,illustration                           
,young ,men                             
,,wm4 ,,guest1 ,f4 ,g4 ,s41             
,,rev4 ,j4 ,d4 ,,wells1 ,d4 ,d4         
,american ,tract ,society               
,new ,york          ,,to    ,,george    
,,williams1 ,,esq4    ,,treasurer ,,of  
,,the ,,london ,,association1    ,,and  
,,to ,,the ,,various ,,members ,,of     
,,the ,,young ,,men',s ,,christian      
,,associations ,,in ,,the  ,,united     
,,kingdom ,,and ,,america3      ,to you 
,i beg to offer the four following      
addresses--they may be helpful  in your 
service for young men4 ,thousands there 
are who watch your  ,associations with  
deep and grateful interest4 ,by some    
persons1 it may  be1 your aims are      
misunderstood4 ,i have never learned    
that you condemned  other literary and  
recreative associations2 but you have   
felt that there  was room for one       
distinctively ,christian4 ,you do not   
frown on joy and  pastime2 you do not   
disparage literary education2 but you   

have not been  ashamed to avow that your
 object is to save young men from       
irreligion1  and to promote among       
yourselves spiritual and ,christian     
culture4 ,to not  a few it therefore    
appears that not only are your          
associations among the  very noblest1   
but that they preminently meet the      
demand of these times4  ,reading-rooms  
and opportunities for social enjoyment  
are doubtless most  desirable1 but it is
 true piety that is the safety and      
mainspring of  prosperity to a          
community4    ,to the best and most     
distinguished men of this era it seems  
that the  stability and progress of the 
great ,christian nations depend upon the
  maintenance of ,christianity in its   
integrity1 and as honestly derived  from
 the supernatural teaching of the ,new  
,testament ,scriptures4 ,we  have1      
however1 come upon an age of the gravest
 perils4 ,what has been  the spring-head
 and occasioner of these perils8 ,this3 
,men have become  estranged from        

intercourse with ,god1 and from the     
thoughts of the holy  and spiritual     
world4 ,no longer living in believing   
relation to the ,father  of their       
spirits1 they have lost the light       
whereby all things become  luminous and 
harmonized4 ,three errors now lay       
straight in their path2  and to one or  
other of these1 according to            
temperament1 they have been  drawn3     
materialistic worldliness1 that inclines
 man's whole attentions  to the         
interests1 pleasures1 and gains of the  
world of sense2 scientific  atheism1    
whereby a small minority1 happily1 of   
scientific expounders  attempt to bow   
,god out of his universe1 and to resolve
 all creation into  spontaneous life and
 self-development2 intellectual         
rationalism1 that  makes man his own    
savior1 denies sin and atonement1 moral 
weakness and  ,divine grace4 ,it would  
appear as if ,satan's last and deadliest
 assault  upon the hopes and progress of
 the race was to be the denial of the   

self-existent ,god4 ,assuredly1 let the 
control of this belief go1 and  this    
vital consciousness be lost1 and the    
wide floodgates of iniquity  and of     
lawlessness will be opened1 and nothing 
can save millions from  relapsing into  
barbarism4 ,even ,mr4 ,buckle has taught
 that a materialistic  philosophy led   
the way to the horrors of the ,french   
,revolution4 ,at such  a time1 then1 as 
this1 ,christian associations1 with     
objects so clearly  defined1 and where  
arrangements are primary to secure      
intercourse with  ,christ and with a    
spiritual world1 meet the deepest want  
of the age4  ,moreover1 who so well as  
young men can work among the young8 ,you
 know  the snare that is spread for     
their feet2 8the cup that is poisoned   
and reached out for their hand2 the eye 
that glares death which is  fixed upon  
them in secret40 ,every good man must1  
therefore1 wish you  encouragement in   
your labor to save and ennoble your     
companions4 ,you  are blessing your     

country and your times4 ,your work will 
be fruitful  and abide4 ,thousands who  
now do not understand you will          
afterwards  pour benedictions over your 
memories4 ,you1 in an age of speculative
  and moral dangers1 will be held to    
have been benefactors4 ,the days are    
surely coming when above all other days 
men will be needed who1 by their        
,christian enlightenment and sanctity1  
can impart steadiness and elevation  to 
their times4 ,then the men to whom the  
age will turn will be men with  hearts  
and understandings which have been      
animated by ,christian faith4 ,to       
secure such a generation is your high   
aim4 ,may ,god prosper your purpose  and
 your devotion4    ,to you1 then1 ,i    
dedicate my little book1 which attempts 
to portray some  of the aspects of      
modern life1 and some of the alarming   
and imperilling  temptations with which 
modern habits and modes of opinion are  
surrounding  young men4    ,the first   
lecture was printed in a separate form2 

but as the whole  edition has been      
disposed of1 it has been thought better 
to let it now  appear with the others4  
,w4 ,g4    ,,london3 ,,canonbury ,,park4
          ,,life3 ,,how ,,will ,,you    
,,use ,,it8      ,the following words   
are addressed to young men by one who1  
not very long  ago1 was one of them4 ,if
 they are serious and earnest1 they are 
non the  less sympathetic and brotherly4
    ,on the mind of some thoughtful men 
there is the fear that ,england has     
seen her best days1 that her sun is     
going down1 and that a decline like     
that of other great nations has begun4  
,this is probably the language  of mere 
pessimists4 ,albeit1 even hopeful men   
have reason enough to be  anxious4      
,there is a frost of skepticism touching
 the young mind of  ,england4 ,there is 
a dread of enthusiasm which bodes ill4  
,young men stand  in our great cities   
amid juggling expedients1 glittering    
pretences1  specious deceits1           
unscrupulous graspings after wealth or  

position the  tides of temptation flow  
fast around them2 a high civilization   
has made  wickedness very facile and    
seductive2 veteran experts in vice are  
found  everywhere1 and the very streets 
are allowed to be fevered walks of      
lustful solicitations4    ,if ,england  
is to be saved and is to have a great   
future1 it will be  through her young   
men4 ,they are the hope of society4 ,a  
man1 therefore1  who is indifferent to  
their moral dangers and welfare is no   
friend to his  country4 ,i will make1   
then1 no apology while ,i speak to them 
earnestly of  their life1 and what it   
may be and can be4 ,no doubt there are  
scores of  empty and frivolous young men
 who can never be won to thoughtfulness4
 ,may  ,god help them2 for the look-out 
that is before them is awful4 ,but there
  are many of a different stamp1 and may
 their ,father and mine help me to      
articulate his yearning thoughts about  
them4    ,my brother1 ,i am not about to
 speak to you of what belongs to others1

 nor  mainly of the duties you owe to   
others2 but of what you imperatively owe
  to yourself1 and what emphatically    
belongs to you4 ,you have an existence  
in which the grandest and the most      
terrific possibilities are wrapped up4  
,life has been given to you4 ,what      
significance is in the word6 ,life1 with
  its unknown treasures and vast        
capabilities2 life1 with all its        
resources  and opportunities2 life1 with
 all its rich enjoyments and pleasurable
  unfoldings2 life1 endowed with        
consciousness and divine faculties2     
life1  which beginning with the         
sweetness of infancy1 and passing       
through the  open-heartedness of school 
days1 can ripen into a beauty and       
strength  and force of goodness which1  
through the long ages of immortality1   
will  find accessions of ever-augmenting
 felicity1 power1 and blissfulness4  ,my
 brother1 when ,i discourse to you of   
the value of this transcendent  gift of 
life1 exaggeration is hardly possible4  

,no language of men or  angels can      
worthily set forth the full meaning of  
this gift4 ,you1 among  creatures1 are  
obviously destined to rank with the     
noblest on the basest  of beings2 the   
elevation with which you come into the  
universe is the  measure of the grandeur
 to which you may rise1 or the          
degradation to  which you may fall4     
,the question therefore comes1 ,what do 
you intend to do with this your  life8  
,you have come to an age when this      
question confronts you4 ,you  ignore    
your rationality by evading it4 ,the two
 paths of honor and  dishonor are now   
before you3 which do you intend to take8
 ,i put the  inquiry in this form--,what
 will you do with your life8--because   
millions  of men have been ruined1 not  
so much through wrong intention as      
through  want of thought4 ,they have    
drifted into an evil course through a   
passive  unthinkingness4 ,it is not that
 they have resolved to do bad things1   
but they have not resolved to do good   

ones4 ,instead of being masters  of     
themselves1 sad to say1 they have not   
even belonged to themselves4  ,on their 
forehead might have been once written1  
8,we are open to become  the possession 
of whatsoever shall make capture of us40
 ,instead of  controlling1 they have    
been borne along by outward things1 like
 a little  boat in a dangerous stream1  
not carefully rowed and guided1 but     
empty1  and inviting any unskilled or   
wicked hand to become its master4       
,there are young men possessing all the 
capacities for a dignified and  manly   
conduct theirs1 through the hard        
industry of others1 are all the         
qualifications of education and         
competence4 ,they are surrounded with   
circles offering every facility to      
happiness and pure enjoyment4 ,and what 
do these young men do with all this     
wealth of possession8 ,i will sketch a  
few of the courses into which they      
permit themselves to be seduced4 ,one1  
just out of his teens1 affects a manly  

superiority2 calls 8the governor0  slow2
 orders his tailor to make garments in a
 8fast0 fashion2 cultivates  an elegant 
beard2 secures a massive chain1 and if  
possible1 a splendid  ring4 ,his boots  
are a very important item to his        
manliness2 and then what  deliberation  
upon the color of his gloves1 and the   
flexibility of his  cane6 ,as he steps  
from the door of his plodding father1 he
 puts a finish  to his appearance by    
lighting a cigar1 and with a hat  la    
mode1 walks  out1 a ready prey for the  
painted woman1 and an advertisement for 
men on  the look-out for unsophisticated
 manhood4 ,i do not say that a young man
  may not have a gold chain1 and        
trousers made in the height of fashion1 
if he likes--there is no religion in not
 having these things2 but for the  sake 
of all that is manly1 do not let a young
 man think that this is  to make a      
worthy use of life--to be a show thing  
to be looked at in the  streets4    ,but
 a young man may have higher aims2 he   

may be somewhat literary in his  tastes2
 may have studied rules of etiquette1   
and may select associations  that are   
irreproachable4 ,he permits his vanity1 
however1 to grow into  a chronic craving
 for admiration4 ,he affects            
insensibility to attract  attention2    
falls into the modern fashion of a      
supercilious apathy2  looks             
unimpassioned under the most eventful   
circumstances1 and twirls  the points of
 his moustache with elegant nonchalance4
 ,repudiating all  domestic and common  
interests1 he becomes valueless to      
humanity4 ,the most  beautiful emotions 
of man's nature become frigid4 ,his     
self-absorption  grows into a conceit   
which relieves others from the duty of  
considering  him4 ,he never blesses1 is 
never blessed4 ,ineffective in youth1   
unloved in  manhood1 he becomes testy   
and splenetic in old age1 and dies at   
length  unmissed and unmourned4 ,and    
this is all he has made of a life that  
once  bore so much of promise4    ,there

 is another1 over whom my heart's       
affections linger with a longing        
solicitude3 ,i mean the clever and      
facetious young man4 ,he has quick      
parts1 can sing well1 or give           
recitations2 ever on the look-out for   
fun1  he heaps up accumulating stores of
 witticisms and repartee2 and can       
repeat in character1 ,mrs4 ,caudle1     
,mrs4 ,brown1 or the newest offering of 
this literary school4 ,no circle of his 
friends is complete without him2  the   
evening party must be delayed if he is  
engaged2 every body likes  him--young   
men and ladies alike call him 8such a   
good fellow40 ,and there  is much that  
is good in him--his readiness and       
ability to make hours of  recreation    
brighter are not to be despised2 but his
 kind-heartedness and  endowments fit   
him for something grander than to be a  
man who merely  amuses society4 ,he     
himself suffers loss2 neglect of solid  
reading and of  elevated thoughts lowers
 his own tone2 the moral which he tacks 

on to the  end of his recitation fails  
to clear the balance-sheet of his       
conscience  in better hours2 the very   
friends that he has charmed will seek   
another  than him in the important      
moments of their life4 ,he will find    
himself set  aside ere long2 his        
influence will die with the vivacity of 
youth2 he has  no acquirements that are 
cared for to carry into riper manhood2  
and then  nothing is more revolting than
 the merely farcical and comic old man4 
,this is all he has made of life2 he has
 been the butterfly for sunny  hours1   
and has gone out when sterner days came4
    ,would that my descriptions might   
cease here2 but the tale of failure has 
not run out4 ,there are young men with  
the pathway of honor open before  them1 
but who turn from it1 and in pompous    
dash care for none of the  things that  
would make for their peace4 ,like dogs  
kept hungry1 that their  scent after the
 game may be keener and more impelling1 
they slip the  leash of what they term  

their 8mother's apron-string10 and burst
 upon  life with a dare-devil spirit    
that defies control4 ,the shades of     
evening  find them prowling under the   
mask of darkness after every pernicious 
gratification4 ,their imaginations have 
been polluted with the vile  literature 
secretly circulated4 ,from the dice or  
billiard-table they go  to the lighted  
hall1 where prostitutes decked in fine  
apparel mingle in  the waltz and ply    
their miserable arts1 and thence to the 
house where ,i  will not follow1 and of 
which the ,scriptures say1 that 8is the 
way to  hell1 going down to the chambers
 of death40    ,a young man in a ,london
 warehouse was solicited to spend such a
 night as  ,i have glanced at4 ,he      
refused4 8,what a fool you are to be so 
dull10 said  the tempter4 8,we'll wait a
 while and see who is the fool10 said   
the young  man4 ,in ten years' time the 
tempter was in a dishonored grave1 and  
the  other was rising to affluence4     
,you young men who sneer at religion as 

weakness and call godliness  hypocrisy1 
it is you who are the hypocrites4 ,you  
have risen many a  morning after a night
 of sin1 and have felt how satiety and  
loathing were  making deep footprints in
 your nature4 ,you have seen the        
shamelessness  and hollowness of        
wickedness1 and have been too cowardly  
to say that you  saw it4 ,you have      
laughed at virtue while you were bearing
 agonies in your  flesh which were      
horrible and indescribable4 ,in ten     
years the tempter ,i  have spoken of was
 in his grave2 and if the brief life and
 dreadful end  of thousands of young men
 in ,england could be portrayed1 it     
would be the  most awful tragedy ever   
told4 ,men would be horrified as they   
read it1 and  the ghastly memory would  
haunt them for years4 ,ah1 men do not   
know it4  ,these young men go from the  
great cities to die in country homes1 or
 they  lie solitary in the upper        
chambers of lodging-houses in back      
streets4  ,angel sisters are kept from  

sights which they could not comprehend4 
,nurses shrink from the foul and        
loathsome atmosphere4 ,and this is what 
they have made of life--a murdered      
manhood2 not living out half their      
days3 a past all loss1 a future all     
blackness4 ,oh1 where are our tears  if 
they do not fall over numbers who are   
dying every day in such chambers  and   
with such demons of remembrance8    ,i  
have read somewhere of an eagle in the  
,far ,west4 ,soaring with steady  wing1 
he saw far below him the grand scenes of
 ,american nature1 clothed  in the first
 snows of early winter4 ,as he rose     
higher towards the blue  heaven1 his    
keen eye saw floating on the distant    
river1 whose margin  was already        
frost-bound1 the carcass of a huge      
buffalo4 ,he paused in  his upward      
flight2 descended to settle and revel on
 this feast of  corruption4 ,he was     
borne calmly down the stream towards the
 fall and the  rapids which lay below4  
,gorged with his foul meal1 with        

drooping wing  and dormant energies1 he 
slept on the ftid mass1 and amid the    
oozing  putrefaction4 ,the blood1       
stiffened by the frost1 bound his feet  
to the  remains of the carcass2 and     
onwards was he borne until the roar of  
the  cataract thundered on his ear4 ,he 
struggled for liberty2 his powers had   
been enfeebled with satiety2 his        
drooping wings were bound to the frozen 
blood2 his wild cries awoke the echoes2 
he made frantic efforts to throw  off   
his horrid companion2 looked up to the  
blue heaven he had abandoned4  ,it was  
too late3 hurried over the rapid1 he was
 sucked into the boiling  cataract1 and 
dashed to destruction on the rocks      
beneath4 ,how does such  an illustration
 find its analogy in human life6 8,his  
own iniquity10  saith the ,scripture1   
8shall take the wicked himself1 and he  
shall be  holden with the cords of his  
sins40 ,there is a deep and awful       
mystery  in the downward progress of    
souls1 when he who once was the master  

of  sin becomes the 8slave of sin40     
,alas1 there are scores of men in every 
neighborhood who would give all they    
have to begin life again4 ,there was  a 
time when they never intended to be     
vicious2 but step by step they  lowered 
themselves4 ,shame1 truth1 self-respect 
died4 ,the lower elements  of their     
nature first were freely indulged1 then 
became importunate1 then  exacting1 then
 domineering1 then uncontrollable4      
,dear young man1 the pride of a mother1 
the hope of a father1 with an  intensity
 of yearning love ,i conjure you to     
pause ere you go into the  way of       
sinners4 ,if your feet have turned      
aside1 retrace1 ,i beseech you1  your   
steps4 ,your strong 8,i will0 now1 may1 
through ,god's mercy1 turn you  from the
 pit of infamy4 ,but soon weaker will be
 your will1 dimmer your  sense of moral 
beauty1 more desperate your passions1   
till at length you  will feel bound1 and
 then find yourself borne over the      
rapids a lost and  helpless wreck4      

,but our view of life demands other     
considerations than those that relate   
to time and personal dishonor4 ,it is a 
grand thing to live4 ,a thousand  times 
have ,i blessed ,god for this great gift
 of life4 ,but it is serious  also4     
,life has its responsibilities4         
,influence1 like all things else1  is   
imperishable4 ,nothing perishes4 ,the   
leaves of autumn do not perish2  they   
enrich the earth4 ,the fuel of our fires
 sends curling upwards its  light smoke1
 which bears its properties for other   
uses4 ,the broken  fragments of the     
mountains1 through torrent and tempest1 
nourish plants  and renovate the earth4 
,not an act you perform1 not a word you 
speak1  can wholly perish4 ,it was      
probably this that ,jesus ,christ meant 
when he  spoke of the idle words for    
which we shall give account at the day  
of  judgment2 that is1 our words which  
go from us as light as air may be       
making others better or worse1 and      
carrying forward their consequences to  

the judgment4 ,sin is imperishable4     
,sin1 like the soul1 has immortality    
stamped on it3 when once done1 it cannot
 be undone4 ,even a saved man's  sins   
are imperishable in the consequences4   
,david1 the king of ,israel1  sinned2   
alas1 how pitilessly6 ,he repented1 and 
poured out a psalm of  contrition that  
has ever since been the liturgy of      
humbled souls1 and  every verse of which
 seems vocal with a groan2 but he could 
not undo  the sin4 ,in his own days the 
enemies of truth blasphemed through him1
  and since that time1 in every         
generation1 wicked men have encouraged  
themselves in wickedness because of that
 great crime1 and the atheist has       
barbed his arrow in the blood of that   
murder4 ,voltaire1 when he came to  die1
 longed that his blasphemies against    
,christ should be expunged from  his    
writings4 ,ah1 he wished what was       
impossible4 ,his errors led to all  the 
horrors of the ,french ,revolution1 and 
have shattered the peace of  thousands  

since4 ,a drunkard may obtain           
forgiveness2 but his example may  have  
taught his own son to brutalize himself4
 ,a young man may turn away  from the   
evil courses he followed2 but he may    
leave the silly youth whom  he first    
tempted to go floating down to the      
bottomless pit4    ,there is a thought  
that often appals me4 ,it is nothing1 as
 it seems1  for the seducer to play upon
 innocence1 to instil poison into her   
sweet  affections and her maidenly      
instincts4 ,he has done1 as he thinks1 a
 manly  thing when he has crumpled up   
the beautiful flower of her chastity1   
and  left it to be fouled in the mire4  
,ah1 hard is the father's shame and the 
brother's scorn she bears4 ,cold are the
 streets that she treads at night1  and 
lonely is the garret where she soon lies
 down to die4 ,what cares he8  ,perhaps 
in a beautiful home he has forgotten her
 and her child4 ,his turn  comes at     
length to die4 ,if conscience puts in a 
reminder1 he calls the  deed an         

8indiscretion0 of his youth1 which      
signifies little4 ,o man1 it  shall     
signify2 as sure as there is a ,god in  
heaven1 thou shalt meet  again that lost
 one to whom thou didst open the door of
 shame1 of infamy1  and of ruin4 ,her   
own lips shall tell thee how thou didst 
help to put out  in her all that is     
pure1 and to send her into the streets  
an outcast4 ,it  shall signify2 that    
child of neglect shall claim thee as its
 father--an  unerring finger shall point
 it to thee4 ,before ,god and holy      
angels it  shall tell thee of its bare  
infant feet on snowy street-flags1 of   
night  watchings at omnibus steps1 and  
of the ignorance1 and wretchedness1 and 
foul examples1 through which its        
struggling life was passed1 and which   
left it no chance of virtue4 ,from thee 
it shall demand account of those        
paternal duties which thou didst incur  
and didst never discharge4 ,yes1 it     
shall signify4 ,oh1 there is a solemn   
irony of ,scripture when it saith1      

