CONTENTS OF VOL. XLIV.-1862. JANUARY NUMBER. PAGE Professor TAYLER LEWIS, Union College, Schenectady, New York. Rev. D. D. WHEDON, D.D., New York. FOREIGN RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.... Rev. J. F. HIRST, Elizabethport, New Jersey. THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL UPON THE CREATION.......... Rev. B. S. TAYLOR, Lexington, Michigan. J. B. WOODRUFF, Esq., Cincinnati, Ohio. FOREIGN RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE 822 THE UNIVERSITY OF OTHO AND EDUCATION IN GREECE.......... 377 Professor HENRY M. BAIRD, University of the City of New York. Rev. HENRY W. WARREN, Lynn, Mass. ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN METHODIST PULPIT.. Rev. Z. PADDOCK, D. D., Honesdale, Pa. EXEGESIS ON 1 CORINTHIANS VII, 20-24...... Rev. L. D. M'CABE, D. D., Delaware, O. FOREIGN RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.. THE METHODIST QUARTERLY REVIEW. JANUARY, 1862. ART. I.-THE BEMA AND THE PULPIT. Orations of Demosthenes. Edited by BEKKER. 3 vols. Leipsic. 1855. Oratio de Corona. With Notes by J. T. CHAMPLIN. Orations of Demosthenes. Translated by KENNEDY. Two vols. London: Bohn. New York: Harpers. SPEECH will ever be the supreme human power on the earth. No rival will ever dethrone it. The printing press, that great king of thought, now seated firmly on his throne of widening empire, will in vain aspire to the highest sovereignty of mind. Nature is the mother of art, and holds dominion over her offspring by a primordial and prescriptive right. This right was solemnly reaffirmed by the Author of nature, in the person of Jesus Christ, when, about to ascend from the footstool to the throne, he placed the imperial scepter in the hands of speech, saying, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." The pulpit, therefore, must ever be the divinely ordained fountain of religious instruction, the foremost agency of popular moral culture, and the grand conservator and bulwark of constitutional liberty. The word of God itself is bound where speech is set in the stocks, or where the pulpit is intimidated, enfeebled, or demoralized. Humanity and patriotism should join their voices with Christianity in vindication of the divine right of speech, and they should join their hands in the effort to bring the pulpit to the highest possible efficiency, by the speedy development of its maximum power. If there FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XIV.-1 ever was an age calling loudly upon the preacher of the Gospel to put on strength, and to hurl the thunderbolts of divine truth with a mighty arm, that age is the present. If there ever was a country calling, as with a herald's trump, for champions to stand forth from the timid crowd, and lift up their voice for her honor and integrity, that country is America. Any suggestion, therefore, though it be merely the reiteration of forgotten truth or the finger-post to a neglected model, contributing to inspire the Christian ministry with boldness and persistence in defense of the truth, or to panoply and nerve our young men for a successful and glorious career in the sacred office, is worthy of their regard. It is the purpose of this paper to direct the attention of those who would magnify the high vocation, toward that peerless model of eloquence, the nearest human approach to perfection, the undisputed master of the Athenian bema, Demosthenes. We purpose to show that his elements of oratorical power are broad as humanity, and especially applicable to the modern pulpit. It is true that Demosthenes was a secular orator, discoursing of topics of transient interest. But the almost superhuman manner in which he touches human themes; the saintly high-mindedness with which he walks among his fellowmen in an age of moral degeneracy; the quenchless ardor of his patriotism; his unconquerable advocacy of freedom, the Grecian Abdiel, "among innumerable false, unmoved;" his irresistible appeals to right, his vehement torrent of passion, always under the perfect mastery of reason; the simplicity of his style, making his thoughts pervade the soul, as electricity pervades the air; the perfect harmony between the style and the sense; the wonderful immediate effect of his orations, and their unchallenged right to the world's highest admiration after the lapse of twenty-two centuries; all these high qualities proclaim him the unrivaled master of the art of persuasion. To say that he was a politician in the American sense of the term would be the utterance of a foul slander. Such a character, in his definition of ovкopávτns, Demosthenes has photographed, by the light of his own genius, in indelible colors upon the pages of his immortal argument against Eschines. Then he damned his illustrious rival to everlasting fame by writing his name beneath the portrait. Demosthenes was the |