EVERYMAN'S RELIGION THE BEST NEW BOOKS AT THE LEAST PRICES Each volume in the Macmillan Libraries sells for 50 cents, never more, wherever books are sold. THE MACMILLAN STANDARD LIBRARY ADDAMS The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets. BAILEY The Country Life Movement in the United States. BAILEY & HUNN The Practical Garden Book. CAMPBELL The New Theology. CLARK The Care of a House. CONYNGTON How to Help : A Manual of Practical Charity. COOLIDGE The United States as a World Power. CROLY The Promise of American Life. DEVINE Misery and Its Causes. EARLE Home Life in Colonial Days. ELY Evolution of Industrial Society. ELY Monopolies and Trusts. FRENCH How to Grow Vegetables. GOODYEAR Renaissance and Modern Art. HAPGOOD Lincoln, Abraham, The Man of the People. HAULTAIN The Mystery of Golf. HEARN Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation. HILLIS The Quest of Happiness. HILLQUIT Socialism in Theory and Practice. HODGES Everyman's Religion. HORNE David Livingstone. HUNTER Poverty. HUNTER Socialists at Work. JEFFERSON The Building of the Church. KING The Ethics of Jesus. KING Rational Living LONDON The War of the Classes. LONDON Revolution and Other Essays. LYON How to Keep Bees for Profit MCLENNAN A Manual of Practical Farming. MABIE William Shakespeare: Poet, Dramatist, and Man. MAHAFFY Rambles and Studies in Greece. MATHEWS The Church and the Changing Order. MATHEWS The Gospel and the Modern Man. PATTEN The Social Basis of Religion. PEABODY The Approach to the Social Question. PIERCE The Tariff and the Trusts. RAUSCHENBUSCH Christianity and the Social Crisis. Rlis The Making of an American Citizen. Riis Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen. RYAN A Living Wage : Its Ethical and Economic Aspects. ST. MAUR A Self-supporting Home. SHERMAN What is Shakespeare ? SIDGWICK Home Life in Germany. SMITH The Spirit of the American Government SPARGO Socialism. THE BEST NEW BOOKS AT THE LEAST PRICES Each volume in the Macmillan Libraries sells for 50 cents, never more, wherever books are sold. TARBELL History of Greek Art. VALENTINE 'How to Keep Hens for Profit VAN DYKE The Gospel for a World of Sin. VAN DYKE The Spirit of America. VEBLEN The Theory of the Leisure Class. WELLS New Worlds for Old. WHITE The Old Order Changeth. THE MACMILLAN FICTION LIBRARY ALLEN A Kentucky Cardinal. ALLEN The Reign of Law. ATHERTON Patience Sparhawk. CHILD Jim Hands. CRAWFORD The Heart of Rome. CRAWFORD Fair Margaret : A Portrait DAVIS A Friend of Caesar. DRUMMOND The Justice of the King. ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN. GALE Loves of Pelleas and Etarre. HERRICK The Common Lot LONDON Adventure. LONDON Burning Daylight LOTI Disenchanted. LUCAS Mr. Ingleside. MASON The Four Feathers. NORRIS Mother. OXENHAM The Long Road. PRYOR The Colonel's Story. REMINGTON Ermine of the Yellowstone. ROBERTS Kings in Exile. ROBINS The Convert ROBINS A Dark Lantern. WARD David Grieve. WELLS The Wheels of Chance. THE MACMILLAN JUVENILE LIBRARY ALTSHELER The Horsemen of the Plains. BACON While Caroline Was Growing. CARROLL Alice's Adventures and Through the Looking Glass. Dix A Little Captive Lad. GREENE Pickett's Gap. LUCAS Slow Coach. MABIE Book of Christmas. MAJOR The Bears of Blue River. MAJOR Uncle Tom Andy Bill. NESBIT The Railway Children. WHYTE The Story Book Girls. WRIGHT Dream Fox Story Book. WRIGHT 'Aunt Jimmy's Will. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO EVERYMAN'S RELIGION BY GEORGE HODGES Ifork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY All rights reserved COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1911. Reprinted August, 1912 ; August, 1913. Norfooob J. S. Gushing Co. Berwick of the world. It is to be kept fit for use. It is no sin to be comfortable, but if we get to depend on comforts so that we cannot be comfortable without them, we are venturing into the per- ilous neighborhood of sin. It is no sin to consider what we eat, and what we drink, and what we wear. Christ's admonition refers to nervous care about these things. But to be chiefly inter- ested in clothes and food, to be more 20 1 RELIGION _AND THE FLESH concerned about these provisions for the body than about the difference between right and wrong, to be more attentive to fashion than to conscience, to think with lively satisfaction of our pleasant meals, and not to think at all of that which nourishes the soul this is to have what St. Paul calls a "carnal mind." And the carnal mind, he says, is enmity with God. It is opposed to God's supreme purposes for our life. The result of living in accord- ance with it is that human beings live like animals. The carnal mind is not of necessity a vicious mind, though it opens us to temptation on that side. It is a mind which is satisfied with the gratifica- tion of the flesh. It is contented with that which appeals to the senses. The criticism of the wise upon it is not only that it dwells in the lower levels of life, next to the animals, but that it rests the great treasure of happiness upon insecure foundations. The pleasures of the flesh depend on the unstable senses, any one of which may at any moment be transformed into a source of pain. 202 RELIGION AND THE FLESH What we desire is such a relation to the body that our happiness, our expec- tation, and our true life are independent of it. Thus far, we would renounce it. Thus far, we would cast it from us. The true renunciation of the body is the exaltation of the spirit. When St. Paul said, "I keep under my body," he expressed only a half of the truth. He kept his body under by keeping up his soul. He delighted in the law of God. Meditating in it day and night, there was no place in his mind for petty or unworthy thoughts. Busy continually with the endeavor to attain his high ideals, to serve his generation, to do the constant deeds of ministry which he desired to do, he had no time for any of the baser part of life. This is the true prescription for keep- ing the right relation between the body and the soul. The most wholesome exercise in which one can engage is social service. Sir Philip Sidney's fine counsel, "Whenever you hear of a good war, go to it," may well be applied to the present contention against the public enemies who are using the senses 203 RELIGION AND THE FLESH for their own gain. That which makes their fortune destroys the happiness of those by whom they make it. It is their deliberate business to stimulate the appetites which result in immo- rality and intoxication. They intend not only to minister to these elemental instincts, but to increase them for the increase of their own gain. The fact that the process means shame and torture of the bodies and souls of their neighbors does not deter them. They are organized to make money out of the sins of the flesh. Against this sort of organization must be opposed the strength of coun- ter-organization. No amount of senti- ment, of pity, or of indignation will of itself avail anything. It is like opposing an invading army with peti- tions and entreaties and menaces from the side of the road. The only effec- tive force against generalship is general- ship. Combination must be fought with combination. The hope against these devourers of men and women and children is in the societies which are arraying good people against them. 204 RELIGION AND THE FLESH Every citizen who would do more than bemoan the sins of the flesh must give his time or his money to this kind of effort. On one side is the purpose to make money, no matter what it costs in human misery ; on the other side is a Christian determination that all men and all women, however poor, shall have the right and the opportunity to possess their bodies in soberness and chastity. The providing of public recreation, the building of baths, the opening of libraries and picture-galleries and con- servatories, the free privilege of music, the widening of open spaces, the direc- tion of games and exercise, all this is a contribution to the campaign against the vices which are assisted by sluggishness of body and lack of better interest. The problem of rent, the problem of hours, the problem of wages, are all concerned in this matter, and call for the attention of religion. The connection between drunkenness and the conditions of work in mills, and between prostitution and the wages of women, is such as to 205 RELIGION AND THE FLESH make it idle and impertinent for the men who own these industries to give liberally to societies which deal with these evils, while at the same time they maintain the situation out of which the evils come. It is like endowing hospitals for the care of typhoid fever patients, and paying no attention to the supply of water. The initial con- sideration in all Christian business is the value of human life and character. As for our own selves, all care of the body, like all enrichment of the mind, is our approach to that divine ideal which is declared in human nature. We are, indeed, to renounce whatever dulls our senses, masters our strength, enfeebles our frame, and makes us unresponsive to the manifold appeals of the world about us. But we are to make that renunciation complete by the consecration of the body, sound and strong, to the supreme purposes of the soul. Whatsoever things are true, and fine, and lovely, and uplifting, these are to engage our senses ; to these we are to give our thoughts. 206 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL RELIGION AND THE DEVIL HE attainment of character, which is the supreme require ment of religion, implies not only a renunciation of the world and of the flesh, but also of the devil. Not the devil of theology, who is the embodiment of the mystery of evil ; but the devil of ethics, who is a convenient symbol of the wickedness of the world. It is a curious fact that in the Pas- toral Epistles very earnest warnings against the devil are addressed to bishops. The warnings stand at the end of a list of 'virtues and vices which are par- ticularly commended to the attention of bishops. A bishop must be vigilant, sober, and of good behavior ; he must be of a temperate habit and of a peace- able disposition, a patient person, of a grave demeanor. Twice he is warned p 209 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL against the love of money : he must not be greedy of filthy lucre, he must not be covetous. Twice he is warned against the temptations of a hasty temper; he must be no striker and no brawler. These admonitions against violence remind us of the turbulent times in which the words were written, when there was persecution without and controversy within, and earnest men were inclined to enforce their argu- ments by using the minor premiss of the fist and the major premiss of the club. St. Paul never forgot how he had himself assisted in the stoning of Stephen. It is by no means certain that the bishops who are here addressed held such an office as the name suggests to us. This, however, is of no immediate concern. They who are thus had in mind are the leading Christians of the place. They are esteemed by their brethren as good examples. They are the best people, the most earnest, the most devout, the most interested in the affairs of the church. These are the people who are warned 210 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL with solemn repetition to be on their guard against the devil. The fact suggests a distinction be- tween the temptations which may be labelled "of the devil" and those which may be labelled "of the world" and "of the flesh." The temptations of the world lead to offences which may be described as the sins of society. The temptations of the flesh lead to the sins of the body. But the temptations of the devil lead to what may be called the sins of the spirit. One may be innocent of the transgressions of the world and of the flesh, and yet be under the dominion of the devil. Such a person is apt to be very religious. Such a sin is one of the maladies which attack the spiritual life. Thus the eminently religious persons by whom Jesus was rejected and per- secuted and at last crucified were not addicted to the sins of the world. They kept themselves apart from the world. Some of the members of their guild were called "bleeding Pharisees," be- cause they went about with eyes blind- folded, that they might not even see the 211 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL world, and were always bruising them- selves on sharp corners, in consequence. And all of them were grave and serious churchmen, whom nobody suspected of frivolity. Neither were they ad- dicted to the sins of the flesh. They fasted twice in the week, and kept the moral law with anxious care. The trouble with the scribes and Pharisees was that they committed the sins which are connected with the devil. It is characteristic of these sins that they are very respectable. The sinner .