REESE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Received ^fC*^&^r€8^ 
 
 Accessions No.^I'jS.j^SS^ Shelf No 
 
 Z* %o 
 
jut-* * kJZ^I 
 
. ■•. «. « 1\ 
 
 > • » . v 
 
THE IDLE WORD 
 
 SHOUT 
 
 CUT OF SPEECH, AMi ITS EMPLOYMEKT \$ 
 CONVERSATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD HJLBURN, D.D. 
 
 rBRBENDART OF BT. !»AV I IOP OF OXKOBD, AND OIHI 
 
 OF HER MAJESTY'S • N OHD1WABT. 
 
 •* As alphabotsjn kpry employ, 
 
 r alter hour, u|p yeirin!' ' 
 ;n_' \Mih :t"ri 
 Those seeds of s< »' : 
 
 .ruage in the moiuh of the adult 
 (Witness its btdgniflcaill result) 
 Tooot: "fplay, 
 
 A toy to sport with, ana pass time away. 
 • * * * 
 
 :• of human tb 
 r use thee as they ought ! 
 Bat ail shall giv e accoant o f every wrong, 
 Who daro dliwflB HM*4he tongue." — Cowpzb. 
 
 university! 
 
 :\V YORK: 
 D. A PPL ETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 •448 & 445 BROADWAY. 
 18C6. 
 

 5 
 
 ^ 
 
J 
 
 IN MEMORY 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 RIGHT HON. HENRY GOULBIJRN, MP., 
 
 WHO HAS PASSED TO HIS REST 
 
 SINCE THIS TREATISE 
 
 ON TOE GOVERNMENT OP THE TONGUE, 
 
 A GRACE WHICH HE SINGULARLY 
 
 EXEMPLIFIED, 
 
 WAS FIRST INSCRIBED TO HIM. 
 
PEEF ACE 
 
 Tii; reader of this little Book will soon discover 
 from the style adopted in parts of it, that the sub- 
 stance of the several Chapters li:is been delivered in 
 the form of Sermons. But the throwing of these 
 Sermons into the form of short Religious Essays has 
 i me the opportunity of introducing matter 
 ununited for the Pulpit, and of erasing much which 
 had only a special reference to the circumstances 
 and temptations of my own flock. At the same 
 time, I have frit unwilling (in this, as in a former 
 publication) to omit entirely all practical addrefi 
 and appeals of a devotional character, however out 
 of pi -sages may seem to be in an Est 
 
 For indeed I feel that all exclusively speculative 
 treatment of Religious Subjects (and specially of a 
 
6 Preface, 
 
 subject having so close a bearing upon practice, as 
 that with which the following Pages deal) is to be 
 avoided. We do not think on these subjects aright, 
 unless our minds are led on from, the theory of them 
 to the influence which they ought to exercise upon 
 our practice, — unless we allow them to stir within 
 us the sentiments and aspirations of devotion. Nor, 
 except we view them under this light, are we safe 
 from erroneous conclusions respecting them. For 
 right conclusions on Religious subjects cannot be 
 formed by those who speculate upon them in a 
 wrong, or in a defective, spirit. 
 
 To some, I fear, the Rules of Conversation here 
 proposed may appear too strict, and even impossible 
 to be carried out. May I request that such Readers 
 will consider, before they reject the Rules, what is 
 said in Chapter VII. on Words of Innocent Recrea- 
 tion ? 
 
 I may have erred doubtless in some of my appli- 
 cations of it to practice, — but I cannot see my 
 way to evade the general principle, that words, to 
 redeem themselves from the charge of being idle, 
 must fulfil some one of the ends which words were 
 designed to fulfil. These ends are indicated at 
 length in the body of the Work, and it only remains 
 for me to say, that a wider scope should possibly be 
 
((UNIVERSIT 
 
 given to the term, u innocent n, u Man it 
 
 was < i with the nature of :i reli 
 
 rth, A great man) which oan- 
 
 be justly called witty, or Inn ad 
 
 Here Ihe burdens of life, and to tighten the 
 
 • with I gleam of merriment ; nor would it be 
 
 iter into any oaelbJ co n v ersati on with- 
 out passing throngh the preliminarj porch of lighter 
 remarks, and repartees upon ordinary topics. It* 
 sneh things v hided, conversation would lose 
 
 isc and gaiety, and with those its power of 
 ihing the mind. To preserve this power (which 
 
 • always to attach to it), while at the same 
 time guarding against empty words, and the en- 
 croachment of a spirit of unwatchfulness, is doubt- 
 less an arduous task, — one of the most arduous 
 perhaps winch the Christian has to achieve; but it 
 is our encouragement and consolation to know that 
 cur Merciful Lord never commands impossibilities, 
 and offers us not only the guidance of general prin- 
 ciples in His Word, but also Grace and Light to 
 direct the individual conscience, in its attempts to 
 apply those principles to the conduct of daily life, 
 
 B, at G. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OHAPTKB I. 
 
 THE CONNEXION OF SPEECH WITH REASON. 
 
 Our Lord's warning against idle words— The Old Testament warning 
 on the same subject, and its position in the Decalogue— the indifference 
 of words has a strong hold upon the mind, even of religious people— 
 Probablo moral effects of the attempt to rectify our words— Importance 
 of words deduced from the Connexion of Speech with Season— The fact 
 of this connexion— Inability of inanimate Nature to speak— Passionate 
 appeals to Nature not responded to — The rational creature's response by 
 Prayer (which is Speech) to God's appeal— Inability of animated Nature 
 to speak — Animals can express only feeling, and not intelligence, by 
 means of sound— The song of birds a thing of the same class with Instru- 
 mental music — The wonderful amount of intelligence conveyed In a com- 
 mon-place direction or instruction— Prayer and Praise the highest exer- 
 cise of Speech— Consequent degradation of Speech by low or frivolous 
 employment of It— the dignity of singing the Praises of God, as an exer- 
 cise which combines both intelligence and feeling— Singing associated by 
 the Inspired Writers with Glory— Conclusion, 17 
 
 NOTE. 
 On certain appearances resembling Speech in mHwi*]*, ... 82 
 1* 
 
10 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CONNEXION OP SPEECH WITH REASON. 
 
 PAGE 
 Grounds and manner of the connexion, the subject of the present 
 Chapter— We find the faculty of Speech in exercise, when Adam names 
 the animals — Why are we never informed of man's endowment with this 
 faculty ?— Because the gift of language is involved in the gift of a rational 
 soul, as colours are involved in the light — Impropriety in supposing the 
 names conferred by Adam to have been arbitrary— What is implied in the 
 hypothesis that the names designated the properties of the various ani- 
 mals, viz. : the mental processes of 1, Observation ; 2, Comparison ; 8, 
 Classification — Classification the great characteristic of the Eeason — 
 Shown from its being the special endowment of superior minds — Lan- 
 guage expresses the classifications of the Eeason — in the every-day em- 
 ployment of words, no one thinks of mental processes which gave birth 
 to them — Christ, as the Antitype of Adam, giving names to the Apostles 
 — The probable meaning of the name Boanerges — Love, and impetuosity 
 in behalf of the person loved, two sides of the same character— Digression 
 on the spurious charity of the present day — Why the naming of the stars 
 should be an attribute of the Divine Being — Our Lord sees our characters 
 — What names would He bestow upon us, as significant of them ? . .39 
 
 NOTE. 
 On Classification as the great function of the Eeason, .... 55 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HEAVENLY ANALOGY OF THE CONNEXION OF SPEECH WITH 
 REASON. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity in Unity can never be thoroughly ap- 
 prehended by the finite mind— Partial glimpses into its significance 
 attainable— Eeason and Speech closely intertwined— Eecapitulation— 
 
ftterUs. 11 
 
 TAQU 
 
 1 Mm i nctnoaa of Season and Speech— the first teen without the second— 
 Impossibility of saying whether Reason or Speech is the Mi 
 appear to he twin faculties, though <li.-t met— Man mad* in the Image of 
 God— this Image stands in the mind— this would warrant us In e\ 
 ing to find in the mind some ad umbra: -The 
 8econd Person of tho Blessed Trinity Is called : hutnttoaof 
 the Doctrine of the Trinity, by the conclusions which wa have arrived at 
 Reason and Speech— 1! "God is Love" 
 Qm iioiiun of mure than One IVmon In the Godhead- 
 Address to young men on the <lisc<. virus of consistency and beauty in 
 tho doc t: by those who patiently wait for lL'ht b 
 study of God's Word— Dignity conferred WfiOM Speech by Christ's 
 having assumed the title of the Word (R 
 
 OHAPTBB IV. 
 
 AX IDLE WOBD DEFINED FROM THE DECALOGUE. 
 
 Large proportion of Scriptural precept directed against sins of the 
 tongue — How this is an incidental evidence of Scripture's having como 
 from a supernatural source — The tongue symptomatic of the moral state 
 —Serious derangement in tho natural constitution of all bodies produced 
 by the most trifling causes — Analogous mischief done by words in the 
 moral system— The Decalogue a summary of tho principles of human 
 duty— One commandment in each Table directed against sins of the 
 tongue — Extreme form of the 6in forbidden by tho Ninth Command- 
 ment—Principle of the Ninth Commandment— The value of a good name 
 —Maxim of St Francis of Sales on this subject— "Evil speaking" as 
 well as " slandering " forbidden by the commandment— Reasons why 
 " evil speaking" can hardly escape being false— What the hearers gather 
 from tho allegation of a fact to our neighbour's discredit— The mischief 
 of talebearing— if universally practised, it would subvert trust between 
 man and man — General rule, seldom (if ever) to fpeak of our neighbour's 
 
12 Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 character and conduct — Qualifications with which the general rule must 
 be understood— yet the qualifications are no real suspension of the rule — 
 Spurious charity of the present day— All insincere apologies for, or com- 
 mendations of, our neighbour, to be much avoided — The topic of this 
 chapter not unevangelical, since the duty advocated in it was exemplified 
 by Our Lord . 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN IDLE WORD DEFINED FROM THE DECALOGUE. 
 
 Meaning of " the Name of God " in Holy Scripture — Kesemblance be- 
 tween the Tables of the Decalogue and the two sections of the Lord's 
 Prayer— Kesemblance between the Third Commandment and the first 
 petition — How the serious estimate which God makes of Words is im- 
 plied in the sanction of this commandment— Forms of sin forbidden— 
 1. All asseverations which imply an appeal to God — Original purport of 
 the commandment— Conversational oaths among the Jews in Our Lord's 
 time — Account of the dissatisfaction felt with simple affirmations and 
 denials — The restraint which men would put upon themselves in a great 
 presence — 2. The use of Scripture to give point to a jest— mischievous 
 effect of this practice — Our Lord's reverence for Holy Scripture— general 
 want of reverence for it at present— 3. Controversial use of sacred words, 
 without being duly impressed by them— Difficulty of speaking suitably 
 about Divine things— The frame of mind required to do so — Anecdote of 
 Sir Isaac Newton — 1 The duty of speaking about God with unction and 
 attractively— how this habit may be acquired— 5. The positive side of the 
 Precept exhibited — The obligations involved in the four first Command- 
 ments — how the Fourth corrects an error which might arise from a mis- 
 understanding of the Third— An habitual consciousness of God's Presence 
 the mode of fulfilling the Third Commandment spiritually— The check 
 which would be exercised upon our language by the remembrance that 
 God's Eye is always upon us 89 
 
Contents. 13 
 
 \ f. 
 
 WHAT IS AN IDLE WORD? 
 
 PAOB 
 Inn rest and dignity of exploring tho meaning of Scriptural terms— 
 Reference to the context— worda, which the Pharisees had just sp 
 were such as violated their Internal convictions— Hut it is not this kind 
 of words, which our Lord terms idle— formula u but I say unto you " In- 
 dicates a transition to a more extended appMdtlOP OOm insLi: 
 this formula— The word idU means " not fulflllinj: Its end "—Words of 
 the Pharisees worse than idle— The strictness of tho Christian Law on 
 the subject of words, in conformity with the general tenour of Evangeli- 
 cal precept— Non-imp f talents accounted wickedness under 
 tho Gospel— Responsibility entailed upon us by the ascertainment of 
 Our Lord's meaning— a fortiori argument on tho awfuluess of words 
 worse than idle 103 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 •WORDS OF BUSINESS \T10S NOT IDLE. 
 
 Frame of mind supposed in the reader— The excellence of any thing 
 consists in fulfilling its proper end— First and lowest end of words, to 
 carry on the business of life — System of society at a standstill without * 
 words— Trifling services which may be done by words — Second end, to 
 refresh and entertain tbo mind — Power of speech for the entertainment 
 of the mind, analogous to tho power of moving the limbs for the recrea- 
 tion of the body — Refreshment of unrestrained Intercourse, alluded to 
 in a proverb of Solomon's— The excellence of such ktnd of conversation 
 is wit— Connexion of wit and wisdom — Combination of religion and 
 merriment in the same person— What may be tho meaning of "jesting" 
 as forbidden in the Epistle to the Ephesians ?— All precepts of Scripture 
 meant to bo strictly carried out — the word In question probably indi- 
 cates the sinful raillery of the man of fashion — Pleasantry most be 1, 
 pure ; 2, must not wound ; 8, must refrain from things sacred . 
 
14: Contents. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 On the Perception of Analogies as constituting Wisdom . . . 138 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SPEECn THE INSTRUMENT OF PROPHECY AND SACRIFICE. 
 
 Proposed new punctuation of a passage in the Epistle to the Colos- 
 sians — Teaching and admonishing, the highest use of Speech as regards 
 man— Psalms and Hymns, its highest use as it looks towards God— Pos- 
 sibility of edification on topics not directly religious— Sense in which all 
 truth may be said to be a revelation of God— All lights, both of reason 
 and experience, arc from the Father of Lights — The Laity not precluded 
 from the work of Eeligious Edification— Communications with God the 
 highest end of Speech— Speech, a resource in man's nature for the carry- 
 ing on of such communications — Dignity of the Hymn as combining in- 
 telligence with feeling— A poem is a song— Man, in virtue of his endow- 
 ment with Speech, the High Priest of God— This doctrine no interfer- 
 ence with ministerial functions— Ministers representatives of the people, 
 and in their character of representatives, have functions which may not 
 be invaded— The ministry of the Christian will outlast that of the Min- 
 ister 139 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 On the Analogy between the Threefold aspect of Speech, and the 
 
 Threefold office of Christ 152 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HINTS FOR THE GUIDANCE OF CONVERSATION. 
 
 Eecapitulation— Principles laid down in Holy Scripture for the Guid- 
 ance of Conversation— Primary reference of the words " swift to hear, 
 slow to speak "—Sin of lightly arrogating to oneself the position of a 
 
0* 15 
 
 raoi 
 religions instructor— Subordinate reference of the words of St. James to 
 the whole range of Conversation— Precept* of Scripture not to be tied 
 down to their contextual application— We must engage in conversation 
 desire of gaining Instruction— as no man has a monopoly of 
 spiritual gifts, so no man has a monop<»iv of information— every one has 
 
 r small, of knowledge — The vanity of our thinking 
 th.it this knowledge is not worth drawing out — Sublime studies not al- 
 ways the moat essential to I .of man— Seeking to elicit in- 
 formation la one secret of avoiding the lrksomcncss of convert-:;' 
 Slowness to speak Involved In swiftness to hear, but nevertheless re- 
 quires distinct pressing— Scripture profound in its analysis of the mo- 
 
 , springs— Principles upon which the intercourse 
 of the world is rep: liness too oft those 
 
 who are endowed with the gift of Conversation— Hrlllbnt conversation 
 only unlawful, when It flows from I f self-glorilleation- 
 
 this motive, operating in a higher sphere, makes a man an Hcrcsiarch — 
 Assumption of the Heresiarch that he has a monopoly of God's Truth— 
 The fallacy of this assumption— Weighty words to be aimed at . .154 
 
 OHAPTBB X. 
 
 ON RELIGIOUS CONVERSATION. 
 
 Religious conversation may turn upon 1, religious experience; or 2, 
 religious truth, external to tho mind— The distinction illustrated— Anal- 
 ogy between the mind of man in its operation upon Ideas, and the senses 
 in their operation upon matter— Senses so constructed as to throw us 
 Into the outward world— Illustrations from sight, hearing, andVsmell — 
 Any reflex action of a sense upon itself would Indicate disease In the 
 organ— Similarly, the affections operate upon objects external to them- 
 selves—the same la the case with the faculties of the mind— Keflex action 
 of the affections, or mental powers, upon themselves, Indicates disease 
 in them— But Is not self-examination a reflection of the mind upon Its 
 own processes ?— true, and it is a necessary duty— but 
 
16 Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 by our imperfection— Self-examination had no existence in Paradise — 
 Talking of our religious feelings only so far forth desirable, as it con- 
 tributes to the end of self-examination — Mischief which may be suffered 
 by too free disclosure of our religious feelings — The natural pride of the 
 heart takes its occasion from humiliating confessions — Diffusion of re- 
 ligious feeling leads to its evaporation— such diffusion counteracts natu- 
 ral instincts — shame of moral, as of physical, nakedness — The whole 
 "Word of God, with all its truths, presents an ample field for investiga- 
 tion—this investigation greatly promoted by Conversation— Disciples 
 discussing their difficulties on the way to Emmaus — All Scripture testi- 
 fies of Christ — we read amiss, unless we find Him there — Necessity of 
 being impressed with the responsibility of the faculty of speech — Was 
 this responsibility the reason why Our Lord sighed, when He restored 
 the faculty '—Quotation from Cowper's " Conversation " . . . . 170 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 * A Sermon on the Government of the Tongue, preached in Kugby 
 School Chapel 193 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Till .'.ON OF SPEECH WITH REASON. 
 
 " tfce ffmc cf ttJt slnQlnjj of ImDs is comr, aim tbc bot'cc of tfoc 
 turtle is fcravo in ouv lani)."— Bom ii. li. 
 
 Tin: Divine Founder of our Religion warns 
 
 us in the most solemn manner against the sin of 
 empty and frivolous conversation. II i> words on 
 this mbji uch as to strike an awe into every 
 
 conscience in the ear of which they are sounded. 
 "I say unto you that every idle word which men 
 shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the 
 day of judgnn 
 
 Nor is the law behind the Gospel in its protest 
 against this particular form of evil. We find such 
 a protest inwoven into the most essential part of 
 the Law — into that part which is universal in ap- 
 plication and binding upon all alike — into the 
 
 j tables of the Decalogue. "The Lord will 
 not hold him guiltless," we there read, " who tak- 
 
18 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 eth His Name in vain " — the implication here be- 
 ing that God (and His estimate must be righteous, 
 — cannot be harsh) will regard sins of the tongue 
 in a light totally different from that in which the 
 world regards them. Let it be borne in mind 
 that the Ten Commandments are the code of es- 
 sential morality for all times, for every generation, 
 — that there is nothing in them (considered as a 
 rule of life) which has ever been abrogated, or is 
 susceptible of abrogation, — that they are not a 
 series of arbitrary rules made (as it were) by the 
 discretion of the Almighty, but are based upon 
 the eternal relations subsisting between God and 
 man, between man and his brother ; and it will 
 then be seen that every precept which they incul- 
 cate (whether directly or by implication) must be 
 part of the essence of true religion — must have a 
 profound import, and one which we can only trifle 
 with at the peril of our souls. 
 
 JSTow the grounds of this serious view of light 
 talking require to be explained. Grounds of 
 course there are — God's every word must be 
 based upon counsel, — but they do not at once 
 approve themselves to the mind. So entirely has 
 the comparative indifference of words taken pos- 
 session of the minds even of religious persons, that 
 they find it difficult to fight against the unscrip- 
 tural persuasion. Of what sin does even the well- 
 
The Connexion of Speech ?/•//// R*a$on, L9 
 
 principled and well-conducted man think D 
 tightly, than of 8 profane or hot expression, u I 
 in a moment of exciten And if he v 
 
 assured, as he might be assured on the I 
 >ands, that meh :i Bin baa really a very Ben 
 
 ibly his Understanding would DOi 
 
 once acquiesce in Bach a verdict, lie might sup- 
 
 - his onderstanding (as he ought to do) in 
 
 oe to the testimony of God's Word, but it 
 
 would require so [deration before he could 
 
 bring round liis mind to assent to the reasonaUe- 
 
 ness of that testimony. 
 
 It i- ithor'fl purpose to throw together 
 
 .•■ thoughts in the following \ axing on 
 
 the important subject of Conversation. He : 
 more and more that one of the greatest hindra: 
 t.» personal piety — that which eats out the heart 
 and soul of true religion — is an unrestrained and 
 unchastened exercise of the tongue, — that if per- 
 sons could but be persuaded to banish from their 
 empty talk (talk relevant to nothing in particu- 
 lar, gossip about their neighbours' concerns and 
 arrangements, little proianeneesee of expression, 
 
 1 the like) and to leave only such speech as was 
 instructive or amnaing (for words of inner 
 humour and wit are surely not idle words) — a 
 
 • amount of moral and spiritual mischief would 
 be swept away as so much rubbish out of the 
 
20 The Connexion of Speech with Reason, 
 
 world, and men would be introduced by the effort 
 into the atmosphere of holiness, as finding them- 
 selves unable to effect such a clearance without 
 constant mindfulness of the Presence of God. 
 May God abundantly bless what shall be offered 
 upon the subject, to our conviction of sin and 
 conversion from it, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. 
 
 I propose to begin at the very foundation of 
 the subject. This method of proceeding (Bellum 
 Trojanum ordiri ab ovo) may be unsuitable indeed 
 for a poem, but it is essential to the clearness and 
 stability of an argument on graver subjects. 
 Thus our first topic will be — 
 
 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 If this connexion can be thoroughly estab- 
 lished, if it can be shown that Speech is the great 
 organ of Reason, — the sign, proof, and evidence 
 that a creature is rational — then the seriousness 
 of Speech will at once become apparent. If it be 
 impossible to make an ordinary remark, without 
 calling into exercise that special gift which dis- 
 tinguishes man from the inferior animals, and 
 allies him with God and holy angels, then there 
 may be some real and deep-seated impropriety in 
 making a trifling or light remark, — in doing so 
 we may be playing with an instrument of mighty 
 power, and degrading it to low and cheap uses. 
 
The Connexion of Speech with Reason . 9 I 
 
 Speech then, as afo aeotedwith 
 
 khl Reasonable creatures an those who . 
 
 speak, — and conversely those who can Speak are 
 
 reas With this tact alone we shall occupy 
 
 OtU> ( 'liapti • cch 
 
 and Reason are connected will I ibjeol of 
 
 future consideration. 
 
 We are surrounded by, even as we are com- 
 posed of, three element.- — Body, Soul, and Spirit. 
 
 I. 1 cast our eyes abroad upon inani- 
 
 mate nature — upon the frame of the earth, the 
 trees, 
 
 There is no Speech here, — no power of express- 
 ing either intelligence or feeling. For Speech is 
 not merely the emitting of sounds. It is of course 
 
 [OQ8 that inanimate nature may emit sounds. 
 The waves BUTge, the Stream rippleB, the avalanche 
 crashes, the thunder mutters, the hare arms of the 
 
 - in winter sway and creak in the wind; hut 
 these sounds, however a lively fancy may picture 
 in them the voice of nature addressing herself I 
 man. have evidently no affinity with speech. 
 
 Let a man go abroad amid the mountain 
 
 ies or in the fields, and poor forth his soul to 
 
 nature. Let him previously be wrought up to 
 
 point of passion and interest — let him 
 
 have burning thoughts within him, and long to 
 
 1 See the Note at the end of the Chapter. 
 
22 TJie Connection of Speech with Reason. 
 
 unbosom them. Let him be full of passionate 
 grief or ardent enthusiasm, and let him be bent 
 upon relief by venting these emotions. Let him 
 address the great solitude, as if it had ears to hear 
 him, and intelligence to respond. Let him weep, 
 let him plead, let him expostulate, let him fling 
 himself upon the bosom of the soil, let him call 
 heaven and earth to witness, let him attest the 
 mountains to his controversy and the strong foun- 
 dations of the earth, let him seek to extort a hear- 
 ing by every form of appeal which can awaken 
 passion, and rouse dormant sympathy ; well, 
 what is the response % Nature, to those who seek 
 her sympathy, is like Baal to his worshippers. 
 " There is neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any 
 that regardeth." The great mountains stand in 
 grim silence around, unmoved spectators of his 
 passion ; or, if they give back sound, it is only 
 " jocosa montis imago," — his own words returned 
 as if in mockery upon himself. The mimicry of 
 his own pleading rings in his ear, and he turns 
 away with a bitter sense of the barrenness of 
 his efforts. Nature has no intelligence — she can- 
 not counsel him with discourse. She has no soul 
 — she cannot comfort him with sympathy. 
 
 Imagine now the case of a similar appeal 
 made to an animate and rational being. Take as 
 an example the tender and urgent expostulations 
 
The Connexion of Speech with R 
 of God with: .1 ereature 1 11:111. Gfod pours 
 
 out His whole heart dtf love in pleading, — in 
 yearning o\< ing efaild. He 
 
 draw ing appeals from every topic, 
 
 li axperi y weight with it. 
 
 At one time He roBfl over the §inn< 
 
 thunders of retribution — He whispers into the 
 
 :h and judg- 
 ment. At another. He arrays before him the 
 blessings and comforts of a lot which has fallen 
 in fair ground, and asks by an inward voice which 
 will not be suppressed, whether these do not 
 
 '•imately call for gratitude. At another. II. • 
 pleads in vet more urgent strains the Sacrifice 
 which He has provided to win hack the allegiance 
 of man, — the Sacrifice which testifies to a love 
 stronger than death, which the many waters of 
 human indifference cannot quench, neither can 
 the floods of ingratitude drown it. The God- 
 man by J I is Word, by His Ministers, by Hal 
 Spirit, pleads the wounds which scarred His 
 
 vd Body, and the pangs which rent His Holy 
 Soul asunder, the strong crying which went up 
 
 God from the depths of His unfathomable 
 
 I the bitter tears which, in the days 
 
 of His flesh, the malice of foes and the faith: 
 
 ness of friends alike conspired to draw from Him 
 
 —well — and is there no response? God be 
 
24 The Connexion of Speech with JReason. 
 
 praised, these pleadings have not gone forth into 
 the world of spirit — into the world of reason — 
 without awakening a reply. The reply is Speech, 
 articulate and intelligent. The reply is Prayer 
 — no barren empty retort — but a taking of words 
 on the part of many, and a turning to the Lord. 
 When God's Yoice issues His invitation of Grace 
 to all the world, and says, Seek ye My face, an 
 answer struggles up to Him from the depth of 
 many a conscience, " Thy face, Lord, will I seek. 
 Oh hide not Thou Thy face from me, nor cast 
 Thy servant away in displeasure." He addressed 
 the spirit, or reason, of man, and the spirit com- 
 munes with Him by its organ of Speech. 
 
 II. But, in the second place, we are surrounded 
 by animated nature — a stage in the creation in- 
 finitely higher than that which we have just con- 
 sidered. 
 
 But again there is no Speech here, albeit 
 there is a dim dark semblance of Speech — some- 
 thing which struggles up towards being speech, 
 and seems to make an impotent effort to express 
 itself in articulate language. For Speech (prop- 
 erly so called) is not the expression of feeling, 
 but the expression of intelligence or Beason. 
 The brute creation, as possessing Soul or affection, 
 is capable of expressing feeling. Animals will 
 cry when frightened or struck ; the dog has ever 
 
The Connexion of Speech with Sea* 
 
 i known to moan round the hen 
 
 r.ut the most striking 
 
 mplificati tibility of animal 
 
 and of their povi ring it, i 
 
 be (blind in the notes of birds* M The fowls of the 
 
 hm\ ye the Psalmist, ".-in-- among the 
 
 l>rai ' .'" r e atme phenomenon ' -1 in 
 
 which stands at the head of this chap- 
 
 -"Thc time of the singing of birth is 01 
 
 and the Voice Of the turtle is heard in our land/' 
 
 vhich birds pottl forth expresses joy, 
 contentment, and satisfaction, feeling! of which 
 
 they are no doubt susceptible according to the 
 limit- of their nature, and the conditions which it 
 imposes. Their music, like instrumental in: 
 
 ion and embodiment of sentiment. 
 
 What are the harp and the organ, and those other 
 
 nanisms which trace up their origin to Jubal? 
 
 What are they but instruments for expressing 
 
 ting, a]. art from intelligence? And their 
 sounds, as being the offspring of affection, touch 
 and move the springs of affection. There arc, 
 indeed, some persons, in whom this source of 
 : emotions seems to be sealed up. hut 
 others there are, in whom the soul predomint 
 and is the key-note t<> their nature, — who can be 
 
 red even to tears by strains of music, and 
 whose soul, in a v;r »dy, now rising into 
 
26 TJie Co7inexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 exultation, now sinking into plain tiveness, lies 
 rocking npon the undulations of the music, as 
 fishing-boats heave and fall with a swell in the 
 bay. Now birds are Nature's musicians, and the 
 song of birds is Nature's music. And thus, 
 even among unreasoning creatures, there is an 
 expression of sentiment or feeling by means of 
 sound. 
 
 III. But how infinitely does this expression 
 of feeling fall below Speech, which is the expres- 
 sion of intelligence. Only think what Speech is ; 
 how wonderful a gift for any creature to be en- 
 dowed withal ! That by a few articulate sounds, 
 uttered almost with the rapidity of lightning, I 
 should be able to summon up a whole train of 
 ideas in the mind of anothet, and those, not 
 rough-hewn ideas — not vague and undefined im- 
 pressions — but notions nicely chiselled, exact, and 
 precise (notions following in an orderly and con- 
 secutive arrangement one upon another) — so that, 
 for example, a person whom I send to search for 
 a thing in my chamber, comprehends by my 
 uttering twenty words the precise spot in which 
 he is to lay his hand upon it — why this, if we will 
 but ponder it, is a miracle — not the less marvel- 
 lous for being of daily occurrence. Compare 
 with this the utmost verge to which any animal 
 can go in the communication of ideas. Some of 
 
The Connexion of 8peei 
 the domestic animals can convey the - of 
 
 [trade and ai ognizing 
 
 their owner . pnniatimonl and pain under 
 
 the smart of it ; but what are these mere [mj 
 dona of the soul, even when conreyed by Bound, 
 compared to the Discourse of Res on, m 
 
 which idea- . marshalled, and 
 
 1 with a facility which is only 
 equalled bj their clearness. Between the sound 
 ling and the sound expressive of 
 intelligence there is a great gulf ii 
 
 than that which separates man from man, the 
 
 kindly bnt rough peasant from the scutes! phi 
 • r. For the \\ may be developed by 
 
 Ltal training into the philosopher, but no 
 training or discipline could develop mere feeling 
 into reason. 
 
 We see, then, as a fact in the world around 
 us, that Reason and Speech are associated to- 
 gether. "Where Reason is not found, there Speech 
 is not found, and where Reason is, there Speech 
 s the organ or expression of Reason. 
 
 i remarks of a practical nature arise from 
 what has been said. In the course of our discus- 
 sion we have incidentally mentioned I 
 which the human heart makes to God's invita- 
 tions of Grace — Speech in the form of prayer and 
 praise— the highest form this which Speech i 
 
28 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 assume. How forcible is the argument against 
 vain and light words, which this single thought 
 supplies ! The noblest exercise of Speech, its 
 most exalted function, its great final cause, is that 
 it should be poured forth before the Lord in con- 
 fession, supplication, thanksgiving, and praise. 
 Now, viewing the matter in this light, is not this 
 of itself sufficient ground to make us think seri- 
 ously of Speech ? Does not the evil of an idle 
 word become apparent, seeing that it is a degra- 
 dation to low uses of a noble instrument ? Is 
 there not an obvious impropriety — an impro- 
 priety residing in the nature of things — in em- 
 ploying a gift, which is destined to such noble 
 uses, for purposes of defamation, railing, profane- 
 ness, or with the mere frivolous object of whiling 
 away time, apart from the motive of improve- 
 ment % I may add, in the language of St. Paul, 
 accommodated to my purpose : " Say I this thing 
 of myself, or saith not the Scripture the same 
 also % " For is it not written, " With the tongue 
 bless we God, even the Father; and therewith 
 curse we men, which are made after the similitude 
 of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth bless- 
 ing and cursing f " And then what does St. 
 James add % " My brethren, these things ought 
 not so to be" There is a deep impropriety, a 
 folly, and a vice, in these contradictory employ- 
 
The Connexion in Rea& 
 
 organ. How ! shall 
 . 
 up into your lipa the inspired strains which flowed 
 
 n the harp of David: or shall you go into 
 
 your chamber, and recite before God the pra; 
 which was taught you by the Infinite Wisd 
 
 I then shall you go forth, and employ the same^ 
 tnpany, to point a profane joke, or to 
 launch an nnclean innuendo, orto rail against your 
 brother on the moment that you arc thwarted I 
 Will you thus take an instrument of the temple 
 service and degrade it to the mean end of gi 
 tying temper, or lust, or the desire of saying some- 
 thing smart I Lord, deliver us from the guilt of 
 
 i sin in time past, and from its power in time 
 to come ! 
 
