,living for the ,best    ,by    ,james  
,g4 ,k4 ,mc,clure    ,author of ,a      
,mighty ,means of ,usefulness1 ,the     
,great ,appeal1   ,possibilities1 etc4  
,,chicago      ,,new ,,york             
,,toronto   ,fleming ,h4 ,revell        
,company   ,,london ,,and ,,edinburgh   
,copyright1 #aijc   ,by ,,fleming ,h4   
,,revell ,,company   ,,march            
,,chicago3 #fc ,,washington ,,street    
,,new ,,york3 #aeh ,,fifth ,,avenue     
,,toronto3 #bg ,,richmond ,,street1 ,w4 
,,london3 #ba ,,paternoster ,,square    
,,edinburgh3 #cj ,,st4 ,,mary ,,street  
,,preface4   ,the publisher of a large  
metropolitan journal1 a most effective  
man in reaching and influencing his     
fellows1 once expressed to me the       
thought1 ,from what ,i know of myself   
and others1 were ,i a writer or speaker 
desiring to enforce truth1 ,i would     
always try to vivify that truth through 
illustration and story4 ,the every-day  
intelligence of man rejoices to have    
truth put before it in living form4  ,it

 is with these words in mind that this  
book is written4 ,its purpose is to set 
forth great ideas1 and so to set them   
forth1 each one illustrated by a        
historic life already familiar1 that    
these ideas shall be made luminous1 and 
even vivid1 to the reader4 ,the         
characters chosen for such illustration 
are from the ,old ,testament--those men 
of ancient times whose humanity is the  
humanity of every race and clime1 and   
whose experiences touch our own with    
sympathy and suggestion4 ,may these     
old-day heroes live again before the    
mind of him who turns these pages1 and  
may the ideas which they are used to    
illustrate be an abiding power in the   
memory of every reader4        ,,james  
,g4 ,k4 ,,mcclure4    ,,lake ,,forest1  
,,illinois4     ,,table ,,of ,,contents 
,,chapter                               
,,page       ,i4 ,open to the ,best     
#aa      ,,ii4 ,winning the ,best       
,victories                  #ca         
,,iii4 ,making the ,best ,use of ,our   

,lives            #di      ,,iv4        
,putting the ,best into ,others         
#fg       ,v4 ,developing ,our ,best    
under ,difficulties      #hg      ,,vi4 
,the ,need of ,retaining the ,best      
,wisdom      #aje     ,,vii4 ,the ,best 
,possession                        #abc 
,,viii4 ,using ,aright ,our ,best ,hours
                #ada      ,,ix4 ,giving 
,our ,best to ,god                      
#afa     ,,open ,,to ,,the ,,best4      
,,chapter ,i4  ,,open ,,to ,,the ,,best4
   ,if every morning we would fling open
 our windows and look out on the wide   
reaches of ,god's love and goodness1 we 
could not help singing4 ,so it has been 
written4 ,so ,luther thought4 ,when he  
was at ,wartburg ,castle1 in the        
perilous times of the ,reformation1 he  
went every morning to his window1 threw 
it open1 looked up to the skies1 and    
veritable prisoner though he was1       
cheerily sang1 ,god is our ,refuge and  
,strength1 a very present ,help4 ,then  
he carried a buoyant heart to the labor 

of the day4  ,the joy of a glad outlook 
was well understood by ,ruskin4 ,his    
guests at ,brantwood were often awakened
 early in the morning by a knocking at  
their doors and the call1 ,are you      
looking out8 ,when in response to this  
summons they pushed back the            
window-blinds a scene of beauty greeted 
their eyes4 ,the glory of sunlight and  
the grandeur of forest dispelled care1  
quieted fret1 and animated hope4        
,scarce anything in life more determines
 a soul's welfare than the nature of its
 outlook4 ,if spiritual frontage is     
toward the shadow1 the soul sees all    
things in the gloom of the shadow2 if   
spiritual frontage is toward the        
sunlight1 the soul sees all things in   
the brightness of the sunlight4  ,the   
preliminary question of character is1   
,what is the outlook8 ,let that outlook 
be wrong1 and opinion and conduct in due
 time will be wrong2 let it be right1   
and whatever the temporary mistakes of  
opinion and conduct1 the permanent      

tendency of character will be toward the
 right4  ,from a small window one may   
see the infinite1 ,carlyle wrote4 ,this 
was ,daniel's belief4 ,he acted upon his
 belief4 ,the windows of his soul were  
always open to the infinite4 ,in that   
fact lies the explanation of his        
character--a character of which every   
child hears with interest1 every youth  
with admiration1 and every mature man   
with reverence4  ,to-day in eastern     
lands the ,mohammedan1 wherever he may  
be1 turns his face toward ,mecca when1  
seeking help1 he worships ,god4 ,to him 
,mecca is the central spot of           
,mohammedan revelation1 and is the focus
 of all ,mohammedan brotherhood4 ,so in 
olden times the ,israelite1 wherever he 
might be1 thought of ,jerusalem as the  
place where ,god's worship was worthiest
 and where ,israelitish fellowship was  
heartiest4 ,the name ,jerusalem         
strengthened his religious faith and    
stirred his national patriotism4 ,to    
open the windows of his soul toward     

,jerusalem was to open the soul to the  
best thoughts and impressions that the  
world provided4  ,as the premier of the 
great ,medo-,persian empire ,daniel had 
his own palatial residence4 ,the windows
 of the different rooms fronted in their
 special directions4 ,there was one room
 that was his particular and private    
room4 ,it was an upper room or loft1    
somewhere apart by itself4 ,the         
distinctive feature of this room was    
that its windows opened toward          
,jerusalem4 ,into this room ,daniel was 
accustomed to go three times a day1     
throw open the lattice windows1 look    
toward ,jerusalem1 and then in the      
thought of all that ,jerusalem          
represented1 kneel and talk with ,god4  
,such was his custom4 ,if the matters of
 his life were comparatively            
comfortable1 he did this2 and if those  
matters were seriously unpleasant1 he   
did the same4 ,should1 then1 an occasion
 much out of the ordinary arise1 an     
occasion involving a crisis in his life1

 it would be perfectly natural that he  
should1 as he had invariably done1 go   
into his retired chamber and open the   
windows4  ,such an extraordinary        
occasion arose when ,darius issued the  
decree that the man who prayed to other 
than himself should be cast into a den  
of lions4 ,in itself the decree seemed  
justifiable4 ,it was customary for the  
,persians to worship their kings as     
gods4 ,ormuzd was said to dwell in every
 ,persian king4 ,accordingly1 divine    
authority was attributed to ,persian    
kings1 and whenever one of them issued a
 law1 it had the force of infallibility4
 ,so it was that the law of the ,medes  
and the ,persians published by a king   
altereth not4  ,at this particular time 
a decree commanding all people to bow to
 the king was perhaps a matter of state 
policy4 ,the kingdom of the ,medes and  
,persians had just been established4    
,here was an opportunity of testing the 
loyalty of the entire realm to the new  
king1 ,darius4 ,if the people far and   

wide would bow to him1 then they were   
loyal2 but if they refused so to bow1   
then they evidently were disloyal4      
,there was1 however1 an ulterior motive 
lying back of this seemingly rational   
decree4 ,many of the state officials    
envied ,daniel4 ,he was a foreigner1 and
 still he held higher place than they4  
,they desired to bring him into         
disrepute4 ,they could not accomplish   
their purposes through charges of       
malfeasance of office1 for his actions  
were absolutely faultless4 ,they        
therefore resorted to the securing of   
this decree1 believing1 from what they  
knew of ,daniel's habits and character1 
that he would1 as he always had done1   
pray to ,jehovah and not to ,darius4 ,in
 such case he would violate the decree  
and expose himself to the penalty of    
death4  ,daniel knew that the decree had
 been issued4 ,what would he do about   
it8 ,the envious officials watched to   
see4 ,when ,daniel went to his palace   
their eyes followed him4 ,perhaps they  

had spies in the palace4 ,in any case1  
some eyes tracked him as he passed from 
room to room until he came into his     
loft1 his upper room1 and then they saw 
him open the windows toward ,jerusalem  
and kneel before ,jehovah6 ,so much was 
it a part of ,daniel's life to keep the 
windows of his soul open to the best1   
that the direst threat had no power to  
divert him for an instant from his      
wonted course4  ,daniel kept the windows
 of his soul open to the best religion4 
,to him ,jerusalem stood for the best   
religion on earth4 ,from the time1 as a 
boy of fourteen1 he first went away from
 home1 he had lived among peoples having
 different faiths4 ,he had known the    
religion of the ,chaldeans1 and had seen
 its phases under ,nebuchadnezzar and   
,belshazzar4 ,it had much in its favor3 
its temples were beautiful1 its         
ceremonies ornate1 its feasts imposing4 
,it had much however that was not in its
 favor3 its heartlessness1 its impurity1
 and its deceit4 ,he had known1 too1 the

 fire-worshiping religion of the        
,persians4 ,many of its features        
appealed to him4 ,the sun then as always
 was an object of admiration4 ,as it    
rises above the horizon1 moving with a  
stately progress that no cloud can      
check1 no force of nature can retard1   
and no hand of man can withstand1 it is 
the personification of majesty4 ,as it  
causes the birds to sing1 the beasts of 
the field to bestir themselves1 and     
mankind to issue forth to labor1 it is  
the emblem of power4 ,as it makes the   
grass to grow and the flower to bloom1  
and as it draws skyward the moisture of 
lake and ocean that1 like a great       
benefactor1 it may send accumulated     
showers to refresh the parched earth1   
the sun is a very life-giver4 ,it was no
 wonder that the ,persians of ,daniel's 
day1 with their imperfect knowledge1    
bowed before that sun and worshiped it2 
nor was it a wonder that they worshiped 
all fire that has within itself such    
transforming and beautifying and        

energizing power4  ,but though ,daniel  
knew this religion1 and the many other  
religions that in his time had their    
votaries in ,babylon1 he kept his       
windows open toward ,jerusalem4 ,other  
religions might attempt the answer to   
the soul's inquiries concerning the     
meaning of life1 other religions might  
have their beauties and their           
deformities1 other religions might help 
him very materially in his political    
career1 but to him one religion was the 
highest and the best1 and to the        
influence of that religion he opened his
 soul4 ,jerusalem stood for one ,god--an
 invisible ,creator who formed all      
things and was ,lord over the sun itself
 as well as over man4 ,this ,god1 an    
unseen ,spirit1 was spotless in his     
character1 and would dwell in the heart 
of man as man's friend and helper4 ,to  
,daniel there was no such religion      
anywhere as the religion that taught    
this incomparable ,god--a ,god without a
 vice1 a ,god who forgives sin1 a ,god  

who never disdains the weakest soul that
 comes to him in penitence--and still is
 ,lord of lords and ,king of kings1 the 
only wise and only ,eternal ,one4  ,once
 a distinguished thinker1 addressing    
students1 said3 ,i have found great     
benefit in my own experience by         
emphasizing a very simple principle1 one
 which never fails me when it is applied
 to questions of the spiritual life3    
',it is always best to believe the      
best4'  ,then he illustrated his        
meaning4 ,the religion that teaches that
 all events are guided by intelligence  
toward a goal of love1 rather than by   
blind and remorseless force1 enables us 
to live in hope4 ,it makes existence1   
not a prison-house1 but a place of broad
 and splendid horizons2 it makes the    
service of humanity a prophecy of       
blessing for all2 it makes the          
discipline of the race a means toward a 
beneficent end4 ,the religion that also 
teaches that we all are children of a   
good ,god1 and that to the weakest and  

humblest of us there may be deliverance 
from all evil1 transformation into all  
holiness1 and finally reception to      
immortality in the presence and service 
of regnant perfection1 such a religion  
is the best--the best in its hopes1 the 
best in its inspiration1 the best in its
 purposes1 and the best in its results4 
,because it is the best1 it is best to  
believe it2 best to believe it1 because 
through believing it we are helped      
toward the noblest manhood and are      
enabled to face life and death alike1   
with bravery4  ,all this ,daniel        
realized4 ,accordingly1 amid all the    
distractions and appeals1 and even      
temptations1 of other religions1 he kept
 his heart's windows open to the        
influences of ,god's religion4 ,that was
 the wise attitude for him4 ,it is the  
wise attitude for all4 ,it is a man's   
duty1 if he be true to his own soul1 to 
keep an open mind to the best religion4 
,christianity claims to be the best1 and
 asks acceptance on that ground alone4  

,it welcomes study of every other       
religion4 ,it rejoices in a ,parliament 
of ,religions1 wherein the advocates of 
different religions may present the     
claims of their religions in the        
strongest language possible4 ,it listens
 as one religion is praised because it  
can secure calmness of mind1 and as     
another is praised because it can secure
 heroism of life4 ,as it listens1 it    
delights in every word of encomium1 so  
long as each speaker and hearer keeps an
 open heart toward the best religion4   
,then1 when its own opportunity comes1  
,christianity presents itself1 and      
asserting that the evil that is in any  
other religion is not in ,christianity  
at all1 that the good that is in any    
other religion is in ,christianity far  
more abundantly1 and that there are     
blessings in ,christianity that appear  
in no other religion whatever1 it claims
 to be the transcendent religion4  ,in  
the activity of intellectual life common
 to all awakening and thoughtful minds  

it is inevitable that doubts will arise 
concerning the worthiness of            
,christianity4 ,every age finds the     
special doubts of its own age peculiar  
to itself4 ,in this present age         
questions are in the air concerning the 
authorship of the ,bible1 concerning the
 person of ,christ1 and concerning the  
authenticity of the records of ,christ's
 earthly ministry4 ,men are asking      
whether this world is impelled by a     
blind1 resistless1 heartless force1     
whether we are merely a mass of atoms1  
whether we may be delivered from the    
thraldom of sin1 and whether when we die
 we become dust and dust alone4 ,what   
shall we do in the face of all these    
questions8 ,keep the windows of our     
souls open to the beliefs that are best 
for our life's grandeur and for         
humanity's uplift4 ,that is what we may 
do1 what we should do1 and what if we so
 do1 will invariably lead the mind to a 
higher and higher valuation of the      
pre-eminence of ,christianity4  ,daniel 

kept his windows open to the best       
commands of the best religion4 ,his     
daily surroundings from the hour as a   
youth he entered the king's palace at   
,babylon were demoralizing4 ,the ideals 
of his associates were low4 ,the        
religious life of his fellow-students   
was a mere form4 ,domestic life all     
about him was unsound4 ,public life was 
dishonest4 ,looseness of character      
everywhere prevailed4 ,impurity was     
alluring4 ,bribery was considered a     
necessary feature of authority4 ,the    
weak were crushed by the mighty4        
,selfishness characterized both king and
 people4  ,the difficulty of his        
position was great3 to breathe malaria  
and not be affected by it4 ,he was in   
the whirl of worldliness and still he   
must not be made dizzy thereby4 ,his one
 resource for safety was his daily      
consideration of the commands of ,god4  
,those commands charged men to be       
upright1 to be clean1 to do duty        
faithfully1 even though it was duty to a

 heathen master1 and to make life       
serviceable to the welfare of others4   
,again and again all through the years  
of his exile it was necessary for his   
soul's welfare that he should ponder    
these commands of ,god and not let the  
atmosphere that surrounded him lower and
 destroy his ideals4  ,on that day when 
the unalterable decree was issued       
,daniel was in imminent and unescapable 
peril4 ,jealous officers already        
rejoiced in his anticipated death4 ,the 
danger of weakening threatened his      
heart4 ,he remembered that ,abraham once
 in ,egypt surrendered his principles   
and thereby saved his life2 that the    
,gibeonites once falsified and so       
preserved themselves alive4 ,he might   
have reasoned1 ,why should not ,i1 in   
this special matter1 yield1 and give up 
recognition of ,jehovah until the storm 
of persecution is past8 ,he could easily
 say1 ,perhaps ,i am making too much of 
this whole subject2 what difference will
 there be if ,i1 away off here in       

,babylon1 hundreds of miles from home1  
call this a case of expediency1 and     
temporarily relinquish my ideals8 ,the  
temptation was a fearful one4 ,many a   
man has gone down before it4 ,cranmer   
did1 ,pilate did2 but not ,daniel4 ,he  
kept his eyes on ,god's commands--those 
commands that told him to do the right  
and scorn the consequences1 those       
commands that told him that faithfulness
 to principle1 though it ended in       
martyrdom1 was essential to place in    
,god's hero list4 ,he remembered        
,joseph1 who would not sin against ,god 
in doing evil4 ,he remembered ,god1 that
 bade him bear his testimony1 sealing it
 if necessary with his life's blood4 ,so
 remembering he kept the faith and      
proved invincible4  ,many a man1 like   
,daniel1 exposed to a peculiar          
temptation1 has been made brave as he   
has remembered the standards set for him
 by another4 ,he has thought of the wife
 perhaps1 who charged him to meet his   
duties as a man of ,god1 though         

godliness should involve them both in   
disgrace1 and thus thinking he has stood
 firm before evil4 ,or as a youth1 away 
from home1 in a school or factory1 with 
deteriorating influences all about him1 
and his feet well-nigh gone from the    
ways of uprightness1 he has turned his  
heart toward that mother who would      
rather have him die than be false1 and  
the remembrance of her has roused his   
self-assertion and made him master of   
the environment4  ,the commands of ,god 
summon men to principle1 to fidelity1 to
 serviceableness1 to self-renunciation1 
and to holiness4 ,the man has never     
lived1 nor ever will live1 who can      
fulfil these commands of ,god unless his
 windows are continually open toward    
,jerusalem4 ,we need1 we always need1 to
 have our ideals kept large and our     
standards kept high if we are to be     
noble souls4  ,daniel kept the windows  
of his soul open1 too1 to the best      
promises of the best religion4 ,even    
though the prince of the eunuchs was    

kind to the home-sick captive1 and a    
king was gracious to the interpreter of 
dreams1 ,daniel was always exposed to   
discouragement4 ,like the missionary of 
to-day1 alone in a foreign land1 he was 
surrounded by the depressing influences 
of heathenism4 ,as he advanced in power 
there was no one to whom he could go for
 religious fellowship4 ,the aids of     
comradeship and the aids of public      
worship were wanting4 ,there were no    
audible voices summoning him to trust1  
and there was no tangible evidence of   
the existence of a people of ,god4 ,he  
therefore needed every day to go to ,god
 ,himself1 and find in ,him a refuge for
 his heart2 needed to hear ,god's       
reassuring voice telling him that ,god  
was with him1 was watching over him in  
love1 and would provide for him as      
occasion might require4 ,how often      
,daniel must have been comforted and    
heartened as he opened his soul to the  
promises of ,god6  ,but what an hour of 
need that was when he was tracked to his

 upper room6 ,every power in the great  
,medo-,persian ,empire was arrayed      
against him4 ,no friend1 no helper1 was 
at hand4 ,he stood alone before his     
fearful crisis4 ,brave and determined as
 his spirit might be1 he was still a    
man--a man of flesh and blood4 ,he      
needed strength3 needed1 as ,christ     
afterward in ,gethsemane needed1        
supporting and encouraging sympathy4 ,he
 turned his soul toward the promises of 
,god's protection and help4 ,he let     
those promises flood his heart4 ,those  
promises made his will like adamant4    
,we do well when we front our hearts to 
,god's promises4 ,every earnest soul1   
trying to make this world better1 meets 
severe discouragements4 ,then let the   
soul open itself to ,god's assurance    
that the ends of the earth are given to 
,christ and that good shall indeed come 
off victorious4 ,every weak soul        
struggling to subdue its sin comes to   
hours of weariness4 ,then let the soul  
open itself to ,god's assurance that ,he

 giveth power to the faint and to them  
that have no might ,he increaseth       
strength4 ,every sorrowing soul1 sighing
 for the loved and the lost1 has days of
 loneliness4 ,then let the soul open    
itself to ,god's assurance that life and
 immortality are brought to light in    
,jesus ,christ4 ,only as the needy world
 of humanity opens its heart to ,god's  
promises can it walk in light and       
possess the peace that passeth          
understanding4  ,there is always danger 
lest men let the windows of their souls 
be shut toward ,god4 ,our particular    
sins cause us to shut these windows4 ,we
 do not like to look into ,god's face   
when we are conscious of cherished evil4
 ,adam and ,eve hid themselves from ,god
 when they knew they had done wrong4    
,those who condemned the reformers to   
death1 often put wax in their ears so   
that they might not hear the testimony  
given by those reformers at the stake4  
,cares1 too1 cause us to shut these     
windows4 ,we have so much responsibility

 to absorb us that we have no time to   
look out to any distant tower of a      
sanctifying thought4 ,all sorts of      
sights are before our windows--society1 
business1 pleasure1 study--but not ,god4
 ,our life seems to open in every other 
direction than toward the holy city4 ,we
 do not go alone into a private place   
and expose ourselves to the influences  
,god stands ready to send to our hearts4
 ,it would be far better if we did4 ,we 
should find that almost as gently as    
comes the sunlight1 ideas1 inspirations1
 and aspirations would be suggested to  
our hearts4 ,they would enter our       
hearts1 we would not know how2 and if we
 cherished them1 they would correct our 
false estimates of life1 would re-mint  
our courage1 would clarify the vision of
 our faith1 and would prepare us1 as    
they prepared ,daniel1 to discharge all 
life's duties with integrity1 humanity1 
and composure4  ,it is a blessed1 very  
blessed1 way to live1 this way of       
keeping our hearts open to the best4 ,we

 all can so live4 ,we can have a secret 
chamber--a very closet of the soul--into
 which we can go1 whether we are with   
the multitude or are alone2 and if      
through the broadly opened windows of   
that closet we look out toward the      
best--distant as that best may          
seem--back from the best will come the  
light that never fails and the strength 
that never breaks4     ,,winning ,,the  
,,best ,,victories4     ,,chapter ,,ii4 
,,winning ,,the ,,best ,,victories4     
,success in life is determined by the   
victories we win4 ,only he who triumphs 
over obstacles is a successful man4     
,there are as many kinds of victory as  
there are kinds of obstacles4 ,some     
kinds of obstacles call upon us for the 
use of our secondary powers1 and some   
for the use of our primary powers4 ,when
 the obstacles bring into play the very 
best powers of our natures1 and those   
powers conquer the obstacles1 then we   
win our best victories4  ,david is a    
most interesting illustration of the    

winning of victories4 ,the ,bible       
evidently considers him one of its      
greatest heroes4 ,while it gives eleven 
chapters to ,jacob and fourteen chapters
 to ,abraham1 it gives sixty-one        
chapters to ,david4 ,it thus asks us to 
pay great heed to the story and lessons 
of ,david's life4  ,almost our first    
introduction to ,david represents him in
 a fight4 ,he is a mere shepherd lad1   
out in the wilderness1 perhaps miles    
from another human being1 when a lion   
springs forth and seizes a lamb from the
 flock he is guarding4 ,it was a        
fearsome hour for a boy4 ,he might have 
deserted the flock and fled1 preserving 
himself4 ,but not so4 ,he faced the     
lion4 ,he even attacked the lion4 ,he   
wrested the lamb from its mouth1 and he 
slew the lion4 ,again1 when1 under      
similar circumstances1 a beast of       
another kind1 a bear1 laid hold of a    
lamb1 ,david stood up to the danger1 and
 with such weapons of club and knife as 
he had1 fought the bear to its death4   

