MONTHLY RETROSPECT. and his Ministers have not as yet wholly succeeded in their endeavours to repress. But it is to Italy that the eyes of all the friends of civil and religious freedom are turned, watching with eager interest the diplomatic intrigues that have now succeeded to the more open, and on the whole more honest, if more violent, conflict of war. The combatants who were opposed to each other were opposed to each other in deadly conflict on the - field of battle appear to have joined their forces, or rather their frauds, in the field of intrigue, to deprive the Italians of that independence which they fondly hoped, a few months ago, was fully assured to them. As yet, the firmness of the Italians themselves has baffled the subtle wiles of those who I seek to ensnare them. We need not remind our readers of the important results that hang on this controversy. More and mightier destinies than merely civil freedom are wrapped up in the issue. If the counsels of the two Emperors prevail, the restoration of the old ruling families will be found to mean the restoration of the old system of repression of freedom of opinion, the stoppage of the circulation of the Scriptures, the imprisonment of those who dare to read it; in a word, the reinthronisation of the Man of Sin. If, on the other hand, the champions of the national independence can succeed in maintaining their present position, though there is no reason to think that personally they are more favourable to the diffusion of God's truth than their opponents, yet the necessities of their position will force them to continue, as they have already become, the advocates of toleration. Opposed by the whole power of the Papal system, they instinctively feel that their only chance of safety lies in gathering up every element of opposition to Popery that exists in the country and giving them free scope and expression. The example of Sardinia shows us how this system works, and that without any active patronage on the part of rulers, which the cause of truth neither needs nor asks; for simple toleration is all that is required for its wide diffusion. But it is not to be doubted that the enemies of truth and freedom will strain every nerve to prevent the spread of the Reformation in Italy. The difficulties of the case are still farther aggravated by the repudiation of the temporal rule of the Pope by his own subjects. Some compromise might perhaps be found to satisfy the demands of the Tuscans, Modenese, and Parmese; but what is to be done with the inhabitants of the Roman Legations, who protest against their spiritual ruler with even more vehemence than their neighbours do against their temporal ones? What a condemnation of the whole system of Popery! But at the same time, what a difficulty for those statesmen and rulers of the earth who believe in the Pope and stand pledged to maintain his supremacy! In the meantime, we are glad to find that the late war has produced some relaxation of the oppression that was practised upon the Protestants in Austria, ever since the signing of that fatal Concordat. By recent accounts from Vienna we learn that a Consistory of the Protestant Church was held in that city, at which the president, M. Zimmerman, informed his colleagues that the Government would not object to the holding of a Synod of the Churches, whose duty it would be to make propositions for settling the affairs of the Lutheran and Calvinist Confessions in the Archduchy of Austria. We only hope that the Government itself will take no part in the matter, but will allow these Churches to settle their own affairs. If we cast our eyes beyond the bounds of Christendom, we see the Christian nations making aggressions in various directions upon the outlying field of heathendom and Mohammedanism. Those aggressions, indeed, are not always made in the spirit of Christ's religion, nor are the aggressions in all cases such as we should approve for missionaries of the Cross; but it is not the less our duty to note the facts and watch the movements, for we can never tell in what unexpected way God may bring good out of evil. For instance, there is little to be gained for pure religion, one would think, in the fact as now stated, that Spain is about once more to raise her head among the nations, and make war on the MONTHLY RETROSPECT. Mohammedan Empire of Morocco; and yet, when one thinks of the manner in which all the Mohammedan countries have for centuries been hermetically sealed against the entrance of Gospel light, and sees how, in our times, openings are made in one and another of them, for the influences of Bible truth, it is difficult to repress the hope that even a war made against Morocco by the most bigoted of Roman Catholic countries, may be made subservient in God's Providence to the diffusion of Gospel light. Spain, it must be remembered, cannot conquer Morocco for herself. Other nations will enter by the breach she may make; and we may reasonably hope that, if European influences are to penetrate there at all, the Protestant influence of England will not be the last or least effective. Much the same may be said of the lamentable accounts that have been received in the course of the month from China. We had hoped that the painful and, at best, questionable process of war and bloodshed was over, and that we should now be left peaceably to develop our intercourse with the Chinese by the more gentle means of trade and religion. But it was not to be. More fighting-the rousing of more angry passions-a greater waste of human life is required. At least, our countrymen have the satisfaction of feeling that this time they are not the aggressors; and British Christians may await the result with confidence in the reflection that though they would have given much to avert this great calamity of a new war, yet God can, and no doubt will, make even it turn out to the furtherance of the Gospel through their prayers. We are sorry to find by the latest arrivals that several murders have taken place, in consequence of these calamitous events, at Shanghai and other places in the North; and we fear that the work of the missionaries among the natives may, in consequence, be interrupted. Now, more emphatically than at any former period, the prayers of the Christian Church are demanded on behalf of China. Recent