,,spare ,,minute ,,series4 ,,true ,,manliness1 ,,from ,,the ,,writings ,,of ,,thomas ,,hughes4 ,,selected ,,by ,e4 ,e4 ,,brown4 ,,with ,,an ,,introduction ,,by ,,james ,,russell ,,lowell4 ,,boston3 ,d4 ,,lothrop ,,and ,,co41 ,,franklin ,,street1 ,,corner ,,of ,,hawley4 ,,copyright ,,by ,d4 ,,lothrop ,,co4 #ahhj4 ,,thomas ,,hughes4 ,,preliminary ,,note4--,having somewhat rashly consented to write a short biographical preface to a volume of selections to be made in ,america from the writings of my friend1 ,mr4 ,hughes1 ,i applied to him directly for the needful facts and dates4 ,his answer was an autobiographical letter which ,i found so interesting that ,i resolved to print it1 omitting only a few intimate allusions natural in such a communication1 but with which the public has nothing to do4 ,my temptation was the greater that the letter was not intended for publication1 and had1 therefore1 that charm of unpremeditated confidence which is so apt to be wanting in more deliberate autobiographies4 ,i cannot consult him1 7and ,i confess that ,i purposely waited till ,i could not7 for he is already at sea1 on his way to ,america1 and ,i fear that friendship may have tempted me to an unwarrantable liberty1 but ,i could not bring myself1 even at the risk of seeming indiscreet1 to deny to others what had given me so much pleasure4 ,at any rate1 the indiscretion is wholly my own and in direct violation of the injunction with which ,mr4 ,hughes' letter concludes3 8,i hate the idea of being presented in any guise to any public2 so if you can't squelch the plan altogether1 give only the driest and meagrest facts and dates40 ,i feel somewhat as if ,i had been reporting a private conversation1 and take upon myself in advance all the reproach that belongs of right to that scourge and desecrator of modern life1 the 8,interviewer40 ,for the first time1 ,i look forward with dread to my next meeting with an old friend1 after having thus practised the familiar stage device of putting the right letter into the wrong cover4 ,as the brief record of a well-spent and honorable life1 devoted to unselfish ends and associated with notable friendships1 ,mr4 ,hughes' letter has a higher than merely personal interest4 ,of any critical introduction to ,american readers no one could stand in less need than he4 ,the same qualities of manliness1 frankness1 simplicity and sympathy1 with whatever is generous and humane1 that gave and continue to 8,tom ,brown0 a success that may be compared with that of 8,robinson ,crusoe10 are not wanting in his other works4--,j4 ,r4 ,l4 8,i was born on ,october #bjth1 #ahbb1 at ,uffington1 ,berks1 of which village my grandfather was ,vicar4 ,he was also a ,canon of ,st4 ,paul's1 and spent half the year at his house in ,amen ,corner1 with which my first memories of ,london are connected4 ,it was1 till this year1 the strangest quiet old nook in the city1 behind its big timber gates1 within one hundred yards of ,fleet street on one side1 and ,newgate ,market on the other1 but the distant murmur of life only made the repose more striking in those days4 ,now they are building some new minor ,canons' houses on the vacant ground beyond which will be opened out towards ,newgate street1 and the corner will be a thoroughfare4 ,the most remarkable fact of my childhood happened there1 as ,i was in the house 7,i believe7 with ,sir ,walter ,scott1 a great friend of my grandfather1 on his last sad visit to ,london4 8,my grandmother was a very notable woman in many ways1 and a great economist and early riser4 ,she used to take me and my brother out shopping in the early morning1 and our excursions extended as far as ,billingsgate fish-market1 then at the height of the career which has secured for it an unenviable place in our ,english vocabulary4 ,it was certainly a strange place for a lady and small boys1 and is connected with the most vivid of my childish memories4 ,toddling after my grandmother to the stall where she made her purchases1 we came one morning on the end of a quarrel between a stalwart fish-fag and her fancy man4 ,she struck him on the head with a pewter pot which flattened with the blow4 ,he fell like a log1 the first blood ,i had ever seen1 gushing from his temples1 and the scene is as fresh as ever in my memory at the end of half a century4 ,the narrow courts in that neighborhood are still my favorite haunts in ,london4 8,but my town visits were short4 ,i was a thorough country-bred boy1 and passed eleven months in the year at the foot of the ,berkshire chalk-hills1 much in the manner depicted in #8,tom ,brown4' 8,i was sent to school at the early age of eight1 to accompany my elder brother4 ,it was a preparatory school for ,winchester1 and the best feature about it was the ,winchester custom1 called #8standing up1' which means that we were encouraged to learn a great deal of poetry by heart1 for which we got extra marks at the end of the half year4 ,we were allowed 7within limits7 to choose our own poets1 and ,i always chose ,scott from family tradition1 and in this way learned the whole of the #8,lady of the ,lake1' and most of the #8,lay of the last ,minstrel' and #8,marmion1' by heart1 and can repeat much of them to this day4 ,milton reckoned highest for marks1 but ,i was prejudiced against him in this wise3 ,not far from the school was ,addington1 a place of the then ,duke of ,buckingham1 who was also a friend of my grandfather1 who1 with my grandmother1 paid him a visit at the end of our first half year4 ,we went over to sleep1 and travel back home next day with the old folk1 and in the morning before starting1 the ,duchess gave us each a sovereign1 neatly wrapped up in white1 glossy paper4 ,it was the first piece of gold ,i ever had1 and ,i kept it in my hand to look at on the journey4 ,i was leaning out of the window of the carriage when my attention was suddenly called to some roadside sight1 and ,i dropped the precious metal4 ,my shout of anguish and dismay brought the carriage to a stand-still1 and ,i had to confess4 ,after some trouble my sovereign was found1 and taken charge of by my grandmother1 who1 in due course1 returned it to me1 no longer in current coin of the realm1 but in the shape of a pocket edition of ,milton's poems1 with #8,thomas ,hughes from the ,duchess of ,buckingham and ,chandos' written on the title page4 ,i still possess the odious small volume1 and have learnt to forgive the great ,puritan1--indeed1 ,i have read ,masson's life of him with real interest in these latter days4 ,but ,i never learnt a line of him by heart as a boy1 and regret it to this day4 8,those were evil days in ,wessex1 the time of the ,swing riots and machine and rick burning4 ,my father was the most active magistrate in the district1 and was constantly in the saddle1 keeping the ,king's peace4 ,he was an old fashioned ,tory1 but with true popular sympathies1 and had played cricket and football all his life with the men and boys of our village1 and it is one of my proudest memories that only one man from ,uffington joined the rioters1 and he came back after three weeks ashamed and penitent4 ,amongst other good deeds1 my father rode off alone one night and saved the house and chapel of a dissenting minister in a neighboring village from being sacked and burned4 ,nevertheless ,i can not pretend to say that ,i was brought up to look upon dissenters as anything but a stiff-necked and perverse generation4 8,at the age of ten1 ,february #ahcd1 ,i was sent on to ,rugby with my brother1 as1 happily for us1 ,arnold had been a college friend of my father4 ,here ,i stayed till ,i was nearly nineteen1 starting from the bottom and ending in the sixth form1 though by no means at the head of the school4 8,it was a very rough1 not to say brutal1 place when ,i went there1 but much mended during those years4 8,i was a very idle boy so far as the regular lessons were concerned1 and ,i expect ,i should have been advised to go elsewhere early in my career but for a certain fondness for history and literature which ,arnold discovered in me and which 7,i fancy7 covered a multitude of sins4 ,he first struck it at a monthly examination of the ,shell1 then the form intervening between the fourth and fifth4 ,he asked the head boy why it was the ,romans had so specially rejoiced over the terms of a certain treaty with the ,parthians 7we were reading ,horace1 ,i think74 ,it came all down to the lowest bench where ,i was1 and ,i said1 #8because they got back the eagles taken from ,crassus1' and sent a gleam of pleasure into the ,doctor's face which was getting rather grim4 ,up ,i went to the top of the form1 and from that time he often asked me questions outside the text book and specially by way of illustration from ,scott's novels1 to which he was fond of referring4 ,i could generally come to the point1 having them at my fingers' ends1 and was proud of my consequent recognition4 ,to this day ,i remember the feeling of grief and humiliation which came across me when ,i failed him on a critical occasion4 ,it was years after the above event when ,i was in the sixth1 and some distinguished visitor 7,bunsen1 ,i think it was7 was present at the lesson4 ,we were reading the passage in ,aristotle about old age1 7is it in the ,ethics or ,politics8 ,i'm sure ,i forget7 and he asked the head of the school to illustrate from ,scott's novels what ,aristotle says about the characteristic of old age1 to be absorbed in petty interests and to be careless about great contemporary events4 ,down came the question1 past some very able and some very studious boys1 since distinguished one way or another--past ,john ,connington1 ,matt4 ,arnold1 ,sir ,r4 ,cross1 to me--and then the ,doctor paused for several seconds with a confident look4 ,but no response came and he passed on1 #8and ,i was left lamenting4' ,no one answered1 and he had to remind us of the old ,abbot1 pottering away in his garden on the border1 when ,mary and her defeated followers ride up before ,crossing1 and the old monk leans on his spade and looks after them1 saying1 #8,i could pity this poor ,queen and these ,lords1 but what are these things to a man of four score--and it's a fine growing morning for the young kale-wort'--and so goes to his spading again4 8,i cannot help to this day wondering at the patience and forbearance both of him and my tutor1 ,cotton1 afterwards ,bishop of ,calcutta1 over my frightful copies of verses1 and ,greek and ,latin prose4 ,as ,i was head of the eleven at cricket1 and of bigside at football1 ,i naturally had but small leisure to devote to such matters1 and consequently my copies were notorious for the number of picture frames they were certain to contain1--picture frames being the strong black marks which the ,doctor used to make round bad1 false concords -------------------- munus hospitalis -------------------- or quantities -------------------- munera stare -------------------- 8,he used to do it slowly and grimly1 his under lip seeming to grow out as the pen went deliberately round the wretched words1 and one did not feel good during the operation4 ,but as no boy enjoyed the sausage seller's buffooneries1 or ,socrates' banters more than ,i1 7tho' ,i made sad hashes in construing them7 ,i remained in favor1 tho' incorrigible1 till the end4 8,i carried away from ,rugby dreadfully bad scholarship1 but two invaluable possessions4 ,first1 a strong religious faith in and loyalty to ,christ2 and secondly1 open mindedness4 ,it was said 7and is still said1 ,i believe17 of ,arnold1 by way of censure1 that to him everything was an open question every morning of his life4 ,and though he never made any direct effort to unsettle any of our convictions that ,i can remember1 we went out into the world the least hampered intellectually of any school of ,english boys of that time4 ,to this day ,i am always ready to change an old opinion the moment ,i can get a better one1 and so ,i think it has been with many of my old school-fellows1 though we believed ourselves to be a thorough true blue school4 8,perhaps ,i also owe to ,rugby my strong democratic bias1 but ,i don't think it4 ,i guess ,i was born so 7or barn-zo1 as ,wessex chaw-bacon pronounced it in the famous story74 ,as a little scrap in petticoats nothing pleased me so much as playing with the village children1 and ,i could never understand why they shouldn't have all the things ,i had4 ,at any rate it was at ,rugby that ,i first was able to indulge my radical propensities4 ,up to my time1 the school-close 7or playgrounds7 was kept as sacred ground1 no #8lout' 7as we politely called the neighboring lieges7 being allowed to set foot within the precincts1 and ,i had often noticed the insolent airs with which casual intruders in fustian or corduroy had been extruded4 ,so when ,i became head of the eleven 7and so a sort of constitutional monarch in the close7 ,i asked the best cricketers amongst the #8louts' to come in and practice with me on summer evenings1 and got up matches with their club1 to the great advantage1 ,i still believe1 of school as well as town4 8,i was dreadfully loath to leave1 and when ,i was obliged1 7as nineteen is the limit of ages7 was much averse to going up to ,oxford4 ,i knew that my scholarship was too weak to allow me to take anything like high honors1 and so1 as my profession was to be the ,bar1 ,i wanted to go up to ,london at once and enter at an ,inn of ,court4 ,my father1 however1 after consulting his legal friends1 decided that ,i should go to ,oxford1 and accordingly ,i went up to his old ,college1 ,oriel1 in ,february1 #ahdb4 ,my first year at ,oxford was utterly wasted1 except that ,i learned to pull a good oar1 and perfected myself in boxing1 which was then much in vogue1 several prize-fighters being generally kept in pay by the under-graduates4 ,the lectures were perfectly easy to me as ,i had read all the books at ,rugby1 and ,i employed no private tutor4 ,i knew ,i couldn't take high honors1 7or at any rate choose to think so7 and as ,i happened to fall into an idle1 fast set1 just did as the rest1 and made a fool of myself in all the usual ways4 ,but ,i never much enjoyed that kind of thing and got very sick of it by the time ,i had taken my little-go1 and towards the end of my second year1 just before ,i was of age1 the most important event of my life happened1 for in the long vacation ,i became engaged to my wife1 then a schoolgirl1 the great friend of my only sister4 ,this pulled me up short4 ,our parents very properly said we were silly young people and must not see one another for years1 or correspond1 that we might see whether we really knew our minds4 ,i went back to ,oxford quite a new man1 knocked off all not absolutely necessary expense1 and lived decently and soberly for the rest of my time1 taking my degree the first moment ,i could without coaching1 by which ,i saved money4 ,consequently1 with the help of a small legacy of #bjj1 which came to me at twenty-one from an old great-aunt1 ,i came away quite out of debt and with some small balance towards furnishing chambers in ,london1 which was fairly creditable1 as1 there being three of us up at once1 my father only allowed us #bjj a year each4 ,this was supposed to be too small for a fellow to live on66 ,alas1 it is even worse now1 ,i fear6 8,i had the good luck to be under ,clough 7the poet7 and ,fraser1 now ,bishop of ,manchester1 who were ,oriel tutors at that time1 and the latter of whom is still one of my closest friends4 ,i went up1 as ,i have said1 believing myself still a ,tory1 but left ,oxford a ,radical4 ,something of the change was owing to the insolence of undergraduate life at that day1 but more to a tour ,i took with a pupil through the ,north in the long vacation of my third year4 ,my pupil was the son of a neighboring ,berkshire squire1 and all his father wanted was that ,i should keep him out of mischief4 ,if he could be interested or taught anything1 so much the better4 ,we happened to stop at a ,commercial hotel in ,lancashire on our way ,north1 and in the bagman's room ,i got into an argument with some of the ,north county travellers on the subject of the ,corn ,laws1 then prominently before ,parliament4 ,on this first night ,i came speedily to the conclusion that ,i knew very little about the matter1 and before ,i returned to ,oxford for ,michaelmas term ,i had become a good free-trader4 8,i was nearly twenty-two when ,i went up to ,london1 straight from ,oxford1 to begin my legal career4 ,my father kindly suggested that ,i should take a run on the ,continent before settling down1 to get up my ,french and ,german to the point at any rate of tolerably fluent small talk1 and here again ,i have no doubt but he was right1 as the want of early training of ear and tongue has left me a helpless mortal ever since4 ,however1 ,i was determined to lose not a month or a week if ,i could help it1 and soon found myself in small rooms on the third floor at ,no4 #ae ,lincoln's ,inn ,fields1 from the windows of which1 on a fine day1 ,i could see the ,surrey hills4 ,i paid #cj a year for the chambers1 and lived in them for another #gj1 keeping down my whole expenditure within #ajj a year1 a feat ,i am still rather proud of4 ,i never could have done it but for a glorious old woman who kept the house1 and did for all the inhabitants1 of whom only two lived in their chambers4 ,she had come up from ,devonshire as a girl some fifty years before to that house where she had been ever since1 and in all that time had never seen the ,thames1 which is1 as you know1 not five minutes' walk from ,lincoln's ,inn ,fields2 nor ,st4 ,paul's1 except the dome1 from the top windows of ,no4 #ae4 ,she still spoke with a delightful ,devonshire accent1 all her ,u's being as soft as if she had left ,torquay yesterday1 and ,i won her heart at once by professing1 or ,i should say acknowledging1 a passion for junket1 which she prepared in a reverent and enthusiastic manner on the slightest excuse4 ,as my wife that was to be lived in ,devonshire1 the coincidence was peculiarly grateful to me1 and the dear old woman1 ,roxworthy by name1 could not have had my interests more at heart had ,i been her own son4 8,there ,i lived for two years and upwards pleasantly enough1 for several old school and college friends had chambers in the neighborhood4 ,my engagement was a constant stimulus to work and economy1 and made me indifferent as to society4 ,i just visited two or three family friends on ,sundays1 and for the rest did very well without it4 ,from my own experience ,i would have every youngster get engaged by the time he is twenty-one1 though ,i am not prepared to maintain that a long engagement is so good for girls as for boys4 ,mine at any rate was the making of me4 ,my democratic instincts grew in strength during these years1 notwithstanding the failure of my first practical endeavors to act up to them4 ,one of these ,i will mention4 ,every house in the ,square was entitled to a key of the five gardens1 in which ,i spent most of the long summer evenings2 and1 seeing the number of ragged children who came round the railings and looked wistfully through at the lawns and beds within1 ,i extended my privilege to them and used to let them in by the scores1 and watch them tumbling on the grass and gathering the daisies with entire satisfaction4 ,from the first1 this outrageous proceeding greatly scandalized the ,beadle1 whose remonstrances ,i entirely disregarded1 until at last a notice came from the ,trustees of the ,square that the key of ,no4 #ae would be called in4 ,this threat so alarmed poor ,mrs4 ,roxworthy that ,i was fain to promise amendment1 and so ceased myself to frequent the gardens4 ,at the end of thirty years a strong effort is being made1 as you may see in the papers1 to throw the gardens open2 so ,i live in hopes before long of seeing my revenge on the ghost of the ,beadle of my day4 8,i read hard at the law1 but it was very much against the grain1 and my endeavors to master the subtleties of contingent remainders1 executory devises1 the scintilla juris1 and all the rest of it1 were only partially successful4 ,i sometimes think ,i might have taken con amore to common law and to criminal business1 but conveyancing and real property law had no attractions for me1 beyond the determination1 if ,i could1 to make a living by them4 ,i read with a very able conveyancer and kindly old gentleman1 who did his best to impart the mysteries to some six pupils4 ,he soon found where my strength1 such as it was1 lay1 and employed me in the preparation of deeds--such as appointments of new ,trustees1 where the operative part was quite simple common form1 but long statements of fact had to be made in the recitals4 ,these ,i rather excelled at1 and on the whole1 by the time ,i was of standing to be called to the ,bar1 was probably about as fit for that ceremony as the average of my cotemporaries4 8,three months before it took place ,i was married1 the probation which my wife's parents had very properly insisted on1 having expired at the beginning of #ahdg1 and we being found entirely in the same mind after our three years of separation4 ,most of our friends thought us mad1 as we started on the vast income of #djj a year4 ,it was confidently foretold that we should be living on our friends or in the workhouse before long1 which prophesies however were entirely falsified4 ,we started in tiny lodgings1 almost opposite the house we now live in1 and always managed to pay our way in the worst of times4 ,and though ,i admit the experiment was a risky one1 ,i have never repented it4 8,the year of my call1 #ahdh1 was the year of revolutions1 and on the #ajth of ,april ,i paraded1 like the rest of respectable society1 as a special constable1 though with shrewd misgivings in my own mind that the ,chartists had a great deal to say for themselves4 ,in which belief ,i soon found sympathizers4 ,frederick ,maurice had recently been appointed ,chaplain of ,lincoln's ,inn1 and was gathering round him a number of young ,barristers and ,students1 whom he was putting to work in their spare time at a ragged school1 and visiting the poor in a miserable district near ,lincoln's ,inn4 ,contact with our wretched clients soon made it clear to us that something more radical and systematic was needed to raise them to anything like independence4 ,they were almost all in the hands of slop sellers1 chamber masters1 or other grinders of the faces of the poor4 ,what could be done to deliver them8 ,in the autumn1 one of our number spent some time in ,paris and came back full of the material and moral effects of association amongst the workmen there4 8,we resolved to try the experiment and accordingly formed ourselves into a society for promoting ,workingmen's ,associations1 with ,maurice as president4 ,the idea grew on us apace1 and soon called out an amount of enthusiasm which surprised ourselves4 ,we were all busy men1 tied to offices from ten till five1 so we met at six in the morning and eight at night to settle our rules1 and organize our work4 ,we were all poor men too1 but soon scraped together enough money to start our first ,association4 ,this we resolved should be a tailoring establishment1 for which we could ourselves1 with the help of our friends1 find sufficient custom in the first instance4 ,we had no difficulty in hiring good airy workshops1 but how to fill them was the rub4 ,we were now in communication with a number of poor workpeople1 especially amongst the ,chartists1 and1 to cut a long story short1 started our ,association with a slop-worker who had been in prison as manager1 and some dozen associates of kindred opinions in the workroom4 8,i needn't trouble you with any details of the ,christian ,socialist movement1 of which this was a beginning1 and which made a great noise in the press and elsewhere at the time4 ,it has survived any number of follies and failures1 and has gradually spread till there is a union of ,societies all over the kingdom1 doing a work for our poorer classes which one can only wonder at and be thankful for4 8,we wrote tracts1 and started a small paper1 #8,the ,christian ,socialist1' and were soon at open strife with nearly the whole of our press1 both the #8,edinburgh' and the #8,quarterly' condescending to bestow on us contemptuous1 but very angry articles1 in which they were joined by weeklies and dailies innumerable4 ,but we were young1 saucy1 and so thoroughly convinced we were right that #8we cared1 shall ,i say1 not a d--n for their damning4' 8,most of my friends looked very serious1 and prophesied that my prospects at the ,bar would be ruined by my crotchets1 and indeed ,i was dreadfully afraid of this myself4 ,but the state of things in ,england was so serious1 and ,i was so thoroughly convinced of the necessity of work in this direction1 that ,i couldn't give it up4 ,no doubt ,i lost some business by it1 but other business came1 as ,i was wonderfully punctual at ,chambers and soon got to be friends with my few clients1 who even got to pardon1 with a shrug of the shoulders1 the queer folk they often found there4 ,and queer no doubt they were for a ,chancery barrister's chambers1 as emissaries from the tailors'1 shoemakers'1 printers'1 and builders' ,associations 7we had a dozen of them going by this time7 were often in and out about their rules and accounts and squabbles4 ,i only remember one instance in which ,i really suffered4 ,a dear old gentleman1 a family friend of ours1 had managed with much difficulty to persuade his solicitor to give me some business4 ,that most respectable of men1 head of a firm which could have made any young barrister's fortune1 arrived one afternoon at my chambers with a brief1 and was asked by my clerk to sit down for a moment till ,i was disengaged4 ,this he did1 graciously enough1 though no doubt with the thought #8how little ,i could know my business to keep him waiting even for a moment1' when my door opened1 and a full-blown black person 7lately from the ,west ,indies in quest of advice and aid for the freedmen there7 walked out4 ,this was too much for my intending client1 who hurried away1 saying he would call again1 but ,i never saw his brief or him4 8,so things went on for some years during which ,i managed to maintain my growing family without dropping my work for the ,associations4 ,we had migrated to ,wimbledon1 for health's sake1 where we built a house side by side with one of the other ,promoters1 which had one large room common to both houses1 the subject of much chaff and fun to our visitors and acquaintance4 ,our garden was also in common1 and both arrangements1 ,i think1 answered well4 8,about this time ,maurice became convinced that if ,associations of working people were to succeed1 the men must be better educated in the highest sense4 ,so he set to work to establish the ,workingmen's ,college1 of which he was the first and ,i am the present ,principal4 ,it is a very noteworthy institution1 at which1 by the way1 ,emerson and ,goldwin ,smith1 besides ,stanley1 ,kingsley1 ,huxley1 and other eminent ,englishmen1 have delivered opening addresses1 at the beginning of the academical year1 in ,october4 8,i found it at first very hard to discover my mission at the college4 ,i tried lectures on the law of combination and association1 but they did not draw1 and all the other classes for which ,i was competent1 were filled by much better teachers from amongst our number4 ,so1 noting how badly set up the men were with round shoulders1 and slouching gait1 and how much they needed some strong exercise to supple them1 ,i started a boxing class1 and had some horizontal and parallel bars put up in the back-yard4 ,these proved a great success1 and at last it became clear to me1 that all my ,oxford time spent on such matters had not been thrown away4 ,in connection with the boxing and gymnastic classes1 we started social gatherings for talk and songs1 over a cup of tea1 which also were wonderfully successful4 ,i remember ,hawthorne coming to one of them2 brought by his friend1 ,h4 ,bright1 of ,liverpool1 and quite losing his shyness and reserve for the evening4 8,by this time we had a boy of eight1 and1 thinking over what ,i should like to say to him before he went to school1 ,i took to writing a story as the easiest way of bringing out what ,i wanted4 ,it was done mainly in the long vacation of #ahef1 but wasn't published till early in the next year1 and made such a hit that the publishers soon betrayed the secret1 and ,i became famous6 8,whereupon arose again the professional bugbear1 now set at rest for years4 ,i had managed to get over and live down ,christian ,socialism1 but who on earth would bring business to a successful author6 ,i considered whether ,i shouldn't throw over ,lincoln's ,inn and take to writing1 but decided that the law was best for me1 and determined to stop writing4 ,this good resolution held for two years1 when the ,berkshire festival of scouring the ,white ,horse1 7an old ,danish or ,saxon1 certainly ,pagan figure1 still left on our chalk-hills17 came round1 and my old country friends made such a point of having an account of it from me that ,i gave in and wrote my book ,no4 #b4 8,by this time my clients had become case-hardened1 and finding no particular ill effects from my previous escapades1 ,i gave in in a weak moment to a tempting offer of ,macmillan's1 and wrote #8,tom ,brown at ,oxford1' for his magazine4 ,moreover1 ,i had now made a plunge into public life1 and was one of the leaders of a semi-political party4 ,this is how it came about3 ,there had been roused in me lively sympathies with the ,abolitionists1 and ,i had followed eagerly the progress of events through the ,fugitive ,slave1 and ,free ,soil agitations4 ,there was no warmer sympathizer with ,garrison and ,john ,brown and ,levi ,coffin1 in ,england2 so when the ,lincoln election came1 and ,south ,carolina led off the seceding states with jubilant applause of society in ,england1 ,i went at once fiercely into the other camp4 ,you may judge of the difficulty of getting our public men of note to take active sides with the ,north 7tho' many of them didn't conceal their sympathy1 and were ready to speak in ,parliament1 and write17 by the fact that ,i was about the most prominent speaker at the first great public meeting1 which was held in ,london4 ,this proved to be such an extraordinary success1 that there was no further effort on the part of the jingoes 7that name hadn't yet been invented1 but it was precisely the same party17 to demonstrate publicly in the metropolis4 ,in other centres there was need of such work1 and ,i went to ,birmingham and ,liverpool to speak and deliver lectures on the war and its causes and issues4 ,it was supposed that there was to be a row at the latter place1 which was the stronghold of the ,rebels2 but all went off quietly4 8,it was mainly in consequence of these doings that ,i was asked by the working folk in ,south ,london to stand for ,lambeth in #ahfe4 ,i did so1 and was brought in triumphantly at the head of the ,poll1 and almost all the expense paid by subscription4 ,from that time ,i gradually gave up legal business1 and in #ahfh took silk1 as it is called1 i4 e41 became a ,queen's ,counsel4 ,in #ahfi ,i wrote #8,alfred the ,great' for ,macmillan's ,sunday ,series4 ,i now made it my chief business to attend to ,social-,political questions in ,parliament2 sat on two ,trades ,unions ,commissions2 got amendments to the ,industrial and ,friendly ,societies ,acts through the ,house1 but never took to party politics4 8,in #ahgj1 as ,i hope you remember1 ,i paid my delightful visit to ,america4 8,in #ahgb ,i lost my dear eldest brother1 and soon after wrote the memoir of him for my family4 ,maurice also died1 and ,i became ,principal of the ,workingmen's ,college4 8,before the next election 7#ahgd7 the ,co-operative question had come to the front4 ,the success of the ,upper ,class ,london ,supply ,societies copies of our working-class ,associations in their main principle and features had roused the tradesmen throughout the country4 ,i was a candidate for ,marylebone1 and was fiercely opposed by the tradesmen1 and supported by the professional and working classes4 ,there were three ,liberal candidates for only two seats1 so it was agreed to refer it to the ,attorney ,general to say who should retire1 and he decided that ,i had the worst chance of winning the seat 7on one-sided and insufficient evidence1 as my supporters maintained1 and ,i think rightly74 ,i therefore retired1 and got no chance of entering that ,parliament4 ,for by this time the ,trades ,protection ,society had been organized1 to fight against neither small nor great1 but only against those accursed revolutionists who had supported the ,co-operative movement1 and refused to flinch from it4 8,so it happened that ,i was again thrown out at the election this year4 ,i had consented1 on the unanimous and unsolicited request of the ,liberal party in ,salisbury1 to stand there1 and all went well till just before the election1 when the ,trades ,protective people permitted the party organization to throw me over4 ,i doubt if ,i shall ever return to the ,house1 as my views on the ,church question make me an almost hopeless candidate in the ,north of ,england1 and my support of ,co-operation a perfectly hopeless one at present in the ,south4 ,i care1 however1 very little about it1 having plenty to do outside in keeping irons hot1 especially that most interesting of all my irons1 the ,tennessee settlement1 which ,i hope to keep very hot indeed1 and look upon as about the most hopeful of the many ,new ,jerusalems which have attracted me during my pilgrimage4 ,i am off to open ,chapter ,,ii4 of that ,romance ,chapter ,i41 the getting the titles clear1 buying the land1 c41 having taken some two years4 on the #abth of next month1 and ,i can't tell you how much my heart is in it4 8,and so end my confessions4 ,the only other points of interest1 omitted above1 are the publication of the #8,old ,church1' in #ahgg1 when the disestablishment movement began to get serious1 and #8,the ,manliness of ,christ1' this ,spring1 7#ahhj71 which latter has been already republished on your side in four different forms2 and lastly1 my share in the ,volunteer movement1 which ,i joined at its start in #ahei4 ,the ,workingmen's ,college raised a corps of two companies at once1 of which1 after serving for a few weeks as private1 ,i was made ,captain4 ,it soon swelled into a regiment1 the #aith ,middlesex1 of which ,i became ,colonel1 and served in it twelve years40 ,,true ,,manliness4 ,i4 ,,the conscience of every man recognizes courage as the foundation of true manliness1 and manliness as the perfection of human character1 and if ,christianity runs counter to conscience in this matter1 or indeed in any other1 ,christianity will go to the wall4 ,but does it8 ,on the contrary1 is not perfection of character--8,be ye perfect as your ,father in heaven is perfect10 perfection to be reached by moral effort in the faithful following of our ,lord's life on earth--the final aim which the ,christian religion sets before individual men1 and constant contact and conflict with evil of all kinds the necessary condition of that moral effort1 and the means adopted by our ,master in the world in which we live1 and for which he died8 ,in that strife1 then1 the first requisite is courage or manfulness1 gained through conflict with evil--for without such conflict there can be no perfection of character1 the end for which ,christ says we were sent into this world4 ,,ii4 8,manliness and manfulness0 are synonymous1 but they embrace more than we ordinarily mean by the word 8courage20 for instance1 tenderness and thoughtfulness for others4 ,they include that courage which lies at the root of all manliness1 but is1 in fact1 only its lowest or rudest form4 ,indeed1 we must admit that it is not exclusively a human quality at all1 but one which we share with other animals1 and which some of them--for instance the bulldog and weasel--exhibit with a certainty and a thoroughness1 which is very rare amongst mankind4 ,in what1 then1 does courage1 in this ordinary sense of the word1 consist8 ,first1 in persistency1 or the determination to have one's own way1 coupled with contempt for safety and ease1 and readiness to risk pain or death in getting one's own way4 ,this is1 let us readily admit1 a valuable1 even a noble quality1 but an animal quality rather than a human or manly one4 ,proficiency in athletic games is not necessarily a test even of animal courage1 but only of muscular power and physical training4 ,even in those games which1 to some extent1 do afford a test of the persistency1 and contempt for discomfort or pain1 which constitute animal courage--such as rowing1 boxing1 and wrestling--it is of necessity a most unsatisfactory one4 ,for instance1 ,nelson--as courageous an ,englishman as ever lived1 who attacked a ,polar bear with a handspike when he was a boy of fourteen1 and told his captain1 when he was scolded for it1 that he did not know ,mr4 ,fear--with his slight frame and weak constitution1 could never have won a boat-race1 and in a match would have been hopelessly astern of any one of the crew of his own barge2 and the highest courage which ever animated a human body would not enable the owner of it1 if he were himself untrained1 to stand for five minutes against a trained wrestler or boxer4 ,athleticism is a good thing if kept in its place1 but it has come to be very much over-praised and over-valued amongst us4 ,true manliness is as likely to be found in a weak as in a strong body4 ,other things being equal1 we may perhaps admit 7though ,i should hesitate to do so7 that a man with a highly-trained and developed body will be more courageous than a weak man4 ,but we must take this caution with us1 that a great athlete may be a brute or a coward1 while a truly manly man can be neither4 ,,iii4 ,let us take a few well-known instances of courageous deeds and examine them2 because1 if we can find out any common quality in them we shall have lighted on something which is of the essence of1 or inseparable from1 that manliness which includes courage--that manliness of which we are in search4 ,i will take two or three at hazard from a book in which they abound1 and which was a great favorite some years ago1 as ,i hope it is still1 ,i mean ,napier's ,peninsular ,war4 ,at the end of the storming of ,badajos1 after speaking of the officers1 ,napier goes on3 8,who shall describe the springing valor of that ,portuguese grenadier who was killed the foremost man at ,santa ,maria8 or the martial fury of that desperate rifleman1 who1 in his resolution to win1 thrust himself beneath the chained sword-blades1 and then suffered the enemy to dash his head in pieces with the end of their muskets40 ,again1 at the ,coa3 8,a north-of-,ireland man1 named ,stewart1 but jocularly called #8the boy1' because of his youth1 nineteen1 and of his gigantic stature and strength1 who had fought bravely and displayed great intelligence beyond the river1 was one of the last men who came down to the bridge1 but he would not pass4 ,turning round he regarded the ,french with a grim look1 and spoke aloud as follows1 #8,so this is the end of our brag4 ,this is our first battle1 and we retreat6 ,the boy ,stewart will not live to hear that said4' ,then striding forward in his giant might he fell furiously on the nearest enemies with the bayonet1 refused the quarter they seemed desirous of granting1 and died fighting in the midst of them40 8,still more touching1 more noble1 more heroic1 was the death of ,sergeant ,robert ,mc,quade4 ,during ,mc,leod's rush1 this man1 also from the north of ,ireland1 saw two men level their muskets on rests against a high gap in a bank1 awaiting the uprise of an enemy4 ,the present ,adjutant-general ,brown1 then a lad of sixteen1 attempted to ascend at the fatal spot4 ,mc,quade1 himself only twenty-four years of age1 pulled him back1 saying in a calm1 decided tone1 #8,you are too young1 sir1 to be killed1' and then offering his own person to the fire1 fell dead pierced with both balls40 ,and1 speaking of the ,british soldier generally1 he says in his preface1 8,what they were their successors now are4 ,witness the wreck of the ,birkenhead1 where four hundred men1 at the call of their heroic officers1 ,captains ,wright and ,girardot1 calmly and without a murmur accepted death in a horrible form rather than endanger the women and children saved in the boats4 ,the records of the world furnish no parallel to this self-devotion40 ,let us add to these two very recent examples3 the poor colliers who worked day and night at ,pont-y-pridd with their lives in their hands1 to rescue their buried comrades2 and the gambler in ,st4 ,louis who went straight from the gaming-table into the fire1 to the rescue of women and children1 and died of the hurts after his third return from the flames4 ,looking1 then1 at these several cases1 we find in each that resolution in the actors to have their way1 contempt for ease1 and readiness to risk pain or death1 which we noted as the special characteristics of animal courage1 which we share with the bulldog and weasel4 ,so far all of them are alike4 ,can we get any further8 ,not much1 if we take the case of the rifleman who thrust his head under the sword-blades and allowed his brains to be knocked out sooner than draw it back1 or that of 8the boy ,stewart40 ,these are intense assertions of individual will and force--avowals of the rough hard-handed man that he has that in him which enables him to defy pain and danger and death--this and little or nothing more2 and no doubt a very valuable and admirable thing as it stands4 ,but we feel1 ,i think1 at once1 that there is something more in the act of ,sergeant ,mc,quade1 and of the miners in ,pont-y-pridd--something higher and more admirable4 ,and it is not a mere question of degree1 of more or less1 in the quality of animal courage4 ,the rifleman and 8the boy ,stewart0 were each of them persistent to death1 and no man can be more4 ,the acts were1 then1 equally courageous1 so far as persistency and scorn of danger and death are concerned4 ,we must look elsewhere for the difference1 for that which touches us more deeply in the case of ,sergeant ,mc,quade than in that of 8the boy ,stewart10 and can only find it in the motive4 ,at least1 it seems to me that the worth of the last lies mainly in the sublimity of self-assertion1 of the other in the sublimity of self-sacrifice4 ,and this holds good again in the case of the ,birkenhead4 ,captain ,wright gave the word for the men to fall in on deck by companies1 knowing that the sea below them was full of sharks1 and that the ship could not possibly float till the boats came back2 and the men fell in1 knowing this also1 and stood at attention without uttering a word1 till she heeled over and went down under them4 ,and ,napier1 with all his delight in physical force and prowess1 and his intense appreciation of the qualities which shine most brightly in the fiery action of battle1 gives the palm to these when he writes1 8,the records of the world furnish no parallel to this self-devotion40 ,he was no mean judge in such a case2 and1 if he is right1 as ,i think he is1 do we not get another side-light on our inquiry1 and find that the highest temper of physical courage is not to be found1 or perfected1 in action but in repose4 ,all physical effort relieves the strain and makes it easier to persist unto death under the stimulus and excitement of the shock of battle1 or of violent exertion of any kind1 than when the effort has to be made with grounded arms4 ,in other words1 may we not say that in the face of danger self-restraint is after all the highest form of self-assertion1 and a characteristic of manliness as distinguished from courage4 ,,iv4 ,the courage which is tested in times of terror1 on the battle-field1 in the sinking ship1 the poisoned mine1 the blazing house1 presents but one small side of a great subject4 ,such testing times come to few1 and to these not often in their lives4 ,but on the other hand1 the daily life of every one of us teems with occasions which will try the temper of our courage as searchingly1 though not as terribly1 as battle-field or fire or wreck4 ,for we are born into a state of war2 with falsehood and disease1 and wrong and misery in a thousand forms lying all around us1 and the voice within calling on us to take our stand as men in the eternal battle against these4 ,and in this life-long fight1 to be waged by every one of us single-handed against a host of foes1 the last requisite for a good fight1 the last proof and test of our courage and manfulness1 must be loyalty to truth--the most rare and difficult of all human qualities4 ,for such loyalty1 as it grows in perfection1 asks ever more and more of us1 and sets before us a standard of manliness always rising higher and higher4 ,and this is the great lesson which we shall learn from ,christ's life1 the more earnestly and faithfully we study it4 8,for this end was ,i born1 and for this cause came ,i into the world1 to bear witness to the truth40 ,to bear this witness against avowed and open enemies is comparatively easy2 but1 to bear it against those we love2 against those whose judgment and opinions we respect1 in defense or furtherance of that which approves itself as true to our own inmost conscience1 this is the last and abiding test of courage and of manliness4 ,v4 ,how natural1 nay1 how inevitable it is1 that we should fall into the habit of appreciating and judging things mainly by the standards in common use amongst those we respect and love4 ,but these very standards are apt to break down with us when we are brought face to face with some question which takes us ever so little out of ourselves and our usual moods4 ,at such times we are driven to admit in our hearts that we1 and those we respect and love1 have been looking at and judging things1 not truthfully1 and therefore not courageously and manfully1 but conventionally4 ,and then comes one of the most searching of all trials of courage and manliness1 when a man or woman is called to stand by what approves itself to their consciences as true1 and to protest for it through evil report and good report1 against all discouragement and opposition from those they love or respect4 ,the sense of antagonism instead of rest1 of distrust and alienation instead of approval and sympathy1 which such times bring1 is a test which tries the very heart and reins1 and it is one which meets us at all ages1 and in all conditions of life4 ,emerson's hero is the man who1 8taking both reputation and life in his hand1 will with perfect urbanity dare the gibbet and the mob1 by the resolute truth of his speech and rectitude of his behavior40 ,,vi4 ,after all1 what would life be without fighting1 ,i should like to know8 ,from the cradle to the grave1 fighting1 rightly understood1 is the business1 the real1 highest1 honestest business of every son of man4 ,every one who is worth his salt has his enemies1 who must be beaten1 be they evil thoughts and habits in himself1 or spiritual wickednesses in high places1 or ,russians1 or border-ruffians4 ,it is no good for ,quakers1 or any other body of men to uplift their voices against fighting4 ,human nature is too strong for them1 and they don't follow their own precepts4 ,every soul of them is doing his own piece of fighting1 somehow and somewhere4 ,the world might be a better world without fighting1 for anything ,i know1 but it wouldn't be our world2 and therefore ,i am dead against crying peace1 when there is no peace1 and isn't meant to be4 ,i am as sorry as any man to see folks fighting the wrong people and the wrong things1 but ,i'd a deal sooner see them doing that1 than that they should have no fight in them4 ,,vii4 ,you can't alter society1 or hinder people in general from being helpless and vulgar--from letting themselves fall into slavery to the things about them if they are rich1 or from aping the habits and vices of the rich if they are poor4 ,but you may live simple1 manly lives yourselves1 speaking your own thought1 paying your own way1 and doing your own work1 whatever that may be4 ,you will remain gentlemen so long as you follow these rules1 if you have to sweep a crossing for your livelihood4 ,you will not remain gentlemen in anything but the name1 if you depart from them1 though you may be set to govern a kingdom4 ,,viii4 ,in testing manliness as distinguished from courage1 we shall have to reckon sooner or later with the idea of duty4 ,nelson's column stands in the most conspicuous site in all ,london1 and stands there with all men's approval1 not because of his daring courage4 ,lord ,peterborough1 in a former generation1 ,lord ,dundonald in the one which succeeded1 were at least as eminent for reckless and successful daring4 ,but it is because the idea of devotion to duty is inseparably connected with ,nelson's name in the minds of ,englishmen1 that he has been lifted high above all his compeers in ,england's capital4 ,,ix4 ,in the throes of one of the terrible revolutions of the worst days of imperial ,rome--when probably the cruelest mob and most licentious soldiery of all time were raging round the palace of the ,csars1 and the chances of an hour would decide whether ,galba or ,otho should rule the world1 the alternative being a violent death--an officer of the guard1 one ,julius ,atticus1 rushed into ,galba's presence with a bloody sword1 boasting that he had slain his rival1 ,otho4 8,my comrade1 by whose order80 was his only greeting from the old ,pagan chief4 ,and the story has come down through eighteen centuries1 in the terse1 strong sentences of the great historian1 ,tacitus4 ,comrade1 who ordered thee8 whose will art thou doing8 ,it is the question which has to be asked of every fighting man1 in whatever part of the great battlefield he comes to the front1 and determines the manliness of soldier1 statesman1 parson1 of every strong man1 and suffering woman4 8,three roots bear up ,dominion2 knowledge1 will1 ,these two are strong2 but stronger still the third1 ,obedience3 'tis the great tap-root1 which still ,knit round the rock of ,duty1 is not stirred1 ,though storm and tempest spend their utmost skill40 ,i think that the more thoroughly we sift and search out this question the more surely we shall come to this as the conclusion of the whole matter4 ,tenacity of will1 or wilfulness1 lies at the root of all courage1 but courage can only rise into true manliness when the will is surrendered2 and the more absolute the surrender of the will the more perfect will be the temper of our courage and the strength of our manliness4 8,strong ,son of ,god1 immortal ,love10 the laureate has pleaded1 in the moment of his highest inspiration4 8,our wills are ours to make them thine40 ,and that strong ,son of ,god to whom this cry has gone up in our day1 and in all days1 has left us the secret of his strength in the words1 8,i am come to do the will of my ,father and your ,father40 ,x4 ,haste and distrust are the sure signs of weakness1 if not of cowardice4 ,just in so far as they prevail in any life1 even in the most heroic1 the man fails1 and his work will have to be done over again4 ,in ,christ's life there is not the slightest trace of such weakness or cowardice4 ,from all that we are told1 and from all that we can infer1 he made no haste1 and gave way to no doubt1 waiting for ,god's mind1 and patiently preparing himself for whatever his work might be4 ,and so his work from the first was perfect1 and through his whole public life he never faltered or wavered1 never had to withdraw or modify a word once spoken4 ,and thus he stands1 and will stand to the end of time1 the true model of the courage and manliness of boyhood and youth and early manhood4 ,,xi4 ,the man whose yea is yea and his nay nay1 is1 we all confess1 the most courageous1 whether or no he may be the most successful in daily life4 ,and he who gave the precept has left us the most perfect example of how to live up to it4 ,,xii4 ,it is his action when the danger comes1 not when he is in solitary preparation for it1 which marks the man of courage4 ,,xiii4 ,in all the world's annals there is nothing which approaches1 in the sublimity of its courage1 that last conversation between our ,saviour and the ,roman procurator1 before ,pilate led him forth for the last time and pleaded scornfully with his nation for the life of their king4 ,there must be no flaw or spot on ,christ's courage1 any more than on his wisdom and tenderness and sympathy4 ,and the more unflinchingly we apply the test the more clear and sure will the response come back to us4 ,,xiv4 ,quit yourself like men2 speak up1 and strike out if necessary1 for whatsoever is true and manly1 and lovely1 and of good report2 never try to be popular1 but only to do your duty and help others to do theirs1 and1 wherever you are placed1 you may leave the tone of feeling higher than you found it1 and so be doing good which no living soul can measure to generations yet unborn4 ,,xv4 ,we listened to ,dr4 ,arnold1 as all boys in their better moods will listen 7aye1 and men too for the matter of that17 to a man whom we felt to be1 with all his heart and soul and strength1 striving against whatever was mean and unmanly and unrighteous in our little world4 ,it was not the cold1 clear voice of one giving advice and warning from serene heights to those who were struggling and sinning below1 but the warm1 living voice of one who was fighting for us by our sides1 and calling on us to help him and ourselves and one another4 ,and so1 wearily and little by little1 but surely and steadily on the whole1 was brought home to the young boy the meaning of his life2 that it was no fool's or sluggard's paradise into which he had wandered by chance1 but a battle-field ordained from of old1 where there are no spectators1 but the youngest must take his side1 and the stakes are life and death4 ,and he who roused this consciousness in them1 showed them at the same time1 by every word he spoke in the pulpit1 and by his whole daily life1 how that battle was to be fought2 and stood there before them their fellow-soldier and the captain of their band4 ,the true sort of a captain1 too1 for a boys' army1 one who had no misgivings and gave no uncertain word of command1 and1 let who would yield or make truce1 would fight the fight out 7so every boy felt7 to the last gasp and the last drop of blood4 ,other sides of his character might take hold of and influence boys here and there1 but it was this thoroughness and undaunted courage which more than anything else won his way to the hearts of the great mass of those on whom he left his mark1 and made them believe first in him1 and then in his ,master4 ,,xvi4 ,to stand by what our conscience witnesses for as truth1 through evil and good report1 even against all opposition of those we love1 and of those whose judgment we look up to and should ordinarily prefer to follow2 to cut ourselves deliberately off from their love and sympathy and respect1 is surely one of the most severe trials to which we can be put4 ,a man has need to feel at such times that the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon him in some measure1 as it was upon ,christ when he rose in the synagogue of ,nazareth and1 selecting the passage of ,isaiah which speaks most directly of the ,messiah1 claimed that title for himself1 and told them that to-day this prophecy was fulfilled in him4 ,the fierce1 hard1 ,jewish spirit is at once roused to fury4 ,they would kill him then and there1 and so settle his claims once for all4 ,he passes through them1 and away from the quiet