,,humanity ,,in ,,the ,,city4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,,transcriber',s ,,note3 ,every effort  
has been made to replicate this text as 
faithfully as possible2 please see list 
of printing issues at the end of the    
text4         99       99       99      
99       99   ,illustration3 ,e4 ,h4    
,chapin     ,,humanity ,,in ,,the       
,,city4  ,,by ,,the  ,,rev4 ,e4 ,h4     
,,chapin4    ,,new ,,york3    ,,de      
,,witt  ,,davenport1 ,,publishers1      
#afj  #afb ,,nassau ,,street4           
,,boston3    ,,abel ,,tompkins1 #ch  #dj
 ,,cornhill4         99       99        
99       99       99  ,entered according
 to ,act of ,congress1 in the year      
#ahed1 by ,,de ,,witt  ,,davenport1  ,in
 the ,clerk's ,office of the ,u4 ,s4    
,district ,court for the ,southern      
,district of ,new ,york    ,g4 ,w4      
,,alexander1    ,,binder1  #i ,spruce   
,street4   ,w4 ,h4 ,,tinson4            
,,stereotyper1  #bd ,beekman ,street4   
,,taws1 ,,russell  ,,co4    ,,printers1 

,no4 #bf ,beekman ,street4          99  
99       99       99       99           
,,contents4                             
,,page    ,i4 ,,the ,,lessons ,,of ,,the
 ,,street                               
#ac    ,,ii4 ,,man ,,and ,,machinery    
#ci    ,,iii4 ,,the ,,strife ,,for      
,,precedence                            
#fe    ,,iv4 ,,the ,,symbols ,,of ,,the 
,,republic                          #ic 
,v4 ,,the ,,springs ,,of ,,social ,,life
                           #abc    ,,vi4
 ,,the ,,allies ,,of ,,the ,,tempter    
#aeg    ,,vii4 ,,the ,,children ,,of    
,,the ,,poor                            
#ahg    ,,viii4 ,,the ,,help ,,of       
,,religion                              
#bbc          99       99       99      
99       99     ,,preface4   ,a volume  
like the present hardly requires the    
formality of a preface4 ,it is the      
continuation of a series already        
published1 and1 like that1 aims at      
applying the highest standard of        
,morality and ,religion to the phases of

 every-day life4 ,in order1 however1    
that the view with which these          
discourses have been prepared may not be
 misconceived1 ,i wish merely to say    
that ,i am far from supposing that these
 are the only themes to be preached1 or 
that they constitute the highest class  
of practical subjects1 and shall be     
sorry if in any way they seem to imply a
 neglect of that interior and holy life 
which is the spring not only of right   
affections1 but of clear perception and 
sturdy1 every-day duty4 ,i hope1 on the 
contrary1 that the very aspects of this 
busy city life--the very problems which 
start out of it--will tend to convince  
men of the necessity of this inward and 
regenerating principle4 ,nevertheless1  
,i maintain that these topics have a    
place in the circle of the preacher's   
work1 and he need entertain no fear of  
desecrating his pulpit by secular       
themes1 who seeks to consecrate all     
things in any way involving the action  
and the welfare of men1 by the spirit   

and aims of ,his ,religion who1 while he
 preached the ,gospel1 likewise fed the 
hungry1 healed the sick1 and touched the
 issues of every temporal want4 ,i may  
have failed in the method1 ,i trust ,i  
have not in the purpose4      ,e4 ,h4   
,c4  ,new ,york1 ,may1 #ahed4     ,,the 
,,lessons ,,of ,,the ,,street4          
,,humanity ,,in ,,the ,,city4           
,,discourse ,i4  ,,the ,,lessons ,,of   
,,the ,,street4        ,wisdom crieth   
without2 she uttereth her voice in the  
streets4--,,proverbs1 i4 #bj4   ,the    
great truths of religion may be         
communicated to the mind and the heart  
in two ways--by abstract treatment1 and 
by illustration4 ,it must be taken up in
 its absolute connection with ,god1 and 
with our own souls4 ,in solitary        
meditation1 in self-examination1 and in 
prayer1 we shall learn the intrinsic    
claims which ,faith and ,duty have upon 
reason and conscience4 ,but we cannot   
proceed far before we discover the      
necessity of some symbol1 by which these

 abstract principles may be made        
distinct to us4 ,and1 looking around for
 this purpose1 we find that all the     
phases of existence are full of         
spiritual illustration--full of         
religious suggestion and argument4 ,thus
 our ,saviour pronounced his great      
doctrines of ,eternal ,life1 and of     
,personal ,religion1 and then turned to 
the world for a commentary4 ,under his  
teaching nature became an illuminated   
missal1 lettered by the lilies of the   
field1 and pencilled with hues that     
played through the leaves of ,olivet4   
,the wild birds1 in their flight1 bore  
upward the beautiful lesson of          
,providence1 and the significance of the
 ,kingdom of ,heaven was contained in a 
mustard-seed4 ,by no abstruse reasoning 
did he make his instructions so vivid to
 his disciples1 and so fresh to         
ourselves4 ,but he awoke the conviction 
of moral need1 and repentance1 and      
,divine ,love1 by drawing from instances
 with which they had been familiar all  

their lives--the procedures of          
government1 the transactions of         
business1 the labors of the husbandman1 
and the incidents of home4 ,and the     
result is essentially the same1 whether 
we start with the religious truth to    
find some illustration in the world     
around us1 or from some aspect of human 
life1 or nature1 extract a religious    
truth4 ,nor need this always be sharply 
obvious4 ,it is only necessary that our 
point of view be sufficiently elevated  
to throw a spiritual light upon things1 
and to reveal their moral relations2    
for1 often1 our understandings are      
cleared1 and our hearts made better1 by 
the mere scope and tendency of such     
observations4  ,with this conviction1 ,i
 called your attention1 last winter1 to 
some of the ,aspects of ,city ,life1 and
 with the same view1 ,i wish now to     
address you1 for a few ,sunday evenings1
 on the ,conditions of ,humanity in the 
,city1 in which series ,i shall endeavor
 not only to present new topics of      

interest1 but to urge more explicitly   
some points1 which1 in the              
afore-mentioned discourses1 ,i merely   
touched upon4  ,the essential meaning of
 the personification in the text is in  
accordance1 ,i think1 with the general  
tenor of remark which ,i have just been 
making4 ,for ,i understand it to mean1  
that everything is instructive1 that    
even in the common ways of life the most
 important truths1 and the profoundest  
moral and religious significance1 are   
contained4 ,and the words before us1    
also1 specifically indicate the subject 
upon which ,i wish to speak this        
evening1 for they declare that          
,wisdom444 uttereth her voice in the    
streets4  ,the street through which you 
walk every day2 with whose sights and   
sounds you have been familiar1 perhaps1 
all your lives2 is it all so            
common-place that it yields you no deep 
lessons1--deep and fresh1 it may be1 if 
you would only look around with         
discerning eyes8 ,engaged with your own 

special interests1 and busy with        
monotonous details1 you may not heed it2
 and yet there is something finer than  
the grandest poetry1 even in the mere   
spectacle of these multitudinous billows
 of life1 rolling down the long1 broad1 
avenue4 ,it is an inspiring lyric1 this 
inexhaustible procession1 in the misty  
perspective ever lost1 ever renewed1    
sweeping onward between its             
architectural banks to the music of     
innumerable wheels2 the rainbow colors1 
the silks1 the velvets1 the jewels1 the 
tatters1 the plumes1 the faces--no two  
alike--shooting out from unknown depths1
 and passing away for ever--perpetually 
sweeping onward in the fresh air of     
morning1 under the glare of noon1 under 
the fading1 flickering light1 until the 
shadow climbs the tallest spire1 and    
night comes with revelations and        
mysteries of its own4  ,and yet this    
changeful tide of activity is no mere   
lyric4 ,it is an epic1 rather1 unfolding
 in its progress the contrasts1 the     

conflicts1 the heroisms1 the            
failures1--in one word1 the great and   
solemn issues of human life4 ,and a few 
comprehensive lessons from that ,wisdom 
which uttereth her voice in the streets1
 may prove a fitting introduction1 from 
which we can pass to consider more      
specific conditions of humanity in the  
city4  ,taking up the subject in this   
light1 ,i observe that the first lesson 
of the street is in the illustration    
which it affords us of the diversities  
of human conditions4 ,the most          
superficial eye recognizes this4 ,a city
 is1 in one respect1 like a high        
mountain2 the latter is an epitome of   
the physical globe2 for its sides are   
belted by products of every zone1 from  
the tropical luxuriance that clusters   
around its base1 to its arctic summit   
far up in the sky4 ,so is the city an   
epitome of the social world4 ,all the   
belts of civilization intersect along   
its avenues4 ,it contains the products  
of every moral zone4 ,it is             

cosmopolitan1 not only in a national1   
but in a spiritual1 sense4 ,here you may
 find not only the finest ,saxon        
culture1 but the grossest barbaric      
degradation4 ,there you pass a form of  
,caucasian development1 the fine-cut    
features1 the imperial forehead1 the    
intelligent eye1 the confident tread1   
the true port and stature of a man4 ,but
 who is this that follows in his track2 
under the same national sky1 surrounded 
by the same institutions1 and yet with  
those pinched features1 that stunted    
form1 that villainous look2 is it       
,papuan1 ,bushman1 or ,carib8 ,fitly    
representing either of these1 though    
born in a ,christian city1 and bearing  
about not only the stamp of violated    
physical law1 but of moral neglect and  
baseness4 ,and no one needs to be told  
that there are savages in ,new ,york1 as
 well as in the islands of the sea4     
,savages1 not in gloomy forests1 but    
under the strength of gas-light1 and the
 eyes of policemen2 with war-whoops and 

clubs very much the same1 and garments  
as fantastic1 and souls as brutal1 as   
any of their kindred at the antipodes4  
,china1 ,india1 ,africa1 will you not   
find their features in some circles of  
the social world right around you8      
,idolatry6 you cannot find any more     
gross1 any more cruel1 on the broad     
earth1 than within the area of a mile   
around this pulpit4 ,dark minds from    
which ,god is obscured2 deluded souls1  
whose fetish is the dice-box or the     
bottle2 apathetic spirits1 steeped in   
sensual abomination1 unmoved by a moral 
ripple1 soaking in the slump of animal  
vitality4 ,false gods1 more hideous1    
more awful1 than ,moloch or ,baal2      
worshipped with shrieks1 worshipped with
 curses1 with the hearth-stone for the  
bloody altar1 and the drunken husband   
for the immolating priest1 and women and
 children for the victims4 ,i have no   
terms of respect too high for the brave 
and conscientious men who carry the     
gospel1 and their own lives1 in their   

hands to distant shores4 ,but1 surely1  
they need not go thus far to seek for   
the benighted and the debased4 ,they may
 find there a wider extent of           
heathenism1 but none more intense than  
that which prevails close by the school 
and the church4 ,the richest products of
 modern progress and ,christian culture 
grow on the verge of barren wastes1 and 
jungles of violence1 and the region of  
the shadow of death4  ,in the street1   
however1 not only do we behold these    
different degrees of civilization1 but  
those problems of diversity1 which the  
highest form of existing civilization   
developes--the diversities of extreme   
poverty1 and extreme wealth1 for        
instance4 ,here sits the beggar1 sick   
and pinched with cold2 and there goes a 
man of no better flesh and blood1 and no
 more authentic charter of soul1 wrapped
 in comfort1 and actually bloated with  
luxury4 ,there issues the whine of      
distress1 beside the glittering         
carriage-wheels4 ,there1 amidst the rush

 of gaiety2 the busy1 selfish whirl2    
half naked1 shivering1 with her bare    
feet on the icy pavement1 stands the    
little girl1 with the shadow of an      
experience upon her that has made her   
preternaturally old1 and it may be1     
driven the angel from her face4 ,still1 
we cannot believe that above that wintry
 heaven which stretches over her1 there 
is less regard for the poor1 neglected  
child1 than for that rosy belt of infant
 happiness which girdles and gladdens   
ten thousand hearths4  ,and here1 too1  
through the brilliant street1 and the   
broad light of day1 walks ,purity1      
enshrined in the loveliest form of      
womanhood4 ,and along that same street  
by night1 attended by fitting shadows1  
strolls womanhood discrowned1 clothed   
with painted shame1 yet1 even in the    
springs of that guilty heart not utterly
 quenched4 ,we render just homage to the
 one1 we pour scorn upon the other2 but1
 could we trace back the lines of       
circumstance1 and inquire why the one   

stands guarded with such sweet respect1 
and why the other has fallen1 we might  
raise problems with which we cannot tax 
,providence1 which we may not lay       
altogether to the charge of the         
condemned1 but for which we might       
challenge an answer from society4  ,and1
 if we would ascertain the practical    
purport of this lesson of human         
diversity which is so conspicuous in the
 street--the meaning of these sharp     
contrasts of refinement and grossness1  
intelligence and ignorance1             
respectability and guilt--we only ask a 
question that thousands have asked      
before us4 ,and yet1 it is possible to  
surmise the purpose of these            
diversities4 ,we know1 for one thing1   
that out of them come some of the       
noblest instances of character and of   
achievement4 ,ignorance and crime and   
poverty and vice1 stand in fearful      
contrast to knowledge and integrity and 
wealth and purity2 but they likewise    
constitute the dark background against  

which the virtues of human life stand   
out in radiant relief2 virtues developed
 by the struggle which they create2     
virtues which seem impossible without   
their co-existence4 ,for1 whence issues 
any such thing as virtue1 except out of 
the temptation and antagonism of vice8  
,how could ,charity ever have appeared  
in the world1 were there no dark ways to
 be trodden by its bright feet1 and no  
suffering and sadness to require its    
aid8 ,i look at these asylums1 these    
hospitals1 these ragged schools--a      
zodiac of beautiful charities1 girdling 
all this selfishness and sin--,i look at
 these monuments which humanity will    
honor when war shall be but a legend1   
and laurels have withered to dust2 and  
when ,i think what they have grown out  
of1 and why they stand here1 ,i regard  
them as so many sublime way-marks by    
which ,providence unfolds its purposes  
among men1 and by which men trace out   
the plan of ,god4  ,and then1 again1    
perhaps this problem of human diversity 

presses heaviest where civilization is  
the most advanced1 in order that men may
 be more sharply aroused to seek some   
practical solution4 ,it is an           
encouraging sign when an evil begins to 
be intensely felt1 and the demand for   
relief becomes desperate4 ,the          
civilization of our time is imperfect2  
involves many incongruities2 perhaps    
creates some evils2 but that it is an   
improved civilization1 is evinced by the
 fact that it is self-conscious2 for    
perception is the necessary antecedent  
of endeavor and success4 ,the contrasts 
of human condition1 then1 that unfold   
themselves in the crowded street1 may   
teach us our duty and our responsibility
 in lessening social inequality and     
need4  ,but a solution of this problem1 
clearer perhaps than any other1 appears 
when we consider another lesson of the  
street2 a lesson which requires us to   
look a little deeper1 but which1 when we
 do look1 is no less evident than these 
diversities4 ,that lesson unfolds the   

essential unity of humanity4 ,for1 we   
find that the differences between men   
are formal rather than real2 that1 with 
various outward conditions1 they pass   
through the same great trials2 and that 
the scales which seem to hang uneven at 
the surface1 and to be tipped this way  
and that by the currents of worldly     
fortune1 are very nearly balanced in the
 depths of the inner life4 ,we are      
shallow judges of the happiness or the  
misery of others1 if we estimate it by  
any marks that distinguish them from    
ourselves2 if1 for instance1 we say that
 because they have more money they are  
happier1 or because they live more      
meagrely they are more wretched4 ,for1  
men are allied by much more than they   
differ4 ,the rich man1 rolling by in his
 chariot1 and the beggar1 shivering in  
his rags1 are allied by much more than  
they differ4 ,it is safer1 therefore1 to
 estimate our neighbor's real condition 
by what we find in our own lot1 than by 
what we do not find there4 ,and now1 see

 into what an essential unity this      
criterion draws the jostling1 divergent 
masses in yonder street6 ,each man      
there1 like all the rest1 finds life to 
be a discipline4 ,each has his separate 
form of discipline2 but it bears upon   
the kindred spirit that is in every one 
of us1 and strikes upon motives1        
sympathies1 faculties1 that run through 
the common humanity4 ,surely1 you will  
not calculate any essential difference  
from mere appearances2 for the light    
laughter that bubbles on the lip often  
mantles over brackish depths of sadness1
 and the serious look may be the sober  
veil that covers a divine peace4 ,you   
know that the bosom can ache beneath    
diamond brooches1 and how many blithe   
hearts dance under coarse wool4 ,but ,i 
do not allude merely to these accidental
 contrasts4 ,i mean that about equal    
measures of trial1 equal measures of    
what men call good and evil1 are        
allotted to all2 enough1 at least1 to   
prove the identity of our humanity1 and 

to show that we are all subjects of the 
same great plan4 ,you say that the poor 
man who passes yonder1 carrying his     
burden1 has a hard lot of it1 and it may
 be he has2 but the rich man who brushes
 by him has a hard lot of it too--just  
as hard for him1 just as well fitted to 
discipline him for the great ends of    
life4 ,he has his money to take care of2
 a pleasant occupation1 you may think2  
but1 after all1 an occupation1 with all 
the strain and anxiety of labor1 making 
more hard work for him1 day and night1  
perhaps1 than his neighbor has who digs 
ditches or thumps a lapstone4 ,and it is
 quite likely that he feels poorer than 
the poor man1 and1 if he ever becomes   
self-conscious1 has great reason to feel
 meaner4 ,and then1 he has his          
rivalries1 his competitions1 his        
troubles of caste and etiquette1 so that
 the merchant1 in his sumptuous         
apartments1 comes to the same essential 
point1 sweats1 and bears fardels1 as    
well as his brother in the garret2      

tosses on his bed with surfeit1 or      
perplexity1 while the other is wrapped  
in peaceful slumber2 and1 if he is one  
who recognizes the moral ends of life1  
finds himself called upon to contend    
with his own heart1 and to fight with   
peculiar temptations4 ,and thus the rich
 man and the poor man1 who seem so      
unequal in the street1 would find but a 
thin partition between them1 could they1
 as they might1 detect one another      
kneeling on the same platform of        
spiritual endeavor1 and sending up the  
same prayers to the same eternal throne4
  ,but1 say you1 here is one who is     
returning to a home of destitution1 of  
misery2 where the light of the natural  
day is almost shut out1 but in which    
brood the deeper shadows of despair4    
,and yet1 in many a splendid mansion you
 will find a more fearful destitution1 a
 dearth of affections1 killed by envy1  
jealousy1 distrust2 stifled by          
glittering formalities2 a brood of evil 
passions that mock the splendor1 and    

darken the magnificent walls4 ,the      
measure of joy1 too1 is distributed with
 the same impartiality as the measure of
 woe4 ,the child's grief throbs against 
the round of its little heart as heavily
 as the man's sorrow2 and the one finds 
as much delight in his kite or drum1 as 
the other in striking the springs of    
enterprise or soaring on the wings of   
fame4 ,after all1 happiness is the rule1
 not the exception1 even in the hearts  
that beat in the crowded city2 and its  
great elements are as common as the air1
 and the sunshine1 and free movement1   
and good health4 ,and what the fortunate
 may seem to gain in variety of methods1
 may only be unconscious devices to     
simulate or recover that natural relish 
which others have never lost4 ,and no   
one doubts that the great dispensations 
of life1 the events that make epochs in 
our fleeting years1 cleave through all  
the strata of outward difference1 and   
lay bare the core of our one humanity4  
,sickness6 does it not make ,dives look 

very much like ,lazarus1 and show our   
common weakness1 and reveal the common  
marvel of this harp of thousand strings8
 ,and sorrow6 it veils all faces1 and   
bows all forms alike1 and sends the same
 shudder through the frame1 and casts   
the same darkness upon the walls1 and   
peals forth in the same dirge of        
maternal agony by the dead boy's cradle 
in the sumptuous chamber1 and the baby's
 last sleep on its bed of straw4 ,and   
,death6 how wonderfully it makes them   
all alike who in the street wore such   
various garments1 and had such distinct 
aims1 and were whirled apart in such    
different orbits6 ,ah6 our essential    
humanity comes out in those composed    
forms and still features4 ,those        
divergent currents have carried them out
 upon the same placid sea at last2 and  
the same solemn light streams upon the  
clasped hands and the uplifted faces4   
,we don't mind the drapery so much then4
 ,it seems a very superficial matter    
beside the silent and starless mystery  

that enfolds them all4  ,in what ,i have
 thus said ,i do not mean to maintain   
that outward conditions are nothing4 ,i 
think they are a great deal2 and we do  
right in striving to improve them2 in   
escaping the evil1 and seeking to secure
 the good that pertains to them4 ,but1  
,i repeat1 when we come to the essential
 humanity1 to the real discipline and   
substance of life1 we find the same     
great features2 and so this lesson of   
the street may help explain the problem 
suggested by the other2 may reconcile   
each of us to our condition in the      
crowd1 and direct our attention to      
substantial results4  ,but1 again1 the  
street1 with its processions and        
activities1 teaches us that much in     
human life is merely phenomenal1 merely 
appears4 ,we enter into this truth by a 
very common train of observation4 ,we   
know how much is put on purposely for   
the public gaze1 and has no other       
intention than to be seen2 how hollow   
are many of the smiles1 and gay looks1  

and smooth decencies4 ,and even the     
complexion of some1 with its red and    
white1 is more unsubstantial than all   
the rest2 for it is in danger of being  
washed away by the first shower4 ,it is 
strange to meet people whose personal   
significance in life is that of a shop  
window exhibiting lace and jewelry2     
strange to encounter men in whose place 
we might substitute a well-dressed      
effigy1 and they would hardly be missed4
 ,of course appearances should be       
attended to1 and are good in their      
place4 ,it is right that we should honor
 society by our best looks and ways4    
,but it is not merely ridiculous1 it is 
sad1 to think how much in the street1   
where humanity exhibits all its phases1 
is appearance and but little else4  ,but
 dress and manners are not all that is  
phenomenal in human life4 ,these men and
 women themselves1 this streaming crowd1
 these brick walls and stately          
pinnacles1 those that pursue and the    
things that are pursued1 are only       

appearances4 ,it may be profitable for  
us to stand apart from this multitude1  
this river of living forms1 and think in
 how short a time it all will have      
passed away2 how short a time since1 and
 it was not6 ,a little while ago1 and   
this rich and populous city was a green 
island1 and our beautiful bay clasped it
 in its silver arms like an emerald4    
,the wilderness stood here1 and the     
child of the forest thought of it as a  
prepared abiding place for himself and  
for his people for ever4 ,the red man   
has gone2 the wild woods have vanished2 
and these structures1 and vehicles1 and 
busy crowds1 have come into their places
 magically1 like the new picture in a   
dissolving view4 ,but are these forms of
 life1 is your presence here or mine1   
any more substantial than those that    
have sunk away8 ,nay1 all this splendid 
civilization1 what is it but a sparkling
 ripple in the calm eternity of ,god8   
,dwellings1 stores1 banks1 churches1    
streets1 and the restless multitudes1   

are but forms of life1--as it were a    
rack of cloud drifting across the mirror
 of absolute being4 ,that which seems to
 you substantial is only spectral4 ,and 
as the dress of the fop1 and the smile  
of the coquette1 is merely an           
appearance2 so the wealth for which men 
strain in eager chase1 and the fabrics  
which pride builds up1 the anvils on    
which labor strikes its mighty blows1   
and the body to which so much is        
devoted1 and which absorbs so much care1
 are but appearances also4 ,while that  
which may seem to you as a shadow--the  
spiritual substratum of life1 the basis 
of those spiritual laws which run       
through all our conditions--is the only 
abiding substance4  ,if we only look in 
this light1 my friends1 upon the        
continuous spectacle of human movement  
and human change1 we shall find that    
,wisdom444 uttereth her voice in the    
streets4 ,old as the thought may be1 in 
the rush of the great crowd it will come
 to us fresh and impressively1 that all 

this is but a form of spiritual and     
eternal being4 ,a day in the city is    
like life itself4 ,out of unconscious   
slumber into the brilliant morning and  
the thick activity we come4 ,but1       
by-and-by1 the heaving mass breaks into 
units1 and one by one dissolves into the
 shadow of the night4 ,two cities grow  
up side by side--the city in which men  
appear1 the city into which they vanish2
 the city whose houses and goods they   
possess for a little while and then     
leave behind them1 and the city whose   
white monuments just show us the        
pinnacles of their estates in the       
eternal world4 ,the busy1 diversified   
crowd that rolls through the streets--it
 is only an appearance6 ,it is a        
ceaseless march of emigration4 ,in a    
little while1 the names in this year's  
,directory may be read in ,greenwood4   
,but we must not rest with this as the  
final lesson of the street4 ,it is only 
the form of ,life that is transient and 
phenomenal2 but the ,life itself is     

here1 also--here1 in these flashing     
eyes1 and heaving breasts1 and active   
limbs4 ,these conditions1 however       
transient1 involve the great interest of
 ,humanity2 and that lends the deepest  
significance to these conditions4 ,the  
interest of ,humanity6 which gives      
importance to all it touches1 and       
transforms nature into history2 which   
imparts dignity to the rudest workshop1 
and the most barren shore1 and the      
humblest grave--this permits us to draw 
no mean or discouraging conclusions from
 the achievements and the changes of the
 multitudes around us4 ,it may do for   
the skeptic1 who sees nothing in        
existence but these forms of things2 who
 sees nothing but the limited phenomena 
of our present state1 and thinks that   
includes all2 it may do for him to croak
 over the transitoriness of life1 and   
call it a trivial game4 ,but it is not  
trivial2 and there is no spot where man 
acts1 there is nothing that he does1    
that is insignificant4 ,perhaps you have

 a quick eye for the foibles of people1 
and can detect their vanities1 and      
meannesses1 and laughable conceits4 ,if 
you employ this gift to correct a bad   
habit1 or expose a falsehood1 it is well
 enough4 ,but if it induces you to look 
upon things merely with the skill of a  
satirist1 then let me say1 there is no  
ludicrous side to life2 there is nothing
 in human conduct that is simply absurd4
 ,the least transaction has a moral     
cast1 and every word and act reveals    
spiritual relations4 ,the interest of   
man can never be thrown into            
insignificance by his conditions2 these 
draw interest from him4 ,and1 whatever  
his post in the world1 however limited  
or broad his sphere of observation1 for 
him life is real1 and has intense       
relations4 ,we must not stand so far    
apart from the crowd as to occupy the   
position of mere spectators1 and regard 
these men and women as so many          
mechanical figures in a panorama4 ,we   
must look through the depths of their   

experience into their own souls1 and    
through the depths of that experience   
again upon the world1 beholding it as it
 appears to the beggar1 and the lonely  
woman1 and the child of vice and crime1 
and the hero1 and the saint1 and as it  
falls with intense yet diverse          
refractions upon all these multiform    
angles of personality4 ,so shall we     
learn to cherish a solemn and tender    
interest in the dear humanity around us1
 and feel the arteries of sympathy which
 connect it1 in all its conditions1 with
 our own hearts4 ,and1 as we return     
homeward from our study of the street1  
it may be with our irritation1 and      
prejudice1 and selfishness softened     
down2 with a larger love flowing out    
towards the least1 and even the worst2  
realizing the spiritual ties that make  
us one1 and the ,infinite ,fatherhood   
that encircles us all2 perhaps          
suggestions will come to us that have   
been best expressed in the words of the 
poet--      ,let us move slowly through 

the street1       ,filled with an       
ever-shifting train1     ,amid the sound
 of steps that beat       ,the murmuring
 walks like autumn rain4      ,how fast 
the flitting figures come6       ,the   
mild1 the fierce1 the stony face2       
,some bright with thoughtless smiles1   
and some       ,where secret tears have 
left their trace4         99       99   
99       99       99      ,each1 where  
his tasks or pleasures call       ,they 
pass1 and heed each other not4          
,there is1 ,who heeds1 ,who holds them  
all1       ,in ,his large love and      
boundless thought4      ,these          
struggling tides of life that seem1     
,in wayward1 aimless course to tend1    
,are eddies of the mighty stream        
,that rolls to its appointed end4       
,,man ,,and ,,machinery4     ,,discourse
 ,,ii4  ,,man ,,and ,,machinery4        
,for the spirit of the living creature  
was in the       wheels4--,,ezekiel1 i4 
#bj4   ,whatever may have been the      
significance of the sublime vision from 

which ,i have extracted those words1 ,i 
do not think that their essential       
meaning is perverted when ,i apply them 
to the subject which comes before us    
this evening4 ,i am not aware of any    
sentence that expresses more concisely  
the relation which ,i would indicate    
between ,man and ,machinery2 between    
those great agents of human achievement 
and the living intelligence which works 
in them and by them4 ,and though a      
,divine ,spirit moved in those flashing 
splendors which burned before the eyes  
of the prophet1 is it not also a divine 
spirit that mingles in every great      
manifestation of humanity1 and that     
moves even in the action of man1 the    
worker1 toiling among innumerable       
wheels8  ,perhaps if we were called upon
 to name some one feature of the present
 age which distinguishes it from all    
other ages1 and endows it with a special
 wonder and glory1 we should call it the
 ,age of ,machinery4 ,we trust our age  
is unfolding something better than      

material triumphs4 ,the results of past 
thought and past endeavor are pouring   
through it in expanding currents of     
knowledge1 liberty1 and brotherhood4    
,but the great agents in this diffusion 
of ideas and principles are those       
vehicles of iron1 and those messengers  
of lightning1 which compress the huge   
globe into a neighborhood1 and bring all
 its interests within the system of a   
daily newspaper4 ,like the generations  
which have preceded us1 we enter into   
the labors of others1 and inherit the   
fruits of their effort4 ,but these      
powerful instruments1 condensing time   
and space1 endow a single half-century  
with the possibilities of a cycle4 ,if  
we take the period comprehending the    
,american and the ,french revolutions as
 a dividing line1 and look both sides   
the chasm1 we shall discover the        
difference of a thousand years4         
,remarkable for brilliant achievements  
in every department of physics1 ours    
well deserves to be called the ,age of  