-"' is not made obnoxious to the police. One may commit such offences every day, like the Pharisees, and yet keep - the esteem of the community. They are sins of motive : so that while we seem to be living aright because of conscience, and the fear and love of God, we are really living aright because that is the conventional, or convenient, or prudent thing to do. Or they are sins of thought : so that while our actions and words are excellent, our hearts behind them are rilled with envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. Thus Jesus called the Pharisees hypo- 212 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL crites. "Ye outwardly appear right- eous unto men," He said, "but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." The arraignment of the Pharisees, which astonished the listening people, who held them in high respect, probably astonished the Pharisees themselves. For one of the snares of the devil is to persuade men that respectability is righteousness. And another snare of the devil is to persuade men that vices are virtues. It is a doctrine of the devil that respectability is equivalent to right- eousness. The doctrine is one of easy and popu- lar acceptance. The young man in the Gospel who said of the commandments, "All these have I kept from my youth up," was under the influence of it. His satisfaction was suggested by the devil. The precise iniquity which kept back the Pharisees from a knowledge of the truth concerning Jesus and con- cerning themselves, and made them the enemies of God when they thought they were His friends, was the conviction that they were good enough already. 213 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL The New Testament teaches the possibility of the damnation of the respectable. The rich man in the para- ble, who awoke in the other world in torment, was a most respectable citizen. He lived in one of the handsomest houses of the town, and his gracious hospitality enriched the social life of the neighborhood. The priest and the Levite who saw a wounded man on the Jericho road, and prudently passed by on the other side, were on their way to church. On they went, without a qualm of conscience, and presently, in the devotions of the service, they thanked God for a safe journey. The Pharisee who said, "Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men are," told the truth. He was not as many other men. He was no extortioner; he was no adulterer. He attended divine ser- vice with unfailing regularity and made his proper contribution to the support of the institutions of religion. There is a long procession of these people through the chapters of the Gospels, a long and pious procession. They pass by with hands folded, pray- 214 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL ing or singing as they go, straight in the direction of the bottomless pit. They are all respectable. They deceive us. But when they come to God, after their estimable lives, and say, "Lord, Lord, we have preached in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and done wonderful works ; we come bringing our good record with us," the Lord looks at them, and says : "I never knew you. I never heard a prayer you said, did you pray to Me ? I never heard a sermon which you preached, did you preach for Me ?" No, they preached and prayed and did their excellent works of charity and public service for their own satis- faction. They had no religion ; they had respectability in the place of it. This is described in the third person and illustrated outof the ancient pages of the Bible, but we know that it touches all of us. It concerns a present and impending peril. It reveals a situa- tion such as made even St. Paul say, "Lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 215 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL The trouble with mere respectability is that it is negative, conventional, formal ; without serious meaning, with- out worthy purpose, without warmth or life. It is like a painted post. Even a crooked tree which is alive has some sort of soul, responds however feebly to the influences of the earth and air, and may grow. There is no growth in a post. The difference between respectability and religion is like the difference be- tween a painted fire and a fire. The fire in the picture may be admirably laid, and may blaze over a hearth which is immaculately swept, but the real fire, for all its ashes and dis- order, is warm, it flashes and flames, it burns high and low, it is alive. Christ saw some such difference be- tween Pharisees, correct and unrespon- sive, and sinners, who, with all their defects, had some understanding of their own shortcomings, knew that they were far from good, and honestly desired to be better. They are pre- sented side by side in the feast in Simon's house, where the self-righteous 216 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL host watches the woman who washes the feet of Jesus with her tears and wipes them with her hair. The sins of the sinners were such as had to do with the world and with the flesh ; the sins of the Pharisees were of the spirit, the results of falling into the snares of the devil. Not only does the devil persuade us that respectability is righteousness and religion, he also assures us that vices are virtues. It is in this occupation that he is busying himself when he appears as an angel of light. He thus appeals to good people, who have a sincere desire for virtue, and who would not do a wrong thing if they knew it. He makes the wrong look right. This was the procedure of the three temptations in which Jesus summed up the alternatives which met Him at the beginning of His ministry. If He can turn stones into bread, why not ? He is hungry ; may He not provide Himself with food ? If the angels will uphold Him with their wings, why not leap from a pinnacle of the temple ? 217 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL Even the third and plainest tempta- tion, to kneel down and do a moment's homage to the devil, is confused by the good results which are to follow : He may thus free the world from the bondage of sin and pain. It is the old temptation to do a little reasonable evil that great benefit may come there- by. We need to stop and consider, before we perceive that these tempta- tions at least the first and second are temptations at all. They look like profitable suggestions. One ancient vice which is thus dis- guised to appear like virtue is the sin of pride. The good side of pride is a high appreciation of our own privileges. We rejoice that, in the distribution of the good things of this life, so many have fallen to our share. We honestly appreciate our own excellent qualities,' our special gifts, abilities, and posses- sions. Pride, thus far, is not inconsis- tent with humility. That quiet virtue gets its name from humus, the ground, and does not necessarily imply that we are to kneel upon the ground; the 218 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL humble man may stand erect upon it, basing himself upon the actual facts. To conceal them, and thus appear worse than we really are, may be no better than an inverted hypocrisy. Pride becomes a vice when they who have possessions use them wholly for their own satisfaction, and draw a line of separation between themselves and their less privileged neighbors. The divine purpose of possessions is to share them. They are meant to min- ister not to self-conceit, but to social service. They are the measure of social opportunity. Thus, Jesus was con- tending with the devil when He opposed the religious and racial antagonism of His countrymen towards their neigh- bors. When He praised the Samaritan, and crowned the humility of the publi- can with His approval, He chose these alien heroes for His parables because He expressed thereby His mind con- cerning current prejudice. When, on His way to Jerusalem, He dined at Jericho with the publican Zacchaeus, He shocked profoundly the social sense of the community, but this He did 219 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL according to His purpose, breaking down those ugly barriers, even with violence. He saw plainly that the condemnation of men by classes is a stoppage of all social progress. It is false, for men cannot thus be judged by wholesale ; and it affects society, as some wise man has said, like putting all the dough in one pan and the yeast in another. It is the combination of the knowledge, of the interests, of the needs, of the spirit, of the rich and poor, the cultivated and the uncultivated, the progressives and the conservatives, which stimulates and improves society. Another old and ugly vice which is attired in the pleasant garments of virtue, with a shining halo round its head, is the sin of hating our neighbors for the love of God. The consecration of hatred to the service of religion appears with all frankness in the Old Testament. "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee ?" cries a psalmist. And he an- swers his own question, saying, "I hate them with a perfect hatred." Then he adds, in all honesty and 220 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL confidence, "Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." The idea that it is wicked to hate even the Lord's enemies with a perfect hatred has no place whatsoever in his mind. Then came Jesus, with His contra- diction of all that, saying, "Love your enemies." But the old vice kept its honored place among the virtues. It early entered into Christian contro- versy. It set Christians to persecute Christians. It was in the camp throughout the "wars of religion." It was responsible for the Inquisition and all its fiendish horrors. It invented those implements of torture which one finds hanging idle and rusty on the walls of old castles, marked with the sign of the cross by the finger of the devil. Only within modern times has the sin of hating our enemies for the love of God been found out. It was ac- counted an evidence of earnestness. It was a mark of conviction. Who- 221 RELIGION AND THE DEVIL ever was disposed to recognize the ever- lasting fact of difference, and to consent to its presence in the community, was held to be a lukewarm Christian, and to belong of right to that parish of Laodicea which is condemned in the Revelation. It was considered a con- scientious Christian duty to stone our enemy with hard words, and to poison him with bitter sentences. We thought it was right; that is the curious thing about it. The deception was complete. We were taken so cleverly in the devil's snare that we did not know it. We read in the Gospels, with all plainness, that Christ was put to death not by common sinners, but by men of religion, by churchmen ; and that the sole occasion was a difference of church- manship. They were good churchmen ; He was not, they said. They crucified Him that they might protect thereby the ancient customs which He had set at naught, and save the church. Nevertheless, we disregarded the great lesson. We went on in their spirit, blind to the fact that we were following in their steps. In a thousand contro- 222 RELIGION AND THE _ DEVIL versies, we crucified the Lord afresh, and put Him to an open shame. We see that now, as we turn the unreadable pages of the eager debates. We see that hatred and uncharitable- ness, and the spirit of strife, and the willingness to believe evil, and all unbrotherliness are of the devil, and were by him interjected into Christian discussion when he persuaded men that vice is virtuous. To renounce the devil is to turn our backs upon those sins which have their source not in the world, nor in the flesh, but in the spirit. It is to keep our hearts with diligence, to control not our words and actions only, but our thoughts, to live as in His presence who sees in secret. It is to change a formal and indifferent respectability into a living religion. It is to keep our virtues from degenerating into vices. 