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THE 
 
 Treasures of Time 
 
 FOR 
 
 OLD AND YOUNG 
 
 FORMING 
 
 AN ENCYCLOPEDIA 
 
 OF THE WISEST WORDS OF THE WISEST MEN OF ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES, 
 ON HOME AND BUSINESS TRAINING, SELF-HELP, CHARACTER, 
 DUTY, THE SECRET OF SUCCESS, ETC.— PRESENT- 
 ING IN SUGGESTIVE FORM THEIR 
 
 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 A\ 
 
 O. E. FULLER, M. A., 
 
 Author of "The Year or Christ." 
 
 For mine own part. 
 I shall be g-lad to learn of noble men. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 CO-OPERATIVE PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
 
 1882. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by 
 
 O. E FULLER, 
 In the otiice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
/ s 
 
 PREFACE. 
 'jTHE Situation," says Mr. Carlyle, " that has 
 
 not its Duty, its Ideal, was never yet occupied 
 by man." This fact implies at least two more : 
 
 I. We succeed in any position just in proportion 
 as we keep before us and seek to realize the Ideal 
 of Excellence which that position requires. 
 
 II. The man or woman without an Ideal is 
 nothing but a weary, hopeless plodder. 
 
 Appreciating, therefore, the importance of prop- 
 er conceptions of Life in its manifold aspects, the 
 Author and Editor of this volume has aimed ta 
 construct a series of wholesome Ideals, or Patterns- 
 of Life ; which, he trusts, will prove suggestive and* 
 helpful to all who are preparing to take their 
 place in the great arena of action, as also to those 
 already in the midst of the battle : always striving 
 to illustrate, in some sort, the greatness of Truth,. 
 11 the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." 
 
 And since passages from Life's Drama are 
 found, in the most eminent degree, along the trial- 
 paths of the great Thinkers and Actors of the 
 world, his chief reliance for material, after that 
 afforded by the Divine Master, has been the out- 
 come or record of their lives — 
 
 " Lives spent in serving God 
 
 Through labor for Humanity." 
 
Life is to labor where'er Duty f s voice 
 
 May call, with strength to spurn the baser choice 
 
 Aud who so triumphs, angels zvrite his name 
 As one deserving more than mortal fame. 
 
 The conflict is at hand! Take up thy shield, 
 My sold! and to whatever battle-field 
 
 Thou rangest, nerve thyself to courage there, 
 And, flinging scorn upon that word Despair, 
 
 Remember aye this verse of lofty cheer: 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper her** 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 f*vi %h*i. 
 
 Page 
 
 Key-Notes 10 
 
 What to Live For 
 Pursuit of the Ideal 
 
 Duty 
 
 Work 
 
 Work and Worship , 
 Life-Work .... 
 Concentration . . , 
 
 11 
 
 18 
 24 
 27 
 30 
 32 
 42 
 
 .Prudence 45 
 
 Page 
 
 47 
 
 Perseverance . . . 
 
 Economy 51 
 
 Labor and Greatness 57 
 
 Failures and Successes 63 
 
 Prayer 69 
 
 Faith 74 
 
 Hope ■ . . 77 
 
 Charity 80 
 
 The Day of Judgment 85 
 
 ynvi jSstattir. 
 
 Key- Notes 90 
 
 God 91 
 
 The Second Man . . 94 
 
 Immanuel 100 
 
 Simplicity 103 
 
 Virtue 105 
 
 Goodness 108 
 
 Conscience , . . . Ill 
 
 Truth and Obedience 114 
 
 Uprightness . 
 Courtesy . . 
 Courage . . 
 Decision . . 
 Character 
 Common Sense 
 Time. — A Ballad for 
 
 New- Year Day . 
 
 Eternity , . . . 
 
 (v) 
 
 116 
 119 
 125 
 
 130 
 133 
 137 
 
 140 
 148 
 
VI 
 
 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 J?nrf 
 
 (Spirit. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Key-Notes . , . . 152 
 
 Page 
 
 Sponge, or Fountain . 189 
 
 Education ..... 153 
 
 Home .... 
 
 . 190 
 
 Teachers 160 
 
 Childhood . . . 
 
 . 193 
 
 Books ...... 165 
 
 Plighted Love , 
 
 . 197 
 
 Encouragement, or What I 
 
 Wedded Love . 
 
 . . 201 
 
 Carried to College 171 
 
 Children . . . 
 
 . 206 
 
 Ambition 178 
 
 Woman's Work . 
 
 . 211 
 
 Opportunities . . . 182 
 
 Health . . . 
 
 . 220 
 
 Employment .... 185 
 
 Recreation . . 
 
 . . 225 
 
 Jnti ^ottrifc* 
 
 Key-Notes .... 232 
 
 The Two Helpers . 233 
 
 Purity 238 
 
 Food for the Soul . 245 
 
 Temptation .... 250 
 
 The Angel of Prayer 255 
 
 Tribulation .... 258 
 
 Gilead 260 
 
 Affliction ..... 262 
 
 DS 
 
 Reformation . 
 The Seven Woi 
 Forgiveness . 
 Sympathy . 
 Repentance 
 Forsaken . 
 Spiritual Thirst 
 Liff's Completion 
 Death .... 
 
 268 
 276 
 278 
 282 
 288 
 291 
 296 
 300 
 306 
 
 Jtntt Wity. 
 
 Key-Notes . . . . 
 Immortality . . . . 
 Personality Forever 
 
 Satisfied 
 
 The Riddle of the 
 Sphinx .... 
 Unbelief .... 
 Under the Stars . . 
 
 316 
 
 317 
 326 
 333 
 
 337 
 342 
 
 The Flowers . . . 348 
 
 Wages of Sin . . . 352 
 
 Heaven 358 
 
 Hell 362 
 
 The Divine Law . . 365 
 
 Resignation .... 368 
 
 Life 371 
 
 In One 376 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 Vi-l 
 
 3?ari jMttfc 
 
 Key-Notes .... 
 The Beautiful Plant 
 Brotherhood . . . 
 Eloquence .... 
 
 Fame 
 
 Pastors 404 
 
 Zeal. ...... 406 
 
 Nature 408 
 
 Page 
 
 384 
 
 385 
 390 
 398 
 400 
 
 Page 
 414 
 
 Cheerfulness . . 
 
 Competition .... 420 
 
 Cold- Water Pourers 425 
 
 Detraction .... 431 
 
 Temperance .... 435 
 
 Honesty 441 
 
 Devotion, or the 
 
 Secret of Success . 445 
 
 ynvi £*tt*!tt$« 
 
 Key-Notes . . . . 452 
 
 Truth 453 
 
 But One Physician . 460 
 
 Etches 464 
 
 Appreciation. . . . 468 
 
 Evil-Eyed .... 469 
 
 Greatness 470 
 
 Originality .... 474 
 
 Music 479 
 
 Confusion 482 
 
 Conversion .... 486 
 
 Imagination .... 489 
 
 The Great Stone Face 494 
 
 Patience . . . ... 496 
 
 Reward 499 
 
 fnti JHsW. 
 
 Key-Notes .... 504 
 
 Learning 505 
 
 Money 510 
 
 Contentment. . . . 513 
 
 Transformations . . 517 
 
 Fate 521 
 
 Freedom 525 
 
 Action 528 
 
 The Soldier of Christ 533 
 
 Rest 535 
 
 Thanks 539 
 
 Prayers 544 
 
 Praises 560 
 
 Proverbs 563 
 
 Index of Authors . 575 
 
 Index of Subjects . 593 
 
viii IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 u$lmit0n$* 
 
 Page 
 
 1. Morning Frontis-piece-. 
 
 2. " When I have idle been" 30 
 
 3. The Spendthrift 52 
 
 4. "Thou art the true and undefiled" 103 
 
 5. "The beauty of a wayside flower" 105 
 
 6. "The Hours swept on in their rapid flight" . . . 1J/.1 
 
 7. "God's music round the common hearth" .... 191 
 
 8. "Dear Recreation claims her hour" 225 
 
 9. "Behold this angel — not one in disguise — " . . . 231/. 
 
 10. "Is there any ease from my pain to be had?" . . 260 
 
 11. "By and by another sleep" 333 
 
 12. "And with their vernal beauty rife" 348 
 
 13. Nooning 386 
 
 14- " The river of beneficence to man " 44& 
 
 15. "What though the venerable oak be broken" . . . ^55 
 
 16. "Let crimson Battle tread on many a bosom" . . . 460 
 
 17. "The major notes and minor" 479 
 
 18. "He is the rainbow of the heart" .,,.... 517 
 
 19. "The thread of life will soon be wound" .... 552 
 
 20. "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" 567 
 
Iff Jiwt, 
 
S*p-S°* c §- 
 
 ILo, I come to do Thy will, O God. — Hebrews, x. 9. 
 
 Men must know that in this theatre of human life it remaineth only 
 to God and the angels to be lookers-on. — Lord Bacon. 
 
 It is an uncontroverted truth that no man ever made an ill figure 
 who understood his own talents, nor a good one who mistook them. 
 
 — Dean Swift. 
 
 I have never known an individual, least of all an individual of genius, 
 healthy or happy without a profession, i. e„ some regular employment, 
 which does not depend on the will of the moment, and which can be 
 carried on so far mechanically, that an average quantum only of health, 
 spirits and intellectual exertion are requisite to its faithful discharge. 
 
 — Coleridge. 
 
 Time and patience change the mulberry leaf to satin. 
 
 — Oriental Proverb. 
 
 Do what thou dost as if the earth were heaven, 
 And that thy last day were the judgment day. 
 
 — Charles Kingsley. 
 
 (10) 
 
Treasures of Time. 
 
 JJjhI k Jthtt "Irm, 
 
 ^HROUGH purity and strength of will 
 ^ To work to some high mark, 
 Which in the heavens is shining still 
 When all below is dark. 
 
 The Ideals of Life, which Wisdom has hung 
 out in the firmament of Humanity, are like 
 the stars in multitude. Like the stars, too, they 
 have a common centre, around which they revolve, 
 and from which they derive their glory. And that 
 centre is the life-giving Ideal suggested by the pro- 
 phetic announcement, " Lo, I come to do Thy will, 
 O God," rounded by these other words of the Divine 
 Man, " My meat is to do the will of Him that sent 
 me and to finish His work." 
 
 Work is the essence of all wholesome Ideals, 
 heaven-appointed work, of the heart, of the brain, 
 of the hands ; 
 
 Something to be done, 
 Something to be won ; 
 
 (ii) 
 
12 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 and under the Eye which is always a glory to the 
 diligent and a terror to the idle. 
 
 Work, glorified as duty, is the perennial foun- 
 tain of happiness, and the source of all that is 
 excellent in the earth. " There is always hope in 
 a man," says Mr. Carlyle, " that actually and earn- 
 nestly works. In idleness alone is there perpetual 
 despair." 
 
 Work is the law of our being — the living prin- 
 ciple that carries men and nations onward. The 
 greater number of men have to work with their 
 hands, as a matter of necessity, in order to live : 
 but all must work in one way or another, if they 
 would enjoy life as it ought to be enjoyed. 
 
 Labor may be a burden and a chastisement, but 
 it is also an honor and a glory. Without it nothing 
 can be accomplished. All that is great in man 
 comes through work, and civilization is its product. 
 Were labor abolished, the race of Adam were at 
 once stricken by moral death. 
 
 It is idleness that is the curse of man — not labor. 
 Idleness eats the heart out of men as of nations, and 
 consumes them as rust does iron. When Alexan- 
 der conquered the Persians, and had an opportunity 
 of observing their manners, he remarked that they 
 did not seem conscious that there could be anything 
 more servile than a life of pleasure, or more princely 
 than a life of toil. 
 
 When the Emperor Severus lay on his death- 
 bed at York, whither he had been borne on a litter 
 from the foot of the Grampians, his final watchword 
 
WHAT TO LIVE FOE. 13 
 
 co his soldiers was, " Laboremtis" (we must wor 
 and nothing but constant toil maintained the power 
 and extended the authority of the Roman generals. 
 
 In describing the earlier social condition of Italy, 
 when the ordinary occupations of rural life were 
 considered compatible with the highest civic dignity, 
 Pliny speaks of the triumphant generals and their 
 men returning contentedly to the plough. In those 
 days the lands were tilled by the hands even of 
 generals, the soil exulting beneath a ploughshare 
 crowned with laurels, and guided by a husbandman 
 graced with triumphs : " Ipsorum tunc manibus im- 
 peratorum colebantur agri : ut fas est credere gau- 
 dente terra vomere laureate et triumphale aratore." 
 It was only after slaves became extensively em- 
 ployed in all departments of industry that labor 
 came to be regarded as dishonorable and servile. 
 And so soon as indolence and luxury became the 
 characteristics of the ruling classes of Rome, the 
 downfall of the empire, sooner or later, was inevit- 
 able. — Samuel Smiles. 
 
 Happiness, prosperity and safety in any attained 
 position depend upon work, which, of some sort or 
 other, may be pursued by even* member of the race. 
 " "We are not born," says Goethe, " to solve the 
 problem of the universe, but to find out what we 
 have to do, and to confine ourselves within the 
 limits of our power of comprehension.'' And we 
 need not go far to make the discovery. Providence 
 reveals to every man, who has eyes to see and ears 
 to hear, his proper work. And then the mark of 
 honor and glory is to do it faithfully. 
 
14 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 I have always remembered something I heard 
 many years ago of die late Mr. Gray, of Boston, 
 "Billy Gray," as he was commonly called, who from 
 nothing made a vast estate. Standing one day on 
 the deck of one of his numerous ships, he observed 
 t a carpenter busy at some matter of repairs. " Johnny 
 Thompson," said he, " why do you not do it so in- 
 stead of the way you are doing it ? " " Billy Gray," 
 replied the man, " why do you speak so to me ? 
 Don't I remember you when you were nothing but 
 a poor drummer-boy? " " Ah," rejoined Mr. Gray, 
 "ah, Johnny Thompson, but didn't I drum well?" 
 I have thought of this a thousand times, for there is 
 a great deal in it. To do well what we have to do,, 
 this sums up the whole practical end of living. The 
 honest purpose and endeavor to do so puts every- 
 one on an equal footing of worthiness. It is the 
 secret of acceptable goodness, and the secret also 
 of happiness. All true 'happiness, all that is worth 
 the name, lies in a harmony between the spirit of 
 our life and the duties of our place in life. 
 
 One of the pleasantest sights of serene happi- 
 ness I ever saw was an old woman, whose life was 
 narrowed down and restricted by infirmity to the sole 
 activity of sitting in an arm-chair by the fireside of a 
 humble dwelling and knitting and mending the 
 stockings of the children and grandchildren that 
 could play and work. Thankful for the arm-chair 
 and the clean-swept hearth, she passed her con- 
 tented and cheerful days in doing well what she 
 could do. To me that old arm-chair was trans- 
 
WHAT TO LIVE FOR. 15 
 
 figured to a throne of glory more to be envied 
 than an imperial throne filled by a selfish, ambitious 
 monarch, and a divine radiance invested its occu- 
 pant and all her homely implements and humble 
 industry that outshone the glitter and the glare of 
 golden sceptres and jewelled swords of state. 
 
 To do our duty well — whatever it be, whether to^ 
 sweep the streets, to saw wood, or grind knives, 
 whatever lowliest work it be — to do it well, to do- 
 it in a sense of duty, unites us to the Highest One 
 by a bond that nothing can break, gains us a posi- 
 tion in the infinite spiritual universe, from which 
 nothing can cast us down. We may not have 
 received ten talents, nor two, nor even one, but 
 only a very small fraction of one. No matter, if 
 faithful, we shall live to just as good a purpose, so 
 far as our worthiness is concerned, as though we 
 had a million talents and improved them all. The 
 poorest cobbler who, in a dutiful spirit, out of love 
 to God and man, does the work of his calling, is 
 just as acceptable as the righteous ruler of the 
 greatest kingdom on the earth, just as acceptable 
 as the highest archangel that stands before the 
 Throne of the universe, or flies on flaming wings 
 to carry the orders of his Sovereign to the armies 
 of Heaven that have their stations among the stars. 
 — C. S. Henry. 
 
 To do our duty in that station of life into which 
 it has pleased God to call us, is the infinite thing to* 
 live for : which is full of blessed realities in the pres- 
 ent, and prophetic of an ever-brightening future, 
 
16 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 11 Forgetting those things which are behind," how- 
 ever pleasant they have been, the diligent doer of 
 duty has but one aim, and that is to press for- 
 ward. 
 
 Every young man, as he stands on the threshold 
 of life, preparing to step forward into the vague, 
 uncertain future, may take to his heart the trumpet- 
 like words of Saint Simon: "L'age d'or, qu'une 
 aveugle tradition a place jusqiiici dans la passe, 
 .est devant nous" — (The golden age, which a blind 
 tradition has hitherto placed in the past, is before 
 us). What has been possible to our fellows is 
 possible to us, and something, perhaps, which never 
 was by them achieved. Hope is ours, and love, 
 and truth, and honor ; high aspiration and earnest 
 prayer ; the consciousness of a battle well fought 
 and a victory well won. The race may be a long 
 one, and the way rugged and thorny, but mayhap 
 there are flowers in many a bosky nook, and we 
 shall feel, though we may not discern, the presence 
 of the angels like a soundless wind on a summer 
 sea. We have only to take heart and work. We 
 know the conditions of success — diligence and pa- 
 tience, and a firm purpose and a lofty aim, self-reli- 
 ance, courage, self-denial, self-elevation. These are 
 within our reach if we submit to the necessary dis- 
 cipline. And why should we not ? Is not this life 
 the vestibule of eternity, and shall we neglect or 
 despise it as a thing worthless and wearisome ? Do 
 we not know it to be the training place of our spir- 
 itual nature ? Do we not know that the faculties 
 
WHAT TO LIVE FOR. 17 
 
 cultivated here will grow into a glorious fruition 
 hereafter ? Ah, the nobleness of labor ! How it 
 develops the thought, how it braces up the soul, 
 how it crushes back the evil impulse ! When we 
 bethink ourselves of the pleasure it yields, of the 
 moral elevation which it involves, we are lost in 
 wonder at the infatuation of the fools who idly turn 
 from it to expend their lives in luxurious indulgence. 
 But when we speak of labor we mean something 
 more than the occupation of the business day, some- 
 thing more than the toil that properly belongs to 
 our respective callings; we mean that general pro- 
 cess of culture by which mind, soul and body alike 
 are benefited ; we mean all that assiduous prepara- 
 tion and finish which carefully occupies the hours 
 not devoted to amusement or repose. Our com- 
 plex humanity has many sides, all of which demand 
 our assiduous vigilance ; this vigilance we regard as 
 part and parcel of our daily duty. — W. H. D. 
 Adams. 
 
 Two men I honor, and no third. First, the toil- 
 worn craftsman that with earth-made implement 
 laboriously conquers the earth and makes her 
 man's. Venerable to me is the hard hand, crooked, 
 coarse, wherein notwithstanding lies a cunning vir- 
 tue, indefeasibly royal, as if the sceptre of this 
 
 planet Toil on, toil on ; thou 
 
 art in thy duty, be out of it who may ; thou toilest 
 for the altogether indispensable, for daily bread. 
 
 A second man I honor, and still more highly : 
 .him who is seen toiling for the spiritually indispen- 
 
IS IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 sable, not daily bread, but the bread of life. Is not 
 he, too, in his duty ; endeavoring towards inward 
 harmony ; revealing this by act or by word, through 
 all his outward endeavors, be they high or low. 
 Highest of all, when his outward and his inward 
 endeavors are one ; when we can name him artist ; 
 not earthly craftsman only, but inspired thinker, who 
 with heaven-made implement conquers heaven for 
 us ! — Carlyle. 
 
 JPttrsitH ofj i\t %fod* 
 
 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, 
 
 Fair as the moon, 
 
 Clear as the sun, 
 
 And terrible as an army with banners ? 
 
 — Song of Solomon, tv. io» 
 
 ,J)NE who holds my heart forever, 
 <2x^ And I bless her night and day: 
 Night and day where'er I wander, 
 She is ever on my way. 
 
 Tender maiden, watchful maiden, 
 
 Friend to me she is alway, 
 And with countenance angelic 
 
 All my baser thoughts doth fray. 
 
PURSUIT OF THE IDEAL. 19, 
 
 Now she chides me and she guides me, 
 
 If by chance I go astray: 
 Then she scorns me and she warns me, 
 
 If to rest my head I lay. 
 
 Purer than the virgin dew-drops, 
 
 And more beautiful than they, 
 Clothed she is in lily-meekness 
 
 And a youth forever May. 
 
 Who would not rejoice to woo her, 
 
 Who is clad in such array? 
 Who would not rejoice to win her, 
 
 Who may never know decay? 
 
 Fairer maiden, rarer maiden, 
 
 Poet never may portray ; 
 Purer maiden, truer maiden, 
 
 Never dwelt in mortal clay. 
 
 And such charms she always weareth, 
 
 And so modest to display ! 
 Oh my airy, fairy maiden 
 
 Over me hath perfect sway ! 
 
 Should King Oberon, the Fairy, 
 
 Haply from his kingdom stray, 
 And be questioned if he love her, 
 
 He could never answer nay ; 
 
 Such his eager heart to woo her, 
 And her to his realm convey, 
 
20 J DEALS OF J JFK. 
 
 Where her beauty would enthrone her 
 Queen of every elf and fay. 
 
 Oh, her smile to me is better 
 Than the sparkle of Tokay, 
 
 And the sweetness of her silence 
 Than all harems of Cathay. 
 
 But. ah me ! she e'er so coy is — 
 And I always hate delay — 
 
 Oft my heart grows dark within me, 
 Void of hope's celestial ray. 
 
 For when I would fain embrace her, 
 
 Blushingly she flits away, 
 Darting, glancing like a sunbeam, 
 
 As if mocking my dismay ; 
 
 Leaving me, and then returning, 
 Like the sunlight in the spray ; 
 
 And my soul is half distracted 
 With such Tantalus-survey. 
 
 Why will not the cruel maiden 
 Once my beauty- thirst allay? 
 
 Doth she stoop at last to vengeance, 
 Dooming me a castaway ? 
 
 Airy maiden, fairy maiden, 
 
 Do not keep me thus at bay ; 
 
 Linger yet a little, maiden ; 
 Maiden, yet a little stay. 
 
PURSUIT OF THE IDEAL. 21 
 
 Ah, she will not deign to listen, 
 
 Though I sue and I inveigh ; 
 Ah, she will not deiom to listen 
 
 Doth she, then, my love repay ? 
 
 If I ask her if she love me, 
 
 Blushing, she will nothing say, 
 Nothing answer to convince me, 
 
 Nothing, neither nay or yea. 
 
 But retreating, softly fleeting, 
 
 Like a rainbow, heavenly gay, 
 She doth call me, she doth call me, 
 
 And I cannot but obey. 
 
 And as bold and eager -hearted 
 
 As a school -boy, who at play 
 Bright -hued butterflies in chasing 
 
 O'er the fragrant, new -mown hay, 
 
 Vexed, successless, yet determined 
 
 On the capture of his prey, 
 Which allures him and eludes him, 
 
 Follow softly as he may ; 
 
 I pursue my airy maiden 
 
 From the morning twilight grey, 
 
 Till the mists of evening gather, 
 And no conquest doth defray 
 
 All my yearnings and my heart- beats, 
 For she every art doth slay. 
 
22 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Yet with new and light endeavor, 
 To allure her I essay, 
 
 Purposing no base inaction 
 And no sluggard's welaway, 
 
 Till I touch the happy altar, 
 
 Crowned on with the fadeless bay. 
 
 And I think my heart grows better, 
 And I count not what I pay 
 
 For the airy chase and earthly, 
 Where she seemeth to betray ; 
 
 For I feel if here I never 
 Win my maiden, as I pray, 
 
 I shall in yon sphere eternal 
 Prosper in her love for aye ; 
 
 Where the splendor of the virgin 
 Satisfies the heart straightway, 
 
 And all work is but the rhythm 
 Of a blessed holiday, 
 
 But the worship and the freedom 
 
 Of a blessed holy -day; 
 And the rhyme that never changes, 
 
 Fringes the Celestial Lay. 
 
 Too late did I love Thee, O Fairness, so ancient 
 and yet so new ! Too late did I love Thee ! For 
 behold, Thou wert within, and I without, and there 
 did I seek Thee ; I, unlovely, rushed heedlessly 
 
PURSUIT OF THE IDEAL. 23 
 
 among the things of beauty Thou madest. Thou 
 wert with me, but I was not with Thee. Those 
 things kept me from Thee, which, unless they 
 were in Thee, were not. Thou calledst, and 
 criedest aloud, and forcedst open my deafness. 
 Thou didst gleam and shine, and chase away my 
 blindness. Thou didst exhale odors, and I drew 
 in my breath, and do pant after Thee. I tasted, 
 and do hunger and thirst. Thou didst teach me, 
 and I burn for Thy peace. — St. Augustine. 
 
 The Situation that has not its Duty, its Ideal, 
 was never yet occupied by man. Yes here, in 
 this poor, miserable, hampered, despicable Actual, 
 wherein thou even now standest, here or nowhere 
 is thy Ideal : work it out therefrom ; and working, 
 believe, live, be free. Fool ! the Ideal is in thyself, 
 the impediment, too, is in thyself: thy Condition is 
 but the stuff thou art to shape that same Ideal out 
 of: what matters whether such stuff be of this sort 
 or that, so the Form thou give it be heroic, be po- 
 etic ? O, thou that pinest in the imprisonment of 
 the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a 
 kingdom wherein to rule and create, know this of 
 a truth : the thing thou seekest is already with 
 thee, " here or nowhere," couldst thou only see i — 
 Carlyle. 
 
 We cannot understand the Actual of a character 
 or system without in some degree entering into its 
 Ideal. — Miss Greenwell. 
 
 All visible greatness grows in looking at an in- 
 visible that is greater. — James Martineau. 
 
24 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 lilt 
 
 H 
 
 yl?HE petty Done, the Undone vast 
 **^ So once a Poet sung, 
 By both the Present and the Past 
 Upraided, goaded, stung. 
 
 And it were well if all had eyes 
 
 To see the Infinite, 
 Humbled, exalted, and grown wise 
 
 In all-enfolding light. 
 
 And it were well if all 'had pain 
 Which passes human speech, 
 
 In view of all there is to gain, 
 Not yet within their reach. 
 
 But eyes and pain with valiant heart, 
 Abashed by no "Too late," 
 
 To choose Eternal Duty's part 
 
 Where no accusers wait. — 
 
 Duty ! wondrous thought, that workest neither 
 by fond insinuation, flattery, nor by any threat, but 
 merely by holding up thy naked law in the soul, and 
 so extorting for thyself always reverence, if not 
 always obedience ; before whom all appetites are 
 dumb, however secretly they rebel. — Kant. 
 
 Duty is far more than love. It is the upholding 
 law through which the weakest become strong, with- 
 
DUTY. 25. 
 
 out which all strength is unstable as water. No 
 character, however harmoniously framed and glori- 
 ously gifted, can be complete without this abiding 
 principle : it is the cement which binds the whole 
 moral edifice together, without which all power, 
 goodness, intellect, truth, happiness, love itself, can 
 have no permanence ; but all the fabric of existence 
 crumbles away from under us, and leaves us at last 
 sitting" in the midst of a ruin, — astonished at our 
 own desolation. — Mrs. Jameson. 
 
 Duty is based upon a sense of justice — -justice 
 inspired by love, which is the most perfect form of 
 goodness. Duty is not a sentiment, but a principle 
 pervading the life: and it exhibits itself in conduct 
 and in acts, which are mainly determined by man's 
 conscience and freewill. — Smiles. 
 
 Everybody ought to have a flag — something sa- 
 cred, something to live by and die by, convictions 
 that one is not only not ashamed of, but counts it 
 an honor and a glory to avow. Everybody should 
 carry his flag aloft and unfurled^ ready to main- 
 tain and defend it, to suffer and to die for it if need 
 be. The man who has no flag, or does not carry it 
 unfurled where duty, honor and manliness bid him 
 do so, is a thoroughly base and mean man. He is 
 fit neither to live nor to die. So far from havino- 
 anything heroic in him, he lacks the essential ingre- 
 dients of tolerable respectability of character. What 
 is the worth of a man who does not prefer duty to 
 life ? Just nothing at all, or at best he is good for 
 nothing but to eat, drink, make money perhaps, and 
 
26 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 then moulchr to dust. Thousands of men and 
 women — soldiers, sailors, medical men, fathers, 
 mothers, nurses — do their duty every day in peril 
 of their lives. They are not canonized for it, but 
 they would be thought meanly of if they did it not.' 
 How universally the cowardice that shrinks from 
 dangerous duty is despised. — C. S. Henry. 
 
 Remember your honor, which raises you above 
 fortune and above kings ; by that alone, and not" by 
 the splendor of titles, is glory acquired — that glory 
 which it will be your happiness and pride to trans- 
 mit unspotted to your posterity. — Vittoria Co- 
 lonna. 
 
 My brother, the brave man has to give his Life 
 away. Give it, i advise thee ; — thou dost not ex- 
 pect to sell thy Life in an adequate manner ? What 
 price, for example, would content thee? The just 
 price of thy Life to thee, — why, God's entire Crea- 
 tion to thyself, the whole Universe of Space, the 
 whole Eternity of Time, and what they hold : that 
 is the price which would content thee ; that, and if 
 thou wilt be candid, nothing short of that ! It is thy 
 all ; and for it thou wouldst have all. Thou art an 
 unreasonable mortal ; — or, rather, thou art a poor, 
 infinite mortal, who, in thy narrow clay-prison here, 
 seemest so unreasonable ! Thou wilt never sell thy 
 Life, or any part of thy Life, in a satisfactory man- 
 ner. Give it, like a royal heart; let the price be 
 nothing : thou hast then, in a certain sense, got All 
 for it ! — Carlyle. 
 
 I become more and more alive to the happiness 
 
WORK. 27 
 
 which consists in the fulfillment of Duty, I believe 
 there is no other so deep and so real. There is 
 only one great object in the world which deserves 
 our efforts, and that is, the good of mankind. — De 
 
 TOCQUEVILLE. 
 
 " The word Duty," said George Wilson, a dis- 
 tinguished professor in the University of Edinburgh, 
 when almost worn out in faithful work, " The word 
 Duty seems to me the biggest word in the world, 
 and is uppermost in ail my serious doings." . 
 
 mm 
 
 k 
 
 m\ LITTLE birds of grace, 
 <2x ^ How in my work ye sing ! 
 Ye make my heart your nesting - place, 
 And all your gladness bring. 
 
 When ye are in my heart, 
 How swiftly pass the days ! 
 
 The fears and doubts of life depart 
 And leave the room to praise. 
 
 My work I find like play, 
 And all day long rejoice ; 
 
28 IDEALS OF LIFE, 
 
 But if I linger on my way, 
 I hear this warning voice : 
 
 With fervor work and pray, 
 And let not coldness come ; 
 
 Or birds of grace will fly away 
 To seek a warmer home. 
 
 We enjoy ourselves only in our work, in our 
 doings ; and our best doing is our best enjoyment. 
 — Jacobi. 
 
 I have fire-proof, perennial enjoyments, called 
 employments. — Richter. 
 
 Wouldst thou discover Nature's true path to 
 happiness ? Listen to her first command : Labor ! 
 The hours fly swiftly to him who has daily occu- 
 pation ; a lifetime creeps slowly away with the idle. 
 — Leopold. 
 
 All the virtues and joys of life grow up in labor; 
 only through labor does a human being become 
 truly a man. . . . Work and love, — these are 
 the body and soul of human being ; happy is he 
 with whom they are one. — Auerbach. 
 
 The very exercise of industry immediately in 
 itself is delightful, and hath an innate satisfaction 
 which tempereth all annoyance, and even ingratia- 
 teth the pains going with it. — Barrow. 
 
 It sweeteneth our enjoyments, and seasoneth 
 our attainments with a delightful relish. — Barrow. 
 
 Is the world a great harmonious organ, where 
 all parts are played, and where all play parts : and 
 must thou alone sit and hear it ? — Dr. Donne. 
 
WORK. 29 
 
 There is no spirituality at all without use. 
 Spirituality begins, continues, and culminates in 
 use. To be genuinely useful, in any way, is to be 
 so far spiritual. To be nobly, comprehensively, 
 humanly useful, is to be spiritual in a grand way. 
 O. B. Frothingham. 
 
 Work in every hour, paid or unpaid. See only 
 that thou work, and thou canst not escape the reward. 
 Whether thy work be fine or coarse, planting corn 
 or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to 
 thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to the 
 senses as well as to the thoughts. The reward of a 
 thing well done is to have done it. — Emerson. 
 
 A man should inure himself to voluntary labor, 
 and should not give up to indulgence and pleasure ; 
 as they beget no good constitution of body, nor 
 knowledge of the mind. — Socrates. 
 
 Employment, which Galen calls " nature's physi- 
 cian," is so essential to human happiness that indo- 
 lence is justly considered the mother of misery. — 
 Robert Burton. 
 
 The wise prove, and the foolish confess, by their 
 conduct, that a life of employment is the only life 
 worth leading. — Paley. 
 
£0 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Hjork tmb llfarsljrjt. 
 
 |7[?0 labor is to pray, 
 ^ As some dear saint has said ; 
 And with this truth for many a day 
 Have I been comforted. 
 
 The Lord has made me bold 
 When I have labored most, 
 
 And with His gifts so manifold 
 Has given the Holy Ghost. 
 
 When I have idle been 
 Until the sun went down, 
 
 Mine eyes so dim have never seen 
 His bright, prophetic crown. 
 
 O praise the Lord for work 
 Which maketh time so fleet, 
 
 In which accusers never lurk, 
 
 Whose end is very sweet. - 
 
 There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacred- 
 ness, in Work. Were he never so benighted, for- 
 getful of his high calling, there is always hope in a 
 man that actually and earnestly works : in Idleness 
 alone is there perpetual despair. Work, never so 
 Mammonish, mean, is in communication with Na- 
 ture ; the real desire to get Work done will itself 
 
" When I have idle been 
 Until the sun went down, 
 
 Mine eyes so dim have never seen 
 His bright, prophetic crown." 
 
WORK AND WORSHIP. 31 
 
 lead one more and more to truth, to Nature's ap- 
 pointments and regulations, which are truth. 
 
 The latest Gospel in this world is, Know thy 
 work and do it. 'Know thyself:' long enough has 
 that poor 'self of thine tormented thee; thou wilt 
 never get to ' know ' it, I believe ! Think it not thy 
 business, this of knowing thyself; thou art an un- 
 knowable individual : know what thou canst work 
 at ; and work at it, like a Hercules ! That will be 
 thy better plan. 
 
 It has been written, 'an endless significance lies 
 in Work ; ' a man perfects himself by working. 
 Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields rise 
 instead, and stately cities ; and withal the man him- 
 self first ceases to be a jungle and foul, unwhole- 
 some desert thereby. Consider how, even in the 
 meanest sorts of Labor, the whole soul of a man is 
 composed into a kind of real harmony the instant 
 he sets himself to work ! Doubt, Desire, Sorrow, 
 Remorse, Indignation, Despair itself, all these, like 
 hell-dogs, lie beleaguering the soul of the poor day- 
 worker as of every man ; but he bends himself 
 with free valor against his task, and all these are 
 stilled, all these shrink murmuring far off into their 
 caves. The man is now a man. The blessed glow 
 of Labor in him, is it not as purifying fire, wherein 
 all poison is burnt up, and of sour smoke itself there 
 is made bright, blessed flame ! — Carlyle. 
 
 All true Work is Religion : and whatsoever Re- 
 ligion is not Work may go and dwell among the 
 Brahmins, Antinomians, Spinning Dervishes, or 
 
32 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 where it will ; with me it shall have no harbor. 
 Admirable was that of the old Monks, ' Labor are 
 est Orare' (Work is Worship). — Carlyle. 
 
 All true Work is sacred ; in all true Work, were 
 it but true hand labor, there is something of divine- 
 ness. Labor, wide as the Earth, has its summit in 
 Heaven. Sweat of the brow ; and up from that to 
 sweat of the brain, sweat of the heart, which in- 
 cludes all Kepler calculations, Newton meditations, 
 all Sciences, all spoken Epics, all acted Heroisms, 
 Martyrdoms, — up to that ' Agony of bloody sweat,' 
 which all men have called divine ! O, brother, if 
 this is not 'worship,' then, I say, the more pity for 
 worship ; for this is the noblest thing yet discov- 
 ered under God's sky. Who art thou that corn- 
 plainest of thy life of toil ? Complain not. Look 
 up, my wearied brother ; see thy fellow- workmen 
 there, in God's Eternity ; surviving there, they 
 alone surviving ; sacred Band of the Immortals, 
 celestial Bodyguard of the Empire of Mankind. — 
 Carlyle. 
 
 * 
 
 Jftfe-^o^L 
 
 f^ES, I have found the work at last 
 "^ Which Providence alone forecast; 
 
LIFE- WOHK. 33 
 
 And nevermore for me is rest, 
 Save when I labor at my best. 
 
 Dear younger brother, wouldst thou know 
 The way the Master loves to show 
 His will and wish? The search is vain, 
 Unless it be through toil and pain. 
 
 There is no easy lesson here 
 Where wisdom lingers many a year. 
 Most their vocation never know, 
 Since wisdom comes so slow, so slow ! 
 
 Discerning not the will of God, 
 They walk the way the fathers trod, 
 And He who marks the sparrow's fall, 
 Observes His lowly children all. 
 
 But thou of hunger hast the smart 
 Pent up within a conscious heart. 
 God's providence is speaking there, 
 Telling what thou shouldst do and dare. 
 
 Be bold to heed the silent voice 
 And crucify each meaner choice ; 
 Or else forever lose the place 
 Assigned thee in the realm of Grace. 
 
 God speaks not many times to those 
 To whom His will He would disclose. 
 Have they, alas, no ears to hear, 
 No more, no more He draweth near. 
 
34 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 He needs thee not against thy will, 
 Thy little place His hand can fill. 
 From stones can He, of old I AM, 
 Raise children unto Abraham. 
 
 So thou, thy work to know and do, 
 Must unto Providence be true, 
 And heed the signals and the signs, 
 Although the light but dimly shines. 
 
 What though the signs are not so plain 
 As to shut out all doubt and pain ? 
 The doubt and pain will not grow less 
 While thou remain'st in idleness. 
 
 What if the signals be but faint, 
 And in thy heart there is complaint? 
 Ah, they will all the fainter be 
 During thine inactivity. 
 
 When once the signal voice is heard, 
 And the unfathomed heart is stirred 
 To action, we have found the way 
 Where life is greater than to-day, 
 
 (However vast its treasures be) 
 And boldly claims eternity. 
 Henceforth we no more reckon worth 
 By the arithmetic of earth. 
 
 The great is small, the small is great, 
 Often in after estimate, 
 
LIFE-WORK. 35 
 
 And nobler aims and visions rise 
 What time we see with other eyes. 
 
 "Hast thou despised the little things ? 
 Know thou the smallest duty brings 
 A prophecy of coming time, 
 For thee ignoble or sublime. 
 
 The gifts of God thou dost not use, 
 Little or great, thou dost abuse. 
 What if — the forfeit comes at last — 
 From thee be taken what thou hast ? 
 
 Thy sacred trusts each day increase : 
 Evening shall bring a psalm of peace, 
 And in a broader circle shine 
 The lantern of the Word Divine. 
 
 The blessed things of God no more 
 Shall be as shadow, as before, 
 But real, precious, and sublime, 
 To grow more fair by use and time. 
 
 Stand still, the darkness on thy track 
 Pushes no more its column back. 
 Halt not, the light gleams wide and far, 
 And thine is an unsetting- star. 
 
 There always will be clouds. Thy mark 
 May sometimes vanish in the dark. 
 What then ? Wilt thou at this despair ? 
 It is thy trial — oh beware ! 
 
36 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Renew thy faltering zeal and trust 
 The Lord, O creature of the dust. 
 Young faith will perish in the night, 
 If thou dost only walk by sight. 
 
 Without the sun, the air, the earth, 
 The seed comes not unto its birth ; 
 Its hidden power of life will die, 
 Or dormant in its prison lie. 
 
 Without the word and deed, the thought 
 Is to no blessed uses brought, 
 But quickly withers from the soul, 
 Evanishing beyond control. 
 
 Act to the purpose of thy heart, 
 And Providence, with wondrous art, 
 Shall fashion it to beauty there, 
 Transmuting all thy work and prayer, 
 
 Till it shall come to be thy life, 
 Grown strong in every manly strife, 
 And, when the time is ripe, approve 
 Thee for the Master's work of love. — 
 
 If you desire to represent the various parts in 
 life by holes in a table of different shapes, — some 
 circular, some triangular, some square, some oblong 
 — and the persons acting these parts by bits of 
 wood of similar shapes, we shall generally find 
 that the triangular person has got into the square 
 hole, the oblong into the triangular, while the 
 
LIFE-WORK. 37 
 
 square person has squeezed himself into the round 
 hole. — Sydney Smith. 
 
 The errors committed in the choice of a voca- 
 tion are sometimes amusing, or would be so if we 
 could forget how serious might have been their 
 consequences. The parents of Claude Lorraine, 
 who divides with our own Turner the supremacy 
 in landscape - painting, would have made him a 
 pastry-cook! His brother was a little keener of 
 insight, for he took him from the pastry-cook's 
 into his own shop, a wood-carver's ; and in this 
 kind of work there was at least more room for 
 the development of his artistic faculty. Turner 
 was intended by his father for the respectable 
 but inglorious trade of a barber. One day, how- 
 ever, a design of a coat-of-arms w T hich the boy 
 had scratched on a silver salver attracted the at- 
 tention of a customer whom his father was shav- 
 ing, and he was so struck by its promise that 
 he strongly recommended the latter not to inter- 
 fere with his son's evident bias. The lover of 
 art almost shudders at the thought of what the 
 world would have lost had Claude continued a 
 pastry - cook, and Turner shaved the bristling 
 chins of his father's patrons. — W. H. D. Adams. 
 
 No doubt parents and guardians have often 
 made mistakes ; but far more numerous have 
 been the mistakes of young men whom an im- 
 prudent ambition or a greed of gain has led into 
 paths they were incompetent to tread success- 
 fully. As a rule, it is always best to accept and 
 
38 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 act upon the advice of our elders. The avoca- 
 tion may be uncongenial, and after a while it may 
 appear plainly unsuitable. It will then be open 
 to us to seize the first opportunity of choosing 
 another career, if this can be done without injury. 
 Intarrces there will always be, similar to those we 
 have already set before the reader, of a strong 
 and masterful talent asserting itself in the face of 
 every discouragement, and seeking and finding 
 its natural and legitimate outlet. But let us re- 
 member with humility that such talent is given to 
 very few, and with gratitude that Heaven esti- 
 mates our life-work not by its brilliancy but by 
 its honesty. If we do our duty, it matters not 
 whether we be the leaders in the fore front of 
 the battle, or only the rank and file. In fixing 
 upon a pursuit, let us, therefore, be guided by 
 nobler thoughts than those of ambition, emulation 
 or envy. Let us bethink ourselves of the old 
 saying that the greatest man is he who chooses 
 right with the most unconquerable resolution ; who 
 withstands the sorest temptations within and with- 
 out ; who patiently bears the weightiest burdens ; 
 who is calmest in the storm, and most fearless 
 under frown and menace; whose faith in truth, 
 in virtue, in God, is most unfaltering. We can- 
 not all be great sculptors, painters, musicians, 
 men of letters or successful merchants or wealthy 
 manufacturers. The dishonor and the failure do 
 not lie in the choice of a lowly trade, or even in 
 the unfortunate selection of the wrong vocation; 
 
LIFE- WORK. 39 
 
 they lie in our not doing the work before us 
 with all our might. It is no disgrace to be a 
 shoemaker ; but it is a shame for a shoemaker 
 to make bad shoes. — W. H. D. Adams. 
 
 " Blessed is he," says Carlyle, " who found his 
 work," and, it should be added, who resists all 
 temptations and persuasions to abandon it. For 
 a man's true work is as sacred as his life ; and 
 should never be relinquished but with his life. 
 The following parable is a good illustration : — 
 
 There were, once upon a time, two men who 
 were friends, but whose characters and pursuits 
 in life were different. The one was a lover of 
 Beauty, the other a lover, as he said, of Use. 
 The latter had given up his life to "practical 
 purposes ; " he had built houses for the poor, he 
 had arranged the sanitary measures of a city, he 
 had visited the prisons and hospitals, and had 
 toiled to save disease and crime. And his char- 
 acter and strength were suited to this work, so 
 that he did it well. 
 
 The other had spent his life in examining the 
 Beautiful ; he had studied its laws in nature and 
 art, and he devoted himself in retirement to ex- 
 pressing what he had discovered in the most 
 beautiful manner possible : his enthusiasm pushed 
 him to think that men would be interested in his 
 work, and his aim was to awaken in the world 
 the love of Beauty by giving a high and noble 
 pleasure. He did not care to teach morality as 
 the first thine, but to make beautiful things fa- 
 
40 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 miliar ; and by bringing these beautiful things 
 before men, to refine imaginations not as yet re- 
 fined, till they could see the more ideal beauty. 
 This being his work, and his character and phy- 
 sical temper being suited to it, he did it well, 
 and he did nothing else. He did not visit the 
 poor, nor was he seen in hospitals. His money 
 was spent on beautiful things such as he wanted 
 for his work, not on sanitary improvements and 
 model cottages. 
 
 With this life and with this expenditure his 
 friend became angry. ' What !' he said, ' will 
 you make poems while famine is making death ? 
 The poor are perishing ; God's children are be- 
 ing done to death ; disease and crime are de- 
 vouring the nation, and you sit still in your 
 poetic and artistic leisure, producing only words. 
 Throw away all this useless work, attack evil, 
 expose oppression, cleanse the foul dwelling, see 
 and realize what poverty and pain mean. To 
 what purpose is this waste ? Those things which 
 you call beautiful might be sold for much money 
 and given to the poor.' So he spake in his dark 
 anger ; and the spirit of his friend was moved, 
 and he went forth to the rude work of the 
 world. It sickened and dismayed him ; his poet- 
 ical power went from him ; his faculty for reveal- 
 ing the Beautiful passed away ; his delicacy and 
 sympathy caused him to break down in contact 
 with crime and disease. He tried hard, but it 
 was a failure ; his life was ruined and no good 
 
LIFE-WORK. 41 
 
 was done. He could not do his friends work, 
 and trying to do it, he ceased to be able to do 
 his own. — Stopford A. Brooke. 
 
 It may be proved, with much certainty, that 
 God intends no man to live in this world without 
 working ; but it seems to me no less evident that 
 he intends every man to be happy in his work. 
 It is written " in the sweat of thy brow," but it 
 was never written " in the breaking of thy heart," 
 thou shalt eat bread : and I find that, as on the 
 one hand infinite misery is caused by idle people, 
 who both fail in doing what was appointed for 
 them to do, and set in motion certain springs of 
 mischief in matters in which they should have had 
 no concern, so on the other hand, no small 
 misery is caused by over-worked and unhappy 
 people, in the dark views which they necessarily 
 take up themselves, and force upon others, of 
 work itself. Were it not so, I believe the fact of 
 their being unhappy is in itself a violation of di- 
 vine law, and a sign of some kind of folly or sin 
 in their way of life. Now in order that people 
 may be happy in their work, these three things 
 are needed : they must be fit for it ; they must 
 not do too much of it; and they must have a 
 sense of success in it — not a doubtful sense such 
 as needs some testimony of other people for its 
 confirmation, but a sure sense, or rather know- 
 ledge, that so much work has been done well, 
 and faithfully done, whatever the world may think 
 or say about it. So that in order that a man 
 4 
 
42 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 may be happy, it is necessary that he should not 
 only be capable of his work, but a good judge of 
 his work. — Ruskin. 
 
 Sottamlrslmm 
 
 f )pO eyes that see what is divine, 
 ^> A -heaven-appointed work is mine 
 Naught else have I the power to do, 
 And keep the sense of being true. • 
 
 For when I sometimes turn aside, 
 The still small voice is sure to chide 
 And resolutely call me back : 
 Peace will not leave her chosen track. 
 
 My lowly work I need not name, 
 Which has for thee, perhaps, no claim 
 Some other work belongs to thee, 
 In which thou canst be true and free. 
 
 That work alone pursue — pursue 
 Until the earth shall fade from view ; 
 And thy devotion will insure 
 The daily triumphs that endure. 
 
 Wise concentration of purpose on a single 
 
CONCENTRATION. 43 
 
 object made Faraday a great chemist. When an 
 apprentice in a book -binder's shop, he devoted 
 his scanty leisure to the acquisition of the knowl- 
 edge for which his soul thirsted. In the hours 
 after work he learned the beginnings of his phi- 
 losophy from the books given him to bind. 
 There were two that helped him materially, the 
 " Encyclopaedia Britannica," from which he gained 
 his first notions of electricity, and Mrs. Marcet's 
 " Conversations in Chemistry," which afforded an 
 introduction to that science of wonders. In time 
 he obtained his master's permission to attend a 
 series of scientific lectures at a Mr. Tatum's, and 
 afterwards, through the kindness of a gentleman 
 who had noticed and admired his remarkable in- 
 dustry and intelligence, he was present at the 
 last four public lectures of Sir Humphry Davy. 
 "The eager student sat in the gallery, just over 
 the clock, and took copious notes of the Profes- 
 sor's explanation of radiant matter, chlorine, 
 simple inflammables and metals, while he watched 
 the experiments that were performed. Afterwards 
 he wrote the lectures fairly out in a quarto vol- 
 ume that is still preserved ; first, the theoretical 
 portions, then the experiments with drawings, 
 and finally an index." Sending these notes to 
 Sir Humphry Davy, with a letter explaining 
 his intense attachment to scientific research, he 
 was offered the post of. assistant in the laboratory 
 of the Royal Institution of London. Gladly he 
 accepted it, with its weekly wage of twenty-five 
 
44 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 shillings and the advantage of a room in the 
 house. Thenceforward his career was assured ; 
 but it must be remembered that the renown 
 which gilded it was won by Faraday's unwav- 
 ering pursuit of a single end. — Adams. 
 
 A concentration of energy and talent upon 
 the object which it is most important for us to 
 secure, implies no absolute disregard of every 
 other. Because a traveller presses forward reso- 
 lutely to the desired haven, and refuses to wan- 
 der from the direct road, it by no means follows 
 that he shall have no eyes for the blossoms that 
 shine by the wayside, no ears for the music of 
 the brook that ripples through the bracken. An 
 indifference to everything that brightens or en- 
 nobles life is very apt to militate against success 
 — success, that is, of the highest and purest 
 kind. Because Faraday made chemistry his great 
 pursuit, he did not neglect every other branch 
 of science. Because John Stuart Mill gave him- 
 self up chiefly to political economy and meta- 
 physical inquiry, he did not deny himself the 
 sweet pleasures of botany and music. — Adams. 
 
 Just as the general who scatters his soldiers 
 all about the country ensures defeat, so does he 
 whose attention is forever diffused through such 
 innumerable channels that it can never gather 
 in force on any one point. The human mind, in 
 short, resembles a burning-glass, whose rays are 
 intense only as they are concentrated. As the 
 glass burns only when its light is conveyed to 
 
PRUDENCE. 45 
 
 the focal point, so the former illumines the world 
 of science, literature, or business, only when it is 
 directed to a solitary object. Or, to take an- 
 other illustration, what is more powerless than 
 the scattered clouds of steam as they rise in the 
 sky ! They are as impotent as the dewdrops 
 that fall nightly upon the earth ; but concen- 
 trated and condensed in a steam-boiler, they are 
 able to cut through solid rock, to move moun- 
 tains into the sea, and to bring the Antipodes 
 to our doors. — Anonymous. 
 
 3?ritb*m& 
 
 [E prudent, yet be not afraid ; 
 No ghost by fear was ever laid, 
 Nor any mountain made a plain. 
 With bold and prudent step advance 
 Without one thought of luck or chance, 
 Success will follow in thy train. 
 
 If Prudence but impart her skill, 
 The legions of the mighty Will 
 
 Can storm the gates of Paradise : 
 Who has them fighting on his side 
 Will from the field in triumph ride, 
 
 Though all the world against him rise. 
 
46 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Prudence is the combination of wisdom, rea- 
 son, discretion, and common sense ; the offspring 
 of a clear head, a correct judgment, and a good 
 heart. It regards the past, the present, and the 
 future ; time and eternity ; never shrinks from 
 known duty ; acts with coolness and decision ; 
 investigates impartiality, reasons correctly, and 
 condemns reluctantly. The prudent man meets 
 the dispensations of Providence calmly ; views 
 mankind in the clear sunshine of charity ; is 
 guided by the golden rule in his dealings ; cher- 
 ishes universal philanthropy ; and soars, in peer- 
 less majesty, above the trifling vanities and cor- 
 rupting vices of the world, and lives in constant 
 readiness to enter the mansions of bliss beyond 
 this vale of tears. It is not the consequent re- 
 sult of shining talents, brilliant genius or great 
 learning. It has been truly said by Dr. Young, 
 and demonstrated by thousands, With the talents 
 of an angel, a man may be a fool. A profound 
 scholar may astonish the world with his scientific 
 researches and discoveries ; pour upon mankind 
 a flood of light ; illuminate and enrapture the 
 immortal mind with the beauties of expounded 
 revelation ; point erring man to the path of recti- 
 tude ; direct the anxious mind to the Saviour's 
 love ; and render himself powerless in the cause 
 of truth by imprudent and inconsistent practices. 
 
 " How empty learning, and how vain is art ; 
 Save when it guides the life, and mends the heart." 
 
 One grain of prudence is of more value than 
 
PERSEVERANCE. 47 
 
 a cranium crowded with unbridled genius, or a 
 flowing stream of vain wit. It is the real ballast 
 of human life. Without it, dangers gather quick 
 and fast around the frail bark of man, and hurry 
 him on to destruction. The shores of time are 
 lined with wrecks, driven before the gales of 
 Imprudence. — L. C. Judson. 
 
 Is he a prudent man as to his temporal 
 estate, who lays designs only for a day, with- 
 out any prospect to, or provision for, the re- 
 maining part of life ? — Tillotson. 
 
 y$vummn. 
 
 jTRHINE enemy of greatness sings, 
 *^ Yet pours contempt on little things. 
 
 O brand him with his shame, 
 And purge the chambers of thy heart, 
 And bid him with his lie depart, 
 
 And all who bear his name. 
 
 Be right, be firm ; be strong of will, 
 Which in defeat continues still 
 
 Where daily duties are ; 
 Admiring angels soon will bless 
 Thee with the sweetness of success, 
 And hide thine evil star. 
 
48 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 All the performances of human art, at which 
 we look with praise or wonder, are instances of 
 the resistless force of perseverance : it is by this 
 that the quarry becomes a pyramid, and that 
 distant countries are united with canals. If a 
 man was to compare the effect of a single stroke 
 of the pick-axe, or of one impression of a spade, 
 with the general design and last result, he would 
 be overwhelmed by the sense of their dispro- 
 portion ; yet those petty operations, incessantly 
 continued, in time surmount the greatest diffi- 
 culties, and mountains are levelled, and oceans 
 bounded, by the slender force of human beings. 
 
 It is, therefore of the utmost importance that 
 those who have any intention of deviating from 
 the beaten roads of life, and acquiring a repu- 
 tation superior to names hourly swept away by 
 time among the refuse of fame, should add to 
 their reason and their spirit, the power of per- 
 sisting in their purpose ; acquire the art of sap- 
 ping what they cannot batter ; and the habit of 
 vanquishing obstinate resistance by obstinate at- 
 tacks. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 People may tell you of your being unfit for 
 some peculiar occupation in life ; but heed them 
 not. Whatever employ you follow with perse- 
 verance and assiduity will be found fit for you : 
 it will be your support in youth and your com- 
 fort in age. In learning the useful part of any 
 profession, very moderate abilities will suffice — 
 great abilities are generally injurious to the pos- 
 
PERSEVERANCE. 49- 
 
 sessors. Life has been compared to a race ; but 
 the allusion still improves by observing that the 
 most swift are ever the most apt to stray from 
 the course. — Goldsmith. 
 
 That policy that can strike only while the 
 iron is hot, will be overcome by that perseve- 
 rance which, like Cromwell's, can make the iron 
 hot by striking; and he that can only rule the 
 storm must yield to him who can both raise 
 and rule it. — Colton. 
 
 Perseverance, working in the right direction, 
 grows with time, and when steadily practiced, 
 even by the most humble, will rarely fail of its 
 reward. Trusting in the help of others is of 
 comparatively little use. When one of Michael 
 Angelo's principal patrons died he said, " I be- 
 gin to understand that the promises of the world 
 are for the most part vain phantoms, and that to 
 confide in one's self, and become something of 
 worth and value, is the best and safest counsel. ,, 
 - — Smiles. 
 
 Acting — wrote one of the great ornaments of 
 the English stage — does not, like Dogberry's 
 reading and writing, " come by nature ; " with 
 all the high qualities which go to the formation 
 of a great exponent of the book of life (for so 
 the stage may justly be called), it is impossible, 
 totally impossible, to leap at once to fame. 
 4i What wound did ever heal but by slow de- 
 grees ? " says our immortal author ; and what 
 man, say I, ever became an actor without a long 
 
50 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 and sedulous apprenticeship ? I know that many 
 men think to step from behind a counter or jump 
 from the high stool of an office to the boards, 
 and take the town by storm in " Richard " or 
 " Othello," is " as easy as lying." O, the born 
 idiots ! They remind me of the halfpenny candles 
 stuck in the windows on illumination nights ; they 
 flicker and flutter their brief minute, and go out 
 unheeded. — Kean. 
 
 While yet a youth, says a successful business 
 man, in giving his early experience, I entered a 
 store one day, and asked if a clerk was not 
 wanted. " No ! " in a rough tone, was the an- 
 swer, all being too busy to bother with me ; 
 when I reflected that if they did not want a clerk 
 they might want a laborer, but I was dressed too 
 fine for that. I went to my lodgings, put on a 
 rough garb, and the next day went into the same 
 store and demanded if they did not want a por- 
 ter, and again " No, sir," was the response ; when 
 I exclaimed, in despair almost, "A laborer? Sir, 
 I will work at any wages. Wages is not my ob- 
 ject. I must have employ, and I want to be use- 
 ful in business." 
 
 These last remarks attracted their attention ; 
 and in the end I was hired as a laborer in the 
 basement and sub -cellar at a very low pay, 
 scarcely enough to keep body and soul together. 
 
 In the basement and sub-cellar I soon at- 
 tracted the attention of the counting-house and 
 chief clerk. I saved enough for my employers, 
 
ECONOMY. 51 
 
 in little things usually wasted, to pay my wages 
 ten times over, and they soon found it out. I 
 did not let anybody about commit petty lar- 
 cenies without remonstrance and threats of ex- 
 posure, and real exposure if remonstrance would 
 not do. I did not ask for any two hours' leave. 
 If I was wanted at three in the morning I never 
 growled, and told everybody to go home, "and I 
 will see everything right." I loaded off at day- 
 break packages for the morning boats, or carried 
 them myself. In short, I soon became — as I 
 meant to be — indispensable to my employers, and 
 I rose, and rose, until I became head of the 
 house, with money enough for any luxury or any 
 position a mercantile man may desire for himself 
 and family in a great city. — Anonymous. 
 
 Jkotmtmj* 
 
 OW quietly yon maple lifts 
 ^^ Its branches to the skies, 
 Because it uses all the gifts 
 Which Providence supplies ! 
 
 Economy of every gift 
 
 Which God on us bestows 
 Produces grace and strength and thrift 
 
 And all that from them grows. 
 
52 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 It makes each day a stepping-stone 
 To mark the sure increase, 
 
 The silent climbing which alone 
 Imparts the sense of peace. 
 
 It gives a task to every power, 
 Proportioned to its range ; 
 
 And Recreation has her hour, 
 And Friendship sweet exchange. 
 
 It does not suffer any waste 
 Of substance, time or health, 
 
 Nor ever plunge in headlong haste 
 To gain ensnaring wealth ; 
 
 But gathers wholesome property 
 
 For uses manifold, 
 Becoming that high alchemy 
 
 Whose wonders are untold. 
 
 Economy is the parent of integrity, of liberty, 
 and of ease ; and the beauteous sister of temper- 
 ance, of cheerfulness, and health; and profuseness 
 is a cruel and crafty demon that gradually in- 
 volves her followers in dependence and debts ; 
 that is, fetters them with irons that enter into 
 their souls. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 It is, indeed, important that the standard of 
 living in all classes should be high ; that is, it 
 should include the comforts of life, the means of 
 neatness and order in our dwellings, and such 
 
ECONOMY, 53 
 
 supplies of our wants as are fitted to secure vig- 
 orous health. But how many waste their earn- 
 ings on indulgences which may be spared, and 
 thus have no resource for a dark day, and are 
 always trembling on the brink of pauperism ! 
 Needless expenses keep many too poor for self- 
 improvement. And here let me say, that expen- 
 sive habits among the more prosperous laborers 
 often interfere with the mental culture of them- 
 selves and their families. How many among them 
 sacrifice improvement to appetite ! How many 
 sacrifice it to the love of show, to the desire of 
 outstripping others, and to habits of expense 
 which grow out of this insatiable passion ! In a 
 country so thriving and luxurious as ours, the 
 laborer is in danger of contracting artificial wants 
 and diseased tastes; and to gratify these he gives 
 himself wholly to accumulation, and sells his mind 
 for gain. Our unparalleled prosperity has not 
 been an unmixed good. It has inflamed cupidity, 
 has diseased the imagination with dreams of 
 boundless success, and . plunged a vast multitude 
 into excessive toils, feverish competitions, and ex- 
 hausting cares. A laborer having secured a neat 
 home and a wholesome table, should ask nothing- 
 more for the senses ; but shoulcj consecrate his 
 leisure, and what may be spared of his earnings 
 to the culture of himself and his family, to the 
 best books, to the best teaching, to pleasant and 
 profitable intercourse, to sympathy and the offices 
 of humanity, and to the enjoyment of the beau- 
 
54 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 tiful in nature and art. Unhappily, the laborer, 
 if prosperous, is anxious to ape the rich man, 
 instead of trying to rise above him, as he often 
 may, by noble acquisitions. The young in par- 
 ticular, the apprentice and the female domestic, 
 catch a taste for fashion, and on this altar sacri- 
 fice too often their uprightness, and almost al- 
 ways the spirit of improvement, dooming them- 
 selves to ignorance, if not to vice, for a vain 
 show. Is this evil without remedy ? Is human 
 nature always to be sacrificed to outward decora- 
 tion ? Is the outward always to triumph over the 
 inward man? Is nobleness of sentiment never to 
 spring up among us ? May not a reform in this 
 particular begin in the laboring class, since it 
 seems so desperate among the more prosperous? 
 Cannot the laborer, whose condition calls him so 
 loudly to simplicity of taste and habits, take his 
 stand against that love of dress which dissipates 
 and corrupts so many minds among the opulent? 
 Cannot the laboring class refuse to measure men 
 by outward success, and pour utter scorn on all 
 pretensions founded on outward show or condi- 
 tion? Sure I am that, were they to study plain- 
 ness of dress and simplicity of living, for the pur- 
 pose of their own true elevation, they would sur- 
 pass in intellect, in taste, in honorable qualities, 
 and in present enjoyment, that great proportion 
 of the prosperous who are softened into indul- 
 gences or enslaved to empty show. By such 
 self-denial, how might the burden of labor be 
 
ECONOMY. 55 
 
 lightened, and time and strength redeemed for 
 improvement. — Channing. 
 