,some years ago in ,alaska1 in a house  
hundreds of miles from any other white  
man's home1 ,i saw a bearskin lying upon
 the sitting-room floor4 ,the son of the
 house1 out hunting1 had suddenly come  
upon a bear1 that rose up within a few  
feet of his face4 ,the boy lifted his   
gun1 shot1 aiming at the bear's heart1  
and then1 trembling with terror1 ran for
 home4 ,the next day the boy's father   
took associates to the spot1 found the  
body of the bear1 and brought the skin  
home as a trophy of the boy's skill and 
pluck4 ,and a trophy it was6 ,but when  
,david1 scarce armed at all1 a boy1     
brought down his lion and his bear1 in  
an actual face-to-face encounter1 the   
skins of the lion and of the bear were  
trophies indeed6  ,the next scene in    
,david's life is when he meets ,goliath4
 ,david is still a youth4 ,the ruddy    
color has not yet been burned out of his
 cheeks by the ,oriental sun4 ,this     
meeting is different from any he has    
faced4 ,it is not with a beast1 but with

 a man--a man armed1 a man experienced  
in combat1 a man of much larger size and
 weight than himself1 a man who had an  
assured sense of his own strength1 a man
 whose voice1 manner1 and prowess put   
fear into the heart of every fighter in 
the army of ,israel4 ,in ,david's       
previous contests there had been an     
element of suddenness1 so there was no  
time for hesitation1 and so no time for 
the cowardice often born of hesitation2 
in this contest there was delay1 and    
during that delay ,david was twitted    
with the foolishness of even thinking of
 facing ,goliath1 and an effort was made
 to break down his courage4 ,right      
manfully1 however1 did he stand up to   
the danger4 ,instead of a lamb1 an army 
was in peril4 ,the cause was worthy of a
 great venture4 ,he made the venture4   
,he took smooth stones from the brook1  
he used his shepherd's sling1 he        
conquered ,goliath1 and ,goliath's sword
 and ,goliath's head became trophies of 
a splendid victory4 ,the youth had      

rescued an army from paralyzing fear1   
and had saved the glory of ,jehovah's   
name6 ,he deserved credit then4 ,he     
received it then4 ,and he became forever
 an inspiring example to all youth who  
would fight their country's battles1 and
 win laurels for the ,god of battles4   
,these two scenes are suggestive4 ,the  
one with the lion and the bear speaks to
 us of pure physical bravery4 ,david has
 such muscular strength that he1 by the 
power in his hands and arms1 can hold   
beasts and fight a winning fight with   
them4 ,david's strength makes the       
killing of a lion or bear with a rifle1 
whether at long distance or even near at
 hand1 seem small4 ,it makes the        
ordinary successes of those who contest 
in the athletic trials of our day seem  
insignificant4 ,still it glorifies those
 successes4 ,physical bravery is most   
desirable4 ,people believe so4 ,they    
love to see contests of physical        
endurance4 ,they will go miles to watch 
such contests1 and they will cheer the  

victors to the echo4 ,in so doing to-day
 they follow the example of all         
preceding generations4 ,barbarian1      
,greek1 ,roman1 ,indian1 every man      
everywhere is interested in muscular    
power4 ,it fells trees and wins         
victories over the forest2 it plows soil
 and wins victories over the fields2 it 
breaks stone and wins victories over    
roadbeds4 ,physical victories are not to
 be gainsaid4 ,may every life win them  
if it can against nature1 against other 
lives in fair athletics1 against any one
 who would rob a home or burn a house4  
,the ambition to win muscular victories1
 in a right way1 for the defense or     
honor of a worthy cause1 is to be       
commended4 ,victories so won make their 
winners heroes4 ,waterloo is said to    
have been fought and won on the         
foot-ball ground of ,rugby4  ,the other 
scene is likewise suggestive--of ,david 
with ,goliath4 ,it is that of a youth   
fighting for his country and his ,god4  
,it is still a physical contest1 but it 

is now skill and muscle combined2 or    
rather1 muscle directed by skill4 ,the  
contest1 physically considered1 is      
unequal4 ,david is no match for         
,goliath4 ,they are in different        
classes4 ,but a calm mind1 a dexterous  
hand1 and a high purpose are ,david's1  
and they more than compensate for lack  
of physical force4 ,the strongest       
battalions do not always conquer4 ,the  
strongest physical force is not to      
conquer in this instance4 ,patriotism   
may so nerve the heart that one man is  
equal to a hundred1 and resolute purpose
 may develop such skill and sturdiness  
that a few can put a thousand to flight4
 ,it has always been so--in days of     
,marathon and in days of ,bunker        
,hill--and it always will be so4 ,the   
men who win such victories may well be  
lauded4 ,it was right that ,david's name
 should go into the ballads of his      
country and be repeated again and again 
to stir the heart of patriotism4 ,any   
man who can fight the battles of trade  

or of manufacturing or of invention--any
 man who can head a great industry1 who 
can write a strong book1 or who can make
 an eloquent speech--any man who        
conquers the difficulty of his position 
by skill and energy1 and succeeds1 has  
indeed won a great victory4 ,for a mere 
shepherd youth to conquer a trained     
fighter was superb2 and it is superb    
to-day when a poor boy honestly wins his
 way to wealth1 and a stammering boy    
learns to speak like a ,demosthenes1 and
 a seeming dunce becomes a brilliant    
,scott4 ,all soldiers conquering like   
,grant1 all discoverers succeeding like 
,columbus1 all investigators searching  
like ,darwin and writing like ,spencer1 
deserve crowns of recognition for       
victories they have won4  ,as a result  
of these two scenes in ,david's life    
many other scenes of a somewhat similar 
nature occurred4 ,as occasions arose1   
,david led many another attack upon the 
nation's foes4 ,he possessed the rare   
power of creating a well-disciplined    

force out of outlaws4 ,he so combined   
skill and leadership that none of the   
enemies of ,israel could resist him4    
,the story of his battles is a long and 
a glorious one4 ,he was a fighter of    
whom the nation might be proud4 ,if     
physical prowess and military skill and 
administrative force and legislative    
provision are essential to kingly       
success1 he had them4 ,victory after    
victory1 in all these lines1 were       
written upon his banner4  ,but ,david's 
fame does not rest upon the victories he
 won over beast or fellow-man1          
interesting and great as these victories
 are4 ,the reason that the ,bible gives 
him the space it does1 and the reason   
,christ is said to be ,david's son      
7though never the son of any other ,old 
,testament hero71 is because of the     
victories ,david won over himself4 ,in  
the sphere of his own heart he found his
 greatest difficulties1 for in that     
sphere he found his strongest foes2 but 
in that sphere he wrought out his       

greatest victories4 ,the best element in
 ,david's life is not his physical      
strength1 not his intellectual skill1   
not his ability as a singer1 a general1 
a judge1 a builder1 or a king1 but the  
best element is his conquest of himself4
  ,what a victory of magnanimity that   
was1 when ,saul1 who was bitterly       
persecuting ,david1 entered the cave in 
whose dark recesses ,david was          
concealed1 and lay down for sleep6      
,david had him in his power4 ,he could  
have killed him instantly1 and forever  
ended the persecution4 ,he was even     
urged to do so by his followers4 ,but he
 conquered his enmity1 he looked upon   
the sleeping ,saul with pity1 and he    
left him unharmed4 ,it is a mighty soul 
that can pity and forgive4 ,here was a  
king pursuing an innocent subject who   
had no other thought than of loyalty to 
his king--pursuing him relentlessly4    
,the whole transaction on ,saul's part  
was unjust and cruel4 ,but ,david1      
deeply feeling the wrong he was         

suffering1 crowded down the bitterness  
of his heart1 and treated ,saul         
magnanimously4  ,how many men1 otherwise
 splendid men1 have failed just here4   
,they could fight bravely as sailors or 
soldiers1 but later they could not treat
 a rival graciously4 ,they could win    
successes socially or commercially or   
scholastically1 but they became jealous 
of their places and their recognitions1 
and they wished no good to the one who  
in any way stood in their path4 ,but    
,david1 knowing that he himself was     
anointed to be king1 and that ,saul's   
persecution of him was unjustifiable1   
still rose so far above all thought of  
preserving his own dignity and insisting
 on his own rights1 that when his enemy 
lay helpless at his feet1 he treated him
 with deference6 ,now we begin to see   
why ,david is called a man after ,god's 
own heart4 ,was it because he could     
fight beast and man well8 ,no2 but      
because he could fight his own jealous1 
bitter heart and make it generous and   

kind and magnanimous4  ,what a victory  
of penitence that was when ,david sinned
 in the matter of ,uriah and ,bathsheba6
 ,he did sin4 ,no one exculpates ,david4
 ,the ,bible does not exculpate him1 nor
 will any sane man exculpate him4 ,he   
did a wrong that brought incessant      
sorrow on his heart and home4 ,during   
all the remaining years of his life he  
had cause to regret his wrong4 ,it might
 have been alleged that he did only what
 king after king1 situated like himself 
in that ,oriental land1 with its        
despotic power and its manner of life1  
had done before him and would do after  
him4 ,he might have justified himself by
 the custom of the day and by the       
prerogative of royalty4 ,the probability
 is that he acted impulsively1 allowing 
in an unguarded moment a wicked         
suggestion to conquer him4 ,but when a  
prophet of ,god1 ,nathan1 brought home  
to his soul the fact that he had sinned1
 what a victory that was1 as the man    
fought down all the voices within him1  

calling to him to brave it out1 to show 
no weakening before the prophet1 to     
justify himself to himself on the score 
of a king's right to do as he pleased1  
and in conquering these voices1 humbled 
himself before ,god1 making the one     
voice that triumphantly rose above every
 other voice the voice of               
penitence--,against ,thee1 ,thee only1  
have ,i sinned1 and done this evil in   
,thy sight4 ,create in me a clean heart 
and renew a right spirit within me6     
,there is nothing in our world that     
shows high victory better than          
penitence4 ,mankind does wrong4         
,sometimes it knows the wrong4 ,then    
perhaps it confesses its wrong in the   
hurried words1 ,i have sinned4 ,so said 
,pharaoh1 and immediately did again what
 he had done before4 ,so said ,saul1 and
 never gave up the wrong that forced the
 confession from him4 ,so said ,judas1  
and went out to hang himself4 ,but when 
,david said it1 he said it with a broken
 and a contrite heart4 ,the man who     

having sinned conquers all the passion  
and pride of his soul and becomes a     
sweet1 true1 pure penitent is a victor  
over whom angels rejoice4 ,thousands of 
men who have made a success in their own
 field of labor fail to win life's best 
victories because they never bow before 
,god and say1 ,lord1 be merciful to me a
 sinner4 ,they are as stout-hearted as  
the ,pharisee1 and as self-deceived4    
,they forget the bitternesses they have 
cherished toward their fellow-men1 they 
overlook all the omissions of goodness  
that have marked their lives1 they do   
not consider how terrible is their      
present and their past ingratitude to   
,god for all ,his goodness to them1 and 
so they lack that gentlest1 most        
beautiful1 and most exalting virtue of  
penitence4  ,what a victory of humility 
that was1 when ,david1 forbidden to     
carry out the supreme desire of his     
heart in the building of a temple1      
exerted all his power to help another to
 build it6 ,the erection of a temple    

that should be the richest structure of 
its time was ,david's dream4 ,it was to 
be the consummation of his effort4      
,enemies should be subdued1 laws should 
be passed1 government should be         
sustained1 and foreign alliances        
made--all to this end4 ,he looked       
forward to the day when the temple would
 crown ,moriah1 as the happiest day of  
his life4 ,but ,god told him that       
another1 not he1 should build the       
temple1 and that it would be known1 not 
as ,david's ,temple1 but as ,solomon's  
,temple4 ,should he then withdraw all   
interest from the undertaking8 ,should  
he say1 ,this is not my matter1 it is   
another's2 let another then carry its   
burden1 as he will carry its glory4 ,he 
was sorely disappointed4 ,the one thing 
he had aimed to do was denied him4 ,but 
he rose above his disappointment2 he    
conquered it4 ,he who was to take       
secondary place1 threw himself into the 
help of him who was to have first place4
 ,he devised plans1 he organized forces1

 he started instrumentalities1 he gave  
his money by the millions1 he animated  
others to follow his example1 and he did
 all that chastened devotion could do to
 help another to complete the building  
which should forever sound the praises  
of ,solomon4  ,humility is not a virtue 
easily won4 ,the virtue of sweetly      
accepting minor place when we wished    
major place1 and of working as earnestly
 for another as for ourselves1 is very  
rare4 ,in the army of ,washington there 
was a general1 ,charles ,lee1 who again 
and again was conquered by his own      
jealousy1 and would not do as the       
interests of ,washington1 his commanding
 officer1 demanded4 ,he would have      
fought to the death for his own         
reputation1 but not for the reputation  
of ,washington4 ,self-made men find it  
exceedingly difficult to be humble4     
,david won a far higher victory when he 
cheerily went about all the self-imposed
 tasks of gathering material for        
,solomon's temple than when he fought   

the lion or ,goliath1 or led an army    
into battle4 ,the man that does justice 
does well2 the man that does justice and
 loves mercy does better2 the man that  
does justice and loves mercy and walks  
humbly before ,god does best4 ,and no   
man1 whoever he may be1 strong1         
reputable1 industrious1 scholarly1      
wealthy1 ever wins his best victories   
until he walks humbly with his ,god4    
,and what a victory of unselfishness    
that was when ,david1 in the time of the
 numbering1 called upon ,god to lay all 
penalty for the sin upon himself6 ,again
 the lower propensities of ,david's     
heart had misled him4 ,he thought that  
he would number his military forces and 
let the nation know how strong and ample
 its army was4 ,the thought was a       
mistaken one4 ,safety lay1 not in       
numbers1 but in the virtues that spring 
from obedient trust in ,god4 ,the deed  
of numbering1 however1 had been done4   
,then the plague came4 ,god would show  
that in three days the army could be so 

reduced by sickness as to make it1      
however large its numbers1 utterly      
impotent4 ,david saw the angel of       
destruction as the angel drew near to   
the threshing-floor of ,araunah4 ,with a
 heart overflowing with unselfishness1  
he cried to ,god1 ,i have sinned1 ,i    
have done perversely1 but these sheep1  
what have they done8 ,let ,thy hand be  
against me1 and against my father's     
house4 ,he would die himself--to have   
others live4  ,this was perhaps his very
 best victory4 ,winkelried opened his   
breast to receive all the concentrated  
spear thrusts of the enemy1 that thus   
the army behind him might have chance to
 advance4 ,the self-immolating life is  
the noblest4 ,true love comes to its    
expression in self-sacrifice4 ,christ   
reached ,his highest glory1 not when ,he
 battled with wind and wave and         
conquered them1 not when ,he battled    
with disease and demons and conquered   
them1 not when ,he battled with lawyers 
and dialecticians and conquered them1   

but when ,he poured out ,his life for   
others4  ,there are victories to be won 
at every step of our life's progress4   
,no one of them is to be underestimated4
 ,victories of mere brawn1 wrought      
worthily in proper time and proper      
place1 are good2 victories of           
intellectual skill1 wrought worthily in 
proper purpose and proper spirit1 are   
good2 but the best victories any life   
can win are the victories won within a  
man's own heart4 ,these are the most    
difficult victories1 and they are the   
most glorious victories4 ,each person1  
equally with every other1 has           
opportunity for such victories4         
,whenever ,david failed to carry ,god   
and ,god's help into a battle he lost2  
but whenever he fought under ,god and   
for ,god he won4 ,david's life knew many
 and many a failure1 but he rose from   
every failure and made a new effort4 ,as
 a result1 victory crowned his life1 and
 he died a man of ,god4 ,victory1 too1  
may crown our lives1 however weak they  

are1 if like ,david1 after every fall1  
we penitently turn to ,god1 and in ,his 
grace strive once again to win the      
victories of faith4     ,,making ,,the  
,,best ,,use ,,of ,,our ,,lives4        
,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,making ,,the ,,best 
,,use ,,of ,,our ,,lives4   ,the great  
,humboldt once said1 ,the aim of every  
man should be to secure the highest and 
most harmonious development of his      
powers to a complete and consistent     
whole4 ,another thoughtful man1 ,sir    
,john ,lubbock1 also said1 ,our first   
object should be to make the most and   
best of ourselves4  ,prominent among the
 historic personages who have made the  
best use of their lives is ,joseph4     
,touch his career at any point that is  
open to investigation1 and always       
,joseph will be found doing the very    
best that under the circumstances can be
 done4 ,when his father tells him to    
carry food to his envious brothers1 he  
obediently faces the danger of their    
hatred and goes4 ,when he is a slave in 