223 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION HE statement of the require- ment of religion in terms of aspiration, of motive, and of service, and the carrying of the matter into detail as regards the world, the flesh, and the devil, tend to discourage those who perceive that these things are true, but doubt their ability to fulfil them. This state of mind is met in the last paragraphs of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is con- cerned with the ideal life. In the course of it, Christ criticises the current standards of religion. He says that in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, these standards must be exceeded. He points to the men who are conspicuous for their religious zeal, the eminent churchmen of His time, and tells His disciples that theirs is a misleading example. You must be 227 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION better than that, He says. He com- pares the common righteousness superficial, material, mechanical, and easy --with the true righteousness, spiritual and sincere, and including the inmost thoughts and motives. Such a statement calls out three quite different kinds of response. Some of the hearers begin at once to think about their neighbors. "That is pretty hard," they say, "on So-and- So who pretends to be so pious. I hope that Ephraim took to heart what the preacher said about swearing; and that Manassah, with his bad temper, heeded that mighty reproof of those who are angry with their brethren without a cause ; and that Levi will wash his face when he fasts, and not look so much more solemn than he really is ; and that Reuben, whose name is always so conspicuous on subscrip- tion lists, noticed what was said about ostentatious giving." To these critics who have enjoyed the sermon because it seemed so admirably adapted to their neighbors Christ says, "Judge not," and illus- 228 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION trates and enforces the saying with the grave humor of the parable of the mote and the beam. "You will be ready," He says, "to attend to these bits of dust in your brother's eye, when you have improved your sight by taking out the stick of wood which is in your own eye." A second class of hearers begin at once to think of nothing at all. They agree that the sermon was excellent. They have no criticism of it. They praise it for its interest and eloquence. But it makes no difference. They are in no way affected by that which they have heard. They do not ask, like the hearers of John the Baptist by the Jordan, and the hearers of Peter in Jerusalem, "What shall we do?" It does not occur to them to do anything. They look about at the clouds and the trees, and at their companions, noting who is present and who is absent. They consult the time, and go home to dinner. To hearers such as these, Christ says, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ?" 229 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION But there is a third company of hearers. They are thinking not of their neighbors, and not of things in general, but of themselves. In the presence of such an ideal as has been uplifted in the sermon, they say, "It is too high. I cannot attain unto it." They are discouraged. They consider the great requirement, and compare their own small lives with it, and are dismayed. The contrast distresses them, but the impossibility of doing anything about it distresses them still more. If it were only a matter of ceasing to do evil and learning to do well, the case would not be so hope- lessly difficult; but what the Lord requires is a new quality of being, a new series of motives, a new way of thinking. Righteousness, it seems, consists not in putting away our sins only, but in putting away our sin. It demands a change not in our habits only, but in our selves. These people have perceived the real meaning of the new teaching. They understand that Jesus has pro- posed a new definition of character. 230 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION He has taken the old commandments which all respectable people have been obeying and has so interpreted them that nobody can obey them completely. Before the sermon, they were ready to say with the excellent young ruler, "All these things have I kept from my youth up." They were ready to pray with the devout Pharisee, "Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, adulterers." They had no such petition in their litany as, "God be merciful to me, a sinner;" and they would have resented the suggestion that they ought to pray, "God be merciful to me a miserable sinner." But if extortion is to be defined as any taking of an unbrotherly advantage, however well within the terms of law, and if adultery is to be defined as any sensual look or thought, the whole standard of right living is thereby changed tremendously, and their estimate of themselves is changed with it. The result of such a conception of righteousness is displayed with all frankness in the confessions of St. 231 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION Paul. "Touching the law," he says, meaning the letter of the law, "I was blameless." He had never murdered anybody, nor stolen any- thing. But touching the new law, the old law fulfilled, the heart of the law, "Wretched man that I am," he cries, "who shall deliver me from this body of death!" At once, however, he answers his own question: "I thank God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord." To produce in the soul of the con- science-stricken hearer this hope and confidence and gratitude is the pur- pose of the preacher of the Sermon on the Mount when He says, "Ask and ye shall receive." The task is difficult, the needed reformation seems impos- sible, the ascent from satisfied respec- tability to true religion is like climbing up the steep face of a straight cliff, but there is help ; there is divine and sufficient help. This help is to be had by asking. The act is emphasized. We must our- selves do something in order to get an assisting response. We may not be contented with a passive mind. 232 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION There is, indeed, a "wise passive- ness." Wordsworth, with his profound experience in the appreciation of nature, advises it as the ideal mood in the presence of the landscape. We are not to be introspective, nor anxious, nor overdesirous of results. We are to submit ourselves to the gentle influ- ences of sky or plain or sea. This applies to nature what Christ applies to our relation to all life. We are not to be nervous about the morrow. We are to rely with confidence on the divine care. Even here, however, in the midst of these strong admonitions against worry, there is a limit set to our wise passiveness. There is even here an antecedent condition of activity. If we are to have "all these things," the necessities of life, we must seek first the kingdom of God and His right- eousness. There is, indeed, a benedic- tion of passivity. It is illustrated by the "great courtesy of God," who grants His rain and sun to the just and to the unjust. But there are better benedictions which the passive 233 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION miss. The material blessings of food and shelter depend on the fulfilment of these social conditions which the "kingdom of God and His righteous- ness" imply. And the spiritual bless- ings of uplift and guidance, and moral help and inspiration depend on asking. We must not expect to be delivered passively from the bonds of our sins. We must ask, we must seek, we must knock. The doors of the richest bless- ings are shut, and wait for us to present ourselves and request to have them opened. Thus Christ's ministry of mercy was not general, but particular. He never healed a town, nor a crowd. The corridors of the pool of Bethesda were filled with the sick that day when He said to one man, "Wouldst thou be made whole," and healed him. The multitude in the Capernaum street was thronging about Him when He said, "Who touched me ?" They were all touching Him, but the virtue, the heal- ing power which went out from Him, had no magical efficacy to heal every- body. He cured one because she 234 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION asked. So in Jericho, when they said, "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," one blind beggar cried, "Lord, that I may receive my sight ! " and the Lord gave him his sight. There were a hundred men in that town, beggars and blind, who had no help from Him. His presence did not bless them. Because they did not ask Him. All the time, God waits to be gra- cious. His compassions fail not. His heart of sympathy goes out to us in our difficulties, in our struggles. He knows our needs. But He has bound Himself, if we may so express it, under the conditions of His wise order- ing of our life. And one of them is declared in the words, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Our part and His part in the matter are here set down to- gether. Thus all harvests depend on the essential condition of planting, and all business prosperity on the essen- tial condition of working, and all social happiness on the essential condition of showing one's self friendly. This asking is, of course, what is meant in the language of religion by the 235 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION act of prayer. It is not necessary, however, that it should take the con- ventional forms of petition. The rela- tion of prayer to desire is simply psychological. The effect of giving to the act of asking the form of prayer is to make it definite. It is thus brought out of the possible vagueness of unex- pressed desire and put into words, and thereby made concrete ; not for the sake of God, who knows our neces- sities before we ask, and also our ignorance in asking, but for our own sake, for the deepening of our desire. We wish for help against our besetting sins, for strength to live nearer to our ideals ; we wish for better thoughts and better motives, for a better self. The wish is an act of asking. But we intensify the wish when we put our desire into articulate speech. For hu- man nature works that way. Some people may be able to get along without it, but it is a common expe- rience that the divine condition is better fulfilled when we kneel down and ask in prayer for the satisfaction of our needs. O God, help me to meet 236 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION this one particular daily temptation, which I name before Thee. Thou knowest my weakness, and I know Thy promises of strength. Fulfil now, O Lord, these promises in me. Direct the thoughts of my heart. Help me not only not to do this evil, but not to desire to do it. Protect me against my pleasure in it. Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. This I ask, to-day and every day, in His name who said, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Asking, then, is the condition of receiving. This is one of the everlast- ing facts of human life. The other is like it : Receiving is the sure conse- quence of asking. It is like it, but it goes beyond it. "Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." It is in the present tense, because it is a matter of present experience ; and in the future tense, "it shall be opened," because it is true eternally, an abiding promise of divine renewal. The promise is stated in general 237 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION terms. It assures no exact corre- spondence between the request and the reply. It gives no guarantee that if we ask for this, that, and the other, we shall certainly receive this, that, and the other. The words of our prayers are inadequate, and God does not read them according to a literal inter- pretation. The specifications of our prayers are affected by our ignorance of the present and of the future ; and God attends to the spirit and not to the letter of our petitions. We do not know enough to pray aright. We would be answered according to the wise providence of God. We would receive what He would have us have. The chief apostle asked, but did not receive ; he did not receive the exact thing for which he prayed. The supreme saint had the same expe- rience in the Garden of Gethsemane. He who prayed, "Let this cup pass from me," nevertheless drank it to the dregs. Yet they both received. They both received the blessing for which they prayed, but in another form : not in its material form, but in its 238 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION spiritual equivalent. "Lord," they cried, "I am too weak to bear this; take it away." And what the Lord did was not to take it away, but to give them strength to bear it. That was the spiritual equivalent. It is in this sense that every one that asketh receiveth. The promise may not be fulfilled in the lesser details, for which we prayed because we knew no better. It is fulfilled in a benedic- tion of which the denied request was but a faint symbol. God gives us more than we ask. We knock and the door is opened, and we enter into unexpected places. Sometimes we are disappointed. But we go on, following the unseen guide, and presently we come into the paradise of perfect peace. We sought a passing satisfaction, and we are made partakers of a satisfac- tion which no chance can change. We cried out for sight, but we were blind and did not know what sight is ; at first, the new light hurt our eyes, and we felt for the moment that the cool blindness was better, but only for the moment. We asked for help, and the 239 THE REENFORCEMENT OF RELIGION Lord helped us as the physician does, in ways unexpected and beyond our under- standing, and painful ; but we received help. Thus religion brings with it not only a requirement, but a reinforcement. It demands much, but it enables those who use its privileges to meet its demands with strength. 240 THE MEANS OF GRACE THE MEANS OF GRACE HAT reenforcement of the will which is given in religion for the asking is increased by the means of grace. For grace means moral and spiritual strength. It is the blessing of God applied immediately to daily life. We need it ; we know that well enough. We need increase of grace, that we may be enabled to encounter our temp- tations with success, to make good use of our opportunities, and, in general, to live our lives aright. Grace is made necessary by the exceeding diffi- culty of being good. Anybody who finds it quite easy to be good is in a perilous position. Something is the matter with him. Either his conscience is so dull or dis- couraged that it has ceased to trouble him, or his ideal of goodness is so low that he can reach it without effort. In the light of the Christian definition 243 THE MEANS OF GRACE of character, it is exceedingly difficult to be good. Our standard of right may not be so high as it ought to be, but every day we fail to reach it. Every day we are enabled to under- stand, at a long distance, that bitter cry of St. Paul when he said, "The good that I would, I do not ; and the evil that I would not, that I do." We need help. We need to follow the example of the wise commander, who, finding the fight too hard for him, calls for reinforcements. The good Christian, realizing that it is mighty hard to be good, will bring to his aid all possible assistance. He will defend himself, as best he may. If he suspects that the road to the left is beset by liers-in-wait, he will take the road to the right. He will join himself to the protecting company of others who are on their way to the same destination, as travellers across the desert go in caravans, that their num- bers may keep them from the attack of robbers. He will avail himself, if he may, of power from on high. He will make use of all the means of grace. 244 THE MEANS OF GRACE Various misunderstandings as to the means of grace arise from three kinds of confusion : a confusion of the phrase with the fact, a confusion of the irregu- lar with the invalid, and a confusion of ritual with righteousness. The first confusion is of the phrase with the fact. The facts with which we deal in the means of grace have to do with God and the soul. And that implies that they belong to the region of the in- definable, of the mysterious, of that which we can only in small part under- stand. The relation between God and the soul must be expressed in some sort of language ; but no words are adequate. Indeed, in dealing with this matter, words are not only inadequate, but misleading ; for, of necessity, they express the spiritual in terms of the physical. It may be possible to escape this condition by use of the technical and accurate definitions of philosophy, but for... the purposes of religion the language of philosophy is not only difficult, but foreign. For we naturally express our religious faith and emotion 245 THE MEANS OF GRACE in the words of the Bible, a book which contains not a formula of philosophy from beginning to end. Accordingly, when we would set forth in the creed the exaltation of Christ, we say that He sits at the right hand of God. It is a phrase which easily conveys to unreflective minds the idea of a celes- tial throne, on which the Almighty is sitting, like a king. The phrase is only in a poetical or symbolical sense an expression of the fact. When we say, "The fact must be this or that, because the phrase which describes it is thus or so," we fall into error. Thus baptism is described as regen- eration ; we are born again. But when we make the description serve as a definition, we enter immediately into the fallacy of Nicodemus, who said, "How can a man be born when he is old ?" A modern form of this fallacy was the position of those who found that in some places in the New Testa- ment the word "regeneration" implies a moral change, and said, "How can the sprinkling of a few drops of water effect a moral change ?" The phrase 246 THE MEANS OF GRACE is in the language of poetry and symbol. It means that so great are the possibilities of blessing which are involved in the membership of the church, that baptism, whereby we are admitted into that membership, is like a new birth. Also, in the Holy Communion, we say that we receive the body and blood of Christ. But when we try to make the fact fit the phrase, we fall into the fallacy of the congregation at Caper- naum, who said, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat ?" Evidently, He cannot, and would not. The sen- tence is a symbol to us now a remote and difficult symbol of participa- tion and intimacy. A literal interpre- tation, or even a spiritual explanation of a literal interpretation, misses the truth. It mistakes the counter for the coin. It identifies the fact with the phrase. It overlooks the constant habit of Holy Scripture, which con- tinually speaks in metaphor. The bread is the Lord's body, the wine is the Lord's blood, only as it is said that Christ sits at God's right hand. 247 THE MEANS OF GRACE A second confusion is of the irregular with the invalid. These two adjectives as applied to spiritual functions have very different meanings. They imply altogether dif- ferent results. In a transaction with a bank, you may present a check which misspells your name, and get the money for which it calls. The check is irregular, but that will not hinder the payment. But if you present a check which is signed by somebody who has no money in that bank, you get nothing. The check is invalid. A like distinction governs the ministry of the sacraments. Here are the sacraments of baptism and of the Holy Communion admin- istered by two different men. One man has been ordained by a bishop ; the other man has been ordained by a group of his neighbors. What is the difference ? It may be expressed either in terms of canon law, or in terms of divine providence. Under canon law, the ministry of the man who has not been episcopally ordained is irregular, and his sacraments are 248 THE MEANS OF GRACE irregular ; for the canon law requires a certain procedure of entrance into the ministry, and recognizes no other. But under the divine providence, the blessing of God comes with the sacra- ment, however irregular, into the recep- tive soul. This has always been ac- cepted in the sacrament of baptism, which, though administered irregularly, by lay people, is nevertheless accounted valid. They who come to any ministry with open hearts, with penitence and faith, find the sacraments the means of grace. They know it. They have had experience of blessing. They may or may not admit that the sacraments which they receive are irregular; they know, beyond all assaults of argument, that they are valid. A third confusion which hinders a true understanding of the means of grace is of ritual with righteousness. This is of all religious fallacies the oldest, the idea that God cares more for ceremony than he does for conduct. It is the oldest and the most per- vasive. It appears in the notion that attendance at public prayers and par- 249 ticipation in sacraments make the greater part of true religion. The truth is that in the New Testament these duties have to be looked for with a microscope. The emphasis is on character. The call is to live a right- eous life, to keep the moral law, to be honest, to be truthful, to be a good neighbor and a good citizen. These are the things for which God cares. The sacraments, and all the sacra- mental rites which accompany them, are means of grace. They are directed towards moral and spiritual results. They are of value in proportion as they assist to bring such results about. Thus the water of baptism, as St. Paul says plainly, never saved any- body ; but the answer of a good con- science. The bread and wine of the Lord's Supper are without value, and, as St. Paul says, do more harm than good, unless they minister to the moral life. The test of right religion is not the punctuality with which people go to church, but the kind of people they are in consequence of going to church. To these three confusions of the 250 THE MEANS OF GRACE phrase with the fact, of the irregular with the invalid, and of ritual with righteousness may be added a mis- taken distinction between the sacred and the secular. There is a distinction, plainly enough. There is an obvious difference between a schoolhouse and a church, between the thirteen books of Euclid and the thirteen epistles of St. Paul. But when we try to put the things of the spirit definitely on one side, and the things of the mind and of the body on the other side, we are endeavoring to divide into parts that which has true life only in combination. The two parts of hydrogen in water may be separated from the one part of oxygen, but the water in that condition is not good for drinking. It is not water, but an exhibit of chemical elements. And in like manner, the whole man and the whole life of man go together. The first commandment of religion summons us to love" God with all our heart and mind and strength, with our whole being. And the blessing of God comes to us with all of these activities. 