All alike will find in
him an example of some of the attributes which in every age of the world
distinguish the true teacher from the empiric and the hireling—a deep
love of knowledge for its own sake, a faith in its value as one of the
most potent instruments of moral culture, insight into the nature and
the temptations of boyhood, profound sympathy with every form of
childish weakness except sin, belief in the boundless possibilities for
good which lie yet undeveloped in even the most unpromising scholar,
skill and brightness in communicating knowledge and in attracting the
co-operation of learners, and, above all, an abiding sense of the
responsibility attaching to an office in which the teacher has it in his
power to make or mar the image of God, and to advance or retard the
spiritual improvement of the coming race.—Sir Joshua Fitch on Thomas
Arnold.
DURING the sixties of the nineteenth century the subject which chiefly
absorbed attention was the battle with Liberalism, but in the following
decade the most insistent question was that of popular education.
Previous to the year 1865 education in the Colony was wholly a
Government concern. The duty devolved upon the Superintendent-General of
Education and his departmental subordinates to establish, staff and
subsidize the public schools of the country. Each school was a
Government institution and each teacher a Government official. Pupils in
the lower standards received instruction gratis, while for those
attending the higher classes the fees amounted to no more than four
pounds sterling per annum. Under this arrangement public interest in
education languished. There was no link to unite the school and the
people : the latter bore no responsibility for the school and exercised
no control over it: and a system which thus supplied all wants while
requiring no co-operation was little calculated to arrest attention and
stimulate interest. In 1865, however, a salutary change was effected in
the regulations, by which the system of education was popularized, and
the control of the schools was vested in school-committees, elected by
popular vote, and entrusted with the duty of appointing teachers and
finding the half of their salaries, the other moiety being contributed
by Government. Education thus became in the truest sense popular—the
concern of the people themselves.
Free institutions, however, imply free and independent minds that can
rightly use and apply them. Public opinion, especially in the more
distant and neglected parts of the country, was not yet alive to the
necessity of popular and universal education. The bulk of the population
in the country districts belonged to the D. R. Church, which therefore
was charged with the duty of awakening and informing the mind of the
people on this vital question. To this task the Church had from the very
commencement addressed itself by endeavouring to secure a multiplication
of schools and an increase of educational facilities. For every
presbytery there was a recognized inspector of schools, whose duty it
was to visit and inspect each school in his circuit, and report his
findings to the presbytery at its annual meeting. At each successive
meeting of the Synod educational questions became more and more
prominent. In 1870 the agenda contained but five motions bearing on
education, whereas in 1873 there were no less than eighteen; and the
difference indicates the new emphasis placed upon scholastic concerns.
But in addition to the official decisions of the Synod a more personal
and more persistent force was needed to arouse the Christian public to a
sense of its responsibility towards the rising generation. More than in
any other single individual this force was personified in Mr. Murray.
During the eighth decade of the century he was the moving spirit of a
practical endeavour to bring the privileges of education within the
reach of the poorest as well as the wealthiest classes of the community.
The successful inauguration, in the face of many doubts and
difficulties, of so important an undertaking as the Huguenot Seminary
demonstrated the feasibility of establishing, in other parts of the
country, similar institutions for the education of young women and the
training of lady-teachers. Within the next three or four years there
arose the following schools, which in most cases were avowedly modelled
on the lines of the Wellington institution :—the Bloemhof Seminary at
Stellenbosch, the Midland Seminary at Graaff-Reinet, the Ladies’
Seminary at Worcester, the Eunice Girls’ Institute at Bloemfontein, the
Girls’ School at Paarl, the Rockland Seminary at Cradock and the
Bellevue Seminary at Somerset East.
Early in 1876 Mr. Murray undertook a second tour for the purpose of
collecting funds for the Huguenot Seminary. This tour, which lasted only
seven weeks, was not so extensive nor so successful financially as that
of 1874, but it intensified certain convictions which he had long
cherished, and drew from him the following burning words on the urgent
need for more labourers in the Lord’s harvest-held—
In my last letter, concerning the need of missionaries, I promised to
discuss in a second letter the provision which should be made for the
existing need. A collecting-tour of seven weeks’ duration has somewhat
delayed the fulfilment of this promise, but what I have seen and
experienced in the meantime has strengthened my conviction of the
urgency of our necessities, and of our calling to arise in God’s name
and endeavour to supply them. In order to attain this object we must, it
appears to me, direct our attention to these points:
First, we must give ourselves to a deeper realization of this need, and
to laying it upon the heart of our congregations. It is but human nature
to rest satisfied with a defect which cannot be immediately remedied,
and custom soon makes us oblivious to its existence. We consider that it
has always been so and must remain so, and that there is little
likelihood of its ever being otherwise. It is, however, the calling of
those whom God has appointed watchers on His walls, to enquire earnestly
into every need, to make it plain to the congregation, to show how
unsatisfactory is the state of affairs, and so to prepare the way for a
change. Let me briefly give my impressions of the need as they have been
made upon me by my last journey.
I was at Calvinia on the occasion of their last communion. The
attendance was not very large. The people there have already accustomed
themselves to the thought of one great communion-festival annually, and
for many this is the only attendance they put in at church in the course
of the year. It can hardly be otherwise. Among the new churchwardens who
were inducted when I was there, was an elder whose home was 120 miles
distant, and a deacon who lived 180 miles away. Among the young people
confirmed was a young girl who was in church last when she was baptized,
and she was the daughter of parents who were by no means indifferent to
religion.
From Calvinia I went to Carnarvon. There, too, I found a congregation
some members of which live 120 miles from the village. At Fraser-burg it
was the same : there were cases of members of the congregation who
during their whole life had never yet set foot in the village church. In
conversations with others on my journey I discovered that it is
frequently the case that when families live forty-five or fifty miles
away from the township, they seldom think of attending church more than
once a quarter, at the communion season. And when we remember the
hindrances that arise, owing to drought the one year, and floods the
next, as well as occasional sickness, we can understand how seldom the
majority have the opportunity of listening to the preaching of the Word.
At Sutherland I found that after the congregation had been vacant for
three years, and had issued I don’t know how many calls to no purpose,
they have recently obtained a minister; but only at the expense of
Kroonstad, a congregation counting 2,500 members, which must now also
remain vacant for who knows how many months. So much for the need for
more ministers.