home where he had been brought up--alone1 it would seem1 so far as man could make him so1 and homeless for the remainder of his life4 ,yet not alone1 for his ,father is with him2 nor homeless for he has the only home of which man can be sure1 the home of his own heart shared with the ,spirit of ,god4 ,,xvii4 ,we have been told recently1 by more than one of those who profess to have weighed and measured ,christianity and found it wanting1 that religion must rest on reason1 based on phenomena of this visible1 tangible world in which we are living4 ,be it so4 ,there is no need for a ,christian to object4 ,we can meet this challenge as well as any other4 ,we need never be careful about choosing our own battlefield4 ,looking1 then1 at that world as we see it1 laboring heavily along in our own time--as we hear of it through the records of the ages--,i must repeat that there is no phenomenon in it comparable for a moment to that of ,christ's life and work4 ,the more we canvass and sift and weigh and balance the materials1 the more clearly and grandly does his figure rise before us1 as the true ,head of humanity1 the perfect ,ideal1 not only of wisdom and tenderness and love1 but of courage also1 because ,he was and is the simple ,truth of ,god--the expression1 at last1 in flesh and blood of what ,he who created us means each one of our race to be4 ,,xviii4 8,my father10 said ,hardy1 8is an old commander in the royal navy4 ,he was a second cousin of ,nelson's ,hardy1 and that1 ,i believe1 was what led him into the navy1 for he had no interest whatever of his own4 ,it was a visit which ,nelson's ,hardy1 then a young lieutenant1 paid to his relative1 my grandfather1 which decided my father1 he has told me2 but he always had a strong bent to sea1 though he was a boy of very studious habits4 8,however1 those were times when brave men who knew and loved their profession couldn't be overlooked1 and my dear old father fought his way up step by step--not very fast1 certainly1 but still fast enough to keep him in heart about his chances in life4 8,he was made commander towards the end of the war1 and got a ship1 in which he sailed with a convoy of merchantmen from ,bristol4 ,it was the last voyage he ever made in active service2 but the ,admiralty was so well satisfied with his conduct in it that they kept his ship in commission two years after peace was declared4 ,and well they might be1 for in the ,spanish main he fought an action which lasted1 on and off1 for two days1 with a ,french sloop-of-war1 and a privateer1 either of which ought to have been a match for him4 ,but he had been with ,vincent in the ,arrow1 and was not likely to think much of such small odds as that4 ,at any rate1 he beat them off1 and not a prize could either of them make out of his convoy1 though ,i believe his ship was never fit for anything afterwards1 and was broken up as soon as she was out of commission4 ,we have got her compasses1 and the old flag which flew at the peak through the whole voyage1 at home now4 ,it was my father's own flag1 and his fancy to have it always flying4 ,more than half the men were killed or badly hit--the dear old father among the rest4 ,a ball took off part of his knee-cap1 and he had to fight the last six hours of the action sitting in a chair on the quarter-deck2 but he says it made the men fight better than when he was among them1 seeing him sitting there sucking oranges4 8,well1 he came home with a stiff leg4 ,the ,bristol merchants gave him the freedom of the city in a gold box1 and a splendidly-mounted sword with an inscription on the blade1 which hangs over the mantel-piece at home4 ,when ,i first left home1 ,i asked him to give me his old service-sword1 which used to hang by the other1 and he gave it me at once1 though ,i was only a lad of seventeen1 as he would give me his right eye1 dear old father1 which is the only one he has now2 the other he lost from a cutlass-wound in a boarding party4 ,there it hangs1 and those are his epaulettes in the tin case4 ,they used to be under my pillow before ,i had a room of my own1 and many a cowardly down-hearted fit have they helped me to pull through2 and many a mean act have they helped to keep me from doing4 ,there they are always2 and the sight of them brings home the dear old man to me as nothing else does1 hardly even his letters4 ,i must be a great scoundrel to go very wrong with such a father4 8,let's see--where was ,i8 ,oh1 yes2 ,i remember4 ,well1 my father got his box and sword1 and some very handsome letters from several great men4 ,we have them all in a book at home1 and ,i know them by heart4 ,the ones he values most are from ,collinwood1 and his old captain1 ,vincent1 and from his cousin1 ,nelson's ,hardy1 who didn't come off very well himself after the war4 ,but my poor old father never got another ship4 ,for some time he went up every year to ,london1 and was always1 he says1 very kindly received by the people in power1 and often dined with one and another ,lord of the ,admiralty who had been an old mess-mate4 ,but he was longing for employment1 and it used to prey on him while he was in his prime to feel year after year slipping away and he still without a ship4 ,but why should ,i abuse people and think it hard1 when he doesn't8 #8,you see1 ,jack1' he said to me the last time ,i spoke to him about it1 #8after all1 ,i was a battered old hulk1 lame and half-blind4 ,so was ,nelson1 you'll say2 but every man isn't a ,nelson1 my boy4 ,and though ,i might think ,i could con or fight a ship as well as ever1 ,i can't say other folk who didn't know me were wrong for not agreeing with me4 ,would you1 now1 ,jack1 appoint a lame and blind man to command your ship1 if you had one8' ,but he left off applying for work soon after he was fifty 7,i just remember the time71 for he began to doubt then whether he was quite so fit to command a small vessel as a younger man2 and though he had a much better chance after that of getting a ship 7for ,william ,,iv4 came to the throne1 who knew all about him71 he never went near the ,admiralty again4 #8,god forbid1' he said1 #8that his ,majesty should take me if there's a better man to be had4'0 ,,xix4 ,the object of wrestling and of all other athletic sports is to strengthen men's bodies1 and to teach them to use their strength readily1 to keep their tempers1 to endure fatigue and pain4 ,these are all noble ends4 ,god gives us few more valuable gifts than strength of body1 and courage1 and endurance--to laboring men they are beyond all price4 ,we ought to cultivate them in all right ways for they are given us to protect the weak1 to subdue the earth1 to fight for our homes and country if necessary4 ,,xx4 ,to you young men1 ,i say1 as ,solomon said1 rejoice in your youth2 rejoice in your strength of body1 and elasticity of spirits and the courage which follows from these2 but remember1 that for these gifts you will be judged--not condemned1 mind1 but judged4 ,you will have to show before a judge who knoweth your inmost hearts1 that you have used these his great gifts well2 that you have been pure and manly1 and true4 ,,xxi4 ,at last in my dream1 a mist came over the ,hill1 and all the figures got fainter and fainter1 and seemed to be fading away4 ,but as they faded1 ,i could see one great figure coming out clearer through the mist1 which ,i had never noticed before4 ,it was like a grand old man1 with white hair and mighty limbs1 who looked as old as the hill itself1 but yet as if he were as young now as he ever had been2 and at his feet were a pickaxe and spade1 and at his side a scythe4 ,but great and solemn as it looked1 ,i felt that the figure was not a man1 and ,i was angry with it4 ,why should it come in with its great pitiful eyes and smile8 ,why were my brothers and sisters1 the men and women1 to fade away before it8 8,the labor that a man doeth under the sun1 it is all vanity4 ,prince and peasant1 the wise man and the fool they all come to me at last and ,i garner them away1 and their place knows them no more60 ,so the figure seemed to say to itself1 and ,i felt melancholy as ,i watched it sitting there at rest1 playing with the fading figures4 ,at last it placed one of the little figures on its knee1 half in mockery1 as it seemed to me1 and half in sorrow4 ,but then all changed2 and the great figure began to fade1 and the small man came out clearer and clearer4 ,and he took no heed of his great neighbor1 but rested there where he was placed2 and his face was quiet1 and full of life as he gazed steadily and earnestly through the mist4 ,and the other figures came flitting by again and chanted as they passed1 8,the work of one true man is greater than all thy work4 ,thou hast nought but a seeming power over it1 or over him4 ,every true man is greater than thee4 ,every true man shall conquer more than thee2 for he shall triumph over death1 and hell1 and thee1 oh1 ,time60 ,,xxii4 ,the strain and burden of a great message of deliverance to men has again and again found the weak places in the faith and courage of the most devoted and heroic of those to whom it has been entrusted4 ,moses pleads under its pressure that another may be sent in his place1 asking despairingly1 8,why hast thou sent me80 ,elijah prays for death4 ,mohammed passes years of despondency and hesitation under the sneers of those who scoff1 8,there goeth the son of ,abdallah1 who hath his converse with ,god60 ,such shrinkings and doubtings enlist our sympathy1 make us feel the tie of a common humanity which binds us to such men4 ,but no one1 ,i suppose1 will maintain that perfect manliness would not suppress1 at any rate1 the open expression of any such feelings4 ,the man who has to lead a great revolution should keep all misgivings to himself1 and the weight of them so kept must often prove the sorest part of his burden4 ,,xxiii4 ,we have most of us1 at one time or another of our lives1 passed through trying ordeals1 the memory of which we can by no means dwell on with pleasure4 ,times they were of blinding and driving storm1 and howling winds1 out of which voices as of evil spirits spoke close in our ears--tauntingly1 temptingly1 whispering to the mischievous wild beast which lurks in the bottom of all our hearts--now1 8,rouse up6 art thou a man and darest not do this thing20 now1 8,rise1 kill and eat--it is thine1 wilt thou not take it8 ,shall the flimsy scruples of this teacher1 or the sanctified cant of that1 bar thy way and balk thee of thine own8 ,thou hast strength to have them--to brave all things in earth or heaven1 or hell2 put out thy strength1 and be a man60 ,then did not the wild beast within us shake itself1 and feel its power1 sweeping away all the 8,thou shalt nots10 which the ,law wrote up before us in letters of fire1 with the 8,i will0 of hardy1 godless1 self-assertion8 ,and all the while1 which alone made the storm really dreadful to us1 was there not the still small voice1 never to be altogether silenced by the roarings of the tempest of passion1 by the evil voices1 by our own violent attempts to stifle it2--the still small voice appealing to the man1 the true man1 within us1 which is made in the image of ,god1 calling on him to assert his dominion over the wild beast--to obey1 and conquer1 and live4 ,aye6 and though we may have followed other voices1 have we not1 while following them1 confessed in our hearts that all true strength1 and nobleness1 and manliness was to be found in the other path4 ,do ,i say that most of us have had to tread this path and fight this battle8 ,surely ,i might have said all of us2 all1 at least1 who have passed the bright days of their boyhood4 ,the clear and keen intellect no less than the dull and heavy2 the weak1 the cold1 the nervous1 no less than the strong and passionate of body4 ,the arms and the field have been divers--can have been the same1 ,i suppose1 to no two men1 but the battle must have been the same to all4 ,one here and there may have had a foretaste of it as a boy2 but it is the young man's battle1 and not the boy's1 thank ,god for it6 ,that most hateful and fearful of all relatives1 call it by what name we will--self1 the natural man1 the old ,adam--must have risen up before each of us in early manhood1 if not sooner1 challenging the true man within us1 to which the ,spirit of ,god is speaking1 to a struggle for life or death4 ,gird yourself1 then1 for the fight1 my young brother1 and take up the pledge which was made for you when you were a helpless child4 ,this world1 and all others1 time and eternity1 for you hang upon the issue4 ,this enemy must be met and vanquished--not finally1 for no man while on earth1 ,i suppose1 can say that he is slain2 but1 when once known and recognized1 met and vanquished he must be1 by ,god's help1 in this and that encounter1 before you can be truly called a man2 before you can really enjoy any one even of this world's good things4 ,,xxiv4 ,in the course of my inquiries on the subject of muscular ,christians1 their works and ways1 a fact has forced itself on my attention1 which1 for the sake of ingenious youth1 ought not to be passed over4 ,i find then1 that1 side by side with these muscular ,christians1 and apparently claiming some sort of connection with them 7the same concern1 as the pirates of trade-marks say7 have risen up another set of persons1 against whom ,i desire to caution my readers4 ,i must call the persons in question 8musclemen10 as distinguished from muscular ,christians2 the only point in common between the two being that both hold it to be a good thing to have strong and well-exercised bodies1 ready to be put at the shortest notice to any work of which bodies are capable1 and to do it well4 ,here all likeness ends2 for the 8muscleman0 seems to have no belief whatever as to the purposes for which his body has been given him1 except some hazy idea that it is to go up and down the world with him1 belaboring men and captivating women for his benefit or pleasure1 at once the servant and fomenter of those fierce and brutal passions which he seems to think it a necessity1 and rather a fine thing than otherwise1 to indulge and obey4 ,whereas1 so far as ,i know1 the least of the muscular ,christians has hold of the old chivalrous and ,christian belief1 that a man's body is given him to be trained and brought into subjection1 and then used for the protection of the weak1 the advancement of all righteous causes1 and the subduing of the earth which ,god has given to the children of men4 ,he does not hold that mere strength or activity are in themselves worthy of any respect or worship1 or that one man is a bit better than another because he can knock him down1 or carry a bigger sack of potatoes than he4 ,for mere power1 whether of body or intellect1 he has 7,i hope and believe7 no reverence whatever1 though1 cteris paribus1 he would probably himself1 as a matter of taste prefer the man who can lift a hundred-weight round his head with his little finger to the man who can construct a string of perfect ,sorites4 ,,xxv4 ,as a rule1 the more thoroughly disciplined and fit a man may be for any really great work1 the more conscious will he be of his own unfitness for it1 the more distrustful of himself1 the more anxious not to thrust himself forward4 ,it is only the zeal of the half-instructed when the hour of a great deliverance has come at last--of those who have had a glimpse of the glory of the goal1 but have never known or counted the perils of the path which leads to it--which is ready with the prompt response1 8,yes--we can drink of the cup1 we can be baptized with the baptism40 ,,xxvi4 ,how can we be ever on the watch for the evil which is so near us8 ,we cannot2 but one is with us1 is in us1 who can and will1 if we will let him4 ,men found this out in the old time1 and have felt it and known it ever since4 ,three thousand years ago this truth dawned upon the old ,psalmist1 and struck him with awe4 ,he struggled with it2 he tried to escape from it1 but in vain4 8,whither shall ,i go10 he says 8from thy ,spirit8 or whither shall ,i flee from thy presence8 ,if ,i ascend up into heaven1 thou art there3 if ,i make my bed in hell1 behold thou art there4 ,if ,i take the wings of the morning1 and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea2 even there shall thy hand lead me1 and thy right hand shall hold me40 ,is any of us stronger or wiser than the ,psalmist8 ,is there any place for us to flee to1 which was not open to him8 ,my brethren1 had we not better make up our minds to accept and acknowledge the truth1 to which our own consciences bear witness1 that not only in heaven1 and in hell1 and in the uttermost parts of sea and earth1 ,he is present1 but that in the inmost recesses of our own hearts there is no escape from his ,spirit--that ,he is there also1 sustaining us1 pleading with us1 punishing us4 ,we know it by the regret we feel for time wasted and opportunities neglected2 by the loathing coming back to us1 time after time1 for our every untrue1 or mean thought1 word1 or deed2 by every longing after truth1 and righteousness1 and purity1 which stirs our sluggish souls4 ,by all these things1 and in a thousand other ways1 we feel it1 we know it4 ,let us1 then1 own this and give ourselves up to his guidance4 ,at first it will be hard work2 our will and spirits will be like a lump of ice in a man's hand1 which yields but slowly to the warm pressure4 ,but do not despair2 throw yourselves on his guidance1 and he will guide you1 he will hide you under his wings1 you shall be safe under his feathers1 his faithfulness and truth shall be your shield and buckler4 ,the ice will melt into water1 and the water will lie there in the hollow of the hand1 moving at the slightest motion1 obeying every impulse which is given to it4 ,my brethren1 the ,spirit of ,god which is in every one of us--the spirit of truth and love unchangeable--will take possession of our spirits1 if we will but let him1 and turn our whole lives into the lives of children of ,god1 and joint-heirs of heaven with his ,son4 ,,xxvii4 8,as the world was plastic and fluid in the hands of ,god1 so it is ever to so much of his attributes as we bring to it10 may be a startling saying of ,mr4 ,emerson's1 but is one which commends itself to our experience and reason1 if we only consult them honestly4 ,let us take the most obvious examples of this law4 ,look at the relations of man to the brute creation4 ,one of us shall have no difficulty in making friends of beasts and birds1 while another excites their dread and hate1 so that even dogs will scarcely come near him4 ,there is no need to go back to the traditions of the hermits in the ,thebaid1 or ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 for instances of the former class4 ,we all know the story of ,cowper and his three hares1 from his exquisite letters and poem1 and most of you must have read1 or heard of the terms on which ,waterton lived with the birds and beasts in his ,yorkshire home1 and of ,thoreau1 unable to get rid of wild squirrels and birds who would come and live with him1 or from a boat1 taking fish which lay quietly in his hand till he chose to put them back again into the stream4 ,but ,i suppose there is scarcely one of us who has not himself seen such instances again and again1 persons of whom the old words seemed literally true1 8,at destruction and famine thou shalt laugh2 neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth4 ,for thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field1 and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee40 ,i remember myself several such2 a boy who was friends even with rats1 stoats1 and snakes1 and generally had one or other of them in his pockets2 a groom upon whose shoulders the pigeons used to settle1 and nestle against his cheeks1 whenever he went out into the stable-yard or field4 ,is there any reasonable way of accounting for this8 ,only one1 ,i think1 which is1 that those who have this power over1 and attraction for1 animals1 have always felt toward them and treated them as their ,maker intended--have unconsciously1 perhaps1 but still faithfully1 followed ,god's mind in their dealings with his creatures1 and so have stood in true relations to them all1 and have found the beasts of the field at peace with them4 ,in the same way the stones of the field are in league with the geologist1 the trees and flowers with the botanist1 the component parts of earth and air with the chemist1 just in so far as each1 consciously or unconsciously1 follows ,god's methods with them--each part of his creation yielding up its secrets and its treasures to the open mind of the humble and patient1 who is also at bottom always the most courageous learner4 ,,xxviii4 ,what is true of each of us beyond all question--what every man who walks with open eyes and open heart knows to be true of himself--must be true also of ,christ4 ,and so1 though we may reject the stories of the clay birds1 which he modeled as a child1 taking wing and bursting into song round him1 7as on a par with ,st4 ,francis' address to his sisters1 the swallows1 at ,alvia1 or the flocks in the marshes of ,venice1 who thereupon kept silence from their twitterings and songs till his sermon was finished71 we cannot doubt that in proportion as ,christ was more perfectly in sympathy with ,god's creation than any medival saint1 or modern naturalist1 or man of science1 he had more power than they with all created things from his earliest youth4 ,nor could it be otherwise with the hearts and wills of men4 ,over these we know that1 from that time to this1 he has exercised a supreme sway1 infinitely more wonderful than that over birds and beasts1 because of man's power of resistance to the will ,christ came to teach and to do1 which exists1 so far as we can see1 in no other part of creation4 ,i think1 then1 it is impossible to resist the conclusion that he must have had all these powers from his childhood1 that they must have been growing stronger from day to day1 and he1 at the same time1 more and more conscious of possessing them1 not to use on any impulse of curiosity or self-will1 but only as the voice within prompted4 ,and it seems the most convincing testimony to his perfect sonship1 manifested in perfect obedience1 that he should never have tested his powers during those thirty years as he did at once and with perfect confidence as soon as the call came4 ,had he done so his ministry must have commenced sooner2 that is to say1 before the method was matured by which he was to reconstruct1 and lift into a new atmosphere and on to a higher plane1 the faith and life of his own nation and of the whole world4 ,for it is impossible to suppose that the works which he did1 and the words he spoke1 at thirty--which at once threw all ,galilee and ,judea into a ferment of hope and joy and doubt and anger--should have passed unnoticed had they been wrought and spoken when he was twenty4 ,here1 as in all else1 he waited for ,god's mind3 and so1 when the time for action came1 worked with the power of ,god4 ,and this waiting and preparation must have been the supreme trial of his faith4 ,the holding this position must have been1 in those early years1 the holding of the very centre of the citadel in man's soul1 7as ,bunyan so quaintly terms it71 against which the assaults of the tempter must have been delivered again and again while the garrison was in training for the victorious march out into the open field of the great world1 carrying forth the standard which shall never go back4 ,and while it may be readily admitted that ,christ wielded a dominion over all created things1 as well as over man1 which no other human being has ever approached1 it seems to me to be going quite beyond what can be proved1 or even fairly assumed1 to speak of his miracles as supernatural1 in the sense that no man has ever done1 or can ever do1 the like4 ,the evidence is surely all the other way1 and seems rather to indicate that if we could only have lived up to the standard which we acknowledge in our inmost hearts to be the true one--could only have obeyed every motion and warning of the voice of ,god speaking in our hearts from the day when we first became conscious of and could hear it--if1 in other words1 our wills had from the first been disciplined1 like the will of ,christ1 so as to be in perfect accord with the will of ,god--,i see no reason to doubt that we1 too1 should have gained the power and the courage to show signs1 or1 if you please1 to work miracles1 as ,christ and his ,apostles worked them4 ,,xxix4 ,christ's whole life on earth was the assertion and example of true manliness--the setting forth in living act and word what man is meant to be1 and how he should carry himself in this world of ,god's--one long campaign1 in which 8the temptation0 stands out as the first great battle and victory4 ,the story has depths in it which we can never fathom1 but also clear1 sharp lessons which he who runs may read1 and no man can master too thoroughly4 ,we must follow him reverently into the wilderness1 where he flies from the crowds who are pressing to the ,baptist1 and who to-morrow will be thronging around him1 if he goes back among them1 after what the ,baptist has said about him to-day4 ,day after day in the wilderness the struggle goes on in his heart4 ,he is faint from insufficient food in those solitudes1 and with bodily weakness the doubts grow in strength and persistence1 and the tempter is always at his side1 soliciting him to end them once for all1 by one act of self-assertion4 ,all those questionings and misgivings as to his origin and mission which we have pictured to ourselves as haunting him ever since his first visit to ,jerusalem1 are now1 as it were1 focussed4 ,there are mocking voices whispering again as of old1 but more scornfully and keenly in his ear1 8,are you really the ,messiah1 the ,son of ,god1 so long looked for8 ,what more proof have you to go upon than you have had for these many years1 during which you have been living as a poor peasant in a ,galilean village8 ,the word of this wild man of the wilderness8 ,he is your own cousin1 and a powerful preacher no doubt1 but a wayward1 wilful man1 clad and fed like a madman1 who has been nursing mad fancies from his boyhood1 away from the holy city1 the centre of national life and learning4 ,this sign of a descending dove1 and a voice which no one has heard but yourself8 ,such signs come to many--are never wanting when men are ready to deceive themselves--and each man's fancy gives them a different meaning4 ,but the words1 and the sign1 and the voice1 you say1 only meet a conviction which has been growing these thirty years in your own heart and conscience8 ,well1 then1 at least for the sake of others if not for your own sake1 put this conviction to the proof1 here1 at once1 and make sure yourself1 before you go forth and deceive poor men1 your brethren1 to their ruin4 ,you are famishing here in the wilderness4 ,this1 at least1 cannot be what ,god intends for his ,son1 who is to redeem the world4 ,exercise some control over the meanest part of your ,father's kingdom4 ,command these stones to become bread1 and see whether they will obey you4 ,cast yourself down from this height4 ,if you are what you think1 your ,father's angels will bear you up4 ,then1 after they have borne you up1 you may go on with some reasonable assurance that your claim is not a mere delusion1 and that you will not be leading these poor men whom you call your brethren to misery and destruction40 ,and when neither long fasting and weakness1 or natural doubt1 distrust1 impatience1 or the most subtle suggestions of the tempter1 can move his simple trust in his ,father1 or wring from him one act of self-assertion1 the enemy changes front and the assault comes from another quarter4 8,you may be right10 the voices seemed now to be saying2 8,you may not be deceived1 or dreaming1 when you claim to be the ,son of ,god1 sent to redeem this fair world1 which is now spread out before you in all its glory4 ,that may be your origin1 and that your work4 ,but1 living as you have done till now in a remote corner of a despised province1 you have no experience or knowledge of the methods or powers which sway men1 and establish and maintain these kingdoms of the world1 the glory of which you are beholding4 ,these methods and powers have been in use in your ,father's world1 if it be his1 ever since man has known good from evil4 ,you have only to say the word1 and you may use and control these methods and powers as you please4 ,by their aid you may possibly #8see of the travail of your soul and be satisfied2' without them you will redeem nothing but perhaps a man here and there--without them you will postpone instead of hastening the coming of your ,father's kingdom1 to the sorrow and ruin of many generations1 and will die a foiled and lonely man1 crushed by the very forces you have refused to use for your ,father's service4 ,if they were wholly evil1 wholly unfit for the fulfillment of any purpose of his1 would he have left them in command of his world till this day8 ,it is only through them that the world can be subdued4 ,your time is short1 and you have already wasted much of it1 standing shivering on the brink1 and letting the years slip by in that cottage at ,nazareth4 ,the wisest of your ancestors acknowledged and used them1 and spread ,his kingdom from the river to the ,great ,sea4 ,why should you reject them80 ,this1 very roughly and inadequately stated1 is some shadow of the utmost part1 or skirt as it were1 of the trial-crisis1 lasting forty days1 through which ,christ passed from his private to his public career4 ,for forty days the struggle lasted before he could finally realize and accept his mission with all that it implied4 ,at the end of that time he has fairly mastered and beaten down every doubt as to his call1 every tempting suggestion to assert himself1 or to accept or use any aid in establishing his ,father's kingdom which does not clearly bear his ,father's stamp and seal on the face of it4 ,in the strength of this victory he returns from the desert1 to take up the burden which has been laid on him1 and to set up ,god's kingdom in the world by the methods which he has learned of ,god himself--and by no other4 ,,xxx4 ,the second period of our ,lord's ministry is one1 in the main1 of joyful progress and triumph1 in which the test of true manliness must be more subtle than when the surroundings are hostile4 ,it consists1 ,i think1 at such times1 in the careful watchfulness not to give wrong impressions1 not to mislead those who are touched by enthusiasm1 conscious of new life1 grateful to him who has kindled that life in them4 ,it is then that the temptation to be all things to all men in a wrong sense--to adapt and accommodate teaching and life to a lower standard in order to maintain a hold upon the masses of average men and women who have been moved by the words of lips touched by fire from the altar of ,god--has generally proved too much for the best and strongest of the world's great reformers4 ,it is scarcely necessary to elaborate this point1 which would1 ,i think1 be sorrowfully admitted by those who have studied most lovingly and carefully the lives of such men1 for instance1 as ,savonarola or ,wesley4 ,if you will refer to a valuable work on the life of a greater than either of these1 ,mr4 ,bosworth ,smith's 8,mohammed and ,mohammedanism10 you will find there perhaps the best illustration which ,i can give you of this sad experience4 ,when ,mohammed returns from ,medina1 sweeping at last all enemies out of his path1 as the prophet of a new faith1 and the leader of an awakened and repentant people1 his biographer pauses to notice the lowering of the standard1 both in his life and teaching4 ,power1 he pleads1 brings with it new temptations and new failures4 ,the more thoroughly a man is carried away by his inspiration1 and convinced of the truth and goodness of his cause and his message1 the more likely is he to forget the means in the end1 and to allow the end to justify whatever means seem to lead to its triumph4 ,he must maintain as he can1 and by any means1 his power over the motley mass of followers that his mission has gathered round him1 and will be apt to aim rather at what will hold them than at what will satisfy the highest promptings of his own conscience4 ,we may allow the plea in such cases1 though with sorrow and humiliation4 ,but the more minutely we examine the life of ,christ the more we shall feel that here there is no place for it4 ,we shall be impressed with the entire absence of any such bending to expediency1 or forgetting the means in the end4 ,he never for one moment accommodates his life or teaching to any standard but the highest3 never lowers or relaxes that standard by a shade or a hair's-breadth1 to make the road easy to rich or powerful questioners1 or to uphold the spirit of his poorer followers when they are startled and uneasy1 as they begin half-blindly to recognize what spirit they are of4 ,this unbending truthfulness is1 then1 what we have chiefly to look for in this period of triumphant progress and success1 questioning each act and word in turn whether there is any swerving in it from the highest ideal4 ,,xxxi4 ,we may note that our ,lord accepts at once the imprisonment of the ,baptist as the final call to himself4 ,gathering1 therefore1 a few of ,john's disciples round him1 and welcoming the restless inquiring crowds who had been roused by the voice crying in the wilderness1 he stands forward at once to proclaim and explain the nature of that new kingdom of ,god1 which has now to be set up in the world4 ,standing forth alone1 on the open hillside1 the young ,galilean peasant gives forth the great proclamation1 which by one effort lifted mankind on to that new and higher ground on which it has been painfully struggling ever since1 but on the whole with sure though slow success1 to plant itself and maintain sure foothold4 ,in all history there is no parallel to it4 ,it stands there1 a miracle or sign of ,god's reign in this world1 far more wonderful than any of ,christ's miracles of healing4 ,unbelievers have been sneering at and ridiculing it1 and ,christian doctors paring and explaining it away ever since4 ,but there it stands1 as strong and fresh as ever1 the calm declaration and witness of what mankind is intended by ,god to become on this earth of his4 ,as a question of courageous utterance1 ,i would only ask you to read it through once more1 bearing in mind who the preacher was--a peasant1 already repudiated by his own neighbors and kinsfolk1 and suspected by the national rulers and teachers2 and who were the hearers--a motley crowd of ,jewish peasants and fishermen1 ,romish legionaries1 traders from ,damascus1 ,tyre1 and ,sidon1 and the distant isles of ,greece1 with a large sprinkling of publicans1 scribes1 ,pharisees1 and lawyers4 ,the immediate result of the sermon was to bow the hearts of this crowd for the time1 so that he was able to choose followers from amongst them1 much as he would4 ,he takes fishermen and peasants1 selecting only two at most1 from any rank above the lowest1 and one of these from a class more hated and despised by the ,jews than the poorest peasant1 the publicans4 ,it is plain that he might at first have called apostles from amongst the upper classes had he desired it--as a teacher with any want of courage would surely have done4 ,but the only scribe who offers himself is rejected4 ,the calling of the ,apostles is followed by a succession of discourses and miracles1 which move the people more and more1 until1 after that of the loaves1 the popular enthusiasm rises to the point it had so often reached in the case of other preachers and leaders of this strange people4 ,they are ready to take him by force and make him a king4 ,the ,apostles apparently encouraged this enthusiasm1 for which he constrains them into a ship1 and sends them away before him4 ,after rejoining them and rebuking their want of understanding and faith1 he returns with them to the multitudes1 and at once speaks of himself as the bread from heaven1 in the discourse which offends many of his disciples1 who from this time go back and walk no more with him4 ,the brief season of triumphant progress is drawing to an end1 during which he could rejoice in spirit in contemplating the human harvest which he and his disciples seem to be already successfully garnering4 ,,xxxii4 ,the more carefully we study the long wrestle of ,christ with the blind leaders of a doomed nation1 the more we shall recognize the perfect truthfulness1 and therefore the perfect courage1 which marks his conduct of it4 ,from beginning to end there is no word or act which can mislead friend or foe4 ,the strife1 though for life and death1 has left no trace or stain on his nature4 ,fresh from the last and final conflict in the temple court1 he can pause on the side of ,olivet to weep over the city1 the sight of which can still wring from him the pathetic yearnings of a soul purified from all taint of bitterness4 ,it is this most tender and sensitive of the sons of men--with fibres answering to every touch and breath of human sympathy or human hate--who has borne with absolutely unshaken steadfastness the distrust and anger of kinsfolk1 the ingratitude of converts1 the blindness of disciples1 the fitful and purblind worship and hatred1 and fear1 of the nation of the ,jews4 ,so far1 we can estimate to some extent the burden and the strain1 and realize the strength and beauty of the spirit which could bear it all4 ,beyond and behind lie depths into which we can but glance4 ,for in those last hours of his life on earth the question was to be decided whether we men have in deed and truth a brotherhood1 in a ,son of ,man1 the head of humanity1 who has united mankind to their ,father1 and can enable them to know him4 ,,xxxiii4 ,it is around the life of the ,son of ,man and ,son of ,god that the fiercest controversies of our time are raging4 ,is it not also becoming clearer every day that they will continue to rage more and more fiercely--that there can be no rest or peace possible for mankind--until all things are subdued to him1 and brought into harmony with his life8 ,it is to this work that all churches and sects1 that all the leading nations of the world1 known collectively as ,christendom1 are pledged3 and the time for redeeming that pledge is running out rapidly1 as the distress and perplexity1 the threatening disruption and anarchy of ,christendom too clearly show4 ,it is to this work too that you and ,i1 every man and woman of us1 are also called2 and if we would go about it with any hope and courage1 it can only be by keeping the life of ,christ vividly before us day by day1 and turning to it as to a fountain in the desert1 as to the shadow of a great rock in a weary land4 ,from behind the shadow the still small voice--more awful than tempest or earthquake--more sure and persistent than day and night--is always sounding1 full of hope and strength to the weariest of us all1 8,be of good cheer1 ,i have overcome the world40 ,,xxxiv4 ,nicodemus was a leading member of the ,sanhedrim1 a representative of that section of the rulers who1 like the rest of the nation1 were expecting a deliverer1 a king who should prevail against the ,csar4 ,they had sent to the ,baptist1 and had heard of his testimony to the young ,galilean1 who had now come to ,jerusalem1 and was showing signs of a power which they could not but acknowledge4 ,for1 had he not cleansed the temple1 which they had never been able to do1 but1 notwithstanding their pretended reverence for it1 had allowed to be turned into a shambles and an exchange8 ,they saw that a part of the people were ready to gather to him1 but that he had refused to commit himself to them4 ,this1 then1 the best of them must have felt1 was no mere leader of a low1 fierce1 popular party or faction4 ,nicodemus at any rate was evidently inclined to doubt whether he might not prove to be the king they were looking for1 as the ,baptist had declared4 ,the doubt must be solved1 and he would see for himself4 ,and so he comes to ,christ1 and hears directly from him1 that he has indeed come to set up a kingdom1 but that it is no visible kingdom like the ,csars'1 but a kingdom over men's spirits1 one in which rulers as well as peasants must become new men before they can enter--that a light has come into the world1 and 8he that doeth truth cometh to that light40 ,from beginning to end there is no word to catch this ruler1 or those he represented2 no balancing of phrases or playing with plausible religious shibboleths1 with which ,nicodemus would be familiar1 and which might please1 and perchance reconcile this well-disposed ruler1 and the powerful persons he represented4 ,there is1 depend upon it1 no severer test of manliness than our behavior to powerful persons1 whose aid would advance the cause we have at heart4 ,we know from the later records that the interview of that night1 and the strange words he had heard at it1 made a deep impression on this ruler4 ,his manliness1 however1 breaks down for the present4 ,he shrinks back and disappears1 leaving the strange young peasant to go on his way4 ,the same splendid directness and incisiveness characterize his teaching at ,samaria4 ,there1 again1 ,he attacks at once the most cherished local traditions1 showing that the place of worship matters nothing1 the object of worship everything4 ,that object is a ,father of men's spirits1 who wills that all men shall know and worship him1 but who can only be worshipped in spirit and in truth4 ,he1 the peasant who is talking to them1 is himself the ,messiah1 who has come from this ,father of them and him1 to give them this spirit of truth in their own hearts4 ,the ,jews at ,jerusalem had been clamoring round him for signs of his claim to speak such words1 and in the next few days his own people would be crying out for his blood when they heard them4 ,these ,samaritans make no such demand1 but hear and recognize the message and the messenger4 ,the seed is sown and he passes on1 never to return and garner the harvest2 deliberately preferring the hard1 priest-ridden lake-cities of the ,jews as the centre of his ministry4 ,he will leave ripe fields for others to reap4 ,this decision1 interpret it as we will1 is that of no soft or timid reformer4 ,take this test and compare ,christ's choice of his first field for work with that of any other great leader of men4 ,,xxxv4 ,happy is the man who is able to follow straight on1 though often wearily and painfully1 in the tracks of the divine ideal who stood by his side in his youth1 though sadly conscious of weary lengths of way1 of gulfs and chasms1 which since those days have come to stretch between him and his ideal--of the difference between the man ,god meant him to be--of the manhood he thought he saw so clearly in those early days--and the man he and the world together managed to make of him4 ,i say1 happy is that man4 ,i had almost said that no other than he is happy in any true or noble sense1 even in this hard materialistic nineteenth century1 when the faith1 that the weak must go to the wall1 that the strong alone are to survive1 prevails as it never did before--which on the surface seems specially to be organized for the destruction of ideals and the quenching of enthusiasms4 ,i feel deeply the responsibility of making any assertion on so moot a point2 nevertheless1 even in our materialistic age1 ,i must urge you all1 as you would do good work in the world1 to take your stand resolutely and once for all1 and all your lives through1 on the side of the idealists4 ,,xxxvi4 ,he who has the clearest and intensest vision of what is at issue in the great battle of life1 and who quits himself in it most manfully1 will be the first to acknowledge that for him there has been no approach to victory except by the faithful doing day by day of the work which lay at his own threshold4 ,on the other hand1 the universal experience of mankind--the dreary confession of those who have merely sought a 8low thing10 and 8gone on adding one to one20 making that the aim and object of their lives--unite in warning us that on these lines no true victory can be had1 either for the man himself or for the cause he was sent into the world to maintain4 ,no1 there is no victory possible without humility and magnanimity2 and no humility or magnanimity possible without an ideal4 ,now there is not one amongst us all who has not heard the call in his own heart to put aside all evil habits1 and to live a brave1 simple1 truthful life4 ,it is no modern1 no ,christian experience1 this4 ,the choice of ,hercules1 and numberless other ,pagan stories1 the witness of nearly all histories and all literatures1 attest that it is an experience common to all our race4 ,it is of it that the poet is thinking in those fine lines of ,emerson which are written up in the ,hall of ,marlborough ,college3 8,so close is glory to our dust1 ,so near is ,god to man-- ,when duty whispers low1 #8thou must1' ,the youth replies1 #8,i can4'0 ,it is this whisper1 this call1 which is the ground of what ,i have1 for want of a better name1 been speaking of as idealism4 ,just in so far as one listens to and welcomes it he is becoming an idealist--one who is rising out of himself1 and into direct contact and communion with spiritual influences1 which even when he shrinks from them1 and tries to put them aside1 he feels and knows to be as real--to be more real than all influences coming to him from the outside world--one who is bent on bringing himself and the world into obedience to these spiritual influences4 ,if he turns to meet the call and answers ever so feebly and hesitatingly1 it becomes clearer and stronger4 ,he will feel next1 that just in so far as he is becoming loyal to it he is becoming loyal to his brethren3 that he must not only build his own life up in conformity with its teaching1 must not only find or cut his own way straight to what is fair and true and noble1 but must help on those who are around him and will come after him1 and make the path easier and plainer for them also4 ,i have indicated in outline1 in a few sentences1 a process which takes a life-time to work out4 ,you all know too1 alas6 even those who have already listened most earnestly to the voice1 and followed most faithfully1 how many influences there are about you and within you which stand across the first steps in the path1 and bar your progress2 which are forever dwarfing and distorting the ideal you are painfully struggling after1 and appealing to the cowardice and laziness and impurity which are in every one of us1 to thwart obedience to the call4 ,but here1 as elsewhere1 it is the first step which costs1 and tells4 ,he who has once taken that1 consciously and resolutely1 has gained a vantage-ground for all his life4 ,,xxxvii4 ,our race on both sides of the ,atlantic has1 for generations1 got and spent money faster than any other1 and this spendthrift habit has had a baleful effect on ,english life4 ,it has made it more and more feverish and unsatisfying4 ,the standard of expenditure has been increasing by leaps and bounds1 and demoralizing trade1 society1 every industry1 and every profession until a false ideal has established itself1 and the aim of life is too commonly to get1 not to be1 while men are valued more and more for what they have1 not for what they are4 ,the reaction has1 ,i trust1 set in4 ,but the reign of ,mammon will be hard to put down1 and all wholesome influences which can be brought to bear upon that evil stronghold will be sorely needed4 ,i say1 deliberately1 that no man can gauge the value1 at this present critical time1 of a steady stream of young men1 flowing into all professions and all industries1 who have learnt resolutely to speak in a society such as ours1 8,i can't afford20 who have been trained to have few wants and to serve these themselves1 so that they may have always something to spare of power and of means to help others2 who are 8careless of the comfits and cushions of life10 and content to leave them to the valets of all ranks4 ,and take my word for it1 while such young men will be doing a great work for their country1 and restoring an ideal which has all but faded out1 they will be taking the surest road to all such success as becomes honest men to achieve1 in whatever walk of life they may choose for themselves4 ,,xxxviii4 ,the first aim for your time and your generation should be1 to foster1 each in yourselves1 a simple and self-denying life--your ideal to be a true and useful one1 must have these two characteristics before all others4 ,of course purity1 courage1 truthfulness are as absolutely necessary as ever1 without them there can be no ideal at all4 ,but as each age and each country has its own special needs and weaknesses1 so the best mind of its youth should be bent on serving where the need is sorest1 and bringing strength to the weak places4 ,there will be always crowds ready to fall in with the dapper1 pliant ways which lead most readily to success in every community4 ,society has been said to be 8always and everywhere in conspiracy against the true manhood of every one of its members10 and the saying1 though bitter1 contains a sad truth4 ,so the faithful idealist will have to learn1 without arrogance and with perfect good temper1 to treat society as a child1 and never to allow it to dictate4 ,so treated1 society will surely come round to those who have a high ideal before them1 and therefore firm ground under their feet4 8,coy ,hebe flies from those that woo ,and shuns the hand would seize upon her2 ,live thou thy life1 and she will sue1 ,to pour for thee the cup of honor40 ,let me say a word or two more on this business of success4 ,is it not1 after all1 the test of true and faithful work8 ,must it not be the touchstone of the humble and magnanimous1 as well as of the self-asserting and ambitious8 ,undoubtedly2 but here again we have to note that what passes with society for success1 and is so labeled by public opinion1 may well be1 as often as not actually is1 a bad kind of failure4 ,public opinion in our day has1 for instance1 been jubilant over the success of those who have started in life penniless and have made large fortunes4 ,indeed1 this particular class of self-made men is the one which we have been of late invited to honor4 ,before doing so1 however1 we shall have to ask with some care1 and bearing in mind ,emerson's warnings1 by what method the fortune has been made4 ,the rapid accumulation of national wealth in ,england can scarcely be called a success by any one who studies the methods by which it has been made1 and its effects on the national character4 ,it may be otherwise with this or that millionaire1 but each case must be judged on its own merits4 ,,xxxix4 ,i remember hearing1 years ago1 of an old merchant who1 on his death-bed1 divided the results of long years of labor1 some few hundreds in all1 amongst his sons4 8,it is little enough1 my boys10 were almost his last words1 8but there isn't a dirty shilling in the whole of it40 ,he had been a successful man too1 though not in the 8self-made0 sense4 ,for his ideal had been1 not to make money1 but to keep clean hands4 ,and he had been faithful to it4 ,,xl4 ,in reading the stories of many persons whom the ,english nation is invited to honor1 ,i am generally struck with the predominance of the personal element4 ,the key-note seems generally some resolve taken in early youth connected with their own temporal advancement4 ,this one will be ,lord ,mayor2 this other ,prime ,minister2 a third determines to own a fine estate near the place of his birth1 a fourth to become head of the business in which he started as an errand-boy4 ,they did indeed achieve their ends1 were faithful to the idea they had set before themselves as boys2 but ,i doubt if we can put them anywhere but in the lower school of idealists4 ,for the predominant motive being self-assertion1 their idealism seems never to have got past the personal stage1 which at best is but a poor business as compared with the true thing4 ,,xli4 ,christ is the great idealist4 8,be ye perfect as your ,father in heaven is perfect10 is the ideal he sets before us--the only one which is permanent and all-sufficing4 ,his own spirit communing with ours is the call which comes to every human being4 ,,xlii4 ,blessed is the man who has the gift of making friends2 for it is one of ,god's best gifts4 ,it involves many things1 but above all1 the power of going out of one's self1 and seeing and appreciating whatever is noble and living in another man4 ,but1 even to him who has the gift1 it is often a great puzzle to find out whether a man is really a friend or not4 ,the following is recommended as a test in the case of any man about whom you are not quite sure2 especially if he should happen to have more of this world's goods1 either in the shape of talents1 rank1 money1 or what not1 than you3 ,fancy the man stripped stark naked of every thing in the world1 except an old pair of trousers and a shirt1 for decency's sake1 without even a name to him1 and dropped down in the middle of ,holborn or ,piccadilly4 ,would you go up to him then and there1 and lead him out from among the cabs and omnibuses1 and take him to your own home1 and feed him1 and clothe him1 and stand by him against all the world1 to your last sovereign and your last leg-of-mutton8 ,if you wouldn't do this1 you have no right to call him by the sacred name of friend4 ,if you would1 the odds are that he would do the same by you1 and you may count yourself a rich man2 for1 probably1 were friendship expressible by1 or convertible into current coin of the realm1 one such friend would be worth to a man at least #ajj1jjj4 ,how many millionaires are there in ,england8 ,i can't even guess2 but more by a good many1 ,i fear1 than there are men who have ten real friends4 ,but friendship is not so expressible or convertible4 ,it is more precious than wisdom1 and wisdom 8can not be gotten for gold1 nor shall rubies be mentioned in comparison thereof40 ,not all the riches that ever came out of earth and sea are worth the assurance of one such real abiding friendship in your heart of hearts4 ,but for the worth of a friendship commonly so called--meaning thereby a sentiment founded on the good dinners1 good stories1 opera stalls1 and days' shooting1 you have gotten or hope to get out of a man1 the snug things in his gift1 and his powers of procuring enjoyment of one kind or another to your miserable body or intellect--why1 such a friendship as that is to be appraised easily enough1 if you find it worth your while2 but you will have to pay your pound of flesh for it one way or another--you may take your oath of that4 ,if you follow my advice1 you will take a #aj note down1 and retire to your crust of bread and liberty4 ,,xliii4 ,the idea of entertaining1 of being hospitable1 is a pleasant and fascinating one to most young men2 but the act soon gets to be a bore to all but a few curiously constituted individuals4 ,with these hospitality becomes first a passion and then a faith--a faith the practice of which1 in the cases of some of its professors1 reminds one strongly of the hints on such subjects scattered about the ,new ,testament4 ,most of us feel1 when our friends leave us1 a certain sort of satisfaction1 not unlike that of paying a bill2 they have been done for1 and can't expect anything more for a long time4 ,such thoughts never occur to your really hospitable man4 ,long years of narrow means can not hinder him from keeping open house for whoever wants to come to him1 and setting the best of everything before