,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 coverpage                
,illustration3 titlepage            ,the
 ,world's ,great ,sermons      ,,volume 
,,vii      ,,hale ,,to ,,farrar         
,,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 ,,vii--,,hale   
,,to ,,farrar      ,,funk  ,,wagnalls   
,,company    ,,new ,,york and ,,london  

,,copyright1 #aijh1 ,,by      ,,funk    
,,wagnalls ,,company      ,printed in   
the ,united ,states of ,america         
,,contents    ,,volume ,,vii4           
,,hale 7,born in #ahbb74                
,page    ,the ,colonization of the      
,desert                        #a       
,,magee 7#ahba-ahia74    ,the           
,miraculous ,stilling of the ,storm     
#ai      ,,seiss 7#ahbc-aijd74    ,the  
,wonderful ,testimonies                 
#ci      ,,maclaren 7,born in #ahbf74   
,the ,pattern of ,service               
#fc      ,,crosby 7#ahbf-ahia74    ,the 
,prepared ,worm                         
#hg      ,,dale 7#ahbi-ahie74    ,the   
,argument from ,experience              
#ajc      ,,liddon 7#ahbi-ahij74        
,influences of the ,holy ,spirit        
#aba      ,w4 ,m4 ,,taylor 7#ahbi-ahie74
    ,christ before ,pilate--,pilate     
before    ,christ                       
#adc      ,,john ,,hall 7#ahbi-ahii74   
,liberty ,only in ,truth                
#afc      ,,bacon 7,born in #ahcj74     

,god ,indwelling                        
#agi      ,,joseph ,,parker             
7#ahcj-aijb74    ,a ,word to the ,weary 
#aig      ,,mckenzie 7,born in #ahcj74  
,the ,royal ,bounty                     
#bji      ,,farrar 7#ahca-aijc74        
,work in the ,groaning ,creation        
#bbg          ,,hale    ,,the           
,,colonization ,,of ,,the ,,desert      
,,biographical ,,note      ,edward      
,everett ,hale1 ,congregationalist      
divine and author1 was born  in ,boston 
in #ahbb4 ,he was graduated at ,harvard 
in #ahci and became  a ,unitarian       
preacher in #ahdf at ,worcester4 ,in    
#ahej he removed to  ,boston1 where his 
most important life's work was          
accomplished as a  preacher and writer4 
,a collected edition of his writings1 in
 ten  volumes1 was published in #aija4  
,his varied literary enterprises  and   
undertakings have been too many to be   
enumerated here4 ,his  most famous work 
is ,the ,man ,without a ,country4 ,he is
 at present  chaplain to the ,united    

,states ,senate4          ,,hale        
,,born ,,in #ahbb    ,,the              
,,colonization ,,of ,,the ,,desert      
,god saw everything that he had made4   
,and behold1 it was very                
good4--,gen4 i41 #ca4      ,this        
simplest expression of the earliest     
religion comes back to us  with new     
force in the midst of all the wonderful 
revelations of our  modern life4    ,in 
ten weeks' time ,i have crossed from one
 ocean to the other2 ,i  have crossed   
backward and forward over the ,allegheny
 and the ,rocky  ,mountains and the     
,sierra ,nevada1 with the valleys       
between them1 and  the slopes which rise
 from the ocean on either side4 ,this   
means a  journey through twelve of the  
old thirteen ,states and fifteen of the 
new ,states and ,territories4 ,it means 
intercourse with people of the  ,north  
and the ,south1 the ,gulf and the ,west1
 the ,pacific coast and  the mountains4 
,it means intercourse with the white    
race1 the black  race1 the red race1 and

 the ,chinaman4 ,the variety of climate 
is such  that ,i have welcomed the shade
 of palm-trees1 and that ,i have walked 
over snow where it had drifted twenty   
feet beneath me4 ,i have picked  oranges
 from the tree1 and camellias from the  
twig in the open air1  and within three 
hours of good-by to the camellia ,i was 
in a driving  snow-storm1 where the     
engine drivers were nervous because they
 had  no snow plow4 ,in all this variety
 ,i have a thousand times recalled  the 
simplest expression of the oldest words 
of the ,bible3 ,god saw  everything that
 he had made1 and behold1 it was very   
good4    ,the solid recognition of this 
truth--not1 indeed1 in any small  sense2
 but in that sense which is general and 
comprehensive--is at  the bottom of all 
true religious philosophy4 ,it is not   
true in any  smaller sense4 ,for ,i     
cannot say that it is good to be bitten 
by  a mosquito or worried by a fly1 if  
,i can escape fly or mosquito4  ,no1    
that is not true4 ,and ,i do not suppose

 that the simple author  of this text   
meant any such extravagance4 ,but this  
is true1 that  the world is so made and 
ordered that man1 who is himself a      
creator--man1 who shares the wishes1    
instincts1 and plans of the  ,power who 
directs the world--man can take the     
world in his hands and  compel it to    
serve his nobler purposes4    ,god saw  
the world1 and he said3 ,yes1 this is   
what ,i want for ,my  home and the home 
of children who love ,me4 ,it is a world
 very good  to them1 and they shall     
subdue it to ,my purposes4 ,to recognize
  this1 to feel the fitness of the world
 for man and man's fitness for  the     
world1 this is the basis of consistent  
optimism4 ,nobody says  that the top of 
the ,rocky ,mountains is a good place   
for whales1  or that the ,ojai ,valley  
is a good place for polar bears2 but a  
consistent optimism says that the world 
is a good place for man2 and  it says   
that man is so closely allied to the    
,god who is the life of  the world that 

he can take the world for his own1 and  
make it his  home and his heaven4 ,this 
consistent optimism is the basis of all 
sound theology4    ,it is to be         
observed1 however1 that man gains no    
such control of  the world1 and the     
world does not prove fit for man1 unless
 he has  found out that he is akin to   
,god and can enter into ,his work4      
,there  is no such victory to the       
savage1 who is afraid of ,god4 ,so long 
as  he thinks the powers of nature are  
his enemies1 he makes them his  enemies4
 ,i do not believe the old              
cave-dwellers1 fighting hyenas  with    
clubs1 and often finding that they were 
second-best in the  encounter1 thought  
this world the best of worlds4 ,i do not
 believe  that the ,digger ,indian1 who 
spent his tedious day in rummaging for  
ants and beetles to eat1 and was very   
happy if he caught a lizard--,i  do not 
believe that he said that the world was 
very good4 ,true1  ,i think both of them
 had visions and hopes of a better time2

 but  while they were in the abject     
misery of cold and starvation1 that     
better time had not dawned4 ,it did not 
dawn because they had not  taken on them
 the dignity and duty of children of    
,god4 ,they were not  about their       
,father's business4 ,they did not see   
,him nor hear ,him1  nor in any wise    
know ,him4 ,they did not conceive that  
they were on  ,his side nor ,he on      
theirs4 ,and it is not till man comes up
 to some  comprehension that ,god has   
sent him here on an infinite business2  
that he and the ,author of this world   
are at one in this affair of  managing  
it2 it is not till man knows ,god as his
 friend and not his  enemy1 that man    
with any courage and success takes the  
business of  managing into his own      
hands4 ,then is it that he finds what   
pleasure1  nay what dignity1 there is in
 taming the lightning and riding on the 
storm4 ,and then he knows enough of the 
divine ,being1 ,his purpose and  ,his   
power1 to see that the world is good1   

and that ,god should call  it good in   
its creation4    ,all this forces itself
 on one's thought as he sees how it is  
that  nature has been pursued and caught
 and tamed in these mountains  and these
 valleys4 ,for nature is the nymph so   
wittily described by  ,virgil4 ,she     
,flies to her woods2 but hopes her      
flight is seen4    ,man1 so long as he  
is savage1 hates her and fears her4 ,if 
he  worships1 it is the abject worship  
of those who bring sacrifices  to buy   
her favor4 ,and it may be said in       
passing that the last  visible form of  
pure barbarism or savagery is any       
theology which  supposes that ,god's    
favor must be bought by any price paid  
by man  in exchange4 ,when man finds1 by
 any revelation1 the conditions of      
absolute religion1 which are simply     
faith1 hope and love1 all this  is      
changed4 ,when he looks up to ,god      
gladly1 looks forward to the  future    
cheerfully1 and looks round on the world
 kindly1 he finds1  possibly to his     

surprize1 that he is working on the     
lines ,god works  on1 and means to have 
him work on4 ,now he is on his ,father's
  business4 ,while he rows the boat1 the
 tide sweeps the right way4  ,while he  
stretches the wire1 the lightning is    
waiting and eager  to do his errand4    
,and so soon as man the divine appears  
upon the  scene--man the child of ,god1 
who knows he shares ,god's nature--why1 
easily and quickly the valleys are      
exalted and the mountains and  the hills
 made low2 the deserts blossom as the   
rose1 and even the  passing traveler    
sees that this world was made for man   
and man for  this world4 ,and he        
understands as he has never understood  
before  what this is1 that he himself is
 of the nature of the ,god at whose     
present will this world comes into      
order4 ,he understands better what  the 
old text means1 which says that ,god is 
satisfied with the world  which ,he has 
made4    ,i crossed the continent       
westward and eastward on this journey1  

fresh from recent reading of the history
 of the first ,spanish  occupation4     
,what did the ,spaniards find there8    
,they found in what  we call ,new       
,mexico the ,zuni cities which1 in a sad
 decline1 exist  to-day4 ,from those    
cities ,casteneda led a party of        
,spanish horsemen  eastward in search of
 a certain mythical king who was        
supposed to  have much gold and many    
jewels4 ,those adventurous men rode for 
a  whole summer across the prairies and 
plains which are now ,colorado1  and    
,kansas1 and ,missouri1 and struck the  
,missouri1 or perhaps the  ,mississippi4
 ,you know that much of the country is  
now fertile  beyond praise4 ,mile after 
mile you can see corn1 wheat2 wheat1    
corn2 corn1 wheat2 wheat1 corn2 and the 
production to the acre  increases year  
by year4 ,the ,states through which     
,casteneda's line  of travel passed now 
number four or five millions of people2 
and  they feed1 from their agriculture1 
say twenty millions more4 ,now  when    

,casteneda and his people passed and    
repassed over this region  they did not 
meet a single man1 woman or child4 ,they
 were opprest by  the horrible          
loneliness of their journey4 ,they felt1
 as ,magellan's  people felt when they  
were crossing the ,pacific ,ocean1 with 
that  horrible east wind1 with a calm   
sea before and never a sight of an      
island or a man4 ,when ,casteneda came  
at last to the ,mississippi--or         
,missouri--they had no heart to build a 
raft to cross it and incur  more such   
solitude2 and they went back the way    
they came4 ,and the  fame of its        
loneliness was such that no man         
attempted the adventure  for more than a
 hundred years4    ,when1 in #afhb--say 
a hundred and thirty years after--the   
great ,la  ,salle discovered the        
,mississippi ,river1 and sailed south   
upon it1  leaving ,chicago1 crossing    
,illinois1 and so striking the ,father  
of  ,waters1 his experience of this     
utter loneliness was the same4 ,he      

touched every night on one shore or the 
other4 ,he is1 therefore1 the           
discoverer of seven of the ,western     
,states--,states which now feed  fifty  
million people and number seven or eight
 million of their  own4 ,only twice1 ,i 
think1 did he meet any great body of    
men4 ,not  five times did he find traces
 of the hand of man or the foot of  man4
 ,through the same solitude he returned2
 and his report was of a  virgin world  
of elk1 and deer1 and buffalo2 of shrubs
 and trees1 of  fish and fowl2 but a    
world without men4    ,the inference was
 drawn1 hastily1 but not unnaturally1   
that these  regions could not sustain   
men4 ,on the ,atlas given me as a boy1  
the  ,great ,american ,desert covered   
the greater part of the region west  of 
the ,mississippi4 ,it is now the home of
 the millions ,i have been  enumerating4
 ,and in the last map ,i have seen1 the 
,great ,american  ,desert appears as    
hardly a speck on the surface of the    
earth4    ,the change which ,i have     

described has been wrought in the       
lifetime  of people of my age4 ,it is   
wrought simply and wholly by the passion
  for emigration which belongs to our   
own race4 ,in ,mr4 ,hoar's happy        
phrase1 people of our blood thirst for  
the horizon4    ,in the year #ahcc ,de  
,tocqueville1 observing the steadiness  
of this  wave1 calculated its average   
flow as seventeen miles westward every  
year4 ,that was the rate at which it had
 moved since the ,federal  ,constitution
 made it possible4 ,speaking roughly1   
there were then two  thousand miles of  
desert between the ,missouri ,river and 
the ,pacific4  ,at ,de ,tocqueville's   
rate1 the wave would have been one      
hundred and  twenty years in reaching   
that ocean4 ,but it happened that in    
#ahdi  the ,western coast was settled in
 the gold discovery4 ,an ,eastern wave  
began which has now met the ,western4   
,the two together have founded  the     
great cities--for we must call them     
so--of the ,rocky ,mountains4    ,now1  

in the face of that contrast between the
 last century and this  century1 one    
asks why that half of our continent is  
any more fit for  men than it was then4 
,the answer is1 that it was not fit for 
the  kind of men on it then2 and that   
the kind of men that have tamed it  are 
the kind of men who were fit for it1 and
 whom it was fit for4    ,the study of  
history and of physical geography       
becomes a study of  what we mean by man 
and man's capacities4 ,california1 for  
instance1  was the same country in #afej
 that it was in #ahej4 ,the south wind  
blew from the sea1 and that1 in the     
north temperate zone1 is the  great     
physical requisite4 ,there was as much  
gold1 and quicksilver1  and copper1 and 
tin in the mountains as there is now4   
,there was the  same soil and the same  
water on the hillsides4 ,but the men1   
and  women1 and children were afraid of 
their gods2 they were afraid  of nature2
 they had neither faith1 nor hope1 nor  
love4 ,they had  none of the elements of

 eternal power except as an acorn has   
the  possibilities of an oak4    ,to    
these people there came1 sooner or      
later--with the best motives1  but still
 without the essentials of life--fifty  
families of  ,franciscan monks4 ,they   
came1 observe1 without wives or         
children4  ,they defied thus the first  
law of human life1 or the life ,god     
intends ,his children to live in4 ,the  
primitive trinity1 from which  all false
 trinities have grown1 is the father1   
the mother and the  child4 ,the         
,franciscan communities were false to   
all ,divine law1 if  it were only in    
their failure here4    ,they gathered   
around them1 by the higher civilization 
which they  brought1 great communities  
of starving ,indians4 ,they taught them 
to feed themselves as they had never    
been fed before4 ,so far they  improved 
the race1 and lifted its civilization   
above that ant-eating  and              
lizard-chasing of the ,digger ,indian4  
,but then the ,catholic  ,church1 by the

 necessary subordination of man to the  
organized  ,church1 takes man's life out
 of him4                                
,the day      ,that makes a man a slave1
 takes all his life away4    ,the words 
are as true to-day as they were in      
,homer's time4 ,nor is  there any sadder
 instance of it than is the             
powerlessness of the  tribes of amiable 
slaves who were collected under the     
protection  of the ,franciscan missions 
in ,california1 or ,jesuit missions in  
,paraguay4    ,the native races between 
the ,pacific and the ,atlantic were     
dying  faster than their children were  
born4 ,they were dying of the  diseases 
named laziness1 ignorance1 and war4     
,they were not subduing  the continent4 
,they were not fit for it1 nor it for   
them4 ,what is  the distinction of the  
race to which we belong1 that it        
succeeds  where these have failed8 ,the 
history of the country accentuates that 
distinction4    ,it would be absurd to  
pretend that the average frontiersman   

was a  man of what are called saintly   
habits4 ,often he was not conscious     
that he had any divine errand4 ,but the 
frontiersman1 to whose  courage and     
perseverance is due that forward wave we
 study1 was a  man4 ,he did not take his
 opinion or instruction from any priest4
  ,there was no one between him and the 
good ,god4 ,often he sought ,him4  ,so  
far so good4 ,and often he did not seek 
,him4 ,that one admits4  ,but he never  
sought any one else's advice or         
direction4 ,he was no  slave1 as the    
,indian of ,california was4 ,he was not 
commissioned by  a superior1 as the     
,franciscan priest of the mission was4  
,he was a  man4 ,he was independent and 
he was brave4 ,if he did the right      
thing1  therefore1 he succeeded2 if he  
did the wrong thing1 why1 he failed4    
,and no one else tried just the same    
experiment4 ,in this first trait  of    
absolute independence he showed the     
infinite characteristic of a  child of  
,god4    ,second1 and perhaps more      

important1 he took with him his wife and
  his children4 ,here is the great      
distinction of ,american emigration1    
which contrasts against the plans of    
,spaniards or ,frenchmen1 and of  the   
earlier ,englishmen4 ,historically it   
begins with the ,pilgrims1  of whom     
there were as many ,pilgrim mothers as  
there were ,pilgrim  fathers4 ,it is of 
them that ,emerson says that they       
builded better  than they knew4    ,the 
frontiersman is independent4 ,he lives  
with and for his family4  ,and1 once    
more1 he is an enthusiast in determining
 that to-morrow  shall be better than   
to-day4 ,the ,indian had no such notion4
 ,the  ,franciscan had not4 ,but this   
profane1 ignorant pioneer had4 ,he      
believed implicitly in the country      
behind him and in the future  before    
him4 ,i tell you1 sir1 that in ten years
 you will see in this  valley such a    
city as the world never saw4 ,profane he
 may be1  ignorant he may be1 cruel he  
may be2 but he believes in the idea2 he 

is quickened and goaded forward by an   
infinite and majestic hope4    ,given   
such conditions1 the historical steps   
are easy4 ,all this is  impossible till 
you have a nation1 to give peace and    
compel peace1  so that the separate     
settler shall know that the whole       
majesty of  the world is behind him4    
,there shall be no abiding quarrel      
between  man and man as to the line of a
 claim or the title of a mine4  ,the    
nation shall decide1 and its whole      
majesty shall enforce the  decision4    
,or1 if there is any massacre by an     
,apache or a ,blackfoot1  the country   
behind1 tho a thousand miles behind1    
shall stretch forth  her arm to avenge  
that lonely family4 ,this means peace   
instead of  war4 ,all this had to wait1 
therefore1 until the formation of the   
nation called the ,united ,states--the  
greatest peace society the sun  ever    
shone upon1 and the model for societies 
yet larger4 ,with the  birth of that    
nation1 the real ,western wave begins4  

,i do not claim for every pioneer that  
he thought he went as an  apostle of    
,god4 ,but in the emigrant wave from the
 very beginning1  the best blood1 the   
best faith1 the best training of the    
parent  stocks have gone4 ,science has  
sent her best4 ,the determination  for  
thorough education has planted better   
school houses in the  wilderness than   
the emigrant left at home4 ,and on      
,sunday1 in a  church1 one is proud to  
say that the organized ,church of       
,christ1  in the liberty of a thousand  
communions1 has covered with her egis   
the settler most in advance4 ,he could  
not keep in advance of the  missionary  
and of his ,bible2 and1 to his credit be
 it said1 he did  not want to4    ,so   
much for the personnel4 ,now1 speaking  
roughly1 what has been the  motive for  
the great ,western wave1 which is making
 this garden out  of that desert8       
,first1 there is the passion for        
adventure1 the thirst for the  horizon1 
which drives old ,leatherstocking and   

the men like him away  from the haunts  
of men4 ,this in itself produces        
nothing4 ,next and  chiefly1 the desire 
to make homes--the noblest desire given 
to man1  and the desire in which he     
follows the will of ,god most distinctly
  and completely4 ,miners want to strike
 metals2 farmers want to find  good     
soils2 fruit men try for climate and    
irrigation2 all with the  direct wish to
 make homes more happy than they have   
been before4    ,again1 young men go    
that they may get forward faster than in
 old  communities--and who can wonder8  
,men of sense give up the unequal       
contest with nature in a northern and   
eastern climate to find a  country where
 nature is on their side4 ,people in    
delicate health go  where they find     
softer air1 more spring and less winter4
 ,but no man  goes to get rich alone4   
,no man wants to eat gold or to drink   
it4  ,the wish and hope is to make homes
 where father1 mother and children  can 
live the life which ,god ordained4      

,these are no ,franciscan  friars1 these
 are no ,apache bandits1 to whom has    
been given the  subjugation of a        
continent4 ,side by side with the       
pioneer is the  surveyor1 marking the   
lines of future homesteads4 ,hard behind
 him  are father1 mother1 boys and      
girls1 to whom the nation gives this    
homestead thus designated4 ,if the man  
is sick the woman nurses him4  ,the     
children grow up to know the world they 
live in4 ,the boundary of  the nation is
 not a mere chain of garrisons nor the  
scattered posts  of missions2 it is a   
line of homes1 founded with all that the
 word  home involves4    ,all these     
lessons of three centuries point one    
way4 ,they show  that the world is not  
very good for wandering ,apaches or     
,digger  ,indians1 freezing and starving
 under hard winters when harvests  have 
failed4 ,to their point of view it was a
 world hard and cruel4  ,to ,franciscan 
friars1 ruling a little empire which    
yielded none  but physical harvests1    

where the garden1 and orchard1 and      
vineyard  were only so many specks in   
the midst of an unbounded desert1 the   
world can not have seemed a better      
world--a world made for wild  horses1   
and further ,east for wild buffaloes1   
but not for men--the  great ,american   
,desert4 ,it is not till man asserts the
 courage and  freedom of a son of ,god1 
it is not till man appears with wife and
  child and proposes to establish his   
heaven here2 it is not till then  that  
he masters nature1 and she gladly obeys 
him4 ,nay1 then he has  no success      
unless he appears as the vicegerent of  
,god ,himself1 and  establishes over    
this vast domain the empire of law1 and 
speaks as  ,god might speak1 with ,thou 
shalt do this1 and ,thou shalt not do   
that in this empire4    ,the ,old-,world
 writers are fond of telling us that we 
owe the  prosperity of this nation to   
its physical resources4 ,it is not so4  
,the physical resources have existed for
 centuries4 ,it is only in  the moral   

force of sons and daughters of ,god2 it 
is such working  power as takes the     
names of law1 courage1 independence1 and
 family  affection2 it is only in these 
that our victory is won4 ,the drunken   
swaggerer of the advance only checks the
 triumph4 ,the miser1 who  would carry  
off his silver to use elsewhere1 only   
hinders the  advance4 ,the victory comes
 from the hand of ,god to the children  
of  ,god1 who establish ,his empire in  
the magic spell of three great  names4  
,as always these names are3 ,faith1     
which gives courage2 ,hope1  which      
determines to succeed2 and ,love1 which 
builds up homes4    ,it is impossible to
 see the steps of such a victory without
 owning  the infinite ,power behind it  
all4 ,you cannot use magnetic ore and   
coal for its smelting and the silicates 
for its fusion1 all flung  in together  
side by side1 without asking if the     
,power who threw  these priceless gifts 
together where each was needed for each 
did not know what ,he was doing4 ,but   

the buffalo passes over it1  and the    
gopher mines under it1 and it might be  
so much gravel of  the sea4 ,savages    
pass over it1 with no future1 no heaven1
 and one  would say no ,god4 ,it is     
worthless desert still1 but one day a   
man  comes who deserves his name4 ,he is
 a child of ,god4 ,he is determined     
that to-morrow shall be better than     
to-day4 ,he knows he is lord of  nature1
 and he bids her serve him4 ,the coal   
burns1 the iron melts1  the silicate    
fuses4 ,it is impossible to see that    
miracle and not  feel that for this man 
the world was created1 and for this     
world  this man was born4 ,he is in his 
place4 ,he did not have to seek it2  it 
was made for him4 ,with him it is a     
garden4 ,without him it is  a desert4   
,he can hew down these mountains4 ,he   
can fill up these  valleys4 ,and where  
he has filled1 and where he has hewed1  
lo1 the  present heaven of happy homes6 
,it is thus that prophecy accomplishes  
itself1 and      ,the car of the ,lord  

rolls gloriously on4          ,,magee   
,,the ,,miraculous ,,stilling ,,of ,,the
 ,,storm          ,,biographical ,,note 
,william ,connor ,magee1 ,archbishop of 
,york1 was born at ,cork in #ahba4      
,educated at ,trinity ,college1 ,dublin1
 he was ordained in #ahdd4 ,his  first  
important charge was the ,octagon       
,chapel at ,bath in #ahej4 ,in  #ahfd he
 was made dean of ,cork1 and in #ahfh1  
,bishop of ,peterborough4  ,in #ahia he 
was appointed to succeed ,dr4 ,william  
,thomson1 as  ,archbishop of ,york4     
,dr4 ,magee was pronounced by ,canon    
,liddon the greatest preacher of  his   
day4 ,his speech in the ,house of ,lords
 in #ahfi against ,irish                
,disestablishment was said by the       
highest authorities1 as quoted  by ,lord
 ,salisbury1 to be the finest speech    
ever delivered1 in  either house of     
,parliament1 by any man then living4    
,his oratory was  characterized by      
clearness and terseness of expression1  
while his  full-toned voice was capable 

of sounding every gradation of feeling4 
,he died in #ahia1 three months after   
his enthronization in ,york  ,minster4  
,,magee    #ahba-ahia    ,,the          
,,miraculous ,,stilling ,,of ,,the      
,,storm         ,lord1 save us3 we      
perish4444 ,then he arose1 and rebuked  
the       winds and the sea2 and there  
was a great calm4--,matt4 viii41        
#be1 #bf4      ,the story of this       
miracle reveals to us ,christ entering  
into peril  together with ,his ,church4 
,it records for us her faith and her    
prayer4 ,it reveals to us ,his presence 
and ,his power4 ,that faith has  been   
her faith1 that prayer has been her     
prayer1 from that hour  until now4 ,in  
all the long perilous voyage of the     
,church from that  hour1 never has she  
unlearned yet her first prayer2 never   
has she  become entirely unconscious of 
her ,lord4 ,sometimes with a great and  
a fearless faith that defied the most   
terrible tempests1 sometimes  with a    
little and a timid faith1 that shrank   

from the first ripple  upon the deep1   
but ever with her real faith have       
,christ's ,church and  ,christ's        
disciples turned in the hour of their   
tribulation to seek  their ,lord4 ,and  
never has that prayer been said in vain4
 ,never from  the ,church at large1 or  
from the solitary disciple in his       
terror1  has that prayer gone up without
 an answer4 ,never has the eye of  faith
 sought1 and sought in vain1 the        
,savior4 ,ever has the praying  ,church 
or the praying disciple found the still 
present ,christ2 and  we believe that it
 is so now4 ,we believe that ,christ our
 ,lord is  here in the midst of us now1 
and that our eye of faith may see ,him1 
and our prayer of faith may reach ,him4 
,and if this be so now--if  ,christ's   
presence be a real fact amongst us now1 
and our prayer have  really a might to  
reveal that presence--then1 above all   
things1 it  concerns us1 that we        
understand the nature of that prayer1   
and the  manner of that presence1 that  

we understand what it is we mean1 and   
what will come of it when we say3 ,lord1
 save us1 or we perish4    ,we ask you1 
then1 to-night1 brethren1 to consider   
these two things3  the meaning of the   
,church's prayer2 the manner of her     
,lord's  presence4 ,now1 when we use    
these words3 ,lord1 save3 we perish1  we
 are really rehearsing two articles of  
our belief4 ,we are  declaring1 first of
 all1 that we believe there is a        
,lord--that in  the visible world there 
is an invisible ,god with ,his          
overruling1  and controlling1 and       
appointing will2 and1 in the next place1
 we  believe that this ,god is our ,lord
 ,jesus ,christ4 ,in the first of       
these1 we ,christians agree with every  
religion that ever has been4  ,in the   
second1 we differ from all other        
religions4 ,when we say that  above     
nature there is a will and a            
personality1 we say what every  religion
 says4 ,religion is nothing else than   
the belief in the  supernatural1 in     

something above nature1 in a person1 in 
a will2 and  prayer is nothing but the  
speech of our spirit to that will1 and  
the  submission of our will to it4      
,prayer is the effort of the spirit  of 
man to rise above the visible up to the 
region of the invisible  and the        
personal1 there to speak out his care or
 his need4 ,there  can1 therefore1 be no
 prayer without this element of         
religion2 and  there can be no religion 
without this fact of prayer4 ,without   
it1  you have philosophy1 you may have  
sentiment2 but you cannot have a  real1 
practical1 every-day religion4 ,and1    
therefore1 all religions  have believed 
in a ,god or gods1 a ,lord or lords4    
,turk1 ,jew1 heathen1  in like case1    
would have said to some lord or other3  
,save1 or we  perish4 ,but the          
,christian believes something more4 ,he 
believes that  his ,lord has come down  
amongst men2 that ,he has taken to ,him 
human  flesh1 and lived a human life1   
and died1 and risen again1 for his      

salvation4 ,he worships not only a lord1
 but the incarnate ,lord2 and  so the   
,church speaks her twofold faith in her 
great hymn from the  first to ,christ as
 ,god3 ,we praise ,thee1 ,o ,god2 we    
acknowledge ,thee  to be the            
,lord--,thee1 and none other1 to be the 
,god1 and ,thee to  be the ,lord1 and   
,ruler1 and ,master of all things4 ,you 
see1 then1  that there is something     
different in ,christian prayer from all 
other  prayer and worship1 and that the 
difference consists in this3 that  it is
 distinctively and avowedly the prayer  
to an incarnate ,christ4    ,now1 if    
there be this difference between this   
prayer and all other  prayer1 then there
 must be a corresponding difference in  
the  feelings and in the practical      
results of such a religion2 and ,i am   
about to ask you now to follow me while 
,i endeavor to trace for you  this      
difference between ,christian prayer and
 all other prayer4 ,it  seems as if the 
story in the gospel of this miracle     

exactly sets  out this                  
difference--exactly shows us the        
distinctive nature of  ,christian       
prayer4 ,the story1 you observe1 divides
 itself1 naturally1  into three parts4  
,there is1 first of all1 the voyage     
before the  storm2 there is1 then1 the  
storm2 and there is1 then1 the          
miraculous  stilling of the storm4 ,now1
 you observe that in each of these three
  parts1 we have one thing in common4   
,we have man1 in some way or  other1    
encountering1 or encountered by1 the    
outward and visible  world4 ,the third  
of these--the stilling of the           
storm--differs from  the other two in   
this1 that it is miraculous and         
supernatural4 ,now1  let us1 for a      
moment1 leave out this third part4      
,there are some1 you  know1 who say1    
that we should always leave it out1 and 
be better  without it4 ,let us leave    
out1 then1 this third or miraculous part
 of  the story2 and let us contrast the 
first and the second parts4 ,and  what  

have we got8 ,we have got a most        
remarkable contrast between  the two    
scenes4 ,what is it we see in the first 
scene8 ,we see a man  subduing nature4  
,it was by the knowledge of the elements
 and the  laws of nature1 that man      
learned thus to sail upon the deep2 and 
in  that one fact you have represented  
for you the whole of the material       
progress of humanity--all the triumphs  
of science1 all the glory and  the      
beauty of art1 all that marvelous       
mastery that man obtains by  his        
inventive and creative will over the    
secret powers of nature1 as  he unlocks 
them one by one1 and compels her to tell
 him her deepest  mysteries--all that   
man has done as he has advanced from    
horizon to  horizon of discovery1       
finding still new worlds to conquer1    
until  we stand amazed at our own       
progress and the infinity of it1 and we 
say of man3 ,what manner of being is    
this1 that even the winds and  the sea  
obey him8 ,yes1 there is the man the    

lord of nature4 ,there  is nothing      
supernatural there4 ,all is natural1 all
 is orderly4 ,man  is lord and master4  
,nature is man's servant2 and1          
therefore1 there  seems no room1 there  
seems no need for prayer4 ,there is     
nothing1  seemingly1 there to be had for
 the asking2 there is everything1       
seemingly1 there to be had for working4 
,man is to be seen walking in  the      
garden of his own planting and his own  
fencing2 and he reaches  out hands to   
unforbidden fruits of knowledge2 and he 
believes that  at last he shall gather  
even of the tree of life4 ,he is a god  
unto  himself1 and he sees no need for  
prayer4    ,and now we turn to the      
second scene1 and what have we there8   
,we have  the direct contrast with this 
scene4 ,we have there1 not man subduing 
nature1 but nature subduing man4 ,we    
have the storm in which the  elements   
are man's masters and not his servants2 
and he that one  minute before was the  
boasting lord of nature is its toy and  

its  sport4 ,the very foam upon the     
crest of those billows is not more      
helpless in the grasp of the elements   
than the lord and the king of  them2 and
 they toss him to and fro1 as the wind  
drives the stubble  in the autumn4 ,this
 is the terrible aspect of nature4 ,this
 is nature  in her might1 and in her    
majesty1 and in her pitilessness1 and in
  her capriciousness--when nature seems 
everything1 and man1 in her  awful      
presence1 dwindles and dwarfs into very 
nothingness--when  man1 in the presence 
of the vastness of her solitude1 and the
  might of her storms1 and the terror of
 her earthquakes1 seems no  more before 
her1 with his little cares and his      
sorrows1 than the  wee bubbles upon the 
head of the cataract4 ,this is nature as
 she  masters man4 ,is it1 then1 any    
wonder that1 in the early struggles of  
mankind with this terrible visible power
 of the creature1 men came  to worship  
the creature--that they ascribed to     
every one of these  powers a divinity1  

that in the voice of the wind1 and in   
the roar  of the sea1 and in the raging 
of the fire1 they saw the signs of  a   
divine presence1 and they said to these 
elements3 ,spare us1 or  ,save us1 or   
else we perish8 ,and so all creation    
became peopled  with gods--cruel gods1  
capricious gods1 vengeful gods1 gods    
whom  men bribed with blood1 gods whom1 
even while they bribed them1 they  could
 not love1 and did not believe that they
 loved them4 ,this is  the first and    
most terrible form of creature worship2 
this was the  idolatry of the heathen4  
,but mark this1 that such a worship as  
this  could not continue forever1 could 
not continue long1 because it is  the   
worship of ignorance2 it is the belief  
in the supernatural1  only because it   
confuses the unknown with the           
supernatural4 ,ever as  science advances
 must this faith melt away4 ,ever must  
the domain  of the known push itself    
forward into the domain of the unknown4 
,ever does the man of science take one  

by one the gods of the man  of          
superstition and break them upon their  
pedestals1 and tell him  this3 ,what you
 worship is no god4 ,what you worship is
 no lord4 ,it  is not your lord4 ,it is 
a servant of yours2 and ,i class it in  
this  or that rank of your servants4    
,so1 one by one1 like ghosts and        
fantoms in the dawning of the day--one  
by one1 the fantoms of gods  that       
haunted the night of the old world      
vanish before the dawn of  knowledge4   
,but then it is a terrible daylight that
 breaks on men--a  blank1 dreary world  
in which men have no sight of the       
invisible1 no  sense of the             
supernatural4 ,it is that last and most 
terrible aspect  of nature1 when she    
appears1 not as many gods1 or many      
wills1 but as  the great soulless piece 
of mechanism1 of which we are only      
part--a  terrible machinery in which we 
are1 somehow or other1 involved1 and  in
 the presence of which the sense of our 
free-will leaves us4 ,the  pith1 and the

 manhood1 and the vigor of men1 and the 
beauty and the  freedom of their life   
die out of them as they stand appalled  
before  this passionless1 this terrible1
 this awful face of a soulless  world4  
,this is the last and the most terrible 
form of creature  worship4 ,and mark    
this1 that between these two aspects of 
nature1  if you have no assured faith1  
there is no logical resting-place4      
,without the act of faith1 you must take
 your choice between the  superstition  
of ignorance or the atheism of          
knowledge4    ,and now we have seen     
these1 we turn to the third portion of  
our  story2 and what is that we see     
there8 ,we see1 again1 in this world  of
 men1 the miraculous and the            
supernatural4 ,we hear a prayer1  and we
 see a miracle4 ,in the face of the     
might of nature and the  terrors of her 
elements there arises up a ,man in      
answer to man's  cry--there is heard a  
,man's voice1 which is yet the voice of 
,god2  and it rebukes the winds and the 

sea1 and the elements of nature own     
their real ,lord2 and immediately there 
is a great calm4 ,what is  it1 then1    
that we see8 ,we see a miracle1 and a   
miracle that answers  to prayer2 we see 
the living spirits of living men1 in the
 hour of  their agony and their         
distress1 appealing from nature to the  
,god of  nature2 and we have recorded   
the answer of ,god to man's prayer4 ,the
  answer is1 that ,god is ,lord both of 
man and of nature2 and we say1          
therefore1 that the miracle1 and the    
miracle alone1 sufficiently  justifies  
the prayer4 ,we say that the reason why 
men may pray is1  and can only be1 that 
they know and believe1 that there is a  
will  which rules the visible4 ,if you  
have not this belief1 then believe  us  
that all prayer1 whatever men may say   
about it1 is an unreality  and a        
miserable mockery4 ,to what am ,i to    
pray if ,i see no living  ,god to pray  
to8 ,am ,i to pray to a law8 ,am ,i to  
pray to a system8 ,am  ,i to pray to the

 winds1 or to the waves1 as men prayed  
of old8 ,am  ,i to pray for physical    
blessings and deliverances8 ,men tell us
 we  are not to pray1 or to give thanks1
 concerning the rain or fruitful        
seasons1 for that science has told us   
that the supernatural has no  place     
there4 ,am ,i to pray then 7for men do  
tell me that ,i may pray7  only for     
spiritual and for moral gifts8 ,am ,i to
 pray only to be  made wise1 and good1  
and pure1 and true1 and holy8 ,ah6      
science is  beginning to meet us there1 
too2 for she is telling us1 and telling 
us loudly1 and telling us shamelessly1  
that here1 too1 there is no  room1 so   
far as she can tell1 for prayer1 as our 
mind is but a part  of our body1 and    
that our spiritual condition is a       
necessary result  of our past history   
and of our present temperament--that we 
are what  we are by virtue of birth and 
education1 and country1 and clime1  and 
other things over which we have no      
control4 ,and so the very  spirit of    

man1 all that is left of the invisible1 
vanishes before  the approach of        
science4 ,the knife of the anatomist    
lays bare1 as  he tells you1 the secrets
 of man's being2 and he finds no        
soul--he  finds only the gray matter of 
the brain and the white threads of  the 
nerves2 and this is all that is left4   
,then1 if we are not to  pray1 may we at
 least praise8 ,men say that if it is a 
folly to pray1  at least it is a wisdom 
to praise2 and they tell us this is the 
sentimental theory of the modern gospel4
 ,they tell you3 ,you may  not          
pray1--prayer has no place in our       
system1--but you may praise2  you may   
lift up your heart in hymns of joy and  
gratitude to the  great ,father of your 
being2 you may have festival and        
flower-crowned  processions in honor of 
the ,supreme ,being2 yes1 you may in    
fine  weather1 when you are sailing over
 summer seas1 and the pleasant  summer  
wind is filling the sails of your bark1 
and is wafting sweet  odors from the    

flower-crowned shores along which youth1
 and hope1  and joy are passing--then   
you may lift up your hearts in thanks to
  the ,father that gave all these1 if   
you do not forget it4 ,but how is  it in
 foul weather8 ,how is it when the sky  
above us darkens1 and the  white crests 
of the waves beneath us are swelling    
sharp and fierce1  and the jagged edges 
of the rocks are projecting for our     
shipwreck1  and the wild waste of the   
waters is yawning below us1 and we      
tremble  and shudder at their depths1   
and the wild wind blows our prayer  back
 into our bosoms--is that the time to   
sing sentimental hymns to  our great    
supreme ,father and ,giver of all good8 
,it is a time 7thank  ,god1 thank       
,christ1 for this7 when the ,christian1 
when the disciple  of ,christ1 may hold 
fast his faith and say1 ,tho he slay me1
 yet  will ,i trust in him2 but it is   
not a time when the deist has  breath to
 sing his hymns to the supreme ,author  
of his being4 ,no1 we  believe that     

there is a miracle that justifies1 and  
alone justifies  prayer4 ,we know that  
there are those 7and they are good and  
wise  men1 many of them7 who contrive   
nice adjustments and philosophical      
explanations how prayer may be          
reconciled with universal law4 ,we do   
not greatly care for these4 ,they may be
 right2 they may be wrong4  ,in some    
future state and higher condition of our
 being we may know  how far they are    
true1 how far they are false2 but1      
meanwhile1 we  need not be too nervously
 anxious to make room for almighty ,god 
to  work ,his own will in ,his own      
world4 ,we believe in the miracle of    
creation2 we believe that there was once
 a voice that said1 ,let  there be      
light1 and there was light2 we believe  
that at the sound  of that voice the    
universe leapt into life2 and we believe
 in the  miracle of the ,incarnation1   
when ,god took human flesh and dwelt    
amongst men2 we believe in the miracle  
of the descent of the ,spirit  of ,god1 

when1 with the miraculous sound of the  
rushing wind and  the miraculous gleam  
of the fire1 ,god once more came down to
 dwell  amongst men2 we believe in the  
miracles that are written for us in     
this ,book1 were they ten times as many 
as they are2 we believe that  the sea   
has stood on one side like a wall1 and  
that the waters have  gushed forth from 
the rock2 we believe that bread has been
 rained  from heaven2 we believe that a 
touch has awakened the dead--we  believe
 all this2 and1 because we believe it1  
we believe the voice  when it says to   
us1 ,pray2 and because we hear that     
voice still  amongst us1 and because we 
know it to be the same voice1 we say1 as
  we hear it1 ,lord1 save1 or we perish4
    ,but still1 in the last place1 it   
may be said to us3 ,if you do  believe  
that there is this power of miracle     
amongst you still1 and  that it will    
answer to your prayer1 why is it that we
 do not see  more miracles than we do8  
,why is not the world filled with       

strange  miracles every day1 considering
 the infinite number of men's needs1    
and the infinite number of human        
prayers8 ,my brethren1 it does seem  to 
me that if we were merely deists1 and   
did not believe in ,christ1  it would be
 difficult for us to answer this        
objection4 ,the spirit  of man has1     
however 7thanks be to ,god for it71 in  
all ages been  deeper and truer in its  
instincts than his mere logical power4  
,even  the deist 7and we thankfully     
acknowledge it71 tho inconsistently  and
 illogically1 yet really and truly      
prays4 ,for us ,christians  there is not
 any difficulty4 ,there is that         
difference in our prayer  of which ,i   
spoke4 ,to whom is it that we pray8 ,not
 merely to the  invisible ,lord or      
,creator of the past1 but to the        
incarnate ,lord of  the present4 ,we    
believe that ,christ our ,lord1 to whom 
we pray1 took  flesh and dwelt amongst  
us1 and we believe that ,he did so that 
,he  might work the greatest of all     

miracles--the salvation of the souls  of
 men2 and we believe that ,he wrought it
 by dying and by living  again4 ,we     
believe that ,he established in the     
world this great and  miraculous law1   
that it is possible out of death to     
bring life--nay1  that death is the way 
to life4 ,if this be so1 that by ,his   
death  life was purchased for us1 then  
,he teaches us that there is another    
life than this1 and that there is       
another death and a deeper death  than  
that we fear2 and ,he tells us1 it may  
be1 that even by dying  we shall be     
saved1 that ,he will not always save us 
from death--nay1  that ,he may save us  
by death4 ,and so it comes to pass that 
we  understand how1 by losing life1 we  
may miraculously save it2 and  yet1 on  
the other hand1 by trying to save life1 
we may naturally  lose it4 ,so we come  
to understand this fact1 how the        
beginning of  ,his kingdom was full of  
miracles1 and how1 in the history of    
,his  kingdom1 miracles have since      

ceased4 ,the kingdom began with miracles
  that ,he might teach us that ,he was  
able to save2 the miracles ceased  in   
order that ,he might work a greater     
miracle4 ,the lesser miracle  of ruling 
nature ceased in order that the greatest
 of all miracles  might perpetually be  
wrought--the regeneration1 the          
redemption1 and  the glorification of   
the nature of man4 ,and so we understand
 that  ,christ our ,lord1 because ,he is
 our ,lord1 may save us1 even while  we 
seem to perish1 and to perish in ,his   
presence4 ,he saved us of  old by ,his  
agony and bloody sweat1 by ,his cross   
and passion2 and  ,he will save us now1 
and ,he does save every child of ,his4  
,through  agony and sweating1 through   
cross and passion--through the agony of 
our long nights of spiritual darkness1  
through the sweat of long  days of sore 
trouble and labor1 beneath the weight of
 sharp and  heavy crosses and sorrow1   
and through the bitterness of spiritual 
or bodily passion1 does ,christ our     

