mmmrn^ mtmmmmmimmmitmm^mmmmm^mmmmimmmm c Columbia (BnttietsEftp THE LIBRARIES <^ ^^^h^nx^ A SKETCH LIFE, CHARACTER, AND WRITINGS REY. JAMES Y. M'GINNES, OF SHADE GAP, PA, REV. D. L. HUGHES, OF SPRUCE CREEK, PENNSYLVANIA. 'Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." John vi. 12. PIIII ADELPHIA: J 0,S 5-P'H; 'M.I M'l L S N, . ■■ . - 22& ^aS9T?^lJI» STR^I^T. I3 5'»^i v^.'is-'io Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY JOSEPH M. WILSON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennsylvania. C. SHERMAN, PRINTER, 19 St. James Street. CONTENTS. His Parentage and Boyhood, . His College Life, ..... His Seminary Life, .... His Labors in the West, .... His Settlement at Shade Gap, Improvements : — Parsonage, New Church, Academy, MiLNWOOD Academy, .... His Last Sickness and Death, His Character, ..... PAGE 13 20 35 44 56 61 71 82 116 REFLECTIONS. I. The Advantages of a Pious Ancestry, . 154 II. The Importance of Children becoming early FAMILIAR WITH A FORM OF SoUND WORDS, . 156 III. The Preciousness of Revivals of Religion, espe- cially IN Literary Institutions, . . 157 IV. The Ministry ought to be Supported, . 160 V. Short Lives are often Eminently Useful Lives, 167 VI. The Christian Glorifies God in his Death, as well as in his Life, .... 169 Sermon I. Life and Immortality (2 Tim. i. 10), 175 Sermon II. The Two Rocks Contrasted (Deut. xxxii. 31), .... 196 Sermon III. Halting between two Opinions. (1 Kings xviii. 21), . . . .221 Sermon IV. Delays are Dangerous (Ps. xcv. 7), 244 Sermon V. The Signs of the Times, and our Pecu- liar Duties (Esther iv. 14), . . 266 Sermon VI. The Christian Paradox (2 Cor. xii. 10), 295 Address: The Spirit of the Covenanters, . . 319 PREFACE. Books live, when those who WTote them are dead. A good book, like a true Christian, is of inestimable worth. Thej are both sentinels for truth — for God. They are both "epistles," the one "living" the other "written," and each may be read of all men "to the praise of the glory of God's grace." The more, therefore, both are multiplied the better ; they will have not only their day, but their healthful influence. The following unpretending sketch has been pre- pared, because the author, with many others, felt that everything relating to one who was so univer- sally beloved, and so useful in his " day and genera- tion," ought not to be lost to the Church and the world — that although comparatively young and un- known when he died, his noble traits of character, and his labors in behalf both of education and re- ligion, seemed to demand an extended notice. In the attempt, the author has been encouraged at every step by the special providence of God, and by the best wishes of not a few in regard to the enterprise. 1* VI PREFACE. The following expressions alone, from a widowed mother, have contributed much to nerve him for the work, and to sustain him under it amidst his varied professional engagements — " My whole heart thanks you for your kind proposal to rescue from oblivion those (to me) precious relics, from his mind and pen. To the children and myself, if we are spared, such a sketch, as you design preparing, will be invaluable." He humbly hopes that the result will not be in vain. "While he is especially anxious to honor his divine Master in rescuing from oblivion those "precious relics" of a trophy of redeeming grace, and desires that many may thereby be blessed, he also hopes that this humble tribute of affection and esteem for the deceased will prove a source of gratification and profit to his many surviving and mourning friends. He designs it to be a visible memento of an en- deared son, brother, husband, father, and friend. As the deceased was a universal favorite, sharing deeply in the admiration and afi'ection of all who knew^ him, the author has thought that a somewhat minute detail of the events of his life, and especially of his last sickness and death, setting forth the power of religion to sustain in both life and death, would be generally acceptable. The deceased kept no diary. Had he done so, it might have been filled w^ith many stirring incidents ; and containing, as it would have done, an exemplifi- cation of the inward as well as the outward man, it would have been of very great service to his biogra- PREFACE. Vll pher. But for any such incidents of his life and character we must look elsewhere. And his bio- grapher would here gratefully acknowledge his in- debtedness in the preparation of this sketch to the timely suggestions of several of his ministerial brethren, and to the cheerful assistance of the rela- tives and friends of the. deceased, especially to the fertile memory and judicious remarks of his bereaved partner, and to his room-mate and college companion, the Rev. S. C. M'Cune, of Fairfield, Iowa, and formerly his near neighbor in the ministry in Illinois. Although much may be said in his favor, and but little against him, it must not hence be inferred that he had no faults, for these in some form and to some degree ever accompany depraved and prostrated human nature, even in its best estate. But we be- lieve his faults were few, and were better known to himself than to others. Like the devoted Brainerd, the deceased, perhaps, erred in his being excessive in his labors, not propor- tioning his toil to his strength. The remark that was made about the lamented Hewitson, who died at nearly the same early age, will apply to him in all its force — "Here is one of those godly men, whose holy fervor exceeds the endurance of their bodily frames, whom God permits to shorten their lives ap- parently by ardent desire and action, that a half- worldly and lukewarm Church may get a scriptural idea of zeal for God through a living example, an epistle known and read of all men." Vlll P E E F A C E. Some may think that he erred also in cherishing too much of an ambitious spirit, for he always aimed to be among the first. But his was a laudable desire — a holy ambition. The principle by which he was actuated did not degenerate into that low, envious, and selfish ambition which characterizes some, but it was a noble-hearted impulse to action, and a high resolve to do his best for God and man — to make the most of his time, talents, and privileges — and so to answer best the great end of his being. His ambi- tion displaying itself in his untiring industry did not consist in his detracting from the merit of others, or in wishing that they might not do well, but rather in a fixed purpose to discharge faithfully his own duty, and, if possible, therein to excel ; while at the same time he was among the very first in consecrating all his attainments and energies to the honor of his di- vine Master. Like Paul, his language was — " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." But his success was the occasion, sometimes, of exciting the envy of others, which he has been heard to say, was one of his afflictions. Though he was well known to many, yet, it is believed, he was not fully known. Had his physical strength been equal to his mental and moral ability, he would have shone among the foremost in our ministerial ranks ; he would have stood high upon the battlements of our Zion, while he would have cried aloud and spared not. PREFACE. IX The sermons published in this volume are but a few out of many that might have been presented. The great difficulty was, in making a suitable selec- tion out of such a mass of manuscripts very illegibly written. In this selection, the author may have erred, but he hopes enough has been done to give a correct idea of the brother's style of thought and expression, as also to secure profit to the reader ; though it must be expected that much of the interest that attached to these sermons will be lost, bee ause of the absence of their author's earnest and affec- tionate manner of delivery. It is also proper to re- mark that they never received that revision, and consequently not that finish and polish, which they would have received from his own hand, had he pre- pared them for publication. Similar remarks might be made in reference to his able and eloquent address, delivered before the Philo and Franklin Literary Societies of Jefi"erson College, immediately preceding his death, and which may be found at the close of this volume. The author will only add, that the publication of the following work has been delayed longer than he at first intended, and that he is conscious of many imperfections in the execution of it ; but he ofi'ers as an apology for these, the fact that it has been pre- pared amidst the constant interruptions, cares, and toils inseparable from the life of a pastor in a widely extended rural charge. He leaves the volume, how- ever, as it is, in the hands of Him who giveth or X PREFACE. withlioldeth his blessing as seemeth Him good ; while he requests the candid and pious reader to overlook all imperfections, and to unite with him in the peti- tion that the volume may, by the Divine blessing, be useful in the edification and consolation of those who read it. If this petition be granted, his largest ex- pectations will be realized. D. L. H. Stovee's Place, Pa., April 1, 1854. LIFE OF THE REV. J. Y. IPGIMES, HIS PAKENTAGE AND BOYHOOD. The Rev. James Y. M'Ginnes, who died at Shade Gap, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, on Sabbath morning, August 31st, 1851, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, and the eleventh of his ministry, was born at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, December 8th, 1815. He belonged to a pious household. He was born within the pale of that covenant which is "ordered in all things and sure," whose promise is *'I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee." His father, George M'Ginnes, emigrated to this country from Ireland with his parents — who were Presbyterians — in 1787 ; and soon after settled in Sherman's Valley, now Perry County, Pennsylvania, where he united with the Presbyterian Church of Sherman's Creek, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Brady. In February, 1806, he was ordained a ruling elder in that congregation, and he has served the church in that capacity with fidelity and accept- 14 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. ance ever since — a period of 47 years, he being now 77 years of age. "^^ In 1814 he removed to Shippens- burg. His former wife, ere this, having died and left one daughter, he was now married again to Mrs. Catharine Reynolds, a widow lady and a native of Maryland, who also had one daughter from her former marriage. Both of these daughters are still living, are married, and have families. They were very dear to Brother M'Ginnes, and he often spoke of them, as having encouraged and cherished in him that fondness^ for books, which he manifested at so early an age. James was the oldest of five children — three sons and two daughters — all of whom are now dead except one daughter, the wife of the Rev. Alexander G. Hill- man, of Saugerties, Ulster County, N. Y. He was early dedicated to God, by his believing parents, in baptism, and they were faithful to their covenant vows in instilling into his youthful mind the principles of our holy religion as taught in the Bible, and as ably set forth in the standards of the Presbyterian Church. They were equally careful, by holy ex- ample, fervent prayer, and wholesome discipline, to guard his morals, as they were anxious, by timely in- • struction, to advance his intellectual culture. ^ George INl'Ginnes, Esq., died August Gtli, 1853, at Shippens- burg, in the 78tli year of his age. An interesting obituary notice of this estimable man may be found in the Presbyterian of Au- gust 20th, 1853, or in the Presbyterian Banner of August 27th, 1858. HIS BOYHOOD. 15 His constitution was naturally feeble, and he was a delicate child until he was seven years old. After that he became more robust. He is said to have been a wild and mischievous youth ; like Bunyan, he was exceedingly fond of sport in his very childhood, and this trait of character, though much chastened, did not leave him in after years : but, in connexion with this, he is also described as a boy of uncommon sprightliness and promise, and as one who always made rapid progress in his studies. Accordingly, we find even his earliest years marked wdth success. When he was but four years old he could read almost any book that came in his way. He was, too, immoderately fond of reading ; his hat was seldom found without a book of some kind in it. He had also an astonishing memory. At an exami- nation to which he was taken, held by the Kev. Dr. Moody, pastor of the Middle Spring Church, he re- cited when only between four and five years of age, the whole of the Shorter Catechism, and a great part of Willison's Mother's Catechism ; and for recitations at the Sabbath School he early committed to memory large portions of the New Testament which he never forgot. Often has he been heard, during the course of his ministry, relating to children his own experience as an incentive to their studying the Scriptures in childhood, telling them they would never regret the efi'ort made nor forget the truth acquired. He was sent to school when very young, and was kept there constantly. This, perhaps, was one cause 16 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. of his delicate state of health. He said himself, he was satisfied that his brain had been too heavily taxed, and his constitution enfeebled by such close confine- ment in childhood. And he has frequently been heard to say, when speaking of his own children, that he greatly disapproved of sending them too con- stantly to school, or confining them to their studies closely, until they were eight years of age. When in his seventh year, a small sum of money having been presented him, his mother suggested something that he might get with it. He replied, " papa provides food for the body, I want to get food for the mind." Accordingly, " Sanford and Merton," was added to his store of juvenile books. Thus was the old proverb again verified, "the child is father of the man," for here the man was seen in the boy. This fondness for reading, this strong thirst for knowledge, was nothing but the soul, with which God had endowed him, bursting forth — a longing for some- thing higher and nobler. It was ever with him a power- ful mainspring to eff"ort. It led to a development of his native genius, and to his varied attainments of high scholarship, refined taste, and fervid eloquence. He had, from a child, a desire to be a minister of the gospel. He would, sometimes, mount a store-box in the back yard and preach to his younger brother and sister ; and as ministers were often entertained at his father's, he was a close observer of their con- duct. At one time, — as the custom then was for mi- nisters to " use a little wine," and sometimes stronger drinks, for their "often infirmities," — when he saw a n I S B Y 11 D. 17 minister, who was there, drinking brandy very freely, he thought to himself, he has said, — " Oh, well, I will be a preacher some day, and then I can get brandy to drink too." His sister, Mrs. A. Hillman, tells us, that when he was about eight years of age, he said to her one day, as they w^ere in the store together, that he intended to ^YYlte a book of hymns during his leisure moments in the store, and that she must not tell any one of it until he had finished it. He accordingly commenced the work, and wrote some twelve or fourteen hymns, and as he finished each one he read it to his sister and then concealed it in his hiding-place under the window. She does not pretend to say how good the hymns were, but at the time she thought them as good as any she had ever read, and in the simplicity of her childish heart felt proud to think that she had a brother who could make books. However, other things took his attention, and book-making was aban- doned ; but it showed that spirit of enterprise which so much characterized him in after years. Of the '' hiding-place," Mrs. M'Ginnes says, she has very often heard him speak, as it proved a great conve- nience to him, often, in concealing books which he knew his father would not suifer him to read. He perused many large volumes in his father's library before his father thought him capable of un- derstanding them. The immortal "Pilgrim's Pro- gress," he read so often that he had very nearly memorized it. In after years, he often lamented that 18 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNES. he had not followed -his father's judicious advice in regard to works of fiction, rather than to have spent so much time in his youth in the perusal of novels, that were both ephemeral and enervating. When about thirteen years of age he commenced the study of the languages in his native town ; but after he had been thus engaged for some time he be- came very tired of his task, and then might be seen: "The whining schoolboy, with his satchel, And shining morning face, creeping like snail, Unwillingly to school." This reluctance to prescribed recitations deepened, until one evening he brought home all his books, and told his father he should like to rest awhile from severe study. " Well," said his father, who was a man of quick discernment and great decision of character, ^' you can exercise yourself in the clearing, picking brush." He tried it for a few days, but soon con- cluded it was more pleasant, if not easier, to study than to be thus engaged, and so returned to school. This is not the only instance of the kind upon record. We are informed that many years since, when the late Lieutenant-Governor Phillips, of Andover, Massa- chusetts, was a student of Harvard College, owing to some boyish freak, he left the University, and went home. His father was a very grave man, of sound mind, and few words. He inquired into the business but deferred expressing any opinion until the next day. At breakfast he said, speaking to his wife, HIS BOYHOOD. 19 " My dear, have you any cloth in the house suitable to make Sam a frock and trousers ?" She replied, *'Yes." "Well," said the old gentleman, "follow me, my son." Samuel kept pace with his father, and as he leisurely walked near the common, he at length ventured to ask, " What are you going to do with me, father ?" "I am going to bind you an apprentice to that blacksmith," replied Mr. Phillips. " Take your choice; return to college, or you must work." "I had rather return," said the son. He did return, confessed his fault, was a good scholar, and became an excellent and useful citizen. If all parents were like Messrs. M'Ginnes and Phillips, the stu- dents at our academies and colleges would "prove better scholars, or the nation would have a more plentiful supply of farmers and blacksmiths. The reason why our brother became weary in his studies, was not because he had no talent for the study of languages ; for he possessed, as we are after- wards told, a surprising facility in the acquisition of these, and mastered no less than seven different tongues besides his native one, the Spanish, French, German, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Of these he spoke the French fluently, and gave instruc- tion in most of the others. Nor could it have been for want of energy of character, that he was led at the very foot of the ladder to despair, as too many do, of ever reaching the top with emotions of plea- sure ; energy was a distinguishing trait in his whole life, from his youth up. But the true reason of such 20 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. weariness, no doubt, was either because his feeble body and excited brain were overtaxed by the close confinement, and the severe application of the school- room, and he longed to be at liberty for a little sea- son, that he might breathe, free of restraint, the pure and invigorating breezes of heaven ; or, which is perhaps the better reason, because he was, as he often said himself, '' fonder of play than of study, when he was under the care of the Latin master of his native village." Being eminently social too in his disposition, and gifted naturally with a fruitful fancy, a retentive memory, and an unusual activity of both body and mind, he was always ready to entertain his compa- nions, and to take the lead in all kinds of play, as well as in study. Having made very commendable progress in the various branches taught in the Academy, with the approbation of his teacher, the best wishes of all his companions, and the consent of his beloved parents, he prepared to remove to a higher seat of scholastic training. HIS COLLEOE LIFE. In the fall of 1832, when about seventeen years of age, Mr. M'Ginnes went to Jefferson College, and entered the Sophomore class. One of his classmates, the Rev. S. C. M'Cune, who entered college at the same time with him, and who afterwards became his room-mate, and was for years his most intimate friend, HIS COLLEGE LIFE. 21 writes of his social and intellectual characteristics thus : " During the greater part of his collegiate career, he exhibited but few traits that would dis- tinguish him from that class of youths, that occupied an honorable and respectable position in their diffe- rent classes and college societies. Perhaps, if he differed from them in any respect it was in the re- markable sprightliness of his temperament, the emi- nently social qualities of his mind, and his astonish- ing powers of memory. As a natural consequence of such peculiar dispositions, he was fond of amuse- ment and sport. And as he often said, he was fonder of play than of study when under the care of the Latin master of his native village, so he was not as distinguished for burning the midnight lamp, or por- ing over the musty folio, as the character of his re- citations and literary performances would seem to indicate. ^' He possessed a surprising facility in the acquisi- tion of language, and from the exuberance and spright- liness of his fancy there were but few among the hun- dreds of his college associates who surpassed him in the richness, beauty, and strength of his literary pro- ductions. Though among the first in the ' foot-ball field,' and at the * alley,' and in the social club, he was nevertheless among the first in his class, and in the esteem and honor of his society." But his social and intellectual position is not the chief thing to be regarded. His moral and religious character needs especially to be pondered, whether it oq LIFE OF REV. J. y. M GINNES. were ripening him, amidst all his external privileges, only for " the bottomless pit," or were preparing him " as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," to shine for ever among the ransomed of the Lord, amidst tli^ splendors of the Eternal Throne. Happy are we to be able to state that " Christian, the highest style of man," adorned his character — that his college life proved to be not only one of the most interesting, but also one of the most glorious periods of his life. He went to college, in the good providence of God, not to be ruined, as too many are, but to be saved. It was there that he be- came experimentally acquainted with the doctrine of the new birth, and that he first tasted of the pre- ciousness of a Saviour's love, and of the "joy in the Holy Ghost." Though absent from the wholesome restraints of home, a father's pious counsels were engraven upon his heart ; and he was still a child of faith, and prayer, and tears. Under such an influence, known or un- known, he was among the most likely ones who would share in any special mercies from a covenant-keeping God. Accordingly, during an extensive revival of reli- gion at college, in the winter of 1834-5, he became one of the subjects of God's renewing and sanctifying grace. Notwithstanding all his youthful levity, his carnal blindness, his indiiference, and even opposition to divine things, he was " effectually called," accord- ing to the good pleasure of God, and in the appointed HIS COLLEGE LIFE. 23 time, by the Spirit of grace accompanying the faithful dispensation of the truth, out of nature's darkness into the marvellous light of the gospel, and fitted to be a polished shaft in his Master's quiver. An eye-witness has written of this period, in sub- stance, as follows : " Christians had grown cold ; ambition drove forward the students with an iron rod ; the spirit of rivalry between the literary socie- ties connected with the college ran high ; and wick- edness and insubordination prevailed to an alarming extent. It appeared as though Satan himself had been let loose to rule at will the impenitent. In the midst of this darkness, the Rev. Dr. Brown, President of the College, alluded to it as a ground of encourage- ment to Christians, and, consequently, as a loud call for earnest, importunate prayer. About this time, when things apparently could get no worse, and when Christians had been driven to God in prayer, the hour of deliverance came. The Rev. Mr. Deruelle, agent for the American Tract Society, a plain, practical preacher, came to Canonsburg. A pro- tracted meeting was held ; days of fasting and prayer were appointed. The members of the Church were urged to humble themselves, and to pour out their hearts before God, assured that he would bless them just in proportion as they were prepared to receive his blessing. The works of Baxter, Allein, and Flavel, now were circulated freely, and the pious dead began to speak for God. Religious interest was awakened. It was evident that there was a shaking among the 24 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. dry bones, — that God was in the midst of his people. Several became deeply concerned about their spiritual state. Their numbers daily increased ; some of the most consistent and conscientious members of the Church for a short time gave up their hope ; and, ere long, a multitude from the ranks of the ungodly were found crowding the inquiry-meeting, desiring an interest in the prayers of God's people, and anxiously asking, in the language of the jailer, ' What must I do to be saved V The stores in town were closed ; boarding-houses became solemn as churches,"and the presence of God seemed to pervade every mind. Among the openly wicked, various courses were taken at this time. Some left college, some scoffed, some stood and looked on with amazement, and some yielded to the strivings of the Spirit. Among those that mocked, and yet, under the powerful strivings of the Spirit, yielded their whole hearts to God with ingenuous confession and earnest supplication, was our lamented brother." The following graphic sketch of this part of his history, from the pen of his endeared room-mate and bosom companion, will be read with interest : "With regard to his religious dispositions during the earlier part of his college course," he writes, "but little can with certainty be known, and that more negative in its character than positive. It is reasonable to infer, from the influences and restraints that gathered their blessings around his childhood and early youth, and from the solicitude known to have been cherished niS COLLEGE LIFE. 25 for him as a child of the covenant by his excellent father, that he had seasons of deep solemnity and pungent conviction. But it was not until the winter of '34-5, that his impressions and convictions assumed a visible and permanent form. The state of religion in the College church, under the care of the Rev. Dr. Brown, had been extremely low for years, and from the number of expulsions and suspensions in the College, we must infer that the state of morals among the students Avas in a deplorable condition. Drinking and card-playing parties were not unfre- quent, and sorry we are to record, that to those parties Mr. M'Ginnes and his bosom friend and room-mate were not entirely strangers. The regular communion season in the College church approached. The Saturday evening previous came, and while the man of God was delivering his message, and souls w^ere trembling before the awful thunderings of Sinai, there was a select party gathered in an upper cham- ber, not far distant, in which wine and revelry were the distinguishing characteristics. The Sabbath came. It was a sweet and awful day. Proud spirits, that had never quailed before, were riven by the Spirit of the Highest, and at their wit's-end were crying, ' Men and brethren, what shall we do ?' The meetings continued. Religious interest deepened. The inquiry-room became crowded. God had come down among the rebels of Jefferson College, and was proving himself mighty to bend the rebellious will, 26 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. and lead captivity captive. ^ The people were filled with wonder and amazement at the things that were done.' " Tuesday afternoon came, and found two thought- less youths, who had been hitherto unreached, sitting together in their room, and, half-serious and half in jest, recounting the singular events that were trans- piring around them. In a jocular manner, one of them said to the other, ' M., your old man gave you a Bible, and so did mine; there they lie with the dust and cobwebs of three months on them : let's get them down and read till night, and go to meeting ?' 'Agreed !' was M.'s immediate and hearty response. The dust was wiped from the neglected Bibles, and for two hours did those thoughtless boys, in silence, peruse the sacred page, more, perhaps, out of respect for the long-forgotten injunctions of their fathers, than for the Word itself; yet, as they afterwards believed, in consequence of the silent interweaving of the Holy Spirit's influences, with the almost unfelt convictions and remonstrances of their conscience. '' They entered together the house of God; thence one at least was drawn, he scarcely knew how, to the inquiry-room, thence to his now lonely chamber, where, for two days and nights, he wrestled for mercy, and, with his first waking thoughts on the morning of the third day, experienced a peace he never knew before — a joy that was unspeakable and full of glory. But where was M. ? He had not dark- ened the door, nor broken the awful silence of that niS COLLEGE LIFE. " 27 chamber from the moment he had laid his Bible down, and started for the house of prayer. " On the morning alluded to, while his friend lay contemplating the beauty and love of his glorious Redeemer, the door was opened, and M. appeared. He started. * My. dear M.,' said his friend, 'what have I done, that you have so long deserted the room, and left me alone V ^ I was afraid to come here,' was his significant reply. ' I was glad you stayed away,' said his friend. ^ Why ?' was his quick inquiry. ' Because,' replied his friend, ' I feared you would jeer and joke me out of my convic- tions and fears, — but now, oh ! M., I have hope — I have joy !' In an instant he sprang upon the bed, shouting, ' Bless the Lord, oh my soul ! I have hope, I have joy, too !' They were clasped in each other's arms, in an intensity of brotherly love they had never known before. After the overwhelming emotions of the moment had subsided, M. recounted to his friend the steps by which he had been brought to the feet of Jesus, and clothed in his right mind. " On the evening when they entered the house of God together, he had heard the searching, spirit- stirring message of Christ's ambassador, and the Spirit of God had given it demonstration and power in his conscience, and he had gone out, not knowing whither he went, yet determined not to surrender. In this his purpose was fixed, and in order to arm his resolutions, and, if possible, dissolve the strange spell that had come over him, he retired to a beer- 28 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. shop, and having drank a glass or two, he went across the street toward his room. He reached the gate, put his hand upon the latch, but could do no more. Several attempts were made to open and enter, but thej were ineffectual. Having been in this position, as he thought, about a quarter of an hour, he felt himself impelled towards that same inquiry-room from which he had so recently hurried with repugnance and determination. " Shrinking and fearful, he entered that still and awful chamber. Behind the door he took his seat, while his friend was in front. They did not see each other, and when they left the inquiry-meeting, the one went to his room to weep and wrestle alone, and the other v*'ent with a student, whom before he had literally hated, where he enjoyed his prayers and counsels, as well as his hospitalities, until on the morning of the third day, Avhen hope dawned, and joy poured her consolations upon his soul. Ignorant of the sore conflicts his friend had experienced, and supposing him to be still in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, he had come to beseech him to be reconciled to God. He found him hoping — rejoicing in possession of that good part which he trusts shall jiever be taken away. "Mr. M'Ginnes and his friend, whose religious his- tory commenced under auspices like these, derived very essential encouragement and comfort from the sympathy and counsel of a godly young Welshman, the Rev. Griffith Owen, who attended daily at their HIS COLLEGE LIFE. 29 room for weeks, for conversation and prayer. These occasions are to be remembered "with gratitude to God as seasons of refreshing and solid satisfaction. Evening and morning, the two young brothers in Christ offered the incense of grateful prayer upon the altar of God, as long as they continued the occu- pants of the same bed and the same chamber." So soon as Mr. McGinnes had obtained " peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," he signi- fied the same to his father in a letter, giving a brief description of his exercises and hopes, and asking his parent to join with him in thanksgivings, and to remember him in his prayers. His father replied immediately, acknowledging the event to be the gift of God in answer to his prayers for his child, ex- pressing his matured conviction of the faithfulness of God as a covenant God, and appropriating to himself the language of Simeon, '' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." The following letter, just referred to, from Mr. M'Ginnes's own hand, will be read, no doubt, with additional interest upon this most eventful part of his history : — Canonsburg, Saturday morning, Dec. 27th, 183^. Dear Parents : — I sit down to write to you, but where shall I begin, and what shall I tell you first ? Shall I tell you that I am well ? Yes, more ; I shall 30 LIFE or REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. tell you the news — the delightful ne^ys — that I enter- tain a blessed hope that I have an interest in Jesus. Yes, dear, dear parents, I have come weak, wretched, guilty as I am, and cast myself at the foot of his cross. Oh ! how precious is he to my soul ! Oh ! you know not the wickedness — the depravity of my heart. You know not how I have been deceiving you and deceiving myself. I have been standing careless and unconcerned on slippery rocks, whilst fiery billows have been rolling below me. Blessed be God ! that your prayers, and the prayers of my dear friends here have been answered, and that I have been brought to see my wretched, lost condi- tion, and to cry mightily unto the Father of spirits, that he would give me faith through his dear Son. Oh ! I have been spending that money, time, and talents which a gracious God has given me, in the service of the devil. I have been ruining myself, and deceiving you. Will you — can you forgive me ? But it is time that I should tell you how this blessed work was brought about. Last Thursday a week was a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, appointed by the Synod of Pittsburg on account of the low state of religion in the churches within their bounds, and that God would pour out his spirit and revive his work in them. The day was observed here with solemnity, and on last Sabbath the Lord's Supper was administered in the College chapel. A protracted meeting was held, and Dr. Brown was assisted by a minister from New York, the Rev. Mr. niS COLLEGE LIFE. 31 Deruelle, a dear man indeed. There was a solemnity pervading the hearts of all God's people. On Tues- day night, all those who wished to be conversed with were requested to go to the " Senior Hall" after the congregation was dismissed. Mr. Deruelle had preached a very pointed discourse from the text : " Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God ; he hath said in his heart, thou wilt not require it?" I felt somewhat impressed during the service with the wretchedness of my condition as a sinner, but tried to banish the impression from my mind. And for this purpose I started down to a beer-shop, to laugh it away with some of my ungodly companions, and I scoffed — yes, scoffed at God and his religion. Oh, what unmerited mercy that I have been spared ! Still I could not banish my convictions. The Spirit of God was striving with me, and I knew it. I left the beer-shop, and went up towards the College. I felt a something — a load — of which I would like to be relieved. I heard just then singing in the " Senior Hall." I wished I was there. I went into the Col- lege, and listened. I started to go up stairs towards the hall, and some person whom I did not then know, as it was dark, started up with me. When I got on the first landing-place I stopped. I asked this person, whom I then found to be a Mr. Penser, a pious young man, if he was going iii. He said he would like to, but Dr. Brown had said that only sinners who had the will to come should go up. He said he thought it would be interesting. I expressed a desire to go in, 32 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. but was ashamed to go in by myself. He said he would accompany me then. We went in, and when I got in I saw some of my companions deeply dis- tressed. I knew not what to do. I sat down weep- ing, and prayed that God would break my stubborn heart. Dr. Brown came and talked to me. I wept bitterly, and told him how I felt. He tried to point me to Jesus, but my depraved heart would not relent. After we were dismissed, I went to Dr. Brown and to Mr. Deruelle, and asked them to pray for me. After they had prayed, I went down with Mr. Deruelle to a room occupied by two pious young men. I wrestled there with God that he would break my heart. I went home about twelve o'clock, and went to bed, but still was unwilling to come to the cross of my insulted Saviour. On Christmas eve, in prayer-meeting, I first enter- tained a faint hope of his preciousness ; yet it was not until last night after I had retired that I felt his presence so delightfully sweet. It appeared some- times as if I was in his immediate presence. I could only lie and adore that unmerited mercy and grace which saved me from the dark abyss. I am weak and helpless, but the grace of God is sufficient for me. He is my Redeemer, my Elder Brother, my Friend. to live near him, to be his through life, to go wherever he commands, to do whatever he wills, and when I have passed the gloomy vale leaning on his arm I may rise to join you and all his dear followers, in ascribing praise to him throughout an endless HIS COLLEGE LIFE. 33 eternity. pray, dear parents, that he would strengthen me, and that I may never bring dishonor upon him or his cause. The influence of God's Spirit is extending over this village. I never saw such solemn assemblies. The arrows of God are piercing many a hard heart, and compelling them to cry for mercy. The revival here will shake the kingdom of darkness to its centre. Its influence will be felt over the world. But I must close this delightful theme. Give my love to all my Christian friends, and warn my impenitent companions to flee from the wrath to come. And tell dear sister Anna to come to Christ. He is a precious Saviour. Tell her for my sake, for her soul's sake, for the sake of a crucified Jesus, to come now. "Now is the ac- cepted time, now is the day of salvation." Farewell, and if we never meet again on earth may Ave meet around the throne of the Lamb, where we shall never, never part. From your undutiful, but now, I trust, repentant son, James M'Ginnes.* Such was the time of our beloved brother's es- pousals to Christ. * Mr. M'Ginnes had no double name, and it was not until after lie had graduated and removed to Steubenville, Ohio, that he assumed one. He there found another person of the same name, and in order to distinguish them, he chose the letter " Y," and ever after used it as one of the initials of his name. 34 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. In connexion with some thirty-five or forty others, mostly students, and some of them now ministers of the gospel, Mr. M'Ginnes united with the College church in Canonsburg some time in March, 1835, and continued consistent in his profession and faithful in the discharge of his Christian duties until, with his class, he graduated in the autumn of '35, and left the classic halls of Jefferson to enter, though not immediately, on the study of his profession — the blessed but self-denying work of the gospel ministry. As to the character of his religious experience, at this period, his room-mate writes : " His mind, at this time, was by no means constant in its apprehen- sion of divine things. His feelings were fluctuating. Sometimes he was clear in the visions of his faith, and almost ecstatic in his joys. At other times he was in the valley of humiliation, mourning without the light of the sun ; yet, always, with a trembling though tenacious faith would he say, ' I know whom I have believed,' and ^ though he slay me yet will I trust in him.' " His natural temperament being impulsive and sprightly, he was apt, at times, to be betrayed into those extremes of which his nature seemed to be so susceptible. Few persons were possessed of manners so affable, of qualities so social, and hence his society was courted, both before and after his conversion, by a variety of persons ; and not unfrequently did his kindly and social spirit carry him along uncon- sciously into humorous and extravagant indulgences, HIS SEMINARY LIFE. 35 that in his retirement would occasion him seasons of extreme humiliation and regret. If he sometimes had clear and rapturous discoveries of the glory of his Immanuel, and of the companionships of his upper kingdom, he often had "dark views of himself, and formed low estimates of the character of his piety and the service he rendered to his Saviour. Yet his hope was abiding ; and, doubtless, from the height of glory whither he has ascended, he can contem- plate, with an ecstasy of thanksgiving and satisfac- tion, the achievements of that grace that led him captive to the feet of Jesus, and taught and disci- plined his immortal spirit, and guided his footsteps in the path of usefulness and virtue, until he was ripe for the rewards of immortality." HIS SEMINARY LIFE. After graduating, which he did in the fall of 1835 with great acceptance to his preceptors, and with honor to himself — having been appointed to deliver, if we mistake not, the valedictory oration — he retired immediately, at the recommendation of Dr. Brown, to Steubenville, Ohio, where he under- took the department of languages in a classical academy ; but before the year for which he had en- gaged had expired his health so entirely failed, in consequence of confinement and arduous labors, that he was constrained to relinquish the undertaking. This occurred in the spring of 1836. 