have a clear vision of spiritual things, a fervid apprehension of them, a power of seeing, beneath the surface of events, their real causes and probable consequences, and from the hidden spring to foretell the future course of the stream of time, but also to utter these things in those impressive powerful words, which fasten them for ever, as Divine Eternal Truth, upon the hearts of men.

Ah! brethren, that wondrous gift of articulate speech, how little do we think of it as the bond of union for the race in all ages-as the means whereby is maintained and kept alive in us the knowledge of Jehovah, the Living God -who has been and is the God of our Fathers,'-for 'all live unto Him'-who now is ours, and will be our children's. It has been, indeed, a much-vexed question how man came to speak at all. Those who think of the first man as in a state of paradisaical perfection, and of his first hour as one full of adult life and vigour, ascribe to him of course the powers of speech full blown, as all his other powers. But the more completely such an idea fades before the light of Modern Science, and the Adam of Genesis becomes not historically, but only ideally and mythically, true,-so true, indeed, that his story, as that of humanity, is inwoven and ingrained in the literature of the world,-the more the question is opened before us, What was the origin of language? Some there are who shrink from ascribing it to the natural and normal development of the human creature, as if in that way it passed from being a glorious divine gift into a mere kind of property, won for us by our own arm, our own cunning. Our own! What is ours, which we have not received? Can we ascribe our origin to a Divine Power, a Creative Spirit, and then ascribe to ourselves all those perfections, which time and growth and exercise bestow upon the accomplished human being? Must the first simple utterances, expressing the first and simplest wants, have been syllabled in the ears of the first man and woman by a voice from the clouds, or out of the voiceless air, while the wonderfully complicated instrument, which speech has now become for expressing every thought and feeling, is not the gift of God? No! let us believe that, according to His own laws, the Great Creator has wrought out for man, by means of those faculties which He has Himself bestowed, the whole of that varied and wonderful world of words. No

mere caprice on the part of this man or that has ordained that certain words shall express and convey certain thoughts: but, whether we can discover it or not, there is a law, there is a reason, for all.

But, if this be so, how much more shall we ascribe to Him those words-those living words-embodying those thoughts of power, which have lit up in one mind and in another the spiritual consciousness of humanity, and been reflected from one to another, till the Church of the Living God in all ages has been formed by the aggregate of their lights, that Church in which he is confessed and adored,where He is present also by His Spirit, in the Temple which thus His Word has formed. For that Living Word, which is the Light and life of men, is speaking in all those words of our fellow-men, which have brought us the clearer knowledge of Him whom no man hath seen or can see.' Such words as these may truly be called His Word, the Word of God, and be received and reverenced by us as such, even as the apostle :

says

'Ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.'

Let the young, then, the ignorant, the unlearned, listen reverently to the voice of their teachers as Prophets of God to them. Let those also who have the privileges and responsibilities of adult age, and sufficient culture, listen reverently to those who profess to have a message from God to them. But let them not lay aside the right and the duty, which is theirs, to try the spirits whether they be of God, because many false prophets are in the world.' And let them be sure that, as it is God who teaches them by means of their fellow-men, they may expect that He will speak to them so that they can hear and understand,—that He will speak to their hearts, and carry inward demonstration to their spirits, that He will speak to them of those things which concern their own spiritual life, and, when He speaks, His words will come home to them, and will be their own evidence.

XVIII.

THE FATHER OF LIGHTS.

PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PETER'S, MARITZBURG, ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, 1866.

JAMES I. 16-18.

DO NOT ERR, MY BELOVED BRETHREN. EVERY GOOD GIFT AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, AND COMETH DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, WITH WHOM IS NO VARIABLENESS, NEITHER SHADOW OF TURNING. OF HIS OWN WILL BEGAT HE US WITH THE WORD OF TRUTH, THAT WE SHOULD BE A KIND OF FIRST-FRUITS OF HIS CREATURES.'"

THERE is some doubt by whom this epistle of St James was written. There were, as we know, two apostles who bore this name. There was James the Great, as he is called, the son of Zebedee and brother of St John, who was put to death very early in the history of the Church, when, as we read in the Acts

'Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church; and he killed James the brother of John with the sword.'