,lord still save those who cry  to ,him1
 even while ,he seems to sleep and not  
to hear them1 as1 in  the bitterness of 
their souls1 thinking themselves        
,christ-forsaken1  they cry1 ,our       
,christ1 our ,christ1 why hast ,thou    
forsaken us8 ,dost  ,thou sleep1 ,lord8 
,save us1 or we perish4 ,and so you     
understand  the peculiarity1 the blest  
and the glorious peculiarity1 of our    
,christian prayer4 ,you understand the  
meaning of those deep words  of         
,scripture--patience and the faith of   
the saints4 ,you understand  how the    
,christian man may pray and wait1 and   
wait and pray still4  ,if prayer were   
always followed by a miraculous answer1 
then prayer  would be easy enough2 or1  
on the other hand1 if there were no     
thought of an answer1 then it might be  
possible1 tho not easy1 to  submit      
ourselves to the inevitable4 ,but to    
pray and not to receive  an answer1 and 
yet to believe that the very not        
receiving is an  answer2 to cry1 ,save1 

or we perish1 and to seem about to      
perish2  to believe that in what seems  
perishing is really salvation2 to look  
for the living and watchful ,christ1 and
 to see what seems only the  living and 
regardless ,christ1 and yet to believe  
that the time will  come when1 at ,his  
word1 there shall be a great calm--this 
is the  patience1 this is the faith of  
those who worship an incarnate ,lord4   
,and so we trace the history of         
,christ's ,church1 and so we strive  to 
trace the history of our own lives4     
,comparatively easy it is to  trace the 
,church's history along her voyage4 ,the
 ,church gives time  for comparing      
events and testing faith2 and so1       
believing still in  the presence of her 
living ,lord1 the litanies of ,his      
,church ring  out1 as they have ever    
rung1 clearly and loudly1 and high above
 the  roar of the tempest and the       
rushing of the waters1 still the prayer 
is heard1 ,good ,lord1 deliver us2 and  
still1 again and again1 as  the storm   

sweeps by1 and the ,church passes out   
into calmer waters1  still comes the    
voice of thanksgiving3 ,he hath         
delivered us4  ,even in our shorter     
voyage1 are there none of us who can    
remember  times when we have knelt in   
agony and wrestled in prayer with the   
,savior1 who seemed to have forgotten   
us1 when the mighty storm of  temptation
 and the billows of calamity seemed     
about to destroy us1  and when we have  
cried 7oh1 how men do cry in those      
storms of the  soul1 in those tempests  
and terrors of the heart71 ,lord1 save  
us1  or we perish6 to ,him to save us1  
and ,he has seemed to sleep and to      
refuse to save8 ,but at the last we can 
remember how ,he did reveal  ,himself1  
not stilling the raging storm when we   
would have had ,him  still the terrible 
tempest1 not sparing1 it may be1 the    
precious  bark that we had rigged1 and  
manned1 and launched ourselves with     
trembling hopes and loving prayers1 and 
watched with eyes tearless  with agony1 

as we saw it about to sink before us2   
and we have  been led to see and believe
 that the living and the loving ,lord   
was answering even then our prayer1 for 
the bark has1 at length1  entered that  
haven where we would be1 and where the  
vexed waters of  our voyage never awake 
a ripple on the calm depths of its      
eternal  peace4 ,this has been the      
experience of more than one of this     
great  multitude that ,i see4 ,and there
 is another experience that each one  of
 you may have3 it is when1 in the       
troubles of your own spirit1  when in   
the agonies of your own grief-stricken  
heart1 when in the  depths of your own  
repentance1 when in the storms of your  
own fear  and your own doubt1 you cry to
 ,christ the ,savior--when you bring    
your sins as some men bring their       
sorrows1 as anxious to have them        
removed as the others--when you cry to  
,christ your ,savior3 ,lord1  save me6  
,save me1 a sinner6 ,save me1 an        
unprayerful man hitherto6  ,save me1 an 

unbelieving man hitherto6 ,save me1 not 
merely from the  hell hereafter1 but the
 present storm and depth of my own sins 
that  threaten to destroy me6 ,save me1 
or ,i perish6 ,for1 brethren1 be  sure  
of this1 sooner or later this will be   
the experience of every  such vexed and 
terrified soul--that1 after he shall    
have endured1 so  long as his ,lord sees
 good1 the terrifying storm and the     
threatening  deep that drive him in     
closer and closer search and seeking    
after  his ,lord1 then1 at last1 there  
will appear the form of the ,son of     
man1 the form of ,him who hung upon the 
cross1 that ,he might for  ever in the  
world's history work this great and1 to 
,him1 dearest  of all miracles2 and1 at 
last1 ,he will rebuke the winds and the 
waves in that troubled soul1 and there  
will be a great calm--a calm  that may  
not last for ever1 a calm that will not 
last for ever1 for  we have not yet     
reached the haven of perfect rest1 but a
 calm that  is a foretaste of the       

eternal rest4 ,and so1 praying with all 
our  hearts to ,christ our ,lord1       
setting our will in submission to ,his  
will1 pouring out our spirit in prayer  
to ,his ,spirit1 laying bare  our hearts
 before ,his pure and loving eyes1      
through calm and through  storm1 praying
 still that we suffer not death in      
either1 that we  neither rot in the calm
 nor founder in the storm1 praying still
 for  ,his presence1 praying still for  
grace to realize that presence1  crying 
still for that deeper and yet deeper    
faith which is the  result of more and  
more constant experience1 crying still1 
,lord1  save1 or we perish1 wait in     
patience and in faith until ,he shall   
send ,his last messenger in this world1 
,his angel of death1 and bid  him for us
 and in ,his name rebuke for the last   
time the winds that  have vexed us1 and 
the waves that have terrified us1 and   
then with  ,him for ever there shall be 
a great calm4          ,,seiss    ,,the 
,,wonderful ,,testimonies               

,,biographical ,,note      ,joseph ,a4  
,seiss1 ,lutheran divine1 was born in   
#ahbc1 at ,graceham1 ,md4  ,he received 
his theological education as a private  
pupil of several  clergymen and was     
first settled over churches at          
,martinsburg and  ,shepherdstown1 ,va4  
,in #ahdc he was transferred to         
,cumberland1 then  to ,baltimore1 ,md41 
and finally became pastor of ,st4       
,john's ,church1  ,philadelphia1 and for
 twelve years was editor of ,the        
,lutheran4 ,he  died in #aijd4          
,,seiss    #ahbc-aijd    ,,the          
,,wonderful ,,testimonies#a      #a     
,reprinted by permission of the         
,literary ,trustees of the ,dr4         
,seiss' ,estate4         ,thy           
testimonies are wonderful4--,psalms1    
cxix41 #abi4      ,the ,psalmist here   
addresses himself to ,god4 ,the         
testimonies of  which he speaks are     
,god's testimonies4 ,as collected and   
arranged in  one book1 they are known to
 us as the ,bible4 ,for the contents of 

these holy oracles the royal singer     
expresses his admiration4 ,he           
pronounces them wonderful4    ,it was   
not an unworthy theme with which he was 
occupied at the  time1 neither was it an
 extravagant opinion which he uttered4  
,it is  impossible that there should be 
for man a more important subject  than  
the communications made to him from his 
,god4 ,and if ever there  was a         
marvelous thing submitted to human      
inspection1 it is this  book1 the holy  
,bible4 ,it lies before us like an      
ocean1 boundless  and                   
unfathomable1--like a ,himalayan        
mountain1 whose summit no foot  of man  
has trod1 and whose foundation is in the
 undiscovered heart  of the world4 ,to  
make a full survey of it is not possible
 in the  present condition of the human 
faculties4 ,even the inspired ,paul1    
when he came to look into it1 found     
himself gazing into profundities  at    
which he could do no more than exclaim1 
,oh1 the depth of the  riches both of   

the wisdom and the knowledge of ,god6   
,and yet  there are many beautiful      
shells and pebbles lying on the shore of
  this sea1 and as many precious flowers
 blooming on this mountain  side1 which 
any one may gather1 and which1 whosoever
 attentively  contemplates1 must feel   
himself impelled to join the admiring   
exclamation1 ,the testimonies of the    
,lord are wonderful4    ,let us look    
briefly at a few particulars by which to
 verify this  declaration1 praying that 
,god may open our eyes to behold        
wondrous  things out of ,his law4       
,i4 ,the testimonies of the ,lord are   
wonderful in age and preservation4      
,the ,bible is the oldest of books4     
,some portions of it are much more      
recent than others1 but a large part of 
it has come down from the  remotest     
antiquity and antedates all other       
writings in the world4  ,it contains a  
journal of events which transpired      
centuries before  the building of the   
,pyramids4 ,the book of ,job existed    

before ,cadmus  carried letters into    
,greece4 ,the five books of ,moses were 
read  in holy assemblies two hundred    
years before ,sanchoniathon wrote4      
,david and ,solomon had uttered their   
sacred songs and prophecies  half a     
century before ,homer enraptured the    
,greeks with his verses  or ,lycurgus   
had given laws to ,lacedmon4 ,dozens of 
the books of  ,scripture were complete a
 hundred years before the first public  
library was founded at ,athens2 and the 
last of the prophets had  ended his     
message before ,socrates1 ,plato1 and   
,aristotle had  propounded their        
philosophies4 ,when the elements of     
society were but  forming in the womb of
 the far-distant past1 the ,bible was   
there4  ,when the foundations of earth's
 present greatness were laid1 it was    
there4 ,and when we go back to the very 
beginnings of history1 even  there does 
its hand lead us and its right hand     
uphold us4    ,nor is it as a mere      
lifeless fossil that this book has come 

down  to us from such remote antiquity4 
,tho hoary with age1 its youthful  vigor
 remains1 and its natural force is not  
abated4 ,it has only  grown fresher with
 age1 and strengthened with every new   
trial4 ,it  has been at the births and  
deaths of a hundred mighty nations1  and
 seen empires rise1 flourish1 and fall1 
and coexisted with the  longest lines of
 earthly kings1 and beheld some of the  
sublimest  monuments of human effort    
come forth and disappear1 and passed a  
hundred generations in reaching us2 but1
 withal1 it still lives1 in  all        
nations1 in all languages1 the most     
precious legacy of departed  ages1 and  
the only thing that remains to us from  
some of them4  ,tho it has encountered  
many a fierce conflict with the hate of 
men and the spite of devils1--tho the   
object of many a concerted  scheme to   
blot it from the earth1--tho often held 
up to ridicule1  with gigantic apes like
 ,voltaire chattering at it1 men of     
genius  turned by some ,circean spell   

into swine1 like ,mirabeau and ,paine1  
casting filth at it1 demoniacs whom it  
had half rescued and half  inspired1    
like ,rousseau1 making mouths in its    
face1 and all the  varied passions of   
unsanctified men continually arrayed    
against  it1--it still holds its place  
as the most uncorrupt and authentic  of 
histories1 the most august and          
controlling of records1 the most        
universal1 venerable1 and potent of     
books1 imagining in its very  history   
the stupendous majesty of the ,god whom 
it reveals4      ,,ii4 ,the testimonies 
of the ,lord are wonderful in their     
authorship4    ,they are not of man1 but
 of ,god4 ,we can not now refer to the  
varied  and multitudinous considerations
 which enter into the proofs of  this4  
,it is capable1 however1 of being       
established by the very  highest moral  
evidences4 ,the wisest and best men of  
every age have  concurred in receiving  
the ,scriptures as from ,god4 ,and it is
 not  possible to give a rational       

account of their origin1 and the source 
of their contents1 without ascribing    
them to the divine authorship  which    
they claim4    ,it may seem strange that
 the infinite ,god should condescend to 
put ,his great thoughts into the poor   
language of mortals1 to  communicate    
with creatures so dull and stupid as the
 sons of men2  but this ,he has done4   
,portions of the ,scriptures are made up
 of  the very words of ,god1 articulated
 by ,himself in the hearing of  men     
commissioned to declare them4 ,one      
chapter1 which embodies the  moral      
essence of all the rest1 was engraven by
 ,his own finger upon  tables of rock1  
and delivered to ,moses all ready formed
 and set  in the alphabetic signs       
employed by men4 ,other parts consist of
  communications of celestial messengers
 sent directly from heaven's  throne to 
declare ,god's will and purposes to the 
dwellers upon  earth4 ,a still larger   
portion was taken down as it fell from  
the  lips of ,one in whom ,god had      

incarnated ,himself1 and whose every    
word and act in this world was a        
revelation from the unknown  ,deity4    
,even those parts which were written by 
men were produced  by mysterious motion 
and illumination of the ,holy           
,ghost1--by  inspiration of ,god4       
,indeed1 the whole book is a literary   
aerolite1  all the characteristics of   
which are unearthly1 and whose own      
superior attributes are so many         
demonstrations of its superhuman        
source4 ,its very address is so far     
above that of man1 that no  mortal1     
unprompted1 could ever have risen to it4
 ,its subjects are  all treated after an
 unearthly manner4 ,every leaf of it    
bears the  sunlight of some higher      
sphere4 ,every page has on it the       
imprimatur  of ,god4 ,and all its words 
are instinct with divine fires1 flashing
  the admonition upon every reader1 ,put
 off thy shoes from off thy  feet1 for  
the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground4 ,they  that look upon it look   

upon expressions of the eternal ,spirit4
  ,they that rightly take its lessons   
drink in living emanations from         
unsearchable ,godhead4 ,it is the       
abiding miracle of rapport with  the    
,mind which projected1 upholds1 and     
governs the universe4 ,it is  the ,word 
of ,god4      ,,iii4 ,the testimonies of
 the ,lord are wonderful in their       
originality  and instructiveness4       
,the ,bible depends upon no discoveries 
of man1 and leans upon no  other books4 
,if it says some things which may be    
learned elsewhere1  its utterances are  
always independent and peculiarly its   
own4  ,the world through which it ranges
 is much wider than that of  man's      
thoughts4 ,it goes back to a remoter    
antiquity2 it takes in  a broader space2
 it extends to a vaster future2 it      
introduces  to sublimer spheres and     
forms of being2 and it exhibits a much  
profounder wisdom4 ,it opens arcana of  
which no earthly powers ever  dreamed1  
and is at home in regions where the     

sublimest imaginings  of man had hardly 
extended a guess4 ,on all the great     
questions of  theology1 life1 death1 and
 futurity1 it speaks with a familiarity1
  comprehensiveness1 and propriety which
 at once command our  confidence and    
satisfy our hearts4 ,what it touches1 it
 touches with  a master's hand4 ,it     
never speaks without pregnant meaning in
 all its  words4 ,and there is nothing  
in human science1 poetry1 or tradition  
which it does not exceed in knowledge1  
wisdom1 and real value4    ,in its      
account of the creation1 and the origin 
of things1 there is  nothing to compare 
with it4 ,in all the historians1        
philosophers1  and secular authors1-the 
books of ,zoroaster1 the records of     
,phoenicia and ,egypt1 the ,dialogues of
 ,plato and ,lucian1 the annals  of     
,china1 the treatises of ,plutarch1 the 
,shastras of ,india1 the  ,edda of      
,scandinavia1 and all the schemes that  
have ever been given  in explanation of 
the earth's primal history1--there is   

nothing so  natural1 so magnificent1 so 
simple1 so appropriate1 so reliable1  so
 satisfactory1 as the first chapter of  
,genesis4 ,nor have all the  discoveries
 of modern geology brought forward      
anything to convict  ,moses of a false  
cosmogony4 ,if it is a truth that the   
history of  the earth's formation runs  
back through uncounted ages1 he leaves  
an interval for it1 between the         
beginning and the period when  ,god     
caused light to appear upon its dark and
 misty surface4 ,if it  is true that    
vast eras have been traversed by each   
separate order  of living things1 one   
after the other1 we find precisely the  
same  succession in the ,mosaic account 
which is found preserved in the         
different layers of the earth's crust4  
,and if it be true that there  was life 
upon our world ages and cycles of ages  
before the period  noted in ,genesis as 
that in which man was created1 it is    
also true  that no traces of human      
existence are found except in the most  

recent deposits4 ,a certain stonemason  
of the village of ,cromartie1  with     
sledge and chisel1 himself delved       
through every formation1 from  the      
surface-mold down through the old red   
sandstone to the ,silurian1  gneiss1 and
 granite1 and1 having mastered all that 
is known  concerning each1 has written  
it down as the result of his marvelous  
explorations1 that the truthfulness of  
the ,mosaic record is engraven  upon the
 rocks forever4    ,and so in every     
department of science the ,bible is     
always true  to nature1 and has         
invariably been in advance of all human 
investigations and discoveries4 ,how    
many thousands of years have            
metaphysicians and psychologists been at
 work to map out1 classify1  and gauge  
the various capacities and powers of the
 human mind  and soul6 ,but they have   
found no way of approach to the heart so
  masterly and effective as that taken  
by the ,scriptures2 and the more  that  
is known of the nature of the man1 the  

more clearly is it seen  that the ,bible
 comprehended it from the commencement4 
,it has been  but a few years since     
,newton laid open the laws of           
gravitation2 and  yet the ,scriptures   
spoke of the earth being hung upon      
nothing1  as if familiar with the whole 
subject1 before human science had  begun
 to form even its feeblest guesses in   
the case4 ,it has only  been since the  
invention of the telescope enabled men  
to search  through the starry spaces    
that ,sir ,john ,herschel has discovered
 in  the northern sky a peculiar        
barrenness2 but more than three thousand
  years ago ,job told ,bildad the       
,shuhite that ,god stretched out the    
north over the empty place4 ,it has been
 but a few years since  science         
discovered that the sun is not the dead 
center of motion1  around which comets  
sweep and planets whirl1 but that the   
earth  and sun1 with their splendid     
retinue of comets1 satellites1 and      
planets1 are all in motion around some  

point or center of attraction           
inconceivably remote1 and that that     
point is in the direction of  the star  
,alcyone1 one of the ,pleiades2 which   
would hence seem to  be the midnight    
throne in which the whole system of     
gravitation  has its central seat and   
from which all material orbs are        
governed4  ,but the ,bible asked the    
question1 more than thirty centuries    
ago1  ,canst thou bind the sweet        
influences of ,pleiades8 as if the      
speaker knew all about the facts in the 
case4 ,how long has it been  since the  
doctrine of the rotundity of the earth  
has been settled  by scientific men8 yet
 the ,psalmist spoke of the round world2
 and  ,solomon described in brief the   
true theory of wind-currents1 and       
strongly hinted the circulation of the  
blood1 at least twenty-five  hundred    
years ago4 ,and1 with all the advances  
of knowledge which  have so wonderfully 
marked the last three hundred years1 in 
which  the spirit of philosophic inquiry

 has ranged the universe1 searched      
heaven1 earth1 and sea1 knocked at every
 door1 peered into every  recess1       
consulted every oracle of nature1 and   
gathered trophies  of power and         
treasures of wisdom and sublimities of  
knowledge at  which the world has been  
amazed1--in all the motions which the   
experimentist has traced1 in all the    
principles of power which the  master of
 physics has discovered1 in all the     
combinations which the  chemist has     
detected1 in all the forms which the    
naturalist has  recorded1 in all the    
spiritual phenomena which the           
metaphysician  has described1 and in all
 the conditions and relations of mind or
  matter1 past or present1 which human  
research has found out1--there  has not 
come to light one truth to contradict   
these holy records1 or  to require the  
relinquishment or change of one word in 
all the great  volume of ,scripture4    
,,iv4 ,the testimonies of the ,lord are 
wonderful in beauty and literary        

excellence4    ,the ,bible is a casket  
of jewelry of the richest hues and the  
most  exquisite workmanship4 ,sir       
,william ,jones1 that great ,orientalist
  and scholar1 has said1 ,i have        
regularly and attentively perused  these
 ,holy ,scriptures1 and am of the       
opinion that this volume1  independently
 of its divine origin1 contains more    
true sublimity1  more exquisite beauty1 
more pure morality1 more important      
history1  and finer strains of poetry   
and eloquence1 than can be collected    
from all other books1 in whatever age or
 language they may have  been written4  
,even ,rousseau wrote1 ,the majesty of  
the ,scriptures  strikes me with        
admiration4 ,the works of our           
philosophers1 with all  their pomp of   
diction1 how mean1 how contemptible1 in 
comparison  with them6    ,nor does it  
matter much what part of the ,scriptures
 we take1 or in  what department of     
rhetoric we test them4 ,whether it be   
history or  prophecy1 the ,old          

,testament or the ,new1 narrative or    
description1  poetry or prose1 the same 
characteristics are to be seen4 ,moses  
is as pure and simple as ,adam and ,eve 
in ,paradise1 and yet as  majestic and  
grand as that great creation which he   
describes4 ,job  contains a drama which 
is without a parallel1--a drama of facts
  in which heaven and earth1 visible and
 invisible1 with all their  wonderful   
interpenetrations1 are set out in their 
connection with  a suffering saint upon 
his couch1 and in which the spirit of   
earnest inquiry urges itself forward    
until everything comes forth  to declare
 the majesty of ,god1 and all the might 
and goodness of  man lies prostrate     
before ,him who bringeth forth          
,mazzaroth in his  season and speaketh  
comfortably to them that trust in ,him4 
,under  the leadership of ,david's muse1
 we pass through varied scenes of       
beauty and grandeur1--pastures and      
glens1 still waters and roaring  floods1
 dismal swamps and silent wildernesses1 

forests crashing  with the lightnings of
 ,god and tempests that convulse the    
seas1  the smoke and fury of battle and 
the shoutings of glad multitudes1  by   
dells of lonely sorrow and along the    
starry archways of the  sky1--until at  
length we take our places in a temple   
high as  heaven and wide as space1 with 
all objects of creation as living       
worshipers around us1 each with its     
separate hymn of grateful joy1  blending
 in one almighty adoration4 ,isaiah     
rises upon us like some  mighty orb of  
song1 whose rays are streaming          
minstrelsies1 that  have thrilled upon  
the hearts of men for seventy           
generations1 and  which must needs      
thrill on1 unrivaled in their kind1     
while earth  and time endure4 ,ezekiel  
is a very comet of fire1 flaming his    
impetuous way across the heavens1 and1  
like the living spirits in  his own     
first vision1 going and returning as a  
flash of lightning4  ,and               
throughout1--the ,evangelists with their

 simple story of ,jesus1  and ,paul in  
his epistles and orations1 and ,john in 
his loving  letters and apocalyptic     
visions1--from the first words1 ,in the 
beginning1 onward to the last amen1 we  
find variety1 beauty1  pathos1 dignity1 
sweetness1 magnificence1 and glory1 such
 as are  contained in no other          
composition4 ,here are the sublimest    
heights  and the profoundest depths1 and
 all the gradations from the one  to the
 other4 ,from the worm that grovels in  
the dust1 to the  leviathan in the      
foaming deep1 and the supreme archangel1
 and the  eternal ,god2 from the hyssop 
on the wall1 to the cedars of ,lebanon1 
and the healing trees which shade life's
 eternal river2 from the  pearl-drops   
which trickle from the mountain rock1 to
 the noise  of dashing torrents1 and the
 wide waters of the deluge2 from the    
glowworm under the thorn1 to the sun in 
the heavens1 and the great  ,father of  
,lights2 from the lone pilgrim to the   
triumphing host1 and  the gathering     

multitude which no man can number2 from 
the deepest  sorrows of the lost1 to the
 probation scenes of earth and the      
seraphic visions of the blest1--there is
 nothing known to mortals  which ,god   
hath not brought into requisition to    
intensify and adorn  the precious book  
which ,he has given to men4 ,as an      
eloquent preacher  beyond the sea       
remarks1 ,he has filled it with         
marvelous incident  and engaging        
history1 with sunny pictures from       
,old-,world scenery  and affecting      
anecdotes from patriarchal times4 ,he   
has replenished  it with stately        
argument and thrilling verse1 and       
sprinkled it  over with sententious     
wisdom and proverbial pungency4 ,it has 
the  gracefulness of high utility2 it   
has the majesty of intrinsic  power2 it 
has the charm of its own sanctity3 it   
never labors1 never  strives1 but1      
instinct with great realities and bent  
on blessed  ends1 has all the           
translucent beauty and unstudied power  

which you  might expect from its lofty  
object and all-wise ,author4    ,some   
call these ,scriptures dull and         
uninviting2 but there is no  book in    
being with so many real attractions4    
,there is no classic  equal to it1--no  
historian like ,moses1 no poet like ,job
 or ,isaiah1  no singer like ,david1 no 
orator like ,paul1 no character like    
,jesus1  and no revelation of ,god or   
nature like that which these venerable  
pages give4 ,not without reason has ,sir
 ,thomas ,browne said1 ,were  it of man1
 ,i could not choose but say it was the 
singularest and  superlative piece that 
hath been extant since the creation4    
,were  ,i a pagan1 ,i should not refrain
 the lecture of it1 and can not  but    
commend the judgment of ,ptolemy1 that  
thought not his library  complete       
without it4      ,v4 ,the testimonies of
 the ,lord are wonderful in their       
influences and  effects4    ,the ,bible 
has been1 for three thousand years1 one 
of the greatest  potencies on earth4 ,it

 has been1 and is to this moment1 a     
greater  power than ,rome1 or ,greece1  
or ,babylon ever was4 ,though it has    
not conquered the world1 it has advanced
 further towards it than  ,alexander    
ever did4 ,it has done more to govern   
and renew the human  heart than all the 
laws enacted by legislators1 and all the
 maxims  devised by uninspired sages1   
and all the lessons1 apart from itself1 
that were ever given to the race4 ,it is
 the chief stay of a society  which for 
a thousand years has been the most      
widespread1 the most  important1 and the
 most powerful association on the earth4
 ,it has  controlled the religious      
opinions of a large part of mankind for 
nearly forty centuries4 ,it has molded  
characters and directed the  efforts of 
men whose lives and labors introduced   
new eras and shaped  the destinies of   
nations and turned the course of the    
world's  entire history4 ,it has        
begotten and fostered the purest virtue1
 the  sublimest manhood1 the noblest    

beneficence1 the sincerest charity1  the
 tenderest kindness1 and all the blessed
 saintship1 that have  ever been upon   
earth4    ,its vast influence upon the  
welfare of nations may be estimated in  
part from the bloody codes1 and infamous
 administrations1 and social            
degradations1 and far-reaching          
wretchedness1 of those countries  where 
it is rejected or unknown1 contrasted   
with the blessedness  and peace of those
 who have received it4 ,it was the great
 ,milton  who said1 ,there are no       
politics like those which the           
,scriptures  teach2 and in proof we need
 only look at ,judea when it knew no    
laws  but those which this book         
contains4 ,how smooth and steady were   
the  wheels of public justice1 and how  
beautiful was the flow of national      
peace1 in those golden days of the old  
,hebrew commonwealth6 ,how did  the     
joyous vines1 and fields of waving ears1
 and gold of ,ophir1  and flocks and    
cattle abiding on a thousand hills1 and 

cities full  of peace and plenty1       
proclaim abroad the wealth and          
blessedness of  that goodly land6 ,how  
did the voice of singing and the        
fragrance of  virtue linger round each  
habitation1 and the sacrifices of praise
  crowd all the temple's courts from    
tribes rejoicing in the smiles of  ,god6
    ,in the sphere of learning and      
thought-creations1 also1 the influence  
of the ,bible is equally marked and     
wonderful4 ,it is to the world of       
letters what the sun is to the solar    
system1 the fountain of the  purest     
light and brightest wisdom4 ,it has     
produced more books than  any other one 
thing in existence4 ,it has fostered    
learning when  there was no other       
stimulation to its cultivation felt4    
,even the  heathen classics owe their   
preservation to it4 ,as a book written  
in  other times1 places1 and languages1 
it has called forth the most            
laboriously compiled lexicons1 grammars1
 and works on archeology by  which the  

world of the present communes with the  
world of the past4  ,as a book claiming 
the faith and obedience of men1 it has  
created a  world of learned apology1    
comment1 and exposition1 and some of the
  noblest specimens of argument1        
eloquence1 and appeal which are known   
to man4 ,and1 simply as a book among    
books1 it has wrought wondrously  upon  
the thoughts and productions of authors 
of all classes4 ,the  ,visions of ,dante
 are largely drawn from it4 ,every canto
 of the  ,faerie ,queene bears the      
impress of its influence4 ,milton's     
matchless  songs of ,paradise are from  
an inspiration which the ,bible alone   
could give4 ,from the same source came  
the immortal dream of ,bunyan1  the     
,pauline reasonings of ,barrow1 the     
flaming zeal of ,richard  ,baxter1 the  
molten wealth and lava of gold and gems 
which poured  down the russet steep of  
,puritan theology1 the songs of ,cowper1
  and ,thoughts of ,young1 and visions  
of ,pollok1 and mighty eloquence  of the