,potiphar's house he discharges all his 
duties so discreetly that the           
prison-keeper trusts him implicitly4    
,when his fellow-prisoners have heavy   
hearts1 he feels their sorrows and tries
 to give them relief4 ,when ,pharaoh    
commits the ordering of a kingdom to his
 keeping1 he governs the nation ably4   
,when foresight has placed abundant food
 in his control1 he feeds the famishing 
nations so that all are preserved4 ,when
 his father and his brethren are in     
need1 he graciously supplies their      
wants4 ,when that father is dying1 the  
son is as tender with him as a mother   
with her child4 ,and when that father   
has died1 the son reverences his        
father's last request and carries       
,jacob's body far up into the old home  
country at ,machpelah for burial4       
,there were many occasions in ,joseph's 
life in which he might have failed4 ,at 
least1 in any one of them he might have 
come short of the best4 ,seneca used to 
say of himself1 ,all ,i require of      

myself is1 not to be equal to the best1 
but only to be better than the bad4 ,but
 ,joseph aimed in every individual      
experience to be equal to the best4 ,in 
that aim he succeeded wondrously4 ,going
 out1 as a young boy1 from the simple   
home of a shepherd1 becoming a captive  
in a strange land1 subjected to great   
temptations in a luxurious civilization1
 tested with a great variety of         
important duties1 exposed to the peril  
of pride and self-sufficiency1 given    
opportunity for revenge upon those who  
had injured him1 he always1 without     
exception1 carried himself well1 doing  
his part bravely1 earnestly1 and wisely1
 and making of his life1 in each        
opportunity1 the best4  ,it is not every
 one that is called to such a vast range
 of experience as was ,joseph4 ,even    
,christ never traveled out of ,his own  
little environment of ,judea1 that was a
 few miles north and south1 and still   
fewer miles east and west4 ,the great   
majority of lives never come into public

 prominence4 ,they have no part in      
administering the affairs of a kingdom  
or in managing large mercantile         
transactions4 ,even among the apostles  
there were some whose history is almost 
lost in obscurity4 ,we scarce know      
anything of what ,bartholomew said or   
,lebbeus did4 ,it is not a question     
whether we can make a great name for    
ourselves4 ,that may be absolutely      
impossible4 ,many a beautiful flower is 
so placed in some extensive field that  
human eyes never see it and human lips  
consequently never praise it4 ,but the  
question is1 whether we are doing the   
best that can be done with our lives    
such as they are4  ,every human life is 
like the life of some tree4 ,each tree  
is at its best when it well fulfils the 
purpose for which it was made4 ,there   
are trees which must stand as towering  
as the date-palm if they answer their   
end1 and there are other trees which can
 never expect to be towering1 for they  
were made1 like the box1 to keep near   

the ground4 ,some trees are for outward 
fruit1 as the apple1 and some for inward
 fruit1 as the ash4 ,fruit is           
correspondence in development with the  
purpose for which the tree exists1 is   
production in the line of the nature of 
the tree4 ,when1 then1 the orange tree  
produces sound1 sweet oranges that      
refresh the dry lips of an invalid or   
ornament the table of a prince1 the     
orange tree does well2 and if it        
produces such fruit to as large a degree
 as possible1 and for as long a time as 
possible1 it has done its best4 ,so1    
too1 does the pine do well when it      
produces wood wherewith a good house for
 family joy may be built1 and the spruce
 does well when it brings forth a fiber 
that may be fashioned into paper on     
which words of truth can be printed1 and
 the oak does well when it develops a   
grain suitable for the construction of a
 vessel that plowing the waves shall    
carry cargoes of merchandise4 ,if the   
pine1 the spruce1 the oak1 grow to the  

extent of their opportunity1 and become 
all that they can become in the line of 
their own possibility1 each and all have
 made the best use of their lives4  ,but
 how varied are the opportunities as    
well as the missions of trees1 of the   
garden cherry and the forest poplar1 of 
the swamp tamarack and the plantation   
catalpa6 ,trees of the same genus may be
 so differently placed that one can     
attain an abundant growth while another 
must strive hard simply to exist4 ,an   
elm along a river bottom1 fed by        
constant moisture1 lifts wide arms to   
the sunlight1 while an elm on a rocky   
hill1 scarce finding crevices for its   
roots1 necessarily is small and stunted4
 ,and still that stunted elm may1 in its
 place1 make or not make the best use of
 its life4  ,human lives are as         
diversified in their natures as the     
growths of the field and forest4 ,our   
tastes1 our aptitudes1 our memories1 our
 imaginations1 widely vary4 ,the world  
is made up of thousands upon thousands  

of different needs1 that must be met if 
mankind is to prosper4 ,every function  
necessary for the world's welfare is an 
honorable function and becomes1 when    
attempted by a consecrated heart1 a     
sacred function4 ,the world cannot live 
without cooking1 nor can it live without
 building1 nor without bartering1 nor   
without teaching4 ,how to make the best 
of the function or functions that are   
his1 is the question every human being  
should ponder4  ,a man may make a bad   
use of his life4 ,he may throw away his 
opportunities1 he may wreck his powers  
of mind and body1 he may tear down that 
good in the world which he was put here 
to build up4 ,this is a possibility6    
,every life should understand that it is
 a possibility4 ,john ,newton held in   
his hand a ring4 ,as he was leaning over
 the rail of an ocean vessel he had no  
thought that perhaps through careless   
handling he might drop that ring and    
lose it forever4 ,his mind was entirely 
on the ring1 not on the danger of losing

 the ring4 ,suddenly the ring slipped   
through his fingers1 and before he could
 get hold of it again1 it was in the    
depths of the sea4 ,it is for this      
reason that the book of ,proverbs is    
constantly calling to men to see that   
the priceless jewels of opportunity are 
retained1 and that ,christ's word1 not  
to let our light become darkness1 has so
 much significance4 ,men often squander 
fortunes4 ,they also squander virtues   
and reputation and aptitudes and        
opportunities4 ,jails1 reformatories1   
houses of detention1 drunkards' graves1 
the gathering places of tramps1 all tell
 us that people can make a miserable use
 of life4 ,so does many a beautiful     
banquet-hall1 many a luxurious home1    
many a speculator's resort1 many a      
student's room1 tell us that those we   
see there have had powers of mind and   
body and opportunities of social        
position and of wealth which they have  
thrown away4 ,they have wasted their    
good as truly as a prodigal who has     

spent his all in riotous living4 ,they  
are ,jeroboams2 dowered with gifts that 
might have been used for their own      
development and the welfare of others   
they have let mean and low and unworthy 
attractions secure their gifts1 thus    
spoiling their own characters and       
causing ,israel to sin4 ,every blessing 
that a man has may become his curse1 and
 drag him down and drag others down with
 him4  ,this truth is well known4 ,the  
other truth is not so well known1 that a
 man may make an inferior use of his    
life4 ,this is exactly what that ,seneca
 did who declared that his ambition was1
 not to be equal to the best1 but only  
to be better than the bad4 ,he gained   
large knowledge1 he wrote and spoke much
 that was philosophical and moral1 he   
pointed out many of the perils of a     
misuse of wealth1 he was better than the
 bad1 better than the ,nero who would   
kick his mother1 kill his wife1 make    
merry over his own indecencies1 and     
gloat in the crucifixion of martyrs4    

,seneca was better than the man who     
never made effort to cultivate his mind1
 was better than the man who spent his  
days in orgies1 yes1 was far better than
 the man who was blind to the beauty of 
gems1 of poetry1 and of architecture4   
,but all the same he made an inferior   
use of his life4 ,his library1 his      
furniture1 his precious stones1 his     
worldly wisdom1 were very great4 ,let   
him be tutor even to an emperor1 an     
emperor that was a ,caesar6 ,and still1 
better than the bad1 he made a          
lamentable misuse of life when he let   
luxury enervate his righteous           
principles1 let the pleasures of the    
table rob him of his integrity1 and let 
his own hand1 in an hour of humiliation1
 end the life which was not his to end4 
,seneca was the man who let an inferior 
standard decide his purposes1 and thus  
vitiated his powers4 ,any standard lower
 than the highest produces poor         
material4 ,second-rate standards make   
second-rate goods and second-rate men4  

,second-rate men are brought to hours of
 emergency calling for first-rate       
principles4 ,in such hours second-rate  
men go down4 ,a man satisfied to live   
for anything less than the best of which
 he is capable may stand well for a     
considerable time1 but before his days  
are over he will be found to be an      
unsuccessful workman1 a disappointing   
teacher1 a weak financier1 an inaccurate
 student1 an untrustworthy friend4  ,but
 while we may make a bad or inferior use
 of life1 we also may make the best use 
of it4 ,to do this should be our        
ambition4 ,it should be the underlying1 
all-pervading purpose that quietly but  
regnantly dominates our being4 ,the best
 use of our life will never be secured  
apart from such ambition4 ,it will not  
come of itself4 ,we do not drift into a 
best use4 ,the best use is a matter of  
toil and perseverance1 of thoughtfulness
 and devotion4 ,it cost ,joseph hours of
 consideration1 days of application1 and
 years of adaptation to make the best   

use of his life4 ,he found himself in   
new positions constantly4 ,the boy      
naturally had looked forward to being a 
shepherd4 ,to that end he studied the   
lie of pasturage lands4 ,when his father
 sent him to his brethren he knew the   
way to ,shechem and ,dothan1 and he     
found his brethren4  ,but with his      
forced departure into ,egypt1 probably  
into the city of ,memphis1 all his      
surroundings are new and untried4 ,the  
shepherd boy is given the duties of a   
household servant1 exchanging the       
freedom of the field for the confinement
 of the palace4 ,but he takes up his new
 duties1 magnifying them as an          
opportunity of development1 and he makes
 the best use of them4 ,later1 he who   
has known only a tent and a palace is in
 a prison1 and is charged with the work 
of a prison guard4 ,right well he does  
that work1 studying it1 giving himself  
to it1 and making a success of it by his
 heartiness and fidelity4 ,later still1 
he who has only tended sheep and ordered

 a household and enforced discipline is 
called to be a comforter to souls4 ,he  
summons his sympathy1 he persuasively   
approaches those whose hearts are sore1 
he obtains their confidence1 and        
relieves their anxiety4 ,still again1   
this prisoner1 this shepherd boy1 this  
household servant1 this man with pity in
 his eyes1 is called to a new           
adaptation4 ,he must appear before a    
,pharaoh and as a courtier have         
interview with him6 ,that underlying    
purpose of his heart1 always to make the
 best of the hour and place1 stands him 
in good stead1 and the courtier conducts
 himself so wisely that he is advanced  
to be an ,egyptian viceroy4 ,later still
 this viceroy must become a minister of 
agriculture and charge a nation when and
 how to sow the fields4 ,still later he 
must become a secretary of the treasury1
 purchasing grain and building          
store-houses4 ,still later he must be a 
great premier1 both providing for       
present need and making arrangements for

 future taxation4 ,later he must be a   
brother with a true brother's heart and 
a son with a son's gentleness toward an 
aged and perhaps imperious parent4      
,later he must be a mourner1 then a     
traveler1 and then as an orphan son he  
must assume again the heavy burdens of  
statesmanship4  ,what strange varieties 
of experience ,joseph thus met6 ,how    
those experiences kept changing every   
little while6 ,why did he succeed so    
well in them8 ,because in every one of  
them he made the best use of himself    
that the occasion allowed4 ,he magnified
 the opportunity he had4 ,the thing that
 was at hand to do he did with absolute 
fidelity4  ,we do not forget and we must
 not forget that at the very bottom of  
his life was a belief in ,god and an    
intention to do what ,god sanctioned and
 only what ,god sanctioned4 ,he would   
not disobey what he believed to be a    
wish of ,god6 ,somehow1 in that far-away
 country1 surrounded by temples and     
idols1 meeting the thousands of priests 

of ,isis1 hearing the daily services of 
heathenism1 and seeing the unceasing    
vices of the land1 he kept ,god and     
,god's principles in his soul4 ,those   
principles in general taught him purity 
and honesty2 in particular they taught  
him fidelity in the service of others   
and desire to benefit his fellow-men4   
,such fidelity and helpfulness--united  
with dependence on the aid of           
,god--enabled him always and everywhere 
to make the best use of his life4 ,he   
trusted ,god when doors were shut as    
well as when they were open4 ,privation 
as truly as prosperity was to him an    
opportunity4  ,accordingly1 heartiness  
went into his opportunities4 ,the spirit
 of grumbling never appeared in his     
career4 ,no hour came too suddenly for  
him1 no task was too small nor too      
great1 no occasion too low nor too high1
 no association too mean nor too noble4 
,as a household servant he did his work 
as under ,god and for ,god1 and as a    
ruler of a nation he did it as under    

,god and for ,god1 and as an obedient   
son he did it as under ,god and for     
,god4  ,a physician whose life has been 
beautiful in good deeds and in a high   
faith once said1 ,my happiness and      
usefulness in the world are due to a    
chance question from a stranger4 ,i was 
a poor boy and a cripple4 ,one day1     
standing on a ball-field and watching   
other boys who were strong1 well        
clothed1 and healthy1 ,i felt bitter and
 envious4 ,the friends of the players   
were waiting to applaud them4 ,i never  
could play nor have applause6 ,i was    
sick at heart4  ,a young man beside me  
must have seen the discontent on my     
face4 ,he touched my arm1 and said1     
',you wish you were one of those boys1  
do you8' ',yes1 ,i do1' ,i answered     
quickly4 ',they have everything and ,i  
have nothing4'  ,quietly he said1 ',god 
has given them money1 education1 and    
health that they may be of some account 
in the world4 ,did it never strike you  
that he gave you your lameness for the  

same reason1 to make a splendid man of  
you8'  ,i did not answer1 but ,i never  
forgot the words4 ',my lameness given me
 by ,god to teach me patience and       
strength6'  ,at first ,i did not believe
 the words1 but ,i was a thoughtful boy1
 taught to reverence ,god1 and the more 
,i considered the words1 the clearer ,i 
saw their truth4 ,i decided to accept   
the words4 ,i let them work upon my     
temper1 my purposes1 my actions4 ,i now 
looked on every difficulty as an        
opportunity for struggle1 every         
situation of my life as an occasion for 
good4 ,if a helpless invalid was cast on
 me for support1 or whatever the burden 
that came to me1 ,i resolved to do my   
best4 ,since then life has been         
sweetened and growth into peace and     
usefulness has come4  ,soon after the   
death of ,carlyle two friends met3 ,and 
so ,carlyle is dead1 said one4 ,yes1    
said the other1 he is gone2 but he did  
me a very good turn once4 ,how was that1
 asked the first speaker1 did you ever  

see him or hear him8 ,no1 came the      
answer1 ,i never saw him nor heard him4 
,but when ,i was beginning life1 almost 
through my apprenticeship1 ,i lost all  
interest in everything and every one4 ,i
 felt as if ,i had no duty of importance
 to discharge2 that it did not matter   
whether ,i lived or not2 that the world 
would do as well without me as with me4 
,this condition continued more than a   
year4 ,i should have been glad to die4  
,one gloomy night1 feeling that ,i could
 stand my darkness no longer1 ,i went   
into a library1 and lifting a book ,i   
found lying upon a table1 ,i opened it4 
,it was ,sartor ,resartus1 by ,thomas   
,carlyle4 ,my eye fell upon one         
sentence1 marked in italics1 ',do the   
duty which lies nearest to thee1 which  
thou knowest to be a duty6 ,the second  
duty will already have become clearer4' 
,that sentence1 continued the speaker1  
was a flash of lightning striking into  
my dark soul4 ,it gave me a new glimpse 
of human existence4 ,it made a changed  

man of me4 ,carlyle1 under ,god1 saved  
me4 ,he put content and purpose and     
power into my life4  ,the duty lying    
nearest was the duty ,joseph magnified4 
,he accepted that duty as divine1 and he
 performed it under ,god faithfully1    
serviceably1 and cheerily4 ,any and     
every life that meets duty as ,joseph   
did1 will make the best of its life4 ,we
 may be placed in low position or in    
high position2 we may have menial or    
kingly responsibilities2 we may have    
temptations of all possible kinds about 
us2 but if we look to ,god for guidance1
 and carry faithfulness1                
serviceableness1 and cheer into each and
 every duty1 we shall have made of life 
the best4     ,,putting ,,the ,,best    
,,into ,,others4     ,,chapter ,,iv4    
,,putting ,,the ,,best ,,into ,,others4 
,there is nothing more worthy than the  
desire to perpetuate the good4 ,that    
desire implies that the person          
cherishing it has good within himself1  
and that he wishes that good to live and

 flourish after his death4 ,if a man    
thinks that his views are the best that 
can be held1 then1 if he is a noble     
soul1 interested in the world's welfare1
 he longs to have his best enter into   
other lives1 and so continue to bless   
the world4  ,this longing characterized 
,elijah4 ,he came upon the scene of     
human life at a time when the worship of
 the low and debased threatened to      
dominate the people of ,israel4 ,the    
priests of ,baal1 an impure god1 were in
 the ascendant4 ,vices1 as a            
consequence1 prevailed4 ,these vices    
controlled even the court4 ,king ,ahab  
and ,queen ,jezebel were impiously      
wrong4 ,elijah had stern work to do4 ,he
 must reprove the people for their      
errors4 ,he must face the priests of    
,baal and show them and show the nation 
that their god1 as compared to ,jehovah1
 was powerless4 ,he must tell those in  
high places1 even the king and queen    
themselves1 that their sins1 if         
persisted in1 would surely be visited by

 ,jehovah's wrath4  ,his was a difficult
 task4 ,it required courage1            
persistency1 and determined purpose4 ,it
 would have been folly for him to       
undertake it unless he felt that his    
ideas were essential to the nation's    
good4 ,he would be resisted and hated4  
,hours would come when he would seem to 
stand wholly alone1 and the cause he    
represented would appear to him         
hopeless4 ,still1 difficult as his task 
was1 he undertook it4 ,all this worship 
of ,baal and all these vicious practices
 of the people were wrecking the nation4
 ,as a patriot1 as a lover of his       
fellow-man1 as a good servant of ,god1  
he must do and he would do whatever was 
in his power to replace the wrong with  
the right1 to implant in the lives of   
the people1 from peasant to king1 the   
truest and purest ideals4 ,accordingly  
he faithfully taught the will of ,god1  
called upon ,god to reveal ,himself on  
,mount ,carmel1 reproved ,ahab and      
,jezebel1 and did his best to put the   

best into the life of his day4  ,but he 
could not live forever4 ,at any hour he 
might be stricken down by the hand of an
 enemy or by the power of some illness4 
,like a wise man1 loving the cause he   
had espoused1 he looked about for some  
one who1 in case of his disability or   
death1 could take up his work and carry 
forward his ideas4 ,his mind turned     
toward one special man1 perhaps just    
coming out of boyhood into maturity1 a  
man who seemed to have the inherent     
power of development1 and he set his    
heart on putting into him1 ,elisha1 the 
best thought and the best principles    
that he had4 ,he came upon ,elisha in   
the full vigor of youth1 plowing with   
twelve yoke of oxen4 ,the distinctive   
garment of ,elijah's mission was his    
mantle4 ,that stood for ,elijah's       
special work of speaking the truth of   
,god and calling the nation to          
righteousness4 ,upon seeing ,elisha in  
the field1 ,elijah passed over from the 
caravan path that he was traveling1 and 

threw his mantle upon ,elisha's         
shoulders6 ,the action carried its own  
meaning4 ,it indicated to ,elisha that  
,elijah wished him to take up his work  
and stand for his ideas4 ,elisha        
instantly realized the meaning of the   
act1 and1 in briefest time compatible   
with filial duty1 he answered to        
,elijah's wish4  ,one little sentence in
 the story of these two men's lives is  
very instructive4 ,they two went on4 ,it
 is a very brief summary of what was    
occurring for days and months and years 
before ,elijah died4 ,they two went on4 
,they were together4 ,they talked       
together4 ,they thought together4 ,they 
prayed together4 ,little by little      
,elijah imparted to ,elisha his views of
 life and imparted to him also his      
enthusiasm for the welfare of ,israel4  
,when the time came for ,elisha to step 
forward and do his part for ,israel's   
good1 he was ready to act4 ,he became   
and long continued to be a wise1        
helpful1 instructive benefactor to      