The epistle was certainly not written by him, as we gather from its contents, which imply by its expressions a much later state of things than could have existed in his time, as well as from the voice of tradition. That voice ascribes it to James the Less, one of those who are called in the New Testament, according to Jewish custom, the brethren of our Lord, though they were really the sons of Mary, the sister of the mother of Jesus, and therefore what we should call his first-cousin. This James appears to have filled a prominent position in the Church of Jerusalem in the apostolic times. When Peter was delivered from prison, and went, as we are told, to the house of John, whose surname was Mark,' he said to the damsel who came to the door to admit him, 'Go, show these things unto James and

to the brethren.' When the first Council was held at Jerusalem, and Barnabas and Paul had declared what God had done among the Gentiles by them, it is James who rises to address the assembled Church, and. who suggests. the course which was actually adopted. On a third occasion in the Acts James again occupies a foremost place, where the historian writes

And, when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James: and all the elders were present.'

And lastly St Paul, in the epistle to the Galatians, mentions that on one occasion he went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days,' and he adds'But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.' i.19.

This last statement certainly does not imply any necessary superiority in James, though it shows that he was a conspicuous member of the Church at Jerusalem. But, in the next chapter, where St Paul speaks of a second visit which he made to Jerusalem, fourteen years after the first, he places James at the head of those whom he styles the pillars' of that Church, naming him first in order, even before Cephas (Peter) and John :—

'And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.' ii.9.

And afterwards he speaks of certain coming from James,' evidently as deputed by him to observe the proceedings of St Paul at Antioch.

There can be no doubt, then, that James filled the office, which the tradition of the Church ascribes to him, as first Head or Bishop of the Church at Jerusalem. But the question then arises whether he was the same as the other apostle James, the son of Alphæus or Cleopas,- for these are only different forms of the same name. It seems, on the whole, most probable that he was, though the matter is much disputed by even the most orthodox writers. But, whether he was the apostle or not, it is to James the Less, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, the brother of our Lord,' aud therefore certainly one who mixed very closely with the apostles, that the general tradition of the Church has ascribed this epistle, though not indeed with positive cer

tainty. Thus Eusebius writes, in the middle of the fourth century:

These accounts are given respecting James, who is said to have written the first of the General (or Catholic) Epistles: but it is to be observed that it is considered spurious. Not many, in fact, of the ancients have mentioned it, nor that either, which is said to be Jude's, and which is also one of the seven (so called) General Epistles. Still we know that these also were publicly used with the rest in most churches. ii, 23,

6

The accounts' to which Eusebius refers, and which he had just given, of the life of this James, from the writings of an earlier historian, Hegesippus, who lived about a hundred years after the time of the apostles, 175 A.D., are very singular, and would throw considerable light on the contents of the epistle, if it was really due to him. Hegesippus writes as follows:

From the apostles, James, the brother of the Lord, succeeds to the charge of the Church,-that James who has been called the Just from the time of the Lord to our own days; for there were many of the name of James. He was holy from his mother's womb; he drank not wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat animal food; a razor came not upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil; he did not use the bath. He alone might go into the holy place; for he wore no woollen clothes, but linen. And alone he used to go into the temple, and there he was commonly found upon his knees, praying for forgiveness for the people; so that his knees grew dry and hard like a camel's, from his constantly bending them in prayer, and entreating forgiveness for the people. On account therefore of his exceeding righteousness he was called 'the Just,' and the 'bulwark of the people,' and righteousness,' as the prophets declare of him. Some of the seven sects, then, which I have mentioned, inquired of him, 'What is the door of Jesus?' And he said that this man was the Saviour; wherefore some believed that Jesus is the Christ. Now the forementioned sects did not believe in the Resurrection, nor in the coming of one who shall recompense everyone according to his works: but all who became believers believed through James. When many, therefore, of the rulers believed, there was a disturbance among the Jews and Scribes and Pharisees, saying, There is a risk the whole people will expect Jesus to be the Christ.' They came together therefore to James, and said, ' We pray thee, stop the people, for they have gone astray after Jesus as though he were the Christ. We pray thee to persuade all that come to the Passover concerning Jesus; for we all give heed to thee; for we and all the people testify to thee that thou art just, and acceptest not the person of man. Persuade the people, therefore, not to go astray about Jesus, for the whole people and all of us give heed to thee. Stand therefore on the gable of the temple, that thou mayest be visible; and that thy words may be heard by all the people.'... Therefore they placed James on the gable of the temple, and cried out to him and said, 'O Just one, to whom we