![Wandering far back into the regions of classic antiquity, the finger of
association points to Olympia and her games, those Greek
celebrations of which such graphic sketches are preserved in the
triumphal odes of Pindar. Though “the immediate object of these
meetings was the exhibition of various trials of strength and skill,
which from time to time were multiplied so as to include almost
every mode of displaying bodily activity, they became subservient to
the interests of genius and taste, of art and literature.” Statues were
reared to the memory of successful combatants, “and the most
eminent poets willingly lent their aid on such occasions, especially to
the rich and great. And thus it happened that sports, not essentially
different from those of our village green, gave birth to master-pieces
of sculpture, and called forth the sublimest strains of the lyric
muse.” “The scene of the Olympic Festival was during the season a
mart of busy commerce, where productions, not only of manual but
of intellectual labour, were exhibited and exchanged. In this respect
it served many of the same purposes which, in modern times, are
more effectually indeed answered by the press, in the
communication of thoughts, inventions, and discoveries, and the
more equable diffusion of knowledge.” [91]
But these memorable
institutions are suggested to us in the way of resemblance, chiefly
on account of the vast and various concourse of persons which they
periodically attracted. At the time when the games returned, the
banks of the Alpheus became a centre of universal interest, and
exhibited a pilgrim population typical of a congregated world. The
festival “was very early frequented by spectators, not only from all
parts of Greece itself, but from the Greek colonies in Europe, Africa,
and Asia, and this assemblage was not brought together by the
mere fortuitous impulse of private interest or curiosity, but was in
part composed of deputations, which were sent by most cities as to
a religious solemnity, and were considered as guests of the Olympian
god.” It is curious to observe—in contrast with the inclusion of so
many of the female sex in our gathering of the nations, the
circumstance illustrative of the different position of woman in society
in the old classic world—that, with the exception of the priestesses](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18714-250427080905-e19ebaaf/85/Test-Bank-for-Java-How-To-Program-early-objects-9th-Edition-Paul-Deitel-10-320.jpg)
![Through these streets so broad and stately, these obscure and
dismal lanes,
Walked of yore the master-singers chancing rude poetic strains.
From remote and sunless suburbs came they to the friendly
guild,
Building nests in Fame’s great temple, as in spouts the swallows
build.”
“I beheld the pageants splendid that adorned those days of old;
Stately dames like queens attended, knights who bore the
fleece of gold;
Lombard and Venetian merchants, with deep laden argosies;
Ministers from twenty nations, more than royal pomp and ease.”
[94]
And, then, Venice is seen, rising out of the sea—a “mazy dream of
marble palaces, old names, fair churches, strange costumes, while
the canals are like the silver threads, the bright unities of one of
sleep’s well-woven visions.” Within that great city—the modern Tyre,
her history full of warnings pointed at pride, cupidity, ambition, and
tyranny—are seen her merchant princes, with strangers from other
lands, “Greek, Armenian, Persian,” meeting together in busy excited
crowds to look on the wares and treasures supplied by her richly
freighted ships; nor can we help glancing at the annual festival of
that commercial republic, when, to use the words of Rogers,—
“The fisher came
From his green islet, bringing o’er the waves
His wife and little one, the husbandman
From the far land, with many a friar and nun,
And village maiden, her first flight from home,
Crowding the common ferry. All arrived:
And in his straw the prisoner turned and listened;
So great the stir in Venice. Old and young
Thronged her three hundred bridges.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18714-250427080905-e19ebaaf/85/Test-Bank-for-Java-How-To-Program-early-objects-9th-Edition-Paul-Deitel-12-320.jpg)
![spoken on the earth. Men who had used these languages from
infancy were there. Representatives of the world were there—the
Roman centurion was there—Simon the Cyrenian was there [103]
—
multitudes of the Jews were there. And as they deciphered that
strange writing, the various tongues in which the title of the Divine
Sufferer was expressed was a sign that in Him, the Roman, Greek,
and Israelite would find a Saviour and a Lord. The three languages
“which like gold threads bind up the history of the ancient world,”
were here beautifully entwined to tell the teeming crowd of one for
whose coming all the changes in the story of their respective nations
had, in the comprehensive working of Divine providence, prepared.
The cross of ignominy, at the sight of which they shuddered, was the
threshold he must needs pass to enter his kingdom and ascend his
throne, there to sway over them a sceptre at whose touch their
hearts would bow and be rid of the burden of sin and guilt,—while
their mutual antipathies would melt away, and He who had brought
them peace would make them one for ever. “The Roman, powerful
but not happy—the Greek distracted with the inquiries of an
unsatisfying philosophy—the Jew bound hand and foot with the
chain of a ceremonial law,” would find in Christ crucified the power
of God and the wisdom of God; and, in the superscription of his
accusation, read wondrous words of “peace, pardon, and love,” to all
the dwellers upon earth. [104]
Seven weeks afterwards and again there was a gathering. “They
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were
dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under
heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came
together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them
speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and
marvelled, saying one to another, Are not all these which speak](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18714-250427080905-e19ebaaf/85/Test-Bank-for-Java-How-To-Program-early-objects-9th-Edition-Paul-Deitel-17-320.jpg)
![“Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” The emancipated
souls of all the holy dead, through the mediation of the blessed
Redeemer, are gathered together in his immediate presence where
there is fulness of joy, and at his right hand where there are
pleasures for evermore. “To that state all the pious on earth are
tending; and if there is a law from whose operation none are
exempt, which irresistibly conveys their bodies to darkness and dust,
there is another not less certain and powerful which conducts their
spirits to the abodes of bliss, to the bosom of their Father and their
God. The wheels of nature are not made to roll backward,
everything presses on to eternity: from the birth of time an
impetuous current has set in, which bears all the sons of men
towards that interminable ocean. Meanwhile heaven is attracting to
itself whatever is congenial to its nature: is enriching itself by the
spoils of earth, and collecting within its capacious bosom whatever is
pure, permanent, and divine; leaving nothing for the last fire to
consume but the objects and the slaves of concupiscence: while
everything which grace has prepared and beautified shall be
gathered and selected from the ruins of the world, to adorn that
Eternal City which hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to
shine in it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” [110]
And terrific is it to
think that as the multitude of the spirits of the just made perfect is
thus ever augmenting, so also is there an increase of the crowds of
fallen and lost beings in the abodes of despair. How many, it is to be
feared, are hastening on, by their course in this world, not to
paradise, but to prison—not to be with Christ, but to go with Judas
to their own place!
