"Pitchers for the lamps of God !" Hark, the cry goes forth abroad; But ah! the readiness to break, Stamps the vessels of the Lord, Meet to bear the lighted word. "Pitchers for the lamps of God!" Lips that first confess their shame Burnt lips, weaned from self by flame, CORRESPONDENCE -Southland College-Alum Creek Q. M.- "Pitchers for the lamps of God!" "Pitchers for the lamps of God!" "Pitchers for the lamps of God!" Fire of God, come now, come now! -The [London] Christian. CHARLES A. Fox. For The Friends' Review. The second query calls for virtues that embody the spirit of the Gospel. It is so important, we give all of its wording: "Are love and unity maintained amongst you? Are tale-bearing and detraction discouraged? And where differences arise, are endeavors used speedily to end them?" No one will dispute that these are Christian duties; but probably many do not see how much they are required, nor how far we fall short. Our Lord said "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." John xiii. 35. If we are trying to follow Christ, we feel attracted to others who are doing the same; and can say, as did the Lord Jesus, "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. xii. 50. This is the brotherhood of believers; among whom there is a deep "unity" of interests and aims, though their views may differ on minor points. In the beautiful prayer our Lord offered for his disciples just before His trial, He asked that they might know this blessed unity: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." John xvii. 21. What a glorious result! "that the world may believe;" and how inexpressibly sad when the divisions among Christians turn others away from believing! See I. Cor. i. 10-13. But the gospel requires something more of us than affection for our brethren in Christ. We must have also a measure of that self-denying love or charity toward all men, that made our Lord love us and die for us while we were yet sinners, in His deep sense of the value of immortal souls. He said to His disciples: "But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke vi. 35. If we know that a man is a thief, and some one else wishes to engage him where he will be liable to temptation, it is right to tell of his fault, to the one it concerns, not to everybody. This may be done in a loving spirit, widely different from wilful detraction; which is, alas! so common, from the little school-girl who goes about and tells that "Katie looked in the book," to the man who gives sly hints that some Christian neighbor is 'sharp enough at a bargain." The Scripture rule is, "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone;" (Matt. xviii. 15) or keep silent, and think no evil, if an excuse can be found for another. See I. Pet. ii. 1; Eph. iv. 31, 32; Thes. iii. 2. "Let us not, therefore, judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in his brother's way." Rom. xiv. 13. The duty of the church to settle differences between its members, is enjoined in Matt. xviii. 17 and I. Cor. vi. 1–7. For The Friends' Review. KNOWLEDGE AND CHARACTER. "Because the mind develops well, the character does not necessarily." But character is not well developed without proper development of mind. The mind is developed by thinking; and thought is impelled into right channels, stimulated and broadened by knowledge. Hence knowledge may have a very important part in the formation of character; and while it does sometimes fail to act that part, it is worth while to consider how it may be directed and used, in order to promote this end. From earliest childhood many influences are at work to form character. As soon as the child observes, mind is stimulated; as soon as it knows an emotion, heart-growth begins; as soon as it has the slightest perception of right and wrong, the conscience is under development. But while so many forming influences are brought to bear upon every human life, any one or all of the faculties with which life is gifted may be warped or stunted in development, misdirected or disused in childhood or at any period; and he Read Paul's beautiful description of Christian who knows how to awaken all, and bring them inlove, in I. Cor. xiii., and take it home. Do we to harmonious and united action, and hold them "think no evil," where it is possible to impute thus through the magnetism of those true motives, good motives? Do we hope all things of our which the love of Christ inspires, is the best fellows, endure all things from them? teacher of youth, and the best actor in that work of self-help, which God approves, and with which His Spirit unitedly acts. As the result of such training, clear and pure thinking, and right and efficient acting become habits of the life, and this constitutes excellence of character. If we have this Christ-like spirit, we can hardly be tempted to tale-bearing and detraction, or, as it is usually called in the New Testament, evilspeaking. The thought of evil will be painful; we shall delight to think of what is pure, true, honest, of good report (Phil. iv. 8); and out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak. Under the law, men were forbidden to bear false witness against their neighbors; under the Gospel, pervaded by love to all, and the desire to help the sinner to reform, we are restrained from all speaking evil of others, unless love requires it. For convenience' sake, we speak of the elements of character as apart from each other, and as if each had peculiarities of its own, which is in a certain sense true. But we are never to forget the fine intermingling and inter-dependence of the elements of soul-life upon each other-the heart enlightened by the reason, and the