Nor is it only ministers we need. I am convinced that in those extensive
parishes we must employ another class of workers. There are, as we know,
workers known as catechists in the Church of England. The time has
arrived when we must supply our ministers with “helps," who can preach
God’s Word in the distant parts of the congregation, while remaining
under the minister’s supervision. To my mind we should have teachers who
are at the same time religious instructors or catechists—men who are at
home in the Bible, and are able to lead the service at a distant
outpost. Let us take a leaf out of the book of the traders, who are far
from satisfied -with having a store in the village, but also put up
their little shops in the distant wards. Nor does even that satisfy
them, but their wares are conveyed by waggon and cart to the very doors
of prospective customers, and people are enticed and begged to make
their purchases. "The children of this world are wiser in their
generation than the children of light.”
And what shall I say of my experience with reference to teachers ? This
alone, that I have been convinced anew that all our toil for the benefit
of the grown-ups will effect little, unless we win the hearts of the
children for God's Word ; and that the vast majority of the children of
our land is not under the guidance of God-fearing teachers. May God lay
this need heavy upon our hearts, and open our eyes to the heart-rending
sight of children—whose is the Kingdom, who are beloved of Jesus, and
whose hearts are tender and open for Him—confided for years to the
influence and the instruction of worldly teachers.
But I must hasten. Granted that we sufficiently realize this need, our
first duty then is to pray. When the Son of God saw the multitudes as
sheep without a shepherd, and was moved with compassion, He knew of no
other course than to implore the disciples, “Pray ye therefore the Lord
of the harvest that He would send forth labourers into His harvest." It
is not a matter which we should just touch upon in our prayers amid a
number of other petitions: we must make it a question which we
definitely bring before the Lord, and in which we wait for an answer and
for speedy relief. It is a sad sight to see an immense harvest, a
glorious acreage of ripe wheat, without sufficient labourers to reap it.
At times it appears to me that the need of the heathen world is not so
great as the need of our Christian population, where we frequently find
both old and young not unwilling to be gathered in for the Saviour, but
where there can be no ingathering because there are no reapers. O, let
us beseech the Lord to prepare and to thrust out labourers by His Holy
Spirit!
When our heart realizes the need, our eyes will also be opened to the
work that must be done. The open eye will seek and find the children who
must be trained for work in this great harvest-field. It cannot be that
there are not young people enough in this country for the work of the
Lord. There are, and we must see that we find them. The cry for more
labourers must be heard from every pulpit, until even the children come
to understand that it is the Son of God Himself who is summoning them to
labour for Him. When we have the children, we must also find the homes
where they can be trained for His service. The boarding-school can yet
become a wonderful and glorious means for the training of workers.
Hitherto the chief object has been the intellectual development of the
child. But when our eyes are open to our real needs we shall understand
that what we want is teachers who, in addition to a complete secular
education, have also passed through a course in theology and above all
in the study of the Scriptures. We must not consider it sufficient if we
find a person who is merely pious and desirous to work for Christ. The
minister has to be trained in his work as pastor, and the teacher
requires instruction as well, if he is to labour in the interests of the
Kingdom. For this purpose we need the right sort of principals to stand
at the head of such schools, where for four or five years their object
will be to train and inspire young people for God’s service.
Men like these are difficult to find ; but I am firmly convinced that if
God has implanted the desire, He will not put us to shame when we pray
earnestly and believingly for them. And we should make arrangements for
receiving the poorest children in these homes, if there be only
sufficient desire and ability on their part. The Church must make itself
responsible for the education, and if necessary for the support during
their time of study, of those committed to its care for training. .
But where is all the money to come from ? My brothers, if this is God’s
work, He surely has enough money to dispense. When He has opened heart
and mouth and eye, He will not leave the hands closed. One cannot lay to
the charge of the congregations of this land that they are unwilling to
give. When a matter is made plain to them they give willingly. If our
ministers will but meditate deeply on this great need, and on God’s plan
for fulfilling it, and if they will but, under the impulse of God’s
Spirit and God’s love, show the congregations how to prepare the way
that His Word may have free course, then there need really he no fear on
the score of money. It is God’s part to care for the money, and ours to
discover what the will of the Lord is, and what work we ought to perform
for Him, and then in faith to begin it.
There, brothers, you have a brief and feeble statement of what lay heavy
on my heart. To find children in great numbers for the Lord’s work, and
then to train them and send them forth—that must be a matter of
believing prayer and toil, far more than it has hitherto been. May I ask
the brethren most earnestly to beseech the Lord to grant us His blessing
and His aid in this great undertaking.
It was as a tribute to Mr. Murray’s unwearied efforts in the cause of
education, no less than to his gifts of leadership and his supreme
spiritual influence, that the Synod of 1876 elected him as Moderator for
the second time. One of the most important resolutions of this Synod had
in view the establishment of a normal college for the training of
teachers. Thanks to the insistence of Mr. Murray and other like-minded
ministers, the necessity for such an institution was acknowledged by
all, and the resolution was arrived at by a unanimous vote. On the
question as to where the new school should be erected there was
considerable divergence of opinion, and it was only by a narrow majority
that the claims of Cape Town were recognized as preponderant. Mr. Murray
was appointed one of the original board of curators, and a member of the
board he remained until his retirement from the active service of the
ministry in 1906.1
In the meantime Mr. Murray, whose eager mind was generally in advance of
official decisions and the cautious movement of synods and Church
committees, was already laying his plan for the training of missionaries
and missionary teachers. These plans eventually crystallized in the
establishment of the Mission Training Institute, which was opened at
Wellington in October, 1877. Of the commencement of this undertaking we
have the following account, written in February, 1876—
The Lord has laid upon our heart the desire to establish a school for
the training of labourers for His Kingdom. After corresponding for more
than a year on this matter, we have now the prospect of obtaining the
right man to stand at the head of our proposed institute. We made many
vain endeavours to find a suitable principal, before the Rev. George
Ferguson, brother of Miss Ferguson of the Huguenot Seminary, accepted
our invitation to come over to us. We hope to have him in our midst
before the middle of next year. According to the testimony of men in
America who are able to judge, he appears to be the right man to carry
our plans to fruition. Nor is our confidence wholly placed upon their
judgment ; for we believe that the God from whom we have asked him in
prayer, has guided us to the man whom He Himself has destined for the
work.