And beyond these scenes of awful interest there lies another of like
character, to be witnessed at the end of time by everyone who may
look at these pages, because it will be the gathering of the whole
human race. “The dead which are in their graves shall hear the
voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth.” The sea shall give
up the dead which is in it. Death and Hades shall deliver up the
dead which are in them. The dead, small and great, shall stand
before God. The Son of man shall come in his glory, with all the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18714-250427080905-e19ebaaf/85/Test-Bank-for-Java-How-To-Program-early-objects-9th-Edition-Paul-Deitel-20-320.jpg)
![result a note what things are yet impossible, or not invented.” Here
we shall have the very thing—the huge household book of the
world’s furniture, bound in covers of crystal. By its influence on the
knowledge and cultivation of art the Exhibition will promote at once
our individual enjoyment, the comforts of our home, and all the
conveniences and elegancies of domestic life, and also tend to
strengthen and elevate our national importance. What will benefit
the rich may bless the poor. “The discoveries which are the property
of the higher class in one age descend indeed to the lower, but
slowly and imperfectly; and there is ample opportunity and scope for
accelerating the general diffusion of knowledge and inventions
among all classes of society. Even, in the most civilized countries,
the mass of the nation have been suffered to remain comparatively
barbarous; and it will be the dawn of a new and happier era, when
the condition of the multitude is considered with that interest which
is due to those, the sum of whose joys and sorrows are to all that is
felt by the rest of the community what the ocean is to the drops of
rain that fall into it.”
“It would be difficult to point out any branch of art which does not
tend to the prosperity of our country; those which in appearance are
most remote in their influence, however indirectly, yet effectually
contribute to the perfection of its manufactures. The pursuits of
immediate utility and of refined pleasure, however far separated
from each other, alike combine in exalting our national welfare. It is
not necessary, in recommending the fine arts to public patronage, to
point out how far they improve and recommend to other nations the
productions of manufactures, since they have higher and more direct
claims upon the national encouragement. Still their advancement,
and above all their diffusion, become of high importance in a country
like Britain, to be and ever to continue the centre and heart of trade
and manufactures.” [122]
We may also advert for a moment to the connexion of the present
enterprise with the pursuits of science. In the history of human
progress it may indeed be remarked that art has preceded science;](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18714-250427080905-e19ebaaf/85/Test-Bank-for-Java-How-To-Program-early-objects-9th-Edition-Paul-Deitel-25-320.jpg)
Test Bank for Java How To Program (early objects), 9th Edition: Paul Deitel
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- 5. Java How to Program, 9/e Multiple Choice Test Bank 2 of 5 c. Fields are composed of characters or bytes. d. On some operating systems, a file is viewed simply as a sequence of bytes. ANS: a. The impressive functions performed by computers involve only the simplest manipulations of 1s and 2s . It's 1s and 0s. 1.3 Q2: Which of the following data items are arranged from the smallest to the largest in the data hierarchy. a. records, characters, fields, bits, files. b. bits, files, fields, records, characters. c. fields, characters, bits, files, records. d. bits, characters, fields, records, files. ANS: d. bits, characters, fields, records, files. Section 1.4 Computer Organization 1.4 Q1: Which of the following is not one of the six logical units of a computer? a. Input unit. b. Output unit. c. Central processing unit. d. Printer. ANS: d. Printer. 1.4 Q2: Which of the following statements is false? a. Speaking to your computer is a form of input. b. Playing a video is an example of output. c. A multi-core processor implements several processors on a single integrated-circuit chip. d. Information in the memory unit is persistent—it is retained when the computer's power is turned off. ANS: Information in the memory unit is persistent—it is retained when the computer's power is turned off. Actually the information is volatile—it's lost when power is turned off. Section 1.5 Machine Languages, Assembly Languages and High-Level Languages 1.5 Q1: Which of the following is not one of the three general types of computer languages? a. Machine languages. b. Assembly languages. c. High-Level languages. d. Spoken languages. ANS: d. Spoken languages. 1.5 Q2: Which of the following statements is true? a. Interpreted programs run faster than compiled programs. b. Compilers translate high-level language programs into machine language programs. c. Interpreter programs typically use machine language as input. d. None of the above. ANS: b. Compilers translate high-level language programs into machine language programs. Section 1.6 Introduction to Object Technology 1. 6 Q1: ________ is a graphical language that allows people who design software systems to use an industry standard notation to represent them. a. The Unified Graphical Laguage b. The Unified Design Language c. The Unified Modeling Language d. None of the above ANS: c. The Unified Modeling Language. 1. 6 Q2: ________ models software in terms similar to those that people use to describe real-world objects.
- 6. Java How to Program, 9/e Multiple Choice Test Bank 3 of 5 a. Object-oriented programming b. Object-oriented design c. Procedural programming d. None of the above ANS: b. Object-oriented design. 1.6 Q3: Which statement is false? a. Classes are reusable software components. b. A class is to an object as a blueprint is to a house. c. Performing a task in a program requires a method. d. A class is an instance of its object. ANS: A class is an instance of its object. The reverse is true. Section 1.7 Operating Systems 1.7 Q1 Which of the following statements is false? a. The concepts of icons, menus and windows were originally developed by Xerox PARC. b. Windows is an open source operating system. c. The software that contains the core components of the operating system is called the kernel. d. Linux source code is available to the public for examination and modification. Ans: b. Windows is an open source operating system. Actually, Windows is a proprietary operating system. 1.7 Q2: Which of the following is not a key organization in the open-source community? a. Apache. b. SourceForge. c. Firefox. d. Eclipse. ANS: c. Firefox (it's a web browser made by the open source organization Mozilla). Section 1.8 Programming Languages 1.8 Q1: Today, virtually all new major operating systems are written in: a. Objective-C. b. C or C++. c. Visual C#. d. Ada. ANS: b. C or C++. 1.8 Q2: Which of the following languages is used primarily for scientific and engineering applications? a. Fortran. b. COBOL. c. Pascal. d. Basic. ANS: a. Fortran. 1.8 Q3: Which language was developed by Microsoft in the early 1990s to simplify the development of Windows applications? a. Visual C#. b. Python. c. Objective-C. d. Visual Basic. ANS: d. Visual Basic. Section 1.9 Java and a Typical Java Development Environment 1.9 Q1: Java was originally developed for:
- 7. Java How to Program, 9/e Multiple Choice Test Bank 4 of 5 a. Operating systems development. b. Intelligent consumer devices. c. Personal computers. d. Distributed computing. ANS: b. Intelligent consumer devices. 1.9 Q2: Which of the following statements about Java Class Libraries is false: a. Java class libraries consist of classes that consist of methods that perform tasks. b. Java class libraries are also known as Java APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). c. An advantage of using Java class libraries is saving the effort of designing, developing and testing new classes. d. Java class libraries are not portable ANS: d. Java class libraries are not portable. (Java class libraries are portable.) 1.9 Q3: The .class extension on a file means that the file: a. Contains java source code b. Contains HTML c. is produced by the Java compiler (javac). d. None of the above. ANS: c. Is produced by the Java compiler (javac). 1.9 Q4 : The command ________ executes a Java application. a. run b. javac c. java d. None of the above ANS: c. java. Section 1.10 Test-Driving a Java Application (none) Section 1.11 Web 2.0: Going Social 1.11 Q1: ________ helps Internet-based applications perform like desktop applications. a. Ajax b. Blogging c. RSS d. Mashups ANS: a. Ajax. 1.11 Q2: Which of the following companies is widely regarded at the "signature" company of Web 2.0 ? a. Foursquare. b. Facebook. c. Google. d. Groupon. ANS: c. Google. Section 1.12 Software Technologies 1.12 Q1: ________ involves reworking programs to make them clearer and easier to maintain while preserving their correctness and functionality. a. Object-oriented programming b. Refactoring c. Agile software development d. LAMP ANS: b. Refactoring.