 Finally: — One conclusion, to which the truths 
 which we have developed conduct us, is the great 
 dignity, glory; and beauty of human Bjnging. We 
 hare soon that the song (as it is called) of the 
 bird ia expressive only of feeling. There is soul 
 in it, but there is no reason. Even without rea- 
 
 . the outpouring of music, whether from the 
 bird's throat or from the instrument, is \ 
 beautiful. But let reason be added to mi: 
 
 the expression of feeling be added to the 
 
 sion of intelligence, as is the case in human 
 singing. Let the devout sympathies of the heart 
 
30 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 be made to keep peace with articulate discourse 
 respecting God's mercies (as it is written, " I will 
 sing with the spirit, and I will sing w T ith the 
 understanding also"), and what is the result? 
 The. result is just this : the highest active engage- 
 ment, in which man can by possibility be em- 
 ployed. Intelligence speaking the praises of 
 God, while the heart echoes them, what a sublime 
 exercise ! How worthy of occupying the facul- 
 ties of man throughout eternity ! Therefore it is, 
 that in every Scriptural representation of the 
 state of glory, we find this hymning of the praises 
 of God forming the great staple of the employ- 
 ment of the glorified. Are they spoken of as the 
 four living creatures, or as the four-and-twenty 
 elders? They are represented as falling down 
 before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, 
 and singing a new song, saying, " Thou art wor- 
 thy to take the book, and to open the seals there- 
 of : for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to 
 God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and 
 tongue, and people, and nation." Are they the 
 redeemed from among men, who follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever Lie goeth ? They are represented 
 as " harpers harping with their harps, and sing- 
 ing as it were a new song before the throne, which 
 no man could learn but " themselves. Are they 
 those who have gotton the victory over the beast, 
 
The Con nexion of Speech with Rea$( >■■ . 81 
 
 ;• his image, and over his mark, and 
 the number of his name : Tin \ . re shown to us 
 ■tending ^rlass, mingled with fire 
 
 firmament, in which the 
 
 stars wander and the lightnings play) and 
 
 the song of Moses, the servant of Go<I % and th< 
 
 sony : >, Baying, "Great and marvellous 
 
 Thy works, Lord God Almighty ; jusl and 
 
 Thy waya, Thou King of Saints." 
 Lord, when we turn our minds to these 
 
 glor' ts of Thine, werecognize deeply «>ur 
 
 nnmeetness to join in that mighty chorus of 
 
 Hallelujah. u Woe \B me, fol I am a man of 
 unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of fl 
 of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the 
 :. the Lord of Hosts." Lord, touch and hal- 
 low, our lips by the live coal from Thine altar, 
 nt and mediation, "Who was 
 a coal of earthly nature, kindled with the fire of 
 Divinity. Touch our 1 [th love and zeal, 
 
 and out of the abundance of the heart let OUT 
 months Bpeak Thy high praise. And by the 
 Blood of the Lamb, and through the instrumen- 
 tality of sanctified trouble, make us meet to j 
 that heavenly chorus, who "rest not day and 
 night, i Ih'lv. Eoly, Lord I 
 
 Almighty, which was, and is, and me. 
 
 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to r< and 
 
32 Note, 
 
 honour and power; for Thou hast created all 
 things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were 
 created." 
 
 NOTE ON CHAPTER I., p. 21. 
 
 "Reasonable creatures are those wJio can speak — and, conversely, 
 those who can speak are reasonable" 
 
 In order to justify these two propositions, it is necessary to 
 define Speech exactly. 
 
 Speech, then, is the conveyance of ideas from mind to mind in 
 logical method. 
 
 By holding fast to this definition, we shall be enabled to see 
 our way through cases, which might at first appear to constitute 
 exceptions to the above positions. Thus it might be alleged 
 against the first of them (" All reasonable creatures speak "), that 
 the dumb are reasonable creatures. But the dumb have the 
 faculty of speech, though some imperfection in their organs pre- 
 vents their exercising it vocally. The essence of speech is not in 
 the sound ; otherwise a machine might be made to speak. The 
 dumb can not only arrange his ideas in an orderly and methodical 
 manner, can not only throw them mentally into consecutive words 
 and propositions, but can convey them, so arranged, to another 
 person, by talking on the fingers. 
 
 Against the second position (" All creatures who can speak are 
 reasonable ") it might be alleged that birds of the parrot tribe, 
 though not endowed with Reason, can speak. But to this also it 
 may be replied, that the mere making of articulate sounds, inde- 
 pendently of the ideas annexed to them, is not Speech. It is not 
 pretended that imitative birds can mentally frame a proposition ; 
 and the doing this is part of the essence of Speech. 
 
Note. 
 
 But there axe cases among t animals which mount up 
 
 ■nek more nearly to the notion of speech, than tl. 
 
 i Sir Benjamin Brodie'fl I Vy eh (.logical 
 Inquiries (p. 192, Second Bdtti 
 
 •i place it h 
 bees hare some means tfh each other, answer- 
 
 placed in a recess in a wall, and a bee i 
 
 of a stick whit. •!; | ip, he rem 
 
 . Mid then i : In about I 
 
 an hour, thirty issued from the same hive, 
 
 ami came to regale themselves on the contents of (I 
 
 bees from the M tinned their visits as long a 
 
 Sugar remained in the state of syrup, and lit for their purpose, hut 
 none came from anotl ourhood. When the 
 
 sugar was dry, the saucer was deserted, except that even no v. 
 then a straggler came as if it, and if he found that by 
 
 the addition of water it was again in a state of syrup, his visit was 
 presently followed by that of numerous others." 
 
 On r trait of Natural HiMory (and I believe many 
 
 a instances Bright be adduced), it might occur to one to ask: 
 " Is not this Speech in all its essentials ? The b.v who | 
 the saucer communicated to those in his own hive the intelligence 
 that syrup was there — an intelligence of which i the 
 
 adjacent hives did not avail 
 
 appears to have been the case. But th 
 no evidence whatever that the in; as communicated By « 
 
 method of arrangement involving Xuhjcct, Predicate, and Copula, 
 or that bees could so communicate. And how man . 
 of Reason are involved in the logical method of communication, 
 will be seen in the succeeding Cha; com- 
 
 munication of ideas from mind to mind, which is Speech, bi. 
 communication of Oiem in logical proposition*, which ordinary 
 sons effect by the mouth, and the dumb by the hand. Exclama- 
 tions or gestures might convey to me that a man was in pain, or 
 2* 
 
34 Note. 
 
 in ecstasy of delight, or that he wanted me to reach him something, 
 but no one will dignify these methods of communication by the 
 name of Speech. 
 
 With all submission of my judgment to the great scientific 
 authority, whose work I have just quoted, and whose book is 
 characterized not only by its patient investigation of facts, and 
 refusal ever to outrun their verdict (the great scientific virtue), 
 but also by what is far more precious — profound deference to 
 Revealed Religion, I am unable to go along with all his conclusions, 
 those especially which relate to the possession of the higher rea- 
 soning powers by animals. Thus, for example, he says, in the 
 person of Ergates — 
 
 " Setting aside the lowest form of animal life, I apprehend that 
 no one who considers the subject can doubt that the mental princi- 
 ple in animals is of the same essence as that of human beings ; so 
 that even in the humbler classes we may trace the rudiments of those 
 faculties, to which in their state of more complete development we 
 are indebted for the grandest results of human genius. We cannot 
 suppose the existence of mere sensation without supposing that 
 there is something more. In the stupid carp which comes to a 
 certain spot, at a certain hour, or on a certain signal, to be fed, we 
 recognize at any rate the existence of memory and the association 
 of ideas. But we recognize much more than this in the dog who 
 assists the shepherd in collecting his sheep in the wilds of the 
 Welsh mountains. Locke, and Dugald Stewart following him, do 
 not allow that brute animals have the power of abstraction. Now, 
 taking it for granted that abstraction can mean nothing more 
 than the power of comparing our conceptions, with reference to 
 certain points to the exclusion of others : as, for example, when 
 we consider colour without reference to figure, or figure without 
 reference to colour ; then i" do not see how we can deny the existence 
 of this faculty in other animals any more than in man himself In 
 this sense of the word, abstraction is a necessary part of the pro- 
 cess of reasoning, which Locke defines as being the perception of 
 the agreement or disagreement of our ideas. But who can doubt 
 
Note. 35 
 
 l dog reasons, while he is looking for his master, whom ho has 
 or (as in t lie instance of ulii.h wt m re aportlnoj jnet now) 
 when ho is seeking his way home over an unknown country ? " 
 
 flection ho accurate, Dugald Stewart docs not 
 iiu an to deny thai hrute animals arc capable Of tin- simpler t 
 
 i -oniiiLT. lio merely states that being enable t<» can 
 ■ee of thought by (he l » < ■ 1 1 » of artificial eigne (that I 
 
 language), they have no power Of entiling | 
 
 ions." 
 
 "Without douhting for an instant the vast suporiority of the 
 human mind, still // ejegMOre to me to be difficult to say how far 
 the capacities of brute animals <ir> /imif.'l in (Item respect*, li 
 is not t<» 
 
 00 any long or complex pre 
 tevertheieee, that thoae who are horn deaf end dmnb reason 
 Oft; and, on the other hand, it DO ■ pit ■.-- 
 
 i whether some animals are so wholly unprovided with lan- 
 
 The ineapability of animals to arrive at general or scientific 
 
 . isions, maintained by Dugald Stewart, and questioned in 
 
 the above passage, seems to me to be p er fectly tenable, notwith- 
 
 standing the instances adduced against it Let it be pasted 
 
 finds his master in the 
 same way (so far as mental process is concerned) as a man 
 or a boy would. lie knows his master by sight. (A r<i>cated 
 : the senses, united with memory, eflbots this.) He 
 knows his habits. Having accompanied him En his walks, he 
 is aware to what places he usually resorts at certain hours. 
 He goes to the same places, or in the same direction. In 
 this he lias an additional assistance from the I Inch 
 
36 Note. 
 
 the man does not enjoy), in the keenness of his scent. Prob- 
 ably this keenness of the scent furnishes a large amount of help 
 in that much more wonderful phenomenon, adverted to in the 
 beginning of the Conversation, and which I myself have known as 
 taking place — a dog taken in a carriage and by a circuitous route, 
 to a distant place, finding his way back to his former home across 
 a tract of country with which he could have had no previous 
 acquaintance. 
 
 Probably animals, being much more occupied in the senses, — 
 living in them much more than men do, are generally far more 
 observant of sensible tokens. A man's mind has a wider sphere 
 through which to diffuse itself. As he walks or is carried 
 through the streets, he muses on future contingencies, or on 
 past incidents — his mind is not in the senses — audit, non auscul- 
 tat. Hence in many exercises of the mind upon the notices 
 of sense, we should expect to find him even inferior to the 
 animals. 
 
 But in the instances referred to, I cannot see any evidence 
 which shows more in the mind of the animal than memory, and 
 close observation. Where is the abstraction? the generaliza- 
 tion ? the perception of law ? any approach to the apprehension 
 of a general and scientific truth ? If we must represent by an 
 equivalent proposition the idea in the animal's mind, will it 
 ever mount above a particular proposition — " This is the man 
 whom I saw, or this the road along which I travelled, the 
 other day," &c, &c. ? Though indeed to represent it by a propo- 
 sition at all, gives probably an erroneous notion, as all propo- 
 sitions involve arrangement and classification of ideas. (See next 
 Chapter.) 
 
 Does not the author somewhat ignore the old and most true 
 distinction between the intellectual efforts (if we are to call them 
 so) of animals, and those of men — a distinction which places 
 between the two a great and apparently impassable gulf? 
 Marts state is susceptible of continual improvement, and his 
 civilization of continual progress by fresh discoveries. Reason 
 
Note. 
 
 possessed by him) is susceptible of I 
 i we can set bo limits. When i> there any I 
 parable to this, or :vt | ally the sam.\ in the 
 
 animals? It cannot, I 8uppos< , I that animals, under 
 
 vular emergencies, occasionally devise a 
 •mselves. They may dis- 
 t a door ot ia a particular 01 
 
 down the platform of ;i general principle^ or not upon it step 
 by Btep the ■aperstruetore of an ameliorated and 1 
 dftfton of " the repnbH 
 
 •pnbUo one whit I now 
 
 than it was when rooks were first i lotion 
 
 Be triis ns (with pool truth and 
 
 .uchi- 
 
 make drring !>» 11-, bore galleries, raise vaults, 
 and i bei of .-kill end 
 
 industry arc no doubt innate in some of them, and co r re sp o n d 
 to tl. and modes of B ' <ive insects 
 
 ever - '' w^w resource wkiek Ciejf new i«>t < 
 
 domed with t If not, why not ? Is it only beeause they 
 not the mnnlol stimulus necessary to don? 
 
 becai; . as to aeqtdesco in a supi ' 
 
 the needs of their pn Of existence? 1 • :i the 
 
 immediate want is satisfied, there is no further restlessness i 
 mind — no This may partly account for it, but we 
 
 think is much reason to - 
 
 Dugald Stewart, an impossibility of " arriving at general or 
 tific conclusions." 
 
 I have not adverted in the text (lest I should too much tres- 
 pass upon >us and practical character of the work) to 
 iv find place in a note, as going far to 
 i Reason a: 
 h is a very old debate (into the rights of which it is foreign to 
 our present purpose to enter) whether or not it is possible to 
 reason mentally, without having the words in the mind, which 
 
38 JVote. 
 
 represent the subjects of our reasoning. Whatever be the truth 
 on this moot point, the fact of its being a moot point is suffi- 
 cient to establish generally a close connexion between Reason and 
 Speech. 
 
 If a question were raised and discussed, whether or not it is 
 possible, under present arrangements, to pay tithes in kind — 
 whether or not they may be paid in any other form than that of 
 money — this would be a sufficient evidence of a connexion be- 
 tween tithe and money, and that the latter is commonly the form 
 in which the former appears. 
 
OHAPTEB 11. 
 
 THE CONNEXION OF BPKBOB WITH REASON. 
 
 " ZlnXt out of tbc QvounU tlic JLovO (Soo fovmro clirnj beast of 
 
 tfcc ftflo, ano rbrvn fotol of tbc air ; anD biouflltf tljrm unto 
 
 £lttam to sr r tobat be uioulO call tbrm : anb tobatsorbcr 3oam 
 
 calico cbrvn libinfl ciratuvr, tbat hMl tlic name thereof."— 
 
 ft, L9. 
 
 " 31c surname!! tbcm Boancrrjcs, uibfcb ts, tbc sons of UnmUer." 
 -M.u:k iii. 17. 
 
 In the I pter we called Attention to the 
 
 fact that Speech and Reason are associated tc- 
 getli 
 
 In pursuing the topic farther, we shall catch 
 a glimpse of the grounds and manner of thai 
 
 While speaking on subjects of rather an ab- 
 stract and philosophical character, I desire, hoth 
 [f, that we should keep in 
 mind that the end of our discussion is to edify — 
 to point out how intrinsicaHy serious and awful a 
 the faculty n\' B[ . and so to illustrate, 
 
40 The Connexion of Speech with Beason. 
 
 and show the grounds of, Our Lord's censure of 
 idle words. 
 
 The naming by Adam of the beasts and 
 fowls is the first exercise of human Speech upon 
 record. 
 
 I say, it is the first exercise of human Speech. 
 The faculty of Speech must have existed before. 
 In the circumstance of his naming the several 
 creatures, it is sufficiently implied that our first 
 parent must have been previously endowed with 
 the gift, which alone could have enabled him to 
 name them. Not only must the bodily organs 
 which are necessary to articulation — the tongue, 
 the lips, the palate, the throat, the* teeth, — have 
 existed previously; but those processes of the 
 mind, which are essential to the formation of lan- 
 guage, must have been previously developed and 
 (to a great extent) matured. 
 
 Now a question might be raised of this kind. 
 Speech being so obvious a characteristic of man, 
 why are we never told that man was endowed 
 with Speech ? Why is no notice given us, that 
 God bestowed upon His noblest creature a gift so 
 wonderful ? Why is our attention never called to 
 the time at which the grant was made ? Why, 
 in short, is the endowment assumed as a matter 
 of course ? The answer is obvious. The gift of 
 language is involved in the gift of a rational soul. 
 
v Connexion of Speech with fteason . 1 1 
 
 And a rational soul ' I th<> constitution of 
 
 • thai do creature El a man without it. 
 
 It having I that Man was made in 
 
 and thai the 
 
 .ih of lives (noi ' :ual, in- 
 
 tellectual, and spiritual life) was DTI athcd into his 
 
 trflg, it would liavc been BUperfluoua to add 
 tliat he was endowed with Speech, for tha 
 >rved in tins account of hi ation, ] 
 
 following illustration is offered. Snp; 
 
 I man had manufactured ■ watch. 
 
 need to be subsequently informed 
 
 that he had placed a mainspring in the heart of 
 it. For a mainspring is essential to the const itu- 
 of a watch: a watch is not a watch (but only 
 the sembhrnee of a watch) without a mainspring, 
 and therefore, when we are informed that lie man- 
 ufactured a watch, it is implied that lie gave it a 
 mainspring. Or suppose that those words of In- 
 :i, "God maketh the light," were read in 
 your hearing. Would any man, possessed of a 
 knowledge of the subject, think of asking, "Why 
 rid that Clod made colours, that beau- 
 tiful raiment of many hues which nature is dre 
 withal, the ruddy streaks of the evening SU1 
 the deep purple of the sea under BOme conditions 
 of the atmosphere, the gorgeous plumage of birds 
 in hot climates, and so forth I n The answer of 
 
42 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 course is, that in making light, God made colour ; 
 all colour is in the light, as yon will see by em- 
 ploying the prism. In the absence of light there 
 is no colour, showing that colour resides not as a 
 quality in objects themselves, but is an essential 
 property of light. The difference of colour in 
 objects is caused merely by some very subtle 
 difference of superficies and texture, one superficies 
 or texture absorbing the brighter rays, and reject- 
 ing (or reflecting) the more sombre ; while others, 
 of directly contrary affinity, absorb the sombre, 
 and reflect the bright. Now just as colour inheres 
 in light, and is developed out of it, so Speech in- 
 heres in Reason ; and, therefore, when it is asserted 
 or implied that a creature is rational, it were only 
 superfluous to add that he has the faculty or en- 
 dowment of Speech. His endowment with Rea- 
 son implies as much. 
 
 But now let us look more minutely into the 
 narrative of Adam's naming the creatures, and 
 consider what other implications respecting the 
 gift of Speech may be found in it. 
 
 It is against propriety to suppose the names 
 to have been purely arbitrary and unmeaning, to 
 have been simply articulate sounds attached with- 
 out reason to the various animals. Such an 
 hypothesis may be discarded, as not correspond- 
 ing with the dignity of the subject. The consti- 
 
<<i Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 d sovereign of I b, under whose I 
 
 b solemnly placed w ill sheep and oa 
 ami the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, 
 
 ind tin- sea, and whatsoever walketh 
 
 through the paths of the seas," — walks abr 
 m the domain, which lias been newlj 
 
 tores an to pass before him in 1. 
 
 y, — each pause- lor a moment t his 
 
 searehiii. i. — and then the air 
 
 rherates in disti' :;tmc. BhaU 
 
 we suppose that in such a name there was no 
 suitability, — nothing implying discernment 
 
 iesof the animal, — nothing tliat .-bed light 
 upon its habits, manners, and characteristics ? 
 Such a notion seems to me untenable upon the 
 surface ; it goes to represent the whole transaction 
 as a verv futile and shallow one. 
 
 Rejecting it, therefore, and adopting the view 
 
 there being a propriety and significance in the 
 
 names which Adam conferred, let 113 consider how 
 much of previous mental process on his part is 
 
 thus implied. 
 
 The may hare been significant eitl 
 
 thephvsieal properties of the animals, or of their bab- 
 
 :id character. (One instance of 8 name of the 
 
 OCT elass in the Latin language would biicorvw, 
 
 [tying the raven — a word whieh many etymo- 
 
44 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 logists regard as identical with the adjective eurvus, 
 crooked, supposing the bird in question to have 
 been thus denominated from the crookedness of its 
 beak.) Let us suppose then that the beasts and 
 fowl were all designated originally on a principle 
 similar to this ; that the fox drew his name from 
 his cunning, the hare from its quick sense of hear- 
 ing, the horse from its fleetness, the rhinoceros 
 from its impenetrable flakes of natural armour, 
 the eagle from the power of its eye. The process 
 must have been something of this kind ; and what 
 does such a process imply ? It implies first gen, 
 eral notions of cunning, quick hearing, fleetness, 
 impenetrability, power of eye. These notions, and 
 the words expressing them, must have been 
 formed previously in the mind of Adam. And this 
 formation of abstract ideas was probably effected 
 much as it is now, by observation and experience. 
 The child becomes conversant by means of his 
 senses with certain objects which agree in some 
 one point, which have the same colour, or the same 
 form, or which stand in similar relations to some 
 other objects. Hence he gains what is called an 
 abstract idea, — an idea independent of, and more 
 perfect than, any object which he has ever seen. 
 The sight of snow, and wax, and wool, and white 
 paper, furnishes him with a general idea of the 
 colour white. The arrowy rushing of a rapid 
 
|UNIVERSIT 
 
 Connexion of &pec< ^g^fr TfW 
 
 •, the rapid wearing of some unyoked animal, 
 tlu* flighl of an arrow — these and similar scenes 
 open theeyei of bia mind to the genera] aot 
 
 mora] qnaliti 
 formed in the same way. Be ha an in- 
 
 oate moral sense ; bni it is developed by witneasi 
 
 ionlar instances of mora] conduct. [nstam 
 in a parent or guardian of Impartiality, or the 
 verse, give birth to 1 ideas of justice and 
 
 injustice. So that, in short, before a child could 
 
 nam- bjeot white, or any movement BWJ 
 
 or any action just, his mind must have been at 
 work. l-t. ( Observing ami noticing thingB around 
 
 him. 2dly. Comparing them together. 8dly. 
 Classifying them according to the results of the 
 comparison. To denominate a horse white, lie 
 must first have noticed several white objY 
 (this would demand merely an exercise of the 
 Secondly, lie must have placed them 
 in his mind (this would demand an 
 of memory). Thirdly, he must, by seiz- 
 npon the point in which they agree, and drop- 
 the points in .which they differ, have rcdu 
 them under a general head or classified them (tl 
 won: :d an exercise of the power 
 
 abstraction and generalization). 
 
 This last power, wMeh we may call the power 
 of C ke to be one of the distin- 
 
46 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 guishing characteristics of tlie Reason. You may 
 classify or generalize too hastily, and so errone- 
 ously (the uneducated do so) ; but this affords no 
 sufficient grounds against regarding the power of 
 Classification as one of the fundamental principles 
 of the human Reason. What is the first thing 
 which a superior mind does, when it grapples with 
 any subject? It classifies; it throws immediate 
 light upon the subject by a clear and good division 
 of it under heads. Look at such a work as Lord 
 Bacon's Advancement of Learning. He takes up 
 each subject of human learning, and divides it into 
 its branches with an admirable skill. The mere 
 division, independently of the comment upon it, 
 sheds a very considerable light upon the subject 
 itself — its bearings flash upon you as you read the 
 dry heads of the topic to be discussed. Again, in 
 matters of practical management, how is a great 
 mind discerned? When the affairs of a nation 
 have got entangled and are in confusion, what is 
 the first work of the intellect which professes to 
 right them ? Is it not organization ? and what is 
 organization but Classification, — the discerning a 
 fitness between certain men and certain posts, and 
 placing the men in those posts, — the methodical 
 devolving of certain functions upon certain seasons 
 and certain persons, — the full carrying out, in great 
 matters, of the principle which holds in common 
 
e Connexion of Speech with Rea*< st, 17 
 things, that there shall Km ;i place for every \ ] 
 
 and that every thing >h:ill he in its pll 
 
 Classification, then, m thegreaf work of the 
 And it will be observed that Language 
 
 classifications made by the 
 
 Language does not give us a distinct won! 
 
 in the world, — it does not assign to 
 things as to men, proper names; l>nt it gives us 
 words, embracing whole . and bo 
 
 susceptible of numerous applications. Take any 
 substani . or verb, in any language, — 
 
 and you will see that the substantive 
 
 see not one object, but many, — the adjec 
 the quality not of one object, but of many, — and 
 verb not one action, but many. The sub- 
 r-tantive comprises numerous objects, and the verb 
 numerous actions, under one head. This is the 
 er of Classification in the human mind, putting 
 f forth in words. Hence the intimate connec- 
 tion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 Of <• is not intended to convey the im- 
 
 -ion, that every one employing Language has 
 iously gone through the mental processes of 
 observation, memory, and classification, which we 
 have described. Certainly not. It is only asserted 
 that rst formation of Language, as in tl<< 
 
 first adoption of it hj ca dual, these pro- 
 
 of the Chapter. 
 
48 The Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 cesses of mind must have been previously at work. 
 Words are the great medium of commerce between 
 mind and mind, as coins are the medium of literal 
 commerce. And as coins, in passing through many 
 hands, become quite worn and smooth, and lose 
 all trace of their original minting, so it is with 
 words : men fling them about in exchange to one 
 another, as current for such or such a significa- 
 tion, without ever dreaming of the intellectual pro 
 cesses which gave them their origin. But Divine 
 Truth, with its heavenly precepts against idle or 
 light words, recalls our minds to this origin. It 
 bids us see in words the exercise of the human 
 Reason. It rubs off the crust and film of usage, 
 which has grown over them, and obscured their 
 origin, and made us think as lightly of them as of 
 pebbles on the sea- shore, and discloses to us their 
 lustre, worth, and weight, and above all the image 
 and superscription of Reason which they bear 
 — Reason, which was itself made in the image of 
 God. 
 
 We turn, however, gladly from the more 
 speculative part of the subject (which yet is neces- 
 sary in order to the thorough sifting of it) to the 
 second passage which stands at the head of the 
 Chapter — that passage which brings before us, not 
 the first man who introduced sin and death into 
 the world, but the second Adam, through whom 
 
'Conner ^jyeech with Iieasi 
 
 alone flow pardon. Ingtothegui] 
 
 ressly st;. '.ml to ha 
 
 Igtire of Him thai was to c 
 
 Adam m 
 
 over nature, by bestowing erior 
 
 animals, so d«> wo find the Lord Jesus Ohrisl oiani- 
 : v iii I lis Bpiritnal Kingdom 
 of Grace, by bestowing names upon His]) 
 3e gives to Bimon the name of Peter, toJai 
 an<l John the surname of Boanerges, or the sons 
 of thunder. 
 
 What the precise signification of the 1 
 
 name, Bfl applied to St. James and St. .John, : 
 be, has been much disputed. The most probable 
 account is, that it has reference to the impetuous 
 r of the two Apostles, — the spirit which 
 prompted the suggestion that fire from heaven 
 should be called down upon inhospitable Samari- 
 tans. Against this it might he alleged, that St. 
 John at least was eminently the apostle of Love, 
 that gentleness and charity seem to have been his 
 distinguishing graces — that the traditional re] 
 sentation of him by painters gives a cast of femi- 
 nine lascnlme beauty to the counte- 
 nance, — and that impetuosity therefore could not 
 have been his loading characteristic. But may it 
 not be questioned whether love, and ardent im- 
 petuosity in behalf ot i, arc not two 
 3 
 
50 The Connection of Speech with Reason. 
 
 sides of one and the same character ? "We speak 
 proverbially of the love of women — the tenderness 
 of women, — and are not women far more animated 
 and energetic than men, when one upon whom 
 they have fastened their entire affection is assault- 
 ed ? Is not their pride in the person they love, 
 and their jealousy on behalf of that person, far 
 more keen and susceptible than the pride and 
 jealousy which the harder sex feel for their friends % 
 Which of the two, think you, would most vehe- 
 mently resent an injury done to a son, or a slur cast 
 upon him — the father or the mother ? I think the 
 mother. And I think that something of this 
 feminine impetuosity of spirit is manifest in the 
 writings of the Apostle of Love. It is hallowed, 
 of course, and chastened by the Spirit of God, 
 which rested upon him as he wrote, but still there 
 is the trait of natural character which gave rise to 
 the surname Boanerges. We hear the thunder 
 when he writes respecting " those who confess not 
 that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh," such a 
 censure as the maudlin liberality of the nineteenth 
 century would pronounce uncharitable : " If any 
 man come unto you, and bring not this doctrine, 
 receive him not into your house, neither bid him 
 God speed." And if tradition may be trusted, he 
 acted in the spirit of this precept, when, hearing 
 that Cerinthus the heretic was in the bath-house, 
 
a Connexion of Speech xoith Reason. 
 
 he fled from the baths, lest the roof of the build' 
 ild tall in upon the aasaOanl of divine truth — 
 
 thus carrviii-r out the prindpl lown Kn die 
 
 mar ioto, I pray you, from 
 
 • wicked men, and touch nothing of th< 
 ye be consumed in their sins." I cannot refrain 
 
 i moment from our topic, to 
 mark how stranp-ly these words and these actions 
 
 a! variance with the spirit of the generation on 
 which we are fallen. To us such a mode of speak- 
 appears illiheral. And why? I 
 beli< ant Of this alteration in the feel- 
 
 istians towards those who deprave or 
 deny God's Truth, to be simply this: Lov 
 waxed cold, as the Lord Himself predicted it 
 should. We of this century have no love of Christ, 
 or but a faint and chilled love; and accordingly 
 we have no jealousy for His honour, and no sen.-i- 
 
 uess to any Blight which the irreverent seekers 
 ;al wisdom may put upon Ilim. And our 
 utter indifference to Ilim we represent to oum il 
 and others under the extraordinary name of liber- 
 ality ! Oh! we could not say Anathema Mara- 
 natha to those who love Ilim not, we could not 
 fling a sentence of excommunication at any soul 
 of man, we could not refuse our hand, nor a ; 
 under our roof, even to the worst heretic thai 
 traversed God's Earth ! If a man announces to all 
 
52 The Connexion of /Speech with JReason. 
 
 the world that he considers Him, upon whom my 
 hopes rest for time and for eternity, my Lord and 
 my God, my guide through life, my support in 
 death, — to be but a mythical character, the crea- 
 tion of man's brain, the fabulous impersonation of 
 perfect virtue (or some such nonsense) — I can hear 
 the announcement without wincing, — I am too 
 liberal forsooth to evince any righteous indigna- 
 tion ! But it is well for me to understand that 
 this liberality of mine is so far from being love, 
 that it is actually one feature of the want of love. 
 If I were a son of love, I should be in my measure 
 a son of thunder also. But having a cold heart 
 — my regards for the Saviour being faint and feeble 
 — I can bear to hear even His existence canvassed 
 with true nineteenth century charity. But I have 
 none of the charity of the first century, — none of 
 the charity which called Elymas the sorcerer " a 
 child of the devil, and an enemy of all righteous- 
 ness," — none of the charity, whose accents, as 
 directed against error in principle, and vice in prac- 
 tice, were these : u Ye serpents, ye generation of 
 vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?" 
 Such is the account which I should be dis- 
 posed to give of the significance of the name 
 Boanerges, as applied to St. James and St. John. 
 But whether or no we can discern the significance 
 of the name, most certain it is that it was emi- 
 
of Speech with Reason. 
 oently significai by Him who 
 
 m what was in man, and lias tSD into 
 
 tin 1 of all Hi> creatures. 
 
 To '■■■■ i€ any thing truly according bo 
 
 ipliea of course an insight lot mo- 
 
 tor. For which reason it is specially mention* 
 
 ;'(iod,that Be DEI 
 
 to He teUeth the anmberof the stars, and 
 
 No man can name the 
 
 stars appropriately (he may give them names drawn 
 from tl. cesof his fancy — from imaginary 
 
 figures in which they arc grouped); but no man 
 
 can give tlicm mum* v.rpressivc of 'tit > \ ' r character^ 
 because in truth he knows not what they 
 What is a planet? Is it a vast globe of super- 
 fluous fluid, — a repository of waters, dispensed 
 witli by the great Artificer in the formation <>t 
 the earth, and now wheeling round on the ski 
 
 lie mundane system? or is it an abode of life 
 and intellivj . the home and haunt of 
 
 angels I And what is a fixed star? Is it a sun 
 of other systems? or is it a shred-coil of luminous 
 • fragment of a nebula ? We may 
 speculate on these things, and form or a> 
 theories on the subject — but we are totally igno- 
 rant of the true character of a star, and so n 
 remain, unless the range of our telescopes is enor- 
 mously enlarged — ID enlargement, the mechanical 
 
54 The Connexion of Speech with Reason, 
 
 difficulties of which wo aid be probably insupera- 
 ble. The nature of a star is a mystery — and, con- 
 sequently, the naming of a star is an attainment 
 beyond our reach. 
 
 "We have spoken of Our Lord's intimate knowl- 
 edge of the character of His disciples, a knowl- 
 edge which He evinced in naming them. It is 
 well to remind ourselves that He has a perfect 
 knowledge of our characters — could at once pro- 
 nounce the name which would most suitably ex- 
 press them. His eyes, which are as fire, penetrate 
 through all disguises, and read the ruling passion, 
 the besetting sin, under every mask of outward 
 circumstance and position. He has read our 
 secret history from childhood: not that history 
 which has been patent to the world, but that 
 which has been transacted in the inner man, in 
 the depths of our consciousness. Does He see that 
 we are His indeed ? that amid all the blackslid- 
 ings of certain portions of our lives, amid all the 
 intricacies of feeling and motive, amid all the 
 alternating conflicts of passion and principle, 
 there is in us a true and loyal heart ? Let us but 
 put this question to our consciences solemnly, 
 and compel from them an honest and candid an- 
 swer to it ; — and we shall not have closed without 
 benefit a Chapter, which to some may have ap- 
 peared too abstruse and speculative for a religious 
 
. on a subject ><> eminently practical as 
 that of the [die Word. 
 
 ft GHAFTBB ii.. p. i8. 
 
 Classification is Oic grett tcork of the Jicason. 
 