,science1 also4 ,but it is still more   
remarkable1 for the application of the  
most majestic and subtle constituents of
 the universe to the most familiar uses2
 the wild forces of matter have been    
caught and harnessed4 ,go into any      
factory1 and see what fine workmen we   
have made of the great elements around  
us4 ,see how magnificent nature has     
humbled itself1 and works in            
shirt-sleeves4 ,without food1 without   
sweat1 without weariness1 it toils all  
day at the loom1 and shouts lustily in  
the sounding wheels4 ,how diligently the
 iron fingers pick and sort1 and the    
muscles of steel retain their faithful  
gripe1 and enormous energies run to and 
fro with an obedient click2 while forces
 that tear the arteries of the earth and
 heave volcanoes1 spin the fabric of an 
infant's robe1 and weave the flowers in 
a lady's brocade4  ,i think1 then1 we   
may appropriately call it--,the ,age of 
,machinery4 ,it is not a peculiarity of 
the city1 but1 rather1 seeks room to    

stretch itself out2 and so you may      
perceive its smoky signals hovering over
 a thousand vallies1 and the echo of its
 mighty pulses throbbing among the      
loneliest hills4 ,nevertheless1 it is   
sufficiently developed here to          
illustrate the ,conditions of ,humanity 
in the ,city1 and this fact1 together   
with the general interest of the        
subject1 is my warrant for taking it up 
in the present discourse4 ,and my       
remarks must necessarily be of a general
 cast1 as ,i have no room for the       
statistics1 and details1 and various    
discussions which grow out of the theme4
  ,and the key-note of all that ,i shall
 say1 at the present time1 is really in 
the text itself--,for the spirit of the 
living creature was in the wheels4  ,in 
the first place1 these words suggest the
 relations of ,use and ,help between    
,man and ,machinery4 ,upon surveying    
these numerous and complicated          
instruments1 the thought that most      
readily occurs1 perhaps1 is that of the 

necessity of machinery4 ,the very first 
step that man takes1 out of the         
condition of infant weakness and animal 
rudeness1 must be accomplished by the   
aid of some implement4 ,he alone1 of all
 beings upon the face of the earth1 is  
obliged to invent1 and is capable of    
endless invention4 ,the necessity for   
this springs out1 and is a prophecy of1 
his destiny4 ,the moment he was seen    
fashioning the first tool1 however      
imperfect1 that moment was indicated the
 difference between himself and the     
brute1 and the control he was destined  
to gain over the world about him4 ,to   
fulfil this destiny1 he confronts nature
 with naked hands2 and yet1 there is the
 earth to plough1 the harvest to reap1  
the torrent to bridge1 the ocean to     
cross2 there are all the results to     
achieve which constitute the difference 
between the primitive man1 and the      
civilization of the nineteenth century4 
,the ,machine1 then--the agent which    
links the gratification to the want--is 

born of necessity4 ,but we must make a  
distinction between those instruments   
which are positively essential1 and     
those1 for instance1 which merely answer
 the demands of luxury or indolence4    
,and this brings up the question of the 
comparative uses of ,machinery--the     
foremost place being assigned to those  
implements which are absolutely         
indispensable to man's existence upon   
the earth4 ,but between this absolute   
degree1 and that of frivolous invention1
 there are countless grades of utility4 
,and the question of usefulness must be 
decided according to the standard of    
utility which we apply4 ,if bare        
subsistence is assumed to be the end of 
man upon the earth1 most of our modern  
inventions are useless4 ,we can travel  
without a locomotive1 and procure a meal
 without a cooking-range4 ,the moment we
 rise above the grossest conception of  
human existence1 the test of usefulness 
becomes enlarged1 and we can make a safe
 decision upon whatever increases man's 

comfort1 adds to his ability1 or        
inspires his culture4 ,in this way1 new 
things become indispensable4 ,that which
 was not necessary a priori1 is         
necessary now1 in a fresh stage of      
development1 and in connection with     
circumstances that have sprung up and   
formed around it4 ,that which was not   
necessary to man the savage1 living on  
roots and raw fish1 is necessary to man 
the civilized1 with new possibilities   
opening before him1 and new faculties   
unfolded within him4 ,the printing-press
 was not absolutely necessary to        
,nimrod1 or to ,julius ,caesar1 but is  
it not absolutely necessary now8 ,strike
 it out of existence to-day1 and what   
would be the condition of the world     
to-morrow8 ,you would have to tear away 
with it all that has grown up around it1
 and become assimilated to it--the      
textures of the world's growth for three
 hundred years4 ,paul moved the old     
world without a telegraph1 and ,columbus
 found a new one without a steamship4   

,but see how essential these agents are 
to the present condition of             
civilization4 ,how many derangements    
among the wheels of business1 and the   
plans of affection1 if merely a         
snow-drift blocks the cars1 or a        
thunder-storm snaps the wires6 ,our     
estimate of necessity1 and1 therefore1  
of utility1 must be formed according to 
present conditions1 and the legitimate  
demand that rises out of them2 these    
conditions themselves being the         
necessary developments of society and of
 the individual4  ,but some of these1   
you may say1 are the demands of luxury1 
of indolent ease1 of man setting nature 
to work and lapsing in self-indulgence4 
,to some degree this result may grow out
 of the present state of things2 as some
 portion of evil will follow in the     
sweep of an immense good4 ,but what is  
the precise sentence to be passed upon  
this prevalent luxury8 ,of course1      
admitting the evil--which is            
apparent--,i maintain that there is a   

great deal of good in it2 that it is    
inextricably associated with much real  
refinement and progress4 ,men are       
accustomed to speak of the simplicity   
and purity of past times1 and to        
compare1 with a sigh1 the good old era  
of the stage-coach and the              
spinning-wheel with these days of       
whizzing machinery1 ,aladdin palaces1   
and ,california gold4 ,but the core of  
logic that lies within this rind of     
sentiment forces a conclusion that ,i   
can by no means admit1 the conclusion   
that the world is going backward4 ,i    
never knew of an epoch that was not     
thought by some then living to be the   
worst that ever was1 and which did not  
seem to stand in humiliating contrast   
with some blessed period gone by4 ,but  
the golden age of ,christianity is in   
the future1 not in the past4 ,those old 
ages are like the landscape that shows  
best in purple distance1 all verdant and
 smooth and bathed in mellow light4 ,but
 could we go back and touch the reality1

 we should find many a swamp of disease1
 and rough and grimy paths of rock and  
mire4 ,those were good old times1 it may
 be thought1 when baron and peasant     
feasted together4 ,but the one could not
 read1 and made his mark with a         
sword-pommel2 and the other was not held
 so dear as a favorite dog4 ,pure and   
simple times were those of our          
grandfathers1--it may be4 ,possibly not 
so pure as we may think1 however1 and   
with a simplicity ingrained with some   
bigotry and a good deal of conceit4 ,the
 fact is1 we are bad enough1 imperfect1 
not because we are growing worse1 but   
because we are yet far from the best4 ,i
 think1 however1 with ,lord ,bacon1 that
 these are the old times4 ,the world is 
older now than it ever was1 and it      
contains the best life and fruition of  
the past4 ,and this special condition of
 luxury is a growth out of the past1 and
 is the necessary concomitant of much   
that is good4 ,opening new channels for 
industry1 it furnishes occupation for   

thousands2 while1 in many of its phases1
 it indicates a refined culture1 and a  
sphere elevated above the imperative    
wants of existence4 ,it is no proof of  
the disadvantages of machinery1         
therefore1 to say that it ministers to  
something beside absolute bodily need1  
and delivers man from a slow and        
exhausting drudgery4 ,so far as it helps
 us to control nature1 and increases the
 facilities of human intercourse1 and   
diffuses general comfort and elegance1  
and affords a respite from incessant    
physical toil1 so far it is an agent and
 a sign of progress4  ,but1 it may be   
said again1 that it is the agent of a   
selfish and exclusive power1 enriching a
 few and injuring many4 ,and it cannot  
be denied that grave problems grow out  
of the relations between ,machinery and 
the laboring classes4 ,every little     
while1 some new invention is thrust     
forward1 which takes a portion of labor 
out of the hands of flesh and transfers 
it to hands of iron4 ,it is not enough  

to say that mankind in general is       
benefited by these inanimate agents1    
which do the work of the world so much  
more rapidly and powerfully4 ,this may  
answer as an argument against a monopoly
 of any one kind of mechanical force4   
,it may be a reason for using cars      
instead of steamboats1 and balloons     
rather than railroads4 ,the general good
 must be advanced1 whatever the damage  
to private interests4 ,but the present  
case brings up the question whether     
machinery is a general good at all2     
whether the effect of its introduction  
into almost every department of labor1  
will not be felt in the destitution of  
millions4 ,and1 upon this point1 ,i     
observe1 that1 like all other great     
revolutions1 the immediate effect may be
 such as has been suggested4 ,but the   
final result will be beneficial1 and    
such a result may be traced out even    
now4 ,for instance1 this clogging of old
 departments of labor will precipitate  
men upon fresh ones1 and upon those that

 have been too much neglected4 ,it will 
tend to introduce woman to branches of  
industry perfectly suited to her1 but   
which have been too exclusively occupied
 by the other sex1 and to turn the      
attention of robust men to those great  
fields of productive toil which are as  
yet but little improved4 ,it may drive  
them from the dependence1 the crowded   
competition1 the unwholesome life of the
 city1 into the broad fields and open   
air and the sovereignty of the soil4    
,and if this immense intrusion of       
machinery has only this result1 of      
equalizing the balance against          
production1 we shall have one solution  
of the problem4 ,and there will be      
another solution1 if this phalanx of    
mechanism shall lift the mass of men    
above the occasions of coarse material  
drudgery into other activities1 which   
doubtless will be thrown open1 and shall
 allow more leisure for spiritual       
culture4 ,but in this1 and all other    
great questions affecting human welfare1

 ,i throw myself back1 finally1 upon the
 tokens of ,providential ,design4 ,the  
world moves forward1 not backward2 and  
the great developments of time are for  
good1 not evil4 ,by machinery1 man      
proceeds with his dominion over nature4 
,he assimilates it to himself2 it       
becomes1 so to speak1 a part of himself4
 ,every great invention is the          
enlargement of his own personality4     
,iron and fire become blood and muscle1 
and gravitation flows in the current of 
his will4 ,his pulses beat in the       
steamship1 throbbing through the deep1  
while the fibres of his heart and brain 
inclose the earth in an electric network
 of thought and sympathy4 ,that which   
was given to help man1 will not hinder  
nor hurt him4 ,for the spirit of the    
living creature is in the wheels4  ,i   
observe1 in the second place1 that the  
words of the text accord with the       
testimony which machinery bears to the  
dignity of man4 ,all these great        
inventions--these implements of         

marvellous skill and power--prove that  
the inventor1 or the worker1 himself is 
not a machine4 ,i know of nothing which 
gives me so forcible an impression of   
the worth and superiority of mind1 of   
its alliance with the ,creative         
,intelligence1 as the exhibition of an  
ingenious piece of mechanism4 ,i have   
stood with wonder before such a         
specimen1 and seen it work with all the 
precision of a reflecting creature4     
,lifting the most tremendous weights1   
cleaving the most solid masses1         
performing the nicest tasks1 as though a
 living intellect were in it1 informing 
it and directing its power4 ,i hardly   
know of any achievement that stands as a
 higher witness for the human mind4 ,the
 great poem that bursts in a flood of   
inspiration upon the soul of genius1 and
 opens the realms of immortal beauty1   
may lift us to a nobler plane of        
endeavor4 ,the heroic act of toil or    
martyrdom for principle1 certainly has a
 loftier1 because it is a moral1        

grandeur4 ,but as an illustration of the
 creativeness of man's intellect--of its
 wondrous capability--of its alliance   
with that attribute of the ,divine      
,nature which is evident in the fibres  
of the grass-blade and the march of the 
galaxy--,i know of nothing more striking
 than this piece of mechanism1 which is 
the product of the most profound and    
patient thought1 the harmonizing of     
antagonistic forces1 the combination of 
the most abstruse details1 fitted to the
 remotest exigencies1 and working just  
as the inventive mind meant it should1  
and just as it was set a-going1 as if   
that mind were presiding over it1 were  
in it1 though it is now far distant1 or 
has vanished from the earth4 ,that mind 
is immortal6 that nature1 which is      
common to all men1 transcends any shape 
of matter and is superior to mechanism4 
,and it may be necessary to say this1   
necessary to say that man1 who is helped
 by machinery1 is separate from it4 ,it 
is mind that is thus involved with      

matter4 ,the spirit of a living creature
 that is in the wheels4  ,it may be     
necessary to say this1 my friends1 and  
to say it frequently1 lest the vast     
mechanical achievements of our time     
seduce us into a mere mechanical life4  
,i do not think that the deepest        
question is1 whether machinery will     
multiply to such an extent as to snatch 
the bread from the mouths of living men2
 but whether men1 with all the          
possibilities of their nature1 will not 
become absorbed in that which supplies  
them with bread alone8 ,i have just     
expressed my admiration for the genius  
of the great inventor4 ,nor can ,i honor
 too highly the faithful and industrious
 mechanic--the man who fills up his     
chink in the great economy by patiently 
using his hammer or his wheel4 ,for1 he 
does something4 ,if he only sews a welt1
 or planes a knot1 he helps build up the
 solid pyramid of this world's welfare4 
,while there are those who1 exhibiting  
but little use while living1 might1 if  

embalmed1 serve the same purpose as     
those forms of ape and ibis inside the  
,egyptian caverns--serve to illustrate  
the shapes and idolatries of human      
conceit4 ,at any rate1 there is no doubt
 of the essential nobility of that man  
who pours into life the honest vigor of 
his toil1 over those who compose this   
feathery foam of fashion that sweeps    
along ,broadway2 who consider the       
insignia of honor to consist in wealth  
and indolence2 and who1 ignoring the    
family history1 paint coats of arms to  
cover up the leather aprons of their    
grandfathers4  ,i shall not be          
misunderstood then1 when1 making a      
distinction in behalf of the mechanic by
 profession1 ,i say that no man should  
be a mere mechanic in soul4 ,in other   
words1 no man should be bound up in a   
routine of material ends and uses4 ,he  
should not be a mechanic1 working       
exclusively in a dead system1 but always
 the architect of a living ideal4 ,and  
surrounded1 astonished1 served and      

enriched as we are by these splendid    
legions of mechanism1 the danger is that
 material achievement will seem to us   
the supreme achievement2 that all life  
will become machinery2 and the higher   
interests of being1 and the great       
firmament of immortality1 be eclipsed by
 these flashing wheels4 ,we are in      
danger of being drawn away from the     
sanctities of the inner life and the    
still work of the soul1 by this         
maelstrom of excitement and power4 ,no  
religious man can help asking1 and      
asking anxiously1 whether the spirit of 
devotion is as deep and fresh1 whether  
spiritual communion with ,god is as     
direct and constant1 in this whirl and  
roar1 and marvellous achievement1 as    
they were in times bearing less         
evidently the signs of material         
progress4 ,for1 that which merely gives 
us a stronger grasp of the world around 
us1 and sends us along the level of     
nature1 is not the most genuine element 
of progress2 but that which elevates our

 moral plane and enriches the great deep
 of our spiritual being4 ,the steamship 
and telegraph are not absolute tokens of
 this progress1 but the moral           
earnestness and the ,christian charity  
that work through them are2 and these   
must spring up in hearts that are not   
merely adjusted to the world1 but lifted
 above it--that are not so occupied by  
mere machinery as to neglect the living 
streams of an inward and devout culture4
  ,but1 for another reason1--or as an   
extension of the same reason1--we need  
to realize the truth that man is        
separate from and superior to machinery4
 ,it is because1 upon a practical       
recognition of this truth depends the   
just action of all who control the      
interests of labor1 and1 so to speak1   
the lives and souls of the laborers4 ,if
 we should beware of an influence that  
would render us mere mechanics in our   
own higher nature1 we should likewise   
remove anything that makes others mere  
machines1 presenting for us no other    

consideration than the amount of work   
they can perform for us1 and with how   
little care and cost4 ,i cannot now     
enter into the great questions that     
spring up here concerning the relations 
of capital and labor1 and of the        
employer and the employed4 ,i only      
observe that these are among the deepest
 questions of the time3 questions which 
will be heard1 which must be discussed1 
and practically answered4 ,and they who 
by plans and experiments1 however       
visionary they may seem1 however        
abortive they may prove1 are trying to  
solve this problem1 are much wiser in   
their generation than those who content 
themselves with cutaneous palliatives   
and a stolid conservatism4 ,but ,i      
maintain now1 that back of all these    
considerations stands this truism1--that
 man is not a machine2 that the being   
who toils in the factory1 the furnace1  
the dark mine underground1 is one who   
needs and hopes and suffers and dies1 as
 sinews of iron and fabrics of brass    

cannot4 ,the spirit of a living creature
 is in the wheels4 ,a cry for justice1  
for free action1 for spiritual          
opportunity1 comes not from the roaring 
engine or the dizzy loom1 but out from  
the midst of those who are endowed with 
the sensitiveness and the moral         
possibilities that belong to humanity1  
and humanity alone4 ,set in motion the  
grandest piece of mechanism ever        
conceived by human genius1 and still    
there is infinite difference between it 
and the poorest drudge that bears ,god's
 image1--between it and any human claim4
  ,it must have been a noble spectacle1 
a few weeks since1 to have seen that    
great ship,a sail out of port1          
stretching its proud beak over the sea1 
and with thundering exultation trampling
 its sapphire floor4 ,one might have    
followed its wake with a glistening eye1
 and said to himself--,there is the     
great symbol of human progress1 there is
 the consummation of man's triumph over 
nature6 ,the long results of ages are   

condensed in that fabric of strength and
 beauty4 ,man has compelled the forest1 
and ravished the mine1 and converted the
 stream1 and chained the fire2 and now1 
with the eye of science and the hand of 
skill1 he rides in this triumphal       
chariot1 making a swift1 obedient       
pathway of the deep6 ,but when that dark
 day burst upon them1 and nature with   
one angry sweep transformed that        
splendid palace into a floating         
death-chamber2 when ocean lifted up this
 triumph of man's skill1 and shook it   
like a toy2 the interest which hung over
 that awful desolation--the interest to 
which your hearts flow out with painful 
sympathy to-night--was in nothing that  
man had achieved1 but in humanity       
itself4 ,all the workmanship1 all the   
material splendor1 all the skill1 were  
nothing compared with one heart beating 
amidst that tempest2 compared with one  
groan that rose from that sea of agony1 
and then was silent for ever4           
,footnote ,a3 ,this discourse was       

delivered just after the tidings     of 
the loss of the ,san ,francisco1 in     
,december1 #ahec4  ,and1 again1 when ,i 
consider the conduct of that gallant    
captain who1 day by day1 rode by the    
side of the shuddering wreck1 and in    
slippery peril maintained the royalty of
 his manhood1 and sent a brother's cheer
 and a brother's help through the storm2
 when ,i think of that noble achievement
 where the ,stars and ,stripes and the  
,cross of ,st4 ,george were lost and    
blended in the light of universal       
humanity2 ,i say to myself--how does an 
act like this shed light upon a thousand
 instances of human depravity6 ,what is 
any material triumph compared to this   
moral beauty6 ,and what is the great    
distinction between rags and coronets1  
between senates and workshops1 when in  
the breast of every man1 and everywhere1
 there is the possibility of such       
heroism1 such charity1 and such splendid
 performance6  ,and so1 my friends1     
turning from this specific illustration1

 and looking through the wards of       
cities1 the busy factories1 the dim     
attics and cellars1 they all become     
glorious by the reflected light of the  
humanity that toils and suffers within  
them4 ,man is greater than any          
achievement of mechanism1 any interest  
of capital1 and all the questions which 
these involve must be brought to the    
test of his moral capabilities1 and his 
spiritual as well as earthly wants4     
,but ,i observe1 finally1 that the words
 of the text suggest the ,providential  
design and the ,divine agency that are  
involved in the great mechanical        
achievements of our age4 ,as the ,divine
 ,spirit flowed through those living    
creatures and moved those wheels1 so    
,god's influence is in the movement of  
humanity1 and in the instruments of that
 movement4 ,we get only a narrow1 and   
often an inexplicable conception of     
things1 until we behold them encircled  
by this horizon of a ,providential      
design4 ,and if humanity1 with all its  

claims and possibilities1 is involved in
 this network of mechanism1 so doubtless
 are the processes of ,infinite ,wisdom4
 ,something more than material          
greatness1 or ends limited merely to    
this earth1 is to be wrought out by it4 
,indications of this appear already4    
,the telegraph and steamship1 for       
instance1 serve not only the interests  
of trade and commerce1 but of liberty1  
and brotherhood1 and of ,christian      
influence4  ,it is beautiful to see how 
the most selfish agents presently become
 converted to the broadest uses1 and    
matter is transformed into the vehicle  
of spirit4 ,for ,god is in history4 ,it 
is a ,divine dispensation1 and has      
miracles of its own4 ,and1 because they 
come by natural development let us not  
fail to recognize the benevolence and   
the significance involved with them4 ,is
 not the effect of miracle in the       
electric wire8 ,the printing-press1 is  
it not the gift of tongues8 ,it is      
atheistic to suppose that all these     

wondrous agents have only a narrow and  
material purpose1 and play no part in   
the highest scheme of the world4 ,like  
the prophet by the river ,chebar1 we may
 behold them as the symbols in a sublime
 vision4 ,these wheels within wheels1   
full of eyes1 full of intelligence1 and 
full of human destiny and vast purpose1 
we know not all their meaning yet4 ,but 
they have a great meaning4 ,beneficent  
intention runs through their swift      
motions--voices of promise rise in their
 multitudinous sounds4 ,a living spirit 
is in these wheels--the influence of    
,god2 the spirit of man4 ,and1 in due   
time1 out of them will evolve the       
incalculable issues of human welfare and
 the ,divine glory4     ,,the ,,strife  
,,for ,,precedence4     ,,discourse     
,,iii4  ,,the ,,strife ,,for            
,,precedence4        ,and if a man      
strive for masteries1 yet is he not     
crowned       except he strive          
lawfully4--,,ii4 ,,timothy1 ii4 #e4     
,in walking the streets of the city1    

there rises the interesting             
question--,what are the various motives 
which animate these restless people1 and
 send them to and fro8 ,as a ,french    
author has well observed1--,the         
necessaries of life do not occasion1 at 
most1 a third part of the hurry4 ,they  
are comparatively few who struggle among
 these busy waves for a bare            
subsistence4 ,there are others who are  
impelled by some of the deepest         
affections of the human heart1 and who  
toil day after day with noble           
self-sacrifice for the comfort of       
dependent parents1 and helpless         
children4 ,while others still run on    
errands of mercy1 and work in the       
harness of unrelaxing duty4 ,but when we
 have taken all these influences into   
the account1 and made the most of them1 
there remains a large quantity of       
activity which1 as we trace it to its   
spring1 we shall find issuing from a    
desire for influence1 for notoriety1 for
 some kind of personal distinction4 ,the

 city1--in this instance1 as in many    
others1 representing the world at       
large1--is essentially a race-course1 or
 battle-field1 in which1 through forms  
of ambitious effort1 and cunning method1
 and plodding labor1 and ostentation1   
the aspirations of thousands appear and 
carry on a ,strife for ,precedence4     
,and1 in selecting this phase of human  
life as the theme of the present        
discourse1 ,i observe in the first      
place--that the desire for precedence is
 one of the deepest and most subtle     
motives in the soul of man4 ,it is      
prolific of disguises4 ,it is not merely
 under the mask which we may put on     
before other people1 but it glides      
through various transformations of      
self-deceit2 like the evil genius in the
 fairy tale1 now dwindling to a mere    
seed1 now bursting into a devouring     
fire4 ,when1 with an honest purpose1 we 
probe it and pluck at it1 still we may  
detect it in the lowest socket of the   
heart4 ,often it is most vital when we  

feel most sure that it is vanquished4   
,it delights in the garb of humility1   
and finds its food in the profession of 
self-renunciation4 ,see its grossest    
expression in the desire for physical   
superiority--the glory of the victor in 
the ,grecian games1 or the modern       
pugilist with the champion's belt4 ,this
 is the reason why men1 priding         
themselves upon qualities in which they 
are equalled by any mastiff and excelled
 by any horse1 will stand up and batter 
one another into a mass of blood and    
bruises4 ,and if we analyze the merit of
 some conqueror upon a hundred          
battle-fields1 we shall find ingredients
 almost as coarse4 ,only there was a    
larger impulse1 and more genius to light
 the way2 so that his combat in the ring
 became achievement1 and his success    
fame4 ,the outside difference was in the
 value of the stakes2 but the huzzas did
 not rise much nearer to heaven in the  
one instance than in the other4 ,and    
when we get at the real centre of all   

those plaudits1 we find only a little   
throbbing atom1 a little human heart1   
all on fire with the lust for supremacy4
  ,but these are the more palpable      
shapes of this desire for ,precedence4  
,it works more covertly1 but with no    
less energy4 ,i need not--for ,i        
cannot--specify all the instances in    
which it acts4 ,it would constitute a   
more concise statement to affirm where  
it does not act4 ,it is sufficiently    
apparent in the scramble of the market  
and the parade of the street2 at the    
toilette of beauty2 in the etiquette of 
the drawing-room1 where people sit as if
 in a cavern of icicles2 in the spurious
 patriotism of politics2 and too often1 
it is to be feared1 in the highest seats
 of the synagogue1 and where men lift   
holy hands of prayer4 ,it is the        
scholar's inspiration4 ,when he comes to
 the steep and rugged way1 it helps him 
to make a foot-hold1 and the thorns     
blossom into roses as he climbs4        
,sometimes1 even1 it saturates the plan 

of the philanthropist1 and peppers the  
milk of his charity with an inconsistent
 wrath4  ,it seems an unhappy1 as it    
must often be an unjust method1 to      
attribute any appearance of good conduct
 to the meanest possible motive4 ,it is 
a policy that makes a man afraid of his 
best friends4 ,he feels that every draft
 he makes upon human honor1 or          
affection1 is liable to be cashed with  
counterfeit bills4 ,if there were no    
alternative between the cleverness that 
suspects everybody1 and the credulity   
that trusts everybody1 ,i think ,i had  
rather be one of the dupes than one of  
the oracles4 ,for1 really1 there is less
 misery in being cheated than in that   
kind of wisdom which perceives1 or      
thinks it perceives1 that all mankind   
are cheats4 ,but1 while simple fact     
forbids our assuming either of these    
extremes1 we must1 nevertheless1 in     
reasoning upon the phenomena of human   
conduct1 allow large scope for the      
influence of which ,i am now treating4  

