English that will do." And so the young man stands up in our pulpits shorn of all independence in interpretation, all his life trying to tread in some other man's tracks, in so far a mere plagiarist, stealing the interpretations of other men, and retailing them out to our congregations. Well may such a young man say, in the language of Wesley, "Ought not shame to cover my face?"

We would, if possible, be heard by the three hundred young brethren who in this year of our Lord 1866, will knock at the doors of our Annual Conferences for admission as probationers. Probably not more than one in ten of these men are good Greek and Hebrew scholars. Ought not a large proportion of the remaining nine tenths to hasten to one of our biblical schools? Here Greek and Hebrew can be obtained without money and without price. We mourn for their prospects if foolishly they rush into this war with only a small part of their armor. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, they have not the requisite skill to handle. The enemies of God and truth triumph, and the Church is weak and feeble because her leaders are weak.

Allow us, then, still to insist that there is no other way-no other royal road into this kingdom, than that of labor and toil in disinterring thousands of Greek and Hebrew roots, in analyzing legions of Greek and Hebrew idioms, and in poring over Latin, Greek, and oriental antiquities. It must be done. God by a miracle gave to the disciples on the day of Pentecost the gift of tongues. But the day of miracles has passed away, and all deficiencies must now be made up by our persistent labor. It depends entirely upon ourselves under God.

Our people are quite tired of those old texts and sermons. They want something new out of the treasures of the Word; fresh pastures, new pabulum, and these must come to the hungry sheep from the pulpit, through the preacher. In order to give this pabulum we must study the Scriptures; we must climb high up into its sacred mountains of vision; we must become the companions of the symbolical prophets; we must converse often with Daniel and Zechariah, and with John look upon the mighty wonders of the Apocalypse. Be not afraid, "Behold I set before you an open door!" "Come in!" Sit down with Moses and the prophets, with Christ and his apostles.

Then when we come before our people we will not come with some old skeleton from Fish, or Simeon, or Watson, or Wesley, with flesh ill put on. We will come with our own invigorated spirit; having drunk from the crystal fountains, "which flow fast by the oracle of God," we will come with a full heart and a ready utterance, and will bring new things out of our treasures as well as old.

Systems and works of human devising, as commentaries and bodies of divinity, are of secondary importance. As such we will view them. The Bible alone will be the substance of our preaching. An undying love for the Holy Scriptures will seize our souls; we will sit right down by these divine fountains as they issue from the heavenly throne. There we will dwell-thence we will draw for our own souls and for the souls of our people. "Blessed is that servant who when the Master comes shall be found so doing."

ART. IV.-REMINISCENCES OF REV. HENRY BOEHM. Reminiscences, Historical and Biographical, of Sixty-four Years in the Ministry. By Rev. HENRY BOEHM, Bishop Asbury's Traveling Companion, and Executor of his Last Will and Testament. Edited by Rev. Joseph B. Wakeley. New York: Carlton & Porter. 1865.

THE resources of the American people seem only to be in the commencement of their sublime development. We are told by a writer of more than national celebrity, that intelligence is the only guiding force that is able to sway this nation. We have differences of climate and of scenery and a large immigration. What force is to mould these diverse elements, to transform American life into a still higher type? What is to make us one great, free, and happy nation? The reply is, science, art, intercommunication, the steam car and the steam press one language, one idea of liberty and humanity. The above writer deals mostly with the principles of science. We hail this light, and receive with grateful acknowledgment what

"Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of America, by John William Draper, M.D., LL.D."

ever it reveals to us of the good and the true. We accept that the clergy should meet scientific men with candid reasoning and avail themselves of the aid science offers. We even take the admissions of the same writer with reference to the value of the moral and religious idea represented by the Bible, as an offset to what may appear contradictory in his own statement elsewhere. Intelligence is mighty. Let us have discussion. Let us have discovery and invention. Let us have light. But is this all? Is the public a great idol and the individual soul a cypher?

Let us take up another volume, a record of facts: the history of the life and labors of an itinerant preacher. What do we learn from this? Simply that another set of forces have been operating in the world, and producing effects which are to-day seen and going on to multiply their activity. We are told force, in the physical world, is immortal. Whether this be so or not, it certainly is in the moral world. Results begun here reach eternity. The early Methodist preachers have helped to make this nation what it is. And they are only a part of the great, all-pervading religious element. Under the ministry of this one Church is a grand aggregate in the United States and Canada of 8,000,000 of people. The religious idea is not 66 a failure," but is destined to renovate and rule the world. Society exists for the welfare of the individual.