36 L I F E F R K V. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. During the summer followiRg, he was part of the time under the care of his physician in his native village, and part of the time laboring as his strength admitted on his father's farm. His health having thus become much improved, he said one day to his parents that he would now study a profession. His father inquired what profession? He replied, "Fa- ther, I will study divinity." The choice was alto- gether voluntary, but it was just what his pious parents desired. In the winter of 1836 and '37 having learned that his old college friend was in the Indiana Theological Seminary, he wrote to him, and receiving encourage- ment. He entered on the study of Theology in that institution in May or June of 1837. The same traits of character that marked his college career Vere exhibited during his theological course, but under the growing power and congenial themes of true religion, so that he regarded his residence at the Seminary as the most happy period of his pre- vious life. To a dear friend he now writes, " there is a happiness in living to bless and benefit others that I had thous'ht never could have been realized in this vale of tears. Let us so live that when death shall have closed our eyes, our memories may live not merely engraven on tablets of Parian marble, but written in characters of light and life upon the tablet of every heart — a monumental pillar that outlives the corrosion of time ; then shall our lives HIS SEMINARY LIFE. 37 flow sweetly on, and our end shall be joyous and tranquil." His vacations he always spent at home, laboring upon his father's farm. He assisted both in gather- ing in a harvest, and putting in the fall crop each year before returning to the Seminary. He thought that by spending his vacations thus, his constitution was strengthened, and his practical knowledge of farming increased, as well as considerable expense in hiring laborers saved his father, who was using every exertion, with limited means, to complete his education. Upon his return to South Hanover in November, 1838, he reached Pittsburg late on Saturday night, cold and exhausted. The next morning he arose with renewed vigor, and purposing to remain during the day in the city, he says, " I sallied out after breakfast to witness the celebration of mass in the Catholic cathedral — a ceremony I had never before witnessed. The exterior of the building is grand and gloomy, of Gothic architecture — a style of building peculiar to Catholic countries during the supremacy of the Pope. But the interior was of a different order. As I entered the vestibule, a Ca- tholic came running towards me with a small collec- tion-box, but I passed without pretending to notice him, and was ushered into the cathedral itself. " Never before did I witness such a spectacle. The scene was grand and imposing almost beyond belief; for up the long crowded aisles, and the richly car- 38 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. peted and festooned galleries might be seen the devoted followers of the ' Man of Sin' engaged in the peculiar exercises of the morning. Now the solemn, deep-toned organ pours forth its thrilling strains, and, as one man, the mighty assembled multi- tude bow their heads in silent adoration. Anon its rich music dies in sweet harmonious cadence upon the ear, and the low, sepulchral murmurings of prayer, like the far-off muttering of the thunder, arises from a thousand lips. Here the wretched penitent hoping to merit heaven by his mortifications, with measured stroke beats his breast until the sound reverberates. There the good Catholic, worthy of a saintship in the calendar, drops from her rosary the glassy bead at each repetition of an 'Ave Maria,' or a 'Pater Noster.' In the farthest recess of the cathedral, before the burnished crucifix, and the long, lighted, waxen tapers, stood the self-styled priest of God, as if in mockery of true religion, repeating his mum- meries, and performing ceremonies the most ludicrous. "Leaning against a pillar, I mused upon the scene before me. Various and multiplied were the reflec- tions that passed through my mind. Memory carried me far back over the long track of history, and I thought of the fires Catholic persecution had lit up — and of the thousand martyrs who had sealed their testimony to the religion of the blessed Jesus with their blood. Here were the descendants of those fiendish spirits who had deluged Europe with Chris- tian gore — of those who had driven my Protestant II IS SEMINARY LIFE. 39 ancestors from their home in sunny France, to seek, as refugees, in a foreign land, that protection which their own country had denied them. And did these possess the same ignorant, infuriated zeal in the unholy cause — the same burning, implacable hatred against us their descendants, and were they only re- strained by the arm of the law ? The secret of their heart is known but to Omniscience. God forbid that such rancorous hate should ever again characterize one, who bears the same stamp of humanity and im- mortality with ourselves. " Natural was the transition from reflections such as these, to look into the dim shadowings of futurity. What were its prospects ? Were the bloody scenes of the dark ages again to be re-enacted with twofold virulence upon a different stage ? And was the world again to wonder after the beast and false prophet, and the gibbet and the stake again to exhibit heart- rending spectacles to the gaze of the taunting, perse- cuting multitude ? Or, was a brighter era commencing, when the beast and the lying prophet should receive their reward, when the Jew shall be brought in with the fulness of the Gentile, and Avhen, with these same poor, blinded Catholics, I should unite in praising our common Redeemer ? * How long, dear Saviour, how long, Shall that bright hour delay ?' " The following covenant, expressive of his inner life while connected with his Saviour, is found among 40 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. his birth-day reflections of December 8th, 1838, which was solemnly renewed the succeeding year. " This day is the anniversary of my birth. Twenty- three years have rolled around, and been numbered with the past, since my eyes first saw the light. When I look back on the journey of life, how much cause have I for gratitude ? The guardian eye of Providence has watched over me amidst the feeble- ness of infancy ; directed and upheld the tottering footsteps of childhood ; mercifully preserved me amidst the waywardness of youth ; and has led me up to manhood. Oh, how rebellious have I been ! How justly might God have cut me down as a cumberer of his ground, when by my flagrant impiety I dared high heaven to the stroke ! But no ; in long- suff'ering mercy he has borne with me, and instead of withering beneath his wrath he has called me, I trust, into the kingdom of his dear Son. Oh, the depths of the riches of the mercy and grace of God ! that I should be made a subject of his grace — that I, who crucified the blessed Redeemer afresh and sinned against light and knowledge, should be par- doned, should be adopted into the family of God, and made a partaker of the privileges enjoyed by his children. " Yet how little have I been influenced by these considerations ! How neglectful I have been of duty ! How unworthily have I walked in that high vocation, wherewith I have been called ! how often have I turned away from the reward of righteousness, HIS SEMINARY LIFE. 41 kindly offered through a Saviour's Cross, to the grovelling sensualities of earth — to the unsatisfying enjoyments of a guilty, transient world, as if they could fill an immortal mind, or satisfy its longing desires ! And yet I am here — here in the land of the living and place of repentance — here, permitted to enjoy a name and place in his Church — here, with his blessed word in my hand, and his promises my trust — here, permitted not only to labor in his vine- yard, but to look forward to a time, I trust not far distant, when, though the unworthiest of the un- worthy, I shall occupy a more exalted station in the Church of God, and become to my dying fellow-men a minister of reconciliation. •' Delio^htful thouorht ! that a worm should be so ex- alted; that He who is the Creator of the ends of the earth, should not only look with complacency upon the humble creature of his power, but should, with won- drous condescension, commission him as an ambassa- dor from the high court of heaven, to proclaim peace and pardon to revolted rebels. Amazing grace ! " Lord, on the verge of this to me solemn and in- teresting day, let me consecrate myself anew to thee ; that, if it is thy will that I shall be permitted to see another anniversary return, I may have more love to the Saviour burning within my heart, — with more of that humility which should become a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus, — with a growing hatred to sin, and an increasing desire after holiness, and conformity to the will of God, — and with an ardent 4* 42 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. zeal for the advancement of the Redeemer's king- dom. " If it is his VfiW to spare me, may it ever be my earnest prayer, that the Lord would lift upon me the light of his approving countenance, — that as the past part of my life has sufiSced to have wrought the will of the flesh, I may henceforth serve him in newness of life, devoting myself entirely to his service, and that he would fit me, by his providence and grace, for usefulness, and for discharging, with an eye single to his honor and glory, the arduous and important duties of a gospel minister, ever remembering that * they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteous- ness, as the stars for ever and ever.' " The closing sentences of his next birthday reflec- tions run thus : " Let the remembrance that so much of my time has gone to waste, that I am a year nearer the bar of God and the realities of eternity, add an increasing stimulus to urge me forward to a more active, zealous discharge of duty. May I not lose a precious moment, but may my time, my talents, my acquisitions, whatever I am or may have, be solemnly and conscientiously devoted to God, And may I be instrumental in his hand of doing some good." In consequence at one time of ill health, and at another, of being called away to take care of au afilicted friend, who had the misfortune to lose his reason, his studies at the Seminary were very mate- HIS SEMINARY LIFE. 43 riallj interrupted. At length, hoTvever, after having spent about three years in the seminary, he com- pleted his course, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Madison at a special meeting in South Hanover, on the 27th day of June, 1840. His feelings in reference to the sacred office are thus expressed in a letter to a friend : " The respon- sibilities of that station in the Church of God, to which we are looking forward, are great and many. Let us then, in patience, possess our souls, and let it be our highest, holiest aspiration to be assimilated to Christ." Again he says : " Oh, what a glorious pri- vilege to preach the gospel — to hold up a dying Sa- viour to the world !" Just before leaving the Semi- nary, and in view of his licensure, we have his sense of dependence upon God expressed. " I shall then," he writes, " stand upon the threshold of the world — the cold, calculating, selfish, ungodly world. It will all be before me where to choose my place of rest. But, blessed thought, Providence shall be my guide." Again, to an endeared friend, he writes : " Whatever my lot may be, I know not ; but let our prayer be, that God would, in his providence, send us where we may be most useful in advancing his cause. For my part, I feel as if I could go to any place where I may be useful throughout this wide section of country. But wherever we roam, or wherever we rest, we will make the blessed God our portion; we will rest secure upon the bosom of our beloved Redeemer." M LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. HIS LABORS IN THE WEST. While prosecuting his studies, Mr. M'Ginnes's mind was turned towards the great West, and thither he directed his steps immediately after his licensure. God, in his providence, had prepared a field for him. He went directly to Illinois, through the solicitations of his intimate friend, the Rev. S. C. M'Cune. He first visited Peoria, and was suddenly attacked there with the bilious fever, and confined for two weeks at the house of an old acquaintance. As soon as he recovered strength enough to travel, he visited the Presbyterian Church of Lewistown, the county seat of Fulton County, and having preached for that people a few Sabbaths, he received from them a call to become their pastor. Speaking of his first efforts at preaching, he says, " I preached four times in one week, rejoicing in heart that I was permitted, through riches of grace, to say something for the Saviour." Feeling disposed to accept the call from this con- gregation, he soon returned to Pennsylvania, and on the 22d of October, 1840, he was married to Miss Elizabeth M. Criswell, of Franklin County, Pennsyl- vania, to whom he had been engaged for two years. In December, he returned to Illinois, and entered fully upon his labors at Lewistown. His efforts were always well received. He had crowded houses and attentive audiences. The town, during the terms of court, was often visited by strangers. — lawyers, and HIS LABORS IN THE WEST. 45 others, who always attended the Presbyterian church, and the pastor's sermons were spoken of in the highest terms of admiration. Often has he been heard to pray, after being told by some friend of the manner in which his sermons were spoken of, " Lord, keep me humble. Suiferme to hide behind thy cross, that thine own name may be exalted and not mine." And again, " Lord, keep me humble, and while I hold up a dying Saviour, may I be hidden from view behind his cross." He seemed to realize that truth, so important to be under- stood by every minister of the gospel, found in the diary of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, " I see a man cannot be a faithful minister, until he preaches Christ for Christ's sake — until he gives up striving to attract people to himself, and seeks only to attract them to Christ." Like the great Apostle of the Gentiles, he was "in labors more abundant." His nervous, active temperament with his "heart's desire" to do good urged him on constantly to effort, until but little time was left for relaxation. The consequence was, that although his fertile mind was capable of furnishing the requisite amount of material, the physical labor necessary was often beyond the strength of his weak bodily frame. Upon the Sabbath he usually preached twice during the day, and lectured at night. He gave a lecture also every Wednesday evening ; and amidst all these pulpit duties he did not neglect pastoral visitation. 46 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. But he had not labored long thus, before he was attacked by disease. In the winter and spring of 1841, he suffered from the ague and fever — the pre- vailing sickness of that locality. He did not, however, cease his labors, but con- tinued to discharge his duties whenever it was possi- ble, notwithstanding the entreaties of his people to spare himself or he would certainly break down. He would reply, with Cecil, " Better wear out, than rust out." And again, " This is nothing more than ague, I will take a pulpit sweat and shake it off." Herein he show^ed that spirit of restless activity and indomi- table energy that ever characterized him in both health and sickness. One Sabbath morning — the regular day for his chill, — feeling pretty well, and seeing a good con- gregation assembling at the church, he said that he would go ; perhaps he would escape the chill that day. He went, and while he was going through the preliminary exercises, it was observed that he had a chill upon him. His wife hoped that he would go home immediately after prayer, knowing that when the fever w^ould rise, as it would before he was done preaching, he would perhaps get flighty, as he often did when the fever was on him. She says, ''I almost trembled when he laid aside his overcoat^ and an- nounced his text, which was, I think, Matt. 22 : 5, *But they made light of it.'" He proceeded, and finished his discourse without difficulty. After the benediction was pronounced, and he had descended HIS LABORS IN THE WEST. 47 from the pulpit, he inquired of his wife, " Did I say anything wrong to-day?" She replied, "I think not." " Well," said he, "I have preached to-day under the excitement of a high fever." A gentleman who was standing by, remarked, " I was not aware, Mr. M'Ginnes, that you had any other than a highly intellectual fever to-day." He was much prostrated after this for several days, but the chills were broken, and his health was gradually improved until August, when he had a severe attack of the diarrhoea, and was again re- duced. Ever anxious, like his Divine Master, to *'be about his Father's business," and hoping that his health might thereby be recruited also, he took one or two long journeys during that summer to preach the gospel in destitute places, '^ the regions beyond" his own charge. In this he resembled the Rev. Dr. Rodgers, the first Moderator of the General Assembly, who was distinguished for a liberal and active zeal in visiting destitute places, and not con- fining himself exclusively, as ministers are too apt to do, to his own highly-favored charge. Like Paul, also, he could say that he would not " boast in ano- ther man's line of things made ready to his hand." In these journeys, Mr. M'Ginnes found, what every Western minister in his travels doubtless finds, and what should lead all the Eastern churches to be "moved with compassion," and to "devise liberal things" for their distant kindred and Christian brethren, — those who had the same faith, the same 48 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. Lord, and the same baptism, " scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." He would often meet with Presbyterians who had emigrated from the older States, but who were deprived in their new homes of the precious privileges of the sanctuary. Not unfre- quently would they shed tears of joy when they heard that he was a Presbyterian minister, who had come to preach to them the precious truth " as it is in Jesus;" for, like David, they could exclaim, "How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of Hosts ! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." The gratification our brother experienced in min- istering the bread of life to these hungering souls was so great, and his anxiety to do good so intense, that he was often led to take such journeys, and to labor far beyond his strength. But he was thus to be taught the twofold character of the Christian's work on earth — that it is not only to do but also to suffer the will of God. *' Thine utmost counsel to fulfil, And suflFer all tliy righteous will, And to the end endure." Paul asked, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do T' and the Lord soon afterwards said concerning him, " I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." Thus it was with Mr. M'Gin- nes. With an absorbing desire to be active in the HIS LABORS IX THE WEST. 49 vineyard of his Lord, he was often checked in his pious efforts by impaired health, if not prostrated upon a bed of dangerous illness. It has been well observed, however, that '' The days, when a holy pastor, who knows the blood-sprinkled way to the Father, is laid aside, are probably as much a proof of the kindness of God to his flock, as days of health and activity. He is occupied, during this season of retirement, in discovering the plagues of his heart ; and in going in, like Moses, to plead with God face to face for his flock, and for his own soul." In consequence of feeble health, Mr. M'Ginnes was not in haste to have the pastoral relation consti- tuted between him and the people of his choice. "\Ye find that he labored among them nearly a year before his ordination and installation services took place. We copy the following from a record made by him- self: " I was ordained and set apart to the office of a bishop by the laying on of the hands of the Presby- tery of Peoria, Illinois, at their semi-annual session in Knoxville, 111., September 4th, 1841. I was in- stalled pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Lewis- town, 111., on Saturday, September 19th, 1841, by Samuel C. M'Cune and Robert Dobbins, a committee appointed by the Presbytery of Peoria for that pur- pose." Satisfactorily and permanently settled, as he now felt himself to be, over a beloved flock, he hoped that he might be long spared to go in and out among them, to lead them into the green pastures of the gospel, and beside the still waters of salvation. 50 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNES. But the Lord seeth not as man seeth. " A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." In February, 1842, Mr. M'Ginnes and his intimate friend, the Rev. Mr. M'Cune of Canton, fifteen miles from Lewisto"^n, had made arrangements to exchange pulpits on a following Sabbath. They ac- cordingly met on Saturday at a half-way house, dined, and went to their respective places of labor. They preached on Sabbath, and on Monday morning Mr. M'Ginnes was suddenly taken ill. He imme- diately started for home, got as far as the place at which he dined on the Saturday previous, but was obliged to go to bed there for a while. Mr. M'Cune soon arrived, and finding his friend, by this time, somewhat better, he returned to Lewistown with him. His kind physician was soon by his side, and his disease was pronounced to be the bilious pleurisy. So aggravated was its character that it baffled all efforts to remove it for several days. His people, who were devotedly attached to him, felt the deepest anxiety about him, and called often to see him. His condition, however, was so precarious, that his physician thought it prudent to deny their admission to his sick-room. But the trial was by far the greatest to his beloved wife. It appeared to her as if she must soon be be- reaved of her dearest earthly object, and be left with an infant son in that land of strangers. On the next Sabbath prayer was ofi'ered in the church in his behalf. On Monday his esteemed friend came from HIS LxlBORS IN THE WEST. 51 Canton to see him, and there was a slight change for the better. On Tuesday, as his friend was preparing to leave, he was desired to pray once more with the family. They kneeled around the bedside of the sick man, and earnest prayer was offered that all might be fully resigned to the will of God. When they arose from their knees, the meek sufferer, taking his beloved partner by the hand, said, " My dear E., are you resigned ? Oh, it is ' Sweet to lie passive in his hands, And know no will but his.' That feeling is mine. I wish it was yours." But God says through an inspired apostle, " The effectual fervent pi;ayer of a righteous man availeth much." And again, by the mouth of one of his prophets, "Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear." And all this is true, notwithstanding the worldling has but little faith in the power of prayer ; or that the fatalist will con- tend that God is too great and too highly exalted, to interrupt any of his infinite and eternal arrange- ments, to answer requests in reference to the petty accidents of human life. God's purpose, however, to hear and to answer every prayer of faith, as will be most to his own glory, and most to the welfare of his chosen people, and to make all the arrangements of his providence concur in such answers, is just as eternal and unchangeable, as his purpose in reference to any other event, however great, in the wide world. bZ LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M GINNES His people here prayed — " Restore liim, sinking to the grave, Stretch out thine arm, make haste to save; Back to our hopes and wishes give, And bid our friend, the pastor, live." And God was pleased to hear their fervent cries, and to bless the means used for the restoration of their sick pastor. That evening there was a decided change for the better, and from that time forward he con- tinued to improve daily. At the meeting of his Presbytery in April, Avhich he was not yet able to attend, he was appointed a delegate to the General Assembly which was about to meet in Philadelphia. It was ahwiys painful for him to leave his congregation, even for a short time, but under the circumstances the path of duty was plain to him ; he, therefore, speedily made arrangements to start with his family and visit friends and home on his way to the Assembly. On the Sabbath just before he left he preached an appropriate discourse from 2 Cor. xiii. 11: "Finally, brethren, farewell," &c., which has not yet been forgotten. He visited home, attended the General Assembly, and returned to Hlinois the following July. While in Pennsylvania, many friends endeavored to dissuade him from going back to the West, inas- much as he had already suffered so much there from bilious attacks. But he replied, " I am bound to that (Lewistown) church by a solemn vow, which must not be broken for a trivial cause ;" and he hoped niS LABORS IN THE WEST. 06 that the Lord would restore his health and permit him to labor in that church of his first, his earliest love. He now resumed his pastoral labors with increased earnestness and zeal, and for a year enjoyed tolerably good health. He did not labor without success : Zion prospered through his instrumentality ; but his pious soul longed for an extensive work of grace among his people. In a letter to his father, dated May, 1843, he says, "I feel that in leaving my father's house and the home of my childhood, I am about my Master's business. And much as I love my parents and friends, I could not sacrifice duty to pleasure. Yea, this is my greatest pleasure, knowing that I have left behind me home, and all the endear- ments of parental kindness and paternal love, for the Saviour's sake. The Lord forbid that I should mag- nify my work, but I do magnify my ofiice. And I trust that I have not altogether run in vain, neither labored in vain ; ' yet not I, but the grace of God that is in me.' I rejoice to hear of the work of grace which is going on in some parts of the Eastern church. Has Shippensburg been revived ? Can it be said of 'this man and of that man' that they have been born unto God there ? It is a time of coldness with us here. The Church seems to be asleep. We want the breath of the almighty Spirit to breathe on these dry bones, or all will come to desolation. Pray for us, dear parents, that the word 5- 54 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. of God may not be bound, but may prosper through our instrumentality." About this time his health again became feeble, and the warnj ^veather had a very debilitating effect upon him. After preaching he would be quite pros- trated, and sometimes was compelled to omit the afternoon service. He often lamented his want of health. He would say, *' Oh, that I had strength to labor as I desire to do. The service of Christ is a blessed service. The spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak. But God will accept according to that a man hath, and not require what he hath not. Our times are in his hand, and he will do with us as- seemeth to him good." In September, as he was returning one evening from a pastoral visit, he was suddenly seized Avith cramp or bilious colic, and with difficulty reached home. His skilful physician made every effort to subdue the intense pain, but did not for several hours succeed, and then for some days it was followed by an intermittent fever, which, when checked, left him exceedingly weak. One day, after a conversation with the doctor and Mr. P., one of the elders, he said to his wife, " My dear E., something has been troubling me for several months, of which I dreaded to tell you. Three years ago I brought you here a stranger, with the prospect, if it were the will of God, of making the West our home for life. You have many friends here, to A\'hom you are greatly attached, and in whose Christian society you find HIS LABORS IX THE ■\yEST. 55 much enjoyment. But it does seem to me as though I should regard this late attack as an admonition to seek a more congenial climate. What do you think about it? Does it send a pang to your heart?" She replied, " Oh no ; ^vhither thou goest I will go. Wherever you think your life may be prolonged, there let us go." "Well," said he, "those gentle- men who have just left coincide with me that the pure, invigorating air of our native state will suit my constitution best. We will then make prepara- tion for returning home this fall, and it may be that in some nook or corner of the mountains of Pennsyl- vania, Providence will permit me to labor a little longer for his glory, and for the advancement of his kingdom on the earth." They accordingly made arrangements for moving, and in October they turned their backs upon the land of their adoption ; and with many tears bade farewell to those dear friends in Lewistown who had become endeared to them by numberless kind offices, and by heartfelt sympathy in their afflictions during their sojourn among them. Mr. M'Ginnes's farewell sermon is said to have been a deeply affecting one.* * The following tribute to his memory, from the pen of his physician, Dr. Rice, who is also a ruling elder, is in place here. He writes : " He was regarded by all as an able and devoted minister; he endeared himself to all with whom he became ac- quainted: and his church and congregation watched with great anxiety the effect of the climate on his constitution. Subject as he was to frequent and severe bilious attacks, which were induced by the peculiarity of this climate, they feared he would 56 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. His health gradually improved while upon their journey, and the following winter he spent among their friends. He was not disposed, however, to be idle, but frequently preached, and with great accep- tance, too, as his health and opportunity permitted, for his ministerial brethren in the neighborhood, especially for the Kev. Mr. Harper, of Shippensburg, in whose congregation his father is a ruling elder, and for the Rev. Dr. M'Kinley, then of Chambers- burg, and once he visited Danville, Pennsylvania. HIS SETTLEMENT AT SHADE GAR A SHORT time after his return from the West, when his health had become tolerably good, his sister-in- law, Mrs. Brewster, wrote to him about the church at Shade Gap being vacant, and, inasmuch as he desired a location in a mountainous region, she had no doubt but what that place would suit him, as it be obliged to remoYe to one more congenial to his constitution than this. And when he came to the conclusion that he must remove from the valley of the Mississippi, all were satisfied that such was his duty; yet, at the same time, this necessity was regarded as a mysterious dispensation of Providence, by which his charge and the country generally were to be deprived of the labors of one peculiarly adapted to this field. "Although his stay with us was comparatively short, yet, when the time came that he must be separated from us, it was rendered certain that he had a hold upon the affections of his people which could not be sundered without a painful struggle, and nothing short of imperious necessity could have reconciled them to it." HIS SETTLEMENT AT SHADE GAP. 57 was a very healthy neighborhood. He recollected the place very well, having with his wife passed it a few days after their marriage. At that time, the little white church, one store, and a smith-shop, with one or tv>'0 small houses, comprised the village of Shade Gap. After reading his sister-in-law's letter, urging him to visit this place as a candidate, he replied, " Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing ?" A sister, at whose house he made that reply, reminded him of it only the summer before his death, when he laughed heartily, said he remembered it well, and hoped that he had not disgraced the place. In the spring of 1844 he moved with his family to Shippensburg. As the weather became warm, his dyspepsia, with which he was sorely troubled, became much worse. He dieted most rigidly, but without any apparent benefit. He looked very feeble, felt unfitted to engage in any mental exercise, and was, at times, owing to the state of his health and pros- pects, much depressed in mind. About this time, the Rev. James Harper, and the Rev. Wm. Chester, D.D., called to see him. After the usual salutations had been exchanged, Dr. Chester inquired, " And what doest thou here, Elijah?" Mr. M'Ginnes re- plied in a tone of regret, "Ah, my harp is unstrung ; it is suspended upon the willows ;" and then told how God had led him. But the Doctor's question awakened a train of serious reflections. That evening, when Mr. M'Gin- nes sat down to read, previous to his holding family 68 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M GINNES. worship, he asked himself the same question, " And ■what doest thou here, Elijah?" and answered, "I am sure I had no desire to come here. If it had been the Lord's will, I could have lived, labored, and spent my days in the West. I think in coming here I was but following the leadings of his providence. Did he not say unto me, as to Jacob of old, ' Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee ?' It has often been a relief to my mind to think that I have not brought this upon myself, but have been pursuing the path God in his providence seemed to indicate. But, per- haps, I have done wrong. This question has aroused me. I know not but that if I make an effort to labor once more in the vineyard of the Lord, needed strength will be afforded." And in his prayer that night, at the family altar, he prayed most earnestly, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? Show me the path of duty. Oh, that it may be made plain, and that I may have strength to pursue it." Just at this time the congregation at Shade Gap, anxiously desiring a pastor, and hoping to be able to secure the services of Mr. M'Ginnes, extended to him a cordial invitation to visit them. In a letter addressed to him by the Session, urgently requesting his labors among them, they say, " You could hardly imagine the anxiety and wish the people here have for you to become their pastor." Another letter was now received from his sister-in-law, in which she again urged him to pay her a visit. Living a few HIS SETTLEMENT AT SHADE GAP. 59 miles north^Yest of Shade Gap, in an adjoining con- gregation, she said, he might call at Shade Gap and leave an appointment, and preach there upon his return. Accordingly, a few Sabbaths after, we find him there in the pulpit of the old church. " His impressions upon the congregation git his first visit to the Shades," writes one of the Session, '' were very favorable." Having preached two Sabbaths for that people, he received a unanimous call to be- come their pastor. He accepted it so far as to con- sent to supply their pulpit regularly, and commenced his labors there in October. Himself and family were received by that congregation with the greatest kindness ; and he was much gratified and encouraged, in witnessing a growing interest upon the subject of religion and an enlarged attendance upon the means of grace. "^ But he did not remain long there unnoticed and uncalled. He had been recommended as a suitable * Previous to his going there the most of the congregation •were in titter ignorance of the wants of the heathen world. The subject, probably, had seldom been mentioned by either of their former pastors. Mr. M'Qinnes, therefore, adopted the plan, at once, of holding the monthly concert of prayer upon the first Sabbath of each month immediately after sermon ; and in addi- tion to his own remarks he would often read suitable extracts from the Missionary Chronicle. The -first collection that had ever been taken up in that church for missions was taken up on the first Sabbath of January, 1845. Mr. McGiniles had preached a missionary sermon from the words, " Lord, revive thy work," and the collection amounted to §17, which, considering all the circumstances, was thought to be very encouraging. 60 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNES. person to supply the vacant pulpit in the church at Danville, Pa., and in February, 1845, he received an invitation from the Session of that church to preach for them as a stated supply, with a view to a call as their pastor, in which they offered him more than double the salary he was to receive at Shade Grap, where he had not as yet been installed. He was afraid, however, that he would be subjected, at Dan- ville, to the ague again, and he therefore felt it to be his duty to decline the invitation. '' According to the good pleasure" and " purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," the "beloved disciple" must be banished to the Isle of Patmos before he should be able to re- veal to the Church the three grand periods of her future history. A dreary prison was the place as- signed to John Banyan in which to sketch his im- mortal Pilgrim. So our lamented brother must be removed from the wide mart of influence, from the crowded, bustling, thriving town, to serve God and the Church most effectively in the quiet, solitary re- treat of Shade Gap ; there to stamp his own name with imperishable honor, and to bless the world with the institutions of his own creative genius. After laboring a year as stated supply for the people of Shade Gap, his health being somewhat im- proved, at the meeting of the Presbytery of Hunting- don, held in West Kishacoquillas, October 8th, 1845, he presented his letter of dismission from the Pres- bytery of Peoria, and having been received by IMPROVEMENTS — THE PARSONAGE. 61 the Presbytery of Huntingdon, he accepted the call from the " Little Aughwick Congregation," at Shade Gap, and was shortly afterwards installed pastor of that congregation by the Rev. Messrs. Jardine and Collins, a committee of Presbytery appointed for that purpose. He now took charge of this flock, " over the which the Holy Ghost had made him an overseer," with fresh determination to devote to it his best energies for its enlargement, edification, and consolation. And God permitted him richly to see that neither were his purposes nor efi"orts in vain. He shared largely in the aifections and confidence of his people. His ministrations were well attended and highly acceptable, and a new impulse for good was imparted to the whole community. IMPROVEMENTS— THE PARSONAGE— A NEW CHURCH— AN ACADEMY. The language of the prophet for the comforting of the Gentile church may here be used : ^' Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes ; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left ; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." The day-star had already arisen upon the quiet village of Shade Gap. The morning had dawned. The streaks of light were following each other in 62 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. rapid succession, along the eastern horizon ; and the smiling sun was just about to arise in splendor. This retired spot was now to take rank among the more cheerful and favored portions of our beloved land. Science and literature, as well as religion, were in future to flourish here. Not only must there be an enlarged and a more commodious house of wor- ship erected to meet the growing wants of Zion, and a convenient home secured for the comfort of the minister and his family ; but a literary institution also, of no inferior order, must arise, from which should constantly issue streams that would make glad the city of God — that would cause " the wilder- ness and the solitary place to be glad for them, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose." Our brother, with a heart of gratitude to God for special grace and mercy often bestowed, had no dis- position to indulge himself in ease or luxury ; but if he had a moment of leisure time it was his purpose to employ it, with whatever talents God had given him, to the best advantage, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God. "During the winter of 1846," says a corre- spondent, " the practicability of establishing an aca- demy was much talked of; but a new church was desired in the first place, and also a parsonage." As Mr. M'Ginnes and his family were without a shelter of their own, while there was a tolerable place of worship, the "Parsonage" was the first thing that claimed attention. So David dwelled in his " house IMPROVEMENTS — THE PARSONAGE. 