 Parsimony is not economy. It is separate in 
 theory from it ; and in fact it may or may not 
 be a part of economy, according to circum- 
 stances. Expense, and great expense, may be 
 an essential part in true economy. If parsimony 
 were to be considered as one of the attributes 
 of that virtue, there is, however, another and a 
 higher economy. Economy is a distributive vir- 
 tue, and consists, not in saving, but in selection. 
 Parsimony requires no providence, no sagacity, 
 no powers of combination, no comparison, no 
 judgment. Mere instinct, and that not an in- 
 stinct of the noblest kind, may produce this false 
 economy in perfection. The other economy has 
 larger views. It demands a discriminating judg- 
 ment, and a firm, sagacious mind. It shuts one 
 door to impudent importunity, only to open an- 
 other, and a wider, to unpresuming merit. If 
 none but meritorious service, or real talent were 
 to be rewarded, this nation has not wanted, and 
 this nation will not want, the means of reward- 
 ing all the service it ever will receive, and en- 
 couraging all the merit it ever will produce. No 
 state, since the foundation of society, has been 
 impoverished by that species of profusion. — 
 Burke. 
 
 As not less important than that economy of 
 money which is insisted upon so strongly by all 
 our moralists, we would recommend an economy' 
 
56 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 of mental power. Many of us waste our resources 
 in the early stages of our career, forgetful that 
 the race is won by the staying power of the run- 
 ners. Napoleon gained his victories by his judi- 
 cious employment of his reserves. The general 
 who risks all his forces in a single charge must 
 expect and will deserve defeat. It is not the first 
 blow that strikes home the nail, and what is to 
 be done if we leave ourselves no strength with 
 which to strike a second, and a third, or it may 
 be a hundredth? . . . 
 
 Read aright, the fable of the tortoise 
 and the hare points a moral in this direc- 
 tion. The hare was beaten by the tortoise 
 because the latter possessed the staying 
 faculty. At school and at college we frequently 
 see the prizes carried off by the men whom an 
 ignorant impatience had criticised as dull, slow, 
 and incapable plodders, while the dashing, bril- 
 liant fellows, apparently sure of victory without 
 an effort, were left hopelessly behind in the race. 
 They had no reserve to fall back upon, while the 
 former had a latent accumulation of strength on 
 which they drew at need, enabling them to meet 
 every demand. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that we can hold 
 no such reserve as that of which we are speak- 
 ing unless we submit to the severest self-disci- 
 pline. We must be content to wait and watch, 
 to husband our powers, to accumulate materials, 
 to cultivate habits of rigorous thought and exact 
 
LABOR AND GREATNESS. 57 
 
 judgment, to conquer hasty impulses, and enforce 
 a strict restraint upon our passions. The vigor 
 and certainty with which a great painter wields 
 his brush and manipulates his colors, until the 
 thought in his brain becomes visible to all men 
 on the enchanted canvas, have been acquired by 
 long and assiduous practice, by the discipline and 
 self-command of patient years. And this disci- 
 pline and self-command have given him so thor- 
 ough a knowledge of his resources that he un- 
 dertakes nothing which he cannot execute. — 
 Adams. 
 
 
 Jmlror mh dmlttm* 
 
 J5)NLY through toil and pain and tribulation 
 ^^ The blessed things of heaven and earth are 
 
 won, 
 What time the man grows less in his probation, 
 
 And God is more with each successive sun. 
 
 And shall the dream of life, the quenchless yearn- 
 ing 
 
 For something which is yet beyond control, 
 The flame within the breast forever burning, 
 
 Not leap to action and exalt the soul ? — 
 
 5 
 
53 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Surmount all barriers to brave endeavor, 
 Make for itself a way where it would go, 
 
 And flash the crown of ecstacy forever, 
 
 Which only laborers with God may know ? 
 
 In action there is joy which is no fiction, 
 The hope of something as in faith begun, 
 
 God's sweet and everlasting benediction, 
 The flush of victory and labor done ! 
 
 Labor puts on the livery of greatness 
 
 While genius, idle, withers from the sight, 
 
 And in its triumph takes no note of lateness, 
 For time exists not in eternal light. 
 
 Generally speaking, the life of all truly great 
 men has been a life of intense and incessant la- 
 bor. They have commonly passed the first half 
 of life in the gross darkness of indigent humil- 
 ity, — overlooked, mistaken, contemned, by weaker 
 men, — thinking while others slept, reading while 
 others rioted, feeling something within them that 
 told them they should not always be kept down 
 among the dregs of the world ; and then when 
 their time was come, and some little accident has 
 given them their first occasion, they have burst 
 into the light and glory of public life, rich with 
 the spoils of time, and mighty in all the labors 
 and struggles of the mind. Then do the multi- 
 tude cry out, "A miracle of genius;" yes, he is 
 
LABOR AND GREATNESS. 59 
 
 a miracle of genius, because he is a miracle of 
 labor ; because, instead of trusting to the re- 
 sources of his own single mind, he has ransacked 
 a thousand minds; because he makes use of the 
 accumulated wisdom of ages, and takes as his 
 point of departure the very last line and bound- 
 ary to which science has advanced ; because it 
 has ever been the object of his life to assist 
 every intellectual gift of nature, however munifi- 
 cent, and however splendid, with every resource 
 that art could suggest, and every attention dili- 
 gence could bestow. — Sydney Smith. 
 
 There needs all the force that enthusiasm can 
 give to enable a man to succeed in any great 
 enterprise of life. Without it, the obstruction 
 and difficulty he has to encounter on every side 
 might compel him to succumb ; but with courage 
 and perseverance, inspired by enthusiasm, a man 
 feels strong enough to face any danger, or to 
 grapple with any difficulty. What an enthusiasm 
 was that of Columbus, who, believing in the ex- 
 istence of a new world, braved the dangers of 
 unknown seas ; and, when those about him de- 
 spaired and rose up against him, threatening to 
 cast him into the sea, still stood firm upon his 
 hope and courage until the great new world at 
 length rose upon the horizon! 
 
 The brave man will not be bafHed, but tries 
 and tries again until he succeeds. The tree does 
 not fall at the first stroke, but only by repeated 
 strokes and after great labor. We may see the 
 
60 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 invisible success at which a man has arrived, but 
 forget the toil and suffering and peril through 
 which it has been achieved. When a friend of 
 Marshal Lefevre was complimenting him on his 
 possessions and good fortune, the Marshal said : 
 " You envy me, do you ? Well, you shall have 
 these things at a better bargain than I had. 
 Come into the court : I'll' fire at you with a gun 
 twenty times at thirty paces, and if I don't kill 
 you, all shall be your own. What ! you wont ? 
 Very well ; recollect, then, that I have been shot 
 at more than a thousand times, and much 
 nearer, before I arrived at the state in which 
 you now find me ! " 
 
 The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which 
 the greatest of men had to serve. It is usually 
 the best stimulus and discipline of character. It 
 often evokes power of action that, but for it, 
 would have remained dormant. As comets are 
 sometimes revealed by eclipses, so heroes are 
 brought to light by sudden calamity. It seems 
 as if, in certain cases, genius, like iron struck by 
 the flint, needed the sharp and sudden blow of 
 adversity to bring out the divine spark. There 
 are natures which blossom and ripen amidst 
 trials, which would only wither and decay in an 
 atmosphere of ease and comfort. 
 
 Thus it is good for men to be roused into 
 action and stiffened into self-reliance by diffi- 
 culty, rather than to slumber away their lives in 
 useless apathy and indolence. If there were no 
 
LABOR AND GREATNESS. 61 
 
 difficulties, there would be no need of efforts ; if 
 there were no temptations, there would be no 
 training in self-control, and but little merit in 
 virtue; if there were no trial and suffering-, there 
 would be no education in patience and resigna- 
 tion. Thus difficulty, adversity and suffering are 
 not all evil, but often the best source of strength, 
 discipline, and virtue. 
 
 For the same reason, it is often of advantage 
 for a man to be under the necessity of having to 
 struggle with poverty and conquer it. " He who 
 has battled," says Carlyle, " were it only with 
 poverty and hard toil, will be found stronger and 
 more expert than he who could stay at home from 
 the battle, concealed among the provision wagons, 
 or even rest unwatchfully ' abiding by the stuff.' " 
 
 Scholars have found poverty tolerable com- 
 pared with the privation of intellectual food. 
 Riches weigh much more heavily upon the mind. 
 " I cannot but choose say to Poverty," said 
 Richter, " Be welcome ! so that thou come not 
 too late in life." Poverty, Horace tells us, drove 
 him to poetry, and poetry introduced him to 
 Varus and Virgil and Maecenas. " Obstacles," 
 says Michelet, "are great incentives. I lived for 
 whole years upon a Virgil, and found myself well 
 off. An odd volume of Racine, purchased by 
 chance at a stall on the quay, created the poet 
 of Toulon." 
 
 The Spaniards are even said to have meanly 
 rejoiced in the poverty of Cervantes, but for 
 
62 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 which they supposed the production of his great 
 works might have been prevented. When the 
 Archbishop of Toledo visited the French Ambas- 
 sador at Madrid, the gentlemen in the suite of 
 the latter expressed their high admiration of the 
 writings of the author of "Don Quixote," and in- 
 timated their desire of becoming acquainted with 
 one who had given them so much pleasure. The 
 answer they received was, that Cervantes had 
 borne arms in the service of his country, and 
 was now old" and poor. " What ! " exclaimed one 
 of the Frenchmen, " is not Senor Cervantes in 
 good circumstances ? Why is he not maintained, 
 then, out of the public treasury ? " " Heaven 
 forbid ! " was the reply, "that his necessities should 
 be ever relieved, if it is those which make him 
 write ; since it is his poverty that makes the 
 world rich ! " 
 
 It is not prosperity so much as adversity, not 
 wealth so much as poverty, that stimulates the 
 perseverance of strong and healthy natures, 
 rouses their energy and develops their character. 
 Burke said of himself: "I was not rocked and 
 swaddled and dandled into a legislator. ' Nitor 
 in adversum* is the motto for a man like me." 
 Some men only require a great difficulty set in 
 their way to exhibit the force of their character 
 and genius ; and that difficulty, once conquered, 
 becomes one of the greatest incentives to their 
 further progress. — Smiles. 
 
FAILURES AXD SUCCESSES. 
 
 %®fam mtb §uras*$$* 
 
 yhat though the triumph of thy fond fore- 
 ^^^ casting 
 
 Lingers till earth is fading from thy sight ? 
 Thy part with Him whose arms are everlasting, 
 Is not forsaken in a hopeless night. 
 
 Paul was begotten in the death of Stephen ; 
 
 Fruitful through time shall be that precious 
 blood : 
 No morning yet has ever worn to even 
 
 And missed the glory of its crimson Flood. 
 
 There is a need of all the blood of martyrs, 
 Forevermore the eloquence of God ; 
 
 And there is need of him who never barters 
 His patience in that desert way the Master 
 trod. 
 
 What mean the strange, hard words, " through 
 tribulation," 
 O Man of Sorrows, only Thou canst tell, 
 And such as in Thy life's humiliation, 
 
 Have oft been with Thee, ay, have known 
 Thee well. 
 
 The failures of the world are God's successes, - 
 Although their coming be akin to pain ; 
 
64 IDEALS OF LIFE, 
 
 And frowns of Providence are but caresses, 
 Prophetic of the rest sought long in vain. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed 
 through success ; they much oftener succeed 
 through failure. By far the best experience of 
 men is made up of their remembered failures in 
 dealing with others in the affairs of life. Such 
 failures, in sensible men, incite to better self- 
 management, and greater tact and self-control, as 
 a means of avoiding them in the future. Ask the 
 diplomatist, and he will tell you that he has 
 learned his art through being baffled, defeated, 
 thwarted, and circumvented, far more than from 
 having succeeded. Precept, study, advice, and 
 example could never have taught them so well 
 as failure has done. It has disciplined them ex- 
 perimentally, and taught them what to do as well 
 as what not to do — which is often still more 
 important in diplomacy. 
 
 Many have to make up their minds to en- 
 counter failure again and again before they suc- 
 ceed ; but if they have pluck, the failure will only 
 serve to rouse their courage, and stimulate them 
 to renewed efforts. Talma, the greatest of actors, 
 was himself hissed off the stage when he ap- 
 peared on it. Lacordaire, one of the greatest 
 preachers of modern times, only acquired celeb- 
 rity after repeated failures. Montalembart said 
 of his first public appearance in the Church of St. 
 
FAILURES AND SUCCESSES. C5 
 
 Roch : " He failed completely, and, on coming out, 
 everyone said , ' Though he may be a man of tal- 
 ent, he will never be a preacher.' " Again and again 
 he tried, until he succeeded ; and only two years 
 after his debut y Lacordaire was preaching in 
 Notre Dame to audiences such as few French 
 orators have addressed since the time of Bossuet 
 and Massillon. 
 
 When Mr. Cobden first appeared as a speaker, 
 at a public meeting in Manchester, he completely 
 broke down, and the chairman appologized for 
 his failure. Sir James Graham and Mr. Disraeli 
 failed and were derided at first, and only suc- 
 ceed by dint of great labor and application. At 
 one time Sir James Graham had almost given up 
 public speaking in despair. He said to his friend 
 Sir Francis Baring : " I have tried it in every way 
 — extempore, from notes, and committing all to 
 memory — and I can't do it. I don't know why it 
 is, but I am afraid I shall never succeed." Yet, 
 by dint of perseverance, Graham, like Disraeli, 
 lived to become one of the most effective and 
 impressive of parliamentary speakers. 
 
 Failures in one direction have sometimes had 
 the effect of forcing the far-seeing student to ap- 
 ply himself in another. Thus Prideaux's failure 
 as a candidate for the post of parish-clerk of 
 Ugboro, in Devon, led to his applying himself to 
 learning, and to his eventual elevation to the 
 bishopric of Worcester. When Boileau, educated 
 for the bar, pleaded his first cause, he broke 
 
C6 . IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 clown amidst shouts of laughter. He next tried 
 the pulpit, and failed there too. And then he 
 tried poetry, and succeeded. Fontenelle and Vol- 
 taire both failed at the bar. So Cowper, though 
 his diffidence and shyness, broke down when 
 pleading his first cause, though he lived to re- 
 vive the poetic art in England. Montesquieu and 
 Bentham both failed as lawyers, and forsook the 
 bar for more congenial pursuits — the latter leav- 
 ing behind him a treasury of legislative proceed- 
 ure for all time. Goldsmith failed in passing as 
 a surgeon ; but he wrote the " Deserted Village " 
 and the "Vicar of Wakefield;" while Addison 
 failed as a speaker, but succeeded in writing 
 " Sir Roger de Coverley," and his many famous 
 papers in the " Spectator." 
 
 Even the privation of some important bodily 
 sense, such as sight or hearing, has not been suf- 
 ficient to deter corageous men from zealously 
 pursuing the struggle of life. Milton, when 
 struck by blindness, " still bore up and steered 
 right onward." His greatest works were pro- 
 duced during that period of his life in which he 
 suffered most — when he was poor, sick, old, blind, 
 slandered, and persecuted. 
 
 The lives of some of the greatest men have 
 been a continuous struggle with difficulty and ap- 
 parent defeat. Dante produced his greatest work 
 in penury and exile. Banished from his native 
 city by the local faction to which he was opposed, 
 his house was given up to plunder, and he was 
 
FAILURES AND SUCCESSES. 67 
 
 sentenced, in his absence, to be burned alive. 
 When informed by a friend that he might return 
 to Florence, if he would ask for pardon and ab- 
 solution, he replied : " No ! This is not the way 
 that shall lead me back to my country. I will re- 
 turn with hasty steps if you, or any other, can 
 open to me a way that shall not derogate from 
 the fame or honor of Dante ; but" if by no such 
 way Florence can be entered, then to Florence I 
 shall never return." His enemies remaining im- 
 placable, Dante, after a banishment of twenty 
 years, died in exile. They even pursued him 
 after death, when his book, " De Monarchia," was 
 publicly burned at Bologna, by order of the Papal 
 Legate. 
 
 Camoens also wrote his great poems mostly in 
 banishment. Tired of solitude at Santarem, he 
 joined an expedition against the Moors, in which 
 he distinguished himself by his bravery. He lost 
 an eye when boarding an enemy's ship in a sea- 
 fight. At Goa, in the East Indies, he witnessed 
 with indignation the cruelty practised by the Por- 
 tugese on the natives, and expostulated with the 
 governor against it. He was in consequence ban- 
 ished from the settlement, and sent to China. In 
 the course of his subsequent adventures and mis- 
 fortunes Camoens suffered shipwreck, escaping 
 only with his life and the manuscript of his 
 " Lusiad." Persecution and hardship seemed 
 everywhere to pursue him. At Macao he was 
 thrown into prison. Escaping from it, he set sail 
 
C8 . IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 for Lisbon, where he arrived, after sixteen years' 
 absence, poor and friendless. His " Lusiad," which 
 was shortly after published, brought him much 
 fame, but no money. But for his old Indian 
 slave Antonio, who begged for his master in the 
 streets, Camoens must have perished. As it was, 
 he died in a public alms-house, worn out by dis- 
 ease and hardship. An inscription was placed 
 over his grave: "Here lies Luis de Camoens: he 
 excelled all the poets of his time : he lived poor 
 and miserable ; and he died so, mdlxxix." 
 This record, disgraceful but truthful, has since 
 been removed ; and a lying and pompous epi- 
 taph, in honor of the great national poet of Por- 
 tugal, substituted in its stead. 
 
 Even Michael Angelo was exposed, during the 
 greater part of his life, to the persecutions of the 
 envious — vulgar nobles, vulgar priests, and sor- 
 did men of every degree, who could neither sym- 
 pathize with him nor comprehend his genius. 
 When Paul IV. condemned some of his work 
 in "The Last Judgment," the artist observed 
 that " The Pope would do better to occupy him- 
 self with correcting the disorders and indecencies 
 which disgrace the world than with any such 
 hypercriticisms upon his art." 
 
 Tasso, also, was the victim of almost contin- 
 ual persecutions and calumny. After lying in a 
 mad-house for seven years, he became a wan- 
 derer over Italy ; and when on his death-bed he 
 wrote : " I will not complain of the malignity of 
 
PEA YEE. 69 
 
 fortune, because I do not choose to speak of the 
 ingratitude of men who have succeeded in drag- 
 ing me to the tomb of a mendicant." 
 
 But time brings about strange revenges. The 
 persecutors and the persecuted often change 
 places ; it is the latter who are great — the former 
 who are infamous. Even the name of the per- 
 secutors would probably long ago have been 
 forgotten, but for their connection with the his- 
 tory of the men whom they have persecuted. — 
 Smiles. 
 
 JVatpr* 
 
 m29RAYER is the better sacrifice than whole 
 ^ Burnt offerings, to stay the lifted rod, 
 Up-flaming from the altar of a soul 
 Returning to the royalty of God. 
 
 Prayer is the manly cry for sympathy 
 
 To One who made the Father's will His own, 
 
 That something of His wondrous alchemy 
 May in our weak, disordered lives be shown. 
 
 Prayer is the herald of outgoing love, 
 
 Which in the wilderness prepares the way, 
 
70 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Till on the wings of the swift-flying dove 
 Come back the tidings of the better day. 
 
 Prayer is the mighty spirit of our work, 
 
 Which wins the smile of God, and fills the 
 heart 
 
 Until there is no room for self to lurk, 
 
 And all the doubts and fears of life depart. 
 
 Prayer is an acknowledgment of our depend- 
 ence upon God ; which dependence could have 
 no firm foundation without unchangeableness. 
 Prayer doth not desire any change in God, but 
 is offered to God that He would confer those 
 things which He has immutably willed to com- 
 municate; but He willed them not without prayer, 
 as the means of bestowing them. The light of 
 the sun is ordered for our comfort, for the dis- 
 covery of visible things, for the ripening of the 
 fruits of the earth ; but, withal, it is required that 
 we use our faculty of seeing, that we employ our 
 industry in sowing and planting, and expose our 
 fruits to the view of the sun, that they may re- 
 ceive the influence of it. If a man shuts his 
 eyes, and complains that the sun is changed into 
 darkness, it would be ridiculous; the sun is not 
 changed, but we alter ourselves ; nor is God 
 changed in not giving us the blessings He hath 
 promised, because He hath promised in the way 
 of a due address to Him, and opening our souls 
 to receive His influence, and to this His immu- 
 
PRA TEE. 71 
 
 tability is the greatest encouragement. — Char- 
 nock. 
 
 Perhaps nothing on the subject of prayer has 
 ever been uttered wiser than the following speech 
 in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The 
 speaker was in his 82c! year: — 
 
 In the beginning of the contest with Britain, 
 when we were sensible of danger, we had daily 
 prayers in this room for the Divine protection. 
 Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were gra- 
 ciously answered. All of us who were engaged 
 in the struggle must have observed frequent in- 
 stances of a superintending Providence in our 
 favor. To that kind Providence we owe this 
 happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the 
 means of establishing our future national felicity. 
 And have we now forgotten this powerful 
 Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need 
 His assistance ? I have lived for a long time ; 
 and the longer I live the more convincing proofs 
 I see of this truth, that God governs in the 
 affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to 
 the ground without His notice, is it probable that 
 an empire can rise without His aid ? We have 
 been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 
 " Except the Lord build the house, they labor in 
 vain that build it." I firmly believe this ; and I 
 also believe that without His concurring aid we 
 shall proceed in this political building no better 
 than the builders of Babel : we shall be divided 
 by our little, partial, local interests ; our prospects 
 
72 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 will be confounded ; and we ourselves shall be- 
 come a reproach and a by-word down to future 
 ages. And what is worse, mankind may here- 
 after, from this unfortunate instance, despair of 
 establishing government by human wisdom, and 
 leave it to chance, war, or conquest. I therefore 
 beg leave to move that henceforth prayers, im- 
 ploring the assistance of Heaven and its bless- 
 ing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly 
 every morning before we proceed to business ; 
 and that one or more of the clergy of this city 
 be requested to officiate in that service. — Dr. 
 Franklin. 
 
 We are not to pray that all things may go 
 on as we would have them, but as most con- 
 ducing to the good of the world; and we are 
 not in our prayers to obey our wills, but pru- 
 dence — Montaigne. 
 
 Many times that which we ask would if it 
 should be granted be worse for us, and perhaps 
 tend to our destruction ; and then God by deny- 
 ing the particular matter of our prayers doth 
 grant the general matter of them. — Hammond. 
 
 Pray for others in such forms, with such 
 length, importunity, and earnestness, as you use 
 for yourself; and you will find all little, ill-na- 
 tured passions die away, your heart grow great 
 and generous, delighting in the common happi- 
 ness of others, as you used only to delight in 
 your own. — Law. 
 
 Prayer is the peace of our spirit, the stillness 
 
PRAYER. 73. 
 
 of our thoughts, the evenness of recollection, the 
 seat of meditation, the rest of our cares, and the 
 calm of our tempest : prayer is the issue of a 
 quiet mind, of untroubled thoughts ; it is the 
 daughter of charity, and the sister of meekness. 
 — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 Prayer opens the understanding to the bright- 
 ness of Divine light, and the will to the warmth 
 of heavenly love; nothing can so effectually purify 
 the mind from its many ignorances, or the will 
 from its perverse affections. It is as a healing 
 water which causes the roots of our good desires 
 to send forth fresh shoots, which washes away 
 the soul's imperfections, and allays the thirst of 
 passion — St. Francis de Sales. 
 
 No one will refuse to identify holiness with 
 prayer. To say a man is religious is to say the 
 same thing as to say he prays. For what is 
 prayer? To connect every thought with the 
 thought of God ; to look on everything as His 
 will and His appointment ; to submit every 
 thought, wish, and resolve to Him ; to feel His 
 presence so that it shall restrain us even in our 
 wildest joy. That is prayer. And what w r e are 
 now, surely we are by prayer. If we have at- 
 tained any measure of goodness, if we have re- 
 sisted temptation, if we have any self-command, 
 or if we live with aspirations and desires be- 
 yond the common, we shall not hesitate to as- 
 cribe them to prayer. — F. W. Robertson. 
 
74 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 \m% 
 
 The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. — 
 
 Hebrews xi. i. 
 
 <^WAITH is repose in Providence, 
 ^ Whose ways we cannot tell, 
 Divine, resistless evidence 
 Of things invisible. 
 
 Faith is consent that God is God 
 
 In living unto Him, 
 With strong assurance girt and shod, 
 
 Although our eyes are dim. 
 
 Faith is the voice of hunoferinofs 
 
 That to Hie soul belong, 
 Unerring sense of living things 
 
 To breathe in prayer and song. 
 
 Faith is the light of daily toil 
 
 To make it glow and shine, 
 God's animating wine and oil 
 
 Our hearts pronounce divine. 
 
 Faith addresses itself to man's whole being, — 
 it sounds every depth ; it touches every spring ; it 
 calls back the soul from its weary search within 
 itself, full of doubt and contradiction ; it presents 
 it with an object, implicit, absolute, greater than 
 
FAITH. 75 
 
 itself, — " One that knoweth all things." It pro- 
 vides for every affection, every want and aspira- 
 tion. Faith stretches itself over Humanity as the 
 prophet stretched himself above the child, — eye to 
 eye, mouth to mouth, heart to heart ; and to work 
 a kindred miracle, to bring back life to the dead, by 
 restoring the One to the One,— -the whole native of 
 Man to the whole nature of God. — Miss Green- 
 well. 
 
 Faith says many things concerning which the 
 senses are silent; but nothing which the senses 
 deny: it is always above them, but never contrary 
 to them. — Pascal. 
 
 Never yet did there exist a full faith in the 
 Divine Word (by whom light as well as irnmor- 
 itality was brought into the world) which did not 
 expand the intellect, while it purified the heart, — 
 which did not multiply the aims and objects of the 
 understanding, while it fixed and simplified those of 
 the desires and passions. — Coleridge. 
 
 " We live by faith," says the philosophic apostle ; 
 but faith without principles (on which to ground our 
 faith and our hope) is but a flattering phrase for wil- 
 ful positiveness or fanatical bodily sensations. Well, 
 and with good right, therefore, do we maintain (and 
 with more zeal than we should defend body or estate) 
 a deep and inward conviction, which is as a moon to 
 us ; and like the moon, with all its massy and decep- 
 tive gleams, it yet lights us on our way (poor trav- 
 ellers as we are, and benighted pilgrims). With all 
 its spots and changes and temporary eclipses— with 
 
76 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 all its vain haloes and bedimming vapors — it yet 
 reflects the light that is to rise upon us, which even 
 now is rising, though intercepted from our imme- 
 diate view by the mountains that enclose and frown 
 over the whole of our mortal life. — Coleridge. 
 
 Faith is Light transforming Chaos into Order — 
 Conviction passing into Conduct. The author of 
 " Sartor Resartus " presents this idea in his own 
 inimitable way, in the following passage : — 
 
 It is with man's Soul as it was with Nature : 
 the beginning of creation is — Light. Till the eye 
 have vision the whole members are in bonds. Di- 
 vine moment, when over the tempest-tost Soul, as 
 once over the wild-weltering Chaos, it is spoken : 
 Let there be Light ! Ever to the greatest that has 
 felt such moment, it is not miraculous and God-an- 
 nouncing ; even as, under simpler figures, to the 
 simplest and least. The mad primeval Discord is 
 hushed; the rudely-jumbled, conflicting elements 
 bind themselves into separate Firmaments : deep, 
 silent, rock-foundations are built beneath ; and the 
 skyey vault, with its everlasting Luminaries above : 
 instead of a dark, wasteful Chaos, we have a bloom- 
 ing, fertile, heaven-encompassed World. 
 
 I, too, could now say to myself: Be no longer a 
 Chaos, but a World, or even Worldkin. Produce ! 
 Produce ! Were it but the pitifullest infinitesimal 
 fraction of a product, produce it, in God's name ! 
 'Tis the utmost thou hast in thee: out with it, then. 
 Up, up ! Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
 with thy whole might. Work while it is called To- 
 
HOPE. 77 
 
 day ; for the Night cometh, wherein no man can 
 work. — Carlyle. 
 
 Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 
 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have 
 works : shew me thy faith without thy works, and I 
 will shew thee my faith by my works. — St. James 
 II. 17-18. 
 
 PRESENCE on the mountain 
 Which beckons up- the mighty slope 
 To her perennial fountain. 
 
 
 A mighty power above us, 
 
 Which gives us strength with foes to copej 
 And win new friends to love us. 
 
 An ever brave forerunner, 
 
 Far swifter than the antelope,— 
 Nay, light cannot outrun her. 
 
 A star the night adorning, 
 
 That doth the midnight portals ope 
 And bid the soul Good-morning. 
 
78 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 A bright, immortal glory, 
 
 Whose pilgrims past the sunset grope 
 To verify her story. 
 
 Our actual enjoyments are so few and transient 
 that man would be a very miserable being were he 
 not endowed with this passion, which gives him a 
 taste of those good things that may possibly come 
 into his possession. " We should hope for every- 
 thing that is good," says the old poet Linus, "be- 
 cause there is nothing which may not be hoped for, 
 and nothing but what the gods are able to give us." 
 Hope quickens all the still parts of life, and keeps 
 the mind awake in her most remiss and indolent 
 hours. It gives habitual serenity and good humor. 
 It is a kind of vital heat in the soul, that cheers and 
 gladdens her, when she does not attend to it. It 
 makes pain easy, and labor pleasant. — Addison. 
 
 Hope is the principle of activity ; without holding 
 out hope, to desire one to advance is absurd and 
 senseless. Suppose, without a sou in my hand, one 
 were to say, " Exert yourself: for there is no hope," 
 — it would be to turn me into ridicule, and not to 
 advise me. To hold out to me the hopelessness of 
 my condition never was a reason for exertion ; for 
 when, ultimately, equal evils attend upon exertion 
 and rest, rest has clearly the preference. — Burke. 
 
 Hope is necessary in every condition. The mis- 
 eries of poverty, of sickness, or captivity, would, 
 without this comfort, be insupportable ; nor does it 
 appear that the happiest lot of terrestrial existence 
 
HOPE. 79 
 
 can set us above the want of this general blessing ; 
 or that life, when the gifts of nature and of fortune 
 are accumulated upon it, would not still be wretched, 
 were it not elevated and delighted by the expecta- 
 tion of some new possession, of some enjoyment yet 
 behind by which the wish shall be at last satisfied, 
 and the heart filled up to its utmost extent. 
 
 Hope is, indeed, very fallacious, and promises 
 what it seldom gives ; but its promises are more 
 valuable than the gifts of fortune, and it seldom 
 frustrates us without assuring us of recompensing 
 the delay by a greater bounty. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 Hope throws a generous contempt upon ill- 
 usage, and looks like a handsome defiance of a 
 misfortune; as who should say, You are somewhat 
 troublesome now, but I shall conquer you. — Jeremy 
 Collier. 
 
 Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a health- 
 ful tonic ; intemperately indulged, as an enervating 
 opiate. The visions of future triumph which at first 
 animate exertion, if dwelt upon too intensely, will 
 usurp the place of the stern reality ; and noble ob- 
 jects will be contemplated, not for their own inher- 
 ent worth, but on account of the day-dreams they 
 engender. Thus hope, aided by imagination, makes 
 one man a hero, another a somnambulist, and a third 
 a lunatic ; while it renders them all enthusiasts. — 
 Sir J. Stephen. 
 
 A religious life is which most abounds in well- 
 grounded hope, and such an one as is fixed on ob- 
 jects that are capable of making us entirely happy. 
 
SO IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 This hope in a religious man is much more sure and 
 certain than the hope of any temporal blessing-, as it 
 is strengthened not only by reason, but by faith. It 
 has at the same time its eye perpetually fixed on 
 that state, which implies in the very notion of it the 
 most full and most complete happiness. 
 Religious hope has likewise this advantage above 
 any other kind of hope, that it is able to revive the 
 dying man, and to fill his mind not only with secret 
 comfort and refreshment, but sometimes with rap- 
 ture and transport. He triumphs in his agonies, 
 whilst the soul springs forward with delight to the 
 great object which she has always had in view, and 
 leaves the body with an expectation of being re- 
 united to her in a glorious and joyful resurrection. 
 — Addison. 
 
 itprmj* 
 
 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the greatest oi 
 these is charity. — I Con. xin. 13. 
 
 <^?V3 
 
 ^jIVINE Elixer flows from Heaven 
 ^^^ To make our manhood pure and strong 
 To all who love this wine is given 
 Transmuting life to prayer and song. 
 
CHARITY. 81 
 
 And in the sweet transfiguration 
 
 The joy, the joy alone abides : 
 The shining stairs of Tribulation 
 
 Go winding up where God resides. 
 
 O, Christ, divinest fairest Lover, 
 
 Since Thou hast smitten me with love, 
 
 I must tell out what I discover, — 
 This dear Elixer from above. 
 
 It is the honey of Existence, 
 
 The sweetness of a virgin bride, 
 The nectar of divine subsistence, 
 
 The beauty that must needs abide. 
 
 And when, like rain or sunshine vernal, 
 
 It comes with virtue in its train, 
 The pure, sweet breath of the Eternal, 
 
 Which maketh all things live again, — 
 
 A blessed sense of liberation 
 
 Goes prancing all my being through ; 
 
 And the invisible creation 
 Majestically comes to view. 
 
 I gaze upon the world around me, 
 
 Beholding that which is divine ; 
 All beauteous things which here surrounc me, 
 
 They speak to me, and they are mine. 
 
 I see in every man a brother, 
 Whose life, like mine, is infinite, 
 
82 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 All interlocked with one another, 
 Companions struggling to the light 
 
 I look beyond the shining portals, 
 
 And strength comes back for life on earth 
 
 I -feel the glory of immortals 
 
 Transfigure me with kindred worth. 
 
 Henceforth all joys are antedated 
 Along my pathway here below : 
 
 I know I am to God related, 
 
 And that is joy of joys to know. 
 
 And Charity has surely founded 
 
 Her peaceful dwelling in my breast, 
 
 And I shall never be confounded, 
 
 Partaking her eternal rest. . 
 
 The earth does not Madden more when the 
 morning sun flashes his light on her bosom, than 
 does the soul rejoice when the light of the heavenly 
 Sun first touches it, and it passes out of darkness 
 into warm, bright day. Circumstances are nothing. 
 " I have found Him whom my soul loveth " is the 
 cry ; and nothing can kill, nothing can even dash, 
 the joy which that consciousness quickens within. 
 — J. Baldwin Brown. 
 
 The raptures of love are of little value, if they 
 end with the bosom in which they begin. Genuine 
 love is active benevolence or charity. . 
 
 Charity, taken in its largest extent, is nothing 
 
CHARITY. 83 
 
 else but the sincere love of God and our neighbor. 
 — Wake. 
 
 Charity is more extensive than either of the two 
 other graces, which centre ultimately in ourselves : 
 for we believe and we hope for our own sakes ; but 
 love, which is a more disinterested principle, carries 
 us out of ourselves into desires, and endeavors of 
 promoting the interests of other beings. — Atter- 
 
 BURY. 
 
 Charity is made the constant companion and 
 perfection of all virtues ; and well it is for that 
 virtue where it most enters and longest stays — 
 Sprat. 
 
 Charity is universal duty, which it is in every 
 man's power sometimes to practice ; since every 
 degree of assistance given to another, upon proper 
 motives, is an act of charity ; and there is scarcely 
 any man in such a state of imbecility as that he may 
 not, on some occasions, benefit his neighbor. He 
 that cannot relieve the poor may instruct the ignor- 
 ant ; and he that cannot attend the sick may reclaim 
 the vicious. He that can give little assistance him- 
 self may yet perform the duty of charity by influ- 
 encing the ardor of others, and recommending the 
 petitions which he cannot grant to those who have 
 more to bestow. The widow that shall give her 
 mite to the treasury, the poor man who shall bring 
 to the thirsty a cup of cold water, shall not lose 
 their reward. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 That charity alone endures which flows from a 
 sense of duty and a hope in God. This is the char- 
 
84 . IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ity that treads in secret those paths of misery from 
 which all but the lowest of human wretches have 
 fled : this is that charity which no labor can weary, 
 no ingratitude detach, no horror disgust ; that toils, 
 that pardons, that suffers ; that is seen by no man, 
 and honored by no man, but, like the great laws of 
 nature, does the work of God in silence, and looks 
 to a future and better world for its reward. — Syd- 
 ney Smith. 
 
 Every good act is charity. Giving water to the 
 thirsty is charity ; removing stones and thorns from 
 the road is charity ; smiling in your brother's face is 
 charity. A man's true wealth is the good he does 
 in this world. When he dies, mortals will ask what 
 property he left behind him ; but angels will ask 
 him, What good deeds hast thou sent before thee ? 
 — Mohammed. 
 
 A poor man, with a single handful of flowers, 
 heaped the alms-bowl of Buddha, which the rich 
 could not fill with ten thousand bushels. — From the 
 Chinese. 
 
 The liberal man who eats and bestows is better 
 than the pious man who fasts and hoards. — From 
 the Persian. 
 
 Give, if thou canst, an alms ; if not, afford instead 
 of that a sweet and gentle word. — Robert Herrick. 
 
 Love or charity is life — the life lived and taught 
 by One " Who left us an example that we should 
 follow His steps." . 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 35 
 
 |$ Jktj uf f tf^mtttl 
 
 9wRE ye with the preparation 
 w^ Qf t h e Gospel shod, 
 Fear ye not the tribulation 
 
 Of the day of God ! 
 He will come in all the glory 
 
 Of a smiling face, 
 And rehearse the happy story 
 
 Of the day of grace. 
 
 Are ye with no preparation 
 
 Of the Gospel shod, 
 Then, alas ! the tribulation 
 
 Of the day of God! 
 He will come, but in the glory 
 
 Of a clouded face, 
 And recall the mournful story 
 
 Of His wasted grace. - 
 
 "There is a Spirit in man," faithful to its in- 
 stincts, even when astray as to their true object ; it 
 wanders often, yet feels through very sadness and 
 weariness how far it has got from home. And 
 hence come those utterances (of which you tell me), 
 strange, prophetic voices, a groaning and travail- 
 pain of Humanity, which, even in the hearts of those 
 who reject revelation, testify its waiting for some 
 great Redemption. If man refused the bread which 
 
86 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 came down from Heaven, never was it so hard for 
 him to live " by bread alone " as now. His very 
 wealth and increase has brought with it a sense of 
 poverty, — because he has become rich, and increased 
 in goods, he knows, as he did not before, that he is 
 wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked. The 
 energy of his wrestling with the things of time and 
 sense has awakened instincts of which, but for the 
 ardor of that struggle, he might have known little. 
 He conquers kingdoms, and weeps like the ancient 
 conqueror. The world which he has vanquished 
 cannot satisfy him. He feels himself to be greater 
 than the universe, yet feebler than the meanest 
 thing within it which can follow the appointed law 
 of its being. The splendor of his material acquisi- 
 tions is but a robe, too short and thin to wrap him 
 from cold and shame. He can do great things, but 
 what is he? To have all, and to die saying, "Is 
 this all?" is the epitaph of many a rich and wasted 
 life. — Miss Greenwell. 
 
 Methinks neither the voice of the archangel, nor 
 the trump of God, nor the dissolution of the ele- 
 ments, nor the face of the Judge itself, from which 
 the heavens will flee away, will be so dismaying and 
 terrible to these men as the sight of the poor mem- 
 bers of Christ ; whom, having spurned and rejected 
 in the days of their humiliation, they will then be- 
 hold with amazement united to their Lord, covered 
 with His glory, and seated on His throne. How will 
 they be astonished to see them surrounded with so 
 much majesty ! How will they cast down their eyes 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 87 
 
 in their presence ! How will they curse that gold 
 which will then eat their flesh as with fire, and that 
 avarice, that indolence, that voluptuousness which 
 will entitle them to so much misery ! You will then 
 learn that the imitation of Christ is the only wisdom: 
 you will then be convinced it is better to be en- 
 deared to the cottage than admired in the palace ; 
 when to have wiped the tears of the afflicted, and 
 inherited the prayers of the widow and the father- 
 less, shall be found a richer patrimony than the fa- 
 vor of princes. — Robert Hall. 
 
 How can we think of appearing at that tribunal 
 without being able to give a ready answer to the 
 questions which He shall then put to us about the 
 poor and the afflicted, the hungry and the naked, 
 the sick and the imprisoned ? — Atterbury. 
 
 All the precepts, promises, and threatenings of 
 the gospel will rise up in judgment against us; and 
 the articles of our faith will be so many articles of 
 accusation: and the great weight of our charge will 
 be this, that we did not obey the gospel, which we 
 professed to believe ; that we made confession of the 
 Christian faith, but lived like heathens. — Tillotson. 
 
 As the Supreme Being is the only proper judge 
 of our perfections, so He is the only fit rewarder of 
 them. This is a consideration that comes home to 
 our interest, as the other adapts itself to our ambi- 
 tion. And what could the most aspiring or the 
 most selfish man desire more, were he to form the 
 notion of a being to whom he would recommend 
 himself, than such a knowledge as can discover the 
 
88 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 least appearance of perfection in him, and such a 
 goodness as will proportion a reward to it ? 
 
 Let the ambitious man, therefore, turn all his 
 desire of fame this way; and, that he may propose 
 to himself a fame worthy of his ambition, let him 
 consider, that if he employs his abilities to the best 
 advantage, the time will come when the Supreme 
 Governor of the world, the Great Judge of man- 
 kind, who sees every degree of perfection in others, 
 and possesses all possible perfection in Himself, 
 shall proclaim his worth before men and angels, 
 and pronounce to him, in the presence of the whole 
 creation, that best and most significant of applauses, 
 "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter 
 thou into thy Master's joy. — Addison. 
 
iffart Sw0il 
 
8§«y-&»*«§- 
 
 Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. — I. John. v. 4. 
 
 O keep me innocent ! make others great. — Queen Caroline Ma- 
 tilda, of Denmark. 
 
 A handful of good life is better than a bushel of learning. 
 
 — George Herbert. 
 
 The voice of God himself speaks in the hearts of men, whether they 
 understand it or not. — South. 
 
 Whatever people think of you, do that which you believe to be right. 
 
 — Pythagoras. 
 
 A beautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form. — Emerson. 
 
 He lives long that lives well ; and time mis-spent is not lived, but 
 lost. — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 A man must not so much prepare himself for eternity as plant eter- 
 nitv in himself — Richter. 
 
 (CO) 
 
IpTERNAL Providence: 
 
 v * s8 ^ Throughout His Infinite Abode 
 
 The Whither and the Whence. 
 
 The Virtue of the world: 
 
 Life, Life above, below the sod, 
 In mystery impearled. 
 
 Eternity and Time 
 
 Rolled up together at His nod 
 Within the soul sublime. 
 
 The Strength that is so still, 
 
 The Glory on the heavenly road 
 Which doth all creatures fill. 
 
 One always sacrificed: 
 
 Forever Love with Justice shod, 
 Forevermore the Christ. 
 
 While earthly objects are exhausted by famili- 
 arity, the thought of God becomes to the devout 
 man continually brighter, richer, vaster ; derives 
 
 (91) 
 
92 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 fresh lustre from all that he observes of nature 
 and Providence, and attracts to itself all the 
 glories of the universe. The devout man, espe- 
 cially in moments of strong religious sensibility, 
 feels distinctly that he has found the true happi- 
 ness of man. He has found a Being for his ven- 
 eration and love, whose character is inexhaustible, 
 who after ages shall have passed will still be un- 
 comprehended in the extent of His perfections, 
 and will still communicate to the pure mind 
 stronger proofs of His excellence and more in- 
 timate signs of His approval. — Channing. 
 
 His eye is upon every hour of my existence. 
 His spirit is intimately present with every 
 thought of my heart. His inspiration gives birth 
 to every purpose within me. His hand impresses 
 a direction on every footstep of my goings. 
 Every breath I inhale is drawn by an energy 
 which God deals out to me. — Dr. Chalmers. 
 
 God is a perpetual refuge and security to His 
 people. His providence is not confined to one 
 generation ; it is not only one age that tastes of 
 His bounty and compassion. His eye never yet 
 slept, nor hath He suffered the little ship of His 
 church to be swallowed up, though it hath been 
 tossed upon the waves ; He hath always been a 
 haven to preserve us, a house to secure us; He 
 hath always had compassion to pity us, and 
 power to protect us ; He hath had a face to 
 shine, when the world hath had an angry coun- 
 tenance to frown. He brought Enoch home by- 
 
GOD. 93 
 
 an extraordinary translation from a brutish world; 
 and when He was resolved to reckon with men 
 for their brutish lives, He lodged Noah, the phoe- 
 nix of the world, in an ark, and kept him alive 
 as a spark in the midst of many waters, whereby 
 to rekindle a church in the world ; in all genera- 
 tions He is a dwelling-place to secure His people 
 here or entertain them above. — Charnock. 
 
 It is a singular piece of wisdom to apprehend 
 truly, and without passion, the works of God, and 
 so well to distinguish His justice from His mercy 
 as not to miscall those noble attributes ; yet it is 
 likewise an honest piece of logic, so to dispute 
 and argue the proceedings of God as to dis- 
 tinguish even His judgments into mercies. For 
 God is merciful unto all, because better to the 
 worst than the best deserve ; and to say He 
 punisheth none in this world, though it be a 
 paradox, is no absurdity. — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 Unto them that love Him, God causeth all 
 things to work for the best. So that with Him, 
 by the heavenly light of steadfast faith, they see 
 life even in death ; with Him, even in heaviness 
 and sorrow, they fail not of joy and comfort ; 
 with Him, even in poverty, affliction, and trouble, 
 they neither perish nor are forsaken. — Bishop 
 
 COVERDALE. 
 
 May I be one of the weakest, provided only 
 in my weakness, that immortal and better vigor 
 be put forth with greater effect; provided only, 
 in my darkness, the light of the Divine counte- 
 
94 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 nance does but the more brightly shine : for 
 then I shall at once be the weakest and the 
 most mighty, — shall be at once blind and of the 
 most piercing sight. — Milton. 
 
 %h Enmh ftmt* 
 
 The first man is of the earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from 
 heaven. —I Cor. XV. 47. 
 
 SOD is God all worlds before, 
 ^^ Fulness of Eternal Love : 
 God is Man forevermore, 
 All created things above. 
 
 Incarnation known at last 
 
 Earth's divinest dream fulfils: 
 
 Into Man forever passed, 
 
 God achieves there what He wills ; 
 
 Builds again at wondrous cost, 
 Cost which Earth cannot compute, 
 
 And restores the Image lost 
 
 Through the death-concealing fruit; 
 
 Fashions in our earthy shrine 
 All His beauty, all His grace, 
 
THE SECOND MAN. 95 
 
 Which eternally will shine 
 In this lowly, narrow place ; 
 
 And uplifts for evermore 
 
 W T hat was prostrate in the dust, 
 
 Breathing to the very core 
 Sweet divinity of Trust. 
 
 O my Soul, in wonder bow ! 
 
 Heart of mine, in awe retreat! 
 God abideth with thee now, 
 
 Strength divine and weakness meet. 
 
 Truth and Immortality 
 
 Are the gifts He bringeth thee ; 
 Take them with humility, 
 
 Keep them beautiful and free ; 
 
 Wondrous germs of wondrous life 
 
 In this earthly house of thine, 
 Mighty seed of mighty strife 
 
 Till the victory divine. 
 
 Hast thou pain and travail now 
 Though thy face is to the van ? 
 
 With His sign upon thy brow, 
 Prophesy the Second Man : 
 
 Who, in thee the hope of glory, 
 
 Crowned with sorrow, strong and brave; 
 
 Chants the One Heroic Story, 
 Epic of both sides the grave. 
 
IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Hast though tribulation yet ? 
 
 Fear, which thou canst not recount, 
 Lest to Love thou be in debt 
 
 In the day of thine account ? 
 
 God is greater than thy heart, 
 And thy measure is not His : 
 
 Thou in Llim forever art, 
 Infinite His goodness is. 
 
 Hast thou eyes too dim to see 
 
 In this tragedy below 
 All that must forever be, 
 
 All that will to-morrow go ? 
 
 In the marvellous To-day 
 
 Walk in thine Eternal Light ; 
 
 Heaven and Earth shall pass away, 
 Thou remainest in thy right, — 
 
 Heir of God and Liberty, 
 And possessor even here, 
 
 In thy life Eternity 
 
 Making Christ forever clear : 
 
 Who, for thy deliverance 
 
 From the power of Death and Hell, 
 Bids thee trust Him and advance, 
 
 Hailing Him Immanuel : 
 
 Liberator of the race 
 And Ideal of the soul, 
 
THE SECOND MAN. <J7 
 
 Building into living- grace 
 
 Image of the One and Whole 
 
 Lord and God all worlds before, 
 All created things above, 
 
 Man Divine forevermore, 
 Fulness of Eternal Love. 
 
 And thus Christianity is the poetry of life ; 
 the singing of songs to heavy hearts. "True 
 poetry," says M. Jouffroy, " has but one theme — 
 that of the yearning of the human Soul in the 
 presence of the question of its destiny. ,, And 
 such a theme pervades the Epic of Redemption ; 
 to such yearnings it addresses itself ; by such 
 yearnings alone can it be understood, embraced, 
 and applied; for such yearnings it supplies the 
 consolation of the Heavenly Father. The whole 
 scheme of the Gospel is a drama of Redemp- 
 tion from darkness to light, from death to life. 
 It is the poem of Paradise regained. And Jesus 
 is the maker of this poem ; the Hero of this 
 drama, through all its action, its vicissitudes, its 
 catastrophe, to its final consumation. So various 
 is the work of this Redeemer that the Scrip- 
 ture writers exhaust the most copious imagery 
 to illustrate all its bearings and results. His 
 coming into the world for this end, they liken 
 to the self-sacrifice of a self-denying benefactor 
 beggaring himself to enrich the destitute ; of a 
 prince descending from his father's splendor to 
 
98 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 do service for the meanest of his subjects, even 
 to humiliation and death. His presence in the 
 world, they compare to the sun in heaven, shed- 
 ding- over all men light and life. His office in 
 the world is likened to a sower sowing seed ; 
 to a fisherman casting his net into the sea ; to 
 a physician going where there is disease. His 
 tcacJiings are compared to the indispensable bread 
 of life ; to the manna which fell from heaven ; 
 to the streams which flowed from the stricken 
 rock. His death is likened to the self-sacrifice 
 of a faithful shepherd who rescues his flock at. 
 the price of his own life ; to the lifting up of 
 the serpent in the wilderness for the healing of 
 poisoned sinners ; to the ransom or redemption 
 price by which slaves are bought out of bond- 
 age ; to the Paschal lamb which warded off the 
 Angel of death ; to the triumph of a conqueror 
 of mighty foes ; to the work of a surety cancel- 
 ling the demands of an antiquated covenant, and 
 of a mediator ratifying a new and better one ;: 
 to the atoning sacrifice which lifted up the penalty 
 from the transgressors of the Mosaic law ; and to- 
 the substituted victim which, clearing off all charges 
 against us, makes us feel at one with God. His 
 functions are likened to that of a peace-maker, 
 doing away with all differences between God and 1 
 men, and therewith between the several divisions 
 of God's family ; of the prophets, who proclaimed 
 God's words ; of the kings, who maintained God's 
 truth ; the priests, who made intercession for 
 
THE SECOND MAN. 99 
 
 God's people ; the high priest, who penetrated to 
 God's presence-chamber with propitiations and 
 came back thence with benedictions. And the 
 total result of His interposition is compared to 
 that of an intervening friend who brings together 
 a disorganized and scattered family, and reunites 
 them with perfect amity with their father's rule. 
 For this was " the good pleasure which God pur- 
 posed in Himself, to gather back into one body 
 under one head the whole family in heaven and 
 earth." — Griffeth. 
 
 Now for my life, it is a miracle of thirty years, 
 which to relate, were not a history, but a piece of 
 poetry, and would sound to common ears like a 
 fable : for the world, I count it not an inn, but an 
 hospital ; and a place not to live, but to die in. 
 The world that I regard is myself; it is the mi- 
 crocosom of mine own frame that I cast mine eye 
 on ; for the other, I use it but like my globe, and 
 turn it round sometimes for my recreation. Men 
 that look on my outside, perusing only my condi- 
 tion and fortune, ' do err in my altitude ; for I am 
 above Atlas his shoulders. The Earth is a point 
 not only in respect to the heavens above us, but 
 of that heavenly and celestial part within us : 
 that mass of flesh that circumscribes me, limits not 
 my mind : that surface that tells the heavens it 
 hath an end, cannot persuade me that I have any ; 
 I take my circle to above three hundred and 
 sixty ; though the number of the arc do measure 
 my body, it comprehendeth not my mind : whilst L 
 
100 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 study to find how I am a microcosm, or a little 
 world, I find myself more than the great. There is 
 surely a piece of divinity in us, something that was 
 before the elements, and owes no homage to the 
 sun. Nature tells me that I am the image of 
 God, as well as Scripture : he that understands 
 not thus much, hath not his introduction or first 
 lesson, and is yet to begin the alphabet of man. 
 — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 itstittttttn 
 
 *fr Y God, 
 
 ^^- Since I have trod 
 The way of love and duty, 
 
 Thy miracle 
 
 Immanuel 
 Has blossomed into beauty. 
 
 Before, 
 
 I conned it o'er 
 And found no revelation : 
 
 To me it seemed 
 
 As if men dreamed, 
 Who called it consolation. 
 
immanuel. 101 
 
 But now 
 
 I know that Thou, 
 
 God, art in us dwelling, 
 
 Interpreter 
 And Comforter, 
 \11 power of man excelling. 
 
 My life 
 
 Is not a strife 
 In darkness any longer; 
 
 For Thou therein 
 
 Dost frown on sin, 
 Then smile to make me stronger. 
 
 Thy strength 
 
 Becomes at length 
 A very fortress in me, 
 
 From which no foe 
 
 To overthrow- 
 Hath any power to win me. 
 
 Through Thee 
 Eternity 
 Is ever growing clearer, 
 And day by day 
 Upon my way 
 
 1 know that Heaven is nearer. 
 
 And some of you say sometimes, often I dare 
 say, " I am tired, I am sick and weary of it all - r 
 I would to God I were at rest ! " Why ? When 
 
102 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 has this heart-sickness overtaken you ? When 
 has life seemed so poor and worthless ? When 
 has your soul thus preyed upon itself, filled your 
 face with restless sadness, and sapped your health 
 in its very springs? Was it in the seasons when 
 faith was strong, when the vision of the unseen 
 realities was keen, when the light of God was on 
 your tabernacle of life? Was it when your soul 
 was armed and paraded for duty in God's ser- 
 vice, and your noblest powers were drawn forth 
 and strained in the work for Christ and man- 
 kind ? Nay ! I see your form then, it is erect 
 and eager ; I see your eye, it flashes with ardor ; 
 I hear your voice, it rings with exultation; I catch 
 the heart-beats, they are full and musical, and 
 they throb with the energy of victorious life. No; 
 no faintness then, no heart-sickness, no life-weari- 
 ness then ; but abounding strength, abounding 
 joy, abounding hope. There is but one thing 
 which makes life worth having, worth living, and 
 that makes it simply of priceless worth ; it was 
 expressed in one brief phrase by the lips of the 
 dying Wesley : " The best of all is, God is with 
 us." — J. Baldwin Brown. 
 
^ 4 ^dSliiK 
 
 .NHL*:- V -HTf^^^^vOT 
 
 Thou art the true and undefiled." 
 
SIMPLICITY. loo 
 
 jlimplml^ 
 
 *MOME hither, little child, 
 &" And bring thy heart to me : 
 Thou art the true and undefiled, 
 So full of melody. 
 
 The presence of a child 
 
 Has taught me more of Heaven, 
 And more my heart has reconciled, 
 
 Than Greece' immortal Seven. 
 
 For when I sometimes think 
 That vain are prayer and song, 
 
 Before a little child I sink 
 And own that I am wrono-. 
 
 o 
 
 And, lo, my heart grows bright, 
 That was before so dark, 
 
 Till in the tender morning light 
 I find the vanished mark. 
 
 Purity and simplicity are the two wings with 
 which man soars above the earth and all tem- 
 porary nature. Simplicity is in the intention, pur- 
 ity in the affection : simplicity turns to God ; 
 purity unites with and enjoys Him. If thou 
 hadst simplicity and purity thou wouidst be able 
 
1G4 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 to comprehend all things without error, and be- 
 hold them without danger. The pure heart 
 safely pervades not only heaven but hell. — 
 Thomas A Kempis. 
 
 The truly great man is he who does not lose 
 his child -heart. He does not think beforehand 
 that his words shall be sincere, nor that his ac- 
 tion shall be resolute : he simply always abides 
 in the right. — Mencius. 
 
 Innocence, in its highest degree, is wisdom ; 
 for every one is wise so far as he is led by the 
 Lord. The wiser the angels are, the more inno- 
 cent they are; and the more innocent they are, 
 the more they seem to themselves like little chil- 
 dren. SWEDENBORG. 
 
 Even the child who is transiently with us in 
 this world may paint on the darkness of our sor- 
 row so fair a vision of loving wonder, of rever- 
 ent trust, and of patience, that a Divine Presence 
 abides with us forever, as the mild and constant 
 light of hope and faith. — James Martineau. 
 
 Simplicity is the character of the spring of 
 life : costliness becomes its autumn ; but a neat- 
 ness and purity, like that of the snowdrop or lily 
 of the valley, is the peculiar fascination of beauty, 
 to which it lends enchantment, and gives a charm 
 even to a plain person, being to the body what 
 amiability is to the mind. ... In character, 
 in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is 
 simplicity. — Longfellow. 
 
 Simplicity is that grace which frees the soul- 
 
" The beauty of a wayside flower. 
 
VIRTUE. 105 
 
 from all unnecessary reflections upon itself. — ■ 
 Fenelon. 
 
 Are not the signs of the heavenly kingdom 
 distinctly visible in the nature of a little child? 
 Love, simplicity, and faith are the characteristics 
 of little children. How simple and touching is 
 their faith ! Imitate little children, and trust. — N„ 
 L. Frothixgham. 
 
 f^THE spirit of a little child, 
 
 ^^ The beauty of a wayside flower, 
 And to the passions growing wild 
 
 A silent and subduing power ; — 
 The secret of the Second Man, 
 
 The order of a perfect world — 
 Our narrow words may never span 
 
 All that in Virtue lies impearled : 
 But human lives may compass it, 
 
 And somewhat of its marvels show,. 
 With the bright beams celestial lit 
 
 As once the Son of Man below ;: 
 And pour the sunshine of His love 
 
 In calm effulgence all around, 
 Till they to mute Amazement prove 
 
 Divinity in man is found. 
 
106 - IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Virtue — says a writer of the last century, in a 
 passage that was a great favorite with the poet 
 Rogers, — Virtue is of intrinsic value and good 
 desert, and of indispensable obligation ; not the 
 creature of will, but necessary and immutable; not 
 local or temporary, but of equal extent and an- 
 tiquity with the Divine mind; not a mode of sen- 
 sation, but everlasting Truth ; not dependent on 
 power, but the guide of all power. Virtue is the 
 foundation of honor and esteem, the source of 
 all beauty, order, and happiness in nature. It is 
 what confers value on all other endowments and 
 qualities of a reasonable being, to which they 
 ought to be absolutely subservient, and without 
 which, the more eminent they are, the more hide- 
 ous deformities and the greater curses they be- 
 come. The use of it is not confined to any stage 
 of our existence, or to any particular situation we 
 can be in, but reaches through all the periods 
 and circumstances of our being. Many of the 
 endowments and talents we now possess, and of 
 which we are too apt to be proud, will cease 
 entirely with the present state ; but this will be 
 our ornament and dignity in every future state 
 to which we may be removed. Beauty and wit 
 will die, learning will vanish away, and all the 
 arts of life be soon forgot; but Virtue will re- 
 main forever. This unites us to the whole 
 rational creation, and fits us for conversing with 
 any order of superior natures, and for a place 
 in any part of God's works. It procures us the 
 
VIRTUE. 107 
 
 approbation of all wise and good beings, and 
 renders them our allies and friends. But what 
 is of unspeakably greater consequence is, that it 
 makes God our friend, assimilates and unites our 
 minds to His, and engages His almighty power 
 in our defense. Superior beings of all ranks are 
 bound by it no less than ourselves. It has the 
 same authority in all worlds that it has in this. 
 The further any being is advanced in excellence 
 and perfection the greater is his attachment to 
 it, and the more he is under its influence. To 
 say no more, it is the law of the whole universe; 
 it stands first in the estimation of the Deity ; its 
 original is His nature; and it is the very object 
 that makes Him lovely. 
 
 Such is the importance of Virtue. Of what 
 •consequence, therefore, is it that we practise it! 
 There is no argument or motive which is at all 
 fitted to influence a reasonable mind, which does 
 not call us to this. One virtuous disposition of 
 soul is preferable to the greatest natural accom- 
 plishments and abilities, and of more value than 
 all the treasures of the world. If you are wise, 
 then, study virtue, and contemn everything that 
 can come in competition with it. Remember, that 
 nothing else deserves one anxious thought or 
 wish. Remember, that this alone is honor, glory, 
 wealth and happiness. Secure this, and you se- 
 cure everything ; lose this, and all is lost. — Dr. 
 Price. 
 
 There is but one pursuit in life which it is in 
 
103 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 the power of all to follow, and of all to attain. 
 It is subject to no disappointments, since he that 
 perseveres makes every difficulty an advance- 
 ment, and every contest a victory ; and this is 
 the pursuit of virtue. Sincerely to aspire after 
 virtue is to gain her, and zealously to labor after 
 her wages is to receive them. Those that seek 
 her early will find her before it is late ; her re- 
 ward also is with her, and she will come quickly. 
 For the breast of a good man is a little heavens 
 commencing on earth, where the Deity sits en- 
 throned with unrivalled influence, every subju- 
 gated passion " like the wind and storm fulfilling 
 His word." — Colton. 
 
 0oWss* 
 
 OODNESS needs no lure: 
 All compensations are in her enshrined, 
 Whatever things are right and fair and pure, 
 Wealth of the heart and mind. 
 
 Failure and success, 
 The Day and Night of every life below, 
 Are but the servants of her blessedness, 
 
 That come and spend and go. 
 
GOODNESS. 109 
 
 Life is her reward, 
 A life brim-full, in every day's employ, 
 Of sunshine, inspiration, every word 
 
 And syllable of joy. 
 
 Heaven to thee is known, 
 If Goodness in the robes of common earth 
 Becomes a presence thou canst call thine own, 
 
 To warm thy heart and hearth. 
 
 Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of na- 
 ture the inclination. This, of all virtues and dig- 
 nities of mind, is the greatest, being the character 
 of the Deity, — and without it man is a busy, mis- 
 chievous, wretched thing, — no better than a kind 
 of vermin. Goodness answers to the theological 
 virtue charity, and admits no excess but error. 
 The desire of power in excess caused the angels 
 to fall ; the desire of knowledge in excess caused 
 man to fall ; but in charity there is no excess, 
 neither can angel or man come in danger by it. — 
 Lord Bacon. 
 
 A holy hermit had passed a long life in a cave 
 of the Thebaid, remote from all intercourse with 
 mankind. He fasted and prayed, and performed 
 many severe penances ; and his whole thought 
 was how he should make himself of account with 
 God, so that he might be sure of a seat in Para- 
 dise. 
 
 Having lived in this way for threescore and 
 ten years, he became much puffed up with ideas 
 
110 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 of his own sanctity. He besought the Lord to 
 show him some saint greater than himself, that he 
 might imitate him ; thinking, perhaps, that the 
 Lord would reply that there was no saint greater 
 and holier than he was. 
 
 That same night an angel appeared to him 
 and said: " If thou wouldst excel all others in 
 virtue and sanctity, strive to imitate a certain min- 
 strel who goes singing and begging from door to 
 door." 
 
 The hermit, in great astonishment, took his 
 staff and went forth in search of the minstrel. 
 And when he found him, he questioned him earn- 
 estly, saying, " Tell me, I pray thee, brother, what 
 prayers and penance and good works thou hast 
 performed, by which thou hast made thyself ac- 
 ceptable to God ?" 
 
 The man was greatly surprised to be accosted 
 in that manner. He hung down his head, and 
 replied : " I beseech thee, holy father, not to mock 
 me. I have performed no good works ; and as 
 for praying, alas ! sinner that I am, I am not 
 worthy to pray. I only go from door to door, to 
 amuse people with my viol and my flute." 
 
 The hermit insisted, and said ; " But peradven- 
 ture even in the midst of this thy evil life thou 
 hast done some good works." 
 