all comers4 ,he has no notion of giving you anything but the best he can command4 ,he asks himself not1 8,ought ,i to invite ,a or ,b8 do ,i owe him anything80 but1 8,would ,a or ,b like to come here80 ,give me these men's houses for real enjoyment1 though you never get anything very choice there--7how can a man produce old wine who gives his oldest every day87--seldom much elbow-room or orderly arrangement4 ,the high arts of gastronomy and scientific drinking1 so much valued in our highly-civilized community1 are wholly unheeded by him1 are altogether above him1 are cultivated1 in fact1 by quite another set1 who have very little of the genuine spirit of hospitality in them2 from whose tables1 should one by chance happen upon them1 one rises1 certainly with a feeling of satisfaction and expansion1 chiefly physical1 but entirely without that expansion of heart which one gets at the scramble of the hospitable man4 ,so that we are driven to remark1 even in such every-day matters as these1 that it is the invisible1 the spiritual1 which1 after all1 gives value and reality even to dinners2 and1 with ,solomon1 to prefer to the most touching diner ,russe the dinner of herbs where love is1 though ,i trust that neither we nor ,solomon should object to well-dressed cutlets with our salad1 if they happen to be going4 ,,xliv4 ,there are few of us who do not like to see a man living a brave and righteous life1 so long as he keeps clear of us2 and still fewer who do like to be in constant contact with one who1 not content with so living himself1 is always coming across them1 and laying bare to them their own faint-heartedness1 and sloth1 and meanness4 ,the latter1 no doubt1 inspires the deeper feeling1 and lays hold with a firmer grip of the men he does lay hold of1 but they are few4 ,for men can't keep always up to high pressure till they have found firm ground to build upon1 altogether outside of themselves2 and it is hard to be thankful and fair to those who are showing us1 time after time1 that our foothold is nothing but shifting sand4 ,,xlv4 ,reader6 had you not ever a friend a few years older than yourself1 whose good opinion you were anxious to keep8 ,a fellow teres atque rotundus2 who could do everything better than you1 from ,plato and tennis down to singing a comic song and playing quoits8 ,if you have had1 wasn't he always in your rooms or company whenever anything happened to show your little weak points8 ,,xlvi4 ,to come back home after every stage of life's journeying with a wider horizon--more in sympathy with men and nature1 knowing ever more of the righteous and eternal laws which govern them1 and of the righteous and loving will which is above all1 and around all1 and beneath all1 this must be the end and aim of all of us1 or we shall be wandering about blind-fold1 and spending time and labor and journey-money on that which profiteth nothing4 ,,xlvii4 ,what man among us all1 if he will think the matter over calmly and fairly1 can honestly say that there is any spot on the earth's surface in which he has enjoyed so much real1 wholesome1 happy life as in a hay field8 ,he may have won on horseback or on foot at the sports and pastimes in which ,englishmen glory2 he may have shaken off all rivals1 time after time1 across the vales of ,aylesbury1 or of ,berks1 or any other of our famous hunting counties2 he may have stalked the oldest and shyest buck in ,scotch forests1 and killed the biggest salmon of the year in the ,tweed1 and trout in the ,thames2 he may have made topping averages in first-rate matches of cricket2 or have made long and perilous marches1 dear to memory1 over boggy moor1 or mountain1 or glacier2 he may have successfully attended many breakfast-parties within drive of ,mayfair1 on velvet lawns1 surrounded by all the fairy-land of pomp1 and beauty1 and luxury1 which ,london can pour out2 his voice may have sounded over hushed audiences at ,st4 ,stephens or in the law-courts2 or he may have had good times in any other scenes of pleasure or triumph open to ,englishmen2 but ,i much doubt whether1 on putting his recollections fairly and quietly together he would not say at last that the fresh-mown hay-field is the place where he has spent the most hours which he would like to live over again1 the fewest which he would wish to forget4 ,as children1 we stumble about the new-mown hay1 revelling in the many colors of the prostrate grass and wild flowers1 and in the power of tumbling where we please without hurting ourselves2 as small boys1 we pelt one another1 and the village school-girls1 and our nurse-maids1 and young lady cousins with the hay1 till1 hot and weary1 we retire to tea or syllabub beneath the shade of some great oak or elm standing up like a monarch out of the fair pasture2 or1 following the mowers1 we rush with eagerness on the treasures disclosed by the scythe stroke--the nest of the unhappy late-laying titlark1 or careless field-mouse2 as big boys1 we toil ambitiously with the spare forks and rakes1 or climb into the wagons and receive with open arms the delicious load as it is pitched up from below1 and rises higher and higher as we pass along the long lines of haycocks3 a year or two later we are strolling there with our first sweethearts1 our souls and tongues loaded with sweet thoughts1 and soft speeches2 we take a turn with the scythe as the bronzed mosses lie in the shade for their short rest1 and willingly pay our footing for the feat4 ,again1 we come back with book in pocket1 and our own children tumbling about us as we did before them2 now romping with them1 and smothering them with the sweet-smelling load--now musing and reading and dozing away the delicious summer evenings4 ,and so shall we not come back to the end1 enjoying as grandfathers the love-making and the rompings of younger generations yet8 ,were any of us ever really disappointed or melancholy in a hay-field8 ,did we ever lie fairly back on a hay-cock and look up into the blue sky1 and listen to the merry sounds1 the whetting of scythes1 and the laughing prattle of women and children1 and think evil thoughts of the world or our brethren8 ,not we6 or1 if we have so done1 we ought to be ashamed of ourselves1 and deserve never to be out of town again during hay-harvest4 ,there is something in the sights and sounds of a hay-field which seems to touch the same chord in one as ,lowell's lines in the 8,lay of ,sir ,launfal10 which end3 8,for a cap and a bell our lives we pay1 ,we wear out our lives with toiling and tasking2 ,it is only ,heaven that is given away2 ,it is only ,god may be had for the asking40 ,but the philosophy of the hay-field remains to be written4 ,let us hope that whoever takes the subject in hand will not dissipate all its sweetness in the process of the inquiry wherein the charm lies4 ,,xlviii4 ,who among you1 dear readers1 can appreciate the intense delight of grassing your first big fish after a nine-months' fast8 ,all first sensations have their special pleasure2 but none can be named1 in a small way1 to beat this of the first fish of the season4 ,the first clean leg-hit for four in your first match at ,lord's--the grating of the bows of your racing-boat against the stern of the boat ahead in your first race--the first half-mile of a burst from the cover-side in ,november1 when the hounds in the field ahead may be covered in a tablecloth1 and no one but the huntsman and a top sawyer or two lies between you and them--the first brief after your call to the bar1 if it comes within the year--the sensations produced by these are the same in kind2 but cricket1 boating1 getting briefs1 even hunting1 lose their edge as time goes on4 ,but the first fish comes back as fresh as ever1 or ought to come1 if all men had their rights1 once in a season4 ,so1 good luck to the gentle craft and its professors1 and may the ,fates send us much into their company6 ,the trout-fisher1 like the landscape-painter1 haunts the loveliest places of the earth1 and haunts them alone4 ,solitude1 nature1 and his own thoughts--he must be on the best terms with all these2 and he who can take kindly the largest allowance of these is likely to be the kindliest and truest with his fellow-men4 ,,xlix4 ,how many spots in life are there which will bear comparison with the beginning of a college boy's second term at ,oxford8 ,so far as external circumstances are concerned1 it seems hard to know what a man could find to ask for at that period of his life1 if a fairy godmother were to alight in his rooms and offer him the usual three wishes4 ,in our second term we are no longer freshmen1 and begin to feel ourselves at home1 while both 8smalls0 and 8greats0 are sufficiently distant to be altogether ignored if we are that way inclined1 or to be looked forward to with confidence that the game is in our own hands if we are reading men4 ,our financial position--unless we have exercised rare ingenuity in involving ourselves--is all that heart can desire2 we have ample allowances paid in quarterly to the university bankers without thought or trouble of ours1 and our credit is at its zenith4 ,it is a part of our recognized duty to repay the hospitality we have received as freshmen2 and all men will be sure to come to our first parties1 to see how we do the thing2 it will be our own fault if we do not keep them in future4 ,we have not had time to injure our characters to any material extent with the authorities of our own college1 or of the university4 ,our spirits are never likely to be higher1 or our digestions better4 ,these1 and many other comforts and advantages1 environ the fortunate youth returning to ,oxford after his first vacation2 thrice fortunate1 however1 if it is ,easter term to which he is returning2 for that ,easter term1 with the four days' vacation1 and little ,trinity term at the head of it1 is surely the cream of the ,oxford year4 ,then1 even in this our stern ,northern climate1 the sun is beginning to have power1 the days have lengthened out1 great-coats are unnecessary at morning chapel1 and the miseries of numbed hands and shivering skins no longer accompany every pull on the river and canter on ,bullingdon4 ,in ,christ-church meadows and the college gardens the birds are making sweet music in the tall elms4 ,you may almost hear the thick grass growing1 and the buds on tree and shrub are changing from brown1 red1 or purple1 to emerald green under your eyes2 the glorious old city is putting on her best looks and bursting out into laughter and song4 ,in a few weeks the races begin1 and ,cowley marsh will be alive with white tents and joyous cricketers4 ,a quick ear1 on the towing-path by the ,gut1 may feast at one time on those three sweet sounds1 the thud1 thud of the eight-oar1 the crack of the rifles at the ,weirs1 and the click of the bat on the ,magdalen ground4 ,and then ,commemoration rises in the background1 with its clouds of fair visitors1 and visions of excursions to ,woodstock and ,nuneham in the summer days--of windows open on to the old quadrangles in the long still evenings1 through which silver laughter and strains of sweet music1 not made by man1 steal out and puzzle the old celibate jackdaws1 peering down from the battlements with heads on one side4 ,to crown all1 long vacation1 beginning with the run to ,henley regatta1 or up to town to see the match with ,cambridge at ,lord's1 and taste some of the sweets of the season before starting on some pleasure tour or reading-party1 or dropping back into the quiet pleasures of ,english country life6 ,surely the lot of young ,englishmen who frequent our universities is cast in pleasant places4 ,the country has a right to expect something from those for whom she finds such a life as this in the years when enjoyment is keenest4 ,l4 ,in all the wide range of accepted ,british maxims there is none1 take it for all in all1 more thoroughly abominable than the one as to the sowing of wild oats4 ,look at it on what side you will1 and you can make nothing but a devil's maxim of it4 ,what a man--be he young1 old1 or middle-aged--sows1 that1 and nothing else shall he reap4 ,the one only thing to do with wild oats is to put them carefully into the hottest part of the fire1 and get them burnt to dust1 every seed of them4 ,if you sow them1 no matter in what ground1 up they will come1 with long1 tough roots like couch-grass1 and luxuriant stalks and leaves as sure as there is a sun in heaven--a crop which it makes one's heart cold to think of4 ,the devil1 too1 whose special crop they are1 will see that they thrive1 and you1 and nobody else will have to reap them2 and no common reaping will get them out of the soil1 which must be dug down deep again and again4 ,well for you if1 with all your care1 you can make the ground sweet again by your dying day4 8,boys will be boys10 is not much better1 but that has a true side to it2 but this encouragement to the sowing of wild oats is simply devilish1 for it means that a young man is to give way to the temptations and follow the lusts of his age4 ,what are we to do with the wild oats of manhood and old age--with ambition1 over-reaching1 the false weights1 hardness1 suspicion1 avarice--if the wild oats of youth are to be sown and not burnt8 ,what possible distinction can we draw between them8 ,if we may sow the one1 why not the other8 ,,li4 ,man of all ages is a selfish animal1 and unreasonable in his selfishness4 ,it takes every one of us in turn many a shrewd fall1 in our wrestlings with the world to convince us that we are not to have everything our own way4 ,we are conscious in our inmost souls that man is the rightful lord of creation2 and1 starting from this eternal principle1 and ignoring1 each man-child of us in turn1 the qualifying truth that it is to man in general1 including women1 and not to one man in particular1 that the earth has been given1 we set about asserting our kingships each in his own way1 and proclaiming ourselves kings from our own little ant-hills of thrones4 ,and then come the struggles and the down-fallings1 and some of us learn our lesson1 and some learn it not4 ,but what lesson8 ,that we have been dreaming in the golden hours when the vision of a kingdom rose before us8 ,that there is in short1 no kingdom at all1 or that1 if there be1 we are no heirs of it8 ,no--,i take it that1 while we make nothing better than that out of our lesson1 we shall go on spelling at it and stumbling over it1 through all the days of our life1 till we make our last stumble1 and take our final header out of this riddle of a world1 which we once dreamed we were to rule over1 exclaiming 8vanitas vanitatum0 to the end4 ,but man's spirit will never be satisfied without a kingdom1 and was never intended to be satisfied so2 and a wiser than ,solomon tells us1 day by day1 that our kingdom is about us here1 and that we may rise up and pass in when we will at the shining gates which he holds open1 for that it is ,his1 and we are joint heirs of it with ,him4 ,,lii4 ,the world is clear and bright1 and ever becoming clearer and brighter to the humble1 and true1 and pure of heart--to every man and woman who will live in it as the children of the ,maker and ,lord of it1 their ,father4 ,to them1 and to them alone1 is that world1 old and new1 given1 and all that is in it1 fully and freely to enjoy4 ,all others but these are occupying where they have no title2 8they are sowing much1 but bringing in little2 they eat1 but have not enough2 they drink but are not filled with drink2 they clothe themselves1 but there is none warm2 and he of them who earneth wages earneth wages to put them into a bag with holes40 ,but these have the world and all things for a rightful and rich inheritance2 for they hold them as dear children of ,him in whose hand it and they are lying1 and no power in earth or hell shall pluck them out of their ,father's hand4 ,,liii4 ,the great ,danish invasion of ,england in the ninth century is one of those facts which meet us at every turn in the life of the world1 raising again and again the deepest of all questions4 ,at first sight it stands out simply as the triumph of brute force1 cruelty1 and anarchy1 over civilization and order4 ,it was eminently successful1 for the greater part of the kingdom remained subject to the invaders4 ,in its progress all such civilization as had taken root in the land was for the time trodden out2 whole districts were depopulated2 lands thrown out of cultivation2 churches1 abbeys1 monasteries1 the houses of nobles and peasants1 razed to the ground2 libraries 7such as then existed7 and works of art ruthlessly burnt and destroyed4 ,it threw back all ,alfred's reforms for eight years4 ,to the poor ,east ,anglian or ,west ,saxon1 churl or monk1 who had been living his quiet life there1 honestly1 and in the fear of ,god1 according to his lights--to him hiding away in the swamps of the forest1 amongst the swine1 running wild now for lack of herdsmen1 and thinking bitterly of the sack of his home1 and murder of his brethren1 or of his wife and children by red-handed ,pagans1 the heavens would indeed seem to be shut1 and the earth delivered over to the powers of darkness4 ,would it not seem so to us if we were in like case8 ,have we any faith which would stand such a strain as that8 ,who shall say for himself that he has8 ,and yet what ,christian does not know1 in his heart of hearts1 that there is such a faith for himself and for the world--the faith which must have carried ,alfred through those fearful years1 and strengthened him to build up a new and better ,england out of the ruins the ,danes left behind them8 ,for1 hard as it must be to keep alive any belief or hope during a time when all around us is reeling1 and the powers of evil seem to be let loose on the earth1 when we look back upon these 8days of the ,lord0 there is no truth which stands out more clearly on the face of history than this1 that they all and each have been working towards order and life1 that 8the messengers of death have been messengers of resurrection40 ,,liv4 ,when the corn and wine and oil1 the silver and the gold1 have become the main object of worship--that which men or nations do above all things desire--sham work of all kinds1 and short cuts1 by what we call financing and the like will be the means by which they will attempt to gain them4 ,when that state comes1 men who love their country will welcome ,danish invasions1 civil wars1 potato diseases1 cotton famines1 ,fenian agitations1 whatever calamity may be needed to awake the higher life again1 and bid the nation arise and live4 ,that such visitations do come at such times as a matter of fact is as clear as that in certain states of the atmosphere we have thunder-storms4 ,the thunder-storm comes with perfect certainty1 and as a part of a natural and fixed order4 ,we are all agreed upon that now4 ,we all believe1 ,i suppose1 that there is an order--that there are laws which govern the physical world1 asserting themselves as much in storm and earthquake as in the succession of night and day1 of seed-time and harvest4 ,we who are ,christians believe that order and those laws to proceed from ,god1 to be expressions of ,his will4 ,do we not also believe that men are under a divine order as much as natural things8 that there is a law of righteousness founded on the will of ,god1 as sure and abiding as the law of gravitation8 that this law of righteousness1 this divine order1 under which human beings are living on this earth1 must and does assert and vindicate itself through and by the acts and lives of men1 as surely as the divine order in nature asserts itself through the agency of the invisible power in earth and sea and air8 ,surely ,christianity1 whatever else it teaches1 at any rate assures us of this4 ,and when we have made this faith our own1 when we believe it1 and not merely believe that we believe it1 we have in our hand the clue to all human history4 ,mysteries in abundance will always remain4 ,we may not be able to trace the workings of the law of righteousness in the confusions and bewilderments of our own day1 or through the darkness and mist which shrouds so much of the life of other times and other races4 ,but we know that it is there1 and that it has its ground in a righteous will1 which was the same a thousand years ago as it is to-day1 which every man and nation can get to know2 and just in so far as they know and obey which1 will they be founding families1 institutions1 states1 which will abide4 ,if we want to test this truth in the most practical manner1 we have only to take any question which has troubled1 or is troubling1 statesmen and rulers1 and nations1 in our own day4 ,the slavery question is among the greatest of these4 ,in the divine order1 that institution was not recognized1 there was no place at all set apart for it2 on the contrary1 ,he on whose will that order rests had said that he came to break every yoke4 ,and so slavery would give our kindred in ,america no rest1 just as it would give ,england no rest in the first thirty years of the century4 ,the nation1 desiring to go on living its life1 making money1 subduing a continent1 8,pitching new states as old-world men pitch tents10 tried every plan for getting rid of the 8irrepressible negro0 question1 except the only one recognized in the divine order--that of making him free4 ,the ablest and most moderate men1 the ,websters and ,clays1 thought and spoke and worked to keep it on its legs4 ,missouri compromises were agreed to1 8,mason and ,dixon's lines0 laid down1 joint committees of both houses--at last even a 8crisis committee10 as it was called--invented plan after plan to get it finally out of the way by any means except the only one which the eternal law1 the law of righteousness1 prescribed4 ,but he whose will must be done on earth was no party to ,missouri compromises1 and ,mason and ,dixon's line was not laid down on his map of ,north ,america4 ,and there never were wanting men who could recognize ,his will1 and denounce every compromise1 every endeavor to set it aside1 or escape from it1 as a 8covenant with death and hell40 ,despised and persecuted men--,garrisons and ,john ,browns--were raised up to fight this battle1 with tongue and pen and life's blood1 the weak things of this world to confound the mighty2 men who could look bravely in the face the whole power and strength of their nation in the faith of the old prophet3 8,associate yourselves and ye shall be broken in pieces2 gather yourselves together and ye shall come to nought1 for ,god is with us40 ,and at last the thunder-storm broke1 and when it cleared away the law of righteousness had asserted itself once again1 and the nation was delivered4 ,and so it has been1 and is1 and will be to the end of time with all nations4 ,we have all our 8irrepressible0 questions of one kind or another1 more or less urgent1 rising up again and again to torment and baffle us1 refusing to give us any peace until they have been settled in accordance with the law of righteousness1 which is the will of ,god4 ,no clever handling of them will put them to rest4 ,such work will not last4 ,if we have wisdom and faith enough amongst us to ascertain and do that will1 we may settle them for ourselves in clear skies4 ,if not1 the clouds will gather1 the atmosphere grow heavy1 and the storm break in due course1 and they will be settled for us in ways which we least expect or desire1 for it is 8the ,lord's controversy40 ,in due course1 perhaps6 but what if this due course means lifetimes1 centuries8 ,alas6 this is indeed the cry which has been going up from the poor earth these thousands of years3 8,the priests and the rulers are swift to wrong1 ,and the mills of ,god are slow to grind40 ,how long1 ,o ,lord1 how long8 ,the precise times and seasons man shall never know on this earth4 ,these the ,lord has kept in his own power4 ,but courage1 my brother6 ,can we not see1 the blindest of us1 that the mills are working swiftly1 at least in our day8 ,this is no age in which shams or untruths1 whether old or new1 are likely to have a quiet time or a long life of it4 ,in all departments of human affairs--religious1 political1 social--we are travelling fast1 in ,england and elsewhere1 and under the hand and guidance1 be sure1 of ,him who made the world1 and is able and willing to take care of it4 ,only let us quit ourselves like men1 trusting to ,him to put down whatsoever loveth or maketh a lie1 and in his own time to establish the new earth in which shall dwell righteousness4 ,,lv4 ,in these days when our wise generation1 weighed down with wealth and its handmaid vices on the one hand1 and exhilarated by some tiny steps it has managed to make on the threshold of physical knowledge of various kinds on the other1 would seem to be bent on ignoring its ,creator and ,god altogether--or at least of utterly denying that he has revealed1 or is revealing himself1 unless it be through the laws of nature--one of the commonest demurrers to ,christianity has been1 that it is no faith for fighters1 for the men who have had to do the roughest and hardest work for the world4 ,i fear that some sections of ,christians have been too ready to allow this demurrer1 and fall back on the ,quaker doctrines2 admitting thereby that such 8,gospel of the kingdom of heaven0 as they can for their part heartily believe in1 and live up to1 is after all only a poor cash-gospel1 and cannot bear the dust and dirt1 the glare and horror of battle-fields4 ,those of us who hold that man was sent into this earth for the express purpose of fighting--of uncompromising and unending fighting with body1 intellect1 spirit1 against whomsoever and whatsoever causeth or maketh a lie1 and therefore1 alas6 too often against his brother-man--would1 of course1 have to give up ,christianity if this were true2 nay1 if they did not believe that precisely the contrary of this is true1 that ,christ can call them as plainly in the drum beating to battle1 as in the bell calling to prayer1 can and will be as surely with them in the shock of angry hosts as in the gathering before the altar4 ,but without entering further into the great controversy here1 ,i would ask readers fairly and calmly to consider whether all the greatest fighting that has been done in the world has not been done by men who believed1 and showed by their lives that they believed1 they had a direct call from ,god to do it1 and that ,he was present with them in their work4 ,and further 7as ,i cheerfully own that this test would tell as much in favor of ,mahommet as of ,cromwell1 ,gustavus ,adolphus1 ,john ,brown7 whether1 on the whole1 ,christian nations have not proved stronger in battle than any others8 ,i would not press the point unfairly1 or overlook such facts as the rooting out of the ,british by the ,west ,saxons when the latter were ,pagans2 all ,i maintain is1 that faith in the constant presence of ,god in and around them has been the support of those who have shown the strongest hearts1 the least love of ease and life1 the least fear of death and pain4 ,,lvi4 ,supposing the whole ,bible1 every trace of ,christendom to disappear to-morrow1 we should each of us be conscious of a presence1 which we are quite sure is not ourself1 in the deepest recesses of our own heart1 communing with us there and calling us to take up our two-fold birthright as man--the mastery over visible things1 and above all the mastery over our own bodies1 actions1 thoughts--and the power1 always growing1 of a mysterious communion with the invisible4 ,,lvii4 8,wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way8 ,even by ruling himself after ,thy word40 ,the question of questions this1 at the most critical time in his life for every child of ,adam who ever grew to manhood on the face of our planet2 and so far as human experience has yet gone1 the answer of answers4 ,other answers have been1 indeed1 forthcoming at all times1 and never surely in greater number or stranger guise than at the present time3 8,wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way80 ,even by ruling himself in the faith 8that human life will become more beautiful and more noble in the future than in the past40 ,this will be found enough 8to stimulate the forces of the will1 and purify the soul from base passion0 urge1 with a zeal and ability of which every ,christian must desire to speak with deep respect1 more than one school of our nineteenth century moralists4 8,wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way80 ,even by ruling himself on the faith 8that it is probable that ,god exists1 and that death is not the end of life20 or again1 8that this is the only world of which we have any knowledge at all40 ,either of these creeds1 says the philosopher of the clubs1 if held distinctly as a dogma and consistently acted on1 will be found 8capable of producing results on an astonishing scale40 ,so one would think1 but scarcely in the direction of personal holiness1 or energy4 ,meantime1 the answer of the ,hebrew psalmist1 three thousand years old1 or thereabouts1 has gone straight to the heart of many generations1 and ,i take it will scarcely care to make way for any solution likely to occur to modern science or philosophy4 ,yes1 he who has the word of the living ,god to rule himself by--who can fall back on the strength of ,him who has had the victory over the world1 the flesh and the devil--may even in this strange disjointed time of ours carry his manhood pure and unsullied through the death-grips to which he must come with 8the lust of the flesh1 the lust of the eye1 and the pride of life40 ,he who will take the world1 the flesh1 and the devil by the throat in his own strength1 will find them shrewd wrestlers4 ,well for him if he escape with the stain of the falls which he is too sure to get1 and can rise up still a man1 though beaten and shamed1 to meet the same foes in new shapes in his later years4 ,new shapes1 and ever more vile1 as the years run on3 8,three sorts of men my soul hateth10 says the son of ,sirach1 8a poor man that is proud1 a rich man that is a liar1 and an old adulterer that doateth40 ,we may believe the ,gospel history to be a fable1 but who amongst us can deny the fact that each son of man has to go forth into the wilderness--for us 8the wilderness of the wide world in an atheistic century0--and there do battle with the tempter as soon as the whisper has come in his ear3 8,thou too art a man2 eat freely4 ,all these things will ,i give thee40 ,,lviii4 8,how is it that ye sought me8 ,wist ye not that ,i must be in my ,father's courts1 about his business80 ,full of this new question and great wonder1 ,christ went home to the village in ,galilee with his parents1 and was subject to them2 and the curtain falls for us on his boyhood and youth and early manhood4 ,but as nothing but what is most important1 and necessary for understanding all of his life which we need for our own growth into his likeness1 is told in these simple gospel narratives1 it would seem that this vivid light is thrown on that first visit to ,jerusalem because it was the crisis in our ,lord's early life which bears most directly on his work for our race4 ,if so1 we must1 ,i think1 allow that the question1 once fairly presented to the boy's mind1 would never again have left it4 ,day by day it would have been coming back with increasing insistency1 gathering power and weight4 ,and as he submitted it day by day to the ,god whom prophet and ,psalmist had taught every child of the nation to look upon as 8about his path and about his bed1 and knowing every thought of his heart10 the consciousness must have gained strength and power4 ,as the habit of self-surrender and simple obedience to the voice within grew more perfect1 and more a part of his very being1 the call must have sounded more and more clearly4 ,and1 as he was in all things tempted like as we are1 again and again must his human nature have shrunk back and tried every way of escape from this task1 the call to which was haunting him2 while every succeeding month and year of life must have disclosed to him more and more of its peril and its hopelessness1 as well as of its majesty4 ,we have1 then1 to picture to ourselves this struggle and discipline going on for eighteen years--the call sounding continually in his ears1 and the boy1 the youth1 the strong man1 each in turn solicited by the special temptations of his age1 and rising clear above them through the strength of perfect obedience1 the strength which comes from the daily fulfilment of daily duties--that 8strength in the ,lord0 which ,st4 ,paul holds up to us as possible for every human being4 ,think over this long probation1 and satisfy yourselves whether it is easy1 whether it is possible to form any higher ideal of perfect manliness4 ,and without any morbid curiosity1 and ,i think with profit1 we may follow out the thoughts which this long period of quiet suggests4 ,we know from the evangelists only this1 that he remained in obscurity in a retired village of ,galilee1 and subject to his reputed father and mother4 ,that he also remained in great seclusion while living the simple peasant life of ,nazareth we may infer from the surprise1 not unmixed with anger and alarm1 of his own family1 when1 after his baptism1 he began his public career amongst them4 ,and yet1 on that day1 when he rose to speak in the synagogue1 it is clear that the act was one which commended itself in the first instance to his family and neighbors4 ,the eyes of all present were at once fixed on him as on one who might be expected to stand in the scribe's place1 from whom they might learn something1 a man who had a right to speak4 ,indeed1 it is impossible to suppose that he could have lived in their midst from childhood to full manhood without attracting the attention1 and stirring many questionings in the minds1 of all those with whom he was brought into contact4 ,the stories in the ,apocryphal ,gospels of the exercise of miraculous powers by ,christ as a child and boy may be wholly disregarded2 but we may be sure that such a life as his1 though lived in the utmost possible seclusion1 must have impressed every one with whom he came in contact1 from the scribe who taught the ,scriptures in ,nazareth to the children who sat by his side to learn1 or met him by chance in the vineyards or on the hill-sides4 ,that he was diligent in using such means for study as were within his reach1 if it needed proof1 would appear from his perfect familiarity with the laws and history of his country at the opening of his ministry4 ,and the mysterious story of the crisis immediately following his baptism1 in which he wrestled1 as it were1 face to face with the tempter and betrayer of mankind1 indicates to us the nature of the daily battle which he must have been waging1 from his earliest infancy1 or at any rate ever since his first visit to ,jerusalem4 ,no one can suppose for a moment that the trial came on him for the first time after the great prophet to whom all the nation were flocking had owned him as the coming ,christ4 ,that recognition removed1 indeed1 the last doubt from his mind1 and gave him the signal for which he had been patiently waiting1 that the time was come and he must set forth from his retirement4 ,but the assurance that the call would come at some time must have been growing on him in all those years1 and so when he does come he is perfectly prepared4 ,in his first public discourse in the synagogue of ,nazareth we find him at once announcing the fulfilment of the hopes which all around him were cherishing4 ,he proclaims1 without any preface or hesitation1 with the most perfect directness and confidence1 the full gospel of the kingdom of heaven3 8,the time is fulfilled1 and the kingdom of ,god is at hand40 ,he takes for the text of his first discourse the passage in ,isaiah3 8,the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon me1 because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor2 he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted1 to preach deliverance to the captive1 the recovery of sight to the blind1 to set at liberty them that are bruised1 to preach the acceptable year of the ,lord10 and proceeds to expound how 8this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears40 ,and within the next few days he delivers his ,sermon on the ,mount1 of which we have the full record1 and in which we find the meaning1 and character1 and principles of the kingdom laid down once and for all4 ,mark1 that there is no hesitation1 no ambiguity1 no doubt as to who he is1 or what message he has to deliver4 8,i have not come to destroy but to fulfil the law which my ,father and your ,father has given you1 and which you have misunderstood4 ,this which ,i am now unfolding to you is the meaning of that law1 this is the will of my ,father who is in heaven40 ,thus he springs at once1 as it were1 full-armed into the arena2 and it is this thorough mastery of his own meaning and position from the first--this thorough insight into what he has to do1 and the means by which it is to be done--upon which we should fix our thoughts if we want to understand1 or to get any notion at all of1 what must have been the training of those eighteen years4 ,how had this perfect insight and confidence been reached8 8,this young peasant1 preaching from a boat or on a hill-side1 sweeps aside at once the traditions of our most learned doctors1 telling us that this1 which we and our fathers have been taught1 is not what the ,god of ,israel intended in these commandments of his2 but that he1 this young man1 can tell us what ,god did really intend4 ,he assumes to speak to us as one having authority4 ,who gave him this authority80 ,these1 we know1 are the kind of questionings with which ,christ was met at once1 and over and over again4 ,and they are most natural and necessary questionings1 and must have occurred to himself again and again1 and been answered by him to himself1 before he could have stood up to proclaim with the tone of absolute authority his good news to the village congregations in ,galilee1 or the crowds on the ,mount1 or by the lake4 ,who gave thee this authority8 ,we can only reverentially1 and at a distance1 picture to ourselves the discipline and struggles by which the answer was reached1 which enabled him to go out without the slightest faltering or misgiving1 and deliver his full and astounding message1 the moment the sign came that the time had come1 and that it was indeed he to whom the task was intrusted4 ,but the lines of that discipline1 which in a measure is also the discipline of every one of us1 are clearly enough indicated for us in the story of the temptation4 ,in every subtle form this question must have been meeting the maturing ,christ day after day4 ,art thou indeed the ,son of ,god who is said to be coming to redeem this enslaved and degraded people1 and with and beside them all the kingdoms of the world8 ,even if these prophets have not been dreaming and doting1 art not thou at least dreaming and doting8 ,at any rate if that is your claim put it to some test4 ,satisfy yourself1 and show us1 while satisfying yourself1 some proof of your title1 which we1 too1 can recognize4 ,here are all these material1 visible things which1 if your claim be true1 must be subject to you4 ,show us your power over some of them--the meanest1 if you will1 the common food which keeps men alive4 ,there are spiritual invisible forces too1 which are supposed to be the ministers of ,god1 and should therefore be under the control of his ,son--give us some sign that you can guide or govern the least of them4 ,why pause or delay8 ,is the burden growing lighter on this people8 ,is the ,roman getting year by year less insolent1 the publican less fraudulent and exacting1 the ,pharisees and rulers less godless1 the people1 your own kin amongst them1 less degraded and less brutal8 ,you are a grown man1 with the full powers of a man at any rate4 ,why are you idling here when your ,father's work 7if ,god be your ,father7 lies broadcast on every side1 and no man standing forth to 8the help of the ,lord against the mighty10 as our old seers used to rave8 ,i hope ,i may have been able to indicate to you1 however imperfectly1 the line of thought which will enable each of you for yourselves to follow out and realize1 more or less1 the power and manliness of the character of ,christ implied in this patient waiting in obscurity and doubt through the years when most men are at full stretch--waiting for the call which shall convince him that the voice within has not been a lying voice--and meantime making himself all that ,god meant him to be1 without haste and without misgiving4 ,,lix4 ,in ,christ1 after the discipline of long-waiting years1 there was no ambition1 no self-delusion4 ,he had measured the way1 and counted the cost1 of lifting his own people and the world out of bondage to visible things and false gods1 and bringing them to the only ,father of their spirits1 into the true kingdom of their ,god4 ,he must1 indeed1 have been well enough aware how infinitely more fit for the task he himself was than any of his own brethren in the flesh1 with whom he was living day by day1 or of the men of ,nazareth with whom he had been brought up4 ,but he knew also that the same voice which had been speaking to him1 the same wisdom which had been training him1 must have been speaking to and training other humble and brave souls1 wherever there were open hearts and ears1 in the whole ,jewish nation4 ,as the humblest and most guileless of men1 he could not have assumed that no other ,israelite had been able to render that perfect obedience of which he was himself conscious4 ,and so he may well have hurried to the ,jordan in the hope of finding there1 in this prophet of the wilderness1 8,him who should come10 the ,messiah1 the great deliverer--and of enlisting under his banner1 and rendering him true and loyal service1 in the belief that1 after all1 he himself might only be intended to aid and hold up the hands of a greater than himself4 ,for we must remember that ,christ could not have heard before he came to ,bethabara that ,john had disclaimed the great title4 ,it was not till the very day before his own arrival that the ,baptist had told the questioners from ,jerusalem1 8,i am not he40 ,but if any such thought had crossed his mind1 or hope filled his heart1 on the way to the ,baptist1 it was soon dispelled1 and he1 left again in his own loneliness1 now more clearly than ever before1 face to face with the task1 before which even the ,son of ,god1 appointed to it before the world was1 might well quail1 as it confronted him in his frail human body4 ,for ,john recognizes him1 singles him out at once1 proclaims to the bystanders1 8,this is he6 ,behold the ,lamb of ,god6 ,this is he who shall baptize with the fire of ,god's own ,spirit4 ,here is the deliverer whom all our prophets have foretold40 ,and by a mysterious outward sign1 as well as by the witness in his own heart and conscience1 ,christ is at once assured of the truth of the ,baptist's words--that it is indeed he himself and no other1 and that his time has surely come4 ,that he now thoroughly realized the fact for the first time1 and was startled and severely tried by the confirmation of what he must have felt for years to be probable1 is not only what we should look for from our own experiences1 but seems the true inference from the gospel narratives4 ,for1 although as soon as the full truth breaks upon him he accepts the mission and work to which ,god is calling him1 and speaks with authority to the ,baptist1 8,suffer it to be so now10 yet the immediate effect of the call is to drive him away into the wilderness1 there in the deepest solitude to think over once again1 and for the last time to wrestle with and master the tremendous disclosure4 ,,lx4 ,in following the life of ,christ so far as we have any materials1 we have found one main characteristic to be patience--a resolute waiting on ,god's mind4 ,i have asked you to test1 in every way you can1 whether this kind of patience does not constitute the highest ideal we can form of human conduct1 is not in fact the noblest type of true manliness4 ,pursue the same method as to the isolated section of that life1 the temptation1 which ,i readily admit has much in it that we cannot understand4 ,but take the story simply as you find it 7which is the only honest method1 unless you pass it by altogether1 which would be cowardly7 and see whether you can detect any weakness1 any flaw in the perfect manliness of ,christ under the strain of which it speaks--whether he does not here also realize for us the most perfect type of manliness in times of solitary and critical trial4 ,spare no pains1 suppress no doubt1 only be honest with the story1 and with your own conscience4 ,there is scarcely any life of first-rate importance to the world in which we do not find a crisis corresponding to this1 but the nearest parallel must be sought amongst those men1 the greatest of all kind1 who have founded or recast one of the great religions of the world4 ,of these 7if we except the greatest of all1 ,moses7 ,mohammed is the only one of whose call we know enough to speak4 ,whatever we may think of him and the religion he founded1 we shall all probably admit that he was at any rate a man of the rarest courage4 ,in his case too it is only at the end of long and solitary vigils in the desert that the vision comes which seals him for his work4 ,the silver roll is unfolded before his eyes1 and he who holds it bids him read therein the decree of ,god1 and tells him1 8,thou art the prophet of ,god1 and ,i his angel40 ,he is unmanned by the vision1 and flies trembling to his wife1 whose brave and loving counsel1 and those of his friends and first disciples1 scarcely keep him from despair and suicide4 ,i would not press the parallel further than to remark that ,christ came out of the temptation with no human aid1 having trod the wine-press alone1 serene and resolute from that moment for the work to which ,god had called him4 ,,lxi4 ,the strongest and most generous natures are always fondest of those who lean on them4 ,,lxii4 ,how utterly inadequate must be any knowledge of a human being which does not get beneath the surface8 ,how difficult to do so to any good purpose6 ,for that 8inner10 or 8eternal10 or 8religious0 life 7call it which you will1 they all mean the same thing7 is so entirely a matter between each human soul and ,god1 is at best so feebly and imperfectly expressed by the outer life4 ,there are none of us but must be living two lives--and the sooner we come to recognize the fact clearly the better for us--the one life in the outward material world1 in contact with the things which we can see1 and taste1 and handle1 which are always changing and passing away2 the other in the invisible1 in contact with the unseen2 with that which does not change or pass away--which is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and forever4 ,the former life you must share with others1 with your family1 your friends1 with everyone you meet in business or pleasure4 ,the latter you must live alone1 in the solitude of your own inmost being1 if you can find no spirit there communing with yours--in the presence of1 and in communion with1 the ,father of your spirit1 if you are willing to recognize that presence4 ,the one life will no doubt always be the visible expression of the other2 just as the body is the garment in which the real man is clothed for his sojourn in time4 ,but the expression is often little more than a shadow1 unsatisfying1 misleading4 ,one of our greatest ,english poets has written3 8,the one remains1 the many change and pass1 ,heaven's light forever shines1 earth's shadows fly4 ,time1 like a dome of many-colored glass1 ,stains the bright radiance of eternity1 ,until death tramples it to fragments40 ,and so you and ,i are living now under the dome of many-colored glass1 and shall live as long as we remain in these bodies1 a temporal and an eternal life--8the next world10 which too many of our teachers speak of as a place which we shall first enter after death1 being in fact 8next0 only in the truest sense of the word2 namely1 that it is nearest to us now4 ,the dome of time can do nothing more 7if we even allow it to do that7 than partially to conceal from us the light which is always there1 beneath1 around1 above us4 8,the outer life of the devout man10 it has been well said1 8should be thoroughly attractive to others4 ,he would be simple1 honest1 straightforward1 unpretending1 gentle1 kindly2--his conversation cheerful and sensible2 he would be ready to share in all blameless mirth1 indulgent to all save sin40 ,,lxiii4 ,in a noisy and confused time like ours1 it does seem to me that most of us have need to be reminded of1 and will be the better for bearing in mind1 the reserve of strength and power which lies quietly at the nation's call1 outside the whirl and din of public and fashionable life1 and entirely ignored in the columns of the daily press4 ,there are thousands of ,englishmen of high culture1 high courage1 high principle1 who are living their own quiet lives in every corner of the kingdom1 from ,john o' ,groat's to the ,land's-,end1 bringing up their families in the love of ,god and their neighbor1 and keeping the atmosphere around them clean1 and pure1 and strong1 by their example--men who would come to the front1 and might be relied on1 in any serious national crisis4 ,one is too apt to fancy1 from the photographs of the nation's life which one gets day by day1 that the old ship has lost the ballast which has stood her in such good stead for a thousand years1 and is rolling more and more helplessly1 in a gale which shows no sign of abating1 for her or any other national vessel1 until at last she must roll over and founder4 ,but it is not so4 ,england is in less stress1 and in better trim1 than she has been in many a stiffer gale4 ,the real fact is1 that nations1 and the families of which nations are composed1 make no parade or fuss over that part of their affairs which is going right4 ,national life depends on home life1 and foreign critics are inclined to take the chronicles of our ,divorce ,court as a test by which to judge the standard of our home-life1 like the old gentleman who always spelt through the police reports to see 8what people were about40 ,an acquaintance1 however1 with any average ,english neighborhood1 or any dozen ,english families taken at random1 ought to be sufficient to re-assure the faint-hearted1 and to satisfy them that 7to use the good old formula7 the ,lord has much work yet for the nation to do1 and the national manliness and godliness left to do it all1 notwithstanding superficial appearances4 ,,lxiv4 ,if the angel ,gabriel were to come down from heaven1 and head a successful rise against the most abominable and unrighteous vested interest which this poor world groans under1 he would most certainly lose his character for many years1 probably for centuries1 not only with upholders of said vested interest1 but with the respectable mass of the people whom he had delivered4 ,they wouldn't ask him to dinner1 or let their names appear with his in the papers2 they would be very careful how they spoke of him in the ,palaver1 or at their clubs4 ,what can we expect1 then1 when we have only poor1 gallant1 blundering men like ,kossuth1 ,garibaldi1 ,mazzini1 and righteous causes do not always triumph in their hands2 men who have holes enough in their armor1 ,god knows1 easy to be hit by respectabilities sitting in their lounging-chairs1 and having large balances at their bankers8 ,but you who only want to have your heads set straight to take the right side1 bear in mind that majorities1 especially respectable ones1 are nine times out of ten in the wrong2 and that if you see a man or boy striving earnestly on the weak side1 however wrong-headed or blundering he may be1 you are not to go and join the cry against him4 ,if you can't join him and help him1 and make him wiser1 at any rate remember that he has found something in the world which he will fight and suffer for1 which is just what you have got to do for yourselves2 and so think and speak of him tenderly4 ,,lxv4 ,if you have not already felt it1 you will assuredly feel1 that your lot is cast in a world which longs for nothing so much as to succeed in shaking off all belief in anything which cannot be tested by the senses1 and gauged and measured by the intellect1 as the trappings of a worn-out superstition4 ,men have been trying1 so runs the new gospel1 to live by faith1 and not by sight1 ever since there is any record at all of their lives2 and so they have had to manufacture for themselves the faiths they were to live by4 ,what is called the life of the soul or spirit1 and the life of the understanding1 have been in conflict all this time1 and the one has always been gaining on the other4 ,stronghold after stronghold has fallen till it is clear almost to demonstration that there will soon be no place left for that which was once deemed all-powerful4 ,the spiritual life can no longer be led honestly4 ,man has no knowledge of the invisible on which he can build4 ,let him own the truth and turn to that upon which he can build safely--the world of matter1 his knowledge of which is always growing2 and be content with the things he can see and taste and handle4 ,those who are telling you still in this time that your life can and ought to be lived in daily communion with the unseen--that so only you can loyally control the visible--are either wilfully deceiving you or are dreamers and visionaries4 ,so the high priests of the new gospel teach1 and their teaching echoes through our literature1 and colors the life of the streets and markets in a thousand ways2 and a mammon-ridden generation1 longing to be rid of what they hope are only certain old and clumsy superstitions--which they try to believe injurious to others1 and are quite sure make them uneasy in their own efforts to eat1 drink1 and be merry--applauds as openly as it dare1 and hopes soon to see the millennium of the flesh-pots publicly declared and recognized4 ,against which1 wherever you may encounter them1 that you may be ready and able to stand fast1 is the hope and prayer of many anxious hearts2 in a time1 charged on every side with signs of the passing away of old things1 such as have not been seen above the horizon in ,christendom since ,luther nailed his protest on the church-door of a ,german village4 ,,lxvi4 ,the gospel of work is a true gospel1 though not the only one1 or the highest1 and has been preached in our day by great teachers4 ,listen1 for instance1 to the ring of it in the rugged and incisive words of one of our strongest poets3 8,that low man seeks a little thing to do1 ,sees it and does it4 ,this high man1 with a great thing to pursue1 ,dies ere he knows it4 ,that low man goes on adding one to one1 ,his hundreds soon hit4 ,this high man aiming at a million1 ,misses a unit40 ,this sounds like a deliberate attack on the idealist1 a direct preference of low to high aims and standards1 of the seen to the unseen4 ,it is in reality only a wholesome warning against aiming at any ideal by wrong methods1 though the use of the words 8low0 and 8high0 is no doubt likely to mislead4 ,the true idealist has no quarrel with the lesson of these lines2 indeed1 he would be glad to see them written on one of the door-posts of every great school1 if only they were ballasted on the other by ,george ,herbert's quaint and deeper wisdom3 8,pitch thy behavior low1 thy projects high1 ,so shalt thou humble and magnanimous be4 ,sink not in spirit3 who aimeth at the sky ,shoots higher much than he