CHAPTER VIII.

THE PASTOR AT COLUMBIA, S. C.-Continued.

(January, 1843-October, 1855.)

SERVED THE CHURCH AT LARGE, BY HELPING TO FOUND AND CONDUCT THE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN REVIEW.-BY THE USE OF HIS PEN.CAME INTO GREAT DEMAND FOR OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.-RENDERED TO COLUMBIA SEMINARY VARIED AND VALUABLE SERVICE.-MADE HIS HOME LIFE CONTRIBUTORY TO HIS INFLUENCE FOR GOOD: OPEN TO YOUNG PEOPLE WHOM HE COULD HELP, e. g., To H. R. REID, BASILE EDWARD LANNEAU, et al.-THE ADVISER AND COMFORTER OF MANY OF HIS BRETHREN ON OCCASION.-ENTERTAINED AT HIS HOME MANY GENTLEMEN WHOM HE THERE BETTERED.-CALLS TO IMPORTANT POSTS ON EVERY SIDE.-SUFFERED HIMSELF TO BE MADE PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN COLUMBIA SEMINARY.MRS. PALMER'S PREDICTION AT THE TIME OF HIS TRANSFER.-DegreE OF D.D. CONFERRED UPON HIM IN 1852.

BE

ETWEEN 1845 and 1847, the desire to have an organ for the thorough, scholarly and unmuzzled discussion of theological and ecclesiastical themes became strong in Columbia. There were giants there, in those days. They had messages from the Lord to their brethren, which they burned to deliver; and they liked not Princeton's disposition to put a gag into their mouths. Accordingly an association of ministers, in the town of Columbia, established that very able periodical, The Southern Presbyterian Review; the first issue of which bears the date, June, 1847. This association conducted the Review for about a score of years, when the governing body was reorganized on a wider geographical basis and continued the publication of the periodical down to 1885. It was succeeded by the Southern Presbyterian Quarterly, which began to appear July, 1887.

The first editors of the Southern Presbyterian Review were James Henley Thornwell, George Howe, and Benjamin M. Palmer. There is no reason to doubt that Mr. Palmer gave himself to his editorial work with method, energy and persistence. He thought it no great thing to work fifteen hours out of twenty-four in this period, and perhaps averaged ten hours work a day in his study during his Columbia pastorate. There

have come down, amongst his loose papers, lists of subjects carefully framed by his hand, on which he, as editor, wished to have articles from contributors. This suggests that he conducted a share of the correspondence, and probably supervised such articles as he secured, as they were going through the press. An examination of the pages of the Review discloses the fact that he contributed, between June, 1847, and the end of his Columbia pastorate articles enough to make an octavo volume of three hundred pages. An examination of the articles gives a new insight into the character, attainments, and prowess of the man.

In the first issue, our young pastor, not yet thirty years old, appears with an article entitled, "The Relation between the Work of Christ and the Condition of the Angelic World." His contention is thus set forth by himself:

"We are persuaded that the scheme of grace revealed in the Bible should be regarded from a far higher point of view than this low earth on which we dwell; that its relations are more vast and extensive than is supposed by those who would confine it to any one district, class, or order of beings. Taking, indeed, the narrowest view of it, it is sublime beyond all human conception. The redemption of a single soul from death, its deliverance from the bondage of sin and the power of Satan, its entire sanctification, and its introduction into heaven, are all events of the most startling and impressive kind. The passage of even one redeemed saint from the deep pit and miry clay of sin to a throne with Christ in his glory, unfolds a history which might command a listening senate of angels. But, if with John, we could behold, in Apocalyptic vision, the one hundred and forty and four thousand, standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, having his Father's name in their foreheads, their voice as the voice of many waters, and their song that of harpers, harping with their harps: in view of the immense number, each seemingly equally a monument to the mystery of grace, we should confess this is a great salvation, this salvation by the blood of Christ. Yet, this is but a standing point, from which to spring to a higher and more commanding view. We have only to look upon the different orders of worshippers in the heavenly temple and witness the whole hierarchy bending before the throne of the Lamb, to be overwhelmed with the mystery of divine grace. It is not difficult to say why 'the spirits of just men made perfect' should cry day and night, Thou are worthy, for thou hast redeemed us by thy blood;' but whence came these,-this innumerable company of angelsthese 'flames of fire'-who catch from the redeemed sinner the keynote of praise, and swell the chorus, 'worthy is the Lamb that was slain'? "The answer to this question brings us to the grave, yet delightful

theme, which it is the object of the present article to pursue. It may be expressed in the following proposition:

"Jesus Christ, by his atonement, has introduced into the moral government of God the principle of grace, which avails to the confirmation of beings who are holy, as well as to the redemption of beings who are fallen.'"

In the argument which follows, Mr. Palmer shows familiarity with the best literature on the subject, from the Reformation times down. He discovers an acuteness and subtlety of insight, a reach and vigor of the constructive imagination, an agility, ingenuity, and strength of reasoning power, extraordinary; and he clothes all that he has to say in forms of expression which do indefinite credit to the training his mother had given him in Milton, Shakespeare and the Bible. The imagery is so lofty that it reminds the reader of Milton's; the language is so clear and precise it suggests the student of Shakespeare. As he himself saw that there wanted in his arguments somewhat to establish beyond the possibility of doubt the proposition for which he contended, and, as he explicitly confessed the defect, the reader who is not carried with him in his conclusion, cannot fail to admire greatly this essay.

