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Practical, and Religious Subje.f, ted m an Entirely New and Striking Manner, illustrated wi Fifty Engravings from the Original BLACKBO/IRD DRAWINGS. th Over BY GEORGE A LOFTON, A.M., D.D. O wad some power the giftie pie us, To see oursels as others see us; It wad frae tiionv a hUuider free us, And foolish notion."— Burns. Wm. Rriggs. Publishrr, Toronto, Canada. J ID9J IS%' Copyrighted 1890, by The Southwestern Publishing House. A// rights reserved. H NOTICE.— The illustrations nppearitifr In this work are from ort^nal drawings, and are protected bycopyriRht. Notice is hereby given that persons reproducing them i» any form are guilty of infringement, nnd will be prosecuted. DEDIGATION, TO MT pet: w-beinqs, old or youno, afflicted with TKB SINS, VANITi.o, OR MISFORTUNES OP LIFE; STRUGGLING AGAINST THE TRIALS, CONFLICTS, OR TEMPTATIONS OF THE WORLD ; IN- SPIRED BY THE LOFTIER MOTIVES, PURPOSES, AND HOPES OF TIME AND ETERNITY, This Volume is Dedieatxfd BY THE Author. (3) PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. In presenting this volunie to tlie public we do so believing that it fills a place in literature peculiarly its own, and that wherever it goes it will be read and appreciated by the masses of the people with both pleasure and profit to themselves. The ancient philosopher wisely enjoined, "Man, know thyself; " and the poet has longingly sung, "O Tfad some power the giftie gie us; " but the man who invented the looking-glass alone gave us the physical means "To see oursels as o^/ie?".f see us." This book is truly a mirror. It flings back upon us the reflections of our own characters and those of our neighbors, uncovered and standing side by side, with a vividness of revelation and a truth of comparison that must help one to correct his own fliults and ex- ercise a greater charity toward his unfortunate fel- lows. The subject-matter and illustrations of the work compose a series of forty-one character sketches and other Illustrated lectures or blackboard talks deliv- ered recently by Rev. G. A. Lofton before crowded assemblies on Sunday afternoons. Though delivered weekly in the same building, they created a genuine sensation which lasted for a full year, with increasing intensity from beginning to close. The method em- ployed was but the lever in the master-hand, Avhioh resting upon the fulcrum of truth, delighted, while it pr HLisH ek's prk face. 5 raised the ma.^ses to a higher pkme of observation, thought, and knowledge on vital subjects. He chose this method of caricaturing and exposing error and teaching practical moral and religious truths for the benefit of his own congregation, without any expec- tation of attracting the general public or making a book. But from the delivery of the first lecture "liis fame went abroad," and the people, old and young, of all sects and creeds, thronged to hear him, so that the large auditorium was seldom adequate to seat the crowds that came. The pictures, we are reqnested by the author to say, are intended to convey the idea, interpret the thought, or illustrate the character, extreme or pe- culiar as it may be; hence he has executed them with a free hand under the full license of the carica- turist's art, without reference to strict rules of ana- tomical or mathematical precision. They were all drawn in colored crayon on a large blackboard to il- lustrate the lectures. These drawings were photo- graphed and engraved for the book. The author not only made the drawing, but, with the exception of two Bible scenes and ^^DeUrium Tremens,''^ conceived and designed them to fit the character or thought he desired to portray. It is seldom we find predominating in the same in- dividual the native genius of the orator and the author who can tell or lorite, coupled Avith that of the artist who can paint his own ideal conceptions, thus convey- ing through the double senses the double impression which can never be forgotten. Such a combination, however, we have in the author of this Avork. He is an educated gentleman, an eminent minister, a devot- ed pastor, and a profound, ])ractical thinker. From 6 publisiikk's preface. his youth he has been a close observer of every thing around him, and the reader has in this volume the result of accumulated years of observation from many stand-points of life. On the farm, in the school-room, in business circles, on the battle-field, around the camp-fire, from the pulpit, and in the rounds of pas- toral visitations his keen perceptives have caught and made a moral diagnosis of every idiosyncrasy and pe- culiarity of character passHg before him, and with his wonderful scalpel of caricaturing art he has dis- sected them before the world. The work enjoys the distinction of being original, both in matter and method. It treats practical, every- day subjects, as well as moral and religious truths, in a manner that is new, unique, and attractive to the reader, young or old. Unlike most other works of a moral purport, it avoids the stilted and Puritanic manner of expression so commonly used, and, on the contrary, is brimful of sparkling wit, diverting hu- mor, and entertaining anecdotes. While the author is a Baptist minister, the book is strictly non-sectarian, the discussion of doctrinal dif- ferences being entirely without the scope of this work. For further substantiation of this foct, and indorsemsnt of the work in general, we beg to refer the reader to the following "Introduction," by Rev. O. P. Fitzgerald, D.D., editor of the Christian Advo- cate of Nashville, Tenn. The Publishers. A WORD WITH THE READER. The genius for caricature is inborn and inerad- icable with some persons. It is God-given, and, like every other natural endowment, it is bestowed for a good purpose. Like every other good thing, it may be perverted to evil uses. Wit is the ally of truth as well as the weapon of wickedness. Humor has its rightful place in human speech and in literature just as truly as pathos, and they are usually found close together; the risible muscles and the lacln-ymal glands almost touch in the human organism, ^fany of the greatest preachers possess wit and humor in a high degree. The sparkling and caustic wit of Robert South has brought down his sermons from the seventeenth century to this day. He was the mas- ter of polished sarcasm, impaling an absurdity on the point of an antithesis with a skill never surpassed. Spurgeon s wit is no small element of the popularity which makes him the first preacher of his genera- tion. Beecher's wit was irrepressible and brilliant, and did much toward making the Plymouth pulpit "^Brooklyn so irresistibly attractive to crowded and cultured audiences for so many decades. The same quality is found in Talmage in connection with his astonishing powers as a word - painter. The wit of the unique and indescribable Sam Jones has shaken (7) 8 A WOllD WITH THK llKADEll. tl tlie sides of a continent. Even the stately grandeur of tlie great Kobert Hall is relieved by flashes of satire that are like sunshine tinting mountain-peaks. Other great pi-cachers could be named whos*^ preach- ing would have been better and whose too rigid the- ology might have been softened by a little of the Innnor that makes all the world kin. The Bible itself is not wholly destitute of satire; it flames out with terrific i^ower in the contest of Elijah Avith the proph- ets of Baal on Mount Carmel. On rare occasions, from the lips even of the loving Jesus, issued words of withering sarcasm in dealing Avitli the liypocrites of his day. Caricature has always been a favorite weapon of infidelity. The devil himself is an inveterate cari- catui'ist. If he cannot arrest or destroy a good thing, he will caricature it. He caricatured the miracles of Moses in Egypt. The lying spirits of the Old 1 is- tament caricatured the true prophets of the Lord, and in the Xcw Testament Avo are Avarned to try the spirits by certain infallible tests, lest we believe a lie and come into condemnation. It is a good thing to Avrest this effective wea])on from the hand of the enemy, and Avield it for truth and righteousness. The funny pictures no more be- long to Satan than the good tunes. The error that evades an argument may be punctured by ridicule. The weakness that resists jiersuasion may yield to shame. Such is the opinion and aim of the author of this A WORD AVITir THE KEADKlt. 9 work, ui)ou whom God 1ms bestowed the gift of the cancaturist. Some years ago he discovered that he possessed an aptitude in this direction, and began to ilhistratt his lectures by blackboard drawings that served gre-itiy to enhance their interest and value. The expressions of approval from large and delighted audiences, and other evidences of the popularity of this method of teaching and impressing spiritual and ethical truth, led him to think that these lectures might, through the printing-press, reach still larger audiences and do still greater good. Thus encour- aged, by the advice of friends, and hoping to speak to the minds and hearts of many who will never hear his living voice, he has prepared this volume for the press. This is a worthy aspiration, and its fulfill- ment will be a rich reward for the labor and pains expended by our brother in its preparation. The book is not sectarian, partisan, or personal. It deals ,vith prevalent follies and weaknesses of meii and women, both in and out of the Church, in a way that is pointed but not bitter, plain without harsh- ness, with the touch of satire minm the virus of mal- ice or cynicism. It will be read with avidity. The pictures will strike the eye, while the text will en- gage the thought of all sorts of readers. Ev.ny member of the family will find something lu-re to in^- struct and to entertain. The illustrations will rivet attention, and the letter-press will reward that atten- tion with lessons that will be a safeguard against folly and an incentive to goodness. 10 A WOUD WITH THE KEADEU. Wishing well to every well-ineiint ettbrt to use the press for the advancement of truth, the repression of error, and the promotion of the welfare of humanity, 1 have examined these lectures with friendly care, and commentl them to the kindly consideration of the reading public. Their author, the Rev. G. A. Lofton, D.D., is my neighbor and fellow-worker in the city of Xashvillc, where he is serving his Lord as the popular and successful pastor of the Central Baptist Church. I cordially commend this product of his genius to the blessing of God and the good-will of all who shall read these introductory words. ^^ , .„ O. P. Fitzgerald. Nashville, December 16, 1889. CONTENTS. iHE MOTE-HUNTEn jf, Stick to Youu Bush 22 Pick Youkselp Up 33 Chukcii Ahhes 4Q Killing Time—Time Killing You 50 EooK OF Ageh Q- SLANDEU rjK Kindness and Cruelty 35 Eir Van Winkle 95 Whipping the Devil around the Stump 102 On the Fence • j^a Two Masters 120 The Perfect Model jno Delirium Tremens j^q The Lightning-bug Conyention 151 Pot Calling Kettle Black 1(33 Sowing and Keaping Wild Oats 173 Profanity jgg The Sulks 294 The Devil's Sifter 207 Hard-shells 217 Jealousy . nnq The Law and the Gospel 239 Bed too Short, Blanket too Narrow 248 (11) 12 CO \ 'IE NTS. The Dbui ;nkard's Last Offering 'gsJ The Two Ways ' The PitoFEHSioNAL Lun ' g^g Power op Temptation The Five Asinines 200 Strain Out a Gnat, Swallow a Camel 308 The Little Foxes " 321 A Fight with Conscience ggj Church Crutches o,^ o4b The Crook and the Crank 0,-9 Shimei Throwing Stones ,.r.q Fast Young Man Treed „ g^g House on a Rock .^gg Big "I" and Little "You" 397 The Devil a-fishing ,q9 Little and Big End op Life's Horn ' 419 Beauty a Duty ^go II THE MOTE-HUNTER. I^^'J^ 'T''"'^' l^'^'<"'-«"l'oi.tieal surgery m . '"^ !"""•' "'■ " ''^'Ix'CTite. It w«H ono of the siiis of infhnit.si.nal iniquitv, of mi- croscopic turi.itu.lc, a,u.>no. the Pharisees; >'< lH.sspcc.es of Pharisaism h:s an aInuKlant UKl hLvunant reprul, l)eIiohl, a beam is in thine oun eve? Thou hvD ocrite first east out the beam out of 'thine ■ wn eve- ami tl^n th.m Shalt, see clearly to cast out ^he n^te out of thy brothers eye." Tliis is the p, eceptivo portraa wh.ch Jesus drew of this species of hypoc' nsy; and the picture I Inne drawn as an ilh. t.-ation of It shows an old, hnn,p-bac-ked, long-fneed, e ooked- nosed liypocnte complacently and cruel]., pie in-. i mote out of his neighbor's eye, while a^ bear Zo- tnuesv.s,blyfromhisown. He is giving his . ictim a the pa.n he can, and the poor fellow unde goes abou the same torture that a person does when he gets a railroad c.nder extracted by the optician, after having been made to feel the mis'ery of the s "m fhr about three days. The hypocrite ^alcl! ;:;!;:::.!::: (15) 16 THE MOTK-HUiNTER. W- pains to make us keenly sensible of the mote in our eye long- before lie uould extract it; and when he goes to take it out he puts his instrument into the very socket ol' your eye. If you notice, he is left-handed m the op(M-ation; and I want to lay down the proverb: Tke mote-hunter ahmijs (pes for your eye with his sinister hand. He is both mean and awkward about it, and he aims to hurt you all he can. The mote-hunter is by far the most microscopic of all the animalcule species. He is always in a small business, expecting to produc big results. His cap- ital consists in mites, and he Uas the refined and ex- quisite faculty of producing more to the amount in- vested than any other man engaged in the business of meanness. He is narrow between his sunken eyes; his forehead is deep, contracted, and sloping; his nose IS long and crooked; his chin turns up to meet its aquihne brother; his jaws are hollow, and his cheek- bones prominent; his lips are thin, and his mouth is niei-etricious. He is a little man, and he deals in lit- tle things; ami, being a hypocrite, he never troubles about big things in others, however big or monstrous his own sms. His proclivities are such that no lions ever lie in his ],ath; but he hunts bugs and kills in- sects. He wouhl stand and stamp the life out of chigoes for an hour at a time. Elephants, tigers, hy- enas, these never seem to occur to his weasel-intel- lect; and condors, eagles, buzzards, they never fly in the atmosphere of his contracted brain. His nam'e is little J omtif, Titmouse, Titcomb; and, being a hyp- ocrite, he lands among the grass, not for worms and g-rasshoppers, but for invisible insects. He could not swallow a June-bug at all, and an ordinary house-fly would choke him to death. He is a -small potato,'' THE MOT»iiuXTEB. 17 and rotten at that; and there is^n^h^^^^^^^i^T^^eh can properly curicatnre his littleness and meanness In business this old hypocrite is a ''skinflint " and asit IS quaintly and vulg-arly expressed, -heVould skin a ih'ti lor his hide and tallow." He is "peunv wise and pound foolish; " and he deals in coppcM^ and petty cash accounts alone, l^o trust nor confi- dence does he repose in his fellow-man, especially in small things; and he never has any thing big. to deal m. He treats God in the same way he treats his fel- low-man Ml business, if he is in the Church-and he almost always is-and when he gives, he peels off the ragged ten-cent bill from his little roll, or puts in the nickel with a hole in it, palmed off upon him bv some- body at last, after twenty years' effort to chelit him He claims that all he has belong-, to God, but that he must take care of the Lord's money; and hence he can stand with unabashed countenance and emotion- a indifterence before the broad charity and o-enerous liberality of others. He spits in the fire whe^ iU.:ii. sumes the coal too fast, and his economy would steal the oats from his own horse. It is said that one such was a deacon-member of a Baptist Church in Tennes- piety and for his merciless penuriousness. His pastor ad preached a year for his Church, and had received iiothing. He arose one Sunday morning-, at the close food '.T";,'"' T''^ '^'''' ^'' ''■'' "^ "^-^ «f »-"ey, ood, clothing, and that the Church owed him and dk ot pay him The old hypocritical deacon arose in ei%, and said: ''Go on, pastor, and preach the go - ^ha 1 live of the gospel.' The Lord will give you souls for your hire." "Yes," said the prstc^/'l 18 THE MOTE-HUXTER. know God will give me souls for my hire, and com- fort my heart; but I can't cut souls; my family and my horse can't feed on souls; and if Ave could, it would take about seventy-five souls of your size to make us a breakfast." The stingy old molecule took his seat, and tlie brethren paid the debt. How many of these 'it tic, covetous, stingy hypocrites infest the Churches, like moths that eat through the hive, de- stroy the honey, and kill the bees! Again, this old mote-hunter is characteristic in discipline. He is exceedingly cautious abont i-ecciv- ing Church-members, especially when they are young. If any man cruelly catechises them, it will be he. "With his long face and hypocritical cant, he Avill ex- amine minutely the candidate for baptism upon all the jjoints of Christian experience, which he closely studies and sacredly guards — that is, in others — and in nine cases out of ten, Avhen he is allowed to exam- ine, he will object to something in the best experi- ence which would be given at the door of the Church. Intellectually keen and technical, he is totally unspir- itual, having the confidence of nobody; and yet he is the judge of every man's religion, down to the jots and tittles. In matters of oifense against the Church he carries a shot-gun for every trifling infraction — es- pecially against the young people. A parlor dance, an amateur stage-play, a card-party, the circus, or even a play at the social— O these are simply awful! He doesn't mind taking four per cent, a month on money loaned. He counts the grains of coffee when he goes to balance the scales. lie is a Shylock for every drop of blood in the i)ound of flesh which for- feits your promise. He will take any legal shift to avoid a moral obligation. lie will rob the widow THE MOTI'>HUXTEI?. _^19 and the orplian wlien defenseless by justice; and 1,^ will turn the poor mother and her babe upon the streets if every cent of the rent does not come up at the end of the month. He denounces the saloon and the poor drunkard, but will keep a demijohn of "re- freshment" behind the door, with a sprig- of snake- root in It in order to claim it for bitters. O ves, he Will do all this, and yet he will " iire " the youn- frol- icker out of the Church upon the very first cluu-e of inconsistency. He picks motes out of other ]>eopIe'8 eyes, but leaves the beam in his own everv time ^^e find these flaw-pickers amongst eve.-y class of people, not only men and women who can intellectu- ally split a hair between the north and the north- west side, but who can see a mosquito on the top of o a house, and never see the house itself. We find them among our critical preachers, sometimes, who sk.n you al.ve for the least defect in preachincv or practice; and yet they are totally blind to their own defects especially their mean and narrow-minded spirit of criticism and censure. There are thousands of people on a broader or more contracted plane who are ever finding- fault with other people, when their own sins and failures stick out of their eyes and their ives like great beams of offense. God deliver me trom a flaw-picking- and a mote-hunting spiriti I o would lather be almost any other character hi Bun- muck-.ake ever lookin,g down, and never look- S- up. I desp.se that spirit, especially, which goes thiougli your garden, and, instead of plucking flow- ers, only picks weeds, hunts bugs, an.l goes awav complaining that it can find nothing beautiful and good. How many people go to God's apple-tree, full 20 THE MOTE-nUXTEK, of luscious fruit, and yet hunt for some diminutive, speckled, shriveled, little upple, put it in their pock- ets, and go off to represent the tree by the specimen plucked, when they could have filled themselves with the best of fruits ever grown. As they do God and religion they do every thing good and glorious. They hunt for the little spots on the sun; and the moon is a fraud because they can see a man in it. A fleecy speck in the clear, blue vault of heaven, with them, spoils the most beautiful day; and if a Avhole grand character or life is flecked with a scar or a stain never so small, they counterbalance the over- shot wheel of overwhelming good and honor by the under-current of little, mean, low criticism and cen- sure. If Spurgeon or Talmage should squint his eye When preaching, it Avould ruin his eloquence and power; and if one of them should create a smile by a humorous remark, they would never go to hear him again. The old Scotch lady who was so scrupulous about Sabbath ol)servance, to whom was cited the example of the Saviour and his disciples pluckino- and eating the ears of corn on the Lord's-day, and who replied, ''And I never thought any the better of him for it, either," is a case in point. After all, these flaw-pickers and mote-hunters do us good. They keep us on the watch and the alert, and on the scratch, as do the mostiuitoes and fleas and flies. They are aivays around and about us. Ser- pents, tigers, and hyenas ai-e more rare, and we can guard against larger and more conspicuous beasts of torture and prey, but you cannot keep out of the way of the little stingers. The mote-hunter is sure to find you and give you a lively time in this world; and, be- ing properly exercised thereby, they work out for us THE MOTE-HUNTEK. 21 the peaceable friiitn of righteousness. They keep iis well trimmed and pnrticular, and in all the little and nicer points of life they contribute largely to etiquette, punctiliousness, and scrupulosity in small as well as in great things. They help considerably to kill off the little ioxes which spoil our vines and eat our ten™ der grapes, and for all the good they do us, whatever the absence of good motive, we should be profoundly grateful. The good they do is incidental to their meanness mid littleness; but this is the compensation, m (rod s all-wise and overruling providence, which accrues to those who desire and try to do rio.],t in spite of their infirmities. The mote-hunter- the thuy- picker— has a mission. These animalcuUe of the mi- croscopic world are our multitudinous and infinitesi- mal scourges, and if we are improved thereby, we should always thank God, take courage, and go for- ward to a better conduct of life. STICK TO YOUR BUSH. -^>ar. lie Avent to a small town and i-ented an oUice of small pro])()r- tions, with a table and a few books which his scanty means had enabled him to purchase, being also fee- bly aided by a poor father. Ho mt in that otlice for five years before ho ever got any thing like an ini- poi-tant case; but he stuck to his bush— his books- ami thus accumulated cajjital for future business. Au • old lawyer friend secured for him a place in a great criminal trial in an adjoining ct)unty, and the young man had to walk ten miles and carry his books upon Ins back in order to attend the trial. His speech was so able and marked for its eloquence and power that he made a reputation at a single leap, and from that time on his ])ractice grew into a lucrative business. He went to the Legislature, the Senate, ran for Con- gress, and before he died lie sat upon the supreme bench of one of our Southern States. This story of struggle and conflict against poverty, obscurity, and adversity is but one of a thousand which illustrates the fact that true manhood and greatness arise from the persistency of a single idea against all odds to successful consummation. -4 •I f^TWK TOYoiru mrsir. __^^__ "■^ Then. iH n.. royal path to honor, frU^yy, ov weal^i at best; and ihosi, who have hec-n .ud.lc-nlv or instru- "UMitally liftoa t., hioh position Heldo,u ^.alulain it without havii.o- been ediu^iited to receive it. The only road to -ivat and nltinmte Huecess in be'dewed with the sweat and tears of ,,atient pertinacity and tn-owth .n life's callings. Jt consists in choosin.. a good l)„sh an.l 1,1 stlckinj. to it. Let the beo-lnninos be what they may, '^ ntick to your bush." What is true of tlie secular callings of life is also true Ml religion. The faculties of concentrative- ness and adhesiveness belong to the nu.ral as well as to t^ho business character of a man. You often see the d.fierencT ,n Sunday-«chooI scholars and Church- "HMnl,ers. One is always at his post; another is ever on the pad, ni and out, tnunj,ing from one school or C Imrch to another, or otherwise ],in-suing an irre-n- ar and unsteady course. You can generallv r^ad n/;:^'"f"'':^^''^''^'"''"''^-^^-^-'-'-"th<^^ characteristics of boys and girls as illustrated in their tenacious or desultory attachment to the Sunday- «ehool and the Church. Jf I were hunting for a so •- ice lK>y or watching out for a partner in business or a companion lor life, I would as soon go to the Sun- c a^^sehoo and the Church as anywlu.e else. Here H jckab.hty ' sticks out, olYen contrary to natui.: tself, and it is not unfrequently here, from both temporal and eternal stand-points, that character and estniy arc fixed and made. S- and hel|>in«>- the man who is down, might have heeu represented, hut tliese suflice, in general outline, to show tlie chief dilliculties of a rising man, especially when he is once down. i^fothing is more common than i'or jieople to stum- ble and nUl, and it is about as true morally as it is phvsicidlv. There are l)Ut few people in the world wlio nevJr made a mistake, committed a blunder, nor o-ot a tund))e of some kind, even in the plainest path marked out for human conduct. People are often safest in the most dangerous way, because more on their ouiird. Hverv boy has stumpear(l(>iiiil)Ie criiiu' in God's (siglit, wo luive the chance and the iiispinition to rise to lieaven, whether \V(! can recover willi oiw relh)w-inau or not. lie that lias never stuiul)led nor fanen — never erred nor (h>ne wrong- — lias never traveled Jar nor atteni])ted much; and our case must he an exceedingly had ono not at last to have tiie general sympathy of mankind in getting upon our feet agaiii if we keep on trying. When you fall, my friend, pick yourself up. This is a case of ordinary i)ossi])iIity; and in every case of restoration wc have ono of the suhjimest illustrations of manhood. I like the hoy who stum])s his toe, knocks olf the nail, tumbles heels over head, and, without a grunt or a whine, gets up again, grins and hears it, and goes lini[)ing on his way. The little fellow that sprawls out and bawls, and waits for his mother to come and pick liim up, i)et and cddjc him till he gets well, is not the fellow to |»ick himself u|> and get on his ieet, a-going again. It is always a mark of manhood not to f'lll, if we are doing any thing in the world; but it is often a mark of greater manhood to ])ick yourself up when down than it is in some ])eopIe not to tumble at all. Some people deserve but little credit for not fall- ing. Cold-hearted or well balanced, so conditioned or cii'cumstanced in life as never to meet tem])tation or trial, they never get in the way of a tumble. Some are negative and inert, or never subjected to conlli(!t with the world; and they never "spoil a horn to make a spoon." They never make any spoons; and it is useless to talk about manhood being put to the test in such people. They do not compare, for man- hood, with the p(jor fellow who has hvcn trying to do Bomething in conflict with the world and his own nat- 36 TICK YOUUSKLK TTI'. nre, and, tl.ouoh i-ullen, has pidccMl hiniself up and IS mtikino- j, ,„:,ii of himself onco more. IVrhaps he had a tliousaiul ooniru^ts wuh liiniscir and with nU the powers of seductive evil, of delusive darkness, of which the other man iievei- rlreamed. The man who picks himself up and goes on a-ainst the douhle oi)ik)- sition of his own weakness and the world's attemj^ts to crush him, against the fricticm of hahit and of a lost or damaged character, displays a heroic man- hood jf he rises again to position and honor. But few ever do it, because few ever press to the end the hei-oic remedy of self-treatment. It is a sad fact that, in extreme cases, so few of the fallen, or failing, ever ])ick themselves up. All about us the world is strewn with liuman wrecks, and no age ever witnesse.l greater efforts upon the part of charity for human restoration. Thousands fall, and seem to persist in falling, especially in drunkenness, lewdness, and other ^ ices, when, if they would, the world never before offered such chances to rise again. After all, the world admires heroes; and old Time is a wonderful healer and forgetter of the past. He that can him- self be ins])ired to forget the things behind him, and can be juade to press for the prizes of the future be- fore hir.i, has a thousand chances of honor and posi- tion he imagines are forever lost to him when down in the world. The nuin struggling to rise in faith and hoi^e always has God on his side; and God and the hero, struggling for restoration and manliood, are a big majority against all opposition. Earth and liell com*^ bined cannot battle down such a man or woman. I don't care what such a man or woman may have done, how far or low he or she may have fallen into crime and disgrace, recovery is possible, at least in virtue IMf!K YOUJJSELF UP. 37 and lienor, and in the conscionsness of rectitude and happiiies.s; and, under God, there is no telling what po- sition such a man or woman may attain to, even amon- inen, if health and life do not forsake them too sooiu <^od 8 o-race is sufHcient for the restoration of every wreck of life, willing and determined to be and do sonie- thino- ag-ain. Mary .Alagdalene, the thief on the cross, •John }i. Cough, and thonsands of others have been saved and elevated to honoi- and position by reli<.-ion -Duvid picked himself up, under God; and Samson might have done so before the Philistines if he had not lost his eyes, and God had so willed. ]\Iillions have picked tliemselves up, have lived honorable and useful lives before they died, and have gone home shoutino- to God and to glory, saved and sanctified by grace and grit combined. _ I wish to notice two great difficulties in the way of picking yourself up, and which have to be overcome: 1. Uur own weahiesses. A man once down losr^s self-confidence and often self-control, and bv repeat- ing his falls he continues to weaken all the forces of manhood. Bad habit breaches the fortress of charac- ter, and every repetition of vice in the line of bad habit opens wider still the breach, however often repaired. -i man may become so discouraged by his own weak- ijess growinoMveaker still, that every motive to rise is finally lost Pride and ambition, hope and resolution, take their flight, and sooner or later the sense of virtue and honor becomes deadened, the strong column of conscience crumbles from under the fabric of char- acter, and the victim of habit loses all the elements of manhood upon which to work for restoration. Often there is nothing left, apparently, for God and religion to work upon. There is a point, therefore, at which the 38 PICK YOUnSELF UP. : I ktr fallen must stoiJ — a point beyond Avliich to go, and recovery seems impossible. The deadening of the soul's faculties by continued indulgence — the loss of Bclf-confidencc and control — added to the conscious- ness of the -Nvoi'ld's contempt and abhorrence of us, and a man will soon lose all hope and linally plunge into the vortex of inextricable and irretrievable ruin, as thousands do. Hence the nuiu who would jiiclc up must take his case in time, and, with all the help he can get irom CJod and others, he must go to the work of repairing the bi'caches of weakness in the fortress of his own character. Ho must take his case in time, and not wait, as many consumi)tivcs do, who go to Florida or Colorado, too late and simply to die. 2. Another difliculty in the way is the uncharita- ble and the tempting world — to say nothing of the devil himself. A man's enemies, and the cold, un- charitable element of humanity around him, will take pleasure in arraying his past history before him, and his old companions in vice, stronger than himself — and the very agents of the devil for ruin — will seek to draw him back to the horrible pit ami the miry clay. The Puritanic and the Pharisaic will scowl him into hell itself, if possible — thrust him into obscuri- ty, at best, and tell him, if he does i-cform or rise, he must keep a back scat the balance of his life. Such people never ])ick anybody up, never help anybody but themselves and their oavu. Upon the Avhole, how- ever, the majority of the world is more charitable than Ave think, and a man trying to rise Avill have just about enough to hel}) him pull his kite-string, Avhile there will be plenty enough to create a breeze of opposition Buflicient to nnike it rise, if he Avill keep on pulling the string. This is just about as it should be, for a PICK YOURSELF UP. 39 miin needs ciior-Tfh opposition to rise up successfully, a])pi-eciatc his lall, and stay picked up when ho g-ets lip. It would not do to get up too easily, else he would not stay U|), and tlie harder tlie fig-ht he has in getting up, if he stays up, the better for hiui. It would be all thebetter for hiiu if he could light it out all unaided and aloue. JIc would then be better able to staiul and to becouie all the more useful and emi- nent if he turned his talents aud energies, thoroughly educated by sad cxi)erience, into the channels of cfod's glory; and let me conclude by saying that no oue upon earth is so capable of doing his fellow-inau good as a thoroughly and permaueutly reformed man or wonum. They know themselves, and they know the world better thau any other class of people; and if they will only turu their experience into the gold of other's good, they nuiy rapidly lay up treasure in heaven as no other class of people can do. Unfort- nuate men aud women, pick yourselves up. There is a chance for you all, if you have not iallen too hard and killed yourself in the utter loss of your moral and intellectual strength. Ordinarily, there is a bright and glorious i'uture for every fallen and failing victim of vice or misfortune 'deteruiiued to rise u[) and live again. The Avorld always kicks a fellow Avhen he is down. It loves to Avallow hiiu in the mud; but the world always shouts applause, at last, to the man who rises and returns the compliment by wallowing it in the mud. Don't be so much afraid of the world as of yourself, and be sure that God is on your side if you only trust him. Xobody can hurt a man half so bad- ly as himself, and nobody can help a man when hart half so effectively as himself. Pick yourself up. GHURGH ASSES. ->♦<— JvFOHE procccdinj^ to discuss my subject let '^^^^ me ex[)lain the hlackbonrd pictun; wliicli I '^ liMvedr:i\\iirortlu;ucc'..!^i()U. Tlie scene is a cliui'cli Jiudieiice, bei'oi-c which Ji luinister is tryiiii;: to ])rcach the g-ospel of tlie Son of God. This audience is seated before him, and in tlio main trying to listen to his discourse. Yoii will observe, however, that there are quite a ]nind)er of disturbers sprinkled throu<;h the assembly of the saints. These disturbers are distinguished by asinine lieads, the only true mark of a cliurch disturber. On the front row you observe one looking back and piissing a note to an- other on the second row, Avho is scribbling a note in a hymn-book. At both ends of the third row you see a cou])le of ''gabblers," who represent the "braying ass and the hiughing jenny," seen upon almost every occa- sion in tlie house of God. At the farther end of the fourth and fifth rows you observe two engaged in backward and forward conversation across the ]m>ws, in so l)old and boisterous a style as not oidy to disturb those around them, but as to indicate that they regard themselves as the only personages of importance in the conjrreu'aticm. Kear the center of the sixtli row there is a greenhorn of a donkey Avho is looking be- hind him at the congregation in his rear. On the last (40) o X c o X > V) V) tn 0) CllUUL'II ASSES. 43 row you behold u courting- couplu in wwcct convcrae — "billing- and cooing" duriiig- tlii> sermon, and cannot wait one hour i'or ii better opijortunity. la the rear i8 a dude eoniing late and one goings out, displayin*^ theii- bandsoiiu'iiess before the i)e()[»le as they ualk up and down the aisles — usually, but not always, ae- ooni|)anied by a '• dudine." At the door you discover two "'fiends" asinine peeping- in upon the audience, and wailing lor the close of the service t(j gaze upon the girls as they i)ass<)ut, show off llieir red neck-ties and stove-pipes, get up a llirtal ion, and " make a mash." The one farthest outside is smoking a cigarette, the fumes of which lie occasionally whiffs into the door of the church. At the windows of tlic clinrch you behold the peeping ass, several of which are jjcering into the au- dience, attracting attention instead of coming- in and respectfully taking a seat and listenings to the sermon like gentlemen. All this is a scene which may, in whole or in part, bo witnessed in many places and sections of our country. Now I do not mean that any of you who sit before mo this afternoon belong- to this long-eared confraternity. You are all retined and well-behaved boy - and girls, you ' ^entlemen and ladies, as well as old. 80 you need nt)t think me personal. A perfect type of lialaam's saddle-horse could not now bo found, I suppose, in my audience; and the puri)ose of this lecture is to put you npon your guard, so that you may always recognize this beast at church, and so to become disgusted that you may never imitate his example, but shun his company and despise his chai-acter. Moreover, the lecture will aid you, should you ever so forgot yourself in the house of God as to imitate the conduct of this animal, to recognize, upon reflection, ijoin ^elf. I want my picture ! i u C'UUltCII ASSES. I to be a kind of looking-glass for the future. The caricature does not fit any other animal so well as the ass, which is only a simple, long-eared, leather-headed beast, lie never means any great harm by what he does, unlessyou irritate him to kick, or pull against his stubbornness. He brays and plays the fool gen- erally, for the want of sense. Those who by misbe- havior distnrb worship in God's house are generally " lacking in tlie upper story." They are frivolous and light-minded creatures who sometimes have very good hearts. Sometimes they have sensibilities enough to be sorry upon reflection, when they have brains enough to be convinced of wrong. I have seen some such ; and really there are only a few mean enough to misbehave in God's house from vicious motives. A sap-head, not a bad heart, is usually the cause, and the church ass is rather to be pitied than despised. A man is less respon- sible for an empty head than for a bad heart. Never- theless, for stupidity and folly, punishment of some kind is the only corrective of the ass, as of any other an- imal. He has to be beaten with many stripes, although to him much has not been given. My friends, there are many ways in vv^hich this un- fortunate animal displays himself to disadvanttige. Let me now analyze his church performances, which make men ashamed and which make angels blush: 1. It is quite asinine to turn your head and look be- hind yon while seated in church. Eefined people never do it; and refined people do not like to have people turn and stare at them while sitting behind you, or when coming in. Occasionally an ass comes in just to be seen, as only asses do; but Avhile staring at such Avould not hurt the ass, it would hurt you. How- ever, it would be an unjust encouragement to asinine CHUKCII ASSES. 45 vanity, and it would be disrespect to the minister as well as the violation of general propriety. Always keep your head erect and square to the front. It is good manners, the evidence of good breeding. Otherwise you become the laughing-stock of cultivated people. 2. Another asinine performance consists in coming in and going out during service. jSTever go to church if you cannot stay when you go. I have seen a young man come in and go out two or three times during the same service. He was perhaps looking for some- body, or else he Avas without motive or aim in visiting the house of God. In either event he shows a worth- less object or an undecided character, and he makes himself a nuisance to those who observe his conduct. Such a man demonstrates that he Avould make a poor Church-member and a failure in business. He can- not " stick to his bush." Kegular or irregular church- going, as shown in another lecture, is an indication of character; and when you repeatedly go into church and don't stick, it is the signal-pointer of an indifferent man or woman. Go in and stick, and it will do you good in yourself, and give others a good opinion of your stability. 3. Another asinine performance consists in stand- ing about the church doors, laughing and talking aloud, smoking cigars or squirting tobacco-juice, or peeping in upon the congregation to see who are there. Such disturbance is a great annoyance to both preach- er and people. Often in winter-time these disturbers of God's house open the door a dozen times or more, letting in tlie cold air upon the congregation. The peeping ass outside is well-nigh as great a bore as the talking ass inside. 4. \mong the worst of asinine performances is 1 46 CHURCH ASSES. that of laugliing and talking- in the pews during serv- ice. Sometimes it occurs between donkeys of the same gender, ofteiier between donkeys of a different sex; but wliosoever is guilty of it creates the most serious disturbance to the minister and his congrega- tion. The Indians and Hottentots are said to be very respectful at church service. Jews and Catholics are solemn and silent in their houses of worship. A heathen would not think of desecrating the house of his god. 1 have often preached to negroes, and I never saw one misbehave. I have had an audience of penitentiary convicts, oi" jail-birds — yea, of lewd women and bad men in scvei-al places — and yet among all these I never saw any thing but respectful atten- tion to the preaching of the gospel. It is reserved only for Protestants and their children — and in their own churches, so far as my observation goes — to be guilty of the crime of misbehavior in the house of God, this high crime against religion. We should always remember that at church other pef pie have rights as well as we, and that we have no right to dis- turb the ])rivilege8 nor trample upon the liberties of other folks. It is a gross and outrageous insult to the man who preaches to you, and a greater insult to God; and a truly sensible and refined man, to say nothing of a Christian, woidd never even indicate to a/ public speaker that he was displeased or bored by showing him indiflforonce or disrespect. lie would patiently and resi)eetfully hear him through, if he never went to hear him again. Such conduct as here described is pusillanimously mean; it is basely and cowardly as- inine. 5. Another donkey performance in God's house is Bi)itting upon the floor, carpeted or not. (See the i 'I !i| ClIUKCII ASSES. 47 picture.) Tlie inuu is n long-eared ass who will do it. Often the tobacco-chewer leaves a spot under his pew, or in the aisle, as big as the map of .Musku, and then great puddles of diluted nicotine are often left for la- dies to drag their dresses through. It is sickening to look at, much less to step in; and yet this long-eared Ignoramus spewed it out thure, and looked upon it as if it had been an ornamental salivarj performance. He would not, perhaps, have recognized a spittoon, if It had been set before him. What would you think of a man in your parlor spitting all over your carpet'^ How much less is he to be thought of who would thus profane the house of GodI Such a num knows noth- ing of self-respect, much less of respect for others- and he seems never to have had any conception of sa- credness of place and respect for that. 6. Another barbarian practice is that of def-icing hymn-books, pews, and church walls. Boys and girls, young men and maidens— sometimes older people-^ are guilty of this asinine savagery. The Goths and Vandals did better. A Modoc or a Crowfoot Indian would not be gi ilty of such conduct. It is reserved only for American asses to do thus, and such people would chop your gate, cut your sofa, or gash your piano, :f allowed to do so. Ijut for the law the prop- erty of our country would be at the mercy of such lawless vandalism. 7. Another asinine performance is pulling out your watch and snapping it, throwing back you.- head, and yawning in the face of the preaciier and his ai-dience (See the picture.) Sometimes this perfor:nance is done purposely, and nothing but a tough hide and long ears can be guilty of it. Ko lady or gentleman ever did it; and the ignoramus with common-sense po- w 48 CHURCH AS^ES. liteness would never treat the man in the jHilpit with such gross incivility. In conclusion, there are a great many things to which I might further call your attention, but time fails me. Sometii cs a donkey conies into God's liouse with his hat on until he takes his seat, or he comes in without cleaning his feet, or he will loll and roll upon his pew, or he will sleep and snore, but often the preacher is to blame for this latter vice — soporific asininity. Sometimes a fellow will twist and screw on his seat and make the preacher nervous and ii-ritable, but it is also possib.3 that the preacher sometimes has the oppo- site effect of sleep upon some auditors. Cultivated peo- ple, however, avoid these incivilities. It is said that a Frenchman of culture and refinement will listen to a performance or the most insipid and ludicrous con- versation with deepest attention and pleasiu-e, appar- ently, lest he might otherwise offend or embarrass the speaker or actor. Xo matter how you feel about a l^lace, a person, or a performance, never display your sense of displeasure, ridicule, or criticism at the time. It is asinine to do so. I always try to show consid- eration and respect, no matter what the character of the audience I visit or the discourse I hear or the per- formance I see. It is but politeness for me to behave in other people's houses, however humble, obscure, or low; and children and young people should above all remember Avhen they are in God's house, and remem- ber that when aAvay from liomo they represent their parents and their rearing. Your conduct is the expo- nent of your training. When you misbehave you rep- resent your parents, and if you pro])erly represent them by bad conduct, you tell a bad story of parentage and of yourself as well. It is at least a matter of good ClIUUCH ASSES. 49 tii; policy to behave well in God's house wlicther you feel like it or have been trained to it or not. I should hate for the world to think badly of my mother and lather, even if I had no respect for myself, ^ver play the donkey nor ask the world to write you down as an ass. According to ^sop, in his fable of the old lion, tho ass IS the " disgrace of nature." Surely no human be- in- having: a high sense of honor and of self-respect would covet the characterization of this sketch, and yet It IS not unfrequently the case that no instruction nor rebuke will correct the incorrigible leather-head who misbehaves in the house of God. Sometimes he becomes offended, and his asininity becomes all the more apparent and prominent, and it is a remarkable fact that nothing short of age and experience can generally cure this asinine maladv. Like his proto- type, beating often does him no good in this respect, and It is a blessing that the weight and the wisdom o years, at last, wear out and prune o^T this detesta- ^>le habit. Young people, let me congratulate you on your good behavior, and let me beg you for the future that you save yourselves from the character of that beast which has been stigmatized as the "disgrace of nature." '^ § i ^ KlLLmG TIME-TIME KILLING YOU, •tO^O*- I. ..o4o«- HE picture presented on the opposite page is ^^^^ fv symbolic representation of a young man '^ starting out to kill time. "The old man of the scythe and the hour-glass " is bending before his thrusts, dead to all the young man's advantages and opportunities in life, as he re- peatedly pierces him with the sword of pleasure, ease, or indifference. Old Time holds up the glass in which the young man's sands of existence are graduall}' run- ning out; and the scythe, with which he is at last to be cut down, swings upon the old man's shoulder. The youth smiles comi)lacently as he })lies his sword, and he indicates the thoughtless and careless indif- f:i-ence of the young in Avasting time. The past, to him, is too short to give the admonitions of experi- ence; the ])resent suggests only gratification; and "Procrastination, the, thief of time," flatters him with the ever delusive promise of "time enough yet" in the future. AV'ildly, fearlessly, recklessly, this youth- ful devotee of pleasure thrusts his sword, ever follow- ing old Time in the rear and piercing him in the back, instead of taking him by the forelock. He is regard- less o^ the fact that Time is bald apon the back of the head; that behind him all opportunity and effort, however good, ai'c lost. Thousands earnestly and (50) -l! ■ m M it? I",; KlLLTVfJ TIMK — THrK KILLIXCJ YOU, 53 agonizingly follow time without iutunding to kill liini; but tiino is wortlilcss to him who docs not get ahead, or at least keep n[) with liiu). Thero is a tide in tho nifairs of men, "Which, tukou at the Hood, h^ads on tt) fortune; Omitted, all tho voyage of their life Is bound in Bhallows and in miseries. Following time is next to killing time; and in both cases this is the life of inilli(jns, in v,hole or in part. Tho consequences of such a life, hoAvever, I reserve for brief treatment Avhen I come to reverse the i>icturo. Let me say.that one of the greatest crimes of which any man can lie guilty is the killing of time. It is the most inexcusable and culi)able of all murders. In all other murderous killing there is a motive or cause, more or less ciiminal, in the perpetrator; but here is a murder without any motive at all, a killing for the lack ositive harm. He is simply a negative evil, devoid of motive for objective good, and is sidjjcctively absorbed In, as well as objectively devoted to, his own pleasui-e, at the expense of time, and sometimes at the expense of other i)eople's pocket- books and of other people's convenience. He is (jften a parasite on society, feeding like a louse npon some other nnin's head, and sucking like a leech some other man's blood. The time-killer feels that time is a bore if not killed, and he feels that the Avorld has no pleasm-c if he cannot nse it in his vocation of throw- ing away self in gratification, without gratitude or return. lie feeds only on the bread of idleness, and his idle brain is the devil's workshop for all the so- cial ills we endure. How precious is time! What vast importance the Bible pnts npon it! and with what wonderful expres- sion has genius characterized it! Shakespeare pro- nounced it the "nurse and breeder of all good," and, abused, he might have i)ronounced it the nurse and breeder of all evil. Bishop Hall said: "The nse of time in fate:' Good or bad, its nse w fate; and all talent, energy, zeal, and emciency in life's noblest call- ings are faihu'cs if time is not economically and wise- ly ad juste. I to effort, or effort to time. Feltham as- serted that time was the "chrysalis of eternity," and, KILLIXfr TIMK — TIMK KILLING YOU. 65 in all outcome of existence employed, otenilty is the beautiful llowcr, so to speak, evolved from the bulb- ous root of time. The issues of eUruity are Avnipped up in the womb of this transient existence, and Clod alone can conceive of the vast imi)ortance which hangs ui)on the decision of an lu)ur or the action of a moment. God <^"ives us the ability and Time furnishes us 'he occasions which, joined tog'ether, form the ten thou- sand opportunities of life for the achievement of good; and he who does not watch time and system- atize life according to its hour-glass will find his op])ortunities slipi>ing away under the "inaudible and noiseless foot" of tl"' old man with the glass and the scythe. Time -will teach lliee soon the tnith, There are no birds in last year's nest. So said Longfellow to all who put off till to-morroAV what oiight to be done to-day. "Time should be counied by heart-throbs," says Martineau, and this splendid sentiment teaches that every moment of ex- istence is some precious casket in which may be found the jewel of some advance or advantage in life. Only those, however, who value life can value time; for life and time form an equation in which they are connected by parallel lines, indicating a like impor- tance and their absolute necessity to each other. Young never uttered a grander sentiment, a grander fact, than when he said: " Time wasted is existence; used, it is life." The time-killer simply ekes out an ex- isti'uce, the time-employer lives out his life; and he finds "time enough," in the language of Goethe, "if well employed." One of the strangest things al)ont the time-killer is that he finds always more time than he wants when dissatisfied, and too little time when m KTLUNU TIMK— Tr\fR KII.Lrvo YOU. his pleasure is bein- inclulgccl. The cnlv imin avIio rcnlly has time enough in the man who lakx'H it as God 8 gift, and then cMuploy.s it well. Then lie neitlier regrets the past nor ch-eads the future, and the pres- ent to hun is un evei-dwelling hour ol' cnii.h.yinent and peace. *^ The liible most 8f riklngly touclies tliis .subject. Sol- omon Hays: "To ovei ^ thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." This indicates the proper ad justnu nt of time to all the varied alVairs of life, and it also indicates the division of time to the serious and the pleasant occupations which separately or reciprocally characterize our lives here below. CTod has given us day and night, Sabbath and week- day, winter and summer, spring-time and autumn, hours of rest and labor, the varieties of season and change, in order to diversify and beautily and make useful and happy our existence. He forbids overwork as well as idleness, and he has so adjusted time to all our conditions, however diverse or opposite, as to make hie harmonious and sweet out of even its bitter toils and Its perpetual pains. After all, there are more days ot sunshine than of cloud, and life is so adjusted to time that there is a greater compensation to every loss, a bno-iiter smile for every tear, a sweeter thrill' tor every woe, to him who adapts himself to his cir- cumstances, utilizes all his talents, and economizes his tune according to its adjustment and division i.