,kentuckiana ,digital ,library7 ,,autobiography ,,of ,,frank ,g4 ,,allen1 ,minister of the ,gospel ,,and ,,selections ,,from ,,his ,,writings ,,edited ,,by ,,robert ,,graham ,president of the ,college of the ,bible1 ,lexington1 ,ky4 ,,cincinnati ,,guide ,,printing ,,publishing ,,co4 #ahhg ,copyright1 #ahhg1 by ,,the ,,guide ,,printing ,,publishing ,,co4 ,dedication4 ,to all who love the ,old ,paths1 ,this ,volume1 ,in ,memory of ,one ,who ,found ,them ,and ,walked ,therein1 ,is ,respectfully ,inscribed1 by ,the ,editor4 ,,preface4 ,by prescription1 which often has the force of law1 a book should have both a ,preface and an ,introduction3 the first relating to the writer2 the second to the things written4 ,i may well dispense with the latter1 for what is here written the humblest capacity can understand2 and it would be cruel to detain him long on the porch who is anxious to enter the building4 ,but1 dear reader1 a word with you 7for that is the meaning of ,preface7 before you begin this unpretentious little book1 the joint production of an author1 an editor1 and a publisher4 ,it is due the first1 to say that he wrote what is here called his ,autobiography in great physical weakness1 and without expecting that it would appear in this form4 ,this will account for its homely garb1 and apologize for it1 if apology be necessary4 ,frank ,allen had no time to spend upon mere style in anything he wrote4 ,he aimed at clearness and force of expression1 and reached these in a remarkable degree in his latter days4 ,if any one1 therefore1 should take up this volume expecting to find literary entertainment1 he will have the search for his pains2 but if he seeks for what is far better1 the secret of a life devoted to ,god and goodness1 told in plain1 unvarnished ,english1 he will not be disappointed4 ,when ,i received from the gifted author the record of his travel's history1 ,i intended to write his ,life1 but death came and found us1 not him1 unprepared2 and so1 under the constraint of other and pressing duties1 my purpose was reluctantly abandoned4 ,besides1 upon examination it was found that with a few changes and additions here and there1 these memoranda1 as they came from the hand of their author1 could1 under the circumstances1 appear in that form and do him no discredit4 ,such is my admiration of this noble man1 and such my deference to what ,i am sure must be the desire of his friends1 that ,i have preferred to let him tell in simple phrase the strange story of his struggles and triumphs2 and if its perusal should give the reader half the pleasure it has been to me to prepare it for the press1 ,i shall not have labored in vain4 ,the book is intended to be a ,memorial ,volume1 and especially one to encourage young men who1 under adverse circumstances1 are striving to qualify themselves to preach the gospel4 ,bro4 ,allen was always in warm and loving sympathy with these--so much so1 that he was rightly called the young preacher's friend4 ,it is a pleasure to say that such is the veneration of the publishers1 ,the ,guide ,printing and ,publishing ,company1 for the memory of our deceased brother1 that but for them this tribute would hardly have appeared4 ,with a generosity as rare as it is praiseworthy1 they have undertaken to publish the work in the best style of their art1 at a low price1 and without any pecuniary risk to ,sister ,allen2 and1 indeed1 in all their transactions with her they have given abundant proof that men can carry into business the benevolent spirit of pure and undefiled religion4 ,it only remains to be said that whatever profits arise from the sale of this book go to the wife and children of its lamented author1 and that should sufficient encouragement be given1 a companion volume containing the letters and miscellaneous productions of ,bro4 ,allen may in due time be issued4 ,,the ,,editor4 ,,lexington1 ,ky41 ,may1 #ahhg4 ,,contents4 ,page4 ,,part ,i4--,,autobiography4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,birth and ,ancestors4 ,family ,circumstances4 ,fist and ,skull ,entertainment4 ,removal to ,ohio and ,return4 ,fight with his ,mother4 ,gets ,lost4 ,his ,father ,buys a ,farm4 ,the ,improvements4 ,plenty of ,hard ,work4 ,his ,opinion of ,work and of ,play4 #a ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,his ,first ,school4 ,the ,school-house4 ,the ,teacher4 ,the ,order of ,reciting4 ,spelling ,matches4 ,first ,sweetheart4 ,extremes in ,likes and ,dislikes4 ,fondness for ,study4 ,improvement in ,schools4 #g ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,his ,religious ,experience4 ,tries to be a ,methodist4 ,hopes to ,become a ,preacher4 ,boy ,preaching4 ,attends a ,sunday-school4 ,chaws ,tobacco4 ,goes to ,love ,feast4 ,mourners' ,bench ,experience4 ,is ,puzzled and ,disgusted4 #ab ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,fun and ,mischief4 ,his ,little ,cousin and the ,gnats4 ,the ,aurora ,borealis4 ,a ,bumble-bee ,scrape4 ,another ,bee ,scrape4 ,justification by ,faith ,alone4 ,readiness to ,fight4 ,love of ,justice4 ,no ,surrender4 #ag ,,chapter ,v4 ,given to ,abstraction of ,thought4 ,cases in ,point4 ,opinion of ,debating ,societies4 ,perseverance4 ,consumption4 ,endurance4 ,more ,comfortable ,home4 ,death of his ,father4 ,love of ,fashionable ,amusements4 ,meets his ,future ,wife4 ,is ,married4 ,tribute to his ,wife4 ,her ,father and ,mother4 #be ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,goes to ,housekeeping4 ,discussions with ,mr4 ,maddox4 ,attends ,meeting4 ,is ,baptized by ,william ,tharp4 ,double ,damages for an ,old ,horse4 ,begins ,trading4 ,moves to ,floydsburg4 ,description of the ,place4 #ca ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,tries to ,become a ,politician4 ,fails4 ,last ,act as a ,politician4 ,tries to ,join the ,southern ,army4 ,fails ,again4 ,his ,first ,appointment4 ,feeling of ,responsibility4 ,his ,plan4 ,text4 ,analysis of ,sermon4 ,buys a ,family ,bible4 ,rules of ,life4 #cf ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,resolves to go to ,college4 ,friends ,oppose4 ,wife ,decides ,it4 ,hard ,living and ,hard ,work4 ,impaired ,health4 ,preaches for his ,home ,church4 ,father-in-law ,dies4 ,frank1 ,be a ,true ,man4 ,house ,robbed4 ,scraps4 ,college ,incidents4 ,first ,pay for ,preaching4 ,holds ,several ,meetings4 ,dishonest ,preacher4 #dc ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,leaves ,college4 ,goes to ,alexandria1 ,ky4 ,an ,adventure in ,ohio4 ,a ,baby not ,baptized4 ,peril in ,crossing the ,river4 ,opens his ,school4 ,makes ,some ,money4 ,buys a ,nice ,home4 #eb ,,chapter ,x4 ,narrow ,escapes4 ,is ,thrown from a ,horse4 ,has ,pneumonia4 ,nearly ,killed4 ,self-possession4 ,almost ,drowned4 ,eludes ,angry ,soldiers4 ,reflections4 #eh ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,he ,abandons the ,school-room4 ,remarkable ,meeting near ,alexandria4 ,incidents4 ,establishes a ,church4 ,mischief-making ,preachers4 ,long and ,severe ,attack of ,typhoid ,fever4 ,does not ,lose ,hope4 ,gratitude4 #fe ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,sells out at ,alexandria4 ,moves to ,crittenden4 ,preaches there and at ,williamstown4 ,low ,state of these ,churches4 ,plan of ,work4 ,memorizing in ,sunday-school4 ,lack of ,church ,discipline4 ,one-,man ,system4 ,moves to ,new ,liberty4 ,visits ,mount ,byrd #ga ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,history of the ,mt4 ,byrd ,church4 ,when ,established4 ,where4 ,charter ,members4 ,officers4 ,preachers4 ,number of ,members4 ,three ,things ,contributing to its ,prosperity4 ,new ,house of ,worship4 ,serious ,trouble in the ,church4 ,how ,settled4 ,method of ,raising ,money4 ,the ,church ,builds ,allen a ,house4 ,organizes a ,sunday-school4 ,how it is ,conducted #gg ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,he ,moves to ,mt4 ,byrd4 ,debate with ,j4 ,w4 ,fitch4 ,preaches at ,madison1 ,ind4 ,protracted meetings at ,columbia1 ,burksville1 ,thompson's ,church1 ,dover1 ,germantown1 ,pleasant ,hill1 ,burksville again1 ,beech ,grove1 ,dover again #hh ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,begins ,preaching at ,beech ,grove4 ,debates with ,elder ,hiner4 ,amusing ,incident4 ,holds ,many ,meetings4 ,debates with ,elder ,frogge4 ,debates again with ,elder ,hiner4 ,repudiates ,miller's ,book4 ,sick ,again4 ,holds more ,meetings #if ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,continues to ,evangelize4 ,dr4 ,cook's ,prescription4 ,incident at ,glendale4 ,peculiar ,feature in the ,meeting at ,madisonville4 ,the ,fractious ,preacher at ,sonora4 ,closes his ,evangelistic ,labors4 ,establishes the ,old ,path ,guide4 ,the ,bruner ,debate #aja ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,visits ,midway4 ,attends the ,missouri ,state ,convention4 ,reflections4 ,annual ,sermons4 ,last ,protracted ,meeting4 ,kindness of ,mt4 ,byrd1 ,glendale and ,smithfield ,churches4 ,gives up ,office ,work4 ,goes to ,eureka1 ,ill4 ,country ,home4 ,takes ,cold at the ,lexington ,convention4 ,goes to ,florida #ajg ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,organizes a ,church at ,de,land4 ,health ,improves4 ,relapses4 ,starts ,home4 ,resignation4 ,sells ,his ,interest in the ,guide4 ,begins ,writing again4 ,attends ,two ,conventions4 ,goes to ,texas4 ,at ,home again4 ,works on4 #aac ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,reflections on his ,fiftieth ,birthday4 ,what a ,wonderful ,being is ,man6 ,governed1 not by ,instinct1 but by ,reason4 ,man ,lives by ,deeds1 not ,years4 ,how to ,grow ,old4 ,half of ,life ,spent in ,satan's ,service4 ,renewed ,consecration4 ,last ,three ,birthdays4 ,his ,trust in ,god4 #aah ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,conclusion1 by the ,editor4 ,tokens of ,love from ,many4 ,keeps ,writing4 ,controversy with the ,standard4 ,last ,meeting with ,his ,mother4 ,visited by ,professors ,mc,garvey and ,graham4 ,commits ,his ,writings to the ,latter4 ,visits ,eminence and ,lexington4 ,many ,brethren ,come to ,see ,him4 ,meeting at ,mt4 ,byrd4 ,estimate of ,his ,character4 ,the ,closing ,scenes4 ,farewell to ,his ,family4 ,dies4 ,funeral ,services4 #abg ,,part ,,ii4--,,addresses4 ,i4--,culture and ,christianity3 their ,relation and ,necessity4 #acg ,,ii4--,self-culture4 #aei ,,iii4--,plus ,ultra vs4 ,ne ,plus ,ultra4 #age ,,part ,,iii4--,,selections4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,i4--,christ the ,lamb of ,god4 #aij ,,ii4--,christ the ,bread of ,life4 #aid ,,iii4--,christ the ,water of ,life4 #aii ,,iv4--,christ the ,son of ,god4 #bjb ,v4--,christ the ,son of ,man #bab ,,vi4--,christ the ,great ,teacher #bah ,,vii4--,christ the ,deliverer #bbc ,,viii4--,christ the ,great ,physician #bcj ,,ix4--,christ ,our ,mediator #bcf ,x4--,christ ,our ,mediator 7continued7 #bdb ,,xi4--,christ ,our ,high ,priest #bdi ,,xii4--,christ ,our ,righteousness #bed ,,part ,i4--,,autobiography4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,birth and ,ancestors4 ,family ,circumstances4 ,fist and ,skull ,entertainment4 ,removal to ,ohio and ,return4 ,fight with his ,mother4 ,gets ,lost4 ,his ,father ,buys a ,farm4 ,the ,improvements4 ,plenty of ,hard ,work4 ,his ,opinion of ,work and of ,play4 ,i was born near ,la ,grange1 ,oldham county1 ,ky41 ,march #g1 #ahcf4 ,my father1 ,francis ,myers ,allen1 was born in ,brown county1 ,ohio1 ,december #g1 #ahjg4 ,he was the son of ,thomas ,allen1 who1 in #ahab1 when my father was only five years old1 moved from ,brown county1 ,o41 to ,shelby county1 ,ky41 and lived on ,little ,bullskin1 a few miles west of ,shelbyville4 ,my mother1 ,sarah ,a4 ,gibbs1 was a daughter of ,james ,l4 ,gibbs and ,mary ,ashby1 and was born in ,loudoun county1 ,va41 ,april #f1 #ahjh4 ,the family moved from ,virginia to ,kentucky in #ahaj1 and lived in ,shelbyville4 ,my grandparents on both sides reared large families of industrious1 thrifty children1 and both grandfathers lived to be quite aged1 my mother's father living to be nearly one hundred years old4 ,my parents were married near ,simpsonville1 in ,shelby county1 ,april #i1 #ahbi1 and to them were born thirteen children--five boys and eight girls--ten of whom lived to be grown4 ,i was the fifth child--two boys and two girls being older4 ,the oldest child1 a boy1 died in infancy4 ,being poor1 both parents and children had to work hard and use strict economy to make ends meet4 ,we all knew much of the toils and hardships of life1 little of its luxuries4 ,both parents were blessed with good constitutions1 and had fine native intellects1 but they were uneducated save in the mere rudiments of the common school4 ,they thought that to read1 write and cipher as far as the single rule of three1 was all the learning one needed for this life1 unless he was going to teach4 ,if my father's mind had been trained1 it would have been one of vast power4 ,he was philosophical1 a good reasoner1 and possessed of unusual discrimination4 ,he had also great coolness and self-possession in emergencies4 ,in illustration of the latter statement1 there recurs an incident in my father's life that will bear recital4 ,in those old-fashioned days of fist and skull entertainments on public occasions1 it was common for each county to have its bully4 ,oldham at different times had several--men of great muscular build and power1 whose chief idea of fame was that they could whip anything in the county4 ,my father was a small man1 weighing only one hundred and thirty pounds1 and of a peaceable disposition4 ,indeed1 it was hard to provoke him to pugilistic measures4 ,but circumstances caused one of these bullies to force a fight upon him at ,la ,grange1 in which the man was whipped so quickly and so badly that no one knew how it was done4 ,the man himself accounted for it on the ground that ,mr4 ,allen came at me smiling4 ,this caused one or two others1 at different times1 to seek to immortalize themselves by doing what the first had failed to accomplish2 but with the same result4 ,being a farmer1 my father was never without occupation1 and he always had plenty for his boys to do2 hence ,i knew nothing but hard work on the farm1 except a few school days in winter1 from the time ,i could pull a weed out of a hill of corn till ,i reached my majority4 ,in the fall after ,i was born my parents moved from the farm near ,la ,grange to ,brown county1 ,o41 not far from ,hamersville4 ,there they remained a year2 but my mother being much dissatisfied1 they moved to ,floydsburg1 ,ky41 and in the following spring1 when ,i was two years old1 returned to the old place where ,i was born4 ,here the memories of life begin4 ,the incidents of daily life from this time forward are fresh in my memory to-day4 ,here ,i had my first and last fight with my mother4 ,when ,i was three years old1 my father1 one day in ,june1 was plowing corn in a field not far from the house4 ,when he went out1 after noon1 ,i wanted to go with him4 ,he took me behind him on the horse to the field4 ,when we got there ,i wanted to come back4 ,he brought me back4 ,i then wanted to go to the field4 ,he took me to the field4 ,i then wanted to come back4 ,he brought me back4 ,i then wanted to go to the field1 but he left me1 telling my mother to take me in charge4 ,because she attempted to control me ,i began fighting her4 ,she whipped me with a small switch1 and ,i fought till ,i fell4 ,being completely exhausted1 ,i begged my oldest sister to fight for me1 and when she refused and ,i had recovered a little1 ,i got up and went at it again4 ,but when ,i fell the second time1 ,i lay till they took me and put me to bed1 and there ,i remained several days4 ,though ,i did not surrender1 ,i never afterwards felt disposed to renew the engagement4 ,it was almost death to my mother1 for she did not chastise me in anger2 her firmness1 however1 saved me4 ,in the spring of #ahdj we moved to a farm some two miles south of ,la ,grange1 on the road leading from that place to ,ballardsville4 ,here we lived one year4 ,only one event worth naming occurred while we lived here4 ,my mother took myself1 an older sister1 and a younger brother to visit a sister she had living in ,la ,grange4 ,it was a beautiful summer day1 the roads were good1 and we walked4 ,my mother stopped at the house of a neighbor on the road side for a few minutes1 and told us to go on1 and be sure not to leave the road4 ,with childish perversity we thought the green fields better than the dusty road1 and were soon into them4 ,it was not long till we were completely lost1 and naturally wandered the wrong way1 not thinking to observe the sun and consider our course4 ,so1 when we did not put in an appearance1 the whole neighborhood was aroused1 and several hours of excitement followed before we were found4 ,my sister ,bettie1 two years my senior1 was captain of this expedition4 ,in the spring of #ahda my father bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres1 lying about three miles southwest from ,la ,grange4 ,most of the land was poor1 and the improvements equally so4 ,the house was a hewed log cabin about #ahbj feet1 with clap-board roof held down by weight poles1 and the walls chinked with mud4 ,it had a large fire-place at one end1 and a chimney made of slats and mortar1 familiarly known as a stick chimney4 ,the only window was paneless1 with a solid shutter hung on leather hinges1 propped up with a stick1 except when it was wanted down4 ,the floors above and below1 were of broad lumber1 and laid loose4 ,the door1 when closed1 was fastened with a big pin4 ,a narrow porch ran along the front1 connecting with another at one end of the house1 between it and the kitchen4 ,this was large and of the same style of architecture as the house1 but what that style was would puzzle any one to tell4 ,these two rooms and porches1 with the smoke-house and hen-house1 constituted the improvements in that line4 ,the out-buildings were stables and a crib1 of round logs4 ,the fences were all of rails1 and inferior in kind4 ,bars and slip-gaps supplied the place of gates in some places1 and in others the fences had to be often pulled down for lack of such conveniences4 ,a fine spring gushed from the foot of a hill1 one hundred yards in front of this humble abode4 ,the location of dwellings1 in that age and country1 was determined almost exclusively by springs4 ,every other consideration yielded to this4 ,here we took up our abode in a home of our own in the spring of #ahda1 as above stated4 ,the farm was afterwards enlarged by other purchases1 and the original still remains in the family4 ,the poverty of the soil1 its tendency to produce briars1 its large amount of heavy timber1 with the clearing necessary to be done1 made it a place specially favorable for the cultivation of industry4 ,my father was one of those men who never ran short of work2 he always had plenty of it for himself and the whole family4 ,recreation was almost unknown1 and we had hardly rest enough to secure good health4 ,we were not of those who had to resort to base-ball and foot-ball for exercise2 it was ours to combine pleasure with profit1 only the profit was more than the pleasure4 ,there is no doubt that employment contributes to health of both body and mind4 ,good blood1 good thought and good morals are born of industry1 provided it be not pushed to the extreme of exhaustion4 ,children and young people must have relaxation from toil1 that both the physical and mental powers may recuperate2 but not much attention was paid to this beneficent philosophy in my father's family4 ,had there been1 it might have been better for at least some of his children in after years4 ,there is a golden mean in this1 as in other things1 which parents sometimes miss in their blind adhesion to a false theory4 ,rest and labor are both appointments of ,god's benevolence4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,his ,first ,school4 ,the ,school-house4 ,the ,teacher4 ,the ,order of ,reciting4 ,spelling ,matches4 ,first ,sweetheart4 ,extremes in ,likes and ,dislikes4 ,fondness for ,study4 ,improvement in ,schools4 ,at the age of about seven ,i attended my first school4 ,the house was on my father's farm1 a half a mile from our dwelling4 ,it was constructed of round logs1 and had five corners--the fifth was formed at one end by having shorter logs laid from the corners at an obtuse angle1 like the corner of a rail fence1 and meeting in the middle4 ,it was built up thus to the square1 then the logs went straight across1 forming the end for the roof to rest on2 consequently this fifth corner was open1 and this was the fire-place4 ,stones laid with mud mortar were built in this corner1 extending several feet each way1 and wood nearly as long as the breadth of the house would be filled in4 ,the seats were split logs smoothed on the flat side1 and supported on legs put in with an auger4 ,from these the feet of the children dangled early and late4 ,there was no support for the back4 ,the house had a dirt floor and a clap-board roof4 ,light was let in by cutting away part of two logs in the end4 ,a wide puncheon was fastened just below this for the writers1 with a seat to correspond4 ,during winter they pasted paper over these openings1 and light for the rest of the school came down the chimney4 ,the first teacher we had was an old man by the name of ,ballou4 ,he lived on our place1 not far from the school-house1 and taught for several years4 ,he was very poor1 did poor teaching1 and got poor pay4 ,he was master of only reading1 writing and ciphering4 ,there were no classes in the school1 and each one went it independently1 studying what suited his taste and ability4 ,some read in the ,testament1 and others in any book they happened to have4 ,in those days the rule was that those who got to school first said first--that is1 they recited in the order in which they got to the house4 ,this would sometimes get up a great rivalry1 and ,i have known young men living two miles away to be at school before daylight4 ,the whole day1 except an hour at noon1 was spent in saying lessons4 ,the old teacher sat in his chair1 and the pupils went to him one by one1 in the order in which they got to the house1 and said their lessons4 ,when they got around1 the same process was repeated4 ,sometimes between turns the old man would take a little nap1 and then we all would have some fun4 ,one more bold than the rest would tickle his bald head or his nose1 and to see him scratching would afford us much amusement4 ,each ,friday afternoon was spent in a spelling-match4 ,captains were chosen1 and they would choose up till the school was divided into two classes4 ,beginning at the head1 one of each class would stand up and spell1 till one was turned down2 then another took his place1 and so on until all on one side were down4 ,i began at this school in the alphabet1 and the second winter ,i could spell almost every word in ,webster's old ,elementary ,speller4 ,if provided with a sharp knife1 and a stick on which to whittle1 which the kind old man would allow1 ,i could generally stand most of an afternoon without missing4 ,strange to say1 after a few years1 when ,i had given myself to the study of other things1 it all went from me1 and ,i have been a poor speller ever since4 ,in this school ,i had my first sweetheart--a buxom1 jolly good girl1 about six years my senior4 ,to her ,i wrote my first love letter1 and when it was done its chirography looked as if it had been struck by lightning2 and ,i had to get an old bachelor friend to help me read it4 ,here ,i am reminded of an early tendency to extremes in my likes and dislikes4 ,i had a race one morning with a girl whom ,i saw coming to school from an opposite direction1 each striving to get into the house first4 ,i clearly went in ahead1 but she claimed the race and beat me out of it4 ,from this on ,i had an extreme dislike for her4 ,the spring to which we all had to go for a drink1 was about a hundred yards from the house4 ,the path to it passed through a broken place in a large log that lay across this path4 ,in this ,i would never walk1 nor would ,i pass through the gap1 but would always climb over that big log4 ,these school days were only during winter1 after the crop was all gathered in and before spring work began4 ,after ,i got large enough to help in winter work1 my attendance was only semi-occasional4 ,after a while a better school-house was built1 a mile further away1 and it was every way more comfortable1 save that we had still the backless slab seats4 ,here ,i went at odd times in winter for several years4 ,i had acquired a great fondness for reading1 devouring everything in the way of books ,i could lay my hands upon4 ,especially ,i had a great passion for history1 biography1 geography1 natural philosophy1 and the like1 and ,i let nothing escape me that the country afforded4 ,i had no money to buy books1 and had to depend on borrowing them4 ,i soon went through arithmetic1 grammar1 and the history of the ,united ,states4 ,this was more than my paterfamilias recognized as essential to a practical education1 and hence he was not disposed to let me go to school as much as the other children1 who gave themselves no concern about books out of school4 ,the idea of one's going through grammar1 philosophy1 or more than half the arithmetic1 unless he was going to teach1 he regarded as a waste of time4 ,his conception of life and mine were so different that there was frequently more or less friction4 ,it was decidedly unpleasant from youth to manhood to be discouraged and opposed in my one absorbing passion for obtaining an education4 ,my mother sympathized with me1 but could not help me4 ,the first dollar ,i ever made ,i spent for a book1 and for this purpose ,i saved my hard-earned pennies4 ,midnight often found me poring over this book by the light of kindling prepared for the purpose4 ,this was opposed2 and thus the struggle went on during my minority4 ,i can not forbear1 before closing this short chapter upon my school life1 to allude to the great improvement in the matter of common schools since ,i was a boy4 ,my native ,state1 though sadly behind many of her younger sisters1 has made some progress in this direction1 and ,i can but hope this is only an earnest of what is to come4 ,in a few favored localities1 chiefly the cities1 there is ample provision made for the education of the children of the people1 but in the country districts much remains to be done before we are up with the demands of the age in regard to the comfort of the pupils as well as the facilities for the prosecution of their studies4 ,we need more and better school-houses1 better furniture1 and more attractive surroundings4 ,well qualified and earnest teachers are not yet as thick as blackberries in ,kentucky4 ,when as much attention is bestowed on these as on jockeys1 and on our boys as on our horses1 we shall be both richer and better4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,his ,religious ,experience4 ,tries to be a ,methodist4 ,hopes to become a ,preacher4 ,boy ,preaching4 ,attends a ,sunday-school4 ,chaws ,tobacco4 ,goes to ,love ,feast4 ,mourners' ,bench ,experience4 ,is ,puzzled and ,disgusted4 ,my parents were ,methodists1 as were their ancestors on both sides4 ,my mother was uniformly religious1 but not fussy about it4 ,i have seen her intensely happy1 but never heard her shout4 ,her religion was a deep1 smooth1 current without fluctuation4 ,my father was religious more by spells1 but still he never went to extremes1 and could never get religion at the altar1 in the ,methodist fashion4 ,this lifelong failure of his discouraged him1 causing him at times to become somewhat skeptical and indifferent4 ,but he died1 rejoicing in the faith of ,christ as held by the ,methodist ,church4 ,when about ten years of age ,i joined the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 ,south4 ,a great revival was in progress at ,la ,grange1 and over one hundred persons united with the church4 ,i enjoyed the services1 and continued to do so for a number of years4 ,often in those early times ,i rode to meeting at surrounding churches and private dwellings on horseback behind my mother4 ,i still remember1 as vividly as if it were but yesterday1 the texts and treatment of many of the sermons ,i heard4 ,in later years ,i have frequently thought of the fallacies the preachers imposed upon us1 and1 ,i charitably believe1 upon themselves1 in these sermons1 but which neither we nor they could detect for want of correct scriptural knowledge4 ,the thought that ,i should one day become a preacher impressed me1 and it clung to me for years4 ,when afterwards ,i grew wild and wicked1 this impression possessed me1 and many a time1 when my good wife would rebuke me for my wickedness1 ,i would say1 ,never mind1 dear2 ,i'll be a preacher yet4 ,i had a high regard for preachers1 and from early life was fond of their company2 and since ,i have become one myself1 the society of good1 faithful men of ,god brings me as near heaven as ,i shall ever be in the flesh4 ,it was a common thing with me1 when ,i came home from meeting1 to get up one of my own by gathering the children together and preaching to them the sermons ,i had heard2 and while these were not verbally correct1 there was in them the substance of what the preachers had delivered4 ,i would sing and pray1 and go through the whole performance4 ,i improvised a little pulpit1 and had a church after my own notion2 ,i was a great plagiarist1 and in this1 too1 ,i copied after some others4 ,i attended the first ,sunday-school ,i ever heard of2 it was conducted by ,floyd ,wellman1 a gentleman who afterwards became a prominent and honored citizen of ,louisville4 ,sunday-schools were then poor things1 as ,i fear many of them are yet4 ,little question-books1 with the answers supplied1 and reading-books1 mostly about angelic boys and girls who died of early piety1 furnished the staple of our reading1 while but little of the ,scriptures was taught1 or thought about4 ,to chew tobacco seemed to me to be manly2 so to let the people see ,i was thus far developed1 ,i prepared me a rough twist of long green2 this ,i stuck in my pantaloons pocket1 for the occasion1 and when everything was propitious in the ,sunday-school1 ,i drew out the twist and bit off a chaw4 ,it raised quite a laugh1 in which the superintendent himself joined2 and this ended for life my chewing tobacco to be seen of men4 ,i often went with my parents to love feast4 ,at the first of these which ,i attended ,i had an experience of my own4 ,the light-bread was cut into slips about two inches long and a half an inch wide and thick4 ,some of these were then divided into small pieces4 ,on the plate which was passed around were two long pieces1 and ,i concluded that if there was any virtue in the thing it would be enhanced by my taking a long one2 but when ,i discovered that all the rest had taken but a bite my philosophy failed1 and ,i hid the remainder where ,rachel hid the gods of her father ,laban4 ,when about fifteen years of age the ,methodists had a big revival at ,mount ,tabor1 a neighboring country church4 ,in this meeting a great many of my friends and companions were getting religion at the altar of prayer4 ,i became intensely desirous of the same blessing1 and in great anxiety and hopefulness ,i went to the altar4 ,day after day did ,i go1 but only to be disappointed4 ,every time some would get through1 and there would be great rejoicing1 till only one young man and myself were left4 ,the whole power of the church was then concentrated on us1 but to no purpose4 ,in this extremity ,i began to reason about it as ,i had not done before4 ,i had been taught that ,god was no respecter of persons2 but that in every nation he that feareth him1 and worketh righteousness1 is accepted with him4 ,my soul ever recoiled from the idea of ,his decreeing some men to salvation and others to damnation1 irrespective of their own will and conduct4 ,here1 now1 ,i was as helpless as a stone till ,god should do this work of grace for me4 ,why would he send down the ,holy ,spirit and convert one on my right1 another on my left1 till the bench was vacant1 and not convert me8 ,the preachers were praying for ,him to do it2 my father and mother were praying earnestly for it2 the whole church were pleading with ,him1 and yet ,he would not do it4 ,i knew ,i was a sinner2 that ,i wanted salvation2 that ,i was sincere1 earnest as the others could be3 but all this availed nothing4 ,the preachers tried to explain the failure on the ground that ,i was still clinging to the world and my own righteousness2 that ,i had not given my heart wholly to ,god1 etc4 ,this ,i knew to be false4 ,i concluded that if a poor1 penitent1 agonizing sinner with all his prayers and pleadings1 with the whole church earnestly coperating1 could not induce ,god to save him1 he might just as well be decreed to damnation from all eternity4 ,with these reflections ,i left the mourners' bench in disgust1 and ever since ,i have had for it an inexpressible contempt4 ,time and observation have confirmed me in this feeling2 and while ,i cherish a sincere respect for those who in ignorance think it is a divine arrangement1 and that in resorting to it they are obeying a command of ,god1 ,i have none for those who1 knowing better1 still use it as a means of conversion4 ,as often employed by professional evangelists1 there is so much of clap-trap that it must bring the whole subject of religion into contempt with sensible people4 ,it is amazing to me that1 in view of its entire lack of ,scripture precept or example1 the light and knowledge of this day1 and its frequent failures1 it1 and the whole system of which it is an essential part1 are not laid aside4 ,having been taught that ,methodism and ,christianity were identical1 and having completely lost faith in the former1 it was natural enough that ,i should become skeptical as to the latter4 ,only a lingering suspicion that after all they might be different1 saved me from hopeless infidelity2 and had ,i not in after years learned such to be the case1 ,i should have lived and died in rebellion against ,god4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,fun and ,mischief4 ,his ,little ,cousin and the ,gnats4 ,the ,aurora ,borealis4 ,a ,bumble-bee ,scrape4 ,another ,bee ,scrape4 ,justification by ,faith alone4 ,readiness to ,fight4 ,love of ,justice4 ,no ,surrender4 ,when a boy1 ,i was as full of fun and mischief as an egg is of meat1 and ,i have never got rid of it4 ,with a younger brother and a neighbor boy of my own age1 equally mischievous with myself1 there was hardly a thing in the way of fun and frolic that we were not continually into4 ,hunting rabbits was our chief sport1 and1 when we got larger1 coons1 'possums and the like at night4 ,there was not a tree of any peculiarity1 or a hole in the ground1 for miles around1 that we did not know all about4 ,we knew1 also1 every fruit tree1 from the apple to the black-haw or persimmon in the same territory1 and the time they were ready for company2 and we never failed to pay our respects to them all in due time4 ,i would not mention many of the bad things of my early life2 but that is the way the ,bible does with its heroes1 and the ,bible is always a safe guide to follow4 ,about all the money we made in our boyhood days was from the sale of nuts and the flesh and skins of the animals we caught during the fall and winter4 ,this was my way of getting books1 maps1 etc41 to help me in my studies4 ,i was the recognized leader in all the mischief we did1 and many prophecies were made that ,i should one day be hanged1 and in this anticipation my father fully shared4 ,my younger brother and ,i were constantly playing practical jokes on each other1 and often upon others4 ,we never became offended1 though the pranks were sometimes exceedingly rough2 but we were always watching an opportunity to get even4 ,i will relate a few as samples1 while others are too bad to tell4 ,on one occasion some cousins and their children visited us from ,shelby county4 ,they were considered quite wealthy for that time4 ,their little boy was dressed in very fine clothes1 at least1 in our estimation1 and we concluded he was putting on airs4 ,we thought we would do him a valuable service by taking him down a little1 so we asked him if he had ever seen a singular kind of gnat1 which we described4 ,he had not4 ,we proposed to show him a fine lot--a big nest of them4 ,we affirmed that they were nice1 harmless things to play with4 ,so we went forth to see the gnats4 ,we got him to the nest and stirred them up1 and in a few minutes the innocent1 unsuspecting boy was covered with yellow jackets4 ,of course1 he ran to the house screaming1 and they had a time in getting them off of him4 ,he was badly stung1 but we made it appear that we had gone down there to fight them1 which was a favorite pastime with us1 and that he got too near the nest4 ,thus we escaped a well-merited whipping4 ,about the same time in life my younger brother and ,i caught a rabbit and dressed it for breakfast4 ,it was ,saturday afternoon1 and father and mother had gone to her father's1 some six miles away1 to stay till the next evening4 ,that night the aurora borealis was unusually bright1 and as the excitement of ,millerism had not died away1 there was much talk of the world's coming to an end4 ,my oldest sister1 ,mary1 was getting supper ready and was greatly alarmed4 ,she would go out and watch the sky1 and then go back to see about the supper4 ,finally ,i said1 ,mary1 do you really think the world will come to an end before morning8 ,i do believe it will1 said she4 ,then1 said ,i1 we must have the rabbit for supper4 ,i had no notion of losing my rabbit by such a trifling circumstance as that4 ,later in life1 when old enough to work in the harvest field1 we had a neighbor who was very close1 and we never had any fancy for him4 ,he was always boasting of his ability to work with bees4 ,one year he had a large harvest1 and many hands employed1 and we were helping him4 ,one day we told him we had found a fine bee tree which could be cut down in a few minutes1 and that if he would go and take the honey he might have it all except what we could eat4 ,he was delighted with the proposal1 so after supper a number of us started for the bee tree1 a mile and a half from his house1 in a dense forest4 ,he had several buckets prepared to secure a large amount of honey4 ,when we began to chop1 the bees began to roar1 and our friend was frantic with delight4 ,soon the tree fell1 and he waded in with his axe and buckets to get the luscious spoil4 ,as he went in we went out1 and soon he discovered himself in a big bumble-bees' nest alone with all his buckets1 etc41 a mile and a half from home6 ,we saw no more of him that night1 and did not care to meet him next day4 ,this reminds me of another bee scrape1 in which my father figured largely4 ,he prided himself on being able to handle bees as so many flies4 ,on a cool1 drizzly day we cut a bee tree on the farm4 ,i was wearing a brown jeans sack coat4 ,this ,i laid aside while chopping4 ,when the tree fell the bees swarmed forth in great numbers1 and my father stalked in with his axe1 chipping and cutting the limbs1 preparatory to chopping for the honey1 and was as indifferent as if surrounded only by gnats4 ,we stood at a safe distance4 ,soon he came out with a trifle less indifference than he went in with1 picking the bees out of his hair with both hands4 ,they had literally settled on his head and were stinging him furiously4 ,he came running to us to fight them off4 ,i grabbed up my coat1 and with both hands struck him over the head4 ,a large jack knife1 very heavy1 was in one of the pockets1 and this struck him on the opposite side of the head and came near felling him to the ground4 ,we fought the bees off the best we could1 but he was terribly stung4 ,this was the last of his working with bees as with flies4 ,my father was a firm believer in the doctrine of justification by faith alone4 ,all those passages of ,scripture that connect justification or salvation with faith1 without mentioning anything else as a condition1 he had at his tongue's end4 ,his argument was1 whatever may be mentioned elsewhere1 here salvation is promised on the condition of faith1 and nothing else is in the text4 ,with all this ,i had become perfectly familiar1 and always had a suspicion that there was a fallacy in it some where1 though ,i could not exactly expose it4 ,we were clearing a piece of new ground in ,april1 about the time the spring fever sets in1 and my younger brother and ,i always had it bad4 ,it was a ,monday morning1 and father was going to ,la ,grange to attend court4 ,at breakfast he gave us very particular instructions about our work--what to do and how to do it--and a feature emphasized was that we were to keep at it4 ,it was getting quite dry1 and when he had started to town he hallooed back and said1 ,boys1 ,i want you to watch the fire to-day and not let it get out4 ,all right1 we responded4 ,his two directions1 perhaps not an hour apart1 reminded me of his theology1 and ,i resolved at once to test its validity when weighed in his own scales4 ,so we went out to the clearing1 lay down under the shade of a tree1 and watched the fire all day6 ,having returned1 he asked us how we had got along4 ,we replied1 ,finely1 that we had done what he told us2 but when he came to view the landscape o'er1 we had to give an account for the deeds done in the body1 or1 rather1 not done4 ,i told him that his specific instruction was to watch the fire4 ,but1 said he1 ,i told you before that1 that you were to do the work4 ,yes1 ,i replied1 but the last time you said anything about it you did not allude to the work2 but only to watch the fire4 ,there was no work in the text4 ,however1 he was by no means disposed to look upon that as favorably as upon justification by faith only1 which rests on the same principle4 ,still it opened his eyes to a fallacy in his argument that he had not seen before4 ,i generally lived in peace and good will with all the boys in the neighborhood1 but a few times in my life feeling imposed on1 or that some one else was1 ,i got into fights1 and always with those older and stronger than myself4 ,i had learned something of the secret of success in that line from what ,i had heard said of my father4 ,this often gave me a victory quite unlooked for4 ,i would fight the best friend ,i had in the world if he imposed on one unable to cope with him4 ,i had a companion much stronger than ,i1 and inclined to be overbearing4 ,on one occasion1 at a corn husking1 he tried to force a fight on a boy smaller than himself4 ,when ,i saw he was quite determined about it1 while the other boy was trying to avoid it1 ,i said1 ,jim1 you and ,i are good friends4 ,i have nothing against you in the world4 ,i like you1 but you can't fight that boy4 ,if you fight any body you will have to fight me4 ,i don't want any quarrel with you1 nor do ,i want to hurt you1 but if nothing but a fight will do you1 that's just the way it has to be done4 ,when he saw ,i was in earnest1 the matter was dropped1 and our friendship continued4 ,i was severely tried on one occasion4 ,my older brother had a falling out with a neighbor1 and we three were alone in the woods4 ,i had a dislike for the man1 as much as my brother had4 ,he was boastful1 bigoted and disagreeable4 ,but in this particular case ,i saw clearly that my brother was in the wrong1 ,i felt compelled1 therefore1 to take sides with the other man4 ,at this my brother was deeply offended1 and it took him a long time to get over it4 ,he did not see his wrong1 and thought my conduct very strange and unnatural1 especially as ,i did not like the man4 ,i deplored this1 but could not yield the principle of holding justice superior to persons4 ,one of my difficulties was so peculiar that ,i will recount it4 ,it was in the winter1 and the ground was frozen deep4 ,the day was bright1 and on the south hillsides the ground had thawed to the depth of two or three inches4 ,several boys were together1 and one of them several years older than ,i4 ,he was a son of one of our tenants1 and entirely too proud for one in his condition4 ,he was imposing on my younger brother1 and ,i gave him to understand he must not do that4 ,with this he turned upon me4 ,we were upon a south hillside1 under a large beech tree1 and the ground was thawed on top and frozen beneath4 ,about the first pass ,i slipped on a root concealed in the mud1 and fell on my back1 with my shoulders wedged between two projecting roots and my head against the tree4 ,i was utterly powerless4 ,after pommeling me a while1 he proposed to let me up if ,i would say enough4 ,this ,i declined to do4 ,then he would renew the operation1 and then the proposition4 ,the sun was three hours high1 no one interfered1 and ,i insisted that they should not4 ,sometimes he would lie upon me and talk for half an hour or more2 he would argue the case1 remind me of my helplessness1 and that it would be death to lie there on the frozen ground till night4 ,then when his advice all failed1 he would renew hostilities4 ,thus it continued till sundown4 ,as the sun got low he changed his proposal4 ,he would now let me up if ,i would promise to make friends1 and not fight him4 ,this ,i also declined4 ,finally1 when he saw that nothing would avail1 he gave me a few parting salutes1 and1 springing to his feet1 ran away4 ,before ,i could get up he had such a start that ,i could not overtake him4 ,for some time ,i watched for a chance to pay him back1 but he kept out of my sight2 and soon after his folks moved away1 and thus the matter ended4 ,from my infancy it has been my disposition to stick to my convictions till ,i saw ,i was in the wrong4 ,i can not say that ,i am obstinate1 though it may have that appearance to others4 ,i never could yield a point for policy's sake1 though my adherence to my convictions has cost me a good deal4 ,this led me early in life to be careful in coming to a conclusion1 and ,i have always admired ,davy ,crockett's motto1 ,be sure you're right1 and then go ahead4 ,i commend this homemade philosophy to all who may read this chapter4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,given to ,abstraction of ,thought4 ,cases in ,point4 ,opinion of ,debating ,societies4 ,perseverance4 ,consumption4 ,endurance4 ,more ,comfortable ,home4 ,death of his ,father4 ,love of ,fashionable ,amusements4 ,meets his ,future ,wife4 ,is ,married4 ,tribute to his ,wife4 ,her ,father and ,mother4 ,during early life ,i was much given to abstraction of thought1 and ,i am still down with the same disease4 ,from morning till night1 between the plow-handles or swinging the maul1 ,i was absorbed in reflection4 ,my reading and other studies raised many questions that ,i sought to find out4 ,natural philosophy and the elements of astronomy were subjects of peculiar delight1 and would cause me to become oblivious of all surroundings4 ,this frequently got me into trouble4 ,it vexed my father very much that my mind was not more on my work1 and he had but little patience with me4 ,when about the house ,i would often realize that ,i had been told to do something1 and ,i would start at once about it1 and perchance when ,i came to myself ,i would find that ,i was at the barn or spring1 wholly forgetful of what ,i had been told to do4 ,on one occasion ,i was told to go to the lot and catch a horse and come to the crib1 and my father would put the sack on for me1 and ,i was to go to mill4 ,i went and caught the horse1 got on and went1 but when ,i arrived the mill was in ashes2 it was just through burning4 ,on my return ,i saw that my father was not as serene as a ,may morning4 ,but not till he spoke of it did ,i discover that ,i had gone off without the sack4 ,i at once taxed my eloquence to give a glowing account of the fire1 and thus divert his attention from my neglect4 ,many a time have ,i acted ridiculously on account of this absorption of thought4 ,while at ,eminence ,college1 there was a public exhibition one evening in the chapel4 ,a few minutes before it began ,i went into the room of ,prof4 ,henry ,giltner1 just across the hall from the chapel1 and here ,i saw ,mc,garvey's ,commentary on ,acts for the first time4 ,i thought ,i would look into it for a moment before the exercises should begin2 and that was the last ,i thought of the exhibition till some one came into the room just before its close1 hunting for me4 ,one more instance of this nature must suffice4 ,about #ahgb1 ,i was holding a very successful meeting at ,burksville1 on the ,cumberland river1 and while ,i was preaching one night there came up a terrific thunderstorm1 with vivid lightning and hard rain4 ,a young man occupied a front seat who had just been reclaimed from a life of sin1 and who is now a preacher4 ,i had a faint recollection of seeing him leave the house4 ,he had become alarmed at the storm and left1 but ,i knew nothing of the confusion till the services closed4 ,every fall and winter we would have debating societies at the school-house1 and at these1 men of considerable attainments would be present and participate--teachers1 preachers1 and lawyers4 ,in these ,i took a deep interest4 ,my reading enabled me to become well posted on most of the questions discussed2 and by careful preparation ,i soon came to be recognized as a good debater for one of my age4 ,these discussions were of great advantage to me1 and ,i am clearly of opinion that debating societies1 when properly conducted1 can be made useful to aspiring young men4 ,from childhood my under front teeth passed up on the outside1 and1 when a good sized boy1 ,i concluded that that was not just the right thing1 and that ,i would bring them into their proper place4 ,by an effort in drawing back my under jaw1 ,i could barely get the edges to so pass as to make a pressure of any value4 ,but with this slight purchase the operation was continued from day to day1 till the work was accomplished4 ,the teeth became very sore from pressure1 and the muscles of the jaw very tired from the unnatural strain1 but in about ten days it was all over1 and the job complete for life4 ,another case required much greater perseverance4 ,my older brother was very hollow-chested1 and died of consumption2 several others of the family were afflicted in like manner1 and met the same fate4 ,when about sixteen1 ,i had strong tendencies in that direction4 ,my chest was becoming hollow1 and ,i decided upon an effort to counteract it4 ,to this end ,i slept on my back with no pillow under my head1 and a good-sized one under my chest4 ,i would awake of a morning feeling almost too dignified to bend forward4 ,this ,i kept up for two years1 holding myself erect during the day1 till my chest expanded and the threatening trouble was overcome4 ,but for that ,i should have been in my grave long ago4 ,the simple fact is1 ,i have been fighting consumption since ,i was sixteen years of age4 ,while ,i was never robust in health or appearance1 ,i was exceedingly tough1 and had great power of endurance4 ,one of my physicians told me long ago that in all his practice he had never seen anything that would compare with it4 ,this enabled me to do as much work as men of much greater strength4 ,in those days reapers were generally unknown in our country1 and the grain was all cradled4 ,at this ,i was an adept1 never meeting any one that could excel me4 ,the same was true of jumping and running foot races4 ,hundreds of men could no doubt beat me1 but ,i never happened to meet them4 ,i kept up these exercises till ,i left college4 ,when ,i was about twelve years of age my father built a large and comfortable house on another part of his farm4 ,it was of hewed logs1 and a story and a half high1 with a large kitchen and dining-room1 porches1 etc4 ,it was subsequently weather-boarded1 and it is still a comfortable1 commodious dwelling1 owned by my mother1 who never left it till her children all married and went to themselves4 ,father died of typhoid fever in #ahfj1 in the fifty-third year of his age4 ,he left my mother in comparatively easy circumstances1 with nearly three hundred acres of land1 plenty of stock1 and a considerable amount of money on interest4 ,by industry