Religious earnestness is a necessary condition of manly life. No matter what other elements or qualities of character there be, without this earnestness manhood is dwarfed and emasculated, life is an insipidity and an abortion. And if earnestness be necessary to give tone, and dignity, and purpose to human life in general, it is pre-eminently and emphatically necessary in the life of a Christian minister. The lack of earnestness in him is instantly seen to be a fundamental lack which nothing can excuse or compensate. Within the entire range of actual or possible incongruities, there is nothing so incongruous as habitual and prevailing frivolity in that vocation which deals immediately with the solemnities of the spiritual world, and which involves responsibilities of the utmost conceivable gravity. At the same time allowance ought to be made for constitutional differences of temperament in ministers as in other men, — earnestness in some cases being self-restrained, reticent, and quiet; in others, outspoken, forward, and demonstrative; and, in not a few, associated with irrepressible but innocent buoyancy. In its essential nature, however, it is in all cases one and the same thing, producing the like practical results, and constituting the motive-power and governing impulse of the true Christian minister.

Never, perhaps, was this quality so generally and urgently required in ministerial character as at the present day. And this is true, not of any one church in particular; it is equally true of almost all churches. While no abatement is made in the general standard of ministerial qualification; while, on the contrary, that standard is being elevated rather than depressed; while institutions are rapidly multiplying for the more efficient intellectual training of ministerial candidates; and while, as a necessary corollary, the churches themselves are making advancement in intelligence and general culture; — it is surely a hopeful sign of "good things to come," that thorough earnestness of spirit is more and more demanded in the ministry, and that all other gifts and acquirements, however valuable, are in comparison with this rated as secondary and of small account.

Primitive Methodist ministers have, as a class, always been noted for the high-toned earnestness with which they have prosecuted their evangelistic labours. This, indeed, has been such a marked and undeniable characteristic, that frequently, when every other praiseworthy quality has been denied to them, they have been allowed the credit of this solitary virtue. The spirit of earnestness baptised the Connexion at its birth, and was liberally imbibed by the two men whose names occupy the front place on the roll of its ministers — Hugh Bourne, its venerable founder, and William Clowes, its leading apostle. While in almost every other respect these men exhibited the most striking varieties, and even contrasts of temper and habit, — accounting for the fact that they found it difficult, during a great part of their public life, to move on the same plane or to work in the same yoke, — a spirit of earnestness absorbed and mastered them both, giving specific bearing and unity to their character, and rendering their ministry rich in blessing to the church and the world. The developments of this spirit in them were indeed strikingly different. In Bourne, it appeared in indomitable, persistent, self-sacrificing devotion to duty, associated with habits of life, stern, ungenial, unattractive; in Clowes it flamed out in impassioned ardour and transports of enthusiasm, accompanied with an unction, an open-heartedness, and a frankness of manner peculiarly impressive and winning. There can, however, be no doubt, as the whole of their respective histories abundantly proves, that they were alike animated by the spirit of earnestness, which, though working in different ways and with different adjuncts, tended towards one and the same grand end.