- 8. Java How to Program, 9/e Multiple Choice Test Bank 5 of 5 1.12 Q2: Which software product release category is "generally feature complete and supposedly bug free, and ready for use by the community?" a. Alpha. b. Beta. c. Release candidate. d. Continuous beta. ANS: c. Release candidate. Section 1.13 Keeping Up-to-Date with Information Technologies (none).
- 9. Random documents with unrelated content Scribd suggests to you:
- 10. Wandering far back into the regions of classic antiquity, the finger of association points to Olympia and her games, those Greek celebrations of which such graphic sketches are preserved in the triumphal odes of Pindar. Though “the immediate object of these meetings was the exhibition of various trials of strength and skill, which from time to time were multiplied so as to include almost every mode of displaying bodily activity, they became subservient to the interests of genius and taste, of art and literature.” Statues were reared to the memory of successful combatants, “and the most eminent poets willingly lent their aid on such occasions, especially to the rich and great. And thus it happened that sports, not essentially different from those of our village green, gave birth to master-pieces of sculpture, and called forth the sublimest strains of the lyric muse.” “The scene of the Olympic Festival was during the season a mart of busy commerce, where productions, not only of manual but of intellectual labour, were exhibited and exchanged. In this respect it served many of the same purposes which, in modern times, are more effectually indeed answered by the press, in the communication of thoughts, inventions, and discoveries, and the more equable diffusion of knowledge.” [91] But these memorable institutions are suggested to us in the way of resemblance, chiefly on account of the vast and various concourse of persons which they periodically attracted. At the time when the games returned, the banks of the Alpheus became a centre of universal interest, and exhibited a pilgrim population typical of a congregated world. The festival “was very early frequented by spectators, not only from all parts of Greece itself, but from the Greek colonies in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and this assemblage was not brought together by the mere fortuitous impulse of private interest or curiosity, but was in part composed of deputations, which were sent by most cities as to a religious solemnity, and were considered as guests of the Olympian god.” It is curious to observe—in contrast with the inclusion of so many of the female sex in our gathering of the nations, the circumstance illustrative of the different position of woman in society in the old classic world—that, with the exception of the priestesses
- 11. of Ceres, and certain virgins, none but men, during the earlier periods of Grecian history, were permitted to appear in Olympia at the time of those national festivities. The history of this remarkable institution, through the many ages in which Greece was the pattern and mirror of artistic, intellectual, and social civilization, exhibited that civilization in its rise, progress, and decay—its spring-tide freshness, summer pride, and autumnal beauty. There might the hand of providence be seen, disclosing, expanding, and then folding up forms of thought, modes of association, and habits of life, which while they actually existed gave much of their own impress to the foreigners who were gradually familiarized with them, and will long continue, through the medium of their history and their remains, to refresh the imagination, stimulate the genius, chasten the taste, and arouse the emulation of mankind. Other associations, which belonging to the mediæval ages may be grouped together under the class of romantic, next occur to our minds, bringing in procession before us a train of images nearer in point of time, but more remote in point of resemblance. We think of the rich old picturesque cities of Europe, which sprung up, after the fall of the Roman Empire, in Spain, and France, and Germany, and the Netherlands, a hardy and robust offspring, born in troublous times, cradled amidst storms, thrown on the world in infancy to take care of themselves, and gathering, like individuals, strength and nerve and wit and prudence from this rough and irregular sort of training:—and forthwith the quaint-looking narrow streets are seen crowded with flocks of foreign visitors to drive a bargain in the bourse, or to barter their wool at the staple, or to mingle in the amusements of some civic festival. And amidst the concourse of merchants, and pedlars, and workmen may be seen the knight and the squire, the monk and the minstrel. “Quaint old towns of toil and traffic, quaint old towns of art and song, Memories haunt their pointed gables, like the rooks that round them throng.
- 12. Through these streets so broad and stately, these obscure and dismal lanes, Walked of yore the master-singers chancing rude poetic strains. From remote and sunless suburbs came they to the friendly guild, Building nests in Fame’s great temple, as in spouts the swallows build.” “I beheld the pageants splendid that adorned those days of old; Stately dames like queens attended, knights who bore the fleece of gold; Lombard and Venetian merchants, with deep laden argosies; Ministers from twenty nations, more than royal pomp and ease.” [94] And, then, Venice is seen, rising out of the sea—a “mazy dream of marble palaces, old names, fair churches, strange costumes, while the canals are like the silver threads, the bright unities of one of sleep’s well-woven visions.” Within that great city—the modern Tyre, her history full of warnings pointed at pride, cupidity, ambition, and tyranny—are seen her merchant princes, with strangers from other lands, “Greek, Armenian, Persian,” meeting together in busy excited crowds to look on the wares and treasures supplied by her richly freighted ships; nor can we help glancing at the annual festival of that commercial republic, when, to use the words of Rogers,— “The fisher came From his green islet, bringing o’er the waves His wife and little one, the husbandman From the far land, with many a friar and nun, And village maiden, her first flight from home, Crowding the common ferry. All arrived: And in his straw the prisoner turned and listened; So great the stir in Venice. Old and young Thronged her three hundred bridges.”