 ■ lark, it will be i thai the 
 
 ▼ices of tho Rea- elassilieati- 
 
 i — the fruitful mother of all 
 
 -tition — is over-hasty Classification. Two things aflSOCl 
 ntally (the weari: 
 from illness) the uncultiva y, and re- 
 
 gards as essentially t mother. This ii an in- 
 
 stance of the vice of hasty Clas.-ilicatioii in its rw 
 Among the educated, the same vice shows itself in other ! 
 One notorious property of stupid people ?"« th< V 
 apprehending a distinction. They have laid down a rule, to which 
 lordly adhere in cases which are obviously exceptional — 
 or they entertain some cherished view, under which they reduce 
 all cases which have some superficial affinity with it. Thus th.y 
 reckon things homogeneous, and class them under one head, 
 which 1 tally have profound ies. 
 
 But there is an opposite defeet of the Reason,— and it is one 
 
 of refinement and over-cultivation. It is popularly termed the 
 
 "J a distinction irithout a A auimni will 
 
 often dcvelope distinctions of this kind — distinctions of tlie 
 
 leal character, and which in truth have no n 
 would reason aright, we must neither classify too rough! 
 tinguish too finely — we must steer a mean between the two 
 excesses. 
 
 I shall illustrate further the two faulty processes, by pointing 
 
56 Note. 
 
 out the way in which they manifest themselves in the exposition 
 of Holy Scripture. 
 
 Several of Our Lord's Parables are, by a person who does not 
 minutely study them, classed roughly together as conveying pre- 
 cisely the same lessons. Thus, the Parables of the Pounds and 
 the Talents are supposed to have precisely the same scope. The 
 Lost Sheep, the Lost Piece of Money, and the Prodigal Son, are 
 all regarded as Parables on Repentance — and the distinguishing 
 details dismissed or overlooked. In the hands of a great scholar 
 and divine (like Archbishop Trench) each of these Parables has 
 its peculiar lessons and delicate applications — and the similarity 
 between them is no longer specific — only generic — they are seen 
 to differ as much as various species of grain differ, while all are 
 grain. 
 
 The opposite defect of over-refinement and multiplying dis- 
 tinctions, is seen in the proceedings of the Harmonists. Where 
 two narratives of Scripture obviously refer to the same event, 
 they are induced, by some trifling discrepancy of detail, to regard 
 them as occurring on different occasions — a flagrant improbability 
 on the score of common sense. Two witnesses giving truly their 
 accoimt of the same event, would never do so without superficial 
 discrepancies— for no two minds refract the same event at pre- 
 cisely the same angle. 
 
 What is it that is faulty in the man who generalizes hastily, 
 and the man who distinguishes too finely ? It is the Reason, the 
 mind, the judgment. 
 
 Therefore, Classification is an essential property of the Reason, 
 and according as it is justly or viciously performed, the Reason, 
 is in a sound or unhealthy state. 
 
OHAPTEB III. 
 
 tui: im:avini.v ANALOGY of the 00 
 
 SPLlA II WITH REASON. 
 
 " H tbr brflinninfl hMf H)r Woio, anD ttjr Wort) teas toitb 
 <5oO, anO ttoc QPoiU toas GfoO." — John i. 1. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is the 
 tystery of the Christum Religion. For 
 
 !v of all mysteries that must be the deepest 
 and most mysterious, whose subject is the Nature 
 of the Invisible and Infinite God. 
 
 If then upon all teaser mysteries we can expect 
 only partial light, while here below; much more 
 is it reasonable to suppose that upon tin 
 
 of mysteries" a cloud will ever rest. Of 
 Jehovah it is written that " clouds and darkness 
 
 round about Him." His nature and attri- 
 butes must be ever (more or less) shrouded to the 
 human intellect — at all events while "confined 
 and pestered in this pinfold here," — while cooped 
 3* 
 
58 The Heavenly Analogy of the 
 
 within the trammels of an animal nature. The 
 most which the wisest and holiest man in the 
 world can hope to apprehend of such a mystery, 
 is but little. 
 
 Still, as the doctrine of the Trinity is unques- 
 tionably the Truth of God, and the Truth cannot 
 really be at variance with an enlightened Reason, 
 — we may hope without presumption, under the 
 guidance of Scripture and the illumination of the 
 Holy Ghost, to gain partial glimpses into its sig- 
 nificance — glimpses like those which, through the 
 tumbling sea of mist beneath his feet, a wanderer 
 in the mountains catches of a patch of verdure on 
 the bosom of the hill, as a slant ray of sunshine 
 shoots athwart his path — glimpses sufficient to 
 make us easily believe that, if the full flood of 
 Divine Light could but be poured upon the soul, 
 as it will be in the day when " we shall know 
 even as we are known," the whole doctrine would 
 stand before us in all its proportions, as a fact 
 absolutely necessary and essential, and harmoniz- 
 ing with all other facts in the whole compass 
 of Truth. 
 
 The prosecution of the subject, of which these 
 pages treat, leads us naturally to an illustration of 
 this Cardinal Mystery. 
 
 We saw, in our first Chapter, that Speech or 
 Language is, as a fact connected with Reason, 
 
ion of Speech 101M Reason, 
 
 066 who van .-peak— and 
 
 !v, all who can B] isonable 
 
 to this role have 
 
 '. On * band, ii 
 
 tit be alleged thai the dumb a* able 
 
 beings, — yet the dumb cannot Bpea] 
 
 ther might be argued, mav exist without 
 
 ch. To this it may be answered that actual 
 
 Sound is not essential to the faculty of Speech. 
 
 faulty of conveying to other per- 
 sons (not mere feelings altd emotions, but) the 
 
 processes of the understanding. The dumb can 
 
 do tlii- (and with marvellous intelligence) U] 
 
 their lingers — showing hereby that they possess 
 
 the essentials of Speech. 
 
 Again it might be alleged, though perhaps 
 more wantonly than in earnest, that the whole 
 tribe of imitative birds speak, and. employ certain 
 
 vet these birds are not rational, r 
 not ther le that all creatures which 
 
 ik are reasonable creatures. Hut here again 
 it may be answered that sound — even articulate 
 
 ad — is not the great essential of Speech. 
 Speech is the power of conveying I 
 ical met) rocesses of one's own understand- 
 
 ing. Birds, which imitate the human voice. 
 imitators and nothing more : the WOfdfi which I 
 1 Sec Xote to Chapter I. 
 
60 The Heavenly Analogy of the 
 
 speak they never originate, but catcli them up from 
 men, — nor is there the remotest proof that, when 
 they utter them, they connect with them any in- 
 telligent meaning. 
 
 And let me, by the way, call attention to the 
 circumstance, that an Echo stands in the same re- 
 lation to Inanimate Nature in which an imitative 
 Bird stands to Animated Nature. An Echo is the 
 mimicry of Speech by matter. The language of 
 an imitative Bird is the mimicry of Speech by 
 Animated Nature. Neither Matter nor animated 
 Nature can really speak — neither of them can 
 communicate to others (in method of discourse) 
 ideas originated by themselves. But they can 
 imitate Speech — or rather they can imitate its out- 
 ward form, — of the intelligence, which constitutes 
 its essence and spirit, they are not partakers. 
 
 We must be prepared then to admit that 
 Reason and Speech are essentially connected to- 
 gether, intertwined one with another. The Homer- 
 ic epithets [xepoip and avdijeig (articulate speaking) 
 characterize the rational creature Man. The 
 power of Speech inheres in the faculty of Reason. 
 Reason is revealed by Speech. Speech |s the 
 unfolding, the manifestation, the development, 
 the communication, the message, the utterance, 
 the outcoming, the revelation of Reason. 
 
 Yet, though essentially interwined, — though 
 
Connexion of Speech with Reason . 61 
 
 on implies the power of Speech, and 
 
 Speech implies Reason, — Reason and 
 
 eh are clearly different faculties. Do you 
 wish to BOO them apart, in order to uncertain their 
 distinctness! We can show them to you 
 erance one from another, 01 rather, we can show 
 them to you, one latent, ami the other active. 
 
 Take the case of a man completely absorbed in 
 
 his own reflections, — Sir Isaac Newton, for exam- 
 ple, ,'ple tall to the 
 ;nd. in thinking out the law of gravitation. 
 
 Wrapped in deepest calculation and self-oommun- 
 ing, pasi down, and arms fol< 
 
 and utters DOl a word. Speak to him — call him 
 by name — he does not answer, lie is dumb — his 
 min from the outer world. Lay 
 
 your hand on the shoulder of such an one, — he 
 lo«.k< up with an exclamation of surprise, and you 
 say to him — "So you have found your ton: 
 have your" Perha i be reckoned among 
 
 the accuracies of language, that we do not 
 *• V.'U have found your Speech* hut u You have 
 found your tongue" — hereby implying that the 
 ;lty of Speech was latent in him all the while, 
 but that its instrument, the tongue, had b 
 without -he had not spoken, — he 
 
 had not iie faculty of communicating 
 
 his ideas to others, — but he had been reasoning 
 
62 The Heavenly Analogy of the 
 
 all the time, and if Sir Isaac Newton be the 
 case imagined, reasoning to some purpose. There 
 is an instance of Eeason, independent of Speech. 
 
 However, it might suffice to say, by way of 
 proving their distinctness, that the words Reason 
 and Speech on the surface convey distinct ideas to 
 every mind. 
 
 And yet, distinct as these things are, Speech 
 is wrapped up in Eeason ; — so that wherever the 
 faculty of Eeason is, there the faculty of Speech 
 must be. This was proved in the last Chapter, 
 where we showed that Human Language supplies 
 us with a classification of objects, by assigning 
 generic words to embrace a great number of indi- 
 viduals. To classify, however, is, as we then 
 pointed out, the work of the mind. It is the 
 mind which, contemplating objects, arranges them 
 under different heads. Wherever the mind or 
 Eeason exists, it must have this power, latent in 
 it, of contemplation and arrangement, and accord- 
 ingly, wherever the mind is, there must be in em- 
 bryo the faculty of Speech. So that if we were 
 asked which of the two is the earlier — the Eeason 
 or the Speech — our answer must be, that they are 
 so inextricably intertwined together, that neither 
 the one nor the other is the earlier. They are 
 coeval. They are twin faculties, the moment of 
 their birth the same. May we not say that in a 
 
Connexion of Speech with Reason. 
 
 child, as a general role, the dew Lopmenl of 8p< 
 ace 'exactly with the development of 
 
 ondeistandingt 
 
 ; ie with Light and Colour, which 1 have 
 
 ali-t I 1 M an illu.-t rat i«m. ('dour and 
 
 istiuct things. We have distinct no- 
 tions, when we pronoun, OolOUT and 
 Light But, as Colour inheres in the Light, — is 
 
 a natural property of the Light, — it is impossible 
 
 to say with Truth either that Colour existed bet 
 
 Light, or that Light existed before ( olour. T! 
 
 too, are twin births. At the same point of time, 
 
 when the M"M High issued Hi- first creati 
 
 Light sprang into i ■■• and Colour with it. 
 
 Now we are told in the first Chapter of ( I 
 hat Man was made u in the Image of God." 
 We cannot understand this assertion of the Lody 
 of Man. For God is incorporeal — "lie i 
 Spirit/' saith the Scripture; — as the first of our 
 An' I [e hath neither Body, Pa 
 
 nor Passions." We are driven then to the < 
 elusion that the resemblanoG between God and 
 
 D — the "Image," which was originally stamped 
 upon OUT Nature in the minting of it, — stand* 
 the Mind or . -in that part which dis- 
 
 criminates us from tli e brute. creation. I toy 
 
 to us from the brute 
 ; — for that it does not stand in the soul 
 
64: The Heavenly Analogy of the 
 
 or animal nature, may be inferred from the cir- 
 cumstance that brutes have this animal nature, 
 and yet the Image of God is never said to have 
 been impressed npon them, The Spirit or Mind 
 of Man, then, presents ns with an Image of God; 
 and in examining the Spirit or Mind of Man, we 
 may expect — we are warranted by Holy Scrip- 
 ture in expecting — to find some adumbration, 
 some dim shadowy outline, of the Nature of the 
 Most High. 
 
 If, however, we had only this notice of Holy 
 Scripture, it would behove us to be very cautious 
 indeed in drawing inferences from it. The sub- 
 ject is one upon which Angels may well fear to 
 tread, — into w T hich only a fool would rush with 
 presumptuous curiosity. At the same time, while 
 it is a point of reverence and right feeling not to 
 seek to be wise beyond what is written, it is also 
 a point of holy ambition, to seek to be wise up to 
 that which is written. And there is another 
 passage (or rather there are many other passages 
 of Holy Scripture) which throw' a singular light 
 upon the subject before us. They are those in 
 which the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity 
 is called " the Word" " In the beginning " (thus 
 opens St. John's Gospel ; — how like an oracular 
 voice, dropping from heaven, it sounds, — how full 
 of mystery and sublimity ! ) " was the Word, and 
 
1 waa with ( tod, and the Word was < h 
 
 •;i, "the Wt-nl," was do( original will. 
 i. It was i term much employed by 
 
 -, to <!«•: emanatioii from 
 
 the Deity. St. John takes it up, and adopl 
 
 and applies it to Our 1 Lord as the ( 
 
 mation from Qod I'Ut it matters n<»t at all 
 
 whether he invented the term, <>r adopted it. 
 
 has adopted it, it has now the seal of Indura- 
 tion, — and we must helieve that in the ten: 
 applied to Our Lord, there IS a deep signilica: 
 
 which perhaps a prayerful consideration, and 
 
 comparison of other inspired notice-, may T9\ 
 to 00. 
 
 on was framed in the Image of 
 
 God, — and Our Lord is called the Word J those 
 
 the two Scriptural intimations, which guide 
 
 OB by the hand into part of the truth respecting 
 
 the Divine Nature. 
 
 We lie that Reason involves a thing 
 
 distinct from itself, nam. -h, or the power 
 
 •mmunicating the processes of the Reason — 
 so that whosoever has the faculty of Reason, has, 
 in the faculty of Reason, the faculty of Speech or 
 of the Word. 
 
 have seen that though Reason wraps up 
 BCD in it -nceive of Reason as 
 
66 The Heavenly Analogy of the 
 
 energizing latently, and of the faculty of Speech 
 as having no exercise. 
 
 And we have seen that neither Reason nor 
 Speech can make any claim to priority of exist- 
 ence — that they are twin faculties, born at the 
 same instant. 
 
 Now listen to what the Holy Catholic Church 
 has gathered from the Scripture respecting the 
 Nature of God. 
 
 First, she says, that there is a Trinity in Unity, 
 that is, more than one Person in the Divine Na- 
 ture. Man's spirit, the Bible says, was made in the 
 Image of that Nature. And in Man's spirit there 
 are at all events two faculties, Reason and Speech. 
 The Son, or Second Person in the divine Nature, 
 goes by the name of " the Word of the Father," 
 that is, He stands to the Father in the same rela- 
 tion as that in which the Word, or Utterance, or 
 Speech, stands to the Reason or Understanding. 
 
 Secondly : St John intimates that there was a 
 period when, although both Blessed Persons exist- 
 ed, yet the Son was wrapped in the bosom of the 
 Father, — when, though the Word was, yet the 
 Word came not forth. " The only begotten Son, 
 which is in the hosom of the Father, He hath de- 
 clared Him." That is like Reason, with the fac- 
 ulty of Speech latent in it, — not put forth. 
 
 Thirdly : the Church holds and proclaims that 
 
Connc speech with Rem 
 
 Majesty i Persons I i hat 
 
 - the Father i, and tl tenia] al 
 
 — that t : to attribute 
 
 raid be to fall into the very bar 
 
 Bed I'V upwards of three hundred 
 :ops assembled in Ootmd] at Kicaea. 
 adnmbral this in the human spirit is thai 
 
 twin birth of Reason and Speech, to which 
 
 have already called attention. They are both (as 
 
 :ient might reply, "the Catho- 
 Doetrine is, that in God tin A only 
 
 (which I could nndersl 
 and to seine extent realize) — but two distinct Per- 
 sons." No doubt it is so. And perhaps it 
 be shown by means of another intimation of 
 [ptnre, that at all events there must be more 
 than one Person in the Godhead. For it is writ- 
 that k ' God is love " — that love is the essen 
 "re of God. Love tool His nature, long a 
 before the World began, before there were any 
 human beings to love, before those morning- 
 
 ion dawned upon the brow of time, — before 
 the bad sprung into i «• God was 
 
 c from all eternity. But what does J. 
 imply ? Does it not imply a Person, or Persons, 
 e loved ? it' there was only one Person in the 
 I'd'. gigantic solitude reigning all around 
 
G8 The Heavenly Analogy of the 
 
 him, could He be Love ? would it not be subvert- 
 ing the definition of Love, to say that He was so? 
 The fact is, that what St. Paul says of a Mediator, 
 is true of Love — " a Mediator is not a Mediator of 
 one ; " — there must be two parties to make him 
 a Mediator. Similarly we may say, " Love is 
 not of one." It, too, implies more than one 
 party. 
 
 We may learn from what has been said that' 
 there is no doctrine of the Scriptures and the 
 Church, however mysterious on the surface, 
 which will not by and by reveal to us something 
 of its propriety and harmony, if we diligently 
 read the Word of God with thought and prayer, 
 and patiently ponder and compare its statements. 
 The first point which it becomes us to ascertain, is, 
 that the Holy Scriptures are from God. There 
 are many books of evidence (which it is now the 
 fashion to depreciate) which have quite set this 
 question at rest for every impartial and candid in- 
 quirer. When it is set at rest in your mind, then 
 the remainder of your path is clear. You must 
 accept every thing which God says in the Scrip- 
 ture, however many difficulties it may present to 
 your Reason. But your difficulties shall diminish 
 daily, if you will patiently read on, fastening your 
 belief on the sure testimony, and praying ear- 
 nestly for the Light of the Spirit. Beautiful dis- 
 
Connexion qf Speech with Reas<> 69 
 
 • shall tarsi upon you, as you pursue this 
 
 ries which shall have in them an 
 
 ; i of intellectual and spiritual enjoy- 
 ment, until at lea enthralled from the body, 
 
 K We .-hall k:. i a- also uv arc K ." So 
 
 have I seen a traveller catching at first through 
 !ol boughs disjointed glimpses of 
 
 which he is journeying, but by and by he 
 
 emerges from the woodland, and a sudden turn 
 brings him to the open brow of a hill, and th 
 ben ! the City, in th out- 
 
 line of its fair proportions, its pinnacles smit- 
 ;m, and the silver river inte 
 maze of streets. 
 W»- I:,;-. . Reader, that Speech in the 
 
 nature of man, represents Christ in the Nature 
 of God. This, independently of the Connexion of 
 Speech with Reason, impresses a value and a 
 dignity upon the faculty of Speech. When you 
 . and communicate to others the results of 
 IT reasoning, you are adumbrating in the limits 
 of a finite nature the Nature of the Infinite One. 
 Would you take any thing which represents 
 Ckr; intended to remind us of Oh] 
 
 and make it the instrument and minister of sin? 
 Would you, for exam]-! the con 
 
 elements of the Eucharist, r ing (as they 
 
 do) His Body and Blood, and devote them to the 
 
70 . The Heavenly Analogy, &c. 
 
 purposes of intemperance and excess ? and shall 
 any child of man take this faculty of speech, and 
 degrade it in vain, or profane, or unclean com- 
 munications, making it the instrument of morally 
 corrupting others, and of being morally corrupted 
 himself % 
 
 Son op God, Only Begotten of the Father, who 
 hast sanctified the utterance of the human lips, by 
 taking unto Thyself the title of the Word, touch 
 their hearts with penitence, who have so offended, 
 and, as we would all flee from the contagion of a 
 pestilence which can terminate only in death, so 
 make us to flee from the moral pestilence of filthy 
 talking and idle words, and set Thy watch and 
 seal upon the door of our lips ! 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AN IDLE WORD DEI I im.UE. 
 
 ju sbalt not flo up an& Uoum as a talruravrr amoiifl tljn 
 people." — Lkviticts xix. 10. 
 
 Soi boes this preoept of the Law in liis 
 
 Proverbs: — "A fair' -vi-alcth secrets: but 
 
 he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the mat- 
 ter." And bap. xx. 19: u He that goeth 
 about as a talebearer revealeth secrets : therefore 
 meddle not with him that flattercth with his lips." 
 And in echoing the . the wise king illus- 
 trates it. For the law contains a simple prohibi- 
 
 . without a reason assigned. But Solomon 
 gives a reason. One chief mischief of talebearing 
 ia apt to repeat things which 
 have 1 him in confidence; or, at all v\< 
 
 which had much better be considered as < 
 fidei i if they were not communicated on 
 
 that express understanding. 
 
72 An Idle Word 
 
 It is a startling fact that so large a proportion 
 of the preceptive part of the Bible should, deal 
 with sins of the tongue, and deal with them so 
 severely. I cannot help thinking that this feature 
 of the Scriptural code is an incidental evidence of 
 its having come from a supernatural Source, or, in 
 other words, being inspired. For probably no 
 human treatise of moral philosophy ever gave to 
 words such an importance as the Holy Scriptures 
 assign to them. Certainly Aristotle's great trea- 
 tise on human duty ignores words altogether. 
 And one can see that in any estimate of moral 
 subjects made by mere Reason, the words of men 
 (as being after all a passing breath) would be 
 taken little account of, and the attention fastened 
 simply on their actions and sentiments. But not 
 such is the estimate of Him, whose " thoughts are 
 not as our thoughts." Throw all the precepts of 
 the Old and New Testament into one code ; and 
 how very large a proportion of them will be found 
 to turn upon words ! What a serious, austere 
 view the Sacred "Writers take of what man would 
 call slips of the tongue ! None more serious and 
 austere than Our Blessed Lord Himself, who yet 
 was by no means an austere man, who came eat- 
 ing and drinking, and went into all societies, 
 shunned no company, and whose Sacred Heart 
 was a fountain of most pure and beautiful com- 
 
I th< A 
 passion, in which was inirr«»ivd q of the 
 
 her, and apathy of < k>d with 
 
 all Sis creatures, The Pharisees, convinced of 
 the 1 >h I lm>t, had been belying 
 
 their lotionci by attributing Hi- workB to 
 
 Beelzebub, and inwardly flattering tin 
 donl ith the thought thai their disbelief lay 
 
 in wordfl onlv, not in the sentiments of the heart. 
 Our Blessed Lord solemnly warns then that this 
 
 . word.- and sentiments was in 
 
 fad pardonable sin ; tin' sin against the 
 
 • ; and then, as His manner 
 Coming down from the extreniest form <»!' 
 He was condemning to its milder and more <\- 
 kble shapes, Eesaid, "But I say unto you, That 
 rord that men shall Speak, they shall 
 give account thereof in the day of Judgment. n 
 
 And where Our Lord sets the keynote, all the 
 writers of Holy Scripture chime in unison. 
 
 i all the the Book of Proverbs, whieh 
 
 have reference to foolish talk, had talk, or too much 
 talk; and you will have a very large numher of 
 verses. Add to these the precep ts of St. Paul 
 forbidding corrupt commnnioarion, and prescribing 
 speech with grace seasoned with salt. Close 
 li.-t with that paragraph of t :le, 
 
 which forms the body of the third chapter, and 
 which speaks in such awful terms of the wide- 
 4 
 
74 An Idle Word 
 
 spread mischief done by sins of the tongue, and 
 with that later passage of the same Epistle, in 
 which the Apostle reiterates with emphasis the 
 caution against swearing contained in the Sermon 
 on the Mount, " But above all things, my breth- 
 ren, swear not ; " and you have not only a portion 
 of space devoted to this subject whicji seems to mere 
 Reason disproportionate to its merits; but also, 
 which is more remarkable, the warnings against 
 this class of sin are more deeply serious in tone than 
 those against almost any other. 
 
 Now whatever we may imagine in the vanity 
 of our minds, we may be quite sure that the Word 
 of God has Reason on its side. And we may be 
 quite sure also that we shall have a glimpse of that 
 Reason, if we will but look for it carefully and de- 
 voutly. Physicians, it has been well said, make 
 an immediate and accurate judgment of health by 
 the state of the tongue. And there is the same 
 connexion between a healthy tongue and a healthy 
 condition of body as between a sound heart and 
 sound wholesome w^ords. The tongue is symp- 
 tomatic in both cases. Our Lord says so. "A 
 good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, 
 bringeth fortli good things : and an evil man, out 
 of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things ; " 
 " Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh," 
 
h 
 there is another analogy betweeu mental 
 
 and ImmUIv health, which is still more to thi' point. 
 
 -titutiou 
 
 U bodies is often produced by the moal trifling 
 
 -c>. The hli-ht which destroys some artiel 
 
 nance, the pestilence which lavs low its thoii- 
 
 rhapa traceable to 
 
 the presence in the air, or in food, of certain very 
 minute animalcule-, which are taken into the plant 
 Of into the human sv.-' 
 
 throngh the Lunge, These animalcule- are possibly 
 
 nail, that it requires a powerful d 
 disooyerthem. And in the body itself the ulti- 
 mate nodes, whose arrangement 001 
 health or disease, an' so very insignificant that in 
 
 many 08808 the disorder could never bfl :ue<l 
 
 by the eye. An almost infinitesimal quantity of 
 poison, insinuated into the living body through 8 
 
 puncture or a scratch, will spread like wildfire 
 through the System, and either coinmun: 
 
 mortal disease, or cause mortification in a vital 
 
 part. These are all instances in Nature, in which 
 
 its, trifling in hulk and to the eye, have vet a 
 
 tent effect on the entire frame, both of 
 
 : d animals. AVhy should there he no 
 
 such of similar apparent insignifl- 
 
 canc ot' similar deadly force — in the moral 
 
 world? We believe that there are such. We he- 
 
76 An Idle Word 
 
 lieve that words are such an agent. Things in 
 themselves light and insignificant, blown up like so 
 many bubbles from the surface of the character, to 
 burst as soon as they are formed. Things said in 
 a moment of excitement, and forgotten as soon as 
 the excitement which gave birth to them is over. 
 Things as transient as the morning cloud and 
 the early dew. But it does not follow that they 
 are unaccompanied by serious effects. The moral 
 frame of 'each one of us is, like the animal frame, 
 continually taking in influences, and assimilating 
 nourishment from all sorts of sources. The words 
 of other men, the casual expressions of their sen- 
 timents, have a strong influence upon our char- 
 acters. Our own words have a reflex influence 
 upon -ourselves ; not only coming from the heart, 
 but reacting upon the heart which sent them 
 forth. 
 
 Thus far, we have offered some observations 
 which may justify our regarding the Idle Word as 
 a matter of sufficient importance to form the sub- 
 ject of a separate treatise. In this and the follow- 
 ing chapter we propose to define " an Idle Word " 
 from the Decalogue, before considering the sig- 
 nificance of Our Lord's language in so denominat- 
 ing it. The whole of human duty really founds in 
 the Decalogue. There is no precept of the Gospel 
 which is not to be found in germ and principle in 
 
dq/kutfrom ike Dtoalogus, 
 
 imandm< rant 
 
 ; i. And the in' ' ndy tll< 
 
 mandinents, the mure shall we be impressed with 
 tin 1 great p of the outline of Human 
 
 Duty, which is hero traced by tln« finger of God 
 
 Him-elf. 
 
 The Decalogue falls, 11 know, into two 
 
 tables, one of which guides man in his relations to 
 
 r in his relations to his l'ellow-nien. 
 
 Now it is rarely observable that in each Table 
 
 precept respecting words; in the 
 , "Thousha! be the Name of :' 
 
 thy (nxl in vain;-' in the second, * - Tii >:; -halt not 
 bear dust thy neighbour." Aceord- 
 
 ing to the ordinary (though by no means univer- 
 sally Ij division of the tables, the first con- 
 tains four commandments, the latter six. Tim 
 this code of moral precept- be as we believe, s per- 
 fect and exact one, one-fourth part of our duty to 
 God, and one-sixth part of our duty to man, have 
 to do with the wprds which we speak of them re? 
 ctively. 
 
 In t :it chapter we shall deal exclusively 
 
 with the .mmandment, reserving the Third 
 
 for subsequent consideration. 
 
 30 to which the Ninth Com- 
 mandment applies is that of bearing fid 
 mony to the detriment of another in a court of 
 
78 An Idle Word 
 
 justice, a sin so universally abhorred that it is 
 superfluous to point out or dwell upon the hei- 
 nousness of it. But let us attempt to extract the 
 principle of this Commandment ; for the court of 
 judicature, and the solemn oath, and the other 
 formalities of the law, are only the husk in which 
 the principle is wrapped up. The principle, then, 
 is this: that toe shall in no respect injure our 
 neighbour's reputation. It will not be denied that 
 reputation is a very precious treasure. Life would 
 not be worth having, if a man had no sort of credit 
 from the society in which he moved, if he stood 
 low in the esteem of every soul which formed his 
 little circle. To be respected by others who know 
 us, to have some influence with them, to carry some 
 weight, this is in itself a form of life. Says St. Fran- 
 cis of Sales, "We live three lives, a corporal life 
 which stands in the union of soul and body ; a spirit- 
 ual life which stands in the grace of God ; and a 
 civil life which stands in our reputation. The cor- 
 poral life is stifled by murder ; the spiritual life is 
 stifled by sin ; and the civil life is stifled by slander, 
 which is a species of murder, inasmuch as it destroys 
 a species of life." It is most true. A blow aimed 
 at a man's reputation injures him quite as effectu- 
 ally, though in another form, as a blow aimed at 
 his body ; and most men are far more sensitive to 
 the first of these injuries than to the second ; they 
 
. 
 
 .lllllllllil* »l lnut'l I I 
 
 the caJ 
 
 than the weapon of the highwayman. Tl 
 user of the brethr iven In 8< 
 
 to the author ; and thi id in 
 
 the holy volume by the oarrativi mpl 
 
 to rain the fair reputation which Job enjoyed In 
 the Conn of Heaven, The dander* r th< □ 
 imitation of the devil ; and, aa children aci in im- 
 itation of their parents, he may be truly called 
 
 devil's child. 
 
 r.ut the ninth | i f the law r 
 
 which tall far >hort of slander. Slan< 
 
 faUeo&SL'vuon to the detriment of our neighbour's 
 
 character. But in l'aet a tion to t ; 
 
 ment of his character fa forbidden, whether it be 
 
 true 01 false. Some one perhaps will say : " I do 
 not see this in the Commandment: it is false wit- 
 
 - against our neighbour, not any witneae against 
 him which is forbidden. " But consider wh 
 hazard even a substantially true assertion runs of 
 hen. in the general impre-i.-u created by 
 
 it. The bare fact alleged may be true enough, but 
 if none of the evidence in favour of the I 
 
 I none of the extenuating circumstances be 
 attag by side with the : violate truth 
 
 in tl .four words upon th 
 
 though the particular details of them may be cor- 
 rect. It' we exhibit a man's vices only, and con- 
 
80 An Idle Word 
 
 ceal the proportion which those vices bear to his 
 virtues, we calumniate him quite as effectually, as 
 if we ascribe to hirn a vice which he does not 
 possess. A man may have a defective feature or 
 features, and yet the general proportion of his 
 person may be so good, and the general cast of his 
 countenance so pleasing, that the ill effect of the 
 features which are awry is either modified, or 
 entirely carried off. It is an untrue representation 
 of that man to say merely that he has too promi- 
 nent an eye, or too thick and coarse a lip ; that may 
 be the case, but it is not a fair, because it is not a 
 complete, description of his personal appearance. 
 And, similarly, if my neighbour has been overtaken 
 (perhaps by surprise) in a grievous fault, and if I, 
 for want of better matter to entertain my company 
 withal, blaze abroad this fault of his, but am 
 wholly silent as to his good character up to that 
 time, and as to the prayers and struggles against 
 that particular sin which he may have made, my 
 witness against him becomes as certainly false in 
 the general impression created by it, and therefore 
 as mischievously injurious, as if I stated of him 
 what was not matter of fact. In a word, if a fair 
 account of a man's faults and sins is to be given in 
 conversation, the common rule of justice must be 
 attended to, that evidence shall be heard for the 
 defendant ; which if it were done, a true' verdict 
 
81 
 
 might be ar lint 
 
 e?id 1. dot doefl any party ap- 
 
 [nterests of the defendant, so that the 
 
 [>o being false, and 
 ei idenoe by which it is arrived at ii t«> all intents 
 and \>\u\K)seafal8e witness. 
 
