,transcriber's note3    ,text enclosed  
by underscores is in italics 7italics74 
,small capital text has been replaced   
with all capitals4    ,text enclosed by 
equal signs is in bold face 7bold74     
99       99       99       99       99  
,illustration3 cover    ,illustration3  
titlepage            ,the ,world's      
,great ,sermons      ,,volume ,,vi      
,h4 ,w4 ,,beecher ,,to ,,punshon        
,,the    ,,world',s    ,,great          
,,sermons      ,,compiled ,,by          
,,grenville ,,kleiser      ,formerly of 
,yale ,divinity ,school ,faculty2       
,author of ,how to ,speak    in ,public1
 ,etc4      ,with ,assistance from ,many
 of the ,foremost    ,living ,preachers 
and ,other ,theologians                 
,,introduction ,,by      ,,lewis ,o4    
,,brastow1 ,d4,d4      ,professor       
,emeritus of ,practical ,theology    in 
,yale ,university      ,,in ,,ten       
,,volumes      ,,volume ,,vi--,h4 ,w4   
,,beecher ,,to ,,punshon      ,,funk    
,,wagnalls ,,company    ,,new ,,york and

 ,,london            ,,copyright1 #aijh1
 ,,by      ,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company 
,printed in the ,united ,states of      
,america          ,,contents    ,,volume
 ,,vi                                   
,page    ,h4 ,w4 ,,beecher 7#ahac-ahhg74
    ,immortality                        
#a      ,,chapin 7#ahad-ahhj74          
,nicodemus3 ,the ,seeker after ,religion
         #bg      ,,stanley             
7#ahae-ahha74    ,in ,memoriam--,thomas 
,carlyle                  #ea           
,,vaughan 7#ahaf-ahig74    ,god ,calling
 to ,man                           #fg  
,,newman ,,hall 7#ahaf-aijb74           
,christian ,victory                     
#he      ,,robertson 7#ahaf-ahec74      
,the ,loneliness of ,christ             
#aaa      ,,hitchcock 7#ahag-ahhg74     
,eternal ,atonement                     
#aca      ,,kingsley 7#ahai-ahge74      
,the ,shaking of the ,heavens and the   
,earth    #adg      ,,caird             
7#ahbj-ahih74    ,religion in ,common   
,life                     #afg          

,,storrs 7#ahba-aijj74    ,the          
,permanent ,motive in ,missionary ,work 
#aie      ,,punshon 7#ahbd-ahha74       
,zeal in the ,cause of ,christ          
#bai          ,,henry ,,ward ,,beecher  
,,immortality          ,,biographical   
,,note      ,,henry ,,ward ,,beecher1   
preacher1 orator1 lecturer1 writer1     
editor1  and reformer1 was born at      
,litchfield1 ,connecticut1 in #ahac4 ,he
  was by nature and training a great    
pulpit orator4 ,mr4 ,beecher  kept      
himself in perfect physical condition   
for his work4 ,he has  described a      
course of vocal exercises which he      
pursued in the open  air for a period of
 three years4 ,the drill ,i underwent1  
he says1  produced1 not a rhetorical    
manner1 but a flexible instrument1 that 
accommodated itself readily to every    
kind of thought and every shape  of     
feeling4    ,he had deep sympathy for   
all men1 and this with his intense      
dramatic  power often carried him into  
the wildest and most exalted flights  of

 oratory4 ,phillips ,brooks styled him  
the greatest preacher in  ,america1 and 
he is generally regarded as the most    
highly gifted of  modern preachers4 ,he 
was fearless1 patriotic1 clear-headed1  
witty1  and self-sacrificing4 ,dr4      
,wilkinson calls him the greatest pulpit
  orator the world ever saw4 ,he died in
 #ahhg4          ,h4 ,w4 ,,beecher      
#ahac-ahhg    ,,immortality#a      #a   
,from ,plymouth ,pulpit ,sermons4 ,by   
permission of the    ,congregational    
,sunday-,school and ,publishing         
,society4    ,if in this life only we   
have hope in ,christ1 we are of all men 
most  miserable4--#a ,cor4 xv41 #ai4    
,this is not the declaration of a       
universal principle3 it is  biographical
 and personal4 ,and yet1 there is in it 
a principle  of prime importance4 ,it is
 true that ,paul and his compeers had   
sacrificed everything that was dear to  
man for the sake of ,christ4  ,paul had 
given up the place that he held among   
his countrymen1 and  the things which   

surely awaited him4 ,he had consented to
 be an  exile4 ,loving ,palestine and   
the memory of his fathers1 as only a    
,jew  could love1 he found himself an   
outcast1 and despised everywhere  by his
 own people4 ,and the catalog that he   
gives of the sufferings  which he felt  
keenly2 which perhaps would not have    
been felt by a  man less susceptible    
than he1 but which were no less keen in 
his  case--that catalog shows how much  
he had given up for ,christ4 ,and if  it
 should turn out that after all he had  
followed a mere fable1 a  myth2 that    
,christ was but a man2 that1 dying1 ,he 
had come to an end2  that ,he stayed    
dead1 and that there was no             
resurrection1 no future1  but only that 
past through which he waded1 and that   
present in which  he was suffering1     
then1 surely1 it would be true that of  
all men he  was most miserable4    ,this
 is the biographical view2 but it may be
 said of all men1 in  this respect1 that
 no persons can so ill afford to lose   

faith of  immortality as those who have 
had all their affections burnished1     
deepened and rendered sensitive by the  
power of ,christianity4  ,when          
,christianity has had the education of  
generation after  generation1 and has   
shaped the style of its manhood1 and    
ordained  the institutions by which its 
affections have been enlarged and       
purified2 when1 in short1 generations of
 men have been legitimately  the        
children of ,christianity1 to take away 
from them the faith of  immortality     
would be a cruelty which could have no  
parallel in the  amount of suffering    
which it would entail4    ,it is not    
necessarily true that men without a hope
 of ,christianity  would have no        
incitement to virtue--certainly not in  
the ordinary  way in which it is put to 
us4 ,abstractly1 it is said that virtue 
is its own reward--and it is4 ,if there 
was enough of it to amount  to anything1
 it would be a great1 an exceeding      
great1 reward2 but  where it is a spark2

 a germ2 where it is struggling for its 
own  existence2 where it bears but a few
 ripe fruits1 the reward is  hardly     
worth the culture4 ,if all that we get  
is what we have in this  life1 it is but
 little4    ,many men are favorably     
organized and favorably situated2 they  
have  an unyearning content2 things seem
 good enough for them2 and they do  not 
understand why it is that persons should
 desire immortality and  glory--that is1
 at first4 ,in general1 ,i think there  
are few persons  that live long in life 
who do not1 sooner or later1 come to a  
point  in which they wake up to the     
consciousness of a need of this kind4   
,it is not always true in the case of   
persons of refined moral and            
intellectual culture that they are      
conscious of needing a belief in        
immortality2 but a belief in immortality
 is the unavoidable result  and the     
indispensable requirement of all true   
manhood4 ,when you  look at growth1 not 
in each particular case1 but largely1 as

 it  develops itself in communities2    
when you consider it1 not only in a     
single individual1 but in whole         
communities1 as they develop from       
childhood to manhood1 or from barbarism 
through semi-civilization to            
civilization and refinement1 the law of 
development is always away  from animal 
life and its sustaining appetites and   
passions toward  the moral and the      
intellectual4 ,that is the direction in 
which  unfolding takes place4    ,the   
naturalist watches the insect1 and      
studies all the stages  through which it
 goes1 till it becomes a perfect insect4
 ,we look at  a seed1 and see how it    
develops stem and leaf and blossom all  
the  way through1 till we find out what 
the plant is in its final and  perfect  
condition4 ,and in studying men to know 
what is the perfect  condition of       
manhood1 looking at them from the       
beginning to the end1  which way does   
manhood lie1 in the direction of the    
bodily appetites  and senses1 or in the 

other direction8    ,men come into life 
perfect animals4 ,there is very little  
that  culture does in that direction1   
giving them a little more or a  little  
less use of themselves1 as the case may 
be4 ,that which we  mean when we speak  
of developing manhood in a child1 is    
something  more than the development of 
symmetry of form and power of physical  
organization4 ,when we speak of the     
civilization and refinement  of the race
 at large1 development does not mean    
bodily power or  bodily skill3 it means 
reason2 moral sense2 imagination2       
profounder  affection2 subtler1 purer1  
sweeter domestic relations4 ,manhood    
grows away from bodily conditions1      
without ever leaving them4 ,the  body   
becomes a socket1 and the soul is a lamp
 in it4 ,and if you  look narrowly at   
what we mean by growth in mankind1      
whether it be  applied to the individual
 or to the race1 you will find that we  
mean  an unfolding which takes a man    
away from the material toward that      

which is subtler1 more spiritual1       
existing outside of the ordinary        
senses1 tho acting from them1 as        
something better than bone and  muscle1 
nerve and tissue4    ,all development1  
then1 is from the animal toward the     
spiritual and  the invisible4 ,this is  
the public sentiment of mankind even in 
the  lower forms of society4 ,what are  
considered heroic traits1 the  things   
which bring admiration to men1 if       
narrowly examined will  be found to be  
not the things which belong to men as   
brutes--tho  these things may be        
employed by them as instruments4 ,even  
in the  cases of such men as ,samson and
 ,hercules1 who were rude1 brute  men1  
it was not their strength that drew     
admiration to them3 it  was their       
heroism2 it was their patriotism2 it was
 that which they  did by their strength 
for their kind1 and not for themselves4 
,and  in lower societies it is courage1 
it is self-devotion1 it is the  want of 
fear1 it is the higher form of animal   

life1 that attracts  admiration4 ,but as
 we develop out of barbarous into       
civilized  conditions1 we admire men1   
not because they can lift so much1  or  
throw such heavy weights1 or endure such
 hardships of body4  ,admiration on     
these accounts has its place2 but higher
 than these is  the power of thought1   
the power of planning1 the power of     
executing1  the power of living at one  
point so as to comprehend in the effects
  produced all circuits of time in the  
future4 ,thought-power2  emotion2 moral 
sense2 justice2 equity in all its forms2
 higher  manhood1 and its branches1     
which stretch up into the atmosphere    
and reach nearest to the sun--these are 
something other than those  qualities   
which develop earliest1 and are         
lowest--nearest to the  ground4    ,true
 manhood1 then1 has its ripeness in the 
higher faculties4  ,without disdaining  
the companionship of the body the       
manhood of man  grows away from it--in  
another direction4 ,there is not simply 

the  ripening of the physical that is in
 man2 but there is1 by means of  the    
physical1 the ripening of the           
intellectual1 the emotional1 the  moral1
 the esthetic life1 as well as the whole
 spiritual nature4    ,when reason and  
moral sense are developed1 there will   
inevitably  spring up within a man an   
element the value of which consists in  
perpetuating things--in their           
continuance4 ,it is spontaneous and     
universal for one to seek to perpetuate1
 to extend life4 ,i do not  mean by this
 that one wants to live a great while2  
but men are  perpetually under the      
unconscious influence of this in their  
nature3  the attempt to give form and   
permanence to that which is best in     
their manhood4 ,we build1 to be sure1   
primarily1 to cover ourselves  from the 
elements2 but we very soon cease to     
build for that only3  we not merely     
build for protection from cold and from 
wet1 but we  build for gratification4   
,we build to gratify the sense of       

beauty1  the sense of convenience1 and  
the sense of love4 ,and we go on beyond 
that3 we build in order that we may send
 down to those who are to  come after us
 a memorial of our embodied1 incarnated 
thoughts4 ,in  other words1 when men    
build1 they seek1 by incarnation1 to    
render  things permanent which have     
existed only as thoughts or transient   
emotions4 ,there is a tendency to       
incarnate the fugitive elements in  men1
 and give them permanence4 ,and the     
element of continuing is one  of the    
elements which belong to the higher     
manhood4    ,this throws light upon the 
material growths of society4 ,men strive
  to perpetuate thoughts and feelings   
which are evanescent unless they  are   
born into matter4 ,men build things for 
duration4 ,there is this  unconscious   
following out of things to make them    
last2 to give them  long periods4 ,and  
it opens up to men the sense of their   
augmented  being4 ,largeness of being is
 indissolubly connected with extended   

time of being4    ,we admire the        
pyramids1 not because they have been    
associated with  so many histories1 but 
because they have stood so many ages4   
,we  admire old trees1 not because so   
many tribes have sat under them1  nor   
because so many events have taken place 
beneath them1 but simply  because they  
have age with them4 ,for there are mute1
 inexplicable  feelings connected with  
the mere extension of time which belong 
to  the higher development of manhood in
 us4 ,frangible things are of  less     
value than things that are infrangible4 
,things that last are of  more value1 on
 the same plane1 than their congeners   
are that do not  last4    ,who can equal
 the pictures which are painted on the  
panes of glass  in our winter rooms8    
,where can you find a ,lambineau1 or any
 painter  who can give a mountain       
scenery such as we have for nothing1    
every  morning1 when we wake up1 and    
such as the sun outside1 or the stove   
inside1 destroys before ten o'clock8    

,these pictures are not valued  as are  
those which are painted on canvas1 and  
which are not half  so good2 but the    
element of enduring is with the latter1 
while the  element of evanescence is    
with the former4 ,tho the pictures on   
the  pane are finer than those on the   
canvas1 they lack the element of  time1 
on which value so largely depends4 ,the 
soul craves1 hungers  for1 this quality 
of continuance as an element for        
measuring the  value of things4 ,this   
element of time is somewhat felt in the 
earlier conditions of humanity2 but it  
grows with the development of  men1 and 
attaches itself to every part of human  
life4    ,i never saw a diamond that was
 so beautiful as are the dew-drops      
which ,i see on my lawn in summer4 ,what
 is the difference between a  dew-drop  
and a diamond8 ,one goes in a moment2 it
 flashes and dies2  but the other       
endures2 and its value consists in its  
endurance4  ,there are hundreds of      
things which are as beautiful as a      

diamond in  their moment2 but the       
endurance of the diamond is measured by 
ages1  and not by moments1 and so       
carries on the value4    ,i do not draw 
these reasonings very close as yet--,i  
do not desire to  put too much emphasis 
upon them2 but ,i think you will see    
that there  is a drift in them1 and that
 they will bear1 at last1 an important  
relation to this question of            
immortality4 ,the element of manhood    
carries with it a very powerful sense of
 the value of existence4  ,the desire to
 live is a blind instinct4 ,a happy     
experience brings  to this instinct many
 auxiliaries--the expectation of        
pleasure2 the  wish to complete         
unfinished things2 the clinging         
affection to those  that have excited   
love2 and habits of enterprise4         
,besides all these1 is a development of 
the sense of value in simply  being4 ,we
 have said that in external matters the 
continuity of being  is an element of   
value in the judgment which mankind at  

large have  put upon things4 ,we say    
that the same is true in respect to the 
inward existence--to manhood itself4    
,the savage cares very little  for life4
 ,he lives for to-day2 and in every     
to-day he lives for  the hour4 ,time is 
of the least importance to him4 ,the    
barbarian  differs from the savage in   
this3 that he lives to-day for          
to-morrow1  perhaps1 but not for next   
year4 ,the semi-civilized man lives for 
next year2 but only for the year1 or for
 years4 ,the civilized man  begins to   
live in the present for the future4 ,and
 the ,christian  civilized man begins to
 live with a sense of the forever4      
,the extension of the sense of time goes
 on with the development of  manhood in 
men4 ,the sweet1 the tender1 the loving1
 the thoughtful1  the intellectual1 live
 not simply with a sense of life as a   
pleasure-bringer3 there grows up in     
them1 with their development  toward    
manhood1 an intrinsic sense of the value
 of being itself4  ,the soul knows the  

cargo that it carries4 ,it knows that   
that cargo  is destined to immortality4 
,as men are conscious of seeing more1   
of thinking more1 and of feeling more2  
as thought becomes more  precious2 as   
emotion becomes deeper and more         
valuable2 so men more  and more feel    
that they cannot afford to have such    
things go to  waste4    ,a man who takes
 in his hands a lump of mud and molds it
 to some  pleasing form1 cares but      
little when1 dropping it1 he sees it    
flatten on the ground4 ,the man that    
grinds a crystal1 and sees it  broken1  
thinks of it for a moment1 perhaps1 with
 regret1 but soon  forgets it4 ,no one1 
however1 can see an organized thing1    
having its  uses1 and indicating        
exquisite skill and long experience1    
dashed  to pieces without pain4 ,but    
what is anything that is organized in   
life worth in comparison with the soul  
of a man8 ,and if that soul  be pure1   
and sweet1 and deep1 and noble1 and     
active1 and fruitful1  who can1 without 

a pang1 look at it1 and think that it   
must in an  instant go to nothing1      
dissolving again as an icicle from a    
roof in  the spring8    ,the feeling is 
not the fruit of mere reflection4 ,it is
 instinctive4  ,it is universal4 ,men do
 not cultivate it on purpose4 ,they     
cannot  help having it4 ,no man of moral
 culture can regard human life as       
without immortality except with profound
 melancholy4 ,no man that is            
susceptible to reflectiveness can bear  
to think of man's existence  here       
without the bright background of another
 life4    ,the sense of the continuity  
of existence is grounded in men1 and    
grows with their refinement and         
development and strength1 and gives     
color to their life1 and change to their
 opinions1 it may be4    ,to men who    
have developed moral sense and          
intellectual culture1  every element of 
value in life is made precious by some  
conscious or  some unconscious element  
of time and continuance4 ,it is the     

nature  of our better faculties1 in     
their better states1 to place a man in  
such relations to everything that is    
most precious to him1 that  it gives him
 pleasure in the proportion in which it 
seems to be  continuous and permanent1  
and gives him pain in the proportion in 
which it seems to be evanescent and     
perishing4    ,we are building a crystal
 character with much pain and           
self-denial2  and it is to be built as  
bubbles are blown8 ,what is finer in    
line than the bubble8 ,what is more     
airy8 ,where are pictures more          
exquisite1 where are colors more tender 
and rich and beautiful--and  where is   
there anything that is born so near to  
its end as a  bubble8 ,is the character 
which we are building with so much pain 
and suffering and patience1 with so much
 burden of conscience1 and  with so much
 aspiration2 is the character which we  
are forming in  the invisible realm of  
the soul--is that but a bubble8 ,is that
 only  a thin film which reflects the   

transient experiences of a life of  joy 
or sadness1 and goes out8 ,then1 what is
 life worth8 ,if ,i had no  function but
 that of a pismire2 if ,i were a beetle 
that rolled in  the dirt1 and yet were  
clothed with a power of reflection1 and 
knew  what the depths of feeling were1  
what intense emotions were1 and  what   
struggling and yearning were2 if1 being 
a mere insect1 ,i had  all the works in 
the intellect of man1 and all the       
aspiration that  goes with spiritual    
elements2 if ,i were but a leaf-cutter1 
a bug in  the soil1 or about the same   
thing on a little larger pattern1 and   
were to be blotted out at death1 what   
would be the use of my trying  to grow8 
,if by refining and whetting our        
faculties they become more  susceptible 
to pleasure1 they become equally        
susceptible to pain4  ,and in this      
great1 grinding1 groaning world1 pain is
 altogether out  of proportion to       
pleasure1 in an exquisite temperament4  
,the finer  men are the better they are1

 if they are forever2 but the finer men 
are the worse they are if they are only 
for a day2 for they have a              
disproportion of sensibility to         
suffering over and above present        
remuneration and conscious enjoyment4   
,men feel an intrinsic sense of         
personality and personal worth4 ,they   
have self-esteem1 which is the only     
central1 spinal1 manly faculty  which   
gives them a sense of personal identity 
and personal value1  and which is an    
auxiliary counselor of conscience       
itself4 ,this sense  of ,i demands      
something more than a short round of    
physical life1  to be followed by       
extinction4 ,i am too valuable to perish
 so2 and  every step in life has been   
training me in the direction of greater 
value4 ,as men grow broader1 and        
stronger1 and finer1 and deeper1 and    
sweeter1 they become more and more      
conscious of the intrinsic value  of    
their being1 and demand for themselves a
 harbor in order that  they may not be  

wrecked or foundered4    ,nor do ,i     
think that there can be found1 to any   
considerable extent1  or developed1     
friendships which shall not1 with all   
their strength  and with all their      
depth1 resist the conception of         
dissolution or  of fading4 ,for         
friendships are not casual likings4     
,friendships are  not merely the        
interchange of good nature1 and the     
ordinary friendly  offices of good      
neighborhood4 ,these things are         
friendly1 but they  do not comprise     
friendship4 ,two trees may grow         
contiguous1 and throw  their shade one  
over upon the other2 but they never     
touch nor help  each other2 and their   
roots quarrel for the food that is in   
the  ground4 ,but two vines1 growing    
over a porch1 meet each other1 and      
twine together1 and twist fiber into    
fiber and stem into stem1 and  take     
shape from each other1 and are          
substantially one4 ,and such are        
friendships4 ,now1 one cannot have his  

life divided as two trees  are4 ,he     
cannot enter into partnership with      
others1 and be conscious  that that     
partnership shall be but for an hour or 
for a moment4 ,the  sanctity1 the honor1
 the exaltation1 the exhilaration of a  
true and  manly friendship lies in the  
thought of its continuance4 ,there can  
be no deep friendship which does not    
sign for endlessness4    ,still more is 
this true of love3 not that rudimentary 
form  which seeks lower fruitions1 and  
which is often but little more  than    
passion done up in friendship2 but that 
higher love which  manifests itself     
chiefly in the spiritual realm2 that    
love which  is not forever asking1 but  
forever giving2 that love which is not  
centripetal1 but centrifugal2 that love 
which1 like a mother's1  gives for the  
pleasure of giving2 that love which     
reveres2 that love  which looks up2 that
 love which seeks to exalt its object by
 doing  what is pleasant and noble2 that
 love which demands continuance1        

elevation1 yea1 grandeur1 it may be1 in 
the thing beloved4 ,how  little will    
such a love tolerate the idea of        
evanescence1 the  dread of              
discontinuing6 ,can such a love do other
 than yearn for  immortality8    ,so    
then1 if you take the thought1 it is    
this3 that if men develop1  they come   
under the dominion of higher faculties2 
and that it is  then their nature to    
stamp on all their occupations1 on their
  self-consciousness1 on the whole      
development of their affections1  the   
need of continuance1 of immortality4    
,there are1 therefore1 in  the growth of
 the mind itself1 as a department of    
nature1 these  elements of conviction4  
,the mind cannot do other than develop  
in  itself a faith in immortality4      
,it may be said1 and it sometimes is    
said1 that the origin of the  belief of 
existence out of the body1 of spiritual 
existence1 may  be traced directly back 
to the dreams of the barbarous ages1 to 
a period when men were so low that they 

did not recognize the  difference       
between a dream and a waking reality--to
 a time when  persons dreamed that their
 friends came back to them1 and waked up
  and believed that they had been back4 
,thus1 it is said1 began the  thought of
 continuity of life after death4 ,for my
 part1 ,i do not  care how it began4    
,the question is not how it started2 the
 question  is1 ,what becomes of it now  
that it has begun8 ,no matter how it was
  born1 what purpose is it to serve8    
,what is it adapted to do8 ,how  is it  
calculated to influence our manhood8 ,in
 what way shall it be  employed to lead 
man ,god-ward8 ,how shall it be used to 
work most  effectually in the direction 
of civilization and refinement8 ,it so  
fits every human soul1 that men will not
 let it go4 ,they cling to it  with     
their inward and best nature4    ,all   
experiences of human life fall in with  
this tendency of the  mind4 ,when men   
look out upon the incoherent and        
unmannerly course  of things in time1 ,i

 can understand how1 believing in the   
future1  they may live with patience2   
but in every age of the world where  the
 clear light of immortality has not     
shone1 men have mostly been             
discouraged1 have been generally        
indifferent to public superiority1  and 
have taken no interest in things done   
for the sake of humanity4  ,such is the 
worthlessness of time1 to the thought of
 those that  have no faith in the       
future1 that they have cared for little 
except  present physical enjoyment4 ,and
 on the whole1 when such men crowd      
together1 and tribes take the place of  
individuals1 or kingdoms  take the place
 of tribes1 with all their complications
 in the  working out of their clashing  
results1 they look upon human life1  and
 feel that the world is not worth living
 for4 ,things are so  uncertain1        
products are in such disproportion to   
their causes1 or  to the expectations of
 men1 that if there is to be nothing but
 this  life1 then1 ,eat1 drink and be   

merry1 for to-morrow we die1 is  not    
only the philosophy of the epicurean1   
but the temptation of the  most wise and
 frugal and self-restraining4 ,the      
nature of life to a  man who is highly  
educated requires that he should believe
 in the  continuity and existence of the
 myriads that he sees in such a state   
of quarreling infelicity and            
wretchedness in this mortal condition4  
,the utter futility of the best part of 
man's life here1 the total  bankruptcy  
of his best endeavors1 the worthlessness
 of his career  from the material       
standpoint1 makes it imperative on him  
to believe  that he shall have another  
chance in another sphere of being4      
,is it enough to have been born1 to have
 lived till one is of age1  and then to 
be launched out to founder in mid-ocean8
 ,is it enough  that one should devote  
the best part of his life to the        
building  of a character1 only to see   
the fabric which he has constructed     
tumbling about his ears8 ,is this enough

 in the day of distress  and bankruptcy8
 ,is it enough1 in the time when a man's
 ambitions  are crossed1 and the sky is 
dark1 and he can do nothing but stand   
amid the ruins of his hopes and         
expectations8 ,is not the thought       
revolting to every instinct of manhood8 
,but if there is another life2 if all   
our labor has this value in  it1 that   
while a man is building up his outward  
estate1 if it is  certain that the man  
himself will live1 no matter what       
becomes of  his property and his        
reputation1 then all his endeavors have 
endless  scope1 and his life becomes    
redeemable and radiant4    ,nowhere else
 so much as in the realm of grief1 ,i   
think1 is the  question of immortality  
interpreted4 ,it is true that the first 
shock  of overwhelming grief sometimes  
drives faith out of the mind2 that  it  
sometimes staggers the reason2 that it  
sometimes dispossesses  the moral sense 
of its accustomed health1 and leaves the
 mind in  weakness4 ,as in a fever1 the 

natural eye can see nothing aright1  and
 things then seem to dance in the air1  
and take on grotesque  forms1 so persons
 who are bewildered with first sorrow   
oftentimes  see things amiss4 ,and there
 is no skepticism which is so deep and  
pulseless as that which often takes     
possession of people in the  first great
 overmastering surprize and shock of    
grief4 ,but after  one had recovered a  
little1 and the nerve has come to its   
wonted  sensibility1 the faith of       
immortality returns4 ,there is that in  
every soul which knows what is the      
strength of life and noble deeds  and   
aspirations2 and therefore there is that
 in every soul which  calls out for     
immortality4    ,i cannot believe1 ,i   
will not believe1 when ,i walk upon the 
clod1  that it is my mother that ,i     
tread under foot4 ,she that bore me1 she
  that every year more than gave birth  
to me out of her own soul's             
aspiration--,i will not believe that she
 is dust4 ,everything within  me revolts

 at the idea4    ,do two persons walk   
together in an inseparable union1       
mingling their  brightest and noblest   
thoughts1 striving for the highest      
ideal1 like  flowers that grow by the   
side of each other1 breathing fragrance 
each on the other1 and shining in beauty
 each for the other2 are  two persons   
thus twined together and bound together 
for life1 until  in some dark hour one  
is called and the other is left2 and    
does  the bleeding heart go down to the 
grave and say1 ,i return dust to  dust8 
,was that dust1 then8 ,that             
trustworthiness2 that fidelity2  that   
frankness of truth2 that transparent    
honesty2 that heroism  of love2 that    
disinterestedness2 that fitness and     
exquisiteness  of taste2 that fervor of 
love2 that aspiration2 that power of    
conviction2 that piety2 that great hope 
in ,god--were all these  elements in the
 soul of the companion that had         
disappeared but just  so many phenomena 
of matter8 ,and have they already       

collapsed and  gone1 like last year's   
flowers struck with frost1 back again to
 the  mold8 ,in the grief of such an    
hour one will not let go the hope of    
resurrection4    ,can a parent go back  
from the grave where he has laid his    
children  and say1 ,i shall never see   
them more8 ,even as far back as the dim 
twilight in which ,david lived1 he said1
 ,thou shalt not come to me1  but ,i    
shall go to thee2 and is it possible for
 the parental heart  to stand in our day
 by the side of the grave1 where the    
children  have been put out of sight1   
and say1 ,they neither shall come to me1
  nor shall ,i go to them2 they are     
blossoms that have fallen2 they  never  
shall bring forth fruit8 ,it is         
unnatural4 ,it is hideous4  ,everything 
that is in man1 every instinct that is  
best in human  nature repels it4    ,is 
not the human soul1 then1 itself a      
witness of the truth of  immortality8   
,men say1 ,you cannot prove it4 ,there  
is no argument that can  establish it4  

,no man has seen it1 and it cannot be   
substantiated4 ,it  is not a ponderable 
thing4 ,men demand that we should prove 
things  by straight lines2 by the       
alembic2 by scales2 by analysis2 but ,i 
say that there is much in nature which  
is so high that scales and  rules and   
alembics cannot touch it4 ,and is not   
man's soul a part of  nature--the       
highest part8    ,i hold that even the  
materialist may believe in immortality4 
,for1 altho there is a gross kind of    
materialism1 there may be a  materialism
 which is consistent with a belief in   
immortality4  ,because1 on the          
supposition that the mind is matter1 it 
must be  admitted that it is            
incomparably superior to any other      
matter that  we are familiar with4 ,is  
there any matter outside of mind that   
produces thought and feeling such as we 
see evolved among men8 ,if  it be the   
theory that mind is matter1 and if the  
matter of which  the mind is composed be
 so far above all other kinds of matter 

in  its fruit and product1 is it not on 
so high a plane as presumably  not to be
 subject to the lower and coarser forms 
of examination and  test8 ,i know no    
reason why cerebral matter may not be   
eternal4 ,i do  not belong to those who 
take that material view of the mind2 but
 ,i  do not know that immortality is    
inconsistent even with materialism2  and
 how much more easily may it be         
reconciled to the view of those  who    
believe in the ineffable character1 the 
imponderable1 spiritual  condition1 of  
the soul6    ,in addition to these      
arguments1 when we come to the ,word of 
,god1 we  hear the voices of those who  
sang and chanted in the past4 ,we hear  
the disciple crying out1 ,christ is     
risen6 and we hear the apostle          
preaching this new truth to mankind4 ,so
 that now the heavens have  been broken 
open4 ,the secrets of the other life    
have been revealed4  ,and is there not a
 presumption1 following the line of a   
man's  best manhood1 that immortality is

 true8 ,does one need to go into  a     
rigorous logical examination of this    
subject8 ,should one stand  jealously at
 the side of the sepulcher of ,christ1  
and examine this  matter as a policeman 
examines the certificate of a suspected 
man1  or as one takes money from the    
hand of a cheating usurer and goes  out 
to see if it is gold8 ,shall one stand  
at the door from which  issue all the   
hopes that belong to the best part of   
man2 shall one  look upon that which is 
demanded by the very nature of his      
better  manhood1 and question it coldly1
 and tread it under foot8    ,what do we
 gain by obliterating this fair vision8 
,why should not  heaven continue to     
shine on8 ,why should we not look into  
it1 and  believe that it is1 and that it
 waits for us8 ,have we not the         
foretokens of it8 ,is not the analogy of
 the faculties one that leads  us to    
believe that there is some such thing8  
,does not the nature of  every man that 
is high and noble revolt at flesh and   

matter8 ,are  they not rising toward the
 ineffable8 ,are not all the intuitions 
and  affections of men such that1 the   
better they are1 the more they have  of 
things that are manly1 the more         
indispensable it is that they  should   
have endurance1 etherealization1        
perpetuation8    ,the heart and flesh   
cry out for ,god4 ,they cry out for     
immortality4  ,not only does the ,spirit
 from the heavenly land say to every    
toiling1 yearning1 anxious soul1 ,come  
up hither1 but every soul  that is      
striving upward has in it1 if not a     
vocalized aspiration1  yet a mute       
yearning--a voice of the soul--that     
cries out for heaven1         ,as the   
hart panteth after the waterbrooks1 so  
panteth my soul       after thee1 ,o    
,god6    ,on such a day as this1 then1  
in a community of moral feeling1 how    
blest is the truth which comes to us1   
that we are not as the beasts  that die2
 that we are as the gods that live6     
,that for which we were  made is        

immortality2 and our journey is rough1  
straight1 sharp1  burdensome1 with many 
tears4 ,our journey is not to the grave4
 ,i  am not growing into old age to be  
blind1 and to be deaf1 and to  be       
rheumatic1 and to shrink a miserable    
cripple into the corner1  shaking and   
tottering and forgetting all that ,i    
ever knew4 ,the best  part of me is     
untouched4 ,the soul2 the reason2 the   
moral sense2 the  power to think2 the   
power to will2 the power to love2 the   
power  to admire purity1 and to reach   
out after it--that is not touched  by   
time1 tho its instrument and means of   
outer demonstration be  corroded and    
failing4 ,no physical weakness touches  
the soul4 ,only  the body is touched by 
sickness4 ,and shake that down6 ,shake  
it down6  ,let it go6 ,for1 as the      
chrysalis bursts open1 and the covering 
which confines the perfected insect is  
dropt1 that he may come out  into       
brightness of form and largeness of     
life1 so this body is but  a chrysalis2 

and when we break through it1 we rise on
 wings by the  attraction of ,god1 and  
by the propulsion of our own inevitable 
desire and need1 and are forever with   
the ,lord4          ,,chapin            
,,nicodemus3 ,,the ,,seeker ,,after     
,,religion          ,,biographical      
,,note      ,,edwin ,,hubbell ,,chapin1 
,universalist divine1 was born in ,union
  ,village1 ,washington ,county1 ,n4    
,y41 in #ahad4 ,he began his very       
successful ministry #ahcg in ,richmond1 
,va41 subsequently he preached  in      
,charlestown1 ,mass41 from which place  
he was called to the  pastorate of the  
,fourth ,universalist ,church in ,new   
,york ,city4 ,his  preaching attracted  
large congregations1 and he was         
generally  regarded as one of the       
greatest preachers of this country4 ,he 
spoke  from a manuscript1 using no      
gesture1 but his magnetic personality   
never failed to drive his message home4 
,he published numerous  volumes of      
sermons and lectures4 ,he died in #ahhj4