 ,luthers1 the ,knoxes1 the ,massillons1
 the ,whitefields1 and the  ,halls4     
,addison1 and ,thomson1 and ,burke1 and 
,dryden1 and ,wordsworth1  and          
,coleridge1 and ,southey1 and ,campbell1
 and ,goethe1 all are vastly  indebted  
to the ,scriptures for whatever         
excellences are found in  their works4  
,shakespeare drew largely from this same
 precious mine1  and also even ,hobbes1 
and ,shelley1 and ,byron4 ,that prince  
of modern  orators1 ,daniel ,webster1   
once said1 ,if there be anything in my  
style or thoughts to be commended1 the  
credit is due to my kind  parents in    
instilling into my mind an early love of
 the ,scriptures4  ,indeed1 if we were  
to destroy the ,bible1 and take from the
 world  of literature and thought all   
that it has contributed directly or     
indirectly1 half the history of the race
 would be swept out of mind1  the       
noblest ideas that have swelled man's   
heart would be gone1  some of the       
proudest monuments of human genius would

 be buried  in oblivion1 and thick      
darkness would settle down upon the     
world  forever4      ,,vi4 ,the         
testimonies of the ,lord are wonderful  
as a fountain of  consolation1 hope and 
salvation4    ,the ,bible to all its    
other excellences adds this1 that it is 
the  ,book of ,life4 ,it is not only a  
basket of silver network1 but it        
contains apples of gold4 ,it is the     
record of glad tidings to a  perishing  
world1 a message of joy to all people4  
,in it1 ,wisdom  hath mingled her wine1 
and slain her fatlings1 and furnished   
her  table1 and calls all the hungry and
 needy to come and partake4 ,the        
entrance of its words giveth light and  
imparteth understanding  to the simple1 
and maketh wise unto salvation4 ,it is a
 balm from  ,gilead for the sick1 oil   
for the bruises of the wounded1 reprieve
  for the prison-bound1 and bread for   
them that are ready to perish4  ,its    
different books are but so many angels  
of mercy1 carrying  contentment into the

 abodes of poverty1 enabling even the   
children  of want to lift up their eyes 
to ,god who ordereth all things well1   
and to eat their scanty meals in peace2 
staying the hearts of the  persecuted   
and opprest1 causing them to rejoice and
 sing under the  yoke1 at the stake1 and
 in the hottest of the fires1 as on     
their  passage-way to crowns immortal in
 the world to come2 calming the  minds  
of the fevered1 mollifying where all    
earthly medicines fail1  and kindling   
glad hopes of recompense yet to be      
revealed2 lighting  up comforts in the  
breasts of those that mourn for their   
dead1 and  assuring them of blessed     
reunions in a better life2 and kindling 
even the dying eye and inspiring the    
dying heart with thoughts of  speedy    
triumph1 causing lips already closed for
 death to open once  more in utterances 
of victory4    ,we may talk of the      
venerable age of the ,bible1 and its    
scientific  accuracy1 and its literary  
beauty and sublimity1 and its wonderful 

influences upon the ideas1 laws1        
governments1 and general order of       
society and mankind2 but it is all      
nothing in comparison with the          
spiritual good and immortal hopes and   
consolations which it begets  in those  
who receive it as a message from their  
,god4 ,are we voyagers  upon a troubled 
and a dangerous sea8 ,here is a chart by
 which to  steer in safety to the happy 
shores4 ,are we soldiers1 beset with    
foes and required to endure the shocks  
of battle8 ,this is an armory  from     
which all needed weapons may be drawn at
 will1 and by the right  use of which we
 may hew our way to immortal triumph4   
,are we pilgrims  and strangers1 worn   
and weary in our search for the home    
from which  we are exiles8 ,in this book
 gush out the pure1 fresh waters of     
life1 the cooling shades from the ,rock 
of salvation appear1 and  the guiding   
word is heard from pilgrims in advance1 
to cheer and  encourage us till we reach
 the mansion of our ,father4 ,indeed1 it

 is  beyond the power of language to    
express the excellency and richness  of 
spiritual treasure which we have in this
 holy ,book4 ,it is the  miraculous     
cruse of the ,shunamitess which never   
exhausts4 ,it is the  wand of ,moses    
which swallows the serpents of life1 and
 parts the sea  of trouble1 and brings  
forth waters in the thirsty wilderness4 
,it  is the ladder of ,jacob on which   
our spirits ascend to commune with  ,god
 and angels4 ,it is the telescope of    
faith by which we look on  things       
invisible1 survey even the third        
heavens1 and have present to  our view  
what is to be in after-ages4 ,it is the 
chariot of ,elijah  in which to ride up 
the starry way to immortality unhurt of 
death4  ,it is the channel of the       
almighty ,spirit as it goes forth for   
the  sanctification of the race1--the   
very gulf-stream of eternal life as  it 
pours out for the resuscitation of our  
wilted and decaying world4    ,allusion 
has been made to the dreadful eclipse it

 would be to the  world of letters and  
thought1 for the ,bible1 and what it has
 done  for man1 to be blotted out4 ,but 
that were nothing to the moral and      
spiritual night that would go along with
 such a calamity4 ,besides  carrying    
away with it a vast proportion of the   
intellectual and  moral life of the last
 eighteen centuries1 it would silence   
every  preacher of salvation1 and       
abolish at once his office and his text4
  ,it would stop every work of mercy and
 plan of philanthropy in the  world4    
,it would transmute into a lie all our  
fond anticipations of the  return of    
,jesus to renew the world1 restore our  
dead1 complete our  salvation1 and bring
 us to an eternal heaven4 ,it would hush
 forever  the glad tidings with which   
men have comforted themselves for these 
many weary ages4 ,it would put out the  
mother's hopes of her dead  babes1      
quench the wife's fond desires for her  
husband's everlasting  peace1 destroy   
the widow's consolation as she lingers  

by the grave  of her buried love1 and   
extinguish the matron's last comfort as 
she  trembles on the verge of eternity4 
,it would take with it all the reliefs  
and blessedness which prayer  in the    
name of ,jesus gives1 and leave the     
sinner without pardon  in the           
extremities of life4 ,it would take away
 the last appeal of  the slave against  
his oppressor1 remove the last check of 
tyranny1  and lift from the wicked      
hearts of men the last restraints1      
giving carnival to every lust and play  
to every passion1 without  correction1  
without limit1 and without end6    ,we  
stagger1 and are horrified1 at the mere 
idea of the loss that  would be         
inflicted4 ,chills run down our pulses  
at the contemplation  of the despair and
 wretchedness which would ensue4    ,let
 us1 then1 learn to value the possession
 of such a precious  book4 ,let us bind 
it to our hearts as our chief treasure  
in this  sin-darkened world4 ,and1      
whilst we admire its beauty and revere  

its  mysteries1 let us abide by its     
precepts1 and1 as far as in us lies1    
practise its sacred mandates4           
,,maclaren    ,,the ,,pattern ,,of      
,,service          ,,biographical ,,note
      ,,alexander ,,maclaren was born in
 #ahbf1 educated at ,glasgow            
,university1  for twelve years preached 
at ,southampton1 and afterwards for many
  years in ,manchester4 ,besides an     
impressive face and figure he  brought  
to the pulpit a ripe scholarship1 an    
almost perfect ,english  style1 and an  
uncommonly vigorous personality4 ,the   
keynote of  his life and character is   
disclosed in his own words1 uttered in  
,manchester3    ,i have been so         
convinced that ,i was best serving all  
the varied  social1 economical1 and     
political interests that are dear to me 
by preaching what ,i conceived to be the
 gospel of ,jesus ,christ1  that ,i have
 limited myself to that work4 ,i am     
sure1 with a growing  conviction day by 
day1 that so we ,christian ministers    

best serve our  generation4 ,my work1   
whatever yours may be1 is1 and has been 
for  thirty-eight years1 and ,i hope    
will be for a little while longer  yet1 
to preach ,jesus ,christ as the ,king of
 ,england and the ,lord of  all our     
communities1 and the ,savior and friend 
of the individual  soul4                
,,maclaren    ,,born ,,in #ahbf    ,,the
 ,,pattern ,,of ,,service#b      #b     
,from ,the ,secret of ,power1 and ,other
 ,sermons1 published by ,funk           
,wagnalls ,company4         ,he touched 
his tongue2 and looking up to heaven1   
,he sighed1 and       saith1 ,ephphatha1
 that is1 ,be opened4--,mark vii41 #cc1 
#cd4      ,for what reason was there    
this unwonted slowness in ,christ's     
healing  works8 ,for what reason was    
there this unusual emotion ere ,he spoke
  the word which cleansed8    ,as to the
 former question1 a partial answer may  
perhaps be that our  ,lord is here on   
half-heathen ground1 where aids to faith
 were much  needed1 and ,his power had  

to be veiled that it might be beheld4   
,hence the miracle is a process rather  
than an act2 and1 advancing  as it does 
by distinct stages1 is conformed in     
appearance to men's  works of mercy1    
which have to adapt means to ends1 and  
creep to  their goal by persevering     
toil4 ,as to the latter1 we know not why
  the sight of this one poor sufferer   
should have struck so strongly  on the  
ever-tremulous chords of ,christ's      
pitying heart2 but we do  know that it  
was the vision brought before ,his      
spirit by this  single instance of the  
world's griefs and sicknesses1 in which 
mass1  however1 the special case before 
,him was by no means lost1 that  raised 
,his eyes to heaven in mute appeal1 and 
forced the groan from  ,his breast4     
,the missionary spirit is but one aspect
 of the ,christian spirit4  ,we shall   
only strengthen the former as we        
invigorate the latter4  ,harm has been  
done1 both to ourselves and to this     
great cause1 by  seeking to stimulate   

compassion and efforts for heathen lands
 by  the use of other excitements1 which
 have tended to vitiate even the        
emotions they have aroused1 and are apt 
to fail us when we need  them most4 ,it 
may therefore be profitable if we turn  
to ,christ's  own manner of working1 and
 ,his own emotions in ,his merciful     
deeds1  set forth in this remarkable    
narrative1 as containing lessons for  us
 in our missionary and evangelistic     
work4 ,i must necessarily omit  more    
than a passing reference to the slow    
process of healing which  this miracle  
exhibits4 ,but that1 too1 has its       
teaching for us1 who  are so often      
tempted to think ourselves badly used1  
unless the  fruit of our toil grows up1 
like ,jonah's gourd1 before our eyes4   
,if  our ,lord was content to reach ,his
 end of blessing step by step1 we  may  
well accept patient continuance in      
well-doing as the condition             
indispensable to reaping in due season4 
,but there are other thoughts still more

 needful which suggest  themselves4     
,those minute details which this        
evangelist ever delights  to give of our
 ,lord's gestures1 words1 looks1 and    
emotions1 not only  add graphic force to
 the narrative1 but are precious        
glimpses of the  very heart of ,christ4 
,that fixed gaze into heaven1 that groan
 which  neither the glories seen above  
nor the conscious power to heal could   
stifle1 that most gentle touch1 as if   
removing material obstacles  from the   
deaf ears1 and moistening the stiff     
tongue that it might  move more freely  
in the parched mouth1 that word of      
authority  which could not be wanting   
even when ,his working seemed likest a  
servant's1 do surely carry large lessons
 for us4 ,the condition of  all service1
 the cost of feeling at which our work  
must be done1 the  need that the helpers
 should identify themselves with the    
sufferers1  and the victorious power of 
,christ's word over all deaf ears--these
  are the thoughts which ,i desire to   

connect with our text1 and to  commend  
to your meditation to-day4    ,we have  
here set forth the foundation and       
condition of all true work  for ,god in 
the ,lord's heavenward look4    ,the    
profound questions which are involved in
 the fact that1 as  man1 ,christ held   
communion with ,god in the exercise of  
faith and  aspiration1 the same in kind 
as ours1 do not concern us here4 ,i     
speak to those who believe that ,jesus  
is for us the perfect example  of       
complete manhood1 and who therefore     
believe that ,he is the  leader of      
faith1 the head of the long procession  
of those who in  every age have trusted 
in ,god and been lightened4 ,but1       
perhaps1 tho  that conviction holds its 
place in our creeds1 it has not been as 
completely incorporated with our        
thoughts as it should have been4  ,there
 has1 no doubt1 been a tendency1        
operating in much of our  evangelical   
teaching1 and in the common stream of   
orthodox opinion1  to except1 half      

unconsciously1 the exercises of the     
religious life  from the sphere of      
,christ's example1 and we need to be    
reminded  that ,scripture presents ,his 
vow1 ,i will put my trust in ,him1 as   
the crowning proof of ,his brotherhood1 
and that the prints of ,his  kneeling   
limbs have left their impressions where 
we kneel before  the throne4 ,true1 the 
relation of the ,son to the ,father     
involves  more than communion--namely1  
unity4 ,but if we follow the teaching   
of the ,bible1 we shall not presume that
 the latter excludes the  former1 but   
understand that the unity is the        
foundation of perfect  communion1 and   
the communion the manifestation1 so far 
as it can be  manifested1 of the        
unspeakable unity4 ,the solemn words    
which shine  like stars--starlike in    
that their height above us shrinks their
  magnitude and dims their brightness1  
and in that they are points  of radiance
 partially disclosing1 and separated by1
 abysses of  unlighted infinitude--tell 

us that in the order of eternity1 before
  creatures were1 there was communion1  
for the ,word was with ,god1  and there 
was unity1 for the ,word was ,god4 ,and 
in the records of  the life manifested  
on earth the consciousness of unity     
loftily  utters itself in the           
unfathomable declaration1 ,i and my     
,father are  one2 whilst the            
consciousness of communion1 dependent   
like ours  on harmony of will and true  
obedience1 breathes peacefully in the   
witness which ,he leaves to ,himself3   
,the ,father has not left me  alone for 
,i do always the things that please him4
    ,we are fully warranted in supposing
 that that wistful gaze to heaven       
means1 and may be taken to symbolize1   
our ,lord's conscious direction  of     
thought and spirit to ,god as ,he       
wrought ,his work of mercy4 ,there  are 
two distinctions to be noted between    
,his communion with ,god and  ours      
before we can apply the lesson to       
ourselves4 ,his heavenward  look was not

 the renewal of interrupted fellowship1 
but rather1 as a  man standing firmly on
 firm rock may yet lift his foot to     
plant it  again where it was before1 and
 settle himself in his attitude before  
he strikes with all his might2 so we may
 say ,christ fixes ,himself  where ,he  
always stood1 and grasps anew the hand  
that ,he always held1  before ,he does  
the deed of power4 ,the communion that  
had never been  broken was renewed2 how 
much more the need that in our work for 
,god  the renewal of the--alas6 too     
sadly sundered--fellowship should  ever 
precede and always accompany our        
efforts6 ,and again1 ,christ's          
fellowship was with the ,father4 ,ours  
must be with the ,father through  the   
,son4 ,the communion to which we are    
called is with ,jesus ,christ1  in whom 
we find ,god4    ,the manner of that    
intercourse1 and the various discipline 
of  ourselves with a view to its        
perfecting1 which ,christian prudence   
prescribes1 need not concern us here4   

,as for the latter1 let us not  forget  
that a wholesome and wide-reaching      
self-denial cannot be  dispensed with4  
,hands that are full of gilded toys and 
glass beads  cannot grasp durable       
riches1 and eyes that have been         
accustomed to  glaring lights see only  
darkness when they look up to the violet
  heaven with all its stars4 ,as to the 
former1 every part of our  nature above 
the simply animal is capable of ,god1   
and the communion  ought to include our 
whole being4    ,christ is truth for the
 understanding1 authority for the will1 
love  for the heart1 certainty for the  
hope1 fruition for all the desires1  and
 for the conscience at once cleansing   
and law4 ,fellowship with  ,him is no   
indolent passiveness1 nor the luxurious 
exercise of  certain emotions1 but the  
contact of the whole nature with its    
sole  adequate object and rightful      
,lord4    ,such intercourse1 brethren1  
lies at the foundation of all work for  
,god4 ,it is the condition of all our   

power4 ,it is the measure of all  our   
success4 ,without it we may seem to     
realize the externals of  prosperity1   
but it will be all illusion4 ,with it we
 may perchance  seem to spend our       
strength for naught2 but heaven has its 
surprizes2  and those who toiled1 nor   
left their hold of their ,lord in all   
their  work1 will have to say at last   
with wonder1 as they see the results  of
 their poor efforts1 ,who hath begotten 
me these8 behold1 ,i was  left alone2   
these1 where had they been8    ,consider
 in few words the manifold ways in which
 the indispensable  prerequisite of all 
right effort for ,christ may be shown to
 be  communion with ,christ4    ,the    
heavenward look is the renewal of our   
own vision of the calm  verities in     
which we trust1 the recourse for        
ourselves to the  realities which we    
desire that others should see4 ,and what
 is equal  in persuasive power to the   
simple utterance of your own intense    
conviction8 ,he only will infuse his own

 religion into other minds1  whose      
religion is not a set of hard dogmas1   
but is fused by the heat  of personal   
experience into a river of living fire4 
,it will flow  then1 not otherwise4 ,the
 only claim which the hearts of men will
  listen to1 in those who would win them
 to spiritual beliefs1 is that  ancient 
one3 ,that which we have seen with our  
eyes1 which we have  looked upon1       
declare we unto you4 ,mightier than all 
arguments1  than all proofs of the truth
 of the ,christian religion1 and        
penetrating into a sphere deeper than   
that of the understanding1  is the      
simple proclamation1 ,we have found the 
,messias4 ,if we  would give sight to   
the blind1 we must ourselves be gazing  
into  heaven4 ,only when we testify of  
that which we see1 as one might who1    
standing in a beleaguered city1         
discerned on the horizon the filmy      
dust-cloud through which the spear-heads
 of the deliverers flashed  at          
intervals1 shall we win any to gaze with

 us till they too behold  and know      
themselves set free4    ,christ has set 
us the example4 ,let our prayers ascend 
as ,his did1  and in our measure the    
answers which came to ,him will not fail
 us4  ,for us1 too1 praying1 the heavens
 shall be opened1 and the               
peace-bringing spirit fall dove-like on 
our meek hearts4 ,for us1  too1 when the
 shadow of our cross lies black and     
gaunt upon our  paths1 and our souls are
 troubled1 communion with heaven will   
bring  the assurance1 audible to our    
ears at least1 that ,god will glorify   
,himself even in us4 ,if1 after many a  
weary day1 we seek to hold  fellowship  
with ,god as ,he sought it on the ,mount
 of ,olives1 or among  the solitudes of 
the midnight hills1 or out in the       
morning freshness  of the silent        
wilderness1 like ,him we shall have men 
gathering  around us to hear us speak   
when we come forth from the secret place
  of the ,most ,high4 ,if our prayer1   
like ,his1 goes before our mighty       

deeds1 the voice that first pierced the 
skies will penetrate the  tomb1 and make
 the dead stir in their grave-clothes4  
,if our longing1  trustful look is      
turned to the heavens1 we shall not     
speak in vain  on earth when we say1 ,be
 opened4    ,brethren1 we cannot do     
without the communion which our ,master 
needed4 ,do we delight in what          
strengthened ,him8 ,does our work rest  
upon the basis of inward fellowship with
 ,god which underlay ,his8  ,alas6 that 
our pattern should be our rebuke1 and   
the readiest way to  force home our     
faults on our consciences should be the 
contemplation  of the life which we say 
that we try to copy6    ,we have here   
pity for the evils we would remove set  
forth by the  ,lord's sigh4    ,what was
 it that drew that sigh from the heart  
of ,jesus8 ,one poor  man stood before  
,him1 by no means the most sorely       
afflicted of the  many wretched ones    
whom ,he healed4 ,but ,he saw in him    
more than a  solitary instance of       

physical infirmities4 ,did there not    
roll darkly  before ,his thoughts that  
whole weltering sea of sorrow that moans
  round the world1 of which here is but 
one drop that ,he could dry  up8 ,did   
there not rise black and solid against  
the clear blue1 to  which ,he had been  
looking1 the mass of man's sin1 of which
 these  bodily infirmities were but a   
poor symbol as well as a consequence8   
,he saw as none but ,he could bear to   
see1 the miserable realities  of human  
life4 ,his knowledge of all that man    
might be1 of all that  the most of men  
were becoming1 ,his power of            
contemplating in one  awful aggregate   
the entire sum of sorrows and sins1 laid
 upon ,his  heart a burden which none   
but ,he has ever endured4 ,his communion
  with ,heaven deepened the dark shadow 
on earth1 and the eyes that  looked up  
to ,god and saw ,him could not but see  
foulness where others  suspected none1  
and murderous messengers of hell walking
 in darkness  unpenetrated by mortal    

sight4 ,and all that pain of clearer    
knowledge  of the sorrowfulness of      
sorrow1 and the sinfulness of sin1 was  
laid  upon a heart in which was no      
selfishness to blunt the sharp edge  of 
the pain nor any sin to stagnate the    
pity that flowed from the  wound4 ,to   
,jesus ,christ1 life was a daily        
martyrdom before death had  made the    
sacrifice complete1 and ,he bore our    
griefs1 and carried  our sorrows through
 many a weary hour before ,he bare them 
in his  own body on the tree4           
,therefore1 ,bear ye one another's      
burden1 and  so fulfil the law which    
,christ obeyed1 becomes a command for   
all  who would draw men to ,him4 ,and   
true sorrow1 a sharp and real sense  of 
pain1 becomes indispensable as          
preparation for1 and accompaniment  to1 
our work4    ,mark how in us1 as in our 
,lord1 the sigh of compassion is        
connected  with the look to heaven4 ,it 
follows upon that gaze4 ,the evils are  
more real1 more terrible1 by their      

startling contrast with the  unshadowed 
light which lives above cloudracks and  
mists4 ,it is  a sharp shock to turn    
from the free sweep of the heavens1     
starry  and radiant1 to the sights that 
meet us in this dim spot which  men call
 earth4 ,thus habitual communion with   
,god is the root of  the truest and     
purest compassion4 ,it does not withdraw
 us from our  fellow feeling with our   
brethren1 it cultivates no isolation for
  undisturbed beholding of ,god4 ,it at 
once supplies a standard by  which to   
measure the greatness of man's          
godlessness1 and therefore  of his      
gloom1 and a motive for laying the pain 
of these upon our  hearts1 as if they   
were our own4 ,he has looked into the   
heavens to  little purpose who has not  
learned how bad and how sad the world   
now  is1 and how ,god bends over it in  
pitying love4    ,and that same         
fellowship1 which will clear our eyes   
and soften  our hearts1 is also the one 
consolation which we have when our      

sense of all the ills that flesh is heir
 to becomes deep1 near  to despair4     
,when one thinks of the real facts of   
human life1 and  tries to conceive of   
the frightful meanness and passion and  
hate  and wretchedness1 that has been   
howling and shrieking and gibbering  and
 groaning through dreary millenniums1   
one's brain reels1 and  hope seems to be
 absurdity1 and joy a sin against our   
fellows1 as  a feast would be in a house
 next door to where was a funeral4 ,i do
  not wonder at settled sorrow falling  
upon men of vivid imagination1  keen    
moral sense1 and ordinary sensitiveness1
 when they brood long  on the world as  
it is4 ,but ,i do wonder at the         
superficial optimism  which goes on with
 its little prophecies about human      
progress1 and  its rose-colored pictures
 of human life1 and sees nothing to     
strike  it dumb for ever in men's       
writhing miseries1 blank failures1 and  
hopeless end4 ,ah6 brethren1 if it were 
not for the heavenward look1  how could 

we bear the sight of earth6 ,we see not 
yet all things put  under him4 ,no1 ,god
 knows1 far enough off from that4 ,man's
 folly1  man's submission to the        
creatures he should rule1 man's agonies1
 and  man's transgression1 are a grim   
contrast to the psalmist's vision4  ,if 
we had only earth to look to1 despair of
 the race1 exprest in  settled          
melancholy apathy1 or in fierce         
cynicism1 were the wisest  attitude4    
,but there is more within our view than 
earth2 we see  ,jesus2 we look to the   
heaven1 and as we behold the true man1  
we see  more than ever1 indeed1 how far 
from that pattern we all are2 but we    
can bear the thought of what men as yet 
have been1 when we see that  perfect    
example of what men shall be4 ,the root 
and the consolation  of our sorrow for  
man's evils is communion with ,god4     
,we have here loving contact with those 
whom we would help1 set forth  in the   
,lord's touch4    ,the reasons for the  
variety observable in ,christ's method  

of  communicating supernatural blessing 
were1 probably1 too closely  connected  
with unrecorded differences in the      
spiritual conditions of  the recipients 
to be distinctly traceable by us4 ,but  
tho we cannot  tell why a particular    
method was employed in a given case1 why
 now a  word1 and now a symbolic action1
 now the touch of ,his hand1 and now    
the hem of ,his garment1 appeared to be 
the vehicles of ,his power1 we  can     
discern the significance of these divers
 ways1 and learn great  lessons from    
them all4    ,his touch was sometimes   
obviously the result of what one may    
venture  to call instinctive tenderness1
 as when ,he lifted the little  children
 in ,his arms and laid ,his hands upon  
their heads4 ,it was1 ,i  suppose1      
always the spontaneous expression of    
love and compassion1  even when it was  
something more4    ,the touch of ,his   
hand on the ghastly glossiness of the   
leper's skin  was1 no doubt1 ,his       
assertion of priestly functions1 and of 

elevation  above all laws of defilement2
 but what was it to the poor outcast1   
who for years had never felt the warm   
contact of flesh and blood8 ,it  always 
indicated that ,he ,himself was the     
source of healing and life4  ,it always 
exprest ,his identification of ,himself 
with sorrow and  sickness4 ,so that it  
is in principle analogous to1 and may be
 taken  as illustrative of1 that        
transcendent act whereby ,he became     
flesh1  and dwelt among us4 ,indeed1 the
 very word by which our ,lord's taking  
the blind man by the hand is described  
in the chapter following our  text is   
that employed in the ,epistle to the    
,hebrews when1 dealing  with the true   
brotherhood of ,jesus1 the writer says1 
,he took not  hold of angels1 but of the
 seed of ,abraham he taketh hold4       
,christ's  touch is ,his willing contact
 with man's infirmities and sins1 that  
,he may strengthen and hallow4    ,and  
the lesson is one of universal          
application4 ,wherever men would  help  

their fellows1 this is a prime          
requisite1 that the would-be  helper    
should come down to the level of those  
whom he desires to  aid4 ,if we wish to 
teach1 we must stoop to think the       
scholar's  thoughts4 ,the master who has
 forgotten his boyhood will have poor   
success4 ,if we would lead to purer     
emotions1 we must try to enter  into the
 lower feelings which we labor to       
elevate4 ,it is of no use  to stand at  
the mouth of the alleys we wish to      
cleanse1 with our  skirts daintily      
gathered about us1 and smelling-bottle  
in hand1 to  preach homilies on the     
virtue of cleanliness4 ,we must go in   
among  the filth1 and handle it1 if we  
want to have it cleared away4 ,the      
degraded must feel that we do not shrink
 from them1 or we shall do  them no     
good4 ,the leper1 shunned by all1 and   
ashamed of himself  because everybody   
loathes him1 hungers in his hovel for   
the grasp of  a hand that does not care 
for defilement1 if it can bring         

cleansing4  ,even in regard to common   
material helps the principle holds good4
  ,we are too apt to cast our doles to  
the poor like the bones to  a dog1 and  
then to wonder at what we are pleased to
 think men's  ingratitude4 ,a benefit   
may be so conferred as to hurt more than
 a  blow2 and we cannot be surprized if 
so-called charity which is given  with  
contempt and a sense of superiority1    
should be received with  a scowl1 and   
chafe a man's spirit like a fetter4     
,such gifts bless  neither him who gives
 nor him who takes4 ,we must put our    
hearts  into them1 if we would win      
hearts by them4 ,we must be ready1 like 
our ,master1 to take blind beggars by   
the hand1 if we would bless or  help    
them4 ,the despair and opprobrium of our
 modern civilization1  the gulf growing 
wider and deeper between ,dives and     
,lazarus1 between  ,belgravia and       
,whitechapel1 the mournful failure of   
legalized help1  and of delegated       
efforts to bridge it over1 the darkening

 ignorance1  the animal sensuousness1   
the utter heathenism that lives in every
  town of ,england1 within a stone's    
throw of ,christian houses1 and  near   
enough to hear the sound of public      
worship1 will yield to  nothing but that
 sadly forgotten law which enjoins      
personal contact  with the sinful and   
the suffering1 as one chief condition of
 raising  them from the black mire in   
which they welter4    ,the effect of    
much well-meant ,christian effort is    
simply to  irritate4 ,people are very   
quick to catch delicate intonations     
which  reveal a secret sense1 how much  
better1 wiser1 more devout ,i am  than  
these people6 and wherever a trace of   
that appears in our  work1 the good of  
it is apt to be marred4 ,we all know how
 hackneyed  the charge of spiritual     
pride and ,pharisaic self-complacency   
is1  and1 thank ,god1 how unjust it     
often is4 ,but averse as men may be to  
the truths which humble1 and willing as 
they may be to assume that  the very    

effort to present these to others on our
 parts implies a  claim which mortifies1
 we may at least learn from the         
threadbare  calumny1 what strikes men   
about our position1 and what rouses     
their  antaganism to us4 ,it is         
allowable to be taught by our enemies1  
especially when it is such a lesson as  
this1 that we must carefully  divest our
 evangelistic work of apparent          
pretensions to superiority1  and take   
our stand by the side of those to whom  
we speak4 ,we cannot  lecture men into  
the love of ,christ4 ,we can but win    
them to it by  showing ,christ's love to
 them2 and not the least important      
element  in that process is the         
exhibition of our own love4 ,we have a  
gospel  to speak of which the very heart
 is1 that the ,son of ,god stooped  to  
become one with the lowliest and most   
sinful2 and how can that  gospel be     
spoken with power unless we1 too1 stoop 
like ,him8    ,we have to echo the      
invitation1 ,learn of me1 for ,i am     

lowly in  heart2 and how can such divine
 words flow from lips into which like   
grace has not been poured8 ,our theme is
 a ,savior who shrunk from no  sinner1  
who gladly consorted with publicans and 
harlots1 who laid  ,his hand on         
pollution1 and ,his heart1 full of ,god 
and of love1 on  hearts reeking with    
sin2 and how can our message correspond 
with our  theme if1 even in delivering  
it1 we are saying to ourselves1 ,the    
temple of the ,lord are we3 this people 
which knoweth not the law is  curst8    
,let us beware of the very real danger  
which besets us in  this matter1 and    
earnestly seek to make ourselves one    
with those  whom we would gather into   
,christ1 by actual familiarity with     
their  condition1 and by identification 
of ourselves in feeling with them1      
after the example of that greatest of   
,christian teachers who became  all     
things to all men1 that by all means he 
might gain some2  after the higher      
example1 which ,paul followed1 of that  

dear ,lord  who1 being highest1         
descended to the lowest1 and in the days
 of ,his  humiliation was not content   
with speaking words of power from afar1 
nor abhorred the contact of mortality   
and disease and loathsome  corruption2  
but laid ,his hands upon death1 and it  
lived2 upon  sickness1 and it was whole2
 on rotting leprosy1 and it was sweet as
  the flesh of a little child4    ,the  
same principle might be further applied 
to our ,christian work1  as affecting   
the form in which we should present the 
truth4 ,the  sympathetic identification 
of ourselves with those to whom we try  
to  carry the gospel will certainly make
 us wise to know how to shape  our      
message4 ,seeing with their eyes1 we    
shall be able to graduate  the light4   
,thinking their thoughts1 and having in 
some measure  succeeded1 by force of    
sheer community of feeling1 in having as
 it  were got inside their minds1 we    
shall unconsciously1 and without        
effort1 be led to such aspects of       

,christ's all-comprehensive truth  as   
they most need4 ,there will be no       
shooting over people's heads1  if we    
love them well enough to understand     
them4 ,there will be no  toothless      
generalities1 when our interest in men  
keeps their actual  condition and       
temptations clear before us4 ,there will
 be no flinging  fossil doctrines at    
them from a height1 as if ,christ's     
blest gospel  were1 in another than the 
literal sense1 a stone of offense1 if   
we have taken our place on their level4 
,and without such sympathy1  these and a
 thousand other weaknesses and faults   
will certainly  vitiate much of our     
,christian effort4    ,we have here the 
true healing power and the consciousness
 of  wielding it set forth in the       
,lord's authoritative word4    ,all the 
rest of ,his action was either the      
spontaneous expression of  ,his true    
participation in human sorrow1 or a     
merciful veiling of ,his  glory that    
sense-bound eyes might see it the       

better4 ,but the word  was the utterance
 of ,his will1 and that was omnipotent4 
,the hand  laid on the sick1 the blind  
or the deaf was not even the channel of 
,his power4 ,the bare putting forth of  
,his energy was all-sufficient4  ,in    
these we see the loving1 pitying man4   
,in this blazes forth1 yet  more loving1
 yet more compassionate1 the effulgence 
of manifest ,god4  ,therefore so often  
do we read the very syllables with which
 ,his  voice then shook the earth1      
vibrating through all the framework of  
the material universe4 ,therefore do the
 gospels bid us listen when  ,he rebukes
 the fever1 and it departs2 when ,he    
says to the demons1  ,go1 and they go2  
when one word louder in its human       
articulation  than the howling wind     
hushes the surges2 when ,talitha cumi   
brings  back the fair young spirit from 
dreary wanderings among the shades  of  
death4 ,therefore was it a height of    
faith not found in ,israel  when the    
,gentile soldier1 whose training had    

taught him the power of  absolute       
authority1 as heathenism had driven him 
to long for a man  who would speak with 
the imperial sway of a god1 recognized  
in ,his  voice an all-commanding power4 
,from of old1 the very signature of     
divinity has been declared to be ,he    
spake1 and it was done2 and  ,he1 the   
breath of whose lips could set in motion
 material changes1  is that eternal     
,word1 by whom all things were made4    
,what unlimited consciousness of        
sovereign dominion sounds in that       
imperative from ,his autocratic lips6   
,it is spoken in deaf ears1 but  ,he    
knows that it will be heard4 ,he speaks 
as the fontal source1  not as the       
recipient channel of healing4 ,he       
anticipates no delay1  no resistance4   
,there is neither effort nor uncertainty
 in the curt  command4 ,he is sure that 
,he has power1 and ,he is sure that the 
power  is ,his own4    ,there is no     
analogy here between us and ,him4       
,alone1 fronting the  whole race of man1

 ,he stands--utterer of a word which    
none can say  after ,him1 possessor of  
unshared might1 and of ,his fulness do  
we all  receive4 ,but even from that    
divine authority and solitary sovereign 
consciousness we may gather lessons not 
altogether aside from the  purpose of   
our meeting here to-day4 ,of ,his       
fulness we have received1  and the power
 of the word on ,his lips may teach us  
that of ,his  word1 even on ours1 as the
 victorious certainty with which ,he    
spake  ,his will of healing may remind  
us of the confidence with which it      
becomes us to proclaim ,his name4       
,his will was almighty then4 ,is it less
 mighty or less loving now8  ,does it   
not gather all the world in the sweep of
 its mighty purpose  of mercy8 ,his     
voice pierced then into the dull cold   
ear of death1  and has it become weaker 
since8 ,his word spoken by ,him was     
enough  to banish the foul spirits that 
run riot1 swine-like1 in the garden  of 
,god in man's soul1 trampling down and  

eating up its flowers and  fruitage2 is 
the word spoken of ,him less potent to  
cast them out8  ,were not all the mighty
 deeds which ,he wrought by the breath  
of  ,his lips on men's bodies prophecies
 of the yet mightier which ,his  ,will  
of love1 and the utterance of that ,will
 by stammering lips1  may work on men's 
souls4 ,let us not in our               
faint-heartedness number  up our        
failures1 the deaf that will not hear1  
the dumb that will  not speak1 ,his     
praise2 nor unbelievingly say ,christ's 
own word was  mighty1 but the word      
concerning ,christ is weak on our lips4 
,not so2  our lips are unclean1 and our 
words are weak1 but ,his word--the      
utterance of ,his loving will that men  
should be saved--is what it  always was 
and always will be4 ,we have it1        
brethren1 to proclaim4  ,did our ,master
 countenance the faithless contrast     
between the living  force of ,his word  
when ,he dwelt on earth1 and the        
feebleness of it  as ,he speaks through 

,his servant8 ,if ,he did1 what did ,he 
mean when  ,he said1 ,he that believeth 
on me1 the works that ,i do shall he do 
also1 and greater works than these shall
 he do1 because ,i go unto  the ,father8
          ,,crosby    ,,the ,,prepared  
,,worm          ,,biographical ,,note   
,howard ,crosby1 ,presbyterian divine1  
was born in ,new ,york ,city in  #ahbf1 
educated at ,new ,york ,university1     
graduating in #ahea1 was  professor of  
,greek at that institution until #ahei1 
when he was  elected to the same chair  
in ,rutgers ,college4 ,he was pastor of 
the  ,first ,presbyterian ,church of    
,new ,brunswick1 ,n4 ,j41 for the two   
years ending in #ahfc1 when he assumed  
charge of the ,fourth ,avenue           
,presbyterian ,church1 ,new ,york4 ,from
 #ahgj to #ahha he was chancellor  of   
the ,university of ,new ,york4 ,his     
activities in the cause of  social      
reform were conspicuous and he exercized
 his influence in  organizing the       
,society for the ,prevention of ,crime  

over which he  presided for some years4 
,his energies were also directed against
  the illegal liquor trade4 ,as a       
scholar he was prominent among the      
,american revisers of the ,new          
,testament and edited a new edition of  
the ,oedipus ,tyrannus of ,sophocles4   
,he died in #ahia4          ,,crosby    
#ahbf-ahia    ,,the ,,prepared ,,worm#c 
#c ,copyright1 #ahhd1 ,the ,homiletic   
,review1 ,new ,york4         ,but ,god  
prepared a worm when the morning rose   
the next day1 and       it smote the    
gourd that it withered4--,jonah iv41 #g4
      ,just when ,jonah had felt the    
delight of the shadowing foliage and    
had begun to promise himself a most     
comfortable retreat against  an         
,assyrian sun1 the broad-leaved gourd   
withered4 ,the morning had  arrived and 
the heat was becoming more intense1 when
 the glad  shelter was removed1 and the 
prophet's head was smitten with the     
scorching rays4 ,it is better for me to 
die than live1 exclaimed  the fainting  

,jonah4 ,and what caused this calamity8 
,a worm4 ,and is  that all8 ,no6 ,god   
prepared the worm4 ,the worm was under  
orders  from heaven1 and while he1      
doubtless1 ate into the gourd1 with a   
good appetite1 following the bent of his
 natural constitution1  nevertheless he 
was acting in direct obedience to ,god4 
,god prepared  the worm4 ,and yet in the
 sixth verse we read that ,god prepared 
the  gourd4 ,this is the record4 ,and   
the ,lord ,god prepared a gourd and     
made it to come up over ,jonah1 that it 
might be a shadow over his  head1 to    
deliver him from his grief4 ,so ,jonah  
was exceedingly glad  of the gourd4 ,and
 then follows immediately3 ,but ,god    
prepared a  worm1 when the morning rose 
the next day1 and he smote the gourd    
that it withered4 ,does ,god1 then1     
build up in order to destroy8  ,and does
 ,he give comfort to ,his creatures in  
order to torment them  by its removal8  
,so reasons the carnal heart1 ready to  
complain1  and looking on all ,god's    

conduct in its superficial aspect1 its  
own selfish and sensuous advantage being
 the criterion of all its  judgments4   
,it is an easy counsel of ,satan1 when  
we are fainting  by a withered gourd4   
,curse ,god and die1 the selfish soul is
 all  ripe for such advice1--desperation
 is more inviting than faith4 ,and      
there are but few ,jobs who can resist  
the appeal to discontent and  anger1 in 
the face of ,satan and wife combined1   
for when the natural  depravity of our  
own hearts is supported by the          
entreaties of our  nearest and dearest  
friends1 hell's heaviest engine is      
brought  against us4 ,i do well to be   
angry1 even unto death1 is the usual    
style in which we greet the afflictive  
providence of ,god4 ,but a  faith like  
,job's1 that learns the lesson which the
 sorrow teaches1  is rewarded1 as was   
,job's1 by the presence and communion of
 ,god1 and  by a satisfaction with ,his 
holy and righteous will4    ,let us     
endeavor to understand some of the facts

 connected with our  afflictions1 as    
disclosed by the ,word of ,god1 in order
 that we may  be prepared to follow ,job
 rather than ,jonah4    ,i4 ,in the     
first place1 ,god is the author of      
affliction4 ,affliction  cometh not     
forth out of the dust1 neither doth     
trouble spring out  of the ground4 ,god 
asserts most positively in ,his ,word1  
that all  the losses in the world are   
sent by ,him4 ,he calls them            
chastisements  from ,his fatherly hand4 
,i make peace and create evil1 saith the
  ,lord4 ,this is not evil in the sense 
of wickedness4 ,god does not  create    
wickedness--but it is evil in the sense 
of affliction and  trouble1 the opposite
 of peace in the contrasted clause1 ,i  
make  peace and create evil4 ,that is1  
,god is the author equally of           
prosperity and adversity to ,his        
creatures4 ,if it were not so1 we       
should have to imagine certain powers in
 ,god's universe not subject  to ,his   
almighty control1 which would be an     

absurdity4 ,shall there  be evil in a   
city and the ,lord hath not done it8 ,it
 is in this  sense of ,god's hand in    
adversity that the psalmist cries1      
,thou1 ,o  ,god1 hast proved us3 thou   
hast tried us as silver is tried2 thou  
broughtest us into the net1 thou laidest
 affliction upon our loins2  and again1 
,thy wrath lieth hard upon me1 and thou 
hast afflicted me  with all thy waves4  
,god may send affliction by permitting  
,satan to  afflict1 but still ,god is   
the author of the affliction4 ,he could 
prevent it1 but ,he permits it4 ,indeed1
 it is1 perhaps1 true that all  our     
losses and injuries in this world are   
,satan's inflictions1 that  this        
ever-active spirit of evil is constantly
 using the agencies of  the natural     
world for our harm and destruction1 and 
we are preserved  simply by the         
interposing and restraining providence  
of ,god4 ,when  ,satan wished to afflict
 ,job1 he sought and gained permission  
of  the ,lord4 ,job's calamities were   

clearly ,satan's blows1 and yet ,job    
addresses ,god1 ,why hast thou set me as
 a mark against thee1 so  that ,i am a  
burden to myself8 ,so1 again1 the       
diseased woman1 who  heard our ,savior's
 healing words on the ,sabbath day and  
was cured1  is described by the same    
divine ,physician 7whose diagnosis      
cannot  be questioned7 as one whom      
,satan had bound for eighteen years4    
,under such examples1 ,i cannot believe 
we err in attributing all  our          
sicknesses and pains of body to the     
permitted agency of our  arch-adversary4
    ,they are tokens of his power over  
our race1 for he is the prince  of this 
world1 and it is only in ,god that we   
find protection from  his cruel scepter4
 ,god suffers us to feel his inflictions
 in order  to remove our affections from
 the world and to place them more       
devotedly upon our ,heavenly ,father4   
,god is thus most truly the  author of  
affliction1 whatever may be the agencies
 ,he uses in the  course of ,his        

providence4    ,,ii4 ,he uses the       
natural laws of the world as ,his agents
 in  afflicting4 ,these laws may be thus
 used permissively by ,satan in  other  
ways than in sickness or not1 but the   
text shows us clearly  that ,god so uses
 them4 ,god prepared a worm4 ,there is a
 world of  instruction in that brief    
statement4 ,it infinitely transcends the
  science of the naturalist4 ,bring the 
most learned explorers of  nature       
together to this gourd of ,jonah1 and   
show them this little  worm creeping    
toward the thick stalk4 ,let them see it
 move its many  feet and flexible body  
till it reaches the goal of its         
instinct4 ,now  it uses its gnawing jaws
 upon the woody fibre2 deeper and deeper
  it pierces the stem2 now it reaches   
the innermost pith1 and again  returns  
upon its course4 ,the current of the    
gourd's life is marred2  the leaves     
droop1 and its shelter is gone4 ,now1 ye
 scientific men1  what made that gourd  
wither8 ,hear them philosophize4 ,yon   

worm is  a caterpillar1 whose           
appropriate food is the ricinus         
communis1  this very gourd with its     
palmate leaves and red-tinted flower4   
,the  worm has merely followed the      
impulses of its nature in seeking that  
tree-like plant1 and the equally natural
 result of its feeding upon  the stalk  
has been the failure of the tree's      
nourishment1 and with  the failure the  
foliage has1 of course1 withered4 ,well1
 is that  all science can say8 ,yes1    
all4 ,it is little more than that a     
horse  is a horse4 ,it explains nothing 
but the most proximate causes4  ,it     
classifies facts1 and then leaves us    
gaping into the abyss of  causation as  
ignorant as ever4 ,four words from the  
,bible carry  us back to the ultimate   
cause1 the first mover in this gourd's  
withering4 ,science talks of laws1 but  
these four words go behind all  laws to 
the ,maker of laws1 to ,him in whose    
hands are all things4  ,god prepared a  
worm4 ,what6 says science2 drag ,god in 

to explain  anything8 ,nay1 ,god drags  
all in to effect ,his plans4 ,he has    
made all  things1 however great1 however
 small1 for ,himself4 ,and these things 
which you call laws are only the methods
 of ,his activity1 and these  methods   
,he has formed for the very ends which  
,he accomplishes by  them4 ,the worm    
which crawls to ,jonah's gourd was      
created by ,god to  destroy that plant1 
and the law of that worm's movement was 
ordained  for that destruction1 as well 
as for all else which it accomplishes4  
,the mind is satisfied when it finds a  
mind1 a purpose1 a plan in  every event 
which it observes1 and the pious heart  
is rejoiced to  know that it is a       
,father's mind and purpose and plan     
which directs  every movement1 even to  
the crawling of a worm4 ,god prepared a 
gourd--,god prepared a worm2 no accident
 brought the gourd there2  no accident  
brought the worm there4 ,god stood in a 
like relation to  both4 ,he sent the    
gourd1 through nature1 to comfort       