 The man replied : " Nay, I know of nothing 
 good that I have done." 
 
 The hermit, wondering more and more, said: 
 " How hast thou become a beggar ? Hast thou. 
 
CONSCIENCE. Ill 
 
 spent thy substance in riotous living, like most 
 others of thy calling ?" 
 
 The man answered : " Nay, not so. But I met 
 a poor woman running hither and thither dis- 
 tracted, because her husband and children had 
 been sold into slavery, to pay a debt, The wo- 
 man was very beautiful, and certain sons of Bel- 
 ial pursued after her. I took her home and pro- 
 tected her from them. I gave her all I possessed 
 to redeem her family ; then I conducted her safely 
 to the city, where she was reunited to her hus- 
 band and children. But what of that, my father ? 
 Is there any man who would not have done the 
 same ?" 
 
 The hermit, hearing these words, shed tears. 
 " Alas,', said he, " I have not done so much good 
 in all my long life ; yet they call me a man of 
 God: and thou art only a poor minstrel." — St. 
 Jerome. 
 
 loMtkitf* 
 
 |^T?HE Spirit that so calmly strives with man, 
 ^* Of old was conscience to Elijah's breast ; 
 Through which a tremor of contrition ran, 
 
 And vanished but with self and sin confessed. 
 
112 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 The still small voice was vocal in a look, 
 
 When three times Peter had denied his Lord; 
 
 And tears went flowing like a mountain brook, 
 Made burning through a false, ungrateful word. 
 
 The silent whisper which his bosom stirred 
 Amid the trappings of the Judgment Hall, 
 
 In vain, in vain the troubled Pilate heard, 
 
 And who shall paint the darkness of his fall? 
 
 Full many a time all hear the Voice Divine, 
 For every one is born a child of God: 
 
 Full many a time does light from Heaven shine 
 To show the pilgrim the Celestial road. 
 
 Ah, what of them who will not see or heed, 
 All self- directed in the course they run? 
 
 God summons to account for every deed 
 In light above the brightness of the sun. 
 
 A man's first care should be to avoid the re- 
 proaches of his own heart; his next, to escape 
 the censure of the world. If the last interferes 
 with the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; 
 but otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfac- 
 tion to an honest mind than to see those appro- 
 bations which it gives itself, seconded by the ap- 
 plause of the public. A man is more sure of his 
 conduct when the verdict which he passes upon 
 his own behavior is thus warranted and confirmed 
 by the opinion of all that know him. — Addison. 
 
CONSCIENCE. 113 
 
 A tender conscience, of all things, ought to be 
 tenderly handled: for if you do not, you injure 
 not only the conscience, but the whole moral 
 frame and constitution is injured, recurring at 
 times to remorse, and seeking refuge only in 
 making the conscience callous. — Burke. 
 
 He that loses his conscience has nothing left 
 that is worth keeping. Therefore, be sure you 
 look to that. And, in the next place, look to 
 your health ; and if you have it, praise God, and 
 value it next to a good conscience ; for health is 
 the second blessing that we mortals are capable 
 of; a blessing that money cannot buy ; therefore 
 value it, and be thankful for it. — Izaak Walton. 
 
 The testimony of a good conscience will make 
 the comforts of Heaven descend upon man's 
 weary head like a refreshing dew or shower 
 upon a parched land. It will give him lively 
 earnests and secret anticipations of approaching 
 joy ; it will bid his soul go out of the body un- 
 dauntedly, and lift up his head with confidence 
 before saints and angels. The comfort which it 
 conveys is greater than the capacities of mor- 
 tality can appreciate, mighty and unspeakable, and 
 not to be understood till it is felt. — South. 
 
 What comfort does overflow the devout soul 
 from a consciousness of its own innocence and 
 integrity. — Tillotson. 
 
114 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 m\\ aufc ©Bsbbtitk 
 
 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of 
 God, or whether I speak of myself.— St. John. VII. 17. 
 
 gTRUTH and Obedience 
 ^ Are wonder-working powers, 
 Whose foot-prints are their evidence 
 
 Through all this world of ours : 
 
 The trainers in the race 
 
 To an eternal goal : 
 Revealers of undying grace, 
 
 The beauty of the soul. 
 
 Truth and Obedience 
 
 Can wash out many a taint, 
 Tame the wild hands of Violence, 
 
 Turn sinner into saint ; 
 
 And bring the Age of Gold 
 
 God's singers see afar, 
 Until the blessed things foretold 
 
 Become the things that are. 
 
 Truth is the light of the Infinite Mind, and the 
 image of God in his creatures. Nothing endures 
 but truth. The dreams, fictions, theories, which 
 men would substitute for it, soon die. Without 
 its guidance effort is vain, and hope baseless. 
 Accordingly, the love of truth, a deep thirst for it,. 
 a deliberate purpose to seek it and hold it fast, 
 
TRUTH AND OBEDIENCE. X1& 
 
 may be considered as the very foundation of hu- 
 man culture and dignity. Precious as thought is, 
 the love of truth is still more precious ; for 
 without it— -thought wanders and wastes itself, 
 and precipitates men into guilt and misery. There 
 is no greater defect in education and the pulpit 
 than that they inculcate so little an impartial, 
 earnest, reverential love of truth, a readiness to 
 toil, to live and die for it. Let the laboring man 
 be imbued in a measure with this spirit; let him 
 learn to regard himself as endowed with the power 
 of thought, for the very end of acquiring truth; 
 let him learn to regard truth as more precious than 
 his daily bread; and the spring of true and per- 
 petual elevation is touched within him. He has 
 begun to be a man ; he becomes one of the elect 
 of his race. Nor do I despair of this elevation of 
 the laborer. Unhappily little, almost nothing, has 
 been done as yet to inspire either rich or poor 
 with the love of truth for its own sake, or for the 
 life and inspiration, and dignity it gives to the 
 soul. The prosperous have as little of this prin- 
 ciple as the laboring mass. I think, instead, that 
 the spirit of the luxurious, fashionable life, is more 
 hostile to it than the hardships of the poor. Un- 
 der a wise culture, this principle may be awak- 
 ened in all classes, and wherever awakened, it 
 will form philosophers, successful and noble think- 
 ers. These remarks seem to me particularly im- 
 portant, as showing how intimate a union sub- 
 sists between the moral and intellectual nature,. 
 
116 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 and how both must work together from the begin- 
 ning. All human culture rests on a moral found- 
 ation, on an impartial, disinterested spirit, on a 
 willingness to make sacrifices to the truth. With- 
 out this moral power, mere force of thought avails 
 nothing towards our elevation. — Channing. 
 
 Hpri5^!it®$* 
 
 Uprightness is the talisman of life, 
 
 ^^ With charity and every virtue rife, 
 
 To render one invincible : 
 Who bears it with him through the sun and 
 
 storm, 
 At every moment has his ranks in form 
 
 To stand against the gates of hell. 
 
 In ancient times, a man in the East received 
 from venerated hands a ring of inestimable value. 
 In it was set a precious opal, from which differ- 
 ent colors glanced as the light varied ; and there 
 was a virtue within this ring, which made him 
 who wore it, and believed in its efficacy, beloved 
 by God and man. Naturally, therefore, the owner 
 of this ring never removed it from his finger, 
 
UPRIGHTNESS. 117 
 
 and was desirous to transmit it to his posterity. 
 When he felt death approaching, he gave it to 
 his favorite son, and ordained that when this son 
 died, he also should bequeath it to whichever of 
 his sons he loved the best, without regard to 
 priority of birth ; and that whoever came into 
 possession of it should, by virtue thereof, become 
 lord of the house. 
 
 In this way the ring descended from son to 
 son, till at last it was owned by a father who 
 had three sons equally dear to him. They were 
 all so obedient and good, that, in the weakness 
 of his affection for them, he sometimes promised 
 the ring to one and sometimes to another. So, when 
 death approached, he was much embarrassed ; for 
 it pained him to disappoint two of his sons for 
 the benefit of the third one. In this dilemma, 
 he sent for a jeweller and ordered him to make 
 two rings after the model of the original ring, 
 and to spare no pains or cost to make them so 
 much alike that one could not be distinguished 
 from the other. The jeweller obeyed his orders 
 so well that the father himself could not tell the 
 rings apart. On each of his sons he separately 
 bestowed one of the rings, blessed him and died. 
 
 When he was gone, each one of the sons 
 claimed to be the sole lord of the house, by vir- 
 tue of his ring. Hence contention arose, and 
 they appealed to the judge to settle their con- 
 tending claims. Each one of them showed his 
 ring, and swore that he received it from his 
 
118 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 father's hand. How was the true rinof to be 
 distinguished from the others ? The judge said : 
 " Unless I could summon your father himself as 
 a witness, it is impossible for me to decide which 
 of these rings is the real one. But, hold ! I do 
 perceive one means of proving which of them is 
 genuine. You say the real ring had an inward 
 power which made all who wore it, and who be- 
 lieved in its efficacy, beloved of God and man. 
 Now tell me, which one of you do the two other 
 brothers love the best ? You are silent. Is it 
 because each one of you loves himself alone ? 
 Then, you are all deceived and deceivers. None 
 of your rings is the true one. Perhaps the real 
 ring is gone, and your father, to hide the loss, 
 may have ordered three for one. But if, instead 
 of a decision, you will take my advice, I counsel 
 each one of you to believe his own ring to be 
 the genuine one. Your father loved you all 
 alike. Perhaps he did not want to justify either 
 one of you in claiming superiority over the other 
 two ; but desired that each of you should feel 
 honored by a token of his free affection. There- 
 fore, let each one of you try who best can mani- 
 fest the inward virtue of the real ring. Let 
 each one assist the power of his ring by gentle- 
 ness, benevolence, lorbearance, and resignation to 
 the will of God. If the virtues of your rings are 
 manifested in this way by yourselves, by your 
 children, and your children's children, a Greater 
 Judge than I am will decide the question of gen- 
 uineness." — Lessing. 
 
COURTESY. 119 
 
 o^[7HE savor of our household talk 
 *** Which earneth silent thanks : 
 The glory of our daily walk 
 Among the busy ranks. 
 
 Life's cleanly, lubricating oil 
 
 In which a help is found 
 To make the wheels of common toil 
 
 Go lightly, swiftly round. 
 
 Politeness in a thousand forms 
 
 One cannot stop to name, 
 Correcting while it cheers and warms, 
 
 Like Paul imparting blame. 
 
 Benevolence and grace of heart 
 That gives no needless pain, 
 
 And pours a balm on every smart 
 Till smiles appear again. 
 
 A man's manner, to a certain extent, indicates 
 his character. It is the external exponent of his 
 inner nature. It indicates his taste, his feelings, 
 and his temper, as well as the society to which he 
 has been accustomed. There is a conventional 
 manner, which is of comparatively little import- 
 
120 IDEALS OF LIhE. 
 
 ance ; but the natural manner, the outcome of nat- 
 ural gifts, improved by careful self-culture, signi- 
 fies a great deal. 
 
 Grace of manner is inspired by sentiment, 
 which is a source of no slight enjoyment to a 
 cultivated mind. Viewed in this light, sentiment 
 is of almost as much importance as talents and 
 acquirements, while it is even more influential in 
 giving the direction to a man's tastes and char- 
 acter. Sympathy is the golden key that unlocks 
 the hearts of others. It not only teaches polite- 
 ness and courage, but gives insight and unfolds 
 wisdom, and may almost be regarded as the 
 crowning grace of humanity. 
 
 Artificial rules of politeness are of very little 
 use. What passes by the name of " Etiquette "" 
 is often of the essence of impoliteness and un- 
 truthfulness. It consists in a great measure of 
 posture-making, and is easily seen through. Even 
 at best, etiquette is but a substitute for good man- 
 ners, though it is often but their mere counterfeit. 
 
 Good manners consist, for the most part, in 
 courteousness and kindness. Politeness has been 
 described as the art of showing, by external 
 signs, the internal regard we have for others. 
 But one may be perfectly polite to another with- 
 out necessarily having a special regard for him. 
 Good manners are neither more nor less than beau- 
 tiful behavior. It has been well said that " a beau- 
 tiful form is better than a beautiful face, and a 
 beautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form ; 
 
COURTESY. 121' 
 
 it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pic- 
 tures — it is the finest of the fine arts." 
 
 The truest politeness comes of sincerity. It 
 must be the outcome of the heart, or it will make 
 no lasting impression ; for no amount of polish 
 can dispense with truthfulness. The natural char- 
 acter must be allowed to appear, freed of its sin- 
 gularities and asperities. Though politeness, in its 
 best form, should (as St. Francis de Sales says) 
 resemble water — " best when clearest, most simple, 
 and without taste " — yet genius in a man will al- 
 ways cover many defects of manner, and much 
 will be excused to the strong and original. With- 
 out genuineness and individuality, human life 
 would lose much of its interest and variety, as 
 well as its manliness and robustness of character. 
 
 True courtesy is kind. It exhibits itsetf in- 
 the disposition to contribute to the happiness o£ 
 others, and in refraining from all that may annoy 
 them. It is grateful as well as kind and readily 
 acknowledges kind actions. Curiously enough, 
 Captain Speke found this quality of character 
 recognized even among the natives of Uganda, oiu 
 the shores of Lake Nyanza, in the heart of Africa,. 
 where, he says, " Ingratitude, or neglecting to thank" 
 a person for a benefit conferred, is punishable." 
 
 True politeness especially exhibits itself in re- 
 gard for the personality of others. A man will 
 respect the individuality of another, if he wishes 
 to be respected himself. He will have due re- 
 gard for his views and opinions, even though they 
 
122 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 differ from his own. The well-mannered man pays 
 a compliment to another, and sometimes even se- 
 cures his respect, by patiently listening to him. 
 He is simply tolerant and forbearant, and re- 
 frains from judging harshly ; and harsh judgments 
 •of others will almost invariably provoke harsh 
 judgment of ourselves. 
 
 The impolite, impulsive man will, however, 
 sometimes rather loose his friend than his joke. 
 He may surely be pronounced a very foolish per- 
 son who secures, another's hatred at the price of 
 a moment's gratification. It was a saying of Bru- 
 nei the engineer — himself one of the kindest-na- 
 tured of men — -that " spite and ill-nature are among 
 the most expensive luxuries of life." — Smiles. 
 
 A man has no more right to say an uncivil 
 thing than to act one ; no more right to say a 
 rude thing to another than to knock him down. — 
 Dr. Johnson. 
 
 Incivility is the extreme of pride ; it is built on 
 the contempt of mankind. — Zimmermann. 
 
 Nothing is more silly than the pleasure some 
 people take in " speaking their minds." A man of 
 this make will say a rude thing for the mere 
 pleasure of saying it, when an opposite behavior, 
 full as innocent, might have preserved his friend, 
 or made his fortune. — Sir Richard Steele. 
 
 Men are like wine ; not good before the lees 
 of clownishness be settled. — Felltham. 
 
 I know men — I am sure they are tyrants at 
 home, bully their servants, pester their wives, and 
 
COUBTESY. 123 
 
 beat their childern — who seem to take a delight in 
 harrassing, badgering, objurgating the waiter ; set- 
 ting pit-falls in the reckoning that he may stumble, 
 and giving him confused orders that he may trip 
 himself up. These are the men who call in the 
 landlord and demand the waiter's instant dismissal 
 because their mutton-chops has a curly tail; these 
 are the pleasant fellows who threaten to write to 
 the Times because the cayenne pepper won't 
 come out of the caster. These are the jocund 
 fellows who quarrel with the cabmen and menace 
 them with ruin and the tread-mill. — Household 
 Words. 
 
 Manners are the shadows of virtues ; the mo- 
 mentary display of those qualities which our fel- 
 low-creatures love and respect. If we strive to be- 
 come then what we strive to appear, manners 
 may often be rendered useful guides to the per- 
 formance of our duties. — Sydney Smith. 
 
 Manners are of more importance than laws. 
 Upon them, in a great measure, the laws depend. 
 The law touches us but here and there, and now 
 and then, Manners are what vex or soothe 
 corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or 
 refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible 
 operation, like that the air we breathe in. They 
 give their whole form and color to our lives. Ac- 
 cording to their quality, they aid morals, they 
 supply them, or they totally destroy them. — Burke. 
 
 I soon found the advantage of this change in 
 my manners : the conversations I engaged in 
 
1 2-1 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 went on more pleasantly. The modest way in. 
 which I proposed my opinions procured them a 
 readier reception and less contradiction. I had 
 less mortification when I was found to be in the 
 wrong-, and I more easily prevailed with others 
 to give up their mistakes and join with me when 
 I happened to be in the right. And this mode, 
 which I at first put on with some violence to 
 natural inclination, became at length easy, and so 
 habitual to me that perhaps for the last fifty 
 years no one has ever heard a dogmatical ex- 
 pression escape me. — Dr. Franklin. 
 
 The manner of saying or of doing anything 
 goes a great way in the value of the thing itself. 
 It was well said of him that called a good office 
 that was done harshly and with an ill-will, a stony 
 piece of bread: it is necessary for him that is 
 hungry to receive it, but it almost chokes a man 
 in the going down. — Seneca. 
 
 True politeness is perfect ease and freedom. 
 It simply consists in treating others just as you 
 love to be treated yourself. — Lord Chesterfield. 
 
 All the possible charities of life ought to be 
 cultivated, and where we can be neither brethren 
 nor friends, let us be kind neighbors and pleas- 
 ant acquaintances. — Burke. 
 
 Compliments of congratulation are always 
 kindly taken, and cost one nothing but pen, 
 ink, and paper. — Lord Chesterfield. 
 
 It is all very well to say, " There is no use in 
 bidding Good-morrow, or Good-night, to those 
 
COURAGE. 125 
 
 who know I wish it ; of sending one's love, in a 
 letter, to those who do not doubt it," etc. All 
 this sounds very well in theory, but it will not 
 do for practice. Scarce any friendship, or any 
 politeness, is so strong as to be able to subsist 
 without any external supports of this kind ; and it 
 is even better to have too much form than too 
 little. — Whately. 
 
 Air and manner are more expressive than 
 words. — Richardson. 
 
 We are to carry it from the hand to the 
 heart ; to improve a ceremonial nicety into a sub- 
 stantial duty, and the modes of civility into the 
 realities of religion. — South. 
 
 c)vTHE resolution of the heart 
 °*** At which bewildering fears depart, 
 Is courage which befits the man 
 Who seeks a place within the van. 
 
 Equipment of a quiet mind 
 With eyes before and eyes behind, 
 Which daily duties always fill, 
 is courage of a manly will. 
 
12G IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 The temper of old Latimer, 
 
 From whose great heart the bugle - stir 
 
 Of prophecy, amid the flame, 
 
 Is heard at mention of his name, — 
 
 Is courage of celestial mould 
 Beyond all earthly boldness bold ; 
 Which sees the hard - fought battle gained 
 And God's minority sustained. 
 
 A crreat deal of talent is lost in the world for 
 the want of a little courage. Every day sends 
 to their graves a number of obscure men who 
 have only remained in obscurity because their 
 timidity has prevented them from making a first 
 effort ; and who, if they could have been induced 
 to begin, would in all probability have gone great 
 lengths in the career of fame. The fact is, that 
 to do anything in this world worth doing, we 
 must not stand back shivering and thinking of 
 the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble 
 through as well as we can. It will not do to be 
 perpetually calculating risks and adjusting nice 
 chances ; it did very well before the Flood, when 
 a man could consult his friends upon an intended 
 publication for a hundred and fifty years, and 
 then live to see his success afterwards ; but at 
 present a man waits, and doubts, and consults 
 his brother and his particular friends, till one fine 
 day he finds that he is sixty years of age ; that 
 he has lost so much time in consulting his first 
 
COURAGE. 127 
 
 cousins and particular friends, that he has no 
 more time to follow their advice. — Sydney Smith. 
 
 It is the strong and courageous men who 
 lead and guide and rule the world. The weak 
 and timid leave no trace behind them ; while the 
 life of a single upright and energetic man is like 
 a track of light. His example is remembered and 
 appealed to ; and his thoughts, his spirit, and his 
 courage continue to be the inspiration of succeed- 
 ing generations. 
 
 It is energy — the central element of which is- 
 will — that produces the miracles of enthusiasm in 
 all ages. Everywhere it is the mainspring of 
 what is called force of character, and the sustain- 
 ing power of all great action. In a righteous 
 cause the determined man stands upon his cour- 
 age as upon a granite block; and, like David, 
 he will go forth to meet Goliath, strong in heart 
 though- a host be encamped against him. 
 
 Men often conquer difficulties because they 
 feel they can. Their confidence in themselves 
 inspires the confidence of others. When Caesar 
 was at sea, and a storm began to rage, the cap- 
 tain of the ship which carried him became un- 
 manned by fear. " What art thou afraid of? " 
 cried the great captain ; " thy vessel carries Cae- 
 sar ! " The courage of the brave man is conta- 
 gious, and carries others along with it. His 
 stronger nature awes weaker natures into silence, 
 or inspires them with his own will and purpose. 
 
 The persistent man will not be baffled or re- 
 
128 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 pulsed by opposition. Diogenes, desirous of be- 
 coming the disciple of Antisthenes, went and 
 offered himself to the cynic. He was refused. 
 Diogenes, still persisting, the cynic raised his 
 knotty staff, and threatened to strike him if he 
 did not depart. " Strike ! " said Diogenes ; " you 
 will not find a stick hard enough to conquer my 
 perseverance." Antisthenes, overcome, had not 
 another word to say, but forthwith accepted him 
 as his pupil. 
 
 Energy of temperament, with a moderate de- 
 gree of wisdom, will carry a man farther than 
 any amount of intellect without it. Energy 
 makes the man of practical ability. It gives 
 him vis, force, momentum. It is the active motive 
 power of character ; and, if combined with saga- 
 city and self-possession, will enable a man to em- 
 ploy his powers to the best advantage in all the 
 affairs of life. — Smiles. 
 
 Dear daughter — wrote a great artist — strive 
 to be of good courage, to be gentle - hearted ; 
 these are the true qualities for a woman. Trou- 
 bles everybody must expect. There is but one 
 way of looking at fate — whatever that be, whether 
 blessings or afflictions — to behave with dignity 
 under both. We must not lose heart, or it will 
 be the worse both for ourselves and for those 
 whom we love. To struggle, and again and again 
 renew the conflict — this is life's inheritance. — Ary 
 
 SCHEFFER. 
 
 As to moral courage, I have rarely met with 
 
COURAGE. 129 
 
 the two d clock in the morning courage. I mean, un- 
 prepared courage, that which is necessary on an 
 unexpected occasion, and which, in spite of the 
 most unforeseen events, leaves full freedom of 
 judgment and decision. — Napoleon I. 
 
 Johnson, with that native fortitude which, 
 amidst all his bodily distress and mental suffer- 
 ings, never forsook him, asked Dr. Brocklesby, 
 as a man in whom he had confidence, to tell him 
 plainly whether he could recover. " Give me," 
 said he, "a direct answer." The doctor, having 
 first asked him if he could bear the whole truth, 
 w 7 hich way soever it might lead, and being an- 
 swered that he could, declared that, in his opin- 
 ion, he could not recover without a miracle. 
 " Then," said Johnson, " I will take no more phy- 
 sic, not even my opiates ; for I have prayed that 
 I may render my soul up to God unclouded." — 
 Bos WELL. 
 
 " Be of good comfort," said the brave old Lat- 
 imer to his companion at the stake; "be of good 
 comfort, Master Ridley, for we shall this day light 
 such a candle through all England as, by God's 
 grace, shall never be put out." When, after the 
 restoration of Charles II., Sir John Elliot was rid- 
 ing to the place of execution, he stood up in the 
 cart, en seeing his wife looking down upon him 
 from a window in the Tower, and waved his hat 
 and said, " To heaven, my love ; to heaven, my 
 love, and leave you in the storm i " . 
 
130 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 iterotmt* 
 
 DECISION is the soul of luck, 
 
 C5z£ Which, flashing through it, makes it pluck, 
 
 The genius and the power to do 
 
 That which the lightning brings to view. 
 
 Decision walks on solid ground, 
 
 A factor in the world around : 
 
 It treads wherever Truth commands, 
 
 And firm become the shrinking sands. 
 
 Decision lingers not with fate, 
 On which is writ the word " Too late/' 
 But through the gate of Penitence 
 Pursues the way of Providence. 
 
 Without Decision life is lost, 
 
 A ship upon the ocean tost, 
 
 Without a rudder or a hand 
 
 To euide it to the wished - for land. 
 
 A man without decision can never be said to 
 belong to himself; since, if he dared to assert 
 that he did, the puny force of some cause, about 
 as powerful you would have supposed as a spi- 
 der, may make a seizure of the unhappy boaster 
 the very next moment, and contemptuously ex- 
 hibit the futility of the determinations by which 
 
DECISION. 131 
 
 he was to have proved the independence of his 
 understanding and will. He belongs to whatever 
 can make captive of him ; and one thing after 
 another vindicates its right to him, by arresting 
 him while he is trying to go on ; as twigs and 
 chips floating near the edge of a river are inter- 
 cepted by every weed, and whirled in every little 
 eddy. Having concluded on a design, he may- 
 pledge himself to accomplish it, if the hundred 
 diversities of feeling which may come within the 
 work will let him. His character precluding all 
 foresight of his conduct, he may sit and wonder 
 what form and direction his views and actions 
 are destined to take to-morrow ; as a farmer has 
 often to acknowledge that next day's proceedings 
 are often at the disposal of its winds and clouds. 
 — John Foster. 
 
 And of all wretched characters, the man "who 
 can never make up his mind" is the most 
 wretched. A torment to himself, he is the re- 
 proach and laughter of others, who frequently 
 suffer in no small degree from his hesitation, 
 delay and fickleness. There can scarcely be any 
 more fatal censure passed upon a man than that 
 implied in the Patriarch's apostrophe to his son : 
 " Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel." The 
 very 7 promise of well-doing must be denied to 
 the waverer. History has recorded the evils in- 
 flicted on two nations by the instability of James 
 I. of England and VI. of Scotland ; and many of 
 us have read with appreciation the anecdote of 
 
132 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 the criticism so aptly passed upon him by his 
 chaplain, who, when ordered to preach before the 
 king, read as his text, with emphatic significance, 
 -"James i. and 6th — "He that wavereth is like a 
 wave of the sea driven with the wind and 
 tossed," provoking from the self-conscious mon- 
 arch the exclamation, " Saul o' my body, he is at 
 me already ! " — Adams. 
 
 Irresolution on the schemes of life which offer 
 themselves to our choice, and inconstancy in pur- 
 suing them, are the greater and most universal 
 causes of all our disquiet and unhappiness. When 
 ambition pulls one way, interest another, and in- 
 clination a third, and perhaps reason contrary to 
 all, a man is likely to pass his time but ill when 
 he has so many different parties to please. When 
 the mind hovers among such a variety of alure- 
 ments, one had better settle on a way of life that 
 is not the very best we might have chosen, than 
 grow old without determining our choice, and go 
 out of the world, as the greater part of mankind 
 do, before we have resolved how to live in it. 
 There is but one method of setting ourselves at 
 rest in this particular, and that is by adhering 
 steadfastly to one great end as the chief and ulti- 
 mate aim of all our pursuits. If we are firmly 
 resolved to live up to the dictates of reason, 
 without any regard to wealth, reputation, or the 
 like considerations, any more than as they fall in 
 with our principal design, we may go through 
 life with steadiness and pleasure ; but if we act 
 
CHARACTER. 13& 
 
 by several broken views, and will not only be 
 virtuous, but wealthy, popular, and everything 
 that has a value set upon it by the world, we 
 shall live and die in misery and repentance. — - 
 Addison. 
 
 I would recommend to every one that admir- 
 able precept which Pythagoras is said to have given 
 to his disciples, and which that philosopher 
 must have drawn from the observation which I 
 have enlarged upon ; Optimum vitae genus eligito, 
 nam consuetudo faciei jucundissimum\ " Pitch upon 
 that course of life which is the most excellent, 
 and custom will render it the most delightful." 
 Men whose circumstances will permit them to 
 choose their own way of life are inexcusable if 
 they do not pursue that which their judgment 
 tells them is the most laudable. The voice of 
 reason is more to be regarded than the bent of 
 any present inclination, since, by the rule above 
 mentioned, inclination will at length come over to 
 reason, though we can never force reason to com- 
 ply with inclination. — Addison. 
 
 £>^]7 HE fortress of the man, 
 ^ Built on a base divine* 
 
134 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Through which no tremor ever ran 
 To break its perfect line. 
 
 The wondrous citadel, 
 
 Which reaches unto Heaven, 
 
 Wherein courageous angels dwell, 
 To whom its keys are given. 
 
 The noblest thing which God 
 Has honored with His mark, 
 
 And made a beacon on the road, 
 Far -shining through the dark. 
 
 The property which all 
 
 Who build upon the truth 
 
 Are girded with — the jasper wall 
 Around eternal youth. 
 
 Character is one of the greatest motive pow- 
 ers in the world. In its noblest embodiments, it 
 exemplifies human nature in its highest forms, for 
 it exhibits man at his best. 
 
 Men of genuine excellence, in every station of 
 life — men of industry, of integrity, of high prin- 
 ciple, of sterling honesty of purpose — command 
 the spontaneous homage of mankind. It is natu- 
 ral to believe in such men, to have confidence 
 in them, and to imitate them. All that is good 
 in the world is upheld by them, and without their 
 presence in it the world would not be worth liv- 
 ing in. 
 
CHARACTER. 135 
 
 Although genius always commands admiration, 
 character most secures respect. The former is 
 more the product of brain-power, the latter of 
 heart -power; and in the long run it is the heart 
 that rules in life. Men of genius stand to society 
 in the relation of its intellect, as men of character 
 of its conscience ; and while the former are ad- 
 mired, the latter are followed. — Smiles. 
 
 You insist, — wrote the author of this para- 
 graph to a friend, — on respect for learned men. 
 I say, Amen ! But, at the same time, don't for- 
 get that eagerness of mind, depth of thought, 
 appreciation of the lofty, experience of the world, 
 delicacy of manner, tact and energy in action, 
 love of truth, honesty, and amiability — that all 
 these may be wanting in a man who may yet be 
 very learned. — Perthes. 
 
 I have read books enough, and observed and 
 conversed with enough of eminent and splendidly- 
 cultured minds, too, in my time ; but, I assure 
 you, I have heard higher sentiments from the 
 lips of poor, uneducated men and women, when 
 exerting the spirit of severe yet gentle heroism 
 under difficulties and afflictions, or speaking their 
 simple thoughts as to circumstances in the lot of 
 friends and neighbors, than I ever yet met with- 
 out of the Bible. We shall never learn to feel 
 and respect our real calling and destiny, unless 
 we have taught ourselves to consider everything 
 as moonshine, compared with the education of 
 the heart. — Sir Walter Scott. 
 
136 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Character is property. It is the noblest of 
 possessions. It is an estate in the general good- 
 will of men ; and they who invest in it — though 
 they may not become rich in this world's goods 
 — will find their reward in esteem and reputation 
 fairly and honorably won. And it is right that 
 in life good qualities should tell — that industry, 
 virtue, and goodness should rank the highest — 
 and that the really best men should be foremost. 
 
 Simple honesty of purpose in a man goes a 
 long way in life, if founded on a just estimate 
 of himself and a steady obedience to the rule he 
 knows and feels to be . right. It holds a man 
 straight, gives him strength and sustenance, and 
 forms a main spring of vigorous action. " No 
 man," once said Sir Benjamin Rudyard, " is bound 
 to be rich or great — no, nor to be wise ; but every 
 man is bound to be honest." — Smiles. 
 
 A good character, when established, should not 
 be rested in as an end, but only employed as a 
 means of doing still farther good. — Atterbury. 
 
 There is no man at once either excellently 
 good or extremely evil, but grows either as he 
 holds himself up in virtue or lets himself slide to 
 viciousness. — Sir Philip Sidney. 
 
 As a man thinks or desires in his heart, such, 
 indeed, he is ; for then most truly, because most 
 incontrollably, he acts himself. — South. 
 
 Health and sickness, enjoyment and suffering, 
 riches and poverty, knowledge and ignorance, 
 power and subjection, liberty and bondage, civil- 
 
COMMON SENSE. 137 
 
 ization and barbarity, have all their offices and 
 duties; all serve for the formation of character. — 
 Paley. 
 
 It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there 
 is a vein of gold which the owner knows not of. 
 — Swift. ■ 
 
 Soratram 
 
 ©«&$♦ 
 
 fT?HE lightning of the common mind, 
 **^ Which pierces to the heart of things, 
 While logic lingers far behind, 
 
 Possessed of no celestial wings ; 
 The native faculty of man, 
 
 Which separates the false and true, 
 As only eyes of wisdom can, 
 
 And sees the thing to say or do. 
 
 To act with common sense, according to the 
 moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the best 
 philosophy, to do one's duties, take the world 
 as it comes, submit respectfully to one's lot, bless 
 the goodness which has given us so much happi- 
 ness with it, whatever it is, and despise affecta- 
 tion. — Horace Walpole. 
 
 30 
 
138 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 The longer we live, the more we are con- 
 vinced of the justice of the old saying-, that an 
 ounce of mother wit is worth a poitnd of clergy ; 
 that discretion, gentle manners, common sense, 
 and good nature, are, in men of high ecclesiasti- 
 cal station, of far more importance than the 
 greatest skill in distinguishing between sublap- 
 sarian and supralapsarian doctrines. — Sydney 
 Smith. 
 
 Common sense should lie at the bottom of all 
 enterprises, the literary and poetical as well as 
 the practical and scientific. Good sense is the 
 ballast of genius ; nay, we might say, it is the 
 cargo itself out of which genius works its suc- 
 cesses. — Calvert. 
 
 When asked how he felt on the ill-success of 
 his tragedy, he (Dr. Johnson) replied, " Like the 
 monument ; " meaning that he continued firm and 
 unmoved as that column. And, let it be remem- 
 bered, as an admonition to the genus irritabile 
 of dramatic writers, that this great man, instead 
 of peevishly complaining of the bad taste of the 
 town, submitted to its decision without a murmur. 
 He had, indeed, upon all occasions a great def- 
 erence for the general opinion. " A man," said 
 he, " who writes a book, thinks himself wiser or 
 wittier than the rest of mankind ; he supposes 
 that he can instruct or amuse them; and the 
 public to whom he appeals must, after all, be the 
 judges of his pretensions." — Boswell. 
 
 Gov. Hubbard, of Connecticut, once called at 
 
COMMON SENSE. 139 
 
 the White House in reference to a newly-in- 
 vented gun, concerning which a committee had 
 been appointed to make a report. The report 
 was sent for, and when it came in was found to 
 be of the most voluminous description. Mr. Lin- 
 coln glanced at it, and said : " I should want a 
 new lease of life to read this through ! " Throw- 
 ing it down upon the table, he added : " Why 
 can't a committee of this kind occasionally ex- 
 hibit a grain of common sense ? If I send a man 
 to buy a horse for me, I expect him to tell me 
 his points — not how many hairs there are in his 
 tail." — Stories of Lincoln. 
 
 Fine sense and exalted sense are not half so 
 useful as common sense : there are forty men of 
 wit for one of good sense ; and he that will carry 
 nothing about with him but gold will be every 
 day at a loss for readier change. — Addison. 
 
 What we call good sense in the conduct of 
 life consists chiefly in that temper of mind which 
 enables its possessor to view at all times, with 
 perfect coolness and accuracy, all the various cir- 
 cumstances of his situation : so that each of them 
 may produce its due impression on him, without 
 any exaggeration arising from his own peculiar 
 habits. But to a man of an ill-regulated imagina- 
 tion, external circumstances only serve as limits 
 to excite his own thoughts, and the conduct he 
 pursues has in general far less reference to his 
 real situation than to some imaginary one in 
 which he conceives himself to be placed ; and in 
 
140 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 consequence of which, while he appears to him- 
 self to be acting with the most perfect wisdom 
 and consistency, he may frequently exhibit to 
 others all the appearances of folly. — Dugald 
 
 Stewart. 
 
 (Dims. 
 
 A BALLAD FOR NEW- YEAR DAY. 
 
 71H did you not see him that over the snow 
 <5>i£y% Came on with a pace so cautious and slow ? — 
 
 That measured his step to a pendulum-tick, 
 Arriving in town when the darkness was thick? 
 
 I saw him last night, with locks so gray, 
 A little way off, as the light died away. 
 
 And I knew him at once, so often before 
 Had he silently, mournfully passed at my door. 
 
 He must be cold and weary, I said, 
 Coming so far, with that measured tread. 
 
 I will urge him to linger awhile with me 
 Till his withering chill and weariness flee. 
 
 A story — who knows ? — he may deign to rehearse, 
 And when he is gone I will put it in verse. 
 
TIME. 141 
 
 I turned to prepare for the coming guest, 
 With curious, troublous thoughts oppressed. 
 
 The window I cheered with the taper's glow 
 Which glimmered afar o'er the spectral snow. 
 
 My anxious care the hearth-stone knew, 
 
 And the red flames leaped and beckoned anew. 
 
 But chiefly myself, with singular care, 
 Did I for the hoary presence prepare. 
 
 Yet with little success, as I paced the room, 
 Did I labor to banish a sense of gloom. 
 
 My thoughts were going and coming like bees, 
 With store from the year's wide-stretching leas, 
 
 Some laden with honey, some laden with gall, 
 And into my heart they dropped it all ! 
 
 O miserable heart, at once over-run 
 
 With the honey and gall thou canst not shun. 
 
 O wretched heart ! in sadness I cried, 
 Where is thy trust in the Crucified ? 
 
 And in wrestling prayer did I labor long 
 That the Mighty One would make me strong. 
 
 That prayer was more than a useless breath: 
 It brought to my soul God's saving health. 
 
 The hours swept on in their rapid flight, 
 And came the middle watch of the night; 
 
142 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 In part unmanned, in spite of my care, 
 I beheld my guest in the taper's glare ; 
 
 A wall of darkness around him thick, 
 As onward he came to a pendulum- tick. 
 
 Then quickly I opened wide the door, 
 And bade him pass my threshold o'er, 
 
 And linger awhile away from the cold, 
 And repeat some story or ballad old — 
 
 His weary limbs to strengthen with rest, 
 For his course to the ever receding west. 
 
 Through the vacant door in wonder I glanced, 
 And stood — was it long? — as one entranced. 
 
 Silence so awful did fill the room, 
 
 That the tick of the clock was a cannon's boom. 
 
 And my heart it sank to its lowest retreat, 
 And in whelming awe did muffle its beat. 
 
 For now I beheld, as never before, 
 And heard to forget, ah, nevermore ! 
 
 For with outstretched hand, with scythe and glass, 
 With naught of a pause did the traveller pass. 
 
 And with upturned face he the silence broke, 
 And thus, as he went, he measuredly spoke ; 
 
 My journey is long, but my limbs are strong; 
 •And I stay not ~ - rest, for story, or song. 
 
TIME. 143 
 
 It is only a dirge, that ever I sing ; 
 
 It is only of death, the tale that I bring: 
 
 Of death that is life, as it cometh to pass ; 
 Of death that is death, alas ! alas ! 
 
 And these I chant, as I go on my way, 
 As I go on my way forever and aye. 
 
 Call not thyself wretched, though bitter and sweet, 
 In thy cup at this hour intermingle and meet 
 
 Some cloud with the sunshine must ever appear, 
 And darkness prevails till morning is near. 
 
 But who doth remember the gloom of the night, 
 When the sky is aglow with the beautiful light ? 
 
 Oh alas ! if thou drinkest the bitter alone, 
 Nor heaven nor earth may stifle thy moan ! 
 
 Thy moan ! — and the echo died away — 
 Thy moan ! thy moan forever and aye ! 
 
 His measured voice I heard no more, 
 But not till I stand on eternity's shore, 
 
 And the things of time be forgotten all, 
 Shall I cease that traveller's words to recall. 
 
 As onward he moved to a pendulum- tick, 
 The gloom and darkness around him thick, 
 
 I fell on my knees and breathed a prayer; 
 And it rose, I ween, through the midnight air 
 
144 IDEALS OF LIFE, 
 
 To a God who knoweth the wants and all 
 The evil and good of this earthly thrall : 
 
 To One who suffered as on this day, 
 And began our sins to purge away : 
 
 To Him who hath promised to heed our cry, 
 And a troubled heart to purify. 
 
 And I feel that the gall will ever grow less, 
 Till I see His face in righteousness. 
 
 And now my soul is filled with cheer 
 
 For the march of a bright and Happy New Year. 
 
 As years roll on, whether sun doth shine 
 Or clouds overcast, I will never repine ; 
 
 For I know, when the race of Time is run, 
 I shall enter a realm of Eternal Sun. 
 
 Time is exactly what we make it ; in the 
 hands of the foolish, a curse ; in the hands of 
 the wise, a preparation for life eternal ; in the 
 hands of the foolish, a preparation for the con- 
 demnation that is everlasting. To you it is 
 much ; to your neighbor it is naught. He is as 
 anxious to throw it away as you (we hope) are 
 anxious to cultivate it to the greatest advantage. 
 Ah, if all of us did but know what it is, what it 
 might be, how we should watch over every grain 
 in the hour-glass ! How great would be our ac- 
 tivity, how solicitous our labor, how profound our 
 
TIME. 145 
 
 consciousness of duty ! How we should aspire to 
 avail ourselves of each passing moment! How 
 keen would be our regret if conscience could 
 speak to us of days wasted and opportunities 
 neglected ! 
 
 In commenting on the importance of thrift in 
 regard to time, it would be easy to lay down a 
 few practical and familiar rules for the benefit of 
 the young adventurer in life's chequered career. 
 As for instance : — 
 
 One thing at a time. 
 
 Do at once what ought to be done at once. 
 
 Never put off till to-morrow what ought to be 
 done to-day. 
 
 Never leave to another that which you can 
 do yourself. 
 
 More haste, worse speed. 
 
 Stay a little that we may make an end the 
 sooner. 
 
 But more is to be learned from example than 
 precept ; and the lives of great men ; or of men 
 good and great, will prove of higher and more 
 lasting value to the student than the most preci- 
 ous fragments of proverbial philosophy. Show 
 me a man who has attained to eminence, or ex- 
 cellence, and you show me a man who has econ- 
 omized his time. Show me a man who has ben- 
 efited the world by his wisdom, or his country by 
 his patriotism, or his neighborhood by his philan- 
 thropy, and you show me a man who has made 
 the best of every minute. In business, the men 
 
146 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 who have attained success are the men who 
 have known the importance of method, the men 
 who have appreciated the potentiality of time. — 
 Adams. 
 
 Thrift of time will repay you in after-life with 
 a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine 
 dreams ; while the waste of it will make you 
 dwindle, alike in intellectual and moral stature, 
 beyond your darkest reckonings. — Gladstone. 
 
 Time is the most indefinable yet paradoxical 
 of things : the past is gone, the future is not 
 come, and the present becomes the past even 
 while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash 
 of lightning, at once exists and expires. — Time is 
 the measurer of all things, but is itself immeas- 
 urable, and the grand discloser of all things, but 
 is itself undisclosed. Like space, it is incompre- 
 hensible, because it has no limit, and it would be 
 still more so if it had. It is more obscure in 
 its source than the Nile, and in its termination 
 than the Niger ; and advances like the slowest, 
 but retreats like the swiftest torrent. It gives 
 wings of lightning to pleasure, but feet of lead 
 to pain, and lends expectation a curb, but enjoy- 
 ment a spur. It robs Beauty of her charms, to 
 bestow them on the picture, and builds a monu- 
 ment to merit, but denies it a house : it is the 
 transient and deceitful flatterer of falsehood, but 
 the tried and final friend of truth. Time is the 
 most subtle yet the most insatiable of depreda- 
 tors, and by appearing to take nothing, is per- 
 
TIME. 147 
 
 mitted to take all, nor can it be satisfied until 
 it has stolen the world from us, and us from the 
 world. It constantly flies, yet overcomes all 
 things by flight ; and although it is the present 
 ally, it will be the future conquerer, of death. 
 Time, the cradle of hope, but the grave of ambi- 
 tion, is the stern corrector of fools, but the salu- 
 tary counsellor of the wise, bringing all they 
 dread to the one, and all they desire to the 
 other ; but, like Cassandra, it warns us with a 
 voice that even the sagest discredit too long, 
 and the silliest believe too late. Wisdom walks 
 before it, opportunity with it, and repentance be- 
 hind it : he that has made it his friend will have 
 little to fear from his enemies, but he that hath 
 made it his enemy will have little to hope from 
 his friends. — Colton. 
 
 Dost thou love life ? Then waste not time, 
 for time is the stuff that life is made of. — Dr. 
 Franklin. 
 
 Time is painted with a lock before, and bald 
 behind, signifying thereby that we must take time 
 by the forelock ; for, when it is once past, there 
 is no recalling it. — Swift. 
 
148 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 The things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are 
 not seen are eternal. — I Cor. IV. 18. 
 
 gTERNITY! Eternity! 
 How wonderful Thou art, 
 Wide as the Sea of Deity, 
 And narrow as a heart ! 
 
 The pulses of Eternity 
 
 Are throbbing everywhere : 
 
 Time holds Eternity in fee, 
 And thus becomes so fair. 
 
 Each moment is Eternity, 
 
 Mother of mighty years, 
 Whose chariot is Infinity, 
 
 Whose steeds are smiles and tears. 
 
 Eternity ! Eternity ! 
 
 The Present, Future, Past, 
 Forever are but one to Thee, — 
 
 Thou art the First, the Last. 
 
 All life contains Eternity, 
 
 Where sight through truth abounds : 
 Clothed, clothed with Christ's humility, 
 
 I see His pleading wounds. 
 
ETERNITY. 149 
 
 Illumined by Eternity, 
 
 How very new they are, 
 Those wounds as of Humanity, 
 
 No more, no more afar ! 
 
 The mansion of Eternity 
 
 Is built in every breath; 
 And into it despairingly 
 
 Look the great eyes of Death. 
 
 Eternity ! Eternity ! 
 
 How prodigal Thou art, 
 Calm, uncreated Mystery, 
 
 The Whole in every part! 
 
 It is not by our feet or change of place that 
 we leave Thee, or return to Thee. Nor did that 
 younger son of Thine look out for horses or 
 chariots, or ships, and fly with visible wings, or 
 journey by the motion of his limbs, that he might 
 in a far country waste in riotous living all Thou 
 gavest at his departure. A loving Father Thou 
 wert when Thou gavest ; but more loving unto 
 him wert Thou when he returned empty. . . . 
 
 We forget that Thou art everywhere, whom 
 no place encompasseth ! that Thou alone art near 
 even to those that remove far from Thee. O 
 Lord, help us to turn and seek Thee; for not as 
 we have forsaken our Creator hast Thou for- 
 saken Thy creation. . . . 
 
 Our good only lives with Thee ; when we 
 
150 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 turn away from Thee we are perverted. Let us, 
 then, O Lord, return, that we may not be over- 
 turned ; because with Thee good lives without 
 any decay, for Thou art good ; nor need we fear 
 lest there be no place whither to return, because 
 we fell from it; for our mansion — Thy Eternity — 
 fell not when we left Thee. — St. Augustine. 
 
 In my solitary and retired imagination, I re- 
 member that I am not alone, and therefore for- 
 get not to contemplate Him and His attributes 
 who is ever with me, especially those two mighty 
 ones, His wisdom and eternity: with the one I 
 recreate, with the other I confound my under- 
 standing ; for who can speak of eternity without 
 a solecism, or think thereof without an ecs- 
 tacy ? . . . 
 
 St. Peter speaks modestly, when he saith, a 
 thousand years to God are but as one day ; for 
 to speak like a philosopher, those continued in- 
 stances of time which flow into a thousand years, 
 make not to Him one moment: what to us is to 
 come, to His eternity is present, His whole dura- 
 tion being but one permanent point, without suc- 
 cession, parts, flux or division. — Sir Thomas 
 Browne, 
 
jiirf SIM 
 
*?-S oie §- 
 
 Let your light so sbine before men, that they may see your good 
 works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. — St. Matthew v. 16. 
 
 Every man has two educations, — one which he receives from others, 
 ?nd one, more important, which he gives himself. — Gibbon. 
 
 Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed; be anything 
 else and you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing. 
 
 — Sidney Smith. 
 
 The mill-streams that turn the clappers of the world arise in solitary 
 places. — Sir Arthur Helps. 
 
 I never was anything, dearest, till I knew you; and I have been a 
 better, happier, and more prosperous man ever since. Lay by that truth 
 in lavender, sweetest, and remind me of it when I fail. 
 
 — Hood (to his wife). 
 
 The paternal hearth, that rallying-place of the affections. 
 
 — Washington Irving. 
 
 The body has its rights and it will have them. They cannot be 
 trampled upon or slighted without peril. The body ought to be the soul's 
 "best friend, and cordial, dutiful helpmate. — Hare Brothers. 
 
 (152) 
 
Jlkaiibii. 
 
 £^0 bring the man to light, 
 *** And make his beauty shine: 
 To form him by the rule of right, 
 The Decalogue divine. 
 
 To sow the fertile mind 
 
 While spring is in its prime, 
 
 That peaceful autumn days may find 
 A harvest-home sublime. 
 
 To build the mighty fort 
 When youth is in its glow, 
 
 Whose faithful sentinels report 
 And challenge every foe. 
 
 To marshal all the powers 
 Whose roots are in the soul, 
 
 To conquer in this world of ours, 
 In armor bright and whole. 
 
 I^consider a human soul without education like 
 marble in the quarry, which shows none of its in- 
 11 ( 153 ) 
 
154 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 herent beauties until the skill of the polisher 
 fetches out the colors, makes the surface shine, and 
 discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein 
 that runs through the body of it. Education, after 
 the same manner, when it works upon a noble 
 mind, draws out to view every latent virtue and 
 perfection, which without such helps are never able 
 to make their appearance. 
 
 If my reader will give me leave to change the 
 allusion so soon upon him, I shall make use of 
 the same instance to illustrate the force of educa- 
 tion, which Aristotle has brought to explain 
 his doctrine of substantial forms, when he tells us 
 that a statue lies hid in a block of marble, and 
 that the art of the statuary only clears away the 
 superfluous matter and removes the rubbish. The 
 figure is in the stone, the sculptor only finds it. 
 What sculpture is to a block of marble, education 
 is to the human soul. The philosopher, the saint, 
 the hero, the wise, the good, or the great man, very 
 often lie hid and concealed in a plebian, which a 
 proper education might have disinterred, and have 
 brought to light. — Addison. 
 
 The fruits of the earth do not more obviously 
 require labor and cultivation to prepare them for 
 our use and subsistence, than our faculties demand 
 instruction and regulation in order to qualify us 
 to become upright and valuable members of so- 
 ciety, useful to others, or happy in ourselves. — 
 Barrow. 
 
 Education ma)' be compared to the grafting of 
 
EDUCATION. 155 
 
 a tree. Every gardner knows that the younger 
 the wilding-stock is that is to be grafted, the 
 easier and the more effectual is the operation, 
 because, then, one scion put on just above the 
 root will become the main stem of the tree, and 
 all the branches it puts forth will be of the right 
 sort. When, on the other hand, a tree is to be 
 grafted at a considerable age (which may be very 
 successfully done), you have to put on twenty or 
 thirty grafts on the several branches ; and after-, 
 wards you will have to be watching from time to 
 time for the wilding-shoots which the stock will be 
 putting forth, and pruning them off. And even so, 
 one whose character is to be reformed at mature 
 age will find it necessary not merely to implant a 
 right principle once for all, but also to bestow a 
 distinct attention on the correction of this, that, 
 and the other bad habit. . . . But it must not 
 be forgotten that education resembles the graft- 
 ing of a tree in this point also, that there must 
 be some affinity between the stock and the graft, 
 though a very important practical difference may 
 exist ; for example, between a worthless crab and 
 a fine apple. Even so, the new nature, as it may 
 be called, superinduced by education,, must always 
 retain some relation to the original one, though 
 differing in most important points. You cannot, 
 by any kind of artificial training, make any thing 
 of any one, and obliterate all trace of the natural 
 character. Those who hold that this is possible, 
 and attempt to effect it, resemble Virgil, who 
 
156 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 (whether in ignorance or, as some think, by way 
 of "poetical license") talks of grafting an oak 
 on an elm. — Whately. 
 
 Thelwall thought it very unfair to influence a 
 child's mind by inculcating any opinions before it 
 had come to years of "discretion to choose for 
 itself. I showed him my garden, and told him it 
 was my botanical garden. " How so ? " said he ; 
 " it is covered with weeds." " Oh," I replied, 
 " that is only because it has not yet come to its 
 age of discretion and choice. The weeds, you 
 see, have taken the liberty to grow, and I thought 
 it unfair in me to prejudice the soil towards 
 roses and strawberries."— Coleridge. 
 
 In one of the notes to a former publication I 
 have quoted an old writer, who observes that 
 " we fatten a sheep with grass, not in order to 
 obtain a crop of hay from his back, but in the 
 hope that he will feed us with mutton and clothe 
 us with wool." We may apply this to the 
 sciences : we teach a young man algebra, the 
 mathematics, and logic, not that he should take 
 his equations and his parallelograms into West- 
 minster Hall, and bring his ten predicaments to 
 the House of Commons, but that he should bring 
 a mind to both these places so well stored with 
 the sound principles of truth and reason as not 
 to be deceived by the chicanery of the bar nor 
 the sophistry of the senate. The acquirements 
 of science may be termed the armor of the mind; 
 but that armor would be worse than useless, 
 
EDUCATION. 157 
 
 that cost all we had, and left us nothing to de- 
 fend. — Colton. 
 
 Interesting conversation with Mr. S. on educa- 
 tion. Astonishment and grief at the folly, espe- 
 cially in times like the present, of those parents 
 who totally forget, in the formation of their chil- 
 dren's habits, to inspire that vigorous indepen- 
 dence which acknowledges the smallest possible 
 number of wants, and so avoids or triumphs over 
 the negation of a thousand indulgences, by al- 
 ways having been taught and accustomed to do 
 without them. " How many things," said Socra- 
 tes, " I do not want ! " — John Foster. 
 
 There have been periods when the country 
 heard with dismay that " The soldier was abroad." 
 That is not the case now. Let the soldier be 
 abroad : in the present age he can do nothing. 
 There is another person abroad, — a less impor- 
 tant persoh in the eyes of some, an insignificant 
 person, whose labors have tended to produce this 
 state of things. The schoolmaster is abroad ! 
 And I trust more to him, armed with his primer, 
 than I do the soldier in full military array, for 
 upholding and extending the liberties of his coun- 
 try. — Lord Brougham. 
 
 I say, therefore, that the education of the peo- 
 ple is not only a means, but the best means, of 
 obtaining that which all allow to be a chief end 
 of government; and, if this be so, it passes my 
 faculties to understand how any man can gravely 
 contend that government has nothing to do with 
 the education of the people. 
 
158 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 My confidence in my judgment is strength- 
 ened when I recollect that I hold that opinion in 
 common with all the greatest lawgivers, statesmen 
 and political philosophers of all nations and ages, 
 with all the most illustrious champions of civil 
 and spiritual freedom, and especially with those 
 men whose names were once held in the highest 
 veneration by the Protestant Dissenters of Eng- 
 land. I might cite many of the most venerable 
 names of the Old World; but I would rather cite 
 the example of that country which the supporters 
 of the Voluntary System here are always recom- 
 mending to us as a pattern. Go back to the 
 days when the little society which has expanded 
 into the opulent and enlightened commonwealth 
 of Massachusetts began to exist. Our modern 
 Dissenters will scarcely, I think, venture to speak 
 contumeliously of those Puritans whose spirit 
 Land and his High Commission Court could not 
 subdue, of those Puritans who were willing to 
 leave home and kindred, and all the comforts and 
 refinements of civilized life, to cross the ocean , 
 to hx their abode in forests among wild beasts 
 and wild men, rather than commit the sin of per- 
 forming in the house of God one gesture which 
 they believed to be displeasing to Him. Did 
 those brave exiles think it inconsistent with civil 
 or religious freedom that the State should take 
 charge of the education of the people ? No, sir; 
 one of the earliest laws enacted by the Puritan 
 colonists was that every township, as soon as the 
 
EDUCATION. 159 
 
 Lord had increased it to fifty houses, should ap- 
 point one to teach all children to read and write, 
 and that every township of a hundred houses 
 should set up a grammar school. Nor have the 
 descendants of those who made this law ever 
 ceased to hold that the public authorities were 
 bound to provide the means of public instruction. 
 Nor is this doctrine confined to New England. 
 " Educate the people " was the first admonition 
 addressed by Penn to the colony which he 
 founded. " Educate the people " was the legacy 
 of Washington to the nation which he had saved. 
 " Educate the people " was the unceasing exhort- 
 ation of Jefferson : and I quote Jefferson witli 
 peculiar pleasure, because of all the eminent men 
 that have ever lived, Adam Smith himself not ex- 
 cepted, Jefferson was the one who most abhorred 
 everything like meddling on the part of govern- 
 ments. Yet the chief business of his later years 
 was to establish a good system of State educa- 
 tion in Virginia. — Lord Macaulay. 
 
 Costly apparatus and splendid cabinets have 
 no magical power to make scholars. As a man 
 is in all circumstances, under God, the master of 
 his own fortune, so is he the maker of his -own 
 mind. The Creator has so constituted the human 
 intellect that it can only grow by its own action : 
 it will certainly and necessarily grow. Every man 
 must therefore educate himself. His books and 
 teacher are but helps ; the work is his. A man 
 is not educated until he has the ability to sum- 
 
1G0 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 mon, in an emergency, his mental powers in vig- 
 orous exercise to effect its proposed object. It is 
 not the man who has seen the most, or read the 
 most, who can do this ; such an one is in danger 
 of being borne down, like a beast of burden, by 
 an overloaded mass of other men's thoughts. 
 Nor is it the man who can boast merely of na- 
 tive vigor and capacity. The greatest of all war- 
 riors who went to the siege of Troy had not the 
 pre - eminence because nature had given him 
 strength and he carried the largest bow ; but 
 because self- discipline had taught him how to 
 bend it. — Daniel Webster. 
 
 f7]?HOU canst not live in isolation, 
 ^^ A hermit to the world unknown, 
 And have no part in procreation ; 
 
 For something, surely, thou hast sown. 
 
 Dost know a cowardly withdrawal 
 
 Becomes a factor of the age, 
 A most unsoldierly bestowal 
 
 On those who have life's war to wage ? 
 
TEACHERS. 1G1 
 
 Without thy choice, thou art a teacher 
 Appointed in this earthly school : 
 
 Seek thou for wisdom and beseech her 
 Thy lessons may abide her rule. 
 
 For weal or woe, thy life forever 
 Goes flowing down the thirsty years, 
 
 A portion of the mighty river 
 
 Which in the world's new life appears. 
 
 It knows no pause or interruption, 
 Thy drop of sweetness or of gall, 
 
 Until the Day of Incorruption 
 When God becometh all in all ! 
 
 No human being can come into this world 
 without increasing or diminishing the sum total of 
 human happiness, not only of the present, but of 
 every subsequent age of humanity. No one can 
 detach himself from this connection. There is no 
 sequestered spot in the universe, no dark niche 
 along the disc of non-existence, to which he can 
 retreat from his relations to others, where he can 
 withdraw the influence of his existence upon the 
 moral destiny of the world ; everywhere his pres- 
 ence or absence will be felt, — everywhere he will 
 have companions who will be the better or w T orse 
 for his influence. It is an old saying, and one of 
 fearful arid fathomless import, that we are form- 
 ing characters for eternity. Forming characters ! 
 Whose ? our own or others ? Both ; and in that 
 
162 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of 
 our existence. Who is sufficient for the thought ? 
 Thousands of my fellow-beings will yearly enter 
 eternity with characters differing from those they 
 have carried thither had I never lived. The sun- 
 light of that world will reveal my finger-marks 
 in their primary formations, and in their succes- 
 sive strata of thought and life. — Elihu Burritt. 
 
 Every man is a missionary now and forever, 
 for good or for evil, whether he intends or de- 
 signs it or not. He may be a blot, radiating his 
 dark influence outward to the very circumference 
 of society ; or he may be a blessing, spreading 
 benediction over the length and breadth of the 
 world: but a blank he cannot be. There are no 
 moral blanks ; there are no neutral characters. 
 We are either the sower that sows and corrupts,, 
 or the light that splendidly illuminates, and the 
 salt that silently operates ; but heing dead or alive, 
 every man speaks. — Dr. Chalmers. 
 
 His very presence — says the biographer of Dr. 
 Arnold oi Rugby — seemed to create a new spring 
 of health and vigor within his pupils, and to give 
 to life an interest and elevation which remained 
 with them long after they had left him ; and 
 dwelt so habitually in their thoughts as a living 
 image, that, when death had taken him away, the 
 bond appeared to be unbroken, and the sense of 
 separation almost lost in the still deeper sense 
 of life and a union undestructable. — Dean Stanley. 
 
 Washington — wrote one who saw him only 
 
TEACHERS. 163 
 
 once — sank into his tomb before any little cele- 
 brity had attached to my name. I passed before 
 him as the most unknown of beings. He was in 
 all his glory — I in the depth of my obscurity. 
 My name dwelt probably not a whole day in his 
 memory. Happy, however, was I that his looks 
 were cast upon me. I have felt warmed for it 
 all the rest of my life. There is a virtue even in 
 the looks of a great man. — Chateaubriand. 
 
 That which is born of evil begets evil ; that 
 which is born of valor and honor teaches valor 
 and honor. — Ruskin. 
 
 It is a pity that, commonly, more care is had, 
 yea, and that among very wise men, to find out 
 rather a cunning man for their horse, than a cun- 
 ning man for their children. They say nay in 
 word, but they do so in deed. For to the one they 
 will gladly give a stipend of two hundred crowns 
 by year, and loth to offer to the other two hund- 
 red shillings. God, that sitteth in heaven, laugheth 
 their choice to scorn, and rewardeth their liberal- 
 ity as it should, for he suffereth them to have tame 
 and well-ordered horses, but wild and unfortunate 
 children ; and, therefore, in the end, they find 
 more pleasure in their horse than comfort in their 
 children. — Ascham. 
 
 There is no office higher than that of a teacher 
 of youth, for there is nothing on earth so preci- 
 ous as the mind, soul, character of the child. No 
 office should be regarded with greater respect. 
 The first minds in the community should be en- 
 
1G4 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 couraged to assume it. Parents should do all but 
 impoverish themselves to induce such to become 
 the guardians and guides of their children. To 
 this good, all their show and luxury should be 
 sacrificed. Here they should be lavish, whilst they 
 straiten themselves in everything else. They should 
 wear the cheapest clothes, live on the plainest 
 food, if they can in no other way secure to their 
 families the best instruction. They should have no 
 anxiety to accumulate property for their children, 
 provided they can place them under influence 
 which will awaken their faculties, inspire them with 
 pure and high principles, and fit them to bear a 
 manly, useful, and honorable part in the world. 
 No language can express the cruelty or folly of 
 that economy which, to leave a fortune to a child, 
 starves his intellect, impoverishes his heart. There 
 should be no economy in education. Money 
 should never be weighed against the soul of a 
 child. It should be poured out like water for the 
 child's intellectual and moral life. 
 
 Parents should seek an educator for the young 
 of their families who will become to them a hearty 
 and efficient friend, counsellor, coadjutor, in their 
 work. If their circumstances will allow it, they 
 should so limit the school that the instructor may 
 know intimately every child, may become the 
 friend of each, and may converse frequently with 
 them in regard to each. He should be worthy 
 of their confidence, should find their doors always 
 open, should be among their most welcome guests, 
 
BOOKS. 165 
 
 and should study with them the discipline which 
 the peculiarities of each pupil may require. He 
 should give the parents warning of the least ob- 
 liquity of mind which he discovers at school, should 
 receive in return their suggestions as to the inju- 
 diciousness of his own methods in regard to one 
 or another child, and should concert with them 
 the means of arresting every evil at its first mani- 
 festation. Such is the teacher we need, and his 
 value cannot be paid in gold. — Channing. 
 
 imi&s* 
 
 cjTRO cheer me with their blessed looks, 
 *** Friend after friend appears, 
 Those dear companions in my books, 
 The children of all years. 
 