          ,,chapin    #ahad-ahhj        
,,nicodemus3 ,,the ,,seeker ,,after     
,,religion         ,there was a man of  
the ,pharisees1 named ,nicodemus1 a     
ruler of       the ,jews3 ,the same came
 to ,jesus by night4--,john iii41 #a1   
#b4      ,altho we have but few glimpses
 of ,nicodemus in the gospels1 he is  a 
personage of peculiar interest4 ,a      
,pharisee1 and a member of the  great   
,jewish senate1 or ,sanhedrin1 he shows 
us that the influence of  ,christ was   
not limited to the poor and the obscure2
 but that1 while  ,his words and works  
awoke enmity and fear among the higher  
classes1  they struck1 in the breasts of
 some of these1 a holier chord4    ,it  
may not be certain that ,nicodemus ever 
openly confest ,christ2  yet1 in this   
chapter1 he appears in the attitude of a
 disciple1 and  we find him defending   
,jesus before the ,sanhedrin1 and       
assisting at  ,his burial4 ,still1      
unless the last-mentioned act be        
considered as  such1 we do not discover1

 in his conduct1 that public and        
decisive  acknowledgment which the      
,savior required2 we do not behold the  
frank  avowal of ,peter1 or the         
intrepidity of ,paul4 ,there is an air  
of  caution and of timidity about him4  
,he carefully feels the ground of       
innovation1 before he lets go the       
establishment2 and1 indeed1 he  appears 
to have taken no step by which he       
forfeited his caste or  his office4 ,it 
is difficult1 too1 to discover the      
precise purpose  of this visit to       
,jesus4 ,perhaps he sought the interview
 from mixed  motives4 ,a religious      
earnestness1 kindled by the teachings   
and the  character of ,christ1 may have 
blended with speculative curiosity1  and
 even with the throbbings of political  
ambition4 ,his coming by  night1 too1   
may have indicated timidity1 or he may  
have chosen that  season as the best    
time for quiet and uninterrupted        
discourse4 ,but1  whatever may have been
 his motives1 the position in which we  

find  him shows1 ,i repeat1 that the    
power of ,christ's ministry was felt1   
not only by the excitable multitude1 but
 by the more thoughtful and  devout of  
the ,jewish people4    ,nicodemus1      
however1 presents a peculiar interest1  
not only because  he exhibits the       
influence of ,jesus upon the higher     
orders of his  nation1 but because he   
appears as a seeker after religion1 and 
as  one personally interested in its    
vital truths4 ,his interview with  the  
,savior gives occasion for one of the   
most important passages in  the ,new    
,testament4 ,the conversation of        
,christ1 in this instance1 is  not      
uttered in general principles and       
accommodated to the multitude1  but it  
is directed to an intelligent and       
inquiring spirit1 in the  calm privacy  
of the night-time laying bare its very  
depths1 and  craving the application of 
religion to its own peculiar wants4 ,to 
be sure1 ,nicodemus did not profess this
 want1 but commenced the  conversation  

with the language of respect1 and with  
suggestion  of more general inquiry4    
,but ,he who knew what was in man1 had  
already penetrated the folds of the     
ruler's breast1 and saw the  real need  
that had sent him2 so1 putting by all   
compliments1 and  all secondary issues1 
,he struck at once the conscious chord  
that  throbbed there1 and exclaimed3    
,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto thee1      
except a man be born again1 he cannot   
see the kingdom of ,god6  ,these words  
must have filled ,nicodemus with        
surprize1 both from  their sudden       
heart-searchingness1 and as addressing  
to him a term  which was usually applied
 to men of very different condition4    
,for  the phrase1 new birth1 was a      
customary one to express the change     
through which the ,gentile passed in    
becoming a ,jew4 ,but it was  indeed a  
strange doctrine that he1 a son of      
,abraham1 a ,pharisee1 a  ruler1 must be
 born again1 before he could be fit for 
the ,messiah's  kingdom4 ,therefore1    

really or affectedly1 he misunderstood  
the  ,savior's words1 and gave to a     
phrase1 plain enough when applied to  a 
heathen1 the most gross and literal     
interpretation4 ,but ,christ  reiterated
 the solemn truth assuring him that an  
inward change1  and an outward          
profession1 a regeneration of the       
affections and  the will1 and a         
renunciation of pride and fear1 by the  
symbol of  baptism--a new birth of water
 and of the ,spirit--was essential to   
true discipleship4 ,and thus1 stripping 
away all the reliances of  formal       
righteousness1 and all the supports of  
birth and position1 in  reply to the    
earnest question of ,nicodemus3 ,how can
 these things  be8 the great ,teacher   
proceeded to utter some of the sublimest
  doctrines of the gospel4    ,as ,i    
have already said1 whether ,nicodemus   
became an avowed follower  of ,jesus1 or
 not1 is uncertain2 but we know that the
 truths which  he then heard are of     
everlasting importance1 have a personal 

application to every man1 and appeal to 
wants in our own souls1  which are as   
real and as deep as those of the ruler  
of old4    ,but while thus ,nicodemus   
exhibits a need of our common humanity1 
he especially represents a class who may
 be called seekers after  religion1     
either as being unsettled and inquiring 
in their spirits1  or as resting upon   
something which is not religion1 but    
only1  perhaps1 a tendency toward       
it--they are seekers after it1 as not   
having actually found it4 ,in other     
words1 for this class1 religion  has its
 meaning and its pressure2 they think   
about it1 and they  feel its claims1 yet
 they do not thoroughly and mentally    
know it2  or1 like ,nicodemus1 they rest
 upon some substitute4 ,some of these   
positions ,i propose now to illustrate4 
,i observe1 then1 in the first place1   
that some seek religion in  rituals and 
sacraments4 ,the tendency of the human  
mind1 as to  matters of faith and       
devotion1 has always been to complicate 

rather than to simplify1 and to         
associate these with set forms and      
symbols4 ,in all ages1 men have shrunk  
from naked communion with ,god1  from   
the solitude of an intense spirituality1
 and have conducted  transactions with  
the ,invisible1 through the mediation of
 ceremony4  ,but that which1 at first1  
was an expression of the individual     
soul1  has grown into a fixed and       
consecrated rite4 ,gestures and modes of
  worship1 suggested by the occasion1   
have been repeated in usage1 and  grown 
venerable with age1 until they have     
become identified with  religion itself4
 ,they have been exalted into mystic    
vehicles of  grace1 have been considered
 as possessing virtue in themselves1 and
  as constituting an awful              
paraphernalia1 through which1 alone1    
,god  will deign to communicate with    
man1 and through which man may even     
propitiate and move ,god4 ,christianity 
has not escaped this tendency2  and1    
even now1 there are many with whom the  

sacraments are something  more than     
expressive signs and holy suggestions1  
and with whom the  position of an altar1
 the shape of a vestment1 and the form  
of a  church are among the essentials of
 religion4 ,with such1 baptism  speaks1 
not merely to the eye of an inward      
washing1 but it is of  itself a         
regenerative process4 ,in their view1   
the communion bread  is not simply a    
representation of the broken body of the
 ,redeemer2  but is itself so sacred1 so
 identical with that body1 that they    
must  receive it by a special posture1  
and upon a particular part of the  hand4
 ,as a matter of course1 to such1       
religion must appear eminently          
conservative and retrospective2 the     
genius of the established and  the past1
 rather than of the reformatory and the 
future4 ,cherishing  the minutest fibers
 of these ancient rites1 they chiefly   
venerate  the men who authenticate them1
 and the soil out of which they grow4   
,with them1 the fluent spirit of        

religion became organized1 and fixt     
into a form1 with fast-days and         
feast-days1 with miter and cassock1  and
 a lineal priesthood1 ages ago4    ,it  
cannot be said that this method is      
entirely unfounded4 ,it has its         
justification in human nature1 if not   
elsewhere4 ,there are those  who can    
find peace only in the arms of an       
hereditary faith3 who can  feel the     
inspiration of worship only among forms 
that have kindled  worship in others for
 a thousand years3 with whose earliest  
thoughts  and dearest memories is       
entwined a ritual and an established    
church1 so that personal affection and  
household sanctity1 as well  as         
religious feeling1 demand that every    
great act of life--of joy  or           
sorrow--should be consecrated1 by the   
familiar sacrament4 ,for  that church1  
too1 their fathers have died in darker  
times1 and  beneath its chancels1       
sainted mothers molder into dust4 ,all1 
too1  that can exalt the ideal1 or wake 

the pulses of eloquent emotion1  is     
connected with such a church4 ,to them  
it opens a traditional  perspective1 the
 grandest in all history4 ,behind its   
altars1 sweep  the vestments of         
centuries of priests1 and rises the     
incense of  centuries of prayer4 ,in its
 stony niches1 stand rows of saints1 who
  have made human life sublime1 and who1
 through all the passing ages1  look    
down upon the turmoil of that life with 
the calm beatitude of  heaven2 while its
 flushed windows still keep the         
blood-stain of its  own martyrs1 plashed
 against it ere yet it had become an    
anchored  fact1 and while it tossed upon
 the stormy waves of persecution4 ,i    
can understand1 then1 how an imaginative
 and reverential mind can  find the     
truest religious life only in connection
 with ritual and  sacrament4    ,i can  
understand1 moreover1 the reaction in   
this direction1 which is  taking place  
at the present day4    ,it is the       
retreat of the religious sentiments from

 the despotism of  an imperious reason4 
,it is the counter-protest of loyal     
affections  against what is deemed an   
anarchical tendency4 ,it is the clinging
  of men's sympathies to the concrete1  
alarmed by the irreverent and  analytic 
methods of science4 ,it is the          
retirement of faith and  devotion to    
those cloistered sanctities that shut   
out the noise of  the populace1 and the 
diversions of the street4 ,it is the    
reluctance  of taste and imagination at 
our new and varnished ,protestantism1   
with its bare walls1 its cold services1 
and its angular churches1 of  which one 
wing1 perchance1 rests upon a market1   
and the other upon a  dram-shop4        
,especially would ,i not deny the       
profound spiritual life1  the           
self-sacrifice1 and the beautiful       
charities which have consisted  at all  
times1 and which consist in the present 
time1 with this  ritual and sacramental 
form of religion4    ,but when men claim
 that this alone is the genuine         

form--that  these are essentials of the 
only true ,church--then ,i deny that    
claim4 ,if it fills some wants of our   
nature1 it repudiates others  equally   
authentic4 ,if one class of minds find  
peace only under  its consecrated       
shadows1 others find no satisfaction but
 in the  discipline of a spontaneous    
devotion1 and the exercise of an        
individual reason4 ,if it suffices for  
men like ,borromeo or ,newman1  it does 
not suffice for men like ,george ,fox or
 ,channing2 and the  religion of these  
is as evident1 in their simple          
spirituality1 as  those in their mystic 
symbolism4 ,when it sneers at the       
,puritan1 then  ,i must vindicate that  
rugged independence of soul1 that       
faithfulness  of the individual         
conscience1 that sense of the divine    
sovereignty1  which could kneel at no   
man's altar1 and to ,god alone2 which   
sacrificed all things for the right1 but
 yielded not a hair to the  wrong2 which
 could find no medicine for the spirit  

in sacraments1  but only in the solitude
 of the inner life2 and which has1 under
  ,god1 wrought out this noble          
consummation of modern times1 whereby   
others may plant their vine of ritual   
under the broad heaven of  toleration1  
and have liberty to sneer4 ,when the    
ritualist deprecates  the ultraism and  
irreverence of the anti-formalist1 ,i   
must urge  the tendency of his own      
principles to mummery and absolutism4   
,and1  finally1 when he falls back upon 
tradition1 ,i must fall back upon  the  
,bible4 ,the spirit of the ,new         
,testament is not that of rituals  or   
sacraments2 and the universal sentiments
 of the ,old are not4 ,the  prophet     
,isaiah1 who exclaims3 ,bring no more   
vain oblations2 incense  is an          
abomination unto me2 your new moons1 and
 your appointed  feasts1 my soul        
hateth4444 ,wash you1 make you clean 444
 cease to  do evil1 learn to do well6   
joins with the apostle1 who says that   
,christ blotted out the handwriting of  

ordinances 444 nailing it to  his cross1
 and that no man should judge us in meat
 or drink1 or  times1 or seasons4 ,and  
surely1 there is no argument for forms  
or  places in those ,divine ,words1     
which declare that ,god is a ,spirit1   
and they who worship him1 must worship  
him in spirit and in truth4    ,we      
cannot deny1 then1 that pure religion   
may consist with rituals  and           
sacraments2 we cannot deny that it may  
exist without these4  ,but ,i insist    
upon this point3 that the sacrament1 the
 ritual1 is  not1 itself1 religion4 ,it 
may be a beautiful sign--it may be a    
quick suggestion--it may be a medium of 
spiritual influence2 but1  alone1 it    
cannot take the place of inward1        
personal piety1 of right  affections and
 an obedient will4 ,no punctilious form 
can stand  substitute for a vigilant    
conscience2 no posture of devotion can  
supply the place of living deeds2 no    
ascetic mortification can  atone for    
guilt2 no auricular confession can      

speak1 instead of  the breathings of    
repentance1 in the ear of ,god1 and out 
from the  depths of the solitary soul4  
,he who relies upon these forms1 and    
finds sanctity only in them1 may be     
sincere1 may be serious about  religion1
 but as yet he is only a seeker2 and1   
speaking to his heart  with             
all-penetrating meaning1 comes to him   
the decree3 ,ye must be  born again4    
,again2 there is a class who seek       
religion in philosophy4 ,they  believe  
in ,god by a course of reasoning4 ,they 
believe in  immortality1 because it is a
 conclusion riveted in their minds by   
the iron links of induction4 ,they pray1
 or not1 according as it  seems logical 
to do so4 ,they would be good1 because  
goodness is  useful4    ,but every      
proposition upon which they act1 must   
first be strained  through the alembic  
of the intellect1 and must stand out in 
the  clear definition of science4 ,they 
verify and build up their  religion with
 callipers and dissecting-knife4 ,it is 

a system of  digestion and pneumatology4
 ,they find an organ for veneration1 and
  another for conscientiousness1 and    
therefore conclude that religion  has a 
legitimate place in the harmony of human
 character4 ,but all  must be calm and  
balanced4 ,they dare not trust the      
feelings and give  but little scope to  
enthusiasm4 ,sometimes1 indeed1 they    
rise to  eloquence in expatiating upon  
the truths of natural theology1 and of  
the elder ,scripture2 tho they believe  
in ,christ also1 because ,he  seems well
 authenticated as an historical fact4   
,in short1 such men  are religious like 
,cicero1 or ,seneca1 with some          
modification from  modern science and   
from the ,sermon on the ,mount4    ,now 
there is a close alliance between true  
philosophy and true  religion4 ,that the
 ,new ,testament is eminently free from 
fanaticism1  and makes no appeal to mere
 credulity1 any one will see who        
examines4 ,that it is rational and      
sober1 constitutes one of its  great    

internal evidences4 ,a ,christian       
philosopher is no anomaly1  but a       
beautiful expression of the essential   
harmony of all truth4  ,knowledge and   
piety burn and brighten with an         
undivided flame4  ,revelation and       
science are continually interpreting one
 another1  while every day the material 
universe is unfolding a more spiritual  
significance1 and indicating its        
subservience to a spiritual end4  ,but1 
after all1 in order to be religious1 it 
is not necessary that  a man should be a
 philosopher1 and it is certain that    
often he is  a philosopher without being
 religious4 ,religion and philosophy    
may coalesce1 but they are two different
 spheres4 ,philosophy is  out-looking   
and speculative2 religion is inner and  
vital4 ,in the  scheme of philosophy1   
religion is reasoned out as a           
consequence1  and adopted as an         
appendage to character4 ,in the true    
scheme1 it  is the central germ of our  
being1 the controlling force of life4   

,the religion of philosophy consists of 
right views of things1 and a  prudential
 schooling of the passions4 ,true       
religion consists in a  right state of  
the affections1 and a renunciation of   
self4 ,in the  one case1 religion may   
play round the head1 but come not near  
the  heart2 in the other1 it breaks up  
the great deep of conscience1  and pours
 an intense light upon the springs of   
motive4 ,philosophy  contains the idea  
of intellectual rectitude2 religion1 of 
moral  obedience4 ,philosophy speaks of 
virtue2 religion1 of holiness4          
,philosophy rests upon development2     
religion requires regeneration4  ,in    
short1 we make an every-day distinction 
between the two which is  far more      
significant than any verbal contrast4   
,it is the one1 rather  than the other1 
that we apply1 in the profounder        
experiences of our  moral nature1 in the
 consciousness of sin and in the        
overwhelming  calamities of life4 ,the  
one pours a purifying1 healing1         

uplifting  power into the homes of human
 suffering1 and into the hearts of the  
ignorant and the poor1 that the other   
has not to bestow4 ,philosophy  is well 
under all circumstances2 but it is not  
the most inner  element of our humanity4
 ,religion1 in its humility1 penitence1 
and  faith--at the foot of the cross1   
and by the open sepulcher--rejoices  in 
a direct and practical vision1 to which 
philosophy1 with its  encyclopedia and  
telescope1 cannot attain4    ,under this
 head1 too1 may be ranked a class of men
 who1 tho they  may not be exactly      
philosophers1 fall into the same        
conception  of religion1 as a matter of 
the intellect--as the possession of     
correct views--rather than a profound   
moral life4 ,they estimate men          
according to what they believe1 and     
attribute the same sanctity to  the     
creed that others attribute to the      
ritual4 ,and as religion1 in  their     
conception of it1 consists in a series  
of correct opinions1  the great work    

should be an endeavor to make men think 
right4 ,so the  pulpit should be an     
arsenal of controversial forces1        
incessantly  playing upon the ramparts  
of dogmatic error1 with the artillery of
  dogmatic truth1 and forever hammering 
the same doctrinal monotony  upon the   
anvils of logic and of textual          
interpretation4 ,they are  satisfied if 
some favorite tenet is proved to a      
demonstration1 and  go forth rejoicing  
in the superiority of their views1      
without  asking if saving love has      
melted and transfigured their own       
hearts1  or whether personal sin may not
 canker in their souls1 if hereditary   
guilt is not there4 ,now1 it is true    
that great principles lie at the        
foundation of all practical life1 and   
the more elevated and clear  our views1 
the more effectual are the motives to   
holiness and love4    ,but it matters   
little to what pole of doctrine the     
intellect swings1  if the heart hangs   
unpenetrated and untouched4 ,it matters 

little to  what opinions in theology the
 pulpit has made converts1 if all its   
mighty truths have not heaved the moral 
nature of the hearer--if  it has not    
shot into the individual soul1 like an  
arrow1 the keen  conviction3 ,i must be 
born again6    ,once again3 there are   
those who seek religion in a routine of 
outward and commendable deeds--in mere  
morality4 ,with such1 the  great sum of 
life is to be sober1 chaste1 humane2    
laying particular  stress upon the      
business virtues1 honesty1 industry1 and
 prudence4  ,in their idea1 that man is 
a religious man who is an upright       
dealer1  an orderly citizen1 a good     
neighbor1 and a charitable giver4 ,to be
  religious1 means to do good1 to keep  
your promises1 and mind your  own       
business4 ,they tell us that benevolence
 is the richest offering1  and that the 
truest worship is in the workshop and   
the field--that  a man prays when he    
drives a nail or plows a furrow1 and    
that he  expresses the best thanksgiving

 when he enjoys what he has got1 and  is
 content if he gets no more4    ,now1   
the world is not so bad that there is   
not a good deal of this  kind of        
religion in it4 ,it would be unjust to  
deny that many golden  threads of       
integrity wind through the fabric of    
labor2 that there  is a strong nerve of 
rectitude holding together the          
transactions  of daily life1 and a      
wealth of spontaneous kindness enriching
 its  darker and more terrible scenes4  
,but1 after all1 these easy sympathies1 
and these prudential virtues1  lack the 
radicalness of true religion4 ,religion 
cannot exist without  morality2 but     
there is a formal morality which exists 
without  religion4 ,i say1 a formal     
morality2 for essential morality and    
essential religion are as inseparable as
 the sap and the fruit4  ,nor is        
morality a mere segment of religion4 ,it
 is one-half of it4  ,nay1 when we get  
at absolute definitions1 the two terms  
may be  used interchangeably2 for then  

we consider religion presenting its     
earthly and social phase1 and we        
consider morality with its axis  turned 
heavenward4 ,but1 in the case of these  
outside virtues1 which  are so common1  
we behold only one-half of religion1 and
 that is its  earthly and social form2  
and even this lacks the root and        
sanction  of true morality4 ,for the    
difference between the morality of a    
religious man and that of another1      
consists in this3 with the one1         
morality bears the sanction of an       
absolute law1 and ,god is at its        
center4 ,it is wrought out by           
discipline1 and maintained at all cost4 
,with the other1 it is an affair of     
temperament1 and education1 and  social 
position4 ,he has received it as a      
custom1 and adopted it as  a policy2 or 
he acts upon it as an impulse4 ,with the
 one1 it is  a matter of profit and     
loss1 or a fitful whim of sentiment4    
,with  the other1 it is the voice of a  
divine oracle within1 that must be      

obeyed2 it is the consecrated method of 
duty1 and the inspiration of  prayer4   
,now1 to say that it makes no difference
 about the motive of  an act1 so long as
 the act itself is good1 indicates that 
very lack  of right feeling and right   
perception1 which confounds the formal  
morality of the world with religion4    
,for1 in the distinctions of the        
,christian system1 the motive makes the 
deed good or bad2 makes the  two mites  
richer than all the rest of the money in
 the treasury2  makes the man who hates 
his brother a murderer4 ,the good action
 may  bless others1 but if ,i do not    
perform it from a right motive1 it  does
 not bless me2 and the essential        
peculiarity of religion is1  that it    
regards inward development1 individual  
purity1 personal  holiness--so that one 
essential excellence of the good deed   
consists  in its effect upon the        
agent--consists in the sinews which it  
lends  to his moral power1 and the      
quantity it adds to his spiritual life4 

,when1 from a right motive1 with effort 
and sacrifice1 ,i help a  weak and poor 
man1 ,i enrich my individual and        
spiritual being4 ,if ,i  bestow from a  
mere gush of feeling1 ,i receive no     
permanent spiritual  benefit2 if from a 
bad motive1 ,i impoverish my own heart4 
,acts1  then1 which appear the same     
thing in form1 differ widely1 considered
  in the religious bearings4 ,there is  
the morality of impulse1 the  morality  
of selfishness1 and the morality of     
principle1 or religious  morality4 ,the 
motive of the first-named1 we obey      
instantaneously1  and it may do good1   
just as we draw our hands from the      
flame1 and  thereby obey a law of our   
physical nature1 tho we act without any 
consideration of that law4 ,a great deal
 of the morality in the world  is of    
this kind4    ,it may do good1 but has  
no reference to the law of rectitude4   
,it is  impulsive1 and1 therefore1 does 
not indicate a steadfast virtue1  or a  
deep religious life4 ,for the very      

impulsiveness that leads to  the        
gratification of the sympathies1 leads  
to the gratification  of the appetites1 
and thus we often find generous and     
benevolent  characteristics mixed with  
vicious conduct4 ,then1 as ,i have said1
  there is the morality of selfishness4 
,in this instance1 ,i may  perform many 
good actions from sheer calculation of  
material profit4  ,i may be benevolent1 
because it will increase my reputation  
for  philanthropy4 ,i may be honest1    
because honesty is the best policy4     
,but is this the highest1 the religious 
sanction of morality8 ,no2  the morality
 of the religious man is the morality of
 principle4  ,the motive in his case is 
not ,i will1 or ,i had better1 but ,i   
ought4 ,he recognizes morality as a law1
 impersonal1 overmastering  the dictates
 of mere self1 and holding all impulses 
in subservience  to the highest good4   
,the morality of impulse is uncertain4  
,the  morality of policy is mean and    
selfish4 ,the morality of religion is   

loyal1 disinterested1 self-sacrificing4 
,it acts from faith in ,god1  and with  
reference to ,god4    ,but another trait
 separates the religious from the merely
 formal  moralist4 ,it consists in the  
fact that with him1 morality1 as  we    
commonly employ the term1 is not all4   
,piety has its place4 ,his  affections  
not only flow earthward1 but turn       
heavenward4 ,he not  only loves his     
neighbor as himself1 but he loves the   
,lord1 his  ,god4 ,he not only visits   
the widows and the fatherless in their  
affliction1 but he keeps himself        
unspotted from the world4 ,with  him1   
toil is prayer1 and contentment is      
thanksgiving1 because he  infuses into  
them a spirit of devotion1 which he has 
cultivated by  more solitary and special
 acts4 ,with him it is a good thing to  
live  honestly1 industriously1 soberly2 
but all life is not outward1 is  not in 
traffic and labor1 and meat and drink4  
,there is an inward  world1 to which his
 eyes are often introverted--a world of 

spiritual  experience1 of great         
realities1 and everlasting sanctions--a 
world behind the veil--a holy of holies 
in his soul1 where rests  the ,shekinah 
of ,god's more immediate presence2 yea1 
where he meets  ,god face to face4 ,and 
it is this that directs his public      
conduct4  ,the orderly and beautiful    
method of his life is not the huddled   
chance-work of good impulses1 is not the
 arithmetic of selfishness2  but it is a
 serene and steady plan of being        
projected from the  communion of the    
oratory1 and the meditation of the      
closet4    ,again1 ,i say1 let us not   
depreciate morality4 ,let us condemn    
that  ostentatious piety which lifts up 
holy hands to ,god1 but never  stretches
 them out to help man2 which anoints its
 head with the oil  of sanctity1 but    
will not defile its robes with the blood
 of the  abused1 or the contact of the  
guilty2 which is loud in profession  and
 poor in performance2 which makes long  
prayers1 but devours  widow's houses4   

,let us condemn this1 but remember that 
this is  not real religion1 only its    
form2 as often1 the kind deed1 the      
honest method1 is not true morality1    
only its form4 ,of both these           
departments of action let it be said3   
that these we have done1 and  not left  
the other undone4 ,let us recognize the 
perfect harmony1  nay1 the identity of  
religion and morality1 in that ,one who 
came  from the solitary conflict of the 
desert1 to go about doing good1  and who
 descended1 from the night prayer on the
 mountain1 to walk  and calm the        
troubled waves of the sea4    ,but those
 who rest in a mere routine of kind and 
prudential deeds  need the deeper life  
and the inner perception which detects  
the  meaning and gives the sanction to  
those deeds4 ,such need the vital  germ 
of morality--the changed heart1 the new 
birth4    ,and as ,i have spoken of a   
subordinate yet somewhat distinct class 
who may be ranked under the general head
 of seekers after religion  in          

philosophy1 let me here briefly allude  
to some with whom religion  is a matter 
of mere sentiment and good feeling4     
,such are easily  moved by the great    
doctrines of the ,new ,testament4 ,they 
are affected  by the sermon2 they have  
gushes of devout emotion during the     
prayer4  ,but with them1 religion is not
 a deep and steady pulse of divine      
life4 ,prayer is not a protracted       
aspiration--is not a habit4 ,they  feel 
well towards ,god1 because they consider
 ,him a good-natured1  complacent being2
 but they do not meditate upon the      
majesty of ,his  nature1 upon ,his      
justice1 and ,his holiness4    ,from the
 doctrine of immortality they draw      
consolation1 but not  sanctity4 ,they   
regard it as a good time coming1 but it 
furnishes  them with no personal and    
stringent applications for the present4 
,they need a more solemn and penetrating
 vision2 a profounder  experience in the
 soul4 ,they need to be born again4     
,then1 again1 there are those who may be

 called amateurs in religion4  ,that is 
they are curious about religious things4
 ,they like to  speculate about it1 to  
argue upon its doctrines and to broach  
or  examine new theories4 ,they go about
 from sect to sect1 and from  church to 
church1 tasting what is novel in the    
reasoning1 or  pleasing in the manner of
 the preacher2 in one place to-day to   
hear an orator2 in another to-morrow to 
hear a latter-day saint2  it is all the 
same thing to them4 ,all they want with 
religion is  entertainment and          
excitement4 ,they are ,athenians1 ever  
seeking some  new thing4 ,they smack at 
a fresh heresy as if they were opening a
  box of figs1 and are as delighted with
 a controversy1 as a boy with  a        
sham-fight4 ,they have no fixt place in 
the ,church universal4 ,they  are       
liberalists1 without any serious        
convictions1 and cosmopolites  without  
any home affections4 ,in fact1 to them  
religion is a  sham-fight--a matter of  
spectacle and zest--not a personal      

interest1  or an inward life4 ,they     
would seek ,jesus by night1 because they
 hope  to learn something wonderful or  
new1 and would be started to hear  ,his 
solemn words tingling in their hearts3  
,ye must be born again6    ,nay1 my     
friends1 would not these solemn words   
startle many of us8  ,it may be1 we have
 never made any inquiry concerning      
religion--have  never even come to      
,jesus1 as it were1 by night4 ,such1    
with their  barks of being drifting down
 the stream of time1 have never guessed 
the meaning of their voyage1 or reckoned
 their course2 nay1 perhaps  they live  
as tho religion were a fable1 as tho    
earth were our  permanent abiding-place1
 and heaven a dream4 ,if such there are1
 they  have not even listened to the    
,savior's words4 ,but there are others  
among us perhaps1 who are interested in 
the subject of religion1  who are in    
some way or another engaged in it2 but  
who are restless  seekers after it1     
rather than actual possessors of it2 who

 are  resting upon insufficient         
substitutes for it4 ,and ,i ask1 would  
not  these words breaking forth from the
 lips of ,jesus1 startle us in our      
ritualism1 our philosophy1 our outside  
morality1 our sentimentalism1  or our   
mere curiosity8 ,and do they not speak  
to us8 ,are they not as  true now as    
when they struck upon the shivering ear 
of ,nicodemus8 ,do  they not make us    
feel as intensely our obligation and our
 religious  wants1 as he might have felt
 there1 with the wind flitting by him as
  tho the ,holy ,spirit were touching   
him with its appeal1 and with the  calm 
gaze of the ,savior looking into his    
heart8 ,do they not demand  of us1      
resting here awhile from the cares and  
labors of the world1  something more    
than mere conformity1 or intellectual   
belief1 or  formal deeds8 ,do they not  
demand a new and better spirit1 a       
personal  apprehension of the religious 
life1 a breaking up and regeneration  of
 our moral nature1 a change of heart8   

,,stanley    ,,in ,,memoriam--,,thomas  
,,carlyle          ,,biographical ,,note
      ,,arthur ,,penrhyn ,,stanley1 the 
,english scholar and divine1 was born   
#ahae at ,alderley1 of which his father 
was rector4 ,he was educated  under ,dr4
 ,arnold at ,rugby and in #ahcd began a 
brilliant career at  ,oxford4 ,having   
been ordained priest in #ahdc he was    
made ,canon of  ,canterbury in #ahea and
 ,dean of ,westminster in #ahfd4 ,at    
this date  began his career as an       
ethical preacher4 ,his pulpit became the
 means  of reconciling many to the      
,english ,church because of its broad   
and  sympathetic feeling of ,christian  
brotherhood4 ,all of his discourses  are
 marked by a refined literary culture   
and a catholicity of  spirit4 ,stanley's
 most famous sermons are those in which 
he  celebrates the life and work of many
 illustrious men who had passed  away   
during his lifetime4 ,he died in #ahha4 
,,stanley    #ahae-ahha    ,,in         
,,memoriam--,,thomas ,,carlyle    ,the  

kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man 
which sowed good seed  in his           
field4--,matt4 xiii41 #bd4      ,the    
gospel of this day starts with a        
comparison of the kingdom  of heaven to 
a sower4 ,it is the same as that with   
which the more  celebrated parable      
begins1 ,a sower went forth to sow4     
,they both  fix our minds on the manner 
in which ,god's kingdom--the kingdom of 
truth1 beauty and goodness--is carried  
on in the world4 ,the kingdom  of all   
that is good is fostered1 not so much by
 direct and immediate  plantation or    
grafting or building or formations of   
any kind1 but  rather by the sowing of  
good seed1 which1 in time1 shall grow up
 and  furnish a rich harvest4    ,it is 
so with regard to the truths of the     
,bible4 ,they are sown  in the world2   
the good which grows up after them is   
never1 in  outward form1 like the truth 
which came from the actual source4      
,institutions spring up4 ,they may      
derive their vitality from the corn  and

 wheat which sink into the ground2 but  
they cannot be the very  thing itself4  
,there is not a single form1 or a single
 doctrine of  ,christendom1 of which the
 outward shape is not different1 in some
  way1 from the principle of life which 
gave it birth4    ,there is only one    
instance of a ready-made scholastic     
doctrine in  the whole ,bible1 and that 
has been long known to be spurious4 ,it 
is  not the verse of the three          
witnesses1 but the parable of the ,good 
,shepherd1 the poetry of the ,prodigal  
,son1 the pathetic story of the         
,crucifixion1 that have been the true   
seeds of the ,christian life4 ,in  this 
way it is that the divine origin of     
these truths proves itself4  ,the bright
 and tender words can never grow old1   
because they are not  flowers cut and   
dried1 but seeds and roots1 which are   
capable of  bearing a thousand          
applications4    ,again1 this is the    
ground of our looking forward with a    
hope1 which  nothing can extinguish1    

toward the transformation1 the renewal  
of  the human life1 for a moment        
perishing1 to reappear1 we trust1 in    
some future world1 instinct with the    
capacities for good or evil  with which 
it was endowed1 or which it has acquired
 in the life  that now is4 ,the seminal 
form within the deeps of that little    
chaos  sleeps1 which will1 we trust1 in 
the almighty providence of ,god1        
restore that chaos of decayed and broken
 powers into conditions more  elevated  
than now we can dream of4    ,again1    
characters appear in the world which    
have a vivifying and  regenerating      
effect1 not so much for the sake of what
 they teach  us1 as for the sake of     
showing us how to think and how to act4 
,what ,socrates taught1 concerning man  
and the universe1 has long  since passed
 away2 but what he taught of the method 
and process of  pursuing truth--the     
inquiry1 the cross-examination1 the     
sifting of  what we do know from what we
 do not know--this is the foundation  of

 the good seed of ,european philosophy  
for all time4 ,what ,st4  ,paul taught  
concerning circumcision and election or 
grace is among  the things hard to be   
understood1 which the unlearned and the 
unstable may wrest to their own         
destruction1 or1 having served their    
generation1 may be laid asleep2 but what
 he taught of the mode and  manner of   
arriving at divine truth1 when he showed
 how the letter  killeth and the spirit 
maketh alive2 when he set forth how     
charity  is the bond of all perfectness2
 when he showed how all men are         
acceptable to ,god by fulfilling1 each  
in his vocation1 whether ,jew  or       
,gentile1 whether slave or free1 the    
commandments of ,god--he laid  the true 
foundation of ,christian faith2 he      
planted in the heart of  man the seed1  
the good seed1 of ,christian liberty and
 ,christian  duty1 to bear fruit again  
and again amidst the many relapses and  
eclipses of ,christendom4 ,when ,luther 
dinned into the ears of his  generation 

the formula of transubstantiation and of
 justification  by faith only1 this was 
doomed to perish and wax old as doth a  
garment2 but his acts1 his utterances of
 indignant conscience  and of           
far-sighted genius1 became the seed of  
the ,reformation1  the hope of the      
world4 ,when ,john ,wesley rang the     
changes of the  well-known formula of   
assurance1 it was the word of the       
ordinary  preacher2 but1 in his whole   
career of fifty years of testifying  for
 holiness and preaching against vice1   
this was the seed of  more than         
,methodism--it was the seed of the      
revival of ,english  religious zeal4    
,such seeds1 such principles1 such      
infusions1 not of  a mechanical system1 
but of a new light in the world1 are not
 of  every-day occurrence--they are the 
work of a few1 of a gifted few1  and1   
therefore1 are so much the more to be   
observed when anyone1  who has had it in
 his power to scatter such seeds right  
and left1  passes away and leaves us to 

ask what we have gained1 what we can    
assimilate1 of the peculiar nourishment 
which his life and teachings  may have  
left for our advantage4 ,few will doubt 
that such an one  was he who yesterday  
was taken from us4 ,it may be that he   
will not  be laid1 as might have been   
expected1 among the poets and scholars  
and sages1 whose dust rests within this 
,abbey2 it may be that he  was drawn by 
an irresistible longing toward the      
native hills of his  own ,dumfriesshire1
 and that there1 beside the bones of his
 kindred1  beside his father and his    
mother1 and with the silent             
ministrations  of the ,church of        
,scotland1 to which he still clung      
amidst all the  vicissitudes of his long
 existence1 will repose all that is     
earthly  of ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,but he   
belonged to a wider sphere than         
,scotland2  for1 tho by nationality a   
,scotchman1 he yet was loved and honored
  wherever the ,british language is     
spoken4 ,suffer me1 then1 to say a  few 

words on the good seed which he has sown
 in our hearts4    ,in his teaching1 as 
in all things human1 there were1 no     
doubt1  tares1 or what some would       
account tares1 which must be left to    
after-times to adjust1 as best they can1
 with the pure wheat which  is gathered 
into the garner of ,god4 ,there were    
imitators1 parasites1  exaggerators1 of 
the genuine growth1 which sometimes     
almost choked  the original seed and    
disfigured its usefulness and its value2
  but of this we do not speak here4     
,gather them up into bundles and  burn  
them4 ,we speak only of him and of his  
best self4 ,nor would we  now discourse 
at length on those brilliant gifts which
 gave such  a charm to his writings1 and
 such an unexampled splendor to his     
conversation4 ,all the world knows how  
the words and the deeds of  former times
 became1 as ,luther describes in the    
apostle's language1  not dead things1   
but living creatures with hands and     
feet4 ,every  detail was presented      

before us1 penetrated through and       
through with  the fire of poetic        
imagination1 which was the more powerful
 because  it derived its warmth from    
facts gathered together by the most     
untiring industry4 ,who can ever1 from  
this time forward1 picture the  death of
 ,louis ,,xvi1 or the flight of the king
 and queen1 without  remembering the    
thrill of emotion with which1 through   
the ,history  of the ,french            
,revolution1 they became acquainted with
 him for the  first time8 ,who can      
wander among the ruins of ,st4          
,edmunds's at  ,bury without feeling    
that they are haunted in every corner by
 the  lifelike figure of the ,abbot     
,samson1 as he is drawn from the musty  
chronicle of ,jocelyn8 ,who can read the
 letters and the speeches of  ,cromwell1
 now made almost intelligible to modern 
years1 without  gratitude to the        
unwearied zeal which gathered together  
from every  corner those relics of      
departed greatness8 ,what ,german can   

fail to  acknowledge that1 not even in  
that much-enduring1 all-exhausting1     
country of research and labor--not even 
there has there been raised  such a     
monument to ,frederick the ,second1     
called the ,great1 as by the  simple    
,scotchman who1 for the sake of         
describing what he considered  the last 
hero-king1 almost made himself1 for the 
time1 a soldier and  a statesman8       
,but1 on these and many like topics1    
this is not the time or place to  speak4
 ,it is for us to ask1 as ,i have said1 
,what was the good seed  which he sowed 
in the field of our hearts1 and in what 
respects we  shall be1 or ought to be1  
the better for the sower having lived   
and  died among us8    ,it was customary
 for those who honored him to speak of  
him as a  prophet4 ,and1 if we take the 
word in its largest sense1 he truly     
deserved the name4 ,he was a prophet1 in
 the midst of an untoward  generation3  
his prophet's mantle was his rough      
,scotch dialect1 and  his own peculiar  

diction1 and his own secluded manner of 
life4 ,he  was a prophet1 most of all1  
in the emphatic utterance of truth      
which no one else1 or hardly anyone     
else1 ventured to deliver1  and which1  
he felt1 was a message of good to a     
world which sorely  needed them4 ,he    
stood almost alone1 among the men of his
 time1 in  opposing a stern1 inflexible 
resistance to the whole drift and       
pressure of modern days toward exalting 
popular opinion and popular  movements  
as oracles to be valued above the       
judgment of the few1  above the judgment
 of the wise1 the strong1 and the good4 
,statesmen1  men of letters1 preachers1 
have all bowed their heads under the    
yoke of this1 as they believed1         
irresistible domination1 under the      
impression that the first duty of the   
chiefest man is1 not to lead1  but to be
 led--the necessary conditions of       
success1 to ascertain  which way the    
current flows1 and to swim with it as   
far as it will  bear us4 ,to his mind   

all this proved an insane delusion4     
,that  expression of his1 which has     
become1 like many of his expressions1   
almost proverbial in the minds of those 
who like them least1 will  express the  
attitude of his mind1 his answer to the 
question1 ,what  are the people of      
,england8 ,thirty millions--mostly      
fools4 ,the  whole framework and fabric 
of his mind was built up on the belief  
that there are not many wise1 not many  
noble minds1 not many  destined by the  
supreme ,ruler of the universe to rule  
their fellows2  that few are chosen2    
that strait is the gate and narrow is   
the  way1 and few there be that find it4
 ,but1 when the few appear1 when  the   
great and good present themselves it is 
the duty and the wisdom  of the         
multitude to seek their guidance4 ,a    
,luther1 a ,cromwell1 a  ,goethe1 were  
to him the born kings of men4 ,this was 
his doctrine of  the work of heroes2    
this1 right or wrong1 was the mission of
 his  life4 ,it is1 all things          

considered1 a fact much to be meditated 
upon2 it is1 all things considered1 a   
seed which is worthy of all             
cultivation4    ,there is another       
feeling of the age to which he also     
stood  resolutely opposed1 or1 rather1 a
 feeling of the age which was           
resolutely opposed to him1 the tendency 
to divide men into two  hostile camps1  
parted from each other by watchwords and
 flags1  and banners and tokens1 which  
we commonly designate by the name  of   
party4 ,he1 perchance1 disparaged unduly
 the usefulness1 the  necessity1 of     
party organization or party spirit as a 
mode of the  secondary machinery by     
which the great affairs of the world are
  carried on2 but he was a signal       
example of a man who not only could  be 
measured by no party standard1 but who  
absolutely disregarded  it4 ,he never1  
during the whole course of his long     
life1 took any  active part1 never1 ,i  
believe1 voted in those elections which1
 to  most of us1 are the very breath of 

our nostrils4 ,for its own sake  he     
cherished whatever was worth preserving2
 for its own sake he  hailed whatever   
improvement was worth effecting4 ,he    
cared not under  what name or by what   
man the preservation or the improvement 
was  achieved4 ,this1 too1 is an ideal  
which few can attain1 which still  fewer
 attempt2 but it is something to have   
had one man who was  possest by it as a 
vital and saving truth4 ,and such a man 
was the  ,prophet of ,chelsea4 ,but     
there was that in him which1 in spite of
 his  own contemptuous description of   
the people1 in spite of his scorn  for  
the struggles of party1 endeared him1 in
 no common degree1 even  to those who   
most disagreed with him--even to the    
humblest classes  of our great          
community4 ,he was an eminent instance  
of how a man can  trample on the most   
cherished idols of the market-place1 if 
yet he  shows that he has in his heart  
of hearts the joys1 the sorrows1 the    
needs of his toiling1 suffering fellow  