The objects we aim at in the establishment of this institution are these
: there are young men who wish to engage in the work of the Lord, but
who have no time, no aptitude or no strong desire to pay much attention
to ancient languages or mathematics. For these there should be provided
the opportunity to obtain a thorough Biblical and general training, so
that they can take their places in the Church and in society both
honourably and profitably. While we do not exclude the study of ancient
languages, it will be our aim, without entering into competition with
existing institutions, to afford young men who are no longer in their
early youth the chance of obtaining a good general education through the
medium of both English and Dutch. In addition to this it will be our
endeavour to have the whole of our home inspired with the one thought of
consecration to God and to His service, so that by His blessing this
idea may become the chief aim of all the training.
We desire also to establish matters on so reasonable and simple a
footing that youths in poor circumstances shall have access to all the
privileges of a good boarding-school. We also wish to offer to those who
are already engaged in God’s service—as ministers, missionaries or
teachers—the opportunity of having their children educated for the same
blessed service at the lowest possible price. In order to attain these
objects we require a home in which provision can be made for forty or
fifty boarders. For the whole project we shall need a sum of £4,000 or
£5,000. It is a very large amount, but the conviction that it is the
Lord’s will that this institution shall be established is sufficient
assurance that He will supply all our needs.
Early in 1876 Mr. Murray was appointed by the Synodical Committee as the
official delegate of the D. R. Church to the first Council of
Presbyterian Churches, which was to have met in Edinburgh in the course
of that year. The meeting was, however, postponed until 1877, and Mr.
Murray was accordingly able to attend it in his capacity as Moderator of
Synod. He left Cape Town on the 4th of April in the steamship African,
while his brother Charles sailed a few days later and joined him in
London. In a series of letters to the Kerkbode Mr. Murray has given us a
reasonably full account of his doings and experiences on this journey.
The objects with which it was undertaken he describes as follows—
There are three matters which will specially engage my attention, and in
respect of which I trust the tour will not have been undertaken in vain.
These three things are the condition of the Church, education, and the
state of the spiritual life in the countries which I am about to visit.
The condition of the Church is the first matter into which I have to
enquire. So much is clear ; for the real purpose of my visit is to
represent our Church at the Pan-Presbyterian Council. [Mr. Murray here
enlarged upon the meaning of Presbyterianism and the objects of the
Council.]
The second matter with which I shall concern myself is education. On
this question I need not enter into details. The educational work of our
Church is only in its first beginnings. Hitherto we have been so
occupied in merely seeking to find the needful teachers, that great
educational questions such as are being discussed in Europe have not yet
been under consideration with us. I trust that closer acquaintance with
what is being done in the sphere of education in Europe and America will
prove fruitful for the work that is being done in our own land. . . .
This has reference especially to our Normal College. I hope that,
wherever opportunity offers, I shall make use of my eyes and ears, on my
own behalf and on behalf of the Church, to take cognizance of what is
being done to train teachers for a profession upon which admittedly both
Church and society are so greatly dependent.
Then I also mentioned the spiritual life of the Churches. There is
nothing for which I so greatly long as the opportunity of coming into
contact with some of the men whom God has lately raised up as witnesses
to what He is able to do for His children. I hope very much to be
enabled to pass some days at a place where Moody and Sankey are
labouring. Grey-headed ministers in England and Scotland have
acknowledged how much they have learnt from these men. And there are
other evangelists, who have not exactly received a ministerial training,
but whose enthusiasm and gifts have in many instances been highly
instructive to those who are engaged in the regular ministry of the
Word.
There is, however, another kind of labour for which God has lately
raised up chosen instruments. It consists not in the endeavour to bring
in those who are without the fold, but in the endeavour to lead those
who are within to a deeper comprehension of Christian truth and
privilege. If there is one thing which the Church needs, it is labour
directed to this end. The more we study as Christians the state of the
Church of Christ on earth, the more is conviction strengthened that it
does not answer to its holy calling. Hence the powerlessness of the
Church against unbelief and semi-belief and superstition, against
worldliness and sin and heathenism. The power of faith, the power of
prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, are all too greatly lacking. God's
children in the first place require a revival—a new revelation by the
Holy Spirit of what is the hope of their calling, of what God does
indeed expect from them, and of the life of power and consecration, of
joy and fruitfulness, which God has prepared for them in Christ. . . .
My experiences from stage to stage of the journey I hope to describe
from time to time. There is not much to be said about the voyage thus
far. Hitherto all has been prosperous. We hope to reach Madeira this
afternoon. On board I have had complete rest on Sundays. We have as
passenger a clergyman of the Church of England. Before the first Sunday
he came and informed me that, since almost all the passengers belonged
to his Church, he thought it was his duty to take all the services. I
replied that if the passengers concurred in this arrangement, I, too,
would be satisfied. My continual prayer is that God’s richest blessing
may rest upon my congregation and upon the whole Church.
Mr. Murray arrived in London on the last day of April, and proceeded
almost immediately to Edinburgh, charged as he was with the duty of
finding professors for the Normal College. He found the ministers whom
he had come to consult very much preoccupied with the meetings of the
Assemblies of the two Scottish Churches, and was obliged to return to
London without having accomplished much. Joined in London by his brother
Charles, he embarked at Liverpool on the Bothnia on the 12th of May, and
after a prosperous voyage reached New York on the 22nd of the month. The
chief object of the visit to America was the quest for teachers, and,
above all, of lady-teachers for the Huguenot Seminary and its
daughter-institutions. There is no need to go into the details of the
tour, and Mr. Murray has summed up its results in one of his
communications to the Kerkbode—
With reference to our five weeks’ visit to America I send you the
following. Though we greatly regretted that our stay in that country was
so brief, every day was full of pleasure and utility. The acquaintance
which we made with the educational system, with the Sunday-schools, with
the religious life, and especially with the revival under Mr. Moody’s
labour, and notably with the Dutch Reformed Church of America, have all
yielded us much food for thought, and I hope at a later stage to convey
to you some of the impressions made.
Our visit to the Mount Holyoke Seminary was far from being a
disappointment. What we saw there, and the manner in which intellectual
development is combined with absolute consecration of all talents and
knowledge to the service of Christ, gave us new cause for gratitude to
God that He had led u s to this institution for the principals of our
seminaries, and that those whom He had sent over to us were so eminently
suitable to transplant the whole system to our shores.