63 of cedar" before he made provision to build the Lord's house, when the ark of God rested in the tabernacle only, or "within curtains." In the spring of 1847, Mr. M'Ginnes commenced to build the neat and convenient cottage in which his family still dwell. The lot upon which the build- ing stands was a present from Mr. Blair, one of the ruling elders in that congregation. In a letter of Mr. M'Ginnes to the Rev. A. C. Hillman, dated February 5th, 1847, after speaking of the proba- bility of the projected Central Railroad passing through Shade Gap, as that route had already been surveyed, and of his intention to build a house in the suburbs of the village, he says, " But you will, perhaps, say, it is foolish to build here, and live in this secluded spot, amidst the mountains, when you might secure a more eligible situation. True, but the reasons which have determined me on this course, are the following. 1st, The prospect of an increase in the population by the advantages of the projected railroad. 2d, My congregation are not willing to let me go, and therefore they have raised my salary somewhat. They have also promised to build a house for me, which is to be my oiun property without costing me very much, having already given the ground for a site, and subscribed liberally towards the erection of a house. Besides, I am doing good here, and immortal souls are as precious at Shade Gap as at any other place. And, if it pleases God, I would be as willing to go to heaven from this place, 64 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNEP. surrounded by tliose saved by my instrumentality, as from the wealthiest church in the city. Fifty years hence, it will matter but little where we have been located, provided we have been found faithful, devoted and useful. And in all probability as long as I re- ceive a competent support here, I will remain, for if God has sent me here, as I believe he has, no light matter will induce me to leave." At the time the cottage was building, Mr. M'Gin- nes lived a mile from the village. He often walked down twice a day to see the work ; and the deep in- terest he felt in its progress, together with the direct effort he was himself required to make, were of very great benefit to his health. Often he would say, '' This is the most effectual remedy I ever tried for dyspepsia. I find mine is vanishing." He was greatly assisted in his efforts by the congregation. Some furnished lumber; others lime, nails, and glass; while others again did the hauling. The mechanics labored at a lower rate than usual, and as his family boarded the workmen, they often received presents of provisions that were highly acceptable. Mr. M'Ginnes was a firm believer in the doctrine of a special divine providence, for the supply of his temporal as well as of his spiritual wants. He knew that the God who fed Elijah at the brook Cherith, by the ravens, could as readily feed him and his ; that he who makes all nature as well as every needed grace minister to the wants of his chosen, would never suffer him to want any good thing while he I :M P R V E M E N T S put his trust in him. So he was taught to believe by the Psalmist, " fear the Lord, ye his saints ; for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. I have been young, and now am old ; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." The follovfing is an instance of his faith. One morning as he was about leaving home to visit the building, he said to his wife, " There will be an increased number of hands here to-day." She re- plied, that she was perplexed then to know how she should prepare a dinner for them, as she was in want of some necessary articles. He, smiling, said, "Be not faithless, but believing. The Lord will provide ;" and thus left her apparently " doubting nothing." And so it was, for while his wife was taxing her in- genuity to prepare a meal of such things as she had, two ladies of the congregation came to visit them, and brought the very articles that were so much needed. When Mr. M'Ginnes returned home (the dinner was always carried to the workmen) he said " Well, Eliza, you thought that you would have but a spare dinner to-day for your workmen, but you had a great abundance." His wife then told him how it had been furnished. He replied, " Well, does not that serve to strengthen your faith?" The building went up rapidly, and in the following October the trusting, grateful, and happy family were permitted to move into it. A few sabbaths be- 6* 66 LIFE OF EEV. J. Y. M'GINNES. fore they moved, as they were returning from church, while passing and looking at the building, almost ready for their reception, Mr. M'Ginnes inquired of his wife what she was thinking about. He said he wished to contrast their thoughts. She replied, that just then she was thinking of those two lines of the 102d Psalm which they had sung at church — " Those ruins shall be built again, And all that dust shall rise." He remarked hoW very different his thoughts were. The words, ^' Arise ye, and depart hence, for this is not your rest," he said, were sounding in his ears. "Well," continued he, "if in the abundant mercy of God we are permitted to enter our new dwelling, we will take God with us. Let it be our resolution, that as for us and our house we will serve the Lord. Who knows but that this may be the place from which we shall be summoned to ascend to the mount of God." But although our brother was in a retired spot, as already intimated, he was known abroad. " He could not be hid." Scarcely had he entered his new home before he was again beckoned away. That very month, if not the very week, that he took pos- sesion of the Parsonage, a letter was addressed to him from an inviting congregation in the Carlisle Presbytery, desiring his labors among them as a candidate for settlement. The Presbyterian pulpit at Greencastle was now vacant by the resignation of IMPROVEMENTS — THE NEW CHURCH. 67 the Rev. T. V. Moore. And as Mr. M'Ginnes had been favorably recommended to them, and a strong desire manifested on the part of many to hear him preach, when that pulpit was before vacant, so that desire now became general when the pulpit was again vacant. Accordingly, a letter was addressed to him in October, informing him of the fact ; and a speedy answer not being received, a second letter was ad- dressed to his father, urging him to make inquiry upon the subject, at the same time,^tating the high estimation in which his son was held. But Mr. M'Ginnes could not see his way clear to accept the invitation. A few months later he received another call. So great reputation had he earned during his brief sojourn in Illinois, that his fame had spread abroad in all that country. In a letter dated March 4th, 1848, the Session of the Presbyterian Church of Peoria, one of the most prominent situations in the State, extended to him a warm invitation to visit their vacant pulpit. But he felt it to be his duty to decline this invitation also. Settled, therefore, in his own new home, we find his active and benevolent soul devising " liberal things" for the Lord. His previous anxiety for a new house of religious worship now returned with increased longings. He could not rest satisfied to dwell in his " ceiled" house, while the house of the Lord lay "waste." He, therefore, aided by a willing and zealous people, whose " spirit the Lord stirred 68 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. up," set to work earnestly to build the Lord's house, that he might '^ take pleasure in it" and *' be glorified" thereby. The cheering result was that, in the fol- lowing summer, a well-proportioned and very com- fortable brick church was dedicated to the service of Almighty God, and a classical school was immediately after started in the old church building. Thus were the three grand objects desired, — a parsonage, a new church, and an academy, well-nigh secured. But amidst all these improvements our brother was not to be left uncalled. He must amidst trials known only to himself and his family, as well as amidst much outward success, settle another question in casuistry, and one of even more difiiculty, from both its greater responsibility and encouragement than any that had preceded it. In consequence of the Rev. L. W. Green, D.D., having accepted a call to the presidency of Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, the pulpit of the second Presbyterian Church at Baltimore became vacant, and Mr. M'Ginnes was thought to be a very suitable man to fill the vacancy. Accordingly, in November, 1848, a letter from that congregation was forwarded him asking whether he would be willing to preach one or two Sabbaths for them as a candidate. x\nd an immediate reply not being received, as in the case of Greencastle, another letter was addressed to his father, making inquiries about his son, and expressing the high regard they had for him. But he was com- pelled to decide this question, as he had done similar IMPROVEMENTS — THE NEW CHURCH. 69 previous ones, in the negative. The difficulty of so deciding will appear evident when we understand the circumstances under which the decision was made. The amount of salary promised Mr. M'Ginnes at Shade Gap was §300 per year, with the expecta- tion of receiving $100 additional from the Board of Missions. He also had liberty to preach occasionally at Fort Littleton, about twelve nliles distant. He, however, seldom spent a whole Sabbath there, but would preach once a month on a Sabbath afternoon in the summer, and at night in the winter. The people there made up a small sum, of about §20 for his support. He received, without opposition, the first two years of his labors at Shade Gap, the §100 that was expected from the Board of Missions ; but the third year there were some objections made by the Presbytery to this amount being continued, inas- much as the Board was embarrassed for want of funds, and as it was thought that the church at Shade Gap should now sustain itself. Mr. M'Ginnes, however, plead hard for it, and the §100 was granted. But the next year, the Presbytery refused to ask any ap- propriation from the Board for him. He arose and said to his brethren that if they were unwilling to petition the Board in his behalf he should feel it to be his duty to resign his charge as soon as he reached home. And after reconsidering the matter, Pres- bytery agreed to ask an appropriation of §7o for him that year. 70 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. He did not, it is believed, again desire aid from the Board, for he resolved in the providence of God, if possible, after this to sustain himself; and his prospects in this respect, as we shall see in the sequel, were destined to brighten. But one of the adminis- trators of his property, who is well acquainted with this whole matter, says he is confident that Mr. M'Ginnes never, during the four years, received more than $250 per year from his congregation, and that mostly in produce, so that the money he received from the Board was very nearly all that he handled. Now let it be remembered, that it was just at the commencement of his fourth year of labor at Shade Gap, and just after he had struggled so hard in Presbytery to have a mere pittance added to his salary, that he might be enabled to keep his growing family from want, that he received the invitation from the Second Church at Baltimore, where a salary of $1800 was offered; and who would have thought otherwise than that he would answer in the affirma- tive — yet he sends a negative reply. When he received this invitation, in view of their present limited circumstances, his wife said to him, " That is a temptation." " Yes," said he, " and for your sake I would be tempted to go there, or some- where else, where you would not be subjected to so many privations as we must ever expect here ; but then this poor, frail tenement would soon break down under the arduous labors of a city pastor." Their relatives and friends were very kind to them, M I L N W D A C A D E M Y. 71 but in order to meet all their increasing liabilities they were required to exercise the most rigid economy. Mr. M'Ginnes often remarked, "Our only luxury is contented minds and the prospect of usefulness in the sphere in which our lot is cast." MILNWOOD ACADEMY. Under the fostering care, popular manners, and energetic control of Mr. M'Ginnes, the little classi- cal school soon increased in numbers, character, and influence. It started in the fall of 1848, in the old church, with two students, which was the entire number taught for nearly three weeks ; but before the session closed there were twenty-two in attendance, nine of whom were boarders. The second term there were about forty, and the third term there were upwards of fifty, and in this proportion they continued to increase until the number reached eighty. A more suitable school-room than the one at first occupied, and a building to accommodate boarders also, soon appeared to be necessary. Accordingly, to an- swer both these purposes, Mr. M'Ginnes secured by a company of stockholders, in 1849, the erection of a large stone building, and gave it the name of "The Milnwood Academy." The part occupied as a school- room had desks in it sufficient to accommodate about forty students, but as the session advanced they had 72 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GIXNES. to get a new desk made every few days, so that be- fore that session closed Mr. M'Ginnes found he would have, as he said, " to enlarge the borders of his tent." He must either build a new school-room and make preparation to accommodate all that would come, or he must announce to the public that he could only take a limited number. He resolved upon the former course, and with considerable effort, in 1850, a large and convenient "recitation-room," 54 feet long and 36 feet wide, was built ; and the former building was used exclusively as a boarding-house. Still, en- couraged from the number of enthusiastic and ad- miring youth that crowded around him, in 1851 he was under the necessity of putting up still another building to accommodate them with suitable sleeping apartments. So much had he been encouraged from the begin- ning, that he felt himself under the necessity not only of increasing the number of suitable buildings, but also, of enlarging the number of good instructors; having from the first associated with him his brother, John Henry Wilson, and afterwards, as occasion required, having secured the services of Mr. S. Campbell and Messrs. D. M'Kinney and R. H. Morrow, both of the latter being regularly graduated at Jefferson Col- lege; and had our brother's life been spared he had serious thoughts of enrolling "Milawood Academy" among the worthy colleges of our land. It is truly astonishing to see how, through the influ- ence of this one man, such a change had been wrought MILNWOOD ACADEMY. 73 in the whole appearance and prospects of Shade Gap in so short a time ; and how a literary institution, from such a small beginning, should so soon rise to such commanding greatness ; and that, too, while at the same time its founder was faithfully engaged in the discharge of pastoral duties sufficient to occupy any common man's time. An intelligent gentleman re- marked to the author that the character, property, and prospects of Shade Gap had advanced, during the brief sojourn of Mr. M'Ginnes there, as much as, if not more than, they would have done, in ordi- nary circumstances, in fifteen or twenty years. The following is one expression of public opinion, out of many given, in regard to the location and value of Milnwood Academy. It is extracted from a cheering account given of the first exhibition in that institution, by a correspondent of the Huntingdon Journal, under date of September 18th, 1849. He says : " Through your valuable paper, I write to in- form its many readers of an institution which has lately sprung up in our county, and one of which the county can be justly proud, — Milnwood Aca- demy, in Dublin Township. It is located at the base of Shade Mountain, in the beautiful valley of Tusca- rora, whose elevation is so high and the air so pure, that chills and fevers are unknown to any of the inha- bitants in the vicinity of this young institution of learning. The people, too, of that portion of our county which surrounds Milnwood are a church- going people ; are industrious and hospitable ; and 74 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. possessing a high moral tone they will compare well with the citizens of any other part of the county. Such are the people with which the youth instructed in this institution will have to associate. The Aca- demy is conducted by the Rev. J. Y. M'Ginnes, who is bland and courteous in his deportment, possesses indomitable energy, and is one of the most eloquent and learned preachers belonging to the Presbyterian Church. The Professor J. H. W. M'Ginnes is learned, dignified, and courteous. Under such instructors, parents and guardians may expect a high degree of mental and moral training. In this I feel they will not be disappointed." But the ministerial and pastoral responsibilities of Mr. M'Ginnes increased as well as his academical labors. In October, 1849, the Rev. George Gray, through age and infirmity, resigned his pastoral charge of the Upper Tuscarora Congregation, about twelve miles distant from Shade Gap. The people of that charge immediately desired Mr. M'Ginnes to labor there the one-half of his time, and they subscribed towards his support $225 per year. He acceded to their re- quest for one year, his own people reluctantly giving their assent, and some of them even spoke of reduc- ing their own subscriptions one-half in consequence. To this he objected. He said that his personal and family expenses were constantly increasing, and that if his people did so reduce their subscriptions he could not live among them. And Brice Blair, Esq., MI LN WOOD ACADEMY. 75 one of the administrators, says that the books have shown that he did not receive more than $350 from both churches that year — commencing October, 18J:9, and ending October, 1850. Just here there'came another letter from abroad, to interrupt his home thoughts and efforts, and if possible to call him hence. The Presbyterian church at Wooster, Ohio, is des- titute of the labors of a pastor, and a letter dated November 30th, 1849, assures him of the fact, and states moreover that he has been recommended as a man whose talents would suit them. Wooster is de- scribed as being in the heart of a fine country, is said to be a healthy place, a growing town, to pos- sess an intelligent community, and to embrace a large number of Pennsylvanians. The church, it is stated, offers a very competent salary; and there is, especially, a large field of ministerial usefulness, and the prospect of doing much for the glory of God. But all these considerations did not seem sufficient to induce the least wavering in his mind about changing his field of labor. It was not the will of his heavenly Father that he should be placed upon one of the high towers of Zion. A more humble post seemed to be assigned him, yet one not less effective ; for here he would gather, as it were into a bright and burning focus, rays that would warm and bless multitudes far away. He was here developing intellectual and moral energy, that would be felt tenfold more upon the broad field of the world, than any such energy he 7G LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. could himself impart to the best congregation in our land: and this is just what he said to his wife when he received the invitation from the church at Woos- ter. He then remarked that he thought he might be as useful, if not more so, where he was, raising up men to labor in the West where he could not, than to be settled in the best congregation in Ohio. He has also been heard to say when solicited to leave Shade Gap, that he never wished to leave there until he could leave that congregation in such a state, that thej would have no difficulty in getting a pastor, and then he would go to some destitute field, for he did not wish to build on any other man's foundation. At the close of his first year of labor in the Upper Tuscarora congregation he desired to cease his labors there ; but the people urged him so strongly to give them one-third of his time, if he could give them no more, promising to contribute for his support the same they had done before, that he consented to do so for another year, if, in the mean time, they would endeavor to get a pastor. He felt confident that all his own time was demanded, and that all his energies might very readily be exhausted at Shade Gap. Mr. M'Ginnes's settlement at Shade Gap, was for the sake of neither worldly gain nor honor ; but be- cause of the providence of God pointing out plainly the path of duty. And Milnwood Academy was not founded from any inferior motive ; but, in faith and prayer, that it might advance the cause of sound education, and be instrumental in training up some MILNAVOOD ACADEMY. 77 beloved youth for the sacred ministry ; and God has set his seal of approbation to the motive in both cases, by crowning the labors of his servant with abundant success. In October, 1850, during the interval of school, Mr. M'Ginnes held a communion season at Shade Gap, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Hughes. The meeting was an interesting one. On the Sabbath following, Mr. M'Ginnes was absent fulfilling a regular appoint- ment at the Lower Church ; a prayer meeting was held at the Academy, and but seven persons at- tended. When Mr. M'Ginnes returned and learned the fact, he felt exceedingly grieved, and mentioned it in the church the next time he preached there. He lamented that so many who had just been at the Lord's table, could so readily absent themselves from the prayer meeting, which, he said, w^as the pulse of the Church, and it showed them to be in a sad, sad state indeed. He then urged professing Christians to pray for the reviving influence of God's Spirit, to descend upon them. A few Sabbaths afterward he preached from the words, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die," Rev. iii. 2, and from that time he was impor- tunate in his prayers both in the church and in the family for a revival of true religion. With great ear- nestness did he plead with God : "Hast thou not a blessing in store for us, our Father ?" During that winter he was much gratified in wit- nessing a growing seriousness among some of the 7* 78 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. young men of the Academy ; and, at their next com- munion season, -which occurred in March, 1851, this seriousness was very manifest. The Lord God had now evidently come down to dwell among them. The Rev. David Sterrett, an evangelical and pungent preacher, was assisting at these services. As the meetings progressed religious feeling deepened, until tears were seen to flow, and sobs became audible. Mr. Sterrett left on Tuesday morning. An in- quiry-meeting was held that day in Mr. M'Ginnes's study. Five of the young men came out of the school and followed him to his study, to be conversed and prayed with. On the next day, at the same hour, the number was doubled, and at night there was a still larger number. On Thursday, Mr. M'Ginnes had his parlor opened, and at the hour appointed about thirty persons, all of whom, except one, were students, assembled as anxious inquirers after salvation. At one of these meetings, taking each student by the hand, he said, " Oh, boys, you could do nothing that would give me more pleasure, than by thus showing your anxiety about your souls' salvation !" *'It was truly a solemn time," writes Mrs. M'Gin- nes. " When my dear James came out, after the meeting was dismissed, he blessed God that some of them were cherishing a hope in Christ. He spoke of the momentous responsibility of the situation in which he was placed, fearing lest some word he should drop might give a downward tendency to MILNWOOD ACADEMY. 79 some precious soul. He also said that his strength was failing from excessive fatigue, and he hoped that Brother Hawes would come to his aid." His wife replied, " My dear husband, the Lord will direct you and strengthen you." *' Yes," said he, "he is doing it. Oh ! I would not exchange the happiness of this hour for the whole universe ! The results of this meeting will not be fully known until that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be made mani- fest." That night, as they were preparing to retire, a noise was heard as if some one were in distress, but, upon going to the door, it was discovered to be the voice of earnest prayer echoing from the mountain- sides. "Oh!" said Mr. M'Ginnes, "there is my encouragement ! Is not that the sweetest of earthly sounds ?" The voice was one well known, and for several successive evenings, at the same hour, it echoed from the same hallowed spot. "Let us pray," said Mr. M'Ginnes, "that these may be but the mercy-drops which precede the approaching shower. I trust the good influence will extend throughout this whole congregation and community. How many baptized youth are there here whom I should rejoice to see becoming sharers in this glo- rious work of grace. I have labored in revivals of religion before, both with pleasure and profit, but, oh ! this is soul-cheering, to have one here in this part of God's heritage, over which the Holy Ghost hath made me overseer. And those dear young 80 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. men, oh ! I hope that many of them will become chosen vessels, set apart for the work of the ministry. Indeed, I feel assured that such will be the case ; and what human mind can calculate the amount of influence they may wield ? It will tell upon the world — it will tell in eternity. Not unto us — not unto us, but to thy name, blessed Redeemer, be all the glory. It is honor — glory enough for us, to be the instruments of accomplishing so good a work, — to be the rod in the hands of the prophet by which the flinty rock has been smitten. How thankful am I that Brother Sterrett was able to come at this time. It would seem as if a blessing attended his preaching wherever he goes. The Holy Spirit is now evidently with us to bless our labors, and oh, that he may continue with us, for if we should grieve him away from our midst, then ' all will come to desolation.' " What was said of the Rev. Mr. M'Cheyne in regard to the Rev. Mr. Burns's successful ministrations in his charge during his absence to the land of Israel, can as truly be said of Mr. M'Ginnes in reference to the above interesting season in his own charge. " He had no envy at another instrument having been so honored, in the place where he himself had labored with many tears and temptations. In true Christian magnanimity he rejoiced that the work of the Lord was done by whatever hand." He could say with Moses, " Send by whom thou wilt send." "At the close of that session of school," writes MILNWOOD ACADE'MY. 81 one of the students, " which will be ever remembered on account of the unusual degree of religious feeling manifested, Mr. M'Ginnes called us into the school- room for the purpose of giving us his parting advice. He exhorted us to be his living epistles, known and read of all men ; and urged us not to let the good impressions which we had received wear away, but to continue steadfast unto the end, so that, at the day of judgment, he might be enabled to say, ^ Here, Lord, am I, and those whom thou hast given mc' " Since his death, it has been ascertained that sixteen young men were at that time hopefully con- verted to God, and eight of that number are looking forward to the work of the gospel ministry. It is also known that four other persons, previous to this time, who were prosecuting their studies in the Aca- demy, were led by his influence, under Providence, to study for the ministry. Some of these, it is hoped, "will become ^' burning and shining lights" upon the walls of Zion, as was the case with Chrysostom, Am- brose, and Calvin, who were all led to become " am- bassadors for Christ," by the urgency of God's minis- ters and people. Mr. M'Ginnes's example is a noble one for imita- tion. " Go and do thou likewise." " They that turn many to righteousness," either immediately by their own personal application, or mediately through efforts made to raise up a living ministry, to exert a health- ful influence upon others, "shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." 82 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. In a letter addressed to him, but which he did not live to peruse, dated Fairfield, Jefferson County, lowa^ September 2d, 1851, the Rev. Mr. M'Cune appropriately says, '' We are beginning now to see some of the designs of our superintending Father, in keeping you among the mountains, instead of calling you to blow the trumpet at Peoria, and in the coasts thereof;" and again, "If it had been the Master's adorable will, many, as well as myself, would have rejoiced in enjoying your presence and labors in this field, which is itself a world ; but who knows that He is not employing you there, in a comparatively unknown nook of this world, to originate and manage agencies that will ultimately wield a mighty influence on the religious destinies of this infant sister state. God grant that it may be so ! And what a thrilling retrospect you may enjoy from the judgment bar, and the home of the redeemed !" Mr. M'Ginnes's last work in behalf of "Milnwood Academy," was the preparing of a catalogue of its teachers and students, which he completed and sent to be printed on the last Monday of his life. HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. The summer session of Milnwood Academy now opens, and it is to be one that will never be forgotten by the inhabitants of Shade Gap, or by that youthful, interesting band gathered together in those halls of science and religion. It will ever be one of sorrow- HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 83 ful and jet of joyful memory. " Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day?" might here have been asked the pupils of Milnwood Academy, as it was asked Elisha of old. It was to be even so, but they did not, like Elisha, know it, though they might have conjectured and feared it, from their beloved principal's unceasing activity, his excessive labors, and his wasting physical strength. The Academy went on "swimmingly," as he wrote on a former occasion, to his intimate friend, the Rev. Mr. M'Cune. The third new building, already alluded to, was now in process of erection, to accom- modate the large number of students who had flocked to him from every quarter. The last session that was to share in his faithful oversight, paternal affec- tion, and importunate prayers, started with brighter hopes than any that had preceded it. His ardent desire had been granted in his being permitted to see the work of the Lord revived in their midst; his be- loved Academy sharing in the blessed influences of it ; and, as the glorious result, a number of the pre- cious youth devoting themselves to the ministry of God's dear Son. And the Academy, in other respects, was very flourishing ; its temporal interests were highly pros- perous. Blessed, therefore, beyond any former time, both in his church and in his Academy, both in tem- poral and in spiritual things, it is not to be wondered at that he enters upon the new session with the most 84 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. buoyant anticipations of accomplishing more for God and for his fellow-men, than he had ever done before. So his " heart was fixed." But God designs that his people shall glorify him, not only actively, but pas- sively, in their death as well as in their life. And He himself will ever wisely direct as to how his glory shall be most effectually promoted. Amidst the full return of old students and the large increase of new ones at the beginning of this term, the solemnity of the precious season that had just passed was not forgotten. But while it had a tran- quillizing and hallowed influence on all hearts, the former students seemed to enter upon their duties with the expectation that this would be to them a better session than any they had ever spent there before. Such, no doubt, was the case, but how dif- ferent were the providences of God from what they anticipated. But so man is always disappointed when he builds upon the uncertainties of time. God says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." This was to be a session in which long-cherished hopes would be blighted, warm affections buried, and Ichabod written by many upon those once loved seats of learning. It w^as to be a time of darkness, death, and of the most heartfelt sadness ; " a dav of dark- ness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the moun- tains." In the month of May, an annual orator, according HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 85 to custom, was desired to address the Philo and Franklin Literary Societies of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, at their approaching commencement, on August 5th, 1851. Among other names, that of the Rev. James M'Ginnes was proposed, and the character he had already earned for himself, and the estimation in which he was held at his early age, may be easily gathered from the fact that he was elected almost unanimously, he receiving forty- eight votes, and the opposing candidate, the Rev. N. L. Rice, D.D., of Cincinnati, but five votes. His election, under such circumstances, was certainly very flattering. A few Sabbaths before he left for Canonsburg, he preached from Hebrews xii. 12, 13, "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down," &c. As his wife was prevented from attending church that day, he thought she might be both gratified and profited by a perusal of his sermon, and be also an instrument of good to others ; so he handed her his sermon to read, and then desired her to take it over and read it to Mrs. F , an estimable Christian lady, who was just recovering from a dangerous illness, and whose spirits were much depressed. His wife said, " Per- haps she will think me a Sabbath visiter." " No," said he, " tell her I have sent you to preach to her, whilst I go across the valley." When he returned, he inquired of his wife how she had succeeded with the sermon ? She replied, " Very well ; and that the lady had sent him many thanks for affording her an 8 86 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M GINNES. opportimity of hearing a sermon so suitable to her case." "Well," said he, "I knew that she would appre- ciate my motive in sending you." And thus he tried to have a good word of the gospel for every one, being "instant in season and out of season," embra- cing opportunities of doing good when offered, and seeking them out when not presented, "that he might by all means, save some." On Tuesday, previous to his going to Canonsburg, he had an attack of cholera morbus, and kept his bed until evening. On Wednesday he was much engaged all day, and looked care-worn and feeble ; but, as usual, was cheerful. At one time coming into the house, he said to his wife, " Why so sombre, eh, dear ?" and then rallied her about wearing a long face. She replied that she thought him very unfit to travel in his present state of health ; that she was afraid he would be sick by the way. " There," said he, " you are borrowing trouble. You must not anticipate evil ; ^ sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof.' It is true, I am weak, very weak to-day, but you know that journeying always improves my health ; and I anticipate also a great deal of pleasure from a visit to Canonsburg. I have hosts of friends to welcome me there, and it will do me good to tra- verse the old walks once more; and see those old familiar faces." His wife strove that evening to be cheerful, but the next day when he was about to leave, she found HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 87 that he partook of her sad feelings ; still he endea- vored to keep up her spirits. He said that he could not account for her depression, as he had often taken longer journeys, and been absent longer than he ex- pected to be at this time. Then in prayer, he com- mitted himself, his wife and children, to God, and prayed that he might be permitted to return and bless his household. He desired his wife to write to him by the next mail, then took his leave of them all, and, it being noon, went immediately over to the Academy. All the students accompanied him to the coach, and as he took his seat they heartily cheered him, in view of the distinguished honor that had been con- ferred upon him, by the literary societies of Jeffer- son College, to which he replied, " Honor and shame from no condition rise, Act well your parts, and there the honor lies." He reached Canonsburg in safety, and was de- lighted to receive the cordial welcome of so many warm hearts, and to participate in the social and literary festivities of the occasion. The 5th of August was a "high day" at Jef- ferson College, embodying a rich " feast of reason and flow of soul." Mr. M'Ginnes acquitted himself well in the discharge of his own duties. His ad- dress, though prepared amidst much bodily infirmity, and under a pressure of both pastoral and academi- cal labors, gave general satisfaction. " It was listened to," said one of the auditors, "with profound in- terest." The Rev. Dr. Brown, the President of the 05 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M GINNES. College, writes, •" His address was received with great and universal favor." His subject was, " The Spirit of the Covenanters." As Jefferson College is lo- cated in the midst of many Covenanters and Seceders of intelligence and sterling moral character, who have ever manifested a deep interest in the institu- tion, the subject was a verj timely one, and particu- larly acceptable to a large portion of the audience. It was handled with Mr. M'Ginnes's usual eloquence of diction, fervency of spirit, and energy of delivery, and exhibits no little thought and research. On the day following, he received the congratulations of several of his ministerial brethren, on the happy choice and treatment of his subject. But now, farewell, ye classic halls, ye rural scenes, ye sacred retreats, ye honored ones, ye long-cherished friends, for ever farewell ! Mr. M'Ginnes's work at Canonsburg being done, his last act of love and good will to his " Alma Mater" being completed, he hastened homeward. He was absent ten days. He reached home on Saturday evening, but a poisoned arrow had winged its way to his heart. He had felt symptoms of dysentery on the Thursday preceding, when in Pittsburg, and had procured and taken, alternately, some rhubarb and opium to alleviate his pain. When he took the cars at Johnstown, his pain was so great that he thought he would be obliged to stop there. "But then," said he to his wife afterwards, " I thought of my own happy home, and of your dis- HIS LAST SIC KX ESS AND DEATH. 