As  children  love  the  tale  of  the  supernatural  which  yet  makes
them  shudder,  so  do  men,  as  it  would  seem,  find  a  delight  in
the  pictures  of  eternal  woe  which  terrify  them — partly  from
the  pleasure  which  there  is  in  vivid  emotions,  and  partly,  per-
haps, from  a  kind  of  feeling  of  expiation  in  the  horror  which
is  experienced. You  could  not  go  among  the  dullest  set  of
rustics  and  preach  graphically  and  terribly  of  hell-fire  witli-
out  insuring  a  large  audience. The  preaching  of  John  in
this  respect  difi*ered  from  the  tone  of  Christ's. Christ  taught
much  that  God  is  love. He  spoke  a  great  deal  of  the  Fa-
ther which  is  in  heaven. He  instructed  in  those  parables
which  required  thoughtful  attention,  exercise  of  mind,  and  a
gently  sensitive  conscience. He  spoke  didactic,  calm  dis-
courses, very  engaging,  but  with  little  excitement  in  them  :
such  discourses  as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  respecting
goodness,  purity,  duties ;  which  assuredly,  if  any  one  were
to  venture  so  to  speak  before  a  modern  congregation,  Avould
be  stigmatized  as  a  moral  essay. Accordingly  His  success
was  much  less  marked  than  that  of  John's,  ^^o  crowds  were
baptized  as  His  followers :  one  hundred  and  twenty,  in  an
upper  chamber,  appear  to  have  been  the  fruits  of  his  life-
work. To  teach  so,  is  assuredly  not  the  way  to  make  strong
impressions ;  but  it  is  the  way  to  work  deeply,  gloriously —
for  eternity. How  many  of  John's  teriified  Pharisees  and
Sadducees,  suppose  we,  retained  the  impression  six  months  ?

What  is  your  religion  ?  Excitability,  romance,  impression,
fear  ?  Remember,  excitement  has  its  uses,  impression  has  its
value. John,  in  all  circumstances  of  his  appearance  and  style
of  teaching,  impressed  by  excitement. Excitement,  warmed
feelino-s,  make  the  first  actino;s  of  relig^ious  life  and  the  break-
ing  of  inveterate  habits  easier. But  excitement  and  impres-


Pharisees  a7id Saddttcees  at  Johns  Baptism. 105

sion  are  not  religion. Neither  can  you  trust  to  the  alarm
produced  by  the  thought  of  eternal  retribution. Ye  that
have  been  impressed,  beware  how  you  let  those  impressions
die  away. Die  they  will,  and  must :  we  can  not  live  in  ex-
citement forever ;  but  beware  of  their  leaving  behind  them
nothing  except  a  languid,  jaded  heart. 