- a harmonious and well-employed existence. David rec- ognized that his times were all in God's hands, and Avhile he recognized God's limitations set upon his time, he acknowledged God's adjustment and division of time to his conditions. Like every other o-ift we should recognize our time from God. Hence Paul KILLIXU TIMK— TIMK KILLING YOU. 67 warns lis tliat the '^tiiiio is short," that *'tlio iii-lit is at hand whvn no man can work." Spcaiving- to tho Ephcsians, he tulis tliein to walk circnnisijcctly, not as fools, bnt as wiso, " mleeniin*,^ tho tiiuo" — ntiliz- ing it, not throwin^^ it away, as I'ools are wont to do. In the Banie line Solomon nrgos: " AVliatsocver thy hand findcth to do, do it witli thy might; for tlicre is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither tlion goest." Time is so short and preeions, tlie interests of eternity so momentous, that we must be in a linriy to fulfill the destiny ordained of time. AVIuit wo leave undone at the grave Avill nevei- l)o diae by ns nor by others, for every man can alone do vlrtt is a 'ottcd for hhn to do. Lifo li roul, life is eaniost, A .i(i the grave is not its goal; "Dust thou art, to dust roturnest," "Was not wrilU'ii of the soul. How marvelous that a Christian should kill timol IIow dare one of God's children to waste his daysl How many of them idle away their years in pleasure — in the dance-hall, the theater, at the card-table, at the watering-i)lace, in travel, "in the pursuit of worldly pleasure or profit — when God is robbed of their time, talent, and energy 1 The Christian has no time to lose for his own soul's good, no moments to throw away in seeking the salvation of a perishing world, dying every hour by thousands, and perishing "for lack of knowledge." As fan I says to us all, "It is high time to awake out of sleci, ' We should ever re- member that the time of Christ is at hand. His sec- ond coming is ever imminent, and the time of our de- parture is drawing near. There is a day coming when the great angel shall ])ut one foot on land and the 58 KILLIXa TIME — TIME KILLIXG YOU. B' it hk\ W' other on tlic sea, and proclaim that time shall be no more forever. Lft us then be xip and doing, With a heart for r,ny fate; Still achieving, still ])nrsxiing, Learn to labor and to wait. How fearful to behold tlie millions of time-servers and time-killers! They ieed on Avind and float in the atmosphere like fer.thers. Their lives are phantoms, and their hope is ashes. Flittino- through the gay and giddy cii-cles of fashion and v/orldliness, the}* fill up the measure of the butterfly's day, and they drop out of life and notice as the transient morning-glory that blooms at dawn and dies at noon. U])on the averao-e, the time-killer never lives long. lie does not fill out half his days. The law of life is labor, and labor, aft- er all, conquers all things and prolongs our average existence upon the ])rincii)le that in the economy and wise adjustment of time lie the laws of health, longev- ity, and happiness. Some men shorten their days by labor, Avhich is also a sin; but the time-killer, as the rule goes, gets soonest cut down. He dies of inertia, if not of dissipation and disease. lie to whom time IS a bore will Avaste away unobserved as the transient dream of his useless life. But this brings us to the consideration of the second part of this sketch: Time Killixo You. -•O^o. 1 1 . ••O^O" ^ "I have Avasted time," says ShakesiJcare, "and noAV time doth waste me." Is the old saying goes, "Chickens come home to roost;" and the poet just r KILLtXG TIME — TIMK KFLLHTG YOL. 61 quoted says again: "The whirligig of time brings in his revenges." How often the p or devotee to pleas- ure has had to exclaim in the Avords of Spenser: Too late I staid — forgive the crime— Unlieeded flew the hours; How noiseless falls the foot oH time, Thot only treads oi> flowers. Let me briefly sum up the ways in which time may Waste or kill ns, especially be revenged on those who kill him, and close: 1. He cuts ofl:' our opportunities. "We may sleep and dream, frolic and dissipate, but he is SAveeping away from us upon his winged wheels forever. 2. He withers our hopes and blights our prospects. A lost opportunity has awakened the e:cclamation ten thousand times, "O for an hour I" "What would the dying sinner give For one more Sabbath-day to live? 3. Time Avasted dries up all the fountains of life and happiness. , Hoav dissatisfied is the time-killer! and when he groAVS old hoAV Avithered and blasted are all his aflfections, aspirations, and faculties for the business and enjoyment of life 1 4. "Wasted time is the destroyer of fame, fortune, and honor Avhich "might haA^e been;" and "I might have been" is the toi-turing reflection, the bitterest regret of the time-killer, Avhon all the golden d" > s and opportunities of this short life have fled. 5. Time throAvn aAV.'n. robs the very treasuries of heaven on the part of the ruined sinner or the idle Christian. Hoav often a Felix procrastinates to all eternity the salvation of his fsoul! and hoAV often the indifterent and inert foUoAver of Jesus loses millioua ()2 KILLIXa TIMK — TIMK KILLING YOU. of treasure and i-ewarcl by putting off his splendid chances for doing- good! 6. Blighted time fodes beauty and wrinkles our front with furrows untraced by the loveliness of well- spent and happy years. Old age which follows a pure and useful life is like a Coi-inthian pillar which, though crumbling and mutilated by time, is still rich with the traceries of beauty's chisel and grand in its dilapidation. 7. Old Time comes along at last in the form of the grira reaper, Deadi, sets down his hour-glass, through which our sands of existence have run to the last grain, and with his scythe he cuts us down. This happens to us all, but he cuts off the lost and idled life of the sinner forever. Alas! he cuts him in twain, to be mended no more for good, even in the resurrec- tion of the body. Alas, poor time-destroyerl to be at last destroyed! Truly has AYilcox said that " time unemploypd is the greatest foe; " and well does Shake- speare denominate time as " the old justice that ex- amines all offenses." Parsons said of this ''old jus- tice" that he was "the only righteous judge;" and the waster, the killer of time may rest assured that he will be arraigned at last before his bar. " They that drive time away," said another writer, " spur a free horse;" but they who ride that horse for naught, let n. . say, never paid so dear for their livery. iVJ !r>.>i|$i!t<' m i? A I ^/'i»^im- ROGK OF AGES; 01!, INFIDELITY AND OVERZEAL. •^►♦C-. jllE illustration presents Christ under the form ;^ of the Kock of Ages. It is the Rephidim of Moses in the desert, smitten with his i-od, gushing- with u stream of water to fam- ishing Israel. Paul, alluding to this celebrat- ed bowlder, says, "That Hock was Christ;" and he calls it that '' spiritual Kock that folloAved them," and of which they '' drank." A more perfect figure of Christ's immuti.ble character, of his life- giving and cleansing efllcacy, of his overshadowino- and comforting grace, of his offensive and defensive impregnability, of his fundamental and constructive power, cf his saving and sanctifying energy, could not be employed. He is our "nmnitions of rocks " our Fortress and Kefuge; "the Kock that is ki-her uT 1^'Vl'' "^'"'^ ^^''''^' ''' '' ^^'^'"T land; ""the Kock of Ages cleft for me," and out of whose smit- ten side flowed the fountain of blood and water, in which to be washed, anu which to drink, is life and cleansing eternal. He is the lofty Petra upon which 1^ erected the acropolis, the citadel of his Church, the constructive foundation laid upon him being the (65? 66 ItOCK OF AGES. prophets and apostles, of which still he is the chief corner-stone, precious and elect, and against Avhich the gates of hell shall not prevail. Peter may be a stone, a fragmentary 2>ciroii, along with all the other pro- phetic and apostolic stones, forming the constructive foundation of the Churches; but Christ, the Eock of Ages, is the great sub-basal and divine foundation upon which the Avhole building, constrm-tivc foinulu- tion and all, fitly framed together, is built. From him, as constructive corner-stone, come the beauty, strength, Jind unity of the structure; and from him, as the great fundamental Petra, come the vitality,- sta- bility, and energy of " God's building." In the two great senses of the figure the poets ^ing : On Christ, tlio solid Hock, I Btnnd; All other ground is sinking sand. And again: Eock of Ages, cleft for mo, Let me hide myself in thee. Let us now notice some of the attendant details of the picture. On one side of the Eock you see a man trying to turn the Rock over with a lever. This man represents Infidelity bearing down with all his weight and might upon a broken stick, beneath whom is the yawning pit and Satan Avith outstretched hand to re- ceive him as he falls. Back of him, and in the dis- tance, is an infidel club-house; and between him and the club-house is an infidel battery, representing the artillery of the ages pounding away at the great and immovable Eock. The guns are manned by the In- gersolls, the Tom Paines, the Humes, and Rousseaus, and Renans, and Strausscs, and Voltaires; while tlie Spencers, the lluxleys, the Darwins, the John Stuart Mills, and others, head the crowd which shouts on the ItOC'K OF AGES. 67 supposed work of demolition to tlio niiglity Fortress of our salvation. Tlio proportion is partly displayed in the size of the Koclc as compared with the insig- nificant battery and the diminutive leaders who arc assaulting it with their popgnns, or trying to tnrn it over with a broken pipe-stem as it were. It is as ii' a regiment of prairie-dogs were a^ssailing Gibraltar, (.r a flea trying to undermine l»ike'« Peak; and from this comparison we can get at the precise idea of the dif- ference between the force of the Kock and the forces which oppose it. The thunders and lightnings of the centuries have played in harmless fmxabout the sum- mit of Mont Blanc, and so infidelity fights against Christ. Tliere are not forces enough in natui-e coin- bined, unless supernatnrally cn.ploycd,to knock down the peak of Chimbora/o; and all the i)owers of eartli and hell united caiuiot chip a fragment from the Itock of Ages. As in nature so in grace. The storms have raged for centuries of untold commotion and opposi- tion; but the hills and mountains renuiin M'ih un- shaken top and inunutable base. The clouds and tem- pests come and go, but there thev stand as befcr- and so Christ, the eternal iJock, comes out brighter, grander, and loftier from every conflict with error and falsehood. Prize on, little infidel; your little stick will break and drop you finally into the arms of your father and into the bottomless pit, from which you shall never escape. Shoot on, little popgun battery; your httle artillery will exhaust your annnunition iu vain; your guns will be hushed and spiked, and the only torce they will ever have will be to kick u.^i,]- ity backward into hell, where it belongs. Wiio ever fought God and prospered? On the other side of the Kock, and sheltered in its m h' ;.nl ill ITiM overslindoHiiijLi; powtM-. Yon \\\\\ notici!, iiowcviT, on Uiis nldo oI'iIh' U,o(dv, inislnn,:4-\vith all his \vi'iy:lit, and jni,:;lit, a lidlc ])rcMic'lK'r, a\1m> repiVHi'iilM ovcr/.cal. lie is Irving- to ki'op iiilididily I'rOTn tiiniiiin- lliu Hock of A^ics over, or to kii'i)tlu> Jiilidcl hallii'ii'HC'-nM' ' kiii^^ it down. Jlo liMs a /A>;il in this diri'ction >vitht>nt knowh'd^i 8*> and 111' vcpiTsonts a rlass of priachors and otiuM' peo- ])h' pii'siimptnotisly di'lrndiii^- Christianity n^aiiist evei\Y attack which comes alon^jf, always aliiniicd lor its Htnhility and i)ro<,n'css, over •j^'oomy al)oiit the I'lit- iir'M)ntconicol' rc[ii;ion. lie is pi ■-cinincntly a pes- simist. Hence ho is always ])reaihin.^- c»r writ in;; abont. intidelity instead ol" preachin.^- tlu' ^^ospel. llo wars with niiyht and main to shoAV that 'n^^ersoll is mistaken about the mistakes of Moses, and he is per- ])etnally tryin;«' to overtnrn Spencer's "First J'rinci- t of Man." Ho lias the 1 lies or Darw in s ])e seen l;'i avest appi ehensions that tli<' Hock of Ay-OS ■wi 11 bo tnrned over or bo battered down, cspocially if ho does not hold it np; ami he feels that ho is called and or- dained for tho net dofenso of the gospel against the ■world. In most cases he ad\ertises inlidelity instead of rendering anv etllelent defe so of the truth, and often ho ])nts ta -led ! ains t' thinking more favor- ably of Ingorsoll and Tom Paine than before. In fact, the simple and rowerfnl assertion of tho gospel is its best defense in the main; a.ul its exoiK|diiication or illnstration in Christian life and cliaractor 1=- its most unanswerable arginnent. Id tho light shine; let the Sun of righteousui beam out in full-orbed Mi KOCK OK AOKH. 0!) ^lorv, 1111(1 I lie iiioK^H and IhiIh of inlidclity will liiu away into the (•oii/^i'nijil iitiiioHjilu^ro ol' tlu'ir inidnig'lit Iiubilalioii and aHHocialion. Prtsach Iho word and in\'i('li('(i llui lilrand wear I'n! ciianK'tcr (d" ( 'iirihl, and llicrc will 1)1! hut. lillhi or o(;(;aHi()nal nci'd for airin;.^ inlidtillty. lict tins himi Hliinc, and tlic ])lnnlH and llovvtirn of ('liristianit y will ,s|>rin«^ up and bloom and f^row and (Viictualu in h\)\\x'. of all tlio cloudH and wtoniis* of inlidclily and atlidiHiii. liy all tliiH it, is not meant that no didi'iiHi; is ever to ]n' iiiaiUi aji^aiiiHt inlidelity. 'i'liitri! aro times when heavy blows may bo struek, and there aro writxirs and orators who are H[)e<'ially gilYed in ol!cn80 and defbiiso all — the soul is sent, And tills is called "eternal punishment! " We need not rack these awful words, 'tis said, Nor make tnem shriek out tierce tlieir import dread; At best, the liell of best and noblest man Is Gcd's unmixed, eternal, hopeless ban. Forever? Yes, forever writes its name On every tongue that tastes the quenchless flame, On every link of darkness' binding chain, On every sigh of woe and cry of pain. On every memory's past reflection sad, On every hope of future — hopeless mad. On every leap of downward flight inclined, And every bent of evil heart and mind. O God! this doom let men forego and li\c; Why will tliey die, when thou wouldst hearen give? Amazing grace! the gift of life above! Amazing madness! man rejects thy love, To reap through sinful pleasures stung with pains Eternal woe engulfed in endless flames! Awake thy Church ! that sleeps o'er men insane. The torch relume of Truth o'er hill and i)lain; O save us, God! by hope of life eternal, Nor let us reach this doom of death infernal. 11 SLANDER. ►>+<♦- f.ili'] Hliiiulercr is well rcj)resc'nt.e(l as a Horpont -•^^ witlj a cliai-actorislic human head, coiled "^'^ \n Ihe yrass, Htrikin;:^- wit li an an'<)\v-ti[)[)eil l()ii,'5iie into llie lylccdiiig- lieai-t oi' its victim, sliould have given it tlie wings of a Ijat, sinco slander flies as well as crawls, but I overlooked this feature of my original design. I'ho serpent with his venom and his ii-e, with his slimy, slippery folds and his noiseless crawl, with his deadly coil and fatal fang, is the only fit cndjlem of the man or the woman Avho Htahs and kills you in character. Jealousy and envy, prejudice and malignity are the sac of ])oison under the slanderer's tongue, from which ho feeds hia de ully fangs and which pierce your good name. Love and honor never engage in this vile business; but tho slande.-er is a total stranger to these noble instincts of the himan breast. He hates his superior, or else, without ni'dice or revenge, he has a reckless disregard for truth and honest re])ut!'tion, for every thing lofty and good about him. The neighborhood gossip has nothing better *o do than to gratily an overweening desire to talk about his or her neighbor, and such peo- ple seem to find a ^endish delight in their base voca- tion. A bit of scavdal is a sugar-plum which they roll in their mouth a. \d divide with each other j and I*. ft ii i; -4 7G SLAXDER. ih. f the plum grows as it roUi; from mouth to mouth, like the five loaves and two little fishes with which the Master fed five thousand hungry souls and had twelve baskets full of the fragments which remained. 1: uly does the great poet style it, by way of personification : Slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whoso tongue Outvenonis all the worms of Nile. It is impossible, with an ordinary sense of the hu- mane, to comprehend or appreciate the nature and character of the slanderer. AYe can see how men in the heat of passion can slay their fellows, how hun- ■ ger and penury can steal, how the wreck of habit can debauch himself; but there are souls too lofty, hearts too pure, to understand how this monster of all iniq- uity can ruin the reputation or destroy the character of an innocent being. How ir finitely worse than theft or murder or arson I Inimitably has Shakespeare made Othello to say : Good name, in man or woman, dear, my lord, Is the immediate -Jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash, 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches me of my good name Bobs me of that which not enriches him, And makes mo i)oor indeed. The victim of slander often suffers more than theft or murder, as, Avith a cor.sciousness of innocence, he endures a life-time of shame and contumely without the power of rectification or defense. I o: "e knew a minister slandered, and though his slanderer upon a dying bed confessed his crime, yet this man of God had to quit the pulpit and live and die under a cloud. Confidence once lost under a charge of great turpi- tude caii never be entirely restored; and though one SLAXDKH. i i be indicated, yet the sense of character lost is so keen and delicate tha';, many will sxispicion still the victim of slander, once blackened, in spite of vin- dication. It is hard to get the smell of burned clothes off, and people will associate you, justly or unjustly, with your reputation long after the stain has been ob- literated from your character. You may kill the sting of the serpent that Avounded you; you may heal the wound, but some peojile will always be examining the scar. It takes great force of character, irrepressible energy and ability, with popularity, to stand or over- come a serious slander, and but few ever override pop- ular odium and disfavor thus created. Our friends may hold us innocent and stand by us, but the world will think of the dove as soiled and the lamb as spotted. Our enemies especially will keep the skele- ton of a dead slander upon our track, and but few of them are generous enough to grant, much less vindi- cate, our innocence. There is but little protection against slander, and usually the slanderer is an assassin and a coward, made so by his immunity from legal restraint. He generally has some worthless character in front of him in order to evade both legal and pervsonal ac- countability, and often the newspajjcr becomes the most dangerous mediuhi of his calumny. Such is the eager love of scandal, so innumei-able, doubtful, and irresponsible are its sources among the masses, that it is almost next to impossible to win a suit for dam- ages or to criminally prosecute the slanderer. A slan- der is of all things the hardest to prove in court or to punish when proved, and consequently the shot-gun and th-^ .evolver are often resorted to among men as the only remedy. Murder and slander, even when 78 SLANDKl gross and liorriblo, now bltcn go luipunished. Your life and character are least protected, especially aguiniit money and iufiuenct. A wealthy criminal cannot he punished in this country for any crime ex- ccpt theft or embe/:dement. 'No position or influ- ence can trample on the pocket nerve. Take my life or my good name, but don't touch my money! The world will penitentiary you sure, and it would often take your life if it coukl. Hence, so much unpun- ished murder and slander result in mob law and per- sonal violence in this couninj. It would seem that a high state of civilization Avould protect, first of all, life and cliaracter; but money and self-intca-est are as yet the chief objects of protection. In fact, at this time this is about the only thing among us involving American ^^ i)rotectim.'" Money and self are our house- hold gods, and the love of these is the root of all our evils. Our character and our religion, the Sabbath and the Bible in the public scliools, once the pride and glory of our country, are all dominated by our selfish interests andpleasiu-es, and subordinated to the " nuimmon of unrighteousness." It is no wonder that life and character have no chance against the influ- ence of money and business. It is interesting to note the baseness of spirit and method which characterizes the cowardly assassin who stabs your character. "What a passion some have for slander I How multiform and subtle are the ways and means employed! What a portraiture Hannah More has painted of the villain and his art! The hint malevolent, the look oblique. The obvioiis satire, or implied dislike, Tlie sneer equivocal, the harsh reply. And all the cruel language of the eye; sr.AXDKlt. ri) Tlio nrtt'ul injury, whoso vonoinod dart Scfircc wounds tlu^ liciiriug «-liilt' it stalw tho heart; Tlio gUHrdcd phra«o yAiotm uieaniny- kills, jot iold Tho iiwt'nor wonders how you thought it cold; 'riies(s and a thousand griefs niinnto as these, Corrodo our eoiuf'ort and destroy our ease. Aiiu)i); And hunting rejiutation down, Proclaim their triumph through tiio town. This:s the spirit and these the methods of tlic moral assassin engage L in the vilest business of mankind, and we are often astoiushed at the gi-eat and i-espect- able iHM.ple engaged in it. There are even some preachers who gossip and seandali/e and slander, and sometimes whole < "luuvhes are rent asunder by the tongue, the unruly member of which James so potent- ly wai-ns (rovl's ])eople. Slander is an evil genius, a cunning fiend which stalks its prey at noonday and springs ui)on its victims at midnight. Perhaps the finest characterization of the slanderer ever drawn was |>enued by Pollok: 6 80 SLANDEIt. 'Twus slander filled lier mouth with lying words; Slander, the foulest whelp of sin: the nuin In whom this spirit enteri>d was undone. His tongue was set on tiro of hell; his heart Was black as death; his legs were faint with haste To i)ropagato tho lie his soul had framed; His pillow was the peace of families Destroyed, the sigh of innocence reproached, Broki'u friendship, and the strife of l)rotherhoods; Yet did he spare his sleep, and hear the clock Number tho midnight watches, on his bed Devising mischief more; and early rose, And made hellish meals of good men's names. From door to doav you might have seen him speed. Or placed amidst a group of gaping fools. And whispering in their ears with foul lips. Peace fled the neighborhood in which he made His haunts; and, like a moral pestilence, Beforo his breath tho healthy shoots and blooms Of social joy and happin.ess decayed. . Fools only in his company were seen, And those forsaken of God, and to themselves Given up; the ])rudent shunned hin\ and his house. As one who had a deadly, moral plague. And fain would all have shunned him at the day Of judgment; but in vain. All who gave ear With greediness, or willingly their tongues Made herald to his lies, around him waited; While on his face, thrown back by injured man, In characters of ever blushing shame xVppeared ten thousand slanders all hi:: own. Such the spirit and such the doom of the Hlaiiderer at the judgment of God. Deep down in hottest liell, where dwells tlie foulest devil, will be the eternal abode of the serpent-ton.i^ued slanderer. The treatment of slander is an important consider- ation. The slandered man occupies a difficult posi- tion, lie needs most of all the grace of patience and forbearance, of fortitude and ])ravery. It is nnfort- 'iMj SL.WDKI!. 81 uru.te that most slanders have souk- founclation i„ lac-t. J- , of ll)oin are cut out of wli..le elotli. Some inii,ru(lenee, inadvertence, or mistake <,u our part gives the enemy a club to hit ns with— a sample out of whicli to cut a coat to fit ns with. Ofit-n the beau- lil'id and cliaste, but imi)rudent, young hulv tlius o-ets into troul)le; and so of the unskillful and^uno-uai^led niiiiister, where no wrong was dreamed of. JJut tJie great question is: How shall I treat scandal and slan- der:' .^ever be in too biga hurry,and never i.av any attention nnless dignity and dnty denumd vindication : and when vindicathm is imi,ossible, wait on God. A ever 1)rush off ii-esli mnd from your clothes. Let it dry. Slander will run its conrse after awhile, and tiunio-h we may never be pronounced innocent by all yet character untainted will shine a-ain like the sun through the clouds, even if the sky never l>ecomes al- too-ethcr clear. Socrates said: "Slanders do not hurt mo, becansc they do not hit me; " but we do not all have the rugged monntain grandeur of Socrates. Slanders do hit and lun-t some innocent people, some- times rend families, Chnrches, and neighborhoods, JeaAing for awhile the desolation of the cyclone in tlicir track; and often it takes manhood and Chris- tianity to leave aside the revolver and the tardy law and wait nntil the storm jKisses over. Of conrse there are a multitude of little things Avhich none may notice lor noticing them wonld only magnify and give im- portance where importance did not exist. Beech- erwell said: "Life wonld be a])erpetual flea-hnnt if a man had to run down all the innuendoes, inveracities, insiniiations. and suspicions which are nttered against hini." " The snrest method against scandal," says a writer, "is to live it down 1 y perseverance in well- It M.M 82 SLANDKH. m doing, ami fj// i>rmjer io God that lie will cure tlic dis- teini)t'iv(l iniiul u'" tliose wlio tradiu'c and injure i.-*." After all, God and time and well-doinjj: are tlie Ix-st remedy lor blander, i^o far as it nuiy ever be cured. Do good for evil, blesy for cursing, forgive and for- l)^..,i-^lliis is the cure of Jesus, and this is the most unfailing of all the remed'os a mortal ever yet applied to enmity. After all, slander, like other ills, is one of the Christian's crosses, and, well borne, it inures above all atllietions to the ])urest chastening and develo-p- nient of Christian life. Xo cross ever won a brighter crown, if borne well for Jesus' sake. It is comfort to know that the birds pick at the best and higliest fruit which grows upon the tree. The greatest and best people in the world are slandere*petites, yet it is a concrete fact that education and kindness have made (85) Iff if' i '11 80 KINDNESS AND dtUKLTY tlie lion and the tig-er i)lay like kittens about the I'eet of their trainers. I once read ol' a woman who kept two lions altoiit her house — her hack ])rc'inises — as doc- ile and irolieksonie as sjianiels; and it was not until the law eoiiipelled her that she eontined lier young' pets in a ea,i>e. There are many ins<"anoes in history of the docility and love of the lion trained up at the hands of kind and loving nnisters. See in the second ])ictnre of our illustration exact- ly the opi)osite method of ruling the animal world, '^riiere's a big num beating a little nude with a cudgel, and observe that the nude rebels and demonstrates his op])osition to force by the flight of his heels in the air. We have seen this ])ictnre in living tableaux a thousand times, and Ave have but to witness the dif- ference in the training of domestic aninuds aniou": men every day. Take the mean hireling of a mean nnistei-, and he makes a mean nude; and one-half of the difficulties and disasters resulting I'rom the em- ployment of aninuds originate in their abuse or their ill training. Thousands of lives are lost or limbs broken every year by aiumals made vicious by their more ignorant, brutal, and vicious masters. Cruelty to aninuds has become an obnoxious misdeme- punishable by law, and this is one grand step in .. direction of education, both to the brute that beats and the beast that kicks and runs away or perishes from cruelty. Of course some animals, as well as men, are more vicious and uiunanageable than others. A degree of force often has to accomi)any education. The rod of authority has to lie behind the throne upon which even love wields her scei)ter; but in all train- ing or develo])ment of num oi- l)east the rod and the cudgel should be the last resort, and then onlv wielded II I a m III ; ? ■! KrxnxKss axd cuukwvy. 89 in the liaiuls of lovino-ki„dnes8 and tender mercy It was once the custom to make tl.o prison-house the veiy synonym of cruelty; but our Christian civiliza- tion has entered the doors tliereof Avith the out- stretched hand of mercy and kindness, and tlnmsands have been reformed in the very dungeons of demo- nuical imquity and misery. The laws of a country should beexecuted, but justice in Innnan affairs should always be tempered with mercy, esijecially as regards the methods and nunmers of treating the criminal and the beast. Let me say that love is always the ruler, for ''love 18 kind." The preacher, the parent, the teachei-, the kmg on the throne, every man in position or author- ity over his fellows, who has sought in patience and lorbearmice to exercise this most excellent of all graces, has learned the cumulative and lu-ogressive value of loving-kindness, accompanied by tii-mness and decision. The venomous serpent, the wild beast, the savage breast, the hardened criminal, the rebell- ious subject, the obdurate child, the sluggish student —all yield at last to persistent argument and persua- sive gentleness. A refractory sailor, who had been whipped a dozen times, burst into tears and became obedient when the captain said : " Let us forgive him." That little superintendent of the penitentiary who stood before a fierce band of convicts broken loose and determined to fight their way out, about to rush in desperation against the armed guard, in spite of all threats and warnings— that little man, with a reed in his hand, coolly and kindly pleading for submission, was mightier than a company of soldiers with fixed bayonets and double charges. That teacher before her rough and stubborn boy, exhorting with stream- 90 KIXDXESS AND CIIUF.LTY. in.S>«~>i«_S>«~>4_» RIP 1/flN WINKLE. *w.J JM'^ '''ivc all hciinl the story of Kip Van Win- xM^^ ^"^'*^'' ^^''" '"^'''l ■'''^ '"'<■!• too well, who fell ^M^ ' '>^>i't'l''iillicCatski!l Moiiiuaiiisoiia hiint- Ij, ing ('X|K'(litioii, who slept twenty years, who ^^ wIk'Ii he awoke was iiiit'onscious of tlie tiiiii- _;;Q lied hy, notwithstaii(lin,<.- the stoek had rotted from his ^iiii-haiTel, and not withstanding- the .skeleton of his doM- lay hy hin.. all hieaehed and in deeav, and his own hair had «Town white and as lon«.- as his |)„dy. He went haek to iiis old village, hut it had Toiootf Jji him, and the places which once knew him knew him no more; and such wei-j the ehan-es that he knew them not. Fan ily. IViends, and a'' .vliom Ik; had I'or- mei'ly and familiarly known, had passed away, and yet all thino-s, as they /tm/ ken, were IVesl, !i the nlind ol'okl Iii|), the awakened sleeper. He had slept (o(, lo„ir, and his sleep had thrown him twenty years behind thJ a^^e, all unconscious of the i-apid roll of old Time's win«.ed wheel. So thousands sleep to-day, upon all qnestions of proo-ressive development. There are ji few i)eople in our country yet who have never seen a railroad, nor heard the whistle of the locomotive. I saw several yeai's a^^o, a man from the mountains of Korth Carolina who had ridden horseback all the way to Memoliis. He iiad never seen a steam-boat, and as 96 KIP VAX WrXKLE. P t w ^ he stood near u little stern-wheel steamer he said to me : " That's a joe darter, an't she? " 1 told him it was a very small hoat, but he couldn't believe it until pres- ently I pointed him to the :Natchez, just coming- in sig-h't, and as she landed the old :Xorth Carolinian opened his eyes and his mouth, and gaped and won- dered with astonishment. The picture lor this sketch represents the man worse behind the times than any other man in the world. It is the old Kip Van AV inkle Anti-missionary, lie sits upon his ])orch in the evening as the sun sinks be- hind the western hills. AH is favorable to reverie and dream, to the thoughtful and imaginative mind. He is not an idiot, however illiterate, and he is not nec- essarily an illiterate man. He has been reading his Bible all his life, and, in spite of verse and sermon to the contrary, he has been persuading himself that the cause of Missions is a fraud, especially i^onvV/M Missions. He has been taught and has been teaching that if God wanted the heathen converted he would send whom- soever he would, without money and Avithout price, to the benighted nations. He has not believed in con- ventions and boards and man-sent missionaries, and he has not believed in systematic methods of raising means at any cost of agencies, or otherwise, to take the peo- ple's "cash." He has persuaded himself that agents and boards and missionaries are stealing the contri- butions raised for them; and that (iod does not and cannot bless these men-insi)ired methods. He reads the Bil)le in vain which says, " (Jo ye into all the world, and preach the gos])eI to every creature," and he dis- believes the marvelous account of missionary zeal and results in Ongole and liurmah and Cuba and Mexico and the Fiji Islands. He doesn't believe a word of KIP VAX WrXKLE. it, and he nays no heed to the Macedonian cry, " ('<,n^ over, and help us." Ho reason, no argtnnent no pe ! suasion can move him; and thongh the vision of the helpless heathen, as in the pictn.: con.es often befbre . .sioht. le ,s a great dreamer and visionary in 1 oligion. He spiritualizes every thing, .ukI has n nch eonhdence in signs and sounds and virions; but tliis IS one vision he never allows to stand long before him He can t away with the heathen. He has .^ept too lo.",' as lis long beard and hair indicate; and he will live and die and go before God with the dread confession at he spent a life r ',liudness over the grandest is- sue o any age. Goa .orbid that I should live and die an anti-missionary! This brings us to the serious and solemn thought that the gre^itest issue of the nineteenth centur^ is Mission,. The world has been eighteen centuries open- ing the gates of the nations to the gospel. Primitive Christianity made grand strides in this direction, carrv- ing the gospel to all the provinces of the Koman Em- pire, but the regions beyond were never reached un^ til modern tunes. Besides this, primitive Christianity Itself was ingulfed in the -Dark Ages," driven to the ^ alleys and the fastnesses of mountains, until the Ref- ormation of the sixteenth century; but since that time the evangelist and the missionary have gone forth to ev- eiy accessible land. The sword of conquest, the cannon ot J.ngland, have opened gradually every dark shore and continent to the Bible; and dnring this centui v, for the first time in the history of the world, every mition has received the messengers of Jesus Christ. The walls oi China have crumbled-the hardest nation to reach beneath the sun-and the black continent of Africa r '1 1 I \ 'i m mv VAN \viM\ij;. i» n luiH lu'cn ('xi)lt)ro(l and oiuniod by the missionary hiin- seir, and by snch mm as IJowcn, Livingstone, Stanley, Haker, and otluTs. It, look tbe civili/ation of mod- ern times, springinj;- IVom tlie U'elormalion of Luther and otliers, lo make tbe world aeeessible to llie g'os- pel; and llie man «»r tbe denomination opposid to iMissions is Ijliml to the signs of tbu times in which ho lives and in opposition to tbe sublimest issue of the nineteenth century. The issues of slavery, polyg- amy, war, prohibition, religious and jjolitieal libi'rty, allihese are grand, and in part settled; but the last great triumph and consnnnnation of Christ in this ago is the sending of tbe gospel to all tbe nations of Ibo earth, and all other issues, begun or settled, arc but auxiliary to Ibis. This of all other issues is the great' est from several stand-points: 1. It fullills tbe sublimest i)ropliccy of modern times —the promise of (Jod that his Sou should have "tho heathen for his inheritance" and the " uttermost parts of the earth for his jiossession," and tluit even dark Ktbittpia should stretch forth her bands unto (Jod. 2. It is in obedience to the grandest l.;>v of God ever enacted: "(Jo ye into all tbe world, and i)reach the gosi)el to ei'cn/ creature." This is the commission of Christ — univei-sal to man's universal need and based upon the (Christian's universal duty; and the (Jhris- tiau, or deuominatlou, which does not love *^ all the world" for which Christ died is not catholic in si)irit and cannot have the world in catholic possession. Our lov<> has to be three hundred and sixty degrees of the earth's circumference in order to be missionary, and if it is not missionary, it is nothing— yea, it is Rip Yan '^Vinkle, and dead asleep. 3. This issue of Missions is the grandest of the nine- nil' VAN WINKLK. •>!> teeiKii ..•ciitury, hcfiuiHc it bnii-s i„ t|,o Hublimcsl ccm. Biminiiiti(.ii of the age, the Keeoiid coining of the J.on] Jcsiis ChiiHt. lliH proiniHe i.s (hat when the gospel has been preached as a witiiesH to all the iiaf ions then "liie end shall come," and when the end comes he comes. The time iw not lar oil', lor (he missionary is going rapidly everywhere, and alas for the poor old Kip Van Winkle of any denomination wlio does n(»t read thJH gloi-ious sign (d'thc tiniesl 4. This issue of this period is the grandest of the century, because it involvew the conversion of two- thirds of the population ol' the earth. About one thousand millionH ol' human beings have not yet been brought to Christ, even nominally, much less s|)iritu- ttlly. VViuit a Btupendous work ! How slow and long It has been reaching this pointl J low impossible it luis seemed lieretolbrel And yet the icebergs ui' the polar shore break up i-a])idly as the heat of summer brings to bear its cunudative eneigy, however long it may be in reaching the result. So with JVIissions. The icebergs are beginning to melt and break u]) rap- idly. The nations are softening under the light of the gospel. Knowledge is covering the earth as the wa- ters cover the sea. Ciod seems now, as nevei- before, to be in a great hurry about something. Thousands of young men and women are rising up and ai-e ready to "go," and thousands are opening their i)ocket-books to the gi-eat work. AV^>e to the Hip Van Winkle who still shuts his eyes and cries: "Away with the heatheni" lie had better have a millstone tied about his neck and be cast into the sea. It is a dangerous thing to be a Kip Van Winkle in the nineteenth century. 5. Missions is the grandest issue of this or any other age, because it has opened up and developed the gos- Si I i' 1(H) in I* VAN WINK I pel (liyiiily ()(' women imd cliildrcn. ( 'lirisliimily Isi the liluM-jilion ol'lliesc IVom the HhiiekU'sol" inim'H {\r- juuiy in every n.u-e nnd hind, and Cln-islianily Ims set them IVee in heal hen eonnlries and i)nt (hem (o work in ('ln-is(ian huuLs. It has (aken (ho woHd ei,i-h(<'('n «'en(in'ie8 to si'o that a woman was wortli soniediinir and (() see (hat a ehihl e.oiMd bo eonver(ed and pnt (o learn and (o hd)or Cor fJesns. Wo liave had bnt IKtIo' more eonee|)(ion of womaij's ludigions worfh, of ohil- dron's iin|)or(Mnee, (han tho hoa(hen, and it is only l)e- ginning to (hiwn Inlly npon ns the meaiun^- of Christ when he said: "Snller the litth) ehihlron to come nnto nie, and forbid them not; for of sneli is (!k> kin,i;(h»ni of God." Ti!o women and tho chihh-en are abnost nni- vorsally missionary, and a bn-gi' part of our contribu- tions and labors como fr«)m tbis nonj-ee. ^riiey still have biijfher liteeuth century. Thi>v would be tit only for the museum in tho twentieth century, a relic of barbaric Christianity, if 1 might so stignuiti/.e our great and holy religion. These old Kips are greatly in tho way in sonic sec- IMI' VAN NVINKI.K 101 i(\y piiralyzn tioiiM and in iiiMiiy «.(' cur ( 'liiirclics. Tl or Iclliur^nzc our yoiin- inxl jliry |„in^^ li'k,. ;, niili- Htoiii! nroiiiid the lu'ck «.r flu, ('hii'rcli. 'Vhv time I C'OIIK' lor lIlCIII to rrvt OI||, illl(| i-vl. lil.S iiwfiy. T\ K! HIM! IH 111 Its /cnidi; owlsnnd hnls, 1„ _y„„,. |,o|,.m. 'n„. ii,„„ "iiis ('(.iiK! when iill Chrisliims slioiild Ici.rn, lik(, I'..,ul 1 <', to idl iiicii- (lint they jirc dchtors, IWr Clirisfs s;il to tilt) Jowim.l Iho (ircck, loll,,. I.oud'.,,,,! Mk^ I to tlic Miudv iiiid the uliilc. All rt'c bl ood, and in ( 'lirist u.> rcaeli tlio idoiiofll men iM'(; oC "oru Hid hrollicrlioo.I oC mjin. () (or llijit mi of rani, who conld wish hiniscir i(! nniNcr- if it Avonld lu' (ho nu ssionary '/.rn\ iiccnrscd (Voin ( 'hiist cans ol savinn;- his kinsmen in IIm; peril ilesli, and which sent him, umld iimniiKwabl tho world over, to ))riiio- tJio (Jenlilcs * < '^ (HE subject of this sketch, as may readily he seen from tlie illustration, is dodg-ing-, or what is more vulgarly and proverbial- ly called "whipping the devil around tho stump." The picture shows an old gentleman talking to his son, perhaps expostulating- Avith him a1)out some wrong-, whihsthe boy plausibly dodges the " old man " and evades detection and difficulty. The devil is screened behiiul a stump, and while the bo}^ is ostcnsil)ly laying on the lash the devil is laugh- ing lit to kill himself at the artful performance; and at which ])('rf()rmance the boj^ himself, with one eye on his latlu'i- and the other on the devil, laughs in his own sleeve. Of course his Satanic majesty doesn't mind being whipped in this kind of Avay. It is a flagellation Avliich does not hurt anybody but the dodger. '' Tell the truth and shame the devil " is the only square blow Avhich hurts the " father of lies;" but Avhen the truth is told, and yet not told, acted, and yet not acted, in the way of a dodge, you only hit the devil in fun, without hurting him, and he enjoys it. In othei' words, you fool somebody else and hurt yourself, and this is quite a pleasant Avork for the devil to Instigate and yet appear to suffer the penalty. The devil and the dodger understand each other, (102) ."^ m m* fuK _^VUIPPIV« TIIK ,^VrL AROUNH T.IK STUMP 105 of uu jnculeut in slavery thnes. One ni-.- tn" tol. Jus son to tie a no,., hoy, „a„,ed Al to " s and o.,ve luniusonn.l tln-aslnno-ibrson,.... l ' The Hon -iiwl Vif ""o^oi sonic misdemeanor. .„„;:;;-i'^::i;:,:r:,,!;:;;;'r'j'xi:'';;.'''- "Hi„„ a, I beat th. ,.„.,„,,, ,,J:;,,^ >;.;/• ^;;» i "". g.v.i.pou tl,„ .lovil, a» he t,.l,l ,ne t„ " ',t son beat „,e l.o,t, Alfbeilowecl, „„,, the , ,.„, '." '"^""' '"^ l«^^''l"'"""u-e with ,,e,leet satislT, ■ , the btunil , as see., ,„ ,„y pi,.,,,,. ,„„| , : Tf :ou;r'':f ;' ;;■ ""^ -'""-^'yioabont :,,:':;:; All ™,n„„ about as Alf „i,l, to hnnseln Sa,a„ w'„.l« does Jus iavoiito dodo-er. TJiis species of Jyino- .vlietlier spoken or acted, mav be called cu-cnlar; in otl.er words, a dodge is a cii-- cnlar iie. It is a lie by eircnmlocution oi- circumven- tion appeanng I.onest, telling tJie trnth, in fact, to tell wl i!l, T •'/ """^'•^- ^' '' '' '^''^'^ ^' ^^--'l^tion mJucJi flescnl)es a circumference about the point to be evaded and which does not go straight to it, tnig out of tJie difKculty l)y diverting the attention in unother direction. It tlirows its victim off guard, and the victimizer is often the studied villain in that school of lying indirectly when lying directly will not g:et ]„m out of the difficulty to be evaded. It is more artful than square lying, and the expert can describe a circle as easily as a square without the slightest me- chanical aid of the semi-diameter. . The art seems to be readily learned too, for even children not unfre- lOG Wllll'l'lJSU TlIK l>KVlli AUOUNl) TllK HTUMI'. qiicntly are lulcptH in this vice. Little riiarlic cmno homo one Sunday aCternoon with n i)ai)(.'r l)a^ of can- dy. " AV'here did you j>t't,tl»at candy, Charlie? " asked the mother. " CJot it at the drui,'-store; didn't buy it, though." " How did you get it, then — you didn't beg it?" ''No, nwi'ani; I told the doctor that I would got some more candy next week, and as this was worth ten cents I would i)ay him twenty cents for the next ten cents' worth; so you see, mother, Ididn't trade on Sunday; " and thus the little fellow whipped tlie devil around the stump (m the Sabbath question as artfully as an old expert. This was equal to an old minister 1 once heard of who loved whisky, and who was al- ways ailing "in the head, hip, and side," and alllieted with the '^ inlluenza." Jle would not go to the saloon nor send to the wholesale ]i(iuor-dealer to get his brandy, but he would go to the drug-store and get a jn-escription by the quart, hall-gallon, or gallon, as the case might be, with a small amount of Peruvian bark put into it in order to give the color of medicine. He persuaded himself that he needed it. He claimed, and believed, jjcrliaps, that it did him great good; but he was whii)ping the devil around the stump in order to drink liquor, as thousand.^ upon thousands have done who did not want to come straigh. out to do the open thing. Multitiulcs of prohibitionists, great tem- ])erance men, are eloquent alxmt the " great cause," but thoykeep "the little brown jug" with "shot" in it behind the door — for health! ;Not only do children learn this art quite young, but often it is found well developed in the ignorant and illiterate. The uegro, for instance, is a fine dodjrcr, and so of the most unlettered Irishman— ^the only two human beings upon earth who possess a ua- JMniTPiMNu^rm^Movrr. akcund thk ktumi.. 107 no c.mrnctcM-l.snc,anVelI, den, y.,u neb- ber vill "But, .Sun., you have aist oou.e out, of n.y patch; at least you are oonnng from that direeti<,n/' lioss, d.reckslmn.s luib ^ot nuthin' to do wid an hon- c.t n...ger." Of course tliere was no way to eatch feani except to track hnn to the patch. Patf the Jrish- mun^ who sworo oU' from drinkln,, who for a lon^. hue kept sober and who at last broke his pled,.^ gives u fine .pecnnen of whipping the devil around «K) stump when he .hstinguished between himself and Put who took the drink. It was not himself at all that did It, but It was Pat, and upon Pat he shoved all the blame when it was himself that was Pat, and Pat was he; and so he explained to the priest This vicious and artful sin is almost universal in high life and by more rosponsible people, as well as among the young, the ignorant, and illiterate. The • intoxicated husband coming home late, trying to talk Wisely and walk straight, is whipping the devil around the stump to Ins wife and children when he is drunk clear through and visibly full to the sight of the dull- est observer. How often the derelict husband in va- rious ways whips the devil around the stump to the Oeception of his " darling wife » the Lord only knows. Ihe schemes and devices of the business world, be- hind the counter and on the mart, often take the shape of this artful sin. ^ The horse-jockey deak in a thou- sand circular lies in order to sell or swap his old doc- tored beast, and when you have been swindled you '1 \ U\t^ wiiii'i'iM. Tlin in;vii, Aijoi M- Tin; HiiiMi'. rniiiiol |Miitit lo 11 Hiii;;k' h(|iiiiii' li»' in llu Inidc. Ito- f»'H«tiH Jutliic iuid tin jury, ill HpiUMtr (lie lawyi'r'M t^-iHtuu, tiir (iotlyrr «»n ilic nIhii I whips the lallu'rot' lU'H aiKMn'^ till' "Imiiit. " I )i-est folks the art of whip- \n\\'j; Satan around the slump is ])racticed, even to perjury. IVrhaps the most artful dodger is the poli- ticiai.. Cain was the iirst dodger in history, unless Adam and ]^ve sbonhl be considered as whipping the devil around the stump when, clothed with fig-leaves, tbr/ were dodging (Jod in the garden of Eden. I'o cir- cumvent (iod's iiuiuiry, "AVbere is thy brother?" Cain replied: ''Am I }ny brother's keeper?" and since that tiui> •'Vic world luu' kept up the art of dodging __Wmi.,..N,; ,ni l,KV,LA.MMN„T,.KMT,,M,.. hK> l>n!((,y vi|;(»n»iiM| ii»r it— .r Hii'ir lilKialit^, uiid •iiiduH \vlii|tjic(l (III! (Ifvii Ih'IijijimI IiIn MaHti'iMvilh a I "' 'ij')»'i''^:i't triilh ft l^lll- („ 1|„, J|,,| c around Mu, nfu ly Spiiil. iiip when i k; klHH, CM IH'oially in (he d( ;:r;'7'''<''*-'l'--'-*li-i|'l-;andlKU.an;a.d lor It tin) Hamo iitl'anl can^^ht himdod '^atAnioe.i,andidan..ihin;(;:;d:;-:; I ':^ otadod,.e.,andyetitdidHeen.uli,(|eh n;, Sa(an around the H.nnip when he went up to :. n.sale.n, Hhaved Imh head, and went (o ..har;,.s with 1- 'JcMVH, endudly n,Mho purpose of HVoidlM. dis. vor an.l <, WMinin^^ iuMuenee. Jt was at lea«t Mha( .-;.IIy virtue c-alled poliey," if it was not dod.^ini, tl.c.««ue. The best oC,,eopli, under extiaoidiw; cireu,nHtances,have(|,,c|^.i,lH.>.neti,neHandson,ewlM.,e One tliere mm, liowever, wJio never dod-ed. Jt vas JcsuH. llewhippe.l the devil, hut not around he Btump. lie always struck him s.iuan.Iy ],etween the eyes and ho vanquished him forever. "Resist tie ( evd «nyH James, » and he will llee iron, you: " 1„ t 10 old liar and deceiver enjoy h nod.iu^. hette. tluu. the ody eoly lashin- ho ^ets around the stump Jo- Heph fled from him and left his coat behind him, an.l «e had just as well have stood his o.,ound and fou-ht Inm face to iiice. Abraham whipped him around The ftump with Pharaoh, callin- his wife his sister, which in a sense, she was; and he got both himself and' h.s w.fo into trouble. The best plan is to follow ClH-ist s example, even as a rule of policy, tel! the ii-",l it IPil 110 W It ll'Piyd Till.: DK VIL AllOUSl) THE STUMP. tnifli, shame tlic de\il, and sti-ike liim straight out from the shoulder. Meet liim squarely, and you will come out best in the end. As Shakespeare says, " No leg-acy is so rich as honesty; " and it is a legacy im- perishal)!e for time as it is for eternity. The dodger is ever the loser in the end, and when his characteMs once knowu he is among all men despised and dis- trusted. Otway said, '' Honesty needs no disguise nor ornament; de plain; " and it is the greatest conso- httu)u and the surest benefit to the man of probir- and integrity that he walk above suspicion by eschewino- every art of deception. -The way of honest fame," saul bocrates, "is this: study to be what you wish to seem; and it may be well said that, in the end, the dodger Mill never reach honor, fame, or dignity Tud- per has truly said; ^ "^"tomr""^''^"'^' '' "''* ^'°''^''^' *^"' ^' ^* S'^^*^^ °" ^^^ I speak of an honest purpose, character, speech, and action. Honesty, even by itself, though making many adversaries Whom prndonce might have set aside, or charity have softened. Evermore will prosper at the last, and gain a man great honor ^ I" <•! t-i» ,|:. m' n i u ^.- ON THE FENGE. t#- |gp,>^V'^ loiio. ,„,t ^-e b,tweon two opinions?" m^% Hc-c IS a i,oo,- lellou- on th. fence, sitting '^^n|p , l»"^>^'t' ,„,| j,,,,^,. good. Ihey arc on the fence in every thino- es„e- eiMlly rehgiom Xo matter what o,,,at moral question fepn.ij^-s up, they are always undecided if interest appetite, or j^leasure stand in tlie way. 