89 appointment, if I did not come. And the desire to reach home was so great that it nerved me for the effort, and I came on, although I had several parox- ysms of most severe pain between this and the river." His worthy physician was immediately sent for, and under providence, succeeded in checking the disease on Sabbath afternoon. A great many per- sons having met for church that day called to see him. He expressed his regret that he was not able to preach the gospel to them ; and to a number he said that he was thankful that God had permitted him to return home to be sick. Thus was the very first Sabbath after his return, for which both himself and his people had longed, as about to be one of mutual interest, marked with disappointment and sorrow, ominous only of still deeper gloom. But for wise ends the sovereign Jehovah, in the execution of his unalterable decrees, often disappoints the expectations of his short-sighted and erring crea- tures. " A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." His love, however, can no more fail his people, than his wisdom can err in the appointment of their lot ; so that blessed at all times are they who put their trust in him. Once, when Mr. M'Ginnes thought that he was alone, he said, " Oh, let me die among my kindred." On Monday he was better, and whilst his wife was sitting by his bedside, he felt much disposed to talk over past occurrences. He spoke of the way in which Providence had led them since their first ac- 8* 90 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. quaintance. " Surely," said he, " we have abundant cause for gratitude to God for all his goodness towards us. But how unworthy are we of the least of those mercies. Like Jacob of old, with our staff we passed over this Jordan (meaning the time of their marriage) ; but now we have become, not two bands, such as Jacob had, for they were separate bands, but five bands (referring to their children), to bind us more closely together. Like Jacob, too, then we had not a spot which we could call our own ; now, in the good providence of God, we have a comfortable habi- tation and all the necessaries of life, with * contented minds, which are a continual feast.' " He then spoke of the Academy and its surrounding buildings, and remarked that those lines of the 102d Psalm, which Mrs. M'Ginnes had quoted, as they passed along there before moving, were prophetic. "If the dust," continued he, "is not rising, the stones and mortar are;" and then added, "Persons who have been born in the lap of ease cannot enter into the feelings of those who find themselves ad- vanced without any designs formed by their friends, or expectations indulged in by themselves. Let us ever cherish Jacob's disposition, and be thankful to God who hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." His health continued to improve gradually, and on Wednesday he was again, for part of the day, in the school. Doctor Shade, his family physician, writes, " Dur- HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 91 ing my acquaintance with Mr. M'Ginnes, his bad health was mostly referable to a functional derange- ment of the liver, attributed by him to frequent obsti- nate bilious attacks, under which he had labored while in Illinois. His nervous system was severely implicated. In the latter part of June, or the early part of July, preceding his death, he was attacked by violent diarrhoea, which under treatment appeared to yield, but recurred from time to time with con- siderable intensity, so much so that he was advised to abandon the hope of visiting Canonsburg in August, as he contemplated doing. But about this time his disease put on a flattering aspect, and giving him thereby a few days of immunity from suffering in which to prepare his address for the College, he em- braced the opportunity. After having made prepa- ration, although his symptoms had grown worse, he started for Canonsburg, and immediately plunged into the exciting scenes of a college commencement, which, although they served to sustain him for the moment by their stimulus, were followed by fearful reaction. He returned home with his disease a^crra- vated twyfold, having, as he informed me, suffered more or less from it during his whole absence. In a few days, however, rest and medical treatment were successful again in ameliorating his disease, but it was only an amelioration. His diarrhoea still con- tinued, alternating occasionally with severe consti- pation, not however sufficiently aggravated to keep him confined. On the contrary, he was actively en- 92 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. gaged in his usual duties until a few days previous to his death." The Sabbath following he was able to preach to his people, and during that week Professor Williams, of Jeiferson College, arrived at Shade Gap, with the intention of delivering, by request, a course of lectures on the Natural Sciences, to the students of Miln wood Academy. As the Professor lectured every evening, Mr. M'Ginnes, although suffering with a lingering pain, exerted himself to have the students attend and improve those lectures, in which he was himself deeply interested. On Sabbath, August 24th, which was his last Sab- bath on earth, he attended the Sabbath-school and the Bible class before the hour for public service had arrived, and afterwards preached an impressive dis- course from 2 Cor. xii. 10, "When I am weak, then am I strong." Professor Williams spoke in high terms of this sermon. Said another, in reference to it, immediately after its delivery, " It seemed to me as if Mr. M'Ginnes would ascend from there — the pulpit — to heaven;" and Mr. M'Ginnes was heard to say, "Oh ! I felt in the spirit of preaching that day ! This poor body of flesh and blood was weak and tottering, but I was strong in spirit. Oh ! if I could always feel as I then felt, it would be easy to preach. The service of Christ is a blessed service ; I would spend and be spent in it !" He was very much exhausted by this efi'ort, and after taking some refreshment, he said to his wife niS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 93 that he would lie down, and if he should fall asleep, she should arouse him at four o'clock, as he had an appointment to preach at five o'clock at the house of a widow lady about three miles distant. His wife endeavored to dissuade him from going, he appeared so weak and languid. She writes, " I know not of any time in my life that I tried so much to get him to give up an appointment. To induce him to do so, I told him I would ask the children their ques- tions, and it would encourage them to have his ap- proving smile, as he seldom heard them recite." " It is all true," said he : " my time is so taken up with public duties, that the care of the family devolves upon you. But you know that I always enforce obedience to your wishes. I hope it will not always be thus. I shall have more time, I trust, after awhile, to assist you in training our little ones. Those two churches and the Academy are more, almost, than I can attend to. You have your little ' church in the house,' and that small book, of this title, by the Rev. James Hamilton, that I purchased a few days ago, I got for your benefit. You know my motto is, Duty before loleasure. It would be plea- sant to remain with you and the little doves this afternoon, but it is ray duty to go and preach to that old lady, as she is unable to get out to church. So do you go now and instruct the children, and perhaps I will be somewhat refreshed by sleep." He was awakened at the time he desired. He went, preached, and returned that night. 94 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNES. On Monday he felt very unwell, but spent a part of the day in school. On Tuesday afternoon, he visited an elder of his church who was very ill, about two miles distant, and thought himself most decidedly worse ever after. When he returned in the evening, he said to his wife, that he did not know why it was that he had had a lingering pain ever since he had the dysentery, and that riding home pretty fast had aggravated it. He said he would go to the lecture, and if the pain was not better soon, he would take something for it. The lecture that evening was upon astronomy. He was quite enraptured with it, said it was sublime, and regretted very much that his wife had not enjoyed it with him. He said he thought that he felt as Paul did when he said, " whether he was in the body or out of the body, he could not tell," and then added, " The Professor was so grand and beautiful in his descriptions, that I felt as if I was soaring away amid the bright stars. I shall now study astronomy with greater delight than ever. But," continued he, "this pain has been increasing within the last half hour. We will use some hot fo- mentations, and if they do not relieve it, we will send for the Doctor." The thing was done as he directed, and he fell asleep, and slept comfortably until one o'clock, when he awoke suddenly, and said that the pain had returned with increasing violence. The Doctor was immediately sent for, but was found to be absent, and he was not expected home until noon the next day. niS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 95 On Wednesday, Mr. M'Ginnes was confined to the house, but felt able to sit up during the afternoon, and enjoy the company of Professor Williams. That evening, for the last time, he sat at the table, and took tea with his family, and never did he look more joyful than upon that occasion. Professor Williams and he were led by his little daughters to the table, and there he spoke affectionately of the endearments of home, and of the wisdom and goodness of God in "setting the solitary in families." After tea he ventured out to hear a lecture upon chemistry. At the close of which Professor Wil- liams made a short address to the students, and ex- pressed his gratification that that institution, which was so flourishing, was under the care of an old friend of his, and he wished it continued prosperity. To this Mr. M'Ginnes replied, and thanked the Professor for coming to impart instruction to his pupils. This was the conclusion of his out-door career. When he returned home he felt discouraged about his prospects, for his symptoms were quite unfavor- able. That night he was worse than he had been on the preceding night. At two o'clock he awoke with an intense pain. Remedies were applied but without producing at first the desired effect. The Doctor was again sent for. At length, feeling much relieved, he asked that the 103d Psalm might be read for him, and then he fell asleep. The messenger now returned, and stated that the Doctor had to go six miles farther to see a patient, 96 LIFE OP REV. J. Y. M ' Q I N N E S. and would not be back until noon. " Oh," said Mr. M'Ginnes, "must I wait that long? This pain is very severe. I am satisfied that it is the bilious colic, or something worse." Another messenger was now despatched after the Doctor. During the interval Mr. M'Ginnes was much engaged in prayer. Once or twice he exclaimed aloud, " Wilt thou pur- sue thy worm to death, 0, my heavenly Father ?" The Doctor arrived about one o'clock, and by the anxious expression of his countenance intimated that his patient was worse than he expected to find him. He writes, " On Thursday about noon I visited Mr. M'Ginnes, at his request, and found him complaining of intense pain in the right iliac region accompanied by vomiting and constipation. No hernia being de- tected, and means to arrest the vomiting and open the bowels proving unavailing, in connexion with the other symptoms, led me to conclude that the obstruc- tion in his bowels was mechanical in its nature, and did not admit of relief." He slept some that night, but when Friday morning came, it brought no relief to his pains. He told the Doctor that the intense pain w^as local, and inquired if it was not hernia ? The Doctor said, No. He then asked if it would not be prudent to apply the cold water bandage. The Doctor gave his consent. This application gave him instant relief, but it was only temporary. A short time after the Doctor left, he had a most severe pain, but of short duration ; it was succeeded by another. He appeared to know that it was coming HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 97 on him, and asked his wife to bring him the large chair and his cloak, as he could, perhaps, bear the pain better if he was sitting up. He then got up, and when the pain came on, he exclaimed, " Oh ! righteous Father, spare, oh ! spare thy poor worm!" So intense was the pain that he sprang from the chair into the bed, and said, " Oh ! my dear wife, flesh and heart will soon faint and fail under pains like these. Oh ! how can I endure another. Oh ! this is suffer- ing, but it comes from my Father's hand, and I must endure it with patience." This was about ten o'clock on Friday, and the mor- phine that he had been taking through the night now produced stupor. He slept so soundly that the ban- dage steeped in ice-water could be applied without awaking him. About three o'clock, when the Doctor, who was unremitting in his attentions, came in, he was asked what he thought of Mr. M'Ginnes's case. He replied, " It is stubborn." Mrs. M'Ginnes watched his countenance, and saw that it was expres- sive of no hope, and from that moment her heart sunk within her. " In the evening a lady suggested the propriety of sending for another physician. Mr. M'Ginnes was asked if he desired it. He said, " No ; I have un- bounded confidence in Dr. Shade's judgment, and I am in the hands of the great Physician ; if he de- signs me to get well, he will bless the means now used ; if he does not, no earthly physician can save me." 9 98 LIFE OF KEV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. When the Doctor left he desired to be sent for again about midnight. This was done, and Mr. M'Ginneswas thought at the time to be sinking, his extremities having already become cold, but he was not suffering so much as he had been during the day. About one o'clock the Doctor told Mrs. M'Ginnes that he had felt alarmed ever since Friday morning about her husband's case, and that the symptoms then were very unfavorable. It was then thought best to send for Mr. M'Ginnes's parents immediately. The Doctor left, and Mrs. M'Ginnes went and kneeled down by the bedside of her dying husband, and asked one of the elders present to please to unite again with them in prayer. From this prayer, in which Mr. Blair prayed that Mr. M'Ginnes might be prepared to appear before his Judge, he first learned that his family had despaired of his life. He grasped his wife's hand more firmly, and almost sobbed aloud. When they arose from their knees, he inquired, " My friends, do you think that I am going to die ?" Mr. Blair replied, " The Doctor says that your symptoms are very alarming." "Does he?" said he, " Oh! it is a solemn thing to die. I did not think my time would come so soon. Perhaps, the Doctor is mis- taken ; I feel quite strong ; I am better than I have been for some hours. Send for the Doctor ; tell him that I want to see him ; tell him not to be afraid to come. And, oh ! my own Libbie, do not weep so, I want to be tranquil." He then said, "Yes, I now think the Doctor is right;" and in a strong voice he HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 99 spoke about his business being in a very embarrassed state, said he was much in debt; and it seemed to grieve him. His wife desired him not to exhaust his remaining strength in talking about his temporal affairs, but to wait until the Doctor came, and she hoped, as he was so strong, that the Doctor would have a more favor- able opinion of his case. " Then," said he, '' has the Doctor concealed the fact from my poor loife f She replied, that the Doctor had kindly expressed his fears to her, but yet they had hope. *' Oh ! I thank the Doctor for that. It was kind in him to tell you. But he is correct; this is death. Oh ! I would not appear before my Judge unprepared, and I must talk. This is not a time to be silent, if I am so soon to exchange worlds." He then engaged most earnestly in prayer that he might not be deceived in regard to his hope. He prayed, " Oh, Lord! Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. I ac- knowledge my transgressions, and my sins are ever before me. Thou Searcher of hearts, search me ; try me, even as silver is tried. Oh ! thou divine Re- deemer, suffer me not to deceive myself in this try- ing hour. May I be washed, justified, and sanctified, and made meet for thy blessed presence." He paused, and his wife said, " My dear husband, Christ and his cross has been all your theme. You have preached him as a mighty Saviour." " Yes," said he ; " but know you not that some who have 100 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. preached Christ to others will be themselves cast away ?" The Doctor now came in. It was about three o'clock in the morning. He explained to him the nature of his disease, and announced to him the im- possibility of his recovery. " Then," said Mr. M'Ginnes, with great Christian composure, " I am about to enter a world of spirits. I have but a little time to live. I did not think that my death would have come so soon, I felt so much better. But it is all well." Then turning to his wife, he said, " Come, my dear wife, we have lived happily together eleven years, but now the time for our separation has come. Remember and plead the promises: the widow's God will be yours. And endeavor to train our little ones for the heavenly kingdom. Let us be an undi- vided family in heaven. Bring my children to me, that I may give them my dying blessing." When they were brought, he placed his hand upon the head of his first-born, his only son, and said, " The Lord bless you, my son. You are now the head of this family. Be a good boy, love and obey your dear mother, comfort and protect her, and may your father's God be your God, and keep you from all evil." To the little girls he said, " Come, kiss your dear papa before he dies," and blessed them. "My poor little Mary," said he, " I shall not see. Give her my dying blessing." "Eliza," he continued, "teach them the virtues, oh, teach them the virtues." Then turning to his brother, he said, "Brother Wil- HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 101 son, shield and protect my fatherless daughters." And added, *'I am so glad, ray dear brother, that you connected yourself with the Church. Oh, be a bright, an ardent Christian.""^ To his physician he said, " Doctor, my dear friend, you have done your best. May God bless you. Farewell." He then engaged in prayer for some time in a whisper, after which he said, "I bless the Lord that he ever permitted me to preach his gospel. But, oh, I have been an unprofitable servant ; I have done nothing, and I can do nothing to merit the favor of God. No, blessed Jesus — * Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling.' I want you to know, my friends, that I die leaning upon the righteousness of Christ alone. Oh, if I am not what I would be, it is by the grace of God that I am what I am. 'I am a miracle of grace.' I can now say, 'for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' *' * Who, "who would live alway, away from his God ; Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, And the noontide of glory eternally reigns. Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet ; * Mr. John Henry Wilson M'Ginnes died on February 2d, 1853, at Shade Gap, of hemorrhage of the lungs, in the 27th year of his age. "He was," says his biographer, " a graduate of Marshall College, Pa., a man of fine talents, a ripe scholar, and a meek and unostentatious Christian." 0* 102 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINXES. While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul.' " Hearing some in the room talk of sending for his parents, he said, " Send quickly ;" and added, " What will my aged parents think of this ? And mj poor sister Anna ? It will be a hard stroke on her." He then renynded his wife of a request he had made to her some months previous, Avhich was, to have his re- mains taken to Shippensburg incase she survived him. And then reminded her of another request, made more than a year before, that, in such a case, she would have his corpse examined by a physician twenty- four hours after life was supposed to be ex- tinct. Then, after giving minute directions in re- ference to his temporal affairs, the Academy, and the church, and having named the ministers who should be requested to deliver funeral discourses — one at his residence, and the other at Shippensburg — he said, "To me the grave hath no terrors. Christ hath scattered far its gloom. Yes — ' The graves of all the saints be blessed, And softened every bed : Where shall the dying members rest, But with their dying Head,' " He then prayed fervently that he might be per- mitted to glorify God in his death. He said, "0 Lord, let not my sun go down under a cloud." This prayer he frequently repeated. As his wife was ap- plying something to his limbs to warm them, he i niS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 103 said, *' My dear, you cannot restore heat. This is the chill of death — first to the ankles, then to the knees, anon to the loins ; soon it will reach the seat of life" (placing his hand upon his heart), " and then, oh ! change ! oh ! wondrous change ! One moment here in mortal pangs, and the next" (pointing upwards with a significancy and rapture, that can be appreciated by those only who witnessed it) " away beyond the stars." To those around him he said, " This is death. I have often read of ' the valley of the shadow of death,' but now I know what it is from experience, for I am passing through it ; but blessed be God ' he is ■with me, his rod and his staff they comfort me.' Remember, that I as your pastor and teacher have not failed to warn you of the certainty of death and of judgment. I am now dying, but I die happily, for Jesus has washed me — a poor sinner — in his pre- cious blood." Beholding his wife weeping, he said to her in an imploring tone, "My poor widowed wife, do not weep so ; it looks like murmuring. Why should you weep when I am going to my 'Father's house' where 'are many mansions,' to 'his presence' w'here 'is fulness of joy,' and 'to his right hand where are pleasures for evermore?' You have been the sharer of all my labors ; you have nursed a poor invalid for eleven years, who is now going to leave you amidst many cares ; your sorrows too will increase upon you ; and you will be bereft of my sympathy ; but you have a 104 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. iM'GINNES. sympathizing Saviour, who has been with you in six troubles, and who will not forsake you now. ** ' His love, in times past, forbids me to think, He'll leave you at last, in trouble to sink ; Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review. Confirms his good pleasure to help you quite through.' *' He has been the guide of your youth, and he will still guide you. Plead the promises, and they are as numerous as the leaves of the blessed Bible. To thy care, heavenly Father, I commit my poor •widow and orphans." His wife was obliged to leave the room, and give vent to her feelings, although her husband's brief address had greatly comforted her. After this, she took her station at his head, and when he again spoke, she said, "My dear husband, I had hoped that you would have closed my dying eyes." He replied, " But that I should be taken first, seems to be the will of Providence, and it is unquestionably right. Live," continued he, "live for the children whom God hath given us, born and unborn ; and oh ! Eliza, bring them all with you — all — home.'' During Saturday he suffered severe pain, and once when he was thought to be almost gone, he moaned, and, looking up at his wife, he asked, "Am I patient? I want to be patient. Pray for me, that I may have patience to wait until my heavenly Father sees fit to remove me from this suffering." She replied, "You are patient, but your sufi'erings are intense." HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 105 At one time, when in great pain, he exclaimed, " Oh ! this is agony, — this is suffering ; but it is no- thing compared with what my Saviour suffered for me. Yes, ' the wages of sin is death,' but, thanks be to God ! ' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' " The sick-room was filled throughout the whole of that day with sorrowing friends, and to almost every one he said something appropriate. An eye-witness writes : " I stood by the bedside of the dying man that day (Saturday, August 30th, 1851), as well as the one following. It was a time of sore lamentation in that house. Strong men wept. And as many as beheld the grapplings of that man of God with the last enemy, then felt, if they had never felt before, that ' the Lord knoweth them that are his,' and is known of them. It was indeed a trying scene. The affectionate brother, the beloved and honored teacher, the faithful minister, the kind husband and the indulgent father, was about passing through the valley of the shadow of death. Many were present, that they might gaze for the last time upon the features of a friend whom none knew but to love, and whom none named but to praise ; and that they might bid him, as they well knew it would be on earth, a final farewell. "Prayer at different times and by different persons was offered up, and the good man's lips, when he was not engaged in discoursing with those around 106 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. him, whether others were praying or not, were almost incessantly moving in silent prayer." Once, when thus praying, he said aloud, " Ah ! Mohammed is a false prophet ; the Lord is my rock." Then looking up, he said, " See, Satan, the adversary, desired to shake my faith, but my hope is founded on the Rock of ages." Twice or thrice was the ad- versary permitted sorely to assail him, but the result in every instance was increased peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. lie took special interest in those of his students who were studying for the ministry. He called them individually to him, and clasping them by the hand, gave them his dying counsel. To one he said, with an earnest, dying look, that will not soon be forgotten, " If you live to preach the gospel, be a faithful, de- voted minister. Do your whole duty, and God will bless you." To another, a promising student, he said, " I want you to prepare for a great and a good work. In the ministry you will find more real plea- sure than in any other calling." To another young man, somewhat addicted to intemperate habits, he said, taking him by the hand, and addressing him by name, " Keep away from temptation, and make your peace with God before you come to die. Re- member, this is the dying request of one who feels a deep interest in your eternal welfare." To another he said, ^'Live the life of a Christian, and the Chris- tian's death will be yours." He then said, " Come, my young friends, and see how a Christian can die. HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 107 With Christ as his friend, he need fear no evil. I am now going through the dark valley, but his pre- sence is with me, and my soul is full of comfort." He frequently said to those around him, " Cultivate holiness of heart — cultivate holiness of heart ; mark that:' In the evening, as he looked out of the window, around which vines were twining, he exclaimed, " Oh ! how peaceful all nature is ! How pleasant to die with the setting sun !" His wife remarked, " But to-morrow is the Sabbath." He replied, " Oh, then, I shall be losing no Sabbaths. Last Sabbath I was in the church militant, to-morrow I shall spend in the church triumphant. My harp shall then be at- tuned to new and nobler strains. Oh I grant me but the loivest seat, Divine Redeemer, in thy blissful pre- sence — the lowest seat, — and I shall be satisfied." As he was very fond of singing, he asked one of the students, that evening, to sing for him the verse commencing with — *' Jesus, the vision of thy face," &c. But, as this was not the first line of any hymn, the verse could not be found. He then asked his wife to give it out, but her voice faltered, upon which he gave out himself the following verses, repeating two lines at a time, and in the singing of which he took an active part himself — singing, indeed, in the loudest strains of which his extreme weakness would permit, — 108 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. " Jesus ! the vision of tliy face Hath overpowering charms ; Scarce shall I feel Death's cold embrace, If Christ be in my arms ! " Then, while ye hear my heart-strings break, How sweet my minutes roll ! A mortal paleness on my cheek, And glory in my soul !" These are the last two verses of the 618th hymn, and the last that he ever requested to be sung. Could there have been any more appropriate? Im-- mediately after singing, he requested that a brief prayer might be offered, and then said to those who were in the room, " Last Sabbath I preached to you from the words, ' When I am weak, then am I strong.' This poor body was weak then, but I was strong in the Lord." To his wife he said, " I wish you, in preparing my body for burial, to write these words upon my breast, ' Remember the words which I spake unto you, being yet present with you.' " That night he suffered greatly. Once, having groaned, he said, " That was a groan but no murmur. Oh ! let patience have her perfect work." His wife said, *' You will soon be where * No groans shall mingle with the songs Which warble from immortal tongues.'" " Oh !" said he, " there will be no sin there, and that is better than no groans." HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 109 Once he repeated the following verses, found in Heb. xii. 22-24. "But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the hea- venly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. To the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel," and then remarked, " I am learning something of that mystery of godli- ness into which angels desire to look, * They never sunk so low, They were not raised so high; They never knew such depths of woe, Such heights "of majesty.' " Oh no ; it was left for poor, sinful, fallen man to taste 'redeeming grace and dying love.' ! the depth of the riches of the love of God." About midnight the 103d Psalm was read, and a prayer made. " There," said Mr. M'Ginnes so soon as the number of the psalm was mentioned, " there is that precious psalm ; but I fear that I cannot enjoy it, the pain is now so great." He, however, repeated it all, in a whisper, very correctly ; and also joined in the prayer that followed, seeming to anticipate just what the speaker was going to say. Soon after this the severe vomiting commenced. He seemed to un- derstand clearly the nature of his disease. He turned 10 110 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. to the Doctor, and said, '' Doctor, there is that stag- nacious vomiting." It was exceedingly painful, and he prayed, " Lord Jesus, come quickly, come quickly. Nevertheless, not my will but thine, ! Lord, be done. ! pray," he continued, "that I may de- part — that I may be absent from the body, and pre- sent with the Lord." His wife asked him if he re- membered the hymn, " Angels will hover round my bed, And waft my spirit home." '^ Oh ! yes," said he, " and there is now nothing but this thin, frail partition of flesh and blood between me and the great cloud of witnesses." At one time receiving some ice water, he said, " Now, now, I shall drink no more, until I dl'ink of the water of the river of life, as it flows fresh and for ever from the throne of God and the Lamb." As the morning approached he several times re- peated, " Oh, how delightful to die upon the Sabbath ! How delightful tt) go to heaven on the morning of that day upon which the Saviour rose." And this thought of being on that holy day with his Lord in paradise seemed to overcome all the pain of dying. About the dawn of day being told that his parents had arrived, he said, " Bring them in quickly ; soon all will be over." His little daughter Mary, who had been absent, came also with them, and received his dying blessing. When his father and mother ap- proached his bedside, he exclaimed, " My venerable. HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. Ill father! Mj venerable mother!" His mother i-e- marked, as he held out his hand to welcome them, "Mj hands are cold." " So are mine, mother," he quickly replied. He then thanked the Lord for per- mitting him to behold his parents once more in the flesh ; and told them that he was passing through the valley of the shadow of death, but that he feared no evil. He then told them as he had told others before, that Christ was his only hope. Desirous of hearing his father's voice once more in prayer, he asked him to pray for him. The old gentleman having travelled the whole night, and being much fatigued and quite nervous, felt unfitted to lead in prayer. At his son's request, however, a short prayer was offered. After which, Mr. M'Gin- nes said to his father, with a look full of tenderness, " Father, here are my poor widow and orphans.''' His father replied, *' Commit them to our covenant God. He has said, ^ Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me.' " He said, " It has been done, father. I have now nothing to do but to die." Then he said, *' Cease, pilgrim, cease, tby race is run. Thy warfare cease, thy work is done." The Doctor coming in at that time desired him to take a little more stimulus, observing that while there is life there is hope. Mr. M'Ginnes was raised up in the bed that he might swallow the more easily, but the effort overcame him, and he said, "Lay me down. 112 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. lamdyingnow. Doctor, where is your hope ?" Then folding his hands upon his breast, and looking once more upon all present, he closed his eyes and said, "Into thy hands, blessed Redeemer, I commit my spirit." His breathing now became difficult. His wife asked, " My dear husband, do you still know me ?" Gently opening his eyes, and trying to smile upon her, he replied, " Oh yes, my beloved wife, my sight will be very dim when I cease to know you. But the windows are becoming darkened." About five minutes after his brother Wilson asked him if he knew him ? He replied, " Oh yes, dear brother," and then said, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." And on Sabbath morning at twenty minutes past eight o'clock, his ransomed soul winged its way to the spirit land. The companion of his youfn and riper age, with their six interesting children, survive him, to mourn an irreparable loss. May his God be theirs, and the everlasting arms be around them. On Sabbath afternoon, religious exercises, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Sterrett, were held at the parsonage, and next morning, after some appropriate remarks and the singing of the 625th hymn, the remains of our deceased brother, accompanied by a large concourse of sorrowing students and weeping friends, were carried to Shippensburg, and on Tuesday morning at ten o'clock they were interred in the burial-ground attached to the Presbyterian Church of that place. " When laid in the grave," the Rev. Mr. Harper HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 113 writes, '' there was a heavy shower of rain, and in the address I was necessarily brief. The number of students, who accompanied his body from Shade Gap to this place, was large, and they evidently were deeply conscious of the great loss they had sustained. This entire community, including all denominations, bewailed his death ; and the company that attended his funeral was much larger than usual on such oc- casions." On the second Sabbath after his death ( Sept. 14th ), the Rev. Mr. Sterrett preached a funeral discourse at Shade Gap, from 2 Tim. iv. 22, " The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit." -And the Rev. Mr. Harper preached one on the same day at Shippensburg, from Eccles. iii. 4, " A time to mourn." Thus terminated the life of one of Christ's minis- ters, the end and aim of all whose acquisitions and actions, so far as we can judge, ever was the glory of God in the salvation of precious, immortal souls. A ministerial brother who knew him well, writes, " Emi- nently endowed with gifts and grace, the deceased adorned every station he filled. But his work on earth is done. The Master hath called him ; and he is now engaged, we doubt not, in the more elevated exercises of the upper sanctuary. May his mantle fall on not a few of his pupils, and may his brethren in the ministry be excited by his example to increased activity in the service of their Lord." The following resolutions of the Philo Literary Society of Jefferson College, among others that might 10- 114 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. be presented, we deem in place here, and worthy of insertion. Philo Hall, Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Oct. 3d, 1851. Whereas, it has pleased the Allwise God, to remove, by death, one who in former years was an active and zealous member of the Philo Literary Society, and in his after life was an honor to the association, therefore, Resolved, That in the death of the Rev. J. Y. M'Ginnes, we recognise the hand of that God, whose judgments are unsearchable, and whose ways are past finding out. Resolved, That, by this dispensation of Providence, this society has been deprived of a worthy member, the world of a philanthropist, the Christian religion of a noble advocate, and his friends of all that in the son, the brother, the husband, and the father, could be desired. Resolved, That in the life and character of the deceased, there is set a bright example to all who would live happily, and die in the " hope of a blessed immortality beyond the grave." Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the friends of the deceased, and that we point them for comfort to Him who '^ heareth the cry of the afflicted." Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family of the deceased, and that they be pub- lished in the " Presbyterian Advocate," the " Cham- HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 115 bersburg Repository and Whig," the " Weekly News," and the " Huntingdon Journal." J. H. Clark, E. L. Dodder, W. W. Miller, Committee. A neat monument, 9 feet high, and costing $175, has been erected at the grave of our departed brother, and bears the following inscription : " To the memory of the Rev. James Y. McGinnes, who departed this life at Shade Gap, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, on Sabbath morning August 31st, 1851, in the 36th year of his age, and the 11th year of his ministry. A dutiful son — a devoted husband — a fond father — a beloved pastor — an able and successful minister, and zealously devoted to the interests of education and religion. He died as he lived with a joyful hope in Jesus of a blissful immor- tality. ' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' " The deceased was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shade Gap, and the founder and Principal of Milnwood Academy. By his students and sur- viving relatives this monument has been erected as a tribute of their affection and esteem." 116 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. HIS CHARACTER. The first time that I saw Mr. M'Ginnes, was in the pulpit of the Presbyterian Church at Waynes- burg, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 18.48, at a meeting of the Presbytery of Huntingdon. He had been appointed at the previous meeting of Presbytery to preach the missionary sermon on this occasion. I had already heard of his character as a preacher, and therefore took my seat with the expec- tation of not only being pro^fited, but of enjoying an intellectual feast. After the previous exercises, in which he was assisted by another brother, he arose and announced as his text, Esther iv. 14, " For if thou altogether boldest thy peace at this time, then shall there en- largement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place ; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed : and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this ?" This was a new text, I thought, for a missionary sermon, but a very suitable one ; and I at once felt anxious to know what he would make of it. He gave us his introduction and entered upon the body of his discourse, and I began to think that my expectations were not about to be realized — that he was not so great a preacher as I had anticipated, — for while his style was chaste and perspicuous, and his ideas good, I saw nothing that was particularly attractive, either as to matter or manner. But the further he advanced HIS CHARACTER. 117 with his subject, the more animated he became. His nervous energy was aroused, his soul was warmed into vigorous life, his eye was lighted up, and from that time to the close of his sermon, there was a rich- ness of thought, a propriety and eloquence of dic- tion, and a matchless force in delivery, that were truly gratifying, and fully convinced me that he was no ordinary preacher. The discourse gave universal satisfaction. The opinion I then formed of his abi- lity and worth, was never diminished, but was con- firmed only, and increased by every interview that I held with him. In person, he was about the middle height, of slender frame, but well proportioned. He had but little ambition for " outward adorning." His thoughts were upon loftier and nobler themes. There was nothing tawdry or foppish about him ; he scorned everything like ostentation ; but his appearance was always modest and becoming. His temperament was nervous bilious, imparting to both body and mind great activity and endurance. His eye was dark and piercing ; his features were strongly marked ; and his countenance was expressive of much simplicity of character, sweetness of disposition, singleness of pur- pose, and, especially in all his public eflforts, of in- domitable energy. He had often in his public addresses, at the close of certain passages of unusual force or beauty, a rigidness of muscle about the mouth, a peculiar com- pression of the lips, a sudden jerking of the head, 118 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. with a corresponding motion of his whole body, and a slight, but instantaneous rising upon his feet, all indicative of the greatest decision of character, and of the greatest firmness of belief in the truth and appropriateness of what he was asserting; and all exhibiting a manner in striking harmony with the sentiments uttered, and eminently adapted to impress them upon the minds of his hearers. His public delivery was always earnest, eloquent, and controlling. He seldom attempted to speak in public, without understanding well his subject, and hence he was self-possessed, and always spoke with effect. When, however, he was suddenly called upon, and from a sense of duty was forced, upon the spur of the moment, to give utterance to his opinions, he was ever found equal to the task. He was at a loss for neither ideas nor words. And often would there be such a flow of language, and such a strain of ele- vated sentiment, as greatly to astonish and delight every auditor. It has been said, that during his last and memorable visit to Canonsburg, he made, before the Literary Societies of the College, as occa- sion demanded, some of the most chaste and beautiful addresses that were ever delivered there. At one time his eloquence would be soft and easy as the gently-flowing rivulet, at another, it would be bold and sublime as the wintry storm. The one was persuasive from its winning mildness ; the other was effective from its overwhelming power. An anecdote given me by a neighboring brother, HIS CHARACTER. 