 This consideration evidently ma] 
 ingly difficult for us, and practically all hut im- 
 possible to say any thing to our neighbour's disad- 
 vantage in common conversation, which shall not 
 
 ral effect on the 
 
 minds of the hearers. If they gathered nn other 
 
 from our words, than that the all 
 ti.»n were true as an isolated fact, it might be all 
 well and good. Bat this we know from our own 
 experience they do. With the speed of 
 
 lightning we all of us proceed from adverse f 
 to a general unfavourable judgment, on a man's 
 character, and the devil being in the ear of the 
 company as well as in the tongue of the i 
 the thought rises up instantaneously in their minds, 
 " lias such a man indi B this or thai I 
 
 :i what a villain he must be? how must all 
 confidence in him be at an end ! " 
 
 One element of miachii f in the habits of the 
 talebearer has been thus exhibited. The t 
 
 per can hardly escape the charge of being 
 detractor. But even without poeitivi 'ion 
 
 4* 
 
82 An Idle Word 
 
 he may do great mischief by disclosing private 
 confidences, or things which had better be con- 
 sidered as such. The confidences which are so 
 disclosed are generally of a petty and insignificant 
 kind ; idle gossip is usually the sphere in which 
 such communications live and move and have 
 then' being, according to that word of the Apos- 
 tle, which attributes this particular form of sin to 
 women without families, who have nothing to do : 
 " Withal they learn to be idle, wandering about 
 from house to house " (how clear an echo have we 
 here of the Mosaic precept, " Thou shalt not go up 
 and down as a talebearer among thy people ") ; 
 and not only " idle, but tattlers also, and busy- 
 bodies, speaking things which they ought not." 
 And because of the usually contemptible charac- 
 ter of such gossip, it is not sufficiently considered 
 how real an enemy to society the man or woman 
 who indulges in it is. One great difference be- 
 tween God's estimate of sin and ours is, that God 
 considers a sin in its tendency and natural opera- 
 tion, apart from all the checks and hindrances 
 which impede its full development. Man, on the 
 other hand, judges of it, not by the mischief which 
 it has a tendency to do, but by that which it act- 
 ually does. To see the full evil of revealing con- 
 fidences, we must consider what the result to So- 
 ciety Would be, if every one revealed them. Sup- 
 
th !>■ 83 
 
 ■ that t : nan, 
 
 \\\ to Kris family and friends, 
 abroad when he has attained to i 
 nenoe and is in i position of naaftthiess : >\\y\ 
 that every mini-' ligion thought hi 
 
 liberty to divulge tin 1 bbci trusted t<> him by 
 
 bnrden< ion ; ^ii] >j >< >-c* that 
 
 the secret history of many a family which stands 
 will before the world and possibly fa at the head 
 
 divnlged by <>ne of its meml 
 onqnestionably many facts would thus be brought 
 
 t<» light which arc now little dreamt of J hut what 
 would become Of that OOnft man 
 
 and man, on which the whole social fabric i> 
 built I Trust in our fallow-men, which is the 
 
 foundation of all social virtues, and which is so 
 
 ■utial to the love of them, would he at an end 
 
 <ver. And I believe it would not be long bc- 
 
 tmst in (iod, which is the foundation of all 
 
 religions virtues, would take its flight also. 
 The safe rule to be deduced from I 
 
 ions as to the government of the tongu 
 
 Society, is to stand at a very respectful di 
 
 i all such topics as our neighbour's conduct 
 
 and :•. We shall escape all risk of d< 
 
 him injury, if we never repeat any thing 
 
 have heard to his disadvantage ; and if to this we 
 
 add the imply (and with 
 
84 An Idle Word 
 
 exaggeration) what we know in his favour, when 
 we hear him attacked, we shall not only be free 
 from the charge of wronging, but also do some- 
 thing to right him in the estimate of others. 
 
 Of course this rule, like all other rules, must 
 be understood with those qualifications which com- 
 mon sense, other precepts of Scripture, and the 
 very principle of the rule itself imply. Circum- 
 stances may and do arise, in which it is right and 
 necessary to take away a man's natural life. Not 
 that even in this case our duty to our neighbour 
 is for an instant suspended ; but our duty to a 
 single neighbour is overruled by our duty to Soci- 
 ety. The murderer is rightly executed, the care 
 which the Law has for the lives of innocent sub- 
 jects overruling the care which it has for the life 
 of a single guilty one. And, similarly, circum- 
 stances may arise (and do arise) in which it is not 
 necessary only, but right, to say things adverse to 
 our neighbour's fair fame, and thus to take away 
 his civil life. It is a positive charity to expose 
 impostors who deceive mankind; of a wolf in 
 sheep's clothing we shall do well to point out the 
 claws, and to show the inconsistency of his life 
 with his professions, lest he should devour other 
 sheep; and this holds good, whether the person 
 against whom Society is to be put on its guard be 
 vicious in practice or erroneous in principle. Er- 
 
-/</■'' ///■" '/•■ /a .// ; / • . 86 
 
 ill fundamental points of Religion i 
 
 ingly perilous to young and rim] j and it 
 
 maudlin, spurious charily, too popular at 
 
 lent day,— nay, if we are in a position to teach 
 and influent . it may be die ruin of * 
 
 k>u1, — to Bali m with unc- 
 
 tuous flattery of the life of their professors. Not 
 
 lid the ApOStle, who is tl tuple of 
 
 the grace of Love in a sinful man. St. John did 
 not think that pretty philosophical sentiments and 
 a blameless life were to compound for vital error 
 in doetri er transgresseth," ori 
 
 ••and abideth not in the doctrine of Oh 
 hath not God: he that abideth in the doctrine of 
 
 [fit, hath both the Father and the Son. If 
 there come any unto you, and bring not this doc- 
 trim . him not into your house, neither bid 
 bim God speed." 
 
 But these and similar qualifications having 
 
 D made, it remains for us seriously to put it to 
 our own consciences, — "How often, when 1 have 
 
 ad abroad sometbing to another's disadvan- 
 < ked another's character, have I 
 
 I justified in so doing by considerations of the 
 
 ■rests of Society, or the interests of truth?" 
 And remember, in self-examination on this point, 
 that our unfavourable testimony may have really 
 more or less 1 one of yet 
 
86 An Idle Word 
 
 may not have been intended by ourselves to do 
 so. There may possibly have been good grounds 
 for bearing witness against our neighbour ; but 
 we did not proceed to it upon these grounds, but 
 merely from want of something better to say, 
 mixed up perhaps with a grain or two of personal 
 dislike. 
 
 I must just glance, before concluding, at the 
 word " false," in the Ninth Commandment, and 
 give it a prominence which it has not received 
 hitherto. Insincerity is falsehood ; and all insin- 
 cere apologies for our neighbour, or commenda- 
 tions of him (an extreme into which some well- 
 meaning persons are apt to run from a dread of 
 calumny), are to be avoided. Though we should 
 endeavour, if possible, to defend him when at- 
 tacked, it must always be by honest arguments, 
 such as we ourselves think to be valid evidence in 
 his favour. Above all, we must beware of salv- 
 ing over a personal aversion by hollow and false 
 compliments, a hateful hypocrisy which transpires 
 very quickly, and which never fails to inspire the 
 listener with a just disgust. Let us remember 
 that " he that hideth hatred with lying lips (as 
 well as he that uttereth a slander), is a fool." 
 Let us take heed of coming under that animad- 
 version of the wise man : " He that hateth dissem- 
 bleth with his lips " (maketh his voice gracious), 
 
87 
 
 i np deceit within him. W 
 • him not : lor tip 
 minationa in his heart" \Vhoae hatred is 
 
 [nesa dial] he iho 1 
 gregation.' 3 
 
 : a mora] 
 duty, which, insignificant as it seems at first, wo 
 have shown to have an important bearing on the 
 welfare of Society. Lei none imagine that mob a 
 topic is unsj'iritual off unevangelicaL We fa 
 
 it is true, nothing to preach hut the unsearchable 
 
 riches oi an tliere are unsearchable 
 
 riches i:i Hi- Example as well afl in Bifi 
 
 ment, in His precepts as well U in I lis promisee, 
 
 which equally require to be unfolded in the view 
 
 of His Church, And in order to connect with 
 IIi> pare and spotless life the precept which we 
 have I tempting to illustrate, we need only 
 
 adduce the words of Psalm x\\, which i 
 acription, by anticipation, of that perfectly right- 
 d, whom God would accept in virtue of 
 . meritorious obedience, who should abide 
 for ever in the true tabernacle which the Lord 
 
 shed, and not man; who should rest for < 
 upon tli: ly Hill, whereof Mount Xion was 
 
 but a type: — "Lord, who shall abide in Thy 
 !1 dwell in Thy holy hill \ 
 
88 An Idle Word defined from the Decalogue. 
 
 . . . He that backhiteth not with his tongue, 
 nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a 
 
 reproach against his neighbour He that 
 
 doeth these things shall never be moved." 
 
CIIAPTKU V. 
 
 AN EDLH WORD I nOH 
 
 " riiou sbnlt not tnhr the "Xante of tbr HorD thn (Sob in bain I 
 for tbr HorD toill not bola ftim fluiltlrss tbnt tabctb Wis Xamc 
 In bain." — Exodus xjl 7. 
 
 This precept, like the rest of God's command- 
 Ingly broad. For by " the Name 
 of God" is not to be understood merely the d< 
 nation in speech of the Divine Being. K;un 
 old times bang significant of the characteristics 
 of the persons bearing them, the Name of God in 
 Boly Scripture is often put lor the character and 
 attributes of the Divine Being : the most remarka- 
 ble example of which mode of speaking is to bo 
 found in the proclamation of God's Name to 
 Koees, that proclamation being nothing else than 
 an i of God's attributes in Mos. 
 
 : u The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and 
 gracious, long-suli'ering, and abundant in good- 
 ness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, for- 
 
90 An Idle Word 
 
 giving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that 
 will by no means clear the guilty." If in the 
 Third Commandment the Name of God be under- 
 stood in this broad sense, every sort of profane- 
 ness, all desecration of things connected with God 
 will be forbidden by it. It is, however, our pres- 
 ent purpose to deal with it only so far as it for- 
 bids wrong words, against which in the first in- 
 stance it is directed. 
 
 There is a great resemblance between the Deca- 
 logue and the Lord's Prayer, indicating to a thought- 
 ful mind that both proceeded from one and the 
 same Author. The Decalogue falls into two tables, 
 the Lord's Prayer no less obviously into two dis- 
 tinct classes of petitions. The first table of the 
 Decalogue prescribes our duty to God ; the sec- 
 ond our duty to our fellow-men. And similarly 
 the first section of the Lord's Prayer contains 
 petitions for God's honour, kingdom, and service ; 
 the second section petitions for the supply of 
 man's wants. 
 
 We are apt to think our whole duty discharged, 
 if we have been blameless in our conduct towards 
 our fellow-men. But the Law of God corrects 
 that error with a high hand, teaching us that the 
 most fundamental duty of man, that which has 
 the earliest claim upon him, is "to love the Lord 
 his God with all his heart, and with all his mind. 
 
dqjfadfrom th>- Dialogue* 91 
 
 and with all I, and with all his strength. '' 
 
 ■, similarly, we axe apt t<» think that in pra 
 
 thing more than the supply 
 our own needs, bread, m 1 so 
 
 i. Hut the Lord's I'nu i 
 i a high hand, teaching oa thi honour, 
 
 Eh cause and aervioe, Ik to the b< 
 
 .! hifl own needs. 
 And to to particulars, there is no one 
 
 who does not see the marked resemblance be- 
 Tbird Oommandment ("Thou shalt 
 take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain"; 
 and tlie first petition of the Lord's Prayer ( w Sal- 
 lowed be Thy Name"). The Commandment pro- 
 hibits that, the opposite of which the Prayer 
 solicits. We are forbidden not to te God's 
 
 ie : and we pray that we may consecrate or 
 hallow it. When we sincerely, in a spirit of love 
 and reverence, call God " our Father," we fulfil 
 the •mmandment, pr o fessing I Jim to be 
 
 our God, and repudiating all other. When we 
 . with the spirit and with the understanding 
 hieh art in Heaven," we fulfil the second 
 Commandment; for hereby we indicate that the 
 God we wor&hip ia in Keaven, beyond the barri 
 of gross matter, and that therefore we must 
 harbour any sensuous conception of IJim, or m 
 material representation. Thus the invocation 
 
92 AnldU Word 
 
 of the Lord's Prayer embodies the two first Com- 
 mandments. And the first petition which follows 
 the invocation is an echo of the third. 
 
 The extreme form of sin forbidden by this 
 Commandment is perjury ; a solemn calling upon 
 God to attest that which we well know to be false. 
 But the spirit and principle of the precept forbids 
 also all profaneness of expression ; and I cannot 
 help pointing to the ground assigned for the pro- 
 hibition, as remarkably illustrating the fact ad- 
 verted to in our last Chapter, namely, the serious 
 estimate of words which Almighty God, and those 
 w r ho are the exponents of His mind and will, seem 
 to form. " For the Lord will not hold him guilt- 
 less that taketh His Name in vain." The Law- 
 giver seems to glance at a different estimate of 
 this subject, popular and current among those on 
 whom the restriction is laid. It is as if He had 
 said, " Man may hold words in no account — may 
 deem them a wind that passeth away, and cometh 
 not again. What can be the harm, he may ask, 
 of a word spoken against conviction, and with a 
 mental reservation, if the sentiments of the heart 
 be right ? We cannot suppose that for so slight 
 a thing as a word God will judge us, though we 
 could easily conceive that He might do so for neg- 
 lect of His Worship, or any practical disrespect 
 shown to His Ordinances." In answer to these 
 
reasoning of the Datura] heaitj God as 
 
 that He will l»v do d id him guiltiest that 
 
 takctb His Name in vain. 1 1 1 : will by DO D* 
 do BO) however man illicit act ; fend IK' will 
 
 7ffaw, that IS, He 
 
 will account profaneneas of I to be a se- 
 
 offenee. 
 
 current profanenooaoB of (Uprooaion, into 
 
 which Christians, good and serious in the main, 
 
 aright he entrapped from want of reflection, or in 
 
 a moment of excitement, arc as folk* 
 
 1. All ; :011s which take the form of an 
 
 Oath, whether the name of the true Qod he intro- 
 duced in them or not ; all ejaculations in BUrpriae 
 ment, wliich imply an invocation of Cod. 
 
 The original design of the Commandment 
 
 probahlv to draw a hroad line of demarcation hc- 
 n the peculiar people of God, and those con- 
 tiguous heathen nations (the Egyptians specially) 
 ly interlarded their disoonTBe with the 
 names of their deities, I>is, Apis, Jupiter, II<r- 
 i. T<> a certain extent the pre- 
 fect; for the Jews never allowed the 
 name Jehovah (meaning the Self-existent One, or 
 Sf that was and that is, and that is to © 
 pass their lips. When they came across it in the 
 Old Testament, as they did in every page, I 
 
 another word of lower import, not ex- 
 
94 An Idle Word 
 
 clusively appropriated to God; nor was it ever 
 lawful to pronounce this sacred Name except for 
 the High Priest once a year on the great day of 
 Atonement, when he announced forgiveness to 
 the people in the name of JeJwvah. But while in 
 this formal superstitious manner they observed 
 the letter of the Commandment, they — at least in 
 the later period of their history — evaded its spirit, 
 and when God Incarnate came among them, He 
 found them using all manner of conversational 
 oaths, swearing by heaven, by the earth, by the 
 Temple, by Jerusalem, and so forth, in all which 
 forms of speech they recognized no guilt. It is 
 against this practice that our Lord directs His 
 precept in the Sermon on the Mount : " But I say 
 unto you, Swear not at all ; neither by heaven ; 
 for it is God's throne : nor by the earth ; for it is 
 His footstool : neither by Jerusalem ; for it is the 
 city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear 
 by thy head, because thou canst not make one 
 hair white or black ;" a precept which is echoed, 
 almost in the terms in which it was issued, by the 
 Apostle James : " But above all things, my breth- 
 ren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the 
 earth, neither by any other oath ; but let your 
 yea be yea, and your nay nay, lest ye fall into 
 condemnation." 
 
 It is singular what a hold conversational oaths 
 
defined from the Decalogue* 95 
 
 have taken of the minds of men In all ages and 
 
 countries alike ; what ■ <li haa ah 
 
 i BUOWU with the simple atlirmat ion and de- 
 nial, 8fl not inffici iphatic; and how, when 
 l6T the Knflnenoe Of Christian civilization) a 
 
 direct appeal to ' God has been entirely 
 
 banished from good society, foolish and frivolous 
 
 Lamations, in which tlic name, is disguised, or 
 
 banged for that of some heathen Deity, have 
 
 The account of this is, that the 
 mind is raffled by some momentary excitement, 
 
 whether of anger or BnrpriflO; that all emotions 
 naturally seek a Tent ; and that a momeir 
 relict' is found in expressions of this kind. 
 
 lost other practices, with g] 
 facility grows into a trick ; and then is indulj 
 in as a mere flourish, even when the mind is per- 
 
 ly calm. It may be thought, perhaps, that it 
 
 is not easy to see the guilt of such a habit ; and 
 
 that when once formed, it is so instinctive as to 
 
 some involuntary. But let it be considered 
 
 that in the presence of an earthly sovereign such 
 
 ressions would be accounted most indecorous, 
 and universally refrained from without an et! 
 — the history of which propriety of BOUT 
 
 would be, that men naturally lay a restraint upon 
 
 mselves, when they are under the eye of one 
 whom they | instinctively take care 
 
96 An Idle Word 
 
 that nothing shall escape them, which can be con- 
 strued into disrespect of a great presence. This 
 remark opens a glimpse into the true spiritual 
 significance of the precept before us ; for a con- 
 sciousness of God's Presence steadily maintained 
 would impose a similar restraint, as we shall have 
 occasion presently to notice more at large. 
 
 2. I pass from the unduly emphasized assever- 
 ation or denial to other profanenesses of ex- 
 pression, into which Christians might be liable to 
 fall. 
 
 It is a bad habit, and one which we should seek 
 as much as possible to banish from our discourse, 
 to quote texts of the Holy Scriptures by way of 
 pointing a jest. The effect of this practice is, that 
 when we next come across the text in Private De- 
 votion, or it may be in the Public Service of the 
 Church, the ludicrous association clings to it : Ave 
 seek to brush it off, as a person walking through a 
 corn-field seeks to brush off a burr which clings to 
 his dressfcbut we fail; and find it perhaps impos- 
 sible to re-invest that passage with the sanctity 
 which once it had for us. In the Psalms we find 
 it written, "Thou hast magnfied Thy Word above 
 all Thy Name ;" as if out of the whole circle of 
 His attributes and properties there was none which 
 God so especially delights to honour as His Word. 
 And certainly, if there be any truth in the repre- 
 
lof Our Lot 
 raphers the Si no one thing 
 
 which He so continually honoured in His] 
 
 riptara ment Thepro- 
 
 phctieal outline which those Scripture- h:i<l fen 
 out for Him as Messiah seems to have been one 
 the uppermost thoughts in Bis mind; and as Se 
 
 was tul tilling His great destiny, He was continu- 
 ally rey e rt in g to thi- outline with such expressions 
 as, " The Scriptures must he fulfilled." Now if 
 God holds His Word in such especial honour, and 
 it* the incarnate Son, the linage in human flesh of 
 the Invisible (iod, and OOT pcrte ■; K\ ample, shows 
 Mich a deference to Scripture's slightest intima- 
 tion ly cannot be in conformity with the 
 
 mind of God and Christ that we should desecrate 
 wh; ially yenerable by light and jocular 
 
 applications of it And possibly this practice of 
 quoting Scripture in a connexion which d 
 it may haw gradually wrought more eyil upon our 
 own minds than we are fully aware. One pal 
 error of the day is a light esteem of Holy Scrip- 
 ture ; a contemptuous repudiation of certain parts 
 of it, as altogether unworthy of credit from their 
 
 » conflict with scientific discov* 
 the moral sense of man; and generally a bringing 
 down of the Sacred Books to the leyel of com 
 writings, upon whir :n is to sit in judg- 
 
 5 
 
98 An Idle Word 
 
 merit, eliminating whatever does not satisfy her, 
 and reconstructing the lively Oracle in a manner 
 suitable to the progress and enlightenment of the 
 age ! How much of this awful presumption, which 
 is now making such encroachments upon Sacred 
 Literature, may be due to small habits of irrever- 
 ence, gaining ground stealthily and insidiously on 
 the mind, it is impossible to say. But this we may 
 confidently assert, that for all light esteem of 
 Holy Scripture, as of every thing else connected 
 with the Name of God, a judgment will in due time 
 overtake us ; and therefore we cannot be too cau- 
 tious or scrupulous as to our own practice in this 
 particular. 'No doubt the gaiety and mirthfulness 
 of discourse is in itself a good thing, because in this 
 way it is that Conversation is made to fulfil one of 
 its ends, which is the relief of the mind under the 
 many burdens of life ; but too dear a price is paid 
 for this gaiety, if it is produced by any saying, how- 
 ever sparkling, which compromises or lowers our 
 reverence for God's Word. To refrain from such 
 a saying will no doubt often be a trial to those in 
 whose characters there is a humorous and imagina- 
 tive element ; but let them say, after honestly try- 
 ing it, whether such self-restraint, out of reverence 
 to the Awful Name of God, does not bring with it 
 its own reward, — whether it is not at all events 
 compensated by the great facility and readiness 
 
(l,juu<! /rum t/<< Dtoalogui . 
 
 with which the mind ifl brought into 
 frame, and fenced from di 
 8. But | 
 
 h things 
 and when' in a rapid 
 would be oy< I >ur I 
 
 controversial times, when a great public interest 
 
 !t in Bubj religion. We do not be':' 
 
 tliat the depth of thi at all proportion- 
 
 ate t«» its universality. What men hare much 
 on their ifl Beldom a very iinn root in 
 
 :• minds: — and it is just this cunil )ination of 
 ihh Ik with shallowness of feeling (aochar- 
 
 ic of our dav) which constitutes our dan 
 Theologj Dflaionfl are so common iiuw-a-days, 
 
 that the words which denote the hi- 
 of Religion have become mere counters, passed 
 about from hand to hand with a fatal facility. As 
 coins which are in continual currency lose the Sov- 
 image originally impressed upon them, so 
 that we can no longer tell to what reign the\ 
 long ; so these religious words, being bandied about 
 continually, lose all the f. of their original 
 
 sign . and convey hardly more of idea 
 
 the minds of the persons using them than an al 
 braical formula. Hen will talk about the Ed 
 ration of Scripture, Baptismal Regeneration, the 
 Sacrament of the Altar, the Powers of the Chris- 
 
100 An Idle Ward 
 
 tian Ministry, the Miracles of Our Lord, His Divine 
 Sonsliip, the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, with- 
 out ever pausing for a moment to consider the 
 deep reality of the things on which their conversa- 
 tion is turning, — without the thought crossing them 
 that their tongue is making its sallies in the region 
 of the supernatural. Who ever came away from 
 an ordinary controversial discussion, feeling that 
 he was the better for it, or with an impression of 
 the solemnity of Divine things abiding on his 
 spirit ? Who ever came away without feeling that 
 the dignity of the subject had been somewhat im- 
 paired by the rude friction against his neigh- 
 bour's views which his own views had sustained ? 
 And what is the reason of this result ? The reason 
 is that, in the warmth of the discussion, both parties 
 have forgotten the reality of the things which were 
 upon their lips ; both have in a measure (though 
 quite unconsciously, and probably with no worse 
 motive than that of mutual improvement) " taken 
 the Name of the Lord their God in vain." To 
 talk suitably and profitably about Divine things is 
 no such easy matter as might be supposed. It de- 
 mands a certain state of heart which is not by 
 ordinary Christians realized, except in happy mo- 
 ments. It demands recognition of God's Presence, 
 of the mysteriousness of His Nature, and of all 
 truths concerning Him, and of the limitations 
 
dqfintdfrom th* Dtoa&ogue* L01 
 
 imposed up uman understanding 
 
 mind m ipping rather than a ; 
 
 nl*1 Truth is most i 
 
 with tli tending, bul 
 
 with the heart ; and he who allows him- 
 
 a:i intellectual game of the pursail 
 it coold be woo by mere dialectical fencing, 
 the wrong end, and misses b 
 gather of it- i Sect. 
 
 of Sir Isaac Newton, a: 
 told of Boyle, that he n 
 ■:i\vrsati«>n without a visible j •:. 
 
 or stop, and that, if he were covered at tl 
 he commonly also raised bifl hat from his 1 
 
 : how mucli it is to be desired in these d 
 of Religious Conferences and Church Congresses, 
 when fluent mention of God and Divine thing 
 certain circles is so much in vogue, that men would 
 cultivate the same spirit which expressed itself by 
 
 • outward visible signs? How much it ; 
 be desired, even if the only point to be secured were 
 the edification of man ! For a controversial dis- 
 cussion, conducted with a seriousness suitable to 
 the subjects on which it turns, could not h 
 rimonious discussion. A heart solemnized by the 
 thought of God's Presence is in a calm state, — is in 
 communion with the Fountain of Truth and Love, 
 and cannot easily fulminate an anathema, or e 
 
102 An Idle Word 
 
 provoke a difference of opinion. But how much 
 more desirable does such a state of mind appear, 
 when we remember that not only the danger of 
 dissension with man has to be guarded against, but 
 that also of offence to the Majesty of Heaven ! Sins 
 against Society are light as compared with those 
 against God, and are to a certain extent remedia- 
 ble by Society itself, according to that profound 
 word of the old priest : " If one man sin against 
 another, the judge shall judge him : but if a man 
 sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him % " 
 4. We have spoken of Reverence in handling 
 Divine Truth; but there is another sentiment, 
 distinct from, and yet intimately blended with 
 Reverence, with which it should be handled, — I 
 mean that sentiment of fervour, of love, and de- 
 light, to which the name of unction is usually 
 given. Surely it is doing a great wrong to the 
 greatest of all themes, if we speak of God in a 
 dry, cold, hard manner, without any feeling of the 
 surpassing beauty, amiability, and attractiveness 
 of His Character. A Being whose heart is a 
 Fountain of pity and of sympathy with H*is 
 meanest creatures, and whose tenderness for His 
 rational creatures is so unspeakably great, that, 
 sooner than they should perish, He consented to 
 the Sacrifice of His Son ; a Being who, in His in- 
 exhaustible bounty, yearns and longs to communi- 
 
. '•/•',■, ] fi ■ t!,. I > ■' [/■■■ . 103 
 
 far nd i irni 
 
 ifter union, with man in particular, that to effect 
 
 this union, Ee » OUT Nature 
 
 D Him, an«l Irit to make us partal 
 
 Nature, — a Father of lights, from 
 whom ] v scintillatio:: loiD and 
 
 truth which has I D struek out, and a God 
 
 Love IH whom every pure ami t> | 
 
 ntres, — such a One should not be 
 lUUII in a loving and fervent spirit, 
 
 with the feeling that, if we had the tongues 
 of : ■ exalt Ilini with, wo could m 
 
 tell forth His praise. Such an in- 
 finitely good, wise, and tender Father one would 
 wiflh never to think of without a drawing of 
 heart towards Him, and therefore never 
 
 ipeak of except in terms which might commend 
 Him to the listeners. It is a high attainment to 
 
 ik of God thus in familiar discourse, but not 
 
 ond the reach of any man who will set about 
 it in the right way. It is not to be done by un- 
 natural .-training alter a pious sentiment, and in- 
 jecting it into the ear of a casual listener. The 
 speech which ministers grace to the hearers is never 
 forced, but flows naturally from the exuberance 
 of a heart full charged with its subject ; it 
 from* a fountain, not water forced up by niacin: 
 
 Id much and fervent communion with God; 
 
104 An Idle Word 
 
 and let this communion consist not so much in 
 direct prayer, as in meditation on His glorious and 
 lovely attributes, as they are fully revealed to us 
 in the Gospel. This meditation, if persisted in, 
 will gradually beget what I shall call a gravitation 
 of the mind towards God, a thrill of joy' when any 
 new wonder in His works or His Word is revealed 
 to us, and of delight when He is honoured and 
 glorified. And this state of mind will transpire 
 occasionally — with some oftener, with others more 
 rarely, according to the greater or less unreserve 
 of the character, — in simple but fervent words 
 spoken to those around us, which, coming from the 
 heart of the speaker, and having a savour of 
 heavenly affections, which commends them, are 
 very likely to go to the heart of the listener. 
 Thus shall we not only refrain from taking the 
 Name of the Lord our God in vain, but shall do 
 something towards the fulfilment of the precept 
 on its positive side, by " hallowing the Name " of 
 our Father which is in Heaven. 
 
 5. And now, in conclusion, we must exhibit 
 this positive side of the precept a little more fully. 
 In order to which it will be necessary to observe 
 the connexion which subsists between the com- 
 mandments of the first Table. We know that 
 they are all summed up in the one precept of 
 "loving the Lord our God with all our heart, and 
 
defined from the Deoaloj L05 
 
 with all OUT BOUl, Mid with all OUT mind, and with 
 all < / , Now this devoted love of God 
 
 must necessarily involve the following obliga- 
 
 : — 
 
 . An obligation to worship Him only, 
 to i nsion of pleasure, money, distinct! 
 
 or any other objed to which men give their hearts. 
 This is the obligation prescribed hy the I 
 Oommandment 
 
 Secou'lhj. An obligation to worship Him in 
 
 it and in truth, not leaning upon material 
 •lis, or impressions derived from the 
 
 -es. This is the obligation prescribed by the 
 Second Commandment. 
 
 . An obligation to worship Ilim, in a 
 
 tain sense, unceasingly, by continually realiz- 
 ing His i •. and gravitating towards Him in 
 our inmost souls. This is the obligation pre- 
 • v the Third Oommandment, 
 
 And fourthly. An obligation to devote a cer- 
 tain portion of our time to direct acts of worship. 
 This last precept is the antidote and corrective of 
 an error, which possibly might be insinuated by 
 the Third, For it might be asked: "If the 
 mind is never allowed to lose the consciousness of 
 God's Presence, is not this sufficient hum 
 without any distinct acts of worship?" The 
 Fourth Commandment answers this question in 
 
106 An Idle Word 
 
 the negative, affirming the principle that God has 
 a claim upon our time, and that this claim must 
 be acknowledged by surrendering a certain por- 
 tion of it to Worship, Public and Private. — But 
 to return to the Third Commandment. 
 
 I am not denying that forcible restraints upon 
 the tongue are good, or that they are necessary as 
 steps by which we may mount up to the spiritual 
 fulfilment of this precept. But I do say that the 
 precept, understood in its length and breadth, in- 
 volves something far beyond these restraints. It 
 cannot be thoroughly fulfilled without an habitual 
 consciousness of God's Presence, and intimate 
 nearness to each one of us. " Thy Name also is 
 so nigh." " I am always by Thee." Let this 
 consciousness preside in the soul ; and an irrever- 
 ent word becomes at once an impossibility. We 
 have already seen that it is only when a man is 
 off his guard, and does not care for his company, 
 that such words escape him. If he were in a royal 
 presence, nay, even if he were in the presence of 
 a child or a woman, or, in short, of any one to 
 whom respect is felt to be due, he would, almost 
 without an effort, refrain from profane language. 
 Then if he can bring himself to the remembrance 
 that God's Eye is always upon him, that this Su- 
 preme Object of reverence and love hears every 
 word he says, and registers every idle' word, this 
 
/A •,/',. li>7 
 
 tliontrlit will njn .I-.' rule could do, to 
 
 secure the fulfilment of the preoept Seek, then, 
 this consciousness of God's Presence. Bay often 
 in thine heart. M Thou God 86681 me; n M II;; 
 
 • here looked after Him that seeth nic!" 
 
 practice of pouring momentarily In bonneae or 
 
 ation, to realize God's T : the 
 
 rudiment ion* in the Primer of Religion, 
 
 Which fa CUB tO walk by faith and not by 
 
 :. Be thoroughly rooted and grounded in this 
 lesson. Make it the maxim of your spiritual life. 
 And you shall soon learn to live more nearly as 
 you pray, when you pray, as you do daily, that, 
 the "Name of our Father who is in Heaven may 
 Mowed." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHAT IS AN IDLE WOKD ? 
 
 44 3Ebcrr> i&le toorti tfjat men st)all spcaft, tijes s|)all sibe account 
 thereof fa tlje trai> of Ju&flment."— Matt. xii. 36. 
 
 The sin of idle words is censured by Our Lord 
 in the most awful terms. It behoves us, there- 
 fore, to ascertain exactly what is meant by idle 
 words, — lest we should add any thing to, or di- 
 minish any thing from, His holy commandment. 
 
 Nor let any one imagine that such minute in- 
 vestigations of the language of Holy Scripture as 
 we now propose, are wanting in interest. Holy 
 Scripture is the expression of the mind of the 
 Spirit. He, therefore, who sifts a Greek or He- 
 brew phrase occurring in the Old or 'New Testa- 
 ment, with the view of ascertaining its fine shades 
 of significance, is investigating the sublimest of all 
 subjects — he is exploring, as far as man may ex- 
 plore, the thoughts of Almighty God. 
 
109 
 w Every Idle word." 
 
 Our first mle, in seeking to understand a pas- 
 sage of Scripture, must always be to ii in 
 connexion with its context. "What the: 
 
 <«t' these words of our Lord I 
 
 I which the words in <pu 
 form a part, had in the circumstance of the 
 
 Pharisees attributing Our Lord's miraeL 
 
 16 of theni whose character presented most 
 difficulty to such an explanation) to Satanic agen- 
 cy. He had cast out of a man a blind and dumb 
 
 I, B0 that the blind and dumb both spake and 
 saw. The people were struck with amazement 
 and conyiction. They said, "Is not this the 
 of David 
 
 But the PI resisted this natural and 
 
 obvious conclusion, by suggesting another account 
 of the phenomenon. They said, "This fellow 
 doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the 
 prince of the de\ 
 
 Thereupon follows the discourse, which makes 
 mention of a certain unpardonable sin, called 
 
 -phenvy aL r aiii>t the Holy Ghost (tjtov Ilvev- 
 [larog PZxicKprrinia), and embraces also the warn- 
 ing against idle words that is contained in our 
 
 Now at first sight, it is natural to suppose that 
 by idle words are meant such as the Pharisees 
 
110 What is an Idle Word f 
 
 had just vented — words of blasphemy against the 
 Holy Ghost. And it is not difficult to perceive 
 what kind of words those were. The Pharisees, 
 like the multitude, were internally convinced of 
 the Messiahship of Jesus by the miracle which 
 they had witnessed. But it would have been in- 
 convenient to them to have acknowledged His 
 claims. By doing so, they would have to retract 
 their whole previous career — to place themselves 
 (after the fashion of Mary) at His feet, as His dis- 
 ciples. This would have humbled the pride of 
 those ecclesiastical rulers, and such an humiliation 
 they could not brook. So, without honestly be- 
 lieving their own explanation, they attributed the 
 cure of the blind and dumb man to the agency 
 of Satan. It was a sujyernatural cure — that they 
 admitted — but there are, said they, supernatural 
 evil agencies as well as supernatural good ones, — 
 and this particular miracle is due to the first of 
 these causes. It might have occurred to them 
 (probably it did occur to them in the deep of 
 their hearts), that this was a flimsy and trans- 
 parently false explanation— that, on no recognized 
 principle of craft or policy, could the Devil cast 
 out his own agents. 
 