- 13. And then these cities disappear, and give place to some curiously carved chapel—a gem of architecture—within whose dim aisles there gather groups of pilgrims from far-off places, to pay their vows and offer their gifts at the shrine of a popular saint. Walsingham and Canterbury show eager and zealous worshippers, coming from distant towns and other lands, to kneel with ignorant and superstitions reverence on the altar steps, and to help by their genuflexions to deepen the indentations on the wave-like surface of the floor. And then again our thoughts wander away to Mediterranean ports, and pilgrims are seen gathering there to go forth on a more formidable expedition to the Holy Land, and as the vessel weighs anchor, the old church hymn, the Veni Creator, chanted by the sailors, is heard stealing over the waters, as they spread their canvass to the wind. Nor can we forget that even these gatherings, with all their superstition, folly, waste of time, and pernicious moral influence, nevertheless enlarged the circle of human knowledge, and the domains of civilization, and corrected errors in geography, and wore away prejudices between race and race, and promoted the interests of commerce and navigation; and, towards the latter part of the mediæval age, contributed, by the knowledge which many of those who visited Rome acquired respecting its corrupt and licentious court, to create and swell that deep tide of anti-papal feeling which preceded the Lutheran reformation and promoted it when it came. Far greater crowds than ever are seen, in the eleventh century, embarking: in the richly painted galleys of Genoa and Venice, on their way to the East. Zeal for the Crusades was the very spirit of the times, fanned in some instances and kindled in others by the eloquence of Peter the Hermit. Europe precipitated itself into Asia, and multitudes who marched on foot, as well as those who crossed the Mediterranean, appeared on the plains of Palestine. Rarely has our world, which has so often witnessed the gathering of armed men, seen such a host as met the eye of our Richard Cœur de Lion when he reached Acre. “Around the city spread the camp of the besiegers, a collection of warriors from every country in Europe, with their separate and appropriate standards. The walls of the place were manned by its
- 14. resolute defenders, urging their active engines of warlike defence. Beyond, at a visible distance, the powerful army of Saladin appeared covering the hills and plains: their tents radiating with the gorgeous colours so precious to Turkish taste.” The Crusades wasted an immense amount of wealth, sacrificed human life to an awful extent, and were productive of intense misery in various forms. But, as in the case of all great gatherings of the human race for a common purpose, the evils were in the main temporary, the good produced permanent. They did on a large scale what pilgrimages did on a small one. They tended to undermine the system of feudalism and to sow seeds of liberty. Men were waked as by a thunder-clap from the slumber of centuries. A movement was produced in society, the impulse of which never died away, for from that era European affairs underwent a change; intellectual, moral, political, religious life began afresh to throb through the Western world, and never since have men completely gone to sleep again. Transported in imagination to Palestine, the eye travels from the processions and crusades of former days to assemblages in modern times, animated by a like spirit of superstition; and among scenes of this kind such a picture as the following occurs on the banks of the Jordan, by the fountain of Elisha, detaining the fancy by its poetical interest, while, as an expression of blind and misguided feeling improperly termed religious, it fills with melancholy reflections the mind which has been enlightened by true piety. “I estimated the number of persons encamped upon the plain before Jericho at 2,500, including a singular variety of languages and costumes. There was scarcely a people under heaven among whom Christianity is professed without its representatives here. There were Copts, Greeks, Armenians, Catholics, Protestants from Abyssinia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Poland, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, America, and I believe all or nearly all other Christian lands. Cossacks were very numerous, and were distinguished for their equipages and personal bearing among a motley assemblage, which could hardly claim to be less than semi- barbarous. This was no mean opportunity to study customs and
- 15. costumes, when a walk of two or three minutes brought under your inspection the Egyptian dining upon an onion and a doura cake, the Syrian with his hands full of curds, the Armenian feasting on pickled olives or preserved dates, the Cossack devouring huge pieces of boiled mutton, and the European and American seated around a box, serving the purpose of a table, covered with the usual variety of meats and drinks demanded by the pampered appetite of civilized man. As it grew dark, a multitude of fires was kindled throughout the camp and in the grove adjoining, which threw their strong glare upon these very characteristic curious groups, and gave the fullest effect to the picturesque scene. The red caps, the huge turbans, the vast flaunting robes of striped silk or scarlet, the coarse shaggy jacket and bag trousers of the Cossacks, the venerable huge beards and bare feet and legs of the orientals, all seemed part and parcel of the human beings who lay nestled together upon the ground like domestic animals, or moved about the illuminated area, thus varying and multiplying by every possible change of light and shade the phases and hues of all that appears grotesque and fantastic to an eye accustomed to the graver modes of the western world.” And now that a chain of rather wild but not uninteresting suggestions has brought us to the Holy Land, other thoughts, sacred and divine, bind us there for a while, strengthened by the sight of many a foreign and home-born visitor among the actual crowd, within and about the great Crystal Palace, unmistakably of Israelitish origin, the descendants of the men who possessed the country in her better days. And there, on the summit of Moriah, stands an edifice devoted neither to war nor wealth, to the advancement of art or to the gratification of pleasure, but to the service of the God of the whole earth. “A mountain of snow,” it seemed to the Roman Titus, “fretted with golden pinnacles.” But, with an attractiveness surpassing that of material beauty, it revealed itself to the lingering eyes of large companies at their holy feasts two thousand years ago, as they at length touched the summit of some one of “the mountains which stood round about Jerusalem.” They came over hill and dale, through mountain pass and by river stream, singing the
- 16. songs of Zion, and rehearsing glorious things spoken of the city of God. At many a cottage door, and village border, and city gate, groups of Israelites young and old, with smiling faces and beating hearts, fell into the augmenting crowd; which, as it rolled on, resembled the “swelling of their own Jordan.” They came “upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to the holy mountain.” Thither “the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.” There was “little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.” They entered “through the gates into the city.” The Jew from “Dan” met the Jew from “Beersheba,” and he who dwelt “by the haven of ships,” saluted his brother from “the other side of the river.” Lover and friend, acquaintance and “kindred according to the flesh,” fell upon one another’s necks and kissed each other. The old man with his “staff in his hand for very age” saw “his children’s children and peace upon Israel.” The “streets of the city were full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.” “There was a voice of noise from the city—a voice from the temple.” “They went up to the house of the Lord.” The priests were “clothed with salvation, the saints shouted for joy.” “The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, among them the damsels playing with timbrels.” “They praised his name in the dance, and sang praise unto him with the timbrel and the harp.” They “brought an offering and came into his courts.” “They came to the altar of God.” “They compassed it round about.” They beheld “the beauty of the Lord, and inquired in his temple.” One year stands out in the history of those gatherings before which every other fades. Then our passover was slain. Then the day of the world’s pentecost was fully come, and great was the gathering. The multitude without the gates who were assembled to gaze on that spectacle before which, at its close, “the sun was darkened,” saw an inscription, in the threefold language, of which there was a pregnant meaning that Pilate little thought of—“It was written in Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew,” the three great languages then