251 THE MEANS OF GRACE Thus in the First Epistle of St. John the distinctive benediction of each of the sacraments is promised in connec- tion with the moral and social life. The distinctive benediction of baptism is a divine birth, and St. John says, "Every one that loveth is born of God." The distinctive benediction of the Lord's Supper is a divine indwelling, and St. John says : "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him." ^ Grace means .help from God, and is ministered in all manner of ways, and amidst all these differences is the same divine thing. It comes by the reading of good books, and by the companion- ship of good friends. We know that we have received it because we are uplifted, energized, directed, strength- ened. It comes by the sacraments, and its presence is made known by the same evidence. It is not one thing in church, and another thing at home. It is not grace in religion, and something else in society. Everywhere and al- 252 THE MEANS OF GRACE ways it is the same divine blessing, and under all conditions it is sacra- mental and mysterious, like the breath of the wind. One of the means of grace is an en- vironment of expectation. I mean that anybody who is trying to be good will be mightily assisted by keeping in the company of the good. One of the means of growth is good ground. The seed may be good, but the parable of the sower shows to what different har- vests it comes under different condi- tions. So one of the means of grace is good neighborhood. To this we owe the greater part of our own righteous- ness, to the privilege of residence among people who expect us to do right. The ecclesiastical name of the or- ganized good neighborhood is the church. The most valuable influences of the church depend upon the fact that it is an environment of good expectation. Baptism is a means of grace because it admits people into this environment. Thus it is defined in the church catechism as the act whereby we are made members of 253 THE MEANS OF GRACE Christ, the children of God, and in- heritors of the kingdom of heaven, because these are three descriptions of the church : which is the body of Christ, the household of God, and the kingdom of heaven. The answer to the question, Precisely what is accom- plished in baptism ? is, By baptism persons are admitted to the member- ship of the church. Another means of grace is a decided initiative. This is only a condensed statement of the plain psychological fact that if we really desire to keep a good resolution, we must begin strong. We must not only exercise our will in an emphatic determination, and our patience in a resolute endeavor to admit no exceptions, but, if we are altogether wise, we... must make the matter public. Thus we bring the environment of expectation to bear definitely upon our case. Whoever makes a resolve in the secret of his own soul may break it without losing any respect other than his own ; but if we make our good resolve in the hearing of our neighbors, 254 THE MEANS OF GRACE then when temptation comes we are provided with reinforcements. We say, "Now if I do this thing which I said I would not do, all of my friends will look upon me with astonishment, and I shall be ashamed." Thus it is that confirmation is a means of grace. It takes advantage of the plain conditions of human nature. It is the making of a great resolution in such a manner that all our acquaint- ances shall help us to keep it. Up stands one among his neighbors, and declares himself on the Lord's side. And when he kneels, and hands of benediction are laid on his head, he is manifestly blessed. He receives power from on high. Not only the theo- logian, but the psychologist, will tell us that. A third means of grace is the prac- tice of the presence of God. I mean a continual consciousness of the divine nearness, for strength, for comfort, for serenity of mind, for guidance, for protection. Whoever is thus aware of God, cries in temptation, "Thou, God, seest me"; and in difficulty, "I 255 THE MEANS OF GRACE can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"; and in trouble, "In the world ye shall have tribula- tion, but be of good cheer, I have over- come the world"; and in the deepest grief, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." And these words of confidence bring spiritual results. They verify the say- ing, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." The same effects are brought about by prayer, from which we rise up, when we pray aright, with the sun shining in our soul. The word and the prayer meet in the Holy Communion, which is a means of grace because it enables us to realize this divine presence. The promise is there fulfilled which declares that He will dwell in us and we in Him. God is made real to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and Christ is made real anew in the breaking of the bread and in the pouring of the wine ; and when we receive the bread and wine, we receive Him into our souls. 256 THE MEANS OF GRACE For Christ comes in this sacrament as our friend comes in his letter. Here is the written page, an outward and visible sign, and the page brings the mind, the will, the heart, the love, the spiritual presence of our friend. And here are bread and wine, bringing the benediction of Him from whom they come. And the truth of this we know by our experience. We know that we have actually found this sacramental feast nourishing to our souls. We have come hoping for light and power and courage and comfort, and have found them all. As we go away, the consciousness of the presence of God goes with us. An environment of expectation, a decided initiative, and the practice of the presence of God baptism, con- firmation, and the holy communion ; we know that they are means of grace, because we have tried them and found them satisfying. We can recommend them. In a world in which it is hard to be good, they who are wise will look about for help. And they will find it in the means of grace. s 257 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPI- NESS THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPI- NESS HE result of all this is the attainment of happiness, here and hereafter. Against the universal back- ground of mystery stand the funda- mental facts of religion : the being of God and the soul of man. They are attested by revelation and by miracle : by revelation, in the uncommon expe- rience of uncommon people ; and by miracle, the manifestation of God in uncommon events, and in the common life. Revelation and miracle meet in the supreme disclosure of God in Jesus Christ. That disclosure of the being of God and of the soul of man declares the supreme requirement of religion to be character; defined in terms of aspiration, of motive, and of service, and applied to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. For 261 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS the mastery of the evil and the gaining of the ideal good, religion provides not only counsel, but reinforcement ; in prayer and sacrament. And the pur- pose of it on the part of God is the happiness of man. It is true that the Christian religion has made a considerable contribution to the stock of human misery. It has often aggravated the ills of life. It has often multiplied them. To the horrors of persecution it has added the terrors of conscience. It has darkened the sky. But all this has been a perver- sion of its true meaning. And during it all, in quiet households whose affairs have no place in history, it has brought patience and peace and comfort. In the days of pagan persecution, it so filled the hearts of the Christians with great joy that they were recognized in the streets. The happiness of their souls shone in their faces. The Chris- tian religion, mistakenly understood and mistakenly applied, has afflicted the heart of man, but its true mission, abundantly fulfilled, is to bring peace and a serene mind. 262 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS With all our differences of disposi- tion and of circumstances, there is one thing in which we all agree. We all have one desire. When the good fairy came, in the old stories, and offered the hero three wishes, whatever he would choose, he always wished for the same thing. Wise or foolish, he always wished for the same thing. He said to himself, "How can I get the greatest happiness ?" He desired to be happy. So do we, also. Our com- mon and universal desire is to be happy. In the language of religion, the synonym of happiness is salvation. The words mean substantially the same thing. To be saved is to be safe and sound ; it is to abound in health and happiness. This happiness which in religion is thus called salvation may be desired as a future blessing or as a present possession. A generation ago, the prevailing desire of those who spoke the language of religion was for salvation as a future blessing. They were devoutly intent upon the world to come. The present 263 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS world was regarded with indifference or with hostility. Favorite hymns be- gan with the proposition that "the world is very evil," and with the reso- lution to have as little to do with it as possible. "I'm but a stranger here, Heaven is my home. Earth is a desert drear, Heaven is my home." A typical figure of a common mind was Chris- tian in the "Pilgrim's Progress" who, finding himself a resident in the City of Destruction, proceeded immediately to get out. He seems not to have thought for a moment about starting a Good Government Club, or a social settlement, or even a church. His instinct directed him towards self- preservation. It did not occur to him that the city might be saved. He abandoned it, in haste, for the salva- tion of his own soul. At best, the present was considered as a preliminary period, a time of preparation and probation. People thought that life would really begin after death. Just now, under these present skies, in this antechamber of eternity, we are waiting. We are like 264 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS players, expecting our turn to come upon the stage, and meanwhile put- ting in the time as best we may. Or like students, getting ready for an examination which shall admit us into a life of privilege. The prevailing mood was one of expectation. At least, this was the ideal spirit. People who found their interests entangled in the pursuits and pleasures of this present life had an uncomfortable sense of wrong, and felt that they ought to be ashamed of themselves. This doctrine of the relation of the world which now is to the world which is to come expresses a profound truth. The present takes a great part of its significance from the future. To-mor- row depends upon to-day. "What- soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Our whole life, present and future, is bound up together. This is so everlastingly true that some have been led by it to question the possi- bility of a universal salvation. They perceive that those who live in certain ways bring upon themselves at first pain and then weakness, presently 265 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS serious and mortal sickness, and at last the death of the body. They per- ceive a like process in the mind, a sim- ilar connection between certain ways of using or not using or ill-using the mind, and the sure loss of apprehen- sion and of appreciation. People may so live that they cannot enter into the higher joys. They infer a like death of the soul. If one who breaks the laws of his body loses his body, shall not one who breaks the laws of his soul lose his soul ? Important, however, as such con- siderations are, they no longer interest us quite as they did our ancestors. We are intent upon the world in which we actually and immediately live. The salvation for which we greatly care is not a future blessing, though we care for that, it is a present posses- sion. How to be saved to-day, how to be happy to-day, how to make the most of the opportunity of this day, that is what we have in mind. Whether for better or for worse, that is the honest situation. Thus there is a shifting of the centre 266 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS of gravity of the religious life from faith to works ; or, rather, from a faith which expresses itself in creeds, to a faith which expresses itself in deeds. The prevailing purpose of the modern church is to increase the daily happiness of men. The missionary goes, not as of old to rescue men from eternal damna- tion, but to increase both the goodness and the joy of the present life. He used to preach the wrath of God ; now he preaches the love of God for every living soul. There is a new emphasis on the social aspects of Christianity. The parish house is a symbol of it. The social settlement is an illustration of it. The aim of the endeavors which are thus represented is plain, practical, and immediate. Here is scant patience with postponement, and no disposition whatever to alleviate the distress and injustice of present con- ditions by telling people that it will be all right after they are dead. The purpose is to make things right now, to bring the kingdom of heaven down, to increase the common stock of good- will and happiness. 