,for1 as ,i have already intimated1 we  
shall find it lurking under numerous    
forms4 ,in discussing the question of   
,slavery1 for instance1 it is often     
said--that it is for the interest of the
 master to take good care of his human  
as he does of his brute stock--to see   
that they are well-fed1 clothed1 c4 ,and
 so it is for his interest to do this4  
,but how often does the lust for        
supremacy over-ride interest itself6    
,how often does an imperious personality
 thrust itself forward in the most      
absurd ways1 damaging its own property  
and welfare1 just as a boy breaks his   
top1 or a balked rider shoots his horse1
 or an independent congregationalist    
locks his pew-door1 as much as to       
say--,there1 the world knows one thing  
about me1 at least4 ,it knows that ,i am
 master and owner here6  ,but ,i        
observe1 further1 that1 while this      
desire for ,precedence is common among  
men of all conditions1 there are some   
modes of its expression which are       

peculiarly excited in a democratic form 
of society4 ,that which is the open     
glory of a community like ours1 is with 
many a secret vexation and shame4       
,people boast here of the equality of   
our institutions1 and then try their    
best to break up the social level4 ,in a
 genuine ,aristocracy1 where they have  
endeavored to preserve a gulf-stream of 
noble blood in the midst of the plebeian
 ,atlantic1 and a man holds his         
distinction by the color of the bark on 
his family tree1 and the kind of sap    
that circulates through it1 there is no 
danger of any unpleasant mistakes4 ,the 
hard palm of ,labor may cross the gloved
 hand of ,leisure1 and nobody will      
suspect that the select is too familiar 
with the vulgar4 ,consequently1 there is
 a good deal of affability and prime    
manliness1 besides those associations of
 sentiment and imagination which1 if    
there must be an aristocracy1 lend it an
 artistic consistency4 ,but here1 where 
everybody says that all men are equal1  

and everybody is afraid they will be2   
where there are no adamantine barriers  
of birth and caste2 people are anxiously
 exclusive4 ,and though the forms of    
aristocracy flourish more gorgeously in 
their native soil1 the genuine virus can
 be found in ,new ,york almost as       
readily as in ,london1 or ,vienna4 ,and 
the virus breaks out in the most absurd 
shapes of liveries and titles4 ,and     
these forms of aspiration are not only  
absurd because they are inconsistent1   
but because they illustrate no real     
ground of precedence4 ,they are         
superficial and uncertain4 ,they do not 
pertain to the man but to his accidents4
 ,he gains by them no intrinsic glory1  
no permanent good4 ,to employ the       
language of the text1 by these he       
strives for masteries2 but he does not  
strive lawfully1 and so he is not       
crowned4 ,and this leads me to say      
something respecting what is false1 and 
what is legitimate1 in that strife for  
,precedence which is so amply           

illustrated in the life of the ,city4   
,let us1 then1 consider some of the     
forms which this struggle assumes in the
 streets and the dwellings around us4 ,i
 remark1 in the first place1 that it    
inspires much of the effort for wealth4 
,i believe there are but few1           
comparatively1 who are anxious to make  
money merely for the sake of piling it  
up1 and counting it out4 ,there may be a
 mania of this kind1 in which men become
 enamored of ,mammon for his own sake1  
and hug him to their breasts1 and kiss  
his golden lips1 with all the ardor of  
lovers4 ,still1 ,i suspect that the     
genuine miser--that is1 one who loves   
money for itself alone--is an           
exceptional man4 ,but every man who is  
not absolutely inactive and useless in  
the world1 is moved by some kind of     
passion4 ,for1 it is not correct to     
speak of outliving our passions4 ,we may
 outlive the passion of young1 fresh    
love1 that makes the world a ,may-time  
of blossoms and of roses4 ,we may       

outlive the passion for selfish fame1   
because some transcendent claim of duty 
snatches us up to a sublimer level4 ,we 
may change these earlier forms for the  
passion of philanthropy1 the passion for
 truth1 the passion of holy conviction4 
,but so long as we live at all1 we do   
not outlive passion4 ,and with many the 
most persistent desire is for that      
precedence which attends the possession 
of wealth4 ,that miser1 as you call him1
 with a face like parchment1 and in     
whose nature all the springs of emotion 
seem to have grown rusty with long      
disuse1 is animated by a secret flame   
that keeps him all a-glow4 ,it is the   
consciousness of power--the mightiest   
power of the present age--the power of  
money4 ,those figures which he scrawls  
at his writing-desk involve a more      
potent magic than the cabalistic cyphers
 of ,doctor ,dee1 or ,cornelius         
,agrippa4 ,his hand presses the spring  
of an influence that casts midnight or  
sunshine over the ,world of ,traffic1   

and shakes entire blocks of real estate 
with a speculative earthquake4 ,it is   
not the ,czar or the ,sultan1 but the   
,capitalist1 that makes war or preserves
 peace4 ,the destinies of the time are  
enacted not in ,congress or ,parliament1
 but in the ,bank of ,england and in    
,wall street4 ,it is a mighty power that
 sits on ',change1 and inspires the     
great movements of the world2 sending   
its messengers panting through the deep 
and feeling around the globe with       
telegraphic nerves4 ,and one may well be
 more ambitious to wield a portion of   
this power than to speak in senates1 or 
to sit upon a throne4 ,here is something
 that will raise him above the common   
level2 will pay him for long years of   
sacrifice and contumely2 will hide      
meanness of birth1 and scantiness of    
education1 and paint over the stains of 
damaged character4 ,here is the most    
feasible way of distinction in a        
democracy4 ,the doors of respectability 
and honor turn on silver hinges4        

,gravity relaxes1 fashion gives way1    
beauty smiles1 and talent defers1 before
 the man of money4 ,he may be an        
ignoramus1 but he possesses the golden  
alphabet4 ,he may be a boor1 but ,plutus
 lends a charm which eclipses the grace 
of ,apollo4 ,he may have accumulated his
 wealth in a way which would make an    
intelligent hyena ashamed of himself1   
but he has accumulated it1 and the past 
is forgotten4 ,i do not mean to say     
that1 as the general rule1 wealth is    
thus associated1 but ,i believe that one
 great motive for money-getting1 is the 
consciousness of the power and the      
distinction that accompany its          
possession2 and so1 many a man in the   
thick dust of the mart--though it may   
not always be clear to himself--is      
really engaged in a strife for          
,precedence4  ,again1 consider the      
illustrations of this strife in the     
,style of ,living4 ,it is really a      
battle of chairs and mirrors1 of plate  
and equipage1 and is the spring of the  

monstrous extravagance that             
characterizes our city life4 ,for ,i    
suppose there is no place on the earth  
where people have run into such gorgeous
 nonsense as here--turning home into a  
,parisian toy-shop1 absorbing the price 
of a good farm in the ornaments of a    
parlor1 and hanging up a judge's salary 
in a single chandelier4 ,not that ,i    
accept the standard of absolute         
necessity1 or agree with those who cry  
out--,have nothing but what is          
absolutely useful6 ,for1 if the universe
 had been cast after their type1 there  
would have been no embroidery on the    
wings of the butterfly1 and the awful   
summit of ,mont ,blanc would have       
yielded fire-wood4 ,there is an instinct
 of beauty and grace implanted in our   
nature1 which demands elegance and even 
luxury1 and the bare necessaries of life
 do not answer every purpose4 ,and1 to  
say nothing of the employment which     
these accessories of refinement afford  
for thousands--for ,i have spoken of    

this in the previous series--the most   
sturdy utilitarian is not consistent    
with his theory4 ,he defers to the      
social condition around him to such an  
extent that he sleeps on a bed instead  
of a bench1 and wears broadcloth instead
 of untanned sheepskin4 ,and1 therefore1
 others might say1 and say truly1 that a
 good deal that is actually superfluous 
is the fruit of certain social          
proprieties which cannot1 with any      
consistency1 be violated4 ,our style of 
living may lawfully run from the bare   
necessaries of existence1 through the   
stages of comfort and convenience1 even 
into luxury1 according to our condition 
and means4 ,but in some of the style of 
living in this very city1 there is      
neither good taste1 social propriety1   
nor common sense4 ,it is an apoplectic  
splendor2 a melo-dramatic glitter2 in   
one word1 a vulgar spirit of social     
rivalry blossoming in lace1 brocade1    
gilding1 and fresco4 ,it is one way of  
getting a head taller than another upon 

this democratic level4 ,it is a carpet  
contest for the mastery in what is      
called society4 ,and if one mourns over 
the exuberant selfishness that lifts its
 pinnacles out of this dreary sea of    
hunger and despair1 and wonders that so 
many live wrapped in the idea that they 
were created merely to be gratified2 he 
can hardly help being amused1 on the    
other hand1 at this fashionable strife  
for precedence1 and the methods which it
 developes4  ,but enough has been said  
to illustrate the false element in the  
great struggle for ,human ,precedence4  
,this vicious principle is most         
comprehensively stated in the           
proposition1 that there is no           
substantial ground of supremacy in      
anything that is merely accidental or   
external to a man4 ,these things may    
sometimes stand as symbols of true merit
 and greatness1 but they are not        
themselves proofs of precedence4 ,a     
man's wealth may be the fruit of noble  
energy and honest toil1 and he may exert

 a wide influence by virtue of that     
intrinsic ability of which his good     
fortune is the sign4 ,indeed1 the more  
,i study the world the more ,i acquire a
 respect for these kings of             
enterprise--these heroes of practical   
effort--who1 feeling that they have been
 sent into the world to do something1 do
 not fold their hands and shut their    
eyes in ideal dreams1 or stumble at     
discrepancies1 but lay hold of what lies
 about them--rough stone1 timber1 iron1 
brass1--and become what it is really a  
noble compliment to say of any man--the 
architects of their own fortune4 ,i have
 great respect for these men who drive  
the wheels1 and kindle the furnaces1 and
 launch the ships1 and build the        
edifices1 and keep this sea of every-day
 action perpetually agitated by the     
keels of their endeavor4 ,their claims  
to precedence1 however1 consist not in  
their wealth1 but in that which         
accumulates the wealth4 ,but the man who
 rests merely upon what he has1 occupies

 no substantial ground of supremacy4    
,and if this is the case with those     
whose claim hangs merely upon what they 
are worth in the world of money1 it is  
at least equally so with those who set  
their title to precedence upon their    
style of dress or living4 ,for how      
uncertain are all these things6         
depending upon the fickle currents of   
fortune2 throwing the honors into our   
hands to-day1 and transferring them to  
our neighbor to-morrow6 ,how tantalizing
 this conflict1 in which victory changes
 with the fashion1 and we feel weak or  
strong according to the verdict of a    
clique6 ,and all these rivalries and    
envies and aspirations1 what a          
confession of personal feebleness they  
really are6 ,how slightly a true man    
feels them1 who knows that he is not    
mere silk or furniture1 and never frets 
about his place in the world2 but just  
slides into it by the gravitation of his
 nature1 and swings there as easily as a
 star6 ,but the mere leader of fashion  

has no genuine claim to supremacy2 at   
least1 no abiding assurance of it4 ,he  
has embroidered his title upon his      
waistcoat1 and carries his worth in his 
watch-chain2 and if he is allowed any   
real precedence for this it is almost a 
moral swindle1--a way of obtaining goods
 under false pretences4 ,but without    
running into more minute discussion1 ,i 
say again--that there is no substantial 
ground of supremacy in aught that is    
merely accidental or external2 and he   
who rests upon such claims stands upon a
 pedestal as uncertain as it is         
spurious4  ,if a man strive for         
masteries1 yet is he not crowned1 except
 he strive lawfully4 ,this was the old  
rule of the ,grecian games1 which would 
not permit the prize to be gained by any
 unfair or incomplete methods4 ,it was  
applied by the apostle to a specific    
work--the great work of the ,christian  
ministry4 ,but it is a law which        
prevails in all human action4 ,and1     
while it suggests that spurious         

precedence for which there is so much   
striving1 it also indicates the fact    
that there is a real difference of      
degree among men1 and that there are    
proper methods of obtaining supremacy4  
,and1 as ,i look around in the populous 
city1 in order to illustrate the grounds
 of this lawful precedence1 ,i observe1 
in the first place1 that there are men  
who occupy the higher places by         
ordinance of nature so to speak2 or1    
more properly1 by the purpose of ,god4  
,it is a fact in nature that all men are
 created equal1 and it is also a fact in
 nature that all men are not equal4 ,all
 men are created equal as to the        
essential rights and privileges of      
humanity4 ,they have a claim to live2   
they have an impartial share in the     
,divine ,love2 they have a right to     
liberty1 to freedom of thought and of   
limb1 by a constitution older than any  
historical document1 drawn up in the    
court of ,god's decrees and             
authenticated by ,his handwriting in the

 soul4 ,thus far all men are created    
equal1 and1 if it turns out otherwise   
with them1 it ensues from what is made  
by man1 not what is commanded by        
,heaven4 ,but so far as quantity of     
nature is concerned--original capacity  
and spiritual gifts--men are not equal4 
,and if it is asked--,why are they not  
equal8 ,i answer1 it is by appointment  
of the same ,sovereign ,mind which has  
ordained that one star shall differ from
 another star in glory4 ,but each form  
of being has its own capacities1 and if 
these are filled the moral harmony is   
secured4 ,through all prevails the law  
of compensation1 balancing the          
vicissitudes of experience4 ,and1 among 
these diversities of human capacity1    
some must of necessity occupy the       
highest place--men whose native genius  
carries them up in a splendid orbit1 and
 endows them with control4 ,and the     
world at large always acknowledges the  
rectitude of this appointment4 ,it      
cherishes no envy toward men of this    

kind1 but renders them spontaneous      
homage4  ,but1 although this genius1    
this original power1 rises to a natural 
supremacy1 it does not involve the most 
legitimate element of precedence4 ,there
 is no real ground of merit in the      
natural talents of a man1 any more than 
there is a ground of merit in personal  
beauty1 or family descent4 ,he has      
nothing but what has been given him--the
 five talents instead of his neighbor's 
one talent--and1 so long as he does not 
use them to their best purpose1 there is
 only an admirable possibility1 no merit
 of achievement4  ,and all genuine      
merit--that which entitles one to some  
ground of human precedence--comes from  
personal achievement in life2           
substantially1 from the stock of actual 
benefit which one has contributed to the
 world1 and which has become assimilated
 to his own spiritual nature4 ,the      
ground of precedence--so far as it is   
lawful for man to think of anything like
 precedence at all--is not in outward   

possessions1 not in gifts1 but in uses4 
,and here is thrown open a broad and    
noble field1 depending not upon genius  
or station1 but upon will1 and therefore
 accessible to every man4 ,here is an   
arena where one may strive lawfully1    
emulous to build up his own inner       
nature1 emulous to let such power as he 
possesses go out in blessings for the   
world4 ,a field for all of us1 my       
friends1 right here in the dense city1  
amidst the hurrying feet1 the clang of  
machinery1 and the roar of wheels4 ,and 
the condition of the game is1 not large 
capacity but good purpose and loyal     
endeavor2 not to strive greatly but to  
strive lawfully4  ,and1 ,i observe once 
more1 that the real claim to precedence 
is not eagerly snatched by us1 but comes
 to us4 ,it is not in seeming but in    
being1 and it makes no essential        
difference whether the world confesses  
it or not1 so long as we actually have  
it1 working in our consciousness of duty
 and drawing our consolation from inward

 resources4 ,here1 my friend1 is your   
work--here is the field of opportunity1 
which1 however broad and rich           
absolutely1 is for you great and        
pregnant with incalculable              
possibilities4 ,and though men may not  
see its best results1 they are          
nevertheless real1 and develop in your  
own soul a light and power1 a ground and
 fabric of precedence that cannot be    
shaken1 and will never vanish away4     
,and yet1 to a large extent1 the world  
does confess this true supremacy4 ,for1 
let me ask1 who among these crowds of   
citizens are really honored8 ,not those 
who are so eagerly and vainly striving  
in their narrow1 conventional circle1   
heedful merely of the rules of their own
 little game4 ,but those who actually   
fill an honorable place in life4 ,how   
much acknowledged dignity is there in   
that man who just accepts his station   
and makes the most of it1 filling it    
with patience and self-sacrifice and    
achieving the victory of principle and  

affection6 ,how much genuine nobleness  
in the quiet1 unconscious discharge of  
duty6 ,the field for precedence is it   
not a broad one1 and close at hand8 ,and
 is there no alternative between a      
frivolous and outside distinction1 and  
some great theatre of action large      
enough to fill and dazzle the world's   
eye8 ,daily1 right around us1 there are 
occasions that summon up all the        
energies of manhood as with a           
trumpet-peal4 ,see yonder6 where the    
conflagration1 bursting through marble  
walls1 casts a terrible splendor down   
the street and reddens the midnight sky4
 ,what an enemy has broken loose among  
us1 devouring the achievements of human 
skill and the hopes of enterprise6 ,what
 shall stay it8 ,with a triumphant shout
 it snaps the fetters of stone2 it roars
 with victory2 it bends its flaming     
crest towards peaceful homes where men  
and mothers and babes lie in unconscious
 slumber4 ,the bell beats2 and what old 
bugle-strain1 what pibroch1 what        

rattling drum1 ever sounded a more      
perilous call8 ,and on what battle-field
 that you have read of was there ever   
displayed a loftier heroism1 a more     
dauntless energy1 than that man displays
 who1 with the unconscious courage of   
duty1 plunges into the furnace1 mounts  
the quivering walls1 and1 making his own
 body a barrier between his fellow-men  
and the flame1 stands there scorched1   
bruised1 bleeding1 and beats the red    
terror back and beats it down1 with that
 irresistible energy which always       
springs from the human will bent upon a 
noble purpose8  ,and so1 in other forms1
 more quiet and more sacred1 where the  
anticipation of public applause does not
 furnish its motive1 men are exercising 
a heroism1 and working achievements1    
that make dim and pale the trophies that
 are plucked from fields of war and in  
lists of glittering renown4 ,and when   
these things are known the hearts of men
 render a spontaneous honor1 and admit  
the genuine titles of supremacy4 ,yet1  

if this true achievement in life is not 
known or confessed by the world1 its    
results really exist1 and impart their  
inalienable strength and blessing to the
 soul1 while as the grounds of false    
supremacy dissolve all gives way4  ,and1
 my friends1 the tendency of things is  
to bring out more and more these real   
claims to human precedence1 and to throw
 all spurious titles into the shade4    
,this is the radical purport of true    
democracy1 which ,i take to be the      
social synonym of ,christianity4 ,i have
 shown what inconsistencies and false   
distinctions swarm here in our midst1   
under the profession of republican      
equality4 ,this1 however1 is because    
names are not things4 ,i don't call that
 democracy which is simply the          
domineering spirit of self-exaltation in
 a new shape4 ,for there is no essential
 difference whether we call the social  
order a monarchy or a commonwealth2     
whether its leading men are ,charles and
 ,louis1 or ,robespierre and ,cromwell4 

,if we must have the old social         
fallacies1 they appear more attractive  
with the old symbols4 ,in that case1 ,i 
would rather not have them changed4     
,for1 when ,i look merely at the        
sentimental side of things1 ,i feel     
sorry when the so-called ,royal ,martyr1
 with a dignity which contrasts with his
 past conduct1 stretches his head upon  
the block2 or when the pitiless insults 
of a ,parisian mob are hurled upon the  
head of the beautiful ,marie            
,antoinette4 ,a poetic regret and       
enthusiasm is awakened by the           
associations that cluster about the     
,golden ,lion and the ,bourbon ,lilies4 
,and1 when ,i turn to those grim        
,ironsides1 or those frantic ,jacobins1 
the work they are doing looks savage    
enough4 ,but1 with a more discriminating
 vision1 ,i perceive that that rude     
popular storm1 which desolates palaces  
and shatters crowns1 embosoms a         
rectifying process which1 tumbling all  
false distinctions from their pedestals1

 shall by-and-by heave up the platform  
of social justice1 and reveal the true  
dignity of man4 ,the essential work of  
democracy is not the destruction of     
forms2 is not the giant arm of          
revolution1 striking the hours of human 
progress by the crash of falling        
thrones4 ,but its great work is         
construction--is in changing the very   
spirit of institutions--and it asserts  
its legitimacy and bases its claims upon
 the ,christian doctrine of the human   
soul4  ,therefore1 ,i regard these      
spurious claims to precedence--these    
endeavors after social distinction by   
virtue of riches1 and equipage1 and     
wardrobes--as only evidences of a       
transition-state4 ,men1 letting go the  
feudal forms1 and still assuming that   
there is some ground of human           
precedence1 as there really is1 have    
adopted these false expressions of it4  
,they will in turn pass away1 and give  
place to more genuine methods4  ,but let
 it be remembered1 that these false     

forms of precedence are not only        
inconsistent with our social professions
 and institutions1 but they are futile  
because they are contrary to the ,divine
 ,law4 ,our endeavors in life have a    
twofold operation1 and we must count not
 only their effect upon others but their
 reaction upon the fabric of our own    
inner being4 ,for1 whatever honor men   
may attribute to us1 we know that there 
is no real1 substantial ground of       
supremacy except in the excellence and  
power of our own spiritual nature4 ,and 
this is acquired not in ostentatious and
 selfish striving1 but when self is     
least thought of2 in the calm work of   
duty1 and when all conception of human  
merit fades into the ,glory of ,god4    
,and this is the great end to be        
desired--this strength and exaltation of
 the soul4 ,this imparts the profoundest
 significance to that great             
life-struggle which goes on in these    
crowded streets4 ,the city6 what is it  
but a vast amphitheatre1 filled with    

racers1 with charioteers1 with eager    
competitors2 surrounded by an unseen and
 awful array of witnesses8 ,and here1   
daily1 the lists are opened1 and men    
contend for success1 for station1 for   
power4 ,but these are meretricious and  
perishable awards4 ,the real prize is a 
spiritual gain1 a crown that fadeth not 
away4 ,and1 if we comprehend the great  
purpose of existence at all--if we look 
with any eagerness to its intrinsic     
issues and its final result2 we shall   
heed that decree of ,divine ,wisdom and 
,justice that comes down to us through  
all the vicissitude of life--through all
 the hurry and turmoil and contention4  
,if a man strive for masteries1 yet is  
he not crowned1 except he strive        
lawfully4     ,,the ,,symbols ,,of ,,the
 ,,republic4     ,,discourse ,,iv4      
,,the ,,symbols ,,of ,,the ,,republic4  
,thou art a great people1 and hast great
 power4--,,joshua1 xvii4 #ag4   ,these  
words1 originally addressed by the      
,hebrew ,leader to the children of      

,joseph--the tribes of ,ephraim and     
,manasseh--have been applicable to many 
nations which1 since that time1 have    
risen1 and flourished1 and fallen4 ,but 
when we consider the circumstances of   
its origin1 its marvellous growth in all
 the attributes of civilization1 and    
especially the immense possibilities    
which it involves2 without even being   
chargeable with a natural vanity1 we may
 say1 that to no country on the face of 
the earth have they ever been more      
fitted than to this4 ,for1 my friends1  
we know that it is a dictate of our     
nature to magnify that which is our own4
 ,however insignificant it really is1   
man spreads an ideal glory over the land
 of his birth4 ,perhaps its historical  
importance compensates for its          
geographical narrowness1 or its material
 poverty is hidden by its intellectual  
wealth4 ,from its stock of mighty       
men--its heroes1 and bards1 and         
sages--who have brightened the roll of  
fame2 or from its memorable             

battle-fields1 on rude heath and in     
mountain defile2 or from its            
achievements which have swelled the     
tides of human enterprise1 and made the 
world its debtor2 he draws the          
inspiration1 he carries away the        
conviction of greatness--so that        
wherever its emblems come before his    
eyes1 they touch the deep springs of    
reverence and pride4 ,nor let us condemn
 this feeling as merely a selfish and   
exaggerating one4 ,this spirit of       
nationality exists for wise purposes1   
embosoms the richest elements of loyalty
 and faith1 and is one of those profound
 sentiments of our nature that cannot be
 driven out by any process of logic4    
,but1 if a nation really inherits the   
description in the text1 it must possess
 something more than an illustrious     
history and an ideal glory4 ,we must    
determine its greatness by its symbols2 
yet these must be not merely signs of   
things1 but instruments of achievement2 
not merely the illustrations of dead    

works or patriotic enthusiasm1 but the  
agents of actual power and of living    
performance4 ,now1 in looking over the  
world at the present time1 there are    
other nations to which the words of     
,joshua might be applied as well as to  
our own1 and with as little assumption  
of national vanity4 ,other people are   
great and have great power1 by virtue of
 political importance1 vast possessions1
 and strong institutions4 ,to say       
nothing of the rest1 consider that huge 
domain which at this hour confronts the 
troubled principalities of ,europe4 ,it 
stretches itself out over three         
continents4 ,the waves of three oceans  
chafe against its shaggy sides4 ,the    
energies of innumerable tribes are      
throbbing in its breast4 ,it clasps     
regions yet raw in history as well as   
those that are grey with tradition1 and 
incloses in one empire the bones of the 
,siberian mammoth and the valleys of    
,circassian flowers4 ,and it is great   
not only by geographical extent1 but by 

political purpose--great by the idea    
which is involved with its destiny--an  
idea austere as the climate1 tremendous 
as the forces1 indomitable as the will  
of the gigantic north4 ,it would set the
 inheritance of the ,byzantine ,emperors
 in the diadem of ,peter the ,great4 ,it
 would make the ,sea of ,marmara and the
 ridges of the ,caucasus1 paths to      
illimitable empire and uncompromising   
despotism4 ,it moves down the map of the
 world1 as a glacier moves down the     
,alps1 patient and relentless1 startling
 the jealous rivals that watch its      
course1 and granting contemptuous peace 
to the allies that shiver in its shadow4
  ,in considering1 therefore1 the       
symbols which prove that we also are a  
great people1 having great power1 we    
should select those which indicate the  
possession of a peculiar power4 ,this   
peculiarity is not in our geographical  
extent or material greatness4 ,but it   
is1 ,i think1 in our institutions1 in   
the tendency of our national ideas1 and 

in the legitimate result of these4 ,it  
is in conceptions and elements the      
direct opposite of those that work in   
the destiny of the mighty empire just   
referred to--and for this reason ,i have
 referred to it4  ,in taking up a       
subject1 then1 which is especially      
connected with the conditions of        
humanity in the city1 because in the    
city the conception of a people--of a   
public--is especially illustrated1 let  
us inquire--,what are the symbols of our
 republic2 the signs and agents of our  
greatness as a nation8 ,and1 for the    
sake of avoiding too many               
specifications1 ,i propose to consider  
these under two or three general        
classes4  ,in the first place1 then1 ,i 
would select as a symbol of the         
,republic1 ,whatever represents the     
privilege of ,free ,thought4 ,as to     
whatever gives full play to the         
intellect1 whatever diffuses the        
intelligence1 whatever wakes up and     
assists the entire spiritual nature of  

individuals and communities1 ,i think   
there is really more opportunity here   
than anywhere else on the face of the   
earth4 ,and1 as a sign and instrument of
 this1 ,i would point to some ,district 
,school-house2 rough1 weather-worn1     
standing in some bleak corner of ,new   
,york or ,new ,hampshire2 through whose 
closed windows the passer-by catches the
 confused hum of recitation1 or at whose
 door he sees children of all conditions
 mingling in motley play4 ,of all       
conditions1 so far as external          
peculiarities go2 for the laws of nature
 and the ordinances of ,providence      
cannot be dispensed with even here2 but 
of one condition as the recognized      
possessors of immortal mind4 ,those who 
have helped mould the ,republic have    
clearly seen that1 although intelligence
 is not the foundation of national      
greatness--for there is something deeper
 than that--still it is the discerning  
and directing power upon which depends  
the right use even of moral elements4   