- 17. spoken on the earth. Men who had used these languages from infancy were there. Representatives of the world were there—the Roman centurion was there—Simon the Cyrenian was there [103] — multitudes of the Jews were there. And as they deciphered that strange writing, the various tongues in which the title of the Divine Sufferer was expressed was a sign that in Him, the Roman, Greek, and Israelite would find a Saviour and a Lord. The three languages “which like gold threads bind up the history of the ancient world,” were here beautifully entwined to tell the teeming crowd of one for whose coming all the changes in the story of their respective nations had, in the comprehensive working of Divine providence, prepared. The cross of ignominy, at the sight of which they shuddered, was the threshold he must needs pass to enter his kingdom and ascend his throne, there to sway over them a sceptre at whose touch their hearts would bow and be rid of the burden of sin and guilt,—while their mutual antipathies would melt away, and He who had brought them peace would make them one for ever. “The Roman, powerful but not happy—the Greek distracted with the inquiries of an unsatisfying philosophy—the Jew bound hand and foot with the chain of a ceremonial law,” would find in Christ crucified the power of God and the wisdom of God; and, in the superscription of his accusation, read wondrous words of “peace, pardon, and love,” to all the dwellers upon earth. [104] Seven weeks afterwards and again there was a gathering. “They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Are not all these which speak
- 18. Galilæans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” “And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people.” Then was the beginning of that ingathering of souls which the Redeemer of the world predicted when he uttered those amazing words: “I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me.” Then he began, and still he continues that infinitely gracious work, in the accomplishment of which he unites a fallen and divided race together by uniting them to himself. The moral world has been, as it were, riven by an earthquake—consumed by an internal fire—and he undertakes to reunite and restore it. He employs his cross as the point around which the whole mass of regenerated humanity is to collect: indeed, by the simple virtue of that cross, he accomplishes the change, and constitutes it the axis on which the “new earth” shall rest and revolve. The attraction is invisibly going on, and the successful issue shall be at length developed. To him shall the gathering of the people be. They shall come not as captives, but as those who choose his service “to worship before him in his holy mountain.” “The abundance of the sea shall be converted; the forces of the Gentiles shall come.” They shall “fly as a cloud and as doves to their windows.” “The isles shall wait” on him. “The ships of Tarshish first, to bring his sons from afar.” “He will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see his glory.” “He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex
- 19. Ephraim.” Thus the divided world shall be made one in a way infinitely transcending the ambitious dreams of an Alexander or Napoleon. The moral dispersion, of which that at Babel was the type, shall be reversed; men shall be united in religion and love: and the lines of human interest, like the radii of a circle, concentrating in spiritual obedience and the glory of Christ, shall no longer confusedly and in strife cross each other as they do now, and ever must, while a base selfishness makes each man his own centre. Lifted into this mood of feeling, so much loftier than that with which we began the chapter, we cannot close without turning a reverential gaze on other gatherings, in that state of being on whose precincts we and all the multitudes around us every moment tread. There is the gathering in the grave, “the silent waiting-hall where Adam meeteth with his children.” “The chief ones of the earth, the kings of the nations,” are “brought down there and the worm is spread over them, and the worms cover them.” And “there the rich and the poor meet together.” “The small and the great are there.” Who can count the sands on the sea shore—and who can cast up the number of the dead? Vast as it is already, the concourse in the great city of the grave shall in a few short years receive accessions of myriads more. The multitudes who crowd the streets of the Great Metropolis, in their way to the Palace of Industry, and all whom they represent in distant lands, will ere long descend to the “place of their fathers’ sepulchres.” This globe, as it sails round the sun, carries in its deep hold many a costly thing; but the dust of its buried generations is a freightage more precious than gold or silver! Along with this there is the gathering of souls into invisible realms. It is consonant with reason and revelation, that we should believe in the conscious existence of minds after their separation from the body. While the mortal remains are preserved by Divine Providence for a mysterious restoration to life at the last day, the immaterial and immortal spirit enters into a separate condition of blessedness or woe, according to its character in the present state of being. “Lazarus died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.”
- 20. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” The emancipated souls of all the holy dead, through the mediation of the blessed Redeemer, are gathered together in his immediate presence where there is fulness of joy, and at his right hand where there are pleasures for evermore. “To that state all the pious on earth are tending; and if there is a law from whose operation none are exempt, which irresistibly conveys their bodies to darkness and dust, there is another not less certain and powerful which conducts their spirits to the abodes of bliss, to the bosom of their Father and their God. The wheels of nature are not made to roll backward, everything presses on to eternity: from the birth of time an impetuous current has set in, which bears all the sons of men towards that interminable ocean. Meanwhile heaven is attracting to itself whatever is congenial to its nature: is enriching itself by the spoils of earth, and collecting within its capacious bosom whatever is pure, permanent, and divine; leaving nothing for the last fire to consume but the objects and the slaves of concupiscence: while everything which grace has prepared and beautified shall be gathered and selected from the ruins of the world, to adorn that Eternal City which hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” [110] And terrific is it to think that as the multitude of the spirits of the just made perfect is thus ever augmenting, so also is there an increase of the crowds of fallen and lost beings in the abodes of despair. How many, it is to be feared, are hastening on, by their course in this world, not to paradise, but to prison—not to be with Christ, but to go with Judas to their own place! And beyond these scenes of awful interest there lies another of like character, to be witnessed at the end of time by everyone who may look at these pages, because it will be the gathering of the whole human race. “The dead which are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth.” The sea shall give up the dead which is in it. Death and Hades shall deliver up the dead which are in them. The dead, small and great, shall stand before God. The Son of man shall come in his glory, with all the
- 21. holy angels with him. Then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. And before Him shall be gathered all nations. “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” To think of all the multitudes who have ever lived upon the earth—all who are now in heaven or hell—all who are existing like ourselves—all who are yet to be born, assembled before the judgment-seat of Christ! No such an aggregate of human beings can have ever met before. Compared with that final one, even regarded simply in reference to numbers, every other assemblage fades into insignificance. The solemn incidents of that day, relating merely to the material globe and the works of men, as predicted in the New Testament; the melting of the elements and the burning of the earth really appear, upon reflection, less startling and impressive than the vast concourse of mortals which shall then be seen. And, to add to the wonder, all, with the exception of those who will be alive at the coming of the Son of man, shall have passed through mysterious stages of existence, through the hour of dissolution and the disembodied state, and shall bring with them to the great tribunal some knowledge of the secrets of eternity. Something anticipative of their future and everlasting state they shall have experienced; so that, not in suspense, but with certain hope or fixed despair, shall they meet their God. They will have learned long before, that their moral history in this world had determined their eternal history in the next: that if not twice born here below—born of the Spirit as well as of nature—they must then die “the second death.” Thoughts and emotions, remembrances and expectations, such as in none of the world’s great gatherings have been or ever shall be known, will then be felt. And, to complete this, the most affecting of all the associations which our subject has suggested, the mind passes on to contemplate the purpose and issue of the whole. Placed before the great white throne, every man’s work shall be made manifest, the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, that the rectitude of the judge may be seen in his final sentence of life or death. No human adjudication can be comparable to that. “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true art thou in all thy ways, thou King of saints.”
- 22. The brightest of all visions next unfolds. A structure of peerless beauty rises above the ruins of the world, and within its gates there gather men from all lands, select but innumerable. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, . . . and be their God. And he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels . . . And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Here let the reader lay down the book, and in devout silence muse on these “four last things.”
