will, the consideration of Him upon whom the Spirit was poured without 

 measure, and to whom we are under obligations far exceeding all our powers 

 of expression : what Christian soul is there who is not thankful that the 

 saint of eagle wing heard in Patmos those promises of unspeakable tender- 

 ness recorded by him for us, soared unto heaven, and heard the Word which 

 was in the beginning, and which assures to us salvation ? Who does not 

 give thanks for the inspiration which made Saul of Tarsus the great apostle 

 to the Gentiles, proclaiming to all ages and to all classes of men the un- 

 searchable riches of Christ ? And time would fail me to add to Barnabas's 

 list of ancient worthies the longer list of those who through nearly nineteen 

 centuries of Christendom have through faith wrought righteousness, and 

 kindled saving and sanctifying faith in generation after generation of ordinary 

 believers. 



The spirit of the Old Testament and of the New requires also in our grati- 

 tude to the Lord, the inspirer of all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, 

 to remember that he gave all those inspirations by which the arts and sciences, 

 the manufactures and commerce of the world, have grown unto their present 

 condition. The space-penetrating power of a great telescope is not so valu- 

 able as the prophetic vision w^hich sees the deep things of God : yet it is 

 of incalculable value ; and we may thank God, that, through his inspiration of 

 those who form and combine its lenses, we all become more intelligent and 

 willing worshippers of his immeasurable majesty and power. The creative 

 genius of the great poets and writers of fiction Milton and Bunyan, Shak- 

 speare and Tennyson is not so valuable as the terrible power with which Paul 

 lays bare the hideous recesses of a sinful heart, or as the sublime force with 

 which John lifts us up into the bosom in which he lay ; and yet thousands of 

 Christian souls thank God also for the "Paradise Regained," and for "The 

 Holy War," for the wonderful historic dramas and tragedies, for the subtly 

 woven threnodies, which have been the vehicles of morality and religion and 

 strength and wisdom to millions of readers. What Christian heart can refuse 

 its tribute of gratitude also to Him who inspired the sweet singers of our 

 Christian Israel, with psalms that vie with those of David, and with strains 

 of music that waft the hearer into the presence of the heavenly choirs ? 

 Who can measure the effect on the world, in softening the rude and savage 

 manners of former ages, of those wondrous religious pictures, especially of 

 the holy mother and her matchless child, which even to-day draw pilgrims 

 from this side of the Atlantic to behold them ? 



But we are sometimes told, and are sometimes for a moment half afraid it 