'I'hey are '^ be- tweenhawk and buzzard" on prohibition.-esj.ecially If business or politics are in the way, or if they are tlinst for the bottle. ^Phey reco<,nize and feel the great mora and economic principles inyolved in the contest They discover that the saloon is the pro- foundest curse of the country, the producer of crime, (n:i) lU ON TllK l'KN( K. insanity, .-nul pauperism, tlsc dcbunchcr of politics and the eoiTuptei- ol" le<^islalion, the destroyer of youth and the delaeer of beauty, the promoter of strife and niurdcT and hist, the degradation of morals, and tho subverter of society, the deadly bane t)f the family, the multitudinous breeder of individual ruin, the open door t() hell from every avenue of social existence, but they cannot be persuaded to act with the ref- ormation of the ag-e in which they live. They will not take sides, but straddle the fence and thus g-ivo encouragement to the enemy, fallaciously imagining- neutrality, when oldigation fixes their duty on the side of right. So of every other question involving a con- flict between duty and interest, pain and pleasure, in- dulgence and self-denial, popularity and criticism, right and wrong. I have seen the preacher on the fence in things which compromised his bread and butter or his pojjular stand- ing in the conuuunity. On certain subjects he set his sails with the wind, and his theology became like In- dia rubber. Big sinners sat in the pew before him — the wholesale liquor-dealer, the high-toned libertine, the giddy fashionist, the splendid reveler, the dishon- est dealer — but these magnificent sinners were rich and influential in position. The faithful and honest men and women of the Church nu)urned over spii'itu- al dearth and decay; they called for discipline, that now dead sage, but the world in the Church and out of it rallied to '' its own." The poor i)reacher talked of charity and love and sweetness, and lie dealt gen- tly Avith sin, s])iritual wickedness in high ])laces, while his conscience lU'ged him to hui'l thunderl)olts and hold up the high standard of God's law and oi*- der. There he sat on the fence, while his Church OJ^r THE FEJ^CE. _115 died, or until God let the devil in to tear it up -uid put It 111 u position to revolutionize, reorgaui/c •uid re-establi«li itself. So in u host of questions to-day 'the popular preacher, occupying a popular pulpit, preach- mo- to a popular congregation, is sitting on the lence, while the devil laughs on one side, and the au-el of Cu.d shrieks out on the other: " Cry aloud, and'spare not! He claims "broad views on all subjects;" and the popular press lauds him as a man of liberal mmd and without bigotry. He deals much In the icsthetics of Christianity, dabbles largely in the eth- ical, and occasionally touches the gospel of salvation or damnation with a " forty-foot " pole. Hell, except in parlor parlance, is quite out of the fashion with him, and the love and mercy of God, without tlie wrath and justice of God, are invariably held up. Sinners profess without repentance, and join the Chni-ch without religion; but all runs well ju^t so the Church flourishes in grand style and the pastor lives on good terms, without friction, with his congregation and with the community. He is on the fence in every thing which would involve dispute or controversy with any thing mortal, and he seeks to reconcile and compromise away every difference as non-essential distinctions, without difference, among men. We live in the age of on-tlie-fenco religion and on-the-fence ecclesiasticism and on-the-fence morality, "neither cold nor hot," ready to be spewed out of the mouth of Almighty God, increased in riches, full and wanting nothing, yet ragged and miserable and wretched in our delusion. This was the Laodicean sin whicli, fig- uratively, makes God sick. I have seen mothers and fathers on the fence with their children. Especially is this so in these "last ill :-i t i . ttmvammmvmMai/iMmiiti ■^.ijsmanmm ^ : 110 ox THE PEN'CK. days " when cluklrcn have become iiiiiversally " dis- obedient," and when tlie chikl, instead of the parent, rales. The day of the rod is gone, it is said, and we have readied the point where intelligence and love prevail. We now jicrsuade and plead and beg, and I have seen a child ofl'cndcd, pout, and sniffle nntil the mother would go and ask its pardon, or otherwise ex- plain and apologize lor hurting the little one's feelings. The whole parental Iraternity of this country is now on the fence with I'cference to child training and cult- ure, Avith few exce])tions; and without a revolution the next generation will iind the majority on tlie side of tlie devil. • Little girls wear bangs and bonnets and dresses like women, have acknowledged beaus, and I have seen them meet on the streets of Xashville and kiss! Young ladies and gentlemen correspond through the telephone, keep hite hours in the parlor, stand at the gate in the dark, go upon moonlight excursions, and indiscriminately meet and associate at watering-places among strangers of all classes and characters. The parent is on the fence, not know- ing what to do. There is nothing positive, but all seems generally negative, in family training. The child goes to school if it wants to, and but few ever grow up now, es])ecially in our cities, to graduate at a lirst-class institution, male or female, except from the poorer classes. The boys and girls from the coun- try constitute the main element seeking higher ed- ucation; and in the matter of intellectual as Avell as moral culture our city children are left ultimately to do as they jdease, against the ])rotest of the teacher, parent, and preacher. Xever Avas there, in my humble opinion, an age of greater parental indifference, and never Avas there a period in Avhich the independence OS THE PENCE. 117 of children was so absolutely declarecl. Still the world rolls on, and by otlier c-ounteractino- iniluences keeps, eo fai', her level and upward and onwai'd way. But of all the most pitiable and sorry pictures it is the poor sinner on the fence and imable to decide be- tween God and the devil. He admits himself a sin- ner, he feels that hell is yawning'- beneath him and that heaven is Avooin^i,^ him alwve; he hears the voice of mercy calling- him on one side, and sees the devil beck- onino- him on the othei-, but he cannot dedde. 1 have talked with scores just in this condition; and some- times, with tears and trembling-, tliey have admitted just such a state of mind. They want to g-et to heav- en, and they want to escape hell. They acknowledge Christ as the only Redeemer; they confess that they are wavering in the balance between two o])posite destinies; but some pet object, some fanciful scheme, some darling: temptation, keeps them undecided. Oft- en they are hoping for the future, aud at the same time dreading the terrors of procrastination, but they continue to halt between two opinions. So thousands, at last, have gotten down on the devil's side of the fence, oi- else, at last, the devil caught them on the fence. It is all the same whether a man sits on the fence or gets off voluntarily on the devil's side, the devil gets him in the end. Let no man persuade him- self that he is neither for God nor the devil, because he sits on the fence; for the fence of indecision is not the diNidiug line between God and the devil. The sinner already belongs to the devil, and until he de- cides for Christ he is on the devil's side. Jesus says: "ile that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." There is no middle, negative, nor neutral ground be- 9' 118 ox THE FENCE. I twoen good nnd evil, betAvocn God und Satan. Thero is no liali'-way house between liell and lieaven. I must 1)0 altogether on God's side, or altogether against him. Wherever relation exists there obligation binds, and I cannot etand neutral between God and his enemies. I owe God all; and I am bound by his authority as Greater and King, as Preserver and Kedeemer. On the other hand, I owe Satan uothing save opposition and resistauee; and any neutrality, any getting on tho fence between God and him, is treason and rebellion to Crod. Frederiek the Great said that iie was "nei- ther lor God nor the devil;" in other words, he did not know Avhere he stood; but he was mistaken: ho was on the side of the devil if he was not with Christ. The citizen cannot be neutral in w^ar toward his gov- ernment. The wife cannot stand on negative ground toward lier husband in eonllict with an enemy, de- lation creates obligation, and there is no fence between the two. Hence, as a sinner, I must be in harmony with my environment, my conscience, my God, and my record in order to l)e with Christ, and no being was over so deluded as he who imagines that he can be neither for nor against his God. He is for him or against him— totally, Avholly, absolutely, altogether. Agripi)a was "almost pei-suadcd" to be a Christian; but Paul said tliat he must l)e "altogether," not "al- most." God will not divide witli us, for there is no room i'or division between salvation and damnati(m. Joshua was the true type of the decided man of God. "As for me and my house," he said, "we will serve the Lord;" and he said to Israel: "Choose you this day Avhom ye will serve." So said Elijah: "If the Lord l)e (iod, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." Get on one side of the fence or the other, for i .'» .1.. n time while. v„„ live,? J .''',''''' «'>'^ >"'•" Jf<.'"l "■:- "■ .-.v ..ceil!,, « ; ?■ ;;i""^."-i"^ -° ecicnoe dun,l to G.kI « 11 1, , "' " <"'"- ea«o„fi„,,i,|.o,,„K., "■'"''•' """"^ "'""'""■•' " ««,„„„." It Joes „„t ia:'t ■;„„,"", r;rui'; ''" '■'"• fill or»i'„, fit :!,,:: :;\t:: '""•'''! ""- -^ in m,cl, a decision. S,i 1 i". i' „ "* "" '"'Kl'inoss not so bad as to slf ""'"■•■"■• "'»' i"=''l'"l« -""itdy bottoMo d'ldet!'^! """'• '""• """• How happy jire flioy ^ _ ^Vl"' «ioir Saviour obey! •lisastcraadgriof II "r ,°'"''""'' ""'■■'• '■""•'"^ winch «:"-oudsth 'st „, ,f^;,%-7-->- "-* ''I""'! eternity the ci-own „P l" ° '' '"'"™"; "''<1 '" o»ce aching head of bis JZl^^j!""" ""°" *''^ I TWO MASTERS. m. Oman ciiii scrvi-lwo niasU'rs: (or eilluT lie ICu ^vill lialc llu' (»iic, ami love tlic (ithcr; or else 111' will hold to the oik-, and di'spiso tin- otluT. \'c' cannot serve (iod and mam- lon." In till' ])ii'(in'e l)e("ore lis Ave see a young' lau liohliny on to Christ with one hand while the world-god, mammon, holds him by the wrist of the other hand. Christ is pointing him to lieaven, while the grave and Satan are eoneealed ])ehi,'!d the tem|)ting Avorld-god; and, strange to say, this •oung man, Avith one eye on flesus and the other upon the ohjeet ol" his idolatry, is holding i-n between Christ and Satan, between hell and heaven, between ultimate hope and despaii-. This is a ])ieture of" iloid)le-hearted decision Avhieh, like double-minded imlecision, never excels at any thing. Man has two eyes, two ears, two hands, tAVo nostrils — in line, the double organ of all the senses w ith one excci)tion — but he cannot be del- initely conscious of seeing, hearing, smelling, touch- ing, tasting but one object at the same time. He can be or do but one thing distinctively at a time, and no more; nay, much less can he serve Cod and mam- mon, have two masters, op})osed to each, other, at once. lie must, in order to be successful and hajipy, cling to the one or the other, let loose one or the other, love (120) II I is '■. . ^ i !|S TWO MA ST I'll IS. VSi or liMte ono or i\u' other. A man nuiy follow several (lelails or (iepartiiieiits of the same hiisiness in lilc; his hnsiness and reIi<,^ioii may Im- in ih(^ same line, hnt lie cannot serve (i«.(| ami hold on to a husiness, a pleasure, a passion, mm appetite, or an idea which serves the world, the Mesh, and the devil. The (tod we serve and the v<»cation wo lollow, the thoni^'-hts and emotions we cherish, the friends and companions we keej), nnifit travel the same road. Otherwist-, our rc- li^^ions life, at least, will prove a iallure both Cor time and eternity. 1'ht'i-e are jnst four kinds ot' ])eoj)le in the world, as illnstrated by the parable of the sower. There is the ''wayside hearer," who heeds n(jt the word, and who never makes any profession of reliU. with the world, swallowed up in S' m ' I^h- ness, wallang cheek by jowl with the devil, tryho- To serve two masters-God and n,annnon-and nu kin" a wretched failure in both, especially in J2„\ « ha,-d to teach a Sunday-school class and ru ° o the play-house and the dance-hall all the week. You can t enjoy a prayer-meeting AVednesday eveninff and go o the bar-room Tuesday night before. The ifo ™ The f!" -1 I ""'"T '"■" "<" "»^ Sunday morning. The famdy a tar and the card-table do not „m togethJ e.. Profanity and hymns will not jingle. There is no harmony between a vile heart and n-ayer and Zise and melody, when yon go to worship God. You c I'l have he devil sitting in the pew with yoijmd ye be trying to shake hands with Christ; and tou can' eave Satan at the ehureh-doo,, if yJu run wMi In dnring the week in pleasure and business. Chr THE PERFEGT MODEL. I»i -^>4><-^ W I^^ have before us liere tlie perfect Model. The ^iWfQ^h *"■ "*^^' block of human nuture sits before 1 \m I fgygg H ? !T-y I'lrn. i iim i 4* '\ UK I'KHI'KfT .MoniM. 133 tlic imniaciiliitc Ibnn and ffisliioii of our Kedeenier. Glorious Model! How we should sit before it, or hold it ill frout of us every day, that we may be conformed to his will and transformed more and more unto the perfect day after his likeness und image by a livin«-- Baerifice unto him of body, mind, and soul! Jesus Chi'ist said to the world: "Follow me.''' He spake as man never si)ake. He made no mistakes in judgment, committed no fault in morals. His exem- plification of divine life in toil and teaching-, in trial and siilfering, in self-denial and self-sacrifice, finds iio parallel in the history of the world's best men, and he uttered a doctrine and gave a system of religion which are absolutely faultless. Perfect God, he'vvas at the same time perfect man; and he so became allied to human nature and all its wants and infirmities tiiat he lived and died with a perfect human experience and a perfect human character. In liis sympatlietic hu- man relationship, in the contact of his God-touched humanity, he became not only our model rjf perfection, but he became the divine magnet which drew the world to his feet. He is not a cold and far-off model, to be philosophically or aesthetically gazed upon and wondered at; but he came down to us in concrete form, the " God with us" so entering into us that we might enter into him; and, nestling at his feet, we can sit and look into the face of a loving Friend who knows and feels our wants and gives to our hungering hearts every needed blessing and grace. We have a living and loving model which knows and helps us to study himself; and with such advantages of discipleship, how rapidly Ave may develop into his likeness by fol- lowing his footsteps under the guidance of his truth and the inspiration of his Spirit! lU TllK I'KKKKCT MODEL. Ko other !M"inhilos(.phies of the Stoics and Epicureans long ago degenerated and died amid the indistinguish- able ruins of atheism and pantheism, the profoundest corruptei-s of the liuman mind and heart. THE J'KUFKCT MODKL. l.'jij AHTeuehcraiul Exemplar Christ ccliphi-.s with tiims- cendent ^'lory all tho sfliool-iiiastiii-.s of time, lie tells and h1iow8 uh how to live and how to die, and he brings with vivid reality and accuracy the panorama of eternity before our eyes. He was the im|)'.rsona- tion of that meekness and humility always horn of greatness and gof.dness, but in him the impersonation and incarnation of God and of (iodlikc chai-aclcr. Ilis child-like innocence and simi)licity, coupled with the lion-hearted courage and nmjesty of nmnhood, brought together two extremes of human nature, be- tween which pride and ambition, ignorance and prej- udice, have ever nian-cd the glory and hai)piness of the human family; and it is through the model teach- ing and example of Christ that we behold to-dav the sublimest illustrations of manhood on earth in imita- tion of our great and only Master. The greatest men and women of earth are Christ-like and child-like. In patience and fortitude, in unblanched coui'age and bravery, we behold the masterpiece of the moral sub- lime in man when Jesus stood before Pilate, and sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane, and died on Cal- vary. In toil and in tears we behold him the indefat- igable laborer, conquering all things with the stern strokes of industry, going about doing good. He lighted up the dens of iniquity and the haunts of ])ov- erty and the habitations of misery with the touch of the tenderest and yet loftiest hmnanity, and he illus- trated that great truth that sympathyand love alone bring health and sunshine and joy to a suft'ering and degraded world. lie i)roved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the impotency of all force to conquer and con- trol men, and he set on foot a series of revolutions in the salvation and amelioration of the centuries which ' I*' I J ! i;{() TIIK J'KUKW T MODKL. owu (iK'ir ylory and their good to tlio theory that thuy who take the Hvvord shall perish by it. The hiibliinest triumph over the world wus tur.ght us iii his doctrine of Ibrbearance and Ibrgivoness, and the best way to hurt an enemy was to Iieap coals of lire upon his Jiead by returning good for evil. In nil things Jesus dem- onstrates the value and hai)pinessof' passion in its con- trol and subordination to good, and that the grandeur and power of intellect lies in the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, and in the love of God, which is the end of wisdom. lie is " the way, the truth, the life," and no other finger has ever pointed us across the hills of time to the hills of eternity. The way of the cross is the only way, the truth of the cross is the only truth, the life of the cross is the only lile, and nothing but Perfection incarnate could have ever transformed the cross — the symbol of iuiman in- iquity, human shame, and human punishment — into an ensign of divine grace, divine honor, and divine justification. The banner of the cross waves to-day upon the walls of every city, unfurls to the breeze in every clime, and dominates every emi)ire. However hampered by the inlirmities of the flesh or tempted by the devil, or mocked, opposed, and cru- cified by the world, Jesus Christ lived and Avorked and died like God; and it is the tcstimot y of such infidels as Voltaire, Kousscau, Kenan, and others, that that "young Hebrew " was above all the savans of the world, that he outlived an I outdied its phi'osophers, that, Avhatever nuiy be the surprises of the future, Je- sus Christ, even as a man, could never be surpassed. The world has produced some grand religious leaders, but not one has ever conquoi-cd it. Xot one has ever issued the universal proclamation, "Come," and not M rilK I'Kltl'KCT MODKL. lai Olio has over issued the universal commission, "rio." Tlic reli«,Mon of Christ is u universal religion, im.ftin«-- a universal want and involviny- u universal dntv; and it has never been hampered by racial, social, or na- tional barriers. There have been such lights and lead- ers in history as Confucius, jMohammed, Swedeiiborg, the authors ol'lirahnuinism, JJuddhism, and 3Iornion- ism; but the lights of Asia, of Europe, of America, have all been extinguished in the "J/iglit of the world." Jn their vagaries like eccentric comets, in their flickering like stars, in their waxing and waning like moons, they go out before the resplendent and universal glow of the " Sun of Kightecmsness." iJeecii- er said, grandly: « Christ declared without cpuUifica- tion, 'I am the Light of the world.' AVhat thunder- ous strokes shoukl beat down the audacious man who should dare to say this I If Christ had not been the absolute One, he would have said: 'lam the moon, shining bv niglit; but my spoused one, the sun, from whom \ eive my beams, shines by day.' " Finally, how inspiring and transforming to stand peri>etually before this Model, under the chisel of truth, handled by the Holy Spirit! It has been often said that a man instinctively drew himself higher up when he stood before the celebrated statue of Apol- lo Belvedere. I remember the first time I looked upon the statue of AVashington hoAv my mind ran back over his heroic struggle for the liberties of my coun- try, how his calm and well-balanced genius nerved and led a nation through the drea I ordeal of the Rev- olution, how his lofty and unambitiou'^ spirit sacrificed all for the untold glory of future generations, resist- ing every temptation to power, and consecrating all upon the altar of liberty and free government. My 138 THE PERFECT 3rODEL. young heart thrilled with the inspiration of his char- acter, and with nobler hoj)es and aspirations 1 turned away toward the future and the work of life. But what is AV'ashington by the side of Christ, the living statue of Perfection before the gaze of every Chris- tian and of the world? Are you sorrowful? Be- hold the Man of sorrows, who bore your griefs and who takes them away! Are you sinful? Look upon him l)y whose stripes you arc healed. Are you weary and heavy laden? There he stands, who said: Come unto me, and ye shall find rest." Are you ignorant? He only is wisdom and truth. Are you fettered and hampered? "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Are you proud and ambitious? "I am meek and lowly of heart." Are you full of hate and malice and re- venge? "Keturn good for evil, blessings for curs- ings; love your enemies." Are you fearful and un- believing amid the storms of temptation? "Be not afraid; it is I;" "my grace is sufficient for thee." Are you lonely and forsaken? " I will not leave you comfortless." Are you poor? "All things are yours." Are you guilty, ruined, lost in despair? Behold your Kedeemer and Saviour, and think of Mary Mj.gdalene and the thief on the cross and the woman taken in adultery. Are you hungry, thirsty? Jesus is the Bread, the Water, of life. Are you a child? "Suf- fer the little children to come." Are you old and gray-headed? "I will never forsake nor leave thee." What is it that Jesus is not to, or does not for, the saint or the sinner? lie is "all and in all," "Alpha and Omega," the "Author and Finisher of our faith." As our ]Model he combine* all excellence and glory. He is the exhaustion of all goodness and greatness, THE PERFECT MOJ>EL. "our wisdom, righteousness, sanctilicatioii, and re- demption;" and before this exquisite and living- statue of every divine perfection every devout heart mav 1)0 transformed into the only image of God which can be created. God exhausted himself in the master- piece of wisdom and work when he sent his Son and gave him to live and die for us that we might be his masterpiece in the divine art of portraiture and scul])t- ure for heavenly life and glory, to be forever exhib- ited in the galleries of eternity, the finished work of the Holy Si)irit. ~We are to sit together in heavenly places at last in Christ Jesus, and we are, through him, forever to stand to the " praise of the glory of God's grace," the living and ])olished stones which are to construct and adorn the glorious temple of which Christ is the model, chief, elect, precious cor- ner-stone. Let us stand before him, and be chiseled after his likeness every day. DELIRIUM TREMENS. P the blackboard sketd, l)efore us we have the ii^'-mS' ?'"'^"'''' ''^' ''' "^'"^ ''''^^' <^^^^ruu,i tremens. It lll:£ . '■' ''"'' "^" ^''"^ '"^'"^ '^^''^'^^'^ ^^' -'Ji the ellects fma "f ^ti-ono- drink, and it is one of the most un- ^h m ••'^^•"""table. This form of insanity is seldom %J^ dan-erons to any but the victim himself, and Ho.nct.mes in his terror and frig-ht he kills himself by accident, if not by snicide. He sees all sorts of imagined ^hat his tongue was all pierced with hsli-hooks, and he was continually try, ns to pull hem out of his mouth, pitifully cryino- all the while with his imao-ined iviin T i^,/ ° , »'"^'^ pain. 1 knew one man wl„ never .,.w any thing; but monkeys sportinc- a,„ n„«,ned lie saw a monster ringtailod monkey, twen! y feet l„gl„ coming down „,„ street toward Wm a„d he jnmpcd out of a second-story window, breaking hi^ DELIUIUM TJJKMKNS. mm. lie lay lor moiitlis upon wluit Hecined to he -i bed of death, and the last ti.ne I sasv hi.n he was d „k agum and on the way to the n.onkevs. Ot e ' nakes and hobgoblins and abnonnal n.,nste:'s and housand-legs and hideous lunnan fbnns, nn. ihu blooc^y, one-anned, one-leg,^.ed, without eyes and Bon.etnnes .vithout heads. One poor IoIIoh'^ I 'k "^ died lor want of sleep, because ho said a cnn o ' dcvds ran up to his window and waked hin. up l v t me he leil into a doze. The n.ost horrible, p'erha C o all these apparitions is that of snakes, wh. the ebnato inn^ines himself w.-eathed with ihen. an t t bocb and wrapped around his neck, legs, and arms. When we come to reflect that all this illusion-^this die^idful delusion-is to the victim of leliriuui a per- lect reahty, we can have some conception of the hor- ror that seizes upon his mind. Ko persuasion, no ar- gument, by the most confidential friend on earth, can r-onvince him to the contrary. When he reaches a lucid moment (and he often seems perfectly rational about every thing else) ho maybe made to feel his hanucination, which he distinctly remembers; but while the paroxysm of insanity is upon him, this hell of drunkenness is absolutely real and beyond the pow- er of conviction to the contrary. Of all the pitiable and helpless objects in the world it is a strong yet powerless man tossed upon tlie waves of this wild sea of self-wrought and sclf-responsible delusion. It makes the man shudder with cold chills of horror, and his hair to stand on end, who witnesses it, and the most marvelous of all the enigmas of sin is that a vic- tim could ever so recover from such a state of tor- i 1 144 DKLIKIU.M THEMKNS. ment and liny as to repeat this dreadful drama of in- sanity and misery inexpressible and beyond tlip power of conception. O mysterious deptlis of hell! O thou weird and fiendish nature of sinl thy problem is not solved in the madness of alcohol, but thy character is most faithfully ])ortrayed and illustrated. I have often thoughl that delirium tremens was one of the best proofs of the existence of a hell, the ever- lasting punishment of sin. The mind or heart lost to all the influences of good, turned loose from all tlie mooi'ino-s of virtue, and launched out upon the chaotic deep of its own fury created within, is but the picture of the lost soul cut loose from God and hope and ban- ished from the influential presence of all help and re- straint. Who can wonder at the Bible picture of a flame that is never quenched, of a worm that never dies, ever burning and gnawing into the vitals of a lost and wrecked soul? and who can wonder at the natural exhibitions of that remorse which gnashes its teeth, weeps and wails, and curses God and self for- ever? What must be the horrid visions of a world "tumbled into anarchy," flitting with devils and hob- goblins created to aggravate our torment, and accom- panied by ten thousand creations of our own fancy, arising from the crimes and follies of an ill-spent life? Hell is a bottomless ])it, illustrating the downward tread of human dd^^radation, but it is a lake of fire and brimstone, representing the aggregation and the aggravation of a wicked life coming up in every form, the characteristic realizations of every shape of sin and the outcome and last analysis of every develoj)- ment of evil. IS'othing but the delirium of whisky seems here below to foretaste, forecast, and prefigure our state in hell, and it would seem that such a thought J)KLIUIIJ.M TKK>fK\s. 145 would alarm ami awaken every victim of tliis vice to fly from the wratli of God wroii-lit in the very l-ivvs of our bein- thus violated. The terrors of conseiJnce under other crimes, such as murder and seduction and slander and other injuries to self and nejo-hbor, often aro-ue the presence of God in the soul and (iod i„ the punishment of sin. Men and women, the world ove.- fly m vain from conscience and God; and often they come back to confess, or commit suicide in order to get relief from their ills. This is hell mirrored and symboh/ed by the hand of God in the soul's inner consciousness, in spite of all resistance by will or counter-motive; but in the madness of alcoholic de- lirium, both hell and the devil are drago-ed ..p by the imagination, to pass in panoramic vision before the senses and the intellections, otherwise normal and ra- tional. Man's intuitions, in spite of infidelity, never go amiss in the faithful interpretation of divine truth and the soul's immortality and responsibility when the test of sin brings the mind to conscious convic- tion. We just know there is a God and a devil a heaven and a hell, the need of a Saviour; and both the good and the bad, the glory and the horror of eter- nity, have their infallible foretaste, forecast, and coun- terpart in the present life. The heathen believes and knows this, and nothing bnt rationalism, blinded in the blaze of revealed light, ever gets learned and sat- isfied to the contriiry in a state of self-conceited and Relf-righteous morality. The poor, degraded sinner knows better, and sometimes T think the moralist is the worst and in the worst condition of all the sinners in the Avorld, unless it is the persistent and ruined criminal who has lost all the elements of manhood and passed the day of grace. •I' UC) DKLIUIUM TUEMKXS. Tlu! iiiituru ')[' deliriirm treinen.s is u luont interest- ing study, and the comprehension of the subject might scientifically be the means of deterring uuiuy a man from strong drink. Alcohol has a great aflinity for the brain, and it plays with harsh and dreadful note upon the nervous system. In the brain of the drunk- ard alcohol nuiy be found without change or as- similation, and the l)rain being the very seat and cen- ter of the nervous system, this nu)st delicate part of our organism is directly and iiumediatoly affected by this most p(nverful and dangerous stininlant, which always intoxicates avIkmi used in sufHcient (piantities. The nerves are thus paralyzed, and hence the brain, having lost the medium by which it connnunicates thought and enujtlou to the senses, becomes uncon- scious in a state of intoxication. In the repeated ef- fect of alcohol upon the nervous system, and espe- cially when this long-repeated effect is suspended, these pai-alyzed nerves begin to vibrate with a force Avliich makes the whole body tremble; and in their disor- dered and abnormal vibration they convey confused and distoi-ted conceptions from the brain to the senses; and hence, at intervals, the victim of habitual drink unagines as pi-esent the hell of his vice in all the horrid shapes by which the confused brain plays back upon the vibratory nerves. Fancy and imagination take the throne of judgment and reason, and in the natui-e of things, somehow, hell takes the place of heaven, the devil takes the place of God, and the weird and hideous forms of sin, wrought out in our intuitive consciousness, revel and romp through the chambers of the brain. The victim of drink trembles like an aspen and is delirious, and this is why this form of insanity is called delmum tremens. Delirious trembling, accom- P ])ELIUI1TM TKKMKXS. panied l,y all sorts of dreadiul hallucinations whU^ jnterpretHin in the soul, illustrate its hell beyond l,y its hell here, and set all the ibrces of darkness to run Ho tln-ough (>ur chaot.c beino, AVhisky simply makes chaos ol the nnnd and heart, intellectually and n.on.t y, and delirnnn tremens adun.brates and intensilie.s that hell to come by the hell ^vithin, winch dooms the clnmkard Irom entrance into God's kino-dom >Vhy vyill ye die? Young man, why will you tanjper with the maddcnino- bowl? You think you will never reach the limit of this fearful malady of the besotted and ruined drunkard. This is one of the delusive dreams of fascinating- whisky. You expect to .stop, but every drunkard in hell, or on the way to hell, once lifted that poisoned cl.alice of delusion to his quivering lips. Lay not this flattering unction to your soul, and do not help to lay it to the souls of oth- ers by your example. Young men and women, let me beg you to rise up in this your day and generation, and SAvear allegiance to temperance and sobriety. Band together to save the drunkards, and pray God's daily ■ curse upon the saloon, this CJorgon monster, this hvdra- headed, hell-born and hell-fired s(>rpent, whicir lii'ts his gigantic form and stretches his Titanic length across the destinies of the fairest country ever blight- ed beneath the sun. Mothers and fathers, teach your children to hate the bottle, to tremble as thev pass the bar-room, and to shudder when they see the\ ictim of drink; and, little children here to-day, let me be- you to never touch, taste, nor handle the accursed Ihin- you call whisky. Think of the madmen made by the bottle to-day, and remember that some of you, some day, may become the raving maniacs I have de- scribed—ragged, trembling, palsied, paralyzed, and 'K IIS DKIJIIHIM 'lltK.MKNS. lillcd with all the liorroi's of iu'li. cvt'ii bi'lorc you rciich that (Irt'ad alxidc which the dninkard's (U'lii-iiiin lyp- ifit'H. Will i>\\v of you ever bccouii; wuuh a busottrd fiend? luall prohabilit y sonii' of llicso now innocent youny ones will lill a drunkard's gravi', if they touch the danmini'- cu|>. (io<.! The LiGHTNinc-BUG ConvENTioN. -4$ ''^^'"''"'"'''^ ^""" •"''^"^'P l^y a low, peculiar, •V"" ' ''^'^''"'"' """^^'' ^^'"''''i iiKllfalc'd that a |p^_^ ste.ltli}' nr( ossion (.1" sonu' kind was pass- ^ iIl^- iir .i..or. I soCtiy peeped out oC my front \viud(.w, 'Ih.u I I)eliei(l a Ixidy of l)eings pjii.,^- in<- txhnv^ with small hmterns dindy lighted, but each iutenuittently growing hrighter oecasionallv than the lantern .seemed to hurn. 1 heard little nnirnuirs of "Protest "and a ''.Meeting" to be held dov, n in a thicket close by, and,, quickly dressing myself, I fur- tively stole out into the road and followed the lantern concourse. Near a little sj)ring the crowd had gath- ered, Avhen, after ])eering more closely throiigli the dark, T diseovered thai it was a lightuing-hug con- vention. They began to sparkle ])retly generally and ])rofusely, chattering about something which, for the confusion of voices, I could not at first understand. At last oni- of them arose with >; itely demeanor and proposed to elect a chairman, who 'should call the meeting to order and state the object of the assem- blage, lie put in nomination a venei-able, old-fash- ioned kind of fellow by the name of Tallowwick, who was promptly elected by acclamation, and who, after a few rauid flashes of his lantern, took his seat and (151) L k\ I <\t' \\ 1 '4 :.^ 152 TIIK LIOHTXING-BUU COXVKXTFOX. called the glimmei'ing assejnbly to orclei', at Avliicli the iiuiltitude of lanterns seemed to llicker a little dimly, as every one seemed to have his lantern shining- from his coat-tail, and as they seemed all to sit down upon their own little light. In a brief speech the chairman' addressed the as- sembly', as near as I can recollect, as follows: "Fel- low-citizens of the lightning-bug fraternity: Every lightning-bug- has his night, but he never has had his day. ]n fact, he v;ants no day, as his glory is known only by the night. Even hero we are often discount- ed by the moon and the stars, and it would be better for US and the wor..! if they could be blotted out, for then our light could shine without diminution upon the darkness of this benighted sphere. Few indeed are the beclouded nights in which we can shine forth in all the glow and splendor of our being to light the nightly travelers on their way, who are guided by our subcorporal scintillations. But this is not our great- est difliculty and jirivation. "We have no chance at the day at all. One-half of our useful existence is blotted out altogether, while the other half is dimin- ished and depreciated. The sun is our great enemy, and hence the enemy of the world, and in the way of our lig"ht, which is the glory of the earth. It is said by John Jacob Jasper that the 'sun do move,' and I believe it. lie comes forth daily, and only to put out our light, and frtr many long, Aveary liours we have to hide in the brush in order to Cbcape his useless? heat and to shun the ininecessary intensity of his invidious contrast. The object of this meeting is to protest against his rising anymore, and to institute measures which shall secure, for the good of the world, this most desirable end. We may compromise with nai- THE LIGIITNIXG-BUG C0XV*:NTI()\. 1 !">* lire, if necessary, by u generous tolei-atiou of the moon and the stars, as by the obliteration of tlie day Ave would have more time for the disphiy of our li<>ht- but the sun must be stopped. \Vc sliall no longer stand his overshadowing- competition and divisioiroi time so dear to the world on our account. The meet- ing is now open, and the subject before you Ibr dis- cussion, and 1 trust we shall ha- 3 unanimity and a hearty co-operation in the decision of this momentous question." Amid a tremendous rattling of wings and flashing of lanterns the chairman took Ins seat, when a I^Ir'. Pettiflickcr sprung upon the limb of a small bush and harangued the audience for a long while in the sever- est denunciations of the sun, caricaturing especially his spots, and at the conclusion of his vei-y able s[)eech he moved the appointment of a connnittee of three of the most enlightened lightning-bugs of the assembly, who should draft resolutions expi-essive of the sense of the august body. The chairman looked wisely over the audience for a moment, and named the fol- lowing committee: INFcssrs. Fizzleflash, Twinkleflit, and Sparklctitter. He directed the appointees, with solemn instructions, to bring in a jniper worthy the dignity of the occasion, the subject, and the vast as- sembly gathered, and the little committee lighted out Into the darkness. In the absence of the committee several distin- guished bugs spoke for tlie good of the cause. Among them was a very old and feeblv flickering bug by the name of Scintihliput :MiniIuxglint vociferously called for, and of great authority, as I judged by the length of his name, the moss on his back, and the enthusiasm he seemed to inspire. Jlo said that he had lived for 154 Till-: Mreveuti\e of modern iniquitv and elfem- iuacy. "But," said the old bug, ''this artificial sliam- work of the age still leaves us the country to shine in. AVe enjoy as yet the backwoods at night. We still have an existence in spite of nu)dei'n pi'ogress, so called, and in spite of the sun; and I am glad, al'ter so many ages of ojipression and submission on our pai-t, to see at last this noble movement in the direc- tion of our liberty and the world's long-felt want. ^\ e are good enough for, and we are the necessity of, the Avorld at all tiuies. I trust our able committee Avill devise means — '' Just at this moment the connuittee came in. All Avas silence, but the little lanterns flashed with a fresh- er gloAv. Many rose to their feet, and their coat-tails twinkled aumzingly. The chairMum, Mr. I'izzleflash, offered the folloAving preand)le and i-esolutions: Whereas f.n- many ages, without formal protest, our light has been extinguished by day through tlie imperious and Jes- m< TllK LKiHTNING-HUG COJVEJJTION. 155 potic disn^gurd of thesuu; and whereas over Iiulf oi our glory and influence has been lost to this sutl'ering and injured world; ancl wliereas nature has allowed ar unjust discrimination against us in the unequal distril)uti(-n of time and light by the sun; and whereas we think there is no n. ccssity for the sun at all;' nnd whereas we think, in tlie light of the lightning-bug, the sun is a gj-i'ut humbug; therefore, be it 1. Jiesoh,'d, That we hereby enter our solemn jirotest against the sun's ever rising and shining again. 2. That in case our nrotest agaitist tlie sun is no; favorably received we liereOy in^atute and org.-nize an indignation me(^t- ing, to be held at this place <.very night for one niontli until we extort from Nature pioper consideration for our rights privileges, and liberties, so long dLsparagcnl and trampled upon! 3. That in the event our protest and indignation fail a gen- eral convention of all the lightning-bugs of this country and of the world bo called tor the purpr.se of r.rganizing a general revolution and ie])ellion against Nature. 4. That if revolution and rebellion fail, after having done all we can to assert our rights and liberties for the good of the world, then wo hereby pledge ourselves and our general fratev. nity to permanently withdraw our light from the face of crea- tion. 5. That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Dame Nature and her favorite sun, if indeed he shall ever show his face again. The resolutions were loiully received and adopted. The President proceeded to address the assembly with some closing- remarks. His coat-tail was fla-'.-ng intei-mittentlv with much ardor and zeal. He began a fierce and biUei- tirade against all other light but the light of lightning-bugs; and 1 perceived that the coa^-tails of all the audience l)egan to glow and flash moic rapidly and intensely, reaching unusual brill- iancy. Just then I noticed thac the day began to break, and the bugs began to grow f. little restless and uneasy. The speaker continued to orate, but his elo- quence began to ooze out. The dawn grew on apace, B 15() 'IlK M(;ilTXI\(;-MU{i CONVKN'I'ION. V ■ and 1 not iced that the [)()t;kut-l:iiitiTiis iH'-^'aii to ^- row dim and to <;-o out. Tiie ligiit of day kimlk'd brjohter and l)riii;lit(.'i- still, and soon it was liurd to seo tlic an- dient'c at ail, and llio orator's voico had entirely ceased. Suddenly (he sun began to rise. Old Sol i)eei.ed above the horizon, and his broad and luminous shoul- le way and pitched the ders shoved the mists out of tl clouds in every direction. lie rolled in g-randeur abovt' the east, and in my ra[)turu 1 had ibrgotten the lightning-bug convent ion entirely. 'l'hinkingoI"where 1 was and why I was there, I tin-i>' ' agi-.in to see, and, behold, there was nothing lelt of :,ie assembly at all. There v.as not a lightning-bug to be seen; every lan- t<'ni had been extinguished, and not a voice was heard. They had all lied; at least I could not see one of them. The lightning-bug assend)ly had been dis-SOL-vcd This was a (iream I had once, in my imagination, in a certain t(wi> where it was proposed to introduce the ])ublic school system, and a 'ot of the ohl fogies got to- gether and jirofesfed tv^iun^ttho movement. The i)ublic schools were introduced all the same, and the old fogv convention never met any more. The same dream has often occui-red to me Avhen 1 have heard of the liquor nu n gathering in convention to oppose the tem- perance cause. riieir light is made of alcoholic fire, and it generally shines in their stonmehs, something- like the lightning-I,nig\s; and their protests against the rising sua of the great temperance reform A\-ill ul- timately result about like the resolutions of the light- ning-bi;g convention. The lightnir,g-bug fraternity represents the universally small critic and persecutor, and every rishig genius and rising cause of truth and rightconsness has hcen opjiosed and protested by these diminutive midnight illuminators. Galileo and "Coper- L*x ■! i m I j 1 t, t THE uainsisu-nvu (oxvextiox. mj nieus and IJanoy and Mor.su and Fulton and Stephen Bon un;l ^'ol-nL'u. and >Va.s].in,ton were all p. I ininaueh ol discovery, nvention -.iwl .>.. bcmbled aomnst Jiini; but flic S,,„ ,>f .• i. I ' ^ ' "1' <*' 1 liihteousncss ]^h I. a., dissolving all the conventions of darkness tl e deyd ever assembled with his ignes^/aM or his fire . anu brimstone. There win be lightning-bug. conventions till the endoi tune; but the sun will nevertheless continue to rise and roll on in the grandcn- of his luminous circuit iNothmg can prevent ignorance and nrei- udice from opposing every form of truth and rl-ht- eousness, and Bclflshness and ambition will conthiue to suppress the light which shines against human pride and interest. One part of the world blindly lights against (Jod and progress, while the other know- ingly and willfully opposes whatever crosses the path ot vile as])iration and self-seeking enterprise We see this sad fact illustrated every day in the methods and .'ichemes of politics, business, social convention- alities, infidelity, and vice. Partisan zeal opposes even the good in its ojiponents; trusts and monopolies seek to kill down competition in weak and strugglino- enterprises for the good of u country. Ingersollism fights God, aristocracy crushes doAvn upon poverty and all the revolutionizing ideas of right and liberty which the struggling masses assert and win; and the myrmidons and minions of vice invent and put in op- eration every means to circumvent and destroy virtue and good. But in the familiar language of Bryant: IGO TIIK LIUIITXING-UUG COXVEXTIOX. Trvitli, crusluMl to c'nrtli, slinll rise ngaiu: Tho eternal yenrs of God are licrs; "While error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies among her worshipers. ^ The sun " do move," and Avill rise; and all the light- ning-l)uj«- conventions in the Avorld may j-rotest and oppose in vain. Truth and i-ighteousness grow )x\st by conflict with error and iniquity, in the long- run. Their history is a long series of rises and declines, but ever rising higher al)ove tlie undulations of decay and opposition at every successive step of progress toAvard the mountain-top of time and glory. Truly the " eter- nal years of God " arc theirs. They poLsess within themselves the inherent element of development and of revolution against inertia and corruption, and they mount higher at every stage of conflict with every opposing element of falsehood and evil, even when for long periods the dark night of defeat and despair has seemed to settle upon the fields of contest. The deluge came, and swept away an old world to start a new one. Jesus came, and turned the aa orld upward to God from its universally downward career in the height of civilization. The Reformation came, and reversed the shadowy doom of medieval superstition. Jesus will come again to lift the last dark decline of the world's loftiest leap in civilization into the glory of the millennium. The devil, with his last lightning- bug convention an-ayed " against the camp of the saints," will after all be "loosed for a little season," and then heaven Avill come down to earth, and God shall dwell among men. POT CALLING KETTLE BLACK. ->♦<-►- Wm^r^ (lay the cook uciit out of llie kitolien to '^^XM '»^ gone upon a visit to somu; of her iici..!,. WN^'^^?' ^'"'"^ '''''^' '"**' ''''^^''' ^''"'^ ^'"'^' "'■'^^'' '"'"^ MiW ^^'■^''***^'*^^"'"'**^'''"'i»'l rul)I)c(I (lour over iiis lace, pfr;; l<><^l,rus]ied into the room Mith ])er broom, and broke up the disturbance. The pot ri?!n-ned ti Ills i)Iace in the corner, the kettle to his ]> -iEion on tha stove, and all the smaller fry hunted their iiomes under the silencing lirush of the cook. A severe lecture fol- lowed, in which the cook taught the moral that one man as black as black could be should not call an- other black no blacker than lie. The pot was very (163) ltkf\ tk *'! 164 POT CAI,LIXinent ye jud<,a', ye shall be Judged: and with what meas- ure ye mete, it shall be measured to you ag-ain." The Ai)ostle Paul said to the Romans: "Therefoi-e thou art inexcusable, () man, whosoever thou ail that jud«,''est: for wherein thou Judo'est another, thou condenTnest thyself; for thou that jud<,^est doest the same things. . . . And thlnkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? . . . Thou therefore; which teachest another, tcachestthou not thy- self ? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not com- mit adultery, dost thou connnit adultery?" Alas! alas! here is the great sin of the world. We judge others, no guiltier than we, of the same things of which we are guilty ourselves, and it is oftenest the case that the guiltier a man is himself, the more condemnatory he is of others even far less guilty than he. This is the pot calling the kettle black; and of all the beings whom God will judge most harshly it will be the man who condemns in others that of which he himself is most guilty. Herein arises one of the peculiarities of human nat- ure—nay, one of the mysteries of poor ftdlen man. It is a marvelous inconsistency, an unaccountable con- tradiction in judgment and morals, that the pot as black as midnight should call the kettle black; and I'OT CALLIN(i KKTTI.K ULACK. J Of) yet notliin^- is more connnoii tlinii to Iicar wicked pco- l)k' — i)c<)i)K; not even Iryiii*^- to cover tlicii- sins under the garl) of liypocrisy— calling their neighbors names and exposing tlieir sins. This is not only ho wJiere the sins are dillerent, but where they are the same. The drunkard abuses the drunkard, the thief decries the thief, the slanderer scandalizes the slanderer. It seems perfectly consistent to some i)eo[)le to berate the sins of others when their own sins are not of the same chui-aeter. Even here it would seem that Jus- tice and decency would dictate charity, whicli nays, Though your sins diller in caste, they agree in quality; but when two men guilty of the same thing, in quan- tity, quality, and character, judge each other, it seems nnaccountable. What is the philosophy of it? The problem can only be solved in the shameless presump- tion and l)lindnesa of sin itself, and tlie fact argues how little people stndy themselves in the light of them- selves, much less in the looking-glass of God and of their neighbors. How can a man who nndei-stands and appreciates his own iniquity find fault with other people? The midnight veil of selfishness is the worst form of sin's blindness, and no man can ever rise above this most criminal inconsistency until examina- tion of self, in the light of justice, leads him to see himself as God and others see him. O wad some power the giftio gie us! I have often thought of Shakespeare's maxim: Forbenr to judge, fur we are sinners all. And the great poet, often so profonndly philosophic- al and theological, here agrees with Christ and Paul. How few ever adopt the golden rule: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so w 1G6 POT CALLIXa KETTLE Bl.AC 4u likewise unto tlicin! " IV we Icved CJocl with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, if we loved (iod supremely and our neighbor unselfishly, we should have no sin to see in ourselves or others; butslnee wo nre ''sinners all," and our lov-j so imperfect, we could at least adopt the golden ]-ule. Hon few, indeed, .■n-e there who -thi.dc no evil," believe all things, hear all things, and cover tiieir neig-hbors' sins with the mantle of ciiurity and sympathy! i love that old stanza of Pope : Tctu'h iiio to foci !iiiotlH>r'.s woe, To hide tlio huilt I soe; That mercy I to (others kIiow, That mercy sliow 1o me. The sin of harsh judgment and of unfriendly criti- cism can never be cured in any man or woman so Jong- as lie or she is lynx-eyed fouard neighbor and mole-eyed to self. Every one of us should i-emember 111 the familiar exprcssi(m of Shenstone that ^'a man has generally the g-ood or ill qualities Avhicli he utti-ib- iites to mankind;" and when we judge others we should ever ask the question propounded by the ^reut poet, *= HoM- would you l)e, Tf Ho, will, ]i is fit tlio top of judgment, Should judi^'o you as yim are ? This reminds us of the sad and awful fact that we shall be judged as we judge. The standards we raise lor others will be the standard bv which God will judge us. As Jiiehelieu sr.ys in that famous ,,lay, VV ise judges ai-e we of each other! " It is generally true that we judge righteously of others' si'^is ^Ve go to the standard of (Jod when we see others' faults- and It is up to this standard that God will hold us' POT CAUASa KKTTI.K HLACK. 