,,the ,,crown ,,of ,,thorns  ,a ,,token 
,,for ,,the ,,sorrowing   by ,e4 ,h4    
,chapin     ,,preface4   ,one of the    
discourses in this volume--,the ,mission
 of ,little ,children--was written just 
after the death of a dear son1 and was  
published in pamphlet form4 ,the edition
 having become exhausted sooner than the
 demand1 it was deemed advisable to     
reprint it2 and accordingly it is now   
presented to the reader1 accompanied by 
others of a similar cast1 most of them  
growing out of the same experience4     
,this fact will account for any         
repetition of sentiment which may appear
 in these discourses1 especially as they
 were written without any reference to  
one another4  ,to the sorrowing1 then1  
this little volume is tendered1 with the
 author's sympathy and affection4 ,upon 
its pages he has poured out some of the 
sentiments of his own heartfelt         
experience1 knowing that they will find 
a response in theirs1 and hoping that   
the book may do a work of consolation   

and of healing4 ,if it impresses upon   
any the general sentiment which it      
contains1--the sentiment of religious   
resignation and triumph in affliction2  
if it shall cause any tearful vision to 
take the ,christian view of sorrow2 if  
it shall teach any troubled soul to     
endure and hope2 if it shall lead any   
weary spirit to the ,fountain of        
consolation2 in one word1 if it shall   
help any1 by ,christ's strength1 to     
weave the thorns that wound them into a 
crown1 ,i shall be richly rewarded1 and1
 ,i trust1 grateful to that ,god to     
whose service ,i dedicate this book1    
invoking his blessing upon it4  ,e4 ,h4 
,c4  ,may1 #ahfj     ,,contents4        
,,the ,,three ,,tabernacles      ,,the  
,,shadow ,,of ,,disappointment          
,,life ,a ,,tale      ,,the ,,christian 
,,view ,,of ,,sorrow      ,,christian   
,,consolation ,,in ,,loneliness         
,,resignation      ,,the ,,mission ,,of 
,,little ,,children      ,,our          
,,relations ,,to ,,the ,,departed       

,,the ,,voices ,,of ,,the ,,dead        
,,mystery ,,and ,,faith     ,,the       
,,three ,,tabernacles   ,and ,peter     
answered and said to ,jesus1 ,master1 it
 is good for us to be here3 and let us  
make three tabernacles1 one for thee1   
and one for ,moses1 and one for ,elias4 
,,mark ix4 #e4   ,caught up in glory and
 in rapture1 the ,apostle seems to have 
forgotten the world from which he had   
ascended1 and to which he still         
belonged1 and to have craved permanent  
shelter and extatic communion within the
 mystic splendors that brightened the   
,mount of ,transfiguration4 ,but it was 
true1 not only as to the confusion of   
his faculties1 but the purport of his   
desire1 that he knew not what he said4  
,for even while he yet spake1 the cloud 
overshadowed them1 the heavenly forms   
vanished1 they found themselves with    
,jesus alone1 and an awful ,voice       
summoned them from contemplation to     
duty1--from vision to work4  ,peter knew
 not what he said4 ,he would have       

converted the means into an end4 ,he and
 his fellow-disciples had been called to
 follow ,christ not that they might see 
visions1 but had been permitted to see  
visions that they might follow ,christ4 
,just previous to that celestial        
interview1 ,jesus had announced to them 
his own painful doom1 and had swept away
 their conceit of ,messianic glories    
involved with earthly pomp and dominion1
 by his declaration of the self-denial1 
the shame1 and the suffering1 which lay 
in the path of those who really espoused
 his cause and entered into his kingdom4
 ,they needed such a revelation as this1
 then1 upon the ,mount of               
,transfiguration1 to support them under 
the stroke which had shaken their       
earthly delusion1 and let in glimpses of
 the sadder truth4 ,it was well that    
they should behold the leaders of the   
old dispensation confirming and         
ministering to the greatness of the new1
 and the religion which was to go down  
into the dark places of the earth made  

manifest in its authority and its source
 from ,heaven4 ,it was well that they   
should see their ,master glorified1 that
 they might be strengthened to see him  
crucified4 ,it was well that ,moses and 
,elias stood at the font1 when they were
 about to be baptized into their        
apostleship of suffering1 and labor1 and
 helping finish the work which these    
glorious elders helped begin4 ,but that 
great work still lay before them1 and to
 rest here would be to stop upon the    
threshold2--to have kept the vision     
would have thwarted the purpose4 ,upon a
 far higher summit1 and at a far distant
 time--with fields of toil and tracts of
 blood between--would that which was    
meant as an inspiration for their souls 
become fixed for their sight1 and       
tabernacles that should never perish    
enclose a glory that should never pass  
away4  ,you may have anticipated the    
lessons for ourselves which ,i propose  
to draw from this unconsidered request  
of ,peter4 ,at least1 you will readily  

perceive that it does contain           
suggestions applicable to our daily     
life4 ,for ,i proceed1 at once1 to ask  
you if it is not a fact that often we   
would like to remain where1 and to have 
what1 is not best for us8 ,do not       
illustrations of this simple thought    
occur easily to your minds8 ,does not   
man often desire1 as it were1 to build  
his tabernacles here or there1 when due 
consideration1 and after-experience will
 convince him that it was not the place 
to abide2 that it was better that the   
good be craved1 or the class of         
relations to which he clung1 should not 
be permanent8 ,in order to give effect  
to this train of reflection1 let me     
direct you to some specific instances in
 which this desire is manifested4       
,perhaps ,i may say1 without any        
over-refinement upon my topic1 that     
there are three things in life to which 
the desires of men especially           
cling1--three tabernacles which upon the
 slope of this world they would like to 

build4 ,i speak now1 it is to be        
remembered1 of desires of impulse1 not  
of deliberation1--of desires often felt1
 if not expressed4 ,and ,i say1 in the  
first place1 that there are certain     
conditions in life itself that it       
sometimes appears desirable to retain4  
,sometimes1 from the heart of a man1    
there breaks forth a sigh for perpetual 
youth4 ,in the perplexities of mature   
years1--in the experience of            
selfishness1 and hollowness1 and bitter 
disappointment2 in the surfeit of       
pleasure2 in utter weariness of the     
world1--he exclaims1 ,o6 give me back   
that sweet morning of my days1 when all 
my feelings were fresh1 and the heart   
was wet with a perpetual dew4 ,give me  
the untried strength2 the undeceived    
trust2 the credulous imagination1 that  
bathed all things in molten glory1 and  
filled the unknown world with infinite  
possibilities4 ,sad with skepticism1 and
 tired with speculation1 he cries out   
for that faith that needed no other     

confirmation than the tones of a        
mother's voice1 and found ,god          
everywhere in the soft pressure of her  
love2 and when his steps begin to       
hesitate1 and he finds himself among the
 long shadows1 and the frailty and fear 
of the body overcome the prophecies of  
the soul1 and no religious assurance    
lights and lifts up his mind1 how he    
wishes for some fountain of restoration 
that shall bring back his bloom and his 
strength1 and make him always young6    
,why have such experiences as decline1  
and decay1 and death8 he asks4 ,is it   
not good for us to be ever young8 ,why  
should not the body be a tabernacle of  
constant youth1 and life be always thus 
fresh1 and buoyant1 and innocent1 and   
confiding8 ,or1 if we must1 at last1    
die1 why all this sad experience1--this 
incoming of weakness1--this slipping    
away of life and power8  ,but this is a 
feeling which no wise or good man ever  
cherishes long1 for he knows that the   
richest experiences1 and the best       

achievements of life1 come after the    
period of youth2 spring out of this very
 sadness1 and suffering1 and rough      
struggle in the world1 which an         
unthinking sentimentality deplores4 ,ah1
 my friends1 in spite of our trials1 our
 weariness1 our sad knowledge of men and
 things2 in spite of the declining years
 among which so many of us are standing1
 and the tokens of decay that are coming
 upon us2 nay1 in spite even of our very
 sins2 who would go back to the hours of
 his youthful experience1 and have the  
shadow stand still at that point upon   
the dial of his life8 ,who1 for the sake
 of its innocence and its freshness1    
would empty the treasury of his broader 
knowledge1 and surrender the strength   
that he has gathered in effort and      
endurance8 ,who1 for its careless joy1  
would exchange the heart-warm           
friendships that have been annealed in  
the vicissitudes of years1--the love    
that sheds a richer light upon our path1
 as its vista lengthens1 or has drawn   

our thoughts into the glory that is     
beyond the veil8 ,nay1 even if his      
being1 has been most frivolous and      
aimless1 or vile1--in the penitent throb
 with which this is felt to be so1 there
 is a4 spring of active power which     
exists not in the dreams of the youth2  
and the sense of guilt and of misery is 
the stirring1 of a life infinitely      
deeper than that early flow of vitality 
and--consciousness which sparkles as it 
runs4 ,build a tabernacle for perpetual 
youth1 and say1 ,it is good to be here8 
,it cannot be so2 and it is well that it
 cannot4 ,our post is not the ,mount of 
,vision1 but the ,field of ,labor2 and  
we can find no rest in ,eden until we   
have passed through1 ,gethsemane4       
,equally vain is the desire for some    
condition in life which shall be free   
from care1 and want1 and the burden of  
toil4 ,i suppose most people do1 at     
times1 wish for such a lot1 and secretly
 or openly repine at the terms upon     
which they are compelled to live4 ,the  

deepest fancy in the heart of the most  
busy men is repose--retirement-command  
of time and means1 untrammeled by any   
imperative claim4 ,and yet who is there 
that1 thrown into such a position1 would
 find it for his real welfare1 and would
 be truly happy8 ,perhaps the most      
restless being in the world is the man  
who need do nothing1 but keep still4    
,the old soldier fights all his battles 
over again1 and the retired merchant    
spreads the sails of his thought upon   
new ventures1 or comes uneasily down to 
snuff the air of traffic1 and feel the  
jar of wheels4 ,i suppose there is      
nobody whose condition is so deplorable1
 so ghastly1 as his whose lot many may  
be disposed to envy1--a man at the top  
of this world's ease1 crammed to        
repletion with what is called enjoyment2
 ministered to by every luxury1--the    
entire surface of his life so smooth    
with completeness that there is not a   
jut to hang1 a hope on1--so obsequiously
 gratified in every specific want that  

he feels miserable from the very lack of
 wanting4 ,as in such a case there1 can 
be no religious life--which never       
permits us to rest in a feeling of      
completeness2 which seldom abides with  
fulness7sic7 of possession1 and never   
stops with self1 but always inspires to 
some great work of love and             
sacrifice--as in such a case there can  
be no religious life1 he fully realizes 
the poet's description of the splendor  
and the wretchedness of him who         
99 99 built his soul a costly           
pleasure-house     ,wherein at ease for 
aye to dwell2  and who said       99 99 
,o soul1 make merry and carouse         
,dear soul1 for all is well4      99 99 
99 99 99 99 99      ,singing and        
murmuring in her feastful mirth1        
,joying to feel herself alive1     ,lord
 over nature1 lord of the visible earth1
     ,lord of the 'senses five          
,communing with herself31 ',all these   
are mine1     ,and let the world have   
peace or wars1     ',t is one to me1' 99

 99 99 99 99      99 99 99 99 99 ,so    
three years     ,she throve1 but on the 
fourth she fell1     ,like ,herod1 when 
the shout was in his ears1     ,struck  
through with pangs of hell4   ,the truth
 is1 there is no one place1 however we  
may envy it1 which would be indisputably
 good for us to occupy2 much less for us
 to remain in4 ,the zest of life1 like  
the pleasure which we receive from a    
work of art1 or from nature1 comes from 
undulations--from inequalities2 not from
 any monotony1 even though it be the    
monotony of seeming perfection4 ,the    
beauty of the landscape depends upon    
contrasts1 and would be lost in one     
common surface of splendor4 ,the        
grandeur of the waves is in the deep    
hollows1 as well as the culminating     
crests2 and the bars of the sunset glow 
on the background of the twilight4 ,the 
very condition of a great thing is that 
it must be comparatively a rare thing4  
,we speak of summer glories1 and yet who
 would wish it to be always summer8--who

 does not see how admirably the varied  
seasons are fitted to our appetite for  
change8 ,it may seem as if it would be  
pleasant to have it always sunshine2 and
 yet when fruit and plant are dying from
 lack of moisture1 and the earth sleeps 
exhausted in the torrid air1 who ever   
saw a summer morning more beautiful than
 that when the clouds muster their      
legions to the sound of the thunder1 and
 pour upon us the blessing of the rain8 
,we repine at toil1 and yet how gladly  
do we turn in from the lapse of         
recreation to the harness of effort6 ,we
 sigh for the freedom and glory of the  
country2 but1 in due time1 just as fresh
 and beautiful seem to us the brick     
walls and the busy streets where our lot
 is cast1 and our interests run4 ,there 
is no condition in life of which we can 
say exclusively ,it is good for us to be
 here4 ,our course is appointed through 
vicissitude1--our discipline is in      
alternations2 and we can build no       
abiding tabernacles along the way4      

,but1 ,i observe1 in the second place1  
that there are those who may discard the
 notion of retaining any particular     
condition of life and yet they would    
preserve unbroken some of its relations4
 ,they may not keep the freshness of    
youth1 or prevent the intrusion of      
trouble1 or shut out the claims of      
responsibility1 or the demands for      
effort2--they may not achieve anything  
of this kind2 and they do not wish to   
achieve it2 but they would build a      
tabernacle to ,,love1 and keep the      
objects of dear affection safe within   
its enclosure4 ,joy1 sorrow1 poverty1   
riches1 youth1 decay1 let these come as 
they must1 say they1 in the flow of     
,providence2 but let the heart's        
sanctuaries remain unbroken1 and let us 
in all this chance find the presence and
 the ministration of those we love4     
,and1 common as the sight is1 we must   
always contemplate with a fresh sadness 
this sundering of family bonds2 this    
cancelling7sic7 of the dear realities of

 home2 this stealing in of the          
inevitable gloom2 this vacating of the  
chair1 the table1 and the bed2 this     
vanishing of the familiar face into     
darkness2 this passage from communion to
 memory2 this diminishing of love's orb 
into narrower phases1--into a           
crescent1--into a shadow4 ,surely1      
however broad the view we take of the   
universe1 a real woe1 a veritable       
experience of suffering1 amidst this    
boundless benificence1 reaching as deep 
as the heart's core1 is this old and    
common sorrow2--the sorrow of woman for 
her babes1 and of man for his helpmate1 
and of age for its prop1 and of the son 
for the mother that bore him1 and of the
 heart for the hearts that once beat in 
sympathy1 and of the eyes that hide     
vacancies with tears4 ,when these old   
stakes are wrenched from their sockets1 
and these intimate cords are snapped1   
one begins to feel his own tent shake   
and flap in the wind that comes from    
eternity1 and to realize that there is  

no abiding tabernacle here4  ,but ought 
we really to wish that these relations  
might remain unbroken1 and to murmur    
because it is not so8 ,we shall be able 
to answer this question in the negative1
 ,i think1--however hard it may be to do
 so1--when we consider1 in the first    
place1 that this breaking up and        
separation are inevitable4 ,for we may  
be assured that whatever in the system  
of things is inevitable is beneficent4  
,the dissolution of these bonds comes by
 the same law as that which ordains     
them2 and we may be sure that the       
one--though it plays out of sight1 and  
is swallowed up in mystery--is as wise  
and tender in its purpose as the other4 
,it is very consoling to recognize the  
,hand that gave in the ,hand that takes 
a friend1 and to know that he is borne  
away in the bosom of ,infinite          
,gentleness1 as he was brought here4 ,it
 is the privilege of angels1 and of a   
faith that brings us near the angels1 to
 always behold the face of our ,father  

in ,heaven2 and so we shall not desire  
the abrogation of this law of           
dissolution and separation4 ,we shall   
strengthen ourselves to contemplate the 
fact that the countenances we love must 
change1 and the ties that are closest to
 our hearts will break2 and we shall    
feel that it ought to be1 because it    
must be1--because it is an inevitability
 in that grand and bounteous scheme in  
which stars rise and set1 and life and  
death play into each other4  ,but1 even 
within the circle of our own knowledge1 
there is that which may reconcile us to 
these separations1 and prevent the vain 
wish of building perpetual tabernacles  
for our human love4 ,for who is         
prepared1 at any time1 to say that it   
was not better for the dear friend1 and 
better for ourselves1 that he should go1
 rather than stay2--better for the      
infant to die with flowers upon its     
breast1 than to live and have thorns in 
its heart2--better to kiss the innocent 
lips that are still and cold1 than to   

see the living lips that are scorched   
with guilty passion2--better to take our
 last look of a face while it is        
pleasant to remember--serene with       
thought1 and faith1 and many            
charities--than to see it toss in       
prolonged agony1 and grow hideous with  
the wreck of intellect8 ,and1 as        
spiritual beings1 placed here not to be 
gratified1 but to be trained1 surely we 
know that often it is the drawing up of 
these earthly ties that draws up our    
souls2 that a great bereavement breaks  
the crust of our mere animal            
consciousness1 and inaugurates a        
spiritual faith2 and we are baptized    
into eternal life through the cloud and 
the shadow of death4  ,but1 once more1  
,i remark1 that there are those who may 
say1 ,we do not ask for any permanence  
in the conditions of life2 we do not ask
 that even its dearest relationships    
should be retained2 but give1 ,o6 give  
us ever those highest brightest moods of
 faith and of truth1 which constitute   

the glory of religion1 and lift us above
 the conflict and the sin of the world6 
,no truly religious mind can fail to    
perceive the gravitation of its thoughts
 and desires1 and the contrast between  
its usual level and its best moments of 
contemplation and prayer4 ,and it4 may  
indeed seem well to desire the          
prolongation of these experiences2 to   
desire to live ever in that unworldly   
radiance1 close to the canopy of        
,god1--in company with the great and the
 holy1--in company with the apostles and
 with ,jesus1--on some ,mount of        
,transfiguration1 in garments whiter    
than snow1 and with faces bright as the 
sun2 and the hard1 bad1 trying world far
 distant and far below4 ,does not the   
man of spiritual sensitiveness envy     
those sainted ones who have grown apart1
 in pure clusters1 away above the sinful
 world1 blossoming and breathing        
fragrance on the very slopes of heaven8 
,and yet1 is this the complete ideal of 
life8 and is this the way in which we   

are to accomplish its true end8 ,i think
 we may safely say that even the        
brightest realizations of religion      
should be comparatively rare1 otherwise 
we forget the work and lose the         
discipline of our mortal lot4 ,the great
 saints--the men whose names stand      
highest in the calendar of the church   
universal--are not the ascetics1 not the
 contemplators1 not the men who walked  
apart in cloisters2 but those who came  
down from the ,mount of ,communion and  
,glory1 to take a part in the world2 who
 have carried its burdens in their      
souls1 and its scars upon their breasts2
 who have wrought for its deepest       
interests1 and died for its highest     
good2 whose garments have swept its     
common ways1 and whose voices have      
thrilled in its low places of suffering 
and of need2--men who have leaned       
lovingly against the world1 until the   
motion of their great hearts jars in its
 pulses forever2 men who have gone up   
from dust1 and blood1 and crackling     

fire2 men with faces of serene endurance
 and lofty denial1 yet of broad1 genial1
 human sympathies2--these are the men   
who wear starry crowns1 and walk in     
white robes1 yonder4  ,we need our      
visions for inspiration1 but we must    
work in comparative shadow2 otherwise1  
the very highest revelations would      
become monotonous1 and we should long   
for still higher4 ,and yet1 are there   
not some whose desire is for constant   
revelation8 ,who would see supernatural 
sights1 and hear supernatural sounds1   
and know all the realities towards which
 they are drifting1 as well as those in 
which they must work8 ,they would make  
this world a mount of perpetual vision2 
overlooking the fact that it has its own
 purposes1 to be wrought out by its own 
light1 and within its own limits4 ,for  
my part1 ,i must confess that ,i do not 
share in this desire to know all about  
the next world1 and to see beforehand   
everything that is going to be4 ,i have 
no solicitude about the mere scenery and

 modes of the future state4 ,but this   
desire to be in the midst of perpetual  
revelations argues that there is not    
enough to fill our minds and excite our 
wonder here2 when all things around us  
are pregnant with suggestion1 and invite
 us1 and offer unfathomed depths for our
 curious seeking4 ,there is so much     
here1 too1 for our love and our         
discipline2 so much for us to do1 that  
we hardly need more revelations just    
now2--they might overwhelm and disturb  
us in the pursuit of these appointed    
ends4 ,moreover1 the gratification of   
this desire would foreclose that        
glorious anticipation1 that trembling   
expectancy1 which is so fraught with    
inspiration and delight1--the joy of the
 unknown1 the bliss of the thought that 
there is a great deal yet to be         
revealed4  ,we do need some revelation2 
just such as has been given2--a glimpse 
of the immortal splendors2 an articulate
 ,voice from heaven--a view of the      
glorified ,jesus2 a revelation in a     

point of time1 just as that on the mount
 was in point of space4 ,we need some2  
but not too much1--not all revelation2  
not revelation as a customary fact4 ,if 
so1 ,i repeat1 we should neglect this   
ordained field of thought and action4   
,we should live in a sphere of          
supernaturalism1--in an atmosphere of   
wonder1--amid a planetary roll of       
miracles2 still unsatisfied2 still      
needing the suggestion of higher points 
to break the stupendous monotony4  ,and 
,i insist that work1 not vision1 is to  
be the ordinary method of our being     
here1 against the position of those who 
shut themselves in to a contemplative   
and extatic piety4 ,they would escape   
from the age1 and its anxieties2 they   
would recall past conditions2 they would
 get into the shadow of cloisters1 and  
build cathedrals for an exclusive       
sanctity4 ,and1 indeed1 we would do well
 to consider those tendencies of our    
time which lead us away from the inner  
life of faith and prayer4 ,but this we  

should cherish1 not by withdrawing all  
sanctity from life1 but by pouring      
sanctity into life4 ,we should not quit 
the world1 to build tabernacles in the  
,mount of ,transfiguration1 but come    
from out the celestial brightness1 to   
shed light into the world1--to make the 
whole earth a cathedral2 to overarch it 
with ,christian ideals1 to transfigure  
its gross and guilty features1 and fill 
it with redeeming truth and love4       
,surely1 the lesson of the incident     
connected with the text is clear1 so far
 as the apostles were concerned1 who    
beheld that dazzling1 brightness1 and   
that heavenly companionship1 apart on   
the mount4 ,they were not permitted to  
remain apart2 but were dismissed to     
their appointed work4 ,peter went to    
denial and repentance1--to toil and     
martyrdom2 ,james to utter his practical
 truth2 ,john to send the fervor of his 
spirit among the splendors of the       
,apocalypse1 and1 in its calmer flow    
through his ,gospel1 to give us the     

clearest mirror of the ,saviour's face4 
,nay1 even for the ,redeemer that was   
not to be an abiding vision2 and he     
illustrates the purport of life as he   
descends from his transfiguration to    
toil1 and goes forward to exchange that 
robe of heavenly1 brightness for the    
crown of thorns4  ,what if ,jesus had   
remained there1 upon that ,mount of     
,vision1 and himself stood before us as 
only a transfigured form of glory8      
,where then would be the peculiarity of 
his work1 and its effect upon the world8
  ,on the wall of the ,vatican1         
untarnished by the passage of three     
hundred years1 hangs the masterpiece of 
,raphael1--his picture of the           
,transfiguration4 ,in the centre1 with  
the glistening raiment and the altered  
countenance1 stands ,jesus1 the         
,redeemer4 ,on the right hand and on the
 left are his glorified visitants2      
while1 underneath the bright cloud1 lie 
the forms of ,peter1 and ,james1 and    
,john1 gazing at the transfigured       