,jonah4 ,he sent  the worm1 through     
nature1 to trouble ,jonah4 ,nature is a 
forlorn  object to study unless we find 
it a mirror to reflect ,god4 ,it is     
only as we see it1 the result of ,his   
handiwork and ,his instrument  in       
governing ,his creatures1 that nature   
has a glory4 ,then it is  ennobled2 then
 it has a meaning that no mere          
naturalist can fathom1  but which       
renders valuable the researches of      
science with its  classifications4      
,,iii4 ,god is just in afflicting us4   
,if we look at ,god simply as the       
,maker and ,owner of ,his creatures1 we 
could easily deduce ,his right  to      
afflict4 ,is it not lawful for me to do 
what ,i will with mine  own8 says the   
,creator2 and he must be a daring soul  
who disputes  the force of this         
question4 ,shall the thing formed say to
 him that  formed it1 ',why hast thou   
made me thus8' ,but we are not left to  
this view of ,god's right to afflict4   
,god has entered into covenant  with us4

 ,he has said1 ,do ye according to my   
commandments1 and ye  shall live4 ,this 
was the purport of ,his very first      
communication  to our race in ,adam4 ,it
 treated of obedience and reward1 of    
disobedience and punishment4 ,and what  
is the record of our race  since8 ,have 
we obeyed or have we disobeyed8 ,is     
there the slightest  claim in us for the
 reward8 ,is there not the most complete
 demand  for the punishment8 ,what sin  
in the whole catalog of sin has been    
omitted by man8 ,enmity to man and ,god1
 pride1 ingratitude1 and  rebellion have
 marked the history of mankind4 ,and are
 you and  ,i exceptions8 ,look at our   
years of worldliness1 years of sinful   
affections1 years of opposition to the  
,word and ,spirit1 years of             
selfishness1 and then let us confess our
 full participation in the  general     
depravity4 ,we are unclean in our       
natures and by practise1  and so1 under 
the covenant which our ,maker was       
pleased to form for  us1 we can only    

deserve punishment4    ,do we then      
complain in affliction8 ,surely1 if ,god
 would be just in  casting us down to   
hell for our rebellion and disobedience1
 ,he is  just in laying upon us our     
earthly afflictions4 ,shall the ,jonah1 
who  ran away from the ,lord's          
commandment1 and afterward flung ,his   
anger  in the face of ,his ,god1 shall  
such an one feel that ,god is unjust in 
preparing a worm to destroy his gourd8  
,by what arithmetic is such a  balance  
cast8 ,it becomes us1 rather1 to take up
 the words of ,david  and cry1 ,i       
acknowledge my transgression2 and my sin
 is ever before  me4 ,against thee1 thee
 only1 have ,i sinned and done this evil
 in thy  sight1 that thou mightest be   
justified when thou speakest1 and be    
clear when thou judgest4    ,,iv4 ,god  
afflicts us in ,his love4 ,with all     
,jonah's sins against  ,god1 it was not 
to punish him that ,god prepared a worm4
 ,god is  long-suffering and withholds  
punishment in ,his desire that all men  

may come to repentance4 ,if punishment  
were ,god's aim in affliction1  our     
afflictions would be infinitely greater 
than they are1 for  punishment would be 
apportioned to desert1 and our desert is
 eternal  condemnation2 ,god's aim in   
affliction is our restoration1 our      
improvement4 ,by it ,he shakes us off   
from our dependence upon a world  which1
 however it might please us for the     
moment1 would cheat us  sadly in the    
end4 ,by it ,he reminds us of ,himself  
as our source of  strength and          
happiness1 and then brings us to the    
unfailing fountain  of peace1 which our 
earthly prosperity would hide from our  
eyes4 ,by  it ,he teaches us to aspire  
to higher spiritual attainment1 to grow 
in grace1 to cultivate a more heavenly  
disposition of mind and heart4    ,these
 are the uses of adversity4 ,christians 
who have come through  scenes of trial1 
and whose thankful declaration is1 ,it  
was good for  me to be afflicted1       
certify to these blest results4 ,they   

tell us  that they believe nothing else 
but the severe losses they sustained    
could have freed them from the          
fascinations of the world--nothing  else
 could have made holy things so         
delightful to their soul4 ,now1  such an
 experience is not the result of ,god's 
anger but of ,god's  love4 ,however     
harsh the voice of ,god may seem to us1 
it is yet a  ,father's voice1 with a    
,father's heart behind it4 ,it is1      
therefore1  meant not to drive us away  
to seek a hiding corner1 but to bring us
  directly to ,himself4 ,the same love  
which sent the affliction will  receive 
the afflicted4 ,god prepares gourds1 and
 ,god prepares worms2  and ,he uses each
 to build up faith and holiness in the  
human heart4  ,in earnest seeking after 
,god1 in complete consecration to ,his  
holy  will and service1 is to be found  
the surest avoidance of the worm4  ,if  
we can learn our lesson without the     
worm1 the worm will not  be sent to gnaw
 our gourd to ruins4 ,the nearer our    

life to ,jesus  the more free shall we  
be from the sting of affliction4 ,had   
,jonah  been an obedient and submissive 
prophet his gourd would not have        
withered4 ,but alas6 ,jonah and         
ourselves need correction to keep our   
faces heavenward4 ,forgetfulness and    
indulgence plant their weeds in  our    
,lord's garden1 and they must be rooted 
up by force4 ,it is for  our own good1  
and it is infinite love which decrees   
it4    ,now note some inferences from   
the subject under consideration4        
,first4 ,if ,god afflicts1 how foolish  
it is to go to the world for  relief8   
,is the world greater than ,god8 ,we may
 be sure that any  comfort the world can
 give1 as against ,god's affliction1    
must be  dangerous4 ,it is a contest    
with ,god1 which ,god may allow to be   
successful1 but only for the greater    
condemnation thereafter4 ,the  world's  
relief is not a cure but an opiate4 ,it 
stupefies1 but does  not give health and
 strength4 ,the world's relief is a     

temporary  application--a lull before a 
fiercer storm4 ,the world's relief  is a
 determination not to heed the lesson   
,god sends us2 it is the  invention of  
frivolity1 and not the device of wisdom4
 ,more slumber1  more pleasure1 and more
 worldly care are three favorite        
medicaments  the world uses in these    
cases--anodynes which only weaken the   
system  and prepare it for more fearful 
suffering4 ,god wishes to awaken  the   
mind by affliction1 and man immediately 
prescribes a narcotic4  ,the great      
,physician brings the affliction for our
 good2 we turn to  quackery to destroy  
the effects of the divine medicine4 ,ah6
 the  day is coming when ,god shall     
appear as no longer our ,savior but  our
 ,judge1 if this be our treatment of    
,his love4 ,because ,i have  called and 
ye refused2 ,i have stretched out my    
hand and no man  regarded2 but ye have  
set at naught all my counsel1 and would 
none  of my reproof2 ,i also will laugh 
at your calamity2 ,i will mock when     

your fear cometh2 when your fear cometh 
as desolation1 and your  destruction    
cometh as a whirlwind4    ,secondly4 ,if
 ,god prepares worms1 then worms at once
 form an  interesting study for us4 ,we 
cannot see a caterpillar upon the leaf1 
but we know ,god has a mission for that 
worm4 ,he is an ambassador  of the ,most
 ,high on his way to perform his        
,master's will4 ,the  headache1 which   
unfits us for our ordinary occupation1  
is more  than a headache4 ,it is the    
voice of our ,god4 ,let us listen to the
  next headache and hear what ,god would
 have us learn4 ,every bird  and beast1 
every raindrop and sunbeam1 every breath
 of wind1 and  every event1 however     
small1 are the writings of a heavenly   
scribe4  ,let us study ,god's           
providence4 ,it is all a message of love
 to us4  ,we shall find out infinitely  
more in this study than in deciphering  
the hieroglyphics of ,egypt4 ,we shall  
find correction1 expostulation1         
comfort1 encouragement and instruction2 

and the more we look1  the more we shall
 see4 ,we shall become adepts in the    
high art of  interpreting the acts of   
,god toward us1 and in this1 as in      
prayer1  hold constant communion with   
our divine ,redeemer4    ,thirdly4 ,when
 our gourds wither it is a proof that   
,god is near4  ,we should be ready to   
say with ,jacob1 ,surely the ,lord is in
 this  place4 ,prayer and humiliation   
are now our appropriate exercises4  ,god
 has put forth ,his hand to summon us to
 these duties4 ,our gourd  is gone1 but 
our ,god is not gone1 ,he can protect   
far better than a  gourd4 ,he will more 
than make up all our losses4 ,let us go 
to ,him1  and our dark night will make  
the day-dawn more brilliant4 ,my dying  
fellow-sinner1 do not1 ,i beseech you1  
grow angry under ,god's severe          
dispensations4 ,you do not well to be   
angry4 ,god is near you with a  blessing
 in ,his hand for you4 ,he has a lesson 
for you to learn which  will make you   
wise unto salvation4    ,say1 will you  

learn it8 ,if not1 ,god is near you to  
condemn you4 ,oh6  dread the            
alternative1 and be wise to say in your 
heart1 ,blest be  my ,god and ,father1  
who prepared the worm to destroy my     
broad-leaved  gourd6          ,,dale    
,,the ,,argument ,,from ,,experience    
,,biographical ,,note    ,robert        
,william ,dale was born in ,london1     
,england1 in #ahbi and died  in #ahie4  
,his long and fruitful ministry was     
confined to ,birmingham1  where he      
preached with great power4 ,he believed1
 as he once said1  that if a minister   
had anything from ,god to say to his    
fellow men1  they would gladly come to  
hear him4 ,he favored extemporaneous    
preaching1 was a devoted student of     
,english style1 and advocated  in his   
,yale lectures a more thorough attention
 to this important  subject4 ,he said3  
,there is no reason why1 when you have  
at your service the noblest  language   
for an orator that was ever spoken by   
the human race1  you should be satisfied

 with the threadbare phrases1 the       
tawdry1  tarnished finery1 the patched  
and ragged garments1 with the smell     
like that of the stock of a second-hand 
clothes shop1 with which  half-educated 
and ambitious declaimers are content to 
cover the  nakedness of their thought4  
,you can do something better than this1 
and you should resolve to do it4        
,,dale    #ahbi-ahie    ,,the ,,argument
 ,,from ,,experience#d      #d          
,reprinted by permission of ,messrs4 ,a4
 ,c4 ,armstrong  ,son4      ,there are  
large numbers of people who suppose that
 modern science  and modern criticism   
have destroyed the foundations of faith1
 and  who can not understand how it is  
possible1 in these days1 for            
intelligent1 open-minded1 educated men  
to believe in the ,lord ,jesus  ,christ4
    ,there are many persons who are     
convinced that the ascertained          
conclusions of modern science and of    
modern criticism are  destructive of the
 authority which has been attributed    

both to the  ,jewish and the ,christian 
,scriptures1 that the traditional       
opinions  concerning the authorship and 
the dates of many of the books of the   
,old ,testament are false2 and that most
 of the writings contained  in the ,new 
,testament are spurious4 ,or1 if some of
 the extreme  conclusions of the        
destructive criticism are not regarded  
as finally  established1 it is known    
that great names can be quoted for1 as  
well as against1 them4 ,and as it is    
assumed that the ,jewish and the        
,christian ,scriptures are the          
foundations of ,christian faith1 that   
we must believe in the genuineness and  
historical trustworthiness  of these    
ancient books1 and even in their        
inspiration1 before we  can believe in  
,christ1 they argue that1 until these   
discussions are  finally closed in favor
 of the traditional opinions1 faith in  
,christ  is impossible4 ,the            
controversies have not1 in any large    
number  of cases1 destroyed faith where 

faith already existed2 but where  faith 
does not exist1 they appear to very many
 persons to create an  insuperable      
obstacle to faith4    ,to such persons1 
if they are serious and well informed1  
there is  something perplexing in the   
persistency of the faith of the great   
majority of ,christian believers4 ,among
 those who remain ,christian  there are 
men whose intellectual vigor1 patience1 
and keenness  are equal to their own2   
men who are their equals in general     
intellectual culture1 and who know as   
much as they know about the  currents of
 modern thought2 candid men2 men who are
 incorruptible  in their loyalty to     
truth2 men who have a due sense of the  
immense  importance1 in relation to the 
higher life of the human race1 of the   
questions at issue3    ,how is it that  
the faith in ,christ of such men is     
unshaken8    ,the substance of the      
answer that ,i make here to the         
question1 why  it is that those who     
believe in ,christ continue to believe1 

may be  given in a single sentence3     
,whatever may have been the original    
grounds of their faith1 their faith has 
been verified in their own  personal    
experience4    ,they have trusted in    
,christ for certain great and wonderful 
things1  and they have received great   
and wonderful things4 ,they have not    
perhaps received precisely what they    
expected when their ,christian  life    
began1 for the kingdom of heaven cannot 
be really known until  a man has entered
 into it2 but what they have received   
assures them  that ,christ is alive1    
that ,he is within reach1 and that ,he  
is the  ,savior and ,lord of men4       
,that they have received these blessings
 in answer to their faith in  ,christ is
 a matter of personal consciousness4    
,they know it1 as they  know that fire  
burns4    ,their experience varies4     
,some of them would say they can recall 
acts  of ,christ in which ,his personal 
volition and ,his supernatural power    
were as definitely manifested as in any 

of the miracles recorded  in the four   
,gospels4 ,they were struggling         
unsuccessfully with some  evil          
temper--with envy1 jealousy1 personal   
ambition--and could not  subdue it4     
,they hated it2 they hated themselves   
for being under its  tyranny2 but expel 
it they could not4 ,if it seemed        
supprest for a  time1 it returned2 and  
returned with its malignant power       
increased  rather than diminished4 ,they
 scourged themselves with scorpions  for
 yielding to it2 still they yielded4 ,in
 their despair they  appealed to        
,christ2 and in a moment the evil fires 
were quenched1  and they were never     
rekindled4 ,these instantaneous         
deliverances are  perhaps exceptional2  
but to those who can recall them they   
carry an  irresistible conviction that  
the living ,christ has heard their cry  
and answered them4    ,the more ordinary
 experiences of the ,christian life1 tho
 less  striking1 are not less           
conclusive4 ,the proof that ,christ has 

heard prayer is not always concentrated 
into a moment1 but is  more commonly    
spread over large tracts of time4       
,prayer is offered  for an increase of  
moral strength in resisting temptation1 
or for  the disappearance of reluctance 
in the discharge of duties which  are   
distasteful1 or for a more gracious and 
kindly temper1 or for  patience and     
courage in bearing trouble1 or for      
self-control1 or for  relief from       
exhausting and fruitless anxiety2 and   
the answer comes4  ,it comes gradually1 
but still it comes4 ,we had lost hope4  
,it seemed  as if all our moral vigor   
was dying down1 and as if nothing could 
restore it4 ,the tide was slowly ebbing1
 and we were powerless to  recall the   
retreating waters2 but after we prayed  
it ceased to ebb2  for a time it seemed 
stationary2 then it began to flow2 and  
tho with  many of us it has never       
reached the flood1 the wholesome waters 
have  renewed the energy and the joy of 
life4    ,or we prayed to ,christ to    

liberate us from some evil habit4 ,the  
chains did not fall away at ,his touch1 
like the chains of ,peter  at the touch 
of the angel2 but in some mysterious way
 they were  loosened1 and at the same   
time we received accessions of strength4
  ,the old habit continued to trouble   
us2 it still impeded our  movements3 but
 we could move2 we recovered some       
measure of freedom1  and were conscious 
that we were slaves no longer4 ,there   
still  remained a mechanical and        
automatic tendency to the evil ways of  
thinking1 speaking1 or acting2 but we   
had become vigilant and alert1  and were
 prompt to resist the tendency as soon  
as it began to work2  and we were strong
 enough to master it4 ,in the course of 
time the  tendency became weaker and    
weaker1 and at last1 in some cases1 it  
almost disappeared4    ,some men have   
appealed to ,christ when they have been 
seized with  a great horror through the 
discovery of their guilt4 ,it was not   
the awful penalty which menaces the     

impenitent that haunted and  terrified  
them4 ,nor was their distress occasioned
 chiefly by the  consciousness of moral 
evil4 ,they feared the penalty1 and they
 were  humiliated and shamed by the     
contrast between ideal goodness and     
their own moral and spiritual life2 but 
what stung and tortured  them1 sunk them
 into despair1 filled heaven and earth  
with a  darkness that could be felt1 and
 made life intolerable1 was their       
guilt--guilt which they had incurred by 
their past sins1 and which  they        
continued to incur by their present     
sinfulness4    ,when once this sense of 
guilt fastens itself on a man1 he cannot
  shake it off at will4 ,the keen agony 
may gradually pass into a dull1  dead   
pain2 and after a time1 the sensibility 
of the soul may seem to  be wholly lost2
 but a man can never be sure that the   
horror will not  return4    ,the real   
nature of this experience is best seen  
when it has been  occasioned by the     
grosser and more violent forms of crime4

 ,men  who have committed murder1 for   
example1 have been driven almost  insane
 by the memory of their evil deed4      
,their agony may have had  nothing in it
 of the nature of repentance2 they were 
not distrest  because their crime had   
revealed to them the malignity and the  
fierce strength of their passions2 they 
had no desire to become  gentle and     
kindly4 ,they were filled with horror   
and remorse by  their awful guilt4 ,they
 felt that the crime was theirs1 and    
would  always continue to be theirs2    
that it would be theirs if it remained  
concealed as truly as if it were known2 
indeed1 it seemed to be in  some        
terrible way more truly theirs so long  
as the secret was kept4  ,it was not the
 fear of punishment that convulsed them2
 they have  sometimes brought on        
themselves public indignation and       
abhorrence1  and have condemned         
themselves to the gallows by confessing 
their  crime in order to obtain relief  
from their agony4    ,suppose that a man

 possest by this great horror discovered
 that1 in  some wonderful way1 the dark 
and damning stain on his conscience had 
disappeared2 that1 altho he had done the
 deed1 the iron chain which  bound him  
to the criminality of it had been       
broken2 that before  ,god and man and   
his own conscience he was free from the 
guilt of  it2--the supposition1 in its  
completeness1 is an impossible one2 but 
if it were possible1 the discovery would
 lift the man out of the  darkness of   
hell into the light of heaven4    ,but  
to large numbers of ,christian men a    
discovery which in substance  is        
identical with this has actually come in
 response to their trust  in ,christ4   
,nothing is more intensely real than the
 sense of guilt2  it is as real as the  
eternal distinction between right and   
wrong  in which it is rooted4 ,and      
nothing is more intensely real than  the
 sense of release from guilt which comes
 from the discovery  and assurance of   
the remission of sins4 ,the evil things 

which a  man has done cannot be undone2 
but when they have been forgiven        
through ,christ1 the iron chain which so
 bound him to them as to  make the guilt
 of them eternally his has been broken2 
before ,god  and his own conscience he  
is no longer guilty of them4 ,this is   
the  ,christian mystery of              
justification1 which1 according to      
,paul--and  his words have been         
confirmed in the experience of millions 
of  ,christian men--is the power of ,god
 unto salvation to every one that       
believeth4 ,it changes darkness into    
light2 despair into victorious  hope2   
prostration into buoyancy and vigor4 ,it
 is one of the supreme  motives to      
,christian living1 and it makes         
,christian living possible4  ,the man   
who has received this great deliverance 
is no longer a  convict1 painfully      
observing all prison rules with the hope
 of  shortening his sentence1 but a     
child in the home of ,god4    ,there are
 experiences of another kind by which   

the faith of  ,christian men is         
verified4 ,of these one of the most     
decisive and  most wonderful is the     
consciousness that through ,christ he   
has  passed into the eternal and divine 
order4 ,he belongs to two worlds4  ,he  
is just as certain that he is environed 
by things unseen and  eternal as that he
 is environed by things seen and        
temporal4 ,in the  power of the life    
given to him in the new birth he has    
entered into  the kingdom of ,god4 ,he  
is conscious that that diviner region is
  now the native land of his soul4 ,it  
is there that he finds perfect  rest and
 perfect freedom4 ,it is a relief to    
escape to its eternal  peace and glory  
from the agitations and vicissitudes1   
the sorrows  and successes1 of this     
transitory world4 ,it is not always that
  he is vividly conscious of belonging  
to that eternal order2 this  supreme    
blessedness is reserved for the great   
hours of life2 but  he knows that it    
lies about him always1 and that at any  

moment the  great ,apocalypse may come4 
,and even when it is hidden1 its powers 
continue to act upon him1 as the light  
and heat of the sun pass  through the   
clouds by which the burning splendor is 
softened and  concealed4    ,further1 in
 ,christ ,christian men know ,god2 they 
know ,him for  themselves4 ,the mere    
conception of ,god is as different from 
the  immediate knowledge of ,him as the 
mere conception of the ,matterhorn  from
 the actual vision of it as an external 
objective grandeur2 and  it is not the  
conception of ,god1 but ,god ,himself1  
that fills them  with awe and wonder1   
and with a blessedness which trembles   
into  devout fear4 ,sometimes the       
exceeding weight of glory is too great  
to bear1 and human infirmity is relieved
 when the vision passes4 ,at  other     
times ,god is more than a transcendent  
glory to be contemplated  and adored4   
,his infinite love1 to use ,paul's      
words1 is shed abroad  in their hearts1 
like the sun's heat under tropical      

heavens2 it is  immediately revealed4   
,how1 they can not tell1 any more than  
they  can tell how the material world is
 revealed to sense2 they only  know     
that1 apart from any self-originated    
effort1 apart from any  movement of     
their own towards ,him1 the eternal     
,spirit draws near to  their spirit and 
reveals ,god's love to them4 ,it is as  
if the warm  streams of the love which  
have their fountains in the depths of   
,his infinite life were flowing round   
them and into them4 ,they are  conscious
 of that love for them of which ,god is 
conscious4    ,and this blessedness is  
not the prerogative of elect saints1 or 
of those who may be said to have a      
natural genius for spiritual  thought4  
,it is the common inheritance of all    
that are in ,christ1  altho there is    
reason to fear that many ,christian     
people rarely  reach the height of its  
joy4 ,but among those who reach it are  
men  of every degree of intellectual    
rank and every variety of moral and     

spiritual temperament4 ,it is reached by
 ignorant men1 whose thoughts  are      
narrow and whose minds are inert1 as    
well as by men with large  knowledge and
 great powers of speculation2 by men    
destitute of  imagination1 as well as by
 men whose imagination kindles as soon  
as it is touched by the splendors of    
nature or by the verses of  poets4 ,men 
whose life moves slowly and sluggishly  
reach it1 as well  as men who are       
impulsive1 ardent1 and adventurous4 ,and
 where this  experience is known1 it    
becomes an effective force in the moral 
life4 ,peter1 writing to slaves1 says1  
,for this is acceptable1  if through    
consciousness of ,god a man endureth    
griefs1 suffering  wrongfully4    ,i    
have said that in ,christ men know      
,god--not merely through  ,christ4 ,it  
is true that during ,his earthly        
ministry ,he revealed  ,god2 so that1 in
 answer to the prayer of one of ,his    
disciples1  ,show us the ,father1 and it
 sufficeth us1 ,he said1 ,have ,i been  

so  long time with you1 and dost thou   
not know me1 ,philip8 he that hath  seen
 me hath seen the ,father4 ,that        
revelation has eternal power  and value2
 but there are other words spoken by    
,christ that same  night which suggest  
that it is not merely by the revelation 
of ,god  during ,his earthly ministry   
that ,christ has made it possible for   
men to know the ,father4 ,he said3 ,i am
 the true vine1 and ye are  the         
branches4444 ,abide in me1 and ,i in    
you4 ,as the branch cannot  bear fruit  
of itself1 except it abide in the vine2 
so neither can  ye1 except ye abide in  
me4 ,he that abideth in me1 and ,i in   
him1  the same beareth much fruit3 for  
apart from me ye can do nothing4  ,it is
 not certain that when ,paul wrote his  
,epistle to the ,galatian  ,christians  
he had heard of these words2 but what   
they meant he had  learnt for himself4  
,he said1 ,i live3 and yet no longer ,i1
 but  ,christ liveth in me4 ,in various 
measures the experience of ,paul has    

been the experience of ,christian men   
ever since4 ,their relationship  to     
,christ--their conscious relationship to
 ,christ--has been most  mysterious1 but
 most intimate and most certain4 ,they  
have meditated  on the infinite love    
which moved ,him to descend from the    
heights  of ,god and to become man1 upon
 ,his graciousness and gentleness1  ,his
 purity1 ,his spontaneous goodness1 ,his
 pity for suffering1 ,his  merciful     
words to the sinful1 ,his patience and  
,his long-suffering1  and ,his fiery    
indignation against hypocrisy2 they have
 meditated  on ,his teaching1 on all the
 words of ,his that have been preserved 
concerning the love and grace of ,god1  
concerning the remission of  sins1 the  
gift of eternal life1 the judgment to   
come1 the eternal  blessedness of the   
righteous1 and the doom of the lost2    
they have  felt the spell and the charm 
of that ideal perfection to which ,he   
calls them in ,his precepts1 and which  
,he illustrated and transcended  in ,his

 own character3 but they have been      
conscious that it was not  merely by the
 power of the great and pathetic story  
of ,his earthly  history1 or by the     
power of ,his spiritual and ethical     
teaching1 that  ,he gives to men the    
life of ,god1 and constantly renews1    
sustains1  and augments it4 ,they shared
 the very life of their ,lord4 ,he lived
  in them4 ,they lived in ,him4 ,and it 
was in the power of this common  life   
that they knew ,god4    ,nor is it only 
the immediate knowledge of ,god that is 
rendered  possible by this union with   
,christ4 ,christian men are conscious   
that  they do not receive strength from 
,christ for common duty1 as they  might 
receive strength from ,one who1 while   
,he conferred the grace1  stood apart   
from them1 but that in some wonderful   
way they are  strong in the strength of 
,christ ,himself4 ,they are too often   
drawn  down into the region of baser    
forces1 and then they fall2 but their   
very failure verifies the truth of their

 happier experiences1 for it  brings    
home to them afresh what they are apart 
from ,christ2 and when  they recover    
their union with ,him--which indeed had 
not been lost1  tho for a time it was   
not realized--they recover their power4 
,the man who has had1 and who still has1
 such experiences as these  will listen 
with great tranquillity to criticisms   
which are intended  to shake the        
historical credit of the four ,gospels1 
altho the story  they contain may have  
been the original ground of his faith in
  ,christ4 ,the criticism may be        
vigorous2 he may be wholly unable to    
answer it3 but what then8 ,is he to     
cease to believe in ,christ8 ,why       
should he8    ,let me answer these      
questions by an illustration4 ,towards  
the  close of our ,lord's ministry1 when
 ,he was in the neighborhood of         
,jericho--just leaving the city or just 
entering it--,bartimeus1 a  blind man1  
who was begging at the side of the road1
 heard that ,jesus  of ,nazareth was    

passing by1 and ,he appealed to the     
great ,prophet to  have mercy upon him4 
,jesus answered his appeal1 and gave him
 sight4  ,now it is possible that       
,bartimeus may have been told by some   
passing  traveler1 of whom he knew      
nothing1 the story of a similar miracle 
which ,jesus had worked a few weeks     
before in ,jerusalem1 and this  may have
 been the ground1 and the only ground1  
of his confidence  in our ,lord's       
supernatural power4 ,if1 after he had   
received his  sight1 some sagacious     
friend of his had asked him how it was  
that he  came to believe that the       
,nazarene ,teacher could give sight to  
the  blind1 nothing would have been     
easier than for his friend to show      
that1 whether the story of the          
,jerusalem miracle was true or not1     
,bartimeus had no trustworthy evidence  
of its truth4 ,a tale told by  an       
unknown stranger6 ,this was no          
sufficient reason for believing  that   
,jesus had given sight to a man born    

blind4 ,did the stranger  who told the  
tale know the beggar who was said to    
have been cured8  ,was it certain that  
the man was blind8 ,had the stranger    
examined  his eyes the very morning of  
the day on which he received sight8     
,was it certain that the vision was not 
gradually returning8 ,was the  stranger 
present when ,jesus made the clay1 and  
put it on the blind  man's eyes2 close  
enough to see that no delicate operation
 was  performed during the process8 ,the
 sending of the blind man to wash  at   
the ,pool of ,siloam was suspicious3    
what could that washing have  to do with
 a miracle8 ,did the stranger go with   
the man to the pool1  and keep his eye  
upon him while he was there8 ,was it    
quite certain  that the blind beggar who
 was sent to ,siloam was the man who    
came  back to the city and declared that
 ,jesus had healed him8 ,might not  one 
man have been sent to the pool1 and     
another man have come back  to          
,jerusalem8 ,it looked very much as if  

there were some previous  understanding 
between the blind man and the ,nazarene 
,prophet4 ,the  ,prophet had rich       
friends2 they could have made it worth  
the man's  while to come into the plot4 
,had ,bartimeus considered all these    
difficulties8 ,was it not more probable 
that the stranger's story  should be    
false than that the miracle should be   
true8 ,would it not  be well for        
,bartimeus to suspend his faith in      
,jesus until he had  made further       
inquiries about the miracle8    ,we can 
imagine the answer of ,bartimeus4 ,i    
think that he would have  said3 ,at     
first ,i believed in the power of ,jesus
 of ,nazareth1  because ,i was told that
 ,he had given sight to another blind   
man2  now ,i am sure of ,his power1     
because ,he has given sight to me4 ,it  
is possible1 as you say1 that the story 
about the blind man in  ,jerusalem is   
not true4 ,you have asked me many       
questions which ,i  can not answer4 ,i  
can not explain why he should have been 

sent to  the ,pool of ,siloam4 ,i       
acknowledge that the evidence which ,i  
have  for the miracle is not decisive4  
,as ,jesus has restored my sight1 ,i    
think that the story is probably true2  
but whether the story is true  or not   
can not disturb my faith in ,him1 for if
 ,he did not heal the  other man1 ,he   
has healed me4    ,and so the faith in  
the living ,christ of those who have had
 the  great experiences of ,his power   
and grace which ,i have described  is   
not shaken by any assaults on the       
historical trustworthiness  of the story
 of ,his earthly ministry4 ,much less   
can it be shaken  by discussions        
concerning the nature and origin of the 
ancient  ,scriptures of the ,jewish     
people4 ,their confidence in the books1 
both of the ,old ,testament and the     
,new1 may perhaps have to be  suspended 
until the controversies of scholars are 
closed1 or until1  on historical and    
critical grounds1 they can see their own
 way to  firm and definite conclusions  

about the main questions at issue2  but 
not their confidence in ,christ4 ,they  
may be uncertain about  the books2 they 
are sure about ,him4 ,both ,christian   
scholars and  the commonalty of         
,christian people approach the          
controversies on  these ancient records 
with a settled faith in the power and   
grace  and glory of ,christ4 ,their     
faith in ,him rests on foundations which
  lie far beyond the reach of scientific
 and historical criticism4  ,they know  
for themselves that ,christ is the      
,savior of men3 for they  have received 
through ,him the remission of their own 
sins2 ,he has  translated them into the 
divine kingdom2 ,he has given them      
strength  for righteousness1 and through
 ,him they have found ,god4             
,,liddon    ,,influences ,,of ,,the     
,,holy ,,spirit      ,,biographical     
,,note    ,henry ,parry ,liddon was born
 at ,north ,stoneham1 ,hampshire1 in    
#ahbi4  ,his intellectual power and     
fearless and earnest preaching attracted

  immense congregations to ,st4 ,paul's 
,cathedral1 ,london4 ,he sought  to meet
 the speculative fallacies of his day by
 truth clearly and  boldly proclaimed4  
,probably his greatest fault in delivery
 was that  he tied himself slavishly to 
a manuscript in all his preaching4      
,there was a force and intensity to his 
delivery1 however1 that often  projected
 his words towards his hearers like     
great projectiles  across a battlefield4
 ,dr4 ,arthur ,s4 ,hoyt recommends him  
for study  in these words3 ,canon       
,liddon brings the riches of exegesis   
and  theology and philosophy to the     
pulpit1 and gives to the sermon the     
distinction of his refined and spiritual
 personality4 ,he died in  #ahij4       
,,liddon    #ahbi-ahij    ,,influences  
,,of ,,the ,,holy ,,spirit         ,the 
wind bloweth where it listeth1 and thou 
hearest the sound       thereof1 but    
canst not tell whence it cometh1 and    
whither it       goeth4--,john iii41 #h4
      ,who has not felt the contrast1   

the almost tragic contrast1 between  the
 high station of the ,jewish doctor1    
member of the ,sanhedrin1  master in    
,israel1 and the ignorance of elementary
 religious truth1  as we ,christians    
must deem it1 which he displayed in this
 interview  with our blest ,lord8 ,at   
first sight it seems difficult to       
understand  how our ,lord could have    
used the simile in the text when        
conversing  with an educated and        
thoughtful man1 well conversed in the   
history  and literature of ,god's       
ancient people2 and1 indeed1 a negative 
criticism has availed itself of this and
 of some other features in  the         
narrative1 in the interest of the theory
 that ,nicodemus was  only a fictitious 
type of the higher classes in ,jewish   
society1  as they were pictured to      
itself by the imagination of the fourth 
,evangelist4 ,such a supposition1       
opposed to external facts and to all    
internal probabilities1 would hardly    
have been entertained1 if the  critical 

ingenuity of its author had been        
seconded by any spiritual  experience4  
,nicodemus is very far from being a     
caricature2 and  our ,lord's method     
here1 as elsewhere1 is to lead on from  
familiar  phrases and the               
well-remembered letter to the spirit and
 realities  of religion4 ,the ,jewish   
schools were acquainted with the        
expression  a new creature2 but it had  
long since become a mere shred of       
official rhetoric4 ,as applied to a     
,jewish proselyte1 it scarcely  meant   
more than a change in the outward       
relations of religious  life4 ,our ,lord
 told ,nicodemus that every man who     
would see the  kingdom of ,god which ,he
 was founding must undergo a second     
birth2  and ,nicodemus1 who had been    
accustomed to the phrase all his life1  
could not understand it if it was to be 
supposed to mean anything  real4 ,how1  
he asks1 can a man be born when he is   
old8 ,can he  enter a second time into  
his mother's womb1 and be born8 ,our    