that means a tree40 ,both sayings are true1 and worth carrying in your minds as part of their permanent furniture1 and you will find that they will live there very peaceably side by side4 ,,lxvii4 ,the consciousness of the darkness in one and around one brings the longing for light4 ,and then the light dawns2 through mist and fog1 perhaps1 but enough to pick one's way by4 ,,lxviii4 ,it is a strange1 blind sort of world we are in1 with lots of blind alleys1 down which we go blundering in the fog after some seedy gaslight1 which we take for the sun till we run against the wall at the end1 and find out that the light is a gaslight1 and that there's no thoroughfare4 ,but for all that1 one does get on4 ,you get to know the sun's light better and better1 and to keep out of the blind alleys2 and ,i am surer and surer every day that there's always sunlight enough for every honest fellow1 and a good sound road under his feet1 if he will only step out on it4 ,,lxix4 ,we all have to learn1 in one way or another1 that neither men nor boys get second chances in this world4 ,we all get new chances till the end of our lives1 but not second chances in the same set of circumstances2 and the great difference between one person and another is1 how he takes hold of and uses his first chance1 and how he takes his fall if it is scored against him4 ,,lxx4 ,you will all find1 if you haven't found it out already1 that a time comes in every human friendship when you must go down into the depths of yourself1 and lay bare what is there to your friend1 and wait in fear for his answer4 ,a few moments may do it2 and it may be that you never do it but once4 ,but done it must be1 if the friendship is to be worth the name4 ,you must find out what is there1 at the very root and bottom of one another's hearts2 and if you are at one there1 nothing on earth can1 or at least ought1 to sunder you4 ,,lxxi4 ,it is only through our mysterious human relationships--through the love and tenderness and purity of mothers and sisters and wives--through the strength and courage and wisdom of fathers and brothers and teachers--that we can come to the knowledge of ,him in whom alone the love1 and the tenderness1 and the purity1 and the strength1 and the courage1 and the wisdom of all these dwell for ever and ever in perfect fulness4 ,,lxxii4 ,almost nightly1 for years1 ,tom and ,arthur1 and by degrees ,east occasionally1 and sometimes one1 sometimes another of their friends1 read a chapter of the ,bible together1 and talked it over afterwards4 ,tom was at first utterly astonished1 and almost shocked1 at the sort of way in which ,arthur read the book and talked about the men and women whose lives are there told4 ,the first night they happened to fall on the chapters about the famine in ,egypt1 and ,arthur began talking about ,joseph as if he were a living statesman2 just as he might have talked about ,lord ,grey and the ,reform ,bill2 only that they were much more living realities to him4 ,the book was to him1 ,tom saw1 the most vivid and delightful history of real people1 who might do right or wrong1 just like any one who was walking about ,rugby--the doctor1 or the masters1 or the sixth-form boys4 ,but the atmosphere soon passed off1 the scales seemed to drop from his eyes1 and the book became at once and forever to him the great human and divine book1 and the men and women1 whom he had looked upon as something quite different from himself1 became his friends and counsellors4 ,arthur1 ,tom1 and ,east were together one night1 and read the story of ,naaman coming to ,elisha to be cured of his leprosy4 ,when the chapter was finished1 ,tom shut his ,bible with a slap4 8,i can't stand that fellow ,naaman10 said he1 8after what he'd seen and felt1 going back again and bowing himself down in the house of ,rimmon1 because his effeminate scoundrel of a master did it4 ,i wonder ,elisha took the trouble to heal him4 ,how he must have despised him40 8,yes1 there you go off as usual1 with a shell on your head10 struck in ,east1 who always took the opposite side to ,tom3 half from love of argument1 half from conviction4 8,how do you know he didn't think better of it8 how do you know his master was a scoundrel8 ,his letter don't look like it1 and the book don't say so40 8,i don't care10 rejoined ,tom2 8why did ,naaman talk about bowing down1 then1 if he didn't mean to do it8 ,he wasn't likely to get more in earnest when he got back to ,court1 and away from the ,prophet40 8,well1 but1 ,tom10 said ,arthur1 8look what ,elisha says to him1 #8,go in peace4' ,he wouldn't have said that if ,naaman had been in the wrong40 8,i don't see that that means more than saying1 #8,you're not the man ,i took you for4'0 8,no1 no1 that won't do at all10 said ,east2 8read the words fairly1 and take men as you find them4 ,i like ,naaman1 and think he was a very fine fellow40 8,i don't10 said ,tom1 positively4 8,well1 ,i think ,east is right10 said ,arthur2 8,i can't see but what it's right to do the best you can1 though it mayn't be the best absolutely4 ,every man isn't born to be a martyr40 8,of course1 of course10 said ,east2 8but he's on one of his pet hobbies4 ,how often have ,i told you1 ,tom1 that you must drive a nail where it'll go80 8,and how often have ,i told you10 rejoined ,tom1 8that it'll always go where you want1 if you only stick to it and hit hard enough8 ,i hate half-measures and compromises40 8,yes1 he's a whole-hog man1 is ,tom4 ,must have the whole animal1 hair and teeth1 claws and tail10 laughed ,east4 8,sooner have no bread any day than half a loaf40 8,i don't know10 said ,arthur1 8it's rather puzzling2 but ain't most right things got by proper compromises1 ,i mean where the principle isn't given up80 8,that's not the point10 said ,tom2 8,i don't object to a compromise1 where you don't give up your principle40 8,not you10 said ,east laughingly4 8,i know him of old1 ,arthur1 and you'll find him out some day4 ,there isn't such a reasonable fellow in the world to hear him talk4 ,he never wants anything but what's right and fair2 only when you come to settle what's right and fair1 it's everything that he wants1 and nothing that you want4 ,give me the ,brown compromise when ,i'm on his side40 8,now1 ,harry10 said ,tom1 8no more chaff--,i'm serious4 ,look here--this is what makes my blood tingle20 and he turned over the pages of his ,bible and read3 8,shadrach1 ,meshach1 and ,abednego answered and said to the king1 #8,o ,nebuchadnezzar1 we are not careful to answer thee in this matter4 ,if it be so1 our ,god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning1 fiery furnace1 and ,he will deliver us out of thine hand1 ,o king4 ,but if not1 be it known unto thee1 ,o king1 that we will not serve thy gods1 nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up4'0 ,he read the last verse twice1 emphasizing the nots1 and dwelling on them as if they gave him actual pleasure and were hard to part with4 ,they were silent a minute1 and then ,arthur said1 8,yes1 that's a glorious story1 but it don't prove your point1 ,tom1 ,i think4 ,there are times when there is only one way1 and that the highest1 and then the men are found to stand in the breach40 8,there's always a highest way1 and it's always the right one10 said ,tom4 8,how many times has the ,doctor told us that in his sermons in the last year ,i should like to know60 8,well1 you ain't going to convince us--is he ,arthur8 ,no ,brown compromise to-night10 said ,east1 looking at his watch4 8,but it's past eight1 and we must go to first lesson40 ,so they took down their books and fell to work2 but ,arthur didn't forget1 and thought long and often over the conversation4 ,,lxxiii4 8,tom10 said ,arthur1 8,i've had such strange thoughts about death lately4 ,i've never told a soul of them1 not even my mother4 ,sometimes1 ,i think they're wrong1 but1 do you know ,i don't think in my heart ,i could be sorry at the death of any of my friends40 ,tom was taken quite aback4 8,what in the world is the young un after now80 thought he2 8,i've swallowed a good many of his crotchets1 but this altogether beats me4 ,he can't be quite right in his head40 ,he didn't want to say a word1 and shifted about uneasily in the dark2 however1 ,arthur seemed to be waiting for an answer1 so at last he said1 8,i don't think ,i quite see what you mean1 ,geordie4 ,one's told so often to think about death1 that ,i've tried it on sometimes1 especially this last week4 ,but we won't talk of it now4 ,i'd better go--you're getting tired1 and ,i shall do you harm40 8,no1 no1 indeed--,i ain't ,tom2 you must stop till nine1 there's only twenty minutes4 ,i've settled you must stop till nine4 ,and oh6 do let me talk to you--,i must talk to you4 ,i see it's just as ,i feared4 ,you think ,i'm half-mad--don't you now80 8,well1 ,i did think it odd what you said1 ,geordie1 as you ask me40 ,arthur paused a moment1 and then said quickly1 8,i'll tell you how it all happened4 ,at first1 when ,i was sent to the sick-room1 and found ,i had really got the fever1 ,i was terribly frightened4 ,i thought ,i should die1 and ,i could not face it for a moment4 ,i don't think it was sheer cowardice at first1 but ,i thought how hard it was to be taken away from my mother and sisters1 and you all1 just as ,i was beginning to see my way to many things1 and to feel that ,i might be a man and do a man's work4 ,to die without having fought and worked1 and given one's life away1 was too hard to bear4 ,i got terribly impatient1 and accused ,god of injustice1 and strove to justify myself2 and the harder ,i strove1 the deeper ,i sank4 ,then the image of my dear father often came across me1 but ,i turned from it4 ,whenever it came1 a heavy numbing throb seemed to take hold of my heart1 and say #8,dead--dead1 dead4' ,and ,i cried out1 #8,the living1 the living shall praise thee ,o ,god2 the dead cannot praise ,thee4 ,there is no work in the grave2 in the night no man can work4 ,but ,i can work4 ,i can do great things4 ,i will do great things4 ,why wilt ,thou slay me4' ,and so ,i struggled and plunged1 deeper and deeper1 and went down into a living black tomb4 ,i was alone there1 with no power to stir or think2 along with myself2 beyond the reach of all human fellowship2 beyond ,christ's reach1 ,i thought1 in my nightmare4 ,you who are brave and bright and strong1 can have no idea of that agony4 ,pray to ,god you never may4 ,pray as for your life40 ,arthur stopped--from exhaustion1 ,tom thought2 but what between his fear lest ,arthur should hurt himself1 his awe1 and longing for him to go on1 he couldn't ask1 or stir to help him4 ,presently he went on1 but quite calm and slow3 8,i don't know how long ,i was in that state4 ,for more than a day1 ,i know2 for ,i was quite conscious1 and lived my outer life all the time1 and took my medicines1 and spoke to my mother1 and heard what they said4 ,but ,i didn't take much note of time2 ,i thought time was over for me1 and that that tomb was what was beyond4 ,well1 on last ,sunday morning1 as ,i seemed to lie in that tomb1 alone1 as ,i thought1 for ever and ever1 the black1 dead wall was cleft in two1 and ,i was caught up and borne through into the light by some great power1 some living1 mighty spirit4 ,tom1 do you remember the living creatures and the wheels in ,ezekiel8 ,it was just like that3 #8when they went ,i heard the noise of their wings1 like the noise of great waters1 as the voice of the ,almighty1 the voice of speech1 as the noise of an host2 when they stood they let down their wings'--#8and they went every one straight forward2 whither the spirit was to go they went1 and they turned not when they went4' ,and we rushed through the bright air1 which was full of myriads of living creatures1 and paused on the brink of a great river4 ,and the power held me up1 and ,i knew that great river was the grave1 and death dwelt there2 but not the death ,i had met in the black tomb--that ,i felt was gone forever4 ,for on the other bank of the great river ,i saw men and women and children rising up pure and bright1 and the tears were wiped from their eyes1 and they put on glory and strength1 and all weariness and pain fell away4 ,and beyond were a multitude which no man could number1 and they worked at some great work2 and they who rose from the river went on and joined them in the work4 ,they all worked1 and each worked in a different way1 but all at the same work4 ,and ,i saw there my father1 and the men in the old town whom ,i knew when ,i was a child2 many a hard1 stern man1 who never came to church1 and whom they called atheist and infidel4 ,there they were1 side by side with my father1 whom ,i had seen toil and die for them1 and women and little children1 and the seal was on the foreheads of all4 ,and ,i longed to see what the work was1 and could not2 so ,i tried to plunge in the river1 for ,i thought ,i would join them1 but ,i could not4 ,then ,i looked about to see how they got into the river4 ,and this ,i could not see1 but ,i saw myriads on this side1 and they too worked1 and ,i knew that it was the same work2 and the same seal was on their foreheads4 ,and though ,i saw there was toil and anguish in the work of these1 and that most that were working were blind and feeble1 yet ,i longed no more to plunge into the river1 but more and more to know what the work was4 ,and as ,i looked ,i saw my mother and my sisters1 and ,i saw the ,doctor1 and you1 ,tom1 and hundreds more whom ,i knew2 and at last ,i saw myself1 too1 and ,i was toiling and doing ever so little a piece of the great work4 ,then it all melted away1 and the power left me1 and as it left me ,i thought ,i heard a voice say1 #8,the vision is for an appointed time2 though it tarry1 wait for it1 for in the end it shall speak and not lie1 it shall surely come1 it shall not tarry4' ,it was early morning ,i know1 then1 it was so quiet and cool1 and my mother was fast asleep in the chair by my bedside2 but it wasn't only a dream of mine4 ,i know it wasn't a dream4 ,then ,i fell into a deep sleep1 and only woke after afternoon chapel2 and the ,doctor came and gave me the sacrament4 ,i told him and my mother ,i should get well--,i knew ,i should2 but ,i couldn't tell them why4 ,tom10 said ,arthur1 gently1 after another minute1 8do you see why ,i could not grieve now to see my dearest friend die8 ,it can't be--it isn't1 all fever or illness4 ,god would never have let me see it so clear if it wasn't true4 ,i don't understand it all yet--it will take me my life and longer to do that--to find out what the work is40 ,,lxxiv4 8,hullo1 ,brown6 here's something for you10 called out the reading man4 8,why1 your old master1 ,arnold of ,rugby1 is dead40 ,tom's hand stopped half-way in his cast1 and his line and flies went all tangling round and round his fishing-rod2 you might have knocked him over with a feather4 ,neither of his companions took any notice of him1 luckily2 and with a violent effort he set to work mechanically to disentangle his line4 ,he felt completely carried off his moral and intellectual legs1 as if he had lost his standing-point in the invisible world4 ,besides which1 the deep loving loyalty he felt for his old leader made the shock intensely painful4 ,it was the first great wrench of his life1 the first gap which the angel ,death had made in his circle1 and he felt numbed1 and beaten down1 and spiritless4 ,well1 well6 ,i believe it was good for him and for many others in like case2 who had to learn by that loss1 that the soul of man cannot stand or lean upon any human prop1 however strong1 and wise1 and good2 but that ,he upon whom alone it can stand and lean will knock away all such props in ,his own wise and merciful way1 until there is no ground or stay left but ,himself1 the ,rock of ,ages1 upon whom alone a sure foundation for every soul of man is laid4 ,,lxxv4 ,at the school-gates ,tom made a dead pause2 there was not a soul in the quadrangle--all was lonely1 and silent1 and sad4 ,so with another effort he strode through the quadrangle1 and into the school-house offices4 ,he found the little matron in her room in deep mourning2 shook her hand1 tried to talk1 and moved nervously about2 she was evidently thinking of the same subject as he1 but he couldn't begin talking4 8,where shall ,i find ,thomas80 said he at last1 getting desperate4 8,in the servants' hall1 ,i think1 sir4 ,but won't you take anything80 said the matron looking rather disappointed4 8,no1 thank you10 said he1 and strode off again to find the old verger1 who was sitting in his little den as of old puzzling over hieroglyphics4 ,he looked up through his spectacles1 as ,tom seized his hand and wrung it4 8,ah6 you've heard all about it1 sir1 ,i see10 said he4 ,tom nodded1 and then sat down on the shoe-board1 while the old man told his tale1 and wiped his spectacles1 and fairly flowed over with quaint1 homely1 honest sorrow4 ,by the time he had done1 ,tom felt much better4 8,where is he buried1 ,thomas80 said he at last4 8,under the altar in the chapel1 sir10 answered ,thomas4 8,you'd like to have the key1 ,i dare say40 8,thank you1 ,thomas4 ,yes1 ,i should very much40 ,and the old man fumbled among his bunch1 and then got up as though he would go with him2 but after a few steps stopped short and said1 8,perhaps you'd like to go by yourself1 sir80 ,tom nodded1 and the bunch of keys were handed to him with an injunction to be sure and lock the door after him1 and bring them back before eight o'clock4 ,we walked quickly through the quadrangle and out into the close4 ,the longing which had been upon him and driven him thus far1 like the gad-fly in the ,greek legends1 giving him no rest in mind or body1 seemed all of a sudden not to be satisfied1 but to shrivel up1 and pall4 8,why should ,i go on8 ,it is no use10 he thought1 and threw himself at full length on the turf1 and looked vaguely and listlessly at all the well-known objects4 ,there were a few of the town-boys playing cricket1 their wicket pitched on the best piece in the middle of the big-side ground1 a sin about equal to sacrilege in the eyes of a captain of the eleven4 ,he was very nearly getting up to go and send them off4 8,pshaw6 they won't remember me4 ,they've more right there than ,i10 he muttered4 ,and the thought that his sceptre had departed1 and his mark was wearing out1 came home to him for the first time1 and bitterly enough4 ,he was lying on the very spot where the fights came off2 where he himself had fought six years ago his first and last battle4 ,he conjured up the scene till he could almost hear the shouts of the ring1 and ,east's whisper in his ear2 and looking across the close to the ,doctor's private door1 half-expected to see it open1 and the tall figure in cap and gown come striding under the elm-trees towards him4 ,no1 no6 that sight could never be seen again4 ,there was no flag flying on the round tower2 the school-house windows were all shuttered up2 and when the flag went up again1 and the shutters came down1 it would be to welcome a stranger4 ,all that was left on earth of him whom he had honored1 was lying cold and still under the chapel-floor4 ,he would go in and see the place once more1 and then leave it once for all4 ,new men and new methods might do for other people2 let those who would1 worship the rising star2 he at least would be faithful to the sun which had set4 ,and so he got up1 and walked to the chapel-door and unlocked it1 fancying himself the only mourner in all the broad land1 and feeding on his own selfish sorrow4 ,he passed through the vestibule1 and then paused for a moment to glance over the empty benches4 ,his heart was still proud and high1 and he walked up to the seat which he had last occupied as a sixth-form boy1 and sat himself down there to collect his thoughts4 ,and1 truth to tell1 they needed collecting and setting in order not a little4 ,the memories of eight years were all dancing through his brain1 and carrying him about whither they would2 while1 beneath them all1 his heart was throbbing with the dull sense of a loss that could never be made up to him4 ,the rays of the evening sun came solemnly through the painted windows above his head1 and fell in gorgeous colors on the opposite wall1 and the perfect stillness soothed his spirit by little and little4 ,and he turned to the pulpit1 and looked at it1 and then1 leaning forward with his head on his hands1 groaned aloud3 8,if he could only have seen the ,doctor again for one five minutes--have told him all that was in his heart1 what he owed to him1 how he loved and reverenced him1 and would by ,god's help follow his steps in life and death--he could have borne it all without a murmur4 ,but that he should have gone away for ever without knowing it all1 was too much to bear40--8,but am ,i sure he does not know it all80--the thought made him start--8,may he not even now be near me1 in this very chapel8 ,if he be1 am ,i sorrowing as he would have me sorrow--as ,i should wish to have sorrowed when ,i shall meet him again80 ,he raised himself up and looked around2 and after a minute rose and walked humbly down to the lowest bench1 and sat down on the very seat which he had occupied on his first ,sunday at ,rugby4 ,and then the old memories rushed back again1 but softened and subdued1 and soothing him as he let himself be carried away by them4 ,and he looked up at the great painted window above the altar1 and remembered how when a little boy he used to try not to look through it at the elm-trees and the rocks1 before the painted glass came--and the subscription for the painted glass1 and the letter he wrote home for money to give to it4 ,and there1 down below1 was the very name of the boy who sat on his right hand on that first day1 scratched rudely in the oak paneling4 ,and then came the thought of all his own school-fellows2 and form after form of boys nobler1 and braver1 and purer than he1 rose up and seemed to rebuke him4 ,could he not think of them1 and what they had felt and were feeling1 they who had honored and loved from the first1 the man whom he had taken years to know and love8 ,could he not think of those yet dearer to him who was gone1 who bore his name and shared his blood1 and were now without a husband or a father8 ,then the grief which he began to share with others became gentle and holy1 and he rose up once more1 and walked up the steps to the altar2 and while the tears flowed freely down his cheeks1 knelt down humbly and hopefully1 to lay down there his share of a burden which had proved itself too heavy for him to bear in his own strength4 ,,lxxvi4 8,it will be forty years ago next month10 said the old ,captain1 8since the ship ,i was then in came home from the ,west ,indies station1 and was paid off4 ,i had nowhere in particular to go just then1 and so was very glad to get a letter1 the morning after ,i went ashore at ,portsmouth1 asking me to go down to ,plymouth for a week or so4 ,it came from an old sailor1 a friend of my family1 who had been ,commodore of the fleet4 ,he lived at ,plymouth2 he was a thorough old sailor--what you young men would call #8an old salt'--and couldn't live out of sight of the blue sea and the shipping4 ,it is a disease that a good many of us take who have spent our best years on the sea4 ,i have it myself--a sort of feeling that we must be under another kind of ,providence1 when we look out and see a hill on this side and a hill on that4 ,it's wonderful to see the trees come out and the corn grow1 but then it doesn't come so home to an old sailor4 ,i know that we're all just as much under the ,lord's hand on shore as at sea2 but you can't read in a book you haven't been used to1 and they that go down to the sea in ships1 they see the works of the ,lord and ,his wonders in the deep4 ,it isn't their fault if they don't see ,his wonders on the land so easily as other people4 8,but1 for all that1 there's no man enjoys a cruise in the country more than a sailor4 ,it's forty years ago since ,i started for ,plymouth1 but ,i haven't forgotten the road a bit1 or how beautiful it was2 all through the ,new ,forest1 and over ,salisbury ,plain1 and then on by the mail to ,exeter1 and through ,devonshire4 ,it took me three days to get to ,plymouth1 for we didn't get about so quick in those days4 8,the ,commodore was very kind to me when ,i got there1 and ,i went about with him to the ships in the bay1 and through the dock-yard1 and picked up a good deal that was of use to me afterwards4 ,i was a lieutenant in those days1 and had seen a good deal of service1 and ,i found the old ,commodore had a great nephew whom he had adopted1 and had set his whole heart upon4 ,he was an old bachelor himself1 but the boy had come to live with him1 and was to go to sea2 so he wanted to put him under some one who would give an eye to him for the first year or two4 ,he was a light slip of a boy then1 fourteen years old1 with deep set blue eyes and long eyelashes1 and cheeks like a girl's1 but as brave as a lion and as merry as a lark4 ,the old gentleman was very pleased to see that we took to one another4 ,we used to bathe and boat together2 and he was never tired of hearing my stories about the great admirals1 and the fleet1 and the stations ,i had been on4 8,well1 it was agreed that ,i should apply for a ship again directly1 and go up to ,london with a letter to the ,admiralty from the ,commodore to help things on4 ,after a month or two ,i was appointed to a brig1 lying at ,spithead2 and so ,i wrote off to the ,commodore1 and he got his boy a midshipman's berth on board1 and brought him to ,portsmouth himself a day or two before we sailed for the ,mediterranean4 ,the old gentleman came on board to see his boy's hammock slung1 and went below into the cockpit to make sure that all was right4 ,he only left us by the pilot-boat when we were well out in the ,channel4 ,he was very low at parting from his boy1 but bore up as well as he could2 and we promised to write to him from ,gibraltar1 and as often afterwards as we had a chance4 8,i was soon as proud and fond of little ,tom ,holdsworth as if he had been my own younger brother1 and1 for that matter1 so were all the crew1 from our captain to the cook's boy4 ,he was such a gallant youngster1 and yet so gentle4 ,in one cutting-out business we had1 he climbed over the boatswain's shoulders1 and was almost first on deck2 how he came out of it without a scratch ,i can't think to this day4 ,but he hadn't a bit of bluster in him1 and was as kind as a woman to any one who was wounded or down with sickness4 8,after we had been out about a year we were sent to cruise off ,malta1 on the look-out for the ,french fleet4 ,it was a long business1 and the post wasn't so good then as it is now4 ,we were sometimes for months without getting a letter1 and knew nothing of what was happening at home1 or anywhere else4 ,we had a sick time too on board1 and at last he got a fever4 ,he bore up against it like a man1 and wouldn't knock off duty for a long time4 ,he was midshipman of my watch2 so ,i used to make him turn in early1 and tried to ease things to him as much as ,i could2 but he didn't pick up1 and ,i began to get very anxious about him4 ,i talked to the doctor1 and turned matters over in my own mind1 and at last ,i came to think he wouldn't get any better unless he could sleep out of the cockpit4 ,so one night1 the #bjth of ,october it was--,i remember it well enough1 better than ,i remember any day since2 it was a dirty night1 blowing half a gale of wind from the southward1 and we were under close-reefed topsails--,i had the first watch1 and at nine o'clock ,i sent him down to my cabin to sleep there1 where he would be fresher and quieter1 and ,i was to turn into his hammock when my watch was over4 8,i was on deck three hours or so after he went down1 and the weather got dirtier and dirtier1 and the scud drove by1 and the wind sang and hummed through the rigging--it made me melancholy to listen to it4 ,i could think of nothing but the youngster down below1 and what ,i should say to his poor old uncle if anything happened4 ,well1 soon after midnight ,i went down and turned into his hammock4 ,i didn't go to sleep at once1 for ,i remember very well listening to the creaking of the ship's timbers as she rose to the swell1 and watching the lamp1 which was slung from the ceiling1 and gave light enough to make out the other hammocks swinging slowly all together4 ,at last1 however1 ,i dropped off1 and ,i reckon ,i must have been asleep about an hour1 when ,i woke with a start4 ,for the first moment ,i didn't see anything but the swinging hammocks and the lamp2 but then suddenly ,i became aware that some one was standing by my hammock1 and ,i saw the figure as plainly as ,i see any of you now1 for the foot of the hammock was close to the lamp1 and the light struck full across on the head and shoulders1 which was all that ,i could see of him4 ,there he was1 the old ,commodore2 his grizzled hair coming out from under a red woollen night cap1 and his shoulders wrapped in an old thread-bare blue dressing-gown which ,i had often seen him in4 ,his face looked pale and drawn1 and there was a wistful1 disappointed look about the eyes4 ,i was so taken aback ,i could not speak1 but lay watching him4 ,he looked full at my face once or twice1 but didn't seem to recognize me2 and1 just as ,i was getting back my tongue and going to speak1 he said slowly3 #8,where's ,tom8 this is his hammock4 ,i can't see ,tom2' and then he looked vaguely about and passed away somehow1 but how ,i couldn't see4 ,in a moment or two ,i jumped out and hurried to my cabin1 but young ,holdsworth was fast asleep4 ,i sat down1 and wrote down just what ,i had seen1 making a note of the exact time1 twenty minutes to two4 ,i didn't turn in again1 but sat watching the youngster4 ,when he woke ,i asked him if he had heard anything of his great uncle by the last mail4 ,yes1 he had heard2 the old gentleman was rather feeble1 but nothing particular the matter4 ,i kept my own counsel and never told a soul in the ship2 and1 when the mail came to hand a few days afterwards with a letter from the ,commodore to his nephew1 dated late in ,september1 saying that he was well1 ,i thought the figure by my hammock must have been all my own fancy4 8,however1 by the next mail came the news of the old ,commodore's death4 #8,it had been a very sudden break-up1' his executor said4 ,he had left all his property1 which was not much1 to his great nephew1 who was to get leave to come home as soon as he could4 8,the first time we touched at ,malta1 ,tom ,holdsworth left us and went home4 ,we followed about two years afterwards1 and the first thing ,i did after landing was to find out the ,commodore's executor4 ,he was a quiet1 dry little ,plymouth lawyer1 and very civilly answered all my questions about the last days of my old friend4 ,at last ,i asked him to tell me as near as he could the time of his death2 and he put on his spectacles1 and got his diary1 and turned over the leaves4 ,i was quite nervous till he looked up and said1 #8,twenty-five minutes to two1 sir1 ,a4,m41 on the morning of ,october #bast2 or it might be a few minutes later4' 8#8,how do you mean1 sir8' ,i asked4 8#8,well1' he said1 #8it is an odd story4 ,the doctor was sitting with me1 watching the old man1 and1 as ,i tell you1 at twenty-five minutes to two1 he got up and said it was all over4 ,we stood together1 talking in whispers for1 it might be1 four or five minutes1 when the body seemed to move4 ,he was an odd old man1 you know1 the ,commodore1 and we never could get him properly to bed1 but he lay in his red nightcap and old dressing-gown1 with a blanket over him4 ,it was not a pleasant sight1 ,i can tell you1 sir4 ,i don't think one of you gentlemen1 who are bred to face all manner of dangers1 would have liked it4 ,as ,i was saying1 the body first moved1 and then sat up1 propping itself behind with its hands4 ,the eyes were wide open1 and he looked at us for a moment1 and said slowly1 8,i've been to the ,mediterranean1 but ,i didn't see ,tom40 ,then the body sank back again1 and this time the old ,commodore was really dead4 ,but it was not a pleasant thing to happen to one1 sir4 ,i do not remember anything like it in my forty years' practise4'0 ,there was a silence of a few seconds after the captain had finished his story1 all the men sitting with eyes fixed on him1 and not a little surprised at the results of their call4 ,drysdale was the first to break the silence1 which he did with a long respiration2 but1 as he did not seem prepared with any further remark1 ,tom took up the running4 8,what a strange story10 he said2 8and that really happened to you1 ,captain ,hardy80 8,to me1 sir1 in the ,mediterranean1 more than forty years ago40 8,the strangest thing about it is that the old ,commodore should have managed to get all the way to the ship1 and then not have known where his nephew was10 said ,blake4 8,he only knew his nephew's berth1 you see1 sir10 said the ,captain4 8,but he might have beat about through the ship till he had found him40 8,you must remember that he was at his last breath1 sir10 said the ,captain2 8you can't expect a man to have his head clear at such a moment40 8,not a man1 perhaps2 but ,i should a ghost10 said ,blake4 8,time was everything to him10 went on the ,captain1 without regarding the interruption1 8space nothing4 ,but the strangest part of it is that ,i should have seen the figure at all4 ,it's true ,i had been thinking of the old uncle1 because of the boy's illness2 but ,i can't suppose he was thinking of me1 and1 as ,i say1 he never recognized me4 ,i have taken a great deal of interest in such matters since that time1 but ,i have never met with just such a case as this40 8,no1 that is the puzzle4 ,one can fancy his appearing to his nephew well enough10 said ,tom4 8,we can't account for these things1 or for a good many other things which ought to be quite as startling1 only we see them every day40 ,,lxxvii4 ,christianity is in no more real danger now than it was a hundred and fifty years ago1 when ,dean ,swift1 and many other greater wits than we have amongst us nowadays1 thought and said that it was doomed4 ,we hold in perfect good faith1 that the good news our ,lord brought is the best the world will ever hear2 that there has been a revelation in the man ,jesus ,christ1 of ,god the ,creator of the world as our ,father1 so that the humblest and poorest man can know ,god for all purposes for which men need to know him in this life1 and can have his help in becoming like him1 the business for which they were sent into it3 and that there will be no other revelation1 though this one will be1 through all time1 unfolding to men more and more of its unspeakable depth1 and glory1 and beauty1 in external nature1 in human society1 in individual men4 ,that1 ,i believe to be a fair statement of the positive religious belief of average ,englishmen1 if they had to think it out and to put it in words2 and all who hold it must of course look upon ,christ's gospel as the great purifying1 reforming1 redeeming power in the world1 and desire that it shall be free to work in their own country on the most favorable conditions which can be found for it4 ,,lxxviii4 ,we should remember that truth is many-sided2 that all truth comes from one source4 ,there is only one sun in the heavens1 yet1 as you know1 there are many beautiful colors1 all of which come from the one sun4 ,you cannot say that the red is better and truer than the blue1 or that the blue is better and truer than the yellow4 ,you may prefer one to the other2 you may see that one color is more universal1 more applicable for different purposes than another1 but there is truth in each4 ,in the same way there is only one earth1 but there are a great many different trees which grow out of it1 and which derive their nourishment from it2 and although the oak may be very much better suited to ,england and the fir to ,norway1 yet we admit that there is truth in each2 that one is just as good and true a tree as the other4 ,therefore1 let us who are apt to think in the church and other religious communities that we have got all the truth ourselves1 remember that truth is wider than can be apprehended by any body of human beings1 and let us be tolerant to one another1 not forgetting that those who are not in the same community with us hold their side of the truth as strongly as we do ours4 ,each religious community has witnessed1 and is witnessing1 to some side of the truth4 ,religious communities are not perfect in themselves like trees or flowers1 but for that very reason it is all the more necessary that the members of them should be tolerant1 and should make the greatest effort to understand those of other religious beliefs4 ,,lxxix4 ,i can take little interest in the questions which divide ,christian churches and sects1 can see no reason why they should not now be working side by side to redeem our waste places1 and to make the kingdoms of this world the kingdoms of our ,lord and of ,his ,christ4 ,st4 ,ambrose was a holy man1 and exceeding zealous1 even to slaying for the one true creed4 ,one day as he was walking in deep meditation as to how to bring all men to his own mind1 he was aware of a stream1 and a youth seated beside it4 ,he had never seen so beautiful a countenance1 and sat down by him to speak of those things on which his mind continually dwelt4 ,to his horror he found that the beautiful face covered a most heretical mind1 and he spoke in sorrowful anger to the youth of his danger4 ,whereupon the young stranger produced six or seven vases1 all of different shapes and colors1 and1 as he filled them from the brook1 said to the saint 7as the legend is versified by ,mr4 ,lowell73-- 8,now ,ambrose1 thou maker of creeds1 look here-- ,as into these vases this water ,i pour2 ,one shall hold less1 another more1 ,but the water the same in every case1 ,shall take the figure of the vase4 ,o thou who wouldst unity reach through strife1 ,canst thou fit this sign to the ,waters of ,life40 ,when ,ambrose looked up1 the youth1 the vases1 and the stream were gone2 but he knew he had talked with an angel1 and his heart was changed4 ,i wish that angel would come and do a great deal of preaching to our ,english ,ambroses4 ,,lxxx4 8,there is no doubt10 as ,lord ,russell says1 8that concession gives rise to demands for fresh concession1 and it is right that it should be so4 ,the true limit is1 that all it is just to concede should be conceded2 all that it is true to affirm should be affirmed2 but that which is false should be denied40 ,besides this power of concession1 which she has in a much greater degree than any other religious body1 the ,english ,church1 if she be a ,catholic ,church1 as she pretends to be1 has also greater power of assimilation4 ,let her not be afraid of those sides of the truth which have been most prominently put forward by other religious communities4 ,she can assimilate them if she pleases1 and it is her duty to assimilate whatever is true in them4 ,her mission in this world is not to hold her own in the sense of resisting all reform1 of resisting all concession1 but her duty and her mission is to go to the lost people of our country1 and of every country where she is established or where she exists1 and to draw those together into her fold who cannot get into that of other religious bodies1 which have such limits as ,i have been speaking of to bar the gates of admission4 ,her great mission is to seek and save those which are lost in every community4 ,the highest title of her ministers is ,servi servorum ,dei 7the servants of the servants of ,god71 and1 if she remembers this high mission1 if she endeavors by her life to exemplify her ,master's spirit and to illustrate ,his life1 she never need be afraid of disestablishment or disendowment4 ,what did the greatest of churchmen who ever lived say on the point of people carrying on those miserable squabbles that are dividing us in this day8 ,they were saying1 8,we are of ,paul10 8,we are of ,apollos10 8,we are of ,peter80 and he said1 8,who is ,paul8 ,who is ,apollos8 ,who is ,peter80 ,if you only understand to what an inheritance you are called to1 8all things are yours1 whether ,paul1 or ,apollos1 or ,peter1 or the world1 or life1 or death1 or things present1 or things to come1 all are yours1 for ye are ,christ's1 and ,christ is ,god's40 ,,lxxxi4 ,it is said by some1 as ,i think1 unwise defenders of the faith1 that a colorless ,christianity is no ,christianity at all1 that you can have no church without a definite creed4 ,to the first ,i would reply that1 after all1 the bright white light is1 in its purity1 better than all color4 ,to the second1 ,i admit that every church must have a definite creed1 but the more simple and broad that creed is the better4 ,it is only the simplest creed which can give us the unity1 or the tolerance in diversity1 for which all good men are longing4 ,,lxxxii4 ,meekness1 liberality1 tolerance of other confessions6 ,these are great virtues1 but hard1 very hard to practise in such hurrying1 driving1 democratic1 competitive times as ours1 when respect for authority seems to have almost died out4 ,nevertheless1 they must be practised1 if the church is ever to fulfil her great mission1 and to become in a larger and truer sense than she has ever yet been1 8,the ,church of the ,people40 ,,lxxxiii4 ,poor conscience6 to what pitiful uses is that sacred name turned6 ,the stolid ,essex peasant1 one of the ,peculiar ,people1 lets his child die because he will not allow it to take medicine1 and believes himself to be suffering for conscience's sake because he is summoned before a magistrate to answer for its life4 ,and he has far more reason on his side than the ,ritualist martyrs4 ,i desire neither to speak nor think scornfully or bitterly of them1 but this at least ,i must say1 that men who can make matters of conscience of such trivialities as the shape and color of vestments1 the burning of candles and incense1 the position of tables1 and the like1 and in defence of these things are prepared to defy authority1 and break what they know to be the law of their country1 are not fit to be trusted with the spiritual guidance of any portion of our people4 ,england has a great work still to do in the world1 for which she needs children with quite other kind of consciences than these--consciences which shall be simple1 manly1 obedient1 qualities which must disappear under such examples and teaching as these men are giving4 ,,lxxxiv4 ,let us look to the ,one life as our model1 and turn to ,him who lived it on our earth1 as to the guide1 and friend1 and helper1 who alone can strengthen the feeble knees1 and lift up the fainting heart4 ,just in so far as we cleave to that teaching and follow that life1 shall we live our own faithfully4 ,,lxxxv4 ,in certain crises in one's life nothing is so useful or healthy for one1 as coming into direct and constant contact with an intellect stronger than one's own1 which looks at the same subjects from a widely different standpoint4 ,,lxxxvi4 ,ah6 light words of those whom we love and honor1 what a power ye are1 and how carelessly wielded by those who can use you6 ,surely for these things also ,god will ask an account4 ,,lxxxvii4 ,on went the talk and laughter4 ,two or three of the little boys in the long dormitory were already in bed1 sitting up with their chins on their knees4 ,the light burned clear1 the noise went on4 ,it was a trying moment for ,arthur1 the poor little lonely boy2 however1 this time he didn't ask ,tom what he might or might not do1 but dropped on his knees by his bedside1 as he had done every day from his childhood1 to open his heart to ,him who heareth the cry and beareth the sorrows of the tender child1 and the strong man in agony4444 ,there were many boys in the room by whom that little scene was taken to heart before they slept4 ,but sleep seemed to have deserted the pillow of poor ,tom4 ,for some time his excitement1 and the flood of memories which chased one another through his brain kept him from thinking or resolving4 ,his head throbbed1 his heart leapt1 and he could hardly keep himself from springing out of bed and rushing about the room4 ,then the thought of his own mother came across him1 and the promise he had made at her knee1 years ago1 never to forget to kneel by his bedside1 and give himself up to his ,father1 before he laid his head on the pillow1 from which it might never rise2 and he lay down gently and cried as if his heart would break4 ,he was only fourteen years old4 ,it was no light act of courage in those days for a little fellow to say his prayers publicly1 even at ,rugby4 ,a few years later1 when ,arnold's manly piety had begun to leaven the school1 the tables turned2 before he died1 in the school-house1 at least1 and ,i believe in the other houses1 the rule was the other way4 ,but poor ,tom had come to school in other times4 ,the first few nights after he came he did not kneel down because of the noise1 but sat up in bed till the candle was out1 and then stole out and said his prayers1 in fear lest some one should find him out4 ,so did many another poor little fellow4 ,then he began to think that he might just as well say his prayers in bed1 and then it didn't matter whether he was kneeling1 or sitting1 or lying down4 ,and so it had come to pass with ,tom1 as with all who will not confess their ,lord before men2 and for the last year he had probably not said his prayers in earnest a dozen times4 ,poor ,tom6 the first and bitterest feeling which was likely to break his heart was the sense of his own cowardice4 ,the vice of all others which he loathed was brought in and burned in on his own soul4 ,he had lied to his mother1 to his conscience1 to his ,god4 ,how could he bear it8 ,and then the poor little weak boy1 whom he had pitied and almost scorned for his weakness1 had done that which he1 braggart as he was1 dared not do4 ,the first dawn of comfort came to him in swearing to himself that he would stand by that boy through thick and thin1 and cheer him1 and help him1 and bear his burdens1 for the good deed done that night4 ,then he resolved to write home next day and tell his mother all1 and what a coward her son had been4 ,and then peace came to him1 as he resolved lastly1 to bear his testimony next morning4 ,the morning would be harder than the night to begin with1 but he felt that he could not afford to let one chance slip4 ,several times he faltered1 for the devil showed him first all his old friends calling him 8,saint0 and 8,square-toes10 and a dozen hard names1 and whispered to him that his motives would be misunderstood1 and he would only be misunderstood1 and he would only be left alone with the new boy2 whereas it was his duty to keep all means of influence1 that he might do good to the largest number4 ,and then came the more subtle temptation1 8,shall ,i not be showing myself braver than others by doing this8 ,have ,i any right to begin it now8 ,ought ,i not rather to pray in my own study1 letting other boys know that ,i do so1 and trying to lead them to it1 while in public at least ,i should go on as ,i have done80 ,however1 his good angel was too strong that night1 and he turned on his side and slept1 tired of trying to reason1 but resolved to follow the impulse which had been so strong1 and in which he had found peace4 ,next morning he was up and washed and dressed1 all but his jacket and waistcoat1 just as the ten minutes' bell began to ring1 and then in the face of the whole room knelt down to pray4 ,not five words could he say--the bell mocked him2 he was listening for every whisper in the room--what were they all thinking of him8 ,he was ashamed to go on kneeling1 ashamed to rise from his knees4 ,at last1 as it were from his inmost heart1 a still small voice seemed to breathe forth the words of the publican1 8,god be merciful to me a sinner60 ,he repeated them over and over1 clinging to them as for his life1 and rose from his knees comforted and humbled1 and ready to face the whole world4 ,it was not needed3 two other boys besides ,arthur had already followed his example1 and he went down to the great school with a glimmering of another lesson in his heart--the lesson that he who has conquered his own coward spirit has conquered the whole outward world2 and that other one which the old prophet learned in the cave in ,mount ,horeb1 when he hid his face1 and the still small voice asked1 8,what doest thou here1 ,elijah10 that however we may fancy ourselves alone on the side of good1 the ,king and ,lord of men is nowhere without his witnesses2 for in every society1 however seemingly corrupt and godless1 there are those who have not bowed the knee to ,baal4 ,,lxxxviii4 8,it is about the toughest part of a man's life1 ,i do believe10 said ,hardy1 8the time he has to spend at college4 ,my university life has been so different altogether from what yours will be1 that my experience isn't likely to benefit you40 8,i wish you would try me1 though10 said ,tom2 8you don't know what a teachable sort of fellow ,i am1 if anybody will take me the right way4 ,you taught me to scull1 you know2 or at least put me in the way to learn4 ,but sculling1 and rowing1 and cricket1 and all the rest of it1 with such reading as ,i am likely to do1 won't be enough4 ,i feel sure of that already40 8,i don't think it will10 said ,hardy4 8,no amount of physical or mental work will fill the vacuum you were talking of just now4 ,it is the empty house swept and garnished1 which the boy might have had glimpses of1 but the man finds yawning within him1 and which must be filled somehow4 ,it's a pretty good three-years' work to learn how to keep the devils out of it1 more or less1 by the time you take your degree4 ,at least ,i have found it so40 ,hardy rose and took a turn or two up and down his room4 ,he was astonished at finding himself talking so unreservedly to one of whom he knew so little1 and half-wished the words recalled4 ,he lived much alone1 and thought himself morbid and too self-conscious2 why should he be filling a youngster's head with puzzles8 ,how did he know that they were thinking of the same thing8 ,but the spoken word cannot be recalled2 it must go on its way for good or evil2 and this one set the hearer staring into the ashes1 and putting many things together in his head4 ,it was some minutes before he broke silence1 but at last he gathered up his thoughts1 and said1 8,well1 ,i hope ,i sha'n't shirk when the time comes4 ,you don't think a fellow need shut himself up1 though8 ,i'm sure ,i shouldn't be any the better for that40 8,no1 ,i don't think you would10 said ,hardy4 8,because1 you see10 ,tom went on1 waxing bolder and more confidential1 8if ,i were to take to moping by myself1 ,i shouldn't read as you or any sensible fellow would do2 ,i know that well enough4 ,i should just begin1 sitting with my legs up on the mantle-piece1 and looking into my own inside4 ,i see you are laughing1 but you know what ,i mean1 don't you1 now80 8,yes2 staring into the vacuum you were talking of just now2 it all comes back to that10 said ,hardy4 8,well1 perhaps it does10 said ,tom2 8and ,i don't believe it does a fellow a bit of good to be thinking about himself and his own doings40 8,only he can't help himself10 said ,hardy4 8,let him throw himself as he will into all that is going on up here1 after all he must be alone for a great part of his time--all night at any rate--and when he gets his oak sported1 it's all up with him4 ,he must be looking more or less into his own inside as you call it40 8,then ,i hope he won't find it as ugly a business as ,i do4 ,if he does1 ,i'm sure he can't be worse employed40 8,i don't know that10 said ,hardy2 8he can't learn anything worth learning in any other way40 8,oh1 ,i like that60 said ,tom2 8it's worth learning how to play tennis1 and how to speak the truth4 ,you can't learn either by thinking about yourself ever so much40 8,you must know the truth before you can speak it10 said ,hardy4 8,so you always do in plenty of time40 8,how80 said ,hardy4 8,oh1 ,i don't know10 said ,tom2 8by a sort of instinct1 ,i suppose4 ,i never in my life felt any doubt about what ,i ought to say or do2 did you80 8,well1 yours is a good1 comfortable1 working belief1 at any rate10 said ,hardy1 smiling2 8and ,i should advise you to hold on to it as long as you can40 8,but you don't think ,i can for very long1 eh80 8,no2 but men are very different4 ,there's no saying4 ,if you were going to get out of the self-dissecting business altogether though1 why should you have brought the subject up at all to-night8 ,it looks awkward for you1 doesn't it80 ,tom began to feel rather forlorn at this suggestion1 and probably betrayed it in his face1 for ,hardy changed the subject suddenly4 ,,lxxxix4 8,you don't mean to say10 said ,tom1 8that it makes any real difference to a man in society here in ,oxford1 whether he is poor or rich2 ,i mean1 of course1 if he is a gentleman and a good fellow80 8,yes1 it does--the very greatest possible4 ,but don't take my word for it4 ,keep your eyes open and judge for yourself2 ,i daresay ,i'm prejudiced on the subject40 8,well1 ,i sha'n't believe it if ,i can help it10 said ,tom2 8you know you said just now that you never called on any one4 ,perhaps you don't give men a fair chance4 ,they might be glad to know you if you would let them1 and may think it's your fault that they don't40 8,very possibly10 said ,hardy2 8,i tell you not to take my word for it40 8,it upsets all one's ideas so10 went on ,tom1 8why1 ,oxford ought to be the place in ,england where money should count for nothing4 ,surely1 now1 such a man as ,jervis1 our captain1 has more influence than all the rich men in the college put together1 and is more looked up to80 8,he's one of a thousand10 said ,hardy2 8handsome1 strong1 good-tempered1 clever1 and up to everything4 ,besides1 he isn't a poor man2 and mind1 ,i don't say that if he were he wouldn't be where he is4 ,i am speaking of the rule1 and not of the exceptions40 ,here ,hardy's scout came in to say that the ,dean wanted to speak to him4 ,so he put on his cap and gown1 and ,tom rose also4 8,well1 ,i'm sorry to turn you out10 said ,hardy1 8and ,i'm afraid ,i've been very surly and made you very uncomfortable4 ,you won't come back again in a hurry40 8,indeed ,i will though1 if you will let me10 said ,tom2 8,i have enjoyed my evening immensely40 8,then come whenever you like10 said ,hardy4 8,but ,i am afraid of interfering with your reading10 said ,tom4 8,oh1 you needn't mind that2 ,i have plenty of time on my hands2 besides1 one can't read all night1 and from eight till ten you'll find me generally idle40 8,then you'll see me often enough4 ,but promise1 now1 to turn me out whenever ,i am in the way40 8,very well10 said ,hardy1 laughing2 and so they parted for the time4 ,some twenty minutes afterwards ,hardy returned to his room after his interview with the ,dean1 who merely wanted to speak to him about some matter of college business4 ,he flung his cap and gown on to the sofa1 and began to walk up and down his room1 at first hurriedly1 but soon with his usual regular tramp4 ,however expressive a man's face may be1 and however well you may know it1 it is simply nonsense to say that you can tell what he is thinking about by looking at it1 as many of us are apt to boast4 ,still more absurd would it be to expect readers to know what ,hardy is thinking about1 when they have never had the advantage of seeing his face even in a photograph4 ,wherefore1 it would seem that the author is bound on such occasions to put his readers on equal vantage-ground with himself1 and not only to tell them what a man does1 but1 so far as may be1 what he is