,they have scouted the notion that there
 is any ultimate evil in diffused       
knowledge2 any such thing as a dangerous
 truth2 and have affirmed that the best 
way to winnow the false from the true1  
is to equip and set a-going the         
intellectual machine by which ,god has  
ordained that the work shall be done4   
,it has been felt1 that1 if the ,state  
can properly extend its influence       
anywhere beyond the restrictive limits  
of evil1 or the punishment of overt     
wrong2 if anywhere it may exercise a    
positive ministration for good2 it is   
here1 where it does not interfere on the
 one hand with those outward pursuits   
which should be left to individual      
choice and aptitude1 nor on the other1  
with those inward sanctities which      
pertain to conscience and to ,god2 it is
 here1 in that region of our personality
 from which we can best discern our duty
 and fill our place4 ,for the intellect 
is the most neutral of all our          
qualities4 ,man is swayed by the animal 

propensities of his nature2 he is swayed
 by the moral and religious elements of 
his nature2 but the intellect1 by       
itself1 is not a motive power4 ,it is a 
light2 and no one will object to its    
being kindled except those who1 by that 
objection1 virtually confess that they  
fear the light4 ,and this work of       
kindling is just what the state purposes
 to do for a child2 leaving his         
religious convictions to such helps as  
conscience has chosen1 and his position 
in life to the decision of              
circumstances4 ,and there is no way in  
which it can show so much impartiality1 
and exercise practically the most       
essential conception of freedom4 ,for   
thus1 as ,i have already said1 it       
recognizes a common                     
inheritance--something which all        
have--the possession of mind--something 
which is of more importance than any    
external condition1 for it influences   
external condition2 7whoever saw an     
educated community of which anything    

like a large fraction were paupers and  
criminals87 something on which rests the
 claim of human freedom2 for the charter
 of man's liberty is in his soul1 not   
his estate4 ,it says to the poorest     
child--,you are rich in this one        
endowment1 before which all external    
possessions grow dim4 ,no piled-up      
wealth1 no social station1 no throne1   
reaches as high as that spiritual plane 
upon which every human being stands by  
virtue of his humanity2 and from that   
plane1 mingling now in the ,common      
,school with the lowliest and the       
lordliest1 we give you the opportunity  
to ascend as high as you may4 ,we put   
into your hands the key of knowledge2   
leaving your religious convictions1 with
 which we dare not interfere1 to your   
chosen guides4 ,so far as the           
intellectual path may lead1 it is open  
to you4--,go free6 ,and when we consider
 the great principles which are thus    
practically confessed2 when we consider 
the vast consequences which grow out of 

this2 ,i think that little ,district    
,school-house dilates1 grows splendid1  
makes our hearts beat with admiration   
and gratitude1 makes us resolve that at 
all events1 that must stand2 for1       
indeed1 it is one of the noblest symbols
 of the ,republic--a sign and an        
instrument of a great people1 having    
great power4  ,or1 if you would behold  
another of these symbols1 go through    
this city1 and pause wherever you hear  
the rumbling of the ,printing-,press4   
,as ,i have dwelt upon the              
characteristics of this great power in  
another place1 ,i only allude to it here
 as a vehicle of that expression which  
is so essential to all genuine freedom  
of thought4 ,mere education is no       
evidence of this freedom4 ,it may be    
made1 it has been made in one of the    
most intelligent but despotic countries 
in ,europe1 an instrument for drilling  
the human mind into an absolute routine 
of state policy4 ,mere liberty of       
speculation is nothing1 though it has   

the boundless firmament of abstraction  
for its own1 so long as it is not       
allowed to strike the solid ground of   
fact or touch one organized abuse4 ,let 
us be thankful for a free-press--the    
electric tongue of thought1 which at    
every stroke is felt throughout a       
continent1 which no dictator dares to   
chain1 and over whose issues no censor  
sits in judgment--or only that great    
censor1 public opinion4 ,everybody is   
aware of its evil as well as its        
good--the errors1 the crudities1 the    
abominations it sends out4 ,but we must 
remember that it is only the            
representative1 the voice1 of elements  
that actually exist in human minds and  
bosoms2 and1 surely1 it is better that  
they should come out into the free air1 
and be sprinkled by the chloride of     
truth1 than to work darkly and          
infectiously out of sight4 ,it is the   
hidden1 not the open evil that is       
dangerous4  ,or1 still again1 you might 
have seen a true symbol of the ,republic

 in the spectacle which has been        
presented this very day--the spectacle  
of a ,free ,worship4 ,the great stream  
of religious impulse has poured through 
these streets1 and separated into its   
rills of distinctive opinion1 without   
trepidation and without challenge4      
,every man has had the opportunity to   
commune with his ,god1 and approach the 
,cross of his ,redeemer1 with no        
established barriers between4 ,neither  
the cathedral nor the chapel rest upon  
the patronage of the state1 but in the  
deep foundations of individual          
conviction4 ,to be sure1 here and there1
 there is a little assumption2 but it is
 dramatic rather than substantial1 and  
does not amount to much4 ,here and there
 breaks out an unjust prejudice or a    
spiteful calumny1 but it shames the     
source more than the object1 and soon   
dies away in the atmosphere of tolerance
 and investigation4 ,it looks doubtful  
sometimes1 but ,i verily believe that   
the real spirit1 as well as the mere    

form of ,religious equality1 is         
beginning to prevail4 ,every day1 it is 
more and more practically acknowledged  
that ,christianity is profounder than   
any name1 and exists under strange and  
despised names2 that there really is    
decent observance in every church1 and  
holy living in every communion2 and a   
man finds that his neighbor has the same
 essence of righteousness as himself1   
though he has not half so many links in 
his creed4 ,and something more than     
tolerance grows out of this practical   
liberty4 ,it is not easy to measure the 
moral sincerity1 the moral principle1   
which results from it2 which is far more
 precious than mere intelligence2 which 
is the perennial spring and assurance of
 national welfare4  ,but ,i proceed to  
observe1 in the second place1 that we   
may select as a symbol of the           
,republic--a sign and an instrument of a
 great people1 having great             
power--whatever illustrates the         
principle of ,political ,equality4 ,i am

 speaking1 at present1 not of our       
deficiencies1 but of our possessions2   
not of the instances in which this      
doctrine of equality is practically     
contradicted1 but of those in which it  
is practically acknowledged4 ,the       
sovereignty of every man is a           
fundamental principle in our            
institutions2 it is essential to the    
conception of a ,republic2 and so far as
 it is legitimately a ,republic1 we     
shall find this principle in operation4 
,and1 looking around for some extant    
symbol of this1 let me select that which
 is the object of so much strife and    
agitation--the ,presidential ,chair4 ,i 
do not1 by any means1 consider this the 
most comfortable seat in the nation1 or 
that the most deserving man is sure to  
get there2 but1 as an emblem1 ,i believe
 it illustrates the noblest privileges1 
and the proudest supremacy1 on the face 
of the globe4 ,and ,i refer to it as a  
possibility for the poorest and humblest
 child in the land4 ,no hereditary      

gallery leads to it--only the broad road
 of the people4 ,and1 as the highest    
seat in the nation1 it illustrates all  
the honors of the nation4 ,they are     
possible to anybody4 ,and ,i trust the  
time has not yet arrived when this can  
be said only by way of satire2 can be   
true only because the waves of political
 corruption carry the meanest and       
unworthiest into office2 but as a grand 
fact1 a fact with which are involved the
 springs of our national greatness and  
power1 it may be said that here there   
are no barriers of caste1 no terms of   
descent1 no depths so low that          
enterprise cannot rise out of them1 no  
heights so exalted that genius cannot   
attain them2 for1 on a platform as level
 to the peasant's threshold as to the   
nabob's door1 stand the judge's bench1  
the senator's seat1 and the ,president's
 chair4  ,as another symbol of this     
political equality1 ,i would name the   
,ballot-,box4 ,i am aware that this is  
not everywhere a consistent symbol2 but 

to a large degree it is so4 ,i know what
 miserable associations cluster around  
this instrument of popular power4 ,i    
know that the arena in which it stands  
is trodden into mire by the feet of     
reckless ambition and selfish greed4    
,the wire-pulling and the bribing1 the  
pitiful truckling and the grotesque     
compromises1 the exaggeration and the   
detraction1 the melo-dramatic issues and
 the sham patriotism1 the party         
watch-words and the party nick-names1   
the schemes of the few paraded as the   
will of the many1 the elevation of men  
whose only worth is in the votes they   
command--vile men1 whose hands you would
 not grasp in friendship1 whose presence
 you would not tolerate by your         
fireside--incompetent men1 whose fitness
 is not in their capacity as            
functionaries1 or legislators1 but as   
organ pipes2 the snatching at the slices
 and offal of office1 the intemperance  
and the violence1 the finesse and the   
falsehood1 the gin and the glory2 these 

are indeed but too closely identified   
with that political agitation which     
circles around the ,ballot-,box4 ,but1  
after all1 they are not essential to it4
 ,they are only the masks of a genuine  
grandeur and importance4 ,for it is a   
grand thing--something which involves   
profound doctrines of ,right--something 
which has cost ages of effort and       
sacrifice--it is a grand thing that     
here1 at last1 each voter has just the  
weight of one man2 no more1 no less2 and
 the weakest1 by virtue of his          
recognized manhood1 is as strong as the 
mightiest4 ,and consider1 for a moment1 
what it is to cast a vote4 ,it is the   
token of inestimable privileges1 and    
involves the responsibilities of an     
hereditary trust4 ,it has passed into   
your hands as a right1 reaped from      
fields of suffering and blood4 ,the     
grandeur of ,history is represented in  
your act4 ,men have wrought with pen and
 tongue1 and pined in dungeons1 and died
 on scaffolds1 that you might obtain    

this symbol of freedom1 and enjoy this  
consciousness of a sacred individuality4
 ,to the ballot have been transmitted1  
as it were1 the dignity of the sceptre  
and the potency of the sword4 ,and that 
which is so potent as a right1 is also  
pregnant as a duty2 a duty for the      
present and for the future4 ,if you     
will1 that folded leaf becomes a tongue 
of justice1 a voice of order1 a force of
 imperial law2 securing rights1         
abolishing abuses1 erecting new         
institutions of truth and love4 ,and1   
however you will1 it is the expression  
of a solemn responsibility1 the exercise
 of an immeasurable power for good or   
for evil1 now and hereafter4 ,it is the 
medium through which you act upon your  
country--the organic nerve which        
incorporates you with its life and      
welfare4 ,there is no agent with which  
the possibilities of the ,republic are  
more intimately involved1 none upon     
which we can fall back with more        
confidence1 than the ,ballot-,box4  ,but

 there is a symbol which represents the 
power and greatness of a ,republic more 
significantly than all the rest1 and is 
comprehensive of all the rest4 ,it is   
the fruit of unfettered thought and     
political equality1 of intelligence and 
virtue1 of private sovereignty and      
public duty--it is a free1 true1        
harmonious ,man4 ,as the crown or the   
sceptre is the symbol of a ,monarchy2 as
 heraldic honors are the symbols of an  
,oligarchy2 so1 ,i repeat1 the most     
expressive symbol of a ,republic is a   
man--a man free in limb and soul1 a man 
intelligent and self-governed1 a man    
whose spiritual vision is clear1 and in 
whose breast the voice of conscience is 
peremptory1 with whom the conception of 
duties is deeper even than the          
conception of rights2 in short1 a man   
who embodies all the elements1 and      
represents to the world the best results
 of ,liberty4 ,laws are nothing1        
institutions are nothing1 national power
 and greatness are nothing1 save as they

 assist the ,moral purpose of ,god in   
the development of humanity4 ,to this   
test we must bring the symbols of the   
,republic1 and judge whether they are   
fitting and consistent4 ,no matter what 
else they accomplish1 no matter what    
else they signify1 if they do not serve 
this end they are either incomplete     
instruments1 or vain forms4 ,for1 ,man  
is of more worth than ,institutions2    
,religion is greater than politics2 and 
the designs of ,providence are wider    
than the cycles of ,national destiny4   
,i turn1 then1 to the signs of our own  
national greatness2 ,i turn to these    
symbols of spiritual freedom and        
political equality2 and ,i ask--how     
completely do they develop this most    
significant symbol of all--how          
completely do they serve the purposes of
 ,god in ,history--by securing the      
welfare1 the culture1 the moral         
elevation of humanity8 ,and the reply   
is--that1 by our institutions and our   
endeavors1 these ends have been served  

in various ways4 ,there is here1 to-day1
 a more enlightened1 free1 self-governed
 humanity--and we say it without        
arrogance--than anywhere else on the    
globe4 ,our benefits are of the kind    
that are not realized1 because they are 
so great and familiar--like the light   
and the air2 but take them away1 or     
transfer us to some other atmosphere1   
and how we should miss them1 and pine   
and dwindle6 ,let no man1 in his zeal   
for bold rebuke or needed reform1       
overlook what has been done1 and what is
 enjoyed here1 as to the noblest results
 of national greatness and power4  ,but 
every sincere man must say likewise     
that1 with us1 the possibilities are far
 greater than the performance2 that     
these symbols are the splendid tokens of
 what may be1 rather than what is4 ,and1
 that ,i may bring this discourse to a  
practical conclusion1 let me say that   
two things1 at least1 are necessary to  
convert these possibilities into the    
noblest achievement4  ,in the first     

place1 it is essential that every       
citizen of the republic should recognize
 his own manhood2 the sacredness of his 
own personality2 and should recognize   
this especially in relation to his      
duties1 which are inextricably involved 
with his rights4 ,for here it is true in
 a special sense1 that the mass is but  
an aggregate of personalities--that     
public sin is but the projection of your
 sin and mine4 ,a man will often say    
that he is responsible to his country1  
and responsible to his constituents2 but
 upon no claim1 by no sophistry1 should 
he suffer himself to forget that he is  
also responsible to his ,god4 ,he does  
forget this1 when he acts for political 
interests1 and as one of a party1 as he 
never would act in his private affairs4 
,and does he suppose that there is a    
corporate vice1 or virtue1 differing    
from his private vice or virtue1 as a   
gentleman's purse differs from the      
public fund8 ,there is no such          
distinction in moral qualities4 ,it is  

your own coin that helps swell the      
amount2 it bears your stamp1 and you are
 responsible for the product4 ,if the   
party lies1 then you are guilty of      
falsehood4 ,if the party--as is very    
likely--does a mean thing1 then you do  
it4 ,it is surely so1 so far as you are 
one of the party1 and go with it in its 
action4 ,god does not take account of   
parties2 party names are not known in   
that court of ,divine ,judgment2 but    
your name and mine are on the books     
there4 ,there is no such thing--and this
 is true1 perhaps1 in more senses than  
one--there is no such thing as a party  
conscience4 ,it is individual conscience
 that is implicated4 ,party6 ,party6    
,ah6 my friends1 here is the influence  
which1 it is to be feared1 balks and    
falsifies many of these glorious        
symbols4 ,men rally round musty         
epithets4 ,they take up issues which    
have no more relation to the deep1      
vital1 throbbing interest of the time1  
than they have to the fashions of our   

grandfathers4 ,they parade high-sounding
 principles to cover selfish ends2      
interpret the ,constitution by a        
doctrine of loaves and fishes2 while    
individual independence and private     
conviction are whirled away in the      
political maelstrom1 and the party-badge
 is reverenced and hugged as the        
,african reverences and hugs his fetish4
 ,and surely it is a case for           
congratulation1 when some great1        
exciting question breaks out and jars   
these conventional idols1 and so sweeps 
and shatters these party organizations  
and turns them topsy-turvy1 that a man  
is shaken out of his harness1 does not  
know exactly what party he does belong  
to1 and begins to feel that he has a    
soul of his own4 ,i am not denying the  
use and the necessity of parties as     
instruments1 but protest against them as
 ends1 especially when principle is     
smothered under their platforms1 and    
they absorb the moral personality of a  
man4  ,it may not seem so strange that  

the political field should so often be  
the field of a lax and depressed        
morality1 when we consider that here is 
the great theatre where human ambition  
struggles for its aims2 here are        
enlisted the strongest passions of the  
soul2 here throng some of its fiercest  
temptations2 here the stakes played for 
are the kingdoms of this world1 and the 
glory of them4 ,and this1 ,i suppose1 is
 the reason why the most authentic type 
of human depravity is a thoroughly      
unprincipled politician4 ,such an       
instance1 at least1 may strike us more  
forcibly1 because we see the perversion 
of great faculties1 and capabilities are
 contrasted with performance2 while1 on 
the other hand he may be confirmed in   
his moral bankruptcy by the fact that1  
in playing upon the passions of men he  
sees the worst side of humanity4 ,but1  
surely1 there have been those who passed
 this ordeal1 and came out with brighter
 lustre2 who have kept the eye of       
conscience elevated above the ecliptic  

of political routine2 who have made     
politics identical with lofty duties and
 great principles2 whose patriotism was 
not a clamorous catch-word1 but a       
breathing inspiration1 a silent         
heart-fire4 ,in private life they have  
felt the great privilege of their       
citizenship2 the magnitude of the       
obligation which bound them to virtue   
and to consistency2 while1 in public    
life1 they have kept their trust firm as
 steel1 bright as gold2 have felt1 with 
due balance on either side1 the beatings
 of the popular heart and the dictates  
of the everlasting ,right2 and in       
themselves have represented the union of
 liberty and law1 the real greatness of 
a nation4 ,without such men1 the nation 
has no greatness2 for its significance  
and its power are in the moral worth of 
its citizens4  ,the second condition    
necessary to the fulfilment of the great
 results indicated by these symbols1 is 
consistent action upon the ideas that   
constitute the basis of our own         

institutions4 ,if many of the privileges
 and peculiarities which ,i have        
specified in this discourse are         
possessed by other nations1 in one      
respect we differ from them all4 ,these 
privileges and peculiarities are        
legitimately ours4 ,they have not been  
grafted on hereditary antagonisms4 ,they
 have not grown up in spite of our      
institutions1 but as the fruit of our   
institutions4 ,these ideas1 entwined    
with the very roots of our ,republic1   
shooting through every fibre1 running   
into every limb1 bind us to a           
recognition of human brotherhood2 to    
sympathy with ,liberty wherever it      
struggles2 and to stedfast opposition to
 whatever crushes the rights1 hinders   
the development1 or denies the humanity 
of man4 ,if these symbols of the        
,republic mean anything1 they mean just 
this2 and whatever is inconsistent with 
this1 is inconsistent with the terms of 
our national birthright4 ,depend upon   
it1 not the assertion of ,liberty1 but  

whatever is opposed to ,liberty1 is the 
innovating and agitating element in this
 country4 ,it interrupts the legitimate 
current of our destiny4 ,it shocks the  
popular heart with inconsistency4 ,it   
becomes mixed with the ashes of the old 
heroes1 and the land keeps heaving with 
the fermentation4 ,one assumption is too
 impudent1 too nakedly in contradiction 
with the fundamental ideas of our       
,republic ever to be admitted--the      
assumption that the man who speaks for  
freedom1 who sympathizes with the       
broadest doctrine of human rights1 and  
sets around these the eternal barriers  
of justice1 is an innovator and an      
agitator4 ,i ask--what made our         
,revolution legitimate8 ,what were the  
central ideas that throbbed in the      
breasts of its heroes and martyrs8 ,take
 down the old muskets bent in the hot   
encounter1 and printed with many a      
death-gripe2 take down the old uniforms1
 clipped by ,hessian sabres and torn by 
,british bullets2 take down the dusty   

muster-rolls1 scrawled with those       
venerable names--names that now are     
graven on the stone1 names that are     
buried in the sod1 names that have gone 
up to immortality--and ask1 for what was
 this great struggle8 ,was it not for   
freedom1 based upon the conception of   
the right and supremacy of freedom8 ,and
 is this the legitimate conclusion of   
that sublime postulate--this other ,fact
 which1 never retreating1 always        
advancing1 follows the steps of ,freedom
 over the continent like a shadow1 looms
 up like a phantom against the ,rocky   
,mountains1 and darkens the fairest     
waters8 ,on the contrary1 is not        
,freedom that old truth1 that conceded  
premise that does not agitate8 ,liberty1
 ,human ,rights1 ,universal             
,brotherhood1 was it not for these ideas
 ye fought--was it not these ye planted 
in the soil1 and laid with the          
corner-stone of our institutions8 ,my   
friends1 ,i know1 and you know1 could   
those men give palpable sign and        

representation1 the answer that would   
come1 as in one quick flash from bayonet
 to bayonet1 in one long roll of drums1 
from ,lexington to ,yorktown4  ,these   
peculiar privileges1 then1 to which ,i  
have referred1 differ from those of     
other nations inasmuch as they are not  
grafted expedients1 but legitimate      
fruits4 ,unless we change the premises  
of our ,republic1 and shift the foils in
 our historical argument1 these are     
necessary conclusions4 ,they are        
necessary conclusions1 if our symbols   
represent realities4 ,russia is         
consistent with its national idea4 ,it  
pours forth its legions and moves to its
 work with a terrible consistency4 ,and 
if we--also a great people1 having great
 power--are equally consistent1 we shall
 fall back upon no selfish conservatism1
 but aid whatever tends to fulfil the   
,providential purpose of our existence1 
and whatever helps and advances man4    
,one thing is certain4 ,so long as any  
nation truly lives1 it unfolds its      

specific idea and lives according to its
 original type4 ,when it fails to do    
this1 the sentence of decay is already  
written upon it4 ,if it fails to        
illustrate ,god's purpose in its        
obedience1 it illustrates ,his control  
in retribution4 ,for there is nothing   
supreme1 nothing finally triumphant1    
nothing of the last importance1 but ,his
 ,law4 ,it penetrates1 and oversweeps1  
and survives all charters and           
institutions and nationalities1 like the
 infinite space that encompasses ,alps  
and ,andes1 and planets and systems4 ,it
 is this that successive generations    
illustrate4 ,it is this that all history
 vindicates4 ,if a nation runs parallel 
to this ,divine ,law1 it is well2 if    
false to its purpose and its control1   
down it goes4 ,the prophet ,isaiah1 in  
one of the most terrific and sublime    
passages of the ,bible1 represents the  
king of ,babylon1 while passing into the
 under-world1 saluted by departed       
rulers1 by dead kings1 rising from their

 shadowy thrones1 and exclaiming1 ,art  
thou become weak as we8 ,art thou become
 like unto us8 ,thus has many a nation  
gone down to its doom4 ,shall it be so  
with this ,republic1 because false to   
its ideal8 ,shall it descend to the     
shades of perished pomp and greatness1  
and see ,nineveh with dusty1            
hieroglyphic robes rising up to meet it2
 and ,persia1 with the empty wine-cup of
 its luxury2 and ,rome1 with the shadow 
of universal empire on its discrowned   
head2 and hear them say--,art thou      
become weak as we8 ,art thou become like
 unto us8  ,my friends1 ,i look at the  
eager enterprise1 the young1 hopeful    
vigor1 the tides of possibility that    
flow through this great city2 ,i look at
 the symbols of this ,republic2 and ,i  
cannot believe that such is to be the   
result4 ,i look back upon our history1  
and cannot argue such a future from such
 a past4 ,a great light lay upon the    
wake of those frail ships that bore our 
fathers hither2 the wake of past ages1  

the following of good men's prayers and 
brave men's deeds1 the mingling currents
 of martyr-blood and prophet-fire4 ,and 
methinks1 as they struck the shore1 and 
met the savage wilderness1 a ,voice     
saluted them2 a voice not of profane    
ambition and of selfish hope1 but of    
,divine promise1 intending ,divine      
results--proclaiming1 ,thou art a great 
people1 and hast great power4 ,and ,he  
will fulfil this prophecy1 ,who leads   
the course of history over the broad    
deep and through mysterious ways1 and   
,who unfolds ,his own glory in the      
destinies of men4     ,,the ,,springs   
,,of ,,social ,,life4     ,,discourse   
,v4  ,,the ,,springs ,,of ,,social      
,,life4        ,let them learn first to 
show piety at home4--,i4 ,,timothy1 v4  
#d4   ,the text--which ,i purpose to    
employ not as a specific precept1 but as
 the illustration of a general          
principle--indicates those ,springs of  
,social ,life which constitute the      
subject of the present discourse4  ,the 

crowd in a city affords comparatively   
little interest1 when we contemplate it 
merely as a crowd4 ,but1 when we resolve
 it into its individual particles1 and  
consider each of these as endued with   
the attributes and involved with the    
conditions of humanity1 our deepest     
sympathies are touched4 ,every drop of  
that great stream is a conscious        
personality4 ,in some shape1 the        
universe is reflected in it4 ,in some   
way1 it takes hold of the reality of    
life3 and the living organism of which  
it is composed both acts and suffers1   
receives from the world around it and   
contributes to it4 ,that entire mass of 
people involves nothing more than the   
interest of humanity1 and the same      
interest pertains to the least unit of  
that mass4  ,and1 doubtless1 you have   
sometimes busied yourself with the      
speculation--,where do all these people 
come from8 ,and whither do they retire  
at night8 ,now1 this is really a very   
suggestive question1 and to follow it   

out to a practical answer would yield   
results of the profoundest importance4  
,for out of hidden channels1 here and   
there1 do spring all these struggling   
activities1 these human diversities1    
these various influences good and evil1 
that make up the crowd and spectacle of 
city life4 ,and night after night1 with 
the rarest exceptions1 into some retreat
 they all disappear4 ,some spot--whether
 it seem the veriest mockery to style it
 so1 or whether it be a synonym for the 
sweetest sanctities--some spot each of  
this living multitude calls by the name 
of ,home4  ,for some that name is       
associated with a more than oriental    
magnificence4 ,man and nature wait upon 
them there in every conceivable form of 
service4 ,there is no method of         
convenience or luxury which ingenuity   
can devise2 no bounty that earth can    
yield from her many-zoned bosom2 no     
shape which art can summon from the     
regions of the beautiful1 that is not   
possible there4 ,lifting its palatial   

walls1 and kindling with brilliant      
lights1 it stands there as the          
completest symbol of material refinement
 and civilization4 ,it is arctic winter 
without4 ,the snow chokes up the dreary 
street1 and the whistling wind cuts the 
beggar's rags4 ,but it is ,italy1 it is 
,ceylon1 it is tropic gorgeousness      
within4 ,and these are the abodes of the
 children of fortune1 whose wishes      
require no talisman but expression1 who1
 all their lives long1 have been used to
 such indulgence1 or who accept it now  
as the fruit of their own effort4 ,this 
is the hospitality which some men find  
in life1 and out of which they          
constitute a home4  ,but none the less  
enviable1 and perhaps much more so1 are 
those retreats where comfort waits on   
moderate means1 while contentment       
imparts to these an unpurchasable       
efficacy2 where1 blended with those     
infirmities and liabilities which are   
common to palace and cottage1 the       
domestic affections flourish1 and the   

dearest treasures of life are kept4     
,thousands of homes like this there are1
 all around us4 ,it describes the       
largest class of homes1 we may believe4 
,and who can estimate their influence   
over these busy tides of action1 all day
 long8 ,that world of traffic1 that     
world of toil1 that looks so hard and   
gross and sordid1--is it not transformed
 somewhat1 does it not grow beautiful   
even1 when you think how many of its    
energies have their spring by the       
infant's cradle and the mother's chair8 
,and what lights1 what shadows1 unseen  
by you1 fall upon the speculative eyes1 
fall upon the hearts1 of thousands in   
that homeward-streaming crowd6 ,light of
 welcoming hearth-fires1 shadows of     
children's play upon the walls2 light of
 affections in which there are no decay 
and no deceit2 shadows of sacred        
retirement where ,god alone is2 light of
 joys which this world's storms cannot  
utterly quench2 shadows of sorrow around
 sick-beds1 and in vacant places1 that  

still make home the dearer as the arena 
of earth's purest discipline and of its 
most triumphant faith6  ,and why        
delineate the features of that other    
class of homes1 whose most significant  
word is ,privation8 ,where              
cheerlessness1 and hunger1 and          
desponding toil1 or hopeless apathy1    
brood continually4 ,let your own        
sympathies1 let your own imaginations   
that cannot exaggerate the reality1 call
 up the vision of such4 ,think how many 
such abodes there are this very night1  
which winter besieges with all his      
terrors1 and into which he sends his    
invading frost6 ,think what ,home is to 
hundreds1 and1 therefore1 how life looks
 to them1 seen through this atmosphere  
of disease and want1 with starvation by 
the hearth1 and death at the door1 and  
misery everywhere6 ,think1 when the cold
 pierces even through all your wrappages
 of comfort1 and scarcity almost        
pinches1 what forms of humanity1 with   
lungs1 and nerves1 and hearts1 and every

 capacity for suffering1 are scraping   
the moss of subsistence from the barest 
rocks of life1 and struggling every day 
through an avalanche6 ,think what this  
,sabbath has been in the dwellings of   
the poor1 you who have had time to      
listen to the ,gospel1 and have heard it
 comfortably--so comfortably1 perhaps1  
that you have fallen asleep under       
it--think what this ,sabbath has been in
 the dwellings of the poor6 ,and yet1   
when ,i consider what1 doubtless1 the   
,sabbath has been in some of those      
places1 ,i am thankful that the highest 
ideal1 the richest sanctities of ,home1 
are not dependent upon outward          
conditions2 for even there1 unfaltering 
duty and true love have made the bare   
walls beautiful1 and prayer has set the 
desolate chamber on the steps of the    
,divine throne2 and before the eye of   
faith the cold arch of the winter night1
 that looks in through hole and cranny1 
has burst into a revelation of heaven1  
and a path for those ministering angels 

that come to help the sufferer and to   
comfort ,god's poor4  ,with more        
unqualified sadness1 therefore1 our     
thoughts must rest upon still another   
group of dwellings1 where deprivation   
and ignorance are mingled with vice and 
crime--where want and guilt strip away  
the masks of civilization1 and bring out
 the essential savage in man's nature4  
,these also we must call homes6 ,these  
breathing-holes of abomination1 these   
moral tombs1 where huddle the demons of 
violence1 and cunning1 and debauchery1  
and from which they issue4 ,that vast   
,hades of social evil opening downward  
from our streets1 where the best ideals 
have no type1 and the purest sentiments 
scarce a name2 where ,god is but a dark 
cloud of muttering thunder in the soul2 
where all that is fair in womanhood is  
dishevelled and transformed2 and where  
childhood is baptized in infamy1 trained
 to sin1 canopied with curses1 and      
rocked to sleep by the convulsive hell  
of passions all around it4  ,the ,homes 

of the ,metropolis6 ,thus diversified   
are they in their general types1 and    
more numerous in their individual       
conditions than can be specified4 ,and1 
surely1 it is no vain speculation that  
inquires--,what are they8 ,into what    
retreats do the elements of this busy   
crowd dissolve1 night after night8      
,whatever they may be1 a common interest
 envelopes them and links them all      
together--the interest of humanity4     
,they have vanished from the streets4   
,one great shadow covers them1 and hides
 their distinctions4 ,for a time they   
are all equal4 ,they have fallen        
asleep--poor1 tired humanity at the     
best6--they have fallen asleep on the   
bosom of a common ,providence1 that     
bears them all up1 as it bears the      
planet on which they now repose1 through
 the orbit of its great purpose and the 
immensities of its love4 ,but in the    
morning all these diversities will break
 forth again1 each pouring its influence
 into the general stream4 ,and who does 

not perceive how much the character of  
that influence must depend upon the     
condition of those homes8 ,who does not 
see that not only the interest of the   
common humanity in its most intimate    
experiences attaches to them1 but the   
interest of community8 ,not only are    
they the reservoirs of individual power 
and peculiarity1 but they are the       
,springs of ,social ,life4 ,and this the
 apostle indicated1 when he directed    
that certain1 who bore intimate         
relations to the early church1 should   
first learn to show piety at home4      
,keeping this conclusion in mind1 let me
 ask you to consider1 for a little      
while1 what ,home must be4  ,in the     
first place--it is the earliest and the 
most influential school4 ,nowhere else  
is the character so moulded2 nowhere    
else is so much infused into our entire 
being4 ,for1 whatever it may be1 it is  
the nursery of childhood2 and the child 
is father to the man4 ,here dawns upon  
the human mind the conception of life4  

