dangerous to life and limb. Thus in one way or other events seem to transpire to hasten the time when "the idols He shall utterly abolish, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." W. HILL. MR. VAN METER, FROM ROME, AT BUXTON. ON Wednesday evening, the 6th August, Mr. Van Meter delivered an address on the Vatican, St. Peter's, and the Inquisition, at Buxton. R. C. L. Bevan, Esq., of London, took the chair. Dr. Binney, the Rev. S. Shoobridge, formerly rector of Hastings, the Rev. Armitage, vicar of Casterton, and myself, took part in the engagements. Mr. Van Meter first gave a description of his work amongst the homeless and friendless children in New York city. The simple story of his work amongst the children was told with an earnestness and pathos that cannot be described. I have rarely seen strong minded men and women so much interested and so deeply moved. He told us how remarkably Providence had opened his path, and how the means for carrying on the "Howard Institution," amounting to about six hundred pounds a month, had been provided. Since June, 1861, more than eleven thousand wanderers have been cared for, and all, or nearly all, are now comfortably located in various parts of Canada and the States. When Rome was opened by the Italian army, Mr. Van Meter felt that God had called him there, and conveying his work to his son and daughter-in-law, he set out for the imperial city. A second son and daughter have relinquished good prospects in America to join their father in Rome, and are content, for the first year at least, with food and raiment. Day schools and Sunday schools have been opened, and not less than five hundred have sought for admission. He stated that eighty-eight women had formed themselves into an association, and had determined no more to bow down to the priests. A number of these women had called on Mr. Van Meter and begged him to open an evangelical school for their daughters, and had given the names of fifty-eight children. The evangelists in Rome felt that the opening of the city to the preachers of the gospel ought, in some way or other, to be commemorated; and one of them said, "O that it could be done by sending forth ten thousand copies of the New Testament!" Mr. Van Meter, on hearing this, pledged himself at once to the completion of the work. He appealed to the Sunday schools in America for ten thousand dollars; and, all honour to the children, they sent more than eleven thousand. The work could have been done more expeditiously in England or America. He and his friends, however, were determined to print their New Testaments within the Leonine city, and within the shadow of the Vatican-this work was completed! A graphic description was given of the colporteurs, with their dog cart laden with Scriptures, following the Italian army as soon as a breach was made in the walls, and a photograph of the cart and colporteurs, as well as a copy of the New Testament in Italian, was presented to the chairman. On the morning of the day of the meeting Mr. Van Meter received a letter from his interpreter in Rome, stating that a building, formerly used as a "Restaurant," admirably suited for mission premises, had been offered to him for £8 a month. This building is in front of the Vatican; so near is it to the pope's quarters, that when public service is conducted there by the evangelists the pope would be able, if his windows were open, to hear the sound of the preacher's voice. Tempting as was the offer Mr. Van Meter felt that he could not undertake more responsibility, and therefore declined the offer. No sooner, however, had he dropped the letter into the post box, than he began to chide himself for want of faith, and a second letter was sent directing the interpreter to take it. Mr. Van Meter stated that he had come to England to raise £2150, the sum (after careful calculation) he required for the coming year's work. He had received over £1700; but the taking of this building would compel him to raise an additional £100. Appealing to the audience, he said, "Have I done right or wrong?" and there was no mistake in the response. The chairman intimated that the anxiety of Mr. Van Meter might be at once allayed about the additional £100, and the next morning he signed a cheque for the amount. A telegram was sent to Rome early next day to cheer the earnest workers there with the joyous intelligence. The collection and other subscriptions amounted to £126. I was much gratified with his testimony to Mr. Wall's ability and excellence. I told him what had been done at the Association, and he confirmed Mr. Wall's statement about the two Italian evangelists whom Mr. Cook had recommended. All the people were delighted to meet this truly philanthropic American, and the impression made by his visit will not soon be forgotten. J. BAILEY. LECTURES ON INDIA.