 I think the thoughts which once they thought, 
 
 And others gather fast ; 
 Until around me, all unsought, 
 
 There is a host so vast. 
 
 And all are come as ministers 
 
 Of strength and life and joy; 
 With whom, the fair young comforters, 
 
 I am again a boy. 
 
166 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And Heaven once more is very near, 
 
 Almost within my reach ; 
 And silence — silence is so dear, 
 
 Surpassing silver speech ! 
 
 I have friends whose society is extremely 
 agreeable to me : they are of all ages, and of 
 every country. They have distinguished them- 
 selves both in the cabinet and in the field, and 
 obtained high honors for their knowledge of the 
 sciences. It is easy to gain access to them ; for 
 they are always at my service, and I admit them 
 to my company, and dismiss them from it, when- 
 ever I please. They are never troublesome, but 
 immediately answer every question I ask them. 
 Some relate to me the events of past ages, while 
 others reveal to me the secrets of nature. Some 
 teach me how to live, and others how to die. 
 Some, by their vivacity, drive away my cares and 
 exhilarate my spirits, while others give fortitude 
 to my mind, and teach me the important lesson 
 how to restrain my desires and depend wholly 
 on myself. They open to me, in short, the vari- 
 ous avenues of all the arts and sciences, and 
 upon their information I safely rely in all emer- 
 gencies. In return for all these services they 
 only ask me to accommodate them with a con- 
 venient chamber in some corner of my humble 
 habitation, where they may repose in peace : for 
 these friends are more delighted by the tran- 
 
BOOKS. 167 
 
 quility of retirement than with the tumults of so- 
 ciety. — Petrarch. 
 
 For books are not absolutely dead things, but 
 do contain a potency of life in them, to be as 
 active as that soul whose progeny they are ; nay, 
 they do preserve, as in a vial, the purest efficacy 
 and extraction of that living intellect that bred 
 them. I know they are as lively, and as vigor- 
 ously productive, as those fabulous dragons' 
 teeth ; and, being sown up and down, may 
 chance to spring up armed men. And yet, on 
 the other hand, unless wariness be used, as good 
 almost kill a man as kill a good book : who kills 
 a man kills a reasonable creature, — God's image ; 
 but he who destroys a good book kills reason 
 itself, — kills the image of God, as it were, in the 
 eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth ; 
 but a good book is the precious life-blood of a 
 master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on pur- 
 pose to a life beyond life. — Milton. 
 
 Except a living man there is nothing more 
 wonderful than a book !— a message to us from 
 the dead, — from human souls whom we never 
 saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away; 
 and yet these, in those little sheets of paper, 
 speak to us, amuse us, terrify us, teach us, com- 
 fort us, open their hearts to us as brothers. 
 . . . I say we ought to reverence books, to 
 look at them as useful and mighty things. If 
 they are good and true, whether they are about 
 religion or politics, farming, trade, or medicine, 
 
168 IDEALS OF LIFE, 
 
 they are the message of Christ, the maker of all 
 things, the teacher of truth. — Charles Kingsley. 
 
 Were I to pray for a taste which should stand 
 me in stead under every variety of circumstances, 
 and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness 
 to me during life, and a shield against its ills, 
 however things might go amiss, and the world 
 frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading. 
 Give a man this taste, and the means of grati- 
 fying it, and you can hardly fail of making him 
 a happy man; unless, indeed, you put into his 
 hands a most perverse selection of Books. You 
 place him in contact with the best society in 
 every period of history, — with the wisest, the ten- 
 derest, the bravest, and the purest characters who 
 have adorned humanity. You make him a deni- 
 zen of all nations, a contemporary of all ages. 
 The world has been created for him. — Sir John" 
 Herschel. 
 
 Books are the food of youth, the delight of 
 old age ; the ornament of prosperity, the refuge 
 and comfort of adversity ; a delight at home, and 
 no hindrance abroad ; companions by night, in 
 travelling, in the country. — Cicero. 
 
 To divert, at any time, a troublesome fancy, 
 run to thy Books. They presently fix thee to 
 them, and drive the other out of thy thoughts. 
 They always receive thee with the same kind- 
 ness. — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 Without books, God is silent, justice dormant, 
 natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters 
 
BOOKS. 1G9 
 
 dumb, and all things involved in Cimmerian dark- 
 ness. — Bartholin. 
 
 The book of Life is the tabernacle wherein the 
 treasure of wisdom is to be found. The truth of 
 voice perishes with the sound; truth latent in the 
 mind is hidden wisdom and invisible treasure ; 
 but the truth which illuminates books desires to 
 manifest itself to every disciplinable sense. Let 
 us consider how great a commodity of doctrine 
 exists in books, — how easily, how secretly, how 
 safely, they expose the nakedness of human ig- 
 norance without putting it to shame. These are 
 the masters that instruct us without rods and 
 ferules, without harsh words and anger, without 
 clothes or money. If you approach them, they 
 are not asleep ; if, investigating, you interrogate 
 them, they conceal nothing ; if you mistake them,, 
 they never grumble ; if you are ignorant, they 
 cannot laugh at you. — Richard de Bury. 
 
 The great and good do not die, even in this 
 world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk 
 abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an in- 
 tellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever 
 remain under the influence of the great men o£ 
 old: 
 
 " The dead but sceptred sovrans, who still rule 
 Our spirits from their urns." 
 
 The imperial intellects of the world are as 
 much alive now as they were ages ago. Homer 
 still lives ; and though his personal history is 
 hidden in the mists of antiquity, his poems are 
 
 12 
 
170 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 as fresh to-day as if they had been newly writ- 
 ten. Plato still teaches his transcendent philoso- 
 phy; Horace, Virgil, and Dante still sing as when 
 they lived ; Shakspeare is not dead : his body 
 was buried in 1616, but his mind is as much 
 alive in England now, and his thoughts as far- 
 reaching - , as in the time of the Tudors. 
 
 The humblest and poorest may enter the so- 
 ciety of these great spirits without being thought 
 intrusive. All who can read have got the entree. 
 Would you laugh ? Cervantes or Rabelais will 
 laugh with you. Do you grieve ? there is Thomas 
 a Kempis or Jeremy Taylor to grieve with and 
 console you. Always it is to books, and the 
 spirits of great men embalmed in them, that we 
 turn for entertainment, for instruction, and solace 
 —in joy and in sorrow, as in prosperity and in 
 adversity. — Smiles. 
 
 A taste for books is the pleasure and glory 
 of my life. I would not exchange' it for the 
 riches of the Indies. — Gibbon. 
 
 Of all the things which man can do or make 
 below, by far the most momentous, wonderful, 
 and worthy are the things we call books.— Car- 
 lyle, 
 
ENCOURAGEMENT. 171 
 
 OR 
 
 WHAT I CARRIED TO COLLEGE. 
 
 UR old New England folks, you know, 
 " Little favor to kissing were wont to show. 
 
 It smacked, they thought, too much of Satan, 
 Whose hook often has a pleasant bate on. 
 
 And even as token of purity's passion, 
 Sometimes, I think, it was out of fashion. 
 
 So at least in the home my boyhood knew, 
 And of other homes, no doubt, it was true. 
 
 My grandsire and grandma, of the olden school, 
 Were strict observers of the proper rule. 
 
 And from New Year on to the end of December 
 A kiss is something I do not remember. 
 
 Yet I cannot say, in the joy of the present, 
 The thought of those days is at all unpleasant. 
 
 Grandma, with the cares of the household on her, 
 In the morning smoked in the chimney corner. 
 
 She hung the tea-kettle filled with water 
 While still asleep was her youngest daughter. 
 
172 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Ah ! tbgre were reasons, good and plenty, 
 Why she should indulge that baby of twenty. 
 
 The rest were all courted and married and flown,,, 
 And that little birdie was left alone. 
 
 Grandmother, when she had finished her smoking, 
 Bustled about — she never went poking — 
 
 ArA fried the pork and made the tea, 
 And pricked the potatoes, if done to see; 
 
 While grandsire finished his chapter of snores, 
 And uncle and I were doing the chores. 
 
 When breakfast was over, the Bible was read, 
 And a prayer I still remember said. 
 
 The old folks in reverence bowed them down, 
 As those who are mindful of cross and crown.. 
 
 My uncle and aunt who were unconverted, 
 Their right to sit or stand asserted. 
 
 And I, I fear, to example true, 
 The part of a heathen acted too. 
 
 But there was always for me a glory, 
 Morning and night, in that Bible - story. 
 
 The heroes and saints of the olden time 
 In beautiful vision moved sublime. 
 
 I wondered much at the valor they had, 
 And in wondering my soul was glad. 
 
ENCOURAGEMENT. 173 
 
 My wonderment, I can hardly tell, 
 
 At the boldness Jacob showed at the well, 
 
 In kissing Rachel, when meeting her first ; 
 I wondered not into tears he burst. 
 
 Had I been constrained to choose between 
 That deed at the well and. that after -scene 
 
 When David and Goliah met, 
 
 My heart on the fight would have certainly set. 
 
 And yet there was much for a bashful boy 
 To gather up and remember with joy. 
 
 God bless my grandsire's simple heart 
 Which made up in faith what it lacked in art, 
 
 .And led me on to the best of the knowledge 
 Which years thereafter I carried to college. 
 
 Tending the cattle stalled in the ' linter,' 
 •Going to school eight weeks in the winter ; 
 
 Planting and hoeing potatoes and corn, 
 Milking the cows at night and morn ; 
 
 Spreading and raking the new - mown hay, 
 Stowing it in the mow away ; 
 
 Gathering apples and thinking of all 
 
 The joys of Thanksgiving late in the fall — 
 
 So passed I the years in such like scenes 
 Until I had grown well into my teens. 
 
174 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And then, with many a dream in my heart, 
 I struck for myself and a nobler part ; 
 
 I hardly knew what, yet some higher good, 
 Earning and spending as fast as I could ; 
 
 Earning and spending in teaching and going 
 To school, what time I to manhood was growing. 
 
 My maiden aunt — and Providence 
 
 Is approved in its blessed consequence — 
 
 That baby of twenty to thirty had grown, 
 And from the nest had not yet flown. 
 
 And a childless aunt, my uncle's wife, 
 Had come to gladden that quiet life. 
 
 God bless them both, for they were ever 
 The foremost to second my life's endeavor. 
 
 Our aunts sometimes are almost mothers, 
 Toiling and planning and spending for others. 
 
 Aunt Hannah, the maiden, Aunt Emily, wife, 
 How they labored to gird me for the strife, 
 
 Cheering me on with words befitting, 
 Doing my sewing and doing my knitting, 
 
 And pressing upon me many a token 
 
 Whose meaning was more than ever was spoken! 
 
 At length the time for parting came— 
 They both in heaven will have true fame ! 
 
ENCO UBA GEMENT. 175 
 
 1 Hey did not bid me good - bye at the stile ; 
 They with me went through the woods a mile. 
 
 It was the still September time, 
 
 When the Autumn fruits were in their prime. 
 
 Here and there a patch of crimson was seen 
 Where the breath of the early frost had been. 
 
 The songs of the birds were tender and sad, 
 Yet I could not say they were not glad. 
 
 Nature's soft and mellow undertone 
 
 To a note like trust in the Father had grown. 
 
 And that trust, I ween, in our hearts had sway, 
 As on through the woods we wended our way. 
 
 Meeting and parting fringe life below, — 
 We parted — twenty years ago. 
 
 My aunts turned back, and on went I, 
 Striving my burning tears to dry. 
 
 Almost a thousand miles away 
 
 Was the Alma Mater I sought that day. 
 
 To a voice I turned me on my track, 
 And saw them both come running back. 
 
 " Is something forgotten ?" soon stammered I ; 
 And they, without a word in reply, 
 
 Caught me in their arms, a great baby of twenty, 
 And smothered me with kisses not too plenty. 
 
176 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Some joys I had known before that day, 
 And many since have thronged my way ; 
 
 But in all my seeking through forty years, 
 In which rain-bow hopes have dried all tears, 
 
 I have nothing found in the paths of knowledge, 
 Surpassing those kisses I carried to college. 
 
 Encouragement first bubbles out of the foun- 
 tain in our own lives ; promoted, it may be, by 
 unrecognized influences. And when the stream 
 has fairly begun to flow, then come the tributaries, 
 few at first, but constantly increasing. " God helps 
 those who help themselves." So do His children, 
 So do all the powers of Nature. It is the law of 
 the universe. There is no encouragement from 
 others, when there is no encouragement from 
 ourselves. . 
 
 Happening one day to see a gentleman ride 
 by my father's house, (which was close by a pub- 
 lic road,) I asked him what o'clock it then was ? 
 He looked at his watch and told me. As he did 
 that with so much good-nature, I begged him to 
 show me the inside of his watch ; and, though he 
 was an entire stranger, he immediately opened the 
 watch, and put it in my hands. I saw the spring- 
 box, with part of the chain round it; and asked 
 him what it was that made it turn round ? He 
 told me it was turned round by a steel spring 
 within it. Having then never seen any other spring 
 
ENCO UBAGE3IEJSIT. 177 
 
 than that of my father's gun-lock, I asked how a 
 spring, within a box, could turn the box so often 
 round, as to wind all the chain upon it? He an- 
 swered that the spring was long and thin ; that 
 one end of it was fastened to the axis of the box, 
 and the other end to the inside of the box, 
 that the axis was fixed, and the box was loose 
 upon it. I told him I did not yet thoroughly 
 understand the matter. "Well, my lad," says he, 
 " take a long, thin piece of whalebone ; hold one 
 end of it fast between your finger and thumb, 
 and wind it round your finger; it will then en- 
 deavor to unwind itself; and if you fix the other 
 end of it to the inside of a small hoop, and 
 leave it to itself, it will turn the hoop round 
 and round, and wind up a thread tied to 
 the outside of the hoop." I thanked the gentle- 
 man and told him I understood the thing very 
 well. I then tried to make a watch, with wooden 
 wheels, and made the spring of whalebone. — Fer- 
 guson. 
 
 That stranger — says one who has written much 
 about eminent men — might probably have read the 
 above narrative as given to the world by Fergu- 
 son, after the talents which this little incident 
 probably contributed to develope had raised him 
 from his obscurity to a distinguished place among 
 the philosophers of his age ; and if he did know 
 this, he must have felt that encouragement in 
 well-doing, which a benevolent man may always 
 gather, either from the positive effects of acts of 
 
178 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 kindness upon others, or their influence upon his 
 own heart. Civility, charity, generosity, may some- 
 times meet an ill-return ; but one person must be 
 benefited by the exercise ; the kind heart has its 
 own abundant reward, whatever be the gratitude 
 of others. The case of Ferguson shows that the 
 seed does not always fall on stony ground. It 
 may appear somewhat absurd to dwell upon the 
 benefit of a slight civility, which cost at most a 
 few minutes of attention ; but it is really import- 
 ant, that those who are easy in the world — who 
 have all the advantages of wealth and knowledge 
 at their command — should feel of how much value 
 is the slightest encouragement and assistance to 
 those who are toiling up the steep of emulation. 
 Too often " the scoff of pride " is super-added to 
 the "bar of poverty;" and thus it is, that many 
 a one of the best talents, and the most generous 
 feelings, 
 
 " Has sunk into the grave unpitied and unknown,'' 
 
 because the wealthy and powerful have never un- 
 derstood the value of a helping hand to him who 
 is struggling with fortune. — Craik. 
 
 TO MBITION is the soul of progress, 
 ^^ The chief momentum of the world 
 
AMBITION. 179 
 
 Which else were sluggish, torpid, jogless, 
 A shell in which no life is curled. 
 
 And though sometimes it be unruly, 
 Like some high -mettled, fiery steed, 
 
 Pursuing mighty schemes unduly, 
 With self- consuming, hellish greed; 
 
 Yet who, because of these abuses, 
 
 Whose smoke and blackness cry, Beware? 
 
 Would blot it out with all its uses 
 
 Through which the world grows bright and 
 fair? 
 
 Give us ambition free from evil ; 
 
 But if, dear Lord, that may not be, 
 Then give us eyes to see the devil, 
 
 And guard against his treachery. 
 
 The soul, considered abstractedly from its pas- 
 sions, is of a remiss and sedentary nature, slow 
 in its resolves, and languishing in its executions. 
 The use, therefore, of the passions is to stir it up 
 and to put it upon action, to awaken the under- 
 standing, to enforce the will, and to make the 
 whole man more vigorous and attentive in the 
 prosecution of his designs. As this is the end of 
 the passions in general, so it is particularly of 
 ambition, which pushes the soul to such actions 
 as are apt to procure honor and reputation to 
 the actor. But if we carry our reflections higher,. 
 
ISO IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 we may discover farther ends of Providence in 
 implanting this passion in mankind. 
 
 It was necessary for the world that arts should 
 be invented and improved, books written and 
 transmitted to posterity, nations conquered and 
 civilized. Now, since the proper and genuine 
 motives to these, and the like great actions, 
 would only influence virtuous minds, there would 
 be but small improvements in the world were 
 there not some common principle of action work- 
 ing equally with all men : and such a principle 
 is ambition, or a desire of fame, by which great 
 endowments are not suffered to lie idle and use- 
 less to the public, and many vicious men are 
 over-reached, as it were, and engaged, contrary 
 to their natural inclinations, in a glorious and 
 laudable course of action. For we may further 
 observe that men of the greatest abilities are 
 most fired with ambition ; and that, on the con- 
 trary, mean and narrow minds are the least actu- 
 ated by it : whether it be that a man's sense of 
 his own incapacities makes him despair of coming 
 at fame, or that he has not enough range of 
 thought to look out for any good which does 
 not more immediately relate to his interest or 
 conscience ; or that Providence, in the very frame 
 of his soul, would not subject him to such a pas- 
 sion as would be useless to the world and a tor- 
 ment to himself. 
 
 Were not this desire of fame very strong, the 
 difficulty of obtaining it, and the danger of losing 
 
AMBITION. 181 
 
 it when obtained, would be sufficient to deter a 
 man from so vain a pursuit. — Addison. 
 
 Although imitation is one of the great instru- 
 ments used by Providence in bringing our nature 
 towards its perfection, yet if men gave them- 
 selves up to imitation entirely, and each followed 
 the other, and so on in an eternal circle, it is 
 easy to see that there never could be any im- 
 provement amongst them. Men must remain as 
 brutes do, the same at the end that they are at 
 this day, and that they were in the beginning 
 of the world. To prevent this, God has implant- 
 ed in man a sense of ambition, and a satisfaction 
 arising from the contemplation of his excelling 
 his fellows in something deemed valuable amongst 
 them. It is this passion that drives men to all 
 the ways we see in use of signalizing themselves,, 
 and that tends to make whatever excites in a 
 man the idea of this distinction so very pleasant. 
 It has been so strong as to make very miserable 
 men take comfort that they were supreme in 
 misery; and certain it is that, where we cannot 
 distinguish ourselves by something excellent, we 
 begin to take a complacency in some singular- 
 infirmities, follies, or defects of one kind or other. 
 — Burke. 
 
 Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be 
 sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure he 
 is he shall shoot higher than he who aims but at 
 a. bush. — Sir Philip Sidney. 
 
 Indeed, no man knows, when he cuts off the 
 
182 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 incitements to a virtuous ambition and the just 
 rewards of public service, what infinite mischief 
 he may do his country through all generations. 
 — Burke. 
 
 It ought not to be the leading object of any 
 one to become an eminent metaphysician, mathe- 
 matician, or poet, but to render himself happy 
 as an individual, and an agreeable, a respectable, 
 and a useful member of society. — Dugald Stew- 
 art. 
 
 ©jpprlttttHbsu 
 
 ^7j?HE time to grapple with thy foe, 
 ^ That wild rebellious passion, 
 And teach him in his overthrow 
 To bide thy will and fashion. 
 
 The time to catch the blessed light 
 Which flashes out before thee, 
 
 And issue from the grievous night 
 Into the noon-tide glory. 
 
 The time to seize on circumstance, 
 
 And make of it a car 
 On which to reach the bright advance 
 
 Where grander treasures are. 
 
OPPOR T UNITIES. 183 
 
 The time to do the little things 
 Which bring to thee and thine 
 
 The sweet, perennial glimmerings 
 Of happiness divine. 
 
 The time to practice chanty 
 
 To which all times belong, 
 And find a daily rarity 
 
 To feed thy prayer and song. 
 
 We sometimes read about "starting points in 
 life," about " opportunities," and the necessity of 
 being on the alert to avail ourselves of them. 
 " Here is your chance," people say ; if you miss it, 
 do not think that, like the swallow, it will reap- 
 pear. We do not believe in chance, nor in start- 
 ing-points, nor in opportunities, except in this 
 sense, that at particular times our duty may be 
 put before us in a special and conspicuous man- 
 ner. " Seizing our opportunities," when carefully 
 examined into, means nothing more than seizing 
 an occasion of doing our duty. It is true, there- 
 fore, to some extent, that to every man his oppor- 
 tunity comes once in his life, and that if he per- 
 mits it to glide by it will never return; because 
 it is certain that, if we once neglect any obvious 
 duty, we shall never again be in a position to 
 retrieve the laches. But do not let the reader sit 
 down by the wayside and wait for his " opportun- 
 ity," as for some miraculous boon to descend sud- 
 denly and unexpectedly from the blue heavens 
 
184 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 above him. Energy makes its own opportunities, 
 because energy is always prompt to detect and 
 ready to execute the work that has to be done. 
 An engine-driver in charge of a crowded train saw 
 lying across the rails at some distance in front of 
 him a piece of timber which menaced his freight 
 with wounds and death. Quick as thought he 
 crept along the side of the engine, and leaning 
 forward, by a supreme effort swung the log out of 
 the way just as the iron wheels were upon it. 
 He risked his life, but he did his duty. After- 
 wards he was rewarded with promotion and hand- 
 some gifts ; he had found his opportunity, his 
 starting point, his chance. Yes ; but it was in 
 doing his duty that he found it. " There are 
 things," says Goethe, " which you do not notice 
 only because you do not look at them ;" and so 
 there are duties which we never recognize be- 
 cause we will not look for them. It is related 
 of a Mr. Godfrey, Governor of the Bank of Eng- 
 land, that he made his appearance on the battle- 
 field of Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington re- 
 monstrated with him on the danger he was 
 incurring. The gentleman answered that the Duke 
 himself ran an equal risk. " Yes," said the Duke,, 
 but I am doing my duty. He had scarcely spoken 
 when a ball struck the rash intruder dead. There 
 was no glory in his death: it was a melancholy 
 failure. He was outside the sphere of his duty. 
 The opportunity at Waterloo was not for him, 
 but for the Duke and the men who conquered 
 
EMPLOYMENT. lg& 
 
 with him. "Though a battle," said Napoleon, 
 " may last a whole day, there are generally some 
 ten minutes in which its issue is practically de- 
 cided." And so, though life may last fifty, or 
 sixty, or seventy years, there is always a moment 
 when our duty is clearly presented to us, and 
 according as we seize or neglect it, will be our suc- 
 cess or failure. Only let us not be led astray 
 by any fancied " opportunity," any imaginary 
 " chance." Let us, like the Duke of Wellington, 
 before we enter the thick of the fire, be sure that 
 duty calls us thither. — Adams. 
 
 Every one has a fair turn to be as great as 
 he pleases. — Jeremy Collier. 
 
 Opportunity has hair in front, behind she is 
 bald: if you seize her by the forelock you may 
 hold her, but, if suffered to escape, not Jupiter 
 himself can catch her again. — From the Latin. 
 
 Opportunity is, in respect to time, in some 
 sense, as time is in respect to eternity: it is the 
 small moment, the exact point, the critical minute, 
 on which every good work so much depends.— 
 Sprat. 
 
 Jlmj^ttmtl 
 
 |THE Father hitherto 
 *** And His Eternal Son 
 
 13 
 
136 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Work, work, and still have work to do 
 With each successive sun. 
 
 Work is the law of love 
 
 Which rules the world below, 
 
 Which rules the brighter world above, 
 Through which like God we grow. 
 
 And so I work in awe, 
 
 As working with the Lord, 
 
 Who in the mightiness of law 
 Is everywhere abroad. 
 
 Who in his heart rebels 
 
 Has never ears to hear 
 The morning and the evening bells 
 
 In Heaven and Earth so clear. 
 
 I don't believe — said the lord rector of Glas- 
 gow University to the students of that institution 
 — I don't believe that an unemployed man, how- 
 ever amiable and otherwise respectable, ever was, 
 or ever can be, really happy. As work is our 
 life, show me what you can do, and I will show 
 you what you are. I have spoken of love of 
 one's work as the best preventive of merely low 
 and vicious tastes. I will go further, and say that 
 it is the best preservative against petty anxieties, 
 and the annoyances that arise out of indulged 
 self-love. Men have thought before now that 
 they could take refuge from trouble and vexation 
 by sheltering themselves, as it were, in a world 
 
EMPLOYMENT, 187 
 
 of their own. The experiment has often been 
 tried, and always with one result. You can not 
 escape from anxiety and labor — it is the destiny 
 of humanity. ■ . . Those who shirk from fac- 
 ing trouble find that trouble comes to them. The 
 indolent may contrive that he shall have less 
 than his share of the world's work to do, but 
 Nature, proportioning the instinct to the work, 
 contrives that the little shall be much and hard 
 to him. The man who has only himself to please 
 finds, sooner or later, and probably sooner than 
 later, that he has got a very hard master ; and 
 the excessive weakness which shrinks from re- 
 sponsibility has its own punishment too, for where 
 great interests are excluded little matters become 
 great, and the same wear and tear of mind that 
 might have been at least usefully and healthfully 
 expended on the real business of life is often 
 wasted in petty and imaginary vexations, such as 
 breed and multiply in the unoccupied brain. — 
 Lord Stanley. 
 
 I cannot too much impress upon your mind 
 — wrote the author of Waverly to his son Charles 
 — -that labor is the condition which God has im- 
 posed on us in every station of life ; there is 
 nothing worth having that can be had without it, 
 from the bread which the peasant wins with the 
 sweat of his brow to the sports by which the 
 rich man must get rid of his ennui. . . . As 
 for knowledge, it can no more be planted in the 
 human mind without labor than a field of wheat 
 
183 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 can be produced without the previous use of the 
 plough. There is, indeed, this great difference,, 
 that chance or circumstances may so cause it that 
 another shall reap what the farmer sows ; but no 
 man can be deprived, whether by accident or mis- 
 fortune, of the fruits of his own studies ; and the 
 liberal and extended acquisitions of knowledge 
 which he makes are all for his own use. Labor,, 
 therefore, my dear boy, and improve the time. 
 In youth our steps are light, and our minds are 
 ductile, and knowledge is easily laid up ; but if 
 we neglect our spring, our summers will be use- 
 less and contemptible, our harvest will be chaff, 
 and the winter of our old age unrespected and 
 desolate. — Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 I myself — wrote a mother to her married; 
 daughter — when the children are gone out for a 
 half-holiday, sometimes feel as stupid and as dull 
 as an owl by daylight; but one must not yield to- 
 rtus, which happens more or less to all young 
 wives. The best relief is work, engaged in with 
 interest and diligence. Work, then, constantly 
 and diligently, at something or other ; for idleness 
 is the devil's snare for small and great, as your 
 grandfather says, and he says true. — Caroline 
 Perthes. 
 
 Exert your talents and distinguish yourself, 
 and don't think of retiring from the world until 
 the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate & 
 fellow whom pride, or cowardice, or laziness, drives, 
 into a corner, and who does nothing when he is. 
 
SPONGE, OR FOUNTAIN? 189 
 
 there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I 
 do, and bark. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 £;T?0 be forever drinking in, 
 *** And never giving out a willing drop ? 
 Or, having stores so bountiful within, 
 In giving out to never stop ? 
 
 Of all that have tried the selfish .experiment, let 
 one come forth and say he has succeeded. He 
 that has made gold his idol — has it satisfied him ? 
 He that has toiled in the fields of ambition — has 
 he been repayed ? He that has ransacked every 
 theatre of sensual enjoyment — is he content? 
 Can any answer in the affirmative ? Not one. 
 And when his conscience shall ask him, and ask 
 it will, "Where are the hungry whom you gave 
 meat ? The thirsty whom you gave drink ? The 
 stranger whom you sheltered ? The naked whom 
 you clothed ? The prisoner whom you visited ? 
 The sick whom you ministered unto ?" how will 
 he feel when he must answer, " I have done none 
 of these things, — I thought only of myself!" — Dr, 
 Johnson. 
 
190 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 There are those who live to do all the good 
 they can to the bodies and to the souls of their 
 fellow-men, to spread comfort and goodness and 
 happiness around them, or, in a wider sphere, to 
 promote the social, intellectual, moral and spiritual 
 advancement of the human race. These are the 
 elect, the true and noble heroes among men, who 
 have entered into the inmost spirit of the Son of 
 Man ; have eaten His flesh and drank His blood ; 
 have imbibed from Him and become penetrated 
 with that sublime enthusiasm of humanity, of which 
 the Son of Man is the only perfect historical ex- 
 ample. Blessed are such; and great is their suc- 
 cess in life, wherever they work or die. — C. S. 
 Henry. 
 
 urns* 
 
 DWELLING where the Lord bestows 
 His presence as the life and light; 
 And gives to poverty delight 
 Which wealth without Him never knows. 
 
 
 A little world, a world within, 
 
 Where that confusion is unknown, 
 Which was of old at Babel shown 
 
 When first the earth was cursed with sin, 
 
HOME. 191 
 
 A " Paradise Regained " on earth, 
 Where father, mother, husband, wife, 
 And love's dear pledges are one life, 
 
 God's music round the common hearth. 
 
 A fountain whence forever pour 
 
 Fair streams to gladden life beyond ; 
 Whose healing waters correspond 
 
 To heaven's perennial endless store. 
 
 Who aims at such a home as this, 
 Although perfection linger long, 
 Attained but in his prayer and song, 
 
 Enjoys the highest earthly bliss. 
 
 If ever household affections and love are grace- 
 ful things, they are graceful in the poor. The ties 
 that bind the wealthy and the proud at home may 
 be forged on earth, but those which link the 
 poor man to his humble hearth are of the true 
 metal and bear the stamp of heaven. The man of 
 high descent may love the halls and lands of his 
 inheritance as a part of himself, as trophies of his 
 birth and power; the poor man's attachment to 
 the tenement he holds, which strangers have held 
 before, and may to-morrow occupy again, has a 
 worthier root, struck deep into a pure soil. His 
 household gods are of flesh and blood, with no 
 alloy of silver, gold, or precious stones ; he has no 
 property but in the affections of his own heart • 
 and when they endear bare floors and walls, de- 
 
192 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 spite of toil and scanty meals, that man has his 
 love of home from God, and his rude hut becomes 
 a solemn place. — Dickens. 
 
 How many opportunities have we of giving de- 
 ligt to those who live in our domestic circle, 
 which would be lost before we could difuse it to 
 those who are distant from us ! Our love, there- 
 fore, our desire of giving happiness, our pleasure 
 in having given it, are stronger within the limits 
 of this sphere of daily and hourly intercourse than 
 beyond it Of those who are beyond this sphere* 
 the individuals most familiar to us are those 
 whose happiness we must always know better how 
 to promote than the happiness of strangers, with 
 whose particular habits and inclinations we are 
 little if at all acquainted. — Dr. Brown. 
 
 Are you not surprised to find how independ- 
 ent of money peace of conscience is, and how 
 much happiness can be condensed in the humblest 
 home? A cottage will not hold the bulky fur- 
 niture and sumptuous accomodations of a mansion ; 
 but if God be there, a cottage will hold as much 
 happiness as might stock a palace. — Dr. James 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Resolve — and tell your wife of your good re- 
 solution. She will aid it all she can. Her step 
 will be lighter and her hand will be busier all day, 
 expecting the comfortable evening at home when 
 you return. Household affairs will have been well 
 attended to. A place for everything, and every- 
 thing in its place, will, like some good genius, 
 
CHILDHOOD. 193 
 
 have made even a humble home the scene 
 of neatness, arrangement, and taste. The table 
 will be ready at the fireside. The loaf will be one 
 of that order which says, by its appearance, you 
 may come and cut again. The cups and saucers 
 will be waiting for supplies. The kettle will be 
 singing ; and the children, happy with fresh air 
 and exercise, will be smiling in their glad antici- 
 pation of that evening meal when father is at home, 
 and of the pleasant reading afterwards. — Sir 
 Arthur Helps. 
 
 |Hb|oA 
 
 LITTLE child, not more than five, 
 In every feature all alive, 
 I did around my father fling 
 The power and glory of a king. 
 
 And loyalty as sweet and true 
 As any monarch ever knew, 
 Bore me exceeding great reward, ■ 
 My first ideal of the Lord. 
 
 As disenchanting years went by 
 With questionings of how and why, 
 
194 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And bore away so painfully 
 The beautiful reality, — 
 
 Doubtless, as in the outward eye, 
 The vision faded — did it die ? 
 It died as dies the golden morn 
 When into noonday whiteness born — 
 
 For always in the school of Christ 
 The lower must be sacrificed — 
 And so it went on climbing still 
 And reached the fount whence came the 
 rill,— 
 
 The sweetness of the perfect Man 
 Built on the old primeval plan, 
 With sweetness of the perfect God 
 Whose presence can by man be trod. 
 
 ii. 
 
 A little child, not more than seven, 
 As pure as when just out of heaven, 
 Didst thou not see on earth a glory 
 Thou hast not found in song or story? 
 
 It was the light from heaven's portal, 
 Too fair for tongue or pen of mortal, 
 The memory of which is beauty 
 On all the rugged ways of duty. 
 
 But is it gone, that revelation, 
 
 Now but a far-off consolation? 
 
 If thou art one of God's true - hearted, 
 
 Be sure it has not yet departed. 
 
CHILDHOOD. 195 
 
 Though thou hast passed through many a 
 
 wildwood, 
 That wondrous glory of thy childhood 
 Now shines within thee, pure and vernal, 
 Because thy birthright is eternal. 
 
 And though thy years be many a seven, 
 Yet art thou very near to heaven, 
 Whose light is everywhere a glory 
 Unbuilded into song or story. 
 
 A child is a man in a small letter, yet the 
 best copy of Adam ; and he is happy whose 
 small practice in the world can only write his 
 character. He is Nature's fresh picture newly 
 drawn in oil, which time and much handling dims 
 and defaces. His soul is yet a white paper, un- 
 scribbled with observations of the world, where- 
 with at length it becomes a blurred note-book. 
 He is purely happy, because he knows no evil, 
 nor hath made means by sin to be acquainted 
 with misery. He arrives not at the mischief of 
 being wise, nor endures evils to come by foresee- 
 ing them. He kisses and loves all, and when the 
 smart of the rod is past, smiles on his beater. 
 Nature and his parents alike dandle him, and 
 entice him on with a bit of sugar to a draught 
 of wormwood. He plays yet like a young pren- 
 tice the first day, and is not come to his task of 
 melancholy. All the language he speaks yet is. 
 tears, and they serve him well enough to ex- 
 
196 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 press his necessity. His hardest labor is his 
 tongue, as if he were loth to use so deceitful 
 an organ, and he is best company with it when 
 he can but prattle. We laugh at his foolish 
 sports, but his game is our earnest ; and his 
 drums, rattles, and hobby-horses, but the em- 
 blems and mockings of men's business. His 
 father has writ him as his own little story, 
 wherein he reads those days of his life which 
 he cannot remember, and sighs to see what inno- 
 cence he has outlived. He is the Christian's ex- 
 ample, and the old man's relapse ; the one imi- 
 tates his pureness, and the other falls into his 
 simplicity. Could he put off his body with his 
 little coat, he had got eternity without a burden 
 and but exchanged one heaven for another. — 
 Bishop Earle. 
 
 All minds, even the dullest, remember the 
 days of their childhood ; but all cannot bring 
 back the indescribable brightness of that blessed 
 season. They who would know what they once 
 were, must not merely recollect, but they must 
 imagine, the hills and valleys — if any such there 
 were — in which their childhood played ; the tor- 
 rents, the waterfalls, the lakes, the heather, the 
 rocks, the heaven's imperial dome, the raven 
 floating only a little lower than the eagle in the 
 sky. To imagine what he then heard and saw, 
 he must imagine his own nature. He must col- 
 lect from many vanished hours the power of his 
 untamed heart ; and he must, perhaps, transfuse 
 
PLIGHTED LOVE. \m 
 
 also something of his maturer mind into those 
 dreams of his former being, thus linking the past 
 with the present by a continuous chain, which, 
 though often invisible, is never broken. So it is, 
 too, with the calmer affections that have grown 
 within the shelter of a roof. We do not merely 
 remember, we imagine, our father's house, the 
 fireside, all his features, then most living, now 
 dead and buried, the very manner of his smile, 
 every tone of his voice. We must combine, with 
 all the passionate and plastic power of imagina- 
 tion, the spirit of a thousand happy hours into 
 one moment ; and we must invest with all that 
 we ever felt to be venerable, such an image as 
 alone can fill our filial hearts. It is thus that 
 imagination, which first aided the growth of all 
 our holiest and happiest affections, can preserve: 
 them to us unimpaired, — 
 
 11 For she can bring us back the dead 
 Even in the loveliest looks they wore." 
 
 — Washington Irving. 
 
 YEAR hath rolled 
 On a track of gold, 
 Since first our vows we plighted ; 
 
 eP: 
 
198 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Yet it seems but a day 
 Hath glided away, 
 So bright is the love we lighted. 
 
 This love we name, 
 
 This virgin flame, 
 will it from clear to clearer 
 
 Till the Jasper wall 
 
 On our vision fall 
 As we hasten from near to nearer ? 
 
 Again thy yes, 
 
 With its power to bless, 
 
 Good faries to me deliver ; 
 And I bid them return 
 With a blessing I yearn 
 
 To bestow on their mistress the giver. 
 
 Love is a fire that, kindling its first embers in 
 the narrow nook of a private bosom, caught from 
 a wandering spark out of another private heart, 
 glows and enlarges until it warms and beams 
 upon multitudes of men and women, upon the 
 universal heart of all, and so lights up the whole 
 world and nature with its generous flame. — 
 Emerson. 
 
 Love one human being purely and warmly, 
 and you will love all. The heart in this heaven, 
 like the wandering sun, sees nothing, from the 
 dewdrop to the ocean, but a mirror which it 
 warms and fills. — Richter. 
 
PLIGHTED LOVE. 199 
 
 Love doth seldom suffer itself to be confined 
 by other matches than those of its own making. 
 — Boyle. 
 
 Love is not altogether a delirium, yet it has 
 many points in common therewith. I call it rather 
 the discerning of the infinite in the finite, of the 
 ideal made real. — Carlyle. 
 
 Love, like fire, cannot subsist without continual 
 movement ; so soon as it ceases to hope and 
 fear, it ceases to exist. — Rochefoucauld. 
 
 Love is like a painter, who in drawing the pic- 
 ture of a friend having a blemish in one eye, would 
 picture only the other side of the face. — South. 
 
 Love is better than spectacles to make every- 
 thing seem great. — Sir Philip Sidney. 
 
 Love that has nothing but beauty to keep it 
 in good health is short-lived, and apt to have ague 
 fits. — Erasmus. 
 
 For the whole endeavor of both parties, dur- 
 ing the time of courtship, Is to hinder themselves 
 from being known, and to disguise their natural 
 temper, and real desires, in hypocritical imitation, 
 studied compliance, and continued affectation. 
 From the time that their love is avowed, neither 
 sees the other but in a mask, and the cheat is 
 managed often on both sides with so much art, 
 and discovered afterwards with so much abrupt- 
 ness, that each has reason to suspect that some 
 transformation has happened on the wedding- 
 night, and that, by a strange imposture, one has 
 been courted and another married. 
 
200 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 I desire you, therefore, Mr. Rambler, to ques- 
 tion all who shall hereafter come to you with 
 matrimonial complaints, concerning their behavior 
 in the time of courtship, and inform them that 
 they are neither to wonder nor repine, when a 
 contract begun with fraud has ended in disap- 
 pointment. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 When a woman is deliberating with herself 
 whom she shall choose of many near each other 
 in other pretensions, certainly he of best under- 
 standing is to be preferred. Life hangs heavily in 
 the repeated conversation of one who has no im- 
 agination to be fired at the several occasions and 
 objects which come before him, or who cannot 
 strike out of his own reflections new paths of 
 pleasing discourse. — Sir Richard Steele. 
 
 The advantages, as I was going to say, of 
 sense, beauty, and riches, are what are certainly 
 the chief motives to a prudent young woman of 
 fortune for changing her condition ; but as she is 
 to have her eye upon each of these, she is to ask 
 herself whether the man who has the most of 
 these recommendations in the lump is not the 
 most desirable. He that has excellent talents, 
 with a moderate estate, and an agreeable person,, 
 is preferable to him who is only rich, if it were 
 only that good faculties may purchase riches ; 
 but riches cannot purchase worthy endowments. 
 I do not mean that wit, and a capacity to enter- 
 tain, is what should be highly valued, except it is 
 founded on good nature and humanity. There 
 
WEDDED LOVE. 201 
 
 are many ingenious men whose abilities do little 
 else but make themselves and those about them 
 uneasy. — Sir. Richard Steele. 
 
 Tom hinting at his dislike of some trifle his 
 mistress had said, she asked him how he would 
 talk to her after marriage if he talked at this 
 rate before ? — Addison. 
 
 H[*iW Jbti& 
 
 ,F all the blessed things below 
 To hint the joys above, 
 There is not one our hearts may know 
 So dear as mated love. 
 
 It walks the garden of the Lord, 
 
 It gives itself away : 
 To give and think not of reward 
 
 Is glory day by day. 
 
 The sweetness of eternal June 
 
 Is cradled in • its flowers ; 
 And hark! a stirring martial rune 
 
 Goes sounding through its bowers r 
 
 "The field which thou must conquer here 
 Is dark and broad and long; 
 
 14 
 
202 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And thou must gird thee with the cheer 
 Which keeps the mighty strong. 
 
 "Thou wast not meant for languid rest, 
 
 Nor dowered for base repose : 
 In action only art thou blest 
 Until the battle's close ! " 
 
 And though sometimes the shadows fall, 
 
 And day is dark as night, 
 It bows and drinks the cup of gall, 
 
 But gives not up the fight. 
 
 For One is in the union where 
 
 The mine is ever thine, 
 Whose presence keeps it brave and fair, 
 
 A melody divine. 
 
 Better than the best of friends is a good wife. 
 Perhaps we should rather say that a good wife 
 is the best of all friends. We hold it essential 
 to a young man's success, whether his calling be 
 that of a merchant or trader, priest, engineer, or 
 lawyer, artist or man of letters, that he should 
 marry well and marry early. The prejudice 
 against early marriages seems to us to have 
 originated in sordid motives. It is intimately 
 connected with that selfishness, that love of out- 
 ward show, and that luxurious indulgence which 
 have corrupted our social system. It seems to 
 be assumed that marriage must be deferred until 
 the man has "sown his wild oats," in other words, 
 
WEDDED LOVE. 203 
 
 has sullied his soul by contact with the whole 
 circle of the world's pleasures, and the woman 
 can be placed at the head of an expensive house- 
 hold. Now we are convinced, from long obser- 
 vation, that an early marriage is a young man's 
 surest guarantee of happiness. We are sure 
 that it is his best security against temptation, and 
 the most admirable incentive to honest and inde- 
 pendent exertion that can be presented to him. 
 To love a good woman is in itself a fine educa- 
 tion : to marry her and work for her is in itself 
 a source of the truest happiness. Early mar- 
 riage sometimes turns out ill, and so do late 
 marriages ; so do all marriages which are made 
 in an unworthy spirit or for mean purposes, 
 which are not marriages of heart and soul and 
 mind, but " alliances " contracted for worldly rea- 
 sons or no reasons at all. It is requisite that a 
 man, in seeking a wife, should take at least as 
 much thought as in seeking a friend ; should 
 endeavor to know something of her temper, char- 
 acter, and disposition ; should ascertain whether 
 her nature will harmonize with his, and whether 
 it be one which he can respect and admire. If 
 it be unwise to choose a friend who falls below 
 our own standard, much more unwise is it to 
 choose a wife who cannot be our companion on 
 terms of the fullest equality, who cannot share 
 our thoughts, our aspirations, and our hopes. 
 
 Supposing a young man to have met with a 
 maiden to whom he can unreservedly trust his 
 
204 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 future happiness, we say that the sooner he 
 makes her his wife the better for both of them. 
 Let them spend in sweet and joyful union their 
 early years of exertion and industry, and those 
 early years will furnish them with pleasant mem- 
 ories to be recalled in the autumn days of life, 
 when the battle has been fought, and, let us hope, 
 the victory won. It is a good thing for a hus- 
 band and wife to have the same past * to look 
 back upon. Again, what can be more unfair 
 than that a man who has expended his ripe man- 
 hood in gross self-indulgence should offer his 
 wasted, decayed, and battered nature to a young 
 girl, with all the bloom of spring still upon her 
 mind and heart? For it is to be observed that 
 those who condemn early marriages condemn 
 them only for the man and not for the woman. 
 They do not say that a man of forty should 
 marry a woman of the same age. No, indeed ; 
 he is free to offer himself, with all his world- 
 weary, exhausted heart and his "handsome settle- 
 ments," to maidenhood in all its freshness and all 
 its innocence ! In such a case there can seldom 
 be any thorough sympathy, any heart-to-heart 
 understanding, between husband and wife. Not 
 only is the difference of years between them, but 
 a past which they have not shared together ; ex- 
 periences on the husband's side wholly unknown 
 to the wife ; young hopes and aspirations on the 
 wife's side at which the husband cannot even 
 guess. Let him who would enter on the race of 
 
WEDDED LOVE. 205 
 
 life with reasonable anticipations of success not 
 neglect to secure at starting not only a good 
 friend but a good wife ; he may haply dispense 
 with the former, but for his soul's sake he can- 
 not do without the latter. But then, he must 
 first look upon marriage as a boon from God, 
 to be gained from Him alone by earnest prayer, 
 by intense repentance, and complete confession of 
 youthful sins. " Man," says Charles Kingsley, 
 "is a spirit animal, and, in communion with God's 
 Spirit, has a right to believe that his affections 
 are under that Spirit's guidance, and that when 
 he finds in himself such an affection to any single 
 woman as true married lovers describe theirs to 
 be, he is bound (duty to parents and country 
 allowing) to give himself up to his love in child- 
 like simplicity and self-abandonment, and, at the 
 same time, with solemn awe and self-humiliation 
 at being thus re-admitted into the very garden of 
 the Lord — 
 
 " The Eden where the spirit and the flesh 
 Are one again, and new-born souls walk free, 
 And name in mystic language all things new, 
 Naked and not ashamed." 
 
 — Adams. 
 
 Business does but lay waste the approaches 
 to the heart, while marriage garrisons the for- 
 tress. — Sir Henry Taylor. 
 
 Matrimony hath something in it of nature, 
 something of civility, something of divinity. — 
 Bishop Hall. 
 
 Marriage is an institution calculated for a con- 
 
206 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 stant scene of as much delight as our being is 
 capable of. — Sir Richard Steele. 
 
 Husbands must give to their wives love, main- 
 tenance, duty, and the sweetness of conversation ; 
 and wives must pay to them all they have or can, 
 with the interest of obedience and reverence : 
 and they must be complicated in affections and 
 interest, that there be no distinction between 
 them of mine and thine. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 Qj£*®)g9fg)- 
 
 IJuIhim 
 
 Jtfy OME hither, come hither, my children five, 
 ^ And gather around the cheerful hearth ; 
 And think of the Child forever alive, 
 
 The Prince of all children in Heaven and Earth. 
 
 Come hither, come hither, my daughters four, 
 And tell me the tale of your sunny hearts : 
 
 It is something, no doubt, I have heard before, 
 For into a poem it daily starts. 
 
 Come hither, come hither, my little son, 
 And join in the story that must be told. 
 
 His eye has a twinkle which tells of fun ; 
 
 Will it cease, I wonder, what time he grows old ? 
 
CHILDREN. 207 
 
 Now, Mamie, my eldest, what do you say ? 
 
 I wait not the speech those eyes so well show. 
 Don't blush ; 'tis no sin to the sweet maiden May, 
 
 And love that is silent is strongest, we know. 
 
 Well, Emma, I ween, has a tongue that can prove 
 How many a thing can be told in a minute. 
 
 " Yes, papa, and now when it speaks of my love» 
 Believe that for once it has something in it." 
 
 The little witch Jessie now takes her part 
 In the oft told story of fireside bliss ; 
 
 And while I am folding her close to my heart, 
 She through my moustache finds the place for 
 a kiss. 
 
 Wee Rachel, the last of my girls, comes next. 
 
 Her name makes her dearer than all the rest, 
 I think of a Sunday I'll make her my text, 
 
 And the sermon, I know, will be my best. 
 
 Now Jamie has something to say, no doubt, 
 For great is the love of an only son. 
 
 He wiggles about and at last speaks out: 
 " Papa, it's only a dog and a gun." 
 
 An only son? An only son? 
 
 And have I forgotten so soon the grace 
 Which many a loving tribute won, 
 
 The glow of another dear little face ? 
 
 He does not answer my call to-night, 
 Just as the other children do ; 
 
208 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 But still he replies with a gleam of light, 
 As of one who remains forever true. 
 
 Before his brother and sisters he, 
 
 The dear little Archie, has gone to rest ; 
 
 He knoweth before us the things to be ; 
 The Father appointeth what is best. 
 
 His naaie was given the Daughter of Zion, 
 
 Forever and forever to keep ; 
 Now over his bed at night Orion 
 
 Doth watch his sweet untroubled sleep. 
 
 Come nearer, come nearer, my children five, 
 And pray unto Heaven to keep you from harm 
 
 Rr member with me the dead is alive ; 
 
 ,^i the cradle of God he is safe and warm. 
 
 Tell me not of the trim, precisely - arranged 
 homes where there are no children ; " where," as 
 the good Germans have it, " the fly-traps always 
 hang straight on the wall ; " tell me not of the 
 never-disturbed nights and days, of the tranquil, 
 unanxious hearts, where children are not! I care 
 not for these things. God sends children for an- 
 other purpose than merely to keep up the race: 
 — to enlarge our hearts, to make us unselfish, 
 and full of kindly sympathies and affections ; to 
 give our souls higher aims, and to call out all our 
 faculties to extended enterprises and exertion ; to 
 bring round our fireside bright faces and happy 
 smiles, and loving, tender hearts. My soul blesses 
 
CHILDREN. 20p 
 
 the Great Father every day, that he has glad- 
 dened the earth with little children. — Mary 
 Ho WITT. 
 
 A child's eyes! those clear wells of undefiled 
 thought ; what on earth can be more beautiful ! 
 Full of hope, love, and curiosity, they meet your 
 own. In prayer, how earnest ; in joy, how spark- 
 ling; in sympathy, how tender! The man who 
 never tried the companionship of a little child 
 has carelessly passed by one of the great pleas- 
 ures of life, as one passes a rare flower without 
 plucking it or knowing its value. A child can- 
 not understand you, you think : speak to it of 
 the holy things of your religion, of your grief 
 for the loss of a friend, of your love for some 
 one you fear will not love in return: it will take, 
 it is true, no measure or soundings of your 
 thought ; it will not judge how much you should 
 believe ; whether your grief is natural in propor- 
 tion to your loss ; whether you are worthy or fit 
 to attract the love which you seek ; but its whole 
 soul will incline to yours, and ingraft itself, as it 
 were, on the feeling which is your feeling for the 
 hour. — Hon. Mrs. Norton. 
 
 In order to form the minds of children, the 
 first thing to be done is to conquer their will. 
 To inform the understanding is a work of time, 
 and must, with children, proceed by slow degrees, 
 as they are able to bear it ; but the subjecting 
 must be done at once, and the sooner the better ; 
 for, by neglecting timely correction, they will con- 
 
210 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 tract a stubbornness and obstinacy which are 
 hardly ever conquered, and not without using 
 such severity as would be as painful to me as 
 die child. In the esteem of the world they pass 
 for kind and indulgent, whom I call cruel, pa- 
 rents, who permit their children to get habits 
 which they know must afterwards be broken, 
 when the will of a child is subdued, and it is 
 brought to revere and stand in awe of its pa- 
 rents, then a great many childish follies and in- 
 advertencies may be passed by. Some should 
 be overlooked, and others mildly reproved ; but 
 no wilful transgression ought to be forgiven 
 without such chastisement, less or more, as the 
 nature and circumstances of the offence may re- 
 quire. I insist upon conquering the will of chil- 
 dren betimes, because this is the only strong and 
 rational foundation of a religious education, with- 
 out which both precept and example will be in- 
 effectual. But when this is thoroughly done, then 
 a child is capable of being governed by the rea- 
 son and piety of its parents till its own under- 
 standing comes to maturity, and the principles of 
 religion have taken root in the mind. — Mrs. 
 Wesley. 
 
 In books designed for children there are two 
 extremes that should be avoided. The one, that 
 reference to religious principles in connection 
 with matters too trifling and undignified, arising 
 from a well-intentioned zeal, causing a forgetful- 
 ness of the maxim whose notorious truth has 
 
WOaMAN'S WORK. 211 
 
 made it proverbial, " Too much familiarity breeds 
 contempt." And the other is the contrary, and 
 still more prevailing, extreme, arising from a de- 
 sire to preserve a due reverence for religion, at 
 the expense of its useful application in conduct. 
 But a line may be drawn which will keep clear of 
 both extremes. We should not exclude the as- 
 sociation of things sacred with whatever are to 
 ourselves trifling matters (for these little things are 
 great to children), but what is viewed by them as 
 trifling. Everything is great or small to the 
 parties concerned. The private concerns of any 
 obscure individual are very insignificant to the 
 world at large, but they are of great importance 
 to himself, and all worldly affairs must be small 
 in the sight of the Most High ; but irreverent 
 familiarity is engendered in the mind of any one, 
 then, and then only, when things sacred are as- 
 sociated with such as are, to him, insignificant 
 things. — Whatelv. 
 
 ■»*«==- 
 
 mtti% lljcrk 
 
 g£|7HE tender devotion of woman 
 ^ All fair of a heart that is human, 
 
212 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Becomes from its beautiful birth 
 The loftiest thing of the earth. 
 
 It purifies earth - lighted passions, 
 It burns with an ardor that fashions 
 And moulds to a higher resolve 
 The hopes that so lowly revolve. 
 
 It glows in the wife and the mother, 
 A fire no disaster can smother, 
 Remaining a symbol forever 
 Of Love's everlasting endeavor. 
 
 O blessed is he that has found it ! 
 Where, where is the plummet to sound it, 
 The tender devotion of woman 
 All pure of a heart that is human ! 
 
 One good mother, said George Herbert, is 
 worth a hundred school -masters. In the home 
 she is " loadstone to all hearts, and loadstar to 
 all eyes." Imitation of her is constant — imitation, 
 which Bacon likens to a "globe of precepts." 
 But example is far more than precept. It is in- 
 struction in action. It is teaching without words, 
 often exemplifying more than tongue can teach. 
 In the face of bad example, the best of precepts 
 are but of little avail. The example is followed, 
 not the precepts. Indeed, precept at variance 
 with practice is worse than useless, inasmuch as 
 it only serves to teach the most cowardly of vices 
 — hypocrisy. Even children are judges of con- 
 
WOMAXS WORK. 213- . 
 
 sistency, and the lessons of the parent who says 
 one thing- and does the opposite, are quickly 
 seen through. The teaching of the friar was not 
 worth much who preached the virtue of honesty 
 with a stolen goose in his sleeve. 
 
 By imitation of acts, the character becomes 
 slowly and imperceptibly, but at length decidedly 
 formed. The several acts may seem in them- 
 selves trivial ; but so are the continuous acts of 
 daily life. Like snow-flakes, they fall unperceived;. 
 each flake added to the pile produces no sensible 
 change, and yet the accumulation of snow-flakes. 
 makes the avalanche. So do repeated acts, one 
 following another, at length become consolidated 
 in habit, determine the action of the human being 
 for good or for evil, and, in a word, form the- 
 character. 
 
 It is because the mother, far more than the 
 father, influences the action and conduct of the 
 child, that her good example is of so much 
 greater importance in the home. It is easy to 
 understand why this should be so. The home is 
 the woman's domain — her kingdom, where she 
 exercises entire control. Her power over the 
 little subjects she rules there is absolute. They 
 look up to her for everything. She is the exam- 
 ple and model constantly before their eyes, whom 
 they unconsciously observe and imitate. 
 
 Cowley, speaking of the influence of early 
 example, and ideas early implanted in the mind, 
 compares them to letters cut in the bark of a 
 
214 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 young tree, which grow and widen with age. 
 The impressions then made, howsoever slight 
 they may seem, are never effaced. The ideas 
 then implanted in the mind are like seeds 
 dropped into the ground, which lie there and 
 germinate for a time, afterwards springing up in 
 acts and thoughts and habits. Thus the mother 
 lives again in her children. They unconsciously 
 mould themselves after her manner, her speech, 
 her conduct, and her method of life. Her habits 
 become theirs ; and her character is visibly re- 
 peated in them. 
 
 This maternal love is the visible providence 
 of our race. Its influence is constant and uni- 
 versal. It begins with the education of the hu- 
 man being at the outstart of life, and is pro- 
 longed by virtue of the powerful influence which 
 every good mother exercises over her children 
 through life. When launched into the world, each 
 to take part in its labors, anxieties, and trials, 
 they still turn to their mother for consolation, if 
 not for counsel, in their time of trouble and diffi- 
 culty. The pure and good thoughts she has im- 
 planted in their minds when children continue to 
 grow up into good acts long after she is dead ; 
 and when there is nothing but a memory of her 
 left, her children rise up and call her blessed. 
 
 It is not saying too much to aver that the 
 happiness or misery, the enlightenment or ignor- 
 ance, the civilization or barbarism of the -world, 
 depends in a very high degree upon the exercise 
 
WOMAN'S WORK. 215 
 
 of woman's power within her special kingdom of 
 home. Indeed, Emerson says, broadly and truly, 
 that " a sufficient measure of civilization is the 
 influence of good women." Posterity may be 
 said to be before us in the person of the child in 
 the mother's lap. What that child will eventually 
 become, mainly depends upon the training and 
 example which he has received from his first and 
 most influential educator. 
 
 Woman, above all other educators, educates 
 humanly. Man is the brain, but woman is the 
 heart of humanity ; he its judgment, she its feel- 
 ing; he its strength, she its grace, ornament, and 
 solace. Even the understanding of the best 
 woman seems to work mainly through her affec- 
 tions. And thus, though man may direct the in- 
 tellect, woman cultivates the feelings, which 
 mainly determine the character. While he fills 
 the memory, she occupies the heart. She makes 
 us love what he can only make us believe, and 
 it is chiefly through her that we are enabled to 
 arrive at virtue. 
 
 The respective influences of the father and 
 the mother on the training and development of 
 character are remarkably illustrated in the life of 
 St. Augustine. While Augustine's father, a poor 
 freeman of Thagaste, proud of his son's abilities, 
 endeavored to furnish his mind with the highest 
 learning of the schools, and was extolled by the 
 neighbors for the sacrifice he made with that 
 object "beyond the ability of his means" — his 
 
216 IDEALS OF LU-jS. 
 
 mother, Monica, on the other hand, sought to^ 
 lead her son's mind in the direction of the high- 
 est good, and with pious care counselled him, 
 entreated him, advised him to chastity, and 
 amidst much anguish and tribulation, because of 
 his wicked life, never ceased to pray for him 
 until her prayers were heard and answered. 
 Thus her love at last triumphed, and the patience 
 and the goodness of the mother were rewarded, 
 not only by the conversion of her gifted son, but 
 also of her husband. Later in life, and after her 
 husband's death, Monica, drawn by her affection, 
 followed her son to Milan, to watch over him ; 
 and there she died, when he was in his thirty- 
 third year. But it was in the earlier period of 
 his life that her example and instruction made 
 the deepest impression upon his mind, and deter- 
 mined his future character. 
 
 There are many similar instances of early im- 
 pressions made upon a child's mind, springing up 
 into good acts late in life, after an intervening 
 period of selfishness and vice. Parents may do 
 all that they can to develop an upright and vir- 
 tuous character in their children, and apparently 
 in vain. It seems like bread cast upon the waters 
 and lost. And yet sometimes it happens that 
 long after the parents have gone to their rest 
 — it may be twenty years or more — the good 
 precept, the good example set before their sons 
 and daughters in childhood, at length springs up 
 and bears fruit. 
 
WOMAN'S WORK. 217 
 
 One of the most remarkable of such instances 
 was that of the Reverend John Newton, of Olney,. 
 the friend of Cowper, the poet. It was long sub- 
 sequent to the death of both his parents, and 
 after leading a vicious life as a youth and as a 
 seaman, that he became suddenly awakened to a 
 sense of his depravity ; and then it was that the 
 lessons which his mother had given him when a 
 child sprang up vividly in his memory. Her 
 voice came to him as it were from the dead, and 
 led him gently back to virtue and goodness. 
 
 Another instance is that of John Randolph... 
 the American statesman, who once said : " I 
 should have been an athiest if it had not been for 
 one recollection — and that was the memory of the - 
 time when my departed mother used to take my 
 little hand in hers, and cause me on my knees to^ 
 say, 'Our Father which art in heaven !' " 
 
 But such instances must on the whole, be re- 
 garded as exceptional. As the character is biased 
 in early life, so it generally remains, gradually 
 assuming its permanent form as manhood is 
 reached. " Live as long as you may," said Southey, 
 "the first twenty years are the longest half of 
 your life," and they are by far the most pregnant 
 in consequence. When the worn-out slanderer 
 and voluptuary, Dr. Wolcot, lay on his death-bed, 
 one of his friends asked if he could do anything 
 to gratify him. " Yes," said the dying man, " give 
 me back my youth." Give him but that, and he 
 would repent — he would reform. But it was all 
 
 15 
 
218 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 too late ! His life had become bound and en- 
 thralled by the chains of habit. 
 
 Gretry, the musical composer, thought so 
 highly of the importance of woman as an edu- 
 cator of character, that he described a good 
 mother as " Nature's chef d'aeuvre." And he was 
 right: for good mothers, far more than fathers, 
 tend to the perpetual renovation of mankind, 
 creating as they do the moral atmosphere of the 
 home, which is the nutriment of man's moral be- 
 ing, as the physical atmosphere is of his corporeal 
 frame. By good temper, sauvity, and kindness, 
 directed by intelligence, woman surrounds the in- 
 dwellers with a pervading atmosphere of cheer- 
 fulness, contentment, and peace, suitable for the 
 growth of the purest as of the manliest natures. 
 
 The poorest dwelling, presided over by a vir- 
 tuous, thrifty, cheerful, and cleanly woman, may 
 thus be the abode of comfort, virtue and happi- 
 ness ; it may be the scene of every ennobling 
 relation in family life ; it may be endeared to a 
 man by many delightful associations ; furnishing a 
 sanctuary for the heart, a refuge from the storms 
 of life, a sweet retiring-place after labor, a con- 
 solation in misfortune, a pride in prosperity, and a 
 joy at all times. 
 
 The good home is thus the best of schools, 
 not only in youth but in age. There young and 
 old best learn cheerfulness, patience, self-control 
 and the spirit of service and of duty. Izaak Wal- 
 ton, speaking of George Herbert's mother, says 
 
WOMAN'S WORK. 219 
 
 she governed her family with judicious care, not 
 rigidly nor sourly, " but with such a sweetness and 
 compliance with the recreations and pleasures of 
 youth, as did incline them to spend much of their 
 time in her company, which was to her great 
 content." 
 
 The home is the true school of courtesy, of 
 which a woman is always the best practical in- 
 structor. " Without woman," says a Provencal pro- 
 verb, " men were but ill-licked cubs." " To love 
 the little platoon we belong to in society," said 
 Burke, " is the germ of all public affections." 
 The wisest and the best have not been ashamed 
 to own it to be their greatest joy and happiness 
 to sit " behind the heads of children " in the in- 
 violable circle of home. A life of purity and duty 
 there is not the least effectual preparative for a 
 life of public work and duty ; and the man who 
 loves his home will not the less fondly love and 
 serve his country. — Smiles. 
 
