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PRINTED AT THE "CHRISTIAN MESSENGER" OFFICE. 1858. k % LECTURE. — •^:ii>c^— — % Mr. CiiAiRMAX AND (jentlemen OF THE AcADiA Lyceum : Ladies and Gentlemen : ""♦Vhen invited to appear before you in this capuoity, tlireo wants led me to hesitate in consenting to do so, — the want of time for preparation, the want of a proper subject, and the want of ability to handle it. But over against these threo wants I set three regards, — a regard for my Alma Mater, a regard for her other children, and a regard for the people of this village. This three-fold regard has encouraged mo to ask your indulgence a short time. To look once more on my Fond Mother who produced and cherished me, and with immortal patience and kindness endured my obtuseness and stubbornness, who detected and fos- tered the fee])lGst buddings of intellectual life, — and feeble enough they were — detected and I'cpressed whatever was opposed to the healthy developement of that life, and inspired my soul with a love of the Beautiful, the Pure, and the True in Science, in Lite- rature, and in Art ; — to look once more on her face, to come once more within the immediate domain of her counsels and smiles, is exceedingly pleasant to her aflFectionate child. To look once more ou my old Instructors, — these modern Gamaliels, at whose feet for nearly seven long but delightsome years I sat, learning, or ti'ying to learn, from one,* how to interpret the Book of books, — the Divine classic ; how to trace through all the Economies tho unfolding of that great truth wliich centralizes and vitalises all its histories and prophecies and poetries ; all its promises and admonitions and rebukes : — from another, f how to hold commu- nion with Homer and Cicero, with Demosthenes and Vii'gil ; how to Analyze and Synthetizo their beautifully flowing sentences, * Rov. Dr. Cramp. I Professor Sawyer, i Profesj:ior Stuart. -^ / ^i^^ and thus, to somo extent, bo let into the discovery and apprecia- tion of their inter-harmonies and graces : — from anotlior,| liow to deal with magnitude and number, how to travel the road load- ing from self-evident truths to the transcendontal functions ot the Calculus, and in which is, or oright to be, gained a discipline amply compensating for all the trials of the way ; — to look onco more on their faces, and on the faces of old class-mates with whom I have shared in the same mental toil and victories, and to whom with others before mo engaged in like pursuits, I feel attached by a friendship which life's rudcf-t forces can never either mar or destroy ; — to look onco more on your faces my Wolfville friends, for who does not know that you are deservedly and proverbially a peculiar people. All this affords me the pro- foundest pleasure to night. But contrasted with this pleasure is a painful sense of inade- quacy to this place and occasion. In following those* who have gone before me in this course of Lectures ; those who may per- haps be considered as fairly representing the eloquence of the Pulpit and the Legislative hall in our Province ; whose eloquence Beems doubtless still to linger on your ears, still to steal, its fasci- nations into your souls ; — in following them I am conscious that whatever other purpose I may serve, I shall serve the purpose of magnifying their greatness at the expense of my smallness. For giaut3 never appear so large, nor pigmies so small as when con- trasted. But, if in furnishing this contrast I am acting to their advantage and your satisfaction, I should not complain. It is a re- lief, after having been lifted to regions where the head swims, and the eye is pained with the vastness and grandeur of the objects there brought into view, to descend where the field of vision is more circumscribed, and its objects more easily surveyed. If, then, I shall succeed this evening in letting you gently down from the dizzy eminence where my predecessors in this course have thought- lessly and unmercifully placed you, I shall be satisfied. My theme, shall be the Imitative Faculty, in treating which I shall confine my attention chiefly to its use, partly to its abuse : intending what I shall say, if worth anything at all, for the more particular benefit of students, and, generally, for the benefit of all present. For I conceive that none have a better opportunity of using this faculty to their advantage, or abusing it to their * Reference is here made to the Rev. Wm. Suiumervillc, A.M. and Hon. Joseph Howe. o (li!=i.iflvantajn;e, than students. And while otlipvs uro calling your uttontion to tho c'xain])lc8 of p'oat men with tlio view of exciting you to honorable exertion, and of placing before you patterns for imitation, I have chosen this subject with tlie view of saying how far, and in whiit respects these patterns may bo safely copied. By tho Imitative Faculty, I. mean tho power or ability that is used in tho business of forming resemblances. Timo need not bo consumed in attempting to prove what you all admit, namely tho existence of such faculty. Indeed the Imitative Arts, as Painting which represents to the eye by means of figures and colors any object of sight, and sometimes the emotions of the mind : and Slatiianj, imaging tho nmrble into tho form and semblance of real persons or things ; and Music, " representing grandly in its noblo efforts, tho