-Two lectures on India have been delivered by Mr. W. Bailey at Buxton to appreciative audiences. Col Browne, C.B., one of the few surviving officers of the Peninsular campaigns, and who has been in seven engagements, took the chair. Special interest was attached to the chairman, from the fact that he is the brother of the late Mrs. Hemans. Dr. Binney. of London, the Rev. E. W. Bebb, vicar of Kington, Hereford, and formerly chaplain of Cape Town, and the Rev. J. Jenkins, who has been to Egypt and Palestine, the Australian colonies and North and South America, took part in the proceedings. The proceeds will be devoted to a fund which, it is hoped, will be raised to provide books for the famine orphans. FOREIGN LETTERS RECEIVED. Subscriptions and Donations in aid of the General Baptist Missionary Society will be thankfully received by T. HILL, Esq., Baker Street, Nottingham, Treasurer; and by the Rev. J. C. PIKE, the Secretary, Leicester, from whom also Missionary Boxes, Collecting Books, and Cards may be obtained. THE GENERAL BAPTIST MAGAZINE. OCTOBER, 1873. THE SECRET OF A REVIVED LIFE. "THERE is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee," lamentingly uttered by Isaiah concerning God's chosen people, cannot be justly said of the Church of Christ of our day. There are many, probably there never were more, who call upon the Lord, and cease not from day to day to stir up their thought and faith, fervour and love, to take hold of Him with the firmest grasp, resolved, like Jacob, not to let Him go, so long as they are not fully blessed. To them life is intolerable the moment they lose sight of His face, and feel not the joy of His smile. Spring cheerfulness, and summer gladness, give place to wintry desolation immediately the Sun of Righteousness is clouded from their gaze. The conscious realization of God, the sweet enjoyment of His actual friendship, the "walking with Him," looking into His face as into that of a loving Father-companion, is the very essence of their Christian life; its atmosphere, its brightness, its strength, and its success. They make "leisure for prayer," and are oft "detained before the Lord;" held in His presence longer than they are aware by the fascination and delight of communion. Of their seasons of prayer, so life-reviving and joy-giving, they say "Hour of prayer! full well I know it; Never can my soul forego it While there need of prayer shall be." There are saints such as these; and the church knows something of their priceless service. Their work is not fitful, inconstant, or weak, but regular as the sunrise, sure as the seasons, and fruitful as the garden of the Lord. They give, not with clenched grip, and according to what they have left when every earthward craving is satisfied, but according to the powerful impulses of that love which gave all for them and their redemption. Their lives embody the truth as it is in Jesus, and re-enact amongst men the self-sacrificing scenes of His life. They are the princes of our churches who, being "alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord," so mightily prevail in prayer that they repeat Pentecost and verify the Resurrection. That these are not the majority is everywhere confessed and deplored; and because they are not there is this cry for a new baptism of the Holy Ghost, that all the Lord's people may be "princes," the many become as VOL. LXXV.-NEW SERIES, No. 46. the few, the common type of Christian character rise into the more select, and so there come to pass a reviving of spiritual life, a gracious renewal of strength and service throughout all our churches. To many, alas! the vivid and moving conception of God, of His all disciplining love and merciful help is an unusual experience. Doubt has become, in them, a disease, and not a health-bringing stimulus. Creeds have dwindled into fables, and convictions are no longer definite, strong, and inspiring. God is evaded; not cast out: but evaded, and the vision. of the Divine but rarely enjoyed. "The powers of the world to come" work from so remote a centre, and the space between us and that centre is so crowded with the powers of the world of sense and fashion that the infinite and eternal fail to mould their thoughts and affect their lives. Prayer is restrained before God. The notion of law and order shrivels devotion into a dry problematical exercise. Public prayer is only an elegant formality; the prayer meeting is weariness, and private prayer is hasty, hurried, and hard. The confession of sin is in hackneyed and overweighted phrases, and from the lips outward; pleading has no urgency, and praise no thrilling joyfulness. There is not interest enough in God to take hold of Him. He is not seen, is not heard, is not felt to be near; for they are dead unto God through the poison of cherished doubt and persistent self-seeking. For all this there is one cure, and only one. We must stir ourselves to take hold of God. This is the secret of a revived life. Gloriously sublime as is the task, yet the process is beautifully simple; the apparently difficult problem yields its solution at once to the vigorous hand-to-hand grip of faith and prayer. We need no new light. We wait not the advent of any new prophet. This is the way-it always was; and it is so still-" Stir up yourselves to take hold of God." He is life. He is the Renewer of life. It is the Spirit that quickeneth. He makes every Pentecost. All advance in spiritual power and perfect service comes from His inspiriting impulses. There never has been, there never will be, a genuine quickening and permanent progress of the Christian life except by the power of the Spirit of God. We must do anything He bids