^rf ^ s?.^ *v 'V '^ ^ % •^o' « > * o j, - "^u V, J ^V > ^ 1 W v 1 V '.^ G° * v *"'."% i4Q TRUTH. ^» ell-Springs zn ^» OF SKUffiH it JW 1W Ring's highway to J)eace and ^Prosperity. / JB-Z- W. W. BHEESR, M. D. AUTHOR OF 'Twelve Rules of Health and Glossary of Useful Knowledge," " Drifting; A Tale True to Life," etc. PUBLISHED BY NASHVILLE. ** Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1883, By W. W. BREESE, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. DONOHUK & HENNEBERRY, PK1NTERS AND BINDERS, CHICAGO. 6^" 3^ WITH A GRATEFUL HEART AND EVER LINGERING, PLEASANT MEMORY, THIS VOLUME IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO A SAINTED WIFE AND LOVING DAUGHTER, WITHOUT WHOSE HELP ITS PREPARATION MIGHT NEVER HAVE BEEN COMPLETED. Let not Mercy and Truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart ; so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Proverbs III: 3, 4. .pREReieE. The author has gathered material for this book during many years. In this time he has consulted thousands of volumes and authors innumerable. Great quantities of manuscript have been made, only to be cast aside as unavailable, while the real treasures have been retained and used. A well-known author has said : " Nothing is sillier than this charge of plagiarism. There is no sixth commandment in art. The poet dare help himself wherever he lists — wherever he finds ma- terial suited to his work. He may even appro- priate entire columns with their carved capitals, if the temple he thus supports be a beautiful one. Goethe understood this very well, and so did Shakespeare before him." In the language of another: "I have borrowed from everything and everywhere, to the best of my ability ; from life in its varied forms, and from the open reservoirs of stolen learning called books. He is richest in this world who borrows most." 4 PREFACE. As the strippings are said to contain the cream, so the author's gleanings in the field of knowledge condense the wisdom of many minds and all ages. This book, in a word, is the result of years spent in unwearied study and research, and it is sincerely hoped that the reader may derive at least a portion of the pleasure in its perusal that the author has had in its composition. W. W. BREESE. Chicago, Feb. 22, 1883. COHiEHig The Cradle .... The Nursery . . . Early Impressions . Parent and Child . . Filial Love .... The Parent's Duty The True Home . . The Mother's Hand . Home and Health . . Young America . Choice of Occupation . Appearances .... Work or Play . . . Good Breeding . . . Think and Act . The Strong Man . Common Sense Self- Control . . . Wanted — A Man . Penny Wise, Pound Foolish The Farmer's Home . City People .... Friends in Need . . Discretion .... Painstaking .... From the Ranks . . Duty of Making Money Secrets of Success . . Squandering Energies . Strength of Character Strength of Influence Constancy .... Power of Habit . . Man and Circumstances An Ounce of Prevention 7 10 15 21 29 33 39 49 57 63 70 75 79 87 93 99 105 113 118 123 129 135 141 146 150 155 162 167 179 185 192 199 203 209 215 Persistency 220 Decision 225 Toleration 230 Consistency 234 Precision . 239 Tact 243 Debt and Destruction . . 246 Honesty the Best Policy . .251 Moral Courage 254 Fidelity 261 Heroes 269 Keep Cool 275 Turning Points 280 Business Morality .... 286 Social Morality . . . .291 Self-Denial 295 Patience and Forbearance . 300 Duties of Life 306 Sowing 310 Reaping 315 Self-Helps 321 Self-Education 327 The Best Books .... 333 Wit, Wisdom and Humor . . 338 Atoms 345 Trifles 352- Glimpses . 359 Driftwood ...... 366 Shoddy 374 Curiosity 380 covetousness 383 Selfishness 388 Fanaticism 395 Flattery 402 Evil Criticism 405 CONTENTS. Evil for Evil Blasphemy Falsehood Cruelty . Revenge . . The Social Tyrant Reckless or Fearless War . . Duelling . Growling . Degradation Secret Sins Vicious Amusements Dirt, Disease and Death • Tramps . . Cowards . Sponging . Shirking . Miseries of Sin Pleasures of Piety . Everyday Religion . The Power of Prayer True Repentance . Sunshine and Shadow Truth Providence Christian Charity . The World's Hope . Heart's-Ease Christian Graces . 410 414 418 424 43i 434 442 448 45i 455 460 467 473 480 483 488 495 5°4 5io 516 522 532 442 55o 555 564 577 586 598 606 The Law of Love .... 618 The Sabbath 630 The Liberal Soul . . . .637 Past, Present and Future . . 645 Wonders of Nature . . .652 Wonders of Art .... 667 Words 677 Oratory 684 The Power of Music . . . 692 Eccentricities of Genius . . 698 True Chivalry 703 Patriotism ' . 709 Modesty 715 Manly Beauty . . . . . 721 Womanly Virtues . . . .726 Hospitality 736 Domestic Ties 744 Philanthropy 752 Marriage Vows 756 Conjugal Fidelity .... 762 The Hearth-Stone .... 768 The True Wife 771 The Crown of Honor . . 775 The Good Old Days . . .778 Respect the Aged . . . .781 Well-Earned Rest .... 785 Milestones of Life . . . .789 Harvest Home 792 The Grave . . . . . . 796 llfiJI-jlprmj* d[ Wtnify ^§$M- »£~^ + ©HE (g^ADLE. "From the cradle to the grave" we reach for bet ter things, and no parent, with an honest heart, will be content to give his child no better things than he him- self has had. Although your aspirations for your child may prove to be but phantoms that continually elude your grasp, yet you may make them realities if you are willing to toil with the earnestness of a true man. To help you in this task shall be one of the leading objects of this book. The smallest children are nearest to God, as the smallest planets are nearest the sun. The clew of our destiny, wander where we will, lies at the cradle foot. Within the cradle lies the most cherished, the fondest, hopes of the true mother. The very helplessness of the tiny bit of humanity appeals with the greatest suc- cess to our love, and calls forth our most tender care. Our most joyous moments, as well as most profitable, are spent at the cradle's side. He builds for eternity 8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. who instructs the tender babe in the joys of heaven. Nothing can exceed the marvelous credulity of a little child, and no blacker crime can be committed than to impose upon it by falsehood. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. The destinies of a nation are wrapped within the cradle blanket, if wisdom but guides the hand that tucks its edges down. The child is father to the man, but the mother plants the germ. The tender touch of love, like the steel placed to the magnet, draws the hidden forces from their deepest recess, and starts a life of eternal activity. Consider for a moment the condition of a new- born babe. What seeming contradictions are here ! What possibilities are wrapped up in that tiny frame and undeveloped mind! That little hand may some day wield the scepter of an empire ; it is now nerve- less and impotent. That tongue may some day move multitudes by its eloquence; it is now voiceless. That mind may some day master great problems — learn- ing much of God, his word, and his works ; it is now ignorant of the simplest truths. Had the period of our dependence been only as long as the brood remains with the parent bird, the endearing names of father and mother would have been empty sounds ; little opportunity would have been afforded to them for the formation of our char- acter, and one of the most pleasing illustrations of providential appointments would have been lost. How sublime a thing is such helplessness of in- fancy, such dependence of childhood! And how THE CRADLE. 9 sacred is fatherhood and motherhood! Would God that we understood these things aright ! Then, in- deed, would " the hearts of the fathers be turned to their children." John Foster, on the birth of his son, wrote a friend, " If the fellow turns out well, I shall not so much mind about his being extra clever. It is goodness that the world is wretched for wanting." When the hand of death is laid upon the babe that has nestled for but a few brief months in its mother's arms, or the bright-eyed prattler who has made the household glad with his merriment, the feeling of those upon whom the blow has fallen must, at first, be one of utter and impenetrable gloom. The anguish of the mother as she lays her first-born in the grave, and the bitterness of heart with which the father returns from his enforced toil to the home which death has made desolate — these are feelings which, in the first burst of sorrow, no words of consolation may mitigate or assuage. And yet there are, in the death of little children, motives of consolation open to us from which we are sometimes estopped in the death of those of riper years — motives which, as the weeks pass on, may- appeal soothingly to those who have laid their dear ones in the grave, and help God's chastening to " yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby." Those who have lost an infant are never, as it were, without an infant child. Their other children grow up to manhood and womanhood and suffer all IO WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the changes of mortality; but this one alone is ren- dered an immortal child, for death has arrested it with his kindly harshness, and blessed it into an eternal image of youth and innocence. 41 <9HE nUI^SBI^Y. It is idle to suppose that children will of necessity love their homes simply because there they eat, sleep and dwell. Father and mother are there, and there center the interests of the young lives, it is true, but as boys and girls grow beyond infancy they begin to have cravings of their own, and to show their separate individualities. Wise parents plan to make their chil- dren happy and satisfied at home. They do not take the happiness and satisfaction too much for granted, nor do they leave it to accident wholly, whether or not the house is pleasant in its atmosphere and ways. There should be room in every household for the children's treasures. If a room can be set aside for the boys' tools, their printing presses, scroll-saws, etc., so much the better. Boys who have in-door occupations which charm them will not be restless and eager for the street all the time when school hours are over. Both boys and girls should be encouraged to make collections of birds' eggs, ores, postage-stamps, curi- osities of wood and field, pressed ferns and flowers, shells from the seaside and quartz from the mountain, bits of bark, relics of mound-builders and Indian THE nursery; II hunters, old coins, newspapers and books of a by-gone day, and other like things which young people prize. She is a foolish mother who frowns on these things because they take space in the house or make a little confusion there. Swiftly, ah ! far too swiftly, we think when we grow older, our little ones are reaching up- ward to maturity. While they are young and can be moulded is it not the mother's duty to cultivate in them a love of nature, a love of study, a love of the beautiful, and this not by undue restraint, or pettish fault-finding, but by allowing them delights at home under her own eye? These collections quietly going on in farm-houses and town residences are affording inquisitive young folks just the opportunities they need for finding out many bits of geographical and historical information which lie out of the beaten track of the text-book, and which would never be discovered in the recitation-room. They are essential parts in home education. It is a maxim with the Jewish rabbins that. the love that is not accompanied with reproof is not genuine. But this must have its limits, and not be extended to those in whom there is nothing to reprove. Many a mother scolds her child for trifles under the mistaken notion that he will be corrupted by too much kindness and sympathy. I read somewhere lately " that we are not always as considerate toward children as we ought to be," which suggested the following question : Do we not often try children beyond what they ought to be re- quired to bear in the way of putting off attending to their wants — wants which to us seem unimportant, 12 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. but to them are of the utmost consequence ? We for- get what a great length of time a day or even an hour seemed to us in childhood, and that " hope deferred maketh the heart sick." So we let the little one's "great expectations" wear him into ill-humor and fret- fulness through our failure to recognize how much more sensitive children are than we to disappointment and delay. Not that I advocate making the children of the house of greater importance than their elders, but might not their tempers and nervous system be saved many a strain by a little thought and care on the part of the mothers ? Childhood's trials are as real, and more keenly felt, than those of riper years. There are many parents who train their children rather in the way they choose for them than in the way they should go. The best paternity is that which can be at once mentor, counselor, sympathizer and friend ; that fits neatly the older-brother relationship without making display of it. General observation testifies that the most perfect government is most infrequently, most quietly and most gently exercised ; it lacks deeds, and it positively lacks threats, nor is it an after-hindrance. To influence the young to their being governed with- out their knowing it — by being at once of them, with them, and still above them — is the ideal type of success- ful management. A child is a veritable Athenian, always desiring to hear something new. As he matures he carries this need on and up with him, and he who would be a teacher must know this fact and feed this desire. It THE NURSERY. 1 3 may be the source of great good or it may be the source of great evil. What terrible wrecks in life have resulted from the vicious influence of a trusted nurse ! How many of us look back at our own childhood and bitterly mourn the evil work wrought in our natures by thoughtless helpers. Our parents were unaware of the fire that they allowed to be kindled within us, and although in our mature years we have struggled, with the energy of despair, to quench its flames, yet it still smoulders to mock us with its dangerous presence. Father ! Mother ! Can you not understand, and will you not heed our tearful warning? Oh ! beware in time, that your child may not rise up and curse you for your negligence. Guard that child from those dangerous influences, from that deadly evil, which may end in moral death and mental weakness, if they do not destroy the body also. Be sure that you know where your child goes and who he plays with. Watch him with a jealous eye, and yet without interfering unnecessarily. Give him so much freedom that he will not feel you are a tyrant ; but teach him to restrain his desires at your command. Above all know where and with whom he sleeps at night. Insist upon his being at home before dark, un- less trusted friends are with him, and that he must sleep in his own bed. If he has a playmate to stay with him at night put them in separate beds, even if it is inconvenient to do so. Children spoiled in the nursery can seldom be mended in the sanctuary. And it is equally true of 14 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. them, that if they are well-moulded in the nursery, and well-finished in the Sunday-school, it is hard to spoil them afterward. Would to God that we knew what an opportunity for bringing our children to their Saviour their helpless infancy and dependent childhood give us ! Their help- lessness is complete, but it is not abject, for they are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and their depend- ence creates our opportunity for teaching them to know and love Him. Lycurgus, iron-hearted law-giver of Lacedsemon, un- derstood but one thing of a male infant — it might make a soldier. The old Spartan theory made the state everything, the individual nothing. Hence that heart- less code which required that delicate or deformed children should be "exposed" — abandoned to wild beasts, or in some other fashion be put out of the way. No doubt we love them. We toil for them through winter and summer. We never rest. We think for them by day and dream of them by night. They fill our thoughts ; they create our anxieties ; they excite our hopes ; they alarm our fears. But, alas ! we love them in a blind sort of way — the love of higher in- stinct — when we do not know that for our children the best knowledge, and, indeed, the only indispensable knowledge, is the knowledge of God. The good old sentence tells us that it is better a great deal to be unborn than either unbred or bred amiss, yet it cannot but be a matter of very sad reflection to any parent to think within himself that he should be instrumental EARLY IMPRESSIONS. I 5 in giving his child a body only to damn his souL Therefore let parents remember, that as the pater- nal is the most honorable relation, so it is also the greatest trust in the world, and that God will be a cer- tain and severe exactor of it ; and the more so because they have such weighty opportunities to discharge it, and that with almost infallible success. A mother once asked a man of wisdom, "At what age should I begin to teach my child?" " How old is he now?" inquired the sage. "Two years old," the mother answered. " Then," said he, " you have already lost about two years." Cai^ly Impressions. "Children are wnat their mothers are." Have you never walked through the dirty, dismal part of a city and heard little lips utter oaths and profane words in their childish ways? Dear children, are they alone to blame ? Little ones have sharp eyes. A lady was speaking in a light, playful way to a motherless one of something in her father's looks. The child mistook her manner for jesting and "making fun." The little face grew sadder and sadder, soon she covered it, crept under the table, gave way to violent tears, and nothing could pacify her, for her father was as dear to her as her life. " My teacher does so f " said a child illustrating the habit. When the teacher was informed of the schol- I 6 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ar's remark he was not aware of his conduct in this respect, and was glad to correct the foolish, nervous habit. Have you never seen children of different schools "playing school" together, and each one wants every- thing done just as "my teacher" does it? Who of us cannot remember the words and ways of our teacher ? Parents, teachers, are we not eyes and ears to the little ones around us ? Each reader may make the application of the truth. Some years ago a native Greenlander came to the United States. It was too hot for him here, so he made up his mind to return home, and took passage on a ship that was going that way. But he died before he got back; and, as he was dying, he turned to those who were around him and said: "Go on deck, and see if you can see ice." "What a strange thing!" some would say. It was not a strange thing at all. When that man was a baby the first thing he saw, after his mother, was ice. His house was made of ice. The window was a slab of ice. He was cradled in ice. If he ever sat at a table, it was a table of ice. The water he drank was melted ice. The scenery about his house was ice. The mountains were of ice. The fields were of ice. And when he became a man he had a sledge and twelve dogs, that ran fifty miles a day. And many a day he stopped over a hole in the ice twenty-four hours, to put his spear in the head of any seal that might come there. He had always been accustomed to see ice; and he knew that if his com- panions on the ship could see ice it would be evidence EARLY IMPRESSIONS. I 7 that he was near home. The thought of ice was the very last thought in his mind, as it was the very first impression made there. The earliest impressions are the deepest. Those things which are instilled into the hearts of children endure forever and forever. The recollection of childhood is never wholly oblit- erated from the mind. Make the days at home so happy that, when the children have grown to matu- rity, and have passed from your influence out into the world's toil and strife, they may look back upon their childhood as a joyous, beautiful, and sacred portion of their lives. Surely such memories will make their hearts stronger and their lives better. The mind is the heart's mouth. Thrust truth into the child's mind. If it is the bread of life to the child, it will not stay in his mind; it will sink down deeper; it will go to his heart ; and the hunger of the heart will grow by what it feeds on. The heart will crave more and more forever. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." Why? Be- cause they will eventually cease from hungering? JSTot at all. That would be no blessing. It would be a curse. But because they shall be filled, and keep on hungering and thirsting, to be filled again and again. Feed the sheep. Feed the lambs. Truth is the bread of life. Put truth into the mind. Teach, teach, teach ! Every first thing continues forever with the child ; the first color, the first music, the first flower, paint the foreground of his life. The first inner or outer object 2 1 8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. of love, injustice, or such like, throws a shadow im- measurably far along his after years. Let the child-life dwell as long as it will in the heart of the child. Care and the sense of burdened respon- sibility will come all too swiftly. But the lingering glow and gladness of the early years shall touch with softness their hard lines. There are no more flagrant instances of unchari- table judging — and no cases in which it inflicts greater injury — than are often seen in the treatment of, children by grown persons. A trifling fault is magnified into a grave and deliberately planned offense. Motives are attributed to the thoughtless little transgressors which could only belong to a far more advanced stage of mental development ; and not only is gross injustice done and the keen pain of it inflicted, but many times the young soul is made disingenuous and revengeful by being unfairly suspected and accused of deceit or revenge. We need not be afraid of having too much charity; and a safe general rule is, when we can find nothing good to say of a child, to say nothing. President Garfield said, "That man will be a bene- factor of his race who shall teach us how to manage rightly the first years of a child's education." There is a process of education constantly going on in every dwelling which care and thought can make an unspeakable advantage, and at the same time con- tribute to make a happy home. To keep objects of pure and high interest before the children's minds, in a natural and suitable way — to have them supplied with such books as will occupy and interest — to talk not so EARLY IMPRESSIONS. 1 9 much to them as with them about objects — to take note of and encourage any advance they make, and to * di- rect the flow not of a part of, but of the whole of their life — physical, mental, moral, without apparent interfer- ence or violence; this happy art — to be sought, prayed for, labored for — under God's blessing goes far to make a happy home. The tastes of children are natu- rally simple. Your child's wooden gun, cut with your own hand, perhaps, and made a link of connection be- tween your little boy and you, may be more to him, more influential over his character, more potent in binding his heart to you while living, his memory to you when you are dead, than a costly gift that you or- dered at the store. And when you, living a loving, natural life before your children, and with them, bend the knee in their midst, and speak to God of them and of yourself, there is a powerful restraint being put on natural evil, there is a pleasant type of heaven where the whole family that is named after Jesus shall be gathered together. The director of one of the largest State lunatic asylums in Germany, maintained at a recent meeting of physicians that much of the notorious increase of in- sanity in Germany is attributable to the excessive amount of work imposed upon the pupils in the na- tional schools. In order to acquit himself in any way creditably, a pupil of average ability must, it is calcu- lated, in addition to attending punctually and working diligently during school hours, work at home at least two hours daily when in the lower classes, three hours when in the middle, and four or five hours when in the 20 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. upper classes. A boy, therefore, of say sixteen years or upward, has to work in school thirty-six hours and at home twenty-four hours a week, or, with the exception of Sundays, for ten hours every day of the week. Sev- eral doctors in private practice, who took part in the discussion which followed the reading of the paper, also spoke of the increasing frequency of morbid irritability in children, the result of overwork, which, although it might not always drive pupils into the luna- tic asylum, often lastingly and prejudicially affected their constitutions. Children who have a little money ought to practice saving something. Many boys and girls of to-day hardly know a higher use for any money that comes into their hands than spending it for some foolish thing as quickly as possible. To such a lesson in self-denial and economy is very important. As go the boy's pennies and dimes, so, very likely, will go the man's dollars and hundreds by-and-by. Without having the spirit of a miser, the person accustomed to save has more pleasure in laying up than a spend- thrift ever knows. Singing mothers generally have musical children. They cultivate in their offspring a love for song with- out knowing it. The infant, while listening to its mother's singing, takes a music lesson. The importance of early impressions is indeed generally acknowledged, and the permanent effects often produced by them are too obvious to be disre- garded; neither can it be denied that the power thus placed at the disposal of every mother is in many PARENT AND CHILD. 2 1 instances judiciously used and turned to good account. But still the question presents itself, Whence is it that what is called Christian education fails, in so many instances, to produce even those outward and visible effects which might be fairly anticipated as the result of a systematic course of instruction in the principles of religion? Why is it that the education ordinarily afforded to children of parents professing Christianity has often so little sensible effect upon their moral character, their daily habits and conduct? The answer to this question is to be found in the fact that the want of conformity between the precepts of the mother and her example often renders her most anxious efforts in the education of her children feeble, if not powerless. *S* ©A^ENT AND (9HILD. It is not the fondest parent who always loves his child the best, nor the most doting who will gain the child's most devoted and lasting love. On the other hand the severest parents are not those who govern most wisely and successfully. But let parental au- thority be tempered with fatherly affection, and let the rein of discipline be steadily held by this powerful but affectionate hand, and there shall the pleasure of God prosper; there will he give his blessing, even life fbrevermore. Denying a child the opportunity of education is 22 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. worse than ordinary robbery, for it is a wrong that can never be atoned for. It robs the child of his seed-time and limits, mars and blights his harvest. No gifts of gold or land can atone for such a wrong. It is a per- sonal injury, inflicted on the helpless, and by the hand that of all others owed blessing and not blighting. "I had no idea," said a tiller of the soil, "that I made such crooked work planting those peas." And he looked with no little annoyance upon the tender green zigzagging up through the black loam. And so, we think, it will be with certain parents, when the planting they are doing now in their children's hearts starts to the surface. But it is by far more difficult to straighten a crooked row than to make a straight one. Our young people should be brought up from earli- est' childhood to familiarity with the church, and to the habit of going to church. Our Sunday-school children from five years upward should be trained to attend the; preaching service. If a child can attend but one ser- vice on Sunday it should attend the preaching service rather than the Sunday-school, for the sake of the spirit of reverence which the preaching service promotes. It is a good thing for father, mother, son and daughter to sit in the same pew in the morning together, to hear the standards set up and the earnest appeals of the gospel sounded forth. How often do we hear a parent say, "I never had anything as good as that when I was a child," and yet how cruel that is. How unjust and really mean spirited is the heart that can delight itself in the privations of another. A father will say of his sons, "Let them do PARENT AND CHILD. 23 as I have done, and make their own way in die world." This is the opposite extreme of folly from the one who shields his sons from every hardship or industrious effort. It is a noble thing to place your children in a better position than you occupied, but it is no less a despicable and disgraceful thing to neglect to give them a proper training to fit them for that position. Most mothers need no counsel in this direction. The wrinkles on their brow, the pallor on their cheek, the thimble-mark on their finger, attest that they are faithful in their maternal duties. The bloom and the brightness and the vivacity of girlhood have given place for the grander dignity and usefulness and industry of motherhood. But there is a heathenish idea getting abroad in some of the families of Ameri- cans; there are mothers who banish themselves from the home circle. For three-fourths of their maternal duties they prove themselves incompetent. They are ignorant of what their children wear, and what their children eat, and what their children read. They in- trust to irresponsible persons these young immortals, and allow them to be under influences which may cripple their bodies, or taint their purity, or spoil their manners, or destroy their souls. God would not have a mother become a drudge or a slave; he would have her employ all the helps possible in this day in the rearing of her children. One of our noblest poets sang — " The bravest are the tenderest ; The loving are the daring." Napoleon, Washington and Garfield were loving 24 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. and obedient to their mothers, whose approval they prized far above the noisy acclamations of millions. Our blessed Lord himself, in the hour of his great agony, cared tenderly for the sorrowing mother who had so gently guided his infant ways. Many a light-minded, light-hearted girl, who has danced and flirted and sentimentalized through her happy spring-time, finds the sweet compulsion of nature too strong for her; very soon she forgets all her follies and settles down into the real mother, whom love instructs in all things necessary; who shrinks from no trouble, is equal to all duties; is to her children nurse, companion, play-fellow, as well as doctress, seamstress, teacher, friend — everything in short. Her babe, climb- ing to her side, attests the pure delight in each fond heart. The mother's love for her child is the truest type of Christ's love for us. But even when that mother-love is there, is love suf- ficient? Not always. It will not make up for the lack of common sense, self-control, accurate and orderly ways — " The reason firm, the temperate will ; Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill." Nor does the mere fact of parenthood by a sort of divine right constitute all parents infallible, as they are so apt to suppose, and by their conduct expect their children to believe. The child will not believe it, not after the very first, unless the parent prove it; and this by something stronger than bare assertion or natural instinct. It may be a dangerous thing to suggest, but I am afraid THE Pi S PET FOR WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH PARENT AND CHILD. 25 the idea of some mysterious instinctive bond between parent and child is a mere superstition. No doubt the feeling is there, but it may be exercised equally with or without the tie of blood. The following admirable letter was written by the late Baron Alderson to his son, who, had left home for his first experience at boarding school: "I will sit down and write to you to-night before I go to sleep, that I may talk with my darling boy in imag- ination at least, though I cannot see his dear face. I was very sorry to part with you last Wednesday, but as it is for your good, I must submit to it, and your letter to-day makes me sure you will be happy in your new mode of life very soon. It must seem at first strange to you, and you will often think of home. I should be sorry that you did not, but in a little while, if you are a good boy — and I feel sure you will be so — you will find school a happy place. " I hear you are diligent and obliging. That gives me great pleasure, for I set much more store by dili- gence than by what people call talent or genius. A diligent boy is sure to do well, and if to it he adds tal- ent, he does excellently. But the merit is in making a good use of the talent entrusted to you. If the servant in the Gospel had had ten talents instead of one, and had hid them in a napkin, his lord would have equally thought him unworthy of reward. It was the diligent servant who was rewarded. " I shall be very glad if, when you write to me, you will tell me how you spend your time, and what lessons you are learning, what companions you have, which of 26 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. them you like best, what games you play at, and all such like things. A letter should be all about oneself and one's own thoughts, and should be just as if you were sitting down to talk to me. "I think of you every day, morning and evening in particular, and please myself in thinking that when papa and mamma are praying for their dear boy, he may be doing so, too, for them. "There is a story of two lovers who agreed at the same hour to go and look at the moon every moon- light night, and that was a tie between them, for they felt then as if they were together. How much better is it to be looking, not to the thing created, but to God himself! That is indeed to be together really; to be praying all of us at once to Him is to be as it were united through him forever, and to make a beginning of heaven on earth. My own dear boy will remember this, and we shall not be separated then, but every day be together in spirit, if not in bodily presence." No wise farmer would entrust an inexperienced laborer with his lands and stock. A merchant would scarcely allow a blunderer to keep his books. Dear lady reader, would you give a valuable piece of velvet or silk into the hands of a person of whose skill as a cutter and fitter you have no positive assurance? Behold with how much care men and women proceed in matters like these, yet how indifferent they are as regards the skilfulness of the hands, and superiority of the minds, that are entrusted with the education of the immortal souls of those children whom God has entrusted to them. PARENT AND CHILD. 2 J Interest the child in all that he sees about him — the rising and setting of the sun; the coming and going of the moon and stars, and various other of the common phenomena of the heavens. Talk to him of the falling rain; the exquisite and perfectly formed crystals of snow; the gathering of dew and frost, and the formation of ice. Not scientifically of course — that is not needed; but simply and naturally. If he can be interested in all of this — and there are few children who cannot be in a greater or less degree — what a world of thought is opened before him! Or, if his ideas are more confined to earth, the very ground upon which he treads is full of instruction. Even the rocks and the stones are replete with interest. The murmuring of the waters, the hum of insects, the song of birds — all will be full of delight and interest to him when he has once learned to listen and observe. And, as a love for these things takes possession of his heart, evil loves and desires will be crowded out. Once awaken an interest in insect and bird, and the propensity which so many evince to hurt and to kill will no more be found. Such a child will be gentle, tender, benevolent. It cannot be otherwise. And one can easily imagine what the future man or woman will be; for "children are but grown persons in min- iature." From these things pass on to others. Speak to the child of trees and flowers; of everything, in short, which God has planted to make our earth beautiful and good. There are lessons enough to be drawn from all. With the flower direct his attention to the 2& WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. form, color and growth; with the tree to its beauty, strength, and uses. Teach him to listen to the music of the winds sighing and moaning through them. This will touch a plaintive chord in his heart, which always elevates and refines. Show him the grace and sym- metry of a forest in quiet; its strength and grandeur in a storm ; teaching him that God rules and reigns in all. The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears; they cannot utter the one, nor will they utter the other. Children sweeten labors, but they make misfortunes more bitter; they increase the cares of life, but they mitigate the remembrance of death. The perpetuity by generation is common to beasts; but memory, merit, and noble works, are proper to men — and surely a man shall see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men, which have sought to express the images of their minds where those of their bodies have failed — so the care of posterity is most in them that have no posterity. They that are the first rais- ers of their houses are most indulgent towards their children, beholding them as the continuance, not only of their kind, but of their work; and so both children and creatures. "Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, lest they be discouraged." If the life of a child be embit- tered, the result is shyness and secret aversion. Even a child feels itself wronged, and a sense of bitterness is implanted in its heart. We can never think with- out pity of the parent who lost a promising*' son by FILIAL LOVE. 29 death, and was haunted through life by his parental severity. "My boy," he said to a friend, "used to think me cruel, and he had too much reason to do so; but he did not know how I loved him at the bottom of my heart; and now it is too late!" *!*■> Filial Iioye. There is not on earth a more lovely sight than the unwearied care and attention of children to their par- ents. Where filial love is found in the heart we will answer for all the other virtues. No young man or woman will turn out basely, we sincerely believe, who has parents respected and beloved. A child, affection- ate and dutiful, will never bring the gray hairs of its par- ents to the grave, f h e wr etch who breaks forth from wholesome restraint and disregards the laws of his country must have first disobeyed his parents, showing neither love nor respect for them. It is seldom the case that a dutiful son is found in the ranks of vice among the wretched and degraded. Filial love will keep men from sin and crime. There never will come a time while your parents live when you will not be under obligations to them. The older they grow the more need will there be for your assiduous care and atten- tion to their wants. The venerable brow and frosty hair speak loudly to the love and compassion of the child. If sickness and infirmity make them at times fretful, bear with them patiently, not forgetting that 30 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. time ere long may bring you to need the same atten- tion. Filial love will never go unrewarded. A friend of mine said to me yesterday, "All the money you ever handled couldn't buy that piece of paper." With that he handed a manifold soiled scrap on which at first I could see nothing. At length I deciphered in rude, disjointed letters the two words, "Dear Papa." He had discovered it in the play-house of his little daughter, who died only a few days ago. Sometime, when, in the midst of her play, her little heart had turned toward him she had scrawled these two words — and then, having borne testimony of her love, she had thrown the paper away. A remarkable case of filial love was that of a boy, confined in the Kansas penitentiary, who at the age of sixteen pleaded guilty to the crime of murder for the purpose of shielding his father, who was the guilty one. Not until after the death of his father was it found that he was innocent. Most boys who become successful men are thought- ful for their mothers. A Montreal millionaire, Harri- son Stephens, Esq., has recently died, who engaged, when seventeen years old, with an elder brother and a companion to build twenty rods of the Champlain Canal. At the end of a week the others threw up the job in discouragement, but Harrison persevered and in due time received seventy-five dollars. With a part of these first earnings he stepped into a store on his way home and bought his mother a dress. He finally became a large importer and trader in Montreal, but, so long as they lived his parents received from him FILIAL LOVE. 3 1 every attention. No boy or girl can become truly great who neglects the comfort of father and mother. o o "I'm afraid you will have none left for yourself," we heard a little lad say to his mother, as she helped him for the second time to toast. And the words were like music dreamed of. Why do not the children think oftener of mother, so that our hearts will become ac- customed to their doing so, and we no longer thrill with strange sensations whenever we meet with a cir- cumstance like the above. Surely they would, did they more fully realize what a heaven they would thus convert this chill world into. Home love is the best love. The love that you are born to is the. sweetest you will have on earth. You, who are so anxious to escape from the home-nest, pause a moment and remember this is so. Never again, after strangers have broken the beautiful bond, will there be anything so sweet as the little circle of mother, father and children, where you are cherished, protected, praised, and kept from harm. You may not know it now, but you will know it some day. The three sons of an Eastern queen tried to show their love for their mother by gifts laid upon her grave. The spectators most applauded one who made a liba- tion of his own blood. But how much more noble and truly great is that son who so lives and loves his mother that after death he may have no cause for remorse, and she may carry into the spirit world treas- ures beyond estimation, jewels of love that her son gave her. The story of what you have done, or what you 32 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. have written, of the influence you have exerted, has gone back to the old homestead — for there is some one always ready to carry good tidings — and that story makes the needle in the old mother's tremulous hand fly quicker, and the flail in the father's hand come down upon the barn floor with a vigorous thump. Parents love to hear good news from their children. Do you send them good news always ? Look out for the young man who speaks of his father as "the governor," "the squire" or the "old chap." Look out for the young woman who calls her mother her "maternal ancestor" or the "old woman." "The eye that mocketh at his father, and refuseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." God grant that all these parents may have the great satisfaction of seeing their children grow up Christians. But O ! the pang of that mother who, af- ter a life of street-gadding and gossip retailing, hang- ing on the children the fripperies and follies of this world, sees those children tossed out on the sea of life like foam on the wave, or nonenties in a world where only bravery and stalwart character can stand the shock! But blessed be the mother who looks upon her children as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. On one occasion a father found it necessary to punish his little daughter. But Mary climbed up into his lap, and, throwing her arms around his neck, said : "Papa, I do love you." "Why do you love me, my child?" the father asked. "Because you try to make me good, papa." PARENTS' DUTY. 3$ Filial affection is the corner-stone of good morals and the most essential element of order and discipline in the state. Even in the republics of antiquity the rulers were styled fathers. The very name "father" is itself a law of justi'ce and imposes the highest obli- gations. <§HE ©AGENTS' DUTY. Let it be insisted on with all possible emphasis that parenthood is fatherhood and motherhood. In this complicated yet simple relation the Bible and Na- ture alike make the father the responsible head, and yet in no sense is he more essential, to the perfection of family life than the mother. Whatever duties, therefore, we shall find enjoined in the Word of God upon the father in the instruction and discipline of his children, these are the mother's duties also. The parent holds a mystic key that no other hand can fit to the wards of its locks. If the parent does not do his work, it is forever undone. So left un- done, the parent is guilty and the child wronged, and wronged irreparably. It is a pitiful and shameful sight to see a father so swallowed up by love of money, so consumed by am- bition, that he has no time to teach his children the ways of wisdom and life. The mere enforcement of good conduct is not enough ; the mere inculcation of sound principle is not enough. If we would truly " bring up our chil- 34 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. dren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," it is not enough that we simply teach them what is right. True knowing, true doing, and true being, involve each other. They go together, and cannot, without disappointment and defeat, be separated. The following are worthy of being printed in let- ters of gold and placed in a conspicuous position in every household : From your children's early infancy inculcate the necessity of instant obedience. Unite firmness with gentleness. Let your children always understand that you mean exactly what you say. Never promise them anything unless you are sure you can give them what you promise. If you tell a child to do anything, show him how to do it, and see that it is done. Always punish your children for wilfully disobeying you, but never punish them when you are angry. Never let them perceive that they can vex you or make you lose your self-command. Never smile at any of their actions of which you do not approve, even though they are somewhat amusing. If they give way to petulance and temper, wait till they are calm, and then gently reason with them on the impropriety of their conduct. Remember that a little present punishment, when the occasion arises, is much more effectual than the threatening of a greater punishment should the fault be renewed. Never give your children anything because they cry for it. On no account allow them to do at one time what you have forbidden, under the same circum- stances, at another. PARENTS DUTY. 35 Teach them that the only sure and easy way to appear good is to be good. Accustom them to make their little recitals the perfect truth. Never allow of tale-bearing. Teach them that self-denial, not self- indulgence, is the appointed and sure method of se- curing happiness. Above all things, instruct them from the word of God, taking Jesus for their example in patience, meekness and love ; teaching them to pray morning and evening, and during the day once or oftener, as they grow up, as' the only preservative against error, weakness and sin. The sacred books of the ancient Persians say: If you Would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you. Words and examples always come back to the young, and influence them for good as well as for evil. For nothing — not even a word or example — is ever forgotten or lost. We cannot commit a wrong with- out a punishment following close at its heels. When we break a law of eternal justice, it echoes throughout the world. Words and deeds may be considered slight things ; yet they are not temporary, they are eternal. An idle or a bad word never dies. It may come up against us in the future — twenty years, a hundred years hence — long after we are dead. " Every idle word," says the Master, "that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judg- ment ; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Evil deeds and evil examples have the same resur- rection. They never die, but influence all time. They 36 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. descend like an inheritance. The memory of a life does not perish with the life itself. What is done re- mains, and can never be undone. Thomas of Mal- mesbury said, " There is no action of a man in this life which is not the beginning of so long a chain of consequences as that no human providence is high enough to give us a prospect to the end." " Every atom," says Babbage, " impressed with good or ill, re- tains at once the motions which philosophers and sages have imparted to it, mixed and combined in ten thousand ways with all that is worthless and base. The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are written forever all that man has ever said, or whispered, or done." We often think when we hear of parents beating their children, that they should rather be inflicting the punishment on themselves. They have been the means of bringing into being the inheritors of their own moral nature. The child does not make his own temper, nor has any control, while a child, over its direction. If the parents have conferred an irritable temper on the child, it is a duty on their part to exer- cise self-control, forbearance and patience, so that the influence of daily life may, in the course of time, cor- rect and modify the defects of its birth. But "the child's will must be broken!" There is no greater fallacy than this. Will forms the founda- tion of character. Without strength of will there will be no strength of purpose. What is necessary, is not to break the child's will, but to educate it in proper directions; and this is not to be done through the PARENTS' DUTY. $7 agency of force or fear. A thousand instances might be cited in proof of this statement. When the parent or teacher relies chiefly upon pain for controlling the child's will, the child insensibly associates duty and obedience with fear and terror. And when you have thus associated command over the will of others with pain, you have done all that you could to lay the foundations of a bad character — a bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a bad neighbor, and a bad citizen. Parents may not think of this when they are beating into their children their own faults ; but it is true nevertheless. There is no doubt that the command over the wills of others by pain leads by degrees to all the several stages of irritation, injustice, cruelty, oppression, and tyranny. Every mother must be in degree a sort of Hannah. She may bring her son his little coat — she may come up to see him yearly in the Temple ; but with all that she must give him to God. To give our children up to God, to end with a training totally different from that with which we began, to be obliged to recognize our own powerlessness, and learn to sit still with folded hands, resigning them and their fortunes into their own hands — or rather into higher hands than either theirs or ours — this is no easy lesson for parents. A little girl of six — whose only idea of death was of " going up into the sky," and being made perfectly happy and lovely and good — after being taken to see an old woman of ninety-nine, said, " Oh, mamma, please don't live to be ninety-nine. You'll be so ugly ! " Alas, there comes a time when we know we must $8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. be "ugly," more or less ; physically, and perhaps mor- ally, too; when the worn-out body will not respond to the mind, or, may be, even the mind is wearing out, so that by no possibility can we give pleasure, and may give much pain, even to our best beloved. This is a hard, time ; nor is it wonderful that par- ents and children sometimes succumb to it, and the relation once so sweet and easy becomes a heavy burden. But there are parents who make it much heavier than it need to be by their extreme selfishness, their utter want of recognition of the fact that the most duteous child that ever was born cannot live forever in a sick room or beside an arm chair. The younger life has to last long after the elder one is ended. A parent, unlike a poet, is not born — he is made. There are certain things which he has at once to learn, or he will have no more influence over his child than if he were a common stranger. First, he must insti- tute between himself and his child that which is as im- portant between child and parent as between man and God — the sense, not of absolute obedience, as it is so often preached, but of absolute reliance, which pro- duces obedience. To gain obedience, you must first set yourself to deserve it. Whatever you promise your little one, however small the thing may seem to you, and whatever trouble it costs you, perform it. Never let the doubt once enter that innocent mind that you say what you do not mean, or will not act up to what you say. Make as few prohibitory laws as you possibly can, but, once made, keep to them. In THE TRUE HOME. 39 what is granted, as in what is denied, compel yourself, however weary or worried or impatient, to administer always evenhanded justice. "Just laws, impartially ad- ministered," is a system much more likely to secure your child's real affection than all the petting and hu- moring so generally indulged in to give pleasure or save trouble, not to your little ones, but to yourself. She <5i^ue P?ome. The place of training for the young is pre-emi- nently the home. It is in the bosom of the family that those impressions are made, and that culture bestowed, which, more than anything else, determine, under God, the character of the soul for time and eternity. Home is the sacred refuge of our life. Mrs. Wil- ling says, incivilities in the home are like sand in the eyes and gravel in the shoes. No wonder they who have only sour looks and cross words, when they ought to receive loving sympathy and care, are easily lured to destruction. Out from under flaming" chandeliers, and off from imported carpets, and down the granite stairs, there has come a great crowd of children in this day, un- trained, saucy, incompetent for all practical duties of life, ready to be caught in the first whirl of crime and sensuality. Indolent and unfaithful mothers will make indolent and unfaithful children. 4-0 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Many a child goes astray, not because there is a want at home, but simply because home lacks sun- shine. A child needs smiles as much as the flowers need sunbeams. Children look little beyond the pres- ent moment. If a thing pleases, they are apt to seek it ; if it displeases, they are apt to avoid it. If home is a place where faces are sour and words harsh, and fault-finding is ever on' the ascendant, they will spend as many hours as possible elsewhere. "That home is unworthy of the name where a child dare not utter a fond or even a foolish wish. God will never refuse our human lips the right of utterance." Don't live in the back end of your house. The boys will prefer the saloon to the kitchen. Don't be afraid of the coal bill or wood pile. It is cheaper to have a warm parlor than to pay liquor bills. Put books and papers on your tables instead of wine or cider. Clear brains will honor the family record more than drunkards. Marry into the Cheeryble family and keep clear of Grumblers. Pull the latch-string in for gos- sips, and hang it out for the poor, that yours may be a house of mercy. In a dying world don't spend too much time on ruffles and killing flies. Your children's bodies are of more value than fine clothes, lace curtains, or Brussels carpets, and their minds and souls are of eternal worth. Don't starve to-day, to riot to-morrow ; don't hoard and scrimp for years that you may be generous in your graves. Be your own almoner, and see your children's happiness while they are still under the parent roof. Better have a Sunday home-service of praise than break THE TRUE HOME. 4 1 your own and your neighbors' Sabbath by visiting and dining that day. Nobody must be morally the worse for living under our roof, if we can possibly help it. It is the minimum of our duties to make sure that the temptations to misconduct or intemperance are not left in any one's way, or bad feelings suffered to grow up, or habits of moroseness or domineering, formed, or quarrels kept hot as if they were toast before the kitchen fire. As much as possible, on the contrary, everybody must be helped to be better ; not made better by act of the drawing-room, remember; that is impossible, but helped to be better. The way to do this is not to scold or exhort, but rather to spread through the house such an atmosphere of frank confidence and kindliness with ser- vants, and of love and trust with children and relations, that bad feeling and doings will really have no place, no temptation, and if they intrude, will soon die out. Good humor is rightly reckoned a most valuable aid to happy home life. An equally good and useful faculty is a sense of humor, or the capacity to have a little amusement along with the humdrum cares and work of life. We all know how it brightens up things generally to have a lively, witty companion, who sees the ridiculous points of things, and who can turn an annoyance into an occasion for laughter. It does a great deal better to laugh over some domestic mishaps than to cry or scold over them. It is well to turn off an impatient question sometimes, and to regard it from a humorous point of view, instead of becoming irri- tated about it. 42 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. "Wife, what is the reason I can never find a clean shirt?" exclaimed a good but rather impatient hus- band, after rummaging all through the wrong drawer. His wife looked at him steadily for a moment, half inclined to be provoked, then with a comical look she said, "I never could guess conundrums; I give it up." Then he laughed, and they both laughed, and she went and got his shirt, and he felt ashamed of himself and kissed her, and then she felt happy; and so what might have been an occasion for unkind feelings and hard words became just the contrary, all through the little vein of humor that cropped out to the surface. Surely since the wreck of Eden there has appeared among the children of men no picture so fair, so noble, so inspiring and so full of hope for both worlds, as a well-ordered and truly Christian family. Here indeed are repeated, from day to day, the miracles of Provi- dence and the wonders of grace. Though it may not be always easy to clearly define what constitutes a home, there is no difficulty at all in discovering what does not. A fine house, with all the most modern improvements, well-fitting doors and windows, smokeless chimneys, dry walls, convenient water supply, excellent drainage, a perfect immunity from draughts and insect life, good servants, and good tradesmen in our immediate vicinity, go far to consti- tute a comfortable residence; while tasteful furniture, rare pictures, beautiful ornaments, and a good collec- tion of good books, add still greater charms ; yet all these, and a thousand other attractions pleasant to the eye and very conducive to physical comfort, would THE TRUE HOME. 43 never constitute a really happy home, without two other grand qualities — qualities like, yet unlike; inde- pendent, yet each to a great extent dependent on the other for its usefulness ; each insufficient of itself to do all; each beautiful, but doubly so when allied; each within the reach of the humblest as well as the high- est — more lovely, as well as more useful, in the cottage than in the palace; each a cornerstone of happiness, and forming together the very foundation of peace — two grand, simple qualities, all-powerful in heaven and on earth — love and order! Let any person who possesses a home of any sort or condition whatever look round and observe how far it is governed by those twin sisters ; consider well if every action of every day is prompted by love, and carried out by order; if affection is the ruling principle, punctuality the ruling practice of every-day life. Some homes are full of love and sunshine for strangers, and all ugliness and gloom for the ones for whom they exist. To constitute a truly happy home there should be pretty little personal adornments on the part of the wife, who hereby shows a desire to please her husband and to add to the general attractions of her home. A pleasant word on her part, when the over-worked man comes home, often eats away the raw edge of some trouble on his mind, and draws out a corresponding desire to be both agreeable and respectful, which characteristics are always accom- panied by affection. If cheerfulness and amiability are not cultivated, rudeness, roughness and impatience will soon be followed by insolence ; and when sweet 44 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. temper gives way to anger and discord, the home- circle is no longer attractive, and is almost certain to be shunned. Nothing makes a home so happy as the perpetual sunshine of a contented disposition there.' None of the little troubles of life arrest progress or pleasure in that home; there is always a rainbow to bridge the rift. The sky is always blue, and the wind blows from the southwest, where that disposition works its will; all things move in accordant music and measure where the happy nature's voice gives the dominant key. A person with the temperament which creates this for- tunate disposition, or gives it full play, is not only a blessing to himself or herself, but to all society as well ; everything is more gentle and direct in movement, all wheels and ways run more smoothly, for the treatment of such individuals, and their own habit of always looking on the sunny side obliges people in their immediate neighborhood also to see the silver lining of the cloud in spite of themselves. What such happy people are to those about them it requires personal experience of them to know in the full extent, for words would completely fail to tell ; they are the consolers of trouble, the spurs to en- deavor, the sympathizers in joy, the beguilers of tedium. With their own buoyancy they bear every one's burdens, with their sunshine they banish every one's shadow, their own inner and almost inexhausti- ble happiness overflows on all within reach, and they know how to turn Pandemonium into Paradise. It is not wealth, but taste, that can make a home THE TRUE HOME. 45 truly beautiful. A lady of refined instinct and train- ing, by means of a few cheap, but of their kind good, pictures, book engravings, or cartoons, and such like, a bundle of strips and straws, some pretty Japanese or Chinese decorations, the judicious appliance and arrangement of such pretty things as an artistic taste will suggest, will do more toward making a little par- lor charming, homelike and artistic, than thousands of dollars spent in vulgar display and inartistic arrange- ment. Your home can be made beautiful by a little labor. A few trees set out here and there to give their cool- ing shadows when the fierce sunlight falls. A few flowers yonder to brighten with their contrasting colors the green grass you should have here. A little white- wash on that fence and barn. All these cost nothing, or next to nothing, and they vastly add to the appear- ance of your place as well as to its comfort. Make your homes beautiful. I have peeped into quiet "parlors" where the carpet is clean and not old, and the furniture polished and bright; into "rooms" where the chairs are deal and the floor carpetless; into "kitchens" where the family live, and the meals are cooked and eaten, and the boys and girls are as blithe as the sparrows in the thatch overhead; and I see that it is not so much wealth, nor learning, nor clothing, nor servants, nor toil, nor idleness, nor town, nor country, nor rank, nor station, as tone and temper, that make life joyous or miserable, that render homes happy or wretched. And I see, too, that in town or country, God's grace and 46 . WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. good sense make life what no teachers, or accomplish- ments, or means, or society, can make it, the opening stave of an everlasting psalm, the fair beginning of an endless existence, the goodly, modest, well-propor- tioned vestibule to a temple of God's building, that shall never decay, wax old, or vanish away. Do not be afraid of a little fun at home, good peo- ple. Do not shut up your houses, lest the sun should fade your carpets, and your hearts, lest a laugh should shake down a few of the musty old cobwebs that are hanging there. Young people must have fun and re- laxation somewhere ; if they do not find it at their own hearthstones, they will seek it at other and less profitable places. Therefore let the fire burn brightly at night in winter, and let the doors and windows be cheerfully thrown open in summer, and make the homestead delightful with all those little arts that par- ents so well understand. Do not repress the buoyant spirits of your children. Half an hour's merriment within doors, and merriment of a home, blots out the remembrance of many a care and annoyance during the day; and the best safeguard that they can take with them into the world is the unseen influence of the bright little home sanctum. Parents, worried and absorbed with the business of life, too often make home unattractive to their children by making them feel that they represent simply bur- dens in the household. The hearts of children are sensitive, and older ones should always be considerate in their actions towards them. They should be made to feel that they are of some importance at home, in THE TRUE HOME. 47 order that they may become so attached to it that it will be to them a safeguard and refuge from the many pitfalls that beset their youthful steps. The oppor- tunity of parents in this direction is of vast and im- measurable importance, and if rightly improved will more than repay in years yet to come. The children of the home circle, as they grow to years of accountability, are not left without responsi- bility in this direction. How often is the joy and com- fort of home blighted by the unkind and disobedient acts of children who wholly disregard their great op- portunities for good and heap dishonor on their par- ents. But there are those who shed light and joy wherever they go by their uniformly kind words and acts, whose chief aim it seems to be to make others happy; and what centers of joy they are in the home circle. The little things that they have observed have resulted in a grand aggregate of good, that is crown- ing their parents with honor and making their own hearts happier and better. One of the greatest evils known in the family circle is the disrespect so frequently shown between mem- bers, one to another, in speech, action and dress. The gruff "yes " or " no " of husband to wife, in answer to a pleasant query, leads to unpleasant consequences, and begets a cold, calculating style of address on either side, which, sooner or later, is adopted by the younger members, and the love and affection which should reign within is dispelled like dew before the morning sun. The indifference often shown in little acts of duty, and the manner in which they are performed, 48 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. seem to carry the impression, "I'm glad that's out of the way; don't trouble me again." In dress and per- sonal appearance the husband goes unkempt and unshaven, and the wife slipshod and shabby, Any- thing is good enough for home when there are no strangers about. Thus are habits of disrespect formed, and one of the greatest dangers of home bred and fostered. We may not all have equal opportunities of doing good at home, but we have something to do to make that home happier, and if we are doing it to the best of our ability we are meeting all that is required. If, in the daily walk of life, we would pay more atten- tion to the little things there would be fewer great things demanding our consideration. No unhappiness in life is equal to unhappiness at home. All other personal miseries can be better borne than the terrible misfortune of domestic disun- ion, and none so completely demoralizes the nature. The anguish of disease itself is modified, ameliorated, even rendered blessed, by the tender touch, the dear presence of the sympathetic beloved; and loss of for- tune is not loss of happiness where family love is left. But the want of that love is not supplied by anything. Health, fortune, success, nothing has its full savor when the home is unhappy ; and the greatest triumphs out-of-doors are of no avail to cheer the sinking heart when the misery within has to be encountered. Our homes are like instruments of music. The strings that give melody or discord are the members. THE MOTHER S HAND. 49 If each is rightly attuned they will all vibrate in har- mony ; but a single discordant string jars through the instrument and destroys its sweetness. <9HE fflOTHEI^S F)AND. There are no persons in a community who need to be so wise and well-informed as mothers. O ! this work of culture in children for this world and the next ! This child is timid, and it must be roused up and pushed out into activity. This child is forward, and he must be held back and tamed down into modesty and politeness. Rewards for one, pun- ishments for another. That which will make George will ruin John. The rod is necessary in one case, while a frown of displeasure is more than enough in another. Whipping and a dark closet do not exhaust all the rounds of domestic discipline. There have been children who have grown up and gone to glory without ever having had their ears boxed. O ! how much care and intelligence are necessary in the rearing of children ! But in this day, when there are so many books on the subject, no parent is excus- able in being ignorant of the best mode of bringing up a child. If parents knew more of dietetics there would not be so many dyspeptic stomachs, weak nerves and inactive livers among children. If parents knew more of physiology there would not be so many curved spines, and cramped chests, and inflamed 50 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. throats, and diseased lungs, as there are among chil- dren. If parents knew more of art, and were in sym- pathy with all that is beautiful, there would not be so many children coming out in the world with boorish proclivities. If parents knew more of Christ, and practiced more of his religion, there would not be so many little feet already starting on the wrong road, and all around us voices of riot and blasphemy would not come up with such ecstasy of infernal triumph. Every mother gets full pay for all the prayers and tears in behalf of her children. That man useful in commercial life ; that man prominent in a profession ; that master mechanic — why, every step he takes in life has an echo of gladness in the old heart that long ago taught him to be a Christian, and heroic and ear- nest. Now, while I congratulate all Christian mothers upon the wealth and the modern science which may afford them all kinds of help, let me say that every mother ought to be observant of her children's walk, her children's behavior, her children's food, her chil- dren's looks, her children's companionships. One hundred and twenty clergymen were together, and they were telling their experience and their an- cestry ; and of the one hundred and tweaty clergy- men how many of them, do you suppose, assigned as the means of their conversion the influence of a Chris- tian mother ? One hundred out of one hundred and twenty ! Philip Doddridge was brought to God by the Scripture lesson on the Dutch tile of a chimney fireplace. The mother thinks she is only rocking a THE MOTHERS HAND. 5 1 child, but at the same time she may be rocking the fate of nations, rocking the glories of heaven. The same maternal power that may lift the child up may press a child down. At home the mother is the center of attraction. Her influence for good or evil is immeasurable. Na- tions feel its effects. The good kings of Israel, such as Josiah, were sons of pious, God-fearing mothers. The bane of the nation was in the nursery of her kings. Look into the biographies of Polycarp, Ed- wards, Gregory, Dwight, and thousands of others who^ are hailed as the bold defenders of the truth, and you will find they were, without exception, the sons of pious, faithful mothers. The skeptic has been brought to the saving knowledge of the truth through the pre- vious training and prayers of a sainted mother, who,, though dead, yet speaketh effectually to his heart and conscience. The nursery of the family is the nursery of the church. Begin early. Let her watch every ex- pression of the face before the lips begin to speak. I wish it were written on every mind and heart by the finger of God that the minds of children are like wax to receive, but like marble to hold, every impression made upon them for good or evil. A daughter came to a worldly mother and said she was anxious about her sins, and she had been praying all night. The mother said : " O, stop praying ! I don't believe in praying. Get over all these religious notions and I'll give you a dress that will cost $500, and you may wear it next week to that party." The daughter took the dress, and she moved in the gay 52 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. circle, the gayest of all the gay, that night ; and sure enough, all religious impressions were gone, and she stopped praying. A few months after she came to die, and in her closing moments said : " Mother, I wish you would bring me that dress that cost $500." The mother thought it a very strange request, but she brought it to please the dying child. "Now," said the daughter, " mother, hang that dress on the foot of my bed," and the dress was hung there, on the foot df the bed. Then the dying girl got up on one elbow and looked at her mother, and then pointed to the dress, and said : " Mother, that dress is the price of my soul !" O, what a momentous thing it is to be a mother ! Who are the industrious men in all our occupations and professions? Who are they managing the mer- chandise of the world, building the walls, tinning the roofs, weaving the carpets, making the laws, governing the nations, making the earth to quake and heave and roar and rattle with the tread of gigantic enter- prises? Who are they? For the most part they de- scended from industrious mothers, who, in the old homestead, used to spin their own yarn, and weave their own carpets, and plait their own door-mats, and flag their own chairs, and do their own work. The stalwart men and the influential women of this day, ninety-nine out of a hundred of them came from such an illustrious ancestry of hard knuckles and homespun. And who are these people in society, light as froth, blown every whither of temptation and fashion — the peddlers of filthy stories, the dancing jacks of political THE MOTHERS HAND. 53 parties, the scum of society, the tavern-lounger, the store-infesting, the men of low wink, and filthy chuckle, and brass breast .pins, and rotten associations? For the most part they came from mothers idle and dis- gusting — the scandal mongers of society, going from house to house, attending to everybody's business but their own, believing in witches, and ghosts, and horse- shoes to keep the devil out of the churn, and by a godless life setting their children on the very verge of hell. The mothers of Samuel Johnson, and of Alfred the Great, and of Isaac Newton, and of St. Augustine, and of Richard Cecil, and of President Edwards, for the most part were industrious, hard-working mothers. D. H. Moody once said: " Many a young man in this city wants a mother more than he wants a preacher. It has been pleasant work for me to get hold of these young men. A business man in Chicago once intro- duced me to a young man, and as I spoke to him he seemed bowed down; he looked ashamed. My friend explained his appearance by telling me that he had just come from prison. I took this young man home with me and introduced him to my family. My little daughter came forward and kissed him. He burst into tears, and the child ran away wondering what she had done to hurt his feelings. He said, 'That is the first kiss I have received since my mother died.' It did not take long to reach the heart of that young man. There are thousands of young men in this, city who are ready to be reached by kindness. Isn't the church guilty before God in this matter? Isn't it time to reach out after the young men in this city?" 54 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. No language can express the power and beauty and heroism and majesty *>f a mothers love. It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over the wastes of worldly for- tune it sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity, like a star in heaven. It is not enough by our continual care and watch- fulness to make our home desirable from parlor to kitchen, to dress becomingly, and above all wear a bright and cheerful face. These must be done, but do not leave the other undone. Let us, if possible, so simplify our living that we may have time to devote to other subjects than what we may eat, drink and wear. It is a battle won for a mother to be able to help a son, who looks upon himself as almost a man, over a perplexing problem, or a difficult translation. Her opinion has weight ever after. We must sacrifice our time and our ease, be interested in what interests them, and let them feel that they are part of the family circle, and really missed when absent from it. In our home a half-hour's reading with a talk after is found to give real pleasure, and music and games are always welcomed. It is a mother's prerogative to do all she can for the best interests of her children. Every mother should bear in mind that it is easier to keep children well than it is to cure them after they become ill. A few simple rules faithfully and unflinch- ingly observed would banish nine-tenths of the sick- nesses among children that too often lead to fatal results. Give them in the first place plenty of love — ex- THE MOTHERS HAND. 55 pressions of love ! Oftentimes fathers and mothers deeply love their children, yet show such little evidence of affection that the children are apt to have a forlorn feeling that it doesn't exist at all. An occasional word of praise, a caress, an expression of sympathy — these are as necessary to health and happy child-life as sum- mer showers to growing vines. Especially bear this in mind — they should never go to bed cold, or hungry, or unhappy. It is wise for a mother to take time to dress, and be fair in her children's eyes ; to read for their sake, to learn to talk well, and to live in to-day. The circle the mother draws around her is more wholesome for the child than the one he has to make for himself, and she is responsible for his social surroundings. It is not easy to be the child's most interesting companion and to make home his strongest magnet, but the mothers who have done this have been the mothers of good men. Let a woman's first sweet page in the book of edu- cation be the eyes of her child; let her commune with them till the mute, bright language of the eye becomes familiar and intelligible to both. At first she will be unanswered ; but when the quickened spirit of infancy replies to her in a smile, let her receive it as a token. It is a light from heaven. It is then that her child first acknowledges her maternal character : then is she spiritually as well as physically a mother. From that bright moment education begins. Oh! what a work! How full of beauty ! Instead of shunning, who would not seek it? As sympathy strengthens between 56 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the child and mother, she will soon discover how infin- ite a power she may exercise by means of that sym- pathy. A saddened look, a sorrowful tone, will prove a correction, which the young thing that loves the light of kind looks and the gladness of gay tones will feel instantly, and answer to implicitly. Maternal instructions and exhortations, however indispensable, will always be dependent for their effi- cacy, less, upon earnestness or repetition than upon the belief which the whole character of the mother has impressed upon the child of her sincerity. With the pursuits, the objects, whatever they may be, in which she manifestly and habitually delights, they will be in- sensibly led to associate excellence; with those toward which she discovers a genuine distaste and hatred they will connect evil ; and this independently of any exhortation or of any direct efforts on her part. Surely then it behooves every mother who desires to mold aright the character of her children — and what mother does not ? — to see that she has herself, and habitually exhibits before them, the example and character upon which maternal influence mainly de- pends ; for without this she will, most assuredly, find herself deficient in that ascendancy over the minds of her children which, in the work of education, is so essential to success. HOME AND HEALTH, 57 I7OMB AND F^EALJflH. Health is certainly more valuable than money, be- cause it is by health that money is procured ; but thousands and millions are of small avail to alle- viate the protracted tortures of the gout, to repair the broken organs of sense, or resuscitate the powers of digestion. Poverty is, indeed, an evil from which we naturally fly, but let us not run from one enemy to another, nor take shelter in the arms of sickness. In these days, half our diseases come from the neglect of the body in the overwork of the brain. In this railway age, the wear and tear of labor and intel- lect go on without pause or self-pity. We live longer than our forefathers, but we suffer more from a thou- sand artificial anxieties and cares. They fatigued only the muscles, we exhaust the finer strength of the nerves. ♦ Health is the soul that animates all enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless, if not dead, without it. A man starves at the best and the greatest tables, makes faces at the noblest and most delicate wines, is poor and wretched in the midst of the greatest treas- ures and fortunes, with common diseases ; strength grows decrepit, youth loses all vigor, and beauty all charms ; music grows harsh, and conversation dis- agreeable ; palaces are prisons, or of equal confine- ment; riches are useless, honor and attendance are cumbersome, and crowns themselves are a burden ; 58 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. but if diseases are painful and violent, they equal all conditions of life, make no difference between a prince and a beggar ; and a fit of the stone or the colic puts a king on the rack, and makes him as miserable as he can the meanest, the worst and most criminal of his subjects. Carlyle in his address to students says : " Finally, gentlemen, I have one advice to give you, which is practically of great importance, though a very humble one. In the midst of your zeal and ardor — for such, I foresee, will rise high enough in spite of all the coun- sels to moderate it that I can give you — remember the care of your health. I have no doubt you have among you young souls ardently bent to consider life cheap, for the purpose of getting forward in what they are aiming at ; but you are to consider throughout much more than is done at present — and what would have been a very great thing for me if I had been able to consider it — that health is a thing to be attended to continually; that you are to regard it as the very highest of all temporal things for you. There is no kind of achievement you could make in the world that is equal to perfect health. What to it are nuggets and millions ? The French financier said : " Why is there no sleep to be sold ? " Sleep was not in the market at any quotation. One of the best foundations you can give your children for a life of usefulness and happiness is a healthy body. Perfect physical health induces mental and moral health and strength. If you would give to the world men and women sound in judgment, pure in HOME AND HEALTH. 59 thought, with loving hearts, add to culture wholesome food, regular habits, plenty of sleep and outdoor exer- cise. An unimpaired digestion is a fortune to any child, and is a security for cheerfulness, and usually a long, happy and useful life. Therefore, as you value such a boon for your child, see that in youth he does not lose it all by indulgence in candy, pickles, cake and pastry, and " sitting up till mamma's bedtime." Ralph Waldo Emerson says: "The best part of health is a fine disposition." It is more essential than talent. Nothing will supply the want of sunshine to peaches; and to make knowledge valuable you must have the cheerfulness of wisdom. Whenever you are sincerely pleased you are nourished. The joy of the spirit indicates its strength. All healthy things are sweet-tempered. It is observed that a depression of spirits develops the germs of a plague in individuals and nations. Everybody should plan to have pleasant conversa- tion at the table just as they have good food. A little story telling, a little reading, it may be of humorous things ; anecdotes will often stimulate the joyous ele- ment of the mind and cause it to act vigorously. Try and avoid going to the table all tired out. Let all troublesome topics be avoided. Think and say some- thing pleasant. Cultivate mirth, and laugh when any- thing witty is said. If possible never eat alone. In- vite a friend of whom you are fond and try to have a good time. Friendship and friendly intercourse at the table whet the appetite and promote the flow of animal spirits. 