We did not meet with as much success as we hoped in our requests for
more ladies from here. Many who applied to be accepted had not yet had
so much experience that we were sufficiently assured that they would
answer our purpose. And, above all, the number of old students of Mount
Holyoke who were able to come was not as large as we had hoped. But it
was a great joy to learn on our arrival that one of the teachers who had
already seen twelve years of service in that Seminary, and whose work
was held in high esteem, had offered to go to Pretoria, in order to
accede to the request of Rev. Bosman, and establish a ladies’ seminary
there. After what I have seen of her and heard about her, I am convinced
that she will be a great acquisition for the Transvaal. Together with
other lady-teachers, for Swellendam and Beaufort West, she will meet us
in London, and will sail with us from Southampton on the 30th of August.
At the head of the company will be Rev. George Ferguson, who remained in
America in order to obtain from myself the last instructions as to the
work he is about to undertake. All that I have heard, both in America
and in Scotland, concerning the missionary enterprise, has wrought in me
a deeper conviction that our Church has been planted by God in South
Africa with the purpose of bringing the Gospel to the heathen of the
Continent of Africa ; and that, if this work is to be done, we must have
an institution where our sons can be trained to fulfil it. . . .
On my return to Edinburgh I was rejoiced to hear that a principal had
been found for our Normal College. Professors Blaikie and Calder-wood
cherished no doubts but that Mr. Whitton was the right man. He had been
trained in a normal college, had had three years’ experience as
assistant in a normal college in England, had acted for fifteen months
as assistant inspector of schools for a district of Scotland, and was
provided with the best testimonials as to the manner in which he had
acquitted himself in these various situations. This seems to us to be a
sufficient guarantee that he is fully equipped with a wide knowledge of
everything pertaining to education. Having in the meantime heard from
the curators in South Africa that all arrangements were not yet complete
in connexion with the buildings, I agreed with Mr. Whitton that he
should only commence his work in January next; and to this he readily
assented, as it would enable him to complete his year of service at
Melrose.
Mr. Murray gave his impressions of the great meetings of the
Presbyterian Council in two long papers, of which we here offer an
abbreviated version—
In addressing myself to the task of giving a short account of the
Council of Edinburgh, I realize how difficult it is accurately to
describe what was really the main thing—the spirit, the tone, the
general feeling, and even the enthusiasm which prevailed. I can only
attempt a brief review of the proceedings.
The opening meeting was held in St. Giles’ Church—the church in which
John Knox used to preach in former days. Professor Flint, of the
Established Church of Scotland, delivered a discourse on Christian
unity, based upon John xvii. 20, 21. He pointed out that this unity is a
spiritual unity, which actually prevails ; that the existence of
separate denominations, due to differences of speech and nationality,
cannot annul it; and that this virtual unity must be brought into more
constant exercise by more frequent inter-communion with each other, and
by the spirit of forbearance and love, in which we ought to bear with
one another’s differences of opinion.
In the evening a great reception was given to the delegates by the
inhabitants of Edinburgh. In the hall of a large museum in connexion
with the University—a hall some 300 feet in length and 80 feet high
—there were assembled five thousand people. The members of the Council
were presented to the Lord Provost, as representative of the city, and
where opportunity offered, were also introduced to prominent citizens.
After that, as many as could find room attended a meeting in a
neighbouring auditorium, where addresses of welcome were delivered, and
acknowledgments made by speakers from different countries.
On Wednesday, 4th July, the actual work of the Council commenced. This
was the only day which was directly devoted to the discussion of
Presbyterian principles. We began at the foundation. In the constitution
of the Council it was laid down that the consensus of the confessions of
the various Reformed Churches was to be considered the basis upon which
the Council was united. The discussion on this question was opened by
the well-known Dr. Schaff, a Swiss by birth, a Scot by education, and
for more than thirty years a professor in America. He introduced the
question in a most excellent paper. He first reminded his hearers how,
more than three hundred years ago (in 1562), Cranmer had issued an
invitation to Calvin, Melanchthon and other Continental divines, to
assemble and draw up a united confession for the Reformed Churches ; and
how Calvin had replied that for such a purpose he would be willing to
cross not one, but ten seas, and how they should consider no trouble too
great to bring about such a union on the basis of truth. Political
events, however, prevented the proposed gathering; but the proposal
itself proved how greatly the Reformers felt the need of credal union. A
general confession or formulary which should unite all Churches he did
not think possible under present circumstances. Such confessions cannot
be drawn up to order. They must, if they are to have any spark of
vitality, be the fruit of deep religious convictions bom in a time of
struggle for the faith. Theology cannot produce them. They demand a
religious enthusiasm which is equal to any sacrifice and which does not
shrink from death itself. They are acts of faith—the result of higher
inspiration. In the meantime we have the best kind of unity—the unity of
spiritual life, of faith and of love which binds us to Christ and to
those who are Christ’s.
Professor Godet, who followed, emphasized the fact that, as in the time
of the Reformers the truths of election and salvation through faith had
to be confessed and defended against the Church of Rome, so in our day
the person and the divinity of Christ have to be confessed and defended
against modern error. After this address a paper composed by Professor
Krafft of Bonn was read, which gave a representation of reformed
doctrine as held by Reformed Churches in all parts of the world. From
the discussion which ensued it appeared that both the American and the
Scottish delegates were eager to maintain the authority of the
confessions. When one of the Scotch professors of somewhat modem
tendency rose on a subsequent day, and spoke of the desirability of
altering the confessions, the whole meeting instantly gave expression to
its disapproval of his utterances.
In the afternoon a paper by the revered Dr. Cairns was read on the
Principles of Presbyterianism, in which it was pointed out that
Presby-terianism fostered true liberty—the union of the rights of the
congregation with the authority of the ministers—and that, standing as
it did midway between the episcopal and the congregationalist systems,
it was best fitted to unite the advantages of both. Dr. Alexander Hodge,
lately appointed as successor to his father, the famous Dr. Charles
Hodge of Princeton, discussed Presbyterianism in connexion with the
tendencies and needs of the present age. The same force in the Reformed
Churches, he said, which in former ages had opposed tyranny in Church
and State, must now do battle against the modem enemy— the lawlessness
which defied all authority, and exalted man and nature above all things.
. . .