thinking about also4 ,his first thought1 then1 was one of pleasure at having been sought out by one who seemed to be just the sort of friend he would like to have4 ,he contrasted our hero with the few men with whom he generally lived1 and for some of whom he had a high esteem--whose only idea of exercise was a two hours' constitutional walk in the afternoons1 and whose life was chiefly spent over books and behind sported oaks--and felt that this was more of a man after his own heart4 ,then came doubts whether his new friend would draw back when he had been up a little longer1 and knew more of the place4 ,at any rate he had said and done nothing to tempt him2 8if he pushes the acquaintance--and ,i think he will--it will be because he likes me for myself4 ,and ,i can do him good too1 ,i feel sure10 he went on1 as he ran over rapidly his own life for the last three years4 8,perhaps he won't flounder into all the sloughs that ,i have had to drag through2 he will get too much of the healthy1 active life up here for that1 which ,i never had2 but some of them he must get into4 ,all the companionship of boating and cricketing1 and wine-parties and supper-parties1 and all the reading in the world won't keep him from many a long hour of mawkishness1 and discontent1 and emptiness of heart2 he feels that already himself4 ,am ,i sure of that1 though8 ,i may be only reading myself into him4 ,at any rate1 why should ,i have helped to trouble him before the time8 ,was that a friend's part8 ,well1 he must face it1 and the sooner the better perhaps4 ,at any rate it is done4 ,but what a blessed thing if one can only help a youngster like this to fight his way through the cold clammy atmosphere which is always hanging over him1 and ready to settle down on him--can help to keep some living faith in him1 that the world1 ,oxford and all1 isn't a respectable piece of machinery set going some centuries back6 ,ah6 it's an awful business1 that temptation to believe1 or think you believe1 in a dead ,god4 ,it has nearly broken my back a score of times4 ,what are all the temptations of the world1 the flesh1 and the devil to this8 ,it includes them all4 ,well1 ,i believe ,i can help him1 and1 please ,god1 ,i will1 if he will only let me2 and the very sight of him does me good2 so ,i won't believe we went down the lasher together for nothing40 ,,xc4 ,don't let reformers of any sort think that they are going really to lay hold of the working boys and young men of ,england by any educational grapnel whatever1 which hasn't some bona fide equivalent for the games of the old country 8veast0 in it2 something to put in the place of the back-swording and wrestling and racing2 something to try the muscles of men's bodies1 and the endurance of their hearts1 and to make them rejoice in their strength4 ,in all the new-fangled comprehensive plans which ,i see1 this is all left out3 and the consequence is1 that your great ,mechanics' ,institutes end in intellectual priggism1 and your ,christian ,young ,men's ,societies in religious ,pharisaism4 ,well1 well1 we must bide our time4 ,life isn't all beer and skittles--but beer and skittles1 or something better of the same sort1 must form a good part of every ,englishman's education4 ,if ,i could only drive this into the heads of you rising ,parliamentary ,lords1 and young swells who 8have your ways made for you10 as the saying is--you1 who frequent palaver houses and ,west-end ,clubs1 waiting always to strap yourselves on to the back of poor dear old ,john ,bull1 as soon as the present used-up lot 7your fathers and uncles71 who sit there on the great ,parliamentary-majorities' pack-saddle1 and make believe they're grinding him with their red-tape bridle1 tumble1 or have to be lifted off6 ,i don't think much of you yet--,i wish ,i could2 though you do go talking and lecturing up and down the country to crowded audiences1 and are busy with all sorts of philanthropic intellectualism1 and circulating libraries and museums1 and heaven only knows what besides1 and try to make us think1 through newspaper reports1 that you are1 even as we1 of the working classes4 ,but1 bless your hearts1 we ain't so 8green10 though lots of us of all sorts toady you enough certainly1 and try to make you think so4 ,i'll tell you what to do now3 instead of all this trumpeting and fuss1 which is only the old ,parliamentary-majority dodge over again--just you go1 each of you 7you've plenty of time for it1 if you'll only give up the other line71 and quietly make three or four friends1 real friends1 among us4 ,you'll find a little trouble in getting at the right sort1 because such birds don't come lightly to your lure--but found they may be4 ,take1 say1 two out of the professions1 lawyer1 parson1 doctor--which you will2 one out of trade1 and three or four out of the working classes1 tailors1 engineers1 carpenters1 engravers--there's plenty of choice4 ,let them be men of your own ages1 mind1 and ask them to your homes2 introduce them to your wives and sisters1 and get introduced to theirs2 give them good dinners1 and talk to them about what is really at the bottom of your hearts1 and box1 and run1 and row with them1 when you have a chance4 ,do all this honestly as man to man1 and by the time you come to ride old ,john1 you'll be able to do something more than sit on his back1 and may feel his mouth with some stronger bridle than a red-tape one4 ,ah1 if you only would6 ,but you have got too far out of the right rut1 ,i fear4 ,too much over-civilization1 and the deceitfulness of riches4 ,it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle4 ,more's the pity4 ,i never came across but two of you who could value a man wholly and solely for what was in him2 who thought themselves verily and indeed of the same flesh and blood as ,john ,jones1 the attorney's clerk1 and ,bill ,smith1 the costermonger1 and could act as if they thought so4 ,,xci4 ,the change in ,tom's opinions and objects of interest brought him now into more intimate relations with a set of whom he had as yet seen little4 ,for want of a better name1 we may call them 8the party of progress40 ,at their parties1 instead of practical jokes1 and boisterous mirth1 and talk of boats1 and bats1 and guns1 and horses1 the highest and deepest questions of morals1 and politics1 and metaphysics1 were discussed1 and discussed with a freshness and enthusiasm which is apt to wear off when doing has to take the place of talking1 but has a strange charm of its own while it lasts1 and is looked back to with loving regret by those for whom it is no longer a possibility4 ,with this set ,tom soon fraternized1 and drank in many new ideas1 and took to himself also many new crotchets besides those with which he was really weighted4 ,almost all his new acquaintances were ,liberal in politics1 but a few only were ready to go all lengths with him4 ,they were all ,union men1 and ,tom1 of course1 followed the fashion1 and soon propounded theories in that institution which gained him the name of ,chartist ,brown4 ,there was a strong mixture of self-conceit in it all4 ,he had a kind of idea that he had discovered something which it was creditable to have discovered1 and that it was a very fine thing to have all these feelings for1 and sympathies with1 8the masses10 and to believe in democracy1 and 8glorious humanity10 and 8a good time coming10 and ,i know not what other big matters4 ,and1 although it startled and pained him at first to hear himself called ugly names1 which he had hated and despised from his youth up1 and to know that many of his old acquaintances looked upon him1 not simply as a madman1 but as a madman with snobbish proclivities2 yet1 when the first plunge was over1 there was a good deal on the other hand which tickled his vanity1 and was far from being unpleasant4 ,to do him justice1 however1 the disagreeables were such that1 had there not been some genuine belief at the bottom1 he would certainly have been headed back very speedily into the fold of political and social orthodoxy4 ,as it was1 amidst the cloud of sophisms1 and platitudes1 and big one-sided ideas half-mastered1 which filled his thoughts and overflowed in his talk1 there was growing in him and taking firmer hold on him daily a true and broad sympathy for men as men1 and especially for poor men as poor men1 and a righteous and burning hatred against all laws1 customs1 or notions1 which1 according to his light1 either were or seemed to be setting aside1 or putting anything else in the place of1 or above the man4 ,it was with him the natural outgrowth of the child's and boy's training 7though his father would have been much astonished to be told so71 and the instincts of those early days were now getting rapidly set into habits and faiths1 and becoming a part of himself4 ,in this stage of his life1 as in so many former ones1 ,tom got great help from his intercourse with ,hardy1 now the rising tutor of the college4 ,hardy was travelling much the same road himself as our hero1 but was somewhat further on1 and had come into it from a different country1 and through quite other obstacles4 ,their early lives had been so different2 and1 both by nature and from long and severe self-restraint and discipline1 ,hardy was much the less impetuous and demonstrative of the two4 ,he did not rush out1 therefore 7as ,tom was too much inclined to do71 the moment he had seized hold of the end of a new idea which he felt to be good for him and what he wanted1 and brandish it in the face of all comers1 and think himself a traitor to the truth if he wasn't trying to make everybody he met with eat it4 ,hardy1 on the contrary1 would test his new idea1 and turn it over1 and prove it as far as he could1 and try to get hold of the whole of it1 and ruthlessly strip off any tinsel or rose-pink sentiment with which it might happen to be mixed up4 ,often and often did ,tom suffer under this severe method1 and rebel against it1 and accuse his friend1 both to his face and in his own secret thought1 of coldness1 and want of faith1 and all manner of other sins of omission and commission4 ,in the end1 however1 he generally came round1 with more or less of rebellion1 according to the severity of the treatment1 and acknowledged that1 when ,hardy brought him down from riding the high horse1 it was not without good reason1 and that the dust in which he was rolled was always most wholesome dust4 ,for instance1 there was no phrase more frequently in the mouths of the party of progress than 8the good cause40 ,it was a fine big-sounding phrase1 which could be used with great effect in perorations of speeches at the ,union1 and was sufficiently indefinite to be easily defended from ordinary attacks1 while it saved him who used it the trouble of ascertaining accurately for himself or settling for his hearers what it really did mean4 ,but1 however satisfactory it might be before promiscuous audiences1 and so long as vehement assertion or declaration was all that was required to uphold it1 this same 8good cause0 was liable to come to much grief when it had to get itself defined4 ,hardy was particularly given to persecution on this subject1 when he could get ,tom1 and1 perhaps1 one or two others1 in a quiet room by themselves4 ,while professing the utmost sympathy for 8the good cause10 and a hope as strong as theirs that all its enemies might find themselves suspended to lamp-posts as soon as possible1 he would pursue it into corners from which escape was most difficult1 asking it and its supporters what it exactly was1 and driving them from one cloud-land to another1 and from 8the good cause0 to the 8people's cause10 8the cause of labor10 and other like troublesome definitions1 until the great idea seemed to have no shape or existence any longer even in their own brains4 ,but ,hardy's persecution1 provoking as it was for the time1 never went to the undermining of any real conviction in the minds of his juniors1 or the shaking of anything which did not need shaking1 but only helped them to clear their ideas and brains as to what they were talking and thinking about1 and gave them glimpses--soon clouded over again1 but most useful1 nevertheless--of the truth1 that there were a good many knotty questions to be solved before a man could be quite sure that he had found out the way to set the world thoroughly to rights1 and heal all the ills that flesh is heir to4 ,hardy treated another of his friend's most favorite notions even with less respect than this one of 8the good cause40 ,democracy1 that 8universal democracy10 which their favorite author had recently declared to be 8an inevitable fact of the days in which we live10 was1 perhaps1 on the whole the pet idea of the small section of liberal young ,oxford1 with whom ,tom was now hand and glove4 ,they lost no opportunity of worshipping it1 and doing battle for it2 and1 indeed1 did most of them very truly believe that that state of the world which this universal democracy was to bring about and which was coming no man could say how soon1 was to be in fact that age of peace and good-will which men had dreamt of in all times1 when the lion should lie down with the kid1 and nation should not vex nation any more4 ,after hearing something to this effect from ,tom on several occasions1 ,hardy cunningly lured him to his rooms on the pretence of talking over the prospects of the boat club1 and then1 having seated him by the fire1 which he himself proceeded to assault gently with the poker1 propounded suddenly to him the question3 8,brown1 ,i should like to know what you mean by #8democracy8'0 ,tom at once saw the trap into which he had fallen1 and made several efforts to break away1 but unsuccessfully2 and1 being seated to a cup of tea1 and allowed to smoke1 was then and there grievously oppressed1 and mangled1 and sat upon1 by his oldest and best friend4 ,he took his ground carefully1 and propounded only what he felt sure that ,hardy himself would at once accept--what no man of any worth could possibly take exception to4 8,he meant much more10 he said1 8than this2 but for the present purpose it would be enough for him to say that1 whatever else it might mean1 democracy in his mouth always meant that every man should have a share in the government of his country40 ,hardy1 seeming to acquiesce1 and making a sudden change in the subject of their talk1 decoyed his innocent guest away from the thought of democracy for a few minutes1 by holding up to him the flag of hero-worship1 in which worship ,tom was1 of course1 a sedulous believer4 ,then1 having involved him in most difficult country1 his persecutor opened fire upon him from masked batteries of the most deadly kind1 the guns being all from the armory of his own prophets4 8,you long for the rule of the ablest man1 everywhere1 at all times8 ,to find your ablest man1 and then give him power1 and obey him--that you hold to be about the highest act of wisdom which a nation can be capable of80 8,yes2 and you know you believe that too1 ,hardy1 just as firmly as ,i do40 8,i hope so4 ,but then1 how about our universal democracy1 and every man having a share in the government of his country80 ,tom felt that his flank was turned2 in fact1 the contrast of his two beliefs had never struck him vividly before1 and he was consequently much confused4 ,but ,hardy went on tapping a big coal gently with the poker1 and gave him time to recover himself and collect his thoughts4 8,i don't mean1 of course1 that every man is to have an actual share in the government10 he said at last4 8,but every man is somehow to have a share2 and1 if not an actual one1 ,i can't see what the proposition comes to40 8,i call it having a share in the government when a man has share in saying who shall govern him40 8,well1 you'll own that's a very different thing4 ,but1 let's see2 will that find our wisest governor for us--letting all the foolishest men in the nation have a say as to who he is to be80 8,come now1 ,hardy1 ,i've heard you say that you are for manhood suffrage40 8,that's another question2 you let in another idea there4 ,at present we are considering whether the vox populi is the best test for finding your best man4 ,i'm afraid all history is against you40 8,that's a good joke4 ,now1 there ,i defy you1 ,hardy40 8,begin at the beginning1 then1 and let us see40 8,i suppose you'll say1 then1 that the ,egyptian and ,babylonian empires were better than the little ,jewish republic40 8,republic6 well1 let that pass4 ,but ,i never heard that the ,jews elected ,moses1 or any of the judges40 8,well1 never mind the ,jews2 they're an exceptional case3 you can't argue from them40 8,i don't admit that4 ,i believe just the contrary4 ,but go on40 8,well1 then1 what do you say to the glorious ,greek republics1 with ,athens at the head of them80 8,i say that no nation ever treated their best men so badly4 ,i see ,i must put on a lecture in ,aristophanes for your special benefit4 ,vain1 irritable1 shallow1 suspicious old ,demus1 with his two oboli in his cheek1 and doubting only between ,cleon and the sausage-seller1 which he shall choose for his wisest man--not to govern1 but to serve his whims and caprices4 ,you must call another witness1 ,i think40 8,but that's a caricature40 8,take the picture1 then1 out of ,thucydides1 ,plato1 ,xenophon1 how you will--you won't mend the matter much4 ,you shouldn't go so fast1 ,brown2 you won't mind my saying so1 ,i know4 ,you don't get clear in your own mind before you pitch into every one who comes across you1 and so do your own side 7which ,i admit is mostly the right one7 more harm than good40 ,tom couldn't stand being put down so summarily1 and fought over the ground from one country to another1 from ,rome to the ,united ,states1 with all the arguments he could muster1 but with little success4 ,that unfortunate first admission of his1 he felt it throughout1 like a mill-stone round his neck1 and could not help admitting to himself1 when he left1 that there was a good deal in ,hardy's concluding remark3 8,you'll find it rather a tough business to get your #8universal democracy1' and #8government by the wisest1' to pull together in one coach40 ,notwithstanding all such occasional reverses and cold baths1 however1 ,tom went on strengthening himself in his new opinions1 and maintaining them with all the zeal of a convert4 ,the shelves of his bookcase1 and the walls of his room1 soon began to show signs of the change which was taking place in his ways of looking at men and things4 ,hitherto a framed engraving of ,george ,,iii4 had hung over his mantel-piece2 but early in this1 his third year1 the frame had disappeared for a few days1 and when it reappeared1 the solemn face of ,john ,milton looked out from it1 while the honest monarch had retired into a portfolio4 ,a facsimile of ,magna ,charta soon displaced a large colored print of 8,a ,day with the ,pycheley20 and soon afterwards the death-warrant of ,charles ,i41 with its grim and resolute rows of signatures and seals1 appeared on the wall in a place of honor1 in the neighborhood of ,milton4 ,,xcii4 8,i can't for the life of me fancy1 ,i confess10 wrote ,tom1 8what you think will come of speculating about necessity and free will4 ,i only know that ,i can hold out my hand before me1 and can move it to the right or left1 despite of all powers in heaven or earth4 ,as ,i sit here writing to you ,i can let into my heart1 and give the reins to1 all sorts of devils' passions1 or to the ,spirit of ,god4 ,well1 that's enough for me4 ,i know it of myself1 and ,i believe you know it of yourself1 and everybody knows it of themselves or himself2 and why you can't be satisfied with that1 passes my comprehension4 ,as if one hasn't got puzzles enough1 and bothers enough1 under one's nose1 without going afield after a lot of metaphysical quibbles4 ,no1 ,i'm wrong--not going afield--anything one has to go afield for is all right4 ,what a fellow meets outside himself he isn't responsible for1 and must do the best he can with4 ,but to go on forever looking inside of one's self1 and groping about amongst one's own sensations1 and ideas1 and whimsies of one kind and another1 ,i can't conceive a poorer line of business than that4 ,don't you get into it now1 that's a dear boy4 8,very likely you'll tell me you can't help it2 that every one has his own difficulties1 and must fight them out1 and that mine are one sort1 and yours another4 ,well1 perhaps you may be right4 ,i hope ,i'm getting to know that my plummet isn't to measure all the world4 ,but it does seem a pity that men shouldn't be thinking about how to cure some of the wrongs which poor dear old ,england is pretty near dying of1 instead of taking the edge off their brains1 and spending all their steam in speculating about all kinds of things1 which wouldn't make any poor man in the world--or rich one either1 for that matter--a bit better off1 if they were all found out1 and settled to-morrow40 ,,xciii4 ,william ,cobbett was born in #agfb at ,farnham1 the third son of a small farmer1 honest1 industrious1 and frugal1 from whom1 as his famous son writes1 8if he derived no honor1 he derived no shame10 and who used to boast that he had four boys1 the eldest but fifteen1 who did as much work as any three men in the parish of ,farnham4 8,when ,i first trudged afield10 ,william writes1 8with my wooden bottle and satchel slung over my shoulder1 ,i was hardly able to climb the gates and stiles40 ,from driving the small birds from the turnip-seed and rooks from the peas1 he rose to weeding wheat1 hoeing peas1 and so up to driving the plough for #b;d4 a day1 which paid for the evening school where he learned to read and write1 getting in this rough way the rudiments of an education over which he rejoices as he contrasts it triumphantly with that of the 8frivolous idiots that are turned out from ,winchester and ,westminster ,schools1 or from those dens of dunces called ,colleges and ,universities10 as having given him the ability to become 8one of the greatest terrors to one of the greatest and most powerful bodies of knaves and fools that were ever permitted to afflict this or any other country40 ,at eleven he was employed in clipping the boxedgings in the gardens of ,farnham ,castle1 and1 hearing from one of the gardeners of the glories of ,kew1 he started for that place with #as4 #a;d4 in his pocket1 #c;d4 of which sum he spent in buying 8,swift's ,tale of a ,tub40 ,the book produced a 8birth of intellect0 in the little rustic4 ,he carried it with him wherever he went1 and at twenty-four lost it in a box which fell overboard in the ,bay of ,fundy1 a 8loss which gave me greater pain than ,i have ever felt at losing thousands of pounds40 ,he returned home1 and continued to work for his father till #aghb1 attending fairs and hearing ,washington's health proposed by his father at farmers' ordinaries4 ,in that year he went on a visit to ,portsmouth1 saw the sea for the first time1 and was with difficulty hindered from taking service at once on board a man-of-war4 ,he returned home 8spoilt for a farmer10 and next year started for ,london4 ,he served in a solicitor's office in ,gray's ,inn for eight months 7where he worked hard at grammar71 then enlisted in the #edth regiment1 and after a few weeks' drill at ,chatham embarked for ,nova ,scotia1 where the corps were serving4 ,here his temperate habits1 strict performance of duty1 and masterly ability and intelligence1 raised him in little more than a year to the post of sergeant-major over the heads of fifty comrades his seniors in service4 ,his few spare hours were spent in hard study1 especially in acquiring a thorough mastery of grammar4 ,he had bought ,lowth's ,grammar1 which he wrote out two or three times1 got it by heart1 and imposed on himself the task of saying it over to himself every time he was posted sentinel4 ,when he had thoroughly mastered it1 and could write with ease and correctness1 he turned to logic1 rhetoric1 geometry1 ,french1 to ,vauban's fortification1 and books on military exercise and evolutions4 ,in this way1 by the year #agia1 when the #edth was recalled1 he had become the most trusted man in the regiment4 ,the colonel used him as a sort of second adjutant2 all the paymaster's accounts were prepared by him2 he coached the officers1 and used to make out cards with the words of command for many of them1 who1 on parade1 as he scornfully writes1 8were commanding me to move my hands and feet in words ,i had taught them1 and were in everything except mere authority my inferiors1 and ought to have been commanded by me40 ,notwithstanding the masterfulness already showing itself1 ,cobbett was a strictly obedient soldier1 and left the army with the offer of a commission1 and the highest character for ability and zeal4 ,no sooner1 however1 was his discharge accomplished1 than he set himself to work to expose and bring to justice several of the officers of his regiment1 who had systematically mulcted the soldiers in their companies of their wretched pay4 ,his thorough knowledge of the regimental accounts made him a formidable accuser2 and1 after looking into the matter1 the then ,judge-,advocate-,general agreed to prosecute1 and a court-martial was summoned at ,woolwich for the purpose in #agib4 ,but ,cobbett did not appear4 ,he found that it would be necessary to call his clerks1 still serving in the regiment1 and the consequences to them in those days were likely to be so serious1 that he preferred to abandon his attempt4 ,accordingly1 he did not appear1 and the fact was bitterly used against him in later days by his political opponents4 ,the whole story is worth reading1 and is very fairly given by ,mr4 ,smith4 ,he had now made a happy marriage with the girl to whom he had entrusted all his savings years before1 and started with her to ,paris2 but1 hearing on the way of the king's dethronement1 and the ,bastile riots1 he turned aside and embarked for ,america4 ,he arrived in ,philadelphia in ,october #agib1 enthusiastic for the land of liberty1 and an ardent student of ,paine's works1 and set to work to gain his living by teaching ,english to the ,french emigrants there1 and by such literary work as he could get4 ,in both he was very successful1 but soon found himself in fierce antagonism with the ,american press1 and1 after publishing several pamphlets1 8,a ,kick for a ,bite10 8,a ,bone to ,gnaw for the ,democrats10 c41 established his first famous periodical1 8,peter ,porcupine10 which soon gained him the reputation in ,england as well as ,america of a staunch and able loyalist1 and severe critic of ,republican institutions4 ,the only serious mistake in his ,american career was his attack on ,dr4 ,priestly1 then also an emigrant in ,philadelphia4 ,the ,states had become an undesirable place of residence for him before #agih1 when an intimation reached him through the ,british ,embassy that the ,english ,government were sensible of the obligations they owed him1 and were prepared to advance his interests4 ,these overtures he steadily refused2 but1 finding a ,royalist's life was becoming too hot1 and having been beaten in a libel suit1 which nearly ruined him 7though his expenses were nominally defrayed by the subscriptions of his ,american admirers71 he closed the brilliant career of 8,peter ,porcupine's ,gazette10 and returned to ,england1 having at last1 to use his own phrase1 8got the better of all diffidence in my own capacity40 ,he reached home in #ahjj1 and found himself at once courted and famous4 ,he was entertained by ,ministers of ,state and publishers1 but after looking round him in his own sturdy fashion1 and finding the condition of the political and literary world by no means to his mind1 while that of the great body of the people was becoming worse every day1 he resisted all temptations and started on the career which he followed faithfully till his death4 ,in #ahjb appeared the first number of 8,cobbett's ,political ,register10 which 7with the break of two months in #ahag1 when he fled from the new ,gagging ,act to ,america7 continued to appear weekly till ,june #ahce1 and remains a wonderful witness to the strength and the weaknesses of the ,sussex ploughboy4 ,during those long years1 and all the fierce controversies which marked them1 he was grandly faithful1 according to his lights1 to the cause of the poor3--8,i for my part should not be at all surprised10 he wrote in #ahjf1 8if some one were to propose selling the poor1 or mortgaging them to the fund-holders4 ,ah6 you may wince2 you may cry ,jacobin or leveller as long as you please4 ,i wish to see the poor men of ,england what the poor men of ,england were when ,i was born2 and from endeavoring to accomplish this wish nothing but the want of means shall make me desist40 ,and loyally he maintained the fight against sinecures1 place-hunting1 and corruption of all kinds until his death1 full of years1 the member for ,oldham1 and the popular leader of the widest influence among the ,liberal party of the first ,reform period4 ,for the incidents of the long struggle--how the government press turned savagely on the man whom they had hailed on his return from ,america as one 8whom no corruption can seduce nor any personal danger intimidate from the performance of his duty20 how ,attorney-,generals watched him and prosecuted2 how he insisted on conducting his own causes1 and so spent two years in jail1 and was mulcted again and again in heavy damages2 how he fought through it all1 and tended his farm and fruit-trees1 and wrote his 8,rural ,rides0 and 8,cottage ,economy10 and was a tender and loving man in his own home1 and retained the warm regard of such men as ,wyndham and ,lord ,radnor1 while he was the best hated and abused man in ,england--we must refer all 7and we hope there are many7 who care to know about them to the second volume of ,edward ,smith's life of ,cobbett4 ,there are few lives that we know of better worth careful study in these times4 ,we have no space here to do more than quote the best estimate of the man's work which has ever come from one of those classes who for thirty-five years looked on him as their most dangerous enemy3-- 8,i know him well1 on every side ,walled round with wilful prejudice2 ,a self-taught peasant rough in speech1 ,self-taught1 and confident to teach1 ,in blame not overwise4 ,what matter1 if an honest thought ,sometimes a homely phrase require8 ,let those who fear the bracing air ,look for a milder sky elsewhere1 ,or stay beside the fire4 ,there are worse things in this bad world ,than bitter speech and bearing free-- ,i hail thee1 genuine ,english born-- ,not yet the lineage is outworn ,that owns a man like thee40 ,,xciv4 ,the state of ,europe thirty years ago was far more dead and hopeless than now4 ,there were no wars1 certainly1 and no expectations of wars4 ,but there was a dull1 beaten-down1 pent-up feeling abroad1 as if the lid were screwed down on the nations1 and the thing which had been1 however cruel and heavy and mean1 was that which was to remain to the end4 ,england was better off than her neighbors1 but yet in bad case4 ,in the south and west particularly1 several causes had combined to spread a very bitter feeling abroad amongst the agricultural poor4 ,first among these stood the new poor law1 the provisions of which were rigorously carried out in most districts4 ,the poor had as yet felt the harshness only of the new system4 ,then the land was in many places in the hands of men on their last legs1 the old sporting farmers1 who had begun business as young men while the great war was going on1 had made money hand over hand for a few years out of the war prices1 and had tried to go on living with grayhounds and yeomanry uniforms--8horse to ride and weapon to wear0--through the hard years which had followed4 ,these were bad masters in every way1 unthrifty1 profligate1 needy1 and narrow-minded4 ,the younger men who were supplanting them were introducing machinery1 threshing machines and winnowing machines1 to take the little bread which a poor man was still able to earn out of the mouths of his wife and children--so at least the poor thought and muttered to one another2 and the mutterings broke out every now and then in the long nights of the winter months in blazing ricks and broken machines4 ,game preserving was on the increase4 ,australia and ,america had not yet become familiar words in every ,english village1 and the labor market was everywhere overstocked2 and last1 but not least1 the corn laws were still in force1 and the bitter and exasperating strife in which they went out was at its height4 ,and while ,swing and his myrmidons were abroad in the counties1 and could scarcely be kept down by yeomanry and poor-law guardians1 the great towns were in almost worse case4 ,here too emigration had not yet set in to thin the labor market2 wages were falling1 and prices rising2 the corn-law struggle was better understood and far keener than in the country2 and ,chartism was gaining force every day1 and rising into a huge threatening giant1 waiting to put forth his strength1 and eager for the occasion which seemed at hand4 ,you generation of young men1 who were too young then to be troubled with such matters1 and have grown into manhood since1 you little know--may you never know6--what it is to be living the citizens of a divided and distracted nation4 ,for the time that danger is past4 ,in a happy hour1 and so far as man can judge1 in time1 and only just in time1 came the repeal of the corn laws1 and the great cause of strife and the sense of injustice passed away out of men's minds4 ,the nation was roused by the ,irish famine1 and the fearful distress in other parts of the country1 to begin looking steadily and seriously at some of the sores which were festering in its body1 and undermining health and life4 ,and so the tide had turned1 and ,england had already passed the critical point1 when #ahdh came upon ,christendom1 and the whole of ,europe leapt up into a wild blaze of revolution4 ,is any one still inclined to make light of the danger that threatened ,england in that year1 to sneer at the #ajth of ,april1 and the monster petition1 and the monster meetings on ,kennington and other commons8 ,well1 if there be such persons amongst my readers1 ,i can only say that they can have known nothing of what was going on around them and below them1 at that time1 and ,i earnestly hope that their vision has become clearer since then1 and that they are not looking with the same eyes that see nothing1 at the signs of to-day4 ,for that there are questions still to be solved by us in ,england1 in this current half-century1 quite as likely to tear the nation in pieces as the corn laws1 no man with half an eye in his head can doubt4 ,they may seem little clouds like a man's hand on the horizon just now1 but they will darken the whole heaven before long1 unless we can find wisdom enough amongst us to take the little clouds in hand in time1 and make them descend in soft rain4 ,,xcv4 ,the years #ahdh-i had been years of revolution1 and1 as always happens at such times1 the minds of men had been greatly stirred on many questions1 and especially on the problem of the social condition of the great mass of the poor in all ,european countries4 ,in ,paris1 the revolution had been the signal for a great effort on the part of the workmen2 and some remarkable experiments had been made1 both by the ,provisional ,government of #ahdh and by certain employers of labor1 and bodies of skilled mechanics1 with a view to place the conditions of labor upon a more equitable and satisfactory footing1 or1 to use the common phrase of the day1 to reconcile the interests of capital and labor4 ,the government experiment of 8national workshops0 had failed disastrously1 but a number of the private associations were brilliantly successful4 ,the history of some of these associations--of the sacrifices which had been joyfully made by the associates in order to collect the small funds necessary to start them--of the ability and industry with which they were conducted1 and of their marvellous effect on the habits of all those engaged in the work1 had deeply interested many persons in ,england4 ,it was resolved to try an experiment of the same kind in ,england1 but the conditions were very different4 ,the seed there had already taken root amongst the industrial classes1 and the movement had come from them4 ,in ,england the workpeople1 as a rule1 had no belief in association1 except for defensive purposes4 ,it was chiefly amongst young professional men that the idea was working1 and it was necessary to preach it to those whom it most concerned4 ,accordingly a society was formed1 chiefly of young barristers1 under the presidency of the late ,mr4 ,maurice1 who was then ,chaplain of ,lincoln's ,inn1 for the purpose of establishing associations similar to those in ,paris4 ,it was called the ,society for ,promoting ,working ,men's ,associations1 and ,i happened to be one of the original members1 and on the ,council4 ,we were all full of enthusiasm and hope in our work1 and of propagandist zeal3 anxious to bring in all the recruits we could4 ,i cannot even now think of my own state of mind at the time without wonder and amusement4 ,i certainly thought 7and for that matter have never altered my opinion to this day7 that here we had found the solution of the great labor question2 but ,i was also convinced that we had nothing to do but just to announce it1 and found an association or two1 in order to convert all ,england1 and usher in the millennium at once1 so plain did the whole thing seem to me4 ,i will not undertake to answer for the rest of the ,council1 but ,i doubt whether ,i was at all more sanguine than the majority4 ,consequently we went at it with a will3 held meetings at six o'clock in the morning 7so as not to interfere with our regular work7 for settling the rules of our central society1 and its off-shoots1 and late in the evening1 for gathering tailors1 shoemakers1 and other handicraftsmen1 whom we might set to work2 started a small publishing office1 presided over by a diminutive one-eyed costermonger1 a rough-and-ready speaker and poet 7who had been in prison as a ,chartist leader71 from which we issued tracts and pamphlets1 and ultimately a small newspaper2 and1 as the essential condition of any satisfactory progress1 commenced a vigorous agitation for such an amendment in the law as would enable our infant associations to carry on their business in safety1 and without hindrance4 ,we very soon had our hands full4 ,our denunciations of unlimited competition brought on us attacks in newspapers and magazines1 which we answered1 nothing loth4 ,our opponents called us ,utopians and ,socialists1 and we retorted that at any rate we were ,christians2 that our trade principles were on all-fours with ,christianity1 while theirs were utterly opposed to it4 ,so we got1 or adopted1 the name of ,christian ,socialists1 and gave it to our tracts1 and our paper4 ,we were ready to fight our battle wherever we found an opening1 and got support from the most unexpected quarters4 ,i remember myself being asked to meet ,archbishop ,whately1 and several eminent political economists1 and explain what we were about4 ,after a couple of hours of hard discussion1 in which ,i have no doubt ,i talked much nonsense1 ,i retired1 beaten1 but quite unconvinced4 ,next day1 the late ,lord ,ashburton1 who had been present1 came to my chambers and gave me a cheque for #ej to help our experiment2 and a few days later ,i found another nobleman1 sitting on the counter of our shoemakers' association1 arguing with the manager1 and giving an order for boots4 ,it was just in the midst of all this that my brother came to live with us4 ,i had already converted him1 as ,i thought4 ,he was a subscribing member of our ,society1 and dealt with our ,associations2 and ,i had no doubt would now join the ,council1 and work actively in the new crusade4 ,i knew how sound his judgment was1 and that he never went back from a resolution once taken1 and therefore was all the more eager to make sure of him1 and1 as a step in this direction1 had already placed his name on committees1 and promised his attendance4 ,but ,i was doomed to disappointment4 ,he attended one or two of our meetings1 but ,i could not induce him to take any active part with us4 ,at a distance of more than twenty years it is of course difficult to recall very accurately what passed between us1 but ,i can remember his reasons well enough to give the substance of them4 ,and first1 as he had formerly objected to the violent language of the leaders of the ,anti-,corn-,law agitation1 so he now objected to what he looked upon as our extravagance4 8,you don't want to divide other people's property80 8,no10 ,i answered4 8,then why call yourselves ,socialists80 8,but we couldn't help ourselves3 other people called us so first40 8,yes2 but you needn't have accepted the name4 ,why acknowledge that the cap fitted80 8,well1 it would have been cowardly to back out4 ,we borrow the ideas of these ,frenchmen1 of association as opposed to competition as the true law of industry2 and of organizing labor--of securing the laborer's position by organizing production and consumption--and it would be cowardly to shirk the name4 ,it is only fools who know nothing about the matter1 or people interested in the competitive system of trade1 who believe1 or say1 that a desire to divide other people's property is of the essence of ,socialism40 8,that may be very true3 but nine-tenths of mankind1 or at any rate1 of ,englishmen1 come under one or the other of those categories4 ,if you are called ,socialists1 you will never persuade the ,british public that this is not your object4 ,there was no need to take the name4 ,you have weight enough to carry already1 without putting that on your shoulders40 ,this was his first objection1 and he proved to be right4 ,at any rate1 after some time we dropped the name1 and the 8,christian ,socialist0 was changed into the 8,journal of ,association40 ,english ,socialists generally have instinctively avoided it ever since1 and called themselves 8co-operators10 thereby escaping much abuse in the intervening years4 ,and when ,i look back1 ,i confess ,i do not wonder that we repelled rather than attracted men who1 like my brother1 were inclined theoretically to agree with us4 ,for ,i am bound to admit that a strong vein of fanaticism and eccentricity ran through our ranks1 which the marvellous patience1 gentleness1 and wisdom of our beloved president were not enough to counteract or control4 ,several of our most active and devoted members were also strong vegetarians1 and phonetists4 ,in a generation when beards and wide-awakes were looked upon as insults to decent society1 some of us wore both1 with a most heroic indifference to public opinion4 ,in the same way1 there was often a trenchant1 and almost truculent1 tone about us1 which was well calculated to keep men of my brother's temperament at a distance4 ,i rather enjoyed it myself1 but learnt its unwisdom when ,i saw its effects on him1 and others1 who were inclined to join us1 and would have proved towers of strength4 ,it was right and necessary to denounce the evils of unlimited competition1 and the falsehood of the economic doctrine of 8every man for himself20 but quite unnecessary1 and therefore unwise1 to speak of the whole system of trade as 8the disgusting vice of shop-keeping10 as was the habit of several of our foremost and ablest members4 ,,xcvi4 ,hardy had a way of throwing life into what he was talking about1 and1 like many men with strong opinions1 and passionate natures1 either carried his hearers off their legs and away with him altogether1 or roused every spark of combativeness in them4 ,the latter was the effect which his lecture on the ,punic ,wars had on ,tom4 ,he made several protests as ,hardy went on2 but ,grey's anxious looks kept him from going fairly into action1 till ,hardy stuck the black pin1 which represented ,scipio1 triumphantly in the middle of ,carthage1 and1 turning round said1 8,and now for some tea1 ,grey1 before you have to turn out40 ,tom opened fire while the tea was brewing4 8,you couldn't say anything bad enough about aristocracies this morning1 ,hardy1 and now to-night you are crowing over the success of the heaviest and cruelest oligarchy that ever lived1 and praising them up to the skies40 8,hullo6 here's a breeze60 said ,hardy1 smiling2 8but ,i rejoice1 ,o ,brown1 in that they thrashed the ,carthaginians1 and not1 as you seem to think1 in that they1 being aristocrats1 thrashed the ,carthaginians2 for oligarchs they were not at this time40 8,at any rate they answer to the ,spartans in the struggle1 and the ,carthaginians to the ,athenians2 and yet all your sympathies are with the ,romans to-night in the ,punic ,wars1 though they were with the ,athenians before dinner40 8,i deny your position4 ,the ,carthaginians were nothing but a great trading aristocracy--with a glorious family or two ,i grant you1 like that of ,hannibal2 but1 on the whole1 a dirty1 bargain-driving1 buy-cheap-and-sell-dear aristocracy--of whom the world was well rid4 ,they like the ,athenians indeed6 ,why1 just look what the two people have left behind them----0 8,yes10 interrupted ,tom2 8but we only know the ,carthaginians through the reports of their destroyers4 ,your heroes trampled them out with hoofs of iron40 8,do you think the ,roman hoof could have trampled out their ,homer if they ever had one80 said ,hardy4 8,the ,romans conquered ,greece too1 remember40 8,but ,greece was never so near beating them40 8,true4 ,but ,i hold to my point4 ,carthage was the mother of all hucksters1 compassing sea and land to sell her wares40 8,and no bad line of life for a nation4 ,at least ,englishmen ought to think so40 8,no1 they ought not2 at least if #8,punica fides' is to be the rule of trade4 ,selling any amount of ,brummagem wares never did nation or man much good1 and never will4 ,eh1 ,grey80 ,grey winced at being appealed to1 but remarked that he hoped the ,church would yet be able to save ,england from the fate of ,tyre and ,carthage1 the great trading nations of the old world3 and then1 swallowing his tea1 and looking as if he had been caught robbing a hen-roost1 he made a sudden exit1 and hurried away out of college to the night-school4 8,what a pity he is so odd and shy10 said ,tom2 8,i should so like to know more of him40 8,it is a pity4 ,he is much better when he is alone with me4 ,i think he has heard from some of the set that you are a furious ,protestant1 and sees an immense amount of stiff-neckedness in you40 8,but about ,england and ,carthage10 said ,tom1 shirking the subject of his own peculiarities2 8you don't really think us like them8 ,it gave me a turn to hear you translating #8,punica fides' into ,brummagem wares just now40 8,i think that successful trade is our rock ahead4 ,the devil who holds new markets and twenty per cent4 profits in his gift is the devil that ,england has most to fear from4 #8,because of unrighteous dealings1 and riches gotten by deceit1 the kingdom is translated from one people to another1' said the wise man4 ,grey falls back on the ,church1 you see1 to save the nation2 but the ,church he dreams of will never do it4 ,is there any that can8 ,there must be surely1 or we have believed a lie4 ,but this work of making trade righteous1 of ,christianizing trade1 looks like the very hardest the ,gospel has ever had to take in hand--in ,england at any rate40 ,hardy spoke slowly and doubtfully1 and paused as if asking for ,tom's opinion4 8,i never heard it put in that way4 ,i know very little of politics or the state of ,england4 ,but come1 now2 the putting down the slave-trade and compensating our planters1 that shows that we are not sold to the trade-devil yet1 surely40 8,i don't think we are4 ,no1 thank ,god1 there are plenty of signs that we are likely to make a good fight of it yet40 ,,xcvii4 ,the newest school of philosophy preaches an 8organized religion10 an hierarchy of the best and ablest4 ,in an inarticulate way the confession rises from the masses that they feel on every side of them the need of wise and strong government--of a will to which their will may loyally submit--before all other needs2 have been groping blindly after it this long while2 begin to know that their daily life is in daily peril for want of it1 in a country of limited land1 air1 and water1 and practically unlimited wealth4 ,but ,democracy--how about ,democracy8 ,we had thought a cry for it1 and not for kings1 ,god made or of any other kind1 was the characteristic of our time4 ,certainly kings1 such as we have seen them1 have not gained or deserved much reverence of late years1 are not likely to be called for with any great earnestness by those who feel most need of guidance and deliverance1 in the midst of the bewildering conditions and surroundings of our time and our life4 ,thirty years ago the framework of society went all to pieces over the greater part of ,christendom1 and the kings just ran away or abdicated1 and the people1 left pretty much to themselves1 in some places made blind work of it4 ,solvent and well-regulated society caught a glimpse of that same 8big black democracy10--the monster1 the ,frankenstein1 as they hold him1 at any rate the great undeniable fact of our time--a glimpse of him moving his huge limbs about1 uneasily and blindly4 ,then1 mainly by the help of broken pledges and bayonets1 the so-called kings managed to get the gyves put on him again1 and to shut him down in his underground prison4 ,that was the sum of their work in the great ,european crisis2 not a thankworthy one from the people's point of view4 ,however1 society was supposed to be saved1 and the 8party of order10 so called1 breathed freely4 ,no2 for the #ahdh kind of king there is surely no audible demand anywhere4 ,in ,england in that year we had our #ajth of ,april1 and muster of half a million special constables of the comfortable classes1 with much jubilation over such muster1 and mutual congratulations that we were not as other men1 or even as these ,frenchmen1 ,germans1 and the like4 ,taken for what it was worth1 let us admit that the jubilations did not lack some sort of justification4 ,the #ajth of ,april muster may be perhaps accepted as a sign that the reverence for the constable's staff has not quite died out amongst us4 ,but let no one think that for this reason democracy is one whit less inevitable in ,england than on the ,continent1 or that its sure and steady advance1 and the longing for its coming1 which all thoughtful men recognize1 however little they may sympathize1 with them1 in the least incompatible with the equally manifest longing for what our people intend by this much-worshipped and much-hated name4 ,for what does democracy mean to ,englishmen8 ,simply an equal chance for all2 a fair field for the best men1 let them start from where they will1 to get to the front2 a clearance out of sham governors1 and of unjust privilege1 in every department of human affairs4 ,it cannot be too often repeated1 that they who suppose the bulk of our people want less government1 or fear the man who 8can rule and dare not lie10 know little of them4 ,ask any representative of a popular constituency1 or other man with the means of judging1 what the people are ready for in this direction4 ,he will tell you that1 in spite perhaps of all he can say or do1 they will go for compulsory education1 the organization of labor 7including therein the sharp extinction of able-bodied pauperism71 the utilization of public lands1 and other reforms of an equally decided character4 ,that for these purposes they desire more government1 not less2 will support with enthusiasm measures1 the very thought of which takes away the breath and loosens the knees of ordinary politicians2 will rally with loyalty and trustfulness to men who will undertake these things with courage and singleness of purpose4 ,,xcviii4 ,the corners of ,hardy's room were covered with sheets of paper of different sizes1 pasted against the wall in groups4 ,in the line of sight1 from about the height of four to six feet1 there was scarcely an inch of the original paper visible1 and round each centre group there were outlying patches and streamers1 stretching towards floor or ceiling1 or away nearly to the bookcases or fireplace4 8,well1 don't you think it a great improvement on the old paper80 said ,hardy4 8,i shall be out of rooms next term1 and it will be a hint to the ,college that the rooms want papering4 ,you're no judge of such matters1 or ,i should ask you whether you don't see great artistic taste in the arrangement40 8,why1 they're nothing but maps1 and lists of names and dates10 said ,tom1 who had got up to examine the decorations4 8,and what in the world are all these queer pins for80 he went on1 pulling a strong pin with a large red sealing-wax head out of the map nearest to him4 8,hullo6 take care there2 what are you about80 shouted ,hardy1 getting up and hastening to the corner4 8,why1 you irreverent beggar1 those pins are the famous statesmen and warriors of ,greece and ,rome40 8,oh1 ,i beg your pardon2 ,i didn't know ,i was in such august company20 saying which1 ,tom proceeded to stick the red-headed pin back into the wall4 8,now1 just look at that10 said ,hardy1 taking the pin out from the place where ,tom had stuck it4 8,pretty doings there would be amongst them with your management4 ,this pin is ,brasidas2 you've taken him away from ,naupactus1 where he was watching the eleven ,athenian galleys anchored under the temple of ,apollo1 and stuck him down right in the middle of the ,pnyx1 where he will be instantly torn in pieces by a ruthless and reckless mob4 ,you call yourself a ,tory indeed6 ,however1 'twas always the same with you ,tories2 calculating1 cruel1 and jealous4 ,use your leaders up1 and throw them over--that's the golden rule of aristocracies40 8,hang ,brasidas10 said ,tom1 laughing2 8stick him back at ,naupactus again4 ,here1 which is ,cleon8 ,the scoundrel6 give me hold of him1 and ,i'll put him in a hot berth40 8,that's he1 with the yellow head4 ,let him alone1 ,i tell you1 or all will be hopeless confusion when ,grey comes for his lecture4 ,we're only in the third year of the war40 8,i like your chaff about ,tories sacrificing their great men10 said ,tom1 putting his hands in his pockets to avoid temptation4 8,how about your precious democracy1 old fellow8 ,which is ,socrates80 8,here1 the dear old boy6--this pin with the great gray head1 in the middle of ,athens1 you see4 ,i pride myself on my ,athens4 ,here's the ,pirus and the long walls1 and the hill of ,mars4 ,isn't it as good as a picture80 8,well1 it is better than most maps1 ,i think10 said ,tom2 8but you're not going to slip out so easily4 ,i want to know whether your pet democracy did or did not murder ,socrates40 8,i'm not bound to defend democracies4 ,but look at my pins4 ,it may be the natural fondness of a parent1 but ,i declare they seem to me to have a great deal of character1 considering the material4 ,you'll guess them at once1 ,i'm sure1 if you mark the color and shape of the wax4 ,this one now1 for instance1 who is he80 8,alcibiades10 answered ,tom1 doubtfully4 8,alcibiades60 shouted ,hardy2 8you fresh from ,rugby1 and not know your ,thucydides better than that4 ,there's ,alcibiades1 that little purple-headed1 foppish pin1 by ,socrates4 ,this rusty colored one is that respectable old stick-in-the-mud1 ,nicias40 8,well1 but you've made ,alcibiades nearly the smallest of the whole lot10 said ,tom4 8,so he was1 to my mind10 said ,hardy2 8just the sort of insolent young ruffian whom ,i should have liked to buy at my price1 and sell at