1G7 A man casts off his evvmg wile, turns his fallen sister froLi his tlooi-, forsakes liis mother and his chinohter in vice; and he thinks liimself perfectly justitied in consio-uino- to disgrace and abandoiunent tlie flesh of his llesh, and the bone of his bone: but lei him reuiem- ber, il he has any sin himself, Ihat so God will a])an- don hnn at the judg-nient; "for we must all appear belore the judgment-seat of Christ; that eveiy one may receive the things doue in his bod v, according to that ho hath doiie, whether it l)e good or bad." llow many men I have heard to say, 'Mf there was no hell, 1 would give a considerable sum to have (me made; there arc some uien I think ought to go to hell.'' Even the nmn who thinks there ought to be no hell ior himself thiidvs ti.ere ought to be one for somebody olse; aiid just what he judges of others he will share for hiuiself, if lie lives aud dies in sin. How often the legislator who nuikes the law, how often the judge and the jury who execute it, are guilty of the vei-y ci-inies their laws condemn ! I'he lawyer who prosecutes his victim before the court, the very complainant who pi-esses the defendant, are i-eekiug in the xtvy sin they arc seeking to condemn and punish. ^J'he pot is calling the kettle black; and, worse than all, in the light of his own blackness and guilt he is seek- ing to inflict the p.,nalty of his «,wn crime upon another, ^fhis is all just aud right as a matter of vmdicatiug human justice l)efore the civil courts of our country; but the standard lifted here will be the standard lifted before that dread bar where there Will be no advocate to plead, where no plea will lodge, and where no witness but the self-accusin<>- conscience wili appear, I'he golden rule will be re^ versed there; for as we have done to others it will be 108 POT CALI.IXa KKTTLE BLACK. clone to us, tlie measure ^^'-e haAc ineted out to oth- ers shall be meted to us again. Worse than all, man is so often unjust in his jiulg-- . ment towai-d others. The pot sometimes calls the pitcher black, and it is mean enough for him to call the kettle black. This is a Avorld of injustice, and if it Avere not true, in the language of a beautiful writer, that "the injustice of men subserves tlic justice of God, and often his mere}'," this life would be the most miserable of all existence to a large number of people. But few of the unjust ever got justice at the hands of the law; and the suifercrs of injustice and persecution have no other vindication this side of heaven, Avhere "sits," as Shakespeare says, "a judge that no king can corrupt." God forbid that I should ever lie down and die Avith an unjust judgment lUire- pcnted aiul unamended; and let mo ever adopt tho maxim of Mason Avhile I live; "Judge thyself Avith a judgment of sincerity, and thou Avilt judge others Avith charity." Tho older I get the more charitably I try to j udge. I Avant to leave myself in the hands of God, not to jiKtge, but to show me mercy, through Ilim Avho suft'ercd judgment in my stead; and I Avould gladly and willingly leave the Avorst human being at the feet of Jesus. I am glad the thief Avcnt from the cross to paradise; audi am Avilling to have universal salvation true, if God Avills to save all, through faith, by the blood of Jesus. Fortlie purpose of social purity, and in the vindication of just standards, aa'c must "judge," here bcloAv, "the tree by its fruit;" but let me leave the finjil judgment of myself and of my fellow-men to God. I wish all could be saved, if it Avere possible; and I shall never- rejoice, even in the judgment Avhich condemns a soul to hell, although I shall say "Amen I I » w He POT CA'.LIXs The thronO>d monarch better tlian his crown: Ilis scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attriVmte to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. It is an attribnte to God hims(>If, And earthly i>ower doth tlien sliow Jikest God's, When mercy seasons jnstice. Therefore, Jew, ' Thongli justice be thy plea, consider this, Tliat in the cause of justice none of ns Should see salvation: itr do pniij for mercij, And tliat same prayer doth teach ns all to' render The deeds of mercy. i I .•# •• -MiS Sowing and Reaping Wild Oats. * (.• — •^•♦' — ^ll.E i)icturo illustrates a hold and vig-oroiis ^^^ yoiitli starting- out in lil'e to sow wild oats uj)()n the tield of his existence. Eveiy man has a field to sow, to cultivate, and to reap; nd he will plant it with good or bad seed, and at hest he will have some tares among- the Avlieat, however he sows. Death starts njjon the track of this wild and vicious young man, and folloAVS him idly through the ])eriod of his lusty planting, and when he turns in middle life or old age to reap his crop death still follows and helps to gather his sheaves for the grave and the judgment. Sometimes the harvest is reached sooner, sometimes later; but surely the har- vest Avill be reaped, and the grave will be reached, as seen in the second ])icturc. ITow true it is of thousands : Sowing the seed of a ling'ring jjain. Sowing the seed of a maddened brain, Sowing tho seed «if a tarnished name, Sowing the seed of eternal fdiame — O what) shall the harvest be? This is the crop which the yoimg man reaps who sows the field of life with wild oats; and sometimes he begins to reap almost as soon as he begins to sow. The crop will coi-respond with the seed sown, and al- (173) 174 SOWl.Xa AM) IMOAIMNG WJLIJ OATS. l"1. thouoh, as ill iill plaiUiii- ^veiy Becd does lu.t spi'in up i.nd iiialiiiv iui-ilic liiirvost,3ot it is tn.c- Hint in tins CToi. Uic seeds .sown will as nearly all eoinc up and be harvested as any other eroj) Avliicli a man ever planted. Tiie Jiihle teaehes the truth on this snbjeet with all its W(.ndciTul eoiiiinon-sense aeeiiraey: " Whatsoi'ver a man sowetli, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his llesh .shall ol' the llesh reaj) eorrujition; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall oC the Sj)irit reap lile everlasting-." Of this, Paul says, let no man bo " deceived," for '• ( iod is not nioclsed." If we had no Bible, in the nature of thino-s tliis text would be true, Jbr we cannot sow -without reaping, nor can we tail to n-a]) III Ihnl the cro]) we sowed, or else reap the kin- dred consecpiences oi- i)unishnient attached to the planting- of* evil iijxm tlie fields of life. However shrew d we may l)e, however much we may cover our tracks from others, however we may imagine ourselves fortified against results, hoAvever we may conceive that (iod has forgotten or that his law has been healed of its violations by time, or that nature has outgrown its evil crop by ji bi'tter culture — it is nevertheless true that wc shall reap fhd we have sown, either in kind, consequence, or pnnishment. ^Ve cannot eradicate the scars upon conscience, the stains upon the heart, the blunt U])on sensibility; nor can avo recall the blight and the ruin Ave have inflicted upon others. Keputation may be restored or character rei)aired be- fore men; but crime's consequences and God's pun- ishments aAvait, in some form, e\ en the man convert- ed from the error of his soAvir.g-. God can forgive our record, but he never i-everscs it; and he does not avert, even for the saint, at least the temporal resnlts I, ' it' HOWIXa AND REAPIXfi WILD OATS. 177 of tlepnivity aiul wrong-, if lie once wasted the fields of life by Kowing- wild oats, lie siifl'ers, tliougli saved, much loss even in eternity as well an nuich sorrow in time. But little is required to illustrate these truths stated. If 1 wreck my physical constitution, shatter my mind, harden my sensibilities, reg-eneratiou cannot repair the loss, nor can it rid me of the ' s iindconsef|'ionces of irreparable evil ui)()n myseiL auu others. Keligion may divert my soul into new and higher channels of life, make me hopel'nl and hap|)y in a iew of eternity, but it cannot restore imbecility and diIa[)ldation, nor pluck up the roots of bitterness sown in my carnal nature. Samson Avas snsfained by < iod's grace to the dying honr, and lie died <'in the faith;'' but grace could not give back his lost character nor his lost eyes, nor relieve him of the miseries of his sitnation and the pangs of his folly, God forgave David's sin according to grace, befoi-e Xathan put his parable, but he did not relieve David from the bitter tears of repentance nor save him irom the life-long curse of his sin, which fell in kind and kindred consccpiences upon his own head and house. Ilaman must hang on his own gallows erected for Mordecai. lie that digs a ditch for others must himself fall into it. You ruin some man's lauiily, and some nuin willrnin yours. Drag down some innocent victim to ruin, and some- body will di-ag you or yours down. At all events, the consequences or the penalty of your sins some- time, s(miohow, somewhere, will be sure to follow you, converted or unconverted. " A\' liatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Jacob cheated Esau, and Laban cheated him. lie deceived his father with the skin of a kid in order to get Esau's blessing, and . 1,. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V /. '' //// ^% m M 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■- IIIIM «^ IIIIM ■ 10 1.8 iA III 1.6 riiumgrapiuu Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 m \ V '^ ^^ ^^<- IV the cut wliidi illustrates this subject you iliscovcr a facial dcliueatiou of the profane swearer. He looks something- like ji rav- 1^ in<^ inachnaii, with evci-y fierce passion in ^ conihined and collusive ])lay upon his features. r 'l 'l^ His eyes Hash fire, and from his quivering- and thundering lips the forked lightnings, in livid and lurid horror, ])lay in every direction. A stream of green, red, and blue slaver flows Irom his mouth down upon his bosom below, like a Ycsuvian gush of molt- en lava — hot, hissing, crackling and poisonous — indicative of that stream of depravity which belches from his heart, and which burns and hardens and in- crustates around it. I have stood and looked on just such a man full many a time, and sometimes I have thought some of them looked . - -e like a slabbering mad-dog than a human madman. I saw a country- man one day, coming into town with an overburdened team which stalled in the mud. He began to beat and curse his mules; and finally, when intermingled beating and swearing would do no good, he threw down his cudgel, stood aside, and let loose a slabber- ing stream of profanity which no pen or pencil could paint for vicious and acrimonious blasphemy. He damned his mules, damned his luck and his fate, II J8<> 1 I'HOFAMTY. (liinnuMl tluMVoria by sections; niciv llian nil, dainncd the road and (he overseer tliat worked il ; di mined ins own soul, and in tlie name ol' Aiiiii<>li(y (^od 1 lanined hiinseli' and all t le o an Gverlastnii'- liel After awhile his lurid and tiiiinck'rous artillery of oaths snh- sided a little, and with occasional shots and salvos lie proceeded to unload and reload his wa<,^on, thus extri- catin<,'- his abused and exhausted team, after a full dis- play of moral insanity, and one of the most futile and useless elforts 1 ever beheld to move a team by the em- phasis of profanity, lie drove away mad and mutter- in-,^ still, not a whit wiser or better than he was before. Trofaiie swearinly Tearful that so many have re;ijhed it in profanity. Some swear in the presence of their i'amilies, before ladies and gentlemen — some- times before the minister ])rotesting against this and vwry sin. They beg i)ardon some '.mes, and yet swear before they get through with the apology. Strange to say, a man often persuades himself that he is u gentleman, a good eiti/en, a soeial and busi- ness exemplar, when at the same time he is a vulgar and ])rofane swearer. 1 do not say that every man guilty of this sin is guilty of every other viee; but J do say that no man Avho swears ean be a trne gentle- man, a good citizen, or a model in the soeial and business world. If this is his only vice, he lacks that I'lnch of being a gentleman, and every virtue he pos- sesses is vitiated to that extent, lie violates God's law In one point, and he is guilty of the whole, and his otherwise stainless robe of character has a big black spot on it which spoils the beauty of the Avhole garment, lie sets a bad example to the youth around IMtOFANITY. I Hi) liim, lio (lepn-ciiitcH tho tli may he in society. I care not what clothes he wears, or wliat cultnre lie boasts. I)es|)ile all his rellnement, the li^^ht and habitnal takin**- of God's mime in vain betrays u coarse natnre and a l)rntal will." What may be said oCthe i)ro(an(; sweai-er as a " jt^^entleman," and to the sanu' extent, m.«y be said ofbim as a citizen, a civil- ian, a basin jsd and professional man, or a man (d" so- ciety. It is not by any means certain that profanity docs not lead to all other vices and crimes. The best of men, otherwise gnilty of this sin, cannot be said to be true and perlect as a pernninent cei-tainty in all other respects. An ancient writer says: "From a eonmion custom of swearin*^ men may slide into per- jnry; therefore, if thou wouldst not be perjured, do not use tliysclf to swear." Sam Jones says tbat "a man who swears will steal." I think tliis is a liard faying-; but as all sins are akin to each other, and as \-M 190 PROFANITY. one sill breeds aiiotlier, it is not unlikely that the pro- fane swearer is not only in danger of stealing, but of every other sin. God leaves the man guilty of such bla?;[)lieniy open and su])ject to every other vice, so long as the subject of blasphemy persists in his sin. Thus left to ourselves, without the guidance of God, who can tell what such a sin will breed? Jeremy Taylor declares that "nothing is a greater sacrilege than to [)roslitute the great name of (iod to the petu- lancy of an idle tongue; " and if a man i)erists in such a sin against the name and the law of his God, who can tell what else it may lead a man, lelt to himself, to do in the end? One thing it is sure to do, and that is to put the profane swearer into bad company — coni- pau}' congenial with himself — and bad comjjany will be Sure to lead, especially the young, into all other vices. It is agreed by all that profanity is the most useless and un])rofitable of all the vices of men. "Most err- ing people," says Ballon, "when they do wrong count upon some good to be derived from their conduct, but for profanit;! there is 110 excuse.^^ Horace Mann wisely observed: "The devil tempts men through their am- bition, their cupidity, or their appetite, until he comes to the profane swearer, whom he catches without re- ward." In the language of Kobert Hall, " Swearing is ]U'0]»i rly a superfluity of naughtiness, and can only be considered as a sort of ]iepi)er-corn rent, in acknowl- edgment of the devil's right of superiority." Many men imagine that swearing adds eini)hasis to their expression. It may with the vulgar and profane; but with the refined and pure the prefix or the suffix of an oath depreciates and makes abhorrent an honest and honorable man's word. Such emphasis looks suspi- "m I It PROPAIVITY. 191 cious in the eyes of truth and virtue. Jesus did not swear, and he connuantled us to •' swear not at all," hut to let our "yea he yea," and our "'nay he nay." Peter, perhaps, i)ersnaded the proCane nioh which cru- citied his J.ord, that he did not kuow him by means of cursing and swearing-; hut his [)rofanity on this occa- sion casts the blackest shadow Avhieh ever fell over his life and repiitation. The best and mightiest men who ever spoke or wrote for the world did not swear, and the world receives their words with an emphasis which i)rofanity would have forever destroyed. Truth and virtue, wisdom and philosophy, morality and re- ligion, h(- . V and integrity, speak for themselves; and the simple word of an honest man is his oath and his bond. Think of a book or a newspaper or a letter in- terspersed with the emphasis of profane s-wearing! IIow would the President's message read full of curs- ing and swearing? AVho would not loathe a public speaker whose eloquence and oratory sparkled and corruscated with the electric glare of profane o.iths? And yet how often does the chaste and polisliea speak- er leave the rostrum to curse and swear 'n conversa- tion! If profanity is good in one place, wdiy not in another? It may be said that taste forbids profanity in writing and speaking for the public. True, but the very same reason makes it an odious, base, and brutal habit everywhere else. Of all the habits in the world it has no place for use or profit anywhere. What volumes does profanity write for every day of the world's history! Millions of pages go to press under the recording angel's pen every hour. This monstrous and multitudinous sin outstrips all other vices for quantity, if not for quality. Millions of tongues from every spot of earth perpetually spin 1 -4 J i 11)2 PUOFANITY, out their sticky tlireads of profanity whicli, like a monster spider, winds and weaves its web around the world, and into which every thing good and bad is caught and inipaU'd by his barl^ed fangs. AVhat a voluminous record does profanity set down against mankind every day! A'ile, sacrilegious, blasphemous profanity! A man calls upon God to damn his neigh- bor and himself, to damn his wife and his children, to damn his houses and his lands, to damn his horses and his cattle, to damn his l)usiness and his profes- sion, to damn his misfortunes, afflictions, and his troubles— all in malice and rage; aiul then, in fun and pleasantry, in the name of (iod, he curses his friends and his ac(pu\intances, his pleasures and hap- piness, his prosperity and his advancements, his honor and his lame, every good thing he enjoys and hopes for. Some he damns to holl, some to misfortune and misery, some to one thing and stmie to another; and <' hell and damnation," mixed up with the name of "Almighty God," are familiar words upon the lips of millions every day and hour. Tlie profane swearer lives in the atmosi)here of blue bla/es and sulphuric stench and spectral darts and harsh noises and grating echoes, flashing, fuming, smoking, fulminating, and reverberating every moment through the existence and associati(ms of some people. Some people begin and end ahnost every sentence, besides intersjjersing it, with oaths; and, conscious or unconscious, voluntary or involuntary, their every vital breath seems to be bur- dened with the profanation of God's name and barbed with the nudediction of some object oi- victim. Young people, be sure that God will hold you to ac- count fw- this great and hideous sin. " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." lie will .i' I IMJOFANITY. 193 not hold hliu guiltless that takes his lioly name in vain. Learn to abhor this vile and wicked liabit. Loathe it as low, base, and obscene. Think of Avluit ■^yashillo•ton, the lather of your country, said of it: "The foolish and wicked i)ractice of i)rofane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every l)erson of sense and character detests and despises it." Learn, in the language of another writer: "There are braying men in the woi-ld as well as braying asses; ior what is loud and senseless talking and swearing any other than braying?" Profanity is certainly an asinine as well as a vile and wicked habit, and no other ass, with loud as well as foul mouth, walks and brays the earth with greater stupidity than the victim of this vice. One of the greatest of asses is the cursing and the swearing ass, to say nothing of his depravity. THE SULKS. is slvcteli s tent aiul course of oiiaht is taken rather from Slialcespcarc's Troilus and C'ressida tlian from Homer, and I gave the lecture in order to get to ehiborate one splendid passage from the great poet, which is never quoted at lengtii. It is found in Scene III., Act III., and, well read and appropriated, it is worth millions of gt)ld to a large part of this Avorld. I want to quote it at length. Ulysses to Achilles: Tims liatli, my lord, n Avallet nt liis back, ■\Vlieroin he puts alms for oblivion, A great-sized monster of iugratihulcs. Those scraps are good deeds /«/.s/; which are devoured As fast as they are made, forgot as soon As done. Prrseveraiiir, dear mij lord, Keeps honor bright: to have done is to hong Quite out of fashion, like a rustg mail ■ In monumenfal moel-erij. Take the instant way; Per honor travels in a strait so narrow, Wliere one but goes abreast: keep then the path, Por emulation hath a thousand sons That one by one pursue: if you give way, Or edge aside from the direct forthright, like to an entered tide, they all rush by, (1J)4) TllK SULKS. 197 And lenvo you liiiulmost; Or, liko II j,'alliiut liorsd I'lillcii in first rank, Lie tlu'rc for pftvomcnt to the abject rear, O'crruu and tninii)l<'(l on. Tlieii wliat they i]oinpre.it, Thoiigli less thau yours in mixf, iiiust o'ertoi) yours; For time is liko a fashionable luxst, Tlijitsliirlitly sluikcs his purtiui,' i^iiest by tlio linnd. And witli liis arms outstretched, as he would lly, Grasps in the eomer: irelroiiw erer smiles, Aiii/fdirirc/l f/ors out sIijIn'iijj. Let not virtue seek Ilemuneration for the thing it Avas; For beauty, wit, High birth, vigor of bone, desert in service, Love, friendship, cliarity, an subjeefs all To envious and cabimuiHtijig time. Oiu> touch of luiture makes the whole world kin. That all, with oiu) consent, praise newborn gawds, Though tliey are nuido ard molded of things past. And give to dust, that is little gilt, More laud than gilt o'erdusted. liwjirrseiif ri/e prais(>s the pycxciif ohjcrf: Then marvel not, thou great and comi)lete man. That all the Greeks begin to worship Ajax, Since things in motion sooner catch the eye Than what not stirs. The cry went once on thee, And still it mii/Iif, and yet it wai/ (rf/aln, If thou wouldst not entomb thyself alive An(f aisc tin/ rrpiifrifmH in fhij tent, Whose glorious deeds, but in these fields of late, Made emulous missions 'mcngst the gods themselves. And drave great Mars to faction. If ever Sli;ikesi)eare wrote ii finer or more invalua- ble seiitlineiit, or eouclied it in more ])otcnt or trench- ant terms, T liave never read it. Aeliilles, it will be remembered, was the hero of the Trojan war on the Grecian side, and during the f>Teat ctmtest often years Achilles was employed a part of the time in the reduction of the tributary cities of Asia Minor, be- 11 198 TllK SULKS. longin^^ lo the scqUer oi' IVuiiu, tlio kin^^ of Troy 111 Uie (loslnictioii of Ur. city of Tynu's.sns (lio lu.aii- lil'iil Jiiysei.s iKH-aiiio the prize of AHiillcs, and in \\h, takiii",^ of Tliehi' ( "hryscis became the prize (,|' A-a- ineiimon, the iiioiiareli ol" (ireece aiul tlie comiuandi'r of tlio Greek ai-iny around Troy. A jieslilence short- ly appeared in the (Jreek oani]), and Calchas, encour- aged by the ])r()llered protection of Achilles, attril)- iited tlic i)higue to A<>anieninon'(s detention ol" tlie daughter ol' ('Iiry.seis, whom her lather tried" in vain to ransom. Agamemnon was greatly ollended, but was comi)elled to surrender ids l)eautirul captive, and in retaliation npon Achilles lie deprived liim of iJryseis. Hence arose "the anger of the scjn of I'cleus," or Aclnlles, who withdrew his forces from the I'rojan contest. AVhilo he sulked in his tent no oilers of rec- onciliatitm, no entreaties nor in-ayers coukl avail to get him back into service. Homer rcju-csents him as aroused at last l)y the deatli of liis friend Patroclus, and Shakes])eai-e, in his Troiius and Cressida, re])re- sents him aroused l)y the argumentative i)ersuasion of Ulysses and Patroclus, who charge him with love to Polyxena, Priam's daughter and Hector's sister, as the cause of nnheroic inertia and indill'erence; and they stimulate him to warlike deeds again by way of emulation and envy of Ajax. Shakes])care did not write his play from the Iliad of Homer at all, but in a popular form from the popular story of Troiius and Cressida, written by Dares Phrygius. If any story of the sulking wrath of Achilles is true, it is that npon which the actum of the Iliad is based and recorded by Homer; but vhe poet's re])resentation of Achilles, in reply to Patroclns, after tlie exit of Ulysses, is superb and characteristic of our aroused hero: THK SULKS. 199 I BOP, my reptitation is at stake; My faiiif ia shrowdly gorod. Acliillt's went t(j battl (.! imaiii ill i'lill iinnorand with the full vi-'-or ol' all Ills lici-oic; i'ovvv, and in the end 1 ic slew ^i-eat Jleetor, al1ii()ii,"lory" if endured and appropriated to the spiritual development of <»nr souls. IIow olh'ii men forget that (iod's eompiMisations for wants and alHie- tions here below make the eondilion of the nnfortii- nati' and the suH'eriug the very stepj)ing - stone to greatest honor and glory througli faith and the cross! "What a dillereuee bet wi'iMi Divi's and La/arns! Our vei'V tears are bottled jewt'ls for eti'i'uity. Our very stripes for Christ are stigmas of glor3\ Our very chains are diamond bracelets and uecdvlaces for celes- tial wear. Alas for the pooi, " nn|)rolitable servant," sulking over his one talent and hiding it in a napkin! In vain will he come at last and say ti> his Lord: ''I knew tbee that thou wast a hard master." How use- less to sulk with (Jod! Then let me inquire, AVhat does a man gain by sulking from any stand-point? ])oes he ever drive his fellow -man to appreciate him the more, and the more earnestly call for his talents and his sei-vices? Till-: sir-Ks. 201 Not oiu-c ill ii lliousand, unless ii m;iii isursiid, i„m-- iM(icfnti)r()|M,Hinnsnnr(i,nr(! lliat (iKMVcrM ci.niK.t, fri't iilon- >vi(li..iit, liim. An Achilles miol.t sulk :uu[ yvi ho huc.I, |„M, n.osi, „„mi can learn Iheir ini|...r|..,nee ),y sliekin- a lin-er in tin; ocean an.) Ihen piillin- it <,ul, fo find the Imle if has nnuh— nn old san, hut it saws well. (Jenerally Ihc world s.M.n for-els fhe sniker, i.nd f hero are al- ways u dozen i.e<.|.le fo slep in aP.l fak», fhe, place of •"••linary, and of most (.f the exfraordinarv, men an.l wonu'n of fhe world. Hesides this, the W(.rld has u Miprenie confen.j.t for fhe sidk.'r, l\,y sn'kin- is almost ahvayn theevidenceof van-, y or liffleness, and a weak- ness of character, if not of inlellecf. Jt is fh,. -jost babyish performance known fo men, and fhe world «-oneralIy freafs suc-h people as a j)arenf freafs a sidk- ino- ehild, eifher hy fhrashin- him out of fhe sulks or l)y Icavmo-himfo sulk it ouf. Forf unafely for a <-hild 't can -et over fhe snlks; hnt 1 have seen men an(l women, mo.o foolish than l.ahes,sulk away years and often a l.fe-fimo of usefulness and honor. I have Hvvn o.„od chl .leacons and deaconesses, m.,fhors and lathers m Israel, -ct nmd and take a coi-ncr or a back pew; an.l the more fhe ])astor or the brethren j.leaded the sulku.r o,.ew the sulks. They waste their lives and injure their Churches and wound the cause of their J.'edeemer, and to gratify their ].ctfy pri.lo and spite they somefimes -o to their -raves shrouded and clouded wifh their sulks. How will thoy a],pear be- tore their (,od m such a mood as this? (iod knows and wo may all juvorI(l llu-y Ht()(»(l up, tnii'^Ui a ^►•ocmI li^lil, liniHlud tlitnr fdiirsi', kt>i)t the; lailli, glorilu'd (iod, and tlid (ho world all ill"' yood tlicy could. 'J'lie .sulkiu;;" spirit' is 1Iil' result, ol" inordiuah' vanity and o'ji'otisni. Injuiiil innoi'i-uco and wortli never de- ter ^reat nnuds and hearts iVoiu lile'H stern duties and jjfrand battles. J^ove, in exalted souls, never I'ails; and the lieroic eliaraeter despises wron*,'' and j)ities tlio vvron^"-doer in opposition. Too nuiny men leel that their little vanity is iu)t appreciated as rasti'r and his vocation, or else there is nothing in him to ap])reciate. Who is he? and whal is he? and what is he hero for? Are })rido and and)ition and vainglory and self-seeking and high ])osition his mo- tive and insjiiration? If so, he nuvy exj>cct to bo thrown into the sull , and he may ex])eet to have to skulk before he gets through with his (»od and his brethren, or else with everlasting grit, without gi-aco or sympathy, fight it out on his own and the devil's line. Jesus is our model, lie never sulked nor "squealed" anud the ti'ials of life or the ingrati- tudes of men or the cruel oi)position (d' the devil; and he was characterized, in his su])i-eme greatness and goodness, by the humility, meekness, and lowli- ness of the little child, which never gulk'^ long. _ We are not hereto i)lease men or to please oni'seh^s, and the sooner a man finds out that he is i" ' h rt. i< r him- self to live or die the soimer he will be cured of his" petty vanity and egotism, the only ])riucii)le Avhicli ever sulked. Even a laudable ambition and a true TIIK SULKH. 2(K{ pride, Hpuakiii!;^ alU'i* tlit- niaiincr of flu; wt.iUl, will iiover .siillc. '1 ho heroic H|)ii-il, tlu- loii-^li and ;;ritty charactei', tlio brave and jiilre|>id man, as ;i matter of policy and cli iraeter anionj^^ nu-n, will not draw back and cease cH'ort. Jiiuvcry case true manhood reco^iii/.cH that the world adndrcs the pluck that will not be ill8coura<^('d and tlio cheek that will not blanch Ijclore danirers and dillicnlties. The world wants a man that, it can kick and cull' and slander for awhile, and who after all will nl honor; but it al- ways admires the fellow who can ,>ick himself up and put the world down. Yvh, this W( ild glories in get- ting a nnin down into a mud-hole, in wallowing him all over in tilth and Blime; hut there is no man tl;o world HO admires as that same man who gets up and wallows the world in its own hole. This is atrange, but it is human nature; and the ])reacfier and the dea- con and the Church-mend)er should it least learn u desirable portion of this trait in humii i nature. Did Blaine sulk after he was defeated for President? Did lie get mad Avith his " mugwump " frieii 's, and give up the ghost? Xo, he went to work to H" o if he could not run again; and when he found it wa ^ not best, he ran in another num — the next best thing. lie will run again yet if there is a chance; and ho, a\ th a persist- ent aim and object in life, every man must push on against the world, the flesh, and the devil, to success. Yes, my friend, you can stop and sit back and hide in your shell, shut up like a sensitive plant, and think you spite somebody, but you only cut ofi' your nose ;, 20J: TIIK SULKS. to spite your own luce. "You may congratulate your- self that you are one of the "has bcens," but nothing- so runs out of fashion as " to have been," as Shakes^ peare says. Your greatest regret in the end will be, " I might have been," for no man can die satisfied and be held in gratitude by his fellows who falls short of life's full complement of duty and honor. He must finish his course. The world will not loi-give him if he fails; and to nuilce the port he must plow across the billows against the splash of every breaker and against the bufiet of every storm. He must .ake no compro- mise, like a sailing-vessel tacl-ing- with every wind; much less must he set his sails with every breeze. No man can reach the successful ends of his life, great or small, by compromise — to say nothing of surrender — in the face of difficulty or dang-er. It is bad enough to fail from cowai-dice or timidity, shrinking- before opposition and responsibility; but the greatest and most contemptible failure of all is the man who sulJts his life and his opportunities away because his fellow- inau offends hini or fails to appreciate him. '.| 11 ^^M>> ^iU "^^^ 11 THE DBl/IL'S SIFTER. ESIJS said to PcIlt, heCore 1iu> hotrayal and l'^ tlu! cnicilLxioii: ••^^ilU(ln, Simon, l)oli()ld, Satan liath desired to liave you, tliat ho may sift you as \\ heal: l)ut I have ]irayed or thee, tliat thy laitli I'ail not: and wlioii thou irt converted, stren,u;'tlien tliy bretln-cn." Satan did ^-et liold of Peter, and h'^ silted liim well, eausin,i»' him to curse and to sweai- and to deny his Lord and ]Ma.ster. He neai-ly scared Peter's life out of him, and under the overwiielminy- tem])tatiou lie fell a vic- tim to the sin of cowardice and denial. One glance of his Lord, however, the admonishing ci-ow of the cock, brought Peter to his senses and to the deepest repentance, and the sti'ongand stalwart (ialilean went out into the dark and wept. His faith had not failed him, though for the moment overslaughed; for when- ever Jesus prays for the ])rotection and preservation of our faith it can never "fail.'' The silting i)roccss was good f(jr Peter and good for the world, for, thus turned ahout and converted from his error, lie became a tower of strength to his brethren. His presumption .and self-dependence Avere thoroughly cured, and, though sometimes erring again in other directions, lie became the great apostolic leader. Tie went " a-fish- ing" once, hut he said, in the humility of his heart: I ' km 'J08 THE J>KV1L S SlFTKlf. *' Lord, thou knowest I love thee." lie "disseinbled " at Aiitioeli, but l*aul rebuked liiin Jbr his liiult. Jlencel'orth we hear of IVter, as beloi'e tliis little epi- sode, standing- up uiiyhtily lor ("hi'ist; and he Avent down to the grave a martyr, crueilied with his head downward, lor the gospel's sake. lIoAV often Satan sil'ted him we do not know, but his denial of Christ is recorded as perhai)s the bitterest ordeal of the sifting process through which he ever ])assed — almost, ap- parently, going" all to chalf. From this illustra{it)n we learn that God sometimes makes the devil Ins silter, as >ve see in oui- ])icture. lie sifted Peter by temptation to fear and cow ardice, and he sifted ^lob by the severest of Innnan misfort- unes and aillictions. God tui-ned his servant Job — a man "[)erfect" in his sight, one that eschewed evil and feared God — it would seem, entirely over to the devil. Satan killed his children, burned up his prop- erty, destroyed bis cattle, and robbed him of Avhat he had; and when all this failed to shake his integrity, God allowed the diabolical liend to touch his body and torture him with carbuncles from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. For weary months, and ])erliai)s years, be was a sulferer; and under the so- called consolation of bis so-called friends insult Avas added to tlie devil's injury. His Avife consi-ired to help the old adversary out; and about all that Satan ancl Sallie and Eliphaz and Bildad and Zoi)har could do Avas to get Job to sAvear a little at himself and his fate. So far as God Avas concerned, he exclaimed, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed bo the name of the Lord; " and Avhen the Avorst came to the AVorst be said to his friends : " Though he skiy me, yet Avill I trust in him." About all I can THE DEVIL .S SIFTEU. 209 get from Job's conversation with God and his iriends is that he was seH-rigiiteous even in his "trust," and I suppose that God intended to let the devil silt hini out of that. AVhen lie came to himself and saw him- self as God saw him, then he justiiied God instead of himself. He got to wlierc he could abhor himself in dust and ashes, and then his captivity was released. I'lie chair was all g-one, and the wheat was clean, and the devil never got such a thrasliing as he did at the hands of Job, whom he ti'ied to sift into hell itself. If Satan met his nmtch in Job, ho met it also in Paul; for it seemed as if Crod let him silt Paul most of his life. He had a "thorn in the flesh," the "mes- senger of Satan," to "bullet him;" and how much trouble it gave Paul we shall never know until we see him in heaven. Besides all this, the devil stirred up more war and oj)i)ositioii, put more demons in human shape to hurt and destroy Paul than ever fell to the lot of any other man. A\'e can scarcely conceive why Paul snllered so much of ill and persecution, but we know one thing: God never had a hero who could stand it more like a man. Another thing we knew, too, and that is the devil sifted as little chaff out of his wheat as ever fell through his sieve. Ilis " thorn in the flesh," whatever it Avas, was given to keep him humble, lest he " should be exalted above measure." He had been up into the third heaven, whether in the body or out of it he did not know. He had seen and heard things which ho coidd not ntter. There was danger, perhaps, tlmt he Avould feel his distinction too greatly. Paul Avas human, and he Avas put into the sifter's hands in order to keep the chafFfrom his A\heat, not to get it out. So avc see that God tries ns often to test lis and keep us pure; as often ho puts ns into (■I ■(I (I n a Ill iiil I In } 1 ; ' ii • -'-St i J»9 210 TIIK DKVIL S S11'TKJ{. the fire to bum up tlie cliaU' or purge out the dross from the pure gokl. AV'Jiom the Lord loves he ehas- tens. lie seourgeth every sou avIioui he reeeivetli. INlore tluui this, he souietinies k'ts t^atan sift us in or- der to keup IVoui ha\ ing to ehastii^e us. Siritnal and orthodox Chui-ches, and those who g-o out from them are not of them. These heretical sifters of the devil, as well as liis moral THK DKVIl's SIFTKK. 2i:i sirtors, iiro separatin*,'- tlio cliafl' IVom the wheat, the goats IVoni the sheep eveiy day; and Avhilc we eom- phiin of them and combat Ihem, Jesus tells us that these heresies are ordained of (iod, that (jll'enses must come in spite of the condenniati(m of those who ori«- inate them, '-that they which are approved may he made manifest." So of the theater, the dance-hall, the card-table, the bar-room, the bi-othel, the gambiiu'^-- hell, politics, bad business, and evil associations. These are all the sifters put into the hands of the devil, who in this respect is God's agent, and who can go no farther than Ciod will let him. Infidelity, Ingersollism, is another mighty sifter which Satan Avields with great elfect, and so of spiritualism. Thou- sands of Christians and false professors fall alike into all these temptations of vice and skepticism; and through this sifting process the true and the false ai-o separated, the chalf is taken from the true, and the true are nltimately sanctified and saved. Some come out of the sifter l)righter and purer than ever, and thousands go through, chaff and all, as you sec in my pictorial illustration. In some way or other we all get sifted, and if we make a profession of Christ, true or false, Cod has ordained the sifting jirocess to show beyond a doubt ^vhere Ave belong. Don't think it strange, therefore, as Peter tells us, if fiery trials try you. Faith is like gold— all the more precious by trial. Its trial is "more precious," he tells us, "than gold tried in the firc>; " and the only faith of value for time or eternity is a tried faith, or one that can si nd the devil's fiery sifter. Let us give the devil his due. He does the true Christian good. lie does not intend to, but under God's overruling ]>rovldence and grace he is made a purifier and a friend. 4 i- 2U TllK J»KVIl/.S SIl TKlt. ill Tlie devil in liko u iiniki fufhcivd in an <)!il-|»!ih'li. Iloc'iinnol <>•<, I,t.y,,|„[l,isc;,l)ie.-(„w. Ilc^is limiliMJ by tlio s\yoiv^ jinii ol" (mmI, niid to IIk- cxUmM oI' ovcrrnlin"^ all evil iur «,nj()d toliis jn-ople (iod allows tlic devil to gi\]mt so Jar and no larlluT. ''AH tliin-s ^^^n^k loocdi- I'l- I'or «••(„„ 1 tolliom tli;il, lovi; (iod, lo tlicin v» In. aro the called aeeordin-:-- to his purpose." Satan eouh! de- stroy dob's i)ro[)er{y, kill bis children, ami torlnre his body, bnl be c(.ul(l not touch his soul to destroy it. Aotbiug- and nobody can huil a nuin but biniseir, and >vith every leini.alion (iod has j.rovided a way of os- cape. To the righteous man it is good to be alHIeted, and to such a man even sin and temptation may be madetotnrnout lor bis nitinniteand eve tsting.wod, through sifting and chastening. Every tail to true. Christian maidiood and womanhood is a fall upward and with the face towai'd the cross. Bitter experi- ence ap])ropi'iated lias been the stepi)ing- stone to honor and success in every great calling of lile; and the iact is no less ti'ue and ap])Iica'!;e to the Chris- tian's Ingh vocation. AVe shall all have some scars of battle njxMi ns in eternity. Christ has the scars of glory n])on him, and though we may have been wound- ed and bndvcn in the devil's sifter the sears will not he ingloi-ious totlu' man who has risen to greater use- fulness and honor by them. ^^^^^9^' ^HS P ' ^^^ 'fy> ^^m^ n ■ HARD-SHELLS. * > » < -»- ^CC'OMPAXYIXa this ski'ti'li arc two illns- l^.fc: tnitiouH which need exphiiuilion. The Hrst |>ic'ture, facing- tins page, represents a ^•^ preaclier before a ])eculiar and characteristic andience — an andienco of tnrtles seated npon S^-i" h)gs in a pond of water, witli an alligator lying olf to one side. I'he ])reacher's text, as seen u[)on the side of the jjlatCorni upon which he stands, is: ^'Bi/ grace ye are saved; " and the andience, as you will observe, is dee[»ly intent, heads up, and listening' ear- nestly to the ])reacher. The alligator, with mouth open, and ]K!rhaps suifuscd with crocodile tears, is specially the hypocrite of the congregation. The doc- trine of salvation by grace is profoundly interestinfj to the elect, and the "Hard-shell" ])reacher, as he is called, seldom dwells upon any other theme except election and predestination or kindred sul)jects, so far as my observation has gone. It is justification by faith, "w'thout works," but Avithout the justifying evidence of works. Paul is always referred to, but James is ignored; and hence going and giving, living and doing f )r God's glory and the salvation of a per- ishing world do not belong to the " Hard-shell's " creed. In the second picture the scene is the same and the audience is the same, as you perceive, but another (217) ; I I --A I i m \ m ! lii' 218 IIAKD-SIIKLLS. preacher occupies the phatlbnu and ai)pc'als to tlic crusty cougrc<>ation. lie is uot necessarily a soft- shell in some respects, but lie is a missionary; and, as you will see, upon the side of his platform he has a dilfereut text: " Give, ami it .shall be [lioen ijon.'''' Ujjon the announcement of his text and theme the scene changes, "dissolves like the baseless fabric of a vis- ion, and leaves not a rack behind." It is now tails up instead of heads up. The turtles pull in their heads and then i)lunge downward from the logs into the water, and nothing is left in sight of that weeping al- ligator but his last extremity. The preacher stands aghast and in chagrin, and he cries aloud in vain. All liis preaching, all his array of Scrij)tui-e, all his force of logic is futile. With such a change of preacher and sul)ject comes a collajjse of enthusiasm with this audience, and it is as if a wet blanket had been Unntr over their ardor. Salvation by grace was extreme unction from on high to the elec^^, but the doctrine of the "ahnighty dollar " and of " effort " proves death to emotion and teai's, no nmtter how clear the Scriptures, how cogent the argument, or how eloquent the oratory. The "Hard-shell" turns a deaf car to every citaticm from the word of God on this point, or else he turns to rend you with controversy by which he si)iritualizes away every passage of divine truth which involves giving, going, or doing for the redemi)tion of the world and for the extension of the blaster's kingdom. In the end, if not before, he takes water, as you see the tur- tles in tlie second picture; and, strnnge to say, he gen- erally, though not always, belongs to Avhat is called the "water family," the Bajitists (and the writer, be- ing of that family, claims the right to say what he n m liii 'Ill IIAKD-SIIELLS. 221 pleases upon tliis subject). You find but few profess- edly anti-missionaries among- other denominations. It may not be amiss here to explain what we mean by the term " hard-shell.''^ There is a sect of our breth- ren called " Hard-shells; " but it is not my purpose sim- ])ly to attack them, and if I allude to theui, it is only by way of illustration, in order to reach the hard- shell anti-uiissionary and anti-effort pretender in mis- sionary ranks. The old-fashioued Primitive Baptists, as they call themselves, are professedly opposed to Mis- sions, to an educated ministry, to a salaried pastorate, to Sunday-schools, and to all effort for the salvation of the sinner or the heathen by direct agencies estab- lished for the purpose. They i-egard missionary and educational boards, missionary appointments, conven- tional institutions for the purpose of evangelizing- and educating- the world as anti-scriptural; hence, in the sense in which we foster Missions and education, they stand opposed to what they call " man-made inven- tions and methods." They hold that if God wants a missionary in Africa or China, he will move him to go, and provide the means for his going and for his opera- tions; and believing, many of them, that the Holy Spirit, without the use of means, will lead the elect to faith and salvation, they naturally hold that all missionary, educational, and Sunday-school effort for the salvation of sinners is not only anti-scriptural, but useless and God-dishonorine-. However erroneous we i-egard their theory or their creed, they are among the most honest people in the world. They would come nearer, perhaps, suffer- ing martyrdom for Christ than any other denomina- tion I know. I have known them to walk forty miles to be at one of their Associations, and they are much 1 99':» IIAKD-SIIKLLS. i*!ii devoted to their Churches, and kind and hospitable to one anotlier in brotherly love. I never knew but one of tliem to take advantage of the homestead or bankrupt laws, and he was excluded from the Church. Formerly, a letter of dismission from an old-school Biiptist Church was a letter of credit to a dry goods or grocery merchant; and the i)ayment of an honest debt, or the dealing out of exact justice to his fellow- man, Avas the pride of a "Hard-shell." They are hard in doctrine, fatalistic in theology; they believe more in ''feeding- the sheep" than in converting the goats; they do lujt believe in the use-of means and measures for the extension of the gospel to 'i perish- ing world; the}' believe that God does not need to be helped, and that '' whatever is to be will be," as some i'acetiously say, "whether it comes to pass or not;" but one thing is certain, you always know where to find an "old-side" Baptist, and he wouldn't deceive you to save your life, if he is as he used to be. The old-school brethren have their faults, as I have already intimated; and they have, as I think, their grievous errors; but they are rigidly and openly hon- est. Many of their preachers dote on their ignorance, . and seem to think God holds their illiteracy at a pre- mium. I have heard some of them preach some of the most ridiculous sermons in the most ludicrous manner, and yet attribute what they said and did to the operation of the Holy Spirit. One is said to have represented himself as having a funnel, ordinarily in the top of his head, into which the Spirit poured the words he should utter; and on one occasion, when he "got into thebi'ush," he said God had turned the fun- nel wrong end up! In East Tennessee, as a promi- nent minister present told me, an old Primitive broth- nAliD-HllELLS. s tliscourse cov>8, but in those days it took cio-ht ,„on tn m;n- bear, and they didn't get much ,n 1 T '' J'ly instances of bad readh, ft • ," ""^'" '""'"■ there were nine more standino- of +i,„ i ', ^ • fusar in ,„e,,.„"_a„ s„d; t-fl^Vj^^t^^r*; '".^ a.e »„„, IK-Urnblo ex t tn^T; ZTT'' !'"" *'"■■" -"> P-.eI,i„g as ched i „" '"p ' ™'%", """"'''l o,,,. citie.,-„„,ab,y i„ Jfashvillelt ,e ."e I nT?, t If ^^^^^^n HI 22J: llAKD-SUELLS. Buch a martyr spirit and purpose, should dwindle in uunibers luul i)o\\ er every day Ibr the want of a mis- sionary and i)r()gressive spirit. Wliat a power tliey miglit have been in the world, planted ni)on the great commission of Chi-ist, " Go ye into all the world, and f reach the gosiicl to every treat trre!'^ 1 speak this senti- ment from my heart in all kindness and love, and I can assure my Primitive brethren that if any thing' I could say or do would contribute to their evangel- ical advancement, I would lay any sacrifice I could offer at their feet. Perhaps they Avill consider me presumptuous and my offering gratuitous; but, what- ever they may think, I am their loving' and obedient servant. But I am not after the "Hard-shell " of the Primi- tive school, as I said before, except by ^vay of illus- tration. I am after the hard-shell of some of our modern schools. I have respect for the old-fashioned " Hard - shell " who hitches onto the rear of your cart and jmlls the other Avay, but I detest the balky hard-shell in 3'our own team. You can cut the hard- shell loose in your rear, but it is hai-d to manage the lazy or the obstreperous fellow in front of you. He is one of you, and he it is in all of our Churches Avho does us the most harm. He won't give, nor will he do any thing for Christ and his Church; and often he is sitting down ujion the stool of do-nothing, congrat- ulating himself upon being saved by grace. He is going to heaven upon a Pullman sleeping-car, at rest in his berth, rolling on wheels, with his luggage of sin and indifference checked through; and he is perfectly concent to let his brethren bear all the burdens and all the ex])enses of the business, in the prolits of which he hopes to participate. IIAHD-SIIKLLS, 225 He never takes ti religious newspaper, that lie may keep abreast with the progress of the Christian world; and this kind of a hard-shell, while he boasts much of the Bible and of having- all tlie truth, never reads or studies it. lie is opposed to boards, theological seminaries, Sunday-schools, and what-not of elFort and enterprise, and he does not even give to the support of his own ])astor. If you will preach faith without works, salvation by grace without evidences, his head is up; but a missionary or educational sermon will put his head into his shell every time, lie will tako water, too, without an argument, and it is like strik- ing a feather-bed with your list— there is no i-ebound; he will not even answer you nor fight you back. He is a hard-shell, and he is a moss-backed one at that, willfully ignorant and self-determined not to give and never to do any thing except to go occasionally to Church. He lives mostly in country places, but not unfi-equently in the city. He may be a Baptist, a Methodist, or ii Presbyterian — I have seen them every- where. . One great dithculty in the way of many of our Chui'ch-mcmbers on this point is ignorance, and one reason for this state of things is the want of pastors in many places Avho will enlighten the people practi- cally and push the enterprises of religion. I know some pastoral ignoramuses who would be willing- to preach for nothing to enjoy the distinction, or else to live upon a pittance to have the privilege; and of course such a preacher would never develop the lib- erality and the energies of his Church. There are not a few Churches, too, that would like to have just such a i)astor, and there ai-e more members in most of the Churches than we think who are of just such a caliber 22G IIAHD-SIIKLLS. and sentiment. There are some pastors who i)icrer not to press the missionary and educational enter- prises of tlieir denomination for fear that their own pockets will snifer; and, while they promise big- things at the Association ov the Convention, they go home to resume their habit of doing nothing-. All this is €ld hard-shellism, anti-eft'ort, anti-missionary, anti-ed- ucution, and much of it results from pastoral igno- rance or inefficiency. Like people like priest, and, vice versa, like priest like people. Ilard-shellism is an antichristian lie, and it is the only form of antichrist whicli seems dcs^ lined to die in an age like this. God nor the devil has any i-espect for it, for it will not give nor work, and neither God nor Satan has the jiatience to deal long with stinginess and laziness. Ilard-shellism — religiously, socially, ])olitically, connnercially, or oth- erwise — would never have develoi)ed a woi'ld, an idea, an age, or a country. It is the boast of " masterly inactivity'," the sin of negation and inertia, the hy- pocrisy in those who profess to be ])rogressive, of im- pecunious lassitude — the end of which is an everlast- ting ''innoccnous desuetude." It is fatalism or the presumption of negation and inertia which makes hard-shellism, and the sooner it dies, oi" we who have it dic>, the better for the Avorld. So mote it be, if God will. ;•«» I I JEALOUSY: OR, THE BIG AND LITTLE FELLOW. jSSHoJj-^^^^r^^T this skctcli is tlic picture of an ass ^¥'^if. layed the moon in vain. A small-statured man once struck a huge, gigantic iellow in conversation with another. The big man didn't seem to notice it; and some one present rcmarlvcd to the little fellow: "You had bet- ter stop striking Jones, or he may find it out after awhile, and knock the life out ol' you." "NVe have all heard the story of the big man who had a little midget for a Avife. She I'requently abused and beat him with- out his paying any attention to her. Some one asked him why he submitted to it. "It amuses her," he said, " and don't hurt me, and so I let her enjoy her- self." This is the way the truly great treats the little fallow that brays and kicks at him. The ass is a good animal in his ])lace; but out of his place, posing as a lion, or kicking at a lion, his asininity becomes ob- Borved, his ears pop up, his voice is recognized, and his character becomes api)arcnt. Nothing is so be- coming to a donkey as to stay in his place, keep his mouth shut, and contiol his little heels. The majestic lion speaks I'or himself Avithoufc roaring; and it is a c IMIK (iOSPKL. fore God. So of munlor, tliol't, lying-, covetousnoss, and of cvoiy otluT ,sin incorporated under the law of God. llonce, "Nvliilc ii man by culture and reline- mcnt may bo externally inn(»cent of every transgres- sion, wlictlier by -word or deed, he may be a thousand times guilty of every transgression at heart, and if lie is gnilty of but one only, he is guilty of all. So ex- l)lains and develops the law luuler the light of gospel interpretation, and so i< is interpreted that unst'llish love to man and supreme love to Goil can alone keep or fullill the law upon our part. Saul of Tarsus, Gornelius, the rich yonng ruler, were all " jwrfect," as touching the external observ- ance of the law; and yet the gospel discovered to Paul that he was the "chief of sinners," to Cornelius that he must be "saved" by the blood of Jesus as the meanest sinner in the world, and to the rich young ruler that he had never had the faintest conception of the law's spiritual significance, the end of which -IS salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Je- sus Christ. The law is not able to save, and IVEoses was not a savior. The law, or Moses, is simply our school- master to bring- us to the Savi(mr, Christ; but we never could understand our school-master, except in the light of Christ and the gosi)el. All the law can do to help us is to bring the knowledge and conscious- ness of sin and secure conviction and re])entance to- ward God; but the law could not do this, except im- der the spiritual lamp of the gospel of Christ. In the absence of gosi)el light the law ceases to be a school-master and becomes a tyrant over the blind and dead sinner, driving him to the endless bondage of precepts and ceremonies, trying to save himself by I j THE LAW A\n THK (JOSI'KL. 241 Bell-ri<>hte<)UHiu'ss and wcarin*? a galling yoke wliic-h gives him no rest nor lu'utH- of body, mind, or heart. It 18 only when we enter the Hchool-niaHtcr'H olHce that we learn of (1n-ist and exchange yokes to lind the gos|)el burden light and easy, ri'stl'ul and |)eaeefnl to the enlightened and regenerated spirit. Without the gospel of Christ, whelhei- in tyjie or antitype, the Holy Spirit coidd never have brought us to leara the spiritual nature and im|)ort of the law upon a sin'>-le human heart dead in sin. 