As I listened to the various speakers my thoughts went back to what had
happened when I visited England ten years previously. When present on
one occasion at the laying of the foundation-stone of a Congregational
church I listened to one of their professors, Dr. Vaughan,. expounding
the scriptural origin of their system of Church government. He spoke
with such certainty and conviction, that one almost felt that he was
right, and that no flaw could be found in his argument. Shortly
afterwards I heard one of the most famous preachers of the Episcopal
Church, Dr. Goulburn, maintain that at the time of the Reformation the
Church of England alone both established purity of doctrine and remained
within the apostolic succession. At the time I said to myself. Now I
have still to hear a Presbyterian. I had now enjoyed the opportunity of
listening to more than one Presbyterian, and I believe that even in
Presbyterian Scotland many must have been both astonished and
strengthened at hearing the scriptural principles of Church government
expounded and stated in so clear and conclusive a fashion. . . .
The fourth day was devoted to discussions on the subject of Missions.
Letters were read from the German professors Dorner of Berlin, Lechler
of Leipzig, Riggenbach of Basel, Christlieb of Bonn, Ebrard of Erlangen,
and Dr. Herzog, expressing,their concurrence with the objects of the
Council and their regret at not being able to attend. After that, a long
paper was read from the pen of Dr. Duff, the prince of modern
missionaries, who was to have led the discussion, but was prevented by
illness. Speaking as one of the prophets of old, he said that he wished
to bear witness to one matter especially, namely, that Missions are not
one of the activities of the Church, but the only object for which it
exists. "I wish,” he said, "to take the highest possible scriptural
ground with reference to the sole and supreme duty of the Church of
Christ to devote all its strength to this cause. With the exception of
the brief apostolic age, there has been no period in the history of the
Church when this has been actually done—to the great shame of the Church
and the unspeakable loss of this poor world. Holding this conviction—a
conviction that has been gathering strength during these forty years—you
will not take it amiss in me, standing as I do upon the verge of the
eternal world, when I give expression to my immovable assurance that
unless and until this supreme duty is more deeply felt, more powerfully
realized, and more implicitly obeyed, not only by individual believers
but by the Church at large, we are only playing at missions, deceiving
our own selves, slighting the command of our blessed King, and expending
in all manner of fruitless struggle the powers, the means and the
abilities which should be devoted with undivided enthusiasm to the
spiritual subjugation of the nations.” . . .
On the Saturday there was no official meeting of the Council. But in the
morning a conference on life and work was held for members of the
various congregations. After that there was a general communion,
conducted by Dr. Herdman of the Established Church, Dr. Moody Stuart of
the Free Church and Dr. Ker of the U. P. Church. Both these meetings
were a real refreshment to me. My only regret was that just these two
meetings, which dealt specially with the spiritual life, were held on a
day when few of the regular members of the Council could be present.
This gives me occasion to make an observation—and it is my only
unfavourable one—with reference to the Council. The same observation has
frequently been made on our own Synodical meetings. When a large number
of God’s servants meet in order to consult about the interests of His
Kingdom, and about the work they have to perform in connexion with it,
one would expect that their first felt need would be to place themselves
as servants in the presence of their Lord, and while they wait there in
worship and faith, to experience the renewal of those spiritual powers
upon which everything depends. And yet it so frequently happens that in
ecclesiastical and theological gatherings the so-called ordinary
business occupies the first place, while hardly any time can be found
for spiritual matters. And though we listened with great pleasure to
what was said about the exercise of the spirit of love, about
faithfulness to the doctrine of the Church, and about the earnestness
displayed in the Council, more than one of us felt this great lack. I
have no doubt that this lack will make itself felt even more in the
future, so that when those who exercise “ the ministry of the Spirit "
assemble, the great blessing of their intercourse will be found in a
more living confession and exercise of the faith which is their only
strength, in union with their Lord, and in the increase of the gifts and
graces of His Spirit.
Sunday was a great day for the church-going population of Edinburgh.
There was hardly a single pulpit which was not occupied by a stranger,
and next morning the daily Press contained a summary of many of the
sermons delivered. Arrangements had also been made for ministers of the
Established and Free Churches, between which hitherto there had been but
little exchange of pulpits, to preach in one another’s churches, and so
testify to the desire for closer union.
On Monday the subject on which attention was focused was unbeliej. It
was both felt and affirmed, in view of the influence of an unbelieving
science and literature, that the Church of Christ must consider it as
one of the most momentous problems which demand solution, how so to
preach the Gospel as to satisfy the highest needs of thought and
knowledge. The first paper was that of Dr. Patton, professor at
Chicago—a man who, though previously but little known, at once covered
himself with great honour. He showed in striking manner the different
forms which unbelief assumes, and the different causes from which it
arises, and then pointed out what the Church should do to meet it, and
what results might be expected or not expected from the contest. Dr.
McCosh of Princeton followed. In answer to the question what attitude
the Christian ought to assume towards the science of our age, he spoke
very boldly of the impossibility of contradiction between the truth
which God revealed in nature and the truth which He revealed in
Scripture. Christians could safely leave physical science to go as far
as possible in its discoveries, in the assurance that what was really
taught by nature (as distinct from the suppositions and deductions of
scientists) would ultimately serve to corroborate the Word of God, even
if some popular conceptions required modification. This paper, too, was
followed with marked attention. A discussion now ensued, in which the
speech of Professor Flint was particularly excellent. He showed in how
far the Church was responsible for the unbelief of the world, and
pointed out the means by which scientific unbelief could be best
refuted. Professor Cairns then still emphasized the point that the
causes of unbelief were chiefly of a moral and spiritual nature, having
their home in man’s heart, and being removable only by the grace of God.
...
The afternoon was devoted to the subject of the Spiritual Life— helps
and hindrances. On the first portion an address was delivered by
Theodore Monod of Paris. After he had spoken, two further papers were
read, on the Sanctification of the Sabbath and on Drunkenness It soon
became plain that the time was too short for the satisfactory discussion
of so many subjects. Some of the delegates from a distance subsequently
gave an account in brief of the condition of their Churches. Among the
latter was Rev. C. Fraser of Philippolis (Orange Free State, who was
listened to with much interest, especially by the American delegates.
During our visit to America we had heard repeated references to the
great exhibition in Philadelphia, at which an exhibit from the Free
State had attracted particular attention. This was the reason why the
delegates from across the Atlantic listened with so much eagerness to
communications concerning a country of which they otherwise knew very
little.