images of Night, Silence, Solitude; or, picturesquely fermenting tho ocean, swelling torrents to resistless rage, sooth- ing tempests, tranquilixing disturbed elements, and diflfusing frag- rance through imaginary groves"; — Me/r existence is explained by that of this faculty. Its existence may bo inferred from what- everyono has noticed in infancy and childhood, a time when liuman nature is most likely to show itself in its true features. Children are careful in observing what others do, and attempt to do the like. By the aid of this propensity they learn to utter articulate sounds. The pleasure they derive from imitation seems to explain their long continued efforts and their success in acquir- ing the use of o.'al language. *' At a little liter period of life," says one, "after having learned to articulate, > nd having become old enough to take part in juvenile sports, we find the same pro- pensity at work. With the animation and formidable airs of jockeys, they bestride a stick for a horse, and try equestrian experiments ; they conduct their small and frail carriages through courts and streets and journey with their rude sledges from one hill top to another. Evqj busily engaged, they frame houses, build fortifications, erect waterworks and lay out gardens in minia- ture. They shoulder a'cane for a musket, practice a measured step and a fierce look, and become soldiers, as well as gardeners and architects before they are men. But the operation of this pro- pensity is not limited to children : men also do as their fathers have done before them ; it often requires no small degree of moral courage to deviate from the line of precedents. Whether right or wrong we generally feel a degree of safety much greater than we should otherwise feel, so long as we tread in the path of other 'S.' Tho propensity to imitation i8 as univor^al as our humanity. Tho littlo boy copies tlie exploits of his father, whom ho regards as tho greatest man in all tho world. Tlio littlo girl dresses her doll after tho model of the living babe ; and the mother her babe after that of tho doll and persuades herself that it is ono. The gay young lady and tho gay young gentleman respectively arrange their dress after the stylo of tho latest fashion ; and provoked, perchanco, at tho representations of the mirror, would if possible wrest the features and complexion which nature has given, into a resemblance to thoiie of some perfect ideal beauty. Childhood has its thousand pntterns, and all its aims and activities are revealed, and directed to tho work of their resemblance. The same is true, in principle, of manhood. The boy who donned his father's boots and made large tracks in the snow, was doing just what his father did when, in other matters, he copied the feats of a greater than himself. The faculty in question displays itself among all ranks, and all professions. Princes and philosophers, pocta, preachers, mechanics, and artists, authors, and legislators, tho lofty and the lowly, the old and the young, are all, to a greater or less extent, imitators. I conclude then that man is an imitative being, that he is such by the design of the Creator. Accordingly, Ho who planted this faculty in the soul, gave it a deep lodgment among its co^^stitu- tional elements, has provided for its exercise in the creation of myriad outer models, in reaching out after which, it is awakened and developed, and the soul changed from one image to another, or more completely perfected in the likeness of the same imago. In correspondence with what is imitative in man, God has covered over the outer world with archetypes of beauty and excellence as was tho veil of the temple with cherubim, and from this forma- tive contact of the subjective faculty, with the objective pattern, man's nature may be improved and sublimed. It will be sufficient to my present purpose to speak of Imitation under tho threefold denomination of Synrpathetic, Involuntary, and Intentional. Of sympathetic Imitation little need be said, except by way of showing its existence and operation as an implanted and natural principle. There is in human feelings and in their outward signs " a power of contagious communication, by which they often spread themselves rapidly from one to another." " In general it may be remarked" says Mr. Stewart, ♦• that whenever we see in luitnanitj. ho regards rosscs lior r licr babe Dno. The \y arrange provoked, if possible iven, into !)hildhood iTities are ice. The onned his loing jusfc tlie feats lays itself oso pliers, igislators, 9 all, to » he is such iinted this coi^stitu- peation of iwakencd • another, no image. is covered ellence as is forma- ) pattern, Imitation oluntary, >y way of I natural '^ard signs ley often general it tve see in the countenance of another individual any sudden change of fea- tures, more especially such a change as is exprossivo of any par- ticular passicm or emotion, our own countenance has a tendency to asBimilato itself to his. Every man is sonsiblo of this when he looks at a person under the inlluunco of laughter, or in a deep melancholy. Something, too, of the same kind takes place in that spasm of the muscles of the jaw which we experience in yawning, an action which is well known to be fn-quently excited by the contagious power of example." To these statements of Mr. Stewart, as illustrative of Sympathetic