 I have never addressed myself in the language 
 of decency and friendship to a woman, whether 
 civilized or savage, without receiving a decent and 
 friendly answer. With men it has often been 
 otherwise. In wandering over the plains of in- 
 hospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, 
 frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, un- 
 principled Russia, and the wide-spread region of 
 the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet or 
 sick, woman has ever been friendly to me, and 
 .uniformly so ; and to add to this virtue, so worthy 
 
220 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 of the appellation of benevolence, these actions 
 have been performed in so free and so kindly a 
 manner, that if I was dry, I drank the sweet 
 draught, and, if hungry, ate the coarse morsel, 
 with a double relish. — John Ledyard. 
 
 On great occasions it is almost always woman 
 who has given the strongest proofs of virtue and 
 devotion : the reason is, that with men good and 
 bad qualities are in general the result of calcula- 
 tion, whilst in women they are impulses springing 
 from the heart. — Montholon. 
 
 In matters of affection there is always an im- 
 passable gulf between man and man. They can 
 never quite grasp each other's hands, and there- 
 fore man never derives any intimate help, any 
 heart-sustenance from his brother man, but from 
 woman — his mother, his sister, or his wife. — Haw- 
 thorne. 
 
 QM^&'SzZ^- 
 
 23 
 
 !(|. 
 
 "Mens sana in sano corpore " — (A sound mind is a sound body). 
 
 STEALTH is like armed men that forward 
 
 dp. 
 
 ^^ press, 
 
 Equipped with all conditions of success : 
 
 Good generalship; obedience; reserves; 
 
HEALTH. 221 
 
 Valor; endurance; faith that never swerves, 
 And that persistence of a mighty will 
 Which in defeat has power to conquer still. 
 
 Health is twofold, of body and of mina ; 
 Unwholesome when to either one confined. 
 What though the mind set in a feeble frame 
 May glow and sparkle in a short-lived flame? 
 Unite the two, the mind and body strong, 
 All possibilities to them belong. 
 
 Guard well thy health : it is the instrument 
 
 Of life, for grand and noble uses meant ; 
 
 The trusty armor of a valiant man 
 
 Strong to achieve what only heroes can ; 
 
 The courage that through change and chancer 
 
 endures, 
 And every gift of Providence secures. 
 
 Health is a precious thing, and the only one 
 in truth meriting that a man should lay out, not 
 only his time, sweat, labor, and goods, but also 
 his life itself, to obtain it, forasmuch as without 
 it life is injurious to us. Pleasure, wisdom, learn- 
 ing, and virtue without it wither away and vanish ; 
 and to the most quaint and solid discourses that 
 philosophy would imprint in us to the contrary, 
 we need no more but oppose the image of Plato 
 being struck with an epilepsy or apoplexy ; and 
 in this presupposition to defy him to call the rich 
 faculties of his soul to his assistance. All means 
 
222 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 that conduce to health can neither be too painful 
 nor too dear to me. — Montaigne. 
 
 Health and vigor, and a happy constitution of 
 the corporeal frame, are of absolute necessity to 
 the enjoyments of the comforts, and to the per- 
 formance of the duties, of life, and requisite in 
 yet a greater measure to the accomplishment of 
 anything illustrious or distinguished ; yet even 
 these, if we can judge by their apparent conse- 
 quences, are sometimes not very beneficial to 
 those on whom they are most liberally bestowed, 
 — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 Health is the soul that animates all enjoyments 
 of life, which fade, and are tasteless, if not dead, 
 without it. A man starves at the best and great- 
 est tables, makes faces at the noblest and most 
 delicate wines, is poor and wretched in the midst 
 of the greatest treasures and fortunes, with com- 
 mon diseases ; strength grows decrepit, youth 
 loses all vigor, and beauty all charms ; music 
 grows harsh, and conversation disagreeable ; pal- 
 aces are prisons, or of equal confinement ; riches 
 are useless, honor and attendance are cumber- 
 some, and crowns themselves are a burden : but 
 if diseases are painful and violent, they equal all 
 conditions of life, make no difference between a 
 prince and a beggar; and a fit of the stone or 
 the colic puts a king on the rack, and makes him 
 as miserable as it can the meanest, the worst,, 
 and most criminal of his subjects. — Sir William 
 Temple. 
 
HEALTH. 223 
 
 Cheerfulness is, in the first place, the best 
 promoter of health. Repinings, and secret mur- 
 murs of heart, give imperceptible strokes to those 
 delicate fibres of which the vital parts are com- 
 posed, and wear out the machine insensibly; not 
 to mention those violent ferments which they stir 
 up in the blood, and those irregular disturbed 
 motions which they raise in the animal spirits. I 
 scarce remember, in my own observation, to have 
 met with many old men, or with such who (to 
 use our English phrase) wear well, that had not 
 at least a certain indolence in their humor, if not 
 a more than ordinary gaiety and cheerfulness of 
 heart. The truth of it is health and cheerful- 
 ness mutually beget each other; with this differ- 
 ence, that we seldom meet with a great degree 
 of health which is not attended with a certain 
 cheerfulness, but very often see cheerfulness 
 where there is no great degree of health. 
 
 Cheerfulness bears the same friendly regard 
 to the mind as to the body. It banishes all an- 
 xious care and discontent, soothes and composes 
 the passions, and keeps the soul in a perpetual 
 calm. — Addison. 
 
 In our natural body every part has a neces- 
 sary sympathy with every other, and all together 
 form, by their harmonious conspiration, a healthy 
 whole. — Sir William Hamilton. 
 
 Health, strength, and longevity, depend upon 
 immutable laws. There is no arbitrary interfer- 
 ence of higher powers with them. Primarily our 
 
224 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 •parents, secondarily ourselves, are responsible for 
 them. The providence of God is no more re- 
 sponsible, because the virulence of disease rises 
 above the power of all therapeutics, or because 
 one quarter part of the human race die before 
 completing the age of one year, — die before com- 
 pleting one seventieth part of the term of exist- 
 ence allotted to them by the Psalmist; I say the 
 providence of God is no more responsible for 
 these things, than it is for picking pockets or 
 stealing horses. . . . 
 
 Were a young man to write down a list of 
 his duties, Health should be among the first 
 items in the catalogue. This is no exaggeration 
 of its value ; for health is indispensable to almost 
 every form of human enjoyment; it is the grand 
 auxiliary of usefulness ; and should a man love 
 the Lord his God, with all his heart and soul and 
 mind and strength, he would have ten times more 
 heart and soul and mind and strength, to love 
 Him with, in the vigor of health, than under the 
 palsy of disease. Not only the amount, but the 
 quality of the labor which a man can perform, 
 depends upon his health. The work savors of the 
 workman. If the poet sickens, his verse sickens; 
 if black, venous blood flows to an author's brain, 
 it beclouds his pages; and the devotions of a 
 consumptive man scent of his disease as Lord 
 Byron's obscenities smell of gin. Not only 
 " lying lips," but a dyspeptic stomach, is an abom- 
 ination to the Lord. At least in this life, so de- 
 
RECREATION. 225 
 
 pendent is mind upon material organization, — the\ 
 functions and manifestations of the soul upon the 
 condition of the body it inhabits, — that the mate- 
 rialist hardly states the matter too strongly when 
 he affirms that thought and passion, wit, imagina- 
 tion and love are only emanations from exquis- 
 itely organized matter, just as perfume is the 
 effluence of flowers, or music the ethereal pro- 
 duct of an ^Eolian harp. — Horace Mann. 
 
 *03* t^ 
 
 ]|*tr«ttfrrm 
 
 jy^EAR Recreation claims her hour 
 ^^ To keep the lamp of life a -trim, 
 Our drooping faculties in flower, 
 The spirit's eye from growing dim. 
 
 She calls thee to the glassy lake, 
 To join the merry skaters there, 
 
 Or, it may be, thy place to take 
 Among the singers free from care : 
 
 In spring, to stroll through woodland 
 bowers 
 When birds are at their even-sono-; 
 
226 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Or pluck the beauty of the flowers, 
 To which all seasons may belong. 
 
 Do not deny her wise request, 
 Ye toilers through the busy day ; 
 
 Ye valiant seekers of the best, 
 Turn not in weariness away. 
 
 She brings a pleasing, gentle change, 
 And like a schoolboy's glad recess, 
 
 In which the mind is left to range 
 In free and playful joyousness. 
 
 And when her season of delight 
 
 Has passed like music through the air, 
 
 We find ourselves refreshed and bright, 
 And once again the world is fair. 
 
 There are people in the world who would, if 
 they had the power, hang the heavens about with 
 crape ; throw a shroud over the beautiful and life- 
 giving bosom of the planet ; pick the bright stars 
 from the sky ; veil the sun with clouds ; pluck 
 the silver moon from her place in the firmament; 
 shut up our gardens and fields, and the flowers 
 with which they are bedecked ; and doom the 
 world to an atmosphere of gloom and cheerless- 
 ness. There is no reason or morality in this, and 
 there is still less religion. 
 
 A benevolent Creator has endowed man with 
 an eminent capacity for enjoyment— has set him 
 
RECREATION. 227 
 
 in a fair and lovely world, surrounded him with 
 things good and beautiful, and given him the dis- 
 position to love, to sympathize, to help, to pro- 
 duce, to enjoy ; and thus to become an honorable 
 and a happy being, bringing God's work to per- 
 fection, and enjoying the divine creation in the 
 midst of which he lives. 
 
 Make a man happy, and his actions will be 
 happy too ; doom him to dismal thoughts and 
 miserable circumstances, and you will make him 
 gloomy, discontented, morose, and probably vici- 
 ous. Hence, coarseness and crime are almost 
 invariably found among those who have never 
 been accustomed to be cheerful ; whose hearts 
 have been shut against the purifying influences 
 of a happy communion with nature, or an en- 
 lightened and cheerful intercourse with man. 
 
 Man has a strong natural appetite for relaxa- 
 tion and amusement, and, like all other natural 
 appetites, it has been implanted for a wise pur- 
 pose. It cannot be repressed, but will break out 
 in one form or another. Any well-directed at- 
 tempt to promote an innocent amusement is worth 
 a dozen sermons against vicious ones. If we do 
 not provide the opportunity for enjoying whole- 
 some pleasures, men will certainly find out vici- 
 ous ones for themselves. Sydney Smith truly 
 said, " In order to attack vice with effect, we must 
 set up something better in its place. " 
 
 Temperance reformers have not sufficiently 
 considered how much the drinking habits of the 
 
22S IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 country are the consequences of gross tastes, 
 and of the too limited opportunities which exist 
 in this country for obtaining access to amuse- 
 ments of an innocent and improving tendency. 
 The workman's tastes have been allowed to re- 
 main uncultivated ; present wants engross his 
 thoughts ; the gratification of his appetites is his 
 highest pleasure ; and when he relaxes, it is to 
 indulge immoderately in beer or whiskey. The 
 Germans were at one time the drunkenest 
 of nations ; they are now among the soberest. 
 "As drunken as a German boor," was a com- 
 mon proverb. How have they been weaned 
 from drink ? Principally by education and music. 
 
 Music has a most humanizing effect. The 
 cultivation of the art has a most favorable influ- 
 ence upon public morals. It furnishes a source 
 of pleasure in every family. It gives home a 
 new attraction. It makes social intercourse more 
 cheerful. Father Matthew followed up his tem- 
 perance movement by a singing movement. He 
 promoted the establishment of musical clubs all 
 over Ireland; for he felt that, as he had taken 
 the people's whiskey from them, he must give 
 them some wholesome stimulus in its stead. He 
 gave them music. Singing -classes were estab- 
 lished, to refine the taste, soften the manners, 
 and humanize the mass of the Irish people. But 
 we fear that the example set by Father Matthew 
 lias already been forgotten. 
 
 " What a fulness of enjoyment," says Chan- 
 
RECREATION. 229 
 
 ning, "has our Creator placed within our reach, 
 by surrounding us with an atmosphere which 
 may be shaped into sweet sounds ! And yet this 
 goodness is almost lost upon us through want 
 of culture of the organ by which this provision 
 is to be enjoyed." 
 
 How much would the general cultivation of 
 the gift of music improve us as a people ! Chil- 
 dren ought to learn it in schools, as they do in 
 Germany. The voice of music would then be 
 heard in every household. Our old English 
 glees would no longer be forgotten. Men and 
 women might sing in the intervals of their work, 
 as the Germans do in going to and coming from 
 their wars. The work would not be worse done, 
 because it was done amidst music and cheerful- 
 ness. The breath of society would be sweetened, 
 and pleasure would be linked with labor. — Smiles. 
 
 Recreation is intended to the mind as whet- 
 ting is to the scythe, to sharpen the edge of it, 
 which otherwise would grow dull and blunt. He, 
 therefore, that spends his whole time in recrea- 
 tion is ever whetting, never mowing; his grass 
 may grow, and his steed starve : as, contrarily, he 
 that always toils and never recreates is ever 
 mowing, never whetting; laboring much to little 
 purpose. As good no scythe as no edge. Then 
 only doth the work go forward when the scythe 
 is so reasonably and moderately whetted that it 
 may cut, and so cut that it may have the help of 
 sharpening. — Bishop Hall. 
 
230 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 It must always be remembered that nothing 
 can come into the account of recreation that is 
 not done with delight. — Locke. 
 
 There is no position in the world more weari- 
 some than that of a man inwardly indifferent to 
 the amusement in which he is trying to take part. 
 You can watch for game with an invincible pa- 
 tience, for you have the natural instinct, but after 
 the first ten minutes on the skirts of the woods 
 I lay my gun down and begin to botanize. Last 
 week a friendly neighbor invited me to a boar- 
 hunt. The boar was supposed to be in the mid- 
 dle of a great impenetrable plantation, and all I 
 did during the whole morning was to sit in my 
 saddle awaiting the exit of the beast, cantering 
 from one point of the wood's circumference to 
 another, as the cry of the dogs guided me. Was 
 it pleasure? A true hunter would have found 
 interest enough in expectation, but I felt like a 
 man on a railway-platform who is waiting for a 
 train that is late. — Hamerton. 
 
<UI 
 
 © 
 
g§ C|l -gIo*e§. 
 
 My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His 
 work. — St. John iv. 34. 
 
 What should a man desire to leave ? 
 A flawless work, a noble life, 
 Some music harmonized from strife, 
 
 Some finished thing, 'ere the slack hands at eve 
 Drop, should be his to leave. 
 
 — F. T. Palgrave. 
 
 No man can end with being superior who will not begin with being 
 inferior. — Sidney Smith. 
 
 — Live a life of truest breath, 
 And teach true life to fight with mortal wrongs. 
 
 — Tennyson. 
 
 Sacrifice and self-devotion hallow earth and fill the skies 
 And the meanest life is sacred whence the highest may arise. 
 
 — Lord Houghton. 
 
 He who works, and feels he works — he who prays and knows he 
 prays — has got the secret of transforming life-failure into life-victory. 
 
 — F. W. Robertson. 
 
 Let all the rest remain a mystery, so long as the mystery of the 
 Cross gives us faith for a 1 ! the rest. — Charles Kingsley. 
 
 (232) 
 
l>Ip Hutu ]|$!jp$?$ + 
 
 WHISPER came that all our actions bend- 
 Little or much unto a selfish end. 
 What then is Charity's reward ? I said. 
 The great in soul, by what strong impulse led. 
 Do they live out a life of sacrifice, 
 Trusting in God until they reach the skies ? 
 And while I pondered much a just reply — 
 It seems their echo could not wholly die — 
 A mighty singer's words resounded in my ear: 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here, 
 
 Goethe, thou hast proclaimed in this one line 
 The height, and depth, and breadth of love divine 
 Better than books or sermons ; Charity 
 Weareth no other robe of mystery ; 
 The source alike of all great thoughts and deeds,. 
 And that on which the soul expanding feeds. 
 Treading our lower selves to dust, we grow 
 To larger sympathies, and then we know, 
 Castled at length in higher atmosphere, 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here.. 
 !6 (233> 
 
234 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Oh, hast thou never thought, who hoardest gold, 
 There is a wealth thy coffers cannot hold? 
 Perhaps ; but, Dives, thou hast never known 
 What blessed riches might have been thine own, 
 That Being who bestoweth care on all, 
 Who noticeth the sparrows when they fall, 
 Examples not to thee a selfish greed 
 But active sympathy for others' need, 
 Ringing throughout that Writ which we revere, 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here. 
 
 People do show thee deference: the dower 
 Of cunning traffic hath obtained thee power; 
 Columns of marble do thy roof sustain ; 
 Thy rooms are filled with elegance ; a train 
 Of guests around thy banquet-table ring 
 Their goblets, titling thee their festive king, 
 And it may be that on thy soul some blight 
 Has fallen, shutting from thy inner sight 
 The mystery in which these words appear: 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here. 
 
 Although thou lackest faith in tongue and pen, 
 Can nothing choke thee with a grand amen? 
 Behold this angel — not one in disguise — 
 Her heart grown light through weight of sacrifice : 
 Who bears through storm, and from a scanty 
 
 store, 
 A portion unto them that need it more, 
 Receiving pay in blessings of the poor, 
 And going richer, happier from their door; 
 
" Behold this angel — not one in disguise — 
 Her heart grown light through weight of sacrifice ; 
 Who bears through storm, and from a scanty store, 
 A portion unto them that need it more." 
 
TEE TWO HELPERS. 235 
 
 And tell me, if thou canst, it is not clear 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here ! 
 
 Heaven is thy birth-place, Charity, and he 
 Who entertains thee, greatest of the three 
 Celestial Sisters, has an angel guest 
 Who cheers her lonely kindred in his breast, 
 As we some sorrowing friend in banishment, 
 Whisp'ring sweet words with hope and comfort 
 
 blent. 
 O rare reward ! And have* I guessed it, then, 
 The way thou teachest unto erring men 
 Thy holy message from the heavenly sphere, 
 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here ? 
 
 * 
 
 The souls that climb the lofty eminence 
 And, breathing there an inspiration, thence 
 Bend down to aid the lowly multitude, 
 Holding before their eyes the promised good, 
 Untiring workers for humanity, 
 Exemplars of a Christ - like charily, 
 The Wilberforces and the Howards, men 
 Who, with the levers of the tongue and pen, 
 Exalt the world — mark how they persevere ; — 
 The Helper yonder helps such helpers here ! 
 
 Those modest workers, heroes of the mind, 
 Who build the lofty ramparts of mankind, 
 Firmer than granite, and in silence wrought 
 Of the uncrumbling masonry of thought — 
 From whence the recompense which they deserve 
 For still more arduous tasks to give them nerve? 
 
236 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 For such reward they look in vain to man, 
 Although he freely give them all he can. 
 This is their creed, full strong to conquer fear: 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here. 
 
 And thus the faith of those meek laborers, 
 
 Whom Charity may justly claim as her's, 
 
 The faithful stewards of the mind and soul, 
 
 Who hold their course until they reach the goal 
 
 Of mortal toil, as steady as a star 
 
 Circling through yonder heavens. Such there are,. 
 
 Have been and yet will be, of nobler worth 
 
 Than finds a recognition here on earth, 
 
 The brave, believing still, though want be near, 
 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here. 
 
 Life is to labor where'er duty's voice 
 
 May call, with strength to spurn the baser 
 
 choice ; 
 And who so triumphs, angels write his name 
 As one deserving more than mortal fame. 
 The conflict is at hand! Take up thy shield, 
 My soul ! and to whatever battle-field 
 Thou rangest, nerve thyself to courage there, 
 And, flinging scorn upon that word Despair, 
 Remember aye this verse of lofty cheer : 
 The Helper yonder helps the helper here. 
 
 I cannot name this gentleman (John Howard) 
 without remarking that his labors and waitings 
 have done much to open the eyes and hearts of 
 
THE TWO HELPERS. 237 
 
 mankind. He has visited all Europe, — not to sur- 
 vey the sumptuousness of palaces or the state- 
 liness of temples, not to make accurate measure- 
 ments of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to 
 form a scale of the curiosity of modern art, not 
 to collect medals or collate manuscripts, — but to 
 dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into 
 the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions 
 of sorrow and pain, to take the gauge and 
 dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt, 
 to remember the forgotten, to attend to the ne- 
 glected, to visit the forsaken, and to compare and 
 collate the distresses of all men in all countries. 
 His plan is original, and it is as full of genius as 
 it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery 
 — a circumnavigation of charity. Already the 
 benefit of his labor is felt more or less in every 
 country; I hope he will anticipate his final reward 
 by seeing all its effects fully realized in his own. 
 He will receive, not by retail, but in gross, the 
 reward of those who visit the prisoner ; and he has 
 so forestalled and monopolized this branch of char- 
 ity, that there will be, I trust, little room to merit 
 by such acts of benevolence hereafter. — Burke. 
 
 True humanity consists not in a squeamish ear ; 
 it consists not in starting or shrinking at tales of 
 misery, but in a disposition of heart to relieve 
 it. True humanity appertains rather to the mind 
 than to the nerves, and prompts men to use real 
 and active endeavors to execute the actions which 
 it suggests. — C. J. Fox. 
 
238 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 You might have traversed the Roman empire 
 in the zenith of its power, from the Euphrates to 
 the Atlantic, without meeting with a single char- 
 itable asylum for the sick. Monuments of pride, 
 of ambition, of vindictive wrath, were to be found 
 in abundance; but not one legible record of com- 
 miseration for the poor. It was reserved for the 
 religion whose basis is humility, and whose ele- 
 ment is devotion, to proclaim with authority, 
 " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain 
 mercy." — Robert Hall. 
 
 Jsntfy. 
 
 Unspotted from the world — James I. 27. 
 
 S birds that are not free 
 Pine for their native air, 
 So longs my soul, O God, for Thee, 
 To make her pure and fair. 
 
 For only to the pure 
 Thou dost Thy vision give : 
 Impurity cannot endure 
 Within Thy sight to live. 
 
PURITY. 239 
 
 Keep Thou my soul, O God, 
 " Thy vineyard of red wine :" 
 No longer by defilers trod, 
 O keep her wholly Thine. 
 
 So shall the sight of Thee 
 Be sweetness day by day, 
 And in Thy free-born Purity 
 Her bondage pass away. 
 
 There is a principle which is pure, placed id 
 the human mind, which in different places and 
 ages hath had different names; it is, however, 
 pure and proceeds from God. It is deep and 
 inward, confined to no forms of religion, nor ex- 
 cluded from any, when the heart stands in per- 
 fect sincerity. In whomsoever this takes root and 
 grows, they become brethren. — John Woolman, 
 
 The stained lives. Where is the man or 
 woman who does not know what it means ? 
 There is the most outward sort of stain — the 
 stain upon the reputation. It is what men see 
 as they pass us, and know us by it for one who 
 has struggled and been worsted. What man has 
 come to middle life, and kept so pure a name 
 that men look at it for refreshment and courage 
 as they pass? When we remember what a source 
 of strength the purest reputations in the world 
 have always been, what a stimulus and help, 
 then we get some idea of what the world loses 
 in the fact that almost every reputation becomes 
 
240 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 so blurred and spotted that it is wholly unfit to 
 be used as a light or a pattern before the man 
 is old enough to give it any positive character or 
 force. Then there are the stains upon our con- 
 duct, the impure and untrue acts which cross and 
 cloud the fair surface of all our best activity. 
 And then, far worst of all, there is the stain 
 upon the heart, of which nobody but the man 
 himself knows anything, but which to him gives 
 all their unhappiness to the other stains, the de- 
 based motives, the low desires, the wicked pas- 
 sions of the inner life. These are the stains 
 which we accumulate. We set out for the battle 
 in the morning strong and clean. By and by we 
 catch a moment in the lull of the struggle to 
 look down upon ourselves, and how tired and 
 how covered with dust and blood we are. How 
 long back our first purity seems — how long the 
 day seems sometimes — how long since we began 
 to live. You know what stains are on your 
 lives. Each of us knows, every man and woman, 
 as we are here this morning. They burn to 
 your eyes even if no neighbor sees them. They 
 burn in the still air of the Sabbath even if w T e 
 do not see them in the week. You would not 
 think for the world that your children should 
 grow up to the same stains that have fastened 
 upon you. You dream for them of a " life un- 
 spotted from the w T orld," and the very anxiety of 
 that dream proves how you know that your own 
 life is spotted and stained. 
 
PURITY. 241 
 
 And that dream for the children is almost 
 hopeless. At any rate the danger is that you 
 will give it up by and by, and get to expecting 
 and excusing the stains that will come upon them 
 as they grow older. The worst thing about all 
 this staining power of the world is the way in 
 which we come to think of it as inevitable. We 
 practically believe that no man can keep himself 
 unspotted. He must accumulate his stains. Hear 
 how much there is of this low, despairing tone 
 on every side of us. You talk about the corrup- 
 tion of political life that seems to have infected 
 the safest characters, and the answer is, " Oh, 
 there is nothing strange about it. No man can 
 go through that trial and not fall. No man can 
 live years in Washington, and be wholly pure.'' 
 You talk with a great many business men about 
 some point of doubtful conventional morality, and 
 they look at you in your professional seclusion, 
 with something that is more than half pity. "That 
 is all very well for you," they say, "but that will 
 not do upon the street. I should like to see you 
 try to apply that standard to the work I have to 
 do to make my bread." And just so when you 
 talk about earnestness to the mere creature of 
 society. " It is a mere dream," the answer is, 
 "to think that social life can be elevated and 
 made noble. Whoever goes there must expect 
 the spots upon the robe ; and so, if he is wise, 
 will go with robes that will show spots as little as 
 possible,— robes as near the world's color as he is 
 
242 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 able to procure." It is not true. Men do go 
 through political life as pure and poor as any- 
 most retired mechanic lives and works at his 
 bench. And there are merchants who do carry, 
 through all the temptations of business life, the 
 same high standards, — hands just as clean, and 
 hearts just as tender, as they have when they 
 pray to God or teach their little children. And 
 social life is lighted up with the lustre of the 
 white, unstained robes of many a pure man or 
 woman who walks through its midst. But the 
 spots fall so thick that it is easy for men to say, 
 " No one can go there and escape them. It is 
 hopeless to try and keep yourself unspotted from 
 the world;" and then (for that comes instantly), 
 "We are not to blame for the world's spots upon 
 us." 
 
 I said this was the worst, but there is one 
 worse thing still. When a man comes not merely 
 to tolerate, but to boast, of the stains that the 
 world has flung upon him ; when he wears his 
 spots as if they were jewels ; when he flaunts 
 his unscrupulousness and his cynicism, and his 
 disbelief, and his heard -heartedness, in your face, 
 as the signs and badges of his superiority; when 
 to be innocent and unsuspicious and sensitive 
 seems to be ridiculous and weak; when it is 
 reputable to show that we are men of the world 
 by exhibiting the stains that the world has left 
 upon our reputation, our conduct, and our heart, 
 then we understand how flagrant is the danger ; 
 
PURITY. 243 
 
 then we see how hard it must be to keep our- 
 selves unspotted from the world. The world's 
 stains do become matters of pride and choice. 
 We compare ourselves with one another. We 
 decide what claims shall be most honorable. We 
 give conventional ranks and values to the signs 
 of our own disgrace. It is more respectable to 
 have learnt heartlessness from the world than to 
 have learnt dishonesty ; more honorable to have 
 become miserly than to have become licentious. 
 As the Jews used to establish a rank and pre- 
 cedence between the commandments which God 
 had given them, so we decide which of the laws 
 of the world, our master, it is good to keep, and 
 which others it is good to break. 
 
 And now, in view of all this, we come to our 
 religion.- We hear St. James, as true to-day as 
 when he wrote to those first Christians. In his 
 unsparing words he tells us what Christianity has 
 to say to all this state of things. " Pure religion 
 and undefiled before God, and the Father, is this, 
 to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic- 
 tion, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
 world." See how intolerant Religion is. She 
 starts with what men have declared to be impos- 
 sible. She refuses to bring down her standards. 
 She insists that men must come up to her. No 
 man is thoroughly religious, she declares, unless 
 he does this, which it seems so hard to do, unless 
 he goes through this world untainted, as the 
 sunbeam goes through the mist. Religion re- 
 
244 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 fuses to be degraded into a mere means for ful- 
 filling the purposes of man's selfishness. She 
 proclaims absolute standards, and will not lower 
 them. She will not say to any man, weak and 
 compromising with the world, " Well, your case is 
 a hard one, and for you I waive a part of my 
 demands. For you religion shall mean not to do 
 this sin or that sin. These other sins, in con- 
 sideration of your feebleness and temptations, I 
 give you leave to do." Before every man, in the 
 very thickest of the world's contagions, she stands 
 and says, with her unwavering voice, " Come out. 
 Be separate. Keep yourself unspotted from the 
 world." 
 
 There is something sublime in this unsparing- 
 ness. It almost proves that our religion is divine, 
 when it undertakes for a man so divine a task. 
 It could not sustain itself in its great claim to be 
 from God, unless it took this high and Godlike 
 ground, that whoever named the name of Christ 
 must depart from all iniquity. My dear friends, 
 our religion is not true unless it have this power 
 in it. Unless the statesman taking it to Con- 
 gress., the merchant taking it into business, the 
 man or woman carrying it with them where they 
 go in all their ordinary occupations and amuse- 
 ments, do indeed find it the power of purity and 
 strength. We must bring our faith to this test. 
 Unless our Christianity does this for us, it is not 
 the true religion that St. James talked of, and 
 that the Lord Jesus came to reveal and to be- 
 stow. — Phillips Brooks. 
 
FOOD FOB THE SOUL. 245 
 
 Xntxh for lip jScui 
 
 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. — St. Matthew iv. 4.. 
 
 9ft TABLE in the wilderness 
 ^^ Is spread for thee, dear soul : 
 Its dainty things will not grow less, 
 It has no scanty dole. 
 
 There is an angel at the board 
 
 To welcome every guest, 
 The shining servant of the Lord 
 
 To offer thee the best. 
 
 Come near, come near, and take thy full, 
 
 If that may ever be, 
 And day by day grow beautiful 
 
 Till Heaven is orbed in thee. 
 
 The first red blushes of the morn, 
 
 So gentle and so calm, 
 Which everlasting life adorn, 
 
 Like some prophetic psalm, 
 
 Shall hint full many a blessed thing 
 
 The Master hath in store, 
 To satisfy thy hungering 
 
 Both now and evermore. 
 
 And do not doubt the joys of time 
 Are like the joys above, 
 
246 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Though service there be more sublime, 
 Since love is always love. 
 
 For Heaven has its commencement here, 
 
 Within the wilderness, 
 Where love begins to cast out fear 
 
 And banish loneliness ; 
 
 And Christ's dear Brotherhood of Grace, 
 
 Eternal and unseen, 
 Is God's shekinah to the race, 
 
 No veil to intervene. 
 
 That hunger, which has so ruled men always, 
 which has made them violate duty, commit great 
 crimes, sacrifice their strongest natural affections ; 
 that need of bread, which, working steadily, has 
 developed man into all the progress of civiliza- 
 tion, and, working violently and spasmodically, has 
 turned man into a brute ; that need of bread, 
 which always lies primary to the forces that con- 
 trol men's lives, had taken hold of this new hu- 
 man life of Jesus. It was a real temptation. He 
 was genuinely an hungered. This compulsion of 
 the lower nature has, for the first time perhaps 
 in Him, met the compulsion of the higher nature 
 under which He has wholly lived. Now will He 
 yield ? His whole work, our whole hope, hangs 
 upon His decision. There was, there must have 
 been, a real chance of His yielding. But as we 
 look at Him, we see that He will not yield. The 
 
FOOD FOB THE SOUL. 247 
 
 old eternal joy of serving God outweighs the 
 new temptation of the senses. It grows clear 
 before Him that the higher life of the spirit is 
 more precious than, is worth any sacrifice of, the 
 lower life of the flesh. He says, " I choose." 
 The victory is won. " Let me be hungry, but let 
 me not disobey God." 
 
 But we see also, in this reply of Jesus, how 
 thoroughly He had entered into and identified 
 Himself with the humanity which he had assumed. 
 He takes His temptation as a man. He gives 
 His answer as a man. It is not the speech of 
 one bringing a superior nature, clothed in supe- 
 rior strength, and so capable of an exceptional 
 resistance where ordinary manhood must give 
 way. It is not, " I, as God, must have divine 
 sustenance, and so can do without your human 
 food." It is, " Man shall not live by bread 
 alone." Simply as men, we all, the poorest and 
 the greatest of us altogether, need the life of 
 obedience, and any sacrifice of the flesh is cheap 
 that wins it for us. Here was the second value 
 of the temptation of Christ. It was not only the 
 divine Mediator preparing Himself for his task, 
 and proving the temper of the arms with which 
 He was to fight the battle; it was the highest, 
 the perfect man, becoming conscious of himself, 
 and declaring, in behalf of all humanity, the uni- 
 versal human necessities. " I, as man," He says, 
 need more than bread. I must not be satisfied, 
 I am not satisfied, with mere food for the body: 
 
248 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 I must have truth." Humanity was tested there.. 
 Can it in this supreme specimen of it be satisfied 
 with bread ? If it can, then all these dreams, 
 these cravings, these discontents, these importu- 
 nate demands of men for spiritual things, for 
 truth, for duty, for God, are mere chimeras. If 
 it cannot, if this man, the best of men, says that 
 food is not enough for man, then no man ought 
 to be satisfied so long as he has only the mere 
 nourishment that feeds the body. " Man shall 
 not live by bread alone." No doubt it all seemed 
 perfectly clear to Jesus. It was almost a truism 
 to Him. Humanity lay perfectly open to His 
 consciousness. Reading Himself, He read man 
 as man never had been read by man before. 
 He said, That is not life which bread alone can 
 feed. Life for man means a spiritual condition 
 which only spiritual forces can supply. There- 
 fore, of course, man shall not live by bread 
 alone. It is like saying that a tree cannot live 
 merely upon water. It needs other elements 
 which the rich earth must give. That is its 
 nature. 
 
 And one thing more about this assertion by 
 Christ of the higher necessities of man. He 
 does not simply discern them in his own human 
 consciousness. It is noticeable that He also cor- 
 roborates them out of the past experience of 
 men. He not merely sees in Himself that man 
 cannot live at his fullest, except in obedience to 
 God ; He also discovers in the past that men 
 
FOOD FOE THE SOUL. 249" 
 
 have found this out and recognized it. For, no- 
 tice, His reply is a quotation: "It is written, 
 Man shall not live by bread alone." He quotes 
 from the speech which Moses had made to the 
 people of Israel, after they had crossed the des- 
 ert, and when they were just about to enter the 
 Promised Land. He says, Moses found out 
 there in his desert what I have found here in my 
 wilderness. He wrote it down, and here I find 
 it true. So He appeals to experience. He 
 strengthens His own present conciousness by the 
 assurance that other men have known the same ; 
 that it has always been true. As He had said 
 before, It is not something which belongs to me 
 in my exceptional divine nature, but it belongs to 
 all men; so he says now, It is not true only in 
 these special, temporary conditions ; it has always- 
 been true. The best and most human men have 
 always known it, — that man was soul as well as- 
 body, and that he did not really live unless he 
 had not merely bread for the body, but truth and 
 duty, God's word, for the soul. — Phillips Brooks. 
 
 17 
 
250 IDEALS OF LIIE. 
 
 ittttjtWIotn 
 
 ^TEMPTATION everywhere 
 ^ Besets our life below : 
 For still the devil spreads his snare, 
 And when we do not know. 
 
 Our selfishness is great: 
 
 The bait is fair to see ; 
 And if we in its presence wait — 
 
 Who gains the victory? 
 
 There is a still small voice 
 That speaks to every heart : 
 
 On hearing, make an instant choice, 
 And from the bait depart. 
 
 Or else thy sword unsheath, 
 That blade divine and strong. 
 
 And smite and tread the lure beneath, 
 Where all such things belong. 
 
 Whoever yields to temptation debases himself 
 with a debasement from which he can never 
 arise. This, indeed, is the calamity of calamities, 
 the bitterest dreg in the cup of bitterness. Every 
 unrighteous act tells with a thousand fold more 
 force upon the actor than upon the sufferer. 
 The false man is more false to himself than to 
 
TEMPTATION. 251 
 
 any one else. He may despoil others, but him- 
 self is the chief loser. The world's scorn he 
 might sometimes forget, but the knowledge of 
 his own perfidy is undying. The fire of guilty 
 passions may torment whatever lies within the 
 circle of its radiations; but fire is always hot- 
 test at the center, and that center is the prof- 
 ligate's own heart. A man can be wronged 
 and live ; but the unresisted, unchecked impulse 
 to do wrong is the first and the second death. 
 The moment any one of the glorious faculties 
 with which God has endowed us is abused or 
 misused, that faculty loses, forever, a portion of 
 its delicacy and its energy. Physiology teaches 
 us that all privation and all violence suffered 
 by our physical system, before birth, impairs 
 the very stamina of our constitution, and sends 
 us into the world, so far shorn of the energies, 
 and blunted in the fineness of the perceptions, 
 we should otherwise possess. So every injury 
 we inflict upon our moral nature, in this life, 
 must dull, forever and ever, our keen capacities 
 of enjoyment, though in the midst of infinite bliss, 
 and weaken our power of ascension where virtu- 
 ous spirits are ever ascending. It must send us 
 forward into the next stage of existence maimed 
 and crippled, so that however high we may soar, 
 our flight will be less lofty than it otherwise 
 would have been, and however exquisite our 
 bliss, it will always be less exquisitely blissful 
 than it was capable of being. Every instance of 
 
252 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 violated conscience, like every broken string in a 
 harp, will limit the compass of its music, and mar 
 its harmonies forever. Tremble, then, and for- 
 bear, oh man ! when thou wouldst forget the 
 dignity of thy nature and the immortal glories 
 of thy destiny, for if thou dost cast down thine 
 eyes to look with complacency upon the tempter, 
 or lend thine ear to listen to his seductions, 
 thou dost doom thyself to move for ever and 
 ever through inferior spheres of being ; thou 
 dost wound and dim the very organ, with 
 which alone thou canst behold the splendors of 
 eternity. — Horace Mann. 
 
 Temptations in the Wilderness ! Have we 
 not all to be tried with such ? Not so easily 
 can the old Adam, lodged in us by birth, be 
 dispossessed. Our Life is compassed round with 
 Necessity ; yet is the meaning of Life itself no 
 other than Freedom, than Voluntary Force: thus 
 have we warfare ; in the beginning, especially, a 
 hard- fought battle. For the God-given mandate, 
 Work thou in Well-doing, lies mysteriously writ- 
 ten, in Promethean, Prophetic Characters, in our 
 hearts ; and leaves no rest, night or day, till it 
 be deciphered and obeyed ; till it burn forth, in 
 our conduct, a visible, acted Gospel of Freedom. 
 And as the clay-given mandate, Eat thou and be 
 filled, at the same time persuasively proclaims- 
 itself through every nerve, — must not there be a 
 confusion, a contest, before the better Influence, 
 can become the upper? 
 
TEMPTATION, 253 
 
 To ine nothing seems more natural than that 
 the Son of Man, when such God-given mandate 
 first prophetically stirs him, and the Clay must 
 now be vanquished or vanquish, — should be car- 
 ried of the Spirit unto grim Solitudes, and there 
 fronting the Tempter do grimmest battle with 
 him, defiantly setting him at naught, till he yield 
 and fly. Name it as we choose : with or with- 
 out visible Devil, whether in the natural Desert 
 of rocks and sands, or in the populous moral 
 Desert of selfishness and baseness, — to such 
 Temptation are we all called. Unhappy if we 
 are not ! Unhappy if we are but Half- men, in 
 wmorn that divine handwriting has never blazed 
 forth, all -subduing in true sun - splendor ; but 
 quivers dubiously amid meaner lights : or smould- 
 ers, in dull pain, in darkness, under earthly va- 
 pors ! — Our Wilderness is the wide World in an 
 Atheistic Century ; our Forty Days are long 
 years of suffering and fasting : nevertheless, to 
 -these also comes an end. Yes, to me also was 
 given, if not Victory, yet the consciousness of 
 Battle, and the resolve to preserve therein while 
 life or faculty is left. To me also, entangled in 
 the enchanted forests, demon-peopled, doleful of 
 sight and of sound, it was given, after weariest 
 wanderings, to work out my way into the higher 
 sunlit slopes — of that Mountain which has no 
 summit, or whose summit is in Heaven only ! — 
 Carlyle. 
 
 Temptation is a fearful word. It indicates the 
 
254 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 beginning of a possible series of infinite evils. 
 It is the ringing of an alarm bell, whose melan- 
 choly sounds may reverberate through eternity. 
 Like the sudden, sharp cry of Fire ! in the night, 
 it should rouse us to instantaneous activity, and 
 brace every muscle to its highest tension. — Hor- 
 ace Mann. 
 
 Set a pleasure tempting, and the hand of the 
 Almighty visibly prepared to take vengeance, and 
 tell whether it be possible for people wantonly 
 to offend against the law 4 — Locke. 
 
 Every man living shall assuredly meet with 
 an hour of temptation, a certain critical hour, 
 which shall more especially try what mettle his 
 heart is made of. — South. 
 
 He that with his Christian armor manfully 
 fights against and repels the temptations and 
 assaults of his spiritual enemies, he that keeps his 
 conscience void of offense, shall enjoy peace here 
 and forever. — Ray. 
 
 In time of temptation be not busy to dis- 
 pute, but rely upon the conclusion, and throw 
 yourself upon God, and contend not with Him, 
 but in prayer. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 Reflect upon a clear, unblotted, acquitted con- 
 science, and feed upon the ineffable comforts of 
 the memorial of a conquered temptation. — South. 
 
 Every Christian is endued with a power 
 whereby he is enabled to resist and conquer 
 temptation. — Tillotson. 
 
THE AS GEL OF PRAYER. 255 
 
 tQOMETIMES when the future grows dark 
 ^ And frowns with the gloom of despair, 
 I lose the one beautiful mark 
 
 Which gleamed in the bright sunny air. 
 
 And oh ! in the darkness I grope 
 And mourn for the lost and the fair, 
 
 Until, in the dawning of hope, 
 I meet with the Angel of Prayer: 
 
 That i\ngel of prayer who of old 
 
 Gave Jacob the courage to dare 
 The might of a foe that was bold, 
 
 And lifted his burden of care. 
 
 And that which was lost in the night, 
 
 I find in the firmament, where 
 It glows in the beautiful light, 
 
 And faster I climb to it there. 
 
 Our strong crying and tears in effort which 
 has never reached its earthly end, our long and 
 unrewarded toil of love and knowledge, are not 
 lost in us. They are in reality latent powers in 
 the soul, which in an undefective world will be- 
 come strength of thought and ease of attainment. 
 As the forces of the sunlight stored up in the 
 
256 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 vegetation of the coal break forth again mil- 
 lions of years afterwards to cheer a happy 
 fireside at Christmas time with light and heat, 
 so the stored up force of our endurance will 
 manifest itself as passionate joy under new con- 
 ditions of being. Nay, we may even measure 
 the hidden force of life within us by the depth 
 of our sorrow. 
 
 This is the answer we may give ourselves 
 when the increase of spiritual or mental knowl- 
 edge has deepened in us, in a transient pass- 
 age of melancholy, the pain of the contrast be- 
 tween the hopes of youth and the toil of man- 
 hood. 
 
 But if such a melancholy were to continue, 
 - — if, as some do, we cherish retrospect and 
 find our only pleasure in remembering what 
 we were, in continually wailing over dead ideals, 
 -—then the answer is sharper and sterner. It is 
 given in the results which this unmanly melan- 
 choly brings. We become useless, dreamy, sloth- 
 ful men ; we become indifferent to the great in- 
 terests of the Present because we are absorbed 
 in the Past. We cease to grow, because we are 
 isolated in self; and he who ceases to grow goes 
 back slowly into the realm of nothingness and 
 death. We are a dead weight on the progress 
 of the world. Our idleness is an injury to the 
 race ; and the race rejects and despises us. 
 Then our melancholy, face to face with this con- 
 tempt, changes its nature ; its dainty sweetness 
 
THE ANGEL OF PRAYER. 257 
 
 departs, and is succeeded by the coarse sourness 
 of an old aae of scorn. 
 
 That is the stern reply of law to the man 
 who indulges in the continued melancholy of 
 retrospect, to whom added knowledge has only 
 brought despair of the future. 
 
 It is unmanliness to linger thus among the 
 tombs. Christ calls us to a higher thought of 
 life. Let dead ideals bury themselves, He says ; 
 come away from them and follow Me ; there are 
 other ideals in front, better and larger than the 
 past. St. Paul accepts and realizes the whole po- 
 sition. ' When I was a child, I spake as a child, 
 I understood as a child, I thought as a child ; 
 but when I became a man, I put away childish 
 things.' There is no unmanly retrospect in that, 
 neither is there any depreciation of childhood. It 
 had its own ways, they were good then — it was 
 a joyful time, that too was good — but to wish it 
 back again, except for a moment, were unworthy. 
 Manhood brings nobler work, higher duties ; and 
 the child-life and youth are to be put away for- 
 ever. Nor was this said by one who did not 
 feel the weight of the trouble which besets man- 
 hood. For he goes on : ' Now, we see through 
 a glass darkly ' — ' now we know in part.' But, 
 observe, the pain does not send him back for 
 comfort, but forward. He steps out of a barren 
 melancholy, being the possessor of an earnest 
 faith and a saving hope. The time is comma- 
 when we shall see face to face, when we shall 
 
258 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 know as we are known : indistinct knowledge 
 which bringeth sorrow, partial knowledge which 
 itself is grief, shall vanish in clear light of perfect 
 truth, in completed knowledge, and clearness and 
 completion are faultless joy. It is the one inspir- 
 ing element of Christianity that it throws us in 
 boundless hope upon the future and forbids us 
 to dwell in the poisonous shadows of the past. 
 A new and better growth is before us, a fresher, 
 a diviner, a more enthusiastic life awaits us. We 
 are to wake up satisfied in the likeness of Christ, 
 the ever-young Humanity. Therefore, forgetting 
 those things which are behind, let us press for- 
 ward unto the mark of the prize of our high 
 calling in Christ Jesus. — Stopford A. Brooke. 
 
 iriBttWtmu 
 
 ^vfHO escapeth tribulation 
 '^^ In this sad and joyful world ? 
 Who, to bring humiliation, 
 
 Has no blows upon him hurled? 
 
 Providence is like a father 
 
 Who corrects a wayward child, 
 
TRIBULATION, 25£ 
 
 Lest the clouds of judgment gather 
 Over one that is defiled. 
 
 Better now the wise assurance 
 That the sorrow soon will pass, 
 
 Than the grief of long endurance 
 And the bitter cry Alas ! 
 
 Better now the brief chastisement 
 And the light that follows fast, 
 
 Than the doom with no revisement 
 And the darkness never past. 
 
 I find two sad etymologies of tribulation. One 
 from tributes, a three-forked thorn, which inti- 
 mates that such afflictions which are as full of 
 pain and anguish to the soul, as a thorn thrust 
 into a tender part of the flesh is unto the body, 
 may properly be termed tribulations. 
 
 The other, from tributes, the head of a flail, 
 or flagel, knaggy and knotty (made commonly, as 
 I take it, of a thick, black thorn), and then it 
 imports that afflictions, falling upon us as heavy 
 as the flail threshing the corn, are styled tribula- 
 tions. 
 
 I am in a strait which deduction to embrace, 
 from the sharp or from the heavy thorn. But 
 which is the worst, though I may choose whence 
 to derive the word, I cannot choose so as to de- 
 cline the thing, "I must through much tribulation 
 enter into the kingdom of God." 
 
260 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Therefore, I will labor not to be like a young 
 colt first set to plough, which more tires himself 
 out with his misspent mettle than with, the weight 
 of what he draws ; and will labor patiently to 
 bear what is imposed upon me. — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 %llmk 
 
 1"S there balm in Gilead? 
 ^ Is there any physician there? 
 Is there any ease from my pain to be had? 
 Is there aught to be found that is fair ? 
 
 Can I from myself escape, 
 
 Where demons upon me stare? 
 
 And, if I outwit the stormy cape, 
 Is Elysium anywhere? 
 
 For my soul is aghast at sin, 
 Crying day and night, Beware ! 
 
 And praying for Joy to arise within 
 To hide the face of Despair. 
 
 A gracious answer came back 
 
 To these questions I could not forbear, 
 The while I turned on my wayward track 
 
 And breathed the celestial air: 
 
" Is there balm in Gilead ? 
 
 Is there any physician there ? 
 Is there any ease from my pain to be had ? 
 
 Is there ought to be found that is fair ? " 
 
GILEAD. 261 
 
 A breath that came down from above 
 And gave me the heart to dare 
 
 To believe and confess that God is love, 
 And commit myself to His care. 
 
 Fichte and Carlyle proclaim rightly that there 
 is grandeur in noble sorrow ; it is ill with him 
 who is incapable of spiritual anguish, even lofty 
 despair. That very pain is a proof of devotion 
 to truth ; as the keenness of the slighted lover's 
 distress tests the depth of his affection. Better 
 bow before a veiled Isis than care not whether 
 the Divine can be known at all ! 
 
 But for him who doubts sincerely, and will, 
 nowise fail from his faith in truth itself, there may 
 be ordained the breaking forth of a great glory 
 of deliverance and of dawn. True it is, his doubt 
 is to be hated, and he can never fairly take the 
 road until it is no more. But the brightness of 
 the morning may be proportioned to the length and 
 darkness of the night. The over-wearied dove 
 long winged its aimless way, over an earth that 
 was but one wide waste of waters, under a 
 streamy and darkened sky ; and now its tired 
 pinions flapped heavily, the heart within had al- 
 most failed, the last ray of hope was fading from 
 the eye ; but even then the olive twig emerged, 
 and from a rift in the thick cloud a beam of 
 light fell on the fainting breast, and gradually 
 the earth again unveiled her face, and the tri- 
 umphant embrace of the returning light kindled 
 
262 IDEALS OF LIFE, 
 
 a glory which eclipsed all other dawns. Need 
 we apply the parable ? — Peter Bayne. 
 
 M\ THOU that long hast sought a benediction } 
 ^^ And mourned because it seemed to flee, 
 Dost know that in the Furnace of Affliction 
 The Lord hath chosen thee ? 
 
 Be still, and look upon the Lord and Saviour ! 
 
 Thy grief to peace and joy will grow 
 What time the current of His great behavior 
 
 Shall through thy being flow. 
 
 For so He teaches men on earth are sainted, 
 
 Whose life is duty everywhere, 
 Until they seem as those no more acquainted 
 
 With any cross they bear. 
 
 And all thy life, however full of sorrow, 
 
 Thou mayest follow in His train, 
 And wear to-day and in the grand to-morrow 
 
 The majesty of Pain. 
 
 Suffering is doubtless as divinely appointed as 
 Joy, while it is much more influential as a dis- 
 
AFFLICTION. 263 
 
 cipline of character. It chastens and sweetens 
 the nature, teaches patience and resignation, and 
 promotes the deepest as well as the most exalted 
 thought. 
 
 " The best of men 
 That e'er wore earth about him was a sufferer; 
 A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit; 
 The first true gentleman that ever breathed." 
 
 Suffering may be the appointed means by 
 which the highest nature of man is to be dis- 
 ciplined and developed. Assuming happiness to 
 be the end of being, sorrow may be the indis- 
 pensable condition through which it is to be 
 reached. Hence St. Paul's noble parables de- 
 scriptive of the Christian life, "As chastened and 
 not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; 
 as poor, yet making many rich ; as having noth- 
 ing, and yet possessing all things." 
 
 Even pain is not all painful. On one side it 
 is related to suffering, and on the other to hap- 
 piness. For pain is remedial as well as sorrow- 
 ful. Suffering is a misfortune, as viewed from one 
 side, and a discipline as viewed from the other. 
 But for suffering, the best part of many men's 
 nature would sleep a deep sleep. Indeed, it 
 might almost be said that pain and sorrow were 
 the indispensable conditions of some men's suc- 
 cess, and the necessary means to evoke the high- 
 est development of their genius. Shelley has 
 said of poets : 
 
 " Most wretched men are cradled into poetry by wrong, 
 They learn in suffering what they teach in song." 
 
2(54 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Does anyone suppose that Burns would have 
 sung as he did had he been rich, respectable, and 
 " kept a gig ; " or Byron, if he had been a pros- 
 perous Lord Privy Seal or Postmaster - General ? 
 
 Sometimes a heart-break rouses an impassive 
 nature to life. "What does he know," said a sage, 
 " who has not suffered ?" When Dumas asked 
 Reboul, " What made you a poet ? " his answer 
 was, " Suffering ! " It was the death, first of his 
 wife, and then of his child, that drove him into 
 solitude for the indulgence of his grief, and even- 
 tually led him to seek and find relief in verse. 
 It was also to a domestic affliction that we owe 
 the beautiful writings of Mrs. Gaskell. "It was 
 as a recreation, in the highest sense of the word," 
 says a recent writer, speaking from personal 
 knowledge, " as an escape from the great void of 
 a life from which a cherished presence had been 
 taken, that she began that series of exquisite 
 creations which has served to multiply the num- 
 ber of our acquaintances and to enlarge even the 
 circle of our friendships." 
 
 Much of the best and most useful work done 
 by men and women has been done amidst afflic- 
 tion — sometimes as a relief from it, sometimes 
 from a sense of duty overpowering personal sor- 
 row. " If I had not been so great an invalid," 
 said Dr. Darwin to a friend, "I should not have 
 done nearly so much work as I have been able 
 to accomplish." So Dr. Donne, speaking of his 
 illness, once said : " The advantage you and my 
 
AFFLICTION. 265 
 
 other friends have by my frequent fevers is, that 
 I am so much the oftener at the gates of 
 Heaven ; and by the solitude and close imprison- 
 ment they reduce me to, I am so much the 
 oftener at my prayers, in which you and my 
 other dear friends are not forgotten." 
 
 Schiller produced his greatest tragedies in the 
 midst of physical suffering almost amounting to 
 torture. Handel was never greater than when, 
 warned by palsy of the approach of death, and 
 struggling with distress and suffering, he sat 
 down to compose the great works which have- 
 made his name immortal in music. Mozart com- 
 posed his great operas, and last of all his- 
 " Requiem," when oppressed by debt, and strug- 
 gling with a fatal disease. Beethoven produced- 
 his greatest works amidst gloomy sorrow, when- 
 oppressed by almost total deafness. And poor 
 Schubert, after his short but brilliant life, laid it 
 down at the early age of thirty-two ; his sole 
 property at his death consisting of his manu- 
 scripts, the clothes he wore, and sixty - three 
 florins in money. Some of Lamb's finest writings- 
 were produced amidst deep sorrow ; and Hood's, 
 apparent gayety often sprang from a suffering; 
 heart. As he himself wrote : 
 
 " There's not a string attuned to mirth, 
 But has its chord in melancholy." 
 
 Again, in science, we have the noble instance of 
 the suffering Wollaston, even in the last stages 
 of the mortal disease which afflicted him, devot- 
 
 18 
 
266 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ing his numbered hours to putting on record, by 
 dictation, the various discoveries and improve- 
 ments he had made, so that any knowledge he 
 had acquired calculated to benefit his fellow- 
 creatures might not be lost 
 
 Afflictions often prove but blessings in dis- 
 guise. " Fear not the darkness," said the Per- 
 sian sage ; it " conceals perhaps the springs of 
 the waters of life." Experience is often bitter, 
 but wholesome, only by its teaching *can we 
 learn to suffer and be strong. Character, in its 
 highest forms, is disciplined by trial, and " made 
 perfect through suffering." Even from the deep- 
 est sorrow the patient and thoughtful mind will 
 gather richer wisdom than pleasure ever yielded. 
 — Smiles. 
 
 Consider that sad accidents and a state of 
 affliction is a school of virtue. It reduces our 
 spirits to soberness, and our counsels to modera- 
 tion ; it corrects levity, and interrupts the confi- 
 dence of sinning. . . . God, who in mercy 
 and wisdom governs the world, would never have 
 suffered so many sadnesses, and have sent them, 
 especially, to the most virtuous and the wisest 
 men, but that he intends they should be the 
 seminary of comfort, the. nursery of virtue, the 
 exercise of wisdom, the trial of patience, the ven- 
 turing for a crown, and the gate of glory. — 
 Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 The time of sickness or affliction is like the 
 cool of the day to Adam, a season of peculiar 
 
AFFLICTION. 267 
 
 propriety for the voice of God to be heard ; and 
 may be improved into a very advantageous op- 
 portunity of begetting or increasing spiritual life. 
 — Hammond. 
 
 What is it that promotes the most and the 
 deepest thought in the human race? It is not 
 learning ; it is not the conduct of business ; it is 
 not even the impulse of the affections. It is suf- 
 fering ; and that, perhaps, is the reason why there 
 is so much suffering in the world. The angel who 
 went down to trouble the waters and to make 
 them healing, was not perhaps, entrusted with so 
 great a boon as the angel who benevolently in- 
 flicted upon the sufferers the disease from which 
 they suffered. — Sir Arthur Helps. 
 
 A consideration of the benefit of afflictions 
 should teach us to bear them patiently when they 
 fall to our lot, and to be thankful to Heaven for 
 having planted such barriers around us, to re- 
 strain the exuberance of our follies and our 
 crimes. 
 
 Let these sacred fences be removed ; exempt 
 the ambitious from disappointment, and the guilty 
 from remorse ; let luxury go unattended with 
 disease, and indiscretion lead into no embarrass- 
 ments or distresses; our vices would range with- 
 out control, and the impetuosity of our passions 
 have no -bounds ; every family would be filled 
 with strife, every nation with carnage, and a del- 
 uge of calamities would break in upon us which 
 would produce more misery in a year than is in- 
 
268 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 flicted by the hand of Providence in a lapse of 
 ages. — Robert Hall. 
 
 l^mlkt. 
 
 Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. — 
 
 Galatians, v. i6_ 
 
 f7|7HE house that was so tarnished 
 *** By all that is unclean, 
 At length is swept and garnished, 
 
 And yet no guest is seen. 
 Oh house that art terrestrial, 
 
 Thou canst not empty be ! 
 Hast thou no guest celestial, 
 
 Alas, alas for thee ! 
 
 The house that was so tarnished 
 
 By all that is unclean, 
 At length is swept and garnished, 
 
 And many a guest is seen. 
 Oh house, that art terrestrial, 
 
 Though foes are everywhere, 
 Thy guests that are celestial 
 
 Will keep thee pure and fair. 
 
 The poets fable that this was one of the 
 labors imposed on Hercules, to make clean the 
 
REFORMATION. 209 
 
 x^ugean stable, or stall rather, for therein, they 
 said, were kept three thousand kine, and it had 
 not been cleansed for thirty years together. But 
 Hercules, by letting the river Alpheus into it, 
 did that with ease which before was conceived 
 impossible. This stall is the pure emblem of 
 my impure soul, which hath been defiled with 
 millions of sins, for more than thirty years to- 
 gether. Oh, that I might by a lively faith, and 
 unfeigned repentance, let the stream of that foun- 
 tain into my soul, "which is opened for Judah 
 and Jerusalem.'' It is impossible by all my 
 pains to purge out my . uncleanness, which is 
 quickly done by the rivulet of the blood of my 
 Saviour. — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 Lord, I read of my Saviour that when He 
 was in the wilderness, "then the devil leaveth 
 Him, and behold angels came and ministered 
 unto Him." A great change in a little time. 
 No twilight betwixt night and day. No purga- 
 tory condition betwixt hell and heaven ; but in- 
 stantly, when out devil, in angel. Such is the 
 case of every solitary soul. It will make com- 
 pany for itself. A musing mind will not stand 
 neuter a minute, but presently side with legions 
 of good or bad thoughts. Grant, therefore, that 
 my soul, which ever will have some, may never 
 have bad company. — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 There are two ways of dealing with every 
 vice that troubles us, in either ourselves or others. 
 One is to set to work directly to destroy the 
 
270 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 vice ; that is the negative way. The other is 
 to bring in as overwhelmingly as possible the 
 opposite virtue, and so to crowd and stifle and 
 drown out the vice ; that is the positive way. 
 Now there can be no doubt about St. Paul. 
 Here comes his poor Galatian fighting with his 
 lust of the flesh. How shall he kill it? St. 
 Paul says not, " Do as few fleshly things as 
 you can," setting him out on a course of re- 
 pression ; but, " Do just as many spiritual things 
 as you can," opening before him the broad 
 gate of a life of positive endeavor. And when 
 we have thoroughly comprehended the differ- 
 ence of those two methods, and seen how dis- 
 tinctly St. Paul chose one instead of the other, 
 we have laid hold on one of the noblest char- 
 acteristics of his treatment of humanity, one that 
 he gained most directly from his Lord. I 
 should despair of making any one see the dis- 
 tinction who did not know it in his own expe- 
 rience. Everywhere the negative and the posi- 
 tive methods of treatment stand over against 
 each other, and men choose between them. 
 Here is a man who is beset by doubts, per- 
 haps about the very fundamental truths of Chris- 
 tianity. He may attack all the objections in turn,, 
 and at last succeed in proving that Christianity 
 is not false. That is negative. Or he may gather 
 about him the assurance of all that his religion 
 has done and sweep away all his doubts with 
 the complete conviction that Christianity is true. 
 
REFORM A TION. 27 1 
 
 A man has a grudge against you, inveterate and 
 strong. You may attack his special grievance 
 and try to remove it; or you may try not to 
 show him that you meant him no harm, but 
 by laborious kindness that you mean him every 
 good, and so soften his obstinacy. A church is 
 full of errors and foolish practices. It is possi- 
 ble to attack those follies outright, showing 
 conclusively how foolish they are ; or it is pos- 
 sible, and it is surely better, to wake up the 
 true spiritual life in that church, which shall 
 itself shed those follies and cast them out, or 
 at least rob them of their worst harmfulness. 
 
 It is strange how far and wide this neces- 
 sity of choosing between the positive and nega- 
 tive method of treatment run^. In matters of 
 taste, for instance, there are two distinct ways 
 of trying to perfect the tasteful man. One is 
 by the repression of what is in bad taste ; the 
 other is by the earnest fostering of what is 
 good, — the method of repression and the method 
 of stimulus. And everybody knows that no great 
 effect of human genius was ever yet produced 
 except in the latter, larger way. A cold and 
 hard and limited correctness, a work "faultily 
 faultless," weak and petty and timid, is all that 
 the other methods make. For, whether in man- 
 ners or in art, that which appears at first as 
 coarseness is very often the strength of the 
 whole work. To repress it for its coarseness is 
 to make the whole feeble while we make it 
 
272 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 fine. To keep its strength and fill its strength 
 with fineness, this is the positive method of the 
 truest taste. 
 