267 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS But when we come to consider salva- tion as a present possession, and to ask, "How may we attain it ?" we perceive that there are various answers. Every- body is trying to attain it, but there are a great many very different ap- proaches. The saint retires from the world to fast and pray ; that is his idea of a good time. The scholar heaps his desk with books ; the glutton heaps his board with food and drink ; the merchant betakes himself to his merchandise, the idler to his indolence, all for the same purpose. Along these different paths, all are trying to get to the same goal. And the difference indicates different temperaments, so that the joy of one would be the death of the other. But there is one universal and veracious test. There is one way of proving every endeavor after salva- tion or happiness in order to ascertain its real value. This is the test of persistence. For it is characteristic of true happiness that it lasts. It is good to-day, but it is not good for much unless it remains until to- morrow. If it brings a present joy, 268 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS but brings with it a future regret, or pain, or bitterness of remorse, it is not a valuable possession. And if it oper- ates only under favoring but uncertain conditions, it is not of any abiding value. People used to tell time by sun-dials, but the difficulty was that the dial depended on the shining of the sun. The clock was invented in order to enable us to tell time in all weathers, and in the middle of the night. After that, the sun-dial became an anach- ronism, or a curious ornament. It is accordingly plain that some kinds of happiness must be counted out. We may not attach great value to the happiness which depends on health of body ; for sickness comes, and this excellent happiness departs. We cannot be saved by appetite. Neither may we attach much value to the happiness which depends upon the balance at the bank : for riches, accord- ing to the old proverb, have long since discovered the secret of aerial flight ; away they go, and those who have relied upon them are disconsolate. Neither may we place a very high 269 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS estimate upon the happiness which is bound up with the integrity of the social order, for though the approbation of the community is a precious reward of our endeavors, and the love of friends sweetens all life, these, too, are transi- tory ; minds may change, misunder- standings may arise, death may come, and we may be deprived of the things in which our life seemed to consist. Neither prosperity nor society can save us. We have got to have for our present salvation a happiness which shall con- tinue in spite of sickness, and poverty, and persecution, and bereavement. In order to be happy, we must be able to face triumphantly the heaviest assaults of pain, of disappointment, of failure, of distress of soul. Whoever is living in a house which may be swept away by any storm of temporal disaster has built upon the shifting sand. You recognize in these references the begin- ning and the end of the Sermon on the Mount. The theme of that sermon is the salvation of the soul. It begins with a series of splendid sentences in 270 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS which Christ sets forth the conditions of an abiding and victorious happiness. The Master looks out over the multi- tude and proposes to tell them how to be happy. Some of you, he says, are poor, some are sad, some are grievously tempted, some are persecuted ; that need make no difference. You may. all be blessedly happy. You may all set the house of your serene content upon the everlasting rock. That rock, to give it a single, convenient name, is religion. The salvation of the soul of man, the invincible joy of the heart of man, is to be found in religion. The lives of good Christians to this very hour prove this assertion. It is not an ecclesiastical dogma, nor a meta- physical proposition. It is a veri- fiable statement, open to common ob- servation. You must every one of you know somebody who lacks most of the customary means of happiness, and yet is abundantly and abidingly happy. You must know sick persons who are marvellously patient, and afflicted per- sons who are wonderfully brave. And you know, also, that their explanation 271 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS of their strength is given in terms of religion. But religion is a large and vague word. There are two questions which we desire to ask : What have these persons found in religion which has given them this strong serenity of spirit ? and, How have they found it ? What have they found ? They have found the meaning of the world. They have, it is true, an imperfect under- standing of the matter, but it is a suffi- cient understanding. They have dis- covered beyond all peradventure that this world is the world of God our Father ; He made it and maintains it. They know that all our life proceeds under His providential ordering. They have arrived at an invincible con- viction that things are right. The world is good. And they have found strength against sin. They have not escaped tempta- tion, nor are they free even from fail- ure. They are still contending with the world, the flesh, and the devil. But they are in receipt of reenforce- ments. They have been given access 272 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS to a new base of supplies. They have got the key to an armory of the soul. And they are putting the devil under their feet. They are no longer servants to sin. They are living under a> splendid declaration of independence. 1 They are breathing the clear, invigo- ; rating air of a new freedom. This they have found the meaning of the world, and the mastery of the soul. When we ask, How have they found it ? the answer is that they have come into this strong position of understanding and of victory by the help of Jesus Christ : by the supremacy and by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. By the supremacy of Christ comes a knowledge of the meaning of the world. The supreme personality in the whole course of history is Jesus Christ. His place has no parallel. He has entered into all thought, all literature, all human progress ; and to-day, after all the centuries, is mightier than ever. He is the Son of Man, the flower of humanity ; He is the Son of God, the manifesta- tion of the divine nature. Therefore, T 273 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS we may take His word as our highest truth about the world. He knows better than we do, a thousand times. When He looks up in the midst of His sorrows, His disappointments, His fail- ures, in the midst of the profound tragedy of His life, and speaks to God as His father, He assures us that this is a good world, after all ; and we receive His saying. Remember how it was said of a great man that he was able to see stars where his neighbors could see nothing but gray cloud. That is what Jesus did. He had both sight and insight. He perceived with the certainty of personal experience, and declared with the assurance of personal knowledge, that the love of God and the pain of man are not in- consistent. Thus He revealed the meaning of the world. As by the supremacy of Christ comes the revelation of the significance of the world, so by the sacrifice of Christ comes the mastery of the soul ; we get strength against sin. The supreme revealing act in the life of Jesus Christ was His death. It 274 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS summed up all that He did and taught, and was and is. . For the death of Christ showed His understanding of sin. To Him, it was immeasurably serious, awful, and hateful. In con- tending against it, He was willing even to give His life. He did not need to do it. He might have lived in peace and quiet. His perception of the nature of sin compelled Him. But He went, like an errant knight, and fought it. Also, the death of Christ showed His love of man. It was for us He suffered, to save us out of the misery and death of sin. For love of us He climbed with unimaginable pain to those sublime heights of which He spoke when He said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And thus revealing His hatred of sin and His love of man, He disclosed the heart of God. That is how God feels. Then we understand that when we sin, we grieve the heart of God. God is not our "great taskmaster," though a noble poet called Him by that name ; He is our Father. And in the sacrifice 275 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS of Christ is added to the divine father- hood a quality diviner still. For sacri- fice is the highest thing in life. To love is much, to love and serve is more, but so to love and serve as to forget ourselves, and give ourselves utterly, without shadow of reservation, without count of cost, this is the supreme thing. Nothing is better than this. The cross revealed this in the relation of God to man. How can we offend Him who so loved the world ? Two kinds of confusion have obscured and made difficult the doctrine of the atonement. One is a confusion of fact with philosophy. The fact is that Christ died for our sins. The philosophy is the explanation of the effectiveness of His death to save us. The fact shines like the stars ; the philosophy varies like the theories of the astron- omers. But the fact only is of essen- tial importance. The other confusion is of the nearer with the farther side of truth. The formula of the farther side is in the words, "This is the Lamb of God which taketh away the 276 THE ATTAINMENT OF HAPPINESS sin of the world." Here we enter into the mysteries. But the formula of the nearer side is in the words : "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." The father of the prodi- gal son needs not to be reconciled ; he is ever waiting for the opportunity to show his unchanged love. It is the prodigal who is to be reconciled, and this is accomplished when he per- ceives his condition, and returns to the welcome which awaits him. Mys- teries, indeed, remain ; there are hard sayings still uninterpreted ; but in that parable is the atonement on its nearer side. God, whose hatred of sin and love of man is revealed in the cross of Christ, desires our allegiance and our love. When we give it, we are recon- ciled to Him. We enter into the joy of God. We experience the salvation of our souls. 277 THE LIFE EVERLASTING THE LIFE EVERLASTING S for happiness hereafter, it is mightily reassuring to see the certainty of the saints. ; St. Paul has no doubt about it. "We know," he says. He confesses that the times are hard. We are troubled on every hand ; we are per- plexed, persecuted, cast down. But we are not distressed, not in despair, not discouraged. We perceive that these hardships enable us to enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. We are assisted to endure these trials by the inspiration of His example. We perceive also that these are but incidents in a life eternal. They are the inevitable discomforts of a journey through this world to the world to come. We are able to endure them cheerfully because we look through and beyond them to our final destination. 