,lord  does not extricate him from this 
blundering literalism2 ,he repeats  ,his
 own original assertion1 but in terms   
which more fully express  ,his meaning3 
,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto thee1      
,except a man be born  of water and of  
the ,spirit1 he can not enter into the  
kingdom of  ,god4 ,that which is born of
 the flesh is flesh2 and that which is  
born of the ,spirit is spirit4 ,marvel  
not that ,i said unto thee1 ,ye  must be
 born again4 ,our ,lord's reference to  
water would not have  been              
unintelligible to ,nicodemus2 every one 
in ,juda knew that  the ,baptist had    
insisted on immersion in water as a     
symbol of the  purification of the soul 
of man4 ,certainly1 in connecting water 
with the ,spirit and the new birth1 our 
,lord's language1 glancing  at that of  
the prophet1 went very far beyond this4 
,he could only  be fully understood at a
 later time1 when the sacrament of      
baptism  had been instituted1 just as   
the true sense of ,his early allusions  

to ,his death could not have been       
apprehended until after the             
crucifixion4 ,but ,nicodemus1 it is     
plain1 had not yet advanced beyond  his 
original difficulty2 he could not       
conceive how any second birth  was      
possible1 without altogether violating  
the course of nature4  ,and our ,lord   
penetrates ,his thoughts and answers    
them4 ,he answers  them by pointing to  
that invisible agent who could achieve1 
in the  sphere of spiritual and mental  
life1 what the ,jewish doctor deemed  so
 impossible a feat as a second birth4   
,nature1 indeed1 contained no  force    
that could compass such a result2 but   
nature in this1 as in  other matters1   
was a shadow of something beyond itself4
    ,it was late at night when our ,lord
 had this interview with the  ,jewish   
teacher4 ,at the pauses in conversation1
 we may conjecture1  they heard the wind
 without as it moaned along the narrow  
streets  of ,jerusalem2 and our ,lord1  
as was ,his wont1 took ,his creature    

into  ,his service--the service of      
spiritual truth4 ,the wind was a figure 
of the ,spirit4 ,our ,lord would not    
have used the same word for both4  ,the 
wind might teach ,nicodemus something of
 the action of ,him who is  the real    
,author of the new birth of man4 ,and it
 would do this in two  ways more        
especially4    ,on a first survey of    
nature1 the wind arrests man's          
attention1 as  an unseen agent which    
seems to be moving with entire freedom4 
,the  wind bloweth where it listeth4 ,it
 is fettered by none of those           
conditions which confine the swiftest   
bodies that traverse the  surface of the
 earth2 it sweeps on as if independent  
of law1 rushing  hither and thither1 as 
tho obeying its own wayward and         
momentary  impulse4 ,thus it is an apt  
figure of a self-determining invisible  
force2 and of a force which is at times 
of overmastering power4  ,sometimes1    
indeed1 its breath is so gentle1 that   
only a single  leaf or blade of grass   

will at distant intervals seem to give  
the  faintest token of its action2 yet1 
even thus1 it bloweth where  it listeth4
 ,sometimes it bursts upon the earth    
with destructive  violence2 nothing can 
resist its onslaught2 the most solid    
buildings  give way2 the stoutest trees 
bend before it2 whatever is frail and   
delicate can only escape by the         
completeness of its submission4  ,thus1 
too1 it bloweth where it listeth4       
,beyond anything else  that strikes upon
 the senses of man1 it is suggestive of 
free  supersensuous power2 it is an     
appropriate symbol of an irruption of   
the invisible into the world of sense1  
of the action1 so tender or  so         
imperious1 of the divine and eternal    
,spirit upon the human soul4    ,but the
 wind is also an agent about whose      
proceedings we really  know almost      
nothing4 ,thou hearest the sound        
thereof2 such is our  ,lord's concession
 to man's claim to knowledge4 ,thou     
canst not tell  whence it cometh1 and   

whither it goeth2 such is the reserve   
which  ,he makes in respect of human    
ignorance4 ,certainly we do more than   
hear the sound of the wind2 its presence
 is obvious to three of  the senses4 ,we
 feel the chill or the fury of the      
blast2 and1 as it  sweeps across the    
ocean1 or the forest1 or the field of   
corn1 we see  how the blades rise and   
fall in graceful curves1 and the trees  
bend1  and the waters sink and swell    
into waves which are the measure of  its
 strength4 ,but our ,lord says1 ,thou   
hearest the sound thereof4  ,he would   
have us test it by the most spiritual of
 the senses4 ,it  whispers1 or it moans1
 or it roars as it passes us2 it has a  
pathos  all its own4 ,yet what do we    
really know about it8 ,thou canst not   
tell whence it cometh1 and whither it   
goeth4 ,does the wind then  obey no     
rule2 is it a mere symbol of unfettered 
caprice8 ,surely  not4 ,if1 as the      
psalmist sings1 ,god bringeth the winds 
out of his  treasuries1 ,he acts1 we may

 be sure1 here as always1 whether in    
nature or in grace1 by some law1 which  
his own perfections impose  upon ,his   
action4 ,he may have given to us of     
these later times to  see a very little 
deeper beneath the surface of the       
natural world  than was the case with   
our fathers4 ,perchance we explain the  
immediate antecedents of the phenomenon2
 but can we explain our own             
explanation8 ,the frontier of our       
ignorance is removed one stage  farther 
back2 but the way of the wind is as     
fitting an expression  for the mysteries
 now as it was in the days of ,solomon4 
,we know that  there is no cave of olus4
 ,we know that the wind is the creature 
of that great ,master who works         
everywhere and incessantly by rule4     
,but1 as the wind still sweeps by us who
 call ourselves the children  of an age 
of knowledge1 and we endeavor to give   
our fullest answer  to the question1    
,whence it cometh1 and whither it goeth8
 we  discover that1 as the symbol of a  

spiritual force1 of whose presence  we  
are conscious1 while we are unable to   
determine1 with moderate  confidence1   
either the secret principle or the range
 of its action1  the wind is as full of 
meaning still as in the days of         
,nicodemus4    ,when our ,lord has thus 
pointed to the freedom and the          
mysteriousness  of the wind1 ,he adds1  
,so is every one that is born of the    
,spirit4  ,the simile itself would have 
led us to expect--,so is the ,spirit  of
 ,god4 ,the man born of the ,spirit     
would answer not to the wind  itself1   
but to the sensible effect of the wind4 
,there is a break of  correspondence    
between the simile and its application4 
,the simile  directs attention to the   
divine ,author of the new birth in man4 
,the  words which follow direct         
attention to the human subject upon whom
  the divine agent works4 ,something    
similar is observable when our  ,lord   
compares the kingdom of heaven to a     
merchantman seeking goodly  pearls2 the 

kingdom really corresponds not to the   
merchantman1  but to the pearl of great 
price which the merchantman buys4 ,in   
such cases1 we may be sure1 the natural 
correspondence between a  simile and its
 application is not disturbed without a 
motive4 ,and  the reason for this       
disturbance is presumably that the      
simile is  not adequate to the full     
purpose of the speaker1 who is anxious  
to  teach some larger truth than its    
obvious application would suggest4  ,in 
the case before us1 we may be allowed to
 suppose1 that by ,his  reference to the
 wind our ,lord desired to convey       
something more  than the real but       
mysterious agency of the ,holy ,spirit  
in the new  birth of man4 ,his language 
seems designed1 not merely to correct   
the materialistic narrowness of the     
,jewish doctor1 not merely to  answer by
 anticipation the doubts of later days  
as to the spiritual  efficacy of ,his   
own sacrament of regeneration1 but to   
picture1 in  words which should be read 

to the end of time1 the general work of 
that divine person whose mission of     
mercy to our race was at once  the      
consequence and the completion of ,his  
own4    ,it may be useful to trace the  
import of our ,lord's simile in three   
fields of the action of the holy and    
eternal ,spirit2 ,his creation of  a    
sacred literature1 ,his guidance of a   
divine society1 and ,his work  upon     
individual souls4    ,i4 ,as1 then1 we  
turn over the pages of the ,bible1 must 
we not  say1 ,the wind of heaven bloweth
 where it listeth8 ,if we might         
reverently imagine ourselves scheming   
beforehand what kind of a  book the     
,book of ,god ought to be1 how different
 would it be from  the actual ,bible4   
,there would be as many bibles as there 
are souls1  and they would differ as    
widely4 ,but in one thing1 amid all     
their  differences1 they would probably 
agree2 they would lack the variety1     
both in form and substance1 of the holy 
,book which the ,church of  ,god places 

in the hands of her children4 ,the      
self-assertion1 the  scepticism1 and the
 fastidiousness of our day would meet   
like the  men of the second ,roman      
triumvirate on that island in the ,reno1
  and would draw up their lists of      
proscription4 ,one would condemn  the   
poetry of ,scripture as too inexact2    
another its history as too  largely     
secular2 another its metaphysics as too 
transcendental1 or  as hostile to some  
fanciful ideal of simplicity1 or as     
likely  to quench a purely moral        
enthusiasm4 ,the archaic history of the 
,pentateuch1 or the sterner side of the 
ethics of the psalter1 or  the          
supernaturalism of the histories of     
,elijah or of ,daniel1 or  the so-called
 pessimism of ,ecclesiastes1 or the     
alleged secularism  of ,esther1 or the  
literal import of the ,song of ,solomon1
 would be  in turn condemned4 ,nor could
 the apostles hope to escape3 ,st4 ,john
  would be too mystical in this         
estimate2 ,st4 ,james too legal in      

that2 ,st4 ,paul too dialectical1 or too
 metaphysical1 or too easily  capable of
 an antinomian interpretation2 ,st4     
,peter too undecided1  as if balancing  
between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,james4 ,our
 new ,bible would  probably be uniform1 
narrow1 symmetrical2 it would be        
entirely  made up of poetry1 or of      
history1 or of formal propositions1 or  
of  philosophical speculation1 or of    
lists of moral maxims2 it would be      
modeled after the type of some current  
writer on ,english history1  or some    
popular poet or metaphysician1 or some  
sentimentalist who  abjures history and 
philosophy alike on principle1 or some  
composer  of well-intentioned religious 
tracts for general circulation4 ,the    
inspirations of heaven would be taken in
 hand1 and instead of a wind  blowing   
where it listeth1 we should have a wind1
 no doubt1 of some  kind1 rustling      
earnestly enough along some very narrow 
crevices or  channels1 in obedience to  
the directions of some one form of human

  prejudice1 or passion1 or fear1 or    
hope4    ,the ,bible is like nature in  
its immense1 its exhaustless variety2   
like nature1 it reflects all the higher 
moods of the human soul1  because it    
does much more2 because it brings us    
face to face with  the infinity of the  
divine life4 ,in the ,bible the wind of 
heaven  pays scant heed to our          
anticipations or our prejudices2 it     
bloweth  where it listeth4 ,it breathes 
not only in the divine charities of  the
 gospels1 not only in the lyrical       
sallies of the epistles1 not  only in   
the great announcements scattered here  
and there in ,holy  ,scripture of the   
magnificence1 or the compassion1 or the 
benevolence  of ,god2 but also in the   
stern language of the prophets1 in the  
warnings and lessons of the historical  
books1 in the revelations of  divine    
justice and of human responsibility     
which abound in either  ,testament4     
,where it listeth4 ,not only where our  
sense of literary  beauty is stimulated1

 as in ,st4 ,paul's picture of charity1 
by lines  which have taken captive the  
imagination of the world1 not only      
where feeling and conscience echo the   
verdict of authority and the  promptings
 of reverence1 but also where this is   
not the case2 where  neither precept nor
 example stimulates us1 and we are left 
face to  face with historical or ethical
 material1 which appears to us to       
inspire no spiritual enthusiasm1 or     
which is highly suggestive of  critical 
difficulty4 ,let us be patient2 we shall
 understand1 if we  will only wait1 how 
these features of the ,bible too are    
integral  parts of a living whole2 here1
 as elsewhere1 the ,spirit breathes2  in
 the genealogies of the ,chronicles as  
in the last discourse in  ,st4 ,john1   
though with an admitted difference of   
manner and degree4  ,he bloweth where   
,he listeth4 ,the apostle's words       
respecting the  ,old ,testament are true
 of the ,new3 ,all ,scripture is given  
by  inspiration of ,god1 and is         

profitable for doctrine1 for reproof1   
for correction1 for instruction in      
righteousness4 ,and1 ,whatsoever  things
 were written aforetime were written for
 our learning1 that we  through patience
 and comfort of the ,scriptures might   
have hope4    ,but thou hearest the     
sound thereof1 and canst not tell whence
  it cometh1 and whither it goeth4 ,the 
majesty of ,scripture is  recognized by 
man1 wherever there is1 ,i will not say 
a spiritual  faculty1 but a natural     
sense of beauty4 ,the sound of the wind 
is perceived by the trained ear1 by the 
literary taste1 by the  refinement1 by  
the humanity of every generation of     
educated men4 ,but  what beyond8 ,what  
of its spiritual source1 its spiritual  
drift and  purpose1 its half-concealed  
but profound unities1 its subtle but    
imperious relations to conscience8 ,of  
these things1 so precious to            
,christians1 a purely literary          
appreciation of ,scripture is generally 
ignorant2 the sacred ,book1 like the    

prophet of the ,chebar1 is only  as a   
very lovely song of one that hath a     
pleasant voice1 and can  play well on an
 instrument4 ,or again1 the sound       
thereof is  heard in the admitted empire
 of the ,bible over millions of hearts  
and consciences2 an empire the evidences
 of which strike upon the  ear in       
countless ways1 and which is far too    
wide and too secure  to be affected by  
the criticisms that might occasionally  
seem to  threaten it4 ,what is the      
secret of this influence of ,scripture8 
,not  simply that it is the ,book of    
,revelation2 since it contains a great  
deal of matter which lay fairly within  
the reach of man's natural  faculties4  
,the ,word or eternal ,reason of ,god is
 the ,revealer2 but  ,scripture1 whether
 it is a record of divine revelations or
 of  naturally observed facts1 is1 in   
the belief of the ,christian ,church1   
throughout inspired by the ,spirit4     
,inspiration is the word which          
describes the presence and action of the

 ,holy ,spirit everywhere in            
,scripture4 ,we know not how our own    
spirits1 hour by hour1 are acted  upon  
by the eternal ,spirit1 though we do not
 question the fact2 we  content         
ourselves with recognizing what we can  
not explain4 ,if we  believe that       
,scripture is inspired1 we know that it 
is instinct with  the presence of ,him  
whose voice we might hear in every      
utterance1  but of whom we cannot tell  
whence ,he cometh or whither ,he goeth4 
,,ii4 ,the history of the ,church of    
,christ from the days of the  apostles  
has been a history of spiritual         
movements4 ,doubtless it has  been a    
history of much else2 the ,church has   
been the scene of human  passions1 human
 speculations1 human errors4 ,but       
traversing these1  ,he by whom the whole
 body of the ,church is governed and    
sanctified1  has made ,his presence     
felt1 not only in the perpetual         
proclamation  and elucidation of truth1 
not only in the silent1 never-ceasing   

sanctification of souls1 but also in    
great upheavals of spiritual  life1 by  
which the conscience of ,christians has 
been quickened1  or their hold upon the 
truths of redemption and grace made more
  intelligent and serious1 or their     
lives and practise restored to          
something like the ideal of the         
,gospels4 ,even in the apostolic age  it
 was necessary to warn ,christians that 
it was high time to awake  out of sleep2
 that the night of life was far spent1  
and the day of  eternity was at hand4   
,and ever since1 from generation to     
generation1  there has been a succession
 of efforts within the ,church to       
realize  more worthily the truth of the 
,christian creed1 or the ideal of the   
,christian life4 ,these revivals have   
been inspired or led by devoted  men who
 have represented the highest conscience
 of ,christendom in  their day4 ,they   
may be traced along the line of         
,christian history2  the ,spirit living 
in the ,church has by them attested ,his

 presence  and ,his will2 and has       
recalled lukewarm generations1 paralyzed
 by  indifference or degraded by        
indulgence1 to the true spirit and level
  of ,christian faith and life4    ,in  
such movements there is often what      
seems1 at first sight1 an  element of   
caprice4 ,they appear to contemporaries 
to be onesided1  exaggerated1 narrow1   
fanatical4 ,they are often denounced    
with a  passionate fervor which is so   
out of proportion to the reality as to  
border on the grotesque4 ,they are said 
to exact too much of us1 or  to concede 
too much4 ,they are too contemplative in
 their tendency  to be sufficiently     
practical1 or too energetically         
practical to do  justice to religious   
thought4 ,they are too exclusively      
literary  and academical1 as being the  
work of men of books2 or they are too   
popular and insensible to philosophical 
considerations1 as being  the work of   
men of the people4 ,or1 again1 they are 
so occupied with  controversy as to     

forget the claims of devotion1 or so    
engaged  in leading souls to a devout   
life as to forget the unwelcome but     
real necessities of controversy4 ,they  
are intent on particular  moral         
improvements so exclusively as to forget
 what is due to  reverence and order2 or
 they are so bent upon rescuing the     
,church  from chronic slovenliness and  
indecency in public worship as to  do   
less than justice to the paramount      
interests of moral truth4  ,sometimes   
these movements are all feeling2        
sometimes they are all  thought2        
sometimes they are1 as it seems1 all    
outward energy4 ,in  one age they       
produce a literature like that of the   
fourth and fifth  centuries2 in another 
they found orders of men devoted to     
preaching  or to works of mercy1 as in  
the twelfth2 in another they enter the  
lists1 as in the thirteenth century1    
with a hostile philosophy2  in another  
they attempt a much-needed reformation  
of the ,church2  in another they pour   

upon the heathen world a flood of light 
and  warmth from the heart of           
,christendom4 ,it is easy1 as we survey 
them1 to say that something else was    
needed2 or that what was done  could    
have been done better or more           
completely2 or that1 had we  been there1
 we should not have been guilty of this 
onesidedness1  or of that exaggeration4 
,we forget1 perhaps1 who really was     
there1  and whose work it is1 though    
often overlaid and thwarted by human    
weakness and human passion1 that we are 
really criticizing4 ,if  it was         
seemingly onesided1 excessive or        
defective1 impulsive or  sluggish1      
speculative or practical1 esthetic or   
experimental1 may  not this have been so
 because in ,his judgment1 who breatheth
 where  ,he listeth1 this particular    
characteristic was needed for the       
,church  of that day8 ,all that         
contemporaries know of such movements is
  the sound thereof2 the names with     
which they are associated1 the          

controversies which they precipitate1   
the hostilities which they  rouse or    
allay1 as the case may be4 ,such        
knowledge is superficial  enough2 of the
 profound spiritual causes which really 
engender  them1 of the direction in     
which they are really moving1 of the    
influence which they are destined       
permanently to exert upon souls1  men   
know little or nothing4 ,the accidental 
symptom is mistaken for  the essential  
characteristic2 the momentary expression
 of feeling  for the inalienable        
conviction of certain truth4 ,the day   
may come1  perhaps1 when more will be   
known2 when practise and motive1        
accident  and substance1 the lasting and
 the transient1 will be seen in their   
true relative proportions2 but for the  
time this can hardly be4 ,he  is passing
 by1 whose way is in the sea1 and ,his  
paths in the deep  waters1 and ,his     
footsteps unknown4 ,the ,eternal ,spirit
 is passing2  and men can only say1 ,he 
bloweth where ,he listeth4    ,,iii4    

,our ,lord's words apply especially to  
,christian character4  ,there are some  
effects of the living power of the ,holy
 ,spirit  which are invariable4 ,when   
,he dwells with a ,christian soul1 ,he  
continually speaks in the voice of      
conscience2 ,he speaks in the  voice of 
prayer4 ,he produces with the ease of a 
natural process1  without effort1       
without the taint of self-consciousness1
 love1  joy1 peace1 long-suffering1     
gentleness1 goodness1 faith1 meekness1  
temperance4 ,some of these graces must  
be found where ,he makes ,his  home4    
,there is no mistaking the atmosphere of
 ,his presence3 in its  main features it
 is the same now as in the days of the  
apostles4  ,just as in natural morality 
the main elements of goodness do not    
change2 so in religious life1           
spirituality is1 amid great varieties   
of detail1 yet1 in its leading          
constituent features1 the same thing    
from one generation to another4 ,but in 
the life of the individual  ,christian1 

or in that of the ,church1 there is     
legitimate room for  irregular and      
exceptional forms of activity or        
excellence4 ,natural  society is not    
strengthened by the stern repression of 
all that is  peculiar in individual     
thought or practise2 and this is not    
less  true of spiritual or religious    
society4 ,from the first1 high forms  of
 ,christian excellence have often been  
associated with unconscious             
eccentricity4 ,the eccentricity must be 
unconscious1 because  consciousness of  
eccentricity at once reduces it to a    
form of vanity  which is entirely       
inconsistent with ,christian excellence4
 ,how many  excellent ,christians have  
been eccentric1 deviating more or less  
from the conventional type of goodness  
which has been recognized  by           
contemporary religious opinion4 ,they   
pass away1 and when they  are gone men  
do justice to their characters2 but     
while they are  still with us how hard  
do many of us find it to remember that  

there  may be a higher reason for their 
peculiarities than we think4 ,we  know  
not the full purpose of each saintly    
life in the designs of  ,providence2 we 
know not much of the depths and heights 
whence it  draws its inspirations2 we   
can not tell whence it cometh or whither
  it goeth4 ,only we know that ,he whose
 workmanship it is bloweth where  ,he   
listeth2 and this naturally leads us to 
remark the practical  interpretation    
which the ,holy ,spirit often puts upon 
our ,lord's  words by selecting as ,his 
chosen workmen those who seem to be     
least  fitted by nature for such high   
service4 ,the apostle has told us how   
in the first age ,he set ,himself to    
defeat human anticipations4 ,not  many  
wise men after the flesh1 not many      
mighty1 not many noble1  are called2    
learned academies1 powerful connections1
 gentle blood  did little enough for the
 gospel in the days when it won its     
first  and greatest victories4 ,the     
,holy ,spirit1 as ,nicodemus knew1      

passed  by the varied learning and high 
station of the ,sanhedrin1 and  breathed
 where ,he listed on the peasants of    
,galilee2 ,he breathed  on them a power 
which would shake the world4 ,and thus  
has it been  again and again in the     
generations which have followed4 ,when  
the  great ,aquinas was a student of    
philosophy under ,albertus ,magnus at   
,cologne1 he was known among his        
contemporaries as the dumb ,ox2 so      
little did they divine what was to be   
his place in the theology of  ,western  
,christendom4 ,and to those of us who   
can look back upon the  memories of this
 ,university for a quarter of a century 
or more1 few  things appear more        
remarkable than the surprizes which the 
later  lives of men constantly afford2  
sometimes it is a failure of early      
natural promise1 but more often a rich  
development of intellectual  and        
practical capacity where there had      
seemed to be no promise at  all4 ,we can
 remember1 perhaps1 some dull quiet man 

who seemed to  be without a ray of      
genius1 or1 stranger still1 without     
anything  interesting or marked in      
character1 but who now exerts1 and most 
legitimately1 the widest influence for  
good1 and whose name is  repeated by    
thousands with grateful respect4 ,or we 
can call to mind  another whose whole   
mind was given to what was frivolous1 or
 even  degrading1 and who now is a      
leader in everything that elevates and  
improves his fellows4 ,the secret of    
these transfigurations is ever  the     
same4 ,in those days these men did not  
yet see their way2 they  were like      
travelers through the woods at night1   
when the sky is  hidden and all things  
seem to be other than they are4         
,since then the sun has risen and all   
has changed4 ,the creed of the  ,church 
of ,christ1 in its beauty and its power1
 has been flashed by  the ,divine       
,spirit upon their hearts and           
understandings2 and they are  other men4
 ,they have seen that there is something

 worth living for  in earnest2 that     
,god1 the soul1 the future1 are immense 
realities1  compared with which all else
 is tame and insignificant4 ,they have  
learned something of that personal love 
of our crucified ,lord1 which  is itself
 a moral and religious force of the     
highest order1 and  which has carried   
them forwards without their knowing it4 
,and what  has been will assuredly      
repeat itself4          ,w4 ,m4 ,,taylor
    ,,christ ,,before ,,pilate--,,pilate
 ,,before ,,christ                      
,,biographical ,,note      ,william     
,mackergo ,taylor1 ,congregational      
divine1 was born at  ,kilmarnock1       
,scotland1 in #ahbi4 ,he was for many   
years pastor of the  ,broadway          
,tabernacle1 ,new ,york4 ,he had an     
impressive presence and  his delivery   
was marked by a magnetic earnestness4   
,during the first  ten years of his     
ministry he spoke memoriter1 but        
subsequently  wrote out his sermons with
 detailed care and preached them from   

manuscript1 but their delivery was      
without the freedom and freshness  of   
extemporaneous address4 ,he came to     
regret this1 for he said3 ,if  ,i might 
speak from my own experience ,i would   
say1 that memoriter  preaching is the   
method which has the greatest           
advantages1 with the  fewest            
disadvantages4 ,he died in #ahie4       
,w4 ,m4 ,,taylor #ahbi-ahie    ,,christ 
,,before ,,pilate--,,pilate ,,before    
,,christ#e      #e ,reprinted by        
permission from ,contrary ,winds and    
other ,sermons1    by ,william ,m4      
,taylor1 ,d4,d41 copyrighted1 #ahhc1 by 
,a4 ,c4 ,armstrong     ,son4            
,pilate saith unto them1 ,what shall ,i 
do1 then1 with ,jesus1       which is   
called ,christ8--,matthew xxvii41 #bb4  
,during my late visit to my native land 
,i had the great enjoyment  of seeing1  
and somewhat carefully studying1        
,munkacsy's famous  picture of ,christ  
,before ,pilate4 ,rarely1 if ever1 had  
,i been so  much moved by a work of art2

 and ,i propose to give1 as nearly as ,i
  can recall it1 the sermon which it    
reached to me as ,i sat silently        
contemplating the figures1 which1 even  
as ,i looked at them1 seemed  to grow   
before me into life4    ,but1 first1 ,i 
must try to describe to you the picture 
itself4 ,the  canvas is large1 and the  
figures1 all of which are on the line of
  sight1 are of life size4 ,the scene is
 in the pavement or open court  before  
the governor's palace1 which was called 
in the ,hebrew tongue  ,gabbatha1 and in
 which1 after all his efforts to wriggle
 out of the  responsibility of dealing  
with the case1 ,pilate ultimately gave  
up  ,jesus to be crucified4 ,at one end 
of the court1 on a raised bench1  and   
drest in a white toga1 ,pilate sits4 ,on
 either side of him are  ,jews1 each of 
whom has a marked and special           
individuality4 ,the two  on his left are
 gazing with intense eagerness at       
,christ4 ,they are  evidently puzzled1  
and know not well what to make of the   

mysterious  prisoner4 ,on his right1    
standing on one of the seats1 and with  
his  back against the wall1 is a        
,scribe1 whose countenance is expressive
  of uttermost contempt1 and just in    
front of this haughty fellow  are some  
,pharisees1 one of whom is on his feet1 
and passionately  urging that ,jesus    
should be put to death1 presumably on   
the ground  that1 if ,pilate should let 
,him go1 he would make it evident that  
he  was not ,csar's friend4 ,before them
 again is a usurer1 sleek1 fat  and     
self-satisfied1 clearly taking great    
comfort to himself in the  assurance    
that1 however the matter may be settled1
 his well-filled  money-bags will be    
undisturbed4 ,beyond him stands the     
,christ in a  robe of seamless white1   
and with ,his wrists firmly bound2 while
  behind1 kept in place by a ,roman     
soldier1 standing with his back to  the 
spectator1 and making a barricade with  
his spear1 which he holds  horizontally1
 is a motley group of onlookers1 not    

unlike that which  we may still see any 
day in one of our criminal courts4 ,of  
these1  one more furious than the rest  
is wildly gesticulating1 and crying1  as
 we may judge from his whole attitude1  
,crucify ,him6 crucify ,him6  and       
another1 a little to the ,savior's left1
 but in the second row  behind ,him1 is 
leaning forward with mockery in his     
leering look1 and  making almost as if  
he would spit upon the saintly one4     
,there is but  one really compassionate 
face in the crowd1 and that is a face of
 a  woman who1 with an infant in her    
arms1 most fitly represents those       
gentle daughters of ,jerusalem who      
followed ,jesus to ,calvary with  tears4
 ,then1 over the heads of the           
on-lookers1 and out of the upper  part  
of the doorway into the court1 we get a 
glimpse of the quiet  light of the      
morning as it sleeps upon the walls and 
turrets of the  adjacent buildings4 ,all
 these figures are so distinctly seen   
that  you feel you could recognize them 

again if you met them anywhere2  and a  
strange sense of reality comes upon you 
as you look at them1  so that you forget
 that they are only painted1 and imagine
 that you  are gazing on living and     
breathing men4    ,but1 as you sit      
awhile and look on1 you gradually lose  
all  consciousness of the presence of   
the mere on-lookers and find your       
interest concentrated on these two      
white-robed ones1 as if they  were the  
only figures before you4 ,the pose of   
,christ is admirable4  ,it is repose    
blended with dignity2 self-possession   
rising into  majesty4 ,there is no      
agitation or confusion2 no fear or      
misgiving2  but1 instead1 the calm      
nobleness of ,him who has just been     
saying1  ,thou couldst have no power at 
all against me1 except it were given    
thee from above2 therefore he that      
delivered me unto thee hath the  greater
 sin4 ,the face alone disappoints4      
,perhaps that may be owing  to the lofty
 ideal we have of the divine ,man1 so   

that no picture  of our ,lord would     
entirely please4 ,but tho the painter   
has wisely  abandoned the halo1 and all 
similar conventionalisms of art1 and has
  delineated a real man1 for all which  
he is to be highly commended1  yet the  
eyes which look so steadily at ,pilate1 
as if they were  looking him through1   
seem to me to be cold1 keen1 and        
condemnatory1  rather than compassionate
 and sad4 ,it is a conception of the    
,lord  of the same sort as that of ,dor1
 in his well-known picture of the       
leaving of the ,prtorium1 and the eyes  
have not in them that deep  well of     
tenderness out of which came the tears  
which ,he shed over  ,jerusalem1 and    
which we expect to see in them when ,he 
is looking at  the hopeless struggle of 
a soul which will not accept ,his aid4  
,it  is said that the artist1           
dissatisfied with his first attempt1 has
  painted the ,christ face twice2 but   
this1 also1 is a partial failure1  and  
here1 so at least it seemed to me as ,i 

looked upon it1 is the  one defect in   
his noble work4 ,but if there is this   
defect1 it is one  which it shares with 
every other effort that human art has   
made to  delineate the ,lord4 ,the      
,pilate1 however1 is well-nigh          
faultless4  ,here is a great1 strong    
man1 the representative of the mightiest
  empire the world has ever seen1 with a
 head indicating intellectual  force1   
and a face1 especially in its lower     
part1 suggestive of  sensual indulgence4
 ,there is ordinarily no want of        
firmness in  him1 as we may see from the
 general set of his features2 but now   
there is in his countenance a marvelous 
mixture of humiliation and              
irresolution4 ,he cannot lift his eyes  
to meet the gaze of ,christ2  and while 
one of his hands is nervously clutching 
at his robe he  is looking sadly into   
the other1 whose fingers1 even as we    
look  at them1 almost seem to twitch    
with perplexed irresolution4 ,he is     
clearly pondering for himself the       

question which a few moments  before he 
had addrest to the multitude1 ,what     
shall ,i do with  ,jesus which is called
 ,christ8 ,he is annoyed that the case  
has  been brought to him at all1 and as 
he feels himself drifting on1  against  
his own better judgment1 toward yielding
 to the clamor of  the multitude1 he    
falls mightily in his own conceit1 and  
begins to  despise himself4 ,he would1  
at that moment1 give1 oh1 how much6 to  
be rid of the responsibility of dealing 
with the ,christ1 but he  cannot evade  
it2 and so he sits there1 drifting on to
 what he knows  is a wrong decision1 the
 very incarnation of the feeling which  
his  own national poet described when he
 said1 ,i see and approve the  better   
course2 ,i follow the worse4 ,thus1 as  
we look at these two1  we begin to      
discover that it was not ,christ that   
was before ,pilate  so much as ,pilate  
was before ,christ4 ,his was the testing
 experience4  ,his was the trial2 his   
too1 alas6 was the degradation2 and at  

that  coming day when the places shall  
be reversed1 when ,christ shall be  on  
the judgment seat1 and ,pilate at the   
bar1 there will still be  that deep     
self-condemnation which the painter here
 has fixt upon  his countenance4 ,it is 
a marvelous picture1 in many respects   
the  most remarkable ,i ever looked     
upon1 and1 even from this imperfect     
description of it1 you will easily      
understand how1 as ,i sat intent  before
 it1 it stirred my soul to the very     
depths4    ,but now1 with this portrayal
 of the scene before us let us see if   
we can account1 first1 for the          
hesitation of ,pilate to give up the    
,lord1 and then for his final yielding  
to the clamor of the people4  ,why all  
this reluctance on his part to send     
,jesus to the cross8 ,he  was not       
usually so scrupulous4 ,a human life    
more or less gave him  generally very   
little concern4 ,he had all a ,roman's  
indifference  for the comfort of those  
who stood in any respect in his way2 and

  had no compunction1 as we know1 in    
mingling the blood of certain  turbulent
 ,jews with the very sacrifices which at
 the moment they  were offering4 ,had   
,christ been a ,roman citizen1 indeed1  
he would  most likely have been very    
watchful over ,his safety1 for in regard
  to all such the imperial law was      
peculiarly strict1 but the life  of a   
mere ,jew was a very small thing in his 
estimation4 ,wherefore1  then1 this     
unwonted squeamishness of conscience8   
,it was the result  of a combination of 
particulars1 each of which had a special
 force  of its own1 and the aggregate of
 which so wrought upon his mind that  he
 was brought thereby to a stand4        
,there was1 in the first place1 the     
peculiar character of the  prisoner4 ,a 
very slight examination had been        
sufficient to convince  him that ,christ
 was innocent of the charge which had   
been brought  against ,him4 ,but in the 
course of that examination much more    
than  the innocence of ,christ had come 

to view4 ,he had manifested a  dignified
 patience altogether unlike anything    
that ,pilate had ever  seen2 and ,his   
answers to certain questions had been so
 strangely  suggestive of something     
higher and nobler than even the most    
exalted earthly philosophy that he could
 not look upon ,him as a  common        
prisoner4 ,he was no mere fanatic2      
neither was ,he after the  pattern of   
any existing school1 whether ,jewish1   
,greek1 or ,roman4  ,there was about    
,him an other-worldliness which brought 
those  near ,him into close proximity1  
for the time1 with the unseen2 and  an  
elevation which lifted ,him above the   
tumult that was howling  for ,his       
destruction4 ,probably ,pilate could not
 have described  it to himself1 but     
there was something which he felt       
unusual and  exceptional in this man1   
marking ,him out from every other he    
ever  had before him1 and constraining  
him to take a special interest in  ,his 
case4 ,add to this that his wife had    

sent to him that singular               
message--,have thou nothing to do with  
that just man1 for ,i have  suffered    
many things this day in a dream because 
of him1--a message  which1 in those days
 of mingled scepticism and              
superstition--for the  two always go    
hand in hand--must have produced a deep 
impression on  his mind4 ,moreover1     
there seemed some fatality about the    
case4 ,he  had tried to roll it over    
upon ,herod1 but that wily monarch sent 
the  prisoner back upon his hands4 ,he  
had attempted to release ,him1 as  the  
,passover prisoner for the year1 but    
neither was there any outlet  for him in
 that1 for the people had preferred     
,barabbas4 ,and so the  responsibility  
had come again to his own door1 and     
could not be  passed on to another4     
,still again1 he saw that the ,jews were
 acting  most hypocritically in the     
matter4 ,it was a new thing for them to 
be  zealous for the honor of ,csar1 and 
he could easily see through the  mask   

they wore into the envy and malice which
 were the motives for  their conduct4   
,the deeper he went into the case he    
discovered only  the more reason for    
resisting their importunity1 and1       
however1 he  looked at it1 his plain    
duty was to set the prisoner free4      
,why then1 again we ask1 was his        
perplexity8 ,the answer is suggested  by
 the taunt of the ,jews1 ,if thou let   
this man go thou art not  ,csar's       
friend2 whosoever maketh himself a king 
speaketh against  ,csar4 ,he foresaw    
that if he resisted the will of the     
rulers he  would make them his enemies1 
and so provoke them to complain of  him 
to the emperor1 who would then institute
 an inquiry into the  administration of 
his office--and that he was not prepared
 to face4  ,he had done things as a     
governor which would not bear the light1
  and so at the crisis of his life he   
was fettered by deeds of the  past from 
doing that which he felt to be the duty 
of the present4  ,you may1 perhaps1     

remember that expression of the prophet1
 which  thus reads in the margin3 ,their
 doings will not suffer them to turn    
unto their ,god3 and that other1 which  
affirms1 concerning ,israel3  ,their own
 doings have beset them about4 ,now     
these descriptions  most accurately     
define the cause of ,pilate's perplexity
 here4 ,his  conduct in the past had    
been such that he had not the courage to
  take any course which might lead to an
 investigation of that4 ,if  he could   
deliver ,christ without provoking that1 
then he would most  cheerfully do so2   
but if by delivering ,christ he would   
provoke that1  then ,christ must be     
given up to the cross4 ,hence his       
perplexity  at the first1 and hence1    
also1 his yielding in the end4 ,his past
  misdeeds had put him virtually into   
the power of those who were  now so     
eager for the condemnation of the       
,christ4 ,on three several  occasions   
his arbitrariness had been such as all  
but to instigate  a rebellion among the 

people1 and his cruelty and contempt for
  justice1 when he had a personal end to
 gain1 were sure1 upon appeal  to the   
emperor1 to be severely punished2 so to 
save himself from  banishment and       
disgrace1 if not even death1 he         
delivered over ,jesus  to the will of   
the ,jews4 ,he wished to do right in    
this case more  than ever he had wished 
before2 there was something about it    
which  in his view made it more         
important that he should do right now   
than  ever before2 but through all his  
past official life he had1 by his       
enormities and oppressions1 been        
unconsciously weaving round himself  a  
net1 in the meshes of which he was now  
inextricably caught4 ,his  guilty       
conscience made him a coward at the very
 time when most of  all he wanted to be 
brave4 ,he had come to his narrow place1
 where  he could turn neither to the    
right hand nor to the left1 but must    
face the naked alternative yes or no2   
and he fell because in his  former life1

 when he was thinking of no such ordeal1
 he had sold  himself by his evil deeds 
into the power of the enemy4    ,now1   
what a lesson there is in all this for  
us6 ,men think that  they may live for  
the time being as they please1 and that 
at a  convenient venient season they can
 repent and turn to ,god4 ,but the      
present is conditioning the future1 and 
making it either possible  or the       
reverse for us to do right in the       
future4 ,he who neglects  the laws of   
health every day1 and lives in          
intemperance and excess  of all kinds1  
is only making it absolutely certain    
that when fever  lays him low he will   
die1 for he has eaten out the strength  
of  his constitution by his follies4    
,and1 in the same way1 he who  sets all 
morality at defiance in his ordinary    
conduct only makes  it inevitable that  
when his convenient season does come1   
when his  time of privilege and testing 
does arrive1 he will fail to rise to    
the occasion1 and be swept away into    

perdition4 ,the tenor of our  ordinary  
life determines how we shall pass       
through exceptional and  crucial        
occasions1 therefore let us bring that  
up to the highest  level by doing       
everything as unto ,god1 and then we    
shall be ready  for any emergency4      
,nor let me forget to add here1 that in 
spite of all his efforts  to keep back  
investigation1 ,pilate's day of         
reckoning with the  emperor did come4   
,the ,jews complained of him after all1 
in spite of  his yielding to them now2  
and as the result he was banished1 and  
afterwards1 so tradition says1 he       
committed suicide4 ,thus the ordeal  and
 the disgrace came1 notwithstanding all 
he did to avert them1  and he had not   
under them the solace which he might    
have enjoyed  if only he had stood firm 
on this great and memorable occasion4   
,therefore let us all1 and especially   
the young1 take to ourselves1  as the   
first lesson from this deeply           
interesting history1 that we  should be 

careful not to hamper ourselves for the 
discharge of duty  in the future by     
guilt of the present4 ,by our conduct   
now we are  either coiling cords around 
us which shall hold us fast at the very 
time when we most desire to be free1 or 
we are forming and fostering  a strength
 of character which1 through ,god1 will 
triumph over every  temptation4 ,if to  
be weak is to be miserable1 it is no    
less true  that to be guilty is to be   
weak4 ,preserve yourselves1 therefore1  
from this danger1 and seek above all    
other things to keep your  consciences  
clean2 then when you will need all your 
strength for a  crisis1 you will not    
sit1 like ,pilate here1 in nervous      
perplexity  bemoaning your helplessness 
even while you yield to the adversary2  
but you will shake the temptation from  
you with as much ease as the  eagle     
shakes the dewdrop from his wing4 ,keep 
yourselves pure3 so  shall your youth be
 full of happiness1 and you shall go    
forth out  of it with no encumbering    

past to clog the wheels of your         
endeavor4  ,how happy he whose youth    
thus leaves him with a smile and sends  
him  forth upon the duties of manhood   
with a benediction6 ,but he1 how        
miserable6 whose early years heap bitter
 maledictions on his head1  and push him
 forward into active life with a        
conscience already  laden with guilt1   
and a soul as weak before temptation as 
a reed is  before the wind4    ,but     
while there is thus in this history a   
lesson for all time1 ,i  think          
,munkacsy1 by the appearance of his     
wondrous picture now1 has  made it      
evident that there is also something in 
it specially adapted  to these modern   
days4 ,it is with artists in the choice 
of their  subjects as it is with        
ministers in the selection of their     
themes4  ,both alike1 consciously and   
unconsciously1 and most frequently      
perhaps unconsciously1 are affected by  
the spirit of their age4  ,the          
atmosphere--literary1 moral1 political1 

and religious--which  is round about    
them1 and which they are daily          
breathing1 does1  insensibly to         
themselves1 so influence them that their
 thoughts  are turned by it into a      
channel different from that in which    
those  of a former generation flowed4   
,hence1 whether the painter would  admit
 it or not1 ,i see in this picture1 at  
this juncture1 at once a  mirror of the 
times and a lesson for them4 ,the       
question of ,pilate1  ,what shall ,i do1
 then1 with ,jesus which is called the  
,christ8  is preeminently the question  
of the present age4 ,no doubt we may    
say with truth that it has been the     
question of all the ,christian          
centuries1 and each one of them has     
faced it and solved it after its  own   
fashion4 ,it has tested the centuries   
even as it tested ,pilate1  and those in
 which ,christ was rejected have been   
the darkest in  the world's history2    
while those in which ,he has been hailed
 as  the incarnate ,god have been the   

brightest which the earth has ever      
seen1 because irradiated with truth1 and
 justice1 and benevolence  and purity4  
,but tho we are always prone to         
exaggerate that in the  midst of which  
we are ourselves1 it seems to me that in
 no one age  since that of the primitive
 ,church has this jesting question been 
so  prominent as in our own4 ,all the   
controversies of our times1 social1     
philosophical1 and theological1 lead up 
to and find their ultimate  hinge in the
 answer to this inquiry1 ,who is this   
,jesus ,christ8  ,if ,he be a mere man1 
then there is for us nothing but        
uncertainty  on any subject1 outside of 
the domain of the exact sciences2 and   
we must all become agnostics1 holding   
this one negative article  of belief1   
that nothing can be known about anything
 save that of  which we can take        
cognizance with the bodily sense4 ,but  
if ,he be  incarnate ,god1 then ,he     
brings with ,him from heaven the final  
word on  all subjects concerning which  