,israel4 ,the best that had been in     
,elijah's life was perpetuated in       
,elisha's life4  ,it is a beautiful way 
to live1 this way of putting the best   
into other lives4 ,it confers such a    
blessing on the particular individual   
who is thus helped4 ,we cannot say with 
positiveness that the world might never 
have known the full force of ,elisha's  
character had not ,elijah cast his      
mantle over ,elisha's shoulder1 but the 
probability is that it was ,elijah's    
interest in ,elisha and his success in  
educating him toward his own ideals that
 gave the world ,elisha's elevated      
personality4 ,paul acted similarly with 
,timothy4 ,timothy was undoubtedly a    
good boy of many worthy parts1 and with 
many noble views of life4 ,but ,paul    
laid his hand and heart upon him1 and   
claimed him for the special purpose of  
continuing the ministry of the gospel1  
and educated him to be a faithful       
representative of the truth4 ,often     
there is much hesitancy to be overcome1 

even in worthy people1 before natural   
endowments will be put to the best use4 
,such may have been the case with both  
,elisha and ,timothy4 ,they needed      
encouragement4 ,they needed inspiration 
through a sense of responsibility4 ,this
 was the situation with ,john ,knox4    
,he1 humanly speaking1 never could have 
come forward as an advocate of ,christ's
 truth and religious freedom had it not 
been that another approached him1 put   
his hand on his shoulder1 and said1 ,you
 have powers of good in you4 ,you must  
use them in standing up for ,god and    
,scotland4  ,wonderful resources are    
often developed in others through this  
purpose to put our best into them4 ,no  
one knows the power latent in another   
life4 ,the most unpromising looking     
people may have faculties that1 once    
awakened1 directed1 and called into     
action1 will do a blessed part in the   
world's advance4 ,every school whose    
history can be followed for fifty years 
has had pupils that at the outset seemed

 absolutely unpromising1 that seemed    
even incapable of appreciation or       
development1 but who1 under the devotion
 and inspiration of some teacher or     
fellow-pupil1 became so aroused and so  
efficient that their names are an honor 
to the school4 ,the glory of every      
,ragged ,boys' ,home in a great city is 
that former inmates who were thieves1   
parentless and friendless1 were so      
reached by a patient1 loving man or     
woman that they became industrious and  
honorable citizens1 holding positions of
 power in the city itself or possessing 
prosperous acres in the country4 ,it is 
the boy picked up in the streets of ,new
 ,york and sent ,west to be a member of 
a farmer's household that was led by    
that household's interest into such     
character that he was appointed governor
 of ,alaska4 ,i have made1 said ,sir    
,humphry ,davy1 many discoveries1 but   
the best discovery was when ,i          
discovered ,michael ,faraday4 ,there is 
scarcely any joy comparable with the joy

 of discovering to himself and to the   
world the best elements possible in     
another's life4 ,the one who brought    
about this discovery gladly sinks into  
the background1 and rejoices to let the 
field be occupied by the one discovered4
 ,it would seem as though ,god ,himself 
must have rejoiced when1 after all ,his 
patient teaching of ,moses on the side  
of ,horeb1 ,he saw ,moses showing his   
superb power of leadership in ,egypt1   
and that ,god must have similarly       
rejoiced when ,he saw ,paul responding  
to ,his charge and manifesting traits of
 love1 forbearance1 and humility that   
,paul had not thought he possessed4 ,to 
put one ,elisha into the world's arena1 
there to stand and battle for the right1
 was the crowning glory and the crowning
 joy of ,elijah's life4 ,the men or     
women that can take the best that is in 
them and put it into another1 so that   
another shall live the best1 honor the  
best1 and glorify the best1 can ask no  
higher privilege in life4  ,but beyond  

the good secured to the individual by   
putting the best into him is the good   
secured to the world thereby4 ,it was   
not merely that ,elijah inspired a new  
life in ,elisha's soul and transformed a
 man1 it was also that he set in        
operation a new influence4 ,the         
influence was not exactly like his own4 
,it was like ,elijah's in that it was   
righteous1 safe1 and helpful1 but it was
 unlike ,elijah's in its temper and     
expression4 ,elijah was a great         
destroyer of evil3 ,elisha was a great  
uplifter of good4 ,elijah's earliest    
proclamation was1 ,there shall not be   
dew nor rain these years3 ,elisha's     
earliest miracle is1 ,there shall be    
from hence life and fruitful land4 ,both
 were alike in their general purpose1   
both alike in their courage4 ,neither   
one of them could be moved from the path
 of duty by fear of man or men4 ,but    
each was himself1 as distinct as two    
mountain peaks in the same range or as  
two ships on the same sea4 ,elijah      

imparted his best to ,elisha1 but that  
best took shape in ,elisha according to 
,elisha's individuality4 ,elisha was not
 ,elijah over again1 but he was         
,elijah's best in a new form--a new form
 that was demanded by the needs of a new
 day4 ,elijah had laid blows of         
condemnation on the nation3 ,elisha was 
to apply the balm of healing where those
 blows had fallen4 ,elijah was an       
agitator3 ,elisha was a teacher4 ,elijah
 was denunciatory3 ,elisha was tolerant4
 ,each in his place held the best views 
held by any man of his time1 but each in
 his place was called upon to hold those
 views according to his own temperament 
and express them according to the need  
immediately at hand4  ,no parent1       
teacher1 or friend can possibly         
reproduce himself in another4 ,it is    
,god's law that1 however alike plants   
may seem in reproduction1 no child shall
 see life exactly as his parents1 nor   
shall a pupil see it exactly as a       
teacher4 ,this law is most wise4 ,the   

same work is never given to any two     
people to do4 ,it may be work of the    
same general nature1 but never work the 
same in all particulars4 ,different     
types of men1 actuated by the same      
motives1 are required for different     
types of work4 ,any man who endeavors to
 be a pure copyist of another gone      
before him1 always fails of individual  
development and fails of usefulness4    
,elijah could not foresee the changed   
circumstances in which ,elisha would    
live1 when many of the vexatious        
questions of ,elijah's day would be     
settled and new questions of morality   
and public welfare would arise4 ,all    
that he could do1 all that any man can  
do1 is to give the best he has to       
another1 and send him forth to use that 
best as well as the other can in the new
 place4 ,the beauty of human history is 
that the work the best man of one age   
could not accomplish1 another coming    
after him does accomplish1 and he       
accomplishes it1 not because he is any  

better than his predecessor1 but because
 he is the man for this hour as his     
predecessor was for the hour before     
this4 ,there is always work to be done4 
,there are always tasks left over from a
 previous generation4 ,there are always 
ideas hitherto unemphasized that to-day 
must be emphasized1 else society will   
not know its duty4 ,for this work and   
task and emphasis new men are needed1   
men who do not see exactly as their     
fathers saw1 nor pronounce nor act      
exactly as their fathers did4 ,to       
provide such men1 to inspire them with a
 great sense of duty1 and send them out 
into life with open minds toward ,god   
and open hearts toward their fellows1   
and then withdraw our hand and let them 
do their own work1 in their own way1    
this is our blessed privilege4  ,we may 
endeavor to put the best into others    
directly4 ,a parent is a parent largely 
for this particular purpose4 ,the father
 and mother have this end as their      
greatest and highest responsibility4    

,they cannot shirk it without hurt to   
themselves and to their child4 ,no one  
can and no one should influence a child 
as directly as does a parent4 ,the      
parent may temporarily place the child  
beneath the influence of a nurse1 a     
pastor1 or a teacher1 but the abiding   
influence should be and is the parent's4
 ,little by little1 line upon line1     
precept upon precept1 conduct upon      
conduct1 the parent should endeavor to  
set before the child the highest ideas  
of life4 ,skill is requisite in stating 
these ideas1 in illustrating them1 in   
making them attractive1 in persuading to
 their acceptance4 ,the evil or the     
inferior lodged in the child's heart    
needs to be forced out1 that the best   
may enter4 ,happy the parent whose      
forcing process is like the incoming of 
light into a darkened room1 a process   
that is gentle and conciliatory1 a      
process that never boasts of victory and
 never leaves a pain4  ,this is the     
parent's greatest hope and greatest     

reward1 to have a child who shall in the
 child's own time and place be an       
advancer of the world's good4 ,a        
thousand spheres of opportunity open    
before each new generation4 ,into any   
one of them the child may carry the best
 his father or mother ever thought or   
said4 ,many parents wish their children 
to do in life work of the very same type
 that they once did4 ,it was therefore a
 gratification to their ministerial     
fathers when they saw their own sons    
enter the ministry1 ,henry ,ward        
,beecher1 ,jonathan ,edwards1 ,frederick
 ,w4 ,farrar1 ,charles ,h4 ,spurgeon1   
,john ,wesley1 and ,reginald ,heber4    
,but other ministerial fathers likewise 
might be gratified when they saw their  
sons helpfully laboring in noble spheres
 not specifically the ministry1 as in   
poetry1 ,joseph ,addison1 ,samuel ,t4   
,coleridge1 ,william ,cowper1 ,ben      
,jonson1 ,oliver ,goldsmith1 ,alfred    
,tennyson1 ,james ,russell ,lowell1     
,oliver ,w4 ,holmes1 ,john ,keble1 and  

,james ,montgomery2 as in literature1   
,matthew ,arnold1 ,bancroft1 ,froude1   
,hallam1 and ,parkman2 as in art1       
,joshua ,reynolds and ,christopher      
,wren2 as in law1 ,lord ,ellenborough1  
,stephen ,j4 ,field1 ,david ,j4 ,brewer1
 ,david ,dudley ,field2 as in           
statesmanship1 ,henry ,clay1 ,edward    
,everett1 ,sir ,william ,harcourt1 ,john
 ,b4 ,balfour1 and ,william ,forster2   
and as in invention1 ,samuel ,f4 ,b4    
,morse4  ,but while the great           
opportunity of putting the best into    
others is the parent's 7and men out in  
earnest usefulness thank ,god most of   
all for their mothers and fathers1      
especially as they grow older and       
realize how early in youth it was that  
their characters received determining   
impressions71 still others1 besides     
parents1 may use direct means toward    
this same end4 ,here is the teacher's   
opportunity4 ,a plastic1 receptive mind 
is before him4 ,it says to him3 ,i am   
here to be taught4 ,teach me the        

best--the best way to see1 to reason1 to
 act1 the best way to do my part in     
society and the world4 ,many a teacher  
has looked on that opportunity as       
sacred2 has valued it as much as ,elijah
 valued his opportunity to cast his     
mantle on ,elisha4 ,such teachers have  
wrought out most valuable results4 ,they
 have put ideas1 methods1 principles1   
and a spirit into pupils that have made 
those pupils a blessing to the world4   
,the pupils may not recall much of what 
the teacher said--perhaps they cannot   
recall one particular truth that the    
teacher enforced--but they recall a     
purpose that dominated the teacher1 and 
the pupils now are endeavoring to fulfil
 what they feel would be the wishes of  
that teacher if the teacher to-day could
 stand beside them4  ,and why should we 
stop with parents and teachers in       
speaking of this direct effort to put   
the best into other lives4 ,nurses in   
homes have endeavored to give little    
children the truest knowledge of ,god   

and of beauty1 and have succeeded4 ,the 
world owes them much for its best men   
and women4 ,had they not seconded       
parents1 had they attempted to uproot   
the good implanted by parents1 all would
 have been ruined4 ,so1 too1 have       
friends1 masters1 employers1 writers in 
the press1 writers of books1 lecturers1 
and preachers aimed at this same end4   
,they have felt a great desire to give  
their fellows beautiful thoughts1 strong
 principles1 supporting comforts1 and   
heavenly ideals4 ,they have felt that   
their heart's supreme wish would be met 
if they could only cause a double       
portion of their own spirit--aye1 a     
four-fold1 a hundred-fold of their good 
purposes to rest upon others--and to    
this end they have prayed1 given money  
and counsel1 spoken to employees and    
friends and comrades1 written1 sung1    
preached1 labored1 and died4 ,the       
company of those who have wished to put 
the best into others is a glorious      
company1 the company of prophets1       

apostles1 saints1 martyrs1 workmen in   
every sphere1 in every clime1 in every  
age4 ,surely this host is the host of   
the elect1 the choicest ones of all     
,god's people on earth and in heaven4   
,apart from and beyond our direct effort
 to put the best into other lives is our
 indirect1 our unconscious influence to 
this good end4 ,personality is more     
potent than words4 ,men and women impart
 ozone to the atmosphere without knowing
 what good they have done4 ,they become 
standards of righteousness and are all  
unaware that any one looks at them to   
gauge his own opinion or shape his own  
conduct4 ,they are like regulator       
clocks1 by which the watches of the     
world seen to be wrong are set aright   
and are kept aright4 ,to try to live the
 best in the hope that somehow one can  
put the best into the very air1 and get 
it into the life of the school and      
community1 and have it become a part of 
public sentiment1 that surely is noble4 
,that is the way to live4 ,no one ever  

lives in vain who so lives4 ,some one is
 helped by him4 ,some one tells of him4 
,cecil's saying of ,sir ,walter         
,raleigh1 ,i know he can toil terribly1 
is an electric touch4  ,in one of my    
pastorates there was a farmer's son1    
living two miles from the church4       
,almost all the young men of his age in 
the village and congregation were       
careless1 selfish1 and a little fast4   
,his father was out of sympathy with    
religious earnestness4 ,but the son     
resolved that he would put his best into
 others' lives4 ,he thought1 prayed1    
worshiped1 to that end4 ,through snow   
and rain and mud he came where          
earnestness and high ideals were in the 
air4 ,he did a manly1 helpful part in   
his home1 in his village1 and in his    
church4 ,then1 thinking that he knew    
farming and could teach it1 he          
volunteered to go to an ,indian school  
in ,indian ,territory1 and as a farm    
manager1 teach farming4 ,he went1 on    
almost no salary1 and lived and labored1

 that through his words1 conduct1 and   
spirit he might put the best into       
others' lives4 ,thus he lived and       
labored till he died1 two thousand miles
 from home1 and was buried there1 the   
only one of his family not placed in the
 village graveyard4 ,but his work has   
not died4 ,it lives in all who know of  
it4 ,they think of it again and again1  
and it always makes them wish to fulfil 
to the best all their opportunity for   
the good of others4  ,there are many1   
many hearts so conscious of the help    
they have received from others that they
 read with appreciation the             
commemorative tablet placed by the      
distinguished ,pasteur on the house of  
his birth3 ,o my father and mother1 who 
lived so simply in that tiny house1 it  
is to you that ,i owe everything6 ,your 
eager enthusiasm1 my mother1 you passed 
on into my life4 ,and you1 my father1   
whose life and trade were so toilsome1  
you taught me what patience can         
accomplish with prolonged effort4 ,it is

 to you that ,i owe tenacity in daily   
labor4    ,others shall sing the song2  
,others shall right the wrong1   ,finish
 what ,i begin1   ,and all ,i fail of1  
win4   ,what matter1 ,i or they1   ,mine
 or another's day1   ,so the right word 
be said1   ,and life the sweeter made4  
,,developing ,,our ,,best ,,under       
,,difficulties4     ,,chapter ,v4       
,,developing ,,our ,,best ,,under       
,,difficulties4   ,there is nothing in  
this world that more appeals to my      
admiration than a man who makes the best
 of himself under difficulties4 ,robert 
,louis ,stevenson deservedly has many   
admirers by reason of his writings1 but 
what in him most appeals to my          
admiration was the struggle he waged    
with difficulties4 ,for fourteen years1 
he wrote the year before his death1 ,i  
have not had a day's real health4 ,i    
have wakened sick and gone to bed weary4
 ,i have written in bed1 written in     
hemorrhages1 written in sickness1       
written worn by coughing1 written when  

my head swam for weakness4 ,i am better 
now1 and still few are the days when ,i 
am not in some physical distress4 ,and  
the battle goes on--ill or well is a    
trifle1 so as it goes4 ,i was made for a
 contest1 and the ,powers have so willed
 that my battle-field should be this    
dingy1 inglorious one of the bed and the
 physic bottle4 ,i would have preferred 
a place of trumpetings and the open air 
over my head4 ,still ,i have done my    
work unflinchingly4  ,the story of many 
a strong and useful life is very similar
 to this story of ,stevenson's4         
,parkman wrote his histories in the     
brief intervals between racking         
headaches4 ,prescott struggled with     
blindness as he prepared his volumes4   
,kitto was deaf from boyhood1 but he    
wrote works that caught the hearing of  
the ,english-speaking world4  ,it       
sometimes seems as though ,god never    
intended to bring the best out of us    
excepting through pain and pressure4    
,the most costly perfume that is known  

is the pure attar of roses1 and one drop
 of it represents millions of damascene 
roses that were bruised before the sweet
 scent they contained was secured4      
,the best of men   ,that e'er wore earth
 about him was a sufferer4  ,the sphere 
of difficulty is usually the sphere of  
opportunity4 ,i was made for contest1   
,stevenson said4 ,we all are made for   
it4 ,as we let the contest overpower us1
 we fail2 as we overpower the contest1  
we succeed4  ,one particular personage  
of the ,old ,testament is in mind as    
illustrative of these thoughts1         
,jeremiah4 ,he always reminds me of a   
violet ,i once saw growing on ,mount    
,st4 ,bernard in ,switzerland4 ,the snow
 was deep on every side1 excepting on   
one little slope a few feet in width1   
exposed to the eastern sun4 ,there1 so  
close to the snow as almost to be       
chilled to death by the cold atmosphere 
about it1 was a violet sweetly lifting  
its head and blooming as serenely as    
though it knew nothing of the struggle  

for life4  ,jeremiah was a mere youth   
when the conviction came into his heart1
 ,god wishes me to be his mouthpiece in 
teaching the people to do right4 ,he    
lived at ,anathoth1 three miles from    
,jerusalem1 the distance of an hour's   
easy walk4 ,his father was a priest who 
probably in his turn served in the      
duties of the temple at ,jerusalem4 ,but
 though he came of religious ancestry1  
and though he heard much of the         
religious exercises of the temple1 this 
call from ,god to be his mouthpiece in  
teaching the people to do right1 broke  
in upon his life as a disturbing force4 
,the times were worldly1 and even wrong4
 ,nobles and princes1 merchants1        
scholars1 and priests had put the fear  
of ,god away from their eyes1 and were  
acting according to the selfish impulses
 of the hour4 ,the general outward life 
of the nation was pure1 but it was the  
pureness of mere formality4 ,beneath the
 surface ambitions and purposes were    
cherished that uncorrected would surely 

lead the people into selfishness1       
idolatry1 and transgression4  ,it was no
 easy thing for ,jeremiah to answer yes 
to this call of ,god4 ,the call involved
 a lifetime of brave service4 ,matters  
in the nation were sure to go from bad  
to worse4 ,difficulties after           
difficulties therefore1 as they         
developed1 must be faced4 ,he stood at  
what we name the parting of the ways2 if
 he did as ,god wished1 his whole life  
must be given to the work indicated2 if 
he said no to ,god's call1 he would     
drift along with the rest of the people1
 leaving them to their fate1 he no      
better and perhaps no worse than they4  
,in some respects there is nothing      
better than to be forced to a decision  
on some important matter1 particularly  
if that decision is a decision involving
 character4 ,it was a choice with       
,jeremiah whether he would live         
unselfishly for ,god or selfishly for   
himself4 ,that choice ordinarily is the 
supreme choice in every one's life4 ,it 

is the supreme choice that the          
,christian pulpit is constantly         
presenting4 ,present character and      
eternal destiny are shaped according to 
that choice4  ,in ,jeremiah's case there
 was a native reluctance to do the deeds
 which he saw were involved in obedience
 to ,god's call4 ,he was by temperament 
modest and retiring4 ,he shrank from    
publicity4 ,he did not like to reprove  
any one4 ,severe words were the last    
words he wished to speak4 ,it would have
 been a relief to him if ,god had simply
 let him alone and imposed on others    
this duty of trying to make the people  
better4 ,some men seem to be adapted for
 a fray1 as ,elijah was1 and as ,john   
the ,baptist was4 ,but ,jeremiah was    
more like ,john the beloved4 ,he would  
have been glad to live and die1 simply  
saying1 ,little children1 love one      
another4  ,it is ,god's way1 however1   
again and again1 to take lives that to  
themselves seem utterly unfitted for    
special duties and assign them to those 

duties4 ,almost all the best workers in 
,god's cause came into it reluctantly1  
and against the feeling that they were  
fitted for it4 ,we are bidden ask the   
,lord of the harvest to thrust men into 
the fields of need4 ,jeremiah felt in   
his heart this thrusting4 ,he did not   
kick against it4 ,he yielded to it4     
,but with what results8 ,the first      
result was estrangement4 ,his goodly    
life and conversation soon made the     
people of his village and even the      
brothers and sisters of his home feel   
that he was different from themselves4  
,they chafed under the contrast of their
 carelessness and his earnestness4 ,he  
found himself left out of their         
pleasures and chilled by their          
indifference4 ,the estrangement         
developed until his fellow-townsmen were
 eager to rid themselves of his         
presence1 and his own family were ready 
to deal treacherously with him4  ,it is 
just at this point that so often a good 
purpose breaks down4 ,when a man's foes 

are they of his own household or        
comradeship1 he is very apt to give up  
his good purpose4 ,it is more difficult 
for a beginner in the religious life to 
resist the insinuating and depreciating 
remarks of near acquaintances than to   
face a mob4 ,it must have cut ,christ to
 the heart's core when his brethren said
 of him1 ,he hath a devil6 ,i would     
rather go into battle1 said a soldier   
newly enlisted as a ,christian1 than go 
back to the mess-room and hear what the 
men will say when they know of my       
decision4  ,jeremiah started his        
obedience to ,god amid estrangement4 ,it
 was not long before estrangement had   
given place to threatening4 ,his duties 
as he grew older called him to          
,jerusalem4 ,the youth become a man must
 leave the village1 go to the city1 and 
in the larger sphere of need1 speak the 
messages of ,god4 ,in ,jerusalem he     
assured the people that if they did     
injustice1 oppressed the poor1 built    
themselves rich houses out of wages     