8,rejoice1 ,o young man1 in thy youth2  
and let thy heart cheer thee in the     
days of thy youth1 and walk in the ways 
of thy heart1 and in the sight  of thine
 eyes2 but know thou1 that for all these
 things ,god will bring  thee into      
judgment4 ,therefore remove the cause of
 sorrow from thy heart1  and put away   
evil from thy flesh40#a    ,would that  
my address to young men could be in a   
happier and more joyous  tone4 ,but life
 has such a tragic side to multitudes in
 our epoch1 that  ,i am compelled to    
deal with the causes of this failure and
 misery4 ,it is  imperative that the    
ground be cleared of the hinderances    
before ,i can  offer1 in subsequent     
lectures1 the stimulus and              
encouragement4 ,one other  reflection1  
therefore1 on account of its infinite   
import1 ,i am bound  to present4 ,this  
brief existence of yours1 my brother1 is
 giving the  coloring to immortality4   
,the endless life beyond the grave will 
take its  character from what you are   

now4 ,you are the child of eternity2 you
 have  now your time of probation2 you  
have your one earthly life to live1 and 
upon what you make it will depend all   
that will follow through the ages  of   
immortality4 ,every sinful habit you    
form here may cling like a leprosy  to  
the soul there2 every depraved passion  
you nourish here may perpetuate  its    
black defilement there4 8,the child is  
father to the man10 saith the  proverb4 
,a young man of sense knows that he will
 be as a master what he  made himself as
 an apprentice2 and as a man1 what he   
made himself as a  youth4 ,he knows1    
too1 that character is not built up by  
one or two1 but  by the constant series 
of actions4 ,so the daily thoughts and  
acts of your  earthly life are forming  
your character for the vast existence of
 which  you are an heir1 and which lies 
beyond the grave4    ,the late          
,archbishop ,whately1 in some           
annotations on ,lord ,bacon's second    
essay1 has mentioned a very remarkable  

phenomenon connected with  insect-life1 
and has recorded that it often occurred 
to him as a very  impressive analogy of 
a future state4 ,you know that every    
butterfly--the  ,greek name for which1  
it is remarkable1 is the same that      
signifies also  the soul1 ,psyche--comes
 from a caterpillar--in the language of 
naturalists1  called a larva1 which     
signifies1 literally1 a mask4 ,now there
 is a tribe  of insects called          
ichneumon-flies1 which inhabit and feed 
on these larv4  ,the parasitical flies  
have a long1 sharp sting1 which pierces 
the body of  the caterpillar1 and       
whereby they deposit their eggs on the  
inward parts  of their victim4 ,but1    
strange to say1 the caterpillar thus    
attacked goes  on feeding1 and          
apparently thriving quite as well as    
those that have  escaped4 ,but when the 
period arrives for the close of the     
larva-life1  then the evil is made      
manifest4 ,caterpillars assume the      
pupa-state from  which they emerge      

butterflies2 and it is then that the    
difference appears  between those that  
have escaped the parasites and those    
that were the  victims of them4         
,beautiful and awful analogy6 ,there are
 many who1 as to  the outside1 look like
 other men4 ,they dress well1 look well4
 ,the sin is  preying only on their     
immortal part2 and when they have laid  
aside that  which merely belonged to    
their physical life1 then the soul shall
 stand1  with all its poverty and scars 
and shrivelled places1 naked and open4  
8,the kingdom of heaven is within you10 
said ,christ to his followers2 and  so  
are the elements of hell in other men4  
,prodigious is the inconsistency of some
 modern reasoners4 ,they believe in  the
 immortality of the soul4 ,they see that
 the man is the development of  the boy1
 and that the acts of the youth leave   
their impress on the whole  after-life4 
,they say law is inflexible1 and that   
miracles therefore  are impossible4     
,they affirm that justice is so exact   

that its penalty  must fall on its      
proper victim1 and that therefore       
,christ's death is not  vicarious4 ,but 
somehow at this point all their         
reasoning falls to pieces4  ,according  
to them1 man in the future life is not  
to be dealt with after  this            
inflexibility of law and this exactness 
of justice4 ,according to  them1 up to  
the moment of death law goes in a       
straight1 unbending line2  why then1 in 
the name of all pretence of reason1 does
 it fail at that  point1 so that        
wickedness1 which has met with its exact
 punishment in  this world1 fails to    
meet with it in that coming one8 ,dear  
young man1  fearlessness as to what that
 future may be is stark madness4 ,it is 
folly  for which there is no name1 for a
 man all through his earthly life to    
bear the traces of the indolence and    
self-willedness of his youth4 ,but  oh1 
what must it be for all the future and  
eternal life to bear the  traces of the 
wrongs that have been done to the soul  

in this8 ,what must  it be for all the  
possible features with which the soul   
entered on this  life--truth1 purity1   
love1 faith--not only to have lain      
undeveloped1 but  to have been quenched8
 ,let me conjure and entreat you to look
 at this  subject4 ,do not1 for the sake
 of all that is dear to you1 close your 
eyes  to it4 ,let the great future take 
its right place as you are starting in  
life4 ,be assured that the language of  
,scripture concerning those that  have  
perished is prompted by ,god's yearning 
for your immortal well-being1  while it 
accords with all the analogies of       
creation3 8,for that they hated         
knowledge1 and did not choose the fear  
of the ,lord1 therefore shall they  eat 
the fruit of their own way1 and be      
filled with their own devices40    ,come
 then1 young men1 and let me persuade   
you to a worthy view of life4  ,god     
meets you as you read these words1 and  
offers to be the guide of  your human   
life4 ,the good ,god did not send you   

into his creation to  be afterwards an  
accursed thing in the outer darkness4   
,this life of  yours1 with its          
endowments and capabilities1 may become 
a sublime and  influential life--a      
blessed ascendency1 a tower of strength 
to men1  regnant in all that is         
majestic1 angelic1 and godlike4 ,hear   
how ,divine  counsel speaks to you3     
8,how long1 ye simple ones1 will ye love
 folly8  ,turn you at my reproof3       
behold1 ,i will pour out my ,spirit upon
 you2 ,i  will make known my words unto 
you40 ,nor will life thus passed be too 
earnest to be happy4 ,yours will be the 
happiness--not of animal enjoyments     
merely1 not purchased with stabbing your
 self-respect1 not followed with  the   
heart-sobs of those who love you1 but of
 one who is bringing into use  the      
higher and diviner faculties of your    
nature4 ,your intelligence will  be fed 
by knowledge1 your soul will be ennobled
 by purity1 your tastes  will be in     
harmony with sweet sounds and beauty1   

your conscience will  be kept in peace1 
and your heart's emotions will have play
 in ways that  leave no bitterness1 but 
ofttimes swell into rapture4 ,believe   
me1 the  only thing that can give       
meaning and glory to your life is1 to   
resolve  most resolutely that you will  
not be enslaved1 will not be degraded1  
will not be plunged into the mire and   
foulness of sin1 but will live          
according to a life-plan of real        
nobleness4 ,remember1 no one can do this
  for you4 ,your life is in your own    
hands2 and ,god has so placed you  among
 creatures1 that ,he will not do you    
saving good without your  consent4 ,you 
may be a poor waif on the winds of      
temptation1 drifted to  whatever abyss  
of destruction they hurry you2 or you   
may be a son of ,god1  victorious over  
sin1 ranking with the earth's great     
ones1 and followed  with blessings4 ,and
 then1 and then1 when the final issue   
comes1 and you  lie down to die1 instead
 of regrets1 yours may be the solid     

satisfaction  that your life1 from its  
very morning1 has been consecrated to   
the  side of goodness2 and then1 instead
 of a place with the wicked and the     
scorners1 you may go into a heaven for  
which you are prepared1 and into a  life
 of glorious felicity that is to come1  
and into which you have been  initiated 
down here4    ,blessed be ,god1 there is
 a short way to the life ,i recommend4  
,there  are two steps by which you may  
enter it4 ,obtain1 first1 forgiveness   
for the sins of the past4 ,god offers   
you all the merits of ,christ's  atoning
 sacrifice4 ,through that great         
sacrifice he will receive you1 and      
remember your sins no more4 ,in the     
blessed book1 in every variety of  form1
 in every glowing and rich expression1  
are you assured that pardon  shall be   
granted to a repentant soul4 ,young man1
 this is the first step4  ,believe1 and 
drop your burden of the sins of the     
past4 ,start a free man4    ,this is the
 second step3 offer your life           

gratefully1 lovingly1 to the  ,friend   
and ,saviour of your soul4 ,ask for his 
,spirit to help you3 his ear  will be   
swift to hearken4 ,this love to him will
 make his yoke easy1 will  make the     
cross light1 will make life to have a   
magnificent meaning1 will  make sorrow  
to wear a friendly guise1 will break the
 force of temptation1  will make sin the
 hateful thing4 ,this will cause your   
feet to find 8peace  and pleasantness0  
on the path of life1 till you reach the 
mansions where  the golden gates shall  
be thrown open for you1 and the angels  
shall tell  you they have been waiting  
to welcome you4    ,brother1 will you   
try this life8          ,,skeptical     
,,doubts3 ,,how ,,you ,,may ,,solve     
,,them4      ,my object in this address 
is1 to relieve the doubts on religious  
subjects which meet a young man on      
setting out in life4 ,such doubts have  
been very common4 ,nor is it to be      
wondered at4 ,with some1 to doubt is    
constitutional4 ,they are not able to   

give easy credence to any tidings4      
,with others1 the very stupendousness of
 religious subjects causes the  mind to 
pause in doubtfulness2 the revelations  
of ,christianity are so  transcendent1  
that thought wavers before their very   
grandeur4 ,there may  be doubt1 yet     
again1 from those appalling miseries of 
human life which it  is the mission of  
,christianity to heal2 and no less from 
the strangely  unchristian lives of     
,christian men4 ,all such doubts are to 
be treated  tenderly4 ,there are        
thousands of such doubters among young  
men at this  hour2 and they are not to  
be denounced1 but helped4    ,on the    
other hand1 you will1 ,i trust1 agree   
with me1 that there is  a pretence of   
doubting which is the simple outgrowth  
of flippant  indifference or conceit4   
,we hear ,tennyson quoted1 that there   
8lives  more faith in honest doubt1 than
 that in half the creeds40 ,let me1     
however1 remind you1 that ,mr4 ,tennyson
 did not mean resting in doubt2  he     

meant an 8honest doubt10 that was bent  
upon inquiry1 and was open to           
conviction4 ,he therefore speaks in this
 same passage of one3        8,he fought
 his doubts1 and gathered strength2     
,he would not make his judgment blind2  
,he faced the spectres of his mind1     
,and laid them3 thus he came at length  
8,to find a stronger faith his own1     
,and power was with him in the night    
,which makes the darkness and the light1
      ,and dwells not in the light      
alone40#b    ,observe1 a great character
 is not built up by doubting4 ,there is 
weakness1 not strength1 in doubts4 ,nor 
is it necessarily a mark of             
intelligence to doubt4 ,any scanty mind 
may doubt1 just as a fool may hold  a   
penny-piece to his eye1 and say he has  
hidden the sun4 ,on the subject  of     
,christianity1 there is a very common   
mistake which ,i would guard you        
against4 ,christian faith is not a mere 
assent to an orthodox creed2 not a  mere
 acceptance of a speculative system of  

opinion4 ,christian faith is a  thing of
 will1 of ingenuousness1 of candor1 and 
of loyalty4 ,the unbelief  that will be 
visited with judgment at the last day   
is1 the wilful1  stubborn1 uncandid1    
prevaricacious1 unpersuadable unbelief4 
,easiness of  temper does not make a    
just man2 no more does easiness of      
credence make a  believing man4         
,conceiving then that you are honestly  
anxious to arrive at truth1 ,i will     
endeavor in this address to meet some of
 the difficulties which once  perplexed 
my own mind4 ,the being of ,god1 or the 
mystery attaching to  the ,divine       
existence1 not unnaturally disturbs the 
mind upon the very  threshold of        
religious inquiry4 ,assuredly a ,god    
eternal1 all-knowing1 and  everywhere   
present is a mystery2 but to stand in   
the midst of a universe  with endless   
marks of a designing hand1 and to say   
there is no ,god1 would  be a greater   
and more appalling mystery4 ,lord ,bacon
 says3 8,i had rather  believe all the  

fables of the ,talmud and ,koran than   
that this universal  frame is without a 
mind40 ,may you not exaggerate this     
difficulty8 ,have  you not the image of 
,god in nature8 ,look at the light of   
the sun4 ,it  sends its rays through    
every cottage1 every stream1 and over   
every  living thing1 and yet it never   
contracts a stain1 and takes no soil4   
,it awakens the germs of life in organic
 nature1 and they emerge in an  endless 
variety of forms2 it clothes the forests
 with a robe of verdure1  paints the    
fields with countless flowers1 and calls
 forth the song of  thousands of birds4 
,it unchains from their icy bands the   
mountain-snows1  and sends myriad rills 
to make music through the valleys4 ,it  
makes the  gladness of childhood1 and   
cheers the gloom of age4 ,at the same   
time1 it  can photograph every mental   
emotion and every change of moral       
feeling4  ,no subtlety can deceive it2  
it pierces beyond the false look2 it    
images  the character with startling    

justice4 ,it is no labor to the sun to  
do  this4 ,endow this sun with mind2    
conceive that its rays not only pervade 
and photograph every object1 but do so  
consciously4 ,have you not here an      
emblem of ,him who takes this image of  
light8    ,let me1 my friend1 guard you 
against the young man who whispers in   
your  ear that he does not believe in   
,god4 ,you will mostly find one of two  
things--either that the creed of the    
atheist has been adopted by him  without
 two hours' reflection on the matter1 or
 is an after-thought to  make him       
comfortable in sin4 ,how unreasonable   
would a man appear to  you who should   
have come home from the ,paris          
exhibition of industry1  affirming that 
the edifice itself1 its pictures1       
fountains1 and manifold  products were  
the falling together of chance1 or      
self-developed4 ,but he  would be wise  
in comparison with the man who should   
see the myriad proofs  of design in the 
atmosphere1 the soils1 the foliage1 and 

his own frame1  and affirm that there   
was no ,almighty ,designer4 ,out of ten 
thousand  proofs equally remarkable1 let
 me mention one or two4 ,think of the   
egg  of a bird1 so made that wherever it
 is placed the chick shall float        
uppermost1 so as to be near the warm    
bosom of its mother4 ,think of the      
adaptation of the camel to its life in  
the desert4 ,its feet1 not like the     
hoofs of a horse1 but cushioned with    
elastic pads1 that do not sink into  the
 sand1 but spread over it2 its stomach  
set round with water-sacs1 from  the    
supplies of which it can journey for    
days without coming to fresh  water2 its
 eyes overhung with eyebrows1 and       
nostrils that can be firmly  closed1    
whereby it is not incommoded with either
 the hot sand-clouds or  the glare of   
the desert4 ,think of a gulf-stream1    
sixty miles broad and  three thousand   
feet deep1 which comes from the tropics 
every winter1  which secures an equable 
temperature for the fishes1 and prevents

 the  seas at ,stockholm and ,norway    
from becoming a block of ice4 ,while    
this is  so1 there is a polar current   
which rises in ,greenland1 and hastens  
to  cool the tropics4 ,these are single 
evidences of design out of millions4    
,and these myriad evidences in the      
heavens and earth1 in every bird and    
insect1 every flowering shrub and blade 
of grass justify the assertion  that a  
man is a 8fool0 who says there is no    
,god4 ,i indeed admit to you  that1 to  
men oppressed with sin and darkness1 it 
is difficult to know and  trust ,god as 
the ,creator4 ,his immeasurable vastness
 seems to place him  far from us2 but ,i
 shall soon show to you that ,god is    
made known to his  creatures through    
,christ4 ,he who has not thought it     
unworthy to unfold  to man in the       
heavens the magnificence of his works1  
has not thought it  unworthy of himself 
to win back his creatures' obedience and
 love by  sending his ,son as a man4    
,christ has interpreted ,god to us4 ,we 

understand  ,god in him4 ,we know how to
 seek him1 to find him1 to trust him1 to
 love  him4    ,after the existence of  
,god1 that of an immortal spirit1       
possessed by  every human being1 lies at
 the basis of all religion4 ,the        
argument would  be too metaphysical to  
prove here the immortality of the soul4 
,i can only  suggest to you one or two  
considerations4 ,there has been a       
universal  consent among the wisest     
philosophers of all times and nations1  
that the  soul remains after the body4  
8,the consent of all10 said ,cicero on  
this  subject1 8is the voice of nature40
 ,observe also1 that it is by the soul  
we know of the existence of a universe4 
,all sensation is the recognition  of   
effects on our senses1 but that         
recognition is through consciousness  or
 mind4 ,note also1 that the body        
changes1 but the spirit remains4 ,a man 
may lose his hands or eyes1 and the loss
 may have no effect whatever on  the    
soul4 ,consider again1 that matter never

 perishes4 ,if there is one  axiom in   
philosophy that is certain1 it is this1 
that while particles  of matter may pass
 into new combinations1 they never cease
 to have  existence4 ,you may well1     
then1 ask with ,dr4 ,young3             
8,can it be1      ,matter immortal1 and 
shall spirit die8      ,above the nobler
 shall less noble rise8      ,shall man 
alone1 for whom all else revives1       
,no resurrection know8 ,shall man alone1
      ,imperial man1 be sown on barren  
ground1      ,less privileged than grain
 on which he feeds80    ,observe once   
more on this subject1 there are manifold
 proofs that the  soul has in this state
 only the dawn of its being4 ,the       
animals reach  perfection in a few years
 but men1 at death1 are only beginning  
to use  their faculties4 ,the principle 
of thought1 reason1 and hope within them
  has here only glimpses1 outreachings1 
and aspirations of a higher life4  ,are 
not these yearnings1 this sense of      
incompleteness1 prophecies of a  future 

life8 ,our lives here are not the tones 
of perfect harmony1 but  rather like    
stringed instruments being attuned for  
celestial melody4 ,and1  alas1 what     
inequalities1 what sufferings1 what     
wrongs have some to endure  here that   
require another state for vindication   
and rectification also6  ,if1 therefore1
 you find one argument against the      
immortality of the soul1  you will      
readily find a hundred for it4    ,a    
further source of doubt is1 a false     
impression respecting holy  scripture4  
,you may have thought that the ,bible1  
being called a  revelation from ,god1   
would be like a book written in heaven1 
and  altogether different from human    
works4 ,but1 in infinite wisdom and     
mercy1 this has not been ,god's mode of 
revelation4 ,he has condescended  to    
reveal his mind through the history1 the
 follies1 the virtues1 the  sins1 and   
struggles of men4 ,this history is both 
human and superhuman4  ,it is human1 for
 the men who wrote it carried into it   

the peculiarities  of their age and     
their culture4 ,it is superhuman1 for it
 truly and  faithfully tells the        
dealings of ,god with the first races of
 men1 and  afterwards through ,christ4  
,in the ,old ,testament history you have
 records of men who lived in an  earlier
 and ruder period of humanity2 but the  
writing or the compilation  of these    
records has been controlled so as to    
teach the awfulness of sin1  the safety 
of righteousness1 and the faithfulness  
of ,jehovah4 ,dreadful  is it to be told
 of the incest of ,lot2 but it is       
merciful that we have a  justification  
of the warnings against the licentious  
nations of ,moab and  ,ammon1 whose     
origin is thus narrated4 ,it is painful 
to follow the history  of ,saul1 but it 
is merciful that we have such a vivid   
picture of the  miserable fruits of a   
self-love that poisoned otherwise noble 
impulses4  ,through all the records of  
men in the ,old ,testament1 you are     
taught1 as  in the life of ,jacob1 that 

every wrong act has a seed of evil in   
it1  whose bitter fruits the doer has to
 eat1 and that ,god's providence is     
perpetually controlling the good and the
 evil for the education of men  and of  
nations4    ,look at the book of        
,psalms1 the liturgy of prayers and     
praises for all  ages1 the sacred       
ballads for humanity4 ,there is much    
that is human in  these ,psalms2 but if 
,god had sent down to us songs composed 
by the  angels1 they would have been    
valueless by the side of those in this  
incomparable book4 ,while ,i am in this 
world of fierce temptation1 of          
suffering1 and of moral weakness1 what  
,i want is1 not so much angelic  musings
 and raptures1 as the prayers of a man  
tempted1 struggling1  suffering1 fallen 
as ,i am2 and yet a man ever reaching   
with such sobs  of penitence and intense
 heart-cries after ,god4 ,i mourn       
,david's sin and  sufferings1 but ,i    
feel grateful that the ,scriptures have 
preserved to  me his ,psalms1 which     

interpret the fiercest beatings of my   
heart1 the  lowliest confessions of my  
moral besetments1 and the deepest       
aspirations  of my nature4    ,look     
again at the epistles of the ,new       
,testament3 you have here the  records  
of churches which fell1 some into one   
error1 others into  another4 ,but these 
errors are such as are common to        
humanity4 ,admirable1  therefore1 is the
 wisdom whereby inspired doctrines and  
consolations are  conveyed1 not in any  
abstract method1 but in their relation  
to the very  tendencies of our nature4  
,your objection1 therefore1 to the      
,bible1 that  it is so human1 is from an
 utterly mistaken impression of the mode
 in  which revelation could be best made
 to men1 and from forgetfulness of its  
deep1 profound1 and most precious       
adaptation to human life4    ,and here  
,i cannot help adverting to the moral   
unfairness of infidelity4  ,in a recent 
conference of working-men1 one of them  
told the meeting  that the history of   

the fall of man1 in the second chapter  
of ,genesis1  was so improbable that he 
rejected all which came after4 ,perhaps 
the  narrative is improbable to a mind  
intensely literal1 unused to eastern    
modes of thought1 and which cannot find 
the truth under those partially         
allegorical representations which most  
effectually teach the vast bulk of  the 
human race4 ,the same objections are    
urged against the sun standing  still in
 the book of ,joshua1 and to the history
 of ,jonah4 ,i am not going  to reply to
 these objections4 ,infidels do not want
 a reply4 ,if they did1  they would find
 scores4 ,but what shall be said of the 
candor of a man  who1 because of such   
objections1 rejects the ,old ,testament1
 which abounds  in passages of the      
tenderest sympathy for the poor and for 
the suffering1  which demands the most  
exact rectitude between man and man1 and
 which  taught a morality in those early
 days to which there is nothing at all  
approaching in the annals of ,egypt1    