6 FAfJE^ 1 THE FARMERS HOME. I 29 to the record of fifty thousand children gathered by him into Sabbath-schools, and triumphantly exclaimed, * I would not alter the record, nor change the invest- ment.'" A gospel that costs nothing is an absurdity. It costs. It cost the life of the Son of God. It costs Christians untold and nameless sacrifices. No one can afford to receive it without giving back to the world, because of the blessings received. The theory that movements for the salvation of men can be advanced by any such rallying cry as "No pews or no collections" is a mistake, if it is not worse. Poverty is the result of such surroundings. A gospel that costs nothing is worth nothing. <9HE Fa^MEI^'3 f?OME. Seek not, ye sons of those who till the soil, For other fields in life than those ye reap ! Better by far the sweat of honest toil, The rest of honest labor's tranquil sleep, Than all the bubbles of the worldling's dream — The cares which rack the statesman's anxious brains — The uncertain ventures of the merchant's scheme, Or all the doubtful paths for fame and gain ! Agriculture is the basis of national strength and wealth, and a most certain and liberal support of all who follow it intelligently. The farmer will succeed who makes up his mind that the whole secret of success is in himself; that it is the man and not the 9 I30 . WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. business that tells. He will succeed if he sticks close to his farm as the mechanic does to his shop, and not expect to work three or four months and then take his ease the rest of the year. That farmer will isucceed who takes the papers and digests what he reads, and is not afraid of new ideas and new methods of industry. He will succeed if it is his intention that whatever he sends to market shall be the very best, and so made and put up that when seen it will be captivating for its freshness, cleanliness and purity, and will be unhesitatingly taken on account of his well- known character for honesty of weight, measure and count. Those who have farms may think themselves fortunate, for although they will not thereby find sudden roads to wealth, they will certainly prove that persistent farm labor will bring a sure reward. It is worthy of notice that the adventurer and speculator, with blasted hopes and shattered health and fortune, have in the end to come back to the farm for health and safety. Happy is the boy who has been reared in the healthful, intelligent atmosphere of a country home. When he' goes back to it after many days, how cor- dially he is greeted. Every hand is held out to him, from the white-haired grandfather to the smiling girl and bashful boy, whom he does not know, but who have heard of him. In a moral point of view, the life of the agriculturist is the most pure and holy of any class of men ; pure, because it is the most healthful, and vice can hardly find time to contaminate it ; and holy, because it brings THE FARMERS HOME. 131 the Deity perpetually before his view, giving him thereby the most exalted notions of supreme power, and the most fascinating and endearing view of moral benignity. The agriculturist views the Deity in His works ; he contemplates the divine economy in the arrangement of the seasons; and he hails nature immediately presiding over every object that strikes, his eyes ; he witnesses many of her great and beau- teous operations, and her reproductive faculties ; his heart insensibly expands, from his minute acquaintance with multifarious objects, all in themselves original ; whilst that degree of retirement in which he is placed from the bustling haunts of mankind keeps alive in his breast his natural affections, unblunted by an extensive and perpetual intercourse with man in a more enlarged, and, therefore, in a more corrupt state of society. The risks in farming are comparatively few. There is no danger of ruin arising from the treachery of business associates. The farm, under ordinary cir- cumstances, is sure to furnish enough to make the family comfortable, and extraordinary circumstances, which are of a providential character always, are very apt to exist. The farmer is engaged in the production of articles which the public must have. It makes no» difference what else the people do without, they must have bread. They can wear their old clothes, but they must have new flour, and while a depression of the times may limit the demand, it cannot wholly destroy it. Thus is the farmer engaged in a business which is always active. See the "young farmers" who have just moved 132 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. into their new home, and with conscious pride con- template its beauties at the close of day. Although they are but " renters," beginning life with small store of this world's goods, their happy hearts and ready hands will bring them an abundance of peace and prosperity. There is something in the pleasures of the country that reaches much beyond the gratification of the eye — a something that invigorates the mind, that erects its hopes, that allays its perturbations, that mellows its affections ; and it will generally be found that our happiest schemes and wisest resolutions are formed under the mild influence of a country scene and the soft obscurities of rural retirement. Every farmer should manage to get the most out of his occupation; not only the most money, but the most real and substantial enjoyment; the most intel- lectual culture; the most happiness for him and his. It should be so managed as to render farm life attractive to his children, so as to make them contented tillers of the soil; contented to be among the producers of the wealth of the nation. Money hoarded is but a poor compensation for minds and souls dwarfed ; for lives rendered unlovely; for tastes and the higher aspira- tions extinguished. And we trust the change which has been going on in this respect may continue until all of the large and valuable class of our population engaged in agriculture may be reached and benefited by it. Dr. Haygood tells this suggestive story : " Last winter we passed a field where a fifteen-dollar plow was standing in the last furrow it made. There it had THE FARMERS HOME. 1 33 been standing for months. It was red with rust — the stock and handles black with mildew. The man's wagons were out in the yard ; a McCormick reaper was divided, part in the yard, part in the field, and part under shelter ; and his farm under mortgage for the guano he had used to make cotton enough to pay for the tools and implements he bought last year ! His smoke-house was in Cincinnati, his corn-crib in Chicago ! The few hogs he had were in his garden ; while his poor cows — their hair turned the wrong way in premonition of their death in the spring — were drawn up in a shivering group around a pile of straw that was rotting in the field ! There were five dogs, and not a ram, ewe, wether or lamb, black sheep or white sheep, in sight!" The hap-hazard, careless style of doing work so common among the largest class of farmers would ruin any business man within a year. The careless habits of farmers, and their lack of proper forethought, accounts for more than nine-tenths of the proverbial "hard times" from which they suffer. Little things are neglected and wasted that would be saved and cared for by the prosperous merchant or railroad employe, while the very profusion of his supply renders the farmer extravagant and indolent. Hours and days are spent in running to town or to the neighbors' for some forgotten thing or other that ought to have been remembered and provided for in advance. Time is the most valuable thing a farmer possesses, and yet is the least cared for. Twenty years ago the state of Mississippi, always 134 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. famous for its cotton yield, contained about forty thou- sand plantations, averaging three hundred and seven acres each ; now she has nearly twice as many, but the average size is only half that of i860. The number of acres under cultivation is less than in i860, for scarcely any rough land has been cleared and some plantations have been injured by broken levees, and yet the cotton crop is about twice as large as it was in the good old times. No better proof could be wanted to establish the desirability of decreasing the size of farms and increasing the number of owners; but the reason should be learned elsewhere as in the South. Whole counties in the United States are wretchedly poor because every farmer is trying to handle a " quarter section" — one hundred and sixty acres — with only enough capital and working force to properly till a quarter as much soil. A farmer with two poor horses, two bad plows, a boy or two or a hired man, can get no more money out of a hundred and sixty acres of land than from forty, but year after year he will try to do it and succeed only in getting poorer. The big farms of California have been the subject of much envious talk, but the class of California farmers, aside from capital- ists, that make most money is composed of men who have clustered in colonies, where scarcely a single estate exceeds forty acres. A great deal has been said and written concerning the rights of farmers' boys, but nothing about the girls. It is a common thing for farmers to pay their sons fair wages for their work ; yet the daughters do not CITY PEOPLE. 135 receive a dollar from month to month. Why should the difference exist between the farmer's girl and boy? The former is quite as much entitled to a reward for services as the latter. In truth the farmer's girl fre- quently is the more valuable of the two. She is expected in many cases to arise very early, get break- fast, clean up the house, and prepare the other meals required through the day, or if not, to at least largely aid in all these household duties. In addition she is looked upon by father, mother and brother to enter- tain company, to act as hostess, at least as a creditable second to the mother. While she may be the pride of the family, and regarded as a sort of privileged character, yet much is expected of her in ten thousand smaller features of home life. Why, then, should she not be encouraged with at least as much pay as the boy ? In addition to that, the farm house should be as attractive as possible — with a piano, plenty of books, newspapers and pictures ; cultivate a taste in the girls for flowers, etc. These features, with a moderate amount of work, should produce a happy home-farm life. (gimY People. I bless God for cities. Cities have been as lamps of life along the pathway of humanity and religion ; within them science has given birth to her noblest dis- coveries. Behind their walls freedom has fought her noblest battles. They have stood on the surface of I36 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the earth like great breakwaters, rolling back or turn- ing aside the swelling tide of oppression. Cities, indeed, have been the cradles of human liberty. They have been the active centers of almost all church and state reformation. Having, therefore, no sympathy with those who, regarding them as the excrescences of a tree, or the tumors of disease, would raze our cities to the ground, I bless God for cities. In cities where the competition in business and the professions is the greatest, it is coming to be more and more the rule that the successful men are those who are born and bred in the city, and thus start in the race for wealth and fame with every advantage. The boy from the country has generally two great advan- tages, robust health and industrious habits. But the city-bred boy may have these in just as great measure, and is sure to have the advantage in point of training and knowledge of the ways of the world. It takes his rival several years to reach the point from which he is able to start, other things being supposed to be equal. What these facts and figures teach is simply this: that a boy in city or in country, who is trained to work, who gets the discipline of will that comes with that training, has eighteen chances of succeeding in life, where the boy who has not had this training has one chance. They teach also, and this is the fact that I want you all to notice, that you cannot afford to go with the majority of your class, unless your class greatly changes its habits- that if you do about as the other CITY PEOPLE. 7 fellows of your class do, you will come out about where the other fellows of your class come out — and that is nowhere — crippled, beaten, distanced in the race of life. "We have seen," says the "Christian Advocate," "an ingenuous youth changed in three years into a profane, vulgar, licentious man, consumed by his vices and discharged for dishonesty." And theA the same goes on to say: "The larger portion of those who are coming now to our cities will be corrupted." Can this be true? Let each youth who has his face turned cityward, as his eye meets this, pause, before taking another step forward. But this need not be true as regards yourself if you choose it shall be otherwise. You can meet and grapple with the difficulties even of a city life, and come off conqueror. The encounter may be a sharp one, but there are props of a Christian community upon every hand; warm hearts waiting to welcome you if you seek them; churches with wide open doors, if you choose to take refuge in them. Free as the air you breathe are the benefits of this Christian land, if you but see fit to make them your own. The youth come to our cities and find an hundred hells waiting to receive them; but so, upon the other hand are hundreds of churches, and hundreds of Christian homes, and hearts warm and true by the thousands. When did a young soul seek for Christian sympathy — mind, we say seek — and fail to find it? With the windows of our soul open toward heaven, what wonder that the light falls in; but when we stand with those windows barred, I38 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. while the apertures toward the world and the devil are left unguarded, is it strange that Satan gets possession of us ? One cannot keep himself under the influence of the true things of life and not become benefited; neither can he handle pitch and not become contami- nated. But because pitch exists, does that make it necessary that you must become contaminated ? Leave it alone. Be a man, be an honest man — more, be a Christian man. Don't be afraid of mingling with the world. Go into its busiest scenes, and make them the better for your being there, and then as your soul grows strong by conflict, for so it must, feel assured that you are the better for being in the world — the great battle-field of life. " The oak grows stronger By the winds that toss its branches." No man need wail that he was not born in some other country. All lands have their attractions, and every home, however humble, has associated with it some pleasant recollections. The thatched stone cot- tage of old England or Ireland is ever a picturesque object to the American eye, and if it does not contain all the modern comforts of the smart American house, it is, doubtless, just as dear to those who were born beneath its roof. One-fifth of the American people are said to live in cities, they are town birds, acquainted with smoky eaves and tasting nature in the parks. Most of them come from the country, and when spring time comes, with its tender foliage, tranquil skies, soft breezes, birds and flowers, they must often turn to the woods CITY. PEOPLE. I39 and fields with longing hearts and aching bosoms. We meet in the crowded street, the ill-ventilated theatre or the brilliant drawing-room, a though,t-worn face. The time was, if an English lad, when he may have been leaning against a cottage lintel in small corduroys, and hungrily eating a bit of brown bread and bacon. Perhaps he wishes he had a chance to do so again. Another man, no longer young, while wiping his brow and walking the hot pavements, thinks of the fair rounded hills, the blooming orchards, the merry river's bank, the field flowers, and the meadows of tall and cool grasses in his New England home. It is the summer time of life with him now, the burden of the day is upon him, and business cares give him little time for dreaming. The many anxieties of modern American life crush out much that is sweet and beautiful, leaving room, let us hope, for the good and wise in thought and action. When a young man sneers at the backwoods town, in which he was born, and its old-fashioned ways, he has lost the best part of his manhood. It is the ambition of many a city man to own a comfortable home some time in the country. Tortured with dis- pepsia and worry and work, the business man of the city dreams of a life of enjoyment in the sunny air of the country, and longs for the time to come when his hands and his face may be brown and his stomach strong ; his head clear and his nerves settled. In cities, people are brought up in total ignorance of, and blamable indifference for, country affairs ; they I4O WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. can scarce distinguish flax from hemp, wheat from rye, and neither from barley ; eating, drinking and dress- ing are their qualifications ; pastures, copses, after- grass, inning harvest, are Gothic words to them. If to some of them you talk of weights, scales, measures, interest and books of rates, to others of appeals, peti- tions, decrees and injunctions, they will prick up their ears. They pretend to know the world, and, though it is more safe and commendable, are ignorant of nature, her beginnings, growths, gifts and bounties. This ignorance is often voluntary, and founded on the conceit they have of their own callings and professions. We close this subject with the following quotation from Mr. Spurgeon: "I have heard tell of a man who did not know a great A from a bull's foot, and I know a good many who certainly could not tell what great A or little A either may mean ; but some of these people are not the most ignorant in the world, for all that. For instance, they know a cow's head from its tail, and one of the election gentleman said lately that the candidate from London did not know that. They know that turnips don't grow on trees, and they can tell a man- gold-wurzel from a beet- root, and a rabbit from a hare, and there are fine folk who play on the pianos who hardly know as much as that. If they cannot read they can plow, and mow, and reap, and sow, and bring up seven children on ten shillings a week, and yet pay their way; and there's a sight of people who are much too ignorant to do that. Ignorance of spelling-books is very bad, but ignorance of hard work is worse. FRIENDS IN NEED. I4I Wisdom does not always speak Latin. People laugh at smock frocks, and indeed they are about as ugly garments as could well be contrived, but some who wear them are not half such fools as people take them for. If no ignorant people ate bread but those who wear hobnail shoes, corn would be a fine deal cheaper. Wisdom in a poor man is like a diamond set in lead, only judges can see its value. Wisdom walks often in patched shoes, and men admire her not, but, I say, never mind the coat, give me the man; nut-shells are nothing, the kernel is everything. You need not go to Pirbright to find ignoramuses, there are heaps of them near St. Paul's." Friends In Heed. " The man who has a thousand friends, Has not a friend to spare ; But he who has one enemy, Will meet him everywhere." Friendship is a delightful theme. Philosophers have expatiated on it, and poets have caught its inspiration, while multitudes, neither philosophers nor poets, have felt its soothing influence. Who, in times of joy, has not taken pleasure in communicating his joyous emotions to a friend ? And who, in the hour of sorrow, has not alleviated his grief by telling his tale of sadness to a friend? Thus friendship increases joy and diminishes sorrow. Without friends, what is a man? A solitary oak upon a sterile rock, symmetrical indeed in its form, H 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. beautiful and exquisitely finished, outrivaling the most lauded perfection of art in gracefulness and grandeur, but over which decay has shaken her black wing and left its leaves blighted ; its limbs contract as they die ; its roots rottenness, and its bloom death ; a scathed, lifeless monument of its pristine beauty. When the rebuffs of adversity are crushing us earthward — when the clouds look black above, and the muttering thunder of misfortune growls along the sky — when our frame is palsied by the skeleton hand of disease, or our senses whirled in the maelstrom chaos of insan- ity — when our hearts are torn by the recent separa- tion of some beloved object, while our tears are yet flowing upon the fresh turf of departed innocence — in that time it is the office of friendship to shield us from portentous storms, to quicken the fainting pulses of our sickly frame, to bring back the wandering star of mind within the attraction of sympathetic kindness, to pour the "oil and wine" of peace into the yet fester- ing wound, and deliver the aching heart from the object of its bleeding affection. When a man thinks nobody cares for him, and he is alone in a cold and selfish world, he would do well to ask himself this question : " What have I done to make anybody care for and love me, to warm the world with faith and generosity ? " It is generally the case that those who complain the most have done the least. Never is virtue left without sympathy, — sym- pathy dearer and tenderer for the misfortunes that have tried it, and proved its fidelity. The yearning of an honest heart for kind looks FRIENDS IN NEED. 1 43 and gentle words is implanted by nature. And the gentle associations of home, where at the close of the day we may meet our loved ones, gives the riearest approach to Heaven upon earth that is vouchsafed to mortals. But to the gentle youth that is thrown upon the rocks of a pitiless city, and stands " homeless amid a thousand homes," the approach of evening brings with it an aching sense of loneliness and desolation, which comes down upon the spirit like darkness upon the earth. In this mood, his best impulses become a snare to him, and he is led astray because he is social, affectionate, sympathetic and warm-hearted. If there be a young man thus circumstanced, who reads these pages, let me say to him, that books are the friends in your need, and that a library is the home in which you have free entrance. Help one another. This little sentence should be written on every heart and stamped on every memory. It should be the golden rule practiced not only in every household, but throughout the world. By helping one another we not only remove thorns from the pathway and anxiety from the mind, but we feel a sense of pleasure in our own hearts, knowing that we are doing a duty to a fellow creature. A helping hand or an encouraging word is no loss to us, yet it is a benefit to others. Who has not felt the power of this little sentence? Who has not needed the encouragement and aid of a kind friend? How soothing, wKen perplexed with some task that is mysterious and burdensome, to feel a gentle hand on the shoulder, and to hear a kind voice whispering, 144 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. " Do not be discouraged ; I see your trouble ; let me help you." What strength is inspired ! what hope created! what sweet gratitude is felt! and the great difficulty is dissolved as dew beneath the sunshine. Then let us help one another by endeavoring to strengthen and encourage the weak, and lift the burden of care from the weary and oppressed, that life may glide smoothly on, and the fount of bitterness yield sweet waters ; and He whose hand is ever ready to aid us will reward our humble endeavors. Every good deed will be as " bread cast upon the waters, to return after many days," if not to us, to those we love. There is no life so humble that, if it be true and genuinely human and obedient to God, it may not hope to shed some of his light. There is no life so meagre that the greatest and wisest of us can afford to despise it. We cannot know at what moment it may flash forth with the life of God. One thread of kindness draws more than a hun- dred horses. Our kind acts may seem to be in vain; but, as the dormant seeds waken in the spring-time, so they shall bud, blossom and bear abundant fruitage in God's own time. Every one will remember the story of Androcles and the lion. Androcles had hid himself in a cave when he saw a lion approaching. He feared that he should be devoured. But the lion was limping, and appeared to be in great pain. Androcles approached with courage, took up the lion's paw, and took out a large splinter of wood which had caused the flesh to FRIENDS IN NEED. 145 fester. The lion was most grateful, and fawned upon him. Afterward, when Androcles was taken prisoner and sent to Rome to be delivered up to the wild beasts, a lion was let loose to devour him. It was the same lion that Androcles had relieved in his agony. The animal remembered with gratitude his deliverer, and, instead of devouring him, went up and fawned upon him. Appian declares that he witnessed with his own eyes the scene between Androcles and the lion in the Roman circus. A good man will find friends everywhere. Joseph did in prison. So the prisoner Paul found a friend in the governor of the island. There is no better capital for a young man entering life than a faithful, though modest, Christian character. Even the noblest in rank respect such a man, and he finds friends. Friendship is, strictly speaking, reciprocal benevo- lence, which inclines each party to be as solicitous for the welfare of the other as for his own. Friends may cheer us in our suffering. If they can do nothing to relieve our pain, their presence and consoling words may help us bear it. In adversity and difficulties arm yourself with firm- ness and fortitude. The firmest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity, as iron is most strongly welded by the fiercest fire. Be what you seem to be, and seem to be only what you are. Choose your friends, and do not merely take up with whoever drifts up against you. In a great measure our thoughts and aims receive their color- ing from the ones around us, and it is our duty to 10 I46 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. place, as far as in our power lies, those near to us that will prove of help. Among the various forms of Christian duty, that of sympathetic listening- is certainly entitled to a high rank. The helping hand and the kindly word are both needed, and should never be spared; but there are times when the listening ear is more needed than either of them. There are men and women in the world who feel most keenly the lack of some wise and gentle and heartful person to whom they can simply tell their grief or their joy; and for lack of such a listener they endure deep suffering, or perhaps fall into actual sin. To listen wisely is no easy task, nor is it to be lightly undertaken; but it is not to be avoided on that account; and sometimes it may be the first duty which calls upon us. Discretion. Fortune often sells to the hasty what she gives to those who wait. Bacon says, "Fortune is like the market, when, many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall ; and again, it is sometimes like Sibylla's offer, which at first offereth the commodity at full, then consumeth part and part, and still holdeth up the price ; for occasion turneth a bald noddle after she hath presented her locks in front, and no hold taken." There is certainly no greater wisdom than well to time the beginnings and onsets of things. DISCRETION. 1 47 If we but saw how the gates of opportunity open and close ; how the possibilities of to-day neglected become to-morrow the things which never can be done; how unused strength wastes away and brings up behind it no other strengths; how the grace that lies about all our occasions, ready to flow upon them at the touches of our diligence, slighted, lifts itself up into the heavens and leaves us in hardness and death; how on the other hand, when used it drops upon us like the rain and distills like the dew ; how work done makes work easier; how the voluntary use of " all that is within us " and without us, too, of soul and sinew, of love and thought, of time and strength, and hours of prayer, will bring upon us the gentle pressures of God's newest, freshest grace ; — if we but saw such things as these what girdings there would be among us. The man who by some sudden revolution of for- tune is lifted up all at once into a condition of life greatly above what he had formerly lived in, may be assured that the congratulations of his best friends are not all of them perfectly sincere. If he has any judg- ment, he is sensible of this, and instead of appearing to be elated with his good fortune, he endeavors, as much as he can, to smother his joy, and keep down that elevation of mind with which his new circum- stances naturally inspire him. He affects the same plainness of dress, and the same modesty of behavior, which became him in his former station. He redoubles his attention to his old friends, and endeavors more than ever to be humble, assiduous, and complaisant. I48 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. But it is seldom with all this that he succeeds, and that man is a model of discretion who retains uni- versal approval under such circumstances. Pleasure is a shadow, wealth is vanity, and power a pageant; but knowledge is ecstatic in enjoyment, perennial in fame, unlimited in space, and infinite in duration. In the performance of its sacred offices it fears no danger, spares no expense; it looks in the volcano, dives in the ocean, perforates the earth, wings its flight in the skies, explores sea and land, contem- plates the distance, examines the minute, comprehends the great, ascends to the sublime ; no place is too remote for its grasp, no height too exalted for its reach. There are many who never can forgive another for being more agreeable and more accomplished than themselves, and who can pardon any offense rather than an eclipsing merit. Had the nightingale, in the fable, conquered his vanity and resisted the tempta- tion of showing a fine voice, he might have escaped the talons of the hawk. The melody of his singing was the cause of his destruction; his merit brought him into danger, and his vanity cost him his life. Of all the qualifications for conversation, humility, if not the most brilliant, is the safest, the most amiable and the most feminine. The affectation of introduc- ing subjects with which others are unacquainted, and of displaying talents superior to the rest of the com- pany, is as dangerous as it is foolish. It is a great mistake to suppose that the man who volunteers answers to all sorts of questions knows DISCRETION. I49 what he is talking about. A strange fatality seems often to seal the lips of those who really know how to do things. But this is not so strange to us as the un- failing eloquence of those who do not know how to do anything. It is generally safe to converse freely with an unre- served talker; but when a man lets you carry on all the conversation, it is well to be on your guard, for the probability is, he is taking your measure. Cheer- fulness is always to be kept up, if a man is out of pain ; but mirth, to a prudent man, should always be accidental. It should naturally arise out of the occa- sion, and the occasion seldom laid for it. You will not be sorry for hearing before judging, for thinking before speaking, for holding an angry tongue, for stopping the ear to a tale-bearer, for disbe- lieving most of the ill reports, for being kind to the distressed, for being patient towards everybody, for doing good to all men, for asking pardon for all wrongs, for speaking evil of no one, for being cour- teous to all. True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the body nourishment and refreshment. It is a great vir- tue ; it covers folly, keeps secrets, avoids disputes, and prevents sin. Soar not too high to fall, but stoop to rise. Among the breakers is not the place to dismiss the pilot. If there is any person to whom you feel a dislike, that is the person of whom you ought never to speak. There is this difference between happiness and wisdom, he who thinks himself the happiest man really is so, but I50 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. he who thinks himself the wisest is generally just the reverse. Like every other faculty, imagination needs wise direction and vigorous culture; and if it receives this treatment, it will put a vital and energetic force into every part of life, and give a new impetus to the most practical of its realities. "We must be cautious as to the thoughts we think. The scenes amidst which we dwell in fancy give form to our characters as truly as those through which we pass in bodily presence. The images with which the mind holds converse may uplift or degrade as truly as companions in bodily form. A thought may scar the soul as a weapon leaves its mark on the flesh. The fact that our imaginations are so closely akin to reali- ties, is a reason why they should be guarded and controlled. !Not even in thought must we mingle with the base and the impure. He only shall ascend into the hill of the Lord who hath clean hands and a pure hearty Painstaking. The incalculable aid of an educated, painstaking habit, in the furthering of one's fortunes, can hardly be appreciated. The painstaking, accurate person will comprehend at a glance the details of work that to the dullard is an inextricable tangle. Little things are noticed, little scraps picked up, little notes made here and there, where others would pass them all by unnoticed and uncared for, but at the right time it all PAINSTAKING. I 5 I comes of orood use. One man would run on to dis- cs aster and defeat, where the other, grasping the situation at a glance, straightens the kinks, and produces suc- cess. There was once a young man in a western railway superintendent's office. He held a position that four hundred boys in the city would have wished to get. It was honorable, and it paid well, besides being in the line of promotion. How did he get it ? Not by having a rich father, for he was the son of a laborer. The secret was his accuracy. He began as an errand boy, and did his work accurately. His leisure time he used in perfecting his writing and arithmetic. After awhile he learned to telegraph. At each step his employer commended his accuracy, and relied on what he did, because he was just right. And it is thus with every occupation. The pains- taking boy is the favored one. Those who employ men do not wish to be on the lookout, as though they were rogues or fools. If a carpenter must stand at his journeyman's elbow to be sure that his work is right, or if a cashier must run over his book-keeper's column, he might as well do the work himself as employ another to do it in that way ; and it is very certain that the employer will get rid of such an inac- curate workman as soon as he can. A boy took out his knife to cut the twine about a package, in a large store. " Stop ! " said his employer. " Do you see that man behind the counter up there ? He is now working for me as a clerk, when he ought to own a store of his own like this one, and it is all 152 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. because he always cut the strings instead of untying them. I want you to have a store of your own some day, and so I want you to untie your strings, and take pains with every little thing, until it becomes a habit with you. It will be the means of making your for- tune." It is not enough for One to be able or willing to supply the things that others need. They must be made acquainted with the fact; and the valuable qualities of these things must be set before them. Nor, on the other hand, is it enough for one to need what others can furnish; he must know that the thing can be obtained, and where he can obtain it. Pro- ducers and consumers must be made acquainted with each other's wants and facilities for supplying their wants. Don't be afraid to talk and ask questions, when there is good reason for doing so. Gather up items and facts and lay them up in your memory ; they will be of use to you some day. Daniel Webster once told a good story in a speech, and was asked where he got it. "I had it laid up in my head for iourteen years, and never had a chance to use it until to-day," said he. My little friend wants to know what good it will do to learn the rule of three, or to commit to memory a verse of the Bible. The answer is this: "Sometime you will need that very thing. Perhaps it may be twenty years before you can make use of it in just the right place, but it will be just in place sometime. Then, if you don't have it, you will be like the hunter who had no ball in his rifle when the bear met him." PAINSTAKING. 153 " Twenty-five years ago my teacher made me study surveying," said a man who had lost his property, " and now I am glad of it. It is just in place. I can get a good situation at a high salary." The Bible is better than that. It will be in place as long as we live. It never pays to be a poor workman. If you are a young man, aim to do honest work, and, although your present employer may not be willing to pay any more for a well-made coat or a neatly-finished boot than he would for a botch, don't be discouraged. If you are a carpenter, make the best joint you can; if you are a machinist, see that every bolt and rivet is as firm as if your life depended upon its properly fulfilling its duties. How carefully the aeronaut examines his balloon, the tight rope performer his rope, before he trusts his life to it. Would a shipbuilder take passage on a vessel of his own building if he knew that he had willfully neglected or slighted any essential part of her hull ? Yet many a young mechanic has destroyed his own future and committed moral suicide by sending forth a poor piece of work. The old surgical professor's cau- tion to a young medical student is not inapt here. Said he, " If you are ever called to set a broken leg, and your work is a failure, and the man becomes a cripple, you may be sure he will always come limping along just at the wrong time, when you are surrounded by your clients and friends. He is a walking adver- tisement of your incapacity." The path of fame by honest merit is a slow and tedious one. A manufacturer who is so careful about his products that he has to put a higher price on them 154 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. than his less conscientious neighbor can sell for, may be repaid at first by small sales and smaller profits. It takes a long time to build up a reputation by excel- lence ; but once acquired, its value cannot be esti- mated. Remember that the secret studies of an author are the sunken piers upon which is to rest the bridge of his fame, spanning the dark waters of oblivion. They are out of sight, but without them no superstructure can stand secure. " Never mistake perspiration for inspiration," said an old minister in his charge to a young minister just being ordained. Sweetest nuts have hardest shells. Said Luther: "The greatest temptation the devil has for the Christian is comfort." More hearts are made to ache through thoughtless- ness than through downright wickedness. Be careful of others. The German sculptor Dannecker worked for eight years upon a statue of Christ. At the end of two years he called a little girl into his studio, and pointing to the statue asked, "Who is that?" She replied, "A great man." The artist turned away disheartened; he had failed. He began anew. After another year of patient work he brought the child again before the statue. "Who is that?" After a long, silent look, with tears in her eyes she said, " Suffer the little chil- dren to come unto me." And he knew that his work was a success. If you have talents, industry will improve them ; if you have moderate abilities, industry will supply the deficiencies. Nothing is denied to well- directed labor; nothing is ever obtained without it. FROM THE RANKS. I 55 That which we acquire with the most difficulty we retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one. Samuel Johnson says that " interest is the mother of attention;" but attention is the mother of memory. To secure memory, therefore, secure its mother and grandmother. It is a very common and fatal error to neglect this grandparent. When one is absorbingly interested in a theme the mind becomes strangely receptive, and draws to itself, as a magnet gathers up iron filings, all information within its reach as to the topic in hand. -iH- Fl^OM THE J^ANI^S. Examples are occurring every day, in all the de- partments of useful exertion, of men who, by dint of self help and native energy, have sprung from obscur- ity into shining lights, and whose names, now that they are known, the world will not willingly let die. Who was the late John Snyder, of Pittsburg, the well- known cashier of a bank in that city, a man whose name for long years was a synonym for commercial honor, promptness, probity and zeal? A wagoner. Who was the late Thos. Corwin, of Ohio, ex-Gover- nor, ex-Senator, and ex-Secretary of the Cabinet of President Harrison? A wagoner. And so we might go on to cull from our single memory alone example up- on example of men who, like the spider, have taken 156 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. hold with their hands, but who, long before their day was ended, or their web spun, were living in palaces that a king might envy. The very nobility of Christian literature have sprung from the lowest walks of life. Thomas H. Home, author of the "Introduction to the Bible," was once a journeyman bookbinder; and Whitefield, the Demosthenes of the pulpit, was once a poor boot- black in the University of Oxford. Indeed almost all the great men who have done so much for the advance- ment of science and the amelioration of mankind, were in early life engaged in some manual employ- ment. John Bunyan was a tinker, and miserably poor. Zwingle came forth from an Alpine shepherd's cabin. Melancthon from an armorer's workshop ; Luther from a miner's cottage ; the apostles, some of them, from fishermen's huts. And to the industrious and the humble come ever the greatest of blessings. Only the earnest heart can receive a great blessing; flabby natures cannot know the highest joys nor the keenest pleasures, for there is nothing within them to receive great blessedness. Andrew Jackson was born in a log hut in North Carolina, and was raised in the pine woods for which the state is famous. James K. Polk spent the earlier years of his life helping to dig a living out of a new farm in North Carolina. He was afterwards a clerk in a country store. Millard Fillmore was the son of a New York farmer, and his house was a very humble one. He learned the business of clothier. FROM THE RANKS. I 57 James Buchanan was born in a small town among the Alleghany mountains. His father cut the logs and built his own house in what was then a wilderness. Abraham Lincoln was the son of a very poor Ken- tucky farmer, and lived in a log cabin until he was twenty-one years of age. Andrew Johnson was ap- prenticed to a tailor at the age of ten years by his widowed mother. He was never able to attend school, and picked up all the education he ever got. Gen. Grant lived the life of a common boy in a common house on the banks of the Ohio river until he was sev- enteen years of age. James A. Garfield was born in a log cabin. He worked on the farm until the time he was strong enough to use carpenters' tools, when he learned the trade. He afterwards worked on the canal. Henry Clay was taught the rudiments of education in a log school-house, between his fifth and tenth years, and at the age of fifteen he entered the office of clerk of the chancery court. Cornelius Vanderbilt began life with an old pirogue running between Staten Island and New York city, carrying garden stuff to market. With two or three thousand dollars raised from that source he entered upon steadily increasing enterprises, until he amassed the enormous sum of fifty million dollars. A. T. Stewart first bought a few laces at auction, and opened his way to success in a dingy little shop in Broad- way, near the site of his present wholesale establish- ment. Years of rigid honesty, shrewd management, and wisdom in things both great and small, made him the monument merchant of the nineteenth century. 158 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. George Law, at forty-five years 01 age, was a com- mon day laborer on the docks, and at present counts his fortune at something like ten million dollars. Robert L. and Alexander Stewart, the sugar refiners, in their boyhood sold molasses candy which their widowed mother had made, at a cent a stick, and to-day they are worth probably five to six million dollars apiece. Marshal O. Roberts is the possessor of four or five million dollars, and yet until he was twenty-five he did not have one hundred dollars he could call his own. H. B. Claflin, the eminent dry goods merchant, worth, it is estimated, from ten to fifteen million dollars, commenced the world with nothing but energy, determination and hope. " Labor conquers all things." Metastasio, a friendless street singer, became one of the greatest authors in Italian literature. Gifford, a cabin boy, became one of the most powerful writers of his age. Epictetus, born a slave, became the boast of the Stoic philosophers, and was intimate with the best Roman emperors. Ferguson, a shepherd boy, became a lead- ing astronomer, to whose lectures royalty listened. Murray, another shepherd boy, became a prominent instructor. Brown, still another shepherd boy, became author of a Bible commentary, concordance and dic- tionary. Terence, an African slave, elevated himself to the society and fellowship of Roman consuls. Franklin, bred a tradesman, became a leader in " the art preservative of all arts" (printing). Sir Hum- phrey Davy, an apothecary's apprentice, became the first chemist of his time. Roger Shermar a shoe- FROM THE RANKS. I 59 maker, became a statesman in the American Revolu- tion. Samuel Lee, a carpenter, became professor of Hebrew in Cambridge University. Adam Clarke, reared in a country school, rose to be one of the first Biblical scholars of modern times. Robert Hall, a very poor boy, became a leading preacher and writer in England. Cuvier, a charity school boy, became a prominent modern naturalist. Prideaux, who worked in the kitchen of Exeter College in order to obtain a classical education, became Bishop of Worcester. " Out of difficulties grow miracles/' One hundred and twenty-five years ago John Adams, school teacher — afterwards President — sat in his chamber at Worcester and wrote: "I have no books, no time, no friends. I must therefore be con- tented to live and die an obscure, ignorant fellow." Why be discouraged ! Herschel, a regular in the British army, studied the firmament while on sentry duty at night, and became ' a great astronomer, and afterwards earned his living by playing a violin at parties, and in the interstices of the play he would go out and look up at the midnight heavens, the field of his immortal conquests. George Stephenson rose from being the foreman in a colliery to be the most renowned of the world's engineers. When David Livingston was a boy, he was obliged to be at the mills by six o'clock every morning, and he did not leave until eight o'clock in the evening. When he received his first week's pay, he forthwith purchased a Latin grammar with a portion of it, and within a very short time joined an evening school. l6o WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. In eany life Francis Wayland had to struggle against many difficulties and discouragements, such as would have broken the spirits and crushed the hopes of the irresolute and feeble, but which only roused him to diligent and persevering effort. To-day his writings are everywhere known, and his text-books are standards in some of the leading schools and col- leges of the land. The career of Peter Cooper may be cited in many aspects as an illustration of the beneficent effect of American institutions; and it is well for us to be reminded occasionally, in the midst of our conflicts with abuses, and our endeavors at reform, which tend to breed a spirit of cynicism or despondency, that the possibility of such a career among us is a testimony to the value and substantial success of free govern- ment, outweighing all its defects and dangers. When we read that Peter Cooper, during his active life, learned and practiced the trade of a hatter, then served his time as apprentice to a coach maker, then set up the manufacture of cloth shearing machines, invented by himself, then engaged in the grocery business, then established in succession a glue factory and several iron-works, we realize that such a record of manifold enterprise would scarcely be possible under any other political and social system than ours. The story is all the more significant because it does not include bank- ruptcy or business failure as a factor of change. It is simply the narration of quick perception, and sanguine, unconquerable courage, freely choosing and boldly pursuing the path that promises legitimate advantage. FROM THE RANKS. l6l It is almost impossible to speak of any renowned for eminence who have not been compelled to strug- gle under great difficulties, and only by their persever- ing efforts have they raised themselves from the ranks of those who were contented to remain in humble life ; or at least unwilling to undergo the hardships neces- sary to raise them above their natural level. Emily C. Judson used to rise at two in the morning and do the washing for the family. Gambetta was poor and slept in an attic. Lucy Larcom was a factory girl. Dr. Holland was poor and a school teacher. Cap- tain Eades was barefoot and penniless at nine years old. None of these people have been idle or whiled away their time on street corners, or in games of cards or billiards. They were too busy. So, in every case, where there are high and right aims, and a resolute will, and diligent perseverance, let the young remember that they may, in the end, surely expect success. It may not come at once ; for, as Montesquieu tells us, "Success, in most things, de- pends on knowing how long it takes to succeed," or, as DeMaistre says, "in knowing how to wait." A well known governor of Massachusetts ran for the office sixteen successive years in vain, but at last obtained it by a single vote. Von Moltke was unknown to the world until he was sixty-one years of age; and the immortal Havelock did not gain a name in history till but a few years before his death. But though it may not be at once, yet in the end success will come, always in the conscious possession of a high and noble 11 I 62 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. character, and generally, also, to the eye of the world, and in the estimation of men. "Resolution," says one, "is omnipotent." / Duty of (Dating CQonby. We believe the winning of wealth to be a per- fectly legitimate pursuit. Wealth has great and benefi- cent uses* and the world would go very slowly if money could not be accumulated in wise and enter- prising hands ; but wealth may be used to make all men near it prosperous and happy, or it may be used to make them poor and miserable. When a rich man is only excited by his wealth with the desire to be richer, and goes on to exact larger profits and to grind the faces of the poor, in order that he may be super- fluously rich, he becomes inhuman and unchristian. The Christian use of wealth is what we need in this country and in all countries. It is not that wealth does not give in charity. It is not that wealth is not suffi- ciently taxed for the support of those who are wrecked in health or fortune, but it is that it does not give the people a chance to escape from poverty; that it does not share its chances with the poor, and point the pathway for the poor toward prosperity. As a rule, wealth is only brotherly towards wealth, and the poor man feels himself cut off from sympathy with those who have the power of winning money. We may rest assured of one thing, namely, that the poor in the future will insist on being recognized. DUTY OF MAKING MONEY. 1 63 If they are not recognized — if they are ignored in the mad greed for wealth at any cost to them — they will make the future a trouble and terrible one for our children and our children's children. It is right to seek wealth, provided you do so with the purpose of serving God with it. A man may be as miserly being poor as being rich. There is no sin in being rich, in itself considered; there is no virtue in being poor. Consecrate yourself to God, be honest, and seek wealth; then, if it comes, make a noble use of it. We need rich men in the church. We need such men to build our colleges and churches. By doing good with his money, a man as it were stamps the image of God upon it, and makes it pass current for the merchandise of heaven. John Wesley says, "Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can. Permit me to speak of myself as freely as I would of any other man. I gain all I can without hurting my body or soul. I save all I can ; not wasting anything, not a sheet of paper, nor a cup of water. I do not lay out anything, not a snilling, unless a sacrifice for God; yet, by giving all I can, I am effectually secured from laying up treasures upon earth. Yea, and that I do this, I call upon both friends and foes to testify." The way to keep money is to earn it fairly and honestly. Money so obtained is pretty certain to abide with its possessor. But money that is inherited, or that in any way comes without a fair and just equiv- alent, is almost certain to go as it came. The young man who begins by saving a few dollars a month and 164 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. thriftily increases his store — every coin being a repre- sentative of good, solid work, honestly and manfully done — stands a better chance to spend the last half of his life in affluence and comfort than he who, in his haste to become rich, obtains money by dashing spec- ulations, or the devious means which abound in the foggy regions lying between fair dealing and actual fraud. Among the wisest and most thrifty men of wealth, the current proverb is "money goes as it comes." Let the young make a note of this, and see that their money comes fairly, that it may long abide with them. If the poor-house has any terror for you, never buy what you don't need ; before you pay three cents for a jews'-harp, my boy, ascertain whether you cannot make just as .pleasant a noise by whistling, for which nature furnishes the machinery ; and before you pay seventy-five dollars for a coat, young man, find out whether your lady would not be just as glad to see you in one that costs half the money. If she would not, let her crack her own hazel-nuts and buy her own clothes. When you see a man spending two or three dol- lars a week foolishly, the chances are five to one that he will live long enough to know how many cents there are in a dollar; if he don't, he's pretty sure to bequeath that privilege to his widow. When a man asks you to buy that for which you have no use, no matter how cheap it is, don't say yes until you are sure that some one else wants it in advance. Money burns in some folks' pockets, and makes such a big hole that DUTY OF MAKING MONEY. 1 65 everything that is put in drops through past finding. Keep your weather eye open. Sleeping poultry are carried of! by the fox. Who watches not catches not. Fools ask what's o'clock, but wise men know their time. Grind while the wind blows, or if not do not blame providence. God sends every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest ; he gives us our daily bread, but it is through our own labor. Take time by the forelock. Be up early and catch the worm. The morning hour carries gold in its mouth. He who drives last in the row gets all the dust in his eyes : rise early, and you will have a clear start for the day. I only want to say, do not be greedy, for covetous- ness is always poor ; still, strive to get on, for poverty is no virtue, and to rise in the world is to a man's credit as well as his comfort. Earn all you can, save all you can, and then give all you can. Never try to save out of God's cause ; such money will canker the rest. Giving to God is no loss; it is putting your sub- stance into the best bank. Giving is true having, as the old gravestone said of the dead man, " What I spent I had, what I saved I lost, what I gave I have." The pockets of the poor are safe lockers, and it is always a good investment to lend to the Lord. A saving woman at the head of a family is the very best savings bank established. The idea of saving is a pleasant one ; and if the women imbibed it at once, they would cultivate it and adhere to it ; and thus when they are not aware of it they would be laying the foundation of a competent security in a stormy time, and shelter in a rainy day. The best way to I 66 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. comprehend it is to keep an account of all current expenses. Whether five hundred or five thousand dollars are expended annually, there is a chance to save something if the effort is made. Let the house- wife take the idea, act upon it, and she will save some- thing where before she thought it impossible. This is a duty, yet not a sordid avarice but a mere obligation, that rests upon women as well as men. Activity is essential to man. The great Creator has made it a law of our being, physical, mental and moral. He designed that all our faculties should be diligently employed, and has given us rules of life corresponding with this design. The sluggard, in the Scriptures, is constantly denounced, and the diligent man is constantly commended. Obedience to the law of industry would improve the state of human society in every respect, and make man comparatively happy. It is not creditable to be satisfied with the results of a limited activity. Large natures have usually large desires, and only small are satisfied with small. Some who have grown up strangers to any useful employment put forth their first efforts to familiarize themselves with the tricks of something they call speculation, but if properly named would be called systematic stealing, or it may be legal theft, — carried on in a manner to evade the law — a process by which honestly gained wealth is filched from its less wary owner, and put into the pocket of a lounging trickster. Akin to these are those who study politics for its loaves and fishes, or worm their way into some muni- SECRETS OF SUCCESS. l6j cipal office, to the expense of every trust that may fall into their hands — anything but honest industry, for to that they are strangers, and always will be. Why not do business in the name of the Lord, and in reliance upon his strength and guidance, just as we perform our more direct religious duties? Then could we endure the toil and perplexities of business, under the support of a consciousness of its importance, the same as though we were missionaries among the heathen, or doing any other work connected with the eternal interests of men. How men in our country, with but a part of their surplus annual income, might build a church or churches, or support a missionary, or several of them, in heathen lands ! If they had a heart for such work, how they might enjoy it, and how cer- tainly multitudes would arise and call them blessed! And it might be said to them in the last day, " Inas- much as ye did it to one of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." Secrets of Success. The busy world shoves angrily aside The man who stands with arms akimbo set Until occasion tells him what to do ; And he who waits to have his task marked out Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled. Prosperity's right hand is industry, and her left hand is frugality. Perseverance is the great agent of success. " If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counsellor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius." 1 68 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Every man must patiently abide his time. He must wait, not in idleness, not in useless pastime, not in querulous dejection, but in constantly, steadily, filling and accomplishing his task, that when the occasion comes he may be equal to it. The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, without a thought of fame. If it comes at all, it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after. It is a very indiscreet and troublesome ambition which cares so much about what the world says of us ; to be always anxious about the effect of what we do or say ; to be always shouting to hear the echo of our own voices. Before such a spirit, especially when inspired by right motives, not only do obstacles give way, but they are so met and used as to be made helps and instru- ments of progress and success, by the power of high aims and an earnest and resolute will. And the indi- vidual, by the way he meets and overcomes and uses them, reminds us of the fabled specter ships that were said to sail fastest in the very teeth of the wind! " I l&ve really nothing for a boy to. do, madam." The lady turned away; she was too shy to beg for work for her boy, yet if he could earn nothing what were 'they to do? Will Seaton lingered hehind his mother a moment. " I'll see mother to a car, sir, and then I want just a few words with you." Mr. Bentley was astonished at the manly, respect- ful, yet confident tone; the boy's looks were against him, and he had not been prepossessed in his favor. SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 1 69 "Certainly," he said kindly. In five minutes the young fellow was back. "You said you had nothing for me to do, sir, but perhaps you don't think all I could do for you." "What, for instance?" "I can make your interests my own; I can \>t faith- ful. I never tell a lie, and I would think nothing too mean or small for me to do ; I can black boots, sir, or I can write a good letter. I wouldn't boast if it wasn't for mother, sir. She has very little, and I'm her only boy." Mr. Bentley smiled, but was touched. "What recommendations can you bring?" "Why, mother spoke for me, sir." Then, as if understanding that a mother's judgment may be par- tial, he added: "And here is proof that I'm pretty regular at my duty." He handed Mr. Bentley a pocket Testament, open at the fly-leaf: "A reward for punctual attendance at morning and afternoon Sunday-school for two years." Mr. Bentley held the book open and looked up at the eager face. "I don't really need you, unless you should prove a perfect treasure. I would give you a very low salary till I proved you." "All right, sir. I told mother I meant you should take me, so she won't be worried if I'm not back till night. What shall I do?" This settled the matter; the boy did not ask one word about salary, and in two months' time he had so clearly proved himself u a treasure" that Mr. Bentley I70 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. doubled his salary; and the gentleman's intimate friends know that that plain, ungainly boy, by his faithful attention to duty, bids fair to be a partner in the firm in future years. Every boy wishes to be successful ; and he thinks if he only could find a sure road to success in any undertaking, he would not hesitate to enter it. It is the fear of failure at the last that keeps many from push- ing on. There are three qualities that will insure success in any walk of life, namely, ability, integrity, and industry; and though at first it mio-ht seem as if the first of these must be a gift and cannot be cultivated, you will find that it is a fact that every boy has ability, if he only finds out in which line of study or action it lies. Ability is the power of doing a thing well. A boy should learn early that he cannot have ability in every- thing ; that is, few boys have a great deal of general ability. The first rule should be that "whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." A boy who does his best in whatever he undertakes will soon find in what direction his efforts meet with most marked success ; and having discovered that, let him bend all his energies to be first in that particular branch of study or work. Better be a first-class carpenter than a fourth-rate lawyer; a good machinist than a poor doctor. But many boys cannot judge of their own abilities, and the father, who should study his son's peculiar temperament and characteristics, gives them little thought. Don't give it up; be on the watch to make a SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 171 good friend; choose your associates among those who aim high, not as to money or social standing, but as to learning and earnest Christian living. A boy should have at least one friend several years his senior, who can guide him as to a choice of what branch of work or study to set his best efforts to. He will, by earnest endeavor, gain ability ; but let him guard well his integrity. There is more than truthful- ness; it is the whole-heartedness. A boy of integrity is like a stout, staunch ship sail- ing through the ocean; the waves may sway her from side to side, but she will remain whole and firm. Boys, make up your minds to be true. If you have deceived, say so to yourself, and say, " By God's help I'll stop short from this day. I must earn an honorable name, and I will;" and at whatever cost to yourself, be true ; let no temptation spring a leak in your heart. Now about industry : A boy with good ability, and integrity, even if he is rather lazy and shiftless, will perhaps get along; but what opportunity is lost for usefulness ! Boys, remember that the most successful men have been the most industrious. It is easy to point out some rich man and say, "He began as a poor boy." Yes, but he worked hard, year in and out. One word about this industry. Don't let it be simply being industrious to be rich. Aim higher than riches ; store your mind with gleanings from the best writers, culti- vate a taste for reading, and let the success at which you aim be the approval of a good conscience. Riches are not to be despised; but it is only when they are 172 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. united to learning and religion that they are to be envied. I wish boys would realize more that every little event of their boyhood is shaping their future charac- ter. The boy who is more anxious to understand per- fectly what he learns than to appear to make great progress, who cares more for acquiring knowledge than to shine as a student, will be a man of more ability and integrity than one who cares for the mere surface show. Knowledge, to be of service, must be so ready for use as to promptly respond when required. Certain persons are in the habit of jotting down in a memo- randum book, under appropriate heads, what they learn. They encounter, however, two annoyances : the memorandum book is not always at hand when an occasion arises for consulting it ; and the mind, untrained to retain and bring forth knowledge, refuses to respond to the demand. A writer in the " Boston Transcript" gives out wise suggestions as to this habit : After all, the brain is the best and most reliable memorandum book ; it is always at hand, use enlarges its capacity and increases its usefulness and reliability, and no one can read it but its owner. Once let the brain get into a receptive and reten- tive way, and it will go on gathering and holding information without any effort on the part of him who carries it about, and before he knows it he will have a stock of valuable and immediately available facts that will distance the best kept set of memorandum books ever written. SECRETS OF SUCCESS. I J 3 A trained hand is a good thing, but a trained head is a better and a scarcer. People talk about being " blessed " with a good memory. Any man who has ordinary mental capacity can " bless" himself with that useful article if he will but try. Don't rely on fictitious aids. Don't try to remem- ber a thing by remembering something to remember it by. That is clumsy and roundabout. Strive to remember the thing itself, and if you will but per- severe, you'll find that it is not so difficult after all. It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life. Human knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts, made by successive generations of men — the little bits of knowledge and experience carefully treasured up by them growing at length into a mighty pyramid. When a man speaks with ease, or writes with ease, or paints with ease, or does anything with ease and gracefulness, you may be assured it does not come natural for him to do so. He has been hard at work fitting himself for this very performance. And his preparatory work has by no means been pleasant to him. He has drudged, because without drudgery he could have no hope of success. "Of all the work that produces results," says a sensible writer, "nine-tenths must be drudgery. There is no work, from the highest to the lowest, which can be done well by any man who is unwilling to make that sacrifice. Part of the very nobility of the devotion of the true workman to his work consists in the fact that a man is not daunted by - 174 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. finding that drudgery must be done; and no man can really succeed in any walk of life without possessing a good deal of what is called, in ordinary English, pluck. That is the condition of all work whatever, and it is the condition of all success." A man rarely succeeds in after life who fails during his boyhood to form habits of industry. No matter how great his natural endowments of mind and body, if he fails here he fails everywhere. Almost every young man has at least one chance for success. If he has the right stuff in him he seizes it and hangs on with the grip of a bulldog, and never lets go until suc- cess is his. It is just this capacity for hanging on, for sheer hard work, that distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful man. The young man who expects to find any profession or business a bed of roses makes a grand mistake. There is no end to the disagreeable, tiresome, plod- ding work that is necessary to succeed in any calling, and the young man who does this work most faithfully is the man who in prime of life wins the prize. There is no reason why a young man should not succeed in a country like this, where every one has a fair field and no favor — at least, there is no reason out- side of himself. If he is willing to pay the price, the future is his own. He needs only three things, integ- rity, industry and economy, so wrought into his habits as to be a part of himself. These habits are usually acquired early, if at all, so that with most men the bat- tle of life is fought and won before they are out of their teens. SECRETS OF SUCCESS. I 75 Just here is the lesson to parents. Every father hopes that his boy will be the eighteenth one who is to succeed. The way to make the result a moral cer- tainty is to train the boy, while his character is form- ing, in habits of honesty, industry and economy. This may be done either in the city or in the country, and if it is done, the boy is as certain to succeed as a balloon is to rise. Such a boy can't be kept down. Look most to your spending. No matter what comes in, if more goes out you will always be poor. The art is not in making money, but keeping it. Little expenses, like mice in a large barn, when they are many, make great waste. Hair by hair heads get bald ; straw by straw the thatch goes off the cottage, and drop by drop the rain comes in the chamber. A barrel is soon empty, if the tap leaks but a drop a minute. When you mean to save, begin with your mouth ; many thieves pass down red lane. The ale jug is a great waste. In all other things keep within compass. Never stretch your legs further than the blankets will reach, or you will soon be cold. In clothes chose suitable and lasting stuff, and not tawdry fineries. To be warm is the main thing ; never mind the looks. A fool may make money, but it needs a wise man to spend it. Remember that it is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one going. If you give all to back and board, there is nothing left for the savings bank. Fare hard and work hard while you are young, and you will have a chance to rest when you are old. Don't wait for windfalls: gather your own apples. I76 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. The master's eye puts flesh on the horse's bones. Patient, self-denying work is the price of success. Ease and indolence eat away not the price of capital only, but worse still, all a man's nerve power. Pres- ent gratification tends to put off duty until to-morrow or next week, and so the golden moments slip by. It is getting to be a rare thing for the sons of rich men to die rich. Too often they squander in a half score of years what their fathers were a lifetime in accumu- lating. I wish I could ring it in the ear of every aspiring young man that work, hard work, of head and hands, is the price of success. It was stated not long ago, in the newspapers, that the already enormous estate of one speculator in stocks in New York was further increased last year by the sum of thirty million dollars. Several other great New York estates were swelled by speculation in de- grees only less colossal. Such figures are calculated to stir and dazzle am- bitious young men, to whom the possession of a great fortune often appears to be the greatest height of earthly happiness. That money in such vast amounts should be so apparently easily and rapidly made, stimulates the young minds to seek similar methods of enriching themselves. The increased fortunes which have been mentioned were made, for the most part, by pure speculation. The men whose pockets were thus glutted did not thus add to their millions by hard and useful labor, • productive and of added value to the community at large. Nor did they receive this mcrease by the SECRETS OF SUCCESS. I 77 natural and normal income ot their already vast prop- erties. The sum thus piled up came from wholesale deal- ing in stocks ; by influencing the money market, press- ing one stock down, and another up, not for the finan- cial good of their city or country, but for their own personal profit. This is really little or no better than pure gamb- ling ; in one aspect, indeed, it is worse, since the opera- tors already held, in great sums of money, winning cards in their hands against their blind opponents and victims. It is not thus, after all, that the great and enduring fortunes of the world are made and accumulated. Speculation is a wild and dangerous game. It creates a perpetual, restless fever; every day, the largest fortunes involved in it are in peril. Even the largest speculator may wake, any morn- ing, to find his millions vanished. Such fortunes rest on no secure foundation. An unexpected event may cause a crash, when all seems hopeful and secure. That is, fortunes made by speculation in stocks may, and often do, disappear as rapidly as they are built up. The solid and lasting fortunes are those which are established gradually, step by step ; by serving some useful function in the world ; by prudence, economy, and good judgment in making sound investments ; by putting by, little by little, each month and each year; nay, by making a resolve never to risk the hard-earned sums in the hazardous practice of gambling in stocks. If we observe the facts which history teaches us, 12 I 78 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. we find this method of raising lasting fortunes the one confirmed by events. It was by attending to their business, by slow and careful increase, by proving themselves trustworthy and faithful to their clients, and by never, on any account, entering into bubble speculations, that such princes of wealth as the Rothschilds, the Barings, George Peabody, Peter Cooper, John Jacob Astor attained their great financial influence and their huge incomes. All these men were engaged in doing something, or selling something, for the benefit of mankind. Their good fortunes came justly from the confidence with which they inspired those with whom they had relations. Through several generations, the two greatest banking firms in the world — the Rothschilds and the Barings — have sustained this reputation for honesty and probity, and their strictly legitimate bus- iness thrift. Were it ever known that either engaged in the wild speculations of the stock exchange, there can be no doubt that a large portion of their power, and very likely their fortunes also, would soon be dis- sipated. Tire best way is to acquire money by hard, honest work. It stays longer by those who so obtain it; and its possession is far sweeter when earned by the toil of the brow, than when it is got by the feverish transactions of stock gambling. SQUANDERING ENERGIES. I 79 Squandering- €nbrgies. Carlyle once asked an Edinburgh student what he was studying for. The youth replied that he had not quite made up his mind. There was a sudden flash of the old Scotchman's eye, a sudden pulling down of the shaggy eyebrows, and the stern face grew sterner as he said : " The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder — a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, if it is only to kill and divide and sell oxen well, but have a purpose ; and having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you." " What are you making, Tom ? " asked a lounger in a blacksmith's shop of the new apprentice, who was hammering away vigorously upon a piece of iron. "I don't know," replied the embryo Vulcan, "but I reckon if I keep working on it, it will make some- thing." So he put the bit of iron again into the fire, and blew the bellows until the ruddy, glowing light reached every corner of the little dingy shop, and a bright shower of sparks fell around. Then when it was red hot he put it again upon the anvil, and hammered it this way and that, expending a great deal of time and muscular energy. At length he threw it aside, exclaiming : " There ! I didn't make anything after all." I have often thought that many young people are l8o WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. living like the young blacksmith. They have mate- rials, time, health and talents, of which something noble and useful should be made, but they just live along, without an aim at anything in particular, and with no idea of wmat they will be or do. And so, before they are aware, the close of life comes upon them, and they find that they have " not made any- thing, after all." There are some who have an object in view, but it is a low one, unworthy the toil of immor- tal beings. It may be the heaping together of riches, sensuous pleasures, or the gratification of some more laudable ambition. But if it is pursued without taking our duty to God and our fellow-creatures into account, and gained, it will prove so poor, so unsatisfying in the end, that the same regret will be felt, that " noth- ing has been made, after all." A man may be an eternal failure, although his foot- steps glitter with gold and his words sparkle with, knowledge. That man is the most successful in the divine kingdom who sets in motion the greatest amount of spiritual power for the glory of God, what- ever may be the opinions or rewards of fallen mortals, For our part, we believe in system, order, method, to the full extent of our capacity to understand their value, we know that learning, genius, zeal, often waste themselves in fruitless self-destructive exertions, for the lack of method. We have no confidence in blind force. Crooked and gnarled oaks cannot be split in -straight lines, or by the blunt end of the wedge with ever so great an outlay of pow r er. Power working in Jthe wrong direction is at a ruinous disadvantage, and SQUANDERING ENERGIES. l8l the greater the power, in such a case, the greater the danger, damage and disaster. Men do not like to face their circumstances, and so they turn their backs on the truth. They try all sorts of schemes to get out of their difficulties, and like the Banbury tinker, they make three holes in the saucepan to mend one. They are like Pedley, who burned a penny- candle in looking for a farthing. They borrow of Peter to pay' Paul, and then Peter is let in for it. At last people fight shy of them, and say that they are as honest as a cat when the meat is out of reach, and they murmur that plain dealing is dead, and died without issue. Too much cunning overdoes its work, and in the long run there is no craft which is so wise as simple honesty. I would not be hard on a poor fellow, nor pour water on a drowned mouse ; if through misfortune the man can't pay, why he can't pay, and let him say so, and do the honest thing with what little he has, and kind hearts will feel for him. It is hard to sail over the sea in an egg-shell, and it is not much easier to pay your way when your capital is all gone. Out of nothing comes nothing, and you may turn your nothing over a long time before it will grow into a ten pound note. The way to Babylon will never bring you to Jerusalem, and borrowing, and diving deeper into debt, will never get a man out of difficulties. Let the poor, unfortunate tradesman hold to his honesty as he would to his life. The straight road is the shortest cut. Better break stones on the road than break the law of God. 152 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. There are other ways of using the old saying. It is hard for a hypocrite to keep up his profession. Empty sacks can't stand upright in a church any better than in a granary. Prating does not make saints, or there would be plenty of them. Long prayers and loud professions only deceive the simple, and those who see further than the surface soon spy out the wolf under the sheepskin. If we could only sooner give up thinking to "gather grapes from thorns and figs from thistles," we would be spared some of life's sorest disappoint- ments. But we can never quite believe that in our garden like will invariably produce like : and so we go on and on industriously cultivating the ugly, thorny stalks we have so long cherished, sure that some day they will bud and blossom, and bear delicious fruit. We dig and plant, and water and wait — for a full harvest of thorns. There is something in this phrase, which we hear every day, that set us to thinking this morning as a young man passed out of a shop of one of our friends. "I am sorry for that poor fellow; it seems that he can't get along," said the proprietor of the store. Why not? That young man was a good accoun- tant, an elegant penman, did not drink nor gamble, and his integrity was undoubted, and yet he fails to get along. He has neither wife nor child, no poor relation, no crippled brother nor bed-ridden aunt to support, but he fails to get along. What were his defects? He lacked punctuality. He wanted neither industry nor ability, but that nature given instinct of SQUANDERING ENERGIES. l8 the western world — energy. He was always a little behind time. Appoint his own hour to meet him, and you were sure to be detained from ten minutes to half an hour waiting for him. He had some excuse always on the tip of his tongue, but you never felt sure of your man. In the business world an unpunctual man is simply a robber, for he not only consumes his time when belonging to other people, but wastes theirs by his delays. The watched pot never boils ; there are people for- ever in search for happiness who never find it. Happiness oftenest comes by indirection. You are intent on duty, and are surprised to find you have stumbled on more than you sought! To make happi- ness an end of your seeking is an easy way not to find it. It is a coy blessing. Hovering about your path it yet eludes your grasp. Attempt to put your hands on it, and, like the wild gazelle upon the mountains, it bounds away. The search for happiness is like the search for the end of the rainbow — it recedes as you advance. You cannot capture it. After all your planning and straining after happiness, you will have to give up the pursuit and content yourself with fol- lowing the plain and plodding path of duty, and to find your joy in fidelity to conscience and in obedience to the divine will. Once in this state, happiness comes to you unsought, dropping down, as it were, from the skies — a surprising benediction in the midst of your cares and burdens, as though it would say to you : "You could not capture me, but lo ! I am here, and at 184 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. your service." In attaining this blessing imitate the boatman who, in crossing the stream, directs his prow above the point of destination, and so makes sure of it. Aim at something higher than happiness; aim to be good, holy, pure and true, and the higher will be sure to include the lower. "The weakest living creature," says Carlyle, "by concentrating his powers on a single object, can accomplish something; whereas the strongest, by dis- persing his over many, may fail to accomplish any- thing." Have we difficulties to contend with? Then work through them. No exorcism charms like labor. Idleness of mind and body resembles rust. It wears more than work. "I would rather work out than rust out," said a noble worker. Schiller said that he found the greatest happiness in life to consist in the perform- ance of some mechanical duty. With the civilized man, contentment is a myth. From the cradle to the grave he is forever longing and striving after something better, an indefinable something, some new object yet unattained. Our Master has fitted our work to our hands, knowing our ability, understanding our difficulties, considering our weakness, but not indolence, and leaving no place in all Zion for idle hands to fold themselves to slumber. The Christian who is always finding difficulties in his own way is pretty certain to be an effectual block in somebody else's way. There ever seem to be difficulties in plenty for one who spends the time in hunting after them ; but they either vanish before the resolute soul that presses forward toward the mark of STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. 