281 THE LIFE EVERLASTING Thus our Lord, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross. Thus our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. These words take the doctrine of immortality out of the realm of specu- lation, and bring it into vital touch with the working day. St. Paul, under- taking great tasks under conditions of unusual difficulty, finds it the very breath of his life. If we are of a some- what different mind to-day, it is for the most part the natural result of a reaction. We have come out of a time when religion was preached as pertaining mainly to the other world. The supreme business of this life, we were told, is to make ourselves ready for the next, and the next world was set before us in detail. In particular, the miseries of hell were impressed upon our minds. Most of us who have 282 THE LIFE EVERLASTING come to middle age had dreadful mo- ments in our childhood when we thought it very likely that we should come at last to that place of torment. Now the emphasis of interest has changed. The light which shines upon the stage of our human affairs shines in another place, and all this side of reli- gion is for the moment in the shadow. Our supreme concern as Christians is in the betterment of this present world. We do not think once about the life to come, where our fathers thought of it a thousand times. St. Paul held the two great interests together. He was greatly concerned about social betterment; he addressed himself to the relief of the poor of Jerusalem, and took up a contribu- tion for them everywhere he went; his persistent purpose was to bring justice, righteousness, peace, and fra- ternity into every place where he had influence. But in all this he found himself strengthened, compelled, di- rected, encouraged, by the significance which is brought into this world by its relation with the world to come. His 283 THE LIFE EVERLASTING citizenship, as he said, was in heaven. His business was to found colonies which should live according to the laws of heaven. The arrival of information that the kingdom of heaven had ceased to exist, that, in fact, there is no heaven at all, would have affected the mission of St. Paul as a like piece of tragic news would affect any am- bassador of a foreign power. No doubt he would have gone on being good and doing good according to his best ability, but the heart would have been taken out of his endeavors. He would have lost his sense of divine mission. He could say no longer in the face of imme- diate failure : " I cannot fail ; behind me is the everlasting power of God." This is true still. We may not think so definitely of the other world as our ancestors did ; it may not enter so consciously into our common life, but it is as necessary to us as the universal air. We may take it for granted, as we are accustomed to take many of our essential blessings ; we may account it a matter of course and give our atten- tion to other matters ; but we per- 284 THE LIFE EVERLASTING ceive, upon the least reflection, that we cannot get along without it. Our idea of the meaning of our life, what- ever patience we maintain in the midst of disappointment, whatever persist- ence we show in the difficult task of doing good, our subordination of the material side of the world beneath the spiritual, our sense of values, our strength and comfort in sorrow, our refuge in affliction, all this depends on our assurance of the immortality of the soul. The only reasonable argument against the immortality of the soul is the death of the body. The body dies, and, so far as we can see, all individual existence ceases. There is no response. There is no manifestation of continued life. The students of psychical research encour- age us to believe that they may even- tually bring light into this deep dark- ness, but such light as they have brought thus far is not enough to see by. The ordinary evidence of our senses denies the doctrine of the immortality of man. 285 THE LIFE EVERLASTING To this denial an obvious reply is that death is one of the oldest of all facts. From the beginning of time, death has confronted life. So far as the death of the body constitutes an argu- ment against the immortality of the soul, it was as valid a contradiction a hundred thousand years ago as it is to-day. But it has never prevailed. The argument is plain enough, and makes its appeal to the reason of every man, but it has never been effective. It comes, indeed, with crushing weight in the moment of affliction. For many a grieving heart it turns the earth and the sky alike into a horror of great darkness. But the soul of man recovers. Nothing happens to show that the argument of death is invalid in any particular. There it is, and we cannot gainsay it. But we do gainsay it. The primitive man, contemporary with the glaciers, buries in the grave of his dead the symbols of his faith in immor- tality. Confronting the unanswerable facts, he cries, "My friend is dead, but 286 THE LIFE EVERLASTING he shall live again !" And this cry of hope, of confidence, of victory, has been repeated every day since life and death began. It is evident that some- thing is the matter with an argument which is at the same time so plain and so everlastingly unconvincing. The psychologists, in their exami- nation of the argument, find several things the matter with it. It is criticised by Professor Royce on the ground that it takes no account of the affirmation of individuality. Among the many uncertainties of our life, one thing is absolutely sure, and that is that we are ourselves. You are yourself, and nobody else. No- body in the world can possibly be so like you as to be you. Philosophy is doubtful about things, and has some- times denied the reality of the visible world, but it is sure of persons. It is sure, also, that personality is not dependent on the body. The body perishes and is dissolved into its con- stituent elements, but the individual cannot perish. The position that death is an argu- 287 THE LIFE EVERLASTING ment against the continuance of indi- vidual life is criticised also by Professor James, on the ground that it confuses the transmissive with the productive functions of the brain. The point of the common argument against immortality is that there can be no thought without a brain. This is apparently true when we set it along- side of the proposition that there can be no steam without fire and water ; the fire acting on the water produces steam. But it is absurd when we set it alongside of the proposition that there can be no light without a prism. The function of a prism is not to pro- duce light, but to transmit it. The prism may be broken into a thousand pieces, but the light remains. Thus our conscious life is associated with the activity of our brain, as the world out- side our room is associated with the window. The brain is the window through which we look into the world of reality. It is our present medium of communication between our self within and the world without. It is a reasonable belief that at death, when 288 THE LIFE EVERLASTING this medium of communication is dis- used, some other takes its place. The window opens, and out we go into a new and better sight of the real world, into a new and more intimate relation with it. The fact that there is no more window does not signify the abolition either of the world or of ourselves ; it signifies only some other point of view. Turning now from the only serious argument against the future life, the unconvincing argument of death, we find a positive assurance of immor- tality in human nature and in divine revelation. This assurance is based in human nature upon two foundations : upon the expectation of the race, and upon the worth of the individual. Each of these foundations has come into clearer light in our own time. In a day when the philosophy of material- ism prevails, the only facts which count for much are those which come within the province of the natural sciences. Facts, in order to be facts, and espe- cially in order to be arguments, must be capable of weight and measurement, u 289 THE LIFE EVERLASTING and must respond to the tests of the laboratory. Under such conditions, ideas are easily disregarded, and emo- tional and spiritual phenomena are set at naught. But the defect of materialism is precisely in this arbi- trary solution of facts. The materialist leaves out of consideration a great part of the actual world ; he omits the inconvenient facts which do not agree with his conclusion ; and the result is that a larger vision of life makes his conclusions ridiculous. Then we perceive that a universal human expectation is a fact to be as seriously considered as a universal law of gravitation. There it is, always and everywhere present in the mind of man. There it is, triumphantly confronting the physical fact of death. It is one of the human qualities, one of the permanent factors in any accurate description of man. Man is an animal who expects to live for- ever. Now, a universal human quality must be the assurance of a universal reality, or else God has put us to con- fusion. If man is made expecting a 290 THE LIFE EVERLASTING life which goes on after death, and then at death dies like a weed, we are the plaything of malignant forces. On the contrary, a universal spiritual fact is like a universal physical fact ; it is the evidence of an everlasting law of being. So, also, with the worth of the indi- vidual. With the discrediting of materialism we begin to deal with the whole man. In the material realm, the eminent facts are force and matter; in the spiritual realm the eminent facts are consciousness, personality, thought, will, and love. And to all this we apply the doctrine of the conservation of value. The material facts persist ; on they go, through manifold trans- formations, into existence without end. What shall we say as to the spiritual facts ? Shall oxygen and hydrogen continue, while faith and reverence and self-sacrifice and honor and affection perish ? "The idea of immortality is an assertion of the indestructible worth of the values that characterize human- ity at its best." And these values are 291 THE LIFE EVERLASTING not satisfied by any immortality of lasting influence, or by any merging of the soul of man into the soul of the universe. They demand a conscious, individual existence. Justice and truth and love have no meaning apart from persons. Personality itself is one of the precious facts of human life. Man has been too long in growing, through the ages of the universe, to live a few years, to make a beginning of an end- less life, and then perish. Man is of too much value to be outlived by a stone wall, or even by a mountain. To these foundations of the assurance of immortality in human nature, in the expectation of the race, and in the worth of the individual, we add the foundations which are disclosed by divine revelation. We turn from the common experience of common people to the uncommon experience of un- common people. The significance of this uncommon experience may be expressed in one or other of two ways : we may say that there are persons to whom God may speak with the expectation of being 292 THE LIFE EVERLASTING understood ; or we may say that there are persons who are peculiarly sensitive to the spiritual world, as others are sensitive to the world of music, of art, or of natural phenomena. In either case, we are speaking of that special perception of religious truth which is called revelation. It is plain that there are outstanding men who see more than their neighbors. In consequence of this sight, some of them make dis- coveries, some of them put forth