'Hie word of Christ is the only pen, the blood of Christ the only ink by which the Spirit can legibly write (iod's law of life upon the Heshly tablets of the heart, and thus kill it to sin and make it alive unto (iod under liisilivine peiunan- ship. The word of (Jod, both in the Old and the N"ew Testament, is a dead letter to the dead sinner; but when, through a belief in the gospel and the hand- writing of the Holy Spirit, we arc cleansed from sin and quickened to life in Christ, then we can compi-e- hend the law in the light of the gospel. AVe catcli its S])iritual import and i)urpose of revelation to us, and the Old Testament kindles bright and luminous as a star lit up in the splendors of the Sun of righteous- ness. We see the face of Afoses and the sunnnit of the old mount shine again with inetfable and unap- proachable splen(h)r for the monuMit, and then we be- hold them soften down into the mildei- and sweeter radiance of Christ, who was '< touched," and of Cal- vary, which can be "touched" by the lost and ruined sinner. The true believer of the Old Testament spiritually, though not so fully as we, comprehended the import of the hiw. Abel and Enoch, "N'oah and Abraham, Mo- m M k ■KM* ees and Duvul, all navv Christ and his day alar oil' by propht'cy and by the typical blood of " the Lamb Blain IVoni the foundation of liic world." The jrospel, Bays Tanl, was preached to Abraham, and ho to all the rest who truly believed. Throup^h Closes, by whom came the hiw, they beheld Christ, by whom came j,nace and truth, the life and the light of the world; and the saved of all disi)ensations believed on his name, were cleansed by his blood, and were (piick- ^ ened by his Spirit, by the same inunutable liw of par- don and life, before and since Christ, before and since the Day of Pentecost. To the saved the law was al- ways, as now, the school-nuister which led to Christ, and the gospel prefigured or consummated was always, as now, Uie refulgent and i-ef1ective glory which lit up the tables in Moses's hand with their only true and divine interpretation. Keeping the isynd)olism of our picture in mind, how strilving are the lessons we learn as we behold, fi-oni various^stand-points, the law as lit u]) or illuminated by the g<)s])el! Take the nu)ral law. This is the law of life as Je- sus taught the rich young ruler, if a man keep it; but to this end a nmn would have to be born pure and holy, l^erfcct: and then he would have to keep the law i)er- sonally, perfectly, and peri)etually, from the cradle to the grave, in oi-der to live by it. In fact, such a man could not die, and such a nuui has never lived. The very idea of death ])resupposes sin; for by sin death came into the world, and hence all have sinned, and were born in sin; "by nature the children of wrath," as Paul teaches the Ephesians. However correct a man's external observance of the law, however trained and kept by the most rigid legal culture, he cannot THE LAW AM) TIIK (JOSIM.L. 2453 obey the Hpirit of tlui hiw. " Cursed is every one that coiitimit'th not in «//lInng-.s wliicli are written in the book of the liiw to do them; " and yv\, in essenee, not one 8in<^le hunmn bein;^ l)orn of A(hun • ver obeyed owe single prccei)t written in tiie hiw, nuicb less contin- ued in it, to do it; and yet this eni'«e is pronounced upon the dead sinner incapable of keeping, in spii'it, one jot or tittle of (fod's least connnandinent. Hence the necessity of Clirist, who perfectly kept the law for us, who (lied '< redeem lis fi'om its penalty; who became our Prophet, Priest, and King instead of Mo- ses, Aaron, and David; who l)ecame the second in ])lace of the first Adam; and who, having substituted gi'ace instead of law, became for us " wisdcnn, right- eousness, sanctification, and redemption " by the sat- isfaction of law. How gloriously the gospel lights up this fact when once you can make a sinner see that ho cannot work out his salvation under the law, and when he can be nnide to cast himself upon Christ, his substitute for the law I How blind is a poor, self-righte(m8 sinner, trying" to live unto (Jod by his morality! How much blinder still is the poor, self-eoncelted sinner, trying l)y "sci- ence falsely so called," to reason out his life in Godl How the gospel of blood opens thus the blinded eyes to the terror and Mie weakness of law, to the futility of all philosophy, however excellent and useful as a rule of the present life! And how, in the very light of all law and philosophy, it brings before it Jesus, "the one altogether lovely and the chiefest among ten thousand!" Beneath the cross we can discover the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Clod's vindicative justice satisfied, and we can behold, as contained in the law, but never revealed by it, how he so loved the world '2U TIIK LAW ANU TUK (iOSl'KL. The as to ffivo Ills only bc^ottiMi Son to die for it vury law tk'niandi'tl this Hacriliri' oC inlinitit jind civr- niil lovo; and in tho vory suciilici' of love uc can Ik;- hold the di;L;iu(y iind ihc >ii|>i(niiicy of llu- hiw. lli'rc'in WX' ht'hold tlu' solniinn of an odu'rwiHt' nn- (U'nionstrali'd |H(ii»liin : How (iod could lu' just to hiu and yv\ love the sinnei-, and how he eonid at. the sanio time ju.slily the un<>od!y ac/t/if/ fo Imv. This Caet in the seheine oC human redemption, revealed hy tho gospel, pours the l)ri«>htesl Hood of li^r|,t hack upon the signilicanco and value of divine law, which is the moral transeript of (iod's will and th. moral reflec- tion of (iod's life. ^lorality is the cssenee ol'Ciod ami eternal, the spirit and cssenee of hi!:i law; and the gospel I'evt'als that moral ^uiltcan alone I'oatoned for by the sacriliee of inlinite moral dignity. The law typified and foreshadowed this vital and central truth of Christianity, hut tlu' ^'•ospcl makes it. lumi- nous and relulyent on Calvary, lu all these thin<>s it takes tlu^ law first of all to make an intelligent be- liever of the gosi)el; but it takes this intelligent be- liever of the gospel alone to look baidi upon Simii and see and acknowledge tlu> supremacy and dignity of God's divine law of life, inexorabli' wiie: uusatislicd, and yet mach' jxttent and living by the atoning blood of Christ wbcji written by the Holy Spirit upvsn the tablets of the regenerate heart. Talce the ceremonial law with all its synd)olic insti- tutions. AVhat wonderful ty])es and shadows of the '•good things to come" under a gospel dis])cusation! and yet how incomi)rehensiblc except under the light of that gospel! The bloody sacritices of the law would be a horrible and hideous butchery if they did not set forth the altar of Calvary with its sacrifice of i'.' Tin; I.ANV AM> IIIK whole \v(»i-l(l." N«» W'MkUm- llu- poor, hliink'M Iii;i,^i'r.'-.)lliiiu Hi'i's iiothin",'' but thu shuinhluH in the sin iitici's of tlie .Jewish (lis|u'iisatioii. He does uol wee (.'hiisl, iiml not Ht>ein^' ChriHtiii all, hi! cannot comprehend Anion nnv more than he can eoiu|)reliend Moses and his >n- cailrd " mistaki's." It is a I'earlul and awCiil lad that (iod cannot coine short (if, nor «^(» he^ond, blood to sav J !'. -cRusi! he cannot conu; short nor <>:o beyond 1) s law Iv help the sinner. " VVithonI shcddinjj; of Mo(h1 is 1. remission," said the law; but who conid e><'" havi' iMuUM-stood this Icarful maxim but for the . l;::nl)ration of the fact in the lijrht of Calvary's cross? Salvation is a le«^al transaction as well as u moral tiansformalion. Thei-e can be no display of ry, tread the win(!-press alone, walk amid the woes of hell, taste the horrors ol" death, and shed the judicial blood of an atoniny:sacrillce for sin. lilood, blood, blood! Awfid but ju^lorious dis- l)lay of (Jod's leg-al suprennicy and di<^nity to the in- lantilo apprehension of the old dispensation; but, blessed be Ciod, with one stroke of divine justice, -hteou8ness, redeeming the woi-ld, transfornung- the centuries, and paving- the way to the millenniums of glory. So we might speak of the types of the ])riesthood, the temple, and the kingly offices of Israel. How in- comprehensible, but for their revelation and fulfill- >!| I 246 THE LAW AN!) TlIK (JOSl'EL. ment in Jesus Christ! Aaron and liis rol)es, the altar and tlie lavei', the tahle of shew-bread, and the can- dlestick and the incense altar, the holy and the most holy place, the ark of the covenant and the shekinah between the cherubims, the wonderful veil rent in twain at thecrucilixion and uncovering- the most hoi ' place, the two goats on the great day of atonement — all these who could have ever understood but for Cal- vary and its consunnnation? These things would have been enigmas, glittering and insoluble mysteries witi..ut signiiicance, but for the gospel. How clear and beautiful and glorious do they kindle now to the believer's eye, and what strong confirmation do they give in proof of Holy Writ and of our glorious Chris- tianity! So we might speak of prophecy, which is a kindred development of the legal ilispensation. The prophets of the did Testament would be regarded as fanatics and visionaries but for the gosi)el. Yet how loftily and authoritatively do they speak to all generations when Christ and his apostles confirm theii- declara- tions, and when the gospel and the kingdom of God fulfill their marvelous ])redictions! David pictures the .very crucifixion in all its details, and predicts the very woi:ds of Christ's crucial agony : " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " Istnah foretells the Son of God ")y name — Innnanuel, God with us, born of a virgin, and called " AVonderfnl, Counsel- 01-, mighty God, eve'-lasting Father, T?ie Prince of I^eace." Daniel portrays the glory of his "everlast- ing kingdom," counts the very days and years to the tinij of his crucifixion, wlien " everlasting righteous- ness" should be brought in, and when "Messiah sh uld be cut off, but not for himself." Joel blazes THE LAW AND TIIK OOSPKL. 241 forth the Pentecostal splendors, and they all conspire to proehiim the establishment, progress, power, and consummation of the Church down to the millennium in minute J'.nd inimistalvable detail to the intelligent readei and believer of the gospel. How grandly do the ])rophets point to the cross and the kingdom of Christ! and how res[ judently do their predictions and doctrines glow nndcr the interpretation and ful- fillment of gospel light! Hoary seers of the centuries gone by! I see. you marching through tlio obscurity of ages, Avith stately step and awful form toward Calvary and the cross, and then I behold yon grow radiant and luminous in the light of Christ and his apostles, as did Moses and Elijah, the representatives of the law and the proph- ets on Tabor's top. Then, as the transfiguration scene ])asses from my vision, T behold Moses and Eli- jah gone, and but One left in the midst of his rep- resentative apostles, while high Heaven exclaims, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him;" and while the everlasting record of (iod writes in letters of gold: "Jesus Oxly," He is the "Alpha and Omega" of both dispensations — the "All and the in all" of every age; and in him the law and the gospel, the i)rophets and the apostles, center as one complete unity, the complement and counterpart of each other. The old points forward to tlie new, and the new ])oints back to the old, and both the old and the new covenants meet as the two parts of God's divine and eternal indent- ure, the will of the dead and living Testator, Christ, signed, sealed, delivered iii his own blood, probated in the courts of beaten, and executed and adminis- tered and applied to a perishing world by the Holy Ghost. I Hi I : Ill Bed ^go Short, Blanket too Narrow. ->^<^ — - )icture drawn for this sketch is an illustra- ^ tion of Isaiah xxviii. 20: "For the bed is i^^ "^ shorter than that a man can strctcli him- [Sji self on it: and tlie covering narrower than that ho can wrap liiinself in it." Tlie carica- ji^fy tnre shows the wretched and sleei)lcss condi- tion of one upon a cold night nnder such a situation of unrest. Tlie real theme of the text is ixu Insnffi- cisnt Felif/ion — tliat is to say, a i-eligion whicli has an iiisullicient foundation u])oii which to lie, and an in- suilicient character with which to cover the soul. Self-sufliciency and self-righteousness, principles and ])ractices which an; fundamentally'- aud resultantl y in- elficient and vicious, constitute such a rclig-ion. The occasion of the text, however, involved the literal condition of the Jew^, in the mind of the ])rophet, when they shoidd be shut uj) in Jerusalem by the siege of the Assyrians, aud possibly pointing to the final investment of the lionmns, when Jerusalem should ''C closed in and destroyed. The concrete idea of Isaiah, therefore, was that the Jews thus inclosed iu their city Avould be placed ill the most straitened circumstances; and with no (Jod to help them, dejiendiug upon their leagues with other nations and looking to false gods for help, they r2481 I i MED TOO SHOUT, BLAMvET TOO >rAKROW. 25'. would have no foundation for hope and no covering against their fate. Jerusalem, with her walls and her hulwarlcs, would be like a bed too short m lie on, an insufficient defense in itself; and with no God to cover them with his righteousness and protection, they would be without wisdom and strength, like a man on a cold night with his blanket too narrow. Ju such a situation there would be neither rest nor com- fort, neither help nor hoi)e; and any man who has spent a Avinter's night at a second-clasH hotel or a third-rate boarding-house, where you are treated "just like home-folks," can have some appreciation of such a condition. The spiritual application of the picture before us — the figure of an insufficient religion — attbrdsan inter- esting- study. AVhat is such a religion? It is any religion which has no foundation to build upon, no character to clothe itself with for eternity. The only relijjion which ever offered a sufficient basis and a sufficient covering is Christianity. Christ is the only liock of our salvation; and he alone can be just to sin and yet justify the ungodly. He alone can pay sin's debt and impute righteousness, save the soul from death, and cover moral guilt. He died for our transgression, and he was raised for our justification; aiul when the Christian appears at the judgment hr will stand upon the Kock '^W Ages for salvation, and will be clothed in the righteous robe of Christ's merit, the only " wedding garment " in which we can appear at the " great supper of the Lamb." We are saved by grace, justified by faith; and our entrance into life and glory will ' >• based solely upo'> :vnd charac- terized by the record and dignity of Cii'i-c, our gy't and eternal Substitute. The Christian's own charac- I -• m 25-2 IJKl) TOO SllOU'l, BLANKET T('r of our faith;" and he is the only itcd Ujion which we lie, the ouly covering in which \\c wrap for ealv'.Hon and sanctification. " Other fouudaijon," says Paul, •^^ can ?!0 man lay; " and Peter says, "There is no otlier 1) iihe under heaven given among men whereby we r ai be >avcd." The atonement which Jesus made I'oj' itav sins under God's grace is our all-sufficient foundation; and the righteous less of Christ wrought out in his perfect life, and imputed to us by faith, is our all-sufficient covering. Tiius \\c are redeemed and thus clothe;! for God and eternity. In Christ alone, as in no other conceivable way, can we be made alive from the dead, and reck- oned innocent. Quickened by his word, justified by his blood through the operation of his life-giving and blood-cleansing Spirit, we are saved and sanctified; and when m e stand at last before (iod, body and soul, we shall be a1)solutely perfect through the redemptive scheme, conceived, executed, and applied through the blood, the word, and the work of Christ. We shall completely escape death, hell, and the grave; and in the consummation of oitr resurrection from the dead we shall appear in glory without a stain upon oui- character, and without a defect in our natui-e — all through the ]ierfection of Christ, It wil! take perfec- tion to stand before ])erfection, both V and moral. BED TOO SllOirr, BLANKET TOO XAUKOW. 253 There is no other Avay, philosophical or religious, to at- tain this end hut hy the cross of Calvary. A man must be justified from the (juilt of' sin, he must he made alive from the dead, both morally and physically, and he must be i)resented before a perfect God without spot, wrinkle, or blemish, to inherit eternal life. How can this be done except through the crucilied, risen, and fi-loi'llied lledeemcr as revealed in the Bible? How plain to the devout and intelligent believer! AVho that knows the depth and character of sin can- not see and believe this truth? AVe must be perfect to live with God; and perfection has no foundation except in the redemptive atonement of Christ and in the covering character of Christ. Nor can such per- fection be wrought out in man or ai)plied to his life except through the pardoning and justifying blood and the regenerating and sanctifying Spirit of Christ. Out of Christ, in the very nature of things, God must be a consuming and eternal tire. "Blessed is the man whose sin is covered, and to whom the Lord imputeth not iniqnity." But let us now glance, by contrast, at the religions of human reason and superstition. The Jews tried idolatry. They made leagues with surrounding na- tions and worshiped theii- gods, seeking help against internal division and foreign oppression. They for- got Jehovah, they abandoned the blood of the typical covenant, and the consequence was that they became a prey to the r own internal dissensions and corrup- tions and fell under the appalling domination of for- eign despotism and superstition. All the gods and armies of Egypt, Assyria, and ISEoab could do them no good. Straitened and stricken by famine and siege, desolate, distracted, and divided aniong them- 25J: BED T(J<) SIIOIH', BLANKET TOO NAUBOW. selves, without the lielp and hope of Israel's God, they ever Ibund heathenism and idolatry a hed too short to stretch upon and a covering too narrow to wrap themselves in. They only survived and lived when they cried and retui-ned to God and to the ark ol' the covenant. When ith.Iatry and heathenism had been cured among- the Jews by cajjtivity, they linally iell into Phaiisaism and Ibrmalism, another bed too short and another blanket too narrow; and in the final destruction ol" Jerusalem by the Komans, when the nation was shut up and slaughtered within the helpless walls of tiic golden city, we have a per- fect idea of the Prophet in the declaration of this text and in the use of this figure, who beheld a])eo- ple lying down ui)on a false and hollow religion, and seeking to cover themselves with their own sulKciency and righteousness. So with every other nation worshiping the gods of reason or superstition. They have perished or are per- ishing from the face of the cai-th. Babylon, N inevch, Egypt, Greece, and Pome, with all the glory of their empires and their civilization, have pass >d away upon the foundation and under the cover of an insufficient re- ligion. The only nations which have lived and pros- pered, and elevated the earth are those wiiich have recognized and honored Christ and Christianity. All other nations now living are simply dead while they live; and they only quicken and advance with the glory of the age as the blood-stained banner of the cross is unfurled above them. What is true of a na- tion is first of all true with the individual; and in proportion as the true or false religions prevail is a nation, a State, or a community dead or vital. Let us look, individually and characteristically, at mf m BED TOO SHOUT, HLAXKKT TOO XAKUOW 2r>o this subject before we come to a conclusion. Behold the moralist and the philosopher, dependiuy respect- ively upon his sell-n;,rhteousness or his wisdom for salvation, and see if his bed is not too short and his blanket too nai-row. Intellectual self-conceit or moral self-ri<>hteousuess is the foundation he lays or the roof he puts ui)on his ivligious structure. Jle needs no Jesus, or only wants him as a convenience, not a necessity. Christ may have been a good man, a i)er- fect teacher, a model exemplar in life and sacrilice; but he is not a Redeemer, a Saviour! lie is a great helper, but his blood neither cleanses nor does his Spirit make alive! Christ and him crucified is a stum- bling-block to Jewish self-righteousness, and foolish- ness to Greek self-wisdom. The heart of man is the bullmus root of the hyacinth, and, at best, if you take Christ at all, the gospel is but the light of "a moral sun Avhich warms and develops the 1 -autiful flowei's of human excellence and inunortalit^ from the bulb- ous root in which is contained all thevirti;;' .Mid pos- sibilities of eternal life. Many do not ne •: Christ at all, in any sense. They are too good to be damned. They don't need blood to cleanse them. They require no regenerating life from God. They don't steal nor lie nor curse nor cheat nor drink, and thev do good, are charitable, belong to the lodge or some benevolent order, and expect to get to heaven upon their own goodness and righteousness. Ask one of them if he trusts Christ for salvation, if he wo, .Ii-;^ God, if he contributes to his cause, if he loves aiul serves the Creator and Redeemer upon the principle of allegi- ance and devotion as a child its parents, as a bene- ficiary his benefactor, as a subject his king, and he Will tell you, " ^^o." God is under obligations to him, 17 ' ;;• li*:. 25(5 «KI) TOO SHORT, HLAMCET TOO XAJtUOW. nut ho t" '^ '' Vt least, it is a imittcr of debit and credit, nud (%va is on tlie debtor side of tlie acconnt! ller.ven la tlio result of eovenant, a business ti'ansae- tiou between him and his (iod; and he is expeelinjj the rGAvard upon the ground of his j)hilo80phieal acu- men or Jiis moral self-ri<'hteonsness. lie is his own wav, his own ti'uth, " n life. AN cU, now, this gejitleman's bed is simply too short and liis eoverinji: is loo narrow. It is not long- nor broad enough for etei'nity. His covering is al>out like the iig-loaf garb of .Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and his fonramtion is about like their hid- ing-place from the ojo of God. His self-i-ighteous service is about like the offering of Cain, the works and fruits of his own hands, offered to God and re- jected. The fig-leaves bad to l,<^ taken off of Adam and Eve and tlie ski. is from the slain aninud, the ty])e of Christ crucitied and of Christ's rlgb; ousness put on. The offering of blood by Abel, not the fruits of Cain, was acci ptable, becansc it i)ointed to " the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world; ' and onr self-righteous and self-wise gentlcnen will have to have Abel's blood as a foundation ai l Ad- am's huub-skin as a covering to stand before God. Withc'it Christ and bis righteousness he shall never see Gu!, Out of ( iirist, lei me repeat, Ciod is a consnming fire. Alas for all ritualism and formalism and self'V',:'!tconsness even in the nrofe8si rest, a true character with which to clothe and to vx<\ -r. -I : «;if The Drunkards Last OpFERinG. -o^<-^ iT^^^^N tlie picture l)t'f()re us we l)oli()l(l the druuk- '^^'j^ !U'(l in tiitlcTcd yi\-o(l. 'I'liis altar is a \vhisky-l)arr('l, croctcd iu a hai'-rooni, behind the counter of which stands the monstrous sha])e of tlie l)ar- tender, aud helbre uhich sits Kiui;- Alcohol, holding up to his victim the whisky-hottle, which "at the last biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an ad- der." This poor, lost, and ruined innuortal sold conies with his last oU'erinji;-. lie has lon<^' since sur- rendered money, morals, character, wife, children, and all; and in his desperation, with every resolution l)roken, and every hoi)e lied, he devotes both soul and body in fiendish consecration to the divinity of his appetite, lie cuts loose from every prosi)ect of the future, and, glancing back over the checkered and desolate career hehind him, he shuts himself up only to the madness and gratification of the present, lie would give a world for one drink of whisky, and he says to the devil: ''Give inc drink, and I will give you myself." The fiends of perdition clutch him round about, and the devils of the liar- room con- spire with hell and make a league with death to I ['■! ' ■ >1 ' IS •"mM^t TlIK I)1!1:MvAI!J) S LAST (_>FF];i:i>(;. 201 give liiiu the danminj^ cup, Avlien he ciiu't *i,'et bread to cat. AVhcn all else is gone to the drunkard he can still get a drink of Avhisky; and the most appalliug spec- tacle of hiiman depravity and debauchery is seen in the abandoned and forsaken soul that hazards hell and banishes heaven, if only the appetite for drink can be g-ratilied. l,have seen such, Avhen every tie and motive of this life, Avhen every touch and terror of eternity Avas swalloAved u]) or obliterated from the deadened brain and the petritied heart by the all- consuming' thirst for liquor. It is often the case that the temporal pains iiud i)en- ultics of the earthly hell into which strong drink turns life lune no power to deter the reckless and mad- dened drunkard upon his downward and hellward career. I have seen the victim of delirium tremens, raving with mania a jiotii, curse liis habit, at lucid in- tervals, and swear reform; and, although shriekiag and haggard, on the very verge of the grave, yet he would recover to break every purpose of reform and to violate every promise of manhood. It would seem that these awful experiences, which do sometimes ter- rify some into sober lives again, would never fail to reach the most obdurate debauchee who ever lived; but thousands go from one scene to another of this character, and jjcrsist to the death of all held dear in time and ho[)ed for beyond the grave. The drunk- ard, strange to say, is seldom an inlidel. His awful experiences — his horrid visions and terrors .of con- science — compel hini to believe that there is an aveng- ing God Avho has tixed his punishment upon the violation of law, and who has reserved a hell beyond, which is proved by its foretaste and counterpart i ty I. N fi ai«.'vii.'^»^',.'»(iiv**» 2()2 TllK DllUXKAHD S LAST OFFEUINC; here. And yet it is straiio-e that the poor lost wretcli will ])ei'sist ill Hying from one hell to reach another M'oi'se than the one already endured. I have seen some v;ho thought the hell to come was almost a heaven to the one alrr>ady reached, and once I heard a drunkard exclaim: " I had rather go to hell than to live!" It seems that drunkenness can so develop a torment in the soul and in the life of its victim as to make the prospective hell a paradise to the one en- dured, and hence we often see, in the blindness and delusion of inebriety and desperation, the man com- mit suicide and end a career which sends the soul to I'isk the ills it knows uot of, in order to get rid of the ills which, while they onl}- foretaste the future, dazzle Avith false ho])es of the life to come. Of all the enignnis in this woild it is drunkenness and the drunkard. The fascination and allurement of alcoholic intoxication — which fills the brain with fancy, which robs the heart of care and trouble, and which olevates the man with hallucinations of his own exem]ition from danger, ])eril, oi- poverty — are easily seen, to l)e sure. I'l-udence, i'ear, and depression, all take their flight, and, for the time being, the man lives in the airy realm of his own imagined security and ha])i)iness — turning loose every passion, to revel in its fancied or real gratification, and subordinating reason, wiil, and motive to the wild and ungovernetl play of emotion. ^Nfost men enjoy this state of ex- liilaration and delirium, r.nd when intoxicated imagine that they are wi-^er, better, and ha])pier, often, than the l^est of eai-th. But it is a wonder that the dread- ful collapse of remorse and degradation which seizes the sensil)ilities and the intellections when the sober moment comes does not forever banish, with horror, THE DKUXKARD S LAST OFFEEIXG. 263 the thought of such a stiitc again. For a time it does frighten and debar the drunkard in the incipioncy of liis delusive and destructive liahit; hut as the habit grows the victim becomes ingulfed with the irrepress- ible desire to drown one collapse by another debauch. Even when the piirpose of reformation gives a long, lucid interval it is strange that the drunkard's fear- ful experience is forgotten, and, in the mad thirst for the alcoholic effect and experience, he will, against every protest of conscience and remembrance of hor- ror, again go back to the bottle. The fact is that drunkenness becomes a disease, under the nomenclat- xwe of opiwmania; and when the lierce frenzy of that disease takes ])ossession of the man, however long the interval of sobi-iety, he would rush to the bottle over the very pit of hell itself. In thousands of instances this disease becomes chronic and constitutional, and nothiug biit scientific and prolonged treatment can cure it. The truth is that hal)itual drunkenness be- comes a disease in every case, and in only a few in- stances curable by the loftier will and motive ])ower of the inebriate. He is like the man attlicted with cancer or consumption or scrofula; ar.d his delusive and habitual disease of the appetite must be cured by all the forces of mind and medicine which can be ap- l)lied. The solution of that enignui which at last makes a man willing to sell his soul for whisky lies largely in the theory that drunkenness becomes a constitutiomd and chronic disease. It is like any oth- er species of moral or mental insanity — once formed, and the disease once lixed in our nature, it is almost as impossible to resist our im])ulses in the one case as in the other. What is a man's duty under these circimistances? (if> ■i-y -whisky, if only a license is granted to drink and sell this damnable destroyer! Svhv le<'is- late against concealed weai)ons, gambling-hells, and lewd houses? or why not license them all as we do the saloons? My friends, think on this pictnre— the most pitiable and the most horrible ever drawn by the imagination. lleHect and ])onder, poor tempted man, and then go and drink again if you can, with such a prosj)ective fate before you. Think upon it, sober men and wom- en, and then give your iiitluence, if you can, to the sa- loon. Kemember we shall all meet at the judgment — the drunkard and the saloon-keeper, the law-maker, the voter, and the citizen — and if no drunkard can enter heaven, if no giver of drink can escape God's almighty '' woe," what shall be the penalty inflicted upon the nnm who wielded his suft'rage and his influ- ence to fasten the accursed saloon npon his country? Tell me I liate the bowl? Iliifr is too feeble a word! I loathe, abhor; my very soul AVith strong (Hsr/iist is stirred Whene'er I hear or read or tell Of this dark beverajje of Iiell. 1) , jf ^1 « ,H THE TWO WAYS. w HJT two rotuls load to eternity, iuul these two ^ roads lead in precisely the o[)posite direc- tion. Oiu' of these roads leads to lieaven, the other to liell; and we aii' all on one or tlie othei- of them. There are no other roads leading- to I'ternity, no hy-ways which switch ofl". no midways hetween; and the ])icture hefore ns is an exact representation, in suljstance, of what Christ says in Matthew vii. 13, U: ''Enter yo in at the strait sate: lor Avide is the oate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and mam/ there hu Avhlch g'o in thereat: because strait is the g-ate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that lind it." 1. J.et ns look at the narrow way. It is entered by a strait or dillicult g-afo, represcmted by the little nee- dle g-ate in the wall of Jerusalem, throug-li which it was next to iini)ossiblc for a camel to g-o. Before do- ing- so lie had to be sti-ipped of all his load, and get down on his knees, and with great diflicnlty squeeze through. Coming to Christ is like entering this g-ate, for a man can just barely get through., stripped of his load or luggage. So Christ enters us, as we enter him, by repentance for sin, Avhicli we renounce, and by faith, through Avhich avc receive him into our (208) I I 11 n\k I. iff 1 !| ■ 1 1 'f! TIIK TWO W AVS. '; 271 hearts as lu; receives us into his fiivoi-. We cannot got to Jesus with tlie worl.l on oiu- hack, with our hearts lull of worl.lliuess an;<'hhers. H ,.,, the entrance to the " ua. row vvay ol life , ..id a^'Btrait gate," because it is r4! 1 H if;l| ^ .%. .^J %^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I Itt|g3 t m IIIM 1 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 < 6" ► v] .^ y: 'c5. s O/f' Phol Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.r. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ iV ^ m A*- \\ 6"^ a/ ^,^ V> 4» '^'- r,4 v\ 272 THE TWO WAYS. ever tried to broaden and smooth to suit their tastes, appetites, pride, passions, and and)itions! But let us notice particuhu'l y the narrow way itself. You see but few who are treading- it, for Wisdom shows a narrow path, With here and there a traveler. We have sho^^n that the strait g-ate to be entered is the reason why the few travel the narroAV path. ^lany seek to enter in, but are not able because they do not seek to enter aright; and hence only the ''few," as Jesus shows, walk this nai-row way. ]S"ow it is a very close way, but it is amply broad enough for truth and righteousness, for faith, hojic, and love to find room. It is not close and narrow to true conversion, to con- secrated and devoted Christian life; and it is broad enough fr-r all the people of ten thousand such worlds as this to get upon and go together if they would enter the needle-g-ate of the sheep. This narrow way is sometimes a rugged way to the Christian, but all its hills of diflicnlty or its valleys of humiliati(m or of death in the end can be crossed by faith, and with al! its rugged places and trying obstacles it passes through its Benlah Land of delight aiid its Delectable ]\[ount- ains to glory. The Avay to heaven is upward, lofty, and i)ure;and it is the way of the cross, Avithout the strug^gles and conflicts of Avhich no crown and no g-lory Avould ever be Avon by the Christian. All earth- ly honor and glory is achicA^ed by treading the narroAV path of virtue, toil, and tears; ami if nothing glorious in earthly rcAvards is ever Avon Avithout a cross, how much more shall avc Avar and Avork on the narroAV path to glory for the croAvns and honors of the heaAoidy world! AVe are not saved by Aval king this Avay. AVe are saved by entering the gate — Christ; but by our I THE TWO WAYS. 273 walking ou the narrow way, wliich is Christ also, wc demonstrate our sah.ation hy grace, work it out to our own satisfaction and develojMuent, nuikc our call- ing and election sure, and prove by following it to the end that we are tlie cliildreu of God. Travelino- the narrow way is the evidence that we have entered the «trait gate-that is, if we travel it faithfully and fol- low It to the end. Otherwise, we would prove that we had climbed over the wall and traveled it in pre- sumption and delusion. How happy and glorious is this little narrow i)ath to the travelers home to God' Iheir very trials, conflicts, and cross-bearings inure to their manhood in Christ, and every victorv over sni ami Satan by the way, every escape from I)oubt- ing Castle off the way, every step of devel(,pment in the divine life brightens our path over the hills of time and gives us glimpses of the heavenly city beyond the dark Jordan (,f death. We have to cross the dark river at last, but with this last struggle our journey on the narrow pathway ends, and, like Bunyan's pil- gnm, we enter in through the pearly gate into the golden city flooded with the light of God and fllled with the hosannas and hallelujahs of angels. How often we wish our journey ended, and that we were there! 2. But now let us look at the other side of the pict- ure. There is a big gate, and thousands are enterlno- It; and there is the broad way, and the "many" are rushing down it to destruction. This represents the great caravan gate in the wall of Jerusalem, and the great highway along which the multitudes could walk as well as enter. This is the world and the way of the world, and this gate symbolizes the easy and in- viting entrance which opens up the way of the world 1' I i I to everlasting detitli. But let us examine minutely this big, wide gate and its signilieanee, or meaning, in theTanguagc of Christ. It indicates that the en- trance to the way of sin and death has no barriers nor obstructions. It is e(ix>i to enter, l)ecause we go upon this broad path in perfect accoi-d with our tastes, ap- petites, passions, ambitions, ])referenccs, and preju- dices. This is pre-eminently the gate ol' natural se- lection or preference, and we enter it in childhood, as, at the years of accountability, we turn from Christ to follow the world, the ilesh, and the devil. There is not the slightest tremble in entering this gate, no sur- render of self nor any sacrifice of pleasure or sin. On the contrary, every gratification to sinful tastes, lusts, and ambitions are offered. 1Miis gate is so wide, beau- tiful, and attractive that over its arch in tempting let- ters ai-e written popular mottoes an'd emblematic illus- trations and seduc'tive advertisements of every vice, amusement, false religitm, delusive sentinu-ai, bad vo- cation, and corrupting i)hilos()phy, and Satan stands there as an angel of light, promising to satisfy every want of body, soul, and sjjirit along his nnignificent broad way to destruction. 1 le has something to charm and satisfy the wise and the foolish, the learned and the nidearned, the good and the bad, the old and 1 young, the great and the small, and even the i)iouL and devout soul following the i)hantoms of unspiritual religion and science falsely so called. Anybody can enter who wants to, and there is ]n)t a single restric- tion ]mt, not a qualification recpiired to enter this dev- il's gate, which opens \\\Km the way to hell. An an- gel could enter if he wanted to, and nothing would delight Satan and the world more than to get a true Christian to go in at this fatal entrance to ruin. All ■ » ,. J 'S.-.''i n !! ■.;-'Pi>y. *;;., ilfc-T--," . mn%. ■; » TIIK TWO AVAVS. 275 is merry aiul lusty niui deliglitful to the sensc^s iij)on entering this \V(n-ltl-Avi(U' gato. And noAV let us examine llie way a little. Jt is a hroad, popular, lalilndinarian nnitJ. Any tiling ean get upon it of any size oi- ]ti'o])oi-tion, religiously, philosophically, ethieally, or a'sllu.tically ; and so (.f iniquity, inlideiity, or atheism in the most monstrous and hideous forms. Satan has a way of keeping apart things dissimilar in a])i)earanee, however alike in miture; hut his road is hi-oad enough to aeeouuno- date every tiling whieh tends to evil and death, wheth- er ineongruously mixed or separated into classes. lie can i)ut the w hole world upon this route and keep it going without a jar or a jostle; and wherever con- flict by association would tend to work ruin to his schedule of destruction he knows how to classify and separate as well as harmoni/e and assimilate. Again, this road is smooth and well kei)t. It is finely engineered and worked; and it is kei)t full of graduated and congenial attractions to satisfy and de- coy every taste and jn-edilection as the heterogeneous and yet homogeneous multitude presses on to the end of the way. God's angels and ministers shriek out warnings to the thousands doomed in their course; but the w itcheries of music and the shouts of pleas- ure and the enthusiasm of worldliness and the intoxi- cations of business and the rai)ture of pursuit drown the admonitions of (iod and the cries of conscience. Comparatively only a few ever awake to their situa- tion, their delusive caiver of madness, and turn back to enter the strait gate and the narrow way. Some find this way of the transgressor hard by leason of excessive wickedness. They droj) prematurely through the traps and pitfalls of the delusive way. The great ,t ■il .. ill L 276 THE TWO WAYS. mass, however, move joyously on in the moderation of wiclcedness, attracted still deeper by the illusions of the way, until tliey plunge oft" at the end of life and at the end of their deceptive road to death. Finally, this broad road to destruction, this smooth road to death, is downward and winding; and while it often appears to rise by undulation it so winds as to hide the fact that each declension is deeper down- ward than the one before it. Many a man thinks he is getting- up in the world who does not dream that he is sinking deeper down every moment toward hell; and so Satan manages to deceive thousands as to the perpetual declension of his broad way. It is perfectly easy to go to hell, as much so as it is to ride upon a glass railroad down grade or to slide down hill. AVe follow simply the trend of our moral gravity in sin, and every moment of life the sinner is bending down- Avard toward the bottoudess pit. Only the inflated balloon rises in spite of downward gravity, and only the soul converted to Chi-ist and tilled Avith the Holy Spirit can rise to (Jod and heaven against this down- Avard gravity to death ajul hell. In fiict, Jesus, the greater body, turns onr moral gravity the other Avay Avhen Ave are converted, and, attracted toward him Avith joy and gladness, as light as the air Ave take the narroAV i)ath upAvard instead of the broad Avay doAvn- Avard. Yes, in the nature of things the broad Avay is dowuAvard, and, like leaping over the aAvful Xiagara, the sinner at last, gaining momentum at CA-ery step, plunges into the sAvirling vortex of everlasting despair. i I THE PROFESSIONAL LIAR. ^^j^ ^>«C-' IJIIS skotd) i>r('S(Mits, witli flic picture, a char- 5^ t^'^ iic'tei'islif liar. lie dofs not possess the ^' pliysiogiioiny of the malicious, mischiev- ous, or shuulerous ])crvcrter of the trutli {<) the injury of others, lie is rather a jolly, big- mouthed Munchausen, ti rollickin<>- ]\IuIhatton, who lies witliout motive, and Avho yields to a con- stitutional idiosyncrasy to exa<^«>erate facts and fi<;- ures, and te would put him out. He seemed a little excited and amused, his hig- eyes 't II 2S'J TllK JMIOFKSSIONAU UAH. r<)IIiM;j^ and H|)arkrni;j;' ixa ho said, "Jim L. kicked 'i\»in K. out of his (»IUc'c awhile a^o, and then kicked him all up and down the sidewalk;" and on he >vent. Knowing- the parties, I went on down to the ])laci', and in<|uii'ed of the kicker the nature of the dillicul- ty, and wliiit In; had done in the pivunseM. "O!" said he, "I told 'I'om, who was a little drunk and iu- snltiny, tliat it' hi' did jiot hehavt; himsell" I would put him out ol' tlie olllce; that was all." Of course thei-e are ordiiuii'ily many truthful peo- ple who will lie under a jjressure, and there are but lew ])eoi)le in the woi'ld who will not sometimes tell a lie, in some way and in Home Bhai)e — for lyin^ is a monster of such multitudinous foi-ni, such multi- plicity of nmnuer, that he ih-voui's thousands of <*'ood people who think they never lie. A shruo- of the shoulder, a wink of tl)e eye, a i'acial delineation, the assnmption of an aii', the t(>ne of the voice, a dodg-e or a parley, may l)e a great lie. ]t is sur])rising how many ])eo])le lie hy concealing;- the truth when it should he told, or by the evasiini of the same; and in an emer:». of tlic tri'tli. it wass uihU'I" siicli I'irc'imistaiifi's tiiat Haliab (le- euivc'd tiic npii's, and was jiistilii^d lor licr liiitli in that «lu; boru'vcd (Jod. So Jacol) dereivt'd bis latbtT, and srciii'i'd i\n- p'vdctcrMiiiu'u b]cssin<4, accordinic to (iod's |)iii|)osi'. So Abrabani di'CH'i\t'd IMiaraob in ruyard to his wil'c. All ol" tlu-m lied under a pi-i'ss- urc, but it cannot 1)0 proved that they did rinlit, or that tbcrc was not souii' otbei" bettei' way to ai'coin- plish the end j)urposc(l, (»r that (Jod -o()(l ])copk' have lied since under extraordinary circunistanct's, to avoid death or serious dillicuities, or to acconii)lish goo'1 ends; butthis is doin*^- evil that good may come, and it is contrary to Ciod's law. It implies also a want of trust in God's wisd(»in and i)rotection, and it is con- trary to that di\ine ])romiso and ])rovidence which covers with the jegis of divine love all integrity to God under all circimstances. l^aniel and Joseph and Job did not lie, nor deceive, nor evade, and God honored them all the more as they came out of their fiery ordeals of trial and arniclioii unscathed and un- spotted from the world. IVter dissend)led, and it looked as if J'aiil was not iVee j'rom the sin of eva- sive policy when he went up lo Jerusalem, shaved his head, and wi'iit to charges, in order to bias the Jews in his favor; but they won nothing for the same at the bands of God, wdiatever the emergency, or the dilemma of duty. In the long run it ])ays best to be honest and truthful. We can but die for honor, and death for honor and God is a martyrdom which wins 284: THE I'liOFESSIOXAL LIAK. ;' the i-ightcous reward. Good people under ordinaiy circuiiistaiiees hivve lied, but in the long run they never niiule any thing- l)y it. Such people are not eharaeteristic, habitual, intentional, deliberate, nor constitutional liars; but they lail of their hon.or, their reward, their glory, in the end, and sutler the punishment of God here below for their sins, what- ever their motives. Let Christians do right and tell the truth, if the heavens fall. It will be all right in the end, no matter Avhat the emei-geney or the ap- parent cojisbquences here l)elow. It may be well to say i-ight here that almost every liar is made by another liar. The parent that puts off his or her children nnder false pretenses teaches chil- dren how to lie. The very myth of Santa Clans is one of the devil's fundamental schemes for, training children in the habit of deception, however plausible and harmless it seems. I have heard a mother, when her baby wanted something to eat which she did not desire it to have, tell it there was no more, and after- ward, in the presence of the child, give it to some other ])erson. The child then knows its mother has lied, and her influence for inculcating truth into this child is gone. These little deceptions are nniversully practiced npon children by their mothers and fathers — manufactiuing deceivers out of the young and ten- der heart thus practiced in the art of so-called white lying. The merchant teaches the young clerk to lie, likewise to steal, wIipm falsehoods are told about the cost of goods, and when false measures or weights are palmed off upon the ignorant pnrchaser. The slight- est indirection or ])revarication or i)retense, npon the part of older i)eoi)le, is detected by children, and the faintest exam[)le or i)recedent upon our part in this di- THE riJOFESSIOXAL LIAE. 28; reetiou is readily followed Ijy the vicious yoiin<^ heart. Some children are disgusted with the indis- cretion or crookedness of their parents or superiors, but the great mass of them will copy all the evil traits, and omit all the good ones characteristic of our lives. Three-fourths of the lives in the world are made by their mothers and fathers, tutors and employers, their older and superior exemplars in every calling and walk of life; and there is no sin for Avhich, whether directly or indirecth' committed, older people will bo held more accountable, as a matter of inllucnce upon the young. Old folks, be- ware of manufacturing liars out of your children, your pupils, or others luider your care. Finally, the Bible abhors the liar. The devil is a liar from the begin g, and he is the father of lies and of liars. ]More than this, among other hideous and awful sins, lying is put down as one of the damn- ing vices. Adulterers, wlu)remongers, drvuikards, railers, and the like, shall }iot inherit the kingdom of God, and lying is put into the black category of these crimes. Xothingthat works abomination or makes a lie will be allowed to enter the (Jolden City. God hates lying, and there is no character among men more despised or abominated than the regular liar. It is the most contemptible of vices — tolerated by nobody and execrated even in jest. AVe love the nuin of truth. AVe honor the man upon whose word we can depend, and whose word is his bond and his oath; and, whatever other vices he may possess, his honesty and veracity will cover a multitude of sins in the eyes of the world at least. There are business and professional men, laboring men and tradesmen, farmers and contractors, so-called ladies and gentle- 2S(; TIIK lM!()KKSSl()NAh I,IAI{. ■'\ iiu'ii, \vli(»iu voii ciimiot Irusl. 'I'hcir wcnl is wortli- less — olU'ii wlu'ii tlu'v iiiv proli'.ssoi's of iclioiou uiul nioiiilHTs ol" tlie Cliiircli; jiiul io llic pure iind iipriglit siK-li cliariU'tt'r.s iwv loatlicd witli iiblionviict' and disyiist. Worst of all, a liar is aliiiosl bovond rccda- nialioii. His \ivv hcconu's as im-oiTinihlc as di-iink- I'luu'ss (»!• lust, and it is si'ldoni hv over rin-DviTs IVoin lu' paralv/ini;- ,nri|) of his yiant sin. i^pic'h'tn'^ said, -* Liars arc tlu' cansc of all tlio sins and c'l-iincs of Ihc world;"' and il" so, liow terrible ninst be llieir pnnislinient, and who ean wonder at the learl'nl ij-rasp ol" sneli a sin upon the soni of the per- petrator ol" all ni'sehiel"? Tvn]y did Jlohnes say: "Sin has many tools, bnt a lie is the iiandle whieli lit8 tlieni all." Jt is not stranj-v that Shakespeare ex- elainied, "Lord, Lord, how is this world yiveii to ly- ing!" nor is it strange that David eried ont in his "haste" that "all nu>n are liars." It is perhai)s, with the exception ol" prid'anity, the most nniversul sin amono- men. 'i'he first - born ol" mankind was a miu-derer and then a liar, and from that time un- til now lyin«>- has been the ])et policy of the world. ]S'o wonder David says that the wi(d. All, more or less, learn to lie in childhood, and pei'ha|)s bnt few have ever grown en- tirely out of the clutches of this infamous habit. In all probability there is not an absolutely truthful and honest man in the world, or that ever lived, and lying is but one of the black features and sad evidences of the doctrine of universal and total depravity. IM -■vfT-r 5,'*. X''^', i jg f .' --■ La"- ^1 ^ 1 Hnmi ■ 1 / : ;-;i;--;%;T:2W \^ ■■§] ,|: #^^ i ^- ^y'ft!-i\'} -VJ Pl' i II II i ill .