about! Noisy goodness is not the only kind. Goodness which shakes the earth, or goes over it in a tempest of revivals, or consumes it like a fire, is all well; but the speechless, mute goodness, never put into newspapers, written on no monuments, not spoken of in harangues, eulogies, or obituary notices, this is the solid foundation on which the safety of a nation r reposes.

that very soon. There has to be

There is a curious passage in the epistle to the Thessalonians, which teaches us how important it is that the latent evil in the world should come out, in order to be destroyed. The Christians were expecting the immediate, outward, visible coming of Christ - and Paul says to them, "You are mistaken. a great development of latent evil before Christ can come. There is an evil principle hidden in the Christian church a priestcraft which claims divine authority for itself, which undertakes to govern the church by absolute power. This evil principle is at work, and must come out and be shown and be destroyed by the power of truth, before Christ can come. Just now it is latent, because the external pressure of Roman persecution prevents it from showing itself. But it must be shown, seen and destroyed before Christ can come."

Often, the best thing that can happen is for evil to come out and be seen. Then it can be destroyed; not otherwise. The whiskey-rings, and canal-rings, and Tweed-rings, and Credit Mobilier rings, must be seen, manifested, made public, in order to be destroyed. When such iniquities come out we feel very sad, but it would be worse if they did not come out. When the man of sin is hidden he does the most harm; when he is revealed he is conquered by the power of truth.

It is a comfort to know that there is latent goodness in us as well as evil. The apostle Peter, as we have seen,

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had ever so much latent weakness and cowardice in him; but he had latent goodness, too, deeper than his evil, stronger than his weakness. Below it all there was the rock of honest conviction, sincere intention; and therefore Jesus said, "Thou art Peter; and on this rock I will build my church." This is what the church of Christ stands upon; this is its foundation - the rock of sincerity and

honesty in the minds of Christian men and women.

We have seen in this manner, latent seeds of evil as suddenly developed, under certain circumstances, as those of goodness? There is latent evil lurking in all our hearts, of which we are not aware ourselves. We do not know how many devils of selfishness, sense and falsehood are hiding themselves in the mysterious depths of our souls. If we do not learn this through that noble Christian humility which still suspects and still reveres itself," we must learn it through the bitter experience of failure and open sin.

How many examples there are to prove the existence of this latent evil! We have seen a young man go from the pure home of his childhood, from the holy influences of a Christian community. As an infant his brow had been touched with the water of baptism amid the prayers of the church; as a child his feet had been taught the way to the house of God; in his home his parents had prayed for him that he might be an honest and useful man, whether he was to be poor or rich, learned or ignorant. He leaves his home and comes to the city to engage in business. He trusts in his own heart, in his own upright purpose, in his own virtuous habits. But there is latent evil in his heart, there is a secret selfishness, a hidden and undeveloped sensualism, which is ready to break out under the influences which will now surround him. He becomes a lover of pleasure; he attends balls and theatres; he rides out

with gay companions; he acquires a taste for play, wine and excitement. He determines to make money that he may indulge these new tastes, and he devotes all his energies to this pursuit. In a year or two, how far has he gone from the innocent hopes and tastes of his childhood? His serene brow is furrowed with worldly lines; his pure eye clouded with licentious indulgence. The latent evil that Iwas in him has come out under the test of these new circumstances.

Meantime, another young man, apparently no better than he, has, under the same circumstances, developed the seeds of virtuous and holy purposes, and has become a man of unshaken integrity and virtue. Why this difference? You cannot trace it to education, for their education was similar, you cannot account for it by the influence of circumstances, example and outward temptations; for these were the same in both cases. The difference was in the latent character of the two boys. The apparent character of the two boys was the same when they left their homes, but the latent character was different. One in the depths of his soul was then a sensualist; was then a worldly and selfish boy. Under good external habits there was an inward turning toward evil. The other, with no better outward habits, had in reality an inward principle of goodness. His heart was turned to good in its deepest principles and aims. And circumstances merely developed the latent good and evil of the two.

Had I time, I might illustrate this principle by a hundred similar instances. These facts show that goodness does not consist, as we sometimes say, merely in good actions and virtuous habits. There is an inward hidden goodness, as well as an outward apparent goodness. There is a goodness which has not yet been manifested and developed. Just so there is also a latent evil which has not yet

been developed. A man may be a very bad man who has not yet performed any very bad actions. He is ready to perform them as soon as the temptation comes.

The fact of latent goodness is as true and important as that of latent evil. If our inmost purposes are right; if our aims are pure; if we have kept our heart with all diligence; if we have habitually trusted our souls to God, and yielded up our hearts to him in earnest aspiration, then we have a stock of latent goodness, ready and equal for any occasion which may come to call for it. We need not fear, then, that we shall not be able to meet any emergencies. The hour may come which calls for great sacrifices and self-denial; the hour of trial may come which shall take from us our best beloved, our nearest friend; the hour of death may be drawing near which shall take us away from all; but we shall be ready for it; we shall be equal to it. An unsuspected strength will then manifest itself, a courage and faith for which we dared not hope will triumphantly reveal itself. How often have we seen this! How often have we seen, in the dying hour, a serene and happy faith show itself in one who in life was timid and full of religious uncertainty! This faith was the fruit of the latent goodness, of the deep purpose of righteousness, earnestly cherished during life. How, too, have we seen, amid the difficulties and temptations of life, noble acts of integrity and heroic goodness suddenly performed by those whom we did not. esteem capable of such things. Their hearts were right, and so they were made capable of the right action when the time came for it to be done.

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What, then, is the practical conclusion for these facts? It is that we should both distrust ourselves and trust ourselves; that we should pray. Lead us not into temptation,' yet "count it all joy when we fall into temptation." The petition of "Lead us not into temptation," is the prayer

If

of Christian humility conscious of its own weakness. this prayer is truly offered, it may supersede the necessity of temptation. If we are already conscious of our weakness, we may not need the trial which is sent to show us our weakness.

But if, nevertheless, God sends the trial, then it was necessary that we should be tried, and let us count it all joy that it has come. If it brings out an amount of latent evil of which we were not aware, then it is well that we should become thus acquainted with our own depths of sinfulness. The disease must be brought out before it can be cured. But if the temptation, on the other hand, reveals and quickens powers of inward virtue and resolution, then let us bless God for this latent goodness which he shows us. Let us bless him for this experience, by which we learn the capacities of faith, love and holy resolution with which he has endowed us. Let it increase our courage and confidence; a confidence not blind, but intelligent; a confidence that God is always near the soul that seeks him and trusts in him; a confidence that he will never leave or forsake those who love him.

At the commencement of these remarks I said that the moral of it was, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." But how can we keep our heart? We can keep our hands, by an effort, from wrong actions, and force them to do right ones. We can keep our lips from saying unkind or hasty words, though that is sometimes hard enough. But how keep our heart? How make ourselves a right spirit, a good temper? That seems simply impossible. How direct those tendencies which are hidden even from ourselves?

Here, it seems to me, is the place and need of religion. If it be true that our soul lies open inwardly to God, and that we rest on Him, then is it not possible, is it not prob