Among the sons and successors of those distinguished men,-baptised in copious measure with their spirit, and worthily following in their footsteps, — a conspicuous and honourable place is due to the late JOSEPH SPOOR, whose memoirs we now introduce to the reader. If ever any man deserved by way of distinction to be called an "earnest preacher," Mr. Spoor is justly entitled to that honour. Keeping other qualities of ministerial character in abeyance; knowing, indeed, and having no wish to blink the fact, that in reference to certain gifts and graces of high value in the ministry, Mr. Spoor was not on a par with many of his brethren; yet, in this one quality of earnestness, it may be questioned whether he ever had a superior in his own or in any other church. By this spiritual force all the faculties of his being were strung to the highest tension in the glorious work of preaching the Gospel. To do his duty fearlessly and faithfully, to exalt and glorify his Lord and Saviour, to save the souls of his fellow-men from sin and hell, to extend the bounds of the church and promote the interests of religion,-this grand aim so completely absorbed him, that room was found in his soul for nothing else which did not coalesce with and aid it. His fervency of spirit was intense beyond ordinary measure, working, in him with a vehemence which, to accomplish its end, seemed ready to spurn the bounds and break down the barriers imposed by the laws of his nature. But though intense it was not spasmodic, spurting out and exhausting itself on rare and great occasions. The fire burned with steady, unintermittent glow. In private as well as in public, in the domestic and social sphere as well as in the church, on ordinary as well as extraordinary occasions his impassioned zeal flamed with unchanging fervency. And it is specially noteworthy that the earnestness of his spirit suffered no decline from the beginning to the end of his long public career — a period of nearly forty years. Unlike too many ministers, who, for a while, blaze forth with extraordinary fervour, exciting sanguine hopes of prolonged and far-reaching usefulness, but speedily subside into tameness and insipidity, until their former self can scarcely he recognised, — Mr. Spoor pursued from first to last the even tenor of his way, as full of holy zeal and burning ardour when his head became bald and his locks grey, as when in the flush and vigour of early manhood, newly baptised with fire from heaven, he went forth in the name of God to call men to repentance.

Mr. Spoor's earnestness, constituting the leading feature of his character, is also the key by which to interpret the main facts of his life. First of all, it explains and accounts for the marvellous influence he wielded as a pulpit and platform speaker. Though not endowed with the gifts of genius, or the accomplishments of learning; though not a profound thinker, or a refined elocutionist; there were nevertheless few of his more gifted brethren who exerted such potent influence of speech. The power with which he aroused and swayed the passions of a popular audience was indeed marvellous. And this was owing chiefly, if not exclusively, to the burning fervour which glowed in his face and thrilled in his words. He could not indeed, as with the philosopher's stone, turn the common-place materials of thought into golden inspirations, — that requires the transcendent touch of genius. But if he could not transmute he could transfigure them; not so much by assorting them in new and striking combinations as by transfusing into them his own fervent spirit, and thus setting them all aglow as with supernal fire. Commonplace topics discoursed on by him, though undergoing no material alteration of form, acquired by intensity of passionate utterance, a new, a living, a thrilling interest. No matter how hackneyed the subject of his discourse, it always seemed as if he were looking upon it for the first time with virgin love; and hence his words, welling up from the deep fountains of passion, had a freshness, a fervour, and an unction more effective and quickening often than the creations or combinations of genius. Some of his sermons and speeches were frequently repeated with little variation to the same congregations, but for the reason just mentioned they retained their freshness and power to the last.

Mr. Spoor's earnestness also accounts for, and, in some measure at least, justifies what, for lack of fitter expression, may be called the eccentricities of his ministry. It would be a grave mistake to think that his irregular modes of speech and action were premeditated, or that they originated in a flippant desire for notoriety and mob-applause; in reality they were mostly spontaneous, prompted on the spur of the moment by the intense excitement of desire to save the souls of men; or if in some cases he deliberately, and with previous intent, resolved to make "a fool" of himself by out-of-the-way sayings and doings, it was simply and solely for "Christ's sake," that thoughtless hardened sinners might thereby be arrested and constrained to reform their lives. No impartial and devout person could witness those scenes of his ministry where the eccentric element predominated, without receiving the impression that vanity and self were completely swallowed up in his supreme and all-absorbing passion to save the souls of men. On account of the irregular and singular forms his fervour often assumed, he was charged at times with enthusiasm and fanaticism — a charge always ready to be levelled against religious earnestness, — but it may be doubted whether in any one instance it was ever affirmed or surmised that his eccentricities wore a cloak for vanity and selfishness. In fact, the simple, intense earnestness from which these sprang, and which was so transparent that it could not well be overlooked or misinterpreted, imparted to them a sort of naturalness and propriety which served in some measure to conciliate the favour of fastidious people. What would have been simply repulsive if seen to be associated with vanity or selfishness, was in him becoming and even attractive. His earnestness imparted to it an unusual kind of beauty, and gave it place within the sphere of law; just as the eccentric sweep of a comet has a wild beauty of its own, and is as much amenable to the ordinances of Divine Wisdom as the equable movements of planetary and stellar worlds.