- 23. PART V. BENEFICIAL RESULTS, PROBABLE AND POSSIBLE. “Albion! on every human soul By thee be knowledge shed Far as the ocean waters roll, Wide as the shores are spread:— Truth makes thy children free at home, Oh, that thy flag unfurl’d Might shine, where’er thy children roam, Truth’s banner round the world.” Montgomery. Possessed as we are of an aptitude and an inclination to speculate on the issues of any enterprise in which we take a lively interest, we naturally turn, when revolving in our thoughts the subject of our Glass Palace and our great gathering, to look at the consequences which seem likely to emanate from such a remarkable exhibition, or which may be elicited by wisdom and benevolence from the fact of such an assemblage of the human family. There are temporal results of an advantageous kind certain, or almost certain, to arise. While we deprecate the all-absorbing interest felt by too many in pursuits terminating upon our condition in the present life; while we condemn an extravagant and idolatrous admiration of talent in invention and cleverness in contrivance; while we deplore that in the present day there is, in some quarters, an unmingled enthusiasm
- 24. about such matters, which almost looks like the worship “of the vice, the saw, and the hammer;” while we look with pain upon the instances around us, in which our fellow-creatures are under the supreme and disastrous guidance of what an inspired teacher calls the “lust of the eye and the pride of life;” while we bear in mind that the insatiable love of gain, which is obvious enough in this commercial age, and is plainly the besetting sin of multitudes, must lead its subjects into temptation and a snare, and many hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition:—yet, consistently with all this, in strict accordance with the spirit of our holy religion, which has “the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come;” we look with interest and thankfulness upon all that may improve, elevate, and adorn the condition of mankind in the present stage of existence. It seems impossible that this exposition of the works of all countries should not have a most favourable influence upon the taste, knowledge, convenience, and physical welfare of mankind. Whilst the sight of so many productions of art will exercise the judgment, inspire the admiration, and chasten and guide the sensibilities of the mind in reference to artistic beauty, we shall obtain an enlarged acquaintance with modern inventions, and thus derive information relative to what forms an interesting chapter in the history of human achievements. Among the suggestions of philosophical and philanthropic minds, that of Douglas, for the establishment of a Great Society, which should survey the compass and collect and arrange the treasures of human knowledge, a suggestion founded on Lord Bacon’s germinant idea of a philosophia prima, is one of the most remarkable. The Great Exhibition will accomplish to a considerable extent one of the ends contemplated in the project. It will convey more intelligence, in reference to art, than any written description could do. The operations of our “Regent Society” will furnish a gigantic catalogue of the inventions of men, illustrated by the inventions themselves. “Few works,” says the writer we have named, “would be more conducive to further advancement than ‘a calendar;’”—here he uses Bacon’s words; —“than a calendar resembling an inventory of the estate of man, of all inventions which are now extant, out of which doth naturally
- 25. result a note what things are yet impossible, or not invented.” Here we shall have the very thing—the huge household book of the world’s furniture, bound in covers of crystal. By its influence on the knowledge and cultivation of art the Exhibition will promote at once our individual enjoyment, the comforts of our home, and all the conveniences and elegancies of domestic life, and also tend to strengthen and elevate our national importance. What will benefit the rich may bless the poor. “The discoveries which are the property of the higher class in one age descend indeed to the lower, but slowly and imperfectly; and there is ample opportunity and scope for accelerating the general diffusion of knowledge and inventions among all classes of society. Even, in the most civilized countries, the mass of the nation have been suffered to remain comparatively barbarous; and it will be the dawn of a new and happier era, when the condition of the multitude is considered with that interest which is due to those, the sum of whose joys and sorrows are to all that is felt by the rest of the community what the ocean is to the drops of rain that fall into it.” “It would be difficult to point out any branch of art which does not tend to the prosperity of our country; those which in appearance are most remote in their influence, however indirectly, yet effectually contribute to the perfection of its manufactures. The pursuits of immediate utility and of refined pleasure, however far separated from each other, alike combine in exalting our national welfare. It is not necessary, in recommending the fine arts to public patronage, to point out how far they improve and recommend to other nations the productions of manufactures, since they have higher and more direct claims upon the national encouragement. Still their advancement, and above all their diffusion, become of high importance in a country like Britain, to be and ever to continue the centre and heart of trade and manufactures.” [122] We may also advert for a moment to the connexion of the present enterprise with the pursuits of science. In the history of human progress it may indeed be remarked that art has preceded science;
- 26. that Phidias came before Aristotle, and Michael Angelo before Lord Bacon; but still science has ever proved the friend of art in those branches which minister immediately to the enjoyments of mankind. Scarcely any specimens of modern ingenuity could be found in the Exhibition which are not indebted for something of their beauty and adaptation, if not their very existence, to scientific knowledge. The practical application of philosophy has given birth to the manifold kinds of machinery which at once abridge the toils and improve the products of human skill. Now art, if it cannot pay back the debt it owes to science, may be subservient to the interests of its patron. So it has proved in many instances already, and will continue to do, no doubt, as the necessities of artistic invention give an impulse to philosophical inquiry. The manufacture of watches long since led to careful observations upon the effect of temperature on metals. Glass-making, at an early period, occasioned examinations into the colouring properties of metallic oxides; and the dying of woollens and silks has naturally induced persons employed in that department to investigate the qualities of mineral substances as they bore upon the operations of their own trade. No sagacity can anticipate, no fancy conceive, the yet future enlargement of the sum of human science, especially in its minute details, to be derived from the busy activities of useful art. All this the present collection of the industry of the nations will be likely to promote; and, even with this limited view, one may regard it, in its relation to the Illustrious Personage who may be deemed the founder of the Great Institute, as worthy of a place among the “Opera Basilica” which Bacon desired to witness. Some princes have sought to immortalize themselves by war; some by purchasing the praise of contemporary poets; some by erecting palaces, temples, and statues: but at length a prince has arisen, who, to his lasting honour, seeks, by encouraging a noble enterprise, to foster the arts and manufactures, not only of his adopted country but of the wide world. But the social effects of the great gathering are most important. Vast multitudes of the human race cannot be brought together for
- 27. one common peaceful purpose without its tending to some desirable end. There is a bond of consanguinity which encompasses all the descendants of Adam. “God has made of one blood the families of men.” There are sympathies in all human hearts like the strings of a concert of harps attuned in harmony: “as in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.” When men are marshalled under opposite banners in the battle-field, and taught to look on each other as natural enemies, deadly passions are evoked from the depths of the heart: “Like warring winds, like flames from various points That mate each other’s fury, there is nought Of elemental strife, were fiends to guide it, Can mate the wrath of man.” But when they meet amidst scenes of peace, to contemplate the glories of nature, or the beauties of art; where they are freed, for a while at least, from the sophistry which would persuade them that the depression of one class or country is necessary to the prosperity of another; the kindly instincts of the human breast are likely to unfold and operate, and mutual amity and good-will to brighten and bless the interview. We know how the selfishness, pride, and irritability of men, after having for a season been lulled to rest, may easily be aroused again: we are not unmindful of the possibility that, even through the Exhibition itself, jealousies may be excited in some minds; yet still we cannot but hope, and we fervently pray, that after this peaceful congress of states, and the amicable interchange of kind thoughts and good offices which generally, we trust, it will produce, there will be far more even than at present an indisposition for war among the nations of the earth. May we not expect that, after this, America, the continental powers, and ourselves will feel an increased reluctance to unsheath the sword? Will not fighting look more than ever like fratricide? It was a custom among the Romans to split in two, and divide between themselves and foreign visitors who shared their hospitality, a small token called the tessera
- 28. hospitalis, which was preserved from generation to generation in the two families who formed the friendly alliance. It became an heir- loom, to be enjoyed and used by remote descendants. Fervently do we desire that the result of the great gathering in the industrial mansion, the minor gatherings in other, and especially sacred, places of resort, and the private gatherings of foreign friends around English-hearths, will be like the division of the tessera hospitalis in old times, and that its memory will be cherished and honoured through years to come. It cannot be supposed that men should meet together from such different quarters without enlarging their knowledge of each other, of human nature, and the world. Narrow and contracted modes of thought on certain subjects incident to very circumscribed travelling will, we may expect, expand into generous dimensions, in consequence of a visit from afar to the British Metropolis; while the opportunities afforded us for intercourse with foreigners cannot but bring the knowledge of their methods of life and social habits to our very doors. By those who are skilled in the languages of other countries the means of improvement afforded this year are great beyond expression. May we not add, that the intelligent observation of our country, its large freedom, its general order, its civil institutions, its commercial activity, and, above all, its numerous benevolent associations, will be adapted to suggest valuable hints and reflections to strangers; by creating comparison between what they witness here and what they have been familiar with in their own land, and by leading them to inquire into the causes of difference between themselves and us? These are probable beneficial results of the Exhibition; there are still more important advantages to be contemplated among the things that are possible, the actual realization of which must depend upon combined and individual effort. Whether, in a moral and religious point of view, it will terminate in blessing the world and ourselves must be determined by the use we resolve to make of it. England has created an unprecedented opportunity for doing spiritual good