119 is illustrative of the latter kind of his eloquence. He was assisting Mr. M'Ginnes during an interesting communion season at Shade Gap. One evening he preached a sermon in the Academy, addressed espe- cially to youth. Mr. M'Ginnes was aroused by the subject. As soon as the sermon was ended, he made a fervent and appropriate prayer, and then followed with some remarks of a most eloquent and impressive character. Amidst other matters of thrilling interest, he related the following incident, which occurred during one of his journeys, designed to show the danger to which a convinced sinner is exposed by de- laying to come at once to Christ, and he so related it, that it almost made the hair of those who heard to rise. He observed that he had met with a man who was once anxious about his soul, but who had grieved away the Spirit of God, and now had no hope, and, said Mr. M'Ginnes, with most terrific effect, " despair was written upon his countenance in the blazing characters of hell, as he uttered the words, ' I am a doomed man I I am a doomed man I ' " No sooner were the services closed, than one of the students came forward, "pricked in his heart," to ask, "Men and brethren, what shall I do?" He was immediately urged to the exercise of "repen- tance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ ;" and then, with characteristic prudence, Mr. M'Ginnes placed him under the care of a Christian student, that his serious impressions might be deep- ened instead of being allowed to pass away. 120 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNES. Another instance has been given of the power of his oratory. He was preaching from Is. xxviii. 16, and in the midst of his appeals to all God's rational creation, to witness the sure foundation which He had laid in Zion, he addressed the devils in hell, and said, '\Beliold, ye accursed spirits of the pit! jq^ who have sworn eternal hatred to the Church — she flings back your defiance ; she dares you to the as- sault ; she rests upon a foundation, against which you, and all the gates of hell, shall not prevail. You may vent your malignant spite ; you may try all the cunning of those hellish arts, by which you at first deceived our federal head, and brought our Maker's curse upon the world ; but ye shall be foiled in every scheme ; ye shall be thwarted in every efi*ort, for the bulwarks of Almighty grace defend the city where we dwell. The foundation, upon which we now build, is the rock Christ Jesus, your Master and ours. Make ready then your disciplined legions, and, strong in the mighty association of principalities and powers, come up to the charge, and ye shall be scat- tered like the chaff before the whirlwind. Gird your- selves together, but ye shall be utterly broken in pieces. The foundation which ye assault is as im- movable as the throne of the Eternal." This whole address, it is said, produced a most thrilling sensa- tion. At another time, the tone of his eloquence would be gentle and soothing as the mild zephyrs of spring. His thoughts ran much on death and heaven, and niS CHARACTER. 121 he often dwelt upon these subjects in his public ad- dresses. From many expressions which dropped from his lips during the last two or three years of his life, he seemed to have an impression that he would be early called away from us. I will merely mention one. At his spring communion, in March, 1851, when there was a good deal of religious interest awakened, as already stated, his wife said to him on Sabbath morning, that she thought she could not go to church that day, as one of the students was sick at their house ; and as so many of their young men appeared to be serious, she said that she did not like to ask any of them to take her place in the sick-room. He replied in a very decided tone, " Eliza, it must be so planned that you can go. Our communion Sab- baths together on earth are numbered. They are too precious to be absent from." And in the even- ing when they were conversing about the exercises of the day, he said, " It was an earnest of our hea- venly inheritance." This impression of the shortness of his stay on earth will account, no doubt, in some good degree, for the frequency, as well as the vividness, of his heavenly contemplations. An intelligent lady once remarked that in his descriptions of heaven, he was more impressive than any person that she had ever heard ; he seemed to present, she said, the very reality before his hearers. Said another, His sermon on ' the marriage supper of the Lamb,' from Rev. 11 122 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. xix. 9, was the most beautiful thing that I ever lis- tened to." At the communion table his remarks were always happy. Like the ever memorable Payson he was here, especially, at home. He felt that his divine Master was by his side, and his soul glowed with holy fire as he discoursed to the admiring communicants of ^' Jesus Christ, evidently set forth before their eyes, crucified among them." On this theme, in a re- markable degree, his " heart indited good matter, and his tongue was the pen of a ready writer." At one communion season, while assisting me, he ad- dressed the communicants for about twenty or thirty minutes, in a strain of the most fervid eloquence, from those sweet and weighty words of Paul to the Corinthian Christians, " All things are yours," &c. 1 Cor. iii. 21-23. As he enlarged upon each item there specified, I thought the passage was richer than I had ever before anticipated ; and, during his ad- dress, he held the entire audience in breathless at- tention. At another communion season, in the same place, he was m'ost happy in his address to non-com- municants ; especially to the baptized children of the Church, whom he styled " the children of the cove- nant." It was the most appropriate, persuasive, and solemn address of the kind that I ever heard. I wish all those words were written with ink in a book, so that we all might read them ; and written, as with the pen of a diamond, upon the heart of every baptized youth in our land. But alas ! they are HIS CHARACTER. 123 gone. They were the effusions of the moment, spring- ing from an eloquent and pious soul. They made their impression at the time ; an impression which will never be entirely forgotten ; but the words them- selves are now floating only upon the breeze. In June, 1849, when the Rev. George Elliott was ordained at Alexandria, Pennsylvania, Mr. M'Ginnes preached the ordination sermon before Presbytery, from 2 Cor. v. 20, " Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." The sermon was delivered amidst much bodily infirmity ; but it was an able and earnest effort, and gave great satisfaction. One of the audience, at whose house he had received some medical relief a few days before, remarked to one of the older minis- ters present, that she did not think that Mr. M'Gin- nes was able to preach at all, but that he had done admirably. He replied, " Brother M'Ginnes always gives us ' strong meat,' but I fear that the sword will soon cut through the scabbard ; that his mind will "wear out his body." The reply was prophetic. To expect, however, that the reading of his ser- mons will afford anything like the same delight that the hearing of them did, would be expecting too much. His matter, however excellent in itself, with- out his manner, is destitute of one very essential element of povv^er. Said a writer of the great Peri- cles, who had been injured by imperfect attempts to represent him, "Action is almost all." Many con- 124 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. sider action to be the soul of oratory. The immortal Demosthenes thrice declared it to be the first thing in discourse. It is recorded of Friar Narni, a Capu- chin, that he was so remarkable for his eloquence, that his hearers, after one of his sermons, cried out mercy in the streets as he passed home ; and that thirty bishops started up under another discourse, and hurried home to their respective dioceses, deter- mined to make full proof of their ministry. Yet when his sermons came to be published, they were thought to be unworthy of his reputation ; which shows how much depends on action, and how correct the saying of Demosthenes was on that subject. Similar remarks have been made of the inimitable Whitefield, and of other eminent orators. It must not then be deemed strange, if the printed sermons of our worthy brother should be labelled by many, '' Teheir But it is, to say the least, no mean evidence of the high estimation in which he was held, that we are able to afl&rm that those who heard him most liked him best. An intelligent hearer said to the writer, "His sermons yfere ahvays excellent, whether he was sick or well. AVhen his congregation did not think him able to preach, he would astonish them. I have heard other preachers, and the best of them would sometimes fail ; but I never saw one like Mr. M'Ginnes, for he was brilliant in evert/ sermon." Said another, a member of his Session, "I have no preference for his sermons. They all appeared so good to me, that I should like to see any of them HIS CHARACTER. 125 published, so that I could place a copy of them in mj library, as a memento of one whom I always re- spected and admired." His physician in Illinois, also a ruling elder, says, "that he was regarded by all as an able and devoted minister. And that whei^he came to the conclusion that he must remove from the valley of the Missis- sippi, all were satisfied that such was his duty; yet, at the same time, this necessity was regarded as a mysterious dispensation of Providence, by which his charge and the country generally were to be de- prived of the labors of one peculiarly adapted to this field." The Rev. Robert Steel (who, a few years since, also "entered into his rest"), the successor of Mr. M'Ginnes at Lewistown, Illinois, in writing to him under date of Dec. 2d, 1845, says, " I presume there will be no wrong in saying to you, now that you are removed from this people, that I find the odor of your name very sweet among them. I be- lieve they universally regret your departure. They never speak of you but with affection. And of your preaching they speak in high terms. Excuse me for saying so much of you. Justice, I think, demands no less, however much we ought to avoid saying any- thing that would exalt a man's opinion of himself, especially the minister of the gospel, who, of all others, should esteem himself the least." His most intimate friend at the West, thus writes, " My im- pressions of his preached sermons were then, and now are, of a most favorable character. I thought them 11* 126 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. clear, richly evangelical, and delivered with power. In Illinois he was remarkably popular as a minister, as a pastor, and as a man. His memory is still cherished there, as associated with much that is precious." In a letter, dated Dec. 25th, 1843, recommending Mr. M'Ginnes, after his return from the West, to a vacant congregation in Pennsylvania, the Rev. Dr. M'Kinley speaks of him, as follows : " He is a young man of the fii^st order of pulpit talents, as you will at once perceive when you hear him preach. He is sound to the core as to faith, and a very eloquent and impressive preacher of the gospel. I feel no hesitation in recommending him as one of the most able and promising young men that I have ever known." The same brother — for whom he had often preached — lately remarked of him to the author, "He was a very superior man." A neighboring brother writes, " I well remember my first impressions of the Rev. Mr. M'Ginnes, in seeing his penetrating eye, hearing his manly voice, and receiving his cor- dial hand. I distinctly remember too my pleasant surprise in hearing him preach for the first time. "When he began to impart the inspiration of his theme, I was ready to say, can this be the missionary of Shade Gap? This is speech rarely heard even from marble pulpits." He was comparatively a young man when he died, but his reputation as a preacher and an orator was very high. His pulpit career was brilliant. He was HIS CHARACTER. 127 considered an ornament to his Presbytery, and it was always a source of gratification to his brethren to hear him preach. He possessed talents of rare excellence, quick apprehension, a fertile memory, a fascinating style of elocution, admirable tact and ad- dress, and a mind that seemed to grasp, and to un- fold with facility, the most complicated subject. As a writer, he was rapid, perspicuous, and forci- ble. His imagination was rich and glowing, and rapidly "bodied forth the forms of things;" so much so that it seemed impossible for his hasty pen to "turn them to shapes." His mind could hardly wait upon his pen ; hence the almost illegible style of his writing. And I may here observe, that he had naturally a fondness for writing poetry. His eye often "in a fine frenzy rolling," was indica- tive only of "the circle where his passions moved." At a very early age he exhibited his taste for poetic composition, and vre have left us several of his poetic efi'usions of considerable merit. He tarried, how- ever, but little " to regale himself at Parnassus ; he only stopped to pluck a flower with which to adorn himself the more fully for his Master's work." As a theologian, he was strictly orthodox. He loved the doctrines of grace as ably set forth by all the Reformers, and in our own standards. In a let- ter, under date of July 20th, 1850, he wrote me that he had just returned from New England, where he had visited New Haven, and had an opportunity of tasting a new dish of theology, but remarked cha- racteristically that, " it was not very palatable to 128 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. an old-fashioned Calvinist like me." When the Ger- m an Reformed congregation at Chambersburg, Penn- sylvania, was vacant, before the Rev. A. Nevin (now of Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was invited there as a candidate, Mr. M'Ginnes had a very pressing invi- tation from the Consistory of that church to preach for them, with a view to a call. He was asked whether he would go? He replied, "No. I could not leave the old landmarks. I shall obtain all the honor I desire in the good Old School Presbyterian Church." He did not, however, enter the ministry for the sake of either ease or honor, well satisfied that any who seek the ministry from such motives had better never enter it. He was a hard-working man. The maxim well applied to him, " the life of a minister is the life of his ministry." As a pastor he was af- fectionate, prayerful, and laborious. He "endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." As a preacher of the gospel, he " studied to show himself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." He "preached the word: was instant in season, out of season; reproved, rebuked, and ex- horted with all long suffering and doctrine." Nor did he serve God with that which cost him nothing. He prepared beaten oil for the sanctuary. Although he was a good extemporaneous speaker, yet whenever his time permitted he always made ample prepara- tion for the pulpit, as his many written sermons tes- HIS CHARACTER. 129 tify. One of his parishioners once said to him, Mr. M'Ginnes, why do you spend so much time in writ- ing your sermons, when you can extemporize with so much facility ? He replied, " It is a solemn thing to serve God, and I cannot do it with that which costs me nothing. I must prepare beaten oil for the sanctuary." A conversation very similar to this is said to have taken place between President Davies and one of his confidential elders ; and it may be re- peated here, because appropriate in no small degree to the subject of this sketch, and because it is directly antagonistic to some of the frothy publications of the present day, in relation to this matter. This elder once said to Mr. Davies, " How is it, that you who are so well informed upon all theological subjects, and can express yourself with so much ease and readiness upon any subject, and in any company, and have language so at your command, should think it necessary to prepare and write your sermons with so much care, and take your notes into the pulpit, and make such constant use of them ? Why do you not, like many other preachers, oftener preach ex- tempore ?" The reply of Mr. Davies — than whom, a greater pulpit orator this country has not produced — was, " I always thought it to be a most awful thing to go into the pulpit, and there speak nonsense in the name of God. Besides, when I have an oppor- tunity of preparing, and neglect to do so, I am afraid to look up to God for assistance, for that would be to ask him to countenance my negligence. But when 130 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. I am evidently called upon to preach, and have had no opportunity to make suitable preparation, if I see it clearly to be my duty, I am not afraid to try to preach extempore, and I can with confidence look up to God for assistance." This is a judicious presen- tation of the subject, and worth volumes on the other side of the question. President Davies said, that every sermon of his that was worth anything, cost him four days of hard labor. So with Brother M'Ginnes; though his thoughts flowed rapidly, every sermon was characterized by "the hand of the diligent." He generally wrote fully, and used his manuscript freely. He thus scouted the idea that many entertain, who have not half of his popularity, that it is unnatural, unscrip- tural, unhistorical, and ineffective to write much and use notes, and that we should preach wholly extem- pore. His early practice seems to have been this: " He wrote his sermons, and committed them to memory. This he did with astonishing quickness and ease. But, constantly harassed with the appre- hension that he might forget, he after a time took short notes of his written discourses into the pulpit with him." But in later years he had no hesitation in using his manuscript fully. He was, however, familiar with it, and was therefore, never trammelled in his delivery. So he once said to me, that he did not call it (the manner of his delivery) reading, but preaching. It is as true of the flock of Mr. M'Ginnes, as ever HIS CHAEACTER. 131 it was of the people of either President Davies, or of the sainted M'Chejne's charge, that they were guilty of man-worship. Both his congregation and his pupils idolized him ; and because of this, perhaps, as in other cases, it was necessary for him to be re- moved from their midst. His death produced a shock, from which neither have since recovered. The following incidents are illustrative of the ardent attachment that was cherished towards him by his beloved pupils. After his death, several of the young men boarded with Mrs. M'Ginnes. She was much affected one day, picking up the Bible of one of them, in observing a little ringlet of hair carefully stitched on that verse in 2d Corinthians, from which Mr. M'Ginnes had preached his last sermon. Upon inquiry, it was found that several of the young men had asked for locks of his hair, and that was the way in which they kept them sacred. One of the students was heard to say, after Mr. M'Ginnes's life was despaired of, " Oh, that I could die in his stead, and let him live to do good." Another, a motherless boy of ten years of age, said, " I will never love any man again as I did Mr. M'Ginnes." "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." But Mr. M'Ginnes was not only dear to his own charge, and to the pupils of his Academy : he was also beloved by all who knew him. He was a uni- 132 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. versal favorite. He had both a lovely and a loving spirit. In social life, he stood among the foremost. He was eminently social wherever he was, at home or abroad. Great as he was as a pulpit orator, he never shone in a light more winning than when he was seen in a domestic circle. As a dutiful son, a tender father, and an affectionate husband, he had no superior. He was a truly domestic man. It was interesting to see his joy amidst his family circle. There was nothing of the freezing atmosphere about him. His house was the spot he ever loved the best. He never thought it beneath Ms dignity to mingle in those little pleasures which he termed " the great sweeteners of domestic life." One pleasing habit we have noticed. He was accustomed every morning, just after family wor- ship, to call all his children to him, beginning at the eldest, to give him their morning kiss, and then to direct them to their mother to say their prayers and receive her parting kiss. Whenever absent from home, he was always anxious to hear from it, and was continually writing letters thither ; and he always enjoyed upon his return, any little surprise that his family had prepared for him in his absence, with the greatest delight. He was a generous, noble-hearted, and warm friend. He accordingly made friends wherever he went, and was ever treated like a son or a brother. He was not, therefore, a stranger to the proverb of Solomon, " A HIS CHARACTER. 133 man that hath friends, must show himself friendly.' A certain poet has said, " Friendship is but a name ;" but Mr. M'Ginnes says, "he was an ascetic, melan- choly misanthrope, who said so. It is one of the dearest boons of heaven to man, — a pledge of life, and light, and peace, an antepast of heaven, — so I have found it." "He was given to hospitality," as the apostle ex- horts. Living so remote from the public thorough- fares, as he did, and not often meeting with his minis- terial brethren, he enjoyed their society exceedingly. A meeting of Presbytery, or a visit from a minister, was to him like an " oasis in the desert." He always welcomed these, as well as his parishioners, pupils, acquaintances, and even strangers, cordially to his house, and made them all feel at home. His conversation was instructive and entertain- ing, and always full of life and good humor. He had a vein of pleasantry about him that was attrac- tive ; and he was, no doubt, often tempted to carry this to an extreme. He may, at times, in conse- quence, have injured, to some extent, the influence of his occasional ministrations among us. Many solemn appeals that were made by him in the pulpit might have had their point somewhat blunted by the recollection of his merriment in the private, social circle ; but ordinarily this was not the case, and so far as there was a tendency towards it, we know that he was himself amono^ the first to resrret it, while his usual cheerfulness rendered him acceptable and useful to all classes. 12 134 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. His manners were agreeable; being unaifected and graceful. He was unassuming, affable, and perfectly accessible to all. His mental powers, as already seen, were of a high order, fitting him to be not only the popular orator, but also the able scholar and the successful leader, whether in education or religion. They were active, discriminating, and commanding. His pupils, al- though fully at their ease with him in the school-room, the parlor, or at the playground, were never known to treat him with deojradinor familiarities. Their love to him and their respect for him equally forbade it. In sympathizing with them in their studies and innocent amusements, in being their confidant and counsellor, and in his earnestness to promote both their greatest intellectual and spiritual welfare, he became to them an object of the highest esteem and veneration. Hence, commanding both their affection and respect, he had very little difiiculty in securing their obedience. His word was law among them. Whatever he said, settled all their controversies. They had full confidence in him, both as to sound judgment and honest inten- tion. He had also very great tact in managing his students. Said a friend, "He had so well trained his boys, that they moved forward in one unbroken pha- lanx, to carry out any purpose he wished." It has been asserted that there was but one student that ever said anything against Mr. M'Ginnes ; and it was said that he was not fit to be at the Academy. Mr. M'Grinnes was a good critic, and a close ob- HIS CHARACTER. 135 server of men and things. He understood well Pope's adage, *'The proper study of mankind is man." Nor was he backward to express his sentiments when- ever the occasion called for them. He remarked one day of a brother clergyman, " I do not know which to admire most, his head or his heart." To another, he said, " Dear brother, the more I know you, the better I love you ;" and of another, he observed, " Oh, Brother is a man after my own heart." He was a fearless advocate of what he believed to be the truth, and he would not be imposed upon ; nor was he ever at a loss for an apt reply, when at- tacked by an opponent. One day, he vrent to hear a clergyman of another denomination. He wished to sit below as an auditor, but his brother insisted on his taking a seat with him in the pulpit. He did so. But, after getting him there, and exposing him to the public gaze, the minister made a rude attack upon Presbyterianism ; and when he was through his discourse, he did not even call upon Mr. M'Ginnes to pray. The next day this minister met him, and extended his hand to greet him, but Mr. M'Ginnes declined it, at the same time remarking that he asso- ciated with gentlemen. In relating this anecdote afterwards to a friend, Mr. M'Ginnes said that the conduct of that clergyman towards him was like that of Joab towards Amasa, when he said, " Art thou in health, my brother?" and then smote him under the fifth rib. He said that it was " an outrageous lam- 136 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINN.ES. pooning of Presbjterianism," "which he had been compelled to listen to, and that if he had been invited to pray, as he of course expected that he would be, he intended to have taken the liberty of first telling the audience what Presbyterianism was. A short time after he removed to Shade Gap, he was introduced to a man who is called " A stiff Seceder," and who, Mr. M'Ginnessaid, when relating the circumstance, thought himself one of " the people, and that wisdom would die with him." The man accosted him with an air and in a manner not the most pleasant, about his singing hymns, which, he said, were human composition, whilst they praised God with an inspired psalmody. Mr. M'Ginnes in- quired, as though he was very ignorant, '' What do you sing ?" The man replied, " David's Psalms." Again it was inquired, " Just as they are in the Bible?" " Oh, no," was the reply; " they are set to metre." " By whom ?" " By John Rouse." " Well, who was this John Rouse?" "A Scotch- man." Mr. M'Ginnes said, "I have only one more question to ask, did God ever inspire a Scotchman f " Well," said the man, completely at his wits' end, " I don't know as he did." A few years ago, before Mr. M'Ginnes's own dwell- ing was much thought of, a clergyman from New York, who visited in his family, happened to form a rather low opinion of Shade Gap, and of the people around it. He spoke somewhat disparagingly of both, and urged Mr. M'Ginnes to seek a more extensive field of usefulness. HIS CHARACTER. 137 He said that he did not like to see a man of his talents hemmed in there amidst the mountains, preaching to a mere handful of people, and that his own family, too, would grow up in ignorance. Mr. M'Ginnes replied, " There is an honorable ambition which every man should have, to do all the good that he can in the world ; and it is true that my voice could be heard equally as well by one thousand per- sons as by two or three hundred, but then there are other things (referring to his feeble health) to be taken into consideration. And," said he, "it does not follow that our children will grow up in igno- rance, for, if I remain here, I will have good schools ;" — and then told the gentleman some of his plans for the future. " Oh," said the latter, " those are nothing but schemes and the notions of a Penn- sylvania Yankee, and it is all mere wind-work. You will never carry them out." All this was spoken in a somewhat sarcastic tone, and Mr. M'Ginnes felt it, and quickly replied, "I have seen some Neiu York Yankees who had all the vices of the real Yankees, without half their virtues." This cutting rejoinder instantaneously raised a hearty laugh. In heart Mr. M'Ginnes excelled. He possessed noble traits of character. An excellent man, very much like him, once remarked of him, with his usual earnestness, "he had more soul than any man living." The following letter, too, from the pen of a pious but anxious mother, exhibits not only the confidence that his character inspired, but also the fact that the 12* 138 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. more closely we came in contact ^Yith him, the more highly would that character be appreciated. She writes, '' On reading the subscription to this letter you will, no doubt, my dear sir, feel a momentary surprise, and wonder why a stranger addresses you. Not to keep you in suspense then, I will hasten to inform you that I write to ask your aid to win a be- loved child to the Saviour. This child is my youngest born. It is , who was at one time a room-mate of yours, and who has for your character a high esteem, and who admires your preaching. 0, he is in a deep, deep sleep, and I want, if possible, to arouse him. Will you be so good as to address a few lines to him? Sometimes a personal address is blessed, when every other means has failed. I make no apology for making this request. You are a minister and a dis- ciple of the Saviour, who went about doing good; and whether the effort is blessed or not, you will re- ceive the thanks of an anxious mother, who, though a stranger, is your friend — she hopes in Christian bonds." For strict conscientiousness, generous impulse, warm-hearted sympathy, and untiring zeal for his Master's honor, it would be difficult to find Mr. M'Ginnes's superior. He once said, when speaking of his multiplied labors, that he wished to live in the fear of God, and according to the dictates of an enlightened conscience, so that when he came to die, he would have nothing to do but to die. At another time, he gave to his family his views of the importance HIS CHARACTER. 139 of family religion in a most impressive manner. Not long after this, he expected to be absent all day sur- veying. His wife thought that she would let him rest that morning as long as he wished, and the family ate their breakfast without him. When he arose, his breakfast was ready for him, and in their hurry to get him started worship was forgotten. Soon as he returned in the evening, he inquired whether family worship had not been neglected in the morning? His wife said, that it had been. " Oh," said he, " this ought not so to be. Have my vine and olive plants been this day sheltered beneath a roof, from which no family prayer has ascended? I bad rather leave you in a house without a roof than in a prayerless house.". He said that he had often thought of the omission during the day ; and when the time for evening worship arrived, he, in a solemn manner, confessed their omission of duty, and purposed to endeavor after new obedience in future. It cannot be said that ''the love of money" was his failing. He was generous to a fault. He said, by his conduct, with Melancthon, " Let me abound in good works, and I care not who abounds in riches." Often has he been heard to thank the Lord for giving him a liberal heart. " A liberal soul deviseth liberal things," was one of his favorite expressions. He was charitable without ostentation, and "in all things showed himself a pattern of good works." His wife, being one day from home, re- 140 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. ceived many thanks from a poor family to whose ne- cessities Mr. M'Ginnes had been ministering, but about which Mrs. M'Ginnes knew nothing. In speaking of it, afterwards, to her husband, she re- marked that there was a luxury in doing good which he should share with her. " Oh," said he, smiling, " I prefer not to let my right hand know what my left hand doeth." A few days after his return from Canonsburg, a widow lady visited him, and as they were talking about their temporal concerns, he spoke of a certain debt that he intended to forgive her. She modestly replied, '' Mr. M'Ginnes, you are liberal far beyond your means ; besides, you have a rising family to provide for." " Well," said he, ^' ^ I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed beg- ging bread.' He who feeds ' the young ravens which cry,' will not suffer my little ones to want." He was not only remarkably benevolent, but he was also sympathizing and kind towards all who suf- fered. To a pious young friend in sorrow he wrote, *' Be resigned ; you are not a lone w^anderer, with none in whom to confide, with none to pour the balm of consolation into your wounded spirit. . . . Re- member that you have 'a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.' 0, it is delightful to be able to say in the spirit of meek resignation, 'Not my will but thine be done.' It is delightful to be able to point you to Him who has said, ' In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer ; I have over- come the world.' Now you can plead the promises. HIS CHARACTER. 141 Friends may forsake you; disease may lay its 'wither- ing hand upon you, and steal the sparkling lustre from your eye, and the bloom of health from your cheek; every earthly hope may wither in the bud; the bright visions that, like the deluge dove, have gone forth winged with desire, may come back weary and unsatisfied at finding the world a waste ; yet, if you are a child of grace, you have amidst it all a consolation, which the world can neither give nor take away. The condescending Spirit 'helpeth our infirmities.' He takes upon him a portion of our burdens to relieve us of their pressure, supports our drooping spirits, revives our dying hopes, leads to the fountain of life, and, as an earnest of the heavenly inheritance, gives us a foretaste of those joys that bloom fresh as the unwithering flowers of Eden, in the paradise above. Be of good cheer then, you have friends on earth, and you have friends in heaven." To the same friend he again wrote, "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb. If he depresses with one hand he will uphold with the other. If sorrow weighs down the heart, to counteract its influence he will throw around you ten thousand sources of pleasure. . . . Earth is not all gloom. It has its pleasures — its social sympathies — its domestic ties. True, they are short-lived, but still they are a cup of blessings in solitude or in society, at noon or at even. 0, 'tis sweet, at even's silent hour, To gaze on yon blue vault above ; 142 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. On faith's triumphant wing to soar, To that bright world where all is love. 'Tis sweet to bow at memory's shrine, To muse on early pleasures fled ; And o'er that spot, the willow twine, Where sleeps the loved, the sacred dead. 'Tis sweet to roam by some lone stream. And hear its waters murmur by ; Where moonlight beauty sheds its beam. And whispering nightwinds gently sigh. 'Tis sweet amidst earth's selfishness. When friendship's boon is given ; A pledge of love, and joy, and peace, An antepast of heaven. But all is fleeting as a dream, Life, health, and youth must fade ; Though bright as morning sunlight's beam, 'Twill close in midnight shade. Religion only can impart Hope's loveliest, brightest ray ; It flings a halo round the heart, And points to endless day. Yes, it is religion, and that alone, that can cheer us amidst life's changes. It is the faith of the gospel that supports the mourner, and that sheds a lustre around the pillow of the dying saint ; ^ Hope of the comfortless, when all others cease, fadeless and pure.' " Only a few weeks before his death, when he was taking a review of his past history, he said to his wife, "We have shared each other's sorrows, we have wept each other's tears." She could truly reply, that she had never known a sorrow that was long unsoothed by him. HIS CHARACTER. 143 The following extract from a letter, of August 6th, 1846, addressed to his wife's sister and her hus- band on the death of their infant son, eleven months old, is another specimen of the happy manner in which he could present consolation to the afflicted ; and we believe that the extract will be acceptable to many of our readers, who have met with a similar loss, and whose hearts, in consequence, have often gushed with sorrow. Says he : " To tell you that our sympathies and tears flow", and that our prayers ascend for you in the dark hour of your tribulation, would be to tell you what is true. Our hearts bleed for you, and gladly would we offer you every com- fort and consolation in our power. You have lost the cherub-smile of your baby boy; and every hope, that fondly twined around a father's and mother's heart, has been torn away as if by some ruthless hand, and those hearts' warm affections have been left to flow back cold and icy upon themselves. " 0, how much have we to remind us of the solemn declaration of the Spirit, ' vanity of vanities ; all is vanity and vexation of spirit.' What can we call our own ! There is not a tie that binds to earth but shall be severed. Our children are around us to-day in their freshness, their youth, and beauty, and our ' mountain stands strong.' We look at them again and start back in astonishment, for the seal of the grim monster is upon them ; and the voice of inspi- ration comes stealing in sadness over the soul, ' All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the 144 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. flower of the field.' Bat blessed be God, this is not the final issue. " ^ The separation is not for ever,' said a young missionary a few days ago, as he clasped his aged mother in his embrace, and then tore himself away to proclaim salvation to the heathen. ' Thy brother shall rise again,' said Jesus to his disconsolate friends. And thy babe shall rise, and you shall be with it in that blessed heaven where separation never comes, and where the ties of love remain for ever un- broken. ^ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.' Said a gentleman once, when standing on the bank of the Hudson, ' I always admired the scenery of the country on the other side of the river ; but I confess that it has attractions now that it never before had.' 'What are they ?' inquired his friend. 'Why,' replied he, ' my beloved son removed there a few days ago, and resides in yonder house ; and my thoughts turn to it now a thousand times, to where they did once before.' " And, dear friends, another cord which bound you to earth is loosened. You now have another tie to draw your hearts away from earth, and call your thoughts to heaven. You would not, if you could, recall your cherub back to the dark world. You would not, if you could, remove it from the arms of the blessed Shepherd, or from the smiles of his coun- tenance. Well then, if it cannot return to you, pre- pare to go to it. Go, trust the promises of the Saviour, and rest upon the riches of his almighty HIS CHARACTER. 145 grace. Yet a little while, and your race will be run, your toils ended, and you too shall join that blessed company, and gather around the throne, a happy family, where every tear is wiped from every weep- ing eye, and every sigh banished from every aching heart. " May the Lord sanctify this afflictive dispensation of his providence to you, and support you by the blessed consolations of his gospel, is the prayer of your brother, "J. Y. M'GlNNES." Mr. M'Ginnes was especially distinguished for activity and energy of character. His motto seems to have been from his constant activity in behalf of both education and religion, "Nil sine labore." Such a word as impossihle was not found in his vocabulary. And whenever any of his students would come to him, and tell him that they could not succeed with their studies, he would tell them that the word "can't" should be erased from their vocabulary, and the words "try again" be substituted in its place ; making that their motto, as he had done. Whatever he undertook he was determined to carry through. No obstacles could terrify or dishearten him. Difficulties seemed only the more to develope his natural genius. It has already been stated that when he started the Academy, he had but one or two boys for several weeks. "Why," said a shrewd ob- server, " that would have frozen the soul out of any 13 146 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. common man.'' "Ah," said he to his brother, who seenied discouraged with the undertaking, " they will come flocking in by and by." And in reference to his securing some appropriation from the State in behalf of the Academy, having failed in his first attempt, he remarked, just before his death, that he had another project in view in regard to it; and said, that he was determined to leave no stone un- turned to accomplish it. A correspondent writes : " Cheerfulness, energy, and industry prominently characterized him. He seemed eminently to enjoy the present, and, at the same time, to live for the future. Cheerful, when others would have been sad, he ever had in view the accomplishment of a future good. In view of diffi- culties, which would have intimidated others, he was courageous, determined, and persevering. He was too conscientious and magnanimous to swerve from principle. Notwithstanding the weakness of his frame, he was ever fired for action, ever ready to un- dergo difficulty, and to confront danger in the dis- charge of duty, and in the accomplishment of noble ends by noble means ; and he never failed for ivant of energy. "With a higher and holier end in view, he was much like Bonaparte himself, and of one as well as of the other it could be said, ' every action incited him only to a new one.' " But a crowning excellence was, that he consecra- ted all his attainments to Christ. In labor or in suf- fering he gloried only in "the cross." No one who HIS CHARACTER. 