and economy on the part of himself and the whole family this property was accumulated1 and he died in the assurance that with prudence on our part we could all make a respectable living4 ,my mother now makes her home with her oldest daughter1 ,mary ,crenshaw1 wife of ,mr4 ,o4 ,b4 ,crenshaw1 a few miles north of ,simpsonville1 ,shelby county1 ,ky4 ,she waits in confident expectation that before long she too will depart to be with ,christ and ,his redeemed1 where the families of his saints will be reunited for ever4 ,after ,i grew to be a young man1 ,i became very fond of fashionable amusements2 ,i liked dancing1 and went far and near to engage in the fascinating exercise4 ,i gave a great deal of attention to dress2 priding myself on being a gentleman2 hence ,i found a welcome in the best society4 ,in those years of wildness and wickedness1 some things ,i was careful to avoid4 ,i never learned to play cards1 to gamble1 or to tolerate the company of immodest women4 ,for the latter ,i had an invincible repugnance that grew stronger with my years4 ,in the summer of #ahee1 while harvesting for her uncle1 ,i first met at the dinner-table ,miss ,jennie ,maddox1 the lady whom ,i afterwards married4 ,i looked as rough and unprepossessing that day as she ever saw me afterwards4 ,i was as brown as a ,florida cracker1 and my dress was anything but elegant4 ,had ,i anticipated the forming of such a captivating acquaintance1 ,i should have made some preparation1 but ,i was caught1 and ,i had to make the best of it4 ,we were married ,september #aa1 #ahef2 ,i was twenty years and a half old2 she ten months younger4 ,from that time to this she has been a loving1 faithful wife1 prudent in all things1 industrious and frugal1 caring for me and her children2 and1 above all1 a consistent disciple of ,jesus ,christ1 whom she had obeyed several years before our marriage4 ,when we first met ,i thought her very handsome2 she was rather small1 had auburn hair1 blue eyes and fair skin4 ,and to-day you are fairer to me1 ,jennie1 ,than when you and ,i were young4 ,as to myself1 ,i was six feet one inch in height1 weighed a hundred and forty pounds1 had brown eyes1 and was1 and am still1 of a nervous-bilious temperament4 ,my complexion was then1 as now1 very dark4 ,my wife's father1 ,g4 ,w4 ,maddox1 was an elder in the ,pleasant ,hill church1 ,oldham county1 ,ky41 near which he lived4 ,the church is about two miles south-east of ,baird's ,station1 on the ,louisville ,lexington ,railroad4 ,he was a man of a firm logical mind1 good general information1 and more intelligent in the ,scriptures than any man ,i ever met1 outside of the ministry4 ,i have heard several preachers make the same remark4 ,he was1 however1 a timid man1 and it was difficult to get much out of him in public4 ,he began too late in life1 and had no training in that direction4 ,but he was a very popular man1 both in and out of the church1 and his counsel was generally taken4 ,his wife was a timid1 unassuming1 good woman1 very conscientious and religious4 ,they reared a family of six girls and one boy1 all of whom obeyed the gospel in good time4 ,i myself baptized several of them4 ,my father-in-law and ,i soon became very much attached to each other1 fond of each other's company1 and ,i loved him as ,i loved few others4 ,his fine information1 philosophic ,christian spirit and wonderful self-control first won my admiration1 and this ripened into the strongest friendship4 ,he1 more than all other men1 caused me to see the error of my way4 ,we spent the first winter of our married life in his pious home1 and this gave us much time for investigation and conversation upon the subject of religion4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,goes to ,housekeeping4 ,discussions with ,mr4 ,maddox4 ,attends ,meeting4 ,is ,baptized by ,william ,tharp4 ,double ,damages for an ,old ,horse4 ,begins ,trading4 ,moves to ,floydsburg4 ,description of the ,place4 ,in the spring of #aheg we moved to a place on ,currie's ,fork1 near ,centerfield1 about a mile and a half from my former home and a little farther from hers4 ,so it will be seen ,i married only a few miles from home4 ,it may seem a little strange that we grew up in the same neighborhood1 and knew nothing of each other till a year before we were married4 ,but ,i rarely went to her church1 and she as rarely went anywhere else4 ,our religious proclivities led us in different directions1 and into different society4 ,i had been taught to look upon ,campbellism as the most miserable of all heresies2 and till ,i began to visit at the ,maddox house ,i was seldom in the company of that deluded people4 ,after moving to ourselves1 we went nearly every ,lord's day to the home of my wife's father1 and this for several reasons3 she wanted to attend her church1 and this took her virtually home3 this she enjoyed1 and so did ,i4 ,the old folks could not visit us on that day without missing church1 and this they would not do4 ,mr4 ,maddox and ,i still engaged in the investigation of ,methodism1 ,campbellism and ,infidelity4 ,i could feel the ground gradually giving way under me1 but ,i was resolved upon thoroughly testing every inch1 and not yielding till ,i should become satisfied as to the truth of all his positions4 ,i would therefore study all week and arrange my arguments with the utmost care1 and when the time seemed propitious ,i would present them as forcibly as ,i could4 ,he would never say a word till ,i was through2 then he would say1 ,well6 now let us test that4 ,then he would very calmly and pleasantly pick the thing all to pieces1 till ,i could see nothing but shreds4 ,with a mere touch1 my carefully built structure would tumble like a cob house4 ,thus the work went on for years4 ,in the meantime ,i attended meeting with my wife nearly every ,lord's day1 and heard much good preaching4 ,every important point in the sermon would be afterward investigated1 and1 like the noble ,bereans1 ,i searched the ,scriptures daily1 to see whether those things were so4 ,during these years several successful meetings were held at the church1 all of which ,i closely attended4 ,one of these was conducted by ,john ,a4 ,brooks1 and another by the lamented ,simeon ,king4 ,at the latter ,i came very near yielding to ,christ1 but persuaded myself that all was not yet ready4 ,i delighted to see others obey the ,lord1 and enjoy the blessings of his religion1 but ,i could not exactly see the way clear for myself4 ,in spite of a more enlightened judgment1 ,i would find some of my old erroneous notions clinging to me4 ,i had a high regard for the church1 and loved the company of its good members1 and only a supreme carefulness1 born of former blunders1 kept me in disobedience4 ,in ,may1 #ahfa1 ,william ,tharp and ,wallace ,cox were holding a meeting1 and at this ,i confessed ,christ1 and was immersed by ,bro4 ,tharp4 ,my doubts as to the truth of the ,christian religion and the way of salvation therein1 had all been removed2 and to this day not a shadow of a doubt has crossed my mind as to either4 ,i now experienced a peace of conscience that ,i had not known since my thought was first disturbed in regard to the right way of the ,lord4 ,i farmed for three years after marriage4 ,the last year1 we lived on the railroad just below ,buckner's ,station1 and while here ,i had a little experience with the railroad company that teaches a lesson worth learning4 ,i had an old horse1 of not much value1 but useful to me2 he got out upon the road1 and was killed by a passing train4 ,i spoke of going to ,louisville1 to see if ,i could not get pay for it4 ,the neighbors discouraged the idea1 saying it would be useless4 ,they cited a number of instances where stock had been killed1 and in no case had any one obtained damages4 ,but ,i went1 found the ,superintendent1 and to him ,i made my speech of about three minutes' length4 ,at its conclusion1 he asked me if seventy-five dollars would satisfy me2 and on my replying that it would1 he handed me the money4 ,he then remarked that the reason people got nothing in such cases1 was because of the spirit in which they came and the way they talked about it4 ,i left him feeling quite pleasant1 for it was more than double the animal was worth4 ,this was before ,i became an adept in ,christian ethics4 ,in the fall of #ahei ,i began trading1 having obtained an interest in a country store at a little place called ,centerfield4 ,we moved to the place1 and ,i began to haul country produce to ,louisville4 ,i had a team which was said to be the best that came into the city1 and ,i made weekly trips1 bringing back merchandise4 ,this ,i continued for three years1 without the least regard to weather1 and with scarcely a failure during the whole time4 ,this employment threw me into rough associations in the city every week4 ,many engaged in like business from ,kentucky and ,indiana stopped at the same tavern1 and most of them were given to dissipation4 ,at home it was predicted that with my inclination to wildness this would finish me2 and while truth compels me to confess that ,i often had a jolly good time with the boys1 the excess of wickedness ,i saw had an opposite effect1 and ,i came out at last a preacher4 ,the next year we moved to ,floydsburg1 sixteen miles from ,louisville1 because1 as ,i did not stay in the store1 but did the hauling back and forth1 it was a better location for us4 ,it is an old town1 in which my maternal grandfather lived before ,i was born1 in which ,i spent much time before ,i was old enough to work1 and around which cluster the earliest memories of life4 ,it was once a place of large business1 on the main road from ,henry and adjacent counties to ,louisville1 and in ante-railroad times a large amount of wagoning was done through the place4 ,at certain seasons great droves of cattle and hogs were driven through it1 and everything was lively2 besides1 it had a good trade with the country around4 ,but the ,louisville ,lexington ,railroad1 which runs within a mile of the town1 killed it as dead as an ,egyptian mummy1 because all this through business was taken by the railroad1 and the surrounding trade went to the stations or to the city4 ,it is1 therefore1 a quiet1 undisturbed little place to live in1 if one is not dependent upon making his expenses there4 ,most of the old citizens1 business men of its prosperous days1 have passed away1 and the town has the appearance of being at their funeral4 ,as far back as ,i recollect1 and ,i know not how much farther1 it had in it one church1 built of stone1 small1 and with a roof as sharp as the best presentations of ,methodism that were ever set forth in it4 ,about #ahej1 this ancient structure was replaced by one of brick1 of good size1 but poorly furnished4 ,this is the only church that has ever been in the place2 and while the people have been unusually quiet and moral1 they have never been burdened with religion4 ,there is a graveyard in the rear of the house1 opened1 perhaps1 when the first building was erected1 and in this silent spot sleep many of my friends and relatives4 ,i have never thought it made much difference where one is buried--and in this ,i suppose ,i agree with most ,protestants--but it is one proof of the improved taste of the age to see the care now taken of our cemeteries4 ,such places were unknown when ,i was a boy and where ,i lived1 and even yet1 outside of our cities and larger towns1 they are too rare4 ,every village should have a neat and well-kept cemetery1 to take the place of the neglected old burying-grounds where1 ,each in his narrow cell forever laid1 ,the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,tries to ,become a ,politician4 ,fails4 ,last ,act as a ,politician4 ,tries to ,join the ,southern ,army4 ,fails ,again4 ,his ,first ,appointment4 ,feeling of ,responsibility4 ,his ,plan4 ,text4 ,analysis of ,sermon4 ,buys a ,family ,bible4 ,rules of ,life4 ,when ,i obeyed the ,saviour1 the brethren urged me to begin at once to preach the gospel4 ,i had been accustomed to making political speeches1 and public addresses of different kinds1 and they thought ,i could just as easily preach a sermon as to make a speech on any other subject4 ,but ,i was not thus inclined4 ,i had political aspirations1 and was not disposed to give them up4 ,my idea was1 that ,i could have a good influence on public men1 in conversation and association1 by being a faithful and consistent ,christian4 ,i regarded this as a field in which the influence of ,christianity was much needed2 and ,i decided to make this a specialty1 while leading a public political life4 ,but it did not take long for me to learn that there was at least a strong probability that the influence would go the other way4 ,however successfully some men may be politicians and ,christians both1 ,i soon discovered that1 with my temperament1 the two things would not work harmoniously together4 ,i concluded that if ,i continued in politics ,i would be a very sorry kind of ,christian1 if one at all4 ,for a thing of this kind ,i had a deep repugnance4 ,the issue1 then1 as it appeared to me1 was finally forced upon me3 ,shall ,i give up politics or ,christianity8 ,of course ,i was not compelled to give up ,christianity in theory1 but ,i felt that ,i would virtually do so in practice2 and with me the difference between the two was hardly worth considering4 ,while ,i felt that it was a great sacrifice1 in a worldly point of view1 to give up the golden dreams of a brilliant future1 ,i decided in favor of ,christ and the ,bible4 ,i shall never cease to thank ,god for the decision4 ,my last act in political life was attending1 as a delegate1 a ,state ,convention at ,frankfort1 in ,august1 #ahfa4 ,this was1 in some respects1 a miserable affair1 and ,i became thoroughly disgusted with politics and politicians1 such as seemed to be pushing to the front1 and crowding modesty and decency and honesty out of sight4 ,i decided that that kind of association1 that kind of companionship in the profession1 that kind of trickery and treachery as food for daily thought1 however successful one might be1 was disgusting and debasing4 ,i went home from the convention determined upon a clear cut-loose from the whole concern4 ,during the convention1 ,gen4 ,wm4 ,preston remarked in a speech that in one year from that day1 the stars and bars would be waving from the dome of that capitol4 ,in twelve months to a day1 ,i went to ,frankfort to see the ,board of the ,christian ,education ,society1 about assisting me in college4 ,the railroad was not in use1 and ,i went by way of the ,shelbyville pike4 ,when ,i got in sight of the city1 ,i saw the stars and bars waving from the dome of the capitol6 ,gen4 ,kirby ,smith had possession4 ,when the brethren learned of my determination to give up politics1 they renewed their solicitations in regard to my preaching4 ,but ,i had become intensely concerned about the cause of the ,southern ,confederacy1 and longed to take a part in what ,i then considered her struggle for independence and justice4 ,in my misguided zeal1 ,i regarded this a duty that patriotism would not allow me to exchange for anything till it was performed4 ,then1 if spared1 my life-work should be begun4 ,a peculiar circumstance1 greatly lamented at the time1 kept me out of the ,southern army4 ,but ,i have long regarded it as a special providence of ,god4 ,i was an officer in a large cavalry company under the training of ,col4 ,j4 ,w4 ,griffith4 ,he had fought through the ,mexican war1 was an intelligent man1 and a good soldier4 ,he also fought through the late war1 and was several times promoted4 ,we had been drilling for some weeks1 and the time was set for our departure4 ,i had a good deal of unsettled business at ,louisville1 and went to the city to settle it up4 ,during my absence the ,federal authorities of ,louisville were apprised1 in some way1 of the movements and purposes of our men1 and two companies of cavalry were sent out to intercept them4 ,our men were notified of this1 and went twenty-four hours in advance of the set time4 ,of all this ,i knew nothing1 and when ,i got home the company was gone4 ,i knew not which way it had taken1 for our ,colonel kept his own counsel4 ,when night came ,i left home1 determined upon an earnest effort to find the trail of the company and follow them4 ,twice ,i came near being caught by the soldiers in pursuit1 and after a night's fruitless search1 ,i was compelled to return disappointed4 ,i had not another opportunity1 and ere long ,i gave up the vain idea4 ,but for that disappointment ,i should have gone into the ,southern army2 and what the result would have been will remain a secret till the day in which the results of all contingencies are known4 ,but it is highly improbable that ,i should have ever become a preacher of the gospel of the grace of ,god4 ,thank ,him for the providence that overruled me6 ,i finally yielded to the importunities of the brethren1 and allowed them to make an appointment4 ,this was in ,may1 #ahfb1 one year after making the confession4 ,the meeting was announced two weeks ahead4 ,it was a fine day1 and through curiosity a great crowd assembled4 ,i had never been in the pulpit before1 nor made any remarks in the church except to pray4 ,the brethren had a ,bible-class every ,lord's day when there was no preaching1 and no public speaking was indulged in except a few remarks at the ,lord's table1 by one of the elders4 ,though ,i was accustomed to speak in public1 ,i felt a responsibility in this matter that ,i never felt before4 ,i decided upon three things as insuring success1 or at least resulting in no harm3 #a4 ,to select a plain1 practical subject1 on which ,i would not be likely to indulge in false teaching4 #b4 ,to thoroughly study the subject1 rather than the sermon4 #c4 ,to make myself thoroughly familiar with the analysis of the subject1 and then talk about it1 without relying upon memory as to language4 ,relying on memory has been the cause of ten thousand failures1 and has taken all the snap out of ten thousand more1 that were considered a success4 ,the intellect never leaps and bounds with vivacity when it is chained by verbal memory4 ,i selected for my text ,matt4 xvi4 #bd3 ,then said ,jesus unto his disciples1 ,if any man will come after me1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross1 and follow me4 ,i went into the pulpit alone1 introduced1 as the saying is1 for myself1 and then spoke for forty minutes4 ,while ,i felt embarrassed by a sense of responsibility1 there was no confusion of thought in regard to the subject2 hence no difficulty in its presentation4 ,as it was my first sermon1 the analysis of it may be of some interest4 ,i called attention1 first1 to the universal offer of salvation3 ,if any man4 ,second1 to the freedom of the will3 ,if any man will4 ,third1 personal responsibility involved in the foregoing4 ,fourth1 self-denial as a condition of eternal life4 ,fifth1 the nature and necessity of cross-bearing4 ,sixth1 examples of self-denial and cross-bearing on the part of ,christ and the apostles4 ,the church in which ,i preached my first sermon was the same in which ,i made the confession1 and near which ,i was reared4 ,for it ,i did my first regular monthly preaching1 while in college1 and in it held a number of successful protracted meetings1 one annually1 during the early years of my ministry4 ,the old church is dear to me yet2 its old members are my devoted friends1 and ,i delight to visit them when ,providence permits4 ,immediately after obeying the ,saviour ,i bought a family ,bible and a pocket ,testament2 not that we had none before1 but they were not such as suited my convenience4 ,at home and abroad1 in the city or the country1 in the store or on the road1 ,i had my ,testament4 ,as ,i drove all day along the highway1 ,i would look at it occasionally to see how a certain passage read1 and then study its meaning4 ,i have never read the ,bible largely1 as some do1 but ,i have studied it every day since ,i knew the way of life1 unless ,i was too sick to have anything in mind4 ,i have studied1 doubtless1 a hundred times as much without the book in my hands as with it4 ,the idea that one can study the ,bible only as he has opportunity to sit down with the book in his hands1 is a great mistake4 ,hence many people complain of having no time to study the ,bible1 when the fact is they have nearly all their time1 if they only knew it4 ,i early learned to study the ,bible at any time or under any circumstances1 and the advantages of this to me have been beyond estimation4 ,as soon as ,i got my family ,bible1 ,i wrote on a flyleaf a few simple ,,rules ,,of ,,life4 #a4 ,to study this book carefully and prayerfully every day4 #b4 ,to try to understand its teaching1 regardless of the theories and traditions of men4 #c4 ,to make it the man of my counsel1 the source and limit of my knowledge of divine things1 and to speak on such matters only as it speaks4 #d4 ,to measure myself in everything by this standard1 and bring my life1 in all respects1 in subjection to its divine authority4 #e4 ,to strive to grow in grace1 and in the knowledge of the truth1 that ,i may become strong in the ,lord1 be a blessing to my fellow men1 and at last obtain a home in heaven4 ,these rules1 in some respects1 have been closely observed2 especially the first three4 ,while in the others ,i have fallen immeasurably short1 ,i feel that1 upon the whole1 the rules have been of great advantage to me4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,resolves to ,go to ,college4 ,friends ,oppose4 ,wife ,decides ,it4 ,hard ,living and ,hard ,work4 ,impaired ,health4 ,preaches for ,his ,home ,church4 ,father-in-law ,dies4 ,frank1 ,be a ,true ,man4 ,house ,robbed4 ,scraps4 ,college ,incidents4 ,first ,pay for ,preaching4 ,holds ,several ,meetings4 ,dishonest ,preacher4 ,when ,i fully decided to devote my life to the ministry of the ,word1 ,i felt an overwhelming desire for a better education1 in order to do the kind of work for the ,master that his cause demanded4 ,i had a good deal of general information that ,i had acquired through years of reading and study1 but ,i was wholly ignorant of a number of things that ,i felt to be necessary to reliable1 satisfactory work for the ,lord4 ,i wanted to devote my life to study1 and ,i needed assistance in laying the foundation on which to build in after years4 ,i decided1 therefore1 to quit business and go to college4 ,this was vigorously opposed by all my friends4 ,the church insisted that ,i had education enough1 and that all ,i lacked was practice1 to make me as good a preacher as there was need to be4 ,my relatives opposed it1 because they could not see the necessity1 and it promised to wife and children only starvation4 ,i had had some reverses1 and had got just fairly square with the world4 ,the flush war times had just come on4 ,trade was booming1 money abundant and prices going up4 ,i was now prepared to make money as ,i had never made it before1 by five to one4 ,to quit business just at that time1 cut off all source of revenue1 and go with a wife and three children to college1 with but little money to start on1 did1 indeed1 in one sense1 look like absolute recklessness4 ,indeed1 some of the brethren thought ,i was actually going crazy4 ,it was then argued that ,i should at least defer it a few years1 till ,i should make some money1 which was then easily done1 and thus provide for the wants of my family while going through college4 ,this looked very plausible2 but ,i was deeply impressed with the blunders ,i had already made in trying to be a politician1 then a soldier1 and not going at once to the work of the ,lord4 ,i was afraid to dally about the matter any longer4 ,i laid the case before the ,lord and my wife4 ,i knew she was to be the greatest sufferer by the change1 and her counsel weighed more with me than that of all others4 ,considering what might result from delay1 the brave little woman said ,go4 ,that settled it4 ,in ,august1 #ahfb1 ,i wound up my business1 and prepared to enter ,eminence ,college4 ,i rented an old1 dilapidated house near the railroad1 a mile above town4 ,the place had about three acres for cultivation1 and the same amount in grass4 ,i kept a horse and buggy1 a cow and several hogs4 ,my wife raised a large number of fowls4 ,i cultivated the ground1 making it produce all it would1 cut and hauled my fuel from the woods1 and so managed as to be at no great expense in living4 ,but when going to a city market every week1 and feeling no embarrassment about money1 we indulged in a style of living that now had to be discontinued4 ,this went rather hard1 but we tried to bear it bravely4 ,the plainest and hardest living of our lives1 by far1 were those years at ,eminence4 ,the self-denial of my wife1 for my sake and the gospel's1 greatly encouraged me to bear the cross4 ,i did double work during the whole time1 reciting eight times a day4 ,this required intense application4 ,i allowed myself eight hours for sleep1 and the other sixteen were given to study4 ,whether eating1 walking1 working in the garden or chopping wood1 ,i was boring into the questions of the recitation room4 ,i would occasionally take a little turn with the boys on the playground at noon1 but not often4 ,i was fond of it1 but felt that ,i could not spare the time4 ,this was a sad mistake1 confirmed by a life of broken-down health4 ,but1 like many others1 it was not discovered till the mischief was done4 ,a determined effort to crowd four years' work into two1 under discouraging circumstances1 resulted in impaired health2 which continued labor beyond my strength kept impaired for the rest of my life4 ,it is often stated that preachers suffer more from overeating than overwork4 ,this is doubtless true to a large extent4 ,but it was far from true in my case4 ,i was never a large eater after ,i was grown4 ,and when my health first failed me1 want of a variety of good1 nourishing food had no little to do with it4 ,and all through subsequent life1 a trouble has been to take sufficient food to meet the wants of the system4 ,i was the first married man that ever attended ,eminence ,college4 ,it was considered quite a novelty by some4 ,but a few months later1 in the same term1 ,bro4 ,briney came in4 ,he and his wife boarded at the college4 ,a few years later ,bro4 ,george ,bersot and wife came1 and married school-boys got to be quite common4 ,while attending school1 ,i preached once a month for the old church at home--,pleasant ,hill4 ,the distance was twenty miles1 with a good dirt road--when it wasn't bad4 ,this afforded my wife an opportunity1 during favorable weather1 to go to see her parents once a month4 ,and her father was now getting low with consumption4 ,the church promised me no specified amount for my preaching1 and1 as is frequently the case1 most of them considered the contract complied with when they gave me a hearing4 ,they were not in sympathy with my college enterprise1 and were not specially concerned about supporting it4 ,in ,may1 #ahfc1 my father-in-law died4 ,in his death ,i lost one of my best and dearest earthly friends4 ,he was the only one who encouraged me in my efforts for an education4 ,while he could give me no material aid1 being himself embarrassed by years of affliction1 his wise counsel and deep sympathy helped me even more than money1 badly as that was needed4 ,when he was gone1 ,i felt as if the only bright spot in my horizon1 apart from my family1 had faded into darkness4 ,by nature he had a quick temper1 and was very impulsive4 ,by ,christian culture he came to be a model in gentleness1 patience and self-control4 ,he was a wonderful example of how men1 by faith1 out of weakness are made strong4 ,as we stood around his bed of death1 and his breathing indicated that the end was at hand1 he opened his eyes as ,i was bending over him1 looked me earnestly in the face1 and composedly said1 ,frank1 be a true man4 ,and with these words his spirit took its flight4 ,no other words that ever fell from mortal lips ever so impressed me as these4 ,the source whence they came1 and the circumstances under which they were uttered1 gave them peculiar significance4 ,my soul1 what is it for one to be a true man--true to his friends and true to his foes2 true to his family and to her whose life is dearer to him than his own2 true to himself and his better nature in all that involves his honor as a man2 true to the truth1 under all circumstances2 and true to the ,saviour and ,his cause1 to which he has dedicated his life8 ,ever in after years when tempted in regard to a faithful discharge of its responsibilities1 those sacred words came from the sleeping dust of death--,frank1 be a true man4 ,though dead1 he yet speaks1 and his words have been fruitful of good4 ,while attending his death and funeral1 our house was broken into1 and almost everything we had was stolen4 ,we had laid in meat and lard for the year1 and not a pound was left4 ,all the flour1 meal1 sugar1 coffee1 preserves1 jams1 jellies1 and everything else1 was taken4 ,not a pound of anything to eat was left on the place4 ,all the best cupboard ware1 and part of the bedding and my wife's clothing were taken4 ,this was a sorry plight to find ourselves in when we returned from the funeral4 ,the country was full of soldiers1 and nothing was done towards recovering the property4 ,thus we started on a darker and rougher road for the rest of college life4 ,during the first year at ,eminence there grew up a strong rivalry between the two leading college societies--the ,philomathean and the ,rising ,star4 ,both were strong in numbers1 and each had in it an unusual amount of talent4 ,i was appointed by the ,philomathean ,society to criticise the ,rising ,stars4 ,this was my special business4 ,i prepared what ,i called a scrap-basket4 ,for this ,i would prepare notes from time to time1 as something would suggest them1 and on the nights of public exhibition1 which were quite frequent1 ,i would read them4 ,these were cuts at the young ladies and criticisms of their performances1 as sharp as ,i could make them4 ,the result was1 the whole ,society soon got too much out of humor to speak to me4 ,they called me ,scraps4 ,even ,sister ,giltner became offended1 and was so for several months1 till ,i was brought down in sickness1 and then her good heart conquered1 and she came to see me1 bringing a load of delicacies to tempt and satisfy my appetite4 ,the scrap at which she became offended was about this3 ,coming on the stage1 the first scrap ,i took from the basket read3 ,we do not expect many compliments for this dish of scraps1 especially from the young ladies of the boarding-house1 as they are so used to being fed on scraps1 it will be no variety to them4 ,sister ,g4 prided herself on her good table4 ,i knew it was good1 and hence felt free to make the jocular remark4 ,had it been otherwise1 ,i should have felt some hesitation in doing so4 ,president ,giltner and ,i were in frequent conflict1 and he came in for a full share of notice from the scrap-basket4 ,while ,i would not assent to his views of things1 which frequently caused disputation1 on the whole he was kind and generous1 and did much to help me through those hard school years4 ,i have since met many of those young ladies in all parts of the country1 mothers of interesting families1 but not one of them had ever forgotten that scrap-basket4 ,doctor ,russell was my teacher in ,latin and the ,sciences1 and ,prof4 ,henry ,giltner in ,mathematics and ,greek4 ,the ,doctor was a fine moralist1 but an unbeliever4 ,he was a fine teacher1 and very popular with the boys4 ,in the public debates in our society1 ,bro4 ,j4 ,b4 ,briney and ,i were always pitted against each other4 ,we were the oldest and the nearest equal in our advancement1 especially in this line4 ,we had quite a number of public discussions4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 many went through on the shoulders of others4 ,as an illustration of this1 take two young men who were appointed on public debate4 ,soon each came to me insisting that ,i should write his speech4 ,i refused both4 ,the time was drawing nigh1 and neither had done anything4 ,one evening one of them went home with me from school1 and compelled me1 virtually1 to write his speech4 ,he was delighted with it4 ,the next morning1 while he was asleep1 ,i got up and wrote a reply1 just tearing it all to flinders4 ,the negative gained the decision1 and neither one knows to this day that ,i wrote the speech of the other4 ,during the winter of #ahfb-c ,i went to ,hendronsville1 the old church that now composes the one at ,smithfield1 to fill an appointment for ,bro4 ,giltner4 ,i went to dinner with old ,bro4 ,hieatt4 ,on leaving1 he gave me a dollar--the first dollar ,i ever received for preaching4 ,in the summer of #ahfc ,i held a meeting at ,hendronsville1 with ,bro4 ,giltner1 for which ,i was liberally paid1 all things considered1 and this was my first pay for a protracted meeting4 ,the same vacation1 ,i went to ,south ,fork1 in ,boone county1 to fill an appointment for ,bro4 ,wm4 ,tandy4 ,bro4 ,jacob ,hugley was to come on the first of the week1 and join me in a protracted meeting4 ,something prevented him from coming4 ,i soon ran out of sermons1 the supply on hand being small4 ,in the meantime a fine interest had sprung up1 and ,i had no excuse for quitting4 ,so ,i had either to face the music1 prepare and preach two sermons a day1 or ingloriously surrender4 ,the meeting continued two weeks1 with some eighteen or twenty additions4 ,during the same trip ,i held a meeting at a church near ,walton1 at which several additions were made to the congregation4 ,i did but little preaching during the school term4 ,convenient churches could not be obtained1 and inconvenient ones took too much of my time to be given for nothing4 ,at ,eminence ,i first met ,bro4 ,i4 ,b4 ,grubbs4 ,he came to preach for a few days1 and spent a day at our humble home4 ,i then formed for him a peculiar attachment1 which has grown and strengthened with the passing years4 ,our minds ran close together in the channels of divine truth1 and they have never materially diverged4 ,a disagreement between us in the interpretation of ,scripture has been very rare4 ,old ,bro4 ,t4 ,m4 ,allen preached for the church at ,eminence while ,i was there4 ,his sermons were enjoyable1 and possessed considerable power1 but they lacked logical construction1 and ,i learned but little from them4 ,in a few weeks after going to ,eminence1 in the fall of #ahfb1 we were blessed with the birth of a third daughter1 and in the summer of #ahfd the ,lord took her to himself1 and left us to mourn her absence4 ,in ,june1 #ahfd1 ,i went with ,willis and ,wallace ,cox to ,daviess county1 to hold some meetings4 ,wallace was not able to preach1 but went along for the enjoyment of the trip4 ,he had labored there before1 and was well acquainted4 ,we held a meeting at ,owensboro1 and one at a new church some eight miles in the country4 ,both meetings were moderately successful4 ,as an evidence of what some men can do1 ,i shall speak of a meeting held about this time1 without giving place or name4 ,the meeting had been successful1 and a fine interest prevailed4 ,the night it was to close there came a severe storm1 and no one was out4 ,we had to leave the next morning1 and on the next ,lord's day the brethren raised considerable money and gave it to the preacher to send to us4 ,some years after1 the brother who was with me in the meeting went back there to preach for the church1 and while there some one asked him whether he and ,i received our money all right4 ,this was the first intimation that any money had been sent to us4 ,the case was investigated by the church1 and the man confessed he had never sent it4 ,the brother got his1 and the thief preacher promised to send mine1 but hasn't done it yet4 ,he is still preaching1 and on several occasions has come a long way to hear me preach4 ,what kind of a face and heart such a man can have1 is a mystery ,i have never been able to solve6 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,leaves ,college4 ,goes to ,alexandria1 ,ky4 ,an ,adventure in ,ohio4 ,a ,baby not ,baptized4 ,peril in ,crossing the ,river4 ,opens ,his ,school4 ,makes ,some ,money4 ,buys a ,nice ,home4 ,having obtained a sufficient knowledge of ,latin1 ,greek1 and various sciences1 to enable me to prosecute my education without a teacher1 and my health being bad through close application and hard living1 and feeling that ,i ought not to subject my family to such hardships any longer1 ,i determined1 very reluctantly1 to leave college1 at least for a time4 ,i had now been at ,eminence two years1 and ,i shall ever thank ,god that even for this short time ,i was able to gratify my burning desire to acquire knowledge4 ,it was at a great sacrifice we went there and remained as long as we did1 but we have never once regretted it4 ,through the influence of ,president ,giltner1 we secured the ,high ,school at ,alexandria1 ,campbell county1 ,ky4 ,this had been conducted for some years previously by ,bros4 ,o4 ,a4 and ,chester ,bartholomew1 under the name of the ,mammoth ,institute4 ,i visited the place1 and arranged to conduct the school and preach for the church there1 which was small and financially weak2 but there was no other in reach4 ,so ,i could not do better than to give them all my time1 at whatever could be raised in the way of salary4 ,they had a nice little brick house1 and a number of good members1 and for several years the church prospered2 but the county filled up with ,germans1 some of the best members moved away1 and the cause went down4 ,the house was sold1 and to-day we have no church in the place4 ,after completing arrangements to preach and teach1 ,i went over to ,hamersville1 ,brown county1 ,o41 to see some relatives4 ,a brother and sister of my father lived there1 besides other relatives4 ,my uncle had a large family4 ,i had never visited any of them1 and now being near and having a little time1 ,i borrowed a horse and rode over4 ,i sent an appointment for ,lord's day at ,hamersville1 and got there about the middle of the week4 ,i found that an appointment had not been made for ,sunday morning1 but for night4 ,the reason was1 the ,methodists were to have a quarterly meeting in the woods near town--a big affair--and everybody was going4 ,hence ,i could get no hearing in the morning4 ,i went to the meeting1 as it was the only place to which to go4 ,it was thought that three thousand people were on the ground4 ,there were seven preachers4 ,it was during the darkest period of the war1 and every man from the south side of the ,ohio ,river was looked upon with suspicion4 ,i had been there several days1 and quite a number knew who ,i was and where ,i was from4 ,i took a seat near the stand1 and when they prayed1 in conformity with their custom1 ,i kneeled in the leaves4 ,the old preacher who led in prayer yelled as if his congregation was a mile away and ,god was on a journey4 ,he began by praying for the ,president2 then his ,cabinet2 then the ,senate2 then the ,representatives2 then the generals2 then the colonels2 then the captains2 then the private soldiers4 ,all this ,i tolerated1 but did not say ,amen4 ,finally he prayed for the utter extermination of the ,southern people4 ,he besought ,god to wipe them out of existence--men1 women and children--from the ,ohio ,river to the ,gulf of ,mexico4 ,this blasphemy and contemptible wickedness ,i could not endure1 and ,i arose from my knees4 ,perhaps five hundred people saw me when ,i got up4 ,the point in the prayer at which ,i got up aroused suspicion1 and inquiry was in a moment rife4 ,they learned who ,i was and where ,i was from1 and the excitement grew intense4 ,numerous threats were made to hang me on a limb there and then4 ,the country was full of what they called copperheads1 who had kept very quiet1 because it was to their interest to do so1 but now they were aroused1 and any attempt at violence would have led to the most serious trouble4 ,during the intermission at noon1 men of different politics congregated in different groups1 in earnest conversation1 and the meeting was forgotten in the excitement over a refusal to indorse that prayer4 ,i was waited on by a committee to know if it was my political feelings that caused me to get up when ,i did4 ,without hesitation1 ,i confessed that it was4 ,then they said1 ,what more need have we of evidence8 ,it was finally decided1 so we were informed1 that ,i would not be allowed to preach at night--that they would egg me1 etc4 ,but at night1 not only the house1 but the yard1 was full of copperheads who meant business1 and ,i preached without molestation4 ,they had been holding these meetings at various places throughout the country1 and at all of them sprinkled all the children that their parents could be induced to bring4 ,one lady had a bright little boy about eighteen months old1 and when the ,presiding ,elder took him to baptize him1 he said1 ,sister1 name this child4 ,she responded1 ,his name is ,vallandigham4 ,he flew into a perfect rage1 handed the child to her as if it were burning his fingers1 saying1 ,if you want this child baptized you will have to change its name4 ,i will baptize no child named for a traitor4 ,the mother took the child and departed4 ,we presume that had its name been ,jeff4 ,davis1 he would have broken its neck on the spot4 ,such was the religion of that class at that time4 ,the speeches on the day alluded to were nothing but political harangues of the most exciting nature4 ,previously ,i had thought they had politics and religion mixed1 but ,i now discovered that there was no mixture about it4 ,on my return1 ,i had a little adventure in crossing the river4 ,the ferry was at ,new ,richmond4 ,the boat was a small affair1 propelled by poles and oars4 ,it was just wide enough for a wagon1 and had railings on the sides4 ,a two-horse wagon went in before me4 ,when we got some distance out into the river1 one of the horses jumped over the railing1 and caused the boat to careen so that it was filling rapidly4 ,it was astonishing how those river men1 who1 perhaps1 had been reared on the water1 became excited4 ,they seemed almost incapable of any intelligent action1 but yelled like so many savages4 ,i decided at once upon my course4 ,i got into the wagon1 calculating that the water would probably not come to my head while standing up1 should the boat go down4 ,if it should1 then ,i determined to take my horse by the tail and let him tow me ashore4 ,but the owner of the team succeeded in cutting the harness1 thus freeing the horse and allowing the boat to right itself so that it did not sink4 ,we moved from ,eminence to ,alexandria1 and boarded with a gentleman by the name of ,brown4 ,he had a nice family1 a good house1 and he was a clever gentleman1 and a hardshell ,baptist of the first water4 ,our school opened about the first of ,september1 with seventy-eight pupils1 and it soon increased to #acj4 ,not expecting so many1 ,i had secured no assistant but my wife2 and the result was1 we were both over-worked4 ,i had to hear several classes out of school hours1 especially in ,latin and ,greek4 ,there were some young men in these studies1 clerks1 merchants1 etc41 who were not otherwise in the school1 and these recitations were in the evening after school was dismissed4 ,this1 with preaching every ,lord's day1 worked me very hard4 ,the school paid well1 and for the first time since ,i gave up business for the gospel of ,christ1 ,i made some money4 ,in a few months1 as soon as ,i saw an open road to success1 ,i bought a nice little cottage and two acres of ground1 from ,bro4 ,giltner1 at #a1bjj4 ,he had taken it for a school debt1 and let us have it on reasonable terms4 ,it was nicely improved1 and altogether a desirable piece of property4 ,thus for the first time we had a home of our own4 ,this is a luxury that comparatively few preachers can enjoy4 ,moving from place to place as1 for example1 ,methodist preachers have to do1 is unfavorable to domestic happiness4 ,how few members of our churches ever think of this1 or make allowance for the discomfort frequent changes of residence impose upon the families of their preachers6 ,to own a home and have the taste and the means to adorn it1 is an educational force in any family2 its lack1 a great misfortune4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,narrow ,escapes4 ,is ,thrown from a ,horse4 ,has ,pneumonia4 ,nearly ,killed4 ,self-possession4 ,almost ,drowned4 ,eludes ,angry ,soldiers4 ,reflections4 ,during the ,christmas holidays we went down to ,oldham county to see our relatives4 ,while there1 an event occurred1 the recollection of which brings up a chapter of ,,narrow ,,escapes hitherto untold1 a few of which ,i shall relate in their order4 ,when about thirteen years of age1 a horse on which ,i was riding in a slow walk and on a level road1 fell1 throwing me over its head and coming over on top of me4 ,it broke both bones of my left ankle and several ribs1 mashing in my left breast1 which has ever since been much depressed2 it never developed like the other1 and the lung on that side is the one now chiefly affected4 ,this accident occurred at ,ballardsville1 on a public day1 some three miles from home4 ,i was taken to the home of ,dr4 ,swaine1 our family physician1 near which it happened4 ,he was absent1 and a doctor from ,shelby county was called4 ,he had a carpenter to make a box1 reaching from my foot to my knee1 and in this he put my leg4 ,the box was straight on the bottom1 and as the break was just in the hollow between the calf and the heel1 anybody that had any sense should have known that the broken part would settle down level with the rest1 and a bad job be the result4 ,it was badly set1 and gave me much trouble for several years4 ,following this1 in successive winters1 ,i had two severe spells of pneumonia in that left lung1 in both of which my life was despaired of4 ,one day ,i was hauling heavy barn sills4 ,they were swung under the hind axle1 and the pole was tied by a chain back around the sill4 ,the chain caught on a solid rock in the road1 and1 as ,i had four strong horses1 and they all came to a dead pull1 the chain broke2 then the pole came over with force enough to have mashed every bone in a man's body4 ,the horses happened to be on a straight pull1 and the pole just brushed by my right shoulder and side4 ,had it struck me1 ,i might as well have been struck by a cannon-ball4 ,that ended my dragging logs without a block under the front end of the pole4 ,while trading in ,louisville1 a grocery firm with which ,i dealt to some extent had a clerk who was very dissipated at times4 ,he was a desperate character1 and1 when drinking1 was very dangerous4 ,one day ,i sold them a lot of bacon1 and this clerk1 who almost had delirium tremens at the time1 made a mistake in weighing it4 ,when ,i told him of it1 he took it as an accusation of intentional swindling4 ,instantly he came at me with a large cheese knife1 swearing vengeance and his eyes flashing fire4 ,there was nothing in reach with which to defend myself1 and ,i could not well get out of his way4 ,i decided instantly on the only possible way of escape4 ,i stood perfectly still1 did not move a hand1 and looked him steadily in the eye4 ,when he got to me1 he hesitated a moment1 and the uplifted hand with the huge knife dropped to his side4 ,not a word was spoken1 nor did my eye fall from his1 and he turned and went back to his work4 ,during the summer after ,i confessed the ,saviour1 quite a number of hands were harvesting at my father-in-law's4 ,on ,saturday evening we went to a large pond near by to bathe4 ,it was made to supply a saw-mill by throwing a large dam across a hollow4 ,it covered1 perhaps1 an acre of ground1 and was twelve or fifteen feet deep in places4 ,i never could swim successfully1 but a number of those present were good swimmers1 and there were many slabs on the pond that would float several men4 ,i told them ,i believed ,i could swim across the pond1 and if ,i could not there were too many good swimmers present to let me drown4 ,i swam across once1 and1 after resting a moment1 started back4 ,when ,i got about the middle1 ,i missed my stroke and went down4 ,i thought nothing of it at first1 fully expecting that when ,i came to the top they would save me4 ,i came to the top1 could hear them yelling like ,indians1 but no one came to my rescue4 ,i took breath and went down again4 ,when ,i came up the second time the result was the same4 ,when ,i came up the third time1 and no one there to help me1 ,i began to get a little uneasy and considerably out of humor4 ,i was becoming exhausted1 and ,i knew that ,i could not come to the top more than once or twice more4 ,i tried to go to the bottom1 knowing that if ,i could touch bottom ,i could spring to the surface without exertion4 ,but ,i could not reach the bottom4 ,i came up the fourth time2 still no one gave me assistance4 ,by summoning the entire stock of remaining strength1 ,i came up the fifth time4 ,as ,i did so1 a strong young man1 ,sparks by name1 a good swimmer1 caught me by the left arm near the shoulder4 ,he told me to take hold of him1 but this ,i refused to do4 ,i thought this might endanger him1 and that if ,i would be perfectly passive he could manage me with no danger to himself4 ,but when ,i would not take hold of him1 he let me go and swam off and left me4 ,another man was within ten feet at the time1 coming to his assistance4 ,when ,i went down this time1 ,i was satisfied they were going to let me drown4 ,i felt that ,i could not come to the top again1 and could not reach the bottom4 ,i thought if ,i could reach the bottom ,i could crawl out by springing to the top now and then for breath4 ,but ,i could not touch bottom4 ,i then began to calculate the chances of their getting my body out in time to resuscitate it4 ,i knew it would not take long to cut the dam and drain the pond2 but1 when ,i reflected that they had not the presence of mind to do anything1 ,i lost all hope in that direction4 ,i saw no chance for me1 and regarded the end as come4 ,the reflection that ,i had obeyed the gospel was intensely joyous4 ,during the whole time ,i had not strangled1 knowing that it would be fatal4 ,a young man named ,gipson--,sam ,gipson--one of the owners of the mill1 was some eighty yards away1 filing the saw4 ,when ,sparks swam away and left me1 ,gipson saw they were going to let me drown1 and ran to my assistance4 ,he got on one of the large slabs1 and came in to where ,i had gone down4 ,i was still making some commotion in the water1 and1 guessing about where ,i was1 he pushed a plank down that came just under my left arm4 ,i knew what it was1 and pressed it to my side4 ,he then bore on the other end and brought me to the surface4 ,he held on thus till others came and helped me upon the slab4 ,as soon as ,i got breath a few times ,i appeared to be all right1 and they thought ,i was only playing a trick on them2 but in a few moments ,i tumbled over1 became black in the face1 and suffered intensely for several hours4 ,on one occasion during the war ,i went into ,floydsburg1 on the morning after ,christmas day4 ,there was a little squad of ,confederates there1 belonging to the command of ,col4 ,jessee1 of ,new ,castle1 ,ky4 ,one of them was a boy1 named ,hall1 who went from that neighborhood4 ,the rest were strangers4 ,i was introduced to the lieutenant in command1 and had some talk with him4 ,the main street of the town runs east and west4 ,about the middle1 the ,brownsboro road comes in from the north1 at a right angle4 ,this comes down a branch which crosses the main street4 ,at the east end of town the road descends into another hollow4 ,some of the soldiers were inside1 some sitting outside1 of a blacksmith shop1 and some on their horses4 ,i had walked near the east end1 till ,i was just on the ridge between the two hollows4 ,i was standing at the door of ,col4 ,wilson1 talking to his wife1 when several companies of negroes1 stationed at ,la ,grange under the command of white men1 came marching into town4 ,they were a terror to the whole country4 ,a little negro boy1 chopping wood just at the east edge of town1 informed