,jesus1 shading their faces as they     
look4 ,something of the rapture and the 
awe that attracted the apostles to that 
shining spot seems to have seized the   
soul of the great artist1 and filled him
 with his greatest inspiration4 ,but he 
saw what the apostles1 at that moment1  
did not see1 and1 in another portion of 
his picture1 has represented the scene  
at the foot of the hill1--the group that
 awaited the descent of ,jesus44 ,the   
poor possessed boy1 writhing1 and       
foaming1 and gnashing his teeth1--his   
eyes1 as some say1 in their wild rolling
 agony1 already catching a glimpse of   
the glorified ,christ above2 the baffled
 disciples1 the caviling scribes1 the   
impotent physicians1 the grief-worn     
father1 seeking in vain for help4       
,suppose ,jesus had stayed upon the     
mount1 what would have become of that   
group of want1 and helplessness1 and    
agony8 ,suppose ,christ had remained in 
the brightness of that vision           
forever1--himself only a vision of      

glory1 and not an example of toil1 and  
sorrow1 and suffering1 and death1--alas6
 ,for the great world at large1 waiting 
at the foot of the hill--the groups of  
humanity in all ages2--the sin-possessed
 sufferers--the caviling skeptics2 the  
philosophers1 with their books and      
instruments2 the bereaved and frantic   
mourners in their need6  ,so1 my        
hearers1 wrapped in the higher moods of 
the soul1 and wishing to abide among    
upper glories1 we may not see the work  
that waits for us along our daily path2 
without doing which all our visions are 
vain4 ,we must have the visions4 ,we    
need them in our estimate of the world  
around us1--of the aspects and destinies
 of humanity4 ,there are times when     
justice is balked1 and truth covered up1
 and freedom trampled down2--when we may
 well be tempted to ask1 ,what is the   
use of trying to work8--when we may well
 inquire whether what-we are doing is   
work at all4 ,and in such a case1 or in 
any other1 one is lifted up1 and        

inspired1 and enabled to do and to      
endure all things1 when in steady vision
 he beholds the everliving ,god1--when  
all around the injustice1 and conflict1 
and suffering of the world1 he detects  
the ,divine ,presence1 like a bright    
cloud overshadowing4 ,o6 then doubt     
melts away1 and wrong dwindles1 and the 
jubilee of victorious falsehood is but a
 peal of drunken laughter1 and the      
spittings of guilt and contempt no more 
than flakes of foam flung against a     
hero's breast-plate4 ,then one sees1 as 
it were1 with the vision of ,god1 who   
looked down upon the old cycles1 when a 
sweltering waste covered the face of the
 globe1 and huge1 reptile natures held  
it in dominion2--who beholds the pulpy  
worm1 down in the sea1 building the     
pillars of continents2--so one sees the 
principalities of evil sliding from     
their thrones1 and the deposits of      
humble faithfulness rising from the deep
 of ages4 ,our sympathy1 our benevolent 
effort in the work of ,god and humanity1

 how much do they need not only the     
vision of intellectual foresight1 but of
 the faith which1 on bended knees1 sees 
further than the telescope6  ,and alas6 
for him who1 in his personal need and   
effort1 has no margin of holier         
inspiration--no rim of divine           
splendor---around his daily life6       
,without the vision of life's great     
realities we cannot see what our work   
is1 or know how to do it4  ,but such    
visions must be necessarily rare and    
transient1 or we shall miss their       
genuine efficacy4 ,we must work in      
comparative shadow1 without the         
immediate sight of these realities2 and 
only in the place of our rest1--rest for
 higher efforts and a new career1--only 
there may we have their constant        
companionship1 and build their perpetual
 tabernacles4     ,,the ,,shadow ,,of   
,,disappointment4       ,but we trusted 
that it had been he which should have   
redeemed ,israel4    ,,luke xxiv4 #ba4  
,in the accounts of the disciples1      

contained in the ,new ,testament1 there 
is no attempt to glorify them1 or to    
conceal any weakness4 ,from the first to
 the last1 they think and act precisely 
as men would think and act in their     
circumstances2--they are affected just  
as others of like culture would be      
affected by such events as those set    
forth in the record4 ,and the           
genuineness of their conduct argues the 
genuineness of the incidents which      
excited it4 ,the divine1 wonderworking1 
risen ,jesus1 is the necessary          
counterpart of the amazed1 believing1   
erring hoping1 desponding1 rejoicing    
fishermen and publicans4 ,this stamp of 
reality is very evident in the instance 
before us4 ,the conduct and the feelings
 of the disciples are those of men who  
have been involved in a succession of   
strange experiences4 ,for a little while
 they have been in communion with ,one  
who has spoken as never man spoke1 and  
who has touched the deepest springs of  
their being4 ,he has lifted them out of 

the narrow limits of their previous     
lives4 ,from the ,receipt of ,customs1  
and the ,galilean lake1 he has summoned 
them to the interests and awards1 the   
thought and the work1 of a spiritual and
 divine kingdom4 ,at first following    
him1 perhaps they hardly knew why1      
conscious only that he had the ,words of
 ,eternal ,life1 the terms of this      
discipleship have grown into bonds of   
the dearest intimacy4 ,their ,master has
 become their ,companion and their      
,friend1 and their faith has deepened   
into tender and confiding love4 ,but    
still1 theirs has been the belief of the
 trusting soul1 rather than the         
enlightened intellect4 ,from the fitness
 of the teaching1 and the wonder of the 
miracle1 they have felt that he was the 
very ,christ2 and yet1 from this        
conviction of the heart they have not   
been able to separate their ,jewish     
conceits4 ,sometimes1 it may be1 the    
language of the ,saviour has carried    
them up into a broader and more         

spiritual region2 but then1 they have   
subsided into their symbols and         
shadows2--only1 notwithstanding the     
errors that have hindered1 and the hints
 that have awed them1 they have steadily
 felt the inspiration of a great hope1  
the expectation of something glorious to
 be revealed in the speedy coming of the
 ,messiah's kingdom4 ,and now1 does not 
the account immediately connected with  
the text picture for us exactly the     
state of men whose conceptions have been
 broken up by a great shock1 and yet in 
whose hearts the central hope still     
remains and vibrates with mysterious    
tenacity8--men who have had the form of 
their expectation utterly refuted and   
scattered into darkness1 but who still  
cherish its spirit8 ,christ the crowned 
,king1--,christ the armed               
,deliverer1--,christ the ,avenger1      
sweeping away his foes with one burst of
 miracle1--is to them1 no more4 ,they   
saw the multitude seize him1 and no     
legions came to rescue2--they saw him   

condemned1 abused1 crucified1 buried2   
and so1 in no sense of which they could 
conceive1 was this he who should have   
redeemed ,israel4 ,and yet the          
suggestion of something still to        
come1--something connected with three   
days1--lingered in their minds4 ,and1 in
 the midst of their despondency1        
striking upon this very chord1 the      
startling rumor reached them that       
,christ had risen from the dead4 ,it was
 in this mood that ,jesus found the two 
disciples whose words ,i have selected  
for my text2--faith and doubt1          
disappointment and hope1 alternating in 
their minds2 their ,jewish conceit laid 
prostrate in the dust1 and yet the      
expectation of something1 they knew not 
what1 now strangely confirmed4 ,see how 
these feelings mingle in the passage    
before us4 ,what manner of              
communications1 said the undiscerned    
,saviour1 are these that ye have one to 
another1 as ye walk1 and are sad8-,art  
thou only a stranger in ,jerusalem1 says

 one of them1 and hast not known the    
things which are come to pass there in  
these days8 ,what things8 ,concerning   
,jesus of ,nazareth1 replied they1 which
 was a prophet mighty in deed and word  
before ,god and all the people3 and how 
the chief priests and our rulers        
delivered him to be condemned to death1 
and have crucified him4 ,but we trusted 
that it had been he which should have   
redeemed ,israel3 and beside all this1  
to-day is the third day since these     
things were done4 ,yea1 and certain     
women also of our company made us       
astonished1 which were early at the     
sepulchre2 and when they found not his  
body1 they came1 saying1 that they had  
also seen a vision of angels1 which said
 that he was alive4 ,and certain of them
 which were with us went to the         
sepulchre1 and found it even so as the  
women had said3 but him they saw not4   
,my hearers1 ,i think we see1 in this   
instance the minds of these disciples   
working as the minds of men might be    

expected to work under like conditions4 
,and to me this casts a complexion of   
genuineness upon the transactions which1
 as stated in the record1 account for   
these mental alternations4 ,the entire  
passage is alive with reality4 ,the     
genuine emotions of humanity play and   
thrill together1 there1 in the shadow of
 the cross and the glory of the         
resurrection4  ,but1 if these feelings  
are thus natural1 the experience itself 
indicated in that portion of this verse 
which constitutes the text is not       
entirely removed from our ordinary life4
 ,the incident which occasioned these   
sad words was an extraordinary one2 but 
its moral significance1 as it now comes 
before us1 illustrates many a passage in
 man's daily course4 ,the language1 as  
we read it1 appears to be the language  
of disappointment2---it was under the   
shadow of disappointment1 though        
alternating with hope1 that these       
disciples spoke2 and it is to the       
lessons afforded by disappointment in   

the course of life that ,i now          
especially invite your attention4  ,and 
the precise point in the text1 bearing  
upon this subject1 is the fact1 that    
while the disciples seemed to feel as   
though all redemption for ,israel was   
now hopeless1 that process of redemption
 for ,israel1 and for the world1 was    
going on through the agency of those    
very events which had filled them with  
dismay4 ,even as they were speaking1 in 
tones of sadness1 about the crucified   
,christ1 the living ,christ1 made       
perfect for his work by that            
crucifixion1 was walking by their side4 
,looking far this side of that shadow of
 disappointment which then brooded over 
them1 we see all this1 that then they   
did not see2 but now is it with         
ourselves1 under the frequent shadows   
cast by more ordinary events8 ,this     
suggestion may afford us some profitable
 thoughts4  ,i need hardly say1 in the  
first place1 that man is continually    
inspired by expectation4 ,every effort  

he makes is made in the conviction of   
possibility and the light of hope4 ,this
 is the heart of ambition and the spring
 of toil4 ,it is the balm which he      
applies to the wounds of misfortune4 ,it
 is the key with which he tries the     
wards of nature4 ,and from the morning  
of life to its last twilight he is      
always looking4 forward4 ,the saddest   
spectacle of all--sadder even than pain1
 and bereavement1 and death--is a man   
void of hope4 ,the most abject people is
 a hopeless people1 in whose hearts the 
memories of the past1 and the pulses of 
endeavor1 and the courage of faith are  
dead1 and who crouch by their own       
thresholds and the crumbling tombstones 
of their fathers1 and take the tyrant's 
will1 without an incentive1 and without 
even a dream4 ,the most intense form in 
which misery can express itself is in   
the phrase1 ,i have nothing to live for4
 ,and he who can actually say1 and who  
really feels this1 is dead1 and covered 
with the very pall and darkness of      

calamity4 ,but few1 indeed1 are they who
 can1 with truth1 say this4  ,but if    
hope or expectation is such a vital     
element of human experience1 so does    
disappointment have its part in the     
mechanism of things1 and1 as we shall   
presently see1 its wise and beneficial  
part4 ,for1 after all1 how few things   
correspond with the forecast of         
expectation6 ,to be sure1 some results  
transcend our hope2 but how many fall   
below it1--balk it1--turn out exactly   
opposite to it6 ,among those who meet   
with disappointments in life1 there are 
those who are expecting                 
impossibilities1--whose expectations are
 inordinate1--are more than the nature  
of things will admit2 or who are looking
 for a harvest where they have planted  
no seed4 ,they carry the dreams of youth
 in among the realities of the world1   
and its vanishing visions leave them    
naked and discouraged4 ,the light of    
romance1 that glorified all things in   
the future1 recedes as they advance1 and

 they come upon rugged paths of         
fact--upon plain toil and daily         
care1--upon the market and the field1   
and upon men as they are in their       
weakness1 and their selfishness1 and    
their mutual distrust4 ,or they belong1 
it may be1 to that class who are too    
highly charged with hope2 whose sanguine
 notions never go by induction1 but by  
leaps2 who never calculate the          
difficulties1 but only see the thing    
complete and rounded in                 
imagination2--men with plenty of poetry1
 and no arithmetic2 whose theories work 
miracles1 but whose attempts are        
failures4 ,it is pleasant1 sometimes1 to
 meet with people like these1 who1      
clothed in the scantiest garments1 and  
with only a crust upon their tables1 at 
the least touch of suggestion1 mount    
into a region of splendor4 ,their       
poverty all fades away2--the bare walls1
 the tokens of stern want1 the dusty    
world1 are all transfigured with        
infinite possibilities4 ,achievement is 

only a word1 and fortune comes in at a  
stride4 ,the palace of beauty rises1    
fruits bloom in waste places1 gold drops
 from the rocks1 and the entire movement
 of life becomes a march of jubilee4    
,and they are so certain this time1--the
 plan they now have is so sure to       
succeed6 ,i repeat1 it is pleasant1     
sometimes1 to have intercourse with such
 men1 who throw bloom and marvelousness 
upon the actualities of the world1 from 
the reservoirs of their sanguine        
invention4 ,at least1 it is pleasant to 
think how this faculty of unfailing     
enthusiasm enables them to bear defeat1 
and to look away from the cold face of  
necessity2--to think that1 while so many
 are trudging after the sounding wheels 
and the monotonous jar of life1 and     
lying down by the way to die1 these men 
are marching buoyantly to a tune inside4
 ,and yet this is pleasant only from a  
hasty point of view4 ,these people meet 
with disappointment1 of course2 and it  
is sad to think how many lives have come

 to absolutely nothing1 and are all     
strewn over1 from boyhood to the grave1 
with the fragments of splendid schemes4 
,it is sad to think how all their       
visionary ,balbecs and ,palmyras have   
been reared in a real desert1--the      
desert of an existence producing no     
substantial thing4 ,and among these     
vanishing dreams1 and on that melancholy
 waste1 they learn1 at last1 the meaning
 of their disappointment4 ,and from     
their experience1 we too may learn1 that
 we are placed here to be not merely    
ideal artists1 but actual toilers2 not  
cadets of hope1 but soldiers of         
endeavor4  ,but there are               
disappointments in life that succeed    
reasonable expectation2 and these are   
the hardest of all to bear4 ,i say the  
expectation is reasonable2 and yet1 very
 possibly1 the bitterness of the        
disappointment comes from neglecting to 
consider the infirmity of all earthly   
things4 ,it is hard when1 not dreaming1 
but trying our best1 we fail4 ,it is    

hard to bear the burden and heat of the 
day1 through all life's prime1 and yet1 
with all our toil1 to earn no repose for
 its evening hours4 ,it is hard to      
accumulate a little gain1 baptizing     
every dollar with our honest sweat1 and 
then have it stricken from our grasp by 
the band of calamity or of fraud4 ,it is
 hard1 when we have placed our          
confidence in man's honor1 or his       
friendship1 to find that we are fools1  
and that we have been led in among rocks
 and serpents4 ,and hard indeed is it to
 see those who were worthy our love and 
our faith drop by our side1 and leave us
 alone4 ,this dear child1 the blossom of
 so many hopes1--hard is it to see him  
die--to fold all our expectation in his 
little shroud1 and lay it away forever4 
,we thought it had been he who should   
have comforted and blessed us1--in whose
 life we could have retraced the cycle  
of our own happiest experience1--whose  
unfolding faculties would have been a   
renewal of our knowledge1 and his       

manhood not merely the prop but the     
refreshing of our age4 ,this companion  
of our lot1--this wedded wife of our    
heart1--why taken away now8 ,she has    
shared our early struggles1 and tempered
 our anxiety with cheerful assurance4   
,she has tasted the bitterness2 we      
thought she would have been a partner of
 the joy4 ,she has borne our            
fretfulness1 and helped our perplexity1 
and shed a serene light into our gloom2 
,we thought she would have been with us 
when we could pay the debt of           
faithfulness2 when the cares of business
 did not press and disturb us so4 ,we   
thought it was she whose voice1 sweet   
with the music of old1 deep memories1   
would have consoled us far along2 and   
that1 in some calm evening of life1 when
 all the tumult of the world was still1 
and we were ready to go1 we should      
go--not far apart--gently to our graves4
  ,such are the plans that we lay out1  
saying of this thing and of that thing1 
,we trusted that it would have been so4 

,but the answer has been disappointment4
 ,the old1 ay1 perhaps the most common  
lesson of life1 is disappointment4  ,and
 now ,i ask1 is it not an intended      
lesson8 ,evidently it comes in as an    
element in the ,providential plan in    
which we are involved4 ,for we see its  
disciplinary nature1--its wise and      
beneficial results in harmony with that 
,plan4 ,consider whether it is not the  
fact1 that the entire discipline of life
 grows out of a succession of           
disappointments4 ,that youthful dream1  
in which life has stretched out like a  
sunny landscape with purple             
mountain-chains--is it not well that it 
is broken up1 and we strike upon rugged 
realities8 ,does not all the strength of
 manhood1 and the power of achievement1 
and the glory of existence1 depend upon 
these things which are not included in  
the young boy's vision of a happy world4
 ,welcome1 ,o6 disappointment of our    
hope that life would prove a perpetual  
holiday4 ,welcome experience of the fact

 that blessing comes not from pleasure1 
but from labor6 ,for in that experience 
alone was there ever anything truly     
great or good accomplished4 ,we can     
conceive no possible way by which one   
can be made personally strong without   
his own effort2--no possible way by     
which the mind can be enriched and      
strengthened where it is lifted up1     
instead of climbing for itself2--no way1
 therefore1 in which life could be at   
all a worthy achievement1 if it were    
merely a plain of ease1 instead of      
holding every ward of knowledge and of  
power under the guard of difficulty and 
the requisition of endeavor4  ,and it is
 equally true that the greatest         
successes grow out of great failures4   
,in numerous instances the result is    
better that comes after a series of     
abortive experiences than it would have 
been if it had come at once4 ,for all   
these successive failures induce a      
skill1 which is so much additional power
 working into the final achievement4    

,nobody passes at once to the mastery1  
in any branch of science or of industry2
 and when he does become a master in his
 work it is evident1 not only in the    
positive excellence of his performance1 
but in the sureness with which he avoids
 defects2 and these defects he has      
learned by experimental failures4 ,the  
hand that evokes such perfect music from
 the instrument has often failed in its 
touch1 and bungled among the keys4 ,and 
if a man derives skill from his own     
failures1 so does he from the failures  
of other men4 ,every unsuccessful       
attempt is1 for him1 so much work done2 
for he will not go over that ground     
again1 but seek some new way4 ,every    
disappointed effort fences in and       
indicates the only possible path of     
success1 and makes it easier to find4   
,we should thank past ages and other    
men1 not only for what they have left us
 of great things done1 but for the      
heritage of their failures4 ,every      
baffled effort for freedom contributes  

skill for the next attempt1 and ensures 
the day of victory4 ,nations stripped   
and bound1 and waiting for liberty under
 the shadow of thrones1 cherish in      
memory not only the achievements of     
their heroes1 but the defeats of their  
martyrs2 and when the trumpet-voice     
shall summon them once more1 as surely  
it will1--when they shall draw for the  
venture of freedom1 and unroll its      
glittering standard to the winds1--they 
will avoid the stumbling blocks which   
have sacrificed the brave1 and the      
errors which have postponed former      
hopes4 ,in public and in private action1
 it is true that disappointment is the  
school of achievement1 and the balked   
efforts are the very agents that help us
 to our purpose4  ,and1 if life         
itself--life as a whole--seems to us but
 a series of disappointments1 is not    
this the very conviction we need to work
 out from it1 through our own           
experience8 ,do we not need to learn    
that this life itself is not sufficient1

 and holds no blessing that will fill us
 completely1 and with which we may      
forever rest8 ,the baffled hopes of our 
mortal state2--what are they but vain   
strivings of the human soul1 out of the 
path of its highest good8 ,the wandering
 bird1 driven against the branches1 and 
beaten by the storm1 flutters at last to
 the clear opening1 by which it mounts  
above the cloud1 and finds its way to   
its home4 ,this life is not ordained in 
vain2--it is constituted for a grand    
purpose1 if through its lessons of      
experience we become convinced that this
 life is not all4 ,in the outset of our 
existence here1 and merely from the     
teaching of others1 we cannot comprehend
 the great realities of existence4  ,how
 the things that have grown familiar to 
our eyes1 and the lessons that have     
sounded trite upon our ears1 become     
fresh and wonderful1 as life turns into 
experience6 ,how this very lesson of    
disappointment lets us in to the deep   
meanings of ,scripture1 for instance6   

,the ,christ of our youth1--a personage 
standing mild and beautiful upon the    
,gospel-page1----a being to admire and  
love2 how be develops to our later      
thought6 how solemnly tender1 how       
greatly real1 he becomes to us1 when we 
cling to him in the agony of our sorrow1
 and he goes down to walk with us on the
 waters of the sea of death6 ,as        
traditional sentiment1--as a wholesome  
subject for school-composition1--we have
 spoken and written of the weariness of 
the world-worn heart1 and the frailty of
 earthly things4 ,but1 ,o6 when our     
hearts have actually become worn1 and   
tried2 when we begin to learn that the  
things of this life are evanescent1--are
 dropping away from us1 and we slipping 
from them1--what inspiration of reality 
comes to us in the oft-heard invitation1
 ,come unto me1 all ye that labor and   
are heavy-laden1 and ,i will give you   
rest6 ,what a depth of meaning flowing  
from the eternal world1 in the precept  
we have read so carelessly1--,lay not up

 for yourselves treasures upon earth1   
where moth and rust doth corrupt1 and   
thieves break through and steal6 ,thus  
the best results of life come from the  
defeats and the limitations that are    
involved with it4  ,and1 in all this1   
observe how disappointment is the       
instrument of higher blessings4 ,see how
 thus life itself suggests a higher good
 than life itself can yield4 ,and so the
 attitude of the disciples1 after the   
crucifixion1 illustrates many           
experiences of our earthly lot4 ,those  
incidents which perplexed and grieved   
them were securing the very results they
 seemed to prevent4 ,so1 in our ordinary
 life1 the things that appear most      
adverse to us are often the most        
favorable4   ,i may say1 indeed1 that to
 any man who is rightly exercised by it1
 disappointment always brings a better  
result4 ,but this statement requires    
that ,i should say1 likewise1 that the  
result of disappointment depends upon   
the level and quality of a man's spirit4

 ,one thing happens alike to the wise   
man and the fool4 ,but how different in 
texture and substance is the final      
result of the event6 ,disappointment    
breaks down a feeble and shallow man4   
,there are those1 again1 whom it does   
not make better1--in fact1 whom nothing1
 as we can see1 makes better4           
,everything glides easily off from them4
 ,now1 it is a noble thing to see a man 
rise above misfortune1--a moral         
,prometheus1 submissive to the actual   
will of ,god1 but defying fate4 ,but    
there are men whose very elasticity     
indicates the superficiality of their   
nature4 ,for it is good sometimes to be 
sad1--good to have depth of being       
sufficient for misfortune to sink into1 
and1 accomplish its proper work4 ,but   
the man who rightly receives the lesson 
of disappointment1 and improves by its  
discipline1 bent as he is on some great 
or good work1 is impelled by it only to 
a change of method1--never to a change  
of purpose2 and the disappointment      

effectually serves the purpose4 ,but the
 fact before us is most clearly seen    
when we contemplate the results of      
disappointment upon a religious and     
un-religious spirit4 ,a man is not made 
better by disappointment to whom this   
world is virtually everything2--to whom 
spiritual things are not realities4 ,to 
him life is a narrow stream between     
jutting crags1 and its substance flows  
away with the objects before his eyes4  
,nay1 some men of this sort are made    
worse by the failure of earthly hopes1  
and their natures are compressed and    
hammered by misfortune into a sullen and
 granitic defiance4 ,but he who sees    
beyond these material limits1 looking to
 the great end and final relations of   
our being1 always extracts from mortal  
disappointment a better result4 ,in the 
wreck of external things he gathers that
 spiritual good which is the substance  
of all life2--that faith1 and patience1 
and holy love1 which1 when all that is  
mortal and incidental in our humanity   

passes away1 constitute the residuum of 
personality4  ,our hopes                
disappointed1--our plans thwarted and   
overthrown2 but out of that             
disappointment a richer good evolving   
than we had conceived2 something that   
tends more than all our effort to       
produce the real object of life4 ,my    
friends1 what do we make out of this    
fact8 ,why1 surely this1 that life is   
not our plan1 but ,god's4 ,consider what
 we1 often1 would have made out of life1
 and compare this with what ,providence 
has made out of it4 ,contrast the man's 
achievement with the boy's scheme2 the  
dream of care with the moral glory that 
has sprung from toil and trouble4       
,contrast the idea of the ,saviour in   
the minds of those disciples with the   
actual ,saviour rising victorious from  
the conditions of shame and death4      
,life is ,god's plan2 not ours4 ,we may 
find this out only by effort2 but we do 
find it out4  ,we are responsible for   
the use of our materials1 but the       

materials themselves1 and the great     
movement of things1 are furnished for   
us4 ,let us fall into no ascetic view of
 life4 ,out of our joy and our          
acknowledged good the ,supreme ,disposer
 works his spiritual ends4 ,but1        
especially1 how often does he do this   
out of our trials1 and sorrows1 and     
so-called evils6 ,once more ,i say life 
is ,god's plan2 not ours4 ,for often on 
the ruins of visionary hope rises the   
kingdom of our substantial possession   
and our true peace2 and under the shadow
 of earthly disappointment1 all         
unconsciously to ourselves1 our ,divine 
,redeemer is walking by our side4       
,,life ,a ,,tale        ,we spend our   
years as a tale that is told4  ,psalm   
xc4#i4   ,we bring our years to an end  
like a thought1 is the proper rendering 
of these words1 according1 to an eminent
 translator4 ,but as the essential idea 
of the ,psalmist is preserved in the    
common version1 ,i employ it as         
peculiarly illustrative and forcible4   