creatures4 ,in this way they  insensibly
 felt drawn toward that tender1 fervid  
nature which was  weak when they were   
weak1 which burned with indignation when
 they  suffered wrong4 ,they felt that1 
if he despised them1 it was in love2  if
 he refused to follow their bidding1 it 
was because he believed  that their     
bidding was an illusion4    ,and for    
that independence of party of which ,i  
spoke1 there was also  the              
countervailing source1 that no man could
 for a moment dream that  it arose from 
indifference to his country4 ,he was no 
monk2 he was  no hermit dwelling apart  
from the passions which sway the        
destinies  of a great nation4 ,there is 
no man living to whom the thrift1 the   
industry1 the valor of his countrymen   
were so deeply precious4 ,there  is no  
man living1 to whom1 had it been        
possible for him to have  been aroused  
from the torpor of approaching death1   
the news would  have been more welcome  
that the ,parliament of ,england had    

been in  the last week saved from       
becoming a byword and reproach and shame
  among the nations of the earth4 ,and  
all this arose out of a frame  of mind  
which others have shared with him1 but  
which1 perhaps1 few  have been able to  
share to the same extent4 ,the          
earnestness1 almost  the very word is   
his own1 the earnestness1 the           
seriousness1 with  which he approached  
the great problems of all human life1   
have made  us feel them also4 ,the tides
 of fashion have swept over the minds   
of many who once were swayed by his     
peculiar tones2 but there must  be many 
a young man whose first feelings of     
generosity and public  spirit were      
roused within him by the cry as if from 
the very depths  of his heart1 ,where1  
now1 are your ,hengists and your        
,horsas8 ,where  are those leaders who  
should be leading their people to useful
  employments1 to distant countries1    
where are they8 ,preserving their  game6
 ,before his withering indignation all  

false pretensions1 all  excuses for     
worthless idleness and selfish luxury1  
fell away4 ,the  word which he invented 
to describe them has sunk1 perhaps1 into
 cant  and hollowness2 but it had a     
truth when first he uttered it4 ,those  
falsities were shams1 and they who      
practised them were guilty of the  sin  
which the ,bible1 in scathing scorn1    
calls hypocrisy4    ,and whence came    
this earnestness8 ,deep down in the     
bottom of his  soul it springs from his 
firm conviction that there was a higher1
 a  better world than that visible to   
our outward senses4 ,all1 whether       
called saints1 in the middle ages1 or   
,puritans1 in the seventeenth  century1 
or what you like in our own day1 he     
revered them1 with all  their           
eccentricities1 as bright and learned   
examples of those who  sacrificed their 
lives to their higher natures1 their    
worser to  their better parts4 ,in      
addressing the students of ,edinburgh1  
he  bade them remember that the deep    

recognition of the eternal justice  of  
heaven1 and the unfailing punishment of 
crimes against the law  of ,god1 is at  
the origin and foundation of all the    
histories of  nations4 ,no nation which 
did not contemplate this wonderful      
universe  with an awe-stricken and      
reverential belief that there was a     
great  unknown1 omnipotent1 all-wise1   
and all-just ,being superintending  all 
men and all interests in it1 no nation  
ever came to very much1  nor did any man
 either1 who forgot that4 ,if a man     
forgot that1 he  forgot the most        
important part of his mission in the    
world4 ,so he  spoke1 and the ground of 
his hope for ,europe--of his hope1 we   
may  say1 against hope--was that1 after 
all1 in any commonwealth where  the     
,christian religion exists1 nay1 in any 
commonwealth where it  has once existed1
 public or private virtue1 the basis of 
all good1  never can become extinct2 but
 in every new age1 and even from the    
deepest decline1 there is a chance1 and1

 in the course of ages1 the  certainty1 
of renovation4 ,the divine depths of    
sorrow1 the sanctuary  of sorrow1 the   
life and death of the divine ,man1 were1
 to him1  ,christianity4 ,we stand1 as  
it were1 beside him whilst the grave    
has not yet closed over those flashing  
eyes1 over those granite  features1 over
 that weird form on which we have so    
often looked1  whilst the silence of    
death has fallen on that house which was
 once  so frequented and so honored4 ,we
 call up memories which occurred  to    
ourselves4 ,one such1 in the far past1  
may1 perchance1 come with  peculiar     
force to those whose work is appointed  
in this place4 ,many  years ago1 whilst 
,i belonged to another cathedral1 ,i met
 him in ,st4  ,james' ,park1 and walked 
with him to his own house4 ,it was      
during  the ,crimean war2 and after     
hearing him denounce1 with his vigorous 
and1 perhaps1 exaggerated earnestness1  
the chaos and confusion into  which our 
administration had fallen1 and the doubt

 and distrust  which pervaded all       
classes at the time1 ,i ventured to ask 
him1  ,what1 under the circumstances1 is
 your advice to a canon of an  ,english 
cathedral8 ,he grimly laughed at my     
question4 ,he paused  for a moment and  
then answered1 in homely and well-known 
words2  but which were1 as it happened1 
especially fitted to situations  like   
that in which he was asked to give his  
counsel--,whatsoever  thy hand findeth  
to do1 do it with all thy might4 ,that  
is1 no  doubt1 the lesson he leaves to  
each one of us in this place1 and  also 
to this weary world--the world of which 
he felt the weariness  as age and       
infirmity grew upon him--the lesson     
which1 in his more  active days1 he     
practised to the very letter4 ,he is at 
rest1 he is  at rest2 delivered from    
that burden of the flesh against which  
he  chafed and fretted3 he is at rest6  
,in his own words1 ,babylon1 with  its  
deathening inanity1 rages on to the dim 
innocuous and unheeded  forever4 ,from  

the silence of the eternities1 of which 
he so often  spoke1 there still sound1  
and will long sound1 the tones of that  
marvelous voice4    ,let us take one    
tender expression1 written three or four
 years  ago--one plaintive yet manful   
thought1 which has never yet reached    
the public eye3 ,three nights ago1      
stepping out after midnight and  looking
 up at the stars1 which were clear and  
numerous1 it struck  me with a strong1  
new kind of feeling3 ',in a little while
 ,i shall  have seen you also for the   
last time4 ,god ,almighty's own theater 
of  immensity--the infinite made        
palpable and visible to me--that also   
will be closed--flung too in my         
face--and ,i shall never behold death   
any more4' ,the thought of the eternal  
deprivation even of this1 tho  this is  
such a nothing in comparison1 was sad   
and painful to me4 ,and  then a second  
feeling rose upon me3 ',what if         
,omnipotence that has  developed in me  
these appetites1 these reverences1 these

 infinite  affections1 should actually  
have said1 ,yes1 poor mortal1 such as   
you who have gone so far1 shall be      
permitted to go further4 ,hope6  despair
 not6' ,god's will1 not ours1 be done4  
,yes1 ,god's will be done for us and for
 him4 ,the ,lord gave1 and the  ,lord   
taketh away4          ,,vaughan    ,,god
 ,,calling ,,to ,,man                   
,,biographical ,,note      ,,charles    
,,john ,,vaughan1 ,church of ,england   
divine and educator1 was  born at       
,leicester in #ahaf1 and educated at    
,rugby under ,dr4 ,arnold4  ,he was     
ordained in #ahda and in #ahdd elected  
headmaster of ,harrow4  ,but the post   
which gave him the best opportunity as a
 preacher1 was  that of ,master of the  
,temple which he occupied from #ahfi to 
#ahid4 ,he  was a leader in the ,broad  
,church party and his sermons are marked
 by  simplicity of diction1 deep        
sincerity1 and rare spiritual insight4  
,he died at ,llandoff1 of which he had  
been dean since #ahgi1 in #ahig4        

,,vaughan    #ahaf-ahig    ,,god        
,,calling ,,to ,,man    ,and the ,lord  
,god called unto ,adam1 and said unto   
him1 ,where art  thou8--,genesis iii41  
#i4      ,i wish1 said a great man of   
our day1 that some one would preach     
under the dome of ,st4 ,paul's1 on the  
text1 ',where art thou1 ,adam8'  ,a     
noble subject1 my brethren1 when we     
think of it6 ,but who is  equal to the  
task of handling it8 ,the work of ,god  
is quick and  powerful--may it be so    
now1 ,he ,himself using it1 and         
prospering it  in the thing whereto ,he 
sent it4    ,i shall ask you to look    
very closely into the text itself4 ,i   
need  not tell anyone whence it comes2  
from the midst of that awful story      
which tells us of the first sin1 and of 
its immediate consequences4  ,that same 
story is in substance acted over and    
over again in  every marked sin that is 
ever done by any man3 the same mode of  
temptation2 first inward question1 ,yea1
 hath ,god said8 is this  thing which ,i

 wish to do really forbidden8 and then  
the thought  of the hardship2 ,god doth 
know that this which ,he has forbidden  
is something desirable1 something       
delightful2 it is hard that it  should  
be denied me2 and then the growing      
confidence1 ,i shall not  surely die for
 it2 and then the last review of all the
 advantages1  good for food--pleasant to
 the eyes--to be desired to make me     
wise1 or to make me happy1 or to make me
 independent2 and then the  act         
itself--the taking and eating2 and then 
the sense of leanness  entering into the
 very soul4 ,but that is not all which  
sin brings  after it4 ,the next tells us
 of a summons1 and after the context of 
an arraigning1 and an examination1 and  
at first a self-excusing1  and then of a
 conviction1 and a silencing1 and a     
judgment3 only one  little word of      
comfort1 one little streak of light1    
amidst all the  sorrow1 and all the     
curse1 and all the gloom4    ,but ,i    
intend to sever the text now somewhat   

from its context1 and to  look into it1 
with you1 by itself alone4 ,the ,lord   
,god called unto  ,adam1 and said unto  
him1 ,where art thou8 ,there is the     
speaker--,god1  the ,lord ,god4 ,there  
is the person spoken to--,adam1 the     
first man2  ,adam1 from whom we all     
sprang2 the father1 and the likeness1   
and  the representative of us all4      
,there is the nature of the address--a  
call1 a summons1 decisive1              
authoritative1 majestic4 ,there are1 at 
last1 the words uttered--few and plain1 
yet1 when looked into1  big with        
meaning--,where art thou8 ,and we shall 
not end without  appealing to all of    
you1 to each of you separately1 to      
answer that  question2 to answer it     
truly1 as we shall all have to answer it
 one  day4    ,now ,i shall not occupy  
your time1 or use many words1 about the 
speaker4 ,there are those who profess to
 doubt the being of ,god2  and there are
 those1 on the other hand1 who profess  
to prove it4 ,i  shall not suspect you  

of the one1 and ,i shall not endeavor to
 do the  other4 ,i am quite sure that in
 your inmost hearts you do not doubt    
,his being2 and ,i am quite certain     
that1 if you do1 ,i cannot prove  it to 
you4 ,the being of ,god is not a matter 
of argument1 it is a  matter of         
instinct4 ,the doubt or denial of it may
 pass muster with  scoffing men in      
robust health and prosperous            
circumstances2 but nine  out of ten of  
those same men1 finding themselves in   
sudden danger1  by land or sea1 from    
accident or disease1 will be heard      
praying3  they may conceal it1 they may 
disown it1 they may be ashamed of  it   
afterwards--but they did it3 and that   
prayer was a witness1  an unimpeachable 
witness1 that down in the depths of     
their heart  there was a belief in ,god 
all the time2 in their works alike and  
in  their words they deny ,him1 but in  
their inmost souls1 like the very       
spirits of evil1 they believe and       
tremble4 ,god1 then1 speaks here4 ,i    

tell you not who ,he is3 you know it2   
you know that there is such a  person1  
your creator1 your ruler1 your judge3   
happy if you know also  that ,he is the 
,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus    
,christ6    ,now1 to whom does ,he here 
speak8 ,i will say two things of ,his   
call  as here described3 ,first1 that it
 is an individual call2 and1  secondly1 
that it is a universal call4 ,we try to 
make ,god's call  a vague one4 ,it is   
for some one1 no doubt2 but every       
natural man  tries to put it away from  
himself4 ,in hearing a sermon1 everyone 
thinks how suitable this reproof or that
 warning is to his neighbor2  he goes   
away to wish that such a person had     
heard it1 to hope that  such a person   
listened to it2 but the person who thus 
hopes1 and  probably1 too1 the person   
thus hoped about1 never thought of      
taking  it home--never said to himself1 
tho he was but too ready to say  to     
another1 ,thou art the man4             
,nevertheless1 ,god's call is an        

individual one4 ,the only use of it is  
to be so4 ,o that we could  hear it in  
that spirit6 ,o that we could practise  
ourselves in so  hearing it6 ,where art 
thou8 not1 where is he8 still less1     
generally1  where are they8 ,read the   
,bible thus1 my brethren1 as written for
  you1 for your learning1 for your      
reproof1 for your comfort--yours        
individually and personally--and you    
will never need it in vain4    ,but this
 individual call is also universal4 ,let
 us not flatter  ourselves that we are  
more to ,god than others are3 it is a   
very  common1 tho a well-disguised      
notion4 ,we think that our souls are    
more important than any others2 and that
 is the least form of the  error3 but we
 go on to think our faults are more     
excusable1 our  sins more venial1 than  
those of others2 we go on to think that 
,god  will spare us when ,he does not   
spare others2 we go on to think that    
our virtues are greater1 our            
self-denials more meritorious1 than     

those of others2 and by this time we    
have got farther away from  the truth   
and the gospel1 than the poor           
self-condemning sinner who  feels1 and  
denies it not1 that he is yet in the    
gall of bitterness1  in the very bond of
 iniquity4    ,the call of ,god1 like   
the care of ,god1 is universal4 ,it is  
to  the race4 ,it is to ,his creatures4 
,hear the word--,the ,lord ,god  called 
unto ,adam1 and said unto him4 ,if it   
had been1 ,god called  to ,abraham1 or  
to ,moses1 or to ,david1 there would    
have been some  particularity1 perhaps  
some limitation1 in the summons2 but    
none of  us can say he is not included  
when ,adam is spoken to2 he is1 indeed1 
the father of us all3 of him we all     
come4 ,what ,god says to him1 ,he       
certainly says to us--to us all1 as to  
each of us4    ,but we ask1 perhaps1    
thirdly3 ,how does ,god call to us8 ,i  
will say1  in three ways4 ,he calls     
within--in conscience4 ,can you tell me 
what  that thing is in each of us which 

seems at once so intimate with us1  yet 
so independent of us1 that it knows     
everything we do1 or say1  or even      
think1 and yet sits in judgment upon us 
for everything8 ,is  it not a strange   
thing8 ,we should expect that the whole 
man would  move together2 that1 if we   
did a thing1 if we said a thing1 if we  
thought a thing1 we should go along with
 it1 we should approve that  thing3 but 
is it so8 ,no2 we carry about within us 
a whole machinery  of judicature2 a     
witness1 a jury1 a judge1 yes1 an       
executioner1 too2  and1 strange to say1 
it is in early life that the process is 
most  perceptible1 just while we are    
most ignorant1 least reflecting1  least 
logical in our judgments4 ,it is the    
work of many men through  life to stifle
 the voice within1 and at last they     
almost succeed3  but do not tell me that
 you have no such voice                 
within--certainly you  will not say that
 you never had it2 and ,i will tell you 
what that  voice is1 or was4 ,it was the

 voice of the ,lord ,god within1 calling
  to ,adam1 and saying1 ,where art thou8
    ,he calls also without--in          
providence4 ,i really know not whether  
this be not the most persuasive of all  
,his modes of calling to us2  certainly 
it is the most authoritative of all4    
,conscience may be  stifled1 but        
providence grasps us very tightly--we   
cannot escape  from it4 ,tell me1 who   
caused you to be born where and what you
 were8  ,who settled that you should be 
born in this country and not in that8   
,who decided that you were to have poor 
parents or rich1 ,christian  parents or 
un-,christian8 ,who has managed your    
circumstances for  you since you had a  
being8 ,who gave you1 who has continued 
to give  you1 your vigor of mind and    
body1 your power of enjoyment1 or your  
experience of kindness1 or your         
principles of judgment1 or your         
instincts of affection8 ,who took away  
from you that friend for  whom you are  
now mourning--that parent1 that brother1

 that sister1  that wife1 that child8   
,yes1 we may forget it1 or we may fret  
under  it1 but in the hands of a        
providence we all are2 we are utterly   
powerless in that grasp3 and whether we 
will believe it or no1 that  power is a 
voice too--a call from ,god without1    
even as conscience is  ,his voice and   
,his call within4    ,once more1 ,god   
calls from above also--in revelation4   
,my friend1  believest thou the         
,scriptures8 ,i know that thou          
believest4 ,your  presence here seems to
 say that you do4 ,and yet in this      
multitude  how many must there be who do
 not in their hearts believe6 ,let me   
rather say1 who do not in their lives   
believe2 for in your hearts ,i  think   
you do3 sure ,i am that there are some  
parts of the ,bible which  you cannot   
read and disbelieve2 of course you may  
leave them unread1  that is always      
possible--easier than to read them--but 
,i do not  think you can read the       
fifty-third chapter of ,isaiah1 for     

example1  in the ,old ,testament1 and ,i
 do not think you can read one chapter  
of  ,st4 ,john's ,gospel in the ,new    
,testament1 and shut the book1 saying1  
,there is nothing in it4 ,i suspect that
 is why we so often leave  the ,bible   
unread--just because we believe it2 we  
feel1 when we do  read it1 that it is   
,god's voice1 and we do not want to hear
 that  voice4 ,the ,bible is more its   
own witness than we like oftentimes to  
admit4        ,who that has felt its    
glance of dread         ,thrill through 
his heart's remotest cells1       ,about
 his path1 about his bed1         ,can  
doubt what spirit in it dwells8    ,god 
speaks2 and speaks to us--to each of us 
and to all of us2 and  speaks1 chiefly  
in three ways--in conscience1 in        
providence1 in  revelation3 and now1    
fourthly1 what is ,his call8 ,how is it 
here  briefly exprest8 ,it might have   
been put1 it is put in the ,bible1 in   
different forms--but how is it here     
exprest8 ,the ,lord called unto  ,adam1 

and said unto him1 ,where art thou8     
,this is a call1 first1  to attention4  
,as tho ,god had said1 ,listen to ,me4  
,that is the first  step in all         
religion4 ,what we want first is a      
spirit of attention4  ,it is the great  
art of our enemy to keep our thoughts   
off religion4  ,that is the meaning of  
the overwhelming cares of life4 ,the    
devil  would occupy our whole time and  
thoughts with something which is  not1  
and has nothing 7as he persuades us7 to 
do with ,god4 ,that is  the meaning of  
the excessive amusements of life4 ,the  
cares of life  are not enough to engross
 the attention of all men always2 and   
therefore the enemy provides something  
which shall alternate with  them for    
some men1 and take the place of them for
 others4 ,it is this  art which ,god1 in
 ,his mercy1 in ,his long-suffering1 in 
,his desire  that we should not perish1 
has to counteract by ,his divine skill4 
,he  takes a man aside now and then1    
from time to time--blest be ,his name   

for it6--and makes him listen4 ,he      
interposes by some chastisement1  some  
sickness1 some bereavement1 and         
constrains him to hearken to  what ,he1 
the ,lord ,god1 has to say concerning   
him and to him4 ,this is  the first     
point gained4 ,behold1 he listens6      
better still1 ,behold1  he prayeth6 ,it 
is a call1 next1 to the recognition of  
,god's being1  and of our responsibility
 to ,him4 ,where art thou8 ,it is as if 
,he  had said1 ,i am1 and thou art      
,mine4 ,as if ,he has said1 ,i have a   
right  to know about thee1 and thou     
canst not evade ,me4 ,as if ,he had     
said1  ,i am about1 now1 to enter into  
judgment with thee3 give an account  of 
thy stewardship4 ,yes1 my brethren1 it  
is an awful moment1 when a  man first   
becomes distinctly conscious that ,god  
is1 and is something  to him4 ,he may   
have talked of ,god before3 he may have 
fancied that  he knew all about ,him3 he
 may even have prayed before1 and       
confest  himself before1 and asked grace

 and help before3 but now1 for the      
first time1 he sees how much more there 
is in all this than he has  yet dreamed 
of2 and the only words which he can find
 at all to  express his new feeling1 are
 those of the patriarch of old--,i have 
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear1
 but now mine eye seeth  thee3 wherefore
 ,i abhor myself1 and repent in dust and
 ashes4    ,it is a call1 once more1 and
 yet more particularly1 to reflect upon 
our place or our position4 ,i know not  
how else to express the force  of the   
inquiry1 ,where art thou8 ,it may be    
read literally--of  place4 ,may not some
 one of those here assembled have been1 
ere  now1 perhaps often1 perhaps quite  
recently1 in some place in which  the   
question1 ,where art thou8 would have   
had a startling and  condemning         
sound8--some place where he was sinning8
 some place where  he had gone to sin8  
some place where he would not for the   
world have  been seen by any human eye1 
and where he gladly forgot that there   

was yet one eye which did see him8 ,oh1 
if ,god stood this night upon  earth1   
and called aloud to the ,adam of this   
generation--to the  men and women who   
form now the sum of the living human    
creation2  if ,he should call them      
suddenly from the east and from the west
 to  avow exactly where they were1 and  
to come forth from that place as  they  
were1 without an instant allowed them to
 cover up and disguise  themselves2 oh1 
what a revelation would it be of action 
and of  character6 ,oh1 who might abide 
the scrutiny of that question8 ,oh1  who
 could stand when that inquirer         
appeared8 ,but1 even if the  literal    
local question could be well answered1  
there would remain  yet another behind  
applicable to all men4 ,where art thou8 
is an  inquiry as to position no less   
than place4 ,it says1 ,what is thy      
present place as a man with a soul1 as  
an immortal being8 ,what is  thy present
 standing1 thy present state8 ,art thou 
safe8 ,art thou  happy8 ,art thou       

useful8 ,art thou doing the work ,i gave
 thee to do8  ,is it well with thee in  
the present8 ,is it well with thee in   
the  future8 ,say not1 ,i can not       
answer1 ,i know not4 ,i have taught thee
  how to judge of thyself2 now therefore
 advise1 and see what answer  thou wilt 
return to ,him that made thee4    ,my   
brethren1 ,i propose1 in the last place1
 that we all answer this  question4 ,it 
is a very serious thing to do2 and it is
 what no man  can do for his brother4   
,each one of us has one secret place1   
one  sanctuary within the veil1 into    
which1 not even once a year1 not  even  
in the character of a high priest1 can  
earthly foot ever enter4  ,yet in that  
secret place shines forth the light of  
,god's presence2  a light never put out 
altogether in any man1 so far at least  
as  its disclosing and revealing        
character is concerned1 until sin and   
perverseness have done their perfect    
work1 and the awful words are  at length
 fulfilled1 ,if the light that is in    

thee be darkness1 how  great is that    
darkness6 ,at present1 we will humbly   
hope1 that this  last ruin has not been 
wrought in any one who hears me4 ,and if
 not1  ,i repeat it1 we can all1 if we  
will1 answer ,god's question1 when ,he  
calls to each of us1 as ,he does this   
night1 and says1 ,where art  thou8      
,one of us1 perhaps1 answers1 if he     
speaks truly1 ,i am wandering4  ,i have 
left my ,father's home2 ,i took my      
portion of ,his goods1 and  carried them
 away into a far country4 ,yes1 ,he was 
very generous  to me2 ,he grudged me    
nothing2 life and health1 food and      
clothing1  even success in the world1   
even human friendship and human love1   
,he  gave me all these1 and upbraided   
not3 ,he warned me that ,i should be    
sorry one day if ,i left ,him2 ,he      
cautioned me against the perils of  my  
way2 ,he told me that ,i should not find
 happiness2 ,he bade me1 if  ,i wished  
for that1 to stay2 ,he bade me1 if ,i   
should ever be sorry  that ,i had gone1 

to arise instantly and return4 ,my heart
 was young  then1 and ,i thought ,i knew
 best2 ,i left ,him1 with little        
feeling1  with much expectation2 ,his   
last look was one of regretful love that
  ,i left ,him and ,i am a wanderer     
still4 ,sometimes ,i have arisen to  go 
to my ,father1 but ,i went not3 ,i was  
ashamed1 ,i was afraid1 ,i  thought ,i  
was too sinful1 ,i felt myself unstable1
 ,i feared that ,i  might relapse1 ,i   
dreaded reproach1 ,i dreaded ridicule1  
,i dreaded1  above all1 the sight of    
that face3--and thus stayed where ,i    
was1  in the far country--,i am a       
wanderer1 an outcast still4 ,and another
  answers1 like him to whom the question
 in the text was first put1  ,i am      
hiding4 ,i have sinned and ,i have not  
repented4 ,i have eaten of  the tree of 
which ,god said to me1 ,thou shalt not  
eat of it1 neither  shalt thou touch it1
 lest thou die4 ,i believed the creature
 more  than the ,creator--the tempter   
more than the ,savior4 ,i went to the   

edge of temptation2 ,i desired forbidden
 knowledge first1 and then  ,i could not
 rest until ,i knew by experience also2 
and now my heart  is defiled1 my        
conscience is defiled1 my life is       
defiled2 ,i have  lost all right to the 
beatific vision1 for ,i am no longer    
pure in  heart2 now1 when ,i hear the   
voice of the ,lord ,god1 ,i hide myself1
  because ,i know myself sinful1 and    
because ,i know that ,he is of purer    
eyes than to look upon or tolerate      
iniquity4 ,and another answers1  ,i am  
resting4 ,earth is very pleasant to me2 
,i have toiled and ,i  have reaped2 ,i  
have gathered myself a competence2 ,i   
have found the  happiness of lawful     
love2 ,i have built myself a nest here1 
,i have  fenced it against the blasts of
 fortune1 ,i am warm and tranquil       
within3 let me alone a little while2 it 
is not long that ,i can enjoy  it2 soon 
calamity may come1 loss1 sickness1      
death1 into my peaceful  home2 then ,i  
will turn and seek ,thee--not yet1 ,o   

not just yet6  ,and another says1 ,i am 
working4 ,am ,i not doing ,thy work8 ,am
 ,i not  discharging the duties of my   
station8 ,am ,i not setting an example  
of  diligence and sobriety8 ,am ,i not  
availing myself of the faculties  which 
,thou has given to make myself          
respectable1 and useful1 and  exemplary 
in my generation8 ,how can ,i do all    
this1 and yet be  religious8 ,how can ,i
 find time for both worlds at once8 ,but
 yet1  indeed1 am ,i not providing for  
that other world in making a proper  use
 of this8 ,let me alone a little while2 
when ,i have a convenient  season1 ,i   
will call for ,thee4 ,and another says1 
honestly1 ,i am  trifling4 ,the world is
 so gay1 so amusing1 so exciting3 hast  
,thou  not made it so for our enjoyment8
 ,oh1 grudge me not my brief time  of   
mirth and forgetfulness2 ,i shall be    
serious enough one day4 ,and  another   
says1 ,i am coming4 ,yes1 ,i am on my   
way4 ,this is no world1  ,i see it1 of  
rest for me4 ,there is no peace but in  

,god3 ,i sought  it once elsewhere1 and 
found it not3 now ,i know my error2 yes1
 ,i  am coming1 ,i am coming1 ,i am on  
my way3 but give me time3 so great  a   
change cannot be wrought all at once3   
heaven cannot be won in a  day3 give me 
time1 and ,i will reach ,thee4 ,i am now
 using the means3  ,i pray1 ,i read the 
,bible1 ,i go to ,thy ,house1 ,i partake
 in ,christ's  supper3 surely this is   
the way to ,thee6    ,yes1 my brother1  
but why this delay8 ,why this           
postponement of the  desired result8    
,wilt thou be any fitter to-morrow than 
to-day  for that step across the barrier
 which now seems so premature1  so      
presumptuous8 ,the word is very nigh    
thee3 it is in thy mouth1  it is in thy 
heart--thou knowest it well1 even the   
word of  faith--,believe on the ,lord   
,jesus ,christ1 at once1 and thou shalt 
be saved4 ,come unto me--not to-morrow1 
but to-day--all ye that  labor and are  
heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 
,are there any  here present--,god grant

 that they be many6--who have yet one   
other  answer to return to the question 
on which we have dwelt8 ,thou sayest  to
 me1 ,o ,lord1 ,where art thou8 ,lord1  
,i am a sinner in a world  of danger2   
and ,i have learned that danger in      
myself2 for ,i have  fallen1 and ,i have
 sinned against ,thee1 times without    
number2 yet by  ,thy grace ,i have      
risen1 and ,i have returned to ,thee1   
and ,thou hast  accepted me in ,thy     
,son1 and hast endued me1 according to  
my need1  with ,thy ,holy ,spirit4 ,and 
now1 ,lord1 my life is hid with ,christ 
in  ,thee3 ,he is my trust1 ,he is my   
life1 ,he is my hope1 and the life  that
 ,i now live upon earth1 ,i live by     
faith in ,him4 ,under ,thy care1  doing 
,thy work1 thankful for ,thy mercies1   
trusting in ,thy strength1  even now ,i 
am ,thine1 and hereafter ,i shall see   
,thee4 ,guide ,thou my  steps1 make ,thy
 way plain before me1 in the days that  
remain to me1  and at last receive me to
 ,thyself1 disciplined1 humbled1        

sanctified1  that ,i may rest in ,thee  
forever1 and forever see ,thy glory6    
,my brethren1 the work of ,god in each  
of us would be almost  accomplished if  
this one call were heard within4 ,once  
let us know  that ,god is speaking to   
us1 and that ,he waits an answer2 once  
let  us feel that ,he is1 and that ,he  
will have us to be saved1 and all  the  
rest will follow4 ,may it be so now6    
,may some wanderer this  night return to
 his ,father2 some hiding soul this     
night come forth  from its lurking      
place2 some builder upon the sand lay   
this night  his foundations upon the    
rock2 some trifler be made serious2 some
  worldly man turned heavenward--so that
 all may have cause to bless  ,god for  
,his word here spoken1 and ascribe to   
,him1 through eternal  ages1            
thanksgiving1 and blessing1 and praise6 
,,newman ,,hall    ,,christian ,,victory
          ,,biographical ,,note         
,,christopher ,,newman ,,hall1          
,congregational divine1 was born at     

,maidstone1 ,kent1 in #ahaf4 ,he was    
widely known as a writer1 lecturer1  and
 preacher of great eloquence4 ,during   
the ,civil ,war he was  enthusiastic in 
advocating the cause of the ,north1 and 
subsequently  two extended tours in the 
,united ,states brought him             
international  fame4 ,his tract1 ,come  
to ,jesus1 published in #ahdf1 has been 
translated into over twenty languages4  
,he died in #aijb4          ,,newman    
,,hall    #ahaf-aijb    ,,christian     
,,victory    ,to him that overcometh    
will ,i give to eat of the hidden manna1
 and  will give him a white stone1 and  
in the stone a new name written1  which 
no man knoweth saving he that receiveth 
it4--,rev4 ii41 #ag4      ,the          
,christian life is often compared in    
,scripture to a warfare4  ,followers of 
,jesus are soldiers4 ,they are exhorted 
to put on the  whole armor of ,god4     
,they fight the good fight of faith4    
,some of  you have been engaged in the  
conflict3 others have more recently     

entered upon it4 ,but1 whether young or 
old in the ,christian career1  all find 
it necessary to be constantly stirred up
 to watchfulness  against the           
never-ceasing assaults of the foe4 ,it  
is not enough to  put on the armor and  
to commence the battle4 ,he that        
overcometh1 and  he alone1 will receive 
the salutation1 ,well done1 good and    
faithful  servant1--he alone shall lay  
hold upon eternal life4    ,but we are  
not left to fight without encouragement4
 ,as generals  before a battle go in    
front of their troops to stimulate them 
to valor1 so ,christ1 the ,captain of   
our ,salvation1 leads on  the           
consecrated hosts of ,his elect2 and    
having himself set us a  glorious       
example of valor and victory1 animates  
us to follow in ,his  footsteps by the  
exceeding great and precious promises of
 ,his  word4 ,christian warrior6 let    
your eye be lifted up to ,him4 ,behold  
,him beckoning you onward4 ,listen to   
,him1 as from ,his throne of  glory ,he 

exhorts you to persevering valor against
 the foe2 and pray  earnestly that ,his 
promise may be fulfilled in your case3  
,to him  that overcometh will ,i give to
 eat of the hidden manna1 and will  give
 him a white stone1 and in the stone a  
new name written1 which  no man knoweth 
saving he that receiveth it4    ,let us 
consider first1 the promise2 then1 the  
condition attached to  it4    ,i4 ,the  
promise4 ,this is twofold1--the hidden  
manna and the white  stone4    #a4 ,the 
hidden manna4--,god fed the ,israelites 
in the wilderness  with manna4 ,a       
portion of this was laid by in the ark1 
and thus was  hidden from public view4  
,it is here referred to as a figurative 
representation of the spiritual         
blessings bestowed upon the victor  in  
the heavenly fight4 ,christ1 speaking of
 the manna as a type of  ,himself1 said1
 ,i am the bread which came down from   
heaven4 ,the  manna in the wilderness   
sustained the life of the ,israelites4  
,but there is another life more         

important than that of the body4 ,by    
sin the soul is dead1 dead toward ,god4 
,by the ,holy ,spirit1 the  dead in     
trespasses and sins are quickened1 or   
made alive4 ,as the  life of the        
new-born infant cannot be preserved     
without food1 so  the new spiritual life
 which ,god imparts needs continual     
support4  ,both the life1 and the       
nourishing of it1 come from ,christ1 and
  ,christ alone4 ,by ,his sacrifice that
 life becomes possible2 and by  ,his    
spirit working within our hearts that   
life becomes actual4 ,he  sustains as   
well as imparts spiritual vitality4 ,he 
is the food of  our faith3 believe in   
the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and thou shalt
 be  saved4 ,he is the food of our love3
 we love him because he first  loved us4
 ,he is the food of our obedience3 the  
love of ,christ  constraineth us4 ,he is
 the food of our peace3 for when        
justified  by faith1 we have peace with 
,god through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4  
,he  is the food of our joy3 for if we  

joy in ,god it is through ,jesus        
,christ our ,lord4    ,the manna which  
sustained the ,israelites was evidently 
the gift of  ,god4 ,and so this hidden  
manna is from heaven4 ,it is no         
contrivance  of man--no philosophy of   
human invention4 ,it is a divine plan   
for  the salvation of our ruined race4  
,god so loved the world that he  gave   
his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever  
believeth in him should  not perish but 
should have everlasting life4 ,that     
manna in the  wilderness was sweet to   
the taste2 yet they who fed on it grew  
weary of it4 ,but the more we eat of the
 bread of life1 the more  we relish     
it--the greater is our appetite for it4 
,that manna in  the wilderness was      
needed daily4 ,and so with this heavenly
 bread4  ,yesterday's supply will not   
suffice for to-day4 ,the prayer is as   
needful for the soul as for the body3   
,give us this day our daily  bread4 ,but
 if that manna was needed daily1 so it  
was supplied2 none  went in vain at the 

appointed season--and no soul that      
hungers  and thirsts after righteousness
 is sent empty away4 ,the manna was     
supplied to the ,israelites till they   
came to the promised land--so  ,god has 
promised that ,his grace shall not fail 
,his people through  their wanderings4  
,it is spoken of as the hidden manna4   
,such is the ,christian's life4  ,our   
life is hid with ,christ in ,god4 ,the  
outward effects of it may  be seen1 but 
the inner life is invisible4 ,so is the 
nourishing of  the life4 ,you may see   
the ,christian on his knees1 you may    
hear the  words which he utters1 but you
 cannot see the streams of divine       
influence which are poured into his     
spirit2 nor hear the sweet  whispers of 
divine love which fill him with joy2 nor
 comprehend the  peace passing all      
understanding which he is permitted to  
experience4  ,unbelievers are often     
amazed at what they see in the          
,christian4 ,he  is troubled on every   
side1 yet not in despair4 ,waves of     

sorrow beat  upon his frail vessel1 yet 
it does not sink4 ,men now threaten1 now
  allure1 but he holds on his way4 ,what
 to others is an irresistible  charm1 is
 no attraction to him4 ,what is a terror
 to others1 deters  not him4 ,why does  
he not faint beneath the burden8 why    
does he not  sink in the storm8 ,because
 he eats of the hidden manna4 ,the      
secret of the ,lord is with them that   
fear him4 ,he hath taken him  into his  
banqueting-room1 and the banner over him
 is love4    ,were this promise merely  
the reward of final victory1 that       
victory  itself would never be gained4  
,we need to eat this manna during our   
pilgrimage4 ,we cannot live without it4 
,every act of overcoming will  be       
followed by a verification of the       
promise1 ,i will give him to  eat of the
 hidden manna4 ,yet we must look beyond 
the present life  for its full          
accomplishment4 ,to him that overcometh 
at the last  shall be given the hidden  
manna1 in a sense of which at present we

  have but a very faint conception4     
,as the manna was hidden in the ark1 and
 that ark was hidden behind  the curtain
 of the ,holy of ,holies1 so the        
,christian's hope1 as  an anchor of the 
soul1 sure and stedfast1 enters into    
that which  is within the veil4 ,those  
joys we cannot yet conjecture2 their    
splendor is too intense2 we should be   
blinded by excessive light2 we  should  
be overpowered by the excellent glory4  
,one look of heaven would unfit us for  
earth4 ,it is wisely appointed  that at 
present this manna should in one sense  
be hidden1 even from  ourselves4 ,we are
 as yet but babes--such strong meat     
would not suit  us now2 we must be      
content with simpler fare4 ,but oh6 if  
the manna1  tho at present so partially 
and imperfectly appreciated1 can produce
  such peace and joy1 what must be the  
bliss of entering into the  holiest of  
all1 and there1 in the presence of ,god 
,himself1 feasting  on it eternally6    
,unceasing1 unlimited reception of      

divine influences  into the soul6       
,uninterrupted fellowship with ,him who 
is the only fountain of life1  and      
purity1 and happiness6 ,perfect love6   
,but at present such full  fruition is  
hidden4 ,now we see through a glass     
darkly2 now we  know but in part2 it    
doth not yet appear what we shall be4   
,but  how unspeakably blest are they to 
whom1 partially in this world and       
perfectly in the next1 the promise shall
 be verified3 ,to him that  overcometh  
will ,i give to eat of the hidden manna6
    #b4 ,the white stone4--,reference is
 made to the tessera hospitalis1  the   
tally or token of hospitality employed  
by the ancients4 ,at a  time when houses
 of public entertainment were less      
common1 private  hospitality was the    
more necessary4 ,when one person was    
received  kindly by another1 or a       
contract of friendship was entered into1
  the tessera was given4 ,it was so     
named from its shape1 being  four-sided2
 it was sometimes of wood2 sometimes of 

stone2 it was  divided into two by the  
contracting parties2 each wrote his own 
name  on half of the tessera2 then they 
exchanged pieces1 and therefore  the    
name or device on the piece of tessera  
which each received1  was the name the  
other person had written upon it1 and   
which no one  else knew but him who     
received it4 ,it was carefully prized1  
and  entitled the bearer to protection  
and hospitality4    ,plautus1 in one of 
his playes1 refers to this custom4      
,hanno inquires  of a stranger where he 
may find ,agorastocles1 and discovers to
 his  surprize that he is addressing the
 object of his search4    ,if so1 he    
says1 compare1 if you please1 this      
hospitable  tessera2 here it is2 ,i have
 it with me4    ,agorastocles replies1  
,it is the exact counterpart2 ,i have   
the other  part at home4    ,hanno      
responds1 ,o my friend6 ,i rejoice to   
meet thee2 thy father was  my friend1 my
 guest2 ,i divided with him this        
hospitable tessera4  ,therefore1 said   