,here1 when the nature is uninscribed   
and plastic1 it takes its first         
impressions4 ,i suppose it to be true1  
that more is learnt1 more that is       
elementary and a key to all the rest1 in
 the first few years of childhood than  
in all after time4 ,i do not deny1 of   
course1 that much is corrected and      
overcome under another class of         
influences4 ,but the deepest            
impressions1 the seeds of the most      
stubborn habits1 are planted at home4   
,hence the peculiar anxiety of good men 
to rescue children from the influences  
of a bad home4 ,and1 even then1 with    
what obstacles do they have to contend6 
,how radical are the prejudices already 
formed in that young mind6 ,how         
obstinate the customs1 how opaque the   
ignorance1 how rank the growth of error6
 ,nay1 into what complete fruition have 
all these grown1 simply in the neglect  
of home-culture1 to say nothing of      
influences positively evil6 ,really1 the
 color and current of a man's destiny   

are indicated here1 unless a shock of   
wonderful transformation comes over him4
 ,i do not mean to say that anybody is  
wholly the creature of circumstances2   
but he is the subject of circumstances4 
,if they do not entirely make him1 they 
furnish the occasion out of which he    
makes something2 and1 viewed either from
 the platform of the inward or the      
outward1 they furnish an important key  
to his life4 ,and1 although the path of 
reformation is more difficult than the  
descent into evil1 and demands an effort
 which too few are inclined to put      
forth2 though by the conditions of our  
nature the good is more easily swept    
away than the bad2 still1 it is         
encouraging to estimate the permanence  
and the power of those good influences  
which are received at home4 ,everybody  
knows1 when he is pitched into this     
whirlpool of evil that rolls around him 
in the world1 how those old             
home-restraints lie upon him like a     
magic chain1 hard to be forced          

away--perhaps never utterly forced away4
 ,and1 seeking for those who should     
stand up in this boisterous sweep of    
sin1 you would look and ,i would look to
 those who had received the best        
impressions under the domestic roof4 ,if
 ,i were alone1 poor1 compelled to ask  
charity somewhere in this selfish world1
 ,i would go1 not to the man who has    
learnt most of what he calls his wisdom 
from the experience of mature life1 but 
to him in whose heart there evidently   
remains something of childhood's        
tenderness1 kept warm by the remembered 
pressures of his mother's breast4 ,if ,i
 were seeking to restore some wild      
prodigal1 brazen-fronted by his own     
wicked will and by the scorn with which 
men have battered him--if ,i were       
looking for some gleam of promise in his
 turbulent nature1 and sounding its     
depths to find some spring of           
repentance--,i should never despair if  
,i could discover one gentle pulse that 
beat with the memories of a good and    

happy home4 ,why1 who needs to be told  
of the potency of this our earliest     
school1 to say nothing of other         
influences1 if only a faithful mother   
presides there8 ,o6 mother1 mother1 name
 for the earliest relationship1 symbol  
of the divine tenderness2 kindling a    
love that we never blush to confess1 and
 a veneration that we cannot help       
rendering2 how does your mystic         
influence1 imparted from the soft       
pressure and the undying smile1 weave   
itself through all the brightness       
through all the darkness of our after   
life4 ,the mould of character set on the
 front of the world's great men1 and    
gladly confessed by them1 bears your    
stamp4 ,your inspiration burns along the
 poet's line4 ,it is your true courage1 
more than man's rude daring1 that makes 
the force of heroes4 ,the statesman1    
when treason to humanity wears the garb 
of power1 and duty calls him like a     
trumpet1 hears your voice4 ,the         
philanthropist1 when he feels that the  

most efficient service is to be patient 
and to wait1 imbibes the strength of    
your fortitude4 ,the sailor1 on the high
 and giddy mast1 mingles your name close
 to ,god's4 ,and thousands in life's    
great claims1 in life's great perils1   
trace back the influences of the hour to
 some early time1 some calm moment1     
when1--little1 timid children1--they    
knelt by your side1 and from tones of   
reverence and looks of love and simple  
words of prayer1 they first learnt piety
 at home4  ,but ,i observe again1 that  
,home is the sphere where are most      
clearly displayed the real elements of  
character4 ,the world furnishes         
occasions of trial1 but it also         
furnishes prudential considerations4    
,without any absolute hypocrisy1 one    
measures his speech and restrains his   
action in the street and the market4    
,and it is easy to conceive how small   
men may perform great deeds1 and mean   
men seem philanthropic1 and cowards     
flourish as heroes1 with the tremendous 

motive of publicity to urge them4 ,but  
at home all masks are thrown aside1 and 
the true proportions of the man appear4 
,here he can find his actual moral      
standard1 and measure himself           
accordingly4 ,if he is irritable1 here  
breaks forth his repressed fretfulness4 
,if he is selfish1 here are the sordid  
tokens4 ,if he passes in any way for    
more than he is worth1 here you may     
detect the counterfeit in the ring of   
his natural voice and the superscription
 of his undisguised life4 ,no1 the world
 is not the place to prove the moral    
stature and quality of a man4 ,there are
 too many props and stimulants4 ,nor1 on
 the other hand1 can he himself         
determine his actual character merely by
 looking into his own solitary heart4   
,therein he may discover possibilities1 
but it needs actuality to make up the   
estimate of a complete life4 ,he must do
 something as well as be something2 he  
must do something in order that he may  
be something4 ,for1 what he thinks is in

 his heart may be exaggerated by        
self-flattery1 or darkened by morbid    
self-distrust4 ,it needs some occasion  
to prove what is really there4 ,and     
,home is precisely that sphere which is 
sufficiently removed from the factitious
 motives of publicity on the one        
extreme1 and the unexercised            
possibilities of the human heart on the 
other1 to afford a genuine test4 ,what a
 man really is1 therefore1 will appear  
in the truest light under his own roof  
and by his own fireside4 ,i can believe 
that he is a ,christian1 when ,i know   
that he faithfully takes up the daily   
duties1 and bears the crosses1 that     
cluster within his own doors4 ,i shall  
think that the world rightly calls him a
 philanthropist1 when1 notwithstanding  
common faults and infirmities1 he       
receives the spontaneous award of the   
good husband and father1 and the        
kindness of his nature is reflected in  
the very air and light of his dwelling4 
,and1--talk of noble deeds6--where will 

you find occasions for1 where will you  
behold manifestations of1 a more        
beautiful self-sacrifice1 a more        
generous heroism1 than in the labors and
 in the endurance of thousands of men   
and women1 shut out from the world's    
observation in silent nooks and corners 
of this very city1 amidst the           
relationships and cares and struggles of
 home8 ,but whether it be in forms of   
good or evil1 we know that the real     
elements of character1 the genuine moral
 qualities of people1 must be expressed 
there4  ,and1 ,i remark once more1 that 
at ,home we must find the most essential
 happiness or misery of life4 ,the same 
conditions apply here as those which    
relate to character4 ,the world is a    
theatre of seeming1 and we can hardly   
tell by what we notice there who is1 or 
who is not1 happy4 ,we know that gaiety 
is often the reckless ripple over depths
 of despair2 and that men will bear up  
with a smile while untold agony is      
gnawing at their heart-strings1 and will

 die laughing1 in an agony of defiance1 
under the sword-strokes of fortune4 ,on 
the other hand we may count some as     
unfortunate1 in whose bosoms1 all the   
while1 there are flowing inexhaustible  
springs of peace1 and who derive real   
joy from what we suppose to be a hard   
and pitiable lot4 ,but amidst the       
undisguised realities of home we can    
form the most correct estimate of a     
man's condition4 ,in the first place    
because1 as has been remarked1 he is    
there most truly himself4 ,he gains     
opportunity for reflection1 and gives   
vent to the secret burden of his heart4 
,there he empties the load of his       
envies1 his rivalries1 his              
disappointments2 which he has carried   
before the world muffled in courtesy or 
pride4 ,these1 it may be1 meet and are  
re-acted upon by kindred elements2      
engendered1 perhaps1 by the very        
atmosphere which he himself1 in the     
first place1 created4 ,oh6 how many rich
 dwellings there are1 crowded with every

 appointment of luxury1 that are only   
glittering ice-caverns of selfishness   
and discontent2 pavilions of misery1    
where jangling discord mars the show1   
and a chill of mutual distrust breathes 
through the sumptuous apartments1 and   
heartless ostentation presides like a   
robed skeleton at the feast4 ,you feel  
that nothing is genial or spontaneous   
there4 ,the courtesy is dreary          
etiquette1 and the laughter forced      
music4 ,you would dine as happily with  
the forms on the canvas1 with the cold  
marbles in the hall4 ,for all this      
magnificence is nothing more than a     
gorgeous pall over dead                 
affections--nothing more than the       
coronation of a living woe4  ,better is 
a dinner of herbs1 says the wise man1   
where love is1 than a stalled ox and    
hatred therewith4 ,and many a home      
exists where there is but little more   
than a dinner of herbs1 which affection 
and mutual loyalty1 and sweet           
dispositions1 convert into a palace4    

,and there are fixed boundaries of      
peace1 that society cannot encroach     
upon1 while the processions of ambition 
and pleasure and ceaseless pursuit1 pass
 by its windows and disturb it not4     
,here the good man and the brave        
man--the man who has nobly discharged   
his duty at whatever cost--is respected 
and understood4 ,hither he can retreat  
beyond the shots of calumny which have  
torn the ensign of his good name2 beyond
 the deceit of men1 which halts at the  
threshold4 ,here he can look calmly out 
upon the changes of fortune and the     
frowns of the world4 ,here his perplexed
 spirit finds inspirations of strength1 
and space for rest4 ,there is no        
happiness in life1 there is no misery1  
like that growing out of the            
dispositions which consecrate or        
desecrate a ,home4  ,moreover1 the      
elements of profoundest joy or suffering
 are there1 because there are unfolded  
the deepest experiences of our mortal   
lot4 ,there transpire those events which

 constitute the eras of our existence4  
,there1 day by day1 grows the sentiment 
of filial veneration and love4 ,there is
 the joy of wedded felicity4 ,there     
wells up in the heart the first strange 
gush of parental affection4 ,there comes
 the intimation of awful change staring 
upon us with the face of death4 ,there  
falls the shadow of the funeral train1  
passing across the threshold4 ,there    
breaks in upon us the sense of          
bereavement1 in the vacant chambers2    
where the familiar foot-step patters1   
where the familiar voice is heard no    
more4 ,from the very nature of things1  
the profoundest happiness and misery of 
human life must be experienced among the
 conditions of ,home4  ,having thus in  
some respects considered what ,home must
 be1 ,i have virtually anticipated      
whatever may be said in the second      
division of this discourse respecting   
what ,home ought to be4  ,thus1 as it is
 the earliest and most influential      
school1 it behoves every one who is     

bound by its responsibilities to make it
 an agent of the best culture4 ,the     
great subject of ,home ,education1 is of
 itself enough for a series of          
discourses2 and ,i have not room to lay 
down even the general propositions which
 belong to it1 much less for            
specifications4 ,but ,i would remind    
you--and ,i think the suggestion is     
especially needed amidst the whirl of   
city life--that there is such a thing as
 ,home ,education1 and it presses its   
claims upon everybody who inhabits a    
,home4 ,there is such a thing as ,home  
,education1 differing from school       
education1 whether of the week day or   
the ,sabbath1 and therefore it is a     
matter we ought to attend to1 and not   
suppose we have done enough when we     
patronize an academy1 or help fill a    
class on ,sunday4 ,to every parent--to  
every influential member of a           
household--there is committed a charge  
which can be shifted to no one else2    
there is an opportunity which no outside

 teacher possesses4 ,there are some     
duties in life that we have to look for 
and to go after2 there are others which 
are passed right into our hands1 whether
 we will or not4 ,and this duty of ,home
 ,education is of the latter kind4 ,now1
 ,i have just said that ,i cannot       
specify here1 and even if there were    
room ,i am not sure that it would be    
advisable4 ,for ,i doubt whether we can 
give any manual of methods and          
instruments in this respect1 any more   
than there can be a manual of religious 
exercises suited to every spiritual     
peculiarity4 ,dispositions1 capacities1 
circumstances1 must create their own    
methods4 ,and perhaps the poorest method
 of all would be some system of domestic
 education1 which the experimenter      
thinks will do the work exactly4 ,i am  
somewhat suspicious of systems4 ,i am   
more than suspicious of any constrained 
formal method1 bringing up children in a
 mere manual drill1 crimping them into a
 mould of mincing proprieties1 and      

making them speak with an automaton     
click4 ,perhaps the most headlong young 
men that can be found1 are those who    
spent their early days in a sort of     
strait jacket with a clock-work         
movement4 ,they were wound up so tight  
when they were boys1 that now they take 
great pleasure in going fast1 and       
running down4 ,in other words1 having   
felt their early training to be mere    
training1 the moment they strip off the 
constraint1 they plunge into the        
opposite extreme of no constraint4 ,nay1
 ,i believe that even children who are  
left to their own instincts1 and shoved 
out into the world to take care of      
themselves1 are generally better        
balanced1 and go with steadier motion   
than these4 ,of course1 however1 neither
 extreme is right4 ,there is such a     
thing1 ,i say once more1 as ,home       
,education1 involving all necessary     
training and true constraint2 and yet   
not oppressively felt as such1 because  
it is free1 informal1 and respects the  

spontaneity of the childish nature4     
,but1 whether our ,home ,education be   
formal or informal1 direct or indirect1 
there is one kind of education which we 
are sure to impart4 ,it is the education
 of example1 silent1 effective1 stronger
 and more easily apprehended than any   
set of maxims4 ,i would we were all duly
 impressed with the responsibilities of 
,home as they appear in this light2     
might feel1 however we may be absorbed  
in business or in pleasure1 that the    
young mind and heart are receiving      
influences1 and growing into expressions
 that in some way will surprise us4  ,in
 the next place ,i observe1 that if we  
display our real dispositions and       
characters at home1 we should recognize 
it practically as a sphere of moral     
discipline4 ,the family is a divine     
ordinance--the ,home is an institution  
of ,god1 forecast in the peculiarities  
of our very nature4 ,history shows no   
period when it did not exist1 and we    
discover no tribe so barbarous as to be 

without it4 ,it is the foundation of all
 society4 ,it embosoms the germ and     
ideal of the ,state4 ,according to the  
purity of its relations1 the intensity  
of its sympathies1 the inviolability of 
its rights1 a nation's life is high or  
low1 feeble or strong1 fickle or        
enduring4 ,and if it is thus rooted in  
the nature and the history of man1 we   
may well believe that it affords some of
 the profoundest occasions for that     
moral discipline which is the great     
purpose of our existence upon the earth4
  ,it is certainly the great sphere in  
which our affections are to be          
cultivated4 ,of course ,i do not mean   
that this is the limit of their         
cultivation4 ,but here they are         
nurtured1 and out of this they grow4 ,as
 love is the ,infinite ,nature itself1  
so is it the prevalent sentiment of all 
life4 ,it has been ordained that this   
great element should flow through every 
form of being1 linking them together by 
a common feeling1 and lending some      

interest to the most insignificant4 ,and
 man has been set in the family relation
 that this sentiment might be developed4
 ,there is no one in whose heart it does
 not exist4 ,you cannot find me a being 
so defaced1 so alienated from the common
 stock of humanity1 as to cherish in his
 bosom no secret fount of love1 no      
fibril of affection linking him to      
something else4 ,but of this love there 
are numerous degrees2 and the highest   
forms of it1 that go forth in           
expressions of self-sacrifice and       
worldwide sympathy1 are only developed  
by culture4 ,and for this culture there 
are rich opportunities amidst the       
relations and sanctities of ,home4  ,and
 there is opportunity among these       
relations also1 for active duty1 and in 
its daily tasks and responsibilities1 is
 often illustrated that practical lesson
 which society so much needs--the lesson
 of mutual help4 ,it is a school where  
we may learn endurance and charity4 ,out
 of its trials is developed the sense of

 religious need2 and under the shadow of
 its bereavements we appreciate the     
glorious vision of ,faith4 ,there are   
other issues in life1 where we need     
these divine helps2 none where we feel  
the need of them more4 ,those who have  
stood by the sick-bed and taken the last
 look of the dearest earthly objects1   
and yet have lifted hearts of trust1 and
 eyes of transcendent hope1 are able to 
meet the intensest sorrows of the world1
 and to come out like refined gold4     
,home1 then1 should be regarded         
especially in this light1 as a sphere   
where the richest elements of our moral 
culture are supplied4  ,finally1 if at  
home we find the most essential         
happiness or misery of life1 of course  
each should do his best to make it the  
most attractive of all places4 ,he      
should bring not his worst1 but his best
 temper there4 ,how many are there who  
bottle up their wrath all the day long1 
and uncork it when they get home6 ,they 
had better reverse the process4 ,if you 

must chafe under disappointment1 and    
indulge angry passion1 let it out in the
 excitement of the world1 where the     
rough friction of business will help you
 to get rid of it1 or where nobody has  
time to care whether you get rid of it  
or not4  ,and let business stay where it
 belongs4 ,do not interrupt social      
claims with its speculations2 nor drag  
the counting-room into the parlor4      
,there are some men with whom business  
is a disease2 they are never easy with  
it and never rid of it4 ,thus1 perhaps1 
they acquire a reputation for smartness 
and enterprise2 but they do it1 it is to
 be feared1 by putting aside other and  
more sacred claims4  ,nor let him who is
 the genial companion abroad1 be the    
morose boarder in his own house1        
reserving his vivacity for society and  
the lees for the fireside4 ,it is a     
great deal better to be like the stream 
that is good and welcome wherever it    
flows1 but is sure to be fresh at its   
source4 ,indeed1 there are men who are  

made up of foam1 and sparkle1 and who   
circulate in society1 but contribute    
nothing to the necessaries of life1 and 
are returned empty4 ,it is an           
unfortunate gift that cheers the world  
outdoors1 but casts only a dreary shadow
 inside4  ,of course1 in speaking of the
 influence of dispositions in making    
home attractive1 ,i would include the   
duty of those who stay at home as well  
as of those who go abroad1 and that     
self-sacrifice and kind hearts should be
 found as well as brought there4        
,indeed1 if time would allow me to make 
a theme of what now can be only a hint1 
,i should dwell largely upon woman's    
influence in this matter4  ,but home is 
to be rendered attractive not only by   
the disposition1 but by the customs of  
its inmates4 ,it must be a place to     
live1 not merely to eat and sleep in2 a 
place where we can find entertainment1  
and not always leave in search of it4   
,it is really a monstrous folly1 this   
fashionable treatment of home1 which    

leads people to abandon it almost every 
night in pursuit of pleasure1 or else to
 sweep it with a rout1 which considers a
 household evening very dull1 and makes 
,sunday a day for sleeping and yawning4 
,the central idea of home is stability1 
and this has much less chance to be     
realized in the city than in the        
country4 ,in the latter1 old forms and  
landmarks are not so liable to          
interruption1 and the slow process of   
time works instead of the hand of       
innovation4 ,but in a city1 where a man 
emigrates before he has fairly settled1 
and where many move with every ,may-day1
 the idea of a homestead is almost      
obsolete4 ,elegance1 solidity1 venerable
 associations1 none of these can resist 
the march of improvement1 and the rapid 
tide of business enterprise4 ,the main  
streets of a great city in this country1
 may almost be termed so many dissolving
 views of perpetual change and renewal4 
,but1 perhaps1 there is hardly one of us
 who does not feel that by his or her   

own exertions the essential element of  
,home can be made far more abiding than 
it now is2 and where we hear of         
frivolous daughters and dissipated sons1
 many a parent may ask the question1    
,what have ,i done to cheer and         
consecrate the household world1 and make
 it more abiding8  ,my friends1 when ,i 
consider the magnitude and importance of
 the subject now before us1 and how many
 topics of discussion grow out of       
it--when ,i think how much must be left 
entirely unsaid--,i entreat you not to  
suppose that ,i offer this discourse as 
anything more than a suggestion--a      
suggestion meant to turn your attention 
to this subject of ,home in the ,city1  
and leaving it to the elaboration of    
your own thoughts4 ,remember1 here abide
 the deepest springs of social life4    
,the noblest privileges1 the greatest   
duties1 find their basis here2 and we   
are taught first to show piety at ,home4
 ,and the influence of this institution 
upon all other fields of human action1  

private or public1 is too obvious to    
mention4 ,all life flows from the       
centre1 outwards2 and the citizen who   
desires the order and purity of the     
community in which he lives2 the        
philanthropist1 who1 under all          
conditions1 regards the highest welfare 
of his race2 the ,christian1 who urges  
the secret culture of the soul1 must    
look with peculiar solicitude to this   
institution4 ,it is one whose impotence 
is demonstrated by the strength of the  
instinct which creates it and clings to 
it--an instinct which associates the    
most genuine happiness with its sacred  
enclosure of affection1 however rude or 
poor that spot may be--which1 while a   
man has such a place to call his own1   
makes him feel that he is somebody1 and 
has some tie and claim in the world2 and
 which1 on the other hand1 associated   
the most bitter destitution1 the        
dreariest isolation1 with that one      
word--,homeless4  ,how this instinct    
abides1 how long and how far it goes    

with us1 is beautifully illustrated in  
the lines of ,goldsmith4      ,in all my
 wand'rings round this world of care1   
,in all my griefs--and ,god has giv'n my
 share1     ,i still had hopes my latest
 hours to crown1     ,amidst these      
humble bow'rs to lay me down2     ,to   
husband out life's taper at the close1  
,and keep the flame from wasting by     
repose4         99       99       99    
99       99      ,around my fire an     
ev'ning group to draw1     ,and tell of 
all ,i felt1 and all ,i saw2     ,and1  
as a hare whom hounds and horns pursue1 
,pants to the place from whence at first
 he flew1     ,i still had hopes1 my    
long vexations past1     ,here to       
return--and die at ,home at last4       
,hopes1 my friends1 which ,i think glow 
in the breasts of most of us1 and burst 
spontaneously from our lips4 ,let us1 we
 say1 if our lot may be so ordered--if  
the lines of duty run not otherwise--let
 us live at ,home4 ,here1 amidst those  
darkened and brightened associations    

which are woven in the warp and woof of 
our deepest experience4 ,here1 where    
gentle memories steal upon us with the  
shadows of the twilight1 and for ever   
tapestry the walls4 ,here1 where we have
 held delightful intercourse with man1  
and secret communion with ,god4 ,here1  
where we have tried to do our duty1 and 
exercise our love1 and to drink with    
patience the sweet and bitter which our 
,father mingles in life's mysterious    
cup4 ,here1 where old friends are always
 cherished and new ones gladly come4    
,here1 where the dearest ties of earth  
have bound us in a family circle2 and   
though here and there we find broken    
links1 we still keep hold of them1 and  
they draw us up4  ,and when on this     
familiar hearth our own vital lamp burns
 low1 and the golden bowl begins to     
shudder and the silver cord to untwine1 
let our last look be upon faces that we 
best love2 let the gates that open into 
the celestial ,city be these well-known 
doors--and thus may we also die at      

,home6  ,and this instinct of ,home is  
not attached merely to earthly          
conditions1 but mingles with those      
aspirations which flow into the         
illimitable future4 ,as in the vast city
 we seek some enclosure of our own--some
 place of shelter for our heads1 of     
sympathy for our hearts2 so1 respecting 
the destiny of the soul4 ,in spite of   
all our philosophy1 we cannot be        
satisfied with the conception of a mere 
immaterial essence floating hither and  
thither in immensity4 ,the intellect    
looks eagerly forward to a boundless and
 excursive state2 but the affections1   
the sentiments1 yearn for some          
locality--some spot of residence and    
repose4 ,we cannot help cherishing the  
conception of a place where our friends 
are grouped together1 and whither we    
shall go1 though to be united in wider  
and more glorious relations4 ,and1      
knowing no better name for it1 with eyes
 of hope and tearful rapture1 we look up
 and call it ,home4     ,,the ,,allies  

,,of ,,the ,,tempter4     ,,discourse   
,,vi4  ,,the ,,allies ,,of ,,the        
,,tempter4        ,he that is not with  
me is against me4--,,matthew xii4 #cj4  
,one of the discourses of the preceding 
series was devoted to a consideration of
 the vices--especially the three        
prominent vices--of great cities4 ,i    
propose at the present time to speak of 
the ,influences1 more or less direct1 by
 which these and kindred evils are      
encouraged4 ,vice1 and moral corruption 
of any kind1 no doubt has its roots in  
the gross hearts and in the perverted   
appetites of men4 ,but the most         
superficial observer must see that these
 are nourished not merely by their      
native soil1 but by the social          
atmosphere which spreads around4 ,of    
course character constitutes the man1   
and1 however this may be affected by    
circumstances1 it enfolds the           
consciousness of an original personality
 acting upon and through and in spite of
 its conditions4 ,nevertheless1 the     

ingredients of this very personality are
 assimilated out of these conditions1   
and it is difficult to limit or define  
the subtile elements that blend in the  
deepest currents of a man's nature4 ,it 
is1 at least1 a simple truism that he   
differs in one state of society from    
what he is in another4 ,and1 therefore1 
among the forces which help make up his 
moral condition1 we must calculate the  
social forces4 ,his virtues are not all 
self-sustained1 and his vices draw      
nutriment from fine and remote channels4
 ,it would be an interesting process to 
analyze our own habits and temper and   
cast of thought1 and find how much of   
this is involved with our physical      
relations4 ,the air we breathe1 the     
house in which we dwell1 the very way in
 which it fronts the sun1 the degrees of
 light and of shade that fall upon us   
with the flying hours1 all weave their  
delicate influences into the tissues of 
our being4 ,and how much that we do not 
suspect comes to us1 day by day1 in     

social intercourse1 in the bearing of   
friends1 in the tone and air of         
conversation1 in the mere magnetism of  
the parlor or the street6 ,how much to  
strengthen or to weaken us2 to clear or 
to cloud our moral atmosphere2 to make  
us fresh and decisive1 or to slowly sap 
our virtue6 ,but it is a more solemn    
task to compute the influences that     
proceed from us1 and to discover how1   
unknown to ourselves1 we are swaying the
 circles of other lives4 ,why1 the      
mightiest forces go silently4 ,you do   
not see the gases that compose the vital
 air4 ,you do not feel the aroma that   
steals along loaded with poison1 or     
wafts a blessing through the sick man's 
window4 ,you do not hear the electric   
pulse that beats in the summer light and
 in the drop of dew4 ,neither can you   
estimate the mysterious attraction that 
plays all through this network of social
 relations1 nor the energy of good or of
 evil with which it is charged not      
merely from your words and deeds1 but   

from the still reservoir of your        
example4  ,when ,i look around at the   
prevalent vices of the city1 then1 and  
at its various forms of corruption1 ,i  
am not willing to rest with the mere    
assertion1 that all this is the fruit of
 personal sin and folly on the part of  
those who have yielded to temptation4   
,it is the fruit of personal sin and    
folly4 ,and we1 perhaps1 in our serene  
respectabilities1 shrink back and wonder
 at it4 ,it is strange--is it not8--that
 the young1 the fair1 the gifted1 should
 yield themselves to that arch-deceit   
which has allured and ruined men for six
 thousand years8 ,is it not the same old
 guilt1 the same sophistry and          
foolishness1 here in ,new ,york1 that it
 always has been8 ,did it not bear the  
same ,circean cup through the halls of  
,nineveh and ,babylon1 and fling        
,caesars and ,alexanders to the ground8 
,did it not wear the same seductive     
smile and harlot tinsel when it walked  
the streets of ,tyre1 and reclined in   

the decorated chambers of ,egypt8 ,and  
will not its votaries find now1 as then1
 that it entices with the embrace of    
death and the fascination of hell8 ,why 
should they thus float upon the very rim
 of this great whirlpool1 and not notice
 the groans that come up from its       
depths2 and see that its phosphoric     
illusion is mixed with fiery flakes of  
torment and the foam of despair8 ,it is 
indeed wonderful that so many should be 
thus deluded over and over again2 so    
many noble energies thrown away1 so many
 sanctions trampled upon1 so many bright
 hopes quenched for ever4 ,it is        
wonderful that any being made in the    
form of man1 should cast down his       
prerogatives and wallow like the beast4 
,sufficient evidence of sin and folly in
 those who do this1 to be sure2 but in  
what way do these allurements present   
themselves8 ,what are the resources and 
entrenchments of these vices1 by which  
they act upon human appetite and        
passion8 ,you point me to brilliant     

windows and gay apartments2 to sparkling
 glasses1 and shining heaps1 and shapes 
of painted shame4 ,these1 you say1 are  
the forms which the ,tempter assumes4   
,under smiling features and fair        
garlands1 he hides at first that        
hideousness which in due time is        
revealed to his victims4 ,from the      
lighted vestibules which open so easily 
to the touch1 and where all seems only a
 coronation of youthful pleasure and    
natural joy1 the feet of men slide      
downward into those abysses which are   
hidden from the public gaze1 and over   
whose depths the blackness of darkness  
broods4 ,and all this1 again1 is true4  
,these are the ways in which the        
,tempter works4 ,but is there nothing   
but this to explain the power which evil
 has upon men1 in the midst of the great
 city8 ,these manifold allurements1     
these haunts of infamy and shambles of  
destruction--,i see them standing upon  
strange foundations4 ,i see them propped
 by these very influences to which ,i   

have alluded2 influences of social      
condition and individual example4 ,they 
would not be so formidable1 they would  
not stand so long1 were it not that     
respectability in its daily walk and    
conversation2 and social culture in     
thousands of homes2 and even justice in 
its lofty seat2 lend them support4 ,he  
that is not with me is against me1 said 
,jesus2 and1 taking this proverb as a   
rule1 a good many people may be         
surprised to find that1 in one way and  
another1 they are ,allies of the        
,tempter4  ,the allies of the ,tempter1 
,i propose to speak of now--not the     
forms of ,temptation1 which ,i have     
already illustrated4 ,nor do ,i intend  
to dwell upon those direct conditions of
 moral evil1 out of which vice and crime
 grow as spontaneously as weeds out of a
 damp and neglected soil--those wide    
seed fields of ignorance and abject     
poverty which lie around us4 ,but the   
more remote and indirect causes it may  
be profitable for us to consider2 and to

 these ,i now proceed4  ,i observe1     
then1 in the first place1 that the      
,tempter has one ,ally in ,public       
,sanction4 ,there are sources of vice   
and crime that are permitted and        
encouraged by ,law4 ,i hardly need      
specify the prominent instance to which 
,i allude4 ,but ,i am not aware of a    
more enormous public inconsistency than 
what is termed the ,license ,system--the
 system of permitting the sale of       
intoxicating drinks in a degree1 and of 
restricting them in a degree4 ,for1 by  
this method1 either a moral wrong is    
committed1 or else a civil one4 ,if     
these drinks are an individual and      
public injury2 if they distribute the   
seeds of disease1 crime1 death1 and     
every form of social misery2 then what  
right have we in any respect to set upon
 them the solemn sanction of a ,law8    
,if1 on the other hand1 they are a      
benefit to mankind2 a good gift of      
,providence1 as some seem to think2 why 
should we hamper their circulation8 ,why