inven- tions, some of them write abiding books. The materials with which they deal are common to us all, but they handle them with a conviction and a result which is beyond our power. It is plain that the uncommon religious people know more about God than we do. They are not always able to give clear reasons for their conclusions ; sometimes the reasons which they give do not satisfy us ; but we perceive that they have somehow come into relation with divine truth at first hand. And what they say has convincing influence with us, for that reason. Sometimes the men are uncommon 293 THE LIFE EVERLASTING men, such as St. Paul, with his direct perception of the fact of the spiritual body. Sometimes the uncommonness is in the experience, as in the case of those disciples who with their own eyes saw the risen Lord. This experience is at the heart of Christian history. It made Chris- tianity possible and actual. The exist- ence of the Christian religion is an evidence of it. The Lord of truth and life, the Son of God, speaks His great words, and does His great deeds, and is met with indifference and with hostility. He comes unto His own, and His own receive Him not. Down He goes day by day, amidst the for- saking of friends and the increase of enemies, into that valley of the shadow of death where the cross awaits Him. The cross is the logical and inevitable end of His life. It sets the seal to a career of failure. But the end is only the beginning. The disciples, whom the tragedy of the crucifixion had scattered, who had gone every man to his own, who had lost heart and hope, suddenly appear 294 THE LIFE EVERLASTING transformed. They have been changed from cowards to heroes. They are filled with a joy for which articulate speech is wholly inadequate, which can find no better expression than the tongues of Pentecost. They have a sense of final victory, of absolute tri- umph over all the world, which makes persecution insignificant. It is not only one of the most remarkable, but one of the most determining facts of history; for it has changed the whole face of society. The whole Christian move- ment to this day goes back for explana- tion to the experience of the disciples. They said, "We have seen the Lord." They said : "The strong desire of all the race is at last answered. Out of the regions of death one has come back to tell us in plain words that our faith is valid. Christ is risen from the dead ; we shall rise also. He lives, and His life is our assurance that after death the soul of man goes on into life eternal." This message they brought immediately to their neighbors, and it confirmed the universal human hope. Thus it comes to us. We always 295 THE LIFE EVERLASTING knew that the fact of death is an uncon- vincing argument against the life of the spirit. We perceive that our com- mon experience discloses the expecta- tion of the race and the worth of the individual. And here is a confirma- tion of our faith. Here is another fact to set over against the fact of the death of the body. Here is a revelation of God to the soul of man. Christ says, "Because I live, ye shall live also; he that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." The sight of Him, victo- rious over death and alive forever- more, is the final assurance of our immortality. The discussion of the elements of religious believing and living ends, indeed, as it began, with mystery. Out of the mysterious past we came ; into the mysterious future we go. And the factor of mystery makes all our equa- tions indeterminate. It prevents reli- gion from appealing to the mind of man with the convincing arguments of logic. It removes the consideration of religion from the regions of science, of mathematics, and of intellectual 296 THE LIFE EVERLASTING certainty. It invites the emotions and' the aspirations to help to solve the problem. But the problem, nevertheless, is solved. Religion, especially as mani- fested in Jesus Christ, presents the only interpretation of the world which is consistent with the worth of man, and satisfying to the soul. This is a good world, still in the making. The debris of construction confuses our eyes, be- cause we have only a dim idea of the complete plan. But the plan is in process, under the hand of God, for our good, for our happiness in this present life and in a life to come. 297 I The following pages are advertisements of THE MACMILLAN STANDARD LIBRARY THE MACMILLAN FICTION LIBRARY THE MACMILLAN JUVENILE LIBRARY THE MACMILLAN STANDARD LIBRARY This series has taken its place as one of the most important popular- priced editions. The " Library " includes only those books which have been put to the test of public opinion and have not been found wanting, books, in other words, which have come to be regarded as standards in the fields of knowledge literature, religion, biography, history, poli- tics, art, economics, sports, sociology, and belles lettres. Together they make the most complete and authoritative works on the several subjects. 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These successful books are now made available at a popular price in response to the insistent demand for cheaper editions. Each volume, cloth, 12mo, 50 cents net; postage, 10 cents extra Allen A Kentucky Cardinal BY JAMES LANE ALLEN "A narrative, told with naive simplicity, of how a man who was devoted to his fruits and flowers and birds came to fall in love with a fair neighbor." New York Tribune. Allen The Reign of Law A Tale of the Kentucky Hempfields BY JAMES LANE ALLEN " Mr. Allen has style as original and almost as perfectly finished as Hawthorne's. . . . And rich in the qualities that are lacking in so many novels of the period." San Francisco Chronicle. Atherton Patience Sparhawk BY GERTRUDE ATHERTON "One of the most interesting works of the foremost American novelist." Child Jim Hands BY RICHARD WASHBURN CHILD "A big, simple, leisurely moving chronicle of life. Commands the profoundest respect and admiration. Jim is a real man, sound and fine." Daily News. Crawford The Heart of Rome BY MARION CRAWFORD "A story of underground mysterie." Crawford Fair Margaret: A Portrait BY MARION CRAWFORD "A story of modern life in Italy, visualizing the country and its people, and warm with the red blood of romance and melodrama." Boston Transcript. 10 Davis A Friend of Caesar BY WILLIAM STEARNS DAVIS " There are many incidents so vivid, so brilliant, that they fix them- selves in the memory." NANCY HUSTON BANKS in The Bookman. Drummond The Justice of the King BY HAMILTON DRUMMOND " Read the story for the sake of the living, breathing people, the ad- ventures, but most for the sake of the boy who served love and the King." Chicago Record-Herald. Elizabeth and Her German Garden " It is full of nature in many phases of breeze and sunshine, of the glory of the land, and the sheer joy of living." New York Times. Gale Loves of Pelleas and Etarre BY ZONA GALE "... full of fresh feeling and grace of style, a draught from the fountain of youth." Outlook. Herrick The Common Lot BY ROBERT HERRICK "A story of present-day life, intensely real in its picture of a young architect whose ideals in the beginning were, at their highest, aesthetic rather than spiritual. It is an unusual novel of great interest." London Adventure BY JACK LONDON " No reader of Jack London's stories need be told that this abounds with romantic and dramatic incident." Los Angeles T'ibune. London Burning Daylight BY JACK LONDON "Jack London has outdone himself in 'Burning Daylight.'" The Springfield Union. Loti Disenchanted BY PIERRE LOTI " It gives a more graphic picture of the life of the rich Turkish women of to-day than anything that has ever been written." Brooklyn Daily Eagle. ii Lucas Mr. Ingleside BY E. V. LUCAS " He displays himself as an intellectual and amusing observer of life's foibles with a hero characterized by inimitable, kindness and humor." The Independent. Mason The Four Feathers BY A. E. W. MASON "'The Four Feathers' is a first-rate story, with more legitimate thrills than any novel we have read in a long time." New York Press. Norris Mother BY KATHLEEN NORRIS " Worth its weight in gold." Catholic Columbian. Oxenham The Long Road BY JOHN OXENHAM " ' The Long Road ' is a tragic, heart-gripping story of Russian politi- cal and social conditions." The Craftsman. Pryor The Colonel's Story BY MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR "The story is one in which the spirit of the Old South figures largely; adventure and romance have their play and carry the plot to a satisfy- ing end." Remington Ermine of the Yellowstone BY JOHN REMINGTON "A very original and remarkable novel wonderful in its vigor and freshness." Roberts Kings in Exile BY CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS " The author catches the spirit of forest and sea life, and the reader comes to have a personal love and knowledge of our animal friends." Boston Globe. Robins The Convert BY ELIZABETH ROBINS " ' The Convert ' devotes itself to the exploitation of the recent suf- fragist movement in England. It is a book not easily forgotten, by any thoughtful reader." Chicago Evening Post. 12 Robins A Dark Lantern BY ELIZABETH ROBINS A powerful and striking novel, English in scene, which takes an essen- tially modern view of society and of certain dramatic situations. Ward David Grieve BY MRS. HUMPHREY WARD " A perfect picture of life, remarkable for its humor and extraordinary success at character analysis." Wells The Wheels of Chance BY H. G. WELLS " Mr. Wells is beyond question the most plausible romancer of the tune." The New York Tribune. THE MACMILLAN JUVENILE LIBRARY This collection of juvenile books contains works of standard quality, on a variety of subjects history, biography, fiction, science, and poetry carefully chosen to meet the needs and interests of both boys and girls. Each volume, cloth, 12mo, 50 cents net; postage, 10 cents extra Altsheler The Horsemen of the Plains BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER " A story of the West, of Indians, of scouts, trappers, fur traders, and, in short, of everything that is dear to the imagination of a healthy American boy." New York Sun. Bacon While Caroline Was Growing BY JOSEPHINE DASKAM BACON " Only a genuine lover of children, and a keenly sympathetic observer of human nature, could have given us a book as this." Boston Herald. Carroll Alice's Adventures, and Through the Looking Glass BY LEWIS CARROLL " One of the immortal books for children." Dix A Little Captive Lad BY MARIE BEULAH Drx "The human interest is strong, and children are sure to like it." Washington Times. 13 Greene Pickett's Gap BY HOMER GREENE " The story presents a picture of truth and honor that cannot fail to have a vivid impression upon the reader." Toledo Blade. Lucas Slowcoach BY E. V. LUCAS "The record of an English family's coaching tour in a great old- fashioned wagon. A charming narrative, as quaint and original as its name." Booknews Monthly. Mabie Book of Christmas BY H. W. MABIE " A beautiful collection of Christmas verse and prose in which all the old favorites will be found in an artistic setting." The St. Louis Mir- ror. Major The Bears of Blue River BY CHARLES MAJOR "An exciting story with all the thrills the title implies." Major Uncle Tom Andy Bill BY CHARLES MAJOR "A stirring story full of bears, Indians, and hidden treasures." Cleveland Leader. Nesbit The Railway Children BY E. NESBIT "A delightful story revealing the author's intimate knowledge of juvenile ways." The Nation. Whyte The Story Book Girls BY CHRISTINA G. WHYTE "A book that all girls will read with delight a sweet, wholesome story of girl life." Wright Dream Fcfc Story Book BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT " The whole book is delicious with its wise and kindly humor, its just perspective of the true value of things." Wright Aunt Jimmy's Will BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT " Barbara has written no more delightful book than this." 14 A 000 038 851 2