,agorastocles1 thou shalt have a home   
with me1 for  ,i reverence hospitality4 
,beautiful illustration of gospel truth6
 ,the ,savior visits the  sinner's      
heart1 and being received as a guest1   
bestows the white  stone1 the token of  
,his unchanging love4 ,it is not we who 
in the  first instance desire this      
compact4 ,far from it4    ,but ,jesus1  
anxious to bless us1 kindly forces      
,himself on our regard4  ,by ,his       
spirit1 he persuades us to give ,him    
admission to our hearts4  ,behold1 ,i   
stand at the door and knock2 if any man 
hear my voice  and open the door1 ,i    
will come in to him1 and will sup with  
him1  and he with me4 ,we often         
disregarded ,his appeal4 ,yet1 with what
  condescending kindness did he         
persevere6 ,and when at length we       
opened the door1 we saw ,him laden with 
blessings which ,he had been  long      
waiting to bestow4 ,the feast which was 
then spread was all  of ,his providing4 
,he who went to be the guest of one that

 was a  sinner1 inverts the usual       
course4 ,he invites ,himself and brings 
the  feast4 ,what have we fit to set    
before so august and holy a visitant8   
,but ,he who chooses the sinner's heart 
as ,his banqueting-chamber1  spreads    
there ,his choicest gifts1 ,his         
exceeding great and precious  promises1 
,his finished sacrifice1 ,his human     
sympathy1 ,his perfect  example1 ,his   
pure precepts1 ,his all-prevailing      
intercession1 the  various developments 
of ,his infinite love4    ,he sups with 
us1 and makes us sup with ,him4 ,he     
enrolls our  name among ,his friends4   
,he makes an everlasting covenant with  
us1  ordered in all things and sure4 ,he
 promises never to leave nor  forsake   
us4 ,he tells us we shall never perish4 
,he gives us the  tessera1 the white    
stone6    ,is not this the witness of   
the ,spirit1 the earnest of the         
promised possession8 ,does not the      
,spirit witness with our spirit  that we
 are born of ,god8 ,does not our        

experience of the friendship  of ,jesus 
correspond with what we are taught of it
 in the ,scriptures8  ,i know in whom ,i
 have believed1 and am persuaded that he
 is able to  keep that which ,i have    
committed unto him1 against that day4   
,the  love of ,god is shed abroad in the
 heart of the believer4 ,he says1  with 
humble confidence1 ,my ,lord1 and my    
,god6    ,on this white stone is        
inscribed a new name4 ,the part of the  
tessera which each of the contracting   
parties received contained  the name of 
the other4 ,and1 therefore1 the new name
 on the white  stone1 which he that     
overcometh receives1 is that of ,him who
 gives4  ,by the unbeliever1 ,god is    
known as ,power1 as ,majesty1 as        
,justice4 ,he  is dreaded4 ,the carnal  
mind is enmity against ,god4 ,the       
,christian  alone knows ,him as ,love6  
,jehovah has now a new name4 ,he was    
once  a ruler--now ,he is ,friend2 ,he  
was once judge--now ,he is ,father4     
,do you know ,god by ,his new name8 ,do 

you so know ,him as to wish  no longer  
to hide from ,him1 but to hide in ,him1 
as the only home  the universe can      
furnish in which you can be safe and    
happy8 ,have  you learned to say1 ,our  
,father which art in heaven8 ,if we     
have1  indeed1 received this white      
stone1 let us continually be reading    
the new name engraven on it4 ,here ,i am
 assured that the ,holy ,ghost  is my   
teacher1 my guide1 my comforter2 that   
the eternal ,word1 the  only begotten   
,son1 is my ,savior1 my ,friend1 my     
,brother2 that the  infinite ,jehovah is
 my ,father1 and that like as a father  
pitieth  his children1 so the ,lord     
pitieth them that fear him4    ,we are  
told that no man knoweth this new name1 
saving he that  receiveth it4 ,he knows 
it for himself1 but no one else can read
 it  for him4 ,thus it resembles the    
hidden manna4 ,the frivolous may        
deride1 fools may mock1 the unbeliever  
may deny1 the sceptic may  bring forth  
his objections in all the pride of a    

false philosophy1  but the ,christian1  
even if unable to reply to the caviller1
 or to  make intelligible to any other  
mind his own strong assurance1 has an   
evidence within him which nothing can   
shake1 for ,god has written on  his     
heart ,his new best name of ,love4      
,fellow pilgrims to the heavenly        
,canaan1 how precious is this token6    
,we are travelers through the desert2   
for tho the enjoyments of  earth are    
many1 yet this life1 compared with what 
is to come1 is a  wilderness4 ,we are   
away from home2 we are exposed to       
privations1  tempests1 foes2 we         
constantly need a refuge4 ,but we are   
never far  from the house of a friend4  
,everywhere1 in every city and in every 
village1 on the desert and on the ocean1
 in the solitude of secrecy1  and in the
 solitude of a crowd1 in the bustle of  
business1 and in  the sick chamber1 a   
,friend is at hand1 who will always     
recognize the  white stone ,he gave us1 
a token of ,his love4 ,we have only to  

present  it to claim the fulfilment of  
,his promise4    ,how wide will the door
 be thrown open for our reception6 ,what
 divine  entertainment we shall receive6
 what safety from peril6 what succor  in
 difficulty6 what comfort in trouble6   
what white raiment6 what  heavenly food6
 ,o that we valued the tessera more1    
that we sought  more frequent interviews
 with our heavenly ,friend1 that we more
  habitually resorted as invited guests 
to ,jesus1 and dwelt in ,him as  the    
home of our souls6 ,we shall never find 
the door closed against  us2 we shall   
never be received reluctantly2 ,he will 
never allow us  to think that we are    
intruders4 ,jesus is never ashamed of   
,his poor  relations1 nor treats them   
coldly because they need ,his help4 ,the
  greater our distress1 the more shall  
we prove ,his liberality and  tender    
sympathy4    ,and as regards this stone1
 as well as the hidden manna1 we can    
look  beyond the present life4 ,a day is
 coming when we shall be compelled  to  

leave the homes of earth1 however       
endeared4 ,we must embrace  for the last
 time the friends united to us as our   
own souls4 ,tho  we have traveled along 
the road many a year together1 we must  
now  separate1 and go alone4 ,they may  
accompany us to the river side1 but  we 
must cross it by ourselves4 ,what       
cheering voice will greet us  then8     
,what kind roof will receive us then8   
,what loving friend will  welcome us    
then8    ,but we shall not have left our
 best treasure behind us6 ,no6 we shall 
carry the white stone with us2 and with 
this we shall look for no  inferior     
abode1 but with unhesitating step shall 
advance at once  right up to the palace 
of the ,great ,king4 ,we present the    
tessera2  the new name is legible upon  
it2 the angelic guards recognize the    
symbol2 the everlasting gates lift up   
their heads2 and the voice of  ,jesus   
,himself invites us to enter1 saying1   
,come1 ye blessed of my  ,father1       
inherit the kingdom6    ,such is the    

welcome that every soul shall experience
 to whom the  promise is fulfilled3 ,i  
will give him a white stone1 and in the 
stone a new name written1 which no man  
knoweth1 saving he that  receiveth it4  
,,ii4 ,the condition annexed to the     
promise1 ,to him that overcometh6    ,a 
great war is going on between the       
,church and the powers of  darkness4 ,it
 is not an affair of strategy between   
two vast armies1  wherein skilful       
maneuvers determine the issue1 many on  
either side  never coming into actual   
combat2 but every ,christian has to     
fight  hand to hand with the enemy4 ,we 
cannot be lost in the crowd4 ,we may    
not stand in the middle of the hollow   
square1 without sharing the  perils of  
the outer rank4 ,every ,christian must  
not only occupy his  post in the grand  
army1 but must personally grapple with  
the foe4    ,before conversion there was
 no fighting4 ,the devil's suggestions  
and the heart's inclination were allied4
 ,then we did the enemy's  bidding1 or  

were lulled to sleep by his intoxicating
 cup4 ,but when  light shone into the   
soul1 and we strove to escape1 the      
struggle  began4 ,god1 as our ,creator  
and ,redeemer1 justly demands our       
obedience and love4 ,whatever interferes
 with these claims1 is an  enemy        
summoning us to battle4 ,the world of   
frivolity is our foe4  ,how numerous and
 insinuating are its temptations--the   
more perilous  because of the difficulty
 of defining them6    ,moreover1 lawful 
pleasures and necessary cares become    
dangerous when  they cease to be        
subordinate to the love of ,god4 ,the   
enjoyments  ,he bestows and the labors  
,he appoints are calculated to minister 
to godliness1--and yet they may be      
perverted to idolatry by our  forgetting
 ,him on whom our highest thoughts      
should be fixt4 ,what  danger is there  
that things in themselves holy and      
beautiful may  thus become pernicious   
and destructive6    ,the flesh1 too1    
furnished its contingent to the army of 

our foes4  ,not that any of our natural 
appetites1 being divinely bestowed1 can 
have in them the nature of sin4 ,no6 the
 flesh1 as ,god made it1 is  pure and   
holy4 ,but those instincts1 which1      
regulated by the revealed  will of their
 ,author1 are holiness to the ,lord1    
may1 by unhallowed  gratification1      
become those fleshly lusts which war    
against the  soul4 ,as we carry about   
with us these animal propensities1 there
 is  necessity for constant vigilence   
lest our own nature1 being abused1      
should become our destroyer4    ,inbred 
depravity lurks in the heart of even the
 true believer4 ,tho  dethroned1 it is  
not completely expelled4 ,with what     
selfishness1  covetousness1 vanity1     
hastiness of temper1 uncharitableness1  
have we  not to contend6 ,who has not   
some sin which most easily besets him8  
,how varied are the forms of unbelief6  
,spiritual pride1 too1 corrupts  our    
very graces1 piety itself furnishing an 
occasion of evil1 so  that when we have 

conquered some temptation or performed  
some duty1  our victory is often        
tarnished1 our holy things corrupted1 by
 our  falling into the snare of         
self-complacency4    ,above all1 there  
is that great adversary who goeth about 
as a  roaring lion1 seeking whom he may 
devour4 ,he avails himself of the       
world1 and the flesh1 and the           
infirmities of the spirit1 to tempt  the
 soul of sin4 ,this is no fable1 altho  
one of ,satan's most skilful  stratagems
 is to make men disbelieve in his       
existence4 ,overlooked  or despised1 a  
foe is already half victorious4 ,but the
 ,captain of  our ,salvation1 in ,his   
word1 often warns us both of the craft  
and of  the violence of our adversary4  
,we sometimes read of the wiles of  the 
devil2 and sometimes of the fiery darts 
of the wicked one4  ,they who fail to   
watch and pray1 are sure to be          
vanquished by such a  foe4    ,these are
 our enemies6 ,and if we would possess  
the promise we must  overcome4 ,a mere  

profession of religion is of no avail4  
,it is not  enough for our name to      
appear on the muster-roll of the camp4  
,many  wear the soldier's dress who know
 nothing of the soldier's heart4  ,many 
are glad to glitter on the grand parade 
who fall off from the  hard-fought1     
blood-stained battle-field4 ,it is not  
enough to buckle  on our armor2 many do 
this1 and lay it aside again4 ,we must  
devote  ourselves to this great daily   
battle of life4    ,there is no         
exemption of persons4 ,women must fight1
 as well as men2  the tender and timid  
must be as ,amazons in the conflict4    
,children  must carry the shield1 and   
wield the sword4 ,the aged and infirm   
must  keep the ranks4 ,the sick and     
wounded must not be carried to the      
rear4 ,no substitute can be provided1   
and there is no discharge in  this war4 
,there is no exemption on account of    
circumstances4 ,the rich and  poor1 the 
learned and the unlearned1 the cheerful 
and the sad1  all must fight4 ,no       

accumulation of trouble1 no unexpected  
death of  friends1 can be an excuse for 
laying down our arms4 ,we must go to    
the marriage feast1 and we must attend  
the funeral procession1 as  warriors1   
wearing our armor and grasping our      
weapons4 ,we must be  like those spoken 
of by ,nehemiah1 every man with one hand
 wrought  in the work1 and with the     
other hand held a weapon4    ,there is  
no exemption of place4 ,foes lie in wait
 for the ,christian  wherever he        
goes--in the mart of commerce1 in the   
busy workshop1  when he returns to his  
home1 when he rests on his bed1 in the  
bustle of the day1 in the silence of the
 night1 in the circle of  his friends1  
in the bosom of his family1 in society1 
alone1 in the  city1 in the fields1 in  
his walks of benevolence1 in his private
  meditations1 in the church1 in his    
secret retirement1 when he  worships    
with the great congregation1 and when he
 enters his closet  and shuts the door4 
,he can never elude the enemy2 he       

carries the foe  in his own breast2 the 
conflict ceases not6    ,there is no    
exemption of time1 no season of rest4   
,no truce is  sounded4 ,satan never     
beats a retreat1 except to lead us into 
an  ambuscade4 ,no white flag comes out 
that can be trusted4 ,if we parley  it  
is at our peril2 if we pause1 we are    
wounded or taken captive4  ,wars on     
earth may often terminate by mutual     
agreement4 ,it is a war  of             
extermination2 no quarter is given2     
either we must trample ,satan  under    
foot1 or ,satan will drag us down to    
hell6    ,it is a warfare until death4  
,while we are in the body it will be    
always true--,we wrestle4 ,the oldest   
,christian cannot lay aside his         
weapons4 ,having done all1 stand4 ,a    
great word that6 ,having done  all6     
,what6 you may say1 after a long life of
 conflict1 surely ,i  may put aside my  
armor1 and sheathe my sword1 and recline
 on some  sunny bank1 and enjoy myself  
after my victory6    ,no2 you must not  

expect it2 having done all it is enough 
if you  stand at bay on the             
battle-ground2 all you can hope for in  
this  world is to maintain your post1   
still defying the foe1 who will be      
still meditating fresh attacks4 ,you    
will never be able to say with  ,st4    
,paul1 ,i have finished my course4      
,it is not the appearance of fighting4  
,it is not a few faint1  irresolute     
strokes4 ,so fight ,i1 said the         
,apostle1 not as one  that beateth the  
air4 ,we must be resolute1 determined1  
in earnest1  giving our enemy no        
advantage4 ,we must not give place to   
the  devil4 ,we must watch against the  
smallest beginnings of sin4 ,by  keeping
 the heart with all diligence1 by       
putting on the whole  armor of ,god1 by 
having faith as our shield1             
righteousness as  our breastplate1 the  
hope of salvation as our helmet1 by     
keeping  the sword of the ,spirit bright
 with exercise1 praying with all        
prayer1 standing near our ,captain1     

looking to ,him1 relying upon  ,him1    
knowing that without ,him we can do     
nothing1--so must we  fight6 ,all this  
is necessary1 if we would overcome4     
,it is not so easy to fight this fight  
as some suppose4 ,it is not  a true     
faith merely1 an evangelical creed1 a   
scriptural church1 a  comfortable sermon
 once or twice a week1 a little         
,sabbath-keeping1  an agreeable pause in
 your pleasures1 giving to them a new   
relish--it is not this which constitutes
 ,christianity4 ,you that  think        
religion so very easy a thing1 have a   
care at least1 lest when  too late1 you 
find that you know not what true        
religion meant4    ,easy8 ,a depraved   
being to trample upon his lusts--a proud
 being to  lie prostrate with humility  
and self-reproach--they that are slow   
of heart to believe1 to receive the     
gospel as little children8    ,easy8 ,to
 crucify the flesh1 to deny ungodliness1
 to cut off a  right hand1 and to pluck 
out a right eye8    ,easy8 ,to be in the

 world1 and yet not of the world--to    
come out  from it1 not by the seclusion 
of the cloister1 but by holiness  of    
life--to be diligent in its duties1 yet 
not absorbed by them2  appreciating its 
innocent delights1 and yet not ensnared 
by them2  beholding its attractions and 
yet rising superior to them8    ,easy8  
,to live surrounded by objects which    
appeal to the sight1 and  yet to endure 
as seeing what is invisible8    ,easy8  
,to pray and see no answer to prayer1   
and still pray on--to  fight this       
battle1 and find fresh foes ever rising 
up1 yet still to  fight on--to be       
harassed with doubts and fears1 and yet 
walk on in  darkness1 tho we see no     
light1 staying ourselves upon ,god8     
,easy8 ,to be preparing for a world we  
have never visited1 in  opposition to so
 much that is captivating in a world    
where we have  always dwelt1 whose      
beauties we have seen1 whose music we   
have  heard1 whose pleasures we have    
experienced8    ,easy8 ,to resist that  

subtle foe who has cast down so many of 
the  wise and the mighty8    ,easy8     
,when ,jesus says it is a strait gate1  
and that if we would  enter we must     
strive1 bidding us take up our cross    
daily1 deny  ourselves and follow him8  
,ah6 it is no soft flowery meadow1 along
  which we may languidly stroll1 but a  
rough1 craggy cliff that we  must climb4
 ,to him that overcometh6 ,it is no     
smooth1 placid  stream1 along which we  
may dreamily float1 but a tempestuous   
ocean  we must stem4 ,to him that       
overcometh6 ,it is no easy lolling in  a
 cushioned chariot1 that bears us on    
without fatigue and peril4  ,the trumpet
 has sounded to arms2 it is not peace1  
but war1 war  for liberty1 war for life1
 on the issue of which our everlasting  
destiny depends6 ,if we are to be saved1
 we must overcome4    ,but tho the      
conflict is arduous1 the encouragements 
are great4 ,we  have armor of proof4 ,we
 have a mighty ,champion4 ,victory is   
ensured  to the brave4 ,others who stood

 on the same battle-field and fought    
with the same enemies1 are now enjoying 
an eternal triumph4 ,not one  faithful  
warrior ever perished4 ,their foes were 
not fewer than ours1  their strength was
 not greater4 ,they overcame by the same
 blood of  the ,lamb on which we rely4  
,once they were mourning here below1    
,and wet their couch with tears2        
,they wrestled hard1 as we do now1      
,with sins1 and doubts1 and fears4      
,but they are wearing their crowns1 they
 are enjoying their rest2  and the      
feeblest and most unworthy of our own   
day1 trusting in the  same ,savior1     
shall inherit the same promise4 ,then   
let us overcome4  ,sheathe not the      
sword1 and it shall never be wrested    
from you2 lay  not down the shield1 and 
no fiery dart shall ever penetrate it2  
face  the foe1 and he shall never       
trample you down1 never drive you back4 
,listen to your ,captain2 how ,he       
animates you onward6 ,look to the  crown
 he is ready to bestow upon you2 eat of 

the hidden manna  which ,he gives2 read 
the name in the white stone1--the name  
of  ,god1--,his name of love1 recorded  
for your encouragement2 and thus  be    
animated to walk worthy of this holy    
alliance1 and not to allow  the foe to  
wrench from you such an assurance of    
divine favor1 such a  passport to       
heavenly bliss4    ,a little more       
conflict1 and that white stone shall    
introduce you  to the inheritance above1
 where1 in the everlasting repose of the
  inner sanctuary1 you shall without    
intermission eat of the hidden  manna4  
,then let my soul march boldly on1      
,press forward to the heavenly gate2    
,there peace and joy eternal reign1     
,and glittering robes for conquerors    
wait4    ,some of you may consider this 
subject visionary and unreal4 ,you  say1
 ,i know nothing of this warfare4 ,i    
know what the conflict of  business is1 
the race of fashion1 the bustle of toil 
or pleasure2  but to anxiety about      
spiritual things ,i am a stranger4      

,you are enjoying peace--but--what      
peace8 ,there is a captive in a         
dungeon--his limbs are fast chained to  
the walls--yet he is singing  songs4    
,how is it8 ,satan has given him to     
drink of his drugged cup1  and he does  
not know where he is4 ,look at that     
other4 ,he says1 it  is peace4 ,there is
 truly no fighting1 but he is groveling 
in the  dust1 and the heel of his foe is
 upon his neck4 ,such is the peace  of  
every one going on in his wickedness1   
unpardoned and unsaved4  ,taken captive 
by the devil at his will4    ,chained in
 ,satan's boat1 you are swiftly gliding 
down the stream  to ruin1 and because it
 is smooth1 you dream that it is safe6  
,what  is the difference between the    
saint and the sinner8 ,not that in  the 
saint there is no sin4 ,not that in the 
sinner there is never  a thought about  
,god4 ,the difference is this--that the 
saint is  overcoming his sin2 but the   
sin is overcoming the sinner4 ,oh1 what 
a terrible thing if sin have the upper  

hand6 ,no hidden manna is  yours4 ,the  
symbols of religion you may look at1 but
 real religion  must be a stranger to   
you4 ,you know not its enjoyment4 ,you  
do not  taste it4 ,it is a hidden thing4
 ,heaven too will be hidden4 ,you hear  
of its gates of pearl--but they will    
never open to you4 ,you may  catch the  
distant accents of its songs--but in    
those songs you will  never join4 ,and  
that white stone cannot be yours4 ,you  
have no  joyful anticipation of         
heaven--but a fearful looking-for of    
fiery  indignation--or else the         
insensate resolve not to think at all4  
,and  the new name--no6 you cannot read 
it6 ,you know ,god by no such  name as  
makes you seek ,his company4 ,the       
thought of ,him renders you  unhappy1   
and therefore you banish it from your   
mind4 ,you are not  now alarmed1 but    
soon the spell may be broken1 and you   
may find the  chains riveted upon your  
soul forever4    ,i fancy ,i hear you   
say1 ,i wish that before it is too late1

 ,i could  escape6 ,but mine is a       
hopeless case4 ,my heart is hardened    
against  the gospel1 and evil habit has 
so got the mastery over me1 that ,i     
have no power to begin this conflict6   
,no1 you have no power2 but ,one has    
visited this world1 and taken our       
nature1 who can help you4 ,the mighty   
,son of ,god became the suffering  ,son 
of ,man that ,he might be the liberator 
of our enslaved race4 ,he  burst open   
the prison doors1 that captive souls    
might escape4 ,he  stands near you1     
ready to break off your fetters and     
strengthen you  to fight the enemy who  
has so long opprest you4 ,tell ,him your
 simple  but sad tale2 how helpless1 how
 miserable1 how ruined you are6 ,tell   
,him you want to be saved1 but know not 
how to begin the work1 and  ask ,him    
both to begin and complete it for you6  
,let your prayer be  this3 ,be merciful 
to me1 a sinner2 and ,he who came to    
destroy  the works of the devil1 ,he    
whose nature and property is ever to    

have mercy and to forgive1 will receive 
your humble petitions2 and  tho you be  
tied and bound with the chain of your   
sins1 ,he1 in the  pitifulness of ,his  
great mercy1 will loose you4    ,he will
 pardon your past shameful concessions  
to the foe1 and1  arraying you in the   
whole armor of ,god1 and animating you  
with ,his  ,holy ,spirit1 ,he will      
enable you so to fight against the      
world1 the  flesh1 and the devil1 that  
you also shall share in the prize of    
them  that overcome2 you also shall eat 
of the hidden manna1 and receive  the   
white stone4          ,,robertson       
,,the ,,loneliness ,,of ,,christ        
,,biographical ,,note      ,,frederick  
,,william ,,robertson1 was born in      
,london in #ahaf1 educated  at          
,edinburgh ,university and took his     
degree at ,oxford in #ahda4  ,from a law
 office he passed into the ministry1    
where his career1  tho brief1 was       
exceptionally brilliant4 ,his ,english  
style commends  itself to the preacher's

 study for its naturalness1 poetic      
beauty1  lucidity1 and strength4 ,it is 
the style of a man of unique genius4    
,in ,aug41 #ahdg1 he began his          
remarkable ministry at ,trinity ,chapel1
  ,brighton4 ,he died of consumption at 
,brighton in #ahec1 little more  than   
thirty-six years of age4    ,perhaps the
 most remarkable feature in the career  
of ,robertson was  the influence he     
exercised over the workingmen4 ,this    
class had in  his day become estranged  
from the ,church of ,england1 few of    
whose  clergy had any power to attract  
their attention and adherence4  ,he was 
denounced as a socialist because of his 
foundation of a  workingmen's institute1
 and the opposition and vilification    
which he  thus met with no doubt helped 
to shorten his life4                    
,,robertson    #ahaf-ahec    ,,the      
,,loneliness ,,of ,,christ              
,jesus answered them1 ,do ye now        
believe8 ,behold1 the hour       cometh1
 yea1 is now come1 that ye shall be     

scattered every man       to his own1   
and shall leave me alone2 and yet ,i am 
not alone1       because the ,father is 
with me4--,john xvi41 #ca1 #cb4         
,there are two kinds of solitude3 the   
first1 consisting of isolation  in      
space2 the other1 of isolation of the   
spirit4 ,the first is simply  separation
 by distance4 ,when we are seen1        
touched1 heard by none1 we  are said to 
be alone4 ,and all hearts respond to the
 truth of that  saying1 ,this is not    
solitude2 for sympathy can people our   
solitude  with a crowd4 ,the fisherman  
on the ocean alone at night is not      
alone1 when he remembers the earnest    
longings which are rising up to  heaven 
at home for his safety4 ,the traveler is
 not alone1 when the  faces which will  
greet him on his arrival seem to beam   
upon him as  he trudges on4 ,the        
solitary student is not alone1 when he  
feels that  human hearts will respond to
 the truths which he is preparing to    
address to them4    ,the other is       

loneliness of soul4 ,there are times    
when hands touch  ours1 but only send an
 icy chill of unsympathizing            
indifference to  the heart2 when eyes   
gaze into ours1 but with a glazed look  
which  can not read into the bottom of  
our souls2 when words pass from  our    
lips1 but only come back as an echo     
reverberated without reply  through a   
dreary solitude2 when the multitude     
throng and press us1  and we can not    
say1 as ,christ said1 ,somebody hath    
touched me2 for  the contact has been   
not between soul and soul1 but only     
between  form and form4    ,and there   
are two kinds of men1 who feel this last
  solitude in different ways4 ,the first
 are the men of                         
self-reliance--self-dependent--who ask  
no counsel1 and crave no  sympathy2 who 
act and resolve alone1 who can go       
sternly through  duty1 and scarcely     
shrink1 let what will be crushed in     
them4 ,such  men command respect3 for   
whoever respects himself constrains the 

respect of others4 ,they are invaluable 
in all those professions of  life in    
which sensitive feeling would be a      
superfluity2 they make  iron commanders1
 surgeons who do not shrink1 and        
statesmen who do  not flinch from their 
purpose for the dread of unpopularity4  
,but  mere self-dependence is weakness2 
and the conflict is terrible when  a    
human sense of weakness is felt by such 
men4 ,jacob was alone when  he slept on 
his way to ,padan ,aram1 the first night
 that he was away  from his father's    
roof1 with the world before him1 and all
 the old  broken up2 and ,elijah was    
alone in the wilderness when the court  
had deserted him1 and he said1 ,they    
have digged down thine altars1  and     
slain thy prophets with the sword3 and  
,i1 even ,i1 only am left1  and they    
seek my life to take it away4 ,but the  
loneliness of the  tender ,jacob was    
very different from that of the stern   
,elijah4  ,to ,jacob the sympathy he    
yearned for was realized in the form of 

a gentle dream4 ,a ladder raised from   
earth to heaven figured the  possibility
 of communion between the spirit of man 
and the ,spirit  of ,god4 ,in ,elijah's 
case1 the storm1 and the earthquake1 and
 the  fire did their convulsing work in 
the soul1 before a still1 small  voice  
told him that he was not alone4 ,in such
 a spirit the sense of  weakness comes  
with a burst of agony1 and the dreadful 
conviction of  being alone manifests    
itself with a rending of the heart of   
rock4  ,it is only so that such souls   
can be taught that the ,father is with  
them1 and that they are not alone4      
,there is another class of men1 who live
 in sympathy4 ,these are  affectionate  
minds1 which tremble at the thought of  
being alone2  not from want of courage  
nor from weakness of intellect comes    
their  dependence upon others1 but from 
the intensity of their affections4  ,it 
is the trembling spirit of humanity in  
them4 ,they want not aid1  not even     
countenance1 but only sympathy4 ,and    

then trial comes to  them not in the    
shape of fierce struggle1 but of chill  
and utter  loneliness1 when they are    
called upon to perform a duty on which  
the world looks coldly1 or to embrace a 
truth which has not found  lodgment yet 
in the breasts of others4    ,it is to  
this latter and not to the former class 
that we must  look1 if we could         
understand the spirit in which the words
 of the  text were pronounced4 ,the deep
 humanity of the soul of ,christ was    
gifted with those finer sensibilities of
 affectionate nature which  stand in    
need of sympathy4 ,he not only gave     
sympathy1 but wanted  it1 too1 from     
others4 ,he who selected the gentle     
,john to be ,his  friend1 who found     
solace in female sympathy1 attended by  
the women  who ministered to ,him out of
 their substance--who in the trial hour 
could not bear even to pray without the 
human presence1 which is the  pledge and
 reminder of ,god's presence1 had       
nothing in ,him of the  hard1 merely    

self-dependent character4 ,even this    
verse testifies  to the same fact4 ,a   
stern spirit never could have said1 ,i  
am not  alone3 the ,father is with me2  
never would have felt the loneliness    
which needed the balancing truth4 ,these
 words tell of a struggle1 an  inward   
reasoning1 a difficulty and a reply1 a  
sense of solitude--,i  shall be alone2  
and an immediate correction of that3    
,not alone3  the ,father is with me4    
,there is no thought connected with the 
life of ,christ more touching1  none    
that seems so peculiarly to characterize
 ,his spirit1 as the  solitariness in   
which ,he lived4 ,those who understood  
,him best only  understood ,him half4   
,those who knew ,him best scarcely could
 be  said to know ,him4 ,on this        
occasion the disciples thought1 ,now we 
do understand1 now we do believe4 ,the  
lonely spirit answered1 ,do  ye now     
believe8 ,behold the hour cometh that ye
 shall be scattered1  every man to his  
own1 and shall leave me alone4    ,very 

impressive is that trait in ,his        
history4 ,he was in this world  alone4  
,i4 ,first1 then1 we meditate on the    
loneliness of ,christ4    ,the          
loneliness of ,christ was caused by the 
divine elevation of ,his  character4    
,his infinite superiority severed ,him  
from sympathy2 ,his  exquisite          
affectionateness made that want of      
sympathy a keen trial4    ,there is a   
second-rate greatness which the world   
can comprehend4 ,if  we take two who are
 brought into direct contrast by ,christ
 ,himself1  the one the type of human1  
the other that of divine excellence1 the
  ,son of ,man and ,john the ,baptist1  
this becomes clearly manifest4  ,john's 
life had a certain rude1 rugged         
goodness1 on which was  written1 in     
characters which required no            
magnifying-glass to read1  spiritual    
excellence4 ,the world1 on the whole1   
accepted him4  ,pharisees and ,sadducees
 went to his baptism4 ,the people       
idolized  him as a prophet2 and1 if he  

had not chanced to cross the path  of a 
weak prince and a revengeful woman1 we  
can see no reason why  ,john might not  
have finished his course with joy1      
recognized as  irreproachable4 ,if we   
inquire why it was that the world       
accepted  ,john and rejected ,christ1   
one reply appears to be1 that the life  
of the one was infinitely simple and    
one-sided1 that of the other  divinely  
complex4 ,in physical nature1 the       
naturalist finds no  difficulty in      
comprehending the simple structure of   
the lowest  organizations of animal     
life1 where one uniform texture1 and one
  organ performing the office of brain  
and heart and lungs1 at once1  leave    
little to perplex4 ,but when he comes to
 study the complex  anatomy of men1 he  
has the labor of a lifetime before him4 
,it is not  difficult to master the     
constitution of a single country2 but   
when  you try to understand the         
universe1 you find infinite appearances 
of contradiction3 law opposed by law2   

motion balanced by motion2  happiness   
blended with misery2 and the power to   
elicit a divine  order and unity out of 
this complex variety is given to only a 
few of the gifted of the race4 ,that    
which the structure of man is  to the   
structure of the limpet1 that which the 
universe is to a  single country1 the   
complex and boundless soul of ,christ   
was to the  souls of other men4         
,therefore1 to the superficial observer1
 ,his  life was a mass of               
inconsistencies and contradictions4 ,all
 thought  themselves qualified to point 
out the discrepancies4 ,the ,pharisees  
could not comprehend how a holy ,teacher
 could eat with publicans  and sinners4 
,his own brethren could not reconcile   
,his assumption  of a public office with
 the privacy which ,he aimed at keeping4
 ,if  thou doest these things1 show     
thyself to the world4 ,some thought ,he 
was a good man2 others said1 ,nay1 but  
he deceiveth the people4  ,and hence it 
was that ,he lived to see all that      

acceptance which  had marked the earlier
 stage of ,his career--as1 for instance1
 at  ,capernaum--melt away4 ,first1 the 
,pharisees took the alarm2 then  the    
,sadducees2 then the political party of 
the ,herodians2 then the  people4 ,that 
was the most terrible of all3 for the   
enmity of the  upper classes is         
impotent2 but when that cry of brute    
force is  stirred from the deeps of     
society1 as deaf to the voice of reason 
as  the ocean in its strength churned   
into raving foam by the winds1 the      
heart of mere earthly oak quails before 
that4 ,the apostles1 at all  events1 did
 quail4 ,one denied2 another betrayed2  
all deserted4 ,they  were scattered1    
each to his own3 and the ,truth ,himself
 was left  alone in ,pilate's judgment  
hall4    ,now learn from this a very    
important distinction4 ,to feel solitary
  is no uncommon thing4 ,to complain of 
being alone1 without sympathy1  and     
misunderstood1 is general enough4 ,in   
every place1 in many a  family1 these   

victims of diseased sensibility are to  
be found1 and  they might find a        
weakening satisfaction in observing a   
parallel  between their own feelings and
 those of ,jesus4 ,but before that      
parallel is assumed1 be very sure that  
it is1 as in ,his case1 the  elevation  
of your character which severs you from 
your species4 ,the  world has small     
sympathy for divine goodness2 but it    
also has little  for a great many other 
qualities which are disagreeable to it4 
,you  meet with no response2 you are    
passed by2 find yourself unpopular2     
meet with little communion4 ,well6 ,is  
that because you are above  in the      
world--nobler1 devising and executing   
grand plans1 which  they can not        
comprehend2 vindicating the wronged2    
proclaiming and  living on great        
principles2 offending it by the         
saintliness of your  purity1 and the    
unworldliness of your aspirations8 ,then
 yours is  the loneliness of ,christ4   
,or is it that you are wrapped up in    

self1  cold1 disobliging1 sentimental1  
indifferent about the welfare of        
others1 and very much astonished that   
they are not deeply interested  in you8 
,you must not use these words of        
,christ4 ,they have nothing to  do with 
you4    ,let us look at one or two of   
the occasions on which this loneliness  
was felt4    ,the first time was when   
,he was but twelve years old1 when ,his 
parents found ,him in the temple1       
hearing the doctors and asking them     
questions4 ,high thoughts were in the   
,child's soul3 expanding views  of life2
 larger views of duty1 and ,his own     
destiny4    ,there is a moment in every 
true life--to some it comes very        
early--when the old routine of duty is  
not large enough2 when the  parental    
roof seems too low1 because the         
,infinite above is arching  over the    
soul2 when the old formulas1 in creeds1 
catechisms1 and  articles1 seem to be   
narrow1 and they must either be thrown  
aside1  or else transformed into living 

and breathing realities2 when the       
earthly father's authority is being     
superseded by the claims of a  ,father  
in ,heaven4    ,that is a lonely1 lonely
 moment1 when the young soul first feels
  ,god--when this earth is recognized as
 an awful place1 yea1 the very  gate of 
heaven2 when the dream-ladder is seen   
planted against the  skies1 and we wake1
 and the dream haunts us as a sublime   
reality4    ,you may detect the approach
 of that moment in the young man or  the
 young woman by the awakened spirit of  
inquiry2 by a certain  restlessness of  
look1 and an eager earnestness of tone2 
by the  devouring study of all kinds of 
books2 by the waning of your own        
influence1 while the inquirer is asking 
the truth of the doctors  and teachers  
in the vast temple of the world2 by a   
certain  opinionativeness1 which is     
austere and disagreeable enough2 but    
the austerest moment of the fruit's     
taste is that in which it is  passing   
from greenness into ripeness4 ,if you   

wait in patience1 the  sour will become 
sweet4 ,rightly looked at1 that         
opinionativeness is  more truly anguish2
 the fearful solitude of feeling the    
insecurity  of all that is human2 the   
discovery that life is real1 and forms  
of  social and religious existence      
hollow4 ,the old moorings are torn      
away1 and the soul is drifting1         
drifting1 drifting1 very often  without 
compass1 except the guidance of an      
unseen hand1 into the  vast infinite of 
,god4 ,then come the lonely words1 and  
no wonder4  ,how is it that ye sought   
me8 ,wist ye not that ,i must be about  
my  ,father's business8    ,that        
solitude was felt by ,christ in trial4  
,in the desert1 in  ,pilate's judgment  
hall1 in the garden1 ,he was alone2 and 
alone must  every son of man meet his   
trial-hour4 ,the individuality of the   
soul  necessitates that4 ,each man is a 
new soul in this world3 untried1  with a
 boundless ,possible before him4 ,no one
 can predict what  he may become1       

prescribe his duties1 or mark out his   
obligations4  ,each man's own nature has
 its own peculiar rules2 and he must    
take  up his life-plan alone1 and       
persevere in it in a perfect privacy    
with which no stranger intermeddleth4   
,each man's temptations are  made up of 
a host of peculiarities1 internal and   
external1 which no  other mind can      
measure4 ,you are tried alone2 alone you
 pass into  the desert2 alone you must  
bear and conquer in the agony2 alone    
you must be sifted by the world4 ,there 
are moments known only to a  man's own  
self1 when he sits by the poisoned      
springs of existence1  yearning for a   
morrow which shall free him from strife4
 ,and there  are trials more terrible   
than that4 ,not when vicious            
inclinations  are opposed to holy1 but  
when virtue conflicts with virtue1 is   
the real rending of the soul in twain4  
,a temptation1 in which the  lower      
nature struggles for mastery1 can be met
 by the whole united  force of the      