,it will be my object1 in the present   
discourse1 to show the fitness of the   
comparison in the text2--to suggest the 
points of resemblance between human life
 and a passing narrative4  ,i observe1  
then1 in the first place1 that the      
propriety of this simile is seen in the 
brevity of life4 ,what more rapid and   
momentary than a story8 ,it is heard1   
and passes4 ,though it beguiles us for  
the time1 it dies away in sound1 or     
melts from before1 the eye4 ,and this ,i
 say1 strikingly illustrates the brevity
 of life4 ,the brevity of life6 ,it is a
 trite truth1 and yet how little        
realized6 ,probably there is nothing1   
more common1 and yet there is nothing1  
more pernicious1 than the habit of      
virtual dependence upon length of days4 
,thus the best ends of our mortal being 
are lost sight of2 the solemn           
circumstances1 the suggestive mysteries 
of life1 are misconstrued4 ,the heavens1
 which give a myriad hints of worlds    
beyond the grave1 are1 to many1         

impenetrable walls1 shutting them in to 
mere pursuits of sense1--the upholstery 
of a workshop or bazaar2 and this earth1
 which is but a step1--a filmy platform 
of our immortal course1--is to them the 
solid abiding place of all interest1 and
 of all hope4  ,it is well1 then1 to    
break in upon this worldly reliance1--to
 consider how fleeting and uncertain are
 the things in which we garner up so    
much4 ,therefore1 in order that we may  
more vividly realize the brevity of     
life1--how like it is to a passing      
tale1--let us consider the rapidity of  
its changes1 even in a few short years4 
,we are1 to some degree1 made aware how 
fast the current of time bears us on1   
when we pause and remark the shores2    
when we observe how our position to-day 
has shifted from what it was yesterday2 
how the sunny slopes of youth have been 
changed for the teeming uplands of      
maturity2 yea1 perhaps1 how already the 
stream is narrowing1 and rushing more   
swiftly as it narrows1 towards those    

high hills that bound our present       
vision1 upon whose summits lingers the  
departing light1 and around whose base  
thickens the solemn shadow4  ,this      
rapidity of change is most strikingly   
illustrated when1 after a few years'    
absence1 we return to the scenes of our 
youth4 ,we plunged into the current of  
the world1 buoyant and vigorous2 our    
thoughts have been occupied every hour1 
and we have not noticed the stealthy    
shadow of time4 ,but we come back to    
that early spot1 and look around4 ,lo6  
,the companions of our youth have grown 
into dignified men1--the active and     
influential citizens of the place4 ,care
 has set       ,busy wrinkles round     
their eyes4  ,they meet us with formal  
deportment1 or with an ill-concealed    
restlessness1 as though we hindered them
 in their work1--work6 ,which1 when we  
parted with them1 would have been flung 
to the winds for any idle sport4 ,how   
quickly they have changed into this     
gravity and anxiety6 ,on the other hand1

 those who stood where they stand       
now1--whose names occupied the signs and
 the records which theirs now           
fill1--have passed away1 or1 here and   
there1 come tottering along1 bent and   
gray-headed men4 ,those1 too1 who were  
mere infants-those whom we never        
saw-take up our old stations1 and       
inspire them with the gladness of       
childhood4 ,and exactly thus have we    
changed to others4 ,we are a mirror to  
them and they to us4  ,from this        
familiar experience1 then1 let us       
realize that the stream of life does not
 stop1 nor are we left stationary1 but  
carried with it2 though our condition   
may appear unchanged1 until we lift up  
our eyes1 and look for the old          
landmarks4 ,the brevity of our life6 my 
friends4 ,amid our daily business1--in  
the sounding tumult of the great mart1  
and the absorption of our thoughts1--do 
we think of it8 ,do we perceive how     
nearly we approach a goal which a little
 while ago seemed far before us8 ,do we 

observe how quickly we shoot by it8 ,do 
we mark with what increasing swiftness  
the line of our life seems reeling off1 
and how close we are coming to the end8 
,time never stops6 ,each tick of the    
clock echoes our advancing footsteps4   
,the shadow of the dial falls upon it a 
shorter and shorter tract1 which we have
 yet to pass over4 ,even if a long life 
lies before us1 let us consider that    
thirty-five years is high noon with     
us1--the meridian of that arc which     
comprehends but threescore years and    
ten6  ,but we may be more vividly       
impressed with the fact of the brevity  
of life1 if we adopt some criterion     
wider than these familiar measurements4 
,the narrative1 the story1 engages our  
ears1 in the pauses of care and labor4  
,we listen to it in the noonday rest1   
and around the evening fire4 ,it is a   
slight break in the monotony of our     
business1--an interlude in the solemn   
march of life4 ,and thus1 in some       
respects1 is life itself4 ,it is so1 if 

we take into view a long series of      
existence1 such as the succession of    
human generations1 or1 still more1 the  
periods of creative development1 and the
 computations of time as applied to the 
forms and changes of the material       
universe4 ,in this vast train of being1 
our individual existence1 however       
important to ourselves1 is but an       
interlude-a tale4 ,let us1 then1 for a  
while1 lay aside any conventional method
 of estimating our life1--a method in   
which that life fills a large space1    
simply because it is brought near to the
 eye1--and let us endeavor to take a    
view of it1 as it were1 from the fixed  
stars1 or from the elevation of the     
immortal state4  ,compare1 then1 if you 
will1 this life of yours or mine1 not   
with the personal standard of threescore
 years and ten1 but with the whole      
course of human history2 and instantly  
we appear but as bubbles in the stream  
of ages4 ,but1 again1 consider how      
history itself is as a tale that is     

told2 and then1 indeed1 what a mere     
incident in it all is your life and     
mine6 ,if we stand off at the distance  
of a few centuries1 so that we have no  
present interest in them1 it is strange 
how the proudest empires assume an empty
 and spectral aspect4 ,their growth and 
decline occupied ages2 but what a brief 
achievement it appears now6 ,why puzzle 
ourselves about their origin1 or seek to
 disengage the true from the fabulous in
 their history8 ,why strain laboriously 
to settle names1 and dates1 and         
dynasties8 ,what mere point they have   
occupied in the processes of the great  
universe6 ,their hieroglyphic pillars1  
their gray old pyramids2--what are they 
to the age of ,uranus1 or the new       
planet8 ,each of these empires fulfilled
 its mission1 and relatively that       
mission was a great one2 but in the long
 sweep of ,god's providence1 and among  
the phenomena of absolute being1 what a 
brief link1 a subordinate climax1 it    
was6 ,the huge ribs of the earth1 and   

the coral islands of the sea were longer
 in building2 and even these are        
transitory manifestations of ,god's     
purposes1 which stream around us through
 constant change and succession4 ,and   
what1 then1 are these nations-these     
epochs of humanity-but waves rising and 
breaking on the great sea of eternity8  
,mysterious ,egypt1 haughty ,assyria1   
glorious ,greece1 kingly ,rome2--how    
spectral they have become4 ,they stand  
out in no relief4 ,as we recede from    
them1 they sink back1 flat and inanimate
 on the horizon4 ,each is a tale that   
has been told4 ,surely1 then1 if such is
 the life of nations1 ,i need not labor 
to impress upon you a sense of the      
brevity of our individual existence4    
,but1 for a moment1 turn your thoughts  
to estimates that far exceed the periods
 of history1 and confound all our       
ordinary measurements4 ,what is our     
mortal existence1 into which we crowd so
 much interest1--over the anticipated   
length of which we slumber1--into whose 

uncertain future we project our lithe   
plans so confidently1--compared to the  
age of the heavens1--the lifetime of    
worlds8--compared to their march1 from  
the moment when they obeyed the creative
 fiat to that when they shall complete  
their great cycle8 ,it takes three years
 for light to travel from the nearest   
fixed star to the earth2 from another it
 takes twelve years2 while1 on its      
journey from a star of the twelfth      
magnitude1 twenty four billions of miles
 away1 it consumes four thousand years4 
,and yet we speak of long life6 ,why1   
when the light that wraps us now shall  
be changed for the light that is just   
leaping from that distant star1 where in
 the gray bosom of the past shall we be8
 ,sunken1 forgotten1 crumbled to        
imperceptible atoms2 the ashes of       
generations-the dust of empires-heaped  
over us6 ,and when we compare those wide
 estimates to that divine eternity that 
evolves and limits all things1 how does 
our individual existence on the earth   

dwindle and vanish6--a heart-throb in   
the pulses of the universal life1--a    
quivering leaf in the forest of         
being1--a tale that is told6  ,and yet1 
my friends1 our realization of existence
 is so intense1--the horizon of the     
present shuts us in so completely1--that
 it really requires an effort for us to 
pause and remember that we are such     
transitory beings4 ,it cannot be 7we may
 unconsciously reason71 that we to whom 
this earth is bound with ligaments so   
intimate and strong2 whose breathing and
 motion-whose contact and action        
here-are such realities2 whose ears hear
 these varying sounds of life2 whose    
eyes drink in this perpetual and        
changing beauty2 to whom business1      
study1 friendship1 pleasure1 domestic   
relations1 are such fresh and constant  
facts2 to whom the dawn and the         
twilight1 the nightly slumber and the   
daily meal1 are such regular            
experiences2 to whom our possessions1   
our houses1 lands1 goods1 money1 are    

such substantial things2--it cannot be  
that we are not fixed permanently       
here1--that the years like a swift      
river1 sweep us nearer and nearer to a  
point where we must sink and leave it   
all1--that the corridors of the earth   
echo our footsteps only as the footsteps
 of a successive march-myriads going    
before1 and myriads coming after us-and 
soon they will catch no more murmurs of 
our individual life2 for that will be as
 a tale that is told4  ,the whole train 
of thought ,i am now pursuing strikes us
 with peculiar force1 in reading the    
biographies of men who have lived       
intensely1 who have realized the fulness
 of life1 who have mingled intimately   
with its varied experiences1 and        
occupied a large place in it4 ,we see   
how to them life was1 as it is to us1 an
 absorbing fact1--how they have planned1
 and thought1 and acted1 as though they 
were to live forever2 and yet we have   
noticed the premonitions of change1 the 
dropping away of friends1 the failing of

 vigor1 the deepening of melancholy     
shadows1 and the coming of the end2 the 
business closed1 the active curiosity   
and intermeddling ceased1 the familiar  
haunts abandoned1 the home made         
desolate1 the lights put out1 the cup   
fallen beneath the festal board1 and all
 the earnest existence stopped forever4 
,and this1 too1 so quick1--filling so   
small a space in absolute time6 ,from   
their illustration let us1 then1 realize
 that our life1 too1 amid all these real
 conditions1 is unfolding rapidly to an 
end1 and is as a tale that is told4     
,but life is like a tale that is told1  
because of its comprehensiveness4 ,it is
 a common characteristic of a narrative 
that it contains a great deal in a small
 compass4 ,it includes many years1 and  
expresses many results4 ,sometimes it   
sweeps over different lands1 and        
exhibits the peculiarities of various   
personages4 ,in one word1 it is         
characterized by comprehensiveness4 ,and
 this1 ,i repeat1 is also a             

characteristic of human life4 ,when the 
consideration of the brevity of our     
mortal existence excites us to diligence
 it is well2 but when we make it an     
argument for indolence1 disgust1 and    
despair1 we should be reminded of the   
fact ,i am now endeavoring to           
illustrate1--the fact that even the     
briefest life contains a great deal1 and
 means a great deal2 and that1 if we    
estimate things by a spiritual standard1
 a man's earthly being may contain more 
than all the cycles of the material     
world4 ,from the best point of view1    
life is not merely a term of years and a
 span of action2 it is a force1 a       
current and depth of being4 ,indeed1    
considered in its most literal sense1 as
 the vital spark of our animal organism1
 it is something more than a measurement
 of time2--it is a mysterious1 informing
 essence4 ,no man has yet been able to  
tell us what it is1 where it resides1 or
 how it acts4 ,we only know that when we
 gaze upon the features of the dead we  

see there the same organs that pertained
 to the living2 but something has       
gone1--something of light1 power1       
motion2 and that something we call life4
  ,but it is chiefly in a moral sense   
that ,i make the remark that life is    
something more than a term of years or a
 span of action4 ,in fact1 life is a sum
 of spiritual experiences2 and thus one 
act1 or result1 often contains more than
 a century of time4 ,who does not       
understand the fact to which ,i now     
refer8 ,who has not felt something of   
it8 ,has not each one of us1 at times1  
realized that he lived a year in a      
single day1--in a moment1--in an emotion
 or thought8 ,nay1 could that experience
 be measured by any estimate of time8   
,and if we should compute the length of 
any life by such experiences1 and not by
 a succession of years1 would it not be 
a long life8 ,at least1 would it not be 
a full and immeasurable life8  ,but1    
while every man's history will furnish  
instances of what ,i mean1 let us1 for  

the sake of clearer illustration1       
consider some of the experiences which  
are common to all4 ,defining life to be 
depth and intensity of being1 then1--a  
current of spiritual power1 and not a   
mere succession of incidents1--how much 
we live when we acquire the knowledge of
 a single truth6 ,what an inexhaustible 
power6--what an immeasurable experience 
it is6 ,we are made absolutely stronger 
by it2 we receive more life with it1--a 
new and imperishable fibre of being4    
,fortune cannot pluck it from us1 age   
cannot weaken it1 death cannot set      
limits to it4 ,and now1 with the fulness
 of this one experience as a test1 just 
consider our whole mortal experience as 
filled up with such revelations of      
truth4 ,suppose we improve all our      
opportunities2 into what boundless life 
does education admit us1 and the        
discoveries of every day1 and the       
ordinary lessons of the world6 ,tell me1
 is this life to be called merely a     
brief and worthless fact1 when by a     

little reading1 for instance1 ,i can    
make the experience of other men1 and   
lands1 and ages1 all mine8 ,when in some
 favored hour1 ,i can climb the starry  
galaxy with ,newton1 and pace along the 
celestial coast to the great harmony of 
numbers and unlock the mighty secret of 
the universe8 ,when of a winter's night1
 ,i can pass through all the belts of   
climate1 and all the grades of          
civilization on our globe2 scan its     
motley races1 learn its diverse customs1
 and hear the groaning of lonely        
ice-fields and the sigh of ,indian      
palms8 ,when1 with ,bacon1 ,i can       
explore the laboratory of nature1 or    
with ,locke1 consult the mysteries of   
the soul8 ,when ,spenser can lead me    
into golden visions1 or ,shakespeare    
smite me with magic inspiration1 or     
,milton bathe me in immortal song8 ,when
 ,history opens for me all the gates of 
the past1--,thebes and ,palmyra1        
,corinth and ,carthage1 ,athens with its
 peerless glory1 and ,rome with its     

majestic pomp8--when kings and          
statesmen1 authors and priests1 with    
their public deeds and secret thoughts  
are mine8 ,when the plans of cabinets1  
and the debates of parliaments1 and the 
course of revolutions1 and the results  
of battle1 are all before my eyes and in
 my mind8 ,when ,i can enter the inner  
chamber of sainted souls1 and conspire  
with the efforts of moral heroes1 and   
understand the sufferings of martyrs8   
,say1 when all these deep               
experiences-these comprehensive         
truths-may be acquired through merely   
one privilege1 is life but a dream1 or a
 breath of air8 ,thus1 too1 do          
immeasurable experiences flow in to me  
from nature1--from planet1 flower1 and  
ocean4 ,thus1 too1 does more life come  
to me from contacts in the common round 
of action4 ,and1 ,i repeat1 every truth 
thus gained expands a moment of time    
into illimitable being1--positively     
enlarges my existence1 and endows me    
with a quality which time cannot weaken 

or destroy4  ,consider1 again1 how much 
we really live in cherishing good       
affections1 and in performing noble     
deeds4 ,we have the familiar lines of   
the poet1 to this point3       ,one     
self-approving hour whole years         
outweighs       ,of stupid starers and  
of loud huzzas4  ,it is true4 ,there is 
more life in one self-approving         
hour1-one act of benevolence1--one work 
of self-discipline1--than in threescore 
years and ten of mere sensual existence4
 ,go out among the homes of the poor1   
lift up the disconsolate1 administer    
comfort to the forlorn2 in some way1 as 
it may come across your path1 or lie in 
the sphere of your duty1 do a deed of   
kindness2 and in that one act you shall 
live more than in a year of selfish     
indulgence and indolent ease1--yea1 more
 than in a lifetime of such4 ,the poet1 
with his burning1 immortal lines1 while 
doing his work1 lives all the coming    
ages of his fame4 ,from every marble    
feature he chisels1 the sculptor draws  

an intensity of being that cannot be    
imparted by a mere extension of years4  
,the philanthropist1 in his walks of    
mercy and his ministrations of love1    
lives more comprehensively than another 
may in a century4 ,his is the fathomless
 bliss of benevolence1--the experience  
of ,god4 ,the martyr1 in his dying hour1
 with his face shining like an angel's1 
does not live longer1 but he lives more 
than all his persecutors4  ,consider1   
too1 the experiences of religion1 of    
worship1 of prayer4 ,in the act of      
communion with ,god1 in the realization 
of immortality1 in the aspirations and  
the idea of perfection1 there is a depth
 and scope of being from which all      
sensual estimates of time drop away4    
,our mortal life1 then1 is very         
comprehensive4 ,if we measure it1 not by
 its length of years1 but by its        
spiritual results1 be they good or evil1
 it is a full and large life4 ,it then  
appears1 like the immortal state1 not as
 a fact of succession1 but of           

experience4 ,christ has defined eternal 
life as such a fact4 ,eternal life1 he  
says1 is to know thee1 the only true    
,god1 and ,jesus ,christ whom thou hast 
sent4 ,the life of the blessed in heaven
 is not marked by years and cycles2 it  
is not so much protracted being1 as a   
power of knowledge1--a depth of glad and
 holy consciousness1--a constant        
pulsation of harmony with ,god4  ,again1
 every life may be compared to a tale   
that is told1 because it has a plot4 ,in
 the narrative there is a combination of
 agencies working to a crisis4 ,there is
 a main-point with which all the action 
is involved4 ,and so every human life   
has its main-point44 ,i will not now    
take up time to carry out this          
illustration minutely4 ,the mere        
suggestion that each one is working out 
a peculiar destiny invests even the     
meanest life with a solemn dignity1 and 
counteracts any disparaging argument    
drawn from its brevity4  ,but still ,i  
would urge1 that the propriety of this  

comparison between the peculiar tendency
 of an individual life and the plot of a
 story1 is seen in the fact that every  
man is accomplishing a certain moral    
result in and for himself4 ,this is     
inevitable4 ,we may be inactive1 but    
that result is forming2 the mould of    
habit is growing1 and the inward life is
 unfolding itself1 after its kind4 ,we  
may think our career is aimless1 but all
 things give a shape to our character4  
,and does not this consideration make   
our mortal life of deep consequence to  
us8  ,all circumstances and experiences 
are chiefly important as affecting this 
result4 ,one of the highest views we can
 take of the universe is that of a      
theatre for the soul's education4 ,we   
are placed upon this earth not to be    
absorbed by it1 but to use it for the   
highest spiritual occasions4 ,we are    
placed among the joys and sorrows of our
 daily lives to be trained for immortal 
issues4 ,our business1 our domestic     
duties1 and all our various relations1  

constitute a school for our souls4 ,here
 our affections and our powers are acted
 upon for good or for evil4 ,grief      
strengthens our faith and elevates our  
thoughts2 joy quickens our gratitude1   
our obedience1 and our trust2 temptation
 forms in us an exalted and spontaneous 
virtue1 or enfeebles and enslaves us4   
,chiefly1 then1 should we be solicitous 
about character1 the plot of our life2  
and in this solicitude our earthly      
existence rises to the highest          
importance4  ,let us1 then1 feel that   
our mortal career is not vague and      
aimless4 ,let us realize that each life 
is a special history4 ,the poorest1 the 
most obscure1 has such a history2 and   
although it may be unnoticed by men1    
angels regard it with interest4 ,the    
merchant1 every day1 in the dust1 and   
heat1 and busy maze of traffic1 unfolds 
a history4 ,the beggar by the way-side1 
it may be1 outrivals kings in the       
grandeur and magnitude of his history4  
,in sainted homes1--in narrow nooks of  

life1--in the secret heart of love1 and 
prayer1 and patience1--many a tale is   
told which ,god alone sees1 and which he
 approves4 ,the needy tell a tale1 in   
their unrelieved wants and unpitied     
sufferings4 ,the oppressed tell a tale1 
that goes up into the ears of the ,lord 
of ,sabaoth4 ,the vicious tell a tale of
 wo1 and misspent opportunity1 and      
wasted power4 ,let us think of it1 ,i   
beseech you6 ,each one of us in his     
sphere of action is developing a plot   
which surely tells in character1--which 
is fast running into a great fixed fact4
  ,once more1 we may compare every life 
to a tale that is told1 because it has a
 moral4 ,any story1 good or bad1--the   
most pernicious work of fiction1 the    
most flimsy narrative1 as the grandest  
history1--has its significance4 ,so it  
is with the life of a man4 ,as all his  
conduct he is building up the intrinsic 
results of character for                
himself1--establishing in his own soul a
 fabric of welfare or of wo1--so is he  

furnishing a lesson for others1 and     
accomplishing an end by which they are  
affected4 ,the purpose for which any one
 has lived1 the point which he has      
attained1 the personal history which he 
has unfolded1 constitute the moral of   
his life4  ,for instance1 here is a man 
whose life is frivolous1--divided       
between aimless cares and superficial   
enjoyments4 ,he has no resources in     
himself1 no fountain of inward peace and
 joy4 ,his spirit leaps like new wine in
 the whirl of exciting pleasure1 but in 
the hour of solitude and of golden      
opportunity1 it is flat1 stale1 and     
unprofitable4 ,he marks off the year by 
its festivals1 and distributes the day  
into hours of food1 rest1 and folly4 ,in
 short1 he holds no serious conception  
of life1 and he is untouched by lofty   
sentiment4 ,the great drama of          
existence1 with its solemn shifts of    
scenery and its impending grandeur1 is  
but a pantomime to him2 and he a        
thoughtless epicurean1 a grinning       

courtier1 a scented fop1 a dancing      
puppet1 on the mighty stage4 ,and       
surely1 such a life1 a life of          
superficiality and heartlessness1 a life
 of silken niceties and conventional    
masquerade1 a life of sparkling         
effervescence1 has a moral4 ,it shows us
 how vain is human existence when empty 
of serious thought1 of moral purpose1   
and of devout emotion4  ,another is a   
skeptic4 ,he has no genuine faith in    
immortality1 in virtue1 or in ,god4 ,to 
him1 life is a sensual opportunity      
closing up with annihilation and to be  
enjoyed as it may4 ,it is a mere game1  
and he who plays the most skilful7sic7  
hand will win4 ,virtue is a smooth      
decency1 which it is well to assume in  
order to cover and artful selfishness2  
and it is a noteworthy fact1 too1 that1 
in the long run1 those who have trusted 
to virtue have made by it4 ,at least1   
vice is inexpedient1 and it will not do 
to make a public profession of it4      
,religion1 too1 he says1 is well enough2

 it does for the weak and the ignorant2 
though shrewd men1 like our skeptic know
 that it is all a sham1 and1 of course1 
scarce give it a serious thought4 ,what 
is religion to a keen-minded1           
hard-headed1 sagacious man of the world8
 ,what has it to do with business1 and  
politics1 and such practical matters8   
,pack it away for ,sunday1 and then put 
it on with clean clothes1 out of respect
 for the world2 but if it lifts any     
remonstrance in the caucus or the       
counting-room1 why1 like a shrewd man1  
laugh it out of countenance4 ,what has  
our skeptic to do with the future world 
or with spiritual relations8 ,keep      
bugbears to frighten more timid and     
credulous persons4 ,but only see how he 
uses the world1 and plays his scheme1   
and foils his adversary and twists and  
bends his plastic morality1 all because 
he is not troubled with scruples1 and   
has no faith in ,god or duty6  ,and yet1
 to the serious eye1 that scans his     
spiritual mood1 and looks all around his

 shrewd1 self-confident position1 there 
is a great moral in the skeptic's life4 
,it teaches us1 more than ever1 the     
value of faith1 and the glory of        
religion4 ,that flat negation only makes
 the rejected truth more positive4 ,the 
specimen of what existence is without   
,god in the world1 causes us to yearn   
more earnestly for the shelter of ,his  
presence1 and the blessedness of ,his   
control4 ,from the dark perspective of  
the skeptic's sensual view1 the bleak   
annihilation that bounds all his hopes1 
we turn more gladly to the auroral      
promise of immortality1 to the          
consolations and influences of a life   
beyond the grave4 ,yes1 in that tale    
that is told1 in that skeptic history1  
there is indeed a great moral4 ,it shows
 how meaningless and how mean1 how      
treacherous and false1 is that man's    
life who hangs upon the balance of a    
cunning egotism1 and moves only from the
 impulses of selfish desire-without     
religion1 without virtue1 repudiating   

the idea of morality1 and practically   
living without ,god4  ,or1 on the other 
hand1 suppose we call up the image of   
one who has well kept the trusts of     
family1 and kindred1 and                
friendship2--one who has made home a    
pleasant place2 who has filled it with  
the sanctities of affection1 and adorned
 it with a graceful and generous        
hospitality2--before whose cheerful     
temper the perplexities of business have
 been smoothed1 and whose genial        
disposition has melted even the stern   
and selfish2--who1 thus rendering life  
around her happier and better1          
attracting more closely the hearts of   
relatives1 and making every acquaintance
 a friend1 has1 chief of all1           
beautifully discharged the sacred       
offices of wife and mother2 encountering
 the day of adversity with a noble      
self-devotion1 enriching the hour of    
prosperity with wise counsel and        
faithful love2 unwearied in the time of 
sickness1 patient and trustful beneath  

the dispensation of affliction2 in      
short1 by her many virtues and graces   
evidently the bright centre of a happy  
household4 ,and now suppose that1 with  
all these associations clinging to her1 
in the bloom of life1 with opportunities
 for usefulness and enjoyment opening   
all around her1 death interferes1 and   
suddenly quenches that light6 ,is there 
not left a moral which abides a sweet   
and lasting consolation8 ,that moral    
is-the power of a kind heart2 the worth 
of domestic virtues2 the living         
freshness of a memory in which these    
qualities are combined4  ,thus1 then1 in
 its brevity and its comprehensiveness1 
with its plot and its moral1 we see that
 each human life is like a tale that is 
told4 ,to you1 my friends1 ,i leave the 
personal application of these truths4   
,surely they suggest to each of us the  
most vital and solemn considerations4   
,surely they call us to diligence and   
repentance1--to introspection and       
prayer4 ,what we are in ourselves1--what

 use we shall make of life2--is not this
 an all important subject8 ,what lesson 
we shall furnish for others1--what      
influence for good or evil2--can we be  
indifferent to that8 ,god give us grace 
and strength to ponder and to act upon  
these suggestions6  ,finally1 remember  
under whose dominion all the sorrows and
 changes of earth take place4 ,let your 
faith in ,him be firm and clear4 ,to    
,him address your grief2--to ,him lift  
up your prayer4 ,of ,him seek strength  
and consolation2--of ,him ask that a    
holy influence may attend every         
experience4 ,and while all the trials of
 life should quicken us to a loftier    
diligence1 and inspire us with a keener 
sense of personal responsibility1 surely
 when our hearts are sore and           
bleeding1--when our hopes lie prostrate1
 and we are faint and troubled1 it is   
good to rise to the contemplation of the
 ,infinite ,controller1--to lean back   
upon the ,almighty ,goodness that       
upholds the universe2 to realize that   

,he does verily watch over us1 and care 
for us2 to feel that around and above   
all things else ,he moves the vast      
circle of his purpose1 and carries      
within it all our joys and sorrows2 and 
that this mysterious tale of human      
life-this tangled plot of our earthly   
being-is unfolded beneath ,his          
all-beholding eye1 and by ,his          
omnipotent and paternal hand4     ,,the 
,,christian ,,view ,,of ,,sorrow        
,a man of sorrow1 and acquainted with   
grief ,is4 ,iii4 #c4   ,there is one    
great distinction between the           
productions of ,heathen and of          
,christian art4 ,while the first        
exhibits the perfection of physical form
 and of intellectual beauty1 the latter 
expresses1 also1 the majesty of sorrow1 
the grandeur of endurance1 the idea of  
triumph refined from agony4 ,in all     
those shapes of old there is nothing    
like the glory of the martyr2 the       
sublimity of patience and resignation2  
the dignity of the thorn-crowned ,jesus4