1 85 the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus, or else grace is given to overcome them as they are met. The point is simply to press forward ; and above all things, to make sure that oneself is not a difficulty. The thing which an active mind most needs, is a purpose and direction worthy of its activity. The dread that we have that precious hopes will never be realized is more than half of the burden that we have to bear. Better fail a thousand times, and in every- thing else, than attempt to shape for yourself a life without God, without hope in Christ, and without an interest in heaven. But those who have a high, pure aim in life, some noble end to be accomplished for the benefit of our fellow creatures, and the advancement of the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom, if such an object is labored and striven for, in the strength of the Lord, something precious and beautiful in the sight of God and the angels will be formed, a full and com- pletely rounded life, answering the end for which it was created. Strength of (©ha^agjbei^ It is often said that knowledge is power, and this is true. For faculty of any kind carries with it superi- ority. So, to a certain extent, wealth is power, and genius has a transcendent gift of mastery over men. But higher, purer, and better than all, more consistent in its influence and more lasting in its sway, is the 1 86 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. power of character; that power which emanates from a pure and lofty mind. Take any community — who is the man of influ- ence? To whom do all look up with reverence? Not the " smartest " man, nor the cleverest politician, nor the most brilliant talker, but he who in a long course of years, tried by the extremes of prosperity and adversity, has approved himself to the judgment of his neighbors, and all who have seen his life, as worthy to be called wise and good. . The best advertisement of a workshop is first-class work. The strongest attraction to Christianity is a well-made Christian character. Character is a plant of the slowest growth. A completely fashioned will is the achievement of such grand and beautiful proportions that infinite care and pains may well be spent on its foundations, and its gradual building up, part after part, into commanding" height and spacious breadth and noble symmetry. Truly, the foundations of this structure are deeper than our visible and conscious individual life. They are many generations deep. If you would build a good character, don't expect to do it in a day, a month, or even a year; for you will be disappointed, as it will take a lifetime. Commence by laying a good and broad foundation, and then let the structure rise slowly and surely. Christ must be the foundation stone. It takes years and years to ob- tain a good education, and then a student is always acquiring more knowledge. To acquire a pure, strong character is the holiest and grandest work of man. STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. 187 One speaks as follows of character: It makes friends, creates funds, draws patronage and support and opens a sure way to honor, wealth and happiness. Dr. Vincent says : " An ounce of heart is worth a ton of culture; the mightiest force in the world is heart- force." ''Like November roses blooming in the midst of winter's bleakness ; like green oases in the sandy desert; like the great gulf stream, which flows from the Western world through the ocean, yet distinct from it in color and warmth ; so should Christians be in the world — of it, but not confounded with it. As the Jews have ever been a peculiar people by their man- ners, appearance and religion, so should Christians, by the holiness of their lives, be distinguished from all the world besides." Only what we have wrought into our characters during life can we take away with us. The patient pursuance of a high ideal is the crucial test of nature ; desperately to miss it may be the final discipline of char- acter. The trials and temptations of this life are making us fit for the life to come — building up a char- acter for eternity. You have been in a piano manu- factory ; did you ever go there for the sake of music ? Go into the tuning-room and you will say ; " This is a dreadful place to be in ; I cannot bear it ; I thought you made music here." Composure is very often the highest result of strength. Did we, never see a man receive a flagrant insult, and only grow a little pale and then reply qui- etly? That was a man spiritually strong. Or did we never see a man in anguish stand, as if carved out of 1 88 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. solid rock, mastering himself? or one bearing a hope- less daily trial remain silent, and never tell the world what it was that cankered his home-peace ? That is strength. He who with strong passions remains chaste; he who, keenly sensitive, with manly power of indignation in him, can be provoked and yet refrain himself, and forgive: — these are strong men, spiritual heroes. The human soul, as it exists, can be made perfect only through struggle and suffering. Nowhere else have these elements so beneficent an office as in the case of man. The higher manifestations of character spring almost entirely from the soil of sorrow. If we should strike out from human history the heroic and saintly characters which have been born from suffer- ing, all that is noble and reverent in it would depart. If we should strike from literature all to which sorrow has given birth, its inspiration would perish forever, Even the presence of death has brought a solemn ten- derness and dignity into human affection, which had otherwise been impossible. Virtue, too, acquires stur- diness only from resisted temptations; and even mind itself grows only through obstacle and resistance. " Can you judge a man's character by his desires ?" I answer, yes. I will give you the other side of the question, that you may see your own side all the more clearly. You may certainly judge a bad man by his desires. Here is a man who de^res to be a thief. Well, he is a thief in heart and spirit. Who would trust him in his house now that he knows that he groans to rob and steal? Here is a man who desires to bean STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. 159 adulterer — is he not in God's sight already such ? Did not Jesus tell us so ? Here is a man who desires to be a Sabbath-breaker, but he is compelled by his situation to attend the house of God: he is really in God's sight a Sabbath breaker, because he would follow his own works on God's holy day if he had an opportunity. The desire to commit a fraud, and especially the earnest desire to do it, would prove a man to be a vil- lain at heart. If a man were to say, "I want to cut my enemy's throat, I am full of revenge, I am groaning to murder him," is he not a murderer already before God ? Let us, then, measure out justice in our own case by the rule which we allow towards others. The habit of willing is called purpose, and, from what has been said, the importance of forming a right purpose early in life will be obvious. "Character," says Novalis, "is a completely-fashioned will;" and the will, when once fashioned, may be steady and constant for life. When the true man, bent on good, holds by his purpose, he places but small value 'on the rewards or praises of the world ; his own approving conscience, and the "well-done" which. awaits him, is his best reward. The first Lord Shaftesbury, in a conversation with Locke, broached a theory of character and conduct which threw a light upon his own. He said that wisdom lay in the heart and not in the head, and that it was not the want of knowledge but the per- verseness of will that filled men's actions with folly, and their lives with disorder. Mere knowledge does not give vigor to character. A man may reason too I gO WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. much. He may weigh the thousand probabilities on either side, and come to no action, no decision. Knowledge is thus a check upon action. The will must act in the light of the spirit and the understand- ing, and the soul then springs into full life and action. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that atten- tion should be directed to the improvement and strengthening of the Will ; for without this there can neither be independence, nor firmness, nor individuality of character. Without it we cannot give truth its proper force, nor morals their proper direction, nor save ourselves from being machines in the hands of worthless and designing men. Intellectual cultivation will not give decision of character. Philosophers dis- cuss ; decisive men act. " Not to resolve," says Bacon, "is to resolve" — that is to do nothing. No man can rise above the constraining considera- tions which spring from interest, feeling, safety, pleas- ure, in reference to all minor questions of duty, save as he resolves religion into some great general princi- ples and purposes, from the decision of which there is no appeal. These principles, wisely adopted and well understood, will marshal all the chances and changes of life, all its untoward events, all its interfering agen- cies, s.o that they shall fall into ranks like well-trained soldiers under the command of a superior officer. They simplify religion, disentangle it from all purely selfish influences, from the bias of worldly interests, from the guile of passion, and leave a man free to glorify God according to the Scriptures. How simple and sublime the character, deriving its STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. I9I greatness and worth from God and duty ! How grandly independent is he who knows no fear but the fear of God, who seeks no favor but the smile of Jesus, and whose single eye scans all things, great and small, in the light which no shadow can eclipse! His life regulated by one great pervading law and purpose, •he escapes all the trials by which feebler and less decided Christians are tormented and impeded. His heart, consecrated in all its plans and purposes, falters not at sacrifice, or peril, or suffering. Difficulties and doubts he has none. His religion is to him a law that never changes. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His plan of life settled scripturally, advisedly, and in the fear of God, he is not to be bought or bribed, frightened or defeated. Turning neither to the right nor left, he moves right on. If, along his pathway, the den of lions opens, he lies down and lodges for the night, and in the morning tells how the angel kept him. If the fur- nace be kindled to test or to destroy him, he walks unburned in the name, and comes forth without the smell of fire upon his garments. Escaped from the shallows and the breakers where so many toil with una- vailing oar, he has launched on the deep, and, favored by wind and tide, looks with lively hope for an abun- dant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Nothing of character is really permanent but virtue and personal worth. These remain. Whatever of excellence is wrought into the soul itself belongs to both worlds. Real goodness does, not attach itself 192 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. merely to this life ; it points to another world. Politi- cal or professional reputation cannot last forever; but a conscience void of offense before God and man, is an inheritance for eternity. Religion, therefore, is a necessary and indispensable element in any great human character. There is no living without it. Religion is the tie that connects man with his Creator, ■ and holds him to his throne. If that tie be all sun- dered, all broken, he floats away, a worthless atom in the universe; its proper attractions all gone, its destiny thwarted, and its whole future nothing but darkness, desolation, and death. A man with no sense of relig- ious duty is he whom the Scriptures describe, in such terse but terrific language, as living "without God in the world." Such a man is out of his proper being, out of the circle of all his duties, out of the circle of all his happiness, and away, far, far away, from the pur- poses of his creation. Strength of Influence. Bound together, as we are, by the ties of a con> mon nature and of mutual dependence, every man is a fountain of influence, good or bad, conservative or destructive. Whether he will or not, he is an ex- ample. His language, spirit, actions, habits, his very manners, all tell — forming the taste, moulding the character, and shaping the course of others, to the end of time. No man liveth to himself. He cannot. Ap- STRENGTH OF INFLUENCE. 1 93 parently he may, but really he does not. His plans and his aspirations may all revolve around himself as a common centre, but within and without their orbits will be concentric circles, enclosing other agents and other interests. He may rear walls around his posses- sions, call his lands by his own name, and his inward thought may be, as the world phrase it, to take care of himself and his dependents ; but he can neither limit the effect of his plans nor forecast the inheritance of his estate. Another enters even into his labors. Disruptive changes abolish his best-concerted schemes, and scatter to the winds all the securities by which he sought to fence and individualize his own peculiar interest. " Gather up my influence and bury it with me," were the dying words of a young man to the weeping friends at his bedside, as stated to the writer a while since by one to whom he was dear. What a wish was this! What deep anguish of heart there must have been as the young man reflected upon his past life! a life which had not been what it should have been. With what deep regrets must his very soul have been filled as he thought of those young men whom he had influenced for evil ! — influences which he felt must if possible be eradicated, and which led him, faintly but pleadingly, to breathe out such a dying request, "Gather up my influence and bury it with me." My young friends, the influence of your lives, for good or evil, cannot be gathered up by your friends after your eyes are closed in death, no matter how earnestly you may plead in your last moments on 13 194 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. earth. Your influence has gone out from you ; you alone were responsible ; you had the power to govern, to shape; your influence no human being can with- draw. Such a request cannot be fulfilled. It is im- possible. We are either scattering abroad, or gathering in the great harvest field of souls. A word, a look, an apparently unimportant act, may affect the eternal interests of some young man who is quietly looking to us for example. They easily see if we are hankering after the follies and amusements of this world, or if we are living what we profess. A young man some time ago, in accepting an invitation to an evening's enter- tainment, found himself unexpectedly in a company where all were engaged in card-playing and wine- drinking. He could not leave the circle, nor express his disapprobation of the condition of things, but sit quietly by and lift a prayer for the dear friends around him, which he did, and departed for his home at the close of the evening. Years passed, the circumstance had nearly left his memory. One day a friend inquired, "Do you re- member being present at an evening party when all but yourself were engaged in card-playing and wine- drinking? You sat silently by, saying nothing on the- subject, but refusing to participate. A. was among the guests. Your silent disapproval smote his heart and was the means of his conversion." Reader, what influence are you exerting day by day in your walk in life, as a professed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you as a light set upon a hill, that others may STRENGTH OF INFLUENCE. 1 95 take knowledge of you, that you are living and acting day by day as you have professed to believe? What is your silent influence among the young men of your acquaintance? We are touching our fellow-beings on all sides. They are affected for good or for evil by what we are, by what we say and do, even by what we think and feel. May-flowers in the parlor breathe their fra- grance through the atmosphere. We are each of us as silently saturating the atmosphere about us with the subtile aroma of our character. ■ In the family circle, besides and beyond all the teaching, the daily life of each parent and child mysteriously modifies the life of every person in the household. The same process on a wider scale is going on through the community. Others are built up and strengthened by our uncon- scious deeds; and others may be wrenched out of their places and thrown down by our unconscious influence. If we have been denied those extraordinary talents which ever give their possessors such influence, we are apt to imagine there is nothing for us to do. But this is not so : Every one though poor and humble, Has a mission to fulfill, Every hand though small and feeble, Can work out some good or ill. We, then, who may mourn over the want of talents, the inability to accomplish great things, should take courage. Though we be not distinguished for brill- iant acquirements, though the worldly and the gay seek not our society, though listening senates and I96 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. crowded assemblies hang not upon the eloquence of our tongue, yet we may exert an influence, unob- served save by an all-seeing eye, an influence gentle as the dew-drop, sweet as the fragrant flower — which will live when the vain and frivolous are forgotten, when the statesman and the orator are stilled in death. If we have soothed one aching heart, if we have spo- ken one word of encouragement to an erring brother, if we have given even a cup of cold water to one of the household of faith, we are not living in vain. Such deeds though seemingly trifling, are precious in the sight of God, and are recorded in his jeweled ledgers in characters as imperishable as eternity. The mother of the Rev. John Newton, a pious woman of the south of England, died when he was but seven years old, leaving him only the memory of her religious teaching and goodness. At an early age he became a dissipated, sailor. The memory of his mother brought him to himself and started a stream of incalculable influence. Through him Claudius Buchanan was converted, who became a missionary to India. He wrote "The Star in the East," which made Adoniram Judson a missionary to India. Newton was also the means of converting Thomas Scott, the com- mentator. Through him Cowper was rescued from despondency, and his harp tuned to the key of relig- ion. His influence upon the career of Wilberforce is asserted, and also that the abolition of the slave trade was one of its remote results. Wilberforce wrote " A Practical View of Christianity," a useful book, the instrument of converting Leigh Richmond, the author • STRENGTH OF INFLUENCE. 1 97 of " The Dairy-man's Daughter," which has saved thousands.. Back of it all stands the faithful mother of John Newton. Many a man has not got so far from your sympa- thy but that one word, kindly said in his ear, " My friend, you are going wrong," will check him. The difficulty is that we let men go so far from our sym- pathy that we cannot reach them. Now, it is this in- dividual work that I believe is to reform the world, and bring it back to God, Indeed, the learning of letters and words and sen- tences is not of the importance that some think it to be. Learning has nothing to do with goodness or happiness. It may destroy humility and give place to pride. The chief movers of men have been little ad- dicted to literature. Literary men have often attained to greatness of thought which influences men in all ages; but they rarely attain to moral greatness of action. Alexander Knox says, " Feeling will be best excited by sympathy ; rather it cannot be excited in any other way. Heart must act upon heart: the idea of a living person being essential to all intercourse of heart." True manliness can only exist when the good is sought for its own sake, either as a recognized law of pure duty, or from the feeling of the constraining beauty of virtue. This alone reacts upon the human character. Men are regenerated, not so much by truth in the abstract, as by the divine inspiration that comes through human goodness and sympathy. That is the touch of nature which "makes the whole world akin." The man I98 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH, who throws himself into the existence of another, and exerts his utmost efforts to help him in all ways — socially, morally, religiously — exerts a divine influence. He is enveloped in the strongest safeguard. He bids defiance to selfishness. He comes out of his trial humble, yet noble. Be as careful of the books you read as of the com- pany you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as the latten Nothing takes place without leaving traces behind it; and these are in many cases so distinct and various, as to leave not a doubt of their cause. We all under- stand how, in the material world, events testify of themselves to future ages. Should we visit an unknown region, and behold masses of lava covered with soil of different degrees of thickness, and surrounding a blackened crater, we should have as firm a persuasion of the occurrence of remote and successive volcanic eruptions as if we had lived through the ages in which they took place. The chasms of the earth would report how terribly it had been shaken, and the awful might of long extinguished fires would be written in desolations which ages had failed to efface. Now conquest, and civil and religious revolutions, leave institutions, manners, and a variety of monuments, which are inexplicable without them, and which, taken together, admit not a doubt of their occurrence. No human being can come into this world without increasing or diminishing the sum total of human hap- piness, not only of present, but of every subsequent age of humanity. No one can detach himself from CONSTANCY. 1 99 this connection. There is no sequestered spot in the universe, no dark niche along the disc of non-existence, to which he can retreat from his relations to others, where he can withdraw the influence of his existence upon the moral destiny of the world ; everywhere his presence or absence will be felt — everywhere he will have companions who will be better or worse for his influence. It is an old saying, and one of fearful and fathomless import, that we are forming characters for eternity. Forming characters ! Whose ? our own or others ? Both ; and in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence. Who is suf- ficient for the thought ? Thousands of my fellow-beings will yearly enter eternity with characters differing from those they would have carried thither had I never lived. The sunlight of that world will reveal my finger-marks in their primary formations, and in their successive strata of thought and life. 4f+ (90NSIPANGY. Without constancy there is neither love, friendship nor virtue in the world. Plodding zeal is better than spasmodic zeal. You can count on it, but you never know when spasmodic zeal will burn out. It is the difference between a good solid stove thorougly warmed for a long winter night with anthracite coal, and a sheet-iron stove red hot with a handful of shavings. How soon the red glare fades into darkness when the shavings are gone! And how 200 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. soon they are gone ! Give us the. plodding tortoise every time rather than the over-confident, frivolous hare. How it stirs the nobler feelings of one's nature to think even for a moment of that grand host who in all ages, and oftentimes aimed cruel persecutions, have battled for the right ! At the mention of their names the heart leaps as at the sound of majestic music. We bless God that the world, sin-smitten as it is, has yet been trodden by Enoch, Moses, Elijah, Daniel, and all the glorious band of prophets, apostles and martyrs ; and that even in these latter days noble men and women who adhere to truth, justice and charity, have swelled the num- bers of that illustrious host, " part of whom have crossed the flood and part are crossing now." Hope may be drenched, but it cannot be drowned. The world is filled with objects of interest and im- provement ; see all you can and gain knowledge from every thing you see. Deep convictions setting in the right direction hold the soul steady in its course against the comparatively lighter influences and pas- sions which fret the surface of life. Write your name by kindness, love and mercy on the hearts of the people you come in contact with, and you will never be forgotten. If you would rise in the world, you must not stop to kick at every cur that looks at you as you pass along. A vapid mind con- tinually struggles, the feeble one limps, but a great mind selects the surest points, and upon these it stands. There is a time when thou mayest say nothing and a CONSTANCY. 201 time when thou mayest say something ; but there never will be a time when thou shouldest say all things. Do we, who have been surrounded from babyhood by strong religious influences, realize how hard it must be to stand up straight and honorable without such surroundings ? In a nursery, a young elm, sheltered by its fellows, finds it easy to grow straight up to the blue sky above. But take it and plant it out on a prairie, where winds coming forward in one unbroken sweep for miles strike against it,and have it blow with more force from one par- ticular quarter than from any other, and how is it then ? Almost impossible for it not to be bent by the pressure of circumstances. But a youth has an advantage over an elm. The latter has no cable to hold it firm, the youth has. One that reaches to the All Powerful. It is possible, with this aid, for the youth to stand against the greatest storm of adverse winds that ever blew. And to stand firm. The words that are infallible have been spoken! "Lo I am with you always, even unto the end." " There is no greater mistake," said Dr. Bushnell, "than -to suppose that Christians can impress the world by agreeing with it. No ; it is not conformity that we want; it is not being able to beat the world in its own way ; but it is to stand apart and above it, and to pro- duce the impression of a holy and separate life. This only can give us a true Christian power." Xenophon relates that when an Armenian prince had been taken captive with his princess by Cyrus, and was asked what he would give to be restored to his 202 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. kingdom, he replied, "As for my kingdom and liberty, I value them not; but if my blood would redeem my princess, I would cheerfully give it for her." When Cyrus had liberated them both, the princess was asked what she thought of Cyrus. " I did not see him,"- she said ; " I noticed only him who offered to die for me." I may faint and be weary, but my God cannot. I may alter and fluctuate as to my frames, but my Redeemer is unchangeably the same. I might utterly fail and come to nothing if left to myself; but I cannot be so left to myself, for the Spirit of truth hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Evil thoughts may come to us, but we are not obliged to entertain them. Some one has aptly re- marked, "We cannot hinder the birds flying over our heads, but we can prevent their making nests in our hair." Bearing the cross for Christ's sake does not involve the sacrifice of any legitimate joy, but we must resist the fascinations of the world, and we are promised grace in our weaker moments. Trials must needs come to make us strong and to prepare us for our work. Christ was made perfect through suffering. God has so arranged it that nothing is really ours and only becomes ours when, by strength of will, we force it out of the world's unwilling arms. Bear with yourself, but do not flatter yourself. Work effectually and steadily at the correction of your faults, yet calmly and without the impatience of self-love. POWER OF HABIT. 203 ©OWEI^ OF Y}RBW. Habit is a cable. We weave the thread of it every day, and at length we cannot break it. The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken. To one who mur- mured because he rebuked him for a small matter, Plato replied: "Custom is no small matter. A custom or habit of life does frequently alter the natural incli- nation for good or evil." After a series of years, winding up a watch at a certain hour, it becomes so much of a routine as to be done in utter unconscious- ness; meanwhile the mind and body are engaged in something different. Habit constantly strengthens all our active exer- tions. Whatever we do often, we become more and more apt to do. A snuff-taker begins with a pinch of snuff per day, and ends with a pound or two every month. Swearing begins in anger ; it ends by ming- ling itself with ordinary conversation. Habits of speech, when formed in early life, are the most ineradicable of all habits; and this one, I believe, is absolutely beyond the reach of any discipline, and even of prolonged association with good speakers. In England I observed many people in a constant struggle with their A, overcoming and being over- come, and sometimes triumphing when victory was defeat. Bad habits are the thistles of the heart, and every 204 WELL-SrRINGS OF TRUTH. indulgence of them is a seed from which will come forth a new crop of rank weeds. There are habits contracted by bad example or bad management, before we have judgment to discern their approaches, or because the eye of reason is laid asleep, or has not compass of view sufficient to look around on every quarter. It was a quaint and singularly wise remark, by a modern essayist, that no one's example is so danger- ous to us as our own; for when we have done a cer- tain thing once, it is so much easier to do it again. It is the first step which counts, in evil as well as in good. The tendency of human nature to form habits, to run in grooves, is one of its most marked character- istics. Fortunately for us, it has its good side as well as its bad side. If we can only too easily form a habit of petulance, of ill-temper, we can also, by try- ing, form a habit of self-control ; and each fresh vic- tory over ourselves is easier than the first. A habit of application is, it would be safe to say, of as much importance to almost any great man as is his genius. Not that any amount of application can make a dull man brilliant; but that without steady applica- tion a brilliant man might almost as well be dull, as far as anything that he is likely to accomplish is concerned. " Perseverance is genius," several great men have said, in slightly varying phrase ; but this is not true. Perseverance is only the right hand of genius. Some- thing is breathed into a man at his birth — a divine fire, a gift of God — which makes great things possible to him, while to his brother in the next cradle they POWER OF HABIT. 205 would be impossible forever. But having received this divine fire, he must give it fuel. It is the sign that he must work more, and not less than his fellows; and so there is no one thing so remarkable in the history of our great men as their habits of prodigious applica- tion. The serpent of appetite does not begin to hurt until it has wound itself around its victim, then it tightens, strangles, and crushes, until the bones crack, the blood flows, eyes start from sockets, brain reels and tongue leadens ; yet with all these examples before him, the victim goes on, till too late to stop his pas- sage over the dark, fitful river. The New York " Herald " says that four-fifths of the five thousand bodies that reach the Morgue in that city every year are sent there by drunkenness. It is related of the poet Burns, that, after he became a slave to his great enemy, strong drink, he once said that " if a barrel of rum was placed in one corner of the room, and a loaded cannon in another pointing toward him, ready to be fired if he approached the barrel, he had no choice but to go for the rum." If the chain which binds a man, when wound about him in its full strength, is so great, what shall be said of those who thoughtlessly forge the first links ? Are you forging any ? Of all the kings of the earth, there is not one who rules so many people as King Habit. Almost every man, woman and child obeys him, both the good and the bad, the wise and the foolish. It is strange that each person creates this King Habit for himself first, 206 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ^nd then bows before him. And this is the way in which King Habit is created. A man does something or other one day, without thinking much about it; for instance, he plays with his watch-chain while he is talk- ing to a friend ; a few days afterwards he meets another friend, and as he talks to him, again his fingers get to the same place, while he is thinking of some- thing to say; next day he is chatting with another friend, and again he twitches and twirls his chain, and after a little while he can hardly get a word out unless he is fidgeting with his watch-chain. He has by degrees made a King Habit for himself, which he may have great trouble in driving from his throne. There was once a member of Parliament who had got into a habit of always putting his hand under his coat, and pulling at the strings at the back of his waist- coat while he was speaking. A rival who had noticed this trick, one day when the other was going to make a great speech, managed to cut the strings off. It is said that the poor man got up, began his speech, put his hands to pull the waistcoat strings, found they were gone, lost the thread of his argument — began again, coughed, stammered, stuck, and at last sat down, covered with confusion. King Habit was too strong for him. He had got into the way of pulling his waistcoat strings when he spoke, and without them he could not get on.. This was only a silly habit, but habits that are good and habits that are bad are formed in the same way, and rule over us in like man- ner; therefore we ought to take care what kind of kings we are setting upon the throne. POWER OF HABIT. 20/ Nearly all the disagreeable habits which people take up, come at first from mere accident, or want of thought. They might easily be dropped, but they are persisted in until they become second nature. Stop and think before you allow yourself to form them. The Orientals portray the growth and power of a bad habit by the following fable : " As Abdallah lin- gered over his morning repast, a little fly lighted on his goblet, took a sip and was gone. It came again and again, increased its charms, became bolder and bolder, grew in size until it presented the likeness of a man. It consumed Abdallah's meat, so that he grew thin and weak, while his guest became great and strong. Then contention arose between them, and the youth smote the demon, so that he departed, and the youth rejoiced at his deliverance. But the demon soon came again, charmingly arrayed, and was restored to favor. On the morning the youth came not to his teacher. The mufti, searching, found him in his chamber, lying dead upon his divan. His visage was black and swollen, and on his throat was the pressure of a finger, broader than the palm of a mighty man. His treasures were gone. In the garden the mufti discovered the foot- prints of a giant, one of which measured six cubits.'' Bentham says, " Like flakes of snow that fall unper- ceived upon the earth, the seemingly unimportant events of life succeed one another. As the snow gathers together, so are our habits formed. No single flake that is added to the pile produces a sensible change. No single action creates, however it may exhibit, a man's character ; but as the tempest hurls 208 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the avalanche down the mountain, and overwhelms the inhabitant and his habitation, so passion, acting upon the elements of mischief, which pernicious habits have brought together by imperceptible accumulation, may overthrow the edifice of truth and virtue. " Habit," says St. Augustine, " if not resisted, be- comes necessity." Dr. Johnson has well expressed the same truth, " The diminutive chains of habit are seldom heavy enough to be felt till they are too strong to be broken." As Archbishop Whately has said, "It is important to keep in mind that habits are formed, not at one stroke, but gradually and insensibly; so that, unless vigilant care be employed, a great change may come over the character without our being conscious of any." What power there is in habit ! Are not all men, for the most part, controlled by their habits? True, a man can will to cross the current of his habits, but it is rarely done. And when one does summon courage to make the attempt, it is then very like crossing a swollen stream with a frail canoe — there is a mighty drift, and the landing is not straight across from the starting point, but far below it. It is the habitual thought that frames itself into our life. It affects us even more than our intimate social relations do. Our confidential friends have not as much to do in shaping our lives as the thoughts have which we harbor. A very profane man was once overtaken in a furi- ous storm. The forest trees were falling upon every side, and in alarm he looked around for a place of MAN AND CIRCUMSTANCES. 200, refuge. Just then a giant oak fell across his path, and he crept beneath its protecting roots, where he lay trembling with fear until the storm abated. On reaching home his pious neighbor said to him: "My friend, what were thy thoughts while under the tree ?" "Well," he replied, "I could think of nothing but an oath, but I didn't dare to speak it for fear of the Al- mighty." What a fearful state in which to face death ! His heart full of the blackness of profanity, which in this hour of deadly peril rose up with the overpowering impulse of a life-long habit. How different would have been his feelings had he always taught his heart and lips to love and praise the God whom he so greatly feared ! CQan and (Si^gumstanges. If you cannot find a place to fit you, strive to fit the place in which you find yourself. Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well, When our deep plots do pall ; and that should teach us There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will. It is not the situation which makes the man, but the man who makes the situation. A freeman may be in chains. A slave may sit on a throne. He who fills the situation exalts or debases it. Martyrs glorified 14 2IO WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the scaffold. Christ transformed the cross from a gib- bet into the most glorious symbol of the ages. Never complain of your birth, your employment, or your hardships. Never murmur and think that it would have been better for you to have had a different position in life. God understands his own plan, and he knows what you need a great deal better than you do. It is nothing new that the patient should dislike his medicines, or any proof that they are poisons. Bring yourself to receive God's will, and do his work in your lot and sphere, under your cloud of obscurity, and against all your temptations. Let us learn that to be engaged in lowly employ- ment is no hardship. If a great king should put his lowest subject to doing a task he had set before his most trusted friend, think you the subject could com- plain of harsh treatment? God called Moses his friend, and honored him with an intimacy he has allowed no other human being, talking with him face to face; and yet this very Moses was set to tending sheep for forty years. Who are we, that we should think lowly toil a hardship, and murmur against it? Your neighbor, no better nor abler than you, is left in wealth and high position, while you are set to lowly toil ; will you conclude that God honors him and dis- honors you? Oh, when will Christians learn to look at circumstances no longer through the distorting medium of the world's glasses, but through the clear lens of God's word of truth? To deny that man is, in a sense, the creature of circumstances, is equal to the denial that two and two MAN AND CIRCUMSTANCES. 211 make four; and to deny that man cannot make cir- cumstances, is equal to affirming that two and two make five. It is a painful fact, but there is no denying it, the mass are the tools of circumstances; thistledown on the breeze, straw on the river, their course is shaped for them by the currents and eddies of the stream of life ; but only in proportion as they are things, not men and women. Man was meant to be not the slave, but the master of circumstances ; and in proportion as he recovers his humanity, in every sense of the great obsolete word — in proportion as he gets back the spirit of manliness, which is self-sacrifice, affection, loyalty to an idea beyond himself, a God above himself, so far will he rise above circumstances and wield them at his will. Place a young girl under the care of a kind-hearted woman, and she, unconsciously herself, grows into a graceful lady. Place a boy in the establishment of thorough-going, straightforward business men, and the boy becomes a self-reliant, practical business man. Children are susceptible creatures, and circumstances, scenes and actions always impress. As you influence them, not by arbitrary rules, not by stern example alone, but a thousand other ways that speak through beautiful forms, pictures, etc., so they will grow. Providence throws about us an intricate network of circumstances, influences and responsibilities from which we cannot honorably escape, and before we are ready to begin the survey of life's pathway, it is already marked out for us; ay, and footworn in some directions we never meant to follow. A light supper, 212 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. a good night's sleep, and a fine morning have often made a hero of the same man who, by indigestion, a restless night, and a rainy morning would have proved a coward. Spare moments are the gold-dust of time; and Young was writing a true as well as a striking line, when he taught that "Sands make the mountain, and moments make the year." Of all, the portions of our life, spare moments are the most fruitful in good or evil. They are the gaps through which temptations find the easiest access to the garden of the soul. Quick is the succession of human events. The cares of to-day are seldom the cares of to-morrow, and when we lie down at night we may safely say to most of our troubles, "Ye have done your worst, and we shall meet no more." Sometimes men leap from obscurity to fame in a" day. One of this rare sort was Leon Gambetta. On a certain day in 1868 Jules Favre, the renowned advo- cate, statesman and academician, had a great cause to plead; a cause, however, more political than legal. But that day he was ill ; some one must take his place; and at a somewhat rash venture, he chose as his substitute an almost absolutely unknown, out-at- elbows, loud-talking Bohemian cafe-orator. M. Favre knew Gambetta but little; and mainly knew him as an ardent and out-spoken Republican. The mere issue of the trial, which was that of certain editors for open- ing their columns to the Baudin subscription, was nothing. At a time when, under the Empire, free speech was forbidden the Republicans on the platform, MAN AND CIRCUMSTANCES. 21 3 such trials were seized upon by Republican orators as the occasions of fierce attacks upon the Napoleonic regime. What was needed, then, was a bold, eloquent, red-hot Republican, who would stand up and lash the Empire without mercy before a bench of Imperial judges. Gambetta electrified all France by his speech. It was a tremendous indictment against Napoleonism. Never did an orator produce more immediate or more overwhelming effect. The broad road of politi- cal fortune lay open before him. Under the murky threats of the years ahead of us, it is the duty of the pastor, the pulpit, the press, poli- tics, and the police — the five giant powers of these modern ages — to join arms and go forward in one phalanx for the execution of all those just public enact- ments which shut places of temptation, and leave a man a good chance to be born right the second time, by being born right the first time. Few people, I imagine, realize the extreme dullness of the life of the poor. Cut off from the many inter- ests which education or the possession of money gives, they have little left but the " trivial round, the common task," which indeed furnishes them with "room to deny themselves," but it is hardly, in their case at least, "the road to bring them daily nearer to God." This is especially true with regard to those men who cannot read. Unable to comprehend the ever-living interest of watching public affairs, prevented by ignorance, from following even in outline the action of nations, they are thrown back on the affairs of their neighbors, and center all their interest in the sayings and 214 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. doings of quarrelsome Mr. Jones or much-abused Mrs. Smith. It is difficult for those of us to whom the world seems almost too full of interest to realize the deaden- ing dullness of some of these lives. Let us imagine for an instant all knowledge of history, geography, art, science and language blotted out; all interests in poli- tics, social movements, discoveries, obliterated; no society pleasures to anticipate; no trials of skill nor tests of proficiency in work or play to look forward to; no money at command to enable us to plan some pleasure for a friend or dependant; no books always at hand (the old friend waiting silently till their acquaintance is renewed, and the new ones standing ready to be learned and loved); no opportunities of getting change of scene and idea; no memories laden with pleasures of travel; no objects of real beauty to look at. What would our lives become? And yet this is a true picture of the minds of thousands of the poorer classes whose time is passed in hard, monotonous work, or occupied in the petty cares of many children, and in satisfying the sordid wants of the body. In some cases precarious labor adds the element of uncertainty to the other troubles, an element which, by the fact of its bringing some interest, is enjoyed by the men, but adds tenfold to the many cares of the house-wife. You are a manufacturer, or a merchant, or a mechanic, or a man of leisure, or a student, or a sew- ing-woman. God wants each one of you to serve him where you are. You have your business, use it for AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION. 21 5 God. Order it in a godly manner. Do not allow any wickedness in it. Give godly wages; preach Jesus to your clerks, not by a long face, but by being like him, doing good. Use your profits for God, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, com- forting the wretched, spreading the gospel far and wide. What a field you have to glorify God in, just where you are ! If you have nothing, use your tools for him ; he can glorify himself with them as easily as he could with a sheperd's stick, an ox-goad, a sling, or two mites. A poor girl who had nothing but a sew- ing-machine used it to aid a feeble church ; all her earnings above her needs were given towards build- ing a house of worship, and in a year she paid more than others a hundred times richer than she. So you can do if you will. Think of the widow with her two mites, the woman with the alabaster box, and Dorcas and her garments ; you can do as much, and have as great a reward. «o» il>4>ii>-ffr>]|'-tf- - I?E^OES. " True meekness is the loftiest heroism." " No one is a hero to his valet." Madame de Sevigne. Heroism, as we understand it, involves courage in combating great obstacles, in undergoing great dan- ger, and in bearing great burdens, or a cause of adequate moment, a cause which involves interests that are not personal or selfish. This heroism is not seen alone or chiefly on the battle-field. With the advance of time, there is an in- definite multiplication of channels in which true hero- ism may flow. Humphrey Davy was a hero, when he perilled his life over and over in his experiments with gases. .The members of the medical profession have often made the most resplendent exhibitions of hero- ism, in their self-forgetful efforts to ascertain the causes of disease and to stay its ravages. The young physi- cian was a hero who, by himself alone, dissected the 27O WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. corpse of a victim of the yellow fever, knowing that the penalty would be his life. Literature has had its heroes, who, inflamed with a generous love of knowl- edge and culture, have braved penury and hunger that they might enlarge their minds, and commune with the great souls of the past. But it is hardly needful to say that no history is so rich in the names of heroes as the history of Chris- tianity. The men to whom, under God, is due the progress of true religion, have been heroes ; they have been men who, against great odds and great diffi- culties, have struggled and suffered in behalf of the noblest of causes. True courage is cool and calm. The bravest of men have the least of a brutal, bullying insolence, and in the very time of danger, are found the most serene and free. The list of Christian Heroes includes the names of such men as Henry Martin, who left England and a tenderly beloved companion to bury himself amidst the heathenism of India, and later in the darkness of Persia, to die at the age of thirty-one, a martyr to his self-forgetful love of his fellow-men. William Wilber- force abandoned a life of ease and well-earned rest that he might become the emancipator of the negro race, and at last " went up to heaven, carrying a mill- ion broken fetters in his hands." Richard Baxter, battling with life-long sickness and feebleness, yet laboring with pen and voice so ar- duously that one is almost oppressed with the list of his writings, each.of them a masterpiece, the object of the HEROES. 271 hatred and persecution of magistrate and prelate dur- ing the most degrading period of English history, the reign of James II, yet leaves behind him a great track of light which has not ceased to illumine the world. Then there was John Knox, a man as courageous as Nelson, as firm as Wellington, "never fearing the face of flesh," and equally insensible to blandishment, moved neither by the honeyed words of Mary nor by the spears of her squadrons, knowing only one thing, desiring only one thing, the answer to his prayer: " Give me Scotland, or I die," and writing his own character in letters of light on all the subsequent his- tory of the land. William Cary, a cobbler, in depths of poverty, with a .half- insane wife, with no brilliant genius, and yet who formed and founded the plan of Modern Christian Missions to the Heathen, and carried the work into execution, although opposed by the British Govern- ment and East India Company, and embarked for India on an undertaking that to human eyes was absolute madness. Robert Hall, combating all his life with the most torturing disease, suffering so intensely from calculi in the kidneys that he said life was a burden and torment, despised as a dissenter, suffering social ostracism, and yet forcing his way to recognition as the first of Christian orators. A wonderful instance of heroic action was that of Captain Strachan of the steamer Cyprian, wrecked off the Welsh coast. Just" as the captain was ready to jump from the wreck with his life-preserver on, he saw 272 m WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. a little stowaway, who crawled from the hold of the vessel and begged to be saved. The captain immedi- ately took off his life-preserver and tied it upon the lad, and together they were washed into the sea. The boy reached the shore alive, but the captain was drowned. ' General Kershaw, of South Carolina, has recently published a touching narrative of the bravery and hu- manity of Sergeant Richard Kirkland, a soldier of his brigade, at the battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. The day after that sanguinary battle, the ground between the two opposing lines was covered with the wounded, dying and dead soldiers of the Union army, and any one who needlessly exposed himself but for a moment was sure to fall by a fatal bullet. All that day those wounded men rent the air with their groans and their agonizing cries of "Water! water ! " In the afternoon the general sat surveying the field, when Kirkland came up. With an expres- sion of indignant remonstrance pervading his person, his manner and the tones of his voice, he said, " Gen- eral, I can't stand this." "What is the matter, sergeant? " asked the general. He replied, "All night and all day I have heard these poor people crying for water, and I can stand it no longer. I come to ask permission to go and give them water." The general regarded him for a moment with feel- ings of profound admiration, and said, " Kirkland, don't you know that you would get a bullet through your head the moment you stepped over the wall?" "Yes, sir," he said, "I know that; but if you will let me, I am willing to try it." HEROES. 273 After a pause the general said, " Kirkland, I ought not to allow you to run such a risk, but the sentiment which actuates you is so noble that I will not refuse your request, trusting that God may protect you. You may go." The sergeant's eyes lighted up with pleasure. He said "Thank you, sir," and ran rapidly down stairs. The general heard him pause for a moment, and then return, bounding two steps at a time. He thought the sergeant's heart had failed him. He was mistaken. The sergeant stopped at the door and said, " General, can I show a white handkerchief?" The general slowly shook his head, saying emphatically, " No, Kirkland, you can't do that." " All right sir," he said, " I'll take the chances," and ran down with a bright smile on his handsome countenance. With a profound anxiety he was watched as he stepped over the wall on his errand of mercy — Christ- like mercy. Unharmed he reached the nearest suf- ferer. He knelt beside him, tenderly raised the drooping head, rested it gently upon his own noble breast, and poured the precious, life-giving fluid down the fever-scorched throat. This done, he 'laid him tenderly down, placed his knapsack under his head, straightened out his broken limb, spread his overcoat over him, replaced his empty canteen with a full one, and turned to another sufferer. By this time his pur- pose was well understood on both sides, and all danger was over. From all parts of the field arose fresh cries of " Water, water; for God's sake, water!" More piteous still the mute appeal of some who could 18 274 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. only feebly lift a hand to say, " Here, too, is life and suffering." For an hour and a half did this minister- ing angel pursue his labor of mercy, nor cease to go and return until he relieved all the wounded on that part of the field. He returned to his post wholly un- hurt. Who shall say how sweet his rest that winter's night beneath the cold stars ? But there are heroes who never saw a battle-field, nor heard the roar of cannon. Says a well-known author, " I confess that increasing years bring with them an increasing respect for men who do not succeed in life, as those words are commonly used. Heaven is said to be a place for those who have not succeeded upon earth; and it is surely true celestial graces do not best thrive and bloom in the hot blaze of worldly prosperity. Ill success sometimes arises from a superabundance of qualities in themselves good — -from a conscience too sensitive, a taste too fastidious, a self- forgetfulness too romantic, a modesty too retiring. I will not go so far as to say, with a living poet, that ' the world knows nothing of its greatest men,' but there are forms of greatness, or at least excellence, which ' die and make no sign ' ; there are martyrs that miss the plan but not the stake; heroes without the laurel, and conquerors without the triumph. ,, KEEP COOL. 275 I^EBP (g001i. " Take things cool," is perhaps as good a motto as can be adopted. It is never good to be excited ; no possible benefit can be derived from it, as it always is an excess going beyond due bounds. It simply means too much. The cool man sees things in the true light. Get him away from this, and he is at once out of his sphere. The great workers of the world are those who abide by the facts, and carry them out — not exaggerate or distort them. Nature is always right ; she never oversteps her bounds, and hence she is always true and successful. Let a man be beyond this, and he is apt to be flighty or unsuc- cessful. Trust to coolness, to the truth of things. Not that ardor should be dispensed with — that ardor which sees things but the more clearly ; but let it go no far- ther. Excitement has done immense harm in the world, and is doing it daily — for we are an excitable world. It is our intemperance, mentally; and intem- perance of the mind is as bad as that of the body, and often leads to wreck, as does the body. Insanity is one of its common fruits. Abuse is another — in fact, is the same. A judicious course is always the thing if we could but keep within temperate bounds. Don't be in a hurry. It's no sort of use. We never knew a man who was always in a hurry that wasn't always behindhand. They are proverbial all over the world for bringing nothing to pass. Hurry, 276 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. skurry, bluster — what does it all amount to? Not a straw. If you want to accomplish anything as it should be done, you must go about it coolly, moderately, faithfully, heartily. Hurrying, fretting, fuming, splut- tering, will do no good — not in the least. Are great works of great men done in a hurry ? Not at all. They are the produce of time and patience — the result of slow, solid development. Nothing ought to be done in a hurry. It is contrary to nature, reason, right, justice and common sense. Your man of hurry is no sort of character at all. Always in confusion, loose at every point, unhinged and unjointed, blowing and puffing here and there, but all ending in smoke. It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy ; you can hardly put more upon a man than . he can bear. Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery, but the friction. Fear secretes acids, but love and trust are sweet juices. Anxiety is the poison of life, the parent of many sins, and of more miseries. Why, then, allow it, when we know that all the future is guided by a Father's hand. The chief secret of com- fort lies in not suffering trifles to vex us, and in pru- dently cultivating our undergrowth of small pleasures, since very few great ones are let on long leases. Vainglorious men are never happy. They cannot en- joy the small pleasures of life. They are the scorn of wise men, and admiration of fools, the idols of para- sites, and the slaves of their own vaunts. Dr. Payson, when interrupted by calls in busy mo- ments, or when he would not have desired them, found KEEP COOL. 277 relief in the thought, which he often expressed, " The man who wants me is the man I want." Be thou like the bird perched upon some frail thing, although he feels the branch bending beneath him, yet loudly sings knowing full well that he has wings. It has been well said that no man ever -sank under the burden of the day. It is when to-morrrow's burden is added to the burden of to-day that the weight is more than a man can bear. Success is always invigorating, but to truly great minds never intoxicating. Only light fabrics are puffed up by a breath. If you allow yourself to be elated by temporary or continued success, you lose the well-balanced mind necessary for an ultimate triumph. If you are a wise man you will treat the world as the moon treats it. Show it only one side of yourself, seldom show yourself too much at a time, and let what you show be calm, cool and polished. But look at every side of the world. Keep cool and you command everybody. During the height of the so-called "Jingo" excite- ment, when men, and more especially women, were almost unendurable on account of their political vehe- mence, Lord Beaconsfield was, apparently at least, perfectly calm. Seated at dinner by the side of an illustrious lady, he was asked in tones full of feminine petulance ; " What are you waiting for ? What are you waiting for?" — the implication being, amazement that he did not hurl England into a war against Rus- sia. "Waiting?" said he; "I am waiting for some roast mutton and potatoes." 278 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. If you would enjoy your meals, be good natured. An angry man cannot tell whether he is eating boiled cabbage or stewed umbrellas. If you care for your good looks, and wish to keep them, don't fret. A habit of continual fretting over the little things will mar in time the handsomest face ever made. A joyful evening may follow a sorrowful morning. Some one has truly said, "Every to-morrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith." Let men laugh when you sacrifice desire to duty, if they will. You have time and eternity to rejoice in. Adversity borrows its sharpest sting from impatience. Think twice before you let slip words that you know will hurt. It is easier to keep them from being spoken than to remove the sting and efface the wound afterwards. Many a bitter word would never have found existence, if the one speaking it had thought twice before doing so. With some men, however, there is no such thing as keeping cool. Goldsmith said of Dr. Johnson, " There is no arguing with Johnson ; for if his pistol misses fire he knocks you down with the butt end of it." Be systematic. It is one condition of success. If you get at loose ends you will soon ravel out. If the screws and bolts of your engine are loose, you will soon rattle it to pieces. And the faster you go the sooner it is done. But don't turn the screws too tight, you may break something. Genuine system is an easy-going thing. Like well-made, well-oiled machinery, it runs with little noise. If what you call KEEP COOL. 279 system makes a noise, or heats the axles, it is some- thing else True system prevents and reduces friction ; the counterfeit develops it. Happy is he whose system makes things go easily instead of roughly. A gentleman living in the East Indies had a tamed tiger. One day as it crouched by his side it began licking the back of his hand, while he was absorbed in his book. A low growl from the beast caused him to turn and raise his hand. It was covered with blood. A fierce gleam from the eyes of the tiger warned him that his life was in danger. With great coolness he put down his hand again and began calling to his native servant, who soon came and shot the now ex- cited beast. " The smell of blood is too strong for the tamed tiger." But the same quality is sometimes displayed amid the fire of shot and shell. At the siege of Cadiz by the French in 181 2, men and women were killed in the streets, at the windows, and in the recesses of their, houses. When a shell was thrown by the enemy, a single toll of the great bell was the signal for the inhabitants to be on their guard. One day a solemn toll was heard in signal of a shell. That very shell fell furiously on the bell and shivered it to atoms. The monk whose duty it was to sound it, went very coolly and tolled the other bell. The good man had conquered the fear of death. In the American Iron Works at Pittsburg, an iron- roller, named Robert Moore, had a white-hot ring of iron thrown by accident over his head and down on 280 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. his shoulders. With wonderful nerve, he took hold with a pair of tongs of a piece of iron protruding from one side of the fiery circle, and seized the other side of the ring with his naked hand. The ring was a pretty tight fit, there not being quiet an inch and a half to spare as it passed over his nose. The man had the fortitude to lift the hot iron slowly and carefully over his head, without touching any part of it. -His face was badly scorched, and his hand was burnt to the bone ; but he never flinched. When the iron band was cold, he put it back on his neck, and found it just two inches larger round than his head. ©LINING ©0INIF3. Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide In the strife of truth and falsehood for the good or evil side. There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. No one who has read biography with carefulness has failed to see certain little things, especially in the lives of great men, which have turned them away from ignorance, or idleness, or error, to a life distinguished for its intelligence and earnestness. Sometimes the turning point is in early life. It is said of Voltaire that at the age of five years he committed to memory an infidel poem, and was never after that able to free himself from its pernicious influence. TURNING POINTS. 251 William Wilberforce, when a child, was placed under the training of a pious aunt; and although much was done in his early manhood to erase the im- pressions received from his aunt, his whole life was moulded and colored by tha.t same training. Hume was quite young when he took the wrong side in a debate, and embraced and defended through life the position taken at that time. Scott, the commentator, in a despairing mood, read a hymn of Dr. Watts on the all-seeing God, and was turned from his sin and idleness to a life of usefulness. The rebuke of his teacher and the taunt of a schoolmate aroused Clarke, the distinguished divine, who, up to that time, was very slow in attaining knowledge. The turning point in Doddridge's life was when Clarke took him under his care. The first year he made great progress in study, and soon developed into a man of learning and influence. Aaron Burr sought spiritual advice in a revival at college, but his counsellor told him that the work was not genuine. His anxieties were dissipated, and from that time his downward career has been dated. Robert Moffat, the distinguished missionary, as he read a placard an- nouncing a missionary meeting, was led to devote his life to the benefit of the heathen. Thus it is that char- acter and years of usefulness often depend on one little event or circumstance. The sudden darkness occasioned by the extinguish- ing of a lamp in a lady's room was the means of her conversion recently in Switzerland. She had long lived only for the world, and the thought of her sins 282 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. had never given her uneasiness. One night, while alone in her room, she saw the lamp suddenly go out. Although she was alone, she said aloud (thinking only of the accident which left her in the dark), "There is no oil in the lamp ! " The words thus spoken sounded in her ears with a new sense. She recalled the para- ble of the five foolish virgins who had no oil, and whose lamps had gone out at the coming of the Bride- groom; and from that moment, day and night, that Word of God remained in her soul. It recurred to her constantly: "No, I have no oil in my lamp! My God! what will become of me? I have not Thy grace in my heart!" She was filled with fear, began to pray, and continued in prayer, until God gave her peace through believing in Christ. Rev. Frederick Arnold thus happily illustrates the difference between the "Providence that shapes our ends" and what men call "luck" and "chance." "What we call the 'turning point' is simply an occa- sion which sums up and brings to result previous training. Accidental circumstances are nothing except to men who have been trained to take advantage of them. Erskine made himself famous when the chance came to him of making a great forensic display ; but unless he had trained himself for the chance, the chance would only have made him ridiculous." There is a story told of some gentleman, who, on a battlefield, happening to bow with much grace to some officer who addressed him, a cannon ball just went through his hair, and took off the head of one behind TURNING POINTS. 283 him. The officer, when he saw the marvelous escape, justly observed that no man ever lost by politeness. There is a man in Berkshire, England, who has a park with a walled frontage of seven miles, and he tells of a beautiful little operation which made a nice little addi- tion to his fortune. He was in Australia when the first discoveries of gold were made. The miners brought in their nuggets and brought them to the local banks. The bankers were a little nervous about the business, uncertain about the quality of the gold, and waited to see its character established. This man had a taste for natural sciences and knew some- thing about metallurgy. He tried each test, solid and fluid, satisfied himself of the quality of the gold, and then, with all the money he had or could borrow, he bought as much gold as might be, and showed, as profit, a hundred thousand pounds in the course of a day or two. His "luck" was observation, and knowl- edge, and a happy tact in applying them. The late Joseph Hume went out to India, and while he was still a young man he accumulated a consider- able fortune. He applied himself to the work of mastering the native languages, and turned the knowledge to most profitable account. On one occa- sion, when all the gunpowder had failed the British army, he succeeded in scraping together a large amount of the necessary material, and manufactured it for the troops. When he returned to England he canvassed with so much ability and earnestness for a seat in the East India directory, that he might carry out his scheme of reform, that, though he failed to get 284 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the vote of a certain large proprietor of stock, he won his daughter's heart, and made a prosperous marriage. And marriage is, after all, the luckiest bit of luck, when it is all it should be. There is, then, in truth, no luck. There are turn- ing points in life, moments, critical moments, that are worth more than years ; nevertheless a great occasion is only worth to a man what his antecedents have enabled him to make of it, and our business in life is to prepare for these supreme moments, these hours when life depends on the decision of the instant. Whatever of truth is veiled under the popular idea of luck and chance is, rightly considered, an incentive to the busiest industry, not an excuse for folded hands and idle dreams. Dr. Peddie says, " Never till a man feels the fires of individuality will he write his name up among living forces." And Charnock tells us, "He that hath many things to trust to is in suspense which he should take hold of; but where there is but one left, with what greediness will he clasp hold of that ! God cuts down worldly props, that we may make Him our stay." What may seem to be an utter failure may be in reality the first movement to ultimate victory. God comes near in every soul crisis to shed the light of His face upon us. Be not ashamed to confess that you have been in the wrong. It is but owning what you need not be ashamed of, that you now have more sense than you before had to see your error, and more grace to forsake it. Worship can better wait than reconciliation. Apology and restitution are sweeter offerings to God TURNING POINTS. 285 than a lamb, for they are the sacrifices of a broken and a contrite heart. Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. " Moments spent with God are pearls strung for eternity." . Nicholas Biddle, Esq., when president of the Bank of the United States, once dismissed a clerk because the latter refused to write for him on the Sabbath. The young man, with a mother dependent on his exer- tions, was .thus thrown out of employment by what some would call an over-nice scruple of conscience. But a few days after, Mr. Biddle being requested to nominate a cashier for another bank, recommended this very in- dividual, and mentioned this very incident as proof of his trustworthiness. " You can trust him," said he, " for he wouldn't work for me on Sunday." Says Dr. Cuyler, "The actual working period of a life of three-score years and ten is very short. He who has not learned the value of an hour is doomed to failure. On an hour often swings a destiny for eternity." There are occasions where victory is more really perilous than a timely defeat ; a temporary triumph may lead to ground which the victors cannot permanently hold to their own true and lasting advantage. Choice is the supreme prerogative of the moral creation as distinguished from the material, and a mighty prerogative it is. The hugest orb in space can- not choose to loiter an instant in its swift rush, or to 286 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. swerve a hair's-breadth from its orbit, but the little babe that has just learned to say mamma can overturn the throne of God in his own little bosom. Business GQo^aiiItcy. Such suggestions as the following would secure a race of business men that would honor the land that furnishes them so noble a theater for successful enter- prise : Engage in no business inconsistent with the strictest morality, nor in which you cannot daily seek the blessing of the Most High. Follow your chosen vocation, and that alone, whatever temptations to specu- lation or rapid acquisition may present themselves. Adopt no " tricks of trade," however sanctioned by custom, that involve deception or untruthfulness. Never incur a debt beyond your resources. Always live within your income. Devote a fixed portion of your income, beforehand, to charitable uses, to be employed and accounted for as systematically as family expenditures. The man who will regulate his business by such simple rules as these may free him- self from the feverish excitements of adventurous traffickers, and secure himself, with God's blessing, an honest competency, if not a benevolent affluence, and a good name. We seldom look clear through a man's career. We seldom follow him in his course from beginning to end. We seldom commence at the point where he BUSINESS MORALITY. 287 began to let down conscience, and trace his decline through its various stages till his character is under- mined. Why, two thirds of the men that break down are not caused by pressure. There is a pressure that will break almost any timber. Oak will bear so many tons, ash so many, and hickory so many ; but take a piece of timber that is eaten out by dry-rot, or by worms, and put pressure upon it, and the moment it is called to bear a weight of twenty-five pounds it snaps. And in many cases where men break down, the reason why they break down is that they are worm-eaten. There are thousands of men who are deceived in bargains, who would not be if they had the head that honesty and morality give. There are thousands of men who place their trust in things which are not to be relied upon, and who are contin- ually stumbling, who would do well enough if they were conscientious and upright. Some are weak- minded, some are short-sighted ; some go into busi- ness for which they are not adapted ; some undertake more than they have the capacity to do, and there are failures from these causes ; but I declare to you that, among the men who fail, the greatest number fail from moral delinquencies ; from ten thousand little flaws that take away the stamina, the robustness of char- acter, and the soundness of judgment which are indis- pensable to success. And it is very desirable that young men should know these things. The smiles of heaven are upon those who do unto others as they would have others do unto them. But it is weak human nature to " kick him because 288 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. he is down," and more than that, to kick him down because he is climbing up faster and better than we. There is a universal disposition to fling disparaging remarks at the book-agent, or the colporteur, who res- olutely goes out to do good and make an honest living. This custom is really upon a par with the saloon- keeper and the wine-bibber, who make sport and cast reproach upon those ministers and temperance people who seek to alleviate the curse of drunkenness. Transact all business with eternity in your eye. Better fail a thousand times, and in everything else, than attempt to shape for yourself a life without God, without hope in Christ, and without an interest in heaven. It must be admitted that trade tries character perhaps more severely than any other pursuit in life. It puts to the severest tests honesty, self-denial, justice, and truthfulness ; and men of business who pass through such trials unstained are, perhaps, worthy of as great honor as soldiers who prove their courage amidst the fire and perils of battle. And, to the credit of the multitudes of men engaged in the various departments of trade, we think it must be admitted that, on the whole, they pass through their trials nobly. If we reflect but a moment on the vast amount of wealth daily intrusted even to subor- dinate persons, who themselves probably earn but a bare competency — the loose cash which is constantly passing through the hands of shopmen, agents, brokers, and clerks in banking-houses — and note how comparatively few are the breaches of trust which BUSINESS MORALITY. 289 occur amidst all this temptation, it will probably be admitted that this steady daily honesty of conduct is most honorable to human nature, if it do not even tempt us to be proud of it. The same trust and confidence reposed by men of business in each other, as implied by the system of credit, which is mainly based upon the principle of honor, would be surprising if it were not so much a matter of ordinary practice in business transactions. Dr. Chalmers has well said that the implicit trust with which merchants are accustomed to confide in distant agents, separated from them perhaps by half the globe — often consigning vast wealth to persons, recom- mended only by their character, whom perhaps they have never seen — is probably the finest act of homage which men can render to one another. " In good times prepare for bad," is a sensible rule. Instead of rushing into all sorts of wild specula- tions and extravagant living, now is just the time for a level-headed man to keep his business on a solid foundation, and his expenses within reasonable limits. I remember hearing years ago of an old merchant who on his death-bed divided the results of long years of labor, some hundreds of pounds in all, amongst his sons. " It is little enough, my boys," were his last words, " but there isn't a dirty shilling in the whole of it.*' His ideal had not been to make money but to keep clean hands. A person wrote to the New York " Tribune," " I am a young man just commencing business, and have some young men in my employ. How can I manage to pre- 19 29O WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. vent insubordination on the one hand and to make an affirmative success as an employer on the other hand ? Are there any books that will help me ? What are some of the best books for a young business man?" The following pertinent suggestions were given in the answer: "The best single treatise is the New Testament ; next to this is the Book of Proverbs of Solomon. The best business man we have ever known memorized the entire Book of Proverbs at twenty-two, carrying the American Tract Society's ten-cent edition in his vest pocket, and committing a half-dozen verses daily ; and when he became an employer gave a copy of the book to every employe with a friendly inscrip- tion commending it as an admirable business guide." Speaking of the modern mania for speculation, and making money rapidly, even at the risk of sacrificing honor, Samuel Smiles says : " Young business men are often carried away by such examples. If they have not firmness and courage, they are apt to follow in their footsteps. The first speculation may be a gain. The gain may be followed by another, and they are carried off their feet by the lust for wealth. They become dis- honest and unscrupulous. Their bills are all over the discount market. To keep up their credit they spend more money upon pictures, and even upon charities. Formerly, greedy and unjust men seized the goods of others by violence. To-day they obtain them by fraud- ulent bankruptcies. Formerly, every attempt was open ; to-day, everything is secret, until at length the last event comes, and everything is exposed. The man fails ; the bills are worthless ; the pictures are SOCIAL MORALITY. 29 1 sold ; and the recreant flies to avoid the curses of his creditors." It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not grow rich so fast as the unscrupulous and dishon- est one; but the success will be of a truer kind, earned without fraud or injustice. And even though a man should, for a time, be unsuccessful, still he must be honest; better lose all and save character. For character is itself a fortune ; and if the high-principled man will but hold on his way courageously, success will surely come — nor will the highest reward of all be withheld from him. Wordsworth well describes the " Happy Warrior" as he Who comprehends his trust, and to the same Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim ; And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait For wealth, or honor, or for worldly state ; Whom they must follow, on whose head must fall Like showers of manna, if they come at all. Social CQo^aluhy. The floods of vice, which ruin so many young men and women, — aye, and old ones too, are not altogether the result of inherent evil. Social surroundings develop an evil spirit, wh^re to the superficial observer all seems pure and virtuous. The professing Christian father will indulge in a foul story or a lewd remark in the presence of his son ; the mother insinuates a base motive, or gives expres- 292 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. sion to a tainted thought before her child; and the seed thus sown is diligently cultivated in younger company, where the parent little suspects. The seeds of vice are sown at home, or on the street, in the office, the store, or upon the farm; and are harrowed in by every-day repetition. They germi- nate with opportunity, at the social gathering, around the hearthstone, and among every-day occurrences. They grow into flaming passions which take posses- sion of the soul, and fill it with the torments of the damned. They ripen into lives of shame and de- bauchery. What sad wrecks are there all around us, whose early life seemed laid amidst scenes of the greatest purity and peace. But there was a worm gnawing at the root of their lives, of which the world knew not, and for which parents or friends were often responsi- ble, and which at last so weakened their powers of re- sistance, that they came toppling to the earth like some forest oak swept down by an avalanche. A people's morals are sustained by their religion — Christian morals by Christianity. And if our people lead such lives as will not allow them to become Chris- tians in fact, in heart, in personal experience, in spirit and general character, in deed and in truth, the vital and all-sustaining power of our Christian morality is weakened by just so far as such a life is led. Chris- tian morality is higher, more general, and more defi- nite in its claims than any other. It lies at the foun- dation of our refinement and of our sturdy strength as a people, and, as a necessary consequence, it antago- SOCIAL MORALITY. 293 nizes depravity in heart and life as no other system does, and more than any other it needs a powerful support from some source, even the support which alone is found in the hearts, principles and affections of a people, a people regenerated, born again, changed, saved by the indwelling and mighty Spirit of God. In the light of this truth look again at any vice which makes the true Christian life impossible, and there read the results, first upon individual character, and ultimately upon national character and destiny. But let us furthermore learn the importance of preserving a stainless character, even amid the most debasing surroundings. This is hard to do — very hard. With the ebbing and flowing of the tide of iniquity all around us, there is a danger that the weak point of character will be reached some time, and a leak sprung by which the flood of evil may with vio- lence rush through. Sodom never could have sullied the fair character of Abraham, whose heart was stayed on God; but it came well nigh ruining his nephew, Lot. No greater social vice exists than that of gambling*. It infests our social life to a most alarming extent, until good Christian women as well as men are allured into the mad vortex, and often wreck their fortunes in hope of getting something for nothing. Lavater says, " It is possible that a wise and good man may be prevailed on to game ; but it is impossible that a pro- fessed gamester should be a wise and good man." It is said that the goddess of fortune, once sport- ing near the shady pool of Olympus, was met by the 2Q4 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. gay and captivating god of war, who soon allured her to his arms. They were united; but the matrimony was not holy, and the result of the union was a mis- featured child, called Gaming. From the moment of her birth, this wayward thing could only be pleased by cards, dice or counters. The goddess Fortune ever had an eye on her promising daughter Gaming ; and endowed her with splendid residences, in the most con- spicuous streets, near the palaces of kings. They were magnificently designed and elegantly furnished. Lamps always burning at the portals were a sign and a perpetual invitation unto all to enter ; and, like the gates of the Inferno, they were ever open to daily and nightly visitants ; but, unlike the latter, they per- mitted exit to all who entered — some exulting with golden spoil, others with their hands in empty pockets. " Religion, morals, virtue, all give way, And conscience dies, the prostitute of play. Eternity ne'er steals one thought between, Till suicide completes the fatal scene." People never plot mischief when they are merry. Laughter is an enemy to malice, a foe to scandal, and a friend to every virtue. It promotes good temper, enlivens the heart and brightens the intellect. Oh ! the heinousness of many of our thoughts ! How few would be willing to have a glass placed on the forehead through which all the most inmost thoughts cquld be read. We fear to have them known to man. God knows them all. It is not so much literary culture that is wanted, as habits of reflection, thoughtfulness and right conduct. Wealth cannot purchase pleasures of the highest SELF-DENIAL. 