spirit4 ,but it is when obedience to a  
heavenly ,father  can be only paid by   
disobedience to an earthly one2 or      
fidelity to  duty can be only kept by   
infidelity to some entangling           
engagement2  or the straight path must  
be taken over the misery of others2 or  
the counsel of the affectionate friend  
must be met with a ,get  thee behind me1
 ,satan3--,oh6 it is then1 when human   
advice is  unavailable1 that the soul   
feels what it is to be alone4    ,once  
more3 the ,redeemer's soul was alone in 
dying4 ,the hour had  come--they were   
all gone1 and ,he was1 as ,he predicted1
 left alone4  ,all that is human drops  
from us in that hour4 ,human faces flit 
and  fade1 and the sounds of the world  
become confused4 ,i shall die           
alone--yes1 and alone you live4 ,the    
philosopher tells us that no  atom in   
creation touches another atom2 they all 
approach within  a certain distance2    
then the attraction ceases1 and an      
invisible  something repels--they only  

seem to touch4 ,no soul touches another 
soul except at one or two points1 and   
those chiefly external--a  fearful and  
lonely thought1 but one of the truest of
 life4 ,death  only realizes that which 
has been fact all along4 ,in the central
  deeps of our being we are alone4      
,,ii4 ,the spirit or temper of that     
solitude4    ,observe its grandeur4 ,i  
am alone1 yet not alone4 ,this is a     
feeble  and sentimental way in which we 
speak of the ,man of sorrows4 ,we  turn 
to the cross1 and the agony1 and the    
loneliness1 to touch the  softer        
feelings1 to arouse compassion4 ,you    
degrade that loneliness  by your        
compassion4 ,compassion6 compassion for 
,him6 ,adore if you  will--respect and  
reverence that sublime solitariness with
 which  none but the ,father was--but no
 pity2 let it draw out the firmer and   
manlier graces of the soul4 ,even tender
 sympathy seems out of place4    ,for   
even in human beings1 the strength that 
is in a man can only be  learnt when he 

is thrown upon his own resources and    
left alone4 ,what  a man can do in      
conjunction with others does not test   
the man4 ,tell  us what he can do alone4
 ,it is one thing to defend the truth   
when  you know that your audience are   
already prepossest1 and that every      
argument will meet a willing response2  
and it is another thing to  hold the    
truth when truth must be supported1 if  
at all1 alone--met  by cold looks and   
unsympathizing suspicion4 ,it is one    
thing to rush  on to danger with the    
shouts and the sympathy of numbers2 it  
is  another thing when the lonely       
chieftain of the sinking ship sees  the 
last boat-full disengage itself1 and    
folds his arms to go down  into the     
majesty of darkness1 crushed1 but not   
subdued4    ,such and greater far was   
the strength and majesty of the         
,savior's  solitariness4 ,it was not the
 trial of the lonely hermit4 ,there is a
  certain gentle and pleasing melancholy
 in the life which is lived  alone4 ,but

 there are the forms of nature to speak 
to him2 and he has  not the positive    
opposition of mankind1 if he has the    
absence of  actual sympathy4 ,it is a   
solemn thing1 doubtless1 to be apart    
from  men1 and to feel eternity rushing 
by like an arrowy river4 ,but the       
solitude of ,christ was the solitude of 
a crowd4 ,in that single human  bosom   
dwelt the thought which was to be the   
germ of the world's  life1 a thought    
unshared1 misunderstood1 or rejected4   
,can you not  feel the grandeur of those
 words1 when the ,man1 reposing on ,his 
solitary strength1 felt the last shadow 
of perfect isolation pass  across ,his  
soul3--,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast thou 
forsaken me8    ,next1 learn from these 
words self-reliance4 ,ye shall leave me 
alone4 ,alone1 then1 the ,son of ,man   
was content to be4 ,he threw  ,himself  
on ,his own solitary thought3 did not go
 down to meet the  world2 but waited1   
tho it might be for ages1 till the world
 should  come round to ,him4 ,he        

appealed to the future1 did not aim at  
seeming  consistent1 left ,his          
contradictions unexplained3 ,i came from
 the  ,father3 ,i leave the world1 and  
go to the ,father4 ,now1 said they1     
,thou speakest no proverb2 that is      
enigma4 ,but many a hard and            
enigmatical saying before ,he had       
spoken1 and ,he left them all4 ,a       
thread runs through all true acts1      
stringing them together into one        
harmonious chain3 but it is not for the 
,son of ,god to be anxious to  prove    
their consistency with each other4      
,this is self-reliance1 to repose calmly
 on the thought which is  deepest in our
 bosoms1 and be unmoved if the world    
will not accept  it yet4 ,to live on    
your own convictions against the world1 
is to  overcome the world--to believe   
that what is truest in you is true  for 
all3 to abide by that1 and not be       
over-anxious to be heard or  understood1
 or sympathized with1 certain that at   
last all must  acknowledge the same1 and

 that1 while you stand firm1 the world  
will  come round to you1 that is        
independence4 ,it is not difficult to   
get  away into retirement1 and there    
live upon your own convictions2 nor  is 
it difficult to mix with men1 and follow
 their convictions2 but  to enter into  
the world1 and there live out firmly and
 fearlessly  according to your own      
conscience--that is ,christian          
greatness4    ,there is a cowardice in  
this age which is not ,christian4 ,we   
shrink  from the consequences of truth4 
,we look round and cling dependently4   
,we ask what men will think2 what others
 will say2 whether they will  stare in  
astonishment4 ,perhaps they will2 but he
 who is calculating  that will          
accomplish nothing in this life4 ,the   
,father--the ,father  which is with us  
and in us--what does ,he think8 ,god's  
work can not  be done without a spirit  
of independence4 ,a man has got some way
  in the ,christian life when he has    
learned to say humbly1 and yet          

majestically1 ,i dare to be alone4      
,lastly1 remark the humility of this    
loneliness4 ,had the ,son of ,man       
simply said1 ,i can be alone1 ,he would 
have said no more than any  proud1      
self-relying man can say2 but when ,he  
added1 because the  ,father is with me1 
that independence assumed another       
character1  and self-reliance became    
only another form of reliance upon ,god4
  ,distinguish between genuine and      
spurious humility4 ,there is a false    
humility which says1 ,it is my own poor 
thought1 and ,i must not  trust it4 ,i  
must distrust my own reason and         
judgment1 because they  are my own4 ,i  
must not accept the dictates of my own  
conscience2 for  is it not my own1 and  
is not trust in self the great fault of 
our  fallen nature8    ,very well4 ,now1
 remember something else4 ,there is a   
,spirit which  beareth witness in our   
spirits2 there is a ,god who is not far 
from  any one of us2 there is a ,light  
which lighteth every man which  cometh  

into the world4 ,do not be unnaturally  
humble4 ,the thought of  your own mind  
perchance is the thought of ,god4 ,to   
refuse to follow  that may be to disown 
,god4 ,to take the judgment and         
conscience of  other men to live by1    
where is the humility of that8 ,from    
whence did  their conscience and        
judgment come8 ,was the fountain from   
which they  drew exhausted for you8 ,if 
they refused like you to rely on their  
own conscience1 and you rely upon it1   
how are you sure that it is  more the   
mind of ,god than your own which you    
have refused to hear8    ,look at it in 
another way4 ,the charm of the words of 
great  men--those grand sayings which   
are recognized as true as soon as       
heard--is this1 that you recognize them 
as wisdom which passed  across your own 
mind4 ,you feel that they are your own  
thoughts  come back to you1 else you    
would not at once admit them3 ,all that 
floated across me before1 only ,i could 
not say it1 and did not feel  confident 

enough to assert it1 or had not         
conviction enough to put  into words4   
,yes1 ,god spoke to you what ,he did to 
them3 only they  believed it1 said it1  
trusted the ,word within them1 and you  
did not4  ,be sure that often when you  
say1 ,it is only my own poor thought1   
and ,i am alone1 the real correcting    
thought is this1 ,alone1  but the       
,father is with me1--therefore ,i can   
live by that lonely  conviction4        
,there is no danger in this1 whatever   
timid minds may think--no  danger of    
mistake1 if the character be a true one4
 ,for we are not  in uncertainty in this
 matter4 ,it has been given us to know  
our  base from our noble hours3 to      
distinguish between the voice which  is 
from above1 and that which speaks from  
below1 out of the abyss  of our animal  
and selfish nature4 ,samuel could       
distinguish between  the impulse--quite 
a human one--which would have made him  
select  ,eliab out of ,jesse's sons1 and
 the deeper judgment by which the  ,lord

 said1 ,look not on his countenance1 nor
 on the height of his  stature1 for ,i  
have refused him4 ,doubtless deep truth 
of character  is required for this3 for 
the whispering voices get mixed         
together1  and we dare not abide by our 
own thoughts1 because we think them our 
own1 and not ,god's3 and this because we
 only now and then endeavor  to know in 
earnest4 ,it is only given to the       
habitually true to know  the difference4
 ,he knew it1 because all ,his blessed  
life long ,he  could say1 ,my judgment  
is just1 because ,i seek not my own     
will1 but  the will of him who sent me4 
,the practical result and inference of  
all this is a very simple1  but a very  
deep one3 the deepest of existence4 ,let
 life be a life  of faith4 ,do not go   
timorously about1 inquiring what others 
think1  and what others believe1 and    
what others say4 ,it seems the easiest1 
it is the most difficult thing in life  
to do this4 ,believe in ,god4  ,god is  
near you4 ,throw yourself fearlessly    

upon ,him4 ,trembling  mortal1 there is 
an unknown light within your soul1 which
 will wake  when you command it4 ,the   
day may come when all that is human1 man
  and woman1 will fall off from you2 as 
they did from ,him4 ,let ,his  strength 
be yours4 ,be independent of them all   
now4 ,the ,father is  with you4 ,look to
 ,him1 and ,he will save you4           
,,hitchcock    ,,eternal ,,atonement    
,,biographical ,,note      ,,roswell    
,,dwight ,,hitchcock was born at ,east  
,machias1 ,maine1 in #ahag4  ,to his    
pulpit delivery1 which was direct1      
fluent and impressive1  he brought the  
results of profound ,bible research4 ,he
 was an  evangelical transcendentalist1 
and for many years addressed large  and 
cultured congregations in ,new ,york    
,city4 ,as a teacher he was  clear and  
inspiring1 particularly in historical   
theology4 ,in #ahhj he  was made        
president of the ,union ,theological    
,seminary4 ,his best-known  work is the 
,complete ,analysis of the ,bible4 ,he  

died in #ahhg4          ,,hitchcock     
#ahag-ahhg    ,,eternal ,,atonement#b   
#b ,from ,dr4 ,hitchcock's book of the  
same title by permission of the         
publishers4 ,messrs4 ,charles           
,scribner's ,sons4         ,and all that
 dwell upon the earth shall worship him1
 whose       names are not written in   
the book of life of the ,lamb slain from
       the foundation of the            
world4--,revelation xiii41 #h4      ,my 
subject is the ,lamb slain from the     
foundation of the world4  ,my text is   
,revelation xiii41 #h1 the precise      
import of which is  disputed2 and ,i    
will therefore give you the rival       
renderings4 ,as we  have been used to it
 in the ,authorized ,version1 it reads3 
,written  in the book of life of the    
,lamb slain from the foundation of the  
world4 ,the ,anglican revisers1         
following the lead of ,alford1 make no  
essential change3 ,written in the book  
of life of the ,lamb that hath  been    
slain from the foundation of the world4 

,the ,american revisers1  following the 
lead of ,bengel1 ,de ,wette1 and many   
others1 would have  it3 ,written from   
the foundation of the world in the book 
of life of  the ,lamb that hath been    
slain4 ,the ,american rendering makes   
the  election eternal4 ,the ,anglican   
rendering makes the atonement eternal4  
,the prevalent opinion no doubt has been
 that the atonement is simply  an       
historic fact1 dating back now some     
nineteen hundred years2 and  that only  
the purpose of it is eternal4 ,but      
,johann ,wessel1 the great  ,german     
theologian1 who died only six years     
after ,martin ,luther was  born1 got    
hold of the idea that not election only1
 but atonement  also1 is an eternal act4
 ,and this1 it seems to me1 is both     
rational  and scriptural4 ,eternal      
election1 profoundly considered1        
requires  eternal atonement for its     
support4 ,both are eternal1 as all      
divine  realities are eternal4 ,if the  
passage in ,revelation were given up1   

we should still have to deal with #a    
,peter i41 #ai1 #bj1 where the  ,lamb is
 spoken of as foreknown before the      
foundation of the world1  but manifested
 at the end of the times2 eternal       
reality becoming  temporal fact4 ,we    
should still have to deal with ,john    
xvii41 #bd1  which also carries back    
into eternity the redeeming relationship
  between the ,father and the ,son4     
,even on ,calvary1 as temporal          
actuality1 the ,lamb slain is only a    
figure of speech1 and1 of  course1 it   
can be no more than a figure of speech  
as eternal reality  in the bosom of     
,god4 ,but whether in time1 or in       
eternity--whether  on ,calvary or in the
 bosom of ,god1 the figure must stand   
for  something4 ,for us the meaning is1 
and must be1 that not election  only1   
but atonement also1 is eternal4 ,and so 
the relationship of  ,god to moral evil 
stands forth as an eternal relationship4
 ,not that  evil is itself eternal2 but 
,god always knew it and always felt it4 

,it may help our thinking in this       
direction to remember that there  is a  
sense in which creation itself is       
eternal2 not independently  eternal1    
but1 of ,god's will1 dependently        
eternal4    ,there must nothing be said1
 or thought1 in mitigation of the       
ethical  verdict against moral evil4    
,the hatefulness of it1 no matter what  
its chronology may be1 is simply        
unspeakable4 ,violated law is           
monstrous4 ,unmindfulness of ,god1 who  
has always been so mindful  of us1 is   
mean4 ,never to pray1 either in one's   
closet or in one's  family1 is against  
all the proprieties4 ,idolatry is       
childish and  contemptible4 ,profaneness
 of speech is scandalous4 ,neglect of   
holy time is robbery4 ,disobedience to  
parents is shameful4 ,murder  is        
hideous4 ,unchastity murders the soul1  
is indeed both murder  and suicide4 ,and
 so of all the rest4 ,theft1 falsehood1 
and even  inordinate desire are         
abominable4 ,imagine a community1 larger

 or  smaller--a family1 a township1 a   
state1 or a nation--where the  ,ten     
,commandments are persistently trampled 
under foot1 and you  will have imagined 
a community intolerable even to itself4 
,and  if this be our human judgment1    
what must the divine judgment be8  ,the 
more pure and righteous a moral being   
is1 the more squarely  he must          
antagonize1 more intensely he must hate1
 the more surely  he must punish        
impurity and unrighteousness4 ,volcanic 
fire inside  the globe1 forked lightning
 outside of it1 are faint emblems of    
holy wrath4 ,wrong doing is the one     
thing nowhere1 and never1 to be  either 
condoned or endured4 ,physical accident1
 bodily sickness1  financial disaster1  
social bereavement1 may all be pitied4  
,but when  a thoroughly bad man stands  
revealed1 only lightning is logical4    
,he that sows the wind ought to reap the
 whirlwind4 ,it was a great  philosopher
 who stood amazed at the starry sky1 and
 at the moral  sense in man4 ,well he   

might4 ,there is no softness in the     
midnight  sky2 only cold blue marble1   
and a steady blaze that never relents1  
and is never tired4 ,you can not endure 
that blaze1 you dare not risk  yourself 
out alone among those gleaming orbs with
 a guilty secret in  your bosom4 ,the   
universe is instinct with law that never
 abdicates4  ,remorse is not repentance2
 and even repentance washes out no      
stain4  ,self-forgiveness is impossible4
 ,the trumpet is always sounding2  every
 day is a judgment-day2 and every one of
 us goes to the left4  ,gehenna is the  
only logical goal of sin4    ,nor should
 any attempt be made to get at the      
genesis of moral evil4  ,the beginning  
of it is simply inconceivable4 ,the     
whole thing is a  mystery and must be   
let alone4 ,moral evil is not eternal2  
or there  would be two infinities4 ,nor 
is it a creature of ,god2 or ,god would 
be divided against ,himself4 ,and yet it
 had the divine permission1  whatever   
that may be imagined to have been4 ,with

 every attribute  roused and            
alert--infinity of power1 infinity of   
wisdom1 infinity  of holiness--,god     
stood by and let evil enter4 ,angels    
revolted  first1 somewhere among the    
stars4 ,mankind revolted4 ,was evil     
really unavoidable in a proper moral    
system8 ,if so1 immorality is  not      
immoral4 ,evil that is really essential 
to good should not be  considered evil4 
,it would be only the bitter bud of the 
fragrant  blossom and the luscious      
fruit4 ,or1 putting it in another form1 
will you say that ,god could not have   
prevented evil8 ,he certainly  could    
have prevented it4 ,in ,heaven to-day1  
what is the security  of saints and     
angels1 of your own dear sainted mother1
 of ,gabriel  himself1 but ,god's own   
grace constraining the will of every    
saint1  constraining the will of every  
seraph8 ,what is human sin but the      
abuse of human appetites1 of human      
passions1 of human faculties1 in        
themselves all innocent8 ,study the     

lesson of our ,lord's temptation  in the
 desert4 ,certainly1 ,he was not tempted
 as we are1 by inflamed  appetites and  
passions1 by impaired and disordered    
faculties4 ,but ,he  possest all these  
natural appetites1 passions1 and        
faculties2 and  they were put to a real 
and a tremendous strain4 ,that great    
duel1  as ,milton calls it1 was no sham 
fight2 one or the other had to go  down4
 ,christ was gnawed by hunger1 but      
refused to eat4 ,he saw what  might be  
done by a brilliant miracle towards     
inaugurating ,his ,jewish  ministry1 but
 refused to work it4 ,he saw the short1 
,satanic path  to ,messianic dominion1  
but chose ,gethsemane and ,calvary4 ,now
 the  first ,adam was just as cool and  
just as innocent as the second ,adam4   
,and1 with more of grace to strengthen  
him1 he too might have stood4  ,there   
was no real necessity for that first    
human disobedience4 ,it  was sheer1     
wanton1 gratuitous1 inexplicable        
apostasy4 ,somewhat more  of divine     

constraint1 and the catastrophe would   
certainly have  been averted4 ,call it  
non-prevention1 call it permission1 call
 it  anything you please1 somehow sin   
entered in spite of ,god's hating  it4  
,it came knocking for admission1 and    
,god's shoulder was not  against the    
gate4 ,for some reason1 or reasons1 not 
revealed1 perhaps  not revealable1 ,god 
thought it best not to put ,his shoulder
 against  the gate4 ,the hateful and    
hated thing pushed through4 ,ormuzd let 
in ,ahriman4 ,i thank the ,persian for  
these two words4 ,they embody  and      
emphasize the historic dualism of good  
and evil4 ,the historic  dualism1 you   
will observe ,i say2 there is no other  
dualism4 ,god is  ,one2 and ,master of  
all4 ,the divine permission of hateful  
and hated  evil1 when we fairly         
apprehend it1 is a tremendous statement1
 which  might well be challenged1 were  
not the thing itself so undeniably  a   
fact4 ,this is as far as we can go4     
,here we halt1 with our bruised  and    

throbbing foreheads hard up against the 
granite cliff4    ,practically1 historic
 sin finds relief in historic           
redemption4  ,apparently1 there was     
little1 if any1 interval between the    
two4  ,sin came1 perhaps1 with the      
noontide rest4 ,in the cool of the      
day--that same day1 most likely--the    
offended ,lord came walking  in the     
garden4 ,the colloquy had a sharp       
beginning1 but a mellow  ending4 ,the   
bitten heel would finally crush the     
biting head4 ,and  the struggle at once 
began4 ,the ,lord came down very close  
to ,his  erring1 guilty1 frightened     
children4 ,and they clung very closely  
to  ,him4 ,we are in great danger of    
underrating that primitive economy of   
grace4 ,the record is very brief1 and   
the ,oriental genius of it seems        
strange to us4 ,but we see an altar     
there2 and it can have but one  meaning4
 ,ages after1 in all the nobler ethnic  
religions--,egyptian1  ,indian1         
,persian1 and ,pelasgic--we encounter   

echoes and survivals  of that first     
vouchsafement of revelation4 ,in all the
 great  religions1 we find one ,god2 in 
all of them1 personal immortality1  with
 retribution2 in most of them1 divine   
triads2 in two of them  at least1 the   
resurrection of the body4 ,if it be     
true1 as we may  well believe1 that     
,socrates is now in ,heaven1 singing the
 new song1  it is because he sacrificed2
 and he sacrificed1 whether he fully    
understood it or not1 because of that   
colloquy in the garden4 ,and if  that   
sufficed for him1 the ,providence of    
,god is justified4 ,historic  sin is    
fairly matched1 and overmatched1 by     
historic redemption4    ,but the ,lamb  
slain from the foundation of the world1 
suggests a far  sublimer theodicy4 ,we  
are taken back behind the human ages1   
behind  all time1 into awful infinite   
depths1 into the very bosom of the      
triune ,god4 ,theological science       
recognizes two trinities1 which  it     
calls economic and essential4 ,the      

former began with historic  redemption1 
and kept pace with it4 ,father1 ,son1   
and ,spirit stood  for law1 redemption1 
and regeneration4 ,it was economic      
trinity  that suggested essential       
trinity4 ,but for the historic process1 
the question might not have seemed worth
 asking1 whether ,god is  one only1 or  
three also1 and the three in one4 ,the  
,hebrew mind1 as  represented by ,philo1
 was only just beginning to be          
trinitarian1  when ,christ's life in the
 flesh compelled the ,hebrew mind1 as   
represented by ,peter1 ,paul1 and ,john1
 to a new theology4 ,after  ,pentecost1 
bald ,unitarianism was anachronous4     
,christian experience  logically        
required three divine persons1 of one   
and the same divine  essence4 ,economic 
trinity required essential trinity4     
,essential trinity is anything but an   
arbitrary conception of  ,god4 ,wyclif  
taught it at ,oxford as a necessary     
doctrine of  reason4 ,trinity is another
 name for the self-consciousness1 and   

self-communion1 of ,god4 ,father1 ,son1 
and ,spirit are vastly more  than the   
revelation of ,god to man2 they are the 
revelation of ,god  to ,himself1 and the
 intercourse of ,god with ,himself4     
,they suggest  infinite fulness and     
richness of being4 ,our scientific      
definitions  of ,god do not amount to   
much4 ,at best1 they formulate only very
  inadequate conceptions of ,him4 ,it is
 assumed that these scientific          
definitions of ,god take us farther than
 the ,biblical descriptions of  ,god4   
,we had better not feel too sure of     
that4 ,attributes in action  may impart 
a better knowledge than attributes      
abstractedly defined4  ,pictures for    
children may be better than creeds and  
catechisms4  ,what we need is to see    
,god in the life both of nature1 and of 
man4  ,this the ,hebrew prophets enable 
us to do by their anthropomorphic  and  
anthropopathic pictures of ,god4 ,if you
 say the pictures are  childish1 then ,i
 must say that we are children1 all of  

us1 and had  better be children4 ,it is 
no real scandal to science to be told1  
that the eyes of the ,lord are in every 
place1 beholding the evil  and the good2
 that the eyes of the ,lord are upon the
 righteous1  and his ears are open unto 
their cry2 that the ,lord smelled a     
sweet savor from ,noah's altar2 while   
wicked men are consumed by  the breath  
of his nostrils2 that the voice of the  
,lord breaketh  the cedars of ,lebanon2 
and ,he walketh upon the wings of the   
wind2 and that at last1 in the          
,messianic time1 the ,lord will make    
bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the
 nations4 ,god is not a  mere aggregate 
of attributes4 ,he has a personality as 
distinct and  positive as yours and     
mine4 ,but the personality is infinite  
in all  its outgoings4 ,god's being is a
 vast abyss which no plummet has  ever  
sounded4 ,imagine all you can of        
boundless power1 constantly at  work2 of
 boundless intelligence1 constantly at  
work2 of boundless  passion1 constantly 

at work3 ,god is all that1 and          
immeasurably more  than that4 ,what     
right has any one to say that ,god is   
passionless8  ,god ,himself has never   
said it4 ,he is not passionless4 ,like  
the sun1  ,he is all aflame2 ,he        
rejoices in the truth2 ,he hates a lie4 
,he is  pleased with what is right1 and 
displeased with what is wrong4 ,good    
men are the apple of ,his eye2 bad men  
,his abomination and ,his scorn4        
,rendered literally1 ,god is a righteous
 ,judge1 and a ,god who is  angry every 
day4    ,but ,god is love4 ,so says     
,john in that famous passage1 over which
 the  theologians are still disputing1  
whether the meaning be that love  is    
only one of the divine attributes1 or is
 that very essence of  ,god1 into which 
every other attribute may be resolved4  
,some of the  profoundest thinkers of   
our day accept these three words of     
,john1  ,god is love1 as the final      
definition of ,god4 ,sunshine striking a
  teardrop may give us the seven colors 

of the rainbow2 but the seven  colors   
are all one blessed light4 ,god creates1
 governs1 judges1  punishes1 pities1    
redeems1 and saves2 but love is the root
 of all4  ,it was love that created this
 wonderous universe1 to which science   
can set no bounds4 ,it was love that    
created angels1 tho some of them        
rebelled1 and were delivered into chains
 of darkness4 ,it was love  that created
 this human brotherhood1 all of whom    
have rebelled and  gone astray4 ,this   
rebellion was permitted2 but was        
rebellion all the  same4 ,god feels it2 
and has always felt it4 ,absalom has    
broken his  father's heart2 and we are  
,absalom4 ,the grand old ,king goes up  
over  ,olivet weeping1 with his head    
covered1 and his feet bare2 and that    
,king is ,god4 ,only ,he is the ,king   
,eternal1 and ,his agony over sin is    
also eternal4 ,this agony of ,god over  
human sin is the ,lamb slain  from the  
foundation of the world4 ,god ,himself  
atones1 to ,himself  atones2 and so     

atonement is both eternal and divine4   
,in that matchless epitome of the       
gospel--that parable of the  ,prodigal  
,son1 reported only by ,luke--not a word
 is said1 not a  glimpse is given1 of   
the father of the prodigal during all   
that  interval between the departure and
 return4 ,a veil is drawn over all      
those bitter1 weary years4 ,so has ,god 
yearned and suffered in the  silent     
depths of ,his own eternity1 waiting and
 watching for the  repentant prodigal4  
,this yearning1 grieved1 and suffering  
,god is  the ,god and ,father of our    
,lord and ,savior ,jesus ,christ2 ,son  
of ,god1  ,son of ,mary4 ,this sinless  
,child should have had no griefs of ,his
  own4 ,his sorrows could have been only
 those old eternal shadows of  permitted
 sin4 ,the cross on which ,he died1     
flinging out its arms as  if to embrace 
the world1 lifted up its head toward the
 ,lamb slain  from the foundation of the
 world4 ,our hearts now go back to      
,calvary2  and from ,calvary they go up 

to ,god4    ,one word more4 ,this       
stupendous idea of eternal atonement    
carries  with it the idea of universal  
atonement4 ,whatever it was1 and is1    
must needs have been infinite4 ,no      
magnitude of sin1 no multitude  of      
sinners1 can bankrupt its treasury of   
grace4 ,god so loved the  world1 is its 
everlasting refrain4 ,he that will1 let 
him take of  the water of life freely4  
,take is the word1 my hearers4 ,let us  
remember this4 ,there is something for  
us to do4 ,god ,himself can not  pardon 
an impenitent offender4 ,if pardon were 
offered1 it could not  be accepted4 ,it 
is a law of our own being1 that we must 
repent4 ,o  ,lamb of ,god1 slain so long
 ago1 save us at last1 when ,thou comest
 in  the clouds2 and save us here       
to-day4    ,it is one of the revelations
 of ,scripture that we are to judge the 
angels1 sitting above them on the       
shining heights4 ,it may well be  so4   
,those angels are the imperial guard1   
doing easy duty at home4  ,we are the   

tenth legion1 marching in from the      
swamps and forests  of the far-off      
frontier2 scarred and battered1 but     
victorious over  death and sin4#c       
#c ,the following stanza from ,dean     
,alford's grand hymn appears upon    the
 last page of this1 the last sermon     
written by ,dr4 ,hitchcock4    ,by a    
singular coincidence it was the stanza  
especially selected to    be sung in the
 burial service at ,dr4 ,hitchcock's    
funeral1 altho in    entire ignorance of
 its existence in the manuscript4       
,ten thousand times ten thousand        
,in sparkling raiment bright1      ,the 
armies of the ransom'd saints           
,throng up the steps of light2          
',tis finish'd1 all is finish'd1        
,their fight with death and sin3        
,fling open wide the golden gates1      
,and let the victors in4                
,,kingsley    ,,the ,,shaking ,,of ,,the
 ,,heavens ,,and ,,the ,,earth          
,,biographical ,,note      ,,charles    
,,kingsley was born at ,holne ,vicarage1

 ,devonshire1 in #ahai4  ,he was by     
temperament enthusiastic1 impetuous1 and
 great-hearted4  ,his utterances were   
notable for their unusual earnestness4  
,i go at  what ,i am about1 he said1 as 
if there were nothing else in the  world
 for the time being4 ,in this way he    
completely lost himself  in the work in 
hand4 ,his favorite motto was ,be       
strong6 ,he had a  poetic spirit1 and   
was both vigorous and brilliant4 ,he is 
known not  only for his sermons and     
addresses1 but also for his novels and  
some  verse4 ,he died in #ahge4         
,,kingsley    #ahai-ahge    ,,the       
,,shaking ,,of ,,the ,,heavens ,,and    
,,the ,,earth         ,yet once more ,i 
shake not the earth only1 but also      
heaven4       ,and this word1 ,yet once 
more1 signifieth the removing of those  
things that are shaken1 as of things    
that are made1 that       those things  
which can not be shaken may remain4     
,wherefore we       receiving a kingdom 
which can not be moved1 let us have     

grace1       whereby we may serve ,god  
acceptably with reverence and godly     
fear3 for our ,god is a consuming       
fire4--,hebrews xii41 #bf-bi4      ,this
 is one of the royal texts of           
,scripture4 ,it is inexhaustible1  like 
the ,god who inspired it4 ,it has       
fulfilled itself again and  again1 at   
different epochs4 ,it fulfilled itself  
specially and  notoriously in the first 
century4 ,but it fulfilled itself again 
in the fifth century2 and again at the  
,crusades2 and again at the             
,reformation in the sixteenth century4  
,and it may be that it is  fulfilling   
itself at this very day2 that in this   
century1 both in  the time of our       
fathers and in our own1 the ,lord has   
been shaking  the heavens and the earth1
 that those things which can be shaken  
may  be removed1 as things that are     
made1 while those things which can  not 
be shaken remain4    ,all confess this  
to be true1 each in his own words4 ,they
 talk of  this age as one of change2 of 

rapid progress1 for good or evil2  of   
unexpected discoveries2 of revolutions1 
intellectual1 moral1  social1 as well as
 political4 ,our notions of the physical
 universe  are rapidly altering1 with   
the new discoveries of science2 and our 
notions of ethics and theology are      
altering as rapidly4 ,the era  assumes a
 different aspect to different minds1   
just as it did the  first century after 
,christ1 according as men look forward  
to the  future with hope1 or back to the
 past with regret4 ,some glory in  the  
nineteenth century as one of rapid      
progress for good2 as the  commencement 
of a new era for humanity2 as the       
inauguration of a  ,reformation as grand
 as that of the sixteenth century4      
,others bewail  it as an age of rapid   
decay2 in which the old landmarks are   
being  removed1 the old paths lost2 in  
which we are rushing headlong into      
skepticism and atheism2 in which the    
world and the ,church are both  in      
danger1 and the last day is at hand4    

,both parties may be right2 and yet both
 may be wrong4 ,men have  always talked 
thus1 at great crises in the world's    
life4 ,they talked  thus in the first   
century2 and in the fifth1 and in the   
eleventh2  and again in the sixteenth2  
and then both parties were partially    
right and partially wrong2 and so they  
may be now4 ,what they meant  to say1   
what they wanted to say1 what we mean   
and want to say1 has  been said already 
for us in far deeper1 wider1 and more   
accurate  words1 by him who wrote this  
wonderful ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 when
  he told the ,jews of his time that the
 ,lord was shaking the heavens  and the 
earth1 that those things which were     
shaken might be removed1  as things that
 are made--cosmogonies1 systems1        
theories1 prejudices1  fashions1 of     
man's invention3 while those things     
which could not be  shaken might remain1
 because they were according to the mind
 and  will of ,god1 eternal as that     
source from whence they came forth1     

even the bosom of ,god the ,father4     
,yet once more ,i shake1 not the earth  
only1 but also heaven4    ,how has the  
earth been shaken in our days2 and the  
heaven likewise4  ,how rapidly have our 
conceptions of both altered4 ,how easy1 
simple1  certain1 it all looked to our  
forefathers in the middle age4 ,how     
difficult1 complex1 uncertain1 it all   
looks to us4 ,with increased  knowledge 
has come--not increased doubt3 that ,i  
deny utterly4 ,i  deny1 once and for    
all1 that this age is an irreverent age4
 ,i say  that an irreverent age is one  
like the age of the ,schoolmen2 when    
men defined and explained all heaven and
 earth by  priori theories1  and        
cosmogonies invented in the cloister2   
and dared1 poor1 simple1  ignorant      
mortals1 to fancy that they could       
comprehend and gauge  the ways of ,him  
whom the heaven and the heaven of       
heavens could not  contain4 ,this1 this 
is irreverence3 but it is neither       
irreverence  nor want of faith1 if a    

man1 awed by the mystery which          
encompasses  him from the cradle to the 
grave1 shall lay his hand upon his      
mouth1  with ,job1 and obey the ,voice  
which cries to him from earth and       
heaven--,be still1 and know that as the 
heavens are higher than the  earth1 so  
are my ways higher than thy ways1 and my
 thoughts higher  than thine4    ,but it
 was all easy1 and simple1 and certain  
enough to our  forefathers4 ,the earth1 
according to the popular notion1 was a  
flat  plane2 or1 if it were1 as the     
wiser held1 a sphere1 yet antipodes     
were an unscriptural heresy4 ,above it  
were the heavens1 in which the  stars   
were fixed1 or wandered2 and above them 
heaven after heaven1  each tenanted by  
its own orders of beings1 up to that    
heaven of  heavens in which ,deity--and 
by ,him1 be it always remembered1 the   
mother of ,deity--was enthroned4    ,and
 if above the earth was the kingdom of  
light1 and purity1 and  holiness1 what  
could be more plain1 than that below it 

was the  kingdom of darkness1 and       
impurity1 and sin8 ,that was no theory  
to  our forefathers3 it was a physical  
fact4 ,had not even the heathens        
believed as much1 and said so1 by the   
mouth of the poet ,virgil8 ,he  had     
declared that the mouth of ,tartarus lay
 in ,italy1 hard by the  volcanic lake  
,avernus2 and after the unexpected      
eruption of ,vesuvius  in the first     
century1 nothing seemed more clear than 
that ,virgil was  right2 and that men   
were justified in talking of ,tartarus1 
,styx1  and ,phlegethon as indisputable 
,christian entities4 ,etna1 ,stromboli1 
,hecla1 were 7according to this         
cosmogony7 likewise mouths of hell2  and
 there were not wanting holy hermits1   
who had heard from within  those        
craters1 shrieks1 and clanking chains1  
and the howls of demons  tormenting the 
souls of the endlessly lost4    ,our    
forefathers were not aware that1        
centuries before the  incarnation of our
 ,lord1 the ,buddhist priests had held  

exactly the  same theory of moral       
retribution2 and that painted on the    
walls of  ,buddhist temples might be    
seen horrors identical with those which 
adorned the walls of many a ,christian  
church1 in the days when men  believed  
in this ,tartarology as firmly as they  
now believe in the  results of chemistry
 or of astronomy4    ,and now--,how is  
the earth shaken1 and the heavens       
likewise1 in that  very sense in which  
the expression is used by him who wrote 
to  the ,hebrews8 ,our conceptions of   
them are shaken4 ,how much of that      
medieval cosmogony do educated men      
believe1 in the sense in which  they    
believe that the three angles of a      
triangle are equal to two  right angles1
 or that if they steal their neighbor's 
goods they  commit a sin8    ,the earth 
has been shaken for us1 more and more   
violently1 as the  years have rolled on4
 ,it was shaken when astronomy told us  
that  the earth was not the center of   
the universe1 but a tiny planet         

revolving round a sun in a remote region
 thereof4    ,it was shaken1 when       
geology told us that the earth had      
endured  for countless ages1 during     
which continents had become oceans1  and
 oceans continents1 again and again4    
,and even now1 it is being  shaken by   
researches into the antiquity of man1   
into the origin and  permanence of      
species1 which1 let the result be what  
it will1 must  in the meanwhile shake   
for us theories and dogmas which have   
been  undisputed for #aejj years4       
,and with the rest of our cosmogony1    
that conception of a physical  ,tartarus
 below the earth has been shaken        
likewise1 till good men  have been fain 
to find a fresh place for it in the sun1
 or in a  comet2 or to patronize the    
probable1 but as yet unproved theory of 
a central fire within the earth2 not on 
any scientific grounds1 but  simply if  
by any means they can assign a region in
 space1 wherein  material torment can be
 inflicted on the spirits of the lost4  