 should we allow one man the privilege  
of distributing such a blessing1 and    
forbid another who1 no doubt1 is equally
 zealous for the public good8  ,but this
 very system is a confession by public  
opinion1 in its most authentic form of  
expression1 that the sale of            
intoxicating drinks is an evil4 ,only1  
we are told1 as it is a prevalent and   
deep-seated evil1 it must be regulated4 
,but how can we regulate an             
irregularity8 ,how can you regulate an  
obstruction that is involved with the   
springs of a machine1 or the works of a 
clock8 ,the only possible method obvious
 to common sense1 would be to remove the
 obstruction2 and it would be thought   
the most foolish speculation conceivable
 for one to spend his ingenuity in      
contriving some way to keep the         
obstruction where it is1 and yet to keep
 the clock going as it ought4 ,if it    
moved regularly1 the matter referred to 
would not be an obstruction2 and if it  
did not1 the contrivance to keep it     

there would be a help to the            
obstruction4 ,now1 ,i consider this     
great vice of ,intemperance a decided   
obstruction in the clock-work of an     
individual man1 or the more general     
mechanism of society4 ,it transforms a  
great many faces into bad dial-plates1  
disturbs the pendulum of public order1  
makes people go much too fast1 and      
renders them liable to strike at all    
times4 ,now1 if a man1 or a community1  
can be made to go just as well with it  
as without it1 we certainly need no     
legislation1 for there is no            
obstruction4 ,on the other hand1 if it  
is essentially an irregularity1 the only
 rational method is to get rid of its   
accessories altogether4 ,to enact some  
way in which the irregularity shall     
work1 is to confirm and sanction the    
irregularity4 ,and the                  
license-system--for ,i wish to be plain 
and specific here--confirms and         
sanctions the agents of intemperance4   
,it indicates a way in which the        

irregularity may work4  ,and not only is
 vice thus aided by the ,law4 ,the      
existence of such a sanction engenders  
either an error or a moral wrong4 ,for  
it indicates that the sale of           
intoxicating drinks is a public benefit1
 which is false2 or1 on the other hand1 
that it is lawful to uphold an evil4    
,the same principle carried out by      
individuals1 would excuse almost any    
fault4 ,the man who steals a loaf of    
bread may contend that it is a necessary
 expedient2 and he who fills an empty   
purse at his neighbor's expense1 only   
endeavors to regulate an irregularity4  
,but suppose we make the system a strict
 one1 what process should be employed8  
,probably you would say--break up all   
these filthy and low haunts2 all these  
places where the habitually intemperate1
 the degraded1 the wretchedly poor      
congregate2 and let these beverages be  
sold only in respectable places and to  
respectable people4 ,but is this really 
the best plan8 ,on the contrary1 it     

seems quite reasonable to maintain that 
it is better to sell to the intemperate 
than to the sober--to the degraded than 
to the respectable--for the same reason 
that it is better to burn up an old hulk
 than to set fire to a new and splendid 
ship4 ,i think it worse to put the first
 glass to a young man's lips1 than to   
crown with madness an old drunkard's    
life-long alienation--worse to wake the 
fierce appetite in the depths of a      
generous and promising nature1 than to  
take the carrion of a man1 a mere shell 
of imbecility1 and soak it in a fresh   
debauch4 ,therefore1 if ,i were going to
 say where the ,license should be       
granted in order to show its efficacy1  
,i would say--take the worst sinks of   
intemperance in the city1 give them the 
sanction of the ,law1 and let them run  
to overflowing4 ,but shut up the gilded 
apartments where youth takes its first  
draught1 and respectability just begins 
to falter from its level4 ,close the    
ample doors through which enters the    

long train of those who stumble to      
destruction and reel into quick graves1 
and let the flood overwhelm only the    
maimed and battered conscripts that     
remain4 ,besides1 it is better to see   
vice as it really is1 than as it        
sometimes appears4 ,the danger of       
intemperance is when it assumes this    
very garb of respectability1 and sits in
 the radiant circle of fashion attended 
by wit and beauty and social delight4   
,let us see the ,tempter1 not as he     
seems when he throws out his earliest   
lures1 in festal garments and with roses
 around his brow2 but as he looks when  
fairly engaged in his work1 showing his 
genuine expression4 ,let us see this    
vice of intemperance in its results1 as 
they teem and darken here in the midst  
of our city life4 ,lay bare its         
channel--let us see to its very         
depths--where it flows over the wrecks  
of human happiness1 and over dead men's 
bones4 ,lay bare its festering heaps of 
disease1 its madness1 its despair1 its  

domestic desolation1 its reckless sweep 
over all order and sanctity2 and thus1  
tracing it from its sources under       
glittering chandeliers and in fonts of  
crystal1 we shall be able to say--this  
is the real element which exists and    
does its work1 by public connivance and 
with the sanction of ,law6  ,if you ask 
me then1 whether ,i think that a statute
 of absolute prohibition would stop this
 flowing curse1 ,i reply that at least  
it would put the influence of authority 
on the right side4 ,it would lend it the
 force of consistent endeavor4 ,as it   
is1 it would be far better if the public
 sanction had no expression2 for now it 
only confirms and guarantees the evil4  
,its power is exerted not in the right1 
but in the wrong direction4 ,it is an   
ally of the tempter4 ,for the spirit of 
everlasting ,justice and ,benevolence1  
speaking as it were by the mouth of     
,jesus1 says--,he that is not with me is
 against me4  ,but ,i observe1 in the   
second place1 that the forces of        

temptation in the city are nourished by 
public neglect4 ,in individual          
experience it will be found1 ,i think1  
that sins of omission are more numerous 
and are worse than sins of commission4  
,if we examine our lives closely1 we    
shall discover that our moral           
indebtedness comes even less from what  
we have done1 than from what we ought to
 have done4 ,and this individual        
experience has a counterpart in social  
conditions4 ,how many evils among us    
grow up under the shadow of inoperative 
laws--laws which have a voice and       
nothing else--nay1 hardly a voice1 so   
seldom are they heard even to speak4    
,they appear to have been enacted merely
 as a compliment to decency1 and they   
remain in the statute-book as idle as   
painted ships upon a painted ocean4 ,the
 dens of debauch keep open doors night  
and day2 the saloons of profligacy send 
out their cards of invitation2 the      
gambler rattles his triumphant dice2 but
 excursive policemen never see1 and     

vigilant magistrates never hear6 ,some  
provision of nature has imparted a very 
singular quality to the optic powers of 
the one1 and the auditory nerves of the 
other4 ,the laws against this vice1 or  
that custom1 stand fixed and silent2 and
 as for putting them in operation1 one  
would as soon think of pulling up so    
many grave-stones4 ,they are the        
grave-stones of a dead public           
sentiment--the stumbling-blocks of a    
blind justice1 that too often shakes    
hands with the very guilt which it      
professes to condemn4 ,i do not1 by any 
means1 believe that everything is to be 
accomplished by law4 ,i do not believe  
that the profoundest results are to be  
accomplished by it4 ,but1 if it         
possesses any efficacy at all1 it       
consists in its power to repress open   
and shameless wrong2 and where any such 
wrong is open and shameless1 public     
neglect is the cause1 and such public   
neglect1 therefore1 is an ,ally of the  
,tempter4 ,and let us consider the      

enormity of such evils4 ,in every great 
city there are some omissions of        
executive duty1 which1 though grievous  
to be borne1 are noticed with good      
humor4 ,but there are moral swamps1     
sending up their foul steam to pollute  
the common light2 there are kennels of  
uncleanness1 running with the waste of  
human lives1 sweeping along with the    
death-gurgle of human souls2 there is a 
dry-rot of impurity infecting the       
town-air1 withering the dearest         
sanctities of society and of home--and  
over this kind of evil we cannot be     
facetious4 ,think how much is risked    
here1 and how much is lost6 ,domestic   
happiness1 reputation1 honor1 health1   
order1 the prospects of the young1 the  
peace of the old--,fathers1 the hopes of
 your sons6 ,mothers1 the interests of  
your daughters6 and1 though speaking may
 have little effect1 say whether we     
ought not to speak1 and to speak        
indignantly1 of the neglect which lets  
these evils spread with deadly          

luxuriance1 and winks at them as though 
they were harmless8  ,but1 my friends1  
what do we mean by public sanction1 or  
public neglect8 ,there are some         
convenient synonyms which help us to    
cover up our personal                   
responsibility--help us to transfer our 
own sense of duty to a vague secondary  
agent1 and keep peace with our own      
consciences4 ,and yet they are only     
synonyms1 after all4 ,now this term     
public is but another word for the      
aggregate of our personal obligations1  
and does not for a single moment rid us 
of our share in the general influence4  
,the real point of my present topic is  
this--you and ,i and every other        
individual involved in this network of  
social relations1 are helping or        
weakening the force of these prevalent  
evils4 ,and it may arouse us to some    
decision of conduct to consider how the 
most respectable--those who would shrink
 with horror from these foul            
customs--are1 nevertheless1 ,allies of  

the ,tempter4 ,and ,i might state1 as a 
comprehensive proposition1 that every   
man is an ,ally of the ,tempter1 who    
does not put forth a conscious and      
positive moral energy2 who does not     
habitually throw his example and his    
influence in the right direction4 ,it is
 not enough that he abstains from wrong 
himself--that he is chaste1 and         
temperate1 and upright1 and unimpeached4
 ,for perhaps the most hopeless people1 
morally speaking1 are those people who1 
according to their own confession1 have 
never done any harm4 ,there is a good   
prospect for those who are trying to    
grow better1 however they may slip and  
flounder4 ,there is hope1 on the other  
hand1 for the desperately wicked--for   
the very violence of one extreme        
precipitates the other2 and sometimes   
the best and purest souls have been     
swept by a thunder-shower of sin4 ,but  
those who rest upon the fact that they  
have never done any harm1 by being so   
easily contented show but little moral  

vitality4 ,there is no aspiration in    
their natures4 ,they seem to have no    
particular mission in the universe2 for1
 if they have never done any harm1 they 
have done little else4 ,they are poorly 
fitted for this earth1 which demands the
 effort of all our faculties2 poorly    
fitted for heaven1 whose inhabitants    
would not make harmlessness their chief 
characteristic4 ,their residence and    
their paradise might be a great         
exhausted receiver1 where there is no   
gravitation to draw them down1 and no   
air to send them up4 ,but1 in truth1    
these people deceive themselves4 ,every 
man exerts a positive influence1 and    
cannot1 if he would1 be a mere negation 
in the world4 ,in the great conflict of 
good and evil there is no middle ground4
 ,there are no compromises in ,god's    
government1 and neutral men are the     
devil's allies4 ,he that is not with me1
 is against me4  ,let us see1 then1 how 
possible it is that we may contribute to
 the force of evil in the ,city4 ,in    

other words1 let us inquire--in what way
 do respectable and harmless people1 as 
they deem themselves1 become ,allies of 
the ,tempter8  ,in the first place1 by  
their customs4 ,and1 chief of all1 by   
the custom of an intense and            
inconsiderate selfishness4 ,how many    
there are who require no other sanction 
for what they do than that pleases me1  
or this gratifies me6 ,it is wonderful  
what a mighty agent self is1 estimated  
by its own standards4 ,it is the hero of
 every exploit1 the centre of every     
event1 and the oracle of all opinions4  
,it interprets the purpose of the       
universe2 it finds out exactly what the 
world was made for4 ,at least1 a good   
many1 apparently1 have ascertained that 
the world was made for them1 and that   
they were sent into it to get what      
gratification they can4 ,and it appears 
sadly out of tune to them1 if it does   
not serve this end4 ,in anything they   
do1 therefore1 they consider only       
selfish consequences4 ,they do not      

apprehend the universe in its great     
harmony4 ,they do not trace out its web 
of mutual relations--a braid of light   
held in the hand of ,infinite ,love4    
,they do not know the sympathy that     
shoots in the crystal1 and shimmers in  
the aurora1 and beats in the heart of   
the ocean1 and makes the silent music   
that rolls from sphere to sphere along  
the glittering scale of heaven4 ,if they
 did1 they would discover1 perhaps1 that
 the social world is constructed upon   
the same plan2 and man cannot be an     
alien from the common humanity however  
hard he may try4 ,yes3 concerning any   
custom1 you have not only yourself to   
consider1 but the bearings of its       
influence throughout this tissue of     
hearts and minds with which you are     
involved4 ,you cannot isolate yourself  
from your responsibilities4 ,you cannot 
shut yourself within comfortable walls1 
and say--,here is the limit of my       
obligations1 and here ,i will do as ,i  
please6 ,you may say this1 but you do   

not rid yourself of these claims4       
,through imperceptible aqueducts your   
influence runs abroad2 and what you do1 
and what you are1 contributes particles 
of disease or health to the social      
atmosphere that envelopes all4 ,i look  
around1 then1 upon the vices and even   
the crimes of the ,city1 and ,i say that
 some of them find root in the customs  
of the respectable and the fashionable4 
,profligacy1 which we shrink from in its
 open profession1 and which appears     
abominable in its avowed haunts1 finds  
encouragement wherever the libertine    
receives the smile of beauty1 and the   
guilt of the meanest sort of a man is   
excused on account of an agreeable      
manner4 ,thus the poison of the snake1  
and the blight of his venom on many a   
reputation and many a womanly heart1 is 
all forgotten in the drawing-room1      
because of the fascination of his hiss  
and the glitter of his skin4 ,again1 the
 ,tempter has an ,ally in the world of  
,traffic1 wherever bad things are       

stamped with respectable names--when1   
for instance1 swindling is called       
smartness1 and robbery per-centage4     
,among people of less note in the world 
these matters are named cheating and    
stealing1 and some of them may take     
punishment the more reluctantly because 
they cannot perceive the difference4    
,and1 still again1 ,i think that a      
little use of intoxicating drinks is    
like the little matter that kindles a   
great fire1 and that there would not be 
so much intemperance if there were not  
so many temperate drinkers4 ,the sluices
 of the grog-shop are fed from the      
wine-glasses in the parlor2 and there is
 a lineal descent from the gentleman who
 hiccups at his elegant dinner-table to 
the sot who makes a bed of the gutter4  
,am ,i my brother's keeper8 asked the   
first man who reddened his hands with   
the violated life of a man2 and the     
answer came crying upward in a voice of 
blood from the ground4 ,am ,i my        
brother's keeper8 you ask1 perhaps1 with

 a tone of surprise or scorn4 ,you ask  
,o6 respectable gentleman or lady2 ,o6  
man in the thick of business2 ,o6       
self-indulgent ,epicurean2--and the     
answer comes to you not from the ground 
merely1 but from the universal air--the 
answer of kindred pulses1 of confluent  
sympathies1 of an inseparable           
humanity--though it swarms in rags1 and 
riots in shame1 and seems far off from  
you in its hell of debasement and       
despair4 ,nay1 perhaps the answer comes 
very near to you4 ,it may come from some
 one of your own household4 ,you may    
ask--,who has tempted even my very      
child8 ,ask ,yourself--,need he have    
gone outside this very door to find     
temptation8 ,ah6 perhaps you are not    
merely an ,ally of the ,tempter1 but    
have furnished conscripts for his vast  
army4 ,your children perhaps will rise  
up and call you--not blessed4 ,and see1 
too1 what kind of conscripts the        
,tempter draws from the ranks of        
respectable and especially of           

fashionable life4 ,mere striplings1 so  
dwarfed and dwindled by precocious      
dissipation that they look like feeble  
specimens of wax-work2 whose            
faculties--the evident product of a thin
 soil--have been developed by bottles of
 wine and fast horses2 whose memories   
are too short to remember their parents2
 whose ideas are too artificial to touch
 any genuine spring of nature2 who are  
ashamed of true manliness1 and make a   
miserable farce of what they call       
manliness2 and who1 as they parade the  
streets1 make up a sort of bombastic    
interlude in the drama of ,young        
,america4  ,but1 whatever view we may   
take of this general subject1 it is     
evident that we cannot easily exaggerate
 the influence of respectable and       
fashionable customs upon the forces of  
temptation4 ,and1 surely1 it becomes    
each of us to consider the tendencies of
 his own example1 and ask--,is it toward
 the right or the wrong8 ,is it for1 or 
against the good8  ,again1 the ,tempter 

finds help from our indifference4 ,this1
 indeed1 may be the qualification which 
should be applied to the remarks ,i have
 just made4 ,it is not to be supposed   
that the evil influences which go out   
from the customs alluded to1 are the    
results of intention4 ,they spring up in
 a lack of interest and of the          
consciousness of duty4 ,they grow rank  
and luxuriant in neglect4 ,if we were   
only in earnest as to these vices and   
crimes and guilty customs2 if we would  
only wake from our apathy1 to reflection
 and conviction2 how soon would they    
diminish1 and how many of them would    
pass away6  ,but1 as comprehensive of   
this1 and in fact all the rest that may 
be said1 ,i observe1 finally1 that the  
temptations of a great city are strong  
because of a lack of the spirit of      
,christian love4 ,in one respect1       
especially1 is it true that men in      
general are not with ,jesus1 and        
therefore are against him4 ,they have   
not his sympathies1 his spirit of       

self-sacrifice1 his broad1 deep1        
universal charity4 ,baneful customs1 and
 cold indifferentism grow up in a soil  
that is watered by no living and        
unselfish love4 ,they show the dryness  
and the baseness of our social state4   
,and it is not merely in the lack of    
active and practical love that the      
,tempter grows strong2 but in the       
exercise of a prevalent                 
uncharitableness4 ,too many of us have  
no disposition but scorn for the fallen2
 see no blessed possibilities in them2  
do not detect any divine ray glimmering 
in the thick darkness--do not discern   
the precious soul1 like a crown-jewel1  
in its filthy and battered casket4 ,and 
if this paralyzes and kills the springs 
of our own activity1 need ,i say how the
 hearts of the offending are repelled   
and hardened in such a hostile          
atmosphere8 ,need ,i say how desperate  
is the ,ishmaelitish conviction2 the    
sense of isolation and antagonism2 and1 
on the other hand1 how powerful and     

healing1 even for the most distant and  
hopeless1 is the sweet attraction of    
sympathy8 ,and what are we1 that we dare
 to cherish this exclusive horror1 this 
pitiless1 unrelenting scorn8 ,when we   
consider our own slips1 compared with   
our temptations2 the account to which   
,god may hold us1 not the smooth        
standards of human respectability2 how  
much higher is our own moral level1 that
 we feel no chords of a common humanity 
reaching down even to those fallen ones1
 and cannot stoop to touch them8 ,my    
friends1 it may be1 after all1 that the 
,tempter has no surer ally than the     
averted face of contempt and the word of
 unsoftened rebuke1 driving the barb of 
conscious guilt deeper and despairingly 
into a brother's soul4  ,and1 as ,i look
 upon this mass of social evil1 these   
steaming wells of passion1 these solid  
fortifications of habit where the       
,tempter is entrenched1 ,i ask how is   
all this to pass away8 ,and the answer  
is--only by the spirit of ,christian    

,love1 sweeping these impediments of    
selfishness from the heart1 and         
animating us to effort4 ,with ,christ   
the work certainly can be done4 ,in this
 ,gospel-beating amidst the guilt and   
sorrow of the world like the pulsations 
of a ,divine heart--in the few leaves of
 this ,testament--there is an           
illimitable power1 before whose         
inspiration in the purposes and deeds of
 men no evil thing shall stand4 ,and the
 spirit and exercise of this ,love is   
,religion4 ,it is the up-shot of all    
that is preached--it is the open and    
tangible test of every mystic experience
 that drifts through the soul--it is so 
deep1 so broad1 and runs so far1 that it
 comprehends all requirements2 and they 
who cherish it1 and practice it in the  
low and dark and desolate places of the 
world1 are the true saints4 ,nothing    
else will do in its place4 ,not         
,churches1 nor creeds1 nor rituals1 nor 
respectabilities4 ,without it we are not
 friends of ,christ1 nor co-workers with

 ,god4 ,without it we deepen the        
channels of human woe1 and prop the     
strong-holds of wickedness4 ,without it1
 whatever we may not be1 we are ,allies 
of the ,tempter4 ,the ,saviour says to  
each of us to-day1 placed amidst these  
antagonistic forces of ,life--,he that  
is not with me is against me4     ,,the 
,,children ,,of ,,the ,,poor4           
,,discourse ,,vii4  ,,the ,,children    
,,of ,,the ,,poor4        ,the young    
children ask bread1 and no man breaketh 
it unto       them4--,,lamentations iv41
 #d4   ,the writer of these words       
bewailed a state of ,war and            
,captivity--a state of things in which  
the great relations of human life are   
broken up and desecrated4 ,but it is    
strange to find that the most           
flourishing forms of civilization       
involve conditions very similar to this4
 ,for1 if any man will push beyond the  
circle of his daily associations1 and   
enter the regions of the abject poor1 he
 will see how the hostile forces of     

privation1 and hunger1 and unguided     
impulse1 have laid waste the sanctities 
of existence in the abodes and in the   
breasts of thousands as with sword and  
with fire4 ,there is no essential       
difference in starvation1 whether it    
ensues from the ravages of an invading  
host or from the lack of means4         
,temptation is a fierce legion2 and     
death looks no more terrible under a    
,babylonian helmet1 than it does upon   
the gaunt faces of men who die upon the 
bare floor or wallow in rags4 ,the worst
 calamity in a calamity--if ,i may use  
such an expression--the most deplorable 
thing in any of the great evils of life1
 occurs when the selfish instinct within
 us is aroused1 by want or terror1 to   
such a degree that it overwhelms all    
social limitations1 absorbs every       
sympathy1 and leaves nothing but an     
intense individualism4 ,this is the     
result in a sudden shock of danger1 when
 the alarmed instinct is the first that 
starts to the summons4 ,sometimes1 in   

protracted peril1 it grows into an      
actual delirium of selfishness1 and     
drowns even the sense of fear--as men   
amidst the horrors of a shipwreck will  
commit the most brutal excesses1 and    
even rob the dying4 ,and thus1 in the   
desolation of ,jerusalem as described by
 ,jeremiah1 the very yearnings of       
maternity were swallowed up by this     
fierce instinct4      ,the hands of     
tender-hearted women cooked their own   
children2     ,they were their food1 in 
the destruction of the daughter of my   
people4  ,and results as bad as this    
appear in the conditions of poverty1    
suffering1 and social degradation4      
,every fine chord of human nature is    
seared1 sodden1 torn from its sockets1  
in the darkness of the moral faculties  
and by the pressure of animal wants4    
,the poor man is conscious of nothing   
but privation and suffering4 ,he gazes  
at the power and discipline and pomp of 
society all about him1 not as an ally   
but as a captive1 or as a savage foe4   

,the whole wears the aspect of a        
besieging army1 and the ,ishmaelitish   
feeling predominates4 ,in the midst of  
the ,city he becomes an ,arab of the    
desert1 a robber of the rock4 ,now1 it  
makes little difference whether the     
circle is wider or narrower1 whether the
 siege is a moral or a literal one1     
whether the agent is the sword or the   
condition of society4 ,the essential    
results will be the same4 ,the          
civilization of ,new ,york may and does 
hem in a desolation as fearful in kind  
as that of ,jerusalem1 and involves     
sufferings as keen1 and wakes up        
instincts as fiercely selfish4 ,and one 
whose sympathies with the wide humanity 
are as fresh and clear as the ,prophet's
 were with the woes of his people1 might
 draw closer within these various       
circles of prosperity and refinement and
 activity1 that lend such attractiveness
 to the great city--this magnificent    
girdle of commerce1 embossed with the   
symbols of all nations--these arteries  

of traffic1 filled with circulating     
wealth and power--these groups of       
fashion and of beauty1 whose cheapest   
jewels would open the kingdom of heaven 
to ten thousand souls2 he might pass    
within all these bands of civilization1 
and in some alley1 or ,five ,points1 sit
 down and weep for the calamity of his  
brethren4 ,he would behold there ,war   
and ,captivity enough to fill an entire 
volume of ,lamentations4 ,captivity6    
were men ever bound by a darker chain1  
or trampled by a harder heel1 than those
 victims of destitution and of their own
 passions8 ,war6 did the ,jew behold any
 hosts more terrible pressing into      
,jerusalem1 than you and ,i might see if
 we looked about us8 ,the entrenched    
filth that all day long sends its       
steaming rot through lane and dwelling1 
through bone and marrow1 and saps away  
the life4 ,cold that encamps itself in  
the empty fire-place1 and blows through 
the broken door1 and paralyzes the naked
 limbs4 ,hunger that takes the strong   

man by the throat1 and kills the infant 
in its mother's arms4 ,and still another
 traitorous legion that1 equipped with  
the fascinations of the bottle and the  
shamelessness of harlotry1 appeals to   
the passions of the brutal and proffers 
comfort to the hearts of the sad4 ,war  
and ,captivity in the midst of peace and
 refinement--is it not1 my friends8     
,and1 with all this1 may we not expect  
that fierce instinct of selfishness     
which overwhelms every other impulse1   
and breaks out in crime8 ,ah6 and do we 
not discover a counterpart to that      
saddest feature of all in such          
circumstances--a desecration even of the
 parental instinct8 ,fathers1 beating   
their sons into the career of guilt2 and
 mothers--worse than those who made     
horrid food of their own                
children--offering their daughters to   
the ,moloch of lust in the shape of some
 gentlemanly devil with a portable hell 
in his own breast6  ,and it seems to me 
that if one with a prophet vision and a 

prophet heart1 widened to the compass of
 humanity1 should thus go into these    
waste places1 nothing would affect him  
more2 nothing would strike a deeper and 
tenderer chord in his bosom2 than the   
condition of these little ones amidst   
the siege and terror4 ,and1             
comprehending all their need--their     
moral as well as their physical         
destitution--he might exclaim1 as       
describing the most pitiable spectacle  
of all--,the young children ask bread1  
and no man breaketh it unto them4  ,and 
,i think that every one of you who has  
reflected at all upon this subject1 must
 feel that1 of all the conditions of    
,humanity in the darker regions of the  
,city1 there is none more sorrowful1    
more momentous1 and at the same time    
more hopeful1 than the condition of the 
,children of the ,poor4 ,and ,i do not  
call your attention to this subject     
to-night with the expectation of        
proclaiming any fresh doctrine1 or      
offering any novel suggestion1 but      

because in a series of discourses like  
the present ,i cannot consistently pass 
by such a prominent phase2 and more     
especially because ,i wish to push the  
old truth from your heads into your     
hearts1 so that you may be excited to   
immediate and practical action4  ,i     
purpose then1 in regard to the ,children
 of the ,poor1 to maintain one or two   
principles1 to state a few facts1 and to
 consider some remedies2 and these will 
constitute the divisions of my          
discourse4  ,in the first place then1 ,i
 lay down a general principle which     
divides itself into two specific        
principles4 ,i maintain that we are     
under peculiar obligations in regard to 
children4 ,of all our duties1 except    
those which we owe directly to ,god--of 
all the ways in which we are required to
 show our duty to ,god--,i know of none 
more peremptory than this4 ,it is the   
obligation of an instinct that appears  
everywhere2 that swells in the breasts  
of the rudest people2 that mingles with 

the most tender and beautiful and sacred
 associations of human life4  ,childhood
 and ,children6 is there any heart so   
sheathed in worldliness1 or benumbed by 
sorrow1 or hardened in its very nature1 
as to feel no gentle thrill responding  
to these terms8 ,surely1 in some way    
these little ones have touched the finer
 issues of our being1 and given us an   
unconscious benediction4 ,some of you   
are ,mothers1 and have acquired the     
holiest laws of duty1 the sweetest      
solicitudes1 the noblest inspirations1  
in the orbit of a child's life4 ,and1   
however wide the circle of its          
wandering1 you have held it still1 by   
some tether of the heart1 bound to the  
centre of a fathomless and unforgetting 
love4 ,some of you are ,fathers1 and in 
the opening promise of your sons have   
built fresh plans and enjoyed young     
hopes1 and even in the decline of life  
have walked its morning paths anew4     
,many of us have felt our first great   
sorrow1 and the breaking up of the      

spiritual deep within us1 by the couch  
of a dead child4 ,clasping the little   
lifeless hand1 we have comprehended1 as 
never before1 the reality of death1 and 
through the gloom1 covering all the     
world about us1 have caught sudden      
glimpses of the immortal fields4 ,and1  
all of us1 ,i trust1 are thankful that  
,god has not created merely men and     
women1 crimped into artificial patterns1
 with selfish speculation in their eyes1
 with sadness and weariness and trouble 
about many things carving the wrinkles  
and stealing away the bloom2 but pours  
in upon us a fresh stream of being that 
overflows our rigid conventionalisms    
with the buoyancy of nature1 plays into 
this dusty and angular life like the    
jets of a fountain1 like floods of      
sunshine1 upsets our miserable dignity1 
meets us with a love that contains no   
deceit1 a frankness that rebukes our    
quibbling compliments1 nourishes the    
poetry of the soul1 and1 perpetually    
descending from the threshold of the    

