the famous lecture, "The Greatest Thing in the World." Here, also, did he earn fame by other wonderful utter ances. Divines from every state in the union were present; men whose eloquence had stirred communities almost to frenzy-point. But Drummond talked, not with peculiar eloquence, but with a sense of decision in religious thought which was accepted in positive awe by those who had erstwhile posed as mentors in the science of religion. His arguments were positive. His writings expose his thoughts. His work, "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," has had a sale in England and America of nearly one million copies. As an African traveller he has added a charming gem to travel-literature in "Tropical Africa." And, later, his brochure, "Pax Vobiscum," sparkles with fervid religious truths and literary excellence. Recently he has travelled with Professor Geike in the Rocky Mountains; and it is more than probable that ere long the reading public will be favored with a work from his pen descriptive of that grand panorama of nature. "COME unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 6 PAX VOBISCUM. 66 I HEARD this morning a sermon by a distinguished preacher upon "Rest." It was full of beautiful thoughts; but when I came to ask myself, How does he say I can get Rest?" there was no answer. The sermon was sincerely meant to be practical, yet it contained no experience that seemed to me to be tangible, nor any advice that I could grasp-any advice, that is to say, which could help me to find the thing itself as I went about the world this afternoon. Yet this omission of what is, after all, the only important problem, was not the fault of the preacher. The whole popular religion is in the twilight here. And when pressed for really working specifics for the experiences with which it deals, it falters, and seems to lose itself in mist. The want of connection between the great words of religion and every-day life has bewildered and discouraged all of us. Christianity possesses the noblest words in the language; its literature overflows with terms ex pressive of the greatest and happiest moods which can fill the soul of man. Rest, Joy, Peace, Faith, Love, Light-these words occur with such persistency in hymns and prayers that an observer might think they formed the staple of Christian experience. But on coming to close quarters with the actual life of most of us, how surely would he be disenchanted! I do not think we ourselves are aware how much our religious life is made up of phrases; how much of what we call Christian Experience is only a dialect of the Churches, a mere religious phraseology with almost nothing behind it in what we really feel and know. To some of us, indeed, the Christian experiences seem further away than when we took the first steps in the Christian life. That life has not opened out as we had hoped; we do not regret our religion, but we are disappointed with it. There are times, perhaps, when wandering notes from a diviner music stray into our spirits; but these experiences come at few and fitful moments. We have no sense of possession in them. When they visit us, it is a surprise. When they leave us, it is without explanation. When we wish their return, we do not know how to secure it. All which means a religion without solid base, and a poor and flickering life. It means a great bankruptcy in those experiences which give Christianity its personal solace and make it attractive to the world, and a great uncertainty as to any remedy. It is as if we knew everything about health-except the way to get it. I am quite sure that the difficulty does not lie in the fact that men are not in earnest. This is simply not the |