44 MISTAKES OF WICKED MEN. of his own heart, and to become well acquainted with the religious experience of other Christians. Let him learn the manner in which those who are now Christians once looked at this subject, learn what misapprehensions and distortions their feelings and imagination gave them, and in this way learn to pour light into the heart that is darkened by sin, and that aches under a sense of its unworthiness. I illustrate this point by a conversation, which is similar to many which I have had since I have been in the pastoral office. is altered but the name of the individual. Nothing "Mr. G., I am glad to see you of late at our evening meetings, at our Bible-class, and even out three times on the Sabbath. I have long been hoping that you would be brought into the fold, and that I should have the pleasure of seeing you a decidedly religious man." 46 "Thank you, sir; but I am not certain that I shall continue to attend these meetings much longer. I have often thought I would have religion; but the more religion I obtain, the more gloomy and unhappy I feel.” I am surprised, Mr. G.; for I did not know that you had obtained' any 'religion!' Do you mean to say that you have repented of your sins, forsaken them all, -that you are now trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ with a heart contrite for your past life, full of gratitude for mercy and pardon, and full of holy resolution for the future?" "Not exactly so; but I mean, I have attended your meetings, and have heard all you have to say, that I have given my thoughts somewhat to religion; but the more I have done it, the more dark it seems, and the further I am from being happy. If conscience now gives me so little peace, what should I do, were I to give up all my thoughts to religion, and let conscience have full swing?" 66 My dear sir, conscience will have full swing,' as ILLUSTRATION-THE STUBBORN SON. 45 you call it, to all eternity, even if you are lost, and have your portion with unbelievers and hypocrites. But this is not religion. Pharaoh and Judas had this kind of religion, and it drove them to madness." "I don't wonder at it." "You have mistaken the lashings of conscience for religion. It is true, that the more of such religion you have, the inore wretched you will be. But have I not often explained to you from the pulpit, that religion is something widely different from this?" "I don't know; you often seem to preach contradictions. I cannot understand why the very first movements of the soul towards religion should make me more and more unhappy. You tell me it is all gold, and when obtained it will render me happy. How can a great quantity of gold make me happy, when the first small piece I get renders me so miserable?" “Mr. G., you recollect, some days since, you gave me an interesting account of your boy. You said he ran away from school, and spent three days in the company of vicious and idle boys. You recollect that you told me, that when you called him to account you shut him up in a chamber without food, till he would acknowledge his sin, and ask your pardon and the pardon of the school. Am I right?" "Yes, sir; but I don't see what this has to do with the subject." "Did you not tell me that he held out for three days, and that every time you went to the door, he seemed more stubborn and hardened?" "Yes." "Do you suppose he was growing happy during this time?" "No, he grew miserable; and my going to his chamber and asking him if he would submit, seemed almost to render him distracted." 46 THE STUBBORN SON. "Was that submission to you?" "Well, did he not grow more and more miserable and wretched, till at last he was brought to submit, bow his will to yours, ask your pardon, and the pardon of the school?" "Yes." "Well, he undoubtedly looked upon the feelings of submission, just as you do upon religion; the more he thought of these feelings, the more he dreaded them, and supposed that the feeling of submission would be intolerable to bear; whereas, you said that the moment he submitted, the cloud all rolled off, and he was perfectly happy. So it is with you. God is coming and calling you to repentance; you are stubborn, refuse to repent, and dread to be a penitent, because you think your present unhappy feelings will continue, and the present agony be increased seven-fold! Sinners frequently think that a change of heart consists in nothing but an increase of their present feelings, till they become almost insupportable. That which your boy finally felt, and which we call submission, was not an increase of the feelings which he had when you shut him up, but an entirely new feeling. And if you ever do really obtain religion,' it will not be an increase of your present feelings, which you call ' religious,' but which in fact are awfully wicked, but feelings entirely new. It seems to me, that God permitted your child to do as he did, that you might have a glass in which you could plainly see your own character. You are wading in miry waters in order to lay the foundations of your hopes; and complain when God suffers the waves to dash over you, to show you their filth, and make you taste their bitterness." A LEADER NECESSARY. 47 CHAPTER III. SUPERINTENDENT.-CHARACTER AND DUTIES. IN almost all communities it is better to have one mind preside and direct, than to have more, if we can safely trust so much power to one man. But as, in most cases, this power is in very great danger of perversion and abuse, we are careful not to delegate it. The government of God is the government of one mind, and is the most perfect conceivable. An earthly monarchy is, in theory, the most perfect of human governments; but human nature is too selfish and too wicked to make it desirable in practice. The family government is that of one presiding, directing mind; and as the power is not very liable to abuse, it is by far the best possible. The Sunday School is like it; and every Sunday School must have one directing, presiding mind at its head. The church is one body: the members are not all alike, though all may be useful. One is the eye, another the mouth, another the hand, the foot, and the like. She can furnish many willing hands, and ready feet, but they want the eye to guide them. In other words, there are multitudes of good people who can do good, become very useful, but they want to lean on some one for direction. Some are too young, and lack experience; some are, by habit and education, diffident of their own powers; some are comparatively ignorant; and some are naturally timid and indifferent. These are all willing to labour to do good,-are desirous to do so; but they want some one to guide, direct, and to lead. The best army has been routed, and the tide of victory rolled suddenly back, by the fall of a leader. The army remained the same, the courage the same, but 48 HOW A LEADER SHOULD BE ELECTED. they could do nothing without the presiding, directing mind. What Xenophon says to his generals, may be said to those whom God has raised up to be the leaders among his people. "All the soldiers direct their eyes to you. If they behold you dispirited, they themselves will be cowards. But if you appear preparing to attack the enemy, and encourage them onward, be assured they will follow you, and attempt to imitate you. And it is fit that you should excel them." So many qualities of the very highest order need to be united in a Superintendent, that I feel afraid of beginning to enumerate them, lest the reader say, 'He has drawn a character neither to be found nor attained.' I am afraid, too, of so estimating some parts of his character as to lead to the impression, that they may be sought and cultivated, to the loss or to the neglect of others. The prosperity, life, character, and usefulness of a school, depend more upon the Superintendent than upon any, and perhaps all other things united. Thus, you will at one time see a school flourishing, full, and prosperous. It is the glory of the congregation. You call a few years after, and find it small, drooping, and almost lifeless. The reason of this difference, in most instances, is to be traced to the different men who superintend it. I will first mention the DUTIES which belong to the office, and then the traits of character needed to meet and fulfil these duties. What I shall try to say in a few pages, ought to be drawn out and illustrated through a whole volume. I would here remark that the teachers ought to be annually elected by the church; and the meeting of election ought to be one of examination of the school, review of the past, prayer for the teachers and school, and of plans for aiding the teachers. This makes the teachers feel that thev are elected by somebody, have a |