,infinite1 keeps open an arch-way of    
mystery and heaven4  ,and now1 just     
consider what a child is--this being    
thus fresh from the unknown realm1      
tender1 plastic1 dependent2 a bud       
enfolding the boundless possibilities of
 humanity1 and growing rank1 running to 
waste1 or opening in beauty1 as you     
turn1 neglect1 or support it--just      
consider what a child is2 and he must be
 far gone in indifference or depravity1 
who does not recognize the specific duty
 growing out of a general obligation    
which is forced upon us by the intrinsic
 claims of that child's nature4 ,if we  
were appealed to by nothing else but its
 drooping reliance and natural wants1   
there would be enough to draw our       
attention to every phase of childhood   
that comes within our sphere4  ,but our 
purpose this evening calls us away from 
these brighter images of childhood1 to  
consider those who are surrounded with  
the most savage aspects and the worst   
influences of the world4 ,and1 beside   

the absolute duty which is imposed upon 
us by their natural position1 ,i observe
 that the ,children of the ,poor create 
an appeal to prudential considerations4 
,they form a large proportion of those  
groups known in every city as ,the      
,dangerous ,classes4 ,for they will be  
developed somehow4 ,if they receive not 
that attention which is demanded by     
their position2 if they are left to     
darkness and neglect2 still1 it is no   
mere mass of negative existence that    
they constitute4 ,there is vitality     
there and positive strength1 in those   
lanes and cellars1 put forth for evil if
 not drawn towards the good4 ,we must   
not confound ignorance with torpor of   
spirit or bluntness of understanding4   
,one of the most remarkable             
characteristics of vagrant children is a
 keen1 precocious intellect4 ,a boy of  
seven in the streets of a city is more  
developed in this respect than one of   
fourteen in the country--a development1 
of course1 which is easily accounted for

 by the antagonisms with which the child
 has had to contend1 and the devices    
which have been inspired by the sheer   
pressure of want4 ,he has been pitched  
into the sea of events to sink or swim1 
and those sharpened faculties are the   
tentacles put forth by an effort of     
nature in order to secure a hold of     
life4 ,and there is something very sad  
and very fearful in this precocity4 ,the
 vagrant boy has known nothing of the   
stages of childhood1 conducting with    
beautiful simplicity from one timid step
 to another1 and gradually forming it   
for the realities of the world4 ,but the
 neglected infant has wilted into the   
premature man1 with his old cunning     
look1 blending so fantastically1 so     
mournfully1 with the unformed features  
of youth4 ,knowing the world on its     
worst side--knowing its hostility1 its  
knavery1 its foulness1 its heartless    
materialism--knowing it as the man does 
not know it who has only breathed the   
country air1 and looked upon the open   

face of nature4 ,is it not very sad1 my 
friends1 that the vagrant boy should    
know so much2 and1 without one hour of  
romance1 one step of childish innocence 
and imagination1 should have gone clear 
through the world which so many boast   
that they understand--the knave's world1
 the libertine's world1 the world of the
 skeptical1 scoffing1 ,ishmaelitish     
spirit8 ,and yet he has so little real  
knowledge--there is such a cloud of     
ignorance and moral stupor resting upon 
his brain and heart6 ,so much of him is 
merely animal1 foxy1 wolfish1 and this  
sharpened intellect only a faculty1 an  
instinct1 a preternatural organ pushed  
out to gain subsistence with4 ,it is a  
terrible anomaly1 and yet1 ,i say1 it is
 none the less an active power1 and     
shows us that1 however neglected1 the   
child of the abject poor is not dormant 
or undeveloped4 ,in the first place1    
very likely1 it has developed itself    
into a dogged atheism--a sulky unbelief4
 ,the brain of the vagrant boy is active

 with speculation as well as with       
practice--he has some theory of this    
life in which he lives1 and1 as might be
 expected1 a theory woven with the      
tissues of his own experience2 woven    
with the shadows and the lurid lights of
 his lot4 ,a gentleman passing one day  
through the streets of ,edinboro'1 saw a
 boy1 who lived by selling fire-wood1   
standing with a heavy load upon his     
back1 looking at a number of boys       
amusing themselves in a play-ground4    
,sometimes1 says the writer1 he laughed 
aloud1 at other times he looked sad and 
sorrowful4 ,stepping up to him ,i       
said--',well1 my boy1 you seem to enjoy 
the fun very much2 but why don't you lay
 down your load of sticks8'444 ',i wan't
 thinking about the burden--,i wan't    
thinking about the sticks1 sir4' ',and  
may ,i ask what you were thinking       
about8' ',oh1 ,i was just thinking about
 what the good missionary said the other
 day4 ,you know1 sir1 ,i don't go to    
church1 for ,i have no clothes2 but one 

of the missionaries comes every week to 
our stair1 and holds a meeting4 ,he was 
preaching to us last week1 and among    
other things he said--,although there   
are rich folks and poor folks in this   
world1 yet we are all brothers4 ,now1   
sir1 just look at these lads--every one 
of them has fine jackets1 fine caps1    
with warm shoes and stockings1 but ,i   
have none2--,so ,i was just thinking if 
those were my brothers1 it doesn't look 
like it1 sir--it doesn't look like it4  
,see1 sir1 they are all flying kites1   
while ,i am flying in rags--they are    
running about at kick-ball and cricket2 
but ,i must climb the long1 long stairs1
 with a heavy load1 and an empty        
stomach1 whilst my back is like to      
break4 ,it doesn't look like it1 sir--it
 doesn't look like it4' ,or1 take the   
following instance1 which ,i extract    
from the ,records of one of the         
,benevolent ,societies of our own city3 
,can you read or write8 said the visitor
 to a poor boy4 ,marty hung his head4 ,i

 repeated the question two or three     
times before he answered1 and the tears 
dropped on his hands1 as he said1       
despairingly1 and ,i thought            
defiantly--',no1 sir1 ,i can't read nor 
write neither4 ,god don't want me to    
read1 sir4 ,indeed1 so it looks likely4 
,didn't ,he take away my father since   
before ,i can remember him8 ,and haven't
 ,i been working all the time to fetch  
in something to eat1 and for the fire1  
and for clothes8 ,i went out to pick    
coal when ,i could take a basket in my  
arms--and ,i have had no chance for     
school since4' ,now this is fallacious  
and dangerous reasoning1 my friends2    
nevertheless1 it is reasoning1 and shows
 that the mind of the poor boy is not   
inactive as to the problems of life4    
,and the intellect which is so acute in 
theory will soon drive to practice4     
,stimulated by that selfish instinct    
which1 as ,i have shown1 will under     
pressure absorb every other             
consideration1 he speedily commences the

 career of crime4 ,and have you ever    
looked into this matter of crime8 ,or do
 you know it only as a monstrous fact in
 the social mechanism1 and in the       
records of human nature8 ,if so1 it     
would be well for us to consider the way
 in which it appears to the violator of 
right--the way in which things look to  
him who works inside the web of guilt4  
,and we may be sure that it does not    
look to him as it does to us from the   
midst of respectabilities and comforts1 
or from a high intellectual and moral   
stand-point4 ,now ,i am not going to    
justify crime1 or to indulge any        
sentiment upon the subject4 ,but1       
really1 one of the most practical       
questions that can be asked is--,why is 
this one1 or that one1 a criminal8 ,do  
,i say that the guilt should be imputed 
to the condition--that it is all owing  
to circumstances8 ,no3 but ,i do say    
that1 in nine cases out of ten1 crime is
 no proof of special depravity apart    
from general depravity1 and that the    

circumstances have just so much weight  
as this--that put you or me in those    
same circumstances1 in nine cases out of
 ten1 we should be criminals too4 ,in   
the same circumstances1 my friends2 and 
this involves a great deal4 ,it involves
 an hereditary taint stamped in the very
 mould of birth2 it involves physical   
misery2 it involves intellectual and    
moral destitution2 it involves the worst
 kind of social influence2 it involves  
the pressure of all the natural         
appetites1 rioting in this need of the  
body and this darkness of the soul4 ,and
 it implies no suspicion of a man's     
moral standard--it is no insult to his  
self-respect--to tell him that1 under   
similar conditions1 it is extremely     
probable he would have been a criminal  
too4 ,reasoning in an arm-chair is very 
proper1 and often very accurate1 but the
 logic of starvation is too peremptory  
for syllogisms4 ,there is a sort of     
compound made up of frost1 damp1 dirt   
and rags1 which works double magic3 it  

sometimes converts a thief into a       
philosopher1 and sometimes a philosopher
 into a thief4 ,i am not speaking1      
however1 of the mere impulse of animal  
want1 but of this condition where the   
counter-acting forces are dormant4 ,and 
for this reason you and ,i can draw no  
immoral conclusion from the doctrine of 
circumstances4 ,we could not be like the
 moral leper who infests the dark       
regions of the city--we could not be    
like the child of sin and shame who     
broods there--without losing our        
identity4 ,in contemplating this matter1
 the feeling for ourselves should be    
simply one of humility and thankfulness4
 ,we have grown up in pure light and    
air1 appeased with the comforts1 and    
braced by at least the current morality 
of society4 ,but1 concerning those      
degraded ones1 what some call charity is
 no more than justice4 ,it is no more   
than justice to say--all the conditions 
being considered--that as to a vast     
majority of them1 crime is no proof of  

special depravity4 ,it is the genuine   
humanity that is there--not base metal4 
,it came from the common mint--somewhere
 you will find upon it a faint scar of  
the ,divine ,image--but the coin was    
pitched into this bonfire of appetite   
and blasphemy1 and it has come out a    
cinder4 ,thus1 proud and happy ,mother1 
might your boy have been a defaced and  
distorted being1 kicked1 cuffed1 knotted
 with frost1 blackened with bruises2 a  
pick-pocket1 a wharf-rat1 a panel-thief2
 with his intellect sharpened to an     
intense and impish cunning--only knowing
 that it is a hard world1 and he must   
get out of it what he can4 ,thus1 fond  
,father1 might your daughter1 whom the  
very winds must salute with courtesy1   
have gone through the streets at        
night--a painted desolation1 a reeling  
shame4 ,do you think these were made of 
better texture than those who blacken   
and fester yonder8 ,do you think that   
when these last came into the world     
there was no milk in mothers' breasts   

for them1 no ,divine solicitude about   
them1 no tenderness in the heart of     
,christ2 but that they were the refuse1 
whirled into existence as the great     
wheel of ,life shaped the finer mould of
 the respectable and the happy8 ,i tell 
you that ,god made them complete souls1 
and stamped ,his ,image upon them--but  
they have fallen into the dark and      
dreary ways2 the fierce flames have     
hardened them2 the foul air has tainted 
them2 and their special depravity1 over 
and above the common depravity1 is the  
infection of circumstances4 ,the young  
boy1 the young girl1 driven by necessity
 and sharpened with cunning1 run into   
crime4 ,they are all educated2 for      
circumstances--not merely books--are    
education2 but this is their seminary1  
and the alphabet is spontaneous1 and the
 science of quick growth4 ,and with the 
consequences of all this exposure and   
temptation we are all mixed up2 and1 if 
the claim of the child in its intrinsic 
position does not move us1 prudential   

considerations should--the consideration
 of what society does suffer1 and must  
suffer1 if these conditions are not     
changed4  ,such1 then1 are some of the  
principles involved with my theme4 ,let 
us in the second place pass to consider1
 very briefly1 a few of the facts4      
,briefly1 because ,i have no time for   
details1 and because the general state  
of the case is but too well known to    
you4  ,it is a fact1 then1 that there   
are among us a vast number of children  
in the most miserable and perilous      
condition4 ,in the year #ahdi1 the      
,chief of ,police reported the          
destitution and vice among this class of
 vagrants as almost incredible4 ,in that
 report he says--,the offspring of      
always careless1 generally intemperate1 
and oftentimes dishonest parents1 they  
never see the inside of a school-room1  
and so far as our excellent system of   
public education is concerned1 it is to 
them a nullity4 ,it appears that1 at    
that time1 in #ab wards of the city1    

there were #b1iee of these children1 of 
whom two-thirds were females between the
 ages of #h and #af4 ,i am informed1    
also1 by the ,chief of ,police1 that    
#ajj per cent4 should now be added to   
this estimate2 not all attributable1 of 
course1 to growth in depravity1 but to  
the increase of population1 especially  
by immigration4 ,i understand1 moreover1
 that within the past year there have   
been ten thousand arrests1 and five     
thousand commitments of boys alone      
between the ages of #e and #ae4  ,these 
are naked statistics1 affording you an  
outline of the actual state of things4  
,need ,i paint the costume and the      
scenery1 and describe the sad and awful 
drama in which these children play their
 parts8 ,i could not if ,i would4 ,but  
think of that vast amount of young life 
running to waste1 sweeping through the  
sewers of the social fabric1 an         
under-current of taint and desolation6  
,think of them1 starved1 beaten1 driven 
into crime not merely by necessity1 but 

by the very hands of their parents6 and 
think of them this night1 cuddling in   
rags1 shivering on straw1 cradled in    
reeking filth1 drinking in blasphemy and
 obscenity and cunning policies of sin1 
under that dark canopy that shuts out   
social sympathy1 and hides the very     
,face of ,god4 ,and if you have1 ,i will
 not say parental hearts1 but human     
souls1 you will ask if there ought not  
to be some remedy1 and will say that all
 who can should help in administering   
that remedy4  ,and remedies there appear
 to be1 my friends4 ,for1 while ,i said 
that there is no condition in the city  
more sad and momentous than that of     
these children of the poor1 ,i said1    
likewise1 that there is none more       
hopeful4 ,the essential and             
comprehensive remedy of all ,i indicated
 in the close of the last discourse1 and
 shall have occasion to dwell upon in   
the next4 ,that remedy is the practical 
operation of ,christianity--first of all
 in our own hearts1 and then flowing out

 in action4 ,i mean especially the      
method of ,jesus1 which consisted not of
 mere teaching but of help--which       
touched not only the issues of the      
sin-sick soul1 but the weakness and want
 of the body4 ,to the demoniac1 to the  
leper1 to the impotent man by the pool1 
he brought not abstract truths1 but     
words of healing and works of practical 
deliverance4 ,how striking is the fact  
that the freshest and noblest charities 
of this nineteenth century are only     
developments of the manner in which the 
,redeemer soothed the sorrows and       
vanquished the evils of the world6 ,for 
those institutions which especially     
excite the public interest at the       
present day1 are those whose plan it is 
first to remove the children of the poor
 from those wretched and foul conditions
 upon which ,i have laid so much stress1
 and to lead them to a higher culture by
 extending1 first1 the hand of temporal 
relief4 ,they aim to break up the       
sockets of custom1 and to introduce the 

degraded child to fresh motives of      
action and fields of endeavor2 to throw 
around him the atmosphere of a true     
home1 and to blend intellectual1 and    
moral1 and religious training with that 
true charity which teaches one how to   
assert his own manliness1 and support   
himself by the honest labor of his own  
hands4 ,now ,i do not wish to be        
invidious1 ,i am glad that such a       
constellation of philanthropic promise  
has risen upon the dark places of the   
abject poor4 ,i point with pleasure to  
what has been accomplished in the       
,sahara of the ,five ,points1 and in    
what still remains to be done ,i discern
 a field broad enough to prevent        
collision and dispute--broad enough to  
employ the means and the generous       
energies of thousands4 ,with equal      
pleasure ,i refer to that ,juvenile     
,asylum1 with its noble interposition   
ere the feet of the erring boy shall    
take the second step in crime1 and which
 has recently rendered still more       

efficient its system of labor and relief
 by extending the benefit to girls4 ,but
 as ,i wish this evening to concentrate 
your sympathies1 ,i call your attention 
especially to the institution known as  
,the ,children's ,aid ,society1 the     
general character and the practical     
results of which ,i will briefly state4 
,its main object is sufficiently        
indicated by its name4 ,its machinery is
 simple1 and acts upon the principle    
just laid down4 ,it seeks first to      
remove the poor child from the coil of  
evil influences which have been thrown  
around him1 and which have been daily   
strengthened by the sharpest pressure of
 animal necessities4 ,it comprehends the
 two-fold benefit of education and labor
 in its system of ,industrial ,schools4 
,of these1 at the present time1 in this 
city1 there are eight1 in which a       
multitude of children are educated1     
taught to work1 supplied with a warm    
dinner daily1 and with such clothing as 
they can learn to make4 ,in connection  

with these there is one shoe-shop1 in   
which thirty or forty boys earn a       
livelihood4 ,another object of this     
society is to find employment for its   
beneficiaries out of the city1 and      
during the past year places in the      
country have been found for one hundred 
and twenty-five1 where their employers  
treat them as their own children4  ,in  
institutions like these1 then1 you      
perceive the indications of a remedy for
 the condition of these children of the 
poor--a system of help which gives      
something more than spiritual           
instruction on the one hand1 something  
more than mere food and clothing on the 
other2 which combines measures of relief
 and nourishment for the demands of our 
whole nature in the form of the ignorant
 and suffering child2 and which1 better 
than all1 lifts him out of the          
humiliating condition of a mere pauper  
or dependent1 and sets him in a channel 
of manly exertion1 self-development1 and
 self-support2 which not only does the  

negative work of removing a mass of evil
 from society1 but makes for it the     
positive contribution of an improved and
 educated humanity4 ,i do not say that  
all the relief lies here1 that it will  
do all that is needed1 or that nothing  
better will be devised4 ,but ,i think   
the tendency of these institutions is   
the right one1 and that they indicate   
the way in which this great social      
problem is to be solved4 ,but it is not 
necessary to say that the faith which we
 cherish in such a system is dead       
without works2 and that something more  
is needed than a few model institutions 
working here and there4 ,this matter    
makes a practical claim upon us all1 in 
the fact that1 in one way or another1 we
 may all help forward this method of    
relief--we may help it forward as active
 laborers in the very midst of the      
field1 as teachers and missionaries1 or 
contributors of our goods and money4    
,each knows what he can best do--what is
 his special1 ,providential call in the 

matter2 but let him be assured that he  
has a call2 and that this spectacle of  
exposed1 needy1 suffering childhood is  
not a mere spectacle for his sympathies1
 but a field white with a harvest that  
waits for his effort4 ,have we nothing  
but sympathies wherewith to answer the  
poor woman's prayer--a prayer that      
echoes through so many hearts in this   
great city--,may the ,lord spare my     
,archy from the bad boys1 and from      
taking to the ways of his father6       
,there is one thing which strikes me as 
very affecting in the condition of any  
child4 ,it is when that condition is    
necessarily a melancholy one--when the  
circumstances which hem it around cast  
over the surface of that young life an  
abiding gloom4 ,a melancholy child6     
,what an anomaly among the harmonies of 
the universe2 something as incongruous  
as a bird drooping in a cage1 or a      
flower in a sepulchre4 ,the musical     
laughter muffled and broken2 the        
spontaneous smile transformed to a sad  

suspicion2 and the austerities of mature
 life1 the fearful speculation1 and     
forecast of evil1 fixed and frozen on a 
boy's face6 ,and then the sorrow of a   
child is so absorbing--for he lives only
 in the present4 ,in the afflictions    
which fall upon him1 man has the aid of 
reason and faith--he looks beyond the   
present issue1 he detects the           
significance of his calamity1 and       
strengthened thus a brave heart can     
vanquish any sorrow4 ,but1 as ,richter  
beautifully says--the little cradle1 or 
bed-canopy of the child1 is easier      
darkened than the starry heaven of man4 
,surely1 then1 it is a blessed thing to 
contribute aught that will lighten this 
gloom1 and place the child in natural   
conditions4  ,but there is one phase of 
this subject which1 in its appeal to us1
 is more eloquent than all the rest4 ,it
 is where there are children who stand  
not merely in the intrinsic claim of    
their childhood2 or in their touching   
sadness2 or pushing their energies into 

vice and crime2 but nobly struggling    
against the tide of evil--struggling to 
bear up in their lot--enduring and      
achieving for the sake of those who1    
young as these children are1 are        
dependent on them4 ,if ,i had time1 ,i  
think ,i could write a ,martyrology2 not
 following the track of famous men1     
whose faces look out upon us from the   
brutal amphitheatre and from the fire   
with a halo of glory around them1 and   
whom we behold1 by the vision of faith1 
with their gory robes transfigured to   
celestial whiteness1 waving palms in    
their hands2 but tracing out incidents  
in the lives of some of the children    
here in our city--not dead1 but living  
martyrs6 ,o6 ,i think ,i could write    
such a ,martyrology1 with blood and     
tears1 over many a gloomy threshold1 on 
the walls of many a desolate room2 and  
let future generations come and read    
it--a fearful record of human           
suffering--a sweet memorial of human    
virtue--when many of these old woes1 we 

trust1 shall have passed away for ever4 
,permit me1 in closing1 to present two  
or three incidents illustrative of this 
heroism and sacrifice among the         
,children of the ,poor4  ,take1 for     
instance1 the account of a writer who   
tells us that in the street he met a    
little girl1 very poor1 but with such a 
sweet sad expression1 adds he1 that ,i  
involuntarily stopped and spoke to her4 
,she answered my questions very clearly1
 but the heavy1 sad look never left her 
eyes a moment4 ,she had no father or    
mother4 ,she took care of the children  
herself2 she was only thirteen2 she     
sewed on check shirts1 and made a living
 for them4 ,he went to see her4 ,it is a
 low1 damp basement her home4 ,she lives
 there with the three little children1  
whom she supports1 and the elder sick   
brother1 who sometimes picks up a       
trifle4 ,she had been washing for       
herself and little ones4 ',she almost   
thought that she could take in washing  
now1' and the little ones with their    

knees to their mouths crouched up before
 the stove1 looked as if there could not
 be a doubt of sister's doing anything  
she tried4 ',well1 ,annie1 how do you   
make a living now8' ',i sew on the check
 shirts1 sir1 and the flannel shirts2 ,i
 get five cents for the checks1 and nine
 cents for the others2 but just now they
 wont let me have the flannel1 because  
,i can't deposit two dollars4' ',it must
 be very hard work8' ',o6 ,i don't mind1
 sir2 but to-day the visitors came1 and 
said we'd better go to the poor-house1  
and ,i said ,i couldn't like to leave   
these little ones yet2 and ,i thought if
 ,i only had candles1 ,i could sit up   
till ten or eleven1 and make the        
shirts4' 444 ,she had learned everything
 she knew at the ,industrial ,school4444
 ,she never went to church1 for she had 
no clothes1 but she could read and      
write4444 ',it was very damp there1' she
 said1 'and then it was so cold nights4'
  ,i will1 in the next place1 introduce 
you to a garret-room1 six feet by ten4  

,the occupants are a poor mother and her
 son4 ,the mother works at making shirts
 with collars and stitched bosoms1 at   
six shillings and sixpence per dozen1   
for a man who pays half in merchandise1 
and who1 when she is starving for bread1
 puts her off with calico at a shilling 
a yard that is not worth more than      
fourpence6 ,but he is not the martyr in 
the case4 ,when the visitor entered1 her
 son ,george1 about twelve years old1   
was just coming in for dinner1 pale and 
apparently exhausted by the effort of   
climbing the stairs1 and sank down upon 
a rough plank bench near the door4 ,he  
worked in a glass-factory1 earning a    
bare subsistence4 ,he is a little old   
man at twelve1 says the narrator1 the   
paleness of his sunken cheeks was       
relieved by the hectic flush2 his hollow
 dry eye was moistened by an occasional 
tear2 and his thin white lip quivered as
 he told me his simple story2 how he was
 braving hunger and death--for he cannot
 live long--to help his mother pay the  

rent and buy her bread4 ',half-past ten 
at night is early for him to return1'   
said the mother2 'sometimes it is       
half-past eleven and ,i am sitting up   
for him4' ,sometimes1 in the morning1   
she finds him awake1 'but he don't want 
to get up1 and he puts his hands on his 
sides and says1 ',mother1 it hurts me   
here when ,i breathe4' ,i can work1 and 
,i do work1' adds she1 'all the         
time--but ,i can't make as much as my   
little boy4'  ,one more account4 ,it is 
of a beggar-girl who lives1 as the      
narrative goes on to say1 in a rear     
building where full daylight never      
shines--in a cellar-room where pure dry 
air is never breathed4 ,a quick gentle  
girl of twelve years1 she speaks to the 
visitor as he enters--',mother does not 
see you1 sir1 because she's blind4' ,the
 mother was an old woman of sixty-five  
or seventy years1 with six or seven     
others seated around4 ',but you told me 
you and your mother and little sister   
lived by yourselves4' ',yes1 sir--here  

it is2' and at the end of the passage   
the visitor discovers a narrow place1   
about five feet by three4 ,the bed was  
rolled up in one corner1 and nearly     
filled the room4 ',but where is your    
stove8' ',we have none1 sir4 ,the people
 in the next room are very kind to      
mother1 and let her come in there to    
warm--because1 you know1 ,i get half the
 coal4' ',but where do you cook your    
food8' ',we never cook any1 sir2 it is  
already cooked4 ,i go early in the      
morning to get coal and chips for the   
fire1 and ,i must have two baskets of   
coal and wood to kindle with by noon4   
,that's mother's half4 ,then when the   
people have eaten dinner1 ,i go round to
 get the bits they leave4 ,i can get two
 baskets of coal every day now2 but when
 it gets cold1 and we must have a great 
deal1 it is hard for me to find         
any--there's so many poor chaps to pick 
it4 ,sometimes the ladies speak cross to
 me1 and shut the door hard at me1 and  
sometimes the gentlemen slap me in the  

face1 and kick my basket1 and then ,i   
come home1 and mother says not to cry1  
for may be ,i'll do better to-morrow4   
,sometimes ,i get my basket almost full1
 and then put it by for to-morrow2 and  
then1 if next day we have enough1 ,i    
take this to a poor woman next door4    
,sometimes ,i get only a few bits in my 
basket for all day1 and may be the next 
day4 ,and then ,i fast1 because1 you    
know1 mother is sick and weakly1 and    
can't be able to fast like me4'  ,these 
my friends1 are some of the short and   
simple annals of the poor4 ,but those of
 whom ,gray spoke rest peacefully in the
 country churchyard2 their spirits are  
in heaven1 and their history is embalmed
 in his own immortal ,elegy4 ,but these 
records are of those who yet live and   
suffer--,martyrs without the palm4  ,and
 could ,i summon them here to-night1 and
 would the ,master but enter as when    
upon earth1 surely he would look upon   
them in tender pity2 would bless them2  
would take in his arms those whom the   

world has cast aside and overlooked4    
,nay1 perhaps he would transfigure their
 actuality into their possibility1 and  
we might see the angels in their faces1 
pleading with us before the ,father's   
throne6     ,,the ,,help ,,of           
,,religion4     ,,discourse ,,viii4     
,,the ,,help ,,of ,,religion4           
,for here have we no continuing city1   
but we seek one to                      
come4--,,hebrews xiii1 #ad4   ,there are
 a good many people who1 apparently1 are
 never troubled by any speculations     
arising out of a comprehensive view of  
things4 ,they are keenly alive to all   
objects within their sphere2 but their  
eyes are close to the surface1 and their
 experience comes in shocks of          
sensation1 and shreds of perception4    
,they know the superficial features of  
the world and its conventional          
expressions2 are conversant with its    
business and its pleasures2 with the    
market1 the fashions1 the town-talk1 the
 worldly fortunes of their neighbors4   

,sometimes1 a powerful affliction       
startles them in this smooth routine1   
and for a moment they are surprised to  
find how wide the universe is1 and among
 what great realities we dwell4 ,but1   
usually1 their existence is a narrow    
revolving disc1 bringing around the same
 group of incidents and the same        
associations1 morning1 noon1 and night4 
,they comprehend ,life as they          
comprehend the expanse of yonder harbor1
 dotted with shifting but familiar      
forms1 ruffled by a passing wind or     
bright under a summer sun1 and whose    
tides duly rise and fall4 ,but they     
little think of the oceanic vastness    
which it represents2 and how its        
oscillations come from great currents   
that leap out of the ,antarctic1 and    
swell around tropical islands1 and sweep
 the lines of continents1 and roll in   
the ,polar ,sea4  ,these1 therefore1 are
 not perplexed by questions such as     
occur to him who1 looking beyond his own
 worldly interests and the area of daily

 routine1 takes into view the scope of  
being and the profounder phenomena of   
human life4 ,for such a view will       
inevitably engender speculation1 nor can
 he rest until he obtains some theory of
 existence4 ,these very conditions of   
,humanity in the ,city1 for             
instance--these conditions of poverty1  
and responsibility1 and relationship1   
and privilege1 and strife1 and          
toil--yea1 the lessons which come to us 
from the crowd as it flows through these
 streets2 constitute a great problem1 of
 which every thinking man will seek some
 solution4  ,now1 throughout this entire
 series of discourses--although ,i have 
not deemed it necessary in every        
instance to make a specific             
application--,i have assumed that you   
and ,i were looking upon these various  
phases of ,humanity from the ,christian 
stand-point1 and therefore ,i could not 
fitly conclude this work without        
indicating the ,help which ,,religion   
affords concerning these problems of    

existence4  ,i observe1 then1 that while
 it may seem very simple to affirm that 
a theory does not1 in any case1 alter   
facts2 yet there is often an advantage  
in laying down this proposition4 ,for   
this leads us to understand precisely   
what a theory may do4 ,it does not alter
 facts1 but it throws them into new     
relations1 and presents them in an      
entirely different light4 ,materialism1 
for instance1 is a theory of ,life2 and 
,christianity--in which term ,i include 
not only a system of ,doctrines1 but of 
practical forces--is also a theory of   
,life4 ,now1 neither of these gets rid  
of the great facts of existence4 ,men   
sin and suffer and die1 whether we adopt
 the one system or the other4 ,but1     
surely1 when we approach these facts    
from the side of ,religion1 they appear 
in very different lights1 and are taken 
up with very different results1 from    
their appearance and effect when        
interpreted by the creed of ,unbelief4  
,it would be very absurd then1 because  