Henry Boehm has contributed unconsciously, in the simple annals of his life, one of the strongest arguments in favor of the divine power and efficacy of Chistianity. His experience and lifetime extended over the greater part of a century. He thus defines his chronological relation to the stirring events of our American history:

I was born in the old homestead in the township of Conestoga, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of June, 1775. This was immediately after the battle of Lexington, and one year before the Declaration of Independence. Thus I saw the birth of our nation, and have lived under the first President, George Washington, and sixteen of his successors, to Andrew Johnson. I was born nine years before the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, and have known all its bishops, from Thomas Coke, the first, to Calvin Kingsley, the last elected. My memory goes back over eighty years. I recollect when they traveled out west to Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, on pack-horses! The roads, if we may call them roads, for they were mere paths through the wilderness, were

so rough that they could not be traveled any other way. The old school-house, and my schoolmaster, Henry Rosman, I well remember. He came from Hesse-Cassel, and was one of the Hessian soldiers taken prisoners at Trenton, New Jersey, when Washington and his noble band crossed the frozen Delaware and surprised Colonel Ralle and his troops, and took them prisoners, while their com mander was slain. Some of the German hymns which he taught me to sing, over eighty years ago, I still remember well. To him I am indebted for my accurate knowledge of the German language, which I learned before the English. In after years it was a great benefit to me when I preached in German. I was one of the first among the Methodists that preached in that language. This I have done in fourteen different states.-Pp. 13, 14.

Thus we see the future companion of Asbury trained by an acquaintance with the language of Martin Luther as well as with the English, and most of all by a pious home teaching, for a career of unpretending but extensive usefulness. But let us see what was his early training at home. That great man of the nation, Abraham Lincoln, said, "All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother." A pious parentage, though not requisite to salvation, is important. The father of Henry Boehm was descended from the pious Mennonites, who came from the land of the Rhine that they might enjoy undisturbed their religious freedom. He found himself at length a preacher of the United Brethren, and with the great Otterbein, the intimate friend of Bishop Asbury, was one of the founders of that Society. At the time of his death he was connected with the Methodist Church. Indeed there was constant communion and interchange of pulpit labor at that day between the Methodists and the United Brethren, and there was strong talk of uniting the two bodies in one. Mr. Boehm thus speaks of his early religious opportunities:

My early advantages for religious instruction were great. I was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Morning and evening the old family Bible was read and prayer was offered. My Father's voice still echoes in my ears. My mother, too, had much to do in moulding my character and shaping my destiny. One evening as I returned home I heard a familiar voice engaged in prayer. I listened. It was my mother. Among other things she prayed for her children, and mentioned Henry, her youngest son. The mention of my name broke my heart, and melted me into contrition. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I felt the importance of complying with the command of God, "My son, give me thine heart."-P. 16.

In his eighteenth year, through the instrumentality of his pious father, he was rescued from the wicked company into which he had fallen, and was brought to God.

Among the early pioneers of Methodism who visited his father's house, Mr. Boehm mentions Benjamin Abbott. Along the path of this wonderful man everywhere were displayed the tokens of divine power. The impenitent fell like dead men, and were restored to strength and consciousness, shouting and praising God. The work swept on like an irresistible tornado. Mr. Boehm the older said, "I never saw God work in this way before." The meetings were sometimes held through the whole night, for the people seemed unwilling to disperse. Henry Boehm says:

It was more like Pentecost than anything else I ever saw. The influence of that meeting was tremendous, and for years it made a great deal of talk in my father's neighborhood.-P. ‍24.

In 1801 Henry Boehm was admitted into full connection in the traveling ministry and ordained. He dates from the same year as Dr. Bangs and Bishop Hedding. He also has interesting reminiscences of Robert Strawbridge. says:

He

I heard Strawbridge preach at my father's house in 1781, and am the only man now living that has a personal recollection of him. Though I was then quite small, his image is still before me. He was a stout, heavy man, and looked as if he was built for service. My father was much pleased with him and his preaching. He was agreeable company, full of interesting anecdotes. Many times I have been to the old log meeting-house he erected in Maryland, concerning which so much has been said and written, and around which so many interests cluster. He died in August of the same year I heard him; and his spiritual son, Richard Owings, preached his funeral sermon, from Revelation xiv, 13. No monument marks the place where his dust is sleeping.-P. 20.

May we not hope that before the centenary of Methodism shall pass, this spot will be properly commemorated? It is not often history calls upon the stand a more important witness than Henry Boehm. He speaks mostly from personal knowledge. His observation extends over a period which is reckoned with the venerable past, and, without disparagement of the present, has been called the heroic age of the Church. The witness tells his story without embellishment or exaggeration. The most pleasing conviction of those who peruse his FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XVIII.-25