intelligence from Africa informs us that the Livingstone expedition is progressing satisfactorily, that the doctor himself with his attendants enjoy good health, and that he has made several additional discoveries of importance, the most remarkable of which is that of a lake, greatly surpassing in extent the celebrated Ngami. We regret that the information from Southern Africa is not of so cheering a character. The venerable Moffatt, who may well be regarded as the apostle of the interior tribes, has been subjected to annoyance, and no small amount of persecution, from the Boers of the Transvaal Republic. Our readers are of course aware that some of the malcontent Boers in the colony were allowed, some time ago, to form themselves into an independent settlement, continuing in amity with the authorities of the colony. A treaty was formed between the two parties, one of the stipulations of which was that no Englishman should supply the native tribes with gunpowder. The Boers accuse Mr. Moffatt, whose presence in their neighbourhood, there is reason to believe, is a check on their oppression of the natives, with a violation of this treaty, by a surreptitious sale, to the natives, of gunpowder. We need hardly say that there is not one word of truth in the accusation; but it served as a pretext for them to endeavour to remove Mr. Moffatt-by violence, if no other course would do-from their neighbourhood. We rejoice to say that Sir George Grey, the Governor at the Cape, on being appealed to, at once interfered for his protection, and the malevolent designs of the Boers have, for the present, at least, been wholly frustrated. Original Papers. THE DUTY AND BLESSEDNESS OF OBEYING CHRIST'S NEW COMMANDMENT FOR ITS OWN SAKE.* BY THE REV. J. S. BLACKWOOD, D.D., LL.D., VICAR OF MIDDLETON TYAS, YORKSHIRE. THE new commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ-that last legacy of ineffably tender and thoughtful affection-must assuredly mean something distinctively special. It cannot contemplate that love only which is the fulfilling of the law, the exercise of which was a duty as old as the law. Its demands cannot be exhausted by the habitual cherishing of a loving disposition towards God and man; nor by the exhibition of a conscientious, equitable, disinterested, and bountiful spirit of catholic kindness; nor by deeds of compassion and generosity to the poor, the afflicted, the unhappy-nay, to all mankind. It is not piety, it is not benevolence, it is not beneficence, that, by the Saviour's new commandment, are intended; could we even imagine these, ardent as a seraph's rapture, boundless as the rolling ocean, liberal as Autumn's flowing horn. It is something more definite still, for all these were duties from the beginning. They shine, no doubt, with the preciousness of intrinsic worth; they bear the sterling stamp of eternal moral value; they breathe the soul of essential goodness; and in the blessed constitution of things, delight, pure, high, holy, has been annexed to, and blended with, the habitude of these ennobling virtues, by the glorious Author of nature, whose name is Love. But not for the first time were these precepts given, not for the first time were these duties revealed, when, on the eve of betrayal and crucifixion, our beloved Master delivered his emphatically new commandment. Piety or love to God was then already the recognised root of all religion. Even heathen poets could raise to the sentiment of general benevolence and say, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto." The good Samaritan had already understood, and performed his duty to his neighbour; nor had he then to learn the noble lesson that an enemy himself, in distress, becomes clothed with that sacred character. And the Saviour, too, had frequently before enforced the golden rule of Christian morals-to do towards others all things whatsoever we would they should do to us. Still more, he had even enlarged that golden precept, “I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." All these precepts, nevertheless, have obviously an aspect, so to speak, of outwardness. They look beyond, and not within, the circle of the little flock, to which Jesus especially addressed himself when He delivered His emphatically new commandment. Let us endeavour, then, by these considerations, to clarify our ideas and pioneer our progress. Not Philanthropia, not even Agape, but Philadelphia, is what we have now to consider. Metaphysical theologians tell us that "benevolence" is love to being in general, or delight in the happiness of percipient beings-a rather frigid and queer substitute for the intelligible enough idea of love. But, at least, they cannot, after this fashion, mystify and dilute away the gracious affection towards each other which is commanded to the children of God. *An Address written on the topic prescribed by the Council, and read at the Annual Conference of the Evangelical Alliance in Belfast. VOL. XIII.-NOVEMBER. L L ORIGINAL PAPERS. We may observe, accordingly, that the last, the new commandment of our Master: 1, contemplates new relations; 2, supplies new motives; 3, involves new duties; and 4, affords new delights. 1. It contemplates new relations. God, of one blood, has made all nations of earth, and, by His universal fatherhood, as well as by Adamic consanguinity, all men are natural brethren, their father Adam being the created son of God. But true brotherhood in Christ, the only begotten of the Father, is a new and special relationship by adoption and grace. It is a privilege, and it is a mystery. It is not of world-wide and common human right to be, in this sense, of the blood royal of Heaven, sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. No: it is a prerogative to be wondered at. Behold! says the Apostle, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God." But it is a mystery, too, for he adds: "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." This new relationship, therefore, we observe is now, and it shall be for ever. It now distinguishes a heavenly family on earth from the world around them, and it shall distinguish them from angels eternally in that blessed inheritance of the saints in light whereunto they are entitled as heirs-yea, as joint heirs with Christ himself, whose glory they shall behold in Him and in each other, and, beholding, shall enjoy for evermore. 