,greece1 and ,rome8 ,let me recommend   
you to turn to ,leviticus #ai3i1 #aj2   
,deuteronomy #bd3ac1 #ai-bb4    ,see how
 the slavery of the nations was         
mitigated among the ,hebrews  by the    
enforcement of the principle--which the 
,grecian and ,roman law  denied--that it
 was the duty of the master to treat his
 servants as men1  to instruct them in  
his own religion1 and to count them     
members of his  household4 ,shame on men
 who have in the ,bible such            
consideration for the  toilers and such 
rebukes of oppressors1 but who ignore   
all this1 and  hold up the ,old         
,testament to scorn because of one or   
two difficulties  to their              
understanding4#c ,nothing so loudly     
proclaims that such  infidelity is not a
 thing of 8honest0 doubt1 but of a bad  
mind and of a  bad heart4 ,difficulties 
there are in the ,bible4 ,i have studied
 most of  those difficulties1 and       
confess with gratitude that they have   
one by one  disappeared4 ,this ,i doubt 

not will be the case with them all4 ,but
 to me  it seems that ,i should deserve 
the contempt of man and the indignation 
of my ,maker1 if because of these       
difficulties1 in times so remote and  in
 usages so different from modern        
customs1 ,i set aside the book which    
tells me of ,god's profound interest in 
my race1 which reveals my relation  to a
 spiritual world1 which has purified the
 lives and pacified the  consciences of 
millions1 and which has made just and   
considerate their  treatment of others4 
,miracles which bear witness to divine  
revelations are made an occasion  for   
doubt by some4 ,let us examine this     
objection candidly4 ,why are  miracles  
not believed8 8,they contradict         
experience40 ,a few years ago  ,m4      
,boutigny1 at a meeting of the ,british 
,association1 caused ice to be  produced
 from a red-hot crucible4 ,surely this  
contradicted experience4  8,they are    
incredible to reason40 ,so is the fact  
that the sea once  covered the beds of  

sea-shells on the tops of the highest   
mountains4  8,the enemies of ,jesus     
attributed miracles to magic40 ,the very
 proof  they were wrought2 else they    
would have denied the facts1 and not    
resorted to this pretence4 8,they are   
impossible1 for they suspend  inflexible
 laws of nature40 ,to this modern       
objection ,i reply1 there are  no laws  
of the universe except the direct agency
 of ,god4 ,if1 then1 he  interposes to  
arrest a subject-law1 there is no       
suspension of the law  of nature2 the   
supreme law is still in operation4 ,for 
example3 ,by the  inflexible law of     
gravitation1 a ball dropped from the top
 of a tower  falls to the earth4 ,but   
suppose a man catches it in his hand1 is
 the law  of gravitation suspended8 ,not
 at all4 ,a controlling law is brought  
into  operation1 to which1 that law is  
obedient4 ,thus you have the agency of  
,god in miracles4 ,do not1 ,i implore   
you1 be swayed by writers who find it   
the easiest of all things to multiply   

objections when they are utterly        
indifferent about finding replies4      
,remember that in the first ages        
miracles must have been worked1 else    
,christianity1 with the tremendous      
sacrifices it demanded1 could not have  
gained a footing in the earth1  much    
less have changed the religion of the   
,roman empire4 ,gibbon tried his        
strength to dispute this1 but never did 
a man so signally fail4    ,an          
exaggerated estimate of the strength of 
literary skepticism has been  another   
source of doubt in these days4 ,there   
are three writers especially  to whom   
this remark applies4 ,the first is ,dr4 
,colenso4 ,he was believed  to be a     
learned theological scholar4 ,never was 
an estimate more false2  never did a    
more pedantic theologian take pen in    
hand4 ,what pretensions  had such a man 
to be a guide1 who more recently tried  
to prove that  there were no accredited 
prayers to ,christ in the ,bible1 nor in
 the  ,prayer-book1 nor in the          

,presbyterian ,psalter8 ,thirty-four    
instances  of direct prayer to ,christ  
were at once pointed out in the         
,psalter2  more than twelve prayers to  
the ,saviour were quoted as sanctioned  
by  apostolic practice in the ,new      
,testament1 and passages of prayer to   
the  8,lamb of ,god0 were appealed to in
 the ,liturgy4 ,if young men are to     
doubt1  let not a literary blunderer    
like this have weight with them4 ,at the
 time  that the bishop of ,natal's work 
came out1 a gentleman was commiserated  
on  the alleged overthrow of the ,bible4
 8,the ,scriptures will be extinguished 
now10 said the man of the world4 ,the   
shrewd ,yorkshireman replied3 8,well1   
you see ,i have lived long enough to    
hear many prophecies of this nature2    
but the extinguisher has always been a  
wooden one1 which the light has  burnt  
through40 ,my friend's figure has       
remarkably come true4 ,dr4 ,colenso  had
 a reputation as an arithmetician2 but  
this has well nigh gone1 and  his       

theological books are marked sixpence on
 back book-stalls4    ,in like manner   
have the two other critics failed to get
 into the world's  thought4 ,some years 
ago1 ,dr4 ,strauss sent forth a         
so-called 8,life of  ,jesus40 ,the      
greater part of the gospel narratives   
were resolved into  myths4 ,more        
recently another edition came out1 and  
facts which in the  first edition were  
called fabulous were now given as       
veritable history4  ,is the 8critical   
faculty0 of such a man a safe guide to  
young men8    ,later still1 ,m4 ,renan1 
acknowledging that it was impossible to 
doubt the  substantial genuineness of   
the gospels and the ,acts of the        
,apostles1  presumed to patronize       
,christ and ,christianity4 ,and what was
 his  conclusion8 ,do not start when ,i 
tell you3 ,the ,frenchman professes to  
believe that thousands of the most      
bigoted ,jews1 and of enlightened       
,greeks and ,romans1 renounced the      
venerable institutions of their fathers 

and embraced a religion which demanded  
the severest sufferings and  sacrifices1
 because a woman under a love-spell of  
hallucination had  fancied she had seen 
a young ,galilean rabbi alive who was   
really dead6  ,just conceive what would 
now be the effect on ,europe of a new   
religion  whose fundamental fact had    
such puerile support4 ,why was it       
different on  educated ,romans8 ,do not 
say ,i am deceiving you when ,i tell you
 that ,m4  ,renan professes to believe  
that the apostle ,paul abandoned        
prejudice1  station1 privilege1         
prospects1 and braved scorn1 appalling  
sufferings1  and a martyr's death1      
because he had been frightened in a     
thunder-storm6  ,talk about credulity1  
was there ever credulity like this8     
,alas1 what  monstrous absurdities will 
men believe rather than the plain       
testimony of  ,scripture6 ,woe to the   
dupes of a literary skepticism which    
changes its  creed every five years6    
,it may be in addressing you1 my friend1

 on the spirit of doubt which  taints   
and enfeebles this age1 that you have   
been influenced by what  is deemed the  
attitude of scientific men towards      
,christianity4 ,a  flagrant and most    
mischievous impression is abroad that   
scientific men  in our times are        
infidels4 ,very confidently do ,i affirm
 that it is not  so4 ,i have attended   
meetings of learned societies in        
,london1 and of the  ,british           
,association in the country1 and have   
heard these meetings spoken  of as      
atheistic1 when out of hundreds of      
scientific men there were not  a dozen  
whose language could have justified such
 an imputation4 ,such  distinguished    
leaders of science as ,professor ,owen1 
,professor ,phillips  of ,oxford1 and   
,sir ,roderick ,murchison1 would        
indignantly repudiate the  charge of    
seeking to undermine the faith of       
,england in ,christianity2  and in this 
they would have the sympathy of an      
overwhelming majority of  scientific men

 in the ,british ,isles4 ,your danger is
 not so much in the  facts science has  
established1 as in the false notions    
which have been  caught up of these     
facts4 ,a scientific discussion would be
 beside the  object of this address2 but
 note these accordances between one     
science  and the ,bible3 ,scripture     
affirms the late date of man upon the   
earth2 so  does geology--,sir ,c4 ,lyell
 says1 8,no discovery has shaken our    
belief in  the extremely modern date of 
the human era40 ,scripture teaches that 
the  world was once covered by water2 so
 does geology3 8,it is concluded as a   
fundamental maxim in geology10 says     
,professor ,phillips1 8that the whole   
area now occupied by dry land was once  
covered by sea40 ,scripture teaches     
that ,god made the dry land to appear2  
and geology affirms that the  rocks1 or 
dry land1 have been upheaved from the   
waters4 ,scripture teaches  that the    
beasts were created after their kind2   
that is1 each group made  up of a number

 of species2 so does geology4 ,the      
,bible1 written for an  unscientific    
age1 has thus these marvellous          
agreements with science in  its most    
recent developments4 ,you perhaps hear  
of a solitary scientific  mind tracing  
back man to a sea-shell2 but another    
says1 8,the idea that  a mollusk could  
become a fish1 or a lizard a man1 is    
worthy only of a  madman1 and gives but 
poor evidence of the progress of        
civilization at  the present time40#d   
,indeed1 there is no utterance that     
looks adverse  to ,scripture which is   
not met by a decided divergence of      
opinion equally  scientific4    ,turn   
from these questionings to the history  
of ,jesus ,christ as contained  in the  
four gospels4 ,the most consummate      
learning of the enemies of the  faith   
cannot invalidate these gospels4 ,their 
genuineness has borne every  critical   
test of the most advanced scholarship4  
,the evidence for their  absolute       
truthfulness is immeasurably greater    

than for the authenticity  of any       
secular book which the past has         
transmitted to us4 ,you believe  that   
eight hundred years ago a conqueror     
landed in ,england who abolished  the   
,saxon monarchy4 ,on testimony better   
than that for the belief in  ,william   
the ,conqueror have you the fact        
confirmed to you1 that eighteen  hundred
 years ago1 in a strip of fair and sunny
 land in ,asia--a land which  for two   
thousand years had been the theatre of  
events which marked it out  as the scene
 for some grand evolvement of historic  
import--there appeared  a ,teacher from 
,galilee1 just rising into the maturity 
of manhood4 ,he  unites in ,himself the 
most unusual varieties of character4 ,he
 has vast  intellect and the tenderest  
sensibility2 the calmest judgment and   
the  keenest feeling4 ,he is lowly1 but 
always magnanimous2 ,he is meek1 and yet
  majestic2 ,he is most compassionate to
 human frailty1 but abhors human  vice2 
,he is despised1 but never fretted2     

insulted1 but never ruffled2  never is  
,he charged with sin1 yet by a strange  
and precious sympathy ,he  draws to     
,himself the sinful and the outcast4 ,he
 is essentially human2  is found at the 
marriage feast and the evening meal4 ,he
 speaks parables  which childhood can   
understand1 and over which genius       
wonderingly  lingers4 ,his teaching is  
so profound1 wise1 and novel1 that it   
for ever  shades all the teaching of the
 wise men of antiquity4 ,he did works   
which  no other man had ever done4 ,he  
invited all heavy-laden ones to come to 
him for rest1 and announced that ,he was
 8the ,light of the world40 ,during  a  
brief ministry1 over five hundred men   
and women so believed in ,him1  that    
afterwards many of them laid down their 
lives for ,his sake4 ,very  soon after  
,his death upon the cross1 when he      
startled his enemies by the  loud cry1  
8,it is finished10 a 8vast multitude0 in
 ,rome itself enrolled  themselves as   
,his disciples4 ,this fact comes to us  

on the testimony of  the heathen        
historian ,tacitus2 and ,gibbon admits  
it must be received as  unquestionably  
genuine4    ,this ,jesus ,christ we     
affirm to be the ,son of man and the    
,son of ,god4 ,he  is the ,revealer of  
,god4 ,he pierced to the core of human  
misery1 while  he wielded the resources 
of omnipotence2 he wound about his heart
 human  sympathies1 but now sits at the 
right hand of ,god exalted4 ,my brother1
 ,i  solemnly tell you that to refuse to
 believe in ,christ after the evidence  
afforded will violate your candor1 will 
trample on the rectitude of your        
reasoning1 and will bring on you        
consequences which you will eternally   
deplore4 ,i cannot utter words that     
deserve comparison with those of        
,christ himself3 8,i am come a light    
into the world1 that whosoever          
believeth in me should not abide in     
darkness40 8,he that rejecteth me hath  
one that judgeth him3 the word that ,i  
have spoken1 the same shall judge  him  

in the last day40    ,you may ask1 ,can 
a man be lost for sincere doubt8 ,if a  
man clings to  this doubt1 if he will   
not candidly inquire1 if he refuses to  
receive  testimony1 he will be lost2 not
 because of his doubt1 but because of   
his  obstinacy4 ,this talk of sincere   
doubting is often very unreasonable     
talk4  ,a man may sincerely doubt       
whether it is well to sow corn in the   
autumn  or spring1 and he may sow his   
fields in ,july2 but his sincerity will 
not  save him from bankruptcy or the    
workhouse4 ,a schoolboy may sincerely   
doubt the necessity of learning ,euclid1
 history1 and geography--he may  refuse 
the testimony of wiser heads2 but his   
sincerity will not save him  from going 
into mercantile or professional life a  
dunce1 and the chances  are that he will
 rue his so-called sincere doubt to the 
end of his days4  ,you1 my brother1 will
 soon pass into a world shrouded with   
impenetrable  darkness4 ,there is but   
one voice which can tell you of a way   

whereby  your spirit hereafter may reach
 a region of light and felicity4 ,should
  you close your ear to that voice1 and 
nurse your doubts1 and refuse to        
investigate1 then let me tell you that  
there can be nothing for you at  the    
last day but 8shame and everlasting     
contempt40    ,observe also1 if you want
 demonstration that will overbalance all
  difficulties1 you will never find it4 
,in the affairs of this life men act  on
 the preponderance of evidence4 ,if     
there should appear twenty reasons  for 
a course of action and only five against
 it1 he would be reckoned a  fool who   
became swayed by the five1 and refused  
to inquire further4 ,in  mercantile     
life1 the men who will never decide and 
act till they have  reasons which       
exclude all doubt1 are left behind in   
the progress of  society1 and become the
 poor and despised4 ,your condition in  
this world  is a test whether you will  
be true and docile4 ,if you want light1 
there  is abundance to guide you2 if you

 choose darkness1 ,god will not compel  
your belief4    ,i remind you1 again1   
that no man has ever grown wise or good1
 or left a  permanent impression on his 
age1 as a doubter4 ,the heroes of all   
times  have been men of faith4 ,read the
 ,book itself4 ,the ,bible is a locked  
treasure to prejudice1 but it never     
fails to satisfy candor4 ,as you  stand 
outside one of our ancient cathedrals1  
and look up at its chancel  window1 all 
looks cold1 unmeaning1 and              
uninteresting4 ,but1 as has been  well  
said1 when on a sunny morning you have  
entered that chancel1 8how  changed is  
that window6 ,it is now gorgeous in     
beauty1 and glows with  life4 ,cold and 
dreary outside1 it is warm and radiant  
within4 ,instead of  being              
incomprehensible and obscure1 it is full
 of meaning and glorious  harmony80     
,such is the difference between reading 
the ,bible as a doubter  or as a critic1
 and going to it as one interested in   
its contents and  willing to be taught4 

,follow for a moment the course of two  
young men4 ,your acquaintance  will     
supply the sketch readily4 ,see one     
coming in the morning from the  chamber 
where he has looked with affection and  
trust into the face of  his ,saviour2   
has supplicated strength to meet the    
day's duties and  temptations2 and has  
pondered the words1 8,wherewithal shall 
a young man  cleanse his way8 by taking 
heed thereto according to thy word40 ,he
 enters  the family circle to meet the  
mother's smile1 a brother's greeting1   
and a  sister's cheery welcome4 ,his    
father1 with proud joy1 consults him as 
an  equal4 ,he is a firm link in the    
family chain of happiness4 ,see him as  
he  stands on the floor of the warehouse
 with uprightness4 ,the tricky trader1  
when he cannot cheat him1 respects his  
honor4 ,he chooses friendships  that are
 elevating4 ,no profane scorner walks by
 his side2 no impure  profligate soils  
the atmosphere of his home4 ,he spends  
his evenings amid  cheerful enjoyments1 

ennobling elevations1 or useful         
ameliorations4    ,contrast the other4  
,he rises from a prayerless bed2 drags  
down stairs his  wearied frame at the   
latest possible moment2 the older       
members of the  family have gone off to 
their several duties4 ,as for him1 the  
debauch of  the last night makes every  
thing wrong3 the coffee is thick2 the   
servant  slow2 the very cat's quietness 
upon the hearth irritates him1 and with 
a  kick he relieves his pent-up         
discontent4 ,to his mother he is rude2  
the  younger children have scampered    
away at his approach1 saying their 8big 
brother is so sulky40 ,the clock sounds2
 he is off to business4 ,the whole  day 
he is confused and hindered by the      
remembrance of the last night's         
pollution1 or the planning for the      
coming evening's pleasure4 ,when the    
evening has come1 he goes where he will 
degrade young women in a way  which     
would arouse his direst indignation     
should another do the same to  his      

sister2 or he enters scenes where he    
would die with shame if his  mother or  
sister could follow him4 ,and this is   
the young man whose law is  a miserable 
and hateful selfishness1 or who on a    
,sunday afternoon reads  an infidel book
 for five minutes1 and then says1 8,ah1 
,i knew the ,bible  was false1 and      
,christians all hypocrites40 ,poor      
pitiable wretch6 as if  the judgment of 
such a man was of the slightest value   
against ,scripture4    ,and observe1 the
 end will come4 ,a nurse very recently  
was summoned to a  sick-bed in ,paris4  
,the invalid was a young ,englishman4   
,before she would  enter upon her       
duties1 she asked if the sufferer was a 
,christian4 ,upon  being answered in the
 affirmative1 she said3 8,i have seen   
such horrible  sights1 and heard such   
wailings in the dying chambers of       
ungodly and  dissolute men1 that ,i dare
 not now undertake to nurse another such
 a  one40 ,tronchan1 in his memoirs of  
,voltaire1 says3 8,i wish that those who

  had been perverted by his writings had
 been present at his death4 ,it was  a  
sight too horrid to witness40 ,these are
 awful facts and foreshadowings  after a
 life of infidel pleasure4    ,let me   
add a test of your sincerity4 ,one of   
the most accomplished and  gifted of    
authoresses has told us that dark doubts
 on divine subjects  once shrouded her  
spirit4 ,as she looked up at midnight to
 the vault of  the heavens1 and saw the 
stars moving in serenity and order1 the 
thought  came over her troubled spirit1 
8,the ,creator of those orbs must take  
an  interest in me1 his rational        
creature4 ,i hold to nothing but a dim  
hope  of his existence4 ,i will take my 
dark mind to him1 and ask him for light4
  ,prayer shall be with me the #8test of
 truth4'0 ,to that sincere cry the      
answer came4 ,her heart1 intellect1 and 
conscience1 found rest in ,christ2  the 
,bible became to her an exhaustless     
fount of wisdom2 in mathematical        
culture and in musical taste she became 

distinguished1 and her life  became     
signally useful4 ,two eminent men were  
lifted out of their doubts  by the      
promise in ,luke #aa3ac4 8,if the ,bible
 be true10 they reasoned1  8the ,lord   
will give his ,spirit to them that ask  
him4 ,we will put this  promise to the  
proof40 ,the one--,john ,newton--became 
the most influential  preacher of the   
gospel in the ,british metropolis2 the  
other--,william  ,wilberforce--became   
one of the best1 most useful1 and most  
honored of  statesmen4    ,my brother1  
let this be the test of your sincerity4 
,will you earnestly  and perseveringly  
ask ,god to fulfil this promise in you8 
,i shall close this address with twelve 
articles1 which may be termed ,,the     
,,creed ,,of ,,the ,,infidel4    #a4    
,that ,book is to him an imposture and  
pretended revelation1 which  furnishes  
the only explanation ever offered of    
human misery1 suffering1  and death2    
which responds to man's universal       
craving for immortality1  and throws the

 clearest light upon a future state2    
which presents the  sublimest views of  
the compassion of the ,creator2 which   
paints a picture  of man which has had  
an exact transcript in the history of   
all nations1  and on behalf of which    
myriads rise up to testify that it has  
been a  ceaseless impulse to            
aspirations1 a comfort in their trials1 
and has  taken away the fear of death4  
#b4 ,he believes that the earlier       
narratives of the ,bible were           
fabrications  intended to glorify the   
,jewish nation3 but somehow these       
fabrications are  totally unlike the    
legendary traditions of ,greece and     
,rome2 for instead  of making their     
ancestors gods and heroes1 they make    
them slaves1 and  tell a history of     
,jacob and his sons which covers their  
progenitors  with infamy2 and strange to
 say1 these fabrications imposed upon   
later  prophets1 who were the sternest  
denouncers of falsehood1 and are now    
imposing upon six millions of ,jews1    

who1 with a tenacity unparalleled and   
sacrifices ceaseless1 cling to the      
ritual and history of their ancestors4  
#c4 ,he believes that by some           
unaccountable species of literary       
deception1  unlettered or fanatical men 
have pretended to give four narratives  
of the  founder of ,christianity1 which 
the greatest modern critics confess are 
8the very gold of simplicity1 integrity1
 and truthfulness10 and which  present  
an image of ,jesus ,christ that brings  
most vividly into view the  very        
perfection of humanity1 that has        
furnished a model for the noblest       
spirits among men1 and that surpasses in
 beauty and grandeur all that  poetry   
ever sung of human genius ever          
conceived4    #d4 ,he believes that the 
writers of the ,new ,testament were     
either knaves  or fools2 and yet they   
taught the purest1 wisest1 most         
elevated1 and most  self-sacrificing    
system of morals the world has ever     
seen4    #e4 ,he believes that in the   

most enlightened and skeptical age of   
the  ,roman ,empire1 thousands of men   
were such arrant fools as to give       
credence  to a history of ,christ which 
was full of lies1 and to a record of    
miracles which had never been worked1   
and this at a time so near to the       
events1 that an imposture could not have
 escaped detection for an hour4    #f4  
,he believes that 8a vast multitude0 of 
,romans1 ,greeks1 and ,jews  deserted1  
for a fanatical superstition1 the       
splendid temples of their  fathers1 the 
schools of philosophy of which they had 
been proud1 and the  religion of their  
ancestors1 which had been enriched by   
the grandest  historical associations4  
#g4 ,he believes that the early         
propagators of ,christianity1 and the   
believers in it1 acted altogether       
contrary to ordinary motives of  weak or
 bad men2 they embraced a creed which1  
instead of gaining them  aught1 exposed 
them to the most diabolical cruelties1  
and held to their  testimony in the face