Imittition, may be added the fact, that among children, when one sobs or cries, tho rest are more or less afiTuctcd in the same manner. So the mob that guzes at the dancer on the slack-rope. They are not only anxious for his safety, but actually writhe and balance theiif bodies, as they see him do. And who has not remaiked that when a stroke is aimed, or ready to fall on the arm or leg of another, we naturally shrink with a sort of anticipative jmitation of the person on whom the blow is about to be inflicted. By involuntary Imitation, I mean that which does not proceed directly from deliberate choice as its cause ; — an imitation shaping not only the thoughts of individuals, but even their outward expression into a resemblance to those of others with whom they may have been brought into contact. An illustration of this kind of imitation is furnished in the relation between tho Student and his Professor. While the latter is instructing the former, the former is learning unconsciously to adopt as his own the very tone and gesture used by the latter in the communication of such iiiotruction. And, this illustration becomes the more perfect, as the instructions of the Professor are of a high order, and are imparted under some peculiarly original method. Sometimes the young preacher, by the very intonations of his voice, by his style of utterance and gesticulation, tells his auditory where and under whom he studied, — a fact, which so far as it goes, should govern young preachers in their choice of a Theological Professor, and Theological Professors in their ti'aining of young preachers. Many a public speaker, whether of the clerical, legal, or some other profession has been charged with intentional imitation, when however, his likeness to another has escaped his own conscious- ness. A clear and ductile mind assumes the shape and expression of a superior plastic mind as silently and certainly as operate the forces of nature, as dew drops mirror suns and •* peaceful lakes the stars." *i'"",.:iiL<^' ^- T: . -.■:-i';:*(,i ''' ti '\-.' 'i-\\ir ■■■is" tsh-i^.A i So far I have attempted, though very imperfectly, to specify the extent to which imitation may be practiced, without conceding in the act the free and natural and highestaction of one's own powei-6. To point out the Way in which this faculty, which the Creator has given us for a good purpose, may be used, without transgress- ing, in any respect, the limits of that purpose, supposes an amount of discei'nment greater than is possessed by your speaker. Still he is persuaded, other things being equal, that the use of the faculty, as just defined, woi.'.d not only not interfer* with, but * Thomas Carlyle. aiimr, ^t^^^ya \f»M.(ttiiiw '>^>;*..«iWi^jj» ijif4i ^lium ,aui,J 20 nctuallj Bubecrve the most unhiased and untrammolcd intolIec> tuul effort. Beyond these limits, we come into the regions of its abuse. Time need not bo consumed in speaking of that very common abuse of the faculty, which we see in the imitation of luch models as are furnished, for example, in the fluctuations of fashion, and in the tastes and habits of would-be-origional cha- racters.* This abuse of the faculty is almost wholly confined to certain weak-minded people, who seem to take particular pleasure in saying and doing and appearing as some others are w^ont to say and do and appear. But as these persons have no place in this auditory, and for the sake of relevancy to my design, I will direct your attention to another phase of its abuse, which is also quite common, even among those who have the reputation of being wise and great. I refer to those aspiring to, or filling the place for example, of learners, instructors, editors, authors, statesmen, scholars, poets, preachers. Who does not know that one real poet is sometimes sufiBcient to set up a thousand ? Who does not know that all along down the ages, many have lit their feeble tapers at the torch of a Homer or a Shakespeare, and after all, the world has produced but one Homer and one Shakespeare. Who has read Alexander Smith's Life Drama, without having observed how completely he has sacrificed his own identity on the altar of imitation of Bailey's Festus ? Who does not know that the famous London preacher is reproducing himself all over the world, — that not only do some say and do what Spurgeon docs in their own way, but even attempt to say and do what Spurgeon does in Spurgeon 'a way? And still there is and will be but one Spurgeon. Who is not aware of the wide-spread and wide-spread- ing contagion of authorship in these times ; — that tens of thou- sands arc writing big books, not because capable of enlightening mankind on any subject, nor because they expect to do so, but because they are desirous of travelling some path which has been travelled by a greater than themselves. To borrow a Socratic illustration, they remind us of the little man,' who made himself ridiculous by stretching his tiny legs to walk in the footsteps of A giant ; who also bowed himself, as would a giant, when walk- ing under some low place. Who does not know that one great * It is told of one of the kings of England, that one day while engaged in a hunting excursion, he lost the pendant parts of his coat. On the next day his court, and many of the citizens of London, fond of imitating the king, mad* their appearance with their coats similarly diminished. 