 Yes, such an account would not serve the turn ; 
 — it was a dishonest shuffle, and they knew it to 
 be so, to avoid making a confession which was irre- 
 
/ " 111 
 
 :!>ly forced upon their minds, bill which would 
 b Involved them in oonsequenccs from which 
 their pride and jealousy shrunk. 
 
 And thin came in the corrupt special pleading, 
 BO natural to the human mind under ffOoh circum- 
 stances, — 'II y/M)na ntt<,'>u<>\\ ij ft 0p*)v arw/ioroc. 
 
 "After, all, though I am giving an explanation 
 
 which I do not believe— with which I am not sat- 
 fafied myself — which finds no response what' 
 in my convictions, — yet these are hut words, the 
 
 ,th of the lips, lightly uttered and soon forgot* 
 -my mind recognizes the truth, though I can- 
 not bring my tongue to confes- 
 
 The eye of II im, who knew what W9B in man, 
 i this reasoning at the bottom of their 
 and down came the lighting of His censure 
 to brush and blast a fallacy so dangerous. " Who- 
 soever speaketh a word against the Son of Man" 
 (without violating internal convictions, — like 
 Paul before his conversijn, who spake many things 
 
 inst the Son of Man, but spake them ignorant- 
 ly in unbelief), "it shall be forgiven him — but 
 whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost" 
 (violate- those internal convictions of Truth, which 
 are wrought in the mind by the Holy Spirit), M it 
 shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, 
 neither in the world to come." As if the Lord had 
 said: "Your Language is not, as you vainly im- 
 
112 What is an Idle Word? 
 
 agine, a separate and separable thing from your Rea- 
 son : it has a deep and living connexion with your 
 state of mind. Language and Reason have their 
 fibres twined up together, — so that a corrupt Lan- 
 guage argues a corrupt Reason." 
 
 And then follows our passage, introduced by 
 the formula But I say unto you : — " Every idle 
 word that men shall speak, they shall give ac- 
 count thereof in the day of judgment." 
 
 JSow is the idle word to be explained simply 
 and solely by the Uasphe?ny preceding? If so, 
 the warning, — though still an awful one, — will 
 scarcely possess a general applicability; for the 
 number of those is few, whose circumstances re- 
 semble the circumstances of the Pharisees. The 
 nearest approach to the same sin now-a-days, 
 would be the case of an Indian Brahmin, men- 
 tally convinced of the truth of Christianity, but 
 inventing arguments to explain it away from the 
 fear of losing caste. Similar cases would rare- 
 ly occur in countries professing Christianity, — 
 though even here men might sin, after a measure, 
 on much the same principle. 
 
 But we think there are reasons for giving to 
 these solemn words a far more extended applica- 
 bility. 
 
 First, they are introduced by a formula, which 
 will be found, I think, to indicate a transition 
 
What it rdf II. 
 
 applica- 
 tion, the word translated " bu1 " baying the G 
 
 ■ >\r,—fi ,-. Tim 
 
 mi the Mount many times: 
 
 •• N , ; Baid by 
 
 them of old time, Thou .-halt not forswear tin 
 but shall perform unto the Lord thine paths. I 
 I say unto ■> (5t Aeycj v/«*>), Bwear not 
 
 all." In other i make the precept of the 
 
 Law mor Lvely applicable 
 
 Again : M Ye bave heard that it has been 
 
 by them of old time. Thou shah not commit adul- 
 
 10 you" (tyo) 61 / i ■■) — 
 
 the Law truly interpreted imposes a far wider 
 
 raint than this, — " Whosoever looketh on a 
 
 ian to Inst after her hath committed adultery 
 
 with her already in his heart." 
 
 Again ; in commendation of the centurion of 
 
 Capernaum, it is said : " Verily I say unto you, I 
 
 have not found so great faith, no not in Israel : 
 
 i I say unto you (Aryw de vfuv), that ni 
 
 1 come from the east and west, and shall sit 
 
 down witli Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in 
 
 the king heaven." Observe. -hall 
 
 .c — I limit not my speech to tin's centurion — 
 
 I assert it as an universally applicable truth, that 
 
 many, whom ye look down upon as dogs and 
 
 sinners of the Gentiles, shall be admitted to a 
 
114 What is an Idle Word? 
 
 glorious and intimate communion with the first 
 founders of your race. 
 
 And again : " Have ye not read in the Law, 
 how that on the sabbath days the priests in the 
 Temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless % " 
 (their profanation of the Sabbath is excused by 
 the fact that it is committed in the course of their 
 attendance on the Temple. My disciples, there- 
 fore, supposing they were attending on the Tem- 
 ple, might be excused for some profanations of the 
 Sabbath.) "But I say unto you" (Aeyw 6e vfuv), 
 " that in this place is One greater than the Tem- 
 ple." (My disciples are plucking the ears of corn, 
 in course of their attendance upon me : how much 
 more does that excuse the act.) 
 
 Thus we perceive that the phrase in question 
 introduces a transition to a stronger, more em- 
 phatic, or more general assertion. 
 
 But the same conclusion will follow from ex- 
 amining the word rendered u idle" (dpX6g). 
 
 According to its derivation, this word means 
 not working — (d-tpyov). 
 
 If we refer to other places in which it occurs, 
 we shall find that it is used of the labourers, 
 whom the lord of the vineyard saw standing idle 
 (dpyol) in the market-place. Here it must mean 
 simply unoccupied, disengaged. Again, St. Paul 
 employs it to denote that hanging about upon 
 
-117 TdU Word? LIB 
 
 which is so opposed to Ohrisl nestness 
 
 in work, and which £068 together with gossip and 
 euri- A.dl 
 
 the Becond marriage of widows he says that 
 it' unmarried, "they learn t«> ' ( a W a ')> 
 
 adoring about from house to house; and not 
 
 \ idle, but tattler- also and busyhndies, speak' 
 
 things which they ought not." (I quote conte 
 
 rive at a well-dclined, nicclv- 
 
 elled apprehension of the Scriptural meai 
 of the word.) Then again a no Epimeni- 
 
 des i I in the Epistle to Titus, in which the 
 
 Ore: said to be "slow bellies "(] 
 
 :f). The substantive would probably indicate 
 their gluttony ; the adjective their want of e\ 
 
 . their indolence. Finally, St. Peter, 
 in hi the word with aitap- 
 
 ttoc, unfruitful. Christians, who exhibit Christian 
 graces in abundance, are said to be, ovk dpyol ovdk 
 diiap-oi, k * neither barren- nor unfruitful." 'Apybc 
 then is a term which might be applied to unpro- 
 ductive ground — to that soil which, though drink- 
 
 ■• in the rain that eoineth oft upon it,bringeth 
 
 forth herbs meet for them by whom it is 
 
 dressed." Hence,-.: ren fig-tree it is said 
 
 — ivari Kal rtjvyjjv Karapyel ; " Why a&0CUniber«'th 
 it the ground?" Why, besides being unfruitful 
 itself, doth it drain away the of the soil, 
 
116 What is an Idle Word f 
 
 which might go to feed a fruit-bearing tree, and 
 so render the ground inoperative, unproductive, 
 unfruitful ? 
 
 Now, the words of the Pharisees were not 
 simply useless, unfruitful, unprofitable words ;— 
 but far worse. They were false words — they 
 counteracted conviction — their fault was not that 
 of omission — they were positively bad, mischiev- 
 ous, and wicked words. They were a lie in the 
 teeth of conviction, and they were calculated to 
 do harm, to mislead the ignorant people who 
 looked up to their authority. Hence we infer 
 that when Our Lord condemns idle words, He is 
 going a step beyond that sin of blasphemy upon 
 which His censure had at the outset of the dis- 
 course so heavily fallen — and that our text, ren- 
 dered so as to exhibit the emphatic transition, 
 would run thus — " Nay, I even say unto you, that 
 every idle word " (not merely every false and 
 blasphemous, but " every idle word) that men 
 shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the 
 day of judgment." 
 
 Nor is there any thing which need surprise us, 
 in this strictness of the Christian Law on the sub- 
 ject of words. It is strictly in accordance with 
 the general tenour of Evangelical Precept. "We 
 are often instructed that that precept cannot be 
 satisfied by innocuousness — that we are required 
 
117 
 
 do! merely I d from barm, bill to do posi- 
 
 good. of the Tal- 
 
 I and the I > ouim : who hid 
 
 talent in a napkin, who did not give it to the 
 chat bo did not put it out to int. 
 
 call at 1 »ut his wickedness was 
 
 no wickedness after the i timate. It con- 
 
 1 simply in slothfulness: — had harmlessness 
 
 i the criterion of worth, the servant being per- 
 
 bly harmless, would have passed without c 
 But God gives u> talent- for an end. 
 abilities, n , influence, opportnnitiefl 
 
 . which lie bestows, arc desig 
 
 to j . And if they do not further 
 
 that re idle, fruitless, unprofitable, 
 
 — if they fulfil not their function, and bring no 
 nue to the good of man, and the glory of 
 God, — condemnation ensues as surely and as 
 sternly a had been misemployed. Indeed, 
 
 : which was designed for em- 
 ployment — this is to misemploy it. 
 
 May God eradicate out of the hearts of all of 
 us that worldly, false, and mischievous notion, — 
 that we may neglect the opportunities afforded 
 waste our time, and leave our talents uncultivated, 
 and -counted in the sight of God to have 
 
 whole a pure life. T! the 
 
 very well, if we were to be judged at the Last 
 
118 What is cm Idle Word f 
 
 Day by the World, — by the society in which we 
 have moved. The world does account harmless- 
 ness for goodness. If a man has done no harm, 
 the world is content with him, the requirements 
 of society are satisfied. But we are to be judged 
 by One, who has not the smallest regard to the 
 verdict of society, or the estimate of man. We 
 are to stand before the tribunal of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, — and there to render to Him an account 
 how we have observed His Law. The Word that 
 He hath spoken, the same shall judge us in the 
 last day. We have that Word in our hands — it 
 is sounded in our ears continually. Does He in 
 that Word ever lead us to expect — does He ever 
 give us the slightest intimation — that He will be 
 satisfied with an amiable harmlessness ? Yerily, I 
 trow not. Every thing which He says on the 
 subject is in the teeth of this notion. He pro- 
 claims the principle of His dealing with us to be 
 this — That wherever He has bestowed a talent, 
 He expects a revenue from it — He expects that we 
 shall put it out to interest, and bring this interest 
 into His treasury. 
 
 Apply now this principle to words. Is not 
 the gift of words a talent ? Is there any talent so 
 wonderful as words, — which are the living prod- 
 uce of the Keason ? And are not words a talent 
 adapted to secure the highest of all ends ? May 
 
119 
 
 we not bless God therewith : M ach 
 
 Gospel, and communicate wholesome instxne- 
 
 ith i May wc not edify bun. 
 th { May v. irry 00 
 
 k>m tlierewith i ! not therewith 
 
 and ivlax the mind l>y disc.'!; it, which is 
 
 •ly allied to wisdom { ' not lighten 
 
 another man's burden therewith, and lift up the 
 
 1 that droops therewith, and present to the 
 mind pictures of truth and beauty therewith, and 
 drop h, which shall be 
 
 of gi nghta and of lofty Impulses? And 
 
 If the talent of words may be made thus Largely 
 
 line, it was no doubt deri rto 
 
 The blessing of God, the edification 
 
 and nent of are its final 
 
 causes, the objects which it v. med to sub- 
 
 . then, if, when I stand be- 
 fore the Judgment Seat, an account is required of 
 me how I hi dent — if I am asked 
 
 whether I hcax blessed God, have instructed or 
 entertained man, have spoken a word in due 
 son to the weary, have thrown out good suc- 
 tions, hare advocated holy objects therewith — and 
 if upon every word which has not conduced to 
 any of these purposes (then brought to my mem- 
 ory with an instantaneousness more than electric) 
 
120 What is an Idle Word f 
 
 should be pronounced by the Son of Man the 
 censure idle ? In short, is there any thing more 
 than the intimation, that we are expected dili- 
 gently to improve all our talents, in the solemn 
 words of our passage : iC Nay, I even say unto you 
 that every idle word that men shall speak, they 
 shall give account thereof in the day of judg- 
 ment " ? 
 
 In the next Chapters we will consider more in 
 detail the final causes of the talent of words : for 
 unless those final causes are well defined in our 
 minds, we shall not be able to apprehend the subject 
 in detail, however much possessed of a clear gene- 
 ral notion of its meaning. 
 
 But, before closing our present Chapter, let us 
 reflect that we have ascertained this clear general 
 notion. It is a solemn thing — this ascertaining of 
 Our Lord's meaning in a matter bearing so im- 
 mediately upon our daily practice. So long as the 
 meaning is a little cloudy, and wrapped up in 
 doubt and difficulty, we might think perhaps that 
 if we do not fully carry out the precept, it is 
 because we do not entirely understand it. But I 
 am afraid that the meaning is too clear in this in- 
 stance, for the precept to be thus evaded. 
 
 What the passage condemns is useless words, 
 words conducive neither to instruction nor to in- 
 nocent entertainment — words having no salt of wit 
 
What is an Idle Ward? 121 
 
 or wisdom in them — flat, stale, dull, and unprofit- 
 
 -thrown out to while away the time, to till 
 up a spare five minutes, — words that aiv not o 
 Herat 0(1 by any seriousness Of purpose whatever. 
 
 Now that w< rly what is forbid- 
 
 den, wo must gird oanelfti earnestly to the ob- 
 
 be restriction. Remember upon Whose 
 
 authority the rot rict ion rests. Remember it || the 
 
 : .Jesus who Speaks. This leaves no room for 
 
 evasion. The command may lie hard, may be 
 
 difficult of execution; but impossible it is not, 01 
 
 Be would not have commanded it — and difficult 
 though it be, lie irives grace if we seek it, more 
 than commensurate to the difficulty. 
 
 WeD, then, I see plainly that a new duty has 
 
 i brought home to my conscience, aud that I 
 
 must begin to-morrow clearing away out of my 
 
 talk every weed and useless growth — every thing 
 
 vapid, useless, aimless, idle. 
 
 Said I every weed and useless growth ? 
 are there not in the mouths of some (despite all 
 the refinement of modern society) words positively 
 evil and noxious? Do not many use the tongue 
 in swearing, which should be employed in blessing 
 God ? Do not many employ that faculty which was 
 given for the purpose of edification, in corrupt ing 
 others by mean- of words, and in spreading round 
 them a moral pestilence? the sentence against 
 6 
 
122 What is an Idle Word? 
 
 idle words is awful enough. But for him, who 
 taints the soul of another by communicating to 
 him the venom of a foul imagination, for him, and 
 such as him, there remains a censure, which seems 
 to exhaust the righteous indignation of Him Who 
 is Love: — "Woe unto that man by whom the 
 offence cometh : rr were better for him that a 
 
 MILLSTONE WERE HANGED ABOUT HIS NECK, AND HE 
 CAST LNTO THE SEA, THAN THAT HE SHOULD OFFEND 
 ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES." 
 
( IIAPTER VII. 
 
 WORDS OF BUSINESS AND ENNOOENT RECREATION 
 NOT IDLi:. 
 
 "Bbrr* iilc toort)."— Matt, xii. 
 
 We are at present engaged in the minute ex- 
 amination of the solemn censure, passed by Our 
 Lord upon idle words. 
 
 I suppose my readers to be deeply impressed 
 with the necessity of following out the Lord's 
 will, when it is ascertained. I suppose them will- 
 ing and desirous to observe such restraints as He 
 lays upon them. I suppose the tone of their mind 
 in regard to His precepts to be justly expressed 
 by the words of the Blessed Virgin to the servants 
 at the marriage festival, — " Whatsoever He saith 
 unto yon, do it." Our question on the pre- 
 occasion is, what He does say ? 
 
 In prosecuting this inquiry, we have already 
 seen that the word rendered " idle" is very appro- 
 
124 Words of Business cmd 
 
 priately so rendered — that it is susceptible of ap- 
 plication to any person or thing which does not 
 perform its proper business, and so fulfil the prop- 
 er end of its existence. 
 
 Words then are idle, which do not fulfil the 
 proper end of the existence of words. 
 
 We may remark, in general, that what consti- 
 tutes the excellence or virtue of any thing is, that 
 it should fulfil its proper end. A few simple 
 instances will suffice to make this clear. The end 
 of an orchard — the business which we expect it to 
 fulfil — is to bring forth fruit. The end of a 
 flower-garden is to gratify the senses of sight and 
 smell. The end of a watch is to keep the time 
 truly. The end of memory is to present us with 
 a faithful picture of the past. The end of an elec- 
 tric telegraph is to convey news with rapidity. 
 If the orchard brings forth a meagre crop, — if the 
 garden presents a poor and ill-arranged assort- 
 ment of colours, — if the watch is ever losing or 
 gaining, — if the memory is ever letting points of 
 importance drop, — if the telegraph is so ill- worked, 
 or so fractured, that the instantaneous conveyance 
 of intelligence is impeded, — we call it, as the case 
 may be, a bad orchard, or a bad garden, or a bad 
 watch, or a bad memory, or a bad telegraph, — 
 implying thereby that we regard that thing as 
 good, which fulfils its proper business or function. 
 
ITJITIVBRSITT 
 
 Recreation not late* 
 
 What then is the proper function of words, — 
 
 -id for which they were «^ivimi, — by fulfilling 
 which ti ■ ore 
 
 of being idle words? 
 
 The first and perhape paiison)the low- 
 
 ad of words, IB to car/ busmen 
 
 A moment's thought will show as, that the m< 
 ordinary and most essential transactions can 
 
 kiried on without words. Lite would bo at a 
 standstill without them. Think how unpossi 
 
 aid be to carry out any common project Of 
 ho took it in hand were sud- 
 denly struck dumb. Remember how impossible 
 it proved to oontinne the building of the To. 
 of Bftbel, when bj the confusion of tongues the 
 builders were precluded from the use of a com- 
 mon language. And without some amount of 
 •ination, mutual assistance, and co-operation, 
 thing could be effected. Men are so 
 ktely one body, that they have need of one 
 another's services many times in each day. The 
 service of course often consists of 6ome common 
 of information, which one man i ..!', 
 
 another not. Still it is a service ; it invol 
 the principle of mutual assistance, and in the ab- 
 sence of words it could not be rendered. You 
 walk through the iields, and a peasant, who has 
 no clock but that of the heavens to govern his 
 
126 Words of Business and 
 
 arrangements by, asks you the time. You walk 
 through the city, and an officer of justice, in pur- 
 suit of a criminal, asks you whether you have 
 seen a person of such a description as you came 
 along on such a road. You want a book of 
 reference for immediate use ; long before you can 
 procure it from a bookseller, the occasion for it 
 will have passed away : but you may have it by 
 speaking a few words ; for your neighbour pos- 
 sesses it, and will lend it to you, if you ask him. 
 ISTow conceive in all these cases what a serious 
 impediment to the business of life it would be, if 
 the person in want of assistance, or the person 
 questioned for information, were deprived of the 
 use of Language, or were sullenly to refuse to 
 speak. Carry out this hypothesis to its ultimate 
 results, and you would deal a death-blow at mu- 
 tual supply and demand, at commerce and ex- 
 change, at all the arts of civilized life, — nay, you 
 would destroy the whole system of the republic 
 (by which word I now mean, not any particular 
 form of government, but the system of society and 
 of life in common), and would reduce man to the 
 level of a solitary creature, — to the condition of 
 the hermit, who plucks berries for his food, dips 
 his potsherd in the stream, wattles his own hut, 
 and patches up a garment of leaves, like our first 
 parents after their fall. 
 
127 
 
 ■ mm and BUl of wliat lias ' 
 
 is this : Men a' ointment, a com- 
 
 munity — "one body. 3 mutual dep 
 
 of the members of a community upon one and 
 
 ae rapid means of communication be- 
 moans of communication or- 
 dained by God for this purpose is Language. I . 
 guage, thriven', may be not only innocently, but 
 idabfy, used in carrying on the business of 
 life. Assuredly it is no idle word, it', when I want 
 information to guide my arrangements, I ask for 
 
 it, or if, when I am BoHcited for SOCh information, I 
 
 Midi words are to the point, — I mean, 
 if they are not made the for indulging in 
 
 gossip, and throwing away precious moments — I 
 
 r th> //■ confronting me at the Day of 
 Judgment. Probably, reader, you think that tin's 
 is a very needless admonition. Nay, but I am 
 anxious to ascertain very definitely, by way of 
 guiding our consciences, what wor omitted 
 
 to us and what arc forbidden. How are we to ex- 
 
 lves on the idle words we have used, 
 so long as wc have but a vague notion of what is 
 meant by an idle word ? 
 
 >nd end which words should fulfil, and 
 for which they were no doubt designed, is to re- 
 and entertain the m 
 It is a trite saying, but no less true than it is 
 
128 Words of Business and 
 
 trite, that tlie mind requires refreshment. One 
 strain of serious occupation or of earnest thought, 
 cannot be maintained for any length of time, and 
 an attempt made to maintain it, in despite of the 
 constitution of our nature, would probably, if per- 
 sisted in, issue in the wreck of our mental powers. 
 The mind, like the body, cannot endure a long-con- 
 tinued pressure ; and man, therefore, being in need 
 of recreation (and that, in virtue of his original 
 constitution, without reference to the sin he has 
 superinduced upon it), we should expect to find 
 him furnished with some resource, — a resource, 
 mark you, in himself, and not in external circum- 
 stances, for mental refreshment. Most wisely, 
 therefore, and most beneficently has it been or- 
 dained that he shall carry about with him such a 
 resource in the tongue, — the instrument of recrea- 
 tion as well as of business, of refreshment as well 
 as of instruction. 
 
 Similarly, in his bodily constitution there is a 
 provision for the recreation of his physical frame. 
 The power of moving the limbs, — of taking exercise 
 of any description, — no doubt conduces to the more 
 serious ends of carrying on mutual communication, 
 and so of forwarding the business of life. But this 
 same exercise, taken in the open air, under fresh 
 breezes and gleams of sunshine, and among the 
 ever-shifting sceneries of nature, is also a physical 
 
eation. Think of t lie operative, whose nimble 
 fingi plying ill day amid 
 
 machinery, and giving abundant testimony to the 
 wonderful BkOfulnees with which thehnman hand 
 : for the purpose of the useful 
 arte: le same limbs at work on a fine luttv 
 
 '> evening amid the i Bounds 
 
 of nature, — let him pluck daisies to weave a fan- 
 tastic garland, ox toss himself among the sweet 
 hay, or simply walk through the fields of do 
 
 and watch the sun descend in a hla/.c of gold, — 
 this is the very refreshment which his frame jaded 
 
 by the protracted labours of the day, demands, and 
 
 which we of the upper classes, whose luxi; 
 purchased by his toils, are bound to see that he has 
 at least the opportunity of enjoy! 
 
 Now analogous to exercise for recreation's sake 
 in the physical frame of man, is the use of the 
 
 jue for the entertainment of the mind. The 
 method of mental entertainment readiest to hand, 
 — that which nature herself furnishes independent- 
 ly of all extrinsic resources, — is by the tongue. 
 "Iron sharpeneth iron: so a man sharpen eth the 
 countenance of his friend," — a very expressive 
 text, and one which speaks for itself. When the 
 countenance is dulled and blunted by the hard and 
 dry business of life, what is it which communicates 
 to it the spark of animation, which makes it dawn 
 6* 
 
130 Words of Business Mid 
 
 once again with intelligence, which brings out that 
 characteristic gleam, which probably lies hidden 
 in every countenance, which it is the artist's skill 
 to catch and to perpetuate upon canvas, but which 
 no solar picture (taken as such likenesses are by 
 machinery, and without an operation of the artifi- 
 cer's mind) ever did or ever will catch ? " A man 
 sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." The 
 simple collision of mind with mind, not on arduous 
 subjects, or serious business, but upon ordinary 
 and lighter topics, — the simple interchange of 
 thoughts without reserve, and the freedom and 
 gaiety of common intercourse, — acts as the greatest 
 relief, to one whose attention and thoughts have 
 been kept on the stretch by study or business. 
 The excellence of such conversation — that which 
 renders it good of its kind, and suitable to the ful- 
 filment of its end — is Wit. Do not be surprised 
 at hearing such a thing advocated (and I am 
 prepared deliberately to advocate it), in an essay, 
 whose purport is religious. If there were more 
 of the salt of wit in our ordinary conversation, its 
 general vapid nature would be corrected,— it 
 would turn less upon the character, conduct, plans, 
 and arrangements of our neighbours, — topics upon 
 which perhaps it can never turn with any profit, 
 and upon which it rarely turns without trenching 
 hard upon sin. It is to be deplored that there is so 
 
In nocerd Recreat 1 1 1 1 
 
 little wit in the world, not that there li bo much ; 
 In default of wit it \s thai 
 
 of tlu' mind, so:: tpty gossip, and some by 
 
 fonl and obscene c ion, whi< - in 
 
 them the deadly gangrene of impure Inst It 
 d often said that Wit and Wisdom are twin 
 
 me. They are BO nearly al- 
 lied, that one might almost say f feme 
 faculty, operating at its different poles. u \Y r it," 
 says Aristotle, " is the ooneeption of inoongrtri- 
 
 ." And is not wisdom the perception Of har- 
 monies? What is the p er c e p ti on of analogies 
 running through all the firioufl departments of 
 
 nature, — the domain of sight, the domain of sound, 
 the domain of touch, ! — but wisdom or philosophy I 
 What is a parable, but the exhibition of a har- 
 mon; iating between God's works of Grace 
 
 on the one hand, and His works of Nature or 
 Providence on the other? Is there any wise work 
 in any department of literature, art, or science, 
 which is not ultimately founded on the apprehen- 
 sion of harmonies, — the discrimination of true and 
 harmonies from those which are false and 
 shallow and superlicial I Now would not he who 
 harmonies most readily, have also the 
 heal discernment of incongruities? He who 
 has the liveliest faculty of comparison, must he 
 1 See the Note at the end of the Chapter. 
 
132 Words of Business and 
 
 not also have the liveliest faculty of contrast? 
 He who is keenly alive to congruities, must he 
 not be alive also to incongruities ? Or, in other 
 words, must not he who has in him wisdom, pos- 
 sess wrapped up in that very gift the kindred 
 faculty of wit ? 
 
 And it is pleasing to see in experience, that 
 oftentimes the men of most depth and seriousness 
 of character — the men who in their closets have 
 taken the most earnest view of life and have cul- 
 tivated heavenly Wisdom most largely, have also 
 been men of lively fancy, sprightly and agreeable 
 repartee — seem to have had within them a spring 
 of joy and merriment bubbling up, when the ob- 
 struction of serious affairs was removed, and cov- 
 ering with fertility even the leisure hours of their 
 lives. The world's wisest men have mingled mirth 
 with earnestness, — they have not gone about with 
 starched visage, prim manner, or puritanical grim- 
 ace. If they have been deeply enwrapped (as 
 the holiest and best men always are enwrapped) 
 in the shadows and clouds of life, — they have ever 
 and anon walked in its lights, — have not despised 
 those gleams of merriment which shoot athwart 
 our path, as a relief from the pressure and burden 
 of our work and responsibilities. 
 
 Which of us, man or boy, has half the playful- 
 ness of the poet Cowper ? Which of us can write 
 
a tottOT UkQ him, — e sparkling with sallies 
 
 that never wound, b«1Hi elaborated, • 
 
 framed of set purpose, hut thrown off in the atte- 
 nd buoyancy of high spirits, thrown off limply, 
 
 graceful '1 whir' man 
 
 approach him in the earnestness 
 
 of his retigionn feelings — which of na views sin in 
 
 colours half so dark as it wore to his eyes, 01 
 equally prepared in ntind to apprehend that I. 
 of God in Christ, which stands out against the 
 hlack mass of human guilt as a rainhow Against 
 the thunder-cloud! 
 
 Tin iv is, however, one passage of Scripture, 
 which, 00 first Bight, seems adverse to what I 
 have said, and which requires explanation, before 
 I quit this branch of the subject. In the Epi 
 to the Ephesians, St. Pan] appears to forbid, under 
 the comprehensive term "jesting," every species 
 of pleasantry. His words (and that portion of 
 them about which no question can arise ought to 
 be very awful words to many) are these : — " But 
 fornication, and all uncleanness and covetousi; 
 let it not be once named among you as becomeih 
 
 to jrractice such things does not n 
 the strictness of God's requirements — we are not 
 even to mention them), " neither filthiness nor fool- 
 ish talking," — so far all is char. That such spe- 
 cies of conversation should be forbidden, is in ac- 
 
134: Words of Business and 
 
 cordance with all that we should expect from the 
 purity of Christian precept. But the Apostle acids, 
 " nor jesting, which are not couvenient ; but rather 
 giving of thanks." JSTow let me again remind my 
 readers that whatever precept the Scripture gives, 
 not only may be carried out by prayer and exer- 
 tion, but must be carried out at all hazards, and 
 that to the letter. God, when He has laid down a 
 Law, will not indulge us in the smallest deviation 
 from it. If in this or any other passage He forbids 
 pleasantry, then pleasantry is a sin — a sin which 
 like any other sin, grievous or slight, requires all 
 the efficacy of Christ's Blood to atone for it, and 
 all the Grace of His Spirit to correct and eradicate 
 it from our hearts. It is a false and wholly un- 
 scriptural view, that God lays down unduly strict 
 rules by way of securing as large an amount of 
 obedience as can be extracted from us, and that the 
 smaller and more harmless infringements of those 
 rules will be by Him overlooked. !N"o infringe- 
 ment of a divine rule is harmless — every such in- 
 fringement is full charged with guilt and misery 
 and eternal ruin. Step out of the paling of the 
 Divine Law at one point, and you place yourself 
 out of the shelter of the whole Law : you are then 
 beyond the reach of mercy, except through a Me- 
 diator. " For whosoever shall keep the whole 
 law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of 
 
Innocent Recreation not I 135 
 
 all." Let us ascertain t ; !y, whether God 
 
 does forbid pleasantry; for, in that case, no laugfa 
 
 of o • ever ring again, no humor.' 
 
 r proceed from our lips, no smile ever sit upon 
 
 our countenance. The word translated jesting is 
 evrpanekia. According to its derivation, it p 
 
 eriy means u versatility n — aptness in taming to 
 
 anotlier topic, or another resource, when one topic 
 or resonr Unigh exhausted. You see that 
 
 it' we regard the word according to its origin and 
 nology, no not i*>ii of pleasantry whatever at- 
 tache- to it. Such a notion, however, may 6u 
 quently have gathered round the world, far all that, 
 — and I believe that it did. I have not time to go 
 through the proof of my position. But I appre- 
 hend that ill the former words, u iilthiness and fool- 
 ish talking," the Apostle is forbidding all coarse and 
 empty conversation, — that it then strikes him that 
 something more beyond these has to be forbidden 
 — that there is a kind of conversation very rife 
 among men of the world, and very common in 
 what is termed the mo>t lashioiiahle society, which 
 is not outwardly coarse and obscene (and so not " fil- 
 thiness"), nor yet foolish in the usual sense of 
 foil;. . mixed with quick muendoee and smart 
 
 repartees (and so not exactly " foolish talking"), 
 but in which im; < s are implied though not 
 
 expressed, and in which the natural liveliness of 
 
136 Words of Business and 
 
 parts of one who knows that Society will not toler- 
 ate any thing very gross, vents itself in an insinu- 
 ation, either full of moral mischief, or armed with 
 a sting. 
 
 " Let there be no coarseness, nor vapid and 
 gossiping conversation, — no, nor even the re- 
 fined, but sinful raillery of the man of fash- 
 ion." Such is, I believe, a fair paraphrase of the 
 passage. 1 
 
 The word, if this be its meaning, gives us the 
 salutary warning, that albeit pleasantry itself be 
 no sin, it is under certain circumstances very 
 closely allied with sin. 
 
 By way of preserving pure this offspring of the 
 heart's merriment, three cautions should be rigidly 
 observed : 
 
 First ; from all our pleasantry must be ban- 
 ished any, even the remotest, allusion to impurity 
 — which forms the staple of much of this world's 
 wit. Pleasantry should be the fruit of a childlike 
 playfulness, and of a heart buoyant, because it 
 has not the consciousness of guile. If you once 
 make it the vehicle of uncleanness, you foul it at 
 the spring. 
 
 1 On turning to Archbishop Trench's Synonyms of the New 
 Testament, I see that he takes this view of the meaning of the word 
 in question. To his excellent work I refer the reader who wishes 
 to follow up the subject. 
 
GmoemU Becnaiitm not TdL >. 137 
 
 Secondly; al sarcasms as hurt un 
 
 'ii, wound his feelings, and giye him unneces- 
 sary' pain, arc absolutely forbidden by the law of 
 (In iti. i : lashes of wit should be 
 
 like those of the summer lightning, lambent 
 innocuous. 
 
 Thirdly; all such pleasantries as bri 
 tiling sacred into ridicule — or, without bring] 
 it actually into ridicule, connect with it, in the 
 minds of others, ludicrous associations, so that 
 they can ne\ t, or hear the words, 
 
 without the ludicrous observation being presci 
 to them, — are carefully to be eschewed. At all 
 times our primary duty, — that which is inalien- 
 ably binding upon us, and from which no plea of 
 entertainment can excuse us, — is to hallow God's 
 Name. 
 