 of tortures1 banishment1 and a shameful
 death4    #h4 ,he believes that1       
although ,christianity is a lying system
 of priestism  or fanaticism1 it        
nevertheless1 according to irrefutable  
testimony1  abolished the ferocious     
deeds of the amphitheatre1 overthrew the
 horrid  rites of paganism1 introduced  
an era of benevolence1 and marked a new 
starting-point of progress for the human
 race4    #i4 ,he believes that twelve  
obscure1 penniless ,jews1 with a higher 
wisdom  than was claimed by ,socrates1  
,cicero1 or ,plato1 taught the only     
religion  which has been proved to be   
adapted to every country and every      
condition  of man on the surface of the 
wide globe4    #aj4 ,he believes that   
the ,christian ,sabbath1 or the weekly  
seventh-day  rest1 is an institution    
indispensable to the present physical   
condition  of men and animals2 that     
without it modern civilization would    
bring to  myriads of men and beasts     
unbroken toil1 disease1 and premature   

death2  but that this seventh-day rest  
is a purely human institution1 having   
come1 he scarcely knows how1 from men   
who were foisting on the world  false   
and illiterate traditions under the name
 of divine revelations4    #aa4 ,he     
believes that the writings of the       
,christian ,scriptures1 although  an    
ill-constructed collection of           
falsehoods1 have never been proved      
false by the subtlest ingenuity of their
 enemies1 but have been most  firmly    
held to be true by men of the           
profoundest intellect1 of the most      
resolved and persevering                
investigation--the very scholars1       
thinkers1 and  master-spirits of        
humanity1 such as ,newton1 ,bacon1      
,milton1 ,boyle1 ,locke1  ,pascal1      
,davy1 ,chalmers1 and a host besides4   
#ab4 ,he believes that those great      
nations of ,europe which are immensely  
in advance of all the nations of        
antiquity1 and of all the heathen and   
,mohammedan nations of ,asia at this    

time1 and which are distinguished  for  
their liberty1 wealth1 culture1 arts1   
schools1 asylums1 charity1 and          
beneficence1 have become so while under 
the sway of a miserable system of       
religious superstition1 which a few     
unlettered fanatics palmed upon the     
world eighteen centuries ago4           
,skeptic1 is this thy creed8 ,then1 ,o  
man1 great is thy credulity6            
,trifler1 who callest the ,bible 8weak  
folly10 take heed6 thy despising of     
,christianity may be shown to be thy    
folly and culpable weakness1 which  will
 have to be deplored by thee for ever4  
,my doubting brother1 you may turn the  
tables when reproached with the  beliefs
 of ,christians1 and point to the       
absurdities involved in ,,the           
,,credulity ,,of ,,infidelity4          
,,power ,,of ,,character3 ,,how ,,you   
,,may ,,assert ,,it4      ,although it  
is perfectly true that we may so exalt  
our importance as  individuals as to    
feed self-conceit2 although as a rule   

men think they  have more talents than  
they really possess1 it is nevertheless 
certain  that there is not one man in   
ten who makes the most of himself for   
the  purpose for which he was created4  
,the great waste of life is wasted or   
perverted power4 ,what noble youths come
 out of schools and colleges2  how few  
afterwards make their lives noble4 ,with
 what opportunities do  many enter upon 
business and professions1 and afterwards
 sink into the  grave with scarcely a   
trace to indicate that they ever lived4 
,there have  been hundreds who could    
have rivalled the patriotism of         
,hampden1 or  the humanity of ,howard1  
or the eloquence of ,chatham1 and who   
have left  behind them no one memorial  
of their existence4 ,it is recorded that
 a  fellow-student once said to ,paley3 
8,you are a great fool to waste your    
best years in the dissipations of a     
university2 you have talents for        
something better40 ,to multitudes of    
gifted young men has the like thing     

been said1 but said in vain4 ,paley took
 the hint1 which was roughly  given4    
,and now 8there is no name in the       
,english church that stands higher  than
 his1 and no name in the vast circles of
 ,english literature that has  a more   
permanent fame40    ,the great things of
 this world have been accomplished by   
individuals4  ,vast social reformations 
have originated in individual souls4    
,truths  that now sway the world were   
first proclaimed by individual lips4    
,great  thoughts1 that now are the      
axioms of humanity1 proceeded from the  
centre  of individual hearts4 ,no       
warlike host delivered the children of  
,israel  from the bondage of ,egypt1 but
 one man--,moses4 ,no senate of         
statesmen  raised ,israel to a pitch of 
greatness that proclaimed a theocratic  
nation to the world1 but one            
man--,david4 ,no school of divines gave 
to  ,england the ,bible in the mother   
tongue1 but one man--,wyckliffe4 ,no    
learned  society discovered ,america1   

but one man--,columbus4 ,no association 
of  science revealed the clue to        
interpret the laws of the universe1 but 
one  man--,galileo4 ,no parliament saved
 ,english liberties1 but one man--,pym4 
,no  assembly of theologians wrote the  
book1 which nest to the ,bible has had  
the most potent influence on the        
,english language and on ,english       
hearts1  but one man--,john ,bunyan4 ,no
 confederate nations rescued ,scotland  
from  her distracted councils1 from her 
political and ecclesiastical enemies1   
but one man--,knox4 ,no chambers of     
commerce taught ,europe to abolish the  
restrictions of trade1 but one          
man--,richard ,cobden4 ,doubtless these 
men  found their coadjutors2 but all    
through the ages ,god has put immense   
honor upon individuals4    ,young man1  
do not let others fashion what your life
 shall be4 ,thomas  ,carlyle says       
somewhere that he would like to stop the
 stream of people  in the ,strand1 and  
ask every man his history4 ,but1 8,no10 

says the sage1  8,i will not stop them4 
,if ,i did1 ,i should find they were    
like a flock of  sheep following in the 
track of one another40 ,alas1 men begin 
to lose  their individuality of         
conviction the moment they step into the
 world4  ,here is a young man beginning 
life's business4 ,he feels1 as he       
starts1 an  impulse to be pure and      
noble4 ,he is surrounded by clerks in an
 office4 ,a  fortnight passes1 and one  
evening1 when he is hurrying home after 
office  hours1 he hears a fast young man
 whisper at the desk1 8,poor fellow1    
he's off to be pinned to his mother's   
knee40 ,now1 what would be the  right   
thing for that youth to do8 ,to say at  
once1 8,yes1 and ,god forbid ,i  should 
ever forget what ,i owe to my mother40  
,let him say this1 and the  insulter    
would be shamed1 if shame were not dead4
 ,he would respect the  self-assertion  
of his fellow-clerk4 ,does the new-comer
 say this8 ,no2 his  ears turn red2 his 
face is suffused with a blush2 and in a 

night or two  the poor weak one dares   
some trick of folly to show his         
independence1 and  to prove that home   
influences do not bind him4 ,thus1      
alas6--how shall ,i  say it sorrowfully 
enough8--thus he makes a sacrifice of   
his individuality  on the altar that a  
profligate clerk has built up for him2  
and then1 step  by step1 he weaves      
around himself the bonds of pleasure1   
till1 amid the  dark storm of           
shipwrecked character1 blasted          
reputation1 wrung hearts at  home1      
worn-out health1 and miserable          
self-reproaches1 he sinks to his        
unhonored grave1 leaving only a memory  
of disgrace to those who have  loved    
him4    ,i have known many a young man  
who has seen the right path as plain as 
noonday4 ,god has mercifully flashed    
clear conviction of duty upon him4  ,no 
mental mistake has hindered him4 ,his   
judgment has been convinced2 his        
feelings have been moved2 he has felt   
sure that it would be better for  him1  

for this life and for the nest1 to take 
a decided position on the  side of ,god 
and righteousness4 ,and what has        
hindered him8 ,what has led to  waste   
and self-remorse8 ,has he been persuaded
 by the wise8 ,has he been  reasoned out
 of his convictions by the influential8 
,no2 he has been moved  by the jeer of a
 dandy or the sneer of the coquette2 he 
has quenched his  conviction before the 
mocking taunt of some empty-brained     
street lounger2  has lowered his own    
high tone of morals lest he should seem 
singular in  the little circle of       
worldly society surrounding him4 ,do you
 say1 8,can a  man set himself against  
society80 ,if society quenches the true 
in you1 if  it binds you1 if it robs you
 of moral manhood1 if it makes you its  
slave1  there can remain no question to 
you as to what is your duty4 ,scorn to  
degrade yourself by yielding up your    
individuality to suit the whim of1  it  
may be1 the worthless and vulgar4       
,you are stepping into life1 where you  

will find thousands who became  vicious 
because they never formed the resolve to
 live nobly4 ,such men  are the dead    
leaves that fall upon the stream and    
flow1 not by any vital  power or aim in 
themselves1 but by the eddying current  
around them4 ,there  is many a sot who  
is imbruted1 because he never determined
 that he would  not be a drunkard4      
,there is many a useless one who has    
become a cipher1  because he never      
resolved to give to his life a meaning4 
,there is many  a filthy blasphemer who 
is profane1 because he never resolved   
that the  foul oath should not soil his 
lips4 ,there is many a defiled1         
polluted1  and diseased one1 because he 
never resolved that he would not be the 
companion of a whore4 ,this is the      
sorrowfulest of all things--men ruined1 
sinking into sin1 vulgarity1            
uselessness1 vileness1 not because they 
intended to be bad1 but because they had
 not the courage to resolve to be  good4
    ,it is yet more deeply to be        

lamented that the young men who are thus
  ruined are mostly the open1 the       
generous1 and the frank4 ,a cold nature 
that no one cares for1 that is not      
wanted in the drinking-room1 or         
smoking-room1 or billiard-room1 passes  
into manhood without hurt2 but          
good-natured and gleeful young men have 
a weak side whereby they become a  prey 
to the dissipated4 ,they are            
companionable and sympathetic1 therefore
  miscreants suck them by temptation4   
,it would be grateful to our feelings if
 this compromise of individual          
character were confined to the men who  
disregard the claims of virtue4 ,it  is 
by no means so4 ,a philosophic          
statesman1 ,j4 ,stuart ,mill1 in his    
,essay  on ,liberty1 complains that no  
period of ,england's history has been so
  little marked by individual           
originality and force as our own4       
,certainly1  whether we look upon the   
merely moral or the professedly         
religious  circles of our country1 we   

find everywhere the tendency to sink the
 man  in the crowd1 the ,christian in   
the church4 ,this shifting of personal  
responsibility from the one to the many 
is the secret alike of national  and of 
individual ineffectiveness4 ,only look  
around you1 and you will see  hundreds  
who might assert for themselves1 and for
 the cause of truth and  philanthropy1 a
 position of dignity and power1 who are 
hindered by the  maxims and habits of   
others4    ,there is a prevailing       
impression that it is women1 with their 
quick  sensibilities1 who are the most  
susceptible to the influences of fashion
  and opinion4 ,it admits of question   
whether this prevailing weakness in  our
 days is not on the side of young men4  
,they do not so much make  manifest     
their subserviency1 but it is not the   
less deteriorating and  real4 ,take a   
few examples4    ,here1 in a select     
neighborhood1 is a young man who affects
 style4 ,a place  in the omnibus would  
fit his limited means4 ,but no2 the     

omnibus is all  very well for men whose 
position is made1 and for young fellows 
who have  no standing in society2 but   
for him1 a horse and groom must form a  
part  of his appointments4 ,so he       
burdens himself1 or speculates1 or runs 
into  debt1 that horse or 8trap0 may be 
at command4 ,and thus he1 who by manly  
independence1 and an expenditure        
according with his circumstances1 could 
have risen to be honored and esteemed1  
shrinks away at length into some  lower 
neighborhood1 or drags out a vexed and  
discontented life1 because  he has      
forgotten the honor which he might have 
commanded at the outset1  had he lived  
out his honest conviction and not made  
himself a mere  imitator4    ,or take   
other cases4 ,yon beardless youth must  
smoke the1 to him1  nauseous cigar or   
meerschaum1 because 8,tom ,grandeur0    
struts down  ,high-street1 looking large
 behind his curling smoke4 ,nay1 8,my   
,lord  ,meek10 who cares no more for a  
hunt or race than the most refined and  

timid lady1 enlarges his stables1 buys a
 fine stud1 makes up his book  for the  
,st4 ,leger2 or1 with a sore heart1     
joins the 8throw off10 caring  not a    
whit for the brush1 but very much that  
he may not be outdone in  his equipage  
or establishment4 ,all through society  
this abnegation of  individuality weaves
 its web4 ,nor is the effect            
circumscribed to the  frivolous and     
weak4 ,men think in cliques4 ,it is     
intolerable to some to  be out of       
fashion with the political opinion of   
their set4 ,never was  contradiction so 
contemptible as that into which they are
 betrayed4 ,it  would be ludicrous1 were
 it not too serious an indication of the
 want  of principle4 ,one month you hear
 men denouncing a political opinion and 
its prominent advocates1 with all the   
vituperative energy of which their      
nature is capable4 ,the next month1     
forsooth1 they have adopted that        
precise opinion1 and eagerly rush to    
share some leaf of the laurel which     

they hope will fall upon them through   
the tergiversation of their party4      
,you have1 alas1 the same thing among   
so-called religious men4 ,many a  young 
man has powers which would bless the    
church and the world1 but  for his      
maudlin regard for what others may think
 of him4 ,he is1 it may  be1 a young man
 whose father's religiousness gave him  
universal sway  in his town or          
neighborhood4 ,no workman but honored   
him2 no cottager  but felt the sweetness
 of his sympathy4 ,the son of this great
 and good  man is thrown among          
,ritualists4 ,this is the religious     
fashion of the  hour1 and therefore it  
fascinates him4 ,he adopts it1 not      
because he is  convinced of its truth1  
but because it suits what he deems his  
8sthetic  taste40 ,deplorably ignorant  
of the past struggles of ,english       
history1  he is gratified with the      
crowded churches in which he can witness
  this pictorial religion of waving     
censers1 purple-robed priests1 and      

picturesque altar arrangements4 ,he     
falls into the cant of saying that      
,protestantism is 8unsymbolical40 ,the  
white-robed choristers and lighted      
candles respond to what he terms the    
8holy symbols0 of the faith4 ,he  begins
 now to think the religion that made his
 home a very paradise1  his wise father 
a man of power1 and his mother saintly1 
is a very  vulgar thing1 and only       
inculcated by unlettered men and        
unauthorized  teachers4 ,and thus the   
poor soul excuses himself from the      
demands of  personal exertion and       
personal fidelity to conscience2 loses  
himself in  the easy externalisms or    
poetic dreamings which secure him the   
favor  of sentimental pastors1 and the  
smiles of young ladies with pendant     
crosses on their breasts4 ,it is        
pitiable1 but it is also sad1 to think  
what ineffectiveness of life comes to a 
young man who1 instead of being  the    
dupe of weaklings1 might have allied    
himself with the grandest of            

,englishmen1 and left behind him records
 of abiding influence4    ,there is no  
circle where a man can escape this peril
 of being unduly  swayed by others4     
,many well-principled young men1 who are
 free from  the follies ,i have glanced 
at1 lose their power to influence       
through a  deplorable lack of force4    
,instead of quickness1 briskness1       
strength1  in the warehouse1 they do    
their work in a dreamy1 sentimental way4
  ,their religious coterie is composed  
of people who are slow1 sedate1  and    
lack vigor4 ,they are taught to think   
that religion consists in  unctuous     
prayers1 sanctimonious looks1 effusive  
utterances1 instead of a  consistent    
filling up of duty1 care for their      
employers' interest1 and  faithful      
discharge of daily tasks4 ,oh1 do not   
forget it is the action1  it is the life
 in the very sphere which ,god has      
appointed1 that is the  opportunity for 
the manifestation of religion4 ,all mere
 emotion is like  the steam from the    

engine--of no value except as an        
indication of ability  to work4         
,there is another danger4 ,you will find
 a class of religious men not  at all   
sentimental1 but who will sneer at what 
they term religious  earnestness4 ,a    
young man's worst enemies are often     
cold1 formal1 routine                   
,christians--,christians who think that 
to stand well with the world1 to get    
into 8good society10 to be always very  
respectable1 and to have as little      
cross-bearing as possible1 is the golden
 mean of religious life4 ,young  men1 in
 the name of all that is true and noble1
 set yourselves against  this style of  
religious profession4 ,the worst        
weakness in the world is to  fear to do 
a right thing because others will       
criticise it4    ,there were many       
,christian men in ,wittemberg who said  
to ,martin ,luther1  8,you don't mean   
that you are going to hang up these     
theses on the church  door40 8,yes10    
said ,luther2 8they are true2 they      

assail damning error2 my  fatherland is 
bowing down to antichrist40 8,pause10   
said the men who would  stand well with 
everybody4 8,is not this zeal without   
knowledge8 ,think  how you will         
scandalize the ,university2 how you will
 drive off men who  would follow you in 
a more discreet course40 8,avaunt60 said
 the reformer4  8,the people are        
perishing in ignorance4 ,the crowds of  
the common people  who come into the    
city to market will read these words4   
,yours is not  discretion1 but          
cowardice40 ,he did the deed2 and as the
 result of that  act1 ,europe received  
the ,protestant ,reformation1 and the   
night of the  middle ages was ended4    
,on one occasion1 ,nehemiah was urged by
 his friends to desert the post  of     
duty1 to conceal himself in the courts  
of the ,temple1 for fear of  would-be   
assassins4 ,with heroic decision1 he    
replied1 8,should such a man  as ,i     
flee8 ,and who is there that1 being as  
,i am1 would go into the temple  to save

 his life8 ,i will not go in40 ,brave1  
perfumed words6    ,during the mighty   
struggle for ,west ,indian emancipation1
 ,sir ,thomas  ,fowell ,buxton was about
 to divide the ,house of ,commons2 his  
friends  appealed to him not to divide4 
,they came one by one1 sat down by his  
side1 urged and implored him not to     
divide2 ministers of the crown  besought
 him to give way4 ,in the whole ,house  
there was only one who  hoped and prayed
 that he would be true to the cause of  
the slave1 and  that one was his        
daughter in the gallery4 ,he was true to
 the cause of  humanity2 and that       
division1 ,lord ,althorp declared1      
decided the question  of emancipation4  
,the question was next introduced before
 the ,house as a  ,cabinet measure4     
,there went from ,manchester to the     
,british parliament1 about twenty-five  
years ago1 a comparatively young man4   
,he went up to ,london from a           
conference of ministers of religion who 
had assembled to secure cheap  bread for

 the people4 ,that conference had been  
satirized2 not a solitary               
ecclesiastical dignitary had ventured to
 be present2 the leading journal  had   
attempted to cover it with ridicule4    
,that young senator ventured to  defend 
the conference before a crowded ,house  
of ,commons4 ,his reference  was hailed 
with contemptuous laughter2 the greatest
 statesman of the  day rebuked him4     
,observe6 that young man lived to       
receive an apology  from that statesman1
 to hear him introduce the measure which
 had been so  unpopular1 and to receive 
himself the designation which his name  
will  bear through all coming times1    
8,the ,apostle of ,free-trade40    ,i   
say1 where you feel that you are right1 
be true to yourself2 do not  take your  
cue from other men4 ,they may be weak1  
or prejudiced1 or  trimmers1 or cowards4
 ,why should you lose your individuality
 for them8        8,oh1 blessed is he to
 whom is given        ,the instinct that
 can tell1      ,that ,god is on the    

field when ,he        ,is most          
invisible4        8,and blessed is he   
who can divine        ,where real right 
doth lie1      ,and dares to take the   
side that seems        ,wrong to man's  
blinded eye4        8,oh1 learn to scorn
 the praise of men2        ,oh1 learn to
 live with ,god2      ,for ,jesus won   
the world through shame1        ,and    
beckons thee his road4        8,god's   
glory is a wondrous thing1        ,most 
strange in all its ways2      ,and of   
all things on earth1 least like         
,what men agree to praise4        8,for 
right is right1 since ,god is ,god1     
,and right the day must win2      ,to   
doubt would be disloyalty1        ,to   
falter would be sin40    ,to make full  
assertion1 therefore1 of your personal  
character1 let me ask  you to bear in   
mind these counsels3    #a4 ,do not     
tamper with convictions4 ,god in mercy  
sends you luminous  hours4 ,he is the   
pitying ,friend of your soul1 and is    
constantly  persuading it to a higher   

life4 ,i am quite sure that you cannot  
pass  into manhood without heavenly     
visitations4 ,do not1 ,i implore1       
neglect  these visitations4 ,do not     
quiet your conscience by a subterfuge4  
,do not  hold the performance of a clear
 duty in suspense4    ,behold a scene of
 which history tells us4 ,there are two 
men standing face  to face in a ,roman  
court in a maritime city4 ,the one is a 
young king1 his  beautiful queen by his 
side4 ,there is all the pomp and        
circumstance of  station4 ,chief        
captains and principal men fill the     
royal court4 ,waiting  servitors        
surround the doors1 and an eager        
multitude fill the avenues4  ,the other 
is an unattended1 unbefriended prisoner1
 with a chain upon  his hand4 ,that     
prisoner tells of a solemn moment when  
heaven flashed  conviction upon his     
path4 ,he reasons with resistless logic 
and eloquence  in proof of the truth of 
,christianity4 ,the young king          
listens--is moved2  it is not merely the

 prisoner that stands face to face with 
him1 but  ,god himself2 and his         
convicted conscience cries out1 8,almost
 thou  persuadest me to be a            
,christian60 ,the assembly breaks up4   
,the king is  alone in his chamber1 and 
muses3 8,i become a ,christian--the     
member of  a despised sect6 ,there is   
clearly truth in what ,i have heard2 but
 for  me to be a ,christian1 what will  
the world think of me8 ,my interest and 
pleasures forbid it40 ,the subject is   
dismissed1 and we have not the  faintest
 intimation that another opportunity of 
salvation ever again  visited that man4 
,he followed his race in the pursuit of 
ambition and  vice2 he gradually lost   
influence and power2 his days became    
troubled  and disastrous1 and his name  
remains1 like other ,herods1 unhonored  
and  disgraced4 ,what of that other     
man--that unbefriended prisoner8 ,he is 
the  foremost man in the world for all  
after times4 ,one excepted1 no name is  
repeated among men so often as his4 ,his