  ,it is easy to account for this4 ,in  
that heathen age the soul had received  
no higher inspiration4 ,it was only     
after the advent of ,christ that men    
realized the greatness of sorrow and    
endurance4 ,it was not until the history
 of the ,garden1 the ,judgment-,hall1   
and the ,cross had been developed1 that 
genius caught nobler conceptions of the 
beautiful4 ,this fact is1 therefore1 a  
powerful witness to the prophecy in the 
text1 and to the truth of ,christianity4
 ,christ's personality1 as delineated in
 the ,gospels1 is not only demonstrated 
by a change of dynasties1--an entire new
 movement in the world1--a breaking up  
of the its ancient order2 but the moral 
ideal which now leads human             
action1--which has wrought this         
enthusiasm1 and propelled man thus      
strangely forward1--has entered the     
subjective realities of the             
soul1--breathed new inspiration upon    
it1--opened up to it a new conception2  
and1 lo6 ,the statue dilates with a     

diviner expression2--lo6 ,the picture   
wears a more lustrous and spiritual     
beauty4  ,the ,christ of the text1      
then1--,a man of sorrows1 and acquainted
 with grief1-has verily lived1 for his  
image has been reflected in the minds of
 men1 and has fastened itself there     
among their most intimate and vivid     
conceptions4 ,sorrow1 as illustrated in 
,christ's life1 and as interpreted in   
his scheme of religion1 has assumed a   
new aspect and yields a new meaning4    
,its garments of heaviness have become  
transfigured to robes of light1 its     
crown of thorns to a diadem of glory2   
and often1 for some one whom the rich   
and joyful of this world pity1--some    
suffering1 struggling1 over-shadowed    
soul1--there comes a voice from heaven1 
,this is my beloved son1 in whom ,i am  
well pleased4  ,i remark1 however1 that 
,christianity does not accomplish this  
result by denying the character of      
sorrow4 ,it does not refuse to render   
homage to grief4 ,the stoic is as far   

from its ideal of virtue as the         
epicurean4 ,the heart of the true saint 
quivers at pain1 and his eyes are filled
 with tears4 ,whatever mortifications he
 may deem necessary as to the passions  
of this poor flesh1 if he imitates the  
example of ,christ he cannot deny those 
better affections which link us even to 
,god2 he cannot harden those sensitive  
fibres which are the springs of our best
 action1--which if callus we become     
inhuman4 ,he realizes pain2 he          
recognises sorrow as sorrow4 ,its cup is
 bitter1 and to be resisted with prayer4
  ,there is nothing more wonderful in   
the history of ,jesus than his keen     
sense of sorrow1 and the scope which he 
allows it4 ,in the tenderness of his    
compassion he soothed the overflowing   
spirit1 but he never rebuked its tears4 
,on the contrary1 in a most memorable   
instance1 he recognized its right to    
grieve4 ,it was on the way to his own   
crucifixion1 when crowned with insult1  
and lacerated with his own sorrows4     

,daughters of ,jerusalem1 said he1 to   
the sympathizing women1 weep not for me1
 but weep for yourselves and for your   
children4 ,as though he had said1 ,you  
have a right to weep2 weep1 then1 in    
that great catastrophe which is coming1 
when barbed affliction shall pierce your
 hearts1 and the dearest ties shall be  
cut in sunder4 ,those ties are tender2  
those hearts are sacred4 ,therefore1    
weep6  ,but ,christ did more than       
sanction tears in others4 ,he wept      
himself4 ,closest in our consciousness1 
because they will be most vivid to us in
 our darkest and our last hours1 are    
those incidents by the grave of         
,lazarus1 and over against ,jerusalem2  
the sadness of ,gethsemane1 and the     
divine pathos of the last supper4 ,never
 can we fully realize what a tribute to 
sorrow is rendered by the tears of      
,jesus1 and the dignity which has       
descended upon those who mourn1 because 
he had not where to lay his head1 was   
despised and rejected of men1 and cried 

out in bitter agony from the cross4 ,he 
could not have been our exemplar by     
despising sorrow-by treating it with    
contempt2 but only by shrinking from its
 pain1 and becoming intimate with its   
anguish1--only as a man of sorrows1 and 
acquainted with grief4  ,but1 on the    
other hand1 ,christianity does not      
over-estimate sorrow4 ,while it         
pronounces a benediction upon the       
mourner1 it does not declare it best    
that man should always mourn4 ,it would 
not have us deny the good that is in the
 universe4 ,nay1 ,i apprehend that      
sorrow itself is a testimony to that    
good1--is the anguish and shrinking of  
the severed ties that have bound us to  
it2 that it clings closest in hearts of 
the widest and most various sympathies2 
that only souls which have loved much   
and enjoyed much can feel its intensity 
or know its discipline4 ,in the language
 of another1 ,sorrow is not an          
independent state of mind1 standing     
unconnected with all others444,it is the

 effect1 and1 under the present         
conditions of our being1 the inevitable 
effect1 of strong affections4 ,nay1 it  
is not so much their result1 as a       
certain attitude of those affections    
themselves4 ,it not simply flows from   
the love of excellence1 of wisdom1 of   
sympathy1 but it is that very love1 when
 conscious that excellence1 that wisdom1
 that sympathy have departed4 ,they1    
then1 who deem it necessary for man's   
spiritual welfare that he should        
constantly feel the pressure of         
chastisement1 and be engirt with the    
mist of tears1 do not reason well4      
,jeremy ,taylor reasons thus1 when he   
says in allusion to certain lamps which 
burned for many ages in a tomb1 but     
which expired when brought into open    
day3 ,so long as we are in the          
retirements of sorrow1 of want1 of fear1
 of sickness1 we are burning and shining
 lamps2 but when ,god lifts us up from  
the gates of death and carries us abroad
 into the open air1 to converse with    

prosperity and temptations1 we go out in
 darkness2 and we cannot be preserved in
 light and heat but by still dwelling in
 the regions of sorrow4 ,there is       
beauty1 and1 to a certain extent1 truth 
in this figure1 says a writer1 in reply2
 but it by no means follows that        
continuous suffering would be good for  
man2 on the contrary1 it would be as    
remote from producing the perfection of 
our moral nature as unmitigated         
prosperity4 ,it would be apt to produce 
a morbid and ghastly piety2 the 'bright 
lamps' of which ,taylor speaks would    
still be irradiating only a tomb4       
7,edinburgh ,review ,no #ada ,the       
article on ,pascal7 ,we may doubt       
whether there is more essential         
religiousness in this seeking of sorrow 
as a mortification1--in this monastic   
self-laceration and exclusion1--than in 
the morbid misery of the hypochondriac4 
,neither comprehends the whole of life1 
nor is adapted to its realities4 ,christ
 was a man of sorrows and acquainted    

with grief2 but he was also full of     
sympathy with all good1 and enjoyed the 
charm of friendship1 and the light of   
existence4 ,around that great ,life     
gather many amenities4 ,below that face 
of agony beats a heart familiar with the
 best affections of human nature2       
otherwise1 we may believe1 the agony    
would not appear4 ,the sadness of that  
last supper indicates the breaking up of
 many joyful communions and the history 
which closes in the shadow of the cross 
mingles with the festival of ,cana1 and 
lingers around the home at ,bethany4    
,but ,i remark1 once more1 that while   
,christianity neither despises nor      
affects to desire sorrow1 it clearly    
recognizes its great and beneficial     
mission4 ,in one word1 it shows its     
disciplinary character1 and thus        
practically interprets the mystery of   
evil4 ,it regards man as a spiritual    
being1 thrown upon the theatre of this  
mortal life not merely for enjoyment1   
but for training1--for the development  

of spiritual affinities1 and the        
attainment of spiritual ends4 ,it thus  
reveals a weaning1 subduing1 elevating  
power1 in sorrow4  ,the origin of evil  
may puzzle us2--its use no ,christian   
can deny4 ,a sensual philosophy may     
shrink from it1 in all its aspects1 and 
retreat into a morbid skepticism or a   
timid submission4 ,if we predicate mere 
happiness as our being's end and aim1   
there is no explanation of evil4 ,from  
this point of view1 there is an         
ambiguity in nature1--a duality in every
 object1 which we cannot solve4 ,the    
throne of infinite light and love casts 
over the face of creation an            
inexplicable shadow4 ,if we were made   
merely to be happy1 why this hostility  
all around us8 ,why these sharp         
oppositions of pain and difficulty8 ,why
 these writhing nerves1 these aching    
hearts1 and over-laden eyes8 ,why the   
chill of disappointment1 the shudder of 
remorse1 the crush and blight of hope8  
,why athwart the horizon flicker so many

 shapes of misery and sin8 ,why appear  
these sad spectacles of painful dying   
chambers1 and weary sick-beds8--these   
countless tomb-stones1 too-ghastly      
witness to death and tears8 ,explain for
 me those abrupt inequalities1--the long
 train of necessities1 poverty and its  
kindred woes1 those fearful realities   
that lie in the abysses of every        
city1--that hideous1 compressed mass    
which welters in the awful baptism of   
sensuality and ignorance1--the groans of
 inarticulate woe1 the spectacle of     
oppression1 the shameless cruelty of    
war1 the pestilence that shakes its     
comet-sword over nations1 and famine    
that peers with skeleton face through   
the corn-sheaves of plenty4 ,upon this  
theory of mere happiness no metaphysical
 subtlety can solve the fact of         
evil2--the coiled enigma constantly     
returns upon itself1 inexplicable as    
ever4  ,but when we take the ,christian 
view of life1 we discover that not      
happiness merely1 but virtue1 holiness1 

is the great end of man2 though         
happiness comes in as an inevitable     
consequence and accompaniment of this   
result4 ,and in the light reflected from
 this view1 evil assumes a powerful1    
and1 ,i may say1 a most beautiful       
office4 ,it is just as necessary for the
 attainment of virtue as prosperity1 or 
any blessing4 ,nay1 in this aspect1 it  
is itself a great blessing1 and         
,every cloud that spreads above         
,and veileth love1 itself is love4  ,it 
is evident that1 without the contact of 
sin and the pressure of temptation1     
there might be innocence1 but not       
virtue4 ,equally evident does it seem   
that1 without an acquaintance with      
grief1 there would soon be but little of
 that uplifting tendency-that softening 
of the heart1 and sanctifying of the    
affections-which fit us for the         
dissolution of our earthly ties1 and for
 the communions of the spirit world4    
,beautiful is this weaning efficacy of  
sorrow4 ,by the ordinance of ,god1 youth

 is made to be content with this outward
 and palpable life4 ,the sunshine and   
the air-the flow of animal pleasures1   
encircled mysteriously with the         
guardianship of parents1 and the love of
 friends-are sufficient for the child4  
,but as we grow in years1 there springs 
up a dissatisfaction1 a restlessness1 of
 which we may be only half conscious1   
and still less know how to cure4 ,with  
some1 this may subside into merely a    
fearful and worldly discontent2 others  
may heed the prophecy and lay hold on a 
celestial hope1 an immortal possession  
as the only remedy4 ,in this secret     
sense of want1 which neither nature nor 
man can fill they will hear already that
 low1 divine voice1--,come unto me1 all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden1 and  
,i will give you rest4 ,but generally   
another and more emphatic missionary is 
necessary4 ,it is the veiled angel of   
sorrow1 who plucks away one thing and   
another that bound us here in ease and  
security1 and in the vanishing of these 

dear objects indicates the true home of 
our affections and our peace4 ,thus1 by 
rupture and loss we become weaned from  
earth1 and the dissatisfaction and      
discontent which sorrow thus induces are
 as kind and providential as the        
carelessness of youth4  ,who does not   
see that it is so1--that as we journey  
on in life there are made in our behalf 
preparations for another state of       
being1--unmistakable premonitions of    
that fact which the author of the       
,epistle to the ,hebrews so eloquently  
states1 that here have we no continuing 
city8 ,the gloss of objects in which we 
delighted is worn off by attrition1--is 
sicklied o'er by care2 the vanity of    
earthly things startles us suddenly1    
like a new truth2 the friends we love   
drop away from our side into silence2   
desire fails2 the grasshopper becomes a 
burden2 until1 at length1 we feel that  
our only love is not here below1--until 
these tendrils of earth aspire to a     
better climate1 and the weight that has 

been laid upon us makes us stoop wearily
 to the grave as a rest and a           
deliverance4 ,we have1 even through our 
tears1 admired that discipline which    
sometimes prepares the young to die2    
which1 by sharp trials of anguish1 and  
long days of weariness1 weans them from 
that keen sense of mortal enjoyment     
which is so naturally theirs2 which1    
through the attenuation of the body1    
illuminates the soul1 and1 as it steals 
the bloom from the cheek1 kindles the   
lustre of faith in the eye1 and makes   
even that young spirit look1            
unfaltering1 across the dark river1 and1
 putting aside its earthly loves and its
 reasonable expectations1 exclaim1 ,now 
,i am ready6 ,but it would appear that  
equal preparation1 though in different  
forms1 is provided for most of us1 in   
the various experiences of sorrow which 
we are called upon to know1 and which1  
if we would but heed them1 have a       
celestial mission1 seeking to draw us up
 from this lower state1 to induce us to 

lay up our treasure where neither moth  
nor rust corrupts4 ,and in the          
,christian view of man as an heir of the
 spiritual word1 does not sorrow1 in    
this its weaning tendency1 receive a    
most beautiful explanation8  ,and1      
because it accomplishes this work1 may  
be the reason why sorrow always wears a 
kind of supernatural character4 ,it is  
true that blessings1 equally with       
afflictions1 come from ,heaven2 but this
 truth is not so generally felt4 ,a     
sharp disappointment will suddenly drive
 us to ,god4 ,the mariner of life sails1
 unthinking1 over its prosperous seas1  
but a flaw of storm will bring him to   
his prayers4 ,and religion1 reason as we
 will1 is peculiarly associated with    
affliction4 ,and does not sorrow possess
 this supernatural air1 not merely      
because it interrupts the usual order of
 things1 but because1 more than joy1 it 
has a weaning and spiritual             
tendency1--is sent1 as it were1 more    
directly from ,god for this specific    

purpose8 ,at least1 after the           
sanctifying experience of sorrow1 we    
hold our joys more religiously4  ,there 
are other tendencies of sorrow akin to  
this1 upon which ,i might dwell1 and    
which show the explanation that it      
receives in the ,christian light4 ,the  
humbling effect that it has upon the    
proud and hard-hearted2 the equalizing  
result which it works1 making the rich  
and poor1 the obscure and the great1    
stand upon the level of the common      
humanity1--the common liability and     
dependence4 ,i might1 expanding the     
topic already touched upon1 speak of the
 influence which sorrow sheds abroad1   
chastening the light1 at tempering the  
draught of joy1 and thus keeping our    
hearts better balanced than otherwise4  
,but ,i have sufficiently illustrated   
its mission4 ,i have shown its use1 even
 its beauty1 in the ,christian view4 ,i 
have shown why ,christianity1 as the    
universal religion1 is rightly styled   
the religion of sorrow1 and why ,christ1

 as the perfect teacher and example1 was
 a man of sorrows1 and acquainted with  
grief4  ,let us all1 then1 recognize the
 fact that life itself is a discipline4 
,that for each of us sorrow is mingled  
with joy in order that this discipline  
may be accomplished4 ,no one reaches the
 noon of life without some grief1 some  
disappointment1 some sharp trial1 which 
assures him1 if he will but heed it1    
that life is already declining1 and that
 his spirit should train itself for a   
higher and more permanent state4 ,in the
 failure of mortal excellence let him   
recognize the proof of an immortal good1
 and from the bitterness that mingles   
with these earthly waters1 turn to drink
 of the celestial fountain4 ,of all     
things1 let us not receive sorrow       
indifferently1 or without reflection4   
,its mission is for discipline1 but we  
feel it to be discipline only by        
recognizing its source and its meaning2 
it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of     
righteousness only to them that are     

exercised thereby4 ,otherwise1 it may   
come and go as the storm that rends the 
oak1 or the drenching tempest that      
glides off as it falls4 ,it may startle 
us for a moment1--it may hurt us with a 
sense of pain and loss1--it may awe us  
with its mystery2 but unless it rouses  
us to solemn thought upon the meaning of
 life1 to self-communion and prayer1 to 
higher and holier action1 it availeth   
little4 ,it should not smite the heart's
 chords to wring from them a mere shriek
 of distress1 but to inspire it with a  
deeper and more elevated tone1 and by   
the element of sadness which it infuses 
make a more liquid and exquisite melody4
  ,but while we are thus taught to      
chasten our views of life1 and to hold  
even our joys with seriousness1 and with
 wise forethought1 let us not look upon 
things with any morbid vision1 or cast  
over them a monotonous hue4 ,let us not 
live in gloom and bitterness4 ,the      
,christian1 of all others1 is the best  
fitted for a cheerful and proper        

enjoyment of life1 because he wisely    
recognizes the use of things1           
understands their evanescent nature1 and
 sees the infinite goodness that has so 
ordained it4 ,he is not surprised by    
sudden terrors4 ,he is prepared for     
sorrow1 and thus can rest in peace with 
the good that he has2 while those who   
bury heart and soul in the present      
enjoyment1 and know nothing but sensual 
good1 are broken down by calamity4 ,the 
sudden change1 like a thunder-gust1 puts
 out their light1 and darkens all their 
life2 and it is they who are apt to fall
 from the summit of delight into a      
morbid gloom2 while the ,christian1 with
 his balanced soul1 inhabits neither    
extreme4  ,finally1 let us remember that
 it is not the object of sorrow to      
overcome1 but to elevate2 not to conquer
 us1 but that we1 by it1 should conquer4
 ,it converts the thorns that wound us  
into a crown4 ,it makes us strong by the
 baptism of tears4 ,the saint is always 
a hero4 ,this explains that grand       

distinction between ,heathen and        
,christian art1 of which ,i spoke in the
 commencement2 that expression of power 
blended with agony1--of celestial       
beatitude refining itself upon the face 
of grief4 ,christianity has made        
martyrdom sublime1 and sorrow           
triumphant4 ,christ is the ,captain of  
our salvation1-the leader of many sons  
unto glory2 for he was a man of sorrows1
 and acquainted with grief4             
,,christian ,,consolation ,,in          
,,loneliness        ,and yet ,i am not  
alone1 because the ,father is with me4  
,john xvi4#cb4   ,these words are found 
in the farewell address of ,jesus to his
 disciples4 ,they were uttered in the   
dark hour of coming agony1 and in the   
face of ignominious death4 ,because     
,christ was divinely empowered1 and     
possessed the spirit without measure1   
let us not suppose that to him there was
 no pain or sorrow1 in that great       
crisis4 ,with all his supernatural      
dignity1 he appears to us far more      

attractive when we consider him as      
impressible by circumstances1--as moved 
by human sympathies4 ,he is thus not    
merely a teacher1 but a pattern for us4 
,in all our trials he not only enables  
us to endure and to triumph1 but draws  
us close to himself by the affinity of  
his own experience4 ,we see1 too1 how   
the best men1 men of the clearest faith1
 may still look upon death with a       
shudder1 and shrink from the dark and   
narrow valley2 not because they fear    
death as such1 but because of the agony 
of dissolution1 the rupture of all      
familiar ties1 and the solemn mystery of
 the last change4  ,but death and       
suffering1 as ,jesus was now to meet    
them1 appeared in no ordinary forms4 ,he
 was to bear affliction with no friendly
 consolations around him2 but           
alone6--alone in the wrestling of the   
garden1 and amid the cruel mockery4 ,not
 upon the peaceful death-bed1 but upon  
the bare and rugged cross1 torn by      
nails1 pierced with the spear1 crowned  

with thorns1 taunted by the revilings of
 the multitude1 the vinegar and the     
gall4 ,he must be deserted1 and         
encounter these trials alone4 ,he must  
be rejected1 betrayed1 crucified alone4 
,and as he spoke to his disciples those 
words of affection and holiness-those   
words so full of counsel and sublime    
consolation-he remembered all this2 he  
remembered that they who now clung to   
him1 and listened in sorrow to his      
parting accents1 would soon be scattered
 as sheep without a shepherd1 and leave 
him to himself in all that shame and    
agony4 ,but even as he foretold it there
 gleamed upon his spirit the sunshine of
 an inner consciousness1--a comfort that
 no cloud could darken2 and instantly he
 added1 ,and yet ,i am not alone1       
because the ,father is with me4  ,having
 thus considered the circumstances in   
which these words were spoken1 ,i now   
proceed to draw from them a few         
reflections4  ,i would say1 then1 in the
 first place1 that the great test which 

proves the excellence of the religion of
 ,christ is its adaptation to man in    
solitude1--to man as a solitary being2  
because it is then that he is thrown    
upon the resources of his own           
soul1--upon his inner and everlasting   
life4 ,in society he finds innumerable  
objects to attract his attention and to 
absorb his affections4 ,the ordinary    
cares of every day1 the pursuit of his  
favorite scheme1 the converse of        
friends1 the exciting topics of the     
season1 the hours of recreation1 all    
fill up his time1 and occupy his mind   
with matters external to himself4 ,and  
looking upon him merely in these        
relations1 if we could forget its great 
social bearings1 and the harmonies which
 flow from its all-pervading spirit out 
into every condition of life1 we might1 
perhaps1 say that man could get along   
well enough without religion4 ,if this  
world were made up merely of business   
and pleasure1 perhaps the atheist's     
theory would suffice1 and we might feel 

indifferent whether controlled by       
plastic matter or intelligent mind4 ,we 
will admit that happiness1 in one sense 
of the term1 does not essentially depend
 upon religion4 ,nay1 we must admit this
 proposition4 ,a man may be happy       
without being religious4 ,good health1  
good spirits2--how many1 possessing     
these really enjoy life1 without being  
devout1 or religious according to any   
legitimate meaning of that term4  ,but  
change the order of circumstances4      
,remove these external                  
helps1--substitute therefor sorrow1     
duty1 the revelations of our own inner  
being1--and all this gayety vanishes    
like the sparkles from a stream when a  
storm comes up4 ,the soul that has      
depended upon outward congenialities for
 its happiness has no permanent         
principle of happiness2 for that is the 
distinction which religion bestows4 ,he 
who cannot retire within himself1 and   
find his best resources there1 is       
fitted1 perhaps1 for the smoother       

passages of life1 but poorly prepared   
for all life4 ,he who cannot and dare   
not turn away from these outward        
engrossments1 and be in spiritual       
solitude1--who is afraid or sickens at  
the idea of being alone1--has a brittle 
possession in all that happiness which  
comes from the whirl and surface of     
things4 ,one hour may scatter it        
forever4 ,and poorly1 ,i repeat1 is he  
prepared for all life1--for some of the 
most serious and important moments of   
life4 ,these1 as ,i shall proceed to    
show1 we must meet alone1 and from      
within2 and therefore1 it constitutes   
the blessedness of the ,christian       
religion that it enables man when in    
solitude to have communion1 consolation1
 and guidance4 ,in fact1 it makes him1  
when alone1 to be not alone1--to say1   
with glad consciousness1 ,i am not      
alone1 because the ,father is with me4  
,to illustrate this truth1 then1 ,i say1
 that so far as the communion and help  
of this outward world and of human      

society are concerned1 there are many   
and important seasons when man must be  
alone4 ,in the first place1 in his most 
interior and essential nature1 man is a 
solitary being4 ,he is an individual1 a 
unit1 amid all the souls around him1 and
 all other things1--a being distinct and
 peculiar as a star4 ,god1 in all the   
variety of his works1 has made no man   
exactly like another4 ,there is an      
individual isolation1 a conscious       
personality1 which he can share with no 
other2 which resists the idea of        
absorption2 which claims its own        
distinct immortality2 which has its own 
wants and woes1 its own sense of duty1  
its own spiritual experiences4          
,christianity insists upon nothing more 
strongly than this4 ,piercing below all 
conventionalisms1 it recognizes man as  
an individual soul1 and1 as such1       
addresses him with its truths and its   
sanctions4 ,indeed1 it bases its grand  
doctrine of human brotherhood and       
equality upon the essential             

individuality of each man1 because each 
represents all1--each has in himself the
 nature of every other4 ,it demands     
individual repentance1 individual       
holiness1 individual faith4 ,one cannot 
believe for another4 ,one cannot decide 
questions of conscience for another4    
,one cannot bear the sins or appropriate
 the virtues of another4 ,it is true1 we
 have relations to the great whole1 to  
the world of mankind1 and to the        
material universe4 ,we are linked to    
these by subtle affinities4 ,we are     
interwoven with them all1--bound up with
 them in arterial unity and life4 ,they 
have all poured their results into our  
souls1 and helped to form us1 and do now
 support us2 and we1 in like manner1    
react upon them1 and upon others4 ,this 
truth is a vital one1 not to be         
neglected4 ,but a deeper truth than this
 and one upon which this depends1 is the
 individual peculiarity of each1--his   
integral distinctiveness1 without which 
there would be no such thing as union1  

or relationship2 nothing but monotony   
and inertia4  ,the great fact1 then1    
which ,i would impress upon you is1     
that1 essentially as spiritual beings1  
we are alone4 ,and ,i remark that there 
are experiences in life when we are made
 to feel this deep fact2 when each must 
deal with his reason1 his heart1 his    
conscience1 for himself2 when each is to
 act as if the sole-existent in the     
universe1 realizing that he is a spirit 
breathed from ,god1 complete in himself1
 subject to all spiritual laws1         
interested in all spiritual welfare2    
when no stranger soul1 though it be that
 of his dearest friend1 can intermeddle 
with all that occupies him1 or share it4
  ,such experiences we have when        
reflection binds us to the past4 ,memory
 then opens for us a volume that no eye 
but ,god's and ours can read2--memories 
of neglect1 of sin1 of deep secrets that
 our hearts have hidden in their        
innermost folds4 ,such experiences      
sometimes there are when we muse upon   

the external universe2 when we reflect  
upon the vastness of creation1 the      
littleness of human effort1 the         
transciency of human relations2 when our
 souls are drawn away from all ordinary 
communions1 and we feel that we are     
drifting before an almighty will1 bound 
to an inevitable destiny1 hemmed in by  
irresistible forces4 ,then1 with every  
tie of association shrinking from us2   
then1 keeping the solitary vigil2 then  
with cold1 vast nature all around us1 we
 are alone4 ,or1 there is a solitude    
which oppresses us even in the heart of 
the great city2--a solitude more intense
 even than that of naked nature2 when   
all faces are strange to us2 when no    
pulse of sympathy throbs from our heart 
to the hearts of others when each passes
 us by1 engaged with his own destiny1   
and leaving us to fulfil ours4 ,in this 
tantalizing solitude of the crowd1 in   
this sense of isolation from our        
fellows1 if never before1 do we feel1   
with sickness of heart1 that we are     

alone4 ,there is a solitude of          
sickness1--the solitude of the watcher  
or of the patient1--a solitude to which1
 at times1 duty and ,providence call us 
all4 ,there are1 in brief1 countless    
circumstances of life when we shall     
realize that we are indeed alone1 and   
sad enough will be that solitude if we  
have no inner resource1--no ,celestial  
companionship2--if we cannot say and    
feel as we say it1 that we are not      
alone1 for the ,father is with us4      
,but1 while ,i cannot specify all these 
forms of solitude1 let me dwell upon two
 or three of the experiences of life in 
which we are peculiarly alone4  ,first1 
then1 ,i would say1 that we must be     
alone in the pursuit of ,truth and the  
work of ,duty4 ,others may aid me in    
these1 but ,i must decide and act for   
myself4 ,i must believe for myself4 ,i  
must do right for myself2 or if ,i do   
wrong1 it is also for myself1 and in    
myself ,i realize the retribution4 ,by  
my own sense of right and wrong-by my   