- 29. on a large scale to the other countries of the earth. A field of usefulness at home is now opened, which may, by careful tillage, yield a harvest to be reaped by multitudes who shall return rejoicing, “taking their sheaves with them.” No one can tell where the undulations of the influence will terminate which the Christians in Britain may now put in action. Evils relating to the interests of morality and religion will no doubt be incidentally occasioned by this vast concourse. Monsters in human form, who seek “the wages of iniquity,” by pandering to the gratification of sensuality and intemperance, will make the months of our world-festivities the season for plying all the bewitching arts of their deadly craft. They will spread their toils with the utmost cunning, dress up profligacy and vice in the most gorgeous apparel, and deck their “chambers of death” with surpassing luxuries. The strange woman will “sit at the door of her house, in a seat in the high places of the city, to call passengers who go right on their ways,” and to “lead her guests to the depths of hell.” The harpies who live by the intemperance of others will not be slow in making provision for temptation, where the dissipated may “stretch themselves upon their couches,” and “chant to the sound of the viol, and drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief ointments.” The gambling-house keeper will be also on the alert, to stimulate and keep alive a feverish avarice, or to excite some desperate attempt to repair an already ruined fortune. In all these ways, and many more, evil agencies will be busy, even beyond their common wont, to seduce the innocent, to kindle passions impure and vile in the breasts of the unsuspecting, and to rouse afresh the palled appetite and the jaded desires of the man hackneyed in the ways of sinful pleasure. Incentives to the breach of the sabbath will also be contrived; facilities for amusements and excursions on the day of rest will be multiplied; pleasure-gardens will be opened with new attractions; and steam-boats will ply, and omnibuses travel, in augmented numbers. The Sunday press will, we fear, start on a fresh race for the favour of the worst portion of the public, by supplying more stimulants than ever to a vitiated and diseased taste; and other publications of vicious tendency will be industriously vended.
- 30. Against all these dangers we warn the reader. If the young and unexperienced, when they visit the metropolis under common circumstances, need to be on their guard against the designs of the profligate and unprincipled, with more than double force does that necessity press upon them at the present season. A much more than usual share of caution, wisdom, self-control, and virtuous presence of mind will be requisite, in order to preserve the visitor from falling a prey to such as “lie in wait to deceive.” And let every youth, whose piety has been formed amidst quiet sequestered scenes, and has till now been sheltered by parental care, and quickened and trained by domestic example and instruction, seek, as he comes within the reach of new and unknown temptations, the special protection of Divine Providence, and the holy safeguard of the Spirit of God. Carefully should he strive to fortify himself against peril, by fixed and frequent meditation on the precepts and principles of the gospel; and, above all, it becomes him earnestly and often to present to God that memorable prayer, “Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.” But though mischiefs may be anticipated, yet it appears to us a vast preponderance of moral and religious benefit may be accomplished, if British Christians rise up to the spirit of the great occasion, and seek, under the blessing of God, to turn it to that valuable account which Divine Providence seems now to suggest to thoughtful minds. We repeat, that England has created for herself an unprecedented opportunity for doing spiritual good: and we may add that her guilt will be indeed heavy if she neglect to improve it. 1. The great gathering supplies singular facilities for making religious impressions on the minds of our foreign visitors. As a preliminary to this, indeed an indispensable prerequisite, we must be careful to show them courtesy and kindness. It was held to be a religious duty among the Greeks to give friendly entertainment to a stranger, because it was believed he might possibly be a god in disguise. An inspired pen enforces the duties of hospitality, on the ground that “some have entertained angels unawares.” We look for
- 31. no such guests; but we are assured that, whatever be their costume, clime, and speech, they who visit us are indeed souls of Divine origin and enduring existence; and the dignity of their nature is a sufficient reason why we should “honour all men.” A sedulous and constant endeavour to treat them, wherever they meet us, with marked respect, and with affectionate civility—to answer their questions, to guide their way, and to assist their examinations into objects of interest:—not to do this in a careless manner, but so as to exhibit that true politeness which is described as “benevolence in little things,” will tend to secure for us a vantage ground in all the direct attempts we may make for their spiritual welfare. It will bespeak their friendly regards; it will be on the surface of our character a beautiful proof of the practical nature of our religion, and will recommend to candid inquiry the principles from which it springs. A proud, an indifferent, a suspicious, an antagonistic, or even a patronizing air of intercourse—(one or other of which habits, or all in turn, some Englishmen are prone to display when travelling abroad) —will at once alienate from us the people of other lands, and prevent the success of our well-meant efforts, however vigorously employed, for their spiritual good. We must look on them not as inferiors, not as individuals worse taught than we—nor as ignorant or foolish—but as men of like passions and powers, having heads as clear and hearts as warm as our own. This propitiation of their favour is in a high degree important; and if, in the impetuosity of religious zeal, it be disregarded, the high purpose planned will be removed beyond the probability of accomplishment. To secure great spiritual results, both combined and individual action are requisite. The Bible Society has devised its methods for supplying foreigners with the word of life in all languages. Means will be furnished for sending home many a sojourner amongst us, like him of Ethiopia, who returned from Jerusalem “sitting in his chariot, and reading the prophet Esaias.” And, if he should receive a favourable impression of our civilization, as we hope he will, and be led to see that its chief excellences are based upon the influence which the holy book has wrought in English society—as we trust he
- 32. may—then will he be thereby prepared, in some degree, to search out the blessed contents of that volume which unfolds the promise of the “life that now is, and of that which is to come.” The Tract Society has also religious publications in various tongues for cheap sale or gratuitous distribution. And perhaps when prejudice, or an indisposition to afford sufficient time, may interfere with the reading of the Scriptures, a tract may obtain a perusal, and drop into the mind some germinant thoughts which may grow and ripen into the strength and beauty of spiritual life. A special organization, moreover, has been contrived to secure places of worship for “devout men out of every nation under heaven,” and to provide preachers in foreign languages, to conduct earnest evangelical ministrations. And is it too much to suppose that when they hear, “every man in his own tongue wherein he was born,” the “wonderful works of God,” there will be some, who, like those assembled on the day of Pentecost, will be pricked to the heart, and will receive the word. And let it not be forgotten that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned;” and moreover that this spiritual discernment is one of the “gifts for men,” which an ascended Saviour gives in consequence of his having “led captivity captive.” The written letter is not “the power of God unto salvation,” save as the Spirit takes “of the things of Christ,” and shows them unto us. Seeds of truth will not produce “them thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold,” till the Lord give the increase. There can be no pentecost without an effusion of the Holy Ghost. But, while we feel the necessity, we should by faith and prayer honour him who has promised the supply. God is willing to do his part, if we do ours. “Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” But associated efforts will not suffice. Isolated action was everything once. Combined action is too exclusive now. The one must be done, and the other not left undone. Each man must strive in his own sphere to do good to the stranger from a far land. He
- 33. may distribute tracts, he may guide to the house of prayer, he may know how to drop a fitly spoken word; or he may be able to introduce the foreigner to a courteous, intelligent, and educated friend. Persons of wealth and influence, and especially such as, together with these, have tolerable facility in the use of modern languages, possess talents for usefulness at the present time, the value of which they can hardly overrate. By judicious hospitality; by making a point of cultivating acquaintance with the guests of the nation, and selecting certain among them as guests of the family; by frequent and wise arrangements for this purpose; by entertainments, elegant but simple, generous but not extravagant; and, by methods easily understood and adopted by those who possess the requisite means, many may be brought within the reach of the gentle, tender, and softening influences of Christ’s blessed religion of friendship and love—may have images painted in their memory never to fade, and emotions kindled in their hearts never to be quenched, and “Oft, while they live— In their own chimney nook, as night steals on, With half-shut eyes reclining,—oft methinks While the wind blusters and the pelting rain Clatters without, shall they recall to mind The scenes, occurrences they meet with here, And wander in Elysium.” They may discover that they were entertained by angels unawares. Elements of piety, like rich odours, may steal over their soul, to leave behind an undying fragrance. Our Christianity, through our kindness, may become endeared. In the reminiscences of future years they may strangely feel that never were they so near heaven, as during the memorable moments they spent around the domestic hearths, and at the domestic altars of England; and, stimulated by the recollection, they may embrace the truths and find the inward hidden life which will enable them to perpetuate and multiply such hallowed scenes.