295 sort. It is the heart, taste and judgment which determine the happiness of man, and restore him to the highest form of being. Burns says: " It's no in titles nor in rank ; It's no in wealth like London Bank, To purchase peace and rest ; It's no in making muckle mair; It's no in books ; it's no in lear, To make us truly blest : If Happiness hae not her seat And center in the breast, We may be wise, or rich, or great, But never can be blest." Self-Denial. When a man finds, at last, that there is something beyond this life to live for, the moment that concep- tion gets into his mind, life is transfigured and glorified into the nobler spheres of action. It becomes always glorious and fresh. Some men will tell you that life is tasteless, wearisome and exhausting; in every case they are men who have tried to live in a narrow and selfish manner. Life is transfigured to every true, lov- ing, brave and diligent soul. Each man, faithful in his sphere, transfigures it, and makes grand the humblest position. We may say that the act of transfiguration takes place when a man realizes the worth of his own soul, and his work of self-denying devotion to the good of his fellow-man. Self-denial is a kind of holy association with God ; and, by making you his partner, interests you in all his 296 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. happiness. The more a man denies himself, the more he shall obtain from God. Teach self-denial, and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer. There never did and never will exist anything permanently noble and excellent in a character which was a stranger to the exercise of resolute self-denial. The humblest mother of a poor family who is cum- bered with much serving, or watching over a hospital- ity which she is too poor to delegate to others, or toiling for love's sake in household work, needs no emancipa- tion in God's sight. For it is the glory of womanhood to consecrate the commonest, hardest things by a self-denying ministry. Better that life be a short self- sacrifice than a long self-seeking. The greatest vic- tories and the sweetest enjoyments are reached through suffering. He is good that does good to others. If he suffers for the good he does, he is better still; and if he suf- fers from them to whom he did good, he is arrived to that height of goodness that nothing but an increase of his sufferings can add to it ; if it proves his death, his virtue is at its summit, — it is heroism complete. Daniel Webster says : "What a man does for others, not what they do for him, gives him immortality." The ability to control the lower nature in favor of the higher nature is the true self-denial. No man was more devoted to duty than Charles Lamb. There are few who have not heard of the one awful event in his life. When only twenty-one, his SELF-DENIAL. 297 sister Mary, in a fit of frenzy, stabbed her mother to the heart with a carving-knife. Her brother, from that moment, resolved to sacrifice his life to his "poor, dear, dearest sister," and voluntarily became her companion. He gave up all thoughts of love and marriage. Under the strong influence of duty, he renounced the only attachment he had ever formed. With an income of scarcely five hundred dollars a year, he trod the jour- ney of life alone, fortified by his attachment for his sister. Neither pleasure nor toil ever diverted him from his purpose. When released from the asylum, she devoted part of her time to the composition of the "Tales from Shakespeare," and other works. Hazlitt speaks of her as one of the most sensible women he ever knew, though she had through life recurring fits of insanity, and even when well was constantly on the brink of madness. When she felt a fit of insanity coming on, Charles would take her under his arm to the Hoxton Asylum. It was affecting to see the young brother and his elder sister walking together, and weeping to- gether on this painful errand. He carried the strait jacket in his hand, and delivered her up to the care of the asylum authorities. When she had recovered her reason she went home again to her brother, who joy- fully received her — treating her with the utmost ten- derness. "God loves her," he says; "may we two never love each other less." Their affection continued for forty years, without a cloud, except such as arose from the fluctuations of her health. Lamb did his duty nobly and manfully, and he reaped a fitting reward. 298 WELL-SrRINGS OF TRUTH. There are many such noble examples of self-deny- ing devotion to duty all around us! See that devoted daughter, renouncing the opportunity for a brilliant life in the social circles, for which her talents have fitted her, that she may relieve her less favored broth- ers and sisters of the burden of caring for an aged father. And that son, who unhesitatingly leaves a lucrative position, in obedience to the whim of an invalid mother, to go to a distant place and among strangers, and again begin the battle for honor and a competence. These things are all done so quietly, that we do not half notice or comprehend what they cost, but the recording angel does not overlook them. There are gifts more precious than money; a kind word; a hasty hand-clasp, or a sympathizing tear; an hour of prudent counsel may do far more for persons in distress than any mere gifts of pence or shillings that may be bestowed. We need to be brought in direct contact with suffering humanity, face to face, heart to heart, and hand to hand; and we need this not only for their benefit, but for our own ; not only that the poor may be lifted up from their dejected state, but that we ourselves may be lifted up to the joy and blessedness of a better and more unselfish life. The happiness of the tender heart is increased by what it can take away from the wretchedness of others. The essence of true nobility is neglect of self. Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of a great action is gone, like the bloom of a soiled flower. Dr. Monro Gibson says: "Many a small man is never SELF-DENIAL. 299 done talking about the sacrifices he makes, but he is a great man, indeed, who can sacrifice everything and say nothing." In a time of famine a rich man sent for the poorest children of the town, and said to them: "There is a basket full of bread: you may come every day and take a loaf until it pleases God to send better times." The children attacked the basket, and disputed as to which should have the largest loaf, and then went away without thanking their benefactor. Only Frances, a very poor but cleanly girl, mod- estly remained behind, and had the smallest loaf which was left in the basket. She gratefully returned thanks and went home quietly. One day the children behaved very badly indeed, and poor Frances received a loaf very much smaller than the rest; but when she took it home, and her mother cut it open, a number of pieces of silver fell on the floor. The poor woman was astonished and said: "Go and return this money immediately, it must have been put in the bread by mistake." Frances went directly with it to the gentleman, who said: "My dear child, it was no mistake. I had the money put into that loaf to reward you. Remain always as peaceable and contented. Those who are satisfied with a little always bring blessings upon themselves and family, and will pass happily through the world. Do not thank me, but thank God, who put into your heart the treasure of a contented and grate- 300 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. fill spirit, and who has given me the will and oppor- tunity to be useful to those who are in need of assist- ance." ** 15 * Xt '"-— »- ©AHUENGE AND FORBEARANCE. Patience is the endurance of any evil, out of the love of God, as the will of God. The offices of pa- tience are as varied as the ills of life. We have need of it with ourselves and with others ; with those above and below us, and with equals ; with those who love us, and those who love us not ; for the greatest things and the least ; against sudden trouble, and under daily burdens ; disappointments as to weather, or the breaking of the heart ; in weariness of body, in wear- ing of soul ; in our own failure, and others' failures to us. In all these things, from childhood's little troubles to the martyr's sufferings, patience is the grace of God, whereby we endure evil for love of Him, and keep still and motionless not to offend Him. Patience has its charms as well as its reputed vir- tue. The charm is in its cheerfulness ; the virtue in its quiet fortitude to wait and trust. One adds to the other's beauty just as a moonbeam resting upon a placid sea adds to the beauty of the peaceful waters. The horse of a pious man in Massachusetts hap- pening to stray into the road, a neighbor of the man who owned the horse put him in the pound. Meeting the owner soon after, he told him what he had done, and added, " If ever I catch him in the road hereafter, PATIENCE AND FORBEARANCE. 3OI I'll do just so again." "Neighbor," replied the other, " Not long since, I looked out of my window in the night, and saw your cattle in my mowing-ground ; and I drove them out, and shut them in your yard ; and I'll do it again!' Struck with the reply, the man lib- erated the horse from the pound, and paid the charges himself. % Trust a man — show that you are ready to place confidence in him as a man — exhibit by your conduct toward him that you believe, so to speak, in his honor, aud you will do far more to win the heart of that man, and to draw forth the better feelings of his nature, than by all the exhibitions of law and authority. You disarm a man's evil nature when you prove by your acts and demeanor that you have confidence in his better nature. Thus it is that evil can be overcome by good. Indeed, we need but to trust men more to bring out the good that is in them. Trust them with privi- leges, and by practice they will learn the right use of them. The only cure for the evils of newly acquired freedom is freedom. Accustom the prisoner who has come out of his cell to the light, and he will soon be able to bear the brightest rays of the sun. To human- ize men they must be familiarized with humanizing influences. To make men good citizens, they must be allowed to exercise the rights and functions of citi- zens. Before a man can swim, he must first have gone into the water; before a man can ride, he must first have mounted a horse; and before he can be an 302 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. intelligent citizen, he must first have been admitted to the duties of citizenship. Never be discouraged because good things go on so slowly here ; and never fail daily to do that, good which lies next to your hand. Do not be in a hurry, but be diligent. Enter into the sublime patience of the Lord. Be charitable in view of it. God can afford to wait ; why cannot we, since we have him to fall back upon ? Let patience have her perfect work, and bring forth her celestial fruits. Trust to God to weave your little thread into a great web, though the patterns show it not yet. When God's people are able and willing thus to labor and wait, remember that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and the thousand years shall show themselves as a perfect and finished day. John Calvin has said, "I have not so great a struggle with my vices, great and numerous as they are, as I have with my impatience." The Alexander is strong within us. To conquer obstacles and difficulties without, and even curb passions with- in, is easier than to "rule the spirit" and bridle the tongue. With what pains and patience men study the art of speaking Saxon and French and German, and even the classics, that they may give the most delicate light and shade to thought. But the divine art of silence — holding the tongue under neglect or insult, being calm under every pressure of adversity — this surely is greater. Patience measures the character ; it perfects it. " But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Yet what do we see in the large measure PATIENCE AND FORBEARANCE. 303 of cases ? Men living as if passion were strength. They groan and tug away as if there were no God at the helm. They hurry and bustle, rushing hither and thither, as if fire in the glow could make everything peaceful and fruitful. But who has found fussing, fuming and fretting, elements of strength ? What character have they profited? What plans have they perfected ? Impatience never made anything better in this world. As the sweetest things put into sour vessels sours them, or put into a bitter vessel embitters them, so murmuring puts gall and wormwood into every cup of mercy that God gives into our hands. The murmurer writes Marah upon all his mercies, and reads and tastes bitterness in them all. As to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet, so to the murmuring soul every sweet thing is bitter. Try to be patient. We so often spoil the good work of our hands by a spirit of impatience that can- not brook delay, and like an impatient child we dig round the very roots we have planted so carefully, and thus hinder natural growth. Give plenty of time for fruition. A good husbandman is seldom in haste. He sows and he tends — doing his part carefully, and then he waits. Depend upon it, in the midst of all the science about the world and its ways, and all the ignorance of God and his greatness, the man or woman who can say, "Thy will be done," with the true heart of giving up, is nearer the secret of things than the geologist and theologian. The greatest example the world has ever had of 304 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. patience and forbearance, is our Lord and Savior, who constantly entreats and commands his followers to humility and forgiveness. " Forgive and ye shall be forgiven" is the promise at the beginning, and "ye ought also to wash one another's feet" is the com- mand at the end. One of the most lovely and beloved of men once said in public, " I feel so humble at times that I could let people wipe their feet upon me, rather than do them any injury or make them unhappy." ^ In the midst of great cause for resentment or revenge, let us remember how much we have done that has caused others to mourn or to worry or even to rage, that we had no just cause for doing. Then let us overlook the injury, and put away our bad feelings and pass by the unpleasant matter in the pleasant manner that well becomes a citizen of a christian and civilized land. He is the only rich man in the world who has learned to be content with what he has. If it were only for mere human reasons, it would turn to a better account to be patient ; nothing defeats the malice of an enemy like a spirit of forbearance ; the return of rage for rage cannot be so effectually provoking. True gentleness, like an impenetrable armour, repels the most pointed shafts of malice ; they cannot pierce through this invulnerable shield, but either fall hurtless to the ground, or return to wound the hand that shot them. Resentment is a very expensive vice. How dearly has it cost its votaries, even from the sin of Cain, the first offender in this kind ! " It is cheaper," says a pious writer, " to forgive and save the charges." Lost patience I W E R E L L FOR WEI]: :■:■ RIN08 'F TMJTH PATIENCE AND FORBEARANCE. 305 is never found again. You may be patient next time ; but the spoken word cannot be called back — not with prayers and tears. A meek spirit will not look out of itself for happi- ness, because it finds a constant banquet at home, yet, by a sort of divine alchemy, it will convert all external events to its own profit, and be able to deduce some good, even from the most unpromising. It will ex- tract comfort and satisfaction from the most barren circumstances. " It will suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock." The gentleness that makes one great, comes from' subdued strength. This lovely fruit of the spirit proves an element of power. The " soft answer " often costs the answerer dearly. Sweetness of spirit is the outgrowth of self-control. Serenity of soul, whatever be the constitutional characteristics, comes most frequently from long self- discipline and prayerful struggle. Honors and dignities are transient, beauty and riches frail and fugacious to a proverb ; would not the truly wise, therefore, wish to have some one possession, which they might call their own in the severest exigencies. But this wish can only be accomplished by acquiring and maintaining that calm and absolute self-possession, which, as the world had no hand in giving, so it cannot by the most malicious exertion of its power, take away. You all remember the beautiful story of Cinderella, whose patience and forbearance, under the indignities heaped upon her by cruel sisters, were at last rewarded by the hand of the beautiful prince. So may we, 20 306 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. under like circumstances, bear up until the witch of opportunity shall open the way for our entrance upon a life of honor and success. +S* Duties of Liipb. No man has a right to say he can do nothing for the benefit of mankind, who are less benefited by ambitious projects than, by the sober fulfillment of each man's proper duties. By doing the proper duty in the proper place, a man may make the world his debtor. The results of " patient continuance in well- doing" are never to be measured by the weakness of the instrument, but by the omnipotence of him who blesseth the sincere efforts of obedient faith alike in the prince and in the cottager. No man's spirits were ever hurt by doing his duty : on the contrary, one good action, one temptation re- sisted and overcome, one sacrifice of desire or interest, purely for conscience sake, will prove a cordial for weak and low spirits, far beyond what either indul- gence, or diversion, or company can do for them. There is no evil that we cannot face or fly from,, but the consciousness of duty disregarded. A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is omnipresent, like the deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morn- ing, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, duty performed, or duty violated is still with us, for our happiness or our misery. If we say, the darkness DUTIES OF LIFE. 307 shall cover us — in the darkness, as in the light, our obligations are yet with us. We cannot escape their power, nor fly from their presence. They are with us in this life, will be with us at its close ; and in that scene of inconceivable solemnity which yet lies further onward, we shall still find ourselves surrounded by the consciousness of duty, to pain us whenever it has been violated, and to console us so far as God may have given us grace to perform it. There are few things more beautiful than the calm and resolute progress of an earnest spirit. The tri- umphs of genius may be more dazzling ; the chances of good fortune may be more exciting ; but neither are at all so interesting or so worthy as the achieve- ments of a steady, faithful and fervent energy. The labor of the faithful is never in vain. The fruits will be found gathered into his hand, while the hasty garlands of genius are fading away, and the prizes of the merely fortunate are turned into vanity. The best kind of duty is done in secret, and with- out the sight of men. There it does its work devotedly and nobly. It does not follow the routine of worldly- wise morality. It does not advertise itself. It adopts a larger creed and a loftier code ; which to be subject to and obey is to consider every human life and every human action in the light of an eternal obligation to the race. . Our evil or our careless actions incur debts every day, that humanity, sooner or later, must dis- charge. Duty — pure duty — without any thought of per- sonal reward or personal happiness — is the strongest, 308 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. sweetest, most sacred force that domestic life pos- sesses. And it brings with it its own consolations ; not perhaps the consolation it craves — it is strange how seldom Heaven gives us poor mortals exactly what we desire — but something else in substitution. How many a sorrowful woman heals her bruised heart beside her baby's cradle ! How many a disap- pointed, lonely man — to whom his wife is no companion and no helpmeet — takes comfort in his baby daughter, and looks forward hopefully to the time when she will be a grown woman ; his friend and solace, the sharer of his tastes and humorer of his innocent hobbies — all, in short, that her mother might have been, but is not! Yet he will not love the mother the less, but rather the more, for the child's sake. Neglect of private duties is the great reason why the hearts of many are so dead and dull, so formal and carnal, so barren and unfruitful under public ordinances. Oh that Christians would lay this seri- ously to heart ! Certainly that man's heart is best in public duties who is most frequently in private ex- ercises. Man does not live for himself alone. He lives for the good of others as well as of himself. Every one has his duties to perform — the richest as well as the poorest. To some life is pleasure, to others suffering. But the best do not live for self-enjoyment,, or even for fame. Their strongest motive power is hopeful, useful work in every good cause. The sphere of duty is infinite. It exists in every station of life. We have it not in our choice to be DUTIES OF LIFE. 309 rich or poor, to be happy or unhappy; but it becomes us to do the duty that everywhere surrounds us. Obedience to duty, at all costs and risks, is the very essence of the highest civilized life. Great deeds must be worked for, hoped for, died for, now as in the past. Do not go through life searching for the hard and unpleasant things; it is enough if you are ready for them when they come. Live and act to-day. He who spends one half of his time in enjoying his to- morrows will spend the other half in regretting his yesterdays. He who is false to the present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will see the effect when the weaving of a life-time is unraveled. Duties first, pleasures afterward ; let this be your life-rule. The widest field of duty lies outside the line of literature and books. Men are social beings more than intellectual creatures. The best part of human cultivation is derived from social contact ; hence cour- tesy, self-respect, mutual toleration, and self-sacrifice for the good of others. Experience of men is wider than literature. Life is a book which lasts one's life- time, but it requires wisdom to understand its difficult pages. Seek not to please the world, but your own con- science. The man who has a feeling within him that he has done his duty upon every occasion is far happier than he who hangs upon the smiles of the great or the still more fickle favors of the multitude. Life is a short day ; but it is a working day. Activity may lead to evil, but inactivity cannot lead to good. Luck is ever waiting for something to turn up. Labor, 3IO WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. with keen eyes and strong will, will turn up something. Luck lies in bed, and wishes the postman would bring him the news of a legacy. Labor turns out at six o'clock, and, with busy pen or ringing hammer, lays the foundation of a competence. Luck whines. Labor whistles. Luck relies on chance. Labor on character. Labor is the duty man owes to society, rest is the duty he owes to his person, recreation is the duty he owes to his mind. Sowing. Every one is sowing, both by word and deed ; All mankind are growing, either wheat or weed ; Thoughtless ones are throwing any sort of seed. As the beauty of summer, the fruitfulness of autumn and the support of winter depend upon spring ; so the happiness, wisdom and piety of middle life and old age depend upon youth. Youth is the seed-time of life. If the farmer does not plow his land, and commit the precious seed to the ground in spring, it will be too late afterwards. So if we, while young, neglect to cultivate our hearts and minds, by not sowing the seeds of knowledge and virtue, our future lives will be ignorant, vicious and wretched. "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; he, therefore, shall beg in harvest and have nothing." The soil of the human heart is naturally barren of everything good, though prolific of evil. If corn, flowers, or trees be not planted and carefully culti- vated, nettles and brambles will spring up ; and the SOWING. 3 t I mind, if not cultivated, and stored with useful knowl- edge, will become a barren desert or a thorny wilder- ness. As the spring is the most important part of the year, so is youth the most important period of life. Surely, God has a claim to our first and principal at- tention, and religion demands the morning of our days, and the first season, the spring of our lives; before we are encumbered by cares, distressed by afflictions, or engaged in business, it becomes us to resign our souls to God. Perhaps you may live for many years ; then you will be happy in possessing knowledge and piety, and be enabled to do good to others ; but if, just as youth is beginning to show its buds and blossoms, the flower should be snapped from its stalk by the rude hand of death, O ! how important that it should be trans- planted from earth, to flourish forever at the foot of the tree of life, and beside the waters of the river of life in heaven. There is not a thought that is not striking a blow; there is not an impulse that is not doing mason work ; there is not a passion thrust this way or that that is not a working man's thrust. The imagination in all directions is building. You think you are throwing out the net for game ; you think that you are laying plans for your accomplishment: but back of all the conscious work that is going on in you, back of your visible attainments, there is another work going on. There are as many master-workmen in you as there are separate faculties ; and there are as many blows 312 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. being struck as there are separate acts of emotion or of volition. And this work is going on perpetually. Every single day these myriad forces are building, building, building. Here is a great structure going up, point by point, story by story, although you are not conscious of it. It is a building of character. It is a building that must stand, and the word of inspira- tion warns you to take heed how you build it, to see that you have a foundation that shall endure : to make sure that you are building on it, not for the hour in which you live, but for that hour of revelation, that hour of testing, when that which hath been done shall be brought out, and you shall be brought out, and shall be seen just as you are. It is a good and safe rule to sojourn in every place as if you meant to spend your life there, never omit- ting an opportunity of doing a kindness, or speaking a true word, or making a friend. Seeds thus sown by the wayside often bring forth an abundant harvest. You might so sojourn among strangers that they should be better and happier, through time and eter- nity, for your works and your example. The past is ever present with us. "Every sin," says Jeremy Taylor, "smiles in the first address, and car- ries light in the face and honey on the lip." When life matures, and the evil-doer ceases not from his ways, he can only look forward to old age with fear and despair. But good principles, on the other hand, form a suit of armor which no weapon can penetrate. "True religion," says Cecil, "is the life, health and education of the soul ; and whoever truly possesses it SOWING. 313 is strengthened with peculiar encouragement for every good word and work." What we sow in youth we reap in age. The seed of the thistle always produces the thistle. The possi- bilities that wait upon you who are yet in the spring- time of existence, who are yet holding in your own two hands the precious gift of time, cannot be esti- mated ! Do not forget that a useless life is an early death. If you expect to fail, you will not be disap- pointed. If you expect to fail, get out of the way at once. It will save time, and perhaps " feelings." There are few sublimer words than Carey's, when he was pleading for foreign missions before a prejudiced au- dience in Northampton, England. He had two points in his sermon, thus : " First : Attempt great things for God. Second : Expect great things from God." God does not desire that we should pitch our tents in the valley of repentance and humiliation. He is satis- fied if we only pass through on our way to the happy heights of peace beyond. The Christian sower sows himself, his character, his spirit, his power of influence. He is himself a seed quick with divine life ; planted anywhere, God can make that seed grow into blessing. Spare sowing makes spare reaping, bountiful sowing brings bountiful har- vests; so let every man give not grudgingly but cheer- fully. The wise man. said, " The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." We cannot get more out of human life than we put into it. We are hanging up pictures every day about the 3 H WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH; chamber walls of our hearts that we shall have to look at when we sit in the shadows. The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act and you reap a habit ; sow a habit and you reap a character ; sow a character and you reap a destiny. Often we become discouraged and abandon a work when on the eve of success. We must sow before we reap, "but in due season we shall reap if we faint not." Think of Judson waiting five years for his first convert in Burmah ; or of Robert Morrison's waiting seven years for his first convert in China; or Adams' ten years at Port Natal ; or the London Mission Society's ten in Madagascar and thirty in the Madras Presidency without any, and fifteen in Tahiti for its first convert; or the Baptists twenty-one years for twenty converts among the Telugus, as compared with the gains of the last ten years, counted by tens of thousands, A pious author, writing about the results of classi- cal study, and imbibing the doctrines of ancient heathen philosophers, says: "The necessity of doing this, perhaps somewhat weakens the serious impres- sions of young men, at least till the understanding is formed, and confuses their ideas of piety, by mixing them with so much heterogeneous matter. They only casually read, or hear read, the Scriptures of truth, while they are obliged to learn by heart, construe and repeat the poetical fables of the less than human gods of the ancients. And, as the excellent author of 'The Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion' ob- serves, ' Nothing has so much contributed to corrupt the true spirit of the Christian institution, as that REAPING. 315 partiality which we contract, in our earliest educa- tion, for the manners of pagan antiquity.'" Be careful about the initial paragraphs. Some- body has said that "the first hour is the rudder that steers the course of the whole day." The mediaeval monks, in preparing their manuscripts, took special pains in illuminating the opening letter of the chapter, reasoning rightly that they would be likely to* conform the rest of their work to that. If the first words and first acts of the new year are such as conscience approves, good square strokes and not blots, it helps wonderfully to make all the rest of the record comely. There is an old proverb that "a bad beginning makes a good ending ; " but if that ever proves true in life it is owing to the uncovenanted grace of God, a power in which men are nowhere encouraged to trust. If anybody is in earnest to build a symmetrical year, in whose strength and beauty he can find satisfation, let him take special pains with the lower courses of the foundation. The first days are the corner-stones of all the days which are to follow. Reaping. If you forget God when you are young, God may forget you when you are old. Sin yields its pleasures first; but the pain is sure to follow. The pleasures of sin are but for a season. As they who, for every slight infirmity, take physic to repair their health, do 31 6 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. rather impair it ; so they who, for every trifle, are eager to vindicate their character, do rather weaken it. He who would pass the latter part of his life with honor and decency, must, when he is young, consider that he shall one day be old; and remember, when he is old, that he has once been young. A master comes to his garden. He turns over leaves of pear and plum trees, and he looks along the branches of the peach-trees. "Trees look very heal- thy, don't they, sir?" says the gardener, in a satisfied way. Then they pass into the orchard. "Nice trees these, sir," observes the gardener, " very choice sorts, golden pippin and russet." Then they turn to the hot-houses : " Vines and pines look very promising," says the gardener, smiling complacently. At last the master speaks out, half angrily, " What in the world is the use of healthy trees, and of choice sorts, and of promising plants ? I don't want green leaves and fine young wood only — I want fruit. And if you can't get it, I must find somebody that can." The Lord of the vineyard comes to us. He stands before us and looks underneath the leaves of our pro- fession, searching for fruit. Good desires, good feel- ings, good endeavors, all our praying, all our believing — everything else counts for nothing unless there be some fruit. This is what our Master requires and seeks. In an active life is sown the seed of wisdom; but he who reflects not never reaps ; has no harvest from it, but carries the burden of age, without the wages of experience ; nor knows himself old, but from his infirmi- REAPING. 317 ties, the parish register, and the contempt of mankind. And what has age, if it has not esteem ? It has nothing. The martyr may perish at the stake, but the truth for which he dies may gather new luster from his sac- rifice. The patriot may lay his head upon the block, and hasten the triumph of the cause for which he suf- fers. The memory of a great life does not perish with the life itself, but lives in other minds. The ardent and enthusiastic may seem to throw their lives away ; but the enduring men continue the fight, and enter in and take possession of the ground on which their predeces- sors sleep. Thus the triumph of a just cause may come late, but when it does come it is due to the men who have failed as well as to the men who have event- ually succeeded. The man whose conscience is void of offense, can stand unmoved amid the storms of sorrow, and can face the slings and arrows of adversity, strong in the confidence that God is with him. But when he has violated conscience and has departed from God, his sources of strength are dried up ; like Samson despoiled of his locks, he is weak as other men are, and goes down in the general wreck, feeble when he might have been strong, defeated when he might have been a victor, dishonored when he might have been crowned with glory, lost when he might have been saved. Many young persons seem to think it of not much consequence if they do not improve their time well in youth, vainly expecting that they can make it up by diligence when they are older. They also think it 31 8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. is disgraceful for men and women to be idle, but that there can be no harm for persons who are young to spend their time in any manner they please. John B. Gough says : " I tell you in all sincerity, not as in the excitement of speech, but as I would con- fess before God, that I would give my right hand if I could forget that which I learned in evil company." Better it is toward the right conduct of life to consider what will be the end of a thing than what is the be- ginning of it ; for what promises fair at first may prove ill, and what seems at first a disadvantage may prove very advantageous. There is a peculiar and appro- priate reward for every act, only remember that the reward is not given for the merit of the act, but follows on it as inevitably in the spiritual kingdom as wheat springs from the grain, and barley from its grain, in the natural world. It is only when long spaces along the shore of the sea are taken into account that the grand level is found from which the heights and depths are meas- ured. And it is only when long spaces of time are considered that we find at last the level of public opinion, which we call the general judgment of man- kind. Men already rich, but hasting to be richer, throw themselves into wild speculations with the view of making money more rapidly than before. With what result? Only to land them in hopeless bankruptcy. Many instances are at hand to prove this. The em- bezzlement of millions has not been thought extraordi- nary of recent years. Money has been taken from REAPING. 319 bank deposits to buy up railway shares, or to buy land in some remote colony, the speculation for a rise often ending in a ruinous fall Then " the bank broke" and the downfall came, ending in ruin and desolation to a thousand homes. Men have been driven insane, and women have prayed to be delivered from their lives. If our sons resist us in choosing a career, or, still worse, in choosing companions that we believe will ruin that career; if our daughters will go and fall in love with the last man in the world we would have desired for their husbands — well, why is this? These young souls were given to us apparently an absolute blank page, upon which we might write what we chose. We have written. It is we who have formed their characters, guided their education, governed their morals. Everything they are now we have or are supposed to have made them; at least, we once thought we should be able to make them. If they turn out well we shall assuredly take the credit of it ; if they turn out ill — what say we then? That it is their fault, or ours? It is easier to tie a knot in a cord of wood than to do an evil deed and get rid of the consequences. No man can go into bad company without suffering for it. The homely old proverb has it very tersely: "A man can't bite the bottom out of a frying-pan without smutting his nose." Speaking of the terrors of a death-bed repentance, when a life of sin has prepared for the reaping, a well known writer says: "The infinite importance of what he has to do, the goading conviction that it must be 320 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. done; the utter inability of doing it; the dreadful com- bination, in his mind, of both the necessity and inca- pacity; the despair of crowding the concerns of an age into a moment; the impossibility of beginning a repentance which should have been coucluded, of suing for a pardon which should have been obtained ; all these complicated concerns without strength, with- out time, without hope, with a clouded memory, a dis- jointed reason, a wounded spirit, undefined terrors, remembered sins, anticipated punishment, an angry God, an accusing conscience, all together intolerably augment the sufferings of a body which stands in little need of the insupportable burthen of a distracted mind to aggravate its torments." If thou art a child, and hast ever added a sorrow to the soul, or a furrow to the silvered brow of an affectionate parent; if thou art a husband, and hast ever caused the fond bosom that ventured its whole happi- ness in thy arms, to doubt one moment of thy kind- ness or thy truth ; if thou art a friend, and hast ever wronged, in thought, word or deed, the spirit that generously confided in thee; if thou art a lover, and hast given one unmerited pang to that true heart that now lies cold and still beneath thy feet, then be sure that every unkind look, every ungracious word, every ungentle action, will come thronging back upon thy memory, and knocking dolefully at thy soul, be sure that thou wilt lie down sorrowing and repentant on the grave, and utter the unheard groan, and pour the unavailing tear, more deep, more bitter, because un- heard and unavailing. SELF HELPS. 32 1 Self Phelps. Fight your own battles — ask no favors. You will succeed a thousand times better than one who is always beseeching patronage. A young man wrote Dr. Prime for advice about the way to get an education. Said the doctor : " The way of the world now is for you to look about and see who will help you to get it. That is not the right way. Look about and see what you can do to help yourself. Grind your own axe. Support your- self by honorable industry, and earn your bread while you improve the odds and ends of time in study. When you get something ahead, use it to support your- self while you learn. Ten thousand men are now serving their generation with usefulness and honor who never asked anybody to grind an axe for them." Many are asking how boys and girls can be en- couraged to begin and complete a course of study. One suggests the founding of scholarships. Another, the obtaining of State aid. But why cannot young men, and young women too, earn for themselves their education ! Says a leading educator: "We have tried it, and with success. Some of the very best students we have had have in large part paid their way by their own exertions. "Give a boy a practicable way to help himself, and if he is worthy to succeed, he will succeed, and learn self-reliance in the process. The young man with but a vague desire to know, needs encouragement to start. 21 32 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. When he has begun, his longing to know more will be incentive enough for perseverance. Direct pecuniary aid I do not favor ; a scheme to aid young men to help themselves I most heartily endorse, and believe that in it lies the hope for a better educated laity, aud a more effective ministry." If you are ever to be anything you must make a beginning ; and you must make it yourself. The world is getting too practical to help drones, and push them along, when there is a busy hive of workers who, if anything, live too fast. You must lift up your own feet, and if you have a pair of clogs on which clatter about your heels, they will soon be worn off and left behind in the dusty pathway. Mark out the line which you prefer; let truth be the object-glass — honesty the surveying chain; and eminence the level with which you lay out your field ; and thus prepared, with pru- dence on one arm and perseverance on the other, you need fear no obstacle. Do not be afraid to take the first step. Boldness will beget assurance and the first step will, bring you so much nearer the second. But if your first step should break down, try again. It will be surer and safer by the trial. Besides, if you never move, you will never know your own power. A man standing still and declaring his inability to walk, without making the effort, would be a general laughing- stock ; and so, morally, is the man, in our opinion, who will not test his own moral and intellectual power ; and then gravely informs us that he has " no genius," or " no talent," or " no capacity." A man with seeing SELF HELPS. 323 eyes keeping them shut, and complaining that he can- not see, is the trumpeter of his own imbecility. Every human being has a character of his own, which he is not to change or mould into that of an- other, but to develop and exalt into the highest form of which he is capable. He has duties which no one else can perform, an influence which no one else can wield, and a conscience with which nothing else must conflict. Nothing is more fatal to strength of mind than to part with our individuality, or to try to fashion ourselves upon another's model. Self-reliance is per- fectly compatible with humanity. The more we hon- estly feel our deficiencies,- the more necessity do we find for personal efforts. We can do for ourselves what no other person can do for us, and if we rever- ence our moral natures, and use all external influence as a means of quickening our internal energy, strengthening our faculties, and developing the best that is in us, society will have fulfilled her true end for us, in exalting the individual nature which she too often depresses. Don't be whining about not having a fair chance. Throw a sensible man out of a window and he'll fall on his feet, and ask the nearest way to his work. The more you have to begin with, the less you will have in the end. Money you earn yourself is much brighter than any you get out of dead men's bags. A scant breakfast in the morning of life whets the appetite for a feast later in the day. He who has tasted a sour apple will have the more relish for a sweet one. Your present want will make future prosperity all the 324 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. sweeter. Eighteenpence has set up many a peddler in business, and he. has turned it over until he has kept his carriage. As for the place you are cast in, don't find fault with that; you need not be a horse because you were born in a stable. If a bull tossed a man of metal sky-high, he would drop down into a good place. A hard-working young man with his wits about him will make money while others will do nothing but lose it. There is nothing which so adds to the treasures of the mind and increases its power as its own thinking. Learn to think for yourself. It is all very well to hear and to read the wisdom of others. But one should not let this take the place of his own thought. Many persons are like cisterns, they are good to hold the thoughts of others. But when the time comes that they are forced to rely on themselves, they have no power to do so. The outside supply is cut off and the cistern runs dry. But if one, like the river, is con- stantly fed by his own springs, then, as the learning of others comes to him, it unites with his own waters and , the stream widens and deepens. The only cure for indolence is work; the only cure for selfishness is sacrifice ; the only cure for unbelief is to shake off the ague of doubt by doing Christ's bid- ding ; the only cure for timidity is to plunge into some dreaded duty before the chill comes on. ^Esop tells us of a countryman who was carelessly driving his wagon along a miry lane, when his wheels stuck so deep in the clay that the horses came to a stand-still. Upon this the man, without making the least effort of his own, began to call upon Hercules to come and SELF HELPS. 325 help him out of his trouble. But Hercules bade him lay his shoulder to the wheel, assuring him that heaven only aided those who endeavored to help themselves. It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard if we do not strive as well as pray. The child learns to walk by walking, so you must learn to live nobly only by acting nobly on all occasions. As he who practices in shallow waters will not learn to swim nor have strength to breast the wave, so, if you practice only in avoiding trials, your heart will never have strength for the greater troubles. Your life must be a contest with self and evil. In this you must be the victor or go down. There is a fixed connection between what a man admires and what he is ; and remembering this great principle, you can decide for yourselves whether you are advancing in character, or retrograding, by com- paring the objects of your admiration in the past with those in the present. There is scarcely anything of greater importance to a young man than that he should acquire early the habit of regular application to some pursuit. Many persons who are not of an indolent nature live on, from day to day, from month to month, from year to year, without accomplishing anything worth while. They wonder that others are successful and they are not ; that others progress and they remain stationary. The difficulty with them is that although they are not particularly averse to labor, they have never learnt how to work to advantage. They have never formed the habit of regular, systematic application. Desultory 326 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. and merely impulsive efforts are attended by very in- sufficient and unsatisfactory results. The first requisite is to know what you want to accomplish. Have some purpose — some plan. Then see to it that the sun does not set on a day in which something has not been done to carry forward that plan — to promote that purpose. Have, so far as possible, regular hours of work, and let no light interruption interfere with them. If you take a day's recreation, be sure that on the morrow you promptly resume your work, and give to it the benefit of refreshed strength and renewed vigor. At the end of every week, regularly review your work. Consider just how much you have accom- plished. If you are satisfied with what you have done, it will bring to you a feeling of repose and content. If you find you should have done more, then make sure that the coming week shall show an improvement on the past. Finally, let nothing — no matter what — daunt or discourage you. Glory in a resolute and in- vincible will! If all the young men now coming on the stage would scrupulously observe these instructions, what an increase of success and of happiness there would be! SELF-EDUCATION. 327 Self Gdugation. Ideas go booming through the world louder than cannon ; thoughts are mightier than armies. Take care of your minds. If you do not store them with useful information, to quicken and sharpen your intellect by making the most of good books and valuable lessons, your minds will soon become vain, idle, frivolous and good for nothing. Perhaps you have had but little schooling. You have had to begin work early. Then, you must teach yourself. You must be your own master, and your own scholar — a self-educator ; and history furnishes so many encouraging examples of self-made men, that you have nothing to fear. You may become a great statesman, like Franklin ; a great poet, like Burns; a great inventor, like Stephenson; a great discoverer, like Livingston; a great scholar, like Burritt; only, take care of your minds. Many of the greatest thinkers and most useful men are not college bred. Education is not learning; it is the exercise and development of the powers of the mind. There are two great methods by which this end may be accomplished; it may be done in the halls of learning; it is more often done in the conflicts of life. Self-culture is self-education ; and, with few ex- ceptions, the great men of America, if not of the world, have been self-made men. And moreover, if 328 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. we do not educate ourselves aright, other persons, an J other influences, will not fail to educate us wrong, for whether we attend to it or not, the educating process must go on. These self-taught men are generally those whose situation in life renders it difficult for them to gain access to our halls of learning, but who, determined to rise from their humble sphere, have, by arduous toil and persevering research, gradually elevated them- selves in the scale of intelligence, and gained honorable niches in the temple of Science. It is to examples so rare that fame points proudly. Theirs are the names most often heard in the blasts of .her "silver bugle." Happy it is for them that the doors of a university have been closed against them ; by being obliged to depend upon their own strength they have learned a lesson of self-reliance which they can never forget. Self-culture has called forth the hidden energies of the soul, and fitted its votaries to become the pillars and bulwarks of society. It has taught them that man is not a " leaning willow," but a being " noble in reason and infinite in faculties:" that he must not rely wholly on foreign aid, but must task his own powers, and be able fully to measure his own abilities. This resolute spirit, though latent, can, when fanned into a flame, lead him through every trying emergency, and teach him to remove obstacle after obstacle, till the path lies open to the goal of his ambition, the proudest pinnacle of science. Philosophers have racked their wit and wisdom to distinguish man from " other animals " by some single SELF-EDUCATION. 329 and infallible mark. But to us it seems sufficient to say, man is a being- capable of self-culture. This power at once separates him from the lower orders, and makes him akin to higher existences ; while its exercise brings him more and more on a level with the angels, than which he was originally created but little lower. Thus, while the simple possession of this faculty' renders man noble, its full cultivation and development raises him still higher in the scale of being. As in no country are there greater opportuni- ties for self-culture than in our own, so in no country are there higher motives to persuade us to improve them. Drudgery is the school of life with stern duty pre- siding as the master. It is here that the mind is trained to clearer perception and wider views. Laborious training is as much necessary for the development of the mind as of the body. Such training gives the mind solid, lasting strength, whereby it is enabled to bear heavy burdens. Here, too, the mind is taught to labor with skill ; as the laborer, in handling heavy boxes and barrels, soon learns by experience how to " take hold " of his burden, so here the mind soon learns to grasp and grapple with a proposition in such a way that it readily yields to the skilled force brought to bear upon it. Here the mind comes to perceive its own powers, to know what it can and cannot do ; and by sufficient training it is capable of attaining almost anything. It is the scholar who has spent years of weary toil in his study who can see to the bottom of a proposition at a glance. Do you wish to produce 32>0 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. thoughts that shall carry with them the force of the heavy boulder rushing down from its place on the mountain crag? Then train well your mind in the school of drudgery. Do you wish to frame sentences so beautiful, so grand, so moving that they will set men's- souls on fire? Then be willing to toil over words until the head aches of weariness. It is in this school that the heart is trained. One of the grandest lessons ever learned in this life is to "learn to labor and to wait." There is no way in which this lesson can be so well learned as by laboring and waiting ; do the hard work of life and look and hope for better things. A dull axe never loves grindstones, but a keen workman does; and he puts his tools on them in order that they may be sharp. And men do not like grind- ing; but they are dull for purposes which God designs to work out with them, and therefore he is grinding them. There is no school like God's large school-house. And there are no school-days to compare with the three- score and ten years in which we move to and fro about this school-house of our Father, with our books not slung over our shoulder, but carried in the heart. Ex- perience is the Lord's school, and they who are taught by him usually learn by the mistakes they make that they have no wisdom, and by the slips and falls they meet with that they have no strength. Every person has two educations — one which he receives from others, and one, more important, which he gives himself. There is no kind of knowledge SELF-EDUCATION. 33 1 which, in the hands of the diligent and skilful, will not turn to account. Honey exudes from all flowers, the bitter not excepted ; and the bee knows how to ex- tract it. He who has not mastered himself, by whom can he not be overcome ? Begin the education of the heart, not with the cultivation of noble propensities, but with the cutting away of those that are evil. When once the noxious herbs are withered and rooted out, then the more noble plants, strong in themselves, will shoot upwards. The virtues, like the body, become strong and healthy more by labor than nourishment. Begin early in life to collect libraries of your own. Begin, if necessary, with a single book ; and when you find or hear of any first-rate book, obtain it if you can. After a while get another, as you are able, and be sure to read it. In this way, when you are men, you will have good libraries in your heads as well as on your shelves. We advise all young people to acquire in early life the habit of using good language, both in speaking and writing, and also to abandon the use of slang words and phrases. The longer they live, the more difficult the acquisition of good language will be, and if the golden age of youth — the proper time for the acquisition of language — be passed in its abuse, the unfortunate victim of neglected education .is very pro- bably doomed to talk slang for life. Money is not necessary to procure this education. Every man has it in his power. He has merely to use the language 332 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. which he reads, instead of the slang which he hears ; to form his taste from the best speakers and poets of the country ; to treasure up choice phrases in his memory, and habituate himself to their use, avdiding at the same time that pedantic precision and bombast which show rather the weakness of vain ambition than the polish of an educated mind. A " liberal education " is a capital thing, and the thousands of young men who are now honored with the title of A. B. are to be congratulated upon the good fortune which has permitted them to acquire the mental discipline resulting from a four-years' course of academic study. But these young men must not make the mistake of supposing that this discipline is an all-sufficient preparation for the higher callings of life. That is, the young men who propose to enter any of the branches of professional life, for instance, must not imagine that the fact of their having a college education will permit them to leap to the top rung of the ladder at once. The discipline they have is valuable, but chiefly so as a basis for the acquirement of practical knowledge, without which success is im- possible. By practical knowledge we mean acquaint- ance with the minutiae or little details which go to make up all occupations. Such knowledge a college education cannot give, and is not intended to give. It is only to be acquired by patient application. The discipline of the college curriculum must be supple- mented by another kind of discipline, namely, the dis- cipline of drudgery. No one, however largely en- THE BEST BOOKS,. Z^X dowed with mental power, can be exempted from the necessity of acquiring this discipline. It is far more essential to success than the discipline furnished by a college course. - S i <5he Besju Booi^s. Life is far too short to read every attractive book. Could we present a list of good books which it would benefit every young person to read, not one tenth of the number could be read. Our advice would be, trust to the judgment of your friends, who are older and have wider knowledge. Never spend your time in reading a book concerning which you know nothing favorable. Never read any book whose moral tone is objectionable. Good books are better friends than good men. A good book faces you with its opinions in black and white, while a good man sometimes, however unwit- tingly, vilifies and vilipends you at your back. The influence of true literature is always ennobling. Reed, in his beautiful work on " English Literature," defines literature to be whatever commends itself to the heart and mind, of mankind at large. Such are the works of Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Milton, Bunyan, Scott, Goethe, Dickens, Tennyson, Longfellow, and many .other writers, who will doubtless be read and admired all over the world to the end of time. How it strengthens our love for our fellow-man to know that in every land and in every clime, minds and hearts 334 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. are so much alike that they respond in unison to the master touch of genius! How it thrills us in reading, to find our own thoughts suddenly brought before us by some great writer, clothed in such words as we could never utter ! But we know that we are akin to him, for does not heart answer to heart, and mind to mind, as we see before us a transcript of our own thoughts? — thoughts which may have been so vague and fleeting as to elude farther search for them — but here they are; we have found them at last, clothed in enduring beauty, and made palpable by the genius of another. Who can read standard literature, who can hold converse with the great writers without feeling his better nature ennobled and strengthened? How we learn to love the authors through their books — to feel an interest in all that concerned their every-day lives — and, how earnestly we hope to meet them and spend whole days in their company in the better land! Books are good or bad, according to the effect which they have upon the minds of the -readers. Especially is this true of works of fiction. Too much light literature is not good for anyone, but a judicious number of well selected novels, properly read, will prove a source of both instruction and entertainment. The tales of Walter Scott, for instance, will kindle the imagination and fire the heart with a love of the beau- tiful in nature and the good and true among mankind. Printers and publishers of namby-pamby books, of evil and outrageous works, of flashy novels, of "Pirates' Own Books," of sensational works of all kinds, and THE BEST BOOKS. 335 the spawn of " Sunday " good-Lord-and-good-devil periodicals, are sending out thousands if not millions of enticing sheets, full of gaudy, attractive, deceptive pictures, in whole or in half sheets, with stories ending in such a way as to entrap the young and ignorant to send for future numbers, bating them on (like fish near the hook) to obtain one mawkish, miserable, devilish thine after another. Some of these books or periodicals profess great good, and really have some pure and sensible read- ing, yet on the whole are most injurious and de- structive. But this presence of some proper and even whole- some matter is where the evil lies. One dead fly spoils the ointment. Who would give his child a stick of candy in which was hid a grain of deadly poison? Who will buy for his family a sack of flour in which lies concealed a dose of arsenic? And just $o danger- ous, yet so disguised is many a book, magazine, or paper wherein is some matter good enough in itself, but yet a decoy for some picture, story, anecdote, hint or advertisement that is demoralizing, indecent, dishonest, or of a debasing and injurious tendency. Some parents and guardians are criminally care- less in this respect. They permit children to receive, buy and send for corrupting yet enticing and specious printed matter, which the enemy of all good and his dupes and emissaries issue, secretly, or more or less openly. Their cunning is diabolical, and they injure many young men and maidens of the best families. " If," said the late Daniel Webster to a friend, 33^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. " religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, and the people do not become religious, I do not know what is to become of us as a nation." And the thought is one to cause solemn reflection on the part of every patriot and Christian. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and his word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendency; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the gospel is not felt through the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and drunkenness will reign without mitigation or end. The flooding of the land with dime novels and with infamous periodicals of the cheaper and coarser kind acts like (tree's enchantment on wide circles of youth. No doubt, it is a frequent incitement to crime, and, on the whole, is one of the most; monstrous of the un- disguised evils in the modern days of cheap printing. Let a boy learn that some publications are not fit to be handled with the tongs. Let parents exclude from the family mansion the frogs and vipers that swarm forth from the oozy marshes of the Satanic press. . Let the dull boy make the acquaintance of Cooper, Scott, Defoe and "Pilgrim's Progress" — a book by no means outgrown. Personally I must confess great indebted- ness to the "Rollo" books, the "Jonas" books and "The Young Christian." Over every library-case should stand the words "Avoid rubbish." A second-rate book, however good, THE BEST BOOKS. 2)Z7 is a mischief if it occupies the time we ought to devote to a first-rate. In regard to reading, as well as to much else, there is deep wisdom in a German proverb which asserts that the better is a great enemy of the best. To the "Poor Clerk," muscle is cheap, brains are dear. Men make a mistake in supposing they have a natural, inalienable right to "enjoyment and pleasure in this life," or to friends. You must earn them. If you play billiards or smoke, stop it for a week or two, and with the savings buy Samuel Smiles' "Self Help," or, a more readable book, perhaps, but less profitable to you, Mathews' " Getting on in the World," and, after you have read either or both, get Smiles' "Thrift," Then if possible, get "The Royal Path of Life,'.' and make it your every-day companion. Another book that every young man should possess is called " The Business Man's Bible." The proverbs of Solomon are the best guide to wisdom in business matters that can be found. The home ought no more to be with- out a library than without a dining-room and kitchen. This does not require capital, only time and forecast ; there are now cheap editions of the best books. At first buy only books that you want immediately to read. Reference books are an exception; these are the foundations of a good library. Exercise a choice in editions; the' lowest priced are not always the cheapest. Have a place for your library. A good book, whether, a novel or not, is one that leaves you farther on than when ^you took it up. If when you drop it, it drops you down in the. same old spot, with no finer outlook, no cleared vision; no 22 33^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. stimulated desires for that which is better and higher,, it is in no sense a good book. Next to traveling and seeing new scenes and peo- ples and customs for oneself, we know of no better diversion, or one more healthful and recuperating to the mind and heart, than the reading of some of the excellent books of travel which some of those more fortunate people who have travelled with keen obser- vation have written for us. A multitude of such books, worthy of every one's attention, have been given to the world. Q5iw, Wisdom and ^umoi^. What a dull, plodding, trampling, clanking world the ordinary intercourse of society would be without wit to enliven and brighten it ! When two men meet they seem to be kept at bay through the estranging effects of absence, until some sportive sally opens their hearts to each other. Nor does anything spread cheer- fulness so rapidly over a whole party or assemblage of people, however large. Reason expands the soul of the philosopher, imagination glorifies the poet, and breathes a breath of spring through the young and genial; but if we take into account the numberless glances and gleams whereby wit lightens our every day, hardly any power ministers so bountifully to the innocent pleasures of mankind. Speaking of wit, Hannah . More remarks : " A woman who possesses this quality has received a most ■ WIT, WISDOM AND HUMOR. 339 dangerous present, perhaps not less so than beauty itself; especially if it be not sheathed in a temper peculiarly inoffensive, chastened by a most correct judgment, and restrained by more prudence than falls to the common lot. But those who actually possess this rare talent, cannot be too abstinent in the use of it. It often makes admirers, but it never makes. friends." The meaning of an extraordinary man is, that he is eight men, not one man ; that he has as much wit as if he had no sense, and as much sense as if he had no wit; that his conduct is as judicious as if he were the dullest of human beings, and his imagination as brilliant as if he were irretrievably ruined. But when wit is combined with sense and information ; when it is softened by benevolence, and restrained by strong principle ; when it is in the hands of a man who can use it and despise it, who can be witty and something much better than witty, who loves honor, justice, decency, good-nature, morality and religion ten thousand times better than wit; — wit is then a beauti- ful part of our nature. There is no more interesting spectacle than to see the effects of wit upon the different characters of men ; than to observe it expanding caution, relaxing dignity, unfreezing coldness — teaching age and care and pain to smile, extorting reluctant gleams of pleasure from ~i_ melancholy, and charming even the pangs of grief. It is pleasant to observe how it penetrates through • the coldness and awkwardness of society, gradually bringing men nearer together, and, like the combined force of wine and oil, giving every man a glad heart and 34-0 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. a shining countenance. Genuine and innocent wit like this is surely the flavor of the mind! Man could direct his ways by plain reason, and support his life by tasteless food ; but God has given us wit, and flavor, and laughter, arid perfumes, to enliven the days of man's pilgrimage, and to "charm his painful steps over the burning marl." Stearne says: "I live in a constant endeavor to fence against the infirmities of ill-health, and other evils of life, by mirth. I am persuaded that every time a man smiles — but much more so when he laughs — it adds something to this fragment of life." The humorous man usually enjoys a sound body and lives a long life. "Laugh and grow fat" is genuine and practical philosophy. Some people have no appreciation of humor. We say they are not quick-witted. We have all read about the man who heard his friend's joke in perfect soberness, and half an hour later, when the subject was forgotten and the company were engaged in serious conversation, he burst out in uncontrollable laughter, to the surprise and annoyance of those about him. How naturally these qualities — wit, wisdom and humor, — fit each other, and with the presence of one we naturally expect the . other. Wisdom is counted above rubies, and while it may not contribute so largely to immediate pleasure as wit, it is far more abiding and durable, as well as more useful. Good humor tempers and strengthens the value of the others. The following sarcastic rules for behavior are said WIT, WISDOM AND HUMOR.- 34I by Goldsmith to have been drawn up by an indignant philosopher : — 1. " If you be a rich man, you may enter the room with three loud hems, march deliberately up to the chimney, and turn your back to the fire. 2. " If you be a poor man, I would advise you to shrink into the room as fast as you can, and place yourself, as usual, upon a corner of a chair, in a re- mote corner. 3. " If you be young, and live with an old man, I would advise you not to like gravy. I was disin- herited myself for liking gravy." A friend of Dean Swift's one day sent him a tur- bot as a present, by a servant lad who had frequently been on similar errands but had never received any- thing from the dean for his trouble. Having gained admission, he opened the study door and, putting down the fish on the floor, cried out rudely, " Master has sent you a turbot!" " Young man," said the dean, rising from his easy- chair, " is that the way you deliver a message ? Let me teach you better manners. Sit down in my chair, we will change places, and I will show you how to be- have in future." The boy sat down, and the dean going out, came up to the door and, making a low bow, said, " Sir, mas- ter presents his kind compliments, hopes you are well and requests your acceptance of a small present." " Does he ?" replied the boy. " Return him my best thanks, and there's half a crown for yourself." 3/J-2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. The dean thus caught in his own trap, laughed heartily, and gave the boy a crown for his ready wit. Dr. Malcom, in his work on Persia, says : " The celebrated Aboo Yusuph, who was Judge of Bagdad in the reign of Caliph Hadee, was a very remarkable in- stance of that humility which distinguishes true wisdom. It is related of this judge that on one occasion, after a pa- tient investigation of facts, he declared that his knowl- edge was not competent to decide upon the case before him. " Pray do you expect," said a pert courtier, who heard this declaration, " that the Caliph is to pay for your ignorance !" " I do not," was the mild re- ply ; "the Caliph pays me, and well, for what I do know ; if he were to attempt to pay me for what I do not know, the treasures of this Empire would not suffice." A drunkard once reeled up to him with the remark, " Mr. Whitefield, I am one of your converts." " I think it very likely," was the reply ; " for I am sure you are none of God's." A rather simple young man, conceited and censo- rious, while talking to a young lady at a party, pointed towards a couple that he supposed to be in an adjoining room, and said, "Just look at that conceited young prig ! Isn't it perfectly absurd for such boys to go into society ?" " Why," exclaimed his companion, " that isn't a door ; it's a mirror." "Will you have some strawberries ? " asked a lady of a guest. " Yes, madam, yes. I eat strawberries with enthusiasm." " Do tell ? well, we haven't anything WIT, WISDOM AND HUMOR. . 343 but cream and sugar for 'em this evening," said the matter-of-fact hostess. An old Scotch woman, who had no relish for modern' church music, was expressing her dislike of the singing in her own church one day, when a neighbor said, " Why, that was a very old anthem. David sang that anthem to Saul." To this she replied, " Weel, weel, I noo for the first time understand why Saul threw his javelin at David when the lad sang for him." Francis First being desirous to raise one of the most learned men of the times to the highest dignities of the church, asked him if he was of noble descent. "Your majesty," answered the abbot, "there were three brothers in Noah's ark, but I cannot tell positively from which of them I am descended." He obtained the post. Two young men out riding were passing a farm- house where a farmer was trying to harness a mule. "Won't he draw?" said one of the horsemen. "Of course he will," said the farmer; "he draws the attention of every fool that passes." A gentleman meeting one of his friends who was insolvent, expressed great concern for his embarrass- ment. " You are mistaken, my dear sir," was the reply; "it is not I — it is my creditors who are em- barrassed." A little girl once said that she would be very glad to go to heaven, because they had plenty of preserves there. On being cross-examined, she took down her catechism, and triumphantly read, "Why ought the 344 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. saints to love God? " "Because he makes, preserves and keeps them." "Are you lost, my little fellow?" asked a gentle- man of a four-year-old boy one day, who was crying for his mother. " No, sir ;" sobbed the miniature man, "but my mother is." "You don't know how it pains me to punish you," said the teacher. " I guess there's the most pain at my end of the stick," replied the boy, feelingly; "'tany rate I'd be willing to swap." A short time ago a little urchin in Westminster saw a shilling lying on the pavement. He no sooner picked it up than it was claimed by a carman. " Your shilling hadn't got a hole in it ? " said the boy stoutly. "Yes, it has," said the rogue of a carman. "Then this 'un aint," replied the boy, walking off triumphantly. Open your mouth and purse cautiously, and your stock of wealth and reputation shall, at least in repute, be great. He who does not look out for himself knows not the world. He who does not look into himself knows not men. It is not the height to which men are ad- vanced that makes them giddy, but the contempt with which they look down on those below them. The winter's frost must rend the burr of the nut before the nut is seen. So adversity tempers the human heart to discover its real worth. It is all very well to be a promising youth, but the hard part is to keep your promise in after-life. The earnestness of life is the only passport to the satisfac- tion of life. To teach one who has tio curiosity to learn, is to sow a field without plowing it. atoms. 345 He that can, please nobody is not so much to be pitied as he that nobody can please. The pretty face of a woman is like a clock's, not much account unless there are good works back of it. A sociable man is one who, when he has ten minutes to spare, goes and bothers somebody who hasn't. The lady who fell back on her dignity came near breaking it. The maple tree is an emblem of Christian forbearance. The more it is bored the more sweetness it exudes. Of how much importance is an atom. It is the "last feather " that breaks the camel's back, and so, an atom may make or mar a lifetime. Compare our life with that of an insect. A little ant crawls upon the paper before me. A breath blows it away and I * see it no more. But what becomes of it ? It is lodged upon the ground-, or some projection above the ground, and it again takes up its active march. Whither is it going? From whence did it come? What must be the infinite love of that great Creator who can call into being, and endow with motive power and instinctive wisdom, a myriad of such little atoms, moving about, having a definite object, pursuing that object persist- ently, and at last laying down the life, small though it be, in the completion of the time allotted by that great Creator. How small is the greatest brain power of man when compared with the power possessed by the .346 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Infinite mind, without whose permission not a hair of your head falls. Insects of various kinds may be seen in the cavities of a grain of sand. Mould is a forest of beautiful trees, with branches, leaves and fruit. Butterflies are feathered. Hairs are hollow tubes. The surface of our bodies is covered with scales like a fish ; a single grain of sand would cover one hundred and fifty of these scales, and yet a scale covers five hundred pores. Through these narrow openings the per- spiration forces itself like water through a sieve. Each drop of stagnant water contains a world of living creatures, swimming with as much liberty as whales in the sea. Each leaf has a colony of insects grazing on it like cows on a meadow. Yes, even the ugliest plant that grows shows some remarkable prop- erty when closely examined. A man weighing one hundred and fifty-four pounds contains one hundred and sixteen pounds of water. In plants the proportion of water sometimes reaches ninety-nine per cent. One side of the body tends to outwalk the other side: with the eyes shut a person invariably walks to the right. At the age of ten years one may expect to live forty-eight years and four months. There are two thousand seven hundred and fifty different lan- guages. The hair of the Chinese has a characteristic odor of musk, which is so persistent that it cannot be concealed by cosmetics, nor can it be destroyed by washing with potash. It has been estimated by the astronomers that atoms. 347 there are one hundred millions of stars now visible through the telescope, which cannot be seen by the unaided eye; and is it not probable that in the regions of infinite space there are countless worlds which man, not even with the assistance of the most powerful magnifying-glasses, will ever behold ? Far beyond the reach of mortal vision they wheel on in their rapid course, unseen save by the eye of omnipotence, or the adoring angels and seraphim around the throne on high. Countless are these worlds ; each doubtless, has its own peculiar orbit, never interfering with the motion of another. The power which placed them there has also appointed their bounds, beyond which they cannot pass. Notwithstanding the seeming insignificance of such trinkets as beads, their history reveals some very curi- ous facts. For example, it shows that the lowest order of men had beads composed of wood and bones, and as the race made progress towards civilization, there was a corresponding change in the style, character and material of the ornaments. Also that there is no evi- dence that the prehistoric races of America had any method of making glass ; yet in the mounds occasional glass beads are found, undoubtedly of Venetian manu- facture, showing some connection between the conti- nents anterior to the time of Amerigo Vespucci. Also that some of the beads found in Egypt and other localities, in connection with mummies, were made of jasper, cornelian and garnet, and no knowledge has been transmitted to us how the hole could have been made through these exceedingly hard stones. 34-8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. It is estimated that there are six thousand kinds of postage stamps in the various countries of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Among them may be found pictures of five emperors, eighteen kings, three queens and a large number of presidents. Some of the stamps bear coats-of-arms, and others such emblems as crowns, keys, anchors, eagles, lions, horses, railway trains and other things. Pieces of linen are in exist- ence which were woven four thousand years ago/ The ancient Egyptians used modern locks with iron keys. The first lifeboat was made in France, in the year 1 777. The first lighthouse in England was built in a.d. 44, during the reign of Claudius. The first printed news- paper appeared in England in the year 1622, during the reign of James First. Newspapers at that time were made up in the form of small quarto pamphlets. Fric- tion-matches were invented in 1829. The first steam- boat in America was made by John Fitch, and ran on the Schuylkill river in 1787, and was pronounced a success. Mr. Fitch was poor and without influential friends, and his schemes were laughed at, and he finally died in obscurity and lies buried at Bardstown, Ky. The first steamboat on the Hudson river passed the city of Hudson, August 17, 1807. The Govern- ment of the United States was established at Wash- ington in August 1800. There are still one thousand six hundred Indians in Massachusetts. The great plague broke out in London, August 22, 1665. In five weeks the deaths reached thirty-eight thousand one hundred and ninety-five. The "Marseillaise Hynmn" was composed in 1792 by Rouget de Lisle. The atoms. 349 earthquake at Lisbon in 1755 killed thirty thousand people. It cost fifty million dollars to build the docks in Liverpool. The first temperance society in this country was organized in Saratoga county, New York, in March, 1808. The Bible has been translated into two hundred and twenty-six languages and dialects, and in the last eighty years one hundred and forty- eight millions of copies have been printed and put in circulation. This does not look as if the book, or the religion which it teaches, were likely to pass from the memory of the world. Rev. S. F. Smith, who wrote " My Country, 'Tis of Thee," is still living in Newton, Mass. He says he wrote the verses on a waste scrap of paper one dismal day in February, 1832, while at Andover Seminary, and "had no inten- tion nor ambition to create anything that should have a national reputation." Hiddenite is the name of a new gem of the emerald class, of a beautiful clear green color, and worth about the same as a diamond. It has been found only in Alexander county, N. C. Flax is a native of Persia. Cotton is a native of India, and was brought to the United States in 1789. Cabbage is a native of the sea-shores of Europe. Indian corn, tobacco and the Irish potato are natives of America, and were never known to the rest of the world until this land was dis- covered. Barley is supposed to be a native of Central Asia, and is the oldest cultivated grain, being the corn mentioned in the Bible. The apple springs from the crab-apple, the pear from the wild pear, a native of ( 35° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Europe and Asia. The peach is a native of Persia,, and belongs to the almond family of trees. Waste nothing, — neither time, money, talent, in- fluence, nor opportunity. Speaking the truth is easier than lying, and you will not then be obliged to retract your statements. Men who flatter persons for their favor will finally slander them for their faults. When rogues get mad at each other, honest men can stand still and accept the truth they tell. Honest poverty is better than wicked wealth. The just find blessings in the humblest lot; but curses will fly as high as a wicked man can climb. Keep well employed, and the hours will move fast enough. What you hate in others cor- rect in yourself. Rule your tongue, or your tongue will rule you. One advantage gained by calamities is, to know how to smypathize with others in the like troubles. One trouble makes us forget a thousand mercies.. Nothing keeps a man from knowledge and wisdom like thinking he has both. That God is in heaven makes death acceptable ; if he were not, life itself would be unendurable. Innocence is a flower which withers when touched, but blooms not again though it be watered with tears. The true way to advance another's virtue is to follow it, and the best means to cry down another's vice is to decline it. As threshing separates wheat from the chaff, so does affliction purify virtue. Who never walks save where he sees men's tracks makes no discoveries. Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not. It is one of the worst of errors to ATOMS. 351 suppose that there is any other path of safety except that of duty. The darkest hour in the history of any young man is when he sits down to study how to get money without honestly earning it. If you talk much, beware of those who listen atten- tively. He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper: he is more excellent who can suit his temper to circumstances. Obstinacy is the heroism of little minds. Vice stings in pleasure, but virtue consoles in pain. Man "cannot become perfect in a hundred years; but he can become corrupt in less than a day. Doc- trines are of use only as they are practiced ; men may go to perdition with their heads full of truth. Judge not of a ship as she lies on the stocks. One door never shuts, but another opens. He who keeps off the ice will not slip through. Every sprat nowa- days fancies itself a herring. Better slip with foot than tongue. Exercise is the best fire for cold limbs. Shrouds have no pockets. Love not the decanter, lest you gallop to poverty. Much laughter, little wit. A calm hour with God is worth a lifetime with^ man. Never bet even a farthing cake. Grumbling makes the loaf no larger. He lives longest who is awake most hours. No gains without pains. Such as ye give, such shall ye get. Linseys, paid for, keep out cold, silks on credit soon grow old. Overreachers overreach themselves. 