 life is the life of ,christendom  in   
these ages1 and will be more and more4  
,he has done more for truth1            
righteousness1 and human salvation1 than
 any other sinful mortal in all  ages of
 the world4 ,what was the secret of this
 majesty of influence8 ,he  told it in  
that court4 ,when heaven had flashed    
conviction upon his path1  he did not   
allow pleasure nor prejudice nor        
interest nor public opinion  to sway    
him4 ,these are his words3 8,i was not  
disobedient to the heavenly  vision40   
,my friend1 it has been to many a man a 
dreadful struggle to repent and  turn to
 ,god4 ,there have been temptations     
formidable1 and a vacillation  of the   
heart most perilous4 ,but no man can be 
excused from the conflict4  ,a young    
man1 who became one of the most devoted 
and constant ,christians1  was          
accustomed to insist upon decision1     
decision1 decision1 to every  young man 
whom he addressed4 ,said he1 8,if you   
expect ,god to help you1 you  must be   

perfectly decided40    #b4 ,guard       
against the temptations of the times4   
,far be it from me to  utter a word that
 would debar you from the recreations   
and excitements  appropriate to your    
age4 ,joy and cheerfulness are your     
strength and  heritage4 ,monkish        
austerity and sanctimoniousness are     
rarely virtues4  ,but our modern        
civilization has multiplied1 under the  
name of pleasure1  the facilities of    
vice4 ,the perils that assail young men 
in great cities  are so many1 so        
seductive1 and so ruinous to body and   
soul1 as to make  an observer tremble4  
,if1 then1 you would be obedient to the 
heavenly  teaching1 you must resolutely 
resolve not to 8go in the way of evil   
men40  ,there was a time in ,england    
when places of business were homes4 ,the
  employer admitted young men to the    
domestic sanctities of his family4      
,they received aid from him in the      
formation of acquaintances1 and had     
even access to his own circles of       

recreation4 ,now1 young men in cities   
can scarcely be said to have a home4    
,some have not even the privilege of  a 
common room1 or a fire in their chamber4
 ,they are open1 therefore1 to  every   
allurement that promises pleasure4      
,places of business1 moreover1  are huge
 establishments where the loose moralist
 can cover vice by  self-deceivableness1
 and where the subtle infidel1 the      
scoffer1 and  the licentious mingle     
together4 ,religion is ridiculed1 and   
the clergy  spoken of with a sneer4     
,filthy books are sold and              
circulated--books of  infamy1 which     
minister to the vilest tastes1 which    
taint and befoul the  imagination with  
unclean images1 and which a man can no  
more look at  without defilement than he
 can touch soft pitch and be clean4     
,alas1 wherever a young man turns for   
worldly amusement he meets danger4      
,large towns swarm with brilliantly     
lighted saloons1 which hold out their   
meretricious attractions4 ,there is the 

drama1 music1 and art4 ,it was          
ascertained that in two hours one       
evening1 six hundred young men entered  
one music hall in ,london4 ,were these  
rooms harmless1 he would be an  enemy to
 human happiness who objected to them4  
,if they are demoralizing  and ruinous  
to the health and character of the      
inexperienced1 he is  a friend who      
points this out4 ,it is little suspected
 how women with  bedizened head-dresses 
and flaunty robes are holding the last  
shred of  their modesty2 how married men
 hide under white waistcoats polluted   
hearts2 how1 while 8gray hairs dance1   
devils laugh and angels weep20 how      
bankrupts wear forced smiles1 and the   
wretched try their poor jokes2  how the 
victims of disease and death hide their 
ghastliness by flowers1  and light their
 rapid progress to the grave by flaring 
gas-light4 ,it  is little known how     
thousands of young men from the         
religious homes of  ,scotland and ,wales
 pass into a speedy oblivion after their

 feet have once  crossed the threshold  
of these rooms in ,english cities4      
,alas1 what a  tale might be told of    
fathers' hairs whitened1 mothers' hearts
 crushed1  sisters' eyes swollen with   
tears1 over sons once the pride of their
  homes4 ,if you would be pure1 then1   
you must avoid these places4 ,they will 
speedily prejudice you against religion4
 ,they will turn your doubts into  blank
 unbelief and atheism4 ,they will quench
 in you even the desire for             
immortality4 ,they will turn into terror
 or scoffing every restraining          
influence4 ,and what help can there then
 be for you for this world or for  the  
next8    #c4 ,have faith in the         
significance of your life4 ,there is no 
exaggeration when a living writer says3 
8,if there were the smallest  star in   
heaven that had no place to fill1 the   
oversight would beget a  disturbance    
which no ,leverrier could compute4 ,one 
grain of sand1 that  did not fall into  
its place1 would disturb1 or even       

fatally disorder  the whole scheme of   
the heavenly motions4 ,every particle of
 air has  its appointed place1 and      
serves its appointed end40 ,god1 dear   
young  man1 means something by you4     
,yours may not be the highest1 but there
  is some high work which you may       
fulfil4 ,the low grass-tuft is not the  
branching cedar towering for centuries  
on ,lebanon2 nor is it the fragrant     
orange-blossom1 which is plucked to deck
 the bridal wreath2 but neither  the    
orange-blossom nor cedar could render   
the service of that lowly  grass-tuft4  
,in sacred converse with your ,maker1   
breathe the prayer1  in this the        
formative period of your existence3     
8,lord1 what wilt thou  have me to do8  
,why have ,i an existence among these   
living souls of this  creation8 ,why    
hast thou given me these grand and awful
 endowments of  thought1 reason1        
intelligence1 speech8 ,i look round on  
the universe1  and see all creatures    
fulfilling their appointed service4 ,i  

see the sun  filling the whole          
hemisphere from day to day with his     
light and heat4  ,i see at night the    
stars lighting up the arch of the       
firmament1 each  keeping his appointed  
place1 the silent preacher of obedience 
to thy  will4 ,i see the bird that      
balances its pinions on the air1        
testifying of  thy goodness4 ,i learn   
that the tiny invisible insect is       
answering its  purpose in preserving the
 salubrity of the atmosphere and the    
purity of  the water4 ,i find every     
fragrant violet of the hedgerow and     
every shock  of corn fulfilling a       
mission of serving4 ,i learn from thy   
word of the  higher spirits that dwell  
in thy presence1 that they have their   
appointed  work2 that angels are        
ministering spirits1 and do thy         
commandments1  hearkening to the voice  
of thy word2 and as ,i thus behold a    
universe  where each has its appointed  
place1 ,i utter the prayer more         
earnestly1  8,what is the meaning of my 

life1 ,father of spirits8 ,i share thy  
counsels2  reveal thy thought respecting
 me40 ,deeply am ,i convinced1 my       
brother1  that if with some such prayer 
you enter upon this period of your life1
  your existence wall prove no          
meaningless thing2 it will be instinct  
with  influence1 and will have an end to
 which you will come with unutterable   
rapture4    ,i have in the foregoing    
considerations helped to answer the     
question  how you may assert the power  
of your personal character4 ,i by no    
means  say that you should disparage    
associations4 ,the most useless men are 
those who will never combine4           
,exaggerated individuality makes a man  
impracticable1 and sometimes            
insupportable4 ,on the other hand1 our  
modern  danger lies in another          
direction4 ,it is so to shape ourselves 
by others  as to destroy force and      
effectiveness4    ,gibbon tells us a    
tragic history1 which has been more     
amply narrated by  ,count ,montalembert 

in his 8,monks of the ,west40 ,the      
gladiatorial games  of ,rome were       
continued until the beginning of the    
sixth century of our  era4 ,they had    
turned a civilized people into savage   
cannibals4 ,there1  in that enormous    
amphitheatre1 whose tiers rising above  
tiers remain  to this day1 tens of      
thousands of spectators looked down on  
the bloody  spectacle1 and thousands of 
victims were slaughtered4 ,a holy man in
 the  ,east heard of the deeds of blood4
 ,the fire of a righteous indignation   
seized him4 ,he travelled to ,rome2     
arrived there as the imperial games     
were being celebrated4 ,his soul burned 
against the cruelty and the  impiety4   
,he entered the ,colosseum2 burst       
through the waves of the people  all    
palpitating with ferocious curiosity4   
,he threw himself between the           
gladiators engaged in the sanguinary    
combat4 ,in the name of the ,god of     
heaven he commanded them to cease their 
murderous strife4 ,the pagan  multitude 

were for a moment panic-stricken with   
the holy audacity of  the ,christian4   
,then they cried out2 they rose on him2 
they tore up the  arches2 stones hissed 
around him2 the gladiators completed the
 work of  death4 ,but the blood of the  
martyr was the last shed in that arena4 
,the  horrid custom1 which had so long  
resisted the voice of humanity1 ended   
with that testimony4 ,the nobleness of  
the sacrifice showed the horror of  the 
abuse4 ,the emperor ,honorius proscribed
 the games of the gladiators1  and they 
have never been revived4    ,without any
 such sacrifice you may learn from it   
the might of a simple  act of decision  
for truth and conscience1 and that by   
such noble deeds  your life may have    
immortal issues4 ,where the timid will  
start back in  fear1 there you may bless
 the coming ages4 ,the achievements of  
duty have  been grander than those of   
the warrior4 ,wordsworth says of duty3  
8,flowers laugh before her in their     
beds1      ,and fragrance in her        

footsteps treads3      ,she does        
preserve the stars from wrong1      ,and
 the eternal heavens through her are    
fresh and strong40    ,at the beginning 
of manhood you stand now2 a few years1  
and you will  stand at the end4 ,the    
span is brief2 the earthly life is only 
one4 ,these  lines are written for your 
sake alone4 ,no interest can another    
have in  your living a noble life that  
is comparable to the interest you have  
in yourself4 ,if you find at the end of 
life that you have made a grand         
mistake1 it will be a mistake you never 
can undo4 ,soon the shadows  will flee1 
and men will be judged1 not by the      
earthly standard1 but by  what they have
 been and have done4 ,sometimes when    
bales of merchandise  leave ,england for
 a colonial port1 the price put upon    
them there is  very different from that 
they had here4 ,so when you have gone   
through  the gates of death1 the angels 
will not ask how you stood with this    
world2 but they will estimate you by    

your fidelity1 your sympathies1 the     
consecration of your life to chat which 
was true and good4 ,alone you  will go  
into that eternity1 as alone you came   
into existence4 ,alone will  you tread  
the path to the throne of ,god2 alone   
you will be judged2 alone  will your    
opportunities come up in review2 alone  
will you carry through  eternity the    
results of the one earthly life you have
 lived4 ,said a noble  youth1 who lived 
long enough to fulfil high promise3 8,i 
shall die as an  individual2 ,i shall be
 judged as an individual3 ,i am         
resolved1 therefore1  to live as an     
individual40 ,it is just this purpose to
 which1 in ,god's  name1 ,i summon you  
in this address4 ,let it be so1 my      
brother4 ,take thy  place with the      
illustrious ones of all times who have  
lived to bless the  world4 ,pass on to  
manhood and to immortality with the seal
 of ,god upon  thy brow4 ,and then1 when
 death has done its mission1            
disenthralled of  flesh1 thou shalt rise

 to the unobstructed sphere where       
hinderance never  comes1 and where thou 
shalt begin an illimitable work4 ,there1
 with thy  life grafted upon the        
infinite1 it will be fruitful as no     
earthly life  can be4                   
,,grandeur ,,of ,,destiny3 ,,how ,,you  
,,may ,,reach ,,it4      ,the belief in 
the doctrine of growth is of infinite   
moment to a young  man4 ,the difference 
between one man and another lies here4  
,find a  young man who does not believe 
in the doctrine of moral growth1 or is  
indifferent to it1 and you may safely   
affirm that waste or perdition  is being
 invisibly inscribed upon his forehead4 
,on the other hand1 let  a young man be 
thoroughly persuaded of the possibility 
of the highest  moral and spiritual     
progress1 and he not only has hold of a 
truth that is  saving1 but if faithful1 
he will reach a majesty of character1 a 
force1  and a beauty of spirit of which 
no mortal can conceive4 ,let me         
illustrate  the subject of this address4

 ,you look at a seed-corn when lodged in
 the  earth4 ,growth is its law4 ,after 
the first discipline of wintry frosts1  
it uplifts its stalk beneath the warm   
breath of the south2 then unwraps  from 
its careful green foldings its delicate 
ear1 and lifts it up for the  golden sun
 to ripen it4 ,arrived at perfection1 it
 offers itself to man  for higher uses1 
and becomes part of his strength4 ,or1  
again1 the acorn  having found its place
 in the favorable soil1 puts out        
feelers1 and sends  them into the earth 
for more moisture4 ,modestly it breaks  
through the  ground to take its place   
among its compeers of the forest2 drinks
 in the  air1 rains1 and dew of heaven2 
extends its little branches1 twigs1 and 
leaflets1 that its receiving-power may  
be greater4 ,growth1 unceasing1 is  its 
law4 ,its beauty is the charm of the    
woods in ,may2 its topmost leaves       
quiver in the breeze of summer2 its     
strong arms beat back the storms of     
autumn2 and for generations and         

centuries it grows in its magnificent   
completeness4    ,and who shall limit   
the growth of a young man8 ,how true of 
him1 8it  doth not yet appear what we   
shall be40 ,like the youth who climbed  
mountain-heights with 8the banner of    
strange device10 so he may ever see     
8not yet0 shining like a star on the    
brow of the future4 ,the youth1  the    
trusting ,christian1 the devoted worker1
 the mature saint are but the  lowest   
steps of his ever-ascending destiny4    
,one of the grandest mornings of my life
 was1 when ,i reached the pass  of ,st4 
,gothard across the ,alps4 ,having      
ascended above the sultry airs  of an   
early ,italian summer1 and slept three  
thousand feet above the  sea-level1 ,i  
rose at four in the morning1 and begged 
the privilege of  sitting on the roof of
 the diligence by the side of the       
conductor4 ,how  invigorating was the   
fresh mountain-air of the morning1 like 
the first  love of a young heart to     
,christ4 ,but as the road toiled upward1

 more  and more ravishing was the joy4  
,the mountain-pines now began to open   
vistas of wondrous beauty2 the graceful 
tops of the larches waved in  their     
uninvaded home2 the granite rocks1 with 
a thousand precipitous  forms1 stood    
like sentinels to nature's most majestic
 domains2 the ,ticino  poured down to   
the sultry plains below its rushing     
sound of waters4  ,there behind was the 
river1 gliding on like a silver thread  
of light2  and there before were        
glimpses of giant peaks1 with the light 
burnishing  the peerless white of their 
eternal snows4 ,but for nine rapturous  
hours  we went higher2 and as we        
ascended1 fresher grew the air1 more    
beautiful  the leaping waterfalls1 more 
sublime the pass through galleries of   
rocky  labyrinths1 more thrilling the   
transition from gloomy defiles to spots 
of  pastoral loveliness1 and more       
exciting the emotion as we stood at     
length  about nine thousand feet above  
the valley below1 amid the sinless      

silence  of the everlasting hills4      
,in a loftier sense than this1 higher   
and even higher may be a ,christian     
young man's progress4 ,follow him4 ,he  
is active and devoted in all that       
blesses man2 he rises in harmony of     
character and effectiveness of          
influence2 he comes to have a name in   
the community of men1 and is a  man of  
mark among his fellows2 to those coming 
on the stage of life he  becomes the    
pattern-man2 and those who once sneered 
at his decision and  aspirations would  
now be glad to catch the skirts of his  
garments4  8,not yet10 he may say1 8have
 ,i reached the stature of growth40     
,fruits  of goodness ripen in his life2 
wider is the sphere he fills2 he is yet 
more loved1 trusted1 and honored2 till  
at length he sees the gate and  the     
glory of the city he is going to2 above 
the sounds of conflict he  breathes     
supernal air1 and listens as there reach
 him from afar the  sounds of heavenly  
music4 ,and when the golden gates have  

been thrown back  to give him entrance1 
and the angels have welcomed him1 and   
the great  and good of other times have 
clasped hands with him1 even then growth
 in  power and blissfulness shall be the
 law of his being4 ,he will rise to  be 
a companion of the mighty spirits of the
 universe4 ,higher1 stronger1  wiser1   
freer1 mightier1 more capable of        
knowing1 blessing1 enjoying will  be his
 glorious and eternal career4    ,i am  
dealing in no figures of speech4 ,this  
is the grandeur of man's  destiny4 ,this
 is the true law of life2 and none the  
less true that so  many miserably fall  
short of it4    ,and now1 young man1 ,i 
speak to you who are just starting on a 
career  that may be thus sublime2 and to
 you ,i say there is a divine secret of 
this eternal growth4 ,that secret is in 
one word--receiving4 ,look again  at    
nature4 ,the flowers grow by receiving4 
,place them where they can  receive     
neither sunlight nor moisture1 and they 
will droop and die4 ,as  the sun arises 

by morning in the heavens1 they turn to 
him their expanded  bosoms1 that his    
warm beams may fall there4 ,they spread 
out leaves to  take in more rain2 they  
fold themselves in restful quiet at     
night1 that  dew-drops may settle on    
their buds and stems4 ,after this manner
 man  grows4 ,among the sentences of    
,scripture there are two which deserve  
to be  written on the walls of a young  
man's chamber in letters of gold3 8,a   
man  can receive nothing except it be   
given him from heaven40 8,every good    
gift  and every perfect gift is from    
above40    ,i do not mean to affirm that
 you are to be passive4 ,go again to    
nature  to learn her parable4 ,the plant
 grows by receiving2 but it is not1 like
  rocks and stones1 dull and inert2 it  
avails itself of its advantages for     
growth4 ,it coperates in working out its
 perfection4 ,it opens its ducts2  it   
builds upon itself new lengths of wood2 
it is faithful to its gifts1  and makes 
every new attainment a plea for larger  

blessings4    ,dear young man1 study    
your nature4 ,in the truly-developed man
 there  are three powers--body1 soul1   
spirit4 ,this three-fold distinction    
which  is made in the ,bible1 remarkable
 to say1 is also that of the latest and 
maturest philosophy4 ,the body grows up 
from childhood by receiving2  and even  
in mature strength it builds up a       
ceaseless waste by the same  process4   
,the soul or intellect grows by         
receiving4 ,it receives  information2   
allows itself to be cultured2 avails    
itself of the stores  which other times 
have acquired4 ,it never creates4 ,what 
seems so is  only reaching the full     
meaning or placing in new combinations  
what it  has received4 ,there is1       
however1 a spirit in man4 ,to this ,i   
turn your  thoughts4 ,deep in your      
nature is the grandest of all your      
endowments4  ,there1 unthought of1 it   
may be1 is that divine faculty which    
separates  you from the brutes and      
allies you to the seraphim4 ,there1     

smouldering in  darkness or selfishness1
 is a spirit which nothing earthly can  
satisfy2  which sends forth aspirations 
after ,god2 which hungers after the     
good2  which protests against that filth
 of animal indulgence under which it  is
 often buried2 but which1 on the other  
hand1 can be moved1 and grow1  and      
expand1 and become the dominant         
principle1 and bring all evil into      
subjection to itself1 and become        
elevated in wisdom and ascendency1      
till1 shaking off every encumbrance of  
corruption1 its powers are free1        
glorious1 and triumphant4    ,let me    
quote to you a sentence from one of the 
profound religious  thinkers of our age3
 8,the religious talents compose the    
whole ,godward  side of faculty in us4  
,there is the talent of being           
illuminated1  permeated1 guided1 exalted
 by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,there is also 
the talent  or capacity of religious    
love4 ,man can appropriate the love of  
,god1 which  can pour itself in as a    

tide with mighty floods of joy and      
power4 ,there  is also the power of     
faith1 which can fall on ,god in        
recumbent trust1  and appropriate him in
 all his personality of goodness and    
love4 ,these  talents are the highest1  
noblest1 closest to divinity of all the 
powers  we have40    ,most of the       
visitors to the ,exhibition of ,industry
 of #ahfb saw that  costliest of all    
diamonds1 the ,kohinoor4 ,there was a   
time when that  priceless gem gave not  
out a ray of brilliancy4 ,deep in the   
darkness it  lay2 no light shone on it2 
no light came back from it4 ,but it was 
placed  in the light2 its opaque        
substance was opened4 ,its power of     
receiving had  freedom4 ,it now allowed 
the minutest ray unimpeded passage      
through its  mass4 ,and then how        
marvellous the transformation4 ,it shone
 and glittered  and shot back light like
 the most brilliant star4    ,by these  
analogies have ,i sought to reveal to   
you the nature of that  spiritual growth

 to which you are summoned4 ,hearken1 ,i
 implore you1 to  the cry of your own   
immortal spirit4 ,open your nature1 that
 you may  receive the quickening life of
 the ,almighty4 ,you hear at this time  
much  about religious cant and          
hypocrisy4 ,it seems as if even the     
better  class of novelists of our period
 could never expound their own moral    
principles without a contemptuous sneer 
at the religious phraseology or  life of
 their fellow-,christians4 ,but let me  
tell you1 the cant which is  the most   
irrational1 and the hypocrisy which is  
the most insane1 is that  which deems it
 manly to live without communion with   
,god4 ,ashamed to be  in communion with 
heaven6 ,ashamed to be inspired by your 
,creator6 ,what  madness would be       
this--if the sapphire should be ashamed 
of the light that  makes its beauty2 if 
the quivering beech-leaves should be    
ashamed of the  sunbeams that dance on  
their smooth surface2 if the flowers    
should be  ashamed of the daybreak that 

reveals their hues2 if fields1 hills1   
and  the whole realm of nature should be
 ashamed of the precious influences     
which the heavens pour down upon them4  
,but for you1 a child of ,god1 to  be   
ashamed of receiving illumination and   
impulse1 wisdom and elevation1  from the
 ,father of your spirit1 is the most    
pitiable misjudgment of which  any      
creature can be capable4 ,talk of       
religious cant--there is no cant  that  
is so hateful1 because there is no cant 
that is so unreflecting  and senseless1 
as that which sneers at man having      
fellowship with his  ,maker4 ,it is     
,god1 my brother1 who gives to every    
star its brightness1  to every cloud its
 nameless colors1 to every lily its     
snowy whiteness1  to every tiny         
ocean-shell its mingled hues4 ,oh1 then1
 go to him4 ,ask  him to condescend to  
bless you with his indwelling life1 to  
give power  to the right thing in your  
nature1 to irradiate you with his light1
 to  actuate you by his love1 and to be 