21 scholar lomctimcfl bccomci a pattern for all the scholars of a nation ; — that pissing like a sun through the literary Brmament, myriad lesser orbs constellate themselves around him, and shine by his reflected light? Thus in Germany, for instance, if some student, whom no amount nor protraction of study wears or wea- ries, spends a long life-time in writing a work, perchance on the iEolic Digamma ; a host of admirers and imitators at once make their appearance, and also write a work, if not on the iEolic Digamma, on some other subject equally important and profound. Or if one of their great scholars, as a Schliermacher, or a Hcng- stenberg, or a DeWette, or a VonSchlegel, or a Blumenbach, or a Niebuhr, or a Tholuck, — who does not know that if one or more of these embrace some new doctrine, or renounce some old one, hundreds and thousands of students are ready to observe when and w^here and how they turn the corner, that they may follow after. Very justly did Thomas Carlyle compare mankind to a flock of sheep, which said he, " at all hazard follow each other, and the bell wether." In illustratidA of this gregarious, sheepish tendency, I am reminded of what was told me by a friend in the neighboring republic. He went one day in search of his flock which had strayed from his premises. After a long and dili- gent search he found them all dead and lying in a heap at the foot of a certain precipice. One daring sheep had ventured to jump off, and ns the consequence, had broken his neck ; and the rest bound to follow, met the same fate : — a very striking illus- tration, thought I, of the conduct of many in the world of letters, who presuming to imitate the exploits of their superiors, leap from the precipice and die. ♦* Neman," said Dr. Johnson, "was ever great from imitation, meaning, it is presumed, that kind of imitation which involves the sacrifice and burial of one's own independence in thought and action." *' My father," says Andrew Fuller, "was a farmer ; and in my younger days, it was a great boast among the plough- men, that they could plough a straight line across the furrows or ridge of the field. I thought I could do this as well as any of them. One day I saw such a line which had just been drawn, and I thought, now I have it ! Accordingly, I laid hold of the plough, and putting one of the horses into the furrow which had just been made, I resolved to keep him walking in it, and thus secure a parallel line. By and by, however, I observed that there were what might be termed wriggles in this furrow ; and Si M-hon I (5arao to them, they turnotl out to bo liirj^or in inino tluin in the original. On perceiving this, I threw the phjii^h aside and determined never to be an iinitittor." No one can read the woikc of that greut divine without believing that he adhered steadfastly to his jjurposc. But, to set forth, more formally and definitely the abuse of the faculty under consideration, I will mention some things to which such abuse is opposed. And Brsi it is opposud to originalUi). Originality may be that of thought or character-, — of thought a* expreaaed in conversation or writing ; — of character ut» expressed in action. Originality of thought must be distinguished from aingidority. Not every singular student or man, is an original one. Singularity n;ny surprise and amuse, but can never be admired and approved. Much more must originality be distinguished from absurdity and extravagance. Thoughts involving contradictions are absurd j — de- parting from nature and truth are extravagant. '* An original thought" says Prof. Hopkins, accords with the constitution of things and the processes of nature, which are always simple and beautiful:" — a definition obviously correct, whether in regard to the purely imitative arts, or to difterent species of composition, as the narrative, descriptive, or fictitious. Said the writer just named, " the keenest and most comprehensive observer of nature will be the greatest original. Genius ittielf, is but a quick observation of nature, and a ready power of combining the materials which she has furnished." Let him then who would be truly original in thought, and speech, and ivriting, instead of insulting his own powers through a blind and wholesale imitation of others, lilt the veil from nature, and so drink through bis soul her mysterious infliience, that he may himself be natui'al and to the same extent oiiginal. If man were a purely intellectual being, originality of thought and originality would be identical. " Originality of character " to quote Prof. Hopkins again, " is constituted by a course of action at once differing from that ordinarily pursued, and at the same time, conformed to those principles of taste, of rectitude, and of benevo- lence with which the permanent well-being of man is connected It is its germination from these principles which alone can legitimate .singularity, which can remove it equally from affectation and pride, and cause the line of human conduct, instead of running athwart the intention and providence of God, to harmonize with them." j The action of Howard and Raikes who devoted their lives, the one to the imprisoned, and the other to the young, sprang from those 23 ine timn i«i(le «nd I Nvoik>< of (tly tohiu e of the o whicli ly. .. ».' I 'gilt nil t'ssecl in gulariii/. igularity JlJioved. purely nrrative, keenest