 Let us close our present remarks, by the pray- 
 er that God would restore to us that purity of 
 heart, which forms the groundwork of a sound and 
 Christian mirth fulness, — that lie would enable us 
 so to believe in the eflicacy of His Son's Blood. 
 to have our conscience sprinkled from all guilt 
 thereby, — that by the operation of Grace Ee 
 would d 11 intention stand aloof from all 
 
 evil, — so that the burden of nnibrgiven and cher- 
 ished sin may no longer make our hearts to stoop ; 
 but that joyfulness may enter there to be a per- 
 
138 Note. 
 
 petual guest, and that, whatever we put our hand 
 unto, we may rejoice. 
 
 NOTE ON CHAPTER VII., p. 131. 
 
 " What is the perception of analogies running through all the va- 
 rious departments of nature, — the domain of sight, the domain 
 of sound, the domain of touch, — but Wisdom or Philosophy ? " 
 
 As an example of this perception of analogies, I extract the 
 following passage from the "Advancement of Learning." The 
 Author is speaking of those elementary philosophical axioms, 
 which he calls " Philosophia Prima : " — 
 
 " Is not the ground, which Machiavel wisely and largely dis- 
 coursed concerning governments, that the way to establish and 
 preserve them, is to reduce them ad principia, a rule in religion 
 and nature, as well as in civil administration ? Was not the Per- 
 sian magic a reduction or correspondence of the principles and 
 architectures of nature to the rules and policy of governments ? 
 Is not the precept of a musician, to fall from a discord or harsh 
 accord upon a concord or sweet accord, alike true in affection ? 
 is not the trope of music, to avoid or slide from the close or 
 cadence, common with the trope of rhetoric of deceiving expec- 
 tation? Is not the delight of the quavering upon a stop in 
 music the same with the playing of light upon the water ? Are 
 not the organs of the senses of one kind with the organs of reflec- 
 tion, the eye with a glass, the ear with a cave or strait deter- 
 mined and bounded ? Neither are these only similitudes, as men 
 of narrow observation may conceive them to be, but the same foot- 
 steeps of nature, treading or printing upon several subjects or 
 matters." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SPEECH THE INSTRUMENT OF PROPHECY AND 
 8ACRTF1 
 
 " 3Lrt tt»c tooiO of Const ctocll in you vicbln in all tois&om : 
 tcarftinfl ano aomouistjinfl our anotijcr in psalms ano Injmns 
 ano spiritual souqs, sinfliiifl uritt) uxacc in your fcearts to ttjc 
 loro."— Got. iii. If. 
 
 44 3Wc pat|) maoc us priests."— Rk 
 
 In our last Chapter, we were engaged in inquir- 
 ing what sort of words Our Lord censures, and 
 war' unfit, under the term "idle." 
 
 We defined Idle words to be such as do not 
 fulfil th< which the faculty of 
 
 given. 
 
 This definition threw us back upon the inquiry : 
 * ' What are the objects or final causes of Language V 9 
 
 And the two objects, to the considi 
 which our last I was devoted, were — the 
 
 carrying on the necessary business of life, and the 
 entertainment of the mind. 
 
140 Speech the Instrument of 
 
 These are two of the ends, which the gift of 
 Speech was designed to promote, and such words 
 as really promote either of these ends cannot be 
 stigmatized as idle words. 
 
 But words have higher ends than these ; and 
 what those higher ends may be, we now proceed 
 to consider. 
 
 St. Paul exhibits these higher ends in the first 
 passage which stands at the head of this Chapter. 
 I believe that in our version it is erroneously punc- 
 tuated, and that it should run thus : " Let the word 
 of Christ dwell in you richly " — [a general exhor- 
 tation, and one having respect to their state of 
 mind ; — the "Word of Christ was to be stored up 
 in their hearts, as water in the treasury of the 
 great deep, and to flow forth from their mouths 
 in a twofold current, — first, a current towards 
 man, irrigating the moral world with fertility,— 
 secondly, a current of thanksgiving and praise, 
 which should pour itself into the Bosom of 
 God] — "Let the word of Christ dwell in you 
 richly ; — in all wisdom teaching and , admonishing 
 one another " — (this is the highest use of Speech, 
 as it looks towards man) — " in psalms and hymns 
 and spiritual songs, singing thankfully " (sv #apm 
 sometimes has this meaning) "in your hearts to 
 the Lord " — (this is the highest use of Speech, as 
 it looks towards God). These two ends, then, 
 
1 1 1 
 
 may bo shortly stated as being I. EdJ 
 
 and II. Praise.' Let us say a word of each of 
 
 them. 
 
 I. / This word need not bo con- 
 
 1 exetariyely to Moral or Spiritual Edifica- 
 tion, It may be made t«> embnu oommit 
 
 nication of knowledge from man to man. 
 
 lie who by words throws knowledge into the 
 mind of another, which did not exist there pre- 
 viously, or developes in that mind sonic idea 
 which was latent in it, hut not vet brought t<> the 
 birth, certainly edifies by means of Speech. T! 
 are other kinds of truth beside! Scriptural truth, 
 (why should we liar to admit it?) and lie who 
 communicates to another any kind of truth (wor- 
 thy of the name) is employed in the work of Edu- 
 cation. In a certain important sense, too, all 
 truth is God's message and God's revelation, 
 though not in the same sense in which the Holy 
 Scriptures are. God is said to be the Father of 
 lights— observe, not of one light, but of all lights. 
 Wherever there is light, it is a ray emanating from 
 God. The Scriptures are the organ by which God 
 reveals — not all truth, but — all spiritual truth, — 
 all such truth as pertains to Salvation. Tl. 
 
 many kinds of truth, not at all bearing Upon 
 the question of Eternal Salvation. And t 
 1 See the Note at the end of the Chapter. 
 
142 Speech the Instrument of 
 
 truths, not affecting our eternal interests, God 
 communicates through other instruments, which 
 we need not scruple to call organs of revelation, 
 if only we understand clearly in what lower sense 
 those words are applied. The truths of Natural 
 Philosophy are revealed to us by the human 
 Reason, operating upon the Phenomena of Na- 
 ture. The law of gravitation is one of these 
 truths ; it was a great light, when first it dawned 
 upon the mind of Newton, and from that mind 
 was diffused abroad. And it was a light which, 
 like all other lights, came from the Father of 
 lights. It was God who gave Newton his reason, 
 and designed him (fore-ordained him, if you will) 
 to discover by it such laws and principles of Na- 
 ture, heretofore unknown, as Beason is competent 
 to discover. 
 
 Again, the truths which we learn from expe- 
 rience are lights. God sends the experience, and 
 designs us to learn by it, and gives us Eeason, to 
 operate upon the experience, in order that we 
 may learn. If we desire to know a truth of ex- 
 perience, for the guidance of our individual lives, 
 we must set our minds and memories to work 
 upon what has befallen us, and gain the truth by 
 this process. If we desire to know a truth of ex- 
 perience, for the guidance of societies, we must 
 read History, which is the record of the expe- 
 
Pt0pk§oy cmd 8aot\fio$* 
 
 rienee of c.<nimiinitus, ami there find what causes 
 have operated to produce the prosperity and 
 cay of states. These truths, when W6 haw 
 them, are a light 5 hut they are given through 
 the o^gan i ■: ooe, or of Reason eperati 
 
 opOfl . DOt through that of Holy Scrip- 
 
 ture. 
 
 In vain will you inquire of Holy Scripture, 
 
 what is the hest form of civil government, or 
 
 wha' MOM which retains the Earth within 
 
 ■hit ; — the Scripture is not the orpin, 
 
 through whioh G these truths 
 
 oU. 
 
 Again, Instinct is a light, — a scintillation 
 which the Father of lights has disparted among 
 
 interior creatures. Acting upon it, their lives 
 are preserved, and their interests secured. It 
 may he hut a glimmering, but still it reveals to 
 them all that it was designed to reveal. 
 
 There are, then, many forms of truth, accord- 
 ing to the different processes by which God com- 
 municates it, — and he who conveys truth to an- 
 other, so long as it be of an innocent, and not of 
 a corrupting, character, — lie who diffuses a scrap 
 of useful knowledge, or divulges a piece of curious 
 information, — is contributing to the great end of 
 Edification, and so furthering one of the objects 
 for which Language was given. 
 
144 Speech the Instrument of 
 
 But, of course, the highest and most blessed 
 form of Edification is that by which we com- 
 municate to one another Religious or Scriptural 
 Truth — by which we impart that wisdom, which 
 is man's peculiar province (for we are told that 
 " the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to de- 
 part from evil is understanding"), and without 
 which the most abundant resources of genius 
 and learning are but gilded dross and a splendid 
 folly. 
 
 ]STow the climax of this form of Edification is 
 called a Sermon, — a sermon being a solemn ad- 
 dress, made by one man to others, on subjects of 
 the highest import, such as affect their eternal 
 welfare. It is not indeed every man's province 
 or business to preach a sermon. But it is every 
 man's province to speak unto edification, and that 
 not simply to the enlightenment of the mind, but 
 also to the improvement of the heart. Only the 
 man set apart for that function preaches formally 
 and in the pulpit, but the man not set apart must 
 equally teach and admonish his neighbour " in all 
 wisdom." "Ye may all prophesy one by one, 
 that all may learn and all may be comforted," 
 says the Apostle. This precept has its primary 
 reference no doubt to the miraculous gift of Proph- 
 ecy : still its spirit and principle, like that of 
 every other Scriptural precept, is to be carried 
 
145 
 
 out lays, And ln>\v it I 
 
 see not. I hristian laity hold them- 
 
 from moral and spiritual adm< 
 tion, and resent such admonition, when it | 
 from any one bui a clergyman. I 
 duty, as it ooghl t«> be esteemed every man'.- | 
 i say a word for God in society, when 
 I may be discreetly and properly intro- 
 duced — to bo faithful with li is more intim 
 friends, in representing their defects of character 
 and -t«» be thankful himself for receiving 
 
 such representations — and ever t<> be on the watch, 
 to arrest an opportunity of profitable convi 
 
 II. We dow come t»> the highest of all the 
 end> for which the faculty of Speech was given — 
 
 the Praise of God. "In psalms and livings and 
 
 itoal songs, singing thankfully in your he 
 to the Lord." " Therewith," says St. James of 
 the tongue, " therewith bless we God, even the 
 "By Him," says the Apostle to the 
 a, " let us offer the sacrifice of praise to 
 God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving 
 than!. Xame." 
 
 We have Seen in the course of these pages that 
 
 man is provided, by his natural constitution, with 
 
 resources in himself for the maintenance of his 
 
 bodily and mental health, and for carrying on the 
 
 7 
 
146 Speech the Instrument of 
 
 business of life. The power of motion in his limbs 
 enables him to take exercise — and perhaps the 
 form of exercise which is taken by the simple move- 
 ment of the limbs, without any extrinsic adventi- 
 tious aid, is of all forms the most conducive to 
 health. . For the recreation of the mind he has a 
 resource in the faculty of Speech. And the same 
 faculty enables him to carry on the business of life, 
 with a speed and facility which no contrivance of 
 art can rival. What a clumsy and tardy method of 
 communication is that by paper and ink, as com- 
 pared with the speaking face to face ! Nay, even 
 the electric telegraph itself, the most marvellous in- 
 vention of modern times, is slow in its conveyance 
 of ideas in comparison of the human mouth. So 
 that for the business and enjoyment of this life, man 
 is ampty furnished in himself with all resources — 
 he need not travel out of his own nature — he has 
 his instruments ready at hand. 
 
 But man is made for transactions of a higher de- 
 scription than any which relate to this earth ; he 
 has communications to hold with Heaven, and in- 
 tercourse to carry on with God : he is a " Janus 
 bifrons," — with one face he looks towards earth, 
 with another he confronts unseen things, and re- 
 gards the invisible God. We should expect then 
 to find him furnished with resources for heavenly, 
 as well as for earthly, intercourse. And such is 
 
y and & 117 
 
 eed tho case. u With i 
 .'" Ever} erne lu* the instrument of » spirit- 
 ual within him. The spiritual 
 
 Inlnu and Hymns, and the Enstnn i 
 
 wherewith it is (.lion 4 man. 
 
 What a noble sacrifice! With what i 
 
 facility, and grace, may the instrument falfi] 
 end] I 
 
 ;* intellig 1 an element <>i* I 
 
 ing. Not so in a piece of instrumental music, or 
 in what eously called the song of birds. 
 
 articulate sounds, — beautifully touching, 
 exquisitely pathetic, as some of them arc- 
 only feeling without intelligence, — they are the 
 v of the soul and not of the spirit. On the 
 r hand, a speech or add;'. Ingle 
 
 [lent It is the voice of the Reason: 1 d 
 
 that it may move the feelings, and often aims 
 
 at doing so; but the body — the substantial part — 
 eh must always be its argument (the ap- 
 peals to the affections, which a 
 
 liary to his ailment), an argument 
 
 i- the province of the spirit, not of the soul of man. 
 A song combines both — the articulations of 
 Reason and the gushing forth of feeling, — and 
 therefore a spiritual song, — a song addressed to 
 God, — embrace the highest exercise of the big] 
 human powers. 
 
148 Speech the Instrument of 
 
 And let me add, lest I should seem to exclude 
 from this graud service of Praise all those whom 
 defect of ear or voice precludes from literal sing- 
 ing — that a Poem is a Song, and that, therefore, a 
 Psalm or Hymn, even though not sung, but simply 
 recited, is a spiritual song. The Ancients were 
 aware of this ; and accordingly with them the poet 
 was identified with the minstrel, and the same 
 word " carmen " is employed in Latin to denote 
 the effusions of both. For indeed either the rhyme 
 and metre of Poetry, or its more essential attri- 
 butes of figure, image, and lofty diction, may be 
 justly regarded as the outcoming of feeling, and 
 as a substitute for the musical tones of the voice. 
 
 Contemplate Redeemed Man, then, — contem- 
 plate yourself, — as having been constituted the 
 High Priest of God. It is of necessity that you 
 should have something to offer. And the tongue 
 supplies you with a resource for sacrifice. God 
 provides you not with a lamb, but with a song, 
 for a burnt-offering. With Angels and Arch- 
 angels, and all the Company of Heaven, you are 
 required to pour forth your soul in strains of 
 thanksgiving and praise to the Most High. 
 
 This is a sacrifice, from the offering of which 
 no one is exempt. It is the sacrifice appointed 
 for Redeemed Man in his priestly character. For 
 let it ever be borne in mind that all Christians — 
 
149 
 
 I of ( i«"l — :nv. in a certain : 
 imp ense, priests, and thai apon all of 
 
 them, m such, devolve priestly functions, u Be 
 hath mads as | 
 rightly apprehended, fori in the smallest 
 
 . with that of a constituted Ministn 
 
 fulfilment of certain functions, which 
 none may, without awful presumption, invade. 
 
 Why should the two doctrinee be more inooo 
 
 imder the* New Covenant than the 
 
 under the Old ? It is said of the whole Israelii 
 people, in the most distinct and emphatic terms: 
 "Ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests, and 
 an holy nation/ 3 « priests; and as a 
 
 priest, each male was to present himself before 
 
 , with an offering, at the three great F< 
 vals. Yet when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram 
 presumed upon this sanctity of the entire congre- 
 
 •n to arrogate to themselves the office of burn- 
 ing incense, the Divine di.-pleasure was ms 
 in a form so peculiar, that it has no exact parallel 
 throughout the whole compass of Scripture. 
 
 solution of the apparent inconsistency be- 
 tween the priestly functions of the whole congre- 
 6 of the Ministry, I take to bo 
 this : The line of Aaron under the ( >ld Covenant, 
 and Bishops, Priests, and Deacons under the 2s ew, 
 
 Ilepresentatives before God of the entire Peo- 
 
150 . Speech the Instrument of 
 
 pie. Representatives, — that is the idea. Now 
 it does not follow that whatever the representative 
 is authorized to do, that the party represented 
 may do. All Englishmen, who have a certain 
 stake in the country, may vote at an election of a 
 member for the Lower House, and then they are 
 in their place, and act constitutionally ; but most 
 assuredly they would put themselves out of their 
 place, if they were to force a passage into the 
 House of Commons, and on the ground of their 
 having a voice in the Government, attempt to 
 make a sj)eech there. That is simply arrogating 
 a function which is none of theirs. 
 
 This is a homely image ; but it may help to 
 impress the truth upon the reader's mind. We, 
 the Ministry, are the Representatives before God 
 of you — who are yourselves his Royal Priesthood. 
 You may, — nay, you must daily — seek to edify 
 others with your lips as the passing occasions of 
 life give you opportunity of doing so. You may, 
 — nay, you must daily — present the Spiritual Sa- 
 crifice of Praise (not only praying to God for 
 what you need, but glorifying Him in Psalms and 
 Hymns for all you receive, and specially for Christ, 
 the Unspeakable Gift). But as it did not follow 
 that an Israelite, because he was a member of the 
 Kingdom of Priests, might therefore slay a victim 
 at the Tabernacle door, or burn incense before 
 
I.'.l 
 
 deho\;ih, so it do 
 
 lined, may w low-Ohri the 
 
 offer op prayers m their nai 
 or bless them in the Qreat Nan iune 
 
 I ; much leee that he may break and bless 
 
 I Wine, which under 
 the Law pond to the Sacrifices under the 
 
 It is weH for as, however, to bear in mind, that, 
 
 while the Ministry of the Minister will paBfl away, 
 that of the Christian will endure f.-r ewr. As the 
 
 bloody sacrifices, which were th< of a 
 
 ing Ohri (hand upon the 
 
 Church of God, have lied away, so also shall the 
 ie Lord, which is the commemoration 
 of Christ already come, pass away when lie re- 
 turns. The ixreat Ordinance of the Gospel b 
 
 >r it. We are directed to show forth 
 the Lord's death* by the elements of Bread and 
 Wine till, — and only till, — I! . But even 
 
 then, although the Ministry of the }<\ will 
 
 t an end, the ministry of Psalms and Hymns 
 will continue, and protract Itself throughout Eter- 
 nity. The great and enduring nobility of Pr; 
 
 : it shall abide for ever, that it is the 
 
 arch of God, which has the 
 
 stamp 01 .ity upon it. When there is no 
 
 I in the heart, no want to be supplied, Prayer 
 
152 Note. 
 
 shall expire. When every soul, save the irreme- 
 diably lost, has been both brought to Christ, 
 Preaching shall have no further use. When Christ 
 is manifested face to face, we shall no longer need 
 to regard Him through the dark mirror of Sacra- 
 ments. Praise and Thanksgiving alone shall have 
 a duration equal with the Love of God and the 
 glory of Christ — they shall roll the tale of that 
 Love, and the declaration of that Glory, along the 
 ages of an Eternal Future. 
 
 NOTE ON CHAPTER VI., p. 141 
 
 " Tkese two ends, then, may be shortly stated as being I. Edification, 
 and II. Praise.'''' 
 
 In other words, it is by Speech that man is a Prophet (or 
 Preacher) to his brethren, and a Priest (for the offering of spirit- 
 ual sacrifice) to God. <* 
 
 It is very interesting to connect this idea with that set forth in 
 a previous Chapter, where we pointed out the heavenly analogy of 
 the connexion between Speech and Reason. We saw in that Chap- 
 ter, that Speech in the Nature of man, is the representation of 
 Christ in the Nature of God, our Lord being called The Word. 
 Now we know that Christ is both Prophet, Priest, and King. As 
 a Prophet, He was sent by the Father, to instruct us in the Law 
 of Liberty. As a Priest, He negotiates our acceptance on the 
 ground of His Sacrifice, and intercedes for us in the Heavenly 
 Temple. As a King, He rules us by His Providence, His Word, 
 and His Spirit. 
 
 Similarly, Speech may be viewed in a threefold aspect. One 
 
Note. 
 
 end of it is Am Edification of Man. A il Sa- 
 
 isalma and Hymns, wU l^s us to oiv 
 
 God. And as discriminating man from the i; 
 may justly be said to be the Royal Faulty. It wi rctoe 
 
 tfal sovereignty over the beasts of I A lam gave 
 
 t!io:n BMMA 
 
 7* 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HINTS FOK THE GUIDANCE OF CONVEESATION. 
 
 44 ®®f)tvzfovt f m$ btporto JBrctijren, let t\}tv^ man bt shift to 
 ijtat, stoTo to sjj cafe.* '—James i. 19. 
 
 We have now completed our consideration of 
 idle words. 
 
 We have arrived at the definition of an idle 
 word, by ascertaining what words are not idle. 
 And the definition is this : " All such words are 
 idle, as contribute nothing either to the carrying 
 on of the necessary business of life, or to innocent 
 amusement, or to the lower or higher forms of 
 instruction, or to the glory of Almighty God." 
 
 It remains that I should furnish some practical 
 hints for agreeable and useful conversation. And 
 of useful conversation there are two kinds, corre- 
 sponding to the two forms of instruction — a lower 
 and a higher. We may converse on earthly sub- 
 jects of interest, or on divine and spiritual top- 
 ics. Religious conversation shall occupy our next 
 
or t/«- G 'nil fa nee of ( 
 
 We will i 
 a on Bill 
 1. but) not n 
 Let inciplea Eoly 
 
 vs down for our guidance in 
 
 mar 
 
 The passage which the head of this 
 
 I the chief New 
 
 which affirms the principle on which Conversation 
 
 • be regulated. " Lei every man be 
 hear, slow to speak." Self-restraint in talk 
 ami readiness to receive information, is to !>•• 
 
 olating principle. The spirit of the Old T< 
 meat precept on thi i, is the same with 
 
 that of the New: i; is even more solemn. 
 
 It runs thus: "In the multitude of words tl 
 wanteth nut sin; hut he that rctVaineth his lips is 
 wise." 
 
 It is true that, in the iirst of tl ^ges, 
 
 the primary reference is in all probability tot: 
 words by which religious instruction is to be c 
 d. For, in the immediately preceding con- 
 ies has been speaking of God's ha\ 
 by the word of truth,— that is, by 
 i of the Gospel, — and he then prosectl 
 the idea, by inculoati taint in speaking 
 
 tching the Gospel. M W1 . my beloi 
 
 brethren" (observe the signiii the u wl: 
 
156 Hints for the Guidance of Conversation, 
 
 fore ; " it shows that the precept, which it intro- 
 duces, is the legitimate conclusion from a doctrine 
 previously affirmed), "Wherefore, my beloved 
 brethren, let every man be swift to hear [this 
 word of truth], and slow to speak it," — exactly 
 harmonizing with the advice given further on in 
 the Epistle (chap. iii. 1), "My brethren, be not 
 many masters " (fir] ttoXXol diddanaXoi yiveade, — lit- 
 erally, " Be not many of you teachers ") — do not 
 lightly covet the position of an instructor in Di- 
 vine Truth ; for thereby your responsibilities will 
 be increased, and your shortcoming aggravated — 
 " knowing that we " (the ministers of God's Word, 
 the Apostle among the number) " shall receive " 
 (if unfaithful to our trust) " the greater damna- 
 tion." No doubt, with the more educated Jewish 
 converts, specially those who had imbibed Phari- 
 saical principles, the arrogating to themselves the 
 position of teachers would be a very popular form 
 of sin. ~No doubt there were many among them 
 who trusted, as St. Paul intimates, that " they 
 themselves were guides of the blind, lights of 
 them which were in darkness, instructors of the 
 ignorant, and teachers of babes." A similar 
 spirit of presumption and censoriousness is con- 
 demned by Our Lord in the Sermon on the 
 Mount, where He recommends His hearers to 
 cast out first the beam out of their own eye, be- 
 
tlu-y ani ate which ii in 
 
 their brothei 
 
 It seems probable, therefore, thai the v, 
 
 of St. James refer, in the Brit in >rds 
 
 of religions instruction or admonition* 
 
 Bni onlv in the first We must not 
 
 inordinate, bni very importanl n 
 the whole range of Conversation. Though 
 should always, in the first instance, endeavour 
 to di the eontextnal connexion of the words 
 
 of Holy Scripture, no passage is to be so pinned 
 down to one narrow department of meaning, as 
 that it shall not be allowed to soar above its con- 
 A large and comprehensive view must be 
 taken of Scriptural precepts, and of this among 
 the rest. One great use of words is, that we may 
 thereby. This may be done while in- 
 structing them on ordinary subjects, as well as in 
 a higher form, by direct religious teaching. More- 
 over, all words — and not only those spoken in a 
 religious assembly — are uttered before God. He 
 hears them all, and notes their character. " Lo, 
 there is not a word in my tongue, but Thou, O 
 !, knowest it altogether." So that involved 
 ich prohibitions as — "When ; . DS6 not 
 
 repetitions, as the heathen do," — and again, 
 " Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not t 1 
 heart be hasty to utter any thing before God, for 
 
158 Hints for the Guidance of Conversation. 
 
 God is in heaven, and thou upon earth : therefore, 
 let thy words be few," — is a general precept of 
 self-restraint in the use of words. And, accord- 
 ingly, such a precept, as we have seen, occurs in 
 the Inspired Yolume without any special refer- 
 ence to words of religious instruction. " In the 
 multitude of words there wanteth not sin." And 
 again, " He that hath knowledge spareth his 
 words : and a man of understanding is of an ex- 
 cellent spirit." " Even a fool, when he holdeth 
 his peace, is counted wise : and he that shutteth 
 his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." 
 
 Having thus seen what principle Holy Scrip- 
 ture lays down for the guidance of Conversation, 
 let us proceed to give some hints for the applica- 
 tion of the principle to practice. 
 
 I. . " Let every man be swift to hear." 
 
 A desire of gaining instruction is one of the 
 first dispositions with which we must engage in 
 Conversation, if we desire to make it profitable, — 
 nay, even entertaining, — to both parties. 
 
 Let it be considered a fixed and ascertained 
 truth, that your neighbour, however he may be 
 inferior to you in some points of station and at- 
 tainment, Is able to impart to you some informa- 
 tion which you do not possess, This is not a ' 
 fancy, it is a real truth. "We are told that as to 
 spiritual endowments mankind are all one Body, — 
 
I 
 
 that the Lord has not 1 
 
 in am- i :-man, — that 
 
 the wisdom, knowledge, ability of all dm 
 
 . —that one has the qualifica- 
 tion which hboiir lacks, and lacks the 
 
 lification which ; i& And 
 
 are informed farther of the ngnift 
 of this arrangement — it is pointed out to us how 
 
 this diversity of gifts in cadi individual OOntrib- 
 
 I only to tlic dep of all upon < 
 
 . hut t«> mutual interdependence The 
 \ that there should he an im de- 
 
 mand among men for the services of one another 
 — that the need of one man may he supplied out 
 -undance of another, and that the person 
 so assisted should reciprocate, by giving of what 
 he possesses. Aud what is said of spiritual 
 
 ad of this world's wealth, applies with 
 equal truth to the great stock of general knowl- 
 • disparted among mankind. It too is un- 
 ify distributed — one man has the ten tale: 
 another live, and a third but one ; — yet the 
 ! cursory experience of life, the daily work l»y 
 which the livelihood is earned, gft portion 
 
 of it to all. A mechanic knows how to perfo 
 manual processes of his trade— a philosopher, 
 the princi a which 
 
 the : . would probably handle the 
 
160 Hints for the Guidance of Conversation. 
 
 tools in such a manner as to produce a certain 
 failure. The knowledge of books, and an exten- 
 sive acquaintance with literature, may easily con- 
 sist with a profound ignorance of common things, 
 external nature, or the current intelligence of the 
 day. Let it be remembered that this current in- 
 telligence, if it concern worthy subjects, and not 
 the frivolous movements of modern society, — if it 
 turn upon political measures, or the events pass- 
 ing on the theatre of the world, — is a legitimate 
 part of the great fund of knowledge, and that a 
 man who has mastered it is so far forth a better 
 informed man than he who has not. The events 
 of the day — those, I mean, which affect our coun- 
 try and the world at large — are the elements of 
 Modern History. 
 
 Let it be assumed, then, that every man has 
 some piece of knowledge to impart to us, which 
 we ourselves do not possess. 
 
 And, this being the case, let us, when either 
 casually or by design w T e enter into company, set 
 ourselves to the finding out what that something 
 is. Possibly it is nothing in our own line — noth- 
 ing that is to be found in books — nothing con- 
 nected with any ambitious department of knowl- 
 edge. And, therefore, you think it is not worth 
 your listening to — much less, your casting about 
 how you may extract it. Oh the narrowness of 
 
bfor tin- (i\t> <hince of C I ,; I 
 
 human mind, and the contemptible canity of 
 the human heart! "Because it does not \l 
 my department, b though 
 
 ly a subject of human kn< . is not lufB- 
 
 dignified for my consideration,-- 
 
 mind happens to be a perfect blank upon such 
 topics, — therefore I need not care to know aught 
 
 ! my brother, mch knowh 
 though it moves in an humble sphere, may deal 
 with Bubjecta which affect the well being of the 
 human race more intimately than any Bubu'o 
 study. lime processes of nature are not 
 
 the most essential processes. It is not the flash 
 of the lightning, nor the distant muttering of the 
 thunder, nor the tumbling of the avalanche rever- 
 berated bya thousand hills, — it is not these which 
 are the most potent agencies of Nature for good, 
 hut rather the distillation of the little dewdrop on 
 the blade of grass, and the noiseless stealing down 
 irly and the latter rain. And the sublime 
 
 •esses of Art are not the most essentia] pro- 
 cesses. It maybe much questioned, whether the 
 manufacture of a balloon is half as serviceable to 
 mankind as the manufacture of a drain. And, 
 similarly, thy brother's humbler knowledge may 
 pertain to matters much more essential than thy 
 more aspiring flight of wisdom. 
 
 Our practical suggestion is, then, that an effort 
 
162 Hints for the Guidance of Conversation. 
 
 should be made to extract from those, with whom 
 the occasions of life bring us into contact, that por- 
 tion of useful knowledge, which out of the common 
 stock they have appropriated to themselves. " Let 
 every man be swift to hear." 
 
 What are the subjects in which, by his circum- 
 stances and position, he is likely to be interested % 
 How can I draw him on to speak of them % If 
 these questions were uppermost in the mind, and if 
 conversation were pursued in the spirit of them, 
 it would not be so barren a thing as it often is. 
 The sense of unprofitableness which so often op- 
 presses us after an hour spent in company, would 
 be effectually dissipated. And more than this — 
 such a plan would relieve conversation of the dul- 
 ness which so often attaches to it. How often do 
 we long to escape from the necessity of talking, 
 which courtesy imposes, as from a bitter thralldom ! 
 How often does the exertion become intolerably 
 irksome, because it really consists in fetching up 
 from the mine of the Memory small buckets full of 
 commonplace and formal remarks, in which neither 
 party feels the smallest interest, and which are 
 only bandied to and fro from a false feeling that 
 to drop them altogether would not be well-bred, 
 and that somebody must say something. Intol- 
 erable drudgery, indeed. Now let us make the 
 experiment, whether the motto, " Swift to hear," 
 
fsfor the Ghiidanoe of Convcs 
 
 may not famish i 
 
 regard < 
 lion m learners, in quest of Bometi 
 
 which will furnish u arioUfl Qj 
 
 iiin- 
 silv 
 
 oil in time. Bui he our success what it 
 may, we most, as Christians, absolute 
 
 all vapid words, which liave in them no salt of wit 
 
 ;i. We are not at liberty— plainly not — 
 dkmg'B sake — to say something at all 
 
 W out words, without tlie <L 
 
 either t<> or instruct. The warning against 
 
 idle ust he heeded, at w" 
 
 of IV ion. For He uttered the 
 
 warning, whose lip- are tail of Grace, and at our 
 I slight even the least of His Com- 
 mandments. 
 
 II. We now turn to the second part of the 
 Scriptur ipt — "Let every man be slow to 
 
 I in, and would naturally 
 follow from, what went before. For if a man be 
 simply d -traction, he will not 
 
 be o ly, although he will not be backward, 
 
 to communicate it. The precept, however, is of 
 such import:; not be left to in 
 
 We D 1 not to arrive at it in the way of 
 
 action: it is given us directly and explicitly, 
 
164: Hints for the Guidance of Conversation. 
 
 in a form which cannot be evaded : " Let every 
 man be slow to speak." Now, as one design of 
 the former precept was to communicate an inter- 
 est to conversation, by setting each party upon an 
 inquiry, as to what knowledge his neighbour might 
 be possessed of, so the main scope of this is to pre- 
 vent one party from selfishly engrossing all the 
 interest of it. 
 
 Is it not remarkable how minute and detailed 
 the Word of God is in its censure of evil, and how 
 profound, in its analysis and exposure of the mo- 
 tives from which evil springs ? Though, in com- 
 pliance with its own principles, its words are few, 
 yet how exploring are they — how do they detect 
 the hidden flaw in our social intercourse, and point 
 to its origin ! 
 
 The way of society — the principles upon which 
 the intercourse of the world is regulated — is this : 
 It is assumed as an axiom, that the greater part 
 of mankind have nothing to contribute to the 
 common stock of knowledge, but that some fa- 
 voured individuals have a gift of entertaining 
 others by their Conversation, however little they 
 may instruct them. The individuals thus favoured 
 soon feel, and begin to exercise, their own ]30wers. 
 The admiration, even of a small circle, flatters 
 their vanity, and they bid high for it, by making 
 every effort, when in company, to be thought 
 
nee of C L60 
 
 agreeable. Nor is this effort, apart from the mo- 
 tive which originatei it, any thing but oommi 
 able. 1 to entertain 
 
 and instead the society in which lie moves. J » u t . 
 then, t!i of the worldling the 
 
 on rod of selfishness, which vitiates it at the 
 core. He cares not far pleasing other . i-tso 
 
 tar at they yield him the homage of admirat ion. 
 
 utility, and his volubility, his anecdotes, 
 
 and hi- boii-mots, are, from beginning to end, a 
 
 •n. And so long at he 
 le in the pursuit of his ob- 
 
 3, his humour i> complaisant, and his de- 
 vour ati'ahle. But let another person, equally 
 . nter the same sphere, and, with no less 
 
 •o a hearing, claim to he heard. This 
 will often dY lew of all, the sellish- 
 
 ness which before wafl latent. Discontented and 
 mortified by having found a rival in the power of 
 
 rtaining, the man retires into himself, it' he 
 cannot he the first object of attraction, he d 
 not care to entertain at all. 
 