own standard of truth and falsehood-,i  
must stand or fall4 ,there is in this   
world nothing so great and solemn as the
 struggles of the solitary soul in its  
researches after the truth1--in its     
endeavors to obey the right4 ,we may be 
indifferent to these vital              
questions1--it is to be feared that many
 are2 we may glide along in the         
suppleness of habit1 and the ease of    
conventionalism2 we may never trouble   
ourselves with any pungent scruples2 we 
may never pursue the task of            
introspection1 or bring to bear upon the
 fibres of motive and desire within us  
the intense focus of ,god's moral law2  
we may never vex our souls with tests of
 faith1 but rest contented with the     
common or hereditary standard2--but he  
who will be serious in the work of      
spiritual discipline1 who will act from 
a vital law of duty1 must endure        
struggles and conflicts than which1 ,i  
repeat1 there is nothing more solemn    
under the sun4 ,he will often find      

himself opposed to the general current  
of human faith and action4 ,his position
 will be singular4 ,his principle will  
be tried4 ,interest will direct him     
another way2 his strictness will be     
ridiculed1 his motives questioned1 his  
sincerity misunderstood and aspersed4   
,alone must he endure all this1--along  
cling to the majestic ideal of right as 
it rises to his own soul4 ,and thus he  
must wage a bitter conflict with fear   
and with seduction1--with sophistries of
 the heart1 and reluctance of the will4 
,often1 too1 must he question his own   
motives with a severer judgment than    
that of the world1 as his scrutiny is   
more close1 and his self-knowledge more 
minute4 ,he knows the secret sin1 the   
mental act1 the spiritual aberration4   
,he knows the distance between his      
highest effort and that lofty standard  
of perfection to which he has pledged   
his purposes4 ,alone1 alone does the    
great conflict go on within him4 ,the   
struggle1 the self-denial1 the pain1 and

 the victory1 are of the very essence of
 martyrdom1--are the chief peculiarities
 in the martyr's lot4 ,his1 too1 must be
 the solitude of prayer1 when1 by       
throwing by all entanglements1--in his  
naked individuality1--he wrestles at the
 ,mercy ,seat1 or soars to the bliss of 
,divine communion4 ,in such hours1--in  
every hour of self-communion1--when we  
ask ourselves the highest questions     
respecting faith and duty1 it is the    
deepest comfort to the religious soul to
 feel and to say1 ,i am not alone1 for  
the ,father is with me4  ,again2 there  
are experiences of ,sorrow in which we  
are peculiarly alone4 ,how often does   
the soul feel this when it is suffering 
from the loss of friends6 ,then we find 
no comfort in external things4 ,pleasure
 charms not2 business cannot cheat us of
 our grief2 wealth supplies not the     
void2 and though the voice of friendship
 falls in consolation upon the ear1 yet 
with all these1 we are alone1--alone6   
,no other spirit can fully comprehend   

our woe1 or enter into our desolation4  
,no human eye can pierce to our sorrows2
 no sympathy can share them4 ,alone we  
must realize their sharp suggestions1   
their painful memories1 their brood of  
sad and solemn thoughts4 ,the mother    
bending over her dead child2--,o6 what  
solitude is like that8--where such      
absolute loneliness as that which       
possesses her soul1 when she takes the  
final look of that little pale face     
crowned with flowers and sleeping in its
 last chamber1 with the silent voice of 
the dead uttering its last good night8  
,what more solitary than the spirit of  
one who1 like the widow of ,nain1       
follows to the grave her only son8--of  
one from whom the wife1 the mother1 has 
been taken8 ,the mourner is in          
solitude1--alone1 in this peopled       
world2--,o1 how utterly alone6 ,through 
the silent valley of tears wanders that 
stricken spirit1 seeing only memorials  
of that loss4  ,indeed1 sorrow of any   
kind is solitary4 ,its deepest pangs1   

its most solemn visitations1 are in the 
secrecy of the individual soul4 ,we     
labor to conceal it from others4 ,we    
wear a face of unconcern or gayety amid 
the multitude4 ,society is thronged with
 masked faces4 ,unseen burdens of woe   
are carried about in its busy haunts4   
,the man of firm step in the mart1 and  
of vigorous arm in the workshop1 has    
communions in his chamber that make him 
weak as a child4 ,nothing is more       
deceitful than a happy countenance4     
,haggard spirits laugh over the         
wine-cup1 and the blooming garland of   
pleasure crowns an aching head4 ,for    
sorrow is secret and solitary4 ,each    
heart knoweth its own bitterness4  ,how 
precious1 then1 in the loneliness of    
sorrow1 is that faith which bids us look
 up and see how near is ,god1 and feel  
what divine companionship is ours1 and  
know what infinite sympathy engirds     
us1--what concern for our good is1 even 
in this darkness1 shaping out blessings 
for us1 and distilling from this secret 

agony everlasting peace for the soul4   
,how precious that faith in the clear   
vision of which we can say1 ,i am not   
alone1 for the ,father is with me4      
,finally1 we must experience ,death     
alone4 ,as ,i said in the commencement1 
the best1 the most pious soul1 may      
naturally shrink from this great event4 
,we may learn to anticipate it with     
resignation1 to look upon it with trust2
 but indifference respecting it is no   
proof of religion4 ,it would be1 rather1
 a bad sign for one to approach it      
without emotion2 for however his faith  
may penetrate beyond1 the religious     
spirit will1 with deep awe1 lift that   
curtain of mystery which hangs before   
the untried future4 ,that is a fact     
which we must encounter alone4 ,friends 
may gather around us2 their             
ministrations may aid1 their            
consolations soothe us4 ,they may be    
with us to the very last2 they may cling
 to us as though they would pluck us    
back to the shores of time2 their voices

 may fall1 the last of earthly sounds1  
upon our ears2 their kiss awaken the    
last throb of consciousness2 but they   
cannot go with us1 they cannot die in   
our stead2 the last time must           
come1--they must loosen their hold from 
us1 and fade from our vision1 and we    
become wrapt in the solemn experience of
 death1 alone6 ,alone must we tread the 
dark valley1--alone embark for the      
unseen land4 ,no1 ,christian6 not alone4
 ,to your soul1 thus separated in blank 
amazement from all familiar things1     
still is that vision of faith granted   
that so often lighted your earthly      
perplexities2 to you is it given1 in    
this most solitary hour1 to say1 ,i am  
not alone for the ,father is with me6   
,i repeat1 then1 in closing1 that the   
test which proves the excellence of the 
religion of ,christ is the fact that it 
fits us for those solemn hours of life  
when we must be alone4 ,mere happiness  
we may derive from other sources2 but   
this consolation not all the world can  

give1--the world cannot take it away4   
,let us remember1 then1 that though we  
seldom look within-though our affections
 may be absorbed in external            
things-these solitary seasons will come4
 ,it behoves us1 therefore1 as we value 
true peace of mind1 genuine happiness1  
which connects us to the throne of ,god 
with golden links of prayer1--it behoves
 each to ask himself1 ,dare ,i be alone8
 ,am ,i ready to be alone8 ,and what    
report will my soul make in that hour of
 solitude8 ,if ,i do wrong1 if ,i cleave
 to evil rather than the good1 what     
shall ,i do when ,i am alone1 and yet   
not alone1 but with the ,father8 ,but if
 ,i do right1 if ,i trust in ,him1 and  
daily walk with ,him1 what crown of     
human honor1 what store of wealth1 what 
residuum of earthly pleasure1 can       
compare with the glad consciousness that
 wherever ,i rest or wander1 in every   
season and circumstance1 in the solitary
 hours of life1 and the loneliness of   
death1 ,god is verily with me8  ,surely 

no attainment is equal to that strength 
of ,christ1 by which1 when approaching  
the cross1 he was able to say1 ,i am not
 alone1 for the ,father is with me4 ,by 
this strength1 he was able to do more   
than to say and feel thus4 ,he was able 
to strengthen others1--to exclaim1 ,be  
of good cheer1 ,i have overcome the     
world4 ,so we1 by spiritual discipline1 
having learned of ,christ to be thus    
strong1 not only possess a spring of    
unfailing consolation for ourselves1 but
 there shall go out from us a           
benediction and a power that shall      
gladden the weary and fortify the       
weak1--that shall fill the solitude of  
many a lonely spirit with the           
consolations of the ,father's love1 and 
the bliss of the ,father's presence4    
,,resignation        ,the cup which my  
,father hath given me1 shall ,i not     
drink      it8 ,john xvii4#aa4   ,the   
circumstances in which these words were 
uttered have1 doubtless1 often arrested 
your attention1--have often been        

delineated for you by others4 ,yet it is
 always profitable for us to recur to   
them4 ,they transpired immediately after
 our ,saviour's farewell with his       
disciples4 ,the entire transaction in   
that upper room had been hallowed and   
softened by the fact of his coming      
death4 ,he saw that fact distinctly     
before him1 and to his eye everything   
was associated with it4 ,as he took the 
bread and broke it1 it seemed to him an 
emblem of himself1 pierced and dying2   
and from the fulness of his spirit he   
spoke1 ,take1 eat1 this is my body1     
broken for you4 ,as he took the cup and 
set it before them1 it reminded him of  
his blood1 that must flow ere his       
mission was fulfilled1 and he could say1
 ,it is finished4 ,and then1 when the   
traitor rose from that table to go out  
and consummate the very purpose that    
should lead to that event1 as one who   
had arrayed himself in robes of death1  
and was about to declare his legacy1 he 
broke forth in that sublime strain      

commencing1 ,now is the ,son of man     
glorified1 and ,god is glorified in     
him2-that strain of mingled precept1 and
 promise1 and warning1 and prayer1 from 
which the weary and the sick-hearted of 
all ages shall gather strength and      
consolation1 and which shall be read in 
dying chambers and houses of mourning   
until death and sorrow shall reign no   
more4  ,laden1 then1 with the thought of
 his death1 he had gone with his        
disciples into the garden of            
,gethsemane4 ,there1 in the darkness and
 loneliness of night1 the full anguish  
of his situation rushed upon his spirit4
 ,he shrank from the rude scenes that   
opened before him1--from the mocker's   
sneer and the ruler's scourge2 from the 
glare of impatient revenge1 and the     
weeping eyes of helpless friendship2    
from the insignia of imposture and of   
shame2 and from the protracted1 thirsty1
 torturing death4 ,he shrank from       
these1--he shrank from the rupture of   
tender ties1--he shrank from the parting

 with deeply-loved friends1--his soul   
was overburdened1 his spirit was swollen
 to agony1 and he rushed to his knees1  
and prayed1 ,father1 if thou be willing1
 remove this cup from me4 ,yet even     
then1 in the intensity of his grief1 the
 sentiment that lay deep and serene     
below suggested the conditions1 and he  
added1 ,nevertheless1 not my will1 but  
thine1 be done4 ,but still the painful  
thought oppressed him1 and1 though more 
subdued now1 he knelt and prayed again1 
,o1 my ,father1 if this cup may not pass
 away from me except ,i drink it1 thy   
will be done4 ,and once more1 as he     
returned from his weary1 sleeping       
disciples1 and found himself alone1 the 
wish broke forth-yet tempered by the    
same obedient compliance4  ,and here ,i 
pause to ask1 if1 in all that scene of  
agony1 anything is developed            
inconsistent with the character of      
,christ8 ,if we would have it otherwise8
 ,if these tears and groans of anguish  
are tokens of a weakness that we would  

conceal from our convictions1--that we  
would overlook1 as marring the dignity  
and the divinity of the ,saviour8 ,for  
one1 ,i would not have it otherwise4 ,i 
would not have the consoling strength1  
the sympathizing tenderness1 the holy   
victory that may be drawn from          
thence1--,i would not have these left   
out from the ,life that was given us as 
a pattern4 ,jesus1 we are told1 was made
 perfect through suffering4 ,this       
struggle took place that victory might  
be won2--this discipline of sorrow fell 
upon him that perfection and beauty     
might be developed4 ,by this we see that
 ,christ's was a spirit liable to       
trial1--impressible by suffering2 and   
from this fact does the victory appear  
greater and more real4 ,in this we see  
one striving with man's                 
sorrow1--seeking1 like man1 to be       
delivered from pain and grief1 yet      
rising to a calm obedience1--a lofty    
resignation4 ,had ,jesus passed through 
life always serene1 always unshrinking1 

we should not have seen a man1 but      
something that man is not1 something    
that man cannot be in this world2 and   
that calm question1 ,the cup that my    
,father hath given me1 shall ,i not     
drink it8 would lose its force and      
significance4 ,otherwise1 why should not
 ,jesus be as resigned as before8 ,he   
had betrayed no sense of suffering1 no  
impressibility by pain2 why should he   
not be willing1 seeing he was always    
able to meet the end8 ,but ,o6 when that
 deep1 holy calmness has fallen upon a  
soul that has been tossed by sorrow1 and
 that has shrunk from death1--when the  
brow has come up smooth and radiant from
 the shadow of mourning1--when that soul
 is ready for the issue1 not because it 
has always felt around it the girdle of 
,omnipotence1 but because1 through      
weakness and suffering1 it has risen and
 worked out an unfaltering trust1 and   
taken hold of the hand of ,god by the   
effort of faith1--then it is1 ,i say1   
that resignation if beautiful and       

holy1--then do we wonder and admire4    
,so it was with ,jesus4 ,a little while 
ago we saw him bowed with sorrow1 his   
eyes lifted with tears to heaven4 ,we   
saw that he keenly felt the approaching 
pain1 and shame1 and death4 ,a little   
while ago1 the still night air was laden
 with his cry1 ,father1 if it be thy    
will1 let this cup pass from me4 ,and   
now1 as one who is strong and ready1 he 
says calmly to ,peter1 ,the cup which my
 ,father hath given me1 shall ,i not    
drink it8 ,truly1 a battle has been     
fought1 and a victory won1 here2 but we 
should not be the better for it1 were it
 not for that very process of suffering 
in which that battle was waged1 and from
 which that victory was wrung4 ,now1    
when we sorrow1 we know who also        
sorrowed2 we remember whose agony the   
still heavens looked upon with all their
 starry eyes1--whose tears moistened the
 bosom of the bare earth1--whose cry of 
anguish pierced the gloom of night4     
,now1 too1 when we sorrow1 we know where

 to find relief2 we learn the spirit of 
resignation1 and under what conditions  
it may be born4 ,thank ,god1 then1 for  
the lesson of the lonely garden and the 
weeping ,christ-we1 too1 may be made    
perfect through suffering4  ,such1 then1
 were the circumstances that illustrate 
the words of the text4 ,scarcely had    
,jesus risen from his knees1 and wakened
 the drowsy disciples1 when the light of
 lanterns flashed upon him1 and ,judas  
came with a multitude to bear him to    
that death from which1 but now1 he      
shrunk with agony4 ,but he shrank no    
more4 ,the trial was over1--the darkness
 had vanished1--an angel had            
strengthened him2 and when the impetuous
 ,peter drew his sword and smote off the
 servant's ear1 his master turned to    
him1 with the calm rebuke1 ,put up thy  
sword into his sheath2 the cup which my 
,father hath given me1 shall ,i not     
drink it8 ,yes1 cold and bitter as that 
cup was1 pressed next to his very lips1 
he had learned to drink it4 ,god had    

given him strength1 and no more did he  
falter1 no more did he groan-save once1 
for a moment1 when1 upon the cross1     
drooping1 and racked with intense pain1 
he cried out1 ,my ,god1 my ,god1 why    
hast thou forsaken me8 ,but that passed 
away in the triumphant ejaculation1 ,it 
is finished6  ,such was the resignation 
of ,jesus2 a trait in his character     
which1 like all the rest1 is not only to
 be admired1 but imitated2--not an      
abstract virtue1 manifested by a being  
so perfect and so enshrined in the      
sanctity of a divine nature that we     
cannot approach it1 and in our mortal1  
work-day trials can never feel it2 but a
 virtue which should be throned in every
 heart1 the strength and consolation of 
which every suffering soul may          
experience4 ,nay1 if there is one virtue
 which is more often needed than any    
other1 which lies at the base of true   
happiness1 and than which there is no   
surer seal of piety1 it is this virtue  
of resignation4 ,and let me proceed to  

say1 that by resignation ,i mean not    
cold and sullen apathy1 or reckless     
hardihood1 but a sweet trust and humble 
acquiescence1 which show that the soul  
has submitted itself to the ,father who 
knows and does best1 and that it meets  
his dispensations with obedience and his
 mysteries with faith4 ,the apathy and  
hardihood to which ,i have alluded are  
very far from the trust and piety of a  
religious spirit4 ,the fatalist         
acquiesces in the course of things      
because he cannot help it4 ,he has      
reasoned to the conclusion that his     
murmuring and weeping will not alter    
matters and he has resolved to take     
things as they come4 ,but here is no    
resignation to the will of ,god1 but to 
the necessity of things4 ,here is no    
faith that all things are wisely        
ordered1 and that sorrow is but the     
shadow of the ,father's hand4 ,no2 here 
is the simple belief that things are as 
they are1 and cannot be altered1-that an
 arbitrary law is the eternal rule1 not 

a benevolent and holy purpose2 and the  
philosopher would be just as resigned if
 he believed all things to be under the 
guidance of a blind fate1 whose iron    
machinery drives on to level or exalt1  
unintelligent and remorseless1 whether  
in its course it brings about good or   
evil1-whether it gladdens human hearts  
or crushes them4 ,such resignation as   
this may be quite common in the world1  
manifested in various phases1 and by men
 of different religious opinions4 ,do we
 not often hear the expression1 ,well1  
things are as they are1-we do best to   
take them as they come2 and here the    
matter ends8 ,no higher reference is    
made4 ,the things alluded to may issue  
from the bosom of material nature1 may  
be sent into the world by chance1 or may
 come from the good ,father of all2 but 
the minds of these reasoners reach not  
so far4 ,now ,i repeat1 there is no     
religion and no true philosophy in this 
method2 certainly it is not such        
resignation as ,jesus manifested4 ,in   

fact1 it indicates total carelessness as
 to the discipline of life1 and will    
generally be found with men in whose    
thoughts ,god is not1 or to whose       
conceptions he is the distant1 inactive 
,deity1 not the near and ever-working   
,controller4 ,i cannot admire the       
conduct of that man who when the bolt of
 sorrow falls1 receives it upon the     
armor of a rigid fatalism1 who wipes    
scarcely a tear from his hard1 dry face1
 and says1 ,well1 it cannot be helped2  
things are so ordered4 ,below all this  
there is often a sulky1 half-angry      
sentiment1 as though the victim felt the
 blow1 but was determined not to        
wince1-as though there was an           
acknowledgment of weakness1 but also a  
display of pride1-a feeling that we     
cannot resist sorrow1 yet that sorrow   
has no business to come1 and now that it
 has come the sufferer will not yield to
 it4 ,this1 evidently1 is not           
resignation1 religious resignation1 but 
only sullen acquiescence1 or reckless   

hardihood4  ,in a certain sense it is   
true that we do well to take things as  
they come1-that we cannot help the      
eternal laws that control events4 ,but  
we must go behind this truth4 ,whence do
 events come1 and for what purpose do   
they come8 ,what is life1 and for what  
end are all its varied dispensations8   
,religion points us up beyond the cloud 
of materialism1 and behind the mechanism
 of nature1 to an ,infinite ,spirit1 to 
a ,god1 to a ,father4 ,all things are   
moved by infinite ,love4 ,life is not   
merely a phenomenon1 it is a ,lesson4   
,its events do not come and go1 in a    
causeless1 arbitrary manner2 they are   
meant for our discipline and our good4  
,in whatever aspect they come1 then1 let
 their appropriate lesson be heeded4    
,this is the religious view of life1 and
 is wide apart from the philosophy that 
lets events happen as they will1 as     
though we were in the setting of a heady
 current1 and were borne along among    
other matters that now help us1 now jar 

and wound us1-that happen without order 
and without object2 all1 like ourselves1
 driven along and taking things as they 
come4 ,in the religious view1 all things
 stream from ,god's throne1 and whatever
 sky hangs over them1 the infinite ,one 
is present2 prosperity is the sunshine  
that he has sent1 and ,faith1 as she    
weeps1 beholds a bow in the clouds4     
,the religious man takes things as they 
come1 but how8 ,in a reverent and filial
 spirit1 a spirit that obeys and trusts 
because ,god has ordained4 ,he refers1  
behind the event1 to the will that      
declares it4 ,and yet1 this will be no  
formal lifeless resignation4 ,he will   
not be stripped of his manhood1 or      
become unnatural in his religion4 ,his  
resignation will not be the cold assent 
of reason1 or the mere rote and         
repetition of the lips4 ,no1 it will be 
born in struggling and in sorrow4       
,religion is not a process that makes   
our nature callous to all fierce heats  
or drenching storms4 ,neither is he the 

most religious man who is calmest in the
 keen crisis of trouble4 ,i say in the  
crisis of trouble-for to human vision   
there always is a crisis4 ,we cannot    
penetrate to the secret determinations  
of ,god1 and in the season of care and  
affliction there is a time when the     
issue is uncertain1-when we cannot say  
it is sealed4 ,what shall we do then8   
,is human agency nothing8 ,grant that we
 are driving down a stream1-can we use  
no effort8 ,is there not a time when    
deeds1 struggles1 prayers1 are of some  
avail8-when the spirit1 in its intense  
agony1 with swollen strength and surging
 tears1 heaves against the catastrophe1 
if yet1 perchance1 it may ward it off8  
,truly1 there is such a time1 and the   
humblest disciple of ,christ may weep as
 he also wept4 ,but let him also strive 
as ,christ strove4 ,let him not dash his
 grief in rebellious billows to the     
throne2 let not his groans arise in     
resentful murmurs2 let the remembrance  
of what ,god is and why he does1 be with

 him1 and let the filial1 reverent trust
 steal in1--,not my will1 but thine be  
done4 ,that reference to ,god1 that     
obedience to him1 rising from the very  
depths of sorrow1 and clung to without  
faltering1 is ,,resignation4 ,it shall  
bestow peace and victory in the end4 ,o6
 how different from that sullen fatalism
 that lets things come as they will4 ,to
 such a soul things do come as they     
will1 and it hardens under them1-they do
 come as they will1 but it sees not1    
cares not1 why they come4 ,no thought   
goes up beyond the cloud to ,god1-no    
strength is born that shall make life's 
trials lighter1-no love and faith that  
will seek the ,father's hand in the     
darkest hour1 and shed an enduring light
 over the thorny path of affliction1 and
 upon the bosom of the grave4 ,look at  
these two4 ,outwardly1 their calmness   
may be the same4 ,nay1 the one may      
evince emotion and tears1 while the     
other shall stand rigid in the hour of  
calamity1 with a bitter smile1 or a     

frown of endurance4 ,but in the one is  
strength1 in the other rigidity2 in the 
one is power to triumph over sorrow1 in 
the other only nervous capacity to      
resist it4 ,the one is man hardened to  
indifference1 sullen because of         
irreligion1 upon whom some sorrow will  
one day fall that will peel him to the  
quick1 and he will not know where to    
flee for healing4 ,the other is man     
contending against evil1 yet not against
 ,god1-man with all the tenderness and  
strength of his nature1 impressible yet 
unconquerable1 walking with feet that   
bleed among the wounding thorns1 and a  
heart that shrinks from the heavy woe1  
yet1 all lacerated as he is1 able to    
walk through1 because he holds by the   
hand of ,omnipotence4 ,the one is the   
unbending tree1 peeled by the lightning 
and stripped by the ,north wind1 lifting
 its gnarled head in sullen defiance to 
the storm1 which1 when the storm does   
overcome it1 shall be broken4 ,the other
 also is rooted in strength1 and meets  

the rushing blast with a lofty front4   
,but as it smiles in sunshine1 so it    
bends in storm1 trustful and obedient1  
yet firm and brave1 and nothing shall   
overwhelm it4  ,i trust ,i have         
succeeded in impressing upon you the    
difference between ,christian           
resignation and mere hardihood1 or      
indifference4 ,resignation is born of   
discipline1 and lives only in a truly   
religious soul4 ,we have seen that it is
 not incompatible with tenderness2 nay1 
it is more valuable1 because it springs 
up in natures that have thus suffered   
and wept4 ,to see them become calm and  
pass with unfaltering step through the  
valley of affliction1 when1 but now1    
they shrunk from it1 is a proof that    
,god indeed has strengthened them1 and  
that they have had communion with him4  
,the unbeliever's stubbornness may      
endure to the end1 but no human power   
could inspire this sudden and triumphant
 calmness4  ,and even when the crisis is
 past1 when the sorrow is sealed1 it is 

not rebellion to sigh and weep4 ,our    
,father has made us so4 ,he has opened  
the springs of love that well up within 
us1 and can we help mourning when they  
turn to tears and blood8 ,he has made   
very tender the ties that bind us to    
happiness1 and can we fail to shrink and
 suffer when they are cut asunder8 ,when
 we have labored long in the light of   
hope1 and lo6 ,it goes out in darkness1 
and the blast of disappointment rushes  
upon us1 can we help being sad8 ,can the
 mother prevent weeping when she kisses 
the lips of her infant that shall       
prattle to her no more2 when she presses
 its tiny hand1 so cold and still1-the  
little hand that has rested upon her    
bosom and twined in her hair2 and even  
when it is so sweet and beautiful that  
she could strain it to her heart        
forever1 it is laid away in the envious 
concealment of the grave8 ,can the wife1
 or the husband1 help mourning1 when the
 partner and counsellor is gone1-when   
home is made very desolate because the  

familiar voice sounds not there1 and the
 cast-off garment of the departed is    
strangely vacant1 and the familiar face 
has vanished1 never more to return8 ,can
 the child fail to lament1 when the     
father1 the mother1-the being who       
nurtured him in infancy1 who pillowed   
his head in sickness1 who prayed for him
 with tears on his sinful wandering1 who
 ever rejoiced in his joy and wept in   
his sorrows1-can he fail to weep when   
that venerable form lies all enshrouded1
 and the door closes upon it1 and the   
homestead is vacant1 and the link that  
bound him to childhood is in the grave8 
,say1 can we check the gush of sorrow at
 any of life's sharp trials and losses8 
,no2 nor are we forbidden to weep1 nor  
would we be human if we did not         
weep1-if1 at least1 the spirit did not  
quiver when the keen scathing goes over 
it4 ,but how shall we weep8 ,o6 ,thou1  
who didst suffer in ,gethsemane1 thou   
hast taught us how4 ,by thy sacred      
sorrow and thy pious obedience thou has 

