CH. I THE LAMP OF SACRIFICE 41

loved by one beholder of ten thousand;¹ see that the simplest masonry of the edifice be perfect and substantial; and to those who regard such things, their witness will be clear and impressive; to those who regard them not, all will at least be inoffensive. But do not think the feeling itself a folly, or the act itself useless. Of what use was that dearly bought water of the well of Bethlehem with which the king of Israel slaked the dust of Adullam? yet was it not thus better than if he had drunk it?² Of what use was that passionate act of Christian sacrifice, against which, first uttered by the false tongue, the very objection we would now conquer took a sullen tone for ever?* So also let us not ask of what use our offering is to the church: it is at least better for us than if it had been retained for ourselves. It may be better for others also: there is, at any rate, a chance of this; though we must always fearfully and widely shun the thought that the magnificence of the temple can materially add to the efficiency of the worship or to the power of the ministry. Whatever we do, or whatever we offer, let it not interfere with the simplicity of the one, or abate, as if replacing, the zeal of the other.^†

* John xii. 5. [The second question is not in the MS.]

† Thirteen lines of vulgar attack on Roman-Catholicism are here-with much gain to the chapter’s grace, and purification of its truth-omitted.3 [1880.]

¹ [See further, below, § 11, p. 47.]

² [2 Samuel xxiii. 16.]

³ [The omitted lines are as follows:-

“That is the abuse and fallacy of Romanism by which the true spirit of Christian offering is directly contradicted. The treatment of the Papists’ temple is eminently exhibitory; it is surface work throughout; and the danger and evil of their church decoration altogether, lie, not in its reality-not in the true wealth and art of which the lower people are never cognizant-but in its tinsel and glitter, in the gildings of the shrine and painting of the image, in embroidery of dingy robes and crowding of imitated gems; all this being frequently thrust forward to the concealment of what is really good or great in their buildings.¹ Of an offering of gratitude which is neither to be exhibited nor rewarded, which is neither to win praise nor purchase salvation, the Romanist (as such) has no conception.”

The note (No. 3 at the end of the text in eds. 1 and 2) was as follows:-

¹ “‘To the concealment of what is really good or great.’” I have often been surprised at the supposition that Romanism, in its present condition, could either patronise art, or profit by it. The noble painted windows of St. Maclou at Rouen, and many other churches in France, are entirely blocked up

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