the commander1 who was riding in front1 that the rebels were at the shop4 ,instantly everything was quieted1 and a stealthy march for the shop began4 ,from my position ,i could see both parties1 and that the rebels were wholly unsuspecting4 ,while they were nothing to me1 and ,i had but little sympathy with them1 for they were not in the regular service1 ,i could not stand and see them surprised and shot4 ,i determined to warn them4 ,mrs4 ,wilson tried to dissuade me1 assuring me that it would be certain death4 ,i confess ,i could see it in no other light myself1 yet ,i could not decline4 ,i walked down the street with an unconcerned air1 about forty yards in advance of the company4 ,the lieutenant was sitting on his horse sidewise1 with his face turned from me1 talking to a ,presbyterian preacher4 ,i could see the eyes of the preacher over the shoulders of the horse1 but he was looking up into the face of the other man1 and ,i could catch the eye of neither4 ,finally1 ,i had to stop and make lively demonstrations in the face of the whole negro command4 ,when the attention of the ,confederates was attracted1 they endeavored to escape by the ,brownsboro road1 and a charge from the other company was instantly ordered4 ,each company opened fire on the other4 ,i was on the side of the street next to the ,brownsboro road1 and hence thrown into all of the crossfire4 ,i stood perfectly still till the entire colored company passed by me4 ,one man fell within a few feet of me1 and afterwards died4 ,they had a running fight till they got out of hearing4 ,they caught young ,hall1 the only one ,i knew1 and killed him4 ,notwithstanding the agreeable disappointment at not finding myself killed1 ,i concluded that it might not be healthy to stay around there4 ,the town contained one of the most unprincipled white men that ever went unhung4 ,he was a sneak thief1 and made it his business to get ,southern men into trouble4 ,i saw him watching me all the time4 ,i concluded1 therefore1 that it would be better for me to leave town before the soldiers got back4 ,i had not gone more than a mile when they returned1 and threatened to burn the town if ,i was not produced4 ,they were watching me from the first1 and the only thing that saved me was they concluded that they could attend to me after they got through with the rebels4 ,they were told that ,i had left town1 and were put on the wrong road in search of me4 ,i was then notified1 and my holiday visit terminated suddenly4 ,when ,i think now of the many narrow escapes from death before ,i was a child of ,god1 a number of which are not recorded1 my heart overflows with gratitude for the kind ,providence that spared me till ,i knew the way of life and had the precious promises of ,god4 ,an ungodly man may be brave1 and face death without a tremor1 but only a child of ,god can face certain death as it comes on apace in the stillness of the sick chamber1 and when the body is wasted with disease1 in perfect composure and even inexpressible joy4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,he ,abandons the ,school-room4 ,remarkable ,meeting near ,alexandria4 ,incidents4 ,establishes a ,church4 ,mischief-making ,preachers4 ,long and ,severe ,attack of ,typhoid ,fever4 ,does not ,lose ,hope4 ,gratitude4 ,after teaching a year1 ,i decided to abandon the school-room and give myself wholly to the preaching of the ,word4 ,in the summer of #ahfe ,i did some mission work in ,boone county1 under the direction of the ,state ,board4 ,in ,august1 ,i held a meeting in ,campbell county1 about five miles from ,alexandria4 ,the circumstances were a little peculiar4 ,the ,baptist meeting-house in ,alexandria had been blown down1 and they were using our house1 at our invitation1 every ,lord's day afternoon1 till they could rebuild4 ,they had a house about five miles in the country1 and a large congregation4 ,nearly the whole community were ,baptists1 and they claimed a kind of premption4 ,we had not a member in the neighborhood4 ,i was exceedingly anxious to hold a meeting in the very center of this stronghold1 and thought that as they were using our house1 they would grant me the use of theirs2 but they would not4 ,they offered to let me have it for one sermon1 but not for a protracted meeting4 ,this did not suit my purpose2 and as there was an old log school-house near by1 ,i made an appointment for a meeting in this1 which was to begin on ,sunday afternoon2 and a few friends went with me from town4 ,when we arrived at the place1 not a soul was on the ground2 so having waited after the time1 and no one coming1 ,i decided at once that the ,baptists had reported the appointment withdrawn1 so that when ,i came and found no one1 ,i would be disgusted1 and return home4 ,but ,i was not disposed to be defeated in that way4 ,there was no brother in reach with whom ,i could stay1 but ,i told the friends to go back to town and leave me1 and that ,i would hold the meeting1 if ,i had to sleep in the woods1 live on pawpaws1 and drink out of the 'branch4' ,so they left me4 ,there was a man living about a mile away whom the ,baptists had excluded about a year before1 and who had no good feeling for them4 ,concluding that that would be the best chance for shelter1 ,i went to the house1 and learned from him that the appointment had indeed been countermanded1 just as ,i suspected4 ,he promised me food and shelter while ,i held the meeting4 ,a number of neighbor boys were there with his1 and these were told to circulate the appointment for next night4 ,the following day he and ,i went and cleaned the house1 putting in some anxious seats1 fixing it to hold as many as possible4 ,he sent his boys out through the neighborhood notifying the people1 and that night we had about thirty present4 ,the next night the house was full2 and from this on we had large audiences1 day and night4 ,in a few days we built an arbor in front1 and seated it2 then1 standing in the door1 ,i preached to those within and without4 ,the meeting continued two weeks1 and resulted in fifty-two additions4 ,twenty-seven of these were from that ,baptist ,church1 and the rest by confession4 ,a few of the twenty-seven1 the man with whom ,i lodged among the number1 were not in the fellowship of the church at that time4 ,several incidents occurred during the meeting4 ,a very wicked man began to attend1 and one night he felt that he could stand the fire no longer2 but as ,i was in the door1 preventing his escape in that direction1 he leaped out of a window1 and ran off into the woods4 ,in about ten minutes he came crowding in from the outside1 to make the confession4 ,a ,baptist man became interested in the meeting1 but his wife was so bitter in her feelings that she would not attend4 ,he finally prevailed upon her to come4 ,going home1 he asked her how she liked it4 ,better than ,i expected1 was the reply4 ,no more was said1 but the next day she came without persuasion4 ,when asked the same question1 she said1 ,they don't preach what ,i thought they did4 ,he was anxious to unite with us on the ,bible1 but was waiting in the hope of getting her to come with him4 ,the next day she was in the house and he on the outside1 and he did not know till the meeting was over that she had come forward and been received into the fellowship4 ,at this meeting a gentleman came and asked me to marry him that night after the services should be over4 ,i told him ,i could not1 as ,i had not obtained license to marry4 ,he then asked if ,i would object to his getting a ,methodist preacher who lived several miles away4 ,that night there was a great crowd1 and ,i saw nothing of the preacher1 but while we were singing an invitation song a gentleman came pushing in1 and gave me his hand4 ,i thought1 of course1 he wanted to make the confession1 and ,i tried to seat him with the others who had come forward2 but he would not4 ,he soon became excited1 and1 tearing himself loose1 forced his way into the crowd4 ,just then some one whispered to me that that was the ,methodist preacher4 ,it was a long time before the services closed1 and he was still so embarrassed that it was with great difficulty he performed the required ceremony4 ,he hurried away without speaking to me1 and then sent his apology1 stating that he was so mortified over his blunder that he could not speak to me about it that night4 ,on account of the numbers1 the distance from town1 and the want of facilities for attendance there on the part of many of the converts1 they insisted upon having a church of their own at the school-house4 ,under the circumstances it was thought best to comply with their request4 ,no officers were appointed as such1 because of inexperience1 but several brethren were designated as those who should take a general oversight of the flock1 conduct their worship1 etc41 but none had authority2 and all were exhorted to be in subjection one to another4 ,they met every ,lord's day and broke the loaf1 and had prayer-meeting ,wednesday night4 ,a large number took part in the worship4 ,they had frequent confessions1 and a blacksmith across ,licking ,river1 who preached1 met them at the water1 when notified1 to attend to baptizing4 ,they thus grew in a few months from the fifty-two to seventy-five1 when two mischief-making preachers visited them and insisted that without ordained elders and deacons they were no church at all1 and finally prevailed upon them to have a number of men ordained4 ,i was sick1 and knew nothing that was going on4 ,these ignorant novices thought there was no use in having authority unless it were exercised4 ,so they began to crack their ecclesiastical whip1 and the peace of the church was disturbed4 ,things went from bad to worse till the whole congregation went to pieces4 ,thus a good work was destroyed by the folly of two ignorant1 self-important preachers4 ,much mischief has been done in our reformatory work by hasty organization4 ,like the ,new ,testament churches1 we should have no ordained officers till we have material out of which to make them4 ,about ,september #aj1 #ahfe1 ,i was stricken down with typhoid fever4 ,i had a good physician1 and he nursed me with the utmost care4 ,during that sickness he came to see me a hundred and thirty times4 ,for over seven weeks there was not a hopeful symptom4 ,he allowed no company in the room but my wife and the nurses4 ,he appointed good brethren to nurse me1 each night about4 ,no one else was allowed to touch me1 except my wife4 ,i did not see my two little children for over two months1 though they were all the time in the house4 ,after seven weeks he told me that for the first time he saw a slight indication of recovery4 ,after ,i became convalescent1 he said1 in talking over the case1 that he could attribute my recovery to but two things--my confidence all the time that ,i should get well1 and the faith ,i had in my physician4 ,he determined this latter by saying that ,i followed his direction minutely in everything4 ,theologically1 he could not have given a better definition of faith4 ,he was a ,baptist4 ,i never gave up for a moment1 and would not allow my mother to be sent for till ,i was far on the road to recovery4 ,i got out for the first time on ,christmas day1 but it was a year before ,i was able to resume regular preaching2 and even then1 and for a long time afterwards1 ,i felt the effects of this terrible disease4 ,had it not been for the close attention of the doctor1 and the good nursing of my dear wife and kind brethren1 ,i am sure that attack of sickness would have sent me to my grave4 ,truly1 ,god has been very merciful to me in giving me friends wherever ,i have lived1 and ,i have ever felt ,i could not be grateful enough or diligent enough in the service of my ,redeemer and ,his church to repay ,him or them for all this undeserved goodness4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,sells ,out at ,alexandria4 ,moves to ,crittenden4 ,preaches there and at ,williamstown4 ,low ,state of these ,churches4 ,plan of ,work4 ,memorizing in ,sunday-school4 ,lack of ,church ,discipline4 ,one-,man ,system4 ,moves to ,new ,liberty4 ,visits ,mount ,byrd4 ,in the spring of #ahff1 we sold out at ,alexandria1 and spent most of the summer in ,oldham county1 among our friends1 while ,i was recuperating my health4 ,the meeting-house at ,la ,grange had been blown down in a storm1 and at the solicitation of the church ,i visited a number of congregations and obtained help to rebuild it4 ,midway was one of the places visited4 ,bro4 ,franklin was there holding a meeting4 ,this was my first acquaintance with that grand hero of the ,cross of ,christ4 ,in ,september we moved to ,crittenden1 ,ky4 ,i preached for that church and at ,williamstown1 each half the time1 for the rest of that year1 and for #ahfg4 ,the churches were both at low ebb4 ,they had had no regular preaching for some time2 had not met on ,lord's day2 had no discipline2 and everything was in decay and disorder4 ,i decided upon a plan of work for each church4 ,the first point was to get them to meet on the ,lord's day and break the loaf1 having social worship1 when ,i could not be with them4 ,this done1 we carefully revised the church records1 excluding whom we could not induce to attend the house of the ,lord and to try to discharge their ,christian duties4 ,this was followed by protracted meetings at neighboring school-houses1 through which quite a number were added to both churches4 ,meetings were then held in each church4 ,by this time both churches were in a prosperous condition4 ,they both had good ,sunday-schools1 and a number of members were taking an active part in the work of the church4 ,we disposed of the old house in ,williamstown1 and got the new house roofed in #ahfg4 ,we also repaired the house at ,crittenden1 getting it in nice order1 and putting in a baptistery4 ,for the year #ahfh1 the church at ,crittenden wanted all my time1 and ,i gave up the church at ,williamstown1 devoting all my energies to the one church4 ,we arranged a book in which each member promised to pay so much a week4 ,envelopes were given them1 through which they were to pay their weekly installment on each ,lord's day4 ,the congregations were large and regular1 and double the amount of money was thus collected that had ever been raised before4 ,that was before the days of ,sunday-school helps1 and we made memorizing the ,scriptures a prominent feature in the work4 ,the first of ,january1 #ahfh1 ,i offered a reward to the one memorizing and repeating the most ,scripture that year4 ,quite a number started in to win the prize1 but it was soon evident that the contest was between three girls4 ,the amount of ,scripture memorized was immense4 ,all the scholars memorized largely4 ,soon it required a teacher's whole time to hear the verses of one of those girls4 ,then we had them recite during the week2 and1 finally1 ,i had them examined on the ,scripture committed1 repeating here and there as called on4 ,this was harder than repeating it all4 ,the first of ,june another little girl entered the lists4 ,on the day they were examined they could repeat with ease and accuracy any passage committed to memory during the year4 ,they were examined for several hours4 ,incredible as it may appear1 two of these girls committed the whole ,bible1 and another committed ,anderson's ,translation of the ,new ,testament in addition2 still another did not begin till ,june1 and committed the ,bible by the end of the year4 ,i never intended such a result1 nor can ,i approve that way of cramming the memory4 ,while the church at ,crittenden was in other respects in a flourishing condition 7indeed1 rather too much flourish71 it was difficult to get it to act promptly and strictly in the administration of discipline4 ,the officers and church generally had more lax ideas on that subject than ,i had4 ,but in this particular ,i suppose they were about on a par with most other congregations in ,kentucky1 both among our people and others4 ,indeed1 ,i must confess that at that time ,i was unusually strict in such matters4 ,i wanted everything pertaining to the church to come square up to the mark in all respects1 and ,i was unnecessarily worried over every shortcoming4 ,on account of not having discipline attended to as strictly as ,i desired1 ,i was disposed to resign at the close of #ahfh4 ,but the elders promised more hearty coperation in the matter1 and ,i accepted for another year conditionally4 ,i stated publicly that ,i would begin on three months' trial1 and if at the end of that time the church had not so coperated with me as to effect certain ends1 our engagement would close4 ,i did not succeed in getting the coperation desired1 and the first ,lord's day in ,april ,i announced to a crowded house that my relation to them as preacher had closed4 ,it fell upon them like a thunder-clap from a clear sky4 ,i stated the reasons1 which they understood1 but had not regarded4 ,thus ended my ministry with that church4 ,my preaching at ,crittenden1 and the subsequent history of the church1 impressed upon me a very important lesson1 upon which ,i acted in after life4 ,while everything was booming1 ,i could not teach them self-reliance4 ,they depended upon me4 ,i had to take the lead in everything4 ,consequently1 when ,i left1 it was just like taking the engine off a big lot of machinery4 ,everything came to a standstill4 ,i feared this1 and tried to guard against it4 ,the material1 however1 was of such a nature that it was next to impossible to get them to go forward in church work without being led4 ,but ,i was so impressed with the virtual loss of my work then1 that ,i made it a special point1 ever after1 to develop the church in self-reliance1 and make it largely independent of a preacher4 ,in #ahfi ,i decided that it was not best for the ,master's cause for me to longer give all my time to the ,crittenden church1 as ,i wanted them to learn to do without me4 ,so the first of ,january ,i engaged to preach for the church at ,new ,liberty1 ,owen county1 one-half my time4 ,resigning at ,crittenden in ,april1 in ,may ,i moved to ,new ,liberty4 ,here ,i found a good1 substantial set of brethren1 and did a substantial work4 ,we soon had a good ,sunday-school1 renovated the house1 cut off a lot of dead material1 and got the church in good working order4 ,in ,may1 #ahfi1 ,i held a successful meeting in ,owenton1 and established the cause in that place4 ,up to this time we had no organization there4 ,in #ahgj ,i held them the second meeting4 ,the cause continued to grow there4 ,in a few years they built a house of worship4 ,the church has generally been in a prosperous condition4 ,in ,august of this year1 ,i held another meeting for my old home church1 ,pleasant ,hill4 ,it resulted in a goodly number of additions4 ,it was always a peculiar pleasure to hold a meeting among these old associates1 and ,i held quite a number4 ,in ,august1 #ahfi1 ,bro4 ,i4 ,b4 ,grubbs and ,i met at ,mt4 ,byrd to hold a protracted meeting4 ,it was the first in their new house1 after its completion4 ,we had an enjoyable and successful meeting4 ,this was my introduction to ,mt4 ,byrd1 which has since afforded me a home1 has stood by me through good and evil fortune1 has never wavered in its devotion and fidelity1 and among whose good members my frail body will rest1 till it rises in the likeness of ,christ4 ,here ,i might as well express my views upon the lack of church discipline1 as they have been formed from an extensive observation in this and other ,states4 ,i must1 however1 do this briefly4 ,no one can read the epistles of the apostles1 and especially those of ,paul1 and not be profoundly impressed with the belief that the administration of discipline engaged a large share of their attention2 and we may infer the necessity of this from the very nature of the case4 ,the first churches were largely formed of ,gentile converts1 and these came from heathenism2 and they had to be recovered from its debasing practices2 and even the converts from among the ,jews had to be reformed from many evil ways4 ,any one who will read even casually ,paul's pastoral epistles will see these evils and sins exposed4 ,these were contrary to the purity and benevolence of the new religion1 and hence the necessity of self-denial and constant diligence on the part of both people and pastors4 ,the times have changed and we have changed with them1 but the forms of sin have changed rather than the thing itself1 and we have as much need to practice watchcare over ourselves and others as ever4 ,it was ,cain that asked1 ,am ,i my brother's keeper8 ,i am satisfied that the two crying needs in our ,kentucky churches1 and ,i suppose elsewhere1 are the faithful administration of discipline by our elders and activity in ,christian work by our members4 ,i think we are growing in the latter1 and fear we are falling off in the former4 ,the reasons for both these opinions are not1 in my opinion1 hard to find4 ,had ,i time and strength ,i should like to give them in full4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,history of the ,mt4 ,byrd ,church4 ,when ,established4 ,where4 ,charter ,members4 ,officers4 ,preachers4 ,number of ,members4 ,three ,things ,contributing to its ,prosperity4 ,new ,house of ,worship4 ,serious ,trouble in the ,church4 ,how ,settled4 ,method of ,raising ,money4 ,the ,church ,builds ,allen a ,house4 ,organizes a ,sunday-school4 ,how it is ,conducted4 ,since the history of ,mt4 ,byrd church from #ahfi till my death will be an inseparable part of my history1 the two being linked together1 the church is destined to be known1 and is known to-day1 wherever ,i am known4 ,and as a part of its history will be given1 ,i think it would be more satisfactory to all who may feel interested in it1 and more profitable as a study1 if an outline of its career from the beginning were known4 ,i therefore insert it here4 ,in #ahcb1 ,isaac ,foster1 then a ,baptist preacher1 came into this community preaching the principles of reform as advocated by ,thomas and ,alexander ,campbell4 ,the people gave heed to his teaching concerning the kingdom of ,god and the name of ,jesus ,christ1 and on the second ,lord's day in ,september1 #ahcb1 at the house of ,david ,floyd1 on the top of the ,ohio ,river hill1 opposite ,hanover ,college1 ,ind41 a church was established4 ,the following were the charter members3 ,james ,lindsey1 ,hatty ,ann ,lindsey1 ,william ,maddox1 ,elizabeth ,maddox1 ,david ,floyd1 ,john ,b4 ,floyd1 ,miss ,mary ,a4 ,trout1 ,miss ,catherine ,trout1 ,miss ,priscilla ,b4 ,trout1 ,miss ,sally ,trout1 ,miss ,saloma ,overpeck1 ,miss ,julia ,ann ,lindsey1 ,miss ,artamisia ,cooper1 ,mrs4 ,minerva ,cooper4 ,james ,lindsey and his wife1 ,hatty ,a41 were formerly members of the ,old ,christian ,connection1 at ,cane ,ridge1 ,ky4 ,william ,maddox and his wife1 ,elizabeth1 were from the ,baptists4 ,the rest were admitted by immersion4 ,william ,maddox and ,john ,b4 ,floyd were appointed elders1 and ,david ,lloyd deacon4 ,for a time they met and worshiped in private houses4 ,they then built a meeting-house1 near the river bluff1 on the farm of ,bro4 ,david ,floyd4 ,it was of hewed logs1 and primitive in architecture4 ,it was called ,mt4 ,olivet4 ,they met every ,lord's day to break bread1 to worship ,god and to edify one another in love4 ,much of the long-continued prosperity of the ,mt4 ,byrd church is doubtless due to beginning with good material and on correct principles4 ,in that early day the church enjoyed the visits of such men as ,isaiah ,cornelius1 ,allen ,kendrick1 ,l4 ,l4 ,fleming1 ,jesse ,mavity1 ,wm4 ,brown1 and others4 ,the church increased in number rapidly4 ,in a short time several families of standing and influence moved into the present neighborhood of ,mt4 ,byrd and south of it1 from ,woodford county1 ,ky4 ,the house was unfavorably located1 being on the extreme edge of the territory from which the membership must come4 ,it was agreed by all parties to build another house1 farther back from the river1 in a more desirable locality4 ,about #ahcg this house was built on the farm of ,bro4 ,robert ,moffett1 at the crossing of the ,strother and ,cooper roads1 about two and one-half miles from the other house1 and one and one-half south of ,milton4 ,it was a commodious frame building4 ,the site is now on the corner of ,bro4 ,allen's place1 two hundred yards from his house4 ,it was called ,mt4 ,byrd1 from the fact that it was on part of a large survey of land known as the ,byrd survey2 and the ,mt4 was due to its elevation4 ,it was understood that so soon as certain obstacles were removed1 the two churches were to become one4 ,hence the house was used a year or two before our organization was established4 ,and1 in one view of the case1 ,mt4 ,byrd had its origin in #ahcb2 and in another1 in #ahci4 ,on the second day of ,august1 being the first ,lord's day1 #ahci1 an organization was established on the following covenant3 ,we1 the undersigned individuals1 agree to have fellowship with each other1 and to be united together in the bonds of ,christian affection according to all the rules of conduct and requirements of ,god1 as contained in ,his ,word--the ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments4 ,,charter ,,members4 ,robert ,moffett1 ,elizabeth ,moffett1 ,lucinda ,moffett1 ,sarah ,ann ,moffett1 ,catherine ,stipes1 ,alexander ,moffett1 ,nancy ,moffett1 ,emily ,moffett1 ,harriet ,moffett1 ,jane ,moffett1 ,porter ,fisher1 ,caroline ,fisher1 ,hayden ,fisher1 ,robert ,thompson1 ,anna ,f4 ,thompson1 ,polly ,blake1 ,elizabeth ,taylor1 ,susan ,taylor1 ,zachariah ,taylor1 ,sally ,taylor4 ,porter ,fisher was chosen elder4 ,in ,september following1 ,dr4 ,curtis ,j4 ,smith and ,newton ,short held them a meeting1 resulting in forty additions4 ,the members of the first organization began to move their membership to ,mt4 ,byrd1 and soon the two congregations were one4 ,the following is a list of the overseers of the church1 in their order1 from its establishment till #ahhe3 ,porter ,fisher1 ,hayden ,fisher1 ,john ,b4 ,floyd1 ,james ,jones1 ,samuel ,morris1 ,john ,a4 ,bain1 ,isaac ,trout1 ,john ,s4 ,maddox1 ,jacob ,trout1 ,george ,craig1 ,f4 ,g4 ,allen4 ,the following are the names of the preachers who have served the church a stated length of time3 ,porter ,fisher1 ,hiram ,stark1 ,j4 ,newton ,payne1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,j4 ,smith1 ,henry ,rice1 ,jesse ,mavity1 ,dr4 ,sadler1 ,j4 ,a4 ,bain1 ,g4 ,b4 ,moore1 ,a4 ,a4 ,knight1 ,j4 ,c4 ,walden1 ,j4 ,v4 ,price1 ,f4 ,g4 ,allen4 ,in addition to meetings held by the regular preachers1 it has enjoyed the evangelistic labors of some of the ablest preachers in the ,reformation4 ,from its organization to ,june1 #ahhe1 there were added to the church1 at various times and in various ways1 #ihb members4 ,at this time 7,june #ab1 #ahhe7 the membership is #cej4 ,in addition to removals1 deaths1 exclusions1 etc41 we gave a large number to the ,bedford ,church when it last organized 7#ahgd71 and our colored membership organized to themselves in #ahgg4 ,also the nucleus of the ,beech ,grove church went from here4 ,three things1 that have had much to do with the prosperity of this church1 deserve special mention--their course during the war1 their way of choosing church officers1 and their method of church discipline4 ,during the war the church remained in a peaceful and prosperous condition4 ,at the beginning they were of one mind in the decision that the religion of ,christ was more important to them than political interests2 that the war would end1 but that the kingdom of ,god would not1 and that they would stand for the things that could not be shaken by the shock of arms4 ,a large number of young men of the community were in the service1 and they wanted to be in a spiritual condition to take care of such of them as should return4 ,though soldiers of both armies were frequently in the neighborhood1 the church continued the service of ,god and the discharge of ,christian duty as if the peace of the country was undisturbed4 ,consequently1 when the war was over1 they had no alienations to adjust1 no broken down walls to rebuild1 no breaches to close up4 ,they needed no reconstruction4 ,their history demonstrates that even cruel war need not necessarily alienate the people of ,god4 ,the congregation was not a unit in political sympathy1 but they allowed no mixing of politics with religion1 in the pulpit or elsewhere1 on either side4 ,strong rebels from ,kentucky and strong ,union men from ,indiana filled the pulpit during the time1 but with the understanding that they preach the gospel and not politics--no difference was made4 ,till #ahfg the method of selecting church officers was by popular ballot4 ,they were thus selected according to the feelings1 and tastes1 and prejudices of men1 women and children1 many of whom are always controlled by personal likes and dislikes4 ,at this time a change was made that resulted in great good4 ,the change was to this effect1 that a committee in whom the church have perfect confidence be appointed to select elders and deacons4 ,when selected1 their names are submitted to the congregation1 and two weeks given during which objections may be made privately to the committee4 ,should objections be made to any one1 which are considered valid1 and can not be removed1 that name is dropped and another substituted4 ,it is understood from the beginning1 by all parties1 that the objections are to be kept private1 and if a candidate is dropped on account of objections1 he has no right to demand the name of the objector nor the objections4 ,when objections are not made1 or they no longer exist1 it is understood that the selection is ratified by the church4 ,the parties are then set apart to their work by fasting1 prayer and the laying on of hands4 ,in this way a better selection is made1 and the church is much more impressed with the importance of the official work1 and of their obligation to those set apart1 as co-operants in the work4 ,the plan gave entire satisfaction1 and the church ever after observed it4 ,when ,i began to preach for the church1 ,i introduced a plan of disciplinary work which ,i had observed since my labors with the ,crittenden ,church4 ,the leading idea in it was to save the offender1 and the church was impressed with that fact4 ,the relatives and friends of the offending party were enlisted in an effort with the preachers and elders to save him1 with the understanding that if this could not be done1 the law of the ,lord must be enforced in his exclusion4 ,such efforts rarely failed1 and1 when they did1 those most likely to be hurt about his exclusion felt that they had failed in trying to save him1 and that all was done that could be done4 ,when such efforts failed1 the case was then stated to the church1 and if any one thought that he might accomplish something1 and wished an opportunity to try1 action was delayed till he did what he could1 and thus the whole moral force of the church was exerted4 ,when all felt that nothing more could be done1 the law of the ,lord was executed1 the church withdrew its fellowship1 and the occasion was made as solemn and impressive as possible4 ,there was no voting as to whether or not they would exclude him4 ,that is a matter of divine legislation on which we have no right to vote4 ,the sense of the congregation was taken only as to whether or not they had done all they could to save the offender1 and had thus complied with the law of the ,lord in this respect4 ,in twenty years1 with much attention to disciplinary work1 ,i have never had the least trouble or evil consequence result from a case of exclusion4 ,in #ahfg they built a new house of worship1 about a quarter of a mile nearer ,milton than was the old house4 ,it is a large and substantial frame4 ,when ,mt4 ,byrd was established there were several strong ,methodist and ,baptist churches within a few miles4 ,they have all dwindled into comparative insignificance1 and ,mt4 ,byrd has the controlling influence in the county4 ,her territory extends sixteen miles along the ,ohio ,river and eight miles back4 ,i engaged to preach for ,mt4 ,byrd ,church one-half my time1 beginning the first of ,october1 #ahfi4 ,it is thirty miles from ,new ,liberty1 and at that time it was reached by a dirt road terribly muddy in the winter4 ,i went back and forth on horseback4 ,i arranged to have my two ,sundays come together1 and spent the intervening week visiting the congregation and preaching at some neighboring school-house4 ,i thus made but one trip a month4 ,my health was very poor1 and each visit ,i made they thought would be the last4 ,after ,i began preaching at ,mt4 ,byrd1 ,i discovered a very serious trouble in the church1 of which ,i before knew nothing4 ,i saw1 from its nature and the men involved in it1 that unless it was peaceably and permanently settled1 the church would be effectually ruined4 ,and circumstances indicated that it was next to impossible to secure such a settlement4 ,i was deeply concerned about it4 ,the difficulty grew out of a man's making engagements to teach two schools at once1 and consequently having to disappoint one of the parties4 ,they had depended on him1 and thereby lost the opportunity of getting a good teacher4 ,they felt grievously wronged1 and sued for damages4 ,the teacher was a poor man1 not able to fight the suit1 and he so worked upon his patrons that they promised to stand by him and defend him in court4 ,a large number of good and influential brethren were involved in it1 and they had worked up a very bad state of feeling4 ,bro4 ,j4 ,s4 ,maddox1 the leading elder1 stood by me faithfully in the work4 ,we labored incessantly day and night for over two weeks before we accomplished our purpose4 ,i preached in the two school-houses alternately1 day and night1 so as to reach all of both parties2 for they would not go to each other's houses4 ,the rest of the time was spent in visiting and laboring privately with the disaffected members4 ,the preaching was all directed to the one special end4 ,sometimes we would have it nearly completed as we thought1 and then the trouble would break out again4 ,one day our hearts beat with joyous hope1 and the next we were depressed and discouraged4 ,finally1 they agreed to arbitrate the matter if ,i alone would act as arbitrator4 ,i tried hard to reason them out of this1 for ,i felt almost certain that ,i would sacrifice myself in so doing4 ,i felt that ,i could hardly hope to retain the friendship of both parties in such a complicated matter1 over which there was so much bad feeling4 ,but1 finding that there was no other way of settlement1 ,i concluded that the sacrifice of myself was a small matter as compared with the ruin of the church1 and ,i consented4 ,all parties agreed to abide by my decision in good faith1 bury all their animosities1 and be at peace among themselves4 ,i wrote out carefully the whole case1 giving my decision on each point1 and the reasons therefor4 ,i read it at a meeting at which all were present4 ,they all signed it1 and the trouble was forever ended4 ,both parties kept it in good faith1 and ,i retained their fraternal love4 ,when the church had been rounded up1 and all dead matter cast off1 we had #bdj members on the list4 ,some new deacons were appointed1 till we had seven in all4 ,not because there were seven appointed at ,jerusalem1 but because we needed that number and had material out of which to make them4 ,we divided the congregation into seven districts1 each deacon having his boundary defined4 ,each had a list of all the members in his district1 and it was his duty to obtain a subscription from each member and collect it4 ,each child of a family made his own subscription4 ,all were expected to give something1 unless they were beneficiaries of the church4 ,this system has several advantages3 7#a7 ,more money is obtained than when given only by heads of families4 7#b7 ,each one feels that he is a factor in the church1 not an overlooked cipher1 and this does him good4 ,it stimulates him to do something4 7#c7 ,in training each one to give1 however little they may be able1 there is developed in them a right spirit and a very important principle4 ,a business meeting was held every three months4 ,at these the deacons made their reports1 and squared accounts with the preacher4 ,thus the exact financial condition of the church was known4 ,cases of discipline1 missions1 charities1 and everything pertaining to the interests of the church1 were freely discussed4 ,a record was kept of everything done4 ,these meetings were held on ,saturday1 and the next day a statement was made to the church of what was done1 and their sanction obtained to such matters as it was thought best to submit4 ,with a thorough organization1 systematic working1 and the happy settlement of the big trouble over which all were filled with anxiety1 the church took on new life1 and ever after continued in an active1 growing condition4 ,the brethren soon petitioned me to move into their midst4 ,i jocularly told them ,i would do so if they would give me a good home4 ,the suggestion was no sooner made than accepted4 ,bro4 ,j4 ,h4 ,moffett gave me eight acres of ground just where ,i wanted it1 and he and the rest of the brethren agreed to build me a house4 ,i was permitted to plan just such a house as ,i wanted1 and they would see that it was built4 ,no obligation whatever was required of me as a condition4 ,i was free to dispose of it and leave them at any time1 if ,i wished to do so4 ,it was all a matter of trust4 ,the outside improvements were also made mostly by the brethren4 ,i may say here that in the fifteen years ,i preached for that church1 not a man ever charged me a cent for anything he ever did for me1 and they did everything that ,i needed to have done4 ,in the spring of #ahgj we organized a ,sunday-school4 ,it ranged usually1 one year with another1 from #abe to #aej4 ,one peculiar feature about it was that a large number of old people attended4 ,in a word1 the church went into the ,sunday-school4 ,the teachers have all the time been of the older brethren and sisters1 and many men and women of middle age and beyond have been in the classes4 ,we kept a record of the attendance1 recitations1 contributions1 etc41 thus indicating the regularity of the work4 ,the record shows that there were perfect1 in recitations and attendance1 twenty-six in #ahgc1 thirty-four in #ahgd1 and twenty in #ahge4 ,this is a fair sample for the fifteen years4 ,the school is still in a fine condition4 ,some members have not missed a single recitation in five years4 ,from the beginning we have adhered to the rule of opening on the last ,sunday in ,april and continuing till ,christmas4 ,the congregation being scattered over a large district1 and the roads being bad in winter1 we have been in the habit of dismissing the children for the rest of the year2 but all the older people form one class1 and are taught the ,scriptures by the preacher or elder of the church from the first of ,january till the last of ,april4 ,i am satisfied this is a good arrangement for churches in the country1 where the membership is much scattered4 ,it works well at ,mt4 ,byrd1 and ,i don't see why it may not work well elsewhere under the same circumstances4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,he ,moves to ,mt4 ,byrd4 ,debate with ,j4 ,w4 ,fitch4 ,preaches at ,madison1 ,ind4 ,protracted ,meetings at ,columbia1 ,burksville1 ,thompson's ,church1 ,dover1 ,germantown1 ,pleasant ,hill1 ,burksville again1 ,beech ,grove1 ,dover again4 ,in ,september1 #ahgj1 we moved to the neighborhood of ,mt4 ,byrd4 ,my house not being completed1 we lived in the lower end of ,hunter's ,bottom1 above ,milton4 ,we spent here a very pleasant year4 ,i gave a good deal of time to the building1 helping in whatever ,i could do1 which was quite a benefit to my health4 ,i continued to preach at ,new ,liberty half my time during this year and #ahga4 ,the last of ,october1 #ahga1 we got into our new house4 ,it is about three hundred yards from the church1 beautifully situated on the main thoroughfare to ,milton and ,madison4 ,in #ahga ,i held two meetings in ,carrollton1 ,ky4 ,the cause was very low there at that time4 ,our band was feeble2 and the place almost entirely given to sectarianism4 ,we had no place of worship1 and the court-house in which we met was not comfortable4 ,some of the prominent members had become very worldly4 ,because ,i preached against their sins1 they became much offended1 but the offense was to reformation4 ,they afterwards built a meeting-house1 and they are now in good condition4 ,nov4 #b1 #ahga1 ,i began my first public religious debate4 ,it was at ,mt4 ,byrd1 and with ,presiding ,elder ,j4 ,w4 ,fitch4 ,it came about in this way3 ,at a ,quarterly ,conference in the county1 the preachers and prominent men present1 to the number of fourteen1 drew up and sent me a formal challenge to meet ,c4 ,w4 ,miller1 at ,mt4 ,byrd 7this being by far the largest house in the county71 and debate certain designated propositions4 ,at that time ,i had a very bad opinion of ,mr4 ,miller1 and there was no good feeling existing between us4 ,in reply to their communication ,i said3 ,you have a number of brethren in ,kentucky of equal or superior ability to ,mr4 ,miller1 whom ,i can meet as ,christian gentlemen1 and when ,i have the promise of such a disputant1 ,i shall be ready to arrange propositions4 ,they then applied to ,mr4 ,fitch1 and a correspondence between us was opened4 ,my purpose then1 and ever since in debating with ,methodists1 was to discuss the system of ,methodism1 instead of a few isolated propositions4 ,in that way the people see what ,methodism is2 in this1 they do not4 ,we finally agreed that each would affirm that the polity and practice of the church with which he was identified are authorized by the word of ,god4 ,an immense crowd attended the debate4 ,the weather was beautiful1 and we had dinner on the ground4 ,each affirmed for three days4 ,my affirmation closed ,saturday afternoon4 ,the ,president ,moderator announced that the debate would be resumed at #aj o'clock ,monday1 on the polity of the ,methodist ,church1 ,mr4 ,fitch affirming4 ,monday1 ,mr4 ,fitch declined to discuss the polity of his church1 giving as a reason that it was of no consequence1 and he wanted to give all his time to more important matters4 ,he further stated that he had agreed to discuss the polity of the church simply in order to get the debate1 not that it was worth discussing4 ,i happened to have in my pocket a letter in which he had insisted on the discussion of the polity of the two churches as a very important matter4 ,this was read4 ,the ,president ,moderator--,col4 ,preston--ruled that he must either debate the question1 as agreed upon1 or concede that it was indefensible2 and he yielded4 ,we learned afterward1 just what we then suspected1 that the preachers present1 of whom there were about twelve1 held a council on ,saturday night1 and protested against his discussing the polity of the church4 ,the debate created a great deal of interest and investigation in the community1 and within nine months following1 over one hundred were added to the church4 ,of these1 quite a number were from the ,baptists and ,methodists4 ,a rather curious thing occurred during the debate4 ,while on the practice of the ,m4 ,e4 ,church1 ,i made a raid on the mourners' bench1 describing its workings and demanding authority for it4 ,mr4 ,fitch jumped up1 very much excited1 and called me to order4 ,his point of order was that the ,m4 ,e4 ,church1 ,south1 had abandoned the mourners' bench2 that it was now countenanced only by a few ignorant preachers for whose conduct the church was not willing to be held responsible4 ,and as it was no longer a part of the practice of the church1 he was not there to affirm that it was authorized by the word of ,god4 ,the ,president appealed to all the ,methodist preachers present to know if that was the case4 ,the last one of them said yes4 ,in three weeks ,i went to ,carrollton to hold a meeting1 and the two most prominent preachers at the debate were there in a meeting1 and they had the mourners' bench out twice a day1 and six or eight mourners were striving to get through6 ,what are we to think of such as that8 ,by preaching at adjacent school-houses1 the membership of the church was considerably increased4 ,this plan was continued till my editorial work on the ,guide interfered with it4 ,about seven miles back from ,mt4 ,byrd the ,methodists had an old house1 and a weak church where they years ago had a strong one4 ,we had quite a number of members in that neighborhood4 ,by our assisting in rebuilding the old chapel1 we held by written contract a fourth interest in it4 ,this gave us the use of the house one ,sunday in the month1 and at such other times as it was not occupied by the ,methodists4 ,this we did in order to have a place to preach in that community1 and especially for protracted meetings4 ,we also rented the ,presbyterian house in ,milton1 by the year1 for the same purpose4 ,in #ahgb ,i engaged to preach at ,carrollton and ,white's ,run1 both in ,carroll county1 once a month at each4 ,i held a meeting for each church1 and got the membership1 to some extent1 reconstructed4 ,but in ,may ,i was called to preach for the church in ,madison1 ,ind41 one-half my time4 ,it being so convenient--just across the river from me--and an important field1 ,i got the churches at ,carrollton and ,white's ,run to release me1 and ,i entered on my work in ,madison the first of ,june1 #ahga4 ,i preached for them the rest of that year4 ,i held a protracted meeting in ,october4 ,the number of additions for the seven months was small4 ,finding that they needed a preacher all the time1 since they had no one to lead them in the absence of a preacher1 and wishing to devote half my time to evangelizing1 ,i resigned and induced them to get ,bro4 ,j4 ,h4 ,hardin in my place4 ,in ,november1 #ahgb1 ,i had a fine meeting at ,columbia1 ,ky4 ,this was before the college there was built4 ,bro4 ,j4 ,h4 ,hardin was preaching for the church4 ,bro4 ,azbill has since built up the church1 but was that year in ,butler ,university4 ,the fruits of my first meeting there are manifest to this day4 ,prominent among these is the efficient work of ,dr4 ,u4 ,l4 ,taylor1 who was formerly a ,methodist1 but for years has been the stay of the congregation and college in that place4 ,in #ahgc ,i gave one-half my time to holding meetings4 ,in ,march ,i went to ,burksville1 ,cumberland county1 ,ky4 ,the church had had no preaching for a long time1 and was not meeting on the ,lord's day4 ,there were a few faithful ones1 especially sisters1 but the majority had gone to the world4 ,we had over forty additions4 ,the membership was organized for work1 a ,sunday-school was established1 a preacher secured1 and the church entered on a long period of prosperity4 ,two preachers were the result of this meeting--,c4 ,m4 ,mc,pherson1 of the ,apostolic ,guide1 and ,e4 ,j4 ,ellison1 now of ,glasgow1 ,ky4 ,they had been immersed1 but1 with many others1 had strayed from the fold4 ,they were reclaimed and put to work1 and to-day they are faithful ministers of the ,word4 ,as showing what may result from a word timely spoken1 a young lady from ,nashville1 now the wife of ,bro4 ,mc,pherson1 was visiting a sister at ,burksville4 ,she was a devoted ,episcopalian1 talented and accomplished4 ,one day she was telling me about her church and preacher1 etc41 and the work she was trying to do for the ,master4 ,i asked her if she had ever obeyed the gospel4 ,she looked amazed1 and remarked that that was a strange question to ask a church member4 ,i told her ,i feared that many church members1 and even devoted ones1 had never obeyed the gospel2 and in a few words explained the reason why4 ,she soon made the confession and was immersed1 stating afterwards that that question led to an entire change of religious views4 ,in ,may ,i held a meeting at ,thompson's ,church1 in ,robinson county4 ,the meeting was of no special importance2 the number of additions was small1 and no important results any way4 ,willis ,cox was preaching for the church4 ,at this meeting the wealthiest man in the church was greatly taken with the preaching1 said he intended to go to ,dover1 twenty odd miles away1 to hear me there1 had three of his children immersed1 and was almost too happy to behave himself4 ,he gave a two cent copper to help pay the expenses of the meeting6 ,this was all they could get out of him4 ,he got so happy that it dried up the fountain of his liberality4 ,in ,june ,i held a meeting at ,dover1 ,mason county4 ,this was an old church1 and once a prosperous one1 but a bad spirit had been engendered during the war1 and it had virtually gone to pieces4 ,they were meeting1 and had a preacher employed1 ,bro4 ,willis ,cox2 but only a few members were concerned about the things of ,zion4 ,they had had no additions for so long that the town was full of young people who had grown up out of the church4 ,the brethren expected no additions1 but wanted a meeting for the encouragement of the faithful few4 ,this was the way they put it when they engaged me to hold the meeting4 ,the house was well-filled from the first1 and in a few nights crowded4 ,they paid profound attention to the ,word4 ,this led me to hope for additions1 but the brethren hooted at the idea4 ,i preached only at night and on the ,lord's day4 ,on the ninth night they made a move1 and continued to move till fifty-seven were added4 ,i baptized fifty4 ,the deepest religious interest prevailed that ,i ever had in any of my meetings4 ,no telling what the result would have been1 had ,i not been taken sick and compelled to leave4 ,as ,i was going to the boat to return home1 ,i went by the church4 ,it was crowded4 ,i had just a few minutes4 ,i went in and explained the situation1 and proposed to take the confession of any that wished to make it1 before ,i left4 ,without a word of exhortation two came forward4 ,thus ,i left them4 ,nearly all the young people of the town came into the church1 so that there was no outside element left to get up mischief1 and it is gratifying to know how faithfully they held out4 ,the church has ever since been in active working order4 ,in ,july ,i held a meeting at ,germantown4 ,bro4 ,j4 ,c4 ,walden was preaching for them4 ,we had a pleasant meeting1 but no special results4 ,in ,august ,i held another good meeting at my old home church--,pleasant ,hill1 in ,oldham county4 ,i held them a meeting each year for five or six years4 ,while they were slow to assist me when ,i was struggling for a start1 after ,i got well under way they were quite liberal in reward of my labor4 ,but one dollar at the first would have done me more good1 because more needed1 than five at the time they were given4 ,this is a mistake made by many churches4 ,in ,october1 #ahgc1 ,i held another meeting at ,burksville4 ,this was also a fine meeting1 but not quite so many additions were made as at the one in ,march preceding4 ,in ,november ,i had a good meeting at ,beech ,grove1 a country church in ,trimble county1 eight miles from ,mt4 ,byrd4 ,in ,december ,i was again at ,dover4 ,we had another excellent meeting1 but there was not material for so many converts as at first4 ,this visit was mainly for the membership1 to rid the church of some dead material1 and put it into good working order4 ,on account of getting sick at the previous meeting1 ,i had to leave before this needed work was accomplished4 ,thus ended my labors for #ahgc4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,begins ,preaching at ,beech ,grove4 ,debates with ,elder ,hiner4 ,amusing ,incident4 ,holds many ,meetings4 ,debates with ,elder ,frogge4 ,debates again with ,elder ,hiner4 ,repudiates ,miller's ,book4 ,sick ,again4 ,holds more ,meetings4 ,in #ahgd ,i engaged to preach once a month for the ,beech ,grove ,church4 ,beginning ,january #bjth1 at a ,methodist church near ,beech ,grove1 ,i held a debate with ,elder ,robert ,hiner4 ,the debate continued eight days4 ,it was largely attended1 though the roads and weather were bad4 ,the feeling throughout the debate was good1 but hardly so much so as at the one held at ,mt4 ,byrd with ,elder ,fitch4 ,a very amusing