,christianity does not instantly        
abolish1 or fully explain1 all these    
strange and darker realities1 to fall   
back upon the opposite ground of        
skepticism4 ,this is only receding from 
the best solution to the worst--or1     
rather1 to no solution at all4 ,for ,i  
maintain that ,christianity gives us not
 merely the best1 but the only solution 
of these problems4 ,it will be my       
purpose in this discourse1 at least1 to 
show what kind of help ,religion does   
afford for ,humanity in all these       
diverse conditions2 and1 having done    
this1 ,i shall leave it to your own     
convictions to decide whether it is not 
a great and practical ,help2 and whether
 there is any other help4 ,i propose to 
illustrate the influence of ,religion to
 this effect1 first--as a ,conviction2  
second1 as a ,working ,power2 and third1
 as an ,interpretation4  ,i say1 then1  
in the first place1 that religion       
furnishes great help for man in the     
various issues of life1 when he becomes 

actually convinced that its truths and  
sanctions are genuine4 ,in other words1 
the conception of a moral government1 of
 a directing ,providence1 and of eternal
 realities1 vividly apprehended by the  
intellect1 kept fresh in the heart1 and 
assimilated to the entire spiritual     
nature1 is a personal inspiration4 ,it  
elevates the platform of a man's being1 
so that all things appear in true       
proportion4 ,it clears his vision to    
detect principles1 and endows him with  
moral courage4 ,i do not know that ,i   
can better suggest its influence as a   
help here1 in the conditions of the     
city1 than by asking you to imagine what
 would be the state of things in the    
spheres of toil and traffic--in all the 
multiform relations of our humanity--if 
men really apprehended and believed it8 
,it1 ,i say--not some special dogma or  
institution1 but the absolute spirit and
 truth of ,christianity4 ,for ,i do not 
think that1 generally1 this is actually 
credited4 ,i think that1 with many      

professions of religion1 and much       
outward respect for it1 and an extensive
 circulation of vague conceptions about 
it1 it is not commonly felt and         
vitalized--it is not apprehended in its 
blessedness and power1 and absolute     
excellence4 ,to the habits of the soul  
it does not represent and mean realities
 as a written contract does1 or a       
bank-bill--something that men           
precipitate themselves upon1 and that   
sways the under-currents of their       
action4 ,new ,york1 with its ,broadway  
and its ,wall ,street2 with its proud   
buildings and its bristling masts2 is a 
reality--but that city of which the text
 makes mention2 that city which good men
 seek1 and which in the ,apocalypse of  
,faith they see2 whose splendors glitter
 through the solemn twilight2 nay1 which
 hems them around for ever1 and shines  
down upon them brighter than the noonday
 sun2 to thousands1 toiling1 sinning1   
and suffering here1 is not a reality4   
,for1 ,i ask you1 my friends1 if it were

 realized1 could there be so much abject
 need among us2 so much stony-hearted   
selfishness2 so much shuffling in trade1
 and corruption in politics1 and        
meanness in intercourse1 and foolish    
superficial living8 ,i know1 and you    
know1 that one of the greatest evils    
is--not merely that men are worldly1    
irreligious1 bound up in sad conditions 
and narrow conceits2 but that they are  
so1 because they do not apprehend the   
nature and do not feel the reality of   
religion4 ,for ,i say once more1 that a 
conviction of its reality must be a     
great help in adjusting the problems of 
life4 ,and this1 because it acts upon   
the centre of all the sin1 and much of  
the suffering of the world4 ,this       
personal application of religion stands 
before all other remedies for the       
removal of these evils4 ,others are     
attempted--others are1 in a degree1     
successful2 but none go so deep and     
produce results so sure4 ,it seems to me
 that the position of humanity in this  

respect1 is illustrated in the narrative
 of the ,demoniac of ,gadara4 ,we are   
told that he had been bound with chains1
 but in his fierce madness had burst    
them asunder4 ,and then1 again1 men had 
tried various expedients1 but they could
 not tame him4 ,but when the influence  
of ,jesus fell upon his soul1 it took   
hold of it with sweet authority2 the    
legion left him1 and the poor1 wounded1 
houseless man sat clothed and in his    
right mind4 ,so is it with man in       
society2 so is it with some of these    
social evils4 ,the power of law has been
 invoked2 and it has its legitimate     
sphere of operation4 ,it checks the     
purposed violence4 ,it arrests the overt
 act4 ,it may consistently be summoned  
to purify all those channels of social  
action which it assumes to regulate2    
and1 instead of patronizing the wrong1  
to set its face and hand against it4    
,thus it may prevent public harm1 though
 it cannot stop self-injury1 and remove 
occasions of temptation1 though it      

cannot impart moral strength4 ,it has no
 efficacy to change the assassin's      
heart1 yet we call upon it to guard us  
against murder4 ,we bid it close the den
 of infamy1 though it does not quench   
guilty passion4 ,and we may use it to   
stop the sale of intoxicating drinks1   
though it does not destroy the          
drunkard's appetite4 ,and this indicates
 both the function and the limitation of
 the law4 ,thrown over the wild forces  
that rage in the human heart1 and that  
afflict community1 it is like the       
fetters on the limbs of the demoniac4   
,it may restrain for a time2 but in some
 sweep of temptation it is spurned and  
snapped asunder4 ,on the other hand1 we 
have the expedients of the reformer4 ,he
 comes with props and palliatives2      
soothing some cutaneous irritation1 or  
removing some foul condition4 ,and let  
us recognize the legitimacy of his      
endeavor4 ,we must approach the human   
heart through the web of its external   
circumstances1 as well as directly4     

,nay1 often this is the only way by     
which we can get at it at all4 ,and well
 may we rejoice over the rescue from    
specific vices1 and commend the zeal and
 patience which fasten upon some        
colossal evil to batter and drive it    
from the world4 ,but notwithstanding    
such noble achievement1 how many have   
remained among the tombs1 or gone back  
to the wilderness--demoniacs still6 ,it 
is an old truth1 but ,i say it as though
 it were in the conviction of a fresh   
fact forced upon me by these great      
problems that heave up in the currents  
of ,city ,life2 it is an unavoidable    
conclusion that there is only one       
influence that can make safe1 and pure1 
and strong in goodness1 those recesses  
out of which issue so much social evil1 
and so much personal suffering4 ,and    
that is the influence not of the        
law-giver1 nor of the reformer2 but of  
the ,redeemer4 ,it is that power which  
flows through the soul in a practical   
conviction of the reality of religion4  

,it is the help which comes from its    
inspiration of divine truth and goodness
 in the breasts of individual men1      
turning them from evil1 rendering them  
strong against temptation1 and sending  
out from their lives fresh forces of    
righteousness and love4  ,indeed1 ,i    
believe that any man who really thinks  
and feels1 and who has much experience  
of ,life1 will become convinced of the  
necessity of ,religion4 ,i would leave  
its claims not to the argument of the   
,moralist1 or the advocacy of the       
,pulpit1 but as they urge themselves    
upon us here out of the whirl1 and      
weariness1 and vicissitudes of the      
,city4 ,surely1 as its calm voice       
appeals to the sons of men1 striving in 
this heated atmosphere2 chasing phantoms
 that rise out of the dust2 absorbed in 
the fickle game of fortune2 borne along 
for a little while on the top-waves of  
excitement1 and then dying unmarked as a
 rain-drop that falls into the sea2     
surely as its voice appeals to these1   

saying--,come unto me1 all ye that labor
 and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give  
you rest6 it strikes the deepest chords 
in thousands of hearts4 ,i will not     
adopt now any professional argument to  
prove the great necessity of ,religion  
as a ,help in ,life4 ,but ,i would take 
my stand1 in imagination1 at some corner
 of yonder tumultuous street4 ,how      
multiform the crowds that sweep by me2  
how diverse the faces2 what a           
kaleidoscope of human conditions6 ,and  
yet1 when you attempt to classify them1 
how few are the actual types of men--how
 many fall into a common group2 and when
 you try them by the profoundest        
standard--that of a common experience   
and common wants--how marvellously alike
 they all are6 ,how similar in inward   
expression1 the rich man who walks      
yonder1 to that poor drudging son of    
toil1 who bows his back and strains his 
sinews until they ache6 ,how similar in 
effect the burdens which they both      
bear--the burden of wealth1 and the     

burden of poverty1 in the fact that they
 are burdens upon the heart and the     
soul6 ,and are they not both struggling 
with the realities of life1 and moved by
 quenchless desires1 and looking up into
 the same infinite mystery8 ,ah6 my     
friends1 ,i hardly think it would be the
 most effectual way to preach ,religion 
in this church on ,sunday1 as a matter  
of course--but to stand out there on    
week-days1 and strike the deepest chords
 throbbing unconsciously in the bosoms  
of those who pass me by4 ,i would appeal
 to you1 ,o disappointed1 almost        
heart-broken man1 who for years have    
endeavored to earn a competency to lift 
your head above the sheer necessities of
 life1 but have failed in the chase1 and
 been beaten back1 and seen others who  
have exerted themselves not near as     
much1 not so honorably1 perhaps1 rise to
 the very top of the stream and sail    
clear ahead2--or to you1 ,o favorite of 
fortune1 as the world calls you1 who    
find your palace to be only a stately   

sepulchre1 in which all genuine feeling 
and simple enjoyment lies dead and      
wrapped in cerements of chilling        
etiquette--whose daughter1 perhaps1 has 
mocked your fondest plans2 or whose son 
has turned out a miserable weed of      
dissipation--a degenerate fopling1 a    
rake1 a fool2--or to you1 ,o butterfly  
of fashion1 sailing with embroidered    
wings in search of admiration and of    
pleasure2 or still again1 to you who    
have just gathered together the means of
 enjoyment1 and ease1 and everything1 to
 make life pleasant1 and lo6 death has  
entered1 and your hopes are darkened and
 in the dust2 ,i appeal to you1 ,o types
 of this streaming humanity1 that wears 
so many masks1 yet1 carries under all a 
common heart2 and ask you1 if there is  
not some void that no earthly good can  
fill--that no finite thing can sustain  
and satisfy8 ,can you go on with the    
common business of the world1 discharge 
all its obligations1 control yourself in
 its excitements1 resist its evil       

solicitations1 bear up under its trials1
 and1 finally1 reach that period in life
 when you must ask--,what is all this   
worth8--these years of toil1 these eager
 enterprises1 this golden accumulation  
or unfortunate failure--what are they   
all worth1 and what do they mean8--can  
anybody well get along with all this1   
without ,religion8 ,my friends1 ,i say  
to you that1 not consciously1 perhaps1  
like the old saints who wrought and     
prayed and walked with upward-looking   
faces--but really1 in the deep yearning 
and the secret gravitation of the       
soul--you do confess that here we have  
no continuing city1 and you are seeking 
one to come4 ,at least1 it seems to me  
that without the ,help of ,religion1    
there is only the alternative of moral  
indifference--a cold1 hard worldliness1 
or of recklessness and spiritual        
despair4 ,and is not this the           
alternative which is exhibited in the   
midst of all our civilization--in the   
midst of this gorgeous materialism of   

the nineteenth century8 ,thousands1 it  
is to be apprehended1 do exhibit one or 
the other of those extremes which the   
poet has so well described3      ,for   
most men in a brazen prison live1       
,where1 in the sun's hot eye1           
,with heads bent o'er their toil1 they  
languidly     ,their minds to some      
unmeaning task-work give1               
,dreaming of naught beyond their prison 
wall2         ,and so1 year after year1 
,fresh products of their barren labor   
fall         ,from their tired hands1   
and rest       ,never yet comes more    
near4       ,gloom settles slowly down  
over their breast1     ,and while they  
try to stem       ,the waves of mournful
 thought by which they are prest1       
,death in their prison reaches them     
,unfreed1 having seen nothing1 still    
unblest4      ,and the rest1 a few1     
,escape their prison1 and depart     ,on
 the wide ocean of life anew4           
,there the freed prisoner1 where'er his 
heart     ,listeth1 will sail2     ,nor 

does he know how there prevail          
,despotic on life's sea1                
,trade-winds that cross it from         
eternity4     ,awhile he holds some     
false way1 undebarred     ,by thwarting 
signs1 and braves     ,the freshening   
wind1 and blackening waves1     ,and    
then the tempest strikes him1 and       
between     ,the lightning bursts is    
seen     ,only a driving wreck1     ,and
 the pale master on his spar-strewn deck
     ,with anguished face and flying    
hair1       ,grasping the rudder hard1  
,still bent to make some port he knows  
not where1     ,still standing for some 
false impossible shore1     ,and sterner
 comes the roar     ,of sea and wind1   
and through the deepening gloom1        
,fainter and fainter wreck and helmsman 
loom4  ,but1 before ,i quit this head of
 my discourse1 let me say that in order 
to be accepted as the great ,help of    
,life1 ,religion must in some way be    
presented as a reality4 ,it must not be 
held forth as a mere abstraction--it    

must be precipitated into its concrete  
relations4 ,parting with none of its    
sanctity1 it must be stripped of its    
vagueness and technicality1 and be      
spoken in the fresh language of the     
time4 ,i feel sure that amidst prevalent
 irreligion1 nothing is so much needed  
as a definite statement of what religion
 is2 and that men should learn to       
recognize its vascular connection with  
every department of action4 ,it must be 
understood that being religious is not a
 work apart by itself1 but a spirit of  
faith and righteousness1 flowing out    
from the centre of a regenerated heart  
into all the employments and intercourse
 of the world4 ,not merely the preacher 
in the pulpit1 and the saint on his     
knees1 may do the work of religion1 but 
the mechanic who smites with the hammer 
and drives the wheel2 the artist seeking
 to realize his pure ideal of the       
beautiful2 the mother in the gentle     
offices of home2 the statesman in the   
forlorn hope of liberty and justice2 and

 the philosopher whose thought treads   
reverently among the splendid mysteries 
of the universe4 ,i know that some will 
deem this a secularization of           
religion--a desecration of its holy     
essence by worldly alliances4 ,but they 
are mistaken4 ,it is a consecration of  
pursuits and spheres that have been cut 
off from all sacredness1 and devoted to 
secondary ends4 ,are not the just1 the  
useful1 the beautiful1 from ,god1 as    
well as the good and the holy8 ,and1    
therefore1 is not any practice which    
serves these1 a service of ,god8 ,it is 
needed that men should feel that every  
lawful pursuit is sacred and not        
profane2 that every position in life is 
close to the steps of the divine throne2
 and that the most beaten and familiar  
paths lie under the awful shadow of the 
,infinite2 then they will go about their
 daily pursuits1 and fill their common  
relationships1 with hearts of worship   
and pulses of unselfish love2 instead of
 regarding religion as an isolated      

peculiarity for a corner of the closet  
and a fraction of the week1 and leaving 
all the rest of time and space an       
unconsecrated waste1 where lawless      
passions travel1 and selfishness pitches
 its tents4 ,o6 if religion were thus a 
diffusive1 practical1 every-day reality1
 there would be a marvellous change in  
the aspects of life and the conditions  
of humanity around us4 ,the great city1 
now so gross and profane1 would become  
as a vast cathedral1 through whose stony
 aisles would flow perpetual service2   
where labor would discharge its daily   
offices1 and faith and patience keep    
their heavenward look1 and love present 
its offerings4 ,yea1 the very roll of   
wheels through its busy streets would be
 as a litany1 and the sound of homeward 
feet the chant of its evening psalm4    
,but religion is not only a help in and 
for ourselves2 it has a ministration for
 others--for this great mass of         
destitution and suffering that broods in
 the midst of the city4 ,christianity is

 not merely a theory of existence--it is
 a working-power4 ,its precepts are     
practical1 and enjoin not merely states 
of mind and heart1 but conditions of    
activity4 ,there is an entire magazine  
of working-forces in that one great     
law--,love thy neighbor as thyself4     
,hear the words of an apostolical       
commentator upon it4 ,if a brother or   
sister be naked1 and destitute of daily 
food1 says he1 and one of you say unto  
them1 ,depart in peace1 be ye warmed and
 filled2 notwithstanding ye give them   
not those things which are needful to   
the body2 what doth it profit8 ,even so 
faith1 if it hath not works1 is dead1   
being alone4 ,and wherever ,christianity
 has existed and been apprehended1 it   
has produced beneficent results for     
humanity4 ,it has gone over the earth   
like its ,divine ,author1 with healing  
and with help for the woes of the race4 
,anybody who takes his stand at the     
head-waters of modern history1 will see 
that a mighty energy was then poured    

into the world1 whose influence is      
evident in the truest civilization1 in  
the best results1 of ages4 ,in          
estimating the practical power of       
,christianity1 we must look at the      
positive phase of things--we must       
consider what has actually been done2   
not merely what remains to be done4 ,we 
must adopt proportionate standards1 not 
the little measures of to-day and       
yesterday1 in which the tides of human  
melioration may oscillate1 and even seem
 to flow backward and at the best to    
make slight headway4 ,but take up the   
cycle of history that preceded the      
advent of ,christianity1 and compare it 
with the present period2 and is there   
not an entirely different expression on 
the face of things1 so far as           
conceptions of humanity and influences  
of philanthropy are concerned8 ,contrast
 a ,roman holiday1 its butchery and its 
blood1 with a modern anniversary that   
clasps the round world in its jubilee1  
and see if humanity has not been helped 

by religion4 ,or look back upon ,grecian
 art and refinement1 and tell me what   
oration or poem1 or pantheon of marble  
beauty1 is half as glorious as the plain
 brick free-school2 the asylum of       
industry2 the home for the penitent1 the
 disabled and the poor8 ,ah6 my friends1
 these are such familiar things that we 
may not think them the great things they
 really are2 and in gazing upon the     
colossal evils that yet tower up before 
us1 they may seem slight achievements4  
,but they are great3 and when ,i see the
 poor drunkard return to a renovated    
home--the demoniac sitting clothed and  
in his right mind once more2 when ,i see
 the dumb write1 and hear the blind     
read1 and little rescued children sing  
their thankful hymns2 ,i think humanity 
has been helped a great deal since that 
,divine ,teacher walked the earth1 and  
took the lambs to his bosom1 and made   
the foul leper clean1 and partook with  
publicans and sinners1 and bade the     
guilty go and sin no more4 ,i think that

 currents of love and self-sacrifice1   
from that heart that was pierced for us 
upon the cross1 have found their way    
through the channels of ages1 through   
all the impediments of worldliness and  
selfishness1 and inspired and blessed   
men far more than they know4  ,but if1  
turning from the positive achievement1  
you point to the evils that still       
exist--if you lift the coverings of     
respectability and custom from the      
ghastly facts that are embedded here in 
our so-called civilization2 if you bid  
me mark the vice1 the poverty1 the      
crime1 the oppression1 the grinding     
monopoly1 the prejudice1 the gigantic   
materialism and practical atheism that  
are mixed up with it1 and seem to be    
inseparable parts of it2 then ,i ask    
you--how would it be without the ,help  
of ,religion8 ,what interpretation      
should we obtain from the dark creed of 
the skeptic1 what inspiration from the  
philosophy of annihilation1 and of fate8
 ,to say nothing of those forces of     

,love and self-sacrifice which it sheds 
abroad in the world1 and to which ,i    
have just alluded1--,religion1 in one   
single proposition1 sends pregnant      
elements of direction and relief into   
the midst of these giant evils4 ,that   
one proposition is the immortality of   
man--the priceless spirituality of every
 man--the ascription of a nature more   
glorious and imperishable than a star4  
,here is the spring of its perpetual    
antagonism to the world1 and to the evil
 of the world4 ,the latter bases its    
estimate of man upon outward conditions2
 estimates his name and his title1 his  
equipage and his parentage1 the bulk of 
his gold1 the color of his skin1 his    
apparent success or defeat4             
,christianity points to that vivid      
centre of a soul1 in whose light all    
these external distinctions fade1 are   
fused into dross1 become comparatively  
naught4 ,all the evil of the world      
stands upon the assumption of the former
 rule--upon the ground of external and  

material valuation--which1 as has been  
well observed by another1 is a method of
 studying the problems of the universe  
by fetching rules from the wider sphere 
7therefore the lower7 to import into the
 higher4444 ,so long as this logical    
strategy is allowed1 the ,titans will   
always conquer the gods2 the            
ground-forces of the lowest nature will 
propagate themselves1 pulse after pulse1
 from the abysses to the skies1 and     
right will exist only on sufferance from
 might4 ,on the other hand1 ,i say1     
,religion1 ,christianity1 starts from   
the centre outward--starts with the     
dignity and sanctity of the human       
soul--and in this is the great element  
of all progress and reform4 ,out of this
 have sprung the achievements of modern 
freedom4 ,assuming this inward          
birthright of every man1 men have       
snapped feudal fetters1 and broken the  
seals of ancient proscription1 and torn 
up branching genealogies1 and trodden   
diadems in the dust4 ,it was this fact  

that inspired ,sidney's speech1 and     
,hampden's effort1 and ,washington's    
calm determination4 ,it is this that    
erects itself against majorities1       
policies1 institutions1 charters1 and   
will not be beaten down1 and will       
agitate1 and will triumph4 ,it is this  
that sends philanthropy upon its        
mission2 and bids it stoop to the most  
fallen1 and search under the darkest    
depravity4 ,go abroad1 it says1 amidst  
the guilt and misery of the great city4 
,in the rags1 the filth1 the            
abomination1 there are jewels fallen    
from heaven4 ,there are souls upon which
 angels look with solicitude4 ,there are
 interests for which ,christ died4      
,search patiently1 and deeply1 and never
 give up the endeavor to find1 to lift  
up1 to restore4 ,is not all the spring  
of benevolent effort1 then1 in this     
single proposition of ,religion8 ,this  
one great ,truth it utters amidst the   
suffering and injustice of the          
world--that men are heirs of one        

inheritance2 possessors of a birthright 
by virtue of which all outward          
inequalities fade away4 ,it bases a     
demand for mutual help and love1 upon   
the fact that we are all on a           
pilgrimage--high1 low1 honored1         
degraded1 master1 slave1 we go forth    
together1 and these earthly distinctions
 all drop away4 ,rich man with rows of  
real-estate1 with money safe in bank1   
with solid securities walled around     
you--you will carry no more away than   
,lazarus yonder--in ,god's eyes you are 
no richer than he4 ,because here we have
 no continuing city4 ,the destinies of  
our common humanity flow forward into   
another and more enduring one4  ,and1 if
 still this problem of human degradation
 and suffering presses upon us1 ,i say  
further1 that where the constituents of 
this problem are most prominent1 there  
religion is the most active4 ,the       
heaviest poverty is belted about by the 
brightest charities2 the hot-beds of    
crime generate the most radical efforts 

for its prevention and its cure2 and    
while oppression is at work1 setting its
 dark types upon virgin soil to print   
off its own shame and condemnation1     
indignant voices expose it and indignant
 hearts react against it4 ,and more and 
more1 every day1 it is felt and         
proclaimed that religion is a           
working-principle--a practical power4   
,never was it more profoundly felt than 
in this very age that men must be       
confessors of ,christianity as well as  
professors4 ,and in the light of this   
conception1 proffering fresh and willing
 help1 ,religion walks abroad2 and lo6  
waste places grow verdant1 and the      
strongholds of guilt and misery sink    
down1 and blessed institutions rise up1 
and industry takes the place of crime1  
and cursings are exchanged for songs1   
and the poorest sees the immortal light1
 and is lifted up by the grand          
thought--that here have we no continuing
 city1 but we seek one to come4  ,we    
have thus seen that ,religion is a ,help

 as to the fact of sin1 when men are    
convinced of it as a great reality2 and 
a help as to the fact of human          
suffering1 because it is a              
working-power4 ,but1 over and above all 
this1 there are problems that perplex   
us1 and demand some answer2 problems as 
to the ,how1 and the ,wherefore1 and the
 ,end4 ,there are times when our        
thoughts rise above all specific        
instances1 and we take up humanity and  
existence as a whole1 and ask--,what    
means it all8 ,sometimes this question  
starts out of an individual experience4 
,the shock of affliction has jarred our 
hearts2 our expectations have come to   
naught2 bereavement has broken up the   
routine of our life2 or our own souls   
have surprised us with sudden           
revelations4 ,at any rate1 we find our  
being here involved with mystery4 ,there
 is something that our understanding    
cannot entirely grasp2 something that   
our unassisted eyes cannot see4 ,and the
 only help for us in such a case is the 

,help of ,religion1 presenting us1      
through faith1 with an interpretation of
 human life--an interpretation which    
tells us that what we now experience and
 behold is only transitional1           
preliminary1 and that we see through a  
glass darkly1 and it doth not yet appear
 what we shall be4  ,and is it necessary
 for me to dwell upon the strength which
 has thus been imparted to sad and      
wounded spirits1 when with perfect trust
 in ,infinite ,goodness they have thus  
realized that they stand only on one    
round of an upward course--only in a    
little segment of the immense plan8 ,i  
will merely say now1 that if1 through   
faith1 religion is a help to these by   
interpreting life in harmony with       
individual experience1 so through this  
faith does it help the meditative man   
troubled by the general problem of      
existence and humanity4 ,the meaning of 
these various conditions in the         
city--the meaning of these sins1 and    
sorrows1 and inequalities--the meaning  

of this tide of life itself that rolls  
in endless succession through these     
stony arteries--does it perplex you8    
,accept1 then1 the help which religion  
gives by interpreting it as only        
preliminary and transitional2 only a    
portion of a wider scheme4  ,we         
commenced this series of discourses by  
standing1 as it were1 in the street1 on 
a level with all these phases of        
humanity4 ,ascend now some lofty post of
 observation2 some high watch-tower4    
,the mottled tide flows and dashes far  
below you4 ,the sounds of strife and    
endeavor rise faintly to your ears1 and 
are drowned in the upper air4 ,so in the
 altitude and comprehensiveness of      
faith1 all this that seemed so huge and 
startling dwindles to a little stream in
 the great ocean of existence1 and all  
these tumults are swallowed up in the   
currents of silent but beneficent       
design4 ,but1 in the meantime1 the      
daylight has gone1 the night-shadow has 
fallen1 this stream of human life has   

ebbed away1 and all these sounds are    
still4 ,see1 now1 how much of your      
perplexity came from a deceit of        
eye-sight--see how the light of this    
world blinded you to the immensity and  
the meaning of existence6 ,see6 over    
your head spreads the great firmament4  
,there are ,sirius1 and ,orion1 and the 
glittering ,pleiades4 ,how harmoniously 
they are related2 how calmly they roll6 
,and now1 ,o man6 fresh from the reeking
 dust1 and the cry of pained hearts1 and
 the shadows of the grave1 do not the   
scales of unbelief drop from your eyes1 
when you see the width of ,god's        
universe1 and feel that ,his purpose    
girdles this little planet and steers   
its freight of souls8 ,you were deceived
 by your standards of greatness and     
duration4 ,you thought that this        
material city1 with what it contains1   
was everything4 ,but they have cherished
 the true view1 who in the spirit of the
 text have interpreted these ,conditions
 of ,humanity--the conditions of those  

who seek and sin and suffer in the busy 
crowd2 of those who rest beneath yonder 
gleaming tomb-stones4 ,and1 as we read  
what all wise and good men have         
virtually said1 our mortal term         
contracts1 our immortal career opens1   
our years seem as ticks of a clock1 and 
the entire sum of our life but a        
minute-mark on the dial of eternity2 and
 this huge metropolis becomes a dim     
veil1 a perishable symbol of real and   
enduring things4   ,,the ,,end4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,,transcriber',s ,,note3  ,every effort 
has been made to replicate this text as 
faithfully as possible1 including       
obsolete and variant spellings4 ,obvious
 typographical errors in punctuation    
7misplaced quotes and the like7 have    
been fixed4 ,corrections in brackets in 
the text are noted below3  page #bg3    
quote typo corrected      ,but1 say you1
 'here is one who is returning to a home
 of     destitution1 of misery2 where   
the  page #ci3 typo corrected           

between those great agents of human     
achievmentachievement     and the living
 intelligence  page #da3 typo corrected 
years4 ,remarkable for brilliant        
achievmentsachievements in     every    
department of physics1 ours well        
deserves  page #de3 hyphen removed      
the old world without a telegraph1 and  
,columbus found a new     one without a 
steam-ship4  page #di3 typo corrected   
open air and the sovreigntysovereignty  
of the soil4 ,and if     this immense   
intrusion of machinery has  page #eh3   
duplicate word removed      stream1 and 
chained the fire2 and now1 with with the
 eye of     science and the hand of     
skill1  page #hd3 typo corrected        
dignity is there in that man who        
justsjust accepts his     station and   
makes the most of  page #aed3 removed   
quote        celestial ,city be these   
well-known doors--and thus may we       
also die at ,home6  page #agc3 typo     
corrected      heaven1 whose inhabitants
 would not make                         

harmlesnessharmlessness their chief     
characteristic4 ,their  page #aie3 typo 
corrected      and1 perpetually         
descending from the threshold of the    
,infinite1 keeps open an arch-way of    
myssterymystery and     heaven4  page   
#bja3 typo corrected      dangerous     
reasoning1 my friends2                  
neverthlessnevertheless1     it is      
reasoning1 and shows that the mind of   
the  page #bdj3 typo corrected      of  
life and the conditions of humanity     
arouudaround us4 ,the     great city1   
now so gross and profane1