While the agency of God is to be primarily and specially recognised in the extraordinary success which crowned Mr. Spoor's labours, the earnestness of the man himself must be recognised as an important factor. It is difficult, however, in such cases as this, to distinguish broadly between the Divine and the human: like prismatic colours, they blend and incorporate. The Divine does not merely accompany and ally itself with religious earnestness, it is its very root, and essence. When in contact with this earnestness in its intense forms of action, we have somehow an instinctive sense of the immediate presence and power of God. This was true in the case of Mr. Spoor in a very marked degree. His earnest vehemence as a gospel preacher was seen and felt to be not the mere outburst of natural passion produced by natural causes, but rather the results of a God-given impulse. A Divine afflatus moved him, transported him out of himself, wrapped him in ecstacies, and bore him on its surge, as happened to the prophets in days of old. God was in the whirlwind of his ministry. His lips were touched with "a live coal from the altar," and his words were therefore as fiery arrows, or as two-edged swords dividing asunder the soul and spirit, and discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. In thousands of instances his hearers felt, while listening to him, they were dealing with God rather than with man; in the vehement exhortations and appeals with which he plied their heart and conscience, they felt the hand of God to be upon them, and that to resist the summons addressed to them through him would be, in effect, to fight against God. Thus by a vehement earnestness, in which the Divine and the human mysteriously blended, multitudes of depraved and ungodly people were, during the course of his ministry, changed into virtuous and honourable members of civil and religious society.

The leading facts of Mr. Spoor's life afford such a singular and impressive illustration of ministerial earnestness, that there would have been cause of regret had the memory of them not been preserved in a permanent record. Apart, indeed, from their strictly religious significance and bearing, those facts have a speculative interest of no common value; and it would be to the advantage of intellectual philosophy, both as tending to enlarge the scope of its vision and to liberalise its spirit, were such facts to be taken account of and duly pondered; but it is chiefly in the interest of religion that the memory of them is deserving of preservation. If these memoirs cannot fairly claim to minister much aliment to the intellectual life of religion, they are calculated in a very high degree to feed and fan the flame of holy affection, and to stir up Christian people to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord." Devout and earnest Christians of all denominations, but especially such as belong to the different branches of the Methodist family, may find much in these pages to delight, and quicken, and edify their souls. Exception will perhaps be taken, and not altogether without reason, to certain of Mr. Spoor's modes of speech and action. Let this be as it may. There is no wish to set him up as a "faultless monster," or to vindicate as unexceptional the whole of his sayings and doings. But after liberal allowance is made for what may in this way be taken exception to, much, very much, remains of a nature calculated to nourish and strengthen the life of God in the hearts of Christian people, and to promote the general interests of religion.