,he has spoken2 and tho in ,his person  
,he is the mystery of mysteries1 yet1 at
 once received1 ,he becomes  forthwith  
the solution of all mysteries1 and faith
 in ,him is at once  the satisfaction of
 the intellect and the repose of the    
heart4 ,it  is perfectly natural1       
therefore1 that all the controversies of
 the  day should turn on ,him4 ,the     
lives of ,christ which have been written
  during the last thirty or forty years 
would make in themselves a  very        
respectable library2 and the cry even of
 the sceptic is1 ,i  could get on very  
well with unbelief1 if ,i only knew what
 to make  of ,christ4 ,yes1 that is just
 the difficulty4 ,christ is here in  the
 ,scriptures a character portrayed in   
literature2 ,he was in the  world for   
thirty-three years1 and lived a life    
exceptional in every  respect1 but most 
of all in the moral and spiritual       
departments1 so  that of ,him alone     
perfection can be predicated2 ,he has   
been ever  since a most potent factor in

 history1 for through ,his influence    
all that is pure1 and noble1 and        
exalted1 and lovely and of good  report1
 has come into our civilization4 ,now1  
these things have to  be accounted for4 
,if ,he was only a man1 how shall we    
explain them8  ,and if ,he was more than
 a man shall we not take ,his own       
testimony  as to ,his dignity and       
mission8 ,if we are to be unbelievers1  
we must  account for ,christ on natural 
principles2 but if we cannot do that1   
then we must conceive ,him as ,he claims
 to be conceived4 ,there is no          
alternative4 ,those in the age who have 
the spirit and disposition of  ,pilate  
will anew reject ,him6 but those who are
 sincere and earnest  in their inquiries
 will come ultimately out into the      
light1 for if  any man be willing to do 
his will1 he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of ,god4    ,and what is  
true of the age1 as a whole1 is true    
also of every  individual to whom the   
gospel is proclaimed4 ,for each of us1  

my  hearers1 this is the question of    
questions1 ,what shall ,i do with       
,jesus which is called ,christ8 ,shall  
,i reject ,him and live precisely  as if
 ,i had never heard ,his name8 or shall 
,i accept ,him as the ,lord  from heaven
 in human nature1 trust in ,him as my   
,savior1 and obey ,him  as my ,king8 ,i 
must do the one or the other2 and yet   
how many are  seeking1 like ,pilate1 to 
evade the question8 ,they try to escape 
the  responsibility of dealing with it  
as a direct alternative of yes  or no4  
,but as one has well said1 necessity is 
laid upon us4 ,the  adversaries of      
,christ press upon us to give our       
verdict against ,him4  ,we are troubled 
and perplexed1 for we have long heard   
about ,him1  and have had each of us his
 own convictions4 ,we would still remain
  neutral4 ,we try--and try in vain--to 
escape from the spirit1 the             
conversation1 the literature1 the       
question of the times4 ,again and  again
 we wash our hands4 ,but neither our    

silence nor our actions are  of any     
avail2 and so we are found sitting1     
conscious of the presence  and the      
claims of our ,savior1 and1 like        
,pilate1 not daring to look  at ,him1 as
 we puzzle over the answer which we must
 give to the  question that is being    
forced upon us--,who is this ,jesus     
,christ8  ,perhaps this description     
accurately portrays some one here this  
morning4    ,if so1 let me give him one 
parting word4 ,it is this3 ,you can not 
evade the decision1 but be sure that you
 look at the ,christ before  you give   
,him up4 ,nothing is so remarkable in   
the picture to which  ,i have so often  
this day referred as the evident        
persistency with  which ,pilate keeps   
his eyes from ,christ2 and few things   
are so  saddening as to meet with men   
who profess to have1 and really have1   
difficulties about ,christ1 but who have
 never read the gospels or  the ,new    
,testament with any attention4    ,let  
me urge you earnestly1 therefore1 to    

study these gospels and  epistles before
 you give your voice against the ,lord1 
and ,i am  very sure that if you ponder 
them thoroughly you will soon accept    
,him4 ,give over trying to solve all the
 difficulties and so-called             
discrepancies in the ,scriptures which  
form the stock-in-trade of  the infidel 
lecturer--all these are but as dust     
which he raises  that he may blind your 
eyes to the really important question1  
,who  is ,christ8 ,settle that1 and if  
you do1 all other difficulties  will    
vanish4 ,turn your face to the light1   
and the shadow will fall  behind you4   
,look at the ,christ before you give    
,him up4 ,and remember1  if you do      
reject ,christ1 you have still to       
account for ,him4 ,it  is unreasonable  
for you1 if you believe only in the     
natural and  material1 to leave such a  
phenomenon as ,christ unexplained4      
,yes1 and ,i must add here that if you  
reject ,him you must yet  account to    
,him4 ,go1 then1 and ponder this text2  

yea1 may it continue  sounding in your  
inmost heart until you have determined  
to receive  and rest upon ,him as your  
only ,savior1 and say to ,him1 like     
,thomas1  ,my ,lord and my ,god4        
,,john ,,hall    ,,liberty ,,only ,,in  
,,truth          ,,biographical ,,note  
,john ,hall was born at ,market ,hill1  
,county ,armagh1 ,ireland1 in #ahbi4    
,for many years he was pastor of the    
,fifth ,avenue ,presbyterian  ,church1  
,new ,york1 where he had a large and    
devoted following4 ,he was  of fine     
physique1 and there was a power in face 
and voice that at  once commanded his   
audience4 ,he spoke without manuscript1 
and his  style was marked by great      
sincerity1 directness and earnestness4  
,he  died in #ahii4          ,,john     
,,hall    #ahbi-ahii    ,,liberty ,,only
 ,,in ,,truth         ,and ,i will walk 
at liberty1 for ,i seek thy             
precepts4--,psalms       cxix41 #de4    
,god is the ,governor of this world4    
,some one may say1 that is a  very      

elementary truth4 ,even so2 there have  
been long ages in the  history of our   
race when that truth was not accepted   
and when the  most intelligent of our   
race believed something directly        
opposed4  ,there have been multitudes of
 men1 for example1 who believed1 like   
,aristotle1 that matter is eternal4     
,there are multitudes still who  believe
 that in some way or other nature       
governs itself4 ,there is a  large class
 of thinkers who1 without taking the    
name to themselves1  are practically    
pantheists1 and1 like ,spinoza and      
,fichte and ,hegel1  persuade themselves
 that all is ,god1 as they express it1  
and that  ,god is all4 ,you do not need 
to be told that the earlier portion of  
the ,old ,testament ,scriptures ,god has
 given to us that we might have  these  
illusions banished1 and that we might be
 made to know that ,god  is the ,creator
 and the ,ruler of all things1 that ,he 
is not nature1  and nature is not ,god2 
that ,he is not to be confounded with   

the  works of ,his hands2 that ,he is a 
distinct1 personal and holy ,being1  who
 has created all1 and who has a right1  
on the ground of creation1  even if     
there were no other1 to be the ,ruler of
 all4 ,it took long to  make men        
understand this truth1 simple and       
elementary as it seems to  you and to   
me4    ,when we say that ,god governs   
the globe1 we do not mean the mere      
earthly1 solid structure on which we    
dwell4 ,we mean that ,he governs  the   
inhabitants of it1 the communities and  
the individuals4 ,the  ,lord reigneth1  
let the earth rejoice4 ,the ,lord       
reigneth1 let the  nations tremble4 ,he 
raiseth up kings and he putteth them    
down4  ,he calls into being ,pharaohs   
that ,he may show ,his power and ,his   
glory in relation to them4 ,his         
providence is most holy and wise and    
powerful1 and it is not general merely1 
it is particular1 extending  to all the 
creatures and to all their actions4     
,these things we have  to keep in mind  

in relation to ,jehovah4    ,now it     
would seem1 surely1 that if a man       
believed this his common  sense would   
dictate to him that1 living in a world  
that ,god had  made and ,god rules in   
every detail1 if he wishes to be happy  
in  it1 he must have respect to the law 
of ,him who has made and who  rules4    
,common sense indicates that if we live 
in a house it is  desirable to be on    
good terms with the head of the house if
 we  wish to be comfortable4 ,common    
sense dictates that if a man is  in the 
employment of others1 it is wise for him
 to have a right  understanding1 to     
stand well with the head of the         
department in  which he is engaged4     
,common sense teaches us that if we are 
subjects  in a kingdom and wish to be   
safe and happy1 we must respect the     
laws by which the kingdom is ruled4 ,and
 we have only to extend this  principle1
 and we get to the point that was before
 the ,psalmist's  mind when he says3 ,i 
will walk at liberty1 for ,i seek 7or1  

as it  is in the revision1 without      
changing the meaning1 ',i have sought'7 
thy statutes4 ,i am living in ,thy      
world1 ,i am dependent upon ,thee1  ,i  
have taken pains to know what ,thy will 
is1 that ,i may do it2 and  so ,i walk  
at liberty4 ,that is the idea that is   
brought to us in the  text1 and it is   
easy for you to see how good and        
practical that idea  is4    ,but the    
question may arise1 can we know the     
precepts and the  statutes that ,god has
 given to us8 ,you do not need to be    
told that  that is within our reach4    
,god has spoken to us in this           
revelation1  as ,he did speak less      
articulately in the works of ,his hands1
 and  in the instincts and convictions  
that ,he produced in our spirit4  ,we   
have ,his revelation in our hands4 ,we  
can seek the knowledge of  it4 ,in many 
instances well-meaning and right-minded 
boys1 under  great difficulties1 have   
sought education that they may get on in
  this world4 ,in many other cases boys 

have had education at their  very doors1
 and have never sought it1 and          
consequently have been  of little       
account in the world4 ,now the          
difference is not great1  in this aspect
 of it1 between ordinary secular        
education and the  spiritual education  
of which the text gives us an           
illustration4 ,here  are ,god's statutes
 and precepts put within our reach4 ,we 
can search  them1 seek them1 know them  
and do them1 by the grace that ,god is  
willing to give1 or we can push them    
aside1 ignore and disregard  them1 and  
take our own way1 and the result will be
 absolute and  everlasting failure in   
our lives4 ,we can not have this too    
solemnly  fixt in our thoughts4 ,god has
 spoken to us4 ,what shall we do with   
,his word8 ,shall we neglect it and pass
 it by1 or shall we take it1  study it1 
seek it1 as the verse expresses it1 and 
make it the rule  of our lives8 ,jesus  
,christ has come down from heaven to    
live among  us1 and has said to our     

race1 ,come unto me and learn of me2 and
  there are millions to whom this       
message has come and they disregard  and
 ignore it2 they do not come to ,him1   
they do not learn of ,him4  ,can we     
wonder if the ,judge should say to them 
when they appear at  ,his seat1 ,i never
 knew you8 ,if you read the ,first      
,epistle to the  ,thessalonians1 you    
will see pictures of an angry ,god1 as  
an avenging  fire1 in the apostle's     
description4 ,on whom does the fire     
fall8 ,on  whom does the ,judge show his
 indignation8 ,is it upon the misers and
  the miscreants and the murderers of   
the race merely8 ,oh1 no4 ,it is  upon  
them that know not ,god and obey not the
 gospel of his ,son4  ,is it any wonder 
that the sacred writer should say1      
,remember thy  ,creator in the days of  
thy youth2 not merely remember that     
there  is a ,god--remember thy ,creator1
 who made thee and in whose hand thy    
fortunes are4 ,remember in the days of  
thy youth1 the formative days1  the days

 when character is being shaped4 ,what  
is well begun is half  ended4 ,the life 
that is well begun1 in this way has a   
guaranty of  usefulness and success4    
,the life that is not begun in this way 
has  a dark and gloomy prospect before  
it4 ,remember thy ,creator4 ,we all     
know well what is meant when some one   
says to us1 on going away from  our     
homes1 ,don't forget your home1 don't   
forget your mother4 ,we  know what that 
means4 ,and ,god's messenger speaks to  
us in the same  tone when he makes this 
appeal3 ,remember thy ,creator2 remember
 ,his  power1 remember ,his will1       
remember ,his statutes1 seek ,his       
precepts1  and by doing this thou wilt  
be able to walk at liberty4    ,you may 
have mere liberty1 and not light and not
 the liberty of  ,god4 ,you may combine 
liberty with means1 with power1 and with
 a  certain degree of prosperity2 you   
may combine it with equality and  with  
fraternity1 and yet not have the true   
enlightenment4 ,true  enlightenment     

comes in the way1 indicated in the text1
 by the  seeking of ,god's precepts1 the
 knowing of ,god's statutes1 and this   
you and ,i need to keep in mind4 ,what  
is liberty8 once asked ,burke4  ,what is
 liberty without wisdom and without     
virtue8 ,such liberty  is the greatest  
of all possible evils1 for it is vice   
and folly  and madness1 without tuition 
and without restraint4 ,mere liberty    
without other forces working in the     
sphere that it opens up1 is  only       
another name for license4 ,give me      
liberty or give me death1  said ,patrick
 ,henry--not because he felt the need of
 enlightenment4  ,he had been           
enlightened by the teaching of an       
intelligent ,scottish  father1 by the   
preaching of the splendid sermons of    
,samuel ,davies1  and especially by the 
daily study1 which he kept up to his    
dying  day1 of his ,bible4 ,he had been 
enlightened by these things4 ,what  he  
craved for himself and for his fellow   
men was open space in  which1           

unhindered1 other and mighty influences 
might tell upon his  fellow men and make
 the country what1 in the blessing of   
,god1 it has  become4 ,settle this in   
your minds3 ,liberty is simply the      
freedom  for other forces to act1 and it
 is for you and me who are free1 to  see
 what these forces are1 and we never can
 have any so good as  those which the   
,psalmist speaks of when he says that he
 sought ,god's  precepts1 he studied    
,god's statutes1 that he might do them1 
and so  walk at liberty4 ,we want to    
walk at liberty4 ,how can we do it8 ,if 
we do not thus walk at liberty1 there is
 only one alternative--stay  in bondage 
and walk in bondage1 moving about       
indeed1 and apparently  free1 but with  
moral chains binding our natures and our
 whole  being in bondage to the powers  
that will rejoice in our misery and     
ultimate ruin4 ,it is to make men       
understand this that we have such       
institutions as we enjoy to-day4 ,for   
this end church edifices are  reared4   

,for this end people are invited to come
 and be regularly in  them and under    
their influence4 ,for this end ,god has 
been pleased  to give us the day of holy
 rest4 ,for this purpose the ministry   
has  been instituted4 ,our business is  
to make men seek and know ,god's        
precepts and statutes1 that they may do 
them and that they may walk  at liberty4
 ,we ministers are for you2 our business
 is to seek  your moral and spiritual   
good1 your full and complete liberation4
  ,our business is to enlighten you with
 the truth as ,god has been  pleased to 
reveal it unto us4 ,you do not come to  
these churches for  our sakes1 to hear  
us4 ,you do not give your money that we 
may be  sustained and upheld4 ,i tell   
you ,i would rather sweep the streets1  
,i would rather carry bricks on my      
shoulder to the builder1 than be  a mere
 official person maintained because he  
can teach so much and  get so many      
people to hear him4 ,brethren1 it is    
that you may be  enlightened and saved  

with the light of life1 that ,god has   
brought  us into the position in which  
we are now together4 ,keep this in your 
thoughts2 and that you may be           
enlightened and free1 look upward and   
not downward1 nor around you4 ,in that  
statue in our harbor1 the  light that   
will shine is light that comes1 ,i      
suppose1 from the heart  of the earth2  
but the light that is to enlighten the  
world is the  light of the sun1 the ,sun
 of ,righteousness4 ,see that you have  
that  shining into your souls1 that you 
may walk at liberty4    ,having looked  
at the former part of this text1 namely1
 what the  ,psalmist did with a view to 
the end1 we look at the end at which he 
was aiming4 ,he studied ,god's ,word1   
not simply that he might have so  much  
intellectual knowledge4 ,he studied it  
for practical uses4 ,he  studied ,god's 
precepts that he might obey them4 ,i do 
not need to  remind you that you and ,i 
have advantages greater than he had1 in 
some important respects4 ,he had the    

revelation in part2 we have it  in its  
completeness4 ,he had the preparatory   
dispensation2 we have  the dispensation 
that fulfils the promises of the        
preparatory4 ,he  had the beginning2 we 
have the complement4 ,we know more than 
he  did4 ,he wrote these words1 ,i have 
sought thy precepts4 ,he knew of  the   
,paschal ,lamb and of its typical       
significance2 we know the ,lamb  of ,god
 that taketh away the sin of the world4 
,he knew the ,hebrew  priest and the    
general character of his functions4 ,we 
know a ,high  ,priest who has passed    
into the heavens1 ,jesus1 the ,son of   
,god4 ,he  knew of the altar and the    
victim1 and the blood that made typical 
atonement2 we know of the great         
sacrifice on the cross1 bringing in  a  
redemption that is complete and eternal4
 ,he knew of a ,messiah that  was to    
come4 ,you1 even children in the        
,sunday-school to-day1 know of  that    
,messiah risen1 risen triumphant1 risen 
a conqueror1 risen for  you1 risen      

because ,he has finished the work ,god  
gave ,him to do4 ,if  the ,psalmist     
studied ,god's will that he might walk  
at liberty1 how  much greater is the    
obligation upon us to do the same1 and  
how much  greater our facilities and our
 encouragement4 ,let us try1 then1 to   
travel in the ,psalmist's steps1 and let
 us see some1 not all1 of  the forms of 
liberty that we can have by compliance  
with the divine  precepts4    ,there is 
liberty1 in the first place1 from the   
world4 ,i use the word  now in the sense
 in which it is used so frequently in   
the ,bible--not  merely this round globe
 or the hundreds of millions that are   
upon  it--not merely these millions in  
that capacity4 ,the world lieth in  the 
wicked one2 the mass of men1 that is1 do
 not know ,god4 ,they  constitute the   
world of the ,new ,testament2 we can be 
in bondage  to this world4 ,natural men 
are in bondage to it4 ,they are not at  
liberty in relation to that natural     
world4 ,it is without ,god2 it  does not

 ask what ,his will is4 ,it enquires as 
to its own will1 and  it tries to       
enforce it4 ,you sometimes see cliques  
and coteries and  collections of men    
insisting at any cost upon carrying out 
their own  will4 ,this is only the      
spirit of the greater world of which    
they  constitute a section4 ,sometimes  
men are in bondage to the world  in this
 sense1 and the mainspring of their life
 is to stand well  with it1 to do what  
their set1 their society1 the world     
round about  them1 wishes them to do4   
,sometimes the bondage is aggravated by 
another feature1 viz41 the effort to    
rise higher1 to get upon a more         
elevated plane1 to get into another set2
 and1 oh1 how aggravated is  the bondage
 under which many thus live and labor6  
,freedom from that  is obtained when we 
walk according to ,god's statutes4      
,believers1  the world is not your      
master4 ,one is your ,master1 even      
,christ1 and  we are brethren in ,him1  
and ,he is reasonable and kind and just 

and  brotherly1 and you can walk with   
,him4 ,his favor is enough for you1     
,his smile satisfies you4 ,fellowship   
with ,him is the best society4  ,let    
society stigmatize you1 let it stamp its
 enmity upon you1 but  seek ,god's      
precepts4 ,if you only have ,christ     
walking with you1  then you walk at     
liberty4 ,but as to the life-work in    
which many  are busy1 or trying to get  
up a little higher socially1 take this  
precept of the ,word1 ,godliness with   
contentment is great gain2  and these   
things1 the godliness with the          
contentment1 will break  these clanking 
chains of insane and stupid ambition and
 will prepare  you to walk at liberty4  
,i am in the place where ,god puts me4  
,i am  trying to do the work that ,god  
gives to me4 ,i am responsible to ,him4 
,i belong to ,him4 ,he is my ,father1   
,christ is my ,brother1 heaven is my    
home4 ,this ,i believe on the authority 
of ,his word4 ,i will walk at  liberty4 
,let me commend that form of true       

freedom to you4    ,there is liberty1 in
 the second place1 from bad ways4 ,do ,i
 need  to describe these bad ways to    
you8 ,you can not live in the city1  you
 can not read the newspapers1 you can   
not hear the gossip1 you  can not know  
what is going on in the circles in which
 you mingle1  without knowing some of   
these bad ways4 ,there is the lover of  
this  world's possessions1 so strongly  
denounced in ,isaiah's prophecies3      
beginning1 perhaps1 with necessary      
saving1 but coming slowly but  steadily 
to a sordid love of the thing that is   
saved1 till the whole  spirit is        
mercenary1 and gold is the deity that is
 practically  worshiped4 ,there is the  
drunkard1 sipping a little innocently1  
as he  thinks1 at the beginning1 then   
going a little farther1 and secretly1   
until shame is lost and the victim is   
under the power of the  drink--degraded1
 wretched1 irresponsible1 not ashamed of
 himself1  for shame is gone1 but an    
object for which all are ashamed that   

are  connected with him4 ,there is the  
gambler1 beginning perhaps with  what he
 deemed innocent recreation1 and        
catching the spirit of the  thing till  
it masters him1 until he flings away all
 that he has1 and  all that he hopes to 
have1 in the chance of recovering       
something  already lost1 till life is a 
burden and fortune is gone1 and suicide 
is perhaps the tragical termination4    
,these are specimens of the  bad        
ways--marked specimens1 ,i grant1 but   
still simple specimens4  ,there is      
freedom from this when we seek and do   
,god's statutes--real  freedom4 ,we     
learn to walk circumspectly2 we learn to
 keep the heart  with all diligence2 we 
learn to hate evil and to do good2 we   
learn  to flee from the snares that     
,satan sets for the feet of men4 ,we    
walk  securely1 for we have been taught 
of the ,spirit to walk with ,god4  ,make
 sure1 dear hearers1 that you have this 
liberty4    ,there is liberty from bad  
memories--bad1 putrid memories4 ,when   

the  corrupt imagination contemplates   
indulgences in sin1 it often dwells     
upon these long before the actual       
execution of them1 and as they  linger  
in the mind they photograph themselves  
upon its surface1 and  they stay there4 
,there may be compunction for the sin1  
there may be  shame over it1 there may  
be vows against it1 there may be honest 
purposes to resist and overcome it1 and 
these purposes to a good  degree carried
 out2 but the horrid1 poisonous memories
 remain in the  soul4 ,you know what it 
is to be in a house where animal matter 
is  decaying and poisoning fumes are    
being scattered up and down4 ,oh6  the  
misery of the human mind that is haunted
 with the ghosts of bad  deeds that have
 been done in the past4 ,it is bondage  
of the keenest  and sorest kind4 ,there 
is liberty from these to those who walk 
in  ,god's statutes1 liberty that can be
 had nowhere else4 ,a new heart  will ,i
 give you1 and a right spirit will ,i   
put within you4 ,i will  take away the  

stony heart out of your flesh1 and ,i   
will give you a  heart of flesh4 ,happy 
are they to whom this word was fulfilled
 in  their early youth1 and who in      
consequence were kept from the sins1    
the very recollection of which is       
sometimes like the beginning of  hell4  
,there is bondage to bad associates and 
bad associations4 ,in how many          
instances1 in thoughtlessness1          
inexperience1 under the impulses of     
mere feeling1 do men become entangled in
 connections that mar their  lives and  
spoil all their happiness--make         
happiness practically  impossible6 ,i   
speak what ,i know1 when ,i say that    
there are too  many cases in which boys 
are practically ruined where they go as 
pupils to schools away from their       
parents' supervision1 thrown into       
dependence1 in some degree1 upon those  
whom they call friends1 and  these      
friends bad1 initiating them into ways  
and habits and modes of  thinking and   
doing1 for which they only want the     

liberty of later  years that they may   
put them into practise1 with disgrace1  
misery  and ruin4 ,relief from this     
bondage1 escape from it1 these can be   
had  when we seek ,god's statutes1 when 
we walk according to ,his precepts4     
,wisdom's ways are pleasantness1 and her
 paths are peace4 ,there are  no bad    
habits in them2 there are no entangling 
associations in them2  there are no     
corrupting and degrading influences in  
them4 ,there is  nothing in them that   
plays upon passion1 till passion1 once  
our idol  and our sport1 becomes our    
ruler and our cruel tyrant4 ,to escape  
all  these1 this is the way3 seek ,god's
 statutes1 that you may know and  do    
them1 and you shall walk at liberty4    
,,bacon    ,,god ,,indwelling           
,,biographical ,,note      ,,leonard    
,,woolsey ,,bacon1 ,congregational      
divine1 born in ,new ,haven1  ,conn41   
#ahcj4 ,he was educated at ,yale1 from  
which university he  graduated in #ahej4
 ,he has filled the position of pastor  

in many  important churches and has done
 much theological and literary work4    
,among other things he edited ,luther's 
,deutsche ,geistliche ,lieder  7,new    
,york1 #ahhc71 and wrote ,history of    
,american ,christianity 7,new  ,york1   
#ahig74          ,,bacon    ,,born ,,in 
#ahcj    ,,god ,,indwelling#f      #f   
,from ,the ,simplicity ,that ,is in     
,christ1 published by ,funk             
,wagnalls ,company4    ,thus saith the  
high and lofty ,one that inhabiteth     
eternity1 whose  name is ,holy3 ,i dwell
 in the high and holy place1 with him   
also  that is of a contrite and humble  
spirit1 to revive the spirit of  the    
humble1 and to revive the heart of the  
contrite ones4--,isaiah  lvii41 #ae4    
,inhabiting eternity2 yet making ,his   
abode within a broken heart6 ,it  seems 
as if we might apprehend either of these
 things singly2 but  both together--how 
can it be8 ,the distresses1 the wants1  
the fears1  of life1 make us long that  
indeed it were so4 ,our soul crieth out 

for ,god1 for the living ,god4    ,we   
cry2 but there seems no answer2 only an 
awful silence4 ,we look  upon the       
outward facts of life and death1 and see
 the steady1  unswerving march of       
law--the unbroken1 irrefragable chain of
 causes  and effects--never yielding nor
 bending to all our needs1 to all our   
prayers4 ,and ,god seems so far1 so far 
away6 ,we turn the pages of  our        
knowledge from the physical to the      
metaphysical1 and we come  no nearer4   
,our philosophical1 our theological1    
yes1 our religious  meditations upon the
 nature and attributes of the infinite  
,one--the  omniscient1 the eternal1 the 
unchangeable--set ,him more and more    
beyond the reach of our fellowship and  
prayer4 ,but all the time1  one thing   
testifies to us of a heavenly ,father   
that hears and loves  and answers1 and  
that is our ineradicable need4 ,the     
cravings of our  nature cannot be       
rebuked by scientific observation of the
 constancy  of law1 nor by philosophic  

meditation of the properties of absolute
  and infinite being4 ,we need1 we must 
have1 a ,father4 ,our heart and  flesh1 
our soul1 crieth out for the living     
,god4    ,in such a strait1 there is    
true comfort in this word of the ,lord  
by ,his prophet1 in which the full      
measure of the difficulty is set  forth1
 and the solution of it is found in     
faith4    ,it has seemed to me that we  
need not seek in vain in the created    
works of ,god for helps to that faith by
 which we know that the  infinite and   
eternal ,god can have fellowship with us
 and can dwell  within the narrow       
precincts of a human heart4    ,that    
sight in visible nature which gives to  
us the highest sense  of vastness1--the 
aptest suggestion of infinity1--is      
doubtless the  aspect of the starry     
heavens2--to all of us1 ignorant or     
learned1  poetic or unimaginative4 ,it  
needs no diagrams nor distances from  a 
book of astronomy to tell the lessons of
 the firmament4 ,their  sound is gone   

out into all the earth1 and their words 
to the end of  the world4    ,and yet it
 is when we come to study the dimensions
 of this operation  in detail1 that the 
sense of its vastness grows upon us and 
overpowers us4 ,david never could have  
felt1 as we can feel1 the  force of his 
own words3        ,when ,i consider thy 
heavens1 the work of thy fingers1       
,the moon and the stars which thou hast 
ordained1      ,what is man that thou   
art mindful of him1      ,and the son of
 man that thou visitest him6    ,they   
are like the chariot of ,ezekiel's      
vision1 so high that it  was dreadful4  
,it seems a fearful thing to have to do 
with such  magnitudes2 and when we hear 
of scholars in their observatories      
measuring the distances among the stars1
 it overcomes us with a  giddy feeling1 
as when we see men clambering on church 
spires1 or  crossing the ,east ,river on
 a strand of wire4 ,a row of figures on 
a  slate does seem such a frail support 
on which to go marching through  the    

starry spaces6 ,we almost shudder when  
we see human science  springing clear of
 the narrow boundaries of the earth1 and
 on such  attenuated threads of         
calculation venturing boldly forth to   
other  planets1 and thence over chasms  
of space so vast that it is easiest  to 
call them infinite1 until he reaches the
 fixt stars4 ,no longer  content with   
numbering and naming the host of heaven1
 and marshaling  them in constellations1
 this tiny creature must take upon      
himself  to scrutinize their            
constitution1 must weigh their floating 
bulk1  must        ,speed his flight    
from star to star1       ,from world to 
luminous world1 as far         ,as the  
universe rears his flaming wall1    and1
 as if bearing in this amazing flight   
the measuring-rod which  once the       
prophet saw in an angel's hand1 must    
measure the paths  along which the      
planets travel1 and tell in human       
language the  distances on the chart of 
heaven4    ,and how human language      

staggers under the burden thus laid upon
 it6  ,we begin with attempting to state
 the least of these distances in        
numbers of a unit of earthly distance1  
but1 when we speak of some  of our near 
neighbors in celestial space as being   
twenty trillions  of ,english miles     
away1 the words will not hold the       
meaning--they  carry no conception to   
the mind4 ,they are good to cipher with1
  but that is all they are good for4 ,we
 try to invent a new form of  speech1   
and for our unit we take the distance   
which a cannon-ball1  if retaining the  
velocity with which it leaves the gun1  
would travel  in twenty-four hours1 and 
say that1 at this rate of speed1 it     
would  take so many months1 and years1  
and centuries1 to reach such and  such  
of the nearer stars4 ,but this1 too1 is 
a clumsy failure2 and  we resort1 at    
last1 to the heavens themselves for a   
standard of  measurement1 and find it in
 the velocity of light4 ,it shoots from 
the sun to the earth1 a distance of     

ninety-two millions of miles1  in eight 
minutes and seven seconds4 ,and we      
attempt to represent the  distance of   
certain of the stars by stating how many
 years1 how many  hundred years1 how    
many thousand years1 it takes a ray of  
their  light to reach the earth4 ,but it
 is all in vain4 ,we commonly speak  of 
imagination as outstripping1 in its     
speed1 the slow-paced reason2  but here 
it is the reason that has outrun the    
imagination4 ,from  these unspeakable   
tracts of space1 over which the reason  
of man has  not hesitated to go1        
,sounding along its dim and perilous    
way1    the imagination shrinks back and
 refuses to follow4 ,we know things     
which we cannot conceive4 ,in presence  
of such stupendous magnitudes1          
,imagination's utmost stretch           
,in wonder dies away4    ,we can only   
bow with awe in the presence of things  
which the  calmest computations have    
revealed1 and seizing the words kindled 
on  the lips of inspiration1 sing aloud 

in worship3      ,o ,lord1 how great are
 they works6     ,in wisdom hast thou   
made them all6    ,i have shown you what
 is wonderful4 ,come now and ,i will    
show you  what is more wonderful4 ,for  
,i will show you these infinite spaces  
of the sky1 and the glory of them1 and  
the innumerable host of  starry worlds1 
gathered up in a moment of time1 within 
the tiny  pupil of a human eye4 ,it is  
wonderful that the heavens and the host 
of them should be so great2 but that1   
being so great1 they should  be able to 
become so infinitely little1--this      
passes all wonder4  ,the shepherd       
stretched upon the ground amid his sheep
 gazes up into  the starry depths1 and  
finds them wonderful2 but never thinks  
how  far more wonderful than the heavens
 which he beholds is himself  beholding 
them4 ,as he lies gazing1 long lines of 
light1 from planet  and star and        
constellation1 come stretching on       
through the infinite  void spaces1 to   
center on the lenses of his drowsy eye4 