withheld from servants1 made sacrifices 
to base idols1 and strengthened the     
hands of evil-doers1 ,god would bring a 
terrible overthrow upon them4 ,his task 
was made the more difficult because in  
his words and attitude he stood alone4  
,he had no following among priests or   
prophets to back him4 ,with one consent 
they affirmed that he was wrong and that
 a lie was on his lips when he predicted
 desolation if present practices were   
continued4  ,it is a great hour in any  
man's life when he is obliged to stand  
up alone and state his case or defend   
his cause4 ,what an hour that was in    
,paul's history when before the ,roman  
officials no man stood with him1 but1   
dependent as he was on sympathy and     
fellowship1 he stood alone6 ,it is when 
a man is absolutely left alone1 in      
danger or disgrace1 that the deepest    
test of his character is reached4 ,that 
is the reason why the night-time1 which 
seems to say to us ,you are alone with  
,god1 has its impressiveness1 and why   

the death hour has a similar            
impressiveness4  ,jeremiah felt his     
loneliness4 ,there was nothing of the   
stoic in him4 ,he could not school      
himself to be brazen-hearted4 ,he was so
 human1 so like the great majority of   
people1 that every now and then some cry
 of weariness would escape his lips4    
,woe is me1 my mother1 that thou hast   
borne me1 a man of strife and a man of  
contention to the whole earth4 ,i have  
neither lent on usury1 nor men have lent
 me on usury2 yet every one of them doth
 curse me4 ,sometimes his outbursts of  
mental agony make us feel that the man  
has almost lost his bravery4 ,cursed be 
the day wherein ,i was born6 ,wherefore 
came ,i forth out of the womb to see    
labor and sorrow1 that my days should be
 consumed with shame8 ,but glad as he   
would have been to escape the           
responsibility of rebuking people1 and  
glad as he would have been to hold the  
affection and regard of his companions1 
he never for a moment kept back the     

truth1 nor for a moment did he distrust 
,god's blessing on his life4 ,all my    
familiars watched for my halting1       
saying1 ,peradventure he will be        
enticed1 and we shall prevail against   
him1 and we shall take our revenge on   
him4 ,but the ,lord is with me1 he      
declared1 and so declaring he was       
immovable before his adversaries4       
,there came a third experience into his 
life1 which carried his difficulties one
 degree higher4 ,it was the experience  
of disdain4 ,he knew full well that the 
wicked course of the nation was         
inevitably leading to destruction4      
,unless the evil of the people should   
cease the powers of ,babylon would come 
and would destroy ,judah4 ,he was       
debarred an interview with the king4 ,he
 therefore wrote his message on a roll1 
put it in the hands of a messenger1     
,baruch1 and in due time that roll was  
carried into the king's presence by     
,baruch and read to the king4 ,the king 
was sitting in his winter house4 ,the   

weather was cold4 ,a fire was burning   
before him in a brazier4 ,as the king   
heard the words of ,jeremiah that called
 him and the people to penitence1 his   
anger was aroused4 ,he seized the roll  
ere three or four of the columns had    
been read1 cut it up with his penknife1 
and cast the whole roll into the fire to
 be utterly consumed therein4 ,he did   
this in the presence of his court4 ,he  
did it with a disdain and contempt that 
made every man present feel that        
,jeremiah and ,jeremiah's words were to 
be despised4  ,it never is a pleasure to
 be despised4 ,contempt usually         
embitters a man or suppresses him4 ,the 
derisive laugh against a man is more    
powerful in breaking him than the       
compactest argument4 ,many men can      
remain steadfast to convictions in      
estrangement or in opposition who give  
way when they hear that their words and 
actions are the subject of twitting and 
ridicule4 ,who is this ,jeremiah1 and   
what are his words1 that we should think

 of them a second time8 ,i will cut     
these words into fragments even with my 
pocket-knife1 and then ,i will burn them
 in this little brazier1 and that shall 
be the last of them6 ,so said and did   
,king ,jehoiakim4 ,and his princes heard
 and saw4  ,but whatever the effect     
produced on others1 the effect produced 
on ,jeremiah must have been to the king 
a great disappointment4 ,jeremiah heard 
,god's voice saying in his heart1 ,you  
must write those same words of truth    
again4 ,and again he wrote them on a    
roll4 ,and just here comes out one of   
the sweetest and most characteristic    
features of ,jeremiah's character4 ,the 
ordinary man1 if he has made up his mind
 to retort or to ridicule1 says to      
himself1 ,now ,i will pour out my wrath 
on my adversary4 ,but such was          
,jeremiah's self-control and            
peacefulness of temper that perhaps he  
would have erred on the side of leniency
 unless ,god had charged him1 not to    
soften or to suppress one part of the   

message1 but to write all the words that
 were in the former roll and add thereto
 other special predictions4 ,to this    
charge1 whatever his obedience might    
lead to1 ,jeremiah immediately and      
completely responded4  ,then came       
,jeremiah's fourth experience4 ,his     
persistence in duty now cost him        
imprisonment4 ,not an ordinary          
imprisonment1 but such an imprisonment  
as ,oriental monarchs employ when they  
wish to place those whom they dislike in
 a living death4 ,the king first put    
,jeremiah in a dungeon-house where there
 were cells4 ,this was not very bad4    
,then1 when ,jeremiah still was true to 
his testimony1 the king put him in the  
court of the guard1 giving him a daily  
allowance of one little eastern         
bread-loaf4 ,this also was not very bad4
 ,but later the king1 when the princes  
claimed ,jeremiah for their victim1 as  
afterward the rabble claimed ,christ    
from ,pilate for their victim1 gave     
,jeremiah into the hands of the princes 

to do with him as they pleased4 ,then it
 was that they with cords dropped him   
down into a deep subterranean pit1 whose
 bottom was mire1 so that ,jeremiah sank
 in the mire4  ,how many people in the  
time of the ,inquisition1 when they were
 racked to pieces1 when thumb-screws    
agonized them1 when water drop by drop  
fell ceaselessly on their foreheads1 and
 when pincers tore their flesh little by
 little continuously1 renounced their   
faith and so saved themselves from slow 
torture6 ,it was not an easy thing to   
die from starvation in a dark1 damp pit1
 with mire creeping up all about him4   
,it never has been easy to die slowly   
and alone for the faith2 to die for a   
testimony2 to die for a message that    
involved others much more than one's    
self4 ,all that was needed to protect   
him from pain and to preserve his life  
was silence4 ,if ,jeremiah would keep   
quiet all would be well4 ,but for       
,jeremiah to keep quiet would be to     
prove disobedient to a sense of duty    

implanted by ,god in his heart4 ,so this
 gentle nature1 that shrank from the    
horrors of the miry pit1 horrors more to
 be dreaded than the lions' den or the  
fiery furnace or the executioner's      
sword1 went down into the pit           
unbroken--precursor of those sweet      
natures in woman and child that all the 
beasts of the ,colosseum could not      
dismay1 and that all the fires of       
martyrdom could not weaken4  ,one more  
experience awaited                      
,jeremiah--deportation4 ,so far as we   
know1 it was the closing experience of  
his life4 ,the dauntless soul had not   
been suffered to die in the pit4        
,patriotic men who realized the folly of
 letting an unselfish1 high-minded      
citizen perish so terribly1 and who     
realized1 too1 the desirability of      
preserving alive so wise a counselor1   
secured permission from the vacillating 
king to take rags and worn-out garments1
 and let them down by cords into the    
pit4 ,put now these rags and worn-out   

garments under thine arm-holes under the
 cords1 they said1 and ,jeremiah did so4
 ,so they drew up ,jeremiah with the    
cords4 ,once again he was in his        
position of responsibility as ,god's    
messenger4 ,in that position he held    
fast to his faithfulness4  ,then came   
his final experience4 ,judah had passed 
through trial upon trial4 ,jeremiah had 
shared in her trials1 never running away
 from them1 but always bearing his full 
brunt of burden and loss4 ,then he was  
forced to go away from the land of his  
love and his tears to ,egypt6 ,he did   
not wish to go4 ,he assured those who   
headed the movement that it was folly to
 go4 ,but they took him with them1 and  
carried him1 like a captive1 off to a   
foreign land4  ,all this would have     
meant little to some men1 but to        
,jeremiah it meant everything4          
,jerusalem and the land of ,judah were  
dear to his heart4 ,he had lived for    
them1 spoken for them1 suffered for     
them1 and well-nigh died for them4 ,in  

older years the land of one's birth and 
of one's sacrifices becomes very dear4  
,if ,i forget thee1 ,o ,jerusalem1 let  
my right hand forget her cunning2 if ,i 
do not remember thee1 let my tongue     
cleave to the roof of my mouth6 ,into   
that deportation we cannot follow him4  
,we only know that up to the very last  
minute in which we see him and hear his 
words1 he was unceasingly true to his   
,god1 and true to the people around him1
 loving his ,master and loving his      
brethren1 with an unfailing devotion4   
,but this we do know1 ignorant as we are
 whether he died naturally or was stoned
 to death1 that in after years this     
,jeremiah became among the ,jews almost 
an ideal character4 ,they saw that all  
his words predicting the destruction of 
the holy city and the captivity were    
fulfilled4 ,they learned to revere his  
fidelity4 ,they even called him the     
greatest of all their prophets4 ,they   
well-nigh glorified him4 ,in times of   
war and difficulty they used his name   

wherewith to rouse halting hearts to    
bravery and to lead the fearful into the
 thick of perilous battles4  ,here1     
then1 is a life that came to its best   
and developed its best under            
difficulties4 ,best men are molded out  
of faults4 ,so was this man molded to   
his best out of faults of hesitation and
 unwillingness and impatience4 ,no one  
knows the best use we can make of       
ourselves but the ,one who created us   
and understands our possibilities4  ,in 
the struggle against difficulties we    
have ,christ's constant sympathy4 ,were 
not estrangement1 threatening1 disdain1 
imprisonment1 and deportation ,his own  
experiences8 ,and did not they come in  
this same order8 ,and does not ,he      
realize all the stress through which a  
soul must pass that would fight its     
contest and advance to its best8        
,certainly ,he does4 ,and when ,he lays 
a cross upon us1 it is that through our 
right spirit in carrying that cross we  
may become sweeter in our hearts and    

braver in our lives1 and thus change our
 cross into a very crown of manliness   
and of usefulness4  ,to many a man there
 is no object in this earth that so     
appeals to his admiration as a person   
who makes the best of himself under     
difficulties4 ,we may well believe that 
to ,christ likewise there is no human   
being so prized and admired as he who   
advances to his best through the        
conquest of difficulties4     ,,the     
,,need ,,of ,,retaining ,,the ,,best    
,,wisdom4     ,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,the    
,,need ,,of ,,retaining ,,the ,,best    
,,wisdom4   ,no one can read the story  
of ,solomon's life1 as given in the     
,bible and as given in eastern writings1
 without wonder4 ,that story in the     
,bible is amazing2 that story in the    
historic legends of ,persia1 ,abyssinia1
 ,arabia1 and ,ethiopia is still more   
amazing4 ,it is said of ,solomon that   
those who never heard of ,cyrus1 or     
,alexander1 or the ,caesars have heard  
of him1 and that his name belongs to    

more tongues1 and his shadow has fallen 
farther and over a larger surface of the
 earth than any other man's4 ,equally   
among ,jewish1 ,christian1 and          
,mohammedan nations his name furnishes a
 nucleus around which have gathered the 
strangest and most fantastic tales4     
,almost at the beginning of his public  
activities he made a prayer to ,god that
 may well be the prayer of every one4   
,in a dream ,god appears to him1 asking 
what he most wishes ,god to confer upon 
him4 ,humbly and earnestly he asks for a
 discerning mind--a mind capable of     
distinguishing between good and evil4   
,he passes by long life1 passes by      
wealth1 passes by victory over enemies1 
and he asks only for such understanding 
as shall enable him to know the right   
from the wrong4  ,we cannot call this   
prayer a surprise to ,god1 but we can   
call it a delight to ,him4 ,there are   
very many kinds of wisdom1 but in ,god's
 judgment1 the best wisdom is that which
 always discriminating between the good 

and the bad1 the true and the false1 the
 permanent and the fleeting1 prefers the
 good1 the true1 and the permanent4 ,it 
surprises us that ,solomon was wise     
enough to make the desire for           
discrimination the one petition of his  
heart4 ,he was comparatively young1 he  
was inexperienced in life's             
responsibilities1 he was at the         
threshhold of what promised to be a     
great1 almost a spectacular career4     
,most men1 under such circumstances1    
given the opportunity of asking for     
anything and everything they pleased1   
would have said1 ,give me many1 many    
years of mental growth2 give me much1   
very much material wealth2 give me great
 and constant triumphs over all who in  
any way oppose me4 ,but ,solomon asked  
only for a discerning mind that could   
see the difference between right and    
wrong1 and in asking that1 he asked for 
the best wisdom any human life can ever 
have4  ,solomon had other kinds of      
wisdom4 ,how they came to him we do not 

know4 ,perhaps he was born with a large 
degree of mother wit and with a very    
strong mental grasp4 ,perhaps his       
father1 himself a thoughtful man and a  
brilliant writer1 provided the best     
teachers that wealth could procure for  
his son4 ,perhaps his mother1 who had   
eager ambition for her son1 constantly  
urged him on to large intellectual      
development4  ,explain his case as we   
may1 the facts are that he had          
scientific wisdom4 ,he knew nature so   
well that careful writers have even     
called him the father of natural        
science4 ,he knew trees1 from the lordly
 cedar-tree that graced ,lebanon to the 
little hyssop that springs out from     
between the stones of a wall1 as ,i once
 saw it in an old well near ,jerusalem4 
,he knew beasts of the field1 fowls of  
the air1 animals that creep on the      
ground1 and fishes that swim in the     
water4 ,such is the brief resume by the 
,scriptures of his acquaintance with    
nature4 ,the legends of the ,east add   

that he could interpret the speech of   
beasts and birds1 that he understood the
 hidden virtues of herbs1 and that he   
was familiar with the secret forces of  
nature4  ,he had also literary wisdom4  
,he was a beautiful1 trained1 and       
forceful writer4 ,the seventy-second    
,psalm1 beginning ,give the king thy    
judgments1 ,o ,god1 and thy             
righteousness unto the king's son1 is   
ascribed to him4 ,so is the one hundred 
and twenty-seventh ,psalm1 opening with 
the words1 ,except the ,lord build the  
house1 they labor in vain that build it4
 ,much of the book of ,proverbs is      
written by him or compiled by him--a    
book whose concise1 striking1           
intelligent1 helpful utterances are a   
monument of literary skill4             
,ecclesiastes1 with its philosophical   
dissertations on the fleeting and       
disappointing elements of human life1 is
 also assigned to him4 ,so is the ,song 
of ,solomon1 which breathes a wealth of 
poetical fervor1 that understood and    

applied spiritually1 is as sweet as the 
voice of the meadow lark soaring skyward
 in the light and beauty of a summer    
day4 ,yet these writings are only a part
 of what he produced4 ,his songs were a 
thousand and five1 his proverbs not less
 than three thousand4 ,what we have in  
the ,bible simply suggests the variety  
and power of his literary style1 the    
force and sagacity of his sound sense1  
the brilliancy and fitness of his       
practical wisdom4 ,solomon's words are  
such that to this day1 in this land1 and
 in every land of the earth1 they are   
competent to teach prudence1 economy1   
reverence for parents1 self-protection1 
purity1 honesty1 and faithfulness to    
duty4 ,the boy that learns them and     
carries them with him as a vital        
principle of being and of conduct will  
move unsoiled and unhurt wherever he may
 go4 ,the home that places them at its  
center and reveres them will be cheerful
 and brave4 ,the grown man that carries 
them with him into every detail of      

business and care will be upright and   
beautiful4  ,the wisdom of ,solomon was 
commercial as well as scientific and    
literary4 ,he recognized the advantages 
of trade4 ,he extended it4 ,he sent     
ships so far away to the east that      
passing through the ,red ,sea out into  
the ,indian ,ocean they brought back the
 treasures of ,arabia and ,india and    
,ceylon--gold and silver and precious   
stones2 nard1 aloes1 sandalwood1 and    
ivory2 apes and peacocks4 ,he sent other
 ships along the ,mediterranean coasts  
to the north1 where ,hiram1 king of     
,tyre1 lived1 and then to the west1 out 
between the gates of ,hercules1 past the
 present ,gibraltar1 up the ,atlantic   
,ocean to the north until they touched  
at southern ,england1 at ,cornwall1     
where they found the tin which1 combined
 with copper1 formed the bronze for     
armor and for all so-called brazen      
furniture4 ,not alone through ships of  
the sea did he seek out the best        
treasures of all the accessible earth   

and beautify ,jerusalem with them1 but  
also through ships of the               
desert--camels--did he do the same4 ,he 
caused the great caravan routes of the  
day to pass through ,jerusalem1 and he  
levied duties on the objects transported
 from ,damascus on the north to ,memphis
 on the south1 and from ,tadmor in the  
east to ,asia ,minor in the west4 ,he   
put himself into contact with all the   
thought and purposes of other nations   
than his own1 he learned what their     
kings and queens1 their merchants1 their
 sailors1 their writers1 were saying and
 doing1 and thus he brought home to his 
mind the leading ideas of his time4 ,his
 knowledge of men1 of methods1 and of   
enterprise became vast4  ,nor did his   
wisdom stop with commerce2 it included  
government also1 and was political4 ,he 
took the throne at a time when          
government was weak1 or almost          
disorganized4 ,david's last years were  
years of physical disability1 wherein he
 could not curb the rebellious spirits  

that were gaining influence in many     
quarters4 ,solomon1 upon his assumption 
of rule1 judiciously subdued all        
rebellion of every kind1 united the     
entire kingdom1 and started that kingdom
 upon the period of its greatest glory4 
,he made treaties that bound adjacent   
principalities to him and caused them to
 pay tribute4 ,he held such power that  
nations did not care to fight with him1 
and so he became a king of peace4 ,he   
laid taxes on his own people that       
brought in large revenue4 ,it was indeed
 the golden period of ,israel4  ,the    
effect of ,solomon's wisdom was great   
and extensive4 ,his reputation went far 
and wide4 ,people made long journeys to 
see him1 ask him questions1 and honor   
him4 ,even one like the ,queen of ,sheba
 came with a great retinue1 up through  
the desert1 past village and town1 to   
bring him costly gifts and talk with the
 man who knew so much4 ,his influence   
became pervasive4 ,it entered into the  
legends of people who never saw him1 and

 became so fixed a part of those        
legends1 that those legends1 repeated   
until to-day1 still sound his praise4   
,he was known in tent and in palace as  
the wisest man that had ever lived1 and 
the most exaggerated statements were    
made and received of his insight into   
the mysteries of the spirit world and   
his power to control the supposed spirit
 forces of the air4 ,his wealth became  
almost incredible4 ,nothing like it has 
ever been known--not in the time of the 
,roman emperors1 nor in the time of     
to-day4 ,the fabulous magnificence of   
,mexican and ,peruvian kings helps us to
 realize ,solomon's glory4 ,the walls1  
the doors1 the very floor of the temple1
 were plated with gold1 furnishing      
gorgeous imagery for ,john's description
 of heaven4 ,two hundred targets and    
three hundred shields of beaten gold    
were held by the guard through whose    
lines ,solomon passed to the temple or  
to his house of the forest4 ,his throne 
of ivory1 as were its steps1 was        

overlaid with plates of gold4 ,all his  
drinking-vessels were of gold1 and all  
the vessels of the house of the forest  
were of pure gold1 none were of silver4 
,he was able to make the temple the     
costliest structure for its size the    
world has ever seen4 ,hundreds of       
millions of dollars went into its       
erection and decoration4 ,when to-day   
the traveler visits ,baalbec and sees   
stones over seventy feet in length and  
fourteen in width and in depth--stones  
quarried1 conveyed1 raised up into high 
walls and securely masoned there2 when  
to-day the traveler sees the golden     
jewelry gathered from ancient ,grecian  
graves and placed on exhibition in      
,athens2 and when to-day the traveler   
examines the massive work done in       
,egypt1 whose ruins are overpowering in 
their grandeur1 and seeing these stones1
 jewelry1 and structures remembers that 
,solomon knew all the skill1 wealth1 and
 buildings of the whole ,mediterranean  
world1 then he can understand how       