thing occurred4 ,mr4 ,hiner brought all of his books1 and1 coming through ,bedford1 he got all of ,mr4 ,young's1 the preacher at that place4 ,they made a perfect wagon load4 ,he obtained a long table1 like a carpenter's bench1 and stacked them up on it4 ,i soon discovered that it was all for a show1 and the question was how to most successfully burlesque it4 ,i first thought of sending to ,bedford and getting a large wagon-load of ,patent ,office ,reports and the like1 and stacking them up on my table4 ,but in my room ,i discovered a little toy-book1 about an inch long1 called ,orphan ,willie4 ,this ,i took to church in my vest pocket1 with a few leaves carefully turned down4 ,after alluding to his silent artillery1 as ,i had done before1 ,i drew out ,orphan ,willie1 and planted it on the pulpit in position to effectually blow up his entire battery1 with the assurance that that was going to be done4 ,i had laughed over the idea till ,i thought ,i could do it without laughing4 ,but in this ,i failed2 and the whole audience1 ,methodist preachers and all1 got into such a laugh that ,i lost half my speech4 ,but the books were put out of sight1 and thus ended the scarecrow business4 ,during the debate ,mr4 ,hiner expressed the opinion that ,i would yet come back to the ,methodist church4 ,i told him he might as well talk of a full-grown rooster1 spurs and all1 going back into the shell that hatched it4 ,for a long time this gave me the sobriquet of ,old ,chicken4 ,some brethren use it even now4 ,while on the design of baptism1 ,mr4 ,hiner remarked that if he believed baptism was for the remission of sins1 he would live on a creek or river and be baptized every time he sinned4 ,i gave it as my opinion that in that case he would find it a very difficult matter to keep any dry clothes6 ,during this year ,i held meetings at ,louisville1 ,crittenden1 ,cove ,hill1 ,burksville and ,glasgow1 with varied success4 ,in #ahge ,i held meetings at ,glasgow1 ,carrollton1 ,campbellsville1 ,burksville1 ,bedford1 ,hodgenville and ,columbia4 ,in ,july of this year ,i debated twelve days1 at ,burksville1 with ,presiding ,elder ,frogge4 ,he was the great champion of ,methodism in ,southern ,kentucky4 ,he had had a great many debates1 and1 while he was very ready and glib in his line of debating1 ,i soon discovered that his scholarship and reading were both very limited1 exceedingly so2 and ,i intentionally widened the range of controversy more than was my wont1 to see what he would do--and he was completely lost4 ,his forte in debating is wit and ridicule1 by which he gets his opponents angry and confused4 ,he tried this hard for three days1 till he rendered himself offensive to all4 ,it was rumored that his brethren then held a council and told him that this must be stopped2 that he must debate the questions on their merits or quit2 that he was bringing the cause into disrepute4 ,the county paper1 edited by a scholarly ,episcopalian1 was very severe in its criticism of his conduct4 ,this caused much excitement among the ,methodists4 ,when he had to quit his efforts to get me excited1 he was no longer himself4 ,this debate was held at the request of the ,baptists4 ,mr4 ,frogge and a ,baptist preacher had debated near there the fall before1 and1 the ,baptist having failed1 had to give up the discussion4 ,mr4 ,frogge then left a broad and boastful challenge for any immersionist4 ,the ,baptists were very sore over it1 and when ,i went there in the winter to hold a meeting they requested me to accept his challenge4 ,i referred them to the brethren1 and with their concurrence ,i entered upon the discussion4 ,in ,november ,i held another debate with ,mr4 ,hiner1 this time at ,bedford1 ,ky4 ,it continued eight days4 ,this created the most intense excitement ,i ever saw in a meeting-house4 ,at the two previous debates in the county ,i repudiated ,c4 ,w4 ,miller's book 7,points of ,controversy7 as authority4 ,it is the book that ,dr4 ,ditzler exposed4 ,our opponents said ,i would not dare to do that where ,miller was4 ,they had him at this debate4 ,mr4 ,hiner read from it a passage purporting to be from ,moses ,stuart4 ,i asked him what he was reading from4 ,he said1 ',points of ,controversy1' and you challenge it if you dare4 ,i then asked for the page in ,stuart's book where the language occurred4 ,he refused to give it4 ,i had ,stuart1 and the inference was that he didn't want the comparison made4 ,when ,i got up ,i referred to what had passed about the quotation1 saying ,i was willing to take ,stuart for it if he had given me the page1 but as for ,points of ,controversy1 ,i could take nothing on its authority1 for ,i repudiated the book and its author as authority in anything4 ,this provoked a personal wrangle with ,miller1 who was close to me1 after the debate--for the day was over4 ,the excitement was intense as we passed and repassed our compliments4 ,finally the house refused to hear ,mr4 ,m4 ,even his own brethren rose as one man and went out of the house4 ,this so infuriated him that he left the place4 ,january #a1 #ahgf1 ,i went on the ,apostolic ,times with ,i4 ,b4 ,grubbs and ,s4 ,a4 ,kelley4 ,i had been writing for it every two weeks1 by contract1 for several years4 ,from this time ,i devoted special attention to it every week1 and1 with the exception of a few months from the sale of the ,times to ,dr4 ,hopson and ,cozine till the establishing of the ,guide1 ,i have been constantly engaged in editorial work4 ,about the middle of ,january ,i was taken down with intercostal rheumatism and spinal trouble1 and was very low for several months4 ,very little hope was entertained of my recovery4 ,after the intense suffering was over1 my system was so racked that convalescence was slow4 ,the doctors agreed that it was due to nervous exhaustion produced by overwork4 ,for years ,i had known nothing practically of mental rest1 and the year preceding was unusually severe on me1 in my feeble state of health4 ,when ,i held the twelve days' debate at ,burksville the summer before1 ,i went from my bed to the house and from the house to my bed4 ,i was hardly any better in the one held a few weeks before4 ,these labors1 with those given to my home church of over three hundred members1 together with holding seven protracted meetings1 and writing for the ,times1 all the while in feeble health1 brought me down very low4 ,i wish here to emphasize the fact that ,i have never gone out of my way to either seek or shun a religious debate4 ,i repeat this statement here1 lest some might think otherwise from the fact that ,i have held so many4 ,after getting up again1 ,i held meetings at ,antioch1 in ,shelby county1 ,glasgow1 ,burksville1 ,south ,elkhorn1 and at some other points4 ,this has always been congenial employment for me4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,continues to ,evangelize4 ,dr4 ,cook's ,prescription4 ,incident at ,glendale4 ,peculiar ,feature in the ,meeting at ,madisonville4 ,the ,fractious ,preacher at ,sonora4 ,closes his ,evangelistic ,labors4 ,establishes the ,old ,path ,guide4 ,the ,bruner ,debate4 ,in #ahgg ,i spent much time evangelizing1 being called to hold protracted meetings at many important places4 ,i accepted work at seven of these1 and my labors were fruitful in the conversion of sinners and in building up the saints in their most holy faith2 but ,i had to be away from home a great deal1 and my exposure in all kinds of weather1 and the wear and tear of constant preaching1 increased my lung disease4 ,while preaching at ,cynthiana my spinal trouble returned1 causing me to close abruptly1 and ,i could preach no more till ,july4 ,on my return from ,cynthiana1 some friends in ,cincinnati induced me to visit a ,dr4 ,cook 7,i think that is the name74 ,he was celebrated for his skill in such afflictions4 ,he was a corpulent1 jolly old gentleman1 full of humor4 ,when ,i was introduced1 he looked at me for a moment without coming near1 and said3 ,well1 sir1 you don't laugh enough4 ,you take too serious a view of life4 ,why1 sir1 at least two inches of your spinal marrow is inflamed1 produced by nervous exhaustion1 the result of overwork and no mental recreation4 ,i tell you1 sir1 all the medicine in the world will do you no good till you quit that and cultivate laziness4 ,you must take a more cheerful view of life4 ,and you must learn to laugh1 not giggle a little1 but laugh away down to the bottom of the abdomen4 ,then you will get well4 ,i used to be a little1 scrawny1 sallow1 nervous1 overworked thing like you are1 but ,i saw it was going to kill me1 and ,i quit it and went to laughing1 and now see what ,i am8 ,and this was all the prescription he gave me4 ,there is1 doubtless1 a good deal of philosophy in it4 ,at ,glendale a rather singular circumstance occurred4 ,the first night of the meeting1 ,i observed a very intelligent looking lady in the audience1 and she was intensely interested4 ,when we got back to the place where ,i was stopping1 ,i asked the sister who this lady was4 ,she gave her name1 stating that she was the pride of the ,methodist ,church in that country2 that her talk at the love-feast a few weeks before had been the topic of conversation ever since4 ,i remarked that she would not be a ,methodist when that meeting was over4 ,but they would not listen to the idea that she would ever be anything but a ,methodist4 ,she was present the second and third nights1 and manifested the same intense interest4 ,the next morning early1 she sent to ascertain if she could have a private interview4 ,when she came1 she made her business known at once4 ,she wanted to learn if ,i would immerse her and let her remain in the ,m4 ,e4 ,church4 ,without answering her question1 ,i asked her what she wanted to be immersed for4 ,she said she had become convinced that she had never obeyed the gospel1 and she wanted to be immersed because it was the ,saviour's will1 and her sprinkling was not authorized4 ,well1 said ,i1 why do you want to correct your life in some things according to the divine authority1 and not in others8 ,she said she wanted to correct it in all respects where it was contrary to divine authority4 ,i then told her that there were a number of things in the ,methodist ,church for which there was no more authority than there is for infant baptism4 ,she inquired what1 and when ,i told her1 she said1 ,that will do1 and right away ,i immersed her4 ,she had been brought up a ,romanist1 and while we were gone to the baptizing her sister burnt her ,bible4 ,no special persecution followed her change to the ,methodists1 but it was otherwise when she united with us4 ,her relatives1 so far as known to me1 have never become reconciled4 ,the meeting at ,madisonville1 ,o41 eighteen miles from ,cincinnati1 also had a peculiar feature which ,i think worthy of mention4 ,it was the first preaching by our brethren ever heard in the place1 and most of those who made the confession had never before heard it made4 ,the first person called upon to make it answered aloud and distinctly3 ,yes1 sir2 ,i believe with my whole heart that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god4 ,all who followed answered in the same way4 ,i wish it could always be so4 ,in #ahgh calls upon me to conduct meetings were multiplied1 but ,i could comply only with those from ,vevay1 ,ind41 ,sonora1 ,ky41 ,dover1 ,white's ,run1 ,columbia1 ,burksville1 ,glendale1 ,oakland and ,owenton4 ,at ,sonora1 a ,methodist preacher attended a few times1 and he was remarkably fractious4 ,several times he interrupted me4 ,one night1 in preaching on the ,plan of ,salvation1 commenting on the case of the jailer1 ,i remarked that the fact that the apostles sometimes baptized households1 was no evidence that they baptized infants1 since there are many households without infants4 ,he spoke up very much excited1 saying1 ,may ,i ask you a question8 ,i told him yes4 ,well1 now1 he says1 suppose we take a common sense view of that matter4 ,suppose you were to come to town1 and start out to baptizing households1 and you were to go to ,bro4 ,creel's house and mine1 wouldn't you have to baptize infants8 7,bro4 ,creel had five little fellows1 and he seven47 ,i answered1 ,yes1 ,bro4 ,campbell1 ,i admit that whenever you go to a preacher's house1 you are very apt to find them4 ,the whole house laughed outright1 and they never ceased laughing at that preacher till he left the circuit4 ,these meetings were all successful in the way of additions1 except that at ,vevay4 ,but ,i have never kept an account of my additions1 and remember the number at only a few meetings4 ,this year my regular evangelistic work closed on account of editing the ,guide and preaching half the time at ,portland ,avenue ,church1 in ,louisville4 ,in ,january1 #ahgi1 ,i established the ,old ,path ,guide1 in ,louisville4 ,i was owner1 proprietor1 editor1 bookkeeper1 treasurer1 mailing clerk1 general agent1 and special boss4 ,this required all my time1 except what ,i had necessarily to give to preaching on the ,lord's day and the preparation therefor4 ,the ,guide was a success1 financially1 from the beginning4 ,i put money in bank the first three months of each year to pay every dollar of expense to the end4 ,the net profits the first year were over #fjj1 and this increased each year for the three years that ,i managed it all myself4 ,the third year would have netted #a1jjj1 but in the midst of it ,i made the change1 transferring one-half of it to ,cline1 ,marrs ,co41 and giving them control of its business management4 ,this was the beginning of financial embarrassment4 ,the change was demanded by my failing health1 and ,i could no longer do everything1 as ,i had been doing from the first4 ,that year ,i engaged to preach half my time for the ,portland ,avenue ,church4 ,in order to serve the ,glendale church1 which is fifty miles on the ,louisville ,nashville road1 the ,mt4 ,byrd church released me one ,sunday in the month4 ,during the year the ,portland ,avenue ,church increased #abj per cent4 ,in ,february1 #ahgi1 ,i held a meeting for the ,campbell ,st4 church1 ,louisville4 ,the meeting proved to be quite beneficial to the congregation1 in many respects4 ,i boarded in the city during the winter1 and moved my family down in ,april4 ,the church at ,glendale had a partnership house--a very common thing in all ,southwestern ,kentucky4 ,this prevented their meeting regularly on the ,lord's day1 and also prevented a ,sunday-school1 as the house was occupied more than half the time by others4 ,knowing that ,i could accomplish no substantial and enduring good while this state of things lasted1 ,i made it a condition of preaching for them that they build a new house4 ,this they did4 ,the house is a neat frame1 well finished inside and out1 and large enough for all ordinary use4 ,it was promptly built and paid for4 ,in ,november ,i held a debate there--the first use made of the new house--with ,i4 ,w4 ,bruner1 a ,baptist preacher4 ,the ,baptist church there and ours arranged for a debate1 on certain specified propositions1 and each had the privilege of selecting its representative4 ,consequently ,i had nothing to do with getting up the debate or arranging for it4 ,i never challenged a man for debate in my life1 and never held one except by special invitation4 ,and ,i have declined more debates than ,i ever held4 ,while ,i was peculiarly fond of it1 ,i never debated simply for the sake of debating2 hence1 if the circumstances were not favorable for good results1 ,i always declined4 ,this debate with ,mr4 ,bruner was1 ,i think1 the poorest one ,i ever held1 and ,i lost all interest in it before it was half over4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,visits ,midway4 ,attends the ,missouri ,state ,convention4 ,reflections4 ,annual ,sermons4 ,last ,protracted ,meeting4 ,kindness of ,mt4 ,byrd1 ,glendale and ,smithfield ,churches4 ,gives up ,office ,work4 ,goes to ,eureka1 ,ill4 ,country ,home4 ,takes ,cold at the ,lexington ,convention4 ,goes to ,florida4 ,in ,october1 #ahgi1 ,i visited ,midway1 and though ,i had virtually closed my evangelistic labors when ,i began the ,guide1 ,i could not resist the desire to hold a meeting there4 ,it is the seat of our ,female ,orphan ,school1 one of our grandest enterprises4 ,bro4 ,shouse was then preaching for the church and ,bro4 ,lucy was president of the school4 ,their companionship was highly enjoyable4 ,what a feast to the soul is the companionship of wise1 godly men6 ,it has for me the highest happiness ,i expect to know this side of heaven4 ,and will it not be a very prominent factor of that which constitutes heaven8 ,any place in the universe of ,god where my brethren and the ,saviour are will be heaven enough for me4 ,in #ahhj ,i continued at the ,avenue ,church1 ,louisville1 ,mt4 ,byrd and ,glendale4 ,the ,state ,board of the ,missouri ,christian ,missionary ,society invited me to deliver an address before the ,state ,convention1 held that year at ,moberly4 ,in order to justify me in a visit to the ,state1 they arranged several meetings for me--one in connection with the convention of ,audrain county1 at a country church near ,mexico1 called ,sunrise2 one at ,new ,london1 and one at ,slater4 ,these meetings were all enjoyable and profitable2 but the one in ,audrain county was only for a few days1 and resulted in but few additions4 ,the address at ,moberly was on ,our ,strength and ,our ,weakness4 ,the convention was largely attended1 and it was a great pleasure to meet so many brethren known only by name1 and loved for their work's sake1 and to renew the acquaintance of others known before4 ,the addresses of ,haley1 ,procter1 ,jones and others were very able4 ,that of ,jones was speculative1 and the basic principle of it1 in my opinion1 erroneous4 ,several of those ,missouri preachers have done much harm by preaching a false philosophy instead of the gospel of ,christ4 ,bro4 ,procter1 whom we all allow to be one of our best men and ablest preachers1 went from this convention to ,california and held several meetings4 ,within a few months ,i had several applications to come out there to undo some of his work1 and ,i should have been glad to comply had my other duties permitted4 ,in #ahha ,i resigned at the ,avenue ,church1 as they needed more pastoral labor than my other duties would allow me to perform4 ,i gave half my time to ,mt4 ,byrd1 one-fourth to ,glendale1 and one-fourth to my old home church--,pleasant ,hill1 in ,oldham county4 ,it was a pleasure to visit these old friends of my youth once a month4 ,old memories were revived1 and the past1 in a sense1 lived over again4 ,besides1 several members of the families related to my wife and to myself were enabled to attend4 ,to preach to them1 after years of separation1 was a great pleasure4 ,mt4 ,byrd moved on in the even tenor of its way1 in a prosperous condition4 ,in ,august of this year1 and also the year previous1 ,i preached the annual sermon at the ,clark county1 ,ind41 ,coperation ,meeting4 ,the county contains sixteen or eighteen churches1 including those of ,jeffersonville and ,new ,albany1 and for more than forty years they have had an annual county meeting4 ,representatives from all the churches attend1 as a rule1 and the condition1 etc41 of each church is given4 ,it brings together a great congregation1 and the day meetings are held in the woods4 ,in ,september of this year the ,guide was changed to a weekly4 ,while the monthly magazine was the most desirable for preservation1 it was thought that a weekly would best serve the cause of ,christ1 and peculiar circumstances at that time seemed to demand it4 ,in ,november ,i went to ,poplar ,plains and held the last protracted meeting of my life4 ,it was a pleasant one1 and attended with some good results4 ,in #ahhb ,i preached at ,mt4 ,byrd1 ,glendale and ,smithfield1 that is1 ,i engaged to preach for these churches1 but my health was such that ,i preached but little to any4 ,at my first visit to ,smithfield1 the first ,lord's day in the year1 ,i was taken sick1 and ,i never visited them once when ,i was not sick4 ,i was never able to so preach as to do them or myself justice4 ,while this was equally so at the other churches1 ,i did not regret it so much1 since ,i had been laboring for them a long time4 ,the work at ,smithfield was virtually a failure1 and early in the fall ,i had to give it up entirely4 ,yet they paid me for the whole year1 and made me a present of about #aej besides4 ,they are a noble band of brethren1 and one of the most liberal ,i ever knew4 ,the church at ,glendale also paid for the entire year1 though ,i lost much time and resigned in ,october4 ,it also made me a generous present in addition4 ,speaking of their generosity1 reminds me that the ,mt4 ,byrd ,church continued my salary three or four years when ,i was able to do little or nothing in return4 ,in #ahgf ,i lost most of the year through spinal and rheumatic affections2 ,i did very little in #ahhb2 ,i was in the church but once in #ahhc1 and in #ahhd ,i attempted to talk only a few times1 yet all these years my salary continued4 ,when the ,guide was sold to the present ,guide ,printing and ,publishing ,company1 which relieved me of financial embarrassments which the failure of ,c4 ,c4 ,cline ,co4 had produced1 ,i refused to longer accept support from the church4 ,in ,april1 #ahhb1 ,i was compelled1 on account of failing health1 to give up the office work of the ,guide4 ,i had been under a physician all the year1 and grew constantly worse4 ,i allowed the office work to make a heavier draft on me than some men do4 ,i always knew every paragraph that was going into the paper1 and where and how it would appear4 ,i stood by the foreman and noticed everything that went in--when it went in1 what was put in and what was left out--till the forms were locked up4 ,i have never been able to get any one else to do it4 ,but that is my idea of editing a paper4 ,this thing of giving printers a mass of matter and telling them to put it in1 leaving them to add or diminish1 and put in where and what they please1 is simply a burlesque on the business2 and yet this is the way it is largely done4 ,i have had no little annoyance over just that thing4 ,had ,i been willing to edit in that way ,i could have continued1 but ,i would not consent to follow such a course4 ,in ,may ,i went to ,eureka ,college1 to preach the baccalaureate sermon4 ,i arranged to make the trip as easy as possible1 on account of my feebleness1 by stopping over at ,indianapolis for the night1 in both going and returning4 ,the trip was every way pleasant1 and the associations there very agreeable4 ,i hoped it would be a benefit to me in the way of recreation1 but on reaching home ,i was taken down with typho-malarial fever4 ,i was quite low for several weeks4 ,i got up with a trouble in my throat1 causing a constant coughing and hacking1 which has increased without intermission to the present time4 ,in ,september1 realizing that my health was permanently broken down1 we went back to our country home4 ,i was satisfied that if ,i should even continue to edit the ,guide1 ,i would not be able to assume the responsibilities of the office1 and that the best place for me1 under the circumstances1 was my country home4 ,after going back to the country ,i rallied considerably1 and attended the ,general ,convention1 at ,lexington1 about the #bjth of ,october4 ,here ,i took life memberships in both the ,general and ,foreign ,societies for the ,mt4 ,byrd ,church4 ,this was the first church taking membership in those societies1 so far as ,i am informed4 ,it has since become quite common4 ,last year 7#ahhd7 ,i succeeded in getting their constitutions so amended as to provide for this4 ,i took cold at the convention1 and relapsed4 ,my physicians were very fearful of tubercular trouble1 and advised me to go to ,florida for the winter4 ,we went the first of ,december1 not knowing whither we went1 but it seems that the hand of ,providence guided us4 ,we knew not where to turn1 but concluded to try ,de,land1 where we had some acquaintances1 and there look out for accommodations4 ,in a few days after reaching ,de,land old ,bro4 ,anderson1 who lived two miles in the country1 heard we were there and came in for us4 ,he had formerly seen a copy of the ,guide and subscribed for it4 ,this good man rented for us a convenient house near him1 paid the rent1 set us up1 and would not allow me to pay for anything we needed while there if he knew it and could prevent it4 ,his wife was as kind as he1 and did all in her power to make our stay in ,the ,land of ,flowers comfortable and inexpensive4 ,the ,great ,teacher has said1 in a well-known passage1 ,it is more blessed to give than to receive4 ,what1 then1 must not have been the blessedness of this pious couple in thus caring for a poor broken-down invalid and his family1 whom ,providence had guided to their hospitable home8 ,may ,god reward them richly for their kindness4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,organizes a ,church at ,de,land4 ,health ,improves4 ,relapses4 ,starts ,home4 ,resignation4 ,sells ,his ,interest in the ,guide4 ,begins ,writing again4 ,attends ,two ,conventions4 ,goes to ,texas4 ,at ,home ,again4 ,works ,on4 ,while at ,de,land we gathered up the few scattered ,disciples in and around the town1 and organized them into a church4 ,i felt quite confident1 from the character of the material1 that the enterprise would be a success4 ,it has thus far proved to be so2 they have not failed to keep up their weekly meetings to break the loaf and edify one another after the apostolic model4 ,they now have a nice house1 and have employed a preacher and given him a home among them4 ,this is just what all churches should aim to do2 all may not be able1 but they should aim to accomplish it4 ,the church is in a prosperous condition4 ,i was able to talk to them occasionally while there4 ,the climate of ,florida agreed with me4 ,my cough left me in a few weeks1 my appetite became good1 and ,i got heavier than ,i ever was before4 ,i went there weighing #acj pounds1 and increased to #adh4 ,in good health1 my usual weight was #add pounds1 and it had been many years since ,i weighed that4 ,i should have come home in this improved condition but for my own imprudence4 ,i don't blame the country1 ,providence1 nor anything else but myself4 ,i was passionately fond of hunting1 as ,i have ever been4 ,i hunted a great deal1 and frequently got overheated1 and took cold2 sometimes got my feet wet when in the woods4 ,thus ,i had several backsets4 ,but still ,i was in that condition when the time came to return home4 ,the day before we were to start1 ,i concluded ,i must have one more hunt4 ,it had rained the night before2 the sand was damp2 it was cloudy1 quite warm1 and a strong south wind was blowing4 ,i would get warm in walking 7the sand there is very slavish to walk in71 and would sit down and let the wind cool me off4 ,i should have had more discretion2 but sometimes people act with very little sense about such things4 ,before ,i reached the house ,i felt acute inflammation of the mucus membrane1 to the bottom of my lungs4 ,in three hours fever set in1 and ,i was completely prostrated4 ,i remained there about three weeks1 and the doctors urged my return as the only chance of recovery4 ,they considered that very hazardous1 on account of exposure to cold2 but to stay there was less hopeful4 ,i was taken to the boat1 carried on board by two men1 then carried off at ,jacksonville to a hack1 taken to a hotel1 thence to the train4 ,i secured a good berth in a sleeper1 and got through without the least trouble4 ,i improved1 every mile of the way2 but as soon as ,i got home ,i went down again1 and was extremely low for some time4 ,my dread of dying in ,florida and having my wife return with my body1 was such that ,i concentrated all my prayers to that one point4 ,i prayed the ,lord to enable me to get home1 that ,i might die in the midst of my family4 ,i felt and prayed that if ,he would enable me to reach home1 ,he could have the rest all ,his own way1 without any further petition4 ,he enabled me to rally1 gave a week of the best weather of the whole season1 brought me home under the most favorable circumstances1 and ,i never afterwards felt free to ask ,him to restore me to health1 and have never done it4 ,it may be wrong1 but ,i promised to let ,him have the rest all ,his own way1 and my prayers have ever since conformed to that idea4 ,i never could have believed1 till ,i experienced it1 that one could become so indifferent as to whether he lived or died1 ,i saw many days1 after my return from ,florida1 when it was a matter of perfect indifference to me2 previous anxiety to get home1 and the resolution to leave all the rest to the ,lord1 had no doubt much to do with it4 ,i observed this1 however3 that as hope revived1 a desire to live would arise in proportion4 ,when there was little or no prospect1 there was little or no concern4 ,when ,i was at my worst1 ,i decided1 taking my past and present condition into consideration1 the medicine ,i was taking1 the attention received1 etc41 that if ,i did not take a turn for the better by a certain day1 then in three days the case would be entirely hopeless4 ,in the afternoon of that day the change came4 ,that evening ,i took some nourishment--the first for fourteen days4 ,after ,i sufficiently recovered to be able to do anything1 ,i was anxious to get my business arranged1 with a view to death4 ,i never expected to be able to write another editorial1 and ,i was concerned about making some arrangement by which to get rid of the ,guide and its responsibility4 ,i was not pleased with its business management1 and did not want to leave it as the property of my family1 not knowing what trouble it might give nor what expense it might involve them in4 ,and without a change in management1 ,i knew it could never be of any profit4 ,i wrote for ,bro4 ,srygley to come1 and ,i sold him my remaining half-interest4 ,my purpose was to resign1 and thus have no further connection with it4 ,but he would not buy unless ,i would agree to let my name remain1 with a promise to resume the responsibility of chief editor if ,i should ever get able2 and the firm would consent to the sale only upon these conditions4 ,so ,i had to sell upon those conditions1 or not sell at all4 ,the latter part of ,september the company urged me to begin to write again1 if it were at all possible1 even if it were only a few paragraphs each week4 ,they said the impression everywhere entertained that ,i would not recover1 was injuring the paper very much4 ,the people were losing interest in it4 ,they insisted that ,i should counteract that feeling as much as possible4 ,under this pressure1 though confined to my bed and suffering every hour1 ,i began writing1 the first of ,october1 and never after missed a week4 ,that winter ,i stayed at home1 and was not out of my room for eight months4 ,the last of ,august ,i started to ,midway1 to see ,dr4 ,lucy4 ,i got as far as ,louisville1 and could get no further4 ,we dispatched for the ,doctor1 and he came down4 ,after resting a few days ,i got home1 the last of ,august1 and ,i was not out of the door again till the last of ,april4 ,during that winter ,i did a large amount of writing1 besides my weekly work on the ,guide4 ,june #aj ,i went to ,louisville to attend the ,international ,sunday-school ,convention1 but was able to get out only a few times4 ,i attended the ,state meeting at ,paris1 but was able to take no part4 ,i greatly enjoyed meeting with the brethren1 and hearing them concerning the things of the kingdom of ,god4 ,these convocations are seasons of refreshing from the presence of the ,lord4 ,the first of ,october we went to ,mason1 in ,south-west ,texas1 to spend the winter4 ,here1 as at ,de ,land1 it looked as if the hand of ,providence guided us4 ,we knew no one there1 but we found some of the dearest and best friends of our lives4 ,they had been taking the ,guide1 and1 in competition with several other places that wanted us1 made such a liberal offer that our trip cost us nothing4 ,they seemed to anticipate all our wants1 and find great pleasure in supplying them4 ,the ,lord has always blessed me with many good friends--more than ,i deserved4 ,i have felt1 for a number of years1 that ,i was greatly overestimated1 and it has been a source of no little humiliation4 ,i should have quit editorial work several years ago1 and lived in obscurity here at my retired home1 if ,i could have done so4 ,i appreciate the good opinion of my brethren1 to the extent that ,i think it is merited2 but to realize that ,i am not what ,i am thought by some to be1 is a great mortification4 ,i am now at home enjoying the company of my family1 the quiet of my home1 with every want anticipated and supplied by a devoted wife and children1 pleasantly1 though in much feebleness1 doing my work on the ,guide1 and putting in my spare time in other writing4 ,i find my greatest pleasure in being about my ,father's business4 ,i must be employed4 ,i expect to thus work on till the ,master says1 ,it is enough4 ,,mt4 ,,byrd1 ,ky41 ,june #ac1 #ahhe4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,reflections on his ,fiftieth ,birthday4 ,what a ,wonderful ,being is ,man6 ,governed1 not by ,instinct1 but by ,reason4 ,man ,lives by ,deeds1 not ,years4 ,how to ,grow ,old4 ,half of ,life ,spent in ,satan's ,service4 ,renewed ,consecration4 ,last ,three ,birthdays4 ,his ,trust in ,god4 ,the seventh day of ,march has come again4 ,fifty times has come this anniversary of my natal day6 ,half a hundred years old to-day6 ,what a period through which to carry the burdens and responsibilities of life6 7,what a time for which to give account to ,god for wasted moments and opportunities lost67 ,what a period to be devoted to building a character for the skies6 ,what a period of time devoted to the issues of eternity6 ,what a wonderful being is man6 ,time is but his cradle1 from which he walks forth into a world where life is parallel with the ages of ,god4 ,an intelligent1 expansive being that will never cease to be--what a thought6 ,when the sun grows gray with age1 his eye is dimmed1 and darkness reigns1 man will still be drinking in the light of heaven from the morning star of eternity4 ,the century-living crow doubles this period of man's probation1 with life as it began4 ,she builds her nest the last year1 as she did the first1 with no improvement sought4 ,she rears her young the hundredth time as she did the first1 by the long experience none the wiser4 ,this is her nature4 ,god made her thus4 ,instinct is wonderful1 but it never improves4 ,it grows not wiser with age nor the ages4 ,it nothing from experience learns4 ,the sparrow builds her nest1 and the beaver his dam1 just as they did in the years before the flood4 ,the little quails an hour from the shell1 will hide at the danger-signal of the mother bird1 when they never saw a hawk1 nor heard of one's existence4 ,how different this from man6 ,more helpless than the stupid beast1 and more senseless than the creeping worm1 he starts to make the pilgrimage of life4 ,but what a change does time produce6 ,the child more helpless than the humming insect of an hour1 becomes the monarch of the world4 ,he bridles the lightning in its home above the mountain peaks1 and makes it do his bidding4 ,the terror of the ages past1 becomes his willing servant4 ,he harnesses the steam1 that for ages spent its power in the open air1 and with it moves the world4 ,he sends his whisperings through old ocean's bed1 where the great leviathan sports1 as if he talked to one across the room4 ,he leaps aloft as if on steady wing1 till his look is downward where the lightnings play and the thunderbolt leaps to its deadly mission4 ,wonderful development6 ,the heavens declare the glory of ,god1 and the earth proclaims the dominion of man4 ,he was made a little lower than the angels1 and crowned with majesty4 ,age counts with man1 and years bring knowledge1 but not unfailing wisdom4 ,did man grow wise with age1 as a sure result1 age should be an unfailing blessing sought4 ,but imbecility it often brings and childish discontent4 ,these are the blighted sheaves of evil sowing in the spring and summer days of life4 ,with right ideas of life1 men grow wiser and better1 as they older grow in the service of their ,god4 ,life is not measured simply by the flight of time4 ,men live more now than they did before the flood4 ,intenser now is life4 ,into a few decades1 is now crowded the patriarch's experience of nearly a thousand years4 ,how to grow old1 is a problem not to be despised4 ,it should not be left to solve itself4 ,to grow old gracefully1 is to make a picture on which the world delights to look4 ,but1 alas6 how sadly blurred is the picture by many made6 ,it is sad to see one's religion sour with age4 ,while young and strong the loved disciple on the bosom of the ,master leaned4 ,then when age had dimmed his eagle eye1 and time had stolen his elastic step1 he had the same love for his children in the faith4 ,his was a sweet old age1 the outgrowth of a life of faith and love4 ,he grew old gracefully4 ,when brought1 as was his wont1 and before his congregation set1 his last sermons were mainly the touching1 tender words1 ,my little children1 love one another4 ,o1 that his mantle could on many of us fall6 ,but oft1 alas6 we see grow cross1 self-willed and sour the shepherd of the flock4 ,this1 too1 when age should give his words both weight and wisdom4 ,lord1 give me poverty and affliction1 if it be thy will1 but save me1 ,i pray1 from this sad end4 ,far better that one die young1 than grow old against the grain4 ,is life worth living8 the sages ask4 ,that depends on how one lives it4 ,lived aright1 it is worth living1 and many such worlds as this beside4 ,otherwise 'tis not4 ,of right living1 the more the better2 of wrong1 the less4 ,the life lived faithfully to ,god1 can never be too long2 its opposite1 too short4 ,of the half-century1 this day gone1 one claim ,i can safely make--it was not spent in idleness4 ,the years to ,satan's service given1 were well to his account put in2 and those devoted to a better cause1 ,i have tried to give as faithfully to ,him to whom they all belonged4 ,for the years in ,satan's service spent1 like ,saul of ,tarsus1 ,i conscientious ignorance plead4 ,o'er eyes unused to heaven's light1 sectarianism's vail was thick4 ,but no sooner was known the way of life1 than in its path ,i tried to walk2 and in it have ,i tried to keep1 till this good day4 ,thus equally divided has the time been spent4 ,except the years of childish innocence1 twenty-five were in the service spent of him who for this life pays the soul in spurious coin1 and leaves it bankrupt in the life beyond2 while an equal number1 praise the ,lord1 have a better ,master claimed4 ,for the rest of life1 be it long or short1 the long side will the right side be1 while hitherto it otherwise has been4 ,the periods of service have not before been equally divided1 nor will they be again4 ,but the sides have changed proportions1 praise the ,lord6 ,should not this turning-point in life an epoch make8 ,a half century1 and a half divided life1 in one6 ,surely ,i shall not look upon its like again4 ,the past few birthdays ,i have noted as those of former years were noted not1 and for reasons ,i need hardly state4 ,the first that deep impression on the mind did make since apprehension was that each would be the last1 was three years ago1 amid the orange groves of the sunny ,south4 ,the day was lovely as the ,queen of ,may2 and friends more lovely than the day1 made it a time not to be forgotten4 ,the feasting of the outer man was the lesser part of the day's enjoyment4 ,the feast of reason and the flow of soul was chief4 ,three of us were seeking health in that sunny land4 ,two have found it1 but not there4 ,in a fairer land by far than this world can boast1 did they find the fountain of perpetual health4 ,beneath the branches of the tree of life1 have they also sat and plucked its leaves for the healing of the nations given4 ,i1 the feeblest of the three1 and thought the nearest to the other side to be1 on the shores of time am struggling still4 ,thus it is with man's poor guessing4 ,two years ago the day was cold and bleak4 ,it drizzled through the dreary hours1 freezing as it fell4 ,but to many loving hearts1 its sleet and rain were not its gloom4 ,on this day was laid to rest in ,mother ,earth the loved remains of one numbered in the health-seeking trio of the year before4 ,what a contrast with that day one year before6 ,the day and its events1 how sadly changed6 ,but such is life4 ,well do ,i remember on this asking1 ,shall ,i another birthday live to see8 ,and well do ,i remember1 too1 the thought expressed in grave response4 ,while1 in the providence of ,god1 it was possible1 of course1 the other way were all the probabilities4 ,but this so oft before the case had been1 it left a ray of hope4 ,and that has now been more than realized4 ,as said our sweetest poet1 how truly can we say3 ,god moves in a mysterious way ,his wonders to perform4 ,one year ago1 in the balmy breezes of the ,lone ,star ,state1 compelled was ,i by feebleness of frame to miss the sumptuous feast by loving hands so deftly spread4 ,and sad1 yet happy thought1 those as ever ready on the poor to wait1 are now in those of the ,master clasped4 ,and still ,i linger1 and the years go by4 ,such is life4 ,deep and many are her mysteries4 ,god knows it all1 but he keeps it to himself4 ,but what are now the prospects for the year to come8 ,better now1 by far1 than they before have been in all these dreary years of pain4 ,would it not be strange1 if once again in providence divine ,i should mingle with my fellow men1 and tell them1 as of yore1 the story of the cross8 ,indeed1 it would2 but stranger things have happened4 ,stranger things by providence divine have come to pass without the aid of ,warner's ,safe ,cure1 or other disgusting humbuggery1 with its offensive intrusion into the reading of decent men4 ,the providence of ,god is not dependent on patent nostrums2 nor is ,he limited in ,his healing power to calomel or blue mass4 ,prayer is oft more potent than all the noxious drugs of man's device4 ,god has promised1 when consistent with ,his holy will1 the prayers of ,his believing children to hear and bless4 ,and in numbers more by far than this poor life is worth1 have these from earnest1 pleading souls gone up to ,god4 ,hence to-day we rest in the cheering hope that these have not been in vain4 ,should it please the ,lord to give the health ,i need to fight again the battles of ,christian life1 what responsibilities will it bring6 ,that strength must all be counted ,his who gave it4 ,all those years must be wholly ,his1 ,his cause to serve4 ,the interests of ,his kingdom to ,his children left1 must be strictly guarded4 ,conflicts with men1 even those we love1 will come to him who strictly guards the faith1 as ,jude directs4 ,in all conflicts with fellow men1 for two good graces ,i humbly pray--the courage of ,paul and the gentleness of ,john4 ,this holy ,lord's-day morning1 the sun rose bright and charming as on the seventh day of ,march it did three years ago in the sunny land of ,florida4 ,for the first time in many weary months did ,i a whiff of the outside air inhale4 ,oh6 how delicious6 ',twas like a prisoner's whiff of the air of freedom4 ,but this was not the best4 ,to sit again with the brethren around the table of the ,lord and hear again the sweet old story that is forever new1 what a feast to the hungry soul6 ,then the birthday feast is next to be enjoyed4 ,loved ones gathered at the dear old cottage home to celebrate the marked event with music1 song and recitation4 ,the birthday cakes and other dainty tricks by loving hands prepared and sent to grace the festive board1 told tales of love4 ,one thing alone marred the pleasure of the day and checked the overflow of its cup of bliss3 ,two loved and loving ones were far away and disappointed in their hope of being here4 ,these would have made the ring complete1 the family circle whole4 ,but such1 again1 is life4 ,its disappointments will forever come4 ,we should expect them1 therefore1 and be content4 ,this is my fiftieth milestone along life's rugged road4 ,at this half-century mark ,i set up a pillar1 as did ,jacob of old4 ,here ,i'll raise my ,ebenezer1 ,hither by ,thy help ,i've come1 ,and ,i hope1 by ,thy good pleasure1 ,safely to arrive at home4 ,thus far in life has a loving ,father led me1 and in his providential care ,i trust for all the rest4 ,i place my trusting hand in ,his1 asking to be led as ,he sees the way4 ,guide me1 ,o ,thou great ,jehovah1 shall be my constant prayer4 ,and thus1 dear ,father1 the rest of life ,i leave with thee4 ,dear ,lord1 should birthdays more be mine ,to spend on earth to ,thee1 ,thy cause shall claim them wholly ,thine ,as earnest work can be4 ,and should'st ,thou will the next be one ,in ,thy bright home above1 ,i gladly say1 ,thy will be done1 ,and join ,thee in ,thy love4 ,,cottage ,,home1 ,march #g1 #ahhf4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,conclusion by the ,editor4 ,tokens of ,love from ,many4 ,keeps ,writing4 ,controversy with the ,standard4 ,last ,meeting with ,his ,mother4 ,visited by ,professors ,mc,garvey and ,graham4 ,commits ,his ,writings to the ,latter4 ,visits ,eminence and ,lexington4 ,many ,brethren ,come to ,see ,him4 ,meeting at ,mt4 ,byrd4 ,estimate of ,his ,character4 ,the ,closing ,scenes4 ,farewell to ,his ,family4 ,dies4 ,funeral ,services4 ,the foregoing autobiography closes with ,june #ac1 #ahhe1 while the life of the author was prolonged till ,january #f1 #ahhg1 and it remains for the editor to record a few of the incidents transpiring in the interval2 and to bring this remarkable recital to a close4 ,midsummer found ,bro4 ,allen in his ,cottage ,home1 at ,mt4 ,byrd1 growing weaker in body day by day1 but with no very acute suffering4 ,everything that devoted love on the part of his family and church could suggest for his comfort was done2 and there were not wanting from abroad many tokens of undying affection1 as it became generally known that he was gradually but surely passing away4 ,many of his friends1 and especially preachers1 came to ,mt4 ,byrd as to a ,mecca1 to find their pilgrimage repaid in the fresh inspiration received by communing with this saintly man4 ,the company of his brethren did not weary him2 on the contrary1 it seemed to have a favorable effect on both his body and mind2 he greatly desired the visits of his friends1 and found comfort in them4 ,still many were deterred from going to see him for fear it might disturb the quiet which they hoped would contribute to lengthen out his days4 ,meanwhile he kept writing with a diligence and persistence marvelous to those who witnessed it1 and incredible to others2 so much so1 that many at a distance could not understand how one so near the grave could continue to write so much and so well2 hence the hope entertained that he might survive for years to bless the church and the world4 ,it must be remembered that his disease never affected his mind1 and that1 like most persons who die of consumption1 he retained the full possession of his mental faculties even unto the end4 ,besides1 he was sustained by an indomitable will that hesitated at nothing that stood in the way of duty2 added to which was an unfaltering trust in ,god and a joyous resignation to ,his will1 causing him to cease praying for longer life4 ,propped up in an invalid chair with a convenience of his own invention1 he continued his weekly editorials to the ,guide as regularly as ever1 and developed abilities as an editor that none suspected he possessed till the last years of his life4 ,it was at this time that the unfortunate controversy began between the ,guide and the ,standard about our work in ,london1 ,england1 causing so much regret on the part of many friends of both papers4 ,it was feared by some that this controversy would work irreparable injury to our mission enterprises1 not only in ,england1 but in other lands1 for we all realized that ,titans were engaged in the conflict2 men1 not like those of old1 giants in physical strength and daring1 but of intellectual power intensified by the love of ,god and his cause4 ,of course the disputants viewed the matter from different angles1 and both1 we must think1 were equally sincere in their convictions4 ,the present writer was not of those who thought upon the whole harm would come of this dispute1 though he deeply regretted the asperity with which it was conducted4 ,in our present imperfect state we need1 ,i doubt not1 these conflicts to remind us of our frailty1 and if only we have grace to profit by them1 ,god will turn them to our good and to ,his own glory4 ,it is a source of devout thankfulness to those who knew ,bro4 ,allen's unselfish purpose1 that many who censured his course united with multitudes who approved it in paying honor to his memory1 when the messenger who ends all earthly strifes called him to his final account4 ,in ,july1 #ahhe1 his aged and revered mother made him a visit1 and remained some time2 it was their last meeting2 and now that her gifted son has gone to his reward1 she waits in joyous hope for the day that shall reunite them forever4 ,a few weeks later it was the pleasure of the writer1 in company with ,prof4 ,mc,garvey1 to spend two days at ,mt4 ,byrd1 in delightful fellowship with this grand man4 ,he had been apprised of our coming1 and was prepared for it4 ,truly1 to him and to us it was a foretaste of the joys of the future world1 and we left him the same resolute1 confiding servant of ,christ he had ever been1 wholly resigned to the will of ,god and rejoicing in assured hope of eternal rest4 ,it pleased his ,master to protract his life and usefulness a little longer1 and so #ahhe closed1 and we find him still with his family1 receiving many tokens of love from them and from brethren far away4 ,spring comes1 and birds and flowers2 the bright sunshine beams into his chamber1 and now and then he is barely able to walk out to see and feel his ,father's goodness bathing all things in quiet beauty4 ,he repines not1 knowing that our light affliction1 which is but for a moment1 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory4 ,he continues to write1 and with the rest the preceding chapter of ,reflections on his ,fiftieth ,birthday4 ,he commits it1 his diary1 and other writings to me1 with the request that ,i do with them as ,i think best1 for now he is sure that this unequal contest with mortality can not last much longer4 ,summer comes1 and with it increasing weakness1 but no diminution of his trust in ,god4 ,he wishes to visit ,eminence once more1 and to see his two younger daughters graduate from the college that had helped himself in former years4 ,he attends1 and then1 unable to walk without help1 he comes on to ,lexington1 to spend commencement week among his friends and brethren2 this done1 he returns to his beloved ,mt4 ,byrd1 to leave it no more till he goes to stand with the redeemed on the ,mount of ,god4 ,during the fall of this year hardly a week passed that several of his relatives and ,christian brethren were not found at his home2 and did not the limit of this chapter forbid1 we would like to record their names1 for in love they came to testify their admiration for him and their sympathy with his sorrowing family4 ,for one and all he had a word of cheer1 and none came away without being deeply impressed with the conviction that he had been with one of the purest and best of men--one who lived in daily communion with his ,maker4 ,his one theme of conversation was religion1 and if we may judge from his increasing delight in it1 to no one was death a more gentle transition from faith to sight4 ,narrow1 indeed1 to him was the bourn that divides the seen from the unseen1 the temporal from the eternal1 and the labors of earth from the felicities of heaven4 ,he daily lived upon the boundary of two worlds4 ,in ,october1 ,bro4 ,j4 ,k4 ,p4 ,south held a meeting with the ,mt4 ,byrd church1 and1 though feeble beyond measure1 ,bro4 ,allen made out to attend a few times1 and even