147 really knew him could doubt his personal piety. His faith, repentance, and hope, as well as his holy and useful life, have all been illustrated in his previous history. Professor Morrow writes : "In a conversation with Mr. M'Ginnes, in relation to his accepting of the invitation to deliver the anniversary address before the literary societies of Jefferson College, after pre- senting many reasons why I thought he ought to accept, I remarked that the invitation was flattering to a young man, and the honor sufficient to mark the period as an epoch in his life. To which he replied, ' I think I have learned to lay self at the foot of the cross. If I thought that it would increase my influ- ence as a minister of Christ I would go.' The reply savored so of an entire consecration to the Saviour, that it left an impression on me which eternity shall not erase. And I trust it has been blessed in teach- ing me, more fully, tl^e object for which I should live." The following extracts are given as corroborative of the views above expressed of Mr. M'Ginnes's cha- racter, the last two being received since those views were penned. J. Alfred Shade, M.D., says: "My acquaintance with the late Rev. J. Y. M'Ginnes be- gan with the period of his taking charge of the con- gregation at Shade Gap, and continued without in- terruption till his death. During this time ample opportunity was afforded me of estimating his quali- ties and character. " As a citizen he was in the front rank of every 148 LIFE OF EEV. J. Y. M'gINNES. movement identified with the welfare of the commu- nity. The magical change in the face of affairs in his neighborhood, that ensued so rapidly after his coming, was owing mainly to his untiring energy ; and, at this day, he is quoted by all classes of people as the architect of the fortunes of the flourishing village where he lived and died. " He was eminently social in his nature, and liberal in his feelings, which led him to mix freely with the people at large, each of whom came in time to value him as a friend and esteem him as a neighbor. His Christianity was of a cheerful, benignant character, exonerating him from bringing religion into disrepute by clothing it with the unfriendly feature of cold re- serve, that occasionally renders hypocrisy so transpa- rent. A spirit of true benevolence and charity was, perhaps, the predominant trait in his Christian cha- racter. To the poor he was ever a friend, with a kind voice and a plentiful hand contributing to alleviate their condition. No man not exclusively devoted to the work, was found more frequently at the bedside of the sick and dying, or in the house of suffering ; and never did the spirit of the deceased appear to better advantage than in the hour and place of darkness and grief. Perhaps it was, in a measure, owing to his large experience of suffering in his own person that he was so fully able to enter into the feelings of others in distress, and to yield them his sympathies in so abun- dant a degree. " All his labors were accomplished under great physi- HIS CHARACTER. 149 cal disadvantages. Daring the whole of his residence here his health was very infirm. Often have I known him so prostrated as to be scarcely capable of any exertion, yet, under the stimulus of an ardent desire to be found in the way of duty, when the hour of his appointment to preach had arrived he would brace himself for the effort, and be in his place, though the consequences were almost constantly disastrous to his already enfeebled frame. The loss of such a man to his family and congregation, and indeed to his entire neighborhood, seems irreparable ; but our loss is his infinite gain." The Rev. James Harper, of Shippensburg, for whom he had often preached when visiting his friends at that place, writes thus : " Brother M'Gin- nes I loved and admired very much, and always lis- tened to him as a preacher with delight. He was be- loved, and held in great admiration by the young peo- ple of this place. Full of life and energy, possessing a large fund of anecdote, an excellent mimic, and en- cumbered with no professional reserve, he seemed to enter with all his heart into their innocent gaieties. This, no doubt, you are prepared to admit, has its advantages and disadvantages. " His conversational powers were excellent. Ver- satility and brilliancy marked the character of his mind and attainments. Acquainted with a wide range of subjects, more time and concentrated thought and attention, would have made him a profi- cient in any one branch of learning. His discourses 13* 150 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. preached here, combined clearness of conception, richness of fancy, and accuracy of thought. His theological attainments struck me as being highly respectable, and to the Calvinistic system he was strongly attached, not because of early parental in- struction only, but after careful investigation, and heartfelt conviction. Frequently did he present doc- trines, which have always provoked controversy, so interwoven with fine illustration, as to command the patient and even delighted att^tion of the opposers of those views, which he conscientiously entertained. He was gifted in prayer, and notwithstanding his buoyancy in private, which some thought approached at times to levity, no one who really knew him could doubt his personal piety. " But a short time before his death, we had listened to his voice, with which we were all familliar, in dis- coursing upon 'The Church of God.' Some months previous to this time, he preached a truly eloquent sermon, on the forenoon of a communion Sabbath, from these words, ' Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.' The audience was more affected by this discourse, than by any other delivered by him. He was more than usually animated, and his addresses at the tables were appro- priate and melting. Among the last sermons that he preached to our people was one from these words, * Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.' " The Rev. William J. Gibson, D.D., recently of HIS CHARACTER. 151 Williamsburg, and a near neighbor of Brother M'Gin- nes, has sent me the following very acceptable communication : — " I am much pleased that you have it in contem- plation to publish a sketch of the life of our late worthy and much respected and beloved brother, the Rev. James Y. M'Ginnes. "You are right in supposing that my relations to him were intimate during at least a part of the time he was a member of the Presbytery of Huntingdon. Before his coming within our bounds, and taking charge of one of our congregations, I had no ac- quaintance with him. My intercourse with him was quite intimate for the last two or three years of his life. Yet, I do not suppose that I could give you any new views of his character, beyond what all his brethren of our Presbytery can testify to, with much fewer opportunities for observation, and less intimate relations. For this was one of the excellencies of his character, that he was at once perfectly transpa- rent, being frank in his disposition, and without dis- guise. You knew the man at the first interview, and all that after-acquaintance could certify you of was, that he was the same man still". " As to his public virtues and excellencies, his cha- racteristics as a gifted and eloquent preacher, all who ever heard him will tell you, if on these points you needed any testimony ; but I, with no less ap- preciation of his endowments as a preacher, can testify that his social and private virtues were not less con- spicuous than his public talents. At all times he 152 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'GINNES. was found to be a cheerful, pleasant, and open-hearted companion. His own house was the place where he was pre-eminently to be seen as the kind, courteous, and hospitable friend. Unostentatious, he was never- theless lavish of his hospitality ; and his guest felt at once as fully at his ease, as if in the house of his own brother. There was nothing sordid or contracted in all his character. The little meannesses and sordid traits of character, which sometimes obscure even considerable talents, had no place in this beloved brother ; and beloved, I may say, more on account of his freedom from this alloy, and of his noble and generous disposition, than for his admitted admirable and acceptable public talents. " As I appreciated highly his social and private virtues, so I had occasion to know of his faithful, laborious, and self-denying discharge of his public duties. He was never disposed to spare himself, even on occasions when he might well have done so, and when, perhaps, prudence would have dictated the propriety of some rest. I have known him to appoint extra services for himself on communion seasons, at different points of his congregation, in the evenings, while his assistant was engaged in preaching in the church, or in some other central point of the congregation. And this attracted my particular notice, as he never was, during the time of my acquaintance with him, in full health, and was readily overcome by a little unusual labor. These appointments he never failed to meet, and on the two occasions which I witnessed, I thought them in- HIS CHARACTER. 153 judicious in one of such an infirm constitution, and the event in both cases proved my private views cor- rect, — on both occasions he was unfitted for the ser- vices of the next day. I mention the facts, therefore, not to commend them to general imitation, but to show how his heart was in his appropriate work, and how laborious and self-denying he was in the per- formance of it. "Upon the whole, with regard to our departed Bro- ther M'Ginnes, I held his character in the highest estimation in private and in public, as a man, and as a Christian minister. He had few superiors as an earnest and eloquent preacher, and he was most at- tractive in ordinary life as a companion and a friend. No doubt he had his faults and infirmities — who has not ? — but his excellencies were numerous and pro- minent, and far overbalanced all ordinary defects of character. Indeed, if he had any great defects of character, I was not in a condition to notice them, as my sincere and hearty affection for the man closed my eyes to all common blemishes. I mourned greatly the removal of such a brother from our association, and from the Church of God on earth, ' a burning and a shining light.* Few like him in all respects are left. " Let it be our prayer that God may in the future raise up many such ministers ; and I am sure his sainted spirit, if now present, would also add — and more abundantly endowed for and devoted to the work of the ministry, than he "whose gifts and graces were of no ordinary character." 151 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. REFLECTIONS. From the preceding narrative we may learn^ — I. The Advantages of a Pious Ancestry. — The children of believing parents, from their very con- stitution, are ordinarily more hopeful subjects of salvation, than are the children of the vicious and depraved. For, though " shapen in iniquity and con- ceived in sin," and thus "by nature the children of wrath, even as others," yet they start into being with nobler powers, and more susceptible of improve- ment, and so furnishing more hope of their ultimate salvation. Mental and moral powers are as much hereditary as physical ; every lineament of the one as well as of the other, has its counterpart in the parent. The laws that regulate our higher nature are as uniform and certain in their results as those that regulate our physical being. Hence family resemblances are as striking from their mental and moral peculiarities, as from the outlines of their bodies. In both cases, the old adage holds true, " Like parent, like child." Thus parents occupy a very responsible position, and should be very guarded as to what feelings they cherish, as also, as to what habits th^y form, and what examples they set. But a pious ancestry is a great blessing, not only because children commence life with a nobler being, ADVANTAGES OF A PIOUS ANCESTRY. 155 but also because they thus start under circumstances far more favorable than do others. They are then favored with an early religious training. This is an advantage unspeakably great. Then, when their minds are most susceptible of impression, the holy precepts of the gospel are instilled into them, accom- panied with godly examples and believing prayers. These, in connexion with good principles, are the very best legacy any parent can leave his children. They are far better than riches, or than any earthly good. And yet how many parents manifest more anxiety to leave to their children property of some kind, than this better portion, — are more eager to enrich than to save them. Truly wise and blessed are those who, like faithful Abraham, *' command their children, and their households after them, to keep the way of the Lord;" or, like Joshua, resolve, "As for me and ray house, we will serve the Lord." Still farther, the divine promise is attached to such an ancestry. God says to believing parents, " I will be a God to thee, and unto thy seed after thee." Again, " The promise is unto you, and to your chil- dren." And again, " Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." All these truths were verified in the case of Mr. M'Ginnes. He was gifted by nature. He was religiously educated, and in him were the pro- mises fulfilled ; as well said his father upon the joyful intelligence of the conversion of his son. He ac- knowledged the event to be the gift of God in answer 156 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. to his prayers for him, and expressed his matured conviction of the faithfulness of God as a covenant- God. II. The Importance of Children becoming EARLY familiar WITH A FORM OF SoUND WORDS. — It should never be neglected in any household of the covenant. It is one of the appointed instrumentali- ties of God for the conversion and edification of our families. It has often been honored of God as such. Neglecting it, we expose our children to great injury, if not to final ruin. They will then be likely to be *' carried about with every wind of doctrine." The memorizing of Scripture, and of the Shorter Cate- chism, cannot be too much insisted upon in all our households. The benefits of this course will be long felt in after years. Many, who in their early years found the catechism a dry task, have in their riper years greatly rejoiced, that they were early required to become familiar with it. If it is not committed to memory when we are young, it will most likely be neglected ever after. Family catechizing is becoming too much in our day a mere byword. The good old practice of our faithful ancestors, catechizing all the family every Sabbath evening, has fallen into too much disuse. It needs to be speedily and fully revived. It is fraught with blessings of inconceivable value. No child knows what he will be in after years, and no parent knows for what his child is fitting. It may, therefore, be of the very highest importance that he THE PRECIOUSNESS OF REVIVALS. 157 become early familiar with our doctrinal standards, and that he have his youthful mind well stored with the precious truths of God's holy word — that he may be fitted to be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. He will be thus preparing for greater usefulness. So it was with our departed brother. His early training — his early familiarity with the precepts of the Bible, and with the standards of our church — was of incalculable benefit to him in all his future life. Both he, and his parents, were fully rewarded for all their toil and care. God will set his seal of approbation to such fidelity. " Go, and do thou likewise." III. The Preciousness of Revivals of Reli- gion, ESPECIALLY IN LiTERARY INSTITUTIONS. — No tongue can express the joy and blessedness of one powerful work of grace in either an academy or a college ; and no created mind can measure its hal- lowed influence: eternity alone can fully develope its wide and widely increasing blessings. It fills not only earth, but heaven, with rejoicing. Every true convert is himself happy, and many a parent's heart is made to leap for joy, as he exclaims, " For this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found." And it is written, " There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth" — how much more joy, then, must there be in heaven over many sinners that repent, and who 14 158 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. are destined to be polished shafts in the Almighty's quiver. The benefits of revivals of religion in literary in- stitutions, are seen not only upon those institutions themselves, in elevating the standard of piety therein, and in the hopeful conversion of many among the impenitent and unbelieving ; but they are also seen in the increase of the number of candidates for the ministry, whose growing influence for good cannot be estimated. This was the case with the revival that occurred at Jefferson College in 1834-5. Out of the thirty or forty hopeful converts at that time, a goodly number, among whom was Brother M'Ginnes, devoted themselves to the arduous and self-denying work of the holy ministry. So, also, in the revival of 1851 at Shade Gap, not less than eight of those who pro- fessed their faith and hope in Christ, purposed to enter the ministry. And only the last year, a friend writes, " Jefferson has been blessed with a precious season of revival. It began on the day set apart for special prayer. . . About forty-five students have professed a hope. Many, who had not thought of it, or who were undecided, are now looking forward to the study of the ministry. I trust thousands shall rejoice, not only through time, but through eternity's ceaseless ages, and praise God for this revival." Oglethorpe University, under the care of the Synod of Georgia, has a similar history of grace to record. President Talmadge writes : " Of the senior class, consisting of fifteen, all but one pro- THE PRECIOUS NESS OF REVIVALS. 159 fessecl a hope in Christ. Of those, a hirge majority have selected the Christian ministry as their chosen work. A spirit of self-consecration, and an interest in foreign missions, have been awakened throughout the institution, which promise happy results." Dr. Anderson, the President of Miami University, Ohio, thus writes. " \Ye had a very precious revival of re- ligion in our Institution, just after the day of special prayer, which was the means of bringing about fifty young men to the acknowledging of Christ. There are now in this Institution about . one hundred pro- fessors of religion, of whom sixty or seventy are looking forward to the ministry." These are but samples of what occur in every re- vival in all our literary institutions. The very choicest of our youth are thus led to serve the Church in an ofiicial capacity. Who will not, then, long and pray continually for the outpouring of God's Spirit upon all the institutions of learning in our land, that many of our young men, who are pursuing their studies in those institutions, may be called and qualified by the grace of God for the work of the ministry ? This is our only hope in this the time of our great desti- tutions, both at home and abroad, of an adequate supply of whole-souled, able, and efficient ministers. There must be more fervent and believing prayer, in the closet, the family, and the house of God, that the salt of divine grace may be cast into those foun- tains of influence", as well as more hearty consecra- tion of children to God, before the wants of our be- 160 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'gINNES. loved Zion shall be supplied. " The harvest is plen- teous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth la- borers into his harvest." IV. The Ministry ought to be Supported. One of the abounding evils existing in the Church, at the present day, is the feeble support of the gospel minis- try. It is because the Church, at this period of her unparalleled temporal prosperity, comes so far short of supplying the wants of her own pastors, that many pious young men, it is believed, turn their thoughts to other employments, rather than to serve her in the ministry. Next to the want of the powerful work- ings of the Spirit of God among us, and especially in our literary institutions, in answer to habitual, impor- tunate prayer, is the inadequate support of the minis- try the grand cause of so few additional " burning and shining lights" being raised up in Christ's spiri- tual temple; — the reason why the number of can- didates for the sacred oflSce is decreasing, rather than rapidly increasing every year, as the age, the ^ state of the Church, and the world imperatively demand. We could not expect else, from such neglect and abuse of Christ's ascension gift. A different result would be miraculous. It would be God's acting without his usual divinely appointed agents. Although Ore- gon, Texas, California, New Mexico, and the wastes of Zion in our own land, call, trumpet-tongued, for help in their destitute condition ; and although, abroad, in the wonderful providence of God, addi- THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 161 tional overturnings have occurred, and Papal Europe, as well as Africa and India, and the three hundred millions of China, are anxiously seeking the light of truth, are extending to us a hearty welcome, are bidding us enter their coasts and their capitals, and scatter abroad " the leaves of the tree of life "which are for the healing of the nations;" yet, it cannot be expected that there will be an adequate supply of right-minded and "well-qualified ministers, while the Church is so recreant to the trust imposed upon her, and heeds so little one of the plainest dictates of rea- son and revelation. Says a late writer — and there is more truth, human and divine, in it than some seem disposed to admit — " While so man}^ avenues to use- fulness and honor, with respectability and worldly competence, or even wealth, are open to young men ; while the life of the theological student is such as it is ; while the ministry presents the gloomy prospect of poverty, w^ant, embarrassment, and cankering care ; a destitute old age, after a life of hard labor, and a penniless surviving family ; is it any wonder that so very few of our promising Christian young men, are willing to give themselves to this work ? ' The heart of generous piety may face perils by land, and perils by sea, the martyr's block and stake ; but not starveling poverty, and all the other ills the ministry of the present day is heir to.' " Talent is capital, and it should secure to its pos- sessor not only respect but profit, as much so as any other species of capital. And just in proportion to 14- 162 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. the frequency, •willingness, and ability of ministerial labor, ought there to be a corresponding willingness and effort on the part of the Church, to render a full equivalent ; as much so as is the case in any other profession. Simple justice demands it. And yet, it seems to be taken, too often, for granted, that a minis- ter's labors are charitable efforts, because he is en- gaged in a good work. Hence it is that many persons, in comfortable circumstances themselves, attend upon the faithful and arduous labors of their pastor, with- out contributing anything at all towards his support ; and others are found contributing the merest trifle to^ it, without regard to his personal and social relations, as important and essential to be observed as those •of any other human being in the community. But all this results either from selfishness, ignorance, or negligence. The disposition also manifested in too many of our congregations to promise at best but a feeble support to their pastors, and then to fulfil but partially these promises, or to meet a large part of them in the way of " bargain and sale," at a high percentage of pro- fit to themselves, is fraught with serious inconve- nience, if not injustice, to the pastor and his family. It is a sin and a shame for a man of education, talents, and piety, to be consuming his best energies in the service of the Church w^ith a mere pittance of compensation ; his nose, in consequence, being con- tinually kept at the grindstone, and his increasing family scarcely living while he lives, and being al- THE SUPPORT OF THE xMINISTRY. 163 most Avholly unprovided for when he dies. The case of Brother M'Ginnes in these respects is only one out of hundreds that could be as fully sketched. There are, it is true, some honorable exceptions, where congregations are faithful in discharging their assumed obligations, and, that he " may be free from worldly cares and avocations," cheerfully do for their pastor " whatever else they see needful for the honor of religion, and his comfort while among them ;" and Mr. M'Ginnes's own case had its "sunny side." His flock at Shade Gap is, like the conies, " but a feeble folk ;" yet, by numerous acts of kindness, and by their liberal effort to provide for his family a par- sonage as their own home, they almost im.percepti- bly gained his affections and bound them to him by the cords of love. But the evil complained of, in its various phases, is too common in the most of our churches. Wealth pours her full horn, filled from many sources, into the barns and storehouses of the several members of our flocks, while the pastors of those flocks seem to be forgotten and unknown. " For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's." But God is punishing the Church for such neglect of his servants. Because of it many congregations are " weak and sickly" among us : candidates for the ministry, — "faithful men, able to teach others" — are decreasing ; while the Church is either deprived, in part, of the labors of those whom God hath " counted faithful, putting them into the ministry;" because 164 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M'GINNES. they have heen compelled to devote their attention to other employments also, besides the ministry, in order to secure a "competent worldly maintenance," which their stinted salaries do not afford ; or she is deprived of them altogether, as we have had too mournful evidence of for several years past, in pastors being overworked amidst their anxieties and toils; and, their energies being exhausted, they have ceased entirely their earthly labors, even at an early age. God evidently has a controversy with his Church. The fault, however, of the present lamentable state of things in regard to the ministry, is surely hers, and not God's. There is an Achan in the camp. There has been the coveting and the hiding of " a goodly Babylonish garment, and shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold." There has been a keeping back part of the price that belonged to the Lord's treasury. Ephraim has been joined to his idols. Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed the covenant vrhich God commanded them. Other- wise Zion would not be so troubled, and visited with such spiritual "blasting and mildew." Wherever this evil referred to exists, it should be speedily remedied. If it is noi, we have reason to fear that we shall be a sinking and dying church, instead of a flourishing vine. The enemy will come in upon our Zion like a flood, and there will be none to lift up a standard against him. Her hedges will be broken down, so that all they which pass by the way will pluck her. The boar out of the wood will THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 165 waste her, and the wild beast of the field will devour her. Many -u^ill say, Here is she that forsook the commandment of the Lord. How is she fallen ! To many churches, proper views and right practice on the subject of ministerial support, would be like " life from the dead." It must be remembered, too, that circumstances have changed very much from what they once were. Owing to the abundance and cheapness of money now in our country, to the multi- plied facilities for spending it, to the growing pros- perity and taste of all classes, to the advanced prices of living, and to the multiplied wants of the Church and the world, demanding imperatively an increase of our charities, six or eight dollars now will hardly go as far as four or five dollars formerly did. So that no con- gregation, that has been blessed of God in temporal things, should think of ofi'ering, a pastor now a salary of a less amount than six or eight hundred dollars. Any thing less will not, can not, be an adequate support for a minister with a family. Instead of the average sum for the support of the ministry at this day, being between three and four hundred dollars, it ought rather to be between six and eight hundred dollars. And where any congregation is really so poor that it cannot promptly pay its pastor five or six hundred dollars, this amount ought to be secured to him by the Church at large, of which he is a minister, and of which that congregation is but an integral part. And the Church can do this without 166 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. m'gINNES. any pecuniary sacrifice, and that, too, without dimi- nishing in the least her contributions to other objects of benevolence. God has bestowed upon her wealth abundant for both. All that is wanted is an increase of light, and of the Spirit of her divine Redeemer. Our Saviour recognised the same principle for which w^e are contending when he sent his -disciples forth to preach the gospel. They were not to secure their living by begging or by engaging in some secu- lar employment, but they were to receive it as a just compensation for their labors ; "for," sa3^s he, ''the laborer is worthy of his hire." And Paul's argu- ment to the Corinthian Christians, setting forth the rights of Christian ministers, is plain and in point here: "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ? do ye not know that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple, and they which wait at the altar, are par- takers with the altar ? Even so hath the Lord or- dained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."* * Since the above was written, the same subject was discussed in both the Synods of Philadelphia, and New Jersey, at their late sittings ; as, also, able articles presented in both the Presby- terian, and the Presbyterian Banner, of October 29th, 1853; and it is gratifying to see that similar views to those above have been expressed. Says the writer in the Banner, " If God has ordained SHORT LIVES OFTEN VERY USEFUL. 167 V. Short Lives are oftex eminently Useful Lives. — Some persons from their very constitution cannot live long, and especially amidst undue care and toil. Their physical and easily-excited organi- zation soon wears out. But such persons are all life while they do live ; and they often accomplish a great deal, whether for good or evil, while they do last, far more than many who live much longer. " Chatterton wrote all his beautiful things, exhausted all hopes of life, and saw nothing better than death at the age of eighteen. Burns and Byron died in their thirty- seventh year, when, perhaps, the strength of their genius was over. Raphael, after filling the world with divine beauty, perished also at thirty-seven. Mozart earlier. These might have produced still greater works, but Nature's work was done." In the ministry, too, there are those who are dropped among us, as it were, from heaven, for a little season, like Martyn, Brainerd, M'Cheyne, Hewitson, Summerfield, Lowrie, and others, to show us what can be done for God and the well-beino- of precious souls in a short time ; to show us what it is that they -who preach the gospel shall live of it, then it follows as a general law upon the subject, that only they ivho live of the gospel, only they who receive a competent support, can continue to preach. The final result of a neglect to support ministers, must be an entire destitution of this class of men. A dearth of candidates must therefore be regarded as one of the greatest calamities which can befall our unhappy world, and one of the most unmistakeable evidences that the Great Head of the Church is frowning upon his people for their worldliness. 168 LIFE OF REV. J. Y. M ' G I N N E S. to work with all our might while the day lasts, to put to shame all drones in the ministry, and to stir up all to more zealous and devoted effort. Such, we believe, was the subject of the preceding sketch. Mr. M'Ginnes was no ordinary man. His life was brief, but in it he accomplished much. He was a living exhibition of not only what a. zealous, liberal, and devoted Christian ought to be, but also what a faithful and earnest minister of the gospel should be. He seemed to be " always thinking, always reading, always writing, always preaching, always acting." He lived in earnest. With his unceasing activity, his life was one of earnestness — of indomitable energy. This was, as already intimated, his peculiar charac- teristic, and what, perhaps, more than anything else, goaded on by a constant pressure of anxiety and responsibility, wasted away his feeble frame. In reference to the great object ever before his eye — the honour of his Divine Master, by the growth of piety in his own soul, and by the intellectual and moral well-being of others, — his purpose was fixed. He could well adopt the language of Paul, *' This one thing I do." Such holy energy produced an enter- prising, elevated, and sanctified spirit, but it ex- hausted his vitality. It drank up his life-blood. In his case, however, as in that of many others, God designed that a short life should be an eminently useful life. He was early called from the field of his labors, but he was one of those who could say, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my christian's death glorifies god. 169 course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is hiid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." And of him it may w^ell be written, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." VI. And Lastly, the Christian glorifies God IN HIS De'aTH as well AS IN HIS LiFE. — " As thy days, so shall thy strength be," is the divine promise. God never forsakes his chosen people. " When thou passest through the waters," he says, " I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." He aff"ords grace just as it is needed, so that when the good man meets his fate, it is — '* Quite on the verge of heaven." Hence, it has been said that there is " dying grace," as well as grace for living. Hence it is that the saint, even though frail and emaciated, can triumph over death, exclaiming, " Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory?" "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff" they comfort me." " To die is gain." This was the spirit and language of our departed brother in his dying hour. In such a state 15 170 LIFE OF EEV. J. Y. m'GINNES. of mind he could well say to those around him, " Come and see how a Christian can die." " I want you, my friends, to know that I die leaning on the righteousness of Christ alone." " Another pang, and then away beyond the stars." Thus was his fervent prayer, often repeated, answered, that his "sun might not go down under a cloud," and that he might " glorify God in his death." But the influence of that death was nol confined to those who witnessed it. The death of Brother M'Ginnes is as memorable as any event in his life, and has affected many hearts. A Sabbath or two later than this, the Lord's Supper was to be admi- nistered at Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, and Mr. M'Ginnes was expected as an assistant. But on that Sabbath he was, doubtless, worshipping the Saviour "face to face," and drinking the wine " new" with him in his heavenly kingdom. On the very next Wednesday evening following his decease, Brother Gibson was under the painful necessity of announcing their loss to his disappointed congrega- tion. He writes thus, "Brother M'Ginnes was under engagement to aid me at our next communion season. It was at hand, and I remember, at our usual Wed- nesday evening lecture next following his decease, announcing the melancholy intelligence which I had just received, in connexion with the expectation we had entertained, of enjoying his assistance at our ap- proaching communion services. It was a great shock to the congregation as well as to myself, and, indeed, christian's death glorifies god. 171 unfitted us all for the regular course of lecture that I had been in the habit of pursuing. Brother M'Ginnes was very popular in our congregation, as, indeed, he was in all the congregations, and the disappointment was great, and the grief sincere, that his eloquent tongue was silenced for ever in the church on earth." All his brethren, and their flocks, were taken by surprise at the news of his death, hearing suddenly of it, without having known anything of his previous sickness. They were all filled with sorrow. They felt that a great man in Israel, — one loved, respected, and eminently useful, in the very prime of life, — had fallen. They felt, too, that, humanly speaking, he could illy be spared, that his post of efiiciency and usefulness could not well be filled. But he who "holdeth the stars in his right hand," knoweth what is best for his Zion. He lifteth up one, and putteth down another ; he saith to this man live, and to this one die. Yet, in every event, he designs that his purposes of wisdom and mercy shall be accomplished. He surely doeth all things well. " Be still and know," says he, " that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth." What the Rev. John Lloyd, a most excellent mis- sionary to the Chinese, — himself now in glory also, — said of his martyred brother, the Rev. Walter M. Lowrie, we may use as appropriate to Brother M'Gin- nes : "We know that God had endowed him with a noble intellect, had given him a sound judgment, had bestowed upon him much grace, and had emi- 172 LIFE OF KEV. J. Y. M'gINNES. nently fitted him for a high station in the great har- vest field. We knew all this, and felt that we could not spare him. But God's thoughts and ways are not as ours. He has taught us that he can do without us, even the best of us. He has no need of our poor assistance. "When he sees fit, he calls us to himself. He has called our brother thus. We idolized him. God has rebuked us. But he has taken him to him- self. He is happy beyond conception. This is our consolation." Mr. Lowrie's death, — dying when he did and as he did, — has, we believe, by the sympathy, interest, and effort it has excited in behalf of the missionary cause, advanced rather than retarded it. And, in the provi- dence of God, may do more for its greater enlarge- ment than if his life had been spared much longer. So with our Brother M'Ginnes. Useful as he was in life, much as he had done to honor his Master, we think we venture not too much, when we say, that his death has done more for the glory of God, than any act of his life ; if not more than his future life would have done had it been prolonged. Dying when he did — with such a character, so ripe, so tender, so be- loved ; when so much honor was ready to be given him on every side ; and dying as he did — at his own home, after such emolument and success, unexpect- edly, in the midst of his beloved pupils and charge, with such a clear mind, and with such holy triumphs of faith in Jesus — we think we may safely say, that there are few deathbeds like his ; so deeply impres- christian's death glorifies god. 173 sive ; so superior in rapt thought and feeling ; and so rich in all the elements which constitute a Christian's triumph over the last enemy. It has made an im- pression not only upon my own mind, but upon a multitude of others, that will not be effaced by time. Many hearts will be enkindled at his funeral pile, as they read these pages, or gaze upon the tomb where his dust reposes. Many will glow with in- creased love to Jesus and dying souls, as they con- template not only his devoted life, but also his rap- turous death ; while the prayer will spontaneously be breathed from each heart, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." 15* SERMONS REV. JAMES Y. M'GINNES. SERMON T. LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. " Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." — 2 Tim. i. 10. "Know thyself," was the maxim of a heathen philosopher, and there can be none of greater impor- tance, for without intimate self-acquaintance all other knowledge will be of but little use. And yet how few engage in this appropriate study of mankind. Men range the whole field of thought and science. They will learn the nature and the habits of the in- ferior creatures ; they will develope the principles of inanimate nature ; and yet will overlook the wonder- ful mechanism of their own matchless frames, and live and die in profound ignorance of those rational 176 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. and intelligent minds by which they are distinguished from the brutes that perish. Men study everything, they know everything, better than themselves. Though no subject can be more interesting, or more worthy the exercise of those exalted powers with which they are endowed, there is none, perhaps, by the great mass of mankind so little understood. " The proper study of mankind," says a celebrated writer, " is man." Nothing in the world of nature displays so many proofs of creative wisdom and good- ness — nothing is better calculated to exhibit the de- clarative glory of his Omnipotent Author. Man is a compound being, formed of body and soul. And though originally formed of dust, yet is he the per- fection of animal nature, combining all that is valu- able and beautiful in our lower creation, and, in the expressive language of Scripture, is " fearfully and wonderfully made." With form erect, with head ex- alted, with countenance divine, he came forth from his Maker's hands, and stood the lord of this lower creation. We cannot enlarge on the anatomical wonders of the human frame, nor would it accord with our present purpose ; but if you would have en- larged views of the divine goodness, if you would be lost in astonishment at the displays of the divine power and wisdom, study the human form with its varieties of instruments and functions, all suited to the great end, and carrying out the purposes of their first formation. Suffice it to say, that in the human system there are two hundred and forty-five bones, LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 17T and four hundred and forty-six muscles — the former acting as so many timbers in the framework of the tabernacle, the latter as so many instruments of its motion. There are ten thousand nerves, the seats of sensation ; as many veins and arteries, acting as so many channels to carry the red current of life to and from its great fountain, the heart. There are one hundred thousand glands, secreting the necessary juices for the nourishment of the system ; and over the surface of the skin not less than two hundred millions of pores, acting as so many avenues of sick- ness or health, of life or death. How amazing too are the functions of the heart. That organ contracts and beats four thousand times every hour, and, dur- ing that time, there passes through it two hundred and fifty pounds of blood. And this pulsation is taking place, sleeping or w^aking, from the first faint cry of infancy to the last expiring sigh of extreme old age. Who can examine this complex, marvellous machine, and not see in it the wonderful works of God ? How feeble, and yet how strong. How deli- cate, and yet how capable of endurance. How easily deranged, and yet how active for years. "Strange that a harp of thousand strings Should keep in tune so long." But man is a rational, intelligent being, and has a soul as well as a body. Whilst he possesses instincts and feelings in common with the inferior animals, he is endowed with a reason which far surpasses every 178 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. instinct of the brute, and avails for every contin- gency. In instinct there is no improvement or ad- vancement. The mere animal races just act as they have done for generations. They have no inventive power; they make no new discoveries. But the mind and reason of man are ever progressing, and no limits can be set to the sphere of their operations. He is ever ranging the world in search of new dis- coveries, or is taxing his ingenuity to multiply use- ful or curious inventions. With the telescope he can sweep the starry heai^ens, and bring within the range of his vision hitherto unknown creations of omnipo- tence. Availing himself of the magnifying powers of the microscope, he can discover a world of anima- ted nature upon a single leaf of the forest, and in a drop of water with its numerous inhabitants behold an ocean in miniature. With the mariner's compass in his hand he can guide his way across perilous oceans, and hold inter- course with the inhabitants of the most distant climes. 