The closing meeting of the Council was held on the Tuesday evening (ioth
July). An address to the Queen was first read and approved. In this
address it was stated inter alia that the Council consisted of 333
members, representing 21,443 congregations, with 19,040 ministers. After
this matter had been disposed of a resolution was passed giving
expression to the Council’s unfeigned gratitude to God for the
opportunity of meeting with one another in such a spirit of brotherly
concord, and for the new encouragement which had thus been imparted to
the Churches to carry out with greater energy than ever the great task
committed to them. A series of addresses followed, after which the last
words were spoken by Dr. Oswald Dykes of London, who said: "Four hundred
years ago the first of the Reformed Churches represented here to-day, I
mean the Bohemian Church, emerged from the darkness which had overspread
Christendom. And now for the first time in all that long period the
Reformed Churches may meet at this place. How far do they extend to-day,
and how wide is the area that has been represented here ! And yet this
Council, though representing so wide an area, has to my mind been too
narrow to be representative of all those bodies in Christendom which are
essentially one with us. And what are to be the results that flow from
this Council? Friends and foes will wait expectantly to see whether the
fruits of our new Alliance will be such as to justify its existence. Our
Alliance will not live, and will not deserve to live, unless it leads to
worthy activity. We wait to see to what extent this Alliance will assist
in strengthening weak Churches, in gently drawing closer the bond of
intercourse between brothers who are separated, in contributing to the
solution of difficult problems, and in helping all Churches to profit by
the experience of some of the more privileged bodies. There can be no
real co-operation before we are truly united in friendship and love. And
the only way to united action is that we shall become better acquainted
with each other, and shall foster a spirit of mutual love and
confidence. In this manner the way will be paved, gradually if not all
at once, for a more real unity, more hearty co-operation, and such a
consolidation of the divided forces of the Church of Christ as shall
give abundant proof that our gathering has not been without avail.” The
address of Dr. Dykes was listened to with the greatest attention and
silence, and formed a worthy close to a historic gathering.
The quotations which I have made from the last address constitute a
sufficient answer to the question which is sometimes put me as to the
real use of this meeting of the Council. I believe in the communion of
saints, and am firmly convinced that such an exercise of Christian
fellowship carries rich blessing with it. The power and the courage of
the individual soldier depends largely, not merely on the confidence
which he places in his general, but upon the power and the faithfulness
of the army to which he belongs. Everything that strengthens this
conviction in him, increases the qualities which are indispensable in an
army that is to overcome—namely, enthusiasm and courage. In the Church
of Christ we have not merely “one Spirit” but “one body,” and everything
that tends to emphasize the unity of the body brings a blessing with it.
The enduring blessing of the Council will be experienced, not in any
undertaking in which the Council itself may engage, but in the spirit
which the Churches that have been represented on it display towards each
other in the work they are accomplishing for God.
Mr. Murray had undertaken to be present and to speak at a Conference at
Inverness, which was to be held very shortly after the close of the
Pan-Presbyterian Council. Of this Conference we still have the following
programme—
CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AT INVERNESS (17TH to 19TH July, 1877).
Subject: The Christian Life.
First Day—The New Creation—“Ye must be born again." Chairman—Rev. Dr.
McCosh ; Opener—Rev. A. Murray, Cape Town.
Second Day—The New Service—“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”
Chairman—Rev. Dr. Cairns ; Opener—Rev. Dr. Moore.
Third Day—The New Power—“I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
Chairman—Earl of Cavan ; Opener—Rev. Dr. Cairns.
In the afternoon sessions the following subjects were treated : Sabbath
Schools and Family Religion, Temperance, and Missions ; and the
programme announced that "the following ministers are also expected to
take part: Rev. Dr. van Dyke, New York; Rev. Dr. Cunningham, Wheeling;
Rev. J. W. Lupton, Tennessee; Rev. Colin Fraser, Orange Free State; Rev.
Charles Murray, Cape of Good Hope, etc.
Mr Murray’s own impressions of this Conference are to be found in the
following letter—
To his Wife.
My last was from Inverness, just as the Conference was commencing. It
was a very good time. The attendance was not as large as I could have
wished, but I think the Master was present. The subjects for the
mornings, "The New Creation,” "The New Service,” “The New Power,” were
quite in the line of the higher life, but the most of the speakers kept
to the old elementary truths. Nevertheless the pervading spirit was
good. In what I saw and heard and said myself I was much refreshed.
In the house in which I was staying (with an elder of the Free Church),
and in intercourse with other laymen I could notice very distinctly the
influence of Mr. Moody’s work. There is much more readiness to talk out,
and much more warmth. I had noticed it in Edinburgh too, that the whole
religious tone of Scotland has been lifted up and brightened most
remarkably. I do praise God for it. Then, too, there is much earnest
work being done, though I get the impression in many places that the
activity and joy of work is regarded too much as the essence of
religion. And I see that when I try to speak of the deeper and inner
life, many are glad to listen, and confess to a want.
For myself I have learnt this lesson, that it will not do to press too
much on the one side of holiness and communion with Jesus, without the
other side of work. There is no joy like that over repentant sinners, no
communion closer than “ Go into all the world and teach—and lo ! I am
with you.” And yet the joy of work and of revival is not enough. God’s
children must be led into the secret of the possibility of unbroken
communion with Jesus personally. But we may ask and trust Him who has
visited Scotland so wonderfully in the one thing to lead His people on
in the other. I cannot say how I have been impressed with the need of
the union of these two matters, work and communion. Charles says it is
what I have spoken on all along at the Cape, and yet it appears to me
like something quite new.
One thing that brought it out very clearly was this. On the Wednesday
afternoon I drove out to Cromarty, twenty miles away, to see Mr.
Russell’s (of Cape Town) mother and brother. I went with an elder of the
latter’s, a Mr. Middleton—a farmer, and a most interesting man. We drove
through a beautiful country. My companion reminded me in many things of
some of our best farmer elders at the Cape. He had been a great worker
in Mr. Moody’s time, sending in cartloads of servants twenty miles far
to attend the meetings. Shortly afterwards ten of those belonging to his
farm were admitted as communicant members of the congregation. He still
keeps up a weekly meeting for them. It was most interesting to see how
with him work was identified with the Christian life, and as it appeared
to me in a most healthy way. And I felt that in high revival times God’s
children would get much of the thing itself—entire consecration—without
its just being put forward as a theory. Nevertheless I was as deeply
impressed as ever with the fact that the Church does need instruction
and reviving as to the permanent maintenance of her communion with and
her abiding in her Lord.