an impulse of perfection within you4    
,as you open your nature to receive     
,god1 the spirit within you will spring 
forward2 it will respond swiftly to the 
touch of its original ,source2  it will 
rise in protest against the weaknesses  
and passions that have  choked and      
smothered it4 ,blessed with the         
movements of ,god1 it will glow1        
develop1 acquire ascendence2 it will    
bring all your nature into harmony  and 
peace2 it will be an impulse to all that
 is 8lovely and of good  report40       
,but observe this1 my friend--if you    
will hearken to your carnal             
inclination2 if you will give heed to   
the drivelling folly of fools2  if you  
will not receive ,christ2 if you will   
have none of his counsels1  none of his 
institutions2 if you will choose none of
 his ways--then in  you there never can 
grow up a spirit trained for perfect    
bliss4 ,men  object to hell4 ,what is   
hell1 but to be outside the loyalty and 
love  of heaven8 ,it is an infinite     

right due to the universe to keep out of
  heaven a spirit that has rejected the 
aid that would have made it fit  for    
heaven4 ,it may be a mercy to keep a    
soul1 all of whose tastes are  carnal   
and earthly1 out of heaven1 as it is a  
mercy to take a creeping  worm out of   
uncongenial sunlight1 and place it in   
darkness4 ,if you have  allowed idiots  
to teach you that it is manly to sneer  
at prayer to ,god1  what right have you 
to complain if you remain unblessed by  
,god8 ,if you  deliberately choose      
darkness instead of light1 what wrong is
 done you  if you are left in the 8outer
 darkness10 whatever that may be8 ,if a 
flowering plant should say1 8,i will not
 have what heaven's influences can  do  
for me10 it would be righteously        
excluded1 in its hideous deformity1     
from the monarch's banqueting-hall4 ,ah1
 that plant must be obedient4  ,but you1
 akin to the angels1 have the awful     
liberty of disobedience4 ,if  you choose
 not ,christ1 it will be because you    

harden your heart against  him2 because 
you close your nature to the heavenly   
drawings that would  bless you4 ,there  
is a passage of ,scripture of fathomless
 significance4  ,the gracious gifts of  
,god to the spirit of man are said to be
 to eternal  life1 but 8sin0 is said to 
8reign unto death40 ,yes1 the principle 
of sin in the nature1 if yielded to1 if 
not overcome by ,god's ,spirit1         
quenches the innocence of infancy and   
the purity of youth2 corrupts the       
imagination1 defiles the affections1    
inflames the passions1 hardens the      
feelings1 degrades soul and spirit to be
 slaves to the flesh1 deadens  religious
 capacity1 extinguishes holy            
susceptibility1 darkens the             
understanding to the things of ,god1    
makes gross the heart1 dulls the        
hearing1 murders the angel in a man1 and
 kills every heaven-directed            
aspiration2 and then--and then--what    
remains for such a spirit but to  abide 
in death1 and be left to wander for ever

 in the unknown realms of  disloyalty   
and everlasting darkness8    ,on        
starting in life1 then1 ,i would charge 
and beseech you to rise to  the true    
elevation of your nature4 ,among men    
there are five classes4  ,the lowest    
class are the slaves of fleshly         
appetites4 ,these are the  sensual1 the 
debauched1 the lascivious1 the drunken4 
,the second class  obey the world1 and  
judge after the worldly standard4 ,these
 are the  lovers of pleasure1 lovers of 
style1 lovers of money1 lovers of power4
  ,the third class are the intellectual4
 ,wisely they culture intellect1  but   
they neglect the heart4 ,they acquire   
information1 but not benevolent         
emotions4 ,they investigate nature1 but 
do not see the glories of nature's      
,god4 ,higher still1 there is the fourth
 class--the moral4 ,they are the  soul  
of honor2 they love liberty2 they teach 
political principles2 they  profess to  
comprehend the duties that man owes to  
his neighbor4 ,the  summit1 however1 of 

greatness1 is when1 with attention to   
intellect and  moral laws1 there is the 
development of the capacity of religion4
 ,it is  here humanity culminates--the  
development of the spirit in man4 ,these
  of the highest class are lighted up   
from within by the ,spirit of ,god4  ,by
 the inbreathing of the ,almighty1 they 
have understanding of things  unseen2   
they do not despise intellect1 but      
intellect in them is warmed  and        
vivified by a divine brightness2 they   
honor morality1 and seek a  right       
standard for measuring its duties2 they 
fall into the movements of  the ,perfect
 ,mind and the ,perfect ,love2 they     
learn to renounce self1 to  control the 
fleshly2 they acquire a disposition that
 can forgive2 they  are prompted to do  
good1 and are enlarged with beneficence2
 they have  aptitude for spiritual      
enjoyments1 and receive constantly new  
accessions  of joy and power1 whereby   
they become fitted for those blissful   
regions  where love1 purity1 nobleness1 

peace1 and benignity have place for     
ever4    ,young man1 just beginning your
 immortal existence1 behold your true   
destiny4 ,oh1 for ,god's sake and your  
own sake1 do not fall short of it6      
,here is the culminating point of       
humanity4 ,do not be degraded1 and live 
unworthy of yourself4 ,this is the end  
of ,christ's gospel3 not merely to      
save1 as a man is saved from fire or    
from drowning--just brought out of  the 
water or the flames alive2 but to save  
by conducting a human spirit  to the    
victory over sin1 self1 and the world4  
8,i am come10 said the  ,saviour1 8that 
they might have life1 and that they     
might have it more  abundantly40        
,this elevation to which ,i call you is 
not in opposition to other              
attainments--it embraces them4 ,piety   
will not give the intellectual talent   
which nature has withheld2 but1 if true1
 it will vastly improve whatever        
intellect a man has4 ,it will not supply
 high reasoning powers if they  were not

 there before2 but it will save reason  
from that blindness of  conceit and     
prejudice whereby so many are fatally   
hindered and misled4  ,with piety1 a    
man's intellect will be keener1 his     
understanding will be  sounder1 his     
judgment will be wiser1 and his tastes  
improved and refined4  ,rich and ,cobden
 is represented as having declared that 
he never felt  confidence in a man who  
was not possessed by religion2 he was   
not at all  sure what action he would   
take4 ,myriads of facts confirm the     
observation  of the statesman4 ,of two  
poets1 otherwise equal1 the ,christian  
is the  greater1 of two statesmen1 the  
,christian attains the more permanent   
fame2  of two artists equally gifted1   
the ,christian takes the higher place2  
of  two merchants equally practical and 
far-seeing1 the ,christian reaches  the 
surest success4 ,there were ,arabian    
sheiks as magnanimous as ,abraham2  but 
none acquired his ascendency over all   
times and nations4 ,there were  in      

,egypt many learned men besides ,joseph2
 but none so influential4 ,there  were  
many great kings of the ,east besides   
,david2 but none reached his  elevation4
 ,there were many wise men in ,babylon  
besides ,daniel2 but none  so           
illustrious4 ,there were in his age many
 scholars like ,paul2 but none  who so  
powerfully affected humanity4 ,there    
were many ,saxon kings who  loved their 
country like ,alfred2 but none so great4
 ,there were in his  times many who     
loved liberty like ,milton2 but none    
whose writings are  more read in these4 
,there have been many investigators of  
nature like ,sir  ,isaac ,newton2 but   
none so distinguished4 ,there have been 
many soldiers  who have won splendid    
honors like ,washington2 but none whose 
name is  such a spell of might to a     
great nation as is his4 ,there were many
 great  statesmen in ,england when this 
century commenced2 but none who died so 
popular and so honored as ,wilberforce4 
,there have been many princes who  have 

been cultured and benevolent2 but none  
whose name 8hereafter and for  all      
times0 will be such 8a household word0  
as that of ,albert the ,good4  ,these   
were all men of sincere piety4 ,ah1 ,i  
might tell out a record of  names that  
would have towered to the loftiest      
heights2 but around which  there are sad
 and awful memories through the absence 
of a governing and  master sentiment of 
the soul4 ,no prejudice is so           
contradicted by facts  as that which    
conceives of piety as allied with       
weakness4 ,piety is the  nurse1 the     
handmaid1 the inspirer of all that can  
give man greatness4 8,a  man's          
religion10 says ,dr4 ,huntingdon very   
finely1 8fertilizes the whole  field of 
his being4 ,it makes his business safer1
 his scholarship wiser1  his manhood    
manlier1 his joy healthier1 his strength
 stronger4 ,it is the  crown of his     
enterprise and the charm of his         
affections1 the humility  of his        
learning1 and the glory of his life4    

,and because it has sight of  things not
 seen and eternal1 it is the splendor1  
the transfiguration1 and  the sanctity  
of things seen and temporal40           
,observe1 however1 it is not greatness  
to which ,i would urge you4 ,there  is  
the attractiveness of piety1 which1 in  
the humblest sphere you  can exemplify4 
,oh1 the beauty and power of a man who  
has tranquillized  passion1 has subdued 
the lower appetites1 has acquired       
gentleness and  considerateness1 amenity
 and affectionateness2 and who1 reposing
 in the  love of ,christ1 and taught by 
the ,spirit of ,christ1 is having formed
 in  his life some transcript of the    
superhuman loveliness which dwelt in    
,christ himself4    ,this1 then1 is the 
point to which ,i come4 ,if you would   
have your nature  to reach the highest  
place of which it is capable1 yield     
yourself to ,god4  ,you cannot create   
the good in yourself4 ,you can no more  
form yourself to  the divine and        
heavenly than the rosebud can open its  

beauties without  sunlight or           
atmospheric moisture4 ,it is your       
happiness to receive4 ,it is  your      
privilege to open your nature that you  
may receive4 ,the holy and  all-helpful 
,spirit will swiftly draw near at the   
voice of your sincere  cry to him4      
,myriads have proved this on earth3 a   
multitude which no man  can number      
affirm it in heaven4    ,it was once my 
privilege to know one--the ,rev4        
,jonathan ,glyde of  ,bradford--in whom 
the combination of excellencies ,i have 
sketched was  exemplified4 ,his had been
 for many years the reach after this    
moral and  spiritual perfection2 and he 
attained1 as many admiringly witnessed1 
his own ideal of gentleness and dignity1
 consideration for others and           
abnegation of self1 beautiful humility  
and scholarly attainment1 saintly       
purity and unfailing charity1 childlike 
reliance upon the ,saviour1 and         
unwearied zeal for his fellow-men4 ,when
 he was dying he was heard gently  to   

murmur1 8,higher1 higher60 ,his         
attendants1 misconceiving his meaning1  
approached the head of his bed to raise 
the pillows4 ,seeing their  mistake1 he 
fell back upon the ,latin word1 and with
 an ineffable smile1  raised his        
enfeebled hand1 saying1 8,excelsior1    
excelsior60 ,to his waiting  spirit the 
glimpse was given at that moment of the 
career of immortal  glory1 growth1 and  
blessedness which was then before him4  
,and now1 in view of what has been said1
 let me add these counsels4    #a4      
,religion is the necessity of your      
existence4 ,if1 like ,cain1 you had     
stood at the beginning of the race1     
there might have been some excuse  for  
you in attempting to find happiness     
without ,god2 but you stand with  the   
open book of six thousand years behind  
you4 ,there has not been a  solitary    
case of a nation1 or individual1 who    
resolved to find permanent  happiness in
 sensual things1 who has not been       
disappointed4 ,read history3  you will  

see how the experiment has been tried   
again and again1 and has  always failed4
 ,babylon tried it1 with every advantage
 of ,oriental luxury  and splendor1 and 
failed4 ,greece tried it1 with every    
advantage of art  and literature1 and   
still the wisest men busied themselves  
to find the  lost treasure of human     
happiness4 ,rome tried it1 with every   
advantage of  wealth and spectacle1 and 
the more we pierce to the heart of      
society in  ,rome's proudest days1 the  
more do we find despair preying there4  
,england  tried it in the days of the   
second ,charles4 ,puritanism had been   
silenced2  godliness was satirized on   
the stage2 lust was the commodity of    
poets  and wits2 license was the        
fashion2 but the unrest and craving of  
society  grew deeper1 louder1 and more  
troubled1 as rivalries1 intrigues1 and  
licentiousness abounded4    ,it has been
 the same with individuals4 ,you have   
been told of the gay ,lord              
,chesterfield recording at the close of 

an enviable life of fashion and         
pleasure1 8,i am now wise enough to feel
 and attest the force of ,solomon's     
reflections1 that all is vanity and     
vexation of spirit40 ,mr4 ,lewes tells  
us in his life of ,goethe1 that the     
great poet wrote at thirty years of     
age3 8,the period in which ,i have      
mingled with the world ,i dare not yet  
trust myself to look at4 ,god keep me1  
that ,i be not as those who spend  the  
day in complaining of headache1 and the 
night in drinking the wine  which gives 
the headache40 ,in advanced age the     
celebrated skeptic said  of himself1    
8,they have called me a child of        
fortune1 nor have ,i any wish  to       
complain of the course of my life2 yet  
it has been nothing but labor  and      
sorrow1 and ,i may truly say that in    
seventy-five years ,i have not had  four
 weeks of true comfort4 ,it was the     
constant rolling of a stone that  was   
always to be lifted anew40 ,to me1 as a 
,christian1 such a testimony is         

inexpressibly affecting4 ,in the seventh
 volume of 8,gibbon's ,history0 you     
will find a description of the founder  
of the city1 palace1 and gardens  of    
,zehra1 three miles from ,cordova4      
,three millions sterling were spent4    
,sculptors and architects were invited  
from ,constantinople4 ,nothing that  the
 world could render to minister to the  
tastes and passions of the  caliph was  
wanting4 ,after his death this authentic
 memorial was found  in his cabinet3 8,i
 have now reigned above fifty years in  
victory or  peace2 beloved by my        
subjects1 dreaded by my enemies1 and    
respected by my  allies4 ,riches1       
honors1 power1 and pleasure have waited 
on my call1 nor  does any earthly       
blessing appear to have been wanting to 
my felicity4 ,in  this situation ,i have
 diligently numbered the days of pure   
and genuine  happiness which have fallen
 to my lot3 they amount to ,,fourteen6  
,o man1  place not thy confidence in    
this present world40    ,in mentioning  

these things1 ,i have no desire to      
detract from the  real happiness there  
is in human life4 ,there are a thousand 
sources  of enjoyment that are open to  
you4 ,life is joyous--it has its endless
  gratifications2 but ,i solemnly tell  
you that you will be utterly            
disappointed if you seek happiness apart
 from personal goodness and from  ,god4 
,why should you ignore the testimony of 
all times8 ,why should you  not avail   
yourself of this universal experience8  
,why should you1 by the  wreck of your  
own comfort1 add your life to be another
 beacon of warning8  ,no doubt sin has  
its fascination2 but if men whose       
opportunities were  greater than your   
own tell you that at 8the end it biteth 
like a serpent  and stingeth like an    
adder10 is it not consummate folly for  
you to shut  your ears to the testimony8
 ,you are too good for the world2 8you  
are  of too noble a make and too lofty a
 mien0 to give yourself to any thing    
lower than ,god4 ,there was a young man 

starting in life1 as you are4 ,he  had  
not your advantages4 ,he was surrounded 
by the licentiousness of a  corrupt     
paganism4 ,he went wildly astray into   
vicious indulgence4 ,little  more than  
thirty years had gone over his head when
 he turned aside  from the              
gratifications of passion1 and then he  
poured out his soul in  8confessions0   
which have come down to us1 and which   
tell us in eloquent1  pathetic tones    
that man is doomed to an unsatisfied    
craving till he turns  to know1 to love1
 and to serve ,god4 ,you may be able to 
read these noble  ,latin words which    
have been well quoted by a university   
preacher from  the great ,augustine's   
first confession3 8,fecisti nos ad ,te1 
,domine1 et  inquietum est cor nostrum  
donec requiescat in ,te40    #b4 ,take  
heed of the first wrong step4 ,in the   
,life of the late ,mr4  ,baines1 ,member
 of ,parliament for ,leeds1 it is       
recorded that one day  he was watching  
an apprentice1 whose habits were        

doubtful1 fold a  newspaper4 ,at the    
first fold there was a wrinkle1 and at  
every succeeding  fold the wrinkle grew 
worse and more unmanageable4 ,mr4       
,baines said  significantly1 8,jem1 it  
is a bad thing to begin wrong40 ,the    
poor fellow  found it so1 for he soon   
after fell a victim to his vices4 8,who 
ever was  content with one sin80 said a 
heathen moralist4 ,there are1 indeed1   
young  men who1 in an unguarded moment1 
have gone into scenes of temptation1 and
  have turned away with horror and      
recoil1 like a bird that1 having strayed
  into the poisonous atmosphere of      
chemical works1 has rushed back quickly 
to the pure air of heaven4 ,but such    
cases are the exceptions4 ,there is a   
witchery about sin4 ,one lie demands a  
second to back it2 and thus a man       
becomes that most contemptible and      
hopeless of men1 a confirmed liar4 ,a   
great preacher1 the late ,dr4 ,winter   
,hamilton1 once said that he had known  
men of all other kinds of wickedness    

converted2 but a confirmed liar he  had 
never known converted4 ,one night in a  
music and dancing saloon may  so pollute
 the imagination as to break down the   
barriers of years4 ,one  throw at a     
gaming-table1 one bet on a race1 may so 
excite the craving  for this perilous   
speculation that it may be followed by  
the frenzy  and suffering of years of   
gambling4 ,one indulgence of the lusts  
of the  flesh may so damn a man in his  
own eyes that in a year he may be       
utterly  foul4 ,dear young man1 nothing 
deadens the conscience so much as sin2  
nothing creates a desire for repetition 
so much as sin2 nothing so rises  in its
 demands from every concession made to  
it so much as sin4 ,among  the most     
striking things in our language is a    
sentence of ,jeremy ,taylor  on the     
progress of sin3 8,sin startles a       
man--that is1 the first step2  then it  
becomes pleasing2 then it becomes easy2 
then delightful1 then  frequent2 then   
habitual1 then confirmed2 then the man  

is impenitent1 then  obstinate2 then    
resolves never to repent1 and then is   
damned40 ,my young  brother1 it is in   
mercy that our heavenly ,father sweeps  
away all the  trifling with sin by those
 strong but loving words1 8,thou shalt  
not40  ,our poor self rises2 passion    
raises its tempest of desire2 experts in
  vice solicit2 the wrong waits to claim
 us and hold dominion over us1 and  our 
good ,god1 who sees the end1 says1 8,go 
not in the way of evil men2  avoid it1  
pass not by it1 turn from it1 and pass  
away40 ,it is just now1  when boyhood is
 over1 that you are to gain the victory4
 ,hearken to that  true man within you4 
,listen to that protest of ,god's       
,spirit in your soul4  ,resolve to obey 
and conquer1 and the victory will make  
you stronger1 and  make temptation      
weaker4 ,no one1 however1 can win the   
victory for you4 ,the  test to prove    
whether you will be ignoble or noble1 is
 for you to grapple  with4 ,with the    
first temptation1 then1 contend2 for it 

may be a fight for  life or death4    ,i
 know there is a maxim very common that 
8a young fellow must sow his  wild      
oats40 ,they shall not be my words that 
reply to that saying4 ,they  shall be   
those of a man who knows the world1 and 
an ardent lover of  the pure pleasures  
of the world4 8,in all the range of     
accepted ,british  maxims10 says ,mr4   
,thomas ,hughes1 ,m4 ,p41 8there is     
none1 take it all in  all1 more         
thoroughly abominable than this one as  
to the sowing of wild  oats4 ,look at it
 on which side you will1 and ,i will    
defy you to make  any thing but a       
devil's maxim of it4 ,what a man1 be he 
young1 old1 or  middle-aged1 sows1 that1
 and nothing else1 shall he reap4 ,the  
one only  thing to do with wild oats1 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 long tough  roots like  
couch-grass1 and luxuriant stalks and   

leaves1 as sure as there  is a sun in   
heaven--a crop which it turns one's     
heart cold to think of4  ,the devil1    
too1 whose special crop they are1 will  
see that they thrive1  and you1 and     
nobody else1 will have to reap them2 and
 no common reaping  will get them out of
 the soul1 which must be dug down deep  
again and  again4 ,well for you if with 
all your care you can make the ground   
sweet  again by your dying day4 #8,boys 
will be boys' 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 
age40    ,as ,i am in these addresses to
 picture life as it is1 and to let facts
  speak1 ,i will still add corroborative
 instances that have fallen under  my   
own observation4 ,i feel sure that      
hundreds of young men would have        
shunned vice if facts had been told them
 of its issues4 ,they have few to  tell 

them4 ,it is intensely disagreeable to  
tell them4 ,but ,i cannot see  young men
 coming into our great cities without   
forewarning them of the  rocks ahead of 
them4 ,while these sheets were passing  
through the press1  ,i had a most       
painful illustration of the ruin and    
sorrow following upon  the indulgence of
 sin4 ,a young man came to ,london1     
bearing with him the  confidence and    
affection of a godly and afflicted      
mother1 the pride of a  ,christian      
father1 and the yearning love of pure   
and beautiful sisters4  ,because of his 
intelligence and probity1 he was placed 
in a situation  of trust1 and went on   
well while the thought of home and its  
sanctities  was with him4 ,the tempter  
tried her arts1 and caught him in her   
wiles4  ,the expenses of the            
dancing-room and the habits it led to   
were beyond  his limit of wealth4 ,he   
took from intrusted money2 the          
embezzlement was  not at first          
discovered4 ,he grew confident4 ,satan  

wrapped blinding folds  around him4     
,alas1 the success was brief4 ,from a   
gloomy prison he sent  up a message to  
ask my prayers for him4 ,i do not know  
him4 ,none will  know him through this  
reference4 ,at twenty-one he has brought
 a dark  shadow over his life-dawn4     
,deep as is the darkness1 it may be     
,god's only  means of answering his     
mother's prayers4 ,alas1 for five years 
of his  imprisonment has that mother's  
heart to be riven6    ,when ,i was a    
minister in ,leeds1 a fine youth came to
 that town4 ,he was a  native of a      
far-off land4 ,he came to acquire       
mechanical knowledge more  perfectly    
prior to becoming head of a great house4
 ,wealth and possessions  were before   
him4 ,an attached family circle         
delighted in him4 ,he was  amiable1     
fascinating1 and naturally generous4 ,a 
group of wild young men  determined to  
allure him to pleasure and sin4 ,he fell
 into the snare4  ,the billiard-room was
 visited2 it led to the tavern1 and then