2. Hence, secondly, the new commandment supplies new motives. "This," said Jesus, "is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you." His own love, His dying love, is not a measure for ours, since so it would be impossible for us to attain to it; nor is it merely an example, which, as such, it would be indeed impossible for us to follow; but it is a new, grand, and mighty motive. "As I have loved you." And how was this? Hear His own explanation: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." He did not die to move men to acts of natural virtue. He laid down His life for those He loved with special love. Whatever other effects that wonderful death may produce, love to His own was His allconstraining motive. The sheep, then, marked through faith with the blood of the good Shepherd-the brother for whom Christ died—is the object of this special brotherly love thus newly commanded; and delight in that brother's happiness, concurrently with Christ's own delight therein, is the motive newly supplied. And what motive has half the power over a redeemed heart? What appeal could have a thousandth part of the pathos for a saved sheep of Christ, as has one glance of the loving eye of the Shepherd-one thought of the pierced hands and gushing side of Jesus-one remembrance of His earnest, affectionate, dying admonition, "As I have loved you, see that ye, my beloved ones, mutually love each the brother for whom I bleed and die!" Yet again. He has not only appealed to our grateful sense of His own love unto death for His dear sheep, but also to our generous regard for our Master's aspersed honour. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Not if ye are all pious men, not if ye are benevolent, not if ye are liberal, not if ye are conspicuous for a host of shining virtues, but if y have love one to another. Those virtues are good. They glorify God and benefit man: and those things ye are by no means to leave undone. But now I want you to glorify me also, and to benefit my specially beloved; and this is the distinctive badge I now enjoin upon you. Wicked men are about to dishonour me so far as they can. They are about to subject me to reproach, and mockery, and shame. They are about to torture me cruelly, and to crucify me as an accursed criminal-a degraded slave. Ignominy I can patiently endure at their hands; but to yours I confide the vindication of mine honour. Vindicate me, my disciples; vindicate me, my friends; vindicate me, my brethren; vindicate me, my blood-bought sheep. Let the wicked world do their worst ORIGINAL PAPERS. to me, your gentle master; but do you, at least, compel them to perceive that I am not all alone; that I have, indeed, those who loyally cling to my dishonoured name. Yes! prove to them, my beloved ones, that they have ignorantly crucified the Lord of Glory; and do it thus: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, ye have love one to another." if 3. Easy, therefore, is now the transition. The new commandment (thirdly) involves new duties. These are one in essence, infinite in detail: Union in love producing humility, disinterestedness, active kindness, forgivingness, forbearingness, truthfulness, gentleness, tenderness, and all the rest. How lovely are the blossoms, how goodly are the fruits, how endless are the blessings and delights, expected from the tree of Nature when it has been made good by a love-engrafted scion from the Paradise of God. "Be ye not called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Be kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another; if any man have a quarrel against you, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." But I need not further pursue in detail this exquisite catalogue of teeming fruits from the gracious bough of heavenly love, whose exhibition in each of Christ's true disciples, not isolatedly, but unitedly and relatively, one to another-mark the words "one to another"-is the new duty of the new commandment; and this in order that all men may know that they are indeed Christ's. Must we introduce here a note discordant? Must we touch a jarring chord in this spiritual harmony, ere proceeding onward to consider the new delights afforded by obedience to the new commandment? Must we ask how this precious, this profitable, this loving injunction has been for centuries obeyed? Were the question now put to an angel of light, the blessed denizen of some distant star in glory, dwelling too remotely from this our far planet to have heard of the story of man and redemption ~were such a being now, for the first time, furnished with data like these, the dying Son of God's last loving behest to sinful and undone souls brought back from ruin; made brethren in grace; redeemed by blood; saved and sanctified, and fitted for the eternal presence of the God of love and joy, and only asked to manifest their gratitude, and to vindicate the lustre of their benefactor's injured name, by obeying the not grievous commandment of showing love one to another as they had been loved-were one of those swift and glowing messengers, who excel in might and burn with love, required to give an opinion of the result which from these premises ought confidently to be anticipated, what, think ye, would be his reply? Oh, what a beatific vision would not the holy intelligence of such a pure being body forth in answer to that question! What perfect unity of mind and heart, of judgment and affection, of manifested brotherhood, and all-achieving co-operation, would not that happy spirit picture glowingly to himself, and thrill with delight as he pictured it! Surely, he would say, not long could a miserable world resist the demonstration thus given of the truly Divine mission of the loving Son of God. Not long could it choose to remain unblest, when taught thus by the glory of the brightness of the brotherly love of a redeemed and regenerated Church-sweet as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, resistless as a bannered host! Surely this blessed manifestation of the children of God before the sons of earth must ere long have conqueringly purified earth itself, and exalted the human race to the felicity of heaven! We are told, no doubt, of one brief period when some approximation to this hopeful vision |