Before returning to South Africa Mr. Murray found time for a brief trip
to Holland and Germany, visiting old acquaintances at Amsterdam and
Utrecht, and obtaining some insight, at a Missionsfest at Elberfeld,
into German Christianity. He embarked for home, together with his
brother and a number of teachers, on the Nyanza, which sailed at the end
of August, and reached Wellington on the 24th September— six years to a
day from the date of his induction as pastor of the congregation. One of
the lady-teachers who came out with him on this voyage tells the
following in connexion with the visit to America and the passage out to
South Africa—
In 1877 Rev. Andrew Murray and his brother Rev. Charles Murray visited
the United States with the special object of arousing interest in the
educational work which was being undertaken in South Africa. They
addressed the professors and students of various colleges, receiving in
every case a very hearty welcome. So many were the invitations that
poured in upon them to visit these institutions that they frequently had
to separate and proceed each to a different college. I remember that my
brother, who was a student in Amherst College, wrote home to tell us
that the Rev. Charles Murray had addressed the students there, and that
he had won their attention at the outset by his introductory words, "You
must please understand that I am not the Mr. Murray; I am the other Mr.
Murray.”
During their short stay in America they were successful in obtaining
ten1 lady-teachers for girls’ schools in Wellington, Stellenbosch,
Worcester, Swellendam, Beaufort West, Graaff-Reinet and Pretoria. The
Rev. George Ferguson was also secured in order to take charge of the
Mission Institute to be commenced at Wellington. The whole party, who
sailed together from England for South Africa, included another minister
and his wife, and some other teachers, among whom was Mr. Stucki, the
author of Stucki’s Dutch Grammar.
Soon after the voyage began Mr. Murray proposed a daily class for the
study of Dutch, with himself and Mr. Stucki as teachers on alternate
days. So excellent was the instruction imparted, and so great the
enthusiasm aroused, that after the voyage was over two at least of the
learners were able to undertake a correspondence in Dutch, and for some
time continued to exchange letters in that language.
Mr. Murray used to spend most of his time on the voyage in a quiet comer
of the deck, absorbed in a book; but we soon discovered that he was
quite ready at any time to put down his book for a helpful chat with
anyone who desired it. Some of those little talks will never be
forgotten. Mr. Murray continued to manifest his interest in the teachers
he had brought out even after they had all been dispersed to their
different spheres of work. It was very pleasant to observe the affection
that existed between Mr. Murray and his brother, and their evident
enjoyment in recalling the experiences of their boyhood, and in
discussing, as they walked up and down the deck, their plans for future
work.
The consistory and congregation of Wellington accorded their pastor a
most hearty welcome on his return from his overseas mission. A large
number of vehicles escorted him from the railway-station to the
parsonage, where an arch welcome, adorned with flowers and bunting, gave
a joyous and festal aspect to the scene. The pupils of the Seminary and
the local schools greeted him with song, the consistory presented an
address, and the congregation testified to its love and esteem with a
well-filled purse. His reply to all these greetings was contained in the
sermon which he preached on the following Sunday, and which was based on
Romans xv. 29-32, “I am sure that I come in the fulness of the blessing
of the Gospel of Christ; and I beseech you that ye strive together with
me in your prayers to God for me.” In this discourse he dwelt first upon
what the congregation may expect from the minister, and then upon what
the minister is entitled to expect from the congregation, encouraging
his flock to praise God with him for blessings already experienced, and
to continue in intercession on behalf of himself and of each other.
During the first few months after his home-coming Mr. Murray found “
head and hands fully occupied with work." Huguenot Seminary affairs to
be discussed, the Training Institute to be started on its career, the
new teachers to be apportioned to their several schools, congregational
work to be resumed, and the larger activities in connexion with the
Church in general to be re-commenced—this was the programme sufficiently
heavy to tax the strength of any man. But Mr. Murray was at the height
of his powers of body and brain, while his clear and ready mind and
quick grasp of guiding principles enabled him to perform with ease
duties which would have overwhelmed a smaller main.
The Training Institute was commenced with only ten boarders, of whom two
were entered as mission students and one as a normal student. It was the
day of small things, and the undertaking was in the truest sense of the
words a work of faith. Lack of funds was from the outset the most
crippling factor in the situation. The Institute was designed for the
instruction and training, as teachers or missionaries, of young men who
possessed but little of this world's goods ; and from all parts of the
country came applications for admission, accompanied almost always by
the candid confession, I have nothing to pay. Mr. Murray put this
primary fact clearly before the public in the following statement
concerning the aims and needs of the Training Institute—
Those who wish to devote themselves to mission work have not in most
cases the means to defray the expenses of their education, and the same
is true of prospective teachers. But the Church which finds and sends us
the young men required, will surely gladly bear the expense of their
education. There are many in our country who utter the prayer, "Thrust
forth labourers into Thy harvest.” The ties with which God has united
them to home or work prevent them from going personally to the heathen
world. Is it not their duty and privilege to supply the funds needed for
training and equipping others to go as their substitutes ? When we find
poor parents giving their children for the great cause, and poor
children giving themselves, it should be a matter of chief concern for
us who remain at home, and who are blessed with means, to see to it that
gifts for their support are not lacking.
Two years ago I issued a pamphlet called Labourers for the Harvest, in
which I mentioned the sum of £3,000 as needful for the buildings which
the Training Institute would require. There is room enough for our
requirements in the building which we have rented for our Institute, and
therefore we shall not think of building for the present. I also spoke
of the need of a fund from the interest of which young men could receive
their training as teacher or missionary, and I stated that we should
join in asking the Lord for £3,000 for this purpose. Shortly afterwards
I received a letter from a sister in one of our up-country
congregations, proposing that the amount should be raised by 120
subscriptions of £25 each, and offering £23 on those conditions. I
mention this suggestion, as there may be others to whom it appeals. I
have already received two other subscriptions for the same amount. In
this matter of gold and silver I desire to wait upon the Lord, that He
may give me wisdom to ask at the right time and in the right manner. His
cause has need of money, and at the same time it does not need to become
a begging cause. He can teach His servants to ask with glad rejoicing,
and He can teach His people to give with glad rejoicing.