 We are witnessing constantly the application 
 of the same principle to the matter of reform, 
 the breaking up of bad habits in an individual 
 or in a community. All prohibitory measures 
 are negative. That they have their use no one 
 can doubt. That they have their limits is just as 
 clear. He who thinks that nothing but the moral 
 methods for the prevention of intemperance and 
 crime can do the work is a mere theorist of the 
 closet and knows very little about the actual state 
 of human nature. But, on the other hand, the 
 man who thinks that any strictest system of pro- 
 hibition, most strictly kept in force, could perma- 
 nently keep men from drink, or any other vice, 
 knows little of human nature either. That nature 
 is too active and too live to be kept right by 
 mere negations. You cannot kill any one of its 
 appetites by merely starving it. You must give 
 it its true food, and so only can you draw it off 
 from the poison that it covets. Here comes in 
 the absolute necessity of providing rational and 
 cheap amusements for the people whom our 
 philanthropists are trying to draw off from the 
 tavern and the gambling - house. Pictures, parks, 
 museums, libraries, music, a healthier and happier 
 religion, a brighter, sunnier tone to all our life, 
 — these are the positive powers which must come 
 in with every form of prohibition and restraint 
 
REFORMATION. 273 
 
 before our poorer people can be brought to lead 
 a sensible and sober life. -Look at the lives that 
 our rich people live. It is not any form of pro- 
 hibition, legal or social, that keeps them from dis- 
 gusting and degrading vice. It is the fulness of 
 their lives, the warmth, glow, comfort and abund- 
 ance of their homes, the occupation of their 
 minds, the positive and not the negative, the in- 
 terest and plenty which the poor man never 
 knows. Before you or I dare blame him or de- 
 spise him, we must, in imagination, empty our 
 lives like his, and ask what sort of people we 
 should be in the squalor .of his garret, and the 
 comfortlessness and hopelessness of a lot like his. 
 We see the same principle, the superiority of 
 the positive to the negative, constantly illustrated 
 in matters of opinion. How is it that people 
 change their opinions, give up what they have 
 steadfastly believed, and come to believe some- 
 thing very different, perhaps its very opposite ? 
 I think we all have been surprised, if we have 
 thought about it, by the very small number of 
 cases in which men deliberately abandon positions 
 because those positions have been disproved and 
 seem to them no longer tenable. And even when 
 such cases do occur, the effect is apt to be not 
 good, but bad. The man abandons his disproved 
 idea, but takes no other in its stead ; until, in 
 spite of their better judgment, many good men 
 have been brought to feel that, rather than use 
 the power of mere negation and turn the be- 
 
274 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 liever in an error into a believer in nothing, they 
 would let their friend -go on believing his false- 
 hood, since it was better to believe something, 
 however stupidly, than to disbelieve everything, 
 however shrewdly. But what then ? How do 
 men change their opinions ? Have you not seen ? 
 Holding still their old belief, they come some- 
 how into the atmosphere of a clearer and a richer 
 faith. That better faith surrounds them, fills them, 
 presses on them with its own convincingness. 
 They learn to love it, long to receive it, try to 
 open their hands and hearts just enough to take 
 it in and hold it along with the old doctrine 
 which they have no idea of giving up. They 
 think they are holding both. They persuade 
 themselves that they have found a way of recon- 
 ciling the old and the new, which have been 
 thought irreconcilable. Perhaps they go on think- 
 ing so all their lives. But perhaps some day 
 something startles them, and they awake to find 
 that the old is gone, and that the new opinion 
 has become their opinion by its own positive 
 convincing power. There has been no violence 
 in the process, nor any melancholy gap of infidel- 
 ity between. . . . 
 
 It seems to me that there is something so 
 sublimely positive in Nature. She never kills 
 for the mere sake of killing ; but every death is 
 but one step in the vast weaving of the web of 
 life. She has no process of destruction which, as 
 you turn it to the other side and look at it in 
 
REFORMA TION. 27 5 
 
 what you know to be its truer light, you do not 
 see to be a process of construction. She gets 
 rid of her wastes by ever new plans of nutri- 
 tion. This is what gives her such a courageous, 
 hopeful, and enthusiastic look, and makes men 
 love her as a mother and not fear her as a 
 tyrant. They see by small signs, and dimly feel, 
 this positiveness of her workings which it is the 
 glory of natural science to reveal more and more. 
 — Phillips Brooks. 
 
 It is not so much the being exempt from 
 faults, as the having overcome them, that is an 
 advantage to us ; it being with the follies of the 
 mind as with the weeds of a field, which if de- 
 stroyed and consumed upon the place where they 
 grow, enrich and improve it more than if none 
 had ever sprung there. — Swift. 
 
 He that is deeply engaged in vice is like a 
 man laid fast in a bog, who by a faint and lazy 
 struggle to get out does but spend his strength 
 to no purpose, and sinks himself the deeper into 
 it : the only way is by a resolute and vigorous 
 effort to spring out, if possible, at once. When 
 men are sorely urged and pressed, they find a 
 power in themselves which they thought they 
 had not. — Tillotson. 
 
 Reform, like charity, must begin at home. 
 Once well at home, how will it radiate outwards, 
 irrepressible, into all that we touch and handle, 
 speak and work ; kindling ever new light by in- 
 calculable contagion, spreading, in geometric ratio, 
 
276 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 far and wide, doing good only wherever it 
 spreads, and not evil. — Carlyle. 
 
 Though few men are likely to be called on to 
 take part in the reformation of any public institu- 
 tions, yet there is no one of us but what ought 
 to engage in the important work of ^^reforma- 
 tion, and according to the well-known proverb, 
 " If each would sweep before his own door, we 
 should have a clean street." Some may have 
 more, and some less, of dust and other nuis- 
 ances to sweep away ; some of one kind, and 
 some of another. But those who have the least 
 to do have something to do ; and they should 
 feel it an encouragement to do it, that they can 
 so easily remedy the beginnings of small evils 
 before they have accumulated into a great one. 
 Begin reforming, therefore, at once : proceed in 
 reforming steadily and cautiously, and go on re- 
 forming forever. — Whately. 
 
 >Ip $tpm W^whs %m flp Brass* 
 
 'RE AT words of love He spoke, 
 And each an impulse woke, 
 Which through successive ages runs 
 And broadens with the suns. 
 
THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS. 277 
 
 Great words of love were heard, 
 Which many a bosom stirred, 
 And more and more each circling year 
 Have bowed the heart to hear. 
 
 Great words of love come down 
 Through ages of renown ! 
 The blessed burden that they bear 
 Hath nothing here more fair. 
 
 Such words of love to men 
 May never be again. 
 Help me, as with their spirit shod, 
 To do Thy work, O God. 
 
 The seven dying words of our Lord from the 
 Cross are usually arranged in the following 
 order : 
 
 I. Father, forgive them; for they know not 
 what they do. — St. Luke xxiii. 34. 
 
 II. Woman, behold thy son ! . . Behold 
 thy mother! — St. John xix. 26, 27. 
 
 III. Verily I say unto thee, To-day shall thou 
 be with Me in Paradise. — St. Luke xxiii. 43. 
 
 IV. My God, My God, why hast Thou for- 
 saken Me ? — St. Matthew xxvii. 46 ; St. Mark 
 xv. 34. 
 
 V. I thirst. — St. John xix. 28. 
 
 VI. It is finished. — St. John xix. 30. 
 
 VII. Father, into Thy hands I commend My 
 Spirit. — St. Luke xxiii. 46. 
 
278 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 It is hoped that from these Great Words, in 
 connection with the seven subjects which have 
 been suggested by them, the reader will derive 
 much to teach him both how to live and how to 
 die. 
 
 l^jromtm* 
 
 Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. 
 
 St. Luke xxiii. 34. 
 
 t M) SINFUL heart of mine, 
 (2> ^ To melt thee, Love Divine 
 Spoke from the Cross the grandest word 
 The world has ever heard. 
 
 It was the soul of Love 
 Outspanning Heaven above, 
 Divine elixir of the world, 
 In Jesus' heart impearled. 
 
 From Jesus' heart it flowed 
 
 To seek a new abode 
 
 In many a sinful heart, like mine, 
 
 Which it would make divine. 
 
 Dost know this word Forgive ! 
 Through which true life to live? 
 
FORGIVENESS. 279 
 
 If not, then Heaven will be too bright 
 For thine unhallowed sight ! 
 
 Alas ! If my best Friend, who laid down His 
 Life for me were to remember all the instances 
 in which I have neglected Him, and to plead 
 them against me in judgment, where should I 
 hide my guilty head in the day of recompense ? 
 I will pray, therefore, for blessings upon my 
 friends, even though they cease to be so, and 
 upon enemies, though they continue such. — Cow- 
 
 PER. 
 
 Tell us, ye men who are so jealous of right 
 and of power, who take sudden fire at every in- 
 sult, and suffer the slightest imagination of an- 
 other's contempt, or another's unfairness, to chase 
 from your bosom every feeling of complacency; 
 ye men whom every fancied affront puts in such 
 a turbulence of emotion, and in whom every fan- 
 cied infringement stirs up the quick and the re- 
 sentful appetite for justice, how will you stand the 
 rigorous application of that test by which the for- 
 given of God are ascertained, even that the spirit 
 of forgiveness is in them, and by which it will be 
 pronounced, whether you are, indeed the children 
 of the Highest, and perfect as your Father in 
 Heaven is perfect? — Dr. Chalmers. 
 
 It is in vain for you to expect, it is impudent 
 for you to ask of God forgiveness on your own 
 behalf, if you refuse to exercise this forgiving- 
 temper with respect to others. — Bishop Hoadly. 
 
280 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 He that cannot forgive others breaks the 
 bridge over which he must pass himself; for 
 every man has need to be forgiven. — Lord Her- 
 bert. 
 
 Whoever is really brave has always this com- 
 fort when he is oppressed, that he knows himself 
 to be superior to those who injure him, by for- 
 giving it. — Pope. 
 
 The brave only know how to forgive ; it is 
 the most refined and generous pitch of virtue 
 human nature can arrive at. Cowards have done 
 good and kind actions ; Cowards have even 
 fought, nay, sometimes conquered ; but a coward 
 never forgave — it is not in his nature ; the power 
 of doing it flows only from a strength and great- 
 ness of soul conscious of its own force and 
 security, and above all the little temptations of 
 resisting every fruitless attempt to interrupt its 
 happiness. — Sterne. 
 
 Nothing is more moving to man than the 
 spectacle of reconciliation: our weaknesses are 
 thus indemnified, and are not too costly, being 
 the price we pay for the hour of forgiveness ; 
 and the archangel -who has never felt anger, has 
 reason to envy the man who subdues it. When 
 thou forgivest, the man who has pierced thy 
 heart stands to thee in the relation of the sea- 
 worm that perforates the shell of the mussel, 
 which straightway closes the wound with a pearl. 
 
 RlCHTER. 
 
 The duty of Christian forgiveness does not 
 
FORGIVENESS. 281 
 
 require you, nor are you allowed, to look on in- 
 justice, or any other fault, with indifference, as if 
 it were nothing wrong at all, merely because it is 
 you that have been wronged. 
 
 But even where we cannot but censure, in a 
 moral point of view, the conduct of those who 
 have injured us, we should remember that such 
 treatment as may be very fitting for them to re- 
 ceive may be very unfitting for us to give. To 
 cherish, or to gratify, haughty resentment, is a 
 departure from the pattern left to us by Him 
 who " endured such contradiction of sinners 
 against Himself," not to. be justified by any 
 offence that can be committed against us. And 
 it is this recollection of Him who, faultless Him- 
 self, designed to leave us an example of meek- 
 ness and long-suffering, that is the true principle 
 and motive of Christian forgiveness. We shall 
 best fortify our patience under injuries by re- 
 membering how much we ourselves have to be 
 forgiven, and that it was " while we were yet 
 sinners, Christ died for us." Let the Christian, 
 therefore, accustom himself to say of anyone who 
 has greatly wronged him, That man owes me an 
 hundred pence. An old Spanish writer says, "To 
 return evil for good is devilish ; to return good 
 for good is human ; but to return good for evil 
 is Godlike." — Whately. 
 
 19 
 
282 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 «% 
 
 Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, 
 Behold thy mother ! — St. John xix. 26, 27. 
 
 ^REAT, great was Mary's dole, 
 A sword had pierced her soul ! 
 But lo, a word of tenderness 
 Illumined her distress. 
 
 Out of the heart of Christ 
 The word that has sufficed 
 Ten thousand times to soften loss, 
 Was spoken from the Cross. 
 
 My soul! the sympathy 
 
 That crowns humanity 
 
 Flows ever from the Saviour's heart; 
 
 And though all hope depart 
 
 Of other help and cheer, 
 
 Still through the darkness here 
 
 There shines a more than earthly light 
 
 To glorify the night. 
 
 Where shall we meet together, but where 
 Christ is ? What shall be our bond of union, 
 but by the Cross? It is from His Cross that 
 this grace flows of fidelity, of mutual love, and 
 patience. Virgin purity is there in the blessed 
 Mother ; and in the wife of Cleopas the married 
 
SYMPATHY. 283 
 
 state ; and penitence in Mary Magdalene ; and 
 Divine love in St. John, — that in these may be 
 represented the fulness of the Church in mutual 
 aid and one heart united. And thee, O Blessed 
 among women, the Divine word of prophecy hath 
 there found. He has become "a sign to be 
 spoken against," as foretold, and the "sword is 
 in thine own soul ;" but there is to be learned 
 at the foot of the Cross resignation to the Di- 
 vine will, and in deepest agonies the Will of 
 God made to be our will. And there, too, even 
 now is comfort ; for from whence He says, Be- 
 hold thy son! He is our elder Brother ; from 
 henceforth we are as brethren, born, as it were, 
 of one and the same mother, and His Father be- 
 comes our Father. By His Cross we are all 
 made one. There, where we are gathered to- 
 gether in His name, is He in the midst of us, 
 and speaking to us from the Cross. O, what a 
 lively emblem is this of Christian united wor- 
 ship, when all the world speak another lan- 
 guage, and look on from afar with other eyes, 
 not ashamed of Christ Crucified, to hear His 
 still small voice speaking to us from His Altar 
 of the Cross ! When the tempest, and the earth- 
 quake, and the fire have ceased ; when the rage, 
 and the tumult, and the fierce flame of perse- 
 cution hath been lulled, with this last dying 
 voice He speaks to us, exhorting us to love 
 one another, as He hath loved us; and that 
 he that doeth the will of God shall be to Him 
 
284 • IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 as brother, and sister, and mother. — Isaac 
 Williams. 
 
 When I look into the frame and constitution 
 of my own mind, there is no part of it which I 
 observe with greater satisfaction than that tender- 
 ness and concern which it bears for the good and 
 happiness of mankind. My own circumstances 
 are indeed so narrow and scanty that I should 
 taste but very little pleasure could I receive it 
 only from those enjoyments which are in my own 
 possession; but by this great tincture of human- 
 ity, which I find in all my thoughts and reflec- 
 tions, I am happier than any single person can be r 
 with all the wealth, strength, beauty and success 
 that can be conferred upon a mortal, if he only 
 relishes such a proportion of these blessings as 
 vested in himself and in his own private prop- 
 erty. By this means every man that does him- 
 self any real service, does me a kindness. I 
 come in for my share in all the good that hap- 
 pens to a man of merit and virtue, and par- 
 take of many gifts of fortune and power that 
 I was never born to. There is nothing in par- 
 ticular in which I so much rejoice as the deliver- 
 ance of good and generous spirits out of dan- 
 gers, difficulties and distresses. — Addison. 
 
 Whenever we are formed by nature to any 
 active purpose, the passion which animates us to 
 it is attended with delight, or pleasure of some 
 kind, let the subject-matter be what it will; and 
 as our Creator has designed that we should be 
 
SYMPATHY. 285 
 
 united by the bond of sympathy, He has 
 strengthened that bond by a proportionable de- 
 light; and these where our sympathy is most 
 wanted, — in the distresses of others. If this 
 passion be simply painful, we should shun with 
 the greatest care all persons and places that 
 could excite such a passion ; as some, who are so 
 far gone in indolence as not to endure any 
 strong impression, actually do. But the case is 
 widely different with the greater part of man- 
 kind : there is no spectacle we so eagerly pur- 
 sue as that of some uncommon and grievous 
 calamity ; so that whether the misfortune is be- 
 fore our eyes, or whether they are turned back 
 to it in history, it always touches with delight. 
 This is not an unmixed delight, but blended with 
 no small uneasiness. The delight we have in 
 such things hinders us from shunning scenes of 
 misery; and the pain we feel prompts us to re- 
 lieve ourselves in relieving those who suffer; 
 and all this is antecedent to any reasoning, by 
 an instinct that works us to its own purposes 
 without our concurrence. — Burke. 
 
 Every man rejoices twice when he has a 
 partner of his joy ; a friend shares my sorrow 
 and makes it but a moiety ; but he swells my 
 joy and makes it double. For so two channels 
 divide the river, and lessen it into rivulets, and 
 make it fordable, and apt to be drunk up by 
 the first revels of the Sirian star ; but two 
 torches do not divide but increase the flame : 
 
236 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 and though my tears are the sooner dried up 
 when they run on my friend's cheeks in the fur- 
 rows of compassion, yet when my flame hath 
 kindled his lamp we unite the glories and make 
 them radiant, like the golden candlesticks that 
 burn before the throne of God, because they 
 shine by numbers, by unions, and confederations 
 of light and joy. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 Let us cherish sympathy. By attention and 
 exercise it may be improved in every man. It 
 prepares the mind for receiving the impressions 
 of virtue : and without it there can be no true 
 politeness. Nothing is more odious than that 
 insensibility which wraps a man up in himself 
 and his own concerns, and prevents his being 
 moved with either the joys or the sorrows of 
 another. — Beattie. 
 
 We must not make too much of sympathy, as 
 mere feeling. We do in things spiritual as we do 
 with hot-house plants. The feeble exotic, beautiful 
 to look at, but useless, has costly sums spent on it. 
 The hardy oak, a nation's strength, is permitted 
 to grow, scarcely observed, in the fence and 
 copses. We prize feeling, and praise its posses- 
 sor. But feeling is only a sickly exotic in itself,. 
 — a passive quality, having in it nothing moral- 
 no temptation, and no victory. A man is no 
 more a good man for having feeling than he is 
 for having a delicate ear for music, or a far-see- 
 ing optic nerve. The Son of Man had feeling; 
 He could be " touched." The tear would start 
 
SYMPATHY. 287 
 
 from His eyes at the sight of human sorrow. 
 But that sympathy was no exotic in His soul, 
 beautiful to look at, too delicate for use. Feel- 
 ing with Him led to this : " He went about 
 doing good." Sympathy with Him was this : 
 " Grace to help in time of need." . . . 
 
 He who would sympathize must be content to 
 be tried and tempted. There is a hard and 
 boisterous rudeness in our hearts by nature, which 
 requires to be softened down. We pass by suf- 
 fering gayly, carelessly ; not in cruelty, but un- 
 feelingly, just because we do not know what suf- 
 fering is. We wound men by our looks and our 
 abrupt expressions without intending it, because 
 we have not been taught the delicacy, and the 
 tact, and the gentleness, which can only be learnt 
 by the wounding of our own sensibilities. There 
 is a haughty feeling in uprightness which has 
 never been on the verge of fall, that requires 
 humbling. There is an inability to enter into 
 difficulties of thought, which marks the mind to 
 which all things have been presented super- 
 ficially, and which has never experienced the 
 horror of feeling the ice of doubt crashing be- 
 neath the feet. 
 
 Therefore, if you aspire to be a son of con- 
 solation ; if you would partake of the priestly 
 gift of sympathy ; if you would pour something 
 beyond common-place consolation into a tempted 
 heart; if you would pass through the intercourse 
 of daily life with the delicate tact which never 
 
IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 inflicts pain ; if to that most acute of human ail- 
 ments, mental doubt, you are ever to give effec- 
 tual succor, — you must be content to pay the 
 price of the costly education. Like Him, you 
 must suffer — being tempted. — F. W. Robertson. 
 
 J^pmkntk 
 
 To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. — St. Luke xxiii. 43. 
 
 UT of the depth of woe 
 (2 ^ Which He Himself did know, 
 Compassion for the thief arose : 
 What love did it disclose? 
 
 It was Almighty Love 
 
 Descended from above, 
 
 That sometimes reacheth down, down, down, 
 
 And lifteth to a crown ! 
 
 My Saviour crucified! 
 
 No penitence e'er cried 
 
 To Him, but some assuring voice 
 
 Did make the heart rejoice. 
 
 Down, down, all earthly pride, 
 Before the Crucified ! 
 
REPENTANCE. 289 
 
 To be with Him in Paradise, 
 Meek heart, arise ! arise ! 
 
 The sight of a penitent on his knees is a 
 spectacle which moves heaven ; and the compas- 
 sionate Redeemer, who when he beheld Saul in 
 that situation, exclaimed, Behold, he prayeth, will 
 not be slow nor reluctant to strengthen you by 
 His might and console you by His Spirit. When 
 a new and living way is opened into the holiest 
 of all, by the blood of Jesus, not to avail our- 
 selves of it, not to arise and go to our Father, 
 but to prefer remaining at a guilty distance, en- 
 compassed with famine, to the rich and everlast- 
 ing provisions of His house, will be a source of 
 insupportable anguish when we shall see Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob enter into the kingdom of 
 God, and ourselves shut out. You are probably 
 not aware of what importance it is to improve 
 these sacred visitations ; have not considered that 
 •they form a crisis which, if often neglected, will 
 never rctu'n. It is impossible too often to incul- 
 cate the momentous truth, that the character is 
 not formed by passive impressions, but by volun- 
 tary actions, and that we shall be judged hereaf- 
 ter, not by what we have felt, but by what we 
 have done. — Robert Hall. 
 
 A death -bed repentance ought not indeed to 
 be neglected, because it is the last thing that we 
 can do. — Atterbury. 
 
 Some well-meaning Christians tremble for 
 
290 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 their salvation, because they have never gone 
 through that valley of tears and of sorrow, which 
 they have been taught to consider as an ordeal 
 that must be passed through before they can ar- 
 rive at regeneration : to satisfy such minds it 
 may be observed that the slightest sorrow for sin 
 is sufficient if it produce amendment, and that 
 the greatest is insufficient if it do not. There- 
 fore, by their own fruits let them prove them- 
 selves: for some soils will take the good seed 
 without being watered with tears or harrowed up 
 by affliction — Colton. 
 
 Before repentance, we think well of ourselves 
 and lightly of the Redeemer. We love sin and 
 folly, and dislike the restraints which the Divine 
 law imposes on the gratification of our appetites 
 and inclinations. We devote our hearts, and 
 with them our thoughts, and time, and substance, 
 to the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, 
 and the pride of life, without any dread of the 
 Divine condemnation. We are not sorry for our 
 transgressions ; we do not confess them before 
 God ; we drive away all thoughts of a future 
 state. We do not feel disposed to seek the 
 Lord: His Word is a wearisome study to us: 
 His Gospel is repulsive to our taste : His service 
 is dull and disgusting: and instead of desiring 
 His blessing above all things, the most common 
 toils and vainest amusements of the world seem 
 far better in our eyes than all the enjoyments 
 religion can bestow. 
 
FORSAKEN. 291 
 
 But when repentance seizes on the soul, the 
 heart is changed. That is, the sinner begins to 
 love what before he hated, and to hate what be- 
 fore he loved. He sees his own character in a 
 new light, he judges his conduct by a new stand- 
 ard, and he feels himself condemned under the 
 righteous judgment of his Maker. He now ap- 
 proves and loves the law of God ; he confesses 
 and abhors his own iniquity ; he is ready to give 
 up his sinful indulgencies, and foolish pleasures ; 
 he is anxious to have pardon and forgiveness at 
 the hands of the Almighty; he is prompt to be- 
 lieve in the Redeemer with his whole heart ; and 
 offers up, with earnest simplicity, the publican's 
 prayer, ' God be merciful to me a sinner.' 
 Death, and judgment, and eternity, are now fre- 
 quent in his thoughts; and he feels that all his 
 hope must be placed on the obedience and 
 atonement of Christ, and all his joys drawn 
 from the fountain of the Gospel. — Bishop Hop- 
 kins. 
 
 'G2£s©^jx?$D- 
 
 Hambm 
 
 My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? 
 
 — St ( Matthew xxviii. 46. 
 
 |H darkness as of death 
 (2 ^ Where none delivereth ! 
 
292 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Oh wine - press of the wrath of Goo: 
 In that great darkness trod ! 
 
 Oh grief too great to paint I 
 Oh troubled, burdened Saint 
 On whom the sins of all the world 
 Are as a mountain hurled ! 
 
 His sight has grown so dim 
 
 God has forsaken Him ! 
 
 Forsakes He God? My God! His cry. 
 
 All hope is in that My. 
 
 He clings to God through all 
 
 The wormwood and the gall, 
 
 He clings through all the strife of blood, 
 
 Triumphant Lamb of God ! 
 
 What, in truth was the unutterable desolation 
 of our Blessed Lord at that moment, we know 
 not. Whether the bitterness of the Cup which 
 He had prayed might pass from Him, if such 
 should be His Father's will, was condensed into 
 that hour of loneliness unspeakable, we may not 
 dare to say ; but each of us may receive for him- 
 self a thought of comfort, little understood, it 
 may be, in the bright hopefulness of youth, but 
 ready to return, in future years, in hours of pain 
 and weakness. Depression of mind and spiritual 
 desertion are no proofs of the rejection of God. 
 Rather, like bodily sufferings, they form part of 
 that resemblance to our Redeemer, which will, 
 
FORSAKEN. 293 
 
 for His sake, render us more acceptable to our 
 Heavenly Father. 
 
 Who shall dread the bed of pain, when Jesus 
 hung upon the Cross of agony ? or who shall 
 fear to trust his soul to God, even when the 
 heart is parched and dry, and every holier 
 thought is for the moment lost in the conscious- 
 ness of suffering, since even the Only-begotten 
 Son of the Eternal Father could exclaim in the 
 greatness of His misery, " My God, My God, why 
 hast Thou forsaken me?" — Miss Sewell. 
 
 Weigh well that cry ; consider it well, and 
 tell me if ever there were cry like that of His. 
 . . . The Powers of Darkness let loose to 
 afflict Him, — the influence of comfort restrained 
 from relieving Him, — never was there sorrow 
 like unto His sorrow ! It cannot be expressed as 
 it should, and as other things may. In silence 
 we may admire it, but all our words will not 
 reach it. — Bishop Andrews. 
 
 Now, observe, this feeling of forsakeness is no 
 proof of being forsaken. Mourning after an ab- 
 sent God is an evidence of love as strong as re- 
 joicing in a present One. Nay, further, a man 
 may be more decisively the servant of God and 
 goodness while doubting His existence, and in the 
 anguish of his soul crying for light, than while 
 resting in a common creed, and coldly serving 
 Him. There has been one, at least, whose appa- 
 rent forsakeness, and whose seeming doubt bears 
 the stamp of the majesty of Faith. " My God, 
 my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? " . . . 
 
294 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 There are times when a dense cloud veils the 
 sunlight ; you cannot see the sun, nor feel him. 
 Sensitive temperaments feel depression, and that 
 unaccountably and irresistibly. No effort can 
 make you feel. Then you hope. Behind the 
 cloud the sun is ; from thence he will come ; the 
 day drags through, the darkest and longest night 
 ends at last. Thus we bear the darkness and the 
 otherwise intolerable cold, and many a sleepless 
 night. It does not shine now, but it will. So, 
 too, spiritually. 
 
 There are hours in which physical derange- 
 ment darkens the windows of the soul ; days in 
 which shattered nerves make life simply endu- 
 rance ; months and years in which intellectual 
 difficulties, pressing for solution, shut out God. 
 Then faith must be replaced by hope. " What I 
 do thou knowest not now; bat thou shalt know 
 hereafter." Clouds and darkness are round about 
 Him ; but Righteousness and Truth are the habi- 
 tation of His throne. " My soul, hope thou in 
 God ; for I ill yet praise Him, who is the 
 health of my countenance and my God." 
 
 The mistake we make is to look for a source 
 comfort in ourselves: self- contemplation, instead 
 of gazing upon God. In other words, we look 
 for comfort precisely where comfort never can be. 
 
 For, first, it is impossible to derive consola- 
 tion from our own feelings, because of their im- 
 utability : to-day we are well, and our spiritual 
 experience, partaking of these circumstances, is 
 
FORSAKEN. 295 
 
 bright ; but to-morrow some outward circumstances 
 change, — the sun does not shine, or the wind is 
 chill, — and we are low, gloomy, and sad. Then, 
 if our hopes were unreasonably elevated, they will 
 now be unreasonably depressed and so our ex- 
 perience becomes flux and reflux, ebb and flow, 
 like the sea, that emblem of instability. 
 
 Next, it is impossible to get comfort from our 
 own acts : for, though acts are the test of charac- 
 ter, yet in a low state no man can judge justly 
 of his own acts. They assume a darkness of 
 hue which is reflected on them by the eye that 
 contemplates them. It would be well for all men 
 to remember that sinners cannot judge of sin, — 
 least of all can we estimate our own sin. 
 
 Besides, we lose time in remorse. I have 
 sinned. — Well, by the grace of God I must en- 
 deavor to do better for the future. But if I 
 mourn for it overmuch, all to - day refusing to be 
 comforted, to-morrow I shall have to mourn the 
 wasted to-day; and that again will be the sub- 
 ject of another fit of remorse. 
 
 In the wilderness, had the children of Israel, 
 instead of gazing on the serpent, looked down 
 on their own wounds, to watch the process of 
 the granulation of the flesh, and see how deep 
 the wound was, and whether it was healing 
 slowly or fast, cure would have been impossible ; 
 their only chance was to look off the wounds. 
 Just so, when, giving up this hopeless and sick- 
 ening work of self- inspection, and turning from 
 
296 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ourselves in Christian self-oblivion, we gaze on 
 God, then first the chance of consolation dawns. 
 He is not affected by our mutability; our 
 changes do not alter Him. When we are rest- 
 less, He remains serene and calm; when we are 
 low, selfish, mean, or dispirited, He is still the 
 unalterable I am, — the same yesterday, to-day, 
 and forever, in whom is no variableness, neither 
 shadow of turning. What God is in Himself, — - 
 not what we may chance to feel Him in this or 
 that moment to be, — that is our hope. "My 
 soul, hope thou in God." — F. W. Robertson. 
 
 ipiw wjfot 
 
 I thirst. — St. Jonh xix. 28. 
 
 /T*vj 
 
 |T THIRST, the Saviour cried, 
 
 °^ Before He bowed and died. 
 
 That thirst went quivering through the whole 
 
 Of the Eternal Soul. 
 
 He thirsted for the day 
 
 When sin shall pass away, 
 
 The day that endeth human thrall 
 
 When God is all in all. 
 
SPIRITUAL THIRST. 297 
 
 This more than earthly word 
 
 Unnumbered souls hath stirred. 
 
 What is the thirst that filleth mine? 
 Is it the thirst divine ? 
 
 Oh, had we all the thirst 
 In which the Christ was first, 
 Then Duty, Truth, and Life were one, 
 Like Father, Spirit, Son. 
 
 Our Saviour, as He hung on the Cross, un- 
 doubtedly experienced, as anyone else might have 
 done, a real physical thirst ; but in satisfying it, 
 in some sort, by means of the vinegar offered in 
 genuine kindness by the Roman soldiers, He sat- 
 isfied also a spiritual thirst — the thirst which be- 
 longs to everyone who is intent on doing the 
 will of God, manifested in the way of His Prov- 
 idence. The former was the shadow, the latter 
 the substance : the one temporal, the other eter- 
 nal. . 
 
 A draught was twice offered to Him ; once 
 it was accepted, once it was refused. That which 
 was refused was the medicated potion, — wine 
 mingled with myrrh, — the intention of which was 
 to deaden pain, and therefore when it was pre- 
 sented to the Saviour it was rejected. And the 
 reason commonly assigned for that seems to be 
 the true one; the Son of Man would not meet 
 death in a state of stupefaction. He chose to 
 meet His God awake. There are two ways in 
 
 20 
 
-298 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 which pain may be struggled with, — through the 
 flesh and through the Spirit ; the one is the office 
 of the physician, the other that of the other that 
 of the Christian. The physician's care is at once 
 to deaden pain, either by insensibility or specifics; 
 the Christian's object is to deaden pain by pa- 
 tience. We dispute not the value of the physi- 
 cian's remedies, — in their way they are permissible 
 and valuable ; but yet, let it be observed that in 
 these there is nothing moral ; they may take 
 away the venom of the serpent's sting, but they 
 do not give the courage to plant the foot upon 
 the serpent's head and to bear the pain without 
 flinching. Therefore, the Redeemer refused be- 
 cause it was not through the flesh, but through 
 the Spirit, that He would conquer; to have 
 accepted the anodyne would have been to escape 
 from suffering, but not to conquer it. But the 
 vinegar or sour wine was accepted as a refresh- 
 ing draught, for it would seem that He did not 
 look upon the value of suffering as consisting in 
 this, that He should make it as exquisite as pos- 
 sible, but rather that He should not suffer one 
 drop of the cup of agony which His Father had 
 put into His hand to trickle down the side un- 
 tasted. Neither would He make to Himself one 
 drop more of suffering than His Father had 
 given. 
 
 There are books on the value of pain; they 
 tell us that of two kinds of food, the one pleas- 
 ant and the other nauseous, we are to choose the 
 
SPIRITUAL THIRST. 299 
 
 nauseous one. Let a lesson on this subject be 
 learnt from the example of our Divine Master. 
 
 To suffer pain for others without flinching, 
 — that is our Master's example ; but pain, for 
 the mere sake of pain, that is not Christian ; to 
 accept poverty in order to do good for others, 
 that is our Saviour's principle ; but to become 
 poor for the sake and merit of being poor, is but 
 selfishness after all. 
 
 Our Lord refused the anodyne that would 
 have made the cup untasted which His Father 
 had put into His hand to drink, but He would 
 not taste one drop more than His Father gave 
 Him. Yet He did not refuse the natural solace 
 which His Father's hand had placed before Him. 
 
 There are some who urge, most erroneously, 
 the doctrine of discipline and self-denial. If of 
 two ways one is disagreeable, they will choose it, 
 just because it is disagreeable ; because food is 
 pleasant and needful, they will fast. There is in 
 this a great mistake. To deny self for the sake 
 of duty is right, — to sacrifice life and interests 
 rather than principle is right; but self-denial for 
 mere sake of self-denial, torture for torture's 
 sake, is neither good nor Christ-like. Remember, 
 Fie drank the cooling beverage in the very mo- 
 ment of the sacrifice ; the value of which did not 
 consist in its being made as intensely painful as 
 possible, but in His not flinching from the pain, 
 when Love and Duty said, Endure. — F. W. Rob- 
 ertson. 
 
300 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Jtife'a Sompfoliott* 
 
 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is fin- 
 ished : ap-i He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. 
 
 — St. John xix. 30.. 
 
 Finished, what prophets tola 
 
 $tP Concerning Thee of old, 
 The beautiful in word and deed 
 Almighty God decreed ! 
 
 Finished, O King of kings, 
 Unutterable things 
 Thy loving kindness deigns to show 
 Thy servants here below ! 
 
 Finished, the Sacrifice 
 
 Which opens Paradise, 
 
 And to the wanderer makes plain 
 
 How to return again ! 
 
 Finished, O Christ, the strife 
 Of Thy victorious life, 
 Which is forever Truth's one way 
 Unto Eternal Day! 
 
 Our Master said, " It is finished," partly for 
 others, partly for Himself. In the earliest part of 
 His life, we read that He said, " I have a bap- 
 tism to be baptized with ; " to Him, as to every 
 human soul, this life had its side of darkness and 
 
LIFE'S COMPLETION. 301 
 
 gloom, but all that was now accomplished : He 
 had drunk his last earthly drop of Anguish, He 
 has to drink the wine no more till He drink it 
 new in His Father's kingdom. It was finished ; 
 all was over ; and with, as it were, a burst of 
 subdued joy, He says, "It is finished." 
 
 There is another aspect in which we may 
 regard these words, as spoken for others. The 
 way in which our Redeemer contemplated this 
 life was altogether a peculiar one. He looked 
 upon it, not as a place of rest or pleasure, but 
 simply, solely, as a place of duty. He was here 
 to do His Fathers will, not His own; and there- 
 fore, now that life was closed, He looked upon 
 it chiefly as a duty that was fulfilled. We have 
 the meaning of this in the seventh chapter of 
 this Gospel : " I have glorified Thee on earth, 
 I have finished the work which Thou gavest me 
 to do." The duty is done, the work is finished. 
 Let us each apply this to ourselves. That hour 
 is coming to us all ; indeed, it is, perhaps, now 
 come. The dark night settles down on each 
 day. 
 
 " It is finished." We are ever taking leave 
 of something that will not come back again. 
 We let go, with a pang, portion after portion 
 of our existence. However dreary we may have 
 felt life to be here, yet when that hour comes 
 —the winding up of all things, the last grand 
 rush of darkness on our spirits, the hour of that 
 awful and sudden wrench from all we have ever 
 
302 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 known or loved, the long farewell to sun, moon r 
 stars, and light, — Brother men, I ask you. this 
 day, and I ask myself, humbly and fearfully, 
 What will be finished? When it is finished, 
 what will it be ? Will it be the butterfly ex- 
 istence of pleasure, the mere life of science, a 
 life of uninterrupted sin and selfish gratification; 
 or will it be, "Father, I have finished the work 
 which Thou gavest me to do."— F. W. Robert- 
 son. 
 
 The Incarnation is the perpetual interpretation 
 of our life. Jesus cries, " It is finished," on His 
 Cross, and at once it is evident that that finishing 
 is but a beginning ; that it is a breaking to 
 pieces of the temporal, that it may be lost in 
 the eternal ! That Cross is the perpetual glori- 
 fication of the shortness of life. In its light we, 
 too, can stand by the departing form of our own 
 life, or of some brother's life, and say, " It is 
 finished," and know that the finishing is really 
 a beginning. The temporary is melting away 
 like a cloud in the sky, that the great total sky 
 may all be seen. The form in which the man 
 has lived is decaying, that the real life of the 
 man may be apparent. The fashion of this 
 world is passing away ; the episode, the acci- 
 dent of earth is over, that the spiritual reality 
 may be clear. It is in the light of the Cross 
 that the exquisite picture of Shelley, who tried 
 so hard to be heathen and would still be Chris- 
 tian in his own despite, is really realized, — 
 
LIFE'S COMPLETION. 303 
 
 "The one remains, the many change and pass; 
 
 Heaven's light forever shines; earth's shadows fly; 
 Life, like a dome of many - colored glass, 
 
 Stains the white radiance of eternity, 
 Until death tramples it to fragments." 
 
 And so, what is there to be done? What 
 could be clearer ? Only to him who realizes 
 eternity does the short human life really seem 
 short and give out of its shortness its true sol- 
 emnity and blessing. It is only by binding my- 
 self to eternity that I can know the shortness 
 of time. But how shall I bind myself to eter- 
 nity except by giving myself tp Him who is 
 eternal in obedient love ? Obedient love ! Lov- 
 ing obedience ! That , is what binds the soul of 
 the less to the soul of the greater everywhere. 
 I give myself to the Eternal Christ, and in His 
 eternity I find my own. In His service I am 
 bound to Him, and the shortness of that life, 
 whose limitations in any way shut me out from 
 Him, becomes an inspiration, not a burden to 
 men. Oh, my dear friends, you who with Chris- 
 tian faith have seen a Christian die, tell me was 
 not this short life then revealed to you in all its 
 beauty? Did you not see completely that no life 
 was too long which Christ had filled with the 
 gift and knowledge of Himself; no life was too 
 short which departed from the earth only to go 
 and be with Him in Heaven forever ? — Phillips 
 Brooks. 
 
 If length of days be thy portion, make it not 
 thy expectation. Reckon not upon long life ; 
 
Z()4 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 think every day the last, and live always beyond 
 thy account. He that so often survives his ex- 
 pectations lives many lives, and will scarce com- 
 plain of the shortness of his days. Time past is 
 gone like a shadow; make time to come pres- 
 ent. Approximate thy latter times by present 
 apprehensions of them ; be like a neighbor unto 
 the grave, and think there is but little time to 
 come. And since there is something of us that 
 will still live on, join both lives together and live 
 in one but for the other. He who thus ordereth 
 the purposes of this life will never be far from 
 the next; and is in some manner already in it> 
 by a happy conformity and close apprehension of 
 it. — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 They who are most weary of life, and yet 
 are most unwilling to die, are such who have 
 lived to no purpose, — who have rather breathed 
 than lived. — Earl of Clarendon, 
 
 The mere lapse of years is not life. To eat, 
 and drink, and sleep, — to be exposed to dark- 
 ness and the light, — to pace round in the mill of 
 habit, and turn thought into an implement of 
 trade, — this is not life. In all this but a poor 
 fraction of the consciousness of humanity is 
 awakened ; and the sanctities will slumber which 
 make it worth while to be. Knowledge, truth, 
 love, beauty, goodness, faith, alone can give vital- 
 ity to the mechanism of existence- The laugh of 
 mirth that vibrates through the heart; the tears 
 that freshen the dry wastes within ; the music 
 
LIFE'S COMPLETION. 305 
 
 that brings childhood back ; the prayer that calls 
 the future near; the doubt which makes us med- 
 itate ; the death which startles us with mystery ; 
 the hardship which forces us to struggle ; the 
 anxiety which ends in trust; are the true nour- 
 ishment of our natural being. — James Martineau. 
 
 Every man is to himself what Plato calls the 
 Great Year. He has his sowing time, his grow- 
 ing time, his weeding, his irrigating, and his har- 
 vest. The principles and the ideas he puts into 
 his mind in youth lie there, it may be, for many 
 years, apparently unprolific. But nothing dies. 
 There is a process going on unseen, and by the 
 touch of circumstances the man springs forth into 
 strength, he knows not why, as if by a miracle. 
 But, after all, he only reaps as he had sown. — J. 
 A. St. John. 
 
 The end of life is to be like unto God ; and 
 the soul following God will be like unto Him : 
 He being the beginning, the middle, and end of 
 all things. — Socrates. 
 
 Life's evening, we may rest assured, will take 
 its character from the day which has preceded it ; 
 and if we would close our career in the comfort 
 of religious hope, we must prepare for it by 
 early and continuous religious habit. — Bishop 
 Shuttleworth. 
 
306 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 m 
 
 % 
 
 Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. — St. Luke xxiii. 46, 
 
 ; LORY to Christ I give, 
 Who taught me how to live. 
 With grateful heart to Him I cry, 
 Who taught me how to die. 
 
 Through Thee, dear Lord of Life, 
 All girded for the strife, 
 I know that over every sin 
 A triumph I may win. 
 
 Through Thee, dear Lord of Death, 
 Who with Thy latest breath 
 Thy spirit didst to God commend, 
 That one unfailing Friend, 
 
 I know, I know that I 
 
 May gain the victory, 
 
 And enter Heaven through that last foe 
 
 Whom I shall meet below. 
 
 " Into Thy hands," that is sufficient. It is as 
 well to look at these things as simply as possi- 
 ble. Do not confuse the mind with attempting 
 to draw the distinction between the human and 
 the Divine. He speaks here as if His human 
 soul, like ours, entered into the dark unknown, 
 
DEATH. 307 
 
 not seeing what was to be in the Hereafter : and 
 this is Faith, or, if it were not so, there arises 
 an idea from which we shrink, as if He were 
 speaking words He did not feel. We know 
 nothing of the world beyond, we are like chil- 
 dren ; even revelation has told 12s almost nothing 
 concerning this, and an inspired Apostle says, 
 " We know not yet what we shall be." Then 
 rises Faith and dares to say, " My Father, I know 
 nothing, but, be where I may, still I am with 
 Thee." " Into Thy hands I commend my spirit." 
 Therefore, and only therefore, do we dare to die. 
 — F. W. Robertson. 
 
 Take away but the pomps of death, the dis- 
 guises and solemn bugbears, and the actings by 
 candlelight, and proper and fantastic ceremonies, 
 the minstrels and the noise-makers, the women 
 and the weepers, the swoonings and the shriek- 
 ings, the nurses and the physicians, the dark 
 room and the ministers, the kindred and the 
 watches, and then to die is easy, ready, and 
 quitted from its troublesome circumstances. It is 
 the same harmless thing that a poor shepherd 
 suffered yesterday, or a maid-servant io-day ; and 
 at the same time in which you die, Jn that very 
 night a thousand creatures die with /<®<a P some 
 wise men and many fools ; and tho wisdom of 
 the first will not quit him, and the folly of the 
 latter does not make him unabie to ale.— Jeremy 
 Taylor. 
 
 From what I have observed, and what I have 
 
308 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 heard those persons say whose professions lead 
 them to the dying, I am induced to infer that the 
 fear of death is not common, and that where it 
 exists it proceeds rather from a diseased and en- 
 feebled mind than from any principle in our na- 
 ture. Certain it is that among the poor the ap- 
 proach of dissolution is usually regarded with a 
 quiet and natural composure which it is consola- 
 tory to contemplate, and which is as far removed 
 from the dead palsy of unbelief as it is from the 
 delirious raptures of fanaticism. Theirs is a true, 
 unhesitating faith, and they are willing to lay 
 down the burden of a weary life, " in the sure and 
 certain hope " of a blessed immortality. — Southey. 
 Of the great number to whom it has been my 
 painful professional duty to have administered in 
 the last hour of their lives, I have sometimes felt 
 surprised that so few have appeared reluctant to 
 go to " the undiscovered country from whose 
 bourn no traveller returns." Many, we may 
 easily suppose, have manifested this willingness to 
 die from an impatience of suffering, or from that 
 passive indifference which is sometimes the result 
 of debility and bodily exhaustion. But I have 
 seen those who have arrived at a fearless con- 
 templation of the future, from faith in the doc- 
 trine which our religion teaches. Such men were 
 not only calm and supported but cheerful, in the 
 hour of death ; and I never quitted such a sick- 
 chamber without a hope that my last end might 
 be like theirs. — Sir Henry Halford. 
 
DEATH. 309 
 
 Death comes equally to us all, and makes us 
 all equal when he comes. The ashes of an oak 
 in a chimney are no epitaph of that, to tell me 
 how high or how large that was ; it tells me not 
 what flocks it sheltered while it stood, nor what 
 men it hurt when it fell. The dust of great per- 
 sons' graves is speechless, too ; it says nothing, 
 it distinguishes nothing. As soon the dust of a 
 wretch whom thou wouldst not, as of a prince 
 whom thou couldst not, look upon, will trouble 
 thine eyes if the wind blows it thither; and 
 when a whirlwind hath blown the dust of the 
 church-yard into the church, and the man sweeps 
 out the dust of the church into the church-yard, 
 who will undertake to sift those again, and to 
 to pronounce, " This is the patrician, this is the 
 noble flower, and this is the yeoman, this is the 
 plebeian bran ? " — Donne. 
 
 It is an impressive task to follow the steps 
 of the chemist, and with fire, and capsule, and 
 balance in hand, as he tracks the march of the 
 conqueror, Death, through the domain of vital 
 structure. 
 
 The moralist warns us that life is but the 
 ante-chamber of death ; that as, on the first day 
 of life, the foot is planted on the lowest of a 
 range of steps, which man scales painfully only 
 to arrive at the altar of corporeal death. The 
 chemist comes to proclaim that, from infancy to 
 old age, the quantity of earthy matter continually 
 increases. Earth asserts her supremacy more 
 
310 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 and more, and calls us more loudly to the dust. 
 In the end a Higher Will interposes, the bond of 
 union is unloosed, the immortal soul wings its 
 flight upward to the Giver of all Being. Earth 
 claims its own, and a little heap of ashes returns 
 to dust. It was a man. It is now dust; our 
 ashes are scattered abroad to the winds over the 
 surface of the*, earth. But this dust is not inac- 
 tive. It rises to walk the earth again ; perhaps 
 to aid in peopling the globe with fresh forms of 
 beauty, to assist in the performance of the vital 
 processes of the universe, to take a part in the 
 world's life. In this sense the words of Goethe 
 are strictly applicable, — " Death is the parent of 
 life." — Household Words. 
 
 Death may be said with almost equal propri- 
 ety to confer as well as to level all distinctions. 
 In consequence of that event, a kind of chemical 
 operation takes place ; for those characters which 
 were mixed with the gross particles of vice, by 
 being thrown into the alembic of flattery, are sub- 
 limated into the essence of virtue. He who dur- 
 ing the performance of his part upon the stage 
 of the world was little if at all applauded, after 
 the close of the drama, is portrayed as the favor- 
 ite of "every virtue under Heaven." — Henry 
 Kett. 
 
 When a friend is carried to his grave we at 
 once find excuses for every weakness and pallia- 
 tion of every fault; recollect a thousand endear- 
 ments which before glided off our minds without 
 
DEATH. 311 
 
 impression, a thousand favors unrepaid, a thou- 
 sand duties unperformed, and wish, vainly 
 wish, for his return, not so much that we may 
 receive as that we may bestow happiness, and 
 recompense that kindness which before we never 
 understood. 
 
 There is not, perhaps, to a mind well- 
 instructed, a more painful occurrence than the 
 death of one whom we have injured without repa- 
 ration. Our crime seems now irretrievable ; it is 
 indelibly recorded, and the stamp of fate is fixed 
 upon it. We consider, with the most afflictive 
 anguish, the pain which we have given and now 
 cannot alleviate, and the losses which we have 
 caused and now cannot repair. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 It (the grave) buries every error, — covers 
 every defect, — extinguished every resentment. 
 From its peaceful bosom spring none but fond 
 regrets and tender recollections. Who can look 
 down upon the grave of an enemy and not feel 
 a compunctious throb that he should have warred 
 with the poor handful of dust that lies moulder- 
 ing before him ? — Washington Irving. 
 
 It is impossible that anything so natural, so 
 necessary, and so universal as death should ever 
 have been designed by Providence as an evil to 
 mankind. — Swift. 
 
 Death is the liberator of him whom freedom 
 cannot release, the physician of him whom med- 
 icine cannot cure, and the comforter of him 
 whom time cannot console. — Colton. 
 
312 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 What is death but a ceasing to be what we 
 were before? We are kindled and put out, we 
 die, daily ; nature that begot us expels us, and a 
 better and a safer place is provided for us. — 
 Seneca. 
 
 A wise man shall not be deprived of pleasure 
 even when death shall summons him ; forasmuch 
 as he has attained the delightful end of the best 
 life, — departing like a guest full and well satis- 
 fied ; having received life upon trust and duly 
 discharged that office, he acquits himself at de- 
 parting.— Epicurus. 
 
 He that always waits upon God is ready 
 whenever He calls. Neglect not to set your 
 accounts : he is a happy man who so lives as 
 that death at all times may find him at leisure 
 to die. — Feltham. 
 
 Let us beg of God that, when the hour of 
 our rest is come, the patterns of our dissolution 
 may be Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and David, who, 
 leisurably ending their lives in peace, prayed for 
 the mercies of God upon their posterity. — 
 Hooker. 
 
 There is nothing, no, nothing, innocent or 
 good, that dies and is forgotten : let us hold to 
 that faith or none. An infant, a prattling child, 
 dying in its cradle will live again in the better 
 thoughts of those who loved it, and play its part, 
 through them, in the redeeming actions of the 
 world, though its body be burnt to ashes, or 
 drowned in the deepest sea. There is not an 
 
DEATH. 313 
 
 angel added to the host of heaven but does its 
 blessed work on earth in those that loved it 
 here. Forgotten ! oh if the good deeds of human 
 creatures could be traced to their source, how 
 beautiful would even death appear! for how 
 much charity, mercy, and purified affection would 
 be seen to have their growth in dusty graves ! 
 — Dickens. 
 
 When we are under affliction for the death 
 of a person who was dear to us, or for any 
 other misfortune which befalls us, we ought not 
 to seek for consolation in ourselves, or in other 
 men, or in any part of the creation, but we 
 ought to seek it in God alone. And the rea- 
 son of this is, that no created being is the first 
 cause of those accidents which we call afflictions, 
 But the providence of God being the true and 
 only cause, the sovereign, and the disposer of 
 them, we ought, undoubtedly, to repair immedi- 
 ately to their source, and look up to their Author 
 to find solid consolation. ... 
 
 One of the most solid and useful chanties we 
 can perform toward the dead, is to do that which 
 they would desire of us, were they still in the 
 world ; and to put ourselves, for their sakes, into 
 that condition which they now wish us to be 
 in. . . . 
 
 It is one of the grand principles of Christi- 
 anity, that whatever happened to Jesus Christ, is 
 likewise to take place in the soul and body of 
 every Christian ; that as Jesus Christ suffered in 
 21 
 
314 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 this mortal life, was raised to a new life, and 
 ascended into heaven, where He sat down at the 
 right hand of God the Father ; so the body and 
 soul are to suffer, to die, to be raised again, and 
 to ascend into heaven. . . . 
 
 Let us then view death in Jesus Christ ; not 
 •without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is 
 dreadful, it is detestable, it is the terror of na- 
 ture. In Jesus Christ, it is altogether different; 
 it is amiable, holy, and the joy of the believer. 
 Every thing, even death itself, is rendered sweet 
 in Jesus Christ; and it was for this He suffered; 
 He died to sanctify death and suffering to us. 
 And as He was God and man, He was all that 
 was great and all that was abject, that He might 
 sanctify all things in Himself, except sin, and 
 might be an example to us in every possible 
 condition. — Pascal. 
 
gift Mil 
 
®*p-s°**§- 
 
 I am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in me, though, 
 he were dead, yet shall he live : And whosoever liveth, and believeth in 
 me, shall never die. — St. John xi. 25-36. 
 
 We abide in Him and He in us, and He abides forever. — Brooke.- 
 
 In every-day existence the miraculous and the God-like rule us. 
 
 — F. W. Robertson. 
 
 Choose well ; your choice 
 Is brief and yet endless. 
 
 — Goethe. 
 
 I desire nothing, I press nothing upon you, but to make the most of 
 human life, and to aspire after perfection in whatever state of life you. 
 choose. — Law. 
 
 Whatever is doubtful this at least is sure, that good must conquer,, 
 because God is good; that evil must perish, because God hates evil,, 
 even to the death. — Charles Kingsley. 
 
 (316) 
 
;mwur!% 
 
 Ought not Christ to have suffeied these things, and to enter into 
 His glory? — St. Luke xxiv. 26. 
 
 If^AY and night I yearn for the immortal, 
 ^^ Thinking of what is and is to be : 
 Through the cloud and sun to yonder portal 
 Long and weary is the way I see. 
 
 Like the giants of the Tower of Babel, 
 
 Am I vexed with immortality, 
 Building, building, as if I were able 
 
 Through myself to solve the mystery ? 
 
 I sometimes in painful silence wonder 
 How can mortal climb to such delight! 
 
 Life there is above me, life, too, under, — 
 Am I fixed forever in Thy sight ? 
 
 All the issues are with Thee, O Father! 
 
 In Thy hand alone I see the crown : 
 If I from my pride success would gather, 
 
 In Thy mercy Thou wilt cast me down. 
 
 (317) 
 
318 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 In humility the Master builded, 
 
 And His Temple, rising height on height, 
 With eternal sunshine soon was gilded, 
 
 Bringing immortality to light. 
 
 O for grace and meekness of the Master, 
 God to see in all that comes to me ! 
 
 Building then, shall I escape disaster, 
 And be soothed with immortality. 
 
 And the suffering that comes from duty, 
 
 Little as in human eyes or much, 
 Will at length become eternal beauty, 
 
 Glorious fruit of God's transforming touch. 
 
 The natural man dies hard within us ; the man 
 from Heaven is not born without a pang; first 
 the Anguish, then the Joy. Are our souls wil- 
 ling, yea, are they able, to endure that anguish, 
 ardently as we may desire the joy which makes 
 it to be remembered no more ? When the ful- 
 ness of time is come, the fulness of strength will 
 be given to meet it, and not before ; and, mean- 
 while, the way of life continues to have its ache, 
 a sadness peculiar to itself. . . . 
 
 A certain degree of impatience seems natural, 
 even befitting to man, a being of keen though 
 limited vision, of strong though narrow grasp. 
 His mind, as one who sounded its very depths 
 has taught us, is naturally enamored of order and 
 system; he finds within himself the surmise of a 
 
IMMORTALITY. 319 
 
 perfection which outward nature does not respond 
 to, and for this he the more delights to trace a 
 sequence through all her apparent confusion ; to 
 discover that by earth, and air, and ocean, there 
 is a path such as the vulture's eye hath not 
 known. And if science, as has been truly said, 
 mourns to find a gap every here and there in her 
 great chain of cause and consequence, — how is 
 it with the Christian, if in the ladder which joins 
 earth to Heaven there should be some rounds 
 wanting? How is it when man, who loves to 
 track the end from the beginning, to see the 
 flower wrapt up in the bud, finds that the life of 
 the soul, like that of the insect, must pass through 
 strange metamorphoses, through sundry success- 
 ive kinds of death? — when he discovers that the 
 life of the Divine seed, set so deep in the heart 
 and in the world, instead of being one of con- 
 sistent growth, of harmonious development, may 
 be most fitly illustrated by the well-known simile 
 of an acorn set in a jar of porcelain ; a mighty 
 plant that must shatter its frail earthly tabernacle 
 while growing? . . . 
 
 And here we are reminded of what the 
 prophet tells us, that God's thoughts are not our 
 thoughts, neither His ways our ways. God has 
 time for everything, and He has room for every- 
 thing; but it is far otherwise with His creature, 
 and the tendency of all human effort is to go 
 straight to the desired aim, putting on all possi- 
 ble strain and pressure. Thus, adding what we 
 
320 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 conceive of Infinite power to what we know of finite 
 will, we have arrived at an idea of Omnipotence, 
 the exact opposite, surely, of that to which all 
 we see of the Almighty's works would lead. We 
 accustom ourselves to speak of His dealings, 
 whether in grace or nature, as being sudden, 
 irresistible, one in design and execution; yet 
 Nature, as soon as ever we pierce below her 
 broad surface-smile, betrays on every hand the 
 marks of care, of patience, and adaptation. All 
 that we learn of God in this rep-ion tends more 
 and more to bring His works out of the domain 
 of the magical, to convince us that it is the 
 human, and not the Divine energy, which craves 
 for its purposes the signet-stamp of full and 
 speedy accomplishment: 
 
 " For we are hasty builders, incomplete ; 
 
 Our Master follows after, far more slow 
 And far more sure than we, for frost, and heat, 
 
 And winds that breathe, and waters in their flow, 
 Work with Him silently." 
 
 — Miss Greenwell 
 
 What man can think of himself as called out 
 and separated from nothing, of his being made a 
 conscious, a reasonable, and a happy creature, — 
 in short, of being taken in as a sharer of exist- 
 ence, and a kind of partner in eternity, without 
 being swallowed up in wonder, in praise, in 
 adoration ! It is indeed a thought too big for 
 the mind of man, and rather to be entertained 
 in the secrecy of devotion, and in the silence 
 of the soul, than to be expressed by words. 
 
IMMORTALITY. 321 
 
 The Supreme Being has not given us powers 
 or faculties sufficient to extol and magnify such 
 unutterable goodness. 
 
 It is, however, some comfort to us that we 
 shall be always doing what we shall never be 
 able to do ; and that a work which cannot be 
 finished will, however, be the work of eternity. — 
 Addison. 
 
 There is nothing strictly immortal but immor- 
 tality. Whatever hath no beginning may be con- 
 fident of no end, which is the peculiar quality 
 of that necessary essence that cannot destroy it- 
 self, and the highest strain of omnipotency to be 
 so powerfully constituted as not to suffer even 
 from the power of itself: all others have a de- 
 pendent being, and within the reach of destruc- 
 tion. But the sufficiency of Christian immortality 
 frustrates all earthly glory, and the quality of 
 either state after death makes a folly of posthu- 
 mous memory. God, who can only destroy our 
 souls, and hath assumed our resurrection, either 
 of our bodies or names hath directly promised no 
 duration; wherein there is so much of chance 
 that the boldest expectants have found unhappy 
 frustration, and to hold long subsistence seems 
 but a scape in oblivion. But man is a noble 
 animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the 
 grave, solemnizing nativities and death with equal 
 lustre, nor omitting ceremonies of bravery in the 
 infamy of his nature. — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 When I consider the wonderful activity of the 
 
322 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 mind, so great a memory of what is past, and 
 such a capacity of penetrating into the future ; 
 when I behold such a number of arts and 
 sciences, and such a multitude of discoveries 
 thence arising ; I believe and am firmly per- 
 suaded that a nature which contains so many 
 things within itself cannot be mortal. . . . 
 But if I err in believing that the souls of men 
 are immortal, I willingly err ; nor while I live 
 would I wish to have this delightful error extorted 
 from me ; and if after death I shall feel nothing, 
 as some minute philosophers think, I am not 
 afraid lest dead philosophers should laugh at me 
 for the error. — Cicero. 
 
 The caterpillar, on being converted into an 
 inert scaly mass, does not appear to be fitting 
 itself for an inhabitant of the air, and can have 
 no consciousness of the brilliancy of its future 
 being. We are masters of the earth, but perhaps 
 we are the slaves of some great and unknown 
 being. The fly that we crush with our finger or 
 feed with our viands has no knowledge of man, 
 and no consciousness of his superiority. We 
 suppose that we are acquainted with matter and 
 all its elements; yet we cannot even guess at the 
 cause of electricity, or explain the laws of the 
 formation of the stones that fall from meteors. 
 There may be beings, thinking beings, near or 
 surrounding us, which we do not perceive, which 
 we cannot imagine. We know very little ; but, 
 in mv opinion, we know enough to hope for the 
 
IMMORTALITY. 323 
 
 immortality, the individual immortality, of the bet- 
 ter part of man. . . . 
 
 Even in a moral point of view, I think the 
 analogies derived from the transformation of in- 
 sects admit of some beautiful applications, which 
 have not been neglected by our entomologists. 
 The three states — of the caterpillar, larva, and 
 butterfly — have, since the time of the Greek 
 poets, been applied to typify the human being, — 
 its terrestrial form, apparent death and ultimate 
 celestial destination ; and it seems more extraor- 
 dinary that a sordid and crawling worm should 
 become a beautiful and. active fly — that an inhab- 
 itant of the dark foetid dunghill should in an in- 
 stant entirely change its form, rise into the blue 
 air, and enjoy the sunbeams — than that a being 
 whose pursuits have been after an undying name, 
 and whose purest happiness has been derived 
 from the acquisition of intellectual power and 
 knowledge, should rise hereafter into a state of 
 being where immortality is no longer a name, 
 and ascend to the source of Unbounded Power 
 and Infinite Wisdom. — Sir Humphry Davy. 
 
 Upon this short question, " Is man immortal, 
 or is he not?" depends all that is valuable in 
 science, in morals, and in theology, — and all that 
 is most interesting to man as a social being and 
 as a rational and accountable intelligence. If he 
 is destined to an eternal existence, an immense 
 importance must attach to all his present affec- 
 tions, actions, and pursuits; and it must be a 
 
324 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 matter of infinite moment that they be directed 
 in such a channel as will tend to carry him for- 
 ward in safety to the felicities of a future world. 
 But if his whole existence be circumscribed with- 
 in the circle of a few fleeting years, man appears 
 an enigma, an inexplicable phenomenon in the 
 universe, human life a mystery, the world a scene 
 of confusion, virtue a mere phantom, the Creator 
 a capricious being, and His plans and arrange- 
 ments an inextricable maze. — Thomas Dick. 
 
 When I reflect that God has given to inferior 
 animals no instincts nor faculties that are not im- 
 mediately subservient to the ends and purposes 
 of their beings, I cannot but conclude that the 
 reason and faculties of man were bestowed upon 
 the same principles, and are connected with his 
 superior nature. When I find him, therefore, en- 
 dowed with powers to carry, as it were, the line 
 and rule to the most distant worlds, I consider it 
 as conclusive evidence of a future and more 
 exalted destination, because I cannot believe that 
 the Creator of the universe would depart from 
 all the analogies of the lower creation in the 
 formation of His highest creature, by gifting him 
 with a capacity not only utterly useless, but de- 
 structive of his contentment and happiness, if his 
 existence were to terminate in the grave — Lord 
 Chancellor Erskine. 
 
 And can we then think that the most natural 
 and most necessary desire of all has nothing to 
 answer it ? that nature should teach us, above 
 
IMMORTALITY. 325 
 
 all things, to desire immortality, which is not to 
 be had, especially when it is the most noble and 
 generous desire of human nature, that which 
 most of all becomes a reasonable creature to 
 desire, nay, that which is the governing princi- 
 ple of all our actions, and must give laws to 
 all our other passions, desires, and appetites. 
 What a strange creature has God made man, 
 if he deceives him in the most fundamental and 
 most universal principle of action ; which makes 
 the whole life nothing else but one continued 
 cheat and imposture ? — William Sherlock. 
 