But while it is confidently hoped that private Christians will derive spiritual benefit from these memoirs, they are specially adapted and intended for young ministers in the Primitive Methodist Connexion, as a means of firing their hearts with holy zeal, and inciting them to a career of self-sacrificing devotedness in their high vocation. Let such of them as read these pages note well the intention and adaptation here avowed. Their intellectual or literary culture is not professedly aimed at. No promise is held out of this volume affording much help in the discipline of thought, or the art of speech, or in any course of purely intellectual training. Happily, helps of this kind abound, and are readily available. In this respect our young ministers live now in palmy days; their lines have fallen in pleasant places; so that for them not to attain a respectable degree of mental culture implies reprehensible and culpable negligence. Thirty or forty years ago, their predecessors laboured under serious disadvantages on this score. Previous to entering the ministry their education was in general extremely meagre, and afterwards they met with little to help and much to hinder any earnest attempt at self-culture. Mr. Spoor experienced a full measure of these disabilities and discouragements. And, let it also be frankly confessed, he never aroused himself to grapple resolutely with the circumstances of his lot adverse to intellectual culture, else he doubtless might, like many of his brethren, have, in considerable measure, made up for lack of previous training. But if this must be regarded as a shortcoming, it was nobly redeemed and compensated by his extraordinary devotedness, his burning zeal, and his exhausting labours. And, indeed, it is in spirituality of mind rather than intellectual acquirement; in fervency of spirit, rather than extent or accuracy of scholarship; in intense, all-consuming earnestness to glorify God and save the souls of men, rather than in eloquence of spoken or written speech, that the special significance and chief lesson of his life are to be found. To this point, then, the attention of our younger ministers is affectionately and beseechingly invited: not, however, with a view of inducing them to neglect or disparage intellectual studies. Let such studies be duly honoured and diligently pursued. Let them be justly prized and justly praised. Shame upon such of our young ministers as in these happy days neglect or treat them otherwise than with honour. Nevertheless, as they are confessedly of secondary importance, they should occupy a subordinate place. Without the quickening and energizing and sanctifying unction of the Holy Ghost, the noblest intellectual gifts and acquirements are of small account in the character and work of the Christian minister. Lacking this unction — which is just another word for the "charity" of Paul — a minister may grasp all knowledge, fathom all mysteries, interpret all prophecies, — yea, he may speak with the tongue of eloquence surpassing that of man or angel, and yet be nothing better than sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. To impress this lesson upon the hearts of our young ministers — the hope of our church — is one main end for which these memoirs are written.

This end, however, will be interfered with and frustrated in so far as Mr. Spoor's singular and irregular modes of speech and action are deliberately and slavishly copied. And with young ministers of a certain cast of mind this is a danger needing to be guarded against. Finding that public notoriety and vulgar applause are often secured by the cheap and easy means of pulpit oddities and eccentricities, some young ministers act the part of harlequin in the pulpit, and perform tricks of foolery which make sober-minded people grieve, and bring religion under public contempt. The irregularities indulged in by Mr. Spoor, as already hinted at, were the spontaneous and genuine outburst of earnestness yearning for the salvation of men; they had, therefore, in him a ground of rational justification; they had even a seemliness and beauty, and were on the whole, we believe, a means of promoting the glory of God and the good of men. But when ministers are led, — as happens sometimes, we fear, — in a vain and flippant spirit to become eccentric in speech or action, turning the pulpit into a mountebank stage, the result to themselves and to all with whom they have to do, is simple and unmitigated evil. To, the young minister who takes up these memoirs we would say, — Read, not to copy Mr. Spoor's methods, not to render yourself singular by adopting the singularities of another man; but rather that you may catch his inspiration, that you may become fired with his enthusiasm, that you may get imbued with his spirit, that you may be anointed with the unction so copiously shed on him; then go forth to the duties of your high and noble vocation, labouring according to the laws and proclivities of your own nature, and God will assuredly be with you to bless you and make you a blessing.

It is fortunate that the preparation of these memoirs was entrusted to one who has given to the public abundant proof of skill and masterliness in biographical writing. Mr. Hall's volume of "Distinguished Englishmen," and his numerous other biographical essays, have won for him such extensive and solid reputation in this department of literature, that his name is of itself a sufficient recommendation of the present work. In addition to his literary ability, Mr. Hall had special fitness for the preparation of these memoirs, in having had large personal experience and participation in such evangelistic labours and revival scenes as constitute the chief glory of Mr. Spoor's life. If sympathy with a subject is necessary to speak or write of it properly, Mr. Hall has that qualification in the present case. Nothing more need be said than that the book will be found equal, both on literary and religious grounds of merit, to Mr Hall's previous works in the same line of authorship.

C. C. M'K.