,side by  side1 and all at once1 yet    
never twisted or confused1 these ten    
thousand rays of different light enter  
the little aperture in the  center of   
the eye which we call the pupil4 ,there 
they cross1 in a  point which has no    
dimensions1 and separate again1 and     
paint in  microscopic miniature upon the
 little surface of the retina1 behind   
the eyeball1 the inverted facsimile of  
the visible heavens4 ,there1  in the    
ante-chamber of the brain1 marches      
,orion1 with his shining  baldric and   
his jeweled sword2 there glow ,arcturus 
and ,sirius1 and  the steadfast ,north  
,star2 there pass the planets to and    
fro2 and  the far-off nebul are painted 
there with suffused and gentle          
radiance--all the heavens and the glory 
of them gathered in that  slender       
filament of light1 threaded through that
 tiny aperture1  painted by their own   
rays upon that little patch of nervous  
network1  apprehended1 felt1 known      
through and through by that finite human

  mind4 ,how far stranger and sublimer a
 thing is this than the mere  bulk of   
the worlds1 or the mere chasms of void  
space in which they  hang weltering6    
,by this sublime fact of ,god's visible 
creation1 we are led on to  apprehend   
and feel the sublimest of the glories of
 ,god ,himself1 set  forth in the       
prophet's words1--that ,he whose        
lifetime is infinite  duration1 whose   
dwelling-place is infinite space1--,he  
who before  the earth and the world were
 made was no younger1 neither will be   
older when they are all consumed1--whose
 presence reaches out to the  farthest  
fixt star that eye or telescope has ever
 described floating  upon the far verge 
of the universe1 and occupies beyond in 
all the  orbits of worlds yet           
undiscovered1 and still beyond in the   
regions  of space where is naught but   
the possibility of future worlds1 and   
fills all this immensity to             
repletion1--that this high and lofty    
,one that inhabiteth eternity should    

enter into some poor1 crusht  and broken
 spirit1 that trembles at the very      
whisper of ,his voice1  and should make 
the narrow recesses of that heart ,his  
abode1 ,his  home4 ,this is the mystery 
and glory of the ,godhead1--not alone   
that  ,he should be infinite1 eternal1  
immortal1 invisible1 but that being  all
 these1 ,he should yet be apprehended by
 the little mind of a man1  and call    
,himself that man's ,friend and         
,comforter and ,father4    ,for it is   
not more evident that the tiny pupil of 
human eye can take  in the expanses and 
abysses of the heavens1 than it is that 
the  little soul of man can receive into
 itself the infinite ,god4    ,i4 ,man  
receives ,god into himself by the       
intellect4 ,we trifle with  the facts of
 our own consciousness1 if we suffer the
 theological  description of ,god as    
incomprehensible to divert us from the  
fact  that our minds are made for       
nothing more expressly than for this1   
that they should receive ,god4 ,the     

lowest rudiments of the knowledge  of   
the simplest forms of matter are the    
beginnings of the knowledge  of ,god4   
,if we could remember1 you and ,i1 now  
that we are grown1 all  that came to us 
in infancy--the first struggles of the  
childish mind  with the questions that  
we are not done with yet1 we should see 
how  soon the knowledge of ,god comes to
 the little one4 ,beyond the cradle  in 
which it wakes up to the wonders of a   
new day is the nursery1 and  beyond the 
nursery is the house1 and beyond the    
house is the garden1  and beyond the    
garden there lies all the world1 and    
beyond the  world shuts down the sky    
with its stars1 and beyond the          
sky--what8  ,tell me1 father--tell me1  
mother1 what is there beyond the sky8   
,and1 according to your knowledge or    
your ignorance1 your faith or  your     
unbelief1 you may tell the little       
questioner of heaven1 or of  infinities 
of other worlds1 or of infinite waste   
room and empty  space1 and he will      

believe you4 ,but attempt to tell him   
that beyond  is nothing1 and not even   
room for anything1 and will he believe  
you8  ,he may seem to believe you1 but  
it is impossible that he really  should 
believe4 ,the infant mind--any          
mind--rejects it as impossible4  ,it    
cannot live in anything less than       
infinite space4 ,it stifles4 ,it  leaps 
up and beats its wings against any bars 
with which you would  cage it in1 but   
that it will break through and take     
possession of  its inheritance4    ,and 
as with infinite extent1 so with        
infinite duration4 ,how well ,i         
remember1 as a very little child1 when  
men were talking of the end  of the     
world1 and the great comet stretched    
amain across the sky1  and men's hearts 
were failing them for fear1 how the     
thought of  infinite duration prest in1 
inexorably1 on my soul6 ,come judgment  
day1 come final conflagration1 come end 
of all material things1 come  cessation 
and extinction of all angels1 all souls1

 all sentient  creatures1 still this    
could not be the end4 ,eternity must    
needs go  on and on1 tho there were     
never an event or thought to mark its   
movement4 ,there cannot be an end4      
,they err1 not measuring the import of  
their own arguments1 who  tell us1 in   
that pride of not-knowing which is so   
high uplifted  beyond any pride of      
knowledge1 that the very form of the    
word  infinite marks it as the sign of a
 thing inconceivable1 being a mere      
negation4 ,nay1 verily1 it is the word  
end1 limit1 cessation1 that  is the     
negative word1 having no meaning except 
as the negation of  continuance2 and    
infinite is the negation of this        
negation--a thing  positive1            
affirmative1 real4    ,so1 then1 it is  
not the idea of infinity to which the   
human mind is  unfitted4 ,the mind is so
 made that it cannot help receiving     
that4  ,the incredible1 inconceivable   
idea is the idea of absolute end4 ,so   
far is the idea of infinity from being  

inconceivable1 that it is  just         
impossible to thrust the conception out 
of the mind4 ,and with  the conception  
of eternity1 there rushes into the      
thoughtful spirit  at once1 the awful   
and lovely conception of that high and  
lofty  ,one who inhabiteth eternity1    
whose name is ,holy4 ,by such a wonder  
of creation is it1 that ,he who made the
 little ball of the human  eye so that  
it can take in the heavens and the      
earth1 has made the  petty intellect of 
man so that it can take in the knowledge
 of the  infinite ,god4    ,,ii4 ,but1  
secondly1 it is even a greater wonder   
than this1 that the  infinite ,god1 whom
 the intellect has conceived1 draws near
 for a  more intimate society with ,his 
creature1 and enters the heart  of man  
through the gateway of his affections4  
,i say a greater  wonder2 for it must be
 confest that this ideal of the         
intellect1  this center in which all    
infinite attributes inhere1 does by     
,his very majesty so overawe the heart  

that we shrink away from  ,him4 ,by     
every new perfection of ,his nature1    
that grows upon our  apprehension2 by   
,his awful power as the ,almighty2 by   
,his perfect  knowledge as the          
,all-wise2 by ,his unswerving           
steadfastness as the  ,faithful and     
,true--the ,immutable2 by the very      
infinitude of ,his  nature1 ,he is      
withdrawn farther and farther from the  
possibility  of being counted among     
those humble objects on which the       
tendrils  of a human heart are able to  
lay hold4 ,how1 for instance1 shall     
this ,inhabitant of eternity1 whose name
 is ,holy1 be well-pleased  with ,his   
petty creature who has dared withstand  
,his perfect law1  and looks shrinking  
toward the throne of infinite ,majesty1 
fearing  and crying1 ,unclean6 unclean6 
,how shall any prayer that we can  frame
 bring arguments to bear upon the ,mind 
that knows the end  from the beginning1 
and to whom there is not a word upon our
 lips1  but lo6 ,he knoweth it          

altogether8 ,how can any pitiful plight 
into  which we may fall move the        
compassion of ,him who is immutable1 and
  under whose benign government even the
 pains and severities that  befall ,his 
creatures are wrought into a plan of    
common beneficence  to the whole8 ,these
 are questions which the awe-struck     
intellect1  gazing upward at the        
infinite attributes that adorn the name 
which  is holy1 puts to the yearning    
heart1 which1 with all the craving  of  
its love1 with all the outstretching of 
its need1 gropes after  a ,god to       
worship1 to love1 to pray to1 if haply  
it may find ,him4  ,and the heart cannot
 answer back the intellect with         
arguments of  language4 ,but love       
contains more reason than many          
arguments2 and the  strong instincts of 
affection and devotion with which the   
humble and  contrite heart reaches out  
after the love and personal friendship  
of an infinite ,creator are themselves  
an argument that ,god will not  refuse  

,himself to the affections which ,he has
 ,himself implanted4 ,the  hunger and   
thirst of our hearts for ,god are a     
promise from ,him that  they shall be   
filled4 ,he cannot deny ,himself4       
,the very arguments by which we climb to
 the knowledge of the  infinite ,spirit 
are like mountains that separate us from
 any  relation with him of childlike    
prayer and mutual love4 ,but a  trustful
 confidence can say to these mountains1 
,be ye removed and  be ye cast into the 
sea1 and it shall be done4    ,have you 
ever pondered that dark mystery of human
 nature1 the origin  of the frightful   
idolatries of ,india8 ,it seems to be   
proved that  they had their beginning1  
not 7as the prepossessions of modern    
science would suggest7 through          
development from some form of  fetishism
 baser and coarser still1 but by        
degradation from the most  refined and  
abstract speculations on the infinity1  
the spirituality1  and the immutability 
of ,god4 ,no subtler metaphysics is     

taught to-day  in the lecture-rooms of  
,yale and ,princeton than was taught    
long  centuries ago by ,hindoo sages1   
enthroning their supreme divinity in    
the everlasting1 impassive repose of the
 unconditioned1 far beyond  the reach of
 affection1 sympathy or prayer1 until   
the needy millions  cried out1 stifling1
 famishing1 ,give us a ,god to love1 to 
worship1  to pray to6 and1 for lack of  
answer1 betook them to the forest or    
the quarry or the mine1 to the carver   
and the smith1 and made them  gods that 
were no gods4 ,so little can argument   
and reason hold us  back in times when  
the stress of life comes down upon us1  
and the  cravings of the soul grow      
strong6    ,i am bringing to the altar  
of ,god my offering--my poor little     
offering of thankfulness and prayer4    
,here have ,i my little bundle  of      
anxieties1 cares1 troubles1--it may be  
the concerns of a nation  in fear and   
perplexity2 it may be the distress and  
terror of  some sorely afflicted little 

household2 it may be the secret of      
bitterness of some humble and contrite  
spirit2 in any case1 a matter  how      
infinitely small when measured by the   
scale of immensity and  eternity2 but   
oh1 how great a thing to me6 ,and there 
meets me1 in  the way1 a philosopher4   
,and what1 forsooth1 have you there8    
,show  it me1 now4 ,and ,i unroll before
 ,him my little bundle of griefs1  of   
cares1 of pains1 of sickness1 of fears1 
of forebodings1--here  a handful of     
myrrh from a troubled heart1 and there a
 sprig of  frankincense from a grateful 
spirit4 ,and this1 then1 is what you    
would bring to lay before the infinite1 
the eternal1 the omniscient1  the       
unchangeable ,god6 ,and each great title
 smites upon my heart  with             
discouragement and dismay4 ,this is what
 you would bring to  ,him in prayer and 
deprecation6 ,but do you not know that  
all this  is a part of a perfect        
system8--that it is all fixt by the laws
 of  nature1 which no prayer can change 

or suspend without upsetting the        
constitution of the universe4 ,you would
 lay before ,god your wretched  plight  
to move ,his pity8 ,tush6 ,did ,he not  
know it all a hundred  thousand ages    
ago1 or ever the earth was8 ,and ,i     
cannot gainsay ,him1  and ,i cannot     
cease to pray4 ,but by and by the       
philosopher himself  comes face to face 
with some of the overwhelming things in 
human  life and human death4 ,he hangs  
with tears and wringing of hands over   
some cradleful of childish anguish1 and 
shrinks from what the laws  of nature1  
the system of the universe1 are doing   
there--so pitiless1  so deaf to prayer1 
so blind to agony2 and he looks away1   
and looks  up1 and cries1 ,my ,god1 my  
,god6 ,and his reason is not one whit   
the less true1 because now1 at last1 his
 love and faith are also  true and      
strong4 ,the awful wonder of ,god's     
unchangeable infinity  abides2 but out  
of cloud and darkness breaks forth1 oh1 
what light  of fatherly love6 ,and the  

bewildered soul sings3--            ,and
 can this mighty ,king            ,of   
glory condescend8          ,and will ,he
 write ,his name            ,my ,father1
 and my ,friend8      ,i love ,his name6
 ,i love ,his word6      ,join all my   
powers and praise the ,lord6    ,and now
 behold a mystery--the mystery of       
godliness1 without  controversy great1  
manifest in the flesh6 ,that ,he may    
come over  these mountains of helpless  
separation1 that we may be helped to    
know1 to love1 to trust that which is   
far too vast for the reach  of our      
clinging affections to clasp1 what      
wonders of condescending  tenderness    
will not our ,father do6 ,there draweth 
near to us ,one  having the likeness of 
man1 but glorious with an unearthly     
glory1  as of the only-begotten of the  
,father1 full of grace and truth4 ,he   
stands beside us in our daily cares1 our
 household joys and griefs1  our        
business troubles and anxieties1 our    
national fears and sorrows4  ,he shares 

our temptations4 ,he is touched with the
 feeling of our  infirmities4 ,he       
carries our sorrows4 ,he bears our      
sickness4 ,he dies  our death4 ,how easy
 to love ,him1 to come near to ,him1 to 
trust ,him6  ,being lifted up1 how doth 
,he draw all men unto ,him6 ,and what   
mean  those wonderful words of ,his1    
telling of ,his intimacy1 ,his sonship1 
,his oneness with the invisible and     
eternal ,god8 ,could it be1  perhaps1   
that such an one might bring us nearer  
to the inaccessible  ,light--might help 
us to draw nigh as seeing ,him who is   
invisible8  ,oh1 ,master1 show us the   
,father and it sufficeth us6 ,and hear  
now  ,his gracious words3 ,he that      
believeth on me believeth on him that   
sent me4 ,he that hath seen me hath seen
 the ,father also4 ,thus the  high and  
lofty ,one1 who hath wonderfully entered
 into our narrow  understanding1 cometh 
also into our heart1 and draweth us to  
,his own  bosom with the chords of love1
 with the bands of a man4    ,,iii4     

,finally1 with a true spiritual         
intercourse and converse1 which  no man 
can define1 which is as the viewless    
wind that men know altho  they see it   
not1 and feel its quickening and        
refreshment1 altho they  cannot tell    
whence it cometh nor whither it goeth1  
,god entereth into  our spirits1 not to 
sojourn1 but to abide with us1 and we   
become  the temples of the ,holy ,ghost4
          ,,joseph ,,parker    ,a ,,word
 ,,to ,,the ,,weary                     
,,biographical ,,note      ,,joseph     
,,parker was born at ,hexham-on-,tyne1  
,england1 in #ahcj4 ,he  was a          
prodigious worker1 writer1 and preacher4
 ,his ,the ,people's  ,bible1 in        
twenty-eight large volumes1 a popular   
commentary on  the ,scriptures1 is his  
greatest work4 ,to a naturally energetic
  personality he added great originality
 and resourcefulness4 ,he  gave much    
time to the preparation of sermons1     
reading them aloud  as he wrote in order
 to test their effect upon the ear4 ,a  

strong  personal quality pervaded all   
his preaching4 ,if ,i have not seen ,him
  myself1 he said1 ,i cannot preach     
,him4 ,in lectures to students he  gave 
much valuable advice gathered from the  
storehouse of his own  varied           
experience4 ,he gave particular         
attention to the use of the  voice4 ,it 
is not enough1 he said1 that you be     
heard2 you must be  effective as well as
 audible2 you must lighten and thunder  
with the  voice2 it must rise and fall  
like a storm at times2 now a whisper1   
now a trumpet1 now the sound of many    
waters4 ,there is an orator's  voice1   
and there is a bellman's4 ,the          
auctioneer talks2 the orator  speaks4   
,dr4 ,parker's sermons are published in 
numerous volumes4 ,he  died in #aijb4   
,,joseph ,,parker    #ahcj-aijb    ,a   
,,word ,,to ,,the ,,weary#g      #g     
,from ,the ,people's ,bible1 by ,joseph 
,parker1 published by ,funk             
,wagnalls ,company4    ,the ,lord ,god  
hath given me the tongue of the learned1

 that ,i should  know how to speak a    
word in season to him that is           
weary4--,isaiah  #a41 #d4      ,the     
power of speaking to the weary is       
nothing less than a divine  gift4 ,as we
 see the divinity in our gifts shall we 
be careful of  them1 thankful for them3 
every gift seems to enshrine the giver1 
,god4 ,but how extraordinary that this  
power of speaking to the weary  should  
not be taught in the schools4 ,it is not
 within the ability  of man to teach    
other men how to speak to the           
weary-hearted1 the  wounded in spirit1  
the sore in the innermost feelings of   
the being4  ,but can we lay down        
directions about this and offer         
suggestions8  ,probably so1 but we do   
not touch the core of the matter4 ,there
 is an  infinite difference between the 
scholar and the genius4 ,the scholar  is
 made1 the genius is inspired4          
,information can be imparted1 but  the  
true sense1 the sense that feels and    
sees ,god1 is a gift direct  from       

heaven4    ,it is a common notion that  
anybody can sing4 ,why can you sing8    
,why1  because ,i have been taught4     
,that is your mistake4 ,you can sing    
mechanically1 exactly1 properly1 with   
right time1 right tune1 but  really and 
truly you can not sing4 ,here is a man  
with his music and  with the words2 he  
sings every note1 pronounces every word1
 goes  through his lesson1 finishes his 
task1 and nobody wants to hear him  any 
more4 ,another man takes up the same    
music1 the same words1 and  the same    
hearers exclaim1 ,oh1 that he would go  
on for ever6 ,how  is that8--the words  
exactly the same1 the notes             
identical--how8  ,soul1 fire1           
ever-burning1 never consuming1 making a 
bush like a  planet4 ,the great         
difficulty in all such cases is the     
difficulty  of transferring to paper a  
proper or adequate conception of the    
power of the men who thus sway the human
 heart4 ,there are some men  whose      
biographies simply belie them1 and yet  

every sentence in the  biography is true
 in the letter2 but the biography is    
little else  than a travesty and a      
caricature1 because the power was       
personal1  it was in the face1 in the   
voice1 in the presence1 in the gait1 in 
the touch--an incommunicable power2 the 
hem of the garment trembled  under it1  
but no biographer could catch it in his 
scholarly ink4    ,very few ministers   
can enter a sick chamber with any       
probability  of doing real and lasting  
good4 ,they can read the ,bible1 and    
they  can pray1 and yet1 when they have 
gone1 the room seems as if they  had    
never been there4 ,there is no sense of 
emptiness or desolation4  ,other men1   
probably not so much gifted in some     
other directions1  will enter the sick  
room1 and there will be a light upon the
 wall1  summer will gleam upon the      
windowpane1 and angels will rustle in   
the  air1 and it will be a scene of     
gladness and a vision of triumph4 ,how  
is that8 ,the ,lord ,god hath given me  

the tongue of the learned that  ,i might
 know how--how to speak a word in season
 to him that is  weary4 ,the ,lord ,god 
hath not only given me a word to say1   
but hath  given me learning to teach me 
how to speak it4 ,place the emphasis    
upon the how1 and then you develop all  
the mystery1 all the tender  music1 all 
the infinite capacity of manner4    ,we 
may say the right word in the wrong     
tone2 we may preach the  gospel as if it
 were a curse4 ,the common notion is    
that anybody can  go into the           
,sunday-school and teach the young4 ,we 
sometimes think  that it would be well  
if a great many persons left the        
,sunday-school  all over the world4     
,teach the young--would ,god ,i had that
 great  gift1 to break the bread for the
 children1 and to be able to lure  and  
captivate opening minds1 and to enter   
into the spirit of the  words--         
,delightful task6 to rear the tender    
thought1       ,to teach the young idea 
how to shoot4    ,it requires to be     

father and mother and sister and nurse  
and  genius to speak to the young4 ,they
 may hear you and not care for  you3    
they may understand your words1 and be  
repelled by your spirit4  ,you require  
the tongue of the learned to know how to
 speak1 and  that tongue of the learned 
is not to be had at school1 college1    
university--it is not included in any   
curriculum of learning--it is  a gift   
divine1 breathing an afflatus1 an       
inspiration--the direct  and distinct   
creation of ,god1 as is the star1 the   
sun4 ,the speaker1  then1 is ,jesus     
,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 the          
representative of the  ,father1 the     
incarnate ,deity--,he it is who is      
charged with the subtle  learning2 ,he  
it is whose lips tremble with the pathos
 of this  ineffable music4    ,tho the  
gift itself is divine1 we must remember 
that it is to be  exercised seasonably4 
,the text is1 that ,i should know how to
 speak  a word in season4 ,there is a   
time for everything4 ,it is not enough  

to speak the right word1 it must be     
spoken at the right moment4 ,who  can   
know when that is6 ,we can not be       
taught4 ,we must feel it1 see  it hours 
beyond3 nay1 must know when to be silent
 for the whole  twenty-four hours and to
 say1 ,to-morrow1 at such and such a    
time1  we will drop that sentence upon  
the listening ear4 ,the day after       
to-morrow1 he will probably be in       
circumstances to admit of this          
communication being delivered with      
sympathy and effect4 ,how few  persons  
know the right time--the right time in  
conversation4 ,some  people are never   
heard in conversation tho they are      
talking all  the time4 ,they talk so    
unseasonably1 they talk when other      
people  are talking2 they can not wait2 
they do not know how to come in  along  
the fine line of silence3 they do not   
understand the ,german  expression ,now 
an angel has passed1 and they do not    
quickly enough  follow in his wake4     
,consequently1 tho chattering much they 

are  saying nothing--tho their words be 
multitudinous1 the impression  they make
 is a blank4    ,i have a ripe seed in  
my hand4 ,as an agriculturist ,i am     
going to sow  it4 ,any laborer in the   
field can tell me that ,i should be     
acting  foolishly in sowing it just now4
 ,why8 ,it is out of season1 the man    
says4 ,there is a time for the doing of 
that action3 ,i will tell you  when the 
time returns--do it then1 and you may   
expect a profitable  result of your     
labor4    ,then ,i will change the      
character and be a nurse1 and ,i will   
attend  to my patient 7perhaps ,i will  
over attend to him--some patients  are  
killed by over nursing71 and ,i will    
give the patient this  medicine--it is  
the right medicine4 ,so it is1 but you  
are going  to give it at the wrong time1
 and if you give the medicine at the    
wrong time1 tho itself be right1 the    
hour being wrong you will bring         
suffering upon the patient1 and you     
yourself will be involved in  pains and 

penalties4 ,thus we touch that very     
subtle and sensitive  line in human     
life1 the line of refined               
discrimination4 ,you may  say ,i am sure
 ,i told him4 ,you are right--you did   
tell him and  he did not hear you4 ,you 
may reply1 ,i am perfectly confident ,i 
delivered the message1--,i preached the 
exact words of the gospel4  ,so you did1
 but you never got the hearing heart1   
your manner was so  unsympathetic1 so   
ungentle1 so cruel 7not meant to        
be--unconsciously  so71 that the man    
never understood it to be a gospel4 ,you
 spoilt the  music in the delivery1 in  
the giving of the message4 ,the ,lord   
,god  giveth the tongue of the learned1 
that he to whom it is given may  know   
how to speak--how to speak the right    
word--how to speak the  right word at   
the right point of time4 ,you want      
divine teaching in  all things1 in      
speech not least4    ,this is a curious 
word to find in the ,bible4 ,does the   
,bible care  about weary people8 ,we    

have next to no sympathy with them4 ,if 
a man  be weary1 we give him notice to  
quit3 if he ask us to what place  he can
 retire1 we tell him that it is his     
business not ours4 ,now  the tenderness 
of this ,book is one of the most        
telling1 convincing  arguments on behalf
 of its inspiration1 and its divine     
authority4  ,this ,book means to help   
us1 wants to help us1 it says1 ,i will  
try  to help you1 never hinder you3 ,i  
will wait for you1 ,i will soften  the  
wind into a whisper1 ,i will order the  
thunder to be silent1  ,i will quiet the
 raging sea2 ,i will wait upon you at   
home1 in  solitude1 at midnight1        
anywhere--fix the place1 the time1      
yourself1  and when your heart most     
needs me ,i will be most to your heart4 
,any book found in den1 in gutter1 that 
wants to do this1 should be  received   
with respect4 ,the purpose is good3 if  
it fail1 it fails in  a noble object4   
,everywhere in this ,book of ,god we    
find a supreme wish to help man4  ,when 

we most need help the words are sweeter 
than the honeycomb4  ,when other books  
are dumb1 this ,book speaks most        
sweetly4 ,it is  like a star1 it shines 
in the darkness1 it waits the going down
 of  the superficial sun of our         
transient prosperity1 and then it breaks
  upon us as the shadows thicken4 ,this 
is the real greatness of ,god3  he will 
not break the bruised reed4 ,because the
 reed is bruised1  therefore the rude   
man says he may break it4 ,his argument 
in brief  is this3 ,if the reed were    
strong1 ,i should not touch it1 but     
seeing that it is bruised what harm can 
there be in completing the  wound under 
which it is already suffering8 ,i will  
even snap it and  throw the sundered    
parts away4 ,that is the reasoning of   
the rude  man--that is the vulgar view  
of the case4 ,the idea of the healing   
is the idea of a creator4 ,he who       
creates also heals4 ,herein we see      
,god's estimate of human nature3 if ,he 
cared only for the great1 the  splendid1

 the magnificent1 the robust1 and the   
everlasting1 then  ,he would indeed be  
too like ourselves4 ,the greatness of   
,god and the  estimate which ,he places 
upon human nature are most seen in all  
these ministrations in reference to the 
weak and the weary and the  young and   
the feeble and the sad4 ,made originally
 in the image of  ,god1 man is dear to  
his ,maker1 tho ever so broken4 ,oh1    
poor prodigal  soul with the divinity   
nearly broken out of thee1 smashed1     
bleeding1  crushed1 all but in          
hell--while there is a shadow of thee   
outside  perdition1 ,he would heal thee 
and save thee4 ,thou art a ruin1 but  a 
grand one1--the majestic ruin of a      
majestic edifice1 for knowest  thou not 
that thou wast the temple of ,god8      
,when we are weary1 even in weariness1  
,god sees the possibility of  greatness 
that may yet take place and be developed
 and supervene in  immortality4 ,how do 
we talk8 ,thus3 ,the survival of the    
fittest4 ,it  is amazing with what      

patience and magnanimity and majestic   
disregard  of circumstances we allow    
people to die off4 ,when we hear that   
thousands have perished1 we write this  
epitaph on their white slate            
tombstones3 ,the survival of the fittest
 required the decay of the  weakest and 
the poorest4 ,we pick off the fruit     
which we think will  not come to        
perfection4 ,the gardener lays his      
finger and thumb upon  the tree1 and he 
says1 ,this will not come to much--he   
wrenches  the poor unpromising piece of 
fruit off the twig and throws it down   
as useless4 ,in our march we leave the  
sick and wounded behind4  ,that is the  
great little1 the majestic              
insignificant1 the human  contradiction4
 ,we go in for things that are fittest1 
strongest1  most promising1 healthy1    
self-complete1 and therein we think we  
are  wise4 ,god says1 ,not a lamb must  
be left out--bring it up3 not a  sick   
man must be omitted3 not a poor publican
 sobbing his ',god be  merciful to me a 

sinner' must be omitted from the great  
host4 ,bring  them all in1 sick1 weary1 
wounded1 feeble1 young1 illiterate1     
poor1  insignificant1 without name1     
fame1 station1 force--all in3 gather up 
the fragments that nothing be lost4 ,let
 us go to that ,shepherd--,he  will     
spare us and love us4 ,when our poor    
strength gives out1 ,he will  not set   
,his cruel heel upon us and kill us1 ,he
 will gather us in  ,his arms and make  
the whole flock stand still till ,he has
 saved the  weakest one4    ,did we but 
know the name for our pain we should    
call it ,sin4 ,what  do we need1 then1  
but ,christ the ,son of ,god1 the ,heart
 of ,god1 the  ,love of ,god8 ,he will  
in very deed give us rest4 ,he will not 
add to  the great weight which bows down
 our poor strength4 ,he will give us    
grace1 and in ,his power all our        
faintness shall be thought of no  more4 
,some of us know how dark it is when the
 full shadow of our sin  falls upon our 
life1 and how all the help of earth and 

time and man  does but mock the pain it 
can not reach4 ,let no man say that     
,christ  will not go so low down as to  
find one so base and vile as he4        
,christ is calling for thee2 ,i heard   
,his sweet voice lift itself up  in the 
wild wind and ask whither thou hadst    
fled1 that ,he might save  thee from    
death and bring thee home4 ,there is no 
wrath in ,his face  or voice1 no sword  
is swung by ,his hand as if in cruel    
joy1 saying1  ,now at last ,i have ,my  
chance with you4 ,his eyes gleam with   
love3  ,his voice melts in pity3 ,his   
words are gospels1 every one4 ,let ,him 
but see thee sad for sin1 full of grief 
because of the wrong thou  hast done1   
and ,he will raise thee out of the deep 
pit and set thy  feet upon the rock4    
,mc,k,e,n,z,i,e    ,,the ,,royal        
,,bounty          ,,biographical ,,note 
,,alexander ,,mckenzie was born at ,new 
,bedford1 ,mass41 in #ahcj1 and         
graduated from ,harvard in #ahei4 ,since
 #ahfg he has been pastor of  the ,first

 ,congregational ,church1 ,cambridge1   
,mass4 ,his voice is  rich1 full and    
sympathetic1 and his pulpit style that  
of one man  talking earnestly and       
directly to another1 there being no     
attempt  at oratorical effect4 ,he is   
to-day probably the most acceptable     
preacher at ,harvard1 and the leading   
,congregational minister in ,new        
,england4 ,the discourse reprinted here 
is from his volume ,a ,door  ,opened1   
and has been noted as one of the        
greatest sermons of the  century4       
,mc,k,e,n,z,i,e    ,,born ,,in #ahcj    
,,the ,,royal ,,bounty#h      #h        
,reprinted by permission of ,dr4        
,alexander ,mc,kenzie and the           
publishers1 ,houghton1 ,mifflin ,co4    
,and ,king ,solomon gave to the ,queen  
of ,sheba all her desire1  whatsoever   
she asked1 besides that which ,solomon  
gave her of his  royal bounty4 ,so she  
turned and went to her own land1 she and
 her  servants4--#a ,kings x41 #ac4     
,the ,queen of ,sheba came from the     

uttermost part of the earth to hear  the
 wisdom of ,solomon4 ,she was amazed at 
all that she had heard1  and delighted  
with all that she saw1 and confest that 
after the  generous rumors that had     
reached her in her distant home the half
  had not been told her4 ,she brought   
her present to him1 as was the  custom  
of the times2 and when she went away she
 asked a gift of  him1 and history says 
that the king gave her all that she     
desired2  and that1 having given her    
everything of which she had thought1  he
 added something more of his own        
thought4 ,he gave her this1 not  because
 she had desired it1 but because he had 
desired it2 not for  her heart's        
seeking1 but out of his heart's wishing 
to bestow4 ,this  is the simple record3 
,and ,king ,solomon gave to the ,queen  
of ,sheba  all her desire1 whatsoever   
she asked1 besides that which ,solomon  
gave her of his royal bounty4 ,these    
last words describe the added  gift1 and
 this was doubtless the best of all2    

that upon which she  would think with   
the greatest pleasure1 and of which she 
would speak  with the greatest pride4   
,the word royal is well chosen1 for we  
think of something which is great when  
we apply this term to it1 as  we speak  
of a royal deed1 royal magnificence1    
royal benevolence1  royal bounty4 ,we   
readily approve the action of the king1 
for it is  this excess of giving1 beyond
 that which is demanded of us1 which    
makes the real generosity4 ,we are in   
the habit ourselves1 so far  as we are  
generous at all1 of reaching beyond the 
real necessities  and requests of our   
friends1 and giving out of the largeness
 of  our hearts4 ,it is this excess     
which commands the high price4 ,it is   
the added1 extraordinary beauty of a    
painting which enhances its  worth4     
,some pictures are sold by the square   
yard1 and some by the  inch4 ,it is that
 which genius adds which is the royal   
bounty4 ,it  marks the difference       
between genius and talent4 ,to be what  

we must1  and to do what we must1 is    
narrow and uninteresting4 ,the man who  
is just1 and no more1 wins our praise   
for his integrity1 but not  our regard  
for his liberality4 ,there are some men 
who would on no  account have their     
measures in the slightest degree too    
small1 but  would be quite as careful   
not to have them too large4 ,there is no
  reason why justice should not be      
combined with charity1 and a strict     
regard for the legal demands which are  
made upon us with the excess  out of a  
free heart which will make our justice  
beautiful4 ,i saw in  a fine country    
town a tall1 graceful tree which cast   
its pleasant  shade upon the path1 and  
,i marked that men had fastened upon it 
an  iron frame which held a lamp that   
gave out its light upon the path4  ,the 
tree was not the less a tree that it    
added the light1 and the  lamp was not  
less a lamp because it belonged to the  
tree4 ,i came  afterward and found that 
the bark of the tree had grown up around

  the iron where it was fastened to it1 
till the frame and lamp were  fairly    
incorporated in the tree itself4 ,it is 
easy thus to enlarge  our life1 adding  
beauty to strength1 giving what our     
heart desires  to give to that which    
,sheba asks at our hands4 ,this thought 
is  strongly expressed by ,st4 ,paul1   
,scarcely for a righteous man1 the  man 
who does exactly what he ought to do1   
and nothing more1 will  one die4 ,yet   
peradventure1 for a good man1 who does  
all he ought  to do1 and adds something 
because he wants to do it1 some would   
even give their life4 ,this man appeals 
to our heart which is ready  to respond4
 ,the best things are indeed only to be 
given in this  way4 ,they can not be    
bought4 ,they can not be had for the    
asking2  such things as confidence1 and 
friendship1 and courtesy1 which no      
statute can demand1 but which the royal 
heart delights to give2 and  there is a 
like royalty which is able to receive   
and prize the gift4    ,this is ,god's  

way1 to whom all life is but the        
expression of his  heart4 ,we rejoice   
continually in his bountiful goodness4  
,what is the  need of flowers8 ,he could
 have made a strong and honest earth    
which  would take in the seed and give  
it out in harvest1 and thus we could    
live2 but when ,he had made the earth   
substantial1 useful as it is1  ,he added
 flowers1 because ,he wished to give    
them1 was delighted to  look upon them1 
and knew how happy we should be who saw 
them blossom  by the roadside4 ,there is
 no need of birds4 ,the world would go  
its  way1 the seasons would follow one  
another1 the sun would rise and  set1   
the forest trees would reach up toward  
the clouds1 without  them4 ,god made all
 this1 and then filled the quiet woods  
with forms  of beauty1 and changed      
silence into songs4 ,even heaven itself 
has  more than we should have looked for
 or asked for4 ,we might have  had a    
good delightful heaven1 without pain or 
sorrow or sighing1  without death1 and  

such a heaven we have4 ,but in the      
vision of the  ,apocalypse1 which only  
dimly sees the heavenly reality1 its    
streets  are covered with gold1 as it   
were transparent glass2 its gates are   
pearl1 and the strong walls1 which can  
not be moved1 glisten with  jewels4 ,so 
it might have been with the arrangement 
of this world4 ,we  might have had men  
to care for us1 women to nurture us1    
fathers to  work for us1 a society whose
 process might move on with industry and
  safety from year to year4 ,but ,god   
has added the richer delights of  love  
and sympathy1 of all that we name friend
 and friendship4 ,it is  in the same way
 that ,he frames ,his ordinances for us4
 ,we could have  had all days alike1 but
 when ,he had made six good days ,he    
added a  seventh which should be wearied
 by no work1 wherein the soul should  be
 at leisure to live with itself in      
quietness1 and worship ,god4 ,he  might 
have supplied all our wants in the      
course of nature1 bringing  ,his gifts  

to our door with regularity1 and we     
should have lived our  appointed time2  
but ,he does more than this4 ,he lets us
 thank ,him  when we take our daily     
bread1 and blesses the bread with the   
love  which gives it4 ,he even lets us  
tell ,him what we wish1 and to our      
wishes ,he gives patient heed4 ,he might
 have left us to conscience  and        
experience1 in the light of nature to   
frame our character and  our hope1 but  
to these ,he has added the thought of   
other men1 the  revelation of ,his      
wisdom by ,his saints1 the gift of ,his 
spirit to  our spirit1 to be in us a    
continual light4    ,there is a very    
good expression of ,god's way of dealing
 with us  in a line of the twenty-third 
,psalm1 ,my cup runneth over4 ,this     
seems unnecessary4 ,to have the cup     
full1 or a little less than full1  is   
enough for us1 and more convenient4 ,for
 us1 but not for ,god1  who delights in 
filling it2 and when we bid ,him stay   
,his hand1 ,he  keeps on pouring1 and   

the water flows1 till1 presently1 the   
cup is  overflowing1 but not because we 
thought to have it so1 but because  of  
,his great delight in giving2 until it  
would seem as if ,he could  not stop1 or
 content ,himself with that which ,he   
has already bestowed  upon us4 ,let this
 stand as a simple expression of ,his   
way with us4    ,when we come upon      
anything that all good men approve1 we  
may be very  certain that we have found 
something which ,god ,himself approves1 
and which is the method of ,his life4   
,we like1 among ourselves1 this         
principle of the cup that runneth over4 
,our liking for it we have  inherited   
from ,god4 ,we might expect1 therefore1 
that when the ,son of  ,god has ,his    
life in the world ,he will live by this 
rule1 which is of  heaven and of earth2 
and it is even so4 ,his first miracle   
would seem  unnecessary4 ,there have    
been people who blindly but honestly    
wished  that ,he had never wrought it4  
,why did ,he do it if there was no need 

of it1 if it were even possible that it 
should be wrested from its  meaning8 ,he
 had gone as a guest to a wedding1      
perhaps because the  bride was his      
friend1 and there came that grave       
calamity which would  mar the feast2 for
 presently it was whispered to ,him1    
,they have  no wine4 ,surely they could 
have a wedding without wine4 ,not that  
wedding4 ,not in the custom of that     
time4 ,he knew that the bride1  if she  
lived to be old1 would never recover    
from the shame of her  wedding-day1     
whose beauty was lost4 ,here was a      
necessity1 in love1  in kindness2 and   
that the cheeks of this girl might not  
redden with  shame1 ,he reddened the    
water into wine4    ,he was at          
,capernaum4 ,they brought to ,him a sick
 man with the palsy4  ,they broke up the
 roof1 and lowered him to the feet of   
,jesus1 who  knew well what they wanted4
 ,he passed over the little thing which 
they sought1 and1 governed by ,his own  
feeling1 not by theirs1 he  said1 ,son1 

be of good cheer2 thy sins are sent away
 from thee4  ,that was enough4 ,in a few
 days1 the man would be able to walk    
without ,his help4 ,death comes to the  
succor of cripples4 ,the man  gave no   
sign of discontent1 but ,jesus found    
that the friends were  unsatisfied1 and 
,he thought within ,himself1 ,you       
brought him here  that he might be      
raised up1 and be made able to carry his
 bed home4  ,i have done a greater thing
 for him1 but ,i will add this which    
you want4 ,arise1 ,he said1 take up your
 bed and go your way4  ,he did the      
greater work which made the soul strong1
 and for the  lesser work1--well1 ,he   
threw that in4 ,it was the royal bounty4
  ,there was a time later than that1    
after ,his resurrection1 when some  of  
,his disciples had toiled all the night 
upon the sea1 and had  taken nothing4   
,he could not have it a fruitless night 
for them4 ,in  the morning ,he was their
 risen ,savior1 who might well bestow   
some  spiritual gift becoming to the    

resurrection4 ,this ,he did1 but ,he    
said1 ,cast your net on the right side  
of the ship1 and you will  find what you
 have been seeking4 ,they cast it1      
therefore1 and drew  it in1 full of     
fishes1 a hundred and fifty and three4  
,this is the  record of a fisherman1 who
 wrote that the fish were large2 and of 
an  old man1 who remembered the number  
of them4 ,they drew their net to  shore1
 and there was a fire of coals1 and fish
 laid thereon1 another  fish4 ,when they
 had enough1 one that was better than   
all was added4  ,have you not sometimes 
wished that you could have had that     
hundred  and fifty-fourth fish8 ,this   
was ,christ's way all the while1 and is 
,his way still4 ,he fills the net as    
full as it will hold1 that our  life may
 be sustained1 and then ,he adds more1  
that ,his love may be  gratified1 and   
that which ,he adds is the royal bounty4
    ,the work of our ,lord was not      
merely in meeting the wants of men1 but 
in creating the wants2 not in gratifying

 their great desires1 but in  making    
their desires great4 ,his own work in   
the world was twofold3  to teach men how
 much more there was which they could   
enjoy1 and how  much more there was     
which ,he was eager to impart4 ,the     
greater the  desire1 the surer it was   
that it would be met by ,his desire4    
,indeed1  a large desire is necessary to
 wealth4 ,we must look out toward that  
wherein our riches lie4 ,he who would   
bring home the wealth of the  ,indies   
must send out the wealth of the ,indies4
 ,to him whose desires  are allowed     
liberty there comes the answer of       
fulfillment from the  unsearchable      
riches of ,christ4 ,in all ,his life and
 in all ,his  teachings we see vastly   
more than men ever asked1 much more than
  they are willing to take even to-day4 
,it has often been1 as it was  at the   
first1 that he came unto his own1 and   
his own received him  not2 but to those 
who received ,him ,he gave all they     
wished1 and  more than they had thought2

 ,he gave the right to become the sons  
of  ,god4 ,they would have been content 
with a greater prophet1 a bolder        
leader1 a stronger king1 a ,messiah who 
should enthrone ,israel and  bring the  
nations in homage to its feet4 ,he came 
bringing ,god to the  world1 giving an  
eternal liberty1 erecting an everlasting
 kingdom4  ,they wanted manna2 ,he gave 
the bread of life4 ,they wanted wells of
  water2 ,he gave the well that should  
be within them1 springing up  for       
evermore4 ,they wanted a leader2 ,he    
gave a ,savior4 ,they wanted  man2 and  
,he was ,god4 ,this has continued even  
to our time4 ,many  admire ,christ      
because ,he was a teacher1 neglecting   
that wherein ,he  was infinitely more   
than teacher4 ,they are glad of an      
example2 ,he  was that1 but1 far beyond 
it1 ,he was the life whereby            
righteousness  became possible4 ,there  
are those who would be content with ,his
  beautiful spirit1 ,his blameless life1
 ,his deeds of charity1 ,his  patience1 