to take part in prayer and exhortation1 sitting in his chair4 ,only twice after this was he able to be carried to the ,lord's house1 but on neither occasion could he take an active part in the worship4 ,in all the relations of life ,bro4 ,allen was a model of all that is lovable in human character--kind1 gentle1 considerate of the feelings of others1 even the least1 and always cheerful4 ,a refined and delicate humor pervaded his conversation1 which was always chaste and instructive4 ,there was in him a moderation that always attends reserved power1 and a candor that was transparent2 these qualities1 united with an equipoise of intellectual and moral strength1 harmony of emotions1 and hatred of everything mean or unfair1 made him revered by his friends1 and an idol in his household4 ,wife1 children1 servants1 all who came into that charmed circle1 were attached to him in a love that bordered on idolatry4 ,to draw a portraiture of this remarkable man would indeed be a pleasing task did space allow--his logical penetration1 depth of feeling1 strength of will1 energy1 industry1 unwavering faith in ,god and goodness1 and1 crowning all1 his fidelity to the gospel of ,christ--but it is unnecessary4 ,to us who knew him these virtues were conspicuous2 by others1 they may be gathered from the unvarnished story of his life as it is told in the foregoing pages4 ,we must hasten to the closing scene4 ,on ,new ,year's day1 #ahhg1 he laid down his pen to resume it again no more4 ,he was forced to this by sheer exhaustion2 his body was wasted to a skeleton1 and it was clear to all that the end was near4 ,having suffered much for several days1 but without a murmur1 on the evening of ,jan4 #e he requested all his family to come to his bedside1 and while their hearts were breaking for grief and all eyes were blinded with tears1 he spoke to them for the last time4 ,my dear children1 said he1 ,i want to say a few things to you while ,i can4 ,i may not be able to do it if ,i put it off longer4 ,i will soon leave you1 and ,i know you will miss me4 ,it is hard for you to give me up1 but it is the will of ,god1 and you must bear up as best you can4 ,i am sure ,i have always had your love1 and you have always obeyed me2 and now ,i want you to always love and obey your mother4 ,remember1 wherever you may be1 that you are all of one household4 ,live in peace1 and let no strife or discord spring up among you4 ,taking the hand of each of his daughters1 he asked them to meet him in heaven1 and then kissed them good-bye4 ,laying his hand upon ,frank's head1 he said1 ,my dear son1 papa has to leave you4 ,o papa1 said the lad1 pray not to die4 ,we have prayed1 my dear boy1 but it is ,god's will to take me home1 and ,he knows best4 ,you must love your mamma and obey her2 be good to your sisters4 ,i want you to grow up and become a minister of the gospel4 ,try to make a better preacher than your papa has been4 ,be studious and industrious1 and live so that you may at last meet me in heaven4 ,may ,god bless you1 my son1 and keep you in ,his care4 ,kiss me good-bye4 ,throwing one arm around his wife1 he said1 ,my dear1 my affliction has been a blessing to me in having you near me all the time4 ,you have been everything on earth that a good wife could be4 ,i have loved you even more in my affliction than ,i ever did before4 ,i want to thank you for all your kindness to me and loving care of me4 ,if ,i have ever done or said anything ,i should not1 ,i want you to forgive me now4 ,i can say on my dying bed that ,i have always been a true husband to you4 ,i have made the best provision ,i could for you and the children1 and if there should appear any mistakes they have not been of my heart4 ,he then bade her a long and last farewell4 ,he then blessed his three little grandchildren and kissed them2 expressed a desire to see his dear old mother1 brother and sisters once more1 and spoke of some business matters a moment1 then said1 ,this is too sacred for that4 ,for two or three days before this he had been able to speak only a few words at a time2 but throughout this interview with his family1 his voice was as strong and clear as it had ever been4 ,after this his breathing became difficult1 and he could gasp only a single word now and then4 ,he seemed to have no wish to be occupied with this world4 ,the weary traveler had at last reached the goal2 and about nine o'clock ,thursday night1 ,january #f1 #ahhg1 his pure spirit left its frail tenement to suffer no more4 ,the following account of his funeral1 written by his devoted friend and ,christian brother1 ,w4 ,k4 ,azbill1 may well close the biography of ,frank ,gibbs ,allen3 ,,it ,,is ,,finished4 ,it is finished4 ,the struggle with his fatal malady is over at last1 and ,f4 ,g4 ,allen is at rest4 ,he sank into a quiet sleep last ,thursday night1 ,jan4 #f1 #ahhg4 ,a few friends were notified of the end by telegrams1 and that the burial would take place from ,mt4 ,byrd ,church on ,sunday1 but the condition of the ,ohio ,river rendered it extremely difficult to reach ,cottage ,home4 ,however1 in spite of the difficulties and dangers in crossing the river1 and the extreme cold weather1 there were seven ministers and a very large audience present at the burial4 ,the people came over the snow and through the snow1 in sleighs and sleds and buggies1 afoot and on horseback1 till the large country audience-room was well filled4 ,the presence of such an assembly on such a day evinced the truth of what is now widely known1 that ,frank ,allen was loved best where he has lived and labored for the past sixteen years4 ,the services were begun by ,bro4 ,a4 ,w4 ,kokendoffer1 who lead in an invocation of divine blessing and strength and guidance4 ,the congregation then sang ,nearer1 ,my ,god1 to ,thee4 ,the writer read the following ,scriptures2 ,john xiv4 #a-d1 #bg1 #bh2 ,i4 ,cor4 xv4 #ea-eh2 ,i4 ,thess4 iv4 #ac-ah2 ,,ii4 ,sam1 iii4 #ca-ci1 repeating #ch4 ,he felt that he should not1 because he could not speak on the occasion4 ,he had followed the inclinations of his own grief1 and had come as a mourner and not as a comforter4 ,we had not met to tell how much we esteemed our departed brother1 or how much we loved him1 or how much we should miss him1 now that he has gone4 ,the gap is a wide one he has left in the family1 in the congregation of his love1 and in the larger church2 and it will seem wider and wider as the days go by4 ,we had come as his brothers and sisters--as those who loved him--to lay him away in the grave1 and to ask ,god's help and blessing in this time of loss and sorrow4 ,he then led in worship1 thanking ,god for ,his gift to the church of the precious life that had just been surrendered at ,his call2 praising ,god for ,his love of brave and true men like him2 expressing the loving confidence of all that the heavenly ,father would deal tenderly with our widowed sister and her children2 asking especially that the little boy might live to honor the name of his beloved father1 and praying that the dear church1 that has borne him on their hearts through all this anxious time of weakness and suffering1 might forever be blessed by the memory of his godly life in it4 ,the song1 ,asleep in ,jesus1 was then sung1 after which ,president ,r4 ,graham1 of the ,college of the ,bible1 addressed the audience on the life and character of the deceased4 ,he had thought of how truly it might be said of him1 that ,there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in ,israel4 ,he had felt inclined to derive comfort for the church1 and to those to whom he was doubly dear1 from the passage in the ,apocalypse1 ,i heard a voice from heaven saying unto me1 ,write1 ,blessed are the dead which die in the ,lord from henceforth2 yea1 saith the ,spirit1 that they may rest from their labors3 and their works do follow them4 ,he did not know whether others would be present to take part in the services4 ,but ,bro4 ,kurfees was here from the churches in ,louisville1 and1 as a representative of the ,guide1 ,bro4 ,mc,diarmid1 from ,cincinnati1 to represent his associates in our other publishing interests1 and ,bro4 ,azbill1 from ,indianapolis1 connected with our missionary interests1 while he himself brought the sympathies of those in the ,college of the ,bible4 ,he felt there was a suitableness in all this1 for all these things were dear to the heart of our brother4 ,he then proceeded to give a sketch of his life and career4 ,there were several distinct periods in his history4 ,the first was from his birth1 ,march #g1 #ahcf1 to his marriage in #ahef1 a period of about twenty years4 ,here he spoke of his early struggles for an education1 and of the signs of a useful life manifested even then4 ,the second1 from the time of his marriage till his entry upon general evangelistic work1 about #ahff4 ,during this decade he became a ,christian1 resolved to preach the gospel1 and entered and passed through a course of collegiate studies in ,eminence ,college4 ,the third period began with his evangelistic labors4 ,during this time he became a pastor of the ,mt4 ,byrd church4 ,during this period most of his public discussions were held4 ,it was through these labors that he was revealed to his brethren as a man who was greater than we knew4 ,the last period began with his editorial career1 and closed with his death4 ,he became first a contributing editor of ,the ,apostolic ,times1 and afterwards co-editor4 ,then he became the proprietor and editor of ,the ,old-,path ,guide1 which1 in the course of events1 was consolidated with the ,times1 and became ,the ,apostolic ,guide4 ,president ,graham then spoke of his character and his characteristic abilities4 ,he was a sincere man1 he was a conscientious man1 he was a brave1 true man2 he was a pure-minded man1 he was a godly man4 ,his ability was not that of the great scholar1 but of the logician of keen1 accurate perceptions4 ,he was not an encyclopedia1 but a compact volume of naked logic4 ,he was capable of the very nicest discriminations2 and he had the faculty of pointing out a fallacy with marvelous clearness1 and of turning an objection to his position into an argument in its favor4 ,he was sometimes misunderstood2 but he was always true to his convictions1 and there was no honorable thing he would not do for the truth's sake4 ,he believed in the gospel as the power of ,god unto salvation2 and he made no compromises with doctrines in conflict with his conviction that the gospel must be believed and obeyed by those who would be saved4 ,the speaker said many tender and fatherly things to the bereaved family and to the church1 one of which was that we who knew of our brother's sufferings1 could have had but the one motive of selfishness for detaining him an hour longer than he lingered with us4 ,bro4 ,m4 ,c4 ,kurfees followed the remarks of ,president ,graham with some comforting reflections on ,bro4 ,allen's views of death and of the future life4 ,he spoke of his willingness to depart and to be with ,christ1 which is far better4 ,heaven is not a far off place1 but an actual spiritual presence with ,god4 ,he spoke of the blessedness of being always ready for this change from our life in the body to our life with ,god in the invisible world4 ,bro4 ,mc,diarmid closed the services with suitable remarks and an earnest prayer4 ,after the singing of the song1 ,jesus1 ,lover of my ,soul1 came the final leave-taking1 and the departure from the church to the grave4 ,not the least touching of these scenes was the breaking down in grief of the sturdy yeomen of the congregation as they stood around the bier of their dear brother and former pastor1 and looked on that manly face and form for the last time4 ,finally we laid him to rest in the burying-place near by4 ,at the grave the closing prayer was offered by ,bro4 ,wm4 ,buchanan1 who referred tenderly to his aged mother and absent relatives4 ,and thus the final scenes closed4 ,his resting-place is a lovely spot1 overlooking the city of ,madison1 commanding an extended view of the river valley1 and in sight of the stream and of all the vessels that go by4 ,it is near to his ,cottage ,home and to the church he so much loved2 and the spot will be all the dearer now that he sleeps in it4 ,only four days ago the writer said in a letter to the family3 ,i linger on the eve of taking a long voyage1 and he may soon go on a very short one2 but which of these shall be made the occasion of saying 'good-bye1' ,i hardly know4 ,even then the solitary voyager was on his way4 ,the breakers dashed about him as he launched2 the great billows roared beneath and around him as he went out2 the waves broke over each other in ripples as he passed on2 and the ripples hushed into whispers as he neared the other shore4 ,at last he took the adorable divine ,guide by the hand1 and passed beyond our view4 ,,part ,,ii4--,,addresses4 ,i4--,,culture ,,and ,,christianity3 ,,their ,,relation ,,and ,,necessity4 ,an ,address ,delivered ,before ,eminence ,college1 ,june #h1 #ahgg4 ,there are periods in our history which form the oases in the desert of life4 ,in one of these our spirits are to-day refreshed4 ,its dark shade and cooling fountain strengthen us for the onward pilgrimage4 ,from its green sward we pluck bright flowers1 whose fragrance will linger with us till the end of life's journey4 ,from these let us to-day weave fresh garlands1 which shall ever exhale the sweetness of these associations4 ,this is ever a proud day for ,eminence ,college4 ,annually on these festive occasions do the hearts of the many thousands who have gone out from these classic halls turn to them again with longing4 ,memory1 unfettered by space1 walks again amid these lovely bowers and responds unconsciously to the greetings of other days4 ,though separated far1 and mingling in the busy scenes of life1 how their souls revel in these delights6 ,these college associations are the golden links which bind many hearts in an unbroken chain4 ,the chords so exquisitely touched in our hearts to-day will vibrate for an age4 ,ere these sweet strains die away on the distant air they will be caught up by responsive hearts and rechoed round the earth4 ,these are times in our college life that must ever be linked with the future4 ,memory will ever delight to lift the heavy curtain of material life1 and behold again these visions of beauty1 and paint in fancy these rose tints of youth4 ,then let this day be one whose brightness shall shed a ray of celestial light along the path of life4 ,let our spirits bathe in the fountain of living waters1 while the chords of our hearts are swept with entrancing melodies4 ,then th' inexpressive strain ,diffuses its enchantment4 ,fancy dreams ,of sacred fountains and ,elysian groves1 ,and vales of bliss2 the intellectual power ,bends from his awful throne a wandering ear1 ,and smiles4 ,as a theme worthy of your consideration to-day1 ,i have selected ,culture and ,christianity3 ,their ,relation and ,necessity4 ,the ,greek word for man1 ,greek3 anthropos1 signifies etymologically to look upward4 ,man is the only terrestrial being capable of looking inward and upward4 ,in this there lies between him and the animal creation an impassable gulf4 ,man alone can look into his inner nature1 and thereby make his very failures the stepping-stones to a higher life4 ,god designed that man's progress should be upward2 hence his high destiny is attained1 not by creation1 but by development4 ,the ladder at whose foot he begins his immortal career rests upon the eternal throne4 ,this is not a development into man1 but a development of man4 ,the theory of development into man is of the flesh2 but the development of man is of the spirit4 ,since man is destined for eternity1 it is not befitting that he should attain perfection in time4 ,hence he does not develop as the beast of the field1 or the fowl of the air4 ,they soon learn all that they ever know4 ,they soon enjoy all they are capable of enjoying4 ,they soon attain to the perfection of their being1 and fulfill the end of their creation4 ,the swallow builds her nest and the beaver his dam precisely as they did in the days before the flood4 ,nor can it ever be otherwise4 ,but it is not so with man4 ,this life is too short and this world too small for his development4 ,he but begins to live in this world4 ,this life is simply a state of probation4 ,our faculties but begin to unfold on the things of time when we are called hence4 ,this unfolding of our faculties1 this development of our inner self1 is the result of culture--a culture not of the flesh1 but of the spirit2 not of the outer1 but of the inner man4 ,culture and ,christianity1 properly considered1 are inseparable4 ,he who relies on culture apart from ,christianity misconceives the end of his being4 ,he appreciates not his high destiny4 ,animals have minds susceptible of a high degree of cultivation1 but not of a culture which reaches beyond time4 ,their culture is wholly a thing of this life2 but not more so than is the culture of men unsanctified by the religion of ,christ4 ,a culture that terminates with death is in harmony with the nature of a horse1 but contrary to the nature of a man4 ,what is culture8 ,this is a question on whose solution man's eternal destiny is largely suspended4 ,our age prides itself on being an age of culture2 but do we know in what true culture really consists8 ,as a whole1 ,i think not4 ,a smattering of sentimental literature1 a superficial refinement of manners1 a few borrowed phrases and appropriated customs of society1 the rendering of a few pieces by rote1 and fashionable dress1 constitute with1 alas6 too many the standard of culture4 ,how unworthy of their race are those who entertain the thought6 ,all this may be but the gilding of barbarism2 beneath this external glitter there may be a heart and character steeped in moral rudeness and degradation4 ,true culture consists not in the cultivation of outward accomplishments4 ,it consists not in intellectual acquirements4 ,it consists in the development of the triune man--body1 soul and spirit--in their divine harmony4 ,without a cultivation of the spirit in harmony with its immortal destiny1 all that this world calls culture is but the gilded tinsel that bedecks the putrefaction of death4 ,the truly cultured man is developed in harmony with the laws of his being4 ,this being is compound1 having a fleshly and a spiritual side4 ,hence1 to cultivate one to the neglect of the other is to disproportion him whom ,god created in ,his own image4 ,as we exist first in time and next in eternity1 that culture which loses sight of either state misconceives the full mission of man4 ,man's conception of his present mission and ultimate destiny determines his standard of culture4 ,he must have an ideal1 and if that ideal be low1 his life will be correspondingly low4 ,nothing but ,christianity can furnish man an ideal worthy of himself2 and nothing but ,christian culture can develop him in the direction of that ideal4 ,classical antiquity never conceived a destiny worthy of man4 ,it never contemplated him in that relation of ,christ-likeness to his ,god1 which the ,bible reveals4 ,even ,aristotle1 the most cultivated of all heathen philosophers1 thought that only a part of mankind possessed a rational soul4 ,with such a conception man is incapable of the highest culture4 ,it is degrading to his dignity4 ,all culture based on such a hypothesis must be a culture of the flesh1 and not of the spirit4 ,it is the culture of materialism1 not of ,christianity4 ,between modern materialism and the cultivated heathenism of the ancient ,greeks the difference is not worth the naming4 ,to assume the existence of a soul1 says ,vogt1 which uses the brain as an instrument with which to work as it pleases1 is utter nonsense4 ,physiology distinctly and categorically pronounces against any individual immortality1 and against all ideas which are connected with a figment of a separate existence of the soul4 ,man1 says ,moleschott1 is produced from wind and ashes4 ,the action of vegetable life called him into existence4444 ,thought consists in the motion of matter1 it is a translocation of the cerebral substance2 without phosphorus there can be no thought2 and consciousness itself is nothing but an attribute of matter4 ,this deification of the flesh1 this gospel of dirt1 makes man consist simply of what he eats4 ,the missionaries of this heathen gospel have no need to address the reason of men2 only feed them on the right kind of food and their regeneration is accomplished6 ,materialism is a religion of the flesh1 a deification of matter2 its laver of regeneration is the chemist's retort2 its new birth1 phosphorus6 ,give the brain plenty of phosphorus by high living1 and you develop the soul of materialism6 ,yet the heralds of this soulless gospel talk flippantly about culture6 ,man's fall was due to an attempt to acquire knowledge at the expense of heart culture4 ,here1 amid the bowers of paradise lost is found the root of all false culture1 and from that root the world has ever been filled with a noxious growth4 ,true culture consists in a correction of the process which ,brought death into the world1 ,and all our woe4 ,man in his spiritual nature must be educated back to the divine image from which he fell4 ,no culture comprehending less than this has ever proved a permanent blessing to the race4 ,the highest culture hitherto attained apart from ,christianity was incapable of saving its devotees from ruin4 ,greece and ,rome were never more cultured1 in a popular sense1 than when they began to go down in death4 ,materialistic culture was their winding-sheet1 and ,a ,religion of the ,flesh should be their epitaph4 ,as ,christlieb has truly said3 ,wherever civilization is not made to rest on the basis of moral and religious truth it can not attain to any permanent existence1 and is incapable of preserving the nations possessed of it from spiritual starvation1 to say nothing of political death4 ,it is idle to boast of ,liberty when the foundations of her temples are not laid in divine truth4 ,of this1 ,greece and ,rome have furnished the world examples4 ,in ,greece freedom had a field peculiarly her own2 she breathed her inspiration into the people1 and her spirit into their literature2 she lived in the deeds of their youth1 and was sung by the muse of their bards4 ,this spirit was diffused in ,rome4 ,plato1 ,aristotle and ,homer were transplanted to the ,rhine1 the ,seine1 and the ,thames4 ,their land was full of liberty and culture1 but not the liberty nor the culture of the soul4 ,when we learn from ,tacitus that in the first century1 in a time of famine1 all the teachers of youth were banished from the city1 and six thousand dancers were retained1 we have an example of that culture which made ,rome a sink of iniquity4 ,it is not impossible that the fatal mistake of ,greece and ,rome should be repeated in our own country4 ,we are venturing to some extent on the slippery places from which they fell4 ,the evil star of their national ruin is that on which the eyes of many of our political leaders are fixed4 ,the godless spirit that animated the ,roman senate is being nursed into new life in ,american politics1 and this nursing is not simply in the halls of legislation1 but in the homes of the people4 ,here lies the trouble4 ,if the ,american republic ever goes down in ruin1 the power that hurls it from its high position will be enthroned in the family circle4 ,we complain that those in authority have not the fear of ,god before their eyes4 ,we lift our hands in holy horror at the public corruption which brings our nation into dishonor before the world4 ,but who is to blame8 ,one political party is ever ready to ascribe all the corruption of the country to its political rival4 ,but this godless disregard of national honor and national interest is confined to no party4 ,neither is it confined to party leaders2 but it controls the people on whom the leaders rely for support4 ,here is the seat of the disease which is gnawing at the vitals of the republic4 ,the man who now refuses to cater to the depraved tastes of the masses1 can not1 as a rule1 be promoted to office4 ,how many men can sit in the halls of legislation1 or even on our benches of justice1 who persistently refuse to influence men's votes by money1 or inflame their passions and sway their judgment with strong drink8 ,when a man of a high sense of moral honor seeks promotion by the suffrage of his fellow-citizens1 he soon learns that he must come down from his stilted dignity or be defeated4 ,in the excitement of the canvass he yields to base motives to prevent defeat4 ,he compromises his high sense of honor1 deadens his conscience1 and sells out his manhood to secure an honorable 787 position4 ,we should not expect men to manifest a high sense of honor in public places as long as we require them to compromise their honor in order to secure such places4 ,the thing is both unreasonable and unjust4 ,as well expect sweet water to flow from a fountain which we have made bitter6 ,party spirit is hostile to moral purity4 ,as one becomes filled with the spirit of party1 to that extent does he surrender the freedom of a man4 ,he can neither think nor speak impartially4 ,he stifles the convictions of conscience and shouts the shibboleth of party4 ,with him the triumph of party is infinitely dearer than the maintenance of principle4 ,hence the conflict becomes a struggle1 not for principle1 but for victory4 ,the people are distracted and the nation brought to the verge of ruin over the most trivial matters4 ,the ,eastern empire was once shaken to its foundation by parties which differed only about the merits of charioteers at the amphitheater4 ,this ruinous party spirit is fostered by ignorance4 ,the masses who are controlled at the ballot-box by the basest influences1 because they will not be controlled by any other2 and who in turn control the ballots of our country1 are1 as a rule1 the uncultured part of society4 ,the better class of citizens are not approached with the influences which control the ignorant4 ,therefore1 the remedy is in the correct education of the masses4 ,the emphasis is correctly made2 for any kind of education will not accomplish this end4 ,only as people are truly cultured do they cease to be tools of politicians4 ,then their intelligence1 not their passions1 must be addressed4 ,when the masses are thus cultured they will refine instead of demoralize our public men4 ,as a remedy1 then1 for the demoralization of all classes we need a better system of education4 ,we must have a free education if we would have a free people4 ,our children must be educated in just principles1 if we would perpetuate a just government4 ,to make this remedy effectual1 when the means of education are provided for the ignorant1 they should be required to appropriate them1 or forfeit their right of suffrage4 ,no man should have a voice in determining the destiny of our nation1 who rejects the means of that culture which alone can qualify him to act intelligently4 ,a man who has not spirit enough to avail himself of the benefits of an elementary education1 when placed within his reach1 is not worthy of being a citizen of a free government4 ,not only must the ballot-box be elevated by culture1 if this government would number its centennials1 but it must be purified by ,christianity4 ,we need to erect a high standard of moral qualification for positions of trust and honor4 ,those in authority will ever be about what the people require of them4 ,when ungodliness and moral corruption are at a discount among the people1 and party spirit can not atone for the darkest crimes1 then may we expect more purity in high places2 not before4 ,this standard must be erected at the ballot-box or our liberties will find an untimely grave4 ,this government was established on a false idea--the idea that man is capable of self-government4 ,god never intended that man should govern himself4 ,consequently1 in the strictest sense of the word1 he is incapable1 both individually and collectively1 of self-government4 ,since1 by his own wisdom1 man is incapable of governing himself he is likewise incapable of governing others4 ,the men and the nations1 in the ages of the past1 that attempted this1 failed of the high destiny for which ,god gave them being4 ,the ultimate prosperity of men and nations depends on the government of ,god4 ,only ,he who created man fully understands his ultimate destiny and the laws of his being to attain to that end4 ,therefore1 only when man is thus governed is his life a success4 ,all sacred history shows that ,god rules in the governments of men2 and only when this fact is practically acknowledged may nations expect permanent prosperity4 ,that nation whose laws are framed and executed regardless of the law of ,god will eventually fall under the divine chastisement4 ,no more can the statesmanship of this world1 unsanctified by divine wisdom1 save a nation from the wrath of ,god1 than the wisdom of man can save a soul from eternal death1 regardless of ,him1 who of ,god is made unto us wisdom1 and righteousness1 and sanctification1 and redemption4 ,for the disregard of ,god's will1 nations are punished here1 because as nations they do not exist hereafter4 ,on this the ,lord has clearly spoken3 ,at what instant ,i shall speak concerning a nation1 and concerning a kingdom1 to pluck up1 and to pull down1 and to destroy it3 ,if that nation against whom ,i have pronounced1 turn from their evil1 ,i will repent of the evil that ,i thought to do unto them4 ,and at what instant ,i shall speak concerning a nation1 and concerning a kingdom1 to build and to plant it3 ,if it do evil in my sight1 that it obey not my voice1 then ,i will repent of the good1 wherewith ,i said ,i would benefit them4 ,thus it is that nations are in the hands of ,god as clay in the hands of the potter4 ,only1 therefore1 when they purge themselves from ungodly legislation1 will they become vessels unto honor1 sanctified and meet for the ,master's use4 ,the voice of ,god1 then1 must be heard and heeded in our nation1 and if the people rule1 and the nation prosper1 the voice of ,god must become the voice of the people4 ,in this sense1 and this only1 are any people capable of self-government4 ,to this end we need more extended culture1 and that of a higher order4 ,our politics must be purified by our religion1 and our religion must be a religion of the spirit1 not of the flesh4 ,we need more religion in our politics1 and less politics in our religion4 ,the history of other nations fully confirms the language of ,goethe3 ,all epochs1 says he1 in which faith prevailed have been the most heart-stirring and fruitful1 both as regards contemporaries and posterity2 whereas1 on the other hand1 all epochs in which unbelief obtains its miserable triumphs1 even when they boast of some apparent brilliancy1 are not less surely doomed to speedy oblivion4 ,liberty is the twin sister of ,faith4 ,in the language of ,seneca3 ,to obey ,god is freedom4 ,a nation that desires to be free must believe1 and a nation that will not believe must be in servitude2 only despotism can dispense with faith1 but not liberty4 ,history clearly proves that national prosperity depends on an appreciation of the intimate relation existing between culture and ,christianity4 ,of this relation ,christlieb truly speaks3 ,no one1 indeed1 says he1 will wish to deny that in our modern culture there is much that is false1 egotistic1 and selfish2 much that is misleading and exaggerated1 and consequently opposed to true culture4 ,against these untrue elements of culture1 ,christianity will and must always take the field2 it must not oppose progress1 although it is at all times bound to show itself hostile to the sins of progress1 just as from its very commencement it has always testified and striven against such sins4 ,between ,christless culture and ,christianity a bridge of accommodation can no more be built than between light and darkness1 and woe to him who undertakes this6 ,but whatever in our modern culture is thoroughly ,christless1 and therefore ,godless1 is unworthy of the name and can1 therefore1 claim from us no further consideration2 it is mere naked rudeness and selfishness1 ill-disguised by the gaudy rays of outward decency2 a mere cherishing of the sensual nature which1 left to itself1 would soon degenerate into monstrous barbarism1 of which we already see many indications4 ,intellectual1 at the expense of moral1 culture is one of the curses of this age4 ,by such culture man acquires power without the principles which alone can make that power a blessing4 ,intellect is deified2 but intellect unsubdued by ,christianity is a remorseless god4 ,true culture would lift man above this low conception of his own nature4 ,it would give him a more comprehensive view of himself2 of the infinite development of which he is susceptible2 of the rulings of an all-wise ,providence1 whose loving care ,from seeming evil still educing good1 ,and better thence again1 and better still1 ,in infinite progression4 ,true culture consists not in an accumulation of facts or ideas1 but in developing a force of thought that is ever a ready and willing servant4 ,to educate is to lead out and develop the faculties1 not to break them down with the endless rubbish of other minds4 ,the collection of facts amounts to but little unless with those facts we build towers from which to take higher and wider views of truth4 ,thus it is that culture demands them as a means1 not as an end4 ,to build up the mental and moral faculties1 so as to comprehend and appreciate the great principles which control the life that now is1 and that which is to come1 is the highest culture in our probationary state4 ,this can be accomplished only by an education in which the ,bible and the authority of ,christ are made paramount4 ,on this1 as we have seen1 our free institutions and the perpetuity of religious liberty depend4 ,this is the secret of ,roman ,catholic opposition to the ,bible in our public schools4 ,and it is not simply the ,bible in the public schools that ,rome opposes2 she is opposed to the existence of the schools themselves2 to the system of free education4 ,no people understand better than the ,catholics the power of religious teaching in connection with education4 ,hence they are the foe to all religion in connection with education that is not ,catholic4 ,rome is the friend of education and religion when that education is priestly and that religion ,romish2 otherwise she is the enemy of both4 ,hence those who support ,catholic schools foster the deadliest foe of our religious liberties4 ,there will ever be1 therefore1 an irrepressible conflict between ,roman ,catholicism and ,christian culture4 ,let him who doubts this study impartially the history of ,catholic countries4 ,we ask no more4 ,the idea is fast passing away1 and it can not pass too rapidly1 that the mass of the people need no other culture than that which fits them for their various vocations4 ,the world is beginning to learn that culture is due to our nature1 not to our calling4 ,it is not the calling nor the place of residence that makes the man4 ,it is what a man is1 not what he does1 that makes him great4 ,true greatness is in the man1 not in circumstances4 ,true greatness and worldly fame are two widely different things4 ,the greatest men of earth may be but little known4 ,as force of thought measures intellectual1 so force of principle measures moral1 greatness4 ,there is more true greatness in the huts of poverty than in the palaces of kings1 only it is undeveloped4 ,here1 therefore1 is where we need true ,christian culture4 ,i can not better express my appreciation of obscure greatness1 which culture should develop1 than by repeating the words of ,dr4 ,channing3 ,the greatest man1 says he1 is he who chooses the right with invincible resolution1 who resists the sorest temptation from within and without1 who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully1 who is calmest in storms and most fearless under menace and frowns1 whose reliance on truth1 on virtue1 on ,god1 is most unfaltering2 and is this a greatness which is apt to make a show1 or which is most likely to abound in conspicuous stations8 ,the solemn conflicts of reason with passion2 the victories of moral and religious principles over urgent and almost irresistible solicitations to self-indulgence2 the hardest sacrifices of duty1 those of deep-seated affection and of the heart's fondest hopes2 the consolations1 hopes1 joys1 and peace1 of disappointed1 persecuted1 scorned1 deserted virtue2 these are of course unseen1 so that the true greatness of human life is almost wholly out of sight4 ,perhaps in our presence the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit1 the loftiest purpose cherished1 the most generous sacrifices made1 and we do not suspect it4 ,i believe this greatness to be most common among the multitude1 whose names are never heard4 ,most beautifully has the poet expressed the same fine thought3 ,full many a gem of purest ray serene1 ,the dark1 unfathomed caves of ocean bear2 ,full many a flower is born to blush unseen1 ,and waste its sweetness on the desert air4 ,these pure gems need to be discovered and polished1 and these sweet flowers cultivated and utilized by ,christian culture4 ,it is idle to talk of developing these hidden resources of intellectual and moral wealth but by true culture1 and this can never exist apart from ,christianity4 ,christianity is the spiritual power that vitalizes the culture of our age4 ,so evident is this that even a ,fichte was compelled to confess that1 ,we and our whole age are rooted in the soil of ,christianity1 and have sprung from it2 it has exercised its influence in the most manifold ways on the whole of our culture1 and we should be absolutely nothing of all that we are1 if this mighty principle had not preceded us4 ,culture and ,christianity can not now be divorced4 ,those who would array culture against ,christianity are themselves under the influence of that which they oppose4 ,the very imagined imperfections of ,christianity must be discovered by the light of ,christianity1 just as he who seeks to discover spots in the sun1 must for this purpose borrow the light of the sun itself4 ,culture and ,christianity are so interwoven that we may never expect either1 separate from the other1 as a blessing to the world4 ,the very fact that the ,protestant nations of the earth1 where ,god is honored by a free ,bible1 are the chief exponents of true culture1 attests this connection4 ,so vital is this relation that1 ,united they stand2 divided they fall4 ,another important end to be attained in the culture of the masses is independence of thought4 ,we need to cast off the yoke of human opinion and cultivate the individual judgment4 ,we are too much the slaves of fashion4 ,we are disposed to dress our minds as well as our bodies1 after the fashion of the times4 ,this destroys originality and independence of thought1 and renders our lives tame and insipid4 ,we need connection with other minds to excite our own1 not to enslave them4 ,we want the thoughts of others that we may think2 and without correct modes of thinking1 all efforts at education and culture are failures4 ,but it may be argued1 the masses are denied the privilege of association with the cultivated4 ,this is not true4 ,they may deprive themselves1 but they are not denied4 ,this is peculiarly an age of printing4 ,the best of literature may now find its way into the most humble homes4 ,there is not a roof in the land under which the prophets and apostles of ,god will not enter with the glad message containing the promise of the life that is and that which is to come2 not one under which the poets will not come to sing to us of that far-off land2 not one too holy for the habitation of the great minds of earth which inspire us ,with thoughts that breathe1 ,and words that burn4 ,with these for our companions1 we may have the best society that this world affords1 and1 by such association1 fit ourselves for the companionship of the cultivated4 ,is it argued that the poor have not time for self-culture8 ,this is one of the greatest mistakes of life4 ,it is not time that we want2 it is inclination4 ,generally1 those who have most time profit by it least4 ,an earnest purpose will either find time or make time4 ,nor is it necessary that much time should be taken4 ,the spare moments1 the mere fragments of time1 often worse than wasted1 will1 if carefully improved1 make both mind and heart a store-house of the most precious treasure4 ,it is said that ,spurgeon read the whole of ,macaulay's ,history of ,england between the courses at dinner4 ,i would not advise that these golden opportunities for social culture be devoted to reading2 but the circumstance shows how much may be accomplished by gathering up the crumbs which fall from the table of time4 ,when ,martin ,luther was asked how1 amid all his other labors1 he found time to translate the ,holy ,scriptures1 he replied1 ,one verse a day4 ,a small amount of daily reading1 of the right kind1 will furnish food for thought2 and it is thought1 after all1 that enriches the soul4 ,a proper improvement of the most slender opportunities for self-culture creates new capacities for enjoyment1 and saves the leisure moments from being dull and wearisome4 ,more than this2 it saves them from being devoted to ruinous indulgence4 ,the soul-culture for which these fragments of time provide1 lifts humanity above mere brutal enjoyments1 and implants pleasures worthy of their race4 ,christian culture is essential to the subduing of sensuality1 and the subduing of sensuality is essential to the permanent prosperity of both individuals and nations4 ,but1 it may be said1 any considerable degree of culture will lift the masses above their vocations1 and cause them to become dissatisfied with their lot2 that the cultured mind despises drudgery4 ,the very reverse of this is true4 ,culture dignifies labor and destroys drudgery4 ,the man determines the dignity of the calling2 not the calling the dignity of the man4 ,let men of culture carry their culture into their vocations1 and their vocations will become honorable4 ,let cultured men plow and reap1 and plowing and reaping will become as dignified as the learned professions4 ,because a man can not wear as fine a garb at the forge as he can at the desk1 it does not follow that his thoughts may not be as fine4 ,a man may wear a polished intellect and a cultivated soul under a coarse garb as well as under a fine one2 and he should be respected the more1 if circumstances have compelled him to develop his intellectual and moral forces2 if at all1 under a rough exterior4 ,while in these thoughts ,i have spoken of men1 ,i have used the term generically4 ,the principles apply with equal force to the women of this country4 ,one of the great evils of our land is1 that among the ladies1 domestic labor is not sufficiently dignified4 ,the number of mothers in the ordinary walks of life1 silly enough to think that ignorance of domestic duties is an accomplishment for their daughters1 is by no means small4 ,this results from a want of true culture and common sense4 ,there is no just reason why a young lady should not knead her dough and conjugate a ,greek verb at the same time with equal skill4 ,true culture will dignify domestic labor among women of all classes1 and this will result in more domestic prosperity1 and more domestic happiness4 ,the rich and the poor will be brought into closer sympathy1 unnecessary distinctions will be broken down1 and the people will become one in the essential elements of good government and pure religion4 ,young ladies1 you above all others should appreciate the blending of culture and ,christianity4 ,one glance at the history of the world must convince you that the highest culture1 unsanctified by ,christianity1 has never elevated your sex above disgraceful servitude4 ,certainly you can not entertain the thought1 that the culture which does not elevate woman can ever bless the world4 ,only ,christianity has exalted the gentler sex to that position in the esteem and affections of men that ,god designed she should occupy4 ,hence1 of all the friends of ancient ,christianity1 woman should be the truest and most lasting2 and of all the enemies of modern ,rationalism1 she should be the most bitter and unrelenting4 ,in conclusion1 allow me to repeat the thought of the beginning1 that it is the nature of man to look upward1 and he who does not look upward is untrue to his nature4 ,but in the flesh1 we can only begin to ascend the heights of ,god4 ,here we are weighed down with infirmity1 with our frail1 decaying bodies2 but our souls long for the power of incessant1 never-wearying1 glorious activity1 awaiting us in the upper world4 ,one of my highest conceptions of ,heaven2 one that thrills me to contemplate1 is a life of no more prostration from labor2 no more weariness of over-wrought brain2 no aching head nor pain-racked body2 but incessant labor1 unincumbered by frail mortality2 growth1 development1 expanding visions of ,god1 among pure intelligences1 and amid the celestial splendor of eternal worlds4 ,but in the flesh1 ,i can not bathe in those fountains of celestial light4 ,then let me leave this frail tenement of clay1 as one steps out of the vehicle that can take him no farther1 and leaving it behind1 ascends the lofty mountain to gaze upon the unfolding wonders of ,god4 ,let my liberated spirit not only look upward1 but mount upward1 as on eagles' wings1 till rising above the ,pleiades1 and leaving the ,milky-way to fade out in the receding distance1 it walks with ,god on the ever-ascending plain1 reached only by culture and ,christianity4 ,,ii4--,,self ,,culture4 ,an ,address ,delivered ,before ,columbia ,christian ,college1 ,june #g1 #ahgh4 ,ladies and ,gentlemen3--,i am happy in the privilege of again addressing you in the interests of the great work in which you are so nobly engaged4 ,to-day many of you go out from under the fostering care of this institution1 to engage in the ceaseless battle of life4 ,that you have been well panoplied for the conflict is not questioned4 ,and1 if ,i can second1 in some degree1 the efforts of your faithful and worthy ,faculty in directing and encouraging you to that success that should crown their efforts and yours1 ,i shall feel that ,i have labored to no trifling purpose4 ,the theme selected for your consideration is ,self-,culture4 ,man1 though fallen1 is in his ruins grand4 ,his powers of development are little less than infinite4 ,they begin with the cradle1 but do not end with the grave4 ,no other being begins so low and ascends so high4 ,in his beginning1 he is crushed before the moth2 in the fullness of his power he shall judge angels4 ,in this world he scarcely begins to live4 ,this life is too short and this world too small for the development of his ,god-given faculties4 ,here he scarcely learns the alphabet preparatory to ,god's grand university from which he is never to graduate4 ,he simply begins the study of an unending book4 ,he but gathers a few pebbles on the shores of the river of time1 then sinks beneath its wave4 ,but while in this world we scarcely make a beginning1 yet everything depends on the character of that beginning4 ,as is the beginning1 so will be the conclusion4 ,in the direction taken in time will we progress in eternity4 ,we may repent of our mistakes here and correct them1 but there is no repentance beyond the grave4 ,there are no mistakes corrected in eternity4 ,hence the necessity of a proper use of time4 ,i have selected the word culture to express the idea which ,i wish to convey1 and yet ,i must confess that it does not express it as happily as ,i should desire4 ,where the ,greeks had their paideia1 the ,romans their humanitas1 we have the more elastic and accommodating word culture4 ,i use it in this address in the sense of drawing out and developing the nobler powers that are potentially in fallen humanity4 ,it is not so much the development of all the faculties in man to their highest extent1 as the directing and training of the better ones to their true end4 ,we are dealing here with beginnings1 not endings4 ,the perfection of man in all his capacities is not a thing of time4 ,in time1 the character must receive its mold2 in eternity1 its highest polish4 ,by self-culture ,i mean1 of course1 the power that one has1 and ought to use1 of cultivating himself4 ,to cultivate anything1 says ,dr4 ,channing1 be it a plant1 an animal1 a mind1 is to make grow4 ,growth1 expansion is the end4 ,nothing admits culture but that which has a principle of life1 capable of being expanded4 ,he1 therefore1 who does what he can to unfold all his powers and capacities1 especially his nobler ones1 so as to become a well proportioned1 vigorous1 happy being1 practices self-culture4 ,this may apply to those who have not the advantages of schools and colleges1 and to the after education of those who have4 ,we hear much in this age about a finished education at college4 ,there is1 alas6 too much truth in the expression4 ,generally1 the more superficial our collegiate education1 the more completely is it finished on the day of graduation4 ,how few young ladies and gentlemen meet the expectations raised by their educational advantages6 ,how few years sadden loving hearts with disappointed hopes6 ,how many stars shine brilliantly within college walls1 then go out to be seen no more6 ,and all this the result of a finished education6 ,most of these failures are the result of wrong views of education4 ,our school days are but a beginning of our earthly education1 as this is but the beginning of that which is to come4 ,it is not what we learn in school1 but what we learn after leaving it1 that determines our success or failure4 ,these advantages are but for the purpose of laying the foundation2 the building is the work of after years4 ,and he who does not build1 does not even preserve the foundation4 ,alas6 how many well-laid foundations have moldered into ruin6 ,no sooner does the plant cease to grow than it begins to decay4 ,therefore1 he who would live must grow1 and he who would grow must be active4 ,there is no success to him who stands with his hands in his pockets4 ,this is an age of intense activity4 ,competition in every calling is sharp2 the professions are crowded1 and there is room only at the top4 ,therefore1 the path to success is not strewed with flowers and tinted with the rainbow's hue4 ,as ,carlyle truly says3 ,the race of life has become intense2 the runners are treading upon each other's heels1 woe be to him who stops to tie his shoestrings4 ,many a young man fails because he thinks himself a genius1 and therefore does not need to study4 ,the sooner you get rid of the idea that you are a genius the better4 ,the old idea of a genius that never has to study is the pet of laziness and the ruin of manliness4 ,sidney ,smith truly says3 ,there is but one method of attaining to excellence1 and that is hard labor2 and a man who will not pay that price for distinction had better at once dedicate himself to the pursuit of the fox1 or sport with the tangles of ,nera's hair1 or talk of bullocks and glory in the goad6 ,there are many modes of being frivolous1 and not a few of being useful2 there is but one mode of being intellectually great4 ,it is common for those who have not the wealth to afford them a luxurious college course to bemoan their misfortune and content themselves with being nothing4 ,if culture were attained by complaining of misfortune1 many would soon reach perfection4 ,to some1 extreme poverty is doubtless a misfortune1 but to many others it is a blessing4 ,the world's grandest heroes and benefactors have struggled with poverty2 and1 but for this1 they would have died unwept and unhonored4 ,the great men and women of earth were not dandled in the lap of luxury4 ,lord ,thurlow1 ,chancellor of ,england1 when asked by a wealthy friend what course his son should pursue to secure success at the bar1 is said to have thus replied3 ,let your son spend his fortune1 marry and spend his wife's1 and then go to the bar2 there will be little fear of his failure4 ,the ,chancellor well knew that1 with his wealth1 the young man would not do the work that success demanded4 ,how many men1 and women1 too1 were never anything till they lost their fortune6 ,then the world felt their power4 ,what a fortune1 then1 to have no fortune to lose6 ,true1 poverty brings difficulties1 but difficulties develop men4 ,they show the material out of which one is composed4 ,while they dishearten the irresolute1 they stimulate the brave4 ,the wind that extinguishes the taper only intensifies the heat of the stronger flame4 ,gnats are blown with the wind1 but kites rise only against it4 ,all culture is1 in a large degree1 self-culture4 ,our teachers are only helps4 ,they can teach us1 but they can not learn us4 ,we must do our own learning4 ,wealth can not buy it1 nor luxurious surroundings impart it2 it must be made ours by personal application4 ,i am not contending that all may or should be scholars in the proper sense of that word4 ,there is a difference between culture and scholarship4 ,a man of culture may or may not be a scholar4 ,i plead more especially for the training of the mind1 for the development of the nobler faculties of our nature1 that we may fulfill the true end of our being4 ,i do not mean that all should be great1 in the popular acceptation of that term4 ,this is neither desirable nor possible4 ,if all were great1 then none were great4 ,but ,god has designed us all for positions of usefulness and happiness2 some in one direction1 some in another4 ,these positions we should seek and fill to the full extent of our ability4 ,and it is with reference to this ability that ,i am making the plea for self-culture4 ,it is not simply preparation for a position1 but development in it1 for which ,i plead4 ,there is much said in this age about education for a position1 and this education is all right2 the more thorough the better4 ,but the trouble is1 too many seem to think that this is all4 ,here is the ruinous mistake4 ,there is a world of difference between being educated for a calling1 and being educated in it4 ,that may be obtained in schools and colleges2 this is a work of subsequent life4 ,that is important2 this is indispensable4 ,without that1 this may be a grand success2 without this1 that is next to worthless4 ,many men are highly educated in their calling who were never educated for it4 ,this is self-culture in its true sense4 ,nor is the culture for which ,i plead derived simply from books4 ,these we need1 but we need them simply as helps4 ,we should make them our servants1 not our masters4 ,a bookworm is sometimes a very inferior kind of a worm4 ,some men that the schools call highly educated rely so much on books that they are nothing in themselves4 ,they have no mind of their own4 ,they deal altogether in second-hand goods4 ,we need to lay aside our books1 and study men and things--commence with ,god and nature4 ,we must learn to think4 ,to think much4 ,to think accurately4 ,to do our own thinking1 not have it done for us4 ,without this1 we shall make but little of our advantages2 with it1 we rise superior to advantages4 ,neither am ,i contending that we should all strive for the learned professions4 ,it is just the reverse4 ,we want to elevate and ennoble the unlearned professions4 ,the ,american people1 at least1 should learn that the calling does not make the man4 ,we need to dignify all the honest and legitimate vocations by intellectual and moral culture4 ,we not only need to dignify labor by culture1 but1 by so doing1 we need to dignify the mass of our common humanity4 ,personal worth consists not in what one does1 but in what one is4 ,better be a good barber than a poor doctor1 a good shoemaker than a poor lawyer4 ,i would not be understood as claiming that men and women in all the vocations in life should be cultured in all directions4 ,in this age of short and intense life this is not practicable4 ,it might have done before the flood1 when men lived a thousand years1 but it is not adapted to the nineteenth century4 ,remember ,i am speaking with reference to the masses4 ,men can not know everything1 neither can they do everything1 and do it well4 ,all knowledge may be made useful1 and ,i would urge the obtaining of all possible2 but it is a mistake to try to do too much1 and do nothing4 ,a few things well understood are of more value than a smattering of much4 ,by all means avoid being ,jack-of-all-trades4 ,decide what you want to do and do it4 ,i would urge the training of mind and heart and hand as a specialty in that which you select as a life work1 embellished and perfected by all the general knowledge that a life of intense application will enable you to possess4 ,difference in occupation demands a difference in special culture1 but not in general4 ,this is culture1 not of the schools1 simply1 but of life4 ,but the difficulties and the means of self-culture need now to be considered4 ,in doing this1 the first essential element to success to which your attention is called1 is ,,self-,,reliance4 ,no man ever amounted to much who did not rely on ,god and himself4 ,the young man who whines around1 waiting for some one to help him1 instead of helping himself1 ought to be sent back to the nursery1 clothed in enlarged baby-gowns1 and fed with a spoon4 ,men of independence are the men that move the world4 ,the living rarely walk well in the shoes of the dead1 and he who waits for them ought to go barefooted all his life4 ,god helps those who help themselves4 ,self-reliance toughens our sinews and develops our manhood4 ,it is not in the sheltered garden or the hothouse1 but on the rugged ,alpine cliffs where the storm bursts most violently1 that the toughest plants are reared4 ,the man who does not rely on self1 soon ceases to have any self4 ,he becomes a zoological parasite1 instead of a man4 ,he is a lobster that waits for the sea to come to him1 instead of going to it1 though its waves may be dashing at his feet4 ,should the sea accommodate him in time1 well enough2 otherwise he dies4 ,these men make the subjunctive heroes of the world4 ,they always might1 could1 would or should do some great thing2 but they never get into the imperative mood to do it4 ,they have never learned self-reliance2 and1 the result is1 they never learned anything worth knowing4 ,they can never appreciate this saying of the immortal ,burke3 ,i was not rocked and swaddled and dandled into a legislator4 ,nitor in adversum is the motto for a man like me4 ,those who are afraid to move without the arms of a rich ancestry around them1 will never learn to walk erect4 ,they will never have a firm1 elastic step1 nor make the world feel the weight of their tread4 ,the man who thus shrinks from difficulties and responsibilities1 refuses to be a pupil of the best teacher the world affords4 ,they should learn that repeated failure1 if wisely used1 is but a means to grand success4 ,as ,dr4 ,mathews truly says3 ,great statesmen in all countries have owed their sagacity1 tact and foresight more to their failures than to their successes4 ,the diplomatist becomes master of his art by being baffled1 thwarted1 defeated1 quite as much as by winning his points4 ,every time he is checkmated he acquires a profounder knowledge of the political game1 and makes his next combination with increased skill and increased chances of success4 ,ease and luxury may make the butterflies of society1 but difficulties make men and women4 ,that was a wise saying of ,pythagoras1 that1 ability and necessity dwell near each other4 ,it is astonishing how difficulties will yield to one who will not yield to them4 ,they tip their plumed caps to his dominant will1 and politely bow themselves out of sight4 ,they not only clear the way for self-reliance1 but give him the encouragement of their parting salute4 ,every person1 says ,gibbon1 has two educations--one which he receives from others1 and one1 more important1 which he gives himself4 ,archimedes said1 ,give me a standing-place and ,i will move the world4 ,but ,goethe more happily says1 ,make good thy standing-place and move the world4 ,circumstances may afford a standing-place1 but self-reliance alone can give the leverage power4 ,we must learn that character and worth consists in doing1 not in possessing4 ,not resting1 not having1 not being simply1 but growing and becoming1 is the true character of self-culture4 ,this thought is most beautifully expressed by ,rogers-- ,our reward ,is in the race we run1 not in the prize1 ,those few1 to whom is given what they ne'er earned1 ,having by favor or inheritance ,the dangerous gifts placed in their hands1 ,know not1 nor ever can1 the generous pride ,that glows in him who on himself relies1 ,entering the lists of life4 ,he speeds beyond ,them all1 and foremost in the race succeeds4 ,his joy is not that he has got his crown1 ,but that the power to win the crown is his4 ,another important item in the attainment of self-culture is the ,,economy ,,of ,,time4 ,time is a divine inheritance that no man has a right to squander4 ,the antediluvians might have afforded to be a little profligate in this direction1 but the man who would fulfill his high destiny in this age has no time to lose4 ,lost time is forever lost4 ,there is much useless complaint in the world of a want of time4 ,it is not more time we need1 so much as a better use of that we have4 ,i do not mean that we should deprive ourselves of requisite sleep and rest4 ,on the contrary1 the regulation of these constitutes a part of the economy of which ,i speak4 ,rest is necessary2 but all rest is not idleness4 ,we should learn to rest by changing our employment1 not by its abandonment4 ,the man whose mind becomes weary in his study1 finds the most invigorating rest in manual labor4 ,the physical and intellectual have a happy reflective influence on each other4 ,the moments wisely taken for intellectual and moral culture by the laboring man are fountains whose refreshing stream1 like that from ,horeb1 follows him through his daily toil4 ,they are a ceaseless pleasure1 both in remembrance and anticipation4 ,those1 also whose lives are disconnected with manual labor should have such a variety of work that one kind prepares the way for the enjoyment of another4 ,there are both pleasure and health in a change of diet4 ,to happily manage this variety requires a training of the mind essential to self-culture4 ,we must learn to do the right thing at the right time4 ,the happy influence of one thing upon another depends on their arrangement and the manner of their execution4 ,it may not be well to have too many irons in the fire1 but it is certainly best to have enough for some to be heating while others are cooling4 ,in order to do the right thing at the right time1 and do it well1 we must learn to think about the right thing at the right time4 ,this is one of the most important features in mental training4 ,we can think well on but one thing at a time4 ,therefore1 the mind that is filled with various kinds of thoughts can prosecute none of them successfully4 ,we must learn to select the guests that we would have sit at our intellectual banquets1 summon or exclude them at will1 and never permit the intrusion of a promiscuous crowd4 ,when our work is arranged for the day1 the week1 the month1 the year1 we should set apart the time to be devoted to each item1 both in work and in thought2 and then never allow the thoughts of one to encroach upon the time allotted to another4 ,we should so train the mind that we can think about the thing only of which we wish to think1 concentrate our whole mind upon it till the time comes to put it away2 then dismiss it in a moment1 turn to something else1 and think no more about it1 till its proper time4 ,the mind is soon trained to pass from one subject to another in a moment1 with all its powers of concentration4 ,this mastery of the mind1 once attained1 will enable us to study at all times and places regardless of circumstances4 ,the man who can not study amid the wild shouts of the excited multitude is not his own master4 ,he who can command his time and his talents only when no surging billows beat against his quiet retreat1 has necessarily to spend much of life in which he has neither time nor talents which he can call his own4 ,a very important item1 then1 in the economy of time1 is to learn to labor under difficulties1 till we rise superior to external surroundings4 ,to keep the reins of the mind well in hand when there is a stampede all around us1 is absolutely essential in the great crises of life4 ,this is attained only by training the mind to instantaneous concentration under all circumstances4 ,this1 then1 ,i would urge you to persist in until it is accomplished4 ,without this you will lose much time in acquiring information1 and1 what is of vastly more importance1 you will be unprepared to use what you have at the very time1 it may be1 when it is most needed4 ,another important element in the economy of time we learn from the great ,teacher who said1 ,gather up the fragments1 that nothing be lost4 ,if ,he who had the power to create as well as to preserve1 was such an economist of the remnants of loaves and fishes1 how much more should we save the fragments of time1 which we can not lengthen out a span8 ,many people seem to think they can make garments only out of whole cloth4 ,if they have not an abundance of uninterrupted time in which to accomplish a thing1 they think they can not accomplish it at all4 ,such men accomplish but little1 not for want of time1 but for want of its economy4 ,to avoid this waste1 we must learn to weave whole garments out of the mere ravelings of the fabric of time4 ,but some complain that they can not get up steam for intellectual labor in these fractions of time4 ,we don't need to get up steam4 ,the steam should be already up4 ,we only need to change the gearing4 ,there is a momentum in the active man1 says ,mathews1 which of itself almost carries him to the mark1 just as a very light stroke will keep a hoop going1 when a smart one was required to set it in motion4 ,while others are yawning and stretching themselves to overcome the vis inertiae1 he has his eyes wide open1 his faculties keyed up for action1 and is thoroughly alive in every fiber4 ,he walks through the world with his hands unmuffled and ready by his side1 and so can sometimes do more by a single touch in passing than a vacant man is likely to do by strenuous effort4 ,let no one conclude that nothing important can be accomplished by these scattered fragments4 ,it is said that ,hugh ,miller found time while pursuing his trade as a stone-mason1 not only to read but to write1 cultivating his style till he became one of the most facile and brilliant authors of the day4 ,also1 that ,elihu ,burritt acquired a mastery of eighteen languages and twenty-two dialects1 not by rare genius1 which he disclaimed1 but by improving the bits and fragments of time which he could steal from his occupation as a blacksmith4 ,with these examples before us1 then1 let no one conclude that he can not get time from his daily vocation1 whatever it may be1 to cultivate his mind1 and develop his moral and intellectual faculties4 ,another essential element in self-culture is ,,singleness ,,of ,,purpose4 ,a man1 says ,emerson1 is like a bit of ,labrador spar1 which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand until you come to a particular angle2 then it shows deep and beautiful colors4 ,there is no adaptation or universal applicability in man2 but each has his special talent2 and the mastery of successful men consists in adroitly keeping themselves where and when that turn shall need oftenest to be practiced4 ,the successful man in every calling1 whether literary1 scientific or business1 is he who is totus in illo--who can say with ,paul1 this one thing ,i do6 ,with the exception of a few great creative minds1 the men whose names are historic are identified with some one achievement1 upon which all their life force is spent4 ,whatever ,i have tried to do in my life1 says ,dickens1 ,i have tried with all my heart to do well4 ,what ,i have devoted myself to1 ,i have devoted myself to completely4 ,never to put one hand to a thing on which ,i would not throw my whole self1 and never to affect depreciation of my work1 whatever it was1 ,i find now to have been golden rules4 ,the fact is1 the range of human knowledge has become so extensive that the man who would know some things well must have the courage to be ignorant of many others4 ,there are many things for which one is wholly incapacitated2 for which he has no talent1 and1 as a rule1 time spent in this direction is time lost4 ,goethe justly says3 ,we should guard against a talent which we can not hope to practice in perfection4 ,improve it as we may1 we shall always1 in the end1 when the merit of the master has become apparent to us1 painfully lament the loss of time and strength devoted to such botching4 ,sidney ,smith condemns what he calls the foppery of universality--of knowing all sciences and excelling in all arts4 ,now my advice1 he says1 on the contrary1 is to have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things1 in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything4 ,i do not mean that you should try to learn but one thing1 or be a man or woman of one idea2 far from it4 ,i simply mean that you must be select4 ,select your calling1 and then bend all your energies in that direction4 ,let those branches of knowledge that bear most directly on your vocation be mastered first1 then widen the circle as opportunity affords4 ,do not scatter your powers over so much territory that they are felt nowhere4 ,it is only when the sun's rays are brought to a focus that they burn4 ,the man who is one thing this year1 another next2 studies medicine a while1 then law1 is next a school-teacher1 and then an insurance agent1 will1 in the end1 be nothing4 ,men who are always changing1 never learn enough about anything to make it of any value4 ,men who are eminent in their professions have stuck to them with a singleness of purpose4 ,men talk much about genius1 when1 generally1 the genius of which they speak is but the result of unremitting application4 ,the genius that blesses this world is simply a talent for hard work4 ,they are men who have the resolution to try1 and the courage to persevere4 ,idle men of the most eminent natural ability are soon distanced in the race by the mediocre who sticks to his purpose and plods4 ,then1 ,i repeat1 if you would succeed in life1 in whatever calling you may select1 divest yourself of the idea that you are a genius and do not need the application demanded by common mortality2 rely not on the caprices of fickle fortune2 but rely on ,god and yourself1 economize your time1 apply yourself with diligence and with singleness of purpose4 ,with these you will be a blessing to the world1 and fulfill the high and holy purposes of ,god in giving you being4 ,self-culture looks not simply to time1 but to eternity4 ,no man is truly cultured who is not cultured for eternity4 ,his culture is but one-sided1 and that the most inferior side4 ,the well-rounded and perfected culture1 though it may be only partial so far as the culture of this world is concerned1 is the culture that prepares one to matriculate in the great university over which ,god presides1 and sit forever in delightful appreciation at the feet of the great ,teacher4 ,let this1 then1 be the ultimatum of all your efforts4 ,it is for this reason that you should so highly appreciate this institution from which you go out to-day as honored students4 ,while the various branches of the arts and sciences that pertain to this life1 have been carefully and accurately taught you1 the great ,science of eternal life1 if ,i may so term it1 has been1 ,i trust1 indelibly engraved on your every heart4 ,a college whose faculty is composed exclusively of ,christian men and women1 and in which the systematic study of the ,bible by both ladies and gentlemen is made one of its most prominent features1 will ever be most highly appreciated by those who appreciate true culture1 and know in what it consists4 ,i think ,i appreciate a high standard of education1 and ,i want1 if possible1 to give my children its advantages2 but ,i should infinitely prefer their never going beyond the common school than to be graduated with the first honors from the most renowned colleges or universities of ,europe or ,america1 in which the authority of ,jesus is not held as supreme1 and the ,bible honored as our only divine guide4 ,other things being equal1 we should always honor those institutions most that honor ,god's word most4 ,for this reason1 then1 as well as for many others1 we delight to honor this institution from whose fostering care you this day go forth4 ,in conclusion1 let me entreat you to be what this world now most needs--,,men and ,,women4 ,the world is now burdened with gentlemen and ladies2 but it is perishing for the want of ,,men and ,,women4 ,the world needs men and women that are true to themselves1 true to each other1 and true to ,god--men and women who know what manliness is1 and what womanly virtues are2 who delight in the real1 and scorn the counterfeit2 who have the courage to do right because it is right2 who would rather stand alone on the side of truth1 than with the world on the side of error2 who are governed by high and holy principle1 not by selfish policy4 ,we need men and women that will create a healthier public sentiment1 rather than to float on that which exists2 who will frown out of countenance the fraud1 dishonesty and meanness that now lifts high its head in society2 who will not live in fine palaces1 drive fast horses1 and occupy the first pews in the sanctuary1 at ten cents on the dollar4 ,the world needs men and women who have hearts and consciences1 as well as brains2 who realize that they have a soul as well as a body2 who live for eternity rather than for time4 ,god grant that you may all make such men and women4 ,that you may not only be a blessing to the age and generation in which you live2 but that your influence for the true1 the beautiful and the good1 may be felt like the gentle dews of heaven upon the earth1 generations after you are gathered to your fathers6 ,may you be diligent and faithful in the cultivation of your nobler powers of mind and heart till the world shall bless ,god that you have lived in it2 then laying aside the body1 in which you have fought the grand fight for righteousness and truth--a fight on which ,god and angels have looked with interest and delight--as you would lay aside a worn-out garment1 and passing through the gates ajar1 enter on a higher plane of culture1 where you will not have to rely upon self1 and struggle against adversity as here2 but where you will have all the facilities of ,heaven1 and be forever pupils of the great ,teacher6 ,,iii4--,,plus ,,ultra ,,vs4 ,,ne ,,plus ,,ultra4 ,an ,address ,delivered ,before ,eminence ,college1 ,june #aj1 #ahha4 ,,ladies ,,and ,,gentlemen ,,of ,,eminence ,,college3--,it has ever been a delight to me to meet with the faculty and students of ,eminence ,college on these festive occasions4 ,it is but natural that the hearts of those who have gone out from these classic halls should turn on these gala days1 and in feeling if not in fact1 renew the fond associations of the past4 ,they are oases in the desert2 well-springs to the thirsty soul in the journey of life4 ,i should1 therefore1 be untrue to myself1 and unjust to you1 were ,i not to confess to a pardonable pride in the privilege of addressing for the second time one of the graduating classes of this renowned institution4 ,the subject on which ,i shall to-day address you is ,plus ,ultra vs4 ,ne ,plus ,ultra4 ,spain is the great southwestern peninsula of ,europe4 ,it juts out between two seas as does no other country of that continent4 ,before the discovery of ,america by ,columbus1 the ,spaniards prided themselves on the supposed fact that their country was the last point of solid land on the earth westward4 ,beyond them1 they thought1 there was nothing but a vast expanse of water--a shoreless ocean--a mystery never to be solved4 ,consequently the early coins of that country1 in order to give prominence to this idea1 were indented with a picture of the pillars of ,hercules1 the two great sentries on each side of the straits of ,gibraltar4 ,encircling these pillars on their coins was the inscription1 ne plus ultra--nothing beyond4 ,they imagined1 therefore1 that they constituted the limits of creation2 that beyond them there was nothing4 ,consequently1 as in creation the last is the best1 they gave to themselves the preminence4 ,in this proud idea they rested and praised the ,lord4 ,in their own estimation1 therefore1 they constituted the ne plus ultra of ,god's favored people4 ,thus they constituted another proud monument of man's folly and ignorance1 from which it is well to take warning4 ,in course of time1 however1 ,columbus conceived the idea of another world west of ,spain4 ,after long years of discouragement1 sufficient to crush the spirit of all but those of noble impulses and high resolves1 he was permitted1 with a small fleet1 utterly insignificant in this age1 to sail westward4 ,he thus discovered the new world whose existence1 if ever known before1 had faded from the memory of man4 ,on his return1 when the ,spaniards became convinced that a great continent lay to the west of them1 they were compelled1 humiliating as it was1 to change the inscription on their coins1 encircling the pillars of ,hercules1 to plus ultra--more beyond4 ,this the demonstrated truth demanded4 ,thus the discovery of ,america took the ne off of their proud motto1 thus teaching them a lesson which should be a lesson to the world4 ,their negation was changed to an affirmation4 ,their boasted limit of creation was changed to an acknowledgment of the unknown beyond4 ,thus it has ever been in man's proud history4 ,thus it will doubtless continue to be till we know as we are known4 ,whether there be knowledge1 it shall vanish away2 for now we know only in part1 but then shall we know even also as we are known4 ,the first thought with which ,i would impress your minds to-day1 especially the minds of those who go out from this institution with the honors of graduation1 is that there is something beyond--the plus ultra of a collegiate education4 ,one of the most fatal mistakes in securing a collegiate education is1 that this is all4 ,if one of you entertains the idea to-day that your education is finished1 you will be a failure4 ,we hear much in this age about a finished education in college4 ,alas6 there is too much truth in it4 ,the education of many is thus finished1 and their progress in life is also finished4 ,a college course is not the end1 but simply the means1 of an education4 ,this is simply the foundation1 not the structure4 ,on this you are to hereafter build2 otherwise the foundation will be worthless4 ,without the after building the foundation itself will decay4 ,this is alike the teaching of the history of man and the ,son of ,god4 ,on this foundation1 therefore1 ,i would urge you to build1 not for time only1 but for eternity4 ,on it you should erect a noble structure1 at once an ornament and a blessing to your race4 ,this can not be done in a day4 ,patience and perseverance are the price of success4 ,you must learn to labor and to wait4 ,how often do we see the scintillations of genius within college walls1 of which we see or hear nothing after the day of graduation8 ,on that day the sun of their brilliancy seems to set forever4 ,why is this8 ,simply because they think their graduation is the ne plus ultra of their literary life4 ,it is not what we learn in college1 but what we learn after leaving it1 that makes us what we are in after life4 ,the value of a collegiate education consists not in the amount of information it imparts1 but in a preparation for the accumulation and use of information4 ,not simply the best minds1 but the best students are those who win the prize in the end4 ,not the best students in college1 but the best students after leaving it1 are those who make the world feel their power4 ,many study hard for the honors of graduation1 and beyond this seem to have no aspirations4 ,if this is their ne plus ultra1 then it is worthless4 ,this institution does not educate you for graduation2 it graduates you for education4 ,without this end in view1 its labors would better cease4 ,an institution is honored not by what its students know on the day of commencement1 but by what they know and do ere they matriculate in the great university of worlds4 ,it is1 therefore1 young ladies and gentlemen1 to this end and not to this hour1 that your teachers have faithfully labored to bring you4 ,without this in view1 you will miss the grand purpose of your education thus far4 ,doubtless many of us know men and women who have not grown an inch since the day that they went out from these or other halls of learning4 ,they may have promised much at the beginning4 ,on their success high hopes were built4 ,loving hands were impatient to wreathe their brows with the garlands of victory4 ,but1 alas6 those hopes have been blighted and those garlands have withered4 ,we see them in the pulpit1 at the bar1 and in all the other vocations of life4 ,they are failures1 not for want of mind1 but for want of application4 ,they have not followed up their victories1 and their victories have turned to defeat4 ,they have been resting on the honor of faded laurels1 that in their freshness so become you to-day4 ,to gather these was the ne plus ultra of their efforts1 and hence the end of their success4 ,therefore1 if any of you to-day look upon your graduation as the consummation of your literary struggles1 let me exhort you to change your motto1 and1 like the ,spaniards1 on the birth of the new world1 discard the idea of a possessed ultimatum1 and imprint upon your banner plus ultra--more beyond4 ,as most of the graduating class are ladies1 ,i feel the necessity of speaking especially of their hopes and prospects4 ,till recently1 the hindrances of woman's education and literary position have been great and discouraging4 ,but1 thanks to the religion of ,jesus1 her disabilities have in ,christian lands been removed4 ,woman was the crowning workmanship of ,god1 and she has received the crowning blessings of ,christianity4 ,by the blessing of ,christianity1 the intellectual and spiritual powers of woman are encouraged4 ,the world is often dazzled by her genius1 astonished at her resources1 and subdued by her spirit4 ,she has stood in the halls of learning1 walked in the groves of science1 and gathered laurels on the mountains of fame4 ,she has stimulated the world's genius1 soothed its passion1 and strewed her pathway through it with the sweetest flowers4 ,women have ever been the world's brightest angels of mercy-- ,whose company has harmonized mankind1 ,soften'd the rude and calmed the boisterous mind4 ,there are positions in the world for which woman was not made4 ,the finishing touches of creation's wondrous works were too delicate to fit her for the political arena1 the command of armies1 or the founding of empires4 ,she was made for higher and holier ends than these4 ,she is adapted to a work more noble and more enduring4 ,her empire is in the heart1 and her scepter one of spiritual dominion4 ,here she is a queen1 and reigns without a rival4 ,while there is a limit to her appropriate field of action1 there is no limit to her power4 ,some one has said3 ,the current of female existence runs more within the embankments of home4 ,this is true1 but her influence overflows those banks and inundates the world4 ,her influence may be compared to the sparkling rivulet that bursts from the mountain peak1 then winding its way to the valley below1 it flows gently onward for thousands of miles1 through rugged hills and fertile plains1 bathing the feet of great cities and slaking the thirst of great countries1 augmented by its tributaries1 till1 bearing upon its bosom the commerce of a nation1 it pours its flood of waters into the world's great ocean4 ,as our grand ,mississippi will readily yield to an infant's touch1 and yet bear upon its bosom the proudest vessels of man's invention1 so is the tenderness and the power of woman's influence4 ,i have spoken of woman being the last of creation4 ,this expression is generally used in a false sense4 ,she was last because ,god created on an ascending scale4 ,she was1 therefore1 last in creation and first in redemption4 ,she gave to the world its ,saviour1 and first proclaimed ,his birth from the dead4 ,she was ,his best friend while ,he was here1 and has been most devoted to ,his cause during ,his absence4 ,hence where ,christianity goes woman's power is felt4 ,the extent to which woman is honored marks to-day with unerring certainty the extent of a nation's civilization4 ,young ladies1 you have before you a field of golden opportunities4 ,only thrust in your sickles and reap4 ,in this age and country there are great potentialities to every young lady of a good mind and a pure heart4 ,let no one1 therefore1 be discouraged4 ,remember that there is something beyond--the plus ultra of a well-begun life4 ,having urged the necessity of plus ultra as your motto1 as against ne plus ultra1 ,i may drop some profitable hints as to the attainment of success4 ,you know that one may give good advice1 though he may not have profited by it himself4 ,in the first place1 everything depends on work4 ,intense application is the price of success4 ,the world's benefactors are the world's hard workers4 ,tickle the earth with a hoe1 and it will laugh at you with a harvest4 ,but it closes its fists against those who extend to it an idle hand4 ,many people contend that the world owes them a living1 and grumble that it does not pay the debt4 ,what have they done for the world to bring it into their debt8 ,the world owes every man a living when he earns it by honest toil1 and not before4 ,those who sow with a stingy hand may expect to reap a scanty harvest4 ,you should1 therefore1 in whatever vocation you may elect1 strive to succeed on this principle2 otherwise you will not deserve success4 ,you should not be discouraged because surroundings are not favorable1 and hope seems long deferred4 ,be not impatient of results4 ,do your whole duty1 and leave the consequences with the ,lord4 ,never strive to be great4 ,few men become great this way1 and they never deserve it4 ,true greatness comes as a result of devotion to principle and duty4 ,the highest and noblest success comes through a spirit of self-forgetfulness4 ,learn to be indifferent to surroundings4 ,you need not catch the spirit of the age unless the spirit of the age is worth catching4 ,when you contemplate ,marquis de ,condorcet1 in the dark days of the ,french ,revolution1 hiding in a lonely room in the city of ,paris1 while its streets ran red with noble and innocent blood1 quietly writing a book whose subject was1 ,man's ,certain ,progress to ,liberty1 ,virtue1 and ,happiness1 you will understand what ,i mean4 ,you must learn to think2 to think regardless of surroundings2 to think only of the thing of which you wish to think2 and on this to concentrate the whole power of your mind4 ,this requires careful training2 but this only is education4 ,with this you have full command of all your resources2 without this they avail but little4 ,the great motive power of the world is thought4 ,information without thought is simply a peddler burdened with stale wares on a dead market4 ,it is not what one knows1 but what he can produce1 that makes the world feel his power4 ,hence one must be a producer as well as a receiver4 ,the world's thought must be regenerated in his own mind4 ,he should turn the world's dead facts into living thoughts--,thoughts that breathe1 and words that burn4 ,avoid fickleness of purpose4 ,decide to do something in harmony with your endowments and the will of ,god1 and do it4 ,many people of fine attainments and intellectual powers are spending their lives trying to decide for what purpose the ,lord made them4 ,before they determine what they are good for1 the world is certain to decide that they are good for nothing4 ,life is too precious to be spent in hesitation4 ,he who vacillates will do nothing4 ,concentration is power4 ,the rays of the sun that would hardly warm an infant's hand will1 when concentrated by a lens1 blister the palms of the hardiest sons of toil4 ,if we would make life a success1 we must live for a purpose4 ,he who lives simply for the sake of living1 has no just conception of life4 ,those who live for the gratification of the flesh should remember that the goat lives for the same purpose4 ,how humiliating the thought1 that so many of the cultured1 as well as the ignorant2 the rich as well as the poor2 the cream of society as well as its dregs1 are thus living on the low plane of animal life6 ,the grand distinction between man and the brute creation is in his spirit nature4 ,without spiritual culture1 every thought1 every aspiration1 every gratification1 is of the earth earthy4 ,how sad1 then1 to see the gaudy butterflies of society spending their lives without a thought above that which alone can lift them forever above the plane of animal life6 ,it is sad thus to think1 but sadder still 'tis true4 ,the enjoyment of society1 therefore1 must not be your ne plus ultra1 else life will be a failure4 ,in order to the highest success1 you should live fast1 but not in the world's bad sense of that word4 ,i simply mean that your life should be intense4 ,mere existence is not life4 ,life is action4 ,life is not measured by time1 but by experience4 ,it is our duty1 therefore1 to live all we can in the time allotted us4 ,the patriarchs lived longer than we1 but we may live more than they4 ,this is a grand age in which we live4 ,we may now live more in fifty years than ,methuselah did before the flood4 ,the time is short4 ,hence if we would live much we must live fast4 ,but here ,i anticipate an objection4 ,you say1 ,we shall shorten our days by fast living4 ,not by this kind of fast living4 ,the world will never be troubled for burying ground for those who kill themselves simply by hard work4 ,it is not work1 but worry1 that wears men out4 ,we have too much friction in our lives4 ,this must be stopped4 ,an hour's passion will tell more on the constitution than a week's work4 ,the largest amount of action1 with the smallest amount of friction1 is the problem before you2 and he is the wisest philosopher who gives to us its best practical solution4 ,i wish now to invite your attention to mistakes that men have made in supposing that their knowledge was the ne plus ultra of human wisdom4 ,time was when the alchemists thought they possessed the ne plus ultra of human knowledge1 and that wisdom would die with them2 yet their knowledge is now to chemistry what astrology is to astronomy4 ,it is a superstition on whose claims no scientist would dare to risk his reputation4 ,now chemistry is the ne plus ultra of human wisdom1 and every man is a fool who does not hold the key to the secret chambers of its hidden treasures6 ,but how long till we shall have a new chemistry that will render the old a bundle of laughable folly8 ,the fact is1 by the advancement of human knowledge we demonstrate that our ancestors were a set of fools1 and our posterity will doubtless pay us the same compliment6 ,the philosophy of history should teach us to be modest1 and to keep as our motto plus ultra versus ne plus ultra4 ,modern science has demonstrated that of all unreliable things1 ancient science is the most unreliable4 ,we should1 therefore1 expect to eventually see modern science remanded to the same category4 ,one of the greatest inventors of the age1 ,mr4 ,edison1 whose inventions have had to do wholly with modern science1 tells us that he has been constantly thrown off the track and misled by the frauds of science4 ,he thus expresses his estimate of the authorities in modern science3 ,they the text-books are mostly misleading4 ,i get mad with myself when ,i think ,i have believed what was so learnedly set out in them4 ,there are more frauds in science than anywhere else4444 ,take a whole pile of them and you will find uncertainty1 if not imposition1 in half of what they state as scientific truth4 ,they have time and again set down experiments as done by them1 curious1 out-of-the-way experiments1 that they never did1 and upon which they have founded so-called scientific truths4 ,i have been thrown off my track often by them1 and for months at a time4 ,you see a great name1 and you believe it4 ,try the experiment yourself1 and you find the result altogether different4444 ,i tell you ,i'd rather know nothing about a thing in science1 nine times out of ten1 than what the books would tell me--for practical purposes1 for applied science1 the best science1 the only science1 ,i'd rather take the thing up and go through with it myself4 ,i'd find out more about it than any one could tell me1 and ,i'd be sure of what ,i know4 ,that's the thing4 ,professor this or that will controvert you out of the books1 and prove out of the books it can't be so1 though you have it right in the hollow of your hand all the time and could break his spectacles with it4 ,thus it is that these authorities have been weighed in the balances and found wanting4 ,this is a marvelous age1 an age of unsurpassed invention and discovery of truth1 but it is not the ne plus ultra of human wisdom--if we are to take any lessons from the past ages4 ,the wave theory of sound1 which has been regarded as a settled scientific fact since the days of ,pythagorean1 is now vigorously attacked1 and the adherents to the orthodox ground will have to rally their forces and reconsider their proofs1 if they save the theory from slumbering among the follies of the past4 ,in the past few years the world has been startled by the bold theory of evolution1 as advocated by ,darwin1 ,haeckel1 ,huxley and others4 ,many have felt uneasy about the foundations of our faith4 ,but such alarm is all premature4 ,the glaring contradictions of one another of these modern apostles of a gospel of dirt1 and their self-stultification1 are enough to convince any thoughtful reader1 that if the race has not developed from apes1 a few of them bear marks of descent from asses6 ,the credulity of this class of men is simply marvelous4 ,they can believe that a moneron can be developed into a man1 but can not believe in a miracle6 ,their wonderful development of a moneron into a man terminates with the boundary line of time1 and thus the ne plus ultra is reached of their infinite progression6 ,in order to a proper appreciation of the present life1 we must be deeply impressed with the nature of that which lies beyond4 ,no one can well spend the present life who does not spend it in view of the life to come4 ,man must properly appreciate himself before he can live in harmonious relations with his being4 ,no man can have that appreciation of himself essential to a true life1 who believes that his ancestors were monerons and mud-turtles6 ,while there are many striking resemblances between animals and man1 just such as we should expect to find from the hand of the same ,creator1 who began farthest from himself and worked to his own divine model1 yet there are striking differentiae which demand profound consideration4 ,animals come into the world with the knowledge of their ancestors4 ,the beaver knows just what its ancestors knew before the flood4 ,it is born into the world with that transmitted knowledge4 ,its posterity will know no more during the millennium4 ,on the contrary1 man is born into the world an intellectual blank4 ,however wise his parents1 he inherits not one idea4 ,he knows absolutely nothing except what he learns--learns from teachers and by experience4 ,it would be incomprehensibly strange if man in his development from a mollusk1 should accumulate inherited knowledge till he reaches the ne plus ultra of terrestrial life1 and then by a sudden break in the chain of nature lose it all1 and come into the world a born fool66 ,this would be development1 natural selection1 and the survival of the fittest1 with a vengeance6 ,here is a chasm between man and the lower animals1 made by the hand of ,god1 that human wisdom can never bridge4 ,in his intellectual1 moral and spiritual development1 man starts from zero4 ,god has thus ordained it4 ,he is dependent on progression for all that he is and all that he is to be4 ,god simply gives him a start in this world1 with the numberless ages of eternity before him for infinite advancement4 ,the idea1 therefore1 that death ends all nips in the bud this grand conception of man's greatness1 and blights forever that which is noblest and truest in his nature4 ,to regard this life as the ne plus ultra of man's development1 is to charge nature with a freak of folly1 and an abortion in her best works4 ,men may laud human virtue for human virtue's sake2 but if man is but the moth of a day1 the fire-fly whose phosphorescent light flashes for a moment and then goes out in eternal night1 his virtues are but the tales of the hour that have their value in the telling4 ,if this life is all there is of man1 then he is the most unmeaning portion of the creation of ,god4 ,there is for him no perfection1 no satisfying of his inherent wants1 and the whole of his existence is a sham and a fraud4 ,as ,young has beautifully said3 ,how poor1 how rich1 how abject1 how august1 ,how complicate1 how wonderful1 is man6 ,how passing wonder ,he who made him such6 ,who centered in our make such strange extremes1 ,from different natures marvelously mixed1 ,connection exquisite of distant worlds6 ,distinguished link in being's endless chain6 ,midway from nothing to the ,deity6 ,a beam ethereal1 sullied1 and absorbed6 ,though sullied and dishonored1 still divine6 ,dim miniature of greatness absolute6 ,an heir of glory6 a frail child of dust6 ,helpless immortal6 insect infinite6 ,a worm6 a ,god6--,i tremble at myself1 ,and in myself am lost4 ,at home1 a stranger4 ,thought wanders up and down1 surprised1 aghast1 ,and wondering at her own4 ,how reason reels6 ,o1 what a miracle to man is man6 ,triumphantly distressed6 ,what joy6 what dread6 ,alternately transported and alarmed6 ,what can preserve my life8 or what destroy8 ,an angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave2 ,legions of angels can't confine me there4 ,it is only when we thus look beyond this life1 and contemplate his relation to the ,deity1 that we realize the true dignity of man4 ,it is natural that you should desire power--power to bless the race and bring it nearer to ,god4 ,do not be discouraged if you do not find this power clothed in the world's pomp and parade4 ,the most ,god-like power comes not in this way4 ,god works by quiet forces that man may scorn but can not equal4 ,behold that mountain of ice in the polar sea held by the relentless grip of a winter's frost4 ,all the engineering power of man could not shake it upon its throne4 ,all the locomotives in the world could not move it an inch4 ,but nature unveils her smiling face when the springtime comes1 the sun sheds upon it his gentle rays1 noiseless as the grave1 too mild to hurt an infant's flesh1 and soon these mountains of ice relax their grip and glide away into the great deep6 ,this is power4 ,this power you may possess1 and should strive to possess1 through the gentle forces of a regenerated nature1 till the quiet influences you exert for ,god will pass beyond the bounds of time and be expended on a shoreless eternity4 ,in conclusion1 then1 let me urge you to live for eternity1 and let the life that now is be with reference to that which is to come4 ,then will you progress from the low plane of our terrestrial sphere to association with ,god1 and eternity alone will mark the ne plus ultra in intellectual and spiritual development toward the ,divine ,being4 ,,part ,,iii4--,,selections4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,i4--,,christ ,,the ,,lamb ,,of ,,god4 ,behold1 the ,lamb of ,god1 that taketh away the sin of the world 7,john i4 #bi7 ,the ,new ,testament presents a many-sided view of ,christ4 ,from each point of view he appears in a new relation1 and we study him in a different character4 ,we can see but one side of a mountain by approaching it from only one direction4 ,we must view it from every point from which it presents a different aspect1 before we have seen it as it is4 ,so we should study ,christ in the many characters in which ,he is introduced upon the sacred page1 that we may understand more of the many dear relations ,he sustains to us4 ,the more we know of ,him in ,his various relations1 the more we will love ,him and the better we will serve ,him4 ,we therefore purpose a number of articles under the general title of ,new ,testament ,views of ,christ4 ,they will appear1 we trust1 with as much regularity as the press of other matters will permit4 ,after the temptation1 ,jesus returned to where ,john was baptizing1 and began the work of gathering about ,him ,his apostles4 ,on different occasions1 as ,jesus moved among the multitudes during this visit1 ,john pointed ,him out as the ,lamb of ,god4 ,and ,john said1 ,i knew him not2 but he that sent me to baptize in water1 he said unto me1 ,upon whomsoever thou shalt see the ,spirit descending and abiding upon him1 the same is he that baptizeth with the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and ,i have seen and borne witness that this is the ,son of ,god 7,john i4 #cc1 #cd74 ,both before and after this statement1 ,john calls ,him the ,lamb of ,god4 ,john knew that ,he was to make the ,messiah manifest to ,israel by ,his baptism1 for ,god had told him so4 ,he did not know ,jesus to be the ,christ till after ,his baptism1 yet he shrank back from the idea of baptizing him1 and pleaded his unworthiness4 ,he was worthy1 and specially appointed of ,god1 to make manifest the ,messiah1 but gave way under a sense of unworthiness at the thought of baptizing his cousin1 ,jesus of ,nazareth6 ,what a flood of light does this pour upon the private life of the ,son of ,mary6 ,john knew ,jesus as a man2 and while he doubtless had hopes that ,he was the long-promised ,one1 he did not know it1 and could not base his refusal of baptism on that ground4 ,john was baptizing for the remission of sins1 and required those whom he baptized to confess their sins1 and his knowledge of the spotless life of ,jesus caused him to shrink at the thought of administering to ,him such a baptism4 ,thus impressed with the purity and innocence of ,jesus1 it is not strange that he should call ,him the ,lamb of ,god4 ,but innocence is not the only prominent feature in contemplating ,jesus as a lamb4 ,the idea of sacrifice to which innocence and purity are essential has pre-eminence4 ,the first accepted offering on the earth1 of which we have an account1 was a lamb4 ,it was offered in faith2 hence by divine direction4 ,that ,abel saw anything in it beyond an act of simple obedience to ,god in an arbitrary appointment1 we have no reason to believe4 ,he did what ,god directed1 and because it was directed4 ,this is the essential element of obedience in all ages1 regardless of the thing required4 ,nothing else can be the obedience of faith4 ,what different conceptions had ,god and ,abel of that sacrifice6 ,abel saw in it only a firstling of his flock4 ,god saw in it ,his own ,son--the ,lamb of ,god that taketh away the sin of the world4 ,not only so1 but on this account was it directed4 ,the fact that this was not revealed to ,abel1 shows that ,god intends us to obey ,him in what ,he directs1 without being concerned about the reasons ,he has for the requirement4 ,he who sees the end from the beginning makes the first in execution conform to that which is to be last4 ,hence1 the first act of worship1 and every subsequent act1 from the divine point of view1 harmonizes with the perfection which in the fullness of times1 was given us in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the lamb of ,abel borrowed all its value and significance from the ,lamb of ,god4 ,while we are