In the December, 1847, issue of the Review, Mr. Palmer enters upon "an examination of the fixed character of the Jew, both intellectual and moral;" and endeavors to discover "the causes which have steeped it in its present mould." He found the most obvious traits of the Hebrew character to be, "its almost superhuman tenacity;" "the singular elasticity of constitution," which enables the Hebrew to recover position of which he has been dispossessed once the dispossessing force has been withdrawn; "their incorrigible worldly-mindedness and consecration to the service of mammon;" "their comparative freedom from the gross vices of other races;" and their intellectual activity and shallowness. He explains the production of these traits in the Hebrew race in an ingenious and able manner, betraying, by the way, no small appreciation of the Jewish people and character. Toward the close of the paper, he declares that "this analysis of the character of the Jews has been made with the practical design of interesting the reader, and inspiring a deep and prayerful regard for" the Jewish people; and presents a number of considerations wherefore

Christians should strive especially for the conversion of this race. He declares:

"Whoever, then, feels a lively sympathy with Christ in his present humiliation and prays to see him Lord of the whole earth, must be ill instructed if he does not feel a corresponding anxiety for the salvation for the House of Israel. It is not improbable that God is now reserving this people for a distinguished service in the way of evangelizing the world. Their complete diffusion over the globe-their comparative isolation among men-the extraordinary enthusiasm and energy of their character, destined to be greater when it shall be toned by truth—their very conversion to Christianity after so many ages of unbelief-all adapt them for extraordinary labor in the missionary service. Perhaps the future history of the church will reveal many a son of Abraham with Abraham's faith, doing the work of Paul, preaching the faith which he once destroyed. And the conversion of the Jews, accomplished in fulfillment of a hundred predictions, will probably be the grand fact argument by which the truth of Christianity, in the latter days, will be attested."

This article is especially interesting in view of the very intimate relations which he sustained throughout most of his later life with the Jews in New Orleans. His interest in the race was long grown; and was explained by his concern for a people so interesting in themselves considered, and by his desire to see them converted to Christianity.

In the issue of March, 1848, of the Southern Presbyterian Review, Mr. Palmer appears with an article on "An Inquiry into the Doctrine of Imputed Sin." He espouses the doctrine of immediate imputation; and argues its truth with nicety, elegance and force. In the issue of July, 1849, he appears in a paper headed, "A Plea for Doctrine as the Instrument of Sanctification." The paper was occasioned, as may be inferred pretty safely, by some of his own experience as a preacher, notwithstanding his great popularity. He says:

"That a deeply seated prejudice exists in many parts of the church against the systematic exposition of the doctrines of the Bible, is too obvious a fact to be questioned. It probably falls within the experience of every pastor, to see the gathering frown, the averted shoulder, and the drooping head, as soon as certain doctrines are announced as the theme for discussion. It does not excite our surprise that the world of the ungodly should manifest this displeasure: for the same 'carnal

mind' which is enmity against God, is enmity likewise against the truth of God. But that professing Christians should engage in this unholy crusade against doctrinal religion, and that even ministers of the gospel should sigh over the earnest proclamation of its truths, and accuse the faithful witness of 'daubing with untempered mortar,' is certainly a most afflictive and atrocious scandal."

He alleges that this strange phenomenon is explicable, nevertheless; and asserts that in some latent skepticism of the doctrines themselves is the cause; that in others timid concessions to the clamors of the ungodly have had play; that in others the fear of losing church members by the exposition of doctrine prevails; that in others indolence and sluggishness of mind lead them to decry doctrine and to prefer exhortations; and that in others the belief obtains that doctrine is not necessary to sanctification. He next presents five stages into which the ordinary religious progress of Christians may be divided; and shows that doctrine is needed at, and through, every stage in order to progress. In the conclusion occurs the following reference to the standards of his Church as instruments of sanctification:

"Indeed, we utter a long cherished conviction, when we say that, next to the Bible, from which all that relates to God and the soul must be drawn, there are no books we would sooner recommend for an experimental and devotional use than the Calvinistic Standards. We place them in the hands of children and think their office discharged when the form of sound words' is transferred to the memory. How few think (to appropriate a child's expression) 'to learn these things by heart.' Many a Christian will devour a whole library of books of devotion and pious biographies, trying to draw on a ready-made experience, as he would a glove, when a better manual of practical religion is almost thumbed out in the hands of his child. Let him put ninety-nine hundredths of these volumes into the fire, and thoroughly digest his Shorter Catechism, and he will come forth a stronger, brighter, happier Christian, and in sooner time, than if he had read the memoirs of all the saints and martyrs from Abel until now. The taste of the Church is so superficial that we should not wonder if the reader is smiling at this as a conceit, rather than a matured conviction of the writer. We would only plead with him for the experiment. Let him take the doctrine which he conceives most remote from practical life, and most hidden among the deep things of God-let him ponder it over till his mind has taken a deep and firm grasp of it-let him trace its relations to other doctrines, and to the whole scheme with which it harmonizes-above all, let him pray over it, until it is so revealed that he feels its power over his own spirit."