,solomon1 with his resources1 built a   
city like ,palmyra1 and a house of      
worship like the temple1 and made silver
 to be as stones in ,jerusalem4  ,ah1 if
 this ,solomon1 so brilliant and so     
powerful1 so glorious1 as ,christ called
 him1 could only have preserved the best
 wisdom all through his years1 whose    
name--except ,christ's--would be        
comparable to his6  ,he asked ,god for  
the wisdom that discerns between the    
good and the evil4 ,god answered that   
prayer and gave him such wisdom4 ,how   
clearly he saw at the first6 ,if two    
women came to him1 each claiming to be  
the mother of a little child1 and asking
 for the child's possession1 how skilful
 he was in ordering that the child be   
cut in twain in their presence1 thus    
causing the true mother to cry out in   
love for her child and then giving her  
the child unhurt4 ,the traditions of the
 east--some of them perhaps once a part 
of those lost books mentioned in the    
,bible1 ,the ,book of the ,acts of      

,solomon1 ,the ,book of ,nathan the     
,prophet1 ,the ,prophecy of ,ahijah the 
,shilonite1 ,the ,visions of ,iddo the  
,seer1 tell again and again how quiet   
and accurate ,solomon's perception was  
in distinguishing real flowers from     
artificial1 in distinguishing girls from
 boys though dressed alike1 and in      
deciding case after case of legal       
perplexity4 ,he did have a discerning   
heart when1 in his early days1 he knew  
who his enemies were and he crushed     
them1 who his true counselors were and  
he listened to them1 what his supreme   
duty was and he built ,god's house1 what
 his sinful heart needed and he shed the
 blood of atonement for it4 ,it was     
discernment when1 though he made his own
 house rich1 he made ,god's house       
richer2 when he counted his gift of     
millions of dollars to ,god's honor a   
delight2 and when he would let neither  
knowledge nor pleasure nor pomp nor     
glory withdraw his supreme affection    
from ,god4  ,would that he had always   

continued as he was6 ,would that he had 
remembered that the prayer offered      
to-day for a blessing in character must 
be offered again to-morrow if that      
blessing in character is to be retained6
 ,prayer is not so much a momentary wish
 as a continuous spirit4 ,his momentary 
wish and the resolve that sprang from it
 were at the time all that ,god or man  
could desire4 ,a mind distrustful of its
 own omniscience1 humbly waiting on ,god
 for discernment1 is the wisest of all  
minds4 ,that mind was once in ,solomon1 
but not always4 ,when grown to maturity 
he talked philosophy1 still he was wise4
 ,but when he came to act upon his      
philosophy1 he was unwise4 ,he failed to
 discern between the value and the curse
 of wealth4 ,he became a lover of money 
for money's sake4 ,he laid taxes on the 
people that they could not endure4 ,he  
treated them no longer as a father1 but 
as a master4 ,he ceased to distinguish  
between the beauty and the disease of   
luxury4 ,he built gardens and palaces1  

and made displays1 not with the thought 
of any praise they would be to ,jehovah1
 or to the establishment of ,god's      
people on a sound financial and         
political basis1 but for the honor and  
recognition that would come to him4 ,he 
became a captive to the love of         
magnificence and to the desire for      
display4 ,he made marriages that were   
matters of state expediency and were not
 matters of heart conviction1 and thus  
put himself under the influence of those
 whose religious purposes were wholly   
opposed to his own4 ,he filled his      
palaces with women whose presence indeed
 was a great indication of ,oriental    
affluence1 but whose presence was a     
menace to clear vision of integrity1 and
 was a woeful example to the nation4 ,he
 grew blinder and blinder to fine       
perceptions1 not alone of what was good 
in taste1 but of what was right in      
principle4 ,he became so broad in his   
religious sympathies that he seemed to  
forget that there can be but one living 

and true ,god4 ,he even went after      
,ashtoreth1 the goddess of the          
,sidonians1 and after ,milcar1 the      
abomination of the ,amonites4 ,and as a 
last blind act of folly1 he even raised 
within sight of ,god's holy temple an   
high place for ,chemosh1 the abomination
 of ,moab1 and for ,moloch1 the         
abomination of the children of ,ammon1  
in the hill that is before ,jerusalem4  
,what men like ,daniel would not do1    
what men like ,shadrach would not do1   
what martyrs in after days1 asked to say
 the simple word ,caesar and throw a    
grain of corn on an heathen altar1 would
 not do1 though death awaited them1     
,solomon did4 ,he gave up the fine      
distinction between the true and the    
untrue1 between ,god and idolatry1      
between divine principle and human      
expediency4 ,and with this loss of the  
best wisdom came loss of manliness1 loss
 of peace1 and loss of the favor of     
,god4 ,wealth1 power1 luxury1 praise1   
glory1 were still about him1 but he had 

made the most serious of all serious    
mistakes4 ,later he recognized his      
mistake4 ,we hope that he repented1     
genuinely repented1 of his mistake1 and 
before his death turned back to ,god and
 the best wisdom4 ,but whether he died  
repentant or unrepentant ,solomon is the
 man who is forever the example of      
unparalleled wisdom and of ruinous      
folly--of ruinous folly because his     
wisdom failed to retain the element of  
the discerning mind4  ,here1 then1 is a 
lesson3 ,with all thy getting1 get      
understanding4 ,life is not a best      
success1 whatever else it may have in   
it1 unless it draws fine lines of       
separation between good and evil4 ,the  
wealth and learning and glory of the    
wide world cannot make up for a lack of 
sensitive conscientiousness4 ,the study 
and ambition of life must be applied to 
the securing and retaining of fine      
powers of moral discrimination if we are
 to be truly wise4 ,every one can have  
this discerning mind1 at least to such a

 degree as shall enable him to avoid the
 fearful mistake of palliating evil and 
of becoming enslaved to evil4 ,a little 
child may in this respect be wiser than 
the oldest man2 the simple peasant may  
be safer than the most cultured scholar4
 ,not even libraries of knowledge can   
save the character of the man whose     
vision of good and evil is blunted4     
,youth is the time to make this prayer  
for true wisdom--when life's decisions  
are first opening before us4 ,youth is  
the time when ,god can best answer and  
when ,god cares most to answer prayer   
for the discerning mind4 ,we need to    
start upon our careers with hearts      
exceedingly sensitive to the least      
variation from right4 ,as the gunner    
cultivates his aim and notes his least  
deviation from the true line to the     
target1 so should we cultivate clearness
 of moral perception4 ,we need the      
practiced eye and the practiced heart1  
for safe judgment4  ,the grand endowment
 of ,washington1 wrote ,frederic        

,harrison1 was character1 not           
imagination1 not subtlety1 not          
brilliancy1 but wisdom4 ,the wisdom of  
,washington was the genius of common    
sense1 glorified into unerring truth of 
view4  ,almost the same tribute can be  
paid to ,victoria4 ,when1 six months    
after her accession1 ,victoria drove to 
the ,house of ,parliament1 there was not
 a hat raised nor a voice heard4 ,but   
when sixty years later her jubilee was  
held1 such paeans of admiration and love
 swelled in ,london's streets as never  
before had greeted any sovereign's      
ears--and all because the people saluted
 in ,victoria's person the              
discrimination that had shunned vice1   
corrected abuses1 exalted integrity1 and
 glorified religion4  ,what every one   
needs1 ,washington1 ,victoria1 and      
all--and what every one should crave--is
 such wisdom1 as all through life shall 
keep him from confusing moral principles
 and shall make him see1 choose1 love1  
and follow the best4     ,,the ,,best   

,,possession4     ,,chapter ,,vii4      
,,the ,,best ,,possession4   ,what is   
the best possession a human life can    
have8 ,judging from the efforts made to 
secure wealth1 fame1 and power1 the     
answer would seem to be that            
they--wealth1 fame1 and power--are the  
best possessions any one can have4      
,observant and thoughtful people know1  
however1 that such possessions do not   
necessarily nor ordinarily make their   
owners happy4 ,they therefore argue that
 there must be better possessions than  
these4 ,so they say1 eloquence is       
perhaps the best possession1 or         
knowledge is1 or ability to do great    
deeds or express great thoughts is4 ,but
 the wisest book that has ever been     
written says that something not yet     
mentioned is the best possession1 and   
says that that something makes life the 
happiest1 and even makes it the holiest4
 ,that something1 in the language of the
 ,bible1 is love4 ,the man that in his  
heart has love1 true1 pure1 lasting     

love1 has the best possession that can  
be secured4  ,it is for this reason that
 ,jonathan is such an inspiring         
character4 ,the story of his life1      
hastily viewed1 seems almost incidental1
 but scholarly examination of it shows  
that its light and gladness are in      
marked contrast to the darkness and     
sorrow in the careers of ,saul and      
,david4 ,the story of ,jonathan's life  
has probably done more to suggest and   
arouse the unselfish devotion of man to 
man1 than any story1 apart from that of 
the ,christ1 that has ever been told4   
,if we wish to find one who really had  
the best possible possession1 ,jonathan 
is that one1 a man whose heart was      
bright1 whose deeds were noble1 and     
whose death was glorious4  ,jonathan was
 a physical hero4 ,he had both muscular 
strength and muscular skill4 ,the way he
 could throw a spear and shoot an arrow 
made him famous4 ,he had rare courage4  
,assisted only by his armor-bearer he   
once made an attack upon a whole        

garrison at ,michmash1 slaying twenty   
men within a few rods and putting an    
entire army to flight4 ,he had great    
self-control4 ,found fault with by his  
father because in an hour of weariness  
he had tasted honey--in ignorance of his
 father's wish to the contrary--he      
opened his breast to receive the death  
penalty vowed by the father1 and stood  
unmoved until the soldiers cried to     
,saul that the deed of blood must not be
 done4 ,he was no weakling4 ,rather he  
was a mighty man1 able to command       
military forces and call out their      
enthusiasm4 ,men rallied about him for  
hazardous undertakings1 saying1 ,do all 
that is in thy heart2 behold1 ,i am with
 thee according to thy heart4 ,in the   
field or in the court he was equally    
acceptable4 ,his father1 the king1 had  
implicit confidence in him1 and took him
 into all his counsels4 ,in the language
 of poetry1 he was swifter than an      
eagle1 he was stronger than a lion4     
,israel might well look forward to the  

day when this stalwart1 inspiring1 wise 
son should succeed his father and be    
their king4 ,his name1 in time of       
battle1 would be a terror to their foes4
  ,but better than ,jonathan's strong   
arm and clear intellect and winsome     
personality was his loving heart4 ,he   
never had read ,paul's description of   
love as given in the thirteenth chapter 
of ,first ,corinthians1 nor had he read 
,henry ,drummond's exposition of love as
 ,the ,greatest ,thing in the ,world1   
nor had he ever seen the devoted        
character of ,christ1 nor known any of  
the beautiful examples of love created  
by the ,gospel4 ,he was living in a     
selfish age--an age of strife and tumult
 and blood--and still his whole being   
seemed pervaded by that love which is   
unselfish devotion to the highest       
interests of others4 ,such love was his 
joyous and abiding possession4  ,the    
first time we have an opportunity of    
reading his inmost heart is when ,david1
 having slain ,goliath1 stands before   

,saul1 holding ,goliath's head in his   
hand4 ,here we see the generosity of    
love4 ,it was an hour when every eye was
 turned from ,jonathan and centered upon
 an unknown stripling who had carried   
off the honors of the day by a startling
 and brilliant deed4 ,hitherto ,jonathan
 had been the national hero2 now he was 
to be set aside1 and ,david was         
everywhere to come into the foreground4 
,how should all this transfer of honor  
affect ,jonathan8 ,should it sour him1  
making him look askance on this new     
competitor for the public recognition1  
and influencing him to send back ,david 
to his father's flocks1 away from       
further opportunity for martial deeds8  
,any such method would be what is called
 natural4 ,men usually try to get rid of
 competitors4 ,they do this in business 
and in games4 ,opera singers often keep 
back1 if they can1 the voice that once  
heard will supersede their own voice in 
popular favor4 ,we do not like to have  
another outshine us4 ,praise is sweet4  

,people hate to lose it4 ,plaudits      
transferred to another leave a painful  
vacancy in the ordinary soul4 ,we crave 
favor1 and when that favor passes from  
us to rest upon another we are severely 
tried4 ,many a man has thought himself  
kindly dispositioned until he found that
 some one else was obtaining the        
recognition previously so secure to him1
 and then to his own surprise he has    
found himself grudging the other that   
recognition4 ,how much of the           
unhappiness of human life comes from the
 fact that persons do not speak to us or
 of us as they do of others6 ,how       
apprehensively many people protect their
 place--social1 political1 or           
commercial--lest another shall in any   
wise encroach upon it6 ,jonathan might  
easily have recognized that1 so far as  
his interests were concerned1 it was far
 better that ,david should be dismissed 
to the sheep pastures than allowed to   
stay near the court4  ,but in spite of  
what ,jonathan recognized1 ,jonathan's  

heart warmed to ,david4 ,by the time he 
had heard the story of ,david's home and
 family1 the soul of ,jonathan was knit 
with the soul of ,david1 and ,jonathan  
loved him as his own soul4 ,the         
interests of ,david became his          
interests4 ,he wished ,david to succeed4
 ,praises of ,david sounded sweet in his
 hearing4 ,he showed such wish to have  
,david stay right there1 at the heart of
 the nation's capital1 where people     
could see him and honor him1 and where  
,david could have new opportunity for   
public service1 that ,saul would not let
 ,david go back to the distant and quiet
 pastures4 ,jonathan even made a        
covenant with ,david1 promising to be   
his friend and helper4 ,to show the     
sincerity of that covenant1 or rather in
 the expression of that covenant1       
,jonathan took off his robe and his     
garments1 even to his sword and to his  
bow and to his girdle--stripped himself 
of them--and gave them to ,david4       
,jonathan wished ,david to be ready for 

possible opportunities of military      
success1 and therefore he armed him with
 his own chosen and well-tried weapons4 
,so their friendship began4 ,it was a   
friendship that was all give on one side
 and all take on the other4 ,there never
 was a clearer illustration of what love
 is than the relation between ,jonathan 
and ,david4 ,it is always said that     
,jonathan loved ,david1 but no emphasis 
is placed on ,david's love for          
,jonathan4 ,david appreciated ,jonathan1
 but ,jonathan loved ,david1 and loving 
him1 unceasingly aided him4 ,i call that
 man my friend1 a noble poet declared1  
for whom ,i can do some favor4 ,love    
exists only where costly kindnesses are 
conferred upon another4  ,turner1       
,england's honored painter1 exemplified 
love when he was on a committee on      
hanging pictures for exhibition in      
,london and a picture came from an      
unknown artist after the walls were     
full4 ,this picture is worthy2 it must  
be hung1 he said4 ,impossible2 the walls

 are full now1 others asserted4 ,quietly
 saying ,i will arrange it1 ,turner took
 down one of his own pictures and hung  
the new picture in its place4  ,the     
second scene of ,jonathan's devotion to 
,david reveals the protection of love4  
,david's life was in danger4 ,saul1     
jealous of ,david's popularity1 desired 
to be rid of ,david4 ,he even wished to 
kill him4 ,he let his servants know his 
wish4 ,david was encompassed by peril4  
,what would ,jonathan do now8 ,when     
others were turning against him1 would  
he also turn against him8 ,the current  
was all setting one way4 ,any kindness  
to ,david would now be in direct        
opposition to a ruler's will and to the 
sentiment of the court4 ,interest in    
another often becomes luke-warm under   
such circumstances4 ,there is no use of 
resisting the tide of events1 people    
say4 ,they therefore leave the man that 
is down to himself and to his fate4 ,how
 lovers fall away in the hour of        
disgrace and danger6 ,how difficult it  

becomes to speak favorably of a man when
 every other is condemning him6 ,in     
periods of excitement when the motives  
of men are called into question and     
innuendo is in the air1 how reluctant we
 are to avow our confidence and try to  
still the cries of opposition4  ,but    
what was the effect of this situation on
 ,jonathan8 ,his heart warmed all the   
more to the imperiled man whose one     
crime was that he was a deliverer to    
,israel4 ,jonathan delighted much in    
,david4 ,jonathan revealed to ,david    
,saul's purpose to kill him4 ,jonathan  
provided for ,david's immediate safety  
and took means to anticipate his future 
safety4 ,then he went to the king and   
plead for ,david4 ,that was a splendid  
piece of work4 ,it was much as ,john    
,knox plead with ,mary1 ,queen of       
,scots1 for ,scotland4 ,she did not wish
 to hear ,knox's words4 ,she was bitter 
against ,scotland and ,scotland's       
religion4 ,he risked much in venturing  
into her presence and interceding4 ,but 

he loved ,scotland and ,scotland's      
religion4 ,he would rather die than have
 ,scotland suffer1 and so he braved     
,mary's tears and entreaties and        
commands1 and he spoke for ,scotland4   
,love is a very expensive thing2 it     
often summons us to surrender our       
personal ease1 and surrender1 too1 our  
closest comradeships4 ,it may cost us   
obloquy1 it may cost us loss of standing
 with king and court1 it may cost us the
 disdain of the world1 but cost what it 
might1 ,jonathan plead for ,david's     
safety1 and temporarily secured his     
wish4  ,later the love of ,jonathan was 
to be subjected to a more subtle and    
more difficult test4 ,it was to be      
called upon for self-effacement4 ,saul's
 misdemeanors and incompetences had so  
weighed on ,saul's mind that ,saul      
actually hated the ,david whose conduct 
was always irreproachable2 ,saul's mind1
 too1 at times had lost its balance1 and
 he had done the insane acts of a madman
 toward ,david4 ,saul1 now half-sane and

 half-insane1 was irrevocably determined
 to kill ,david4 ,he learned that       
,samuel had quietly anointed ,david as  
king1 and that ,david in due time would 
succeed to the throne6 ,saul's heart was
 aflame with bitterness--the bitterness 
that is born of chagrin and envy4 ,david
 knew of that bitterness1 and knew that 
,saul's persistent enmity left but a    
step between him and death4 ,then it was
 that ,jonathan ventured to interview   
his father and see whether his father's 
hatred could not in some way be appeased
 and ,david's safety be secured4  ,but  
with the first revelation of ,jonathan's
 interest in ,david came an outburst    
from ,saul that showed the utter        
implacability of ,saul's rage4 ,saul    
even tried to inflame ,jonathan's       
temper1 charging him with perversity and
 rebellion1 and with acting undutifully2
 and then1 when he hoped that ,jonathan 
was excited1 he introduced the thought1 
,this ,david1 if you let him live1 will 
seize the throne which is yours as my   

son and heir6 ,will you suffer ,david to
 live and take your throne8 ,it was an  
appeal to ,jonathan's envy1 and that    
appeal touched on the most delicate     
ambition of ,jonathan's heart4 ,what a  
fearful thing envy is6 ,history is full 
of its unfortunate work4 ,it hurts him  
who cherishes it as well as him against 
whom it rages4 ,cambyses killed his     
brother ,smerdis because he could draw a
 stronger bow than himself or his party4
 ,dionysius the tyrant1 out of envy1    
punished ,philoxenius the musician      
because he could sing1 and ,plato the   
philosopher because he could dispute1   
better than himself4 ,envy is the very  
reverse of charity2 it is the supreme   
source of pain1 as charity is the       
supreme source of pleasure4 ,the poets  
imagined that envy dwelt in a dark cave2
 being pale and lean1 looking asquint1  
abounding with gall1 her teeth black1   
never rejoicing but in the misfortune of
 others1 ever unquiet and anxious1 and  
continually tormenting herself4  ,when  

such an appeal to envy as that subtly   
made by ,saul to ,jonathan comes to most
 human hearts they are conquered by it4 
,few1 very few1 men hail the rise of the
 sun that pales their own star4 ,but    
,jonathan could not be overpowered by   
this appeal1 however wilily the king    
drove it home4 ,he stood true to ,david1
 though by so doing he imperiled his own
 life4 ,for with his quick perception of
 ,jonathan's fixed adherence to ,david1 
,saul hurled his javelin at his own     
son's breast and would have slain him on
 the spot4  ,in the days that followed  
this stormy interview1 when the king's  
wrath against ,david was still at white 
heat1 and when one turn of ,jonathan's  
hand could have ended all possible      
rivalry between himself and ,david for  
the throne1 ,jonathan sought ,david1    
said gladly to him1 ,thou shalt be king 
in ,israel1 and ,i shall be next unto   
thee1 and saying this1 made a new       
covenant of love that should bind       
themselves and their descendants to all 

generations6  ,i know not what others   
may think1 but as for me1 nothing in    
this world is sweeter1 stronger1 nobler1
 than an unselfish friendship4 ,we have 
used and misused the word love so often 
that we have dragged it down from its   
high meaning4 ,we have flippantly passed
 it over our lips when by love we meant 
mere interest1 or sympathy1 or fondness1
 or even a mental or a physical passion4
 ,we have belittled it and even smirched
 it in the mire4 ,but next to the word  
,god it is the greatest word of human   
life1 and is associated with ,god as no 
other word is4 ,the man that can and    
will prove a generous1 unselfish1       
devoted friend is the highest type of   
man4 ,the man that can cherish a sweet1 
uplifting love that is beyond the reach 
of envy1 and that will lay down every   
treasure but itself for another1 is the 
noblest specimen of manhood that can be 
produced4 ,more and more it becomes     
clear that genuine devotion to the      
highest interests of others is the      

solution of the world's social problems4
 ,love makes its owner happy4 ,it is a  
giver and a sustainer of joy4 ,there is 
no bitterness in its root and no acid in
 its fruit4 ,by nature it is the sweet1 
the healthy1 the sane4 ,the absence of  
love always means the presence of the   
selfish1 or of the vain1 or of the      
proud1 or of the self-seeking1 or of the
 cruel4 ,envy is a thorn in the soul4   
,love is content and cheer1 a radiant   
flower whose perfume is refreshingly    
fragrant4    ,for life1 with all it     
yields of joy or woe1                   
,and hope or fear1   ,is just our chance
 o' the prize of learning love--   ,how 
love might be1 hath been1 indeed1 and   
is4  ,to the very end of his days       
,jonathan stood true to ,david4 ,he     
accomplished what might seem to many an 
impossible task1 but what by his        
accomplishment of it is shown to be     
possible4 ,he was true to two persons   
whose interests were opposite1 proving a
 friend to each4 ,he loved his father4  