,his submission1 ,his consent to a death
 which ,he could not  avoid4 ,he offers 
to the world the spirit of the ,eternal1
 the life of  ,god to be lived upon the 
earth2 ,he lays down the life which no  
man  could take from ,him2 and1 with all
 the roads leading from ,jerusalem  open
 before ,him1 walks with determined step
 to ,calvary and the  cross4 ,beyond    
that which has contented many in the    
world1 ,he gave  ,himself1 the world's  
,redeemer1 the ,lamb of ,god1 the ,good 
,shepherd  giving ,his life for the     
sheep4    ,it is very1 very sad to mark 
how ready we are to measure ,christ's   
gifts to us by our narrow wants and     
limited desires2 not by the  greatness  
of ,his love1 not by ,his exhaustless   
riches1 not by the  fulness of the grace
 of the ,eternal1 who is the ,father and
 friend of  all men4 ,if ever we shall  
pass beyond the gratifying of ourselves1
  and allow ,christ to gratify ,himself 
in blessing us1 we shall find  in a glad
 experience what the simple words mean1 

,i am come that  they might have        
life--oh1 friends1 do not stop there1   
finish the  sentence1--,i am come that  
they might have life1 and that they     
might  have it more abundantly4 ,we ask 
life of ,him1 and ,he gives us life1    
and offers length of days forever and   
forever4 ,we pray that we may  live2 and
 we set up a goal at seventy or ninety  
years1 when ,he draws  no line across   
our path4 ,i give eternal life1 ,he     
says4 ,we pray for  help that we may    
live2 ,he offers more than that in the  
unrivaled  sentence1 ,because ,i live1  
ye shall live also4 ,we think of life as
  being1 and are content4 ,we use       
existence as a synonym of living1 but   
,he said1 ,this is eternal life1 to know
 ,god1 and me4    ,so for ourselves2 we 
are to live as ,his disciples4 ,we wish 
to be  true1 useful1 and generous4 ,we  
wish to do in small measure such  things
 as ,he did1--in ,his name to give the  
cup of water1 and the  healing of the   
sick4 ,he grants all that we desire1    

then speaks out  of ,his own heart1 and 
,his desire1 ,the works that ,i do shall
 ye do1  and greater works than these2  
for the miracles which attract us or    
baffle us1 which draw us to ,his love1  
or possibly turn us from ,his  word1    
which are only miracles because they are
 strange to us1 are to  be exceeded in  
the things which we do1 when by our     
teaching we open  the eyes of men that  
they may see ,god1 and lift them up to  
the ways  of holy living1 and raise them
 from being into life4 ,our visions of  
heaven in our reverent imagination1 even
 in the exultant words of  the          
,revelation1 are not equal to the simple
 truths which ,he taught1  and men      
learned to repeat after ,him4 ,for what 
are golden streets  and jeweled walls   
beside that which ,he meant1 ,in my     
,father's house  are many mansions4 ,i  
go to prepare a place for you4 ,ye shall
  behold my glory4 ,ye shall be loved as
 ,i am loved4 ,the thought of  ,christ  
far outruns the aspiration of the world1

 as it comes to us  from the lips of    
that disciple whom ,jesus loved1 ,we    
shall be like  him1 for we shall see him
 even as he is4    ,what do we need1    
then8 ,to enlarge our desires6 ,yes1 but
 to consent  to ,god's desires4 ,to wish
 for more1 but to consent to be blest as
  ,christ longs to bless us4 ,we must   
know the methods of ,god1 whose  will to
 give is greater and more constant than 
our will to receive4  ,we must adjust   
our life to ,god's desire4 ,faith is the
 compact of the  soul with ,god1 rather 
than with itself4 ,open thy mouth wide1 
and ,i  will fill it1 is a promise ever 
old and ever new4 ,we must be firm      
enough and aspiring enough to hold the  
cup after it has begun to  overflow1 and
 to let ,god's hand pour the water of   
life as long as ,he  will1 for this     
world and all the worlds that are to be4
 ,if we could  desire more1 if we could 
ascend to ,god's desire for us1 life    
would  be transfigured4        ,the     
balsam1 the wine1 of predestinate wills 

,is a jubilant longing and pining for   
,god4        ,god loves to be longed    
for1 ,he loves to be sought1       ,for 
,he sought us ,himself1 with such       
longing and love4    ,we wish now to    
take this method for our own in all our 
dealing  with ,god4 ,our sense of what  
is right1 the voice of conscience1 the  
commands of ,scripture1 call us to our  
duty4 ,let us do what they  require till
 conscience is satisfied2 but let us add
 to this more  than a rigid obedience   
asks for1 all that a loving heart1      
grateful  and generous1 wishes to       
bestow4 ,the little questions of life1  
small  matters of casuistry1 minute     
affairs of conduct1 would be quite      
readily determined if we would live by  
this rule1 wherewith ,god  blesses us4  
,that question which with unusual       
urgency now presses  upon us1 how we    
shall regard the ,sabbath day1 would not
 be difficult  if it were our delight to
 remember it1 and to keep it holy       
because  it is our delight to please    

,him who has given to us its sacredness 
and blessedness4 ,it is pitiful when we 
find ourselves questioning  how much of 
the day should be holy2 how much of it  
should be given  to the thought of ,god 
and the divine life2 how much of it we  
should  yield to the holy spirit of     
truth2 how many of the hours we should  
keep in the remembrance of ,him whose   
resurrection gives to the  ,sabbath its 
greater meaning4 ,we should keep the    
,sabbath holy as if  we desired to keep 
it holy4 ,all its hours should be       
sacred4 ,they  need not be less joyous1 
less friendly1 for being holy2 and we   
can  not be gratified with the spirit in
 which we find ourselves trying  to     
divide the time4 ,keep twenty-four hours
 for ,god1 and if by any  means you can 
make the time overflow add a            
twenty-fifth hour4    ,we question again
 about money4 ,what proportion of our   
property  should we devote to ,god8 ,the
 ,jews said one-tenth4 ,can we do no    
better1 after so long a time8 ,let us   

give the whole1 and if by any  means we 
can compass it1 let us add another      
tenth1 simply to show  what a delight it
 is to give all things to ,him1 and to  
let ,him make  the allotment in ,his    
care for us1 and for our household1 and 
for the  ,church1 and for the wide world
 that we are living in4 ,there are many 
who do this1 and they learn how true is 
that word of ,christ that is  called to 
mind among the ,acts of the ,apostles1  
,it is more blessed  to give than to    
receive4    ,thus1 in all things let us 
make the way of ,god our own1 become    
,his  children entirely1 receive the    
love of ,christ in its fulness1 make  up
 our own life in ,his name1 according to
 the largeness of ,his  thought4 ,if we 
will consent to it1 we can be great and 
rich and  strong4 ,it seems strange to  
say that we are not ready to be blest1  
but of many it is true4 ,they are not   
willing to be greatly blest1 to  have   
the cup run over4 ,they are willing to  
be useful1 but not very  useful4 ,they  

ask to be set in ,his service1 but when 
,he takes their  word and breathes ,his 
own desire into it1 they shrink back4   
,it is a  very serious thing1 if we are 
able to perceive it1 to consent that    
,god should bless us as ,he pleases1    
should have ,his own estimate of  our   
character1 ,his own measure of our      
powers1 ,his own vision of our          
accomplishment1 and should call us to   
greater service1 to diviner  employment1
 than we have ever dreamed of4 ,it was a
 wise woman who  said1 ,i have had to   
face my own prayers4 ,we face our       
prayers when  ,god gives ,his own wish  
to our words1 and makes them large      
enough  to hold ,his thoughts4 ,it is   
one of the hardest things to believe1   
but one to which1 in humbleness of mind 
and in a faith which will  not falter1  
we should consent1--that high word of   
calling and  consecration which ,christ 
gave more than once1--,as the ,father   
hath  sent me into the world1 even so   
send ,i you4 ,not our thought but ,his  

thought makes our calling1 and the      
thought of ,god is the summons and  the 
guidance of our life4 ,even so1 even    
according to ,thy greatness1  and ,thy  
gentleness which makes men great2 ,thine
 infinite purposes1  and ,thine eternal 
grace2 even so1 ,o ,lord of mercy and of
 truth1 send  us into the world6    ,as 
we close these thoughts1 let us remember
 that promise which comes  at the close 
of the ,old ,testament1 which almost    
seems to reverse  the promise at the    
beginning of the ,old ,testament1 ,i    
will never  open the windows of heaven  
and pour out a flood again2 for the last
  of the prophets brings to us the word 
of ,god1 that ,he will open  the windows
 of heaven1 and pour out a flood again4 
,it shall not  come to destroy1 but to  
preserve2 it shall create life2 it shall
  enlarge life1 but it shall be after   
the measure of ,his will1 not  ours4    
,bring ye all the tithes into the       
storehouse1 and prove me now  herewith1 
if ,i will not open the windows of      

heaven1 and pour out a  blessing that   
there shall not be room enough to       
receive it4 ,not  drops here and there1 
but showers of blessing4 ,not running   
brooks1  but broad rivers4 ,not pools of
 water1 but a shoreless sea2 deep1  deep
 waters1 when1 looking up into the      
infinite ,love1 and consenting  to be   
blest of ,god as ,god would bless us1 we
 bring all the tithes  into the         
storehouse and the remainder of the     
tithes1 if any have  been left4 ,i will 
pour you out a blessing1 that there     
shall not be  room enough to receive it4
 ,not room enough to receive it2 that is
  the royal bounty4          ,,farrar   
,,work ,,in ,,the ,,groaning ,,creation 
,,biographical ,,note      ,,frederick  
,,william ,,farrar was born in ,bombay1 
,india1 in #ahca4 ,he  was educated at  
,king's ,college1 ,london1 and at       
,trinity ,college1  ,cambridge4 ,he     
became dean of ,canterbury in #ahie1 and
 died in #aijc4  ,his ,life of ,christ1 
the most widely read of his many        

religious  works1 has been translated   
into many languages--even into          
,japanese4  ,the following illustrates  
his power of emphasis4    ,there1 amid  
those voluptuous splendors1 ,pilate1    
already interested1  already feeling in 
this prisoner before him some nobleness 
which  touched his ,roman nature1 asking
 ,him in pitying wonder1 ',art thou  the
 ,king of the ,jews8'--,thou poor1 worn1
 tear-stained outcast1 in  this hour of 
,thy bitter need--,o pale1 lonely1      
friendless1 wasted  man1 in ,thy poor   
peasant garments1 with ,thy tied hands  
and the  foul traces of the insults of  
,thine enemies on ,thy face and on  ,thy
 robes--,thou1 so unlike the fierce1    
magnificent ,herod1 whom  this multitude
 which thirsts for ,thy blood           
acknowledged as their  sovereign--art   
,thou the ,king of the ,jews8           
,,farrar    #ahca-aijc    ,,work ,,in   
,,the ,,groaning ,,creation#i      #i   
,reprinted by permission of ,messrs4 ,e4
 ,p4 ,dutton  ,co4    ,and ,god saw     

everything that he had made1 and behold 
it was very  good4--,gen4 i41 #ca4      
,for we know that the whole creation    
groaneth and travaileth in pain         
together until now4--,rom4 viii41 #bb4  
,and there shall be no more             
curse4--,rev4 xxii41 #c4      ,in those 
three texts you have the past1 the      
present1 the future of  our earth2 what 
was1 what is1 what shall be2 the        
perfectness which  man has marred1 the  
punishment which he is enduring1 the    
hope to  which he looks4 ,what share we 
may have in the marring or the mending  
of this our transitory dwelling1 that is
 our main subject to-day4    ,we see    
some glimpses at least of the truth that
 actively by  sympathy1 by              
thoughtfulness1 by charity1 by          
unselfishness1 by loving  one           
another2--that even passively by        
abstaining from the fashionable  and    
universal vice of biting and devouring  
one another2--we see  that by honesty1  
by self-reverence1 by reverence for     

others1 by  obeying the golden rule of  
doing unto others as we would they      
should do unto us1 we may do very much  
to limit the realm of  sorrow1 and to   
substitute a golden for an iron scepter 
in its sway  over human hearts4 ,we see1
 too1 that our own inevitable trials and
  humiliations1--all the neglect1 all   
the insult1 all the weariness1  all the 
disappointment1 all the ingratitude1    
which may befall  us1--can be better    
borne if we be cheerful and active in   
doing good4  ,labor for ,god is the best
 cure for sorrow1 and the best          
occupation  of life4    ,can we to-day  
push the inquiry yet further1 and learn 
whether it is  in our power in any way  
to mend the flaw which runs for us      
through  the material world2 or in any  
way to diminish for ourselves and for   
mankind the pressure of that vast weight
 of laws which exercises  over us1      
undoubtedly1 a sway of awful potency8   
,the whole creation  groaneth and       
travaileth in pain together until now2  

can we--not by  any strength of ours1   
but because ,god permits and desires it1
 can we  do anything to hasten that     
blest hour for which we wait--the hour  
of the new creation2 of the adoption1 to
 wit1 the redemption of our  body2 of   
the restitution of all things2 of the   
palingenesia of the  world8    ,i think 
we can4 ,i know that the supposed       
helplessness of man is  a favorite topic
 of modern materialism1 which makes of  
man the  irresponsible tool of forces   
which he can not resist1 the sport  and 
prey of dumb powers which are alike     
inexorable and passionless4  ,this      
philosophy--if we may call it a         
philosophy--laughs to scorn the  notion 
of a miracle1 and makes virtue and vice 
not the conscious  choice of free       
beings1 but the inevitable result of    
material causes  and hereditary         
impulses1 of which in all but semblance1
 we are the  mere automata and slaves4  
,my brethren1 into all these            
speculations  of a baseless atheism1 ,i 

need not enter4 ,to us1 nature means    
nothing  but the sum total of phenomena 
which ,god has created2 and since in    
the idea of nature is included the idea 
of ,god1 a miracle becomes as  natural  
and as easily conceivable as the most   
ordinary occurrence4  ,and we know that 
we are free1 that ,god does not mock us1
 that we  can abhor that which is evil1 
and cleave to that which is good4 ,the  
laws of nature are nothing1 then1 for us
 but observed sequences1 and  we do not 
admit that there is anything fearful in 
their uniformity4  ,it is true that     
nature drives her plowshare straight    
onwards1 and  heeds not what may be     
lying in the furrow2 it is true that    
therefore  she shows an apparent        
indifference to human agony2 it is true 
that  if the fairest and sweetest child 
which earth ever saw be left at  play in
 the face of the advancing tide1 the    
tide will still advance  and drown the  
little life2 it is true that the fire in
 its ruthless  vividness will roll over 

the loveliest maiden whose rich dress   
should catch its flame4 ,it is a law    
that resistance must be equal  to force1
 and that if there be a certain amount  
of pressure of  vibration1 whatever     
comes of it1 a structure will give way1 
even  though1 alas1 it hurl nearly a    
hundred human beings1 with one flash  of
 horror1 into the gulf of death4 ,but is
 this any reason for a  fierce          
arraignment of nature1 as tho she were  
execrably ruthless1  and execrably      
indifferent8 ,not so1 my brethren4      
,death whenever it  comes is but death4 
,none of us has any promise of this or  
that  amount of life4 ,it needs no      
railway accident1 no sinking ship1 or   
breaking ice1 or burning town1 or flame 
from heaven1 or arrow in the  darkness1 
or smiting of the sun by day1 or the    
moon by night1 to  cut short our days4  
,an invisible sporule in the air may do 
it1 or a  lesion no bigger than a pin's 
point4        ,he ate1 drank1 laughed1  
loved1 lived1 and liked life well2      

,then came--who knows8--some gust of    
jungle wind1       ,a stumble on the    
path2 a taint i' the tank2       ,a     
snake's nip2 half a span of angry steel2
       ,a chill2 a fishbone2 or a       
falling tile1--       ,and life is over1
 and the man is dead4    ,but is this   
any reason why we should look on        
ourselves as victims  of dead           
irresponsible forces8 ,why so8 ,death is
 but death1 and if we  live faithfully1 
death is our richest birthright4 ,were  
you ready to  die that you jumped into  
the stormy sea to save that child's     
life8  said a gentleman to an ,english  
sailor4 ,should ,i have been better     
prepared1 sir1 the sailor answered1 if  
,i had shirked my duty8 ,a  sudden death
 is often1 and in many respects1 the    
most merciful form  of death2 and the   
apparently terrible death of a few may  
save the  lives of many hundreds4 ,the  
uniformity of nature may sometimes wear 
the aspect of passionless cruelty2 but  
as we learn more and more to  observe   

and to obey her laws1 we find more and  
more that they work  for countless ends 
of beneficence and beauty1 that out of  
seeming  evil she works real good1 out  
of transient evil enduring good4 ,the   
fires which rend the earthquake and     
burst from the volcano1 are the         
quickening forces of the world2 her     
storms lash the lazy atmosphere  which  
otherwise would stagnate into           
pestilence1 and it is for man's         
blessing1 not for his destruction1 that 
her waters roll and her  great winds    
blow4    ,but are we1 after all1 so very
 helpless before the aggregate of  these
 mighty forces1 as materialism loves to 
represent8 ,not so6  ,thou madest him to
 have dominion over the works of thy    
hands1 said  the ,psalmist1 ,thou hast  
put all things under his feet4          
,replenish  the earth1 and subdue1 and  
have dominion1 said the first utterance 
of ,god to man4 ,and what is this but an
 equivalent of the latest  utterances of
 science1 that the order of nature is   

ascertainable  by our faculties to an   
extent which is practically unlimited1  
and  that our volition counts for       
something in the course of events8  ,man
 has done much to make the world in all 
senses a worse place for  himself1 but  
he has also1 thank ,god1 done much to   
make it better1  and he may1 to an      
almost unspeakable extent1 remedy for   
himself and  for his race the throes and
 agonies of the groaning universe4 ,god 
meant ,his earth to be a more blest     
place for us than it is1 and in  every  
instance men have made it more blest    
when they have read the  open secrets1  
by virtue of which1 for our excitement1 
if not for our  reward1 herbs have their
 healing1 stones their preciousness1 and
  stars their times4 ,ancient nations   
have shuddered at the awfulness  of the 
sea4 ,it drowns ship and sailor2 but    
trim your sail1 and the  same wave which
 drowns the bark is cleft by it1 and    
bears it along  like its own foam1 a    
plume and a power4 ,the lightning       

shatters  tower and temple2 but once    
learn that it is nothing but the        
luminous  all-pervading fluid which you 
may evolve by rubbing a piece of  amber1
 and brush out of a child's fair hair1  
and then with no more  potent instrument
 than a boy's kite you may dash harmless
 to the  earth the all-shattering brand 
which was the terror of antiquity2  nay1
 you may seize it by its wing of fire1  
and bid it carry your  messages around  
the girdled globe4 ,zymotic diseases    
smite down the  aged and young1 but1    
when you have learnt that they are      
caused by  myriads of invisible germs   
which float in the water or the air1 you
  have but to observe the commonest     
rules of sanitary science1 to  filter   
and boil the dangerous water1 to insure 
free currents of air1  to breathe as    
nature meant you to breathe1 through the
 nostrils1 and  not through the throat1 
and you rob them of half their          
deadliness4  ,why has smallpox been     
stayed in its loathly ravages1 and      

deprived  of its hideous power8 ,why    
does the ,black ,death rage no longer1  
as it raged among the monks of this     
,abbey four centuries ago8  ,why do we  
not have pestilence1 like that great    
plague of ,london1  which destroyed     
#g1afe persons in a single week8 ,why   
has jail fever  disappeared8 ,why are   
the cities of ,europe horrified no      
longer by the  hideousness of medieval  
leprosy8 ,because men live amid cleaner 
and  purer surroundings4 ,because rushes
 are no longer strewn over floors  which
 had been suffered to be saturated with 
the organic refuse of  years4 ,because  
the simplest laws of nature are better  
understood4  ,because1 in these         
respects1 men have remedied by ,god's   
aid1 some of  those miseries for which  
the ,savior sighed4    ,and this        
amelioration of man's miseries is a     
great1 and noble1 and  ,christlike work4
 ,would that there were no other side to
 the picture6  ,man1 alas6 also has     
done1 and may do1 infinite mischief to  

the  world he lives in4 ,he may cut down
 the forests on the hills1 and  so      
diminish the necessary rain4 ,he may    
pluck up the grasses on the  shore1 and 
so lay waste whole acres to the         
devastating sands4 ,he may  poison the  
sweet1 pure rivers of his native soil1  
till their crystal  freshness is        
corrupted into deathful and putrescent  
slime4 ,he may  herd together1 as we    
suffer our poor to do1 in filthy        
tenements  which shall breed every      
species of disease and vice4 ,he may    
indulge  or acquiesce in senseless      
fashions and pernicious vanities which  
shall mean not only wasteful ugliness   
and grotesque extravagance1  but leave  
shattered health and ruined lives1 to   
the mothers of his  race4 ,he may in    
greed of competition extirpate the game 
of the  forest1 the fishes of the sea4  
,he may destroy the exquisite balance   
of nature1 by shooting down or          
entrapping the sweet birds of the  air1 
till his vines and his harvests are     

devastated by the insects  on which they
 feed4 ,he may suffer the chimneys of   
his manufactories  to poison the        
atmosphere with black smoke and         
sulphurous acid1 till  his proudest     
cities are stifled at noonday1 as we all
 have seen in  ,london for these many   
weeks1 with the unclean mirk of midnight
 fogs4  ,he may suffer noxious gases to 
be vomited upon the breeze1 till  the   
most glorious buildings in his cities   
corrode and crumble--as  the stones of  
this ,abbey are doing--under their      
influence1--till  the green woods       
blacken into leafless wastes1 and life  
is lived  at miserable levels of        
vitality under the filthy reek4 ,there  
is  hardly any limit to the evil1 no    
less than to the good1 which man  may do
 to this his earthly environment4 ,nor  
is it less deplorable  that he may go   
out of his way to do endless mischief to
 himself by  his misuse or abuse of the 
properties of things4 ,from the dried   
capsules of the white poppy he extracts 

opium1 and he grows acres of  poppies   
that with thousands of chests of that   
opium he may degrade  into decrepitude  
and wretchedness the most populous      
nations upon  earth4 ,nature gives him  
the purple grape and the golden grain1  
and he mashes them and lets them rot and
 seethe1 and assists1 and  superintends1
 and retards their decomposition1 till  
he has educed  from them a fermented    
intoxicating liquor2 and not content    
with  this luxury1 he pours it into     
,circean cups of degrading excess2  not 
content with even fermentation1 he      
further1 by distillation1  extracts a   
transparent1 mobile1 colorless fluid1   
which is the  distinctive element in    
ardent spirits1 and these1 whatever may 
be their legitimate use in manufacture  
or in medicine1 he has so  horribly     
abused that they have become to mankind1
 the spiritus  ardentes indeed1 but not 
of heaven--fiery spirits of the abyss1  
which have decimated nations1 ruined    
continents1 shortened millions  of      

lives1 and turned for millions of ,god's
 children1 and millions  of ,christ's   
little ones1 life into an anguish1 and  
earth into a  hell4 ,do not say we can  
do nothing to soften for man the deadly 
agencies which are working in the       
world1--for all this mischief1 and      
incalculably more than this1 is man's   
own doing4    ,but let me ask you to    
glance for a moment at one of the       
beneficent  secrets which nature has    
yielded up to man4 ,have you ever       
realized1  with heartfelt gratitude to  
,god1 the priceless boon which ,he has  
granted to this generation in the       
diminution of pain8 ,one of our  best   
surgeons has just told us the strange   
yet simple story of this  discovery1    
from the first dim intimation of the    
possibility in  #aghi1 till in #ahdf it 
might almost be said that in ,europe we 
could  name the month1 before which all 
operative surgery was agonizing1  and   
after which it was painless4 ,but what  
an immense1 what an  enormous boon is   

this application of anodynes6 ,past all 
counting  is the sum of happiness       
enjoyed by the millions who have1 in the
  last thirty-three years1 escaped the  
pain that was inevitable in  surgical   
operations2 pain made more terrible by  
apprehension2  more keen by close       
attention2 sometimes awful in a swift   
agony2  sometimes prolonged beyond even 
the most patient endurance1 and then    
renewed in memory1 and terrible in      
dreams4 ,this will never be felt  again4
 ,and besides this abolition of pain1 it
 would take long to  tell how chloroform
 and ether have enlarged the field of   
useful  surgery1 making many things easy
 which were difficult1 many safe  which 
were perilous1 many practical which were
 nearly impossible4  ,but another lesson
 this eminent man of science draws1     
which bears  directly on our subject1 is
 that while we are profanely decrying   
nature1 discoveries the most blest1     
boons the most priceless1 may  lie close
 to us and yet ,god leave us to discover

 them2 and that we  may endure many     
needless miseries1 falsely accusing     
nature and even  ,god1 only because we  
have neither hope enough to excite      
intense  desire1 nor desire enough to   
encourage hope4 ,we wonder that for     
forty years the discovery of anesthetics
 was not pursued1 tho1 after  the       
pregnant hint of ,sir ,h4 ,davy1 it lay 
but half hidden under  so thin a veil4  
,our successors will wonder at us1 as we
 at those  before us1 that we were as   
blind to who can tell how many great    
truths1 which1 they will say1 were all  
around us1 within reach of  any clear   
and earnest mind4 ,they will wonder at  
the quietude with  which we stupidly    
acquiesce in1 or immorally defend1 the  
causes  which perpetuate and intensify  
our habitual miseries4 ,our fathers     
needlessly put up with these miseries as
 we now put up with typhoid  fever and  
sea-sickness2 with local floods and     
droughts2 with waste  of health and     
wealth in pollutions of rivers2 with    

hideous noises1  and foul smells2 with  
the curse of alcoholic poisoning1 and   
many  other miseries4 ,our successors1  
when they have remedied or prevented    
these1 will look back on them with      
horror1 and on us with wonder  and      
contempt1 for what they will call our   
idleness or blindness1 or  indifference 
to suffering4 ,alas6 in the physical as 
in the moral  world1 we murmur at the   
evils which surround us1 and we do not  
remove them4 ,we multiply those evils1  
and make life wretched1 and  then curse 
nature because it is wretched1 and      
neglect or fling away  the precious     
gifts and easy remedies which would make
 it blest4 ,and  is it not so in the    
spiritual world8 ,nine-tenths of our    
miseries  are due to our sins4 ,yet the 
remedy of our sins is close at hand4    
,we have a ,savior2 we have been        
commemorating ,his birth1 but we live   
and act as tho ,he were dead2 in our own
 lives and those of others we  suffer   
those miseries to run riot which ,he    

came to cure2 we talk and  live as tho  
those remedies were undiscoverable1     
while from day to  day ,his ,word is    
very nigh us1 even in our mouths and in 
our hearts6    ,for one sermon you hear 
about work for the secular amelioration 
of  the suffering world for which       
,christ sighed1 you may 7,i suppose7    
hear fifty on passing ecclesiastical    
controversies and five thousand  about  
individual efforts for personal         
salvation4 ,and yet one pure1           
self-sacrificing deed1 one word of      
generosity to an opponent1 one  kindly  
act to aid another1 may have been better
 for you in ,god's  sight and far harder
 for you to do1 than to attend in the   
year  the #gcj daily services which this
 ,abbey provides4 ,yes1 ,i am glad  that
 ,i have preached to you to-day the duty
 of what some would call  secular       
work--as tho secular work were not often
 the most profoundly  religious         
work6--for the amelioration of the      
world4 ,and ,i say1 it  were better for 

you to have made but two blades of grass
 grow where  one grew before1 than if1  
with the hollow1 hateful1 slanderous    
heart  of some false prophets of modern 
religionism1 you were every morning  to 
do whatever modern thing may be         
analogous to binding your fringes  with 
blue1 and broadening your               
phylacteries1--to making the hilltops   
blaze with your sacrificial fires1      
building here seven altars1 and         
offering a bullock and a ram on every   
altar4 ,and so1 my brethren1  let us    
leave this ,abbey to-day with           
conceptions of duty larger and  more    
hopeful2 with more yearning both after  
the sympathy of ,christ  and after ,his 
activity2 with more faith to see that   
the world would  not be so utter a ruin 
but for our perversity2 with more hope  
to be  convinced that even we can help  
to redeem its disorders1 and restore    
its pristine perfectness4 ,let us obey  
the command1 ,ephphatha1 ,be  opened6   
,let us lift up our eyes to see that1   

tho the air around us  is colorless1 the
 far-off heaven is blue4 ,let us see and
 be thankful  for the beauty of the     
world1 the sweet air1 the sunshine1 the 
sea1  the splendid ornaments of heaven1 
the ever-recurring circles of  the      
divine beneficence4 ,let us learn the   
secrets of the mighty  laws which only  
crush us when we disobey them1 and which
 teach  us1 with divine inflexibility1  
that as we sow we reap4 ,let us not     
hinder the students of science in their 
patient toil and marvelous  discovery by
 the crude infallibilities of our       
ignorant dogmatism4  ,let us            
believe--for we were saved in hope--that
 ,utopia itself  is but another word for
 time2 and that1 if our own work seems  
but infinitesimal1 yet there are mites  
in science1 as well as in  charity1 and 
the ultimate results of each are alike  
important and  beneficial4 ,and so the  
more we share in the sigh and in the    
toil of  the ,savior1 the more shall we 
share in ,his redeeming gladness4       

,dr4 ,burrell always sounds a bugle-call
 to high emprise4 ,this       one will  
stir whatever of knighthood is active or
 latent in the       heart of the young 
man who reads it4--,,john ,,bancroft    
,,devins1       ,editor ,new ,york      
,observer4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,,the ,,lure    
,,of ,,the ,,city    ,by ,,david ,,james
 ,,burrell1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4    ,pastor 
of the ,marble ,collegiate ,church1 ,new
 ,york ,city    ,addrest to the youth   
whose lot is cast in the city or whose  
heart  is turned that way2 who knows    
himself a man1 and with eyes aloft1     
means to make himself a better one2 who 
plans a full equipment1 that  he may win
 splendidly4--,from the ,preface4       
,i have seldom had more pleasure than ,i
 have found in reading       ,dr4       
,burrell's strong and suggestive book4  
,it is a book for the       present hour
 and the present age4 ,in a style       
singularly lucid       and wonderfully  
attractive1 ,dr4 ,burrell sets forth the

 dangers       of the city on the one   
hand and its advantages on the other4   
,each of the twenty-two chapters might  
stand by itself as a word       of      
cheer1 a bugle-call or a warning4 ,the  
epithet most suitable       to the book1
 as a whole1 is 'sane4' ,nothing is     
overstrained4       ,everything is      
practical1 and the book is thoroughly   
manly1       and is infused throughout  
with the author's vigorous and          
winning personality4 ,it is emphatically
 a book for the young                   
man4--,,margaret ,e4 ,,sangster1 ,editor
 of the ,st4 ,nicholas       ,magazine1 
,new ,york4    #abmo1 ,cloth4 #a4jj1    
net2 by mail1 #a4jh      ,,funk         
,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,pubs4    ,,new   
,,york ,,and ,,london          ,a       
,,junior ,,congregation    ,a           
,,children',s ,,sermon ,,appropriate    
,,to ,,every ,,sunday ,,of ,,the ,,year1
  ,,together ,,with ,,hints ,,for       
,,forming ,a ,,junior ,,congregation    
,by ,,james ,m4 ,,farrar1 ,d4,d4        

,pastor of the ,first ,reformed ,church1
 ,brooklyn1 and ,minister of the  ,first
 ,organized ,junior ,congregation       
,the church-going men and women of      
to-day were the church-going  children  
of their youth4 ,but theirs1 most       
likely1 was a compulsory  attendance4   
,this1 however1 is the ,children's ,age4
 ,more time1 more  thought1 more energy 
are1 in this generation1 given to the   
study1  development1 and discipline of  
children than has ever been attempted   
in any past century4 ,the ,children's   
,church is being organized in           
congregations where the children's      
welfare and the church's future  are    
close at heart4 ,children in such a     
church love to attend1 for  theirs is ,a
 ,junior ,congregation worshiping with  
the regular  congregation1 thus forming 
habits of church-going in their best    
habit-forming years1 and acquiring a    
familiarity with the church's  services 
and ordinances that will help them grow 
into sturdy church  workers4    #abmo1  

,cloth4 #a4bj1 net2 by mail1 #a4bh      
,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,pubs4    
,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london             
,rev4 ,t4 ,de ,witt ,talmage1 ,d4,d43 ,i
 heartily commend his book4 ,he  has    
rendered invaluable service4            
,,of ,,the ,,voice    ,,perfection      
,,gesture                      ,,bearing
    ,,the ,,drill-,,book ,,of ,,vocal   
,,culture    ,by ,prof4 ,,edward ,p4    
,,thwing4    ,a ,comprehensive ,study of
 the ,fundamental ,constituents of      
,effective1  ,graceful ,speaking4       
,heartily ,commended by the ,highest    
,authorities4    ,illustration3         
decoration    ,,outline ,,of ,,contents4
    ,what ,elocution ,really            
,is--,outline of ,preparatory ,physical 
,training  by ,respiratory ,exercises   
and ,gymnastics--,the ,production of    
,tone--,cultivating the ,articulation   
,along the ,lines of ,pitch1 ,melody1   
and ,force--,rate of                    
,movement--,personation or              
,picturing--,gesture and                

,extemporaneous ,speech--,facial        
,expression4    ,prof4 ,j4 ,w4          
,churchill1 ,andover3 ,it is an         
invaluable treatise4    ,the            
,independent1 ,new ,york3 ,compact and  
inexpensive1 but it omits  nothing      
essential4    #afmo1 #aaa pp41          
,illustrated1 ,paper ,covers1 #be cents4
 ,post-free4      ,,funk  ,,wagnalls    
,,company1 ,publishers1    ,,new ,,york 
and ,,london          ,profit and ,loss 
in ,man    ,by ,,alphonso ,a4 ,,hopkins1
 ,ph4,d4      ,the ,new ,gospel of      
,patriotic1 ,economic1 and ,political   
,common ,sense on  the ,temperance      
,question4 ,the most up-to-date and     
powerful plea for  ,prohibition upon    
purely economic grounds that has been   
written in  years4 ,it is calm and      
dispassionate1 and discusses the problem
 from  the cold matter-of-fact standard 
of dollars and cents4      ,,contents   
,i4 ,the ,cost of a ,boy4               
,,viii4 ,moral ,facts and ,political    
,factors4     ,,ii4 ,boy and ,bar4      

,,ix4 ,dictionary ,politics4    ,,iii4  
,manhood and ,law4               ,x4 ,a 
,curse1 a ,crime1 and the ,cure4        
,,iv4 ,labor1 ,liquor1 and ,law4        
,,xi4 ,publicans and ,republicans4      
,v4 ,christian ,loyalty4                
,,xii4 ,democrats and ,drink4     ,,vi4 
,barabbas4                   ,,xiii4    
,methods of ,settlement4    ,,vii4      
,moral and ,political ,force4           
,the unique idea of placing temperance  
on a commercial basis1       of         
considering the difference between the  
actual cash value       of a man who    
drinks and the man who abstains1 is     
intensely       interesting and         
profitable4 ,prof4 ,hopkins claims that 
each young       man twenty-one years of
 age represents a cost to society of two
       thousand dollars 7#b1jjj74 ,will 
he pay--will he 'make good'--on         
the investment if he becomes a drinker8 
,that's the question6 ,in       the     
,united ,states are one and a half      
millions of drunkards--a                

stupendous loss of an investment        
aggregating over five billions       of 
dollars 7#e1jjj1jjj1jjj74--;,cumberland 
,presbyterian1       ,nashville1 ,tenn4 
#abmo1 ,cloth1 #cgf pp4 #a4bj1 net2 by  
mail1 #a4cb      ,,funk  ,,wagnalls     
,,company1 ,pubs4    ,,new ,,york ,,and 
,,london          ,a ,,working ,,grammar
    ,,of ,,the ,,english ,,language     
,by ,,james ,c4 ,,fernald1 ,l4,h4,d4    
,editor of the ,students' ,standard     
,dictionary4 ,author of       ,english  
,synonyms1 ,antonyms1 and ,prepositions1
 ,connectives of       ,english ,speech1
 ,etc41 ,etc4      ,in this book ,dr4   
,fernald has covered the field of       
,english grammar  in an immensely       
practical and entirely new and popular  
manner4  ,recognizing the large number  
of persons who have not the time to     
study ponderous definitions and         
arguments1 he has prepared what is1  in 
every sense1 a very concise and useful  
working grammar4 ,herein  the business  
man1 stenographer1 clerk1 lawyer1       

physician1 clergyman1  teacher--everyone
 who would refresh and enrich his       
knowledge  of ,english--will find1 in   
simple statement1 a clear and lucid     
explanation of the principles of        
,english grammar4 ,all that makes  the  
study of grammar a mystery is           
eliminated1 and the whole book is       
constructed so as to enable any         
intelligent person to find his own  way1
 by its teachings1 to a correct working 
knowledge of ,english4    ,price1 #a4ej1
 net2 post-paid1 #a4fd      ,,funk      
,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,pubs4    ,,new   
,,york ,,and ,,london          ,,the    
,,preparation ,,of ,,manuscripts ,,for  
,,the ,,printer    ,by ,,frank ,h4      
,,vizetelly1 ,f4,s4,a4    ,associate    
,editor of the ,standard ,dictionary1   
etc4      ,this book is designed for the
 guidance of all who have any concern   
with printing1 and will prove of        
permanent value to all persons  engaged 
in writing or in copying manuscripts4   
,typographical marks  are exemplified   

and explained2 the different sizes of   
type with  their names and uses are     
presented1 with aids in the computing   
of space which manuscripts will occupy  
in printed form2 the book  also shows   
authors how they can effectively reduce 
the cost of  corrections in type1 and   
tells them when1 where1 and how to make 
such corrections and how to dispose of  
manuscripts4         ,is at once the    
most exhaustive and most succinct of the
 many       books at the service of the 
young author4--,evening ,mail1 ,new     
,york4         ,a thoroughly practical  
little book which will prove            
invaluable to all who are interested in 
the preparation of                      
manuscript4--,times1 ,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y4 
#abmo1 ,cloth1 #aec pages4 #ge cents    
,,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            
,mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's
 not sufficiently clear where  the      
missing quote should be placed4    ,page
 #cf3 444 have cried 7oh1 how men do cry
 in those storms of the  soul1 in those 
tempests and terrors of the heart71     
,lord1 save us  444 ,the transcriber has
 supplied the closing parenthesis4