 to the  brothel4 ,his kind employer    
remonstrated with him and pointed out   
the  consequences of his courses4 ,it   
was of no avail4 ,he had consulted the  
8secret physician10 or1 rather1 quack4  
,a severe cold brought to a climax  his 
virulent disorder4 ,his magnificent form
 was tossed upon a bed of  anguish4     
,loved ones hastened over the sea to    
seek to save him4 ,it could  not be4 ,so
 loathsome was his chamber that nurses  
could hardly be secured  to attend him1 
and those most loving him rushed        
overpowered from his  bedside4 ,his     
pearly teeth all dropped out1 and at    
length1 decayed and  agonized1 he died a
 dreadful1 hopeless death4    #c4 ,be   
courageous4 ,i have spoken of the perils
 of great cities4 ,i  might speak of    
their grand opportunities4 ,they are the
 schools for the  highest education of  
which man is capable4 ,they have their  
thousand  instrumentalities for noble   
development4 ,they have their           
incitements to  the most pleasurable    

excitation4 ,they bring a collision of  
mind largely  beneficial4 ,they open    
channels for benevolence and greatness  
as no other  places do4 ,but my advice  
is1 let no man come to a great city     
without  courage4 ,if he is weak1       
yielding1 cowardly1 let him not venture 
upon the  encounters of a city life4    
,let a youth aim to live a godly life1  
and  the sluggish will sneer1 the       
empty-souled will laugh1 the wicked will
  throw out sarcasms4 ,woe to the man   
who cannot brave the laugh of fools4    
,my friend1 it is the first step that   
costs4 ,my observation leads me to  say 
that fast and depraved men1 with all    
their brag1 are the greatest  cowards4  
,they like to make conquest of the      
inexperienced1 but their  forced laugh  
very poorly covers the secret awe they  
have of the manly  and the firm4 ,they  
know what is the right thing to do1     
spite of their  sarcasms4 ,do ,i say1   
,trust in yourself8 ,by no means2 if you
 wish to be  brave1 ,god will provide   

you armor4 ,if1 on the other hand1 you  
go into  the world saying1 8,i am not of
 the sort that yield2 ,i am1 afraid of  
no  danger10 then let me say there is   
fear for this self-confidence4 ,it is  a
 proverb we need to repeat to ourselves3
 8,seest thou a man wise in his  own    
conceit1 there is more hope of a fool   
than of him40 ,but be sure1 my  young   
brother1 ,god is interested in your     
going the right way4 ,he loves  to help 
those who call upon him4 ,i think of    
,david as a young man crying  to his    
pious mother's ,god3 8,save the son of  
thy handmaid40 ,morning by  morning ask 
,god to arm you from head to foot1 and  
then be strong and  courageous4    #d4  
,having decided on the right course1 go 
forward4 ,that right course is  before  
you4 ,no past guilt of yours is a       
barrier4 8,christ has put away sin  by  
the sacrifice of himself40 ,there is an 
open pathway of reconciliation  on which
 you may walk4 ,but oh1 for ,god's sake 
and your own sake1 when  you have found 

that path1 do not stand still4 ,i have  
known young men who  started well3 their
 standard was high2 their ideal of what 
,christianity  demanded was just and    
lofty4 ,they resolved they would scorn  
the mean1  the money-loving1 the selfish
 in life4 ,they wound their conscience  
up  to that point4 ,but there the finger
 stopped1 just at that figure3 it  told 
out still what their ideal had been at  
starting4 ,and this was all2  the clock 
did not go4 ,they now have no sound1 no 
tone about them4 ,they  still say they  
scorn the mean1 without aiming to do    
noble things2 they  still tell you they 
hate avarice1 but they are not          
benevolent2 they have  their theories   
about selfish ,christians1 but none     
bless them for their  self-renouncing   
deeds4 ,this is of all things the most  
pitiable1 that a  man should sink lower 
than his own standard1 and go through   
life false to  himself4                 
8,to thine own self be true2      ,and  
it must follow1 as the night to day1    

,thou canst not then be false to any    
man40    ,i surely need not say1 ,turn  
not back4 ,should the eagle which has   
soared  higher than his compeers break  
his pinion1 he would drop lower than the
  lowest4 ,it is related that in the    
,american ,war of ,independence1 the    
army  of ,washington had crossed a      
bridge over a deep river4 ,with the     
river  behind and the enemy in front1   
the great general proposed the question 
to  his officers3 8,shall we burn the   
bridge80 8,burn it60 said the staff2 8we
  may want it for a retreat40           
8,retreat60 said ,washington2 8if that  
is the  only reason for retaining it1   
then it must perish40 8,burn the        
bridge60  was his instant order2 and it 
was laid in ashes4    #e4 ,cultivate    
helps to the spiritual life4 ,that life 
cannot take care  of itself4 ,it sprung 
forth first to meet the touch of ,god's 
,spirit1 and  it can only grow and      
become strong by communion with the     
,spirit4 ,you see  some who appeared to 

be religious youths at fourteen1 and who
 are worldly  at twenty4 ,no doubt there
 were fine religious susceptibilities   
which  were quickened into activity at  
the former period1 and which gave them  
vantage ground for a fine start2 but    
they lived on themselves1 which is  the 
same as feeding the body upon emptiness4
 ,no wonder their apparent  religious   
life should have died4 ,it is very much 
to be deplored1 that  with the          
facilities which are afforded to many   
through early closing  movements1 the   
opportunities for social religious      
culture should be  passed by4 ,remember 
the secret of growth ,i have            
indicated--coperation  with ,god4 ,when 
a man has saplings in his orchard which 
bear only wild  fruit1 like a good      
orchardist he seeks to improve them by  
grafting4 ,he  cuts his grafts from a   
last year's growth of wood2 takes care  
that they  do not evaporate their       
moisture2 then on the stocks grafts his 
scions ,if  a sapling is unbenefited2 if

 the wood above the graft is just like  
the  wood below1 which it ought not to  
be2 or if the fruit be of a mongrel     
kind1 partly of the original stock and  
partly of the scion1 what will he  do8  
,try again1 it may be4 ,but if1 after   
repeated trials1 he has the same        
result1 he will reject his unprofitable 
stocks1 and turn his attention  to fresh
 young trees4 ,this is ,christ's law of 
spiritual life4 ,that which  beareth not
 fruit receiveth no more attention from 
the husbandman4 8,when  a young man has 
much given to him--religious training1  
divine movements on  his soul1 glimpses 
of the beauty and blessedness of a      
religious life--if  then there is a     
self-confidence1 badness of heart1      
levity with ,scripture1  negligence in  
prayer1 trifling with holy things1      
indifference to growth1  then ,christ   
suspends the vital influences4 ,the     
branch remains1 but it  is sapless1     
lifeless1 joyless4 ,if the little life  
is in thy heart1 my  brother1 let me    

implore thee to seek its growth by      
prayer1 by public  and social worship1  
by seeking acquaintance with the mind of
 the ,spirit  in holy ,scripture4 ,the  
,times newspaper--and the testimony of a
 secular  journal may have weight on    
this matter--said not long ago in a     
leader3 8,we  question if any person of 
any class ever read the ,scriptures     
regularly  and thoroughly without being 
or becoming not only religious1 but     
sensible  and consistent40    #f4 ,ally 
yourself with the like-minded4 ,you will
 take your character  from your chosen  
companions4 ,you may not mean it1 but   
you cannot help  it4 8,he that walketh  
with wise men will be wise10 saith the  
proverb1  and the reverse side is true  
also4 ,as a religious young man you     
cannot  stand alone4 ,associate yourself
 with the aspiring4 ,seek the sympathy  
and  helpfulness of a ,christian church4
 ,you will not do this because you are  
strong1 but because you feel weak4 ,you 
will go into a church not because  you  

are wise and holy1 but because you need 
prayers1 and the impulse  of mutual     
fellowship4 ,there is a most unreasoning
 prejudice in this age  against church  
communion4 8,do not be a sectary10 you  
will be told4 ,you  may reply3 8,there  
never has been an age in ,england when  
the very best1  holiest1 and most useful
 men were not counted sectaries40 ,the  
grandest  works which have gone to save 
and bless the world have been done by   
,christian denominations2 the noblest of
 men have been in firm alliance  with   
some ,christian church4 ,the outsiders  
have mostly been the critics1  the      
sentimental1 and the ineffective4 ,as a 
young man1 a ,christian  organization   
offers a grand scene for your labors and
 for your dignified  influence4    ,it  
may be you feel you cannot take your    
place among the righteous4 ,let  me then
 conjure you not to let a day pass      
without resolving that you  will give   
yourself in loyalty through ,christ unto
 ,god4 ,he is calling  you through these

 words to glory and virtue4 ,he strives 
with you to win  your love4 ,his        
garments have been dyed in blood for    
your salvation4 ,he  bows himself to you
 and deigns to knock at the door of your
 heart4  ,oh1 for the sake of what is   
holiest1 dearest1 infinite1 do not      
resist  his pleadings4 ,on this the     
starting-point of your manhood1 you are 
in  your own power4 ,god appeals to you 
and says3 8,i set before you life and   
death40 ,the end of life now seems far  
off4 ,believe me it will come sooner    
far than you think4 ,ceaselessly1       
noiselessly1 swiftly will life pass4    
,your life must be looked back upon4    
,if1 after your opportunities1 it is    
proved to have been a life of waste and 
evil influence1 heavier will  be your   
remorse and doom4 ,may ,god in mercy    
grant that yours may be the  place among
 the consecrated ones who have blessed  
humanity1 and who now  know the meaning 
and grandeur of a destiny that called   
them to glory and  immortality4    ,thus

 do ,i lay these counsels before you1 my
 friend1 as you enter upon  life4 ,they 
have been written amid the demands of a 
large charge and the  wearying claims of
 public life4 ,they might have been     
better4 ,but they  are the outpouring of
 an intensely anxious heart4 ,looking   
back upon the  past1 ,i feel1 with      
thousands more1 that the great boon of  
existence  was the disposition to ally  
my nature with ,christ's when eighteen  
years  of age4 ,from that time with what
 inexpressible benignity1 patience1 and 
sympathy1 has ,christ helped me6 ,and   
now1 should ,i be called to no other    
service1 in the closing moments of life 
the hope that these few words had       
induced some young men to choose ,christ
 and all his mighty love1 would  be most
 precious and grateful to my heart4     
,this ,i know1 that if old age  is      
welcomed when it brings to ,christ only 
the relics of a wasted life2  for you1  
when you offer him the force of your    
will1 the glow of your  affections1 the 

opening powers of your intellect1 for   
you there will be  more than welcome2   
there will be 8lavish acknowledgment40  
,he will deign  to call it 8the kindness
 of your youth10 which he will          
8remember0 for  ever4                   
,,footnotes      #a ,there is a sin of  
which ,i can hint only to you4 ,alas1   
its terrible  temptations and its awful 
consequences are becoming frightful4 ,it
 is  not safe to omit notice in an      
appeal to a young man who may be        
entering  life in a great city4 ,if you 
could know the little that has come to  
my  knowledge1 your very hairs would    
stand on end4 ,i could tell you of the  
finest physical constitutions1 which1   
after twelve months' tampering with     
this perilous fascination1 have become  
pitiable wrecks of disease4 ,i  could   
tell you1 on medical authority1 of men  
now dragging out a useless  existence1  
with reason dethroned1 and drivelling in
 idiotcy4 ,and the  punishment once done
 to the flesh does not depart4 ,life    

ends in early  death1 or is a long      
suffering of humiliation2 yea1 worse    
still1 the  suffering is perpetuated in 
the third and fourth generations4 ,young
 men  starting in life have none to tell
 them these things1 therefore ,i have   
forced myself to the hateful task4 ,the 
displeasure of ,god against this  sin is
 awful4 ,what would you think of a man  
who should pluck a flower  from a       
yawning chasm1 when there were          
ninety-nine chances to one that he      
would fall into the abyss below1 and    
even if extricated1 be scarred and      
begrimed to the end of his days8    #b  
,in ,memoriam1 p4 #adc4    #c ,not very 
long since1 a public lecturer was       
proceeding to ,sheffield1  and in a     
railway train astounded me by arguing   
that the apostle ,paul  preached the    
gospel before ,jesus ,christ was        
crucified4 ,a ,sunday-scholar  of seven 
years of age would have taught him      
better4 ,i was lately in a  large       
meeting in ,pentonville1 when an        

intelligent man1 who avowed himself  a  
skeptic1 who had read ,mr4 ,buckle's    
8,history of ,civilization10 declared   
that men who believed the ,bible could  
never be expected to attend to  man's   
social condition2 for that ,christ      
taught1 in ,john #f1 that we were  8not 
to labor for the meat which perisheth40 
,now mark1 the very verse  before the   
one quoted tells us that a multitude had
 followed ,christ1 not  at all caring   
for what he would teach them1 but       
because he had fed them  with loaves and
 fishes4 ,their miserable motive he     
exposed1 and bid them  labor for meat   
which endured unto everlasting life4    
,suppose a son of this  skeptic had     
taken what professed to be a letter from
 his mother1 and  singled out a clause  
from its context to bring the letter    
into contempt  before a meeting1 what   
would that father have called such a    
son8 ,a  scoundrel4 ,god probably pities
 him as he would not his son4 ,but let  
young  men take heed of reasoning which 

is not merely a reproach to candor1 but 
to common intelligence4    #d ,see      
,quarterly ,journal of ,geological      
,society1 ,no4 #hf1 p4 #hh4 ,see note1  
p4 #abi4          ,in ,business    ,rev4
 ,j4 ,d4 ,wells1 ,d4 ,d4                
,,contents4                             
,,chapter ,i4        ,boys              
,,page #g                    ,,chapter  
,,ii4        ,employers in ,relation to 
,boys           #i                      
,,chapter ,,iii4        ,boys in        
,relation to ,employers          #ac    
,,chapter ,,iv4        ,young ,men and  
,success                  #bb           
,,chapter ,v4        ,other ,conditions 
of ,success            #cb              
,,introduction4      ,several years ago 
a man1 now venerable for age and        
character1 gave  the writer some        
valuable hints about boys and young men 
in relation  to business4 ,he had       
himself begun life a poor boy1 and      
achieved large  success4 ,coming to ,new
 ,york more than sixty years ago1 he was

 familiar  with all the changes in      
methods of doing business up to the time
 then  present4 ,nor has he ceased to be
 active in the affairs of a large       
concern  at this later day4 ,the passing
 years have made him old and have not   
left me young4 ,the thoughts he gave me1
 supplemented by my own reading1        
observation and reflection1 move me to  
set down some things that may be        
helpful not only to the classes of      
persons already referred to1 but to     
others as well4    ,the great change in 
business methods does not warrant any   
change in the  characters and habits of 
those who have a right to expect success
 in any  true meaning of the word4    ,i
 would gladly speak a helpful word to   
the thousands of boys and young  men who
 are looking hopefully into the future1 
and yet may not have in  mind the true  
conditions of well-doing for themselves 
or their employers4          ,boys and  
,young ,men in ,relation to ,business4  
,,chapter ,i4    ,,boys4      ,if there 

were no boys there would be no young men
 and no old men4 ,to  this truism add   
the saying1 8,the boy is the father of  
the man10 and our  subject has dignity  
and greatness at the outset4 ,there may 
be aspects of  it that provoke          
merriment2 but there are more of a      
different character1  and we are kept   
sober-minded in view of them4    ,the   
boy on shipboard is the 8monkey40 ,the  
boy among types and presses  is the     
8printer's devil40 ,the boy at school is
 8,jack10 or 8,bill10 or  8,dick10      
8hail-fellow well met10 and a peer among
 peers4 ,the boy in  college1 if any    
boys go to college1 is a 8,freshman10   
bound--if not happily  emancipated of   
late--to serve the learned 8,sophomore10
 or take a ducking1  or something worse1
 for his disobedience4    ,in business  
the boy is just what his character1 his 
companions and his  employers make of   
him4 ,he may be a butt of ridicule1 or a
 greenhorn to  be ripened into smartness
 and wickedness by those who are older  

and  wiser and worse than himself4 ,he  
may be a poor drudge1 to sweep and run  
of errands1 which may be all right2 or  
to suffer untold indignities and        
cruelties1 with no uplifting to a better
 future and very little pay for  very   
much work1 which is all wrong4    ,or1  
by way of contrast1 he may be treated   
from the start as having in him  the    
germ of real greatness1 the undeveloped 
qualities of a man yet to be            
acknowledged as the peer of those he    
serves1 and the possible superior  of   
them all4 ,no one but ,god knows what   
may be hid and struggling for           
opportunity and recognition and reward  
in the obscurest little fellow who      
takes the lowest place in any store or  
office or shop4          ,,chapter ,,ii4
    ,,employers ,,in ,,relation ,,to    
,,boys4      ,i do not think the first  
thing to be considered is what a boy may
 do for  his employers1 but rather what 
they may do for him1 and so1 at last1   
for  themselves through him4 ,in all    

ordinary circumstances they can mould   
him  to their will4 ,they are the       
masters1 he is the servant4 ,they are   
strong1  he is weak4 ,if they do not    
recognize their obligation to him1 in   
the  relation to which they invite and  
receive him1 they ought not to complain 
of his failures in duty to them4 ,as    
well expect a son to know and meet  his 
duties to his parents while they utterly
 fail to recognize theirs to  him4      
,if an employer requires a boy to do    
what in his home or the sanctuary he    
has learned he must not do1 and if he   
requires him to do the forbidden  thing 
on pain of losing his place or his pay1 
the requirement is not  only a grievous 
wrong in itself1 but an outrage upon the
 inalienable  rights of the boy4        
,children are required to obey their    
parents only  8in the ,lord40 ,no man is
 great enough to lord it over his own   
child's  conscience4 ,and this great    
principle holds in the relation of      
employers  to their servants of all ages

 and grades4    ,boys sell their time   
and service to their masters4 ,they     
cannot sell their  conscience1 soul1 and
 body4 ,they must do right if they lose 
a thousand  places in succession and    
starve to death for want of work4 ,i can
 think of  no persecution more cruel and
 infamous than that which is practised  
upon  boys just starting on their career
 for life1 here and hereafter1 when     
they are required to practise deceit2 to
 say things that are not true  about    
goods to be sold1 or in any other way to
 debauch conscience4 ,the  penalty of   
disobedience may be sending them home to
 widowed mothers or  orphaned sisters   
without recommendation to any other     
place of business4  ,this is martyrdom  
with a vengeance1 and it is by no means 
uncommon4 ,i  have in mind glaring      
instances that have come under my own   
observation4  ,a man now belonging to an
 old and wealthy business house was     
thrust out  of his place when a youth   
because he refused to sell goods damaged

 in a  vital though hidden part as goods
 in perfect order4    ,another1 in a    
position of great responsibility and    
usefulness for a  number of years in a  
heathen land1 when a boy served his     
employer  faithfully six days in the    
week1 and was required to sell his goods
 on  the ,sabbath4 ,his conscience      
forbade this and he was discharged1 with
 very  serious consequences for a time4 
,these are specimens of classes4 ,but it
 is always safe and wise for boys       
firmly and respectfully to resist human 
authority in all such cases4    ,there  
is another great wrong to boys1 to wit1 
leaving them at the mercy  of           
subordinates who hold positions grading 
all the way from those held  by the boys
 themselves1 to those just below the    
high positions of the  employers4 ,i    
have seen something of this petty       
tyranny2 good boys harried  into        
desperation or pushed and badgered into 
immoralities and the loss of            
self-respect4    ,happy are the boys who

 go from their homes to the care of good
 men1  and to the companionship of      
co-workers who help them to success by  
instruction and example4                
,,chapter ,,iii4    ,,boys ,,in         
,,relation ,,to ,,employers4      ,thus 
far ,i have written some plain things   
about employers in relation  to boys4   
,with equal plainness ,i now write of   
boys in relation to their  employers4   
,clearly they must always do right even 
if the stars fall4 ,it is weak and      
contemptible to be eye-servants1 showing
 all diligence in the presence  of      
employers1 but lapsing into idleness1   
carelessness or mischief when  they     
disappear4 ,in the long run boys that   
always do right will do well4  ,the     
hearts of their employers can safely    
trust in them4 ,if for no higher  reason
 than their own interests they will     
advance them from one position  to      
another of responsibility and emolument4
    ,but other reasons will prevail4    
,personal attachments will be formed4   