i;realest ?, and a li.shed." speech, ml and 3 drink. self be lOUght r" to ion at time, 3nevo- d It :imate pride, Invart it Ri the those principles which have tlicir fuuiulatinn in ihe nature of man, and hence, though unappreciated at the time, ihcy have now come to be regarded, as what migli perhaps [>e termed classic ; for aclionn an well as language, may have it nlioiild seem, tliis appellation. It wan because Washington correctly apjirt-licnded the essential dignity of the people, and of their right of Kclf-government, and actetl on this apprehenHion, that he stands before us not as the ordinary successful military chieftain, but as the truly original, lypal man. It must be obvious to all that this originality of thought and action cannot be otherwise than interfered with, or were sacrificed through a slavinh imitation of iho thoughts and actions of otiierN. Your attempt to rise to manly emiiiencu by an imitative process that virtually ignores the cxistu nee and exercise of your own powers nnd activities, will be found as fruitless as those of the man who attempted to climb the fence by lifting at his own boot stiajw. Many a one has conceived what to him seemed an original thought but has been surpriseil, perhaps disappointed, on afterwards meeting the same thought elsewhere and under an e(pially just nnd beautiful exhibition, — a fact showing that we may do as others have done, and leave the same traces of doing, wiihout any sacrifice of claim to originality. I need not stop to show how far removed from genuine originality, is that which so oftttn aspires to it, and passes for it, aitd has con- siderable currency in almost every college and university. I refer to that which enables some students to get their " iesstjus without studying them, or reciting them without getting them." This ori- ginal character — the idol of the school, is generally indulged, flat- tered, admired. And why should it not be ? For as has been truly observed " he can achieve almost impossibilities. lie can go from one point to another without paissing over the intervening space. He can read the orations of Demosthenes by instinct, and can see through the metaphysics of Aristotle by intuition. The College laws he comprehends and masters by a process equally sumtnary, equally original, equally transcendental. Indeed he is above all laws, human and divine. Laws, rules, precepts, are for meaner mor- tals. He is a law unto himself. " Often he tramples under foot the laws of bodily health and life. He turns night into day, and day into night, eats and drinks and sleeps when others study, and studies when others sleep; for if he were onoe known to study like his class-mates ar d fellow students, he would lose his reputation for original and creative genius. No 24 one thing so characterizes him as the intensity of his desires and efforts to be unlike other bipeds. He is no imitator, — is determined not to be. And he is about as distinct from the proper type of humanity as the strutting and crowing two legged animals without wings which Diogenes plucked and turned into the academy exclaim- ing, see Plato's man. If he belong to the genus ' Homo sapiens,' it must be among certain rare specimens in the species Sapientissi" mm. If a new genus were created and denommated ipse, he would fall inevitably, nay, would rush eagerly into the species ipsissimus.*^* Secondly, The abuse of this faculty is opposed to progress. I refer particularly to intellectual progress under its ordinary phases of exhibition. No argument is necessary to prove that the amplest, most finished mental culture cannot be reached, when, through any dependence on artificial helps, or adoption by imitation of what be- longs to another, the energies of the mind are left unelicited — un- employed. David could sling stones and slay giants better in his own than in Saul's armor. So the student who would master the difficulties of learning — would carry the head of Goliath, — the re- wards of victory in his own hand, must summon his own energies resolutely to the task. Those islands which adorn the Pacific like so many Edens, were reared up from the bed of the ocean, by the little coral insect which deposits only one grain of lime at a time. So the greatest results of mind are produced by untiring and con- tinuous effort. But the student will toil in vain who aims at the highest and most harmonious developement of his powers, through a species of imitation that virtually overlooks their existence. He will look in the wrong direction, and use the wrong means for the largest and most important results. He will thus find his parallel in the hero of the nursery tale, who sought for large fish in shallow waters : — " Master Simon went a fishing For to catch a whale ; All the water he had got Was in his mother's pail." Again the abuse of this faculty is opposed to independence. We love to see an independent man, — independent according to the best acceptation of the term ;— a man not unduly biased or in- fluenced by others. Absolute and perfect independence, can of course, be predicated of none but Jehovah. In one sense every thing from the molecule to the planet, from the insect to the Arch- angel is He has I claim tlj I do not gance 01 sumptic every ci and the! one wh| others, penden opposit equal, wards The Let * ProScssor Tyler, Amherst College, Massaohusetti. 