'By a practical use of his philosophy, he can make the elements of nature do his bidding and admi- nister to his comfort, even plucking the lightning from the thundercloud and making it the messenger of his thoughts, and the servant of his will. Such is the high pre-eminence on which he stands, such the mighty gulf that separates him from the brutal na- tures that surround him, and that act merely from the impulses of an innate and immutable instinct. Yet, after all, man is but a mortal. This light of hea- LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 179 ven which flashes forth in the scintillations of his genius, so astonishing to himself and others, is but like the course of the meteor across the midnight sky; or like the dazzling brilliancy of a moment fol- lowed by the settled gloom of the grave. The active powers sink into indolence ; the teeming brain ceases to treasure up its world of thought ; and the man, who but yesterday may have been with us, the busy, bustling denizen of earth, has fallen the victim of a des- tiny which none may escape, and has left the world of light and life for the land of silence and forgetfulness. The grave is " the house appointed for all living." A decree has gone forth from the high court of hea- ven, more immutable than the laws of the Modes and Persians, universal in its application, inevitable in its execution : " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Ever since the curse was pronounced upon the guilty pair in Eden, has death been in our world. Generation after generation has fallen be- neath his unerring dart, until our earth has become one vast charnel-house ; and the very dust beneath our feet was once warmed with life that has fled. And is this havoc of death to continue for ever ? Are the mighty ruins of these once beautiful bodies never to be repaired and again tenanted by their active and heaven-born inhabiters ? Does annihi- lation follow death ? Is this constant flow of thought and activity to cease for ever in its course, and this light of reason, that assimilates our nature to the great God, to be for ever blotted out in darkness ? 180 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. Was the earth created that it might be one eternal graveyard for the succession of mortals that teem upon its surface ? Is there no other state, no other home, no other destiny ? Are those hopes of immor- tality that so often wing their heavenward flight, and long to fold their weary wings in some better land, but the mockery of an unreal vision ; the impulsive grasp of unsatisfied souls at treasuring that which can never be theirs ? Then may we ask with the Psalmist, " Lord, wherefore hast thou made all men in vain ?" What is our being worth, if it must be resigned so soon ? Why the creation of these vast powers, if they are so soon to enter the land of for- getfulness, and to shrink back by the same Almighty word, that called them forth, into their original no- thingness ? Do these questions force themselves upon you ? And are you panting, with all the eagerness of one who seeks a higher destiny than earth can give him, to lift the veil that separates the visible from the invisible, and to know what hope of life there is for you, beyond the last convulsive throb of dissolving nature, and the dreamless slumbers of the tomb ? Let me lift up that veil. Let me open those gloomy portals of the grave that lie before you, and see if impenetrable darkness stops your eager gaze. Or, catch you not that ray of light that comes streaming along through its dim caverns from the far- off regions that lie beyond ? Look again at that massive pillar that stands far down in the' dim valley. The rays of that heavenly light that just now met LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 181 your gladdened vision are playing upon it, and re- vealing that glorious inscription, chiselled by no mor- tal hand, " Life and immortality have been brought to light." But away with all these figures of an earth-born fancy. That light is the Sun of righteousness ; that pillar is the gospel; and that "life and immortality" is the destiny of the panting spirits within you. This is a discovery which baffled the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the ancients. The notions of their philosophers concerning even the immortality of the soul, were vague and contradictory. And many, to rid themselves of the difficulties that kept pace with their researches, reasoned themselves into atheism, and made the world the sport of chance, and the grave the final home of both body and soul. It is a discovery that science has never revealed. Science, that has watched the movements, and learned the nature of the tiny insect that finds a universe in a raindrop, that fixes the stars in their orbits, and calculates with as much certainty, as we do the hour of to-morrow's rising sun, their phases and their distances — science is here at fault, and candidly acknowledges that these are secrets into which it has never penetrated, and mysteries it has never un- ravelled. No, the light that flings its heavenly halo over the grave, and illumes our pathway to the skies, is not the light of science but of religion. Not the dim tapers by which the philosophers of the world grope 16 182 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. their way through it, but that glorious light of hea- ven, which reveals the way of life so clearly that " the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." That resurrection of the body, which prepares it for immortality, is not discoverable from the light or the laws of nature ; and is believed only as matter of revelation. The heathen sages of antiquity never deemed it possible, much less supposed it certain. The philosophers of Athens ridiculed the Apostle Paul, when, in his memorable sermon before them, upon Mars Hill, he broached this, to them, unheard of and absurd doctrine. They regarded it as some idle superstition of the Jews, and refused to hear him even for a moment, attempt to explain or to defend it. When their bodies were committed to the earth to moulder and to mingle with their original elements, they looked upon it as their final destiny, and never dreamed that these frail, dying tabernacles could be reared anew in the bloom and vigor of immortal youth and beauty. But what a light does Christianity shed over the gloom of the grave. Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims for them that sleep in the dust of the earth : " The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John v. 28, 29. " These bodies may be sown in corruption, but they shall be raised in incor- LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 183 ruption : they may be sown in dishonor, but they shall be raised in glory ; they may be sown in weakness, but they shall be raised in power ; they may be sown a natural body, but they shall be raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. xv. 42-44. The immortality of the soul is not so difficult to be believed, and hence the wisest and the most intelligent of the heathen admitted its probability, and even en- deavored to substantiate its certainty by arguments, more or less plausible and sound. But what were their reasonings without revelation? What were all their arguments, but merely presumptuous conclu- sions that what they greatly desired to be true, was really so ? The Socrateses and Platos of Greece, after all their searches, were more perplexed on this point than the simplest, most unlettered Christian in this favored land of evangelical light. "Death," says Socrates, who was confessedly the wisest and the most moral of the heathen, " either reduces us to nothing, or, as some say, it conveys us from this world into some other region." And this was said by him but a few hours before he met that death from the unrighteous sentence of his judges. Though on the margin of the shoreless ocean, dark mists hung over it which even his keen eye could not penetrate ; and he makes the plunge with all the uncer- tainty of a gloomy peradventure. How much wiser in that which so intimately concerns us is the simplest dis- ciple of the Saviour, than the learned and renowned Socrates ! And how happy would he have been, had he enjoyed one glimmering of that light against which 184 LIFE AND IMMOETALITY. SO many multitudes around us shut their eyes and aifect to despise ! • As immortality is a common prerogative; as it is a doctrine in which men of all ranks and classes are concerned, and elevates the simple ploughman or mechanic to share in the glorious destiny of a Bacon and a Newton, a common revelation was necessary ; one that would level itself to every mind, and teach every child of Adam that there had been enkindled within him a spark that should burn with quenchless ardor, when the stars of heaven should be blotted out, and the sun himself set in everlasting eclipse. And this has the gospel done. It has come to make up for every defect of human reason, and to add the testimony of Him ''that cannot lie" to all those pantings after endless life that make the soul " shrink back upon itself, and startle at destruc- tion." But nature, and reason, and revelation, do not stand in contradiction. The Creator of the one is the Author of the other, and all his manifestations must necessarily harmonize ; and though our reason- ings may not carry us as far as revelation in this matter, yet they tend the same direction ; they are helping to work out the same great results. We argue the immortality of the soul from its very nature. It is immaterial, spiritual, and unlike mere matter which acts only as it is acted upon ; it is essentially active, thinks and wills from its own in- herent impulses and emotions. It is this that allies LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 185 man to angels, and makes him emphatically the offspring of the Godhead. If the body be of " the earth, earthy," the mind is an immediate emanation from the Deity, and should therefore partake of the nature of Him who only hath life and immortality. These are the excellency of its attributes as distinct from those of the brute that perishes. They spurn the dust ; they leap beyond the limited range of earth and time ; and, in those sublime contempla- tions that carry us upward and onward through track- less space, to the throne of God, they love to climb their native skies, and to lose themselves in the vast fountain of "life and immortality" from whence they sprung. And is not this heavenward tendency of the soul, when left untrammelled by earth, but the development of that natural instinct for immortality which the Creator has implanted in its possessor ? Again, we argue the soul's immortality from its capacity for improvement and enjoyment. You can set no limits to the improvement of the humUn mind. The vessel never bursts from its contents. Its capa- cities enlarge as they fill up. Mental stores may be amassed, and knowledge acquired almost beyond limi- tation. Think of a Newton and a Shakspeare in their infancy with minds crude and uncultivated, and then think of the developments of those mighty minds in maturer years. And the capacity for en- joyment keeps pace with that of improvement. The desires of the soul are endless and progressive, and every fresh draft from the spring of pure and ra- 16* 186 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. tional pleasure only excites greater longings, and in- duces a more quenchless thirst. Wherefore these lofty po'svers ? Wherefore these ever-growing desires after pure and unalloyed enjoyment, if the soul's life is but as a bubble cast up upon the ocean of eternity to be the sport of a momentary and capricious chance, and then to sink for ever beneath the mass ? We cannot, we dare not, say that the wise and beneficent Creator w^ould mock and illude his rational and intelligent creatures so; besides, man abhors the idea of extinction. A miserable future is pre- ferable to annihilation. Of that future he is em- phatically the creature. He feels within him that he is made for eternity. However often his wishes and hopes may be gratified, they never reach their climax. Onward — onward — is the watchword of his soul. The more he partakes, the more he craves. He wishes to enjoy continually, and nothing short of an endless existence seems sufficient to quench his thirst with those ever-refreshing draughts from the fountain of everlasting life. Again, we argue it from the essential principles of justice and equity. God is holy and just in all his ways. He must necessarily hate and punish sin, and delight in and reward holiness. But behold mankind only in the mirror of this life, and you be- hold vice transparent, prosperous, gay, arrayed in wealth and power, and faring sumptuously every day. You behold Christian virtue poor, scorned, persecuted, dying by the hand of violence and wickedness. And does God — the Omniscient— see LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 187 all this ? Is he holj^ and just, and shall he permit virtue always to be prostrated, and vice to be ex- alted ? No, verily. This is but the state of proba- tion. The world of retribution is to come. Both characters are to be transferred to other spheres, where each are to be judged according to their works, and to receive their appropriate reward. But after all, these are but presumptive arguments. They may create rational expectation, but they cannot lift up the veil from the unseen, and permit us to gaze upon it with that certainty of vision which removes all doubt. It is revelation alone that demonstrates the important subject. It is revelation alone that solves the mighty problem of man's eternal destiny, — that unbars the gates of the invisible world, and that permits the light of a happy and an eternal heaven to come streaming through its portals upon the land of darkness and of death. Blessed revelation ! How many anxious questions does it answer ! How many perplexing doubts does it solve ! How many glorious hopes does it awaken in these throbbing hearts ! What a heavenly radiance does it throw around the grave ! There lie the frail barks of human existence, tossed and shattered by the world's tempests, in that peaceful haven, renewing and refitting, under the hands of an Almighty Architect, for a new and a more successful voyage over the shoreless ocean of eternity. We need not fear to commit our friends to the dust. They are but the temporary captives of a tyrant 188 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. whose power is broken. Their prison doors shall one day be thrown open by the mighty power of Him who led '^ captivity captive," and their dark abodes shall be illuminated by the glorious light of "life and im- mortality." Even lue ourselves may put our hand in this " hole of the asp," and play undaunted around this " cockatrice's den." Even we may feel this viper fastening upon our mortal parts, and diffusing its stealthy venom through our decaying frames. We shall one day shake it off, and fear no evil, by a joyful resurrection. The gospel is not only the message of mercy, it is also the revelation of life. It is the history — the wondrous history of Him who wept that man might smile, who died that man might never die. His mediation is the channel through which this life is conveyed — his death, the last crowning act in that series of efforts which has resulted in our victory over the power of death, and in our de- liverance from the terrible tyranny of the grave. He who sits enthroned in glory and diffuses bliss un- utterable through all the shining ranks that bow be- fore him, he yielded up himself into the hands of this dread enemy, and went down himself a prisoner to the silent shades. But if he stooped, it was to conquer. If he slept the dreamless sleep of the grave, it was to arise far more mightily than did Samson, from his transient slumber, to break down the gates, and to demolish the strongholds of these dark dominions. If he him- self traversed the dark and dreary way through the LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 189 gloomy valley, it was to light it up for his humble followers with blessed hopes of " life and immorta- lity" beyond. And this, fellow-mortals ! this is our consolation and security. Jesus has trod the path, and smoothed it for your passage. Jesus, sleeping in the chambers of the tomb, has brightened up the dismal mansion, and left an inviting odor in its beds of dust. The dying Jesus — never let the comfortable thought escape you — is your sure pro- tection, your unquestionable passport through the territories of the grave. " He that believeth in me," said Christ to the sorrowing Martha, " though he were dead, yet shall he live." Go down to the dust in the exercise of this trium- phant faith, and you shall be no losers, but un- speakable gainers by your dissolution. Your exit is but the end of your frailty, and entrance into per- fection. The last sigh of convulsive nature is but the prelude to endless "life and immortality" at God's right hand. And is all this true — the truth of God that cannot lie ? Heaven and earth may pass away, but not one jot or tittle of all that he has determined concerning man's final state and destiny, shall pass away until all be fulfilled. And is this spark of life never to be quenched ? Is this existence, begun here on earth in the feebleness of infancy, to be spun out through endless duration, and to run a line parallel with that of eternity ? What intellect can grasp the mighty subject? What human conception can conceive the 190 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. pain, the bliss, the hope, the despair, that may be summed up in such an infinite duration ? How much to an immortal soul does that awful word eternity include ! Who can set landmarks to limit the dimensions, or find plummets to fathom the unsearchable depths of that which overwhelms our strongest, boldest thoughts, and leaves our imagina- tion to run wild with despair? Arithmeticians may conrpute the progressions of time, and figure up the centuries that roll by on rapid cycles ; astronomers can calculate the number, and have invented instru- ments by which they can measure the size and dis- tance of the planets, as they wheel on their mighty orbits, but what figures can state, what lines can gauge, the length and breadth of eternity ? " It is as high as heaven, what canst thou do ? — deeper than hell, w^hat canst thou know ? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Mysterious, mighty existence ! a sum not to be les- sened by the largest deductions ; an extent not to be contracted by all possible diminutions. None can truly say after the greatest lapse of ages, so much of eternity is gone ; for when millions of centuries are elapsed, it is but just beginning. And here, in the impressive thoughts, if not in the glowing language of the eloquent Davies, let us pause and take a calm survey of this majestic prospect. What an inheritance is this entailed upon a child of dust, a creature of yesterday. This body must soon moulder into dust, but the soul will live unhurt LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 191 amidst all the dissolving struggles and convulsions of the tabernacle which it now inhabits. Yea, " these heavens shall pass away with a great noise ; these elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth and the things that are therein shall be burnt up," but the soul shall live secure of existence amidst this universal desolation, and shall rise triumphant above this "wreck of matter and crush of worlds." Men of great projects and sanguine hopes are apt to pause, and take an imaginary survey of what they will do, and what they will be, in the course of thfiir lives. But how often are their projects defeated ! — how often are their plans cut short in their execution by the ruthless hand of Dekth. But here Death himself is conquered ; and he who threatened the extinction of our being is himself reduced to annihi- lation, and life runs on its even tenor, uninterrupted by a single dread of dissolution. And how much does all this enhance the value of the soul, and make its neglect the veriest infatuation ! Immortality ! what emphasis — what grandeur in the sound ! Give immortality to any being, however in- significant and valueless it may otherwise appear, and you create for it an importance that leaves con- ception far behind the reality ; while the highest angel, if he were but the creature of a day, or even of a thousand years, would be but as a fading flower or as a vanishing vapor, for when the short sum of his existence was past, he would be as truly nothing as if he had never been. What matters it what may 192 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. be his lot — let him stand or fall, let him be happy or miserable, — soon dignity or degradation, pleasure or pain, will be to him as if they never existed. But an immortal, a creature who shall never — never cease to be ; who shall grow in endless pro- gression, and expand his capacities, for pleasure or pain, through an endless duration, — what a dignity is thrown around him, — with what a majesty is he invested in our estimation ! And am I speaking of myself, and of you, ray hearers? Is it the little sp&rk of reason within us that I refer to ? We can but tremble at ourselves. We must revere our own dignity. Are we, indeed, never to cease thinking and feeling ? Is the wave of this immortal life within us never to cease its restless tide ? Is there no sleep for the soul — no dreamless age when it shall forget the past, and cease to anticipate the future ? No grave in which it may hide in peaceful repose, until the calamities that are gathering thick upon the universe are wholly overpast? No; for it is action — motion, endless and progressive. It is a sea of thought, that is either to be swept by the gentle gales of paradise above, or lashed into fury by the storms of divine vengeance below. What is it to us, then, who are formed for an endless existence, what we enjoy or what we suffer in this fleeting world ? What imaginable proportion do seventy or eighty years bear to the infinite dura- tion of such a being? They dwindle, they disappear, in comparison with those mighty cycles of years that LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 193 shall carry us onward in endless progression through our eternal state. They are but as the small dust of the balance to the vast globe of earth, or to all those vaster globes above us that roll in their orbits through the immensity of space. And what shall become of us through this immor- tal duration ? This, and this only, is the grand con- cern of immortals. Politics may have its interesting theories bearing upon human government, and the rights of man. Science may have its perplexing and intricate questions to solve— questions bearing directly upon our life, and health, and comfort in the world. But what are all these to the question of man's eternal destiny? Where is to be our final home? What our final condition ? Is happiness to mark our continued progress and development ? Are we to be for ever drinking from the pure fountain of know- ledge ; for ever making discoveries in the kingdoms of nature, providence, and grace? Or is eternity to roll its unnumbered ages only to bring with them keener anguish and deeper despair ? Are we not only to retain all our capacities, but are these capa- cities to enlarge with an eternal growth, and for ever tower from glory to glory in heaven, or plunge from depth to depth in hell ? These are awfully momentous questions. Let each of us ask ourselves, in the light of reason, of con- science, and of divine truth, w^here will our destiny be for ever fixed ? Are we reconciled to God ? Have we an interest in Christ ? Are we prepared for the 17 194 LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. fruition of the heavenly state? Without this, even though we may be found here among the rich, honor- able, healthy, and merry, our souls can neither be satisfied nor safe. Without this, what shall we do for happiness millions of ages hence, when all earthly enjoyments shall have vanished like a mist of the morning ? Without this, the resurrection will be no privilege, and immortality our heaviest curse. Yea, without this, our destiny will be that of a lost spirit, our eternity the home of an abandoned soul. what stupendous discoveries, what solemn con- siderations are presented us in the gospel ! Let them alarm our fears, quicken our hopes, and animate all our endeavors. Since we are so soon to launch into this endless and inconceivable state, let us give all diligence to secure our entrance into bliss. Influenced by those considerations, let our views expand, our affections be exalted, and we ourselves raised above the tantalizing power of perishing things. And let it be the sum of our endeavors to gain the approbation of that blessed Being whose "favor is life," and whose " loving kindness is bet- ter than life;" so that at last, we may be gathered to " his presence, where is fulness of joy," and dwell at " his right hand, where are pleasures for ever- more." where shall rest be found, Rest for the ■weary soul ? 'Twere vain the ocean depths to sound, Or pierce to either pole; LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. 1[)0 The world can never give The bliss for which we sigh ; 'Tis not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die. Beyond this vale of tears There is a life above, Unmeasured by the flight of years ; And all that life is love. There is a death whose pang Outlasts the fleeting breath ; what eternal horrors hang Around " the second death !" Lord God of truth and grace, Teach us that death to shun, Lest we be banished from thy face, And evermore undone. Here would we end our quest ; Alone are found in thee. The life of perfect love, the rest Of immortality. 196 SERMON 11. THE TWO EOCKS CONTRASTED. ** For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." — Deut. xxxii : 31. "What is truth?" said Pilate to the innocent Saviour, when arraigned before the bar of that func- tionary through the malice of his enemies. No in- quiry could be more important, and had it been asked in the proper spirit, and from a sincere desire to know its nature, no doubt it would have received a prompt and satisfactory answer. It was in con- tempt, however, that he asked the question, for with- out even waiting a reply, he immediately arose and left the judgment hall. And though we may regret that the query was not answered by the Saviour in form, it was answered by him in fact. Grace and truth not only came by him, but he was the truth itself. He not only taught it, and died to establish it, but his whole life was its embodiment and exemplification. That light of which others, by a long and laborious effort, had struck out, here and there, a single scintillation, that seemed only to dazzle and bewilder those who committed them- selves to its guidance, he revealed in a blaze of noon- tide glory. Wherever he sheds his cheering beams, those shadows, that so long rested upon the moun- THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 197 tain tops, and flung their sable pall over the lowly vales ; and, amidst the uplifting eye of faith, catches its first glimpse of that world of "life and immor- tality," "whose existence our undying spirits had an- ticipated, as they turned empty and unsatisfied from the worldliness and vanity of earth. In Christ, emphatically, "is light, and in him is no darkness at all." And how refreshing is it to the wearied and inquiring soul, to turn from the systems of the philosophers to the plain and simple teachings of the incarnate Son of God. If ever, through the ■whisperings of unbelief, or the inquietude of passion, she has been tempted to forsake her seat with Mary at the feet of Jesus, and to roam abroad in search of a resting-place more congenial and more safe, how soon, sad and disappointed, does she return, like the trembling dove of Noah, to fold her w^ary wings upon the bosom of her Saviour, and to nestle closer from " the snare of the fowler" in his benevolent embrace. Yes, my hearers, that question, so thrillingly in- teresting to every voyager across this stormy sea of life ; that question, over which oracles mumbled their dark sayings, and sages and wise men stood confounded, has been answered, intelligibly and satis- factorily, by Him, who spake and acted as man be- fore or since has never done. How opportune his appearance in the flesh ! How many events and circumstances in the history of the world united to make it, and to mark it as " the ful- 17* 198 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. ness of time !" Faint traces of man's original happy condition still remained. Poets had celebrated, in glowing numbers, the excellencies of the golden age; and nations had traced back their origin, through traditionary legends, to fabulous times, when war had not yet hardened nor the accursed lust of gold sensualized the human heart, and when they had sat " every man under his vine, and under his fig tree," "with none to molest or make him afraid." And this belief, more or less obscure, of the happy primeval condition of man, was diffused through all antiquity, and laid at the foundation of every scheme of religion, from that of the Bible to the veriest delu- sions of heathenism. With these traditions of the past there still lingered a hope that the world should not always be " subject to vanity." And the wise and the good wearied themselves to subjugate the moral evil that prevailed, and to bring back the days of heaven upon earth. But " the world by wisdom knew not God." The most gigantic intellects amongst the heathen perplexed themselves in vain efforts to comprehend him. In their searching they could find out neither his nature nor his attri- butes; neither the mode of access to his presence, nor the means of reconciliation to his favor. The religions of Jew and Gentile contain within them the elements of their own destruction. Jewish prophecies were hastening to their accomplishment. And the self-made systems of the philosophers had run their course. They had succeeded each other in THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 199 such quick succession, as to create in every reflecting mind distrust of the ability of any to cleanse the conscience, and to renovate the hearts of their votaries. And hence, a desire for something more stable and permanent arose. The world was in an expecting attitude. Oracles, prophecies, and poets — Gentile and Jewish — seemed pointing to some distinguished personage to remove the physical, social, and moral evils that prevailed, and to restore the golden age of peace and happiness. It was at this interesting crisis that Jesus appeared in Judea and Galilee, suddenly springing from the deepest obscurity to astonish the world by his miracles, to reform it by his doctrines, and to save it by his blood. And in him the wants and wishes of mankind met a full and happy grati- fication. The reception of him and his truth, is pre- sent and everlasting salvation ; their rejection, the forerunner of fearful, remediless destruction. Human nature, in its pride of intellect and self- righteousness, may be offended at the obscurity of Christ's origin, the simplicity of his teachings, the humility of his life, and the ignominy of his death. But these are amongst the best evidences of his divine mission, and we might reasonably expect that He, who commits the treasures of his grace to "earthen vessels," would choose "the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things 200 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. ■which are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence." If the "Saviour's visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men," yet in him were " hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." And if ever that guilt, which has been gathering and blackening until it is ripe for the curse, is to be cancelled, Jesus is to do it ; if ever that image, which sin has effaced, is to be reinstated upon the human soul, Jesus is to do it; and if ever those pearly gates, which transgression had barred, are to be re-opened for man's admission to the eternal city of God, Jesus is to do it. Every other founda- tion, however formed " by art or man's device," shall fail. Every other hope, however cherished and trea- sured up in his heart of hearts, shall be but as the hope of the hypocrite and as " the giving up of the ghost." The Bible, and the Bible from its beginning to its end, is the testimony of Jesus. And it is the only chart, by whose guidance the voyager for eternity can avoid the hidden rocks and dangerous whirlpools that lie on either hand, and threaten his destruction. And he who launches upon the troubled sea of life without this unerring guide, is as infatuated as the mariner who leaves his port without a helm to steer his vessel, or an anchor to hold it in safety. No ; their rock is not as our Rook. Let but reason speak, and confirm her arguments by the ten thousand THE TWO EOCKS CONTRASTED. 201 facts which experience has gathered, and they must shut the mouth of every gainsayer, and maintain the transcendent superiority of the God of the Bible over all that have been called gods, and that have been worshipped. The Bible, and the claims of its Author upon our faith and service, challenge the most rigid scrutiny. There are some timid, narrow-minded Christians, who would have *' all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation ;" and who are ever in dread lest the march of mind and the discoveries of science may perplex us with knotty questions, and unsettle the foundations of our faith. But such fear is idle. Every truth must be sus- tained by its own evidence. The crucible of the chemist, whatever new combinations it may form, or changes it may make, will not change the law of righteousness, or dissolve the relation between the Sovereign of the universe and the subjects of his moral government. We have no fear that the ham- mer of the geologist will ever break "our Rock," or that the stratifications which lie at the bases of Sinai and Calvary will ever disprove the solemn transac- tions witnessed by their summits. And of all this we are willing that our " enemies themselves shall be the judges." The affirmation of the text was originally made by Moses, with reference to Jehovah of Hosts, and the idols of the nations, when the dangers and the diffi- culties of the wilderness were past, and when nothing 202 THE TWO BOCKS CONTRASTED. but the Jordan divided the tribes from the chosen in- heritance of their fathers. They who trusted in their idols for succor, and who knew not the power, or despised the majesty of the God of Israel, had united for the destruction of his people, and attacked them on every quarter. But in the strength of Jehovah Nissi, " the Lord their banner," they had returned the charge, and driven them before their victorious arms as "chaff before the wind." And as the man of God recounts their triumphant march up to the very borders of Canaan, through the swarming hosts of the Amorites and the Hittites, he breaks forth in the exulting language of the text, *' their rock is not as our rock ; even our enemies themselves being judges." Leaving out of view the gods of the heathen, to which the text primarily refers, we may enlarge the signification of the text, and consider the comparative excellencies of the god of the infidel and the God of the Christian, which is most likely to exalt the character, or to meet the wants and exigencies of man. I. As TO THEIR Comparative Excellencies. — Faith in the existence of a God lies at the foundation of all religion. And never was there a more stu- pendous admission. It involves consequences that, growing with an endless progression, shall lay their moulding hand upon the character, and form the destiny of the mind, that credits a proposition so reasonable and so self-evident. THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 203 No one to whom this doctrine is presented, but must perceive at once that he is grasping an idea of immense importance, and one that, from the very necessity of its nature, must have infinitely extensive bearings. It solves a thousand mysteries that were otherwise inexplicable. And considered in its rela- tions to the material and immaterial world, to every object in the wide range of thought, it gathers around it an interest which the mind, in its loftiest aspira- tions, is inadequate to comprehend. Faith in the existence of a God is a dividing line between the territories of light and of darkness, — between a region illumined by the acknowledgment of an all-controlling, self-existent cause, and a region over which hang the clouds and shadows and curses of atheism. And if there be a God to whom we sustain the relation of rational and dependent creatures, how deeply is our interest and our happiness involved in the views we may form of his nature and character. Any divergency from the right path here must lead us on to irretrievable ruin. And we assert that no- where can we form so proper conceptions of God, not only in regard to his absolute perfections, but also in reference to his relations to us, as in this book which professes to bring "life and immortality to light." For " their rock is not as our rock." I need scarcely advert to the beauty and force of the figure used by Moses. What better emblem of strength, of stability, of perpetuity, in the wide range of nature, 204 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. than the rock ? Nor need we stand with the wanderer of the desert beneath the beetling crags of Sinai, or at Horeb's foot, to appreciate or feel its force. Here, in the sublime scenery of the rugged mountains that bound the beautiful vales in which we dwell, may we learn the significance of the metaphor. What mighty changes have here taken place since these rocks of ages first heaved their huge masses to the skies I Deluges have swept by in their wrath, and that which has changed the face of all else, has left them unchanged. For ages the war-whoop and the arrow of the savage have re-echoed through their solitudes, and resounded from their sides. These, too, have passed away to give place to the woodman's axe, and the march of civilization. And yet there those rocks remain in stable perpetuity, — the best, the most appropriate symbol that nature can produce of the Almighty, the self-existent and eternal Jehovah. Such is not the rock of Israel's enemies, and they who trust that shall find their hope to be that of the hypocrite that shall perish, and their " trust a spider's web." And they themselves shall be our judges in this matter. 