taught us2 by thy great agony and thy   
sublime victory thou has taught us4 ,we 
must refer all to ,god4 ,we must        
earnestly1 sincerely say1 ,thy will be  
done4 ,then our prayers will be the     
source of our strength4 ,then our       
sorrowing will bring us comfort4 ,they  
will be done2 repeat this1 feel this1   
realize its meaning and its relations1  
and you shall be able to say1 with a    
rooted calmness1 ,the cup which my      
,father hath given me1 shall ,i not     
drink it8  ,the cup which my ,father    
hath given me1 shall ,i not drink it8   
,who shall be able to say this as ,jesus
 said it8 ,they who struggle as he      
struggled1-who obey as he obeyed1-who   
trust as he trusted4 ,there are those   
upon earth who have been able to say it4
 ,it has made them stronger and happier4
 ,there are those in heaven who have    
been able to say it4 ,they have gone up 
from earthly communions to the communion
 on high4 ,do you not see them there1   
walking so serenely by the still waters1

 with palms about their brows8          
,serenely-for in their faces nothing is 
left of their conflict but its triumph2 
nothing of their swollen agony but the  
massy enduring strength it has imparted4
 ,they have ceased from their trials1   
but first they learned how to endure    
them4 ,they submitted1 but they were not
 overwhelmed4 ,when sorrow came1 each   
pious soul struggled1 but trusted2 and  
so was able to meet the last            
struggle1-was able to say as the shadow 
of death fell upon it1 ,the cup which my
 ,father hath given me1 shall ,i not    
drink it8 ,they were resigned4          
,behold-theirs is the victory6     ,,the
 ,,mission ,,of ,,little ,,children     
,and ,jesus called a little child unto  
him1 and set him in      the midst of   
them4  ,matthew xviii4#b4   ,everything 
has its mission4 ,i speak not now of the
 office which each part of the great    
universe discharges4 ,i speak not of the
 relation between these parts1--that    
beautiful ordinance by which the whole  

is linked together in one common life1  
by which the greatest is dependent upon 
the least1 and the least shares in the  
benefactions of the greatest4 ,in this  
sense1 everything has1 strictly1 its    
mission4 ,but ,i speak of the influence1
 the instruction1 which everything has1 
or may have1 for the soul of man4 ,the  
flower1 and the star1 the grass of the  
field1 the outspread ocean1 are full of 
lessons2 they perform a mission to our  
spiritual nature1 if we will receive it4
 ,we may pass them by as simply material
 forms1 the decorations or              
conveniencies7sic7 of this our natural  
life4 ,but if we will come to them in a 
religious spirit1 and study all their   
meaning1 they will be to us ministers of
 ,god1 impressive and eloquent as human 
lips1 and filled with truths instructive
 as any that man can utter4  ,jesus     
illustrated his teachings by these      
objects4 ,he made everything that was at
 hand perform a mission for the human   
soul4 ,the lilies of the field were     

clothed with spiritual suggestion1 and  
the fowls of the air1 as they flew      
through the trackless firmament1 bore a 
lesson of truth and consolation4 ,as if 
to show that there is nothing1 however  
small1 that is insignificant1 and that  
has not its mission1 he selected the    
falling sparrow to be a minister of     
wisdom1 and dignified the wayside well  
as a clear and living oracle of the     
divinest truth4  ,in the instance before
 us1 the object selected was a little   
child4 ,in reply to the question1 ,who  
is the greatest in the kingdom of       
heaven8 ,jesus set this little one in   
the midst of his disciples and said1    
,verily ,i say unto you1 except ye be   
converted1 and become as little         
children1 ye shall not enter into the   
kingdom of heaven4 ,thus did he rebuke  
their sensuous ideas of greatness by a  
spiritual truth1 and make a little child
 the teacher of profound and beautiful  
wisdom4 ,i do not propose1 however1 at  
this time1 to dwell upon the precise    

doctrines which ,christ taught in the   
instance1 but having1 as it were1 the   
little child set in our midst1 to draw  
from it further lessons that may do us  
good4 ,in one word1 ,i propose to speak 
of the mission of little children4  ,in 
using this term mission1 ,i wish to have
 no obscurity about my meaning4 ,i      
refer1 by it1 to the influence which    
little children may exert upon us1--to  
the effects which they may              
produce1--rather than to any direct     
object which they can have in view1 or  
for which they set themselves to work4  
,they may be unconscious missionaries2  
indeed1 to a great extent1 they are so4 
,but so are the lilies of the field and 
the birds of the air4 ,yet if we believe
 that ,god is the ordainer of all wisdom
 and of all good1 that he uses an object
 or event in numberless ways1 and makes 
it the unconscious instrument of many of
 his plans1 then we may say that        
children are sent by him for the express
 purpose of producing these effects1 and

 in that sense have a mission4  ,i pass 
to consider some of the modes in which  
that mission is accomplished4  ,i4      
,little children give us a sincere and  
affectionate manifestation of human     
nature4 ,i know that even a child will  
soon become artful1 and imbibe the      
spirit of dealing and of policy4 ,but in
 a strongly comparative sense1 the child
 is artless4 ,the thoughts of the heart 
leap spontaneously from the lips4 ,the  
bubbling impulse is closely followed by 
the action4 ,its desire1 its aversion1  
its love1 its curiosity1 are expressed  
without modification4 ,the broken       
prattle1 those half-pronounced words1   
are uttered with clear1 ringing tones of
 sincerity4 ,there is no coil of deceit 
about the heart4 ,there are no secrets  
chambered in the brain4 ,the countenance
 has put on no disguise4 ,there is no   
manoeuvring with lips or actions1 no    
suspicion or plotting in the eyes4 ,it  
is simple human nature fresh from the   
hands of ,god1 with all its young       

springs in motion1 trying themselves in 
their simplicity and their newness4 ,the
 eyes open upon the world1 not with     
speculation1 but with wonder4 ,to them1 
the ancient hills and the morning stars 
are just created1 new phenomena burst   
upon them every moment1 and nature in a 
thousand channels pours itself into the 
young soul4 ,and how soon it learns the 
meaning of a mother's smile1 and the    
protection of a father's hand6 ,how soon
 the fountains of affection are unsealed
 and the mystery of human love takes    
possession of the hear6 ,but the tides  
of that love are controlled by no       
calculation1 are fettered by no         
proprieties1 but flow artlessly and     
freely4  ,humanity soon runs into       
deceit1 and the sincerest man wears a   
mask4 ,we cannot trust our most familiar
 friends1 to the whole extent4 ,we all  
retain something in our inmost hearts   
that nobody knows but we and ,god4 ,the 
world bids us be shrewd and politic4 ,we
 walk in a mart of selfishness4 ,eyes   

stare upon us1 and we are afraid of     
them4 ,we meet as traders1 as partisans1
 as citizens1 as worshippers1 as        
friends-brothers1 if you will-but we    
must not express all we think1 we must  
school ourselves in some respects1--must
 adopt some conventionalities4 ,there is
 some degree of isolation between       
ourselves and every other one4 ,but from
 the world's strife and sordidness1 its 
wearisome forms and cold suspicions1 we 
may turn to the sanctity of home1 and if
 we have a child there1 we shall find   
affection without alloy1 a welcome that 
leaps from the heart in sunshine to the 
face1 and speaks right from the soul2--a
 companion who is not afraid or ashamed 
of us1 who makes no calculation about   
our friendship1 who has faith in it1 and
 requires of us perfect faith in return1
 and whose sincerity rebukes our        
worldliness1 and makes us wonder at the 
world4 ,and if all this makes us better 
and happier1 if it keeps our hearts from
 hardness and attrition1 if it begets in

 us something of the same sincerity1 and
 hallows us with something of the same  
affection1 if it softens and purifies us
 at all1 then do not children1 in this  
respect perform a mission for us8  ,and 
shall we not learn from them more       
confidence in human nature1 seeing that 
the child is father to the man1 and that
 much that seems cold and hard in men   
may conceal the remains of childhood's  
better feeling8 ,and1 also1 shall it not
 make us deplore and guard against those
 influences which can change the sincere
 and loving child into the deceitful and
 selfish man-that cover the spring of   
genuine feeling with the thick rime of  
worldliness1 and petrify the tender     
chords of the heart into rough1         
unfeeling sinews8 ,the man should not   
be1 in all respects1 as the child4 ,the 
child cannot have the glory of the man4 
,if it is not polluted by his vices1 it 
is not ennobled by his virtues4 ,but in 
so much as the child awakens in us      
tenderness1 and teaches us sincerity1   

and counteracts our coarser and harder  
tendencies1 and cheers us in our        
isolation from human hearts1 by binding 
us close with a warm affection1 and     
sheds ever around our path the mirrored 
sunshine of our youth and our           
simplicity1 in so much the child        
accomplishes for us a blessed mission4  
,,ii4 ,children teach us faith and      
confidence4 ,man soon becomes proud with
 reason1 and impatient of restraint4 ,he
 thinks he knows1 or ought to know1 the 
whole mystery of the universe4 ,it is   
not easy for him to take anything upon  
trust1 or to lie low in the hand of     
,god4 ,but the child is full of faith4  
,he is not old enough to speculate1 and 
the things he sees are to him so strange
 and wonderful that he can easily       
believe in the things that are unseen4  
,he propounds many questions1 but       
entertains no doubts as to ,god and     
heaven4 ,and what confidence has he in  
his father's government and his mother's
 providence6  ,i do not say1 here1 that 

a man's faith should be as a child's    
faith4 ,man must examine and reason1    
contend with doubt1 and wander through  
mystery4 ,but ,i would have him cherish 
the feeling that he too is a child1 the 
denizen of a ,father's house1 and have  
sufficient confidence in that ,father to
 trust his goodness2 and to remember1 if
 things look perplexed and discordant to
 him1 that his vision is but a child's  
vision-he cannot see all4 ,indeed1 there
 is a beautiful analogy between a child 
in its father's house and man in the    
universe1 and much there is in the      
filial sentiment that belongs to both   
conditions4 ,beautifully has it been    
shown by a recent writer how the natural
 operation of this sentiment in the     
child's heart1 and in the sphere of     
home1 stands somewhat in the place of   
that religion which man needs in his    
maturer conditions4 ,god has given it1  
in its very lot1 says he1 a religion of 
its own1 the sufficiency of which it    
were impiety to doubt4 ,the child's     

veneration can scarcely climb to any    
loftier height than the soul of a wise  
and good parent444,how can there be for 
him diviner truth than his father's     
knowledge1 a more wonderous world than  
his father's experience1 a better       
providence than his mother's vigilance1 
a securer fidelity than in their united 
promise8 ,encompassed round by these1 he
 rests as in the embrace of the only    
omniscience he can comprehend4          
7,martineau7  ,but ,o6 my friends1 when 
our childhood has passed by1 and we go  
out to drink the mingled cup of life1   
and cares come crowding upon us1 and    
hopes are crushed1 and doubts wrestle   
with us1 and sorrow burdens our spirits1
 then we need a deeper faith1 and look  
up for a stronger ,father4 ,a kind word 
will not stifle our grief then4 ,we     
cannot go to sleep upon our mother's    
arms1 and forget it all4 ,there is no   
charm to hold our spirits within the    
walls of this home1 the earth4 ,our     
thoughts crave more than this4 ,our     

souls reach out over the grave1 and cry 
for something after6 ,no bauble will    
assuage this bitterness4 ,it is         
spiritual and stern1 and we must have a 
word from heaven-a promise from one who 
is able to fulfill4 ,we look around us1 
and find that ,father1 and his vary     
nature contains the promise that we     
need4 ,and as the child in his ignorance
 has faith1 not because he can          
demonstrate1 but because it is his      
father1 so let us1 in our ignorance1    
feel that in this great universe of many
 mansions1 of solemn mysteries1 of homes
 beyond the earth1 of relationships that
 reach through eternity1 of plans only a
 portion of which is seen here2 so let  
us look up as to a ,father's fare1 take 
hold of his hand1 go in and out and lie 
down securely in his presence1 and      
cherish faith4 ,if children only teach  
us to do this1 how beautiful and how    
great is their mission6  ,,iii4         
,children waken in us new and powerful  
affections4 ,nobody but a parent can    

realize what these affections are1 can  
tell what a fountain of emotion the     
newborn child unseals1 what chords of   
strange love are drawn out from the     
heart1 that before lay there concealed4 
,one may have all powers of intellect1 a
 refined moral culture1 a noble and     
wide-reaching philanthropy1 and yet a   
child born to him shall awaken within   
him a depth of tenderness1 a sentiment  
of love1 a yearning affection1 that     
shall surprise him as to the capacity   
and the mystery of his nature4  ,and the
 relation of a mother to her child2 what
 other is like it8 ,without it1 how     
undeveloped is the great element of     
affection1 how small a horn of its orb  
is filled and lighted6 ,what was she    
until that new love woke up within her1 
and her heart and soul thrilled with it1
 and first truly lived in it8 ,of all   
the degrees of human love1 how amply is 
this the highest6 ,in all the depths of 
human love1 how surely is this the      
nethermost6 ,when illustrations fail us1

 how confidently do we seize upon this6 
,the mother nurturing her child in      
tenderness1 watching over it with       
untiring love6 ,o6 that is affection    
stronger than any of this earth4 ,it has
 a power1 a beauty1 a holiness like no  
other sentiment4 ,when that child has   
grown to maturity1 and has gone out from
 her in profligacy and in scorn2 when   
the world has denounced him1 and justice
 sets its price upon his head1 and      
lovers and companions fall off from him 
in utter loathing-we do not ask1 we     
know1 there is one heart that cannot    
reject him4 ,no sin of his can paralyze 
the chord that vibrates there for him4  
,no alienation can cancel the affection 
that was born at his birth1 that        
pillowed him in his infancy1 centred in 
him its life1 clasped him with its      
strength1 and shed upon him its         
blessings1 its hopes1 and its prayers4  
,and no one feels the death of a child  
as a mother feels it4 ,even the father  
cannot realize it thus4 ,there is a     

vacancy in his home1 and a heaviness in 
his heart4 ,there is a chain of         
association that at set times comes     
round with its broken link2 there are   
memories of endearment1 a keen sense of 
loss1 a weeping over crushed hopes1 and 
a pain of wounded affliction4 ,but the  
mother feels that one has been taken    
away who was still closer to her heart4 
,hers has been the office of constant   
ministration4 ,every gradation of       
feature has developed before her eyes4  
,she has detected every new gleam of    
intelligence4 ,she heard the first      
utterance of every new word4 ,she has   
been the refuge of his fears2 the supply
 of his wants4 ,and every task of       
affection has woven a new link1 and made
 dear to her its object4 ,and when he   
dies1 a portion of her own life1 as it  
were1 dies4 ,how can she give him up1   
with all these memories1 these          
associations8 ,the timid hands that have
 so often taken hers in trust and love1 
how can she fold them on his breast1 and

 surrender them to the cold clasp of    
death8 ,the feet whose wanderings she   
has watched so narrowly1 how can she see
 them straitened to go down into the    
dark valley8 ,the head that she has     
pressed to her lips and her bosom1 that 
she has watched in burning sickness and 
in peaceful slumber1 a hair of which she
 could not see harmed1 ,o6 how can she  
consign it to the chamber of the grave8 
,the form that not for one night has    
been beyond her vision or her knowledge1
 how can she put it away for the long   
night of the sepulchre1 to see it no    
more8 ,man has cares and toils that draw
 away his thoughts and employ them2 she 
sits in loneliness1 and all these       
memories1 all these suggestions1 crowd  
upon her4 ,how can she bear all this8   
,she could not1 were it not that her    
faith is as her affection2 and if the   
one is more deep and tender than in man1
 the other is more simple and           
spontaneous1 and takes confidently hold 
of the hand of ,god4  ,thus1 then1 do   

children awaken within us deep and      
mighty affections2 and is it not their  
mission to do so8 ,do we not see many   
beautiful offices created and discharged
 by these affections--tender and        
far-reaching relationships into which   
they run8 ,do we not see how they win   
the heart from frivolity and            
selfishness1 and make it aware of       
duties1 and quick with sympathies8 ,i   
shall not enter into detailed           
considerations of the results of this   
affection thus awakened in us by        
children4 ,a little reflection will     
render them obvious to you4 ,let me     
simply say1 that in awakening these     
affections children discharge an        
important and beautiful mission4  ,,iv4 
,i might speak of other offices         
discharged by little children2 of the   
influence upon us of their purity and   
their innocence2 their importance in the
 social state2 of the benefits conferred
 upon us by the very duties which we    
exercise toward them4 ,but merely       

suggesting these1 ,i will speak at this 
time of but one more mission which they 
perform for us1 and this1 my friends1 is
 performed through sadness and through  
tears4 ,the little child performs it by 
its death4 ,it has been with us a little
 while4 ,we have enjoyed its bright and 
innocent companionship by the dusty     
highway of life1 in the midst of its    
toils1 its cares1 and its sin4 ,it has  
been a gleam of sunshine and a voice of 
perpetual gladness in our homes4 ,we    
have learned from it blessed lessons of 
simplicity1 sincerity1 purity1 faith4   
,it has unsealed within us this gushing1
 never-ebbing tide of affection4        
,suddenly1 it is taken away4 ,we miss   
the gleam of sunshine4 ,we miss the     
voice of gladness4 ,our homes are dark  
and silent4 ,we ask1 ,shall it not come 
again8 ,and the answer breaks upon us   
through the cold gray silence1          
,nevermore6 ,we say to ourselves again  
and again1 ,can it be possible8 ,do we  
not dream8 ,will not that life and      

affection return to us8 ,nevermore6 ,o6 
nevermore6 ,the heart is like an empty  
mansion1 and that word goes echoing     
through its desolate chambers4 ,we are  
stricken and afflicted4 ,but must this1 
should this1 be always and only so8 ,are
 we not looking merely at the earthly   
aspect of the event8 ,has it not a      
spiritual phase for us8 ,nay1 do we not 
begin to consider how through our       
temporal affection an eternal good is   
wrought out for us8 ,do we begin to     
realize that in our souls we have       
derived profit from it already8 ,do we  
not begin to learn that life is not a   
holiday or a workday only1 but a        
discipline1--that ,god conducts that    
discipline in infinite wisdom and       
benevolence1--mingles the draught1 and1 
when he sees fit1 infuses bitterness8   
,not that constant sweet would not      
please us better1 but that our          
discipline1 which is of more importance 
than our indulgence1 will be more       
effectual thereby4 ,this is often talked

 about2 ,i ask1 do not we who are called
 upon to mourn the loss of children     
realize it1--actually realize that that 
loss is for our spiritual gain8 ,if we  
do not1 we are merely looking upon the  
earthly phase of our loss4 ,if we do not
 realize this spiritual good1 we may4   
,yes1 in death the little child has a   
mission for us4 ,through that very      
departure he accomplishes for us1       
perhaps1 what he could not accomplish by
 his life4 ,these affections which he   
has awakened1 we have considered how    
strong they are4 ,they are stronger1 are
 they not1 than any attachment to mere  
things of this earth8 ,but that child   
has gone from us1--gone into the unseen1
 the spiritual world4 ,what then8 ,do   
our affections sink back into our       
hearts1--become absorbed and forgotten8 
,o1 no6 ,they reach out after that      
little one2 they follow him into the    
unseen and spiritual world1--thus is it 
made a great and vivid reality to       
us1--perhaps for the first time4 ,we    

have talked of it1 we have believed in  
it2 but now that our dead have gone into
 it1 we have1 as it were1 entered it    
ourselves4 ,its atmosphere is around us1
 chords of affection draw us toward it1 
the faces of our departed ones look out 
from it--and it is a reality4 ,and is it
 not worth something to make it such a  
reality8  ,we are wedded to this world4 
,it is beautiful1 it is attractive1 it  
is real4 ,immortality is a pleasant     
thought4 ,the spiritual land is an      
object of faith4 ,but the separation    
between this and that is cold to think  
of1 and hard to bear4 ,it needs         
something stronger than this earth to   
draw us toward that spiritual world2 to 
break some of the thousand tendrils that
 bind us here4 ,my friends1 though many 
powerful appeals1 many solid arguments1 
cannot break our affections from this   
earth1 the hand of a departed child can 
do it4 ,the voice that calls us to      
unseen realities1 that bids us prepare  
for the heavenly land1 that says from   

heights of spiritual bliss and purity1  
,come up hither2--that voice that we    
loved so on earth1 and gladly can we    
rise and follow it4  ,behold1 then1 what
 a little child can perform for us      
through its death6 ,it makes real and   
attractive to us that spiritual world to
 which it has gone1 and calls our       
affections from earth to that true life 
which is the great end of our being1    
which is the object of all our          
discipline1 our mingled joy and         
suffering1 here upon this earth4 ,that  
little child1 gone from its sufferings  
of early1--gone       ,gentle and       
undefiled1 with blessings on its head1--
  has it indeed become a very angel of  
,god for us1 and is it calling us to a  
more spiritual life1 and does it win us 
to heaven8 ,is its memory around us like
 a pure presence into which no thought  
of sin can readily enter8 ,or is it with
 us1 even yet1 a spiritual companion of 
our ways8 ,from being the guarded and   
the guided1 has it risen in infant      

innocence1 yet in the knowledge and     
majesty of the immortal life1 to be the 
guard and the guide8 ,does it1 indeed1  
make our hearts softer and purer1 and   
cause us to think more of duty1 and live
 more holy1 thus clothing ourselves to  
go and dwell with it8 ,does it1 by its  
death1 accomplish all this8 ,o6 most    
important1 most glorious mission of all1
 if we only heed it1 if we only accept  
it4 ,then shall we behold already the   
wisdom and benevolence of our ,father   
breaking through the cloud that         
overshadows us4 ,already shall we see   
that the tie1 which seemed to be dropped
 and broken1 ,god has taken up to draw  
us closer to himself1 and that it is    
interwoven with his all-gracious plan   
for our spiritual profit and perfection4
 ,and we can anticipate how it will all 
be reconciled1 when his own hand shall  
wipe away our tears1 and the bliss of   
reunion shall extract the last drop of  
bitterness from the cup that our ,father
 had given us4     ,,our ,,relations    