Furthermore, this undertaking is urgently commended to the intercession
of God’s people. Observation and experience during my recent journey
have convinced me more deeply than ever of the need for more abundant
prayer in all our labour for the Kingdom. The work is not ours, but
God’s. It is His will that we shall unceasingly hand it over to Him, and
obtain wisdom and strength to perform it in accordance not with our
wishes but with His purposes. Luther said on one occasion :
There is nothing that is right, but it must be kept right by prayer ;
and there is nothing wrong that can be set right, but it must be
rectified by prayer ; and there is nothing wrong that cannot be
rectified, but it must be endured by prayer.” We therefore request all
friends of the precious missionary cause to help us with their prayers.
Ask God to send us the right young men, to make the teachers a source of
great blessing, and abundantly to bless our whole institution with His
Spirit. And may He strengthen us all, that our faith fail not!
There were some persons about this time who made it a matter of
reproach, or at least of criticism, that Mr. Murray had started a
Training Institute of his own at Wellington, which would necessarily
enter into competition with the official undertaking of the Church, the
Normal College at Cape Town. To these strictures Mr. Murray at once
replied in a letter to the Z-uid Afrikaan, in which he laid stress
chiefly on two points—that the Wellington Institute was to be looked
upon as a feeder of the more advanced Normal College, and that the
former institution aimed also at training missionaries, which the Normal
College did not.
No student (he writes) is admitted to the Normal College before he has
attained the age of at least sixteen or seventeen, and has passed the
teachers’ examination, as instituted by the Church or the Government.
Our work in the Training School is to prepare students for the entrance
examination to the Normal College. Out of seven pupils in our
institution who are preparing themselves to go out as teachers, there is
not at present a single one who is qualified to enter the Normal
College.
Moreover, we are doing work which the Normal College cannot do. The
latter institution aims at training teachers for the first-class and
second-class schools in our towns and villages, so that we shall not be
under the necessity of importing men from abroad. It will be a long time
before the College can supply this need. Very few of its students will
be available for the needs of the country schools, which require
teachers by the hundred. If all our talk about more schools is not to
remain mere talk, we require even more institutions, where intending
teachers can be assisted to pass the elementary teachers’ examination.
Then, again, our Training School is intended not merely for teachers,
but for missionaries. I consider it a matter of great importance that
our young South African Christians should be trained as missionaries. It
is needful for many reasons. Our Church should have its due share in
carrying out the last command of the Master to preach the Gospel to
every creature. The children of our country can better understand and
maintain the relation between white and coloured in this land than can
strangers. There are many young men who feel a spiritual compulsion to
engage in this work, but for whom there is no institution at which they
can receive the necessary training. These are reasons sufficient for the
existence of our Institute.
It is surely time that we should bid farewell to the fear that we shall
soon have too many workers for the Lord’s vineyard. A few years ago
there were men who asked, What is to become of all the students who
issue from our Theological Seminary ? They now realize that it was a
foolish question. We need not fewer but more ministers. It was the same
with the girls’ schools. Five years ago I was member of the board of
managers of the Good Hope Seminary in Cape Town. When we announced the
opening of the Huguenot Seminary, one of the ministers of the presbytery
gave expression in strong terms to his surprise that a member of the
board of the Cape Town institution could endeavour to break down the
work which that board was doing, by competing instead of co-operating
with the Good Hope School. And what does the outcome prove? I hear that
the Good Hope Seminary, with room for thirty-six boarders, is quite
full. The Huguenot Seminary, which commenced with accommodation for
forty boarders, has now been enlarged to take in eighty. Schools that
were established still earlier, such as the Rhenish Institute at
Stellenbosch and Mr. de Villiers’ Girls’ School at the Paarl, are fuller
than they were before, and other establishments, like the Bloemhof
Seminary at Stellenbosch, have also reached their full complement. There
is more educational work to be done throughout the country than we
think. The more institutions we have like our Training Institute, the
better will be the supply of material for the Normal School to fashion
into qualified teachers.
The progress of the Training Institute during the next four or five
years can be described in few words. The increase in the number of
students preparing for the vocation of missionary made it necessary to
obtain further assistance as regards instruction in theological
subjects, and Mr Ferguson accordingly received a coadjutor in the person
of the Rev. J. C. Pauw, pastor of the local mission congregation. The
Synod of 1880 gave considerable attention to the pressing question of
more labourers for the home and foreign mission fields, and appointed a
committee to enquire into the work done at the Wellington Training
School—an institution that was wholly the fruit of Mr. Murray’s
individual initiative. This committee, whose report was exceedingly
favourable, continued to exist as a Committee of Supervision, and became
the connecting link which united the Training Institute to the Synod of
the D. R. Church.
In the meantime the temporary premises in which the work had been begun
had grown too small for the needs of the institution. The question of
permanent buildings was again mooted, and the only difficulty was that
of finding the necessary funds. This need was met in the following
manner. In 1881 Mr. Murray was compelled, because of throat trouble, to
intermit his pastoral and preaching labours and to seek for restoration
in the drier climate of the Karroo. On his return with improved health
to his congregation, a service of thanksgiving was held, both on account
of Mr. Murray’s partial restoration and on account of the end of the
Transvaal War of Independence and the breaking up of a great drought. In
token of the reality of its gratitude the congregation resolved to raise
money for a building fund for the Training Institute, and within a few
months the sum of £2,000 was collected. Encouraged by this display of
practical interest, the Institute trustees drew up plans for a
commodious edifice, with lecture rooms and boarding department, which
was opened with great acclaim on the 14th of May, 1883. The report of
the trustees on that occasion stated that the site had been purchased
for £1,000, while the building had cost the sum of £3,500. On the other
side of the balance sheet it was shown that the congregation had
contributed some £2,700 ; and though that left them with a considerable
debt, they cherished a confident hope of being able to reduce the amount
still owing from year to year. And as a matter of fact the debt was
reduced to £1,500 by the end of the year. The closing words of the
report were—
The completion of this undertaking has aroused joy and gratitude. The
question remains whether the internal work of the institution will
answer to the expectations kindled by its external aspect. Will the
dedication of this house to the service of God carry with it the
dedication of the large number of youths from all parts of the country
who will find a home in it? Will the Institute really become a source of
blessing for country and for Church? These questions have driven us to
more prayer and greater confidence in God as our only strength. It is
the season of Pentecost. The King desires to bestow His Spirit upon us
in richest measure. To you is the promise and to your children and to
all who are afar off. It is the promise of blessing upon our children,
and of blessing upon the training for service of those who will labour
among them that are afar ofi. In this hope we take possession of the new
edifice and dedicate it to the Lord, for His work and to His glory. |