,and meanwhile the heavens1 the         
spiritual world1 is being shaken  no    
less4 ,more and more frequently1 more   
and more loudly1 men are  asking1 not   
skeptics merely1 but pious men1 men who 
wish to be1  and who believe themselves 
to be1 orthodox ,christians1 more and   
more loudly are such men asking         
questions which demand an answer1  with 
a learning and an eloquence1 as well as 
with a devoutness  and a reverence for  
,scripture1 which--whether rightly or   
wrongly  employed--is certain to command
 attention4    ,rightly or wrongly1     
these men are asking1 whether the actual
 and  literal words of ,scripture really
 involve the medieval theory of an      
endless ,tartarus4    ,they are saying1 
,it is not we who deny1 but you who     
assert1  endless torments1 who are      
playing fast and loose with the letter  
of  ,scripture4 ,you are reading into it
 conceptions borrowed from ,virgil1     
,dante1 ,milton1 when you translate into
 the formula 'endless torment'  such    

phrases as 'the outer darkness1' 'the   
fire of ,gehenna1'  the 'worm that dieth
 not'2 which1 according to all just laws
 of  interpretation1 refer not to the   
next life1 but to this life1 and        
specially to the approaching catastrophe
 of the ,jewish nation2 or  when you say
 that eternal death really means eternal
 life--only life  in torture4           
,rightly or wrongly1 they are saying    
this2 and then they add1 ,we do  not    
yield to you in love and esteem for     
,scripture4 ,we demand not a  looser1   
but a stricter2 not a more metaphoric1  
but a more literal2  not a more         
contemptuous1 but a more reverent       
interpretation thereof4    ,so these men
 speak1 rightly or wrongly4 ,and for    
good or for evil1  they will be heard4  
,and with these questions others have   
arisen1 not new at all1  say these men1 
but to be found amid many               
contradictions1 in the  writings of all 
the best divines1 when they have given  
up for a  moment systems and theories1  

and listened to the voice of their own  
hearts2 questions natural enough to an  
age which abhors cruelty1  has abolished
 torture1 labors for the reformation of 
criminals1 and  debates1 rightly or     
wrongly1 about abolishing capital       
punishment4  ,men are asking questions  
about the heaven1 the spiritual world1  
and  saying1 ,the spiritual world8 ,is  
it only another material world  which   
happens to be invisible now1 but which  
may become visible  hereafter3 or is it 
not rather the moral world--the world of
 right  and wrong8 ,heaven8 ,is not the 
true and real heaven the kingdom of     
love1 justice1 purity1 beneficence8 ,is 
not that the eternal heaven  wherein    
,god abides for ever1 and with ,him     
those who are like ,god8  ,and hell8 ,is
 it not rather the anarchy of hate1     
injustice1 impurity1  uselessness2      
wherein abides all that is opposed to   
,god8    ,and with these thoughts come  
others about moral retribution--,what   
is its purpose8 ,can it1 can any        

punishment have any right purpose  save 
the correction1 or the annihilation1 of 
the criminal8 ,can ,god1  in this       
respect1 be at once less merciful and   
less powerful than  men8 ,is ,he so     
controlled by necessity that ,he is     
forced to bring  into the world beings  
whom he knows to be incorrigible1 and   
doomed  to endless misery8 ,and if not  
so controlled1 is not the alternative   
as to ,his character even more fearful8 
,he bids us copy ,his justice1  ,his    
love4 ,is that ,his justice1 that ,his  
love1 which if we copied1 we  should    
call each other1 and deservedly1 utterly
 unjust and unloving8  ,can there be one
 morality for ,god1 and another for man1
 made in the  image of ,god8 ,are these 
dark dogmas worthy of a ,father who     
hateth  nothing that ,he hath made1 and 
is perfect in this1 that ,he makes  ,his
 sun shine on the evil and on the good1 
and ,his rain fall on  the just and on  
the unjust1 and is good to the          
unthankful and to  the evil8 ,are they  

worthy of a ,son who1 in the fire of    
,his divine  charity1 stooped from      
heaven to earth1 to toil1 to suffer1 to 
die on  the cross1 that the world by    
,him might be saved8 ,are they worthy of
  that which proceeds from the ,father  
and the ,son1 even that ,spirit  of     
boundless charity1 and fervent love1 by 
which the ,son offered  ,himself to the 
,father1 a sacrifice for the sins of the
 world--and  surely not in vain8    ,so 
men are asking1 rightly or wrongly2 and 
they are guarding  themselves1 at the   
same time1 from the imputation of       
disbelief  in moral retribution2 of     
fancying ,god to be a careless1         
epicurean  deity1 cruelly indulgent to  
sin1 and therefore1 in so far1 immoral4 
,they say--,we believe firmly enough in 
moral retribution4 ,how can  we help    
believing in it1 while we see it working
 around us1 in many  a fearful shape1   
here1 now1 in this life8 ,and we believe
 that it  may work on1 in still more    
fearful shapes1 in the life to come4    

,we believe that as long as a sinner is 
impenitent1 he must be  miserable2 that 
if he goes on impenitent for ever1 he   
must go on  making himself miserable1   
aye1 it may be more and more miserable  
for  ever4 ,only do not tell us that he 
must go on4 ,that his impenitence1  and 
therefore his punishment1 is            
irremediable1 necessary1 endless2  and  
thereby destroy the whole purpose1 and  
we should say1 the whole  morality1 of  
his punishment4 ,if that punishment be  
corrective1 our  moral sense is not     
shocked by any severity1 by any         
duration3 but if  it is irremediable1 it
 can not be corrective2 and then1 what  
it is1  or why it is1 we can not--or    
rather dare not--say4 ,we1 too1 believe 
in an eternal fire4 ,but because we     
believe also the ,athanasian  ,creed1   
which tells us that there is but one    
eternal1 we believe  that that fire must
 be the fire of ,god1 and therefore1    
like all  that is in ,god and of ,god1  
good and not evil1 a blessing and not a 

curse4 ,we believe that that fire is for
 ever burning1 tho men are  for ever    
trying to quench it all day long2 and   
that it has been and  will be in every  
age burning up all the chaff and stubble
 of man's  inventions2 the folly1 the   
falsehood1 the ignorance1 the vice of   
this sinful world2 and we praise ,god   
for it2 and give thanks to  ,him for    
,his great glory1 that ,he is the       
everlasting and triumphant  foe of evil 
and misery1 of whom it is written1 that 
our ,god is a  consuming fire4    ,such 
words are being spoken1 right or wrong4 
,such words will bear  their fruit1 for 
good or evil4 ,i do not pronounce how   
much of them  is true or false4 ,it is  
not my place to dogmatize and define1   
where  the ,church of ,england1 as by   
law established1 has declined to do  so4
 ,neither is it for you to settle these 
questions4 ,it is rather a  matter for  
your children4 ,a generation more1 it   
may be1 of earnest  thought will be     
required1 ere the true answer has been  

found4 ,but  it is your duty1 if you be 
educated and thoughtful persons1 to face
  these questions2 to consider whether  
you are believing the exact  words of   
the ,bible1 and the conclusions of your 
own reason and moral  sense2 or whether 
you are merely believing that cosmogony 
elaborated  in the cloister1 that theory
 of moral retribution pardonable in the 
middle age1 which ,dante and ,milton    
sang4    ,but this ,i do not hesitate to
 say1 ,that if we of the clergy can find
  no other answers to these doubts than 
those which were reasonable  and popular
 in an age when men racked women1 burned
 heretics1 and  believed that every     
,mussulman killed in a crusade went     
straight  to ,tartarus1 then very       
serious times are at hand1 both for the 
,christian clergy and for ,christianity 
itself4    ,what1 then1 are we to       
believe and do8 ,shall we degenerate    
into a  lazy skepticism1 which believes 
that everything is a little true1  and  
everything a little false--in plain     

words1 believes nothing  at all8 ,or    
shall we degenerate into faithless      
fears1 and unmanly  wailings that the   
flood of infidelity is irresistible1 and
 that  ,christ has left ,his ,church8   
,we shall do neither1 if we believe the 
text4 ,that tells us of a  firm standing
 ground amid the wreck of fashions and  
opinions2 of a  kingdom which can not be
 moved1 tho the heavens pass away like a
  scroll1 and the earth be burnt up with
 a fervent heat4    ,and it tells us    
that the ,king of that kingdom is ,he1  
who is called  ,jesus ,christ--the same 
yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4    ,an 
eternal and changeless kingdom1 and an  
eternal and changeless  ,king--these the
 ,epistle to the ,hebrews preaches to   
all generations4    ,it does not say    
that we have an unchangeable cosmogony1 
an  unchangeable eschatology1 an        
unchangeable theory of moral            
retribution1 an unchangeable dogmatic   
system2 not to these does it  point the 
,jews1 while their own nation and       

worship were in their  very death-agony1
 and the world was rocking and reeling  
round them1  decay and birth going on   
side by side1 in a chaos such as man had
  never seen before4 ,not to these does 
the epistle point the ,hebrews3  but to 
the changeless kingdom and to the       
changeless ,king4    ,my friends1 do you
 really believe in that kingdom1 and in 
that ,king8  ,do you believe that you   
are now actually in a kingdom of heaven1
  which can not be moved2 and that the  
living1 acting1 guiding1  practical1    
real ,king thereof is ,christ who died  
on the cross8    ,these are days in     
which a preacher is bound to ask his    
congregation--and still more to ask     
himself--whether he really  believes in 
that kingdom1 and in that ,king2 and to 
bid himself and  them1 if they have not 
believed earnestly enough therein1 to   
repent  of having neglected that most   
cardinal doctrine of ,scripture and of  
the ,christian faith4    ,but if we     
really believe in that changeless       

kingdom and in that  changeless ,king1  
shall we not--considering who ,christ   
is1 the  coequal and coeternal ,son of  
,god--believe also1 that if the heavens 
and the earth are being shaken1 then    
,christ ,himself may be shaking  them8  
,that if opinions be changing1 then     
,christ ,himself may be  changing them8 
,that if new truths are being           
discovered1 ,christ  ,himself may be    
revealing them8 ,that if some of those  
truths seem  to contradict those which  
,he has revealed already1 they do not   
really contradict them8 ,that1 as in the
 sixteenth century1 ,christ  is burning 
up the wood and stubble with which men  
have built on  ,his foundation1 that the
 pure gold of ,his truth may alone be   
left8  ,it is at least possible2 it is  
probable1 if we believe that ,christ  is
 a living1 acting ,king1 to whom all    
power is given in heaven and  earth1 and
 who is actually exercising that power2 
and educating  ,christendom1 and through
 ,christendom the whole human race1 to a

  knowledge of ,himself1 and through    
,himself of ,god their ,father in       
heaven4    ,should we not say--,we know 
that ,christ has been so doing1 for     
centuries and for ages8 ,through        
,abraham1 through ,moses1 through  the  
prophets1 through the ,greeks1 through  
the ,romans1 and at last  through       
,himself1 ,he gave men juster and wider 
views of themselves1  of the universe1  
and of ,god4 ,and even then ,he did not 
stop4 ,how  could ,he1 who said of      
,himself1 ,my ,father worketh hitherto1 
and ,i  work8 ,how could ,he1 if ,he be 
the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for     
ever8 ,through the apostles1 and        
especially through ,st4 ,paul1 ,he      
enlarged1 while ,he confirmed1 ,his own 
teaching4 ,and did ,he not do  the same 
in the sixteenth century8 ,did ,he not  
then sweep from the  minds and hearts of
 half ,christendom beliefs which had    
been sacred  and indubitable for a      
thousand years8 ,why should ,he not be  
doing  so now8 ,if it be answered1 that 

the ,reformation of the sixteenth       
century was only a return to simpler and
 purer apostolic truth--why1  again1    
should it not be so now8 ,why should ,he
 not be perfecting ,his  work one step  
more1 and sweeping away more of man's   
inventions1  which are not integral and 
necessary elements of the one catholic  
faith1 but have been left behind1 in    
pardonable human weakness1  by our great
 reformers8 ,great they were1 and good3 
giants on the  earth1 while we are but  
as dwarfs beside them4 ,but1 as the     
hackneyed  proverb says1 the dwarf on   
the giant's shoulders may see further   
than the giant himself3 and so may we4  
,oh6 that men would approach new truth  
in something of that spirit2  in the    
spirit of reverence and godly fear1     
which springs from a  living belief in  
,christ the living ,king1 which is--as  
the text  tells us--the spirit in which 
we can serve ,god acceptably4 ,oh6  that
 they would serve ,god2 waiting         
reverently and anxiously1 as  servants  

standing in the presence of their ,lord1
 for the slightest  sign or hint of ,his
 will4 ,then they would have grace by   
which they  would receive new-thought   
with grace2 gracefully1 courteously1    
fairly1 charitably1 reverently2         
believing that1 however strange or      
startling1 it may come from ,him whose  
ways are not as our ways1 nor  ,his     
thoughts as our thoughts2 and that he   
who fights against it1 may  haply be    
fighting against ,god4    ,true1 they   
would receive all new thought with      
caution1 that  conservative spirit1     
which is the duty of every ,christian2  
which  is the peculiar strength of the  
,englishman1 because it enables him     
calmly and slowly to take in the new1   
without losing the old which  his       
forefathers have already won for him4   
,so they would be cautious1  even       
anxious1 lest in grasping too greedily  
at seeming improvements1  they let go   
some precious knowledge which they had  
already attained3  but they would be on 

the lookout for improvements2 because   
they  would consider themselves1 and    
their generation1 as under a divine     
education4 ,they would prove all things 
fairly and boldly1 and  hold fast that  
which is good2 all that which is        
beautiful1 noble1  improving and        
elevating to human souls1 minds1 or     
bodies2 all that  increases the amount  
of justice1 mercy1 knowledge1           
refinement2 all  that lessens the amount
 of vice1 cruelty1 ignorance1 barbarism4
  ,that at least must come from ,christ4
 ,that at least must be the  inspiration
 of the ,spirit of ,god3 unless the     
,pharisees were right  after all when   
they said1 that evil spirits could be   
cast out by the  prince of the devils4  
,be these things as they may1 one       
comfort it will give us1 to believe     
firmly and actively in the changeless   
kingdom1 and in the changeless  ,king4  
,it will give us calm1 patience1 faith  
and hope1 tho the  heavens and the earth
 be shaken around us4 ,for then we shall

 see  that the kingdom1 of which we are 
citizens1 is a kingdom of light1  and   
not of darkness2 of truth1 and not of   
falsehood2 of freedom1  and not of      
slavery2 of bounty and mercy1 and not of
 wrath and fear2  that we live and move 
and have our being not in a ,deus quidam
  deceptor who grudges his children     
wisdom1 but in a ,father of  ,light1    
from whom comes every good and perfect  
gift2 who willeth that  all men should  
be saved1 and come to the knowledge of  
the truth4 ,in  ,his kingdom we are2 and
 in the ,king whom ,he has set over it  
we can  have the most perfect trust4    
,for us that ,king stooped from heaven  
to earth2 for us ,he was born1 for us   
,he toiled1 for us ,he suffered1  for us
 ,he died1 for us ,he rose1 for us ,he  
sits for ever at ,god's  right hand4    
,and can we not trust ,him8 ,let ,him do
 what ,he will4 ,let  ,him lead us      
whither ,he will4 ,wheresoever ,he leads
 must be the way  of truth and life4    
,whatsoever ,he does1 must be in harmony

 with that  infinite love which ,he     
displayed for us upon the cross4        
,whatsoever  ,he does1 must be in       
harmony with that eternal purpose by    
which ,he  reveals to men ,god their    
,father4 ,therefore1 tho the heaven and 
the  earth be shaken around us1 we will 
trust in ,him4 ,for we know that ,he  is
 the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for    
ever2 and that ,his will and  promise   
is1 to lead those who trust in ,him into
 all truth4          ,,caird            
,,religion ,,in ,,common ,,life         
,,biographical ,,note      ,,john       
,,caird was born at ,greenock1          
,scotland1 in #ahbj4 ,he attained  great
 popularity as a preacher in ,edinburgh4
 ,in #ahfb he was called  to ,park      
,church1 ,glasgow1 and in #ahgc became  
,principal of ,glasgow  ,university4    
,the sermon given here was preached     
before the ,queen in  #ahee1 and1       
printed by her command1 attained an     
amazing circulation4  ,dr4 ,caird's deep
 and earnest thought was clothed almost 

invariably  in clear and beautiful      
language4 ,he had many gifts as a pulpit
  speaker4 ,his voice was full and      
deep-toned1 his manner gracious  and    
sympathetic1 and his gestures1 tho      
infrequent1 were always  significant and
 graceful4 ,he died in #ahih4           
,,caird    #ahbj-ahih    ,,religion ,,in
 ,,common ,,life#d      #d ,printed by  
permission of ,messrs4 ,william         
,blackwood  ,sons1    ,publishers4      
,not slothful in business2 fervent in   
spirit2 serving the                     
,lord4--,romans xii41 #aa4      ,when a 
man is learning to be a ,christian1 it  
matters not what  his particular work in
 life may be2 the work he does is but   
the copy-line set to him2 the main thing
 to be considered is  that he learn to  
live well4 ,the form is nothing1 the    
execution  is everything4 ,it is true1  
indeed1 that prayer1 holy reading1      
meditation1 the solemnities and services
 of the ,church1 are  necessary to      
religion1 and that these can be         

practised only apart  from the work of  
secular life4 ,but it is to be          
remembered that all  such holy exercises
 do not terminate in themselves4 ,they  
are but  steps in the ladder to heaven1 
good only as they help us to climb4     
,they are the irrigation and enriching  
of the spiritual soil--worse  than      
useless if the crop become not more     
abundant4 ,they are1 in  short1 but     
means to an end--good1 only in so far as
 they help us  to be good and to do     
good--to glorify ,god and do good to    
man2 and  that end can perhaps best be  
attained by him whose life is a busy    
one1 whose avocations bear him daily    
into contact with his fellows1  into the
 intercourse of society1 into the heart 
of the world4 ,no man  can be a thorough
 proficient in navigation who has never 
been at  sea1 tho he may learn the      
theory of it at home4 ,no man can become
  a soldier by studying books on        
military tactics in his closet3 he  must
 in actual service acquire those habits 

of coolness1 courage1  discipline1      
address1 rapid combination1 without     
which the most  learned in the theory of
 strategy or engineering will be but a  
schoolboy soldier after all4 ,and1 in   
the same way1 a man in solitude  and    
study may become a most learned         
theologian1 or may train himself  into  
the timid1 effeminate piety of what is  
technically called the  righteous life4 
,but never1 in the highest and holiest  
sense1 can he  become a religious man1  
until he has acquired those habits of   
daily  self-denial1 of resistance to    
temptation1 of kindness1 gentleness1    
humility1 sympathy1 active beneficence1 
which are to be acquired  only in daily 
contact with mankind4 ,tell us not1     
then1 that the  man of business1 the    
bustling tradesman1 the toil-worn       
laborer1  has little or no time to      
attend to religion4 ,as well tell us    
that  the pilot1 amid the winds and     
storms1 has no leisure to attend to     
navigation--or the general1 on the field

 of battle1 to the art  of war6 ,where  
will he attend to it8 ,religion is not a
 perpetual  moping over good            
books--religion is not even prayer1     
praise1 holy  ordinances2 these are     
necessary to religion--no man can be    
religious  without them4 ,but religion1 
,i repeat1 is1 mainly and chiefly1 the  
glorifying ,god amid the duties and     
trials of the world1--the guiding  our  
course amid the adverse winds and       
currents of temptation1 by the          
starlight of duty and the compass of    
divine truth1--the bearing us  manfully1
 wisely1 courageously1 for the honor of 
,christ1 our great  ,leader1 in the     
conflict of life4 ,away then with the   
notion that  ministers and devotees may 
be religious1 but that a religious and  
holy life is impracticable in the rough 
and busy world6 ,nay rather1  believe   
me1 that is the proper scene1 the       
peculiar and appropriate  field for     
religion1--the place in which to prove  
that piety is not  a dream of ,sundays  

and solitary hours2 that it can bear the
 light  of day2 that it can wear well   
amid the rough jostlings1 the hard      
struggles1 the coarse contacts of common
 life1--the place1 in one  word1 to     
prove how possible it is for a man to be
 at once not  slothful in business1 and 
fervent in spirit1 serving the ,lord4   
,another consideration1 which ,i shall  
adduce in support of the  assertion that
 it is not impossible to blend religion 
with the  business of common life1 is   
this3 that religion consists1 not so    
much in doing spiritual or sacred acts1 
as in doing secular acts  from a sacred 
or religious motive4    ,there is a very
 common tendency in our minds to        
classify actions  according to their    
outward form1 rather than according to  
the  spirit or motive which pervades    
them4 ,literature is sometimes          
arbitrarily divided into sacred and     
profane literature1 history  into sacred
 and profane history1--in which         
classification the  term profane is     

applied1 not to what is bad or unholy1  
but to  everything that is not          
technically sacred or religious--to all 
literature that does not treat of       
religious doctrines and duties1  and to 
all history save church history4 ,and we
 are very apt to apply  the same        
principle to actions4 ,thus in many     
pious minds there is a  tendency to     
regard all the actions of common life as
 so much1 by an  unfortunate necessity1 
lost to religion4 ,prayer1 the reading  
of the  ,bible and devotional books1    
public worship--and buying1 selling1    
digging1 sowing1 bartering1             
money-making1 are separated into two    
distinct1 and almost hostile1           
categories4 ,the religious heart and    
sympathies are thrown entirely into the 
former1 and the latter are  barely      
tolerated as a bondage incident to our  
fallen state1 but  almost of necessity  
tending to turn aside the heart from    
,god4    ,but what ,god has cleansed1   
why should we call common or unclean8   

,the  tendency in question1 tho founded 
on right feeling1 is surely a  mistaken 
one4 ,for it is to be remembered that   
moral qualities reside  not in actions1 
but in the agent who performs them1 and 
that it is  the spirit or motive from   
which we do any work that constitutes it
  base or noble1 worldly or spiritual1  
secular or sacred4 ,the actions  of an  
automaton may be outwardly the same as  
those of a moral agent1  but who        
attributes to them goodness or badness8 
,a musical instrument  may discourse    
sacred melodies better than the holiest 
lips can sing  them1 but who thinks of  
commending it for its piety8 ,it is the 
same  with actions as with places4 ,just
 as no spot or scene on earth is  in    
itself more or less holy than another1  
but the presence of a  holy heart may   
hallow--or a base one desecrate--any    
place where it  dwells2 so with actions4
 ,many actions1 materially great and    
noble1  may yet1 because of the spirit  
that prompts and pervades them1  be     

really ignoble and mean2 and1 on the    
other hand1 many actions  externally    
mean and lowly1 may1 because of the     
state of his heart  who does them1 be   
truly exalted and honorable4 ,it is     
possible to  fill the highest station on
 earth1 and go through the actions      
pertaining to it in a spirit that       
degrades all its dignities1 and  renders
 all its high and courtly doings        
essentially sordid and  vulgar4 ,and it 
is no mere sentimentality to say that   
there may dwell  in a lowly mechanic's  
or household servant's breast a spirit  
that  dignifies the coarsest toils and  
renders drudgery divine4 ,herod of  old 
was a slave1 tho he sat upon a throne2  
but who will say that the  work of that 
carpenter's shop at ,nazareth was not   
noble and kingly  work indeed6    ,a    
life spent amidst holy things may be    
intensely secular2 a life1  the most of 
which is passed in the thick and throng 
of the world1  may be holy and divine4  
,a minister1 for instance1 preaching1   

praying1 ever speaking holy words and   
performing sacred acts1 may be  all the 
while doing actions no more holy than   
those of the printer  who prints        
,bibles1 or of the bookseller who sells 
them2 for1 in both  cases alike1 the    
whole affair may be nothing more than a 
trade4 ,nay1  the comparison tells worse
 for the former1 for the secular trade  
is  innocent and commendable1 but the   
trade which traffics and tampers  with  
holy things is1 beneath all its mock    
solemnity1 earthly1  sensual1 devilish4 
,so1 to adduce one other example1 the   
public worship of ,god is holy  work3 no
 man can be living a holy life who      
neglects it4 ,but the  public worship of
 ,god may be--and with multitudes who   
frequent our  churches is--degraded into
 work most worldly1 most distasteful to 
the great ,object of our homage4 ,he to 
whom all hearts be open1 all  desires   
known1 discerns how many of you have    
come hither to-day  from the earnest    
desire to hold communion with the       

,father of  ,spirits1 to open your      
hearts to ,him1 to unburden yourselves  
in ,his  loving presence of the cares   
and crosses that have been pressing     
hard upon you through the past week1 and
 by common prayer and  praise1 and the  
hearing of ,his holy ,word1 to gain     
fresh incentive  and energy for the     
prosecution of ,his work in the world2  
and how  many1 on the other hand1 from  
no better motive1 perhaps1 than         
curiosity or old habit1 or regard to    
decency and respectability1 or  the mere
 desire to get rid of yourselves1 and   
pass a vacant hour  that would hang     
heavy on your hands4 ,and who can doubt 
that1 where  such motives as these      
prevail1 to the piercing1 unerring      
inspection  of ,him whom outwardly we   
seem to reverence1 not the market-place1
  the exchange1 the counting-room       
appears a place more intensely          
secular--not the most reckless and      
riotous festivity1 a scene of  more     
unhallowed levity1 than is presented by 

the house of prayer8    ,but1 on the    
other hand1 carry holy principles with  
you into the  world1 and the world will 
become hallowed by their presence4 ,a   
,christ-like spirit will ,christianize  
everything it touches4 ,a meek  heart1  
in which the altar-fire of love to ,god 
is burning1 will lay  hold of the       
commonest1 rudest things in life1 and   
transmute them1  like coarse fuel at the
 touch of fire1 into a pure and holy    
flame4  ,religion in the soul will make 
all the work and toil of life--its      
gains and losses1 friendships1          
rivalries1 competitions--its manifold   
incidents and events--the means of      
religious advancement4 ,marble  or      
coarse clay1 it matters not much with   
which of these the artist  works1 the   
touch of genius transforms the coarser  
material into  beauty1 and lends to the 
finer a value it never had before4      
,lofty  or lowly1 rude or refined1 as   
our earthly work may be1 it will  become
 to a holy mind only the material for   

something infinitely  nobler than all   
the creations of genius--a pure and     
godlike life4 ,to  spiritualize what is 
material1 to ,christianize what is      
secular--this  is the noble achievement 
of ,christian principle4 ,if you are a  
sincere ,christian1 it will be your     
great desire1 by ,god's grace1 to  bring
 every gift1 talent1 occupation of life1
 every word you speak1  every action you
 do1 under the control of ,christian    
motive4 ,your  conversation may not     
always--nay1 may seldom1 save with      
intimate  friends--consist of formally  
religious words2 you may perhaps shrink 
from the introduction of religious      
topics in general society2 but  it      
demands a less amount of ,christian     
effort occasionally to speak  religious 
words1 than to infuse the spirit of     
religion into all  our words2 and if the
 whole tenor of your common talk be     
pervaded  by a spirit of piety1         
gentleness1 earnestness1 sincerity1 it  
will  be ,christian conversation not the

 less4 ,if ,god has endowed you  with   
intellectual gifts1 it may be well if   
you directly devote  them to ,his       
service in the religious instruction2   
but a man may  be a ,christian thinker  
and writer as much when giving to       
science1  or history1 or biography1 or  
poetry1 a ,christian tone and spirit1   
as when composing sermons or writing    
hymns4 ,to promote the cause  of ,christ
 directly1 by furthering every religious
 and missionary  enterprise at home and 
abroad1 is undoubtedly your duty2 but   
remember that your duty terminates not  
when you have done all this1  for you   
may promote ,christ's cause even still  
more effectually when  in your daily    
demeanor--in the family1 in society1 in 
your business  transactions1 in all your
 common intercourse with the world--you 
are diffusing the influence of          
,christian principle around you by  the 
silent eloquence of a holy life4 ,rise  
superior1 in ,christ's  strength1 to all
 equivocal practises and advantages in  

trade2  shrink from every approach to   
meanness or dishonesty2 let your eye1   
fixed on a reward before which earthly  
wealth grows dim1 beam with  honor2 let 
the thought of ,god make you            
self-restrained1 temperate1  watchful   
over speech and conduct2 let the abiding
 sense of ,christ's  redeeming love to  
you make you gentle1 self-denying1 kind1
 and  loving to all around you2--then   
indeed will your secular life become    
spiritualized1 whilst1 at the same time1
 your spiritual life will  grow more    
fervent2 then not only will your prayers
 become more  devout1 but when the knee 
bends not1 and the lip is silent1 the   
life in its heavenward tone will pray   
without ceasing2 then from  amidst the  
roar and din of earthly toil the ear of 
,god will hear the  sweetest anthems    
rising2 then1 finally1 will your daily  
experience  prove that it is no high and
 unattainable elevation of virtue1 but  
a simple and natural thing1 to which the
 text points1 when it bids  us to be    

both diligent in business and fervent in
 spirit1 serving  the ,lord4    ,as a   
last illustration of the possibility of 
blending religion with  the business of 
common life1 let me call your attention 
to what may  be described as the mind's 
power of acting on latent principles4   
,in order to live a religious life in   
the world1 every action must  be        
governed by religious motives4 ,but in  
making this assertion1 it  is not by any
 means implied that in all the familiar 
actions of  our daily life religion must
 form a direct and conscious object of  
thought4 ,to be always thinking of ,god1
 and ,christ1 and eternity  amidst our  
worldly work1 and1 however busy1 eager1 
interested we  may be in the special    
business before us1 to have religious   
ideas1  doctrines1 beliefs1 present to  
the mind1--this is simply impossible4   
,the mind can no more consciously think 
of heaven and earth at the  same moment 
than the body can be in heaven and earth
 at the same  moment4 ,moreover there   

are few kinds of work in the world that1
 to  be done well1 must not be done     
heartily1 many that require1 in order   
to excellence1 the whole condensed force
 and energy of the highest  mind4       
,but tho it be true that we can not1 in 
our worldly work1 be  always consciously
 thinking of religion1 yet it is also   
true that  unconsciously1 we may be     
acting under its ever-present control4  
,as  there are laws and powers in the   
natural world of which1 without         
thinking of them1 we are ever availing  
ourselves1--as ,i do not think  of      
gravitation when ,i move my limbs1 or of
 atmospheric laws when1  by means of    
them1 ,i breathe1 so in the routine of  
daily work1 tho  comparatively seldom do
 ,i think of them1 ,i may yet be        
constantly  swayed by the motives1      
sustained by the principles1 living1    
breathing1 acting in the invisible      
atmosphere of true religion4  ,there are
 under-currents in the ocean which act  
independently of the  movements of the  

waters on the surface2 far down too in  
its hidden  depths there is a region    
where1 even tho the storm be raging on  
the  upper waves1 perpetual calmness and
 stillness reign4 ,so there may be  an  
under-current beneath the               
surface-movements of your life--there   
may dwell in the secret depths of your  
being the abiding peace  of ,god1 the   
repose of a holy mind1 even tho1 all the
 while1 the  restless stir and commotion
 of worldly business may mark your outer
  history4    ,and1 in order to see     
this1 it is to be remembered1 that many 
of the  thoughts and motives that most  
powerfully impel and govern us in the   
common actions of life1 are latent      
thoughts and motives4 ,have you  not    
often experienced that curious law--a   
law1 perhaps1 contrived by  ,god with an
 express view to this its highest       
application--by which  a secret thought 
or feeling may lie brooding in your     
mind1 quite  apart from the particular  
work in which you happen to be employed8

  ,have you never1 for instance1 while  
reading aloud1 carried along  with you  
in your reading the secret impression of
 the presence of  the listener--an      
impression that kept pace with all the  
mind's  activity in the special work of 
reading2 nay1 have you not sometimes    
felt the mind1 while prosecuting without
 interruption the work  of reading1 yet 
at the same time carrying on some other 
train of  reflection apart altogether   
from that suggested by the book8 ,here  
is obviously a particular business in   
which you were diligent1  yet another   
and different thought to which the      
spirit turned4 ,or1  think of the work  
in which ,i am this moment occupied4    
,amidst all  the mental exertions of the
 public speaker--underneath the outward 
workings of his mind1 so to speak1 there
 is the latent thought of  the presence 
of auditory4 ,perhaps no species of     
exertion requires  greater concentration
 of thought or undividedness of         
attention than  this3 and yet1 amidst   

all the subtle processes of             
intellect1--the  excogitation or        
recollection of ideas1--the selection1  
right  ordering and enunciation of      
words1 there never quits his mind for   
one moment the idea of the presence of  
the listening throng4 ,like  a secret   
atmosphere1 it surrounds and bathes his 
spirit as he goes  on with the external 
work4 ,and have not you too1 my friends1
 an  ,auditor--it may be a great cloud  
of witnesses1--but at least one         
all-glorious ,witness and ,listener ever
 present1 ever watchful1 as  the        
discourse of life proceeds8 ,why then1  
in this case too1 while  the outward    
business is diligently prosecuted1 may  
there not be  on your spirit a latent   
and constant impression of that awful   
inspection8 ,what worldly work so       
absorbing as to leave no room in  a     
believer's spirit for the hallowing     
thought of that glorious  ,presence ever
 near8 ,do not say that you do not see  
,god--that the  presence of the divine  

,auditor is not forced upon your senses 
as  that of the human auditory on the   
speaker4 ,for the same process  goes on 
in the secret meditations as in the     
public addresses of  the preacher--the  
same latent reference to those who shall
 listen  to his words dwells in his mind
 when in his solitary retirement he     
thinks and writes1 as when he speaks in 
their immediate presence4  ,and surely  
if the thought of an earthly            
auditory--of human minds and  hearts    
that shall respond to his thoughts and  
words can intertwine  itself with all   
the activities of a man's mind1 and     
flash back  inspiration on his soul1 at 
least as potent and as penetrating may  
the thought be1 or ,him1 the great ,lord
 of heaven and earth1 who not  only sees
 and knows us now1 but before whose     
awful presence1 in the  last great      
congregation1 we shall stand forth to   
recount and answer  for our every       
thought and deed4    ,or1 to take but   
one other example1 have we not all felt 

that the  thought of anticipated        
happiness may blend itself with the work
  of our business hours8 ,the laborer's 
evening release from toil1  the         
schoolboy's coming holiday1 or the      
hard-wrought business-man's  approaching
 season of relaxation--the expected     
return of a  long-absent and much-loved 
friend--is not the thought of these1 or 
similar joyous events1 one which often  
intermingles with1 without              
interrupting1 our common work8 ,when a  
father goes forth to his  labor till the
 evening1 perhaps often1 very often1 in 
the thick of  his toils1 the thought of 
home may start up to cheer him4 ,the    
smile  that is to welcome him1 as he    
crosses his lowly threshold when the    
work of the day is over1 the glad faces1
 and merry voices1 and sweet  caresses  
of little ones1 as they shall gather    
round him in the quiet  evening         
hours--the thought of all this may      
dwell1 a latent joy1 a  hidden motive1  
deep down in his heart of hearts1 may   

come rushing  in a sweet solace at every
 pause of exertion1 and act like a      
secret  oil to smooth the wheels of     
labor4 ,and so1 in the other cases ,i   
have named1 even when our outward       
activities are the most strenuous1  even
 when every energy of mind and body is  
full strung for work1 the  anticipation 
of coming happiness may never be absent 
from our minds4  ,the heart has a secret
 treasury1 where our hopes and joys are 
often  garnered--too precious to be     
parted with even for a moment4    ,and  
why may not the highest of all hopes and
 joys possess the same  all-pervading   
influence8 ,have we1 if our religion be 
real1 no  anticipation of happiness in  
the glorious future8 ,is there no rest  
that remaineth for the people of ,god1  
no home and loving heart  awaiting us   
when the toils of our hurried day of    
life are ended8  ,what is earthly rest  
or relaxation1 what that release from   
toil  after which we so often sigh1 but 
the faint shadow of the saint's         

everlasting rest--the repose of eternal 
purity--the calm of a  spirit in which1 
not the tension of labor only1 but the  
strain of  the moral strife with sin1   
has ceased--the rest of the soul in     
,god6  ,what visions of earthly bliss   
can ever--if our ,christian faith be    
not a form--compare with the glory soon 
to be revealed--what joy  of earthly    
reunion with the rapture of the hour    
when the heavens  shall yield our absent
 ,lord to our embrace1 to be parted from
 us  no more for ever6 ,and if all this 
be not a dream and a fancy1 but  most   
sober truth1 what is there to except    
this joyful hope from  that law to      
which1 in all other deep joys1 our minds
 are subject8  ,why may we not1 in this 
case too1 think often1 amidst our       
worldly  work1 of the ,home to which we 
are going1 of the true and loving  heart
 that beats for us1 and of the sweet and
 joyous welcome that  awaits us there8  
,and even when we make them not1 of set 
purpose1  the subject of our thoughts1  

is there not enough of grandeur in the  
objects of a believer's hope to pervade 
his spirit at all times  with a calm and
 reverential joy8 ,do not think all this
 strange1  fanatical1 impossible4 ,if it
 do seem so1 it can only be because your
  heart is in the earthly hopes1 but not
 in the higher and holier               
hopes--because love to ,christ is still 
to you but a name--because  you can give
 more ardor of thought to the           
anticipation of a coming  holiday than  
to the hope of heaven and glory         
everlasting4 ,no1 my  friends6 the      
strange thing is1 not that amidst the   
world's work we  should be able to think
 of our ,home1 but that we should ever  
be able  to forget it2 and the stranger1
 sadder still1 that while the little    
day of life is                          
passing1--morning--noontide--evening1--e
ach stage  more rapid than the last1    
while to many the shadows are already   
fast  lengthening1 and the declining sun
 warns them that the night is at  hand1 

wherein no man can work1 there should be
 those amongst us  whose whole thoughts 
are absorbed in the business of the     
world1 and  to whom the reflection never
 occurs that soon they must go out into 
eternity--without a friend--without a   
home6    ,such1 then1 is the true idea  
of the ,christian life--a life not  of  
periodic observances1 or of occasional  
fervors1 or even of  splendid acts of   
heroism and self-devotion1 but of quiet1
 constant1  unobtrusive earnestness1    
amidst the commonplace work of the      
world4  ,this is the life to which      
,christ calls us4 ,is it yours8 ,have   
you  entered upon it1 or are you now    
willing to enter upon it8 ,it is  not1  
,i admit1 an imposing or an easy one4   
,there is nothing in it to  dazzle1 much
 in its hardness and plainness to deter 
the irresolute4  ,the life of a follower
 of ,christ demands not1 indeed1 in our 
day1  the courage of the hero or the    
martyr1 the fortitude that braves       
outward dangers and sufferings1 and     

flinches not from persecution  and      
death4 ,but with the age of persecution 
the difficulties of  the ,christian life
 have not passed away4 ,in maintaining1 
in the  unambitious routine of humble   
duties1 a spirit of ,christian          
cheerfulness and contentment--in        
preserving the fervor of piety  amidst  
unexciting cares and wearing            
anxieties--in the perpetual  reference  
to lofty ends amidst lowly toils--there 
may be evinced a  faith as strong as    
that of a man who dies with the song of 
martyrdom  on his lips4 ,it is a great  
thing to love ,christ so dearly as to be
  ready to be bound and to die for ,him2
 but it is often a thing not  less great
 to be ready to take up our daily cross1
 and to live for  ,him4    ,but be the  
difficulties of a ,christian life in the
 world what they  may1 they need not    
discourage us4 ,whatever the work to    
which our  ,master calls us1 ,he offers 
us a strength commensurate with our     
needs4 ,no man who wishes to serve      

,christ will ever fail for lack of      
heavenly aid4 ,and it will be no valid  
excuse for an ungodly life  that it is  
difficult to keep alive the flame of    
piety in the world1  if ,christ be ready
 to supply the fuel4    ,to all1 then1  
who really wish to lead such a life1 let
 me suggest  that the first thing to be 
done--that without which all other      
efforts are worse than vain--is heartily
 to devote themselves to  ,god through  
,christ ,jesus4 ,much as has been said  
of the infusion  of religious principle 
and motive into our worldly work1 there 
is a preliminary advice of greater      
importance still--that we be  religious4
 ,life comes before growth4 ,the soldier
 must enlist before  he can serve4 ,in  
vain are directions how to keep the fire
 ever  burning on the altar1 if first it
 be not kindled4 ,no religion can  be   
genuine1 no goodness can be constant or 
lasting1 that springs  not1 as its      
primary source1 from faith in ,jesus    
,christ4 ,to know  ,christ as my        