35 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. (STIFLES. Trifles are the hinges of destiny. If trifles are facts, they cease to be trivial ; and in these stirring times, when our allotted leisure is becom- ing so infinitesimally small, the terse and the epigram- matic are to be preferred to the diffuse and discursive in our reading. It would be temerity to appropriate to our humble essays the witty analysis of a celebrated author, and pretend that they "have profundity without obscurity, perspicuity without prolixity, orna- ment without glare, terseness without barrenness, penetration without subtlety, comprehensiveness with- out digression." Odd in their plan and arrangement, they contain many odd sayings and selections, facts and fancies from odd and out-of-the-way authors, and are fitted for odd half-hours. The publication of a book seems a trivial occur- rence ; but who can tell the influence, either for weal or woe, which it may exert ? Two centuries ago, within the walls of a prison, was written the immortal Pil- grim's Progress, which now goes forth by millions to every quarter of the globe, leading multitudes to the cross of Christ. A learned writer has said, " There is nothing on earth so small that it may not produce great things." Planets govern not the soul, nor guide the destinies of man : But trifles lighter than straw are levers in the building up of character. TRIFLES. 353 If we had eyes adapted to the sight, we could see, on looking into the smallest seed, the future flower or tree inclosed in it. God will look into our feelings and motives as into seeds ; by those embryos of action he will infallibly determine what we are, and will show what we should have been, had there been scope and stage for their development and maturity. Nothing will be made light of. The very dust of the balances shall be taken into account. It is in the moral world as it is in the natural, where every substance weighs something ; though we speak of imponderable bodies, yet nature knows nothing of positive levity ; and were men possessed of the necessary scales, the requisite instrument, we should find the same holds true in the moral world. Nothing is insignificant on which sin has breathed the breath of hell ; everything is impor- tant in which holiness has impressed itself in the painted characters. However unimportant now in the estimation of men, yet, when placed in the light of the divine countenance, like the atom in the sun's rays, it shall be deserving attention ; and as the minutest molecule of matter contains all the primordial elements of a world, so the least atom of this mind shall be found to include in it the essential elements of heaven. Little words, not eloquent speeches nor sermons ; little deeds, not miracles nor battles, nor one great act or mighty martyrdom, make up the true Christian life. The little constant sunbeam, not the lightning ; the waters of Shiloh, " that go softly " on their meek mission of refreshment, not the waters of the river 23 354 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. "great and mighty," rushing down in torrents with noise and force, are the true symbols of a holy life. The avoidance of little evils, little sins, little inconsistencies, little weaknesses, little follies, little indiscretions and imprudences, little foibles, and in- dulgences of self and of the flesh, little acts of indolence, of indecision, or slovenliness, or cowardice, little equivocations or aberrations from high integrity, little bits of worldliness and gaiety, little indifferences to the feelings or wishes of others, little outbreaks of temper, crossness, selfishness and vanity; the avoid- ance of such little things as these goes far to make up at least the negative beauty of a holy life. And then attention to the little duties of the day and hour, in public transactions or private dealings or family arrangements ; to the little words and tones; little benevolences or forbearances or tendernesses ; little self-denials and self-restraints; little plans of quiet kindness and thoughtful consideration for others ; punctuality and method, and true aim, in the ordering of each day — these are the active developments of a holy life, the rich and divine mosaics of which it is composed. The preciousness of little things was never more beautifully expressed than in the following: "Little words are the sweetest to hear; little charities fly the farthest, and stay the longest on the wing; little lakes are the stillest ; little hearts are the fullest ; little farms are the best tilled ; little books are the most read, and little songs are the most loved." All sufferings, all blessings, all ordinances, all TRIFLES. 355 graces, all common gifts — nay, our very falls, yea, Satan himself, with all his instruments — as over-mas- tered and ruled by God, have this injunction upon them, to further God's intendment to us, and a prohi- bition to do us no harm. Agustus taxed the world for civil ends ; but God's providence used this as a means for Christ to be born at Bethlehem. Ahasuerus could not sleep, and there- fore calls for the chronicles, the reading of which occa- sioned the Jews' delivery. God often disposeth little occasions to great purposes; and by those very ways, proud men have gone about to withstand God's coun- sels, they have fulfilled them. There are chords in the human heart, strange vary- ing strings, which are only struck by accident ; which will remain mute and senseless to appeals the most passionate and earnest, and respond at last to the slightest casual touch. In the most insensible or childish minds there is some train of reflection which art can seldom lead, or skill assist, but which will reveal itself, as great truths have done, by chance, and when the discoverer has the plainest and simplest end in view. Springing from the faintest causes, grand results have often shown that there is power in trifles. Almost all the great discoveries which have pre- eminently distinguished the late centuries have been the result, not so much of profound research as of ac- cident. For instance/the simple circumstances which led to the discovery of the law of gravitation. A hundred years later, in an humble cottage in 356 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Scotland, a little boy sat by his mother's kitchen fire. In an attitude of deepest attention he gazed at the tea-kettle, singing on the hearth. What did he see in the misty wreaths of steam, which ever and anon es- caped from the spout, or slowly lifted the lid of the kettle? The expansive — the propelling power of steam ! And the grand idea enters his mind of apply- ing this powerful agent to machinery. Little did his mother dream when she chided her son for what she considered a foolish habit, that he was making a great discovery, for which he would not only receive a proud title, but the entire thanks of a grateful world ; for the improvement in the steam engine, which this discovery enabled Watt to make, has saved an amount of labor which no mathematician can esti- mate. Again we say, despise not small beginnings, nor look with supercilious contempt upon everything which appears insignificant and trifling. Trifles are not so plenty in this world as many of us imagine. A philosopher has observed that wars, involving mischief to great nations, have arisen from a ministerial dispatch being written in a fit of indigestion ! When Alexander Pope received his present of Turkey figs, he little thought that a twig from the basket was to be the means of introducing the weeping willow into England and America. So is this world made up of and governed by trifles, at first too small to attract notice ; and the wise man will not only cultivate sharp eyes, but attentive habits, making the most and the best of everything. " It is TRIFLES. 357 not," said Plutarch, "in the most distinguished exploits that men's virtues or vices may be best discovered, but frequently an action of small note, a short saying, or a jest, that distinguishes a person's real character more than the greatest battles or the most important actions." Even "genius loves to nestle in strange places," and confers its meeds of honor in the most obscure pathways. The very humblest households have fre- quently been the nurseries of the most gifted minds. We see Galileo soliciting the loan of a few shillings with which to purchase the materials for constructing his telescope, an instrument which has brought thou- sands of stars, never before seen, within the sphere of mortal vision — thus throwing a flood of effulgence on the sublime science of astronomy. The great moments of life are but moments like the others. Your doom is spoken in a word or two. A single look from the eyes, a mere pressure of the hand, may decide it ; or of the lips, though they can- not speak. We are not only pleased but turned by a feather. The history of a man is a calendar of straws. " If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter," said Pascal, in his brilliant way, "Antony might have kept the world." Trifles we should let, not plague us only, but also gratify us ; we should seize not their poison-bags only, but their honey-bags also. Yet, as Goldsmith says, those who place their affections at first on trifles for amusement, will find those trifles become at last their most serious concerns. Beauty and death make each other seem purer and lovelier, like snow and moon- 35^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. light. Let your wit be your friend, your mind your companion, and your tongue your servant. It is a solemn thought with the middle-aged, that life's last busi- ness is begun in earnest. He who labors for mankind, without a care for himself, has already begun his im- mortality. The truths that we least wish to hear are those which it is most to our advantage to know. Those who think that money will do anything may be suspected of doing anything for money. A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things, but can not receive great ones. Honesty, energy and enterprise make men honored on earth, glorious in their graves and immortal in heaven. What is the difference between hope and desire ? Desire is a tree in leaf, hope is a tree in flower, and enjoyment is a tree in fruit. Looking up so high, worshiping so silently, we tramp out the hearts of flowers that lift their bright heads for us and die alone. It is easy enough to find plenty of men who think the world owes them a living, but hard to find a chap who is willing to own up that he has collected the debt in full. Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy. When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appear- ance may be all of a piece ; but it is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it. The fortunate circumstances of our lives are generally found at last to be of our own producing. Fortunes made in no time are like shirts made in no time ; it's ten to one if they hang long together. The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness ; to GLIMPSES. 359 an opponent, tolerance : to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you ; to yourself, respect ; to all men, charity. f-H3*sH+-^ Glimpses. God lets us catch a glimpse now and then of some of the wonderful capabilities of the human mind in a state of development unknown to this world. A man in an insane asylum has been discovered who can read a newspaper bottom-side up or sideways as readily as otherwise. In fact it can be whirled around in front of him and he still reads any article that is designated. Another man, an idiot, can tell the exact time of the day or night, even when suddenly waked from a sound sleep. The wonderful musical powers of Blind Tom are well known. Wonderful problems of a scientific or moral character present themselves at times to our view in such a shape that we can just catch a glimpse of their probable solution, but the rest is hidden, and will only be made known when we have passed on beyond this cloudland into the pure sun- shine of God's eternal day. I have met some people who seemed to suppose that they knew everything, and they were great igno- ramuses; they did not know enough to know how lit- tle they really did know. Sir Isaac Newton said, "I am but a child wandering on the shore, where beats 360 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the deep sea, gathering here and there a shell or peb- ble, while the great depths are unexplored." I look up, — star after star beams upon me, some glimmering but faintly ; others through the infinite realms of space pour down glorious streams of radi- ance, fixed stars, planets, suns, worlds upon worlds, innumerable worlds. "How I wonder what you are," the little child says. The astronomer comes as he thinks to know. He can tell you how many miles it is to the moon, and what is its diameter; about its burnt- out volcano ; that it has no atmosphere, that it has no water, that it is a dead planet where no fire glows or winds blow, where nothing lives. A dead planet ! He thinks he knows about it ; he has it all mapped out. He thinks he knows about the sun, its atmos- phere, the spots upon it, the terrific storms that rush over its surface, whose trend is felt even here. He grows eloquent about planets, their belts and rings and satellites, and talks learnedly about gravity. Beyond the Solar System, he will tell you about the Great Bear and the Lesser, the Pleiades, and he thinks he knows; but how little! Ask him how old are these stars? Ask him whether they are inhabited? Ask . • him what is gravity? What moves this stellar host? Ask him where is the centre of the universe and what is its circumference. Before, behind, on the right, on the left, things are broken off. He cannot tell you where they begin. Let us look down. The geologist digs deep, but cannot strike bottom. He can go back many ages, but not to the beginning ; he can tell you the different GLIMPSES. 36I strata of earth until you reach fire ; but how came that fire there ? Whence came the sea ? He will tell you from the condensation of vapor. . Whence came the vapor? He cannot tell you, though he calls him- self a philosopher. Then as to man. The ancients had a motto, " Man know thyself." They spent all their life in the study, and found life too short. Harvey discovered the cir- culation of the blood, how the heart was an engine driving the blood through the arteries ; but did Harvey find out what set it going ? Bell wrote a treatise on the hand, one of the most elaborate ever written ; but can Bell tell me how I can move my fingers ? Can he explain the mysterious telegraphy that flashes from the brain to the extremities. The mechanism of the eye ! Who can tell how the picture is transmitted, how the two pictures cross each other, and make one pic- ture? The brain ! Who can tell about it ? There is something in phrenology, but who knows how much, how little ? Who can tell about the beginning of life, and how it is sustained ? You lay the body on the table, and with the scalpel search for the life ; but even as you search it is gone. What is life? We have not found out yet ; and what is death? We look around us. The smallest flower that blooms, who understands it ? Take the animalcule, mill- ions of which find their home in a drop of water, what naturalist understands it ? A drop of dew, a ray of light, heat, who understands them? Men talk learn- edly of affinity, what is it? What is- an atom ? A whole academy of scientists can be gravelled by a grain 362 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. of sand. All the philosophers gather about a drop of water and they cannot get to the bottom of it. " God's purposes will ripen fast." That is true of some, but he has century plants, and you know not their glory until the century has passed away, and all at once the flower breaks forth in all its beauty, and then you understand the meaning of the flowerless stalk that has stood there so long. You must give God ages to under- stand him. You must wait until eternity ; the clear light of heaven must shine upon the Providences of earth before you can understand what God meant by the dispensations that trouble your heart now. What is the use, some will say, of having these Scriptures if you don't understand them? Do you understand digestion? Then what is the use of having bread and water? Can you fathom the depths of the sea? And yet you can serenely sail over it. And though you cannot fathom the depths of God's truth, you can sail over it to heaven. Perhaps you don't understand the compass, and why the needle points north and south. They explain it by saying the earth is a great magnet, and, like all other great magnets, has a north and south pole. They tell us further that the opposite poles of magnets attract, and that because of this attraction the needle, which is a magnet, points north and south. Does anybody understand that? I don't, and yet they think they have explained it when they tell you that. Well, if you don't understand it, what is the use of it? You sail by it, and the globe could not be circumnavigated without it. There is GLIMPSES. 363 much you don't understand that is nevertheless very- beautiful and beneficent. There are people who are ready to say that no one can know anything of the infinite beyond, as no- body has been there and ever returned to tell us, and that it is all but dim conjecture. Somebody has been there and come from there. It is true, no man has seen God ; but the only-begotten Son has come forth from the bosom of the Father; and is not the God Man competent to speak? He descended in infinite love to the depths, and he has made proclamation of things we could not otherwise possibly have known. One has come from heaven and stood upon earth, and told men what was in that world from whence he came. Patience, then, poor weak heart! Down, ambitious thoughts, too proudly climbing ! Be content to be led in the dark ; be persuaded we shall come presently to fountains of everlasting satisfaction in a better land. It is sometimes assumed that defeat is the sign of God's disapproval; that success is the seal of his ap- proval. It is not always so. Good causes are held in check for centuries. The world is full of unfinished battles. Truths lie prostrate in the dust that by and by shall rise and assert their power. When the shower of stones began to fall upon him, Stephen cried, " I see the heavens opened." And this unveiling of divine things makes an exit from the world triumphant. Many a child sees visions of Jesus in death, of which no patriarch or sage ever dreamed. To the crushed and oppressed, Paradise opens above 364 WELL-SPRINGS OP TRUTH. the pallet of straw, and the garret or the cellar be- comes " the gate of heaven." It cannot be that those whom I have loved have gone into nothingness. The garment I held has. slipped from my grasp. The beauty of the flesh is all unwoven. But that which I loved, which wore that garment, somewhere in God's universe keeps its life, its personality, its consciousness. Here is a book of fiction ; it becomes more and more involved ; the plot thickens, — I cannot under- stand it; I weep, I laugh, I rejoice, I am depressed; it seems to be all going wrong ; but by-and-by I come to. the denoument, and it turns out just as I would wish. So God moves in great circles, and we see but a part of his ways. Life, according to an Arabic proverb, consists of two parts — the past, a dream, and the future a hope. But there are times when these souls of ours get under the shadow of the Throne, when we can almost hear the music of heaven, and there falls upon us a quiet like the echo of an angel's song. Man is a symbol of eternity, imprisoned into time. Goodness does not only communicate favors and kindness — it even in some measure communicates itself; just as those who have been long among the most fragrant objects not only are delighted with the odor that breathes from them; some of the very fra- grance cleaves to and remains with them. They be- come fragrant themselves by staying long among objects that are so. In the depths of the sea the waters are still ; the GLIMPSES. 365 heaviest grief is that borne in silence; the deepest love flows through the eye and touch ; the purest joy is unspeakable, and the most impressive preacher is the silent one, whose lips are closed. Obscurity and innocence, twin sisters, escape temptations which would pierce their gossamer armor, in contact with the world. That which is right never dies. It may be buried beneath the weight of corruption, only to live and come to the surface again. Deeds are fruits ; words but leaves. To write of heroic sacrifices, and to make them, are two different things. It is really of little difference who we are — it matters more what we are. That which in heaven is flame, on earth is smoke. He who best knows Christ is the best Christian. Earthly things must remind us of heavenly. We must translate the book of nature into the book of grace. Resignation is putting God between one's self and one's grief. Nothing can be love to God which does not shape itself into obedience. Between late and too late there is, thanks be to God, an inconceivable distance. An author, no less eminent than judicious, makes the following distinction between the words Innocence, Wisdom and Virtue : " Innocence consists in doing no harm, and occa- sioning no trouble to society. Wisdom consists in being attentive to one's true and solid interest ; in dis- tinguishing it from a seeming interest ; in a right choice and a constant adherence to it. Virtue goes further ; it loves the good of society, and frequently prefers it to its own advantages." 2)66 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. The formula of the skeptical scientist is " force, matter, nature, grind." The formula of the Christian philosopher " God, matter, love, growth." The heart, though only a handful of muscle, the whole world can- not fill ; and when broken, only he who made it can mend it. Our very life is but a dream, and while we look around eternity is at hand. Don't judge a man by the house he lives in, for the lizard and the rat often inhabit the grandest struct- ures. Ruskin has truly taught us that where we find in creation one adjustment for simple utility we find twenty for beauty. Man is like a complicated and delicately tuned in- strument. His mind has many faculties — his heart many chords. Some human beings remind us in their lives of grand triumphal music ; from the hearts of some there seems to ascend an almost constant hymn of praise ; while to the worn spirits of others earth is filled only with the low, sad voice of humanity, as it moans beneath its burden of sickness, sorrow, sin and death. DRIFTWOOD. Did you ever stand on the banks of a river whose swollen tide was covered with the debris of the moun- tain freshet? Did you ever wonder where all the driftwood came from and whither it went? Thus may we stand upon the banks of the stream of life, and as DRIFTWOOD. 367 its ever rushing tide flows past us we wonder at the mass of refuse and waste material borne upon its bosom, coming from unknown and remote regions, and going we cannot tell whither, even to the corners of the earth. The weaving of tapestry is done by following the outlines of a figure or pattern sketched on the back of the canvas or warp, which is stretched in a loom, by a workman who stands behind, placing the woolen or silken threads — which are wound on an instrument called a broach — in the proper places, blending such colors as please the eye and best bring out the design, he simply follows the outline, not being able to see the result of his labors unless he pass to the front of the stretched canvas. He, however, has a pattern to which he refers from time to time, seeing exactly what colors are wanted, and where they should be placed. Following this carefully, his work is sure to be suc- cessful and valuable ; neglecting to consult it, failure is certain and great waste of material. So life is like a canvas placed before us, to be filled in with good, useful and pleasant deeds. We seldom see the effect produced on others by our words and deeds, but as surely as the weaver's threads drawn into the meshes of the canvas, form a fabric of beautiful or homely design, according to the skill and care he displays in weaving, so must our lives present to others a fair or unlovely view in "proportion as we study or neglect to copy our pattern of pure and holy living. Neglecting to follow our example, — Christ — we weave in disobedience, unkindness, indolence and 368 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. self love, together with many other unlovable traits of character. With many of us our life-tapestry is a sadly curi- ous mixture, viewing it from the right side. Here and there are beautiful buds of love, gentleness, obedi- ence, unselfishness, while abundantly intermixed are rank weeds of envy, hatred, disobedience, untruthful- ness and dishonesty. Many a blank space is seen, for though time passes ever, there are many moments in which indolence prevents our filling in with buds of beauty or usefulness. You may take a child in what you call its inno- cence and its sensibility, and deeming with some among us that all children are born good, you may assiduous- ly instruct in the principles of morals, and you may carefully seclude it from the contagion of evil example, and you may write upon its fresh young heart the benevolent affections and the holy name of God ; and then you may watch gradually for the development of nature that you have thus started and trained. Ah ! but you were too late in the field. You deemed that your inscription was the first that was written there ; but the enemy had been at work before you ; the heart had been overwritten before you had got to it. Let the passions play upon the opening mind, hold it up to the lamp of opportunity, and in hell's dark cipher you can trace the blurred and misshapen characters of crime. • One of the most notable of all the evil and corrupting influences that characterize this age is the multiplica- tion of bad books and the ever widening circulation of DRIFTWOOD. 369 bad newspapers. The press is stronger than Hercules, has more hands than Briareus, and when it fairly sets itself to do wickedness can be as unclean as the Harpies. It becomes as troublesome and as loath- some as the plague of frogs that swarmed out of the Nile and came up into the houses of the Egyptians — cold and slimy and ugly — sparing neither prince nor priest nor slave. Would God some Moses and Aaron would come to drive them back to the ooze and mud where they were born ! Many of the great dailies — we write it with profound sorrow — have done what they could to make these vile publications respectable by imitating their example and filling their columns with the sicken- ing details of crime. And the lesser dailies and little country sheets follow in their wake to the best of their ability. Crime is paraded in its most revolting details, and we charge it upon them that their managers do not even design to do good by their minute de- scription of the most shameful and abominable sins. What wonder, then, that the conscientious and pains- taking parent should allow only a few good books in his household to the almost entire exclusion of the so called news papers. The quantity of obscene literature that goes through the mails is not suspected by one in a hundred. Their publication is a crime against domestic and social purity, against civil liberty, and Christian civilization, whose enormity is immeasurable. It is truly time to speak out on this subject. " A broadside of Sinai tic 24 37° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. thunder " should be turned loose upon these ramparts and legions of darkness. The superstitions of various nations are most degrading, and seem almost incredible to us, except as we look about us and see how prone even the most enlightened of us are to dread the ill effects of some unlucky happenings. I think we cannot too strongly attack superstition, which is the disturber of society ; nor too highly respect genuine religion, which is the support of it. Superstition, that horrid incubus which dwelt in darkness, shunning the light, with all its racks, and poison-chalices, and foul sleeping-draughts, is passing away without return. Religion cannot pass away. The burning of a little straw may hide the stars of the sky ; but the stars are there, and will re- appear. Fielding says superstition renders a man a fool, and skepticism makes him mad. Why is it that sailors cling to port on a Friday, and loose their ships and weigh anchor on Sunday ? Why did the ancients build a temple to Fortune, con- sult oracles, and venerate white stones rather than black stones ? Why did our grandmothers dislike the assemblage of nine rooks, turn back when they met a dog crossing their path, and show an antipathy to black cats? Why does a Fijian, to propitiate his ugly wooden god, offer him a bakolo, the dead body of his brother? Why was it improper to eat the beans and the seeds of the lupine? What magic makes the third time never like the rest ? At the wicked little German towns where small grand-dukes improve their reve- nues by licensing gaming tables, you will find old gamb- DRIFTWOOD. 371 lers begging the youngest in the company, often an English boy who has come to look about him, to take for them the first throw of the dice. Why so ? Why is a fresh hand more likely to throw the three sixes than an old one ? Among other relics preserved in the mosque of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, is the cradle of our Saviour, which, according to tradition, was brought from Beth- lehem, together with a sort of basin in which his mother washed him. One would hardly believe that there are many peo- ple who forget they have money, or that there is money or interest due them, and yet it is a fact. There lies in "the Treasury Department to-day one million four hundred thousand dollars of unclaimed interest on government bonds. The sum is getting larger every day. This seems strange, but it is true. This vast sum of money, or much of it, can be drawn by simply applying for it by whoever is entitled to it and has the registered bond on which the interest is due and not paid. There' are thousands of persons who have bought bonds, and not knowing how to get the interest on them, prefer to lose the same rather than to expose the fact that they have the bonds. Others have interest due them, and actually forget the fact, and it lies in the treasury vaults waiting for them to apply for it. Should one of the clerks of the bond division inform a person to whom interest is due of the fact, and the same be discovered, he would be in- stantly discharged. Our government is like that of other countries, dis- 37 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. honest in matters of this kind, and is always willing to keep that which belongs to others if it is not called for. Should one of its clerks be honest enough to give out a hint, he is discharged on the ground that it is not probable he would be engaged in volunteering infor- mation unless he received a certain percentage for his services, and this he has no right to do. The govern- ment takes the ground that the person to whom the interest is due should not be required to pay for the information; at the same time the same government will not itself volunteer the information. Josh Billings very aptly gives voice to the practical man's idea of an enthusiast, when he describes him as "'one who believes about four times as 'much as he can prove, and who can prove about four times as much as anybody believes." It is in that one-fifth part, which is provable, demonstrable, and which he can tfnake the world believe, resides the force which moves the world forward. The other four parts are left as the stock of some future enthusiast to be used in keeping the world agoing. On a certain occasion Edward Everett visited the composing room of the " Boston Advertiser," at a late hour, to read a proof of an oration which he had failed to see at an earlier hour. Extremely particular about liis style, he was altering sentences and making additions while the forms were waiting, which so irri- tated the foreman that he roared out: " Cut it short, Everett — confound it, cut it short. There's no time now for patching up bad English." An Oneida Indian preacher in a recent sermon A DRIFTWOOD. T)7?> said he was thankful that " the Creator did not give the Indian enough language to allow him to be profane without first learning English." The ruins of old friendships are a more melancholy spectacle than those of desolated palaces. They ex- hibit the heart that was once lighted up with joy, all damp and deserted, and haunted by those birds of ill- omen that only nestle in ruins. In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mis- takes. All the other passions do occasional good, but wherever pride puts in its word everything goes wrong, and what might be desirable to do quietly and innocently, it is morally dangerous to do proudly. Temptation is a fearful word. It indicates the be- ginning of a possible series of infinite evils. It is the ringing of an alarm, whose melancholy sounds may reverberate through eternity. Like the sudden, sharp cry of "fire !" in the night, it rouses us to instantaneous activity. It is difficult to say whether we are most in danger of losing a friend by asking a favor or by conferring; one. Examples are few of men ruined by giving. Men are heroes in spending — very cravens in what they give. It is a row of empty houses that gets its windows broken ; and empty heads, empty hearts and idle hands are sure to come to grief. 374 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Shoddy. " The misfortune is," says Addison, "men despise what they may be masters of, and affect what they are not fit for ; they reckon themselves already possessed of what their genius inclined them to, and so bend all ambition to excel in what is out of their reach; thus they destroy the use of their natural talents, in the same manner as covetous men do their quiet and re- pose ; they can enjoy no satisfaction in what they have, because of the absurd inclination they are possessed with for what they have not." And this common tendency is not the mere desire to get unattainable things, nor is it only the idealization of the object pur- sued, at the expense of the object possessed. It is a resolute liking for those ambitions or attainments in which we are really least deserving. Thus we see in the whole field of human labor, from the highest point to the lowest, a strange misunderstanding concerning the true nature of one's successes and failures. A first-rate novelist cares nothing for his excellent stories, but prides himself most of all on his indifferent verse. A really great surgeon most dearly prizes the poor daubs which he fancies to be excellent paintings in oil. The eminent patent lawyer is sure that, if he could only have had time to write a history of Madagascar, his place beside Motley or Buckle would have been secure. A house carpenter of the first class meditates much on his appearance as an officer in the military SHODDY. , 375 company of which he is a member, and privately reflects that his real station in life ought to be that of a great general. It is needless to multiply examples : every one knows some person whose whimsical or absurd ambition in some direction is the amusement of his neighbors ; and not a few are well aware of their own defects or peccadillos in this line. The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none. The surest mark of the shoddyite is egotism and self- assertion. Vulgarity ever asserts its good breeding; guilt, that it is innocent; falsehood, that it is truth; and weakness, that it is strong. But the keen observer of human nature can sift the chaff from the wheat and tell the sincere from the fickle. I have noticed that folks who have come to grief and quite failed have the rules how to succeed in life more at their fingers' end than folks who have succeeded. To a really great man, the petty vanities, shallow angers and morbid crotchets of smaller natures are unknown. Above all, genius gives to its possessor a larger, clearer vision ; eyes that look outward, not in- ward. That enormous Ego — the source of so many puny woes to lesser minds — rarely grows rampant in a man who is great enough to know his own littleness. Consequently, he is saved at once from a hundred vexations which dog the heels of your giant of genius — who is always measuring himself with Tom, Dick and Harry, and requiring, or fancying he requires, larger clothes, longer beds, and bigger hats than they. It is your second-rate, your merely clever man, who, ape- like, is always rattling at the bars of his cage, moping 376 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. and mowing to attract attention, and eagerly holding out his paw for the nuts and apples of public apprecia- tion, which, if he does not get — why, he sits and howls! One tribe of these Ishmaelites is made up of high- flying ignoramuses, who are very mighty about the doctrine of a sermon — here they are as decisive as sledge-hammers and as certain as death. He who knows nothing is confident in everything ; hence they are bullheaded beyond measure. Every clock, and even the sun-dial, must be setaccording to their watches ; and the slightest difference from their opinion proves a man to be rotten at heart. Venture to argue with them, and their little pot boils in quick style ; ask them for reasons, and you might as well go to a sandpit for sugar. They have bottled up the sea of truth and carry it in their waistcoat pockets ; they have measured heaven's line of grace, and have tied a knot in the string at the exact length of electing love ; and as for the things which angels long to know, they have seen them all as boys see sights in a peep-show at our fair. Having sold their modesty and become wiser than their teachers, they ride a very high horse, and jump over all five-barred gates of Bible-texts which teach doctrines contrary to their notions. If we would make the pulpit in this land strong and true, the preacher must be a free man, as Paul was free, and Luther was free, and as the citizen is free, and the men who follow medicine and the law. The preachers who consent to be of the pattern churches prefer are not men, but things ; not flesh and blood with a soul to make all things sure, but wax to be SHODDY. 377 moulded and adorned to the liking of those who hear them. The man who is not what God made him from the surface to the centre has no business in the pulpit. D'Alembert congratulated a young man very coldly, who brought him the solution of a problem. " I have done this to have a seat in the academy," said the young man. " Sir," answered D'Alembert, " with such motives you will never earn one. Science must be loved for its own sake, and not for the advantages to be derived. No other principle will enable a man to make true progress." He who makes a great fuss about doing good will do very little ; and he who wishes to be seen and noticed when he is doing good will not do it long. He who endeavors to escape from life's drudgery may also cease to compete for life's prizes. Even if by maneuver or trick he seize some of them, they will become but empty bubbles that have lost their significance. There are minds so habituated to intrigue and mys- tery in themselves, and so prone to expect it from others, that they will never accept of a plain reason for a plain fact, if it be possible to devise causes for it that are obscure, far-fetched, and usually not worth the carriage. There are persons whom you can always believe, because you know they have the habit of telling the truth. They do no not " color " a story, or enlarge a bit of news in order to make it sound fine or remark- able. There are others whom you hardly know whether to believe or not, because they stretch things so. A 37$ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. trifling incident grows in size, but not in quality, by passing through their mouth. They take a small fact or slender bit of news and pad it with added words, and paint it with high-colored adjectives, until it is largely unreal and gives a false impression. And one does not like to listen to folks when so much must be "allowed for shrinkage." A well-known writer says, " Trust him little who praises all ; him less who cen- sures all ; and him least who is indifferent about all." Cultivate the habit of telling the truth in little things as well as in great ones. Pick your words wisely, and use only such as rightly mean what you wish to say. Never " stretch " a story or a fact to make it seem bigger or funnier. Do this, and people will learn to trust you and respect you. In our youth we gaze only upon the outer and the fairer side of life's patchwork, and it appears to be a beautiful whole. In old age we contemplate the other side, and are disappointed and disgusted with its rag- ged seam, and its dry tags and ends. It is not poverty so much as pretense that harasses a ruined man — the struggle between a proud mind and an empty purse — the keeping up of a hollow show that must soon come to an end. Have the courage to appear poor, and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting. Wealth is an expensive thing. It costs all it's worth. If you want to be worth a million dollars, it will cost you just a million dollars to get it. Broken friendships, intellectual starvation, loss of social enjoy- ment, deprivation of generous impulses, the smother- SHODDY. 379 ing of manly aspirations, a limited wardrobe and a scanty table, a lonely home because you fear a lovely wife and beautiful home would be expensive, a hatred of the heathen, a dread of the contribution box, a haunting fear of the woman's aid society, a fretful dislike for poor people because they won't keep their misery out of your sight, a little sham benevolence that is worse than none; oh, you can be rich, young man, if you are willing to pay the price. The one difficulty in life is to be in earnest. All this world in the gala-day seems but a passing, unreal show. We dance, light-hearted, along the ways of existence, and nothing tells us that the earth is hollow to our tread. But soon some deep grief comes and shocks us into reality ; the solid earth rocks beneath our feet ; the awfulness of life meets us face to face in the desert. Then the value of things is seen ; then it is that godly sorrow produces carefulness ; then it is that, like Jacob, we cry, " How awful is this place! how solemn is this life ! This is none other but the house •of God, and this is the gate of heaven ! " Then it is that with moral earnestness we set forth, walking circumspectly, weighing, with a watchful and sober eye, all the acts and thoughts which make up life. 380 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH, ©U^IGSUPY. Perhaps the most vicious and hurtful propensity of the human heart is the vice of curiosity. It leads to the commission of many aggravating sins. Eye-gate and ear-gate allow the soul to see and hear so many things that otherwise would be passed by without con- tamination. A person who is too nice an observer of the busi- ness of the crowd, like one who is too curious in ob- serving the labor of the bees, will often be stung for his curiosity. The gratification of curiosity rather frees us from uneasiness than confers pleasure ; we are more pained by ignorance than delighted by in- struction. Curiosity is the thirst of the soul. But even as money is said to be the root of all evil, so curiosity is the mother of many sins. Curiosity is the spiritual drunkenness of the soul ; and look, as the drunkard will never be satisfied, be the cup never so deep, unless he see the bottom of it, so some curious Christians, whose souls are spread with the leprosy of curiosity, will never be satisfied till' they come to see the bottom of the most secret rea- sons of all God's dealings towards them ; but they are fools in folio who affect to know more than God would have them. Did not Adam's curiosity render him and his posterity fools in folio ? And what pleasure can we take to see ourselves everyday fools in print? As a man by gazing and prying into the body of the sun CURIOSITY. 381 may grow dark and dim, and see less than he other- wise might, so many, by a curious prying into the secret reasons of God's dealings with them, come to grow so dark and dim, that they cannot see those plain reasons that God hath laid down in His word, why He afflicts and tries the children of men. What an irresistible impulse possesses all children and many grown people to rush to the doorway, and out upon the street when a band of music goes trumpeting by. The street parade, with its glittering uniforms and various sounds, calls out every idler in the neighborhood, and you wonder how so many peo- ple can find means to live, and yet have so little to do. Aristophanes, the comedian, said, concerning Cleon, that " his hands were in Petolia and his soul in Thief- town ;" so the hands and feet, eyes and thoughts of inquisitive persons are straggling about in many places at once. Neither the mansions of the great nor the cottages of the poor, nor the privy chambers of princes, nor the recess of the nuptial alcove, can escape the search of their curiosity. Curiosity is a desire to know why and how ; such as is in no living creature but man : so that man is dis- tinguished, not only by his reason, but also by this singu- lar passion, from other animals, in whom the appetite of food and other pleasures of sense, by predominance, take away the care of knowing causes, which is a lust of the mind, that by a perseverance of delight in the continual and indefatigable generation of knowledge, exceedeth the short vehemence of any carnal pleasure. Wirt says, " Seize the moment of excited curiosity 382 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. on any subject, to solve your doubts ; for if you let it pass, the desire may never jre turn, and you may remain in ignorance." Curiosity, then, is largely a source of incentive or a motive for gaining knowledge. It spurs on the active mind to ascend to new heights, and ex- plore unknown regions. It adds a zest and pleasure to many a task that otherwise would be wearisome and uninteresting. Directed into a proper channel curi- osity is like the turbulent stream which moves a thousand spindles. Where necessity ends, curiosity begins ; and no sooner are we supplied with everything that nature can demand, than we sit down to contrive artificial appetites. Curiosity, that irksome, that tyrannizing care, " superfluous industry about unprofitable things, and their qualities," as Thomas defines it ; an itching humor or a kind of longing to see that which is not to be seen, to do that which ought not to be done, to know that secret which should not be known, to eat of the forbidden fruit. We commonly molest and tire our- selves about things unfit and unnecessary, as Martha troubled herself to little purpose. Be it in religion, humanity, magic, philosophy, policy, any action or study, 'tis a needless trouble, a mere torment. COVETOUSNESS. 383, (gOYEHtOUSNESS. The struggle with civilized men in this world is for wealth. This is called the prime good, the one thing needful; the great desideratum of life. So men toil for it ; deceive, cheat, defraud for it ; give time, strength, and often good health, for it. The truth is, the estimate put on wealth is too high. Its good, its- value, is overrated. It is not the best thing men can have. It does not confer peace of mind nor purity of the heart, heartfelt happiness nor contentment, nor home joy ; nor social blessedness, nor any of the solid and enduring enjoyments. Wealthy homes are often no happier than those of the poor and comfortable livers. Poverty is always an evil; but a fair supply of the necessaries and comforts of life is quite as apt to confer real peace as great wealth. It is not gold nor goods, therefore, that make men really wealthy. The best wealth is of the heart, an enlightened mind, a loyal conscience, pure affections. He is the wealthier who has the largest share of wisdom, virtue and love — whose heart beats with sympathies for his fellow men — who finds good in all seasons, all providences and all men. The generous man who pities the unfortunate ; the poor man who resists temp- tation ; the wise man who orders well his life ; clings closely to his family and friends ; the studious man, who seeks instruction in all things, are the truly wealthy men. * 384 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Greed is a sin. We firmly believe it. It is not right. Nobody can make it right. God hates it. By every law of right known to us it is unworthy of man as a mere citizen of this world. But as man is related to the world to come, it is a sin against both God and man. He ignores what God respects, and does a wrong which God will punish. Greed and what is highest and noblest in man are antipodal ; they are like water and oil — they will never mix ; they are at eternal war. O Christian! man renewed by grace, dost thou indeed believe that God inhabits thee with his holiness, and makes thee his temple? Be thou, then, a temple indeed, a sacred place to him. Exclude covetousness; make not thy Father's house a house of merchandise. Deem every sin a sacrilege. Let all thy thoughts within, like white-robed priests, move round the altar, and keep the fire burning. Let thy affections be always a cloud, filling the room, and inwrapping thy priest-like thoughts. Let thy hallowed desires be ever fanning the mercy-seat with their wings. Mark the careworn countenance of him who has wasted the best portion of his life in the acquisition of wealth, not that he might be enabled to relieve the wants of the destitute and afflicted, but that he might be powerful and leave a rich legacy for his children when he is gone. Does his wealth secure happiness ? Ah, no ! He has exhausted his energies in accumulat- ing a fortune, and received naught but vexation of spirit in return. He has sought for gold and found dross. COVETOUSNESS. 385 Many a man, when he begins to accumulate wealth, commences at the same time to ruin his soul. Instead of doing more for God he does less ; and the more he wants of this world the less he cares for the world to come. Ambition makes the same mistake concerning fame that avarice does concerning wealth: she begins by accumulating power as a means to happiness, and she finishes by continuing to accumulate it as an end. Consider somewhat more deeply this covetousness. In the original the word is a very expressive one. It means the desire of having more — not of having more because there is not enough, but simply a craving after more. More when a man has not enough. More when he has. More, more, ever more. Give, give. Divide, divide. This desire of accumulation is the source of all our greatness, and all our baseness. It is at once our glory and our shame. It is the cause of our com- merce, of our navy, of our military triumphs, of our enormous wealth, and our marvelous inventions. And it is the cause of our factions and animosities, of our squalid pauperism, and the worse than heathen degra- dation of the masses of our population. The covetous man is like the spider. He does nothing but lay his wits to catch every fly, gaping only for a booty of gain ; so yet more in that whilst he makes nets for these flies, he consumeth his own bowels, so that which is his life is his death. And yet he is at least to. be pitied, because he makes himself miserable ; like wicked Ahab, the sight of another man's vineyard makes him sick ; he wants it for him- 25 386 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. self. He hates his neighbors as bad as he is hated by them, and would sell hisr best friend, if he had one, for a groat. He pines his body that he may damn his soul; and whenever disappointed of his expected gain, through the accursed discontent of his mind, he would dispatch himself, but that he is loth to cast away his money on a cord. In the siege of Cassilinum, Hannibal so reduced the citadel that there was a great famine. One soldier possessed a mouse that he might have eaten, and so appeased his cruel hunger, but he preferred selling it to a comrade for two hundred pence. He was de- stroyed by the famine, and did not live to enjoy his money, while if he had not sold the mouse, it is said that he might have saved his own life. Rich people who are covetous are like the cypress tree ; they may appear well, but are fruitless ; so rich persons have the means to be generous, yet some are not so ; but they should consider they are only trustees for what they possess, and should show their wealth to be more in doing good than merely in having it. They should not reserve their benevolence for purposes after they are dead; for those who give not till they die, show that they would not then, if they could keep it any longer. The great and learned Hippocrates wished a con- sultation of all the physicians in the world, that they might advise together upon the means how to cure covetousness. It is now above two thousand years since he had this desire. After him a thousand and a thousand philosophers have employed their endeavors COVETOUSNESS. 387 to cure this insatiable dropsy. All of them have lost their labor therein ; the evil rather increases than declines under the multitude of remedies. There have been a number in former agfes sick of it; and this wide hospital of the world is still as full of such patients as ever it was. In Sparta it was a law that men should worship the gods with as little expense as possible. There are already enrolled on the church books of the United States enough such Spartans to make three thousand new Thermopylaes. Caligula, emperor of Rome, seemed to be inflamed with the passion for touching money. He would fre- quently walk upon heaps of gold, and as the pieces lay spread out in a large room he would roll himself over them naked. He forced men in their sickness to make him their heir, and if they recovered after mak- ing their wills, he poisoned them. The palace was made a common brothel that his revenues might be increased thereby. Can anything be more senselessly absurd than that the nearer we are to our journey's end, we should still lay in more provisions for it ? Hunger is allayed by eating, thirst by drinking, cold by putting on more clothing; but the desire for money is never abated by any amount of silver, gold, jewels or estate. However great one's income the desire for money is constantly crying, "More, more." This is a disease more incurable than the leprosy. 388 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Selfishness. In the first place, if you want to make yourself miserable, be selfish. Think all the time of yourself and your things. Don't care about anything else. Have no feeling for any but yourself. Never think of enjoying the satisfaction of seeing others happy ; but rather, if you see a smiling face, be jealous lest another should enjoy what you have not. Envy every one who is better off than yourself; think unkindly towards them, and speak lightly of them. Be constantly afraid lest some one should encroach on your rights ; be watchful against it, and if any one comes near your things snap at them like a mad dog. Contend ear- nestly for everything that is your own, though it may not be worth a pin. Never yield a point. Be very sensitive, and take everything that is said to you in playfulness in the most serious manner. Be jealous of your friends lest they should not think enough of you; and if at any time they should seem to neglect you, put the worst construction upon their conduct. None but a thoroughly selfish person can be always unhappy. Life is so equally balanced that there is always as much to rejoice as to weep over, if we are only able — and willing — to rejoice in and for and through others. " Time and the hour run through the roughest day " — if we will but let it be so — if we will allow our sky to clear and our wounds to heal — believing in the won- SELFISHNESS. 389 derful reparative powers of Nature when she is given free play. But these poor souls will not give her free play; they prefer to indulge in their grief, refusing ob- stinately all remedies, till they bring on a chronic dys- pepsia of the soul, which is often combined with a corresponding disease of the body. A man who a few years ago withheld his thousands which he might have given to the work of God, is to- day a penniless beggar with no one to pity him. His treasures were laid up on earth; God had the crumbs, the loaf he kept himself until it was mouldy, and now, instead of looking forward to the day of reward, and anticipating the welcomes and benedictions of souls saved through his instrumentality, he has only to look back upon wasted endeavors, perished possessions, departed wealth, blighted hopes, and joys that have withered to return no more. The man who lately devoted his vigor and strength to the useless race for wealth and pleasure, and vain ambition, and who had time for nothing else ; and whose vigorous manhood was devoted to trifles light as air, now helpless, wretched and distressed, drawing nigh to the grave, laments a wasted existence. Once he might have done great things in the cause and name of God ; now he is, cast aside a broken and dis- honored vessel, for which the Master has no use. His lifework is undone ; and instead of coming with his sheaves and rejoicing in the final harvest day, he shall bring before the Judge " nothing but leaves." If self- ishness begins with the governing classes, woe to the country that is governed. The evil spreads downwards, 39° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. and includes all classes, even the poorest. The race of life becomes one for mere pelf and self. Principle is abandoned. Honesty is a forgotten virtue. Faith dies out ; and society becomes a scramble for place and money. The Duke of Burgundy was waited upon by a poor man, a very loyal subject, who brought him a very large root which he had grown. He was a very poor man indeed, and every root he grew in his garden was of consequence to him ; but merely as a loyal offering he brought to his prince the largest his garden pro- duced. The prince was so pleased with the man's evident loyalty and affection, that he gave him a very large sum. The steward thought, "Well, I see this pays ; this man has got fifty pounds for his large root; I think I shall make the Duke a present." So he bought a horse, and he reckoned that he should have in return ten times as much for it as it was worth, and he presented it with that view ; the Duke, like a wise man, quietly accepted the horse, and gave the greedy steward nothing. That was all. So you say, "Well, here is a Christian man, and he gets rewarded. He has been giving to the poor, helping the Lord's Church, and see, he is saved ; the thing pays, I shall make a little investment." Yes ; but you see the stew- ard did not give the horse out of any idea of loyalty and kindness and love to the Duke, but out of a very great love to himself, and therefore had no return ; and if you perform deeds of charity out of the idea of get- ting to heaven by them, why, it is yourself you are feeding, it is yourself that you are clothing ; all your SELFISHNESS. 39 1 virtue is not virtue, it is rank selfishness, it smells strong of selfhood, and Christ will never accept it; you will never hear him say " Thank you " for it. There is a great deal of open-hearted and open- handed selfishness in the world. Some of the most liberal givers in the community are thoroughly selfish. Selfish prodigality is by no means uncommon. There are those who look upon themselves as exceptionally generous, and who are even so counted by their fel- lows, who are unmistakably selfish. This is a truth that ought to be borne in mind when we are passing upon the characteristics of ourselves, or of those whom we have a right to judge — because of our responsibil- ity for their training. Selfishness is not always con- joined with stinginess. A little girl, who had been very observant of her parents' mode of exhibiting their charity, being asked what generosity was, answered, "It's giving to the poor all the old stuff you don't want yourself." And there is more truth than poetry in the definition. But that is not the charity that covereth a multitude of sins or that suffereth long and is kind. It is the other kind. Every one blames the fine-lady daughter and pities the poor drudge-mother. The daughter sits in the parlor, in nice clothes and elegantly arranged hair, dawdling over a novel, or chatting with companions or friends. Her mother is toiling in the kitchen, or fretting her soul in the vain attempt to reduce her pile of " mending" and at the same time look after a tumbling baby. The mother's face is worn and thin. Baby has 39 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. pulled her hair askew. She still wears the old dress that she put on in such a hurry at half-past five in the morning, when baby woke her from a weary sleep. She is tired ! She is always tired. She is tired on Saturday, and she is tired on Sunday ; she is tired in the morning, and tired in the evening ; she goes to bed and gets up tired. It is hard not to be angry with the daughter, we confess. She can look in her exhausted mother's face, and know how much work there is to be done, and never willingly put forth a hand to help her. Nay, she is going out to tea this evening, and will come to her mother to have her dress adjusted for the great occasion. She casts much of the burden of her exist- ence upon the too generous heart that she does not appreciate, and never once feels the impulse to give the aid of her youthful strength. In all our modern world there is not an uglier sight than this, no, not one. It is but natural to throw the blame of it upon the daughter. "Heartless wretch!'" we have heard such a girl called by indignant acquain- tances. She is to be pitied, rather. When she was a little child, all lovely and engaging, her mother said to her- self, " She shall not be the drudge I was. She shall not be kept out of school to do housework, as I was. She shall have a good time while she is young, for there's no knowing what her lot will be afterwards." And so her mother made her young life a long banquet of delights. Rough places were made smooth for her; all difficulties were removed from her path. SELFISHNESS. 393. The lesson taught her every hour for years and years was, that it was no great matter what other people suffered, if only her mother's daughter had a good time. She learned that lesson thoroughly, and a frightful selfishness was developed in her. Her eyes may fall upon these lines. If so, we tell her that people in general will make no allowance for the faults of her bringing up ! They will merely say,, " See what a shocking and shameful return she makes for her mother's indulgent and generous care." I have seen parents, not intentionally selfish, who,, when old age came upon them, grew so exacting, fretful, irritable, compelled such constant attendance,, and insisted on such incessant sacrifices, as literally to' take the life — or at least all that life was worth — out of their children, whom everybody but themselves saw were being " killed by inches," as the phrase is. Only fancy ! living till one's best friends say with bated breath, " If it would but come to an end " — that is, our life : as the only means of saving other and more precious lives. But this need not be — it ought never to be. A little self-control at the beginning, a steady, persistent recognition of the fact that the young are young, and we are old ; they blooming, we fading ; they going up the hill, and we down it — that this is God's will, to be accepted placidly and cheerfully, and made as little trouble about as possible, and we need not fear ever becoming very " ugly." We call our errors by grand names, and almost 394 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. boast of them — " I never take care of myself;" "I can't be bothered with my health ;" " What does it matter to me if I am ill ? " are the remarks one constantly hears, especially from the young, just old enough to shirk authority and resent interference, but still seeing only in the dim distance that dark time which must come, sooner or later, when for every ill-usage it has received, the body avenges itself tenfold. % Does it not matter indeed ? — the extra labor thrown on a whole family when one member is ill ? the heartache of parents, the perplexity and distress of friends, the serious annoyance — to put no stronger word — that invalids always are in a household ? If, as to our would-be suicides, the law of the land, even when it saves them from the river half drowned or cuts them down half hanged, sentences them to remorseless punishment, should not there be found also some fitting condemnation for those who commit the slow suicide of ruined health, for no cause but their own gratification? Our infinite obligations to God do not fill our hearts half as much as a petty uneasiness of our own ; nor His infinite perfections as much as our smallest wants. Our selfishness is so robust and many-clutch- ing that, well encouraged, it easily devours all sus- tenance away from our poor little scruples. There is an ill-breeding to which, whatever our rank and nature, we are almost equally sensitive,- — the ill-breeding that comes from want of consideration for others. The story is told of a clergyman that, after preach- ing an interesting sermon on " Recognition of Friends Fanaticism. 395 in Heaven," he was accosted by a hearer, who said, <# I liked that sermon, and now I wish you would preach another on the recognition of people in this world. I have been attending your church for three years, and not five persons in the congregation have so much as bowed to me in all that time." Fanaticism. There is a wide difference between a zealous man and a zealot Zeal is a very desirable quality if it is characterized by devotion to a laudable end. Paul was always zealous, and when he referred to his early record, described himself "concerning zeal, persecut- ing the church." In after days that same spirit of zeal was manifest in preaching the faith he had sought to destroy. There are few people in our day who have not zeal, but, as Paul said of his countrymen, it is "not according to knowledge." A man of this class may be easily known. He may have some talent, but he has no tact He can clearly perceive a desirable end and he scruples very little as to the means he uses to reach it If a thing is admitted to be right he is impatient of slow processes, never dreams of forbearance with any who do not share his convictions, and is merciless to those who dare to resist his will. When he has any truth which the world ought to receive he utters it, without any care as to the spirit or manner of its 396 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. proclamation. " Speaking the truth in love " is the last thing that he thinks of. Such counsels might do for those who want to lead captive "silly women." He has a duty to discharge, and he will do it at all hazards. So he sends it forth just about .as a shell comes from a mortar, with a good deal of unpleasant friction in the atmosphere, and believing if it makes things generally uncomfortable, that everybody will come and "see his zeal for the Lord." As for any thought of the varieties of mental characteristics, such a man has too much reckless ig- norance to consider these for a moment. People ought to look at things from the right standpoint, and, if their training, pursuits, and associations have prevented this, they ought to go back to first things and begin life anew so as to see them as he sees them. As for his adapting his methods to their idiosyncrasies and weaknesses, it is not to be thought of. In fact, while he glories in Paul's boldness, he is tempted to doubt the inspiration of Paul's writings when he reads such passages as — " Give none offense, neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God," and when he reads that Paul "pleased all men in all things," and exhorted Timothy to "meekness" in "instructing those that oppose them- selves," he only regrets that Paul had not had the privilege of learning from himself how to deal with such people. Of course such a man has no correct idea of the relative magnitude of objects. The things that occupy FANATICISM. 397 his mind are colossal. There are certain topics which he looks at through a magnifying glass. When he tries his hand to give a representation of spiritual truth he shows that he has an independence of concep- tion which emancipates him from all such shackles as proportion, distance and shade. The thing which engrosses him every one else should be occupied with. It is what the world was made for and the church re- deemed for, and they are wretched failures if his ideas are not realized. Every text of scripture has a bear- ing on his favorite theme, and every description of evil character he applies to those who do not assent in all things to his utterances. Such a man, of course, has a following ; he dra- goons weaker natures and they submissively do the special work he assigns them, while others wonder- ingly and pityingly inquire where their manhood is gone. "It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing," but zeal which is destitute of courtesy and love is like the lightning which blackens and destroys. It has always treated with contempt all rights of con- science in others, but been clamorous for its own. It knows nothing of soul freedom. It spilt the blood of martyrs in other days, and its policy in our times is social ostracism and constant disparagement for all who will not bow to its behests. Nevertheless, let it be fully understood that only a man fit to be a slave will follow such a lead. True Christian manhood recog- nizes one and only one Example, Bishop and Master. I heard the other day enthusiastic praises of a sis- 39$ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ter in one of those Protestant communities who are trying — and not unwisely — to emulate the Roman Catholic sisters of mercy, by absorbing into useful work the many waifs and strays of useless spinster- hood, eating their hearts out in lonely, aimless idleness in the midst of a struggling and suffering world. But this woman was not lonely. She had a father, whom she paid a nurse to take care of; married sisters, who would have been thankful for her occasional help in their busy, anxious homes; loving friends, to whom her influence and aid might often have been invaluable. Yet she left them, one and all, and went to spend her strength — not so very great — upon strangers. She did expend it ; for she died, and was almost canonized by some people ; but some others, with a simpler standard of holiness, might question whether this de- voted self-sacrifice should not be called by another name — self-will. She did the thing she wished to do, rather than what seemed laid before her to do ; and though it is always difficult to judge such cases from the outside without being unjust to somebody, I think it is an open ques- tion whether she did right or wrong. The same doubt arises when one hears of soldiers volunteering — not sent, but volunteering — on danger- ous expeditions, leaving young wives or helpless chil- dren to endure at home the agony of suspense over a risk which was not demanded by duty. Not all fanatics are recognized as such. Many whose professions of allegiance to the right, and whose reputation for common sense are of the best, FANATICISM. 399 are yet fanatical in action. It has been said by some writer that the whisper of a beautiful woman can be heard farther than the loudest call of duty. A story is told of an old hunter in Michigan, who, when the country was new, got lost in the woods several times. He was told to buy a pocket-compass, which he did, and a friend explained to him its use. He soon got lost and lay out as usual. When found he was asked why he did not travel by the compass. He said he did not dare to. He wished to go north, and he tried hard' to make the thing point north, but 'twasn't any use. "'Twould shake, shake, right round and point southeast every time." A great many people fail of the right direction in life for the same reason of the mishap which befell our Wolverine friend — they are afraid to take the Bible and follow just as it points. Mr. Moody says, "It is hard to get people to admit that they are sinners. I preached once in the Tombs in New York. I stood on an iron bridge and spoke to three or four hundred prisoners in their cells. They could hear me, but I couldn't see any of them. After finishing the sermon I went around from cell to cell to talk with the inmates. In the first were four men playing cards. They said that the men who committed the crime got clear, and they were caught by mistake and wrongfully condemned. The man in the next cell was there because he unfortunately re- sembled the real criminal. It was a case of error in indentification. The third man visited claimed to have been condemned because witnesses swore falsely 400 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. against him. The fourth man had not been tried yet, but was sure of being acquitted when he was. I never found such an innocent set of men in my life." Fallacies are very long-lived. We overheard a conversation the other day in which the old delusion came out, as fresh as ever, "After all, it don't matter what a man believes if he only does right." We passed on our way wondering if the speaker would be willing to apply his principle to anything except religion. Does it make no difference in a man's business operations whether he believes in honesty or knavery ? Does a man worthy of the suffrage believe one way and vote another ? And shall it be said that it makes no difference in a man's character and destiny whether he believes in virtue, goodness and righteous- ness? Does it have no bearing on a man's daily life to believe he shall reap what he sows ? Is there no inspiration to right doing in a firm belief in a holy, just and merciful God ? It is time that the old fallacy which denies this should be rooted out. Thinking, feeling and acting are connected links in our being. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." The trouble with the skepticism of the age is that it is not thorough enough. It questions everything but its own foundations. Infidelity gains the victory, when it wrestles with hypocrisy or with superstition, but never when its antagonist is reason. In some sense all criminals are insane. All crimes arise from insane greed, frenzied passion, or maddened revenge. I have noticed that many who do not believe in God believe in everything else, even in the evil eye. FANATICISM. 4OI The fanatical fear of the " Evil Eye," is one of the strongest passions of an Egyptian. It was one of uni- versal prevalence even in the Christian world, a few years since, and this superstition may still be found amongst the European peasantry. The glance of an evil eye is greatly dreaded. Despair seizes the minds of men whose desires are boundless, and who see at last a limit set to their ambition. Alexander cried because there were no more kingdoms to conquer. It was the same with Mahmoud, the Ghiznevide, the first Mohammedan conqueror of India. When he felt himself dying, he caused all his treasures of gold and jewels to be dis- played before him. When he surveyed them, he wept like a child. "Alas!" said he, "what dangers, what fatigues of body and mind, have I endured for the sake of acquiring those treasures, and what cares in pre- serving them! And now I am about to die and leave them!" He was interred in his palace where his un- happy ghost was afterwards believed to wander. The death of Charles IX of France was a terrible one. He had authorized the massacre of the Hugue- nots on the fearful night of St. Bartholomew, and was haunted by its horrors during his dying moments. "I know not how it is," he said to his surgeon, Ambrose Pare, "but for the last few days I feel as in a fever. My mind and body are both disturbed. Every mo- ment, whether I am asleep or awake, visions of mur- dered corpses, covered with blood and hideous to the sight, haunt me. Oh, I wish I had spared the innocent and the imbecile !" He died two years after the mas- 26 402 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. sacre, and to the last moment the horrors of the day of St. Bartholomew were present without ceasing to his mind. FLATTERY. He does me double wrong that wounds me with the . flatteries of his tongue. — Shakespeare. Flattery is often a traffic of mutual meanness, where, although both parties intend deception, neither are deceived, since words that cost little are exchanged for hopes that cost less. Though flattery blossoms like friendship, yet there is a great difference in the fruit. The coin that is most current among mankind is flattery ; the only benefit of which is that by hearing what we are not, we may be instructed what we ought to be. Blinded as they are to their true character by self-love, every man is his own first and chiefest flat- terer, prepared, therefore, to welcome the flatterer from the outside, who only comes confirming the verdict of the flatterer within. Flattery is an ensnaring quality, and leaves very dangerous impressions. It swells a man's imagination, entertains his fancy, and drives him to a doting upon his own person. It is. sometimes very hard to decide which gives us more pleasure — to hear ourselves praised, or to hear our neighbors run down. Because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the addition of other men's praises is most perilous. The evil results of FLATTERY. 403 contact with persistent flatterers may be seen on every hand, in those dispositions and characters which are puffed up with such an inordinate share of vanity and self-conceit. Guard the young and artless from contact vvith flatterers, as you would guard them from vipers. "Oh what a pretty child you are," often repeated in its ears, has proved the everlasting ruin of many an otherwise useful life. Flattery corrupts the soul, raises faise hopes, deadens the sense of duty, overthrows the judg- ment, and dethrones right reason. Lift your voice and your influence against this monstrous evil, and thus gain one step towards an approving conscience and a peaceful life. Goldsmith tells us : "For praise too dearly loved, or warmly sought, Enfeebles all internal strength of thought ; And the weak soul within itself unblest, Leans for all pleasure on another's breast." Sir Matthew Hale says if a man, whose integrity you do not very well know, makes you great and extra- ordinary professions, do not give much credit to him. Probably you will find that he aims at something be- sides kindness to you, and that, when he has served his turn, or been disappointed, his regard for you will grow cool. The art of flatterers is to take advantage of the foibles of the great, to foster their errors, and never to give advice which may annoy. Suspect men and women who affect great softness of manner and unruffled evenness of temper, and an enunciation studied, slow and deliberate. These 404 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. things are all unnatural, and bespeak a degree of mental discipline into which he that has no sinister motive cannot submit to drill himself. The most successful knaves are sharp and smooth as razors dipped in oil. They affect the innocence of the dove to hide the cunning of the serpent. The following is Father Sheldon's satire on flat- terers : " The monkey was once employed to paint portraits. He painted to the life. He gave the ass his long ears ; the lion his shaggy mane ; the tiger his blood-thirsty appearance ; the wolf his sly, deceitful look. The result was, criticisms were abundant, and complaints loud. The fox took up the profession. He shortened the ears of' the ass ; gave the lion a look of more majesty and less terror; took away the blood- thirsty appearance of the tiger; and the wolf could hardly be distinguished from the faithful house-dog. The fox became popular as a painter, and the monkey had no employment but to paint sheep, horses and useful animals of that sort." As illustrating the universal homage paid to wealth, a good story comes to us of two ladies who met upon a recent social occasion. They had been in the habit of meeting upon the same occasion for several years and — passing on. This time they met and chatted most affably. Said number one to num- ber two: " How well you are looking, Mrs. Blank. I think I have never seen you looking so well." "Oh, yes," said lady number two, " but I think I shall be bet- ter looking next year, if my husband's income keeps on increasing. Rich ladies are always handsome." EVIL CRITICISM. 405 And she spoke so laughingly that it was not until she had passed on that the very complimentary lady was fully aware of the implied rebuke. We sometimes think we hate flattery ; but we only hate the way in which we are flattered. Flattery is false money which would not be current, were it not for our vanity. Gvih (S^IJBIGISM. Dr. Kitto exhibits scandal in its true deformity, where he describes it as "a compound of malignity and simulation ; never urging an opinion with the bold consciousness of truth, but dealing in a monstrous jargon of half-sentences, conveying its ambiguities by emphasis ; thus confirming the evil they affect to deplore." Those persons who indulge this ignoble habit he characterizes as the hyenas of society, perpetu- ally prowling over reputations, which are their prey; lamenting, and at the sam«e time enjoying, the ruin they create. To hint at a fault does more mischief than speaking out ; for whatever is left for the imagination to finish, will not. fail to be overdone ; every hiatus will be more than filled up, and every pause more than supplied. There is less malice, and less mischief, too, in telling a man's name, than the initials of it; as a worthier person may be involved in the most disgraceful suspicions by such a dangerous ambiguity. 406 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. A sneer is the weapon of the weak. Like other evil weapons, it is always cunningly ready to our hands, and there is more poison in the handle than in the point. But how many noble hearts have withered with its venomous stab and festered with its subtile malignity. The longer I live, the more I feel the importance of adhering to the rules I have laid down for myself in relation to such matters : To hear as little as possible to the prejudice of others. To believe nothing of the kind till I am abso- lutely forced to it. Never to drink into the spirit of one who circulates an ill report. Always to moderate, as far as I can, the unkindness which is expressed towards others. Always to believe that, if the other side were heard, a very different account would be given of the matter. Never say of another what you would not have him hear. Everybody is glad when the biter is bitten. When a man begins to find fault with other people, he may well be advised to look for evil in his own heart and life. Keep clear of personalities in conversation. Small minds occupy themselves with persons. When you must talk of persons, dwell on the good side. There are family boards where a continual criticism and cutting up of character go on, but it is not a pleasant thing to a kind heart — one does not like to dine off a dissecting table. One who seemed to live that he might stab the successful character, and whose words seemed to feed a vicious public, thus writes of those whom the world EVIL CRITICISM. 407 delights to honor : " Sir Walter Scott, a toothless re- tailer of old wives' fables ; Brougham, an eternal grinder of commonplace and pretentious noise, like a man playing on a hurdy-gurdy; Coleridge, talking in a maudlin sleep an infinite deal of nothing ; Words- worth, stooping to extract a spiritual catsup from mushrooms which were little better than toad stools ; Peel, a plausible fox ; John Wilson Croker, an un- hanged hound ; Lord John Russell, a turnspit of good pedigree ; Lord Melbourne, a monkey ; ' these be thy gods, O Israel ?' Others occupied in undertakings as absurd as to seek to suck the moon out of the sky; this wind-bag yelping for liberty to the negro, and that other for the improvement of prisons — all sham and imposture together — a giant lie — which may soon go down into hell fire." We should be reluctant to think that everybody's talk is of necessity much of the time about his neigh- bors. It is a fact that a great deal of most delightful conversation is not about persons at all, but about na- ture, or books, or political changes, or the last lecture, or the concert that was given the other night. Still there is a temptation to talk about other people some- times, and it seems to us, that if such talk is not ma- licious in spirit, or unkind in tone, it is on the whole pardonable. But to speak with a sneer of the foibles of Mrs. A , and the next moment to welcome her to your parlor with a kiss, as if you had no friend so delightful ; to say " good-bye, my dear, come again soon," with honeyed emphasis to Miss B , and be- fore the rustle of her skirts is gone, to say, " Horrid 408 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. old thing ! I'm glad that's over ;" this is to be insin- cere and untrue. There is, we are sorry to admit, far too much of this sort of easy lying in our social inter- course, and those who indulge in it would do well to remember the quotation with which we began. If we accustom ourselves to ungentleness or insincerity in our speech or thought concerning our friends, we may be assured that they may be doing the same with re- gard to us. There is no spirit more hurtful to its possessor than a suspicious spirit. " Think evil of no man," is the divine counsel. " Suspicions among thoughts,"' says Lord Bacon, " are like bats among birds ; they will fly in the night." Such thoughts cloud the mind, sep- arate friends, and ruin our enjoyment. The Italians say, " Suspicion dismisses fidelity." It weakens faith,, cools love, beclouds hope, and turns green fields into arid deserts. Drive away suspicion, and cultivate con- fidence. Think twice before you believe every evil story you hear, and think twenty times before you repeat it. Say to yourself, " This may not be true, or it may be exaggerated," unless you have proof of the veracity of your informant. Persons sometimes tell falsehoods,, they often make mistakes, and they sometimes hear wrong. It is a very easy thing to criticise another's work ; but much more difficult to take hold and do better yourself. In other words, "It is one thing to see that a line is crooked, and another thing to be able to draw a straight one." It is well before sneering at the EVIL CRITICISMo 409 crooked marks made by another, to ask, " Am I sure that I can do better?" Sometimes we are very con- fident that we possess the power to do better, when one attempt would prove it otherwise. The wise person is always chary of criticising. When any person of really eminent virtue becomes the object of envy the clamor and abuse by which he is assailed is but the sign and accompaniment of his success in doing service to the public. And if he is a truly wise man, he will take no more notice of it than the moon does of the howling of the dogs. Her only answer to them is " to shine on." A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue in others — for men's minds will either feed on their own good, or upon other's evil ; and who wanteth the one will prey upon the other ; and whoever is out of hope to attain another's virtue will seek to come at even hand by depressing another's fortune. Bitter- ness always hints of an old half-healed hurt Cyni- cism is the scar of sorely wounded faith ; scepticism, the crumbling corpse of belief, Nothing can reconcile envy to virtue but death. The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness, and blind to light; mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into only two classes,. openly bad, and secretly bad. All virtue and generosity and disinterestedness are merely the appearance of good, but selfish at the bottom. He holds that no man does a good thing except for profit The effect 41 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. of his conversation upon your feelings is to chill and sear them ; to send you away sour and morose. His criticisms and inuendoes fall indiscriminately upon every lovely thing, like frost upon flowers,, Thus his eye strains out every good quality, and takes in only the bad. To him religion is hypocrisy, honesty a preparation for fraud, virtue only want of opportunity, and undeniable purity asceticism. The livelong day he will sit with sneering lip, uttering sharp speeches in the quietest manner, and in polished phrase transfixing every character which is presented. " His words are softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords." Gvil fo^vCyil. The impulse of rendering evil for evil is one of the strongest to be found in the human breast. But the indulgence of this passion soon begets a degree of baseness, that stops not with rendering evil to those who have injured us, but passes on to distress those who have done us no evil; nor content with this, it usually ends with making those unhappy who have most carefully sought to do us good. "The ear of jealousy heareth all things," says the wise man; frequently I believe more than is uttered, which makes the company of persons infected with it still more dangerous. Treachery fosters treachery, and evil produces evil of like kind. It is everywhere observed that a liberated slave is apt to make a merci- EVIL FOR EVIL. 4TT less master, and that boys who have been cruelly fag- ged at school are cruel faggers. He who betrays another's secret because he has quarrelled with him was never worthy of the name of friend; a breach of kindness will not justify a breach of trust. Of all human frailties there are none so base as ingratitude, none so infamous as to return evil for good — to debase the purest friendship extended to us by lifelong friends, "Envy," says Lord Bacon, "has no holidays." There cannot, perhaps, be a more lively and striking description of the miserable state of mind those endure who are tormented with this vice, A spirit of emula- tion has been supposed to be the source of the greatest improvements ; and there is no doubt but the warmest rivalship will produce the most excellent re- sults ; but it is to be feared that a perpetual state of contest will injure the temper so essentially that the mischief will hardly be counterbalanced by any other advantages. Those whose progress is the most rapid will be apt to despise their less successful competitors, who, in return, will feel the bitterest resentment against their more fortunate rivals When an envious man is melancholy, one may ask him, in the words of Bion, what evil has befallen him, or what good has happened to another. This last is the scale by which he principally measures his felicity, and the very smiles of his friends are so many deductions from his own happiness. The wants of others are the standard by which he sates his own enjoyments, and 412 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. he estimates his riches, not so much by his own possessions as by the necessities of his neighbors. Anger is less reasonable and more sincere than envy. Anger breaks out abruptly: envy is a great prefacer. Anger wishes to be understood at once : envy is fond of remote hints and ambiguities ; but ob- scure as its oracles are, it never ceases to deliver them till they are perfectly comprehended. Anger repeats the same circumstances over again : envy invents new ones at every fresh recital. Anger gives a broken, vehement and interrupted narrative : envy tells a more consistent and more probable, though a falser, tale. Law-breakers always come to evil in the end. In Great Britain there is a law under which certain offi- cers mark a line on a vessel's hull to show how deep in the water she may be loaded. On one occasion a captain wanted to carry a greater load than the law allowed. He took a lantern and a paint-brush one night, and moved the regular " load-line" up several inches. The officers who inspected the load thought that it was all right, as they could trace the line along the edge of the water. So far the captain's trick was successful. He passed out of the Thames and went to sea bound for a foreign port. But the vessel never afterwards was heard from. She was overloaded, and so foundered in a storm. A young woman who served out a sentence of five years in the Maine state's prison found means of edu- cation, and, becoming thoroughly reformed, left the prison in appearance a lady. She was employed by a dry-goods firm in Portland as saleswoman, and gave EVIL FOR EVIL. 413 perfect satisfaction to her employers, till one day a wealthy lady of the place entered the store and recog- nized her. Calling the proprietor aside, she told him that the girl had been in the state's prison. He replied that he knew it, but she had done her duty faithfully, and that they were well satisfied with her. "Well," said the lady, " if you keep her in your store I will neither trade with you myself nor suffer any of my friends to, if I can help it." So the proprietor, rather than lose his customer, called the poor girl and discharged her. John the Almsgiver, Bishop of Alexandria, was one day visited by a nobleman. In the course of con- versation the nobleman declared, with warmth, that he would never, to his dying day, forgive a certain man who had cruelly wronged him. Just then the bell in the Bishop's private chapel rang for prayers. Entering the chapel, the two men knelt before the altar. Presently the Bishop began to repeat, in a loud voice, the Lord's prayer, and the nobleman repeated each petition after him. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread." The bishop stopped abruptly. The nobleman went on alone: "and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Then, finding that he alone was praying, he also stopped. The bishop remained kneeling, but was silent. Suddenly the sense of the petition he had uttered rushed on the nobleman's mind. He was appalled at his own prayer. Silently he arose from his knees, went forth, and finding the man who had injured him, frankly forgave him. 414 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Two brothers had fallen out, and in the heat of his passion the elder struck the younger on the cheek. Brave as steel and quick as lightning, the younger raised his arm to return the blow ; but ere it fell he remembered how he had read that morning by his mother's knee these words, "When one smites thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also." A simple child, who took Christ's words in their ordinary sense, he drops his arm, and turning on his brother eyes where tears of forgiveness had quenched the flash of anger, he offered the other cheek for a second blow. It was the other's turn to weep now, Surprised, sub- dued, melted, he fell on his brother's neck and kissing him, acknowledged his offense, and asked forgiveness. And there, locked in fond embrace, the two boys stood, a living proof that our Lord's highest and apparently most impracticable injunctions admit of a more literal obedience than any give them. Blasphemy. It is no mark of a gentleman to swear. The most worthless and vile, the refuse of mankind, the drunk- ard and prostitute, swear as well as the best dressed and would-be gentleman. No particular endowments are required to give a finish to the art of cursing. The basest and meanest of mankind swear with as much tact and skill as the most refined ; and he that wishes to degrade himself to the very lowest level of pollution BLASPHEMY. 415 and shame should learn to be a common swearer. Any man has talents enough to learn to curse God, and imprecate perdition on himself and his fellow-men. Profane swearing never did any man any good. No man is the richer or wiser or happier for it. It helps no one's education or manners. It commends no one to any society. It is digusting to the refined; abomi- nable to the good; insulting to those with whom we as- sociate; degrading to the mind; unprofitable, needless and injurious to society ; and w r antonly to profane his name, to call his vengeance down, to curse him, and to invoke his vengeance, is perhaps of all offenses the most awful in the sight of God. There are men who are so in the habit of using profane language that it almost flows from their lips without malice or meaning ; and there are those who regard profane language as an indication of manly courage and gentlemanly bearing. Dr. Annesley, while dining at a coffee-house, ordered a glass of water to be sent to the gentleman in the next box, whose profane oaths were very annoying. He was sur- prised, and said he had given no such order. The doctor said, gravely, "I thought to cool your tongue after the fiery language you have been using." The man was offended and challenged him, but he excused himself on account of his cloth. Some years after he met the man, who apologized and thanked him for his reproof, which had cured him of a wicked habit. The habit of profane blasphemy, once fixed upon a man, is hard to overcome. A very estimable man of sixty years was prostrated with brain fever, and in his. 41 6 WELL 7 SPRINGS OF TRUTH. delirium shocked his friends by his blasphemous pro- fanity. After his recovery he was told of it, and con- fessed that in youth he was terribly profane. " It is forty years since I uttered a profane word. I supposed the habit was gone from me ; but the leprosy is still in my blood. The tiger is chained, but he is alive." Daily grace is the only cure. Beware of profanity in youth. The Sunday-school in Rockville was assembled for their monthly concert. The lesson was about swear- ing, and when the children had repeated their verses, the minister rose to talk to them. " I hope, dear children," he said, "that you will never let your lips speak profane words. But now I want to tell you about a kind of swearing which I heard a good woman speak about not long ago. She called it wooden swearing. It is a kind of swearing that many people besides children are given to when they are angry. Instead of giving vent to their feelings in oaths, they slam the doors, kick the chairs, stamp on the floor, throw the furniture about, and make all the noise they possi- bly can. ' Isn't this just the same as swearing ?' said she. 'It's just the same kind of feeling, exactly, only they do not like to say those awful words ; but they force the furniture to make the noise, and so I call it wooden swearing.' I hope, dear children, that you will not do any of this kind of swearing either." It is better to let alone wooden swearing, and all other kinds of swearing. A young man came to Poemen greatly distressed by temptations to blasphemy. " Do you take pleasure BLASPHEMY. 417 in these thoughts?" asked the Abbott. "I hate and de- test them," answered the hermit. "Be of good cheer," said Poemen ; " if you cast them out without giving them consent, they cannot hurt, though they may dis- tress you." We are told that some of the ruthless ancients, not very justly called fathers, struck out of the Bible that passage, "Jesus Wept" — they thinking, as appears by the testimony of Epiphanius, that his weeping was a degradation of his character. Take care how you treat the Bible, the altar, the church. Words of contempt may easily rise to your lips, but they mean more than you intend them to mean. You throw a little pebble into the broad lake; you thought it would go straight down and be seen no more. So far you may be right, but the circles are on the surface, and they vibrate and widen and multiply and make the whole lake throb, and who can tell what may come out of contemptuous criticism of Jesus Christ and his ministry ? Understand that the blatant atheist who sells his atheism, and pronounces its first little syllable with a vicious emphasis, does not always see or feel at the moment the result of his blasphemies. Profanity and refinement are necessarily strangers to each other. To say that we have a clear conscience is to utter a solecism ; had we never sinned we should have had no conscience. The spirit of blasphemy is open to the contempt of all right thinking people. The puny arm that raises itself in feeble efforts to oppose God is the outward 27 41 8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. sign of a weak judgment and a vicious heart. None but a weakling will make such a useless trial of strength. No one can hide from the judgment. A century ago an infidel German countess dying, gave orders that her grave should be covered with a solid slab of granite; that around should be placed square blocks of stone, and that the whole should be fastened to- gether by strong iron clamps. On the stone, by her order, these words were cut: "This burial-place, purchased to all eternity, must never be opened.'* Thus she defied the Almighty. But a little seed was sprouted under the cover, and the tiny shoot found its way through between two of the slabs, and grew there, slowly and surely, until it burst the clamps asunder, and lifted the immense blocks. Falsehood. Let falsehood be a stranger to thy lips ; Shame on the policy that first began To tamper with the heart to hide its thoughts ! And doubly shame on that inglorious tongue That sold its honesty and told a lie. Havard. Some men seem to have a constitutional inability to tell the simple truth. They may not mean to lie, or to tell an untruth, but they are careless — careless in hearing, careless in understanding, careless in repeat- ing what is said to them. These well-meaning but reckless people do more mischief than those who FALSEHOOD. 419 intentionally foment strife by deliberate falsehood. There is no fire-brand like your well-meaning busy- body, who is continually in search of scandal, and by sheer habit misquotes everybody's statements. This carelessness is a sin of no small magnitude. A man's duty to God and his fellows requires him to be careful ; for what else were brains and common sense given him ? Of course that other class, the malignant scandalmongers who take a fiendish pleasure in promoting strife, who deliberately garble men's words and twist their sentiments, is in the minority, and people have a very decided opinion regarding them. Most men misrepresent because they don't seem to think that care in speaking the truth is a pre-eminent duty. The effects of this careless misrepresenting of others are seen everywhere. Its effect on the individual is to confirm him in a habit of loose, distorted and ex- aggerated statement, until telling the truth becomes a moral impossibility. No other thing causes so many long-standing friendships to be broken, so many dis- sensions in churches, so much bitterness in communi- ties, and so much evil everywhere. It is an abuse that calls for the rebuke of every honorable man — a rebuke that should be given not only in words when- ever occasion demands, but by example. The Persians were said to teach their youth three things : to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth. A little more instruction on this latter head would do no harm to our "advanced civilization." It is a good thing to be stable-minded, for "a 420 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." To be of one opinion at one time, and another soon after, and to be continually changing, is not wise. There are times when it is wisdom to change our opinions; when we are convinced that we are wrong, or that there is a better way, it would be unwise to hold to them ; but those changeable-minded persons, who advocate a thing at one time and oppose it at another — those people whose mind changes so often that you never know where to find them are not to be de- pended upon, and therefore do not amount to much. How little there is in the world of a really scrupu- lous reverence for truth, one may see but too many proofs every day. Falsehood, like poison, will gener- ally be rejected when administered alone ; but when it is blended with wholesome ingredients may be swal- lowed unperceived. All bad work is lying. It is thoroughly dishonest. You pay for having a work done well ; it is done badly and dishonestly. It may be varnished over with a fair show of sufficiency, but the sin is not discovered nntil it is too late. So long as these things continue, it is in vain to talk of the dignity of labor, or of the social value of the so-called working-man. There can be no dignity of labor where there is no truthfulness of work. Dignity does not consist in hollowness and in light- handedness, but in substantiality and in strength. If there be flimsiness and superficiality of all kinds apparent in the work of the present day more than in the work of our forefathers, whence comes it ? It is from eagerness and competition, and the haste to be rich. FALSEHOOD. 42 1 There is a duplicity of life which is quite as bad as a verbal falsehood. Actions have as plain a voice as words. The mean man is false to his profession. He evades the truth that he professes to believe. He plays at double dealing. He wants sincerity and veracity. The sincere man speaks as he thinks, believes as he pretends to believe, acts as he professes to act, and performs as he promises. Lying is one of the most common and conventional of vices. It prevails in what is called " Society." Not at home is the fashionable mode of reply to a visitor. Lying is supposed to be so necessary to carry on human affairs that it is tacitly agreed to. One lie may be considered harmless, another slight, another unin- tended. Little lies are common. However tolerated, lying is more or less loathsome to every pureminded man or woman. " Lies," says Ruskin, " may be light and accidental, but they are an ugly soot from the smoke of the pit, and it is better that our hearts should be swept clean of them, without our care as to which is largest or blackest." " Lying abroad for the benefit of one's country," used to be the maxim of the diplomatist. Yet a man should care more for his word than for his life. When Regulus was sent by the Carthaginians, whose prisoner he was, to Rome, with a convoy of ambassadors to sue for peace, it was under the condition that he should return to his prison if peace were not effected. He took the oath, and swore that he would come back. When he appeared at Rome he urged the senators to persevere in the war, and not to agree to the 422 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. exchange of prisoners. That involved his return to captivity at Carthage. The senators, and even the chief priest, held that as his oath had been wrested from him by force, he was not bound to go. " Have you resolved to dishonor me ? " asked Regulus. " I am not ignorant that death and tortures are preparing for me ; but what are these to the shame of an infa- mous action or the wounds of a guilty mind? Slave as I am to Carthage, I have still the spirit of a Roman. I have sworn to return. It is my duty to go. Let the gods take care of the rest." Regulus returned to Carthage, and died under torture. Speaking of the prevalence of false actions, coupled with pretended repentance, an author thus speaks of its utter falsehood : "There are hoary-headed rascals who have never lost their power to express their feelings through their lachrymal gland. They secrete tears with as much facili- ty as they secrete other people's money. Crying is as easy as lying. One of the most incorrigibly treacherous and untruthful men I ever heard of is periodically overtaken by a penitential boohoo. The worst of men have the best of feelings." Beware of exaggeration, watch your words, and speak just the truth. Exaggeration is the plantlet, falsehood the full-grown tree. Do not let us lie at all. Do not think of one falsehood as harmless, and another as slight, and another as unintended. Cast them all aside. It is more from carelessness about the truth than from intentional lying that there is so much falsehood in the world. The more weakness, the more falsehood ; FALSEHOOD. 423 strength goes straight. Every cannon ball that has in it holes or hollows goes crooked. Weaklings must lie. God is the author of truth; the devil is the father of lies. If the telling of a truth shall endanger thy life, the Author of truth will protect thee from the danger, or reward thee for thy damage. If the telling of a lie will secure thy life, the father of lies will beguile thee of thy gains, or traduce the security. Better by losing of a life to save it, than by saving of a life to lose it. However, better thou perish than the truth. Those whose minds cannot grasp political sagacity substitute dissimulation for prudence. He who prac- tices concealment deprives himself of a most important instrument of action, namely, confidence. The following words of the wise man may be read with profit in this connection : " The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him : A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speak- eth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren. The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." Much food for thought is found in the following re- flections upon falsehood : Falsehood, like a drawing in perspective, will not bear to be examined in every point of view, because it is a good imitation of truth, as a perspective is of the 424 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. reality. Falsehood and fraud shoot up in every soil, the product of all climes. Round dealing is the honor of man's nature ; and a mixture of falsehood is like alloy in gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. A liar would be brave toward God, while he is a coward toward men ; for a lie faces God and skrinks from man. No false- hood can endure touch of celestial temper but returns of force to its own likeness. Figures themselves, in their symmetrical and inexorable order, have their mistakes like words and speeches : An hour of pleas- ure and an hour of pain are alike, only on the dial, in their numerical arrangement. Outside the dial they lie sixty times. Somebody tried to excuse a liar to Dr. Johnson, saying, " You must not believe more than half what he says." " Ay," replied the doctor, "but which half?" Nero was not developed in a day. When the first death-warrant was brought to him to sign he said he wished he had never learned to write. This was the speech of him who finally so grew in wickedness and indifference to blood and crime that the groans and cries of the Christians, as they were thrown into the dens of wild beasts, became his sweetest music. So with Commodus, that rival of Caligula and Nero in crime and cruelty. So, also, Barere, whom Macaulay describes as one of the most ruthless actors in the CRUELTY. 425 French Revolution, as one who had been a mild, generous, humane man in early life, but who in time,, when he had once tasted blood, came to like it so well that cruelty became with him a habit, then a passion, then a madness. I always distrust a boy who is wantonly cruel to animals. They know well when they are unkindly treated, and soon learn to distinguish friends from foes. Birds are equally sagacious. From one of the nests in our orchard one egg was taken to help make up a boy's collection in natural history. The mother king-bird was very much angered when her remaining eggs were hatched. A dozen times every day, or every time the boy came near the house or her tree, she flew down and picked his hat, or would sweep close to his eyes, so that we were indeed afraid that she would pick them out. After a while she left, but soon returned to hatch another brood, and again her warfare began on the boy. All through that season- she never forgot ; aud what seemed strange to us, al- though other boys of the same size and age came to play in the grounds, she always knew her boy. Birds, fishes, even frogs, can all be tamed by kindness. He is a pitiful coward who injures those helpless creatures. The reckless cruelty with which many people cut and slash the already wounded feelings of their fellow creatures, thereby giving them their death stab, is, equal to the French surgeon in the following story : Sir Astley Cooper, on visiting Paris, was asked by the surgeon-in-chief of the empire how many times he had performed a certain very difficult operation. Sir 426 WELlL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Astley answered that he had performed the operation but thirteen times. " Ah, but monsieur," said the Frenchman, " I have done him one hundred and sixty times." Sir Astley was amazed. The curious Frenchman, looking at the Englishman's blank face, asked, "And how many times did you save his life ? " Very modestly the great surgeon answered, "I saved eleven out of the thirteen." It was his turn to question : " And how many did you save out of the one hundred and sixty times?" " Ah, Monsieur," replied the Frenchman, "I lose dem all, but de operation was very brilliant. The place where we least expect a cruel action is sometimes the one where it is surest to confront us. Nor is it necessary to be intentional on the actor's part. Many of the most cruel actions are the result only of heedlessness ; or a little childish vanity to dis- play one's wit; or the pride of learning, the elation of success, or the awkward endeavor to lend a helping Land. There is a place for everything, and everything to its place. There was a poor woman who had one child, the joy of her heart, the one ewe-lamb of her household. She worked for it early and late. But there came a time when one day it sickened. She watched it by day and carried it in her arms by night. But she could not keep the little heart beating or the body warm ; so it was taken away and laid in the cold ground. She felt puzzled, crushed. It was a bright morning, the church-bells were ringing, and she CRUELTY. 427 thought, "I will go and hear what the preacher has to say." She crept in after the service had commenced and took a retired seat. The organ was playing a soft, low tune: the hymn was soothing — some of our music is still devotional. The clergyman arose and announced his text.. She lifted her veil and raised her eager, trembling face towards him. Did he tell her that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without our Father in heaven, or did he tell how that heavenly Father pitieth his children, and gave his only begotten Son for our sins and sorrows ? No, he told her about Louis Napoleon! She waited till the congregation had passed out. There were among them happy mothers, leading dear little children. She grasped the gate-post at the side of the church door in the weak- ness of despair and said, There is no God. Dog won't eat dog, but men will eat each other up like cannibals, and boast of it too. There are thousands in this world who fly like vultures to feed on a tradesman or a merchant as soon as ever he gets into trouble. Where the carcass is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. Instead of a little help, they give the sinking man a great deal of cruelty, and cry, "Serves him right." All the world will beat the man whom fortune buffets. If providence smites him, all men's whips begin to crack. The dog is drowning, and therefore all his friends empty their buckets over him. The tree has fallen, and everybody runs for his hatchet. The house is on fire, and all the neighbors warm themselves. The man has ill luck, therefore his friends give him ill usage ; he has tumbled into the 428 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. road, and they drive their carts over him ; he is down, and selfishness cries, " Let him be kept down, then there will be the more room for those who are up." One of the ill effects of cruelty is that it makes the bystanders cruel. How hard the English people grew in the time of Henry Eighth and Bloody Mary. Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive out- side of itself; it only requires opportunity. The cruelty done to children by some parents, as well as by teachers, is indescribable. Children are held to be of the same mental nature, of the same temperament, of the same adaptability to learn, as their parents and teachers. Yet the boy who cannot learn his lessons as quickly as another is thrashed, or he is degraded in some way. Grown people forget the intense misery to which children are thus exposed. The child's horizon is so limited that he sees no remedy to his woes, and his sorrow absorbs his whole little being. What an enormous amount of cruelty is perpe- trated upon dumb animals — upon birds, upon beasts, upon horses, upon all that lives. The Roman gladia- tors have passed away, but the Spanish bull-fights re- main. As the Roman ladies delighted to see the gladiators bleed and die in the public amphitheater, so the Spanish ladies clap their hands in exultation at spectacles from which English warriors sicken and turn away. "It must be owned," said Qabellero, "and we own it with sorrow, that in Spain there is very little compassion shown to animals among the men and CRUELTY. 429 women ; and among the lower classes there is none at all." What a history of cruel actions our Anglo-Saxon race has made for itself. The furies of the under world, as portrayed by savage nations, may be passed over with lightness and covered from sight by the mantle of charity; but the fiendish pursuits of the English-speaking race, possessing a knowledge of the Prince of Peace, and owing its great advancement in civilization to his spirit and teachings, is beyond a thinking man's comprehension. The most atrocious crimes have been perpetrated in the name of civilization, and the very principles of the Gospel which they professed to carry to the heathen lands they invaded, have all been sacrificed, and the sacred banner trailed in the dust. The blood of the Hindoo robed in his garments of caste, clothed with self-righteousness and loaded with his religious ceremonies, though he be, yet cries to heaven for vengeance. Poor, poverty-stricken, famine- parched and opium-cursed India, thy wrongs are more than the sands of the seashore, and darker than the gloom of thy jungles, and it is but an evidence of the sure power of the great hand that never grows palsied, and in whose hollow we are all safely held, that thine oppressors are scourged and heart-sick even in their victory. The cry to heaven from the friends and kinsmen of four millions of murdered people in China, cruelly slaughtered that the lust for gain of the English and American traders might be satisfied is but another link 430 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. in the chain that is being welded by the ages; and with that the savage attack upon a Christian people in South Africa, whose only crime was that they had valuable lands and goods that the Anglo-Saxon coveted. Time would fail me to write all the grievous and cruel horrors of the English race. They seem mon- strous even beside those set to the account of the Spaniards in their early conquests of the New World. But when I pass to notice our own fair and loved land, and think of the stains and foul blotches upon our own fair fame, my hand is stricken with palsy, and my heart almost ceases to beat. My face blanches with fear. We have revelled in cruelty and we have said to war, thou art our kinsman, and to rapine thou shalt be our bedfellow. We have made the blood of human beings to flow as a river, and the vultures of the air and beasts of prey have fattened in our track. The red men have faded from before our approach, as the light fades before approaching darkness, and our con- tact with them has produced the withering curse that is felt when the simoom sweeps the deserts of Arabia. Says an Indian chief, "This glorious land, running so wild with rivers, and blooming back the Great Spirit's smile in such wealth of flowers, once belonged to the red man, and of most of it he has been shame- lessly robbed. If those of our race who have been slain by the white man, should spring up from the sod as trees, there would be one broad moaning forest from the great river to the sea. Those of us who REVENGE. 431 have been spared are sneered at, despised, enslaved and spit upon as dogs." Nor does our crime end with the red man. We forced the Celestial empire to open her doors and allow her sons to come to our shores, after the cruel slaughter of more than four millions of people, and now we hound the poor creatures to death, and fail to afford them protection from the cruel rabble of a lazy and profligate class who come to us from another part of the globe. A patient, educated, honest and industrious people are allowed to fall victims to a cruel, lazy, ignorant and vicious pack of human vam- pires, the offscouring, the ragtag and the dregs of the Old World! Revenge. " Revenge at first, though sweet, bitter ere long back on itself recoils." The spirit of revenge is the most demoralizing and degrading of all the passions to which the human heart is subject. That man who allows it to take pos- session of his heart and control his actions harbors a monster of the most pitiless and tyrannical nature. It absorbs all the greenness of his soul, it embitters his life and drowns his happiness. His heart becomes the seat of such fierce and contending emotions that his live is burned out like a furnace, and his soul is blasted as a tropical garden after the simoom has passed over it. His eyes become bloodshot, his features wear a pinched and ferocious aspect, his ears 43 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. are deaf to the cries of mercy, while he suffers all the pangs of a hell upon earth. They talk about revenge being sweet, but the common experience of all who have glutted themselves at this feast is, that it is a most fearful bitter-sweet ! Ask the outlaw, roaming the mountain wild, startled at the chirp of a bird and turn- ing pale at his own shadow, if it is sweet ! Ask the poor wretch who is about to pay the penalty for gratifying this passion upon the gallows, and you need not wait for the answer before deciding. Ah, no ! How differ- ent from that One, of whom it is said, However much he was persecuted he loved his persecutors none the less. If a person be passionate, and give you ill lan- guage, rather pity him than be moved to anger. You will find that silence, or very gentle words, are the most exquisite revenge for reproaches ; they will either cure the distemper in the angry man and make him sorry for his passion, or they will be a severe reproof and punishment to him. But, at any rate, they will preserve your innocence, give you the deserved repu- tation of wisdom and moderation, and keep up the serenity and composure of your mind. Passion and anger make a man unfit for everything that becomes him as a man or as a Christian Job said, " Oh, that mine adversary had written a book !" It seems almost impossible that human nature had in that day degenerated into the weakness of writing books as a matter of spite. But that many books are to-day produced from such low motives is a well-known fact. REVENGE. 433 Revenge is a fever in our own blood, to be cured only by letting the blood of another ; but the remedy too often produces a relapse, which is remorse — a ma- lady far more dreadful than the first disease, because it is incurable. A man that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well. Revenge is a debt, in the paying of which the greatest knave is honest and sincere, and, so far as he is able, punctual. There are some professed Christians who would gladly burn their enemies, but yet forgive them merely because it is heaping coals of fire on their heads. Diogenes being asked by what means a man might revenge himself upon his enemies, replied, " By becoming himself a good and an honest man." A Christian told Sisoes, the Theban, of his inten- tion to revenge a wrong done him. He advised him against such a course, but to leave vengeance to God. "I will not; I cannot," said the man. Then they knelt together in prayer, and Sisoes prayed, " O God, take, we pray thee, no more concern about our affairs ; be no longer our protector; we are going henceforth to manage for ourselves, avenge ourselves, and do all the rest that thou hast hitherto done for us ! " The man became ashamed of himself, and abandoned his intention. Revenge is an act of passion ; vengeance, of justice; injuries are revenged, crimes are avenged. The best sort of revenge is not to be like him who did the injury. Revenge is a cruel word ; manhood, some call it; but it is rather doghood. The manlier any man is, the milder and more merciful. 28 434 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ©he Social Sy^ahw. A correspondent of the Baltimore " Sun," writing- from California, says: "A cure for wife- whipping was authorized by the last legislature of Nevada. The authorities of Austin, a mining town in that state, have erected a whipping-post to punish summarily wretches who abuse their wives by blows. We wish it were prac- tical to apply appropriate correction to the no less un- manly tyranny of unfeeling exaction and cruel words by which too many husbands keep their wives in never- ending torment. If man had the brains he boasts, he would speak ever kindly to the mother of his house- hold, if it were only for selfish motives." Make your wife happy by tender and affectionate treatment, and you will make your home a paradise more precious than gold and costly mansions. We admire the Hindoo parable (and believe its instruction) that describes a woman at the gates of Heaven pray- ing that her naughty husband might be admitted. " He was ever kind and true to me, and if you would make me happy, I must share with my husband." Instantly the portals opened and the angels bid him enter : " Because of thy wife's prayer thy sins are for- given. Who live in harmony on earth, in Heaven are not divided." In a country of the East the bride and the bride- groom eat a quince together to sweeten their breath. What a pity that all brides and grooms could not ea.t THE SOCIAL TYRANT. 435 some sort of fruit whose fragrance would remain to make them sweet-voiced and sweet-tempered all their lives. What a pity that all the newly-wedded could not remember that from the apples of discord is expressed the vinegar of hate, while from the sweet- tempered grapes of kindness is distilled the wine of perpetual bliss. Look at that man who has just shut his gate with a bang, and is scraping his feet at the door. What a pity he could not scrape his heart, too, before he opens the door. There is as much dirt and defilement on his heart as on his boots, and the effects will be far more serious. The selfish, sordid, cross, ill-tempered, pitiful little soul. His devoted wife dare not ask him for a dollar. She would rather have a tooth pulled any time. He is always grumbling. He is a chronic growler. He thinks the world was made for him, and wonders it was not made bigger on his account. He is like an old he-bear that goes snarling after the mother-bear, and if she chance to drop the little cub that she is tug- ging along in her mouth, he gives the toiling creature a grim and ugly bite. I saw just such an old bruin near Salt Lake once. A husband and wife emerged from the car. She was loaded down with the baggage and his overcoat, and he was bustling along, hurrying her up, lest she fail to catch the train. I wanted to interview that man for about two minutes. There is in the countries of the East a species of black ant that suddenly attack articles of furniture. The work is insidious and unseen. Externally all 43 ^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. seems right, until suddenly the whole thing collapses in a cloud of dust. So it is where discord and harsh- ness exist in domestic life. It will eat out the very life of home. Heaven is transformed into hell. The angelhood of earth is exchanged for demoniacal sor- row and sin. It always takes an angel to make a devil. That which is most beautiful is made most hideous by unworthy transition. If women's devotedness to men in any relation of life teaches the latter to be selfish, lazy, exacting, im- perious, the act is not a merit but a sin, and causes their beloved ones to sin. Therefore, if a mother by overweening indulgence helps her son to become a thoughtless scapegrace; if a wife by cowardly sub- serviency converts her husband into a selfish brute; even if a daughter — sets up a weak, luxurious, un- principled father as the idol of her life, and expects everybody to bow down and worship him — all these foolish women have condoned sin, and called vice virtue; have left the truth, and believed, or pretended to believe, a lie. If a man is selfish and self-willed, intolerant and unsympathizing ; if he has no respect for the judgment of other men, and no disposition to sacrifice his own convenience and inclination to theirs ; if he is ostenta- tious and fussy in his very kindness and self-abnega- tion; he ought not to wonder that he provokes im- patience and irritation. I have spoken of tyranny; there is nothing so absolute, as the tyranny of weakness. Sometimes a really good man will suffer himself to be so victimized THE SOCIAL TYRANT. 437 by a nervous, silly, selfish wife, that he dare not call his soul his own. By a thousand underhand ways, she succeeds in alienating him from his own family — breaking his natural ties, hindering his most sacred duties; putting a stop to his honest work in the world — his rightful influence therein, and all the pleasures that belong thereto. And these being, to a man, so much wider than any woman's, the loss is the greater, the pain the sharper. One can imagine a large-minded, honorably ambi- tious man actually writhing under the sacrifices forced from him by a wife feeble in every way — who destroys not merely his happiness, but his good reputation. Since, when it is seen that her merest whims are held by him of paramount importance — that her silly, selfish yes or no is to decide every action of his life, do not his friends laugh at him behind his back, even though before his face they may keep up a decorous gravity? "Poor fellow! with such a goose for his wife!" Yet the pity is akin to contempt ; and something more than contempt is felt — especially by his mother, sisters, or critical female friends — towards that wife who exacts from him the renunciation of all his duties, except those towards herself; in plain English, " makes a fool of him," because in his devotion he has offered every- thing to her, and she has meanly accepted the sacri- fice. He ought never to have made it. He ought to have given her care, tenderness, affection — all that man should give to woman, and strength to weakness; but there it should have ended. No wife has a right 43^ WEKL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. to claim the husband's whole life, its honorable toil, its lawful enjoyments. If she cannot share, she should learn at least not to stand in the way of either. And the man who submits to be so tyrannized over, as weak women in their small way can tyrannize, with that " continual dropping that weareth away the stone," deserves all he gets ; his friends' covert smiles, his enemies' unconcealed sneer. The father of Frederick the Great, King of Prus- sia, was such a tyrannical man towards his children, that at one time he flew into a rage, beat his. son Fred- erick with his cane, because he persisted in playing upon his flute against the orders of his father. On another occasion, the king, in a great rage, threw heavy earthen plates at the heads of his son and daughter while they sat at dinner, and their lives were saved only by their dexterity, gained by long practice in similar encoun- ters, in dodging the missiles. On another occasion, after months of the vilest persecution and degradation of both son and daughter, the king threw the latter into prison, and gave out his intention of putting to death her brother. Miss Mulock speaks of the evil effects of the tyran- nical actions of father and sons, as follows : " These girls, accustomed to be considered inferior animals, who must get their own way by stratagem, grow up into those designing young ladies who owe their power over men to first flattering and then deceiving them. " But what a future for the new generation ! How many unhappy girls have paid dearly for the early upbringing of their young husbands, who, the first THE SOCIAL TYRANT. 439 glamour of love passed, treat their wives as they were allowed to treat their sisters, and as they saw their fathers treat their mothers, carelessly, disrespectfully, with a total want of that considerate tenderness which is worth all the passionate love in the world. This — though they may pass muster outside as excellent hus- bands, never doing anything really bad, and possess- ing many good and attractive qualities, yet contriving somehow quietly to break the poor womanly heart, or harden it into that passive acceptance of pain which is more fatal to married happiness than even temporary estrangement. Anger itself is a safer thing than stolid, hopeless indifference." The waste of time, the waste of strength, and the waste of health which women accept on account of fashion is appalling. The shoes of women have pegs for heels half-way under the foot, on which they walk with a tottering, hobbling gait, like Chinese women. Gaudy jewelry, gewgaws and trinkets, in the way, vul- gar, unladylike, are worn upon the street and at church ; bangs, deforming the features and reproducing the ape-like expression the Darwinian attributes to our ancestors ; powder for the face, hot irons for the hair, cosmetics for the skin — all alike are wicked and silly, nay absurd and repulsive to all sensible men. Frills, fringes, cords, straps, buttons, pull-backs and flounces, supposed to be ornamental, but which have no other use, burden and deform even our young girls. If the rising generation is to be healthy, there must be a. return to simpler as well as more becoming styles. We need artists who can devise simple and beautiful 44-0 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. dresses which shall secure to the wearer the free and untrammeled use of the whole body. Our home joys are the most delightful earth affords. And the joy of parents in their children is the most holy joy of humanity. It makes their hearts pure and good ; it lifts men up to their Father in heaven. But what must be the despair and torment of that father or mother whose selfish lives have only resulted in estranging the hearts of their children from home, from relatives and from God, — whose boast, perhaps, is that they can make warm friends and enjoy the approval of their associates everywhere else but at home. Their hearts grow cold towards those whom the ties of nature would bind most closely to them. Their parents, though doting and idolizing them, yet by their tyrannical manner have driven them from the sacred limits of a home, that to their young minds is the darkest place upon earth. What a unique and meaning expression was that of an Irish girl in giving testimony against an individual in a court of justice the other day. " Arrah, sir," said she, "I'm sure he never made his mother smile." There is a biography of unkindness in that short and simple sentence. Says a lady writer : " I object on purely selfish grounds to accepting invitations from friends to visit them in their homes for any length of time. In the long run I pay pretty dearly for their hospitality — that is, in most cases. Though when at home I hire my dressmaking done and have a maid to wash the dishes, I have been in a THE SOCIAL TYRANT. 44 1 manner compelled to do much of this kind of work in the houses of my friends. Not that I am unwilling to make myself agreeable and useful to those I visit, but the consciousness of being imposed upon impairs my self-respect. " Not long since I visited by special request a family in which one of its members was at the point of death, that I might aid in performing the last sad offices, and though there was abundance of help in the house, I was left to do the dish-washing. The water was hard and the rest didn't care to have chapped hands in cold weather. "Again, I have visited at houses where, although i was little better than an invalid, my services were so constantly demanded, either by hint or outspoken requests, that I really worked harder than I was accus- tomed to do at home, and when my visit was ended, I went home too tired and ill to do anything but keep as still as possible. " In the majority of cases it is almost impossible for a guest to refuse a request made by her hostess, a request that is courteous in form if not in spirit. It is hard for her not to feel that she must do what she seems expected to do, even when the action involves a greater personal sacrifice than it is just to herself to make. And so it seems to me that we ought to use some care in regard to what we ask of our guests. If we cannot dispense with their services when they are with us, why ask them at all ? Why decoy them from home comfort and ease to share our burdens? No 44 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. hostess has any right to make a waiting-maid of her guest. This is a side of the question which is too sel- dom considered." . I^EG^iiEss or^ Fearless. Every one who heedlessly or unnecessarily, for bravado or through thoughtlessness, or even from mis- taken pious zeal, goes in the way of infection, or helps in' the spread of it, commits a crime against society, which society cannot too strongly protect itself from. When I see rabid religionists carrying handfuls of tracts into reeking, typhus-doomed cottages, where they ought first to have carried food and clothes, or, better still, have leveled them with the ground and built up in their stead wholesome dwellings; when I hear clergymen with young families, and going daily into other families and schools, protest that it is " their duty " to enter infected houses in order to administer spiritual consolation to people dying of small-pox or scarlet-fever, I look upon them much as I would upon a man who thought it "his duty" to carry a lighted candle into a powder-house. Nothing may happen; but if anything does happen, what of him who caused the disaster by his fatal folly — misnamed faith ? As if " salvation " did not mean a saving from sin rather than from punishment; and, therefore, though men's souls may be in our hands during life, they must be left solely in God's when RECKLESS OR FEARLESS. 443 death comes — and after. These so-called .religious persons are apparently much more bent upon doing their own will in their own way than the Master's in his way. For the will of God, so far as we can trace it through his manifestation of himself in his Son, seems to be the prevention and cure of not only moral but physical evil by every possible means, prior to its total extinction. Speaking of the insane motives that prompt action in many cases, Miss Mulock says : " Young men will go their own way ; sow their wild oats — and reap them. I do not speak of extreme cases of reckless dissipation, upon which retribution follows only too swift and sure, but of small dissipa- tions, petty sins. A young fellow will dance till four in the morning several times a week, when he knows that every day in the week he must be at his office at nine, and is, being an honest fellow who wishes to get on in the world. But he does not consider how much he takes out of himself in life and health and strength, and sometimes out of his master's pocket too; for, with the best intentions, he cannot possibly do his work as well as it ought to be done. But he, too, does what he likes best to do, and deludes himself that it is the best ; and all the arguments in the world will never convince him to the contrary. "No more will they convince those other sinners — whose sin looks so like virtue — the clever men who kill themselves with overstudy ; the ambitious men who sacrifice everything to the mad desire of getting on in 444 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the world ; of being — not better or wiser or greater — but merely richer than their neighbors." True bravery is shown by performing without witnesses, what one might be capable of doing before all the world. This line of action is characteristic of the truly fearless man. Alas ! that so much merely reck- less action should be characterized as fearless. It is not fearlessness at all. It is rank cowardice — cow- ardice at the opinion of the public. On the other hand, the man who does not care for others, who does not sympathize with and help others, is very often pursued with a just retribution. He dosen't care for the foul pestilential air breathed by the inhabitants of houses a few streets off; but the fever which has been bred there floats into his house and snatches away those who are dearest to him. Most men live blindly to repeat a routine of drudgery and indulgence, without any deliberately chosen and maintained aims. Few live distinctly to develop the value of their being; know the truth ; love their fellows ; enjoy the beauty of the world, and aspire to God. When a man grows desperate for pleasure, that which ordinarily would be a weak temptation becomes to him very strong. In Esau, appetite was stronger than duty or honor. He thought lightly of his place in the family, and was in little real sympathy with his people ; and thus he did what was not really of a moment, but of a habit of mind and a state of heart he had been cherishing for years. Men come by dif- ferent and gradual stages to commit great crimes. RECKLESS OR FEARLESS. 445 Small sins open the way for the greater that are to follow. Let sin be resisted at the threshold, and thus the way is blocked up against the commission of great sins afterwards. Goldsmith mentions an old lady, who, having been given over by her physician, played with the curate of the parish to pass the time away. Having won all his money, she next proposed playing for the funeral charges to which she would be liable. Unfortunately, the lady expired just as she had taken up the game! Of all the instances that can be given of reckless- ness of life, there is none that comes near that of the workmen employed in what is called dry pointing; the grinding of needles and of table-forks. The fine steel dust which they breathe brings on a painful disease of which they are almost sure to die before forty. And yet not only are men tempted by high wages to engage in this employment, but they resist to the utmost all the contrivances devised for diminishing the danger; through fear that this would cause more workmen to offer themselves, and thus lower wages ! The thing would appear incredible if it were not so fully attested. All this proves that reckless avarice overcomes the fear of death. And so may vanity ; witness the many women who wear tight dresses, and will even employ washes for the complexion which they know to be highly dangerous and even destruc- tive to their health. The number of imprudent persons who have been killed since the Franco-Prussian war in trying to empty the German shells that have been found unexploded 446 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. in the fields round Paris, is extraordinary. At St. Denis, the past autumn, an old man of sixty-eight, who had a collection of German shells, was trying to empty another, when it exploded and blew him and his shop to pieces. The remnants of his body were found scat- tered in all directions. A similar accident is also re- ported from the arsenal of Belfort, where one artillery- man was killed and five wounded. Just so is it with those who needlessly take up what Paul calls "doctrines of devils," those destructive forms of atheistic unbelief that shatter our faith both in God and in humanity, which ruins both individuals and society. Keep off the devil's territory, and do not pervert the advice, "Prove all things," to encourage an inquisitive study of infidel books. Anger, of such a quality as the Bible calls righ- teous, may make one fearless, without being reckless. Luther says, " I never work better than when I am inspired by anger; when I am angry I can write, pray and preach well ; for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mun- dane vexations and temptations depart." I once heard this anecdote of Judge Parsons, the great Massachusetts advocate and lawyer. It is said that being about to try a mercantile case, he ordered a jury to be summoned, and among the names was that of Col. Thomas H. Perkins, the leading merchant of Boston in that day, and a personal friend of Judge Parsons. When the officer made his return, he laid down a fifty-dollar bill before the Judge. " What is that? " said Parsons. RECKLESS OR FEARLESS. 447 " Col. Perkins says he is very busy ineeed today, and prefers to pay his fine." "Take that- back to Col. Perkins," said the Judge, " and tell him to come here at once ; and if he refuses,, bring him by force." When Col. Perkins appeared, the Judge looked sternly at him, and said, " What do you mean, sir, by sending money when you were summoned to sit on this jury?" Col. Perkins replied : " I meant no disrespect to the Court, your Honor; but I was extremely busy fitting out a ship for the East Indies, and I thought if I paid my fine I might be excused. "Fitting out a ship for the East Indies, sir!" shouted the Judge ; "and how happens it that you are able to fit out a ship for the East Indies ? " "Your Honor, I do not understand you." "I repeat, then, my question : How is it that you are able to fit out a ship for the East Indies? If you do not know, I will tell you. It is because the laws of your country are properly administered. If they were not, you would have no ships. Take your seat, sir, with the jury." The career of a missionary is the most dutiful and heroic of all. He carries his life in his hand. . He braves danger and death. He lives among savages,, sometimes among cannibals. Money could not buy the devotion with which he encounters peril and misery. He is only upheld by the mission of mercy with which he is charged. What are called " advanced thinkers " have nothing to offer us for the self-imposed work of 44-8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. missionaries at home and abroad. Mere negation teaches nothing. It may pull down, but it cannot build up. It may shake the pillars of our faith and leave nothing to hold by, nothing to sanctify, to elevate, or to strengthen our natures. ~"g^ Io> ■■■ ft5AI^. The feast of vultures, and the waste of life. That fearful scourge of God, — cruel, relentless war. Only the wicked or the ignorant can wish for war. Those whose hearts are steeled to human woe may welcome war as the means of their aggrandizement ; and those who do not know what war is — who have never seen battle-fields, or hospitals, or besieged and destroyed cities — who have never helped to bury noble friends in shallow ditches right where they died — who never followed the wake of a desolating army — who have never known the poverty and the hunger, the widowhood and orphanage, the madness and the sin of war ; these may talk glibly of military glory, but the good man, who is wise, hates war and prays evermore for peace. Wherever there is war, there must be injustice on one side or the other, or on both. There have been wars which were little more than trials of strength be- tween friendly nations, and in which the injustice was not to each other, but to the God who gave them life. But in a malignant war there is injustice of ignobler war. 449 kind at once to God and man, which must be stemmed for both their sakes. War is the matter which fills all history, and con- sequently the only, or almost the only, view in which we can see the external of political society is in a hostile shape ; and the only actions on which we have always seen, and still see all of them intent, are such as tend to the destruction of one another. As long as man- kind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the most ex- alted characters. The first great obstacle to the extinction of war, is the way in which the heart of man is carried off from its barbarities and its horrors by the splendor of its deceitful accompaniments. There is a feeling of the sublime in contemplating the shock of armies, just as there is in contemplating the devouring energy of a tempest ; and this so elevates and engrosses the whole man, that his eye is blind to the tears of bereaved parents, and his ear is deaf to the piteous moan of the dying, and the shriek of their desolated families. In war, people judge for the most part by the suc- cess, whatever is the opinion of the wiser sort. Let a man show all the good conduct that is possible; if the event does not answer, ill fortune passes for a fault and is justified but by a very few persons. The following thoughts are culled from many sources : Civil wars leave nothing but tombs. Anarchy and confusion, poverty and distress follow a civil war. Take my word for it, if you had seen but one day of , 29 45° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. war, you would pray to Almighty God that you might never see such a thing again. The fate of war is to be exalted in the morning, and low enough at night! There is but one step from triumph to ruin. The fate of a battle is the result of a moment, of a thought ; the hostile forces advance with various combinations, they attack each other and fight for a certain time ; the critical moment arrives, a mental flash decides, and the least reserve accomplishes the object. Woe to the man that first did teach the cursed steel to bite in his own flesh, and make way to the liv- ing spirit. Providence for war is the best prevention of it. The bodies of men, munition and money may justly be called the sinews of war. Among uncivilized nations only one profession is honorable — that of arms. I abhor bloodshed, and every species of terror erected into a system as reme- dies equally ferocious, unjust and inefficacious against evils that can only be cured by the diffusion of liberal ideas. Nobody sees a battle. The common soldier fires away, amid a smoky mist, or hurries on to the charge in a crowd which hides everything from him. The officer is too anxious about the performance of what he is specially charged with to mind what others are doing. The commander cannot be present every- where, and see every wood, water-course or ravine in which his orders are carried into execution ; he learns from reports how the work goes on. It is well ; for a battle is one of those jobs which men do without DUELLING. 451 daring to look upon. Over miles of country, at every field fence, in every gorge of a valley or entry into a wood there is murder committing, wholesale, contin- uous, reciprocal murder. The human form, God's image, is mutilated, deformed, lacerated in every pos- sible way, and with every variety of torture. The wounded are jolted off in carts to the rear, their bared nerves crushed into maddening pain at every stone or rut ; or the flight and pursuit trample over them, leaving them to writhe and groan, without assistance, and fever and thirst, the most enduring of painful sen- sations, possess them entirely. Take heed How you wake our sleeping sword of war ; We charge you in the name of God, take heed. For never two such kingdoms did contend Without much fall of blood ; whose guiltless drops Are every one a woe, a sore complaint 'Gainst him, whose wrong gives edge unto the swords, That make such waste in brief mortality. Shakespeare. Duelling. Of all the cowardly, craven excuses for shirking a man's duty and quieting his conscience, this senseless appeal to a wounded " honor," is the most despicable and wicked. A man seeks an excuse for gratifying his desire for revenge, and gives or accepts a challenge. He and his misguided friends think it is an honorable thing. But he places himself upon a level with the lowest assassin and sneak-thief, for he yields to the basest passions that ever swayed the human heart. 452 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. It is the duty of every true man to cry out with un- blushing earnestness against the wicked, senseless prac- tice of duelling. Boys should be taught that there is a high standard of bravery where the fear of being called a coward will have no lodging-place. They should be taught that an inward consciousness of courage, and re- sponsibility to God, is of greater consequence than all the satisfaction that can ever be rendered to " wounded honor." A perfect horror of the sacrifice of a human life, or the shedding of humaVi blood, should be incor- porated into the completed education of every young man and young woman of our land, and then, and not till then, will duelling cease. Men are very slow to give up their faith in physi- cal force, as necessary for the guidance, correction and discipline of others. Force is a very palpable thing, and dispenses with all inquiry into causes and effects. It is the short way of settling matters without any weighing of arguments. It is the summary logic of the barbarians, among whom the best man is he who strikes the heaviest blow or takes the surest aim. Even civilized nations have been very slow to abandon their faith in force. Until very recent times, men of honor, who chanced to fall out, settled their quarrels by the duel : and governments, almost with- out exception, resort to arms to settle their quarrels as to territory or international arrangements. Indeed, we have been so trained and educated into a belief in the efficacy of force — war has become so identified in history with honor, glory, and all sorts of high-sound- ing names — that we can scarcely imagine it possible DUELLING. 453 that the framework of society could be held together, were the practice of force discarded, and that of love, benevolence and justice substituted in its place. And yet doubts are widely entertained as to the efficacy of the policy of force. It is suspected that force begets more resistance than it is worth, and that if men are put down by violent methods, a spirit of rebellion is created, which breaks out from time to time in violent deeds, in hatred, in vice, and in crime. Such, indeed, has been the issue of the policy of force in all countries and in all times. The history of the world is, to a great extent, the history of the failure of physical force. A bill has be^n introduced into the South Carolina Legislature by Senator Henderson which defines the offense, and fixes the punishment for duelling thus : If one person kills another in a duel, he shall be deemed guilty of murder, and suffer the punishment of death ; and so shall all the seconds or aids of the murderer. If, in a combat, either party should be wounded, no matter how slightly, any and all parties thereto shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, be imprisoned in the State penitentiary for not less than twenty years. The same law applies in the event of a challenge being accepted in that State, and the duel fought in another, with either of the above results. We take the above from a secular paper. Such a law in every State would be a good one Stalwart measures should be taken to make duelling odious. A writer who describes the celebrated duel be- 454 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. tween Cilley and Graves, at Washington, thus closes the account : The wretched man who thus, from a false sense of honor, deprived Cilley of his life, his country of his services, and his young family of a tender and devoted father, soon retired from congress and lived out the remainder of his days in obscurity and wretchedness. The memory of his deed haunted him to the last. There is no more miserable being than one who has killed his fellow-man for no cause except to satisfy a false worldly pride. Remorse is, and should be, his perpetual portion and punishment. There appeared, many years ago, in a quaint old English publication an allegory, giving the imaginary origin of gaming. It is represented as a woman, the offspring of the God of War and the Goddess of Fortune. As she grew up she was courted by all the gay and extravagant of both sexes ; for she was of neither sex, and yet combining the attractions of each. At length, however, being mostly beset by men of the sword, she formed an unnatural union with one of them, and gave birth to twins — one called Duelling, the other Suicide. These became their mother's darlings, nursed by her with constant care and tender- ness, and her perpetual companions. GROWLING. 455 GROWLING. Miserymongers (the word is not to be found in Webster, yet it suits) are those who do not really suf- fer affliction, but make a trade of it — and often a very thriving business too. They are scattered among every class, but especially they belong to the "genus irritable " — the second or third rate order of people who live by their brains. Not the first order, for the highest form of intellect is rarely miserable. True genius of the completest kind is not only a mental but a moral quality. Itself creates the atmosphere it lives in ; a higher and rarer air than that of common earth. " Calm pleasures there abide; — majestic pains." A habit of scolding indicates a want of self-disci- pline. The machinery has got from under our own hands, and has fallen to grating and destroying itself under the friction and perplexities of life. "Possess thyself" is a more important rule than " Know thyself." Without this primary virtue we are not in a condition to receive much good to ourselves, or to afford aid to others. Of all things which are to be met with here on earth there is nothing which can give such continual, such cutting, such useless pain as an undisciplined temper. The touchy and sensitive temper, which takes offense at a word ; the irritable temper, which finds offense in everything, whether intended or not ; the violent temper, which breaks through all bounds 45^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. of reason when once roused; the jealous or sullen temper, which wears a cloud on the face all day and never utters a word of complaint; the discontented temper, brooding over its own wrongs ; the severe temper, which always looks at the worst side of what- ever is done ; the wilful temper, which overrides every scruple to gratify a whim — what an amount of pain have these caused in the hearts of men, if we could but sum up their results ! How many a soul have they stirred to evil impulses, how many a prayer have they stifled, how many an emotion of true affection have they turned to bitterness ! How hard they make all duties! How they kill the sweetest and warmest of domestic charities! Ill-temper is a sin requiring long and careful discipline. Every one must see daily instances of people who complain from a mere habit of complaining. With some, growling is chronic. Life is but one long fret. The flesh is feverish, the nerves unstrung, the spirit perturbed and in a state of unrest. The physical condition and material surroundings may have a strong tendency to disturb our equanimity and to exasperate our feelings ; but we ought to bear in mind that scold- ing never did anybody any good, and withal, grows to be very uncomfortable to the party who indulges in it. Scolding turns a household into a pandemonium, and a church into an inquisition. Bear in mind that kindness and gentle speech are a great deal easier to practice than opposites. Why practice the wrong thing when harder ? Arrest yourself in the indul- GROWLING. 457 gence of this bad habit right here. Begin now, and put yourself under bonds to be good natured. People of gloomy, uncheerful imaginations or of envious, malignant tempers, whatever kind of life they are engaged in, will discover their natural tincture of mind in all their thoughts, words and actions. Worry is the bane of the times. It is everywhere. It comes in a thousand forms, and from ten thousand sources, and its inlets are wide open in the hearts of the multi- tude. People fret, and fume, and chafe themselves into disease and wretchedness, and finally into inani- tion and an untimely grave. Generally speaking, if you are troubled with " the blues," and cannot tell why, you may be sure that it springs from physical weakness. Instead of lying on a sofa and courting painful ideas, if you are a despond- ing lover, a hypochondriac or a valetudinarian, you should be up and stirring yourself. The blood of a melancholy man is thick and slow, creeping sluggishly through his veins, like muddy waters in a canal ; the blood of your merry, chirping philosopher is clear and quick, brisk as newly broached champagne. Try, therefore, to set your blood in motion. To effect this, don't go to guzzling down brandy-smashes, gin-cocktails or any of the other jug- gling compounds in which alcohol is disguised ; for every artificial stimulant will drag you down two de- grees for every one it lifts you up. The devil always beats us at barter. Try, rather, what a smart walk will do for you ; set your pegs in motion on rough, rocky ground, or hurry them up a steep, cragged hill; 45^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. build a stone wall ; swing an ax over a pile of hickory or rock-maple; turn a grindstone; dig ditches ; practice "ground and lofty tumbling;" pour water into sieves with Danaides, or with Sisyphus " up the high hill heave a huge round stone;" in short, do anything that will start the perspiration, and you will soon cease to have your brains lined with black, as Burton expresses it, or to rise in the morning, as Cowper said, "like an infernal frog out of Acheron, crowned with the ooze and mud of melancholy." Nine-tenths of the worry of life is borrowed for nothing. Do your part ; never leave it undone. Be industrious ; be prudent ; be courageous. Then throw anxiety to the winds. " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof;" therefore do not borrow any for to-mor- row. No one ever looked for the dark side of life without finding it. Keep impatience out of your voice and manners as well as your heart. Some snap and slam through force of habit, even when their hearts are making as much music as a tea-kettle over glowing coals. Those passionate persons who carry their hearts in their mouths are rather to be pitied than feared ; their threatenings serving no other purpose than to forearm him that is threatened. The " Congregationalism" telling of the death of a young man who was not prepared for it, gives this history of his father's family: "They were church members, but many years ago had changed their resi- dence from the country to the city,- and their position in the church from one of influence in a small society to one of comparative obscurity in a large one. The GROWLING. 459 new status never pleased them ; they were proud and disappointed ; they did not enjoy their back seats. Then they began to grumble. They grumbled at the minister, who did not do pastoral work enough to please them; they had been accustomed to see the pastor every day or two in the old home ; this man seemed indifferent to them; neither did his preaching please them ; and he had altogether too big a salary, and they fancied, seemed to preach for the money. They grumbled at the aristocrats in the church, people who were " stuck up," the church itself becoming too expensive a luxury for poor folks. The result of it all was that the formerly respectable family sank into one that was low and indifferent, and the death alluded to came as one of the natural and inevitable conse- quences." The picture thus presented has many counter-parts through all the churches, and they all tell the same story. If Christians spend their strength in criticisms and complaint, they will perish under so dete- riorating a discipline. Living faith, earnest going to work in devotion to God and love for our fellow-men, will bring salvation, but a failure to do this will work the other way. It is doubtful if there is philosophy enough in the world, even if it were impartially distributed, to put a stop to worry. Some people would begin to fret the next day after such a distribution of the antidote, that they hadn't got their share. And then some things are as much stronger than philosophy as blood is thicker than water. Temperament is one of them. Inherited mental traits or habits that have crystallized 460 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. into disposition, are more of the same sort. A man who has the elements so mixed within him that he naturally borrows trouble, and crosses bridges before he gets to them, and permits things small or great to fret him, is bound to worry. He may as well attempt to alter his complexion, or change the thickness of his skin, as to stop worrying. The most he can do is to control the expression of his mental state within him- self — and that is often more wearing to him than to give vent to his feelings. Speech is the safety-valve for constitutional growlers, and they are truly blessed if they have a friend with a willing ear and a buoyant nature, on whom their poured-out troubles have no more effect than a summer shower on a silk umbrella. Degradation. Close beside every man there walks the ghost of what he might have been. If you do not wish to trade with the devil, keep out of his shop. — Thos* Fuller. A man may corrupt his taste and introduce an ele- ment of vulgarism into his expressiveness by careless familiarity with the foul and unlovely. There are a great many men that read books to understand human nature, who do not know that they are pouring filth into the currents of their souls. There are a great many men who, when they are abroad, go to see sights that human eyes ought not to look upon, except they be eyes of mercy looking to save men as brands from the everlasting burning. A man at the center must DEGRADATION. 46 1 be thoroughly and immaculately pure, if he would be at the circumference filled with fine sensibilities and delicate tastes so as to appreciate the nobly grand and the singularly beautiful. Man is an animal that cannot long be left in safety without occupation; the growth of fallow nature is apt to run to weeds. A few days since, a man put an end to his life because he could not find employment. After his death, a hotel bill was found in his pocket, the amount of which was fifty-four dollars, more than half of which was charged under the head of " Bar." None are so much hardened as those who hear the word, and are not converted under it ; they are beaten into adamante by Satan himself on the anvil of hell. When a person has his heart filled with sinful thoughts and desires they prevent the Lord from working in such a heart to turn it from sin to holiness. A skeptic at a social party engrossed general at- tention by an effort to prove that human beings have no souls. Seeing the company staring at him in wonder and silence, he finally said to a lady, "What do you think of my arguments, madam ? " She promptly replied, "It appears to me, sir, that you have been employing a good deal of talent to prove yourself a beast." There was both wit and wisdom in the lady's reply, fqr if man be not immortal, what is he more than a beast? How degraded is that man who can pride himself on his skill in attempting to prove him- self degraded. It is held by many philosophers that man has in 462 .WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. his single nature the elements of every animal, bird and reptile on the globe. This alleged philosophical truth is applied in detail by mankind in general. It is common to say that a certain kind of man is a fox; that another is a donkey; another a hog ; another a snake. Girls are apt to de- scribe a certain kind of bachelor as "a perfect old bear." Young men, in a certain state of heart, are given to ornithological metaphors and call their sweet- hearts birds, doves, etc. An affectionate, playful wife, sometimes refers to her husband as "a dear old goose." A certain kind of man is always spoken of contemptuously as " an old biddy," because he is weak and fretful, and goes clucking and scratching around like an old hen. The most revolting creature which is elemental in the human heart, though men are seldom compared to it, is the buzzard. „ The buzzard of the air feasts on decaying sub- stances. The buzzard of the heart feasts on decaying character. It revels in slander, and in all the moral debasement which is exhibited by depraved souls in their efforts to drag others down to their own wretched condition. These buzzards of the heart are found in all ranks of society. Let one of them, in a car, or on a steam- boat, or at a party, or in a church vestibule, begin to tear at a bit of scandal ever so gently, and other similar creatures, with like depraved appetites, will gather around. Let the dove in a man coo good of a fellow mortal, DEGRADATION. 463 and these same persons will instinctively shrink away from him as a bore, while doves in other hearts respond with answering coos of appreciation. For our part, we prefer the doves of human nature to the buzzards. A curious case is reported in the London papers of 1820 of James Lloyd, who practiced on the credulity of the lower orders by keeping a Little Go, or illegal lottery. He was brought up for the twentieth time to answer for that offense. This man was a Methodist preacher, and assembled his neighbors together at his dwelling on a Saturday to preach the gospel to them,, and the remainder of the week he was to be found, with an equally numerous party, instructing them in the ruinous vice of gambling. The charge was clearly proved, and the prisoner was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labor. " The sharp, the black-leg, and the knowing one, Livery or lace, the self same circle run : The same the passion, end and means the same — Dick and his Lordship differ but in name." The truth is, we have become too selfish. We think of ourselves far more than of others. The more devoted to pleasure, the less we think of our fellow- creatures. Selfish people are impervious to the needs of others. They exist in a sort of mailed armor, and no weapons, either of misery or want, can assail them. Their senses are only open to those who can minister to their gratifications. "There are men," says St. Chrysostom, " who seem to have come into the world only for pleasure, and that they might fatten this per- ishable body. At sight of their luxurious table the 464 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. angels retire — God is offended — the demons rejoice — virtuous men are shocked — and even the domestics scorn and laugh. The just men who have gone before left sumptuous feasts to tyrants, and to men enriched by crime, who were the scourges of the world." We no longer know how to live upon little. A man must have luxury about him. And yet a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesseth ; he must live honestly, though poor. Re- trenchment of the useless, the want even of the rela- tively necessary, is the high road to Christian self- denial, as well as to antique strength of character. The idle and selfish man cares little for the rest of the world. He does nothing to help the forlorn or the destitute. " What are they to me ?" he says ; "let them look after themselves. Why should I help them ? They have done nothing for me ! They are suffering? There always will be suffering in the world. What can't be cured must be endured. It will be all the same a hundred years hence ! " " Don't care " can scarcely be roused by a voice from the dead. He is so much engrossed by his own pleasures, his own business, or his own idleness, that he will give no heed to the pressing claims of others. The discussions about poverty, ignorance or suffering annoy him. " Let them work," he says ; " why should I keep them ? Let them help themselves." The sloth is an energetic animal compared with " Don't care." John Plowman speaks as follows: ' Everything in the world is of some use ; but it would puzzle a doctor of divinity, or a philosopher, or the wisest owl in our DEGRADATION. 465 steeple, to tell the good of idleness ; that seems to me to be an ill wind which blows nobody any good — a sort of mud which breeds no eels, a dirty ditch which would not feed a frog. Sift a sluggard grain by grain, and you'll find him all chaff. I have heard men say, "Better do nothing than do mischief," but I am not even sure of that ; that saying glitters well, but I don't believe it's gold. I grudge laziness even that pinch of praise ; I say it is bad, and bad altogether ; for, look ye, a man doing mischief is a sparrow picking corn — but a lazy man is a sparrow sitting on a nest full of eggs which will all turn to sparrows before long and do a world of hurt. Don't tell me, I'm sure of it, that the rankest weeds on earth don't grow in the minds of those who are busy at wickedness, but in foul corners of idle men's imaginations, where the devil can hide away unseen, like an old serpent as he is. I don't like our boys to be in mischief, but I would sooner see them up to their ifecks in the mud in their larks than sauntering about with nothing to do. If the evil of doing nothing seems to be less to-day, you will find it out to be greater to-morrow ; the devil is putting coals on the fire, so the fire does not blaze, but, depend upon it, it will be a bigger fire in the end. Idle people, you had need be your own trumpeters, for no one else can find any good in you to praise. I'd sooner see you through a telescope than anything else, for I sup- pose you would then be a long way off; but the biggest pair of spectacles in the parish could not see anything in you worth talking about. Debt is so degrading, that if I owed a man a penny 30 466 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. I would walk twenty miles in the depth of winter to pay him, sooner than to feel that I was under an obligation. I should be as comfortable with peas in my shoes, or a hedgehog in my bed, or a snake up my back, as with bills hanging over my head at the grocer's, and baker's, and the tailor's. Poverty is hard, but debt is horrible ; a man might as well have a smoky house and a scolding wife, which are said to be the two worst evils of our life. We may be poor, and yet respectable, which John Ploughman and wife hope they are and will be ; but a man in debt cannot even respect himself, and he is sure to be talked about by the neighbors, and that talk will not be much to his credit. Some persons appear to like to be owing money ; but I would as soon be a cat up a chimney with the fire alight, or a fox with the hounds at my heels, or a hedgehog on a pitchfork, or a mouse under an owl's claw. An honest man thinks a purse full of other people's money to be worse than an empty one: he cannot bear to eat other people's cheese, wear other people's shirts, and walk about in other people's shoes, neither will he be easy while his wife is decked out in the milliner's bonnets, and wears the. draper's flannels. The jackdaw in the peacock's feathers was soon plucked, and borrowers will surely come to poverty — a poverty of the bitterest sort, because there is shame in it. Living beyond their incomes is the ruin of many of my neighbors ; they can hardly afford to keep a rabbit, and must needs drive a pony and chaise. I am afraid SECRET SINS. 467 extravagance is the common disease of the times, and many professing Christians have caught it, to their shame and sorrow. Good cotton or stuff gowns are not good enough nowadays ; girls must have silks and satins, and then there's a bill at the dressmaker's as long as a winter's night, and quite as dismal. Show and style and smartness run away with a man's means, keep the family poor, and the father's nose on the grindstone. Frogs try to look as big as bulls, and burst themselves. Ten dollars a week apes five thousand a year, and comes to the county court. Men burn the candle at both ends, and then say they are very unfortunate — why don't they put the saddle on the right horse, and say they are extravagant? Economy is half the battle in life ; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well. Hundreds would have never known want if they had not first known waste. Sbg^ehi Sins. The nurse of infidelity is sensuality. — Cecil. What is sin ? Is it an overt act of the body ? Is it necessarily a visible movement ? Does sin reside in the material world as the pestilence ? Surely not. Sin is in the thought, in the imagination, in the affections, in the will, ft is there where we resist God and his holiness. It is there where we form character for eternity. It is there where God's eye rests. "Temptations lurk," says Bishop Huntington, "in 468 WELL-SrRINGS OF TRUTH. the pillows of comfort on which thoughtless heads are laid ; in pleasures that make earth so satisfying that we feel no need of heaven ; in traffic, whose gain is offered for falsehood ; in labor, where the world gambles for the soul ; in emulation, where ambition is mistaken for wisdom ; in fellowship, where criminality is mistaken for cordiality and flattery for friendship. These are clothed like angels of light. Here in our hearts is Satan's seat, but no harm can come but by the yield- ing of a perverted will." Look at that oyster shell. Do you see a little hole in the hard roof of the oyster's house ? That explains why there is a shell but no oyster. A little creature called the whelk, living in a spiral shell, dropped one day on the roof of the oyster's house. " The little in- nocents," some one has called the whelks. " The little villains," an oyster would call them, for the whelk has an auger, and bores, and bores, and bores, until he reaches the oyster itself, and the poor oyster finds he is going up through his own roof. He goes up, but he never comes down. A writer speaks of noticing on the shores of Brit- tany the holes in the oyster bored by its enemy, both burglar and murderer, we should call him. "A little sin, a little sin !" cries a boy who may have been caught saying a profane word, or strolling with a bad associate, or reading a bad book, or sipping a glass of beer. "Don't make too much of it!" he says. Young friend, that's the whelk on the oyster's back, You have given the tempter a chance to use his auger, SECRET SINS. 469 and he will bore and bore till he reaches the center of all moral worth in the soul, and draws your very life away. In the highway of every life there is a lion, who wrestles with us and strengthens us. Some of the finest light dawns upon our souls from successful con- flict with secret sins. In the commission of evil, fear no man so much as thyself. Another is but one witness against thee : thou art a thousand ; another thou may- est avoid : thyself thou canst not. Wickedness is its own punishment. Temptation is not sin, and no man need be defiled by it except through his own yielding and failure to turn aside from it. The ruin of most men dates from some vacant hour. Occupation is the armor of the soul; and the train of idleness is borne up by all the vices. I remember a satirical poem in which the devil is repre- sented as fishing for men, and adapting his baits to the tastes and temperament of his prey ; but the idler, he said, pleased him most, because he bit the naked hook. To the young man away from home, friendless and forlorn in a great city, the hours of peril are those between sunset and bedtime ; for the moon and stars see more of evil in a single hour than the sun in his whole day's circuit. A vile imagination, once indulged, gets the key of our minds, and can get in again very easily, whether we will or no, and can. so return as to bring seven other spirits with it, more wicked than itself; and what may follow, no one knows. The gnawings of appetite are like a roused lioness with her whelps. How many there are who wish they 470 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. were released from its thraldom ! But they have not tried to be, or have tried, it may be repeatedly, and have failed. The first external revelations of the dry- rot in men is a tendency to lurk and lounge; to be at street corners without intelligible reason ; to be going anywhere when met ; to be about many places rather than any one ; to do nothing tangible but to have an intention of performing a number of tangible duties to-morrow or the day after. Original sin is in us like the beard: we are shaved to-day and look clean, and have a smooth chin ; to-morrow our beard has grown again, nor does it cease growing while we remain on earth. In like manner original sin cannot be extirpated from us; it springs up in us as long as we exist ; nevertheless we are bound to resist it to our utmost strength, and to cut it down unceasingly. Love is rarely a hypocrite. But hate ! how detect, and how guard against it. It lurks where you least expect it, it is created by causes that you can the least foresee ; and civilization multiplies its varieties whilst it favors its disguise ; for civilization increases the number of contending interests, and refinement ren- ders more susceptible to the least irritation the cuticle of self-love. The fallen angels had been long obedient, but one sin, the first sin,. turned God's heart against them. He swept them from his presence and from his heart. It had another effect. It completely changed their hearts towards God. Don't trifle with one sin. Who can tell of the bitterness that has been in the hearts of these SECRET SINS. 47 I angels ever since from trifling with one sin? Of the wrath, the eternal blight that came upon them? God spared them not, but cast them down to hell. They are now reserved in chains, in darkness, unto the judg- ment of the great day, and at the end are to be cast into the lake of fire. All for one sin, no kindness shown them from the beginning. Why God has com- passion for our world when he has none for the fallen angels, no man can tell. It is an awful thing to see a soul in ruins ; like a temple which once was fair and noble, but now lies overthrown, matted with ivy, weeds and tangled briers, among which things loathsome crawl and live. He shall reap the harvest of disappointment, — the harvest of bitter, useless remorse. The crime of sense is avenged by sense, which wears by time. He shall have the worm that gnaws, and the fire that is not quenched. He shall reap the fruit of long indulged desires, which have become tyrannous at last, and constitute him his own tormenter. His harvest is a soul in flames, and the tongue that no drop can cool ; passions that burn, and appetites that crave, when the power of enjoyment is gone. He has sowed to the flesh; "God is not mocked." The man reaps. There are persons who go through life sinning and sorrowing, sorrowing and sinning. No experience Jteaches them. Torrents of tears flow from their eyes. They are full of eloquent regrets. You cannot find it in your heart to condemn them, for their sorrow is so graceful and touching, so full of penitence and self- condemnation. But tears, heartbreaks, repentance, 47 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. warnings, are all in vain. Where they did wrong once, they do wrong again. What are such persons to do in the next life ? God only knows. But Christ has said : "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." The heart — the heart — there is the evil ! The imagination, which was given to spiritualize the senses,, is often turned into a means of sensualizing the spirit. Beware of reverie, and indulgence in forbidden images,, unless you would introduce into your bosom a serpent, which will creep, and crawl, and leave the venom of its windings in your heart. Think not that guilt re- quires the burning torches of the Furies to agitate and torment it. Frauds, crimes, remembrances of the past, terrors of the future, — there are the domestic Furies that are ever present to the mind of the impious- Malice is mental murder; you may kill a man and never touch him. No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true. It is astonishing how soon the whole conscience begins to unravel if a single stitch drops ; one single sin indulged in makes a hole you could put your head through. Perhaps envy, like lying and ingratitude, is prac- ticed with more frequency, because it is practiced with impunity; but there being no human laws against these crimes, is so far from an inducement to commit them,, that this very consideration would be sufficient to deter the wise and good, if all others were ineffectual ; for of VICIOUS AMUSEMENTS. 473 how heinous a nature must those sins be which are judged above the reach of human punishment, and are reserved for the final justice of God himself. Are you the keeper of a guilty secret? And do you think it can never break the walls of your heart, and pass by the affrighted sentinels of your lips ? It will escape in spite of your careful dreaming. Confess it to Christ, and be rid of the burden forever. UlGIOUS flMUSBMBNTS. A morning paper recently contained the following advertisement : "Wanted — A dog. Will pay ten dollars for a good young dog. Bring dog for two days to , C Hotel." The advertisement was sent to the paper by a number of friends (?) of the gentleman whose name appeared with it, the object being only to perpetrate a practical joke. The victim of the joke was absent from the city during the day on which the advertise- ment appeared, but when he returned to his hotel in the evening, what was his surprise and bewilderment to be pounced upon by what seemed to him for a mo- ment a small army of dog-owners, each anxious to dispose of an ill-favored cur. It is needless to say that every one of them went from the hotel carrying his dog with him, while a vengeful spirit took possession 474 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. of the irate victim as he ascended the stairs to his room. Macaulay's truthful words concerning practical jokes came to mind when we heard of this silly pro- ceeding. Speaking of Frederick the Great, the brill- iant essayist says : 41 He had one taste which may be pardoned in a boy, but which, when habitually and deliberately in- dulged in by a man of mature age and strong under- standing, is almost invariably the sign of a bad heart— a taste for severe practical jokes. If a friend of the king was fond of dress, oil was flung over his richest suit. If he was fond of money, some prank was in- vented to make him disburse more than he could spare. If he was hypochondriacal, he was made to believe that he had the dropsy. If he particularly set his heart on visiting a place, a letter was forged to frighten him from going thither. " These things, it may be said, are trifles. They are so, but they are indications not to be mistaken of a nature to which the sight of human suffering and human degradation is an agreeable excitement." What do you think, boys — was Macaulay right when he said this taste for so mean a thing as practical joking may be pardoned in a boy? If it is a thing to be shunned by men, ought not boys to let it alone? "They cheated a man and killed him," said a little boy to his father. The father was about to remonstrate and to inform the child that cheating was not killing. But the child continued his story. That one of his school-fellows informed him that several men had com- VICIOUS AMUSEMENTS. 475 bined to make another man believe that they were drinking gin, when in fact it was only water; and that the man fell a victim to the imposture, by continuing to drink as much gin as his companions did water, until he killed himself. Thus cheating turned out to be killing the body, and we fear has sometimes killed the soul. It is right that we should brighten our lives with in- nocent pleasure; far be it from me to deny the hu- manizing effects of harmless happiness. But while this is right and allowable, it is not grand nor heroic. The highest type of character, be he stoic, monk or apostle, thinks little of his own happiness, and scarcely knows the meaning of the word pleasure. There are flowers for the bridal garland, blossoms for the May queen's crown, but for the brow of the hero, only the gray of the olive, only the green of the laurel. That which weakens one's power or dwarfs his spiritual nature can never be sanctioned as an appro- priate amusement. The physical life, the intellectual life, the spiritual life, in their subtle relations, must en- ter into the problem of recreations, as must also our brother's good. It is far from my design severely to condemn the innocent pleasures of life ; I would only beg leave to observe that those which are criminal should never be allowed ; and that even the most in- nocent will, by immoderate use, soon cease to be so. Rollin, the historian, asserts that the decline and fall of the Athenian States was owing to the fondness of the people for theaters. No nation can long endure and advance whose ideal ignores moral beauty. Cor- 47 6 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ruption brings death. Culture can only carve and whiten the sepulchre of a nation ; it cannot stay the progress of dissolution. No virtue on the part of our parents can save us if the salt of our character has lost its savor. A Roman Catholic bishop of New York, in conver- sation with a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church, recently stated that the work of the confessional re- vealed the fact that nineteen out of every twenty women who fall can trace the beginning of their sad state to the modern dance. Crockford's, which was opened in 1827, was the most famous of modern London gambling-houses. It was fashionable. Crockford was originally a fishmon- ger. In 1840 he retired a millionaire, much as an In- dian chief retires from a hunting country when there is not game enough left for his tribe. Turf- gambling has long been one of the most conspicuous of En- glish immorals. Lord Foley, who died in 1 793, is sup- posed to have lost a million dollars on the turf. In 1867, the late young Marquis of Hastings lost five hundred thousand dollars on Hermit. When rapid de- cay and a premature death put an end to his sufferings, many felt that he had atoned for his errors and indis- cretions, while all united in considering him another unfortunate victim added to the long list of those who have sacrificed their fortune, health and honor to the gambling Moloch presiding over the turf of England. Not less vicious and cruel is that mind which can find amusement in the slaughter of any of God's crea- tures, even though it be nothing more than a little fly. VICIOUS AMUSEMENTS. 477 A very bad state of things prevails at the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth. The solon goose has made it the favorite haunt of bird-killers. Yachts and steamers sail round the rock, and for hours keep up an inces- sant and deadly fusillade. The birds, young and old, fall in scores, and, whether wounded or dead, are left to their fate. The wounded, with broken legs or bleed- ing wings, toss about the restless ocean, mutilated waifs, and die in tortures impossible to describe. And yet inhuman beings call this " sport." Here, for instance, is a case in which the brute was much better than the man. A certain dog belonged to a farmer in Cumberland. The man made a bet that his dog would drive a flock of sheep from Cumberland to Liverpool, a distance of more than a hundred miles, without help or supervision. Considering the tortuous road, the groups of animals and conveyances to be met on the road, and the length of the journey, the dog's chances seemed hopeless. Nevertheless, in the course of a few days, the dog reached Liverpool with all his flock. The dog had done his duty, but he was famished. After delivering up his charge, he fell down dead on the street of Liverpool — a victim to his master's brutality. A constant habit of amusement relaxes the tone of the mind, and renders it totally incapable of application, study or virtue. Dissipation not only indisposes its votaries to everything useful and excellent, but dis- qualifies them for the enjoyment of pleasure itself. To those persons who have vomited out of their souls all remnants of goodness, there rests a certain pride in 47 8 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. evil ; and having else no shadow of glory left them, they glory to be constant i-n iniquity. "No one," says Jerome, "loves to tell of scandal except to him who loves to hear it." Learn, then, to rebuke and check the detracting tongue by showing that you do not listen to it with pleasure. It is observed of the hen that, loathing the plenty of meat that is cast before her on a clean floor, she will be scratching in a hole or spurring the dunghill in search of one single musty grain. So these over busy people, neglecting such obvious and common things into which any man may inquire and talk of without offense, cannot be satisfied unless they rake into the private and concealed evils of every family in the neighborhood. It was smartly said by the Egyptian who, being asked what it was he carried so closely, replied, it was there- fore covered that it might be secret. Luxury and dissipation, soft and gentle as their ap- proaches are, and silently as they throw their silken chains about the heart, enslave it more than the most active and turbulent vices. The mightiest conquerors have been conquered by these unarmed foes ; the flowery fetters are fastened before they are felt. The blandishments of Circe were fatal to the mariners of Ulysses, as well as the cruelty of Polyphemus and the brutality of the Lsestrigous. Hercules, after he had cleansed the Augaean stables, and performed all the other labors enjoined upon him by Euristheus, found himself a slave «to the softness of the heart; and he who wore a club and a lion's skin in the cause of virtue condescended to the most effeminate employ- VICIOUS AMUSEMENTS. 479 ments to gratify a criminal weakness. Hannibal, who vanquished mighty nations, was himself overcome by the love of pleasure ; and he who despised cold and want, and danger, and death, on the Alps, was con- quered and undone by the dissolute indulgences of Capua. Before Telemachus landed on the island of Cyprus, he unfortunately lost his prudent companion Mentor, in whom wisdom is so finely personified. At first he beheld with horror the wanton and dissolute manners of the voluptuous inhabitants. The ill effects of their example were not immediate. He did not fall into the commission of glaring enormities, but his virtue was secretly and imperceptibly undermined, his heart was softened by their pernicious society, and the nerve of resolution was slackened. He every day beheld with diminished indignation the worship which was offered to Venus. The disorders of luxury and profaneness became less and less terrible ; and the infectious air of the country enfeebled his courage and relaxed his principles. In short, he had ceased to love virtue long before he thought of committing actual vice; and the duties of a manly piety were burdensome to him be- fore he was so debased as to offer perfumes and burn incense on the altar of the licentious goddess. Those who have not yet determined on the side of vanity, who, like Hercules (before he knew the Queen of Lydia, and had learned to spin), have not resolved on their choice between virtue and pleasure, may reflect that it is still in their power to imitate that noble hero in his noble choice, and in his virtuous 480 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. rejection. They may also reflect, with grateful triumph, that Christianity furnishes them with a better guide than the tutor of Alciades, and with a surer light than the doctrines of pagan philosophy. Dii^b, Disease and Death. There are few more prolific causes of disease than the miasmic exhalations which occur especially in new and unsettled regions, or which arise from the presence of stagnant water or decaying and putrescent substances. Sometimes through such malarial in- fluences, all who inhabit a certain house, or drink of a certain well, or reside in a certain city, or who dwell upon the borders of some stream or marsh, are especially liable to be seized with some deadly disease which pursues them to their very tombs. Thus many localities are known to be notoriously unhealthy, and the general condition of the dwellers there is a condi- tion of infirmity, feebleness and disease. And though some robust constitutions may overcome these evil tendencies, and may escape for the time the dread infliction, yet these cases are exceptional, and with the multitude the case is otherwise. But there are other miasmic influences which affect the mental and spiritual life of man. There are schools of thought which are pestilential ; there are educational influences which are ruinous. There are communities where the moral tone is low and un- DIRT, DISEASE AND DEATH. 48 1 healthful, and where moral disease and spiritual death seem to prevail. There are classes of opinions which exercise the direst influence upon those who embrace them. There are religious communities in which the sap and life which appertains to Christian faith have been withdrawn and destroyed by the presence of some insidious and deadly error which poisons and ruins everything around them. Spiritual degradation as naturally follows and supervenes upon physical degradation, as night follows upon day. Surround a man or woman with low, debasing circumstances ; induce one to forego the common habits of cleanliness ; force him to abstain from habitual means of comfort and happiness ; and his moral tone will be lowered in direct ratio. Habit of mind may be so strong as to hold him from the indulgence of vice, but the inclination will be much stronger to do evil than before. The man who has fixed principles of care for his bodily health, and who attends closely to the observ- ance of the rules of hygiene, will, other things being equal, offer a much stronger resistance to temptations to an evil life, and if he is overtaken and overcome by seductive circumstances, he will rally to a reformed life in almost every instance, while the careless man, reckless of his physical health, sinks lower and lower, too indolent to grasp the opportunity for reformation. It is impossible for one to lead a righteous life and at the same time be indifferent to personal cleanliness. It has been well said "Cleanliness is next to Godli- 31 482 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ness." In fact it is so near to Godliness, that the latter cannot dwell long in the human heart without the former. The professing Christian, who continues indifferent to filth and its accompanying discomforts, belies his profession, for the Gospel teaches the doc- trine of purity of body as well as of soul. Dirt, as well as disease and death, is one of the accompanying curses of sin, and as we get out from under the dominion of sin, we put off our affiliation and companionship with its associates. To keep clean, then, is not only a means of comfort, happiness and health, but is a Christian duty, incumbent on every one of us who profess to be led by Him who came to bestow life upon a dying race. Not very long ago I heard a clergyman seriously proclaim that " the Gospel " must first be given to the starving, sinning, suffering denizens of London courts and alleys — the Gospel first, and food, clothes, soap and water, and decent dwellings afterwards. It is one of the trying things of going to church that whatever a man says one must hear him ; one cannot stand up and contradict him ; else I should like to have sug- gested to this well-meaning but narrow-visioned preacher how much a man's moral nature depends upon his surroundings. Diogenes might not have been a cynic if he had not lived in a tub ; and I doubt if the noblest man alive, if compelled to inhabit a pig- sty, would long remain much better than a swine. Therefore it behooves us to take heed that the cor- poreal habitation into which our spirit is put — for this life at least — is dealt with as kindly as circumstances TRAMPS. 483 allow, carefully cherished, swept and garnished, and made the most commodious residence possible, so as to allow free play to its immortal inhabitant. (STAMPS. Vagabondage, which is, in its present form, a new thing in this country, should be made a penal offense, and the tramp be regarded as an enemy to social or- der, to be summarily arrested and compelled to earn his bread by hard labor. Until some such plan as this is adopted, the evil will continue, and will grow to such unendurable proportions that citizens will be driven to desperate measures to rid themselves of the evil. The following sensible words are taken from a recent periodical: "All through the country during the past few years there has been an unheard-of pother concerning tramps, who, like locusts, have been swarming over the land. They have proved them- selves beggars, thieves, robbers and murderers, and have become a scourge to the rural communities. Where do they come from, and what condition of society has produced them, are interesting questions. They are a class unknown until quite recently. Local authorities have been much troubled as to the disposi- tion of these pests. A bill has been introduced into the Legislature of New York, providing for their arrest and confinement. To meet the expenses it is 484 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. provided that they may be farmed out and compelled to work ; and if they wish to be sent to their homes, they are to be obliged to work and earn the money it would cost to transport them there. These tramps are getting to be such a nuisance, and such a danger, that something must be done to protect the people in the country from their depredations." The "New Haven Register" contains the following: "A reverend gentleman recently went to the town agent's office to make explanations in regard to a family that was making considerable trouble for the au- thorities. He said that the husband was utterly unfit to have the care of a family and would not support his wife, and therefore was very much in favor of a legal separation as the best thing, not only for the man and woman, but for the town. The case was one that ex- cited considerable interest among the authorities, as it was found that the husband was the son of a father and mother, both of whom had during the later years of their lives been recipients of town charity. " When this fact was ascertained, the question natu- rally arose, ' Is pauperism hereditary ? ' A search in the records of the, town agent's office, so far as they go, has been made at leisure times by Clerk Zunder, and the result is a confirmation of the theory so often advanced by thinkers, that pauperism, like other crimes — for pauperism is in many cases little less than a crime — is hereditary, and the number of cases where, pauper parents transmitted their pauperism to the children is something astonishing to one not familiar with the intricacies of social science." TRAMPS. 485 Many very interesting essays and pamphlets have been written by men who have made the history of crime a study; and a similar research into the causes of pauperism would undoubtedly result in much good„ showing to the managers of charities and town au- thorities the whys and wherefores of the increase of pauperism, and perhaps also give them hints as to the best way in which to prevent and cure it. Here in this city the theory that pauperism is hereditary has been acted upon to a certain extent by the managers of our local charities, and their efforts have*been directed towards effecting a cure, if possible. Their method is to induce all who spring from pauper parents to work and learn habits of industry. If they are assisted by either the town or the local charities, it is almost certain that they will always depend upon them for support, and will not work for a living unless they are forced to do so. The investigations in the town agent's office show that a large number of the people in the alms-house and out of it, who are weekly recipients of the town's charity, and who also receive aid from the central office or charitably disposed persons, are sons and daughters of parents who were either town paupers or supported by charity. In some cases only one parent was sup- ported by outside aid, and then it has been the case that the children who most nearly resemble the pauper parent were paupers, while those resembling the industrious parent were industrious children. The results of pauperism, connubial infelicities and family troubles, which bring about such disagreements 486 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. as result in crimes of a greater or less degree, are almost invariably transmitted to future generations, and the researches show this to be the fact in nine cases out of ten. This is even found to be the fact in several cases that have come to light, when the children were not aware of the fact that their progeni- tors were dependent on charity. The taint of pau- perism runs in the blood, and must be educated out of the system, or else it can never be conquered. Another fact has been discovered by the researches, and one that is universal and indisputable. A child of pauper parents never makes a good father or mother, and a marriage between two of that class is absolutely certain to result in abject misery, an unhappy union, squalid poverty, and usually a large family, that has to be supported by charity. The homes of such families are no homes at all ; and in the light of these facts it seems almost a criminal matter to unite in the bonds of wedlock parties who spring from such a diseased root. It is a row of empty houses that gets its windows broken ; and empty heads, empty hearts and idle hands are sure to come to grief. A lazy boy makes a lazy man, just as sure as a crooked sapling makes a crooked tree. Who ever saw a boy grow up in idle- ness that did not make a shiftless vagabond when he became a man, unless he had a fortune left him to keep up appearances ? The great mass of thieves, criminals and paupers have come to what they are by being brought up in idleness. Those who constitute the business part of the community — those who make TRAMPS. 487 our great and useful men — were taught in their boy- hood to be industrious. A young man was recently found in the Mersey, drowned. On a paper found in his pocket was written: "A wasted life. Do not ask anything about me ; drink was the cause. Let me die ; let me rot." Within a week the coroner of Liverpool received over two hundred letters from fathers and mothers all over England, asking for a description of the young man. Some curious incidents now and then occur, con- nected with the lives of tramps. It would be a matter of great surprise, could the history be written of all those who make begging a "trade" and actually suc- ceed in accumulating large sums of money in this way. A ragged old tramp was arrested at Buffalo. When taken to the police station and subjected to the cus- tomary search, he resisted furiously. His reason was apparent when three thousand two hundred and forty- two dollars in bonds and money was found sewed up in his clothes. A tramp asked for a meal at a residence in Colum- bus, Ohio. The head of the family said, " Get along, or I'll set the dog on you." The tramp bet that with- in five minutes he would be invited to eat of the best that the house afforded. He won, too, because he proved that he was a wandering son returned. The Christian pulpit has not been exempt from the depredations of these shiftless human beings. Many a poor, suffering congregation have been bored and wearied with the driveling efforts of some wandering tramp, who wearied of honest and earnest toil at home, 488 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. has started out to draw subsistence from the flowers by the wayside. "Of all the agencies of destruction to which our churches are exposed, perhaps none do their work so swifty and thoroughly as unprincipled men calling themselves ministers." One of the characteristics of the persistent tramp is his rebellious affirmation of the afflicting hand of Providence. He thinks that God and man are arrayed against him and that his various afflictions are not at all the result of his own wrong doing. He ever has a flippant reason for the course he pursues. A well- known writer has said: "Afflictions sent by Providence melt the constancy of the noble-minded but confirm the obduracy of the vile. The same furnace that hardens clay liquefies gold ; and in the strong manifesta- tions of divine power Pharaoh found his punishment, but David his pardon." «°»-"+f»3» (©OWAI^DS. Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. — Shakespeate. Who has a word to say in praise of cowardice?' Does not the universal conscience condemn it? The coward is mean and unmanly. He has not the cour age to stand by his opinions. He is ready to become a slave. "Half of our virtue," says Homer, "is torn away when a man becomes a slave;" and "the other COWARDS. 489 half," added Dr. Arnold, "goes when he becomes a slave broken loose." Yet it requires courage to deal with a coward. A foolish young man who quarreled with Sir Philip Sydney, and tried to provoke him to fight, went so far as to spit in his face. "Young man," said Sir Philip, "if I could as easily wipe your blood from my conscience as I can wipe this insult from my face, I would this moment take your life." This was noble courage. It is a lesson for every one ; how to bear and how to forbear. As to moral courage, I have very rarely met with the two o'clock in the morning courage. I mean unprepared courage, that which is necessary on an unexpected occasion, and which, in spite of the most unforeseen events, leaves full freedom of judgment and decision. Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning, but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he's sure of losing. An unfortunate young man who felt that his life was no use whatever in this world, determined publicly to put an end to it. The man had cultivated his intel- lect, but nothing more. He had no idea of duty, virtue or religion. Being a materialist, he feared no here- after. He advertised that he would give a lecture and then shoot himself through the head. The admission to the lecture and the sensational conclusion was a dol- lar a head. The amount realized was to be appropri- ated partly to his funeral expenses, and the rest was to be invested in purchasing the works of three London materialists, which were to be placed in the town 49° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. library. The hall was crowded. A considerable sum of money was realized. After he had concluded his lecture he drew his Derringer and shot his brains out according to his promise. What a conclusion of an earthly life — rushing red-handed into the presence of his God! Perhaps this horrible deed was the result of vanity, or perhaps to make a sensation. His name would be in the papers. Everybody would be shouting about his courage. But it was cowardice far more than courage. It must have been disappointed vanity. Sheridan once said, "They talk of avarice, lust, ambi- tion, as great passions. It is a mistake ; they are little passions. Vanity is the great commanding passion of all. This excites the most heroic deeds, and impels to the most dreadful crimes. Save me from this passion, and I can defy the others. They are mere urchins, but this is a giant." General Paoli . once observed to Dr. Johnson that " men who have no opportunity of showing courage as to things in this life take death and futurity as objects on which to display it." Johnson answered, " That is mighty foolish affectation. Fear is one of the passions of human nature, of which it is impossible to divest it. You remember that the Emperor Charles V, when he read upon the tombstone of a Spanish nobleman, 'Here lies one who never knew fear,' wittily said, 4 Then he never snuffed a candle with his fingers.' " Fear is the root of many a so-called self-sacrifice. Weak natures find it so much easier to submit to a wrong than to fight against it. Less trouble also. COWARDS. 49I Many lazy women prefer getting their own way in an underhand, roundabout fashion, by humoring the weak- nesses of the men they belong to, instead of honor- ably and openly resisting them, when resistance be- comes necessary. That is, using the right — the only honest "right" — a woman has, of asserting her inde- pendent existence before God and men as a responsi- ble human being, who will neither be forced to do wrong herself, nor to see another do wrong, if she can help it. Yet how many women not only err themselves, but aid and abet error, knowing it to be such — under the compulsion of that weak fear of rrfan, which is called, or miscalled, " conjugal obedience." Miserable people are invariably weak and cowardly people. Oh, well for him whose will is strong, He suffers, but he will not suffer long ; He surfers, but he cannot suffer wrong." Of course not, because his firm will must in time shake off any suffering ; and because no amount of ex- ternally inflicted evil is to be compared to the evil which a man inflicts upon himself, by feebleness of purpose, by cowardly non-resistance to oppression, and by a general uncertainty of aims or acts. He who sees the right and cannot follow it; who loves all things noble, yet dare not fight against things ignoble in himself or others ; who is haunted by a high ideal of what he wishes to be, yet is forever falling shortof it, and torturedbythe consciousness thathedoes fall short of it, and that his friends are judging him, not unjustly, by what he is rather than by what he vainly 49 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. aims at being — this man is, necessarily, one of the un- happiest creatures living. One of the most harmful, too, since you can be on your guard against the down- right villain, but the aesthetic evil-doer, the theoreti- cally good and practically bad man, who has lofty as- pirations without performances, virtuous impulses and no persistence — against such a one you have no weapons to use. He disarms your resentment by exciting your pity; is forever crying, " Quarter, quarter !" and though you feel that he deserves none, that his weakness has in- jured yourself and others as much as any wickedness, still, out of pure compassion, you sheath your right- eous sword and let him escape unpunished. Up he rises, fresh as ever, and pursues his course, always sin- ning and always repenting, yet claiming to be judged not by the sin but the penitence ; continually and ob- stinately miserable, yet blind to the fact that half his misery is caused by himself alone. Nothing sinks a young man into low company, both of women and men, so surely as timidity and diffidence of himself. If he thinks that he shall not, he may depend upon it he will not, please. But with proper endeavors to please and a degree of persuasion that he shall, it is almost certain that he will. The following paragraph touches upon a phase of cowardice peculiarly American, and applicable to other parts of our country besides Chicago. It is said that New England is rapidly losing its native population and passing largely into the hands of a foreign popula- tion, mainly from this one cause alone : cowards. 493 " Any one who studies the marriage license reports, cannot fail to observe the fewness of American names in that interesting record. They are chiefly Germans, Irish, Scandinavian, Bohemian, Polish and Swede. The census of 1890 and 1900 will have a new tale to tell about the national complexion of the population of Chicago. The people who are marrying are, more- over, of the working classes, as may be inferred from their residences, and they are, as a rule, young — from twenty to twenty-five years of age. Why do not a larger proportion of the young Americans marry? The reason is not far to seek. "Young America" spends all he earns on fancy clothes, cigars, amuse- ment tickets and drives. He is able to save nothing to get married on. He could not furnish a kitchen. The young lady he would perhaps wish for a wife is like himself in some respects; she is fond of fine cos- tumes, rich jewelry and expensive entertainments ; she must have a carriage every time she goes to a concert or the theatre. How can she think of marry- ing a young man on a salary less than five or ten thousand dollars a year? So the marriage licenses issue only to the steady folks who prefer happiness to gaudy show." Southern tells us that " Lying's a certain mark of cowardice." Every brave man shuns more than death the shame of lying. " I am in the habit," writes a sea-captain, " of read- ing the Scriptures to the crew. I have suffered much lately at sea, having been dismasted, and had all my boats washed away, a little to the westward of Cape 494 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Clear. I then had an opportunity of seeing who was trustworthy, and I found the most unprincipled men the most useless and the greatest cowards in this awful gale, and the Bible men altogether the reverse, most useful and courageous." The following reflections upon cowards in general will, we hope, be not inappropriate: A fawn one day said to her mother, " Mother, you are bigger than a dog, and swifter and better winded, and you have horns to defend yourself; how is it that your are so afraid of the hounds?" She smiled and said, "All this, my child, I know full well; but no sooner do I hear a dog bark, than somehow or other, my heels take me off as fast as they can carry me." It is said that a tall, stalwart Indian is often seen about the streets of Virginia City, dressed in calico, like a squaw. He is compelled by the Piutes to wear woman's clothes for cowardice shown in battle several years since. If all of us who have been cowards in the conflicts of life were compelled to wear calico, what a terrible figure prints would reach ! A coward in the field is like the wise man's fool, his heart is at his mouth, and he doth not know what he does profess ; but a coward in his faith is like a fool in his wisdom ; his mouth is in his heart, and he dare not profess what he does know. I had rather not know the good I should do than not do the good I know. It is better to be beaten with few stripes than many. SPONGING. 495 Sponging. Some cynic has said that the world is divided into two classes, the Gullor and the Gullee. By this he means that one part of humanity lives by sponging on the other part. And when we see so large a class of people who make their living by devious ways, and who belong to that class of irresponsibles that cannot be trusted out of sight, we are disposed to agree with him. Young men abound, both in city and country, whose sole aim seems to be to get something for no- thing; to fasten themselves upon some one who can carry them; to suck their substance, like the leech, from the blood of honest and hard working men. Nor is it men alone who are guilty of this dastardly practice. Good looking, apparently well-bred and plausible women swell the ranks of these adventurers. These people are always loud in their assertions of willingness to work hard ; fervent in their profes- sions of friendship; urgent in their desire for a fair trial; plausible in their excuses for failing to perform their duties. When you indignantly remonstrate with them for deceiving you, their angry denial is tempered with grief that you should so misunderstand them, and their hints of power to injure you, if not utterly crush you, is so covered with honeyed words and fair promises as to lull the suspicion even of a Solomon, and win gold from the pockets of a miser. 496 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. This class of spongers includes the clerk who neglects to attend to little items of business in his employer's absence; who spends time in business hours to gossip and flirt with his lady friends, and rushes through his allotted work in a hasty and care- less manner, that he may attend an evening soiree. It includes the traveling agent who keeps his hotel room because it is disagreeable out-of-doors, or he feels blue, when he ought to be on the street driving his business with enthusiasm. It includes all those men who occupy positions of trust and confidence, who fail to render the full amount of service for which they are paid, drawing salaries that they do not fully earn. It includes the hired helper, who stands about, doing nothing, waiting to be set at work, when he knows there are many odds and ends of work waiting for his hands; but he is too careless and indifferent to think them up and set himself at them. In fact sponging is a fine art when practiced to perfection. The world owes you a living, does it ? Then I will tell you what I would do. I would go to work and collect the debt as soon as possible, before it gets out- lawed. I have noticed that it makes very little differ- ence how much men owe me, if I do not attend closely to the business of collecting. There are men who owe me enough to make me richer than I have any prospect of being, but the trouble is, they do not seem likely to pay ; and I am of the opinion that the world is very much like them in this respect. I will tell you what I would do, if I thought the world owed me a living. I would get me a hoe and SPONGING. 497 go out somewhere where I could get a good chance at the world, and commence to dig and drop in a few seeds here and there, as I had opportunity ; and I think if the world really owed me a living, by sticking close to it with my hoe, I could collect the debt in the course of the season. This seems the readiest way I can think of to collect what the world owes. The fact is, there are so many creditors of this kind who claim that the world owes them a living, that some of them will lose their debts as sure as fate, if they do not begin early and work hard to collect their claims. The world is no doubt able to pay, provided it can have time. It generally takes the world about six months to get around after the claims are presented and vigor- ously hoed in; but the man who delays and dallies about the matter will find that, while the world may owe him a living, other people will have collected their claims before him, and there will be nothing left when he comes. "The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." Take your hands out of your pockets, young man. You are losing time. Time is valuable. People feel it at the other end of the line when death is near and eternity is pressing them into such small quarters, for the work of this life craves hours, days, weeks, years. If those at this end of the line, if youth with its abun- dance of resources would only feel that time was pre- cious. Time is a quarry. Every hour may be a nugget of gold. It is time in whose invaluable moments we 32 49$ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. build our bridges, spike the iron rails to the sleepers, launch our ships, dig our canals, run our factories. You might have planted twenty hills of potatoes while I have been talking to you, young man. Take your hands out of your pockets. The world wants those hands. The world is alive, wide awake, pushing, struggling, going ahead. The world wants those hands. You need not take them out of America. They can find a market here at home. The country wants those hands, selling dry-goods in New York, cradling wheat in Minnesota, raising cotton in Alabama, weaving cloth in Lowell, picking oranges in Florida, digging gold in Colorado, catching mackerel from the deck of a down-east, fishing-smack. Take your hands out of your pockets. And what a laudable thing it is to meet the wants of society and do your best! When you are an old man, what an honorable thing your hand will be ! Did you ever think of the dignity investing the wrinkled hand of an old worker ? It has been so use- ful, lifted so many burdens and wrought in such honor- able service. Who wants a hand without a character when old age comes — a soft, flabby, do-nothing hand ? You are willing to work, you say, but can't find anything to do? Nothing to do ! Do the first thing that comes along. Saw wood, get in coal, go on errands. In short, do anything honest with your hands, but don't let them loaf in your pockets. The loudest beggars are often the least needy. Sturdy impudence fattens on misdirected charity, while SPONGING. 499 honest poverty hides in garrets, and suffers and pines alone. Christians need to be " of quick understand- ing in the fear of the Lord," and full of ready, yet cau- tious sympathy for the suffering and distress which honest people often strive to conceal. Careless charity may give a crust or a shilling to every impor- tunate impostor that comes to the door, but " pure re- ligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."' Personal visitation is the safeguard against deceptions and shams, and this, and this only, enables us to be sure that our gifts are a blessing rather than a curse.. The interesting old Flemish city of Bruges, which in the height of its prosperity had a population of some two hundred thousand souls, has, since the san- guinary persecutions under Phillip II, been gradually declining in wealth and numbers, so that at present it does not possess one-fourth the population it had three centuries ago. The population of the city which in 1869 numbered forty-seven thousand six hundred and twenty-one, fell to forty-four thousand nine hundred and fifty in 1877. The lethargy of the inhabitants is attributed to the effect of the numberless convents and the richly endowed benevolent institu- tions, which, by perpetually supplying the wants of large numbers of the inhabitants without any exertion on their part, have tended to deprive them of that energy and spirit of independence which are indis- pensable to success in commercial life. Some rather amusing things occur in connection 500 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. with this undercurrent of sponging, so prevalent in all grades of modern civilized society. "Will you settle that old account of yours this morning? " said a colonist. "No, sir; you are mistaken in the man. I am not one of the old settlers." But this incident has its reprehensible as well as amusing side: On Thanks- giving day the thirty-five girls employed by a clothing firm in Boston presented the two members of the firm with a handsome album which cost twenty-two dollars. The presentation ceremonies occupied about half an hour, which was deducted from their pay. Having entered a pew, move along ; be sure and move along. Do not block up the end of the pew as if you did not intend to have anybody else to enter it, or as if you were holding it for some special friends. Do not rise to let others in ; but move along and leave the pew invitingly open, so that they will know they are welcome. If a pew holding six has five already in it, do not file out in formal procession to let one poor, scared woman go to the further end, but move along and let her sit down at the end next the aisle. It is not necessary now for a stalwart man to sit at the end ready to rush out and kill Indians, as possibly it was once. A business has grown into formidable dimensions, within a few years, in London, which it is impossible to regard with complacency. " Private Inquiry " offices are an invention to the credit of which England is per- fectly welcome ; and we devoutly hope that nobody'on this side of the water will either copy or infringe upon their peculiarities. They employ great numbers of SPONGING. 5OI young men and women, nominally engaged as house- servants, clerks and so on, who collect and communi- cate to a central office all the gossip, scandal and per- sonalities that they can pick up. This information, in vast quantities, is carefully recorded and tabulated. This information, these family secrets obtained by in- famous bribery and espionage, are for sale. To these offices a husband or a wife proceeds in search of evi- dence, when thinking of applying for a divorce. Thither, also, go morbid wretches in search of food for jealousy ; partners who doubt each other ; employers who suspect their agents. The loafer who sponges a meal is mean, but the man who grudges to pay for the gospel is meaner. There is something, best called " religiosity," perhaps, which takes very small account of the decalogue. A kind of sniffling sentimentality called Christianity, by some, goes hand in hand with studied rascality. A man, and white men do it, sings loud and blubbers in " meetin, " while he is deep in plots to rob his neighbors — not with false keys, but with false weights, false rep- resentations, or false promises. Our same stalwart defender of the faith crams his pockets with other peo- ple's money, and covers it all with his splendid services to the cause of truth. Nor is this the worst of it ; churches and Christians knowing of the deflections from the straight paths of honesty, condone the offenses because the offender shoots the devil with gos- pel bullets, or scalps some other sect with the two- edged sword. Christianity needs to be cleared of such things. An unloading of the dishonest element 502 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. would give Christianity a standing which it can never have while religiosity is allowed to cover a multitude of sins. Out with that religion which does not make men honest. And out with men who serve the Lord with dirty hands and pockets crammed with other peo- ples' money. Let ministers preach on honesty, and faithfully deliver the word of the Lord on the subject. Asa nation of professed Christian people, we of America have the most unenviable of reputations as "spongers." We sponge at home and we sponge abroad. The individual sponges from his neighbor, the officer from his government, and the government in return from its subjects. Our government also, has practiced the most fraudulent ways in obtaining property from other peoples and governments ; witness our transac- tions with China, and with the aboriginal races of our continent. It has been stated on high authority, that not a single treaty has been made with the Indians by our government during the past seventy years that we have not shamelessly broken. The following para- graph taken from a late work may not be out of place : Men, even savage men, judge each other by their deeds, not by their words. Professing Christians, like venders of bad coinage, often expose genuine religion to suspicion. " In true kindness of heart," said Dr. Guthrie, " sweetness of temper, open-handed gener- osity, the common charities of life, many mere men of the world lose nothing by comparison with such pro- fessors ; and how are you to keep the world from say- ing, ' Ah ! your man of religion is no better than others ; nay, he is sometimes worse ? ' With what frightful SPONGING. 503 prominence does this stand out in the never-to-be- forgotten answer of an Indian chief to the missionary who urged him to become a Christian. The plumed and painted savage drew himself up in the conscious- ness of superior rectitude, and with indignation quiver- ing on his lip and flashing in his eye, he replied, * Christian lie! Christian cheat! Christian steal, drink, murder! Christian has robbed me of my lands, and slain my tribe!' Adding, as he haughtily turned away, 'The Devil, Christian! I will be no Christian!' Many such reflections teach us to be careful how we make a religious profession ! And having made the pro- fession, cost what it may, by the grace of God let us live up to it, and act it out." God has blessed one of the best Baptist laymen in this city with large means and a warm heart, but he has the everyday business cares that any two men might account sufficient to fill every working hour. Yet applications to help this, that and the other object flow in to him in streams. Persons that he never saw or heard of walk right in, to get money for one sort of thing and another. In one day last week nine men, representing churches in debt pressed their claims upon him, and besides these, four earnest solicitations of the same sort came by letter ! What name is to be given to this sort of thing? Is it an abuse, or is it a virtue ? If it is a virtue, we hope it will become a means of grace to our highly respected friend, but if it is an abuse of all that is good in propriety and self- respect, ought it not to be stopped, or be so modified that the number of drafts proposed to be made on a 504 WELL-STRINGS OF TRUTH. Christian man's pocket or time in the city of New York shall not exceed one or two a day ? Thirteen in one day! Submissively to endure it a man needs nothing short of the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, and the patience of Job all in himself. If, then, the man who sponges upon his fellow-man is so despicable, so low, how much worse in the sight of that great Benefactor, who is the greatest of friends, must our actions appear, who take from his hands time, talents, money, happiness, and render little or nothing in return ? How must we appear to the angels and the Heavenly Host, who are thus con- stantly sponging in spiritual matters, taking all we can get, but giving little, if anything, back. Shining. An old writer says : " The road to hell is paved with good resolutions." Every man must work at somethiug. The moment he stops working for himself the devil employs him. The genius who is to invent a practical substitute for work has not yet been born - and never will be. Procrastination has been called the thief — the thief of time. I wish he was no more than a thief. He is a murderer, and that which he kills is not time merely, but the immortal soul. The reason why some men get along so slowly in this world is because they spend two thirds of their time talking about what they are going to do, and during the other third they have to sleep. SHIRKING. 505 God does not want lazy men to do his work. If you hope ever to be put at some grand work worthy of what you think your talents are, you must keep busy doing something which is useful. Loafing is contemptible in any view, and religious loafing is the most contemptible of all. There is no one who can- not find as much as he can do if he will but do what his hands find to do — not what his eyes are looking for away off yonder in the distance. There is a great work for to-day. What we do will stay done, and will tell grandly on the ages to come. What we leave undone will breed confusion and disas- ter, and our children and children's children will justly hold us responsible for not laying hold on the oppor- tunities afforded us. Worship is easier than obedi- ence. Men are ever readier to serve the priest than to obey the prophet, and sacerdotalism flourished in Israel, while prophecy decayed and died. It is impossible for a man to be careless in his business affairs, or unmindful of his business obliga- tions, without being weak or rotten in his personal obligations. Show me a man who never pays his notes when they are due, and who shuns the payment of his bills when it is possible, and does both things as a habit, and I shall show you a man whose moral char- acter is beyond all question bad. We have had great men whose business habits were simply scandalous — who never paid their bills unless urged and worried, and who expended for their personal gratification every cent of money they could lay their hands upon. These delinquencies have been apologized for as 506 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. among the eccentricities of genius, or as the unmind- fulness of small affairs which naturally attends all greatness of intellect and intellectual efforts ; but the world has been too easy with them altogether. I could name great men — and the names of some of them arise before the readers of this essay — who are atrociously dishonest. I care not how many amiable and admirable traits they possess. They are dis- honest and untrustworthy in their business relations, and that simple fact condemns them. He who puts off the performance of duty shows that he has no heart to perform it. Cultivate the habit of promptly doing what conscience calls thee to do. The opposite habit of putting off and shirking comes by nature, like weeds in our gardens ; and if the soil remains unbroken by good efforts, will over- shadow and kill out all the good within us. As the little mountain brook, gurgling over its stony bed, may be easily turned aside to a new channel ; so the selfish love of ease that first prompts' to shirk a duty may be turned into the channel of pleasure at duties well performed. But the mountain stream, as it broadens into a mighty river, is no easier turned aside than the wretched habit of shirking, when once it takes posses- sion of a human soul. There is a striking moral in Lessing's fable of the " Dying Wolf." A wolf lay at his last gasp, and was reviewing his past life. " It is true, " he said, " I am a sinner, but yet I hope not one of the greatest ; I have done evil, but I have also done much good. Once I remember a bleating lamb, that had strayed from the SHIRKING. 507 flock, came so near me that I might easily have throttled it ; but I did it no harm ! " " I can testify to that, " said his friend the fox, who was helping him to prepare for death, " I remember perfectly all the cir- cumstances. It was just at the time when you were so dreadfully choked with that bone in your throat." A missionary meeting had been held in some town in Canada, and into this town, to the meeting, trudged a farmer and his son Sammy. It was a walk of some seven miles, after a long day's work, too ; but the far- mer did not mind. His heart was given to the Lord, and he had made many a sacrifice to send the good news of a Saviour to others. During the meeting the speakers pleaded the necessity for more money and more helpers in the Lord's work. The farmer's heart was stirred; even Sammy, who did not love Jesus, felt a little moved and uneasy. The meeting ended, and their walk home was in silence for more than a mile. Then the farmer said : " Sammy, I think — no, I will — give up coffee ! " Sammy's answer was a short grunt ; he did not like this giving tip at all. Two miles passed in silence, then the farmer broke it by asking — " What'll you give up, Sammy? " A very uncomfortable question for Sammy, meet- ing with a shorter grunt. The darkness hid the signs of Sammy's inward conflict. Just before they got home, Sammy spoke — " Father, I've found something to give up." 508 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. "That's right, my boy," heartily responded the farmer. " What is it ? " " Well, I guess I can give up pickled mackerel, 'cause I don't like it a bit." Alas! alas! what a large number of "Sammys" there are in the world! They give unto the Lord what costs them nothing, and it takes them a deal of time to find out anything they like little enough to spare for him. What are you giving up for Jesus ? And which are you, Sammy or the farmer ? The great difficulty with Christian manhood is, that it is too much deformed. Some are without arms ; they have never helped one over the rugged places in life. Some are without feet ; they have never gone an inch out of their way to serve others. Some are voice- less ; they have never, even by word, encouraged any one who was cast down. Some are deaf; they have never listened to the voice of suffering. Some are without hearts ; they do not know what sympathy and generous feeling are. What an appearance a proces- sion of such characters would make, if they could be seen as they are on the street! What an appearance a crippled Christian makes in the light of heaven ! Talleyrand, the prince of French diplomatists, long denied the doctrine of deathless retribution as the result of a life of sin. But as he confronted things eternal, he said to his kingly friend, Louis Philippe, " Sire, I suffer already the pangs of the damned." These so-called Christians have always plenty of arguments on their side ; especially the parable of the Prodigal Son, and the "joy in heaven over one sinner SHIRKING. 509 that repenteth." But they forget that the prodigal when his father met him was no longer a prodigal : he had forsaken his evil ways, never to return to them more. Also that the "joy " is supposed to be over a repentant sinner, not a sinner who still remains in sin. Christ, in his divinest charity, never does more for of- fenders than to pardon them until they cease to offend. "Go," he says; " go and sin no more, lest a worse thing happen unto thee." But for those who continue to sin, there is, even according to the quoters £>{ Holy Writ — often so egregiously twisted and misap- plied— -a worse thing ; even as in the parable of the fig-tree : " Cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground?" And sometimes the kindest, wisest, most Christian act is — to let it be cut down. For instance, everyone who gives money to a con- firmed drunkard or profligate, thereby encouraging him in his vices ; every one who, for any reason, how- ever compassionate, speaks what is called "a good word " for a person whom he knows to be bad, condones sin, and is guilty of the result that follows. His lazy laxity allows these cumberers of the ground to take the life from wholesome trees. And, even as a man who sits with his hands folded, and allows his humble neighbors to wallow in dirt like pigs, saying, " I can't help it ; it is not my affair," may one day have to see ghastly fever, bred in those back slums, stalk in at his own front door, and carry off his best-beloved child ; so any one who laughs at error as mere " folly," and puts a plaster upon ugly sin, connives dangerously at both. He has shirked what was unpleasant ; he has been too 5IO WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. lazy to take trouble ; he has done his benevolence in the easiest way. He may yet have to pay for his mis- taken mercy by being ground under the ever-moving wheel of an unerring justice ; justice which, though it does not always reward, assuredly knows the way to punish. Many Christians would like to labor for the salva- tion of men if they could do it on a magnificent scale ; if they could have a great tabernacle with five thousand people inside, and as many more trying to get in ; if they could preach like Apollos, and sing like David with his harp of solemn sound; if they could spread a big net like Simon Peter, and haul in a hundred and fifty-three great fishes at once, and have the story reported in the newspapers and proclaimed upon the housetops, they would be very well content. But they are not willing to toil in obscurity, and patiently wait for the Master to reveal their work in the last day. Jesus never shirked a duty, nor sought for thanks from those he healed. CQisei^ibs op Sin. Fancy runs most furiously when a guilty conscience drives it. Thomas Fuller. The following words, as they fell from the lips of one of the most gifted men the world ever knew, can but feebly portray the vividness of his picture, pre- sented to the ears of his hearers : " In executing a scene descriptive of its abomina- tions, methinks the acute conception of fancy, and the MISERIES OF SIN. 511 loftiest flights of the imagination, would be inadequate to the task. Could we change the mighty ocean to paint, transform every stick into a brush, make every man an artist, every star a scaffold, and the out- stretched, boundless sky a canvas ; could we take the dismal clouds for shade, the frightful lightnings for tinge, the midnight's darkness for drapery and gloom ; could we use the doleful winds for sighs, the countless drops of rain for tears ; the broken music of the howl- ing storm for wails, for shrieks and cries, the earthquake's violent shock for agonizing pain, and the long, loud rumbling thunder for piteous, dying groans ; and could we, with pious Joshua, command the glowing sun to stand still in the west, and the full, blushing moon in the east, and there wait while laboring artists dash the amazing horrors of sin on the expanding sheet, to delineate all its loathsome, horrible and everlasting effects, would quite exhaust the ocean, wear out every instrument, tire every artist, and more than fill heaven's immeasurable blue from pole to pole." Ages of unutterable woe shall have passed, and the agonizing shrieks of the lost are reverberating through the fiery vaults of hell : " Tell me, ye companions of iniquity, how long shall I endure this torture ? " Eter- nity ! eternity ! " Tell me, thou spirit of my sainted mother, thou, whose prayers, fervent and anxious, I disregarded, whose counsels I rejected, how long, O how long shall I suffer this dreadful punishment? Always consuming, but never consumed, always dying, but never to die !" Eternity 1 eternity! eternity! Millions of years shall again have inflicted their 512 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. allotted portion of misery, and the wailings of despair and supplications are yet reverberating : " Tell me, O God, whose love I spurned, whose wrath I willfully enkindled, is there no mercy in heaven ? All, all I ask is annihilation." " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not ! " is the response of Him who has promul- gated to the world, "The wages of sin is eternal death." Sin is like a river with a strong current, and the farther you go down stream, the less likely it is that you will ever return. To sin against knowledge is a much greater crime than an ignorant trespass ; as the crime which is capable of no excuse is more heinous than the fault which admits of a tolerable plea. Sin may be defined as the mistaken pursuit of happiness. Transgressions of the Divine law constitute not merely the sin and sorrow of the individual, but the sin and sorrow of nations. Outside of Christianity, neither prosperity nor freedom will ever be lasting. A single evil will expand itself and usurp the place of much good. A tooth is a little thing, but its aching shuts out the light of sun and stars, the songs of birds, the joy of a household, the wealth of a continent, the power of a kingdom. A guilty conscience drowns the joy of the most fortunate man, and plunges in misery the one who otherwise would be the happiest of mor- tals. Every commission of sin introduces into the soul a certain degree of hardness, and an aptness to continue in that sin. Sin taken into the soul is like a liquor poured into a vessel ; so much as it fills it also sea- MISERIES OF SIN. 513 sons. The touch and tincture go together. So that, although the body of the liquor be poured out again, yet still it leaves that tang behind it which makes the vessel fitter for that than any other. In like manner every act of sin strangely transforms and works over the soul to its own likeness. Every commission of sin imprints upon the soul a further disposition and proneness to sin, as the second, third and fourth degrees of heat are more easily in- troduced than the first. Drinking both quenches the present thirst and provokes it for the future. When the soul is beaten from its first station, and the mounds and outworks of virtue are once broken down, it be- comes quite another thing from what it was before. In one single eating of the forbidden fruit, when the act is over, yet the relish remains ; and the remem- brance of the first repast is an easy allurement to the second. One visit is enough to begin an acquaintance ; and this point is gained by it, that when the visitant comes again he is no more a stranger. Nine tenths of the vices and miseries of the world proceed from idleness. Without work there can be no active progress in human welfare. No more in- sufferable misery can be conceived than that which must follow incommunicable privileges. Imagine an idle man condemned to perpetual youth, while all around him decay and die. How sincerely would he call upon death for deliverance ! But conscience is not dead. We cannot dig a grave for it, and tell it to lie there. We may trample it under foot, but it still lives. Every sin or crime has, 5 H WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. at the moment of its perpetration, its own avenging angel. We cannot blind our eyes to it or stop our ears to it. " 'Tis conscience that makes cowards of us all." There comes a day of judgment, even in this world, when it stands up confronting us, and warning us to return to the life of well-doing. Bees kill themselves by stinging. Sinners do like- wise. There is many a man in the world who never committed but one act of folly, and who won't get to the end of it until he dies. Evil society is the death of piety. He that hath tasted the bitterness of sin will fear to commit it; and he that hath felt the sweetness of mercy will fear to offend it. There are three things which the true Christian desires with respect to sin : Justification, that it may not condemn ; sanctification, that it may not reign ; and glorification, that it may not be. Perhaps the cause of more misery than any other one thing in this world is the curse of drunkenness. But there are so many grades in peoples' estimations of what constitutes drunkenness, that it would not be any safer to put the limit as to where drunkenness begins, after the first drink is taken, than to state where it ends, this side of the grave. Dr. Guthrie says : " I have heard the wail of chil- dren crying for bread, and the mother had none to give them. I have seen the babe pulling breasts as dry as if the starved mother had been dead. I have known a father turn a step-daughter into the street at night, bidding the sobbing girl who bloomed into MISERIES OF SIN. 515 womanhood earn her bread as others were doing. I have bent over the foul pallet of a dying lad to hear him whisper, and his father and mother, who were sitting half drunk by the fireside, had pulled the blankets off his body to sell them for drink. I have seen the children blanched like plants growing in a cellar — for weeks they never breathed a mouthful of fresh air, for want of rags to cover their nakedness ; and they lived in continual terror of a drunken father or mother coming home to beat them. I do not recol- lect of ever seeing a mother in these wretched dwell- ings dandling her infant, or hearing the little creature crow or laugh. These are some of drink's doings ; but nobody can know the misery I suffered amid those scenes of wretchedness, woe, want and sin." Only a few years ago, the mistress of one of the finest mansions in a suburban town, after ruining her- self and breaking the heart of her husband, and scat- tering her fortune, was lost to her family for years ; and was finally restored to them — a poor comfort — from the Boston police court, whither she had been taken as a vagrant and a common drunkard! Within a year, the granddaughter of one of our presidents, once a beauty and a belle in Washington, long estranged from and finally lost by her family, died in the garret of a wretched tenement house in Sullivan street, New York. Is there no danger for our girls, as well as for our boys ? 5l6 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. I2?L(EASU^ES OP ©IBTY. Oh, who could brave life's stormy doom, Did not Thy wing of love Come brightly wafting through the gloom Our prayer branch from above ? Then sorrow, touched by Thee, grows bright With more than rapture's ray ; As darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by day. THOMAS MOORE. " Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.'* This text should be one of the guiding mot- toes of our lives. Pure in heart means a great deal. It means such a hatred of everything impure that not even wicked thoughts will be admitted. Or if they find their way in for a moment, they will not be allowed to remain. The promise is they shall "see God," that does not mean in the next life only, but in this world : the pure in heart learn to know a deep, rich meaning concerning things hidden to others. Blessed indeed are they who follow him so closely that they can see God! Let it not be imagined that the life of a good Christian must necessarily be a life of melancholy and gloominess ; for he only resigns some pleasures to enjoy others infinitely better. Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this. The Bible without the Spirit is a sun-dial by moonlight. Human things must be known in order to be loved. Divine things must be loved in order to be known. If the way to heaven be narrow, it is not long; and if the gate be straight, it opens into endless life. PLEASURES OF PIETY. 517. Sometimes God puts such wonderful sweetness into the doing of, or the refraining from, some little thing for his sake, that we wonder what makes us so happy about it, and be conscious that it is not exactly one's mere natural feeling ; is it not a precious ex- perience of great reward? A good conscience is to the soul what health is to the body; it preserves a constant ease and serenity within us, and more than countervails all the calami- ties and afflictions that can possibly befall us. How independent of money peace of conscience is, and how much happiness can be condensed in the humblest homes. Duty that is bought is worth little. " I consider," said Dr. Arnold, "beyond all wealth, honor, or even health, is the attachment due to noble souls ; because to become one with the good, generous and true, is to he in a manner, good, generous, and true yourself. Every man has a service to do, to himself as an indi- vidual, and to those who are near him. In fact, life is of little value unless it be consecrated by earnest, pious actions." Jesus Christ is the most certain, the most sacred the most glorious, of all facts ; arrayed in a beauty and majesty which throws the " starry heavens above us " into obscurity, and fills us truly with ever-growing reverence and awe. He shines forth with the self- evidencing light of the noonday sun. He is too great, too pure, too perfect, to have been invented by any sin- ful and erring man. His character and claims are confirmed by the sublimest doctrine, the purest ethics,. 518 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the mightiest miracles, the grandest spiritual kingdom, and are daily and hourly exhibited in the virtues and graces of all who yield to the regenerating and sancti- fying power of His spirit and example. The historical Christ meets and satisfies all our in- tellectual and moral wants. The soul, if left to its noblest impulses and aspirations, instinctively turns to Him k as the needle to the magnet, as the flower to the sun, as the panting hart to the fresh fountain. We are made for Him, and our " heart is without rest until it rests in Him." He commands our assent, He wins our ad- miration, He overwhelms us with adoring wonder. We cannot look upon Him without spiritual benefit. We cannot think of Him without being elevated above all that is low and mean, and encouraged to all that is good and noble. The very hem of His garment is healing to the touch. One hour spent in His com- munion outweighs all the pleasures of sin. He is the mpst precious and indispensable gift of a merciful God to a fallen world. In Him are the treasures of true wisdom, in Him the fountain of pardon and peace, in Him the only substantial hope and comfort in this world and that which is to come. Mankind could better afford to lose the whole lit- erature of Greece and Rome, of Germany and France, of England and America, than the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Without Him history is a dreary waste, an Inextricable enigma, a chaos of facts without a mean- ing, connection and aim ; with Him it is a beautiful, harmonious revelation of God, the slow but sure un- folding of a plan of infinite wisdom and love. PLEASURES OF PIETY. 519 Salvation is full of grace. Yet these things are required: "Let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from all iniquity." "Whosoever would be my disciple, let him take up his cross, deny himself daily, and follow me." "Ye cannot," says our Lord, "serve God and mammon." Shrink not from the pain these sacrifices must cost. It is not so great as many fancy. The joy of the Lord is His people's strength. Love has so swallowed up all sense of pain, and sorrow has been so lost in ravishment, that men took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and martyrs went to the burn- ing stake with beaming countenances, and sang their death-song amid the roaring flames. Let us by faith rise above the world, and it will shrink into littleness and insignificance compared with Christ. Some while ago two aeronauts, hanging in mid-air, looked down to the earth from their balloon, and wondered to see how small great things had grown. Ample fields were contracted into small patches ; the lake was no larger than a looking-glass ; the broad river, with ships floating on its bosom, seemed like a silver thread ; the wide-spread city was reduced to the dimensions of a village ; the long, rapid, flying train appeared but a black caterpillar, slowly creeping over the surface of the ground. And such changes the world undergoes to the eyes of him who rises to hold communion with God, and anticipating the joy of heaven, lives above it and looks beyond it. This makes it easy and even joyful to part with all for Christ — "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 520 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. If a man were to travel through some dangerous wilderness, having but one jewel in all the world, in which his whole property consisted, and should hear some in one place, and some in another, crying out, under the hands of cruel robbers, O, in what fear would this traveler go, lest he should lose his jewel and be robbed of his all at once ! Why my friend, thou art the man — this traveler is thyself — this wilderness is the world — this jewel is thy soul. Thou hast to travel through crowds of sinners, legions of devils, and a whole world of temptations ; and if their utmost spite can keep thee out of heaven, thou shalt never come there. What if thy sins committed, thy duties neglected, thy pride and worldly-mindedness should at last betray thy soul into the robbers' hands; other losses may be retrieved ; but thy soul being lost — God is lost, Christ is lost, heaven is lost, all is lost, forevermore. Secure, then, the safety of this infinitely precious jewel — thy own immortal soul. Turn to the " stronghold," the "house of defense" the "city of refuge." Come unto Christ, who will save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, and will preserve them "unto his heavenly kingdom." The man who carries a lantern in a dark night can have friends all around him, walking safely by the help of its rays, and he be not defrauded. So he who has the God-given light of hope in his breast can help on many others in this world's darkness, not to his own loss, but to his precious gain. See what a Christian is, drawn by the hand of PLEASURES OF PIETY. 52 1 Christ. He is a man on whose clear and open brow God has set the stamp of truth ; one whose very eye beams bright with honor; in whose very look and bearing you may see freedom, manliness, veracity ; a brave man — a noble man — frank, generous, true, with, it may be, many faults; whose freedom may take the form of impetuosity or rashness, but the form of meanness never. Young men, if you have been deterred from religion by its apparent feebleness and narrowness, remember, it is a manly thing to be a Christian. Child of God, if you would have your thought of God something beyond a cold feeling of his presence, let faith appropriate Christ. You are as much the object of God's solicitude as if none lived but your- self. He has counted the hairs of your head. In Old Testament language, " He has put your tears into his bottle." He has numbered your sighs and your smiles. He has interpreted the desires for which you have not found a name nor an utterance yourself. If you have not learned to say, " My Redeemer," then just so far as there is anything tender or affectionate in your disposition, you will tread the path of your pil- grimage with a darkened and a lonely heart; and when the day of trouble comes there will be none of that triumphant elasticity which enabled Job to look down, as from a rock, upon the surges which were curling their crests of fury at his feet, but could only reach his bosom with their spent spray. There is a grand fearlessness in faith. He who in his heart of hearts reverences the good, the true, 522 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the holy — that is, reverences God — does not tremble at the apparent success of attacks upon the outworks of his faith. They may shake those who rested on those outworks — they do not move him whose soul reposes on the Truth itself. He needs no props or crutches to support his faith. He does not need to multiply the objects of his awe in order to keep dread- ful doubt away. Founded on a rock, faith can afford to gaze undismayed at the approaches of infidelity. Cvei^y Day Religion. The truly catholic spirit of Christianity accommo- dates itself, with an astonishing condescension, to the circumstances of the whole human race. It rejects none on account of their pecuniary wants, their per- sonal infirmities, or their intellectual deficiencies. No superiority of parts is the least recommendation, nor is any depression of fortune the smallest objection. None are too wise to be excused from performing the duties of religion, nor are any too poor to be excluded from the consolations of its promises. If we admire the wisdom of God in having fur- nished different degrees of intelligence so exactly adapted to their different destinations, and in having fitted every part of his stupendous work, not only to serve its own immediate purpose, but also to con- tribute to the beauty and perfection of the whole; how how much more ought we to adore that goodness which EVERY DAY RELIGION. 523 has perfected the divine plan by appointing one wide, comprehensive and universal means of salvation ; a sal- vation of which all are invited to partake ; by a means which all are capable of using ; which nothing but voluntary blindness can prevent our understanding, and nothing but willful error can hinder us from em- bracing. The muses are coy and will only be wooed and won by some highly favored suitors. The sciences are lofty and will not stoop to the reach of ordinary ca- pacities. But " wisdom (by which the royal preacher means piety) is a loving spirit ; she is easily seen of them that love her, and found of all such as seek her." Nay, she is so accessible and condescending " that she preventeth them that desire her, making her- self first known to them." We are told by the same animated writer "that wisdom is the breath of the power of God." How infinitely superior in grandeur and sublimity is this description to the origin of the wisdom of the heathens, as described by their poets and mythologists. In the exalted strains of the Hebrew poet we read that " Wis- dom is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness." A man must be an infidel either from pride, preju- dice or bad education ; he cannot be one unawares or by surprise ; for infidelity is not occasioned by sudden impulse or violent temptation. He may be hurried by some vehement desire into an immoral action, at which he will blush in his cooler moments, and which he will 524 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. lament as a sad effect of a spirit unsubdued by religion; but infidelity is a calm, considerate act, which cannot plead the weakness of the heart or the seduction of the senses. Even good men frequently fail in their duties through the infirmities of nature and the allure- ments of the world ; but the infidel errs on a plan, on a fixed and deliberate principle. Nothing does so open our faculties, and compose and direct the whole man, as an inward sense of God ; of his authority over us; of the laws he has set us; of his eye ever upon us ; of his hearing our prayers, assisting our endeavors, watching over our concerns; and of his being able to judge, and to reward or punish us in another state, according to what we do 'in this. Nothing will give a man such a detestation of sin, and such a sense of the goodness of God, and of our obligations to holiness, as a right understanding and a firm belief of the Christian religion; nothing can give a man so calm a peace within, and such a firm security against all fears and dangers without, as the belief of a kind and wise providence and of a future state. An integrity of heart gives a man a courage and a confidence that cannot be shaken. A man is sure that, by living according to the rules of religion, he be- comes the wisest, the best and happiest creature that he is capable of being. Honest industry, the employ- ing of his time well, and a constant sobriety, an unde- fined purity and chastity, with a quiet serenity, are the best preservers of life and health; so that, take a man as a single individual, religion is his guard, his perfec- tion, his beauty and his glory. This will make him the EVERY DAY RELIGION. 525 light of the world, shining brightly and enlightening many round about him. Life force may go into words or it may go into deeds. The power of steam may expend itself through the cylinder or through the whistle. Steady living, under the sweet pressure of genuine love for God, is vastly more eloquent than the most rhetorically sweet sounding declarations by the human voice. There may be a religion without words ; there can be none without deeds. The old proverb puts it well: "None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing." A practical writer of the day gives us the following: "We want a religion that softens the step, and tones the voice to melody, and fills the eyes with sunshine, and checks the impatient exclamation and the harsh rebuke; a religion that is polite, deferential to superiors, courteous to inferiors, and considerate to friends; a religion that goes into the family, and keeps the husband from being spiteful when the dinner is late, and keeps the dinner from being late ; keeps the wife from fretting when the husband tracks the newly- washed floor with his muddy boots, and makes the husband mindful of the scraper and the door-mat; keeps the mother patient when the baby is cross; amuses the children as well as instructs them — wins as well as governs ; cares for the servants besides pay- ing them promptly ; looks after the apprentice in the shop, and the clerk behind the counter, and the student in the office, with a fatherly care and a motherly love; setting the solitary in families, and introducing them to pleasant and wholesome society, that their lonely feet 526 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. may not be led into temptation. We want a religion that will hold intercourse continually between the ruts and gullies and rocks of the highway of life and the sensitive souls that are passing over them. " We want a religion that bears heavily, not only on the executive sinfulness of life, but the exceeding ras- cality of lying and stealing ; a religion that banishes short measures from the counter, small baskets from the stalls, pebbles from the cotton rags, clay from the paper, sand from sugar, beet-juice from vinegar, alum from bread, strychnine from wine, water from milk cans and buttons from the contribution box. The re- ligion that is to save the world will not put all the big strawberries at the top and the bad ones at the bot- tom. It will sell raisins on stems, instead of stems without raisins. It will not make one half of a pair of shoes of good leather and the other of poor, so that the first shall redound to the maker's credit, and the second to his cash ; nor, if the shoes be promised on Thursday morning, will it let Thursday morning spin out till Saturday night. It does not send the little boy who has come for the daily quart of milk into the barnyard to see the calf, and seize the op- portunity to skim off the cream ; nor does it sur- round stale butter with fresh, and sell the whole for good ; nor sell off the slack-baked bread upon the stable boy ; nor dust the pepper ; nor " deacon " the apples. "The religion that is to sanctify the world pays its debts. It does not borrow money with little or no purpose of repayment, but concealing or glossing over EVERY DAY RELIGION. 527 the fact. It looks upon a man who has failed in trade and continues to live in luxury as a thief. It looks upon a man who promises to pay fifty dollars on de- mand, with interest, and who neglects to pay it on de- mand, with or without interest, as a liar." In brief, good works are the actions of a saved man, proving his salvation ! They hang upon the Christian life, somehow as fruit does on a living tree. "We often do more good," says Canon Farrar, " by our sympathy than by our labors, and render to the world a more lasting service by absence of jealousy and recognition of merit, than we could ever render by the straining efforts of personal ambition. A man may lose position, influence, wealth and even health, and yet live on in comfort, if with resignation ; but there is one thing without which life becomes a burden — that is human sympathy." It is true that kind actions are not always received with gratitude, but this ought never to turn aside the sympathetic helper. This is one of the difficulties to be overcome in our conflict with life. Even the most degraded is worthy of the mutual help which all men owe to each other. It should be remembered, as Bentham no less truly than profoundly remarked, that the happiness of the cruel man is as much an integral part of the whole human happiness as is that of the best and noblest of men. Then, again, a man cannot do good or evil to others without doing good or evil to himself. The opportunities of doing good come to all who work and will. The earnest spirit finds its way to the 528 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. hearts of others. Patience and perseverance overcome all things. How many men, how many women, too, volunteer to die without the applause of men. They give themselves up to visiting the poor; they nurse the sick, suffer for them, and take the infectious dis- eases of which they die. Many a life has thus been laid down because of duty and mercy. They had no reward except that of love. Sacrifice, borne not for self but for others, is always sacred. We need a gospel for the poor, that shall go to them with food for the soul in one hand, and food for the body in the other. The religion of the helping hand is the only one that will save our great cities from relapsing into barbarism. We have no sym- pathy with cold-hearted religion. We want that which kindles the eye, and loosens the tongue, and draws out the purse-strings — a religion that makes its presence known, warming the hearts and lives of those who profess to possess it. The true test of any religion is the effect it pro- duces upon the lives of those who profess it. And, indeed, the test of real merit everywhere must be the power it possesses of accomplishing desirable results. In this age of the world men are not judged by what they claim to be able to do, but by what they can do ; not by what they are reputed to be, but by what they are. Here is where the religion of our own country rises superior to the faith of Mohammedan or Hindoo lands ; for while there is much hypocrisy in the church, and far too much worldliness, there is yet an absence EVERY DAY RELIGION. 529 of those sensual and brutal elements which character- ize the religions of Arabia and the Ganges. Religion is a thing of love, and it will die if com- manded to be dumb. Instead of being content to live so as to escape blame, the Christian is required to live so as to prove a means of blessings. If religion is anything it is the whole of man's life; it is the car- riage of his soul and of his body ; it is the disposition of his time ; it is the whole being aright. Religion is not confined to devotional exercises, but rather consists in doing all we are called and quali- fied to do, with a single eye to God's glory and will, from a grateful sense of his mercy to us. This is the alchemy which turns everything into gold, and stamps a value upon common actions. Religion finds the love of happiness and the principles of duty separated in us ; and its mission, its masterpiece is to reunite them. God hears the heart without the words, but he never hears the words without the heart. Without prayer there is no such thing as religion ; all that is so called will melt away into nothingness if it is not concentrated and shaped into prayer. Cleanse thy morning soul with private and due devotions ; till then admit no business. The first-born of thy thoughts are God's, and not thine, but by sacrilege. Think thyself not ready till thou hast praised Him, and He will be always ready to bless thee. The severance of religion from business in the minds and lives of many professors is lamentably manifest. A man who is not righteous with men can- not be righteous before God. A man who is wrong in 34 530 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. his lower relations is sure to be so in the higher. If one be untrue or tricky or dishonest with men, he can- not make amends before God by any amount of pray- ing, or penance, or psalm-singing, or alms-giving, or church-going. If things are not done on "the square" in the shop, the store, the office, the home, a man need not think he can make up for them in the closet or in the church. Giving one half of ill-gotten gains does not rectify matters ; giving all will not do it. Praying will not cancel cheating ; nor attending prayer- meeting, lying. If a man would be right with God he must get right with men. I know of no great expounder of moral principle, I know of no eloquent teacher of divine truth who is more useful in God's world, than a business man that carries his religion into his business. With many people, religion is merely a matter of words. So far as words go, we do what we think right. But the words rarely lead to action, thought and conduct, or to purity, goodness and honesty. There is too much playing at religion, and too little of enthusiastic work for Christ. An everyday religion is one that loves the duties of our common walk; one that makes an honest man; one that accomplishes an intellectual and moral growth in the subject; one that works in all weathers and im- proves all opportunities, will best and most healthily promote the growth of a church and the power of the gospel. When a Christian finds his belief in the doctrines of the gospel growing weak, his doubts arising, it is EVERY DAY RELIGION. 53 I ■ well for him to look within, and to see whether it is not the fact that coldness of heart has given rise to wan- dering of the head. We need a sympathetic spirit in order to receive and understand the truth. We learn our most valuable lessons through experience. When experience ceases, our apprehension of the truth often ceases. " I have been a member of your church for thirty years," said an elderly Christian to his pastor, "and when I was laid by with sickness only one or two came to see me. I was shamefully neglected." " My friend," said the pastor, " in all those thirty years how many sick have you visited?" " O," he replied, "it never struck me in that light." The trouble with this man was that he only thought of the obligations that other people owed him, and gave very little thought to his own obligations to them. It is too bad to think of, but just such persons, calling themselves Christians, are to be found in every community. Carry God whilst thou livest, in the chariot of thy zealous soul, and thou shalt not want the chariot and horses of fire to attend thee when thou diest. Your Saviour has a human heart. There is no reason and really no place in the universe for a man who denies God's existence because he is out of sight on high. Is your heart hungry? So is Christ's heart! It is hungry with human love for human love. He was born of a woman. Christianity is the regeneration of our whole nature, not the destruction of one atom of it. We are all ministers ; some are speaking minis- 53 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. ters, some giving ministers, some sick-visiting minis- ters, some quiet, sympathetic ministers, but all the Lord's people are prophets, and we are only in the apostolic succession so long as we succeed to the apostolic spirit and to the apostolic doctrine. The great duty of Christians is to win the world to Christ. It is a work for all, not for the preacher alone. It is a work for every day and hour all through life, not for occasional seasons merely and times of special interest. If the walls are not built, it is the fault of all the workmen who have failed in their duty. When all work, the walls go up surely and grandly; when a few work and the rest are idle, but few stones are laid, and they cannot protect us against the foe. — 4f^B^ She ©owep^ op ©p^aye^. Christ's soldiers fight best on their knees. Pray more and worry less. — D. L. Moody. Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray ? In the name of Christ, our Saviour, Did you sue for loving favor, As a shield to-day ? When you met with great temptations, Did you think to pray ? By his dying love and merit, Did you claim the Holy Spirit, As your guide and stay ? The more we pray, the more we forget to be unthankful, discontented, grumbling. We forget to be anxious and worried, because we lay our burdens THE POWER OF PRAYER. 533 on the Saviour. We forget to be gloomy, because we draw near to the source of all joy. We cease to sin as much as before, because the heart becomes purified in its intercourse with Jehovah. He that knows how to pray has the secret of safety in prosperity, and of support in trouble. He has the art of overruling every enemy, and of turning every loss into gain. He has the power of soothing every .care, of subduing every passion, and of adding a relish to every enjoyment. Many things are good for me, but none so good as to draw nigh to God. Faith builds, in the dungeon and the lazar-house, its sublimest shrines ; and up, through roofs of stone, that shut up the eye of Heaven, ascends the ladder- prayer — where the angels glide to and fro. He that knows how to pray has the secret of support in trouble, and of relief from anxiety; the power of soothing every care, and filling the soul with entire trust and confidence for the future. Go and talk with God on the mount of prayer, and then descend with shining face and transfigured soul to bless the weary multitude beneath. In this age of doubt, when nothing sacred escapes the contempt of the skeptic, and when he would seek to uproot the foundations of the faith of the ages, it could hardly be expected that prayer, which " is the Christian's vital breath, The Christian's native air," would go untouched. Quite to the contrary, they have laid violent hands upon that, than which there is nothing more natural, and certainly nothing more 534 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. spiritual. Such is the awful sense of God's power and presence, and of man's utter dependence upon some- thing above and beyond himself, that the very stress of circumstances into which even the worst are brought will wring from them the language of prayer. It is a disposition of our normal nature to pray ; God has made us for the duty of prayer. And in amazing accommodation he has linked an inherent power to the fervent, faithful prayer. " The effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much." I know of nothing beneath heaven's blue vault that is so pow- erful as the sincere, simple prayer. For to this an eternal omnipotent God has committed himself to use his power. The power that has propelled the wheels of the world, moving it forward to the advancing light of peace and harmony amid the nations of earth, has not been that which has emanated from the cabinets of presidents and kings ; nor again that which has been derived from the shock of contending battalions upon the gory fields, but it has been the hidden power couched in the prayers of good men and godly women, wrestling with God in their silent closets. The conflict which gained the grandest victory for Scotland, and lifted her where she stands to-day, a land lit up with the altar-fires of intelligence and piety, did not originate in Holyrood Palace, nor was it waged upon the field of carnage, but in the solitary chamber of John Knox, who prayed all night, crying out in the desperation of faith, "Give me Scotland, or I die." Young man, would you be a power for good — would you, like Jacob, become a prevailing prince THE POWER OF PRAYER. 535 among men? Keep close to God in prayer. The mightiest man on earth to-day is he who has most power with God. " Prayer is the magic sound that saith to fate, so be it ; prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of Omnipotence." On the rocks by the seashore I have seen marine creatures living when the tide was out ; not in the briny pools it leaves, but on the dry and naked rock — in the withering air — in the burning, broiling sun. They lived, because when twice each day the foaming tide came in, and rising, covered the rocky shelf they clung to, they opened their shut and shelly mouths to drink in water enough to last them when the tide went out, and till the next tide came in. Even so, twice a day also at the least, we are to replenish our thirsty souls — fill our emptiness from the ocean of grace and mercy that flows free and full in Christ, to the least of saints and chief of sinners. In him dwelleth all the Godhead bodily. Prayer, which is a constant duty and privilege, is practically "desire." It is desire with its garments on ; desire booted and saddled for traveling the heavenly road. Prayer without desire is dead ; its soul has fled, it is but the carcass of prayer. When desire is burn- ing in the soul it sends up the flame of prayer, or the sparks of sighs and groans. Prayer is the fiery chariot and desires are its horses of fire. Since, then, we are commanded to "pray without ceasing," we are really commanded to make known our desires continually. Give utterance to your desire in the best form you can, however difficult may be the task. I pray you do 536 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. this, for God would have you confess all to him. He says that 'men ought always to pray and not to faint;" and again, " in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God." Jesus said, " Watch and pray," and his apostle said, "I will that men pray everywhere." And what is this but to make your desires known to God ? Bishop Taylor beautifully remarks : " Prayer is the key to open the day, and the bolt to shut in the night* But as the clouds drop the early dew and the evening dew upon the grass, yet it would not spring and grow green by that constant and double falling of the dew, unless some great shower at certain seasons did sup- ply the rest; so the customary devotion of prayer twice a day is the falling of the early and the latter dew. But if you will increase and flourish in works of grace, empty the great clouds sometimes, and let them fall in a full shower of prayer. Choose out seasons when prayer shall overflow like Jordan in time of harvest." Earnest, intense prayer is the key to the gate that opens into life's noblest success. When Martin Luther had much labor to do, he prayed much. Labor without prayer will rarely be a success from the highest stand-point. Labor is said to be of noble birth ; but prayer is the daughter of heaven. Labor has a place near the throne ; but prayer touches the golden scep- ter. Labor, Martha-like, is busy with much serving; but prayer sits with Mary at the feet of Jesus. He that knows how to pray has the secret of safety in prosperity and of support in trouble. He THE POWER OF PRAYER. ^37 has the art of overruling every enemy, and of turning every loss into a gain. He has the power of soothing every care, of subduing every passion, and of adding a relish to every enjoyment. Many things are good for me, but none so good as to draw nigh to God. The ordinary blessings of life will ever come to us in the ordinary way, and our prayers will, with very few indeed, if any, exceptions, meet their answer in the ordinary events in human life. When we pray, "Thy kingdom come," we expect the prayer to be answered by the operation of all the instrumentalities and agencies by which gospel grace is administered and gospel triumphs achieved. In like manner the daily prayer for daily bread and deliverance from evil will receive daily answers in fresh supplies and deliv- erance. And true devotion will see, in these daily blessings, the tokens of the All-wise and ever provi- dent care and protection of the Father in heaven to whom we pray. That there may be wonderful and even miraculous interpositions is true ; but they will not be looked for except on occasions of so extraor- dinary a nature as to demand them. Faithful prayer always implies correlative exertion ; and no man can ask honestly or hopefully to be deliv- ered from temptation, unless he has himself honestly and firmly determined to do the best he can to keep out of it. The prayers of men have not changed God's physi- cal laws. They were well arranged when the world was set in order. But it is the prayers of loyal men — it is their work with God and his with them — which 538 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. planted this continent with men who wanted to obey His law. In the midst of personal selfishness and per- sonal crime, the drift, the general wish, of this land has been to obey His law, as far as the land could make it out. And prayer is a reassuring of one's self that God does exist. It is a reaching out and laying hold of the hand of God, as a timid child in the night is comforted by taking hold of a parent's hand. Prayer is not so much that by which we secure a change in the order of events as something by which we are made qu'iet, and content to let the afflictive order of events go on. It is the soul's assurance to itself that this suffering and this midnight darkness is all controlled by God, and that out of it he will bring the highest good. And so with prayer comes praise. The soul which by prayer has gained a sense of God's presence lifts up to him its joyful songs of praise. The world is full of troubled, sorrowing men — men who have been so afflicted that they have given up hope and are in despair. Now if you will only sing songs in the mid- night, they may be persuaded that after all the world is ruled by God. If a canoe be connected by a cord with a distant ship, one in the canoe may draw himself to the ship, if he cannot draw the ship to himself. So, it has been said, is it with prayer. If it do not bring God to man, it will bring man to God. And this is always well for man. Conscious ap- proach to God lifts man above himself; takes him, for the time, out of this world of everchahging phenomena THE POWER OF PRAYER. 539 and places him among the changeless varieties of eternity. Oh ! it is a glorious fact that prayers are noticed in heaven. The poor, broken-hearted sinner, climbing up to his chamber, bends his knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears. Lo ! that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music ; that tear has been caught by God and put into the lachrymatory of heaven, to be perpetually pre- served. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. Oh, fathers and mothers, are your homes prayer- less? And when it is too late, when your children have grown and gone out into the stormy, tempting world, and when they are no longer impressible to the voice of prayer, will it be your reproachful, bitter regret that they have gone from your home and perhaps from the world without an example of prayer from you, and without any petition from their own lips! May God save you such an experience and help you towards the realization of a better fate! As you must make the first approach, you must make your home Christian. Do this, and as time severs the links that bind it in loving unity and one goes here and another there, it will be a delightful reflection that your home had an altar, a door opening towards heaven, and that ere long there will be a joyful family reunion and a sweet shout of praise in the heavenly home on high. A sweet and intelligent little girl was passing quietly through the streets when she came to a spot where several idle boys were amusing themselves by 54° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the dangerous practice of throwing stones. Not ob- serving her, one of the boys, by accident, threw a stone towards her, and struck her a cruel blow in the eye. She was carried home in great agony. The doctor was sent for, and a very painful operation was declared necessary. When the time came, and the surgeon had taken out his instruments, she lay in her father's arms, and he asked her if she was ready for the doctor to do what he could to cure her eye. " No, father, not yet," she replied. "What do you wish us to wait for, my child?" " I want to kneel in your lap, and pray to Jesus first," she answered. And then kneeling, she prayed a few minutes, and afterwards submitted to the operation with all the patience of a strong woman. How beautiful this little girl appears under these trying circumstances! Surely Jesus heard the prayer made in that hour ; and he will hear every child that calls upon his name. Even pain can be endured when we ask Jesus to help us bear it. Three little children, about six, four and three years of age, respectively, were playing together when, disagreeing about something, two of them became rather sullen, and refused to go on with their play. The eldest of the three at once, and with a serious, matronly air, said: "Stop! and let us all kneel down and pray," which they did; and she, leading them, and having them repeat after her deliberately each word by itself, said: "Dear Jesus, make us love each other." THE POWER OF PRAYER. 54 1 They all, in subdued and most serious tones, repeated the words after her ; and then, rising up, went on with their play as pleasantly as could be wished. A Christian woman in a town in New York desired to obtain a schoolhouse for the purpose of starting a Sunday school, but was refused by a skeptical trustee. Still she persevered and asked him again and again. "I tell you, Aunt Polly, it is of no use. Once for all, I say you cannot have the schoolhouse for any such purpose." " I think I am going to get it," said Aunt Polly. " I should like to know how, if I do not give you the key." "I think that the Lord is going to unlock it." " Maybe he will," said the infidel ; " but I can tell you this: he will not get the key from me." " Well, I am going to pray over it, and I have found out from experience that when I keep on praying something always gives way!' And the next time she came the hard heart of the infidel gave way and she received the key. More than this, when others opposed the school, he sustained her, and great good was done for perishing souls. " Something gives way." Sometimes it is a man's will, and sometimes it is the man himself. Sometimes there is a revolution, and sometimes there is a funeral. When God's Spirit inspires a prayer in a believing Christian's heart, Omnipotence stands ready to answer it. " Something gives way." How deeply rooted must unbelief be in our hearts 54 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. when we are surprised to find our prayers answered, instead of feeling sure they will be so, if they are only offered up in faith and are in accord with the will of God. ©I^UB I^EPBNIPANGB. Repentance is the key which unlocks the gate wherein sin keeps a man a prisoner. Tears on the cheek of a repentant soul are more precious in the eyes of God than the pearls in the diadems that angels wear. A determination to repent will result in a realiza- tion of the reasonableness and necessity of repent- ance, and a personal experience of it. Now, what is repentance? "True repentance is a grace of the Holy Spirit, whereby a sinner, from the sense of his sins and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it to God, with full purpose of, and endeavors after, future obedience." This is repentance ; it consists, radically and essentially, in turning the mind from evil to good. In the nature of the case that will be accompanied with sorrow for sin. But sorrow need not be prescribed to a traveler who has gone the wrong way, and has to retrace his steps to get into the right way ; he will be sorry enough without prescribing any penance as a punish- ment for his sin, or a prerequisite for pardon. A willingness to trust in Christ for salvation will result in the assurance that we do thus trust in him, and are saved by him. TRUE REPENTANCE. 543 Prayer is the vehicle of faith — a means of acquir- ing it — thus the general belief in God's mercy through Christ, which sweetly prompts us to pray, procures that faith by which we are justified. A disposition to do the whole will of God will result in the assurance that we are saved by him. This is what is significant- ly called experimental religion. We leave the inquirer to make the experiment for himself, having no misgiv- ing as to the result. We simply remark that the doubts of men are occasioned by their ignorance, indolence, pride, and prejudice, which indispose them to do the will of God. It follows that men are justly condemned for their unbelief, because it has in it the essence of disobedience, of which it is both cause and effect. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Regeneration affects man's moral nature, changes the current of his thoughts and desires. It changes the life by changing the springs thereof. It sweetens and purifies the stream of individual influence by cast- ing the sweetening and purifying substance into the fountain. God traces the evil and the good, that is revealed in individual life in evil thoughts and desires, on the one hand, and in good thoughts and desires, on the other, to the right source, the heart. Mind rules matter. Mind conceives the ideal, then guides the skilled and cunning hand in the production of the ideal in substantial form. It is the ruling power in the realm of literature and art. But when we come to the consideration of man's complex nature, uniting the moral and the intellectual, 544 WELL-SrRINGS OF TRUTH. we find that, somehow, both in the light of history and of Scripture, the moral rules. The heart shapes and controls the thinking and the desires of the race. It gives to character its stamp and impress. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Mere sensibility is not saving. Many are affected by the tragedy of the Cross who will not receive its doctrines, or deny themselves a single indulgence for His sake who hung thereon. The prodigal, when he said, "I will arise and go to my father," became, in a measure, reformed from that very moment. He not only left the swine-troughs, but he left the wine-cups and the harlots.^ He did not go with a harlot on his arm and wine-cup in his hand, and with these attempt to return to his father. This could not be. They were all left ; and though he had no goodness to bring, he forsook his vices as soon as he proposed a better life. If we do not know what the sorrow of penitence is we are far from true peace. It is because we have been living only on the surface of life, unmindful of its deep realities, not seeing the grander glories. These things, then, being true, it is manifest that if man ever attains to a correct outward life, the heart must be changed. A mere change of will is not suf- ficient. The drunkard wills to turn to a life of sobriety, but appetite conquers the will. The libertine wills to become pure and chaste in life ; but passion bears down before its terrific power the unbuttressed will, and the man goes downward still. The remedy for this, the only remedy, lies in a change of the moral nature. Man must be taught, not only to love virtue TRUE REPENTANCE. 545 and right for their own sake, but be so strengthened in the springs of his moral being that he shall be able to obey the behests of the will. In a word, God must come in, cleanse, change the heart, and adorn it with the immortal garniture of the Spirit. I do entreat you to remember that salvation is the one thing needful. Health, and riches, and titles are •not needful things. A man may gain eternal life with- out them. But what shall the man do who dies not saved ? Oh, that you would see that you must have salvation now, in this present life, and lay hold upon it for your soul. Oh, that you would see that, saved or not saved is the grand question in religion. Sects or parties, opinions and creeds, all these are trifling questions in comparison. Repentance is not a change in the realm of the intellect. It is not a change of opinion, as when scien- tific men held for a time that the planets moved around the sun, following the course of a perfect circle, and afterwards changed their minds and concluded that the planets moved around the sun, following the course of an ellipse. That was a change of opinion. That is not repentance. Repentance is not a change of will, as when a young man sits down, it may be at the beginning of the year, and he says: "I am going to turn over a new leaf. I am tired of my old life. I am going to live a better life." That of itself is very well ; but it is not repentance. He finds, it may be soon, that he is like a little child rowing a small boat against a strong cur- rent, — though he struggles hard, he is ever borne 35 54-6 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. back further and further by the stream. This is not repentance. Mr. Moody defines repentance as con- taining two features; sorrow, and change of purpose. Repentance is not fear; it -is not remorse; it is not feeling ; it is not praying. It is turning from a sinful course and entering on a holy course. No man ever saw himself a lost, ruined, helpless sin- ner save under the influences of the Spirit. The word is the sword of the Spirit, and is only mighty through God when wielded by the Holy Spirit. Repentance is the repudiation of self, and faith is the acceptance of Christ, and between the two is a gulf where many a man has been drowned in perdition. The proof that we believe in the reality of religion is that we walk in the power of it. And apart from this there is no argument to sustain it, no demonstration to establish it. Wherever there is true repentance, there will be the beginning of a new and better behaviour. A man who repents will set out to be a better man. That is the reason why we cannot do our repentance and say good-bye to it, all up at one time. No; a man is ever to repent. His blessed Lord has taught him to pray the daily prayer: " Forgive us our trespasses." All through the Christian life, repentance is a factor in sanctification. A servant girl once asked for admission into a church in which the members were very particu- lar whom they accepted for membership ; so they gave her a very thorough examination, and among other questions asked her: "What makes you think that you really have become a Christian ? " And she answered: "I sweep under the mats now." Before, TRUE REPENTANCE. 547 she had done her work superficially ; now, she did it conscientiously. And so, wherever there is repentance, there will be the beginning of scrupulous behaviour. That is what the psalmist means when he says: " I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart." Repentance is a change of heart. God says : " Son, give me thine heart." As if he should say, if you will only give your heart, your whole nature must follow. And so we find it written that out of the heart are the issues of life. Repentance is a change of heart, a change of affection ; so that a man who is a good lover and a good hater, if he is converted, will become a good Christian. Religion is a matter of the affections. Here we are, the roots of our lives matted together in this great sod of humanity, men, women and chil- dren. We have our father, mother, brothers, sisters, wife, children, sweet 'acquaintances and friends, and we stand in definite relation to this one and that one ; but the time comes when there springs up a definite relation between us and God. Human life needs for its completeness perpendicular as well as horizontal relations. We need to be bound to God by relations of trust and love ; and the formation of these relations to God — this is repentance. Repentance is the turn- ing of the affections Godward. We do not wish to hide anything ; our hope lies in our heavenly Father's knowing all. There should be no wish to smuggle up even a stray desire, or to con- ceal the most doleful groan ; all should be open and above-board between a sinner and his Saviour. What 54^ WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. secrets can there be between a soul convinced of sin and a pardoning God ? It would have an ill look if we still sewed fig-leaves together, or hid among the trees of the garden. No, let us stand forth, and let our cov- ering be such only as the Lord himself provides. Take care, then, in prayer to set forth the secrets of your soul before God. Tell Him your sin, and spread it out in all its sorrowful detail. Tell Him your fears for the past, your anxieties for the present, and your dreads for the future; tell Him your suspicions of yourself, and your trembling lest you should be de- ceived. Tell Him what salvation you wish for, and what work of grace it is that your soul desireth: make all your heart known unto God, and keep back nothing, for much benefit will come to you from being honest with your best Friend. There are many who want to be religious, who desire to be real, genuine Christians ; but they lack courage and resolution. They frame many frivolous excuses, and listen to many evil suggestions from the enemy. Sometimes they make the start, but are timid, irresolute, and are afraid they will perish without it ; but they do not go resolutely to God with the deter- mination that they will seek until they obtain. So they always remain doubting, trembling, irresolute and un- happy, desiring heaven, but unwilling to strive for it. Behold the sinner on his knees, with the pricks of conscience lashing his poor soul until he is driven to a frenzy. His remorse is keen, his fear appalling, and his feeling and piteous prayers draw tears from the eyes of those who witness his struggles. He agonizes TRUE REPENTANCE. 549 in this manner without avail, and time and again seems sinking in despair, until a good and wise brother ap- proaches, and, with a tenderness born alone of that love to God and peaceful indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whispers words of wisdom in his ear. " My brother," says the man of God, " cease your struggles ; your actions and your words are in vain, for they cannot save you. Though you poured out your prayers like the waters of the sea, and though your groans resounded through the arches of heaven, and youi> remorse found expression in the surging winds, yet it would all be of no avail. There was one who was 'wounded for our transgressions,' and on Him was laid the burden of providing salvation for all mankind. 'By His stripes' are we healed, and nothing, not anything whatsoever, remains for us to do that we may partake of that salvation. My brother, accept of the blessing that the dear Lord holds out to you, and in accepting it, prove that you are enjoying it and making it your own by a newness of life and action. But don't think that because of this new way of living you are saved! Oh, no! You are saved already through Him, and now partake of that salvation by using the newness of life He has given you." 550 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. Sunshine and Shadow. All sunshine makes the desert. — Arab Proverb. They tell in Europe of a poor man who was con- fined for many years in a cold, dark dungeon. There was but one aperture in the wall, and through that the sunbeams came for but a few minutes daily, making a bright spot on the opposite side of the cell. Often and often the lonely man looked upon that little patch of sunshine, and at length a purpose to improve it grew within his soul. Groping on the floor of his cell he found a nail and a stone, and with these rude imple- ments he set to work on the white portion of the wall for the few minutes of every day, during which it was illuminated, until at length he succeeded in bringing out upon it a rude sculpture of Christ upon the cross. Look on the bright side. It is the right side. The times may be hard, but it will make them no easier to wear a gloomy and sad countenance. It is the sun- shine and not the clouds that makes the flower. The sky is blue ten times where it is black once. You have troubles — so have others. None are free from them. Troubles give sinew and tone t(f life — fortitude and courage to man. That would be a dull sea, and the sailors would never get skill, were there nothing to disturb the surface of the ocean. What though things look a little dark, the lane will turn, and night will end in a broad day. There is more virtue in a sun- beam than in a whole hemisphere of cloud and gloom. SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. 55 1 All our afflictions are Christ's refinings ; and the purer the gold, the hotter will be the fire; the whiter the garment, the harder the cleansing. Sorrow over- whelms us, yet God finds music in everything. Our sighs and sobs waft prayers to Him that bring deliver- ance down. They are really songs of triumph in minor keys. From a bruised and broken heart God's touch causes melody to flow forth. The man who has learned to triumph over sorrow wears his miseries as though they were sacred fillets upon his brow, and nothing is so entirely admirable as a man bravely wretched. Every to-morrow extends either a hand of anxiety or a hand of faith. Men's lives should be like the days, growing more beautiful towards the evening. Some kinds of adversity are chiefly of the character of trials, and others of discipline. By discipline is to be understood anything that has a direct tendency to produce improvement, or to create some qualification that did not exist before ; and by trial anything that tends to ascertain what improvement has been made, or what qualities exist. Shadows lie on many fields of knowledge, but the light of God falls on the path of duty. Seneca says that the good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired. The virtue of prosperity is tem- perance, the virtue of adversity is fortitude; which latter is the more heroical virtue. Our sweetest son^s are those which tell of saddest thought. A black cloud makes the traveler mend his pace 55 2 - WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. and mind his home ; whereas a fair day and a pleasant way waste his time, and that stealeth away his affec- tions in the prospect of the country. However others may think of it, yet I take it as a mercy that now and then some clouds come between me and my sun, and many times some troubles do conceal my comforts; for I perceive if I should find too much friendship in any inn in my pilgrimage, I should soon forget my Father's house and my heritage. Christians have frequently more of these sufferings than others. The husbandman does not prune the bramble, but the vine. The stones designed for the temple above require more cutting and polishing than those which are for the common wall. Correction is not for strangers, but children. The Christian mourns over those infirmities which are not viewed by others as sins, such as wandering thoughts and cold affections in duty. It is said of that beautiful bird, the bird of Para- dise, that if it is caught and caged, it never ceases to sigh till it is free. Just such is the Christian. Nothing will satisfy him but the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The weeping of the night dew is soon dried from the short grass, and abides not many hours upon the long, save where the shade of shrub or willow wards off the sun-rays. So the tears of sadness remain but for a short space upon the eyelashes of those who are young, and even the older ones soon become so inter- ested in the pressing cares of daily life that their griefs vanish into the great sepulchre of time. The greatest of difficulties often lie where we are SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. 553, not looking for them. When painful events occur, they are, perhaps, sent only to try and prove us. If we stand firm in our hour of trial, the firmness gives serenity to the mind, which always feels satisfaction in acting conformably to duty. "The battles of the wil- derness," said Norman Macleod, "are the sore battles of every-day life. Their giants are our giants, their sorrows our sorrows, their defeats and victories ours also. As they had honors, defeats and victories, so have we." Tribulation may come as a flood into the church ;, we may be disappointed even in the brethren ; but those who have the eye fixed on Christ " hold on their way." The word which they have heard and which they keep is a strong link binding them to Him who is more than all else to them. Such are life's scenes. Change and disappoint- ment are written upon every leaf of Time's book. The present seems cheerless, oftentimes sad, and we look forward to the future for a " reserved cup of bliss ; " the future comes and we find the cup empty or sadly adulterated. Our dearest joys, how fleeting they are! We place our affections upon some cherished friend, and that friend is taken from us by death; we .bestow all the wealth of our affections upon some idolized object, and that devotion is unrequited — perhaps held in derision. Life, however, has some sunny spots ; but they who seek happiness only from the world, find but few of them. The gifted Byron possessed of rank and talents by which he swayed at will the human heart,. 554 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. and at the waking of whose " harp nations heard en- tranced," was most unhappy. " A wandering, weary, worn and wretched thing, A scorched, and desolate, and blasted soul, A gloomy wilderness of dying thought — Repined and groaned, and withered from the earth. " Every man throws on to his surroundings the sun- shine or the shadow that exists in his own soul. There are two sides to everything — a sunny side and a shady side. Where are you ? Come out of the shadow and sit in the sunlight. There you have warmth and bird- songs all the year round. Feelings come and go like light troops following the victory of the present ; but principles, like troops of the line, are undisturbed and stand fast. Are there no ways worth walking in but those un- certain trails blazed for us by pioneers through tangled forests on the frontiers of faith. Old roads there are that offer fair prospects and that lead to pleasant places ; where the hedgerows every year are sweet with blossoms and musical with birds; from beneath whose sheltering rocks the living water springs as cool and fresh to-day as when our fathers drank thereof. Most of the beatitudes which infinite compassion pronounced have the sorrow of earth for their subject, but the joys of heaven for their completion. While we are wrangling here in the dark we are dying and passing to the world that will decide all our controversies, and the safest passage thither is by peaceable holiness. The world's eye sees little beauty in the crown of thorns, and is unable to perceive the grandeur of the TRUTH. 555 faith that accepts the sorrow of the heaviest cross for the sake of the Christ it cannot see. There are, indeed, flashes of spiritual glory, beaming now and then from the Christian spirit in its agony, that are too bright to be concealed ; but usually the mass of men are unable to hear the undertone of heavenly music that thrills through the cry of Christian sorrow, or detect the robes of the heavenly palace beneath the garments of great tribulation. The children sometimes stretch a silver thread in the window, between the sashes, to make an /Eolian harp, and while the air is calm and still there is no music, but when the wind blows softly a faint mur- mur of music is heard, and the stronger the wind, the louder and sweeter the melody becomes. It is so with many a human heart. The purest, sweetest, holiest joy I ever witnessed in mortal on earth was in one who for fourteen years had been sitting in her chair, unable to lift hand or foQt. All these years her heart had been communing with God, and the sorrows that beat upon the chords of her soul struck out songs which might have fallen from an angel's tongue. (SMUTCH. The possession of truth is a matter of the greatest importance. " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free;" but the tendency of the human mind to exalt one truth to the neglect of all 556 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. others, often leads to prejudice, bitterness and strife, and frequently hinders the progress of correct ideas. The truth is far more important than a truth ; and fre- quently when persons suppose they are disseminating- the truth, they are simply laboring to proclaim a truth ; and in many cases a truth which is not of the greatest importance. Truth, considered in its length and breadth, comprehends the wisdom of an omniscient God. Our knowledge of truth is necessarily very lim- ited, and our great danger is in setting some single truth in the foreground, and thus deranging the har- mony of the divine system, instead of allowing every portion of the revealed truth to keep its appropriate position. All truth is* in one sense, religious truth. It leads ultimately up to God; it is what it is by his will and authority. As all true virtue, wherever found, is a ray of the life of the All-Holy, so all solid knowledge, all really accurate thought, descends from the Eternal Reason, and ought, when we apprehend it, to guide us upwards to Him. All that Christ, our great Teacher, delivers to us is truth — truth unmixed with error, truth of the might- iest importance, truth that can make us free, truth that can make us holy, truth that can make us blessed for- evermore. " What is truth ?" was the question which the whole world, not Pilate alone, was asking on the day when Christ was crucified. Pilate seems to have been divinely guided to answer his own question, when he cried, " Behold the man !" Put holy truth in every false heart; instil a sacred TRUTH. 557 piety into every worldly mind and a blessed virtue into every fountain of corrupt desires; and the anxieties of philanthropy might be hushed and the tears of benevo- lent prayer and faith might be dried up and patriot- ism and piety might gaze upon the scene and the prospect with unmingled joy. Let the soul be turned as strenuously towards good as it usually is towards evil, and you will find that the simple love of goodness will give incredible resources to the spirit in the search after truth. Love, with intellect, will perform miracles. Whenever the soul comes into a living contact with fact and truth, whenever it realizes these with more than common vividness, there arises a thrill of joy, a glow of emotion. And the expression of that thrill, that glow, is poetry. The nobler the objects, the nobler will be the poetry they awaken when they fall on the heart of a true poet. No man is thirsty from the want of truth to slake that thirst, but from the want of the power to take hold of that truth, and so realize satisfaction. Jesus gives the power to do this when He gives the Spirit, and that Spirit gives satisfaction by the power He bestows to understand the things of God. The condition of arriving at truth is not severe habits of investigation, but innocence of life and humbleness of heart. Truth is felt, not reasoned out; and if there be any truths which are only appreciable by the acute understanding, we may be sure at once that these do not constitute the soul's life, nor error in these the soul's death. For instance, the metaphysics of God's Being; the "plan," as they call it, of "salva- 558 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. tion;" the exact distinction between the Divine and human in Christ's Person. On all these subjects you may read and read until the brain is dizzy and the heart's action is stopped; so that of course the mind is bewildered. But dn subjects of Right and Wrong, Divine and Diabolic, Noble and Base, I believe sophistry cannot puzzle so long as the life is right. There are many departments of truth, human, divine and devilish. There are truths which are of little importance; truths which do not concern us, and truths the very knowledge of which would stain and pollute our souls ; for the knowledge which Satan has led men to seek is not merely the knowledge of good, it is "the knowledge of good and evil." There are things which are ruinous to those who know them, there are truths which we would keep forever from the minds and comprehensions of those who are nearest and dearest to us. Truth, to do good, must be timed. Firmness must be tempered by timeliness. To rebuke some sins under certain circumstances would be simply to awake all the combativeness there is in man's nature, and make him more determined in wrong doing. But there are times in the history of the social life of every com- munity when for a pulpit to remain silent upon, the questions of moral and social reform, to fail to speak plainly, pointedly, fearlessly against Sabbath desecra- tion, card-playing, dancing, theater-going and so on to the end, is to be guilty of a gross delinquency of duty. The truth must be spoken, even though our position be surrendered because of our fidelity. TRUTH. 559 The truth learned in the Sunday school has sprung up in the heart of the sailor tossed on the stormy deep ; and in the breast of the soldier breathing valor in the tented field. In the wild woods of the West the colonist recalls it ; in the gloomy prison, in the convict ship, and the convict settlement, it tells the captive how he may be free. In times of sorrow, on beds of sick- ness, in the hour of disappointment or loss (for our wants are various and our woes are many), when the mind, subdued and tamed, recalls the scenes of child- hood, the companions and friends of early years, — the heart swells, the eye fills, and the tear falls, as the text, the chapter or the hymn learned in the Sunday school tells of mercy yet in store, and leads the broken, wounded and bleeding spirit to the balm in Gilead, and to the physician there. " Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days." There are old truths which, being neither Calvin- istic nor Armenian nor philosophical, are so simple and precious that the humblest can understand and be glad. " Sanctify them through Thy truth, Thy word is truth." These words were uttered by our Lord, and they prove the necessity of a knowledge of truth in order for it to affect our lives. The object in giving the Church truth is to set them apart from the world, and to cleanse them "through obedience" to it. And if this end is not attained, then we will never be fit for the glorious position to which we are called by His word. If this truth was more impressed on the minds of Christians, they would endeavor to "worship God in 560 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. spirit and in truth," and we may safely say that only such worship is wholly acceptable to Him. Truth is given, not to be contemplated, but to be done. Life is an action : — not a thought; and the penalty paid by . him who speculates on truth is that by degrees the very truth he holds becomes to him a falsehood. It is an endless work to be uprooting weeds. Plant the ground with wholesome vegetation, and then the juicies which would have otherwise fed rankness will pour themselves into a more vigorous growth ; the dwindled weeds will be easily raked out then. It is an endless task to be refuting error. Plant truth, and the error will pine away. Remember that truth commonly goes in russet and error in purple. The sober judgment which cannot be seduced by the glitter of false ideas, hides itself in by-ways among slow, humdrum people, while error envelops itself in alluring sophistries that capti- vate brilliant men and women. Do not deny this until you have well thought of it, and then you will not deny it. Cultivate the love of truth. I do not mean ver- acity: that is another thing. Veracity is the corres- pondence between a proposition and a man's belief. Truth is the correspondence of the proposition with fact. The love of truth is the love of realities, — the determination to rest upon facts; and not on sem- blances. Take an illustration of the way in which the habit of cultivating truth is got. Two boys see a mis- shapen, hideous object in the dark. One goes up to the cause of his terror, examines it, learns what it is; TRUTH. 561 he knows the truth, and the truth has made him free. The other leaves it in mystery and unexplained vague- ness, and is a slave for life to superstitious and inde- finite terrors. Romance, prettiness, " dim religious light," awe and mystery — these are not the atmosphere of Christ's gospel of liberty. Base the heart on facts. Truth alone makes free. Truth, whether in or out of fashion, is the measure of knowledge and the business of understanding; whatsoever is beside that, however authorized by con- sent, or recommended by rarity, is nothing but ignor- ance, or something worse. Adhere rigidly and unde- viatingly to truth ; but while you express what is true, express it in as pleasing a manner as possible. Truth is the picture ; the manner is the frame that displays it to advantage. Blunt truths make more mischief than nice falsehoods do. Concrete the truth and make it shine. For heaven's sake and thy soul's sake, teach the truth and let it alone ! The answers which truth gives to a man, depend very much upon the questions which he puts to truth ; the manner in which he puts his questions depends very much upon the principles which rule his life. The truer we become the more unerringly we know the ring of truth. All that is mortal and perishable will gradually weary us ; truth alone will endure. He that is habituated to deceptions and artificialities in trifles will try in vain to be true in matters of importance ; for truth is a thing of habit rather than will. You cannot in any given case, by any sudden and single effort, will to be true if the habit of your life has been 562 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. insincerity. Speaking truth is like writing fair, and comes only by practice; it is less a matter of will than of habit; and I doubt if any occasion can be trivial which permits the practice and formation of such a habit. The way of truth is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek it. Do you go at once and search for it. Truth is a torch, but one of enormous size ; so that we slink past it in rather a blinking fashion for fear it should burn us. All truths are not to be repeated, still it may be well to hear them. Truth never turns to rebuke falsehood; her own straightforward- ness is the severest correction. Truth need not always be embodied; enough of it hovers around like a spiritual essence, which gives one peace, and fills the atmosphere with a solemn sweetness like harmoni- ous music of bells. Childhood often holds a truth with its feeble fingers, which the grasp of manhood cannot retain, which it is the pride of utmost age to recover. We must never throw away a bushel of truth because it happens to contain a few grains of chaff; on the contrary, we may sometimes profitably receive a bushel of' chaff for the few grains of truth it may contain. The first great work is that yourself may to yourself be true. In troubled water you can scarce see your face, or see it very little, till the water be quiet and stand still ; so in troubled times you can see little truth ; when times are quiet and settled, then truth appears. When attacked by a stupid or malicious critic, it is generally best to keep silent. Entering into contro- TRUTH. 563. versy with such will not better your situation. Re- member that a truth once uttered cannot die ; though it may be crushed, it will rise again, and the coming generations are almost sure to discover it and to give you the credit, despite all that the jealous critic may have said. If the truth is in your work, the critic can- not crush it ; he cannot destroy its influence; but if the truth is not in it, you will be buried out of sight, whether there be a critic to dig your grave or not. By resisting such critics one runs in danger of faring as did that old hunter who persistently and courageously followed up his game. After killing it he was obliged to bury his clothes. A word to the wise is sufficient. Such critics are generally a low game, not worth hunting, not worth disputing with; and he who indulges in a fight with them, generally comes out of the fight with less self-respect. There are three motives that move men to labor. Love for money, love for fame, and love for truth. The man who labors only for money is selfish, he who sacrifices all for fame is foolish, he who lives for the truth is the true disciple. He may not become rich, he may not gather fame, but he is an honest man, and the consciousness of this fact is worth more than money or fame. Truth should be enshrined in our inmost hearts, and become the object of our fervent contemplation, our earnest desire and aspiration. Consecrate, above all things, truth, whatever prejudices it may proscribe, whatever advantages it may forfeit, and whatever priv- ileges it may level ; truth' though its recompense c 564 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. should be the privations of poverty or the darkness of the dungeon; truth, the first lesson for the child, and the last word of the dying ; truth, the world's regener- ator, God's image on earth, the essence of virtue in the character, the foundation of happiness in the heart; truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The remote effect of being true should have a place in our thoughts. The future is built on the present. Noble living projects itself into the future. It comes out in the power of children and children's children. Its widening and deepening influence goes out through the gates of the present into the ever deepening channels of the future. When your duty's task is wrought In unison with God's great thought, Know thou that there the Master's eye Surveys your work approvingly ; Smiles on your task with sweetest grace, Though humble and obscure your place. Faint not ; the crown is only won Through patient toil, through duties done. ©I^OVIDENGE. What men call accident is the doing of God's providence. — Bailey. The scriptures are crowded with explicit declara- tions that there is nothing in nature, animate or inani- mate, which is self-sustaining. Nor is the Scripture less emphatic in affirming God's care and control of his human children than in declaring his sovereignty over nature. As a history the Bible is a continuous PROVIDENCE. 565 record of God's direct guidance of his people. From the time of the first of the Patriarchs to that of the last of the Apostles, we have an unbroken series of special providences. The innumerable exhortations which we find in Scripture to put our trust in God and pray to him for guidance and daily blessings, are based upon this truth of God's special providence. Such exhorta- tions as "Commit thy way unto the Lord," "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him," etc., would be meaningless without the certain knowledge that God does direct the affairs of men. We can go to him with confidence, seeking light and strength in each day's need because we have the assurance from him that all our times are in his hand. But the special providence of God is not merely thus proved in the history and implied in the exhorta- tions to trust which we find in the Bible; it is also explicitly stated. "A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." Most emphatic of all are the words of Christ himself on this point. What the Bible thus strongly affirms, neither science nor our own consciousness can deny. While we could never have discovered from either of these sources the truth that God shapes our lives, both at least convince us of this, that we do not and cannot shape them for ourselves. Vainly do men defy the power — call it by what name they may — which they are forced to see does rule the world. "Circumstan- ces," scornfully exclaimed Napoleon, " I make circum- 566 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. stances." But what availed that indomitable will, that vehement self-confidence in the end ? The highest human might, the most resistless human energy must at length meet a force with which it cannot cope, to which, like the smallest and most obscure, it must suc- cumb. The Christian's joy is to know that this all- controlling force is the will of his all-wise and all-loving Father; his peace and strength are in the believing acceptance of that blessed truth. This is the providence in which we must believe, if we believe in any providence at all — a providence which includes not only the prominent events of life, but the passing incidents of each day. Nothing short of this embraces the truth. Nothing short of this realizes the blessing. It is idle to say, as people some- times do, that we could conceive of a general super- vision and guidance, but cannot imagine a direction which extends to the minute details of every day. Does not our experience teach us that those small de- tails, seeming as they pass so trivial, are constantly determining the larger results within which they are included? And how could those results be deter- mined, unless all the particulars which are seen to have served in bringing them to pass were also di- rected ? As well might we say that God, in creating the world, designed only the general outlines of continents and oceans, and left to the chance action of natural forces the details -that fill them in, while we know that upon these very details the outlines themselves depend. It is futile for us to shun the name, special providence. PROVIDENCE. 567 and yet seek to have the thing it means. If there is any providence at all, there must be special provi- - dence. If our lives are in any respect or to any ex- tent controlled by God, they must be controlled by him completely. It is hard — it is, here and now, impossible, and doubtless will be always, for us fully to grasp and comprehend such a doctrine — to explain the "how" which rests upon this "that." For ourselves we know that we could exercise no such control as God's provi- dence is thus seen to involve except byabsolute despotic direction. We cannot, through any experience of which we are capable, conceive of a foresight so per- fect as to embrace every possible emergency, of a wis- dom so broad as to provide for every influence, of a power so boundless as to accomplish its ends while leaving its agents entire* freedom of will — of an om- niscience, in short, so absolute and unerring as to have perceived in each case at the outset the working of all the varied, conflicting, wavering forces that act on human lives, and to have adjusted them to the bringing about of every event at the desired moment, as directly and as specially as if Omnipotence should miraculously intervene on each occasion. But we need not understand the method, in order to accept and rejoice in the fact, of God's special provi- dence. That is true, if anything is true that God's Word tells, us about him, if that Word is to be trusted at all. It remains for us practically to cast all our care upon Him who, as He has so plainly declared, careth for us. 568 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. . Methinks I hear some say, we should like to have this God for our guide. Blessed emotion ! Cherish it, for it is a whisper of the Divine Spirit. Use the means by which the spark of holy desire shall kindle to a flame. Seriously consider that declaration of Jesus Christ: " No man cometh unto the Father but by me." He who said this is He that came into the world to save sinners. He saves them by His death endured on the cross as an atonement for the sins of the world. This death was endured for us as individ- uals, and must be applied to you as an atonement for your sins. Believing on Christ is the way by which you can be at peace with God, and there is none other way under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. In speaking of the benefits of trial and suffering we should never forget that tkese things by themselves have , no power to make us holier or heavenlier. They make some men morose, selfish and envious.. Such is the effect of pain and sorrow when unsanc- tified by God's saving grace. It is only when grace is in the heart, when power from above dwells in a man, that anything outward or inward turns to his sal- vation. A sick father once threw a book at his blind baby, who was toddling towards the fire. If he had not made her fall over the book, she would have been burned ; but she cried. She thought her father was crueL Sometimes God's blind children, not understanding what he means, feel as though he must be cruel. If they could see as he. can, they would thank him. We PROVIDENCE. 569 do not know from what evils we have been preserved ; for dazzling prospects do not always bring the cheer and comfort we expect, and promise of future good often results in disappointment and sorrow. There are blessings and privileges in every life ; let us be thankful for all those which fall to our lot. Once a little girl, on her way to the depot, fell, hurt herself, missed the train. She asked her mother if God could love her, and let that sad thing happen to her. But before night that train ran off the track and many persons on it were killed. During the awful massacre at Paris, by which so many Christians were removed from the present world, the celebrated Moulin crept into an oven, over the mouth of which a spider instantly wove its web; so that when the ene- mies of the Christian inspected the premises, they passed by the oven with the remark, that no one could have been there for some days. So easily can God devise means for the safety of His servants. An incident is told of the battle of Lake Cham- plain, when on a Sabbath morning Commodore Downie, of the British squadron, sailed down on the Americans as they lay in the bay of Plattsburgh. Commodore Downie sent a man to the mast-head to see what thev were doing on Commodore M'Donough's ship, the flag- ship of the little American squadron. "Ho, aloft!"' said Downie. " What are they doing on that ship?" "Sir," answered the look-out, "they are gathered about the mainmast, and they seem to be at prayer," 57° WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. "Ah," said Commodore Downie, "that looks well for them, but bad for us." It was bad for the British commodore, for the very first shot from the American ship was a chain-shot whieh cut poor Downie in two and killed him in a mo- ment. M'Donough was a simple, humble Christian, and a man of prayer, but brave as a lion in the hour of battle. He died as he lived, a simple-hearted, earnest Christian. God is a sure paymaster. He may not pay at the end of the week, month, or year; but I charge you remember He pays in the end. Quarrel not rashly with adversities not yet under- stood, and overlook not the mercies often bound up in them ; for we consider not sufficiently the good of evils, nor fairly compute the mercies of Providence in things afflictive at first-hand. Behind the snowy loaf is the mill-wheel, behind the mill is the wheat-field, on the wheat-field falls the sunlight, above the' sun is God. Any close observer of American politics must have noticed instances wherein apparently trivial circum- stances have changed the entire course of events. That Providence has overruled these apparent acci- dents for good must be maintained by all who believe in the beneficence of Deity and the active part of Providence in human affairs. Many times, however, the immediate result has so disappointed the wishes and hopes of the best men and women, that they are tempted to believed that Providence for once has lapsed, and forgotten to take charge of the course of PROVIDENCE. 571 events. Some of these occasions are so near that it will be hard with many to " Assert eternal Providence And justify the ways of God to men." But there are others, where the passions which for a time have obscured human vision have passed away, and revealed the hand of Providence so plainly visible that even the men who at the time most doubted can see that, after all, God is supreme and is ruling the universe for good. To recall some of these providential paradoxes which have already righted themselves will prove instructive, and give faith for the future. Thirty-six years ago thousands of patriotic citizens fixed their hopes for the country on the election of Henry Clay as president. It was not to be. Fifteen thousand abolitionists in New York diverted their votes to Birney and elected Polk. The majority in New York State which decided the result was only five thousand one hundred and six. So narrow was the margin on which the future of the country de- pended. Yet to all human foresight the abolitionists, whose votes diverted from Clay had elected Polk, had made a grievous mistake. It hastened Texas annexa- tion and made the Mexican war inevitable. It involved such an aggrandizement of slavery as sixteen years later resulted in four years of civil war and rebellion against the Union. Had the Great Compromiser been chosen President in 1844 there would have been no Mexican war, and the slavery agitation would have been indefinitely postponed. Slavery itself, with all its horrors, might have lasted another hundred years, and 57 2 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. have been ended by a convulsion even more terrible than our civil conflict. Who shall say now that the defeat of Clay, with the sad after-consequences, was not better for the country and for the world than any other result could have been ? The horrors of our civil war of four years were less than would have fol- lowed the indefinite perpetuation and extension of human slavery. It is right enough for partisans of either cause to do their utmost for what they regard as essential to the country. Their efforts are a part of the means which Providence uses, and are therefore indispensable. But we must remember that over all God reigns, and that Providence is able to cause even the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of wrath He will restrain. Such a thought should most wholesomely restrain the violent excitement, at least of Christian men and women, in all political contests. There is not an unnecessary thing in existence, could we but understand it; not one of our experiences of life but is full of significance, could we but see it. Even misfortune is often the surest touchstone of human excellence. The most celebrated poet of Ger- many has said "that he who has not eaten his bread in tears, who has not spent nights of pain weeping on his bed, does not yet know a heavenly power." When painful events occur, they are perhaps sent only to try and prove us. If we stand firm in our hour of trial, this firmness gives serenity to the mind, which always feels satisfaction in acting conformably to duty. Carlyle says: "Through every star, through every PROVIDENCE. 573 grass-blade, and most through every living soul, there beams the glory of a present God." In what strange quarries and stone-yards the stones for that celestial wall are being hewn. Out of the hillsides of humili- ated pride; deep in the darkness of crushed despair; in the fretting and dusty atmosphere of little cares ; in the hard, cruel contact that man has with man ; wher- ever souls are being tried and ripened, in whatever commonplace and homely ways — there God is hewing out the pillars of His temple. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. We see in needleworks and embroideries, it is more pleas- ing to have a lively work upon a dark and solemn ground than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground : judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. Cer- tainly virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are burned or crushed ; for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. Some time ago a boy was discovered in the streets, evidently bright and intelligent, but sick. A man who had the feeling of kindness strongly developed, went to him, shook him by the shoulder and asked him what he was doing there. "Waiting for God to come for me," said he. '" What do you mean ? " said the gentleman, touched by the pathetic tone of the answer and the condition of the boy, in whose eye and flushed face he .saw the evidence of fever. " God has sent for father and mother and little 574 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. brother," said he, " and took them away to his home up in the sky, and mother told me when she was sick that God would take care of me. I have no home, no- body to give me anything, and I came out here and have been looking so long up in the sky for God to take me, as mother said he would. He will come, won't he? Mother never told a lie." " Yes, my lad," said the man, overcome with emo- tion. " He has sent me to take care of you." You should have seen his eyes flash and the smile of triumph break over his face, as he said : " Mother never told a lie, sir ; but you have been so long on the way." They who walk dejectedly and hang their harp on the willows, must first distrust Providence and adver- tise God's purpose and plan a failure, and bar the win- dows to the birds which, as in spring-time, come to sing in the soul. What many need, to make the world brighter and better, is to swallow a sunbeam now and then, that there may be more sunshine in the soul ; to come out of the dark and loathsome cellars and old ruins, the home of moles and bats, and build on the hilltops, where they can catch the earliest and latest sunshine, and the songs of the earliest and latest birds which sing. There is cheer enough all about us wait- ing to be ours, if we will only throw open the windows and unbar the doors and let it come in. The wonder of wonders to me, in the personal dealings of God with me, is the patience he has had with me ! Oh, how he has had to bear with me ! How he has borne with me! PROVIDENCE. 575 When I was in England, a lady told me a sweet story illustrative of what it is to have Christ between us and everything else. She said she was wakened up by a very strange noise of pecking or something of that kind, and when she got up she saw a butterfly flying backward and forward inside the window-pane in great fright, and outside a sparrow pecking and try- ing to get in. The butterfly did not see the glass and expected every moment to be caught, and the spar- row did not see the glass and expected every minute to catch the butterfly, yet all the while that butterfly was as safe as if it had been three miles away, because of the glass between it and the sparrow. So it is with Christians who are abiding in Christ. His presence is between them and every danger. I do not believe that Satan understands about this mighty and invisible power that protects us, or else he would not waste his efforts by trying to get us. He must be like the sparrow — he does not see it; and Christians are like the butterfly — they do not see it,, and so they are frightened and flutter backward and forward in terror; but all the while Satan cannot touch the soul that has the Lord Jesus Christ between itself and him. We are not informed that when God created the world he did not decorate every portion of it alike beautiful, but we are authorized by his word to believe that if any spot received his peculiar consideration that was the garden of Eden. There luxuriated in rich variety all the beauties of nature which have elicited the admiration, and engaged $j6 WELL-SPRINGS OF TRUTH. the attention of all succeeding ages. There the rose, acknowledged queen of flowers, and the lily, fit emblem of maiden purity, grew spontaneous. There the lovely violet and the humble forget-me-not com- manded the same attention as did the proud, majestic magnolia, loftily waving its expansive foliage in the pure atmosphere of heaven. But when we turn from that consecrated enclosure — that favored spot of divine love — alius conjecture and supposition. The happiest conclusion is, that when God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit," no section of the world was more prominently regarded than another. Doubtless, the most sequestered nooks and the most obscure places were then beautified and embellished by the prettiest of flowers; and who will think that those flowers were Born to blush unseen, And waste their sweetness on the desert air ? Have not the angels eyes? And did not they look down from their happy homes in heaven and unite in anthems of praise for what the great Despenser of all good had done for them. CHRISTIAN CHARITY. 577