us to take hold of Him. No effort must be spared; no energy held back in this search. "Stir yourselves." Yes: stir yourselves. Break in upon the monotonous torpor of the soul with a vehement endeavour to get a keener sense of God, a more intense and soul-filling communion with Him. Stir the clogged and smouldering coals into fiercest flame by energetic thought and strained attention. "Follow hard after God;" not with listless indifference, as though the prize was not worth the pains, but with every faculty astretch as in eager pursuit of inestimable good. Rouse yourselves. You can do it. You must do it if you are to have a revived life. Snap in twain the spell of the worldly enchanters at once, and face all risks. Burn the boats that would tempt you to go back to the world and its ways, and let your course be unchecked to the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Mean to be thorough Christians of the highest type, and make for the chosen goal with all your strength, and mind, and heart. As a wearied mother dreads the drowsiness that would close her eyes to the wants of her sickly child, and rouses herself to widest wakefulness; as an ambitious student never ceases to look out for spurs to rouse his sluggish mind and to goad his forces even beyond their power; as some of you "put on strength," and gird your loins with invincible power to accumulate wealth, so stir up yourselves to take hold on God with a firm, unrelenting, full-grown Christian man's The Secret of a Revived Life. 367 grasp a grasp of the whole renewed nature-and a revived life will soon be a blessed and deeply enjoyed reality. True revivalists, from the prophets downwards, have ever been men who stirred themselves up to take hold of God. They felt they needed it. Their waiting was no passive indolence: but an earnest watching for His will and enquiring in His temple. Amongst many temptations to forget Him, to put Him aside, to get out of His way, they stood firm, faithful to their vows, trustful in His promise, and importunate in their prayers. Like Abraham, they have not known when to stop pleading for the salvation of sinners, and have ceased with the utmost unwillingness to enlarge their petitions to the Divine pity. Like Moses, they have asked to be blotted out of God's book of love rather than their prayers for the guilty should go unanswered. Like David, they have panted after God as the hart after the water brooks. No sooner have they felt their hold of Him relaxing than they have stirred themselves to thought about Him and His words and ways, and as they have mused their hearts have burned with fresh devotion, and they have clung with greater tenacity to their Life and All. He has been the one absorbing Reality, seen in all sights, heard in all sounds, felt in all feelings, enjoyed in all delights, and inspiring in all acts. "Apprehended" of God, laid hold of by Him, they have striven to "lay hold" of Him and to "apprehend" that for which they have been apprehend of Christ Jesus. Was it not the same at Pentecost? Let the prayer meetings between the ascension of Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost, with their unity of spirit and of petition, supply the answer. Weak as those "unlearned Galileans" were, they took hold of God and were strong with His strength. Was it not so with the elevated piety, severe simplicity, and impressive power of Paul? Hear him describe his attitude after thirty years' experience of the grace of God. He is still "stirring himself up" that he may "win Christ;" forgetting the past and pressing forward, his whole soul bent on one thing, the full possession of Christ. Was St. Augustine a man of rare sanctity and quickening life? His Confessions pourtray a soul rousing itself to the uttermost to take hold of the Lord. Did Peter Waldo break the chains of Romish error and preach the life-giving gospel? It was because he felt the Lord "nigh at hand;" within hand reach, yea, in his very heart, making all its joy, and in his conscience, giving it true peace. Were Luther and Melancthon, Whitfield and Wesley, the pioneers of revived life? It was because they knew that to pray Well" was study well," to work well, to live well; and, busy as they were, did not count three hours a day lost if they were given to taking hold of God. Indeed revivals always follow real prayer. This is a divine law. The Holy Spirit is given to them that ask When prayer is the cry of the whole man, of his faith and hope, of his love and will, of his conscience and aspiration, it never fails to get its reward: for God is taken hold of, and the grasp is always newness of life. Doubt dies as we see His face. The world is eclipsed when we behold Him in His beauty. Faith in His gospel, and in our work, is revived; love to man, to the weakest and worst, is inflamed; work is made spontaneous and abundant; and with revived faith, revived love, and revived work, we have a revived and an increased church. 66 to But to make this effort at self-rousing it is very necessary we should be quite clear that we are God's children, His accepted ones, and have, therefore, freeness of access into the holiest of all by the blood of Christ. We shall shrink from taking hold of God if we do not know His fatherly love, |