1st. How uncertain are the attributes of the in- fidel's God. In the records of Deism there are scarcely two individuals that acknowledge the same God. Their faith is founded on no fixed moral prin- ciples, and each is left to form for his worship such a being as his own caprice or fancy may dictate. Who amongst all the masters of infidelity shall an- THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 205 swer to your satisfaction that important inquiry, What is God ? Which of them will give you any proper conception of his nature and his attributes ? Is he a being of infinite justice, and will every transgression in his government meet with its just recompense of reward ? What inquiry more thrill- ingly interesting to man, and yet what creed of infi- delity has ever satisfactorily affirmed or denied the proposition ? They wonder and bewilder themselves in a maze of doubt, and cannot tell you whether the grave is the end of human existence, or whether we are to enter a world of retribution beyond its con- fines. Is God a being of infinite holiness, demanding the same character in his intelligent worshippers, — or if not sensual himself, as were the gods of the heathens, is he entirely indifferent to their state of mind and character ? Can any infidel tell us whether worship is required, and if so, what is needed to make it acceptable in his sight ? Instead of giving a satis- factory solution to the difficulty, the writers of Deism either leave it untouched, or advance theories upon the subject the most contradictory and absurd. In fine, alas ! differing with each other and them- selves, they have no unerring standard to which we can appeal as the end of all doubt and all strife. For, whilst some have entertained imperfect, yet in some degree just views of God, and have admitted man's accountability, others have indulged in the most gross conceits, and have elevated the nature of 18 206 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. God but little above the sensual and debased idols of the pagans. Not so is it with the being whom Chris- tians worship. What possible perfection can you conceive of that he does not possess ? Every excel- lency calculated to excite our gratitude, induce our homage, call forth our love, or move our fears, are found in him in an infinite degree. They who search the Bible to find an answer to that momentous ques- tion. What is God? need not long remain in doubt or darkness. That light of Heaven which shines upon the sacred page, removes all the mystery that otherwise shrouds this great subject, and reveals to the intelli- gent, inquiring mind, in terms so plain that he that runneth may read, " what man is to believe concern- ing God, and what duty God requireth of man." Amongst the gods there is none like unto him. And whether we look at each of the various attributes of which his character is composed, or at the whole in glorious combination, we see the indubitable im- press of certainty. And whilst the god of Deism is as changeable as the fancy, the caprice, or the de- pravity of his worshippers, the God of the Christian is in every clime and in every age, "the same yester- day and to-day and for ever." 2d. I remark that the god of the infidel is little more than a mere spectator of events, while the Christian's God is everywhere in the exercise of a sustaining, controlling, and all-gracious energy. The deist scouts at the doctrine of a particular providence. THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 207 It is much more in accordance with the character of his god to leave his creatures to become the sport of a capricious chance, as bubbles cast upon the surface of the heaving ocean of life, only to be dravy-n hither and thither by capricious currents, and then to sink for ever beneath the mass. For he sits among them in indolent majesty, mani- festing but little regard for them, and exercising little or no control over the works of his hands. How often do we hear these infidel philosophers, who arro- gate to themselves all wisdom, speaking of the laws of nature, and accounting for this or that atmospheric phenomenon or event in the world by a reference to the law of nature, just as if nature was omnipotent, and its laws an eternal something^ — a kind of fate that acted universally or essentially, uncontrolled and uncontrollable by any intelligible agency whatever. This is downright practical atheism ; for if a law of nature be anything else than the rule by which the intelligent Governor of the universe carries out his purposes and plans, we have mistaken the mean- ing of language altogether, and there is no fixed standard by which the sense of our ideas are to be determined. If such a doctrine as this be true, how miserable man's present life ! How hopeless his future ! No supporting arm to lean upon, his own weak powers must battle with the mighty elements that surround him, that are hushed at no word of command, and know no controlling law but their own wild caprice. 208 THE TWO KOCKS CONTRASTED. Upon his future, no star of promise sheds even the faintest ray. How many thrilling inquiries here crowd upon him I Is that dissolution, whose harbin- gers are coming thick and fast around him, to bring entire annihilation with it ? Is this constant flow of thought and activity to cease for ever in its course, and this light of reason to be for ever blotted out in darkness ? Or if not, if this parting spirit is to sur- vive the grave, what is to be its home and its pursuits ? And is that same lawless chance which made it its sport here, still to pursue it through another state, and toss it as a bubble upon the ocean of eternity ? Alas ! poor infidel, thou canst not tell, for the book of nature makes no revelations of an eternal state, nor lights up the grave with the hope of a joyful resurrection ? But this is not "our Rock," blessed be God, for the Christian has no such doubts or despair. Every- thing in heaven above, and earth beneath, is under the supervision and control of Him, who " doeth all things well ;" and however adverse they may appear to human short-sightedness, they are beautifully and harmoniously working together for the Christian's good. The God he worships is present in all worlds to control the events of each ; and while the whole system of things moves on exactly in accordance with the dictates of his will, and of his wisdom, his regards are as intensely fixed upon the destiny of the obscur- est individual, the unfolding of a flower, or the mo- tion of an atom, as if it was the only object to engross / THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 209 his infinite mind. In the government of the Chris- tian's God, there is no such thing as chance. As nothing is too grand, so nothing is too insignificant for his eje, or his providence to reach ; and the veriest worm that creeps upon the earth, and the most ardent seraph that burns before his throne, are alike within the range of his vision, within the control of his arm, and within the circle of his regard. " To Him, no high, no low, no great, no small, He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all. He sees with equal eye, as God of all, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall ; Atoms, or systems, into ruin hurled, ^ And now a bubble burst, and now a world." In such a faith as this, the mind reposes with confidence. That doubt and uncertainty, in which events and their consequences are wrapped up by the gloomy creed of infidelity, finds no place in the Christian's soul. His heavenly Father rules over all. Winds, and waves, and human hearts, are in his hands, and when his purposes are accomplished by their blind fury, they shall sink to rest at his bidding. And in the triumph of an overcoming faith, may his servants exclaim, " This God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide, even unto death." II. Let us consider which is best adapted to exalt the character of man. That a belief in the Christian's God is best adapted to exalt and improve human cha- 18* 210 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. racter, is evident from the fact, that he is a Being with whom man is brought into more immediate contact. The deist does not expect to meet his god, unless it be in the w^orks of nature, or in some ^f the great revo- lutions of society, and often in these, he is so wrapped up in clouds and darkness, as to be scarcely visible or tangible. But the Christian's God meets him everywhere. Not only is all nature animated by his presence, and vocal with his praise ; not only does he meet him when the elements are abroad in their fury, and all nature is convulsed ; not only does he meet him when the great ocean of the human mind is stirred up to its profoundest depths, and the nations are heaving and tossing like the billows of the sea ; but he sees his hand in every movement of nature and in every day's occurrence in human life. Every sense is alive to his presence ; every sense gives evidence of his controlling agency. *' He warms in the sun, refi-eslies in the breeze ; Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees ; Lives through all life, extends through all extent ; Spreads undivided, operates unspent." And there is anothercloser contact of the Deity with man, of which the rejecter of revelation can have no conception and to whose influence he is lost. I refer to his assumption of man's nature in the person of Jesus Christ. To the deist God's attributes are but as a sort of abstraction, which ever elude the grasp of his intel- THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 211 lect. But the Christian's God comes out from behind the veil of his abstract perfections, and brings himself directly in contact with our thoughts and feelings. — I had almost said with our very senses, in the person of the man Christ Jesus. And in this manifestation of God in the flesh, the divine glory is so softened that we can gaze upon it without being overpowered by the vision. The actions, too, of God, we can here view ; the attributes of God we can here contemplate ; the au- thoritative declarations of God we can here listen to, through the medium of a nature as our own. And has all this no elevating influence upon human character? Can he grovel in the dust who feels that he is living and moving and having his being in such a God as this ? Shall he want stronger evidence to attest, and stronger appeals to call forth, the active principles of his nature? Can the infidel's god, in that remote and dim abstraction in which he must appear to his worshippers, awaken such sentiments of gratitude, of love, of hope, of confidence, of humi- lity as fill the breast of the Christian believer? Why, surely, if there is a single dormant virtue in the human soul, the breath of Christian faith will kindle the slumbering spark into life, and make it glow and burn with all the ardor of a seraph's. To know God, to serve him, to enjoy him, is to the devout Christian, the great end of human existence. Earthly distinc- tions vanish before the ineffable brightness of the eternal throne; earthly hopes are swallowed up in 212 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. the prospect of that "far more exceeding and eternal ^y eight oT glory." In the beautiful and sublime language of another, " He may be unacquainted with the works of philo- sophers and poets, but he is deeply read in the ora- cles of God ; his name may not be found in the regis- ter of heralds, or amongst the catalogue of earth's heroes and statesmen, but he trusts it is recorded in the book of life. If his steps be not attended by a princely retinue, angels are his ministers, and bright spirits of the upper world, his every-day attendants ; his palace is ' a house not made with hands ;' his diadem ' a crown of glory that fadeth not away ;' and if he has them not in possession, he knows they are in reversion for him, and shall be given to him in that day when ' God makes up his jewels.' On the rich, on the eloquent, on nobles, and priests, he may look down with contempt. He is rich in a more pre- cious treasure, eloquent in a more sublime language, and noble by the right of an earlier creation." For his sake, and that of the Church of the living God, of which he is a part, empires have risen and flourished, and decayed. For his sake the Almighty has proclaimed his will amidst the thunders and tem- pests of Sinai, in the still small voice, and in the milder beauties and glories of Zion. For him he has revealed, by the harp of the prophets and the pen of the evangelist, a destiny such as Plato in all his wis- dom never dreamed, and Solomon in all his glory never equalled. THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 213 For his destruction, all hell is in motion ; for his deliverance, all heaven is on the alert. " Michael and his angels warring against the dragon and his angels." The great " Captain of his salvation" is the eternal Son of the Highest ; the price of his ran- som, the blood-sweat in the garden, and the untold agony upon the tree. And has infidelity anything in its creed to com- pare with this ? Has it anything to ennoble, to purify, to exalt and refine, and to make man what his Creator destined him to be — the image of his own sublime nature — the transcript of his own glorious perfections ? Have the writings of the great masters of deism ever produced such efi'ects upon those who have received their sentiments or followed in their wake? Let our enemies themselves be our judges. The " Christian is the highest style of man;" for true Christianity is the source of all genuine polite- ness, and of all true liberality ; and while it fits for the duties, it also beautifies and adorns every relation in life. It makes the upright ruler, the good citizen, the faithful husband, the affectionate wife, the care- ful tender parent, the loving obedient child, and the faithful obedient servant. And lastly, let us consider ivhich is most likely to meet the exigencies and tvants of man ? Which gives the most security, the most sensible enjoyment, and the most supplies ? Nor shall our views and feelings be made the standard of judgment ; ye your- 214 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. selves shall be the judges. 1st, We appeal to your experience. Experience is knowledge derived from experiment, in opposition to mere theory or hypo- thesis, and may just as safely be applied to morals as to physics. Experience is the best standard to which we can appeal, and nothing can better test the cha- racter and standing of the principles which we avow. And what, unbeliever, is your experience in regard to the rock on which you depend ? What changes has it wrought upon you ? Has it eradicated a single habit of sin ? Has it overpowered one single one of these natural impulses to evil, which hurry us head- long downward, and debase, and debauch, and de- stroy the soul ? Has it conquered any depraved appetite ? Has it implanted a single principle, whose tendency is to elevate and purify, and to fit man to discharge every duty, and to adorn every station in which Providence may place him ? Point me, indeed, anywhere, to one character formed under belief of the infidel's god, that exhibits a high degree of moral virtue. You may find some who are inofi'ensive, and who may be said to be nega- tively good, as they are free fr()m gross and open vice. But never will you find one of lofty, virtuous aspirations, or elevated to a high standard of moral excellence. Where are the Edwardses, the Howards, and the Wilberforces of the world, the great pioneers of moral reform, and instruments of her regeneration ? Their names illumine not the records of deism. You find THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 215 them the worshippers of the God of the Bible, — the followers of Him who embraced a wide world in the arms of his benevolence. 2d. We appeal to your enjoyments. Happiness is the goal for which all are aiming, and the truth or falsity of any scheme of religion may be measured and determined by its ability to contribute to this grand desideratum of human existence. What pre- sent enjoyment has your system imparted ? AYhat hope of future bliss has it enkindled in the soul ? What support does it afford you in the trials inci- dent to this mortal state ? Can it buoy you above the waves of affliction ? Can it dissipate the shadows of the dark valley of death ? Can it compensate your loss of friends, or cheer your hours of bereavement with the prospect of a blissful reunion in a world where the ties of friendship shall never be severed? Does your creed satisfy the craving of your immortal spirit after substantial good ? Does it point with any degree of certainty to a home " where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest ?" "I speak as unto wise men, judge ye what I say." That prince of infidels, Voltaire, said, in writing to a confidential friend and admirer, " I hate life, and I dread death." And this was said by a man who had a renown for literary and dramatic talent, unequalled by any contemporary. This was said by him on whose brow but a short time before, had been placed the "laureate crown," amidst the accla- 21G THE TAYO ROCKS CONTRASTED. nications of rejoicing tjiousands. This was said by him whose society was courted by the proudest monarch of the age ; and who, the admired of all admirers, enlivened the gay assemblies of Paris and Berlin with flashes of wit, and strokes of repartee, as brilliant, as they were ingenious and novel. And no doubt the blinded world, who worshipped him as the god of her idolatry, thought him a happy man ; and surely here was sufficient material for self- gratulation and enjoyment. But the world knew not the secret heart of Voltaire. The gay countenance of the witty philosopher was often a sad index to the real feelings of his soul. Courted and flattered by small and great, and surrounded by everything that could give to life a relish, the expectant of a literary immortality that should outlive the marble and the brass, that man hated life and dreaded death. With all the world could give him, it could not give him that which most of all he needed, — peace of mind. With all that had been lavished upon him, his soul was still empty and unsatisfied. What a striking comment upon infidelity ! What a verdict upon his own principles, by one who, in his efforts to subvert the kingdom of Jesus, made his motto " Crush the wretch." Did he do it ? Did he not rather crush himself? " W^hosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Be ye the judges if the case of Voltaire in his infi- delity be peculiar. Is it not as universal as the ex- THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 217 istence of a conscience unappeased, and a heart un- washed from sin? Lastly, we appeal to the bed of sickness, and to the solemnities of death. If ever men are honest, it is on a dying bed. If ever their real sentiments are expressed, it is when they are on the borders of that unknown land from which no traveller ever returns. Where, then, is the god of the infidel ? Where, then, is the power of his creed to sustain in that most fear- ful and trying of all human events? Can he go down into "the valley of the shadow of death," and " fear no evil ?" Can he commit himself to the cold waves, that divide this world of flesh and blood from the spirit land, with the faintest hope that his shall be a happy destiny ? Go ask the masters of infidelity themselves, the Humes, the Yoltaires, the Paines. Do you see them gathering their philosophy about them and lying down to die in calmness and com- posure, as examples to their followers ? Nay, instead of this, you see them sneaking out of life as cowards and as felons, mingling supplications wdth curses, to that Saviour whom they had in vain attempted to crush, and then rushing — they know not where. Oh if this be the end of the unbeliever, how dreadful be- yond description ! Yet such are the legitimate re- sults of infidelity. Turn with me from these scenes of horror, to " the chamber where the good man meets his fate." Wit- ness the triumph of faith over sense, the hopes that bud and blossom on the very margin of the grave. 19 218 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. For the believer, " to live is Christ, and to die is gain." "This," said an eminent saint, in the hour of dissolution, " is not dying, this is falling asleep in Jesus ;" and calmly and serenely, as if he was but wrapping his mantle about him, and lying down to pleasant dreams, he passed to his Saviour's bosom. When the devoted Philip Jenks was struggling in the last pains of death, one said to him, " How hard it is to die." He replied, ''Oh, no, no ; easy dying, blessed dying, glorious dying. I have experienced more happiness in dying two hours this day, than in my whole life. It is worth a whole life to have such an end as this. I have long desired that I might glorify God in my death, but oh, I never thought that such a poor worm as I could come to such a glorious death." Old Simeon, clasping the infant Saviour in his arms, could say, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salva- tion." And the honored Apostle of the Gentiles, as the hour of his departure approaches, longs to be dismissed from the cumbrous clay, and kindling into rapture at the prospect of dissolution, exclaims, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his ap- pearing." Why these shouts of triumph from the very swellings of Jordan ? Why comes this song of THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. 219 salvation floating its sweet music across the waves of death, if Jesus be not the only Saviour of the world, and the promises of the gospel the only hope of the dying sons of men ? " Even our enemies themselves being judges," have we not indubitable evidence that — " Jesus can make a dying bed, Feel soft as downy pillows are ; While on his breast we lean our head, And breathe our life out sweetly there ?" And now, in conclusion, we leave you to judge and decide in this matter. It is a question of the utmost importance, and one upon which is suspended your everlasting destiny. Who of you, then, will dare trust the infidel's god as a refuge, — as a Saviour for pardon and peace ? Who will dare trust him in the hour of extremity; and on the bed of death, or be willing to throw his deathless spirit on his protection for eternity ? Who will dare do this, when thousands, who have already done it, have died reproaching themselves for their wretched infatuation ? If any of you who adopt the infidel's creed are right and we are wrong, still our prospect for eternity is as good as yours. But oh ! if the reverse be true* if we are right and you are wrong, you are running a fearful hazard if you reject the only hope of the sinner, and grieve away by wilful unbelief that blessed Spirit, that would woo and win you, as trophies of mercy, to the feet of Jesus. " Oh! that you were 220 THE TWO ROCKS CONTRASTED. wise, that you understood this, that you would con- sider your latter end." Lastly, let the Christian be satisfied with his choice. If infidels will not be convinced. Christians should be confirmed. A faithful and unchanging God is their strong refuge. This " Rock" has supported the Church in every age, amidst violent opposition and arduous labor, and it shall never cease toward her its protection and aid, so that, according to the pro- mise, " the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." And if any of you, my dying hearers, would have the Christian's God to be your portion, you must devote your hearts and lives to his service ; you must love him supremely, trust him implicitly, and obey him fully. Then, I repeat it, you maybe fearless in adversity, fearless in death, and fearless amid the funeral fires of the world. Happy the man -whose hopes rely- On Israel's God ; He made the sky, And earth, and seas, -with all their train ; His truth for ever stands secure ; He saves the oppressed, He feeds the poor, And none shall find His promise vain. The Lord hath eyes to give the blind ; The Lord supports the sinking mind ; He sends the laboring conscience peace; He helps the stranger in distress, The -wido-w and the fatherless, And grants the prisoner s-weet release. HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 221 He loves his saints, He knows them well, But turns the wicked down to hell ; Thj' God, Sion, ever reigns ; Let every tongue, let every age, In this exalted work engage ; Praise Him in everlasting strains. I'll praise Him while he lends me breath ; And when my voice is lost in death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers ; My days of praise shall ne'er be past. While life and thought and being last. Or immortality endures. SERMON III. HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. ''And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the Lord he God, follow him ; but if Baal, then follow him." — 1 Kings, xviii. 21. Israel, as the Lord informs us by his prophet Jeremiah, chap. 2 : 13, " had committed two evils ; they had forsaken him, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that could hold no water." From the day in which they had revolted from the son of Solomon, and listened to the seducing words of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, they had almost entirely cast off their allegiance to 19* 222 HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. the God of their fathers, and given themselves up to the debasing idolatries of the heathen around them. Their princes, without a single exception, had led the way in this wicked and daring apostacy. They endeavored to break down the separating wall by which the Almighty had hedged t^em up from the nations around them, and they made the altars of Israel to smoke with sacrifices, and her people to bow down in worship to "them that were no gods." This apostacy and idolatry were not without their punishment. They provoked the jealousy and indig- nation of Him who has said, " My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." He delivered this people up, in consequence, into the hands of their enemies. He permitted those very nations whose idolatries they had imitated, and whose abominations they had adopted, to trample upon them. Yea, his curse rested upon the work of their hands. For three years and a half he withheld from them the rains of heaven, and made the heavens above them as brass, and the earth under them as iron, even to cut off from the land " the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water." Gaunt famine stalked through the land. The king on his throne and the beggar upon the dung-hill, were alike destitute of the necessaries of life, and pined away under its withering touch. Yet the Lord will have his witness in the most degenerate times, and as he does not immediately cut off his professing people for their sins, he employs various means to HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 223 convince them of those sins of which they are guilty, and to bring them to repentance of them. Having afflicted Israel for more than three years with famine, he now sends his servant Elijah, whom he had hitherto kept concealed from the fury of the idolatrous Ahab, fearlessly to disclose to the king the cause of the divine judgment. As he suddenly appears before him, Ahab immediately charges him with being a troubler in Israel, because, as the faithful minister of God, he had not ceased to warn the nation of the consequences of their idolatry, and to labor to bring them back to the worship of the Most High. The prophet denies the charge, and, fearless of the tyrant's rage, denounces him as being the real troubler of Israel. " And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grove four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table." The boldness with which the prophet made the charge was intimidating to the wicked king. He had still some secret dread of the prophet's power, and of the authority of Him under whom he acted, and finding that the prophet would not be forced into his measures, and willing, perhaps, to be on terms with him, in order to procure the removal of the 224 HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. famine, he is induced to consent to the command which he made. To the altars, then, which they had erected on Mount Carmel, where they offered up their unholy sacrifices, the eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the groves are commanded to appear, and with them all Israel. And here, in the places of their power, and before their false gods, Elijah desires to confront them in the presence of the people, to bring the matter to a fair decision, and to see by whose power the drought had been sent, and at whose will it could be removed. At the time and place appointed they all assembled, and, before proceeding to the experiment that was to test the true divinity of the place, he puts to the vacillating and unstable Israelites the query of the text : " How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, then follow him." As conviction or interest prompted, they had been yielding homage to Jehovah and to Baal. Now, either the one or the other of these was false, and such indecision on their part was not only irrational but highly culpable, and it was all-important that an election of one or the other should be made. " If the Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, then follow him." And this spirit of indecision between the service of God and the idolatries of the world, so severely reproved by the prophet, was not peculiar to the ancient Israelite. It still has its place in the hearts of multitudes who, whilst they acknowledge the HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 225 claims of God upon them, are still found in the ranks of his enemies. There can be nothing more dangerous than this vacillating, indecisive spirit. It generally results in a procrastination of the great things of religion, until " the axe is laid unto the root of the tree." God has appointed in his church various means of grace, and has essentially connected our salvation with their appropriate use, and to neglect or slight them must be ruinous to the soul. Nay, the church visible is " the pillar and ground of the truth," and a connexion with that church, and a profession of faith in the name of Him who founded it, is one of the most pro- minent tests of discipleship, and the point at which men are so often apt to " halt between two opinions." It is to tJie necessity of tliis outward prof ession, and to the importance of a prompt and right decision in regard to it, that I now desire to call your attention. And if any of you are halting between two opinions upon it, or are undecided whether to come out on the Lord's side or not, I hope that the motives and arguments presented may bring you at once to that decision, which shall bring with it no regrets on a dying bed, or at a judgment bar. You will all admit that a happy destiny for eternity is an object of the greatest importance, and that existence boasts no blessings, the universe no charms, so long as the question of our eternal destination is undetermined. And whilst we note these concessions of the value of Christian hope, and the importance of Christian pro- 226 HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. fession and practice, some of you are standing back from the fountain of Israel, and like Naaman of old, refusing to hear the voice of God's great prophet. Everywhere do the scriptures represent man to be in a helpless and perishing condition. And I need not tell you that the only possibility of deliverance for any sinner under heaven, flows from the inter- position of Jesus Christ. Then surely if the Messiah has appointed means for salvation, they who refuse to use them must lose the benefit of his interposition and perish in their sins. We mean to say that out of the Church of Christ there is no ordinary possi- bility of salvation, and in doing so we mean to attach no meritorious power, no episcopal grace, to ordi- nances, nor to give them any efficacy apart from " the blessing of Christ and the working of his spirit in them that by faith receive them." Nor do we mean to assume for the Church and its officers any spiritual authority beyond what the Bible grants them. But as Christ has made our connexion with that Church, and our reception of the ordinances administered in it, a test of Christianity and a badge of discipleship, without these we can neither expect to grow in grace inwardly, nor to be considered outwardly as sincere followers of Christ. I know the sentiment may appear harsh to some who desire salvation on their own terms. And I may be asked, if there is no possible salvation out of the Church's pale, what shall the heathen do ? What must become of the moral and the upright, who, HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 227 though not professors of religion, are often superior in character to those that are ? Or why attach so much importance to mere outward forms, when all admit that true piety consists not in a mere profes- sion of religion or reception of ordinances, but in a right state of heart towards God and man ? Questions such as these, though they may arise in an inquiring mind, are irrelevant to the point at issue, and need but a word to answer them. It is not with the heathen that we have to do to-day; doubtless they that are without law shall be judged without law. Leave them where the Bible leaves them, in the hand of Jesus Christ. We need not fear but that He whose love for our race, both the manger and the cross have witnessed, will be just in every judgment he passes upon his creatures, whether it be of acquit- tal or condemnation. Our business is not with the heathen to whom the glad tidings of salvation have never come, but to you, gospel hearers; to you, ye children of the Church, whose infant lips were first taught to lisp the name of Jesus, and who have grown up in his knowledge, and the question is whether you in possession of these privileges can hope for salvation if you refuse to pro- fess that Saviour before the world ? Nor will the fact that there are unworthy profes- sors in the Church, obviate the difficulty or make the subject one of no importance. There have been hypocrites in the Church, and there will be to the end of time. There was a Judas in the fumily of the 228 HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. Saviour, and all the safeguards Avhich the officers of God's house, can throw around it will not keep out some who should never have been within its pale. But the question before us is not whether the false, hypocritical professor in the Church will be saved, — we know he will not, — but whether those who stand without, and refuse to make a sincere and godly pro- fession can be saved whilst remaining in that state? And shall the hypocrisy of others excuse our negli- gence ? Nor do we ask for forms and ordinances any undue value ; we do not wish to substitute a mere profession for purity of heart ; we only desire to connect ends with their appointed and necessary means. God nourishes neither the body nor the soul by miracle. He has instituted the proper food for their nourish- ment and growth, and he who would live either temporally or spiritually, must use it as he needs it. You yourselves shall be the judges in the case. You certainly admit that it is presumptuous to hope for salvation in any other than in God's own appointed way. And surely we-«hall not be considered illibe- ral if we reiterate the same sentiment. It will be no unreasonable statement, to say that without the precincts of God's visible Church, there can be no ordinary possibility of salvation, we can clearly show you that the Church is itself the appointed means of grace and salvation. 1st. The question is one more of fact than of argument. It was typified in the dispensation of HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 229 Moses, which made an external connexion with God's Israel indispensable to the enjoyment of those bless- ings and privileges connected with his worship. It is clearly revealed in the present economy, and his command and example and exhortation all enforce it. The last commandment given by the Saviour to his apostles, as he sent them forth in his name, in- cludes withirr it this connexion with the Church. They were to make disciples of all nations by bap- tism and by faith. So soon as any professed their faith in Christ, they were to collect these together and to organize them into churches, by administering that initiatory right which he appointed. Accord- ingly you find the apostles, in that first proof of their ministry which they made on the day of Pentecost, exhorting the weeping and repenting multitude who had been smitten by the Holy Spirit to be baptized, every one of them, for the remission of sins; in other words, to make public profession of their faith and repentance by receiving this ordinance of God's house. And this was the uniform language of these early inspired teachers of Christianity, whether they pro- claimed the truth to Jew or Gentile. " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach ; — that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with 20 230 HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. the heart man helieveth unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." " Search the scriptures" for yourselves, my friends. Compare the command first given, and the manner in which the apostles everywhere executed it. Study carefully the various epistles addressed by them to the churches, and we are sadly mistaken if you will find anywhere a single intimation that Jesus Christ will confer salvation upon those who refuse to con- nect themselves with his visible Church. Wherever you read of mercy sought or shown, the subjects of it are *'no more strangers and fo- reigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God." But perhaps some may be ready to say, that command refers to baptism, and have we not been baptized ? This may be true, and undoubtedly is, in regard to a great number of you. Your believing parents may have dedicated you to God in this ordinance, and thus recognised you as in the visible church. But do you not know, you who have come to years of discretion, that, without faith in Him whose name was named upon you, you practically renounce your baptism ? Do you not know that unless you make a public profession by communicating with his people in that other ordinance he hath appointed, you be- come apostates from his church, and thus not only cut yourselves ofi" from every privilege connected with your baptism, but expose yourselves to the doom of the hypocrite and the unbeliever ? HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 231 Recollect, you that are of age to act, and have not approved and ratified by your own act, that of your parents, that you really abjure it. You renounce the Trinity in whose name you were baptized ; your bap- tism becomes as no baptism ; you are no longer re- garded in covenant relation to God, but are become " aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, a,nd stran- gers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." 2d. I remark that the nature of the gospel eco- nomy, and the terms in which it is everywhere described, point to the Church of God as the great means of salvation. You may recognise it every- where in those strong and expressive figures, by which the Saviour and his apostles delineate the character and relations of those whose faith has laid hold of his atoning merit. He tells us that he came to esta- blish a kingdom of righteousness and peace, and in every willing subject of that kingdom, you recognise a member of the Church of God. That kingdom is made up of individuals, united in a corporate capacity, bound by common laws, and blessed with common rights. And where will you find that kingdom, out of the visible church? What is that body of which every believer is a living member, which is united to a living head, and partakes of its vital influence, but the church which Jesus bought with his blood ? What is that mighty temple erecting in the world, of which saints are lively stones, and Jesus Christ is the chief corner- 232 HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. stone, but that church which is " the pillar and ground of the truth ?" What is that blessed house-' hold of which Jesus is the elder brother, and God the great and everlasting Father, but the church which has been redeemed by the blood of the Son of God ? Who are those living branches that are con- nected with the living vine, and derive their growth and nourishment from its rich and all-pervading juices, but the members of that church which Christ esta- blished, and who, blessed with the ordinances and means of grace that he has appointed, "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Thus, in almost every figure by which the duties or the blessings of believers are repre- sented, are they considered, not as individuals, but in that social organization which gives them common rights with one another, and common privileges with their head and Saviour. It is true that many of those figures refer not so much to the visible as to the invisible and spiritual church of God, yet the one is ordinarily the gateway to the other. The visible church is the storehouse from which the true believer receives his food, its ordinances are the armory from which he draws his well-tempered weapons of defence. And though God, under peculiar covenants, may have received into his invisible church, and saved some who were never outwardly connected with his people on earth, yet this is not the rule but the ex- ception. Nor do we set bounds to his power and grace when we confine the means of salvation within HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS. 233 the limits he has ordained. He may nourish the souls of his servants as he did the body of Elijah by miracle, when his providence has placed them beyond the reach of the ordinary supply ; but, generally, he efifects not by supernatural agency that which can be accomplished by secondary causes and instrumentali- ties. It is in his house that you are to find that provision which suits your starving souls. It is in his house that he fills his poor with bread, and they who remain without must necessarily, unless supplied by miracle, perish with hunger. 3d. I remark that in the promises of the world's salvation, those mighty multitudes that are to be detached from Satan's ranks, are all to swell the triumphs of the Church. Look at the promises and predictions of a race regenerated and redeemed, as you meet them on almost every page of the blessed Bible. Is not that joyous event, when all the nations shall renounce their idols, and the princes and the \dn