his own4 ,he must have been very like some of our gentlemen-commoners1 with the addition of brains40 8,i should really think1 though10 said ,tom1 8it must be a capital plan for making you remember the history40 8,it is1 ,i flatter myself4 ,i've long had the idea1 but ,i should never have worked it out and found the value of it but for ,grey4 ,i invented it to coach him in his history4 ,you see we are in the ,grecian corner4 ,over there is the ,roman4 ,you'll find ,livy and ,tacitus worked out there1 just as ,herodotus and ,thucydides are here2 and the pins are stuck for the ,second ,punic ,war1 where we are just now4 ,i shouldn't wonder if ,grey got his first1 after all1 he's picking up so quick in my corners2 and says he never forgets any set of events when he has pricked them out with the pins40 ,,xcix4 ,the ,reformation had to do its work in due course1 in temporal as well as in spiritual things1 in the visible as in the invisible world2 for the ,stuart princes asserted in temporal matters the powers which the ,pope had claimed in spiritual4 ,they1 too1 would acknowledge the sanctity of no law above the will of princes--would vindicate1 even with the sword and scaffold1 their own powers to dispense with laws4 ,so the second great revolt of the ,english nation came1 against all visible earthly sovereignty in things temporal4 ,puritanism arose1 and ,charles went to the block1 and the proclamation went forth that henceforth the nation would have no king but ,christ2 that he was the only possible king for the ,english nation from that time forth1 in temporal as well as spiritual things1 and that his kingdom had actually come4 ,the national conscience was not with the ,puritans as it had been with ,henry at the time of the ,reformation1 but the deepest part of their protest has held its own1 and gained strength ever since1 from their day to ours4 ,the religious source and origin of it was1 no doubt1 thrust aside at the ,revolution1 but the sagacious statesmen of #afhh were as clear as the soldiers of ,ireton and ,ludlow in their resolve1 that no human will should override the laws and customs of the realm4 ,so they1 too1 required of their sovereigns that they should 8solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of ,england1 and the dominions thereto belonging1 according to the statutes in ,parliament agreed on1 and the laws and customs of the same2 444 that they will to the utmost of their power maintain the laws of ,god1 the true profession of the ,gospel1 and the ,protestant reformed religion established by law40 ,the same protest in a far different form came forth again at the great crisis at the end of the eighteenth century1 when the revolutionary literature of ,france had set ,europe in a blaze1 and the idea of the rights of man had shrunk back1 and merged in the will of the mob4 ,against this assertion of this form of self-will again the ,english nation took resolute ground4 ,they had striven for a law which was above popes and kings1 to which these must conform on pain of suppression4 ,they strove for it now against mob-law1 against popular will1 openly avowing its own omnipotence1 and making the tyrant's claim to do what was right in its own eyes4 ,and so through our whole history the same thread has run4 ,the nation1 often confusedly and with stammering accents1 but still on the whole consistently1 has borne the same witness as the ,church1 that as ,god is living and reigning there must be a law1 the expression of his will1 at the foundation of all human society1 which priests1 kings1 rulers1 people must discover1 acknowledge1 obey4 ,c4 ,christians may acknowledge that1 as a rule1 and in the long run1 the decision of a country1 fairly taken1 is likely to be right1 and that the will of the people is likely to be more just and patient than that of any person or class4 ,no one can honestly look at the history of our race in the last quarter of a century1 to go no farther back1 and not gladly admit the weight of evidence in favor of this view4 ,there is no great question of principle which has arisen in politics here1 in which the great mass of the nation has not been from the first on that which has been at last acknowledged as the right side4 ,in ,america1 to take one great example1 the attitude of the ,northern people from first to last1 in the great civil war1 will make proud the hearts of ,english-speaking men as long as their language lasts4 ,,ci4 ,the real public opinion of a nation1 expressing its deepest conviction 7as distinguished from what is ordinarily called public opinion1 the first cry of professional politicians and journalists1 which usually goes wrong17 is undoubtedly entitled to very great respect4 ,but after making all fair allowances1 no honest man1 however warm a democrat he may be1 can shut his eyes to the facts which stare him in the face at home1 in our colonies1 in the ,united ,states1 and refuse to acknowledge that the will of the majority in a nation1 ascertained by the best processes yet known to us1 is not always or altogether just1 or consistent1 or stable2 that the deliberate decisions of the people are not unfrequently tainted by ignorance1 or passion1 or prejudice4 ,are we1 then1 to rest contented with this ultimate regal power1 to resign ourselves to the inevitable1 and admit that for us1 here at last in this nineteenth century1 there is nothing higher or better to look for2 and if we are to have a king at all1 it must be king people or king mob1 according to the mood in which our section of collective humanity happens to be8 ,surely we are not prepared for this any more than the ,pope is4 ,many of us feel that ,tudors1 and ,stuarts1 and ,oliver ,cromwell1 and cliques of ,whig or ,tory aristocrats1 may have been bad enough2 but that any tyranny under which ,england has groaned in the past has been light by the side of what we may come to1 if we are to carry out the new political gospel to its logical conclusion1 and surrender ourselves to government by the counting of heads1 pure and simple4 ,but if we will not do this is there any alternative1 since we repudiate personal government1 but to fall back on the old ,hebrew and ,christian faith1 that the nations are ruled by a living1 present1 invisible ,king1 whose will is perfectly righteous and loving1 the same yesterday1 to-day1 and forever8 ,it is beside the question to urge that such a faith throws us back on an invisible power1 and that we must have visible rulers4 ,of course we must have visible rulers1 even after the advent of the 8confederate social republic of ,europe40 ,when the whole people is king it must have viceroys like other monarchs4 ,but is public opinion visible8 ,can we see 8collective humanity80 ,is it easier for princes or statesmen--for any man or men upon whose shoulders the government rests--to ascertain the will of the people than the will of ,god8 ,another consideration meets us at once1 and that is1 that this belief is assumed in our present practice4 ,not to insist upon the daily usage in all ,christian places of worship and families throughout the land1 the ,parliament of the country opens its daily sittings with the most direct confession of this faith which words can express1 and prays--addressing ,god1 and not public opinion1 or collective humanity--8,thy kingdom come4 ,thy will be done40 ,surely it were better to get rid of this solemn usage as a piece of cant1 which must demoralize the representatives of the nation1 if we mean nothing particular by it1 and either recast our form of prayer1 substituting 8the people10 or what else we please1 for 8,god10 or let the whole business alone1 as one which passes man's understanding4 ,if we really believe that a nation has no means of finding out ,god's will1 it is hypocritical and cowardly to go on praying that it may be done4 ,but it will be said1 assuming all that is asked1 what practical difference can it possibly make in the government of nations8 ,admit as pointedly as you can1 by profession and by worship1 and honestly believe1 that a ,divine will is ruling in the world1 and in each nation1 what will it effect8 ,will it alter the course of events one iota1 or the acts of any government or governor4 ,would not a ,neapolitan ,bourbon be just as ready to make it his watchword as any ,english ,alfred6 ,might not a committee of public safety placard the scaffold with a declaration of this faith8 ,it is a contention for a shadow4 ,is it so8 ,does not every man recognize in his own life1 and in his own observation of the world around him1 the enormous and radical difference between the two principles of action and the results which they bring about8 ,what man do we reckon worthy of honor1 and delight to obey and follow--him who asks1 when he has to act1 what will ,a1 ,b1 and ,c say to this8 or him who asks1 is this right1 true1 just1 in harmony with the will of ,god4 ,don't we despise ourselves when we give way to the former tendency1 or in other words1 when we admit the sovereignty of public opinion8 ,don't we feel that we are in the right and manly path when we follow the latter8 ,and if this be true of private men1 it must hold in the case of those who are in authority4 ,those rulers1 whatever name they may go by1 who turn to what constituents1 leagues1 the press are saying or doing1 to guide them as to the course they are to follow1 in the faith that the will of the majority is the ultimate and only possible arbiter1 will never deliver or strengthen a nation however skilful they may be in occupying its best places4 ,,cii4 ,all the signs of our time tell us that the day of earthly kings has gone by1 and the advent to power of the great body of the people1 those who live by manual labor1 is at hand4 ,already a considerable percentage of them are as intelligent and provident as the classes above them1 and as capable of conducting affairs1 and administering large interests successfully4 ,in ,england1 the co-operative movement and the organization of the trade societies should be enough to prove this1 to any one who has eyes1 and is open to conviction4 ,in another generation that number will have increased tenfold1 and the sovereignty of the country will virtually pass into their hands4 ,upon their patriotism and good sense the fortunes of the kingdom will depend as directly and absolutely as they have ever depended on the will of earthly king or statesman4 ,it is vain to blink the fact that democracy is upon us1 that 8new order of society which is to be founded by labor for labor10 and the only thing for wise men to do is to look it in the face1 and see how the short intervening years may be used to the best advantage4 ,happily for us1 the task has been already begun in earnest4 ,our soundest and wisest political thinkers are all engaged upon the great and inevitable change1 whether they dread1 or exult in the prospect4 ,thus far1 too1 they all agree that the great danger of the future lies in that very readiness of the people to act in great masses1 and to get rid of personal and individual responsibility1 which is the characteristic of the organizations by which they have gained1 and secured1 their present position4 ,nor is there any danger as to how this danger is to be met4 ,our first aim must be to develop to the utmost the sense of personal and individual responsibility4 ,but how is this to be done8 ,to whom are men wielding great powers to be taught that they are responsible8 ,if they can learn that there is still a ,king ruling in ,england through them1 whom if they will fear they need fear no other power in earth or heaven1 whom if they can love and trust they will want no other guide or helper1 all will be well1 and we may look for a reign of justice in ,england such as she has never seen yet1 whatever form our government may take4 ,but1 in any case1 those who hold the old faith will still be sure that the order of ,god's kingdom will not change4 ,if the kings of the earth are passing away1 because they have never acknowledged the order which was established for them1 the conditions on which they were set in high places1 those who succeed them will have to come under the same order1 and the same conditions4 ,when the great body of those who have done the hard work of the world1 and got little enough of its wages hitherto--the real stuff of which every nation is composed--have entered on their inheritance1 they may sweep away many things1 and make short work with thrones and kings4 ,but there is one throne which they cannot pull down--the throne of righteousness1 which is over all the nations2 and one ,king whose rule they cannot throw off--the ,son of ,god and ,son of ,man1 who will judge them as he has judged all kings and all governments before them4 ,,ciii4 ,kings1 priests1 judges1 whatever men succeed to1 or usurp1 or are thrust into power1 come immediately under that eternal government which the ,god of the nation has established1 and the order of which cannot be violated with impunity4 ,every ruler who ignores or defies it saps the national life and prosperity1 and brings trouble on his country1 sometimes swiftly1 but always surely4 ,there is the perpetual presence of a ,king1 with whom rulers and people must come to a reckoning in every national crisis and convulsion1 and who is no less present when the course of affairs is quiet and prosperous4 ,the greatest and wisest men of the nation are those in whom this faith burns most strongly4 ,elijah's solemn opening1 8,as the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand20 ,david's pleading1 8,whither shall ,i go from thy ,spirit1 or whither shall ,i flee from thy presence80--his confession that in heaven or hell1 or the uttermost parts of the sea1 8there also shall thy hand lead1 and thy right hand shall guide me0--are only well-known instances of a universal consciousness which never wholly leaves men or nations1 however much they may struggle to get rid of it4 ,,civ4 8,who is that who has just come in1 in beaver80 said ,tom1 touching the next man to him4 8,oh1 don't you know8 ,that's ,blake2 he's the most wonderful fellow in ,oxford10 answered his neighbor4 8,how do you mean80 said ,tom4 8,why1 he can do everything better than almost anybody1 and without any trouble at all4 ,miller was obliged to have him in the boat last year though he never trained a bit4 ,then he's in the eleven1 and is a wonderful rider1 and tennis-player1 and shot40 8,aye1 and he's so awfully clever with it all10 joined in the man on the other side4 8,he'll be a safe first1 though ,i don't believe he reads more than you or ,i4 ,he can write songs1 too1 as fast as you can talk nearly1 and sings them wonderfully40 8,is he of our ,college1 then80 8,yes1 of course1 or he couldn't have been in our boat last year40 8,but ,i don't think ,i ever saw him in chapel or hall40 8,no1 ,i dare say not4 ,he hardly ever goes to either1 and yet he manages never to get hauled up much1 no one knows how4 ,he never gets up now till the afternoon1 and sits up nearly all night playing cards with the fastest fellows1 or going round singing glees at three or four in the morning40 ,tom looked with great interest at the admirable ,crichton of ,st4 ,ambrose's2 and1 after watching him a few minutes1 said in a low tone to his neighbor3 8,how wretched he looks6 ,i never saw a sadder face40 ,poor ,blake6 one can't help calling him 8poor10 although he himself would have winced at it more than at any other name you could have called him4 ,you might have admired1 feared1 or wondered at him1 and he would have been pleased2 the object of his life was to raise such feelings in his neighbors2 but pity was the last which he would have liked to excite4 ,he was indeed a wonderfully gifted fellow1 full of all sorts of energy and talent1 and power and tenderness2 and yet1 as his face told only too truly to any one who watched him when he was exerting himself in society1 one of the most wretched men in the ,college4 ,he had a passion for success--for beating everybody else in whatever he took in hand1 and that1 too1 without seeming to make any great effort himself4 ,the doing a thing well and thoroughly gave him no satisfaction unless he could feel that he was doing it better and more easily than ,a1 ,b1 or ,c1 and that they felt and acknowledged this4 ,he had had his full swing of success for two years1 and now the ,nemesis was coming4 ,for1 although not an extravagant man1 many of the pursuits in which he had eclipsed all rivals were far beyond the means of any but a rich one1 and ,blake was not rich4 ,he had a fair allowance1 but by the end of his first year was considerably in debt1 and1 at the time we are speaking of1 the whole pack of ,oxford tradesmen1 into whose books he had got 7having smelt out the leanness of his expectations71 were upon him1 besieging him for payment4 ,this miserable and constant annoyance was wearing his soul out4 ,this was the reason why his oak was sported1 and he was never seen till the afternoons1 and turned night into day4 ,he was too proud to come to an understanding with his persecutors1 even had it been possible2 and now1 at his sorest need1 his whole scheme of life was failing him2 his love of success was turning into ashes in his mouth2 he felt much more disgust than pleasure at his triumphs over other men1 and yet the habit of striving for such successes1 notwithstanding its irksomeness1 was too strong to be resisted4 ,poor ,blake6 he was living on from hand to mouth1 flashing out with all his old brilliancy and power1 and forcing himself to take the lead in whatever company he might be2 but utterly lonely and depressed when by himself--reading feverishly in secret1 in a desperate effort to retrieve all by high honors and a fellowship4 ,as ,tom said to his neighbors1 there was no sadder face than his to be seen in ,oxford4 ,,cv4 ,one of the moralists whom we sat under in my youth--was it the great ,richard ,swiveller1 or ,mr4 ,stiggins8--says3 8,we are born in a vale1 and must take the consequences of being found in such a situation40 ,these consequences1 ,i for one am ready to encounter4 ,i pity people who weren't found in a vale4 ,i don't mean a flat country1 but a vale2 that is a flat country bounded by hills4 ,the having your hill always in view if you choose to turn towards him1 that's the essence of a vale4 ,there he is for ever in the distance1 your friend and companion2 you never lose him as you do in hilly districts4 ,,cvi4 ,all dwellers in and about ,london are1 alas1 too well acquainted with that never-to-be-enough-hated change which we have to undergo once1 at least1 in every spring4 ,as each succeeding winter wears away1 the same thing happens to us4 ,for some time we do not trust the fair lengthening days1 and cannot believe that the dirty pair of sparrows who live opposite our window are really making love and going to build1 notwithstanding all their twittering4 ,but morning after morning rises fresh and gentle2 there is no longer any vice in the air2 we drop our overcoats2 we rejoice in the green shoots which the privet-hedge is making in the square garden1 and hail the returning tender-pointed leaves of the plane-trees as friends2 we go out of our way to walk through ,covent ,garden ,market to see the ever-brightening show of flowers from the happy country4 ,this state of things goes on sometimes for a few days only1 sometimes for weeks1 till we make sure that we are safe for this spring at any rate4 ,don't we wish we may get it6 ,sooner or later1 but sure--sure as ,christmas bills1 or the income-tax1 or anything1 if there be anything surer than these--comes the morning when we are suddenly conscious as soon as we rise that there is something the matter4 ,we do not feel comfortable in our clothes2 nothing tastes quite as it should at breakfast2 though the day looks bright enough1 there is a fierce dusty taint about it as we look out through windows1 which no instinct now prompts us to throw open1 as it has done every day for the last month4 ,but it is only when we open our doors and issue into the street1 that the hateful reality comes right home to us4 ,all moisture1 and softness1 and pleasantness has gone clean out of the air since last night2 we seem to inhale yards of horsehair instead of satin2 our skins dry up2 our eyes1 and hair1 and whiskers1 and clothes are soon filled with loathsome dust1 and our nostrils with the reek of the great city4 ,we glance at the weathercock on the nearest steeple1 and see that it points ,n4,e4 ,and so long as the change lasts1 we carry about with us a feeling of anger and impatience as though we personally were being ill-treated4 ,we could have borne with it well enough in ,november2 it would have been natural1 and all in the day's work in ,march2 but now1 when ,rotten-row is beginning to be crowded1 when long lines of pleasure-vans are leaving town on ,monday mornings for ,hampton ,court or the poor remains of dear ,epping ,forrest1 when the exhibitions are open or about to open1 when the religious public is up1 or on its way up1 for ,may meetings1 when the ,thames is already sending up faint warnings of what we may expect as soon as his dirty old life's blood shall have been thoroughly warmed up1 and the ,ship1 and ,trafalgar1 and ,star and ,garter are in full swing at the antagonist poles of the cockney system1 we do feel that this blight which has come over us and everything is an insult1 and that while it lasts1 as there is nobody who can be made particularly responsible for it1 we are justified in going about in general disgust1 and ready to quarrel with anybody we may meet on the smallest pretext4 ,this sort of east-windy state is perhaps the best physical analogy for certain mental ones through which most of us pass4 ,the real crisis over1 we drift into the skirts of the storm1 and lay rolling under bare poles1 comparatively safe1 but without any power as yet to get the ship well in hand1 and make her obey her helm4 ,the storm may break over us again at any minute1 and find us almost as helpless as ever4 ,,cvii4 ,amongst other distractions which ,tom tried at one crisis of his life1 was reading4 ,for three or four days running1 he really worked hard--very hard1 if we were to reckon by the number of hours he spent in his own rooms over his books with his oak sported--hard1 even though we should only reckon by results4 ,for1 though scarcely an hour passed that he was not balancing on the hind legs of his chair with a vacant look in his eyes1 and thinking of anything but ,greek roots or ,latin constructions1 yet on the whole he managed to get through a good deal1 and one evening1 for the first time since his quarrel with ,hardy1 felt a sensation of real comfort--it hardly amounted to pleasure--as he closed his ,sophocles some hour or so after hall1 having just finished the last of the ,greek plays which he meant to take in for his first examination4 ,he leaned back in his chair and sat for a few minutes1 letting his thoughts follow their own bent4 ,they soon took to going wrong1 and he jumped up in fear lest he should be drifting back into the black stormy sea1 in the trough of which he had been laboring so lately1 and which he felt he was by no means clear of yet4 ,at first he caught up his cap and gown as though he were going out4 ,there was a wine party at one of his acquaintance's rooms2 or1 he could go and smoke a cigar in the pool-room1 or at any one of the dozen other places4 ,on second thoughts1 however1 he threw his academicals back on to the sofa1 and went to his bookcase4 ,the reading had paid so well that evening that he resolved to go on with it4 ,he had no particular object in selecting one book more than another1 and so took down carelessly the first that came to hand4 ,it happened to be a volume of ,plato1 and opened of its own accord in the 8,apology40 ,he glanced at a few lines4 ,what a flood of memories they called up6 ,this was almost the last book he had read at school2 and teacher1 and friends1 and lofty oak-shelved library stood out before him at once4 ,then the blunders that he himself and others had made rushed through his mind1 and he almost burst into a laugh as he wheeled his chair round to the window1 and began reading where he had opened1 encouraging every thought of the old times when he first read that marvellous defence1 and throwing himself back into them with all his might4 ,and still1 as he read1 forgotten words of wise comment1 and strange thoughts of wonder and longing1 came back to him4 ,the great truth which he had been led to the brink of in those early days rose in all its awe and all its attractiveness before him4 ,he leant back in his chair1 and gave himself up to his thought2 and how strangely that thought bore on the struggle which had been raging in him of late2 how an answer seemed to be trembling to come out of it to all the cries1 now defiant1 now plaintive1 which had gone out of his heart in this time of trouble6 ,for his thought was of that spirit1 distinct from himself1 and yet communing with his inmost soul1 always dwelling in him1 knowing him better than he knew himself1 never misleading him1 always leading him to light and truth1 of which the old philosopher spoke4 8,the old heathen1 ,socrates1 did actually believe that--there can be no question about it20 he thought1 8,has not the testimony of the best men through these two thousand years borne witness that he was right--that he did not believe a lie6 ,that was what we were told4 ,surely ,i don't mistake6 ,were we not told1 too1 or did ,i dream it1 that what was true for him is true for every man--for me8 ,that there is a spirit dwelling in me1 striving with me1 ready to lead me into all truth if ,i will submit to his guidance8 8,ah6 submit1 submit1 there's the rub6 ,give yourself up to his guidance6 ,throw up the reins1 and say you've made a mess of it4 ,well1 why not8 ,haven't ,i made a mess of it8 ,am ,i fit to hold the reins8 8,not ,i10--he got up and began walking about his rooms--8,i give it up40 8,give it up60 he went on presently2 8yes1 but to whom8 ,not to the dmon1 spirit1 whatever it was1 who took up his abode in the old ,athenian--at least1 so he said1 and so ,i believe4 ,no1 no6 ,two thousand years and all that they have seen have not passed over the world to leave us just where he was left4 ,we want no dmons or spirits4 ,and yet the old heathen was guided right1 and what can a man want more8 and who ever wanted guidance more than ,i now--here--in this room--at this minute8 ,i give up the reins2 who will take them80 ,and so there came on him one of those seasons when a man's thoughts cannot be followed in words4 ,a sense of awe came upon him1 and over him1 and wrapped him round2 awe at a presence of which he was becoming suddenly conscious1 into which he seemed to have wandered1 and yet which he felt must have been there1 around him1 in his own heart and soul1 though he knew it not4 ,there was hope and longing in his heart mingling with the fear of that presence1 but withal the old reckless and daring feeling which he knew so well1 still bubbling up untamed1 untamable it seemed to him4 ,,cviii4 ,men and women occupied with the common work of life--who are earning their bread in the sweat of their brows1 and marrying1 and bringing up children1 and struggling1 and sinning1 and repenting--feel that certain questions which school-men are discussing are somehow their questions4 ,not indeed in form1 for not one in a thousand of the persons whose minds are thus disturbed care to make themselves acquainted with the forms and modes of theological controversies4 ,if they try to do so1 they soon throw them aside with impatience4 ,they feel1 8,no1 it is not this4 ,we care not what may be said about ideology1 or multitudinism1 or evidential views1 or cogenogonies4 ,at the bottom of all this we suspect--nay1 we know--there is a deeper strife1 a strife about the very foundations of faith and human life4 ,we want to know from you learned persons1 whether 7as we have been told from our infancy7 there is a faith for mankind1 for us as well as for you1 for the millions of our own countrymen1 and in all ,christian and heathen lands1 who find living their lives a sore business1 and have need of all the light they can get to help them40 ,it cannot be denied4 ,the sooner we face the fact1 the better4 ,this is the question1 and it has to be answered now1 by us living ,englishmen and ,englishwomen2 the deepest question which man has to do with1 and yet--or rather1 therefore--one which every toiling man must grapple with1 for the sake of his own honesty1 of his own life4 ,,cix4 ,for many years ,i have been thrown very much into the society of young men of all ranks4 ,i spend a great part of my time with them1 ,i like being with them1 and ,i think they like being with me4 ,i know well1 therefore1 how rare anything like a living faith--a faith in and by which you can live1 and for which you would die--is amongst them4 ,i know that it is becoming rarer every day4 ,i find it every day more difficult to get them to speak on the subject3 they will not do so unless you drive them to it4 ,i feel deeply that for the sake of ,england they must be driven to it1 and therefore that it is the bounden duty of every man who has any faith himself1 and who has a chance of being listened to by them1 to speak out manfully what he has to say1 concealing nothing1 disguising nothing1 and leaving the issue to ,god4 ,,cx4 ,that which has been called the 8negative theology10 has been spreading rapidly these last few years1 though for the most part silently4 ,in the first instance it may have been simply 8a recoil from some of the doctrines which are to be heard at church and chapel2 a distrust of the old arguments for1 or proofs of1 a miraculous revelation2 and a misgiving as to the authority1 or extent of the authority of the ,scriptures40 ,but as was sure to be the case1 the 8negative theology0 could not stop1 and has not stopped here4 ,men who have come across these recoils1 distrusts1 misgivings1 will soon find1 if they are honest and resolute with themselves1 that there is another doubt underlying all these1 a doubt which they may turn from in horror when it is first whispered in their hearts1 but which will come back again and again4 ,that doubt is whether there is a ,god at all1 or rather1 whether a living1 personal ,god1 thinking1 acting1 and ruling in this world in which we are1 has ever revealed ,himself to man4 ,this is the one question of our time1 and of all times2 upon the answer which nations or men can give to it hang life and death4444 ,one cannot stand upon a simple negation4 ,the world is going on turning as it used to do1 night succeeding day and generation generation2 nations are waking into life1 or falling into bondage2 there is a deal of wonderful work of one sort or another going on in it1 and you and ,i in our little corner have our own share of work to get done as well as we can4 ,if you put out my old light1 some light or other ,i must have1 and you would wish me to have4 ,what is it to be8 ,you will answer1 probably1 that ,i have touched the heart of the matter in putting my question4 ,night follows day1 and generation1 generation4 ,all things are founded on a 8permanent order10 8self-sustaining and self-evolving powers pervade all nature40 ,of this order and these powers we are getting to know more every day2 when we know them perfectly1 man1 the colossal man1 will have reached the highest development of which he is capable4 ,we need not trouble ourselves about breaking them1 or submitting to them2 some of you would add1 for we cannot either break them or submit to them4 ,they will fulfil themselves4 ,it is they1 these great generalizations1 which are alone acting in1 and ruling the world4 ,we1 however eccentric our actions may be1 however we may pride ourselves on willing and working1 are only simple links in the chain4 ,a general law of average orders the unruly wills and affections of sinful men4 ,but here ,i must ask1 on what is this permanent order1 on what are these laws which you tell me of1 founded8 ,i acknowledge a permanent order1 physical laws1 as fully as you can1 but believe them to be expressions of a living and a righteous will2 ,i believe a holy and true ,god to be behind them1 therefore ,i can sit down humbly1 and try to understand them1 and when ,i understand1 to obey4 ,are the permanent order1 the laws you speak of1 founded on a will8 ,if so1 on whose will8 ,if on the will of a ,god1 of what ,god8 ,of a ,god who has revealed ,his character1 ,his purpose1 ,himself1 to you8 ,if so1 where1 how1 when8 ,but if you tell me that these laws1 this order1 are not founded on any living will1 or that you do not know that they are1 then ,i say you are holding out to me 8an iron rule which guides to nothing and ends in nothing--which may be possible to the logical understanding1 but is not possible to the spirit of man0--and you are telling me1 since worship is a necessity of my being1 to worship that4 ,in the name and in the strength of a man1 and a man's will ,i utterly reject and defy your dead laws1 for dead they must be4 ,they may grind me to powder1 but ,i have that in me which is above them1 which will own no obedience to them4 ,dead laws are1 so far as ,i can see1 just what you and ,i and all mankind have been put into this world to fight against4 ,call them laws of nature if you will1 ,i do not care4 ,take the commonest1 the most universal2 is it or is it not by the law of nature that the ground brings forth briers and all sorts of noxious and useless weeds if you let it alone8 ,if it is by the law of nature1 am ,i to obey the law1 or to dig my garden and root out the weeds8 ,doubtless ,i shall get too old to dig1 and shall die1 and the law will remain1 and the weeds grow over my garden and over my grave1 but for all that ,i decline to obey the law4 ,i see a law of death working all around me2 ,i feel it in my own members4 ,is this one of your laws1 a part of the 8permanent order10 which is to serve me instead of the ,god of my fathers8 ,if it be ,i mean to resist it to the last gasp4 ,i utterly hate it4 ,no noble or true work is done in this world except in direct defiance of it4 ,what is to become of the physician's work1 of every effort at sanitary reform1 of every attempt at civilizing and raising the poor and the degraded1 if we are to sit down and submit ourselves to this law8 ,am ,i never to build a house1 out of respect to the law of gravitation8 ,sooner or later the law will assert itself1 and my house will tumble down4 ,nevertheless ,i will conquer the law for such space as ,i can4 ,in short1 ,i will own no dead law as my master4 ,dead laws ,i will hate always1 and in all places1 with all my heart1 with all my soul1 with all my mind1 and with all my strength4 ,,cxi4 ,we ought to welcome with all our hearts the searching scrutiny1 which students and philosophers of all ,christian nations1 and of all shades of belief1 whether ,christian or not1 are engaged upon1 as to the facts on which our faith rests4 ,the more thorough that scrutiny is the better should we be pleased4 ,we may not wholly agree with the last position which the ablest investigators have laid down1 that unless the truth of the history of our ,lord--the facts of his life1 death1 resurrection1 and ascension--can be proved by ordinary historical evidence1 applied according to the most approved and latest methods1 ,christianity must be given up as not true4 ,we know that our own certainty as to these facts does not rest on a critical historical investigation1 while we rejoice that such an investigation should be made by those who have leisure1 and who are competent for it4 ,at the same time1 as we also know that the methods and principles of historical investigation are constantly improving and being better understood1 and that the critics of the next generation will work1 in all human likelihood1 at as great an advantage in this inquiry over those who are now engaged in it1 as our astronomers and natural philosophers enjoy over ,newton and ,franklin--and as new evidence may turn up any day which may greatly modify their conclusions--we cannot suppose that there is the least chance of their settling the controversy in our time4 ,nor1 even if we thought them likely to arrive at definite conclusions1 can we consent to wait the results of their investigations1 important and interesting as these will be4 ,granting then cheerfully1 that if these facts on the study of which they are engaged are not facts--if ,christ was not crucified1 and did not rise from the dead1 and ascend to ,god his father--there has been no revelation1 and ,christianity will infallibly go the way of all lies1 either under their assaults or those of their successors--they must pardon us if even at the cost of being thought and called fools for our pains1 we deliberately elect to live our lives on the contrary assumption4 ,it is useless to tell us that we know nothing of these things1 that we can know nothing until their critical examination is over2 we can only say3 8,examine away2 but we do know something of this matter1 whatever you may assert to the contrary1 and1 mean to live on the knowledge40 ,but while we cannot suspend our judgment on the question until we know how the critics and scholars have settled it1 we must do justice1 before passing on1 to the single-mindedness1 the reverence1 the resolute desire for the truth before all things1 wherever the search for it may land them which characterizes many of those who are no longer of our faith1 and are engaged in this inquiry1 or have set it aside as hopeless1 and are working at other tasks4 ,the great advance of natural science within the last few years1 and the devotion with which many of our ablest and best men are throwing themselves into this study1 are clearing the air in all the higher branches of human thought and making possible a nation1 and in the end a world1 of truthful men--that blessedest result of all the strange conflicts and problems of the age1 which the wisest men have foreseen in their most hopeful moods4 ,in this grand movement even those who are nominally1 and believe themselves to be really1 against us1 are for us3 all at least who are truthful and patient workers4 ,for them1 too1 the spirit of all truth1 and patience1 and wisdom is leading2 and their strivings and victories--aye1 and their backslidings and reverses--are making clearer day by day that revelation of the kingdom of ,god in nature1 through which it would seem that our generation1 and those which are to follow us1 will be led back again to that higher revelation of the kingdom of ,god in man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ideal ,american1 as he has been painted for us of late1 is a man who has shaken off the yoke of definite creeds1 while retaining their moral essence1 and finds the highest sanctions needed for the conduct of human life in experience tempered by common sense4 ,franklin1 for instance1 is generally supposed to have reached this ideal by anticipation1 and there is a half-truth in the supposition4 ,but whoever will study this great master of practical life will acknowledge that it is only superficially true1 and that if he never lifts us above the earth or beyond the dominion of experience and common sense1 he retained himself a strong hold on the invisible which underlies it1 and would have been the first to acknowledge that it was this which enabled him to control the accidents of birth1 education1 and position1 and to earn the eternal gratitude and reverence of the great nation over whose birth he watched so wisely1 and whose character he did so much to form4 ,,cxii4 8,from one thing to another10 said ,tom1 8they got to cathedrals1 and one of them called ,st4 ,paul's #8a disgrace to a ,christian city4' ,i couldn't stand that1 you know4 ,i was always bred to respect ,st4 ,paul's2 weren't you80 8,my education in that line was neglected10 said ,hardy1 gravely4 8,and so you took up the cudgels for ,st4 ,paul's80 8,yes1 ,i plumped out that ,st4 ,paul's was the finest cathedral in ,england4 ,you'd have thought ,i had said that lying was one of the cardinal virtues--one or two just treated me to a sort of pitying sneer1 but my neighbors were down upon me with a vengeance4 ,i stuck to my text though1 and they drove me into saying ,i liked the ,ratcliffe more than any building in ,oxford2 which ,i don't believe ,i do1 now ,i come to think of it4 ,so when they couldn't get me to budge for their talk1 they took to telling me that everybody who knew anything about church architecture was against me--of course meaning that ,i knew nothing about it--for the matter of that1 ,i don't mean to say that ,i do40 ,tom paused2 it had suddenly occurred to him that there might be some reason in the rough handling he had got4 8,but what did you say to the authorities80 said ,hardy1 who was greatly amused4 8,said ,i didn't care a straw for them10 said ,tom2 8there was no right or wrong in the matter1 and ,i had as good a right to my opinion as ,pugin--or whatever his name is--and the rest40 8,what heresy60 said ,hardy1 laughing2 8you caught it for that1 ,i suppose80 8,didn't ,i6 ,they made such a noise over it1 that the men at the other end of the table stopped talking 7they were all freshmen at our end71 and when they found what was up1 one of the older ones took me in hand1 and ,i got a lecture about the middle ages1 and the monks4 ,i said ,i thought ,england was well rid of the monks2 and then we got on to ,protestantism1 and fasting1 and apostolic succession1 and passive obedience1 and ,i don't know what all6 ,i only know ,i was tired enough of it before coffee came2 but ,i couldn't go1 you know1 with all of them on me at once1 could ,i80 8,of course not2 you were like the six thousand unconquerable ,british infantry at ,albuera4 ,you held your position by sheer fighting1 suffering fearful loss40 8,well10 said ,tom1 laughing1 for he had talked himself into good humor again4 8,i dare say ,i talked a deal of nonsense2 and1 when ,i come to think it over1 a good deal of what some of them said had something in it4 ,i should like to hear it again quietly2 but there were others sneering and giving themselves airs1 and that puts a fellow's back up40 8,yes10 said ,hardy1 8a good many of the weakest and vainest men who come up take to this sort of thing now4 ,they can do nothing themselves1 and get a sort of platform by going in for the ,high ,church business from which to look down on their neighbors40 8,that's just what ,i thought10 said ,tom2 8they tried to push mother ,church1 mother ,church1 down my throat at every turn4 ,i'm as fond of the ,church as any of them1 but ,i don't want to be jumping up on her back every minute1 like a sickly chicken getting on the old hen's back to warm its feet whenever the ground is cold1 and fancying himself taller than all the rest of the brood40 ,,cxiii4 ,i have spoken of that which ,i cannot believe2 let me speak to you now of that which ,i do believe1 of that which ,i hold to be a faith1 the faith1 the only faith for mankind4 ,do not turn from it because it seems to be egotistic4 ,i can only speak for myself1 for what ,i know in my own heart and conscience4 ,while ,i keep to this1 ,i can speak positively1 and ,i wish above all things to speak positively4 ,i was bred as a child and as a boy to look upon ,christ as the true and rightful ,king and ,head of our race1 the ,son of ,god and the ,son of man4 ,when ,i came to think for myself ,i found the want1 the longing for a perfectly righteous king and head1 the deepest of which ,i was conscious--for a being in whom ,i could rest1 who was in perfect sympathy with me and all men4 8,like as the hart panteth after the water-brooks1 so longeth my soul after thee1 ,o ,god4 ,my soul is athirst for ,god1 yea1 even for the living ,god10--these1 and the like sayings of the ,psalmist1 began to have a meaning for me4 ,then the teaching which had sunk into me unconsciously rose up and seemed to meet this longing4 ,if that teaching were true1 here was ,he for whom ,i was in search4 ,i turned to the records of ,his life and death4 ,i read and considered as well as ,i could1 the character of ,christ1 what he said of himself and his work2 his teachings1 his acts1 his sufferings4 ,then ,i found that this was indeed ,he4 ,here was the ,head1 the ,king1 for whom ,i had longed4 ,the more ,i read and thought the more absolutely sure ,i became of it4 ,this is ,he4 ,i wanted no other then1 ,i have never wanted another since4 ,him ,i can look up to and acknowledge with the most perfect loyalty4 ,he satisfies me wholly4 ,there is no recorded thought1 word or deed of his that ,i would wish to change--that ,i do not recognize and rejoice in as those of my rightful and righteous ,king and ,head4 ,he has claimed for me1 for you1 for every man1 all that we can ask for or dream of1 for ,he has claimed every one of us for his soldiers and brethren1 the acknowledged children of his and our ,father and ,god4 ,but this loyalty ,i could never have rendered1 no man can ever render1 ,i believe1 except to a ,son of man4 ,he must be perfect man as well as perfect ,god to satisfy us--must have dwelt in a body like ours1 have felt our sorrows1 pains1 temptations1 weaknesses4 ,he was incarnate by the ,spirit of ,god of the ,virgin4 ,in this way ,i can see how he was indeed perfect ,god and perfect ,man4 ,i can conceive of no other in which he could have been so4 ,the ,incarnation is for me the support of all personal holiness1 and the key to human history4 ,what was ,christ's work on earth8 ,he came to make manifest1 to make clear to us1 the will and nature of this ,father1 our ,god4 ,he made that will and nature clear to us as the perfectly loving and long-suffering and righteous will and nature4 ,he came to lead us men1 his brethren1 back into perfect understanding of and submission to that will--to make us at one with it2 and this he did triumphantly by his own perfect obedience to that will1 by sacrificing himself even to death for us1 because it was the will of his and our ,father that he should give himself up wholly and unreservedly2 thus1 by his one sacrifice1 redeeming us and leaving us an example that we too should sacrifice ourselves to ,him for our brethren4 ,thus ,i believe in the ,atonement4 ,,cxiv4 ,christ was not only revealed to those who saw him here4 ,he did not only go about doing his ,father's will here on earth for thirty-three years1 eighteen hundred years ago1 and then leave us4 ,had this been so1 he would certainly in one sense have been revealed1 in the only sense in which some orthodox writers seem to teach that he has been revealed4 ,he would have been revealed to certain men1 at a certain time1 in history1 and to us in the accounts which we have of him in the ,gospels1 through which accounts only we should have had to gain our knowledge of him1 judging of such accounts by our own fallible understandings4 ,but ,he said1 8,i will be with you always1 even to the end of the world40 8,i will send my ,spirit into your hearts to testify of me20 and ,he has fulfilled his promise4 ,he is revealed1 not in the ,bible1 not in history1 not in or to some men at a certain time1 or to a man here and there1 but in the heart of you1 and of me1 and of every man and woman who is now1 or ever has been1 on this earth4 ,his ,spirit is in each of us1 striving with us1 cheering us1 guiding us1 strengthening us4 ,at any moment in the lives of any one of us we may prove the fact for ourselves2 we may give ourselves up to his guidance1 and ,he will accept the trust1 and guide us into the knowledge of ,god1 and of all truth4 ,from this knowledge1 7more certain to me than any other1 of which ,i am ten thousand times more sure than ,i am that ,queen ,victoria is reigning in ,england1 that ,i am writing with this pen at this table17 if ,i could see no other manifestation of ,christ in creation1 ,i believe in the ,trinity in ,unity1 the name on which all things in heaven and earth stand1 which meets and satisfies the deepest needs and longings of my soul4 ,the knowledge of this name1 of these truths1 has come to me1 and to all men1 in one sense1 specially and directly through the ,scriptures4 ,i believe that ,god has given us these ,scriptures1 this ,bible1 to instruct us in these the highest of all truths4 ,therefore ,i reverence this ,bible as ,i reverence no other book2 but ,i reverence it because it speaks of him1 and his dealings with us4 ,the ,bible has no charm or power of its own4 ,it may become a chain round men's necks1 an idol in the throne of ,god1 to men who will worship the book1 and not ,him of whom the book speaks4 ,there are many signs that this is1 or is fast becoming1 the case with us2 but it is our fault1 and not the ,bible's fault4 ,we persist in reading our own narrowness and idolatry into it1 instead of hearing what it really is saying to us4 ,,cxv4 ,i believe that the writers of ,holy ,scripture were directly inspired by ,god1 in a manner1 and to an extent1 in and to which no other men whose words have come down to us have been inspired4 ,i cannot draw the line between their inspiration and that of other great teachers of mankind4 ,i believe that the words of these1 too1 just in so far as they have proved themselves true words1 were inspired by ,god4 ,but though ,i cannot1 and man cannot1 draw the line1 ,god himself has done so2 for these books have been filtered out1 as it were1 under his guidance1 from many others1 which1 in ages gone by1 claimed a place beside them1 and are now forgotten1 while these have stood for thousands of years1 and are not likely to be set aside now4 ,for they speak if men will read them1 to needs and hopes set deep in our human nature1 which no other books have ever spoken to1 or ever can speak to1 in the same way--they set forth his government of the world as no other books ever have set it forth1 or ever can set it forth4 ,but though ,i do not believe that the difference between the inspiration of ,isaiah and ,shakespeare is expressible by words1 the difference between the inspiration of the ,holy ,scripture--the ,bible as a whole--and any other possible or conceivable collection of the utterances of men seems to me clear enough4 ,the ,bible has come to us from the ,jewish nation1 which was chosen by ,god as the one best fitted to receive for all mankind1 and to give forth to all mankind1 the revelation of ,him--to teach them ,his name and character--that is1 to enable them to know ,him and in knowing ,him1 to feel how they and the world need redemption1 and to understand how they and the world have been redeemed4 ,this ,bible1 this ,book of the chosen people1 taken as a whole1 has done this1 is in short the written revelation of ,god4 ,this being so1 there can be no other inspired book in the same sense in which the ,bible is inspired1 unless we1 or some other world1 are not redeemed1 require another redemption and another ,christ4 ,but as we and all worlds are redeemed1 and ,christ is come1 and ,god has revealed his name and his character in ,christ so that we can know ,him1 the ,bible is and must remain the inspired ,book1 the ,book of the ,church for all time1 to which nothing can be added1 from which nothing can be taken1 as they will find who try to take from it or add to it4 ,there may be another ,homer1 ,plato1 ,shakespeare2 there can be no other ,bible4 ,,cxvi4 ,the longing for a ,deliverer and ,redeemer of himself and his race was the strongest and deepest feeling in the heart of every ,jewish patriot4 ,his whole life was grounded and centred on the promise and hope of such an one4 ,just therefore when his utterances would be most human and noble1 most in sympathy with the cries and groanings of his own nation and the universe1 they would all point to and centre in that ,deliverer and ,redeemer--just in so far as they were truly noble1 human1 and ,godlike1 they would shadow forth ,his true character1 the words ,he would speak1 the acts ,he would do4 ,doubtless the prophet would have before his mind any notable deliverance1 and noble sufferer1 or deliverer of his own time2 his words would refer to these4 ,but from these he would be inevitably drawn up to the great promised ,deliverer and ,redeemer of his nation and his race1 because he would see after all how incomplete the deliverance wrought by these must be1 and his faith in the promise made to his fathers and to his nation--the covenant of ,god in which he felt himself to be included--would and could be satisfied with nothing less than a full and perfect deliverance1 a ,redeemer who should be the ,head of men1 the ,son of man1 and the ,son of ,god4 ,men may have insisted1 may still insist1 on seeing all sorts of fanciful references to some special acts of his in certain words of the ,bible4 ,but ,i must again insist that men's fancies about the ,bible and ,christ are not the question1 but what the ,bible itself says1 what ,christ is4 ,the whole book is full of ,him1 there is no need to read ,him into any part of it as to which there can be any possible doubt4 ,holding this faith as to the ,scriptures1 ,i am not anxious to defend them4 ,i rejoice that they should be minutely examined and criticised4 ,they will defend themselves1 one and all1 ,i believe4 ,men may satisfy themselves--perhaps1 if ,i have time to give to the study1 they may satisfy me--that the ,pentateuch was the work of twenty men2 that ,baruch wrote a part of ,isaiah2 that ,david did not write the ,psalms1 or the ,evangelists the ,gospels2 that there are interpolations here and there in the originals2 that there are numerous and serious errors in our translation4 ,what is all this to me8 ,what do ,i care who wrote them1 what is the date of them1 what this or that passage ought to be8 ,they have told me what ,i wanted to know4 ,burn every copy in the world to-morrow1 you don't and can't take that knowledge from me1 or any man4 ,i find them all good for me2 so1 as long as a copy is left1 and ,i can get it1 ,i mean to go on reading them all1 and believing them all to be inspired4 ,,cxvii4 ,our ,lord came proclaiming a kingdom of ,god1 a kingdom ordained by ,god on this earth1 the order and beauty of which the unruly and sinful wills of men had deformed1 so that disease1 and death1 and all miseries and disorder1 had grown up and destroyed the order of it1 and thwarting the perfectly loving will of ,god4 ,in asserting this kingdom and this order1 our ,lord claimed 7as he must have claimed if indeed he were the ,son of ,god7 dominion over disease and death4 ,this dominion was lower than that over the human heart and will1 but he claimed it as positively4 ,he proved his claim to be good in other ways1 but specially for our present purpose by healing the sick1 and raising the dead4 ,were these works orderly or disorderly8 ,every one of them seems to me to be the restoring of an order which had been disturbed4 ,they were witnesses for the law of life1 faithful and true manifestations of the will of a loving ,father to his children4 ,yes1 you may say1 but he did other miracles besides those of healing4 ,he turned water into wine1 stilled the waves1 multiplied loaves and fishes4 ,these at any rate were capricious suspensions of natural laws4 ,you say you believe in natural laws which have their ground in ,god's will4 ,such laws he suspended or set aside in these cases4 ,now were these suspensions orderly8 ,i think they were4 ,the natural laws which ,christ suspended1 such as the law of increase1 are laws of ,god4 ,being his laws1 they are living and not dead laws1 but they are not the highest law2 there must be a law of ,god1 a law of his mind1 above them1 or they would be dead tyrannous rules4 ,christ seems to me to have been asserting the freedom of that law of ,god by suspending these natural laws1 and to have been claiming here again1 as part of his and our birthright1 dominion over natural laws4 ,all the other miracles1 ,i believe1 stand on the same ground4 ,none have been performed except by men who felt that they were witnessing for ,god1 with glimpses of his order1 full of zeal for the triumph of that order in the world1 and working as ,christ worked1 in his spirit1 and in the name of his ,father1 or of him4 ,if there are any miracles which do not on a fair examination fulfil these conditions--which are such as a loving ,father educating sons who had strayed from or rebelled against him would not have done--,i am quite ready to give them up4 ,,cxviii4 ,you have another charge against ,christianity4 ,you say it is after all a selfish faith1 in which1 however beautiful and noble the moral teaching may be1 the ultimate appeal has always been to the hope of reward and fear of punishment4 ,you will tell me that in ninety-nine of our churches out of a hundred ,i shall hear this doctrine1 and shall find it in ninety-nine out of every hundred of theological or religious works4 ,if it be so ,i am sorry for it4 ,but ,i am speaking of ,christ's ,gospel1 and ,i say that you will not find the doctrine you protest against there4 ,i cannot go through our ,lord's teaching and his disciples' to prove this4 ,i ask you to read for yourselves1 bringing honest and clear heads to the study1 and not heads full of what you have thought1 or this and the other man has preached or written1 and ,i say that then you will give up this charge4 ,but as ,i have tried to do in all other cases1 so here1 ,i will tell you exactly what my own faith on this matter is4 ,christ has told me that the only reward ,i shall ever get will be 8life eternal10 and that life eternal is to know ,god and ,him4 ,that is all the reward ,i care about4 ,the only punishment ,i can ever bring on myself will be1 to banish myself from his presence and the presence of all who know him1 to dwell apart from him and my brethren1 shut up in myself4 ,that is the only punishment ,i dread4 ,but this reward he has given us already1 here4 ,he has given us to know ,god1 and knowing ,god involves entering his kingdom1 and dwelling in it4 ,that kingdom ,christ has opened to you1 and to me1 here4 ,we1 you and ,i may enter in any hour we please4 ,if we don't enter in now1 and here1 ,i can't see how we are ever likely to enter in in another world4 ,why should not we enter in8 ,it is worth trying4 ,there are no conditions4 ,it is given for the asking4 ,i think you will find it all you are in search of and are longing for4 ,above all1 you will find in it and nowhere else1 rest1 peace--8not a peace which depends upon compacts and bargains among men1 but which belongs to the very nature and character and being of ,god4 ,not a peace which is produced by the stifling and suppression of activities and energies1 but the peace in which all activities and energies are perfected and harmonized4 ,not a peace which comes from the toleration of what is base or false1 but which demands its destruction4 ,not a peace which begins from without1 but a peace which is first wrought in the inner man1 and thence comes forth to subdue the world4 ,not a peace which a man gets for himself by standing aloof from the sorrows and confusions of the world in which he is born1 of the men whose nature he shares1 choosing a calm retreat and quiet scenery and a regulated atmosphere2 but a peace which has never thriven except in those who have suffered with their suffering kind1 who have been ready to give up selfish enjoyments1 sensual or spiritual1 for their sakes1 who have abjured all devices of escape from ordained toils and temptations2 the peace which was ,his who bore the sorrows and sins and infirmities of man1 who gave up himself that he might become actually one with them1 who thus won for them a participation in the ,divine nature1 and inheritance in that peace of ,god which passeth all understanding40 ,this kingdom of ,god is good enough for me at any rate4 ,i can trust him who has brought me into it to add what he will1 to open my eyes1 and strengthen my powers1 that ,i may see and enjoy ever more and more of it1 in this world1 or in any other in which he may put me hereafter4 ,where that may be is no care of mine2 it will be in his kingdom still1 that ,i know2 no power in ,heaven or ,hell1 or ,earth can cast me out of that1 except ,i myself4 ,while ,i remain in it ,i can freely use and enjoy every blessing and good gift of his glorious earth1 the inheritance which he has given to us1 his father's children1 his brethren4 ,when it shall be his good pleasure to take me out of it he will not take me out of but bring me into more perfect communion with him and with my brethren4 ,he nourisheth my heart with good things on this earth1 he will not cease to do this anywhere else4 ,he reveals himself to me here1 though as a man ,i cannot take in his full and perfect revelation1 but when ,i awake up after his likeness ,i shall be satisfied--and not till then4 ,,cxix4 ,one stumbling block in your way is1 you say1 that you are revolted and kept at arm's-length by the separatist and exclusive habits and maxims of those who profess to have the faith you want4 ,many of them are kind1 exemplary men1 but just because they are ,christians1 and in so far forth as they are ,christians1 they are calling to you to come out from amongst the people of the world--to separate yourselves from an adulterous generation4 ,against this call something which you know to be true and noble in you rises up4 ,you have felt that what your age is crying out for1 is union4 ,you acknowledge the power of that cry in your own hearts4 ,you want to feel with all men1 and for all men4 ,if you need a faith at all1 it is one which shall meet that cry1 which shall teach you how all men are bound together2 not how some may be separated from the rest4 ,you will not be false to your age4 ,you will have no faith at all1 or a faith for all mankind4 ,keep to that2 take nothing less than that2 only look again and see whether that is not just what ,christ offers you4 ,again ,i urge you not to look at his followers1 real or professing--look at him1 look at his life4 ,was ,he exclusive8 ,did ever man or woman come near him and he turn away8 ,did he not go amongst all ranks1 into every society8 ,did he not go to the houses of great men and rulers2 of ,pharisees1 of poor men1 of publicans8 ,did he not frequent the temple1 the marketplace1 the synagogue1 the sea-shore1 the hillside1 the haunts of outcasts and harlots8 ,was he not to be found at feasts and at funerals8 ,wherever men and women were to be found1 there was his place and his work2 and there is ours4 ,he who believes in him must go into every society where he has any call whatever4 ,who are we that we should pick and choose8 ,the greatest ruffian1 the most abandoned woman1 that ever walked the face of this earth1 were good enough for our ,lord to die for4 ,if he sends us amongst them1 he will take care of us1 and has something for us to do or speak1 for or to them4 ,the greatest king1 the holiest saint on earth1 is not too high company for one for whom ,christ died1 as he did for you and me4 ,so1 if he sends us amongst great or holy people1 let us go1 and learn what he means us to learn there4 ,i know how deeply many of you feel and mourn over the miseries and disorder of ,england and the world--how you long to do something towards lightening ever so small a part of those miseries1 rescuing ever so small a corner of the earth from that disorder4 ,i know well how earnestly many of you are working in one way or another for your country and your brethren4 ,i know what high hopes many of you have for the future of the world and the destiny of man4 ,i say1 mourn on1 work on2 abate not one jot of any hope you have ever had for the world or for man4 ,your hopes1 be they what they may1 have never been high enough--your work never earnest enough4 ,but ,i ask you whether your hopes and your work have not been marred again and again1 whether you have not been thrown back again and again into listlessness and hopelessness1 by failures of one kind or another1 whether you have not felt that those failures have been caused more or less by your own uncertainty1 by your having had to work and fight without a leader1 with comrades to whom you were bound only by chance1 to journey without any clear knowledge of the road you were going1 or where it led to8 ,at such times have you not longed for light and guidance8 ,what would you have not given for a well of light and hope and strength1 springing up within you and renewing your powers and energies8 ,what would you not have given for the inward certainty that the road you were travelling was the right one1 however you might stumble on it2 that the line of battle in which you stood was the line for all true men1 and was marching break at the point which had been given you to hold1 whatever might become of you8 ,well1 be sure that light and guidance1 that renewal of strength and hope1 that certainty as to your side and your road1 you are meant to have2 they have been prepared1 and are ready1 for every man of you1 whenever you will take them4 ,the longings for them are whispered in your hearts by the ,leader1 whose cross1 never turned back1 ever triumphing more and more over all principalities and powers of evil1 blazes far ahead in the van of our battles4 ,he has been called the ,captain of our ,salvation1 the ,lion of the tribe of ,judah1 the ,lamb who was slain for the world2 ,he has told us his name1 the ,son of ,god and the ,son of ,man2 ,he has claimed to be the redeemer1 deliverer1 leader of mankind4 ,,cxx4 ,my younger brothers1 ,i am not speaking to you the words of enthusiasm or excitement1 but the words of sober every-day knowledge and certainty4 ,i tell you that all the miseries of ,england and of other lands consist simply in this and in nothing else1 that we men1 made in the image of ,god1 made to know him1 to be one with him in his ,son1 will not confess that ,son our ,lord and ,brother1 to be the ,son of ,god and ,son of man1 the living ,head of our race and of each one of us4 ,i tell you that if we would confess him and lay hold of him and let him enter into and rule and guide us and the world1 instead of trying to rule and guide ourselves and the world without him1 we should see and know that the kingdom of ,god is just as much about us now as it will ever be4 ,i tell you that we should see all sorrow and misery melting away and drawn up from this fair world of ,god's like mountain mist before the ,july sun4 ,,cxxi4 ,i do not ask you to adopt any faith of mine4 ,but as you would do good work in your generation1 ,i ask of you to give yourselves no peace till you have answered these questions1 each one for himself1 in the very secret recesses of his heart1 8,do ,i1 does my race1 want a head8 ,can we be satisfied with any less than a ,son of man and a ,son of ,god8 ,is this ,christ1 who has been so long worshipped in ,england1 ,he80 ,if you can answer1 though with faltering lips1 8,yes1 this is ,he10 ,i care very little what else you accept1 all else that is necessary or good for you will come in due time1 if once he has the guidance of you4 ,,cxxii4 ,my faith has been no holiday or ,sunday faith1 but one for every-day use2 a faith to live and die in1 not to argue or talk about4 ,it has had to stand the wear and tear of life2 it was not got in prosperity4 ,it has had to carry me through years of anxious toil and small means1 through the long sicknesses of those dearer to me than my own life1 through deaths amongst them both sudden and lingering4 ,few men of my age have had more failures of all kinds2 no man has deserved them more1 by the commission of all kinds of blunders and errors1 by evil tempers1 and want of faith1 hope1 and love4 ,through all this it has carried me1 and has risen up in me after every failure and every sorrow1 fresher1 clearer1 stronger4 ,why do ,i say 8it80 ,i mean ,he4 ,he has carried me through it all2 ,he who is your ,head and the ,head of every man1 woman1 child1 on this earth1 or who has ever been on it1 just as much as he is my ,head4 ,and he will carry us all through every temptation1 trial1 sorrow1 we can ever have to encounter1 in this world or any other1 if we will only turn to him1 lay hold of him1 and cast them all upon him1 as he has bidden us4 ,my younger brothers1 you on whom the future of your country1 under ,god1 at this moment depends1 will you not try him8 ,is he not worth a trial8 ,,cxxiii4 ,precious as his love was to him1 and deeply as it affected his whole life1 ,tom felt that there must be something beyond it--that its full satisfaction would not be enough for him4 ,the bed was too narrow for a man to stretch himself on4 ,what he was in search of must underlie and embrace his human love1 and support it4 ,beyond and above all private and personal desires and hopes and longings1 he was conscious of a restless craving and feeling about after something which he could not grasp1 and yet which was not avoiding him1 which seemed to be mysteriously laying hold of him and surrounding him4 ,the routine of chapels1 and lectures1 and reading for degree1 boating1 cricketing1 ,union-debating--all well enough in their way--left this vacuum unfilled4 ,there was a great outer visible world1 the problems and puzzles of which were rising before him and haunting him more and more2 and a great inner and invisible world opening round him in awful depth4 ,he seemed to be standing on the brink of each--now1 shivering and helpless1 feeling like an atom about to be whirled into the great flood and carried he knew not where--now1 ready to plunge in and take his part1 full of hope and belief that he was meant to buffet in the strength of a man with the seen and the unseen1 and to be subdued by neither4 ,,cxxiv4 ,far on in the quiet night he laid the whole before the ,lord and slept6 ,yes1 my brother1 even so3 the old1 old story2 but start not at the phrase1 though you may never have found its meaning4--,he laid the whole before the ,lord1 in prayer1 for his friend1 for himself1 for the whole world4 ,and you1 too1 if ever you are tried--as every man must be in one way or another--must learn to do the like with every burthen on your soul1 if you would not have it hanging round you heavily1 and ever more heavily1 and dragging you down lower and lower till your dying day4 ,,cxxv4 ,the ,english prejudice against ,franklin on religious grounds is quite unreasonable4 ,he was suspected of being a ,freethinker1 and was professedly a philosopher and man of science2 he was a friend of ,tom ,paine and other dreadful persons2 he had actually published 8,an ,abridgment of the ,church ,prayer-,book10 dedicated 8to the serious and discerning10 by the use of which he had the audacity to suppose that religion would be furthered1 unanimity increased1 and a more frequent attendance on the worship of ,god secured4 ,any one of these charges was sufficient to ruin a man's religious reputation in respectable ,england of the last generation1 but it is high time that amends were made in these days4 ,let us glance at the real facts4 ,as a boy1 ,franklin had the disease which all thoughtful boys have to pass through1 and puzzled himself with speculations as to the attributes of ,god and the existence of evil1 which landed him in the conclusion that nothing could possibly be wrong in the world1 and that vice and virtue were empty distinctions4 ,these views he published at the mature age of nineteen1 but became disgusted with them almost immediately1 and abandoned metaphysics for other more satisfactory studies4 ,living in the eighteenth century1 when happiness was held to be 8our being's end and aim10 he seems to have now conformed to that popular belief2 but as he came also to the conclusion that 8the felicity of life0 was to be attained through 8truth1 sincerity1 and integrity in dealings between man and man10 and acted up to this conclusion1 no great objection from a moral or religious standpoint can be taken to this stage of his development4 ,at the age of twenty-two he composed a little liturgy for his own use1 which he fell back on when the sermons of the minister of the only ,presbyterian church in ,philadelphia had driven him from attendance at chapel4 ,he did not1 however1 long remain unattached1 and after his marriage joined the ,church of ,england1 in which he remained till the end of his life4 ,what his sentiments were in middle life may be gathered from his advice to his daughter on the eve of his third departure for ,england3 8,go constantly to church1 whoever preaches4 ,the act of devotion in the ,common ,prayer-,book is your principle business there1 and if properly attended to will do more toward amending the heart than sermons4444 ,i do not mean you should despise sermons1 even of the preachers you dislike1 for the discourse is often much better than the man1 as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth4 ,i am the more particular on this head as you seem to express some inclination to leave our church1 which ,i would not have you do40 ,as an old man of eighty1 he reminded his colleagues of the ,national ,convention 7in moving unsuccessfully that there should be daily prayers before business7 how in the beginnings of the contest with ,britain 8we had daily prayers in this room4444 ,do we imagine we no longer need assistance8 ,i have lived now a long time1 and the longer ,i live the more convincing proofs ,i see of this truth1 that ,god rules in the affairs of men40 ,later yet1 in answer to ,president ,yates1 of ,yale ,college1 who had pressed him on the subject1 he writes1 at the age of eighty-four3 8,here is my creed3 ,i believe in one ,god1 the ,creator of the universe2 that he governs it by his providence2 that he ought to be worshipped2 that the most acceptable service we render to him is doing good to his other children2 that the soul of man is immortal1 and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this40 ,these are his 8fundamentals10 beyond which he believes that ,christ's system of morals and religion is the best the world is ever likely to see1 though it has been much corrupted4 ,to another friend he speaks with cheerful courage of death1 which 8,i shall submit to with less regret as1 having seen during a long life a good deal of this world1 ,i feel a growing curiosity to be acquainted with some other2 and can cheerfully1 with filial confidence1 resign my spirit to the conduct of that great and good ,parent of mankind who has so graciously protected and prospered me from my birth to the present hour40 ,one more quotation we cannot resist2 it is his farewell letter to his old friend ,david ,hartley3 8,i cannot quit the coasts of ,europe without taking leave of my old friend4 ,we were long fellow-laborers in the best of all works1 the work of peace4 ,i leave you still in the field1 but1 having finished my day's task1 ,i am going home to bed4 ,wish me a good night's rest1 as ,i do you a pleasant evening4 ,adieu1 and believe me ever yours most affectionately1--,b4 ,,franklin40 ,as to his relations with ,paine1 they should have reassured instead of frightened the orthodox1 for he did his best to keep the author of 8,the ,rights of ,man0 from publishing his speculations4 ,franklin advises him that he will do himself mischief and no benefit to others4 8,he who spits against the wind1 spits in his own face40 ,paine is probably indebted to religion 8for the habits of virtue on which you so justly value yourself4 ,you might easily display your excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous subject1 and thereby obtain a rank amongst our most distinguished authors4 ,for among us it is not necessary1 as among the ,hottentots1 that a youth1 to be raised into the company of men1 should prove his manhood by beating his mother40 ,,cxxvi4 ,of course1 it is more satisfactory to one's own self-love1 to make every one who comes to one to learn1 feel that he is a fool1 and we wise men2 but1 if our object is to teach well and usefully what we know ourselves there cannot be a worse method4 ,no man1 however1 is likely to adopt it1 so long as he is conscious that he has anything himself to learn from his pupils2 and as soon as he has arrived at the conviction that they can teach him nothing--that it is henceforth to be all give and no take--the sooner he throws up his office of teacher the better it will be for himself1 his pupils1 and his country1 whose sons he is misguiding4 ,,cxxvii4 8,when one thinks what a great centre of learning and faith like ,oxford ought to be--that its highest educational work should just be the deliverance of us all from flunkeyism and money-worship--and then looks at matters here without rose-colored spectacles1 it gives one sometimes a sort of chilly1 leaden despondency1 which is very hard to struggle against40 8,i am sorry to hear you talk like that1 ,jack1 for one can't help loving the place after all40 8,so ,i do1 ,god knows4 ,if ,i didn't1 ,i shouldn't care for its shortcomings40 8,well1 the flunkeyism and money-worship were bad enough1 but ,i don't think they were the worst things--at least not in my day4 ,our neglects were almost worse than our worships40 8,you mean the want of all reverence for parents8 ,well1 perhaps that lies at the root of the false worships4 ,they spring up on the vacant soil40 8,and the want of reverence for women1 ,jack4 ,the worst of all1 to my mind60 8,perhaps you are right4 ,but we are not at the bottom yet40 8,how do you mean80 8,i mean that we must worship ,god before we can reverence parents or women1 or root out flunkeyism and money-worship40 8,yes4 ,but after all can we fairly lay that sin on ,oxford8 ,surely1 whatever may be growing up side by side with it1 there's more ,christianity here than almost anywhere else40 8,plenty of common-room ,christianity--belief in a dead ,god4 ,there1 ,i have never said it to any one but you1 but that is the slough we have got to get out of4 ,don't think that ,i despair for us4 ,we shall do it yet2 but it will be sore work1 stripping off the comfortable wine-party religion in which we are wrapped up--work for our strongest and our wisest40 ,,cxxviii4 ,everybody1 ,i suppose1 knows the dreamy delicious state in which one lies1 half asleep1 half awake1 while consciousness begins to return after a sound night's rest in a new place which we are glad to be in1 following upon a day of unwonted excitement and exertion4 ,there are few pleasanter pieces of life4 ,the worst of it is that they last such a short time2 for nurse them as you will1 by lying perfectly passive in mind and body1 you can't make more than five minutes or so of them4 ,after which time the stupid1 obstrusive1 wakeful entity which we call 8,i10 as impatient as he is stiff-necked1 spite of our teeth will force himself back again1 and take possession of us down to our very toes4 ,,cxxix4 ,the sun was going down behind the copse1 through which his beams came aslant1 chequered and mellow4 ,the stream ran dimpling down1 sleepily swaying the masses of weed1 under the surface and on the surface2 and the trout rose under the banks1 as some moth or gnat or gleaming beetle fell into the stream2 here and there one more frolicsome than his brethren would throw himself joyously into the air4 ,the swifts rushed close by1 in companies of five or six1 and wheeled1 and screamed1 and dashed away again1 skimming along the water1 baffling the eye as one tried to follow their flight4 ,two kingfishers shot suddenly up on to their supper station1 on a stunted willow stump1 some twenty yards below him1 and sat there in the glory of their blue backs and cloudy red waistcoats1 watching with long sagacious beaks pointed to the water beneath1 and every now and then dropping like flashes of light into the stream1 and rising again1 with what seemed one motion1 to their perches4 ,a heron or two were fishing about the meadows2 and ,tom watched them stalking about in their sober quaker coats1 or rising on slow heavy wing1 and lumbering away home with a weird cry4 ,he heard the strong pinions of the wood pigeon in the air1 and then from the trees above his head came the soft call1 8,take-two-cow-,taffy1 take-two-cow-,taffy10 with which that fair and false bird is said to have beguiled the hapless ,welchman to the gallows4 ,presently1 as he lay motionless1 the timid and graceful little water-hens peered out from their doors in the rushes opposite1 and1 seeing no cause for fear1 stepped daintily into the water1 and were suddenly surrounded by little bundles of black soft down1 which went paddling about in and out of the weeds1 encouraged by the occasional sharp1 clear1 parental 8keck--keck10 and merry little dabchicks popped up in mid-stream1 and looked round1 and nodded at him1 pert and voiceless1 and dived again2 even old cunning water-rats sat up on the bank with round black noses and gleaming eyes1 or took solemn swims out1 and turned up their tails and disappeared for his amusement4 ,a comfortable low came at intervals from the cattle1 revelling in the abundant herbage4 ,all living things seemed to be disporting themselves1 and enjoying1 after their kind1 the last gleams of the sunset1 which were making the whole vault of heaven glow and shimmer2 and1 as he watched them1 ,tom blessed his stars as he contrasted the river-side with the glare of lamps and the click of balls in the noisy pool-room4 ,and then the summer twilight came on1 and the birds disappeared1 and the hush of night settled down on river1 and copse1 and meadow--cool and gentle summer twilight1 after the hot bright day4 ,he welcomed it too1 as it folded up the landscape1 and the trees lost their outline1 and settled into soft black masses rising here and there out of the white mist1 which seemed to have crept up to within a few yards all round him unawares4 ,there was no sound now but the gentle murmur of the water1 and an occasional rustle of reeds1 or of the leaves over his head1 as a stray wandering puff of air passed through them on its way home to bed4 ,nothing to listen to1 and nothing to look at2 for the moon had not risen1 and the light mist hid everything except a star or two right up above him4 ,so1 the outside world having left him for the present1 he was turned inwards on himself4 ,,cxxx4 ,the nights are pleasant in ,may1 short and pleasant for travel4 ,we will leave the city asleep1 and do our flight in the night to save time4 ,trust yourselves1 then1 to the story-teller's arial machine4 ,it is but a rough affair1 ,i own1 rough and humble1 unfitted for high or great flights1 with no gilded panels1 or dainty cushions1 or ,c-springs--not that we shall care about springs1 by the way1 until we alight on terra-firma again--still1 there is much to be learned in a third-class carriage if we will only not look while in it for cushions1 and fine panels1 and forty miles an hour travelling1 and will not be shocked at our fellow-passengers for being weak in their h's and smelling of fustian4 ,mount in it1 then1 you who will1 after this warning2 the fares are holiday fares1 the tickets return tickets4 ,take with you nothing but the poet's luggage1 8,a smile for ,hope1 a tear for ,pain1 ,a breath to swell the voice of ,prayer10 and may you have a pleasant journey1 for it is time that the stoker should be looking to his going gear6 ,so now we rise slowly in the moonlight from ,st4 ,ambrose's quadrangle1 and1 when we are clear of the clock-tower1 steer away southwards1 over ,oxford city and all its sleeping wisdom and folly1 over street and past spire1 over ,christ ,church and the canons' houses1 and the fountain in ,tom quad2 over ,st4 ,aldate's and the river1 along which the moonbeams lie in a pathway of twinkling silver1 over the railway sheds--no1 there was then no railway1 but only the quiet fields and foot-paths of ,hincksey hamlet4 ,well1 no matter2 at any rate1 the hills beyond1 and ,bagley ,wood1 were there then as now3 and over hills and wood we rise1 catching the purr of the night-jar1 the trill of the nightingale1 and the first crow of the earliest cock-pheasant1 as he stretches his jewelled wings1 conscious of his strength and his beauty1 heedless of the fellows of ,st4 ,john's1 who slumber within sight of his perch1 on whose hospitable board he shall one day lie1 prone on his back1 with fair larded breast turned upwards for the carving knife1 having crowed his last crow4 ,he knows it not2 what matters it to him8 ,if he knew it1 could a ,bagley ,wood cock-pheasant desire a better ending8 ,we pass over the vale beyond2 hall and hamlet1 church1 and meadow1 and copse1 folded in mist and shadow below us1 each hamlet holding in its bosom the materials of three-volumed novels by the dozen1 if we could only pull off the roofs of the houses and look steadily into the interiors2 but our destination is farther yet4 ,the faint white streak behind the distant ,chilterns reminds us that we have no time for gossip by the way2 ,may nights are short1 and the sun will be up by four4 ,no matter2 our journey will now be soon over1 for the broad vale is crossed1 and the chalk hills and downs beyond4 ,larks quiver up by us1 8higher1 ever higher10 hastening up to get a first glimpse of the coming monarch1 careless of food1 flooding the fresh air with song4 ,steady plodding rooks labor along below us1 and lively starlings rush by on the look-out for the early worm2 lark and swallow1 rook and starling1 each on his appointed round4 ,the sun arises1 and they get them to it2 he is up now1 and these breezy uplands over which we hang are swimming in the light of horizontal rays1 though the shadows and mists still lie on the wooded dells which slope away southwards4 ,this is no chalk1 this high knoll which rises above--one may almost say hangs over--the village1 crowned with ,scotch firs1 its sides tufted with gorse and heather4 ,it is the ,hawk's ,lynch1 the favorite resort of ,englebourn folk1 who come up for the view1 for the air1 because their fathers and mothers came up before them1 because they came up themselves as children--from an instinct which moves them all in leisure hours and ,sunday evenings1 when the sun shines and the birds sing1 whether they care for view or air or not4 ,something guides all their feet hitherward2 the children1 to play hide-and-seek and look for nests in the gorse-bushes2 young men and maidens1 to saunter and look and talk1 as they will till the world's end--or as long1 at any rate1 as the ,hawk's ,lynch and ,englebourn last--and to cut their initials1 inclosed in a true lover's knot1 on the short rabbit's turf2 steady married couples1 to plod along together consulting on hard times and growing families2 even old tottering men1 who love to sit at the feet of the firs1 with chins leaning on their sticks1 prattling of days long past1 to any one who will listen1 or looking silently with dim eyes into the summer air1 feeling perhaps in their spirits after a wider and more peaceful view which will soon open for them4 ,a common knoll1 open to all1 up in the silent air1 well away from every-day ,englebourn life1 with the ,hampshire range and the distant ,beacon ,hill lying soft on the horizon1 and nothing higher between you and the southern sea1 what a blessing the ,hawk's ,lynch is to the village folk1 one and all6 ,may ,heaven and a thankless soil long preserve it and them from an inclosure under the ,act6 ,,cxxxi4 ,in ,january1 #hgh1 ,king ,alfred disappears from the eyes of ,saxon and ,northmen1 and we follow him1 by such light as tradition throws upon these months1 into the thickets and marshes of ,selwood4 ,it is at this point1 as is natural enough1 that romance has been most busy1 and it has become impossible to disentangle the actual facts from monkish legend and ,saxon ballad4 ,in happier times ,alfred was in the habit himself of talking over the events of his wandering life pleasantly with his courtiers1 and there is no reason to doubt that the foundation of most of the stories still current rests on those conversations of the truth-loving king1 noted down by ,bishop ,asser and others4 ,the best known of these is1 of course1 the story of the cakes4 ,in the depths of the ,saxon forests there were always a few neat-herds and swine-herds1 scattered up and down1 living in rough huts enough we may be sure1 and occupied with the care of the cattle and herds of their masters4 ,amongst these in ,selwood was a neat-herd of the king1 a faithful man1 to whom the secret of ,alfred's disguise was intrusted1 and who kept it even from his wife4 ,to this man's hut the king came one day alone1 and1 sitting himself down by the burning logs on the hearth1 began mending his bows and arrows4 ,the neat-herd's wife had just finished her baking1 and1 having other household matters to attend to1 confided her loaves to the king1 a poor1 tired looking body1 who might be glad of the warmth1 and could make himself useful by turning the batch1 and so earn his share while she got on with other business4 ,but ,alfred worked away at his weapons1 thinking of anything but the good housewife's batch of loaves1 which in due course were not only done1 but rapidly burning to a cinder4 ,at this moment the neat-herd's wife comes back1 and flying to the hearth to rescue the bread1 cries out1 8,d'rat the man6 never to turn the loaves when you see them burning4 ,i'ze warrant you ready enough to eat them when they're done40 ,but beside the king's faithful neat-herd1 whose name is not preserved1 there are other churls in the forest1 who must be ,alfred's comrades just now if he will have any4 ,and even here he has an eye for a good man1 and will lose no opportunity to help one to the best of his power4 ,such a one he finds in a certain swine-herd called ,denewulf1 whom he gets to know1 a thoughtful ,saxon man1 minding his charge there in the oak woods4 ,the rough churl1 or thrall1 we know not which1 has great capacity1 as ,alfred soon finds out1 and desire to learn4 ,so the king goes to work upon ,denewulf under the oak trees1 when the swine will let him1 and is well satisfied with the results of his teachings and the progress of his pupil4 ,but in those miserable days the commonest necessaries of life were hard enough to come by for the king and his few companions1 and for his wife and family1 who soon joined him in the forest1 even if they were not with him from the first4 ,the poor foresters cannot maintain them1 nor are this band of exiles the men to live on the poor4 ,so ,alfred and his comrades are soon foraging on the borders of the forest1 and getting what subsistence they can from the ,pagan1 or from the ,christians who had submitted to their yoke4 ,so we may imagine them dragging on life till near ,easter when a gleam of good news comes up from the west1 to gladden the hearts and strengthen the arms of these poor men in the depths of ,selwood4 ,soon after ,guthrum and the main body of the ,pagans moved from ,gloster1 southwards1 the ,viking ,hubba1 as had been agreed1 sailed with thirty ships of war from his winter quarters on the ,south ,welsh coast1 and landed in ,devon4 ,the news of the catastrophe at ,chippenham1 and of the disappearance of the king1 was no doubt already known in the west2 and in the face of it ,odda the alderman cannot gather strength to meet the ,pagans in the open field4 ,but he is a brave and true man1 and will make no term with the spoilers2 so1 with other faithful thegns of ,king ,alfred and their followers1 he throws himself into a castle or fort called ,cynwith1 or ,cynnit1 there to abide whatever issue of this business ,god will send them4 ,hubba1 with the war-flag ,raven1 and a host laden with the spoil of rich ,devon vales1 appear in due course before the place4 ,it is not strong naturally1 and has only 8walls in our own fashion10 meaning probably rough earth-works4 ,but there are resolute men behind them1 and on the whole ,hubba declines the assault1 and sits down before the place4 ,there is no spring of water1 he hears1 within the ,saxon lines1 and they are otherwise wholly unprepared for a siege4 ,a few days will no doubt settle the matter1 and the sword or slavery will be the portion of ,odda and the rest of ,alfred's men2 meantime there is spoil enough in the camp from ,devonshire homesteads1 which brave men can revel in round the war-flag ,raven1 while they watch the ,saxon ramparts4 ,odda1 however1 has quite other views than death from thirst1 or surrender4 ,before any stress comes1 early one morning1 he and his whole force sally out over their earth-works1 and from the first 8cut down the ,pagans in great numbers20 eight hundred and forty warriors 7some say one thousand two hundred71 with ,hubba himself1 are slain before ,cynnit fort2 the rest1 few in number1 escape to their ships4 ,the war-flag ,raven is left in the hands of ,odda and the men of ,devon4 ,this is the news which comes to ,alfred1 ,ethelnoth the alderman of ,somerset1 ,denewulf the swine-herd1 and the rest of the ,selwood ,forest group1 some time before ,easter4 ,these men of ,devonshire1 it seems1 are still staunch1 and ready to peril their lives against the ,pagans4 ,no doubt up and down ,wessex1 thrashed and trodden out as the nation is by this time1 there are other good men and true1 who will neither cross the sea or the ,welsh marches1 nor make terms with the ,pagan2 some sprinkling of men who will yet set life at stake1 for faith in ,christ and love of ,england4 ,if these can only be rallied1 who can say what may follow8 ,so1 in the lengthening days of spring1 council is held in ,selwood and there will have been ,easter services in some chapel1 or hermitage1 in the forest1 or1 at any rate in some quiet glade4 ,the 8day of days0 will surely have had its voice of hope for this poor remnant4 ,christ is risen and reigns2 and it is not in these heathen ,danes1 or in all the ,northmen who ever sailed across the sea1 to put back his kingdom1 or enslave those whom he has freed4 ,the result is1 that1 far away from the eastern boundary of the forest1 on a rising ground--hill it can scarcely be called--surrounded by dangerous marshes formed by the little rivers ,thone and ,parret1 fordable only in summer1 and even then dangerous to all who have not the secret1 a small fortified camp is thrown up under ,alfred's eye1 by ,ethelnoth and the ,somersetshire men1 where he can once again raise his standard4 ,the spot has been chosen by the king with the utmost care1 for it is his last throw4 ,he names it the ,etheling's eig or island1 8,athelney40 ,probably his young son1 the ,etheling of ,england1 is there amongst the first1 with his mother and his grand-mother ,eadburgha1 the widow of ,ethelred ,mucil1 the venerable lady whom ,asser saw in later years1 and who has now no country but her daughter's4 ,there are1 as has been reckoned1 some two acres of hard ground on the island1 and around vast brakes of alder-bush1 full of deer and other game4 ,here the ,somersetshire men can keep up constant communication with him1 and a small army grows together4 ,they are soon strong enough to make forays into the open country1 and in many skirmishes they cut off parties of the ,pagans1 and supplies4 8,for1 even when overthrown and cast down10 says ,malmesbury1 8,alfred had always to be fought with2 so then1 when one would esteem him altogether worn down and broken1 like a snake slipping from the hand of him who would grasp it1 he would suddenly flash out again from his hiding-places1 rising up to smite his foes in the height of their insolent confidence1 and never more hard to beat than after a flight40 ,but it was still a trying life at ,athelney4 ,followers came in slowly1 and provender and supplies of all kinds are hard to wring from the ,pagan1 and harder still to take from ,christian men4 ,one day1 while it was yet so cold that the water was still frozen1 the king's people had gone out 8to get them fish or fowl1 or some such purveyance as they sustained themselves withal40 ,no one was left in the royal hut for the moment but himself and his mother-in-law1 ,eadburgha4 ,the king 7after his constant wont whensoever he had opportunity7 was reading from the ,psalms of ,david1 out of the ,manual which he carried always in his bosom4 ,at this moment a poor man appeared at the door and begged for a morsel of bread 8for ,christ his sake40 ,whereupon the king1 receiving the stranger as a brother1 called to his mother-in-law to give him to eat4 ,eadburgha replied that there was but one loaf in their store1 and a little wine in a pitcher1 a provision wholly insufficient for his own family and people4 ,but the king bade her1 nevertheless1 to give the stranger part of the last loaf1 which she accordingly did4 ,but when he had been served1 the stranger was no more seen1 and the loaf remained whole1 and the pitcher full to the brim4 ,alfred1 meantime1 had turned to his reading1 over which he fell asleep and dreamed that ,st4 ,cuthbert of ,lindisfarne stood by him1 and told him it was he who had been his guest1 and that ,god had seen his afflictions and those of his people1 which were now about to end1 in token whereof his people would return that day from their expedition with a great take of fish4 ,the king awaking1 and being much impressed with his dream1 called to his mother-in-law and recounted it to her1 who thereupon assured him that she too had been overcome with sleep1 and had had the same dream4 ,and while they yet talked together on what had happened so strangely to them1 their servants came in1 bringing fish enough1 as it seemed to them1 to have fed an army4 ,the monkish legend goes on to tell that on the next morning the king crossed to the mainland in a boat1 and wound his horn thrice1 which drew to him before noon five hundred men4 ,what we may think of the story and the dream1 as ,sir ,john ,spelman says1 8is not here very much material10 seeing that whether we deem it natural or supernatural1 8the one as well as the other serves at ,god's appointment1 by raising or dejecting of the mind with hopes or fears1 to lead man to the resolution of those things whereof he has before ordained the event40 ,,cxxxii4 8,mrs4 ,winburn is ill1 isn't she80 asked ,tom1 after looking his guide over4 8,ees1 her be--terrible bad10 said the constable4 8,what is the matter with her1 do you know80 8,zummat o' fits1 ,i hears4 ,her've had 'em this six year1 on and off40 8,i suppose it's dangerous4 ,i mean she isn't likely to get well80 8',tis in the ,lord's hands10 replied the constable1 8but her's that bad wi' pain1 at times1 'twould be a mussy if 'twoud plaase ,he to tak' her out on't40 8,perhaps she mightn't think so10 said ,tom1 superciliously2 he was not in the mind to agree with any one4 ,the constable looked at him solemnly for a moment and then said3 8,her's been a ,god-fearin' woman from her youth up1 and her's had a deal o' trouble4 ,thaay as the ,lord loveth ,he chasteneth1 and 'tisn't such as thaay as is afeard to go afore ,him40 8,well1 ,i never found that having trouble made people a bit more anxious to get #8out on't1' as you call it10 said ,tom4 8,it don't seem to me as you can 'a had much o' trouble to judge by10 said the constable1 who was beginning to be nettled by ,tom's manner4 8,how can you tell that80 8,leastways 'twould be whoam-made1 then10 persisted the constable2 8and ther's a sight o' odds atween whoam-made troubles and thaay as the ,lord sends40 8,so there may2 but ,i may have seen both sorts for anything you can tell40 8,nay1 nay2 the ,lord's troubles leave ,his marks40 ,,cxxxiii4 8,and ,i be to write to you1 sir1 then1 if ,harry gets into trouble80 8,yes2 but we must keep him out of trouble1 even home-made ones1 which don't leave good marks1 you know10 said ,tom4 8,and thaay be nine out o' ten o' aal as comes to a man1 sir10 said ,david1 8as ,i've a told ,harry scores o' times40 8,that seems to be your text1 ,david10 said ,tom1 laughing4 8,ah1 and 'tis a good un too1 sir4 ',tis a sight better to have the ,lord's troubles while you be about it1 for thaay as hasn't makes wus for theirselves out o' nothin'40 ,,cxxxiv4 ,grey1 who had never given up hopes of bringing ,tom round to his own views1 had not neglected the opportunities which his residence in town offered1 and had enlisted ,tom's services on more than one occasion4 ,he had found him specially useful in instructing the big boys1 whom he was trying to bring together and civilize in a 8,young ,men's ,club10 in the rudiments of cricket on ,saturday evenings4 ,but on the morning in question an altogether different work was on hand4 ,a lady living some eight or nine miles to the northwest of ,london1 who took great interest in ,grey's doings1 had asked him to bring the children of his night-school down to spend a day in her grounds1 and this was the happy occasion4 ,it was before the days of cheap excursions by rail1 so that vans had to be found for the party2 and ,grey had discovered a benevolent remover of furniture in ,paddington1 who was ready to take them at a reasonable figure4 ,the two vans1 with awnings and curtains in the height of the fashion1 and horses with tasselled ear-caps1 and everything handsome about them1 were already drawn up in the midst of a group of excited children1 and scarcely less excited mothers1 when ,tom arrived4 ,grey was arranging his forces1 and laboring to reduce the ,irish children1 who formed almost half of his ragged little flock1 into something like order before starting4 ,by degrees this was managed1 and ,tom was placed in command of the rear van1 while ,grey reserved the leading one to himself4 ,the children were divided1 and warned not to lean over the sides and tumble out--a somewhat superfluous caution1 as most of them1 though unused to riding in any legitimate manner1 were pretty well used to balancing themselves behind any vehicle which offered as much as a spike to sit on1 out of sight of the driver4 ,then came the rush into the vans4 ,grey and ,tom took up their places next the doors as conductors1 and the procession lumbered off with great success1 and much shouting from treble voices4 ,tom soon found that he had plenty of work on his hands to keep the peace amongst his flock4 ,the ,irish element was in a state of wild effervescence1 and he had to draft them down to his own end1 leaving the foremost part of the van to the sober ,english children4 ,he was much struck by the contrast of the whole set to the ,englebourn school children1 whom he had lately seen under somewhat similar circumstances4 ,the difficulty with them had been to draw them out1 and put anything like life into them2 here1 all he had to do was to repress the superabundant life4 ,however1 the vans held on their way1 and got safely into the suburbs1 and so at last to an occasional hedge1 and a suspicion of trees1 and green fields beyond4 ,it became more and more difficult now to keep the boys in2 and when they came to a hill1 where the horses had to walk1 he yielded to their entreaties1 and1 opening the door1 let them out1 insisting only that the girls should remain seated4 ,they scattered over the sides of the roads1 and up the banks2 now chasing pigs and fowls up to the very doors of their owners2 now gathering the commonest road-side weeds1 and running up to show them to him1 and ask their names1 as if they were rare treasures4 ,the ignorance of most of the children as to the commonest country matters astonished him4 ,one small boy particularly came back time after time to ask him1 with solemn face1 8,please1 sir1 is this the country80 and when at last he allowed that it was1 rejoined1 8,then1 please1 where are the nuts80 ,the clothing of most of the ,irish boys began to tumble to pieces in an alarming manner4 ,grey had insisted on their being made tidy for the occasion1 but the tidiness was of a superficial kind4 ,the hasty stitching soon began to give way1 and they were rushing about with wild locks2 the strips of what might have once been nether garments hanging about their legs2 their feet and heads bare1 the shoes which their mothers had borrowed for the state occasion having been deposited under the seat of the van1 so when the procession arrived at the trim lodge-gates of their hostess1 and his charge descended and fell in on the beautifully clipped turf at the side of the drive1 ,tom felt some of the sensations of ,falstaff when he had to lead his ragged regiment through ,coventry streets4 ,he was soon at his ease again1 and enjoyed the day thoroughly1 and the drive home2 but1 as they drew near town again1 a sense of discomfort and shyness came over him1 and he wished the journey to ,westminster well over1 and hoped that the carman would have the sense to go through the quiet parts of the town4 ,he was much disconcerted1 consequently1 when the vans came to a sudden stop1 opposite one of the ,park entrances1 in the ,bayswater road4 8,what in the world is ,grey about80 he thought1 as he saw him get out1 and all the children after him4 ,so he got out himself1 and went forward to get an explanation4 8,oh1 ,i have told the man that he need not drive us round to ,westminster4 ,he is close at home here1 and his horses have had a hard day2 so we can just get out and walk home40 8,what1 across the ,park80 asked ,tom4 8,yes1 it will amuse the children1 you know40 8,but they're tired10 persisted ,tom2 8come now1 it's all nonsense letting the fellow off2 he's bound to take us back40 8,i'm afraid ,i have promised him10 said ,grey2 8besides1 the children all think it a treat4 ,don't you all want to walk across the ,park80 he went on1 turning to them1 and a general affirmative chorus was the answer4 ,so ,tom had nothing for it but to shrug his shoulders1 empty his own van1 and follow into the ,park with his convoy1 not in the best humor with ,grey for having arranged this ending to their excursion4 ,they might have got over a third of the distance between the ,bayswater ,road and the ,serpentine1 when he was aware of a small thin voice addressing him4 8,oh1 please won't you carry me a bit8 ,i'm so tired10 said the voice4 ,he turned in some trepidation to look for the speaker1 and found her to be a sickly undergrown little girl1 of ten or thereabouts1 with large pleading gray eyes1 very shabbily dressed1 and a little lame4 ,he had remarked her several times in the course of the day1 not for any beauty or grace about her1 for the poor child had none1 but for her transparent confidence and trustfulness4 ,after dinner1 as they had been all sitting on the grass under the shade of a great elm to hear ,grey read a story1 and ,tom had been sitting a little apart from the rest with his back against the trunk1 she had come up and sat quietly down by him1 leaning on his knee4 ,then he had seen her go up and take the hand of the lady who had entertained them1 and walk along by her1 talking without the least shyness4 ,soon afterwards she had squeezed into the swing by the side of the beautifully-dressed little daughter of the same lady1 who1 after looking for a minute at her shabby little sister with large round eyes1 had jumped out and run off to her mother1 evidently in a state of childish bewilderment as to whether it was not wicked for a child to wear such dirty old clothes4 ,tom had chuckled to himself as he saw ,cinderella settling herself comfortably in the swing in the place of the ousted princess1 and had taken a fancy to the child1 speculating to himself as to how she could have been brought up1 to be so utterly unconscious of differences of rank and dress4 8,she seems really to treat her fellow-creatures as if she had been studying the ,sartor ,resartus10 he thought4 8,she has cut down through all clothes-philosophy without knowing it4 ,i wonder1 if she had a chance1 whether she would go and sit down in the ,queen's lap80 ,he did not at that time anticipate that she would put his own clothes-philosophy to so severe a test before the day was over4 ,the child had been as merry and active as any of the rest during the earlier part of day2 but now1 as he looked down in answer to her reiterated plea1 8,won't you carry me a bit8 ,i'm so tired60 he saw that she could scarcely drag one foot after another4 ,what was to be done8 ,he was already keenly alive to the discomfort of walking across ,hyde ,park in a procession of ragged children1 with such a figure of fun as ,grey at their head1 looking1 in his long rusty1 straight-cut black coat1 as if he had come fresh out of ,noah's ark4 ,he didn't care about it so much while they were on the turf in the out-of-the-way parts1 and would meet nobody but guards1 and nurse-maids1 and trades-people1 and mechanics out for an evening's stroll4 ,but the ,drive and ,rotten-row lay before them1 and must be crossed4 ,it was just the most crowded time of the day4 ,he had almost made up his mind once or twice to stop ,grey and the procession1 and propose to sit down for half an hour or so and let the children play1 by which time the world would be going home to dinner4 ,but there was no play left in the children2 and he had resisted the temptation1 meaning1 when they came to the most crowded part1 to look unconscious1 as if it were by chance that he got into such company1 and had in fact nothing to do with them4 ,but now1 if he listened to the child's plea1 and carried her1 all hope of concealment was over4 ,if he did not1 he felt that there would be no greater flunkey in the ,park that evening than ,thomas ,brown1 the enlightened radical and philosopher1 amongst the young gentlemen riders in ,rotten-row1 or the powdered footmen lounging behind the great glaring carriages in the drive4 ,so he looked down at the child once or twice in a state of puzzle4 ,a third time she looked up with her great eyes1 and said1 8,oh1 please carry me a bit60 and her piteous1 tired face turned the scale4 8,if she were ,lady ,mary or ,lady ,blanche10 thought he1 8,i should pick her up at once1 and be proud of the burden4 ,here goes60 ,and he took her up in his arms1 and walked on1 desperate and reckless4 ,notwithstanding all his philosophy1 he felt his ears tingling and his face getting red1 as they approached the ,drive4 ,it was crowded4 ,they were kept standing a minute or two at the crossing4 ,he made a desperate effort to abstract himself wholly from the visible world1 and retire into a state of serene contemplation4 ,but it would not do1 and he was painfully conscious of the stare of lack-lustre eyes of well-dressed men leaning over the rails1 and the amused look of delicate ladies1 lounging in open carriages1 and surveying him and ,grey and their ragged rout through glasses4 ,at last they scrambled across1 and he breathed freely for a minute1 as they struggled along the comparatively quiet path leading to ,albert ,gate1 and stopped to drink at the fountain4 ,then came ,rotten-row1 and another pause amongst the loungers1 and a plunge into the ,ride1 where he was nearly run down by two men whom he had known at ,oxford4 ,they shouted to him to get out of the way2 and he felt the hot defiant blood rushing through his veins as he strode across without heeding4 ,they passed on1 one of them having to pull his horse out of his stride to avoid him4 ,did they recognize him8 ,he felt a strange mixture of utter indifference1 and longing to strangle them4 ,the worst was now over2 besides1 he was getting used to the situation1 and his good sense was beginning to rally4 ,so he marched through ,albert ,gate1 carrying his ragged little charge1 who prattled away to him without a pause1 and surrounded by the rest of the children1 scarcely caring who might see him4 ,they