,savior--to come with all my guilt and  
weakness to ,him  in whom trembling     
penitence never fails to find a         
friend--to cast  myself at ,his feet in 
whom all that is sublime in divine      
holiness  is softened1 though not       
obscured1 by all that is beautiful in   
human  tenderness--and1 believing in    
that love stronger than death which1    
for me1 and such as me1 drained the cup 
of untold sorrows1 and bore  without    
murmur the bitter curse of sin1 to trust
 my soul for time  and eternity into    
,his hands--this is the beginning of    
true religion4  ,and it is the          
reverential love with which the believer
 must ever  look to ,him to whom he owes
 so much1 that constitutes the          
mainspring  of the religion of daily    
life4 ,selfishness may prompt to a      
formal  religion1 natural susceptibility
 may give rise to a fitful one1 but  for
 a life of constant fervent piety1      
amidst the world's cares and  toils1 no 
motive is sufficient save               

one--self-devoted love to ,christ4      
,but again1 if you would lead a         
,christian life in the world1 let me    
remind you that that life must be       
continued as well as begun with         
,christ4 ,you must learn to look to ,him
 not merely as your ,savior from  guilt1
 but as the ,friend of your secret life1
 the chosen ,companion  of your solitary
 hours1 the ,depositary of all the      
deeper thoughts  and feelings of your   
soul4 ,you can not live for ,him in the 
world  unless you live much with ,him1  
apart from the world4 ,in spiritual as  
in secular things1 the deepest and      
strongest characters need much  solitude
 to form them4 ,even earthly greatness1 
much more moral and  spiritual          
greatness1 is never attained but as the 
result of much  that is concealed from  
the world--of many a lonely and         
meditative  hour4 ,thoughtfulness1      
self-knowledge1 self-control1 a         
chastened  wisdom and piety1 are the    
fruit of habitual meditation and prayer4

  ,in these exercises heaven is brought 
near1 and our exaggerated  estimate of  
earthly things corrected4 ,by these our 
spiritual  energies1 shattered and worn 
by the friction of worldly work1  are   
repaired4 ,in the recurring seasons of  
devotion the cares and  anxieties of    
worldly business cease to vex us2       
exhausted with its  toils1 we have1 in  
daily communion with ,god1 meat to eat  
which the  world knoweth not of2 and    
even when its calamities and losses fall
  upon us1 and our portion of worldly   
good may be withdrawn1 we may be  able  
to show1 like those holy ones of old at 
the heathen court1 by  the fair serene  
countenance of the spirit1 that we have 
something  better than the world's pulse
 to feed upon4    ,but1 further1 in     
availing yourself of this divine        
resource amidst  the daily exigencies of
 life1 why should you wait always for   
the  periodic season and the formal     
attitude of prayer8 ,the heavens are    
not open to the believer's call only at 

intervals4 ,the grace of  ,god's ,holy  
,spirit falls not like the fertilizing  
shower1 only now  and then2 or like the 
dew on the earth's face1 only at morning
 and  night4 ,at all times on the       
uplifted face of the believer's spirit  
the gracious element is ready to        
descend4 ,pray always2 pray without     
ceasing4 ,when difficulties arise1 delay
 not to seek and obtain at  once the    
succor you need4 ,swifter than by the   
subtle electric agent  is thought borne 
from earth to heaven4 ,the ,great       
,spirit on high is  in constant sympathy
 with the believing spirit beneath1 and 
in a  moment1 in the twinkling of an    
eye1 the thrill of aspiration flashes   
from the heart of man to ,god4 ,whenever
 anything vexes you--whenever1  from the
 rude and selfish ways of men1 any      
trials of temper cross  your path--when 
your spirits are ruffled1 or your       
,christian  forbearance put to the test1
 be this your instant resource6 ,haste  
away1 if only for a moment1 to the      

serene and peace-breathing  presence of 
,jesus1 and you will not fail to return 
with a spirit  soothed and calmed4 ,or  
when the impure and low-minded surround 
you--when1 in the path of duty1 the high
 tone of your ,christian  purity is apt 
to suffer from baser contacts1 oh1 what 
a relief to  lift the heart to          
,christ6--to rise on the wings of       
faith--even  for one instant to breathe 
the air of that region where the        
,infinite ,purity dwells1 and then      
return with a mind steeled against      
temptation1 ready to recoil1 with the   
instinctive abhorrence of a  spirit that
 has been beside the throne1 from all   
that is impure and  vile4 ,say not1     
then1 with such aid at your command1    
that religion  can not be brought down  
to common life6    ,in conclusion1 let  
me once more urge upon you the great    
lesson  on which we have been insisting4
 ,carry religious principle into        
everyday life4 ,principle elevates      
whatever it touches4 ,facts lose  all   

their littleness to the mind which      
brings principle and law  to bear upon  
them4 ,the chemist's or geologist's     
soiled hands are  no sign of base work2 
the coarsest operations of the          
laboratory1  the breaking of stones with
 a hammer1 cease to be mechanical when  
intellectual thought and principle      
govern the mind and guide the  hands4   
,and religious principle is the noblest 
of all4 ,bring it to  bear on common    
actions and coarse cares1 and infinitely
 nobler even  than the philosophic or   
scientific1 becomes the ,christian life4
  ,live for ,christ in common things1   
and all your work will become  priestly 
work4 ,as in the temple of old1 it was  
holy work to hew  wood or mix oil1      
because it was done for the             
altar-sacrifice or the  sacred lamps2 so
 all your coarse and common work will   
receive a  consecration when done for   
,god's glory1 by one who is a true      
priest  to ,his temple4    ,carry       
religion into common life1 and your life

 will be rendered  useful as well as    
noble4 ,there are many men who listen   
incredulously  to the high-toned        
exhortations of the pulpit2 the         
religious life  there depicted is much  
too seraphic1 they think1 for this plain
  and prosaic world of ours4 ,show these
 men that the picture is  not a fancy   
one4 ,make it a reality4 ,bring religion
 down from the  clouds4 ,apply to it the
 infallible test of experiment2 and1 by 
suffusing your daily actions with holy  
principles1 prove that love  to ,god1   
superiority to worldly pleasure1        
spirituality1 holiness1                 
heavenly-mindedness1 are something more 
than the stock ideas of  sermons4       
,carry religious principle into common  
life1 and common life will  lose its    
transitoriness4 ,the world passeth away6
 ,the things  that are seen are         
temporal4 ,soon business with all its   
cares  and anxieties--the whole         
unprofitable stir and fever of the      
world--will be to us a thing of the     

past4 ,but religion does  something     
better than sigh and muse over the      
perishableness of  earthly things2 it   
finds in them the seed of immortality4  
,no work  done for ,christ perishes4 ,no
 action that helps to mold the deathless
  mind of a saint of ,god is ever lost4 
,live for ,christ in the world1  and you
 carry with you into eternity all of the
 results of the  world's business that  
are worth the keeping4 ,the river of    
life  sweeps on1 but the gold grains it 
held in solution are left behind        
deposited in the holy heart4 ,the world 
passeth away1 and the lust  thereof2 but
 he that doeth the will of ,god abideth 
for ever4 ,every  other result of our   
diligence in business will soon be gone4
  ,you cannot invent any mode of        
exchange between the visible and        
invisible worlds1 so that the balance at
 your credit in the one  can be         
transferred1 when you migrate from it1  
to your account in  the other4 ,worldly 
sharpness1 acuteness1 versatility1 are  

not the  qualities in request in the    
world to come4 ,the capacious intellect1
  stored with knowledge1 and disciplined
 into admirable perspicacity1  tact1    
worldly wisdom1 by a lifetime devoted to
 politics or business1  is not1 by such 
attainments1 fitted to take a higher    
place among the  sons of immortality4   
,the honor1 fame1 respect1 obsequious   
homage  that attend worldly greatness up
 to the grave's brink1 will not  follow 
it one step beyond4 ,these advantages   
are not to be despised2  but if these be
 all that1 by the toil of our hand1 or  
the sweat of  our brow1 we have gained1 
the hour is fast coming when we shall   
discover that we have labored in vain   
and spent our strength for  naught4 ,but
 while these pass1 there are other      
things that remain4  ,the world's gains 
and losses may soon cease to affect us1 
but not  the gratitude or the patience1 
the kindness or the resignation1  they  
drew forth from our hearts4 ,the world's
 scenes of business  may fade on our    

sight1 the noise of its restless        
pursuits may fall  no more upon our ear1
 when we pass to meet our ,god2 but not 
one  unselfish thought1 not one kind and
 gentle word1 not one act of            
self-sacrificing love done for ,jesus'  
sake1 in the midst of our  common work1 
but will have left an indelible impress 
on the soul  which will go out with it  
to its eternal destiny4 ,so live1 then1 
that this may be the result of your     
labors4 ,so live that your work1        
whether in the ,church or in the world1 
may become a discipline for  that       
glorious state of being in which the    
,church and the world  shall become     
one1--where work shall be worship1 and  
labor shall  be rest1--where the worker 
shall never quit the temple1 nor the    
worshiper the place of work1 because    
there is no temple therein1  but the    
,lord ,god ,almighty and the ,lamb are  
the temple thereof4          ,,storrs   
,,the ,,permanent ,,motive ,,in         
,,missionary ,,work                     

,,biographical ,,note      ,,richard ,s4
 ,,storrs was born at ,braintree1       
,mass41 in #ahba4 ,in his  book         
,preaching ,without ,notes1 he tells of 
his early practise and  experience in   
pulpit delivery4 ,after fifteen years   
patient effort  he became one of the    
most accomplished extemporaneous        
speakers  in ,america4 ,he wrote much at
 first1 developing a fine rhetorical    
style and a rich vocabulary that        
subsequently served him well as an      
impromptu speaker4 ,his advice to       
divinity students was3 ,always be       
careful to keep up the habit of writing1
 with whatever of skill1  elegance1 and 
force1 you can command4 ,because of this
 early  training in writing he was able 
later in life to adopt the method  of   
thoroughly preparing his thought for his
 sermons1 and of leaving  the choice of 
words and the framing of sentences to   
the moment of  delivery4 ,his greatest  
success was achieved after he became a  
purely  extemporaneous preacher4 ,he was

 for fifty-four years pastor of the     
,church of the ,pilgrims1 ,brooklyn4    
,during this time he produced a  number 
of books1 of which the most important is
 ,the ,divine ,origin  of ,christianity1
 ,indicated by its ,historical ,effects4
 ,he died in  #aijj4          ,,storrs  
#ahba-aijj    ,,the ,,permanent ,,motive
 ,,in ,,missionary ,,work         ,go ye
 into all the world and preach the      
gospel to every       creature4--,mark  
xvi41 #ae4      ,the ,permanent ,motive 
in ,missionary ,work3 it is a catholic  
and  comprehensive1 even a cosmopolitan 
theme4 ,it does not concern itself      
simply with the interest of foreign     
missions1 technically so called4  ,but1 
if you think of it1 it concerns those in
 every ,christian  communion who are    
trying to further the cause and kingdom 
of our  ,lord on the earth4 ,it concerns
 not the missionary fields alone1 as    
they are popularly called1 in other     
lands1 but every field in which         
,christian service is sought to be      

rendered1 from the obscurest slum  in   
this town of ,boston to the ragged edges
 of the circumference1 the  outmost     
circumference1 of the world of mankind4 
,we are familiar1 of course1 with the   
temporary1 local1 changing  motives to  
missionary enterprise1 which meet us at 
times1 impress us  forcibly for the     
moment1 and pass away2 the influence of 
great and  signal occasions1 when       
sympathies are almost tumultuously      
excited2  the impulse which comes with a
 sweeping eloquence1 which lifts us     
from the common levels of earth1 and    
bears us as on wings toward  issues and 
actions which we had not anticipated2   
perhaps the impulse  which comes with   
personal interest in missionaries whom  
we have  known1 or mission fields which 
we have traversed4 ,great successes  on 
certain fields move our enthusiasm2 or  
tragic and terrible  experiences in     
others1 as recently among the           
,armenians1 stir the  deep fountains of 
our feeling4 ,no one of these impulses  

is to be  disregarded4 ,each one in its 
place has a power of its own1 and all   
are to be valued and welcomed for their 
effect4 ,but what we are to  look for is
 the motive more deep1 permanent1       
governing1 which will  be beneath and   
behind all these2 as the tide-motive is 
beneath and  behind the advancing and   
retreating waves which rise and flash1  
and break upon the beach2 and this will 
be a motive not simple and  single1 but 
no doubt combined of several1           
distinguishable from  each other1 as a  
powerful current is made up of different
 uniting  affluents4 ,we must separate  
them in thought1 that we may afterward  
combine them4    ,i think first1 then1  
we shall all recognize this as essential
 to  the missionary motive3 a clear and 
profound recognition of the  evilness   
and misery of the actual condition of   
mankind1 certainly  as compared with the
 powers which are instinctive in every  
human  soul4 ,it makes no difference    
really1 or very little1 at this point1  

whether we accept the ,scriptural       
declaration that man has fallen  from a 
higher estate to his present level1 or  
conceive1 with some  modern theorizers1 
that man is just now partially emerging 
from the  conditions of his brute       
ancestry1 stumbling up1 through sin and 
error and manifold tremendous mistakes1 
toward wisdom and virtue1  and the      
blessedness which they bring4 ,in either
 case1 the present  condition of mankind
 is one of imperfection1 weakness1      
unsatisfied  desire1 unrealized promise1
 and manifold peril4 ,it is not the     
missionary who tells us this1           
principally or alone4 ,every observant  
foreign traveler repeats the same4      
,everyone who has resided abroad1  and  
then he comes back to testify with an   
unprejudiced mind to that  which he has 
observed1 relates the same4 ,the supreme
 difficulty  here is in the want of the 
recognition of ,god1 and of the great   
immortality4    ,it used to be a        
reproach against ,christian scholars1   

made by  skeptics1 that they            
investigated the ethnic religions in the
 spirit  of suspicious hostility1 by    
which their processes were diverted     
from true lines1 by which their         
conclusions were colored4 ,i am not     
concerned to argue the case of the      
,christian scholars of fifty  years ago1
 or more1 but ,i can certainly affirm   
that the ,christian  scholars of our own
 time investigate these religions       
carefully1  patiently1 sympathetically1 
with an eager desire to find everything 
in them that is of beautiful worth2 and 
they do find many things  of truth and  
beauty1 many things which excite their  
admiration1 as  illustrating the        
attainment of the higher aspiration of  
the human  mind1 reaching after the     
unseen if haply it might find it4 ,but  
they find nowhere the discovery of one  
personal ,god1 eternal in  authority1   
immaculate in character1 creating man in
 ,his own image1  and opening before him
 the ageless immensities beyond the     

grave2  and in the absence of such      
recognition of ,god1 and such           
recognition  of the immortality1 man is 
left to grope where he can not fly1 to  
clutch the earth where he misses heaven4
 ,so it is that industrially1           
politically1 commercially1 socially1    
intellectually1 he is on the  lower     
level1 until some exterior power reaches
 and ennobles him4 ,so  it is that      
crime1 such as is unknown in ,christian 
communities1 is  familiar and tolerated 
in the world4 ,in fact1 we need not fix 
our  thought1 prominently1 on the more  
devilish crimes which still exist  in   
parts and portions of the               
earth1--cannibalism1 infanticide1 human 
sacrifices1 self-torture1 the slavery   
that would destroy body and  soul       
together in its own hell4 ,commoner     
vices have told us the story            
sufficiently1--drunkenness1             
licentiousness1 the gambling passion1   
the opium habit1 the fierce self-will   
that rushes to its end1  regardless of  

anything sacred1 in order to attain its 
pleasure4    ,all these we know4 ,how   
familiar they are to the mind1 and in   
the  life1 of the world at large6 ,and  
there seems no power arising  within the
 circle not reached by ,christian       
influence to relieve  the gloom1 to     
elevate those who are opprest by these  
sore burdens4  ,there is no power4      
,property asserts its right to oppress1 
and  to enjoy2 poverty accepts its      
function1 however unwillingly1 of       
suffering in silence2 the degradation of
 woman strikes a vicious  stab at the   
heart and conscience of immense         
communities1 while the  oppression of   
childhood blights life at its germ2 and1
 with the  prospect of nothing better to
 come1 suicide becomes a common refuge  
from the unbearable misery4 ,there is   
nothing overstated in this  description 
of the world at large2 and you know how 
it is in your  city slums1 even in this 
city of refinement and culture1 ,i have 
no  doubt2 certainly in the city in     

which ,i live2 in the ,london and       
,birmingham of the other side1 where the
 little girl twelve years old  had never
 heard the name of ,christ1 where the   
boy of about the same  age only knew the
 nature of an oath by having been his   
lordship's  caddy4 ,these are what we   
are to reach and lift1 if we can do it4 
,these are they to whom we are to bring 
blessings from the ,most  ,high4        
,certainly1 every heart in which there  
is a spark of ,christian  sympathy must 
feel the power of this motive1 pressing 
to the utmost  and instant exertion of  
every force to relieve the suffering1 to
  enlighten the darkened1 and to lift   
the opprest4    ,no one need exaggerate1
 everyone should recognize1 the weakness
 and  wretchedness1 the exposure and the
 peril of human society4 ,when we       
remember that in this universe of ours  
destiny clings closely to  character1   
has never anything mechanical or        
arbitrary about it1  but follows the    
spirit which encounters it1 then those  

tremendous  words of our ,lord in the   
twenty-fifth of ,matthew have upon them 
an  appalling sharpness and reach1 as   
addrest to the great classes and        
companies of mankind2 and we must       
recognize it1 and hear the solemn  bell 
of the universe ringing through ,his    
word1 and telling us of  what is to be  
looked for in the hereafter4    ,but    
then with this recognition of the       
exposure and peril of human  society1 of
 mankind at large1 we must associate the
 recognition of  the recoverableness to 
truth1 to virtue and ,god1 of persons   
and of  peoples who are now involved in 
these calamities and pains2 to whom1    
now1 unrest and apprehension are as     
natural as speech or sight2 the         
recoverableness of men as persons1 and  
of communities as well as  persons4     
,here1 of course1 we come into direct   
antagonism with the pessimist1  who     
says1 ,it is all nonsense6 ,you can't   
possibly do the work2 you  can't take   
these ragged and soiled remnants of     

humanity in your city  streets and weave
 them into purple and golden garments   
for the  ,master2 you can not accomplish
 the effect which you contemplate1 in   
the cities1 in your own land1 along the 
frontier1 or in other lands4  ,it is as 
impossible to make the unchaste pure1 to
 make the mean  noble1 as it is to make 
crystal lenses out of mud1 or the       
delicate  elastic watch-spring out of   
the iron slag6 ,that is the world's     
view1 a common and a hateful view4 ,our 
answer to it is that the  thing can be  
done1 and has been done1 and done in    
such multitudes  of instances that there
 is no use whatever in arguing against  
the  fact4 ,christ came from the heavens
 to the earth on an errand4 ,he  knew   
what was in man2 and ,he did not come   
from the celestial seats  on an errand  
known beforehand to be fruitless and    
futile4 ,he came  because ,he knew the  
interior1 central1 divine element in    
human  nature1 to which ,he could appeal
 and by which ,he could lift men  toward

 things transcendent4 ,we have seen the 
examples of success1  how many times6   
,hundreds1 yea even thousands of times1 
in our own  communities1 as missionaries
 have seen them in the lands abroad3    
where the woman intemperate1 in         
harlotry1 in despair1 has been  lifted  
to restored womanhood1 as the pearl     
oyster is brought up with  its precious 
contents from the slimy ooze2 where the 
man whose lips  had been charged with   
foulest blasphemies has become the      
preacher  of the gospel of light and    
love1 of hope and peace1 to others1 his 
former comrades2 where the feet that    
were swift to do evil have  become      
beautiful on the mountains in publishing
 salvation4 ,we have  seen these things 
in individuals and in communities2 in   
the roughest  frontier mining-camp1     
where every door opened on a saloon or a
  brothel1 or a gambling-table1 and     
where1 by the power coming from on      
high1 it has been transformed into the  
peaceful ,christian village1  with the  

home1 with the school1 with the church1 
with the asylum1  with the holy song1   
where the former customary music had    
been the  crack of revolvers4 ,we have  
seen the same thing on a larger scale   
in the coral islands1 scenes of savage  
massacre and of cannibal  riot and      
ferocity1 where the ,church has been    
planted1 and ,christian  fellowships    
have been established and maintained4   
,we have seen these  things1 and why    
argue against facts8    ,arguing against
 fact1 as men ultimately find out1 is   
like trying  to stop with articulate    
breath the march of the stately         
battleship  as she sweeps onward to her 
anchorage4 ,an argument may meet a      
contrary argument2 no argument can      
overwhelm a fact4 ,and these  facts in  
experience are as sure1 as difficult of 
belief perhaps1  but as compulsive of   
belief1 as are the scientific           
demonstrations  of the liquid air1 of   
the wireless telegraphy4 ,we do not     
question  the reality of what we see2   

and we know that these effects have     
been produced1 on the smaller scale and 
on the larger4 ,i suppose  that everyone
 who has ever stood on the heights above
 ,naples1 at  the ,church of ,san       
,martino1 on the way to ,st4 ,elmo1 has 
noticed1  as ,i remember to have        
noticed1 that all the sounds coming up  
from  that gay1 populous1 brilliant1    
fascinating city1 as they reached  the  
upper air1 met and mingled on the minor 
key4 ,there were the  voices of traffic 
and the voices of command1 the voices of
 affection  and the voices of rebuke1   
the shouts of sailors1 and the cries of 
itinerant venders in the street1 with   
the chatter and the laugh of  childhood2
 but they all came up into this         
incessant moan in the  air4 ,that is the
 voice of the world in the upper air1   
where there  are spirits to hear it4    
,that is the cry of the world for help4 
,and  here is the answer to that cry3 a 
song of triumph and glorious            
expectation1 taking the place of the    

moan1 in the village1 in the  city1 in  
the great community2 men and women out  
of whom multitudes  of devils have been 
cast1 as out of him of old1 sitting     
clothed1 and  in their right minds1 at  
the feet of ,jesus4    ,you can not tell
 me that it is impossible to produce    
these effects1  for mine own eyes have  
seen them1 mine own hands have touched  
them4 ,i know their reality1 and that   
every human soul which has  not         
committed the final sin and passed the  
judgment is recoverable  to ,god1 if the
 right remedy be definitely applied2 and
 that every  people1 however weak1      
however sinful1 however wanting in hope 
and expectation1 has within it the      
possibility1 and above it the  promise1 
of the millennium4 ,god's power is      
adequate to all that4 ,we  want to      
associate this idea of the              
recoverableness of persons and of       
peoples to the highest ideal and to ,god
 ,himself2 we want to combine  this with
 the idea of man's present misery and   

hopelessness in his  condition1 to      
constitute the true and powerful        
missionary motive2  and then we want to 
recognize the fact that the gospel of   
,christ is  the one force which1 being  
used1 secures this result in the most   
unpromising conditions4    ,here1 again1
 we encounter the opposition of         
multitudes4 ,how often  men have        
laughed1 how loudly they have laughed1  
at the idea that  the story of the      
crucified ,nazarene could inspire a     
despondent soul  to hope1 could purify  
the vicious soul into virtue1 could     
bring  any soul nearer to ,god6 ,perhaps
 somewhere they are laughing at it  now2
 possibly even in this city of ,boston1 
the home of culture and  refinement1 of 
fine and wide thought--,i don't know1 ,i
 don't live  here2 but ,i know that in  
the country at large there are always   
those  who are disposed to say1 ,it is  
perfectly puerile to try to reach  human
 sorrow and human sin with the power of 
the gospel1 lodged in  the little book  

which the child may carry in her hand6  
,as if the  inconspicuous forces in the 
world's development were not always     
those deadliest on the one hand1 or most
 benign on the other2 as if  wafts of   
air did not kill multitudes more than   
all the batteries of  artillery2 as if  
the unseen forces1 hardly manifesting   
themselves  at all1 were not those which
 society seizes by which to advance     
itself most rapidly and grandly--that   
little spark1 vanishing                 
instantaneously1 but revealing the      
unseen force which drives  machineries1 
draws carriages1 illuminates cities1 and
 enables you  and me to talk as if face 
to face with friends and correspondents 
at the distance of a thousand miles2    
that fleecy vapor1 vanishing  silently  
into the air but representing the       
gigantic servant of  modern             
civilization1 which tunnels mountains1  
scoops out mines1 and  links the        
continents together with iron bands4    
,these unseen powers  are the ones that 

man craves and uses1 or that1 on the    
other hand1  he dreads and repels2 and  
the power of the gospel1 however men may
  smile at the idea of that power1 has  
vindicated itself too many  times to be 
assailed by argument1 certainly too many
 times to be  encountered with ridicule4
    ,the gospel is able to reconstitute 
society by reconstructing the  character
 of individuals4 ,through its effect on 
persons it opens  the way for vast      
national advances4 ,it touches not      
merely the  higher themes1 but all the  
themes that are associated with those1  
and immediately pertinent to the        
interest of mankind4 ,it teaches        
frugality and industry1 and honesty1 by 
express command1 and by the  divine     
example of ,him who brought it to us4   
,it turns men1 as has  been forcibly    
said1 out of the trails of blood and    
plunder into  the path of honest toil4  
,it is a gospel for every creature1 that
  is1 for every created thing2 and      
gardens bloom in a lovelier beauty      

under its influence1 and harvest        
festivals1 of which the country is  full
 to-day1 are only its natural and       
beautiful fruit and trophy4  ,it exalts 
womanhood2 and by the honor it puts on  
womanhood1 and by  the honor it puts on 
childhood1 it inaugurates the new family
 life  in the world4 ,it honors1 as no  
other religion does or ever did1  the   
essential worth of the immortal spirit  
in man2 and it forces  him1 pushes him1 
crowds him1 into thoughtfulness and     
educational  discipline1 since it will  
not allow him to be manipulated into    
paradise by any priestly hand1 but comes
 to him in a ,book1 and sets  him to    
work to investigate its contents1 to    
inquire concerning it1  to look out     
widely around it1 and to inform himself 
by careful  thought of what it is and   
what it means4    ,there is the basis of
 colleges and theological seminaries1   
and ,i  hope there will be no quarrel   
between them6 ,there is the basis of    
all the educational institutions and    

influences that are worthy in  the      
world4 ,christianity brings them4 ,it   
generates by degrees a new  social      
conscience4 ,it unites communities1 on  
which it has operated1  in new          
relationships to each other4            
,international alliances become         
possible1 become vital4 ,international  
law becomes a reality and  a power2     
beneficence is stimulated1 and law      
becomes ethical4 ,as  we have seen      
recently1 in the prodigious excitement  
of feeling  throughout civilized        
countries in consequence of the apparent
 gross  injustice done to a single      
,french officer by a military court1 the
  time is coming1 tho it has not yet    
fully come1 when mankind shall be  one  
in spirit1 and an                444    
instinct bear along1      ,round the    
earth's electric circle1      ,one swift
 flash of right or wrong4    ,it is not 
commerce which does this1 it is         
,christianity4 ,we are  witnesses to it4
 ,our ancestors1 not many centuries ago1

 were mere  rapacious savages1 robbers  
in the forests1 pirates on the sea2 it  
was ,christianity1 brought to them1 that
 lifted them into gladness1  serenity1  
great purpose1 great expectation and    
hope2 and the new  civilization in which
 we rejoice on either side1 ,i will not 
say  of the separating1 of the uniting  
ocean1 was founded on that ,new         
,testament1 the folios of which1 ,i     
believe1 are still preserved in  ,corpus
 ,christi ,college in ,cambridge1 and in
 the ,bodleian ,library  at ,oxford4    
,here is the basis of what has been the 
grandest1 most  illustrious1 and most   
prophetic1 in the recent history of     
mankind4  ,give the gospel freedom and  
it will everywhere show this power4     
,among the children and youth to whom it
 goes1 among the mature  and the strong1
 wheresoever it goes1 it grapples       
conscience1 it  stimulates the heart4   
,that one sentence1 ,the blood of ,jesus
 ,christ  cleanseth us from all sin1 is 
the profoundest truth1 is the most      

persuasive and commanding appeal1 ever  
addrest by an inspired  apostle to the  
children of mankind2 and wherever that  
is heard1 sin  is lost in penitence1 and
 hope is lost in triumphant vision1 and 
the  glory of the world disappears      
before the glory immutable of the ,son  
of ,god6    ,then we are to remember1   
certainly never is this to be forgotten1
  that the great imperishable motive1   
surpassing and dominating  every other  
in missionary effort1 is adoring love   
toward ,christ1  as central in the      
,scripture1 glorified in history4 ,no   
student of  history1 no observer of     
human experience1 can fail to see that  
there  is the sovereign passion possible
 to human nature2 beside which  the     
passion of love for a friend1 for a     
country1 for a business1  for studies1  
may be auxiliary1 but must be           
subordinate4 ,there is  the passion     
which has done the grandest things the  
world has ever  known4 ,there is the    
passion the vision of which interprets  

to us  the strangest1 sublimest pages of
 history4 ,we have all felt it1 ,i  am  
sure1 if we are ,christian1 in our      
measure1 and at times2 at the           
sacrament1 perhaps2 in those sabbaths of
 the soul of which ,coleridge  speaks1  
when the mind eddies instead of flowing 
onward2 when we have  been moved to a   
great effort for ,him whom we love2 most
 keenly1  perhaps1 when we have been in 
keenest sorrow1 when the earth was as   
iron under our feet and the heavens as  
brass above our head1 and we  were all  
alone1 yet not alone1 for there stood   
beside us ,one in the  form of the ,son 
of ,man1 making luminous the dark6 ,we  
have felt this  love toward ,christ2 and
 when we have felt it we have known that
 no  power could surpass or approach it 
in the intensity of its moving  force1  
to every enterprise1 great1 difficult   
howsoever it might be  by which ,he     
would be honored4    ,love has been the 
sovereign power in all the ,church4     
,judgment  may be generous2 love is     

lavish4 ,judgment may be stedfast in its
  conclusions2 love is heroic in its    
affirmations4 ,it was love that         
garnished the house1 and poured out the 
spikenard1 and spiced the  sepulcher4   
,it was love that faced the flames1 as  
in ,felicitas and  ,perpetua1 fronting  
the dungeon and not shrinking1 fronting 
the sword  and not blanching4 ,it was   
love that said1 ,the nearer the sword1  
the  nearer to ,god4 ,you can not       
conquer that power1 indestructible1 full
  of a divine energy4    ,and with the  
experience of this comes the vivid      
vision of the  divine ,providence1      
working for the gospel in human history4
 ,how  wonderful it is6 ,look at the    
progress of the last ninety years1      
since missionary work began in this     
country6 ,the changes1 except  as they  
are matters of public record and of     
universal personal  observation1 would  
be simply unthinkable--the vast new     
machineries  of travel and of commerce2 
the incalculable additions to the wealth

  of civilized lands2 the               
ever-increasing prosperity and power of 
,protestant nations1 in which the gospel
 is honored2 the equally  ever-reduced  
power and lessening fame of nations1    
ancient and  famous1 in which the gospel
 is refused free movement with a home   
among the people2 the continually closer
 approaches of civilized  and           
,protestant nations to each other1 as of
 ,great ,britain and this  country4     
,many years ago ,lord ,brougham said1   
you remember1 ,not an  ax falls in the  
,american forest but it sets in motion a
 shuttle in  ,manchester4 ,that has been
 true ever since1 and is more true      
to-day  than ever before4 ,not a mine is
 opened1 not an industry established1   
not a mechanism invented in the one     
country1 which is not  recognized1 and  
the power of which is not felt1 in the  
other2 and  more and more their policies
 are weaving together1 not necessarily  
in form1 but in fundamental1 underlying 
sympathy4 ,all these things  are going  

forward with the opening of regions and 
realms formerly  inaccessible to        
,christianity2 so that now the          
,christianity which  seemed buried in   
the catacombs1 which seemed burned up in
 the martyr  fires1 has the freedom of  
the world1 and may everywhere be        
preached  in its purity and its power4  
,here are the plans of ,god going       
forward2 and we ought to feel in        
ourselves that in every hardest  work we
 do we are only keeping step with the   
march of omnipotence4    ,i know that   
there are many who fear that the        
prosperity of our  times1 the love of   
pleasure1 the desire for ease and       
enjoyment1 are  to interfere with and   
stay these plans of the divine          
,providence for  the furtherance of     
,christ's ,church1 and of ,his cause in 
the world4 ,i  do not wonder at the     
fear1 though ,i do not share it4        
,unquestionably  the secular spirit is  
more intense and widely distributed at  
this time than it ever was before1 and  

the opportunities for its               
gratification1 in the acquirement of    
wealth and in the enjoyment of  every   
luxury1 are greater than ever before4   
,undoubtedly it is true  that ,sunday   
observance is far less strict1 and      
family discipline  and training far less
 careful1 than they were1 perhaps1 in   
the days  of our own childhood4 ,sunday 
newspapers make almost all ,american    
ministers wish they were ,englishmen2   
and ,sunday observance among  ourselves 
reminds one too often of that colloquy  
between ,joshua and  ,moses as they were
 coming down from the mount during the  
idol-feast1  when the younger said1     
,there is a noise of war in the camp4   
,no1  said the elder and more           
discerning1 it is not the voice of them 
that shout for the mastery1 neither is  
it the voice of them that cry  for being
 overcome1 but it is the voice of them  
that sing1 that ,i  hear4 ,sometimes in 
our congregations ,i think it is not the
 shout  for the mastery of the truth1   

pushing it upon men1 it is not the      
voice of them that cry1 in penitence and
 humble obedience1 because  they are    
overcome1 but it is the voice of them   
that sing that we  hear2 and the singing
 is too often in operatic measures1 and 
done by  quartets1 not by congregations6
 ,talleyrand was right in saying years  
ago that ,americans take their pleasures
 sadly4 ,i think that we are  right     
also1 and more nearly right1 when we say
 that ,americans take  their religion   
too lightly1 too gaily1 as if it were a 
varnish upon  life instead of a fire and
 power within it4    ,but the human soul
 is still beating1 and full of life1 in 
the heart  of everyone whom we address2 
and ,god's gospel has its grip on that  
human soul whenever it reaches it       
through our ministry1 lifts it  nearer  
the things supernal1 and nearer ,god    
,himself4 ,while ,i see  many things to 
make us solicitous1 ,i see nothing to   
make us timid1  concerning these mighty 
advancing plans of ,god4 ,if persecution

  could not stay them1 if prelacy could 
not finally thwart them1 ,i  do not     
believe that bicycles are going to      
override them1 in the  end1 or that they
 are to find their grave in the         
fascinating golf  links4 ,no6 there is  
,one who sitteth above the circle of the
 earth1  and the inhabitants thereof are
 as grasshoppers2 and ,his plans go     
forth1 soundless1 silent1 except as they
 come into operation4 ,but  they never  
are broken2 they never are drawn back2  
and the world has  to learn more and    
more clearly1 every century1 that the   
banners of  ,god are those which never  
go down in any struggle1 and that       
whoever  walks and works with ,god is   
sure of the triumph4    ,then do not let
 us forget that this is the sublime     
interval in  history between the        
ascension of the ,master and ,his second
 coming in  power and glory1 to judge   
the world6 ,in a grand and awful time   
the  hymn says--and ,i repeat it3       
,we are living1 we are dwelling1        

,in a grand and awful time1    when the 
heavens have been luminous with the     
splendor of the  ascension1 and are     
destined to be luminous again with the  
awful  glory of the coming for judgment2
 and now is our time for work--for  work
 with the energy of the divine ,spirit  
whose dispensation this  is4 ,that      
,spirit wrote ,his gospel by the        
inspiration of human minds1  and by the 
instruments of human hands1 on leaves of
 parchment and  papyrus4 ,he is writing 
,his gospel now1 at large1 through ,his 
inspiration of human minds and guidance 
of human hands over the  expanses of the
 continents4 ,but it is the same        
gospel--the gospel  of sin1 the gospel  
of atonement1 the gospel of             
regeneration1 the  gospel of future     
judgment1 and of future glory for the   
believing4  ,that is the gospel2 and we 
are to go with ,him in extending the    
knowledge of that and in writing it     
ourselves4 ,wheresoever we have  the    
opportunity1 that is our work2 a work   

greater1 more momentous1  wider in its  
relations1 than any other done upon the 
earth4    ,let us not forget then the   
meanness1 the misery and evilness1 of   
human society1 where the gospel does not
 enter and pervade it4 ,let  us not     
forget the recoverableness to ,god of   
every person and every  people1 if the  
divine energies are rightly used4 ,let  
us not forget  that the gospel of       
,christ is the power at which men laugh 
and say1  ,you are trying to quarry     
mountains with sunbeams2 you are trying 
to lift masses of masonry with aerial   
or1 at best1 with silken  threads4 ,it  
is the gospel of ,christ which is to be 
the power to  lift mankind1 and glorify 
,god1 on all the continents1 in all the 
earth4 ,the passion of love for ,christ1
 stimulated by everything  that we read 
or hear1 quickened by the ,spirit in our
 hearts1 is the  power that is to loosen
 amassed wealth and make it fluent1 that
  is to vitalize dead wealth and make it
 active1 that is to enter  into every   

languid heart and inspire it for        
service4 ,and then the  view of the     
divine ,providence working in history   
toward one result1  steadily steering   
toward one haven and port1--the earth   
renewed in  righteousness and beautiful 
before ,god2 and then this dispensation 
of the ,spirit1 in which we have our    
time6 ,after the resurrection1 a        
disciple said1 ,i go a-fishing4         
,likewise said they all4 ,it seems      
strange that even after that miracle1   
which has shot its radiance  everywhere 
upon the history of the world1 any      
disciple should have  yielded to such an
 impulse4 ,but now shall we1 after the  
ascension  and when the skies are still 
glowing with it1 after ,pentecost has   
opened heavenly principalities and      
powers to our view and our  experience1 
under the shadow of the great white     
throne that is  to be set in            
heaven--shall we go to building and     
bargaining1 to  mining and              
merchandising1 as our chief aim in life1

 and omit this  sublimest service which 
angels1 it seems to me1 must bend above 
the  battlements of heaven to see in its
 progress1 and to make their  hearts and
 harps jubilant in its vitality and     
success8    ,oh1 my friends1 let us     
remember1 wheresoever we labor1 that our
  errand is to make this complex1       
complete1 energetic missionary  motive  
more clear to every mind1 more          
thoroughly vigorous and  energetic in   
every heart4 ,everything else must be   
postponed6 ,do  not let us spend our    
strength in picking the gospel to       
pieces1  to see if we can't put it      
together again in a better fashion6 ,do 
not let us spend our strength in any    
denominational controversies  or        
collisions4 ,let us give ourselves1 with
 all our power1 to  making this immense 
missionary motive operative throughout  
all the  churches1 throughout and in all
 ,christian hearts2 till ,he shall  come
 whose right it is to reign1 and take   
unto ,himself ,his great  power1 and    

rule1 ,king of nations as well as ,king 
of saints4 ,let  us recognize this as   
the one truly magnificent errand for man
 on  the earth4 ,let us be filled with  
the ,divine ,spirit1 that we may        
accomplish it the more perfectly4 ,let  
us never intermit the service4  ,and if1
 as we grow older1 we grow weary with   
cares and labors1 and  it may be with   
sorrows1 and are disposed sometimes to  
think we may  now rest1 let us remember 
the word of ,arnauld1 the illustrious   
,port  ,royalist1 whom even his         
passionate enemies1 the ,jesuits1       
admitted  to be great1 of whom it is    
recorded that when some one said to him1
  ,you have labored long1 now is your   
time to rest6 his reply was1  ,rest8    
,why rest1 here and now1 when ,i have a 
whole eternity to rest  in6 ,god in ,his
 grace open that tranquil and luminous  
eternity to  each of us1 where we may   
find rest in nobler praise and grander  
work1 forevermore2 and unto ,him be all 
the praise6          ,,punshon    ,,zeal