,,to ,,the ,,departed        ,she is not
 dead1 but sleepeth4  ,luke viii4#eb  ,a
 ,great peculiarity of the ,christian   
religion is its transforming or         
transmuting power4 ,i speak not now of  
the regeneration which accomplishes in  
the individual soul1 but of the change  
it works upon things without4 ,it       
applies the touchstone to every fact of 
existence1 and exposes its real value4  
,looking through the lens of spiritual  
observation1 it throws the realities of 
life into a reverse perspective from    
that which is seen by the sensual eye4  
,objects which the world calls great it 
renders insignificant1 and makes near   
and prominent things which the frivolous
 put off4 ,thus the ,christian1 among   
other men1 often appears anomalous4     
,often1 amidst the congratulations of   
the world1 he detects reason for        
mourning1 and is penetrated with sorrow4
 ,on the contrary1 where others shrink1 
he walks undaunted1 and converts the    
scene of dread and suffering into an    

ante-chamber of heaven4 ,in this light1 
the ,apostle ,paul speaks of himself and
 others1 ,as sorrowful1 yet always      
rejoicing2 as poor1 yet making many     
rich2 as having nothing1 and yet        
possessing all things4 ,indeed1 all the 
beatitudes are based upon this          
peculiarity2 for the true blessing1 the 
inward1 everlasting riches1 are for     
those who1 in the world's eye1 are poor1
 and mourning1 and persecuted4 ,jesus   
himself weeps amid triumphant psalms and
 sounding hosannas1 while on the cross  
he utters the prayer of forgiveness1 and
 the ejaculation of peace4  ,no wonder1 
then1 that the believer views the       
ghastliest fact of all in a consoling   
and even a beautiful aspect2 and death  
itself becomes but sleep4 ,well was that
 trait of our religion which ,i have now
 suggested illustrated at the bed-side  
of ,jairus' daughter4 ,well did that    
noisy1 lamenting group represent the    
worldly who read only the material fact1
 or that flippant skepticism which      

laughs all supernatural truth to scorn4 
,and well did ,jesus represent the      
spirit of his doctrine1 and its         
transforming power1 when he exclaimed1  
,she is not dead1 but sleepeth4  ,yes6  
beautifully has ,christianity           
transformed death4 ,to the eye of flesh 
it was the final direction of our       
fate1--the consummate riddle in this    
mystery of being1--the wreck of all our 
hopes1--       ,the simple senses       
crowned his head1          ,omega6 thou 
art ,lord1 they said2          ,we find 
no motion in the dead4  ,ever1 though   
with higher desires and better          
gleamings1 the mind has struggled and   
sunk before this fact of decay1 and this
 awful silence of nature2 while in the  
waning light of the soul1 and among the 
ashes of the sepulchre1 skepticism has  
built its dreary negation4 ,and though  
the mother could lay down her child     
without taking hints which ,god gave her
 from every little flower that sprung on
 that grassy bed1--though the           

unexhausted intellect has reasoned that 
we ought to live again1 and the         
affections1 more oracular1 swelling with
 the nature of their great source1 have 
prophesied that we shall1--never1 until 
the revelation of ,christ descended into
 our souls1 and illuminated all our     
spiritual vision1 have we been able to  
say certainly of death1 it is a sleep4  
,this has made its outward semblance not
 that of cessation1 but of              
progression--not an end1 but a          
change--converting its rocky couch to a 
birth-chamber1 over-casting its shadows 
with beams of eternal morning1 while    
behind its cold unconsciousness the     
unseen spirit broods into higher life4  
,he fell asleep1 says the sacred        
chronicler1 speaking of bloody ,stephen4
 ,our friend ,lazarus sleepeth1 said    
,christ to his disciples2 and yet again1
 as here in the text1 the beautiful     
synonyme is repeated1 ,she is not dead1 
but sleepeth4  ,but ,i proceed to       
remark1 if the ,christian religion thus 

transforms death1 or1 in other words1   
abolishes the idea of its being         
annihilation1 or an end1 then it gives  
us a new view of our relations to the   
departed4 ,what are these relations8    
,the answers to this question will form 
the burden of the present discourse4    
,i4 ,there is the relation of memory4   
,it is true1 we may argue that this     
relation exists whether the ,christian  
view of death be correct or not2--so    
long have those who are now gone        
actually lived with us1--so vivid are   
their images among the realities of the 
soul1--though the grave should forever  
shut them from our communion4 ,but this 
relation of memory has peculiar         
propriety and efficacy when associated  
with a ,christian faith4 ,if the dead   
live no more1 what would memory be to us
 but a spectre and a sting8 ,should we  
not then seek to repress those tender   
recollections1--to close our eyes to    
those pale1 sad visions of departed     
love8 ,should we not invoke the glare   

and tumult of the world to distract or  
absorb our thoughts8 ,would we not say1 
,let it come1 the pleasure1 the         
occupation of the hour1 that we may     
think no more of the dead1 plucked from 
us forever1--let us drive thoughtlessly 
down this swift current of life1 since  
thought only harrows us1--let us drive  
thoughtlessly down1 enjoying all we can1
 until we too lie by the side of those  
departed ones1 like them to moulder in  
everlasting unconsciousness4 ,i don not 
say that this would always be the case  
without religious hope1 but it is a very
 natural condition of the feelings in   
such circumstances1--it is the most     
humane alternative that would then be   
left4 ,at least1 no one so well as the  
,christian can go into the inner        
chambers of memory1 feel the strength of
 its sad yet blissful associations1 and 
calmly invoke the communion of the dead4
  ,i speak not now of what occurs in    
those first bitter days of grief1 when  
the heart's wound bleeds afresh at every

 touch1--when we are continually        
surprised by the bleak fact that the    
loved one is actually dead4 ,but ,i     
speak of those after seasons1 those     
,indian summers of the soul1 in which   
all the present desolation is blended   
with the bloom and enjoyment of the     
past4 ,then do we find that the tie     
which binds us so tenderly to the       
departed is a strong and fruitful one4  
,we love1 in those still retired        
seasons1 to call up the images of the   
dead1 to let them hover around us1 as   
real1 for the hour1 as any living forms4
 ,we linger in that communion1 with a   
pleasing melancholy4 ,we call up all    
that was lovely in their character1 all 
that was delightful in their earthly    
intercourse4 ,they live again for us1   
and we for them4  ,in this relation of  
memory1 moreover1 we realize the fact1  
that while the departed were upon earth 
we enjoyed much with them4 ,this is a   
truth which in any estimate of our loss 
we should not overlook4 ,do we mourn    

that the dead have been taken from us so
 soon8 ,are we not also thankful that   
they were ours so long8 ,in our grief   
over unfulfilled expectation1 do we     
cherish no gratitude for actual good8   
,so much bliss has ,god mingled in our  
cup of existence that the might have    
withheld4 ,he lent it to us thus far2   
why complain1 rather1 that he did not   
intrust us with it longer8 ,o6 these    
fond recollections1 this concentrated   
happiness of past hours which we call up
 with tears1 remind us that so much good
 we have actually experienced4  ,in     
close connection with this thought is   
the fact1 that1 by some delicate process
 of refinement1 we remember of the dead 
only what was good4 ,in the relation of 
memory we see them in their best        
manifestation1 we live over the hours of
 our past intercourse4 ,though in       
extraordinary instances it may be true  
that the evil which men do lives after  
them1 yet even in regard to the         
illustrious dead1 their imperfections   

are overlooked1 and more justice is done
 to their virtues than in their own     
time4 ,much more is this the case with  
those around whom our affections cling  
more closely4 ,the communion of memory1 
far more than that of life1 is unalloyed
 by sharp interruptions1 or by any      
stain4 ,that communion now1 though      
saddened1 is tender1 and without        
reproach4  ,and even if we remember that
 while they lived our relations with    
them were all beautiful1 shall we not   
believe that when they were taken away  
their earthly mission for us was        
fulfilled8 ,was not their departure as  
essential a work of the divine          
beneficence as their bestowal8 ,who     
knows but if they had overstayed the    
appointed hour1 our relations with them 
might have changed8--some new element of
 discontent and unhappiness been        
introduced1 which would have entirely   
altered the character of our            
recollections8 ,at least1 to repeat what
 ,i have just suggested1 what ,christian

 doubts that their taking away--this    
change from living communion to the     
communion of memory--was for an end as  
wise and kind as were all the love and  
intercourse so long vouchsafed to us8   
,vital1 the1 for the ,christian1 is this
 relation which we have with the dead by
 memory4 ,we linger upon it1 and find in
 it a strange and sweet attraction1 and 
is not much of this because1 though we  
may be unconscious of it1 the current of
 faith subtilely intermingles with our  
grief1 and gives its tone to our        
communion8 ,we cannot consider the      
departed as lost to us forever4 ,the    
suggestion of rupture holds a latent    
suggestion of reunion4 ,the hues of     
memory are colored by the reflection of 
hope4 ,religion transforms the condition
 of the departed for us1 and we consider
 them not as dead1 but sleeping4  ,,ii4 
,there is another relation which we have
 with the dead1--the relation of        
spiritual existence4 ,we live with them1
 not only by communion with the past1 by

 images of memory1 but by that fine1    
mysterious bond which links us to all   
souls1 and in which we live with them   
now and forever4 ,the faith that has    
converted death into a sleep has also   
transformed the whole idea of life4 ,if 
the one is but a halt in the eternal    
march1--a slumbrous rest preceeding a   
new morning1--the other is but the flow 
of one continuous stream1 mated awhile  
with the flesh1 but far more intimately 
connected with all intelligences in the 
universe of ,god4 ,what are the         
conditions of our communion with the    
living--those with whom we come in      
material contact8 ,the eye1 the lip1 the
 hand1 are but symbols1                 
interpretations2--behind these it is    
only spirit that communes with spirit1  
even in the market or the street4 ,but  
not to enter into so subtle a           
discussion1 of what kind are some of the
 best communions which we have on earth8
 ,we take up some wise and virtuous     
book1 and enter into the author's mind4 

,seas separate us from him1--he knows us
 not2 he never hears our names4 ,but    
have we not a close relation to him8 ,is
 there not a strong bond of spiritual   
communion between us8 ,nay1 may not the 
intercourse we thus have with him be    
better and truer than any which we could
 have from actual contact1--from local  
acquaintance8 ,then1 some icy barrier of
 etiquette might separate us1--some     
coldness of temperament upon his        
part1--some spleen or disease2 we might 
be shocked by some temporary deformity2 
some little imperfection might betray   
itself4 ,but here1 in his book1 which we
 read three thousand miles away from    
him1 we receive his noblest             
thoughts1--his best spiritual           
revelations2 and we know him1 and       
commune with him most intimately1 not   
through local but through spiritual     
affinities4  ,and how pleasing is the   
though that not even death interrupts   
this relation4 ,years1 as well as       
miles--ages may separate us from the    

great and good man2 but we hold with him
 still that living communion of the     
spirit4 ,our best life may flow to us   
from this communion4 ,some of our       
richest spiritual treasures have been   
deposited in this intercourse of        
thought4 ,some of our noblest hopes and 
resolutions have been animated by those 
whose lips have long since been         
sealed1--whose very monuments have      
crumbled4  ,a dear friend goes away from
 us to a foreign land4 ,we watch the    
receeding sail1 and feel that that is a 
bond between us1 until it fades away in 
the far blue horizon4 ,then it is a     
consolation to walk by the shore of that
 sea1 and to realize that the same      
waters lave the other shore1 where he   
dwells1--to watch some star1 and know   
that at such an hour his eye and thought
 are also directed to it4 ,thus the soul
 will not entertain the idea of absolute
 separation1 but makes all those        
material objects agents for its         
affinities4 ,but how much nearer does   

that absent one come to us1 when we know
 that at such an hour we both are       
kneeling in prayer1 and that our spirits
 meet1 as it were1 around the footstool 
of ,god6  ,thus we see that even in life
 there are spiritual relations which    
bind us to our fellows1 and that often  
these are dearer and stronger than those
 of local contact4 ,why should we       
suppose that death cuts off all such    
affinities8 ,it does not cut them off4  
,it only removes the loved from our     
converse and our sight2 but if1 when    
absent in some distant land of this     
earth1 we are conscious of still holding
 relations to them1 do we not retain the
 same though they have vanished into    
that mysterious and unseen land which   
lies beyond the grave8 ,she is not dead1
 but sleepeth4 ,christianity has taught 
us to look away from the ghastly secrets
 of the sepulchre1 and not consider that
 changing clay as the friend we mourn1  
but as only the cast-off and mouldering 
garment4 ,it has kindled within us a    

lively appreciation of the continued    
existence of those who have gone from   
us2 taught us to feel that the thoughts1
 the love1 the real life of the         
departed1 all1 in fact1 that communed   
with us here below1 still lives and     
acts4 ,and our relations to them are    
relations which we bear1 not to         
abstractions of memory1 to phantoms of  
by-gone joy1 but to spiritual           
intelligences1 whose current of being   
flows on uninterrupted1 with whose      
current of being our own mingles4 ,i    
know not how it is with others1 but to  
me there is inexpressible consolation in
 this thought4  ,but ,i would suggest   
that1 as spiritual beings1 we bear even 
a closer relation to the departed4 ,i   
said that ,christianity has transformed 
the whole idea of life4 ,it has shown   
that we are essentially spirits1 and    
that our highest relations are          
spiritual4 ,if so1 it seems an arrogant 
assumption to deny that any intercourse 
may exist between ourselves and the     

spiritual world4 ,possessing as we do   
this mysterious nature1 throbbing with  
the attraction of the eternal sphere1   
who shall say that it touches no        
spiritual confines1--that it has        
communion only with the beings that we  
see8 ,it is a dull atheism which        
repudiates all such intimations as      
superstitious or absurd4 ,to speak more 
distinctly1 ,i allude to the consoling  
thought which springs up almost         
intuitively1 that the departed may1 at  
times1 see us1 and be present with us1  
though we do not recognize them4 ,for   
wise and good reasons1 our senses may so
 constrain us that we cannot perceive   
these spiritual beings4 ,but the same   
reasons do not exist to shut them from  
beholding and visiting us4 ,the most    
essential idea of the immortal state is 
that it yields certain prerogatives     
which we cannot possess in our mortal   
condition4 ,may it not be1 therefore1   
that while it is our lot to be          
restricted to sensuous vision1 and to   

behold only material forms1 it is their 
privilege1 having received the spiritual
 sight1 to see both spiritual and       
material things8  ,nor need we imagine  
that immortality implies distance from  
us1--that change of state requires any  
great change of place4 ,looking through 
this earthly glass1 we see but darkly2  
but when death shatters it we may behold
 close around us the friends we have    
loved1 and find their spiritual         
peculiarity is not incompatible with    
such near residence4 ,the homes of      
departed spirits may be all around      
us1--these spirits themselves may be    
ever hovering near1 unseen in our       
blindness of the senses4 ,at all events1
 we deem it one of the grand            
distinctions of spirit that it is not   
confined to one region of space1 but may
 pass1 quick as its own intelligence1   
from sphere to sphere4 ,and while ,i    
would rebuke rash speculation1 ,i would 
also rebuke the cold materialism which  
unhesitatingly rejects an idea like this

 which ,i have now suggested4  ,i       
maintain1 moreover1 that such           
speculation is not all idle4 ,it serves 
to quicken within us the thought of how 
near the dead may be to us1 to purify   
that thought1 and to breathe upon our   
fevered hearts a consoling hope4 ,and   
when ,i combine its intrinsic           
reasonableness with the spirit and      
spiritualism of ,christianity1 and that 
intuitive suggestion which springs up in
 so many souls1 ,i can urge but faint   
objection to those who entertain it1 and
 would1 if possible1 share and diffuse  
the comfort which it gives4 ,nearer1    
than1 than we imagine--close as in      
mortal contact1 and more intimately--may
 be those whom we1 with earthly vision  
behold no more2 visiting us in hours of 
loneliness1 and affording unseen        
companionship2 watching us in the       
stillness of slumber1 and reflecting    
themselves in our dreams4  ,but1 whether
 we indulge this notion or not1 let us  
realize the relation which we have with 

the departed by the ties of mutual      
spirituality4 ,let us not coldly        
restrict or weaken this relation4 ,if   
the material world is full of           
inexplicable things1--if we cannot      
explain the secret affinities of the    
star and the flower1--let us feel how   
full of mystery and how full of promise 
is this spiritual universe of which we  
are parts1 and whose conditions we so   
little know4 ,let us cherish that       
transcendent faith1 that quick1         
spiritual sympathy1 which says of the   
departed1 ,they are not dead1 but       
sleeping4  ,,iii4 ,finally1 we have with
 the dead the relation of discipline4   
,though we should see them only in the  
abstractions of memory1--though it      
should be true that they have no        
spiritual intercourse with us1--yet     
their agency in our behalf has not      
ceased4 ,they still accomplish a work   
for us4 ,that work is in the moral      
efficacy of bereavement and sorrow4 ,in 
their going away they lead our thoughts 

out beyond the limits of the world4     
,they quicken us to an interest in the  
spiritual land1 as one who looks upon a 
map1 and listlessly reads the name of   
some foreign shore1 so1 often1 do we    
open this blessed revelation not heeding
 its recital of the immortal state4 ,but
 as1 when some friend goes to that      
distant coast1 that spot on the map     
becomes1 of all places1 most vivid and  
prominent1 so when our loved ones die1  
the spiritual country largely occupies  
our thoughts and attracts our           
affections4 ,they depart that we may be 
weaned from earth4 ,they ascend that we 
may look steadfastly towards heaven4 ,if
 this is not our everlasting home1 why  
should they all remain here to cheat us 
with that thought8 ,if we must seek a   
better country1 should there not be     
premonitions for us1 breaking up1 and   
farewells1 and the hurried departure of 
friends who are ready before us8 ,i need
 not dwell on this suggestion4 ,we are  
too much of the earth1 earthy1 and bound

 up in sensual interests4 ,it is often  
needful that some shock of              
disappointment should shake our idea of 
terrestrial stability--should awake us  
to a sense of our spiritual             
relations--should strike open some chasm
 in this dead1 material wall1 and let in
 the light of the unlimited and immortal
 state to which we go4 ,we need the     
discipline of bereavement in temporal   
things1 to win us to things eternal4    
,and so1 in their departure1 the loved  
accomplish for us a blessed and         
spiritual result1 and instead of being  
wholly lost to us1 become bound to us by
 a new and vital relation4  ,but these  
loved ones depart1 no merely to bind our
 affections to another state1 but to fit
 us better for the obligations of this4 
,perhaps1 in the indulgence of full     
communion1 in the liquid ease of        
prosperity1 we have scantily discharged 
our social duties4 ,we have not         
appreciated love1 because we have never 
felt its absence4 ,we have shocked the  

tenderest ties1 because we were ignorant
 of their tenderness4 ,we have withheld 
good offices1 because we knew not how   
rare is the opportunity to fulfil them4 
,but when one whom we love passes away1 
then1 realizing a great loss1 we learn  
how vital was that relation1 how        
inestimable the privilege which is      
withdrawn forever4 ,how quick then is   
our regret for every harsh word which we
 have spoken to the departed1 or for any
 momentary alienation which we have     
indulged6 ,this1 however1 should not    
reduce us to a morbid sensitiveness1 or 
an unavailing sorrow1 seeing that it is 
blended with so many pleasant memories2 
but it should teach us our duty to the  
living4 ,it should make our affections  
more diligent and dutiful4 ,it should   
check our hasty words1 and assuage our  
passions4 ,it should cause us1 day and  
night1 to meet in kindness and part in  
peace4 ,our social ties are golden links
 of uncertain tenure1 and1 one by one1  
they drop away4 ,let us cherish a more  

constant love for those who make up our 
family circle1 for not long may we stay4
 ,the allotments of duty1 perhaps1 will 
soon distribute us into different       
spheres of action2 our lines1 which now 
fall together in a pleasant place1 will 
be wide apart as the zones1 or death    
will cast his shadow upon these familiar
 faces1 and interrupt our long          
communion4 ,let us1 indeed1 preserve    
this temper with all men--those who meet
 us in the street1 in the mart1 in the  
most casual or selfish concerns of life4
 ,we cannot remain together a great     
while1 at the longest4 ,let us meet1    
then1 with kindness1 that when we part  
no pang may remain4 ,let not a single   
day bear witness to the neglect or      
violation of any duty which shall lie   
hard in the heart when it is excited to 
tender and solemn recollections4 ,let   
only good-will beam from faces that so  
soon shall be changed4 ,let no root of  
bitterness spring up in one man's bosom 
against another1 when1 ere long1 nature 

will plant flowers upon their common    
grave4 ,let not the sun go down upon our
 wrath1 when his morning beams may      
search our accustomed places for one or 
both of us1 in vain4  ,thus1 if the dead
 teach us to regard more dutifully the  
living1 they will accomplish for us a   
most beautiful discipline4 ,their       
departure may also serve another end4   
,it may teach us the great lessons of   
patience and resignation4 ,we have been 
surrounded by many blessings1 and yet   
perhaps1 have indulged in fretfulness4  
,a slight loss has irritated us4 ,we    
have chafed at ordinary disappointments1
 at little interruptions in the current 
of our prosperity4 ,we have been in the 
habit of murmuring4 ,and now this great 
grief has overtaken us1 that we may see 
at what little things we have           
complained1--that we may learn that     
there is a meaning in trouble which     
should make us calm1--that we had no    
right to these gifts1 the privation of  
which has offended us1 but that all have

 flowed from that mercy which we have   
slightly acknowledged1 and peevishly    
accused4 ,this great sorrow has stricken
 us1 piercing through bone and marrow1  
in order to reach our hearts1 and touch 
the springs of spiritual life within us1
 that henceforth1 we may look upon all  
sorrow in a new light4 ,little troubles 
have only disturbed the surface of our  
nature1 making it uneasy1 and tossing it
 into fretful eddies2 this heavy        
calamity1 like a mighty wind1 has       
plunged into the very depths1 and turned
 up the foundations1 leaving us1 at     
length1 purified and serene4 ,i believe 
we shall find it to be the general      
testimony that those who have the least 
trouble are the loudest complainers2    
while1 often1 the souls that have been  
fairly swept and winnowed by sorrow are 
the most patient and ,christ-like4 ,the 
pressure of their woe has broken down   
all ordinary reliances1 and driven them 
directly to ,god1 where they rest in    
sweet submission and in calm assurance4 

,such is the discipline which may be    
wrought out for us by the departure of  
those we love4 ,such1 and other         
spiritual results1 their vanishing may  
secure for us1 which we never could have
 gained by their presence2 and so it may
 be said by some departing friend1--some
 one most dear to our hearts1--in a     
reverent sense1 as the ,master said to  
his disciples1 ,it is expedient for you 
that ,i go away2 for if ,i go not away  
the ,comforter will not come unto you4  
,as ,i have already touched upon the    
region of speculation1 ,i hardly dare   
drop a hint which belongs here1 though  
it grows out of a remark made under the 
last head4 ,but ,i will say that it is  
not unreasonable to suppose that the    
departed may perform a more close and   
personal agency than this which ,i have 
just dwelt upon4 ,often1 it may be1 they
 are permitted messengers for our       
welfare2 guardians1 whose invisible     
wings shield us2 teachers1 whose unfelt 
instructions mysteriously sway us4 ,the 

child may thus discharge an office of   
more than filial love for the bereaved  
parents4 ,the mother may watch and      
minister to her child4 ,the father1 by  
unseen influences1 win to virtue the    
heart of his poor prodigal4 ,but whether
 this be so or not1 certain are we that 
the departed do discharge such an       
agency1 if not by spiritual contact with
 us1 or direct labor in our behalf1 by  
the chastening influence that their     
memory sheds upon us1 by uplifting our  
thoughts1 by spiritualizing our         
affections1 by drawing our souls to     
communion with things celestial and with
 ,god4  ,let us see to it1 then1 that we
 improve this discipline2 that we quench
 not the holy aspiration which springs  
up in our sorrow2 that we neglect not   
the opportunity when our hearts are     
softened2 that we continue the prayer   
which first escaped our lips as a sigh  
and a call of distress2 that the baptism
 of tears lets us into the new life of  
reconciliation1 and love1 and holiness4 

,otherwise1 the discipline is of no     
avail1 and1 it may be1 we harden under  
it4  ,and1 finally1 let me say1 that the
 faith by which we regard our relations 
to the departed in the light that has   
been exhibited in this discourse1 is a  
faith that must be assimilated with our 
entire spiritual nature4 ,it must be    
illustrated in our daily conduct1 and   
sanctify every thought and motive of our
 hearts4 ,we should not seek religion   
merely for its consolations1 and take it
 up as an occasional remedy4 ,in this   
way religion is injured4 ,it is         
associated only with sorrow1 and        
clothed1 to the eyes of men1 in         
perpetual sadness4 ,it is sought as the 
last resort1 the heart's extreme        
unction1 when it has tried the world's  
nostrums in vain4 ,it is dissociated    
from things healthy and active1--from   
all ordinary experiences1--from the     
great whole of life4 ,it is consigned to
 the darkened chamber of mourning1 and  
the weary and disappointed spirit4      

,besides1 to seek religion only in      
sorrow1--to fly to it as the last       
refuge1--argues an extreme selfishness4 
,we have served the world and our own   
wills1 we have lived the life of the    
senses1 and obeyed the dictates of our  
passions so long as they could satisfy  
us1 and now we turn to ,god because we  
find that he only can avail us6 ,we seek
 religion for the good it can do us1 not
 for the service we can render ,god4 ,we
 lay hold of it selfishly1 as something 
instituted merely for our help1 and     
lavish our demands upon it for          
consolation1 turning away sullen and    
skeptical1 it may be1 if these demands  
are not immediately answered4 ,many come
 to religion for consolation who never  
apply to it for instruction1 for        
sanctification1 for obedience4 ,let us  
learn that we can claim its privileges  
only by performing its duties4 ,we can  
see with the eye of its clear1 consoling
 faith1 only when it has spiritualized  
our entire being1 and been developed in 

our daily conduct4 ,affliction may open 
religious ideas in the soul1 but only by
 the soul's discipline will those ideas 
expand until they become our most       
intimate life1 and we habitually enjoy  
celestial companionship1 and that       
supersensual vision of faith by which we
 learn our relations to the departed4   
,that faith let us receive and cherish4 
,if we live it we shall believe it4 ,no 
sophistry can steal it from us1 no      
calamity make us surrender it4 ,but the 
keener the trial the closer will be our 
confidence4 ,standing by the open       
sepulchre in which we see our friends1  
not dead1 but sleeping1 we shall say to 
insidious skepticism and gloomy doubt1  
in the earnest words of the poet1       
,o6 steal not thou my faith away1       
,nor tempt to doubt a lowly mind4       
,make all that earth can yield thy prey1
          ,but leave this heavenly gift 
behind4      ,our hope is but the       
seaboy's dream1          ,when loud     
winds rise in wrath and gloom2      ,our

 life1 a faint and fitful beam1         
,that lights us to the cold1 dark tomb2 
,yet1 since1 as one from heaven has     
said1          ,there lies beyond that  
dreary bourn      ,a region where the   
faithful dead          ,eternally forget
 to mourn1      ,welcome the scoff1 the 
sword1 the chain1          ,the burning 
waste1 the black abyss3--      ,i shrink
 not from the path of pain1             
,which leads me to that world of bliss4 
,then hush1 thou troubled heart6 be     
still2--          ,renounce thy vain    
philosophy2--      ,seek thou to work   
thy ,maker's will1          ,and light  
from heaven shall break on thee4        
',twill glad thee in the weary strife1  
,where strong men sink with falling     
breath2--      ',twill cheer thee in the
 noon of life1          ,and bless thee 
in the night of death4     ,,the        
,,voices ,,of ,,the ,,dead        ,and  
by it he being dead yet speaketh4       
,hebrews xi4 #d4   ,much of the         
communion of this earth is not by speech

 or actual contact1 and the holiest     
influences fall upon us in silence4 ,a  
monument or symbol shall convey a       
meaning which cannot be expressed2 and a
 token of some departed one is more     
eloquent than words4 ,the mere presence 
of a good and holy personage will move  
us to reverence and admiration1 though  
he may say and do but little4 ,so is    
there an impersonal presence of such an 
one2 and1 though far away1 he converses 
with us1 teaches and incites us4 ,the   
organs of speech are only one method of 
the soul's expression2 and the best     
information which it receives comes     
without voice or sound4 ,we hear no     
vocal utterance from ,god1 yet he speaks
 to us through all the forms of nature4 
,in the blue1 ever-arching heaven he    
tells us of his comprehensive care and  
tender pity1 and the unwearied sun      
proclaims his constant and universal    
benevolence4 ,the air that wraps us     
close breathes of his intimate and      
all-pervading spirit2 and the           

illimitable space1 and the stars that   
sparkle abroad without number1 show     
forth his majesty and suggest           
infinitude4 ,the gush of silent         
prayer--the sublimest mood of the       
spirit--is when we are so near to him   
that words cannot come between2 and the 
power of his presence is felt the most1 
felt in the profoundest deep of our     
nature1 when the curtains of his        
pavilion hang motionless around us4 ,and
 it is so1 ,i repeat1 with all our best 
communions4 ,the holiest lessons are not
 in the word1 but the life4 ,the virtues
 that attract us most are silent4 ,the  
most beautiful charities go noiseless on
 their mission4 ,the two mites reveal   
the spiritual wealth beneath the poor   
widow's weeds2 the alabaster box of     
ointment is fragrant with ,mary's       
gratitude2 the look of ,christ rebukes  
,peter into penitence2 and by his faith 
,abel1 being dead1 yet speaketh4  ,yes1 
even the dead1 long gone from us1       
returning no more1 their places left    

vacant1 their lineaments dimly          
remembered1 their bodies mouldering back
 to dust1 even these have communion with
 us2 and to speak of the voices of the  
dead is no mere fancy4 ,and it is to    
that subject that ,i would call your    
attention1 in the remainder of a brief  
discourse4  ,he being dead yet speaketh4
 ,the departed have voices for us4 ,in  
order to illustrate this1 ,i remark1 in 
the first place1 that the dead speak to 
us1 and commune with us1 through the    
works which they have left behind them4 
,as the islands of the sea are the      
built-up casements of myriads of        
departed lives1--as the earth itself is 
a great catacomb1--so we who live and   
move upon its surface inherit the       
productions and enjoy the fruits of the 
dead4 ,they have bequeathed to us by far
 the larger portion of all that         
influences our thoughts1 or mingles with
 the circumstances of our daily life4   
,we walk through the streets they laid  
out4 ,we inhabit the houses they built4 