perceptive intel lect quickened by the play of feeling; the conscience served by and serving both of these, and the will-power ruling over all. It is on this blending of instincts, intellectual faculties and feelings, that the power of knowledge to enrich the soul in the best sense depends. For while a troop of influ ences from without bear messages of light to the mental faculties, these awakened faculties are energized by those finer inner influences to which we give the general name of intuitions; and waiting ever to meet these allied intelligences, we acknowledge one all powerful and all pervading influence, to which we reverently ascribe the name Holy Spirit. A little consideration reveals to us the fact, that on the appropriation or rejection, use, disuse, or abuse of knowledge in some form, depends the strength or weakness, beauty or deformity, of the character which our days and years build for us. This is true alike of that general knowledge which in measure greater or less, is borne in to every mind through the medium of the senses, and of that special knowledge gained by study. For besides the direct acquirement of valuable facts from the latter, there is such sharpening of the faculties through intense and continued application, as can be gained in no other way. Nor is this all. The thoughtful and assiduous student is admitted to the companionship of good and great minds, which have toiled with infinite labor of research and plodding calculation to enrich him; and in such companionship a steady moulding process goes on -unconsciously it may be-within himself. Yet even this may be too exclusively intellectual, and defraud the characters of the best uses of knowledge. For if the will power, as we have suggested, sits enthroned above every other, to reject or appropriate knowledge-and in appropriating to devote to, or prevent it from, its highest uses, thus promoting either the enrichment or impoverishment of the soul -the dealing of this power with that divine knowledge which the Holy Spirit is ever ready to impart, determines more than everything else, and in a sense to which no words can do justice, the character of the man or woman. If rejected, other knowledge is sought and acquired in the dim twilight of spiritual ignorance, and its highest beauties being unseen, its uses are lowered and profaned. Thus the soul starves while the intellect feeds and grows an unsymmetrical development disastrous to the beauty and best uses of character. But if the light of the Holy Spirit is sought and accepted, every gift is consecrated, every grace and faculty is energized. Secular learning ceases to be merely an embellishment or amusement, or to be used exclusively for the interests of business-dignified and sacred as those interests may be made. For as the whole realm of knowledge is an unfolding of God's eternal truth, we can in looking upon it aright divest no part of its spiritual relationships and uses. Its acquirement is freighting the soul with gems-its use, the polishing of those gems for eternity. Thackeray in considering the truths which life may win, wisely says, "Surely they cannot separate from our consciousness, shall follow us whithersoever that shall go, and are in their nature, divine and immortal." E. E. C. From the Brooklyn Eagle. THE MEMORY OF NATHANIEL SYLVESTER FITTINGLY COMMEMORATED. SHELTER ISLAND, July 17. This has been a red letter day in the history of Shelter Island, made memorable by the unveiling of a monument to Nathaniel Sylvester. The monument also commemorates the same virtues of various other persons, who, more than two centuries ago, suffered persecution, and many of them death, for the principles of religious freedom which they avowed. was Nathaniel Sylvester was the first resident proprietor of the Manor of Shelter Island, under grant of Charles II., 1666. Sylvester was an Englishman. He was born in 1610. He went from Amsterdam to the Island of Barbadoes, and became a merchant and planter. He came to this country about the year 1640. He purchased Shelter Island, comprising about 9000 acres, in 1651, and with his wife settled on the island in 1652. Mrs. Sylvester was the daughter of Thomas Brinley, auditor of Kings Charles I. and II. The price paid for the territory 1600 pounds of merchantable Muscovado sugar. Prior to the coming of Sylvester, James Farrett had acquired both Shelter Island and "Robin's Island from William, Earl of Sterling, and sold them to Stephen Goodyear, who transferred the title of Shelter Island to Sylvester, after which the latter obtained deeds of confirmation from the Indians. Wyandank's deed is 230 years old. The original deeds and a great many interesting letters and papers are in the possession of the surviving descendants of Sylvester. Among the collection is a letter written by William Robinson to George Fox, founder of the Society of Quakers, from the jail in Boston the day before he (Robinson) was hanged for the offense of being a Quaker. There is also a letter from Mary Dyer to her husband, written just before she was hanged on Boston Common on the same scaffold with Robinson, Marmaduke Stevenson and William Leddra. All of these and many others found temporary shelter from persecution under Sylvester's roof on Shelter Island. George Fox was a frequent visitor there. Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, who were despoiled, imprisoned, starved, whipped and banished, fled to this island to die. The east end of the monument bears an inscription to their memory. Mary Dyer, who was executed on Boston Common, was a sister of Madam Sylvester. The north side of the monument commemorates the lives of the martyrs, Daniel Gould, who was bound to the gun carriage and lashed; Edward Wharton, the much scourged; Christopher Holder, who had an ear cut off; Humphrey Norton, who was branded in the hand; John Rous, who lost an ear; Ralph Goldsmith, the shipmaster, and Saml. For The Friends' Review. PRACTICAL LESSONS. NO. 2. The second query calls for virtues that embody the spirit of the Gospel. It is so important, we give all of its wording: "Are love and unity maintained amongst you? Are tale-bearing and detraction discouraged? And where differences arise, are endeavors used speedily to end them ?" No one will dispute that these are Christian duties; but probably many do not see how much they are required, nor how far we fall short. Our Lord said "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." John xiii. 35. If we are trying to follow Christ, we feel attracted to others who are doing the same; and can say, as did the Lord Jesus, "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. xii. 50. This is the brotherhood of believers; among whom there is a deep "unity" of interests and aims, though their views may differ on minor points. In the beautiful prayer our Lord offered for his disciples just before His trial, He asked that they might know this blessed unity: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." John xvii. 21. What a glorious result! "that the world may believe;" and how inexpressibly sad when the divisions among Christians turn others away from believing! See I. Cor. i. 10-13. But the gospel requires something more of us than affection for our brethren in Christ. We must have also a measure of that self-denying love or charity toward all men, that made our Lord love us and die for us while we were yet sinners, in His deep sense of the value of immortal souls. He said to His disciples: "But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke vi. 35. If we know that a man is a thief, and some one else wishes to engage him where he will be liable to temptation, it is right to tell of his fault, to the one it concerns, not to everybody. This may be done in a loving spirit, widely different from wilful detraction; which is, alas! so common, from the little school-girl who goes about and tells that "Katie looked in the book," to the man who gives sly hints that some Christian neighbor is sharp enough at a bargain." The Scripture rule is, "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone;" (Matt. xviii. 15) or keep silent, and think no evil, if an excuse can be found for another. See I. Pet. ii. 1; Eph. iv. 31, 32; Thes. iii. 2. "Let us not, therefore, judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in his brother's way." Rom. xiv. 13. The duty of the church to settle differences between its members, is enjoined in Matt. xviii. 17 and I. Cor. vi. 1–7. For The Friends' Review. KNOWLEDGE AND CHARACTER. "Because the mind develops well, the character does not necessarily." But character is not well developed without proper development of mind. The mind is developed by thinking; and thought is impelled into right channels, stimulated and broadened by knowledge. Hence knowledge may have a very important part in the formation of character; and while it does sometimes fail to act that part, it is worth while to consider how it may be directed and used, in order to promote this end. From earliest childhood many influences are at work to form character. As soon as the child observes, mind is stimulated; as soon as it knows an emotion, heart-growth begins; as soon as it has the slightest perception of right and wrong, the conscience is under development. But while so many forming influences are brought to bear upon every human life, any one or all of the faculties with which life is gifted may be warped or stunted in development, misdirected or disused in childhood or at any period; and he Read Paul's beautiful description of Christian who knows how to awaken all, and bring them inlove, in I. Cor. xiii., and take it home. Do we to harmonious and united action, and hold them "think no evil," where it is possible to impute thus through the magnetism of those true motives, good motives? Do we hope all things of our which the love of Christ inspires, is the best fellows, endure all things from them? teacher of youth, and the best actor in that work of self-help, which God approves, and with which His Spirit unitedly acts. As the result of such training, clear and pure thinking, and right and efficient acting become habits of the life, and this constitutes excellence of character. If we have this Christ-like spirit, we can hardly be tempted to tale-bearing and detraction, or, as it is usually called in the New Testament, evilspeaking. The thought of evil will be painful; we shall delight to think of what is pure, true, honest, of good report (Phil. iv. 8); and out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak. Under the law, men were forbidden to bear false witness against their neighbors; under the Gospel, pervaded by love to all, and the desire to help the sinner to reform, we are restrained from all speaking evil of others, unless love requires it. For convenience' sake, we speak of the elements of character as apart from each other, and as if each had peculiarities of its own, which is in a certain sense true. But we are never to forget the fine intermingling and inter-dependence of the elements of soul-life upon each other the heart enlightened by the reason, and the perceptive intel lect quickened by the play of feeling; the conscience served by and serving both of these, and the will-power ruling over all. It is on this blending of instincts, intellectual faculties and feelings, that the power of