 But. . the way of society is not God's 
 
 way, nor are the principles upon which worldly 
 intercourse is regulated, Scriptural principles. 
 God teaches that no man may put himself in a 
 false position, by arrogating to himself the exclu- 
 power of entertaining and instructing the 
 
166 Hints for the Guidance of Conversation. 
 
 society in which he moves, — that, as no man is 
 really endued with all knowledge in every de- 
 partment, so it is hypocrisy and a lie for any man 
 to pretend that he is, and to monopolize conversa- 
 tion, as if he were : — " Let every man be slow to 
 speak." Scripture prescribes the disposition with 
 which a man should enter upon conversation, as 
 one of candour in confessing ignorance, and of 
 readiness to receive instruction : — " Let every man 
 be swift to hear." 
 
 Now, if these principles were uniformly car- 
 ried out, how different a scene would society pre- 
 sent from that which we so often witness. The 
 secret heart-burnings and jealousies, which are 
 sometimes fomented by an evening in company, 
 would cease, and Conversation, instead of lapsing 
 into the vanity of an empty display, whose hol- 
 lowness is apparent afterwards, would become a 
 source of mutual profit and satisfaction to all con- 
 cerned in it. * 
 
 " But may I not be brilliant in conversation, — 
 may I not shine in that, which I know to be my 
 own department ? " says some one, who feels that 
 he is gifted that way. You may, nay, you must, 
 exercise every gift that God has given you, but 
 no gift may you exercise, if you are a liegeman 
 of the Cross, and a follower of the Nazarene, 
 with the design of attracting admiration. "Words 
 
'<<• Outdance of Conversat'a I M 
 
 I of entertainment I 
 
 Instruction they were given fear the glorifl 
 
 < ion, but I now! 1 that they v. 
 
 •rifioatioii of sel£ In order to see 
 more dearly how serious the fault is, which 
 
 operation of 
 ie principle which leads a man to engross i 
 
 •i, by way of glorifying himself, turn* him 
 kd Eeresiarch in the higher sphere of religions 
 bhing. For what is an Beresiarehl An Be- 
 nch is one whoj in virtue of tris own peonliar 
 Stitntion of mind, seizes upon some one point 
 in the ample compass of Divine Trutli. In the 
 narrowness of his mind, lie eoneeives all truth to 
 up in this one doctrine, — lie looks 
 down upon those counterbalancing doctrines, which 
 are equally based upon the authority of Holy 
 tpture, and which present then; move 
 
 forcibly to minds of another cast. lie does not 
 rehend the catholicity of God's Truth, or the 
 that all men's minds are but partial recepta- 
 cles of it— that one mind is more vividly impress- 
 ed by one portion of it, another by another. Ac- 
 lingly, it' endowed with the gift of Speech, he 
 seeks to gain attention for his one aspect of Truth, 
 and all others do homage to it. He suc- 
 
 ceeds : and (for it is pleasant to be batoned to) 
 success l y. He forms an entire 
 
168 Hints for the Guidance of Conversation, 
 
 theory upon his one doctrine, magnifying it in 
 very undue proportions, — and attracts notice, and 
 wins followers. Perhaps Schism (that is, separa- 
 tion from the Church) follows. The Church hold3 
 all truth, and he holds a part. The Church flat- 
 ters no man's vanity, and he has a vast stock of 
 vanity, which requires to be flattered. He can 
 speak, and, therefore, to speak he will be forward 
 — if not in the Church, at least in the Meeting 
 House. It is the same vanity, and the same for- 
 getfulness that every one holds a portion of truth, 
 which, in a sphere not religious, leads a man to 
 that monopoly of conversation, which the Scrip- 
 ture censures. 
 
 Finally, a valuable rule for the Guidance of 
 our Conversation is to be obtained from a passage 
 to which I have as yet made no reference. We 
 know the manner in which Holy Scripture speaks 
 — we know how brief and chastised are its delin- 
 eations, and yet how significant — we know, when 
 it paints character, how few and simple are the 
 touches of the pencil, and yet how graphic and 
 expressive — how, through the whole Yolume (com- 
 posed by divers human authors, and at periods of 
 time separated by long intervals), runs the charac- 
 teristic of few words, and deep wisdom — little 
 rhetoric, and much point. Well, let us make it a 
 model for the style of our Conversation. We are 
 
i Outdance of Conversato . 1 1 18 
 
 bidden bo to do. Let us bo chastised in our talk. 
 Let us strive that, as far as may be, etch wofd 
 drop may have some point in it — some worth and 
 
 Jit, ami solidity. In other, and better lan- 
 guage, — "IP ANY MAN 8PEAK, 111 HIM SPEAK AS 
 ORACLE8 OF GOD." 
 
 8 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 ON RELIGIOUS CONVERSATION. 
 
 M SlnU tjjeg taXketi tofictljcr of nil tjjcse t&irtjjs to|)ic!) ftafci Ijaji* 
 penrt. &nlr tt came to pass, tljat, b)f)ile tijeg commune* to* 
 jjcttjcr anli reasoned, #esus lumsetf tireto neav anu toent tott^ 
 tfjem." — Luke xxiv. 14, 15. 
 
 Our subject in these pages has been Speech — 
 in its origin — in its responsibility — and in its ap- 
 plication to the Worship of God, and to the enter- 
 tainment and edification of the mind. We en- 
 deavoured, in our last Chapter, to give some prac- 
 tical suggestions for conversation on topics merely 
 useful and interesting, without being directly relig- 
 ious ; in this final essay of the series, we shall 
 endeavour to give some hints on the grave and 
 important topic of Spiritual Conversation. 
 
 I. Now it is evident, at the outset, that of re- 
 ligious conversation there may be two kinds. Such 
 conversation may turn upon that which passes 
 within. We may reveal to our friends our religious 
 
171 
 
 experience (meaning l»v 
 
 fluctuating OOndJ W|r spiritual lit". 
 
 us iinpimwipi • by various tpon 
 
 our awls, the tentimenti and reft bo which 
 
 circumstances gi within us, the | 
 
 which w \vt Almighty I 
 
 had with Di in Providence or in Grace, and so 
 forth)— Or we may discuss religious truth whicli is 
 rnal to cur own minds, and of whicli a \ 
 
 field lies open to as, inviting that investigation 
 
 which is sometimes best C Q by the contact 
 
 of mind with mind. 
 
 Thus, assuming, tbr the sake of an ill; 
 that St. Peter was one of the disciples, who, on 
 the day of the B inn, walked to Emm 
 
 (as we know he was not) — he might have disCQJ 
 with his companion the shame and remorse whicli 
 
 r since his fall had himg like a dark cloud over 
 his mind, and his earnest wish to make amends to 
 
 Master, now that it seemed as if amends could 
 
 Longer be made ; or the conversation of the two 
 com: light have turned, as it actually did 
 
 turn, upon Christ, — they might have talked to- 
 gether of the things which had happened, taking a 
 summary retrospect of that wonderful career, now 
 that it had closed upon them (as they thought) for 
 
 :, and refreshing one another's memory o: 
 various incidents — the miracles by which its pr 
 
172 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 ress had been marked, and the words of Grace, 
 which, on various occasions, had fallen from the 
 lips of Him who spake as never man spake. 
 
 Let us take each of these kinds of religious con- 
 versation in order, and consider how far each of 
 them is intrinsically proper and edifying. 
 
 Speech ( and therefore conversation, which is a 
 form of speech ) is the index or expression of the 
 thoughts of man. Language is the outcoming of 
 the human mind. 
 
 Now there is an analogy between the mind of 
 man, in its operation upon ideas, and the senses of 
 man, in their operation upon matter. 
 
 The senses — sight, hearing, touch and the rest, 
 — are so constructed as to throw us into the outer 
 world. The senses are perfect, only when we for- 
 get that we have them, and throw ourselves, by 
 the exercise of them, into the various objects which 
 are presented to us. 
 
 When, for example, we gaze upon a fair land- 
 scape from some eminence, and are wholly ab- 
 sorbed in the beauty of the plain outstretched 
 beneath our feet, dotted here and there with 
 cattle, and intersected with silver streams — upon 
 the outline, undulating or jagged, of the purple 
 hills in the distance — and upon the sheets of water 
 which lie embosomed in the woods, the sense of 
 sight has fulfilled its object in the just and legiti- 
 
On Religious Conversation. 
 
 iy, it has oj»« iturally, aj il 
 
 to operate. "We have not seen tin no 
 
 sense operates npon itself. "What we have 
 
 •t. Of e w* haw Lpri all 
 
 thought. ^ not been OOlciooa even of 
 
 ; •--• ;" ryo. Wo haTebeea engaged with 
 
 land.-«-:i; 
 
 il the same with the other senses. 
 throw themselves, by their natural constitution, 
 outward. None of them have .any reilex action 
 
 D themselves. And th«'V are in a sound St 
 only w!.< I that we possess them. A 
 
 hi of mi; the ear; it wakens up a 
 
 In Of .Maori in the mind, wh; the 
 
 DOT l'ar away from the circumstances whieh at 
 present surround him, — but he is quite uncon- 
 scious of the inlet by whieh those associations 
 entered, — he thinks not of the ear. A sweet 
 breath oi' hay or seav at him back again to 
 
 the time of his youth, when he played in the hay- 
 iield or upon the beach, — he ! in for a time 
 
 amid the scenes of his childhood, — but he think- 
 not of the orpin by which the impression i- 
 
 I say, he thinks not of it. There is no reflec- 
 
 oft/ie min d upon the operation of the senses. 
 
 And, of course, there is no reflex action of the 
 
 6enses upon themselves. Th not so con- 
 
174 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 stituted that it can see itself, nor the ear that it 
 can hear itself: their construction points to some- 
 thing in the outward world — a scene, or a sound, 
 which they are to apprehend. 
 
 ISTow you are to observe, that, if there were 
 any such reflex action, either of the mind upon 
 the operations of sense, or of the senses upon 
 themselves, this would indicate disease in the or- 
 gans of sense. If a man's attention, or conscious- 
 ness, is divided between the landscape and his 
 eye, it is because the eye is not single, there is 
 some flaw in it. If, while listening to a strain of 
 music, he imagines that he hears it in a singular 
 or unwonted manner, — that he hears the notes 
 doubled, for example, or unduly prolonged, — this 
 is because the sense of hearing is out of order. In 
 any healthy exercise of the organ, he would not be 
 sensible of its presence : when he is so sensible, 
 that indicates something amiss. 
 
 Now, there is a resemblance between man's 
 mind and his senses, as generally there is a cor- 
 respondence between the outward and the inward 
 frame.' The senses are adapted by their construc- 
 tion to the matter which is outside of, and inde- 
 pendent of, themselves. The mind is adapted by 
 its constitution to the apprehension and contem- 
 plation of objects, which are quite independent 
 of, and outside of, its internal mechanism. Thus, 
 
On B d ig iam O om t& m H i i m , 
 for Qzample, the aftectiona of four, b tpas- 
 
 ■:, and love, haw > certain objects 
 
 upon which tin ' v ar- 
 
 does not fear itself, nor compassion compassion 
 If, nor love lore itself, but fear appreh 
 danger, and makes us fly; soon feat 
 
 upon el! ad disposes ns to relieve it; : 
 
 upon BOJ i of natural affection, and disposes 
 
 I hat object 
 
 And, in the purely intellectual faculties, the 
 same feature ' \ able. Our minds are adapt - 
 
 • the investigationand contemplation of troths, 
 whirh are independent of them, a: Le them. 
 
 Tliey may invest igate the laws which govern the 
 universe, from the phenomena which the univ 
 presents. They may throw themselves, through 
 the medium of history, into scenes which b 
 
 ■•ted in bygone ages. Finally, they may 
 contemplate the Spiritual Truths propounded in 
 the Bible, and derive upon them- >m that 
 
 - mutation, a happy and an holy influei 
 
 But supposing that, instead of operating thus, 
 the feelings, affect ind thoughts, should fall 
 
 k upon themselves, and contemplate their own 
 operations. Supposing that in an hour of Immi- 
 nent peril — when on the verge of a shipwreck — 
 the mind wen to run, not upon the danger, but 
 upon the affection of fear — that, instead of taking 
 
176 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 all due precautions, we were engaged in a specu- 
 lation upon the origin and precise amount of 
 the alarm experienced on the present occasion. Or, 
 supposing that, when our path was crossed by an 
 object of distress, we paused, to analyze the feeling 
 of compassion, as to how far it might be genuine 
 on the present occasion, or how far other motives 
 might dispose us to relieve this case. Or, suppos- 
 ing that we always 'had in our minds the affection 
 felt by us for some member of our family, and, as 
 having it much upon our minds, were constantly 
 to be bringing it forward in conversation, and 
 exposing it to others. Or, supposing, finally, that 
 in a piece of historical research, a man were to 
 please himself, not with a picture of ancient man- 
 ners, elicited by a careful study of ancient monu- 
 ments, and the patching together of notices, found 
 in sundry dry old chronicles, but with the thought 
 of his own acumen in shedding this light upon an 
 obscure period, — what should we infer from all 
 this, as to the soundness or unsoundness of the 
 mental and moral powers % "We should say at 
 once that they were morbid, and their action un- 
 healthy. As the eye is conscious of the landscape, 
 not of its own visual power, the ear conscious of 
 the music, not of its own structure, — so the mind 
 ought to be conscious only of the external objects 
 upon which it fastens, and when it turns back 
 
On Bdigiamtf Qm*0Wt i on * r, , 
 
 again upon itself, thifl is I proof of B 
 
 inherent in it. 
 
 Now, poaaibly, it' th lias followed me 
 
 thus far, his mind will jump prematurely to 
 
 which sivms to present an i 
 
 to what hi 
 
 Von will naturally ask, — is, then, all reflection 
 
 of the mind upon its own pnx i be discour- 
 
 aged? Is not self-examination a duty pn 
 
 in HmIv Scripture 1 And what is self-examination, 
 luit | rellectiou oi'the mind upon it- own pr 
 
 d to suggest that we should ool o 
 
 itljbe looking into our own hearts and char- 
 acters, and endeavouring to act upon the maxim, 
 Bftid ot'old to have come down from heaven, yvwOi 
 aeavrov ? 
 
 Self-Examination, in the p resent circumstances 
 of our nature, is, no doubt, a most important and 
 arduous duty. But it is no less true, that Self- 
 Examination has reference to a llaw in our nature, 
 and in a perfect condition of the mental and moral 
 powers would not exist. The object of Self-Ex- 
 animation is to ascertain how far our hearts are 
 right with GkxL But supposing (which, sinoe the 
 Fall m a purely imaginary case) that our hearts 
 were never wrong with (iod — that the DQ 
 needle of the Will always turned steadily, and 
 without oscillation, in the direction of God — could 
 8* 
 
178 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 there be then any place for Self-Examination? 
 Surely none. Self-Examination was unknown in 
 Paradise. Our first parents, before the Fall, were 
 innocents in the strictest sense of that term, throw- 
 ing themselves, with keenest enjoyment, into all 
 the objects of delight which surrounded them in 
 the pure and happy garden ; but never analyzing 
 their own sensations, or reflecting upon the instru- 
 mentality by which they were produced. We may 
 conceive them to have been essentially unreflect- 
 ing (in the limited sense of the word reflection) — 
 absorbed, indeed, in the contemplation of the 
 Divine Goodness, and in the appreciation of those 
 blessings with which He had crowned their cup, — 
 but self in no shape entering into their thoughts. 
 But, by the Fall, a great flaw entered both into 
 the physical and moral nature of man. Thence- 
 forth it became necessary for the physician to ex- ' 
 amine the structure of the organs of sense, and to 
 acquaint himself, as far as possible, with the theory 
 of sensation, in order that he might minister to the 
 relief of the organs of sense, when deranged. And, 
 thenceforth, it became necessary to exercise Self- 
 Examination, — that man should analyze his own 
 motives, should investigate his own feelings, and 
 try by the revealed rule of right, his conduct and 
 his character. All this was made necessary by 
 superinduced evil — it was not necessary originally. 
 
On Bdigicm OonuMmtiion* 179 
 
 l now we turn rafficientfy examined the 
 
 roots of the subject, to see our w answer 
 
 used at the outset of the Oha] 
 
 I the answer I give is this, — The revelation 
 of our own inward experience to otfo 
 talking of our own frames and feelings, Of 
 personal dealings which God may have had with 
 
 is onlj desirable, BO far forth -tributes 
 
 to t!. end of Self-Examination, It" ii tends 
 
 '.ve us seli-knowledev— to derelope more fully 
 in our consciousness our own nn worthiness and 
 God's great Love — then doubtless it is desirah 
 
 By the help of this principle, we must make 
 out when conversation of this kind won Id be an 
 advantage, and when it would not The object 
 of Self-Examination is the gaining a deeper sense 
 of our own sinfulness. And the object of gaining 
 this deeper sense is that we may recur with a 
 Stronger faith and more entire simplicity to Chi 
 If then this deeper sense of sinfulness can be for- 
 warded or fostered by the disclosure either to an 
 intimate friend, or to a clergyman (yes, to a clergy- 
 men, — we are not afraid of truth, because the 
 irch abuses and caricature- it) of our 
 own inward retigkra ■ " shall do well and 
 
 wisely to make that disclosure, and to solicit the 
 prayers for us of the person to whom it is made. 
 The doing so would only be acting in accordance 
 
180 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 with the inspired principle — " Confess your sins 
 one to another, and pray one for another, that ye 
 may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a 
 righteous man avail eth much." I feel, however, 
 that it behoves us at all times to be jealously watch- 
 ful over our own minds, while making such commu- 
 nications. We may suffer real spiritual mischief by 
 a too free or too general disclosure of feelings, 
 which, as turning upon our own personal relation 
 to God, are invested with a peculiar sacredness. 
 It will be well for me briefly to point out how this 
 mischief may arise. 
 
 Who, that knows himself, knows not the sub- 
 tlety of pride ? Who knows not that pride takes 
 its occasion from our religious actions, from our 
 religious feelings, and is the cankerworm at the 
 root of them, that blights and makes them rotten ? 
 We cannot express ourselves humbly, we cannot 
 confess our sins heartily, but pride, like a malig- 
 nant fluid, secreted from the heart, poisons our 
 humility and our confession. Now it is evident 
 that pride may feel a great deal of complacency, 
 when we speak out to another the most secret and 
 sacred feelings of our own breast. The reflection 
 will perforce suggest itself, do what we may to 
 keep it down, — " Is not this act of self-abasement 
 a proof of my real goodness ? Could a man have 
 the feelings which I disclose, and which by the 
 
On Religious Conversat^ I si 
 
 disclosure 1 unfold is my own oonaoioneneaa, with- 
 
 out baying really some mo— OBO of saintliness? 
 Will u. »t the person to whom J disclose them 
 thin' of me, instead of worse, fat 
 
 re \ " 
 I by ;ii8 say that the occasion which the 
 
 talking of Religions Experience gives to feelings 
 of this character ought to he a bar to it altogether. 
 
 There is no religion e in the world, from 
 
 which pride may not and does not take its occa- 
 sion. If it i.- rather more aj>t to do SO from this 
 kind of conversation than from any Other duty, it 
 is because it i> the metl personal of all duties, the 
 BMMt hound up and identified with self. This 
 consideration should make us, not backward in 
 di-elosing our feelings when the doing BO may he 
 
 tided with advantage, — but only guarded and 
 watchful over our own minds, while making the 
 re. 
 
 Guardedness in exposing our feelings should 
 arise from the consideration, that by thus diffusing 
 them we evaporate their strength. This is a law 
 of the ct.i^titution of our nature, the operation of 
 which is inevitable. The sentiments of the heart, 
 especially those of the most personal and sacred 
 character, resemble fragrant odour.:. If you break 
 the box of ointment, the fragrance must be m 
 or L< 1 in the air. The concentration 
 
182 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 of a religious feeling in the deep cell of the heart 
 is its strength — its diffusion sometimes proves its 
 weakness. There is one direction, however, and 
 one only, in which it may be diffused without 
 perilling its strength. The exposure of the heart's 
 sentiments to Christ in confession of guilt, and 
 acknowledgment of His mercies — in application 
 for His sympathy and aid — this, as bringing us 
 into contact with the One Source of light and 
 strength, cannot but confirm and intensify them. 
 From Him we can conceal nothing ; and it is our 
 highest wisdom and privilege to pour out the 
 heart before Him. Mary broke her alabaster box 
 of ointment upon His feet, and that offering He 
 endued by His Word with an undying fragrance. 
 "Yerily, I say unto you, that wheresoever this 
 Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there 
 shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told 
 for a memorial of her." 
 
 Let the odour of our affections go forth towards 
 Christ; and they shall preserve their fragrance 
 fresh and enduring. 
 
 The third and last consideration, which I shall 
 adduce against an undue divulging of our religious 
 feelings to others is, that this practice, however 
 sometimes necessary and desirable, cannot but 
 counteract a secret, true, and natural instinct 
 within us. There is a remarkable analogy be- 
 
On Religion* Conversation. 1 88 
 
 en tin- way in which we regard our phytic*] 
 frame, and that in which we regard oar m 
 
 the Fall, which brought En ■ 
 
 isnessof imperfetion, man lias shrunk ! 
 
 3 -nakedness d aeoompanied with 
 
 me. The first effect of man's sin was t«> make 
 
 him hide himself among the trees of the garden, 
 
 an<l deprecate exposure,— and the Lord conde- 
 
 ded tothis Instmet, and recognised its natural- 
 
 the circumstances, when "for Adam 
 
 and his wife Be made garments of skin and clothed 
 
 them." And thus it is with our moral frame* 
 
 too. "We feel an instinctive reluctance to 
 
 it, to lay bare the privacy of our heart's recesses 
 
 before another. The heart, it is said, and there 
 
 periods when all, however surrounded with 
 
 intra 1 kind friends, must realize it — "the 
 
 heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger 
 
 doth not intermeddle with his joy." Joseph 
 
 screens the intensity of his affections from human 
 
 . — not merely because the public indulgence of 
 
 o might have led to premature discovery, but 
 
 from de' -reasons connected with the 
 
 constitution of his nature. u Bis bowels," it is said, 
 
 " did yearn upon his brother : and he Bought where 
 
 ; and he entered into his chamber, and 
 
 re." 
 
184 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 " He could not trust his melting soul, 
 But in his Maker's sight ; 
 Then why should gentle hearts and true, 
 Bare to the rude world's withering view, 
 Their treasure of delight ? " 
 
 If, then, the instinct of reserve be a true and natural 
 one, we should not violate it without just reasons 
 moving us thereunto, and due limitations. Nature 
 itself would teach us to select the confidant from 
 the number of the most intimate, or of those who 
 have most conciliated, and have the justest claims 
 upon, our esteem. 
 
 But are there no religious topics, save those 
 which are of a personal character, and which turn 
 upon our own inner and spiritual life ? Surely, as 
 the whole realm of Nature lies open before the eye 
 of the body, wherein the Philosopher may explore 
 minutely, and discover by such investigation ever 
 fresh wonders — wherein the simple lover of nature 
 may find ever some new feature of beauty to dwell 
 upon, with awe and rapture, — so there is, without 
 the human mind, a spiritual world, which will 
 appear, upon research, inexhaustible, will open up 
 fresh wonders at every turn, and present fresh feat- 
 ures of moral grace and wisdom, as the believer 
 contemplates it with more of simplicity and devo- 
 tion. The Word of God, the Truths of God- 
 elementary or advanced — this is the sublime realm 
 
On fi Vffkm t bfi in ratio* 185 
 
 which the human mind is permitted and in 
 low, and wl.' toae are awaiv who I 
 
 le trial oi' it, will amply repay investigation. 
 
 mind with mind, 
 has ; icy to shed peculiar light upon this in- 
 
 on. 
 We seldom ■ difficulty, without at 
 
 least opening a wav towards the solution of it. All 
 minds run in a track of their own, and sometimes, 
 if we pursue our own speculations too far, brie- 
 fly of the views taken bv others, the track 
 •ines a rut, and thought is be- i entan- 
 
 glement and perplexity. The mode of obviating 
 this mischici is by the interchange of friendly con- 
 ation on the thoughts arising out of God's 
 Truth. If such conversation be conducted in a right 
 spirit) it will be surely blessed by God, to gre 
 
 - on our part. The two disciples had 
 not long communed together, and reasoned upon 
 their common perplexities, before light sprungup 
 to tl. i the Expositor was at hand. kk d« 
 
 Himself drew near, and went with them; and 
 beginning at Moses and all the prophets, lb 
 ::ded unto them in all the Scriptures the tl 
 concerning Himself." Yes, mark the words — 
 icerning Himself." What other 
 noiiy had Moses and the Prophets to h 
 but such as had reference, either directly or indi- 
 
186 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 rectly, to the Lord Jesus — to His Advents, His 
 Divine Person, His Humanity, His offices of Grace, 
 His work of Love and Pity ? With what other' 
 testimony is the whole of Scripture charged, but 
 that of Christ, Christ, Christ ? Christ, in the typ- 
 ical Histories of the Old Testament. Christ, in 
 the typical Ceremonies of the Mosaic Law. Christ, 
 in the Psalms, as the source of the Christian's con- 
 solation, and the key to unlock all the affections 
 of his heart. Christ, in the Prophecies, as Cap- 
 tain of the great triumph over evil — predicted 
 with greater clearness as time wears on. Christ, 
 in the Gospels, as the Healer and Benefactor of 
 the race. Christ, in the Epistles, as the Wisdom 
 of God. Christ, in the Kevelation, as the Coming 
 One, whose Advent is ever imminent, the pole- 
 star of Hope, upon which the Christian's eye is 
 ever fixed. Eeader, the Scriptures are, indeed, 
 full of Christ, and we have His own testimony 
 that we shall read them amiss, and discuss them 
 amiss, unless our study and our discussion lead us 
 to find Him in them. To commune of the Scrip- 
 tures, if we commune aright, will be to commune 
 of the Lord. As in the realm of nature, one form 
 — that of the tree, with its branching arms — con- 
 tinually presents itself to the eye — so, in Scripture, 
 the Cross of Christ ever presents itself to the mind. 
 Let us expect, and seek, and pray to discern it 
 
187 
 
 tlur rersation, as 
 
 ing and meditation, on the Word 
 of God, until thi Bids out 
 
 on every page. AVith how large a blessing may 
 such n reasonably look to be fraught I 
 
 : in perplexity, it shall end in el< 
 ness. It with the presen ce of two or 
 
 6 — it shall end With the spiritual presence of 
 
 a IV ■■ whose form is like that of the Bon 
 
 God." He shall join us M we commune together 
 and reason, and <; : he cloud from our minds, 
 
 and iinally open our eyes, that we should know 
 
 Him. 
 
 We have now brought the subject, which has 
 occupied our attention through £3 jea, to a 
 
 close. Aa regards that part of it which has been 
 treated in this Chapter, it is rather the necessity 
 
 completing our topic, which has led to the dis- 
 cussion of it, than the feeling that the evil specially 
 urcd in it is popular or prevalent. The last 
 fault to which the many are likely to be tempted, 
 tfl that of lading hare too freely to the eye of their 
 friends the recesses of their own inner life. Rath- 
 er surely the ordinary temptation is the far more 
 :ie — to discard from conversation all 
 M being grave and serious, and 
 an undue check upon merriment — and "to sp 
 often one to another "not on spiritual concerns, 
 
188 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 but upon topics unedifying, frivolous at best, and 
 possibly sinful or profane. 
 
 I trust that in the preceding pages the sin of 
 Idle Words has been faithfully represented in its 
 true colours ; and that some reader of this little 
 Book may have received a warning against con- 
 tinuance in that sin, which may resound in his 
 conscience for some little time. 
 
 It is a great thing (nay, it is the first step 
 towards right conduct) to be impressed with the 
 responsibility, which the faculty of Speech entails 
 upon us. Jesus, when He restored that faculty 
 to a dumb man, sighed, and said " Ephphatha." 
 Why did he sigh ? Was that sigh an indication 
 that the Lord was about to confer an awful power, 
 a power which might be awfully abused, as it 
 might also be made the medium of infinite good ? 
 Was it equivalent to saying, " Son of man, hith- 
 erto shut out from the power of sinning with the 
 lips, upon the brink of what an awful responsi- 
 bility art thou standing ! This giving thee an 
 articulate tongue, to use or abuse, is almost like 
 endowing thee with a soul, which, while it has a 
 capacity of heavenly bliss, is also susceptible of 
 being degraded to the lowest hell." 
 
 Was this the Saviour's mind when He sighed ? 
 It may be so; for indeed the tongue, being the 
 faculty by which Reason is exercised, is so closely 
 
On fij ligiom ( km tx Nafta l N 
 
 allied with the Be* I to give articulate 
 
 speech is akin to endowing with Rea 
 
 And 80, in view of this intimate association, it 
 
 ritteo — 
 
 •' Death and lii itnal death an<l life) 
 
 "are in the DOW0T of the tongue/ 1 Wlm 
 
 rtli liis month and Ids tongue, keepeth his boh] 
 
 from troubles." 
 
 And by a greater than Solomon it was said — 
 "By thy WOBDfl THOU siialt be justii 
 
 BT THY WOED> ! ALT BE CONDEMNED." 
 
 1 :inn«»t close this Chapter without bringing 
 to the reader's memory a well-known-] >assage of 
 Cowper, — one of the beau English literature, 
 
 — which sums up the argument of the preceding 
 Chapter : — 
 
 " It happened on a solemn eventide, 
 Soon after He that was our Surety died, 
 Two bosom friends, each pensively inclined, 
 The scene of all those sorrows left behind, 
 Sought their own village, busied as they went, 
 In musings worthy of the great event : 
 They spake of Him they loved, of Him whose life, 
 Though blameless, had incurr'd perpetual strife, 
 Whose deeds had left, in spite of hostile arts, 
 A deep memorial graven on their hearts. 
 The recollection, like a vein of ore, 
 The farther traced, enrieh'd them still the more : 
 They thought Him, and they justly thought Him, One, 
 Sent to do mor> pear'd to have done ; 
 
190 On Religious Conversation. 
 
 To exalt a people, and to place them high 
 Above all else, and wonder'd He should die. 
 Ere yet they brought their journey to an end, 
 A stranger join'd them courteous as a friend, 
 And ask'd them, with a kind engaging air, 
 What their affliction was, aj*d begg'd a share. 
 Inform'd, He gather'd up the broken thread, 
 And, truth and wisdom gracing all He said, 
 Explain'd, illustrated, and search'd so well 
 The tender theme on which they chose to dwell, 
 That, reaching home, ' The night,' they said, ' is near. 
 'We must not now be parted, sojourn here.' — 
 The new Acquaintance soon became a guest, 
 And made so welcome at their simple feast, 
 He bless'd the bread, but vanish'd at the word, 
 And left them both exclaiming, ' Twas the Lord ! 
 • Did not our hearts feel all He deign'd to say ? 
 4 Did they not burn within us by the way ? ' 
 
 Now theirs was converse, such as it behoves 
 Man to maintain, and such as God approves : 
 Their views indeed were indistinct and dim, 
 But yet successful, being aim'd at Him ; 
 Christ and His character their only scope, 
 Their object, and their subject, and their hope." 
 
m. 
 
 Cl TIJJT 
 
 [VERSITTi 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
I subjoin, as an Appendix, a Sermon, which 
 embraces two points respecting the Government of 
 the Tongue omitted in the Essays. The Reader 
 will pardon the re-appearance, in a homely dress, 
 of two or three ideas, which have been already 
 introduced into the body of the Work. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A SERMON ON THE GOVERNMENT OF 
 THE ToXGUE. 
 
 PREACHED I.\ [OOL OKA? 
 
 James ii. '2 — 1. 
 
 • in many thing* we offend all. If any man offend not in 
 word, the fame is a perfect man, and able oho (<> brUU t/ie whole 
 body. B<1 I bits in the horses' mouths, that they may 
 
 obey us; and ice turn aboui their whole body. Behold also the 
 shijts, which though Oiey be so great, a f fierce 
 
 '.>■, yet are they turned about with a vtry small faUn, whither- 
 soever the governor Ih 
 
 Tin: Apostle is speaking, in tl f the 
 
 eminent of the Tongue. 
 
 An< - of the Government of the Tongne 
 
 [net things, which are not to be confonm 
 r, — both strong thi ly, bat the lal 
 
 stronger than the former. 
 
 at the degree in which a man 
 governs his tongue is a ium lcx of his whole m 
 9 
 
194 Sermon at Rugby , 
 
 state. An index. The hands of a watch, or the 
 projection on a sundial, are an index, by which yon 
 may ascertain the progress of Time, or in other 
 words, how much of his course in the heavens the 
 Sun has accomplished. The Sun (or rather the 
 Earth in its diurnal revolution) travels silently and 
 without noise. In order to be advertised at any 
 moment of the Sun's exact stage of progress, we 
 create an artificial index — the watch, or the dial, 
 — which reports that progress with accuracy. Sim- 
 ilarly, our moral life, though always moving either 
 forward or backward (for, my brethren, it is a 
 solemn truth that there is no standing still in moral 
 life ), yet moves slowly and imperceptibly ; as we 
 cannot see the Sun moving (although after it has 
 moved, we note that it is in a different quarter of 
 the heavens), so we cannot see ourselves growing 
 better or worse (although, after a lapse of time, 
 we may take notice that we are more or less good 
 than we were a year or six months ago). It is 
 desirable, therefore, to have an exact index, by 
 recurring to which, we may ascertain our moral 
 progress. And this index, the Apostle says, is the 
 Tongue. That is the thought of verse 2. Keep 
 it distinct in your minds. 
 