went safely through the omnibuses and carriages on the ,kensington ,road1 and so into ,belgravia4 ,at last he was quite at his ease again1 and began listening to what the child was saying to him1 and was strolling carelessly along1 when once more1 at one of the crossings1 he was startled by a shout from some riders4 ,there was straw laid down in the street1 so that he had not heard them as they cantered round the corner1 hurrying home to dress for dinner2 and they were all but upon him1 and had to rein up their horses sharply4 ,the party consisted of a lady and two gentlemen1 one old1 the other young2 the latter dressed in the height of fashion1 and with the supercilious air which ,tom hated from his soul4 ,the shout came from the young man1 and drew ,tom's attention to him first4 ,all the devil rushed up as he recognized ,st4 ,cloud4 ,the lady's horse swerved against his1 and began to rear4 ,he put his hand on its bridle1 as if he had a right to protect her4 ,another glance told ,tom that the lady was ,mary1 and the old gentleman1 fussing up on his stout cob on the other side of her1 ,mr4 ,porter4 ,they all knew him in another moment4 ,he stared from one to the other1 was conscious that she turned her horse's head sharply1 so as to disengage the bridle from ,st4 ,cloud's hand1 and of his insolent stare1 and of the embarrassment of ,mr4 ,porter2 and then1 setting his face straight before him1 he passed on in a bewildered dream1 never looking back till they were out of sight4 ,the dream gave way to bitter and wild thoughts1 upon which it will do none of us any good to dwell4 ,he put down the little girl outside the school1 turning abruptly from the mother1 a poor widow in scant1 well-preserved black clothes1 who was waiting for the child1 and began thanking him for his care of her2 refused ,grey's pressing invitation to tea1 and set his face eastward4 ,bitterer and more wild and more scornful grew his thoughts as he strode along past the ,abbey1 and up ,whitehall1 and away down the ,strand1 holding on over the crossings without paying the slightest heed to vehicle1 or horse1 or man4 ,incensed coachmen had to pull up with a jerk to avoid running over him1 and more than one sturdy walker turned round in indignation at a collision which they felt had been intended1 or at least which there had been no effort to avoid4 ,as he passed under the window of the ,banqueting ,hall1 and by the place in ,charing-cross where the pillory used to stand1 he growled to himself what a pity it was that the times for cutting off heads and cropping ears had gone by4 ,the whole of the dense population from either side of the ,strand seemed to have crowded out into that thoroughfare to impede his march and aggravate him4 ,the further eastward he got the thicker got the crowd2 and the vans1 the omnibuses1 the cabs1 seemed to multiply and get noisier4 ,not an altogether pleasant sight to a man in the most ,christian frame of mind is the crowd that a fine summer evening fetches out into the roaring ,strand1 as the sun fetches out flies on the window of a village grocery4 ,to him just then it was at once depressing and provoking1 and he went shouldering his way towards ,temple ,bar as thoroughly out of tune as he had been for many a long day4 ,as he passed from the narrowest part of the ,strand into the space round ,st4 ,clement ,danes' church1 he was startled1 in a momentary lull of the uproar1 by the sound of chiming bells4 ,he slackened his pace to listen2 but a huge van lumbered by1 shaking the houses on both sides1 and drowning all sounds but its own rattle2 and then he found himself suddenly immersed in a crowd1 vociferating and gesticulating round a policeman1 who was conveying a woman towards the station-house4 ,he shouldered through it--another lull came1 and with it the same slow1 gentle1 calm cadence of chiming bells4 ,again and again he caught it as he passed on to ,temple ,bar2 whenever the roar subsided the notes of the old hymn-tune came dropping down on him like balm from the air4 ,if the ancient benefactor who caused the bells of ,st4 ,clement ,danes' church to be arranged to play that chime so many times a day is allowed to hover round the steeple at such times1 to watch the effect of his benefaction on posterity1 he must have been well satisfied on that evening4 ,tom passed under the ,bar1 and turned into the ,temple another man1 softened again1 and in his right mind4 8,there's always a voice saying the right thing to you somewhere1 if you'll only listen for it10 he thought4 ,,cxxxv4 8,it was because you were out of sorts with the world1 smarting with the wrongs you saw on every side1 struggling after something better and higher1 and siding and sympathizing with the poor and weak1 that ,i loved you4 ,we should never have been here1 dear1 if you had been a young gentleman satisfied with himself and the world1 and likely to get on well in society40 8,ah1 ,mary1 it's all very well for a man4 ,it's a man's business4 ,but why is a woman's life to be made wretched8 ,why should you be dragged into all my perplexities1 and doubts1 and dreams1 and struggles80 8,and why should ,i not80 8,life should be all bright and beautiful to a woman4 ,it is every man's duty to shield her from all that can vex1 or pain1 or soil40 8,but have women different souls from men80 8,god forbid60 8,then are we not fit to share your highest hopes80 8,to share our highest hopes6 ,yes1 when we have any4 ,but the mire and clay where one sticks fast over and over again1 with no high hopes or high anything else in sight--a man must be a selfish brute to bring one he pretends to love into all that40 8,now1 ,tom10 she said almost solemnly1 8you are not true to yourself4 ,would you1 part with your own deepest convictions8 ,would you if you could1 go back to the time when you cared for and thought about none of these things80 8,he thought a minute1 and then1 pressing her hand1 said3 8,no1 dearest1 ,i would not4 ,the consciousness of the darkness in one and around one brings the longing for light4 ,and then the light dawns2 through mist and fog1 perhaps1 but enough to pick one's way by40 ,he stopped a moment1 and then added1 8and shines ever brighter unto the-perfect day4 ,yes1 ,i begin to know it40 8,then1 why not put me on your own level8 ,why not let me pick my way by your side8 ,cannot a woman feel the wrongs that are going on in the world8 ,cannot she long to see them set right1 and pray that they may be set right8 ,we are not meant to sit in fine silks1 and look pretty1 and spend money1 any more than you are meant to make it1 and cry peace where there is no peace4 ,if a woman cannot do much herself1 she can honor and love a man who can40 ,he turned to her1 and bent over her1 and kissed her forehead1 and kissed her lips4 ,she looked up with sparkling eyes and said3 8,am ,i not right1 dear80 8,yes1 you are right1 and ,i have been false to my creed4 ,you have taken a load off my heart1 dearest4 ,henceforth there shall be but one mind and one soul between us4 ,you have made me feel what it is that a man wants1 what is the help that is meet for him40 ,he looked into her eyes1 and kissed her again2 and then rose up1 for there was something within him like a moving of new life1 which lifted him1 and set him on his feet4 ,and he stood with kindling brow1 gazing into the autumn air1 as his heart went sorrowing1 but hopefully 8sorrowing1 back through all the faultful past40 ,and she sat on at first1 and watched his face2 and neither spoke nor moved for some minutes4 ,then she rose too1 and stood by his side3 ,and on her lover's arm she leant1 ,and round her waist she felt it fold2 ,and so across the hills they went1 ,in that new world which is the old4 ,,cxxxvi4 ,there is no recorded end of a life that ,i know of more entirely brave and manly than the one of ,captain ,john ,brown1 of which we know every minutest detail1 as it happened in the full glare of our modern life not twenty years ago4 ,about that ,i think there would scarcely be disagreement anywhere4 ,the very men who allowed him to lie in his bloody clothes till the day of his execution1 and then hanged him1 recognized this4 8,you are a game man1 ,captain ,brown10 the ,southern sheriff said in the wagon4 8,yes10 he answered1 8,i was so brought up4 ,it was one of my mother's lessons4 ,from infancy ,i have not suffered from physical fear4 ,i have suffered a thousand times more from bashfulness20 and then he kissed a negro child in its mother's arms1 and walked cheerfully on to the scaffold1 thankful that he was 8allowed to die for a cause1 and not merely to pay the debt of nature1 as all must40 ,there is no simpler or nobler record in the 8,book of ,martyrs10 and in passing ,i would only remind you1 that he at least was ready to acknowledge from whence came his strength4 8,christ1 the great ,captain of liberty as well as of salvation10 he wrote just before his death1 8saw fit to take from me the sword of steel after ,i had carried it for a time4 ,but he has put another in my hand1 the sword of the ,spirit1 and ,i pray ,god to make me a faithful soldier wherever he may send me40 ,and to a friend who left him with the words1 8,if you can be true to yourself to the end how glad we shall be10 he answered1 8,i cannot say1 but ,i do not think ,i shall deny my ,lord and ,master1 ,jesus ,christ40 ,,cxxxvii4 ,patience1 humility1 and utter forgetfulness of self are the true royal qualities4 ,,cxxxviii4 8,by the light of burning martyr fires ,christ's bleeding feet ,i track1 ,toiling up new ,calvaries ever with the cross that turns not back40 ,all chance of the speedy triumph of the kingdom of ,god1 humanly speaking1 in the lake country of ,galilee--the battle-field chosen by himself1 where his mightiest works had been done and his mightiest words spoken--the district from which his chosen companions came1 and in which clamorous crowds had been ready to declare him king--is now over4 ,the conviction that this is so1 that he is a baffled leader1 in hourly danger of his life1 has forced itself on ,christ4 ,before entering that battle-field1 face to face with the tempter in the wilderness1 he had deliberately rejected all aid from the powers and kingdoms of this world1 and now1 for the moment1 the powers of this world have proved too strong for him4 ,the rulers of that people--,pharisee1 ,sadducee1 and ,herodian1 scribe and lawyer--were now marshalled against him in one compact phalanx1 throughout all the coasts of ,galilee1 as well as in ,judea4 ,his disciples1 rough1 most of them peasants1 full of patriotism1 but with small power of insight or self-control1 were melting away from a leader who1 while he refused them active service under a patriot chief at open war with ,csar and his legions1 bewildered them by assuming titles and talking to them in language which they could not understand4 ,they were longing for one who would rally them against the ,roman oppressor1 and give them a chance1 at any rate1 of winning their own land again1 purged of the heathen and free from tribute4 ,such an one would be worth following to the death4 ,but what could they make of this 8,son of ,man10 who would prove his title to that name by giving his body and pouring out his blood for the life of man--of this 8,son of ,god10 who spoke of redeeming mankind and exalting mankind to ,god's right hand1 instead of exalting the ,jew to the head of mankind8 ,in the face of such a state of things1 to remain in ,capernaum1 or the neighboring towns and villages1 would have been to court death1 there1 and at once4 ,the truly courageous man1 you may remind me1 is not turned from his path by the fear of death1 which is the supreme test and touchstone of his courage4 ,true2 nor was ,christ so turned1 even for a moment4 ,whatever may have been his hopes in the earlier part of his career1 by this time he had no longer a thought that mankind could be redeemed without his own perfect and absolute sacrifice and humiliation4 ,the cup would indeed have to be drunk to the dregs1 but not here1 nor now4 ,this must be done at ,jerusalem1 the centre of the national life and the seat of the ,roman government4 ,it must be done during the ,passover1 the national commemoration of sacrifice and deliverance4 ,and so he withdraws1 with a handful of disciples1 and even they still wayward1 half-hearted1 doubting1 from the constant stress of a battle which has turned against him4 ,from this time he keeps away from the great centres of population1 except when1 on two occasions--at the ,feast of ,tabernacles and the ,feast of the ,dedication--he flashes for a day on ,jerusalem1 and then disappears again into some haunt of outlaws1 or of wild beasts4 ,this portion of his life comprises something less than the last twelve months1 from the summer of the second year of his ministry till the eve of the last ,passover1 at ,easter1 in the third year4 ,in glancing at the main facts of this period1 as we have done in the former ones1 we have to note chiefly his intercourse with the twelve apostles1 and his preparation of them for the end of his own career and the beginning of theirs2 his conduct at ,jerusalem during those two autumnal and winter feasts1 and the occasions when he again comes into collision with the rulers and ,pharisees1 both at these feasts1 and in the intervals between them4 ,the keynote of it1 in spite of certain short and beautiful interludes1 appears to me to be a sense of loneliness and oppression1 caused by the feeling that he has work to do1 and words to speak1 which those for whom they are to be done and spoken1 and whom they are1 first of all men1 to bless1 will either misunderstand or abhor4 ,here is all the visible result of his labor and of his travail1 and the enemy is gathering strength every day4 ,this becomes clear1 ,i think1 at once1 when1 in the first days after his quitting the lake shores1 he asks his disciples the question1 8,whom do the world1 and whom do ye1 say that ,i am80 ,he is answered by ,peter in the well-known burst of enthusiasm1 that1 though the people only look on him as a prophet1 such as ,elijah or ,jeremiah1 his own chosen followers see in him 8the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god40 ,it is this particular moment which he selects for telling them distinctly1 that ,christ will not triumph as they regard triumphing2 that he will fall into the power of his enemies1 and be humbled and slain by them4 ,at once the proof comes of how little even the best of his own most intimate friends had caught the spirit of his teaching or of his kingdom4 ,the announcement of his humiliation and death1 which none but the most truthful and courageous of men would have made at such a moment1 leaves them almost as much bewildered as the crowds in the lake cities had been a few days before4 ,their hearts are faithful and simple1 and upon them1 as ,peter has testified1 the truth has flashed once for all1 and there can be no other ,saviour of men than this man with whom they are living4 ,still1 by what means and to what end the salvation shall come1 they are scarcely less ignorant than the people who had been in vain seeking from him a sign such as they desired4 ,his own elect 8understood not his saying1 and it was hid from them1 that they perceived it not40 ,rather1 indeed1 they go straight from that teaching to dispute amongst themselves who of them shall be the greatest in that kingdom which they understand so little4 ,and so their ,master has to begin again at the beginning of his teaching1 and1 placing a little child amongst them1 to declare that not of such men as they deem themselves1 but of such as this child1 is the kingdom of heaven4 ,the episode of the ,transfiguration follows2 and immediately after it1 as though purposely to warn even the three chosen friends who had been present against new delusions1 he repeats again the teaching as to his death and humiliation4 ,and he reiterates it whenever any exhibition of power or wisdom seems likely to encourage the frame of mind in the twelve generally which had lately brought the great rebuke on ,peter4 ,how slowly it did its work1 even with the foremost disciples1 there are but too many proofs4 ,amongst his kinsfolk and the people generally1 his mission1 thanks to the cabals of the rulers and elders1 had come by this time to be looked upon with deep distrust and impatience4 8,how long dost thou make us to doubt8 ,go up to this coming feast1 and there prove your title before those who know how to judge in such matters10 is the querulous cry of the former as the ,feast of ,tabernacles approaches4 ,he does not go up publicly with the caravan1 which would have been at this time needlessly to incur danger1 but1 when the feast is half over1 suddenly appears in the temple4 ,there he again openly affronts the rulers by justifying his former acts1 and teaching and proclaiming that he who has sent him is true1 and is their ,god4 ,it is evidently on account of this new proof of daring that the people now again begin to rally around him4 8,behold1 he speaketh boldly4 ,do our rulers know that this is ,christ80 is the talk which fills the air1 and induces the scribes and ,pharisees1 for the first time1 to attempt his arrest by their officers4 ,the officers return without him1 and their masters are1 for the moment1 powerless before the simple word of him who1 as their own servants testify1 8speaks as never man spake40 ,but if they cannot arrest and execute1 they may entangle him further1 and prepare for their day1 which is surely and swiftly coming4 ,so they bring to him the woman taken in adultery1 and draw from him the discourse in which he tells them that the truth will make them free--the truth which he has come to tell them1 but which they will not hear1 because they are of their father the devil4 ,he ends with asserting his claim to the name which every ,jew held sacred1 8before ,abraham was1 ,i am40 ,the narrative of the seventh and eighth chapters of ,st4 ,john1 which record these scenes at the ,feast of ,tabernacles1 have1 ,i believe1 done more to make men courageous and truly manly than all the stirring accounts of bold deeds which ever were written elsewhere4 ,,cxxxix4 ,all that was best and worst in the ,jewish character and history combined to render the ,roman yoke intolerably galling to the nation4 ,the peculiar position of ,jerusalem--a sort of ,mecca to the tribes acknowledging the ,mosaic law--made ,syria the most dangerous of all the ,roman provinces4 ,to that city enormous crowds of pilgrims of the most stiff-necked and fanatical of all races flocked1 three times at least in every year1 bringing with them offerings and tribute for the temple and its guardians1 on a scale which must have made the hierarchy at ,jerusalem formidable even to the world's master1 by their mere command of wealth4 ,but this would be the least of the causes of anxiety to the ,roman governor1 as he spent year after year face to face with these terrible leaders of a terrible people4 ,these high priests and rulers of the ,jews were indeed quite another kind of adversaries from the leaders1 secular or religious1 of any of those conquered countries which the ,romans were wont to treat with contemptuous toleration4 ,they still represented living traditions of the glory and sanctity of their nation1 and of ,jerusalem1 and exercised still a power over that nation which the most resolute and ruthless of ,roman procurators did not care wantonly to brave4 ,at the same time the yoke of high priest and scribe and ,pharisee was even heavier on the necks of their own people than that of the ,roman4 ,they had built up a huge superstructure of traditions and ceremonies round the law of ,moses1 which they held up to the people as more sacred and binding than the law itself4 ,this superstructure was their special charge4 ,this was1 according to them1 the great national inheritance1 the most valuable portion of the covenant which ,god had made with their fathers4 ,to them1 as leaders of their nation--a select1 priestly1 and learned caste--this precious inheritance had been committed4 ,outside that caste1 the dim multitude1 8the people which knoweth not the law10 were despised while they obeyed1 accursed as soon as they showed any sign of disobedience4 ,such being the state of ,judea1 it would not be easy to name in all history a less hopeful place for the reforming mission of a young carpenter1 a stranger from a despised province1 one entirely outside the ruling caste1 though of the royal race1 and who had no position whatever in any rabbinical school4 ,in ,galilee the surroundings were slightly different1 but scarcely more promising4 ,herod ,antipas1 the weakest of that tyrant family1 the seducer of his brother's wife1 the fawner on ,csar1 the spendthrift oppressor of the people of his tetrarchy1 still ruled in name over the country1 but with ,roman garrisons in the cities and strongholds4 ,face to face with him1 and exercising an imperium in imperio throughout ,galilee were the same priestly caste1 though far less formidable to the civil power and to the people1 than in the southern province4 ,along the western coast of the ,sea of ,galilee1 the chief scene of our ,lord's northern ministry1 lay a net-work of towns densely inhabited1 and containing a large admixture of ,gentile traders4 ,this infusion of foreign blood1 the want of any such religious centre as ,jerusalem1 and the contempt with which the southern ,jews regarded their provincial brethren of ,galilee1 had no doubt loosened to some extent the yoke of the priests and scribes and lawyers in that province4 ,but even here their traditionary power over the masses of the people was very great1 and the consequences of defying their authority as penal1 though the penalty might be neither so swift or so certain1 as in ,jerusalem itself4 ,such was the society into which ,christ came4 ,it is not easy to find a parallel case in the modern world1 but perhaps the nearest exists in a portion of our own empire4 ,the condition of parts of ,india in our day resembles in some respects that of ,palestine in the year ,a4 ,d4 #cj4 ,in the ,mahratta country1 princes1 not of the native dynasty1 but the descendants of foreign courtiers 7like the ,idumean ,herods71 are reigning4 ,british residents at their courts1 hated and feared1 but practically all-powerful as ,roman procurators1 answer to the officers and garrisons of ,rome in ,palestine4 ,the people are in bondage to a priestly caste scarcely less heavy than that which weighed on the ,judean and ,galilean peasantry4 ,if the ,mahrattas were ,mohammedans1 and ,mecca were situate in the territory of ,scindia or ,holkar2 if the influence of twelve centuries of ,christian training could be wiped out of the ,english character1 and the stubborn and fierce nature of the ,jew substituted for that of the ,mahratta2 a village reformer amongst them1 whose preaching outraged the ,brahmins1 threatened the dynasties1 and disturbed the ,english residents1 would start under somewhat similar conditions to those which surrounded ,christ when he commenced his ministry4 ,in one respect1 and one only1 the time seemed propitious4 ,the mind and heart of the nation was full of the expectation of a coming ,messiah--a ,king who should break every yoke from off the necks of his people1 and should rule over the nations1 sitting on the throne of ,david4 ,the intensity of this expectation had1 in the opening days of his ministry1 drawn crowds into the wilderness beyond ,jordan from all parts of ,judea and ,galilee1 at the summons of a preacher who had caught up the last cadence of the song of their last great prophet1 and was proclaiming that both the deliverance and the kingdom which they were looking for were at hand4 ,in those crowds who flocked to hear ,john the ,baptist there were doubtless some even amongst the priests and scribes1 and many amongst the poor ,jewish and ,galilean peasantry1 who felt that there was a heavier yoke upon them than that of ,rome or of ,herod ,antipas4 ,but the record of the next three years shows too clearly that even these were wholly unprepared for any other than a kingdom of this world1 and a temporal throne to be set up in the holy city4 ,and so1 from the first1 ,christ had to contend not only against the whole of the established powers of ,palestine1 but against the highest aspirations of the best of his countrymen4 ,these very ,messianic hopes1 in fact1 proved the greatest stumbling-block in his path4 ,those who entertained them most vividly had the greatest difficulty in accepting the carpenter's son as the promised ,deliverer4 ,a few days only before the end he had sorrowfully to warn the most intimate and loving of his companions and disciples1 8,ye know not what spirit ye are of40 ,,cxl4 ,the ,jews were always thinking of their exclusive religious privileges1 of the sacredness of the ,temple and of the law1 and of the questionable and dangerous position of those who were outside the covenant4 ,now this habit of mind1 undoubtedly religious as it was1 is not held up to our admiration in the ,new ,testament1 but the contrary4 ,it is denounced as being the opposite of a true spirituality4 ,it is shown to us as associated with intolerance1 bigotry1 hardness1 cruelty1 as most offensive to the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and fruitful of mischief in the world4 ,st4 ,paul had to undergo the reproach of being disloyal to the religion of his fathers1 because he contended against this ecclesiastical spirit4 ,but the reproach was as unjust as it was painful to him4 ,he loved the holy city and the temple and the ordinances of the law and his kindred according to the flesh2 but he knew that the proper aim of a devout man was not to hedge round an organization1 but to glorify and bear witness to the ,divine ,spirit4 ,,cxli4 ,not ,st4 ,paul only1 but all the ,apostles and ,evangelists1 were continually contemplating the heavenly glory of a brotherhood of men in full harmony with each other because all joined to ,christ1 of men walking in humility and meekness and love1 endeavoring to keep the unity of the ,spirit in the bond of peace4 ,there is nothing in such an ideal less suited to us to-day than to the ,christians of the first age4 ,for ourselves1 and for our neighbors and fellow-men1 this hope should be in our hearts1 this ,divine ideal before our eyes4 ,let us believe that it is the ,divine purpose1 and that we are called to the fulfilment of it4 ,,cxlii4 ,is it not an express principle in the teaching of our ,lord himself and of his ,apostles1 that means and instruments and agencies are not to be worshipped in themselves but to be estimated with reference to the end they are to promote8 ,think1 for example1 what is implied in that pregnant sentence1 8,the ,sabbath was made for man1 and not man for the ,sabbath40 ,means and instruments are not dishonored by this principle4 ,if the end they serve is high and precious1 they also will deserve to be valued4 ,if the spiritual freedom of man is important1 then the ordinance of a ,day of ,rest1 which ministers to it1 may well be sacred4 ,but it is often appointed in the ,providence of ,god that an apparent dishonor should be cast on means1 that the minds of men may be forced away from resting upon them4 ,and means may be varied1 according to circumstances1 whilst the same permanent end is to be sought4 ,,cxliii4 ,wherever there is good1 in whatever ,samaritan or heathen we may see kindness and the fear of ,god1 there we are to welcome it and rejoice in it in our ,father's name4 ,there is no respect of persons with ,god1 no acceptance of any man on account of his religion or his profession2 under whatever religious garb1 he that loveth is born of ,god1 he that doeth righteousness is born of ,god4 ,there is no danger in being ready to appreciate simple goodness and to refer it to the working of the ,divine ,spirit wherever we may find it2 there is the greatest danger in failing to appreciate it4 ,this is doctrine of unquestionable ,divine authority1 which we may often have opportunities of putting into practice4 ,let us remember to cherish it in all our dealings with those who do not belong to our own church4 ,let us be afraid lest nature and the flesh should make us intolerant and unsympathetic2 let us be sure that ,christ and the ,spirit would win us to modesty and reverence and sympathy4 ,,cxliv4 8,there is one body and one spirit1 even as ye were called in one hope of your calling2 one ,lord1 one faith1 one baptism1 one ,god and ,father of all1 who is above all and through all and in all40 ,with this unity1 there are distinctions of function2 and each member1 ,st4 ,paul holds1 has his own gift of endowment to enable him to fill his own place4 ,christ is the great ,giver1 and besides these gifts to the several members of the body1 he gave to the body as a whole the apostles1 prophets1 evangelists1 pastors1 and teachers1 by whose various ministries sinful and self-willed men were to be moulded into true members1 and ultimate perfecting of the body to be accomplished4 ,st4 ,paul looked forward in hope to the time when the ,body of ,christ might be not only ideally perfect1 but actually perfect also1 in its adult growth and in the harmonious co-operation of all its parts4 ,,cxlv4 ,there may be every sort of defect and irregularity in the men and women whom ,christ has called to be his members4 ,the unity is not made by them1 and does not depend upon them4 ,their business is to keep the unity1 to conform themselves to it4 ,the supernatural body of ,christ is the ideal one1 and it is realized with various degrees of imperfection wherever men acknowledge ,christ as their head4 ,,cxlvi4 ,as ,i understand the word 8politician10 it means a man who1 whatever his other engagements in life may be1 and however he may earn his daily bread1 feels above all things deeply interested1 feels that he is bound to be deeply interested1 and to take as active a part as he can1 in the public affairs of his country4 ,i believe that every ,englishman1 if he is worth anything at all1 is bound to be a politician1 and can't for the life of him help taking a deep interest in the public affairs of his country4 ,the object of politics is the well-being of the nation1 or in other words to make 8a wise and understanding people40 ,now1 what are the means by which a wise and an understanding people is to be made8 ,well1 of course1 the chief means of making a wise and understanding people is by training them up in wisdom and understanding4 ,the ,state wants men who are brave1 truthful1 generous2 the ,state wants women who are pure1 simple1 gentle4 ,by what means is the ,state to get citizens of that kind8 ,such a politician looking around him and seeing how the national conscience is to be touched--for unless the national conscience be touched you can never raise citizens of that kind--finds that the great power which alone can do it1 is that which goes by the name of religion4 ,,cxlvii4 ,the true work of the ,liberal ,party in a ,liberal age is1 with singleness of purpose and all its might1 to lift the people to a fair and full share of all the best things of this life1--its highest culture1 hopes1 aspirations1 burdens--as well as its loaves and fishes--and1 setting before them a truly noble ideal of citizenship1 to help them to attain it4 ,whatever goes beyond that1 or beside that1 savors of ,jacobinism1 for then comes in that jealousy which is the bane of true democracy4 ,the true democrat has no old scores to pay1 covets no man's good things1 wants nothing for himself which is not open to his neighbors1 will destroy nothing which others value merely because he doesn't value it himself1 unless it is palpably and incurably unjust and unrighteous4 ,i need not go on to contrast the ,jacobin with him1 beyond saying that the one is before all things constructive1 the other destructive4 ,,cxlviii4 ,a liberal politician is a man who looks to the future and not to the past2 he looks for progress2 he desires to see the whole nation raised2 he desires to go on from better things to better things1 and he is not afraid of new things2 he holds that every institution must be tried by its worth and its value to the nation2--he holds above all things that there should be equality before the law for every institution1 for every society1 and for every individual citizen4 ,,cxlix4 ,alfred the ,great had his problems of anarchy1 widespread lawlessness1 terrorism1 to meet4 ,after the best thought he could give to the business1 he met them and prevailed4 ,like diseases call for like cures2 and we may assume without fear that a remedy which has been very successful in one age is at least worth looking at in another4 ,we too1 like ,alfred1 have our own troubles--our land-questions1 labor-questions1 steady increase of pauperism1 and others4 ,in our struggle for life we fight with different weapons1 and have our advantages of one kind or another over our ancestors2 but when all is said and done there is scarcely more coherence in the ,english nation of to-day than in that of #ajgi4 ,individualism1 no doubt1 has its noble side2 and 8every man for himself0 is a law which works wonders2 but we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that under their action ,english life has become more and more disjointed1 threatening in some directions altogether to fall to pieces4 ,what we specially want is something which shall bind us more closely together4 ,every nation of ,christendom is feeling after the same thing4 ,the need of getting done in some form that which frank-pledge did for ,alfred's people expresses itself in ,germany in mutual-credit banks1 open to every honest citizen2 in ,france1 in the productive associations of all kinds2 at home1 in our co-operative movements and trades-union4 ,no mere machinery1 nothing that governments or legislatures can do in our day1 will be of much help1 but they may be great hindrances4 ,the study of the modern statesman must be how to give such movements full scope and a fair chance1 so that the people may be able without let or hindrance to work out in their own way the principle which ,alfred brought practically home to his ,england1 that in human society men cannot divest themselves of responsibility for their neighbors1 and ought not to be allowed to attempt it4 ,,cl4 ,the more attentively we study ,alfred's life1 the more clearly does the practical wisdom of his methods of government justify itself by results4 ,of strong princes1 with minds 8rectified and prepared0 on the ,machiavellian model1 the world has had more than enough1 who have won kingdoms for themselves1 and used them for themselves1 and so left a bitter inheritance to their children and their people4 ,it is well that1 here and there in history1 we can point to a king whose reign has proved that the highest success in government is not only compatible with1 but dependent upon1 the highest ,christian morality4 ,,cli4 ,think well over your important steps in life1 and having made up your minds1 never look behind4 ,,clii4 ,a gentleman should shrink from the possibility of having to come on others1 even on his own father1 for the fulfilment of his obligations1 as he would from a lie4 ,i would sooner see a son of mine in his grave than crawling on through life a slave to wants and habits which he must gratify at other people's expense4 ,,cliii4 ,no two men take a thing just alike1 and very few can sit down quietly when they have lost a fall in life's wrestle1 and say1 8,well1 here ,i am1 beaten no doubt this time4 ,by my own fault too4 ,now1 take a good look at me1 my good friends1 as ,i know you all want to do1 and say your say out1 for ,i mean getting up again directly and having another turn at it40 ,,cliv4 ,no man who is worth his salt can leave a place where he has gone through hard and searching discipline1 and been tried in the very depths of his heart1 without regret1 however much he may have winced under the discipline4 ,it is no light thing to fold up and lay by for ever a portion of one's life1 even when it can be laid by with honor and in thankfulness4 ,,index4 ,,page4 ,,ambition civ-cv #bjc ,,belief1 ,,religious lxxvii-lxxxiv #acf ,,bigotry cxxxix- #bhf ,,courage i-xviii #ac ,,christianity cxi-cxxv #bah ,,death lxxiii-lxxvi #aag ,,discipline cxxxii-cxxxiv #bfd ,,doubt cvi-cx #bjf ,,education cxxvi-cxxvii #bdh ,,enjoyment xlvi-lii #gb ,,faith liii-lvi #hb ,,friendship xlii-xlv #fh ,,government xcviii-ciii #aij ,,heroism cxxxvi-cxxxviii #bgi ,,human ,,nature lxi-lxxii #ajd ,,humility xxv-xxvi #da ,,influence1 ,,personal lxxxv-lxxxix #adc ,,patience lviii-lx #ic ,,providence cxxxi- #bef ,,politician1 ,,the cxlvi-cliv #bie ,,power xxvii-xxxiv #dc ,,purity lvii- #ia ,,reforms xc-xcvii #aee ,,rest cxxviii-cxxx #bej ,,rights1 ,,woman',s cxxxv- #bgf ,,strength xix-xxiv #cd ,,success xxxv-xli #fj ,,toleration cxl-cxlv #bia ,,from ,,different ,,standpoints4 ,by ,pansy and ,faye ,huntington4 #abmo4 ,price #a4ej1 ,boston3 ,d4 ,lothrop ,co41 ,if there is any better writer of ,sunday ,school books than 8,pansy10 we should like to make her acquaintance1 she has a rare tact in story telling1 and knows quite as well what to omit as what to say4 ,even the sternest critics1 of ,s4 ,s4 ,literature surrender to ,pansy1 in spite of themselves1 and confess that her books are worth reading4 8,from ,different ,standpoints0 is not quite so broad in its range as some of her previous works1 but is more intense4 ,the story is so full of life1 though made up largely of letters and journals1 the characters are so sharply drawn with so thorough an insight into the possibilities of human nature1 and the religious element is of so high a type1 and yet withal so natural1 that the most careless reader is fascinated1 and feels the inspiration of a noble ,christian life4 ,such books1 are a valuable addition to any ,s4 ,s4 libraries1 and will supplement the best religious teachings of ,bible-class or pulpit4 ,as to the double authorship of the book1 ,faye ,huntington is so nearly the double of ,pansy1 that her separate work cannot be detected4 ,,sunday-,,school ,,helps4 ,,the ,,lesson ,,in ,,story4 ,pansy's ,sunday-,school ,lesson ,book1 for ,boys and ,girls ,price #aj ,every scholar will be delighted with its suggestiveness and can hardly fail to be benefited by the light and beauty of the lessons as unfolded by 8,pansy0 in the simple but strong language in which she tells them in story4--,baptist ,weekly4 ,,sunday-,,school ,,concert ,,exercises4 ,each #d ,,wide ,,awake ,,series4 ,sheets ,a--,leaves and ,sheaves4 ,by ,mary ,b4 ,c4 ,slade4 --,faith1 ,hope and ,charity4 ,by ,mary ,townley4 --,plain ,directions for a ,s4 ,s4 ,entertainment4 ,by ,geo4 ,b4 ,bartlett4 ,sheets ,b--,the ,lesson of the ,wheat4 ,by ,mary ,b4 ,c4 ,slade4 --,the ,christmas ,story4 ,by 8 8 ,sheets ,c--,the ,lilies4 ,by 8 8 --,ten ,young ,men of the ,bible4 ,by 8 8 ,,bible ,,lessons1 for ,s4 ,s4 ,concerts and ,anniversaries4 ,by ,edmund ,clark4 #ah ,numbers1 as follows3 ,no4 #a4 ,temperance ,band4 #b4 ,roses4 #c4 ,flowers4 #d4 ,our ,shepherd4 #e4 ,names of ,christ4 #f4 ,praise ,concert4 #g4 ,the ,morning ,star4 #h4 ,the ,new ,year4 #i4 ,faith4 #aj4 ,the ,circle of the ,graces4 #aa4 ,the ,six ,days of the ,creation4 #ab4 ,the ,sea4 #ac4 ,the ,christian ,graces4 #ad4 ,consider the ,lilies4 #ae4 ,brevity of ,life4 #af4 ,the ,two ,ways4 #ag4 ,rock of ,ages4 #ah4 ,musical ,instruments of the ,bible4 ,price #e cents each4 ,the same bound in one #afmo4 volume1 cloth #a #jj ,,cunning ,,workmen4 ,by ,pansy4 #afmo4 ,illustrated #a #be ,a story of rare interest and value to all interested in ,sabbath-school work4 ,,cruden',s ,,concordance4 #abmo #b #jj ,,trophies ,,of ,,song4 ,rev4 ,w4 ,f4 ,crafts4 #afmo #a #be ,a rich storehouse of articles and incidents illustrating hymns1 and the power and ministry of sacred music4 ,the hymns referred to in this volume may be found in a small book entitled ,historic ,hymns4 ,,song ,,victories of ,bliss and ,sankey ,hymns4 ,illustrated4 ,boards #ej ,cloth #ge ,a few words1 as to the history of a hymn about to be sung gives it fresh interest and power4 ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,jewish ,,nation 7,a74 ,by ,e4 ,k4 ,palmer4 ,revised and edited by ,s4 ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,d4 ,fully illustrated4 #hvo #a #be ,,smith',s ,,bible ,,dictionary4 ,new edition1 with additional matter referring to recent discoveries in ,palestine1 to which is added a complete ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,jewish ,,nation1 by ,e4 ,h4 ,palmer4 ,revised and edited by ,s4 ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,thick #hvo4 ,cloth #d #jj ,r ,s4 ,s4 ,,concerts4 ,by ,a4 ,p4 and ,m4 ,t4 ,folsom4 ,a choice selection of poems4 #abmo #a #jj ,,ndard ,,sunday-,,school ,,record1 containing a place for recording all the necessary business of a ,sunday-school4 ,price #a #jj ,,school ,,library ,,record ,,book4 ,price4 #a #jj ,larger #a #ej ,d ,,sunday-,,school ,,class ,,book1 for attendance1 contributions1 book ,no41 etc4 ,per dozen #ge ,by ,c4 ,h4 ,m4 ,genesis1 #a4 ,exodus1 #a4 ,leviticus1 #a4 ,numbers1 #a4 ,the set of #d ,vols4 sent postpaid for #c #ej ,mr4 ,d4 ,l4 ,moody says3 8,they have been to me a very key to the ,scriptures40 ,,grace ,,and ,,truth1 under twelve different aspects4 ,by ,w4 ,p4 ,mac,kay1 ,a4 ,m4 #gth edition4 #abmo4 #bgb pages4 ,paper #ej ,cloth #a #jj ,,commentary ,,on ,,the ,,international ,,sabbath ,,school ,,lessons ,,for #ahgh4 ,by ,rev4 ,j4 ,e4 ,todd and ,m4 ,b4 ,riddle1 ,d4 ,d4 #a #be ,,select ,,notes ,,on ,,the ,,international ,s4 ,s4 ,,lessons ,,for #ahgh4 ,by ,rev4 ,f4 ,n4 and ,m4 ,a4 ,peloubet4 #a #be ,,the ,,happy ,,year4 ,an ,almanac1 ,diary1 and ,daily ,food combined1 with readings for each month selected by ,miss ,m4 ,b4 ,,lyman4 ,a neat pocket volume1 in leatherette binding #ae ,a great variety of ,,maps ,,of ,,palestine4 ,among the latest and most desirable are ,,hobart',s ,,old ,,testament ,,maps4 ,cloth #a #ej ,mounted #b #jj ,,international ,s4 ,s4 ,,maps1 ,a ,b1 each1 ,cloth #b #jj ,mounted #c #jj ,a ,full ,line of ,,question ,,books1 ,,commentaries1 ,,music ,,books1 and other requisites for the ,sunday-school4 ,,just ,,ready4 ,,the ,,chautauqua ,,girls ,,at ,,home ,by ,pansy4 #abmo4 ,illustrated4 #a #ej 8,pansy knows girls1 and has the gift of story-telling1 by which the hard facts of every-day life take on a charm as of fairy-land4 ,no one can look into #8,the ,chautauqua ,girls' without feeling the subtle fascination of its pictures of quiet life1 and being drawn into warm sympathy with the four friends who long to form noble characters4 ,they have been won to a love of ,jesus by attending a camp-meeting at ,chautauqua2 but they find it so hard to be true to their new impulses1 and to carry the spirit of the ,bible into every-day life1 that the story of their struggles1 disheartening failures relieved by partial successes1 is very human and full of genuine pathos4 ,it is good summer reading1 for beguiling away hours1 and inspiring with generous purposes40 8,pansy's last book1 #8,the ,chautauqua ,girls at ,home1' is as fresh and inspiring as a fine morning in ,june4 ,the four friends1 ,marion1 ,ruth1 ,flossy and ,eurie1 are of genuine flesh and blood1 with the petty weaknesses that flesh is heir to1 and the noble aspirations that come at times to every high-minded girl4 ,their unlikeness to each other in character and social position1 and their mutual helpfulness in all sorts of difficulties1 make a delightful story2 instructive as well as fascinating4 ,one finds it hard to lay down the book after beginning the first chapter4 ,it will find many readers who will welcome its stimulating power to high aims in life1 and to patience and hope in fighting hard battles40 ,boston3 ,d4 ,,lothrop ,,co41 ,publishers4 ,two new ,books just ready4 ,the most popular ,children's ,books of the ,season4 #ast4 ,,sunshine ,,for ,,baby-,,land4 ,,by ,,laurie ,,loring4 ,large print4 ,charming stories4 ,quarto4 ,more than #ajj large illustrations1 heavier1 on better paper1 and more elegantly printed than any book ever before issued at #a4be4 #b;d4 ,,wide ,,awake ,,pleasure ,,book4 ,,by ,,the ,,best ,,american ,,authors4 ,on the finest paper4 ,numerous full-page illustrations4 ,page a little larger than 8,chatterbox40 ,about #djj pages1 choicely printed at the ,university ,press4 ,elegantly black and gold back die1 chromo side4 ,price1 #a4ej4 ,six new and beautiful large ,print ,picture ,books4 ,just ,ready4 ,in ,beautiful ,bindings4 ,illustrated ,primer4 ,easy ,reading4 ,birds and ,fishes4 ,book of ,animals4 ,book of ,birds4 ,book of ,natural ,history4 ,price1 #dj cts4 each4 ,six handsome new ,story ,books for the ,little ,folks4 ,my ,pet4 ,the ,plot4 ,falsely ,accused4 ,robie ,grey4 ,a ,brave ,boy4 ,little ,gretchen4 ,only #be cts4 each4 ,four very elegant large ,print ,picture ,books4 ,large ,page1 with colored ,frontispiece4 ,the ,christmas ,visit4 ,a ,queer ,carriage4 ,somebody's ,darlings4 ,our ,bertie4 #ge cts4 each4 ,two elegant and very choice ,picture ,books4 ,eighty-eight ,full-page ,illustrations in each ,book4 ,the ,holiday ,album for ,boys4 ,the ,holiday ,album for ,girls4 ,price1 #a4jj each4 ,,children',s ,,picture-,,book1 ,price1 #a4ej1 ,a ,,new ,,edition of this book is now ready4 ,the demand was so great for it during the ,holidays last season1 that orders for thousands of copies could not be filled4 ,,books ,,for ,,young ,,heroes ,,and ,,brave ,,workers4 ,,virginia4 ,by ,w4 ,h4 ,g4 ,kingston4 #afmo4 ,illustrated #a #be ,a stirring story of adventure upon sea and land4 ,,african ,,adventure ,,and ,,adventurers4 ,by ,rev4 ,g4 ,t4 ,day1 ,d4 ,d4 #af mo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,the stories of ,speke1 ,grant1 ,baker1 ,livingstone and ,stanley are put into simple shape for the entertainment of young readers4 ,,noble ,,workers4 ,edited by ,s4 ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,d4 #afmo4 #a #ej ,,stories ,,of ,,success4 ,edited by ,s4 ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,d4 #afmo #a #ej ,inspiring biographies and records which leave a most wholesome and enduring effect upon the reader4 ,,myths ,,and ,,heroes4 #af mo4 ,illustrated4 ,edited by ,s4 ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,d4 #a #ej ,,knights ,,and ,,sea ,,kings4 ,edited by ,s4 ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,d4 #abmo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,two entertaining books1 which will fasten forever the historical and geographical lessons of the school-room firmly in the student's mind4 ,,chaplin',s ,,life ,,of ,,benjamin ,,franklin4 #afmo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,,life ,,of ,,amos ,,lawrence4 #abmo4 ,ill4 #a #ej ,two biographies of perennial value4 ,no worthier books were ever offered as holiday presents for our ,american young men4 ,,walter ,,neal',s ,,example4 ,by ,rev4 ,theron ,brown4 #af mo4 ,illustrated #a #be ,walter ,neal's ,example is by ,rev4 ,theron ,brown1 the editor of that very successful paper1 ,the ,youth's ,companion4 ,the story is a touching one1 and is in parts so vivid as to seem drawn from the life4--,n4 ,y4 ,independent4 ,,two ,,fortune-,,seekers4 ,stories by ,rossiter ,johnson1 ,louise ,chandler ,moulton1 ,e4 ,stuart ,phelps1 ,ella ,farman1 etc4 ,fully illustrated #a #ej ,,miss ,,julia ,a4 ,,eastman is one of the most popular of our modern writers4 ,,young ,,rick4 ,by ,julia ,a4 ,eastman4 ,large #afmo4 ,twelve illustrations by ,sol ,eytinge #a #ej ,a bright1 fascinating story of a little boy who was both a blessing and a bother4--,boston ,journal4 ,the most delightful book on the list for the children of the family1 being full of adventures and gay home scenes and merry play-times4 8,paty0 would have done credit to ,dickens in his palmiest days4 ,the strange glows and shadows of her character are put in lovingly and lingeringly1 with the pencil of a master4 ,miss ,margaret's character of light is admirably drawn1 while ,aunt ,lesbia1 ,deacon ,harkaway1 ,tom ,dorrance1 and the master and mistress of ,graythorpe poor-house are genuine 8charcoal sketches40 ,,striking ,,for ,,the ,,right4 ,by ,julia ,a4 ,eastman4 ,large #afmo4 ,illustrated #a #ge ,while this story holds the reader breathless with expectancy and excitement1 its civilizing influence in the family is hardly to be estimated4 ,in all quarters it has met with the warmest praise4 ,,the ,,romneys ,,of ,,ridgemont4 ,by ,julia ,a4 ,eastman4 #afmo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,,beulah ,,romney4 ,by ,julia ,a4 ,eastman4 #af mo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,two stories wondrously alive1 flashing with fun1 sparkling with tears1 throbbing with emotion4 ,the next best thing to attending ,mrs4 ,hale's big boarding-school is to read ,beulah's experience there4 ,,short-,,comings ,,and ,,long-,,goings4 ,by ,julia ,a4 ,eastman4 #af mo4 ,illustrated #a #be ,a remarkable book1 crowded with remarkable characters4 ,it is a picture gallery of human nature4 ,,kitty ,,kent',s ,,troubles4 ,by ,julia ,a4 ,eastman4 #af mo4 ,illustrated #a #ej 8,a delicious ,april-day style of book1 sunshiny with smiles on one page while the next is misty with tender tears4 ,almost every type of ,american school-girl is here represented--the vain ,helen ,dart1 the beauty1 ,amy ,searle1 the ambitious1 high bred1 conservative ,anna ,matson2 but next to ,kitty herself sunny little ,pauline ,sedgewick will prove the general favorite4 ,it is a story fully calculated to win both girls and boys toward noble1 royal ways of doing little as well as great things4 ,all teachers should feel an interest in placing it in the hands of their pupils40 8,,miss ,,farman has the very desirable knack of imparting valuable ideas under the guise of a pleasing story40--,the ,new ,century4 ,,mrs4 ,,hurd',s ,,niece4 ,by ,ella ,farman4 ,ill4 #a #ej ,a thrilling story for the girls1 especially for those who think they have a 8mission10 to whom we commend sturdy ,english ,hannah1 with her small means1 and her grand success4 ,saidee ,hurd is one of the sweetest girls ever embalmed in story1 and ,lois ,gladstone one of the noblest4 ,,the ,,cooking ,,club ,,of ,,tu-,,whit ,,hollow4 ,by ,ella ,farman4 #af mo4 ,eight full-page illustrations #a #be ,worth reading by all who delight in domestic romance4--,fall ,river ,daily ,news4 ,the practical instructions in housewifery1 which are abundant1 are set in the midst of a bright1 wholesome story1 and the little housewives who figure in it are good specimens of very human1 but at the same time very lovable1 little ,american girls4 ,it ought to be the most successful little girls' book of the season4--,the ,advance4 ,a ,,little ,,woman4 ,by ,ella ,farman4 #afmo4 #a #jj ,the daintiest of all juvenile books4 ,from its merry pages1 winsome ,kinnie ,crosby has stretched out her warm little hand to help thousands of young girls4 ,a ,,white ,,hand4 ,by ,ella ,farman4 #abmo4 ,ill4 #a #ej ,a genuine painting of ,american society4 ,millicent and ,jack are drawn by a bold1 firm hand4 ,no one can lay this story down until the last leaf is turned4 ,,wide ,,awake4 ,,an ,,illustrated ,,magazine ,for the ,young ,folks4 #b4jj ,,per ,,annum4 ,,postage ,,prepaid4 ,edited by ,,ella ,,farman4 ,published by ,d4 ,,lothrop ,,co41 ,boston1 ,mass4 ,it always contains a feast of fat things for the little folks1 and folks who are no longer little find there lost childhood in its pages4 ,we are not saying too much when we say that its versatile editor--,ella ,farman1 is more fully at home in the child's wonder-land than any other living ,american writer4 ,she is thoroughly en rapport with her readers1 gives them now a sugar plum of poesy1 now a dainty jelly-cake of imagination1 and cunningly intermixes all the solid bread of thought that the child's mind can digest and assimilate4--,york ,true ,democrat4 ,,pansy',s ,,page4 ,,four ,,girls ,,at ,,chautauqua4 ,by ,pansy4 #ab mo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,the most fascinating 8watering-place0 story ever published4 ,four friends1 each a brilliant girl in her way1 tired of ,saratoga and ,newport1 try a fortnight at the new summer resort on ,chautauqua ,lake1 choosing the time when the ,national ,sunday-school ,assembly is in camp4 ,rev4 ,drs4 ,vincent1 ,deems1 ,cuyler1 ,edward ,eggleston1 ,mrs4 ,emily ,huntington ,miller1 move prominently through the story4 ,,household ,,puzzles4 ,by ,pansy4 #abmo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,how to make one dollar do the work of five4 ,a family of beautiful girls seek to solve this 8puzzle40 ,piquant1 humorous1 but written with an intense purpose4 ,,the ,,randolphs4 ,by ,pansy4 #ab mo4 ,illustrated #a #ej ,a sequel to ,household ,puzzles1 in which the ,puzzles are agreeably disposed of4 ,,grandpa',s ,,darlings4 ,by ,pansy4 #af mo4 ,illustrated #a #be ,a big book1 full of 8good times0 for the little people of the family4 ,,ester ,,ried ,by ,pansy4 #a #ej ,,julia ,,ried 8 #a #ej ,,three ,,people 8 #a #ej ,,the ,,king',s ,,daughter 8 #a #ej ,,wise ,,and ,,otherwise 8 #a #ej ,,cunning ,,workmen 8 #a #be ,,jessie ,,wells 8 #ge ,,docia',s ,,journal 8 #ge ,,bernie',s ,,white ,,chicken 8 #ge ,,helen ,,lester 8 #ge ,a ,,christmas ,,time 8 #ae ,the #ajjj ,prize ,series ,pronounced by the ,examining ,committee1 ,rev4 ,drs4 ,lincoln1 ,rankin and ,day1 superior to any similar series4 ,,striking ,,for ,,the ,,right1 #a4ge ,,silent ,,tom1 #a4ge ,,evening ,,rest1 #a4ej ,,the ,,old ,,stone ,,house1 #a4ej ,,into ,,the ,,light1 #a4ej ,,walter ,,mcdonald1 #a4ej ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,blount ,,family1 #a4ej ,,margaret ,,worthington1 #a4ej ,,the ,,wadsworth ,,boys1 #a4ej ,,grace ,,avery',s ,,influence1 #a4ej ,,glimpses ,,through1 #a4ej ,,ralph',s ,,possession1 #a4ej ,,luck ,,of ,,alden ,,farm1 #a4ej ,,chronicles ,,of ,,sunset ,,mountain1 #a4ej ,,the ,,marble ,,preacher1 #a4ej ,,golden ,,lines1 #a4ej ,sold by ,booksellers generally1 and sent by ,mail1 postpaid1 on receipt of price4 ,,boston3 ,d4 ,,lothrop ,,co41 ,,publishers4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,obvious punctuation errors repaired4 ,text occasionally uses the archaic 8an one0 where the more modern 8a one0 would be used currently4 ,this was retained as printed4 ,page #aa1 8corderoy0 changed to 8corduroy0 7fustian or corduroy7 ,page #ca1 8of0 changed to 8off0 7them off1 and7 ,page #cd1 8neccessary0 changed to 8necessary0 7country if necessary7 ,page #eb1 8,bosworth's0 changed to 8,bosworth0 7these1 ,mr4 ,bosworth ,smith's7 ,page #aeb1 8interveiw0 changed to 8interview0 7interview with the ,dean7 ,page #agj1 8aud0 changed to 8and0 7for ability and zeal7 ,page #ahg1 8hierachy0 changed to 8hierarchy0 7hierarchy of the best7 ,page #bja1 8in0 changed to 8is0 7there is still a ,king7 ,page #bcg1 8cryung0 changed to 8crying0 7is crying out for7 ,page #bdd1 8beford0 changed to 8before0 7laid the whole before7 ,page #bgd1 8schools0 changed to 8school0 7outside the school7 ,page #bha1 8migthiest0 changed to 8mightiest0 7and his mightiest words7 ,page #bhb1 8diciples0 changed to 8disciples0 7handful of disciples7 ,page #bhc1 8diciples0 changed to 8disciples0 7he asks his disciples7 ,page #bij1 8whieh0 changed to 8which0 7those which surrounded7 ,page #bii1 8,mechiavellian0 changed to 8,machiavellian0 7on the ,machiavellian7 ,page cciv1 8,musieal0 changed to 8,musical0 7,musical ,instruments of7 ,page cccvii1 8,acused0 changed to 8,accused0 7,falsely ,accused7 ,page cccix1 8remarkabls0 changed to 8remarkable0 7,a remarkable book1 crowded7 ,page cccx1 8#afm0 and 8#abm0 changed to 8#afmo0 and 8#abmo0 for 7,a ,,little ,,woman7 and 7,a ,,white ,,hand7 respectively4