,men  of business are commonly men of   
heart4 ,they have sons of their own and 
cannot help admiring the excellencies of
 other people's sons4 ,it is not        
uncommon to hear them boast of the      
virtues of boys employed by them4  ,some
 time ago ,i was in an office and within
 a few moments two gentlemen  of the    
firm called my attention to a lad who   
was moving quietly about1  absorbed in  
the duties of his calling4 ,they spoke  
with great interest of  his fidelity and
 efficiency in relation to them2 of his 
great self-denial  in order to minister 
to the comfort of his family2 and of his
 brilliant  prospects4    ,there is a   
proverb as true as when written1 8,a    
wise servant shall  have rule over a son
 that causeth shame1 and shall have part
 of  the inheritance among the          
brethren40 ,there is another which is   
not  infrequently verified1 and suggests
 a very pleasant way in which boys      
grown to manhood sometimes share in the 
8inheritance among the brethren20  it is

 this3 8,he that delicately bringeth up 
his servant from a child  shall have him
 become his son at length40    ,again1  
boys must give their best thought and   
energies in business hours  to the      
interests of their employers4 ,nor      
should they forget or in any  way       
endanger those interests out of business
 hours4 ,they are in and of  the        
concern4 ,they represent it4 ,its       
reputation attaches to them and  theirs 
to it4 ,it may be amusing1 but it is    
pleasant1 and suggestive of a  bright   
future1 to hear a boy just beginning his
 business life speaking  loftily of 8our
 house40 ,he belongs to its personnel4  
,his life mingles  with its life4 ,it is
 for his interest to give much thought1 
at all  proper times1 to the duties of  
his station4 ,if1 by extra labor adding 
to  his qualifications for business1 he 
can become more useful than he was      
expected or is required to be1 he may   
cut off weary months and even years     
that must otherwise lie between him and 

higher service and better pay4 ,i  knew 
a boy who in this way passed over the   
heads of several older than  himself1   
and in early manhood fairly won a       
position which others never  reached4   
,as a rule1 ,i think boys may count on  
being promoted when they  have outgrown 
the places which they wish to leave4 ,if
 they can sweep  stores and set things  
in order better than others1 and run of 
errands  with swifter feet1 and acquaint
 themselves with streets and places of  
business quicker than others1 they will 
not have to do these things for a  long 
time4 ,higher service awaits them1 and  
they will find that the habits  of      
thoroughness and dispatch already formed
 are worth more and more as  they       
advance to higher and more responsible  
positions4    ,in all things right1 boys
 must sink their wills in the wills of  
their  employers4 ,this is not to become
 slaves4 ,children have safest and      
sweetest liberty in obeying their       
parents2 scholars their teachers2       

soldiers their commanders4 ,in the shop1
 the office1 the store1 there must  be  
authority on the one hand and obedience 
on the other4 ,boys should  rejoice that
 above them there are men who1 once boys
 like themselves1  are now wise enough  
and kind enough to assign them their    
duties and to  guide them in the way to 
success1 and firm enough to require     
obedience  to their directions4 ,prompt 
and cheerful obedience will not fail1   
in ordinary circumstances1 to attract   
the attention and secure the            
approbation of employers4 ,wise boys    
will watch for opportunities to make    
themselves useful1 gladly doing what has
 not occurred to anyone else and  yet   
everyone will be glad to have done2 and 
if they can do all to please  ,him who  
seeth in secret and rewardeth openly1   
rather than for any lower  motive1 they 
are to be congratulated as having made a
 right start not  only for this life but
 for that which is to come4    8,it is  
good for a man that he bear the yoke in 

his youth40 ,a great but  very sad      
prophet wrote these familiar words long 
ago1 but they have lost  none of their  
truth4 ,if a thousand boys1 already in  
business or about to  begin their       
business lives1 were reading the words  
,i write1 ,i would put  all possible    
emphasis in what follows3 do not fear   
any amount of work1  or any kind1 lying 
fairly within your power4 ,i have been  
an office-boy1  doing many things1      
besides writing1 that were not easy or  
pleasant4 ,i  know that many things     
needing to be done may be left undone   
without  incurring blame4 ,but he that  
does them wins the approval of his own  
conscience and the favor of men4 ,if one
 does unpleasant things cheerfully  they
 lose half of their unpleasantness1 and 
will not have to be done many  times4   
,it is mean to shirk1 and it never pays4
 ,the ease it brings for the moment  is 
punished by long drudgery1 and he that  
habitually shirks may look back  at the 
end of a miserable life with unavailing 

regrets upon the weakness  and neglect  
of his early years4 ,even a horse that  
will not draw his part  of a reasonable 
load is despised and whipped4           
,blessings on the good boys that have   
pluck and purpose to succeed2  and may  
all that are otherwise become like them1
 as doubtless many of  them mean to do4 
8,you will be proud of us one of these  
days10 was the  assurance of a bright   
but mischievous boy to an anxious       
teacher pleading  with him and his      
companions to mend their ways4 ,a boy of
 this kind who  gave me great solicitude
 a few years ago1 as ,i was his pastor  
and the  teacher of his ,sunday-school  
class1 came suddenly under the power of 
the  truth4 ,deeply convicted of sin1   
and coming to ,christ on his invitation1
  he was soon rejoicing in the hope of  
pardon and eternal life4 ,he is  now the
 efficient superintendent of a          
,sunday-school and bears a most         
important office in the church of which 
he is a beloved member4    8,i have a   

noble boy10 said a deck-hand on a       
ferryboat as ,i fell into  conversation 
with him4 ,then he gave me his history4 
,from his school days  to full manhood  
his career was honorable and his life in
 and out of his  church relations very  
useful4 ,to the father he was still his 
8boy0 and  his pride4    ,boys1 you are 
all old enough to know that somewhere   
you will live  forever4 ,the characters 
you form here will go with you into the 
world and  the life to come4 ,if they   
are right here1 and now1 they will be   
right  forever and grow better and      
better4 ,if they are wrong here1 and    
continue  so till ,god calls you away1  
early or late1 they will be wrong always
 and  wax worse and worse4 ,boys do not 
all live to become old men--or even     
young  men4 ,there is just one way of   
starting right and being in the right   
way  until ,god calls you to a better   
world4 ,listen to the sweet words that  
you have often heard3 8,i love them that
 love me1 and those that seek me  early 

shall find me40 ,determine to be boy    
,christians4 ,believe that ,jesus       
,christ1 the only ,saviour1 loves you4  
,he is able and willing to save you     
from the sins of your youth4 ,if you    
hear and obey his loving call he will   
guide and guard you safely until you are
 forever with him and like him4         
,believe that you need him every hour   
and moment4 ,trust him to do what he    
promises4 ,keep company with those who  
delight in his service4 ,fear ,god  and 
keep his commandments4 8,remember the   
,sabbath day1 to keep it holy40  ,cling 
to your ,sunday-school and church4      
,confess ,jesus ,christ before men1  and
 he will confess you before his ,father 
and the angels4 ,if irreligious  boys   
make fun of you1 because they think you 
have given up all the  pleasures of     
boy-life1 let them know that the peace  
which ,god gives you  is far better than
 all their forbidden pleasures1 and do  
what you can to  win them from their    
evil ways to a true and blessed life4   

,in any case1 boys1 be sure that the    
favor of ,god1 which is life1 and his   
lovingkindness1 which is better than    
life1 will fit you for the truest  and  
best success in business4 ,in all your  
ways acknowledge him1 and he  will      
direct your steps3 ,god will be your    
patron and friend4          ,,chapter   
,,iv4    ,,young ,,men ,,and ,,success4 
,the line between boys and young men is 
invisible4 ,those who pass it  cannot   
tell where it lies4 ,but the time comes 
when they no longer admit  to themselves
 or others that they are boys4 ,they    
bear about the pleasant  consciousness  
that they are nearer the heart of a     
business life than  they were a while   
before4 ,they may be apprentices1       
collectors1 entry  clerks1 shipping     
clerks1 bookkeepers1 salesmen behind the
 counter1 or  on the road1 but they are 
no longer boys and they are not yet     
partners4  ,a numerous class1 they will 
become largely the business men of the  
next  generation4 ,even now they        

represent immense personal1 domestic and
 public  interests4 ,who can think of   
them without emotion6 ,it does not      
require  a broad sweep of observation   
and recollection to bring into view from
  the two extremes young men who have   
utterly failed and others who have  won 
honorable success2 those who have sealed
 their own doom and dragged  others down
 with them to an abyss of shame and     
misery1 and those who have  become      
princes in the earth4    ,it is worth   
asking at the outset what meaning we    
ought to attach to the  words 8success0 
and 8failure0 in business4    ,we do not
 account him successful who gains large 
wealth1 leaving it to  his family and   
even to public institutions of great    
usefulness1 but who  does it at the cost
 of personal integrity1 character and   
reputation4 ,we  do not need examples of
 men who have grown rich by doubtful    
methods of  business1 by perversion of  
office and trust funds1 and who have    
already  sunk or are now sinking into   

depths of infamy and woe opened by their
 own  hands4    ,nor is he successful   
who gains wealth honestly1 and hoards   
it--against  all the claims of humanity 
and the revealed will of ,god--until his
 riches  are corrupted1 his gold and    
silver cankered1 the rust of them even  
now1  before the last day1 eating his   
flesh as it were fire4    ,men utterly  
fail1 though possessed of millions1 who 
make shipwreck of  character in the     
sight of their ,maker and their         
fellow-men4    ,many fail for lack of   
qualities and habits1 and1 it may be1   
opportunities1 that condition success4  
,but they do not fail who use  all      
diligence1 and their best wisdom and    
opportunity1 and yet become  poor       
without the loss of a good conscience   
toward ,god and man4 ,and they          
certainly succeed who amass wealth or a 
competency while maintaining  their     
integrity in relation to ,god and their 
honor among men4    ,it may be well to  
state here some of the well-ascertained 

facts in regard  to the percentage of   
success and failure in business1 using  
the words in  their most limited        
meaning4    ,only from three to five in 
every hundred men who embark in business
  have large and permanent success4 ,and
 these are not chiefly those who  begin 
with large capital4 ,for the most part  
they are men who have been  architects  
of their own fortunes4 ,beginning as    
boys on low wages1 and  passing through 
all grades of advancement from the      
lowest to the highest1  they have at    
last become strong enough to make their 
own terms with those  who have gladly   
recognized their ability and integrity  
as the equivalent  of large capital2 or 
without such aid they have worked their 
way to  splendid success4    ,about ten 
out of a hundred have moderate success4 
,without aspiring to the  rank of       
millionaires they have an abundance for 
personal and family use1  and are able  
to share freely1 if so inclined1 in the 
beneficence of their  times4    ,the    

remaining eighty-five in a hundred are  
on a sliding scale from  partial success
 to utter failure4 ,leaving out of view 
all the cases  in which men of integrity
 and ability fail by reason of          
unavoidable  calamity1 or lack of       
opportunity1 how shall we account for   
the large  percentage of failures8 ,and 
as the percentage continues from year to
  year1 and perhaps increases from      
generation to generation1 it seems clear
  that the reasons are permanent and    
powerful4    ,it certainly throws a deep
 shadow over households and communities 
to  think that young men have before    
them such gloomy prospects4 ,can we not 
brighten them8 ,must every hundred young
 men1 full of the strength and          
enterprise belonging to their age1      
advance toward the goal of their        
ambition under the depressing thought   
that only from five to twenty are       
likely to win prizes8 ,at best the cares
 and responsibilities and risks  of     
business men are very great4 ,but ,i do 

not believe that circumstances  external
 to themselves control the business     
destiny of young men4 ,they  may avoid  
disastrous failure and win success4 ,at 
least a very large  percentage of them  
may win the wholesome success which     
consists in having  neither poverty nor 
riches2 for this after all may be       
welcomed as the  safest and best        
condition4 ,but they may also be        
prepared by excellence  of character1   
and by habits of business and of life1  
for the possession  and use of large    
wealth1 under the great responsibility  
of stewards who  are yet to give account
 to the real ,proprietor of all the     
treasures in  the world4    ,it should  
be remembered that young men may succeed
 as clerks and utterly  fail as the     
responsible heads of business concerns4 
,for this reason the  conditions of     
success1 of which ,i am about to write1 
have reference  largely to times beyond 
the years of apprenticeship and         
subordination4    ,young men may enjoy  

the confidence of their employers while 
they are  disqualifying themselves for  
independent action4 ,devotion to their  
interests may secure rapid advancement  
in positions and salaries4 ,they  may be
 extravagant and immoral1 and yet have  
qualities that cover their  faults and  
commend them to favor4 ,while they      
remain under the direction  and control 
of men better and stronger than         
themselves they may be  congratulated as
 already successful1 while they are     
bearing about in  their own persons all 
the conditions of sure and disastrous   
failure4    ,the first and fundamental  
condition of real and permanent success 
is good  character4 ,this may be set    
down without qualification4 ,character  
is an  engraving4 ,a good character     
answers to a divine ideal or pattern4   
,it is  not made in a day1 and if marred
 it can be restored4 ,bearing the deep  
cuts and finer lines of truth and       
righteousness and pureness1 it will     
bear the violence of temptation in      

private1 social1 and business life1  and
 the severer testing of the last day4   
,of course such a character is secretly 
and openly religious4 ,only when  young 
men consent to commit the keeping of    
their souls and bodies to  ,jesus       
,christ1 and to bear any cross that in  
his love and faithfulness he  may lay   
upon them1 can they be strong in the    
,lord and the power of his  might4      
,how suggestive the words of the        
disciple whom ,jesus loved with a       
peculiar personal affection3 8,i have   
written unto you1 young men1 because  ye
 are strong1 and the word of ,god       
abideth in you1 and ye have overcome    
the wicked one4 ,love not the world1    
neither the things that are in the      
world40    ,i hope no young man         
searching for the conditions of success 
in his  business life1 if he reads these
 pages1 will make light of this1 which  
is first and most important of all4     
,that cannot be called success which    
secures more than heart can wish for the

 life that now is1 and not the  life to 
come4 8,look well to thy goings10 was   
the earnest counsel of one  who knew    
well the dangers of the young man4      
8,look well to thy goings2 it  is a     
narrow path4 ,look well to thy goings2  
it is a new path4 ,look well  to thy    
goings2 it is a slippery path4 ,look    
well to thy goings2 it is an  eventful  
path40    ,in a long life ,i have seen  
many young men begin a business career  
with  great advantages and brilliant    
prospects1 but their light went out in  
darkness because they did not cleanse   
their ways by taking heed thereto       
according to ,god's word4    ,but ,i    
have also seen and now have in full view
 young men who early sought  refuge from
 their sins1 and from all the perils of 
life1 by coming  frankly to ,jesus      
,christ in their conscious need4        
,invited to his presence1  and assured  
of his love and help1 they took him at  
his word and found  rest to their souls4
 ,there is no harmless lawful pleasure  

that is denied  them4 ,the peace of ,god
 is in their hearts4 ,the service to    
which they are  called brings its own   
reward4 ,the joy of the ,lord is their  
strength4 ,they  confess ,christ as     
their ,saviour and look forward to the  
momentous time  when he will fulfil his 
word and openly confess them4 ,they keep
 company  with those who bear the       
,christian name1 and give the full vigor
 of their  young manhood to well-doing  
in their daily business and in all the  
relations of life4    ,ask them if they 
are in bonds that they wish to break4   
,you will get a  quick and emphatic     
answer3 8,ours is the liberty of doing  
right because we  love to2 and that is  
the glorious liberty of the children of 
,god40          ,,chapter ,v4    ,,other
 ,,conditions ,,of ,,success4      ,it  
does not follow1 however1 that a good   
moral or religious character by  itself 
will ensure success in the business of  
life2 one must have certain  well-known 
qualifications and habits1 and the      

reputation of possessing  them4    #a4  
,reputation4 ,probably it stands next to
 character1 if a young man  is to depend
 upon others for help in his work4      
,character is what one  is in himself   
and before ,god2 reputation is what     
others take him to  be4 ,a bad          
reputation certainly blocks the way to  
success4 ,a good name  among business   
men is the equivalent of capital4 ,every
 young man who is  starting in business 
for himself must rely upon older men to 
help him  on his way4 ,they have watched
 others closely4 ,they have seen        
successive  generations of young men    
come to the front1 and climb the hill of
  difficulty till they have reached     
positions of safety and honor1 or go    
down to the abyss of dishonor and       
misery4 ,in a word1 watching others     
closely they have accumulated facts that
 make it easy for them to  forecast the 
future of younger men with marvelous    
certainty4 ,they are as  sensitive to   
the outward appearance and the known or 

suspected habits of  those who approach 
them for favors in trade as mercury to  
the changes  of temperature4 ,no young  
man can afford to have the reputation of
 being  extravagant1 or reckless1 or    
mean1 or untrue to his word4 ,he cannot 
even  appear to be such without danger  
to his credit1 on which to so large an  
extent1 as business is done1 success    
must depend4    ,an acquaintance of my  
own came to the city a youth without    
capital4 ,he  was honest1 frugal1       
industrious1 and of firm will4 ,having  
begun business  in a small way1 and     
mostly on credit1 he was invited by a   
friend--after  business hours--to ride  
beyond the limits of the city behind a  
fast horse  and with a fine turn-out4   
,he accepted the invitation1 but found  
the  pleasure of the ride reduced to a  
minimum by the tormenting thought that  
he might be seen by some of the men who 
had given him credit4    ,in a new firm1
 with very large capital1 one of the    
younger partners  secretly bought a     

horse4 ,a senior partner learning the   
fact quietly  informed him by letter    
that his early extravagance would hurt  
the  reputation of the house4    ,it may
 be a hit at our times1 but ,i have seen
 it stated that business men  sometimes 
inquire of persons seeking advanced     
positions whether they have  already    
supplied themselves with such trifles as
 elegant jewelry and fast  horses1      
hardly daring to risk employing them if 
these things are yet to  be secured4    
,it remains a truth that needs to be    
made very emphatic that young men       
laying their plans for success in       
business1 whether as subordinates or    
principals1 must look well to their     
reputation4    ,are they given to       
billiards8 ,there are many reasons why  
they would do  well to limit their      
indulgence4 ,of one thing at least they 
cannot afford  to make light3           
conservative men older and wiser than   
themselves1 on  whose favor they must   
depend for a while at least1 look with  

distrust on  young men who indulge      
largely in this game1 and especially in 
not very  reputable places4    ,a young 
man drinks beer1 wine1 whisky or brandy 
with his dinner4 ,this  habit will grow 
upon him4 ,his young blood needs no     
quicker rush than  it has4 ,if he gives 
it the force of such a stimulant when he
 is young  he will be old before his    
time1 and never enjoy the full          
confidence of  men with whom he wishes  
to stand well and without whose favor he
 cannot  succeed4 ,he may not spend half
 his income in extravagance but other   
people cannot be sure of this1 and he   
has need both to deserve and keep  their
 confidence4 ,credit is the equivalent  
of reputation4 ,it may be hurt  by not  
saving at the outset and increasing     
capital4 ,in that case one  must pay    
more for goods than men who have better 
credit4 ,or he may not  be able to buy  
at all of men who know him well and have
 the goods he  needs4 ,then he must buy 
of others goods that will not suit his  

customers2  and so his lack of credit or
 loss of reputation will bring him to   
speedy  grief4 ,the first bad year in   
the business would leave him like a     
vessel  that hardly floats when the tide
 is at the full1 but sticks fast in the 
mud at the first of the ebb4    #b4     
,another condition of success is        
diligence4 ,mark the word4 ,it is  not  
the precise equivalent of industry4 ,it 
implies choice1 selection1  delight4    
,one needs to have true delight and     
enthusiasm in his business4  ,therefore 
the great importance of choosing wisely 
at the outset4 ,we pity  men and women  
who in their babyhood had inflicted upon
 them fanciful  names1 but this is      
nothing to the blunder of putting a son 
to a business  in which through his     
whole life he can take no delight4 ,his 
only relief  is to set himself1 with all
 possible energy and enterprise1 to lift
 his  business1 supposing it to be right
 in itself1 up to a plane so high that  
he can sincerely rejoice in his         

achievement1 as very difficult to make  
but of great worth when it is made4     
,diligence supposes a fixed purpose and 
constancy of effort1 as well as         
enthusiastic devotion4 ,when ,isaac     
,rich trundled his wheelbarrow from  the
 oyster-boat in ,boston to the          
market-place three miles off1 having    
invested all his worldly goods in what  
was before him1 there was light  in his 
eye and warmth in his heart though the  
day had not dawned4 ,he was  a poor     
young man from ,cape ,cod4 ,he had made 
choice of his business for  life4 ,i do 
not know how long he followed it behind 
the barrow4 ,years ago  he gave a       
million and three quarters of dollars to
 found a college in  the city that      
itself yielded this treasure to his     
diligence and thrift4  8,the hand of the
 diligent maketh rich40 8,seest thou a  
man diligent in his  business8 ,he shall
 stand before kings4 ,he shall not stand
 before mean  men40 ,let young men bind 
these divine proverbs upon their        

foreheads1 and  write them where they   
can be seen1 as rules of their business 
lives4    #c4 ,another condition of     
success is force1 or energy4 ,this comes
 often by  heredity1 transmitted from   
parent to child4 ,in any case it is a   
precious  gift1 a great talent1 for the 
right use of which every one receiving  
it  must give account4 ,from it1 as a   
reserve power1 one may draw at will  to 
push on any work in which he takes      
delight4 ,call it the magnetic or       
electric power of the will1 if you      
please4 ,it may be like the same subtle 
fluid in destructive flash1 or like it  
in the crisp air of a winter's  day1    
nerving one for almost tireless effort4 
#d4 ,it may seem almost superfluous to  
add to the list of personal  qualities  
conditioning success in business the    
quality of competency4 ,it  may be said 
to include all that have been already   
noticed1 and all that  a business man   
needs4 ,it is the state of being        
competent or adequate  for what one has 

to do to win success4 ,it supposes that 
in theory and  practice he has acquired 
fitness for his calling4 ,the theory he 
must get  by careful observation of     
everything connected with his business1 
by  conversation with others1 older and1
 it may be1 wiser and more gifted  than 
himself2 by carefully reading what is   
current1 and what is past1  bearing upon
 the work he has in hand1 and by much   
thought of his own4  ,he may then be    
able to reach conclusions far in advance
 of any dreamed  of by the heedless4 ,he
 studies fabrics1 woods1 metals1 fruits1
 sugars1  teas1 coffees1 markets1       
finance1 men4 ,so he grows in mental    
power and the  consciousness of it4 ,he 
commands an increasing influence among  
business  men1 and learns how to expend 
the force that urges him on to larger   
and  better ventures in trade4    ,but  
he must have practice with theory2      
habits of doing as well as  thinking4   
,this he can accomplish only by putting 
his own hand to the  work1 as a child   

learns to write1 or to master the       
key-board of a piano4    ,the men who   
take the lead of affairs1 whatever they 
lack1 are sure to  have a most minute   
and entire knowledge of their branch of 
business2 such  a knowledge as can be   
got only by taking hold and doing every 
part of it4    ,young men should see    
things with their own eyes1 and touch   
and fashion  things with their own      
hands4 ,with character1 and reputation  
and diligence  and force and competency1
 in all ordinary circumstances they can 
make a  business for themselves4 ,if    
they have little money and live within  
their  means they will find it growing  
on their hands fast enough for their    
good4 ,if they go largely on credit they
 will be in danger when a panic  comes4 
,let a young man keep safely within due 
limits1 be content with  moderate gains1
 ask of the ,lord 8a prudent wife10 and 
take his place  among the true and      
strong men of the land and the world4