,we practise the customs they           
established4 ,we gather wisdom from     
books they wrote4 ,we pluck the ripe    
clusters of their experience4 ,we boast 
in their achievements4 ,and by these    
they speak to us4 ,every device and     
influence they have left behind tells   
their story1 and is a voice of the dead4
 ,we feel this more impressively when we
 enter the customary place of one       
recently departed1 and look around upon 
his work4 ,the half-finished labor1 the 
utensils hastily thrown aside1 the      
material that exercised his care and    
received his last touch1 all express    
him1 and seem alive with his presence4  
,by them1 though dead1 he speaketh to   
us1 with a freshness and tone like his  
words of yesterday4 ,how touching are   
those sketched forms1 those unfilled    
outlines in that picture which employed 
so fully the time and genius of the     
great artist--,belshazzar's feast6 ,in  
the incomplete process1 the             
transition-state of an idea from its    

conception to its realization1 we are   
brought closer to the mind of the       
artist2 we detect its springs and hidden
 workings1 and therefore feel its       
reality more than in the finished       
effort4 ,and this is one reason why we  
are impressed at beholding the work just
 left than in gazing upon one that has  
been for a long time abandoned4 ,having 
had actual communion with the contriving
 mind1 we recognize its presence more   
readily in its production2 or else the  
recency of the departure heightens the  
expressiveness with which everything    
speaks of the departed4 ,the dead       
child's cast-off garment1 the toy just  
tossed aside1 startles us as though with
 his renewed presence4 ,a year hence1   
they will suggest him to us1 but with a 
different effect4  ,but though not with 
such an impressive tone1 yet just as    
much1 in fact1 do the productions of    
those long gone speak to us4 ,their     
minds are expressed there1 and a living 
voice can do little more4 ,nay1 we are  

admitted to a more intimate knowledge of
 them than was possessed by their       
contemporaries4 ,the work they leave    
behind them is the sum-total of their   
lives--expresses their ruling           
passion--reveals1 perhaps1 their real   
sentiment4 ,to the eyes of those placed 
on the stage with them1 they walked as  
in a show1 and each life was a narrative
 gradually unfolding itself4 ,we        
discover the moral4 ,we see the results 
of that completed history4 ,we judge the
 quality and value of that life by the  
residuum4 ,as a prophet has no honor in 
his own country1 so one may be          
misconceived in his own time1 both to   
his undue disparagement1 and his undue  
exaltation2 therefore can another age   
better write his biography than his own4
 ,his work1 his permanent result1 speaks
 for him better--at least truer--than he
 spoke for himself4 ,the rich man's     
wealth1--the sumptuous property1 the    
golden pile that he has left behind     
him2--by it1 being dead1 does he not yet

 speak to us8 ,have we not1 in that     
gorgeous result of toiling days and     
anxious nights1--of brain-sweat and     
soul-rack1--the man himself1 the        
cardinal purpose1 the very life of his  
soul8 which we might have surmised while
 he lived and wrought1 but which1 now   
that it remains the whole sum and       
substance of his mortal being1 speaks   
far more emphatically than could any    
other voice he might have used4 ,the    
expressive lineaments of the marble1 the
 pictured canvas1 the immortal poem2--by
 it1 ,genius1 being dead1 yet speaketh4 
,to us1 and not to its own time1 are    
unhoarded the wealth of its thought and 
the glory of its inspiration4 ,when it  
is gone1--when its lips are silent1 and 
its heart still1--then is revealed the  
cherished secret over which it toiled1  
which was elaborated from the living    
alembic of the soul1 through painful    
days and weary nights1--the sentiment   
which could not find expression to      
contemporaries1--the gift1 the          

greatness1 the lyric power1 which was   
disguised and unknown so long4 ,who1    
that has communed with the work of such 
a spirit1 has not felt in every line    
that thrilled his soul1 in every        
wondrous lineament that stamped itself  
upon his memory forever1 that the dead  
can speak1 yes1 that they have voices   
which speak most truly1 most            
emphatically when they are dead8 ,so    
does ,industry speak1 in its noble      
monuments1 its precious fruits6 ,so does
 ,maternal ,affection speak1 in a chord 
that vibrates in the hardest heart1 in  
the pure and better sentiment of        
after-years4 ,so does ,patriotism speak1
 in the soil liberated and enriched by  
its sufferings4 ,so does the martyr     
speak1 in the truth which triumphs by   
his sacrifice4 ,so does the great man   
speak1 in his life and deeds1 glowing on
 the storied page1 so does the good man 
speak1 in the character and influence   
which he leaves behind him4 ,the voices 
of the dead come to us from their works1

 from their results and these are all   
around us4  ,but ,i remark1 in the      
second place1 that the dead speak to us 
in memory and association4 ,if their    
voices may be constantly heard in their 
works1 we do not always heed them2      
neither have we that care and attachment
 for the great congregation of the      
departed which will at any time call    
them up vividly before us4 ,but in that 
congregation there are those whom we    
have known intimately and fondly1 whom  
we cherished with our best love1 who lay
 close to our bosoms4 ,and these speak  
to us in a more private and peculiar    
manner1--in mementos that flash upon us 
the whole person of the departed1 every 
physical and spiritual lineament--in    
consecrated hours of recollection that  
upon up all the train of the past1 and  
re-twine its broken ties around our     
hearts1 and make its endearments present
 still4 ,then1 then1 though dead1 they  
speak to us4 ,it needs not the vocal    
utterance1 nor the living presence1 but 

the mood that transforms the scene and  
the hour supplies these4 ,that face that
 has slept so long in the grave1 now    
bending upon us1 pale and silent1 but   
affectionate still1--that more vivid    
recollection of every feature1 tone1 and
 movement1 that brings before us the    
departed just as we knew them in the    
full flush of life and health1--that    
soft and consecrating spell which falls 
upon us1 drawing in all our thoughts    
from the present1 arresting1 as it were1
 the current of our being1 and turning  
it back and holding it still as the     
flood of actual life rushes by          
us1--while in that trance of soul the   
beings of the past are shadowed--old    
friends1 old days1 old scenes recur1    
familiar looks beam close upon us1      
familiar words reecho in our ears1 and  
we are closed up and absorbed with the  
by-gone1 until tears dissolve the film  
from our eyes1 and some shock of the    
actual wakes us from our reverie2--all  
these1 ,i say make the dead to commune  

with us as really as though in bodily   
form they should come out from the      
chambers of their mysterious silence1   
and speak to us4 ,and if life consists  
in experiences1 and not mere physical   
relations1--and if love and communion   
belong to that experience1 though they  
take place in meditation1 or in dreams1 
or by actual contact1--then1 in that    
hour of remembrance1 have we really     
lived with the departed1 and the        
departed have come back and lived with  
us4 ,though dead1 they have spoken to   
us4 ,and though memory sometimes induces
 the spirit of heaviness1--though it is 
often the agent of conscience1 and      
wakens u to chastise1--yet1 it is       
wonderful how1 from events that were    
deeply mingled with pain1 it will       
extract an element of sweetness4 ,a     
writer1 in relating one of the          
experiences of her sick-room1 has       
illustrated this4 ,in an hour of        
suffering1 when no one was near here1   
she went out from her bed and her room  

to another apartment1 and looked out    
upon a glorious landscape of sunrise and
 spring-time4 ,i was suffering too much 
to enjoy this picture at the moment1 she
 says1 but how was it at the end of the 
year8 ,the pains of all those hours were
 annihilated1--as completely vanished as
 if they had never been2 while the      
momentary peep behind the window-curtain
 made me possessor of this radiant      
picture for evermore4 ,whence came this 
wide difference1 she asks1 between the  
good and the evil8 ,because good is     
indissolubly connected with ideas1--with
 the unseen realities which are         
indestructible4 ,and though the         
illustration which she thus gives may   
bear the impression of an individual    
personality1 instead of a universal     
truth1 still1 in the instance to which  
,i apply it1 ,i believe it will very    
generally hold true1 that memory leaves 
a pleasant rather than a painful        
impression4 ,at least1 there is so much 
that is pleasant mingled with it that we

 would not willingly lose the faculty of
 memory1--the consciousness that we can 
thus call back the dead1 and hear their 
voices1--that we have the power of      
softening the rugged realities which    
only suggest our loss and               
disappointment1 by transferring the     
scene and the hour to the past and the  
departed4 ,and1 as our conceptions      
become more and more spiritual1 we shall
 find the real to be less dependent upon
 the outward and the visible1--we shall 
learn how much life there is in a       
thought1--how veritable are the         
communions of spirit2 and the hour in   
which memory gives us the vision of the 
dead will be prized by us as an hour of 
actual experience and such opportunities
 will grow more precious to us4 ,no1 we 
would not willingly lose this power of  
memory4 ,one would not say1 ,let the    
dead never come back to me in a thought1
 or a dream2 let them never glide before
 me in the still watch of meditation2   
let me see1 let me hear them no more1   

even in fancy2--not one of us would say 
this2 and1 therefore1 it is evident1    
that whatever painful circumstance      
memory or association may recall1--even 
though it cause us to go out and weep   
bitterly1--there is a sacred pleasure1 a
 tender melancholy1 that speaks to us in
 these voices of the dead1 which we are 
willing to cherish and repeat4 ,it makes
 our tears soft and sanctifying as they 
fall2 it makes our hearts purer and     
better1--makes them stronger for the    
conflict of life4  ,i remark1 finally1  
that the dead speak to us in those      
religious suggestions--those            
consolations1 invitations1 and          
hopes--which the bereaved spirit        
indulges4 ,our meditations1 concerning  
them naturally draw us more closely to  
these spiritual realities which lie     
beyond the grave1 and beget in us those 
holier sentiments which we need4 ,that  
such is the tendency of these           
recollections experience assures us4    
,they open for us a new order of        

thought2 they bring us in contact with  
the loftiest but most neglected truths4 
,even the hardest heart feels this      
influence4 ,it is softened by the stroke
 of bereavement and1 for the time being1
 a chastening influence falls upon it1  
and it always thinks of the dead with   
tenderness and awe4 ,they speak to our  
affections with an irresistible         
influence2 they soothe our turbulent    
passions with their mild and holy       
calmness2 they rebuke us in their       
spiritual majesty for our sensuality and
 our sin4 ,they have departed1 but they 
are not silent4 ,though dead1 they speak
 to us4 ,sweet and sanctifying is their 
communion with us4 ,they utter words of 
warning1 too1 and speak to us by the    
silent eloquence of example4 ,by this   
they bid us imitate all that was good in
 their lives1 all that is dear to       
remember4 ,by this1 too1 they tell us   
that we are passing swiftly from the    
earth1 and hastening to join their      
number4 ,a little while ago1 and they   

were as we are2--a little while hence1  
and we shall be as they4 ,our work1 like
 theirs1 will be left behind to speak   
for us4 ,how important1 then1 that we   
consider what work we do6 ,they assure  
us that nothing is perpetual here4 ,they
 bid us not fasten our affections upon  
earth4 ,in long procession they pass us 
by1 with solemn voices telling of their 
love and hatred1 their interests and    
cares1 their work and device2--all      
abandoned now and passed away1 as little
 worth as the dust that blows across    
their graves4 ,upon all that was theirs1
 upon every memorial of them1 broods a  
melancholy dimness and silence4 ,they   
recede more and more from the           
associations of the living4 ,new tides  
of life roll through the cities of their
 habitation1 and upon the foot-worn     
pavements of their traffic other feet   
are busy4 ,their lovely labor1 or their 
stately pomp1 is forgotten4 ,no one     
weeps or cares for them4 ,their         
solicitous monuments are unheeded4 ,the 

companions of their youth have rejoined 
them4 ,the young1 who scarcely          
remembered them1 are giving way to      
another generation4 ,the places that    
knew them know them no longer4 ,this1   
this1 their solemn voices preach to us1 
is the changeableness of earth1 and the 
emptiness of its pursuits6 ,they urge us
 to seek the noblest end1 the unfailing 
treasure4 ,they bid us to find our hope 
and our rest1 our only constant joy in  
,him1 who alone1 amid this mutability   
and decay1 is permanent1--in ,god6      
,well1 then1 is it for us to listen to  
the voices of the dead4 ,by so doing1 we
 are better fitted for life1 and for    
death4 ,from that audience we go        
purified and strengthened into the      
varied discipline of our mortal state4  
,we are willing to stay1 knowing that   
the dead are so near us1 and that our   
communion with them may be so intimate4 
,we are willing to go1 seeing that we   
shall not be widely separated from those
 we leave behind4 ,we will toil in our  

lot while ,god pleases1 and when he     
summons us we will calmly depart4 ,when 
the silver cord becomes untwined1 and   
the golden bond broken1--when the wheel 
of action stands still in the exhausted 
cistern of our life1--may we lie down in
 the light of that faith which makes so 
beautiful the face of the dying         
,christian1 and has converted death's   
ghastly silence to a peaceful sleep2 may
 we rise to a holier and more visible   
communion1 in the land without a sin and
 without a tear2 where the dead shall be
 closer to us than in this life2 where  
not the partition of a shadow1 or a     
doubt1 shall come between4     ,,mystery
 ,,and ,,faith        ,for we walk by   
faith1 not by sight4  ,,ii ,corinthians 
v4 #g4  ,it needs only common           
experience1 and but little of that1 to  
convince us that this life is full of   
mystery1 and at every step we take      
demands of us faith4 ,for at every step 
we take we literally walk by faith2 in  
every work we do we must have confidence

 in something which is not by sight1 in 
something which is not yet demonstrated4
 ,skepticism carried to its ultimate    
consequences is the negation of         
everything4 ,it closes up the issues of 
all knowledge1 and sunders every        
ligament that binds us to practical     
life4 ,we must have faith in something  
or we stand on no promises2 we can      
predicate nothing4 ,it may be said that 
in the experience of the past we have a 
guide for the future2 but then1 must we 
not have faith in experience8 ,do we not
 trust something which is not yet       
demonstrated when we say ,this cause    
which produced that effect yesterday    
will produce a similar effect today or  
tomorrow8 ,how do we know--positively   
know1 that it will produce that effect1 
and what are the grounds of our         
knowledge8 ,this boasted cause and      
effect1 this experience1 what right have
 we to rely upon it for one moment of   
the future8 ,not for that moment has it 
demonstrated anything2--it demonstrated 

for the time being1 and the time being  
only2 and our confidence that it will do
 so again is faith1 not sight--faith in 
cause and effect1 faith in experience1  
but faith after all4 ,hume1 the         
philosopher1 has illustrated the        
positions which have now been taken4 ,as
 to past experience1 says he1 it can be 
allowed to give direct and certain      
information of those precise objects    
only1 and that precise period of time   
which fell under its cognizance2 but why
 this experience should be extended to  
future times1 and to other objects1     
which for aught we know may be only in  
appearance similar2 this is the main    
question on which ,i would insist4 ,the 
bread which ,i formerly ate nourished   
me2 that is1 a body of such sensible    
qualities was1 at that time1 endued with
 such secret powers2 but does it follow 
that other bread must also nourish me at
 another time1 and that like sensible   
qualities must also be attended with    
like secret powers8 ,the consequence    

seems nowise necessary4 ,and yet we eat 
our bread1 day by day1 without a doubt  
or a fear4 ,we sow the grain and we reap
 the wheat1 but for all the work is done
 in faith1 and the whole process is     
steeped in mystery4 ,in that scattering 
of the golden seed1 what confidence is  
expressed in elements that we cannot    
see1 in beneficent agencies that we     
cannot control1 in results that are     
beyond our power1 and that in their     
growth and development are full of      
wonder exceeding our wisdom4 ,give up   
faith2 say that we will act only upon   
that which is demonstrated and known1   
say that we will walk only so far as    
sight reaches1 and we completely        
separate the present from the future1   
and stop all the mechanism of practical 
life4  ,but if we take a wider view of  
things1 and consider this material      
universe in which we live1 the great    
fact of mystery and the need of faith   
will be urged upon us by a larger and   
more impressive teaching4 ,the more we  

learn of nature the more clearly is     
revealed to us this fact--that we know  
less than we thought we did2 positively1
 we know more1 but relatively we know   
less1 because as we have advanced nature
 has stretched out into wider and wider 
relations4 ,the department that was     
unknown to us yesterday is explored     
to-day4 ,yesterday1 we thought it was   
all that remained to be explored1 but   
the torch of investigation that guided  
us through it now flares out upon new   
regions we did not see before4 ,like one
 who goes with a candle into some       
immense cavern1 presently a little      
circle becomes clear1 the shadows vanish
 before him1 and undefined forms grow   
distinct1 he thinks he is near the end1 
when lo6 what seemed a solid boundary of
 rock dissolves and floats away into a  
depth of darkness1 the path opens into  
an immense void1 new shapes of mystery  
start out1 and he learns this much that 
he did not know before1 that instead of 
being near the end1 he is only upon the 

threshold4 ,we do not mean to imply by  
this that we have no positive knowledge1
 or that we do not increase in          
knowledge4 ,with every new discovery we 
positively know more and more4 ,but the 
new discovery reveals the fact that more
 is yet to be known2 it lays open new   
regions1 it unfolds new relations that  
we had not before suspected4  ,we follow
 some tiny thread a little way1 and hold
 it secure1 but it is connected with    
another ligament1 and this branches out 
into a third2 and instead of exhausting 
the matter1 we find ourselves at the    
root of an infinite series1 of an       
immense relationship1 upon which we have
 only just opened2 and yet what we have 
is positive knowledge1 is something more
 added to our stock4 ,the circle of the 
known has positively widened1 but the   
horizon of the unknown has widened also1
 and1 instead of being to us now1 as it 
seemed some time ago1 a solid and       
ultimate limit1 it is only an ethereal  
wall1 only to us a relative boundary1   

and behind are infinite depths and      
mystery4 ,our scientific knowledge at   
the present day reaches this grand      
result--it clears up the deception that 
the system of nature is mere flat1 dead 
materiality1 a few mechanical laws1 a   
few rigid forms4 ,it shows that these   
are only the husks1 the outer garments  
of mighty forces of subtile1            
far-reaching agencies2 and the most     
common1 every-day truths1 that seemed   
stale and exhausted1 become illuminated 
with infinite meaning1 and are the      
blossoms of an infinite life4  ,the     
wider our circle of discovery1 the wider
 our wonder2 the more startling our     
conclusions1 the more perplexing our    
questions4 ,we have not exhausted the   
universe2--we have just begun to see its
 harmony of proportion and of relations1
 without penetrating a fathom into its  
real life4 ,how and what is that power  
that works in the shooting of a crystal1
 and binds the obedience of a star2 that
 shimmers in the northern ,aurora1 and  

connects by its attraction the          
aggregated universe2 that by its unseen 
forces1 its all-prevalent jurisdiction1 
holds the little compass to the north1  
blooms in the nebula and the flower1    
weaves the garment of earth and the veil
 of heaven1 darts out in lightning1     
spins the calm motion of the planets1   
and presides mysteriously over all      
motion and all life8 ,and what is life1 
and what is death1 and what a thousand  
things that we touch1 and experience1   
and think we know all about8 ,o6 as     
science1 as nature opens upon us1 we    
find mystery after mystery1 and the     
demand upon the human soul if for faith1
 faith in high1 yes1 in spiritual       
realities2 and this materialism that    
would shut us in to death and sense1    
that denies all spirit and all miracle1 
is shattered like a crystal sphere1 and 
the soul rushes out into wide orbits and
 infinite revolutions1 into life1 and   
light1 and power1 that are of           
eternity1--that are of ,god6  ,thus the 

scale is prepared for us to rise from   
things of sense to things of spirit1 to 
rise from faith in nature to faith in   
,revelation1 from the faith of ,la,place
 to the faith of ,paul4 ,no one who has 
studied nature will reject ,christianity
 because it reveals truths that he      
cannot see with his naked eye1--because 
it speaks of things that he cannot      
comprehend4 ,no one who has considered  
the shooting of a green blade will      
dogmatically deny its miracles4 ,no one 
who has found in the natural world the  
intelligent wisdom that pervades all    
things1 will wonder that he discovers a 
revelation of perfect love in ,jesus    
,christ4 ,we walk by faith1 not by      
sight1 said ,paul4 ,so says every       
,christian2 and it is of all things the 
most rational4 ,faith in something      
higher and greater than we can see1     
faith in something above this narrow    
scene1 faith in something beyond this   
present life1 faith in realities that   
are not of time or sense2 from all that 

we have now considered we claim such    
faith to be most rational1 most natural4
 ,god1 spirit1 immortality1 instead of  
being inconsistent with what we know1   
are what we most legitimately deduce    
from it1--what we might expect from the 
light that trembles behind the curtain  
of mystery which bounds all our sensuous
 knowledge4 ,we do believe1 the veriest 
skeptic believes in something behind    
that curtain of mystery2 nor can he     
withhold his faith because it attaches  
to that which is unseen and             
incomprehensible1 without1 as has       
already been shown1 cutting every nerve 
that binds us to practical life1 and    
smothering every suggestion that speaks 
from outward nature4 ,if he do not      
believe in a ,god1 then1 or in ,christ1 
or in immortality1 let him not sneer at 
others because they walk by faith and   
not by sight2 for he also must do so1   
though his faith be not in such high    
truths1 such spiritual realities4  ,the 
,christian's faith is an ,infinite      

,father and an immortal life1 and though
 he cannot see them1 cannot come in     
material contact with them1 he believes 
them to be the greatest of all          
realities1 and he sees them by faith1 a 
medium as legitimate as that of sight4  
,they are mysteries1 but everything     
contains a mystery2 they demand of him  
what every day's1 every hour's events   
demand of him--faith4 ,let us           
understand1 however1 that faith is not  
the surrendering of our minds to that   
which is irrational and inconsistent4   
,these terms should not be confounded   
with the mysterious and the             
incomprehensible4 ,that the earth moves 
and yet stands still is not a           
proposition that demands faith4 ,it is  
in the province of reason to say that it
 cannot move and stand still at the same
 time4 ,it is an inconsistency4 ,but how
 the earth moves on its axis1 what is   
that law that makes it move1 is an      
incomprehensibility4 ,an                
incomprehensibility is one thing1 an    

inconsistency is another thing4 ,the one
 conflicts with our reason1 the other is
 beyond it4 ,in that which conflicts    
with our reason we cannot have faith1   
but as to that which is beyond it we    
exercise faith every day2 for we        
literally walk by faith and not by      
sight4  ,who shall say1 then1 that ,god1
 immortality1 and those high truths     
revealed by ,jesus1 are inconsistent8   
,do they not conform to the highest     
reason8 ,do not our deepest intuitions  
demand that these revelations should be 
true8 ,consult your nature1 examine your
 own heart1 consider what you are1 what 
you want1 what you feel1 deeply want1   
keenly feel1 and then say whether the   
,revelation of a ,god1 a ,father1 and an
 immortal life1 satisfies you as nothing
 else can4 ,take them away1 and would   
there not be a dreary and overwhelming  
void8 ,and because you have not seen    
,god1 because you have not realized     
immortality1 because they reach beyond  
your present vision1 because the grave  

shuts you in1 because they are high and 
transcendent truths1 will you reject    
them8 ,do so1 and try to walk by sight  
alone4 ,with that nature of yours1 so   
full of love1 with that intellect of    
yours so limitless in capacity1 you are 
apparently a child of the elements1 a   
thing of physical nature1 born of the   
dust1 and returning to it4 ,with desires
 that reach out beyond the stars1 with  
faculties that in this life just begin  
to bud1 with affections whose bleeding  
tendrils cling around the departed1     
wrestle with death1 and say to the      
grave1 ,give up the dead6 they are not  
thine1 but mine2 ,i feel they must be   
mine forever1 with all these desires1   
capacities1 affections1 you walk--so far
 as mere sight helps you--among graves  
and decay1 with nothing more enduring1  
nothing better1 than three-score years  
and ten1 the clods of the valley1 the   
crumbling bone1 and the dissolving dust6
 ,because ,god and immortality are      
mysterious1 incomprehensible1 reject    

them1 and walk only by sight8 ,the      
humblest outpouring of human affection  
rebukes thy skepticism2 the most narrow 
degree of human intellect prophesies    
beyond all this2 the darkest heart1 with
 that spark of eternal life1 the        
yearning that moves beneath all its     
sensualities1 and speaks for better1 for
 more enduring things1--that rebukes    
thee2 and in man's moral nature1 in his 
heart and his mind1 there is that which 
only can be satisfied1 only can be      
explained by ,god and immortality4 ,they
 alone1 then1 are rational1 they alone  
have comprehensive vision1 who walk by  
faith1 and not by sight4  ,mystery and  
faith1 then2 let what we have said      
concerning these be not alone for the   
skeptic1 but for the ,christian who has 
faith but cannot fully justify and      
confirm it1 or who feels it faltering   
under some heavy burden1 or who is      
overwhelmed by the magnitude of the     
truths to which it attaches1 or who     
wishes1 with a kind of half-doubt1 that 

these things might be seen and felt4    
,they are great1 they are               
incomprehensibly great2 but are they    
therefore untrue8 ,does not your heart  
of hearts tell you they are true8 ,does 
not that ,revelation of ,christ steal   
into your soul and feed it1 satisfy it1 
as nothing else can1 with a warm1       
benignant power1 that makes you know its
 truth8  ,mysteries are all about us1   
but faith sees light beyond and around  
them all4 ,have you recently laid down  
the dead in their place of rest8 ,cold  
and crushing1 then1 is that feeling of  
vacancy1 that dreary sense of loss1 that
 rushes upon you1 as you look through   
the desolate chambers without1--through 
the desolate chambers of the heart      
within4 ,but will not ,he who calls out 
from the very dust where yon sleepers   
lie the flowers of summer1 and who1 in  
the snows that enwrap their bed1        
cherishes the germs of the glorious     
springtime1 will not ,he who works out  
this beautiful mystery in nature bring  

life back from the tomb1 and light out  
of darkness8 ,it is truly a great       
mystery2 but everything within us       
responds to it as reasonable2 and though
 it demands our faith1 who1 who1 in this
 limited and changing world1 can walk by
 sight alone8