knowledge to enrich the soul in the best sense depends. For while a troop of influences from without bear messages of light to the mental faculties, these awakened faculties are energized by those finer inner influences to which we give the general name of intuitions; and waiting ever to meet these allied intelligences, we acknowledge one all powerful and all pervading influence, to which we reverently ascribe the name Holy Spirit. A little consideration reveals to us the fact, that on the appropriation or rejection, use, disuse, or abuse of knowledge in some form, depends the strength or weakness, beauty or deformity, of the character which our days and years build for us. This is true alike of that general knowledge which in measure greater or less, is borne in to every mind through the medium of the senses, and of that special knowledge gained by study. For besides the direct acquirement of valuable facts from the latter, there is such sharpening of the faculties through intense and continued application, as can be gained in no other way. Nor is this all. The thoughtful and assiduous student is admitted to the companionship of good and great minds, which have toiled with infinite labor of research and plodding calculation to enrich him; and in such companionship a steady moulding process goes on -unconsciously it may be within himself. Yet even this may be too exclusively intellectual, and defraud the characters of the best uses of knowledge. For if the will power, as we have suggested, sits enthroned above every other, to reject or appropriate knowledge-and in appropriating to devote to, or prevent it from, its highest uses, thus promoting either the enrichment or impoverishment of the soul -the dealing of this power with that divine knowledge which the Holy Spirit is ever ready to impart, determines more than everything else, and in a sense to which no words can do justice, the character of the man or woman. If rejected, other knowledge is sought and acquired in the dim twilight of spiritual ignorance, and its highest beauties being unseen, its uses are lowered and profaned. Thus the soul starves while the intellect feeds and grows an unsymmetrical development disastrous to the beauty and best uses of character. But if the light of the Holy Spirit is sought and accepted, every gift is consecrated, every grace and faculty is energized. Secular learning ceases to be merely an embellishment or amusement, or to be used exclusively for the interests of business-dignified and sacred as those interests may be made. For as the whole realm of knowledge is an unfolding of God's eternal truth, we can in looking upon it aright divest no part of its spiritual relationships and uses. Its acquirement is freighting the soul with gems-its use, the polishing of those gems for eternity. Thackeray in considering the truths which life may win, wisely says, "Surely they cannot separate from our consciousness, shall follow us whithersoever that shall go, and are in their nature, divine and immortal." E. E. C. From the Brooklyn Eagle. THE MEMORY OF NATHANIEL SYLVESTER FITTINGLY COMMEMORATED. SHELTER ISLAND, July 17. This has been a red letter day in the history of Shelter Island, made memorable by the unveiling of a monument to Nathaniel Sylvester. The monument also commemorates the same virtues of various other persons, who, more than two centuries ago, suffered persecution, and many of them death, for the principles of religious freedom which they avowed. Nathaniel Sylvester was the first resident proprietor of the Manor of Shelter Island, under grant of Charles II., 1666. Sylvester was an Englishman. He was born in 1610. He went from Amsterdam to the Island of Barbadoes, and became a merchant and planter. He came to this country about the year 1640. He purchased Shelter Island, comprising about 9000 acres, in 1651, and with his wife settled on the island in 1652. Mrs. Sylvester was the daughter of Thomas Brinley, auditor of Kings Charles I. and II. The price paid for the territory was 1600 pounds of merchantable Muscovado sugar. Prior to the coming of Sylvester, James Farrett had acquired both Shelter Island and "Robin's Island from William, Earl of Sterling, and sold them to Stephen Goodyear, who transferred the title of Shelter Island to Sylvester, after which the latter obtained deeds of confirmation from the Indians. Wyandank's deed is 230 years old. The original deeds and a great many interesting letters and papers are in the possession of the surviving descendants of Sylvester. Among the collection is a letter written by William Robinson to George Fox, founder of the Society of Quakers, from the jail in Boston the day before he (Robinson) was hanged for the offense of being a Quaker. There is also a letter from Mary Dyer to her husband, written just before she was hanged on Boston Common on the same scaffold with Robinson, Marmaduke Stevenson and William Leddra. All of these and many others found temporary shelter from persecution under Sylvester's roof on Shelter Island. George Fox was a frequent visitor there. Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, who were despoiled, imprisoned, starved, whipped and banished, fled to this island to die. The east end of the monument bears an inscription to their memory. Mary Dyer, who was executed on Boston Common, was a sister of Madam Sylvester. The north side of the monument commemorates the lives of the martyrs, Daniel Gould, who was bound to the gun carriage and lashed; Edward Wharton, the much scourged; Christopher Holder, who had an ear cut off; Humphrey Norton, who was branded in the hand; John Rous, who lost an ear; Ralph Goldsmith, the shipmaster, and Saml. |