^#M , m\ ^^ ■ x:^-; i" ? M' 1^' ->♦<♦ — — U will diseovoi' the picture before us as *^ conceived from the story of jui African hunter Avhich I read some years ago in "Ford's Christian liepository." This hunt- er, accompanied by some natives, went out from camp one day in search of g-ame. They came to the skirt of some thick underwood, and suddeidy a small herd of antelopes darted from the thicket, whereupon the hunter fired at his game, but without effect. Immediately a huge lion stepped out from the buslies and presented himself before the hunter. The natives all fled, and the hunter was left alone, with an eni])ty gun in hand, facing the terrible mon- ster with glaring eye and ready to spring. He attempt- ed to load his gun; but the lion seemed to recognize instinctively what a gun meant, and with a deeply ut- tered growl prepared to spring. The hunter waited a moment, as the lion seeined to desist; and, wondering why he did not spring upon him, he again attempted to reload, but again the fiercely glaring, growlino- iicm prepared to make his fatal leap. The hunter soon discovered that the lion did not mean to make a breakfast out of him; and so he lay down upon the ground and waited his chances. The truth is that the lion had already killed and eaten an antelope; (289) I %l 2i)0 POWKK OF TKMPTATION. and, bc'in«jf exct't'ding-Iy loud of Iniinan ilesh, he lind dt;- tonniiiL'd lo hold Ins prey for bivaklast next inoniiug. All the long-, Aveary day, in tlie hot, broiling 8nn, the poor luintiT had to lie, not daring- to move, nineh less to touch his gun. The lion lay upon his haunches and his jjaws, and sometimes seemed to be asleep: but the slightest motion of the hunter would open the burning eyes and stimulate the angry growl. The lion did not roar in response to his companions, ^vlnch could be heard repeatedly in the distance; lor ho did not intend to share his dainty meal with any ol' his neigh1)ors. There he held the hunter alnu)st I'am- ished and iaiutiug during the day, expecting every moment to be his last, and but vaguely hoping lor relief. > :Night came on, and still the lion did not move. At last, however, the hunter noticed that he grew more and more restless. He began to growl and get npon bis feet; then again he resumed his imsition, still i-estlesH and growling, as if something was dis- turbing him. Suddenly he prepared to si)ring upon him, when from behind a tree near by the natives with lire-l)alls rushed upon the scene, when the lion fled to the thicket. " Lt^id the gun, load the gun! " Avas the cry of the negroes; " for," said they, " he will soon come l)ack." The hunter innnediately pi-epared for the beast ; and sure enough he came delibei-ately back to his position. As he did so the hunter took deadly aim, and killed him. The negroes had watched the event I'rom a distance; and, being acquainted with the habits of the lion, they understood the meaning of his delay in holding the hunter. Knowing, too, the fear of fire on the ptu-t of the lion, they as secret- ly as possilde came up after dark behind the tree and I'OWKIJ OK TKMI'TATIOX. 291 lVi<^litt'no(l tlic l)eiist with the (ii'('-l)iill.s. This was ix Kiul and ahnost latiil expfrit'iico to that hunter; and ho must have evei' renieud)ered it witha shudder oi" lior- ror. That awful (hiy was enough to turn liini gray; for such experiences liave been known to silver the blackest head of hair in one night. The ai)plicati<)n we wish to ir.ake of this story is the power of temptation; ibr tenii)tation, like this lion, often .' ''ds men and women spell-bound and ])0werless Tor days and weeks and months and yeai's. The devil is u roaring lion, going np and down, to and fro in the earth, and seeking whir(l or the squirrel and holds him hel[)lcss until he is I'e.idy to make a meal of liim, instances of which 1, with others, have seen, and one of A.hicli I will here relate as told me once by a reliable gentlenuin friend of mine, a Mr, Hamilton, who lived in South-western Georgia, lie was on his way to Dooly County, and at a certain point on the ror.d he noticed a squirrel sitting on the trunk of a pine-tree, which did not move as he rode by. The singular fact struck him, ami lie rode back, to find the squirrel still sitting in llie same i)osition. He began to think of the stories he had lieard of the rattlesnake's charm, and he .began to ride around to see if this was not a case of charming. He took au old I'oad which circled around where once a tree had fallen across the main road, and before he knew it his horse leaped over a huge rattler lying straight aci tss the obscure path. He got down, hitched his horse, picked up a long polo, and struck the snake, which il ^ 292 J'OWKIl OF TEMPTATIOJf. l\i had not moved, across the biit'k, l)ut did not kill him. As he struck the snake the s(|uirrel dnjpped from the trunk of the tree, springing- iirst into tlie air. He then left the ser[)ent and examined the scpiirrei, uhich he found stupefied, but not dead; and going- hack to the snake he struck hiui another blow across the head and killed him, the s(]uirrel bonncing np again at the same lime. He then went back and picked iij) the squirrel, -which was dying, and the next moment gasped its last breath. This is a well-authenticated fact, and such instances have often been witnessed by others. Here we have the comjjlete illustration of the devil as the lion and the scri)ent; and it is said that the lion has scmiething of the same spell-binding jjowei-, and that the victim dies painless and benumbed in his chitches when once sei/.ed. So the devil charms and benumbs and holds us spell-bound inider temptation. I once know a good Christian man seized with a strong temptation, the nature of which I need not mention. It so ])reyednpon him that his sleep fled from his eyes and his nervous system became weak and unstrung. lie wasted in flesh, and it seemed sometimes as if he Avould lose his mind. He would come and tell me of his trial, and I prayed with him time and again; and I have known him to pray for hours and ti-y, by the help of God, to banish the very thought from his soul. I have known him also to set out during the day and try to think only of Jesus by the force of mental en- ergy and will, and yet he would go back to his temp- tation under the sjiell and charm of Satan in s])ite, it seemed, of God. I wonde/ed how it was that God did not help him in answer to prayer and in support of his every effort to break his temptation; but so it I'OWKU OF TKMPTATIOX. 293 was, he did not. Tliis Avcnt on for 8ix niontlis, juid then for a year, and then for two years, and at hist he got the victory, at the risk, it seemed, of all lie held dearon earth and in heaven. T sawhim several times after the awi'ul trial and alter victory was achieved, and lie wondered at liis strange fascination, his mar- velous weakness, and at Avhat seemed to hcCiod's de- sertion of him, so hmg and helpless in the clutches of the lion. He said he coidd not, and I know 1 did not, luiderstand it, and I have thought it over and over a hundred times and wondered at the prohleni insoluhle, unless God intended to punish him with his oAvn weakness for a time, and then give him a complete and final victory over an awi'ul sin — which he did. The story of the .Vfrican hunter and his lion has often occurred to me as I recollected this incident in the life of a struggling friend whom I knew to be sin- cere and earnest in his efforts to conquer, and whom I helped with all my might until the victory was gained. That man is a useful and happy servant of God to-day, and when I meet him we sometimes speak of the trial and rejoice together over the result. It .takes fire-halls at last to run the lion of hell from his prey, spell-bound and held by his magnetism; and nothing short of the Holy Spirit in prayer can turn the fiery hand of God against him. Sometimes we cannot say, " Get thee behind me, Satan," as Jesus did. Sometimes we cannot "resist" him, as James tells us, that he may "flee;" nor can we always run from him, as Joseph did. Occasionally, in the dark valley of temptation, we fight with Apollyon, like Bunyan's pilgrim, and well-nigh we seem to be slain by the tempter. IIow^ many a strong Christian has gotten into Doubting Castle under the grip of Giant 1 h h n V1 2JM: I'OWKIl OF TKAri'TATKlN. De8[)alr! The dilliculfy lies In being uinvali'lil'iil iiiid unrriiUCiil Joi- long jJeriodH of (hne iiiul in giving eon- tinu(Ml Indulgence to ease, passion, and ai)|)i'ri(e. AVo shoot oil" our gun, wo I'ail to ki-epllie poudec ol'graee (h-y and our gun loaded wilh Jiiith and prayer; and it is ill these c'onditit)ns that the Tutn ol'liell eoini'S upon us. it in only in Samson's and J)avid'H.Htrength lliat we can slay the lion and the bear — in the youtli and manhood oC religion; but both Samson aiul ])a\id fell luider the ehanns ol" J)i'lilah and liathsheba, and tliey were for a long while under the spell ol" Satan and the Jlesh. The old lion sat over them and <>lare(l and growled, ])aralyze(l their strength and ])ut out their eyes until CJod came to the ri'scne. So of Sol- omon, who died inglorionsly ; and so of I'eter, who warmed himself by the enemy's lire. The strongest, the best, the wisest, and the boldest man of (Jod, like tliese respectively, w hen oil" their guard, when out of duty and place, when their gnu is empty, nuiy be sei/cd by the artful enemy of siuds; and the repent- ance of David and Peter, the inglorious close of Sam- son and Solomon arc bitter admonitions to every care- less saint Avho lives or who may read these lines. I often think of the "nameless proidict," the "man of God " sent to Jeroboam at liethel. What a vic- tory be gained as he brcdce down the altar of the calves, and as he healed the i)aralyzed 1 id of the king raised against him 1 God told him not to stop nor eat bread nor drink Avater in that jdace, but to go <>\VK"( i>y IKMI'TATION. Ixs-i^ieor jjlor), iloofejujif lU'ltlit'i- to flw right nor to tlie k*l\, t'(»iilt'rriiig not >vitli IIchIi and li(<»oil, with evt'ry wciylit ami lliL'oaf^ily besot liii'^- sin laid aside, l()(»kiii:erous even to slop on it; for whosoever ntops iipou il will likely <^et into u ]>arley with the devil, nud ^et off of it. 'Vhv serpent is always ready to eharni tlu! idh' aiul uinvary bird, but he never catehes him upon the wing-. Finally, let us learn the imprewHive lesson of the l)ieture. Keep your powder dry and your gun load- ed, and Avheu you arc hunting feu* lions, or Turns are hunting for you, don't l)e shooting at Kmalh'i- game. Always go armed and loaded in the lion's eonntry, and iemeud»er that the Christian is always in the land »)f the lion, the roaring lion of hell, going about seek- ing whom he nuiy devour, lie always knows when your gun is emjjty, and when your gun is unloaded and kej)t so you never km)w where die lion is. You are oil" guard, and you lorget youi' old adversary, the devil; but he never forgets you, and is sure to eateh yon unarmed and unprotected. You may be sure of that, and you may be sure of another thing: he will cat you for l)reakfast if God does not run him off. Grant that this story nuiy be a fable. If so, it has a mond Keep your ])owder dry and your gun loaded; don't be shooting rabbits when lions are hunting you. THE FIVE ASmi/iES. •—>vas right, and said truly, "I am an ass!" rather than, "I am a scholar!" and thousands of learned and unlearned conceits might well introduce them- selves to the world every day: " I am an ass! " There is one adAantage conceit ever has, and that is what the world calls " cheek," and with fair talents and opportunities the braying ass may make headway against the world, but seldom against the flesh and the devil. He is never conscious of shame or embar- rassment, and will dare to do and tread where angels would blush and tremble. Self-conscious importance turns the world's ridicule into imagined commenda- tion, and he is never afflicted with pain or chagrin, ^m THE FIVK ASININES. 301 no matter what his bhiiulers or luilures. Jn some re- spects the conceited donkey is to Ije envied; but his advantages are greatly counterl)ahinced l)y his disad- vantages before a lliinking and discriminating world. In the end and in tlie main scir-conceit proves a i'ail- ure and a blunder thnnigh lile. 2. The next figure represents laziness. It is the circular face and head, I'at and chuily, Avitli the mouth curving upv/ard — lethargic and i)hlegmatic, good- humored and ha])py, with no dread of famine and misfortune, with no and)ition for the future, and with no remorse of conscience for the past. He is the dull, slow donkey you see beaten and braying along the street sometimes, ami the force of blows, like the force of circumstances, have no effect upon him be- yond the ])resent moment. All his faculties — iutel- lectual, animal, or moral — have a rounded sameness of development, and he has no striking or prominent features of character which give him a salient foi-ce anywhere in the affairs of life. He may be a fair merchant, doctor, lawyer, school-teacher, or an intel- ligent farmer, but he is too indolent to succeed great- ly at any thing. I remember one such man in my boyhood. He was a merchant, but he sat and dreamed in front of his store — large, chuft'y, and pleasant; could laugh at a joke, but Avas too lazy to tell one — and while he sat and dreamed of nothing other busi- ness men were taking his custom from the front door, while the chickens and ])igs came in at the back door. He Avould get up lazily and wait on his cus- tomers, if the clerk was absent, and then resume his seat. IS'othing troubled him but the flies in summer, and he was too stupid to fan these away except when they would get too numerous and annoying — like !' iii. i f i 1 '; r 1 i I 3U2 THE I'lVK ASI^IXKS. ail ass with a tail, but too iiullfferent to use it. A few years ago 1 weut back to the city where lie lives, and 1 saw this iiiau again— gi-owa old and ^vixy, fat and chuliy still, seedy and poor-and he was sittin- on a goods-bt.x, sniokin- his pipe, apparently as hap'^ py and contented as he ever was. An earthquake or a cyclone might stir hlni to action, but no ordinary circumstance iu life nor phenomenon of nature would have any etlect upon his nerves. This man also has his advantages in his freedom from care and in his absence of ambition, but his disadvantages overcome his advantages in the great chances and glories of successful life. His very happiness is that of asi- nine content seen in the stupid donkey that browses about on sticks and g-mbs along the barren hill-side; and he almost fills a blank in the history and develop- ment of the world, which only gives him sitting- ro()m. Of the two misfortunes, conceit and lazines\ It is hard to decide upon a preference, but I believe there is more conscious joy and real worth iu the former than in the latter. 3. We come now to the third species of the asi- nine family— the kicker. He has an octagonal head and lace—front view— with broad and deep-set jaw- bones and a straight and com]u-essed mouth. The faculties of combativeness and destructiveness are most prominently developed, and he is so overbal- anced in his make-up of belligerency and antagonism that he kicks upon all occasions and at all things, as his jaw-bones and mouth would indicate. He is a " striker," and he strikes square and often from the shoulder. In otlier words, he is an ass with heels, and he is always ready to let them fly. In his ridic- ulous opposition and readiness to kick at everybody THE riVE ASrxiN'ES. 3o:j • and every thing he recciivcs at the hands of the dis- cerning- public the well-known title, ASS. I have known several such men in my liib — and they may be found in almost every comnuniity — l)road, thick- skinned, heavy-set, square-built felloAvs, having the characteristics and contour of this figure in the pict- nrc. They aix> in i)olitics, at the bar, among the doc- tors, at all business and general meetings, and oft- en in the Churches. They are great on controversy, and in their salient angularity and opposition to ev- eiy thing no question or movement arises against Avhich they do not kick. I once knew a deacon of this character in a certain Chui'ch. Xo subject could be suggested, no enterprise could be proposed, no ac- tion taken in business, without his objections to it. He seemed to be boi-n and bred in tlie objective case, and he died, after having butted and kicked against the walls of Zion for thirty years. lie was a good man if you w^ould let him have his way without let- ting him know you favored his course; but he would kick against himself Avhen he found that he had kicked you into his Avay. He was an ass of the most asinine character, and he AA'as as tough-hided and as stupid-minded, in his line, as the veriest donkey that ever brayed. • I am told that in the Zoological Gar- den of Cincinnati they have tlie stuffed skins of a lion and an ass Avhich had killed each other in a fight, the lion biting and clawing the ass to death, and "the ass biting and kicking the lion to death in the same conflict. One Avould hardly think it. but if yon im- agine for a moment that some asses cannot kick the life out of even a lion, you are mistaken. They can kick the life out of - Church, scatter the forces of a u political party, and tuni a connnunity ui)side doAvn. 20 "^ ^ :u) I TiiK I rvro AsixrxEs. 'I Bt'ware of that species of llu- d.siini.s lH'I()ii^nn<;- to tlie ku'kiii";- ianiily. All business iiiid in-orL'ssional nuMi know of him — shun hini; and Hkm-c is l)ut one way to kill him. It takes a whole community to combine a,i;ainst him, and even thcji he nniy kick the life out of lialf of them before :he job is linished. The kickini)ensity to the last, but not of so belligerent a dis- positi(m. His lace is the diamond — front view — with "long, wap]»er-jaws,'" his head running ii[) ii> (he re- gi(m of the nioi-al laculties into a cond), lilce the rool' of a house; his cheek-bones very high, his mouth concaved downward; thin-skinned, sensitive, and sour. He is a sullen, determined ass, ever set back n])on his haunches, and while he does not kick much, he i)ulls against the post until the lines or his neck breaks, or the ))ost pulls u\). J lis faculty of lirmness runs into inordinate stubbornness by inordinate and abnormal development and protuberance, and if once he sets his liead, right or wrong, from conviction or ])rejudice, from pride or i)rinciple, nothing short of divine ]M)wer can change him. Even when convinced of wrong, be will not altei;. 'J'he angel tJabriid would have no intluence over him. I'ears, groans, cries, supplications, sull'erings — all are vain to move him when once his head is set against you, right or wrong. 1 once knew an old sister whose head and fi\ce were nnnle on this order. She was a member of TIIK KIVK ASIMNKS. ;}()5 tlu' C'liurt'li 1(» wliich I prciU'lu-d, jiiid she was u /^ood woinau so long as things \\ imiI Uvv way, but when you crossed the okl hidy's patli she l)e;L;an lo pnll a<;ainst you. On one occasion she invited a brother minis- ter and myself to sujjper, with a view d" havin-^- us talk with lier husljand, who was an unconverted num. After su])|)er we g-ot into a conversation, and tlie husbaiul, bein,-;- a shrewd, Jolly fellow, diverted conversation in various ways in order to avoid any thing seriously touching i-eligion. Someliow we got into a discussion (»f the dog, and my I'riend, being something of a naturalist, gave; a humorous idea of the dog's tail being his rudder, which enabled him to walk a log, and without which he could not walk the log at all. This disgusted the old lady with that preacher, and there was no argument nor })ersuasion after that by Avhich she could ever be led to forgive him or hear him preach again. I came near being ru- ined to hei- on the same occasion myselC; and several times, in other matters, I had to avoid trouble by not pulling against her. So I have experienced the same thing with other good men and women thus abnormally dcvelo|)ed; I have seen life-long aliena- tions and feuds and disasters in families aiul com- munities at the hands of stubborn, unreasonable, and unyielding people. Stul)bornness seldom or never forgives; and if it does, it never forgets. It is al- most im[)()ssible to see how such dispositions ever get converted, or how they ever get to heaven. 5. Lastly, I come to the fool ass. He has the oval face — front view; his forehead is low and his eyes arc far up on his sloping brow; his mouth is a broad medium between the straight and the curved, and his lips are thick and heavv, and he has more beef in I ¥ K. •ill ) U f ill Mi m 30(i TITK nVK ASIMXKS. his I'acc tlmn brains \n his leatlicr lu-ad. lie usually makes himself an ass for the Avaut of sense, and thoiiyli sometimes sloueli}' and unkempt, he is gen- erally 8een in the shape of a dude, lie is the fellow "with a one-eye <;lass, (hvssed in the latest style of liis kind, s])()rting- his cane from the middle, and Avalkinl.J/.^ V-a^L^l Strain out a Gnat. Swallow a Ga/ael. -^>+<- — \VA\Vj is anotlier pliaso of liypocrisy — one of ll^,^) llio c'liior cliiiriusteristics of the Pliarisees. M^'Sd J, J jinolhcr pictiiro "we sec the liypoerite with a l)c'am in liis own eye and i)icking- a mote out of liis brotluu-'s eye. Tliis was an il- ustraliou of optical surgery at tlio hands oC - liypoerite, Init now we come to a gastronomic feat worthy of tlic most gigantic gornnindi/er. lie strains out a g-nat and swallows a camel, which finds com- fort al)le cpiartei'S in his capacious maAV. Jesus said to the scribes and I'liMrisces: " AVoe nnto you, scribes and Phnrisees, hyi)()crites! for ye hjiuit up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye nci- tlier go in yourselves, neither suH'er yo them that ai-o entering- to go in. AVoo unto you, scril)es and Diar- isees, hy])ocrites! for ye devour Avidows' lunises, and for a ])reteuse make long prayers : therefore yo shall re- ceive the greater damiuition. AVoe nnto you, scribes and l*]iarisees, liypocritesi for ye compass sea and land to nnike one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than youi-- selves. . . . Woe nnto yon, scribes and Phari- sees, liypocrites! for yo pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have onutted the Aveighticr matters of the law, jmlgmcnt, mercv, and faith: these onght cm) m I 'si *■ ■f] ■I.J' M Pli ' SI UAIN OUT A V iT, SWALLOW A CAMKL. 'Ml yo 1o have done, and n»»t to leavo llio otlicr nndoiic Ye Mind f/itidcs, which strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. AVoo nnto yon, scribes and riiarisocB, hypo- critcsl for ye make clean the ontslde ol'llie eu]) and of the i)hittei', Init witliiii lliey aie full of exlorlion and excess. . . . AVoe nnto yon, scribes and iMiari- Bees, hyi)ocrites! for ye are like unto -whited scj)!!]- chers, ^vhicll indci-d appear beautifid outward, bnt ■\vithin ai'e full of dead men's Ijones and of all \uiclean- Jiess rhis is tljo most terrible arraij;-nment ever made of a class (d' people ocenjjvin/j; ho hi,i;li a position of honor and respectability in relij^ion, society, or gov- ernment. In fact, nothing- A\<>rse coidd have been said of any other class (d' men in any oilier ])osition. Shntting np (iod's kin heart Stabbed him politely, and returned the iilade, Reeking into its sheath, with graceful air. ;N'ever was there a more favorable period to hypoc- risy, especially in the Churches, than the i)rescMit age. AVhenever religion walks in golden slii)pers, becomes popular and wealthy, iashionable and i)oweri'ul, then multitudes seek it for the worldly beneiits it may con- fer. They hunt for the loaves and fishes where the multitudes get fed, and hence hypocrisy under every form is multi])lied. Luxury, riches, and cultiu-e re- fine; but, without virtue and i)urity, they often be- come the refinement of iniquity under the plausible guise of religion. Like the Jews in the height of their i-efinement and culture, Ave tend to Pharisaism in the nature of things; and to-day many of our most splendid sinners are in the Churches. It has often been remarked here in Xashville, as in other cities, that the cause of religiim is depreciated and despised by many because of thei)rominence and power of rot- , 1- 'I , vr %\ 318 STKAIX OIT A (;.VAT, SWALLOW A CAMKL. ten Clmivli-iiioinbors ofeu]\viii<^- front scats and in- fluential })()siti(»n, ivtainc'd and i'o.stL'i'cd because of their money, lil)eralily, and social imwer. There are Churcli-members ofthis characlei- whose private lives would disgrace a worldling of less influential ])Osition, and yet they are hiding ])eliind the mask of public hypocrisy, ])osing as sheep, but they, are wolves in sheep's clotliing in liie flock of the J^ord .Jesus Christ. However, this is another jjhase of Pharisaism and hy- pocrisy; and, like the mote-liunter and the gnat-strain- er and the camel-swallowcr, should l)e treated under a si'pai-ate head. So of the trumpet-blowei', the sanc- timonious faster, the house-top prayer, and a host of others too numerous to mention. In nmny instances of our day, liowever, a man does not have to play the hypocrite toi-euiain among (iod's people. Some of our Churches are so loose in disci- pline, so anxious to count n(jses, so gi-eedy for wealth and social power, that one need not act the hypocrite of any character if, he is liberal, influential, and hon ton. He can do just as he })l(uises Avithout masking his wickedness, and the Church, as such, is nearer the hypocrite than the indulged and i)etted member. jMauy of our ])reachers now openly and boldly pro- clainx that no man should ever be excluded from the Church unless he gets into the ])enitentiaiy, or should be hanged for murder or some other diaboliccd crime. Too late then. ' H1 Pf- ! I ^^^^H ' L Iw •MoSl li: THE LITTLE FOXES. -<'<-- -11 IS picture jji-escnts tlio true Vine, rcprcsent- ^ ing- Christ, >vitli its fruitlul brandies, rep- I'esenting- Christians; and the fruit of these branches is being destroyed and the ines devastated by the little foxes. Solomon aid: " I'd/ie vs the foxes, the liUle foxes ihat spoil the vines: for our vines have tender f/rapes.'^ Every Chris- tian is regarded as a branch, a little vine in the true Vine, bearing fruit unto God; and every small sin is a little fox which sjioils the branches b}^ tearing them a])art and by devouring the grai)es, a fruit of which the fox is especially fond. It is not the Avolf in sheep's clothing, not the howl- ing jackal, not the hyena nor the tiger of monstrous sins which are here symbolized. iS«^ot even the old and wily fox, like Ilerod, whom Ocsus so character- ized; but the little foxes, the small sins, are evidently meant. However small or young these little foxes, or sins, may be, they have the vulpine nature and pecul- iarities about them. In other Avords, they are cun- ning, and they come upon us slyly and unexpectedly, and they are ravaging and destroying onr vines before we are aware of it. According- to the figure, the big foxes would not come until the little foxes first got among the branches. In fact, these same little foxes (321) ■!•■ ill ir'i i>N < 3'2'2 TllK UTTLE FOXES. grow and ftitteii into h\g foxes as they continue to It'L'd upon " our vinoM," jind it does not take them lon<^ to mature to full size. The little sin well fed and long nourisliod outgrows any other beast in the soul's nienagt-rie, and it is the hardest of tlieni all to Ivill when it gets grown. Let us now examine a few of these little I'oxes, which so I'apidly and surely become big ones: Take proj unify. A boy does not often begin with downright swearing in the name of (iod. He shud- ders at a blasphemous oath the lirst time he hears it, if he has been tenderly and properly trained, and he begins with little "by-words," which gradually swell and fill out to full and rounded profanity. Sometimes these diminutive oaths in end)ryo run I'or a long time before the amateur swearer becomes sulliciently hartl- ened to advance in sacrilege, and then he is prepared to employ stronger and more conrprehensive terms in the line of his profane development. He gets to where he can lightly take the name of 'Slesus Christ" and of "God," and when he can add on the adjuncts of " damn" and " devil " and " hell " without a shudder of compunction he has acquired at last the qualifica- tions of a first-class blasphemer. The little fox, " by- word," becomes the great, big fox of " curse and swear" in the name of God; and it is sometimes the case that we hear ten-year-old boys on the streets belching and vomiting out blackguard vulgarity and the most glaring and daring profanity. Take Iijinff. It seems almost natural for people to lie; but there are thousands of children who at first would stand horrified at the idea of telling a false- hood. The well-trained little conscience revolts at the suggestion; but it does not take long, Avith bad TllK LITTLK TOXKS. ;}ii:] company and ill advice, to taint and conUiminate the very ))est of cliildren. They see (jtlier ehihlren do wron<>- Miul lie, and iiidess m kept as to ivmaiii dis- gusted at their conduct tliey will soon venture to im- itate by evasion or dodgiug- llie truth — a lesson easily learned and a habit readily IoimkhI. The little " white lie" becomes the prog-enitor of the big black lie; and by the sure and steady process of growth in evil the purest young heart, the sweetest young lips will be- come ibnl and lilthy Avitli the hideous and i)()lluted vice of lying. Under evil training and association the little i'ox will not he long in becoming a bold and barelaeed Jalsiher. The little circular dodge is soon reduced to the big scpiare lie. The little evasive shift soon takes the cleai', o])en forthright into the l)road, plain boulevard of shameless, blushless i)revarica'lon. Very snniU children in almost every family and Sun- day-school are otten very big liars; and the founda- tion of every crooked, pervei-sc, and untow ard career is thus laid in falsehood, amid the rose-beds of once innocent and happy childhood. Take stealing. AVith many children to touch what is not their own would be like touching a hot iron. They have been trained to truth, honesty, and i)urity of life; and yet many a thief is manufactured out of just such material. "Evil communlcati(ms corrupt good nnmners," and many a noble little s])irit has been led by bad company to unlearn the Avell-taught dill'er- ence between " mine and thine." The little boy learns from others to take his mother's sugar, to pick the apples from a neighbor's tree, to purloin his father's pennies — all inider the conception that it is not much harm and that other boys do likewise. The little fox of petty theft becomes the big fox of felonious rob- p t: 1 it :■;' ' It lL'.> ■fcf.l ■« ; f Lis 324 TIIK LITTLK FUXKS. 4 itii 1 sfi fi! St . .issd bcry alter uwIuIl'. Jjiirfcny iVoiii tlio [jcrsoii nms into biii'gliiry, and iVom llic jail lliu cdinict ^ocs l(» tlio pfiiitt'iitiary, and pt'riiaps at last t(» tlu' ^^ihhct Inr mur- dc'iiiii;' his ni'i^lilx)!' lor yokl. lV'rlia|)s tla- inurdci't-r was oiu'c an innocent lK)y, who tliongiit it not a <^rcat wrong one day to take; a pin ivhich ho fblt was no loss to the owner and a gain ol" little eonse([iienee to hiniseli". The prineiple whieh nteals a pin or a nickel is the sanu! which takes a million, and the cnhninatin«i- corrnption which linally dethrones honor and life he- gins in tlie \ery least and first .sin which started the ever widening and deei)ening stream of vice and crime. Dcstrnction begins in valuing Bin according to the quantif// of damage, and not according to the qiiaHtiioi crime. Take care of the little fox of false valuation according to the (untjunt and not the esfyence ol" wrong. From this little fox of ])i'inci])le and practice springs the big fox of result and ruin. Take your temper, ^^'hat a tempest or a tornado it gets to be with some peoj)le! AV as it always so? Aot Avith every one. How did it reach such a rash and wrathful pitch in life? 'i'he little foxes did it. That mother was once a sweet and amial)le young lady. The little vexations and ills of life have been allowed to aggravate her into a ternnigant. The chiklren, the cooking- stove, tbe house-cleaning, the odds and ends of making and mending, the ceaseless I'onnd of iluties and toils in which a wonuili's work is never done, in- stead of inuring to ])ati(nce and Ibrtitude by culture and forbearance, have developed all that was opposite and salient in her soul. Xovv she is a terror to her- self, to lier family, and to her neighbors. She cannot broolv o]iposition, obstacle, or inconvenience, much less affront or variance; and she is sensitive, nervous, "rr Till'- LITTI-K I'OXKS. •,V2:) impiitU-nt, rcHi'utl'iil, iiud ivstk-ss in tlu; e of livt-ry tliity and I'l'lationslilp f^lie sustiiiiis. lliiviiiL;" <>'LVCM ^vay by (li'<;ri'cs to an i-vil li'Mipcr nntil it lias sn|tri!nu! dominion ovci' iicr body, nnnd, and sonl, slic is as luui'li till! wrt'ck of 1)ad iiai)it as tiu; drnnkard of tilt! oi)iuni-L'utt'r. lUv little foxes have all become <^rown-n|) jackals, and altliou<>h she [)rofc'Hses religion and belongs to tlie ( 'linrcli, the gi'ace of (rod seems scai-ct'ly able to liel]) licr, especially as she does not help the grace of (iod to hel[) her teni[)ir. So have T (Seen ttiachers and i)reachers, bnsiness and [irofession- al men, ^vhose hot and imiiatient tempers have lost tlu'm iinally all control of themselves or of others. lie that does not ])ossess his sold in patience iind et(na- nimity will not be long in losing [)ossession of every thing else. Take yonr toiif/iw, that inu-nly mend)er of which James warns ns. With some people it is tnrned loose at both ends, and i)lays upon a })ivot in the middle, as elastic as India rnbbt>r ami as drastic as aloes. They have become habitnateil to talk lii'rcely or recklessly about every thing and everybody, and scandal and slander atui exaggeration and blasphemy are the big foxes w. IK II have at last developed from the tittle- tattle of the little gossip of early days. The snndl whispers of evil thoughts and imaginations, once char- ily and warily sulfei'ed to enter the mind about per- sons and things, have groAvn to the whii-lwind of wholesale and retail slaughter upon every tiling and everybody in the way of th« ir linguistic cyclone. The innuendo has become the sharp, two-edged sword of loud and bitter vituperation and contumely, cut- ting asunder soul and body and iVierciug betwixt the joints and uuutow of your reputation and character; m J M.!' km m 320 TlIK LITTLE FOXES. and so of every principle and practice, ideal or con- ee])tion, characteristic or virtue wliieli distinguishes neighbor or society or business in conflict Avith those ■who have cultivated this big, talking fox which rav- ages the vines of our peace and prosperity in almost every community. Alas for the unruly and uncon- trollable tongue of many people! Their voice is like the sound of many waters, and like a flood of Avaters their Avords often overwhelm us with griefs and mis- eries untold. The most provoking, aggravating, vex- atious, all-iired, and i-ing-iired curse a man must en- dure is a well-trained and fully developed tongue in the mouth of a full-fledged, malignant persecutor. In a thousand ways the little foxes spoil the vines with us all. The little sins ruin our lives. The " bees " worried Dnvid more than the " bulls of Bashan; " and it is in these little vexations, as well as little sins of life, that we oftenest allow ourselves overcome. Many a man who is able to bear a great misfortune or resist a great sin or endure a great provocation cannot sus- tain a little disaster, overcome a little temptation, or stand a small affront, especially when these little ills come in a multitudinous form. It is the moth that destroys the bee-hive, not the martin that catches the bees. It is the craw-fish wliich oftenest undermines the levee, not the flood which sweeps over it. An in- finitesimal insect has been discovered in Germany which eats out the iron rails upon the track and de- stro3^s them more eftectually than the friction of the mighty engines and trains which run over them. We guard more ])articidarly and are better pre])ared to meet the great difficulties and sins of life; but the little ones, like an army of ants, may be all through your house before you know it; and an army of ants THE LITTLE FOXES. 327 in your house is harder to destroy than a lion at your door. You can make a fence so strong and high as to keep your neighl)or's bull out of your corn-field, and the prudent farmer always docs this; but the mole may trace your rows of young corn and kill your crop in a night. So may the crows and the blackbirds in a day. We look out for big Ibxes and provide against them if we are prudent men and women, but we too seldom watch for the little ones until it is too late. Our little sins come upon us unawares, and tear our vines before we recognize their presence; and, worse than all, we so neglect their appearance or so ignore their growth and power that we bec(jme the prey of the full-grown brood before we are concerned about our condition. " Take care of the nickels, and the dollars will take care of themselves;" and what is true of money is true of virtues. Keep doAvn the lit- tle spi'outs of sin, and there will be no trees to cut down when they ha\ e grown big and old and hard. Finally, let me say that the little foxes spoil our vines very easily, because 'f great transgressions or misfortunes! ■^ii dill (s> '<^ iSi R FIGHT With eONSGIBNGE : IN FOUR ACTS. I^IIE first picture in this skctcli represents a ^^^^ man on tlic eve of doing' something' Avrong and determined in his coiu'se. lie is ])Iot- ting" some selieme of meanness or measure of vilhuny for which lu; has not the consent of his conscience. It is a matter of no dilfereneo here what that scheme or measure is. It may bo that he is devising- a great ])hin to swindle his fel- low-man — for instance, some patent mc licine discov- try or invention. He may be designing to gratify some base passion, or to debauch himself by debas- ing' appetite. Perha])s iie is plotting robbery, mur- der, or seduction. AVhalever '"'s purpose, he is bent on evil just the same; and in the first act, or picture, we discover him in debate with his better ansrel — his conscience. Dallying in the lap of sin, he is parley- ing' Avith his conscience, and the controversy seems hot and furious. This is always the case M'hen con- science gets the better of the argument with a man bent on evil, guided by evil impulses, or misjudged purposes. The first step in vice or crime is always slow, cautious, hesitating, and full of trepidation, and so in every step of a man Avith conscientious scruples and convictions; but when his purpose is mi) 1 1 I t i I. Ih y Ft HI* 51 i 'ftr'l ill 332 A FHiiiT WITH coxscie:nck. made up, and liis impulses are sti-ono-, ],e canuot pro- ceed without a lierec controversy with lii.s inner and better nature. 80 you see tliu man del^atin-- with his conscience in the iirst picture. In tlie second act, or picture, you discover that conscience has knocked liini down, tum])led Jiini heels up and head under, and she is j^roeeeding- to pommel him into a virtuous frame, as a school-nni'am does a refractory boy. Oi-dinarily she succeeds, or often does; but if the nuui is inlatuated and deter- mined upon his course, he resists her lashing admo- nitions, lie kicks while conscience gets the first bI(jod, and thou<.:h knocked down and stunned for the moment, he recovers from his collapse with re- doubled purpose and fury. It isn't every fellow^ who gets knocked down first who gets whii>ped, albeit the advantage is great to the first slugger. Opposition and violence arouse some men to die full measure of their strength and resistance, and this is about the case with a man fascinated with a vicious purpose and bent on evil in spite of C(msci.'ntious convic- tions and com])unctions which smite him to the contrary. He may halt and parley, and bend like the sapling- to tlie gale for the moment, but he springs back witli elasticity farther in tlu; other direction than before. Thus we see him in the third act, or i)icture. lie has risen, like Koderic Dhu, si)iinging like a tiger at the throat of Fitz- James; but nnfortunately the cudg-el of conscience has not done the previcnis Avork of Fitz-Janus's blade, and the madman, bent on evil, does not rehix his nerveless and exhausted gi-asj) from the throat of his combatant, as Roderic Dhu did, faint from loss of blood. He has risen to his [Ml I t,> A FUillT WITH coxscr?:\c'K. li:)-} feet with all the Ibree of renewed and ivdonhied energy, and he proeeeds to choke his cunseifnee into submission. AVhile ilat of his baek he ma- tured a more violent determination, and ralivin'>- with all the venom and fury of his temptaticm, he makes a vif>()n)us onset and takes his better an<>el l)y the throat. lie throttles eonviction. represses eonsiderati(m, suppresses caution, and this point in victory achieved, lie has less trouble in finally choking- down all resistance or compunction of the moral sense. Had he felt, when downed at the first blow, no disposition to debate or fight, then con- science would have been triumphant over his will, and his i)assions and i)urposes would have subsided and relaxed, but it is just at this point that passion and i)nrpose always rally, if jiermitted, and choke the life out of God's angel monitor of the soul. Some- times the conscience gets the better of the man by argun\ent; but if argument fails by milder measures, if blows fail by severer means, and the stricken vic- tim rallies, she is likely to share the fate of tempora- ry if not permanent suppression, as is sometimes the fatal result. Conscience is always a logical and sol- id reasoner, and where reason eiuls her intuitions ai-e always infallible. How much better at the outset to listen to her voice!, and when she lifts her lash upon us how much better to submit to her chastisement! Her healing stripes ai-e ])recious to the heart, if pas- sively received; and when she knocks us down with her blows of conviction and compunction, how dread- ful is the obduracy and the turpitude which can re- cover, and take her by the throat! Alas! how many are ruined right here at this fatal point in their fight with conscience! 22 V ft'* hi iV .)' Hi li if] M k^^l*^— « m i>i' i;l' 3:j(i A KKillT AVITII (ONSCIKNCE. In the roiirth and last act \vc find the dctenniiu'd and inc()iTigil)le slayer of his conscience siiccessful and tnuiupluint in liis iatul cnn-se. He has carried his purpose; and passion, appetite, pride, and)it ion- whatever it is — dominates his will and revelH supreme in his soul. For the time being-, and Ibr the present purpose at least, he has choked his Letter an .ned to have no cor- science. He was a murderei , a libertine, and a thief. He laughed and joked about his crimes as if they were insignificant trifles, and he could sleep as sound- ly and sweetly as an infant. He was even a good soldier, iuid about the close of the war he killed a Confederate marshal and was executed. Upon the gallows he kicked his hat from the platform, and he went off into eternity .without a tremor and with an oath of levity upon his dying lips. How many men in the world are like this I do not know, but this one thing I do know: it all comes of a man's fight with his conscience. Some very bad men have al- wa^ 3 a tender conscience which tortures them; but, in spite of pain and misery, they still grow on in sin and go to ruin. This also comes of a man's fight with his conscience. AYliatever the condition of con- science in time, nevertheless there comes a moment when conscience, however choked or crushed out, will re-assert itself. The hour of death usually brings this most just judge to the bar of ivckoning, and if the death-hour should fail, there is a time when con- science will make a coward of tlie guilty soul — at the bar of God. How truly did Byron, that man of expe- A FIGHT WITH CONSCIENCK. Mo . rieiico on this subject, describe the remorse of a guilty conscience regaining- dominion over the guilty soul : The mind that broods o er guilty woes Is like the scorpion girt by fire, In circle narrowing as it glows, The flames around their captive close Till inly searched by thousand throes, And maddening in her ire, One and sole relief she knows: The sting she nourished for her foes, Whose venom never yet was vain. And darts into her desperate brain. So do the dark in soul expire, Or live like scorpion girt by fire; So writhes the mind remorse has riven, Misfit for earth, undoomed for heaven. Darkness above, despair beneath. Around it flame, within it death." Mortal man, k t me beg you, never fight your con- science. Take care of your conscience, and she will be sure to take care of vou. *»l m 1^. 4 1' ijl 1 -5'<5~^''-_9(?->:_S'.i4' toclimch late. !-r'^/ I'iicv arc aM on (muIcIics. ami they rejuv- i'^^ sons ai-),.. isrliaraolcrswlio constitute a i)ait of the asst.i!i.!v of iho saints. T] lev are t^r* wounded, ia\f been shot or stabbed through tlie f'ei linos, and tiioy are so otlended and hurt iluit they cannot ^et to church williout linipiny. They ^ct in hite, therefore, take a l)aek seat near tlie door, and tliey g-o out first and leave eaily. Tliey (h) not lialt and liob))io half so badly getting- lionie as tliey do get- ting- to cliurch; but, no matter how ch.se the cliureh is to whicli they l)eh)ng-, it is"a h.ng way off and liard to reacli on occasions of devotion and service. They take n(» i)art in religious matters when there, and they seldom g-ive the ])astor or the l)rethren a chance to speak to them nnless they desire, like Ajax, to give a parting- shot from behind them as thev o-o Iimi)in«»- aw^'iy. In the picture l)efore you are a nuinl)er of charac- ters, all peculiar and ]ieculiarly afFected. 1. Colonel John Brown is just entering- the door. Ke was former treasurer, and, the moneys of the ("hurch not being- well accounted for, he was left out at the last annual election and another brother sub • (346) \'4 » 4. rr « p 61; It WM 1 r| i!? '■ -f 1^ I'rH "H 'g^H ' 1''^^ LI m CllUKCll CUUTCllKS. 349 Lte stitutecl. lie him nevtu- been happy since, and he is absolntely iiTeconcilalile and in the sulks. He goes to. churcli, but he goes to show how badly he is in- jured and to see how deeply he tan make the pastor and the brethren realize the fact tliat he is not api)re- ciated and that he has been most grievously wronged. 2. ;?^ext conies Aunt Polly Snooks. She never was noticed by the pastor and the rich people, no matter how much attention was paid to her in her distress and poverty; and her chief object in going to church is to let everybody see how badly she is neglected and how dreadfully she is Avounded. She talks all around the community about the minister and the leading brethren, and when they go to see her, as they do as often as possible, she is always astonished that they have come again. ;J. Xext comes Deacon Jones, lie is for rule or ruin, and if he can't pidl the whole cart he will break a trace. The Church gets tired, and " sits dowi' npon him," as it were; and he sits back with his "bull- dozing" countenance all hung with the dark drapery of injui-ed innocence, lie is not appreciated, he can- not run the machinery of the Church and the i)astor, and he is determined by his limping gait to make the Church as miserable as possible. 4. Here hobbles old Bi'other Jedediah Sniffle- wiper. He is a preacher, and the brethren and the l)astor do not ask him to preach, lie is called and or- • dained of God to preach, and he wants to preach only when they do not want to hear him. lie gets ■ • calls elsewhere, and in his estimation the pastor is an igno- ramus — and an ass too, for that matter — that he is not allowed to preach where he belongs and when he wants to. O he is hurt to the quick, and he tells it 'M ► 'is ^: I 350 CIlLJtCU CKLTCIIKS. I I I all owv the oountrv at all the .Vsyoeiatioiis and Cou- lerences; and AvheivVvi he g< oh he IrieH to get up op- p(j,sitioii to his .-loi", IX- 1:; has ti'ied a dozen times to get up a I'aetioa in the Chureh. lie too takes a bacdc seat, and yets away early and rapidly, unless he wants to stay long enough to give the pastor's sermon a cut. (>(jd deliver a Chureh Ironi a preacher whom nobody wants to hear preach! '). Next comes old Colonel -lohn I'homas Stake- holder. He is pursv, i'at, and tlourishing. lie is worth two lunulred thousaiul dollars, and lives in grand style, lie expects to get to heaven, escape hell, and caj-ry the world on his back. He uttends the horse- ra;'cs, goes to the watering-places, has a big time, and he gives a small ])ittance to the Chtnch, and comes when he gets ready. The pastor trod upon his toes, and his ofteiided dignity takes a back seat at the church on Sunday, and stirs np the world against his Chnrch and pastor the balance of the week. He tries hard to make the Church realize the danger of tread- ing upon a man of his imnicn^i' projiortions, and his olFeuded dignity hobbles along and does ail the harm he can. " 6. ^N'ext behold young T^ordon Granger Swelleber- gcr. He joined the Church in a former revival, and his wealthy and .listin."-aished parents dote upon Gordon as the highest type, par excellence, of royal young manhood. He goes to church occasionally, visits all the places af amusement, and gets 'tight," swears and swells around promiscuously with the world, ^o sermon a pastor could ]v ich would miss him, and he and his family an terribly aggrieved on account of a discourse whie, as among Church-members. Go on ;ated dissipation s no doubt aimed !U CHUKCIl CllUTfllElS. 351 at, thoy think, and the young- nitin Btands about tlio streets on a crutch and with his arm in a isling, "all broken up,'' and trying- to keep everybody else from going to his chiircli. lie goes now to some other churcli, except occasit)nally he goes as far as the door of his own church to let his paitor see that he does not come in. 7. Thc.o is Zeke Smith. He is poor and ragged and wears a flopped hat, and ho construes the most charitable condescension to his condition as an insult to his ])ovcrty and obscurit}'. The Church hates poor folks, and he has quit going, except to take a back seat and stand around and pout and show that nobody loves poor folks, especially if they can't dress well. 8. Xow see Miss Flora riimscy as she too goes to church on crutches. She is passionately fond of the novel, the theater, the dance, of dress and show and society. She has not a single taste for Sunday-school and prayer-meeting, and she has no relish for preach- ing and service on Sunday mdcss the choir sings opera music and the preacher scrapes tlie sky with eloquence or flatters the heart with sensation. The true pastor is always treading upon Flora's toes, and she has well- nigh quit coming to church. AVhcii she comes she sits back, talks all the time in service, flouts out when the benediction is pronounced, and all the week she takes occasion to depreciate her i)ast()i'and her Church among the wt>rldly Christians of her acquaintance like herself. Having noticed the figiu'cs in the p' '/st. — and we could have filled in with many more — let us now ex- amine more minutely the nature and character of the religious crutch upon which the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ sometimts halt and hoMdc. 23 r, v w% m 'i^l n s 352 CllUIlCil CRUTCHES. J>ui'in^ the late war thoii8uiuls of men who couhl by any means IVame some excuse, mannracture some disease or woiintl, sometinuH even by tht' breakiii;L!^ of their own limbs, or lincl refiij^e in some bomb-proor to escape service, lid so. The amount of disease and casualty which alllicted the land was truly aslt>nish- ing, not only in the field, but at home. r]si)ecially did men get sick before a battle, but the proportion of infected, defective, and disaftectcd oues in camp was far less than at home. Home was the melaucholy place during the war, not the camp, independent of the real causes of distress Avhich arose out of the ca- lamities [)ro])er of tlie great struggle. Crutches were in great demand, not only war-made, but home-made; for not only soldiers ])rayed for slight wounds, rheu- matism, and other disal)ilities, but citizens numufact- ured them by the thousands when exemptions more favorable to health and bodily soundness could not be obtained. After the cruel war was ovei", however, these homesick, bomb-proof, self-crij)pled, and oth- erwise and varionsly exempted and discontented men came out of their holes as brave as lions, became sound and well, threw oil" the hospital nuisk, threw up their exempted occnpations, and threw down their crutches — until the next war! Even many an old sol- dier who seemed to have been fearfully wonnded in the field improved incredibly fast, and all entered act- ively again into the fields of life, business, and pleas- in-e, until Corporal Tanner got into the pension busi- ness. !N^ow all this has a counterpart in the Churches of Christ. Thousands are daily shirking duty, like poor soldiers and cowardly citizens in time of war. It is really amusing, often, to see and hear them in their CIIUIU'II CnUTCHES. 