enabled to see this through the development of the scheme of redemption1 he was not2 and the fact that his act of simple obedience in ignorance of ,god's far-seeing purposes is recorded as an example for us1 is of unspeakable value to the child of faith4 ,during the four thousand years in which ,god was preparing the world for ,christ1 both in patriarchal and ,jewish worship1 a lamb without spot or blemish was the most prominent offering for sin4 ,in every case the offering was made as directed1 and when made1 the worshiper was assured that his sin was forgiven4 ,christ is our sin-offering--the ,lamb of ,god that takes away our sins--and we must present ,him before ,god as divinely directed4 ,we may build no strange fire on ,god's altars4 ,we may substitute nothing for ,christ as an offering for sin1 and no ways of our own for ,god's way1 in ,his presentation4 ,in viewing ,christ as the ,lamb of ,god--the ,lamb slain from the foundation of the world--the prominent feature of ,his saving relationship to us is ,his blood4 ,hence we are redeemed1 not with silver and gold and perishable things1 but with the precious blood of ,christ1 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot4 ,as a ,lamb1 ,christ is sin-atoning4 ,his power to save is not in the innocence of ,his life1 but the merits of ,his death4 ,the sacrifice of an innocent life is ,god's wisdom and power to save the world4 ,let us remember it was for us ,he was led as a lamb to the slaughter2 that our sins were laid upon ,him2 that ,he was bruised for our iniquities2 that ,he bore our sins in ,his bosom on the tree2 that by ,his stripes we are healed2 that in ,his innocent life and sacrificial death1 we behold the ,lamb of ,god that taketh away the sin of the world4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,ii4--,,christ ,,the ,,bread ,,of ,,life4 ,i am the bread of life4 ,your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness1 and they died4 ,this is the bread which cometh down out of heaven1 that a man may eat thereof1 and not die4 ,i am the living bread which came down out of heaven2 if any man eat of this bread1 he will live forever2 yea1 and the bread which ,i will give is my flesh1 for the life of the world 7,john vi4 #dh-ea74 ,when the ,israelites came out of ,egypt and started on their wilderness journey to the promised land1 they found themselves without sustenance4 ,the land furnished no supplies4 ,in this respect they were cut off from earthly resources4 ,in their emergency they cried unto the ,lord1 and ,god gave them bread from heaven4 ,each day they gathered the necessary supply4 ,the amount for the ,sabbath was gathered the day preceding4 ,beyond this there was no collection for future use4 ,an effort to save it proved a disgusting failure4 ,forty years did the daily supply of manna fail not1 till they reached the land that ,god had promised4 ,the bread on which ,god fed ,his people from the land of bondage to the land of ,canaan was a type of ,christ4 ,this is asserted by both ,paul and the ,saviour4 ,as such it is worthy of careful study4 #a4 ,the ,israelites were wholly dependent on the daily bread which ,god gave4 ,this was a want which the world could not supply4 ,they must feed upon the heaven-supplied food or die4 ,so is every one thus dependent on the bread of life4 ,the world can not supply the wants of the child of ,god4 ,he needs a daily food which the world does not produce4 ,the world is to him a spiritual desert4 ,he can not look to it to meet the wants of his spiritual nature4 ,being born from above1 he has to live from above4 ,when he seeks to gratify the cravings of his carnal nature by turning back to the flesh-pots of ,egypt1 he languishes and dies4 ,be it remembered that this bread of life is ,christ4 ,it is not some theory about ,him4 ,it is not some system of theology of man's formulation4 ,men may feed upon systems and theories till their souls are dwarfed and starved4 ,such feeding makes partisans and cold-blooded sectarians1 without imparting divine life to the soul4 ,we must come directly to ,christ4 ,through ,his holy word we must study ,him1 assimilate our lives to ,his1 feed upon ,him as the bread from heaven1 and drink in of ,his gracious spirit4 ,the world took knowledge of the saints of old1 that they had been with ,jesus4 ,and so it may now easily decide as to those of such holy companionship4 #b4 ,christ is the bread of life4 ,as such ,he has to be appropriated4 ,there is no virtue in bread to sustain life until it is appropriated and assimilated to the system4 ,men may starve within reach of abundance4 ,god supplies the bread of life1 but ,he does not compel men to eat it4 ,they are urged to eat and live1 but they may refuse and die4 ,oh1 the millions in our land who are starving for the bread of life1 when it is offered them day by day6 ,unless we eat the body of the ,son of ,god we have no life4 ,our salvation1 therefore1 depends upon eating4 ,yet there is no virtue in the act of eating4 ,the virtue is in the thing eaten4 ,it is not putting on your coat that makes you warm1 but the coat after it is on4 ,faith is a condition of salvation2 but there is no power to save in believing4 ,the saving virtue is in the thing believed4 ,so we may substitute nothing for that which ,god has given4 ,we must eat the bread which ,god provides1 else all our eating will be in vain4 #c4 ,it is well understood by all classes that the wants of the physical man need to be daily supplied4 ,to meet these demands1 is the chief concern of the great mass of humanity4 ,observe that young man4 ,he is in the vigor of robust manhood4 ,he has just enjoyed a night's refreshing sleep and a hearty breakfast4 ,his system seems to be overflowing with an excess of vitality4 ,he goes forth to his work boastful of his strength4 ,but how many hours is it till nature cries aloud for the replenishing of his strength8 ,how long can he live on the boastful supply of his physical manhood8 ,a few days finds him as helpless as a babe4 ,so essential is physical food to physical life4 ,nor is spiritual food less essential to spiritual life4 ,as new-born babes we need the unadulterated milk of the word1 that we may grow thereby4 ,as men and women1 we need the strong meat adapted to our maturity4 ,the great mistake is in trying to live the spiritual life without spiritual food4 ,the strong men in ,christ are the good feeders4 ,those who feed upon the bread of heaven will develop in that which is heavenly4 ,no man has religion enough at the start to take him through life1 unless he dies early4 ,the foolishness of the five foolish virgins consisted in their not taking an additional supply of oil4 ,so it is now with every one who does not daily replenish his supply of spirituality4 ,he who tries to live without communion with ,god--in reading1 in praying1 in meditation and obedience to the divine will--will end in shameful failure4 ,christian character is a growth1 not a divine impartation4 ,god does not give spiritual strength in an arbitrary way4 ,he provides the means to that end4 ,if we use them1 strength results4 ,if we neglect them1 we die in feebleness4 ,the means in the figure before us is the bread of life1 and the bread of life is ,christ4 ,there is an absolute necessity1 therefore1 for feeding upon ,him4 ,from ,him all spiritual strength is derived4 ,he is the source of all life4 ,he said to ,his disciples3 ,without me1 ye can do nothing4 ,as the branch draws its nourishment and fruit-bearing qualities from the vine1 so we draw all spirituality and fruitfulness from ,christ4 ,we are fruitful in proportion as we abide in the ,vine2 and we are strong in proportion to our feeding on the bread of life4 #d4 ,god permitted ,israel to gather manna for one day only at a time4 ,so in teaching ,his disciples to pray1 the ,saviour said3 ,give us this day our daily bread4 ,our bread of life is a never-failing supply4 ,there was no need of laying up manna1 for ,god gave a fresh and abundant supply every morning4 ,this daily supply never ceased till their pilgrimage was over4 ,of this they had assurance4 ,hence an attempt to lay up a supply for future use was to distrust the ,god of their fathers4 ,the true bread of heaven is as unfailing as was the typical bread of the wilderness4 ,god's people will ever have an abundant supply of that bread of which1 if a man eats1 he shall never hunger4 ,hence the ,saviour says3 ,lo1 ,i am with you alway1 even unto the end of the world4 #e4 ,the world has been greatly concerned about food for six thousand years4 ,the gratification of the appetite has both blessed and cursed the race4 ,life has ever depended upon food2 hence food has been the chief concern of man4 ,during the history of the world the race has been ignorant of the processes of digestion and assimilation4 ,they have known nothing of the chemistry of this source of life4 ,they have gone on from age to age building up their bodies by taking food1 wholly ignorant of the process by which it was done4 ,the value of the thing eaten has never depended on a knowledge of the process by which it was assimilated4 ,we thank ,god that it is thus with the bread of life4 ,we may never expect to comprehend the mystery of godliness in this life4 ,just how the bread of life enables us to live forever1 we are not concerned to know4 ,it is enough for us to know that it is so4 ,let us1 then1 appropriate this rich provision of ,god's grace1 and the blessing will be ours4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,iii4--,,christ ,,the ,,water ,,of ,,life4 ,jesus answered and said unto her1 ,every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again3 but whosoever drinketh of the water that ,i shall give him shall never thirst2 but the water that ,i shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life 7,john iv4 #ac1 #ad74 ,now on the last day1 the great day of the feast1 ,jesus stood and cried1 saying1 ,if any man thirst1 let him come unto me1 and drink 7,john vii4 #cg74 ,and did all drink the same spiritual drink3 for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them3 and the rock was ,christ 7,i4 ,cor4 x4 #d74 ,twice was a rock smitten by ,moses in the wilderness to supply the ,israelites with water4 ,the first was at ,rephidim1 in the wilderness of ,sin1 during the first year of their ,exodus1 before they came to ,mount ,sinai4 ,the second was at ,kadesh1 in the wilderness of ,zin1 in the fortieth year of the ,exodus4 ,it is evident that the apostle refers to the first of these1 though we can hardly think1 with most commentators known to us1 that he does so exclusively4 ,the fact that the rock followed them1 as a type of ,christ1 in their wilderness life1 demands that it be from the beginning1 rather than the end1 of their journey4 ,and the fact that many who drank of it fell in the wilderness1 requires the same conclusion4 ,but for reasons yet to appear1 we think the two are considered as one4 ,the miracle was in all respects the same in the second as in the first4 ,there was the same dependence for life on the second as the first4 ,there was the same necessity that the second rock or stream should follow them as there was of the first2 for they were yet a long way from ,canaan1 with a waterless desert before them4 ,we can1 therefore1 see no reason why the first should be a type of ,christ and not the second4 ,was it the stream or the rock which followed the ,israelites8 ,paul says the rock4 ,but commentators seem generally to agree that the rock is here put by metonymy for the water of the rock1 ,barnes says1 ,it would be absurd to suppose that the rock that was smitten by ,moses literally followed them in the wilderness4 ,just why it is more absurd to suppose the rock followed them1 than the stream from a stationary fountain at ,horeb1 we are wholly unable to see4 ,let us look at the facts and probabilities in the case4 ,we must keep in view the important fact1 as mentioned in the last chapter1 that these people were dependent on ,god4 ,they had seen the mighty hand of ,god in their delivery1 and now they were to be taught dependence on ,him1 as the only source of life4 ,they had1 therefore1 to be sustained by miraculous food and miraculous drink4 ,the country supplied neither food nor water4 ,the miraculous supply of water was as great a necessity as that of bread4 ,for two or three millions of people1 with their flocks and herds1 a large stream1 even a small river1 would be required4 ,it is also true that their cattle had to have food1 as well as themselves4 ,just how this was furnished1 we are not told4 ,here is a large field for conjecture4 ,it is generally held that the river continued to flow from a stationary source at ,horeb1 and that it irrigated the country in its following of the people1 and thus caused vegetation for the flocks and herds4 ,but in the fortieth year they are again found without water4 ,why was this8 ,what had become of the river that had followed them from the first year1 if it was the river1 and not the rock1 that followed them8 ,on this point we can not refrain from quoting ,macknight and ,barnes1 as examples of how learned commentators1 led by a theory1 sometimes drop their readers into a perfect abyss of darkness4 ,macknight says3 ,for as ,wall observes1 from ,horeb1 which was a high mountain1 there may have been a descent to the sea2 and the ,israelites during the thirty-seven years of their journeying from ,mount ,sinai may have gone by those tracts of country in which the waters from ,horeb could follow them1 till in the thirty-ninth year of the ,exodus they came to ,ezion-gaber 7,num4 xxxiii4 #cf71 which was a part of the ,red ,sea a great way down the ,arabian side1 where it is supposed the waters from ,horeb went into that sea4 ,barnes says3 ,mount ,horeb was higher than the adjacent country1 and the water that thus gushed from the rock1 instead of collecting into a pool and becoming stagnant1 would flow off in the direction of the sea4 ,the sea to which it would naturally flow would be the ,red ,sea4 ,the ,israelites doubtless1 in their journeyings1 would be influenced by the natural direction of the water1 or would not wander far from it1 as it was daily needful for the supply of their wants4 ,at the end of thirty-seven years we find the ,israelites at ,ezion-gaber1 a seaport on the eastern branch of the ,red ,sea1 where the waters probably flowed into the sea 7,num4 xxxiii4 #cf74 ,in the fortieth year of their departure from ,egypt1 they left this place to go into ,canaan1 by the country of ,edom1 and were immediately in distress again by the want of water4 ,these comments involve several objectionable features4 7#a7 ,the ,israelites were guided in their course by the pillar of cloud and fire2 not by the stream of water on its course to the sea4 7#b7 ,paul says the rock followed them2 not that they followed the river4 7#c7 ,we can not allow that when ,god sets out to work a miracle1 ,he is defeated by natural causes4 ,the idea that the river ran into the sea1 and left the children of ,israel without water1 just because the situation would naturally lead to that result1 is to let go the miracle and have ,god defeated1 because the surroundings are not favorable6 ,the idea that ,god could cause a river to flow from a flinty rock1 and then have to leave it to seek its natural way to the sea1 leaving ,his people destitute when the surface of the country would be in the way of its natural flow1 is equaled only by admitting that ,god created the heavens and the earth1 but could not give sight to the blind or call ,lazarus out of the grave4 ,we1 therefore1 repeat the question1 ,if the river followed the people1 what became of it when they came into the wilderness of ,zin8 ,on the hypothesis that it was the rock which followed them1 just as ,paul says it was1 there is nothing unreasonable in the supposition that for some cause1 not given1 ,god withheld the flow of water to chastise them for their wickedness1 as ,he did in other ways1 and make them realize their dependence4 ,as favoring this idea1 when they were destitute the second time1 and cried unto ,moses in their distress1 ,god told him to gather the people together and speak unto the rock4 ,not only was there a suitable rock present for the second river of water1 but it seemed to be a particular rock4 ,hence designated the rock4 ,our conclusion is1 therefore1 that the two rocks were one2 that it followed the ,israelites during their entire journey to ,canaan1 supplying the people with the fresh out-gushings of its crystal stream4 ,that rock was typical of ,christ1 and the blessings of ,christ are never stale or stagnant1 as the water from a fountain in ,horeb would have been1 after winding its sluggish way through the parched desert of ,arabia4 ,that rock was ,christ4 ,that is1 it was a type of ,him4 ,all those transactions were typical4 ,now these things happened unto them by way of types2 and they were written for our admonition4 ,a dry and thirsty land where no water is1 well represents this world to one who has not an ever-present ,saviour as the fountain of the water of life4 ,as the ,israelites would have perished without the crystal flow from the flinty rock1 so perishes the world without ,christ4 ,there is no appetite more distressing than thirst4 ,there is nothing more delightful than the cooling draught to the parched throat4 ,oh1 to those who thus thirst after righteousness1 how delightful it is to be filled6 ,as the heart panteth after the water brooks1 so panteth my soul after thee1 ,o ,god4 ,only the thirsty can appreciate drink2 so only those who first feel the need of a ,saviour can experience the joy of salvation4 ,not only shall the thirsty soul be satisfied that drinks of the water of life1 but it shall become within him a well of water springing up unto eternal life4 ,this refreshing and ever-present fountain of life flows for all4 ,if any man thirst1 let him come unto me1 and drink4 ,to slake one's thirst at this fountain1 is a foretaste of the river of life that flows from beneath the throne in the eternal city of ,god4 ,many who drank of the typical water of the wilderness1 fell under the displeasure of ,god1 and died short of the promised land4 ,hence we should be careful to live ever near to the water of life1 that our thirsty souls may be continually supplied1 and our strength renewed4 ,only by being constantly refreshed can we be saved from perishing in the wilderness and kept unto the land of ,god beyond4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,iv4--,,christ ,,the ,,son ,,of ,,god4 ,thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god 7,matt4 xvi4 #af74 ,whosoever shall confess that ,jesus is the ,son of ,god1 ,god abideth in him and he in ,god 7,i4 ,john iv4 #ae74 ,and who is he that overcometh the world1 but he that believeth that ,jesus is the ,son of ,god8 7,i4 ,john v4 #e74 ,in one sense all men are sons of ,god4 ,in a much dearer sense all ,christians are sons and daughters of the ,almighty4 ,but the relationship of ,christ to the ,father is infinitely above this4 ,he is the ,son of ,god4 ,god is ,his ,father by direct production1 without the agency of a human father4 ,the same divine power that can create life through the agency of man1 can create it without such agency4 ,hence there is nothing to stumble over in the idea of the miraculous conception1 to one who fully accepts the ,god of the ,bible in the character in which ,he is revealed as a divine creator4 ,to accept ,god as the creator of heaven and earth1 and then stagger at ,his performance of any miracle is a logical absurdity4 ,jesus claimed to be the ,son of ,god in the high sense that involved equality with the ,father4 ,he said3 ,i and the ,father are one4 ,on account of this relationship1 ,he thought it not robbery to be equal with ,god4 ,his enemies understood that this equality was involved in ,his claim2 hence they charged ,him with blasphemy in making ,himself equal with ,god4 ,this was a high claim on the part of the ,nazarene4 ,he claimed to be more than a man4 ,when some said that ,he was ,john1 or ,elijah1 or ,jeremiah1 or some one of the prophets1 they underestimated ,him according to ,his claim4 ,the greatest prophet1 or inspired teacher1 that had ever appeared among men1 even if raised from the dead as the special messenger of ,god to ,his people1 could not meet the demands involved in the claim of ,jesus1 that ,he was the ,son of ,god4 ,this high claim had to be sustained by two distinct lines of testimony--miracles and a sinless life4 ,the purpose of miracles is to establish the claims of the miracle-worker and to glorify ,god4 ,the miracles of ,jesus establish ,his divine mission and claim to the ,messiahship4 ,no man could do the miracles ,he did except ,god be with him2 and ,god would not be with one who was advocating false claims4 ,the enemies of ,jesus understood this2 hence they said3 ,god heareth not sinners4 ,miracles are the substratum of the foundation underlying our faith4 ,while the divine claims of ,jesus are attested by ,his miracles1 the evidence is crowned by ,his sublime character4 ,his life is itself among the most wonderful of miracles4 ,as a child of poverty and a son of toil1 ,he lived thirty years among men4 ,when ,he afterwards claimed to be the ,son of ,god1 ,he had many bitter enemies4 ,they persecuted ,him even unto death1 and yet not one of them ever pointed to an act of ,his private life as inconsistent with1 or unworthy of1 ,his divine claim4 ,this simple fact speaks volumes as to the purity of ,his life4 ,the world has contained but one such4 ,the very life which ,his claims require is the life revealed on the sacred page4 ,infidels have ordinarily contented themselves with mere negations4 ,they seem not to realize the fact that in denying some things they are logically bound to account for others4 ,if we deny the claim of ,jesus that ,he is the ,son of ,god1 then we have to account for ,his miracles1 ,his life1 the disposal of ,his entombed body1 and the establishment and development of ,his kingdom4 ,these are facts4 ,as such they have to be accounted for4 ,on the hypothesis that ,jesus is the ,christ1 all difficulty vanishes4 ,on any other1 it is more than the world has yet been able to meet4 ,skeptics laud the character of ,jesus as a model of purity1 such as the world has never elsewhere found1 and yet deny the claim on which was based ,his mission to men and on which ,he built ,his church4 ,how the establishment of a religion upon a known falsehood can harmonize with a life of faultless purity1 they do not pretend to tell us1 for it is a palpable absurdity4 ,how ,his disciples could testify on a point of fact in regard to which they could not be mistaken1 and surrender all worldly position and comfort1 and life itself1 to establish a known falsehood in the hearts of men1 in which they--the witnesses--could have no personal interest1 they leave in the ,egyptian darkness characteristic of their system4 ,how can he account for ,american history and ,american institutions who denies the existence of ,washington1 or claims that he was a disreputable impostor8 ,how1 then1 shall he account for the history and institutions of civilization who denies to ,jesus of ,nazareth existence as a man of that age and country1 or makes ,him a base deceiver and vile impostor8 ,that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 is the fundamental1 pivotal fact in the ,christian religion4 ,it underlies every other feature of the ,christian system4 ,on it turn the value and significance of every other item of the faith4 ,everything takes position with regard to this1 and derives its value from it4 ,with this1 all else stands by divine appointment1 and bears the seal of heaven4 ,without it1 the whole system is but as the chaff which the wind driveth away4 ,when the proposition is established that ,jesus is the ,son of ,god1 every other feature of the ,christian system rests upon authority4 ,nothing else has to be proved as this does4 ,before establishing this proposition1 the word of ,jesus settles nothing4 ,after its establishment1 it settles everything4 ,when we accept ,him as the ,christ1 we accept all else on ,his authority4 ,hence ,he says1 ,why do you call me ,lord1 ,lord1 and do not the things which ,i say8 ,all authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth4 ,go ye therefore1 and make disciples of all nations1 baptizing them into the name of the ,father1 and of the ,son1 and of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,the making and baptizing of disciples rests upon the authority of ,jesus1 and that authority is based upon ,his ,messiahship4 ,so of every other item of the ,christian system of faith4 ,the great inconsistency and consequent weakness of the religious world1 is in not accepting the simple authority of ,jesus as conclusive and wholly sufficient on any matter on which ,he has expressed the divine mind4 ,as the ,son of ,god and coronated ,lord of lords1 ,his authority is supreme1 and ,his word is law4 ,what ,he says is to be accepted as infallibly true1 and the end of all controversy4 ,whatever ,he directs is to be done1 simply because ,he directs it4 ,whatever else we may consider a corroborative reason1 the direction of ,jesus alone is to determine our action4 ,only this can be the obedience of faith4 ,and in regard to what ,he directs1 there can be no compromise4 ,the ,king speaks to be obeyed1 not to be argued with4 ,it is ,his prerogative to command2 ours to obey4 ,jesus made ,his authority the controlling principle in ,his religion4 ,where this is maintained1 the religion of ,christ is preserved in its purity4 ,where it is disregarded1 anything follows that the tastes and follies of men may demand4 ,the religion of ,christ is pure or corrupt in proportion as ,his authority is observed or ignored4 ,the authority of ,jesus can not be separated from ,his appointments4 ,his entire authority is embodied in each of ,his appointments4 ,hence he who disregards an appointment of ,jesus ,christ1 disregards ,his authority4 ,and he who disregards ,his authority1 ignores ,his ,lordship4 ,the man who deliberately refuses to do what ,christ directs1 ignores the authority of his ,lord1 and dethrones the ,son of the living ,god4 ,yet how much of this do we see among men6 ,not only in the world1 but in the church as well4 ,it seems strange that one should make a profession of the religion of ,christ1 and yet thus ignore ,his ,lordship4 ,the authority of ,jesus against a life of indifference in the church1 of non-attendance1 of want of coperation in the work of the ,lord1 against carnality1 pleasure-loving1 worldliness1 the lusts of the flesh1 want of spirituality1 and such like1 is as direct and positive as that against rejecting the gospel of ,christ2 and yet how many church members1 all over our land1 are disregarding the authority of ,jesus in these matters4 ,those who make a profession of religion and live in the church without continuing to honor the ,lord ,jesus by regarding ,his authority and complying with ,his will1 would better have never known the way of life4 ,the authority of ,jesus follows us to the grave1 and is never relaxed for a day4 ,his will1 not ours1 is to rule in our life4 ,our desires1 however strong1 are to be subordinated to the mind of ,him who gave ,his life for ours1 and said1 all authority in heaven and on earth is given unto me4 ,it is the height of inconsistency1 therefore1 to exalt the name of ,jesus in words and professions1 and speak lightly of1 or disregard any one of ,his appointments4 ,it is not only inconsistent2 it is disloyal and wicked4 ,this is the great stumbling-block in our way to the indorsement of ,mr4 ,moody and such men4 ,we care not what else he may be1 we can indorse no man who tears in two the commission of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he who refuses to speak as the oracles of ,god speak1 in order to promote his work1 is not doing the work that ,god would have him do4 ,we can not honor ,christ without honoring ,his teaching1 and we can not honor ,his teaching by withholding a part of it from those inquiring the way of eternal life4 ,we can honor ,jesus as the ,son of ,god only by declaring ,his whole counsel1 and yielding submissively in all things to ,his divine authority4 ,this acceptance of ,jesus as an infallible teacher1 as one whose every word is to be believed simply because ,he said it1 and whose every direction is to be observed simply because ,he directs it1 whose spirit is to be possessed and cultivated to the transforming of the life1 till we grow into the divine image and become partakers of the divine nature1 is all involved in the good confession3 ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,v4--,,christ ,,the ,,son ,,of ,,man4 ,the foxes have holes1 and the birds of the heaven have nests2 but the ,son of man hath not where to lay his head 7,matt4 viii4 #bj74 ,who do men say that the ,son of man is8 7,matt4 xvi4 #ac74 ,and as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 even so must the ,son of man be lifted up2 that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life 7,john iii4 #ad74 ,it is a matter of profound gratitude that our ,saviour was a man4 ,the ,son of man1 as well as the ,son of ,god1 was essential to ,his great work of bringing salvation to the race4 ,in one sense we are all sons of man1 but not as ,he was4 ,he was not simply the ,son of ,mary and her ancestors4 ,he was the ,son of humanity4 ,he was equally akin to the race4 ,he touches humanity at every angle and on every side4 ,while ,he was the ,son of ,david according to the flesh1 ,he is the kinsman of the race as a partaker of our common nature4 ,since the children are sharers in flesh and blood1 he also himself1 in like manner1 partook of the same4 ,he ignored all accidental relationships closer than this shared by the race4 ,the members of ,his own household obtained not a blessing which ,he did not as freely bestow on others4 ,the fact that ,he did not manifest greater partiality toward ,his mother has been a matter of comment4 ,the simple fact is1 that the relationship with which we are concerned1 and of which the inspired record treats1 is to the race2 hence it is not concerned about ,his personal family affections4 ,his brothers and sisters and mothers are those who hear ,his word and keep it4 ,the world has ever had too far-away ideas of ,god4 ,it has contemplated ,god at a great distance4 ,it puts ,him beyond the stars4 ,indeed1 the stars fade away from view in the distance behind us1 as we ascend in imagination to the dwelling-place of the ,most ,high4 ,the world can never be suitably impressed with ,god's presence while it holds ,him at a distance4 ,he can never be sensibly near unto us while we keep ,him beyond the stars4 ,nor can we be influenced by the idea of ,his presence till we learn that he is not far from each one of us4 ,god tried to impress ,his people anciently with the idea of ,his presence by various visible manifestations4 ,abraham realized time and again that ,god was his present companion and friend4 ,when ,jacob saw the ladder reaching to heaven1 and angels ascending and descending on it1 he said1 ,surely1 the ,lord is in this place4 ,and when ,moses drew near to see the burning bush1 a voice from its flame demanded the removal of the sandals from his feet1 for the ground on which he stood was holy ground4 ,god impressed ,israel with the awfulness of ,his presence as a ,lawgiver1 whom the nations were to honor1 by ,his voice from ,mount ,sinai which shook the earth4 ,the glorious manifestation of ,god's presence at the tabernacle1 in the midst of the camp of ,israel1 impressed them with the fact that the ,god of their fathers was with them2 that ,he was in their midst2 that ,he had not forgotten ,his covenant2 and that ,he would be with them to sustain them in every emergency till the end4 ,with all this1 they often forgot ,god and went astray4 ,what would they have done without it8 ,in the person of ,jesus1 ,god perfected the divine purpose of bringing ,himself into a realized nearness to the human family4 ,he clothed ,himself in our humanity1 and became one with us4 ,we are thus enabled to look upon ,him1 to contemplate ,him1 not as a great1 self-existing ,spirit1 incomprehensible and awful1 but as a man4 ,jesus was a man2 and in him dwelleth all the fullness of the ,godhead bodily4 ,he is ,god manifest in flesh4 ,and as ,god is thus manifest1 would ,he have us apprehend ,him4 ,just1 therefore1 as we can appreciate the nearness of ,jesus as a loving and sympathizing kinsman1 may we appreciate the nearness of ,his ,father and our ,god4 ,it is evident that men need a ,god to whom they can get sensibly near4 ,there is no profit in the worship of a ,god of abstractions4 ,there is in it no food for the soul4 ,what is there to satisfy the languishing soul in a prayer to the ,great ,unknown and ,unknowable8 ,they that come to ,god must believe that ,he is4 ,and that is is a personal divine being1 into whose arms we may cast our helpless selves1 and on whose bosom we may pillow our weary head2 instead of a great1 bewildering1 incomprehensible abstraction1 without body1 parts1 or passions4 ,we are brought into a sacred nearness with ,god in the life of ,jesus4 ,from ,his bed in the manger to ,his rest in a borrowed grave1 we have a life of abject poverty4 ,he was the friend and companion of the poor4 ,the world is full of poverty1 and ever will be4 ,but the poorest of every age and country find a companion and friend1 of like sufferings with themselves1 in the person of ,jesus4 ,the cares and sorrows of life1 resulting from poverty1 of which the world knows most as a daily burden1 were fully realized by ,him2 and in it all ,he is a deeply sympathetic friend4 ,jesus was a man of labor4 ,the hands so often extended to bless humanity1 and through which the cruel nails were driven1 were hardened by daily toil4 ,he never did a day's work with which ,his employers found fault4 ,long after ,he had built mansions in the skies for them that love ,him1 were the houses of ,his own workmanship standing in ,galilee2 but when ,he laid aside ,his tools to do the work of ,his ,father1 no man ever pointed to an earthly house and said1 ,this job is not in harmony with ,his claims to be the ,son of ,god4 ,he knew what it was to be tired and hungry4 ,he doubtless knew the meaning of hard work and low wages4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that every son of toil1 every burdened and weary life1 has for a gracious ,redeemer and providential ,saviour one who was a man of sorrows1 and acquainted with grief4 ,jesus was a man of temptation4 ,he was tempted as no other man was ever tempted4 ,the devil is the author of temptation1 and he had a peculiar interest in the temptation of ,jesus4 ,through temptation comes sin4 ,sin is the yielding of the will under temptation to do wrong4 ,the devil had a special interest in inducing ,jesus to sin4 ,he was the representative of the race4 ,their fortunes were all involved in ,his4 ,the consummation of ,his work as a ,redeemer required a sinless life4 ,hence if ,jesus could be induced to yield to temptation1 the world's hope of salvation was forever gone4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that the devil exhausted his resources to accomplish that end4 ,consequently ,he was tempted in all points like as we are1 and infinitely beyond what we know of temptation4 ,and ,he who withstood ,satan in every onset has promised to be with us to the end1 and suffer us not to be tempted above what we are able1 if we only keep ,him between us and the enemy of our souls4 ,it is a source of profound gratitude that we have a ,saviour who has felt in all its forms the tempting power of sin1 who is full of sympathy for us in our temptations1 and who has promised to ever be in such our faithful friend4 ,hence the great apostle to the ,gentiles1 whose life was full of temptation and trial1 gives us a reason why we should draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace1 that we have not a high priest that can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmities2 but one that hath been in all points tempted like we are2 yet without sin4 ,this very fact in the character of our ,saviour gives us humble boldness to approach the throne of grace that nothing else could give4 ,when we have given way under temptation1 and our souls are burdened with a sense of sin1 we can come to ,god through the mediation of ,jesus1 with a confidence that ,his sympathy for us has been perfected by the experience of ,his own earthly life4 ,for ,christ was perfected for the special parts of ,his work by ,his mission among men4 ,for it become him1 for whom are all things1 and through whom are all things1 in bringing sons unto glory1 to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings4 ,and having been made perfect1 he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation4 ,in order to accomplish the great work of redeeming the race1 ,christ had to be a man4 ,he had to be human1 as well as divine4 ,hence it was just as essential that ,he be the ,son of man as that ,he be the ,son of ,god4 ,he had to make an offering for sin1 and that required a human body4 ,hence he says1 ,sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not4 ,but a body didst thou prepare for me4 ,he had to be human in order to die1 and divine in order to conquer death4 ,hence1 while we exalt ,his divinity1 we must none the less appreciate ,his humanity4 ,we must not cease to contemplate our ,lord and ,saviour as the ,son of man4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,vi4--,,christ ,,the ,,great ,,teacher4 ,we know that thou art a teacher come from ,god3 for no man can do these signs that thou does1 except ,god be with him 7,john iii4 #b74 ,and it came to pass1 when ,jesus ended these words1 the multitudes were astonished at his teaching3 for he taught them as one having authority1 and not as their scribes 7,matt4 vii4 #bh1 #bi74 ,never man spake like this man 7,john vii4 #df74 ,on the great day of the feast--the feast of the tabernacles--in the second year of ,his ministry1 ,jesus was performing many miracles1 and there was great commotion among the people as to whether ,he was the ,christ4 ,the chief priests and the ,pharisees sent officers to take ,him4 ,but they returned without ,him4 ,then the chief priests and ,pharisees said1 ,why did you not bring him8 ,they simply reply1 ,never man so spake4 ,these were1 doubtless1 resolute men who were accustomed to obeying orders4 ,but in this case they did not obey orders1 nor even try to do it4 ,their excuse for not doing so was peculiar4 ,they gave no ordinary or natural circumstances as hindering the execution of orders4 ,they made no plea to exculpate themselves4 ,they simply said1 ,no man ever spake like this man4 ,how1 then1 shall we account for this8 ,there was simply an unearthly majesty in the person1 the manner and the words of ,jesus1 that awed them into inaction4 ,the very fact that such men were so unnerved by the presence and words of ,jesus1 gives us an idea of ,his majesty as a teacher1 and of ,his power over men4 ,thus it was that ,he could cleanse the temple1 overturn the tables of the money-changers1 drive out the whole crew who were making merchandise of the house of ,god1 and no one resisted4 ,when did the world produce another man whose presence alone awed bold officers of the law into disregard of duty1 and the chastised multitude into non-resistance8 ,jesus was the world's great teacher1 and yet ,he was never taught4 ,this fact was recognized by those who knew ,his history4 ,the ,jews therefore marveled1 saying1 ,how knoweth this man letters1 having never learned8 ,jesus explained it by saying1 ,my teaching is not mine1 but ,his that sent me4 ,this is the only satisfactory explanation that can be given4 ,that ,jesus was a man of unequaled wisdom1 surpassing infinitely all the great philosophers of renown1 is freely admitted by the best informed of modern skeptics4 ,that the world has been influenced by ,his teaching infinitely beyond what it has been by that of any other man1 is not denied4 ,that the world regards ,his teaching to-day1 after eighteen hundred years from the day of ,his death as a malefactor and ,his rest in a borrowed grave1 as it has never regarded the teaching of another man1 is also an admitted fact4 ,how shall we account for such teaching--teaching of such accumulating power over ages and generations of men--when ,he ,himself was untaught8 ,the world can not answer the question except as ,jesus answered it3 ,my teaching is not mine1 but ,his that sent me4 ,christ was the only teacher among men who never made a mistake4 ,after nearly two thousand years1 during which ,his teaching has been subjected to the severest scrutiny1 ,he stands without conviction as to a single error4 ,its ethics1 its morals1 its righteousness1 its philosophy1 its wisdom1 its accuracy1 have stood the test of the most rigid investigation4 ,how can this be accounted for on the hypothesis that ,jesus was only a man8 ,the greatest of all other men1 with the advantage of the world's best facilities1 and under teachers of renown1 have furnished the world with teaching full of mistakes and imperfections4 ,if ,jesus were only a man1 how came it that ,he was so infinitely superior to all other men8 ,and if thus superior in wisdom1 righteousness and purity1 how belie ,himself in claiming to be infinitely more than a man8 ,it were impossible4 ,the two things are mutually destructive4 ,jesus furnishes the only explanation3 ,my teaching is not mine1 but ,his that sent me4 ,jesus is the teacher of the science of salvation4 ,others before ,him taught the things pertaining to salvation1 but their teaching was all by the ,spirit of ,god1 framed with reference to what ,his was to be4 ,others1 after ,him1 taught the way of life1 but they taught it as they received it from ,him4 ,when ,he ascended to the ,father ,he sent the ,holy ,spirit as ,his advocate4 ,the ,spirit imparted to the apostles what ,he received from ,christ4 ,he took the words of the coronated ,christ and gave them to the apostles1 and they spake as the ,spirit gave them utterance 7see ,john xvi4 #g1 #ae74 ,it follows1 therefore1 that the teaching of the apostles is as infallible as that of the ,christ1 for it is simply ,his4 ,it was not the purpose of ,jesus to teach the wisdom of this world4 ,he was not of this world1 and ,his teaching was not with reference to this world4 ,he came from another world1 and the things pertaining to another world were the ultimatum of ,his teaching4 ,the way of salvation is purely a matter of revelation4 ,man knows nothing about it except what ,god has revealed through ,christ4 ,the same is true as to that from which we are saved1 and that to which we are saved4 ,we know nothing of ,god1 heaven1 hell and eternity1 except that which is revealed4 ,all that we know of sin and its remedy we learn from the great ,teacher4 ,the nature and the consequences of sin we learn from the same source4 ,the revelation of ,god is at once the source and limit of our knowledge of sin and righteousness1 and their consequences4 ,in the whole scheme of redemption ,christ is the central figure2 and on it ,he is the great teacher and supreme authority4 ,christ1 as a teacher of law and morals1 legislates for the heart4 ,men can take cognizance only of deeds4 ,they can not know the heart4 ,hence they can judge it only by outward manifestations4 ,but ,christ knew what was in man4 ,hence ,he could legislate for man's thoughts1 as well as his deeds4 ,hence ,he says3 ,ye have heard that it was said1 ,thou shalt not commit adultery3 but ,i say unto you1 that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart4 ,even the law of the ,ten ,commandments legislated against adultery only as an outward act1 but ,christ legislates against the thought4 ,in this respect1 as in many others1 ,he is unique as a teacher4 ,finally1 ,he taught by ,his own authority4 ,this was the cause of the astonishment at the conclusion of the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,the multitudes were astonished at ,his teaching2 for ,he taught them as one having authority1 and not as their scribes4 ,the scribes taught that which was said to them of old time1 and the traditions of men1 but ,christ said1 ,i say unto you4 ,mark this feature in that discourse4 ,a dozen times does he say1 ,i say unto you4 ,this was in harmony with that which was predicted of ,him as a teacher4 ,moses indeed said1 ,a prophet shall the ,lord ,god raise up unto you from among your brethren1 like unto me2 to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you4 ,and it shall be1 that every soul which shall not hearken to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people4 ,and in the presence of ,moses and ,elijah1 the great teachers of the past1 the divine ,father said3 ,this is my beloved ,son1 in whom ,i am well pleased2 hear ye him4 ,all this recognizes one of the fundamental principles in the ,christian religion--the supreme authority of ,christ4 ,the world seems slow to learn that what ,he said ,he said by ,his own authority1 whether personally or through the apostles and prophets2 that it needs no other support1 and that it is the irrepealable law of the kingdom of ,god4 ,because we are not under the law1 but under grace1 many conclude that we have a religious latitude in which we may legislate for ourselves1 forgetting that ,paul says we are under law to ,christ4 ,in our supreme ignorance we need a teacher--an infallible teacher2 and that we have in the person of ,jesus4 ,in order to become wise unto salvation1 we must hear and learn of ,him4 ,in believing what ,he says1 and doing what ,he directs1 we have ,his divine assurance of salvation from sin and a home in heaven4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,vii4--,,christ ,,the ,,deliverer4 ,and he ,jesus came to ,nazareth1 where he had been brought up2 and he entered1 as his custom was1 into the synagogue on the sabbath day1 and stood up to read4 ,and there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet ,isaiah4 ,and he opened the book1 and found the place where it was written1 ,the spirit of the ,lord is upon me1 ,because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor3 ,he hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives1 ,and recovering of sight to the blind1 ,to set at liberty them that are bruised1 ,to proclaim the acceptable year of the ,lord4 ,and he closed the book1 and gave it back to the attendant1 and sat down2 and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him4 ,and he began to say unto them1 ,to-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears 7,luke iv4 #af-ba74 ,this sublime passage is a quotation of ,isaiah lxi4 #a-c4 ,it contains several words indicating a character in which the ,messiah was to appear1 strikingly appreciated by the ,jews at the time of the prophecy4 ,especially from the time of the ,babylonish captivity did the ,jews make prominent the idea of a deliverer in the person of their promised ,messiah4 ,release to the captives and liberty to the bruised--ill-treated by their captors--was to them a precious proclamation1 looked forward to with great anxiety1 when deliverance should be proclaimed and ,israel should again be the free and favored people of ,god4 ,since this characteristic was so long appreciated as a matter of prophecy1 and ,jesus announced its fulfillment in ,himself1 it is a befitting occasion on which to briefly notice the relation of ,christ to prophecy4 ,the understanding of this relationship is important at any time1 because it furnishes a valuable class of evidence as to the ,messiahship and divinity of ,jesus4 ,it is especially so at this time1 since infidels are making a special effort to destroy the value of prophecy in this respect2 and some from whom we should expect better things seem to be assisting in the work4 ,a great deal of importance was given to ,messianic prophecies during the days of the ,saviour and the apostolic age of the church4 ,indeed1 this was the main source of evidence to the ,jewish mind that ,jesus was the ,christ4 ,and the use made of it by ,christ and the apostles shows that it was abundant4 ,when ,jesus talked with two of the disciples on their way to ,emmaus1 on the day of the resurrection1 ,he said to them3 ,o foolish men1 and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken6 ,behooved it not the ,christ to suffer these things1 and to enter into his glory8 ,and beginning from ,moses and from all the prophets1 he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself4 ,here ,jesus ,himself states that ,moses and all the prophets prophesied of ,him4 ,and when ,he had returned to ,jerusalem1 and stood in the midst of the eleven1 ,he said to them3 ,these are my words which ,i spake unto you1 while ,i was yet with you1 how that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of ,moses and the prophets and the psalms concerning me4 ,thus the books of ,moses1 and all the prophets1 and the psalms1 contained teaching concerning the ,christ1 according to ,jesus' own statement2 and it was all in the form of type and prophecy4 ,indeed1 types are but forms of prophecy4 ,jesus charged the ,jews with not believing ,moses1 and gave that as the reason why they did not believe on ,him4 ,he said3 ,for if ye believe ,moses1 ye would believe me3 for he wrote of me4 ,but if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words8 ,like modern skeptics1 they did not believe the writings of ,moses concerning the ,messiah--did not believe that they referred to the ,messiah2 hence their value was destroyed1 and they did not believe in ,jesus4 ,had they believed these prophecies they would have believed on ,christ4 ,on the day of ,pentecost ,peter convinced the three thousand by argument from prophecy concerning the ,christ4 ,in his sermon in ,solomon's porch the argument was likewise based upon prophecy4 ,paul's manner of preaching 7see ,acts xvii4 #a-c7 was to show the prophecies of the ,old ,testament concerning the ,messiah and then show that these were fulfilled in ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,therefore the conclusion was necessitated that ,he was the ,christ4 ,as this was ,paul's method1 he evidently attached to prophecy the highest possible value4 ,that all the apostles did this is evident from the statement of ,peter4 ,speaking of their being eye-witnesses of ,his majesty1 and of the infallible signs ,he gave of ,his divinity1 he says3 ,and we have the word of prophecy made more sure2 whereunto ye do well that ye take heed1 as unto a lamp shining in a dark place4 ,how are we to determine the ,messianic prophecies8 ,we unhesitatingly reply1 by the example of ,christ and the apostles4 ,three important points are established by their testimony3 7#a7 ,they teach that such prophecies are numerous1 and made by ,moses1 ,david1 and all the prophets4 7#b7 ,they quote or refer to specifically1 and thus apply1 quite a number4 ,it is evident that these are ,messianic1 because so applied4 7#c7 ,since ,christ and the apostles designate a large number as ,messianic1 we are safe in concluding that others are so that are of like character4 ,they are infallible judges1 and they furnish us a criterion by which to judge4 ,it is not true1 as claimed1 that in order to a ,messianic prophecy1 the prophet making it must so understand it at the time4 ,on the contrary1 ,peter tells us that they searched diligently to ascertain the things and the time of them referred to in their own prophecies concerning the sufferings of the ,christ and the glory that was to follow4 7,see ,i4 ,pet4 i4 #aj-ab74 ,they1 therefore1 did not understand the things or the time referred to4 ,since they did not know these1 they did not know that the prophecy referred to the ,messiah4 ,the same ,peter did not understand some of his own utterances on the day of ,pentecost4 ,his language here makes the promise of salvation to ,gentiles as well as to ,jews4 ,but he did not so understand it till he had a special revelation at ,joppa and the house of ,cornelius4 ,nor is it true1 as claimed1 that a ,messianic prophecy must