25 leslres and Mermined 3er type of »Is without \y exclaim- |o sapiens,' fapientissi'- he would isimus.'^* '*• I refer phases of amplest, ■ough any what be- lted— un- er in his iaster the — the re- tneigles tcific like "i by the a time, ind con- s at the through ce. He ' for the parallel shallow mg to or in- can of every Arch- angel is dependent on him. Still there is an independence wjiicfa He has delegated to every man, in virtue of which every man may claim the right of self-direction, — of thinking and acting for nimself. I do not mean the independence that is only another name for arro- gance or dogmatism, — that is the offspring of ignorance and pre- sumption, — ^a kind of independence of too great currency in almost every community. It is decidedly refreshing, I repeat, to see here and there, in the strictest sense, an independent thinker and actor, — one who has not sacrificed his own indentity to the imitation of others. The independent student, — and if any ought to be inde- pendent, it is he ; if any one is thrown amid temptations to the opposite, it is he, — the independent student, other things being equal, will be more likely than any other, to reap the aims and re- wards of study. The abuse of this faculty is opposed moreover to individuality. Let every man, whether a student or otherwise, retain his own if^iosyncracy, never give it up. But no one can do this who slavishly imitates others, and thus allows his own individuality to be swallow- ed up in theirs. Such imitation changes the imitator into a chame- leon, — gives him the color of the individual he happens to copy. When Massilon arrived in Paris he was asked his opinion concern- ing the most celebrated pulpit orators of that period. He replied he esteemed the excellencies of each, but did not wish to take any of them as a pattern for himself. It has been truly remarked of public speaking that it "stands in the closest connection with the entire personality. Where this has something decided, it not only rejects conscious imitation, but seeks to break new paths for itself, in order to unfold itself the more fully." At the commencement of his ministry, Robert Hall was disposed to imitate a certain divine whose talents and culture he greatly ad- mired and respected. The fact was noticed by his hearers, whom he happened to overhear speaking of it. At that moment he resol- ved never to imitate another, — to be himself in the pulpit and out of it. He adhered to his purpose, and ever after, all that he said and did was peculiarly characteristic of Robert Hall and none other. Once more, the aituse of thid faculty is opposed to Posiliveness in character, by which 1 mean its actualness, its reality of exis- tence — not mere negation. This posiliveness is directly auxiliary to eloquence, ** securing justness and force of conception, and inspiring an easy and adequate utterance. And the reason why many men wIk> have knowledge, taste, fancy, judgment, are yet • 26 hXs nof eloquent to move llieir contemporaries, is often tlint tliey have not this great quality beneath. They want supremacy over hear- ers and the theme. They want the Bympathy whieh this pene- rafes in others. There was useful philosophy in Lord Welling- ton's reply, when Sir George Murray declined to accept a place in iiis cahinet, alleging as the reason, that he was no puhlic speaker. 'Cant speak,' said the Duke ; 'What's the nnitter with the man ? let him speak as I speak, say what he thinks and not quote Latin.' "* It is douhtless this positiveness that contributes largely to Spur- geon's power over tlie thousands whom he addresses. They see in him one who Iias not blindly imitated others: — one who does not therefore speak with the timorousness of mere copyists, hjil says what he means and means what he says Thus he seizes the attention, and the very heart of liis hearers with an everlast- ing gri[>, from which they could not if they would, and would not if they coidd, free themselves. When Garrick, the celebrated comedian, was asked by a cler- gyman friend — "Why is it that you have thousands to hear you |)reach fiction, while 1 have not hundreds to hear me preach truth r' he replied, "the reason is this, 1 preach fiction as though it were the truth, while you preach truth as though it were fiction." Said a graduate of yonder (Acadia) College, when 1 tell a man anything, I place my two eyes on his two eyes, and tell him earn- tstly, and whether it be a lie or the truth, he always believes me. I have thus, my hearers, very imperfectly pointed out the use of the Imitative Faculty, when kept within certain limits: also its abuse when these liiT)iis are transgressed. I have purposely avoided reference to one model which may be imitated to any extent without any abuse of the faculty in question ; because this phase of the subject belongs more pro|)erly to the preacher than to the Lyceum lecturer. I refer to that model wbicli has been furnished in the " Man of Sorrows," a likeness to whom is the only certain passport to participation in his companionship and glory in the *' great beyond." Jn conclusion. I thank yon for your kin«1ne8S and attention, and hope that you will all set before you the noblest models, and make tnost commendable progress in their imitation. Especially Dr. Storrs, Jr., Brooklyn, N. Y. •} .'til Hi 27 It iliey have over Ileal*, this f;e