,he knew his father's weaknesses4 ,they 
tried him seriously4 ,when his father   
threw the spear at his head1 and        
maligned his mother1 and charged him    
with ingratitude1 his whole being was   
stirred2 he went out from his father's  
presence angry4 ,but that anger was     
merely a temporary emotion4 ,he soon    
realized his duty to his father4 ,he    
returned1 placed himself at his father's
 hand1 continued to be his adherent1    
counselor1 and helper1 went with him as 
one of his lieutenants to the battle on 
,gilboa1 and fought beside him until he 
fell dead at ,saul's side6  ,there is   
nothing weak in this character of       
,jonathan4 ,let him who can reproduce   
it4 ,christ said of ,john the ,baptist1 
,there hath not been born of women a    
greater than he1 because ,john1 free    
from envy1 was so full of love that he  
rejoiced to see ,christ come into a     
recognition that absolutely displaced   
,john4 ,by these words of ,christ ,john 
is made to loom up as no other character

 of his day4 ,jonathan was ,john's      
prototype--a massive man1 a man of      
momentum1 a man of absolute             
fearlessness1 whose virtues were crowned
 by his generous1 protecting1           
self-effacing love4 ,no wonder that when
 word reached ,david that ,jonathan had 
been slain in fierce battle his heart   
poured out the greatest elegy of        
history--an elegy that has been sung and
 resung for thousands of years--,how are
 the mighty fallen6 ,i am distressed for
 thee1 my brother ,jonathan2 very       
pleasant hast thou been unto me4 ,thy   
love to me was wonderful1 passing the   
love of women4 ,how are the mighty      
fallen and the weapons of war perished6 
,noticeable it is that the supreme elegy
 of the ,old ,testament is on the man   
who had a heart of unselfish devotion1  
,jonathan2 and that the one elegy of the
 ,new ,testament pronounced by ,christ1 
is likewise on the man who had a heart  
of unselfish devotion1 ,john the        
,baptist4 ,the greatest possession any  

one can have is a loving heart--a heart 
that generously recognizes worth in     
another and tries to make place for that
 worth2 a heart that guards another's   
interests1 even though such guarding    
costs intercession2 a heart that gladly 
surrenders its own advantage that       
another may advance to the place which  
might be its own4  ,no one can tell     
another how and when the heart of love  
should show itself4 ,all that can be    
told is this3 ,let any one be pervaded  
by love as ,jonathan was1 and in that   
one's home1 in that one's business1 and 
in that one's pleasures ,god will       
provide him occasion upon occasion for  
living that love4 ,the love that a man  
gives away is the only love his heart   
can retain4 ,the man that has such a    
heart of love has the sweetest1         
happiest1 gladdest possession that can  
be obtained on earth or in heaven4 ,all 
the money in the world leaves a man poor
 if his heart is bitter4 ,all the       
poverty that can come to a man finds him

 rich if his heart is glad and strong4  
,love is the only possession that a man 
can carry with him to heaven and always 
keep with him in heaven4 ,he lives for  
eternity who lives for love4    ,the one
 great purpose of creation--love1   ,the
 sole necessity of earth and heaven4    
,,using ,,aright ,,our ,,best ,,hours4  
,,chapter ,,viii4  ,,using ,,aright     
,,our ,,best ,,hours4   ,every writer   
who has described what we call          
opportunity has insisted upon the       
necessity of seizing opportunity as it  
flies4 ,we are told that there is a tide
 in the affairs of men which taken at   
its proper moment leads us on to        
fortune4 ,it is also asserted that once 
at least there comes into every one's   
life a special hour which used aright   
has much to do with assuring his        
permanent welfare4  ,universal          
experience bears witness to the         
truthfulness and force of these sayings4
 ,every human being who has studied the 
history of the race is aware that now   

and then decisive hours come to his     
fellows1 and according as those hours   
are used to advantage or to             
disadvantage1 is the success or failure 
of his fellows4 ,we know this fact      
applies also to ourselves4 ,all our     
hours are not the same hours1 either in 
their nature or in their possibility4   
,some hours are special hours when1 for 
one reason or another1 crises are       
present2 if we meet these hours aright  
we advance1 if we fail to meet them     
aright we fall back4  ,such hours are   
the supreme opportunities of our entire 
existence3 the hours when duty appears  
more clear than is its wont1 or hours   
when the heart is strangely moved toward
 the good1 or hours when a new and very 
uplifting sense of ,god's presence is   
felt4 ,it is not asserted that such     
hours are equally bright and glorious to
 every one4 ,they may not be bright at  
all4 ,they may be dull and heavy4 ,but  
they bring us a conviction of what is   
right1 a sense of obligation to do the  

right1 and an assurance that ,god's way 
is the way our feet should tread4 ,given
 any such hour1 whether it be on the    
mountain or in the valley1 and a man has
 his best hour4 ,all other hours1 as we 
plod or play1 may be good1 but the hour 
when a soul is brought face to face with
 duty and with ,god is the best hour in 
that particular period of our life4  ,it
 was simply and only because ,jacob used
 aright his best hours that he rescued  
his name from disgrace and crowned it   
with glory4 ,if ever a man started in   
life handicapped by unfortunate         
characteristics and unfortunate         
environments ,jacob was such a man4 ,one
 of the modern sculptors1 ,george ,grey 
,barnard1 has a life-sized marble1      
showing what he names ,our ,two         
,natures1 two men1 one the good and one 
the evil1 coming out of the same block  
of stone1 and struggling1 each to see   
which shall gain the ascendancy over the
 other4 ,such two natures are in every  
one2 but they appear with special       

prominence in ,jacob4 ,the question of  
his life was1 ,which is to conquer1 the 
good or the evil8 ,the struggle of the  
good for ascendancy was prolonged and   
severe4 ,it was a struggle in which     
there were disgraceful defeats1 but in  
which there was also a persistency of   
purpose and a reassertion of effort     
whereby the good finally triumphed4 ,and
 this triumph1 it may safely be         
asserted1 was secured through the use   
,jacob made of a few supreme hours in   
his life4  ,when we first begin to      
notice ,jacob1 we see him participating 
in the deception of his aged and almost 
blinded father1 ,isaac4 ,we do well1 in 
studying that deception1 to bear in mind
 that the mother1 before ,jacob's birth1
 had been told that ,jacob should       
inherit his father's blessing4 ,so she  
had probably taught ,jacob that this    
blessing belonged to him1 and that she  
and he were justified in securing it in 
any way they could4 ,and we do well also
 to bear in mind that the mother        

recognized a certain undeveloped but    
capable fitness in ,jacob for this      
blessing1 a fitness that ,esau lacked4  
,esau was a lusty1 out-of-doors1        
happy-going man who would not control   
his appetites1 and who1 however pleasant
 he might be to have around when        
merry-making and sport were in the air1 
was not prudent enough and judicious    
enough to be the head of a great people4
 ,rebekah1 and ,jacob1 too1 may have    
felt that it would be the height of     
family folly to leave the family        
blessing with ,esau1 who probably in a  
short time would squander it2 it ought1 
therefore1 to be diverted from him4     
,besides1 the age was one in which fine 
distinctions between right and wrong1 as
 we to-day see these distinctions1 were 
not clear4 ,we thus can understand some 
of the reasoning which lay back of the  
fraud practiced on ,isaac when ,jacob   
made believe that he was ,esau bringing 
the desired venison1 and so secured the 
blessing4  ,but we do not mean to       

justify the deception4 ,it carried--as  
every sin carries--fearful consequences1
 and those consequences affected all of 
,jacob's future life4 ,as he had        
deceived his father1 again and again his
 children deceived their father4 ,even  
immediately upon its perpetration       
,jacob's life became endangered4 ,he was
 obliged to flee from enraged and       
threatening ,esau4 ,then it was that    
,jacob1 at nightfall1 coming alone to   
rocky ,bethel1 and lying down to        
sleep--a wrong-doer1 a fugitive1        
homeless1 friendless1 and in peril--had 
his dream4 ,he saw heaven opened over   
him1 with angels ascending as it were by
 a ladder to ,god and then descending by
 that ladder from ,god to his           
resting-place4 ,the dream bore in upon  
his mind certain thoughts4 ,one was1    
that ,god had not forsaken him1 but was 
with him4 ,another was1 that ,god was   
ready to forgive him for his sin and    
bless him4 ,and still a third was1 that 
,god would take even his life and so use

 it1 if he should be consecrated to     
,him1 that he1 ,jacob1 should some day  
come back to ,bethel as its owner and be
 the head of that people through whom   
the whole world should be blessed4 ,and 
a fourth thought was1 that however long 
the delay in fulfilling the promises1   
,god certainly would fulfil them1 and   
,he would watch over ,jacob until they  
were fulfilled4  ,as ,jacob awaked from 
his dream those four thoughts were in   
his mind3 of ,god's presence1 of ,god's 
forgiveness1 of ,god's call1 and of     
,god's protection4 ,up to this time the 
hour of this awakening was the best hour
 of his life4 ,thoughts stirred in his  
heart different in degree and different 
in quality than any he had ever had4    
,there came a new sense of the wonderful
 love of ,god4 ,what had he done to     
deserve it8 ,nothing4 ,why should not   
the heavens be closed1 and be dark and  
forbidding to a defrauder like himself8 
,that certainly was what one like       
himself might expect4 ,did not the      

cherubim drive sinful ,adam and ,eve out
 of the garden1 and stand with flaming  
sword forbidding their return8 ,but here
 was ,god appearing in mercy1 assuring  
of ,his readiness to pardon             
transgression1 and calling upon the     
wrong-doer to repent1 to be earnest1 and
 to make his life a benediction rather  
than a curse4 ,here1 too1 was ,god      
pledging ,his unfailing aid to ,jacob if
 ,jacob would struggle toward success6  
,what should ,jacob do with these       
thoughts8 ,he might have brushed them   
away from his heart as he brushed away  
the morning dew from his eyes1 and thus 
immediately have banished them4 ,he     
might have pondered the thoughts for a  
day or two1 being softened and comforted
 by them1 and then let them pass out of 
his mind forever4 ,many men have acted  
in such ways4 ,a wicked man opened a    
letter from his mother1 and with the    
sight of her penmanship there came to   
him the memory of all her interest in   
his purity1 integrity1 and godliness4   

,he crushed the letter in his hand and  
threw it into the fire burning on the   
hearth4 ,but another man1 many another  
man1 though moved by good impulses1 and 
even touched to the quick by them after 
a while has let such impulses glide away
 from his heart and carry with them     
their helpfulness4 ,that is what ,darwin
 says that he did4 ,the thought of ,god 
came to him now and then in special     
hours of his earlier life1 but he did   
not hold fast to it1 he let it escape1  
and the thought of a personal ,god who  
watches over and blesses never became   
the cheering possession of his soul4    
,but it was not so with ,jacob2 and     
because it was not so1 hope of          
betterment dawned upon his character4   
,he valued the thoughts that had come to
 him4 ,he was awed4 ,awe1 or reverence1 
is the originating spring of worthy     
character4 ,his was not a simple mind   
easily affected4 ,jacob was a cool1     
calculating1 careful1 worldly-wise man1 
almost the last type of man that finds  

it easy to be awed4 ,but to him--with   
whom money and sheep and slaves and     
retinue were now and were long afterward
 to be very prominent objects of        
ambition--there was a feeling that1     
after all1 ,god and ,god's blessings are
 the supreme things of life4 ,so he did 
not let the awe of the hour pass        
unimproved4 ,he acted on that awe4 ,he  
then and there as best he could         
confessed ,god and his faith in ,him1   
raising a pillar of stone in ,god's name
 and anointing it with oil in           
significance that the spot upon which it
 stood was consecrated to ,god4 ,thus he
 erected the first of all those         
tabernacles1 temples1 synagogues1       
churches1 cathedrals1 chapels1 that have
 been a testimony to faith in ,god all  
over the earth4 ,and then1 as though an 
outward thing was not enough1 but some  
inner thing of character was now        
required1 he vowed a vow--the best vow  
probably that he1 with his idea of ,god 
and of money1 knew how to vow4 ,he vowed

 that if ,god who had thus shown him his
 opportunity and duty would be true to  
,his promises and would take care of him
 as covenanted1 he1 ,jacob1 would uphold
 the worship of ,god and would give a   
tenth of all he might ever obtain unto  
,god4  ,that vow laid hold on ,jacob's  
life4 ,it began to work a change that   
only many1 many years advanced toward   
completion4 ,but it began the change4   
,when a soul1 in a best moment of life1 
seeing duty clearly1 or beholding a new 
revelation of ,god1 crystallizes the    
emotions thus aroused by a vow that     
consecrates its dearest treasures to    
,god1 then the soul has taken its first 
step toward strong and beautiful        
character4 ,here it was that ,esau      
failed4 ,he seems to have had more      
traits that men would name attractive   
than had ,jacob4 ,an open-hearted1      
open-handed1 out-spoken man1 rough but  
kind and generous and ready1 he at      
life's beginning appeared to have more  
in his favor than this grasping1        

secretive brother4 ,when ,esau's best   
hours came--hours when the sense of his 
own misdeeds rankled in his heart and   
when he was aware that repentance and   
reformation and a new application to    
duty should be his--he felt his         
situation deeply2 he even1 as a man of  
his temperament could do1 shed tears of 
grief over his mistakes and losses4 ,but
 he did not realize with awe the gravity
 of his situation1 nor did he turn to   
,god and to duty with a softened1       
chastened spirit1 and vow his life in   
devotion to ,god4 ,jacob's right use of 
his best hours set ,jacob's face towards
 ,god and character4 ,esau's wrong use  
of his best hours set ,esau's face away 
from ,god and character4  ,but ,jacob's 
life needed1 as every life needs1 more  
than one best hour4 ,off in ,haran where
 he dwelt for twenty years he was among 
heathen people4 ,as he served seven     
years for ,leah and seven years for     
,rachel and six years beside1 he        
preserved many of the ideals and        

purposes that came to him in the morning
 hour at ,bethel1 but not all of them4  
,these purposes seem to have kept him   
from idolatry and to have given him     
patience and fortitude and prolonged    
endurance4 ,laban treated him           
deceivingly and unkindly4 ,jacob showed 
much self-control and much generosity4  
,laban's flocks increased beneath       
,jacob's care until ,laban became a very
 rich man4 ,if a lamb or a sheep was    
injured in any way ,jacob bore all the  
expense connected with its hurt or its  
death4 ,had ,laban recognized the value 
of his services1 then perhaps ,jacob    
would not again have come under the     
power of his own crafty1 calculating1   
money-making propensities4 ,but ,laban  
treated ,jacob like a slave1 and ,jacob 
retaliated with meanness4 ,he speciously
 secured from ,laban a large proportion 
of ,laban's cattle1 and with his wealth 
thus gathered started away from his     
angry master toward the old-time        
,bethel1 that somehow was always in his 

memory4 ,there was a sense in which he  
deserved every sheep and goat and       
servant that he had3 he had earned them 
all2 they ought by right of service to  
be his4 ,but in another sense he had    
tricked ,laban and was going away with  
ill-gotten gains4  ,now is to come the  
second great crisis in his life4 ,jacob 
is to venture into the country where    
,esau is1 ,esau who for years has been  
cherishing hatred against ,jacob4       
,hatred cherished sours and becomes     
malice4 ,esau was a difficult one to    
meet--fierce1 strong1 and determined4   
,it was then that another great hour    
came to ,jacob4 ,to the east he had     
parted company with ,laban1 who had     
become reconciled to ,jacob and who had 
given him his farewell blessing4 ,to the
 west1 where ,bethel lay and whither his
 heart called him1 is ,esau4 ,how shall 
he meet ,esau8 ,he does now what seems1 
from the night at ,bethel1 to have      
become more or less of a custom with    
him2 he consults ,god4 ,he lays the     

situation as it lies in his mind before 
,god4 ,he thus tries to see the         
situation as it actually is when seen in
 the presence of ,one who is omniscient4
 ,as he thus studies the situation he   
deems it wise to send ahead1 in relays1 
goodly parts of his flocks1 which1 as   
they pass ,esau1 should be announced as 
gifts to ,esau4 ,it is the same cool1   
calculating ,jacob still at work4 ,then 
he sends forward all his family and all 
his cattle1 over the ,jabbok1 toward the
 country where ,esau is4 ,this done he  
remained behind alone4  ,again it was   
the night-time4 ,there was darkness1 the
 darkness that often is so conducive to 
earnest thought and clear vision of the 
right4 ,light is indeed essential that  
men already in the path of duty may walk
 safely therein1 but the path of duty   
itself is more often discovered when we 
look out of darkness than when we stand 
in the sunlight4  ,it was a time of     
uncertainty and almost of fear on       
,jacob's part--a time of heart searching

 in view of the past and of hesitation  
in view of the present4 ,such a time can
 come only to one who has ceased being a
 mere child and has entered into the    
experiences of manhood4 ,the great      
questions of the nature of ,god and of  
the protection of ,his providence       
stirred in ,jacob's heart4 ,his had been
 a sinful career4 ,still he had         
repented1 and repenting had grown in    
grace4 ,but even yet his faith was      
fearful and his trust hesitant4 ,was    
,god really on his side8 ,would this    
,god1 the ,god that had promised to     
bring him back to ,canaan and give him a
 place there1 surely preserve him8 ,then
 it was1 while these questions were     
throbbing within him1 that in the       
darkness one like a man grappled with   
him in wrestling4 ,should he be         
faint-hearted and cowardly1 distrusting 
,god's promise of protection1 and let   
this stranger throw him1 kill him1 and  
so forever end the possibility of ,god's
 fulfilling ,his promise8 ,or should he 

lay hold of ,god's promise to sustain   
him1 and do his best to throw this      
stranger1 and thus preserve his life and
 accomplish his mission8 ,it was a      
decisive time4 ,luther had such a time  
the night before the ,diet of ,worms1   
when he had to wrestle with the thought 
,shall ,i be distrustful of ,god's      
providence and recant to-morrow1 or     
shall ,i hold fast to my faith in ,god  
and stand by the truth to-morrow8       
,hamilton had such a time the night     
before he decided that he would be      
burned at the stake rather than deny the
 truth4 ,such times come into many      
lives1 when great questions about a     
right or a wrong marriage1 a right or a 
wrong business1 a right or a wrong      
amusement1 must be decided4  ,jacob     
would not surrender to fear6 ,he would  
trust ,god to continue his life4 ,he    
therefore relaxed no hold on the        
stranger1 but wrestled with him as best 
he could4 ,then came the revelation4    
,the stranger simply touched the hollow 

of ,jacob's thigh and by that touch put 
it out of joint6 ,here was an ,almighty 
,one wrestling with him6 ,jacob realized
 that ,god had come to him6 ,with that  
revelation1 even in his weakened        
condition1 he clings the closer to the  
stranger2 he will hold on to ,god4 ,let 
me go1 for the day breaketh1 cries the  
stranger4 ,i will not let thee go1      
except thou bless me1 ,jacob replies4   
,jacob cleaves to ,god4 ,jacob longs for
 ,god's blessing4 ,he has found ,god    
very near to him4 ,he will avail himself
 of ,his nearness4 ,the face of ,god is 
turned upon him in love4 ,he will not   
let this hour go without getting from it
 all the inspiration and help he can    
obtain4  ,and he did obtain the best    
blessing that ever came to his life--the
 blessing that assured him his character
 was to be completely changed1 and made 
beautiful and strong for ,god4 ,christ  
once said to a weak1 impulsive1         
oft-falling man3 ,thou art ,simon1 son  
of ,jonah--that is1 the listening son of

 a weak dove1 unreliable1 changeable1   
frail--thou shalt be ,peter--that is1 a 
rock1 firm1 stable4 ,christ thus        
indicated that he would make of weak    
,simon a resolute1 trustworthy ,peter1  
as ,he did4 ,just so ,god in this hour  
said1 ,thy name shall be called no more 
,jacob--the supplanter1 the tricky1 the 
calculating--but ,israel--a prince of   
,god1 a man that has power with ,god and
 men1 a man that even prevails with ,god
 and men6  ,what a benediction that was1
 one of the choicest in all history6 ,no
 higher designation could be promised to
 such a man as ,jacob had been1 than    
,israel6 ,i would rather--under ,god and
 for ,god--have that name given me by   
,god than any other name that can be    
named upon a weak1 frail man3 ,israel--a
 man who can prevail with his fellows   
and with ,god for human good6  ,all this
 came about because ,jacob used aright  
his best hours2 because when ,god was   
near him1 he held on to ,god2 because   
when he was discouraged and             

heavy-hearted and the prospect was dark1
 he trusted ,god2 because when he was   
weakened and brought low1 he would not  
let ,god go unless ,he bless him4       
,though ,he slay me1 yet will ,i trust  
,him1 ,job said4 ,even if ,god will not 
deliver us from the burning fiery       
furnace1 still we will not disobey ,him1
 said the three prisoners at ,babylon4  
,henceforth in ,jacob's life there would
 still be vicissitudes4 ,troubles1      
responsibilities1 disappointments1      
sorrows1 needs1 would come4 ,his        
children did not always treat him       
aright4 ,joseph was mourned as dead4    
,benjamin was taken from him to ,egypt4 
,he had cares and burdens1 as all men   
must have them1 until life's end4 ,but  
the thought of ,god became increasingly 
precious to him year by year2 his spirit
 sweetened and softened2 his memory was 
full of the loving kindnesses of ,god1  
and his hope laid hold on a blessed     
future4 ,down in ,egypt as he draws nigh
 to death he triumphantly speaks of     