 If the soul be immortal, it requires to be 
 cultivated with attention, not only for what we 
 call the time of life, but for that which is to 
 follow, — I mean eternity; and the least neglect 
 in this point may be attended with endless con- 
 sequences. If death were the final dissolution 
 of being, the wicked would be great gainers by 
 it, by being delivered at once from their bodies,, 
 their souls, and their vices ; but, as the soul 
 is immortal, it has no other means of being freed 
 from its evils, nor any safety for it, but in be- 
 coming very good and very wise ; for it carries 
 nothing with it but its bad or good deeds, its 
 virtues and vices, which are commonly the conse- 
 quences of the education it has received, and the 
 causes of eternal happiness or misery. — Socrates. 
 
 The annunciation of life and immortality by 
 the gospel, did it contain no other truth, were 
 sufficient to cast all the discoveries of science into 
 
326 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 shade, and to reduce the highest improvements 
 of reason to the comparative nothingness which 
 the flight of a moment bears to eternity. By 
 this discovery the prospects of human nature are 
 infinitely widened, the creature of yesterday be- 
 comes the child of eternity; and as felicity is not 
 the less valuable in the eye of reason because it 
 is remote, nor the misery which is certain less to 
 be depreciated because it is not immediately felt, 
 the care of our future interests becomes our 
 chief, and, properly speaking, our only, concern. 
 All besides will shortly become nothing ; and 
 therefore, whenever it comes into competition 
 with these, it is as the small dust of the balance. 
 Robert Hall. 
 
 rowttomm Jitrmsr* 
 
 That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. — I Cor. xv. 36. 
 
 ^THROUGH sin and toil and tribulation 
 ^^ This earthly house must needs decay ; 
 But surely comes the renovation, 
 The building to endure for aye. 
 
 The Christly germ can never perish 
 And moulder into nothingness ; 
 
PERSONALITY FOREVER. 327 
 
 The hope of glory that we cherish 
 Is born of Everlastingness. 
 
 There is no sleep that knows no waking: 
 Death will at last give up its dead, 
 
 And all, their proper manhood taking, 
 With glorious forms be garmented. 
 
 O weary heart, if thou dost never 
 Find out perfection here below, 
 
 Take courage from the life forever 
 In which to love and serve and know. 
 
 Endures throughout all generations, 
 
 Whoever is of God the friend; 
 What if undreamed-of revelations 
 
 Shall flood the Year that has no end? 
 
 The Faithful One, with grief acquainted, 
 So manfully He toiled on earth, 
 
 No mortal yet His Life has painted, 
 And told us all in Him had birth. 
 
 The fountains of that Life are flowing, 
 With Love and Truth forevermore, 
 
 New Excellence forever showing, 
 Which all will see and all adore. 
 
 The marvel of His Life foretelling, 
 He burst like sunrise from the dead ! 
 
 Behold Him! God in man still dwelling, 
 And be forever comforted. 
 
328 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 The expectation that this new nature will be 
 fully developed in the future life is in harmony 
 with what we have learned of the laws of vital 
 development. St. Paul's illustration of the res- 
 urrection from the germination of the seed, which 
 has so vividly affected the imagination of man, 
 is more appropriate than he was aware of. Or- 
 ganization is not the cause but the effect of life. 
 Life, in producing organization, works from with- 
 in outwards, and from the invisible to the vis- 
 ible. The vital germ is not a miniature of the 
 mature organism, but only a minute, unorganized 
 mass, having, however, a power which no physics 
 or chemistry can ever explain, of organizing itself 
 and thus developing into the mature organism. 
 So it will be in the future life, if the Church 
 is right in believing that St. Paul spoke as the 
 Spirit of God gave him knowledge. As the 
 germ of the mortal life which we inherit from 
 the earthly ancestors whose image we bear, has 
 developed into our present bodily organism, so 
 shall the germ of life spiritual, eternal and Di- 
 vine, which Christ implants here in those who do 
 not reject His grace, be developed under the 
 kindlier influences of the future state, into the 
 perfect " spiritual body " (to use a most inade- 
 quate expression for what human language has 
 no adequate one) which is to be created in the 
 image of the Heavenly. — Murphy. 
 
 The soul of man can never divest itself 
 wholly of anxiety about its fate hereafter: there 
 
PERSONALITY FOREVER. 329 
 
 are hours when, even to the prosperous, in the 
 midst of their pleasures, eternity is an awful 
 thought ; but how much more when those pleas- 
 ures, one after another, begin to withdraw ; when 
 life alters its forms, and becomes dark and cheer- 
 less — when its changes warn the most inconsid- 
 erate that what is so mutable will soon pass en- 
 tirely away. Then with pungent earnestness 
 comes home that question to the heart, " Into 
 what world are we next to go ? " How miserable 
 the man who, under the distractions of calamity, 
 hangs doubtful about an event which so nearly 
 concerns him ; who, in the midst of doubts and 
 anxieties, approaching to that awful boundary 
 which separates this world from the next, shud- 
 der at the dark prospect before him, wishing to 
 exist after death, and yet afraid of that existence; 
 catching at every feeble hope which superstition 
 can afford him, and trembling in the same mo- 
 ment from reflection upon his crimes. — Blair. 
 
 There is, I know not how, in the midst of 
 men, a certain presage, as it were, of a future 
 existence, and this takes the deepest root and is 
 most discoverable in the greatest geniuses and 
 most exalted souls. — Cicero. 
 
 To treat a subject so interesting and moment- 
 ous with levity or indifference — to exert all the 
 energies of the soul in the pursuit of objects 
 which a few years at most will snatch forever 
 from their embrace, — and never to spend one 
 serious hour in reflecting on what may possibly 
 
330 . IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 succeed the present scene of existence, or in en- 
 deavoring to find some light to clear up the 
 doubts that may hang over this important inquiry, 
 and to treat with derision and scorn those who 
 would direct them in this serious investigation — 
 is not only foolish and preposterous, but the 
 height of infatuation and of madness. It is con- 
 trary to every principle on which reasonable men 
 act in relation to the affairs of the present world. 
 . — Thomas Dick. 
 
 Interesting as has been the past history of 
 our race, engrossing as must ever be the present 
 the future, more exciting still, mingles itself with 
 every thought and sentiment, and casts its beams 
 of hope, or its shadows of fear, over the stage 
 both of active and contemplative life. In youth 
 we scarcely descry it in the distance. To the 
 stripling and the man it appears and disappears 
 like a variable star, showing in painful succession 
 its spots of light and of shade. In age it looms 
 gigantic to the eye, full of chastened hope and 
 glorious anticipation ; and at the great transition, 
 when the outward eye is dim, the image of the 
 future is the last picture which is effaced from 
 the retina of the mind. — Sir David Brewster. 
 
 The cast of mind which is natural to a dis- 
 creet man makes him look forward into futurity, 
 and consider what will be his condition millions 
 of ages hence, as well as what it is at present. 
 He knows that the misery or happiness which 
 are reserved for him in another world lose 
 
PERSONALITY FOREVER. 331 
 
 nothing of their reality by being at so great dis- 
 tance from him. The objects do not appear lit- 
 tle to him because they are remote. He con- 
 siders that those pleasures and pains which lie 
 hid in eternity approach nearer to him every 
 moment, and will be present with him in their 
 full weight and measure, as much as those pains 
 and pleasures which he feels at this very in- 
 stant. For this reason he is careful to secure 
 to himself that which is the proper happiness 
 of his nature and the ultimate design of his 
 being. He carries his thoughts to the end of 
 every action, and considers the most distant as 
 well as the most immediate effects of it. He 
 supercedes every little prospect of gain and 
 advantage which offers itself here, if he does 
 not find it consistent with his views of an here- 
 after. In a word, his hopes are full of immor- 
 tality, his schemes are large and glorious, and 
 his conduct suitable to one who knows his true 
 interest and how to pursue it by proper meth- 
 ods. — Addison. 
 
 There is one question, which combines with 
 the interest of speculation and curiosity an in- 
 terest incomparably greater, nearer, more affect- 
 ing, more solemn. It is the simple question, — 
 "What Shall We Be?" How soon it is 
 spoken ! but who shall reply ? Think how pro- 
 foundly this question, this mystery, concerns us,— 
 and in comparison with this, what are to us all 
 questions of all sciences? What to us all re- 
 
332 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 searches into the constitution and laws of ma- 
 terial nature? What all investigations into the 
 history of past ages ? What to us the future 
 career of events in the progress of states and 
 empires? What to us what shall become of this 
 globe itself, or all the mundane system ? What 
 we shall be, we ourselves, is the matter of sur- 
 passing interest. — John Foster. 
 
 To take away rewards and punishments is 
 only pleasing to a man who resolves not to live 
 morally. — Dryden. 
 
 We are led to the belief of a future state,, 
 not only by the weaknesses, by the hopes and- 
 fears of human nature, but by the noblest and 
 best principles which belong to it, by the love of 
 virtue, and by the abhorrence of vice and in- 
 justice. — Adam Smith. 
 
 We carry the image of God in us, — a rational 
 and immortal soul, and though we be now miser- 
 able and feeble, yet we aspire after eternal hap- 
 piness, and finally expect a great exaltation of 
 all our natural powers. — Bentley. 
 

 
 
 
 ■► '■ .-' 
 
 : £lffMiMm 
 
 WBkWimXi 
 
 
 • - . 
 
 v Ik:; --/■' '^ * i^ ; ' 
 
 ^f^Ste - -- 
 
 "By and by, another sleep, 
 Angels watch and ward to keep. 
 By and by, from wakeful eyes, 
 Nothing of the old surprise ; 
 All pure dreams of earth fulfilled, 
 Every sense with gladness thrilled," 
 
SATISFIED. 333 
 
 I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. 
 
 — Psalm xvii. 15. 
 
 ^SLEEPING, waking, on we glide, 
 ^ Dreamful and unsatisfied, 
 
 In the heart a vague surprise 
 Master of the thoughtful eyes. 
 
 What though spring is in the air, 
 And the world is bright and fair ? 
 
 Something hidden from the sight 
 Dashes fulness of delight. 
 
 Soothed are we in duty done 
 And in something new begun, 
 
 Like a kissed and flattered child 
 To denial reconciled ; 
 
 Yet the something unattained 
 Keeps us like Prometheus chained. 
 
 Sleeping, waking, on we glide, 
 Dreamful and unsatisfied. 
 
 By and by another sleep, 
 Angels watch and ward to keep. 
 
334 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 By and by from wakeful eyes 
 Nothing of the old surprise, 
 
 All pure dreams of earth fulfilled, 
 Every sense with gladness thrilled. 
 
 Then are we, no more denied, 
 With Thy likeness satisfied. 
 
 It is impossible there should be much hap- 
 piness in this life; but there is great hope that 
 after death every person may obtain what he 
 most wishes for. This doctrine is not new, but 
 has been known both to Greeks and other na- 
 tions. . . . 
 
 The body is a prison, from which the soul 
 must be released before it can arrive at the 
 knowledge of things real and immutable. . . . 
 
 The soul of each of us is an immortal Spirit, 
 and goes to other immortals to give an account 
 of its actions. . . . 
 
 Can the soul be destroyed ? No. But if in 
 this present life it has shunned being governed 
 by the body, and has governed itself within it- 
 self, and has separated from the body in a pure 
 state, taking nothing sensual away with it, does 
 it not then depart to that which resembles it- 
 self, — to the invisible, the divine, the wise, the 
 immortal ? And on its arrival there, is it not 
 freed from errors, ignorance, fears, wild passions, 
 and all other human evils ? Does it not irk 
 
SATISFIED. 335 
 
 truth pass the rest of its existence with the 
 
 o-ods ? . . . 
 <_> 
 
 Those who have lived a holy life, when they 
 are freed from this earth, and set at large, as it 
 were from a prison, will arrive at a pure abode 
 above . . . habitations more beautiful than 
 it is easy to describe. — Plato. 
 
 The God of the Dead waits enthroned in im- 
 mortal light to welcome the good into His King- 
 dom of Joy ; to the homes He had gone to pre- 
 pare for them, where the One Being 'dwells be- 
 yond the Stars. — From the Hindu. 
 
 Is it a misfortune to pass from infancy to 
 youth? Still less can it be a misfortune to go 
 from this miserable life to that true life into 
 which we are introduced by death. Our first 
 changes are connected with the progressive de- 
 velopment of life. The new change which death 
 effects is only the passage to a more desirable 
 perfection. To complain of the necessity of dy- 
 ing is to accuse Nature of not having con- 
 demned us to perpetual infancy. — Gregory of 
 Nyssa. 
 
 Of what import this vacant sky, these purl- 
 ing elements, these insignificant lives, full of 
 selfish loves, and quarrels, an ennui ? Every- 
 thing is prospective, and man is to live here- 
 after. That the world is for his education is 
 the only sane solution of the enigma. All the 
 comfort I have found teaches me to confide 
 that I shall not have less in times and places 
 
336 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 that I do not yet know. I have known admir- 
 able persons, without feeling that they exhaust 
 the possibilities of virtue and talent. I have 
 seen glories of climate, of summer mornings and 
 evenings, of midnight sky; I have enjoyed the 
 benefits of all this complex machinery of arts 
 and civilization, and its results of comfort. The 
 Good Power can easily provide me millions 
 more as good. All I have seen teaches me to 
 trust the Creator for all I have not seen. What- 
 ever it be which the Great Providence prepares 
 for us, it must be something large and gener- 
 ous, and in the great style of His works. — 
 Emerson. 
 
 My body must descend to the place ordained, 
 but my soul will not descend: being a thing im- 
 mortal, it will ascend on high, where it will en- 
 ter a Heavenly abode. — Heraclitus. 
 
 We sometimes congratulate ourselves at the 
 moment of waking from a troubled dream : it 
 may be so after death. — Hawthorne. 
 
 Not by lamentations and mournful chants 
 ought we to celebrate the funeral of a good man 
 but by hymns; for in ceasing to be numbered 
 with mortals, he enters upon the heritage of a 
 divine life. — Plutarch. 
 
 Life is a state of embryo, — a preparation for 
 life. A man is not completely born until he has 
 passed through death. — Dr. Franklin. 
 
 This world is simply the threshhold of our vast 
 life; the first stepping-stone from nonentity into 
 
SATISFIED, 337 
 
 the boundless expanse of possibility. It is the 
 infant-school of the soul. The physical universe 
 spread out before us, and the spiritual trials and 
 mysteries of our discipline are simply our primer, 
 our grammar, our spelling-dictionary, to teach us 
 something of the language we are to use in our 
 maturity. — Starr King. 
 
 When we die we shall find we have not lost 
 our dreams : we have only lost our sleep. — 
 
 RlCHTER. 
 
 We go to the grave of a friend, saying, A 
 man is dead ; but angels throng about him, say- 
 ing, A man is born. — H. W. Beecher. 
 
 God is our Father. Heaven is His high 
 throne, and this earth is His footstool. While 
 we sit around, and meditate, or pray, one by 
 one, as we fall asleep, He lifts us into His 
 bosom, and our waking is inside the gates of an 
 everlasting world. — Mountford. 
 
 \% \vblh of lip jSjtIjtui' 
 
 God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. — i John l 5. 
 
 HE riddle of the Sphinx, 
 The ghost that will not down 
 
338 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Unto the man who only thinks, 
 The cross that has no crown. 
 
 The riddle of the Sphinx, 
 
 The mystery of life, 
 To him who loves, as well as thinks, 
 
 Rest after weary strife. 
 
 The riddle of the Sphinx 
 
 In Sacrifice and Love, 
 Like a falling star, forever sinks, 
 
 All beautiful above. 
 
 O riddle of the Sphinx, 
 
 Thou hast no place in Christ: 
 
 Who at the Living Fountain drinks 
 That water hath sufficed. 
 
 How true is that old fable of the sphinx who 
 sat by the wayside, propounding her riddle to the 
 passengers, which, if they could not answer, she 
 destroyed them ! Such a sphinx is this life of 
 ours to all men and societies of men. Nature, 
 like the sphinx, is of womanly celestial loveliness 
 and tenderness ; the face and bosom of a goddess, 
 but ending in claws and the body of a lioness. 
 There is in her a celestial beauty, which means 
 celestial order, pliancy to wisdom ; but there is 
 also a darkness, a ferocity, a fatality, which is in- 
 fernal. She is a goddess, but one not yet disim- 
 prisoned ; one still half imprisoned, — the inarticu- 
 late, lovely, still incased in the inarticulate, cha- 
 
THE RIDDLE OF TEE SPHINX. 339 
 
 otic. How true ! And does she not propound 
 her riddles to us ? Of each man she asks daily, 
 in a mild voice, yet with a terrible significance, 
 " Knowest thou the meaning of this day ? What 
 thou camt do to-day, wisely attempt to do." Nature, 
 universe, destiny, existence, howsoever we name 
 this great unnamable fact in the midst of which 
 we live and struggle, is as a heavenly bride and 
 conquest to the wise and brave, to them who can 
 discern her behests and do them ; a destroying 
 fiend to them who cannot. Answer her riddle, 
 it is well with thee. Answer it not, pass on re- 
 garding it not, it will answer itself: the solution 
 of it is a thing of teeth and claws. Nature is a 
 dumb lioness, deaf to thy pleadings, fiercely de- 
 vouring. — Carlyle. 
 
 Man has striven to bridge over the chasm 
 between his soul and God with theories contra- 
 dictory to the reason they profess to satisfy, and 
 false to the moral reason they desire to soothe; 
 but He who spake as never man spake does not 
 reason upon this subject ; He sees this great 
 gulf set ; He knows what its mouth has devoured 
 of earth's best nnd noblest: one thing most 
 precious of all remains, — He flings Himself into 
 it. . . . Human life is beset with contradic- 
 tions, at the solution of which we are but guess- 
 ers, until Christ solves the riddle that was too 
 hard for us, — bringing forth food and sweetness 
 from the very jaws of the devouring lion. "If 
 thou wouldst have me weep," said one of old, 
 
340 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 "thou must first weep thyself." God has wept, 
 in the strong- crying and the tears of the Son, in 
 the great drops of sweat, as it were blood falling 
 down to the ground, lies the witness to the tra- 
 vail of the Father's Soul. " Herein is love," con- 
 soling, rebuking love,— love that has no consola- 
 tion so strong as the rebuke it administers. 
 " Behold my hands and my feet ! " These testi- 
 fy to a necessity endured, an anguish shared. It 
 is our brother's blood that cries to us from the 
 ground: "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as 
 ye see me have ! " — Miss Greenwell. 
 
 Life is full of inscrutable facts which cannot 
 be made by us to fit into any moral standard of 
 ours. All that the moral judgment has a right 
 to say with regard to them is to refuse to be- 
 lieve any proposed interpretation of them which 
 makes God unrighteous on account of such facts, 
 and to wait patiently in full faith that a time will 
 come when we shall see these now inexplicable 
 facts to have been fully consistent with the most 
 perfect righteousness. And the same use which 
 we make of our moral judgment in regard to 
 the facts which meet us in life, we are bound to 
 make of it with regard to the doctrines of reve- 
 lation. We may not be able now to see moral 
 light through all of these, but we are to refuse 
 any interpretation of them which does violence to 
 the moral judgment. In both cases, however, we 
 have reason to expect that, to those who hon- 
 estly and humbly use the light th'ey have, more 
 
THE RIDDLE OF TEE SDH J NX. 34 J: 
 
 light will be given, — a growing insight into, or at. 
 least a trustful acquiescence in, facts which at 
 first were too dark and perplexing. There are 
 in this region two extremes, equally to be 
 shunned. One is theirs who in matters of re- 
 ligion begin by discrediting the natural light, — 
 by putting out the eye of conscience, — that they 
 may the more magnify the Heavenly light of 
 revelation, or rather their own interpretations 
 thereof. The other is seen in those who, en- 
 throning on the judgment-seat the first off-hand 
 findings of their own, and that perhaps no very 
 enlightened conscience, proceed to arraign before 
 this bar the statements of Scripture, and to re- 
 ject all which does not seem to square with the 
 verdicts of the self-erected tribunal. There is a 
 more excellent way than either, a way not de- 
 finable perhaps by criticism, but to be found by 
 spiritual wisdom. There are those who, loath to 
 do violence to the teachings either of Scripture 
 or of conscience, but patiently and reverently 
 comparing them together, find that the more 
 deeply they are pondered, the more they do, on 
 the whole, reflect light one on the other. To 
 such the words of Scripture, interpreted by the 
 experience of life, reveal things about their own 
 nature which once seemed incredible. And the 
 more they know of themselves and their own 
 needs, the more the words of Scripture seem to 
 enlarge their meaning to meet these. But as to 
 the large outlying region of the inexplicable that 
 
342 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 will still remain in the world, in man, and in 
 Holy writ, they can leave all this, in full confi- 
 dence that when the solution, soon or late, shall 
 come, it will be seen to be in profound harmony 
 with our highest sense of righteousness, and 
 with that word which declares that " God is 
 light, and in Him is no darkness at all." Such, 
 though not expressed in Coleridge's words, I 
 believe to be the spirit of his teaching. — J. C. 
 Shairp. 
 
 ^REAT Searcher of the troubled heart, 
 ^^ I bow before Thy Throne, 
 And pray Thee make my doubts depart 
 Till I am all Thine own. 
 
 Shine through the sky of my dark soul, 
 
 Bring from the night the day, 
 Until the clouds and darkness roll 
 
 Forevermore away. 
 
 O Thou, in whom I trust, believe, 
 
 Who am of sinners chief, 
 My heart's strong, wrestling prayer receive, 
 
 And help my unbelief. 
 
UNBELIEF. 
 
 The blindness which, for Thomas' sake, 
 
 Thou didst of old remove, 
 Do Thou from me in mercy take, 
 
 And melt my heart with love. 
 
 There is but one thing without honor ; smitten 
 with eternal barrenness, inability to do or to be, 
 — insincerity, unbelief. He who believes no thing, 
 who believes only the shows of things, is not in 
 relation with nature and fact at all. — Carlyle. 
 
 Infidelity gives nothing in return for what it 
 takes away. What, then, is it worth? Every- 
 thing to be valued has a compensating power. 
 Not a blade of grass that withers, or the ugliest 
 weed that is flung away to rot and die, but re- 
 produces something. Nothing in nature is bar- 
 ren. Therefore, everything that is or seems op- 
 posed to nature cannot be true ; it can only exist 
 in the shape that a diseased mind imparts to one 
 of its coinage, — a mass of base money that won't 
 pass current with any heart that loves truly, or 
 any head that thinks correctly. 
 
 And infidels are poor, sad creatures ; they 
 carry about them a load of dejection and desola- 
 tion, not the less heavy that it is invisible. It is 
 the fearful blindness of the soul. — Dr. Chalmers. 
 
 No living man is at heart an atheist. It is an 
 incompatible condition. It would require a vacu- 
 um in the soul, an utter impossibility. If the 
 desire is not filled with God, it must take up an 
 "ism;" something to pet, love, admire, and study. 
 
314 IDEALS Ob LIFE. 
 
 "To the unknown God " would apply to many in 
 the nineteenth century, if they would only open 
 their eyes. 
 
 How any scientific man can be an infidel is a 
 perfect wonder to me. For the more one studies 
 out the marvels of creation, the more he is per- 
 mitted to peep into the penetralia and behold the 
 arcana, the hidden treasures of God's works, the 
 more he looks at and never, never finds an error 
 in the plan of the universe, the more he beholds 
 the unceasing labors of the world — while half 
 sleep in darkness, the other half are toiling — a 
 heaven, some shrine beyond the reach of the tan- 
 gibility of science and analysis, is needed for the 
 soul to take the wings of the morning and fly to. 
 There is no limit to unselfish love. — S. W. Francis. 
 
 I would rather dwell in the dim fog of super- 
 stition than in air rarefied to nothing by the air- 
 pump of unbelief; in which the panting breast 
 expires, vainly and convulsively gasping for 
 breath. — Richter. 
 
 Unbelievers have not always been honest 
 enough thus to express their real feelings ; but 
 this we know concerning them, that when they 
 have renounced their birthright of hope, they have 
 not been able to divest themselves of fear. 
 From the nature of the human mind this might 
 be presumed, and in fact it is so. They may 
 deaden the heart and stupefy the conscience, but 
 they cannot destroy the imaginative faculty. — 
 
 SOUTHEY. 
 
vaueh the stars. 345 
 
 \$bn \\t $i«r* + 
 
 Solitude is the audience-chamber of God. — Landor. 
 
 ^ANISHED are all the wild ghosts of the air, 
 
 * Echo sends back not a wail of despair, 
 Even the forests their moaning forbear. 
 
 Peacefully slumbers the sorrowful world, 
 Like a tired angel whose pinions are furled, 
 All in the shadowy glory impearled. 
 
 Out of the deep of ethereal eyes 
 Wherein a fathomless mystery lies, 
 Beautiful Silence descendeth the skies. 
 
 Whispers she into the heart of the Earth 
 Dreams of which mortals perceive not the worth, 
 Calmly announcing Eternity's birth ; 
 
 While in the bath of her silvery sea 
 Christ in the heart of the faithful is free. 
 Telling of infinite glory to be. 
 
 Silence ! now time and Eternity meet 
 Silence ! my soul doth the Deity greet. ■ 
 Silence ! I marvel not death is so sweet ! — 
 
 Sweet to be called from the valley we plod, 
 Sweet to be freed from the darkness and clod, 
 Sweet to be hidden forever in God ! 
 
 23 
 
346 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 To go into solitude a man needs to retire as 
 much from his chamber as from society. I am 
 not solitary whilst I read and write, though no- 
 body is with me. But if a man would be alone, 
 let him look at the stars. The rays that come 
 from those heavenly worlds will separate be- 
 tween him and what he touches. One might 
 think the atmosphere was made transparent with 
 this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, 
 the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in 
 the streets of cities, how great they are ! If the 
 stars should appear one night in a thousand 
 years, how would men believe and adore ; and 
 preserve for many years the remembrance of the 
 city of God which had been shown ! But every 
 night come out these envoys of beauty, and light 
 the universe with their admonishing smile. — 
 Emerson. 
 
 The starry heaven, though it occurs so very 
 frequently to our view, never fails to excite an 
 idea of grandeur. This cannot be owing to the 
 stars themselves, separately considered. The 
 number is certainly the cause. The apparent dis- 
 order augments the grandeur, for the appearance 
 of care is highly contrary to our idea of magnifi- 
 cence. Besides, the stars lie in such apparent 
 confusion as makes it impossible on ordinary oc- 
 casions to reckon them. This gives them the 
 advantage of a sort of infinity. — Burke. 
 
 Look up, and behold the eternal fields of 
 light that lie round about the throne of God. 
 
UNDER THE STARS. 347 
 
 Had no star ever appeared in the heavens, to 
 man there would have been no heavens, and he 
 would have laid himself down to his last sleep in 
 a spirit of anguish, as upon a gloomy earth 
 vaulted over by a material arch, — solid and im- 
 pervious. — Carlyle. 
 
 It is a gentle and affectionate thought, that in 
 immeasurable height above us, at our first birth, 
 the wreath of love was woven with sparkling stars 
 for flowers. — Coleridge. 
 
 She raised her eyes to the bright stars, look- 
 ing down so mildly from the wide worlds of air ; 
 and, gazing on them, found new stars burst upon 
 her view ; and more beyond, and more beyond 
 again, until the whole great expanse sparkled 
 with shining spheres, rising higher and higher in 
 immeasurable space, eternal in their numbers as 
 in their changeless and incorruptible existence. 
 She bent over the calm river, and saw them 
 shining in the same majestic order as when the 
 dove beheld them gleaming through the swollen 
 waters, upon the mountain-tops down far below, 
 the dead mankind a million fathoms deep. — 
 Dickens. 
 
 When I gazed into these stars, have they not 
 looked down on me as if with pity from their 
 serene spaces, like eyes glistening with heavenly 
 tears over the little lot of man ! — Carlyle. 
 
.348 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 •Ip l[fotttqr& 
 
 $k 
 
 MYTH, that grew within the brain, 
 Relates that Eden's bowers 
 Did not, 'mid all their gifts, contain 
 The glory of the flowers ; 
 
 Because there were no opened eyes 
 
 To take that glory in, 
 The sweet and innocent surprise 
 
 Which looks rebuke to sin ; 
 
 For Love, and Innocence, and Truth, 
 There made their dwelling-place, 
 
 Than which fair three immortal Youth 
 Required no other grace. 
 
 But when, through sin, the happy seat 
 
 Was lost to wretched man, 
 Our Lord, redeeming love to meet, 
 
 Revealed His perfect plan : 
 
 The blessed flowers, unseen till now, 
 
 Shall deck the weary earth, 
 And, while men 'neath their burdens bow, 
 
 Remind them of their birth ; 
 
 And, with their vernal beauty rife, 
 
 To all the Gospel preach, 
 The Resurrection and the Life, 
 
 In sweet persuasive speech. 
 
THE FLOWERS. 349 
 
 How the universal heart of man blesses 
 (lowers ! They are wreathed round the cradle, 
 the marriage altar and the tomb. The Persian in 
 the far East delights in their perfume, and writes 
 his love in nosegays ; while the Indian child of 
 the far West claps his hands with glee as he 
 gathers the abundant blossoms, — the illuminated 
 Scriptures of the prairies. The Cupid of the an- 
 cient Hindoos tipped his arrows with flowers, and 
 orange-flowers are a bridal crown with us, — a 
 nation of yesterday. Flowers garlanded the Gre- 
 cian altar, and hung in votive wreath before the 
 Christian shrine. All these are appropriate uses. 
 Flowers should deck the brow of the youthful 
 bride, for they are in themselves a lovely type of 
 marriage. They should twine round the tomb, 
 for their perpetually renewed beauty is a symbol 
 of the resurrection. They should festoon the 
 altar, for their fragrance and their beauty ascend 
 in perpetual worship before the Most High. — 
 Mrs. L. M. Child. 
 
 Whence is this delicate scent in the rose and 
 violet? It is not from the root, — that smells of 
 nothing; not from the stalk, — that is as scentless 
 as the root; not from the earth whence it grows, 
 which contributes no more to these flowers than 
 to the grass that grows by them ; not from the 
 leaf, not from the bud, before it be disclosed, 
 which yields no more fragrance than the leaf, or 
 stalk, or root ; yet here I now find it : neither is 
 there any miraculous way but in the ordinary 
 
350 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 course of nature, for all violets and roses of this 
 kind yield the same redolence : it cannot be but 
 that it was potentially in that root and stem from 
 which the flowers proceed; and there placed and 
 thence drawn by the Almighty Power which hath 
 given those admirable virtues to several plants, 
 and induces them, in His due season, to those 
 excellent perfections. — Bishop Hall. 
 
 How beautiful and yet how cheap are flow- 
 ers ! Not exotics, but what are called common 
 flowers. A rose, for instance, is among the most 
 beautiful of the smiles of nature. The " laughing 
 flowers," exclaims the poet. But there is more 
 than gayety in blooming flowers, though it takes 
 a wise man to see the beauty, the love, and the 
 adaptation of which they are so full. 
 
 What would we think of one who had in- 
 vented flowers, supposing that, before him, flowers 
 were unknown? Would he not be regarded as 
 the opener-up of a paradise of new delight ? 
 Should we not hail the inventor as a genius, as 
 a god ? And yet these lovely offsprings of the 
 earth have been speaking to man from the first 
 dawn of his existence until now, telling him of 
 the goodness and wisdom of the Creative Power, 
 which bid the earth bring forth not only that 
 which was useful as food, but also flowers, the 
 bright consummate flowers, to clothe it in beauty 
 and joy ! 
 
 Bring one of the commonest field flowers into 
 a room, place it on a table, or chimney-piece,. 
 
THE FLOWERS. 351 
 
 and you seem to have brought a ray of sun- 
 shine into the place. There is a cheerfulness 
 about flowers. What a delight are they to the 
 drooping invalid ! They are a sweet enjoyment, 
 coming as messengers from the country, and 
 seeming to say, — "Come and see the place 
 where we grow, and let your heart be glad in 
 our presence." 
 
 What can be more innocent than flowers ? 
 They are like children undimmed by sin. They 
 are emblems of purity and truth, a source of 
 fresh delight- to the pure and innocent. The 
 heart that does not love flowers, or the voice of 
 a playful child, cannot be genial. It was a beau- 
 tiful conceit that invented a language of flowers, 
 by which lovers were enabled to express the feel- 
 ings that they dared not openly speak. But 
 flowers have a voice for all, — old and young, rich 
 and poor. " For me," says Wordsworth, 
 
 "The meanest flower that blows, can give 
 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." 
 
 — Smiles. 
 
852 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 H[»g£$ of Jim, 
 
 The wages of sin is death. — Romans vi. 23. 
 
 fTRUTH out of sight, 
 
 Falsehood crept in, 
 Wrong put for Right — 
 Wages of Sin. 
 
 Self become god, 
 
 Eager to win 
 All at its nod — 
 
 Wages of Sin. 
 
 Scorn of the Seer, 
 
 Vanity's grin, 
 Darkness grown dear — 
 
 Wages of Sin. 
 
 Trouble without, 
 Canker within, 
 
 Fear, Hate, and Doubt- 
 Wages of Sin. 
 
 What is to be, 
 All that has been 
 
 Shadows that flee — 
 Wages of Sin. 
 
 Loss of the soul, 
 Wrangle and din, 
 
 Tragedy's dole — 
 Wages of Sin. 
 
WAGES OF SIN. S53 
 
 Sin is not the possession of desires, but the 
 having them in uncontrolled ascendency over the 
 higher nature. Sinfulness does not consist in 
 having strong desires or passions. In the strong- 
 est and highest natures, all, including the desires, 
 is strong. Sin is not a real thing. It is rather 
 the absence of a something, the will to do right. 
 It is not a disease or taint, an actual substance 
 projected into the constitution. It is the absence 
 of the spirit which orders and harmonizes the 
 whole ; so that what we mean when we say the 
 natural man must sin inevitably is this, — that he 
 has strong natural appetites, and that he has no 
 bias from above to counteract those appetites : 
 exactly as if a ship were deserted by her crew, 
 and left on the bosom of the Atlantic with every 
 sail set and the wind blowing. No one forces 
 her to destruction ; yet on the rocks she will 
 surely go, just because there is no pilot at her 
 helm. Such is the state of ordinary men. Temp- 
 tation leads to fall. The gusts of instinct, which 
 rightly guided, would have carried safely into 
 port, dash them on the rocks. No one forces 
 them to sin ; but the spirit-pilot has left the helm. 
 Fallen Nature ! 
 
 Sin, therefore, is not in the appetites, but in 
 the absence of a controlling Will. — F. W. Rob- 
 ertson. 
 
 Perhaps few narratives in History or Myth- 
 ology are more significant than that Moslem one, 
 of Moses and the Dwellers by the Dead Sea. A 
 
354 IDEA LS OF LIFE. 
 
 tribe of men dwelt on the shores of that same 
 Asphaltic Lake ; and having forgotten, as we are 
 all too prone to do, the inner facts of Nature, 
 and taken up with the falsities and outer sem- 
 blances of it, were fallen into sad conditions, — 
 verging, indeed, toward a far deeper lake. 
 Whereupon it pleased kind Heaven to send them 
 the Prophet Moses, with an instructive word of 
 warning, out of which might have sprung 'reme- 
 dial measures ' not a few. But, no : the men 
 of the Dead Sea discovered, as the valet-species 
 always does in heroes or prophets, no comeli- 
 ness in Moses ; listened with real tedium to 
 Moses, with light grinning, or with splenetic 
 sniffs and sneers, affecting even to yawn ; and 
 signified, in short, that they found him a hum- 
 bug, and even a bore. Such was the candid 
 theory these men of the Asphalt Lake farmed 
 to themselves of Moses, that probably he was 
 a humbug, that certainly he was a bore. 
 
 Moses withdrew ; but Nature and her rigor- 
 ous veracities did not withdraw. The men of 
 the Dead Sea, when we next went to visit them, 
 were all " changed into Apes ; " sitting on trees 
 there, grinning now in the most z^affected man- 
 ner ; gibbering and chattering very genuine 
 nonsense ; finding the whole Universe now a 
 most indisputable Humbug ! The Universe had 
 become a Humbug to these Apes who thought it 
 was. There they sit and chatter, to this hour : 
 only, I believe, every Sabbath there returns to 
 
WAGES OF SIN. 355 
 
 them a bewildered half-consciousness, half-reminis- 
 cence ; and they sit, with their wizened, smoke- 
 dried visages, and such an air of supreme tran- 
 quility as Apes may ; looking out through those 
 blinking, smoke-bleared eyes of theirs, into the 
 wonderfulest universal smoke of Twilight and un- 
 decipherable disordered dusk of Things ; wholly 
 an Uncertainty, Unintelligibility, they and it; and 
 for commenting thereon, here and there an un- 
 musical chatter or mew : truest, tranquilist Hum- 
 bug conceivable by the mind of man or ape I 
 They made no use of their souls ; and so have 
 lost them. Their worship on the Sabbath now is 
 to roost there, with unmusical screeches ; and 
 half-remember that they have souls. 
 
 Didst thou never, O traveller, fall in with 
 portions of this tribe ? It seems they are grown 
 somewhat numerous in our day. — Carlyle. 
 
 He that falls into sin is a man ; that grieves 
 at it, may be a saint; that boasteth of it, is a 
 devil. — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 All crimes are indeed sins, but not all sins 
 crimes. A sin may be in the thought or secret- 
 purpose of a man, of which neither a judge, nor 
 a witness, nor any man, can take notice. — 
 Hobbes. 
 
 Use sin as it will use you ; spare it not, for 
 it will not spare you ; it is your murderer, and 
 the murderer of the world ; use it, therefore, as 
 a murderer should be used. Kill it before it 
 kills you; and though it kill your bodies, it 
 
356 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 shall not be able to kill your souls ; and though 
 •it bring you to the grave, as it did your Head, 
 it shall not be able to keep you there. — Baxter. 
 
 There is more bitterness following on sin's 
 ending than ever there was sweetness flowing 
 upon sin's acting. You that see nothing but well 
 in its commission will suffer nothing but woe in 
 its conclusion ; you that sin for your profits will 
 never profit by your sins. — J. Dyer. 
 
 Were the visage of sin seen at full light, un- 
 dressed and unpainted, it were impossible, while 
 it so appeared, that any one soul could be in 
 love with it, but would rather flee from it as 
 hideous and abominable. — Archbishop Leighton. 
 
 Sin and hedge-hogs are born without spikes, 
 but how they wound and prick after their birth 
 we all know. The most unhappy being is he 
 who feels remorse before the (sinful) deed, and 
 brings forth a sin already furnished with teeth in 
 its birth, the bite of which is soon prolonged 
 into an incurable wound of the conscience. — 
 
 RlCHTER. 
 
 Sin is to the soul like fire to combustible 
 matter: it assimilates before it destroys it. — 
 South. 
 
 Once upon the inclined road of error, and 
 there is no swiftness so tremendous as that with 
 which we dash down the plane, no insensibility 
 so obstinate as that which fastens on us through 
 the quick descent. The start once made, and 
 there is neither stopping nor waking until the 
 
WAGES OF SIN. 357 
 
 last and lowest depth is sounded. Our natural 
 fears and promptings become hushed with the 
 first impetus, and we are lost to everything but 
 the delusive tones of sin, which only cheat the 
 senses and make our misery harmonious. Fare- 
 well all opportunities of escape, — the strivings of 
 conscience, — the faithful whisperings of shame, 
 which served us even when we stood trembling 
 at the fatal point ! Farewell the holy power of 
 virtue, which made foul things look hideous, and 
 good things lovely, and kept a guard about our 
 hearts to welcome beauty and frighten off de- 
 formity ! Farewell integrity, — joy, — rest, — and 
 happiness ! — Melville. 
 
 The only disturber of men, of families, cities, 
 kingdoms, worlds, is sin : there is no such trou- 
 ble, no such traitor to any state, as the wilfully 
 wicked man ; no such enemy to the public as 
 the enemy of God. — Wogan. 
 
 For every sort of suffering there is sleep pro- 
 vided by a gracious Providence, save that of sin. 
 — Prof. Wilson. 
 
358 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 >mmi. 
 
 Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love 
 Him. — I Cor. xl 9. 
 
 W[Y SOUL, my soul, is Heaven 
 e^ Wherever God abides, 
 Up lofty stairs in number seven, 
 And many more besides ? 
 
 My soul, my soul, is Heaven 
 Where God in Christ is found, 
 
 That marvellously peaceful haven 
 Where all fair things abound? 
 
 My soul, my soul, is Heaven 
 Where Hate can never come, 
 
 And Love, beyond all thinking even, 
 In silence whispers, Home ? 
 
 My soul, my soul, is Heaven 
 
 Where rest is doing good, 
 And to the constant heart is given 
 
 The joy of Brotherhood ? 
 
 Are these the walls of Heaven ? 
 
 Are these what Truth is worth ? 
 Are these the four great Thoughts which 
 leaven 
 
 Eternal life on Earth ? 
 
HE A VEX. 359. 
 
 My soul replies that Heaven 
 Is to approach the Lord, 
 
 And, coming with no spirit craven, 
 To take Him at His word. 
 
 To acquaint ourselves with Christ is to be- 
 come acquainted with Heaven. It is to be able 
 to speak of it, as was said of a Saint of old, as 
 of a place where we have already been, and 
 from whence we have but returned upon an 
 errand. There is no other possession which has 
 been made our own with as much certainty, no 
 other place of which, vaguely as we allow our- 
 selves to speak of it, we really know so much. 
 If we, indeed, know little about Heaven, it is only 
 because we know little about God, and Jesus 
 Christ, in whom He is revealed; for this, the true 
 spiritual acquaintance with God, " is life eternal." 
 Little, it is true, has been made known to us of 
 the outward constitution of our future common- 
 wealth, much has been imparted to us of its in- 
 ward conditions, and this through experience, — 
 good things given instruct us in good things pre- 
 pared. Love that " prepares " Many Mansions 
 for us, prepares us for what we shall find in 
 them. We are so ignorant of the Divine econ- 
 omy which regulates our everlasting habitations, 
 that the mere attempt to guess at what will be 
 there our probable habits, pursuits and occupa- 
 tions, involves us in a thousand difficulties and 
 contradictions ; and yet, while we know not how 
 
3G0 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 we shall then live, we know in kind, if not in 
 degree, how we shall then feel. Here, while the 
 form and outline are strange to us, the imperish- 
 able essence is familiar: we cannot define either 
 die shape or color of this, God's glorious Rose ; 
 we only know it through its fragrance, unfolding 
 in the regenerate soul of man. We cannot paint 
 this flower, yet love, and peace, and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost convey w T ithin our hearts a subtle 
 sense of its odor, and instruct us in the highest 
 secrets of Heaven. — Miss Greenwell. 
 
 Where the soul hath the full measure and 
 complement of happiness ; where the boundless 
 appetite of that spirit remains completely satis- 
 fied, that it can neither desire addition nor alter- 
 ation ; that, I think, is truly heaven : and this 
 can only be in the enjoyment of that essence 
 whose infinite goodness is able to terminate the 
 desires of itself, and the unsatiable wishes of 
 ours : wherever God will thus manifest Himself 
 there is heaven, though within the circle of this 
 visible world. Thus the soul of man may be in 
 heaven anywhere, even within the limits of his 
 own proper body. — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 Some real lives do, — for certain days or 
 years, — actually anticipate the happiness of 
 heaven ; and I believe if such perfect happiness 
 is once felt by good people (to the wicked it 
 never comes) its sweet effect is never wholly 
 lost. Whatever trials follow, whatever pains of 
 sickness or shades of death, the glory preced- 
 
HEA VEN. 361 
 
 ent still shines through, cheering the keen an- 
 guish and tinging the deep cloud. — Charlotte 
 Bronte. 
 
 Perfect purity, — fullness of joy, — everlasting 
 freedom, — perfect rest, — health and fruition, — com- 
 plete security, — substantial and eternal good. — - 
 Hannah Moore. 
 
 Our souls, piercing through the impurity of 
 flesh, behold the highest heavens, and thence 
 bring knowledge to contemplate the everduring 
 glory and termless joy. — Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 All things of the Hereafter have their begin- 
 ning here. The Christly germ, fed by grace and 
 truth, unfolds and grows and grows amid the 
 suns and storms of earth, and its blossom is a 
 present Heaven, its fruit — the Heaven to come ; 
 or, neglected and hidden amid the cold impurity 
 of sin, it withers and withers until its blackness- 
 is a present hell, prophetic of the hell to follow. 
 " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man the things which 
 God hath prepared for them that love Him." 
 Reader, thy imagination needs no help to draw* 
 
 the counterpart of this picture. , 
 
 24 
 
*62 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 \c/WHICH has beginning here, 
 ' N( ^ x ^ Confusion dark, invisible, 
 Loveless, foreboding fear. 
 
 Where God is less and less, 
 Until the soul is left to dwell 
 In utter loneliness. 
 
 The state from God apart, 
 The poisonous damp of death's deep well, 
 The vileness of the heart. 
 
 Where sinners find their own, 
 The judgment only they can tell, 
 Self to a viper grown. 
 
 Which lasts as long as sin, 
 The outer darkness terrible 
 To all that are therein. 
 
 After a service in a place where the peo- 
 ple had been a good deal bewildered by a self- 
 ordained preacher, who accepted only so much 
 of the Bible as suited his whims, and who was 
 wont to make merry over the idea of future 
 punishment, a man stepped up to me and said, 
 in a canting voice : 
 
 " Bishop, do you believe in a hell ? " 
 
HELL. 363 
 
 I said, "Are you anxious to know what I 
 think of hell ? " 
 
 "Yes," said he. 
 
 "Well," said I, "the best answer I have ever 
 heard came from a poor negro woman. She 
 had a young niece, who sorely tried the poor 
 soul. The more she struggled to keep this will- 
 ful charge in the right way, the more she 
 seemed to wander. One day, after hearing a 
 new preacher, the niece came bounding into the 
 room, and said : 
 
 "Aunty, I ain't gwine to believe in a hell 
 no more." If dar is any hell I jest wants to 
 know whar dey gets all dere brimstone for dat 
 place ; dat's what I would like to know." 
 
 The old woman fixed her eyes on her, and 
 with a tear on her cheek, said : 
 
 "Ah, honey darlin', you look out you don't 
 go dare, for you'll find dey all takes der own 
 brimstone wid 'em." 
 
 I then said, " Is there any other question in 
 theology you would like to ask ? " 
 
 "No," said he. 
 
 And he went home, 1 hope with a new idea 
 that sin brings sorrow, and that to be saved 
 we need deliverance from sin. Some men carry 
 "their own brimstone," even in this world. — 
 Bishop Whipple. 
 
 The heart of a man is the place the devil 
 dwells in: I feel sometimes a hell within my- 
 self: Lucifer keeps his court in my breast 
 
364 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Legion is revived in me. There are as many 
 hells as Anaxarchus conceited worlds. There 
 was more than one hell in Magdalene, when 
 there were seven devils, for every devil is an 
 hell unto himself; he holds enough of torture 
 in his own ubi, and needs not the misery of 
 circumstance to afflict him. And thus a distracted 
 conscience here is a shadow or introduction into 
 hell hereafter. — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 The fear of hell may indeed in some desperate 
 cases, like the moxa, give the first rouse from a 
 moral lethargy, or, like the green venom of cop- 
 per, by evacuating poison or a dead load from 
 the inner man, prepare it for nobler ministrations 
 and medicines from the realm of light and life, 
 that nourish while they stimulate. — Coleridge. 
 
 If shame, superadded to loss, and both met 
 together, as the sinner's portion here, perfectly 
 prefiguring the two saddest ingredients in hell, 
 — deprivation of the blissful vision, and confu- 
 sion of face, — cannot prove efficacious to the 
 mortifying of vice, the church doth give over 
 the patient. — Hammond. 
 
 Many might go to Heaven with half the labor 
 they go to hell, if they would venture their in- 
 dustry the right way. — Ben Johnson. 
 
THE DIV1JSE LAW. 365 
 
 WIp Jimtta Jmuu 
 
 He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption . 
 ■but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life ever- 
 lasting. — Galatians VI. 8. 
 
 fgEAVEN and Hell are dated here 
 m>h>* Q n parchment of the free - born will : 
 Judgment at last will make it clear, 
 The mighty law of good and ill. 
 
 The Light of Love and Truth Divine, 
 The glory of the Saviour's blood, 
 
 Can make the darkest spirit shine, 
 And work us everlasting good. 
 
 The false and evil that we cherish, 
 Engrafting in our souls the bane, 
 
 Will not, when time is ended, perish, 
 Never bewildering again. 
 
 Prophets as thick as human lives, 
 And with one burden evermore, 
 
 Proclaim that character survives, 
 On reaching the Eternal shore ; 
 
 And that to everything beyond 
 In that far land to which we go, 
 
 Something of earth doth correspond, 
 To hint what is for us to know. 
 
3GG IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 O sin - deluded ears and eyes, 
 Not to perceive Eternity 
 
 Is everywhere beneath the skies, 
 Earth's only great reality! 
 
 Man's actions here are of infinite moment to 
 him, and never die or end at all ; man, with 
 his little life, reaches upward high as Heaven, 
 downward low as Hell, and in his threescore 
 years of Time holds an Eternity fearfully and 
 wonderfully hidden. — Carlyle. 
 
 Reader, even Christian Reader as thy title 
 goes, hast thou any notion of Heaven and Hell ?' 
 I rather apprehend not! Often as the words 
 are on our tongue they have got a fabulous 
 or semi-fabulous character for most of us, and 
 pass on like a kind of transient similitude, like 
 a sound signifying little. 
 
 Yet it is well worth while for us to know r 
 once and always, that they are not a similitude,, 
 nor a semi-fable ; that they are an everlasting, 
 highest Fact ! " No Lake of Sicilian or other 
 sulphur burns now anywhere in these ages," 
 sayest thou ? Well, if there did not ! Believe 
 that there does not; believe it if thou wilt, nay, 
 hold by it as a real increase, a rise to higher 
 stages, to wider horizons and empires. All this 
 has vanished or has not vanished : believe as 
 thou wilt as to all this. But that an Infinite of 
 Practical Importance, speaking with strict mathe- 
 matical exactness, an Infijiite has vanished or can 
 
THE DIVINE LAW. 367 
 
 vanish from the life of any man: this thou shalt 
 not believe ! O brother, the Infinite of Terror, 
 of Hope, of Pity, did not at any moment disclose 
 itself to thee, indubitable, unnameable ? Came 
 it never like the gleam of /r^rnatural eternal 
 Oceans, like the voice of old Eternities, far 
 sounding through thy hearts of hearts ? Never ? 
 Alas, it was not thy Liberalism, then ; it was thy 
 Animalism! The Infinite is more sure than any 
 other fact. But only men can discern it ; mere 
 building beavers, spinning arachnes, much more 
 predatory vulturous and vulpine species, do not 
 discern it well i — Carlyle. 
 
 Of law there can be no less acknowledged 
 than that ■her seat is the bosom of God, her 
 voice the harmony of the world. All things in 
 heaven and earth do her homage, — the very least 
 as feeling her care, the greatest as not exempted 
 from her power : both angels and men and crea- 
 tures, of what condition soever, though each in 
 different sort and manner, yet all with uniform 
 consent, admiring her as the mother of their 
 peace and joy. — Hooker. 
 
 Law is immutable, universal, perfect. The 
 harvest it brought from certain conditions yester- 
 day, it brings to-day, it will bring to-morrow y 
 from like conditions. u Be not deceived ! God is 
 not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth, that 
 shall he also reap ; for he that soweth to his 
 flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption : but he 
 that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap 
 life everlasting." -. 
 
£68 IDLALS OF LIFE. 
 
 mtjjmiitm. 
 
 ?)RAY thou, and in thy confidence adore Him, 
 * Lord, Thy will be done . 
 The vapor of the world will flee before Him 
 Like mist before the sun. 
 
 And thou shalt have the sight of Truth Eternal, 
 
 As beautiful as light, 
 Until thy withered life again is vernal 
 
 And hid from every blight. 
 
 For, hid with Christ in God, how can it wither 
 
 In darkness any more ? 
 Oh, count it safe ! — until thou goest whither 
 
 The Lord has gone before ; 
 
 And think, as oft as thou shalt see affliction, 
 
 An angel in disguise 
 Upon thy head has dropped a benediction, 
 
 A flower from Paradise. 
 
 Shall I rage, fret, and accuse Providence of 
 injustice ? No : let me rather lament that I do 
 not what is always right ; what depends not on 
 the fortuitous changes of this world, nor the 
 blind sport of fortune, but remains unalterably 
 fixed in. the mind ; untouched, though this shat- 
 
RESIGNATION. 369 
 
 tered globe shall fall in pieces, and bury us in 
 the ruins. Though I do not lead a virtuous life, 
 let it show me how I am, and of myself how 
 weak ; how far from an independent being ; given 
 as a sheep into the hands of the great Shepherd 
 of all, on whom let us cast all our cares, for He 
 careth for us. — Burke. 
 
 A man is right and invincible, virtuous and 
 on the road towards sure conquest, precisely 
 while he joins himself to the great, deep law of 
 the world, in spite of all superficial laws, tempor- 
 ary appearances, profit - and - loss calculation ; — he 
 is victorious while he co-operates with that great 
 central law — not victorious otherwise : and surely 
 his first chance of co-operating with it, or getting 
 into the course of it, is to know with his own 
 soul that it is — that it is good, and alone good. 
 This is the soul of Islam ; it is properly the soul 
 of Christianity ; for Islam is definable as a con- 
 fused form of Christianity : had Christianity not 
 been, neither had it been. Christianity also com- 
 mands us, before all, to be resigned to God. 
 We are to take no counsel with flesh and blood ; 
 give ear to no vain cavils, vain sorrows and 
 wishes ; to know that we know nothing ; that 
 the worst and cruellest to our eyes is not what 
 it seems ; that we have to receive whatsoever 
 befalls us as sent from God above, and say, " It 
 is good and wise— God is great ! Though He 
 slay me, yet will I trust in Him. Islam means 
 in its way denial of self, — annihilation of self. 
 
370 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 This is yet the highest wisdom that Heaven has 
 revealed to our earth. — Carlyle. 
 
 True resignation, which always brings with it 
 the confidence that unchangeable goodness will 
 make even the disappointment of our hopes and 
 the contradictions of life conducive to some bene- 
 fit, casts a grave but tranquil light over the 
 prospect of even a toilsome and troubled life. — 
 Humboldt. 
 
 We must learn to suffer what we cannot 
 evade. Our life, like the harmony of the world, 
 is composed of contrary things, of several notes, 
 sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, sprightly and sol- 
 emn ; and the musician who should only affect 
 one of these, what would he be able to do ? He 
 must know how to make use of them all, and to 
 mix them ; and we, likewise, the goods and evils 
 which are consubstantial with life : our being can- 
 not subsist without this mixture, and the one are 
 no less necessary to it than the other. — Mon- 
 taigne. 
 
 A man can even here be with God, so long 
 as he bears God within him. We should be able 
 to see without sadness our most holy wishes fade 
 like sunflowers, because the sun above us still 
 forever beams, eternally makes new, and cares for 
 all ; and a man must not so much prepare himself 
 for eternity as plant eternity in himself: eternity, 
 serene, pure, full of depth, full of light, and of all 
 else. — Richter. 
 
LIFE. 371 
 
 IFE supernal, fair and vernal, 
 Is the glory of the story, — 
 Via Cruets via Lucis : * 
 
 Dawns in beauty born of duty; 
 Joins thereafter Heaven's laughter, — 
 Via Cruris via Lucis : 
 
 Finds probation tribulation ; 
 Onward presses and confesses, — 
 Via Cruris via Lucis : 
 
 Bursts the fetter of the letter; 
 Reckons sorrow joy to-morrow, — 
 Via Cruris via Lucis: 
 
 To the Master in disaster 
 
 Bravely clinging, journeys singing, — 
 
 Via Cruris via Lucis: 
 
 Ranges crownward, never downward, 
 Always loving, always proving, — 
 Via Cruris via Lucis : 
 
 Dips forever from the River 
 Everlasting, still forecasting, — 
 Via Cruris via Lucis; 
 
 The way of the Cross the way of Light. 
 
372 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And presages all the ages 
 
 In the sweetness of completeness, — 
 
 Via Cruris via Lucis. 
 
 There is a beautiful river, whose source is in 
 perennial springs hidden from human eyes, 
 Rains from heaven fall into it, over rocky bar- 
 riers, with musical gurgling, like the gushing 
 voice of blackbirds in the springtime ; and the 
 water, as it rolls down, waves upward its incense 
 of mist, which the sun kisses, and welcomes with 
 a smile of rainbows. The river that receive the 
 gentle cascade is broad and deep, and in some 
 places so calm and clear that flowers on the 
 banks nod to themselves in its mirror. 
 
 But, as the stream travels on, the loose soil 
 through which it passes mingles with the trans- 
 lucent water and renders it turbid and discolored. 
 Still, those who are far from the source, if they 
 thirst for pure water, can obtain it by filtering 
 out the dregs ; or if their vessel has been filled 
 with muddy water by other hands, the sediments 
 will sink to the bottom, if they quietly leave the 
 water to the operation of its own laws : and 
 thus they will be supplied with clean and whole- 
 some drink. 
 
 In the long course of the stream, trees fall 
 into it in some places, and form snags which in- 
 terrupt the free flow of the waters, and impede 
 the progress of those who are coming up from 
 below and trying to ascend to the source. Still 
 
£"-* 37a 
 
 further down are stagnant pools, where alligators, 
 resembling harmless logs, lie in wait, ready to 
 devour whoever seeks to drink or bathe. 
 
 But the worst of all is a strange hallucination 
 which siezes upon many who come to obtain 
 water for their own use. They bring vessels of 
 all sizes ; some as large as a barrel, others no 
 bigger than a thimble. But whether the vessels 
 be large or small, each one, when he has filled 
 his own, declares that he has the whole river in 
 his possession, and that no other can have a drop 
 of it unless it be obtained from his vessel. And 
 not only does each one. consider himself sole 
 proprietor of the river, but he also assumes that 
 the river is exactly in the shape of his particular 
 Vessel. If that is globular, he says the river is 
 orb-shaped; if his vessel is a barrel, he declares 
 the river to be long and circular ; if he scoops 
 up a little of it with a clam-shell he insists that 
 its only form is that of a clam-shell ; even so 
 slight a variation as the attempt to dip with an 
 oyster-shell gives rise to contention. So excited 
 do all these become that each pelts the other 
 with stones, to maintain for their respective ves- 
 sels the exclusive monopoly of the river. Some- 
 times a philosopher comes along, and says: "Do 
 you not perceive, friends, that water takes the 
 form of whatever it is put into ? And that each 
 of you has only a small portion of the mighty 
 river, in vessels of such shape and dimensions as 
 you brought to it?" 
 
374 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Then they all unite to throw stones at the 
 philosopher; and while they are thus occupied, 
 alligators lie in wait, slyly to seize some of the 
 angry combatants. 
 
 But far away from the discordant noise of 
 hurling stones, the mighty river, fed by perennial 
 springs, flows calmly on, with gentle lapsing 
 music; furnishing pure drink to the thirsty, and 
 health to those who bathe in its deep waters. — 
 Mrs. L. M. Child. 
 
 Life bears us on like the stream of a mighty 
 river. Our boat at first glides down the narrow 
 channel through the playful murmurings of the 
 little brook, and the winding of the grassy bor- 
 ders. The trees shed their blossoms over our 
 young heads, the flowers on the brink seem to 
 offer themselves to our young hands ; we are 
 happy in hope, and we grasp eagerly at the 
 beauties around us ; but the stream hurries us 
 on, and still our hands are empty. Our course 
 in youth and manhood is along a wilder and 
 deeper flood, amid objects more striking and 
 magnificent. We are animated at the moving 
 pictures of enjoyment and industry passing 
 around us. We are excited at some short-lived 
 disappointment. The stream bears us on, and 
 our joys and griefs are alike left behind us. We 
 may be shipwrecked, — we cannot be delayed ; 
 whether rough or smooth, the river hastens to 
 its home, till the roar of the ocean is in our 
 ears, and the tossing of the waves is beneath our 
 
LIFE. 375 
 
 feet, and the land lessens from our eyes, and the 
 floods are lifted up around us, and we take our 
 leave of earth and its inhabitants, until of our 
 further voyage there is no witness save the 
 Infinite and Eternal. — Bishop Heber. 
 
 Life appears to me too short to be spent in 
 nursing animosity or registering wrongs. We are, 
 and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in 
 this world; but the time will come when, I trust, 
 we shall put them off in putting off our corrupt- 
 ible bodies : when debasement and sin will fall 
 from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and 
 only the spark will remain, — the impalpable prin- 
 ciple of life and thought, pure as when it left the 
 Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came, 
 it will return, perhaps to pass through gradations 
 of glory, — from the pale human soul to brighten 
 to the seraph. . . . It is a creed in which I 
 delight, to which I cling. It makes eternity a 
 rest, a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. 
 Besides, with this creed, revenge never worries 
 my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts 
 me, injustice never crushes me too low : I live 
 in calm, looking to the end. — Charlotte Bronte. 
 
 It is to live twice when you can enjoy the 
 recollection of your former life. — Martial. 
 
 God proves us in this life, that He may the 
 more plenteously reward us in the next. — Wake. 
 
 Christian life consists in faith and charity. — 
 Luther. 
 
376 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 <P 
 
 Having; made known unto us the mystery of His will, according; to 
 His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the 
 dispensation of the fulness of times He might»gather together in one all 
 things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth; 
 even in Him. — Eph. i. 9, 10. 
 
 HE flower unfolded by the sun, 
 The transient beauty of a day, 
 Tells out the bloom of Heaven to one, 
 And to another Earth's decay. 
 
 The mountain kissed by sun and storm 
 Proclaims the message of the sky, 
 
 And, down beneath its mighty form, 
 Sobs in Destruction's muffled cry. 
 
 There is no lot, there is no life, 
 
 Or be it high, or be it low, 
 That does not share the groan and strife, 
 
 The marvel of our weal and woe. 
 
 The fairest things that fill the eye 
 Are postured in a mournful light ; 
 
 And all their beauty seems to die 
 To one who has too near a sight. 
 
 Oh, all the language of the earth, 
 
 In every syllable twofold, 
 Utters the new eternal birth 
 
 And sighs o'er something growing old.. 
 
in one. 377 
 
 And must it be forever so, 
 
 This mockery of wretched man, 
 
 All things like phantoms come and go, 
 And hint no satisfying plan ? 
 
 Vexed with the double speech below, 
 
 I task the Holy, Perfect One, 
 Who in the ages long ago 
 
 Life's grand, eternal triumph won. 
 
 Vexed with the double speech below, 
 I turn and hear the Heavenly Voice, 
 
 God, God in Christ whom all may know, 
 And, soothed at last, rejoice, rejoice. 
 
 For lo ! the darkness turns to light, 
 
 Lit by the glory of the Cross ; 
 For self therein is out of sight, 
 
 And Gain remembers not the loss. 
 
 And bathed in Love's Eternity, 
 
 All things will feel their travail done, 
 
 And, like the rivers in the sea, 
 Be gathered up at last in One. 
 
 The redemption of Man carries in its train 
 the redemption of Nature. There is the picture 
 set before us in the book of Genesis, of some- 
 thing like the fall of Nature, when Man by trans- 
 gression fell. Eden vanished ; Earth became a 
 wilderness, Man became a pilgrim, his life became 
 a march through the hungry, wasteful desert, 
 
 25 
 
378 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 while his Paradise regained lay awaiting him be- 
 yond the river of death. This is the poetic pic- 
 ture of the Scripture ; and the study of the con- 
 ditions of the life of Man and of the Creation, 
 sustains the idea which lies behind it, that the 
 sphere which surrounds Man, the whole world 
 system which serves as the theatre of his life, is 
 :set, so to speak, to the pitch of his spiritual na- 
 ture. As he has fallen into captivity to evil, it is 
 in bondage to corruption ; as he rises through 
 Redemption to regain his lost inheritance, the 
 Creation, too, is in process of being redeemed. . 
 . . groaneth and travaileth in sympathy. Like 
 Man, it is subject to vanity, it is full of discord, 
 battle, and suffering, not that it may seem more 
 homelike to the transgressor, but that it may 
 help the process by which he is being saved. 
 The day will come when man's redemption shall 
 be complete ; when every knee shall bow, and 
 every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is 
 Lord ; when peace shall reign through right- 
 eousness in the wide human commonwealth, and 
 sorrow and sighing shall be banished forever 
 from the experience of the race. And then shall 
 Man find himself face to face with a new, a 
 fairer, a more blessed Creation ; a new Heaven 
 and a new earth shall be the theatre for " the 
 manifestation of the sons of God." — J. Baldwin 
 Brown. 
 
