—it produced its proper fruit of a holy life; almost always it produced the dignified bearing of those who apprehended, with a clearness that has seldom been a common possession in the Church of Christ, that they were called to walk in the world in the conscious dignity of such a superhuman exaltation.
No doubt the salt soon lost its savour. The lofty sentiment only too readily and too frequently degenerated into a mere supercilious contempt for others. But the calm assurance of superiority, whether well or ill founded, seldom fails to ensure a corresponding bearing; and even in their decadence the Brethren have not altogether ceased to exhibit the traditional bearing of happier days.
This loftiness of tone was very happily felt in the severe decorum of many of the customs of Darbyism. A successful sermon was never, within my experience, followed by a flood of fulsome adulation. Social meetings were not degraded by flattery heaped upon the local leaders, or by the attempt to entertain the people with trivial jests. The tastes of the community and its canons of good breeding put such proceedings out of the question.
It can scarcely be necessary to say much of one particular in which the conduct of the Brethren has often been severely assailed. No one can deny that their numerous schisms have been carried through with in- credible bitterness and scurrility. In so far as this bore on their social life, a word or two may be added. A suspension of ecclesiastical relations was generally followed by a suspension of social intercourse. It was fortunate if persons closely related to each other were able in some measure to maintain the common intercourse of kinship. Men otherwise amiable and large-hearted would refuse to