have been so understood by the people before its fulfillment4 ,many of the ,messianic prophecies were not understood as such in ,old ,testament times4 ,the ,saviour charged this want of understanding upon ,his disciples1 and told them that if they had correctly interpreted ,moses and the prophets1 in this very respect1 they would have known that ,his death was required by such prophecies1 and they would not have received the story of ,his resurrection as an idle tale4 ,moreover1 ,he charged the ,jews that this failure to understand ,messianic prophecies1 as such1 was the ground of their not believing on ,him4 7,see ,john v4 #de-dg74 ,in regard to types1 which is a feature of prophetic teaching1 and a strong chapter of evidence as to inspiration1 ,clark ,braden says3 ,there are but few real types in the ,bible2 that is1 there are but few things that men devised and acted with the intention of symbolizing or typifying anything future4 ,there are exceeding few that were devised or acted with that as their sole object4 ,it would be difficult for one to crowd more flagrant error into the same space than the above contains1 if he were to make it a specialty4 ,it contains the following positions1 all of which are false3 7#a7 ,that there are but few types in the ,bible4 7#b7 ,that types are devised by men4 7#c7 ,that types were devised and acted by the same party4 7#d7 ,that they were devised and acted by men with the intention of typifying something future4 7#e7 ,that this1 in order to their value as evidence of inspiration1 should have been their sole object4 ,this will do quite well for five lines4 ,we would suggest that ,god devised types1 not men4 ,while men were the actors1 they were not the originators4 ,while men may not have intended to typify anything in the case1 ,god did4 ,while types were intended by ,god to typify something future1 this was not their sole object4 ,god had in them a purpose for the actors in addition to their typical significance4 ,the purpose they then served detracts not from their value as types4 ,as to the comparative number1 we prefer ,paul as authority4 ,speaking of the wilderness life of the ,israelites1 from their baptism in the cloud and in the sea1 he says3 ,now these things happened unto them by way of types tupoi1 and they were written for our admonition4 ,this history contains numerous types1 ,paul being judge4 ,indeed1 the patriarchal and ,jewish religions were mainly typical4 ,when ,noah built the ark to the saving of his house1 it is not probable that he thought of anything typical4 ,certainly that was not the only purpose1 nor the main purpose4 ,but ,peter says it was a type1 all the same4 ,the fact that ,god's people did not understand the full significance of their worship1 did not destroy its character or its value4 ,the same is true now4 ,while ,god's oppressed people worshiped in types and symbols which foreshadowed the perfection to come1 they were taught by the spirit of prophecy to look with longing anxiety to the coming of a deliverer4 ,while1 in debate1 we may not rely on a large number of prophecies as ,messianic1 because the proof is not conclusive1 it does not effect the fact that many of them have that character4 ,to appreciate ,christ as a deliverer one must realize his own bondage--the slave of sin1 and sold under its power4 ,there is no appreciation of the ,deliverer till there is a longing for deliverance1 and no longing for deliverance till there is a hatred of bondage4 ,hence one must have a just sense of the heinousness of sin before he can appreciate ,christ as a ,saviour4 ,in coming to this world to deliver us1 ,christ had1 in a sense1 to come within the dominion of ,satan1 and under the assaults of sin4 ,this is typfied by ,moses going into ,egypt to deliver his brethren4 ,he had to place himself under the reign of ,pharaoh1 and in order to deliver his brethren he had to deliver himself4 ,the ,son of ,god took upon ,him our humanity4 ,this ,he had to do to make a sacrifice and be a mediator for us4 ,in doing this ,he placed ,himself under the tempting power of sin1 and was tempted in all points as we are4 ,he had to save ,himself from this condition before ,he could save us4 ,this was done through death and the resurrection4 ,with ,him the old life ceased at the cross1 and the new one began from the grave4 ,he conquered ,satan--dragged the captor captive--and was forever delivered from his tempting power4 ,he died unto sin once1 says ,paul2 and we die to sin just where ,he did1 being put to death by the cross4 ,we are buried with ,him1 and rise with ,him to walk in newness of life4 ,thus the new life begins with us just where it began with ,him--from the grave--the grave of baptism in which we are buried together and rise together4 ,the denominational world want to make the new life begin from the cross4 ,but it did not thus begin with ,jesus1 and ,paul says it does not thus begin with us4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,viii4--,,christ ,,the ,,great ,,physician4 ,they that are whole have no need of a physician2 but they that are sick4 ,i am not come to call the righteous1 but sinners1 to repentance 7,luke v4 #ca1 #cb74 ,for this people's heart is waxed gross1 ,and their ears are dull of hearing1 ,and their eyes they have closed2 ,lest haply they should perceive with their eyes1 ,and hear with their ears1 ,and understand with their heart1 ,and should turn again1 ,and ,i should heal them 7,matt4 xiii4 #ae74 ,he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted 7,luke iv4 #ah74 ,several times1 either directly or indirectly1 ,christ alludes to ,himself as a physician4 ,in this character ,he is worthy of careful study4 ,the first thing in order to appreciate a physician1 is to realize that one is sick4 ,the ,saviour says the well need not a physician4 ,it is equally true that the well care not for a physician4 ,sin is the disease of which ,christ1 as a physician1 is the healer4 ,the disease is deadly4 ,the smallest amount is fatal4 ,the ,great ,physician alone can heal it4 ,there is no other remedy4 ,when a man is once affected1 however much he may keep it under control1 and prevent its increase1 there is never a diminution of the disease till the remedy of the ,great ,physician is applied4 ,there is much senseless talk about depravity that necessarily implies1 though its advocates may not so intend1 that sin has comparatively little condemnatory force4 ,the idea so often expressed that one must be a great sinner in order to need a great ,saviour2 that if he is only partially depraved1 he needs to be only partially saved2 that he must be totally depraved in order to be totally lost2 that he must be totally depraved in order to be wholly dependent on ,christ for salvation1 and such like1 necessarily puts a light estimate upon sin4 ,the idea is1 that if one has but a comparatively small amount of sin1 he is not wholly lost and utterly helpless1 and wholly dependent on ,christ4 ,when the simple fact is1 that sin is so heinous in its character and condemnatory in its consequences1 that any amount of it1 whether much or little1 renders one as helpless and hopeless and dependent on ,christ as if he were totally depraved by nature and doubly defiled by a life of sin4 ,there is1 therefore1 no necessity for total depravity1 in order that man be in an utterly lost and helpless condition without ,christ4 ,a grain of strychnine is just as fatal as an ounce1 without an antidote4 ,in order that we appreciate a physician1 and avail ourselves of the benefits of his skill1 we must have faith in him4 ,without faith that his skill is superior to ours1 and that he can help us1 we will not call upon him4 ,if we have faith in him we will do as he directs4 ,the highest evidence of faith in a physician1 and the surest way of being benefited by his skill1 is in going precisely by his directions4 ,some years ago the writer had a long spell of typhoid fever4 ,his physician came to see him one hundred and thirty times4 ,after he became convalescent1 his physician said to him one day1 ,in looking back over your case1 ,i can attribute your recovery to but two things--your unyielding resolution and confidence1 and your faith in your physician4 ,what did he mean by faith in my physician8 ,what had that to do with it8 ,he explained4 ,for1 said he1 you followed my directions minutely in everything1 and for more than seven weeks the least wabble would have turned the scale against you4 ,this was a fine illustration of faith1 but theologically he attached to the word a very different idea4 ,such must be our faith in the ,great ,physician that we apply to ,him for the treatment of a sin-sick soul4 ,and having called upon ,him1 we are to follow ,his directions4 ,on one occasion ,he said to the ,pharisees1 ,why do you call me ,lord1 ,lord1 and do not the things which ,i say8 ,so in this case ,he would say1 ,why do you call on me as a physician1 and do not as ,i direct you8 ,as well apply to an earthly physician and expect to be healed by faith in his skill1 without taking his medicine or following his directions in other respects1 as to expect the ,great ,physician to heal you in the same way4 ,this illustrates the absolute folly of expecting to be justified by faith only in the ,great ,physician of souls1 before and without doing as ,he directs4 ,our faith in a physician is valuable only as it induces us to take his remedies4 ,when it leads to this1 it has fulfilled its only office4 ,when it does not lead to this1 it is worthless4 ,so of our faith in ,christ4 ,the only value of faith is in its leading to the observance of the divine will4 ,the faith that does this saves1 because it leads us to where ,god saves us4 ,god promises salvation in the doing of ,his will4 ,not every one that says unto me1 ,lord1 ,lord1 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven2 but he that doeth the will of my ,father who is in heaven4 ,faith leads to the doing of the ,father's will4 ,in this it performs its only office1 and in this it saves4 ,faith can have value only as it leads to the appropriation and use of the remedies prescribed4 ,it is often the case that a physician is stationary1 and his patients have to come to him in order to get the benefits of his treatment4 ,in such case1 the acts necessary to take us to him are essential to our recovery1 though they have no virtue whatever except as means of reaching him4 ,so of coming to ,christ4 ,christ does not come to the sinner1 as orthodox prayers at the mourners' bench imply2 but ,he invites the sinner to come to ,him4 ,come unto me1 all ye that labor and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 ,and you will not come to me that you may have life4 ,believing on ,christ is one thing1 and coming to ,him is quite another4 ,one must first believe before he will come4 ,yet1 in addition to believing1 the orthodox world1 so-called1 utterly fails to tell us how to come to ,christ4 ,they cry1 ,come1 come1 but tell us not how4 ,christ plainly teaches that we come to ,him in obedience4 ,we are baptized into ,him2 into ,his body4 ,we put ,him on by baptism4 ,being baptized into ,christ is ,paul's explanation of how we become the children of ,god by faith4 ,ye are all sons of ,god1 through faith in ,christ ,jesus4 ,for as many of you as were baptized into ,christ did put on ,christ4 ,we come to ,christ1 then1 in baptism4 ,this is the first overt act in the obedience of faith4 ,our faith1 repentance and baptism bring us to ,christ2 then ,he1 as the ,great ,physician1 heals our sin-sick soul4 ,there is no healing virtue in these things that bring us to ,him2 but they are conditions of our healing because they are means of our reaching the ,physician4 ,the remedy for sin is the ,physician's own blood4 ,that is the only thing in the universe of ,god that can heal the disease of sin1 and remove the ruinous consequences4 ,the blood of ,jesus ,christ1 his ,son1 cleanses from all sin4 ,the blood of animal sacrifices could not take away sin4 ,for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins4 ,since animal sacrifice could not meet the demands of the law1 ,god prepared a body for ,his ,son in which to make a sacrifice4 ,sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not1 ,but a body thou didst prepare me4 ,hence we are redeemed from the curse of sin1 not with corruptible things1 but with precious blood1 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot1 even the blood of ,christ4 ,and without the shedding of blood there was no remission4 ,it is plain1 therefore1 that the blood of the ,physician is the only remedy4 ,this remedy is freely given when we come to ,him4 ,jesus said3 ,as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 even so must the ,son of ,man be lifted up2 that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life4 ,the ,israelites were commanded to look upon the brazen serpent2 and they that looked were healed4 ,they had to have faith1 in order to look with a view to being healed4 ,looking was the thing commanded4 ,it was the result of faith4 ,in looking they were healed4 ,but there was no virtue in the looking4 ,looking1 in and of itself1 had no power to heal4 ,still it was essential to the healing4 ,neither had the thing looked upon any power to heal4 ,there was no virtue in the serpent4 ,the healing power lay back of that4 ,it was in ,god1 who had promised4 ,god did the healing4 ,but while there was no healing virtue in the look nor in the thing looked upon1 they were necessary to the healing1 because to this end were they commanded4 ,they were1 therefore1 necessary to bring one to the point in the obedience of faith where ,god promised to heal4 ,so it is with the ,great ,healer of souls4 ,they that believe shall in ,him find the healing power4 ,their faith leads them to ,him1 where the healing power is applied1 as the look brought the ,israelites to the healing power of ,god4 ,our obedience that brings us to ,christ is the outgrowth of our faith1 just as their look was the outgrowth of theirs4 ,there is no healing virtue in the one nor the other1 but they were and are necessary to bring the believer where the healing virtue is4 ,after all that is said about being saved by faith1 and by other things1 it is simply true that ,christ saves us4 ,he is our ,saviour4 ,and ,he saves us by means of ,his own blood4 ,there is a fountain filled with blood1 ,drawn from ,immanuel's veins2 ,and sinners plunged beneath that flood ,lose all their guilty stains4 ,it is thus that ,christ is precious to us as the great ,physician of souls4 ,we should give heed to ,his inviting voice1 place ourselves under ,his continued care1 follow ,his directions1 and we shall enjoy a healed and healthful state of the soul4 ,the great ,physician now is near1 ,the sympathizing ,jesus2 ,he speaks1 the drooping heart to cheer3 ,oh1 hear the voice of ,jesus4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,ix4--,,christ ,,our ,,mediator4 ,for there is one ,god1 one mediator also between ,god and men1 himself man1 ,christ ,jesus1 who gave himself a ransom for all2 the testimony to be borne in its own time 7,i4 ,tim4 ii4 #e-f74 ,a mediator is one who comes between alienated parties to effect a reconciliation4 ,he must be the friend1 the advocate and equal of both parties4 ,failing in one of these1 he is incapacitated4 ,no one would accept a mediator whom he believed would be wanting in any of these respects in his relations to him4 ,no one is fit to mediate who is not qualified to do justice to both parties4 ,this he can not do unless he knows the rights of both and is the friend of both4 ,he must be unbiased in his judgment and impartial in his friendship4 ,he must be considered the equal of both1 in so far1 at least1 as his knowledge of them and his ability to judge between them is concerned4 ,a mediator between ,god and men implies alienation between them4 ,the history of the race shows this to be true4 ,the time was when they were one2 when not a feeling or a shadow came between them4 ,the bliss of ,eden reached its daily acme when the footfall of ,god was heard amid its bowers4 ,the hour that ,he joined their company was that of supreme joy4 ,but man sinned1 and then the presence of ,god was shunned4 ,that which was delightful before is painful now4 ,such is the principle of congeniality2 and such the consequences of sin--to make of heaven a hell4 ,this fact alone should teach us that it lies not within the limits of divine power to make a heaven for sinful men4 ,separation from ,god is hell2 and with the soul defiled by sin1 union is worse than separation4 ,after the fall of man he could no longer stand in the immediate presence of ,god1 as he was wont to do before4 ,sin can not approach the divine presence1 hence he needed a mediator1 one to stand between him and an offended ,god1 through whom he might again be heard and blessed4 ,mediators of an imperfect and typical character were had in that age of preparation for the coming perfection4 ,but where could a perfect mediator be found to stand between an offended ,god and rebellious man8 ,where in all the universe could one be found the friend and equal of both parties8 ,where could one be found that could stand on equality with ,god1 know what was just and right in regard to ,him1 and1 at the same time know the weaknesses1 the wants and the rights of man8 ,where was one who could poise with one hand the scales of ,god's justice and gather fallen humanity to his bosom with the other8 ,the boundless dominions of ,god contained not such a being4 ,man could not thus act1 for the best of men are themselves sinners1 and can approach ,god only through a mediator4 ,the best of men know nothing of ,god's side of this matter1 and they fall below equality with ,him1 as the earth is below the stars4 ,an angel could not stand between ,god and men1 for he can not descend to equality with fleshly natures1 to know their weaknesses and their wants2 nor can ascend the heights of divine perfection till he knows the mind and the rights of ,god4 ,in the ,divine ,logos1 and the ,divine ,spirit we find1 in a sense1 equality with ,god1 but no equality with men4 ,how1 then1 is this great problem1 that on which the world's salvation turns1 to be solved8 ,the human and the divine must be blended4 ,they must meet and dwell in one4 ,this is accomplished1 not by lifting the human up to the divine1 but by bringing the divine down to the human4 ,god glories in condescension4 ,the ,word that was in the beginning with ,god1 that was ,god in ,his divine attributes1 became flesh and dwelt among us4 ,in the person of the babe of ,bethlehem we have a being that never before existed--a being both human and divine4 ,he brought from the skies the divinity of ,his ,father1 and dwelt among men with the humanity of ,his mother4 ,hence the mighty chasm between man and ,god1 between earth and heaven1 is bridged over in the ,god-man1 ,christ ,jesus4 ,his divinity reaches half-way from heaven to earth1 and ,his humanity half-way from earth to heaven1 and the two unite in ,him4 ,in the life of ,jesus we see ,his two natures constantly manifested4 ,as ,he hungers and thirsts and sleeps2 as ,he weeps over the sins of men1 and sorrows over their afflictions1 we see ,his humanity4 ,he seems to be only a man4 ,but when ,he stills the tempest on the ,sea of ,galilee1 or calls ,lazarus back to life1 we see ,his divinity4 ,it is interesting to study ,his life with a view to the manifestation of ,his two natures in each event--their distinctness and their blending4 ,we may never know in this life the reasons for the blending of the divine and the human in the person of the mediator4 ,these things are doubtless beyond the ken of an archangel1 in all their fullness4 ,yet from our point of view1 obscured by our fleshly weakness1 we may see some reasons lying on the surface why this was a necessity4 ,some of these let us consider4 ,man fell through the weakness of the flesh and the power of temptation4 ,satan works through the flesh to pollute the spirit4 ,in order to be one with us in our temptation1 and perfect ,himself as an experimental sympathizer1 our mediator must be tempted in all points like as we are1 that ,he may know how we feel under temptation4 ,this demanded that ,he take upon ,himself not the nature of angels1 but that of the seed of ,abraham4 ,he must1 therefore1 be a man4 ,but this temptation is to be successfully met4 ,it is to be without sin4 ,no man had ever successfully withstood the assaults of ,satan4 ,our mediator was to do this4 ,hence the necessity of divinity4 ,he must be human to be tempted2 ,he must be divine to resist it4 ,and to make ,his victory the more complete1 ,he had ,his flesh put to the sorest test4 ,after a fast of forty days1 when ,his long pent-up hunger rushed upon ,him as a lion upon its prey1 ,satan approached and exhausted his strength to overcome ,him4 ,not only did ,he give ,satan this advantage1 such as he had never had nor needed over men1 but ,he even went out of the flesh1 into the citadel of which ,satan held the keys1 and came out a triumphant conqueror4 ,hence ,his humanity in order to enter in2 ,his divinity in order to come out4 ,the scheme of redemption contemplated a sacrifice for the sins of the world4 ,men must get rid of sin4 ,they had no power of themselves to do this4 ,sin must be remitted4 ,this demanded a sacrifice for sin4 ,without the shedding of blood there is no remission4 ,the blood shed must be the blood of humanity4 ,it must contain the life under condemnation4 ,hence the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin4 ,it could not reach and cleanse the conscience4 ,it was used as an imperfect type1 but the perfection required the blood that courses in human veins2 but the victim must be innocent4 ,it must be absolutely free from sin4 ,only a sinless offering can meet the requirements of the divine government4 ,hence1 in order to offer the blood of the condemned race1 our mediator must be human2 in order to offer it in innocence1 ,he must be divine4 ,the completion of the preparation of our mediator for ,his work as such1 required ,his death and resurrection4 ,it is shocking to the mind of some to speak of ,christ having to be educated and perfected for ,his office of mediator1 but this ,he asserts ,himself4 ,for it became him1 for whom are all things1 and through whom are all things1 in bringing many sons unto glory1 to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings4 ,though he was a ,son1 yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered2 and having been made perfect1 he became unto all them that obey him1 the author of eternal salvation4 ,this officiating for man as mediator and high priest1 is the only thing1 as we now remember1 in which ,christ is said to have been specially qualified by ,his life among men4 ,this is significant4 ,the reasons for it are easily seen in the foregoing4 ,he had to become a man1 and these things peculiar to humanity ,he had to learn4 ,in offering ,himself a sacrifice for sin1 our mediator had to die4 ,in order to ,his work as such1 of which ,his death was only preparatory1 ,he had to live again4 ,his death was voluntary4 ,he said1 ,i have power to lay down my life1 and ,i have power to take it up again4 ,in order to lay down ,his life1 ,he had to be human2 in order to take it up again1 ,he had to be divine4 ,having accomplished ,his preparatory work1 ,christ returned to the ,father to make an atonement1 and to sit henceforth as a mediator between ,god and men4 ,he was equal with ,god before ,he left the heavens2 ,he became the equal of man in ,his sojourn in the world4 ,hence ,he is now perfectly qualified for ,his work4 ,but we find that we can not dispose of this subject in one chapter4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,x4--,,christ ,,our ,,mediator4--,,continued4 ,but now hath he ,christ obtained a more excellent ministry1 by how much also ,he is the mediator of a better covenant1 which was established upon better promises 7,heb4 viii4 #f74 ,having considered ,christ's preparatory work1 ,his earthly mission1 we wish now to consider ,his office and work as mediator between ,god and men4 ,christ sought no additional honor because of ,his message to men and suffering on their account4 ,on the contrary1 ,he prayed3 ,and now1 ,o ,father1 glorify thou me with thine own self1 with the glory which ,i had with thee before the world was4 ,but while ,he sought no additional glory1 ,he found additional work4 ,the office ,he now fills existed not till ,he ascended to the ,father from an empty grave4 ,he descended into the dominion of death and robbed it of its power4 ,he dragged the captor captive1 and gave gifts unto men4 ,ascending1 as a conquering king1 ,his angelic retinue raise the exultant shout3 ,lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates1 and be ye lifted up1 ye everlasting doors2 and the ,king of glory shall come in4 ,who is this ,king of glory8 the guardian hosts shout back4 ,the ,lord strong and mighty1 the ,lord mighty in battle4 ,again1 the gates of the eternal city are shaken with the shout3 ,lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates2 even lift them up1 ye everlasting doors2 and the ,king of glory shall come in4 ,christ was coronated ,king of kings and ,lord of lords4 ,he began at once ,his work of mediation4 ,through the ,holy ,spirit1 sent as ,his advocate1 ,he convicts men of sin1 and brings them into harmony and union with ,god4 ,his mediatorship involves a work of reconciliation4 ,this is ,his fundamental work4 ,the old theology was that ,christ labors to reconcile ,god to men4 ,indeed1 the world is not yet as free from the thought as the truth and the honor of ,god demand4 ,whatever may be true of the atonement1 one thing is certain1 it grew out of the love of ,god4 ,god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish1 but have eternal life4 ,any theory1 therefore1 that does not harmonize with this is false4 ,god already loves the world4 ,he loves sinners1 even1 who are not penitent4 ,he is not willing that any should perish1 but that all should come to repentance4 ,how dishonoring to ,god1 then1 to represent ,him as unwilling to save agonizing sinners2 so that the protracted prayers of the church are necessary1 and often unavailing6 ,paul says that ,god was in ,christ1 reconciling the world unto ,himself4 ,the world had transgressed1 had gone away from ,god1 and ,christ's mission as mediator1 is to bring it back in agreement and submission to the divine will4 ,the importance of the mediatorial office of ,christ is very improperly apprehended4 ,the necessity of a mediator between us and ,god can never be fully realized in this life4 ,this belongs to that association of deep and profound mysteries emanating from the mind of ,god1 that angels intently desire to look into4 ,we are permitted to see only the surface in this life4 ,but we know enough about the general character of ,his work1 to know1 that it has a value far above the world's comprehension4 ,when one stands as our intercessor we are favored in proportion to his standing with the other party4 ,when one seeks a favor at the hands of the chief executive of the nation1 if he has no standing of his own1 all depends on the standing of his advocate4 ,if the one interceding for him stands high in the president's favor1 and has great influence with him1 his request is favorably considered on account of his advocate4 ,when we consider the standing of the ,son with the ,father2 that through ,him the ,father has sought the reconciliation of the world2 that ,he is the brightness1 the ,father's glory1 and the express image of his person2 we have perfect confidence that ,his pleadings will prevail4 ,but when the ,father so loved the world as to give his ,son to die for it2 when ,he so loves sinners that ,his great loving heart goes out in yearnings for their salvation1 why should ,his loving1 struggling children need an intercessor with ,him at all8 ,this has been one of the questions of the ages4 ,theories more curious than satisfactory have been promulgated concerning it by the different schools of theology4 ,we shall not presume to answer it1 beyond the simple suggestion that this was the special work for which the divine ,logos that was in the beginning with ,god1 had to qualify ,himself by special education4 ,hence it is a matter not of difference between the love and goodness of the ,father and that of the ,son1 but of qualification by experience in the trials1 temptations and weaknesses of the flesh4 ,the consideration of this fact would have saved the world from much vain speculation4 ,when ,paul argues the importance of a mediator1 it is not on the ground that the ,son loves us more than the ,father1 but on the ground that ,he knows us by experience4 ,for we have not a high priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are1 yet without sin4 ,let us1 therefore1 draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace4 ,the fact that our high priest1 or intercessor1 was tempted in all points1 like as we are1 is the reason why we may approach a throne of grace with boldness4 ,this boldness is simply a profound confidence based upon the humanity of our mediator4 ,when we approach a throne of grace1 conscious of sin and imperfection1 how little can we trust ourselves4 ,we realize that we come empty-handed before ,god4 ,with the poet1 each can sing3 ,nothing in my hands ,i bring1 ,simply to ,thy cross ,i cling4 ,we can plead no merit of our own4 ,we have no legal claim on the store-house of ,god's boundless mercy and love4 ,but we remember that we have a ,friend2 that this ,friend has suffered the same trials and temptations2 that ,he knows by bitter experience just how we feel2 that ,he deeply sympathizes with us1 and that ,he loves us with a devotion and faithfulness beyond human experience or expression4 ,remembering this1 how can we feel otherwise than confident that an already loving ,father will hear our petitions in harmony with ,his will1 and bless us as ,his believing children8 ,the efficacy of prayer1 therefore1 grows out of the mediatorship of ,jesus1 and the confidence in prayer grows out of our appreciation of the mediator and of ,his work4 ,hence a light appreciation of the mediatorial work of ,jesus leads to a prayerless life4 ,jesus ,himself taught that there is no way of approach to the ,father except through ,him4 ,i am the way1 the truth and the life2 no man cometh unto the ,father but by me4 ,no man can approach ,god in his own name4 ,god does not look upon men in their own personality4 ,he looks upon them only through their mediator2 and what ,he sees to commend1 is seen and commended only through1 and on account of1 their mediator4 ,in other words1 ,god sees the mediator only1 not them4 ,hence the man that does not accept the mediator cuts himself off from ,god4 ,he rejects the only way of approach to ,god4 ,he prevents ,god's considering his case2 for ,god considers us only through the mediator4 ,it is this fact1 that ,god considers the mediator through whom the petition is made1 rather than the petitioner1 that gives significance to the fact that our prayers are to be in the name of ,jesus ,christ2 and that we ask that our petitions be granted for ,christ's sake4 ,at a throne of grace we present the name of our intercessor4 ,we ask in his name1 not our own4 ,we present ,him1 not ourselves4 ,we hide ourselves behind ,him1 put ,him in our place1 and ask what ,god will do for ,him4 ,he authorizes us to thus use ,his name1 and the blessings bestowed are just to the extent that that name prevails with ,god4 ,should ,vanderbilt grant you the legal right to use his name to the full extent of your desire in presentation of checks1 etc42 with his pledge to redeem all paper bearing his signature in your hand1 his whole fortune would be pledged to meet the demands of your drafts upon him4 ,bankrupt financially1 as you are spiritually1 you present your check for a large amount and it would be rejected4 ,but add to that the name of ,vanderbilt1 and your check is honored4 ,you draw the money not in your name1 but in his4 ,the bank sees not you1 but him4 ,now1 just as you would thus present the name of ,vanderbilt1 with full assurance of your request being granted to the extent of his fortune1 you to-day present the name of ,jesus at the court of heaven1 and a heaven honors that name2 its resources are pledged to meet your petition4 ,the name of ,jesus1 therefore1 when thus presented1 means to us all that it signifies in the government of ,god4 ,to the extent that ,his name is honored are heavenly blessings secured to us4 ,in the light of these sublime truths1 we see the significance of the ,saviour's requirement that henceforth all prayer should be offered in ,his name4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 if ye shall ask anything of the ,father1 he will give it to you in my name4 ,hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name2 ask1 and ye shall receive4 ,what is called the ,lord's ,prayer1 is not in ,his name1 because ,his mediatorship had not then been established4 ,but now it would be sinful to repeat that prayer1 as thousands do1 and omit to offer it in the name of ,christ4 ,the custom of ,masons1 and other secret orders1 of having a form of religion that ignores ,christ1 that does not recognize ,his mediatorship and that is not offered in ,his name1 is supremely wicked4 ,it is a gross perversion of the religion of ,jesus4 ,and how ,christian men1 even preachers of the gospel1 can find it in their hearts to acquiesce in such a thing1 is to us a profound puzzle4 ,the institution that has no place for my ,master has no place for me4 ,the only way of approach to ,god is through ,christ as our mediator2 and the mediatorial office of ,christ is in the church1 not in the world4 ,hence1 as ,god can be glorified only through ,christ1 ,he can be glorified only through the church4 ,paul1 recognizing this1 says3 ,unto ,god be glory in the church1 by ,christ ,jesus1 throughout all ages1 world without end4 ,amen4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,xi4--,,christ ,,our ,,high ,,priest4 ,now1 if there was perfection through the ,levitical priesthood 7for under it hath the people received the law71 what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of ,melchisedec1 and not be reckoned after the order of ,aaron8 ,for the priesthood being changed1 there is made of necessity a change also of the law4 ,for he of whom these things are said belongeth to another tribe1 from which no man hath given attendance at the altar4 ,for it is evident that our ,lord hath sprung out of ,judah2 as to which tribe ,moses spake nothing concerning priests4 ,and what we say is yet more abundantly evident1 if after the likeness of ,melchisedec there ariseth another priest1 who hath been made1 not after the law of a carnal commandment1 but after the power of an endless life1 for it is witnessed of him1 ,thou art a priest forever after the order of ,melchisedec 7,heb4 vii4 #aa-ag74 ,each dispensation has had its priesthood4 ,each has had its priests and its high priests4 ,each has had its priests1 its altars and its sacrifices peculiar to itself4 ,only priests in any age could worship ,god2 and acceptable worship must ever be in accordance with the law of the priesthood4 ,during the patriarchal age the father of the family was priest4 ,he offered sacrifice for the family4 ,the grandfather1 great grandfather1 etc41 was high priest over his posterity for all the generations descending from him while he lived4 ,adam was high priest of the whole race during his life4 ,then the high priesthood descended to each of his sons for the posterity of each4 ,so ,noah was high priest of all the post-diluvian world during his life4 ,then it descended to each of his sons4 ,each son was high priest of his branch of the family1 in all its generations1 during his life4 ,in that age1 therefore1 as in this1 there was a universal priesthood4 ,the priesthood of the ,christian dispensation is1 in a certain sense1 modeled after the patriarchal and in contrast with the ,jewish4 ,it is after the order of ,melchisedec1 and not after that of ,aaron4 ,melchisedec was high priest of that division of the human family to which ,abraham belonged1 and this distinguished patriarch paid tithes to him4 ,if we do not misinterpret the law of the priesthood of that age1 this could have been none other than ,shem4 ,shem was then living1 and ,noah was dead2 and ,abraham belonged to ,shem's posterity4 ,hence no one else could be high priest while ,shem lived4 ,many have thought that because it is said he was without father1 without mother1 without genealogy1 having neither beginning of days nor end of life1 that he could not be a man4 ,but they fail to observe that he was without these things in the ,aaronic priesthood4 ,for it is said that he had a genealogy1 but that it was not in the priestly family4 ,and they indeed of the sons of ,levi that receive the priest's office have commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law1 that is1 of their brethren1 though these have come out of the loins of ,abraham2 but he whose genealogy is not counted from them hath taken tithes of ,abraham4 ,shem had neither father nor mother1 nor beginning of days1 nor end of life1 in the sense that the ,aaronic priests had them2 and this is all that is affirmed of ,melchisedec4 ,when ,god called ,his people out of ,egyptian bondage1 and gave them the law1 ,he gave them a new priesthood4 ,the priests were now all confined to the tribe of ,levi and the family of ,aaron4 ,men could no longer build their own altars and offer their own sacrifices4 ,on the contrary1 they had all to bring their offering to the priests appointed of the family of ,aaron1 and have them make the offering4 ,with a change of the priesthood came a change of the law4 ,for1 says ,paul1 the priesthood being changed1 there is made of necessity a change also in the law4 ,the law thus changed was the law of worship through the priesthood4 ,and as it was through this worship that pardon was obtained1 the change of priesthood changed the law of pardon4 ,hence the law of pardon under each priesthood has been different from that under either of the others4 ,after the establishment of the ,aaronic priesthood1 a descendant of ,jacob could no longer build his altar and offer his sacrifice just as he had done before the change4 ,and now a priest under the ,christian dispensation can not offer acceptable worship as did either the ,jew or the patriarch4 ,the worship that once brought to one the divine blessing would now bring upon him a curse4 ,how strange it is1 then1 that the denominational world in large measure go back to a different priesthood for their ideas of religion and salvation4 ,under the law the kings and the priests were of two distinct tribes4 ,these were of the tribe of ,levi2 those of the tribe of ,judah4 ,hence it is written3 ,the scepter shall not depart from ,judah1 nor a law-giver from between his feet1 until ,shiloh come2 and unto him shall the gathering of the people be4 ,christ was of the tribe of ,judah2 hence ,he1 like ,melchisedec1 is both priest and king4 ,he could not be a priest of the ,aaronic order1 for he was of a different tribe--a tribe of which ,moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood4 ,hence all the efforts to make ,him a priest of that kind are refuted by that simple fact4 ,many insist that ,christ was inducted into ,his priestly office at ,his baptism1 and many vain speculations are based thereon4 ,but this can not be4 ,christ was not a priest while ,he was on the earth1 says ,paul in these words3 ,now1 if he were on earth he would not be a priest at all1 seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law 7,heb4 viii4 #d74 ,he could not be a priest on earth1 because the ,aaronic priesthood was then in force1 and ,he was not of the ,aaronic family4 ,since ,he could not be a priest while on earth1 it is folly to talk of ,his becoming a priest at ,his baptism4 ,he could not become a priest till the law of the priesthood was changed1 and that was not changed till after ,his death4 ,the ,aaronic priesthood was in full force till ,his death4 ,he was made high priest1 not by the legal ritual1 but by the oath of ,god2 and this oath was after the law1 not while it was in force4 ,the law continued till ,his death1 hence it was after ,his death that ,he was made high priest by the oath of ,god4 ,he was a sacrifice when ,he died1 not a priest4 ,he could not be priest and sacrifice at the same time4 ,after ,his ascension ,he1 as high priest1 made atonement with ,his own blood which ,he shed as a sacrifice for the sins of the world4 ,hence a number of facts show the utter folly of claiming that ,he was a priest among men4 ,it is through ,christ as high priest that we worship ,god4 ,we can worship acceptably in no other way4 ,there are no other means of access to the ,father4 ,only through and by the priesthood can ,god be worshiped4 ,hence the worshiper must become a priest1 and then worship through ,christ as high priest4 ,all pretensions to approach ,god in worship1 without recognizing ,christ as our high priest and mediator1 is only an exhibition of an infidel farce4 ,it is an insult to ,god1 because a rejection of ,his ,son4 ,hence those who do not accept ,christ as their high priest cut themselves off from access to the ,father4 ,christ ,himself says1 ,no man cometh unto the ,father but by me4 ,paul makes it a matter of rejoicing that we have a great high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 one that has been tempted in all points like as we are1 yet without sin4 ,such a high priest knows how to sympathize with us1 and to make for us all just excuses4 ,the earthly high priest went once a year1 on the great day of atonement1 into the most holy place1 with the blood of others1 to make atonement for the sins of ,israel2 but ,christ1 as the high priest of the good things to come1 has entered the holy place on high1 with ,his own blood1 to make atonement for the sins of the whole world4 ,the offerings made by the priests under the law pertained only to the cleansing of the flesh2 but the blood offered by our high priest cleanses the conscience from dead works to serve the living ,god4 ,,new ,,testament ,,views ,,of ,,christ4 ,,xii4--,,christ ,,our ,,righteousness4 ,but of him are ye in ,christ ,jesus1 who was made unto us wisdom from ,god1 and righteousness and sanctification1 and redemption3 that1 according as it is written1 ,he that glorieth1 let him glory in the ,lord 7,i4 ,cor4 i4 #cj1 #ca74 ,in this language ,paul affirms that ,christ is our righteousness4 ,this is a momentous thought4 ,it goes to the heart of the scheme of redemption4 ,how is ,christ our righteousness8 ,what does ,paul mean by the affirmation8 ,the very life of ,christianity is involved in the answer4 ,by one's answer we know just where to place him in regard to the vital principles of ,christianity4 ,that one must be righteous in order to be prepared for heaven1 must be conceded by those who accept the ,bible as authority4 ,know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of ,god4 ,and this must be a positive1 not simply a relative1 righteousness4 ,men may be comparatively righteous1 and yet be wholly unprepared for the presence of ,god4 ,the righteousness required in order to a home in heaven is absolute4 ,all unrighteousness is sin1 and one must be perfectly free from sin to be accepted in the ,beloved4 ,no sin can enter heaven4 ,one can not stand in the presence of ,god1 accepted through the righteousness of ,christ1 with the least taint of sin upon his soul4 ,hence perfect righteousness is required4 ,one must be righteous even as ,christ ,himself is righteous4 ,knowing this to be true1 and knowing our own imperfections and shortcomings1 even in our best estate1 it is no wonder that the way is described as narrow4 ,one can not but see at a glance his utter hopelessness if he has to depend on himself4 ,if ,christ has made any provision by which this righteousness can be attained then one can not but appreciate what ,christ has done for him and his absolute dependence on ,him for salvation4 ,two distinct kinds of righteousness are clearly defined in the ,word of ,god4 ,they are in striking contrast4 ,one is approved2 the other condemned4 ,one is of ,god2 the other of men4 ,one is of faith2 the other of law4 ,god's righteousness is not only a divine1 holy principle of justice and mercy1 but is also a system or plan of salvation4 ,when ,jesus applied to ,john for baptism1 ,john declined4 ,he was preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins4 ,he also required a confession of their sins4 ,they were baptized of him in ,jordan1 confessing their sins4 ,while he did not know ,jesus to be the ,christ1 he knew ,him as his kinsman1 and he knew enough of the purity and sinlessness of ,his life to think that ,he should not confess ,his sins to be baptized for their remission4 ,besides he doubtless hoped that ,jesus would be the favored one on whom he was to see the ,holy ,spirit descending and abiding upon ,him4 ,he1 therefore1 felt himself unworthy to baptize his cousin ,jesus4 ,but ,jesus said1 ,suffer it now1 for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness4 ,no matter what ,john's personal feelings were1 or the sinlessness and purity of ,jesus1 it became the duty of one as the administrator and the other as the subject to observe this divine appointment4 ,had their idea been that baptism was to be administered to those free from sin1 such an objection could never have been raised4 ,here the word righteousness evidently refers to ,god's appointments in the divine economy--the plan of salvation4 ,when ,peter went to the house of ,cornelius to break the bread of life to the ,gentiles1 he said3 ,i now perceive that ,god is no respecter of persons1 but in every nation he that feareth ,god and worketh righteousness is accepted of him4 ,here righteousness is something to be worked4 ,it is1 therefore1 something to be done4 ,in it men are active4 ,it is not1 therefore1 a quality in ,god or man1 but something that enlists the activities of men4 ,it is a plan by the observance of which men are accepted of ,god4 ,speaking of his own brethren according to the flesh1 ,paul says3 ,brethren1 my heart's desire and supplication to ,god is for them1 that they may be saved4 ,for ,i bear them witness that they have a zeal for ,god1 but not according to knowledge4 ,for being ignorant of ,god's righteousness1 and seeking to establish their own1 they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of ,god 7,rom4 x4 #a-c74 ,here the righteousness of ,god is contrasted with that of the unbelieving ,jews4 ,they rejected ,god's1 and set up one of their own4 ,they did not submit to ,god's righteousness4 ,here it is clearly a religious system1 a plan of salvation4 ,they rejected ,god's plan and tried to establish one of their own4 ,in this they were zealous1 but it was a misguided zeal4 ,in harmony with this idea of righteousness we understand the expression in the first chapter of this epistle3 ,for ,i am not ashamed of the gospel3 for it is the power of ,god unto salvation to every one that believeth2 to the ,jew first1 and also to the ,greek4 ,for therein is revealed a righteousness of ,god by faith unto faith3 as it is written1 ,but the righteous shall live by faith4 ,here we understand ,god's righteousness to be ,god's plan of saving or justifying men by faith2 the plan to which the ,jews would not submit in the tenth chapter4 ,hence1 in the gospel1 ,god's system of justification by faith is revealed in order to faith4 ,faith comes by hearing the word of ,god4 ,in the gospel ,god's plan of saving men by faith in ,christ is revealed1 and this is the only place in which it is revealed4 ,consequently the truth herein revealed produces faith4 ,this results in the acceptance of ,god's plan of salvation4 ,we have the faith as a system of salvation through ,christ1 and faith as a personal state of the mind and heart4 ,so1 also1 have we righteousness as a plan of salvation which we accept from ,god1 and righteousness as a personal quality--a state of personal freedom from sin4 ,and the one leads to the other1 as a revelation of the faith produces personal faith4 ,this leads us to consider how we obtain that perfect righteousness1 without which we can not enjoy the blissful presence of ,god4 ,paul's teaching in regard to the personal righteousness of the saints1 makes salvation by a mere reformation of life1 an impossibility4 ,the importance of this fact can not be over-estimated4 ,many people seem to think that a reformation in regard to moral conduct1 is all that is necessary to prepare to meet ,god4 ,if they can only break off their sinful practices1 and practice morality1 they think they have done all that is really essential4 ,in this there are two fatal mistakes4 ,first1 no reformation is perfect4 ,the best of men whose lives have been moulded into the divine image1 and are most conformed to the divine nature1 have their imperfections4 ,the ripest saint upon the earth feels that if his salvation depended on his perfect sinlessness in conduct for the rest of life1 the chances of heaven would at once become dark and hopeless4 ,the cheerfulness and bright assurance of the child of ,god are not because he hopes to live a perfect life1 but because his imperfections will be taken away in ,christ4 ,and second1 the most perfect reformation would avail nothing4 ,could one so reform his life as to never sin again1 and practice virtue in place of the former vice1 it would fall far short of securing the end4 ,however free from sin one may live in the future1 the sins of the past are upon him4 ,these will forever condemn him1 unless they are removed4 ,our ceasing to sin will not take away the old ones4 ,the fact that a man refuses to contract any more debts1 will not pay a dollar of his old ones4 ,so no amount of reformation will make amends for the past4 ,our past sins must be taken away1 else they will condemn us in the day of eternity4 ,we can not remove them ourselves2 we can not atone for our own sins4 ,here we are utterly helpless4 ,to what source1 then1 shall we go8 ,christ is the only refuge4 ,he alone can take away our sins2 ,his blood alone can cleanse from sin4 ,if we walk in the light1 as he is in the light1 we have fellowship one with another1 and the blood of ,jesus ,christ1 his ,son1 cleanseth us from all sin4 ,this is the fountain opened in the house of ,david for all manner of sin and uncleanness4 ,though your sins be as scarlet1 he will make them white as wool4 ,he will put them as far from us as the east is from the west1 and remember them against us no more forever4 ,thus it is that ,christ is our righteousness4 ,we are righteous because ,he has made us such4 ,he makes us such by taking away our sins4 ,when our sins are pardoned1 we are as free from sin as if we had never sinned at all4 ,hence as regards the guilt of sin1 we are perfect4 ,we are made perfect in righteousness because ,christ removes all unrighteousness4 ,we are1 therefore1 absolutely dependent on ,him for salvation4 ,we have no righteousness of our own4 ,our robes of self-righteousness are but filthy tatters in ,his sight4 ,those clothed in the righteousness of ,christ1 that is1 the righteousness which ,christ gives them1 shall have right to the tree of life1 and shall enter through the gates into the eternal city4 ,their right is not one of merit1 but one that ,christ has given4 ,he is our righteousness1 and apart from ,him none is possibly attainable4 ,since we have to be perfectly righteous in order to be saved1 and since this is impossible on our part1 when relying on ourselves1 but is obtained only by being pardoned through ,christ1 it follows that all boasting is cut off4 ,no man has occasion to glory except in the cross of ,christ4 ,hence the apostle concludes his argument by saying3 ,he that glorieth let him glory in the ,lord4 ,it also follows that he who would obtain personal righteousness1 must submit to the righteousness of ,god--,god's plan of salvation4 ,through the one righteousness1 is the other righteousness obtained4