- 34. 2. The great gathering affords an argument for making efforts to promote religion at home, and presents an opportunity for the purpose—“We are a spectacle to the world!” The supreme Governor of the nations, the Prince of the kings of the earth, has assigned us a rank amongst the empires of the globe which cannot fail to attract the attention of mankind. Our constitution and laws, our literature and science, our commerce and art, our army and navy, present points of interest, forms of grandeur, specimens of activity, and developments of power, which the other cultivated portions of our race intelligently study as great theorems in the science of civilization; while our brethren in distant regions, still half barbarous, gaze on the signs of our glory, or listen to the tale of what we are and do, with a vacant and bewildering kind of wonder. And moreover the people, institutions, and language of this little isle have attained a sort of ubiquity. They are seen, felt, heard, in almost every latitude of both hemispheres. Something or other British, some foot-marks of our wide-spread influence, may be discovered on nearly every shore. “We are a spectacle to the world!” The Christians of our country—embracing the true disciples and servants of man’s Divine Redeemer, commissioned by his express mandate, and constrained by his infinite love—have united and are still employed in the sacred task of teaching to the ends of the earth the blessed name of him they worship and adore. They send the missionary, the Bible, and the tract, to the pagan people of the world’s two continents, and to them that “are afar off upon the sea.” “We are a spectacle to the world!”—rendered so by Providence, accepting and maintaining the position by our secular and still more by our sacred enterprises, we more emphatically than ever assert the publicity of the post we occupy, by now inviting the inhabitants of the world at large to visit our land. As a professedly Christian nation, then, glorying as we do in that title—making a boast very often of the purity of our religion, of the reformation of old corruptions, and the brilliant beauty of its spiritual truths, “what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” England should be the model nation for the world. Will not some strangers come, almost expecting to find us such? Will
- 35. they not look for striking indications of the influence among ourselves of that Christianity which we preach to them as worthy of all acceptation? Will they not inquire, what is it doing for us? And we do not fear but the intelligent and candid among them will recognise not a few of the beautiful footprints of our religion in our institutions and our homes. But will they not see something else? Will they not mark, here and there, broad spaces in our civilization where the power of our Christianity has never come—spaces in society left uncivilized? We need not now point them out; they have been laid bare again and again, and urged on our notice by home missionaries and city missionaries, by magazines, newspapers, and parliamentary records. They have met our eyes and made us shudder, in revelations from the press, the pulpit, and the platform. Terrible secrets have been divulged respecting some departments of English life. Facts have been stated indicative of the vice and irreligion of some portions of the community. Meditating on these things, we seem to hear, from the lips of the foreigner whose spiritual welfare we contemplate, those well-known words —“Physician, heal thyself; whatsoever ye have done in Capernaum do also in thy country.” And the just retort makes us blush—not indeed for our Christianity, but for ourselves. Our Christianity, wherever it has been purely taught and faithfully applied, has wrought marvels on a scale fully proportioned to the extent of our efforts. What makes us ashamed is, that we have not discharged our duty in reference to its diffusion among ourselves, any more than we have done our duty in reference to its diffusion throughout the world. The presence of so many foreigners, whom we virtually challenge to come and inspect the working of our Christianity, does not really increase our obligation, does not bind us more than we were previously bound, to promote the religious interests of our own countrymen; but surely it should powerfully remind us of our obligation, should press it on our conscientious regard, should awaken us from our slumbers, should stimulate us now vigorously to do what ought to have been done long before. While we see so
- 36. much in our great towns and rural districts to pain and humble us in the sight of men, much more ought we to be pained and humbled in the sight of God. The observation of mortals is trifling compared with his. Their reproach a light matter placed beside his condemnation. For years has the eye of him who watched over ancient Israel to see what they were doing with his truth, whether they obeyed or dishonoured it, whether they taught its doctrines and precepts to the young and ignorant, or left them uncultivated, a prey to unbelief, to superstition, or false philosophy—for years has that eye been looking on English Christians and noting down their culpable neglect. Happy will it be for us as individuals now, and for our country in all coming times, if the great event of the present year should excite a prevalent attention to the remaining spiritual necessities of the kingdom—if it should give an impulse to our schools, our churches, and our missions. That is among the possible advantages to be reaped; and earnestly is every Christian reader who may glance at these pages implored to take up, and ponder, and carry out practically, with diligence, zeal, love, and prayer, the hints imperfectly suggested, that so the year may be signalized by an exhibition of Christian devotedness to the work of religiously benefiting our countrymen, for which we shall have the approbation of our Divine Lord, the testimony of a good conscience, and the grateful remembrance of posterity, who will “rise up and call us blessed.” At the same time the assemblage of many persons from the provinces in London this summer, affords an opportunity, an unprecedented opportunity, for attempting, in a humble and devout spirit, something bold, significant, and generally attractive of attention, with a view to the spiritual good of the multitude. Let thousands upon thousands of appropriate religious publications be cheaply sold or freely given to the crowds about the park, and the streams of passengers flowing through the principal thoroughfares. And let the gospel be preached by well-known, accredited, intelligent, and earnest-minded men, in the spirit of the preachers in the day of Pentecost, not in spacious buildings only but in the open
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