,god1 before whom my fathers1 ,abraham  
and ,isaac1 did walk1 the ,god which fed
 me all my life long unto this day1 and 
the ,angel which redeemed me from all   
evil4 ,he died a man of ,god1 honored in
 his day1 and honored since--a man who  
had such faith in the promises that he  
charged ,joseph to carry his body to the
 ,holy ,land and bury it there where the
 ,christ was to come4 ,he started life  
with most unfortunate traits of         
character and in most unfortunate       
surroundings of environment1 but he came
 off a victor1 not a perfect man1 but a 
successful man1 a man whom we may well  
praise1 a man who preserved the faith   
and blessed the world1 and all because  
he made a right use of his best hours4  
,where the highest thoughts are in the  
air1 where the holiest persons gather1  
where the loftiest influences of ,god's 
,holy ,spirit breathe1 there we do well 
to go4 ,there we do well to stay4 ,any  
voice that calls us nearer ,god should  
be followed1 any motion of our heart    

toward duty should be obeyed4 ,god is   
sure to send us1 one and all1 special   
hours in which ,his wishes are clear to 
our understandings and ,his promises are
 reassuring to our wills4 ,those are the
 golden hours of existence4 ,even ,god  
can provide no better4 ,if we use these 
best hours aright1 our whole moral      
nature is changed1 and the weakest of us
 becomes a mighty prince of ,god4       
,,giving ,,our ,,best ,,to ,,god4       
,,chapter ,,ix4  ,,giving ,,our ,,best  
,,to ,,god4   ,god asks every man to    
give to ,him his best4 ,it is ,god's    
way1 ,god's undeviating way with each   
individual to say to him1 ,whatever in  
yourself or in your possessions is best1
 that ,i ask you to devote to ,me4      
,students of ,god1 in all ages1 have    
recognized this fact4 ,they have        
understood that a human life cannot     
wholly follow ,god unless all the       
holdings of that life are consecrated to
 ,god4 ,they have also understood that a
 man's all includes his best1 and that  

unless that best is ,god's1 the man's   
real heart and the man's strongest      
purposes are not ,god's4  ,abraham      
realized these truths4 ,accordingly1    
when ,abraham1 pondering his personal   
relation to ,god1 asked himself whether 
he was a perfectly devoted man1 the     
thought of his son ,isaac crept into his
 mind4 ,isaac was his only real son4 ,he
 dearly loved him4 ,he was the supreme  
treasure of his heart4 ,abraham's hopes 
centered in ,isaac4 ,his ambitions and  
his joys were bound up in that son and  
in that son's life4  ,was ,abraham      
willing to give to ,god his best        
treasure1 his ,isaac8 ,that was the     
question ,abraham found himself called  
upon to face4 ,in facing it he was      
affected by the theories of consecration
 that prevailed among the surrounding   
nations4 ,those theories asserted that  
consecration meant sacrifice--that to   
consecrate a lamb to a god meant to slay
 the lamb upon the altar of that god1   
and that to consecrate a child to       

,jehovah would mean to slay the child   
upon the altar of ,jehovah4  ,as he     
thought on these things and knew ,god   
wished him to give to ,him his best1    
there came to him a conviction that     
spoke to his heart with all the         
authority of the voice of ,god4         
,abraham1 if you are ready to give ,me  
your best1 you will take ,isaac1 your   
son1 your only son1 whom you love1 and  
in ,moriah offer him there for a        
burnt-offering4  ,that was the most     
searching command that could have       
entered his soul4 ,it asked of him the  
sacrifice of the dearest object of his  
life4  ,nobly1 even sublimely1 did he   
meet the test4 ,believing1 according to 
the ideas prevalent about him1 that     
perfect devotion to ,god and to ,god's  
kingdom called him to lift his fatherly 
hand and plunge the knife of death into 
the heart of his child1 ,abraham lifted 
his hand for the sacrifice4 ,in that act
 ,god1 who ever stood ready to correct  
,abraham's misconception of method1 had 

evidence that before ,him was an        
absolutely loyal soul4 ,here was one who
 to all generations might deservedly be 
called1 ,the father of the faithful4    
,accordingly1 with the man who would    
give ,him his best and who thus became a
 worthy example for all mankind1 ,god   
made a covenant2 ,in ,abraham and in his
 seed all the nations of the earth      
should be blessed4  ,this impressive    
scene heads the very beginning of the   
salvation of the race4 ,it is the       
prelude to the definite record of the   
world's redemption4 ,it ushers in that  
line of history that starting with      
,abraham advances through a chosen      
people until a ,christ is come and in   
,him and through ,him and for ,him all  
people are asked to give their best to  
,god and to the world's help4  ,what is 
a person's best8 ,sometimes the question
 can easily be answered4 ,in ,malachi's 
time1 when people were bringing their   
offerings to the temple1 and those      
offerings were the blind1 the lame1 and 

the sick of the flock1 it was evident   
that these imperfect creatures were not 
the best4 ,the best were the clear-eyed1
 the strong-limbed1 and the             
vigorous-bodied sheep that were left at 
home4 ,of two talents or five talents or
 ten talents1 all in the possession of  
the same owner1 it is clear that the ten
 talents are the best4 ,the thing that  
to a man's own heart is the dearest is  
to him his best4 ,the thing that for the
 world's betterment is the most helpful 
is to that world the man's best4        
,usually these two things are the same  
thing2 a man's dearest treasure         
consecrated to the world's uplift is the
 best thing he can give to the world's  
good4 ,whatever carries a man's         
undivided and enthusiastic heart into   
usefulness is the best that he can offer
 to ,god and to ,god's world4  ,for a   
man is at his best when in utter        
self-abnegation his heart is enlisting  
every power of mind and body in devotion
 to a worthy cause4 ,moses was good as a

 shepherd4 ,the rabbins love to tell of 
his protection of sheep in time of      
danger and of his provision for them in 
time of need4 ,but ,moses was at his    
best when1 under ,god's call1 he        
conquered his fear and reluctance1      
resolved to do what he could to rescue  
,israel from cruel ,pharaoh1 and        
throwing his heart into the effort1     
undertook the redemption of his race4   
,joshua was good as a servant and as a  
spy1 but he was at his best when he took
 the lead of armies1 won glorious       
victories1 and wisely administered      
government4 ,paul was good when he sat  
at the feet of ,gamaliel and studied    
well1 and when1 grown older1 he was an  
upright citizen of ,judea1 but ,paul was
 at his best when1 under the inspiration
 of a cause that inflamed his whole     
life1 he pleaded on ,mar's ,hill1 wrote 
to ,roman saints1 and triumphed over    
suffering in prison4  ,it is not easy   
for a youth to know what is his best4   
,he is uncertain of his aptitudes4 ,he  

is not sure that he has special         
aptitudes4 ,his marked characteristics  
have not become clear to his own eye1 if
 they have become clear to the eyes of  
others2 nor does he understand what     
power is latent in his distinctive      
characteristics1 whose existence he is  
beginning to suspect4 ,such a youth need
 not1 must not1 be discouraged and think
 he has no best4 ,he has a best that in 
,god's sight individualizes him1 a best 
that ,god wishes consecrated to him4    
,whatever is most precious to that      
youth1 whatever he least likes to have  
injured and most likes to have prosper1 
that is the element of his life that he 
should lay at ,god's feet4 ,if the most 
treasured possession of his being is    
thus given to ,god1 ,god in the due time
 will develop its aptitudes4 ,he will   
provide a place or an hour when those   
aptitudes shall be given opportunity4   
,no ,moses--competent for mighty        
tasks--is ever allowed to remain        
unsummoned1 provided such competency is 

wholly given to ,god4 ,there are many   
marvels in human history1 but no marvel 
is greater than the coming of the hour  
of opportunity to every man to do his   
best and to reveal his best4 ,it is not 
so much a question of what is our best1 
as it is whether we are willing to      
consecrate the thing we prize most to   
the service of ,god's world4  ,that     
world needs our best4 ,the problems of  
human society and the wants of men can  
never be met by the cheap4 ,what costs  
the giver little1 accomplishes little   
with the receiver4 ,skin deep           
beneficences never penetrate beyond the 
skin of those helped4 ,the woes of the  
world lie far beneath the skin4 ,when we
 study them1 we are amazed by their     
depth2 we see how futile many of the    
efforts of mankind to relieve them are4 
,the failure of so many of these efforts
 causes some souls to question whether  
it is possible for any one ever to      
relieve humanity's needs4 ,that question
 will always suggest a negative answer1 

so long as the superficial1 the         
secondary1 and the merely good are      
brought to the relief of mankind4 ,it is
 only when the best that an individual  
can give or society can provide is      
offered men that men will be redeemed4  
,the existence in our world to-day of so
 much sin and sorrow is most            
significant4 ,it exists and will        
continue to exist so long as we bring   
anything less than our best to its help4
 ,there was no cure for the lepers of   
,palestine so long as men threw them    
coins that they could easily spare1 gave
 them food that cost them little        
self-denial1 and said under their       
breath1 ,how pitiable those lepers are6 
,but when ,one came who gave ,himself   
for them1 who risked being put out of   
synagogue and temple and all society by 
touching them1 who even ceremonially    
defiled ,himself with their defilement1 
and thus did the best ,he possibly could
 do for them1 the lepers were healed4   
,the best men in the world are not too  

good for the world's needs4 ,the streets
 of cities and the lanes of towns will  
never be purified by any                
instrumentalities of usefulness that are
 less than the best4 ,the heathen world 
has not a village in which the wisest1  
noblest1 purest man or woman will not   
have to battle hard before the work to  
be done can be done4 ,inexpensive       
apparatus may avail where operations are
 simple1 but the most expensive         
apparatus that can be found is required 
where operations are intensely          
complicated4  ,it sometimes seems as    
though even intelligent people had not  
comprehended these facts4 ,they talk of 
the foolishness of casting pearls before
 swine4 ,but the woes of humanity are   
not the woes of swine4 ,they are the    
woes of men and women in bondage to     
wrong--and pearls are none too good to  
set before them that thereby the beauty 
of life may be seen by them and thereby 
that earthly condition of society whose 
every gate is one single pearl of       

purity1 may be desired by them4 ,if in a
 home we cannot be a comfort to the     
sorrowful1 or in a school be an         
inspiration to the laggard1 or in       
business be a cheer to the discouraged1 
without giving the very best out of our 
hearts that we can give1 how shall we   
expect that the great mass of evil      
congested in dense centers and compacted
 through ancient custom1 will ever be   
purified1 unless we take the best       
resources we can command1 in ourselves  
and in others1 and bring those best     
resources face to face1 yes1 heart to   
heart1 to that mass of evil4 ,the world 
will never be saved until we offer our  
,isaacs upon the altar of its needs4    
,that world deserves our best4 ,we never
 can repay to this world the good this  
world has done us4 ,the richest man on  
the earth is the most heavily indebted  
to his fellows4 ,all our knowledge1     
culture1 and safety are gifts from      
others4 ,our schools are the product of 
men who for a hundred generations have  

thought and labored for us4 ,every ship 
that comes to ,america got its chart    
from ,columbus4 ,every novel is a debtor
 to ,homer4 ,the more of treasure any   
man has1 the more of toil others have   
borne for him4 ,the best elements of our
 homes1 our business1 and our           
civilization reach us through the tears 
and blood of others4 ,were the man who  
has two hundred millions of dollars to  
attempt to meet his indebtedness to the 
world by the expenditure of that sum in 
charities1 he would not begin to        
discharge his indebtedness4 ,every      
single benefit we enjoy cost many men   
their best4  ,the nobler our type of    
manhood the gladder we are to           
acknowledge this indebtedness and the   
gladder we are in our present place and 
time to give our best for others4       
,fame is what you have taken1           
,character is what you give2   ,when to 
this truth you waken1     ,then you     
begin to live4  ,something of fineness  
and of greatness is lacking in the      

person who thinks himself above his     
neighbors and their needs4 ,the better  
and the larger a man becomes1 the       
readier he is to declare himself a      
brother to suffering humanity and to    
feel that no sacrifice he can make of   
himself is too costly if thereby he can 
elevate others4 ,it is angelic to be a  
ministering spirit sent forth to        
minister to those who may be made heirs 
of salvation4  ,the highest examples    
possible to our emulation confirm this  
theory of the gift of the best4 ,christ 
,himself withheld not any treasures ,he 
possessed1 but ,he gave them all and    
gave them cheerily for foolish humanity4
 ,he laid upon the altars of the world's
 need ,his best wisdom1 ,his best power1
 ,his best glory4 ,he even laid upon    
that altar ,his own precious life1 and  
,he laid it there1 in all its           
spotlessness1 subject to the very curses
 of men4  ,so1 too1 did the ,father     
unhesitatingly give ,his best for the   
world's welfare4 ,he gave ,his ,son1    

,his only begotten ,son1 in whom ,he was
 well pleased1 to save the lost4 ,he    
gave that ,son to any and to every pain 
involved in the cheering of the         
sorrowful and the strengthening of the  
weak4 ,not even from ,gethsemane1 no1   
nor from ,calvary1 did ,he withhold ,his
 best4 ,what ,abraham was ready to do1  
but what ,god spared him from doing1    
that ,god ,himself did--and ,god's      
,isaac was stretched upon the cross and 
died there a sacrifice4  ,it is the gift
 of the best that touches the heart of  
the recipient4 ,superficial kindnesses  
are impotent1 but kindnesses that       
involve the surrender of the giver's    
treasures sway the soul of the          
recipient4 ,this is not always true1 but
 it is true as a principle4 ,they will  
reverence ,my ,son4 ,yes1 though they   
pay no heed to mere servants and        
prophets1 and though some unappreciative
 men slay even the ,son1 other men1 the 
great multitude of men1 when they       
realize that the ,son is ,god's best    

possession1 and realize that in ,his    
gift of ,christ ,god exhausts the       
treasury of ,his heart1 will reverence  
,his ,son4 ,the cross is sure to win the
 whole world to ,god1 because the cross 
stands for ,god's gift of ,his best4    
,god's way of doing good should be our  
way4 ,it is the only way that has       
assurance of success4 ,our wisest       
learning1 our best possessions1 our     
choicest scholars1 our dearest children1
 our brightest hours1 our largest       
abilities--all must be given to the     
service of humanity1 if the needs of    
humanity are to be met4  ,look where we 
will1 the souls of men are waiting for  
help4 ,thousands upon thousands of lives
 will not suffice to provide this help4 
,millions upon millions of dollars may  
be expended1 and still1 in this land and
 in other lands1 there will be the      
destitute1 the afflicted1 and the       
enslaved4 ,it was not ,abraham's gift of
 his sheep nor of his shekels that made 
him the forerunner of the ,christ1 but  

it was his gift of ,isaac4 ,our gift of 
the best alone will put us in line with 
,abraham and ,christ1 and make our      
service a power for salvation4  ,only a 
large-hearted life will give its best to
 ,god4 ,small hearts cling to their best
 treasures4 ,achan puts ,god's name on  
every object found in fallen ,jericho   
excepting the most valuable2 that he    
hides in his tent4 ,saul devotes to     
,jehovah all the cattle conquered from  
the ,ammonites but the best2 those he   
reserves for himself4 ,it was the mark  
of the greatness of her nature that when
 to the widow there came a man of ,god  
asking for food1 and her meal was only  
enough to bake a cake for her son and   
herself ere they died1 she took that    
meal1 obedient to what she considered to
 be a call from ,god1 and made of it1   
her best1 her all1 a cake for the man of
 ,god4 ,god honored that gift and paid  
back into her own life the blessing of  
,his unfailing provision4 ,he always    
honors any such gift4 ,a man like       

,joseph gives his best and keeps giving 
his best to ,god all his days1 and ,god 
never suffers ,joseph to lose his       
spiritual vigor4 ,but if ,solomon only  
gives his best in his early life1 and   
withholds his best in his later life1   
that later life becomes weak and meager4
  ,the proof to which ,god put ,abraham 
is the most soul-searching proof that   
ever comes into human lives4 ,if we     
answer to it as did ,abraham1 we are    
immediately brought into a new and      
sweeter relation to ,god4 ,god withholds
 no blessing from him who offers ,him   
his best4 ,god enters into a dearer and 
closer fellowship with such an one4 ,he 
declares to him that ,his name is       
,jehovah-,jireh1 ,the ,lord will        
provide1 assuring the man that though he
 does make great sacrifices for ,god1   
,god will provide for him abundantly    
more than he has thus sacrificed4 ,the  
young ruler went away from ,christ      
sorrowful when he declined to give      
,christ his best1 but no soul ever can  

be sorrowful that gives its best to     
,christ4 ,you shall have a hundred-fold 
more in this world and in the world to  
come life everlasting4 ,it was because  
the disciples gave their best to ,christ
 that they became so efficient in his   
service4 ,what things were gain to me1  
those ,i counted loss for ,christ4      
,accordingly ,paul became mighty to the 
upbuilding of the kingdom of his ,master
 and was always joyous4  ,let every one 
look into his life and find his best4   
,what is it ,i prize most8 ,what is it  
that gives me largest place among my    
fellows8 ,then let every one consecrate 
that best to ,god4 ,that best may be the
 enthusiasm of our youth1 or the wisdom 
of our maturity1 or the wealth of our   
age4 ,it may be a child in our home1 or 
our hope of advancement1 or some special
 attractiveness we possess4 ,whatever   
our best may be1 ,god asks us to        
consecrate it to ,him4 ,whoever so      
consecrates his best will find ,god     
dearer1 life sweeter1 and service richer

 than ever before4    ,there are loyal  
hearts1 there are spirits brave1        
,there are souls that are pure and true2
   ,then give to the world the best you 
have1     ,and the best shall come back 
to you4    ,give love1 and love to your 
heart will flow1     ,a strength in your
 utmost need2   ,have faith1 and a score
 of hearts will show     ,their faith in
 your word and deed4    ,for life is the
 mirror of king and slave1     ',tis    
just what you are and do2   ,then give  
to the world the best you have1     ,and
 the best will come back to you4        
,transcriber's ,notes3     ,passages in 
italics are indicated by italics4       
,the word repentence on page #adi was   
changed to repentance4