eople by surprise--

"Friends, it has been my lot in life to wander for some years in wild
and distant lands, where ministers of the Gospel were few and far
between, and where Christians were obliged to conduct the worship of God
as best they could. Your minister being unable to attend, owing to an
accident, which I trust may not turn out to be serious, I shall attempt,
with the permission of your elder, to lead your thoughts Godward, in
dependence on the Holy Spirit. Let us pray."

The jealous ears of the rigorously orthodox heard him thus far without
being able to detect absolute heresy, though they were sensitively alive
to the unusual style and very unclerical tone of the speaker's voice.
The same ears listened reverently to the prayer which followed, for it
was, after the pattern of the Lord's Prayer, almost startlingly short;
still it was very earnest, extremely simple, and, all things considered,
undeniably orthodox.

Relieved in their minds, therefore, the people prepared themselves for
more, and the precentor, with the brazen but tuneful voice, sang the
first line of the psalm which the young preacher gave out--"I to the
hills will lift mine eyes"--with rasping energy. At the second line the
congregation joined in, and sang praise with reverent good-will, so
that, when a chapter of the Word had been read and another psalm sung,
they were brought to a state of hopeful expectancy. The text still
further pleased them, when, in a quiet voice, while turning over the
leaves of the well-used Bible, Jackman said, "In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

Laying down his little Bible, and looking at the people earnestly and in
silence for a few moments, the preacher said--

"I have travelled in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, and other
places, and I never yet went in these countries without a guide-book.
More than that, never in all my experience have I seen men or women
travelling in these countries without a guide-book. The travellers
always carried their guide-books in their hands, or in their pockets,
and consulted them as they went along. In the evenings, round the
tables or on the sofas of the salons, they would sometimes sit poring
over the pages of their guide-books, considering distances and the best
routes, and the cost of travelling and board. Any man who would have
travelled without a guide-book, or who, having one, neglected to use it,
would have been considered wea