 But something more than this, — a further, and 
 stronger statement, — is yet behind. 
 
 The Government or non-government of the 
 
'he Government of the 
 Ton; ot only an index, [tiaalsoadetennin- 
 
 r the iinag« 
 
 Lit and a radder. Now what ua a bit :— an 
 rhich d< b 
 
 Wilicfa makes him turn t«> the right or t<> 
 whi< . i hi> month, leaves him I 
 
 and iction, and, it' drawn tight, ai 
 
 ^ress. Just so a rudder with a ship ; — it ifl 
 guiding instrument of the vessel's course. With 
 you may turn the ship at a moment's 
 notice as you please, but the guidance of a vessel 
 which fa her rudder, by the sails, ifl at all 
 
 times a very difficult and dangerous matter.- 
 lib | in any but the most expert hands. 
 
 w this image, you ol 
 Upon th- The hands of the watch, and the 
 
 index of the dial, do not I 
 course, nor have they the slightest influence upon 
 it. The J mark and its progress; but 
 
 they in no v its course, as the helm hiases 
 
 the course of the ship, and the bit Liases the COB 
 of the ho 
 
 Now, then, I will say a word on these two 
 at topics — the Tongue as the index of our 
 moral c d the Tongue afl the governing 
 
 • rument of our m 
 
 To those of you who are striving to be holy, 
 and to imitate the e of Our Saviour, do I 
 
196 Sermon at Rugby, 
 
 now address myself. And I pray that what I say 
 may be made, by God, the means of helping you 
 in that pursuit. 
 
 First, the Tongue as an index. " If any man 
 offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and 
 able also to bridle the whole body." Only one 
 perfect Man ever existed ; and of Him — in perfect 
 accordance with the principle here laid down by 
 the Apostle — it is written, not only that He did 
 no sin, but also that " no guile was found in His 
 mouth," that " when He was reviled, He reviled 
 not again ; when He suffered, He threatened 
 not," — and, in another place, that " full of grace 
 were His lips." The words of the text are not to 
 be taken as implying that any man (except Him) 
 is, in the judgment of God, perfect, but simply as 
 asserting that the more closely any one approxi- 
 mates to perfection, the more vigilantly will he 
 be found to govern his tongue, so that his per- 
 formance of this duty supplies an accurate touch- 
 stone of his advance in holiness. 
 
 And this will become quite obvious if we re- 
 flect, first, that to govern the tongue is a task so 
 difficult, that he who has grace to accomplish it, 
 has grace to accomplish any thing. The exceed- 
 ing great difficulty of governing the tongue con- 
 sists principally in the great scope there is for 
 going wrong. Other temptations only have scope 
 
L07 
 
 for the:' ;illy. When B man 
 
 a health and spirits, friends all around him, 
 and affluence and proeperitj 
 no tempi • murmur. When he is poor, and 
 
 obliged to toil hard for a day's liwli; 
 
 Bcope for self-indulgence. It' he lives a 
 life, and oomea into little or ao oolli- 
 . . of course his temper and cour- 
 tesy tried. If he is obliged to be busy 
 ■k which demands close attention 
 
 mind, t! :iue by which an unclean 
 
 thought can insinuate itself Hut because I 
 
 there is always ample ough for 
 
 .e tongue, In on] Ikative 
 
 the words which k from morning to night, 
 
 if written down, would almost nil a voli: 
 
 is continually passing from as byathou- 
 
 aues of occasion, — we want something, or 
 [re information, ot ha intelligence to 
 
 imunicate, or wish to please, or must do BOO 
 thing to while away time, or to vent our feel;: 
 of irritation and peevishness. Kven the reason- 
 able and necessary occasions of speech — the occa- 
 
 -, on which without speech the 
 soci< ry, very 
 
 numero 
 
 So that the reason why t :. mnent of the 
 
198 Sermon at Rugby, 
 
 Tongue is more arduous than any other duty, is 
 the reason why it is more difficult for a military 
 commander to maintain a town which has a thou- 
 sand outlets, than one which is only accessible at 
 two or three points. In the latter case the garrison 
 may be concentrated at the two or three vulner- 
 able points. In the former, they must be dispersed 
 in weak handfuls at the various outlets. Of course 
 we gather with certainty that, if the force suffices 
 to maintain the city with many approaches, it will 
 suffice to maintain the city with few. And the 
 Word of God (all whose reasonings are, if I may 
 say so, the reasonings of Inspired Common Sense) 
 infers upon the same principle that he who can 
 stand against sin succesfully, where the avenues of 
 temptation are numerous, can stand also where 
 they are few. " If any man offend not in word, 
 the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle 
 the whole body." 
 
 But now for a second reason why the tongue 
 should be an accurate index of the moral state. 
 Offences of the tongue are thought so little of by 
 mankind in general, that he who is strict with him- 
 self here will be strict with himself, we may be sure, 
 in all departments of duty. If he thinks gravely 
 of wrong words, he cannot think lightly of wrong 
 actions. You know how very little importance men 
 generally attach to sins of the tongue — how strange- 
 
h their jud point is contrasted with 
 
 that of Mini Who laid,- M I.> word which 
 
 . shall B] t' in 
 
 the day of judgment." 1 onr 
 
 mil. thus — " A hasty word, vented in a 
 
 i slight misrej 
 ke, an impnre innendo,— why it is all 
 :i, — nothing serioiis is intended bj 
 
 and a man may 1 good man, who indu! 
 
 Doh word tonally!" Bnoh is the p» 
 
 notion. It is radically erroneous. It IS 
 
 Word. It is probably 
 
 glanced at in the third Commandment, whi 
 
 thfi taking His Name in vain, aSU) 
 
 which could not find plao I in the 
 
 of the tongue, the Divine Legislator solemnly adds 
 — " The Lord will not hold him guiltless" (ob, 
 iict of the world, how wilt thou shrivel ap into 
 • when God reveal- Bis Jndg 
 the ' I) — "The Lord will not hold him guilt- 
 
 Name in vain." But however 
 such . that men do I vy light 
 
 :-y much lighter than 
 they do of i lations of duty. Now, if a 
 
 •aid be found, who, in hi 
 a very • I bis subj< and 
 
 all that it comes . which would 
 
200 Sermon at Rugby , 
 
 not tend either to some good end or to innocent 
 amusement, — it is impossible, is it not, that that 
 man should be a careless liver ? The care of his 
 words is the index of a general care over what 
 men reckon more important than words, — actions, 
 and feelings. 
 
 Then the point seems to be proved by reason, 
 as well as asserted in Scripture, that an accurate 
 index of a man's entire moral condition is sup- 
 plied by the Government of his Tongue. Weigh 
 it well. Just as you resort to the sundial or the 
 watch for the reckoning of time, so in your spirit- 
 ual reckoning, in your acts of Self-Examination, 
 you may consult the index of the tongue, with the 
 assurance that it will give no untrue verdict. To per- 
 sons disposed to engage seriously in that arduous 
 work, and yet beset (as we all are here) with mani- 
 fold business, — this thought may really be a mate- 
 rial assistance. You wish to examine your whole 
 moral character and life % Examine the words of 
 the past day, — they may be a sufficient criterion. 
 Have you been watchful over them, or have you 
 let them slip, without reflection, from your mouth ? 
 Have you governed them — that is, inspected them 
 before utterance, rejected one, approved another, 
 chastised a third, and so on ? or, have you thrown 
 the reins of self-discipline down, and let them take 
 their course ? 
 
ire, from I 
 this will 1k> a fame ind< :! will li- 
 
 nn inaccurate \ this 
 
 alarming thought t<> many of you 1 Ob 
 it not at once to awa] our 
 
 with trumpet call I For 1 1 1 * 
 many of you who, so long gob yen do oof go wrong 
 in yonr liv< . i concern ;tt all 
 
 [g. They may be ir<><>d this hour, 
 and had t he next, bo tar as your superintendent 
 
 think of controlling 
 i. And if vigilance over the words be, 
 God asserts it I riterion of vigilai 
 
 e — what is the COncluflion? What, 
 hut that yon are taking no heed t<> administer 
 yonr nduct alter the precepts of ( 
 
 and ore, the surest proof that, what- 
 
 1 privileges may attach to your lot, 
 you have no spiritual life dwelling in \ 
 
 But now to turn to the other image. The 
 
 j ue is not only th< hut the determining 
 
 I ument also of our moral state. It not only 
 
 its out, hut n . —as the hit regulates the 
 
 hoiv the helm the ship. This positioi 
 
 equally apparent, when we come to examine it, 
 
 with the fori i 
 
 Tak . \ 
 
 man lias a strong temp dingly irritable, 
 
202 Sermon at Rugby ^ 
 
 and hard to overcome. If he is a man with no 
 self-discipline, this temper bursts forth contin- 
 ually, and renders himself, and all around him, 
 miserable. He is sensible of its mastery, and, in 
 his cool moments, deplores it. Well, there is one 
 obvious rule of wisdom which, if he clings to it 
 steadfastly, will, by God's Grace, enable him to 
 curb the unruly passion. He complains that he 
 cannot control his feelings, — they are like a fretful 
 steed, too much for his rider, and they bear him 
 away whither they list. Granted (for argument's 
 sake) that he cannot control his feelings ; — can he 
 not control his words ? Can he not, if he pleases, 
 refrain from speaking ? or if he pleases, utter a 
 conciliatory expression % Let him go into society, 
 after prayer for the aid of God's Spirit, with a stead- 
 fast resolution, that come what may — slight, or ridi- 
 cule, or insult — and feel what he may, — he, at all 
 events, will not say a single irritating or irritable 
 word. I will suppose him, by God's Grace, to keep 
 his resolution. "What is the result ? The result 
 is, that the trial, if it comes at all, does not 
 last very long. If the other party is not really 
 bent on provocation, the whole feeling passes off, 
 — perhaps veers right round in another direction 
 — as this want of intention becomes apparent. 
 And if he is bent on provocation, he soon wearies 
 of it when he is met by soft words that turn away 
 
I 
 
 wraf is to rasped the principle which 
 
 he instil this 
 
 . -perhape he acknowledging 
 
 tin 4 faull ' which 
 
 an rnti' rsion of feeling towaj 
 
 him in the mindofth raid 
 
 an I have done' It would simply 
 
 fur irritation to both mi] 
 
 i pride, Pride is a 
 [ling haughty who will bear away tri- 
 
 umphant all win* minister occasion And 
 
 occasion will be mil to it bj -by 
 
 talking too much about Belt'— whether in the way 
 
 of scli-irrat illation, or in the way of selt'-d 
 tion. I am sure that language of t: 
 
 i nonrial I pride, 
 
 and if much indulged in, will probably render it 
 
 id) by all means, speaking 
 humbly of yourself to any one tQ Him 
 
 whoseeth in ason is this, — pride 
 
 is so inwoven into the very texture of our nature, 
 that our ry rarely indeed humble. 
 
 rpres8ioi<. 
 Hity of j is tfu uk 
 
 species qf hypocrisy. But humble words 
 only evil in H. We 
 
 I kind o 
 
 ion that we are humble,- 
 
204 Sermon at Rugby ^ 
 
 come inwardly proud of our humility. The safest 
 rule (and that which is most consistent with cour- 
 tesy and good breeding) will be to obtrude self as 
 little as possible on the company — to speak as 
 little as possible about self, in order that (oh, 
 hard attainment!) we may think as little as 
 possible about self. All words of self-praise, all 
 words of self-depreciation, forbidden — if this rule 
 be minded, it will prove the restraining of many 
 a spark, which else might fall upon and kindle 
 the explosive material of pride. 
 
 Again : as to that desire, natural to every man, 
 of making himself entertaining and agreeable in 
 the society in which he moves. 
 
 This desire, if not restrained, often leads us to 
 say things which were better unsaid, — to give 
 point to some of our conversation by a jest which 
 is questionable, or to be bitterly sarcastic, or, at 
 least, to exaggerate and misrepresent the truth. 
 One objectionable remark, especially if successful 
 in exciting wonder or amusement, is enough to 
 ensnare us. The strong desire then becomes, like 
 the horse whose rein is slackened, uncontrollable. 
 We must then perforce go on in the career on 
 which we have entered, and trick out our story 
 with embellishments, without regard to the feel- 
 ings of our neighbour, the interests of truth, or 
 the Majesty of God's Presence. Therefore that 
 
original error,— thai first remark, which m 
 
 had better hai 
 raBtrain such remarki is at- 
 y impossible without bitting the hone, without 
 ■liinial restraint upon that little 
 member, which boasteth great tilings. 
 
 1 ii. dwell, beoau dent, 
 
 upon the awful ascendancy which andean d< 
 
 BT a man who allows himself to age im- 
 
 pure la; h b person is indeed; by the 
 
 of telling forth the abominations which 
 
 I in his I ding and pampering a viper, 
 
 the poison of whose fangs will speedily spread 
 
 itself to his eternal ruin, through his whole SOUL 
 
 This is a subject to be meditated upon in sec 
 
 rather than to be spoken of in public. Suffice 
 
 it that I have called vour attention in that direction, 
 and warned those who are willing to give heed. 
 
 It will have occurred, perhaps, to some of you, 
 that in inculcating so strict a government of the 
 
 rue — (and by consequence so continual a 
 watchfulness over it) — we have been b 
 
 igion with a garb of gloom and austerity, and 
 
 robbing it of all mirth and tightness of hen-!. I 
 
 mu- . without 
 
 quenees, win herd put nth ; 
 
 bid that Iieligion 
 
 all alien to ] •vmeiit or inno- 
 
206 Sermon at Rugby ^ 
 
 cent mirth. Wisdom's ways are pleasantness and 
 peace. And let me say distinctly, that I am not 
 forbidding any words but such as God's Law pro- 
 nounces to be evil. Innocent mirth and gaiety, 
 laughter at that which cannot wound another 
 person, and is not wrong, and is not profane — 
 so far from being an evil, is in a social (nay, in a 
 religious) point of view a decided good. And a 
 dull or moping spirit wilfully cherished, would be 
 as contrary to the spirit of the Gospel as it is to 
 our natural inclinations. Christ has done all for 
 us, if we be His true followers, — has relieved us of 
 the load of guilt, of corrupt inclinations, of cark- 
 ing care. If the great Burden-bearer bore those 
 burdens for us, why are we to bear them our- 
 selves \ Why, if I can only realize these great 
 things, — why should not a well of joy and thank- 
 fulness spring up within me, which shall make 
 the heart ever merry and the countenance ever 
 shining, and the mind accessible to all possible 
 enjoyments which are pure ? 
 
 Besides, one of the objects for which the tongue 
 was given, is recreation; and this object would be 
 frustrated, and life would not be relieved of its 
 manifold little burdens, if conversation were not 
 occasionally brightened with merriment. We 
 
 HAVE BEEN ADVOCATING CONTINUAL WATCHFULNESS, 
 NOT CONTINUAL SERIOUSNESS, OF WORDS. 
 
ally : eome wfll think that I hi 
 deili all with . and t! 
 
 might have been occupied better with n 
 In that case I must 
 t" my authorities :— M It' any man among you m 
 religious, and bridled] not hi 
 
 .vn heart, this man's religion is vain.' 1 
 ee not said any tning mow serious about wc 
 
 tlian St. James and Our BlOQBOd Lord say. 
 
 ticn of uo( dealing with small dut 
 
 -•ally il!iN»uii(l. Life f| made np of 
 
 Jl duties, amal] '1 temp- 
 
 mall troubles, small fragments of happi- 
 ness. Jt :i much upon my mind lately, that 
 
 Bgleot tin all things is the height of 
 
 folly, — t] only through acquitting o 
 
 well on small occasions, that we can mal,- 
 
 in holiness, and discipline ourselves for 
 
 with poverty, bereavement, calls of 
 
 Providence, arduous posts of responsibility, and :dl 
 
 at occasions of life. The man who v. 
 for a great erne: or a line opportunity, 
 
 v.- and ap m, is in a fair wa; . 1 
 
 ok, never to have any religj bid, 
 
 therefore, it was that last Sunday I warned yoi 
 good conduct of each d 
 I !', — BflBU I he good conduct 
 
 raid follow. 
 
208 Sermon at Rugby. 
 
 And, therefore it is, that I now warn you to 
 give heed to your words. I tell you, on God's 
 Authority, that care over the words is the very 
 secret and key of care over the life. Here I rec- 
 ommend you to bestow a great deal of study and at- 
 tention, — with the assurance that it will not be 
 thrown away. And, above all, I recommend you 
 to pray, that Grod would so fill your soul at every 
 moment with the thought of the Majesty of His 
 Presence, as to make the restraint of wrong words 
 an easy task to you — aye, and to convert that re- 
 straint into an act of continual "Worship. 
 
 THE END. 
 
D. APPLETS 
 
 ill I. 
 
 NEW AMERICAN CYCLOPAEDIA, 
 
 WPLEY AND CHAKL 
 
 D. APPLETON & COMPANY, New York 
 Id 16 Vols. Svo, Double Columns, 750 Pages each. 
 
 r, Cloth, t Shey, fMor.,% Uust., 
 
 per Volume. 
 
 i:y ono tl OHO that mingles in soci> 
 
 meeting with to subjects on which ho> 
 
 Other information. In i -n, in 
 
 ttOtta] lite, on the farm, in 
 re continually arising which no man, well read or 
 not, can ah. rarer. If facilities for ren 
 
 aro at band, they are consulted, and not only is the CUJ 
 gratified, and the stock of kn vreascd, but perhaps 
 
 information is gained and ideas aro suggested that will <1 
 contribute to the business success of the party concerned. 
 With a Cyclopaedia, embracing every conceivablo sol 
 and having its topics alphabetically arranged, not a mot! 
 matter in question is found at once, dL r 
 !, stripped of all that is irrelevant and annee 
 verified by a comparison of the best authori 
 while only men of fortuue can collect a library complete in all 
 the <!• <»f knowledge, . worth in itself, 
 
 for purposes of r bonaand v \ ithin 
 
 the reach of all — the clerk, the merchant, the profes si onal man, 
 the farmer, the mechanic. In a country like ours, 
 humble-t may be called to responsible position* requiting 
 intelligence and general information, the value of 81 
 can not be i ited. 
 
2 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 PLAN OF THE CYCLOP/ED1A. 
 
 The New American Cyclopedia presents a panoramic view 
 of all human knowledge, as it exists at the present moment. 
 It embraces and popularizes every subject that can be thought 
 of. In its successive volumes is contained an inexhaustible 
 fund of accurate and practical information on Art and Science 
 in all their branches, including Mechanics, Mathematics, As- 
 tronomy, Philosophy, Chemistry, and Physiology; on Agri- 
 culture, Commerce, and Manufactures; on Law, Medicine, and 
 Theology ; on Biography and History, Geography and Ethnol- 
 ogy; on Political Economy, the Trades^ Inventions, Politics, 
 the Things of Common Life, and General Literature. 
 
 The Industrial Arts and those branches of Practical Science 
 which have a direct bearing on our every-day life, such as 
 Domestic Economy, "Ventilation, the Heating of Houses, Diet, 
 &c, are treated with the thoroughness which their great im- 
 portance demands. 
 
 The department of Biography is full and complete, embra- 
 cing the lives of all eminent persons, ancient and modern. In 
 American biography, particularly, great pains have been taken 
 to present the most comprehensive and accurate record that 
 has yet been attempted. 
 
 In History, the New American Cyclopedia gives no mere 
 catalogue of barren dates, but a copious and spirited narrative, 
 under their appropriate heads, of the principal events in the 
 annals of the world. So in Geography, it not only serves as a 
 general Gazetteer, but it gives interesting descriptions of the 
 principal localities mentioned, derived from books of travel 
 and other fresh and authentic sources. 
 
 As far as is consistent with thoroughness of research and 
 exactness of statement, the popular method has been pursued. 
 The wants of the people in a work of this kind have been care- 
 fully kept in view throughout. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add that, throughout the whole, 
 perfect fairness to all sections of country, local institutions, public 
 men, political creeds, and religious denominations, has been a 
 sacred principle and leading aim. Nothing that can be con- 
 strued into an invidious or offensive allusion has been admitted. 
 
0P2SDIA. 
 
 DISTINGUISHING EXCELLENCES. 
 
 f, and 
 
 which wo 
 
 prkk in crican 
 
 !. ! !XE8fl of Information.— Tho 
 
 I of this ki; I to its cor* 
 
 >. It moat ; 
 
 ultimatum 
 nothing. 
 
 II. In I .oik 041 r: i xam- 
 
 I stood tl 
 nounced by and Icadin 
 
 wring all ei 
 aions of opinion on controverted points of science. phUoi 
 
 :i, and polities, it aims at an accurate r< Lion of 
 
 facts and institutions, of the remits of pi. 
 prominent - the world, of the most sig- 
 
 tionfl of literati;: 
 individual- 1 with the 
 
 conspicuous phenomena of their age — doing justice to :.]. 
 all creeds, all sections. 
 
 III. Ix < -It treats of every suhjec. 
 
 and condc: . but full}- and exhaustively. It Lb believed 
 
 that but fa D be found ; but wha I - may, 
 
 through a::; 
 
 IV. In Amki:h an Cm.'. <lia is 
 intend I the intellectual wants of the American ; 
 
 • . .: tropesaworkj of a 
 
 all their l 
 to thorn a peculiar and unmistakab! note. It 
 
 is the production mainly of American mind. 
 
 V. ' i' liic:l1 ft1> ' 
 ion and specm:. 1 
 
 actio:.. the universal to- ■'.;*, wo 
 
 have made our ( ■» °f 
 
 .•iuibleorcxalted.can afford to do without it 
 
4 D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 VI. In Inteeest of Style. — The cold, formal, and re* 
 pulsive style usual in works of this kind, has been replaced with 
 a style sparkling and emphatically readable. It has been the 
 aim to interest and please, as well as instruct. Many of our 
 writers are men who hold the foremost rank in general litera- 
 ture, aud their articles have been characterized by our best 
 critics as models of elegance, force, and beauty. 
 
 VII. In Convenience op Fokm. — No ponderous quartos, 
 crowded with fine type that strains the eyes and wearies the 
 brain, are here presented. The volumes are just the right size 
 to handle conveniently ; the paper is thick and white, the type 
 large, the binding elegant and durable. 
 
 VIII. In Cheapness. — Our Cyclopaedia has been univer- 
 sally pronounced a miracle of cheapness. We determined, at 
 the outset, to enlarge its sphere of usefulness, and make it 
 emphatically a book for the people, by putting it at the lowest 
 possible price. 
 
 Such being the character of the New American Cyclopaedia, 
 an accurate, fresh, impartial, complete, practical, interesting, 
 convenient, cheap Dictionary of General Knowledge, we ask, 
 who can afford to do without it? Can the merchant, the 
 statesman r the lawyer, the physician, the clergyman, to whom 
 it gives thorough and complete information on every point 
 connected with their several callings? Can the teacher, who 
 is enabled, by the outside information it affords, to make his 
 instructions doubly interesting and profitable? Can the far- 
 mer, to whom it offers the latest results of agricultural research 
 and experiment? Can the young man, to whom it affords the 
 means of storing his mind with useful knowledge bearing no 
 any vocation he may have selected? Can the intelligent 
 mechanic, who wishes to understand what he reads in his daily 
 paper? Can the mother of a family, whom it initiates into the 
 mysteries of domestic economy, and teaches a thousand things 
 which more than saves its cost in a single year ? In a word, can 
 any intelligent American, who desires to understand the insti- 
 tutions of his country, its past history and present condition, 
 and his own duties as a citizen, deny himself this great Ameri- 
 can digest of all human knowledge, universally pronounced the 
 best Cyclopajdia and the most valuable work ever published! 
 
Tin: 
 
 CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CYCLOP/EDIA. 
 Tlu Eurta of the oom 
 
 ics of sev. 
 
 form 
 
 :'.. l'-Al-.TLtl I, i.lt'' I . >. ■■■ 
 
 . v.. I. 
 Bar. l! Fork. 
 
 I'. S. Attorney (lonenil. WashlBftOB, I>. 0, 
 
 ■ 
 ■ <>rk. 
 ^.\p.;i, M.D., London. 
 
 un D. imna. 1.1. D.. Tali Co 
 
 rjB. Davies, l.L. l».. Portland, Mo. 
 ■ rd. Mass. 
 . Mass. 
 D .. Sarrazd Uahn • -ass. 
 
 I>. W. 1 liy of tbo Geographical and Statistical Soci. : 
 
 Charles L. Flist, Esq., Secretary of the Massachusetts Beard of Agriculture, 
 Boston, Mass. 
 
 1)., College of Thysicians and Surgeons, New 
 
 HUH Qoadby, M.D., Stato Agricultural Coflflg ft, Ann 
 
 Arbor, Mich. 
 Horace Of.eei.ky. I <>rk. 
 
 l:. A I Librarian of Brow, i: I. 
 
 rk. 
 Tames Hall, Cincinnati. Ohio. 
 ;> Hallock. of tbo "Journal of < 
 
 \ W. Harkness, Brown ILL 
 
 York. 
 Onaaxa OL H.vzr.-.* ston, Mass. 
 
 n Hildeeth, Esq., author of "History of t! 
 
 Ohio. 
 
D. APPLETON & CCVS PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CYCLOP/EDIA. 
 
 J. S. IIittell, Esq., San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 James T. Hodge, Esq., Cooper Institute, New York. 
 
 Prof. L. M. HtfBBAED, D.D., University of N. C, Chapel Hill, N. C. 
 
 Lev. Henry N. Hudson, author of " Lectures on Shakespeare," &c, Litch* 
 
 field, Conn. \ 
 
 Prof. S. W. Johnson, Yale College, New Haven, Conn. 
 J. C. G. Kennedy, Esq., Washington, D. C. 
 
 Hon. John B. Kerr, late U. S. Minister to Central America, Baltimore, Md. 
 Eev. T. Starr King, San Francisco, Cal. 
 Charles Lanman, Esq., Washington, D. C. 
 Charles G. Leland, Esq., Philadelphia, Fa. 
 Prof. James E. Lowell, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
 E. Shelton Mackenzie, D.C.L., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Eev. II. N. McTyeire, D.D., editor " Christian Advocate,' 11 Nashville, Tenn. 
 Charles Nordhoff, Esq., author of "Stories of the Island World," &c, New 
 
 York. 
 Eev. Samuel Osgood, D.D., New York. 
 
 Prof. TnEOPHiLUS Parsons, LL.D., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
 Prof. E. E. Peasler, M.D., New York Medical College, New York. 
 John L.' Peyton, Esq., Staunton, Ya. 
 
 William C. Prime, author of " Boat Life and Tent Life," &c, New York. 
 J. II. Eaymond, LL.D., Principal of the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, New 
 
 York. 
 George Schedel, Esq., late British Consular Agent for Costa Eica, Staten 
 
 Island, N. Y. 
 Prof. Alexander G. Schem, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn. 
 Hon. Francis Schroeder, Jr., late U. S. Minister to Sweden, Paris. 
 Hon. William H. Seward, U. S. Senator from New York, Auburn, N. Y. 
 William Gilmore Simms, LL.D., Charleston, S. C. 
 Prof. Henry B. Smith, D.D., Union Theological Seminarv, New York. 
 Eev. J. A. Spencer, D.D., author of " The History of the United States," &c, 
 
 New York. 
 Eev. William B. Sprague, D.D., Albany, N. Y. 
 Hon. E G. Squier, author of " The States of Central America," " Nicaragua," 
 
 &c. 
 Alex. W. Thayer, Esq., Berlin, Prussia. 
 John E. Thompson, Esq., editor " Southern Literary Messenger," Eichmond, 
 
 Ya. 
 George Ticknor, LL.D., Boston, Mass. 
 Osmond Tiffany, Esq., Springfield, Mass. 
 
 E. T. Trall, M.D., author of " Hydropathic Encyclopaedia," New York. 
 Baron De Trobriand, New York. 
 
 W. P. Trowbridge, Esq., U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D. C. 
 Henry T. Tuckerman, Esq., New York. 
 
 Alexander Walker, Esq., editor of the "Delta," New Orleans. 
 Charles S. Weyman, Esq., New York. 
 
 Eev. W. D. Wilson, D.D., Hobart Free College, Geneva, N. Y. 
 E. L. Youmans, Esq., author of " The Hand-Book of Household Science,* 
 
 New York. 
 

 OPIMOXS OF S AM) MSTIVaiSHKl) UK\. 
 
 I 
 
 I . I 
 
 Journals, and U- log tor the 
 
 part on special features of tlio \. 
 
 rk itself no longer needs commendation at our hands, or at any hands. It 
 has long since established its worth; find, if there bo in it any considerable 
 b search will btTfequired to find it— Sorth A Uidel- 
 
 phia, 
 
 it arts of condensat: preoption, and Striking exposition of tho 
 
 essential parts of their rabjeet have been folly attained; and will g| 
 reader a library of universal knowledgo in a convenient compass, arrat' 
 ready use, and attn in tho concise and p 
 
 prcprlate to such a work.— Letter from Uu late J. 
 
 This work, instead of Qtlag a DMN dictionary— a stupid epitome of dry f 
 
 dates— is made up of attractivo and readable matter; scholarly and f-parkling 
 essays ; fresh biographies of li \ 
 
 discoveries and inventions ; and Infbfl ject that has attract- 
 
 ed the attention of man up to tho present period.— Examiner, Poitghl. 
 X. V. 
 
 I feel quite sure that it will ho marked by distinguished ability, and that, when 
 
 ladad, it will be a vast storehouse of late and wry Important information 
 
 —such a work as almost every intelligent person will be glad to have always 
 
 near him for reference. I ran only ej undcr- 
 
 and crowned with ultin: . 
 from the lit. Rev. IIobatio Potter, (ProL Bpis.) Bishop of :. 
 
 Tho editors have done their duty with justice, fairness, and llberalitv. 
 no instance of partisanship or partiality, and, as yet, no proofs of that 
 sectionallty of which wo have hitherto had reason, In all such pa 
 complain.— Mercury, Cliarle&ton, & 
 
 i.o best and most comprol panfia that ha<* J* been la. 
 
 sued from the press of this or any other country. 
 When completed, this Cyclopaedia will be then; ibrary of kr 
 
 r>e space since the 
 
 printing wa- , ,.v, % \- y 
 
 Its freshness sdvantoce over any 
 
 other Cyclopaedia of its class hitherto issued mtlc — 
 
 Daily 71 i 
 
 It is a perfect treasury of knowledge. In all branches ef (hi i 
 
 literature, history, biography, I 
 
D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PEES3. 
 
 The scientific articles are evidently the productions of learned and accomplished 
 men. Many of the papers deserve especial commendation, as presenting the 
 latest developments in their various departments of research.— National In- 
 telligencer, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Our own country has never before been so fairly or fully represented in any Cy- 
 clopaedia. America, her resources, her literature, her politic?, and her repre- 
 sentative men receive in this work, at least, their full share of attention.— 
 Post, Boston, Mass. 
 
 To enumerate one half of its excellences would require far more space than news- 
 paper columns afford. To the professional man and the laborer, the citizen 
 and the farmer, it is invaluable as an epitome of all useful knowledge. — Lead- 
 er, Cleveland, O. 
 
 There is no conceivable topic which is not here discussed as fully as most persons 
 would care to find it.— American Agriculturist. 
 
 It should be in every family, for in no other shape can so much useful information 
 be obtained as cheaply. As a book of reference, it is invaluable. — Indiana 
 Sentinel. 
 
 It is, without doubt, the most complete work of the kind ever published. To 
 prepare it, the publishers have called into requisition the talent of some of the 
 best men our country affords.— Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 There can be no doubt that, at least for the use of American readers, and in some 
 respects wherever the English language is spoken, the Cyclopaedia will 
 greatly 8UKPASS, in its value as a reference book, any similar compilation 
 that has yet been issued on either side of the Atlantic— North American 
 Review. 
 
 Take it all in all— for the strict purposes of an Encyclopaedia; for a clear survey of 
 all the departments of human knowledge; for embracing every important 
 topic in this vast range; for lucid and orderly treatment; for statements con- 
 densed yet clear ; for its portable size— not being too large or too small ; for 
 convenience of reference, and for practical utility, especially to American 
 readers; it is incomparably the best work in Vie English language.— K 
 Y. Evangelist. 
 
 It is a most extraordinary effort of genial scholarship and of multum inparvo 
 erudition. We commend it as a book which the world has long wanted, and 
 which will exert an incalculable influence in Europe as regards creating re- 
 spect for solid American learning.- Telegrap7i, Uarnsburgh, Pa. 
 
 It has been truly said that almost every man of note who ever lived and died, of 
 whom there is record, has in it a place; every country, provmce, race, and 
 tribe ; every sea, river, lake and island ; every science, religion, and, in short, 
 almost every noun in the language, is descriptively illustrated in the most 
 complete shape in which the information could be condensed.— Blade, Tole- 
 do, 0. 
 
 The various subjects are not treated accordins to the mere routine of technical 
 details, or in the settled formularies of professional science, but, while the in- 
 formation is full, thorough, and accurate, it is given in a genial and attractive 
 etyle.— Tribune, Mobile, Ala. 
 
thi 
 
 S BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 SEP 
 
 t W33 l7A P r '57BC 
 
 REC'D LD 
 
 Dec 
 
 4 1933 
 
 1957 
 
 7No'58WM 
 
 EC fcBbB 1 *^^^:" 
 
 BBeDLblN0U21 , 66.ttP» 
 
 'D LD 
 FEB IS 1941 
 
 LD 21-50m-l,'3 
 
 53 
 
YB 29459 
 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY