'^r,. vDV ^ ^f-^j^/;\jj.vv .-^It. jt :^lf^- >& 'if'^m'^ .N >^v .y: iw ^^ ^^dJ-t^ k/i/tt^ ?o::.Aw_a^<_ 7rumpet__Blasts MOUNTAIN TOF VIEWS OF LIFE. COMPRISING The Most Earnest Reasonings, Delightful Narratives, Poetic Ima- geries, Striking Similes, Fearless Denunciations of Wrong and Inspiring Appeals for the Right, that during His Whole Phenomenal Career Have Been Given to the World, By rev. T^DeWITT TALMAGE WHOSE WORLD-WIDE FAME PROVEvS HIM ONE OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED ORATORS OF MODERN TIMES. WITH AN INTRODUCTION By RUSSELL H. CONWELL, D.D., LL.D. By Rev. J. Ward Gamble and Prof. Charles Morris. BEAUTIFULLY fiHO PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. SOUTHWESTERN PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. OopHrirjht. 1892 by O. R. Parish. PREFACE. FOR the great majority of our readers the title page of this volume, bearing, as it does, the name of the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, is all the preface the book requires. There are men whose works need no trumpeting, and Dr. Talmage is one of them. His fame as an orator carries such weight with it, that the mere announce- ment of a new volume of his writings is all that is needed to call up a myriad of delighted readers. Who and what Dr. Talmage is as a man, and what has been the story of his active and useful life, may be gathered from the sketch of his personal history which we append. What he is as an orator and author is too well known to the American public to need further tell- ing. We have, therefore, no occasion to speak further here of the man and his powers and performances, and may confine ourself to some remarks on the work which we hereby call to the attention of his large circle of admirers. In this collection of essays we have presented to us the whole man, from his first entrance upon the field of American oratory to the present period of the maturity of his powers. These essays embrace every variety of subject and treatment, and are marvellous in their vigor and diversity ; dealing, as they do, with every phase of public evil, with all the aspects of the religious situation, with the charms of natural scenery, the attractions of Oriental travel, the demands and duties of home-life, the delights of the heavenly mansions, and a host of topics too numerous to name here. A ^5) PREFA CE. That these many topics are dealt with fluently, ably, and graphi- cally, does not need to be repeated. The mere name of Dr. Talmage is warrant enough for this. The trumpet blast of reform in the social, political and religious degeneracy of the present day was never more clearly and earnestly sounded than by the able orator of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and this magnificent collection of essays cannot fail to become a power for good in the land. All should read this noble work ; alike those who have the inter- ests of moral progress at heart, those who enjoy earnest thought in its freshest and most vigorous expression, and those who have an appreciation of poetical diction and dramatic effect ; all, in short, who love what is attractive in literature, noble in intellectual elevation, exalted in moral principle, energetic in reform, and graphic in state- ment, should possess this book, the latest and richest expression of the ripe thought of one whose pen and voice have shed lustre on these closing years of the Nineteenth Century. The Publishers. TABLE OF CONTENTS, PAGE Preface 5 Table of Contents 7 List of Illustrations tc Introduction 19 Biographical Sketch of Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage 23 UPPER FORCES. Chariots of Fire. — God's Aid in American History. — Reform in the Ballot- Box. — The Growth of Moral Sentiment. — The Lie Manufactory. — The True National Religion. — Who Shall Have this Continent, Christ or Satan ? 47 THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. Is Life Worth Living? — The Money- Getting Mania. — Bright Examples. — Do Your Best.—" With the Skin of Their Teeth." 58 EVOLUTION. The Leaders in Evolution. — What They Teach. — How Worlds Were Made. — Survival of the Fittest. — No Natural Progress. — Antiquity of the Doctrine. — The Missing Link. — A Radical Difference. — The True Evolution ^7 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. PAGE The Philosophy o^ the Chain. — Precept and Example. — One Weak Link. — The Chain that Enslaves. — The Great Emancipator ........ 8i COMMON PEOPLE. Life-Work of the Common People. — Business Men. — The Curse of High Position. — Stitch, Stitch, Stitch.— Persecution . 93 PICTU'RE-GALLERY OF THE STREET. Life Full of Labor. — All Classes Commingle. — Street Temptations. — The Shams of Life. — A Field for Charity lOO HEROES AND HEROINES. Sick-Room Heroes. — Domestic Heroes. — Philanthropic Heroes. — No Rest Here. — Heavenly Recognition 106 THE SACRED BATTLE-FIELD. Wild Beasts in Palestine.— -Jacob's Well. — A Moral Lesson.— Old Battle- Fields. — The True Cross 1 14 THE CURSE OF STRONG DRINK. The Cauldron of the Fiend. — The Drunkard's Will. — The National Menace. — The Rum Fiend's Curse. — Party Servility. — Duty of the Church . . 121 THE BALLOT-BOX. The Sacred Chest of the Hebrews. — The Ark of the American Covenant. — Ignorance. — Spurious Voting. — Intimidation. — Bribery. — Saloon-Made Candidates. — A Property Qualification. — Woman Suffrage. — Power of the Ballot. — Our Great Republic 126 DRESS AND DISSIPATION. Victims of Fashion. — The Dance. — Dissipations of Social Life. — The Modern Bethesda. — Intoxicating Beverages 137 TABLE OF CONTENTS. g MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. PAGE Our Childhood's Home. — The Double Outlook. — The Early Home. — New Married Life. — The Gracious Change. — Shadows of Sorrow. — Latest Trials. — Consolation 146 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. Conditions of Business Life. — Grip, Gouge & Co. — Straining at Gnats ; Swallowing Camels 160 THE CHRISTIAN FOR THE TIMES. Esther's Work. — Aggressive Christians. — No Time to Waste. — The New and the Old. — Gospel Siege Guns. — The People's Pulpit 166 THE MISSION OF PICTURES. Influence of Immoral Pictures. — The Lasting Lesson. — A Great Artist. — The Trials of Artists. — Philanthropy of Art. — Genius of Depravity. — A Model Picture 176 LIGHT, THE WORLD'S EVANGEL. The Blessing of Light. — " Clear as the Sun." — " Fair as the Moon." — The Bow of Promise. — Velocity in Heaven igi ATTACKS ON THE BIBLE. Is the Bible an Impure Book ? — A Cruel Book ? — Contradictory? — Opposed to Science? — Young Men Robbed. — The Best Capital. — A Turning- Point in Life loo JOURNALISM AND EVANGELISM. I The Church and the Newspaper. — What Shall Be Done ? — Utilize the Press. — Sunday Papers Deprecated. — A Treaty Proposed — A New Testa- ment Reporter 209 lo TABLE OF CONTENTS. THE CLOUDS HIS CHARIOT. PAGE Sky Pictures. — Significance of the Clouds. — Royal Equipage. — God's Morning Chariot. — God's Evening Chariot. — The Black Chariot of Wrath. — Power of Prayer. — The Divine Driver. — Three Grand Occasions 215 SIN'S ADVANCE GUARDS. Influence of Bad Literature. — One Woman's Work. — Pernicious Pictorials. — Progress of Infidelity. — Skepticism 228 A LIVE CHURCH. Poverty in the Pulpit. — The Requisites of Church Vitality. — Old Insurance. — The Gospel Mirror. — Fash ion- Plates 236 THE CEDARS OF LEBANON. Arborescent Giants. — God's Temple. — Scriptural Similes. — Everlasting Strength. — Perfected through Suffering. — The Present Moral Storm. — The Botany of Palestine. — " Woodman, Spare that Tree ! 240 NATIONAL EVILS. Unhappy Homes. — Uniform Divorce Law. — The Shame of Polygamy. — The Reign of Libertinism. — The Club House 253 GLORIOUS OLD AGE. Shall We Hide Our Wrinkles ?— The Almond-Tree Bloom.— The Old Folks. My Father. — His Temperance Principles. — Early Struggles. — Closing Scene. — My Mother 262 THE BURDEN OF DEBT. Don't Borrow. — Extravagance. — Grand Larceny. — Bills Due 273 THE COLUMBIAN WORLD'S FAIR. The Fair in Tyre. — Great Expositions. — Their Religious Aspect. — A Peace Congress. — Horrors of War. — The Bright Side 282 TABLE OF CONTENTS. ii CAPTIVES SET FREE. PAGE Raid of the Amalekites. The Hot Pursuit. — The Joyful Return — Our Lost Treasures. — How to Recover Them. — The Decisive Battle. — Re- ward for the Weary 292 THE MARRIAGE AT CANA. Turning Water into Wine.— Lessons of the Miracle. — Hide Your Sorrows. — Luxuries of Life. — Wedding of Christ and the Church 303 NATURE'S LESSONS. The New Paradise. — Skeptics in Palestine. — Personal Comfort. — Infer- ences. — Animal Delight. — Migration of Birds. Autumn Leaves. . . . 310 OUR DUTY TO OUR CHILDREN. Educational Evils. — The Cramming System. — An Educated Idiot. — Jeph- tha's Daughter. — Wrong Systems of Discipline. — Sacrificed to World- liness. — Not Marriage, but Massacre 326 DESCENDANTS OF THE PILGRIMS. The Past Recalled. — The Value of Ancestry. — An Unfounded Charge. — Characteristics of the Pilgrims 339 JOSHUA'S BATTLE-FIELDS. The Parting of the Jordan. — Ark of the Covenant — The Ram's Horn. — The Victorious Shout. — The City of Ai. — Forward, March ! — Kings to be Slain. — The Last Battle 343 DAMASCUS -OLD AND NEW. A Storm in Palestine. — In Sight of Damascus. — Saul's Quick Halt Fruitfulness of Damascus. — The Rivers Abana and Pharpar. — Moham- medan Worship. — A Modern Massacre. — The Old Damascus. — Sight to the Blind 354 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS. AMONG THE HOLY HILLS. PAGE Nazareth. — Boyhood of Jesus. — Birthplace of Parables. — City Indebted to Country. — An Old-fashioned Carpenter Shop. —The Village of Cana. — The Sea of Galilee 367 WHAT TEARS ARE FOR. Mission of Tears. — A Mighty Magnetism. — The Last Resort. — Poetry Changed to Prose. — The Great Sympathizer 379 FROM CRADLE TO CROWN. Bethlehem. — The Childhood of Christ. — Temptation and Triumph. — Christ the Healer. — The Betrayal. — Trial and Sentence. — The Crucifixion and Ascension. — Christ's March through the Centuries 389 WE ARE WITNESSES. The Spirit of Doubt. — Faith against Logic. — The Force of Testimony . . 402 SACRED SONG. Great Organ-Builders. — Birthplace of Music. — Importance of Sacred Music. — The Royal Old Hymns. — A Singing Church. — Obstacles to Congre- gational Singing. — Delegated Duty.— A Coming Revolution 409 THE RAIN'S STORY. Origin of the Rain.— Climate Arraigned.— Men Hard to Please. — God's Supervision. — The Mystery of Rain. — The Source of Tears. — The Father of Tears 420 THE LESSON OF THE PYRAMID. A Morning in Egypt. — Ascending the Pyramid. — What the Pyramid Teaches. — The Noblest Monument. — History of the Pyramid. — A Voice from the Ages 429 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 13 THE VACANT CHAIR. PAGE Mementos of the Past. — The Father's Chair. — The Mother's Chair. — The Invalid's Chair. — The Child's Chair. — No Vacant Chair in Heaven . . 441 THE POWER OF KINDNESS. A Shiowrecked Crew. — Kindness Defined. — The Quality of Kindness. — The Noblest Revenge. — Kindness through Culture. — Kindness in Speech. — Optimist and Pessimist. — Kindness of Action. — What Kindness Might Accomplish. — What the Winds Said 449 EVERYDAY RELIGION. Week-day Piety. — Religious Conversation. — Religion in Daily Work. — The Church an Armory. — Nature's Charity. — Religion in Small Trials. — Common Blessings 462 BORROWING TROUBLE. Keep in the Sunshine. — Enjoy Present Blessings. — Troubles Need Not Be Sought. — Borrowed Care Unfits for Real 475 TRAPS FOR MEN. The Work of the Fowler. — Temptations. — Meanness. — Liberal Men. — The Dishonest Employer. — Safe to Do Right 480 THE OBJECT OF LIFE. What Were We Made For ? — Not Wholly Responsible. — Causes of Failure. — Man's Equipment for Work. — Use Your Opportunities. — Concentrate Your Forces. — Modern Longevity. — Heavenly Duration 490 A HALF-HOUR IN HEAVEN. The Busiest Place in the Universe. — Heaven's Only Period of Rest. — The Power of Silence. — The Siege of Jerusalem. — The Diocletian Persecu- tion. — The Inmates of Heaven. — Memorable Half-Hours. — A View of Heaven. — The Half- Hour Ended 500 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. THE HEAVENLY HARVEST. PAGE Benjamin Demanded. — Bofore the Prime Minister. — The Story AppHed. — The Corn-crib of Hea\en. — True Source of Comfort. — Seeking Food Eternal ... 509 t GREAT EXPLOITS. Grand Opportunities. — Commercial Exigencies. — A Better Way. — Woman's Troubles. — What is WoxTian ? — Saving Children. — Ill-born Offspring . 516 DISASTER AND VICTORY. Freedom from Bigotry.— Mystery of the Fire. — True Catholicity. — The Fire- proof City. — Our Watchword is " Forward " 525 ECHOES. Echoes of Heredity.— Of Good and Evil.— Of Judgment. — Words Echoed in Deeds. — Time Echoed by Eternity. — The Laws of Acoustics. — Echoes in Eternity 5^1 CURE FOR SICK SOULS. An Ungrateful Child.— Now, the Time to Act. — A Striking Instance.— Three Passengers 540 A POOR INVESTMENT. The World a Cheat.— Money Cannot Buy Happiness.— Death of the World- ling.— The Soul's Value.— Heaven's Bid for the Soul 546 A PICTURE FROM THE PAST. The Acropolis at Athens.— Paul on Mars' Hill.— The Apostle's Oration.— The Peroration. — Two Voices from the Past 552 TABLE OF CONTENTS. i$ PRAYERS FOR GARFIELD ANSWERED. PACF The President's Welfare. — The Nation's Welfare. — The Mormon Abomina- tion. — Coming Answers 56c RELIGION IN BUSINESS. A School of Energy. — A School of Patience. — A School of Knowledge. — A School of Integrity. — Sympathy with Business Men 569 THE VALUE OF MAN. God is Precious. — The Iniquity of Us All. — God's Law. — A Letter. — " Yea, More " 577 THE BURDENS OF LIFE. Business Burdens. — God and Business. — Ungrateful Beneficiaries. — An An- swer to Prayer, 583 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAOE Rev. T. De Witt Talmage (Photogravure) Frontispiece. Force and Spirit 25 Lost in Thought 28 Earnest Appeal 33 Brooklyn Tabernacle (Interior) 37 " " (Exterior) 39 Reading the Scriptures 40 Expounding the Word 41 Strength and Dignity 44 Battle Heroes (Half Tone) 51 Triumphant Christ 5^ Parental Love (Solar Tone) 61 In Mortal Peril 65 Our First Ancestor (Half Tone) 71 A Type of Majesty - . . . 75 Prof. Thomas Henry Huxley 77 Simple Faith (Half Tone) 79 Remember Thy Creator 83 Gluttony (Half Tone) 91 Earnest Work 97 Vanity , 102 Remember the Poor (Half Tone) 109 Him that Overcometh 11 1 Jesus and the Samaritan (Half Tone) 115 A Saracan Charge 119 Temptation (Half Tone) 129 A Votary of Fashion 1 39 Blind Folly 144 Motherhood (Half Tone) I47 The Old Home I49 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIOXS. PAGE Springtime of Life (Solar Tone) 151 The Sick Room 157 Innocent Joys (Half Tone) 167 Honest Toil .... 173 God's Handiwork (Half Tone) 177 The Sermon on the Mount 185 Sacred Contemplation (Half Tone) 187 In the Sun Glow 192 Fair as the Moon 194 The Stormy Petrel 197 The Angel of Release 198 Christian Humanity 200 The Magnificent Cathedral (Half Tone) 205 The Storm Cloud 221 Mountain Glories (Half Tone) 223 The Glory of Sunrise 233 Perils of the Sea 235 Fashionable Society 239 Purity (Half Tone) 241 Cedars of Lebanon 243 God's First Temples 245 Great Gambling Hall at Monte Carlo (Half Tone) 259 Sorrowful Old Age .... 264 Springtime and Winter (Half Tone) 265 A Daughter's Affection 268 Sublime Nature (Half Tone) 279 Columbus (Half Tone) 285 Fury of Battle Hosts (Half Tone) 299 Midsummer 305 A Jolly Christmas 307 The Glory of Flowers 311 Winter (Half Tone) 317 Joys of Animal Life 320 Ready for Flight 322 " To Him who in the Love of Nature" 325 Sweet Childhood (Solar Tone) 331 Golden Days of Childhood (Half Tone) 337 Plymouth Rock 34° Chances of War (Half Tone) 347 Life in the Orient (Half Tone) 357 Courtyard in Damascus 363 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Emblem of Salvation . • ^^ Mary and the Infant Jesus (Solar Tone) .5^ Contentment . • Life in Palestine (Half Tone) . . . .*.'.'.*.**.*.*' . 3^7 An Angel Visitor g Poetry (Half Tone) '.'.'.'■'. W W W '' \^r In the Stall ! ! " * 390 Christ and the Doctors _ . Garden of Gethsemane ... ... . ^qc "He is Not Here — He is Risen " (Half Tone) 397 Angel of Christmastime (Solar Tone) ^o^ Refining Power of Music ... .q- Ancient Music j j Music (Half Tone) 417 Fine Weather at Sea .22 An Ancient Astronomer .2: The Khedives Palace (Half Tone) 4^1 The Land of the Pyramids 43 c The Voiceless Mystery (Half Tone) • a->j The Mother's Chair ^^c God's Acre aaj Admiring the Beautiful 453 Charity (Half Tone) ^cc In the Storm ^51 The Worldling , ^53 The Devout Shepherd 457 Lovely Nature (Half Tone) 473 Wealth Cannot Avail • 483 The Great Discoverer (Half Tone) 491 Westminster Abbey 493 inTRODCICTIOR. NTRODUCE a trumpet-blast? I might as well stand before a cannon and try to touch it off easy. Trumpet-blasts introduce themselves. They are heard farther than their praises can ever go. Hence I shall not undertake the absurd thing of introducing Mr. Talmage's trumpet-blasts. I shall simply stand behind and yell after them. They are already heard around the globe, and echo far on the second circuit. They are known and read by all civilized men, and 'there is scarcely a cottage on the islands of the sea where their voices are not heard. We hear their sweet cadences reverberating all about us in pamphlets, books, newspapers, political speeches and sermons. Talmage has become classic. He speaks in his own eccentric grandeur and in his own dialect, but every one hears him in the tongue to which he was born. It was a noble thought to gather the most brilliant Utterances of such a grand character into one volume, where the young and the old, the busy and the man-at-ease, might all find an anthem suited to their training and appreciation. Thes^ trumpet-blasts are as terrible as an army with banners to the guilty and the unrepentant, but soft as cooing doves to the repentant and the afflicted. It i3 marvellous to look through the writings of this great man, and see how accurately and gratefully his utterances adjust themselves to every calling, difficitlty, doubt, sorrow, or joy of human life. As the horn of the Alpine hunter is said to quiver the leaves of the violets in the valley, to move the trees on the mountain-side, to startle the cedir by the snow line, and sometimes to stir the avalanche itself into awful and destructive descent, so these trumpet-blasts of Dr. Talmage have been heard with thanksgiving by the heart-broken, with noble respect by 2 (19) 20 INTRODUCTION. Strong men and noble women, and with fear and trembling by the devotees of vice and crime. His utterances are like the trumpet-peal which welcomed our car- avan from the desert as we approached the banks of the Tigris, and which I have no doubt has since welcomed the pilgrims from that sandy waste each season. Its notes were clear as those of a cathedral bell, and spread themselves over the barren land with strangely pro- longed echoes. It was the most welcome sound that we had ever heard. It was the announcement of the end of a long and dangerous journey. To a bride in that caravan it was a summons to a home where love and luxury awaited her. To the merchant it was a hopeful harbinger of profits in Bagdad. But to the criminals in shackles it was a terrible declaration of doom, and was resonant with the dismal sound of pre- paration for their execution. The same trumpet was heard by all, yet how different were the feelings aroused by its tones. So the readers of this book will find here soothing balms for broken spirits, fountains in which to cleanse the social lepers, nutritious food for the hungry, brilliant flashes of wit for mental recreation, and a clear presentation of the Way of Salvation. Each student finds what he needs, and each listener recognizes the trumpet-blast as containing a message for him. Here are the wise sayings which, among few others of this era, can never die. Talmage's great sermons will grow greater in the estima- tion of the good and cultured people as the years multiply. It is true that no one book can contain so great a man, but in such a volume as this can be gathered comprehensive and illustrative examples suitable to o-ive the reader an excellent general idea of the man, his words, and his work. , It is a good deed to utter such declarations, it is a good deed to publish them, and it is a good deed to read them. They sing to the mechanic like the encouraging notes of Tubal Cain. They threaten the entrenched enemies of society like the trumpets of Jericho. They stir the blood of the valiant patriot like the bugle-call to battle. They awaken the sleeping and unconscious like the trumpets of the lews, which announced the morning's swift approach. They are like the pipes on the house-tops which announce a birth, and like the answering whisdes of the life-saving steamer as it approaches the fog- enshrouded and sinking wreck. Go out, thou printed messenger of the sublime Gospel ! Go into the homes of the rich, and teach them generosity. Go into the cottages of the poor, and teach them economy. IN-TK ODUC J ION. 2 1 Co into the palaces of tha proud, and train them to be humble. Go into the den of the sinner, and tell him of Christ. Go to the kind reader at the bedside of the suffering, and give solace and healing. Go to the school, and teach the lips of young orators to be really eloquent. Go to the college, and tell men to be true to their own individuality. Go to all classes of men, and tell them of the Shining Beyond to which life is but the threshold. And go to all who have not set themselves at work to make this life pure and the other life secure, and tell them, as this book so forcibly urges, that to be a simple pure Christian saved by Christ is better than to have otherwise all knowledge, all beauty, and all the golden eloquence of a Talmage or a Chrysostom. Such a message, this wisely prepared volume by one of the best and most eloquent of men must announce wherever it goes. I shout after these trumpet-blasts, with all my heart's best wishes : " God speed thee ! God speed thee ! Heralds of light !" :2^.^^^^^ ;^, <&.r^^^^^c^^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH — OF — THOMAS De WITT TALMAGE, D. D. THERE is no Christian teacher Hving whose every utterance commands such attention, whose words inspire such fervor and produce such conviction, whose literary productions are so eagerly sought for and so generally read, whose writings command such prices and secure such easy and ready sale, whose entire public life has been such a phenomenal success, as the subject of this biographical sketch. Like Lincoln, Wilson, Grant, Simpson, Stanley, Luther, and even the Master himself, whom he has so faithfully served and loyally followed, T. De Witt Talmage was born entirely outside of the ruling caste of social life. "A country boy," of humble parentage, he began life at the bottom, though destined to climb to the top of the social scale. He was born at Bound Brook, New Jersey,on the seventh day of January, 1832, The last of twelve children, he had the benefit of his parents' experience in the training of the other eleven, a circum- stance doubtless not without its beneficial influence on his later life. The Talmage family belonged to " the common people." Our hero was not born in a palace, nor yet in a dugout. He was well born in the best sense of that term — born of good stock. His parents, David T. and Catherine, combined those sterling qualities which com- mand the admiration and approval of mankind — good sense, wit, firmness, strength of character, sympathy, deep piety, and activity in^ Christian endeavor. Inheriting such qualities, it is in no sense a mar- vel that no orator of his time can draw such crowds to hear his words, or command such terms on the lecture platform, as Dr. Talmage. The «4 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. popular lecturers of the century have come and gone, risen and fallen r they have had their periods of popular favor and their periods of neglect ; but of this man it must be recorded, that he has gone on from strength to strength and from conquest to conquest, ever gaining, never losing his hold upon the popular interest. His success as a genial companion, felicitous conversationalist and writer, eloquent lect- urer, earnest reformer, popular preacher and able expositor and soul- winner, has been most remarkable. Dr. Talmage says of his family : " There were no lords or baron- ets or princes in our ancestral line. None wore star, escutcheon or crest. Do our best, we cannot find anything about our forerunners except that they behaved well, came over from Wales or Holland a good while ago, and died when their time came." After all, what better start in life could a man desire ? His father and mother lived to a good old age. They celebrated their "golden wedding," and nine years later his mother "sped into the skies," as the hush of death came down upon their home one autumnal afternoon. Just three years from that day, October 27, 1871, David T. Talmage, who had attained the good old age of eighty-thre« years, passed through the portals of death. Like most young men, the subject of our sketch had his juvenile notions of what he "would like to make of himself." It is not strange that of a youth possessed of such gifts — a fervent imagination, passion- ate fondness for nature's charms, unusual powers of expression, a manner dramatic in the highest decree, a nature vivacious, electric and spontaneous — those who came in contact with him should prophesy great things concerning his career : "He will be journalist, poet, attor- ney, advocate, politician, or reformer." Having passed the usual course of study, he entered the University of the City of New York, from which he was graduated with distinction. He especially excelled in belles-lettres. It is said that his graduation oration was received with "immense applause," the whole audience rising to their feet under the spell of his oratory. Leaving college, his mind turned toward the legal profession, the study of which he pursued for a year after his graduation, when an in- describable unrest took control of his mind. His parents wished and God intended him to be an embassador of the cross. The godly ex- ample and devout worship of his pious parents prepared the way. For, LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA CE. 25 though he was as full of the spirit of enjoyment as any boy Hving, so that one writer says of him, " New Jersey never contained a merrier or more mischievous lad, one more active in field or more roguish in school," yet there prevailed in that Puritan home a religious atmosphere well calculated to indelibly impress and pervade his mind and soul Dr. Talmage says of those days: "I had many sound thrashings when I was a boy (not as many as I ought to have had, for I was the last child, and my parents let me off), but the most memorable scene in my child- hood was that of father and mother at morning and even- ing prayers. I cannot forget it, for I used often to be squirming around on the floor and looking at them while they were praying." Under the spell of this new impulse, young Tal- mage entered the New Brunswick Theological Sem- inary, connected with Rut- gers College, and began in earnest hi-: preparation for the ministry. It should be recorded that, he had pro- fessed conversion at the age of eighteen and united with the Dutch Reformed Church. Leaving the Seminary in 1856, he began his ministe- rial career at Bellville, N. J., a small town on the picturesque Passaic. Here he spent three profitable years in preparation for wider fields. It was here that he got down from his stilts, let his crutches drop, threw away his manuscript, cast to the winds his fears, and launched out on the sea of extemporaneous preaching — a style to which he has ad- hered with great success until the present time, and to which, indeed, FORCE AND SPIRIT. 26 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. he largely attributes his success. Of this period, he relates the follow- ing interesting incident: " My first settlement as a pastor was in a village. My salary was eight hundred dollars and a parsonage. The amount seemed enormous to me. I said to myself, 'What! all this for one year'?' I was afraid of getting worldly under so much prosperity! I resolved to invite all the congregation to my house in groups of twenty-five each. We began, and as they were the best congregation in all the world, and we felt that nothing was too good for them, we piled all the luxuries on the table. I never completed tlie under- taking. At the end of six months I was in financial despair. I found that we not only had not the surplus of luxuries, but that we had a struggle to get the necessities, and I learned what every young man learns, in time to save himself, or learns too late, that you must measure the size of a man's body before you begin to cut the cloth for his coat." From Bellville, he went to Syracuse, New York. In this larger field he proved himself equal to the demand His genius and power put new life into a weak congregation. He drew a large and cultured audience, in which professional talent predominated in influence. Here his fluent and eloquent style became more fully developed. The saline climate of Syracuse did not agree with his health, and in the year 1862 he accepted a call to Philadelphia, where he continued to improve in his own school of oratory for a period of seven years. Though some fastidious people severely criticised his method of speaking, pronouncing it "awkward, coarse and inelegant," Dr. Talmage was sure of his position, and persevered in his own vigorous and incisive style, much to the delight of the great majority of his hearers. \Vhile at the Centenn'al Ejcposition held in Philadelphia in 1S76, the writer chanced to fall in with a member of his church, whose estimate of his former pastor was not at all flattering to him as a prophet. I spoke of the great stir that Dr. Talmage was making in Brooklyn. " Pshaw," exclaimed he, "Dr. Talmage's success won't last. As soon as the papers cease booming him. he and his 'Tabernacle Theatre' will fall flat. He can't preach, there is neither logic in his argument, nor symmetry in his style. I listened to him seven years and am quite sure his career will be ephemeral." So thought many people who felt it incumbent upon them to give their homage to pulpit traditions. It was a wise maxim of the quaint Westerner, Davy Crockett. "Be sure you- are right, and then go ahead," and events have proven LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 27 that Taimage was right in the course he chose to pursue. He pos- sessed the "divine gift of genius," and a soul all aglow with the idea of preaching Christ as the single mission of his life. He felt that he " had the gospel message, and the world must hear it. " The church was not to him in numbers a select few, in organization a mortopoly. It was meant to be the conqueror and transformer of the world. For seven years he wrought with much success on this theory, all the time realizing that his plans could come to fullness only under conditions that would enable him to build from the bottom up an organization which could get nearer to the masses and which would have no prece- dents to be afraid of as ghosts in its path." The congregation which he served was the largest in the city and his prospects were all that could be desired ; still he was not satisfied, and wished for a church having no fixed policy, and no controlling spirits who might antagonize and retard the development of his ideal. The way opened. A vacancy occurred. A small, struggling congrega- tion in the city of Brooklyn wanted a pastor. Its corporate name was the Central Presbyterian Church. Failure had followed success, largely through the close proximity of the church of the popular Dr. Cuyler, until the year 1868, when the Rev. Dr. Rockwell felt it his duty to resign. It was now a forlorn hope. The church remained without a minister for a year, and the membership dwindled down to nineteen persons. The prospect was dark enough. But these nineteen were true and tried. It was a case of life or death. Only an able man in the pulpit could save it. Who should be he ? Who could be induced to undertake such a task? The suitable man would have every reason to stay away from such a sinking cause. These faithful few resolved to make an effort to secure a first-class minister and resuscitate their church. Amono- those who did much to arouse the courage of the faithful ones was Judge E. C. Converse, a gentleman of great earnestness and influence. He cast about him for a minister whose power as a preacher and whose tact as a worker would build up the church. Through acquaintances in Philadelphia, the attention of Judge Converse was drawn to the rising fame of the Rev. T. De Witt Taimage, then pastor of the First Reformed Church of that city. It seemed like a forlorn hope to suppose that a pulpit orator, whose reputation was already beginning to fill the land, would heed, much 28 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. less accept, a call from a poor and struggling church. Be the result what it might, Judge Converse felt that the needs of the Central Presbyterian Church demanded the highest effort, and, besides, he felt that the rising preacher could win as noble a position and do as glori- ous a work in Brooklyn as anywhere else. Emboldened by the ear- nestness of this gentleman, his associates commissioned him to be the bearer of a call to Dr. Talmage. It did not damp the ardor of his hopes to find, when he reached the home of Dr. Talmage, that four LOST IN THOUGHT. other calls, backed by great influence and power, were already ahead of that which he bore. One was from a leadinof church in San Fran- cisco, another was from Boston, and another from Chicago. Dr. Tal- mage has told to a few friends what a strueele of contending influences was produced in his mind by the presentation of those five calls, and the beseeching cry not to leave them set up by the congregation in whose midst he was so happily situated, and by which he was so greatly beloved. After repeated prayer for three days, he decided in favor of Brooklvn. LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 29 The moment he had made and announced his decision, his mind grew at ease, and though many of his congregation came to him with tears in their eyes to induce him to change his determination, he never wavered, as he saw his way clear. His first sermon under his present pastorate was preached on March 7, 1869, from the text, "God is love." His fame as a preacher had preceded him to Brooklyn, and from the very first every service he conducted was largely attended. Before the close of his first year the church saw that it would be necessary to construct a larger building to accommodate the crowds who flocked to hear him. The work of building a new edifice was begun in June of the following year, 1870, and completed in three months. This rapidity of construction was due to a remarkable pecu- liarity of design from an original plan made and elaborated by Dr. Talmage himself The principal idea was that of a half-circle audi- torium, with the platform placed midway between the two ends of the arc connecting the extremes of the semicircle, the passage-ways or aisles radiadng out from the platform, and the floor rising from the platform outwardly. The construction of the building was also unique. A rough wooden frame formed its exterior outline. This frame was enclosed by strips of corrugated sheet-Iron, covering both the inside and the outside, and giving to the structure the appearance of half of an iron cylinder set on end. The organ — a splendid one by Hook, of Boston,, who built the Plymouth Church organ — was placed at the back of the platform, and the organist's bank of keys and pedals was situated immediately in front of the platform. This new style of church auditorium was not only original with Dr. Talmage, but it was revolutionary in character. It upset the whole previous theory of church architecture. The superior acoustic properties of buildings thus internally arranged, and the advantages they possess in the matter of obtaining a good view of the speaker, were soon rendered so apparent that the style has since become deservedly popular. Besides the innovation in the church structure itself. Dr. Talmage set aside the practice of choir-singing, then so much in vogue, and insisted that all the church music in the Tabernacle should be exclu- sively congregational. He also enunciated the idea of free pews, and carried it into practical effect. The old Tabernacle had no gallery. It had seats for two thous- and nine hundred persons, and by bringing in camp-stools, three 3° LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TA IMAGE. thousand four hundred persons could be seated in it. During its con- struction Dr. Talmage was allowed leave of absence to visit Europe. He was escorted down the bay on the day of his departure by a large number of his conorreo-ation, and amongf the last sounds borne to his ears, as the escort-boat turned to go back to Brooklyn, were cheers for the Tabernacle, which the congregation had promised to have ready against his return. The congregation nobly redeemed their pledge; the Tabernacle was completed early in September, 1870, and dedicated on Sunday, the 26th of the same month. The dedication sermon was preached by Dr. Talmage himself, in the presence of about four thousand people, Durinof the followinof year the Old Tabernacle was enlarged, so as to increase its seating capacity about five hundred. The entire cost of the church was now about eighty-five thousand dollars, which was paid or secured by reliable pledges. This was a serious tax on the resources of the membership, but all were happy in the achievement of so great an undertaking. Unfortunately, the fruit of their labor was not long to be enjoyed. On Saturday afternoon, just previous to the Christmas of 1872, the church session met at the residence of Major B. R. Convin. Having settled up the finances of the year, they separated, congratu- lating themselves in having passed through a series of glorious sue- ts cesses. A disheartening reverse was at hand. On the next morning, Sunday, December 22, 1S72, Dr. Talmage's congregation were startled at finding their house of worship enveloped in flames. With astonish- ment they gazed at the unlooked-for disaster. Their hearts sank within, them. When the hour of morning vv'orship arrived, the build- ing was falling in before their eyes. The fire had broken out about half-past nine, but so lapid was its progress that in half an hour the entire edifice was a ruin. The knowledge of the conflagration was soon in every home in the city, and the expressions of sympathy from other churches were quick and hearty, the homeless congregation being invited to worship in several of the largest and most desirable churches in Brooklyn, including the Plymouth Church. The invitation to use Mr. Beecher's church was accepted, and thither the sad con- gregation went in the evening. The occasion drew a vast audience, and Dr. Talmage preached. Before beginning his sermon, he alluded to the events of the day as follows : LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 3. " In the village where I once lived, on a cold night, there was a cry of fire. House after house was consumed. But there was in the village a large, hospitable dwelling, and as soon as the people were burned out they came into this common center. The good man ot the house stood at the door and said, * Come in,' and the little children as they were brought to the door, some of them wrapped in blankets and shawls, were taken to bed, and the old people that came in from their consumed dwellings were seated around the fire. The good man of the house told them that all would be well. This is a very cold day to be burned out. But we come into this hospitable house to-nieht, and orather around this ereat vv^arm fire of Christian kindness and love, and it is good to be here. The Lord built the Tabernacle, and the Lord let it burn down. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We don't feel like sitting down in discouragement, although the place was very dear. Our hearts there were filled with comfort, and to us many a time did Jesus appear — his face radiant as the sun. To-day, w^hen Christian sy npathy came in from Plymouth Church, and from ten other churches of the city, all offering their houses of worship to us, I must say I was deeply moved. Tell me not that there is no kind- ness between churches, or that there is no such thing as Christian brotherhood ! Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love ! " Dr. Talma^e was not discouraored. Undaunted, he went like the bee, riofht about the work of rebuilding. He insoired his devoied people with his own unyielding spirit. Out of the ashes of the old shell in due time came a new structure, larger, grander, and better than the former. While the smoke of the ruins was yet rising, measures were taken for the erection of a new Tabernacle, and subscriptions were opened for the purpose. A general appeal was made tc the whole country, and the task of erecting a mammoth structure was begun. John Welsh was the architect, and nobly did he perform his task. That he succeeded most admirably is the universal verdict of all who were acquainted with the late Tabernacle. The congregation secured the Academy of Music and made that their temporary home, and for fourteen months they worshiped there. We extract from Dr. Talmage's first sermon in the Academy : "We are in the Academy to-day, not because we have no other place to go. Last Sabbath morning, at nine o'clock, we had but one 32 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. church ; now we have tv/enty-five at our disposal. Their pastors and their trustees say : ' You may take our main audience-rooms, you may take our lecture-rooms, you may take our church parlors, you may baptize in our baptisteries, and sit on our anxious seats.' Oh ! if there be any larger-hearted ministers or larger-hearted churches any- where than in Brooklyn, tell me where there are, that I may go and see them before 1 die. The millenniam has come. People keep wondering when it is coming. It has come. The lion and the lamb lie down toeether, and the tio^er eats straw like an ox. I should like to have seen two of the old-time bigots with their swords fighting through that crreat fire on Schermerhorn street last Sabbath. I am sure the swords would have melted, and they who wielded them would have learned to war no more. I can never say a word against any other denomination of Christians. I thank God I never have been tempted to do so. I cannot be sectarian. I have been told I ouo^ht to be, and I have tried to be, but I have not enough material in me to make such a structure. Every time I get the thing most done, there comes a fire, or something else, and all is eone. The anorels of God sino- out on this Christmas ^ir : ' Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will ' toward men.' I do not think the day is far distant when all the different branches of the Presbyterian Church will be one, and all the different branches of the Methodist Church will be one, and all the different branches of the Episcopal Church will be one. "The Brooklyn Tabernacle is gone! The bell that hung in its tower last Sabbath morning rang its own funeral knell. On that day we orathered from our homes with our families to hear what Christ had of comfort and inspiration for his people. We expected to meet cheerful smiles and warm handshakings, and the triumphant song, and the large brotherhood that characterized that blessed place ; but coming to the doorS; we found nothing but an excited populace and a blazing church. People who had given until they deeply felt it, saw all the results of their benevolence going down into ashes, and, on that cold morning, the tears froze on the cheeks of God's people as they saw they were being burned out. Brooklyn Tabernacle is gone ! " Good-bye, Old Tabernacle ! Your career was short but blessed; your ashes are precious in our sight In the last day may we be able to meet the songs there sung, and the prayers there offered, and the sermons there preached. Good-bye, old place, where some of LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 33 us first felt the Gospel peace, and others heard the last message ere they fled away into the skies ! Good-bye, Brooklyn Tabernacle of 1870. " But welcome our new church ! — I see it as plainly as though it were already built ; its walls firmer ; its gates wider ; its songs more triumphant ; its ingatherings more glorious. — Rise out of the ashes, and greet our waiting vision ! Burst on our souls, O day of our church's resurrection I By your altars, may we be prepared for the EARNEST APPEAL. hour when the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Wel- come, Brooklyn Tabernacle of 1873 !" Dr. Talmage was a good prophet. The corner-stone of the new church was laid on June 7, 1873, in the presence of a vast throng of people. The erection of the building was pushed with great vigor and success. It was completed and dedicated on March 22, 1874, in the presence of the largest congregation that ever assembled in the city of Brooklyn, and \v'as, at that time, the largest Protestant church in 34 LIFE Oh THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. America, It was in the form of a Greek cross fronting on Schermer- horn street. The lower lloor furnished sittings for thirty-one hundred persons, and the gallery for fifteen hundred more. The building, with the sfround, cost one hundred and seventv-five thousand dollars. In this edifice. Dr. Talmage preached with great success until Sunday morning, October 13, 1SS9, a period of over fifteen years. Then, once again, the alarm of fire was raised. "Where is the fire? " "Dr. Talmage's Tabernacle is in flames!" "Quick, quick to the rescue ! " It was too late I The flames swept through the famous structure with a force and headway which not only bade defiance to the best efforts of the valiant firemen, but devoured everything in their path. When the dawn of day lit up the scene, only two tumbling and tottering walls, that might fall at anv moment, and a great heap of charred and smoking ruins, remained of what had been the most famous church in America. For the second time in its history, the Brooklyn Tabernacle had been destroyed. Both buildings were burned dow n on Sunday morning, a striking coincidence. There were no services held by Dr. Talmage on the sad morning of October 13. 1SS9, but the Sunday- school was held as usual at 3 o'clock, in the Young i\Ien's Christian Association Hall. Dr. Talmage was not present during this afternoon service, but was at his home. No. i South Oxford street, in earnest consultation with his church lieutenants with the purpose of evolving plans for immediate and future action. The following resolutions were adopted " We, the trustees of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, assembled Sab- bath, October 13, 1SS9. at the house of our pastor, adopt the following: ''Rcsohcd, That we bow in humble submission to the Providence which this morning removed our beloved church, and while we cannot ^ully understand the meaning of that Providence, we have faith that there is kindness as well as severity in the stroke. ^'Rcsohed, That if God and the people will help us, we proceed immediately to rebuild, and that we rear a structure large enough to meet the demands of our congregation ; locality and style of building to be indicated by the amount of contributions made. "Resolved, That our hearty thanks be rendered to the owners o'' public buildings who have o^ered their auditoriums for the use of our congregation, and to all those who have given us their sympathy in the time of trial. LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 35 " Resolved, That Alexander McLean, E. H. Branch, John Wood, and F. M. Lawrence be appointed a committee to secure a buildincr for Sabbath morning and evening services. 10.30 A. ]\L and 7.30 P. M." Dr. Talmage next dictated to the reporters the following appeal: " To THE People. " By a sudden calamity we are without a church. The building associated with so much that is dear to us is in ashes. In behalf of my stricken congregation I make appeal for help, as our church has never confined its work to this locality. Our church has never been sufficient either in size or appointments for the people who come. We want to build something worthy of our city and worthy the cause of God. We want one hundred thousand dollars, which added to the insurance, will build what is needed. I make appeal to all our friends throughout Christendom, to all denominations, to all creeds and those of no creed at all, to come to our assistance. " I ask all readers of my sermons the world over to contribute as far as their means will allow. What we shall do as a church depends upon the immediate response made to this call. I was on the eve of my departure for a brief visit to the Holy Land, that I might be better prepared for my work here, but that visit must be postponed. I cannot leave until something is done to decide our future. May the God who has our destiny as individuals and churches in his hand appear for our deliverance. "Response to this appeal to the people may be sent to me, ^Brooklyn, N. Y.,' and I will, with my own hands, acknowledge the receipt thereof. "T. De Witt Talmage." "History has almost repeated itself " said the Reverend Doctor sadly, "for it was just seventeen years ago, and upon a Sabbath morning, that we had a similar visitation of fire. Myself and family, who had been alarmed, stood in the glass cupola surmountino- the house, and saw our beloved Sabbath-home moulder away. We could distinguish every arch, beam and rafter, and see them crumble beneath the cruel flames. Shortly after, I visited the scene myself, and it made my heart sad. The subject of my sermon was to have been, ' Looking unto Jesus, the Author of Our Fate.' " 36 Z/i^^ OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. Many were the offers received from sister churches and theatre managers proffering the use of their auditoriums for services. As Dr. Talmao-e said himself: — "The kindness shown us in our hour of need is most manifest. Nearly every auditorium within a radius of three miles has been tendered us, but the committee has finally decided to take the Academy of Music, and we shall hold service there at the usual hours on Sunday next." Among the many offers was one from the Rev. Lyman Abbott, of Plymouth Church, a former classmate of Dr. Talmage. It was couched as follows : "Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, Oct. 13, 1889. ''My dear Dr. Talmage: The Board of Deacons of Plymouth Church authorize me to tender to your people the use of our church edifice on Sunday evenings until your permanent arrangements for your future church have been made. It is quite at your service and theirs for as long as you may desire. I am sure that I need not add that I cordially unite with them, and that I am sure that their action represents the sentiment and feeling that Plymouth Church bears to the Tabernacle in this calamity which has befallen them, " Your old friend, " Lyman Abbott." It is best to complete the story of the Tabernacle, before giving an account of other events in Dr. Talmage's public life. Energedc steps, as we have seen, were at once taken towards replacing the ruined church with a more magnificent structure, and as soon as sufficient funds could be raised and the necessary plans completed, the work of erection was earnestly begun. The new church was finished in the spring of 1891, and the dedication services took place on April 26th of that year. Its character and dimensions may be briefly described. The edifice is of the Norman style of architecture, and is built of dark red Connecticut granite, with facings of brown-stone from Lake Superior, forming a pleasant contrast in color. Over the two upper entrances — one fronting on Clinton avenue, the other on Greene avenue — there is a rounding projection, which forms the base of a square tower of massive proportions, with a slender round turret at each corner. INSIDE VIEW OF THE TABERNACLE. S8 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. The interior of the church presents the same semicircular aspect as did the former Tabernacles, but is of greatly increased size. It is, indeed, one of the largest church edifices in this country, its seating ■capacity being over six thousand. Of these seats, about one-half are on the main floor, the remainder beinor }n the two cralleries. The oreat organ, -which fills the broad space back of the preacher's platform, is probably the finest and largest pipe instrument in the United States. It was built at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, and has been declared by expert organists to be an instrument perfect in its powers. Among the most beautiful features of the new Tabernacle are the great windows of richly-stained cathedral glass, the frames of which are exquisitely carved. They are six in number — three on either side of the organ. In addition, must be mentioned the memorial wall, in which are set four stones of the crreatest historic value : one from Calvary, the Mount of Sacrifice ; two from Sinai, the Mount of the Law ; and one from Mars Hill, the Mount of the Gospel. These were brought from the Orient by Dr. Talmage himself, on his recent journey to Palestine, and form a feature of unique interest in his new church. Over all extends the great dome-like curve of the ceiling, while the vast interior of the edifice is lighted by incandescent electric lamps. The total cost of the structure, exclusive of the organ, was a little less than four hundred thousand dollars. This magnificent structure was dedicated, as we have said, on the morning of Sunday, April 26, 1891. The services began with the singing of the Doxolog}^ followed by an invocation from the Rev. Thomas Hastings, D. D., President of the Union Theological Semi- nary. The dedicatory prayer, which succeeded, was given by the Rev. Wendell Prime, D. D., son of the famous Dr. Irenc-eus Prime, whose life had been spared long enough to lay the corner-stone of the new Tabernacle, but who died before its completion. Then followed the sermon of dedication, by the Rev. Tennis S. Hamlin, D. D,, of the Church of the Covenant, AWishington, At the close of the impressive services — to which the rich tones of the new organ, under the skillful touch of Professor Eyre Browne, gready added — an attractive scene occurred, Dr. Talmaore beinc^ overwhelmed with conofratulations, not alone from his own people, but from a host of others, whom deep in- terest had drawn to the splendid edifice, A Union Service was held in the afternoon, conducted bv Dr. Talmacre, and in the evenincr he THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE. 40 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. preached his first sermon in the new Tabernacle, to an overflowino- host of people, who were drawn thither alike by the noble church and its eloquent pastor. During the period of his Brooklyn pastorate Dr. Talmage has paid several visits to the Old World, of which some mention is here desirable. The first was made in 1879. On May 28th of that year he took passage on the Cunard steamer " Gallia," leaving land with an enthusiastic farewell ovation from his congregation. He reached England on Saturday, June 7th, after a quick and un- eventful voyage, and on the following day attended service at Westminster Abbey, where he had the valued privilege of hear- ing Canon Farrar and Dean Stanley. In the evening he visited Dr. Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle, and was warmly greeted after the sermon by that famous pastor. He afterwards visited many cities of Great Britain, and preached to crowded and enthusiastic audiences. His journey was a constant ovation. Mr. Spurgeon says of his sermons: "They lay hold of my inmost soul ; certainly the Lord is with this mighty man of valor." Dr. Talmage returned to America in October, and was warmly received at the Tabernacle, an immense audience greeting him, as he en- tered, with a storm of applause which showed clearly the high estimation in which his own people held him. In the summer of 1S85 he again visited England, where he was received even more warmly than on his former visit. Among the sermons he preached was one delivered in the celebrated Wesleyan Chapel, of London, behind which is the grave of John Wesley, and in front of which is Bunhill burying-ground, where lie the bones of lohn Bunyan. Isaac Watts, Daniel Defoe, and Home READING THE SCRIPTURES. LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 41 Tooke. The church was crowded to suffocation, and a still larger congregation gathered in the street and in the graveyard in front, whom Dr. Talmage addressed after the completion of his church service. Later in the season, he preached in the United Presbyterian Synod Hall, Edinburgh, to an audience equally dense. A third notable visit to the Old World was made after the de- struction of the second Tabernacle. Dr, Talmao-e had for some time contem- plated writing a " Life of Christ." Many of the numerous works under this title had been written by persons who had no personal knowledge of Palestine. It was his opinion that to adapt one's self properly for such a task, he must visit the Holy Land himself Accordingly, in October, 1889, he again crossed the ocean, and remained absent till the spring of 1890, during which time he traversed Palestine, closely observing the places made memorable in the his- tory of our Lord and Christ, and also visited Rome, Athens, Corinth, Alex- andria, and Cairo. For several months after his return he preached a series of sermons on the "Holy Land," using, in the absence of a church of his own, the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, in the morning, and the New York Acad- emy of Music in the evening. This latter immense building was filled to over- flowing by his audiences. Another excursion made by Dr. Tal- mage, of sufficient importance to put here upon record, was into the haunts of sin in New York city, those plague-spots of evil with which the great metropolis is abundandy infested. Of these homes of evil he made a midnight exploradon, under the protection of the police, and accompanied by two members of his own church. The discourses which he delivered as a result of his pilgrimage into this pit of human EXPOUXDING THE WORD. 42 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. abomination produced intense interest and much feeling, both favor- able and hostile. This was especially true of his sermon on "The Lepers of Hioh Life," in which he says : " Prominent business men from Boston and Philadelphia and Chicago and Cincinnati patronize these places of sin. I could call the names of prominent men in one cluster who patronize these dens of iniquit)', and I may call their names before I get through this course of sermons, though the fabric of New York and Brooklyn society tumble into WTeck. Judges of courts, distinguished lawyers, officers of the church, political orators, have been standing on different plat- forms and talking about God and good morals until you might sup- pose them to be evangelists expecting a thousand converts in one night. We have been talking so much about the gospel for the masses ; now let us talk a little about the gospel for the lepers of society, for thvi millionaire sots, for the portable lazarettos of upper- tendom." These lectures brought condemnation both Irom secular and re- ligious newspapers, but the orator was too much in earnest to be silenced either by condemnation or ridicule. He met his accusers with a satirical scorn that made them wince, speaking of " the sublime fury with which the clergymen mount their war-horses and charge down upon the century-old sins or sinners. They hurl sulphur at Sodom and fire at Gomorrah, but when they come to handle modern sins, they take out dainty handkerchiefs, wipe gold-rimmed spectacles, and put kid gloves on their hands," through the fear that somebody might be hurt, or their super-clean hands be soiled by handling the respectable abominations of their own day. This sketch would not be complete without reference to the trial of Dr. Talmage on "Common Fame." He had been made the object of calumny and misrepresentation, and was so surrounded with the falsehoods of scandal-mongers and threats of the Presbytery, that he demanded an investigation of the charges against him. After numer- ous delays, it was granted. The trial that ensued lasted six weeks, and ended in a verdict of acquittal by a majority of five. Dr. Tal- mage's integrity was vindicated on all the specifications, two out of seven having been withdrawn before the trial. It is needless to say that he came out of that fire a stronger, purer, and more celebrated LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. 43 man than before. Envy had done its utmost to injure him by defama- tion of his character, and envy had signally failed. Of Dr. Talmage's private life we need give but the leading par- ticulars, his biography being in such great measure a public one. He has been twice married. His first wife, Mary R. Avery, of South Brooklyn, became the victim of a fatal accident a few years after their marriage, being drowned in the Schuylkill river, Philadelphia, while out boating with her husband. She left two children — a son, since dead, and a daughter, Jessie, now married. On May 7, 1863, Dr. Talmage was married to Susan Curtiss Whittemore, of Greenpoint, Long Island, with whom he has long lived in a pleasant brownstone house, at the corner of Oxford street and DeKalb avenue, opposite Fort Green Park, Brooklyn. This lady has made herself a power in Brooklyn, and is in the most essential sense a helpmeet to her distinguished husband. She is not alone an excellent housekeeper, but is an efficient business woman, and stands between Dr. Talmage and the public in a most useful manner. All his large mail, amounting often to a hundred or two hundred letters daily, is opened and examined by her, and every epistle of an annoying or unpleasant personal character destroyed. Such letters never meet his eye. In addition to this daily duty she performs a vast amount of pastoral work, receiving the very numerous callers, and saving her husband from many of the crowding details of daily business. Much of his work is planned and laid out by her, and all his lecture interests are in her hands. When a journey is to be made it is she who de- cides upon the route, procures tickets and staterooms, and attends to all those minor matters of detail which would be an annoyance in the life of so busy a man as he. In short, no other public man in America is so helped in business affairs and shielded from petty cares by his wife as Dr. Talmao^e. Mrs. Talmage is, moreover, a very busy woman in church and social life. She is the leading spirit in all the Tabernacle sociables, fairs, ladies' meetings, etc., and is a member of the principal religious, literary, musical, and charitable societies of Brooklyn. As a woman, she is active, cheerful, and sprightly, highly attractive in face and agree- able In manner, and has carried her youthful looks far on into middle age. The Brooklyn home of Dr. Talmage is blessed by the happy faces of five children. May, the eldest daughter, is her mother's daily ^4 LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TALMA GE. companion, and often her social representative. There are three other daughters, Edith, Jeanie, and Maude, the latter being sixteen years of age. The only son, Frank De Witt, now studying for the ministry, is twenty-four years old, and is a lecturer of acknowledged power and ability, a fact which has been demonstrated before large audiences. In short, it would be hard to find a happier and more harmo- nious home in America than that of Dr. Talmaoe. o Few men have more enthusi- astic friends than Dr. Talmaee, and few men of worth have been more misrepresented. He has for years been a target of crit- icism, ridicule and abuse by his enemies, yet he has not swerved an inch from what he believes the path of duty, nor has his influence for good been de- creased in consequence of these ill-natured and unfounded as- saults. Personally, Dr. Talmage is a man of commanding presence. To quote from one of his biog- raphers, one sees in him " a tall, stalwart man, slightly stooping-; broad-shouldered, long-armed, bony and spare of flesh ; a mas- sive, superbly developed head, bald on the top ; an expansive brow ; rather small and deeply- set blue eyes, that now laugh like sunbeams and now blaze like forked lightnings ; a large, mobile mouth ; a square, pugnacious jaw, trimmed with spare sandy side-whiskers ; the whole figure clad in plain black. He is not a handsome man, nor the miracle of ugliness the caricaturists have tried to make him. He is a commanding and intellectual figure, compelling respect and inviting STRENGTH AND DIGNITY. LIFE OF THOMAS De WITT TA IMAGE. 45 confidence and affection. Whether reading the hymns or the Scripture lesson, offering prayer, or preaching, he stands alone on the open plat- form, not even a reading-desk before him. His sermons are carefully prepared beforehand, but delivered without a scrap of manuscript. The preacher's voice is not particularly musical. It is powerful, far- reaching, never monotonous. It expresses every possible sentiment with faultless modulation. His gestures are vigorous, not profuse, dramatic and impressive. His speech is unconventional, informal, never undignified. He has a contempt for sloppy sentimentalities, for dry prosiness, for stilted formalism. There is an air about him of a man who feels himself under Divine compulsion to deliver a message of transcendent importance to dying men ; of a soldier who has a Divine commission to fight a great battle for humanity. He speaks directly to the heart, in language all hearts can understand. Humor and pathos, pleading and scorn, impassioned exhortation and cutting sarcasm, all are used in his discourses with tremendous effect," The above eulogistic remarks call for no addition and no criticism. They paint the man as he really is. Whether in the circle of his friends, in the ease of his chair, or on the platform before his audience. Dr. Talmage always impresses one as an earnest, whole-souled, and vigorous personage, genial in companionship, thoughtful and impressive in address, and powerful in oratory, carrying his hearers along by the magnetic qualities of his voice and the natural adaptation of his gestures, till one forgets that he Is listening to an oration, and seems to live in the flowing tide of the speaker's thought. Dr. Talmage must be heard to be appreciated, and few men living have been heard by a greater number of interested and entranced listeners than the eloquent pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. The Talmage family has turned its attention strongly and ably to Christian work. Three brothers of Dr. Talmaofe are eneaofed in the cause of Christ — two of them as pastors, the third as a missionary. The Rev. Dr. James R. Talfnage is a minister in the Congregational church, and the Rev. Goyn Talmage in the Dutch Reformed church, while a third brother, John Van Nest Talmage, has been a missionary in China since 1846. In addition to the active work of Dr. Talmage in the pulpit, his many lecture engagements, and the large amount of literary work whichi he has performed, he has been for many years connected with 46 LIFE OF THOMAS JDe WITT TALMA GF. the religious press, and has made his influence as strongly felt through the pen as through the voice. From 1873 to 1876 he was the editor of the ChiHstian at Work ; and during 1877 and 1888 of the Christian Advance, of Chicago. At a later date he assumed editorial charge of Frank Leslie s Sunday Magazine, with which he remained long connected. More recently he has been editor of the Christiaii Herald, which is still under his editorial control. Altogether he is a man of the most incessant activity in every field of Christian work, and no man more fully than he has impressed with his personality or filled with his thought these closing years of the Nineteenth Century. THE UPPER FORCES. AS it cost England many regiments and two millions of dollars a year to keep safely a troublesome captive at St. Helena, so the King of Assyria sent out a whole army to capture one minister of religion — the God-fearing prophet Elisha. During the night the army of the Assyrians surrounded the village of Dothan, where the prophet was staying, and at early daybreak his man-servant rushed in, exclaiming, " What shall we do ? A whole army has come to destroy you! We must die! Alas, we must die!" But Elisha was not frightened, for he looked up and saw that the mountains all around were full of supernatural forces, and he knew that though there might be 50,000 Assyrians against him, there were 100,000 angels for him. In answer to the prophet's prayer in behalf of his affrighted man- servant, the young man saw it too ; for " the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw : and, behold, the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Yes, horses of fire harnessed to chariots of fire, and drivers of fire pulling reins of fire on bits of fire, and warriors of fire with brandished swords of fire, till the brilliance of the morning sunrise was eclipsed by the galloping splendor of that celestial cavalcade. The divine equipage is always represented as a chariot of fire. Ezekiel and Isaiah and John, when they come to describe It, always represent It as a wheeled and harnessed conflagration; not a chariot like that which the kings and conquerors of the earth mount, but an organized and compressed fire of purity, justice, chastisement and de- liverance. Chariot of rescue ? Yes, but chariot of fire, for all our national disenthralments have come throuo-h scorchinsf asronles and red disasters. Through tribulation the individual rises. Through tribula- tions nations rise. Yes, chariots of rescue, but chariots of fire. (47) 48 THE UPPER EORCES. The unseen forces are marshalled in the defense of our own country. There are Assyrian perils which threaten our American insti- tutions. But there are upper forces ready and strong to fight on our side. What if all the low levels are filled with threats, if the mountains of our hope and courage and faith are full of the horses of divine rescue ? god's aid IX AMERICAN HISTORY. How do I know that this divine equipage is on the side of our institutions ? I know it by the history of the last one hundred and fif- teen years. The American Revolution started from the hand of John Hancock, in Independence Hall, in 1776. On one side were the colo- nies, without ships, without ammunition, without guns, without trained warriors, without money, without prestige ; on the other side were the mio-htiest nation of the earth, the largest armies, tlie o-randest navies, and the most distinguished commanders, with resources almost inex- haustible, and with nearly all nations to back them up in the fight. Nothing against immensity. The cause of the American colonies, which started at zero, dropped still lower through the quarreling of the generals and through their petty jealousies, and through the violence of the winters, which sur- passed all their predecessors in depths of snow and horrors of congeal- ment. Elisha, when surrounded by the whole Assyrian army, did not seem to be worse off than did the thirteen colonies thus encompassed and overshadowed by foreign assault. What decided the contest in our favor ? The upper forces, the upper armies. The Green and the White Mountains of Xew England, the highlands along the Hudson, the mountains of \^irginia, all the Appalachian ranges, were filled with reinforcements which the young man Washington saw by faith ; and his men endured the frozen feet, the eanofrened wounds, the exhaust- ing hunger and the long march, because "the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw : and. behold, the mountains w^ere full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Washington him- self was a miracle. What Joshua was in sacred history the first American President was in secular history. A thousand other men excelled him in special powers, but he excelled them all in roundness and completeness of character. The world never saw his like, and probably will never see his like again, because there will never be an- other such exigency. He was sent down by a divine interposition. THE UPPER FORCES.* 49 He was from God direct. I cannot comprehend how any man can read the history of those times without admitting that the contest was decided by the upper forces. Again, in 1861, when our Civil War opened, many at the North and at the South pronounced it national suicide. It was not courage against cowardice, it was not wealth against poverty, it was not large States against small States. It was heroism against heroism, the resources of many generations against the resources of many genera- tions, the prayer of the North against the prayer of the South, one- half of the nation in armed wrath meeting the other half of the natioiv in armed indignation. What could come but extermination ? At the opening of the war the commander-in-chief of the Uritr-d States' forces was a man who had served long in battle, but old agr^ !iad come, with its many infirmities, and he had a right to repose. He .lould not mount a horse, and he rode to the battle-field in a carriage, asking the driver not to jolt too much. During the most of the four years of the contest the commander on the Southern side was a man in rr/idlife, who had in his veins the blood of many generations of warriors, himself one of the heroes of Cherubusco and Cerro Gordo, Contreras and Chapul- tepec. As the years rolled on and the scroll of carnage unrolled, there came out from both sides a heroism and a strength and a determination that the world had never seen surpassed. What but extermination could come where Philip Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson led their bri- gades, and Nathaniel L)'on and Sidney Johnson rode in from the north and south, and Grant and Lee, the two thunderbolts of battle, clashed? Yet we are still a nadon, and we are at peace. Earthly courage did not decide the contest. It was the upper forces that saved our land. They tell us there was a batde fought above the clouds of Lookout Mountain ; but there was something higher than that — a victory of the Lord of Hosts. Agrain, the horses and chariots of God came to the rescue of this nation in 1876, at the close of a Presidential election famous for its acrimony. A darker cloud still threatened to setde down on this nation. The result of the election was in dispute, and revolution, not between two or three sections, but revoludon in every town and vil- lage and city of the United States, seemed imminent. It looked as if New York would throtde New York ; and New Orleans would grip New Orleans ; and Boston, Boston ; and Savannah, Savannah ; and JO THE UPPER FORCES. Washino-ton, Washington. Some said that Mr. Tilden was elected; others said that Mr. Hayes was elected ; and how near we came to universal massacre some of us guessed, but God only knew. I ascribe our escape not to the honesty and righteousness of infuriated politi- cians, but I ascribe it to the upper forces, the army of divine rescue. The chariot of mercy rolled in, and though the wheels were not heard and the flash was not seen, yet through all the mountains of the North and the South and the East and the West, though the hoofs did not clatter, the cavalry of God galloped by. God is the friend of this nation. In the awful excitement of the massacre of Lincoln, where there was a prospect that greater slaughter would come upon us, God hushed the tempest. In the awful excitement at the time of Garfield's assassination, God put his foot on the neck of the cyclone. To prove that God is on the side of this nation, I argue from the vast products of our national harvests, and from the national health of the last quarter of a century, and from the great revival of religion, and from the spreading of the Church of God, and from the blossoming growth of asylums and reformatory institutions, and from an edeniza- tion which promises that this whole land shall in time be a Paradise where God will walk in the cool of the day. REFORM IN THE BALLOT-BOX. If at other times I have shown what were the evils that threatened to overturn and demolish American institutions, lam encouraged more than Icanputintowordsas I seethe regiments wheeling down the sky, and my jeremiads turning into doxologies, and that which was the Good Friday of the nation's crucifixion becominsf the Easter morn of its resurrection. Of course, God works through human instrumentalities, and this national regeneration is to come, among other things, through the scrutinized ballot-box. There was a tim.e— you and I remember it well — when droves of vagabonds wandered up and down on election day from poll to poll, and voted here and voted there and voted every- where, and there w^as no challenge ; or, if there were, it was of no avail. Now, in every well-organized neighborhood, every voter is watched with the severest scrutiny. I must tell the registrar my name, and how old I am, and how long I have resided in the state, and how long in the ward or township ; and, if I misrepresent, fifty witnesses will rise and shut me out from the ballot-box. Is not that a great THE UPPER FORCES. 53 advance ? And then notice the law that prohibits a man from voting if he has bet on the election. One step further needs to be taken, and a man forbidden a vote who has offered or taken a bribe, whether it be in the shape of a free drink or cash paid down, the suspected persons being obliged to put their hands on the Bible and swear their vote in if they vote at all. So, through the sacred chest of our nation's suffrage, a measure of our redemption will come. THE GROWTH OF MORAL SENTIMENT. God will also save this nation through an aroused moral senti- ment. Th^re has never been much difference of opinion about moral- ity and immorality. Men, whether or not they acknowledge what is right, have to think what is right. We have men who have had their hands in the public treasury the most of their lifetime, stealing all they could lay their hands on, who discourse eloquently about dishonesty in public service ; and men with two or three families of their own, who preach as eloquently about the virtue of keeping the seventh command- ment. The question of sobriety and drunkenness is thrust in the face of this nation as never before, and is taking its part in our political contests. The question of national sobriety is going to be respectfully and deferentially heard at the bar of every Legislature and every House of Representatives and every United States Senate, and an omnipotent voice will ring down the sky and across this land and back again, say- inof to these rislne tides of drunkenness which threaten to overwhelm home and church and nation, "Thus far shalt thou come, but no far- ther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." I have not in my mind a shadow of disheartenment as large as the shadow of the house-fly's wing. My faith is in the upper forces, the chariots of fire on the mountains. God is not dead. The chariots are not unwheeled. If you only pray more, and wash your eyes in the cool, bright water, fresh from the well of Christian reform, it will be said of you, as of him of old, " The Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw : and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha," When the army of the Greek general Antigonus went into battle, his soldiers were much discouraged at the smallness of their force and the greatness of the enemy, and they rushed up to the general and said to him, " Don't you see we have but a small force, and they have 4 54 THE UPPER EORCES. so many more?" Antigonus, their commander, straightened himself up and answered, with indignation and vehemence, " How many do you reckon me to be?" In Hke manner, when we see the vast armies arrayed against the cause of sobriety, it at times becomes very dis- couraging, but I ask you, in making up your estimate of the forces of righteousness — I ask you, how many do you reckon the Lord God Almighty to be? He is our commander. The Lord of Hosts Is his name. I have the best authority for saying that the chariots of God are twenty thousand, and the mountains are full of them. You may take, without my repeating It, that my only faith is In Christianity and in the upper forces which Ellsha beheld. Political parties come and go, and they may be right and they may be wTong : but God lives, and I think He has ordained this nation for a career of prosperity that no demagogism will be able to hinder. I expect to live to see a political party which will have a platform of two planks — the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. When that party is formed it will sweep across the land, like a tornado I was going to say, but when I think It Is not to be devastation, but resuscitation, I change the figure and say, such a party as that will sweep across this 'and like spice gales from heaven. THE LIE MANUFACTORY. Have you any doubt about the need of Christian religion to purify and make decent American politics? At every yearly or quadrennial election we have in this country great manufactories, manufactories of lies, and they are run day and night, and turn out their half-dozen lies a day, all equipped for full sailing. Large lies and small lies ; lies private, lies public and Hes prurient ; lies cut bias and lies cut diagonal ; long-limbed lies and lies with a double back-action ; lies complimentary and lies defamatory; lies that some of the people believe, and lies that all the people believe, and lies that nobody believes ; lies with humps like camels and scales like crocodiles, necks as lonof as storks and feet as swift as antelopes, and stings like adders ; lies raw, and escal- loped, and panned, and stewed ; crawling lies, and jumping lies, and soaring lies ; lies with attachment screws and rufflers and braiders, and ready-wound bobbins ; lies by Christian people who never lie except at election time, and lies by people who always lie, but surpass them- selves in a Presidential election. THE UPPER EORCES. . 55 I confess I am ashamed to have a foreigner visit this country at such a time. I should think he would stand dazed with his hand on his pocket-book, and not dare to go out at night. What will the hundreds of thousands of foreigners who come here to live think of us ? What a disgust they must have for the land of their adopdon ! The only good thing about it is, they cannot understand the English language. But I suppose the German and Italian and French and Swedish papers translate it all and peddle out the infernal stuff to their subscribers. Nothing but Christianity will ever stop such a flood (5f indecency. The Christian religion will speak after a while. The billingsgate and low scandal, through which we wade every year or every four years, must be rebuked by the religion which speaks from its two great mountains; from the one mountain intoning the command, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," and from the other mountain making pleas for kindness, love and blessing, rather than cursing. Yes, we are going to have a national religion. THE TRUE NATIONAL RELIGION. • There are two kinds of national religion. The one is sup ported by the state, and is a matter of human politics. This has great patronage, and under it men will struggle for prominence without ref- erence to qualifications, and its archbishop is supported by a salary ol $75,000 a year, and there are great cathedrals, with all the machinery of music and canonicals, and room for a thousand people, though the audience may be no more than fifty people, or twenty people, or ten, or two. We want no such religion as that, no such nadonal religion ; but we want a national religion in which the vast majority of the people will be converted and evangelized, and then Christianity will manage the secular as well as the religious Interests of the community. Do you say that this is impracdcable ? No. The time is coming just as certainly as there is a God, and that he has the strength and honesty to fulfil his promises. One of the ancient emperors used to pride himself on performing that which his counsellors said was impos- sible, and I have to tell you to-day that man's impossibilities are God's easies. " Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he not com- manded, and will he not bring it to pass?" The Christian religion is desdned to take possession of every ballot-box, of every school-house, THE TRIUMPHANT CHRIST. THE UPPER EORCES. 57 of every home, of every valley, of every mountain, of every acre of our national domain. This nation, notvv^ithstanding all the evil influ- ences that are trying to destroy it, is going to live. WHO SHALL HAVE THIS CONTINENT, CHRIST OR SATAN ? Never since that time when, according to John Milton, " Satan was hurled headlong, flaming, from the ethereal skies in hideous ruin and combustion down," have the powers of darkness been so deter- mined to win this continent as now. What a jewel it is!— a cameo carved in relief— the cameo of this planet ! On one side of us the Atlar.tic Ocean, dividing us from the worn-out governments of Europe ; on the other side the Pacific Ocean, dividing us from the superstitions of Asia ; on the north of us the Arctic Sea, the gymnasium in which explorers and navigators develop their courage. A continent ten thousand five hundred miles long, containing seventeen million square miles, and all of it but about one-seventh capable of rich cultivation. One hundred milHons of population on this continent of North and South America— one hundred millions— and room for many hundred millions more. All flora and all fauna, all metals and all precious woods, all grains and all fruits. The Appalachian range the backbone, and the rivers the ganglia to carry life all through and out at the extremities. The Isthmus of Darien the narrow waist of a giant con- tinent, destined to be all under one government, and all free, and all Christian, and the scene of Christ's personal reign on earth, if, according to the expectadons of many good people, he shall at last set up his throne in this world. Who shall have this hemisphere, Christ or Satan ? Who shall have the shores of her inland seas, the silver of her Nevadas, the gold of her Colorados, the telescopes of her observa- tories, the brain of her universities, the wheat of her prairies, the rice of her savannahs, the two great ocean beaches — the one reaching from Baffin's Bay to Terra del Fuego, and the other from Behring Straits to Cape Horn — and all the moral and temporal and spiritual and ever- lasting interests of a population vast beyond human computadon ? Who shall have this noble hemisphere ? You and I will decide that, or help to decide it, by conscientious votes, by earnest prayer, by maintenance of Chrlsdan institudons, by support of great philanthro- pies, and by putting ourselves, body, mind and soul, on the right side of all moral, religious and national movements. THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. IS life Toorth living 9 How are we to decide this matter righteously and intelligently ? You will find the same man oscillating in his opinion from dejection to exuberance, and if he be very mercurial in his temperament his conclusion will depend very much upon which way the wind blows. If the wind blow from the northwest, and you ask him, he will say, "Yes;" and if it blow from the northeast, and you ask him, he will say, " No." How are we then to get the question righteously answered ? Suppose we call all nations together in a great convention on the Eastern or the Western hemi- sphere, and let all those who are in the affirmative, say, "Aye." and all those who are in the negative, say, "No." While there would be hundreds of thousands who would answer in the affirmative, there would be more millions who would answer in the negative, and be- cause of the greater number who suffer from sorrow and misfortune and trouble, the " Noes " would have it. If you ask me, " Is life worth living?" I answer, it all depends upoti the kind of life you live, THE MOXEV-GETTIXG MANIA. In the first place, I remark that a life of mere money-getting is always a failure, because you will never get as much as you want. The poorest people in this country are the millionaires, and next to them those who have half a million. There is not a scissors-grinder on the streets of New York or Brooklyn who is so anxious to make money as these men who have piled up fortunes year after year in storehouses, in government securities, in tenement houses, in whole city blocks. You ought to see them jump when they hear the fire-bell ring. You ought to see them in their excitement when the Marine Bank explodes. You ought to see their agitation when there is proposed a reformation in 58 THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. 59 the tariff. Their nerves tremble Hke harp-strings, but with no music in the vibration. They read the reports from Wall Street in the morning with a concern that threatens paralysis or apoplexy, or, more probably, they have a telegraph or telephone in their own house, so that they may catch every breath of change in the money-market. The disease of accumulation has eaten into them — eaten into their heart, into their lungs, into their spleen, into their liver, into their bones. That is not a life worth living. There are too many earthquakes in it, too many agonies in it, too many perditions in it. These men build their casdes, and they open their picture-galleries, and they sum- mon prima donnas, and they offer every inducement for happiness to come and live with them, but happiness will not come. They send footinaned and posdllloned equipages to bring her ; she will not ride to their door. They send princely escorts ; she will not take their arm. They make their gateways triumphal arches ; she'will not ride under them. They set a golden throne before a golden plate ; she turns away from the banquet. They call to her from upholstered balconies ; she will not listen. Mark you, this is the failure of those who have made large accumulations of wealth. And then you must take into consideration the fact that the vast majority of those who make the dominant Mea of life money-getdng, fall far short of affluence. It is estimated that only about two out of a hundred business men have anything worthy the name of success. A man who spends his life with the one dominant idea of financial ac- cumulation, spends a life not worth living. A life of sin, a life of pride, a life of indulgence, a life of worldli- ness, a life devoted to the world, the flesh, and the devil, is a failure — a dead failure, an infinite failure. I care not how many presents you send to that cradle, or how many garlands you send to that grave, you need to put right under the name on the tombstone this inscripdon : " Better for that man if he had never been born." BRIGHT EXAMPLES. But let me shcTw you a life that is worth living. A young man says, '4 am here. I am not responsible for my ancestry ; others de- cided that. I am not responsible for my temperament; God gave me that. But here I am, in the afternoon of the nineteenth century, at twenty years of age. I am here, and I must take an account of stock. 6o THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. Here I have a body which is a divinely constructed engine. I must put it to the very best uses, and I must allow nothing- to damage this rarest of machinery. Two feet, and they mean locomotion. Two eyes, and they mean capacity to pick out my own way. Two ears, and they are telephones of communication with all the outside world ; and they mean capacity to catch the sweetest music, and the voice of friendship — the very best music. A tongue, with almost infinite powers of articulation. And hands with which to welcome, or resist, or lift, or smite, or wave, or bless — hands to help myself and help others. Here is a world which, after six thousand years of battling with tempest and accident is still grander than any architect, human or angelic, could have drafted, I have two lamps to light me — a golden lamp and a silver lamp — a golden lamp set on the sapphire mantel of the day, a silver lamp set on the jet mantel of the night. Yea, I have that at twenty years of age which defies all inventory of valuables — a soul, with capacity to choose or reject, to rejoice or suft'er, to love or to hate. I have eighty years for a lifetime, sixty years yet to live. I may not live an hour, but then I must lay out my plans intelligently and for a long life. I must remember that these eighty years are only a brief preface to the five hundred thousand millions of quintillions of years which will be my future period of existence. Now, I understand niy opportunities and my responsibilities." I would not find it hard to persuade you that the poor lad, Peter Cooper — making glue for a living, and then amassing a great fortune until he could build a philanthropy which has had its echo in ten thousand philanthropies all over the country — lived a life that was really worth living. Neither would I find it hard to persuade you that the life of Susannah Wesley was worth living. She sent out one son to organ- ize Methodism, and the other son to rinsf his anthems throueh the a^es. I would not find it hard work to persuade you that the life of Frances Leere was worth living, as she established in England a school for the scientific nursing of the sick, and then when the war broke out be- tween France and Germany, went to the front, and with her own hands scraped the mud off the bodies of the soldiers dying in the trenches, and with her weak arm — standing one night in the hospital — pushed back a German soldier to his couch, as, all frenzied with his wounds, he rushed toward the door, and said, "Let me go, let me go to my Hebe muttej^'' Major-generals stood back to let this angel of mercy pass. «SCr-,t- - *;i^i.'.>«w ^JiSSiAd. »; -^ PARENTAL LOVE THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. 65 Neither would I have hard work to persuade you that Grace Dariing-, the heroine of the life-boat, lived a life worth living.- Yet you say, " While I know that all these lived lives worth living, I don't think my life amounts to much." Ah ! my friends, whether you live a life conspicuous or inconspicuous, it is worth living, if you live aright. And I want my next sentence to go down into the depths of all your souls. You are to be rewarded, not accordi7ig to the greatness of your work, but according to the holy industries with which you employed the talents you really possessed. The majority of the crowns of heaven will not be given to people with ten talents, for most of them were tempted only to serve themselves. The vast majority of the crowns of heaven will be given to people who had one talent, but gave it all to God. And remember that our life here is introductory to another. It is the vestibule to a palace ; but who despises the door of a Made- leine because there are grander glories within ? Your life, if rightly lived, is the first bar of an eternal oratorio, and who despises the first note of Haydn's symphonies ? And the life you live now is all the more worth living because it opens into a life that shall never end, and the last letter of the word "time" is the first letter of the word " eternity." DO YOUR BEST. But to live well we must live worthily — make our lives worth living. The secret of success, both in temporal and spiritual things, is to do your best. A parishioner asked a clergyman why the congre- gation had filled up, and why the church was now so prosperous above what it had ever been before. "Well," said the clergyman, "I will tell you the secret. I met a tragedian some time ago, and I said to him, ' How is it you get along so well in your profession ? ' The tragedian replied, ' The secret is, I always do my best ; when stormy days come, and the theater is not more than a half or a fourth occu- pied, I always do my best, and that has been the secret of my getting on.' " And the clergyman, reciting it, said, "I have remembered that, and ever since then I have always done my best." In whatever occupation or profession God has put you, do your best. Whether the world appreciates it or not, do your best — always do your best. Domitian, the Roman Emperor, for one hour everyday caught flies and killed them with his penknife ; and there are people 64 THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. with imperial opportunities who set themselves to some equally insig'- nificant business. Oh, for something grand to do ! Concentrate all your energies of body, mind, and soul upon some one great work» and nothing in earth or hell can stand before you. There is no such thing as good luck. I have learned also, in coming up this steep hill of life, that all events are connected. I look back and see events which I thought were isolated and alone, but which I now find were joined to everything that went before, and everything that came after. The chain of life is made up of a great many links — large links, small links, silver links, iron links, beautiful links, ugly links, mirthful links, solemn links — but they are all parts of one great chain of destiny. Each minute is made up of sixty links, and each day is made up of twenty-four links, and each year is made of three hundred and sixty-five links ; but they are all parts of one endless chain which plays and works through the hand of an all-o^overninor God. "But," says some one, "don't you know there may be trials, hardships, sicknesses, and severe duties ahead?" Oh, yes! But if I am on a railroad journey of a thousand miles, and I have gone five hundred of the miles, and durinof those five hundred miles I have found the bridges safe, and the track solid, and the conductors competent, and the engineer wide awake, does not that give me confidence for the other five hundred miles ? God has seen me through up to this time, and I am going to" trust Him for the rest of the journey. I believe I have a through ticket, and although sometimes the track may turn this way or the other way, and sometimes we may be plunged through tunnels, and sometimes we may have a hot-box that detains the train, and sometimes we may switch off upon a side-track to let somebody else pass, and sometimes we may see a red flag warning us to slow up, I believe we are going through to the right place. 1 have not a fear or an anxiety, that I can mention. I do not know one. I put all my case in God's hands, and free my soul from anxiety about the future. I do not feel foolhardy. I only trust. I trust, 1 trust, I trust ! From this hill-top of life I catch a glimpse of those hill-tops where all sorrow and sighing shall be done away. Oh, that God would make that world to us a reality ! Faith in that world helped old Dr. Tyng, when he stood by the casket of his dead son, whose arm had been torn Wl 66 THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. off in the threshing-machine. With trusting composure, he preached the funeral sermon of his own beloved son. Faith in that world helped Martin Luther, without one tear, to put away in death his favorite child. Faith in that w^orld helped the dying woman to see on the sky the letter " W." When they asked her w^hat she supposed the letter "W" in the sky meant, "W^hy," she said, "don't you know? W stands for welcome." O Heaven, swing open thy gates ! O Heaven, roll upon us some of thy anthems! O Heaven, flash upon us the vision of thy lustre ! "WITH THE SKIN OF THEIR TEETH." The ship "Emma," bound from Gottenburg to Harwich, was sailing on, w4ien the man on the lookout saw something that he pro- nounced a vessel bottom up. There was something on it that looked like a sea-o-ull, but was afterward found to be a wavino- handkerchief In the small boat the crew pushed out to the wreck, and found that it was a capsized vessel, and that three men had been digging their way out through the bottom of the ship. W hen the vessel capsized they had no means of escape. The captain took his penknife and dug away througli the planks until his knife broke. Then an old nail was found, with which they attempted to scrape their way up out of the darkness, each one w^orking until his hand w^as w^ell-nlgh paralyzed, and he sank back faint and sick. After lono- and tedious work, the light broke through the bottom of the ship. A handkerchief was hoisted. Help came. They were taken on board the vessel and saved. Did ever men come so near a w^atery grave without dropping into it? How narrowly they escaped — escaped only ''uith the skm of their teethe There are men who have been capsized of evil passions, and cap- sized in mid-ocean, and they are a thousand miles away from any shore of help. They have for years been trying to dig their way out. They have been digging away, and digging away, but they can never be de- livered unless they will hoist some signal of distress. However weak and feeble it may be, Christ \\\\\ see it, and bear down upon the help- less craft, and take them on board ; and it will be known on earth and in heaven how narrowly they escaped — '' ^scd^^^d diS with ike skin q/ their teeth'' EVOLUTION. THERE is no contest between genuine science and revelation. The same God who by the hand of the prophet wrote on parchment, by the hand of the storm has written on the rock. The best telescopes and microscopes and electric batteries and philo- sophical apparatus belong to Christian universities. Who gave us magnetic telegraphy ? Professor Morse, a christian. Who swung the lightnings under the sea, cabling the continents together ? Cyrus W. Field, the christian. Who discovered the anaesthetical properties of chloroform, doing more for the relief of human pain than any man that ever lived, driving back nine-tenths of the horrors of surgery ? James Y. Simpson, of Edinburgh, as eminent for piety as for science ; on week-days in the university lecturing on profoundest scientific subjects, and on Sabbaths preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the masses of Edinburgh. I saw the universities of that city draped in mourning for his death, and I heard his eulogy pronounced by the destitute popu- lations of the Cowgate, Science and revelation are the bass and the soprano of the same tune. The whole world will yet acknowledge the complete harmony. But between science falsely so called and revela- tion, there is an uncompromising war, and one or the other must go under. And when I say scientists, of course, I do not mean literary men or theologians who in essay or in sermon, and without giving their hfe to scientific investigation, look at the subject on this side or that. By scientists I mean those who have a specialty in that direction, and who, through-zoological garden and aquarium and astronomical obser- vatory, give their life to the study of the physical earth, its plants and its animals, and the regions beyond so far as optical instruments have explored them. 67 68 EVOLUTION. I put upon the witness stand, living and dead, the leading evolu- tionists — Ernst Haeckel, Huxley. Darwin, Spencer. On the witness stand, ye men of science, living and dead, answer these questions : Do you believe the Holy Scriptures ? No. And so say they all. Do you believe the Bible story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden ? No. And so say they all. Do you believe the miracles of the Old and New Testament? No. And so say they all. Do you believe that Jesus Christ died to save the nations ? No. And so say they all. Do you believe in the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost ? No. And so say they all. Do you believe that human supplication directed heavenward ever makes any difference ? No. And so say they all. WHAT THEY TEACH. Darwin says that the human hand is only a fish's fin developed. He says that the human ear could once have been moved by force of will just as a horse lifts its ear at a frightful object. He says that the human race were originally web-footed. From primal germ to tadpole, from tadpole to fish, from fish to reptile, from reptile to wolf, from wolf to chimpanzee, and from chimpanzee to man. Now, if anybody says that the Bible account of the starting of the human race and the evo- lutionist account of the starting of the human race are the same accounts, he makes- an appalling misrepresentation. Prefer, if you will, Darwin's "Origin of Species" to the book of Genesis, but know that you are an infidel. As for myself, since Her- bert Spencer was not present at the creation and the Lord Almighty was present, I prefer to take the divine account as to what really occurred on that occasion. To show that this evolution is only an attempt,. to eject God, and to postpone Him and to put Him clear out of reach, I ask a question or two. The baboon made the man, and the wolf made the baboon, and the reptile made the quadruped, and the fish made the reptile, and the tadpole made the fish, and the primal germ made the tadpole. Who made the primal germ ? Most of the evolutionists say, " W^e don't know." Others say, "It made itself." Others say, "It was spontaneously generated." There is not one of them who will fairly and openly and frankly and emphatically say, "God made it." Agassiz says that he found, in a reef of Florida, the remains of insects thirty tJwusand years old, and that they were just like the insects EVOLUTION. 69 now. There has been no change. All the facts of ornithology and zoology and ichthyology and conchology, are but an echo of Genesis first and twenty-first : " Every winged fowl after his kind." Every creature after its kind. While common observation and science cor- roborate the Bible I will not stultify myself by surrendering to the elaborated guesses of evolutionists. HOW WORLDS WERE MADE. To show that evolution is infidel I place also the Bible account of how worlds were made opposite the evolutionists' account of how worlds were made. Bible account : God made two great lights—the one to rule the day, the other to rule the night ; he made the stars also. Evolutio7iist account : Away back in the ages, there was a fire- mist, or star-dust, and this fire-mist cooled off into granite, and then this granite, by earthquake and by storm and by light, was shaped into mountains and valleys and seas, and so what was originally fire-mist became what we call the earth. Who made the fire-mist ? Who set the fire-mist to world-making? Who cooled off the fire-mist into granite ? You have pushed God some sixty or seventy million miles from the earth, but he is too near yet for the health of evolution. For a s^reat while the evolutionists boasted that they had found the very stuff out of which this world and all worlds were made. They lifted the telescope and they saw it, the very material out of which worlds made themselves — nebulae of simple gas. They laughed in triumph because they had found the factory where the worlds were manufactured, and there was no God anywhere around the factory ! But in an unlucky hour for infidel evolutionists the spec- troscopes of Fraunhofer and Kirchoff were invented, by which they saw into the nebula, and found that it was not a simple gas, but was a compound, and hence had to be supplied from some other source. That implied a God, and away went their theory, shattered into ever- lasting demolition ! SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. There is one tenet of evolution which it is demanded that we shall adopt — that which Darwin calls " Natural Selection," and which Wal- lace calls the " Survival of the Fittest." By this they mean that the human race and the brute creation are all the time improving, because the weak die and the strong live. Those who do not die, survive because. 70 EVOLUTION. they are the fittest. They say the breed of sheep, and cattle, and dogs, and men, is all the time improving, naturally improving. No need of God, or any Bible, or any religion, but just natural progress. You see, the race starts with "spontaneous generation," and then it goes right on until Darwin can take us up with his "natural selection." and Wallace can take us up with his " survival of the fittest," and so we go right on up forever. Beautiful! But do the fittest survive.'* Garfield died in September — Guiteau surviving until the following June. "Survival of the fittest?" Ah! no. The martvrs, religious and political, dying for their principles, their bloody persecutors living on to old age. "Survival of the fittest?" Five hundred thousand brave Northern men marchino- out to meet five hundred thousand brave Southern men, and dying on the battlefield for a principle. Hundreds of thousands of these men went down into the grave-trenches. We staid at home in comfortable quarters. Did they die because they were not as fit to live as we who survived? Ah! no ; not the "survival of the fittest." Ellsworth and Nathaniel Lyon falling on the Northern side — Albert Sidney Johnston and Stonewall Jackson falling on the Southern side. Did they fall because they were not as fit to live as the soldiers and the generals who came back in safety? Did that child die because it was not as fit to live as those of your family that survived? Not the "survival of the fittest." In all communities some of the noblest, grandest men die in vouth. or in mid-life, while some of the meanest and most contemptible live on to old age. No, it is not the "survival of the fittest." Bitten w^ith the frosts of the second death be the tongue that dares to utter it ! NO NATURAL PROGRESS. But to show you that this doctrine is antagonistic to the Bible and to common sense, I have only to prove to you that there has been 710 nattiral progress. Vast improvement from another source, but mind you, no natural progress. Where is the fine horse in any of our parks whose picture of eye and mane, and nostril and neck and haunches, is worthy of being compared to Job's picture of a horse, as he, thousands of years ago, heard it paw, and neigh, and champ its bit for the battle? Pigeons of to-day are not so wise as the carrier pigeons of five hundred years ago — pigeons that carried the mails from army to army and from city to city ; one of them flung into the sky at Rome or Venice landing without ship or rail-train in London. WAS THIS OUR FIRST ANCESTOR? EVOLUTION. 73 And as to the humaji race, so far as mere natural progress is con- cerned, it started with men ten feet high ; now the average is about five feet six inches. It started with men Hving two hundred, four hun- dred, eight hundred, nine hundred years, and now thirty years is the average of human hfe. Mighty progress we have made, haven't we? I went into the cathedral at York, ' England, and the best artists in England had just been painting a window in that cathedral, and right beside it was a window painted four hundred years ago, and there is not a man on e^rth but would say that the modern painting of the window by the best artists of England is not worthy of being compared with the painting of four hundred years ago. ANTIQUITY OF THE DOCTRINE. The dogma of evolution is an old heathen corpse set up in a morgue. Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer are trying to galvanize it. They drag this putrefaction of three thousand years old around the earth, boasting that it is their discovery •, and so wonderful is the in- fatuation, that at the Delmonico dinner given in honor of Herbert Spencer there were those who ascribed to him this hypothesis of evolution. There the banqueters sat around the table in honor of Herbert Spencer, chewing beef and turkey and roast pig, in which, according to their doctrine of evolution, they were eating their own relations ! There is only one thing worse than English snobbery, and that is American snobbery. I like democracy, and I like aristocracy; but there is one kind of ocracy in this country that excites my contempt, and that is what Charles Kingsley, after he had witnessed it himself, called snobocracy. Now I say it is a gigantic dishonesty when they ascribe this ancient heathen doctrine of evolution to any modern gen- tleman. I am not a pessimist, but an optimist. I do not believe everything is going to destruction ; I believe everything is going on to redemption. But it will not be through the infidel doctrine of evolu- tion, but through our glorious Christianity, which has effected all the good that has ever been wrought, and which is yet to reconstruct all the nations. THE MISSING LINK. It seems to me, that evolutionists are trying to impress the great masses of the people with the idea that there is an ancestral line leading 5 74 EVOLUTION. from the primal germ on up through the serpent, and through the quadruped, and through the gorilla to man. They admit that there is "a missing link," as they call it, but there is not a missing link — it; is a whole chain gone. Between the physical construction of the high- est animal and the physical construction of the lowest man, there is a chasm as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. Evolutionists tell us that somewhere in Central Africa, or in Borneo, there is a creature half-way between the brute and the man, and that that creature is the highest step in the animal ascent, and the lowest step in the human creation. But what are the facts ? The brain of the largest gorilla that was ever found measures thirty cubic inches, while the brain of the most ignorant man that was ever found measures fifty-five. It needs a bridge of twenty-five arches to span that gulf Between the o-orilla and the man, there is also a difference of blood globule, a difference of nei^ve, a difference of muscle, a difference of botie^ a difference of smeiu. A RADICAL DIFFERENCE. Beside this, it is very evident from another fact that we are an e7i~ tirely different creation, and that there is no kinship. The animal in a few hours or months comes to full strength and can take care of itself The human race for the first one, two, three, five, ten years, is in com- plete helplessness. The chick just come out of its shell begins to pick up its own food. The dog, the wolf, the lion, soon earn their own livelihood and act for their own defense. The human race does not come to development until it reaches twenty or thirty years of age, and by that time the animals that were born the same year the man was born— the vast majority of them — have died of old age. This shows that there is no kinship, no similarity. If we had been born of the beast, we would have had the beast's strenorth at the start, or it would have had our weakness. We are not only different, but opposite. I pity the person who in every nerve, and muscle, and bone, and mental faculty and spiritual experience does not realize that he is higher in origin, and has had a grander ancestr)^ than the beasts which perish. However degraded men and women may be. even though they may have foundered on the rocks of crime and sin, and though w^e shudder when we pass them, nevertheless, there is something within us that tells us they belong to the great brotherhood and sisterhood of our race, and our sympathies are aroused in regard to them. But gazing upon " A TYPE OF GRANDEUR. STRENGTH AND MAJESTY, 76 EVOLUTION. the swiftest gazelle, or upon the tropical bird of most flamboyant wing, or upon the curve of the grandest courser's neck, we feel that there is no consanguinity. The grandest, the highest, the noblest of them is ten thousand fathoms below what we are conscious of being. It is not diat we are stronger than they, for the lion with one stroke of his paw could put us into the dust. It is not that we have better eyesight, for the eagle can descry a mole a mile away. It is not that we are fleeter of foot, for a roebuck in a flash is out of sight, just seeming to touch the earth as he goes. Many of the animal creation surpass us in fleetness of foot, and in keenness of nostril, and in strength of limb ; but notwithstandino- all that, there is somethino- within us that tells us we are of celestial pedigree. Not of the mollusk, not of the rhizopod, not of the primal germ, but of the living and omnipotent God. Lineage of the skies ! Genealogy of Heaven ! I tell you plainly, that \i your father was a muskrat, and your mother an opossum, and your great aunt a kangaroo, and the toads and the snapping turtles were your illustrious predecessors, my father was God ! I know it. I feel it. It thrills through me with an emphasis and an ecstasy which all your arguments drawn from anthropology and biology and zoology and paleontology and all the other ologies, can never shake, "But," says some one, "if we cannot have God make a man, let us have Him make a horse." "Oh, no! " says Huxley, in his great lectures in New York several years ago. No, he does not want any God around the premises. God did not make the horse. The horse came of the plio-hippus, and the plio-hippus came from the proto-hippus, and the proto-hippus came from the mio-hippus, and the mio-hippus came from the meso-hippus, and the meso-hippus came from the oro- hippus, and so away back we trace all the living creatures in a line, until we get to the moneron. We admit no evidence of divine inter- meddling with the creation until we get to the moneron, and that, Huxley says, is of so low a form of life that the probability is it just made itself, or was the result of spontaneous generation. What a narrow escape from the necessity of having a God ! But evolution is not only infidel and atheistic and absurd ; it is brutalizing in its tendencies. If there is anything in the world that will make a man bestial in his habits, it is the idea that he was descended from the beast. Why, according to the idea of these evolutionists, we PROF. THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY. 78 EVOLUTION. are only a superior kind of cattle, a sort of Alderney among other herds. To be sure, we browse on better pasture, and we have better stalls and accommodations, but then we are only Southdowns among the great flocks of sheep. Born of a beast, to die like a beast; for the evolutionists have no idea of a future world. They say that the mind is only a superior part of the body. They say that our thoughts are only molecular vibrations. They say that when the body dies, the whole nature dies. Annihilation is the heaven of the evolutionists. From such a damnable doctrine who would not turn away? THE TRUE EVOLUTION. I do not care so much about protoplasm as I do about eternasm. The "was" is overwhelmed with the "to be." And here comes in the evolution I believe in : not natural evolution, but gracious and divine and heavenly evolution — evolution out of sin into holiness, out of grief into gladness, out of mortality into immortality, out of earth into Heaven ! EvohUion comes from evoherc, to unroll I Unrolling of attributes, unrolling of rewards, unrolling of experience, unrolling of angelic companionship, unrolling of divine glory, unrolling of providential ob- scurities, unrolling of doxologies, unrolling of rainbow to canopy the throne, unrolling of a new Heaven and a new earth in which shall dwell righteousness. Oh, the thought overwhelms me ! I have not the physical endurance to consider it. Monarchs on earth of all the lower orders of creation, and then lifted to be hierarchs in Heaven ! Masterpiece of God's wisdom and goodness, our humanity ; masterpiece of divine grace, our enthrone- ment. I put one foot on Darwin's "Origin of the Species," and I put the other foot on Spencer's "Biology." and then holding in one hand the book of Moses, I see our Genesis, and holdino- in the other hand the book of Revelation, I see our celestial arrival. For all wars, I prescribe the Bethlehem chant of the angels. For all sepulchers, I prescribe the archangel's trumpet. For all earthly griefs, I prescribe the hand that wipes away all tears from all eyes. Not an evolution trom beast to man, but an evolution frotn contestant to conqueror, and from the struggle with wild beasts in the arena of the amphitheatre to a soft, high, blissful seat in the King's galleries. SIMPLE FAITH. THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. AT school and in college, in studying the mechanical powers, we glorified the lever, the pulley, the inclined plane, the screw, the axle and the wheel, but you are now invited to study the philos- ophy of the chain. These links of metal, one with another, attracted the old Bible authors, and we hear the chain rattle and see its coil all the way through from Genesis to Revelation, flashing as an ornament, or restraining in captivity, or holding in conjunction as in the case of machinery. To do him honor, Pharaoh hung a chain about the neck of Joseph, and Belshazzar one about the neck of Daniel. The high- priest had on his breastplate two chains of gold. On the camels' necks, as the Ishmaelites drove up to Gideon, jingled chains of gold. The Bible refers to the Church as havinof such elitterino- orna- ments, saying, "Thy neck is comely with chains of gold." On the other hand, a chain means captivity. David exults that power had been given him over his enemies, " to bind their kings with chains." The old missionary apostle cries out: " For the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain." In the prison where Peter is incarcerated, you hear one day a great crash at the falling off of his chains. St. John saw an angel come down from Heaven to manacle the powers of darkness, and having "a great chain in his hand"; the four angels are repre- sented as "reserved in everlasting chains"; while, to fetter the iniquity of his time, Ezekiel thunders out, " Make a chain!' What I wish to impress upon myself and upon you, is the strength, in right and in wrong directions, of constructive forces ; the superior power of a chain of influences above one influence ; the great advan- tage of a congeries of links above one link. In all family government, and in all efforts to rescue others, and in all attempts to stop iniquity, take the sues^estion and " make a chain." 82 THE CHAIN OF INFL UENCES. That which contains the greatest possibihties, that which encloses the most tremendous opportunities, that which has beating against its two sides all the eternities, is the cradle. The grave is nothing in im- portance compared with it, for that is only a gully which we step across in a second, but the cradle has within it a new eternity, just born and never to cease. When, three or four years ago, the Ohio River overflowed Its banks and the wild freshets swept down with them harvests and cities, one day there was found floating on the waters a baby in a cradle, all unhurt, wrapped up snug and warm, and its blue eyes looking into the blue of the open heavens. It was mentioned as something extraordi- nary. But every cradle, with its young passenger, floats on the swift currents of the centuries, deep calling to deep, Ohios and St. Lawrences and Mississippis of influence bearing it onward. Now, what shall be done with this new being recently launched? Teach him an evening prayer ? That is important, but not enough. Every Sabbath afternoon read him a Bible story? That is important, but not enough. Hear him, as soon as he can recite, some Gospel hymn or catechism ? That is important, but not enough. Once in a while a lesson, once in a while a prayer, once in a while a restraining influence ? All these are important, but not enough. Each one of these is only a link, and will not hold him in the tremendous emergencies of life. Let it be constant instruction, constant prayer, constant application of good influ- ences, along the line of consecutive impressions, reaching from his first year to his fifth, and from his fifth to his tenth, and from his tenth to his twentieth. PRECEPT AND EXAMPLE. " ]\Iake a chain." Spasmodic education, paroxysmal discipline, occasional fidelity, amount to nothing. You can as easily hold an anchor by one link as hold a child to the right by isolated and inter- mittent faithfulness. The example must connect with the instruction. The conversation must combine with the actions. The week-day con- sistency must conjoin with the Sunday worship. Have family prayers by all means ; but be petulant and inconsistent and unreasonable in your household, and your prayers wall be a blasphemous farce. So great in our times, are the temptations of young men to dissipation, and of young women to social follies, that it is most important that "REMEMBER THY CREATOR." 84 THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. their first eighteen years of Hfe shall be charged with a religious power that will hold them when they get out of the harbor of home into the stormy ocean of active life. There is such a thing as impressing a child so powerfully with good, that sixty years will have no more power to efface it than sixty minutes. What a rough time that young man has in doing wrong, carefully nurtured as he was ! His father and m_other have been dead for years, or are over in Scotland or in England or in Ireland ; but they have stood in the door-way of every dram-shop that he entered, and under the chandelier of every house of dissipation, saying, " My son, this is no place for you! Have you forgotten the old folks? Don't you recognize these wrinkles, and this stoop of the shoulder, and this trem- ulous hand? Go home, my boy, go home. By the God to whom we consecrated you, by the cradle in which we rocked you, by the grass- grown graves in the old country church-yard, by the Heaven where we hope yet to meet you, go home ! " And some Sunday you will be sur- prised to find that young man suddenly asking the prayers of the church. Some Sunday you will see him at the sacrament — drinking perhaps out of the same kind of chalice that the old folks drank out of years ago, when they commemorated the sufferings of the Lord, You, my lad, do not have such fun in sin as you seem to have. I know what spoils your fun. You cannot shake off the influence of those prayers long ago offered, or of those kind admonitions. You cannot make those loving souls go away, and you feel like saying, " Father, what are you doing here ? Mother, why do you bother me with suggestions of those olden times ?" But they wdll not go away. They will push you back from your evil paths, though they have to come from their shining homes in Heaven, and stand in the very gates of Hell with their backs scorched by the fiery blast. With their hand on your shoulder, and their breath on your brow, and their eyes looking straight into yours, they will say, "We have come to take you home, O son of many anxieties." At last that young man turns, through the consecutive influences of a pious parentage, who, out of prayers and fidelities innumerable, made a chain. This is the chain that pulls so mightily on five hundred of you this morning. You may be too proud to shed a tear, and you may. to convince others of your imperturbability, smile to your friend beside you ; but there is not so much power in an Alpine avalanche, after it has slipped THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. 85 for a thousand feet, and having struck a lower diff, is taking its second bound for fifteen hundred feet more, as there is power in the chain that pulls you this moment towards God and Christ and Heaven. Oh, the almighty pull of the long chain of early gracious influences ! ONE WEAK LINK. But all people between thirty and forty years of age ; yes, between forty and fifty ; aye, between fifty and sixty, and all septuagenarians, need a surrounding conjunction of good influences. In Sing Sing, Auburn, Moyamensing, and all the other great prisons, are men and women who went wrong in mid-life and old age. We need around us a cordon of good influences. We forget to apply the well-known rule that a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. If the chain be made of a thousand links, and nine hundred and ninety-nine are strong, but one is weak, the chain will be in danger of breaking at that one weak link. We may be strong in a thousand excellencies, and yet have one weakness that endangers us. This is the reason that we see men around us, distinguished for a whole round of virtues, collapse and go down. The weak link, in the otherwise stout chain, gave way under the pressure. The first chain-bridge was built in Scotland. Walter Scott tells how the French imitated it in the bridge they built across the Seine. But there was one weak point in that chain-bridge. There was a mid- dle bolt that M^as of poor material, and they did not know how much depended upon that middle bolt of the chain-bridge. On the opening day a procession started, led on by the builder of the bridge. When the mighty weight of the procession was fairly on it, the bridge broke and precipitated the multitude. The bridge was all right except that middle bolt. So the bridge of character may be built up of mighty links strong enough to hold a mountain ; but if there be one weak spot, that one point, overlooked, may afterwards cause the destruction of the whole beinor. And what multitudes have eone down for all time and eter- nity, because in the chain-bridge of their character there was lacking a strong middle bolt ! He had but one fault, and that was avarice, hence forgery. He had but one fault, and that was a burning desire for intoxicants, and hence his fatal debauch. She had but one fault, and that was an inordinate fondness for dress, and hence her own and her 86 THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. husband's bankruptcy. SJie had but one fault, and that was her quick temper, and hence the disgraceful outburst. What we all want is to have put around us a strong chain of good influences. Christian asso- ciation is a link. Church membership is a link. Scripture research is a link. Faith in God is a link. Put together all these influences. " Make a chain." Most excellent is it for us to get into company better than our- selves. If we are given to telling vile stories, let us put ourselves among those that will not abide such utterances. If we are stingy, let us put ourselves among the charitable. If we are morose, let us put ourselves among the good-natured. If we are given to tittle-tattle, let us put ourselves among those who speak no .ill of their neighbors. If we are despondent, let us put ourselves among those who make the best of things. If evil is contagious, I am glad to say that good is also catching. People go up into the hill country for physical health. So, if you would be strong in your soul, get off the lowlands into the alti- tudes of higher moral associadons. For many of the circumstances of life we are not responsible. For our parentage we are not responsible ; for the place of our nativity, not responsible ; for our features, our stature, our color, not respon- sible ; for the family relations in which we were born, for our natural tastes, for our mental characters, not responsible. But we are respon- sible for the associations that we choose, and the moral influences under which we put ourselves. Character seeks an equilibrium. A. B. is a good man. Y. Z. is a bad man. Let them now voluntarily seek each other's society. A. B. will lose part of his goodness, and Y. Z. part of his badness, and they will gradually approach each other in character, and in the end stand on the same level. One of the old painters refused to look at poor pictures, because he said that it damaged his style. A musician cannot afford to dwell among- discords ; nor can a writer afford to peruse books of an inferior Style ; nor an architect to wj.lk out among disproportioned structures. And no man or woman was ever so good as to be able to afford evil associations from choice. Therefore, I have said, make it a rule of \our life to go among those better than yourselves. You cannot find them ? What a pink of perfection you must be. When was your lofty character completed? What a misfortune for the saindy and the angelic of Heaven that they are not enjoying the improving influences THE CHAIA^ OF INFLUENCES. 87 of your society' Ah, if you cannot find those better than yourself, it is because you are ignorant of yourself. Woe unto you, Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites ! THE CHAIN THAT ENSLAVES. But, as I remarked in the opening, a chain not only means an adornment and royalty of nature, but it also means captivity. I sup- pose that there are those who in that sense are deliberately and per- sistently making a chain. Now here is a young man of good physical health, good manners, and good education. How shall he put together enough links to make a chain for the down-hill road ? I will give him some directions. First, let him smoke. If he cannot stand cigarettes, let him try cigars. I think that cigarettes will help him on this road a little more rapidly, because the doctors say that there is more poison in them than in cigars. And I have a little more confidence in this because about fifty of the first young men of Brooklyn, during the last year, were, according to the doctors' reports, killed by cigarettes. Let him drink light wines first, or ale, or lager, and gradually he will be able to take something stronger ; and as all styles of strong drink are more and more adulterated, his progress will be facilitated. With the old time drinks, a man seldom got delirium tremens before thirty or forty years of age ; now he can get the madness by the time that he is eighteen. Let him play cards, and always put up money to add inter- est to the game. If father and mother will play with him, that will help by way of countenancing the habit. And it will be such a pleas- ant thing to think over in the Day of Judgment, when the parents o-ive an account for the elevated manner in which they have reared their children. Every Sunday afternoon take a carriage ride, and stop at the hotels or at the side of the road for refreshment. Do not let the old fogy prejudice against Sabbath-breaking dominate you. Have a mem- bership in some club, where libertines go and tell about some of their victorious sins, and laugh as loud as any of them in derision at those who belong to the same sex as your mother and sister. Pitch your Bible overboard as old-fashioned, fit only for women and children. Read all the magazine articles that put Christianity at a disadvantage. And go to hear all the lecturers who malign Christ, and say that instead of being the mighty One he pretended to be, he was an impostor and the implanter of a great delusion. Go, at first out of curiosity, to see 88 THE CHAIN OF IXFLUENCES. all the houses of dissipation, and then go because you have fcit the thrill of their fascination. Getting along splendidly, now ! Let me see what further I can suggest in that direction. Become more defiant of all decency, more loud-mouthed in your atheism, more thoroughly alco- holized ; and instead of the small stakes that will do well enough for games of chance in a lady's parlor, put up something worthy. Put up more — put up all you have. Well done ! You have succeeded. You have made a chain. The tobacco-habit one link, the rum-habit one link, infidelity another link, the impure club another link, Sabbath- desecration another link, uncleanness another link ; and altogether you ha^"e made a chain. There is a chain on your hand, a chain on your foot, a chain on your tongue, and a chain on your soul. Some day you will wake up and you will say. "I'm tired of this, and I am going to get loose from this shackle." You pound away with the hammer of good resolution, but you cannot break the links. Your friends join you in a conspiracy of help, but they fall exhausted in the unavailing attempt. Now you begin again, with the writhing of a Laocoon, and the muscles are distended, and the great beads of perspiration dot your forehead, and your eyes stand out from their sockets, and with all the concentrated efforts of body, mind and soul you attempt to get loose, but you have only made the chain sink deeper. All the devils that en- camp in the wine-flask, and the rum-jug, and the decanter (each one has a devil of its own), come out and sit around you and chatter. In the midnight you spring from your couch and cry, " I am fast. O God, let me loose ! O, ye Powers of Darkness, let me loose ! Father, mother, brothers and sisters, help me to get loose !" And you turn your prayer into blasphemy and your blasphemy into prayer, and to all the din and the uproar there is played an accompaniment — not an ac- companiment by key or pedal, but an accompaniment of a rattle, and that rattle is the rattle of a chain. For five years, for ten years, for twenty years, you have been making a chain. THE GREAT EMANXIPATOR. But here I step higher, and I tell )^ou that there is a power that can break any chain — chain of body, chain of mind, chain of soul. The fetters that the hammer of the Gospel has broken, if piled together, would make a mountain. The captives whom Christ has set free, if stood together, would make an army. Quicker than a ship chandler's THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. 89 furnace ever melted a cable, quicker than any key ever unlocked a handcuff, quicker than the bayonets of the French revolutionists opened the Bastile, you may be liberated and made a free son or a free daugh- ter of God. Make up your mind, and make it up quick ! When the King of Sparta had crossed the Hellespont and was about to march through Thrace, he sent word to the people of the different regions, asking whether he should march through their country as a friend or as an enemy. " By all means as a friend," answered most of them. But the King of Macedun replied, "I will take time to consider it." "Then," said the King of Sparta, "let him consider it ; but meantime we march, we march.'' So Christ, our King, gives us our choice be- tween his friendship and his frown, and many of us have lono- been considering what we had better do. But meantime, He marches on, and our opportunities are marching by. And we shall be the loving subjects of his reign, or the victims of our own obduracy. So I urge upon you precipitancy, rather tiian slow deliberation, and I write all over your soul the words of Christ, that I saw inscribed on the monu- ment of Princess Elizabeth, on the Isle of Wight — the words to which her index finger pointed, in the open Bible, when she was found dead in her bed, after a lifetime of trouble — " Come unto me, all ye who ARE weary and HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST." Is there a drunkard here? You may, by the Saviour's grace, have that fire of thirst utterly extinguished. Is there a defrauder here ? You may be made a saint Is there a libertine here ? You may be made as pure as the light. When a minister in an out-door meeting in Scotland was eulogizing goodness, there were hanging around on the edge of the audience some of the most depraved men and women. The minister said nothing about mercy to prodigals. One depraved woman cried out, "Your rope is not long enough for the like of us." Blessed be God, our Gospel can fathom the deepest depths, and reach the furthest wan- derings, and here is a rope that is long enough to rescue the very worst — "whosoever will." But why take extreme cases, when we all have been, or are now, the captives of sin and death ? We may, through the Great Emancipator, take a throne after dropping our shackles. You have looked on your hand and arm only as being useful, and a curious piece of anatomy ; but there is something about your hand and arm that makes me think that they are only an undeveloped wing. 90 THE CHAIN OF INFLUENCES. If you would like to know what possibilities are suggested by that, ask the eagle that has looked close into the eye of the noon-day sun ; or ask the albatross that has struck its claws into the black locks of the tempest ; or ask the condor that is this morning ascending up to the hio-hest peak of Chimborazo. Your right hand and arm and you. left hand and arm are two undeveloped wings — better get ready for the empyrean. " Rise my soul and stretch thy wing, Thy better portion trace." There have been chains famous in history, such as fastened the prisoner of Chillon to the pillar, — into the staple of which I have thrust my hand, — on the isolated rock of Lake Geneva ; such as the chain which the Russian exile clanks, on his way to the mines of Siberia ; such as the chain which the captive Queen Zenobia wore, when brought into the presence of Aurelian. Aye, there have been races in chains, and nations in chains, and a world in chains. But thank God, the last one will be broken, and under the liberating power of the Omnipotent Gospeil the chains shall fall from the last neck, and the last arm, and the last foot. But the shattered fetters shall all be gathered up again trom the duneeons and the workhouses and the mines and the rivers and the fields, and they shall be welded again, and again strung, link to link, and polished and transformed, until this world, which has wan- dered off and been a recreant world, shall, by that chain, be lifted and hung to the throne of God — no longer bound by the iron chain of op- pression, but by the golden chain of redeeming love. There let this old ransomed world swing forever. Roll on, ye years ! Roll on, ye days ! Roll on, ye hours, and hasten the glorious consummation ! GLUTTONY. COMMON PEOPLE. THE vast majority of people will never lead an army, will neve) write a State constitution, will never electrify a Senate, will never make an important invention, will never introduce a new philosophy, will never decide the fate of a nation. You do not expect to ; you do not want to. You will not be a Moses to lead a nation out of bondage. You will not be a Joshua to prolong the daylight until you can shut five kings in a cavern. You will not be a John to unroll an Apocalypse. You will not be a Paul to preside over an apostolic college. You will not be a Mary to mother a Christ. You will more probably be Asyncritus, or Phlegon, or Hermas, or Patrobas, or Hermes, or Philologus, or Julia. Many of you are women at the head of households. Every morning you plan for the day. The culinary department of the house- hold is in your dominion. You decide all questions of diet. All the sanitary regulations of your house are under your supervision. To regulate the food, and the apparel, and the habits, and to decide the thousand questions of home life, are a tax upon brain and nerve and general health absolutely appalling, if there be no divine alleviation. It does not help you much to be told that Elizabeth Fry did won- derful things amid the criminals at Newgate. It does not help you much to be told that Mrs. Judson was very brave among the Bornesian can- nibals. It does not help you much to be told that Florence Night- ingale was very kind to the wounded in the Crimea. It would be better to tell you that the divine friend of Mary and Martha is your friend, and that He sees all the annoyances and disappointments, and the ab- rasions and exasperations of an ordinary housekeeper from morn till night, and from the first day of the year to the last day of the year, and that at your call He is ready with help and reinforcement. 6 ' 93 9 4 COMMON PE OPLE. They who provide the food of the world decide the health of the world. One of the greatest battles of this century was lost because the commander that morning had a fit of indigestion. You have only to o-o on some errand amid the taverns and the hotels of the United States and Great Britain to appreciate the fact, that a vast multitude of the human race are slaughtered by incompetent cookery. Though a young woman may have taken lessons in music, and lessons in paint- ing, and lessons in astronomy, she is not well educated unless she has taken lessons in dough ! They who decide the apparel of the world, and the food of the world, decide the endurance of the world. BUSINESS MEN. When we begin to talk about business life, we shoot right off and talk about men who did business on a large scale, and who sold millions of dollars of goods a year ; but the vast majority of business men do not sell a milHon dollars of goods, nor half a million, nor the quarter of a million, nor the eighth part of a million. Put all the business men of our cities, towns, villages, and neighborhoods side by side, and you will find that their average sale is less than fifty thousand dollars worth of goods. All these men in ordinary business life want divine help. You see how wrinkles are printing on their countenances the story of worriment and care. You cannot tell how old a business man is by looking at him. Gray hairs at thirty ! A man at forty-five with the stoop of a nonagenarian ! No time to attend to improved dentistry — the grinders cease because they are few. Actually dying of old age at forty or fifty, when they ought to be at life's meridian. Many of these • business men have bodies like a neglected clock, to which you come and wind it up, and it begins to buzz and roar, and then the hands start around very rapidly, and then the clock strikes five, or ten, or fortv. and strikes without any sense, and then suddenly stops. So is the body of that worn-out business man. It is a neglected clock, and thouo-h by some summer recreation it may be wound up, still the machinery is all out of gear. Post-mortem examination reveals the fact that all the springs, and pivots, and weights, and balance-wheels of health are completely de- rano-ed. The human clock is simply run down. And at the time when the steady hand ought to be pointing to the industrious hours on a clear and sunlit dial, the whole machinery of body, mind, and earthly COMMON PEOPLE. 95 capacity stops forever. Greenwood has thousands of New York and Brooklyn business men who died of old age at thirty, thirty-five, forty, forty-five. Come, now, let us have a religion for ordinary people in profes- sions, in occupations, in agriculture, in the household, in merchandise, in everything. I salute across the centuries Asyncritus, Phlegon, Her- mas, Patrobas, Hermes, Philologus, and Julia. First of all, if you feel that you are ordinary, thank God that you are not extraordinary. I am tired and sick and bored almost to death with extraordinary people. They take all their time to tell us how very- extraordinary they really are. You know as well as I do, my brother and sister, that the most of the useful work of the world is done by unpretentious people who toil right on — by people who do not get much approval, and no one seems to say, " That is well done." Phenomena are of but little use. Things that are exceptional cannot be depended on. Better trust the smallest planet that swings in its orbit than ten comets shooting this way and that, imperilling the longevity of worlds- that are attending to their own business. For steady illumi- nation a lamp is better than a rocket. Then, if you feel that you are ordinary, remember that your posi- tion invites the less attack. Conspicuous people — how they have to take it ! How they are misrepresented, and abused, and shot at ! The higher the horns of a roebuck the easier to track him down. What a delicious thing it must be to be a candidate for President of the United States ! It must be so soothing to the nerves ! It must pour into the soul of a candidate such a sense of serenity when he reads the blessed newspapers ! THE CURSE OF HIGH POSITION. I came into the possession of the abusive cartoons in the time of Napoleon I., printed while he was yet alive. The retreat of the army from Moscow — that army buried in the snows of Russia, one of the most awful tragedies of the centuries — is represented under the figure of a monster called General Frost, who is shaving the French Emperor with a razor of icicle. As Satyr and Beelzebub he is represented, page after page, page after page. England cursing him, Spain cursing him, Germany cursing him, Russia cursing him, Europe cursing him. North and South America cursine him. The most remarkable man of his g6 COMMON PEOPLE. day, and the most abused. All those men in history who now ha\(^ a halo around their name, once wore a crown of thorns. At an anniversary of a deaf and dumb asylum, one of the children wrote upon the blackboard words as sublime as the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Divina Comedia, all compressed into one paragraph. The examiner, in the siens of the mute lantruacre, asked her, " Who made the world?" The deaf and dumb girl wrote upon the blackboard, 'Tn the beo-innine God created the heaven and the earth." The examiner asked her, "For what purpose did Christ come into the world?" The deaf and dumb girl wrote upon the blackboard, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The examiner said to her, "Why were you born deaf and dumb, while I hear and speak?" She wrote upon the blackboard, " Even so, Father ; for so it seemeth good in Thy sight." Oh, that we might be baptized with a contented spirit ! The spider draws poison out of a flower, the bee gets honey out of a thistle ; but happiness is a heavenly elixir, and the contented spirit extracts it, not from the rhododendron of the hills, but from the lily of the valley. STITCH, STITCH, STITCH. History has told the story of the crown. The epic poet has sung of the sword. The pastoral poet, with his verses full of the redolence of clover-tops and rustling with the silk of the corn, has sung the praises of the plough. I sing the praises of the needle. From the fig-leaf of robes prepared in the Garden of Eden to the last stitch taken, the needle has wrought wonders of generosity, kindness, and benefaction. It adorned the eii'dle of the Hi^h Priest ; it cushioned the chariot of Kinor Solomon ; it provided the robes of Oueen Elizabeth, and in hieh places and in low places, by the fire of the pioneer's back log, and under the flash of the chandelier — ever}^where it has clothed nakedness, it has preached the Gospel, it has overcome hosts of penury and want with the war-cry of " Stitch ! stitch ! stitch !" Dorcas was a representative of all those women who make gar- ments for the destitute, who knit socks for the barefooted, who prepare bandages for the lacerated, who fix up boxes of clothing for Western missionaries, who go into the asylums of the suflering and destitute, bearing that Gospel which is sight for the blind, and hearing for the ' r'''?'^!' ' '^'^ > : W O ku^ 98 COMMON PEOPLE. deaf, and which makes the lame man leap like a hart, and brings the dead to life, immortal health bounding in their pulses. What a contrast between the practical benevolence of this woman and a orreat deal of the charity of this day ! This woman did not spend her time idly planning how the poor of Joppa were to be relieved ; she took her needle and relieved them. She was not like those persons who sympathize with imaginary sorrows, and go out in the street and laugh at the boy who has upset his basket of cold victuals ; or like that charity which makes a rousing speech on the benevolent platform, and goes out to kick the beggar from the step, crying, " Hush your miser- able howling!" The sufferers of the w^orld want not so much theory as practice ; not so much tears as dollars ; not so much kind wishes as loaves of bread; not so much smiles as shoes; not so much "God bless yous " as jackets and frocks. I suppose you have read of the fact that when Josephine was car- ried out to her grave there were a great many men and women of pomp, and pride, and posidon, that went out after her ; but I am most affected by the story of history, that on that day there were ten thousand of the poor of France who followed her coffin, weeping and wailing undl the air rang again, because when they lost Josephine they lost their last earthly friend. Oh, who would not rather have such obsequies than all the tears that were ever poured in the lachrymals that have been exhumed from ancient cities ? There may be no mass for the dead ; there may be no cosdy sar- cophagus ; there may be no elaborate mausoleum ; but in the damp cellars of the city, and through the lonely huts of the mountain glen, there will be mourning, mourning, mourning, because Dorcas is dead. " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord ; they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Oh, yes, God has a sympathy with anybody that is in any kind of toil ! He knows how heavy is the hod of bricks that the workman carries up the ladder of the wall ; He hears the pickaxe of the miner down in the coal-shaft ; He knows how strongly the tempest strikes the sailor at the masthead ; He sees the factory girl among the spindles, and knows how her arms ache ; He sees the sewing woman in the fourth story, and knows how few pence she gets for making a garment ; and louder than all the din and roar of the citu/ comes the voice of a sympathetic God. COMMON PEOPLE. 99 A clergyman of the Universalist Church went into a neighborhood for the estabhshment of a church of his denomination, and he was anxious to find some one of that denomination, and he was pointed to a certain house, and went there. He said to the man of the house, •' 1 understand you are a UniversaUst ; I want you to help me in the enterprise." "Weil," said the man, " I am a Universalist, but I have a peculiar kind of Universalism." " What is that?" asked the minister. "Well," replied the other, "I have been out in the world, and I have been cheated, and slandered, and outraged, and abused, until I believe in universal davmation / " The great danger is that men will become cynical, and given to believe, as David was tempted to say, that "all men are liars." Now, if you have come across ill-treatment, let me tell you that you are in excellent company — Christ, and Luther, and Galileo, and Columbus, and John Jay, and Josiah Quincy, and thousands of men and women, the best spirits of earth and heaven. Budge not one inch, though all hell wreak upon you its vengeance, and you be made a target for devils to shoot at. Do you not think that Christ knows all about persecution ? Was He not hissed at? Was He not struck on the cheek? Was He not pursued all the days of his life ? Did they not expectorate upon Him? Or, to put it in Bible language, ''They spit upon Him." And cannot He understand what persecution is? " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." " Labor is rest — from the sorrows that greet us ; Rest from all petty vexations that meet us ; Rest from sin promptings that ever entreat us ; Rest from world sirens that lure us to ill. Work — and pure slumbers shall wait on thy pillow ; Work — thou shalt ride over Care's coming billow ; Lie not down wearied 'neath Woe's weeping willow, Work with a stout heart and resolute will !" PICTURE-GALLERY OF THE STREET. WE are all ready to listen to the voices of nature ; but how few of us learn anything from the voices of the noisy and dusty street? You go to your merchandise, and your mechanism, and your work, and you come back again — and often with an in- different heart you pass through the streets. Are there no things for us to learn from these pavements over which we pass ? Are there no tufts of truth growing up between these cobblestones, beaten with the feet of toil, and pain, and pleasure, the slow tread of old age, and the quick step of childhood ? Aye, there are great harvests to be reaped : and now I thrust in the sickle because the harvest is ripe. "Wisdom crieth without ; she uttereth her voice in the streets." LIFE FULL OF LABOR. In the first place, the street impresses me with the fact that this life is a scene of toil and struggle. By ten o'clock every day the city is jarring with wheels, and shuffling with feet, and humming with voices, and covered with the breath of smokestacks, and a-rush with traffickers. Once in a while you find a man going along with folded arms and with leisurely step, as though he had nothing to do ; but for the most part, as you find men going down these streets on the way to business, there is anxiety in their faces, as though they had some errand which must be executed at the first possible moment. You are jostled by those who have bargains to make and notes to sell. Up this ladder with a hod of bricks, out of this bank with a roll of bills, on this dray with a load of goods, digging a cellar, or shingling a roof, or shoeing a horse, or building a wall, or mending a watch, or binding a book. Industry, with her thousand arms, and thousand eyes, and thousand feet, goes loo PICTURE-GALLERY OF THE STREET loi on sino-Ine her sone of "work ! work ! work! " while the mills drum it and the steam whistles fife it. All this is not because men love toil. Some one remarked, "Every man is a^ lazy as he can afford to be." It is because necessity, with stern brow and with uplifted whip, stands over them ready, whenever they relax their toil, to make their shoulders sting- with the lash. Can it be that, passing up and down these streets on your way to w^ork and business, you do not learn anything of the world's toil, and anxiety, and struggle ? Oh, how many drooping hearts, how many eyes on the watch, how many miles traveled, how many burdens carried, how many losses incurred, how many battles fought, how many victories gained, how many defeats suffered, how many exasperations endured, what losses, what wretchedness, what pallor, what disease, what agony, what despair ! Sometimes I have stopped at the corner of the street as the multitudes went hither and yon, and it has seemed to be a great pantomime. As I looked upon it my heart broke. This great tide of human life that goes down the street is a rapid, tossed and turned aside, and dashing ahead, and driven back — beautiful in its confusion, and confused in its beauty. In the carpeted aisles of the forest, in the woods from which the eternal shadow is never lifted, on the shore of the sea over w^hose iron coast tosses the tangled foam, sprinkling the cracked cliffs with a baptism of whirlwind and tempest, is the best place to study God ; but in the rushing, swarming, raving street is the best place to study man. Going down to your place of business and coming home again, I charge you to look about, to see these signs of poverty, of wretchedness, of hunger, of sin, of bereavement — and as you go through the streets, and come tack through the streets, to gather up in the arms of your prayer all the sorrow, all the losses, all the suffering, all the bereavements of those whom you pass, and present them in prayer before an all-sympathetic God. Then in the great day of eternity there will be thousands of persons, with whom you in this world never exchanged one w^ord, who will rise up and call you blessed ; and there will be a thousand fingers pointed at you in heaven, saying : "That is the man, that is the woman, who helped me when I was hungry, and sick, and wandering, and lost, and heart-broken. That is the man, that is the woman;" and the blessing will come down upon you as Christ shall say : " I was hungry and ye fed me, I was naked and ye clothed me, I was sick and in prison VANITY. PICTURE-GALLERY OF THE STREET. 105 and ye visited me ; inasmuch as ye did it to these poor waifs of the street, ye did it to me." ALL CLASSES COMMINGLE. Again, the street impresses me with the fact that all classes and conditions of society must commingle. We sometimes cultivate a wicked exclusiveness. Intellect despises ignorance. Refinement will have nothing to do with boorishness. Gloves hate the sunburned hand, and the high forehead despises the flat head. The trim hedge- row will have nothing to do with the wild copsevvood, and Athens hates Nazareth. This ought not to be. The astronomer must come down from his starry revery, and help us in our navigation. The surgeon must come away from his study of the human organism, and set our broken bones. The chemist must come away from his laboratory, where he has been studying analysis and synthesis, and help us to un- derstand the nature of the soils, I bless God that all classes of people are compelled to meet on the street. The glittering coach-wheel clashes against the scavenger's cart. Fine robes run against the peddler's pack. Robust health meets wan sickness. Honesty confronts fraud. Every class of people meets every other class. Independence and modesty, pride and humility, purity and beastliness, frankness and .hypocrisy, meet in the same city, in the same street, on the same block. That is what Solomon meant when he said: "The rich and the poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all." I like this demo- cratic principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which recognizes the fact that we stand before God on one and the same platform. Do not take on any airs ; whatever position you have gained in society, you are nothing but a man, born of the same parent, regenerated by the same Spirit, cleansed in the same blood, to lie down in the same dust, to get up in the same resurrection. It is high time that we all acknowl- edged not only the Fatherhood of God, but the brotherhood of man. STREET TEMPTATIONS. Again, the street impresses me with the fact that it is a very hard thing for a man to keep his heart right and to get to heaven. Infinite temptations spring upon us from these places of public concourse. Amid so much affluence, how much temptation to covetousness and to discontent with our humble lot. Amid so many opportunities for over- reaching, what temptation to extortion. Amid so much display, what 104 PICIURE-GALLERY OF THE STREET. temptation to vanity. Amid so many saloons of strong drink, what allurement to dissipation. In the maelstrom of the street, how many make quick and eternal shipwreck. If a man-of-war comes back from a batde and is towed into the navy yard, we go down to look at the splintered spars and count the bullet holes, and look with patriotic ad- miration on the flag that floated in victory from the mast-head. But that man is more of a curiosity who has gone through thirty years of the sharp-shooting of business life, and yet sails on, victor over the temptations of the street. Oh, how many have gone down under the pressure, leaving not so much as a patch of canvas to tell where they perished ! They never had any peace. Their dishonesties kept tolling in their ears. If I had an axe, and could split open the beams of that fine house, perhaps I would find in the very heart of it a skeleton. In its very best wine there is a smack of the poor man's sweat. Oh ! is it strange that when a man has devoured widows' houses he is dis- turbed with indigestion ? All the forces of nature are against him. The floods are ready to drown him, and the earthquake to swallow him, and the fires to consume him. and the lightnings to smite him. But the children of God are on every street, and in the day when the crowns of heaven are distributed, some of the brightest of them will be given to those men who were faithful to God and faithful to the souls of others amid the marts of business, proving themselves the heroes of the street. Mighty were their temptations, mighty was their deliverance, and mighty shall be their triumph. THE SHAMS OF LIFE. Again, the street impresses me with the fact that life is full of pre- tension and sham. What subterfuge, what double dealingf, what two- tacedness ! Do all people who wish you good morning really hope for you a happy day ? Do all the people who shake hands love each other ? Are all those anxious about your health who inquire concerning it? Do all want to see you who ask you to call ? Does all the world know half as much as it pretends to know ? Is there not many a wretched stock of goods widi a brilliant show-window? Passing up and down these streets to your business and your work, are you not impressed with the fact that much of society is hollow, and that there are subter- fuges and pretensions ? Oh ! how many there are who swagger and strut, and how few people who are natural and walk. While fops PICTURE-GALLERY OF THE STREET. 105 simper, and fools chuckle, and simpletons giggle, how few people are natural and laueh. The courtesan and the libertine o-o down the street in beautiful apparel, while within the heart there are volcanoes of pas- sion consuming their lives away. I say these things not to create in you incredulity or misanthropy, nor do I forget that there are thousands of people a great deal better than they seem ; but I do not think any man is prepared for the conflicts of this life until he knows this particular peril. Ehud comes pretending to pay his tax to King Eglon, and while he stands in front of the kine, stabs him throuo-h with a dao^o-er until the haft goes in after the blade. Judas Iscariot kissed Christ. A FIELD FOR CHARITY. Again, the street impresses me with the fact that it is a great field for Christian charity. There are hunger and suffering, and want and wretchedness, in the country ; but these evils chiefly congregate in our great cities. On every street crime prowls, and drunkenness staggers, and shame winks, and pauperism thrusts out its hand asking for alms. Here want is most squalid and hunger is most lean. A Christian man, going along a street in New York, saw a poor lad, and he stopped and said, " My boy, do you know how to read and write ?" The boy made no answer. The man asked the question twice and thrice : " Can you read and write?" and then the boy answered, with a tear plashing on the back of his hand, in a tone of defiance : " No, sir ; I can't read nor write, neither. God, sir, don't want me to read and write. Didn't He take away my father so long ago I never remember to have seen him ? and haven't I had to eo alone the streets to Qret something to fetch home to eat for the folks? and didn't I, as soon as I could carry a basket, have to go out and pick up cinders, and never have no school- ing, sir? God don't want me to read, sir; I can't read, nor write neither." Oh, these poor wanderers ! They have no chance. Born in degradation, as they get up from their hands and knees to walk, they take their first step on the road to despair. Let us go forth in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue them. If you are not willing to go forth yourself, then give of your means ; and if you are too lazy to go, and if you are too stingy to help, then get out of the way, and hide yourself in the dens and caves of the earth, lest, when Christ's chariot comes along, the horses' hoofs trample you in the mire. Beware lest the thousands of the desdtute of your city, in the last great day, rise up and curse your stupidity and your neglect. HEROES AND HEROINES. HISTORIANS are not slow to acknowledge the merits of great military chieftains. We have the full-length portraits of the Baldwins, the Crom wells, and the Marshal Neys of the world. History is not written in black ink, but with the red ink of human blood. The gods of human ambition did not drink from bowls made out of silver, or gold, or precious stones, but out of the bleached skulls of the fallen. But I wish to unroll before you a scroll of heroes whom the world has never acknowledged ; who faced no guns, blew no bugle-blast, conquered no cities, chained no captives to their chariot- wheels, and yet, in the great day of eternity, will stand higher than those whose names startled the nations, while seraph and rapt spirit and archangel will tell their deeds to a listening universe. I mean the heroes of common, every-day life. SICK-ROOM HEROES. In this roll may be placed all the heroes of the sick-room. When Satan had failed to overcome Job, he said to God, " Put forth thy hand and touch his bone and flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." Satan had found out what we have all found out, that sickness is the greatest test of character. A man who can stand that can stand any- thing : — to be shut in a room as fast as though it were a Bastile ; to be so nervous that you cannot endure the tap of a child's foot; to have luxuriant fruit, which tempts the appetite of the robust and healthy, excite your loathing and disgust when it appears on the platter ; to have the rapier of pain strike through the side or across the temples like a razor ; or to put the foot into a vise ; or to throw the whole body into the blaze of a fever. Yet there have been men and women, but more women than men, who have cheerfully endured this hardness. io6 HER OES AND HER OTNES. i o 7 Through years of exhausting rheumatisms and excruciating neuralgias they have gone ; and through bodily distresses that rasped the nerves, and tore the muscles, and paled the cheeks, and stooped the shoulders. By the dim light of the sick-room taper they saw on their wall the picture of that land where the people are never sick. Through the dead silence of the night they heard the chorus of the anofels. Those who suffered on the battle-field, amid shot and shell, were not so much heroes and heroines as those who in the field-hospital and in the asylum had fevers which no ice could cool and no surgeon could cure. No shout of comrade to cheer them, but numbness and aching and homesickness — yet willing to suffer, confident in God, hopeful of heaven. Heroes of rheumatism, heroes of neuralgia, heroes of spinal complaint, heroes of sick headache, heroes of life-long invalidism, heroes and heroines, they shall reign forever and forever. Hark ! I catch just one note of the eternal anthem, "There shall be no more pain." Bless God for that ! DOMESTIC HEROES. In this roll I find the heroes who have uncomplainingly endured domestic injustice. There are men who for their toil and anxiety have no sympathy in their homes. Exhausting application to business gets them a livelihood, but an unfrugal wife scatters it. The husband is fretted at from the moment he enters the door until he eoes out of it — the exasperations of business life augmented by the exasperations of domestic life. Such men are laughed at, but they have a heart-break- ing trouble, and they would have long ago gone into appalling dissipa- tion but for the grace of God. Society to-day is strewn with the wrecks of men who under the northeast storm of domestic infelicity have been driven on the rocks. There are tens of thousands of drunkards in this country to-day who were made such by their wives. That is not poetry ; that is prose. But the wrong is generally in the opposite direction. You would not have to go far to find a wife whose life is a perpetual martyrdom — sufferinpf from something heavier than a stroke of the fist — unkind words, staesferinofs home at midnight, and constant maltreatment, which have left her only a wreck of what she was on that day when, in the midst of a brilliant assemblage, the vows were taken, and the full organ io8 HEROES AND HEROINES. played the wedding march, and the carriage rolled away with the ben- ediction of the people. What was the burning of Latimer and Ridley at the stake com- pared with this? Those men soon became unconscious in the fire, but here is a fifty years' martyrdom, a fifty years' putting to death, yet borne uncomplainingly. No bitter words when rollicking companions at two o'clock in the morning pitch the husband, dead drunk, on the stoop ; no bitter words when wiping from the swollen brow the blood struck out in a midnight carousal, or bending over the battered and bruised form of him who, when he took her from her father's liome, promised love and kindness and protection ; nothing but sympathy, and prayers, and forgiveness before it is asked. No bitter words when the family Bible goes for rum, and the pawnbroker's shop gets the last decent dress. PHILANTHROPIC HEROES. I find also in this roll the heroes of Christian charity. W'e all admire the George Peabodys and the James Lenoxes of the earth, who give tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to good objects. When IMoses H. Grinnell was buried, the most significant thing about the ceremonies was that there was no sermon and no oration ; a plain hymn, a prayer, and a benediction. "Well," I said, "that is very beautiful." All Christendom pronounces the eulogium of Moses H. Grinnell- and the iceberofs that stand as monuments to Franklin and his men, will stand as the monument of this great mer- chant, and the sunlight that plays upon the glittering cliff will write his epitaph. You have all seen or heard of the ruin of ^Melrose Abbey. I sup- pose in some respects it is the most exquisite ruin on earth. And yet, looking at it, I was not so impressed — you may set it down to bad taste — but I was not so deeply stirred as I was at a tombstone at the foot of that abbey — the tombstone planted by Walter Scott over the grave of an old man who had served him for a good many years in his house — the inscription most significant, for I defy any man to stand there and read without tears coming into his eyes the epitaph, " W^ell done, o-ood and faithful servant." Oh, when our work is over, will it be found that because of anything we have done for God, or the Church, or suffering humanity, such an inscription is appropriate for us ? God grant it ! REMEMBER THE POOR. HER OES AND HER OINES. 1 1 1 Do not envy any man his money, or his applause, or his social position. Do not envy any woman her wardrobe, or her exquisite ap- pearance. Be the hero or the heroine. If there be no flour in the house, and you do not know where your children are to get bread, listen, and you will hear something tapping against the window-pane. Go to the window, and you will find it is the beak of a raven ; and open the win- dow, and there will fly in the messenger that fed Elijah. " HIM THAT OVERCOMETH." Do you think that the God who grows the cotton of the South will let you freeze for lack of clothes ? Do you think that the God who allowed the disciples on Sunday morning to go into the grain-field, and then take the grain and eat, will let you starve? Did you evei hear the experience of that old man : "I have been young, and now am old ; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed beg- ging bread " ? Get up out of your discouragement, O troubled soul» O sewing woman, O man kicked and cuffed by unjust employers, O ye 7 112 HEROES AND HEROINES. who are hard bestead in the battle of Hfe and know not which way to turn, O you bereft one, O you sick one with complaints you have told to no one! Come and get the comfort of this subject. Listen to our great Captain's cheer: "To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the fruit of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." NO REST HERE. The great of earth have their woes as well as the small. Triumph is the near neighbor of disgrace ; victory may be the herald of defeat. The very world that* now applauds will soon hiss. That world said of the great Webster: " What a statesman ! What wonderful ex- position of the Constitution ! A man tit for any place or position !" That same world said afterwards : " Down with him ! He is an office- seeker ! He is a sot ! He is a libertine ! Away with him !" While Charles Mathews was performing in London before im- mense audiences, one day a worn-out and gloomy man came into a doctor's shop, saying, "Doctor, what can you do for me?" The doctor examined his case and said, " My advice is that you go and see Charles Mathews." "Alas! alas!" said the man, "I myself am Charles Mathews." Jeffrey thought that if he could only be judge, that would be the making of him ; he got to be judge, and cursed the day in which he was born. Alexander wanted to submerge the world with his great- ness ; he submerged it, and then drank himself to death because he could not stand the trouble. Burns thought he would give every thing if he could win the favor of courts and princes ; he won it, and, amid the shouts of a great entertainment, when poets, and orators, and duchesses were adoring his genius, he wished that he could creep back into the obscurity in which he dwelt on the day when he wrote of the " Daisy, wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower." Napoleon wanted to make all Europe tremble at his power ; he made it tremble, then died, his entire military achievements dwindling down to a pair of military boots which he insisted on having on his feet when dying. At Versailles I saw a picture of Napoleon in his triumph. I went into another room and saw a bust of Napoleon as he appeared at St. Helena ; but oh, what orrief and anguish in the face of the latter! The first was Napoleon in triumph, the last was Napoleon with his HER OES AND HER OINES. 1 1 3 heart broken. How they laughed and cried when silver-tongued Sheri- dan, in the mid-day of prosperity, harangued the people of Britain, and how they howled at and execrated him when, outside of the room where his corpse lay, his creditors tried to get his miserable bones and sell them ! No rest for the flowers ; they fade. No rest for the stars ; they die. No rest for man ; he must work, toil, suffer, and slave. HEAVENLY RECOGNITION. Only in heaven shall the true hero gain full recognition for his deeds. There Christian workers shall be like the stars in the fact that they have a light independent of each other. Look up at night, and see how each world shows its distinct glory. It is not like the conflagration, in which you cannot tell where one flame stops and another begins. Neptune, Herschel, and Mercury are as distinct as if each one of them were the only star ; so our individualism will not be lost in heaven. A great multitude — yet each one as observable, as distinctly recognized, as greatly celebrated, as if in all the space, from gate to gate, and from hill to hill, he were the only inhabitant — no mixing up, no mob, no indiscriminate rush; each Christian worker standing out illustrious ; all the story of earthly achievement adhering to each one ; his self-denials, and pains, and services, and victories published. Before men went out to the last war, the orators told them that they would all be remembered by their country, and their names be commemorated in poetry and in song ; but go to the graveyard in Richmond, and you will find there six thousand graves, over each one of which is the inscription, " Unknown.'" The world does not remember its heroes ; but there will be no unrecognized Christian worker in heaven. Each one known by all ; grandly known ; known by acclama- tion ; all the past story of work for God gleaming in cheek, and brow, and foot, and palm. They shall shine with distinct light, as the stars, forever and ever. THE SACRED BATTLE-FIELD. NIGHT after night we have slept in tents in Palestine. There are large villages of Bedouins without a house, and for three thousand years the people of those places have lived in black tents, made out of dyed skins ; and when the wind and storms wore out and tore loose those coverings, others of the same kind took their places. In our tent in Palesdne to-niorht I hear something I never heard before and hope never to hear again. It is the voice of a hyena amid the rocks near by. When you may have seen this monster putdng his mouth between the iron bars of a menagerie, he is a captive and he gives a humiliated and suppressed cry. But yonder in the mid- night on a throne of rocks he has nothing to fear, and he utters him- self in a loud, resounding, terrific, almost supernatural sound, splitting up the darkness into a deeper midnight. It begins with a howl and ends with a sound something like a horse's whinny. In the hyena's voice are defiance and strength and blood-thirsdness and crunch of broken bones and death. I am glad to say that for the most part Palestine is clear of beasts of prey. The leopards, which Jeremiah says cannot change their spots, have all disappeared, and the lions, that once were common all through this land and used by all the prophets for illustrations of cruelty and wrath, have retreated before the discharges of gunpowder, of which they have an indescribable fear. But for the most part Palestine is what it originally was. Jacob's well. Here we found ourselves at Jacob's well, the most famous well in history, most distinguished for two things — because it belonged to the old patriarch after whom it was named, and for the wonderful things 114 THE SACRED BATTLE-FIELD. 117 which Christ said, seated on this well curb, to the Samaritan woman. We dismounted from our horses in a drizzling rain, and our dragoman, climbing up to the well over the slippery stones, stumbled and fright- ened us all by nearly falling into it. I measured the well at the top and found it six feet from edee to edofe. Some ofrass and weeds and thorny growths overhung it. In one place the roof was broken through. Large stones embanked the wall on all sides. Our dragoman took pebbles and dropped them in, and, from the time it took after they left his hand to the instant they clicked on the bottom, you could hear it was deep, though not as deep as it once was, for every day travelers are applying the same test ; and though in the time of Maundrell, the traveler, the well was 165 feet deep, now it is only 75. But why did Jacob make a reservoir there when there was plenty of water all around ; an abundance of springs and fountains, and seemingly no need of that reservoir ? Why did Jacob go to the vast ■expense of boring and digging a well perhaps 200 feet deep as first completed, when, by going a little way off, he could have had water from other fountains at little or no expense ? Ah, Jacob was wise. He wanted his own well. Quarrels and wars might arise with other tribes and the supply of water might be cut off; so the shovels and pick- axes and boring instruments were ordered, and the well of nearly four thousand years ago was sunk through the solid rock. A MORAL LESSON. When Jacob thus wisely insisted on having his own well he taught us not to be unnecessarily dependent on others. Have independence of business character; independence of moral character ; independence of religious character. Have your own well of grace, your own well of courage, your own well of divine supply. If you are an invalid, you have a right to be dependent on others. But if God has given you good health, common-sense, and two eyes, and two ears, and two hands, and two feet. He has equipped you for independence of all the universe except Himself. But we must, this afternoon, our last day before reaching Naza- reth, pitch our tent on the most famous battle-field of all time — the plain of Esdraelon. What must have been the feelings of the Prince of Peace as he crossed it on the way from Jerusalem to Nazareth ! Not a flower blooms there but has in its veins the Inherited blood of flowers ii8 THE SACRED BATTLE-FIELD. that drank the blood of fallen armies. Hardly a foot of the ground that has not at some time been gullied with war chariots or trampled with the hoofs of cavalry. It is a plain reaching from the Mediter- ranean to the Jordan. Upon it look down the mountains of Tabor and Gilboa and Carmel. Through it rages at certain seasons the river Kishon which swept down the armies of Sisera, the battle occurring in November, when there is almost always a shower of meteors, so that "the stars in their courses " were said to have foueht aeainst Sisera. Through this plain drove Jehu, and the iron chariots of the Canaanites, scythed at the hubs of the wheels, hewing down, in their awful swathes of death, thousands in a minute. The Syrian armies, the Turkish armies, the Egyptian armies, again and again trampled it. There have careered across it David and Joshua and Godfrey and Richard Coeur de Lion and Baldwin and Saladin. It is famous not only for its past, but because the Bible says the great decisive battle of the world will be fouo-ht there — the battle of Armaeeddon. OLD BATTLE-FIELDS. To me the plain was the more absorbing because of the desper- ate battles fought here and in regions round in which the Holy Cross, the very two pieces of wood on which Jesus was supposed to have been crucified, was carried as a standard at the head of the Christian hos't ; and that night, on closing my eyes in my tent on the plain of Esdraelon — for there are some things we can see better with eyes shut than open — the scenes of that ancient war came before me. The twelfth century was closing and Saladin at the head of eighty thousand mounted troops was crying, "Ho for Jerusalem! Ho for all Pales- tine !" and before them everything went down, but not without unpar- alleled resistance. In one place one hundred and thirty Christians were surrounded by many thousands of furious Mohammedans. For one whole day the one hundred and thirty held out against these thou- sands. Tennyson's "six hundred," when "some one had blundered," were eclipsed by these one hundred and thirty fighting for the Holy Cross. They took hold of the lances which had pierced them with death wounds, and pulling them out of their own breasts and sides hurled them back again at the enemy. On went the fight until all but one Christian had fallen, and he, mounted on the last horse, wielded THE SACRED BATTLE-FIELD. 119 his battle-axe right and left till his horse fell under the plunge of the javelins, and the rider, making the sign of the cross toward the sky, gave up his life on the point of a score of spears. But soon after, the last batde came. History portrays it, poetry chants it, painting colors it, and all ages admire that last struggle to keep in possession the wooden cross on which Jesus was said to have expired. It was a batde in which mingled the fury of devils and the orrandeur of aneels. Thousands of dead Christians on this side — thousands of dead Mohammedans on the other side. The batde was A SARACEN CHARGE. hottest close around the wooden cross upheld by the Bishop of Ptolemais, himself w^ounded and dying. And when the Bishop of Ptolemais dropped dead, the Bishop of Lydda seized the cross and again lifted it, carrying it onward into a wilder and fiercer fight, where sword clashed against javelin, battle-axe upon helmet, and piercing spear against splintering shield. Horses and men tumbled into hetero- geneous death. Now the wooden cross, on which the armies of Christians had kept their eye, began to waver, began to descend. It I20 THE SACRED BATTLE-FIELD. fell ! and the wailing of the Christian host at its disappearance drowned the huzzah of the victorious Moslems. THE TRUE CROSS. But that standard of the cross only seemed to fall. It rides the sky to day in triumph. Five hundred million souls, the mightiest army of the ages, are following it. and where that goes they will go, across the earth and up the mighty steeps of the heavens. In the twelfth century it seemed to go down, but in the nineteenth century it is the mightiest symbol of glory and triumph, and means more than any other standard, whether inscribed with eagle, or lion, or bear, or star, or crescent. That which Saladin trampled on the plain of Esdraelon, I lift to-day for your marshalling. The cross ! The cross ! The foot of it planted in the earth it saves, the top of it pointing to the heavens to which it will take you, and the outspread beam of it like outstretched arms of invitation to all nations. Kneel at its foot ! Lift your eye to its victim ! Swear eternal allegiance to its power ! And as that mighty symbol of pain and triumph is kept before us. we will realize how in- significant are the litde crosses we are called to bear, and will more cheerfully carry them. THE CURSE OF STRONG DRINK. WHILE we must confess that some of the ancient arts have been lost, yet the Christian era is superior to all others in the bad eminence of whiskey and rum and gin. The modern drunk is a hundred-fold worse than the ancient drunk. Noah in his intoxica- tion became imbecile, but the victims of modern alcoholism have to struggle with whole menageries of wild beasts and jungles of hissing serpents and perditions of blaspheming demons. An arch-fiend arrived in our world, and built here an invisible cauldron of temptation. He built that cauldron strong and stout for all ages and all nations. First he squeezed into it the juices of the forbidden fruit of Paradise. Then he gathered for it a distillation from the harvest fields and the orchards of the hemispheres. Then he poured into this cauldron capsicum, and copperas, and logwood, and deadly nightshade, and assault and bat- tery, and vitriol, and opium, and rum, and murder, and sulphuric acid, and theft, and potash, and cochineal, and red carrots, and poverty, and death, and hops. But it was a dry compound and must be moistened and liquefied, so the arch-fiend poured into the cauldron the tears of centuries of orphanage and widowhood, and the blood of twenty thou- sand assassinations. Then he took a shovel that he had brought up from the furnaces of his dominion below, and he thrust that shovel into the great cauldron and began to stir, and the cauldron began to heave, and rock, and boll, and sputter, and hiss, and smoke, while the nations gathered around it with cups and tankards and demijohns and kegs. There was enough for all, and the arch-fiend cried, with satanIc exultation : "Aha! champion fiend am I! Who has done more than I have for the filling of cof^ns and graveyards and prisons and insane asylums, and the populating of the lost w^orld ? And when this cauldron is emptied I'll fill it again, and stir it again, and it will smoke again, and (121) 122 THE CURSE OF STRONG DRINK. that smoke shall join another smoke — the smoke of a torment that ascendeth forever and ever. I drove fifty ships on the rocks of Newfoundland, and on the Skerries and the Goodwins. I defeated the Northern army at Fredericksburg. I have ruined more senators than will gather next winter in the national councils. I have ruined more lords than will be gathered in the House of Peers. The cup out of which I ordinarily drink is a bleached human skull, and the upholstery of my palace is of the rich crimson hue of human gore, and the mosaic of my floors is made up of the bones of children dashed to death by drunken parents, and my favorite music — sweeter than Te Deum or triumphal march — is the cry of daughters turned out at midnight on the street because father has come home drunk from the carousal, and the seven-hundred-voiced shriek of the steamer that sank because the captain was not himself when he put the ship on the wrong course. Champion fiend am I ! I have kindled more fires, I have wrung out more ao-onies, I have stretched out more midnight shadows, I have opened more Golgothas, I have rolled more Juggernauts, I have damned more souls, than any other emissary of diabolism. Champion fiend am I !" THE drunkard's WILL. I call your attention to the fact that there are thousands of people born with a thirst for strong drink — a fact too often ignored. Along some ancestral lines there runs a river of temptation. There are chil- dren whose swaddling clothes are torn off the shroud of death. Many a father has made a will of this sort: "In the name of God, amen. I bequeath to my children my houses and lands and estates ; share and share shall they alike. Hereto I affix my hand and seal in the presence of witnesses." And yet, perhaps that very man has made another will which the people have never read, and which has not been proved 'in the courts. That will, put in writing, would read something like this : "In the name of disease and appetite and death, amen. I bequeath to my children my evil habits. My tankards shall be theirs, my wine-cup shall be theirs, my destroyed reputation shall be theirs. Share and share alike I bequeath them my infamy. Hereto I afiix my hand and seal in the presence of all the applauding harpies of hell." THE NATIONAL MENACE. Is the evil of drink a State evil, or is it a National evil ? Does it belong to the North, or to the South ? Does it belong to the East, or THE CURSE OF STRONG DRINK. 123 to the West ? Ah ! there is not an American river into which its tears have not fallen, and into which its suicides have not plunged. What ruined that Southern plantation of which every field was once a fortune, and the proprietor and his family the most affluent supporters of sum- mer watering-places ? What threw that New England farm into decay, and turned the roseate cheeks that bloomed at the foot of the Green Mountains into the pallor of despair ? What has smitten every street of every village, town and city of this continent with a moral pestilence ? Strong drink. To prove that this is a national evil, I call up three States in oppo- site directions — Maine, Iowa and Georgia. Let them testify in regard to this. The State of Maine says, "It is so great an evil up here that we have anathematized it as a State. The State of Iowa says, " It is so great an evil out here that we have prohibited it by constitutional amendment." The State of Georgia says, "It is so great an evil down here that ninety counties of this State have made the sale of intoxi- cating drink a criminality." So the word comes up from all sources, and it is going to be a Waterloo, and I want all to know on what side I am going to be when that Waterloo is fully come, and I want all to be on the right side. Either drunkenness will be destroyed in this country, or the American Government will be destroyed. There can be no compromise. Drunkenness and free institutions are coming into a death grapple. THE RUM fiend's CURSE. O Death ! how lovely thou art to her, the drunkard's wife, and how soft and warm thy skeleton hand ! The sepulcher at midnight in winter is a king's drawing-room compared with that woman s home. It is not so much the blow on the head that hurts as the blow on the heart ! The rum fiend came to the door of that beautiful home, and opened it, and stood there, crying with blasting breath : "I curse this dwelling with an unrelenting curse ! I curse this father into a maniac ! I curse this mother into a pauper ! I curse these sons into vagabonds ! I curse these daughters into profligacy ! Cursed be bread-tray and cradle ! Cursed be couch and chair and family Bible, with record of marriages and births and deaths ! Curse upon curse !" Oh, how many wives are there waiting to see if something cannot be done to shake these frosts of the second death off the orange blos- soms ! Yea, God is waiting, the God who works through human i«4 THE CURSE OE STRONG DRINK. instrumentalities, waiting to see whether this nation is going to over- throw this evil ; and if it refuse to do so, God will wipe out this nation as he did Phoenicia, as he did Rome, as he did Thebes, as he did Baby- lon. Aye. he is waiting to see what the church of God will do. If the church does not do its work, then he will wipe . it out as he did the church of Ephesus, the church of Thyatira, the church of Sardis. The Protestant and Roman Catholic churches to-day stand side by side with an impotent look, gazing on an evil which costs this country more than a billion dollars a year, to take care of the 800,000 paupers, and the 315,000 criminals, and the 30,000 idiots, and to bury the 75,000 drunkards, which form the abundant harvest of rum. PARTY SERVILITY. Put on your spectacles and take a candle and examine the plat- forms of the two leading political parties of this country, and see what they are doing for the arrest of this evil, and for the overthrow of this abomination. Resolutions — oh yes, resolutions about Mormonism ! It is safe to attack that organized nastiness 2,000 miles away. But not one resolution against drunkenness, which threatens to turn this entire nation into one bestial Salt Lake City. Resolutions against political corriiption, but not one word about drunkenness, which would rot this nation from scalp to heel. Resolutions about protection against compe- tition with foreign industries, but not one word about protection of family and church and nation against the scalding, blasting, all-con- surmng, damning tariff of strong drink, which is put upon every finan- cial, individual, spiritual, moral and national interest of our land. The Democratic party was in power for the most of the time for forty years — what did that national party do for the extirpation of this evil? Nothing, absolutely nothing, appallingly nothing. The Republican party has been in power for about a quarter of a century — what has it done as a nadonal party to extirpate this evil ? Nothing, absolutely nothing, appallingly nothing. We must look in another direction, for here there is no promise of redress. DUTY OF THE CHURCH. The Church of God is the orandest and most o-lorious institution on earth. What has it in solid phalanx accomplished for the over- throw of drunkenness ? Have its forces ever been marshalled ? No, not in this direction, not for this work. Yet if the 1 7,000.000 professors THE CUK^E OE STRONG nRINK. 125 of religion should take sides on this subject, it would not be very long before the destiny of this nation would be decided, and rum cease to reicrn in our councils and in our homes. The Church holds the balance of power in America ; and if Chris- tian people — the men and the women who profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and to love purity, and to be the sworn enemies of all unclean- ness and debauchery and sin — if all such would march side by side and shoulder to shoulder, this evil would soon be overthrown. Think of 300,000 churches and Sunday-schools in Christendom, marching shoul- der to shoulder ! How very short a time it would take them to put down this evil, if all the churches of God — trans-Atlantic and cis- Atlantic — were armed for this grand work ! Young men of America, pass over into the army of teetotalism. Shall whiskey, good to preserve corpses, turn you into corpses ? Yet tens of thousands of young men have been dragged out of respecta- bility, and out of purity, and out of good character, and into darkness, by this infernal stuff called strong drink I Do not touch it then ; do not taste it ; for its touch is ruin, its taste is death. THE BALLOT-BOX. LOOK at it — the sacred chest of the ancients — about five feet long, three feet wide, and three feet high, within and without of gold, and on the top of it representations of two angels facing each other with outspread wings. The book of the law and many precious thines were in that box. The fate of the nation was in it. Carried at the head of the host, in the presence of that box the waters of the Jordan parted. A costly, precious, divinely charged, momentous box was that. Unholy hands must be kept off from it. It was generally called the ark of the covenant, but you will understand that it was a box, the most precious box of the ages. Where is it now ? Gone forever. No crypt of ancient church, no museum- of the world, has a fragment of it. But is not this nation God's chosen people? Have we not been brought through the Red Sea ? Have we not been led with the pillar of fire by night ? Have we no ark of the covenant ? Yes. The ballot- box is our sacred chest. THE ARK OF THE AMERICAN COVENANT. The law is in this box. The will of God and the will of man are in it. The fate of the nation is in it. Carried before our host, the waters of national trouble part. Its fate is the fate of the American Government. On election day, ten million men may uncover their heads in its presence. Mighty ark of the American covenant, thou ballot-box of a free people ! It is a very old box. In Athens, and long before the art of printing was known, the people dropped pebbles into it, expressive of their will. After that, beans were dropped into it — white beans for the affirmative, black beans for the negative ; but, as through that process (126) THE BALLOT-BOX. 127 it was easy to see which way a man voted, the election sometimes took place by night. If a man was to be voted out of citizenship, or, as you would say, ostracized, his name was put upon a shell and the shell was dropped into the box. In Parliament, O'Connell and Grote and Macaulay and Cobden and Gladstone fought for the full introduction of the ballot-box, and in 1872 it became one of the fastnesses of the Engrlish nation. The ballot-box is one of the corner-stones of our American institutions. It is older than the Constitution. Tell me what will become of it, and I will tell you what will become of the American Government. What a change of feeling in regard to it has arisen since Sidney Smith shot his keenest shafts of ridicule at it, and William Cobbett felt called upon to answer thirty-eight objections to its existence ! Without the ballot-box there can be no free institutions, and there can be no permanent peace. Give the people every year, or every four years, an opportunity of expressing their political preferences, and for the most part you avoid insurrection and revolution. If they cannot have the vote they will have the sword. When John Milton was visiting in Italy, he noticed that the gar- deners and farmers were cultivating the side of Mount Vesuvius while the volcano was in eruption, and he asked them if they found it safe to do so. "Oh, yes," they said, " the danger and the alarm are before the eruption takes place ; then there is earthquake and terror all through the country ; but after the lava begins to pour forth, all the people feel relieved." It is the suppression of the popular will that makes moral earthquake, political earthquake. Give the people full expression through the ballot-box and there is national relief, national satisfaction. The ballot-box has many mighty foes. As a christian patriot, I will now enumerate some of those terrible enemies. IGNORANCE. In the first place, ignoi^ancc. Other things being equal, in pro- portion as a man is intelligent, is he qualified for the right of suffrage. You have for ten, twenty, thirty years been studying American institu- tions throuofh all the channels of information. You have become ac- quainted with the needs of our country. You know all that has been said on both sides of the tariff question, the Chinese question, the educational question, the sectional question, and you have made up your mind. ^28 THE BALLOT-BOX. On election day I see you coming down off your front steps. I say, " Good-morning, neighbor ; hope you are all well to-day. Which way are you bound?" You say, "I am going to vote." You take your position in the line of electors, you wait your turn, you come up, the judge of election announces your name, your ballot is deposited, you pass out. Well done ! But right behind you comes a man who cannot spell "president," or "controller," or "attorney." He cannot write his own name, or if he does write it — if he can write at all — he makes a small "i" for the pronoun of the first person, which, while very descriptive of his limited capacity, is very hard on good orthography. He cannot tell you on which side of the Alleghany Mountains Ohio is situated. There are educated canary birds and educated horses which have more intelli- gence than he. He puts in his vote for the opposite candidate, and he cancels your vote. His ignorance weighs as much as your intelligence. That is not right ; everybody says that is not right. How shall we correct this evil?. By laws of compulsory education well executed. Until a man can read the Declaration of American In- dependence, and the Constitution of the United States, and the first chapter of Genesis, and write a petition for citizenship with his own hand, and calculate how much is the interest of the United States debt, and tell the difference between a republic, a limited monarchy, and a despotism, he is not fit to vote at any polls between Key West and Alaska. Time was when there may have been an excuse for ignorance, but there is none in this day, when the common school makes knowl- edge as free as the fresh air of Heaven. In 1872, in England, there were two million seven hundred thou- sand children who ought to have been in school, but there were in school only one million three hundred and thirty-three thousand six hundred — about fifty per cent. And of all those who were in school, not more than five per cent, got anything worthy of the name of education. Much of this foreign ignorance is added to our American ignorance, and every year tens of thousands cast their votes who have no more qualification to do so than they would have qualification to lecture on astronomy. Now, I go for a law which, after it has given a sufficient number of years of warning, shall make ignorance a crime. I go for a law which would place a board of examination side by side with the officers S THE BALLOT-BOX. 131 of registration, to decide whether a man has enough intelligence to be- come one of the monarchs who shall decide the destiny of this Republic. SPURIOUS VOTING. Another powerful enemy of the ballot-box is spurious voting. What a grand thing is the law of registration ! Without it election day would be a farce ; but how sad is the condition of things when in nearly every State each party charges upon the other the outrage of the ballot-box. The law needs a keener twist for the neck of the repeaters. They need something more than a slight fine and a short imprisonment. They are attempting the assassination of this Republic. In olden times, when men with unholy hands touched the ark of the covenant, they dropped dead. Witness Uzza. And when men through spurious voting lay unholy hands on the sacred chest — the ark of the American covenant — they deserve extermination ! INTIMIDATION. Another powerful foe of the ballot-box is intimidation. There are corporations which compel their employees to vote as they, the head, wish them. In a delicate and skillful way they simply intimate to theit men that if they do not vote as the employers vote, they will be frozen out of the establishment. There are thousands of such places. You can go to villages where there are factories, where, if you find out the political sentiment of the men who own the factories, you can tell how the election will go. Now, that is damnable ! When an employee does his work well, and gives you full equiva- lent in toil for what you pay him in wages, you have no right to expect any more of him. He sells you his work. He does not sell you his political or his religious principles. Yet you are too wise to say, "You did not vote as I wanted you to vote, now I discharge you." You call him in some day and find fault with his work, and you teU him that you have an uncle, or an aunt, a cousin, or a niece, or a nephew who will need to have his situation ! But he knowg why you discharge him, and God knows. You are not fit for American citizenship. There must be on the ark of the covenant — the sacred chest — ^no shadow of corporate or capitalistic intimidation. I am not surprised at the vehemence of Lord Chief Justice Holit, of England, when he says : 8 13 2 THE BALL07^-B0X. " Let the people vote fairly. Interference with a man's vote is in be- half of this or the other party. If such cases come before me to be tried, I shall charge the jury to make the offender pay well for it." BRIBERY. Another powerful foe of the ballot-box is bribery. I do not know which party raises the most money for this shameful purpose, but I can safely say that bribery is the disgrace of American institutions. It is often the case that men are nominated for office with reference to the amount of money of their own which they can put into the contest, or the amount of money which they can command from their friends. Senators and Congressmen and Governors buy their way into office! I tell you no news in this respect. Your own patriotic hearts have been pained with it. It is often the case that the bribe comes in the form of official position. "Wheel your eloquence to my side, and when I get to be President I will make you Secretary of State, or you shall be Postmas- ter-General or Minister to England. Wheel your eloquence to my side, and when I get to be Governor you shall be Surveyor-General. Wheel your eloquence to my side, and when I get to be Mayor you shall be on the Water Board." The simple fact is, that by the time many of those who are running for office get to the chair, they are from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot mortgaged with pledges, and the people who go to Albany or to Washington to seek offices are applying for positions that were gone three months before the election. There are two lonof lines of worm-fence — one line of worm-fence reaching to Albany, the other line of worm-fence reaching to Washing- ton — and at the time of the nominations there are great multitudes of citizens astride these fences, equally poised, ready to get down on that side on which they can get the most emolument. Bribery for those who receive it, and bribery on the part of those who give it. kicks both ways ; and it is a disgrace to the ballot-box, and a scourge to the sacred chest — the ark of the American covenant. In the name of God I denounce it. SALOON-MADE CANDIDATES. Another powerful foe of the ballot-box is the roiudy and drimken caucus. The ballot-box is robbed of its power of choice when in a THE BALLOT-BOX. 133 back room of some groggery the nominees are made, and the men who come up to the ballot-box on election day have a choice between two evils. Now, you respectable men of both parties, I charge you that, having saturated your handkerchiefs with cologne or some other disin- fectant, you go down and take possession of the caucus. You begin your work on election day, and you begin it two weeks or two months too late. In some of the cities of the United States, when the elector comes to the polls he finds that the nominees are such a scaly, greasy, stenchful crew that there is no choice. What if he vote for some out- sider? He merely throws his vote away. Now, honorable men, go and take possession of the caucus, though when you return home you have to hang your hat and your coat on the line in the back yard. It is high time that these things were changed. American politics have got very low, and in some States they are controlled by men who are not more in need of good morals than of a bath-tub ! Snatch the ballot-box from such desperadoes. Where is the David with the courage to bring back the ark of the covenant from Kirjath-jearim ? You all see that there is need of reformation of the ballot-box, when in our day it could send a Tweed to the New York Legislature, and a John Morrissey — the prince of gamblers — to the American Congress. The ballot-box needs to be washed / A PROPERTY QUALIFICATION. Some propose, by way of improvement, that we have in this country a property qualification. They say that if men have a certain amount of real estate they are more likely to have a financial interest in good government ; and they say that as soon as a man gets property he becomes cautious and conservative. I have to reply that a property qualification would shut out from the ballot-box much of the best brain of this country. Literary men are almost always poor. The pen is a good kind of implement for mending the world, but a poor implement for gaining a livelihood. I could call the roll of hundreds of literary men who never owned a foot of ground, and never will own a foot of ground until they get under it — professors of colleges, editors of news- papers, ministers of religion, book-makers depending on a scant and uncertain royalty paid by the publishers. A property qualification will shut out these men, and a great multitude who, though they never owned a house on earth, will have a mansion in heaven. 9 134 THE BALLOT-BOX. On the other hand, you will notice that there are those who by ac- cident of fortune have got vast estates, while they are in profound stupidity. An English millionaire told me on the steamer going over to Europe, that he was going to see "the dikes of Scotland"; and a lady of much pretension, who had just returned from Europe, upon beino- asked last summer on the cars by a member of mv family if siie had seen Mont Blanc, said, "Well, really, I don't know; is that in Europe?" There is no more complete ignorance than you will some- times find dismounting from a four-thousand-dollar equipage at the door of a Madison Avenue mansion. The property qualification would be a gigantic injustice. There are only two ways in which you will ever mend these mat- ters — one by more thorough legal defense of the ballot-box, and the other by more thorough education and moralization of the people. WOMAN SUFFRAGE. We may be obliged to call tipon woman to help us in the reformation of the ballot-box. Wherever she goes there is adornment and beauti- fication. I suppose you have noticed the difference between the clean- liness of the gentlemen's cabin on the ferry-boat, and of the ladies' cabin. I suppose you have nodced the difference between the cleanliness of the gentlemen's smoking-car on the rail-train, and of the other cars in which women are passengers. Give woman the right of suffrage, and our polls on election day, instead of being cheerless and repulsive, will be places of beauty. By what justice have the majority of the grown people in this country been disfranchised ? Simply because they are women. Give woman the ballot, and that will quickly decide the Mormon and tem- perance questions. A woman owning property must pay taxes. Ought she not then to have a right to say something in regard to the expen- diture of those moneys? Many of us have been opposed to female suffrage, on the ground that we do not want woman's delicate nature to confront the insults and the blasphemies and the disorder of elecdon day ; but when she has the ballpt there will be no insults, no disorder, no blasphemies on election day. It is not so much what the ballot would do for woman, as zvhat woman would do for the ballot. I cannot understand how there sbould be such an aversion to woman's political preference among THE BALLOT-BOX. i35 Americans and among Englishmen in this day, when we have a great- souled American woman reigning in the White House and a Queen Victoria in Windsor Castle. The ancient ark of the covenant was carried into captivity, away off to Kirjath-jearim ; but one day that sacred chest was put upon a cart, and oxen were fastened to the cart, and the chest was brought back to Jerusalem with shouting and thanksgiving. So the ballot-box has been carried into captivity by demagogism and mobocracy ; but I should not wonder if, by prayer to God with thanksgiving, that sacred ark of the covenant would be brought back and put into the temple of Christian patriotism. Take the first step in this direction when you cast your next ballot. It may be the last vote you will ever deposit for the highest office in this country. I know that we sometimes find cen- tenarians pleasantly boasting that they have voted for nearly all the Presidents ; but the majority of men never vote for more than three or four. Do you think your vote of no importance ? POWER OF THE BALLOT. A poor soldier went into the store of a hair-dresser in London, and asked for money to get back to the army. He had already stayed be- yond his furlough, and he must have quick transit. The hair-dresser felt sorry for him and gave him the money. "Now," said the poor soldier, 'T have got nothing to give you in return for your kindness except this little slip of paper, which has on it a recipe for making blacking." The soldier gave it, not supposing it to be of great value. The man received it, not supposing it to be of any great value. But it has yielded the man who took it two million five hundred thousand dollars, and was the foundation of one of the greatest manufacturing establishments of England. So that little slip of printed paper that you drop into the ballot- box may seem to be insignificant, and yet it may have a moral and a national value beyond all estimation. The white flakes of the ballot will fall in all the villages between the Highlands of NavesinHc and the Golden Gate of the Pacific, so silently that the keenest ear wiU not detect one out of the millions — snowing on until noon, snowing on until night. The octogenarian will come up to the polls with trembling hand, and scanning the ballot with spectacled eyes, will give it to the judge of election. The young man 136 THE BALLOT-BOX. who has been patiently waiting the time when he would have a right to vote will come up, and proudly and blushingly hand in his suffrage and pass on. The capitalist with diamonded finger and the workman with hard fist will come up, and the vote of the one will be as good as the vote of the other. Snowing, snowing, snowing, until at sundown all these flakes will be united and compacted into an avalanche ready to slide down in expression of the nation's will. Stand out of the way ! In the awful sweep of the white avalanche, may there go down section- alism and political fraud ten thousand feet under, forever under ! OUR GREAT REPUBLIC. I have called your attention to the two angels on the top of the sacred chest, facing each other with outspread wings. So on the ark of the American covenant let the two angels — the angrel of the North and the angel of the South, long looking different ways — now stand face to face with outspread wings of blessing ! We cannot live under any other form of government than that under which we are living. The stars of our flag 'are not the stars of thickening night, but stars sparkling amid the red bars of morning cloud. Let the despotisms of Asia keep their feet off the Pacific coast ! Let the tyrannies of Europe keep their feet off the Atlantic coast ! We shall have in this country only one government, and on this conti- nent only one government. At the south, Mexico will follow Texas into the Union, and Christianity and civilization will stand in the halls of the Montezumas, and if not in our day, then in the day of our chil- dren, Yucatan and Central America will wheel into the line of dominion. On the north, Canada will be ours — not by conquest — for English and American swords may never clash blades — but we will simply woo our fair neighbor of the north, and she will be ours. England will say to Canada, "You are old enough now for the marriage-day. Giant of the West, go take your bride ! " Then from Baffin's Bay to the Caribbean there shall be one Republic, under one banner, and with one destiny — a free, undisputed, christianized, American continent ! DRESS AND DISSIPATION. WHEN I come to count the victims of fashion, I find as many masculine as feminine. Men make an easy tirade against woman, as though she were the chief worshiper at this idol- atrous shrine, yet they are as much the idolators o^ fashion as women, though they throw themselves on a different part of the altar. With men the fashion goes to cigars, and club-rooms, and yachting parties, and wine-suppers. In the United States, the men chew up and smoke one hundred millions of dollars' worth of tobacco every year. That is their fashion. But men do not abstain from millinery and elaboration of skirt through any superiority of humility. It is only because such appendages would be a blockade to business. What would sashes and trails three and a half yards long do in a Wall street stock market ? And yet men are the disciples of fashion just as much as women. Some of them wear boots so tight that they can hardly walk in paths of right- eousness. And there are men who buy expensive suits of clothes and never pay for them, and who go through the streets in great stripes of color like animated checker-boards, and suggest to one that, after all, some Tweed in prison dress may have got out of the penitentiary. There are multitudes of men who, not satisfied with the bodies the Lord gave them, are padded, so that their shoulders shall be square, — carrying around a small cotton plantation ! I understand that a great many of them now paint their eyebrows and their lips ; and I have heard from good authority that there are multitudes of men in Brooklyn and New York — things have got to such an awful pass — multitudes of men wearing corsets ! I want to show you that I am impartial in this discussion, and that both sexes, in the language of the Surrogate's office, shall " share and 137 i3« DRESS AND DISSIPATION. share alike." What are some of the destroying and deathful influences of inordinate fashion ? The first baleful influence is in fraud, illimitable and ghastly. Do yau know that Arnold of the Revolution proposed to sell his country in order to get money to supply his wife's wardrobe ? I declare before God that the effort to keep up expensive wardrobes in this country is sending many business men to temporal and eternal perdition. What \yas it that sent Oilman to the penitentiary,and Philadelphia Morton to the watering of stocks, and the life-insurance presidents to perjured state- ments about their assets, and that has completely upset our American finances ? \Miat was it that overthrew Belknap, the United States Secretary' at Washington, the crash of whose fall shook the continent ? But why should I go to these infamous defaultings to show what men will do in order to keep up great home-style and expensive ward- robes, when you and I know scores of men who are put to their wit's end and are lashed from January to December in the attempt to keep up great home-style ? The temptation comes in this way : A certain man thinks more of his home folks than he does of all the world outside, and if they spend the evening in describing to him the superior wardrobe of the family across the street, that they cannot bear the sight of the man is thrown on' his gallantry and his pride of family ; and, without trans- lating his feelings into plain language, he goes into extortion and issuing false stock, and skillful penmanship in writing somebody else's name at the foot of a promissory note ; and they all go down to- gether — the husband to the prison, the wife to the sewing-machine, the children to be taken care of by those who were called poor relations. Oh, for some new Shakespeare to arise and write the tragedy of clothes ! Act the first — A plain but beautiful home. Enter, the newly-mar- ried pair. Enter, simplicity of manner and behavior. Enter, as much happiness as is ever found in one home. Act the secofid — Discontent with the humdrum of life. Enter, envy. Enter, jealousy. Enter, desire of display. Act the third — Enlargement of expenses. Enter, all the queenly dressmakers. Enter, the French milliners. Act the fourth — The tip-top of society. Enter, princes and princesses of New York life. Enter, magnificent plate and equipage. Enter, everything splendid. VOTARY OF FASHION. I40 DRESS AND DISSIPATION. Act the fifth a?id last — Winding up of the scene. Enter, the assignee. Enter, the sheriff. Enter, the creditors. Enter, humiha- tion. Enter, the wrath of God. Enter, the contempt of society. Enter, death. Now let the silk curtain drop on the stage. The farce is ended, and the lights are out. The greatest obstacle to charity in the Christian Church to-day is the fact that men expend so much money on their stomachs, and women expend so much money on their backs, that they have got nothincr left for the cause of God and the world's betterment. In- ordinate fashion causes distraction in worship. You know very well that there are a good many people who come to church just as they go to the races, to see who will come out ahead. What a flutter it makes in church when some woman with an extraor- dinary display of fashion comes' in! "What a love of a bonnet!" says some one. "What a perfect fright !" say five hundred ; for the most merciless critics in the world are fashion-critics. Men and women, with souls to be saved, passing the hour in wondering where that man got his flamboyant cravat or what store that woman patronizes ! In many of our churches the preliminary exercises are taken up with the discussion of wardrobes. It is pitiable. Is it not wonderful that the Lord does not strike the meetinor-house with licrhtninor ? What distraction of public worship ! Dying men and women, whose bodies are soon to be turned into dust, yet before three worlds strutting like peacocks, the awful question of the soul's destiny submerged by the question of Creedmoor polonaise and navy blue velvet with long fan train skirt, long enough to drag up the church aisle the husband's store, office, shop, factory, fortune, and the admiration of half the people in the building ! THE DANCE. After the temptation of dress comes that of the dance. Dancing is the graceful motion of the body adjusted by art to the sound and measures of musical instrument or of the human voice. All nations nave danced. The ancients thought that Castor and Pollux taught the art to the Lacedaemonians. But, whoever started it, all climes have adopted it. In ancient times they had the festal dance, the mili- tary dance, the mediatorial dance, the bacchanalian dance. Queens and lords swayed to and fro in the gardens, and rough backwoodsmen with this exercise awakened the echo of the forest. There is some- DRESS AND DISSIPATION: 141 thing in the sound of Hvely music that evokes the movement of the hands and feet, whether cultured or uncultured. Passing down the street, we unconsciously keep step to the sound of the brass band. The Christian in church beats time with his foot, while his soul rises upon some great harmony. While this is so in civilized lands, the red men of the forest have their scalp-dances, their green-corn dances, their war-dances. In ancient times the exercise was so utterly and completely de- praved that the Church anathematized it. The old Christian fathers expressed themselves most vehemently against it. St. Chrysostom says, "The feet were not given for dancing, but to walk modestly, not to leap impudently like camels." One of the dogmas of the ancient Church reads, "A dance is the devil's possession, and he that entereth into a dance entereth into his possession. As many paces as a man makes in dancing, so many paces does he make to hell." Elsewhere the old dogmas declared this: "The woman that singeth in the dance is the princess of the devil, and those that answer are her clerks, and the beholders are his friends, and the music is his bellows, and the fiddlers are the ministers of the devil. For, as when hogs are strayed, if the hogsherd call one, all assemble together, so when the devil calleth one woman to sing in the dance, or to play on some musical instrument, presently all the dancers gather together." This indiscriminate and universal denunciation of the exercise came from the fact that it was utterly and completely depraved. As to the physical ruin wrought by the dissipations of social life, there can be no doubt. What may we expect of people who work all day and dance all night? After a while they will be thrown on society as nervous, exhausted imbeciles. These people who indulge in late suppers and midnight revels, and then go home in the cold unwrapped in limbs, will after a while be found to have been written down in God's eternal records as suicides, as much suicides as If they had taken their life with a pistol, or a knife, or strychnine. How many people in America have stepped from the ball-room into the grave-yard. Consumptions and swift neuralgias are close on their track. Amid many of the glittering scenes of social life in America, diseases stand right and left, and balance and chain. The breath of the sepulcher floats up through the perfume, and the froth of Death's lip bubbles up in the champagne. I am told that in some 1 1* DRESS AND DISSIPA TION. parts of this country, in some of the cities, there are parents who have actually given up housekeeping and gone to boarding, that they may give their time illimitably to social dissipations. I have known such cases. I ha\e known family after family blasted in that way — father and mother turning their backs upon all quiet culture and all the amenities of home, leading forth their entire family in the wrong di- rection. Annihilated, worse than annihilated — for there are some things worse than annihilation. I give you the history of more than one family in America, when I say that they went on in the dissipations of social life until the father dropped into a lower style of dissipation ; and after a while the son was tossed out into society as a nonenity ; and after a while the daughter eloped with a French dancing-master ; and after a while the mother, getting on further and further in years, sought to hide her wrinkles, but failed in the attempt, trying all the arts of the belle — an old flirt ; a poor, miserable butterfly without wings. Let me tell you that the dissipations of American life — of social life in America — are despoiling the usefulness of a vast multitude of people. What do those people care about the fact that there are whole nations in sorrow and suffering and agony, when they have for con- sideration the more important question of the size of a glove, or the tie of a cravat ? Which one of them ever bound up wounds in the hospital? Which one of them ever went out to care for the poor? Which of them do you find in the haunts of sin, distributing tracts ? They live on themselves, and it is very poor pasture. Oh ! what a belittling process to the human mind this everlasting question about dress, this discussion of fashionable infinitesimals, this group looking askance at the glass, wondering, with an infinity of earnestness, how that last o-eranium leaf will look, this shrivelintr of a man's moral dignity until it is not observable to the naked eye, this Spanish inquisition of a tight shoe, this binding up of a priceless soul in a ruffle, this pitching of the moral nature over the rocks, when God intended it for great and everlasting uplifting ! The dissipations of social life in America to-day are destroying thousands and tens of thousands of people, and it is time for pulpit and press to lift their voices aofainst them. THE MODERN BETHESDA. We may add the story of another highway of dissipation, that of the watering-place. DRESS AND DISSIPATION. 143 The modern Bethesda was intended to recuperate the physical health ; and yet how many come from the watering-places, with their health absolutely destroyed ! Think of New York and Brooklyn sim- pletons boasting of having imbibed twenty glasses of Congress water before breakfast ; of families, accustomed to q-q to bed at ten o'clock at night, gossiping until one or two o'clock in the morning ; of dys- peptics, usually very cautious about their health, mingling ice-creams and lemons and lobster salads and cocoanuts, until the gastric juices lift up all their voices in lamentation and protest ; of delicate women and brainless young men dancing themselves into vertigo and cata- lepsy ; of thousands of men and women coming back from our watering-places in the autumn, with the foundations laid for ailments that will last them all their life long ! You know as well as I do that this is the simple truth. In the summer you say to your good health, " Good-bye ; I am going to have a gay time now for a little while ; I will be very glad to see you again in the autumn." Then in the autumn, when you are hard at work in your office, or store, or shop, or counting-room. Good Health will come in and say, "Good-bye; I am going." You say, "Where are you going?" " Oh," says Good Health, " I am going to take a vaca- tion." It is a poor rule that will not work both ways, and your good health will leave you choleric and splenetic and exhausted. You co- quetted with your good health in the summer time, and your good health is coquetting with you in the winter time. A fragment of Paul's charge to the jailer would be an appropriate inscription for the hotel register in every watering-place, " Do thyself no harm." Another temptation, hovering all around our watering-places, is that of intoxicating beverao^es. I am told that it is becomine more and more fashionable for ivomen to drink. I care not how well a woman may dress, if she has taken enough of wine to flush her cheek and put a glassiness on her eye, she is drunk. She may be handed into a twenty-five hundred dollar carriage, and have diamonds enough to confound the Tiffanys — she is drunk. She may be a graduate of Packer Institute, and the daughter of some man in dano-er of beine nominated for the presidency — she is drunk. You may have a larger vocabulary than I have, and you may say in regard to her that she is ** convivial," or she is "merry," or she is "festive," or she is BLIND FOLLY. DJ^ESS AND DISSIPATION. 145 "exhilarated"; but you cannot, with all your garlands of verbiage, cover up the plain fact that it is an old-fashioned case of "drunk." Now the watering-places are full of temptations to men and women to tipple. At the close of the ten-pin or billiard game, they tipple. At the close of the cotillion, they tipple. Seated on the piazza to cool themselves off, they tipple. The tinged glasses come around with bright straws, and they tipple. First, they take "light wines," as they call them ; but "light wines" are heavy enough to debase the appetite. There is not a very long road between champagne at five dollars a bottle and w^hiskey at ten cents a glass. Satan has three or four grades down which he takes men to destruction. One man he takes up, and through one spree pitches him into eternal darkness. That is a rare case. Very seldom, indeed, can you find a man who will be such a fool as that. Satan will take another man to a steep grade, at an angle about like that of the Pennsylvania coal-shoot or the Mount Washington rail-track, and shove him off. But that is very rare. When a man goes down to destruction, Satan brings him to a plain. It is almost a level. The depression is so slight that you can hardly see it. The man does not actually know that he is on the down grade, and it tips only a little toward darkness — just a little. And the first mile it is claret, and the second mile it is sherry, and the third mile it is a punch, and the fourth mile it is ale, and the fifth mile it is porter, and the sixth mile it is brandy, and then it gets steeper, and steeper, and steeper, and the man gets frightened, and says, " Oh, let me off" " No." says the conductor, "this is an express train, and it don't stop until it gets to the Grand Central Depot of Smashupton !" Ah, " Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth Its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adde*-." My friends, \vhether you tarry at home — which will be quite as safe, and perhaps quite as comfortable — or go into the country, arm yourself against temptation. The grace of God is the only safe shelter, whether In town or country. MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. A FEW days ago, with my sister and brother, I visited the place of my boyhood. It was one of the most emotional and absorbing days of my life. There stood the old house, and as I went through the rooms, I said, "I could find my way here with my eyes shut, although I have not been here in forty years." There was the sitting-room where a large family group had every evening gathered, the most of them now in a better world. There was the old barn where we hunted for Easter eggs, and the place where the horses stood. There is where the orchard was, only three or four trees now left of all the grove that once bore apples — and such apples, tool There Is the brook down which we rode to the watering- of the horses bareback, and with a rope halter. We also visited the cemetery where many of our kindred are waiting for the resurrection, the old people side by side, after a journey together of sixty years, only about three years between the time of their going. There also sleep the dear old neighbors who used to tie their horses under the shed of the country meeting-house and sit at the end of the pew, singing "Duke Street,'* and "Balerma," and " Antioch." I feel that my journey and visit last week did me good, and it would do you all good, If not in person then in thought, to revisit the scenes of boyhood or girlhood. " Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee." THE DOUBLE OUTLOOK. Youth is apt to spend all its time in looking forward. Old age i3 apt to spend all its time in looking backward. People In mid-life and on the apex look both ways. Yet It would be well for us, I think, ta spend more time In reminiscence. By the constitution of our natures we spejid most of the time looking forward, and the vast majority of people live not so much in the present as in the future. You mean to naake a reputation, you mean to establish yourself, and the advantages. (146) D MOTHERHOOD. MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. 149 that you expect to achieve absorb a great deal of your time. I see no harm in this, if it does not make you discontented with the present or disquahfy you for existing duties. But it is a useful thing sometimes to look back, and to see the dangers we have escaped, and to see the sorrows we have suffered, and the trials and wanderings of our earthly pilgrimage, and to sum up our enjoyments. There is a chapel in Florence with a fresco by Guido. It was covered up with two inches of stucco until our American and European artists went there, and after long toil removed the covering and retraced THE OLD HOME. the fresco. And I am aware that the memory of the past, with many of my readers, is all covered up with ten thousand obliterations. I propose to take away the covering, that the old picture may shine out again. I want to bind in one sheaf all your past advantages, and I want to bind in another sheaf all your past adversities. It is a precious harvest, and I must be cautious how I swing the scythe. THE EARLY HOME. Among the greatest advantages of your past life was an early home and its surroundings. The bad men of the day, for the most I50 MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. part, dip their heated passions out of the boiling spring of an unhappy home. We are not surprised to find that Byron's heart was a concentra- tion of sin, when we hear that his mother was abandoned, and that she made sport of his infirmity, and often called him " the lame brat." He who has vicious parents has to fight every inch of his way, if he would maintain his integrity and at last reach the home of the good in heaven. Perhaps your early home was in the city. It may have been in the days when Canal street, New York, was far up-town. That old house in the city may have been demolished or changed into stores, and it seemed like sacrilege to you, for there was more meaning in that plain, small house, than there is in a granite mansion or a turreted cathedral. Looking back this morning, you see it as though it were yesterday — the sitting-room, where the loved ones sat by the plain lamplight, the mother at the evening stand, th*e brothers and sisters plotting mischief on the floor or under the table, your father with a firm voice commanding a silence — that lasted half a minute ! Oh, those were good days! If you had your foot hurt, your mother always had a soothing salve to heal it. If you were wronged in the street, your father was always ready to protect you. The year was one round of frolic and mirth. Your greatest trouble was like an April shower, more sunshine than shower. The heart had not been ransacked by troubles, nor had sickness broken it, and no lamb had a warmer sheepfold than the home in which your childhood nestled. Perhaps you were brought up in the country. You stand now, in memory, under the old tree. You clubbed it for fruit that was not quite ripe because you couldn't wait any longer. You hear the brook rumbling along over the pebbles. You step again into the furrow where your father in his shirt sleeves shouted to the lazy oxen. You frighten the swallows from the rafters of the barn, and take just one' ecrg, and silence your conscience by saying they won't miss it. You take a drink again out of the very bucket that the old well fetched up. You go for the cows at night, and find them wagging their heads through the bars. Ofttimes in the dusty and busy streets you wish you were home again on that cool grass, or in the rag-carpeted hall of the farmhouse, through which there was the breath of new-mown hay or the blossom of buckwheat. You may have in your windows now beautiful plants and flowers brouo-ht from across the seas, but not one of them stirs in your soul so MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. 153 much charm and memory as the old ivy and the yellow sunflower that stood sentinel along the garden wall, and the forget-me-nots playing hide-and-seek 'mid the lonof (jrass. The father, who used to come in sunburnt from the fields and sit down on the door-sill and wipe the sweat from his brow, may have gone to his everlasting rest. The mother, who used to sit at the door a little bent over, cap and spec- tacles on, her face mellowing with the vicissitudes of many years, may have put down her gray head on the pillow in the valley ; but forget that home you never will. Have you thanked God for it? Have you rehearsed all these blessed reminiscences? Oh, thank God for a Christian father ; thank God for a Christian mother ; thank God for an early Christian altar at which you were taught to kneel ; thank God for an early Christian home. NEW MARRIED LIFE. I bring to mind another passage in the history of your life. The day came when you set up your own household. The days passed along in quiet blessedness. You twain sat at the table morning and night and talked over your plans for the future. The most insignificant affair in your life became the subject of mutual consultation and ad- visement. You were so happy that you felt you never could be any happier. One day a dark cloud hovered over your dwelling and it got darker and darker, but out of that cloud the shining messenorer of God descended to incarnate a beautiful spirit. Two little feet started on an eventful journey, and you were to lead them — a gem to flash in heaven's coronet, and you to polish it — eternal ages of light and dark- ness watching the starting out of a newly created creature. You rejoiced and you trembled at the responsibility that in your possession a priceless treasure was placed. You prayed and rejoiced, and wept and wondered, and prayed and rejoiced, and wept and won- dered ; you were earnest in supplication that you might lead it through life into the kingdom of God. There was a tremor in your earnestness. There was a double interest about that home. There was an additional reason why you should stay there and be faithful, and when in a few months your house was filled with the music of the child's laughter, you were struck through with the fact that you had a stupendous mission. Have you kept that vow ? Have you neglected any of those duties? Is your home as much to you as it used to be? Have those ^54 MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. anticipations been gratified ? God help you in your solemn reminiscence, and let his mercy fall upon your soul if your kindness has been ill re- quited. God have mercy on the parent on the wrinkles of whose face is written the story of a child's sin ! God have mercy on the mother who, in addition to her other pangs, has the pangs of a child's iniquity! Oh, there are many, many sad sounds in this sad world, but the saddest sound that is ever heard is the breaking of a mother's heart. THE GRACIOUS CHANGE. I find another point in your life-history. You found one day that you were in the wrong road ; you couldn't sleep at night ; there was just one word that seemed to sob through your banking-house, or through your office, or through your shop, or your bed-room, and that word was, " Eternity." You said, " I am not ready for it. O God, have mercy." The Lord heard. Peace came to your heart. In the breath of the hill and the waterfall's dash you heard the voice of God's love; the clouds and the trees hailed you with gladness ; you came into the house of God. You remember how your hand trembled as you took up the cup of the Communion. You remember the old minister who consecrated it, and you remember the church officials who carried it through the aisle ; you remember the old people who at the close of the service took your hand in theirs in congratulating sympathy, as much as to say : "Welcome home, you lost prodigal ;" and though those hands are all withered away, that Communion Sabbath is resurrected in your memor}^ ; it is resurrected with all its prayers, and songs, and tears, and sermons, and transfiguration. Have you kept those vows? SHADOWS OF SORROW. But some of you have not always had a smooth life. Some of you are now in the shadow. Others had their troubles years ago, and you are a mere wreck of what you once were. I must gather up the sor- rows of your past life ; but how shall I do it ? You say that is impos- sible, as you have had so many troubles and adversities. Then I will just take two, the first trouble and the last trouble. As when you are walking along the street, and there has been music in the distance, you unconsciously find yourself keeping step to the music, so when you started life your very life was a musical timebeat. The air was MEM OR Y OF O THER DA YS. 155 full of joy and hilarity ; with the bright clear oar you made the boat skip ; you went on, and life grew brighter until after a while suddenly a voice from heaven said, "Halt!" and quick as the sunshine you halted ; you grew pale ; you confronted your first sorrow. You had no idea that the flush on your child's cheek was an unhealthy flush. You said, " It can't be anything serious." Death in slippered feet walked roundabout the cradle. You did not hear the tread ; but after a while the truth flashed on you. You walked the floor. Oh, if you could, with your strong, stout hand, have wrenched that child from the destroyer ! You went to your room and said, " God, save my child ! God, save my child !" The world seemed going out in darkness. You said, "I can't bear it ; I can't bear it." You felt as if you could not put the long lashes over the bright eyes, never to see them again sparkle. Oh, if you could have taken that little one in your arms and with it leaped the grave, how gladly you would have done it ! Oh, if you could have let your property go, your houses go, your land and your store-house go, how gladly you would have allowed them to depart if you could only have kept that one treasure ! But one day there arose from the heavens a chill blast that swept over the bed-room, and instantly all the light went out. There was darkness — thick, murky, impenetrable, shuddering darkness. But God didn't leave you there. Mercy spoke. As you took up the cup and were about to put it to your lips, God said, " Let it pass," and forthwith, as by the hand of angels, another cup was put into your hands ; it was the cup of God's consolation. As you have sometimes lifted the head of a wounded soldier, and poured wine into his lips, so God put his left arm under your head, and with his right hand He poured into your lips the wine of his comfort and his consolation ; and you looked at the empty cradle and looked at your broken heart, and you looked at the Lord's chastisement, and you said, "Even so. Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight," Ah, it was your first trouble. How did you get over it ? God comforted you. You have been a better man ever since. You have been a better woman ever since. In the jar of the closing gate of the sepulcher you heard the clanging of the opening gate of heaven, and you felt an irresistible drawing heavenward. You have been purer of mind ever since that night when the little one for the last time put its 156 MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. arms around your neck, and said: "Good-night, papa; good-night, mamma. Meet me in heaven." LATEST TRIALS. But I must come down to your latest sorrow. What was it? Perhaps it was your own sickness. The child's tread on the stair, or the tick of the watch on the stand disturbed you. Through the long weary days you counted the figures in the carpet or the flowers in the wall- paper. Oh, the weariness, the exhaustion ! Oh, the burning pangs ! Would God it were morning, would God it were night, was your fre- quent cry. But you are better, or perhaps even well. Have you thanked God for his restoring mercy ? Perhaps your last sorrow was a financial e^nbarrassment. I con- gratulate some of you on your lucrative profession or occupation, on ornate apparel, on a commodious residence — everything you put your hands to seems to turn to gold. But there are others of you who are like the ship on which Paul sailed, where two seas met, and you are broken by the violence of the waves. By an unadvised indorsement, or by a conjunction of unforeseen events, or by fire, or storm, or a senseless panic, you have been flung headlong, and where you once dispensed great charities, now you have hard work to make the two ends meet. Have you forgotten to thank God for your days of pros- perity, and that through your trials some of you have made investments which will continue after the last bank of this world has exploded, and the silver and gold are molten in the fires of a burning world ? Have you, amid all your losses and discouragements, forgotten that there was bread on your table this morning, and that there shall be a shelter for your head from the storm, and that there is air for your lungs, and blood for your heart, and light for your eye, and a glad and glorious and triumphant religion for your soul? Perhaps your last trouble was a bereave7nent. That heart which in childhood was your refuge — the parental heart — and which has been a source of the quickest sympathy ever since, has suddenly become silent forever ; and now sometimes, whenever in sudden annoyance and without deliberation you say, 'T will go and tell mother," the thought flashes on you: "/ have no mother!'' Or the father, with voice less tender, but as stanch and earnest and loving as ever, watch- ful of all your ways, exultant over your success without saying much, MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. ^57 although the old people do talk it over by themselves, his trembling hand on that staff which you now keep as a family relic, his memory embalmed in grateful hearts, is taken away forever. Or your com- panion in life, the sharer of your joys and sorrows, was taken, leaving the heart a dreary ruin, where the chill winds blow over a wide wilderness of desolation, the sands of the desert driving across the place which once bloomed like the garden of God. And Abraham mourns for lie-sif' n^ ..J^r-v THE SICK-ROOM. Sarah at the cave of Machpelah. Going along your path in life, sud- denly, right before you, was an open grave. People looked down and they saw it was only a few feet deep and a few feet wide, but to you it was a cavern down which went all your hopes and all your expectations. CONSOLATION. But cheer up in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Comforter. He is not going to forsake you. Did the Lord take that child out of your arms? Why, He is going to shelter it better than you could. He 1 5 8 MEMOR Y OF O THER DA YS. is going to array it in a white robe, and with palm-branch it will be all ready to greet you at your coming home. Blessed the broken heart that Jesus heals. Blessed the importunate cry that Jesus compassion- ates. Blessed the weeping eye from which the soft hand of Jesus wipes away the tear. I was sailing down the St. John river, Canada, which is the Rhine and the Hudson commingled in one scene of beauty and grandeur, and while I was on the deck of the steamer, a gentleman pointed out to me the places of interest. He said: "All this is interval land, and it is the richest land in all the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia." "What," said I, "do you mean by interval land?" "Well," he said, "this land is submerged for a part of the year; spring freshets come down, and all these plains are overflowed with the water, and the water leaves a rich deposit, and when the waters are gone the har- vest springs up, and there is the grandest harvest that was ever reaped." And I instantly thought : " It is not the heights of the church and it is not the heights of this world that are the scene of the oreatest prosperity, but the soul over which the floods of sorrow have gone, the soul over which the freshets of tribulation have torn their way, that yields the greatest fruits of righteousness, and the largest harvest for time, and the richest harvest for eternity." Bless God that your soul is interval land. There will yet be one more point of tremendous reminiscence, and that is the last hour of life, when we have to look over all our past existence. What a moment that will be ! I place Napoleon's dying reminiscence on St. Helena beside Mrs. Judson's dying reminiscence in the harbor of St. Helena, the same island, twenty years after. Napoleon's dying reminiscence was one of delirium: "Head of the army." Mrs. Judson's dying reminiscence, as she came home from her missionary toil and her life of self-sacrifice for God, dying in the cabin ?if the ship in the harbor of St. Helena, was: "I always did love the Lord Jesus Christ." And then, the historian says, she fell into a sound sleep for an hour, and woke amid the songs of angels. I place the dying reminiscence of Augustus Caesar against the dying reminiscence of the Apostle Paul. The dying reminiscence of Augustus Caesar was, addressing his attendants : " Have I played my part well on the stage of life?" and they answered him in the MEMORY OF OTHER DAYS. 159 affirmative, and he said : "Why, then, don't you applaud me?" The dying reminiscence of Paul the Apostle was : " I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me in that day, and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing." Augustus Caesar died amid pomp and great surroundings. Paul uttered his dying reminiscence looking up through the wall of a dungeon. God grant that our last hour may be the closing of a useful life, and the opening of a glorious eternity ! SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. WE are under the impression that the moil and tug of business life are a prison into which a man is thrust, or that they are an unequal strife where, unarmed, a man goes forth to contend. Yet business life was intended of God for errand and elorious educa- tion and discipline, and it is my earnest wish to rub some of the wrin- kles of care out of your brow, and unstrap some of the burdens from your back. Dr. Duff visited South Wales, and there saw a man who had in- herited a great fortune. The man said to him : "I had to be very busy for many years of my life gettiHg my livelihood. After a while this for- tune came to me, and there has been no necessity that I should toil since. There came a time when I said to myself, ' Shall I now retire from business, or shall I go on and serve the Lord in my worldly occupation?' " He continued : "I resolved on the latter, and I have been more industrious in commercial circles than I ever was before, but since that hour I have never kept a farthing for myself I have thought it would be a great shame if I couldn't toil as hard for the Lord as I had toiled for myself, and all the profits of my factories and my com- mercial establishments, to the last farthing, have gone for the building of Christian institutions and supporting the Church of God." Oh, if the same energy put forth for the world could be put forth for God ! Oh, if a thousand men in these great cities who have achieved a fortune could see it to be their duty now to do all business for Christ and the alleviation of the world's suffering ! Business life is a school of patience. In your everyday life how many things there are to annoy and to disquiet ! Bargains will rub. Commercial men will sometimes fail to meet their engagements. (i6o) SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. i6i Cash-book and money-drawer will sometimes quarrel. Goods ordered for a special emergency will come too late, or be damaged in the transportation. Business life is a school of ttseful hiowledge. Merchants do not read many books, and do not study lexicons. They do not dive into the profounds of learning, and yet nearly all through their occupations they come to understand questions of finance, and politics, and geog- raphy, and jurisprudence, and ethics. Business is a severe schoolmis- tress. If pupils will not learn, she strikes them over the head and heart with severe losses. You put ^5,000 into an enterprise. It is all gone. You say, " That is a dead loss." Oh, no. You are paying the school- ing. That was only tuition, very large tuition — I told you it was a severe schoolmistress — but it was worth it. You learned things under that process you would not have learned in any other way. Traders in grain come to know something about foreign harvests; traders in fruit come to know something about the prospects of tropical productions ; manufacturers of American goods come to understand the tariff on imported articles ; publishers of books must come to understand the new law of copyright ; owners of ships must come to know winds and shoals and navigation ; and every bale of cotton, and every raisin-cask, and every tea-box, and every cluster of bananas is so much literature for a business man. Now, my brother, what are you going to do with this intelligence ? Do you suppose God put you in this school of information merely that you might be a sharper in a trade, that you might be more successful as a worldling ? Oh, no ; it was that you might take that useful infor- mation and use It for Jesus Christ. Can it be that you have been deal- ing with foreign lands and never had the missionary spirit, wishing for the salvation of foreign peoples ? Can it be that you have become ac- quainted with all the outrages inflicted in business life, and that you have never tried to bring to bear that Gospel which is to extirpate all evils and correct all wrongs, and illuminate all darkness and lift up all wretchedness, and save men for this world and the world to come ? Can it be, that understanding all the intricacies of business, you know nothing about those things which will last after all bills of exchange and consignments and invoices and rent-rolls shall have crumpled up and been consumed in the fires of the last great day ? Can it be that a man will be wise for time, and a fool for eternity ? i62 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. There are men who have fought the battle and gained the victory. People come out of such a man's store, and they say : " Well, if there ever was a Christian trader, that is one." Integrity kept the books and waited on the customers. Light from the eternal world flashed through the show-windows. Love to God and love to man presided in that storehouse. Some day people going through the street notice that the shutters of the window are not down. The bar of the store- door has not been removed. People say : " W^hat is the matter?" You go up a little closer, and you see written on the card of that window, " Closed on account of die death of one of the firm." That day all through the circles of business there is talk about how good a man has gone. Boards of trade pass resolutions of sympathy, and churches of Christ pray, " Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth." He has made his last bargain, he has suffered his last loss, he has ached with the last fatigue. His children will get the result of his industry, or, if through misfortune there be no dollars left, they will have an estate of prayer and Christian example, which will be everlasting. Heavenly rewards for earthly discipline. There " the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." GRIP, GOUGE & CO. You hear that it is avarice which drives men of business through the street, and that is the commonly accepted idea. I do not believe a word of it. The vast multitude of these business men are toiling on for others. To educate their children, to put the wing of protection over their households, to have something left so that when they pass out of this life their wives and children will not have to go to the poor-house, that is the way I translate this energy in the street and store — the vast majority of this energy. Grip, Gouge & Co. do not do all the business. Some of us re- member that when the Central America was coming home from Cali- fornia it was wrecked. President Arthur's father-in-law was the heroic captain of that ship, and went down with most of the passengers. Some of them got off into the life-boats. There was a young man returning from California who had a bag of gold in his hand ; and as the last boat shoved off from the ship that was to go down, that young man shouted to a comrade in the boat : " Here, John, catch this gold ; there are three thousand dollars ; take it home to my old mother ; it will SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. i6.^ make her comfortable in her last days." Grip, Gouge & Co. do not do all the business of the world. Ah ! my friend, do you say that God does not care anything about your worldly business ? I tell you God knows more about it than you do. He knows your perplexities ; He knows what mortgagee is about to foreclose ; He knows what note you cannot pay ; He knows what unsalable goods you have on your shelves ; He knows all your trials, from the day you took hold of your first yard-stick down to the sale of that last yard of ribbon ; and the God who helped David to be king, and who helped Daniel to be prime-minister, and who helped Havelock to be a soldier, will help you to discharge all your duties. He is going to see you through. A young accountant in New York City got his accounts entangled. He knew he was honest, and yet he could not make his accounts come out right. He toiled at them day and night, until he was nearly fren- zied. It seemed by those books that something had been misappro- priated, and yet he knew before God that he was honest. The last day came. He knew that if he could not that day make his accounts come out right, he would fall into disgrace and go into banishment from the business establishment. He went over there very early, before there was anybody in the place, and he knelt down at the desk and said : " O Lord, Thou knowest I have tried to be honest, but I cannot make these things come out right ! Help me to-day — help me this morning!" The young man arose, and hardly knowing why he did so, opened a book that lay on the desk, and there was a leaf containing a line of fig- ures which explained everything. In other words, he cast his burden upon the Lord, and the Lord sustained him. STRAINING OUT GNATS — SWALLOWING CAMELS. A man after long observation has formed the suspicion that in a cup of water he is about to drink there is a grub or the grandparent of a gnat. He goes and gets a sieve or strainer. He takes the water and pours it through the sieve in the broad light. He says : " I would rather do anything almost than drink this water until this larva be ex- tirpated." This water is brought under inquisition. The experiment is successful. The water rushes through the sieve and leaves against the side of the sieve the grub or gnat. Then the man carefully removes the insect and drinks the water in placidity. But going out one day, i64 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. and hungry, he devours a "ship of the desert," the camel, which the Jews were forbidden to eat. The gastronomer has no compunctions of conscience. He suffers from no indigestion. He puts his lower jaw under the camel's forefoot, and his upper jaw over the hump of the camel's back, and gives one swallow, and the dromedary disappears forever. He strained out a gnat — he swallowed a camel ! Many are abhorrent of small sins, while they are reckless in regard to magnificent thefts. You will find many a merchant who, while he is so careful that he would not take a yard of cloth or a spool of cotton from the counter without paying for it, and who, if a bank cashier should make a mistake and send in a roll of bills five dollars too much, would dispatch a messenger in hot haste to return the surplus, yet who will go into a stock company, in which after a while he gets control of the stock, and then waters the stock and makes one hundred thousand dollars appear like two hundred thousand dollars. He only stole one hundred thousand dollars by the operation. Many of the men of fort- une made their wealth in that way. One of those men, engaged in such unrighteous acts, on the even- ing of the very day when he waters the stock, will find a wharf-rat stealing a Brooklyn Eagle from his basement doorway, and will go out and catch the urchin by the collar, and twist the collar so tightly that the poor fellow cannot say it was thirst for knowledge that led him to the dis- honest act ; then grip the collar tighter and tighter, saying : "I have been looking for you a long while ; you stole my paper four or five times, haven't you, you miserable wretch ? " Then the old stock-gambler, with a voice they can hear three blocks, will cry out : ''Police, police I " That same man, the evening of the day in which he watered the stock, will kneel with his family in prayers and thank God for the prosperity of the day, then kiss his children good-night with an air which seems to say, " I hope you will all grow up to be as good as your father ! " Prisons for sins insectile in size, but palaces for crimes drome- darian ! No mercy for sins animalcule in proportion, but great leniency for mastodon iniquity ! A poor boy slily takes from the basket of a market woman a choke pear — saving some one else from the cholera — and you smother him in the horrible atmosphere of Raymond Street Jail or New York Tombs, while his cousin, who has been skillful enough to steal fifty thousand dollars from the city, is made a candidate for the New York Legfislature ! SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. 165 Society has to be entirely reconstructed on this subject. We are to find that a sin is inexcusable in proportion as it is great. I know that in our time the tendency is to charge religious frauds upon good men. They say " Oh, what a class of frauds you have in the Church of God in this day !" When an elder of a church, or a deacon, or a minister of the Gospel, or a superintendent of a Sabbath-school, turns out a defaulter, what display heads there are in many of the news- papers ! Great-primer type — five-line pica: "Another Saint Ab- sconded," " Clerical Scoundrelism," " Religion at a Discount," "Shame on the Churches," while there are a thousand scoundrels outside the church to where there is one inside the church, and the m.isbehavior of those who never see the inside of a church is so great that it is enough to tempt a man to become a Christian to get out of their company. But in all circles, religious and irreligious, the tendency is to excuse sin in proportion as it is mammoth. Even John Milton, in his " Paradise Lost," while he condemns Satan, gives such a grand description of him that you have hard work to suppress your admiration. Oh, this strain- ing out of small sins like gnats, and this gulping down great iniquities like camels 1 THE CHRISTIAN FOR THE TIMES. ESTHER the bcatitiful\N2iS. the wife of Ahasuerus the abominable. The time had come for her to present a petition to her infamous hus- band in behalf of the Jewish nation, to which she had once be- lono-ed. She was afraid to undertake the work, lest she should lose her own life ; but her uncle, Mordecai, who had brought her up, encouraged her with the suggestion that probably she had been raised up of God for that peculiar mission. " Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this ? " Esther had her God-appointed work ; you and I have ours. It is mine to tell you what style of men and women you ought to be in order that you may meet the demand of the age in which God has cast your lot. When two armies have rushed into battle, the officers of either army do not want a philosophical discussion about the chemical properties of human blood, or the nature of gunpowder ; they want some one to man the batteries and swab out the guns. And now, when all the forces of light and darkness, of heaven and hell, have plunged into the fight, it is no time to give ourselves to the definitions and formulas and technicalities and conventionalities of religion. What we want is practical, earnest, concentrated, enthusiastic, and trium- phant help. AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANS. In the first place, in order to meet the special demand of this age, you need to be unmistakably aggressive Christians. Of half-and-half Christians we do not want any more. The Church of Jesus Christ would be better without ten thousand of them. They are the chief obstacles to the Churcli s advanceme7it. I am speaking of another kind of Christian. All the appliances for your becoming an earnest Christian (i66) o n w H THE CHRISTIAN FOR THE TIMES. 169 are at your hand, and there is a straight path for you into the broad daylight of God's forgiveness. You remember what excitement there was in this country some years ago when the Prince of Wales came here — how the people rushed out by hundreds of thousands to see him. Why? Because they ex- pected that some day he would sit upon the throne of England. But what was all that honor compared widi the honor to which God calls you — to be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty — yea, to be queens and kings unto God? "They shall reign with Him for ever and for ever." But you need to be aggressive Christians, and not like persons who spend their lives in hugging their Christian graces, and wondering why they do not make any progress. How much robustness of health would a man have if he hid himself in a dark closet? A great deal of the piety of the day is too exclusive. It hides itself It needs more fresh air, more out-door exercise. There are many Christians who are giving their entire life to self-examination. They are feeling their pulses to see what is the condition of their spiritual health. Yet how long would a man have robust physical health if he kept all the days, and weeks, and months, and years of his life feeling his pulse, instead of going out into earnest, active, every-day work ? I have been among the wonderful and bewitching cactus growths of North Carolina, where I never was more bewildered with the beauty of flowers. Yet, when I would take up one of these cactuses and pull the leaves apart, the beauty was all gone. You could hardly tell that it had been a flower. And there are a great many Christian people in this day just pulling apart their own Christian experiences to see what there is in them, and there is nothing left of them. This style of self- examination is a damage instead of an advantage to their Christian character. I remember, when I was a boy, I used to have a small piece in the garden that I called my own, and I planted corn there, and every few days I would pull it up to see how fast it was growing. Now, there are a great many Christian people in this day whose self-examination merely amounts to the pulling up of that which they only yesterday or the day before planted. If you want to have a stalwart Christian character, plant it right out of doors in the great field of Christian use- fulness, and though storms may come upon it, and the hot sun of trial 10 I70 THE CHRISTIAN FOR THE TIMES. may try to consume it, it will thrive until it becomes a great tree, in which the fowls of heaven may have a habitation. I have no patience with these flozi