ILLUSTRATION VS. IMITATION.
By E. P. D.
A very prominent feature of the Saviour's manner of teaching men about the kingdom of Heaven is seen in the appropriateness and simplicity of his illustrations. He takes the harvest field, from the time the seed is sown until it matures for the reaper's blade, as a figure of the world when it shall be ripe for the sickle of Heaven. He represents the greatness of his kingdom by the grain of mustard seed, and the work of the Judgment by the draught of a fisherman's net. By this happy means the dullest minds were aroused to action, and the brightest minds were refreshed. It is a characteristic of Solomon's writing also to convey his best thoughts by means of natural illustrations. Wisdom is illustrated by the prudence of the ant, the industry of the cony, the unity of the locust, and the perseverance of the spider. Nathan, the prophet of the Lord, when he came to David to show him his sin, clothed his address in figures so full of meaning that it drew from the king the very sentence he so justly merited. And it is quite observable that this valuable method of instruction is specially employed in the evangelical field of to-day. Mr. Moody frequently makes some good points in this direction, which doubtless adds much to his popularity as an evangelist, and shows him to be in possession of a rare faculty in this department. But others in trying to ape him have found it necessary to supply the lack of this precious gift by something that to the sensibilities of the refined looks very much like farce-acting. With this class all discrimination between the sacred and profane, simplicity and silliness, has become obsolete, and the gift they exercise is the power of imitation instead of illustration. It is the fashion to imitate in prayer, imitate in singing, imitate in preaching, until, to have any influence with the masses of the people, one must be well versed in Shakespeare, and be a practical pantomimist. Logic is looked upon as an effort to excel, and sound reasoning favorably impresses but the few; but in acting there is a magic that charms and bewitches the fancy, and holds the eye spell-bound, while the ear is fast asleep. Christ was simple in his manner and address; and though unpopular, thousands flocked to hear him, and declared that never man spake like this man. To imitate him in those noble virtues would be more becoming to those standing in the desk and ministering in sacred things, than catering to the heartless sentimentalism of a fashionable world through the love of gain and applause. The Master's life, both in example and precept, is the best illustration of virtue, truth, and grace that is furnished in the sacred page.