353 frivolous exc'UHcs for not ^Mving of their KiihHtauce, attuiuling- cluircli, or for otherwise! fiiilin*^ to(lischar<^o their duty. There ivre Hevcral kinds of crutches which we will here notice: 1. The povirty crutch. It is incredible how often Christians do lie about their poverty. To hear many of them talk you would think they wore fit only for the poor-house. They never have any thing' to spare for Ctod, but always Hometliin;;' to s})are foi' any world- ly object. I'hey can enlarge their business, chew to- bacco, and drink whisky, attend anmseinents, dress well, have enough to eat \x\n\ enjoy themselves with, employ doctors and lawyers, have something to lay up for a rainy day, but nothing for God and religion. llow like some during the war — willing to give their sons, but not their negroes^ for the lost cause! They were ready to rebel against the rebellion when their slaves were called for, or other sacrifices of property were denuinded to sustain their cause and country; and yet many of these men were seeking to make fort- unes out of the necessities and poverty of the ])eople and the (irovernment. How many Christians to-day who would turn, like the rich young ruler, and leave Christ if they had to give up their ])r()perty to follow him! If it is going to take the ^'' nU/gcrSy^ stop the war! So with Christ. !Many want all the profits in the religious business, but they don't want to bear any of the exi)ons('. How many thousands hobble around on this poverty crutch, and cry, " Poor," " broke," "hard times," " debt," "pressure of business," and a score of other excuses, which indicate that religion is but a secondary consideration! But when off the subject of Tt-ligion it is refreshing to hear some breth- ren talk oii being rich. They are flush and full of PI '1. PI I i 4- - I I 354 CHURCH CRUTCHES. t. I '' I I speculation; " business is business." They lay down their crutches, but you just mention Missions and Church expenses, and up the crutches come. ]Nro doubt they often smile at the crutch trick they play upon the beggars for Christ, for whom they cherish a dog-o-ecl and hearty contempt. 2. 27ie sensitive crutch. The late Avar developed a numerous class of croakers and growlers. There Avci-e those who were always mad, dissatisfied, com- plaining, and hunting- a crutch or other means to keep out of service and hide their property. Some of them were "big men" and former ''fire-eaters." So we have a number of brethren always sensitive and of- fended at some bod?/ or some thinff. They can't com- mune, they can't meet in the Church Conference, they can't hear th.e pastor, they can't have things their own way because somebody or something has hurt their sensibilities. They are exceedingly tliin-skinned, and if they can't get an offense any other way, they will hunt for one. A soldier at Fredericksburg- wanted a furlough, and putting his hand above the breastworks he got it shot off. lie exclaimed : "A discharge, thank God!" So some Christians are always wounded by looking for offenses and huntirig for excuses to be out of the way with tlie Chnrch. They are like the old- fashioned Irishman, with his coat-tail dragging the ground, daring some one to tread iqjo!^ it, and thus hunting for a fight; and they usually get it, and get wounded so that they can hobble on tiie sensitive crutch the balance of their lives. 3. T/ie Sunday crutch. This carries a numerous class — active, energetic, clever, sometimes liberal, attentive tc business all the week, but they cannot attend prayer- meeting, Sunday-school, or preaching on Sunday. CHURCH CllUTCHES. ioo Rain or shine, cold or hot, cuhn or Avincly, business is neve • nog-lected. Ice, imul, snow, slush, sL4<-^ this sketch Ave liave two pictures which il- ^^v^^ lustmtc, as near n^ imagination can get it, ,y/o^ two characters common in almost every ^^ community. I. Obseuve the CnooK. lie is a wiry, circular, eely, oily, snaky-looldng fel- low, Avitli a sharp, sinister face, a keen, piercing eyo which looks you under, sidewise, or straight, as ho looks characteristic or assumes an honest appearance. All his motions and attitudes are circuhir and round- about, and lie is a most perfect illustration of the ser- pent in hunuin form. The term " crook " is usually applied at police head- quarters to had men and women living under cover, spotted, as criminals of some character, and under the surveillance of the law. They are thieves, burglars, confidence -men, pickpockets, shop-lifters, and the like; and they either work in gangs, Avith "pals," or alone, as the case may be. Some of them are very low and degraded characters, while othevs assume the shape of gentlemen and ladies. The professional beggar. < ften very Avretched-looking, sometimes Avell dressed, always schooled to a hypocritical and obse- quious air of Avant and suffering, might come under this head, though not teclmically so called. (359) ) '« 1/ a 1 i f* i -1^ ' ■* am i'i ■ ^ 360 THE CROOK AND TllK CItAXK. This covers the general deiinitiou of the crook; but I want to extend the delinition to a hvrger and more respectable class of individuals not so called. The thief and the house-breaker and the gambler are not always the most dangyrously crooked people in the world, Tiiey are only the midnight wolves who prowl about the :;fines of society, seldom coming in con- tact with the better circles of mankind. The eye of the police is upon them, and it is under the greatest difficulty that they can do us any harm. Even then, they only hurt our pocket-books or our pi-operty. Let us look at some of the worst of all the crooks who infest and damage society. 1. ThcvQ is the '* cornerer,'' the respectable gambler in stocks and bonds, the " futures " speculator in the necessities of life, creating exorbitant and fictitious prices upon food and raiment, robbing the producer and oppressing the cetual poverty, ignorance, and violence. Politics and legislation are everywhere corrupted and controlled by the "rings," and we have reached an age when politics and governmental ad- THE CKOOK AND THE CKANK. 361 ministration are dominated by the " almighty dolhir," with their head-quarters in tlie saloon. The " wliisky ring" is a stupendous oircuhu- crook which winds its anaconda fohls around the lile of our nation. The bar-room is well-nigh the nuister of this country, and both our great national parties are at the mercy of this ring, which girds a planet with a belt of black- ness. Crookeduess, crookedness! 3. Observe the respectable crook in ordinary busi- ness. How many thieves and ])ickpockcts, cheaters and swindlers, oppressors of the poor, and deceivers of the world shine in the club-room, the drawang- room, and the front pew! Men become millionaires by grinding the laborer, and yet sing psalms on Sun- day. Others deal in false weights, short measm-es, and adulterated merchandise, employ every trick of trade, accumulate fortunes by deception and sharp driving, and by reason of a big safe and a heavy purse pass for honest men and good Church-members. They spend a life of crookedness in business, and their pastor sends them to heaven at the funeral. 4. Observe tlie seducer, called the '' masher." He ensconces himself in your parlor to have " fun," as he terms it, with your daughters, and by all his wily, snaky arts be wins tlie confidence and love of some silly girl, and erelong the once spotless dove is soiled and ruined. Wo often denounce the ball-room, the theater, the bar-room, and other recruiting shops of the devil. The> do deceive and mislead thousands of the voung; but the wn/uarded parlor is the most dan- gerous place in th . world. Next comes the moonlight ride, the lawn party, the fishing spree, the huckleberry- hunt, and the like. It is here in these secret places that the citadel of the female heart is oftenest assault- r. fH n in I 362 THE CllOOK AXl) THE CllAJ^K. '':h il ed, and, being improperly strengtliened and fortified hy parental iudulgenee and training, undue Itnniliarity opens the way of the yeductive crook into the strong- hold of virtue and purity. He is not always and al- together to blame. The customs of society allow him the privilege of the " arm clutch,"' the " round dance," the lustful kiss, the squeeze of the hand; and not un- frequently some of the belles claim to be "lemons" only to be '< squeezed." The chastity of thousands of our girls is tainted thus, and nothing but /w/- stands between them and ruin. Nevertheless, the blackest fiend out of hell is the seducer. The penitentiary is paradise for him. The neck-tie of the gibbet best becomes his serpentine villainy. 5. Then there is the clerical crook — quite a num- ber of them, of all shades, shadows, and shines, lie "creei^s into houses and leads captive silly women laden with sins, led away of divers lusts;" and about the best evidence of his presence is the manifest ad- miration and infatuation of the ladies in any given Church or community, lie is smothered with com- plinumts, flowers, presents, and, sometimes, kisses. lie is called "sweet," "grand," "eloquent," "splen- did," "killing," and the tine fellow swells and struts and smiles and flatters and fondles in return. His sermons are all jjopular and broad, and he fairly floats upon the perfumed breeze of adulation. His i)eople weep for sentiment, but never for sin; '• Jesus is never seen nor heard for the num. In the very nature of things, unguarded by the grace of God, the best preacher is s(mietinies made a clerical crook. The clerical crook is sometimes a ministerial tramp, going about plajang the game of confidence, Avorking his brethren, imposing upon their lios]ntality, getting their inon'^v under false pretenses, seeking plaees of honor abr^aa with a bad odor at home. Churches are often dehided and torn np by these humbugs. Even the sheep follow these crooks with the Master's crook in their hands and letters of recommendation in their poclcets; and the i)oor, simple fools often only find out their folly when it is too late. Xot unfrequently they run off the old pastor to i)ut a sei-pcntine crook in their bosoms. They always get bit in the end. We might speak of many othei- classes of crooks, but we Avill spare the lesser fry. There are crooked deacons, crooked treasurers, crooked members, uiale and female, in many of our Churches. Crooks abound everywhere, and we are not to go to police head-quar- ters alone to find them. Beware of the crooks, and the best way to beware is to look into your own bosom and see if there is not a crook there. II. OnsEiivE THE Chaxk. This is a common getms homo, es])ecially in these lat- ter days. I suppose crooks have always existed, and so have cranks. Timon of Athens, Antisthenes and Diogenes were cranks, and no doubt ^Esop and Soc- rates were considered cranks. There was a crook among the twelve apostles (Judas), and Peter some- times seemed a little cranky. But what is meant by a crank? This character is somewhat varied in its peculiarities, and he is harder to define than the crook; but we may say of him that he is a man of angles, not crooks, as you see in the illustration. He is an "Angular Saxon," and my ob- servation is that he generally belongs to the Saxon familv. The crank is usually an honest, straightfor- ward, though salient and riginal character. He is not morally mean, and he may be a good Christian as : .1 364 THE CUOOK AND THK CRANK. ■in well ns an unconverted sinner, intelli<^ent as \\i;ll us ignorant, learned as well as illiterate. Some of the most intellectual and lofty spirits have been the worst of cranks. The great dilliculty we meet in the crank is that he is at right angles, and sometimes acute an- gles, with everybody ard every thing except himself and his notions. lie often rides a hobby, and if so, he is in salient opposition to everyboily and every thing which cannot straddle his little horse. He will not be satisfied, either, until lie can get you upon his wooden pet; and he will spend a life-time of energy and zeal in pressing upon you the in)i)ortance of his hobby, absolutely the most important of U important things. Whether he rides a hobby or not, he is always pe- culiar, and peculiarly distinguished from all other men. lie seldom agrees with you at any point in the considerat'srii of things common among men, and he is often so ut r uliar that he will change his mind and shift h'lr ji., h.;on if he finds that you agree with him. Even in a su altitude of counsel upon the most dilfi- cult subject he will bolt the convention, aiMl if he were to call a convention of his own and of himself alone, so to speak, he would dissent at last from his own decisions. More than this, the crank is seldom, if ever, prac- tical, although sometimes his inventive and discover- ing genius goes ahead of the world and of the day in wdiich he lives. All men who have lived ahead of their fellows in their times have been considered fools and cranks; but this does not imply that they were siich. Our greatest originators and creators were held and ])ersecuted as cranks and ftmatics until the world caught up with them ; and then, like the Jews THE CllOOK AND THE CUAXK. '.m did their slain prophets, thcN build monuiueiits to them. Bunyiiii wa> no doubt constdeied a crank U8 well as a heretic in his day, but recently England put his statue in AVestnunster Abbey. All such cranks us Cohunbus, AVashington, Harvey, (ialileo, and Lu- ther have turned the world forward for centuries upon its great centennial axis. So of Morse and Fulton and Stephenson and Eads and a host of others. Besides impracticability ' genuine crank, he is often and truly a fanatic— in ational, incorrigible, and unimpressiblc. In the great bundle of his peculiari- ties he sometimes has something g'od, but with im- practicable fanaticism he carries hU ideas to extremes and fails to reach the conservative co-oi)cration of mankind in order to carry them out. Even when a man is a crank upon something true and good he kills his influence by his persistent hobbyisin and his of- fensive idiosyncrasy. Every thing runs into the groove of his own idea, the importance of Avhich dwindles every thing else into absolute insignificance; and, with an utter disregard for the opinions of all man- kind besides, the crank soon becomes, even in the good and the true, an insuflerablc bore. One-idead men have done the world, in some in- stances, its greatest good; but, to be successful, they put their one idea in harmony with all other ideas about them. They were practical with their pecul- iarity, and they were neither hobbyists nor fanatics. They had common sense as Avell as singular genius, and, Avhatever their persistent en ' luisiasm, they pressed nothing out of joint. They bowed at the feet of learning and excellence, and they oidy implored the forces of wealth and ability to consider their claims. They were not George Francis Trains, nor were they l 'hi I !'i i4\ |}f« Hi- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /A,. o ,- from Jernsalem and from the tln-eatened de- strnction by liis own son, Absalom. This promised to be the great disaster of his life, and he went ont of the city and over the slope of Monnt Olivet barefoot, covered with sackcloth, weeping as he went np, and all the people, with heads covered and eyes weeping-, followed him. The only hope David seemed to have was that God! would " tnrn the counsel of Ahithophel," his chief counsel- or, '"into foolishness," for, as an arch-conspirutor, he would be Absalom's chief adviser. Quite a number of leading friends joined the king on the way, but he sent back such men as Ilushai, and Zadok and Abi- athar tlie priests, to counteract the conspiracy and keep him informed of Absalom's movements, while he himself moved on with his little army and the people. A little beyond Mount Olivet, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, came to him with a couple of asses loaded with bread, raisins, wine, and fruits, and so in his great and bitter misfortune he had some cons 'a- tion and encouragement at the hands of distinguisnea friends, while the mass of the people, led by the sons of Zeruiah, Joab and Abishai. stood by him, but not (3G9) w Wii ar -;. ( 'I lil J wfl ^9 'fl -flfi'^^H ) I ^^^^1 ll 1 370 SIIIMEI TIIKOWIXO STOXES. WW gatlicred in suiticicnt numbers as yet to resist tlic re- bellion of Absalom. David bad just ivacbed Baburim in bis fligbt wbeu tbere "came out a man of tbe lamily ol' Saul's bouse named Sbiuiei, tbe sou ot'Ciera." Tbe geueral scene of symi)atby cbanged, and, instead of condoling ^vit]^ tbe king and wisbing bim success in tbe end, Ibis nuin walked along on tbe bill-side and cursed tbe king in bis grief and misfortune. More tban tbis, bo cast stones at David and at bis retinue of servants niid followers; being, no doubt, in a safe i)lace, bigb up on tbe bill-side, wberc tbe compliment of rei)lyiug stones could not be well returned, and knowing tbat David was in a burry. How Sbimei ciu'sed and Ibrew stones and cast dustl lie called tbe King a "bloody man," and a " nnui of IJelial," tbe devil; and be cbarged bim witb usurping Saul's crown, and de- nounced upon bim tbe curse of Absalom as a just ret- ribution for tbe destruction of Saul's bouse. " lie- bold, tbou art taken in tby miscbief, because tiiou art a bloody unm," be said; and bow long be continued to curse, to cast dust, and to stone David and bis friends we do not know. Tbe sons of Zeruiab ])ropo8ed to go and take oil' tbe bead of tbis "dead dog" of Saul's bouse; but Da- vid was a grcat-bearted man in bis sorrow and mis- fortune, as well as in joy and ])rosi)erity, and be bad no time to stop to kill tleas. "Let bim curse," said David, " because tbe Lord batli said unto bim. Curse David." If God sends tbis grievous e[)isode on tbe way, tben we must submit, was David's idea, and tben be turned to tbe bopeful side of bis case, and remarked to bis friends: "It may be tbat tbe Lord will look on mine affliction, and tbat tbe Lord will re~ SlUMKl TIIUOWIXU STOVES. a7i my was allowed to live, and to live ashamed and abashed in the light and in the sight of his base ingratitude. . A true and valiant man would have rathei- died. Ahitho[)hel went and lianged himself. In all matters of governmental or olHcial or disciplinary duty the nmtter of nmgnani- mous forbearance and forgiveness depends upon con- ditions and circumstances; but in personal nuitters C'hrist alone teaches us how to ccmquer enmity and, if possible, turn our enemies into friends. Love is the only true and invincible ruler of man- kind, and love never was vanquished nor hurt by the exercise of forgiveness and magnanimity, as the wliole life of David demonstrated — save where in of- ficial relations and duties lie allowed Ids affections to be betrayed into a false indulgence. We nuiy always look out for the Shimeis in misfortune; but in trust- ing God and showing forbearance and kindness, we have the surest promise and outcome of victory over our misfortunes and foes as well. ?^o man ever failed here, or ever will fail, every thing else being equal. Earth nor liell can hunt a good man down, if he will trust God in love, and do good for evil. Especially can a man always afford to be magnani- HIlIMKr TIIU<)WI\({ STON|.;s. • )** ** inotiHwitli his Iocs when lie is Iriuinphant. Juab niul Ahishai wiinlcd lo kill Shinici sjill,alU'r llu'y had re- tiinu'd, lor cui'siiijn^ t|u> l.oid's iinoiiitcd. David i-i- |)li('d: "Shall tluTt' a iiian he put to death this day in Jsrad? loi- do not I know that I am this day kin<^ ovci' all Israf!?" So lu' Inrncd to Shinici and said: *' Thou shult not die." And llur kinj,'- swart' nnto him. An oHVndt;*ht have enjoyed the blessing' of health, and have lived and died in the smiles of a g-cnerous and agi-eeable nature. Saint Helena — the crater of an extinguished volcano — sweltering nnder an eqiuvtorial sun, hung with deadly mists, somber with the everlasting gloom of barrenness, and torn with the terrors of the ])erpetu- al tornado! Magnaninnty to a fallen and submissive foe! My young friends, always bo forgiving, gener- ous, and kind to your enemies — to yom* Shimeis; and when it is possible, give them your hand ar»d restore them to your confidence. Especially do this if they repent and confess their wrong, as Shimei did — al- ii ;{ \)i if 376 HIII.MKI THKOWI.VO STONES. tlK.n-h J Imvo no eonfuhMu-o in David's Shi.nei, and iHilmiKs ho Imd n..no. It is Inunan, and barely lui- n.an, t.. art, the jmrt of a Sl.lmei; l,„t it is divino, it IS ( hrist-liki', to act tlio jjart of J)avi(l. Don't Ibro^i-t it, however, Shiinei will thn.w Htonos, curse, and kick ui. a dust. Tiio- most insignificant puppet can insult and hurt yon wlien you are down AVlien the old lion in ^Esop's fable became decrep- it and wa« about to die he realized this. The other beasts, like the bull and the boar, came and ^n)red and tnsked bini in his lielplessncss. He could bear the ifeniominious insults and injuries received at the bauds of wlmt bo considered his noble enemies, but when the "ass" came and kicked him or kicked at Jiim, when "the diso;racc of nature" scorned him in the hour of bis misfortune, this was the keenest cut and tbe deepest mortification to bis pride. A mono- the Sbimeis will be the ass and the dog-, tbe nioanes't and tbe lowest of tbe aniuuil family; and in m-sfort- une wo must never be surprised at indirrnity from tbo basest and vilest of nmnkind. So David feltj no doubt as to his pusillanimous Shiinei. ' ■ *-!' PAST YGUN6 MAN TREED. -^>+<- Q u u DC H Z < s > H (0 SiffiiiSALOM had a fine head of hair— whether El§lPtel blonde oi'bhick or auburn I do not know; '•fyp^ and it nnist have been one of his chief personal attractions. Bein-;- very luxnri- ^mt and lieavy in its growth, he " polled " or ^^i cropped it every year, and the weight of the croi)ping amounted to " two Inindred shekels after the kin'»-'s weight," equal to eight pounds Troy weight, ac- cording to the Hebrew tables. Perhaps the " king's weight " was something less, but at all events Absa- som" carried a renuu-kable head of hair, so much so that the divine record sees fit to mention the fact. Perhaps he ornamented it with jewels and made it glisten with unguents, after the fashion of his day; and its beauty must have corresponded with its Aveight and exuberance, the charm of the M'omen and the wonder of tlie men. To what extent this head of hair was a matter of vanity to Absahmihimself Ave have no means of know- ing, and we can only infer that it Avas by its i-eference inlhe record to other things. AVe knov,^ that occasion- ally we see men wearing hmg, heavy heads of hair, and nobody ever saAV such a man that was not a creature of great vanity. Most men clip or poll their hair very closely, and perhaps Absalom did for aught we •' (379) ft) I*' fit V i'.' II . i ■ ■1 m I 380 ill: FAST YOUNG MAN TKEEl). know, US he cut off eic^ht pounds of it everj year- but me been displayed to groat advantao-e. Some of :::zi:Tzt:t' '-'-'-'' "'''^'-'^-^' There was another remarkable feature in Absalom's personal malce.up. There was not "in all WP' one to be so nnich praised for his beauty." It is sau by he divine reeord that "fron. the Lie of his foot to the crown of his head there was not a blemish hood faul less ,n leature, symmetrical in %ure, and blameless in stature and style. He could neith;r be added to nor taken from in the proportion and make- Ko dibt '?^"^^^^^"^»V"-^ --^«>ving this young man. -No doubt his personal appearance was also a matter ot vanity, without any vexation of spirit He was just tlie fellow to pose himself on the street- corner; and, with the air and assumption of his phys- ical excellence, he would stand and enjoy the admira- tion and ga.e of the passers-by, tiiousands of whom, both^ male and female, are perfectly infatuated with physical and f-iscinating beauty. As he walked the streets or rode npon the thoroughfares of Jerusalem hewas the subject of universal remark, naturally an object of attraction and the subject of flattery and adulation; and we may just imagine how his ears pricked up at the buzz of applause, and how his heart swelled with the conception of his j)ersonal impor- tance. He was inflated well-nigh to bursting ^ith bis bigness, all the result of the self-conscious pride of his own personal splendor and of the praise and admiration of the people constantly heaped upon him FAST YOUNd MAX TUKKl). 381 I if* Witli {ill this, however, Absalom was not a I'ool. He was a young man of a hi<>li-toned sense of per- sonal and family honor, and he never rested until lie had killed Amnon for tlie ruin of his sister Tauuir. He was a nuni who couhl kee]) his tong-ue and his counsel, and, if iie cherished revenge as in the case above, he had the ])atience and the unl'orgiving per- severance of the Indian to wait and accomplish his purpose elfectually. More than this, he was ambi- tious, ami, like Kapoleon, he did not scruple at any measure to reach an end. Commensurate with his ambition lie possessed a bold and fearless spirit, a strong and well-balanced judgment, a determined and unwavering Avill; and he Avorked systematically and cautiously to carry out his plans. He Avas a Ciosar in genius, Avith all his pei-sonal vanity, and, unlike most empty-headed and vain ])eople Avho become lost in their OAvn personal attractions, Absalom utilized his fascinating beauty and power for his purposes. He Avas as perfect a demagogue as ever lived, and with his charms of magnetism and splendor he stole the hearts of the ])cople, " stole the hearts (jf the men of Israel." After his return from exile, and after his res- toration to his father's confidence and favor through the instrumentality of Joab, pretending sorroAVand re- pentance for the murder of his brother, he Avent delib- erately to the Avork of undermining his father's power and of usurping his throne. He rode the streets in chariots, folloAved by retinues of sympathizers, Avhile his father rode a mule; he met the disaffected and kissed them, expressing his great sorroAV that the government of his fether could not give justice to the people nor foster the dignity of Israel ; and he Avas continually ex- claiming: "O that I Avere made judge of the land. II V'' ■!■"•; I it- 382 PAST Y()UX(J MAN TUK?:d. that every man that liatli a suit or cau«o might eomo to me, and I would do him justice I " It was thus that this artful and able youno- o-enius worked until he had Israel ripe for rebellion mid rev- olution lo this end he seeretly sent spies through- out the kingdom. A trumpet was to be blown upon a certain day, and all Israel was to proclaim Absalom king; and when the day came, hy permission of his father, he went to Hebron under tlie pretense of of- lering sacrifice; and here, w^th the counsel of Aliith- ophel, the rebellion and revolution were oi-ganized So secret was the work that David knew nothing of it nor did those who accompanied Absalom from Jeru- salem and had it not been for hasty messengers to David, Absalom would have surprised him in his own Jialace. David fled with his friends and his little army to Mahanaim, across the Jordan, and had God not con- lounded the counsel of Ahithophel, through the ad- vice of Ilnshai and tlie strategy of David, Absalom would probably have followed his fiitherand defeated him before he could have organized his forces for bat- tle. Ihe battle of the wood of Ephraim was subse- quently fought, and the forces of Absalom were de- feated and routed with great slaughter. Absalom was caught by the head, and no doubt his hair helped to entangle liiin in the liranches of a great oak, and here Joab found him and killed him. A pile of stonns was heaped upon his dead body; and this was the fit monu- ment erected to his filial ingratitude and rebellion. He died the infamous traitor of his country, and the name of Absalom will go down with those of Ben- edict Arnold and the like to the disgrace of their his- tory forever. Such men cannot succeed in the '^nd- !!1 I!' I FAM' V(>1\(; MA.N VKKKD. 383 and howevei- graiul and noble in blood oi- position, however I'air the pro-spects and promises of success, they will g-o down nndei- the doom of liulnre and nn- ' der the characteristic fact that the way ol' the trans- gressor is hard. AVhat abilities and possibilities were those of wliich Absalom was i)ossessed! llow great and glorions would religion and virtue have made snch a young man! lie turned all his jjowers and charms to treason and villainy, and he went suddenly and withont i-emedy to everlasting as well as temporal destruction. In conclusion, let us draAV a few lessons from the history of this young man — this fast young man at last treed and slain like a Avild beast of the forest and consigned to infamy and desjjair. 1. It is a dangerous and deadly thing to be beau- tiful and not be good. Unconsecrated and wicked beauty is a snare of the devil, and it almost always becomes the victim of evil, v«'r\ desire of Ills laney and oC liis vanily. l\v killed liis jn-ollicr, ho hnrni'd -loalt's edrn-lield, he heliayed his lather — all in the laee o|" i)nrental h»\(' and I'or.uiveiiess; and it ANonId seem that he liad been left, like many other boN s, to in(hd,i;e his ])assions and his temper, to havt; Ills own way iind i»nrsui' his own eoursi', nnehetdu'd l)y jiarental or U',<>-al authority all his life, lie was his lather's |)»>t and lavorlte, and the old kind's last lament ^•oes to show that, in spite ol' all .\])salonrs I'aultsand crimes, he loved this hoy ahovc the yood and AvelCaro of his kinii'dom and his count ry. Such ti'ainin^i^" and imlnl,i;enci' would ruin any hoy, more espt'cially a hoy ol' such lascinating" beauty and vicious lendencies as Absalom possessed. Parents, look out loi-your boysj boyjs, look out for yourselves. 3. .Vbsahun's ;;reat sin was lilial iuyi-atilnde, uul the child which «loes not honor its parents sliali not live honorably or louii' upon this earth. Impetuous, violent, insolent, ]>roud, and)iti- nnui i>rew ir w ickedness and I'cboUiou until ho could lay his hand upon his lather's crown and take his father's life; and this is but the common end of lilial inj^ralitude or disobedience, when it has sulliciently developed, with iavorabli' o|)- portunitles and temptations, in evi'rv case of disaster and fatal termination toyonnyiE'NT cities and liouses were geiu'rally fe^^ip^ built upon lii'^li ph K;^^}f, - "1^™ ^''o'^ places, and csjjccially in '^\^ cities tlicy sought some high oiiiinence I'or 1/M ^''0 citadel, as at Konie, and as the Acropolis- , i 'ii^f^ the Acrocorinthus at Athens and rorinth. ^^ Theso places, however, were chosen rather lor defense than for foundations; but in JNIatthew vii. 24-27 we find u sort of parabolic illustration of the pictorial idea before us. It reads as follows, from t!ie lips of Jesus: "Therefore whosoever hearoth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and tlie floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." The rci'son for the fall, of course, is implied in the fact that it Avas built upon the sand. It could not stand against the floods, built down in the sandy val- ley, where foolishly some built their houses in ancient times, just as they do to-day. The house built upon (386) t IIOITSK <)V A KOCK, :i8;» the rocky snnunit or liill-sidi- could uvwv be alU't't- ed l)y the Hood, liowever sevtrely the Avinds iiiii^Iit blow or the rains fall or the storm beat u[)oii it. lleiico the wise man builds his house iii)on a rock, far above the lh)od-ll\ving- valley. We have seen a recent illustratic-n of this truth in the terrible disaster of Johnstown and other locali- ties swept by the awful Hoods of 1881). The break- ing- of a great daui above the city carried olf hundreds of houses, destroyed three thousand lives, and eight- een nullion dollars' wo:- ii (»f property. Every thing in the valley was devastated, while the buildings on the hills were untouched and not a life lost. So at Johnstown, X. Y., more i-ecently — a sti-ango coinci- dence of two cities having the same name, damaged alike by Hoods in the same season — and so of Xenia, Ohio, a year or two ago. Ofter.^in this countiy and in others, many i)eople are compelled in our cities to build in the valleys and hollows and along the rivcr-l)anks, but they liavo to risk the flood, however unwise and precarious the sit- uation, by uecessity. Xo Avise num, however, Avhere he AVt;s not forced by circumstances to locate, would build his house in the sandy valley, or in the creek or river bottom, Avhen ln' might know that sooner or later he Avould l)e swept tiway by the flood. The fool alone would be guilty of such a folly; and yet there are thousands of just such fools in the Avorld. A certain village located at the foot of "Vesuvius has been destroyed fourteen times, and yet successive generations c(mtinuc to repeat the folly and risk the destruction which Avill some time certainly follow, an- 4t % M ¥ n ill ina:i 11^ i' V a.yj IH'USK ox A JMX'K. old Vesuvius J »»s oxliaust,.,! hov lU'vy l.onds of > ntl. -not <.l conMm..i..u. TIut. i. a villao.. i.. tho AU^ locaU.l under a l.u^e preoipiee .,r Inn^ln" rock .nd llu^^^reat rock has been leanin^^ iiulher mid ia..,,K.Mo>v:ml the village io.. ,...,,, ^.,1 ^, these v,lla^^vr.s In. and oat and m-,4 and sK.,, 's ami lools ine under ti.e threatening d„oni of that K(,ck eve.y ,h,y, against Avhieh (o stumble they slndl >o bnda.no, ,ie^^^^^^ giind them into j)o\v(U'r. The Avise man buihis Ids house upon son.e elevated pluee; digs deep and gets u good foundation, and if ho cannot fnnl a rocdc, he puts a rocdc beneath his ed- ifi-o, lor a ba.al support. This is the figure of the man who (1) /,,„,, the words of Jesus arig:.t, and (2) does them according to his hearing. It is one thin Ao hoar them another thing to hear and heed them Avith LftrV;" 'f"r^';^' ^^"^^ '' ^« q^^te another and a be tor tlnngtodo.hem. There are a undtitude of ^^ay-sule hearers, a large nun)ber of '^ stony- ground and " thorny-groumi " heeders, but there are but few "good-gr<,und ' believers and doers ac- cording (o the word and the will of fi,>d. These bit- ter alone bring iorth fruit to perfection-some thirly, some sixty, some a hundred fold, according to ca^ ZaZT! 7-'-t"-ty-and these alone are L wise and Avel -to-do hearers and doers of the word of God Ihese alone will be saved by grace ■( last, and re- varded for the.r works; for these alone have t' . wise, he "imderstanding," the "honest." the ^ ..cod- heart of that wonderful ],arable of the sower. These not only sow in the common soil of the human heart, IIOUHK OX A HOCK. :wu as the otiiers do, but all the conditions of g„od now- iiip-- arc adde penetrated, uilhout ol)sta('le, hy the seeds of eternal truth an.! livine life. These -,'•0 down to hed-roek ujion whii-ii e is ero( ted upon the solid Kocl to build, and their edilit foiiudati(»n of Christ, the Kock (.f A-vs— "the that is hi^duM- than I " and deeper than earth. Jt is not a surface and sandy foundation, and the work erected thereupon is not an unsuhstanlla! air. castle, so often built in delusion upon the ilhisiv, and false foundation of mere religious fancy. ^J'he true bearer ami doer of (iod's word is a solid'builder upon a solid foundation, reoo<,ndzln- that there is no other luune but Christ under hcavei.. «>-iven among men, whereby we can be saved -no other foundation which we can lay than that already k. id, which is Christ. Hohammed, Confucius, IJuddha, v. ill m)t do for foun- dations; the lawof ]\[oses and the philosophy of Soc- rates will not do for saving creeds; the systems of Joseph Smith, Swcdcnl)oi-o-, Sanck man, und others will not do for guides to eti'nial lile How firm n foinulntion, j o saints . t' tlio Lorck Is laid for your fiiith in Mh t'xcolk nt worck' I always love to sing that splendid h niu, written by Edward Mote : My hope is bnllt on nothin<,' k^s^ Tlmu Jesus' blood and righteou;- ess. On the other iumd, the foolish buillor erects his house upon the sand. He is a hearer of God's word, but he is a doer not. If he believes Christ, lie takes him as a formal and theoretical Saviour; and in his ' "1 tt ,t , !i 1'! 392 IIOUSK OX A ItOCK. Bo-eallecl bchef of the truth he puts the .saenunents before the blood of Christ and in order to the grace ot 0,od. The minister, the ordinance, the Church are his saviors at last; and Jesus Christ is only a Mediator through the ^mediators of lunnan tradi- tion and superstition thrust between (iod and the faith of the iminortal soul. This is putting the signs of sal- vation before the salvation itself, and stopping, neces- sarily, at the sign-just as a man gets to a sign-board live miles from town, imagining that the sign- board 18 the toAvn; and this is building m the sand, and not on the Rock, even in Christianity. These hear the word and do it not in Goci's Avay, nor according to God s will; and salvation by Christ must be immedi- ately through faith in Christ, the building afterward and upon Christ. The blinded ritualist^or formalist proposes to build before he gets to Christ, and this is building on the sandiest foundation of the most illu- sive delusion. The rationalist builds upon an airy Christ and pays no attention to forms and ceremonies. ^1,0 ritualist believes too much, the rationalist too little; and ei- ther might as well not believe at all; for ])roving too much Ls the same as proving too little, and going too tar is the same as coming short. The poor rational- ist iiears God's Avord, knows of Christ, but lie trans- lorms him into a good man, a model and perfect character, an infallible teacher appointed of God and salvation is without the atonement of blood aiul without the direct aid of the Holy Spirit. A man saves himself, under this system and model of a per- fect pattern, by ethical culture; and this is but an- otlier saiuly foundation upon which thousands build then- hopes of eternal life. They are heflrers, but do- HOUSE OX A ItOCK. 393 ers not of tlio truth; and their house, like that of the ritualist, Avill fall in the flood of the great day, and great will bo the fall of it, for it is apparently a very substantial and beautiful building. It looks grand to liinnau eyes, but it is an air-castle in God's sight, and it has nothing but a quicksand foundatio.i. There are quite a ninnber of others building on the sand who hear and do not the Avord of God. A dy- ing Mason said recently, when asked about his soul: "It is all well with me; there is nothing too good in the gift of God for a good Mason." So speak thou- sands of Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor, moralists, Pharisees, and the like. They know of Jesus, that he died to save sinners, that he came to save the lost, that his word proves all to he lost; but these men find no need for a Pedeemei-, a Mediator, a Daysman, to stand between them and Ciod. Their good works, their moral characters, their fan- cied goodness, stand as JSIediator and Saviour. Xo, indeed; they do not need salvation by grace. They are not lost at all. Heaven belongs to them of right. God is under obligations to them; and if they have ever done Avrong, they keep a. debit and credit ac- count Avith the great God, in which their good deeds overbalance their bad deeds. This nuikes Jesus Christ unnecessary for them; aiul if he died for any- body, he did not die for them. They knoAV and rec- ognize him as a Saviour, perhaps, for drunkards ^uul blackguards; good for women and children too, but not Avorth a cent to a good Mason, Odd FcIIoaa', moralist, or Pharisee. They never need even to pray, except to thank God and congratulate them- selves that they arc nf)t as bad as other men, and that such good men as thcmsolves are in the Avorld :¥•■ 01 I' -Ml i'M HOUSE OX A HOCK. i and AVi] people heaven in company .vitli the ang-dsl IJ.o Bible .s an old cnnosity-shop to them, pmyer and preaclunc. and Chnrches are g-ood moral instUn- tions, bnt hey need no Jesus as a Saviour and Ke- deemer. AI this is buiidin.^ on the sinking, sand; and of all the men ,vho uill go down darkest and deepest l.-^ncath the overwhelming. Hood of the last great day, it will be this self-deceived class of peo- ple. Ihey build to themselves pretty houses, but ll.cy have no fonndation; aud in the day of judgment we shall want a foundati(m rather than the buildino- erected npon it. ° The wise man's house may not bo so beautiful and iiniqne, but its foundation will stand. He will be npon a l.>ock. He may lune put son,e " wood, hav, Btnbble" into his building, the loss of which he will suf er by tlie fire-yea, he himself may be " saved so as by fire;'' but he shall be saved, nevertheless, be- cause Ins fomidation shall stand. The foolish man may i)ut some "gold, silver, precious stones," into his budding— most excellent works within themselves: but even these he shall lose, because his building shall g-o with his false and unsubstantial foundation. Give me the good foundation and let my building be ever so humble and crude and Avorthless. On wliat foxmclnfion do you build, neighbor, Your hopes for tho future fair? Do your walls reach down to the rock below. And rest securely there? Alas! wliafc folly 'tis to build, neighbor, A mansion so fair, so grand. With its costly walls and its lofty towers, On sin's delusive sand! Is! er u- 0- ul St 0- It It 1^! M m- BIG'I" ANDLiTTLE"YOU." D O > u -I t: z < o S \j\'jV()liE 3'on is a picture wliicU I tliink siif- licicntly suggests the subject Ibr discus- sion. I need not stop to explain tlie il- lustration. AVe liave all seen something' of this character a thousand times in life — big "1 " and little "you" — and ifnot sulliciently delin- eated and attitudinized, yet so apparent as to mean what our picture is intended to cxi)ress. These big folks are looking down with contempt uj)on the little ones, and the little ones are looking up with mingled wonder and chagrin U|)on the big ones; and so it is and ever has been and w ill ever be luitil we I'cach the other world. There the i)icture in Uiultitudes of in- stances will be changed, ifnot reversed, and in many an instance Dives will call for Lazarus, who used to lie, in poverty and full of sores, at the rich man's gate, feeding ui)on the rich man's crumbs and minis- tered to by the rich man's dogs. AVhether in hell or heaven, however, nobody v.ill have the big- "I" or lit- tle " you," for, whatever the difl'erences then, there will be too nuich of business on hand, Avhcther of a hai>])y or an luipleasant nature, to be looking at our distinc- tion in weal or woe. Xot unfrequcntly Ave meet iieo])le on the street or in the social and collective gatherings of our fellow- (••!97) s to them even in reimblican Ameriea; and they look down with sneenno. ..nd snarliiio- contempt npon every Ihino- and everybody considered beneath their self-assnnied dig- nity. AN e rocoo-nize repeate.lly that some ])eoplc have g-ot the big. " 1 " and the little - yon," and " got it bad, ' 11 my pohte and courteous friends will permit me to employ a little forcible and pungent slang-a thin- I only do by permission, according to the demands^)f the subject which requires justice. Of com-se there is a dillcrence among men \11 men are equal belbre God and in the light of liberty and law— at least, supposed tol,e-in this country. Jntellcctually, socially, and circumstantially, however we all difter, as the trees, hills, and rivers differ, or as the beasts of the field and the birds of the air ^^o can t make all men wise and good alike, cultured and rehned alike, rich and well circumstanced alike, hio-h and honoral)le alike; and we have no right to foix-e any man to choose his companions or partners in busi- ness or social relationships. Naturally "birds of a leather flock together." Learning- and ignorance are not congenial, and so of wealth and poverty, refine- ment and boorishness, religion and ini, constitute the fundamental law npon which all confidential and harmonious association among human beings or any other beings is based. Under no other Ztn7 ' '"''^ '"' ^'' '''''^' '" appreciate and enjoy each other s company on earth, in hell, or in heaven liut while we arc thus arbitrarily independent of l«l(i "l" AM) LITTLE "YOU.'* 399 each other we are mutually and morally interdepend- ent from every other stand-point in lite, and no one human being can allbrd to look down upon an- other with contempt and disdain. AV e are to pity the fallen and lost even as Christ did, and so far as the cir- cumstances or inherent differences aiuony us are con- cerned we are ever to remember that it was God w ho made us to dilfer. Every man and woman, honest and upright, doing the best they can with what they have, is filling the sphere ordained of God; and what- ever the differences between them and us, created by conditions and circumstances, we must feel that be- fore God they are our equals in fidelity and merit. To whom much is given of him Avill much be required, and vice versa, and we shall find that for equal fidelity God will award equal honor, whatever the differences in gifts and talents. " Well done, good and faithful servant," will be the divine plaudit Avhich will come to Mary, Avho did " what she could," as well as to Paul with his hundred talents utilized. God's lines of judgment, in this respect, cross all the lines of human decision, and our rules of reckoning and honor Avill have no w^eight at the judgment-seat of Christ. We should remember that, upon this point of mut- ual and moral dependence, the man behind the plow- handles, " Paddy with his spade," the poor w'oman running the sewing-machine, the engineer and the fireman, the hod - carrier and the wood - cutter, are Avorth as much to society, business, government, edu- cation, and religion as the Governor, the Congress- man, the preacher, the millionaire, and the gentleman and lady who live in stone fronts and ride in car- riages driven by liveried flunkeys. Here and in the house of God "the rich and the poor meet together: 26 '4' w m m 400 UIU "l" AM) hITTLK " VOU." the Lord is the nmker of them all." (Jotl did not make us all alike, nor in this world to oeeupy the same position; but aecordiny to his law of universal variety and diversity, threaded by the o-ohlen woof of unity and harmony, he has nuide ns to differ, and yet to be dei)endent upon one another. The foot has no right to stump the toe, the l)and no rio-ht to cut the finger, the eye to right to mock the lids, the nose no right to snub the lips, the lips no right to cnn-1 at the teeth. Every position or work in Hie is a trust from God, according to condition, and every man and woman, of whatever elevation, shoidd look with a sense of profound honor and recognition ui)on the low- est man in the lowest calling doing his duty. The man or the wonuin below me who makes the bread I eat, the clothes T wear, the house I live in, the car J ride in, the street I w\alk on, is my best friend on earth. We are mutually dependent upon each other, and I should feel myself meaner than the bi-ute to despise the boot-black who polishes my shoes, or to refuse rec- ognition and courtesy to any honest and laithful hu- man being in the humblest calling of this life. ]More than this, we should i-emember that the whole world is akin, that the God who made us to differ is our connnon Father, and that Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother. This is especially true spiritually, and it is true naturally and in the flesh. For Chi-ist's sake we are debtors to all the world " made of one blood," as the apostle spake of himself. To scorn one of my fel- low-beings because of his lowly condition is to scorn God and Jesus Christ, esi)ecial]y so if I claim to be a Christian and profess to love God; and such a pro- fessor of the Christian religion is a hypocrite and a liar, according to the loving John. I tell you that the ■^V-'.^ak.f. liKi AND LITTLK " YOl." 101 ;1 of divinity dell gospel or uivinity is a Uelusion held by the man who does not recog'ni/e and practice thi^ gospel oi" human- ity. It is this double gospel which creates the mis- sionary and the evangelist and the philanthropist, and the grandest beings w ho ever ViwA were such men as Howard and Kaikes and Judscju, such women as Florence Nightingale. To such the hospital, the lazar- house, the heathen jungle, the poor children, the dens of vice and poverty, the hovels of misery have been welcome places, and such have reached the clearest and loftiest ai)prehension of divine and luiinau rela- tionshijjs. Love is the genius of Chi-istianity ; those who have reached the loftiest heights and the deepest depths of this princi])le, however great in talent and l)osition, have been the least and humblest at God's feet and at the feet of helpless and depraved hnman- ity. Like their Master, they liavc washed the world's feet, and thus they have become the world's grand el- evator, both ill civilization and religion. They have remembered the pit from which God digged them, the rock from which he hcAved them; and, recognizing our universal equality in sin, our common elevation to the salvation and glory of heaven, they have cast them- selves at the feet of the lowly and lost millions in or- der to best honor (iod and best save the world. Such men and women have never Icnow^n the big "I" and little "you" in any relationship of life. But now let us be somcwdiat more cx])licit and il- lustrative. Let us classify a little and see sonu thing more tangibly jnit of those who have the big "I" disease, who look down upon those they think beneath them, and who scorn poverty, ignorance, and hclidess- ness as execrable. 1. There is the intellectual pedant. He is a dab- i m 402 llUi i( , " I ANJJ JJTTLK " VOL.' blc m loarnn.o-, an.I ban never lean.o.l >vl,al a Ibol he IH .n the ho-ht ol- wis,lo„,. It is not every Ui.lettered man who ih a I0..I; lor those who know how lillle thev do know, and act with diseretion and eourlesy, are ^^^He acconhn^^ to their degree of n.ind an.I enltnre. \V hen the youn^^ nn.n in (.olle<.e reaches - Sopho- .l..s.-ate the d.irerenee between the pe, J.ittle Stai : " 'Twns nt tlio window stood tlic boy, Oii(> beauteous, Kjxirklinj,' iii;^ht; Hi.s .spirit iflowod, oura|)t with joy' And filknl with child's delight. H." vi.nved the skies b(>8tud witli gold, In wild j)rofiision laid, And through the spangled dome of old His childish fancy played. He marked tliegcMus of lustrous glow, And fixed his i)ensive eyes. And oft the mystic grandeur I, ew The child's increased surprise: " Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I iroiHhr what you are!" The boy had older grown to years, ^Vith toils of studied lore, Had mounted uj) through sweat and tears From " Fresh " to " Soj)li,)more." He viewed again the sparkliug dome, Each star lie knew by name; And, wise above the ken of home, His father put to shame. About these wondrous orbs ho knew It all— their size and mold, Their distance far, and people too, Tli(>ir composition told. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Know cxaiihi what you are! " um "l" AM) I.ITTLK "voir." i(»;i Tilt' lioy Imd ufroiviHo iiiiiiiIkxmI's priimi, To |lllil()K(IJ)llic Jli^C, Anion},' tlio Htars timt bri^^litcHt sliino An iistrononiic siii^c . Tlmt spurklini; ditnic linortcn swept With tclt'Hcopic! eye, To know it all li(> wou'd Imvc wc|)t \\'itli sp('c(ros('o[)ic si^di. H« stood (if^'MJn lit window old As wlicn 1li(( little boy, Ami np tlie stnny iii^dit nnd cold Me ninsed with cliildish joy; " T .viiikle, twinkle, little Ktiir, Ho V I woNDKU wluit you are!" So Wohstcr felt wlicii lie o|.ji,l,iiit('(l jiiul, it is said, tore liis cli])l<)iiia In two with tlin expression: "(ien- tlenieii, you sliall lie:ir I'roiu me iioajn." So Xewton felt Jis ]i]rjin(l oeean of discovery still spread out before lii in. (ireat and wise mcii CihI liftle, and l».'iil»'r to saw oil' the top of the l)ooks so as to lit thu library I Tliis was Just as ^ood liicdc as any to llu" owner, lor tlie l)ooks were woilli- less toliini, and only lit lor show. However, he slionid Imvo had tasle enough lor res[)ectablu display even in his useless library. It is usually a litth' money, without brains oi- edu- cation, which nnikes the social snob; and, with tho artilicial and superlieial nnixinis and customs of so- called society, he, she, or rather it, is turned into the biggest fool which stalks the eai-th. Walking the streets or riding in liveried phaeton or visiting tho stores, where the clerks are required to pull down all the goods in the house, or at social gathei-ings or in the house of God — all the same and every when; — the cbaractei'istic assuni[)lion of airs, the haughty hear- ing, the curled lij), the cynical sneer, the swing and swell of the body, tell you in unniistakable terms that the snob is abroad. Some of them belong to the Church; but Mrs. IJurnett — now called ISFrs. Wnvneffe — doesn't rccogni/t^ old I^eacon Thompson, who built her house, and old Mrs. Johnson, who made the dress she wears. She belongs to a "'first-class Church," and she would be better satisfied if " those poor trash " were in the "socond-class Church" over on Clabl)er Avenue. She expects to go to heaven, T suppose; but how in the name of connuon sense she expects to as- sociate v^ith her carpentei' and dress-maker there must puzzle her social ideas terribly. It might be safe to say, however, that she need not trouble herself upon that subject if l)iety or humility or humanity in any form is to constitute one of the characteristic evi- deuces of Christianity. She wouhln't recognize Jesus and his (ialilean lishernien at all if they should ap- pear as they used to do in olden time. Let me say that you never catch blooded aud relined stock in this crowd, nor will you catch common sense ami piety there. The Washiugtons and the Lees and the Jetlersons would not let a ucgi-o outdo them in l)oliteuess, aud it is said that the nobility of England are far moi-e condescending and courteous than the snobbish middle classes. High-born utanliood and wonuinliood, common sense, purity, and piety never strut nor savcII nor play the pe(bint. The dude and the dudiiu' never Ijclong to these genuine connuon- senso aiul meritorious classes. 