 ,,in ,,the ,,cause ,,of ,,christ       
,,biographical ,,note      ,,william    
,,morley ,,punshon1 ,english ,methodist 
divine1 was born at  ,doncaster1 in     
,yorkshire1 in #ahbd4 ,his style was    
brilliant and  elaborate1 and while his 
sermons were written out in the minutest
  detail and carefully committed to     
memory1 they were delivered with  a     
freshness and vigor that rivaled the    
charm of extemporaneous  eloquence4     
,every word he uttered was charged with 
the force and  vitality of his great    
personality4 ,at the ,metropolitan      
,church1  ,toronto1 ,canada1 he preached
 for many years1 drawing thousands of   
people to ,christ by the zeal1 magnetism
 and power of his pulpit  oratory4 ,he  
died in #ahha4          ,,punshon       
#ahbd-ahha    ,,zeal ,,in ,,the ,,cause 
,,of ,,christ         ,for whether we be
 beside ourselves1 it is to ,god3 or    
whether       we be sober1 it is for    
your cause4 ,for the love of ,christ    
constraineth us2 because we thus judge1 

that if one died for       all1 then    
were all dead2 and that he died for all1
 that they who       live should not    
henceforth live unto themselves1 but    
unto him       who died for them1 and   
rose again4--#b ,cor4 v41 #ac-ae4       
,it is always an advantage for the      
advocate of any particular cause  to    
know the tactics of his adversary4 ,he  
will be the better prepared  for the    
onset1 and repel the attack the more    
easily4 ,forewarned  of danger1 he will 
intrench himself in a position from     
which it  will be impossible to dislodge
 him4 ,the apostle ,paul possest this   
advantage in a very eminent degree4 ,in 
the earlier years of his  apostleship1  
the ,jew and the ,greek were the        
antagonists with whom  he had to        
contend4 ,having been himself a member  
of the straitest  sect of the ,jews1 he 
knew full well the antipathy with which 
they  regarded anything which set itself
 by its simplicity in contrast  with    
their magnificent ritual2 and he knew   

also the haughty scorn  with which they 
turned away from what they deemed the   
unworthy  accessories of the ,nazarene4 
,and1 well read as he was in classic    
literature1 and acquainted with all the 
habits and tendencies of the  ,grecian  
mind1 he could readily understand how   
the restraints of the  gospel would be  
deemed impertinent by the voluptuous    
,corinthian1 and  how the philosophic   
,athenian would brand its teachers mad4 
,and yet1  rejoicing in the experimental
 acquaintance with the gospel1 he says1 
for his standing-point of advantage3 ,we
 preach ,christ crucified1  to the ,jews
 a stumbling-block and to the ,greeks   
foolishness1 but to  them that are      
called1 the power of ,god and the wisdom
 of ,god4 ,and  in the words of the     
text1 addressing some of those very     
,corinthians  upon whom the gospel had  
exerted its power1 he seems to accept   
the stigma and vindicate the glorious   
madness3 ,for whether we be  beside     
ourselves1 it is to ,god3 or whether we 

be sober it is for  your cause4 ,for the
 love of ,christ constraineth us2       
because we thus  judge1 that if one died
 for all1 then were all dead2 and that  
he  died for all1 that they who live    
should not henceforth live unto         
themselves1 but unto him who died for   
them1 and rose again4 ,the  great       
purpose of the apostle in these words is
 to impress upon  us the fact that the  
cause of ,christ in the world1          
sanctioned by  the weight of so many    
obligations1 fraught with the destinies 
of so many millions1 should be furthered
 by every legitimate  means2 that for   
it1 if necessary1 should be employed the
 soberest  wisdom2 and for it1 if       
necessary1 the most impassioned zeal4   
,he  vindicates the use of zeal in the  
cause of ,christ by the three  following
 considerations3 ,first1 from the       
condition of the world2  secondly1 from 
the obligations of the ,church2 and1    
thirdly1 from the  master-motive of the 
,savior's constraining love4 ,to        

illustrate and  enforce this apostolic  
argument1 as not inappropriate to the   
object  which has called us together1   
will be our business for a few brief    
moments to-night4    ,i4 ,the apostle   
argues and enforces the use of zeal in  
the cause  of ,christ1 in the first     
place1 from the condition of the world4 
,the apostle speaks of the world as in a
 state of spiritual death4  ,he argues  
the universality of this spiritual death
 from the  universality of the atonement
 of ,christ4 ,for the love of ,christ   
constraineth us1 because we thus judge1 
that if one died for all1  then were all
 dead--dead in sin1 with every vice     
luxuriant and  every virtue languishing2
 dead in law1 judicially in the grasp   
of the avenger2 nay1 condemned already1 
and hastening to the  second death4 ,we 
need not remind you that this is by no  
means the  world's estimate of its own  
condition4 ,it is short-sighted1 and1   
therefore1 self-complacent4 ,there is a 
veil over its eye2 there  is a delusion 

at its heart4 ,in that delusion it      
fancies itself  enthroned and stately1  
like some poor lunatic1 an imaginary    
monarch  under the inflictions of its   
keeper4 ,the discovery of its true      
position comes only when the mind is    
enlightened from on high4 ,we  thus     
judge1 not because there is in us any   
intuitional sagacity1  or any           
prophetical foresight1 by which our     
judgment is made more  accurate than the
 judgment of others2 but the ,holy      
,spirit has come  down1 has wrought upon
 us--has shown us the plague of our own 
hearts--and from the death within us we 
can the better argue the  death which   
exists around4 ,and that this is the    
actual condition  of the world1         
,scripture and experience combine to    
testify4 ,the  ,bible1 with             
comprehensive impartiality1 concludes   
all under sin2  represents mankind as a 
seed of evil-doers--children that are   
corrupters--sheep that have wandered    
away from the ,shepherd and  ,bishop of 

their souls4 ,in the adjudication of    
,scripture there is no  exemption from  
this common character of evil1 and from 
this common  exposure to danger4 ,the   
men of merciful charities1 and the woman
  of abandoned life--the proudest peer1 
and the vilest serf in his  barony--the 
moralist observer of the decalogue1 and 
the man-slayer1  red with blood1 all are
 comprehended in the broad and large    
denunciation3 ,ye were by nature        
children of wrath1 even as others4  ,and
 out in the broad world1 wherever the   
observant eye travels1 you  have        
abundant confirmation of the testimony  
of ,scripture4 ,you have  it in your own
 history4 ,the transgressions and sins  
which constitute  this moral death      
abound in our age no less than in any   
former age  of mankind4 ,there are      
thousands around you who revel in       
undisguised  corruption4 ,there are     
thousands more externally reputable who 
have  only a name to live4 ,you have    
this confirmation in the nations of  the

 ,continent--some safely bound by the   
superstition of ages2 others  subsiding 
into a reactionary skepticism4 ,you have
 this confirmation  further away in the 
countries which own ,mohammedan rule1   
and cherish  the ,mohammedan's          
dream--where you have unbridled lust1   
and a tiger's  thirst for blood4 ,you   
have this confirmation in the far-off   
regions  of heathenism proper1 where the
 nature1 bad in itself1 is made a       
thousand fold worse by its              
religion--where the man is the prey of  
every error1 and the heart the slave of 
every cruelty--where men  live in       
destruction1 and where men die in       
despair4 ,travel where  you will1 visit 
the most distant regions1 and search    
under the  shadow of the highest        
civilization--penetrate into the depths 
of  those primeval forests1 into whose  
original darkness you might  have       
imagined the curse would hardly         
penetrate1 and the result is  uniformly 
the same4 ,death is everywhere4 ,you see

 it1 indeed1 in all  its varieties now  
in the rare and fading beauty which it  
wears just  after the spirit has fled   
from the clay1 when its repose seems the
  worn-out casket1 which the soul has   
broken1 and thrown away2 now1  when     
there is shed over it a hue of the      
sublime1 and it is carried  amid the    
tears to burial1 and now1 when          
corruption has begun its  work1 and its 
ill odor affects the neighborhood1 and  
spreads the  pestilence--you see it in  
all its varieties1 but uniformly death  
is there4 ,we gather from our melancholy
 pilgrimage no vestige  of spiritual    
life4 ,mourners go about the streets1   
and there are  mourners over many tombs4
    ,altho1 as we have observed just    
now1 a thorough and realizing  estimate 
of the world's condition comes only when
 the judgment is  enlightened from on   
high1 the wise men of the world1 the    
minds  that have in all ages towered    
above their fellows1 have felt an       
unsatisfactoriness for which they could 

hardly account2 they  have had a vague  
and morbid consciousness that all was   
not right  somehow1 either with         
themselves or with their race2 they have
 met  with disturbing forces1 signs of  
irregularity1 tokens of misery  and of  
sin that have ruffled1 somewhat1 the    
philosophic evenness  of their minds4   
,each in his own way1 and from his own  
standpoint1  has guessed at the solution
 of the problem1 and has been ready     
with a suggested remedy4 ,the peoples   
are imbruted2 educate them4  ,the       
nations are barbarous2 civilize them4   
,men grovel in sensual  pleasure2       
cultivate the esthetic faculty2 open to 
them galleries  of pictures2 bring them 
under the humanizing influences of art4 
,men groan in bondage2 emancipate them1 
and bid them be free6 ,such  are some of
 the tumultuous cries that have arisen  
from earnest  but blind philanthropists1
 who have ignored the spiritual part of 
man's nature1 and forgotten altogether  
the ,godward relations of his  soul4    

,all these1 as might have been expected1
 valuable enough as  auxiliaries1 worth 
something to promote the growth and     
comfort of  a man when life has been    
once imparted1 fail1 absolutely fail to 
quicken the unconscious dead4 ,in all   
cases the bed has been shorter  than    
that a man could lie on it1 and the     
covering narrower than  that he could   
wrap himself in it4 ,the inbred death   
lay too deep  for such superficial      
alchemy2 corpses can not by any         
possibility  animate corpses2 and the   
compassionate bystander from other      
worlds1  sickened with the many         
inventions1 might be constrained to cry1
  ,amid all this tumult of the human1 ,o
 for something divine6 ,and  the divine 
is given--,christ has died for all men4 
,there is hope for  the world's life4   
,this is a death whereby we live2 this  
is a remedy  commensurate with existing 
need1 and intended entirely to terminate
  and extinguish that need4    ,that    
squalid savage1 whose creed is a        

perpetual terror1 and whose  life is a  
perpetual war--,christ hath died for    
him4 ,that fettered  and despairing     
slave1 into whose soul the iron has     
entered1 valued  by his base oppressor  
about on a par with the cattle he tends1
  or with the soil he digs--,christ hath
 died for him4 ,that dark  blasphemer1  
who lives in familiar crime1 whose      
tongue is set on fire  of hell1 whose   
expatriation would be hailed by the     
neighborhood  around him as a boon of   
chiefest value--,christ has died for    
him4  ,that dark recluse1 whom an       
awakened conscience harasses1 and who1  
in  the vain hope of achieving merit by 
suffering1 wastes himself with  vigilant
 penance well-nigh to the grave--,christ
 has died for him4  ,oh1 tell these     
tidings to the world1 and it will live4 
,prophesy of  this name in the          
motionless valley1 and the divine       
,spirit who always  waits to do honor to
 ,jesus will send the afflatus from the 
four  winds of heaven1 and they shall   

leap into life to ,his praise4    ,now  
take these two points4 ,think in the    
first place1 of the  condition of the   
world--a condition so disastrous1 that  
nothing but  death can illustrate it--a 
condition which prostrates every        
faculty1  which smites the body with    
unnumbered cruelties1 which dwarfs the  
mind with prejudices or distorts it into
 unholy passion1 which  banishes the    
soul and mind within a man in hopeless  
estrangement  from happiness and ,god2  
and then think of the death of ,christ1 
providing for the furthest need1        
overtaking the utmost exile1  pouring   
its abundant life upon the sepulchered  
nations1 diffusing  light1 liberty1     
hope1 comfort1 heaven3 and ,i appeal to 
your  enlightened judgment whether you  
are not bound1 those of you who  believe
 in ,jesus1 to labor for the world's    
conversion with intensest  energy and   
zeal4 ,oh1 if temporal miseries elicit  
sympathy1 and  prompt to help2 if the   
anxieties of a neighborhood gather      

around a  drowning child1 or are        
fastened upon the rafters of a burning  
house1  where1 solitary and imploring1  
stands a single man1 already charred  by
 the flame1 how much of sympathy1 of    
effort1 of liberality1 of  zeal1 of     
prayer1 are due to a world lying in the 
wicked one1 and  panting after the      
second death6 ,you will agree with me1  
that there  is more than license for the
 poet's words3        ,on such a theme1 
',tis impious to be calm6    ,and you   
will rejoice--will you not8 to take your
 stand to-night by  the apostle's side1 
and to cry1 when men deem your zeal     
impertinence  and your efforts          
fanaticism1 ,if we be beside ourselves1 
it is to  ,god3 and if we be sober1 it  
is for your cause4    ,,ii4 ,the apostle
 argues the necessity for zeal in the   
cause of  ,christ1 secondly1 from the   
obligations of the ,church1 in that ,he 
died for all1 that they should          
live--should not henceforth live  unto  
themselves1 but for ,him who died for   

them and rose again4 ,the  apostle's    
argument is this--none of us has life in
 himself2 if we  live at all1 we live by
 imparted life2 we live because life has
 been  drafted into our spirits from on 
high4 ,then it is not our own2 it       
belongs to ,him who has purchased it for
 us with ,his own blood1 and  we are    
bound to employ it in ,his service1 and 
for ,his glory4 ,this  also is the      
conclusion of an enlightened judgment4  
,we judge this as  well as the other1   
and this is in accordance with the whole
 tenor  of ,scripture4 ,time would fail 
us to mention a tithe of the passages   
in which devotion--the devotion of the  
heart and of the service of  ,god are   
made matter of constant and of prominent
 demand4 ,i will just  mention one      
passage that may serve as an            
illustration of all3 ,i  beseech you    
therefore1 brethren1 by the mercies of  
,god1 that ye give  your bodies as a    
living sacrifice4 ,have you ever gaged  
the depth of  consecration that slumbers

 in the heart of those words--a living  
sacrifice2 to be absolutely and         
increasingly devoted to ,god1 as if  the
 knife were at the throat1 and the      
life-blood streamed forth in  votive    
offering8 ,nay1 better than that2       
because the life-blood could  stream out
 but once1 but the living sacrifice may 
be a perpetual  holocaust1 repeated     
daily for a lifetime--a living          
sacrifice1 holy  and acceptable unto    
,god1 which is your reasonable service4 
,from the  doctrine of this passage1 and
 of numberless others kindred to it1  it
 would appear that the regenerate heart 
is not at liberty to live  for itself1  
nor to aim supremely at its own         
gratification2 it must  live for ,him   
who has died for it1 and who has risen  
again4 ,you can  not fail1 ,i think1 to 
perceive that compliance with this      
exhortation  is utterly antagonistic to 
the ordinary procedure of mankind4      
,in the age of organization against     
idolatry1 there is one proud1  rampant  

idolatry which retains its ascendency   
amongst us4  ,selfishness is the most   
patronized idolatry in the world4 ,it is
  the great image whose brightness is   
exceeding terrible1 and before  which   
all men bow2 it is a throne1 and an     
empire1 and the likeness  of a kingly   
crown2 it equips armies and mans        
armaments to gratify  its lust of power4
 ,fastnesses have been explored and     
caverns  ransacked to appease its thirst
 for gold4 ,it presides over the        
councils of kings and over the diplomacy
 of cabinets2 for it the  merchantman   
grindeth down his manhood1 for it the   
treader-under-foot  of nations marcheth 
in his might and in his shame2 its      
votaries  are of all handicrafts--of the
 learned professions1 and of every  walk
 in life4 ,it hath sometimes climbed on 
to the judgment-seat1  and perverted    
justice there4 ,the cowled monk hath    
hidden it beneath  his robe1 and it hath
 become for him an engine of oppression1
 and  it hath occasionally robed itself 

in holy vestments1 and entered  the     
priest's office for a morsel of bread4  
,no grace or virtue of  humanity is free
 from its contamination4 ,it has        
breathed1 and  patriotism has           
degenerated into partisanship2 it has   
breathed1  and friendship has been      
simulated for policy2 it has breathed1  
and charity has been blemished by       
ostentation2 it has breathed1  and      
religion has been counterfeited for     
gold2 its sway is a  despotism--its     
territory wherever man hath trodden1 and
 it is the  undisputed anarch of the    
world4 ,now it is against this principle
  in human nature1 throned within us    
all1 doggedly contesting every  inch of 
ground1 that ,christianity goes forth to
 combat4 ,the gospel  absolutely refuses
 to allow self to be the governing      
power1 and  assaults it in all its      
strongholds with precepts of sublime    
morality4 ,to the selfishness of avarice
 it goes up boldly1 even  while the     
miser clutches his gold1 and says3 ,give

 to him that  asketh of thee1 and from  
him that would borrow of thee turn not  
thou away4 ,to the selfishness of anger 
it addresses itself1 even  when the red 
spot is yet on the brow of the angry3   
,let not the sun  go down upon thy      
wrath2 ,bless them that curse you1 pray 
for them  that despitefully use you and 
persecute you4 ,to the selfishness of   
pride1 even in its haughtiness and      
arrogance1 it says3 ,in honor           
preferring one another1 be clothed with 
humility1 let each esteem  another      
better than himself4 ,to the selfishness
 of indifference to  the concerns of    
others1 ,look not on thine own things1  
but likewise  upon the things of others2
 and to the selfishness of souls and    
criminal neglect of the great salvation1
 it speaks in tones of  pathos which    
that must be a callous heart that can   
withstand1 ,ye  know the graces of our  
,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who1 tho he was   
rich1 yet  for our sins he became poor1 
that we1 through his poverty1 might be  

made rich4 ,oh1 how small1 alongside of 
august and heavenly precepts  like      
these1 are the sublimest maxims of any  
merely ethical morality6    ,it is said 
that1 once1 during the performance of a 
comedy in the  ,roman theater1 one of   
the actors gave utterance to the        
sentiment1  ,i am a man2 nothing1       
therefore1 that is human can be foreign 
to  me1 and the audience were so struck 
by the disinterestedness1 or  so charmed
 by the novelty1 that they greeted it   
with thunders of  applause4 ,how much   
greater wealth of kindly wisdom and     
prompting to  unselfish action lies     
hidden in the gospel of ,christ1 shrined
 there  as every-day utterances passed  
by the most of us very slightingly  by6 
,oh6 let there be anything like the     
genial practise of this  divine         
morality1 and the world would soon lose 
its aspect of  desolation and of blood2 
oppression and over-reaching1 and fraud 
and cruelty1 would be frowned out of the
 societies of men1 and  this earth would

 be once more an ample and a peopled    
paradise4 ,by  selfishness1 as we have  
thus endeavored to describe it1 we mean 
that  grasping1 monopolizing spirit     
which gets all and gives nothing2       
heedful enough of its own fortunes1     
careless of the concerns and  interests 
of others4 ,this is the principle in our
 nature which  ,christianity opposes1   
and with which it ceaselessly wages war4
 ,but  there is a sort of selfishness   
which1 for the sake of distinction1  we 
may call self-love1 which is            
instinctive1 and therefore              
innocent--that merciful provision by    
which we are prompted to the  care of   
our own lives and to the avoidance of   
everything that would  disquiet or      
abridge them4 ,this principle in our    
nature ,christianity  encourages2 to    
this principle ,christianity addresses  
itself2 and  hence it has connected1    
married in indissoluble union1 man's    
chiefest duty and man's highest         
pleasure4 ,godliness is profitable  unto

 all things1 having the promise of the  
life that now is4 ,what  has the dark1  
morbid1 unhappy sensualist to do with   
it8 ,godliness  hath the promise of the 
life that now is1 as well as that which 
is to come4 ,in keeping ,thy            
commandments there is a present reward4 
,take my yoke upon you and learn of me1 
for ,i am meek and lowly  in heart1 and 
ye shall find rest unto your souls2 for 
my yoke is  easy and my burden is light4
 ,in thy presence there is fulness of   
joy2 at thy right hand there are        
pleasures for evermore4 ,just as  it is 
in man's physical organization1 and its 
adaptation to the  material world around
 him1 when body and mind are alike in   
health1  we can neither eat1 nor drink1 
nor walk1 nor sleep1 nor sing1 nor      
perform any of the commonest actions of 
life without a sensation of  pleasure2  
so it is in the spiritual life3 there is
 pleasure in its  every motion4 ,there  
is pleasure even in the sting of        
penitence2 it is        ,a godly grief  

and pleasing smart1       ,that melting 
of a broken heart4    ,there is pleasure
 in the performance of duty2 there is   
pleasure  in the enjoyment of privilege2
 there is pleasure in the overcoming  of
 temptations1 a grand thrill of         
happiness to see trampled under  foot a 
vanquished lust or slain desire2 there  
is pleasure in the  exercise of         
benevolence2 there is pleasure in the   
importunity of  prayer4 ,hence it is    
that the apostle seeks to rivet the     
sense of  personal obligation by the    
remembrance of personal benefit4 ,we    
thus judge1 that he died for all1 that  
they which live should not  henceforth  
live unto themselves1 but unto him      
who--owns them8  ,no4 ,claims them8 ,no4
 ,will judge them8 ,no2 but--to him who 
died  for them and rose again4          
,gratitude is to be the best prompter to
  our devotion4 ,those who live to      
,christ1 those who live by ,christ1     
will not tamely see ,his altars         
forsaken1 ,his ,sabbaths desecrated1    

,his name blasphemed1 the blood of the  
covenant wherewith ,he was  sanctified  
accounted an unholy thing4 ,brethren1   
are you of that  happy family8 ,have you
 obtained life from the dead through    
,his name8  ,then you are bound to spend
 it for ,his honor1 and1 watching with  
godly jealousy for every possible       
opportunity of doing good1 to  spend and
 be spent for them who have not yet your
 ,master known4 ,i  call on you to      
answer this invocation2 it belongs to   
you4 ,there is  no neutrality1 believe  
me1 in this war--and if there be some of
 you  that would like to be dastardly   
and half-hearted trimmers1 you will     
find by and by that you have got the    
hottest place in the battle1  exposed to
 the cross-fire from the artillery of   
both parties4 ,i call  on you decisively
 to-night to answer this invocation4    
,call up before  your minds the benefits
 you have individually received2 think  
of  the blessings which the death of    
,christ has procured for you--the       

removal of the blighting curse which    
shadowed all your life1 the  present    
sense of pardon1 mastery over self and  
over sin1 light in  the day of your     
activity1 and songs in the night of your
 travail2  the teaching ,spirit to lead 
you into still loftier knowledge1  and  
the sanctifying ,spirit to impress upon 
you the image of the  heavenly2 that    
divine fellowship which lightens the    
present1 and  that majestic hope which  
makes the future brighter far4 ,think of
  the benefits which the resurrection of
 ,christ has conferred upon  you2 light 
in the shadowed valley1 the last enemy  
destroyed1 support  amid the swellings  
of ,jordan1 a guide upon the hither side
 of the  flood1 angelic welcomes1 the   
,king in his beauty1 and a house not    
made with hands1 eternal in the heavens4
 ,and then1 as the sum of  favor is     
presented1 and gratitude arises and the 
fire burns1 and  the heart is full1 and 
the frame quivers with the intensity of 
its  emotions1 just remember that there 

is a world lying in the wicked  one1    
that there are multitudes1 thousands    
upon thousands1 in your  own city1 at   
your own doors1 for whom the ,savior    
died1 who never  heard ,his name2 that  
there are multitudes for whom ,he has   
abolished  death who have never felt    
,his resurrection's power4 ,let your    
tears  flow2 better1 far better a tear  
for ,god's sake and the world's sake    
than the hard-heartedness and darkness  
of sin4 ,lift up your voice in  the     
midst of them2 lift it up1 be not       
afraid4 ,say unto the cities of  ,judah1
 ,behold your ,god4 ,men will call you  
mad1 but you can give  them the         
apostle's answer1 ,if we be beside      
ourselves1 it is to ,god2  if we be     
sober1 it is for your cause4    ,,iii4  
,the apostle argues the necessity of    
zeal in the cause of  ,christ1 in the   
third place1 from the master motive of  
the ,savior's  constraining love4 ,the  
love of ,christ constraineth us--forces 
us along1 carries us away as with the   

impetuosity of a torrent1  or rather as 
when cool heavens and favoring air speed
 the vessel  steadily to the haven4     
,love is at once man's most powerful    
motive  and his highest inspiration1    
both in the life that now is and that   
which is to come4 ,from love to ,christ 
spring the most devoted  obedience1 the 
most untiring efforts in ,his service4  
,there are  other springs of action1 ,i 
know1 by which men are influenced  to a 
profession of religion4 ,interest can   
occasionally affect  godliness from     
sordid aims1 and behave itself          
decorously amid the  respectabilities of
 the temple-going and almsgiving        
religion2 but it  will give its arm to  
any man that goes down to the house of  
,rimmon2  and if there is a decree that 
at the sound of all kinds of music  they
 are to fall down before another image  
which has been erected in  the plains of
 ,dura1 they will be the most obsequious
 benders of the  knee4 ,men sometimes   
practise obedience under the influence  

of fear4  ,a sudden visitation1 a       
prevailing epidemic1 an alarming appeal1
 will  strike into momentary concern2   
but when the indignation is overpast1   
and the craven soul has recovered from  
its paroxysms of terror1  there will    
often be a relapse into more than the   
former atrocities  of evil4 ,convictions
 of duty may and sometimes will induce a
 man1  like an honest ,pharisee of the  
olden time1 to observe rigidly the      
enactments of the law2 but there will be
 no heart in his obedience1  and no holy
 passion in his soul2 but let the love  
of ,god be shed  abroad in his heart by 
the ,holy ,ghost given unto him1 let    
there be  a perception of love in ,god1 
let there be sight of the ,crucified as 
well as of the cross1 and there will be 
disinterested1 and cheerful1  and hearty
 obedience4 ,zeal for ,god will become  
at once a passion and  a principle1     
intensifying every purpose into ardor1  
and filling the  whole soul with        
vehemence of absorbing desire4 ,this is 

the emotion  from whose natural and     
inevitable outflow the apostle          
vindicates  impassioned zeal4           
,opinions are divided as to whether the 
constraining love spoken of  in the text
 refers to ,christ's love to us or to   
our love to ,him1  which the sense of   
,his love has enkindled in the soul4 ,i 
do not  think we can go far wrong if we 
take both meanings1 inasmuch as no      
principle of exposition is violated1 and
 as we need the pressure of  a          
combination of motive1 that we may be   
zealously affected always  in this good 
thing4 ,ye1 then1 if there are any of   
you here who  need rousing to energy in 
the service of ,christ1 think of ,his   
love  to you2 how rich its              
manifestations1 and how unfeigned2 how  
all  other love of which it is possible 
for you to conceive shrinks in  the     
comparison6 ,there have been            
developments in the histories of  years 
of self-sacrificing affection1 which has
 clung to the loved  object amid hazard 

and suffering1 and which has been ready 
even  to offer up life in its behalf4   
,orestes and ,pylades1 ,damon and       
,pythias1 ,david and ,jonathan1 what    
lovely episodes their histories  give us
 amid a history of selfishness and sin6 
,men have canonized  them1 partly       
because such instances are rare1 and    
partly because  they are like a dim hope
 of redemption looming from the ruins of
  the fall4 ,we have it on inspired     
authority1 indeed1 ,greater love  hath  
no man than this--this is the highest   
point which man can  compass1 this is   
the culminating point of that affection 
which man  can by possibility attain1   
the apex of his loftiest pyramid goes   
no higher than this--greater love hath  
no man than this1 that a  man lay down  
his life for his friend2 but ,god       
commendeth his love  toward us1 in that 
while we were yet sinners ,christ died  
for us4 ,a  brother has sometimes made  
notable efforts to retrieve a brother's 
fortunes1 or to blanch his sullied      

honor2 but there is a ,friend that      
sticketh closer than a brother4 ,a      
father has bared his breast to  shield  
his offspring from danger1 and a mother 
would gladly die for  the offspring of  
her womb2 but a father's affection may  
fail in its  strength1 and yet more     
rarely a mother's in its tenderness4    
,and can a woman forget her sucking     
child1 that she should not have         
compassion on the son of her womb8 ,yea1
 they may forget1 yet will ,i  not      
forget thee4 ,o ,jesus of ,nazareth1 who
 can declare ,thee8 ,herein  is love1   
not that we loved ,god1 but that he     
loved us1 and sent his  ,son to be a    
propitiation for our sins4 ,think of    
that love--love  which desertion could  
not abate--love which ingratitude could 
not  abate--which treachery could not   
abate--love which death could not       
destroy--love which1 for creatures      
hateful and hating one another1  stooped
 to incarnation1 and suffered want1 and 
embraced death1 and  shrank not even    

from the loathesomeness and from the    
humiliation  of burial2 and then1 with  
brimming eye1 and heart that is full of 
wonder3 ,why such love to me8 you will  
indeed be ungrateful if you  are not    
stirred by it to an energy of           
consecration and endeavor1  which may   
well seem intemperate zeal to cool      
reckoners with worldly  wisdom4    ,then
 take the other side of the argument2   
take it as referring to  your love to   
,christ1 which the sense of ,his love   
has enkindled in  the soul4 ,the deepest
 affection in the believing heart will  
always  be the love of ,jesus4 ,the love
 of home1 the love of friends1 the  love
 of letters1 the love of rest1 the love 
of travel1 and all  else1 are contracted
 by the side of this master passion4 ,a 
little  deeper1 said one of the veterans
 of the first ,napoleon's old  guard1   
when they were probing in his bosom for 
a bullet that had  mortally wounded him1
 and he thought they were getting       
somewhere  in the region of the heart--a

 little deeper and you will find  the   
,emperor4 ,engraven on the ,christian's 
heart deeper than all  other love of    
home or friends1 with an ineffaceable   
impression that  nothing can erase1 you 
find the loved name of ,jesus4 ,oh6 let 
this  affection impel us1 and who shall 
measure our diligence or repress  our   
zeal8 ,love is not bound by rule2 there 
is no law that can bind  it2 it is never
 below the precept1 it is always up to  
the precept1  but it always has a margin
 of its own4 ,it does not calculate1    
with mathematical exactitude1 with how  
little of obedience it can  escape      
penalty and secure recompense2 like its 
,master it gives in  princely style2 it 
is exuberant in its manifestations2     
there is  always enough and to spare4   
,and if meaner motive can prompt to     
heroic action--if from pure love of     
science astronomers can cross  the ocean
 familiarly1 and dare encounter dangers1
 just that they may  watch in distant   
climes the transit of a planet across   

the disc of  the sun--and if botanists  
can travel into inhospitable climes and 
sojourn among inhospitable men1 only to 
gather specimens of their  gorgeous     
flora--and if1 with no motive but love  
of country1 and no  recompense save     
bootless tears and an undying name1 a   
,willoughby  could sacrifice himself to 
blow up a magazine1 and a ,sarkeld could
  fire the ,cashmere ,gate at ,delhi1   
surely we1 with obligations             
incomparably higher1 with the vows of   
profession on our lips1 with  death busy
 in the midst of us1 and souls going    
down from our  doors into a joyless and 
blasted immortality1 ought to present   
our  life-blood1 if need be1 for the    
cause of ,christ1 and for the good  of  
souls4 ,let the scoffers spurn at us as 
they will2 we are far  superior to such 
poor contumely4 ,heaven applauds our    
enthusiasm1 and  we vindicate it in the 
apostle's words3 ,if we be beside       
ourselves1  it is to ,god2 and if we be 
sober1 it is for your cause4            

,,how ,,to ,,speak ,,in ,,public    ,a  
,most ,suggestive and ,practical        
,self-,instructor    ,,by ,,grenville   
,,kleiser    ,author of ,power and      
,personality ,in ,speaking1 ,etc4       
,this new book is a complete            
elocutionary manual comprizing numerous 
exercises for developing the speaking   
voice1 deep breathing1  pronunciation1  
vocal expression1 and gesture2 also     
selections for  practise from           
masterpieces of ancient and modern      
eloquence4 ,it is  intended for         
students1 teachers1 business men1       
lawyers1 clergymen1  politicians1 clubs1
 debating societies1 and in fact every  
one  interested in the art of public    
speaking4    ,,outline ,,of ,,contents  
,mechanics of ,elocution       ,previous
 ,preparation    ,mental ,aspects       
,physical ,preparation    ,public       
,speaking              ,mental          
,preparation    ,selections for         
,practise      ,moral ,preparation      
,preparation of ,speech         ,many   

useful suggestions in it4--,hon4 ,joseph
 ,h4 ,choate1 ,new       ,york4         
,it is admirable and practical          
instruction in the technic       of     
speaking1 and ,i congratulate you upon  
your thorough       work4--,hon4 ,albert
 ,j4 ,beveridge4         ,the work has  
been very carefully and well compiled   
from a       large number of our best   
works on the subject of elocution4      
,it contains many admirable suggestions 
for those who are       interested in   
becoming better speakers4 ,as a general 
test for       use in teaching public   
speaking1 it may be used with great     
success4--,john ,w4 ,wetzel1 ,instructor
 in ,public ,speaking1 ,yale            
,university1 ,new ,haven1 ,conn4        
,,course ,,of ,,study ,,booklet ,,given 
,,free ,,with ,,each ,,book    #abmo1   
,cloth4 #a4be1 net2 post-paid1 #a4dj    
,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,pubs4    
,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london             
,,how ,,to ,,develop    ,,power ,,and   
,,personality    ,,in ,,speaking    ,,by

 ,,grenville ,,kleiser    ,author of    
,how to ,speak in ,public4 ,introduction
 by ,lewis ,o4  ,brastow1 ,d4,d41       
,professor ,emeritus1 ,yale ,divinity   
,school    ,this new book gives         
practical suggestions and exercises for 
,developing ,power and ,personality in  
,speaking4 ,it has many selections  for 
practise4         ,,power4--,power of   
,voice--,power of ,gesture--,power of   
,vocabulary--,power of                  
,imagination--,power of ,english        
,style--,power       of                 
,illustration--,power of ,memory--,power
 of ,extempore       ,speech--,power of 
,conversation--,power of                
,silence--,power of a                   
,whisper--,power of the ,eye4           
,,personality4--,more ,personality for  
the ,lawyer--,the       ,salesman--,the 
,preacher--,the ,politician--,the       
,physician--,the                        
,congressman--,the ,alert ,citizen4     
,i give it my hearty commendation4 ,it  
should take its place upon       the    

library shelves of every public speaker2
 be read carefully1       consulted     
frequently1 and held as worthy of       
faithful obedience4       ,for lack of  
the useful hints that here abound1 many 
men murder       the truth by their     
method of presenting it4--,s4 ,,parkes  
,,cadman1       ,d4,d41 ,brooklyn1 ,n4  
,y4         ,it is a book of value4 ,the
 selections are fine4 ,it is an         
excellent book for college              
students4--,,wm4 ,p4 ,,frye1 ,president 
pro tem4 of the ,united ,states ,senate4
    #abmo1 ,cloth1 #dbb pages4          
,price1 #a4be1 net2 by mail1 #a4dj4     
,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,pubs4    
,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london          ,an
 ,indispensable ,volume for those who   
would write and speak pure  ,english4   
,a ,desk-,book of ,errors in ,english   
,by ,frank ,h4 ,vizetelly1 ,f4,s4,a4    
,author of ,the ,preparation of         
,manuscript for the ,printer4           
,associate ,editor of the ,standard     
,dictionary1 etc4    ,this compact      

volume deals with the hundred and one   
questions that  arise in daily speech   
and correspondence1 and which are not   
usually  treated in the dictionary in   
the same manner as in this handy and    
time-saving book4         ,so many      
common errors of speech are dinned in   
our ears       daily that we grow       
careless and adopt them as correct4444  
,it       should be on the table of     
everyone who wishes to speak pure       
,english4--,the ,item1 ,philadelphia4   
,it is a book that should be on every   
writer's desk4 ,if       studied in     
season and out of season it will correct
 numerous       inelegancies and        
vulgarities of speech4--,the ,union1    
,springfield1 ,mass4         ,the book  
is admirably arranged to facilitate     
search for       a decision on a mooted 
point or a doubtful usage1 and is       
invaluable for the writer who lacks the 
leisure for extended and                
thoughtful research4 ,star1 ,washington1
 ,d4 ,c4    #abmo1 ,cloth1 #bdb pages4  

#ge cents      ,,funk  ,,wagnalls       
,,company1 ,pubs4    ,,new ,,york ,,and 
,,london          ,the ,vest-,pocket    
,standard ,dictionary    ,edited by     
,,james ,c4 ,,fernald1 ,l4,h4,d4        
7,abridged from the ,standard           
,dictionary7    ,,distinguishing        
,,features    ,the ,correct ,spelling1  
,pronunciation1 ,syllabication1 and     
,definition  of ,about #cj1jjj ,terms   
,all ,words of ,disputed ,spellings     
,words with ,irregular ,plural          
,formation         ,key to ,scientific  
,alphabet         ,parliamentary ,law at
 ,sight         ,legal ,holidays in all 
the ,states of the ,american ,union     
,interest ,tables         ,rates of     
,interest in all ,states of the         
,american ,union         ,chart of 7a7  
,states of the ,union1 7b7 ,population1 
7c7       ,capitals1 7d7 ,dates of      
,admission1 7e7 ,total ,population of   
the ,united ,states         ,presidents 
of the ,united ,states         ,postal  
,information         ,telegraph and     

,cable ,rates         ,domestic and     
,foreign ,weights and ,measures         
,the ,metric ,system         ,rules for 
,pronunciation         ,rules for       
,spelling         ,rules for            
,punctuation         ,abbreviations1    
,foreign ,words and ,phrases            
,rulers of the ,world         ,foreign  
,possessions of the ,united ,states     
,the ,largest ,cities of the ,world     
,countries of the ,postal ,union        
,tables of ,money of the ,world         
,standard ,time    ,cloth1 #be cents4   
,flexible leather1 #ej cents4 ,indexed1 
#e cents  additional4      ,,funk       
,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,pubs4    ,,new   
,,york ,,and ,,london             99    
99       99       99       99           
,transcriber's note3    ,minor          
typographical errors have been corrected
 without note4  ,irregularities and     
inconsistencies in the text have been   
retained as  printed4    ,missing page  
numbers are page numbers that were not  
shown in the  original text4