'J'he young man and woman who are ashanunl of tlieir plain old father and mother oi- of their " country cousins " nuiy be very " tony " aud reserved aiul superb to outward ap])ear- ances, 1)ut Avithin all is hollow' or rotten. I like dig- nity, self-respect, uoble bearing, cultivated aiul re- fined social life; but deliver me from the galvanized aud shoddy sham of the big "I" and little "you'' circle. T do uot ol)Ject to wealth or s])]cndor or magnifi- cence with a soj^Zin it; and when it is adorned with culture and l)iety — not so often the case — it is just as useful and good as it is ormunental and attractive. We all admire grand and noble men and women, and whether socially or otherwise related to such, we do not feel disparaged or overshadowed by them. How- ever big your '' T " is, young ])eople, howevei- small my " you," never show^ that you know it. At far- thest, don't let the swell-head go beyond your teens. v\ >!r lit u THE DEVIL fl-FISHme. -H>*<-^ o z I (Z < > u Q u X H JLjt I^^^^JIJ^Y picture speaks for itself. His Satanic Maj- ^t^jy^W^^l esty is sitting upon tlxi blufls of what may '^ be called the "Devil's Lake "—a title very frequently given to certain bodies of v/ater in this and perhaps in other countries. 'i^ lie has set out his fishing-rods, as is seen, all around the beach; and, with his hooks variously bait- ed, he IS angling for his game, according to his voca- tion. In the hitter part of this sketch I will take up his fishing in detail as illustrated in the jiicture before you. In order to appreciate the devil, it must not be for- gotten that he is a person — not a mere ideal, and not the mere personification of evil. He is not a mere injluence floating about in the air, nor culti%'ated in the heart. Every man is not, per se, his own devil, as some maintain. The world in which Ave live is not a devil, nor a multitude of devils. There are three distinct enemies of the soul — the world, the flesh, and the devil — in collusion and combination with each other, but one only of these enemies is the devil. lie is an identical, intelligent, artful, subtle, and mighty being, and he is assisted by an innumerable company of devils, or demons, like himself. He is distinguished by the ])ronoiins "he" and "him" and "his," and the Bible, from beginning to end, repre- (409) 410 THE DEVIL A-irsiIIXO. sents him personally, jictively, and intelligently in the work of sin. AVhen \\e take the case of Job, or the Saviom-'s temptation, or when seen falling like lightning from heaven under the preaching of the disciples, or when entering a herd of swine, or when possessing and tearing a lunatic, Satan appears befoi-e us in all his individuality and personality. He is called "the prince of darkness," " the ])riuce of the power of the air," "Satan," "adversary," "liar," "serpent," "dragon," and other names to distinguish his per- sonality and character; and he is represented as go- ing up and doAvn, to and fro, in the earth— "going about as a roaring lion, seeking Avhom he juay de- vour." He tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and this was the first lime he went a-fishing baiting his hook with the forbidden fruit. He dis- ])uted with the angel over the body of Moses, and among tlie last utterar.ees of the Saviour was that Satan cometh and "findeth nothing" in him. He is called the " ovil one" — not evil, nor an evil ])rinci])le itself; and he is principally and emphatically the groat " tempter " of mankind. From this idea we draw the l^icture of him a-fishing. Let me say, right here, that the devil has a price upon the head of perhaps every human being, and this i)rice is the bait he throvrs to every victim im- l)aled upon his hook. Every man has one or more Aveak ])oiuts in the fortress of his nature and charac- ter, and no one is any stronger against the assaults of the arch-fiend than at his Avoakest point. Eveiy man has the Aveight of evil upon him and the "easily be- setting," the Avell-clrcumstanccd "sin;" and even the Christian has to lay these aside to run Avell and sue- 'm^ cessfully upon the race-course for eternal lioncjrs. Sa- tan Avell knows our nature and all our weak jjoiuts — sometimes infinitely better than we know them our- selves — and it is through the weak place that he thrusts his temptations or makes his assaults. AVhat would be a price upon one man's head would not ))e upon anothei'. A very small bait catches some people. A trout seldom bites at an ang'le-worm, and a sucker never gets caught with a minnow. A mud- cat will take any thing, and a shark bites at larger bait. What is true of fishes is true of men, and it is seldom, if ever, that you Avill find one who will not bite, in a state of nature at least, at some time or oth- ei", if the circumstances are favorable and the right kind of bait is thrown to him. One man Avould not be tempted with hundreds of dollars, but the thou- sands would take him into tlie devil's net. Some men cannot be caught with money at all, but women or Avine Avould lead to theii' ruin. Thousands are gov- erned neither by lust nor ap])etite, but pride and am- bition will bait them to destruction. There are those who have neither lust nor appetite, neither ambition nor pride, whom vanity and fancy and pleasure draw away into the airy realms of a frivolous and useless life, and who let slip the good of time and the glory of (rod for the butterfly bait of the devil's smallest gratifications. Some of God's people sell out, for the time being, at Satan's price upon every human head. David and Samson and Solomon were baited and fell sadly into the devil's traji, and so of thousands before and since. Joseph was baited, but he didn't bite; neither did Daniel and the Hebrew children, when offered the king's meat and Avine in the palace of Babylon. 412 TIIK J)KVIL A-F1SIII\(;. Tlierc are but few of even the best of God's children who do not bite at something, some time oi- other and m this country tliey occasionally -o from the Church and the ^unili;y-school to the penitentiary for enibe/- zling- bank-funds under Satan's bait of speculation- one of the bi-gest and most tempting- he ever offers to g-ood people. It is said of Dr. Wa.ts, the o-reat- est of hymn-writers, that he was thought to be''al)so- utcly tree from pride and vanity. A certain infidel had watched him and made his boasts that he could detect the weak place in Dr. AVatts's character. He met him and tried often to tempt him with flattery. lie told him of his splendid abilities, his fine charac- ter, his noble reputation, his ])opularity as a writer tlie immortality of his productions, but he never could detect any chan-e in the tone « countenance of the Doctor. At last one day lie said to him : " Dr. AVatts, you are the plainest man I ever saw, to be as great a man as you are." It is said that the Doctor's face crimsoned, and the infidel had at last touched his weak spot. liis pride was his plainness, and upon this point he had reserved his weakness. So it may be said of the best, perhaps, who ever .ived that they have some soft place in their nature which, unguarded, will open the heart to the snbtle approach of Satan. " Let him that thinketh he stand- eth take heed lest he fall." There are none safe away irom the feet of Jesus and living out of the fear of God. If the best Christian of earth is in dan-er what of the unconverted world? It is safe to say tliat there is not a man out of Christ who lias not the dovil s hook in his mouth. He may be honest, up- right, moral, and perfect in all Ids external conduct beiore men, but if he is neglecting or rejecting sal- THE DKVIL A-FISIIING. 413 / vation, lie has been btiitcd Avitli the dchisioii of liis self-i'i^hteoiisncss or of procrastiiuitioii or of infidel- ity or something- which Avill destroy his immortal soul. Satan has him angled and well in hand, and will hold him, if his line is not broken, just as eifectually us the worst of sinners he has ever baited to ruin. Let us now notice more closely the details of our picture. 1. There is the hook of lust as seen in the wounded or broken heart held in the mouth of a well-dressed dude, wearing a stovc-pii>c hat and a three-story col- lar. This is the bait with which Satan catches mul- titudes of men and women, especially the young; and ])crhai)s there is no sin so absolute and radical in its effects upon the heart. When conscience is not killed it often results in insanity; otherwise it pet- rifies every sensibility and putrefies every affection. IVIany a woman is dragged dow^n to degradation and damnation by the "masher" and the seducer, the most infamous scoundrel that w^alks the face of the earth; and full many a young man is held in hell by his feet, clutclied by a fallen woman, once the pride and joy of a happy home. 2. Notice the hook of the bottle in the month of a drunkard floating helpless upon the waves oi the " Devil's Lake." About a million of these victims of the devil's hook die in the world every year; and there is no hook which holds so fast and fatal as this, once fixed in the mouth of a burning appetite. The bottle hook is almost universal, and it first catches our boys in their teens, as it is flung out in the tens of thousands of open saloons which flourish in this country — licensed and legalized by law and boldly and ably supported l)y the two great national political 414 TIIK DEVIL A-FISIIINT!. parties of America. Fishing is only allowed in cer- tain waters at certain times of the year; but the devil IS licensed by law and sustained by public sentiment to hsh tor the youths of America at all times and seasons of the year— in the saloons. 3. Then there is the '' ahnUjhbj dollar'' hook. This is the hook of avarice, and there are thousands, per- haps millions of men, led by the nose to hell under the temptation to love money— " the root of all evil." Mammon is worshiped as the greatest of all the world gods; and already in free and independent America fifty thousand persons own seventy pei- cent. of the wealth of the country, while the laborer toils for a pittance and the consumer groans under a "rob- ber tariff." The devil has not only hooked in his millions of men with this bait, but he has hooked in wliole nations with pride and luxury, to the ruin of liberty and to the destruction of vital religion. Plu- tarchy is one of the perils of our country, as it has been the curse of other lands, and it would seem as if the devil was about to hook in the whole of :N'orth America. 4. Notice the butterfly hook. "Old Nick" has Miss Sallie well m hand under the bait of vanity. She thinks only of society— the dance, the theater, and progressive euchre— and she lives only a butterfly existence. Flounces and curls and paint and chalk and rings and bracelets and ribbons and feathers and flowers and chitchat and nonsense and gigglin<>- are worth more to her than all the glory of heaven and the life of eternity. I Imagine the devil laughs fit to kill himself, or at least to split his sides, when he catches a thing so silly as to bite at a butterfly. It is such a cheap sell-out to the devil. It is such a THK DKVTL A-KISII I \(i. ll.") snii-.i |)rice paid out tor fire and l)rinistoiU'; and yet thousands of poor, silly, giddy, gay, and rasiiionable people are bartering their souls every year to the world, the llesh, and the devil lor the ehea[> enjoy- ment of social dissii)ati()U and personal disi)lay. 5. Please lo(dv at that old glutton who is hooked onto a ham of haeon. His god is his belly, and his only dream is of beefsteak and nuittcm, s()ui)s and stews, fish and oysters, ham and eggs, pies and pnd- tlings — things finer or coarser, according to the style of his menu, or l)ill of fare, ff you want to get at his heart or his pocket-hook, just appeal to his stom- ach. He has the dyspepsia and the gout and rheu- matism and what not, but no doctor nor i)reacher can turn him from his gorun\ndi/ing appetite, and the devil will get him at last through one of the beastliest temptations which ever entra[)ped a fool. Fortunate- ly, this is not a universal sin, from the fact that but few, comparatively, are able to pay ior it; l)ut Satan Avill have, iu the end, not a few of this kind whom he has fattened for the slaughter of death. 6. Again, notice that fellow who is caught with the pack of cards hook, lie is the gambler, and under his head may he classed that whole fraternity who try to live by getting something lor nothing upon the hazard of games ana speculations. They do not live by the law of that labor Avhicli gains an honest living in the sweat of the honest face, as God commands. They "haste to be rich," many of them, and (Jod says that they "shall not be innocent." The card- ])ack, the lottery-wheel, the pool, the craps, keuo, the billiard-table — all of these are sweejiing their thou- sands into sin, misfortune, and hell every day. Ciam- bling has increased, it is said, over one hundred pei 'M 41G TIIK DKVIIi A-1'ISI11\(J. ii! ctMit. in ten years in tins country, and it would seem as \l' tlie devil were about to hook in the Avholo nation as one great, big, luige gambler. 7. I want y( u now to look at that num with a erooked and angry serpent hooked into his nudicious mouth, lie is the represt-ntative of scandal and shiii- der and murder — tlie man w ho is ji'alous and envious, full of malignity and liate; ever ready to stab your character, injure your business, and take yoin- life. The devil knows how to bait him, as well as all the balance; and this is the vilest worm he ever puts upon a hook. Every day we read of vitui)eration and re- venge and murder, and our country has reached the point — especially in the South— w hen lynch and mob law dominate justice. Public sentiment is too cor- rupt and weak to sustain the judge on the bench, and a i)etit jiu'v has become the shame and the disgrace of the age of civilization which gave it birth. There is but one set of laws now which seem cai)al)le of exe- cution — those which protect your;>oc/{'f/-/yoo/('; but when it comes to life and character, men generally conclude now that the shortest and surest way to justice is the revolver or the lyncher's rope. Alas that the serpent cannot be scotched according to law I but so it is in our sunny land. There are other kinds of hooks baited for infidelity, self- righteousness, ritualism, hypocrisy, ambition, amusement, indecision, melancholy, lying — every sin of which human nature is tempted; but I have not time to discuss them in detail. ^U\j God bless this lecture to you all, and may you ever see my picture before you when the devil is baiting you to ruin with any of the temptations of lifel . s • / hi i u ii % 1 1 il i. ' ' s ' ■f : 1 1- !• 1 e n e h '- Ji' ri'sciit'm<^ th(! "vneral course of siu'ci'ssfii '^ n>- ll^jb ri'sciit'm<^ th(! ^vneral course of siu'ccssfiil Mr^ iuid unsuccc'ssfiil life; and this skctcli \h y':f^ l)iised upon one of the trite maxims whicli we so often liear: ^^ If yon wish io coine out at. the biff end of the horn, yon mud yo in. at the little cml.''' Into the little end of the up[)er horn you see a man going. He is of snuill stature, and is squee mg in. It is not uuich trouble, however, to get into the mouth- piece of the horn, for it is always larger than the neck, riic great difficulty lies in S(iuee/" ig through the neck into the gradxud swell of the honi, which grows larger and larger until you reach the big end. The ladder ■which reaches up to the mouth is called education, nwA so this represents the early training essential to en- trance upon the huslui'ss of life. '^I'he neck of the horn is nuirked ^',r/;^r/V/'/r^, and this is thediflicult part and period through whicli every business of life is to ])ass. The big end of tins horn is marked success, and this is the end reached when the tinished man comes out. You will observe that the num comes out much enlarirod in size — tlie same little fellow Avho was so small upon his entrance. He went in u])on a small scale, he came through the diificult neck of experi- ence, and he comes out successful and fully developed (419) I« Jill tl'J 420 LITTLK Ayi) BIG END OK LII'k's IIOIIN accorU.no- to capacUy and according to tl)o size of the honi lu« c-alilxT adapted liini to in the business of life ill tlie second l.oni we see the rule of development and success reversed. A great big ibHow, so to s,)eak goes ni at the big end of the horn, and he comes out the little end all shriveled and battered and dilapi- duted lie started into business or profession full- handed, and without education or experience for his calbng; and if he does not stay there, as a fellow sometimes does when he enters the little end, he -oes on diminishing in size and importance until he gets into the neck of experience and comes out at the other and the little end. He gets his experience too Jate, or at the wrong end of the lu.rn; and he comes out nobody or nothing, only to descend the ladder of educa- tion which the other man ascended before he entered the horn at the little end. This second man ].roves a failure, and his life is so far spent, his experience comes so late, his energies and ambition are so far ex- hausted, and so with his means and resources, that he never attempts to recover. The little fellow goino- in at the little end of the horn comes out with flyino- colors and of grand ])i-o])ortions, while the big fellow g<.ing m at the big end of the horn comes out shrunk and shriveled into a pigmy, learning too late the ex- perience essential to begin with, if he learns it at all and too old and discouraged pprhaps, sometimes too proud and incapable, to try the little end of the horn by going the other way. Let me say right here that the horn i-e]n-esents the natural course of development. We ai-e born by nat- ure into the little end of existence. We liave to lie in the cradle before we can crawl, and crawl before we can walk, babble before we can talk. Tlie man LITTI-K AXJ> Hm EXn OF LIKK S IIOKV. 421 comes from the l)al)v, and thus "\ve "row physically throun'h the horn of life from the little to the bin' end. The same is true of oiu* intelleelual deyelo])meut, as Aye learn our al[)habet before we spi'll, spell bel'ore \ye can read and "\yrite, and master g-rammar and arithine- tic before rhetoric and logic. AVhen education is lin- ished, of Avhateyer degree or character, we haye come from the little to the big end of the horn — our horn being the size of our capacity, and some jjcople, intel- lectually as well as i)hysically, haying a much larger horn of deyelopment than others. AVhat is true of the physical and mental is true of the moral and spiritual. AVe do not get to be angels and gods at once, lloweyer pure and holy a child's conception of right and wrong, his knowledge and ex- perience are negatiye i-ather than positiye; and it is only through a gradual course of deyelopment that truth and lighteousness are vitally and })ractically comprehended or applied The Christian himself is born a babe in Christ, and at first he must feed on milk instead of meat, grow in gi-tico' and knowledge, and come np by life-long cultui-e to the stature of nnm- hood in Christ. I'aul himself did not claim the ])er- fcction of develo])ment at any jx'riod of life, though he boasted of justifying jjcrfection in Christ at all times; and, foi-getting always the things behind him, reaching forth unto the fidnre bel'ore him, he eyer ]>ressed i'or the ])rize of God's high calling in Clirist. It was only at the end of his career that he exulted that he had ''finished his course" — not eyen then claiming perJection in the light of sanctifying grace. These perfectionists — the "holiness" people — put nieverymncb. in mind of a man going into the big end of the horn first, or all at once; and my obseryation ill 422 LITTLE AM) Bid END OF LIFE's llOUN. has been that if they come out at all it is at the little end. Sanctilication is evidently a growth in grace a development from babyhood to manliood, not a si'i:- gle leap to thin state by a "second blessing," of which the Scriptures seem to know nothing. Sanctifica- tion is the result of culture from the day of the new birth to the close of life: (1) by the study of God's woi-d, (2) by communion with God's Spii-it, (3) by the exercise of Gori's work; and if a man will pursue this culture from the little to the big end of the religious horn he will come out as big and as perfect a man as he can be made on this side of the grave. Paul went in at the little end, and he came out shouting and ex- nlting at the big end, just about the biggest man Christ ov3r made in history. He kept the faith, fought a good fight, finished his course, and then he was rendy to be "delivered." The unnatural course of develo]nnent is seen in the fellow going in at the big end and coming out at the little end of the horn; and the i-esult of such a course is simply the reverse of development, or development backward or downward. Of this course we see many illustrations, as of the other and natural course. There's Jim and Sallie. lie gets a pretty fair educa- tion by havd licks and by observing and studying the world around him, and she learns common sense as well as books and how to bake a hoe-cake, milk a cow, swoop the floor, and cut out a dress. Keithor of them' have much in the world, but they determine to marry. As the young fellow who had nothing said when he ■ asked the old num for his daughter, "I've got noth- ing but two hands, and they are chuck full of day's >TOrk," both of them had energy, /oal, and industry. Jnn and Sallie got married, and Jim determines to ffo i^ LITTLE AXD ma EXH OK LIPE's HOHX. 423 into business, while Saiiie determines to run the phiin little home which Jim and slic are able to own. Theii* store is a small one, and their stock is meager, but it is paid for. They gradually accumulate and save by a rigid economy, and give what they can to their Church, which they never neglect. They have entered the mouth of the horn pretty easily, and they are now going through the little neck of experience, learning human nature and business by dint of hard licks, making mistakes here and getting deceived there, struggling against competition and avoiding extrava- gance, and in this little neck of difficulty and trial they stay for a few years. After awhile they begin to swell ingrowth, importance, wisdom, money, means, respectability, and honor. The business is increased, a new and larger store is bought and owned; and after awhile Jim and Sallieare rich and increased in goods. They come out in life's close from the big end of the horn, hai)py, honorable, useful, with a well-trained and industrious family, and leave a good name and a rich inheritance behind them. Take another case. There is young George Gordon Keynolds and ]Miss Xovclla Evangeline Burlinghamc. They are both rich and trained up to luxury and ease. George is fast and Xovella is airy and fanciful, and both are extravagant. They get married, live in a stone front, hire servants, ride in a carriage with a driver in livery, havecham])agne suppers, and run a big social schedule. George wants to go into business, and he and Xovclla are worth fifty thousand dollars. There is an old merchant over the way who Avants a partner, George having lots of money and he having lots of exjierience. They start np a big business, hoist a blazing sign, and. move oil' with a flourish of 42J: LITTLK AXD BIO KM) OF LIFIo's IIOIJX. trumpets under tlie firm name of '< Reynolds and Living-stone." All ^ocs v.ell for ;iwliile, but George belongs to the club instead of the Church, runs to the theater and the gernuni, drinks tine brandy, smokes Ilavanas, drives fast horses, and sports with line dogs and stub-twist guns, keeps bad company and late liours, occasionally g-oes home to IS'ovella late at niglit; and ^Xovclla doesn't care nuicli, so George keei)s the establishment in full blast. After a little the house gets in debt and fails. Tlie books are iu bad shape, but George doesn't know any thing about them. An assignment is made, and George comes out poor and ruined Avith the experience, and JSIr. Livin"-- stone witli tlie cash hid away yonder somewhei-e un- der his liearth-stone. Geoige Gordon and Novella Evangeline went in at the big end of the horn, and they came out at the little end. They are youno- enough yet to go in at the little end, but they are too proud for that; and l)csidcsthis, they have not learned the experience of the little neck in the horn bygoino- in the right Avay according to the true law of devel- opment. Take tAvo young men at law — Tom Jones and Al- exander Huntingdon D'Antigiuic. Tom is not brill- iant, but he sticks to his books, ])lods along with lit- tle cases, gains character and r(>putation by degrees and gradually groAVs in means and position. Alexan- der is brilliant. lie dashes olV grandly and gets a biyilhng to he any Ihin,^. or nothing for Jesu«: and t ns ,s abont the best conception of entering into the httle end „i order to come out of the 1,1... "„d of the minisleiial horn. "" ^Jiu oi Look around and .see the great and mighty men in all tlM. businesses nnd,>rofessions of lite, ^ine times out ol ten they went into the litlle end of the horn to come out of the big end; and if they entered the bio- end at all, and succeeded, it was simply the little end of a very b,g iiorn-as the young Yauderbilts and others have done, and who were trained to business and exj,enence before they inherited their estates Our great and successful merchants, manufacturei-s' lawyers, doctors, preachers, railroad men, editors' M-nters, teachers- ^all of them, more or less, came froni poverty and obecurity, from country or backwoods I'lnces; and by the dint of toil, tears, ;weat, and' expe- rience have risen to position and honor. So of our inventors and discoverers, our scientists and i.hiloso- l)bers-tlie Eadses, the Edisons, the Morses, the Frank- lins, the Spurgeons, the Talnuiges, and a host of oth- crs-they all canie up, more or less, from nothing and nobody in the woi-ld. * My friends, do not be in n hurry about the future Commence little and low, go straight and slow, and be sure to hiy a good foundation before you build your house. Get an education first of all. This will enable you to get more easily into the mouth of the flli LITTLE AM) UHi KM) Ol" LlKi; S IKJllX. 427 liorn. Do not scrk to avoid the tiibulatiou of tlie little neck of exi)erieue('. '^^ri'ibulution worketh pa- tience, and patience exi)erience, and exi)erieiice lio[)e; and snch a lioi)e tlirough hucli a development will bring' you to the big end of the horn and not make you ashamed. It takes time to miika a man or a busi- ness. A mushroom may grow up in a night, but a corn-stalk Avill only reach a big and ripened ear after months of rain and culture. You want to gkow by careful, patient, progressive, cumulative, solid devel- opment to the nuiturity of manhood and life-wovk. In all ages the truly great men of the Avorld have been those who came up the ladder of special train- ing or education, and learned their business step by step, as they developed Avith it. They gained their most valuable knowledge in the cramped neck of ex- perience. In squeezing themselves through by dint of persistent ettbrt, they discovered their strong and weak ])oints of character, and develoi)ed those facul- ties necessary to lead them to success. On the other hand, the young man who begins his life-work on a large scale, Avithout a i)roper founda- tion of education, ])reparation, and experience for the business undertaken, is almost sure to fail. It is not exaggerating the facts to say at least ninety-five per cent, of them will go backw wd, growing smaller instead of developing from the beginning; and, since growth is the primal law of nature, any business or any life that does not develop or become stronger is virtually a failure. Parents are too much disposed to cultivate in their sons and daughters the belief that they, by virtue of their birth, education, position in society, or wealth, are exempted from the necessity of an apprenticeship ill i-i Kl 428 LITTLE AND lUG END OF LIKe's IIOUX. la the iu-«t principles of any business. They cannot boar to see their ollsprin-^ strugg-lin. tln-ongh the neck oj experience in bic's lu.rn. TI>ey will not stand idly by With means of aid at their disposal .vhile their pronusin- boy is fio-htin- with old ^^Uard Times " It would break his spirit and make hini doubt his ability to cope with the world, they think, to allow him to be pressed by a creditor, or for one of his enterprises to suller uncn they could relieve the conditions _ Jiuluio-ent pai-ent, stoj, and think; let the boy %ht h.8 battles whenever and wherever he is able to do so, nnd ,t will streno-tben him. Are you not about to Jielp your boy or indulge your daughter where it would have ru.ned you in your young days to have been helped or indulged? Look back twenty or for- ty years, and you will, no doid)t, if vou liave been successful in life, see yourself tigliting severer bat- t es; but you onnm out victorious, and you know now that your success in after life is due to the muscle, brawn, confidence, courage, and self-knowledge that you gained at that critical period. Love your children, certainly, but you ought not to Jet tliat so direct you in your conduct or manifesta- tions toward them as to obscure that divine fiat "/« the m^eatof thijace shalt thou eat bread,'' or to lead them to believe tbat they should or can go through life on flowery beds of ease." Impress them with the fact that there is no «' royal road " to wealth, honor, or worthy fame, except as every individual digs it out and builds it for himself as he passes over it. Hang up for them in your homes the motto, ''Everyman IS the architect of his own fortune," and impress them with the i OF LIKk's HOUX. We force our roHos before their sensoii To hlooiu Hiul blosHoin tliiit we uiav wear, And tluii we womler and mk tlie reason Why perfect buds are ho few and rare. To covet the prize, yet shrink from the winninii- lo tliifHt for glory, yet fear the i^^ht— Why, what can it lead to at last but sinning. To mental laugiu.r and moral blight? Better the old slow way of striving. And counting small gains when the year is done Ihan to waste our forces all in contriving, And to grasp i„r pleasures we have not^'won. My young! Viends, read biograi,l,y. Changing, sonie- Wliat the poet >s language — Lives of great men best will tench us How to make our lives sublime. It is said tliat Alexander Avorshipcd the menioiy of Aclulles, making liis life and deeds a constant study. He carried Homer's poems continually with him, that lie might read, over and over, the description (.f his achievements. This made him the great warrior he was. Saul of Tarsus worshiped the Sjurit of Jesus Thrist, and carried his spotless moral character, his matchless Avords of wisdom, his towering i)hilosoj)hy, and his condescending kindness and svmpathy, ever before his mind, his heart bui-sting'with the ex- perimental consciousness of the fact, that he i)os- sessed a truth the knowledge of which would give every man who attained it not only jov and peace for time, but make him happv, the" son of a Kino- throughout all eternity. With such an example and Avith such a consciousness, is it anv wonder that the proud Pharisee Saul became the humble A])ostle Paul, the mighty soldier of the cross? Alexander's I.n TLK AM) UUi KM) OK LJFK .S IKJUX. 4:51 niodfl was iiuiu'iTect, uiiil tlic crown Avliicli lie wore 8o gloriously was liiicl aside and ])lac'i'd by selfish hands upon iunbitioiis and unworthy lieids ^vhen, at the early age of thirty-three, he died in Babylon. Not so with Paul, who, when lie came to die, recoir- nized that he was just ready to enter njion liis glory, and standing, ns it Avcrc, iqion the very apex of time, looked back over the ti-aek and viewed hinisell' in the neck of experience. lie saw the bloody lash with which he had been Hcourged, the cruel stocks in which he had been fastened, the angry sea upon which he had been wrecked, the stones with which he had been beaten, the chains with which he had been bound, the dimgeons into which he had been cast, his perils before persecuting Gentile coui-ts, and his dangers in the midst of hostile Jewish brethren; yet amid it all he had come out victorious. Is it any wonder he said: "1 have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have ] ill ini^ht." Bartol dccluroH thai lu'jiuty is an - oinni- l)reHont deity." Sfliiilcr i.x,(iiisitoly v.rites: "it is; only through Ihu inoiniii;,^ o^ate of the beautiful that you can penetrate into the realm of knowled-^'-t'." AVith Hueh eoiiecptioMs t)f (lie nature and ellieaev of the beautiful, I feel free to lay down the proposi- tion, ''lieaitfu in a duty; " and I desire especially to uj)- ])ly the subject as the duty of wonum— with such li»'urri,. ons, of course, as embrace the beautiful in the 1/ue and the good. Woman's charm is her beauty, • *^h> ther J lysical, mental, or moral. The fjuality does no' so Ji.propriately a])i)ly to man. Personally he wouJ despise to be called beautiful, pretty, or nice, lie does not objet 1 to the handsome, the splendid, or the grand; but he never enjoys the caricature of fem- inine qualities or accomplishments. The rugged, the picturesque, the sublime and lofty, suit him better. The massive frame, the AVe])sterian brow, the rough- ly-cliiseled, yet classic, feature become him more; and what is physically true of him is indexical of his mental and moral mold. AVe prefer that sublimity and greatness in man which challenge our reverence, homage, and awe; ])Ut in woman that beauty and pa- thos which evoke our sympatliy, admii-ation, and. love. The peculiar '^'^aracteristics in both have their ])eculiar enchantment; but, as in the objects of nat- ure, we are moved by them dilferently. The tower- ing peak, the storm-girt cloud, the hurtling thunder, the boundless prairie, the heaving ocean — all these inspire us with a wondrous awe, at a reverential dis- tance. The sw'cetness of the opening rose, the melo- dies of woodland Avarblers, the gambols of innocent chilclren — these excite within us the warmth and glow of the beautiful; and our hearts are affection- 11 H ,1 w 434 ItKAUTV A DUTY hi LU..L- ately diawn about such scenes willi tlie r.-ipture of a tender entranccinent. So, respectively, arc wo moved by the grand or the beautiful in the person, life, and character of indi^id^uds. In man the sublime char- acteristically allects ns -with homage and r^vc; in woman the beautiful entwines about our he :rts a hundred chords of sympathy and love. In the very natiu'c of things, then, my subject is applicable alone to woman. It is her singular })rov- ince to be beautiful, and she has no right to be any clung- else but the very impersonation of the beauti- ful. Corresponding Avith this first conception of my subject, I present here an ideal picture of a personally beautiful Avoman. She manifests the conscious mark of intellectual and moral strength clothing her well- proportioned and exquisitely chiseled features, which are also warmed and animated by a sweet and queenly expression. She has the air of independence and self- confidence, without immodesty or boldness; and she is not to be stigmatized with that doll-baby "2>re% " Avhich is so often confounded with the beautiful, and which is generally the sign of effeminacy and weakness, having- no force of mind or character. Of course we all have our ideals of physical beauty, and, having my own, I have here given my conception fi m the stand-point of harmony betwcon the ])hysical, Uicntal, and moral. First of ad, let me say that it is her duty to be 2)ersonaJhj beautiful. Every personal atti'action ex- cites the attention and interest of mankind, and such attraction should inspire its admiration and affection. This power of attraction is a force essential to wom- an's Aveakness, and it should be cultivated and util- ized as an element for good. All beauty is poAver, especially personal beauty, and nothing but insensi- I! i (436) riipyrlRhli"!. BEAUTY A DUTY-PERSONAL. All rights reserved. ,!!ii BEAUTY A DUTY. 437 bility can escape its infiiienecj nothing but depravity can bliglit its charm. To some p'jople tlic toad is a8 pretty as the r >oe, and to some beauty of person is but the lodestone to licentiousness, " Unto tlie pure all things are pure," and true love " thinkcth no evil." To such, only does the quality of the beauti- ful enh uce and heighten the quality of the good, and hence there is nothing more effective for good in the individual than the power of sacred and consecrated beauty. Its moral effect in the pure penetrates into the sublime, and the fair for.'n and the beautiful face of a spotless and holy vv^oman, xnoviuj amid the cir- cles and callings of social life — utilizing her powers and opportunities — is the most exquisite image of divine grace ever painted upon the vision of every true lover of nature and of nature's God. A sweet and lovely woman reminds us most of paradise and angels, and no mortal influence so educates and ele- vates us to the angelic and the heavenly as the godly life of a beautiful and fascinating woman. Witbher we are wont to associate the angel of purity, love, and mercy; and the only being upon earth entitled to the claim of the angelic is tl o good and the beautiful •woman. AVe never call a man cii angel — except when he resembles a Gabriel, a :Michacl, or a Lucifer however splendid his form or nuijestic his mind; but beantifnl and glorious woman ahvays floats in our dreams and crosses our patlnvay, like one of that cherubic host which ministers humbly, but most swee'.ly, around the great wdiite throne. Personal beauty, therefore, is a possession, and may be an accomplishment of ram dignity and power; and it shotild be cultivated to the highest degree of per- fection as an art. There is no sin in beautiful dress, i 1 1 11 fffltMi 438 HEAUTY A J)UTY. .t '! - Hi graceful figure and nioveuient, elegant niauuer, the ■ presei-vatiou of ruddy health, the cultiNation of regu- lar habit and rational exei-cise, the avoidance of every form of dissipation or life Avhich depreciates and de- stroys beauty. Do every thing to acquii-e personal charm, consistent Avith virtue and modesty, and ab- stain from every thing which would detract from that God-given grace which none but a woman can hope or need to possess. If necessary to supply physical de- ficiencies, there =s no great sin in the appliance of artifice— provid. no one is defrauded by the ruse. Cosmetics, capillary appendages, and artificial den- tistry are often valuable helps, A,hen needed; and both young and old, good and bad, employ them to aid de- fective nature. It is our duty to help nature all we can, and were I a woman, I wonld try to be as beau- tiful as nature and art would enable me. We all have the faculty of taste, and we are all more or less con- scious of the irresistible force of beauty. Upon this point, howcAcr, I wish to indulge in two important observations: 1. Personal beauty is sure to fade away. In this respect the homely have the decided advi i> tue." Ileauty is a power for evil as well as for good. It may bo the charm of the serpciit, as of the angel; and it may be by the serpent charmed into deadly vanity and ruin. Nothing has ever fallen so often or BO low as beauty; and nothing, onee depraved and fallen, has ever been so vain, deceitful, and desper- ately wicked. Hence no beings are in so much dan- ger nor so dangerous as the beautiful. God's noblest gifts and graces, abused, become the devil's subtlest snare and his deadliest ruin; and the unlawful pride of beauty is certain to fall somewhere. Absalom was unfortunately and fascinatingly beautiful, and Avith the wiles and arts of his graces he stole the hearts of the people and dethroned his father. His luxuri- ant head of hair — one of the chief objects of his per- sonal vanity and attraction— finally helped to hold him, caught in the great oak on which he was killed upon the field of battle; and, like thousands before and since, the pet of his pride became the instrument of his destruction. Moses was bea ' ul, even in the sight of God; but his personal gn , and the adu- I ii lUi) CopyrlRhtctl Ait rlxJirn nsrrvcrt. BEAUTY A DUTY-INTELLECTUAL. HEAUTY A DUTY. 413 lation of liis admirurs never turned his great head nor changed his great heart. Jt is a most inifortunate tiling, generally, i'or a niau to be beautiful. It almost invariably turns him into a dude or a villain. Hence God made nio^t men ugly, and he has not ni.ide many Avomen very ])i'etty. Beauty, like diamonds, is a jew- el rarely found, and hence it is so highly api)reciated when of the first Avater. Beautiful people should be the best people in the world. The licentious are ever on the watch for ini- Busi)ecting beauty — like the bottled spider that weaves his web for the silly lly — and often behind a beautiful face there is nothing but an empty head and a soul- less heart. There are those whose trade is to drag down angels, and there is nothing the lecherous vam- pire feasts upon so wolfishly as the blood of vanity. The fair and exquisite flowers which bloom and fade amid the gay and giddy gardens *>'■' fashionable and vicious society are oftenest plucked by the ruthless red hand of lust. Beauty is often a a icljmizer, but it is oftenest victimized. As an angel of light, it sometimes drags down the giant; but more frequent- ly still the serpent blights its charms and poisons its fragrance, as it sleeps amid the perfumed rose-beds of vanity's dreamy indulgence. Cultivate your beau- ty, however beautiful, as a power for good; but re- member that it is a power for evil and that it is the commonest snare to ruin. "We introduce as the illusti-a n 'f intellectual beauty the Hon. Mrs. K'orton, an English authoress, the writer of the celebrated poem, " Bingen on the Ehine." Her magnificent face and physique, to- gether with the mark of her intellectual endowments, make her the model and symbol, par excellence, of in- ri i' ^it# ^-: 444 HKAUTY A 1)1 TY. tellertnnl beiii; ■ , aiul I place her i)jeturc before the young roiuler, especially us the inspiration of our ris- iiii? female genius in the South. But few of our in- tellectual women can ever hope to enjoy the personal si)Ien(lor which Mrs. N^orton's picture would indicate; but, letting the symbol n"l impersonation mirror the intellectual excel .Ciice oi lemal.j genius, the model can be subjectively if not objectively imitated. This brings us to another great consideration of this subject. Beauty is a duty from the stand-point of a higher and holiei culture. Every woman is not personally beautiful. The purest and noblest of our female society are often but comely and passable if not homely. Many of thciu are not personally beau- tiful at all, and it is often t^e case that natuie cuts her greatest freaks in putting the most brilliant minds and noblest hen ts in the roughest casket- The fin- est blooded stock sometimes look ill-proportioned, diminutive, and bony. ^Ihe best milker or trotter is not always, if ever, the handsomest animal, and tlie nightingale and the mocking-bird are not so beauti- ful as the oriole or the bird of paradise with "(s gold- en plumage, Handsome cattle are often kept for show— or worse, for ,-hambles. The excellent and the iisefni are j'idged 1 v^ their virtues, and not by their external beauty alone. Some things are created for use only, some alone for ornament, and some for both ornam ..t aiul use. The latter i:, true of woman, and, however personally attractive, she is cipable by cult- ure of becomijig just ; eautiful as she U excellent and useful, ^yh\ a i)olished brain, a i)nre heart, and a graceful (U -ar >r, she may throw around her- self and her life the and charms to which the un- tutored beauty of nature is a Strang- : ; for many of BEAUTY A DITV. 445 the most exquisN; naturivl beauties are rentlerod graceless and chanulcss Tor the wiuit of comniou sense and good training. Trite but true — Full many a dower is born to blush uiiHoen, And waste its swoetness on the desert air. People of true culture ami taste arc only attracted by refinement, and whatever is not refined or refinal)le will keep its lowly level, or seek it when raised above it. Ilnpolishcd, awkward, ill-numnered, senseless beauty — much more a vain and allccted beauty — can only attract the vulgar or the bane. Such charms go for naught, like a jewel in the pig's snout; and yet by culture every such beauty could become an irre- sistible attraction. It is said that " beauty muulurned is most adorned."' This nia\ l»e true so far as the ar- tificial trappings and trumpery are concerned, but there is nothing so beautiful or sublime in us that culture cannot ini[)rove. It is the province of art to bring out, as well as imitate, nature — to erase its de- fects and to suppl} its deficiencies; and so the science of culture has developed the moss from the brier- rose, the luscious garden strawberry from its little sour sedge-field ancestor. The province of education is, to tho^e Jiot possessed of physical graces, to take advantage of nature, and by culture make us Ibrget i)ersuiuvl defectS in the fascinations of refinemiMit. Brilliant brain, electric heart, elegant speech, graceCu; manner, modest de- portment, spotless virtue, '(tautiful character, useful life — these cover a multitude of physical wants and personal defects; and many persons who at first ap- pear uncomely to us grow beautiful by acquaintance and association. Intrinsic excellence, to be appre- ciated, must always grow by study — a fact not appli- fi h p I 440 HKAUTY A DUTY. cal)le to the ineiviy cxtonml. Tlu' (linmoiKls in the iieekluce of purity grow inoro diiz/liiig, the liojit of the Intellectual eye beoonie.s more Hparkling, the iilii- bastiM- of the modest laee deepens to roseate, every feature and fashion of the noble spirit assumes more of the divine or the angelie, as we stand and study the forms of cultivated mental and moral beauty. AVhat once seemed ugliness and deformity fades from the vision, ami the developing beauty of the soul be- comes the mysterious absorbent or dissipation of physical imi)erfection. A^irtuous refinement cannot admire the beautiful gossip, the accomplished flirt, the finished butterfly, the silken flounce which covers nn ounce of brains in a bushel of nonsense and use- less attainments. Jler mind, if she reads at all, is iinl)ued only with novelty and romance; her fancy, if cidtivated at all, floats alone amid the fictions of the play-house and the giddy dreams of the round dance; her tongue ])lay8 alone upon the chords of silly chatter, and her fair and exquisite form is decked and i)ampered off only for the senseless and useless display of a frivolous, fashionable, and dissi- pated life— all, perhaps, under the tutorship ami en- couragement of her foolish old mother, who has no higher conception of her daughter's destiny and dig- nity than to shine in so-called society! Her life'is a phantom, and hei- hope is ashes. The beauty and glory of tin belle oftenest diminish by study, as they ftide into the thin air of an aindess and godless existence. It is the splendor of the soap-bubble and the froth and sparkle of the syllabub. God never created a beauty for such a purpose and such an end; and how noble it is to the ciedit of those who, Avith- out the advantages of a beautiful nature, like artists, HKAITV A 1)1 rv. 447 c'ouvtTt their blnuishoH into -lorien; who n.nko us forpt their (lefc-cts hy n.^nossino- ....r mhnimtion, and vvlio l)y culture l)t.c„rne the ta.oiiuitinif wonder of our study! ^rw(, thiu-s arc osseutinl f. l.eauty ns an oflect, uat- ^••al oi- c-ultivatod: u-ia-.H-tisu. „|' u.iud aue of a beautiful character you now behold the mother leading her child — with the rose and the lily, symbols of Jesus — up the shining pathway to the ci-oss. On the right is the bi-oad down- ward way to destruction, and the old serpent lies at the entrance ready to bite the i'cet of the little one just stepping upon the arena of i-esponsible life. On the left is the thorny, Avinding road to the temple of fame and glory, representing wovldliuess. The path to the cross lies between, and the loving mother directing the feet of her little one to Christ and the Church is, to my mind, .he sublimest picture of the beautifu', religious- ly and spiritually illustrated. Here beauty and duty blend in the loftiest and noblest work of life— leading, first of all, our little lambs to Jesus and tlie cross. 452 HEAUTY A DUTY. Let me say, in the tliird and last place, therefore, that the cultivation of the beautiful in wouuui does not consist in pedantry and aifectation. Dress parade and the assumption of airs, by a woman, arc disgusting-, however personally beautiful she nuiy be. There is nothing like the blush of modesty, graceful address, gentle demeanor, the flash of intelligence, the radiant smile of virtue, the sparkling robe of character, the evidence of good breeding and culture. There must not be any thing shoddy in beauty. Thank God for what he has done for you, and then— like a sculptor Avith chisel in hand, with an angel vision, befoi-e his ' marble block— transform the crudities of nature intO' shapes of beauty about both soul and body. Make the most of your natural gifts and graces. Add to that which is good, subtract from th-^ which is vi- cious, divide that which is superfluous, and mul- tiply tiie talents of virtue. You are nothing without beauty; but beauty without education is nothing. Your glory consists in the life of beauty— that beau- ty which is founded in the true, the good, and the useful. Shakespeare truly says, O how much more does beauty beauteous seem, By that sweet ornament which truth doth give! The rose is fair, but fairer we it /':*^'^^' BEAUTY A DUTY. 453 tified this Ijliglited oartli as the pious motliers and wives, daughters and sistei-s, who liave spread tlieir mantles of love and purity over the cradles of our childhood and over the struggles and sorrows of oui- manhood, ^o Avoman is truly beautiful without re- ligion. Whatever her fascinations, an impious wom- an is an anomaly and a monster; and her every grace of nature and culture pales or blackens Avithout the grace of God. The greatest women the world ever knew were the Marys and the jNIarthas, and somehow we always associate the beautiful and the good Avith their names. They are household titles, and there are more Marys and Marthas in the world than any other names. Rachel and Kebecca, Ruth and Esther, Phoebe and Dorcas have become more cele^M-ated than Elizabeth or Josephine or Joan of Arc. Relio-- ion was their crown and glory, and the beauty of their history and of their lives sweetens the centuries with an imperishable perfume. Mary was not so great as Jesus, but supei-stition reverences her, even to-day, iis the mother and queen of heaven. Finally, young ladies, I leave my subject with you. Beauty is a duty. Cultivate ir as a power for good. "Without it, in its essential senses and forms, you are powerless for any of the objects of a good and glori- ous life. You cannot assume any characteristic or office of man and have the ])ower of a woman. Men do not love men. Hence you can be and do nothing without being womanly, and you can wield no inliu- fnce without womanly lieauty. Lost to beauty, you are lost to that sym])athy, admiration, and love essen- tial to your usel'ulness and hapi)iness. Nothing but l)eauty in Avonuvn can evoke love, and nothiuf^ but love can make you blessed or yield to your suprenuicy. ;%.':'V\ s