 And what is the breadth of Christ's Cross? 
 My friends, it is as broad as the whole world ; 
 
W ONE. 379 
 
 for He died for the whole worm, as it is written, 
 *' He is a propitiation, not for our sins only, but 
 for the sins of the whole world ; " and again, 
 <l God willeth that none should perish ; " and 
 again, "As by the offense, judgment came on all 
 men to condemnation, even so by the righteous- 
 ness of one, the gift came upon all men to justi- 
 fication of life." 
 
 And that is the breadth of Christ's Cross. 
 
 And what is the length of Christ's Cross ? 
 The length thereof, says an old father, signifies 
 the time during which its virtue will last. 
 
 How long, then, is . the Cross of Christ? 
 Long enough to last through all time. As long 
 as there is a sinner to be saved ; as long as 
 there is ignorance, sorrow, pain, death, or any- 
 thing else which is contrary to God and hurtful 
 to man in the universe of God, so long will 
 Christ's Cross last. For it is written, He must 
 reign till He hath put all enemies under His 
 feet; and God is all in all. 
 
 And that is the length of the Cross of Christ 
 
 And how high is Christ's Cross ? As high 
 as the highest heaven, and the throne of God, 
 and the bosom of the Father, — that bosom out 
 of which forever proceeds all created things. 
 Ay, as high as the highest heaven ; for, — if you 
 will receive it, — when Christ hung upon the 
 Cross, heaven came down to earth, and earth 
 ascended into heaven. Christ never showed forth 
 His Father's glory so perfectly as when, hanging 
 
380 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 upon the Cross, He cried in His death agony, 
 " Father, forgive them for they know not what 
 they do." Those words showed the true height 
 of the Cross ; and caused St. John to know that 
 his vision was true, and no dream, when he saw 
 afterwards in the midst of the throne a lamb as 
 it had been slain. 
 
 And this is the height of the Cross of Christ. 
 
 And how deep is the Cross of Christ? This 
 is a great mystery, and one which people in 
 these days are afraid to look at; and darken it 
 of their own will, because they will neither be- 
 lieve their Bible, nor the voice of their own 
 hearts. 
 
 But if the Cross of Christ be as high as 
 heaven, then, it seems to me, it must also be as 
 deep as hell, deep enough to reach the deepest 
 sinner in the deepest pit to which he may fall. 
 We know that He preached to the spirits in 
 prison. We know that it is written,- "As in 
 Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive." We know that when the wicked man 
 turns from his wickedness, and does that which 
 is lawful and right, he will save his soul alive. 
 We know that in the very same chapter God 
 tells us that his ways are not unequal — that 
 He has not one law for one man, and another 
 for another, or one law for one year and an- 
 other for another. It is possible, therefore, that He 
 has not one law for this life, and another for the life 
 to come. Let us hope, then, that David's words 
 
IN ONE. 381 
 
 may be true, after all, when speaking by the 
 Spirit of God, he says, not only " If I ascend 
 up to heaven, Thou art there," but " if I go down 
 to hell, Thou art there also ; " and let us hope 
 that that is the depth of the Cross of Christ. 
 
 At all events, my friends, let us believe that 
 we shall find St.' Paul's words true, when he says 
 that Christ's love passes knowledge ; and there- 
 fore that we shall find this also ; that however 
 broad we may think Christ's Cross, it is broader 
 still. However long, it is longer still. However 
 high, it is higher still. However deep, it is deeper 
 still. Yes, we shall find that St. Paul spoke sol- 
 emn truth when he said, that Christ had ascended 
 on high that He might fill all things ; that 
 Christ filled all in all ; and that He must reign 
 till the day when He shall give up the Kingdom 
 to God, even the Father, that God may be all 
 in all. — Charles Kingsley. 
 
 God, who at sundry times and in divers man- 
 ners spake in time past unto the fathers by the 
 prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us 
 
 by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all 
 things, by whom also He made the worlds ; who 
 
 being the brightness of His glory, and the ex- 
 press image of His person, and upholding all 
 things by the word of His power, when He had 
 by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high; being made 
 so much better than the angels, as He hath by 
 inheritance obtained a more excellent name than 
 they. — Hebrews i. 1-4. 
 
382 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And what is the exceeding greatness of His 
 power to us-ward who believe, according to the 
 working of His mighty power, which He wrought 
 in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, 
 and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly 
 places, far above all principality, and power, and 
 might, and dominion, and every name that is 
 named, not only in this world, but also in that 
 which is to come : and hath put all things under 
 His feet and gave Him to be the head over all 
 things to the church, which is His body, the ful- 
 ness of Him that filleth all in all. — Ephesians i: 
 19-23. 
 
 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, 
 and given Him a name which is above every 
 name : that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things under the earth ; and that 
 every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is 
 Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philip- 
 pi ANS II. 9-I I. 
 
Wmi Sixth 
 
S*v-&»*' 
 
 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, 
 where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. — Colossians in. 7. 
 
 Not because I raise myself above something, but because I raise my- 
 self to something do I approve myself. — Jacobi. 
 
 A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make beauty attract- 
 ive, knowledge delightful, and wit good-natured. It will lighten sickness, 
 poverty and affliction, convert ignorance into an amiable simplicity, and 
 render deformity itself agreeable. — Audison. 
 
 There is always a spot in our sunshine; it is the shadow of our- 
 selves. — Carlyle. 
 
 Honor and profit do not always lie in the same sack. 
 
 — George Herbert. 
 
 He that reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires and fears, 
 is more than a king. — Milton. 
 
 (384) 
 
ilp JjfeaitM yknl 
 
 The Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valley. 
 
 — Song of Solomon ti. 9. 
 
 iF all the wonderful plants that grow 
 On mountain, in forest and field, 
 There are verily none of which I know 
 
 Whose generous blossoms yield 
 One -half the fragrance, one -half so sweet, 
 As the Beautiful Plant that I daily meet. 
 
 It blooms the first in the vernal time, 
 
 And gay at the coming of June ; 
 It ever outlives the Summer's prime : 
 
 And when the Autumn - winds tune 
 Their organs to play the dirge of death, 
 It scorneth and shunneth their blasting breath. 
 
 When Nature at length is in burial array, 
 Her children all gone to the tomb, 
 
 Will it ever know that wickedest day 
 When it shall be out of its bloom ? 
 
 Oh, no ; for every to - morrow doth bring 
 
 To my Beautiful Plant the return of Spring. 
 
 (385) 
 
386 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 It drinketh the wine from the cup of morn, 
 
 And trembles with rare delight; 
 And the loving stars at even born 
 
 Look down from their homes of light, 
 And unto my heart forever say, 
 Thou hast the beauty that lives for aye. 
 
 And when I go forth to the strife of the world, 
 
 And join the hurry and din, 
 With banners of light in my soul unfurled, 
 
 I forget not that all are kin, 
 Throughout the one great household of God, 
 Awake on earth or asleep in the sod. 
 
 The present, the past, and the future are mine, 
 
 And I am no longer my own : 
 All things I behold in the light divine, 
 
 Where nothing is ever alone, 
 And beauty flows forth unto eager eyes, 
 Surveying the earth or piercing the skies. 
 
 In the world's isolation I cannot move, 
 
 When I catch the glory of all 
 That is meant by Universal Love, 
 
 To push from the heart the wall 
 Which is builded of hate and fear and doubt. 
 And fences immortal companions out. 
 
 My Beautiful Plant a-through my heart 
 
 Diffuses such glory and cheer, 
 I would never more from the garden depart 
 
 Where it blossoms through all the year, 
 
NOONING. 
 
THE BEAUTIFUL PLANT. 387 
 
 And daily, I think, becomes more fair, 
 Receiving the kisses of purer air. 
 
 Oh who does not nourish so holy a thing 
 
 Is the poorest and vilest of all ! 
 Though he live unchallenged a very king, 
 
 And a world respond to his call. 
 Ah, such, I fear, when the earth is behind, 
 The garden immortal will never find ; 
 
 For this plant is akin to the Tree of Life, 
 
 Blossoming under its shade, 
 And serving to sweeten the toil and strife 
 
 Which the Tempter for us has made, 
 Until at last we climb by its power, 
 So high as to pluck the heavenly dower. 
 
 And then in truth of such wondrous worth, 
 
 Its roots so deep in the soul, 
 That when we are weary and done with the 
 earth, 
 
 It will go with us over the goal ; 
 And there, at length, in its native clime, 
 It will reach with its kindred a growth sublime. 
 
 In the meanest thing of every day, no man 
 liveth, no man dieth unto himself, so inwrapt and 
 interfolded are human destinies in the continual 
 action and reaction that goes on through life.. 
 And if it is thus with the outward course of 
 things, dealing with what is material and secular,. 
 how rru:h more so in that great unseen order 
 
388 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 where finer things are touched to surer issues, 
 the spiritual life of man ! The Christian is one 
 who in work and life and prayer " strengthens 
 himself" for the sake of many; he belongs con- 
 sciously to a kingdom in which there is nothing 
 unrelated. 
 
 And a time comes to the soul when individ- 
 ualism becomes cramping, narrowing; when we 
 feel conscious that we cannot breathe and move 
 freely, either in work or prayer, except through 
 the universal organic whole 
 
 What is Christianity itself, but living to the 
 whole instead of living to the part ? It gives the 
 heart Christ instead of itself for its spring and 
 centre ; it says unto it, " Behold the Man ; " not 
 Paul now, nor Apollos, not even Jesus Christ 
 Himself as a man ; if we have known Him as 
 such in a merely personal relation, we know Him 
 as such no more, but as the great High-Priest 
 standing before God in the place of humanity s 
 whose sins, whose griefs and burdens, He has 
 taken upon Himself, first-born among many breth- 
 ren. Ecce Homo / The earliest impression I ever 
 received of Christ was from a colored engraving 
 with these words beneath it; I remember dis- 
 tinctly the place where it used to hang; the 
 crown of thorns, the bleeding forehead, the kind 
 and sorrowful countenance. I remember, as a 
 very little child, asking what the two Latin words 
 meant; how long have I been in learning their 
 full meaning? — Miss Greenwell. 
 
THE BEAUTIFUL PLANT. 389 
 
 Doubtless the memory of each one of us 
 will furnish him with the picture of some member 
 of a family whose very presence seemed to shed 
 happiness: — a daughter, perhaps, whose light 
 step, even in the distance, irradiated every one's 
 countenance. What was the secret of such a 
 one's power? What had she done? Absolutely 
 nothing; but radiant smiles, beaming good humor, 
 the tact of divining what every one felt and 
 every one wanted, told that she had got out of 
 self, and learned to think for others ; so that at 
 one time it showed itself in deprecating the quar- 
 rel, which lowering brows and raised tones 
 already showed to be impending, by sweet words; 
 at another, by smoothing an invalid's pillow ; at 
 another, by soothing a sobbing child ; at another, 
 by humoring and softening a father who had re- 
 turned weary and ill-tempered from the irritating 
 cares of business. None but she saw those 
 things. None but a loving heart could see them. 
 That was the secret of her heavenly power. 
 Call you those things homely trifles? By refer- 
 ence to the character of Christ they rise into 
 something quite sublime. For that is loving as 
 He loved. And these trifles prepare for larger 
 deeds. The one who will in trial be found capa- 
 ble of great acts of love, is ever the one who is 
 always doing considerate small ones. The Soul 
 which poured itself out to death upon the Cross 
 for the human race, was the Spirit of Him who 
 thought of the wants of the people, contrived 
 for the rest of the disciples, and was thoughtful 
 for a mother. — F. W. Robertson. 
 
■ 3U0 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 mv 
 
 allpdjjtrofc* 
 
 Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
 
 — St. Mark xvi. 15. 
 
 ¥T HEAR, I hear the voices 
 ^ Of those heroic ones 
 Through whose undying- greatness 
 
 One endless purpose runs : 
 I feel their exaltation, 
 
 Those levers of the world, 
 And know their mission holdeth 
 
 Till Time his wings hath furled. 
 
 Oh, in the deathless glory 
 
 Of those who lived of yore, 
 The hero, saint, and martyr, 
 
 I range forevermore, 
 With joyful heart and thankful, 
 
 So much of love it sees, 
 For what the Lord hath given 
 
 In His dear witnesses. 
 
 But chief of all the voices 
 
 That fall on human ears, 
 Is that which groweth clearer 
 
 Through all the lapse of years, 
 The Master's Great Commission, 
 
 His word of boundless range, 
 Which travels through the ages, 
 
 Unheeding time or change. 
 
BROTHERHOOD. 391 
 
 O Master, Helper, Saviour, 
 
 I see Thee as to - day 
 Go up the Mount of Olives, 
 
 Upon Thy homeward way, 
 About to show the nations 
 
 The wonder that was hid, 
 The headstone of the corner 
 
 Of God's Great Pyramid. 
 
 And while expectant angels 
 
 A bright, triumphal train, 
 Are gathering to herald 
 
 Their Lord to Heaven again, 
 Thy little band and feeble 
 
 I see around Thee there, 
 The chosen ones and faithful 
 
 Of all Thy loving care. 
 
 Like meek and patient heroes 
 
 Who heed God's bugle - call, 
 Comes it at night or morning, 
 
 Be it to rise or fall, 
 Those humble ones and loving, 
 
 All having ears to hear, 
 Now hear a voice that lifts them 
 
 To wondrous atmosphere. 
 
 It is Thy last commandment, 
 Thy word of boundless range, 
 
 Which travels through the ages, 
 Not heeding time or change: 
 
392 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Which places every hearer 
 
 A servant in the van, 
 And consecrates forever 
 
 The Brotherhood of Man. 
 
 A bold and great commission 
 
 Intrusted now to them, 
 A higher charge and nobler 
 
 Than royal diadem ! 
 A dear and precious treasure 
 
 In earthen vessels here, 
 Preserved for us in mercy 
 
 Through many a wasting year! 
 
 A treasure universal 
 
 For all the sons of men, 
 Till Thou at length in glory 
 
 Shalt come to earth again ! 
 O tidings good and joyful ! 
 
 O sweet and blessed sound, 
 Borne on by patient heralds 
 
 In all the world around ! 
 
 Dear Master, Helper, Saviour, 
 
 Thy messengers are still 
 Abroad in every nation, 
 
 To work Thy blessed will : 
 The breath of heaven breathing,. 
 
 Salvation still they bear: 
 Their feet upon the mountains, 
 
 Like Thine, are very fair. 
 
BROTHERHOOD. 393 
 
 Alike in cloud and sunshine, 
 
 As steady as a star 
 Which treads its pathway yonder, 
 
 Their lives and labors are. 
 Alike in shame and triumph, 
 
 They look away beyond 
 Earth's evanescent evil 
 
 And never once despond. 
 
 For God, they know, in wisdom^ 
 
 Sends both the good and ill, 
 And with no selfish murmur 
 
 They bide His sovereign will. 
 Be theirs the fate of Stephen, 
 
 Or that of loving John, 
 Their works are known in heaven, 
 
 And live forever on. 
 
 For chief of all the voices 
 
 That fall on human ears, 
 Is that which groweth clearer 
 
 Through all the lapse of years? 
 Which ranges every hearer 
 
 A servant in the van, 
 And consecrates forever 
 
 The Brotherhood of Man. 
 
 • 
 
 It happened, once on a time, as men went to 
 and fro in the world, who were interested in the 
 arts, that they discovered, at different periods, 
 and hidden away in many countries, portions, it 
 
 26 
 
394 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 seemed, of exquisite statues, — a foot, an arm, a 
 torso, a broken hand. Something superb in 
 each of these made men recognize them at 
 once as perfect. Each nation cherished their 
 separate piece as an ideal of art; each drifted 
 into a thousand suspicions as to the author and 
 his intention ; each completed the statue from 
 conjecture, according to their own ability. At 
 last, owing to the decay of the nations, and to 
 the rise of one upon their ruins, all the sev- 
 eral pieces were collected in one museum. 
 They were still considered as belonging to sep- 
 arate nations and periods of art. Dissertations 
 were written and lectures were delivered upon 
 them ; the ideal completions which each nation 
 had made of their several pieces were placed 
 beside them, and the completions studied with 
 infinite criticism. 
 
 One day, however, when the artist world were 
 collected in the museum, a man whom no one 
 knew entered, and slowly went from room to 
 room examining the famous remnants one after 
 another, but passing by the completions of each 
 with some indifference. At last he approached the 
 group of artists : ' Sirs,' he said, ' I have exam- 
 ined your famous pieces of sculpture, and their 
 ideal restorations. The restorations are interest- 
 ing as examples of art at different periods, but 
 worthless as a foundation for any true ideal. 
 But, did it never strike you that all your pieces 
 are of the same time and by the same hand, and 
 
BROTHERHOOD. 395 
 
 that you have but to bring them together out of 
 their several rooms and unite them? Your ideal 
 statue is among you, and you know it not ! 
 When he had thus spoken, many laughed and 
 some mocked, but a few were found to listen ; 
 the greater part, however, as the stranger grew 
 more earnest, became indignant — for what would 
 become of their art theories if he were right ? 
 — and drove him out of the museum with igno- 
 miny. But the few sought him out, and it is said 
 that they entered the building by night and 
 brought together the remnants, the stranger su- 
 perintending, and found it even as he had said. 
 They saw the statue grow, piece by piece, into 
 unity, but at the end the head was wanting. " A 
 great cry of pity arose ■ — ' What ! ' they wept, 
 1 shall we never see the ideal realized ? ' But the 
 stranger, as they wept, drew from beneath his 
 cloak the head, and crowned the statue with com- 
 pleteness. And as he did so, he passed away 
 and was seen no more. But the perfect thing 
 remained — the pure ideal of divine art, fully real- 
 ized at last. Then those few give up their the- 
 ories, and their delight in the separate remnants 
 and their restorations, and went abroad, taking 
 with them the perfect thing, to preach a new 
 kingdom of art ; and when men asked them to 
 define and theorize art, they stept aside, and un- 
 veiling the statue, said, " Look and see ; this is 
 Art. If you can receive it, you, too, will become 
 artists. This is all our definition, this is all our 
 
3DG IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 theory.' And some believed and others did not, 
 but slowly the new ideal won its way, till it grew 
 to be the rule and the model of the greater 
 part of the artist world. 
 
 Of what took place at the museum when the 
 mockers found their pieces gone — of how they 
 fought against the possessors of the statue, and 
 denied that it had anything to do with their lost 
 remnants ; of how they made counterfeits of 
 these remnants, and clung to their ancient resto- 
 rations as the true ideals — I need not tell ; nor 
 yet of a more pitiable thing — of how in after- 
 times the followers of the true ideal made false 
 copies of it, modifying it, and introducing their 
 own ideas into it, and held up these, and not 
 the perfect statue, for the imitation and aspira- 
 tion of the world of art. Are not these things 
 written in history ? But again and again, the one 
 effort of all true artists since has been to bring 
 back men to the contemplation of that single 
 figure. 
 
 This parable illustrates what I have been say- 
 ing. The scattered truths of the world were 
 truths from God. Men wove diverse religions 
 round the diverse truths. At last Christ came, 
 and did not reject ; but brought together in 
 Himself the previous truths — made them for the 
 first time fit into one another, so that each took 
 its place ; and then crowned them with the 
 completing and new truth — the truth of the 
 Divine Man. — Stopford A. Brooke. 
 
BROTHERHOOD. 397 
 
 It is not life to live for one's self alone. 
 Let us help one another. — Menander. 
 
 I am a man, and nothing that concerns human 
 beings is indifferent to me. — Terence. 
 
 The universe is but one great city, full of 
 beloved ones, divine and human, by nature en- 
 deared to each other. — Epictetus. 
 
 Give bread to a stranger, in the name of the 
 universal brotherhood which binds all men to- 
 gether, under the common Father of Nature. — 
 Quintillian. 
 
 To love and serve all men is to delight in 
 God. — Mencius. 
 
 My doctrine makes no distinction between 
 high and low, rich and poor. It is like water 
 which washes and purifies all alike. It is like 
 the sky, for it has room for all ; for men and 
 women, boys and girls, rich and poor. — From 
 the Hindu. 
 
 God, who creates and inspires men, willed 
 that they should be equal. He made them all 
 capable of wisdom ; He imposed the same laws 
 upon all ; and He has promised immortality to 
 all. As He furnished good for all, and gives the 
 sweet repose of sleep to all, so does He give 
 capacity for virtue to all. With Him, no one is 
 a slave, and no one is a master. He is the 
 Father of all, and we are all, by equal right, His 
 children. — Lactantius. 
 
 The human heart is like heaven : the more 
 angels, the more room.— Frederika Bremer. 
 
398 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 I prefer my family to myself; my country to 
 my family; and the human race to my country. 
 — Fenelon. 
 
 There are some races more cultured and ad- 
 vanced than others : more ennobled by education. 
 But there are no races more noble than others. 
 All are equally destined for freedom. — Alexan- 
 der von Humboldt. 
 
 God hath made of one blood all nations of 
 men to dwell on the face of the earth . . . 
 that they should seek the Lord, if haply they 
 might feel after Him and find Him, though He 
 be not far from every one of us ; for in Him 
 we live, and move, and have our being. — Acts 
 xvii. 26, 27, 28. 
 
 Jtlojtttttip* 
 
 It comes, if it comes at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from 
 the earth. — Daniel Webster. 
 
 o-T?HIS, this is eloquence, 
 *** The language of the heart, 
 That native source of excellence 
 Above the realm of art. 
 
 This, this is eloquence, 
 
 To beat a falsehood down, 
 
ELOQUENCE. 399 
 
 Too brave to think of consequence, 
 And give to Truth the crown. 
 
 This, this is eloquence, 
 
 The cairn sincerity, 
 Which is its own sure evidence, 
 
 Of manly charity. 
 
 This, this is eloquence, 
 
 To set the erring right, 
 Who through the tears of penitence 
 
 Go struggling into light. 
 
 And this is eloquence, 
 
 The power of sacrifice, 
 That everlasting influence 
 
 Which reaches to the skies. 
 
 Eloquence is the language of nature, and can- 
 not be learnt in the schools : the passions are 
 powerful pleaders, and this very silence, like that 
 of Garrick, goes directly to the soul. — Colton. 
 
 In whom does it not enkindle passion ? Its 
 matchless excellence is applicable everywhere, in 
 all classes of life. The rich and the poor ex- 
 perience the effects of its magic influence. It 
 excites the soldier to the charge and animates 
 him to the conflict. The miser it teaches to 
 weep over his error, and to despise the de- 
 grading betrayer of his peace. It convicts the 
 infidel of his depravity, dispels the cloud that 
 obscures his mind, and leaves it pure and ele- 
 
400 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 vated. The guilty are living monuments of its 
 exertion, and the innocent hail it as the vindi- 
 cator of their violated rights and the preserver 
 of their sacred reputation. How often in the 
 courts of justice does the prisoner behold his 
 arms unshackled, his character freed from sus- 
 picion, and his future left open before him with 
 all its hopes of honors, station, and dignity ! 
 And how often, in the halls of legislation, does 
 Eloquence unmask corruption, expose intrigue, 
 and overthrow tyranny! In the cause of mercy 
 it is omnipotent. It is bold in the conscious- 
 ness of its superiority, fearless and unyielding 
 in the purity of its motives. All opposition it 
 destroys ; all power it defies. — Melvill. 
 
 Great is the power of eloquence ; but never 
 is it so great as when it pleads alone with 
 nature, and the culprit is a child strayed from 
 his duty, and returned to it again with tears. 
 — Sterne. 
 
 3J4?AME, which men desire, 
 °^ Great men and mighty in creative toil, 
 Does not become a self-consuming tire, 
 To burn in vain life's oil ; 
 
FAME. 401 
 
 But a fiery purge 
 And secret goad, bestowed by Providence, 
 To make them braver, better men, and urge 
 
 Them on to excellence. 
 
 Naught but excellence, 
 Their hearts so teach, has any right to live ; 
 And hence they toil so terribly, and hence 
 
 To Art their lives they give. 
 
 Comforted through her, 
 The virgin mate of excellence alone, 
 They feel the pulse of Fame their bosoms stir, — 
 
 That flower which must be blown. 
 
 They are comforted, — 
 The immortelle yet unproclaimed their own; 
 For Fame is sweet, — Fame after one is dead, 
 
 In toilful life unknown. 
 
 God be praised for Fame, 
 The shining of His sweet munificence, 
 Till all find Him, in striving for a name, 
 
 The only Excellence. 
 
 The advocates for the love of fame allege in 
 its vindication that it is a passion natural and 
 universal ; a flame lighted by heaven, and always 
 burning with greatest vigor in the most enlarged 
 and elevated minds : that the desire of being 
 praised by posterity implies a resolution to de- 
 serve their praises, and that the folly charged 
 
402 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 upon it is only a noble and disinterested gener- 
 osity, which is not felt, and therefore not under- 
 stood, by those who have been always accustomed 
 to refer everything to themselves, and whose self- 
 ishness has contracted their understandings: that 
 the soul of man, formed for eternal life, naturally 
 springs forward beyond the limits of corporeal 
 existence, and rejoices to consider herself as co- 
 operating with future ages, and as co-extended 
 with endless duration : that the reproach urged 
 with so much petulance, the reproach of laboring 
 for what cannot be enjoyed, is founded on an 
 opinion which may with great probability be 
 doubted ; for since we suppose the powers of the 
 soul to be enlarged by its separation, why should 
 we conclude that its knowledge of sublunary 
 transactions is contracted or extinguished? — Dr. 
 Johnson. 
 
 I cannot believe that any man, who deserved 
 fame, ever labored for it, that is, directly. For 
 as fame is but the contingent of excellence, it 
 would be like the attempt to project a shadow 
 before its substance was obtained. Many, how- 
 ever, have so fancied : " I write, I paint, for 
 fame," has often been repeated ; it should have 
 been, " I write, I paint, for reputation." All anx- 
 iety, therefore, about Fame should be placed to 
 the account of reputation. — Washington Allston. 
 
 How constantly has mortification accompanied 
 triumph ! with what secret sorrow has that praise 
 been received from strangers denied to us by 
 
FAME. 403 
 
 our friends ! Nothing astonishes me more than 
 the envy which attends literary fame, and the 
 unkindly depreciation which waits upon the writer. 
 Of every species of fame it is the most ideal and 
 apart : it would seem to interfere with no one. 
 It is bought by a life of labor; generally, also, of 
 seclusion and privation. It asks its honors only 
 from all that is most touching and most elevated 
 in humanity. What is the reward that it craves? 
 — to lighten many a solitary hour, and to spir- 
 itualize a world that were else too material. 
 What is the requital that the Athenians of the 
 earth give to those who have struggled through 
 the stormy water, and the dark night, for their 
 applause ? — Both reproach and scorn. If the au- 
 thor have — and why should he be exempt from? 
 — the faults of his kind, with what greedy readi- 
 ness are they seized upon and exaggerated ! 
 How ready is the sneer against his weakness or 
 his error ! What hours of feverish misery have 
 been passed, what bitter tears have been shed, 
 over the unjust censure and the personal sar- 
 casm ! The imaginative feel such wrong far 
 beyond what those of less sensitive temperament 
 can dream. — L. E. Landon. 
 
404 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Jasiors* 
 
 SBASTORS with Christ's own sandals shod, 
 ^ To make the world more fair, 
 Like Abraham, the Friend of God, 
 Go forth, not knowing where. 
 
 Workers together with the Lord, 
 
 They labor at their best, 
 Forever faithful to His Word, 
 
 And that alone is rest. 
 
 Like Judah's Lion, firm they stand 
 
 In their appointed place, 
 And, like the Lamb through all the land, 
 
 They carry grace for grace. 
 
 O all ye people, pray for them 
 
 Who choose a servant's part, 
 And ye shall be their diadem, 
 
 And God shall be their heart. 
 
 Recollect for your encouragement the reward 
 that awaits the faithful minister. Such is the mys- 
 terious condescension of divine grace, that though 
 it reserves to itself the exclusive honor of being 
 the fountain of all, yet, by the employment of 
 human agency in the completion of its designs, it 
 contrives to multiply its gifts, and to lay a foun- 
 
PASTOBS. 405. 
 
 dation for eternal rewards. When the church, in 
 the perfection of beauty, shall be presented to 
 Christ as a bride adorned for her husband, the 
 faithful pastor will appear as the friend of the 
 bridegroom, who greatly rejoices because of the 
 bridegroom 's voice. His joy will be the joy of his 
 Lord, — inferior in degree, but of the same nature, 
 and arising from the same sources : while he will 
 have the peculiar happiness of reflecting that he 
 has- contributed to it, contributed, as an humble 
 instrument, to that glory and felicity of which he 
 will be conscious he is utterly unworthy to par- 
 take. To have been himself the object of mercy, 
 to have been the means. of imparting it to others, 
 and of dispensing the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ, will produce a pleasure which can never 
 be adequately felt or understood until we see 
 Him as He is. — Robert Hall. 
 
 There is nothing noble in a clergyman but 
 burning zeal for the salvation of souls ; nor any- 
 thing poor in his profession but idleness and 
 worldly spirit. — Law. 
 
 God is the fountain of honor, and the conduit 
 by which He conveys it to the sons of men are 
 virtues and generous practices. Some, indeed, 
 may please and promise themselves high mat- 
 ters from full revenues, stately palaces, court in- 
 terests, and great dependences. But that which 
 makes the clergy glorious, is to be knowing in 
 their profession, unspotted in their lives, active 
 and laborious in their charges, bold and reso- 
 
406 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 lute in opposing seducers, though never so potent 
 and illustrious ; and, lastly, to be gentle, courte- 
 ous, and compassionate to all. These are our 
 robes and our maces, our escutcheons and highest 
 titles of honor. — South. 
 
 :mi 
 
 , Y Saviour, when I think of Thee, 
 e> ^ And all Thou didst for love of me, 
 I cry for grace, that I may know 
 How I Thy love may others show. 
 
 For this, O Lord, is mine to do, 
 And to my work I would be true, 
 To lead Thine erring ones to see 
 Thou lovest them as well as me. 
 
 Do Thou in this my efforts aid, 
 And with Thy love my soul pervade, 
 Until a guiding flame it burn, 
 And wandering ones to Thee return. 
 
 Do Thou in this my labor bless, 
 And many unto righteousness 
 Shall I at length, O Lord, incline, 
 And as the stars forever shine. 
 
ZEAL. #fl . 
 
 The only true zeal is that which is guid^c* by 
 a good light in the head, and that which consists 
 of eood and innocent affections in the heart. — 
 Sprat. 
 
 To have co-operated in any degree towards 
 the accomplishment of that purpose of the Deity 
 to reconcile all things to Himself by reducing 
 them to the obedience of His Son, which is the 
 ultimate end of all His works, — to be the means 
 of recovering though it were but an inconsider- 
 able portion of a lapsed and degenerate race to 
 eternal happiness, will yield a satisfaction exactly 
 commensurate to the force of our benevolent sen- 
 timents and the degree of our loyal attachment to 
 the Supreme Potentate. The consequences in- 
 volved in saving a soul from death, and hiding 
 a rmdtitude of sins> will be duly appreciated in 
 that world where the worth of souls and the 
 malignity of sin are fully understood ; while to 
 extend the triumphs of the Redeemer, by forming 
 Him in the hearts of men, will produce a trans- 
 port which can only be equalled by the gratitude 
 and love we shall feel towards the Source of All 
 Good. — Robert Hall. 
 
 When I think, after the experience of one life, 
 what I could and would do m an amended edition 
 of it; what i could and would do, more and bet- 
 ter than I have done, for the cause of humanity, 
 of temperance, and of peace , for breaking the 
 rod of the oppressor ; for the higher education 
 of the world, and especially for the higher educa- 
 
408 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 tion of the best part of it, — woman : when I think 
 of these things, I feel the Phoenix - spirit glowing 
 within me ; I pant, I yearn, for another warfare 
 in behalf of right, in hostility to wrong, where, 
 without furlough, and without going into winter - 
 quarters, I would enlist for another fifty years' 
 campaign, and fight it out for the glory of God 
 and the welfare of man. — Horace Mann. 
 
 No man is fervent and zealous as he ought, 
 but he that prefers religion before business, char- 
 ity before his own ease, the relief of his brother 
 before money, Heaven before secular regards, 
 and God before his friend or interest. Which 
 rule is not to be understood absolutely, and in 
 particular instances, but always generally ; and 
 when it descends to particulars, it must be in 
 proportion to circumstances, and by their proper 
 measures. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 G2S5©2£O^D- 
 
 3falur% 
 
 THE GOLDEN BOUGH. 
 
 OOK up, my soul, the heavens are blue 
 The Golden Bough is always there ; 
 
NATURE. 409) 
 
 And One there is forever true, — 
 Tis thou that art both foul and fair 
 
 Thy sins, the clouds that are so black ! 
 
 Find out the One and they will flee, 
 No more to hide His face come back ; 
 
 And then all beauty thou shalt see. 
 
 To thee kind Nature ever sings, 
 Forever chants some gentle song 
 
 To tell thee of the King of kings, 
 To whom alone thou dost belong. 
 
 She dandles thee upon her knee, 
 
 This mother of all things below, 
 And frowns and smiles to fashion thee 
 
 Till thou thy other Parent know. 
 
 The Golden Bough her token is 
 
 That thou hast pierced her mystery, 
 
 And found the dear perennial bliss, — 
 The bliss of immortality. 
 
 Look up, my soul, the heavens are blue^ 
 The Golden bough is always there> 
 
 And One who is forever true 
 
 Bestows that Bough on all the fair. 
 
 It is strange to observe the callousness of 
 some men, before whom all the glories of 
 heaven and earth pass in daily succession with- 
 out touching their hearts, elevating their fancy, 
 
 27 
 
410 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 or leaving any durable remembrance. Even of 
 those who pretend to sensibility, how many are 
 there to whom the lustre of the rising or the 
 setting sun, the sparkling concave of the mid- 
 night sky, the mountain forest tossing and rear- 
 ing to the storm, or warbling with all the mel- 
 odies of a summer evening ; the sweet inter- 
 change of hill and dale, shade and sunshine, 
 grove, lawn, and water, which an extensive land- 
 scape offers to the view ; the scenery of the 
 ocean, so lovely, so majestic, and so tremendous, 
 and the many pleasing varieties of the animal 
 and vegetable kingdoms, could never afford so 
 much real satisfaction as the steam and noise of 
 a ball - room, the insipid fiddling and squeaking 
 of an opera, or the vexations and wranglings of 
 a card - table. — Beattie. 
 
 There is a religion in everything around us — 
 a calm and holy religion in the unbreathing 
 things of nature, which man would do well to 
 imitate. It is a meek and blessed influence, 
 stealing in, as it were, unawares upon the heart ; 
 it comes quietly, and without excitement ; it has 
 no terror, no gloom, in its approaches ; it does 
 not rouse up the passions ; it is untrammelled by 
 the creeds, and unshadowed by the superstitions 
 of man ; it is fresh from the hands of its Author, 
 glowing from the immediate presence of the 
 Great Spirit, which pervades and quickens it ; it 
 is written on the arched sky ; it looks out from 
 every star ; it is on the sailing cloud and in the 
 
NATURE. 411 
 
 invisible wind ; it is among the hills and valleys 
 of the earth, where the shrubless mountain - top 
 pierces the thin atmosphere of eternal winter, or 
 where the mighty forest fluctuates before the 
 strong wind with its dark waves of green foliage; 
 it is spread out, like a legible language, upon 
 the broad face of the unsleeping ocean ; it is the 
 poetry of nature ; it is this which uplifts the 
 spirit within us until it is strong enough to over- 
 look the shadows of our place of probation ; 
 which breaks, link after link, the chain that 
 binds us to materiality ; and which opens to our 
 imagination a world of spiritual beauty and holi- 
 ness. — Ruskin. 
 
 As a countenance is made beautiful by the 
 soul's shining through it, so the world is beautiful 
 by the shining through it of God. — Jacobi. 
 
 How this magnificent temple of Nature exalts 
 and enlarges the human soul ! The holy silence 
 of night is spread around us ; above our heads, 
 the bright celestial luminaries are suspended, like ' 
 lamps ; on one side is some lingering shimmer of 
 the evening red ; on the other, the moon softly 
 rises up from behind the shadows of the forest. 
 At such moments the soul is deeply impressed 
 with the beauty and the nothingness of earth. 
 What refreshment God has provided for us on 
 this star, with sun and moon, those two fair 
 lights of heaven, alternately conducting us 
 through life ! Yet how low, and small, and van- 
 ishing is the speck of earth, compared with the 
 
412 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 measureless splendor and glory of suns, stars, 
 and worlds ! Oh, how grand is the dwelling in 
 which the Creator has placed me ! How fair by 
 night and by day! That uttermost star lights 
 me on my way; the harmony of all the stars, 
 the music of spiritual ideas and relations, accom- 
 panies me through the whole of life's course. — 
 Herder. 
 
 I am ; and lately I was not. But whence ? 
 How ? Whereto ? The answer lies around, writ- 
 ten in all colors and motions; uttered in all tones 
 of jubilee and wail; in thousand -figured, thou- 
 sand - voiced, harmonious Nature ! But where is 
 the cunning eye and ear, to whom that God - 
 written apocalypse will yield articulate meaning ? 
 Creation lies before us, like a glorious rainbow ; 
 but the sun that made it lies behind us, is hidden 
 from us. — Carlyle. 
 
 Nature never deceives you : the rocks, the 
 mountains, the streams, always speak the same 
 language ; a shower of snow may hide the ver- 
 dant woods in spring, a thunder-storm may ren- 
 der the blue, limpid streams foul and turbulent ; 
 but these effects are rare and transient ; in a few 
 hours, or at most in a few days, all the sources 
 of beauty are renovated. And nature affords no 
 continued trains of misfortunes and miseries, such 
 as depend upon the constitution of humanity ; no 
 hopes forever blighted in the bud, no beings, full 
 of life, beauty, and promise, taken from us in the 
 prime of youth. Her fruits are all balmy and 
 
NATU11E. 413 
 
 sweet ; she affords none of those blighted ones, 
 so common in the life of man, and so like the 
 fabled apples of the Dead Sea, fresh and beauti- 
 ful to the sight, but, when tasted, full of bitter- 
 ness and ashes. — Sir Humphry Davy. 
 
 Nature will be reported : all things are en- 
 gaged in writing its history. The planet, the 
 pebble, goes attended by its shadow. The roll- 
 ing rock leaves its scratches on the mountain, 
 the river its channels in the soil, the animal its 
 bones in the stratum, the fern and leaf their 
 modest epitaph in the coal. The fallen drop 
 makes its sculpture in the sand or stone ; not a 
 footstep in the snow, or along the ground, but 
 prints in characters more or less lasting a map 
 of its march ; every act of man inscribes itself in 
 the memories of his fellows, and in his own face. 
 The air is lull of sounds, the sky of tokens, the 
 ground of memoranda and signatures ; and every 
 object is covered over with hints which speak to 
 the intelligent. — Hugh Miller. 
 
 In nature all is managed for the best, with 
 perfect frugality and reserve, profuse to none, but 
 bountiful to all ; never employing on one thing 
 more than enough, but with exact economy re- 
 trenching the superfluous, and adding force to 
 what is principal to everything. — Shaftesbury. 
 
 The Author of nature has not given laws to the 
 universe which, like the institutions of men, carry 
 in themselves the elements of their own destruc- 
 tion. He has not permitted in His works any 
 
414 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 symptom of infancy or old age, or any sign by 
 which we may estimate either their future or 
 their past duration. He may put an end, as He 
 no doubt gave a beginning, to the present system 
 at some determinate period of time ; but we may 
 rest assured that this great catastrophe will not 
 be brought about by the laws now existing, and 
 that it is not indicated by anything which we 
 perceive. — John Playfair. 
 
 Nature, the handmaid of God Almighty, hath 
 nothing but good advice, if we make researches 
 into the true reason of things. — James Howell. 
 
 Nature knows no pause in progress and de- 
 velopment, and attaches her curse on all inaction. 
 — Goethe. 
 
 ^O?o. 
 
 lfpnjfti}ni$$. 
 
 $E)ERENNIAL sunshine of the heart, 
 ™ Which keeps our life in flower 
 Through some mysterious, native art, 
 So marvellous in power. 
 
 The swift adjustment to the best 
 
 Amid the outward gloom, 
 No lack of sunshine in the breast, 
 
 For darkness there no room. 
 
CHEERFULNESS. 415 
 
 Repose in God's good providence, 
 Which in both smile and frown 
 
 Displays His grand beneficence, 
 And infinite renown. 
 
 The calmness of a hidden life 
 
 Of unproclaimed delight, 
 With blessedness of duty rife, 
 
 And God to keep it bright 
 
 The sweet contagious radiance . 
 
 Which does a work divine, 
 In lighting others with its glance, 
 
 Till they begin to shine. 
 
 Give us, O give us the man who sings at his 
 work ! Be his occupation what it may, he is 
 equal to any of those who follow the same pur- 
 suit in silent sullenness. He will do more in the 
 same time, — he will do it better, — he will perse- 
 vere longer. One is scarcely sensible of fatigue 
 whilst he marches to music. The very stars are 
 said to make harmony as they revolve in their 
 spheres. Wondrous is the strength of cheerful- 
 ness, altogether past calculation its powers of en- 
 durance. Efforts, to be permanently useful, must 
 be uniformly joyous, — a spirit all sunshine, — 
 graceful from very gladness, — beautiful because 
 bright. — Carlyle. 
 
 Be cheerful, no matter what reverse obstruct 
 your pathway, or what plagues follow in your 
 
416 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 trail to annoy you. Ask yourself what is to be 
 gained by looking or feeling sad when troubles 
 throng around you, or how your condition is to 
 be alleviated by abandoning yourself to despond- 
 ency. If you are a young man nature designed 
 you to " be of good cheer ; " and should you find 
 your road to fortune, fame, or respectability, or 
 any other boon to which your young heart as- 
 pires, a little thorny, consider it all for the best, 
 and that these impediments are only thrown in 
 your way to induce greater efforts and more pa- 
 tient endurance on your part. Far better spend 
 a whole life in diligent, aye, cheerful and unre- 
 mitting toil, though you never attain the pinnacle 
 of your ambitious desires, than to turn back at 
 the first appearance of misfortune, and allow de- 
 spair to unnerve your energies, or sour your 
 naturally sweet and cheerful disposition. If you 
 are the softer, fairer portion of humanity, be 
 cheerful ; though we know that most afflictions 
 are sweet to you when compared with disappoint- 
 ment and neglect, yet let hope banish despair 
 and ill forebodings. Be cheerful ; do not brood 
 over fond hopes unrealized, until a chain, link 
 after link, is fastened on each thought, and 
 wound around the heart. Nature intended you 
 to be the fountain-spring of cheerfulness and so- 
 cial life, and not the traveling monument of de- 
 spair and melancholy. — Sir Arthur Helps. 
 
 If we consider cheerfulness in three lights, 
 with regard to ourselves, to those we converse 
 
CHEERFULNESS. 417. 
 
 with, and to the great Author of our being, it 
 will not a little recommend itself on each of these 
 accounts. The man who is possessed of this ex- 
 cellent frame of mind is not only easy in his 
 thoughts, but a perfect master of all the powers 
 and faculties of his soul. His imagination is 
 always clear, and his judgment undisturbed; his 
 temper is even and unruffled, whether in action 
 or in solitude. He comes with relish to all those 
 goods which nature has provided for him, tastes 
 all the pleasures of the creation which are poured 
 about him, and does not feel the full weight of 
 those accidental evils which may befall him. 
 
 If we consider him in relation to the persons 
 whom he converses with, it naturally produces 
 love and good will towards him. A cheerful 
 mind is not only disposed to be affable and 
 obliging, but raises the same good humor in 
 those who come within its influence. A man 
 finds himself pleased, he does not know why, 
 with the cheerfulness of his companion. It is like 
 a sudden sunshine that awakens a secret delight 
 in the mind, without her attending to it. The 
 heart rejoices of its own accord, and naturally 
 flows out into friendship and benevolence towards 
 the person who has so kindly an effect upon it. 
 
 When I consider this cheerful state of mind 
 in its third relation, I cannot but look upon it as 
 a constant habitual gratitude to the great Author 
 of nature. An inward cheerfulness is an implicit 
 praise and thanksgiving to Providence under all 
 
418 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 its dispensations. It is a kind of acquiescence in 
 the state wherein we are placed, and a secret 
 approbation of the Divine Will in his conduct 
 toward man. — Addison. 
 
 Between levity and cheerfulness there is a 
 wide distinction ; and the mind which is most 
 open to levity is frequently a stranger to cheer- 
 fulness. It has been remarked that transports of 
 intemperate mirth are often no more than flashes 
 from the dark cloud, and that in proportion to 
 the violence of the effulgence is the succeeding 
 gloom. Levity may be the forced production of 
 folly or vice ; cheerfulness is the natural off- 
 spring of wisdom and virtue only. The one is 
 an occasional agitation ; the other a permanent 
 habit. The one degrades the. character; the 
 other is perfectly consistent with the dignity of 
 reason, and the steady and manly spirit of relig- 
 ion. To aim at a constant succession of high 
 and vivid sensations of pleasure is an idea of 
 happiness perfectly chimerical. Calm and tem- 
 perate enjoyment is the utmost that is allotted to 
 man. Beyond this we struggle in vain to raise 
 our state ; and in fact depress our joys by en- 
 deavoring to heighten them. Instead of those 
 fallacious hopes of perpetual festivity with which 
 the world would allure us, religion confers upon 
 us a cheerful tranquillity. Instead of dazzling us 
 with meteors of joy which sparkle and expire, it 
 sheds around us a calm and steady light, more solid 
 more equal, and more lasting. — Hugh Blair. 
 
CHEERFULNESS. 419 
 
 The true basis of cheerfulness is love, hope, 
 and patience. Love evokes love, and begets 
 loving -kindness. Love cherishes hopeful and 
 generous thoughts of others. It is charitable, 
 gentle, and truthful. It is a discerner of good. 
 It turns to the brightest side of things, and its 
 face is ever directed towards happiness. It sees 
 ' the glory in the grass, and the sunshine on the 
 flower." It encourages happy thoughts, and lives 
 in an atmosphere of cheerfulness. It costs noth- 
 ing, and yet is invaluable; for it blesses its pos- 
 sessor, and grows up in abundant happiness in 
 the bosoms of others. Even its sorrows are 
 linked with pleasures, and its very tears are 
 sweet. — Smiles. 
 
 Kind words cost no more than unkind ones. 
 Kind words produce kind actions, not only on 
 the part of him to whom they are addressed, but 
 on the part of him by whom they are employed ; 
 and this not incidentally only, but habitually, in 
 virtue of the principle of association. — Ben- 
 
 THAM. 
 
 Power itself hath not one -half the might of 
 gentleness. — Leigh Hunt. 
 
 Good temper is nine- tenths of Christianity. — 
 Bishop Wilson. 
 
 Gayety and courage,— innocent gayety and 
 rational, honorable courage, — are the best medi- 
 cine for young men, and for old men too; for 
 all men against sad thoughts. — Luther. 
 
 Go forward with hope and confidence. This 
 
420 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 is the advice given thee by an old man, who 
 has had a full share of the burden and heat ol 
 life's day. We must ever stand upright, happen 
 what may, and for this end we must cheerfully 
 resign ourselves to the varied influences of this 
 many- colored life. You may call this levity, and 
 you are partly right, — for flowers and colors are 
 but trifles light as air, — but such levity is a con- 
 stituent portion of our human nature, without 
 which it would sink under the weight of time. 
 While on earth we must play with earth, and 
 with that which blooms and fades upon its breast. 
 The consciousness of this mortal life being but 
 the way to a higher goal by no means precludes 
 our playing with it cheerfully; and, indeed, we 
 must do so, otherwise our energy in action will 
 entirely fail. — Perthes. 
 
 iompitliom 
 
 ,Sft TxHOU that dost so mightily 
 (2x ^ Compete for highest places, 
 Be on thy guard lest utterly 
 Thou miss the highest graces. 
 
COMPETITION. 421 
 
 Thy heart shall find the noblest things 
 
 What time thou truly servest, 
 And, in thy deepest hungerings, 
 
 Thy manliness preservest. 
 
 God's blessed things are free as air 
 Through all the world before thee, 
 
 To Love and Duty everywhere 
 An ever - present glory. 
 
 But him who puts his manhood off 
 
 To gain a shining bubble, 
 Will fiery serpents sting and scoff, 
 
 And make his judgment double. 
 
 There are, I think, more good words to be 
 said against Competition than for it. No doubt, 
 it is a great incentive to exertion ; but there its 
 function for good begins and ends. It is no 
 friend to Love ; and is first cousin, with no re- 
 moves, to Envy. Then it deranges and puts 
 quite out of place the best motives for exertions. 
 " Read your book because that other boy is read- 
 ing his, and you will be beaten in the contest 
 with him, if you do not take care." Such is the 
 motive that competition administers, but it says 
 nothing about learning being a good thing for 
 itself. Consequently, when the competitors are 
 parted, the book is apt to drop out of the hand 
 of him who chiefly used it as a storehouse of 
 weapons. 
 
 Then, again, when education has been greatly 
 
422 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 built upon motives of competition, excellence is 
 made too much of, and moderate proficiency is 
 sadly discouraged. A very injurious effect is 
 thus produced upon the mind of the person who 
 has been used to compete. He, or she, thinks, 
 " If I am not everything, I am nothing," and de- 
 clines to sing, or to play, or to draw, or to go 
 on with some accomplishment, because it has 
 been ascertained by competition and examination, 
 at a certain time of life, that other people could 
 do better. The world loses a great deal by this ; 
 and, moreover, it is by no means certain that 
 inferiority in anything, at one time of life, pre- 
 cludes excellence in that same thing at another 
 time of life. 
 
 Competition, however, will not cease to be 
 urgently employed as a motive, indeed as a first 
 motive, until the mass of mankind become real 
 Christians — an event which does not seem likely 
 to happen in our time. The practical object, 
 therefore, is to see what limits and restraints can 
 be applied to competition. I should propose 
 three : — 
 
 i. Do not apply it to the very young, for twfl 
 reasons. In the first place, experience shows 
 that, for the mere acquisition of knowledge, it 
 does not answer to work the brain early ; and 
 that children that are somewhat let alone as re- 
 gards learning, surpass the others when the time 
 for diligent study comes. I do not pretend to 
 define this time : that is a matter upon which 
 
COMPETITION. 423 
 
 those only who are skilled in education can pro- 
 nounce. 
 
 The second reason is, that it is well, morally 
 speaking, to let children get the habit of regard- 
 ing their fellows as friends and playmates rather 
 than as rivals. 
 
 2. Never apply competition as a motive in 
 a family. Looked at in the most businesslike 
 and worldly way, it does not pay. Let us take 
 a familiar and domestic instance, for abstract 
 talk, though it sounds grandly, seldom leads to 
 much result. A father has two sons, James and 
 Charles. James is always down in time for 
 breakfast: Charles is apt to be late. Let the 
 father praise and encourage James for his early 
 rising, but not in Charley's presence. And let 
 him (the father) administer good advice, or 
 blame, to Charley, in the matter of early rising, 
 without saying one word about Jamesie's merits, 
 or holding him up for a model to be followed 
 — and disliked. It is far more important for the 
 family interests that Charley's love for Jamesie 
 should not be diminished in the least, than that 
 he should be incited by competition with his 
 brother to get up early. That splendid copy- 
 book, saying — I wonder who first said it? — it 
 must have been the eighth wise man of Greece 
 — Comparisons are odious — is especially true in 
 domestic life. And the most unpleasant and 
 odious comparisons are always brought out to 
 incite to competition. 
 
424 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 3. If, for purposes of education, you must, 
 at some period of life, have earnest, I would 
 almost say fierce, competition, at any rate let it 
 be as little individual as possible. Let the object 
 for a youth be, to get into a certain class, not to 
 beat certain other youth or youths. The riding 
 school seems to furnish a good model. Put a 
 bar up and say, "All those that leap over this 
 shall be considered good horsemen ; " and then 
 the youths who do succeed in leaping over it, 
 will congratulate one another, and have a feeling 
 of pleasant companionship, rather than of bitter 
 rivalry with each other. You may have as many 
 bars as you like, of different heights, in order to 
 test different degrees of excellence in horseman- 
 ship ; but do not inquire too curiously into the 
 exact merits of each individual rider, and seek to 
 put him in what you may call his proper place. 
 That will be found out soon enough when they 
 all come to ride across the country, — -the difficult 
 country of public or professional life. 
 
 After the foregoing illustrations, which are of 
 a very homely character, it may seem a some- 
 what abrupt transition to revert to religious con- 
 siderations. But I cannot conclude this short 
 essay without remarking that competition is not 
 a thing much encouraged in the Best of Books 
 and by the Divinest of Teachers. There is a 
 command — the great command — about loving one 
 another, but none about competing with one 
 another. Yes; perhaps there is (at any rate an 
 
COLD-WATER POURERS. 425 
 
 implied command) to compete for the lower 
 place. — -Sir Arthur Helps. 
 
 Iclh-llfitbtj JWtm* 
 
 o^j?HEIR lives are but this epigraph, 
 cWd Which serves them for an epitaph:. 
 
 In all new things they found a flaw r 
 And never once a virtue saw. 
 
 Ah, when they find their way to heaven; 
 Will heaven for new things be forgiven? 
 
 Regarding, one day, in company with a 
 humorous friend, a noble vessel of a somewhat 
 novel construction, sailing slowly out of port, he 
 observed, " What a quantity of cold water some- 
 body must have had down his back ! " In my 
 innocence I supposed he alluded to the wet work 
 of the artizans who had been building the vessel ; 
 but when I came to know him better I found 
 that this was the form of comment he always in- 
 dulged in when contemplating any new and great 
 work, and that his somebody was the designer of 
 the vessel. My friend had carefully studied the 
 
 28 
 
426 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 art of discouragement, and there was a class of 
 men whom he designated simply as " cold-water 
 pourers." It was most amusing to hear him de- 
 scribe the lengthened suffering of the man who 
 first designed a wheel ; of him who first built a 
 boat; and of the adventurous personage who 
 first proposed the daring enterprise of using but- 
 tons instead of fishes' bones to fasten the scanty- 
 raiment of some savage tribe. Warming with his 
 theme, he would become quite eloquent in de- 
 scribing the long career of discouragement which 
 these rash men had brought upon themselves, 
 and which, he said, to his knowledge, must have 
 shortened their lives. He invented imaginary 
 dialogues between the unfortunate inventor, say of 
 the wheel, and his particular friend, some eminent 
 cold-water pourer. For, as he said, every man 
 has some such friend, who fascinates him by fear, 
 and to whom he confides his enterprises in order 
 to hear the worst that can be said of them. 
 
 The sayings of the chilling friend, probably, as 
 he observed, ran thus : 
 
 "We seem to have gone on very well for 
 thousands of years without this rolling thing. 
 Your father carried burdens on his back. The 
 king is content to be carried on men's shoulders. 
 The high -priest is not too proud to do the same. 
 Indeed, I question whether it is not irreligious to 
 attempt to shift from men's shoulders their nat- 
 ural burdens. 
 
 " Then, as to its succeeding, — for my part, I 
 
COLD- WATER POUEERS. 427 
 
 see no chance of that. How can it go up hill? 
 How is one to stop it, going down ? How often 
 you have failed before in other fanciful things of 
 the same nature ! Besides, you are losing your 
 time; and the yams about your hut are only 
 half- planted. You will be a beggar; and it is 
 my duty, as a friend, to tell you so plainly. 
 There was Nang - Chung : what became of him ? 
 We had found fire for ages, in a proper way, 
 taking a proper time about it, by rubbing two 
 sticks together. He must needs strike out fire 
 at once, with iron and flint ; and did he die in 
 his bed ? Our sacred lords saw the impiety of 
 that proceeding, and very justly impaled the man 
 who imitated the heavenly powers. And, even if 
 you could succeed with this new and absurd roll- 
 ing thing, the State would be ruined. What 
 would become of those who now carry burdens 
 on their backs ? Put aside the vain fancies of a 
 childish mind, and finish the planting of your 
 yams." 
 
 No one who had not heard my ingenious 
 friend throw himself into the part of first objector, 
 can well imagine how much there is to be said 
 against the invention of forks. The proposed 
 invention was impious, troublesome, unnecessary, 
 and ludicrous. Besides, it was impossible, by 
 reason of its difficulty ; and, if it were possible, 
 it would be most dangerous. It was putting a 
 ready weapon into every angry man's hands, 
 when the juice of the grape is mounting into 
 
428 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 men's heads ; and it would mount into the heads- 
 even of the wisest. Who would answer for the 
 deaths that would ensue from these dangerous 
 weapons being always close at hand ? There 
 could be no blessing on a meal that was to be 
 eaten with forks. They had a famine last year, 
 when two million Celestials died in anguish. 
 What would happen the year after forks should 
 come into use ? Not that they could be used ; 
 for it would take a lifetime to learn how to 
 use them. Then, what was to become of the 
 four great Tang - rang ceremonials, which all de- 
 pend upon the meat being taken, bit by bit, in 
 due succession, between the thumb and each of 
 the several fingers ? How was the Celestial mon- 
 arch to show his .world - astonishing favor to a 
 wisely - controlling minister, when that royal per- 
 sonage could not take between his thumb and 
 his little finger a boiled bird's - nest, and forever 
 irradiate with joy the statesman, by throwing it 
 into his mouth, held open reverently? The thing 
 could not be done ; and he who should endeavor 
 to invent such a machine as a fork, was an idiot, 
 a hater of men, a parricide, cousin of a dead dog 
 and a despiser of all ceremonials. Finally, what 
 would his aunt, widow of the great Ling-Pe, say ? 
 a wise lady, who had known all the sound 
 usages of old, and who had seven rice - fields 
 and three - and - twenty slaves to bequeath. Thus 
 the invention of forks was stopped in China. 
 
 My humorous friend was wont to say that 
 
COLD-WATER POURERS. 429 
 
 thus, too, several fork inventors in various coun- 
 tries had been quelled, until the wicked idea en- 
 tered into a man who had no aunt, and the forks 
 were invented ; but he, the inventor, was justly 
 burnt alive. 
 
 It is really very serious to observe how, even 
 in modern times, the arts of discouragement pre- 
 vail. There are men, whose sole pretense to 
 wisdom consists in administering discouragement. 
 They are never at a loss. They are equally ready 
 to prophesy, with wonderful ingenuity, all possible 
 varieties of misfortune to any enterprise that is 
 proposed ; and, when . the thing is produced, and 
 has met with some success, to find a flaw in it. 
 I once saw a work of art produced in the pres- 
 ence of an eminent cold - water pourer. He did 
 not deny that it was beautiful, but he instantly 
 fastened upon a small crack in it, that nobody 
 had observed ; and upon that crack he would 
 dilate, whenever the work was discussed in his 
 presence. Indeed, he did not see the work, but 
 only the crack in it. That flaw, that little flaw, 
 was all in all to him. 
 
 The cold - water pourers are not all of one 
 frame of mind. Some are led to indulge in this 
 recreation from genuine timidity. They really do 
 fear that all new attempts will fail. Others are 
 simply envious and ill - natured. Then, again, 
 there is a sense of power and wisdom in prophe- 
 sying evil. Moreover, it is the safest thing to 
 prophesy, for hardly anything at first sue- 
 
430 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ceeds exactly in the way it was intended to suc- 
 ceed. 
 
 Again, there is the lack of imagination which 
 gives rise to the utterance of so much discour- 
 agement. For any ordinary man, it must have 
 been a great mental strain to grasp the ideas of 
 the first projectors of steam and gas, electric 
 telegraphs, and pain deadening chloroform. The 
 inventor is always, in the eyes of his fellow-men, 
 somewhat of a madman ; and often they do their 
 best to make him so. 
 
 Again, there is the want of sympathy ; and 
 that is, perhaps, the ruling cause in most men's 
 minds who give themselves up to discourage. 
 They are not tender enough, or sympathetic 
 enough, to appreciate all the pain they are giv- 
 ing, when, in a dull, plodding way, they lay out 
 argument after argument to show that the pro- 
 ject which the poor inventor has set his heart 
 upon, and upon which, perhaps, he has staked his 
 fortune, will not succeed. 
 
 But what inventors suffer is but a small part 
 of what mankind in general endure from thought- 
 less and unkind discouragement. Those high - 
 souled men belong to the suffering class, and 
 must suffer ; but it is in daily life that the wear 
 and tear of discouragement tell so much. Pro- 
 pose, not a great invention, but a small party of 
 pleasure, to an apt discourager (and there is gen- 
 erally one in most households), and see what he 
 will make of it. It soon becomes sickled over 
 
DETRACTION. 431 
 
 with doubt and despondency ; and, at last, the 
 only hope of the proposer is, that his proposal, 
 when realized, will not be an ignominious failure. 
 All hope of pleasure, at least for him, the pro- 
 poser, has long been out of the question. — Sir 
 Arthur Helps. 
 
 ■£2£3©g$9^' 
 
 telratitmt* 
 
 |f MPERFECT man— imperfect world- 
 ^ Are they not equal factors ? 
 Then why should any lip be curled, 
 Why should there be detractors ? 
 
 But softer, words like these suit not 
 The Priests of Imperfection : 
 
 Be there a blemish or a spot, 
 Their mission is detection. 
 
 The Poet's strain so grand and true y 
 To make his fellows better, ' 
 
 What is that heavenly music to — 
 Displacement of a letter? 
 
 And in a Painting, to the race 
 A holy benefaction, 
 
432 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 A fly - speck on a darkened face 
 Is pleasure to Detraction. 
 
 No matter, in this world of ours, 
 How much there be of beauty- 
 
 A faded leaf among the flowers ? 
 Announcement is a duty. 
 
 This spirit does not so much deny the excel- 
 lence you present to its acknowledgement as seek 
 to diminish or disparage it. It deals not perhaps 
 in calumnious falsehoods, but in perpetual abate- 
 ments and curtailments. It inclines to depreciate 
 what it cannot condemn. It judges by defects 
 rather than by excellencies, and has a sharper 
 eye for faults than for merits. If you speak of 
 the brightness of the sun, the detractor never 
 omitteth to tell you of its spots. If you show 
 him a diamond, he alloweth it may be one, he 
 will not say it is not, but possibly it may be 
 nothing but paste, at all events there is a flaw 
 in it. He spieth out cracks and blemishes in all 
 things that seem whole and fair, and hath ever a 
 microscope at hand to show them to you if you 
 will but look through it. He never thinks of 
 putting it to the use of disclosing the soul of 
 goodness in things imperfect. His vocation is to 
 detect imperfections in things good ; and as every- 
 thing brightest and fairest in the world of human 
 nature and human action is flecked with some 
 spot or flaw, so nothing can abide his sharp 
 scrutiny. 
 
DETRACTION. 433 
 
 Now there is nothing in the world that is 
 fitted to affect a just and candid mind with 
 greater aversion than such a detracting spirit. 
 
 The habit of depreciation is not indeed always 
 the sure proof of a base nature. Sometimes it 
 betokens nothing worse than a mere unfortunate 
 narrow-mindedness, which finds but few things to 
 praise because it is simply unable to understand 
 and admire things outside its own sphere, and so 
 is quite honestly disposed to disallow the possi- 
 ble excellence that may be in them. 
 
 Sometimes it may proceed from that form of 
 intense self- love which is full of satisfaction with 
 itself, its own doings and possessions and with 
 everything in any way related to itself. It thinks 
 highly and speaks warmly of its own wife, chil- 
 dren, friends, horses and dogs, — which is nothing 
 to be condemned if only it were not given to 
 spying out things to dispraise in other peoples' 
 wives, children, friends, horses and dogs. Its 
 own geese are not only always swans, but other 
 peoples' swans are nothing but geese. 
 
 Sometimes it springs from the vanity which 
 plumes itself on the acuteness it displays. It does 
 not mean to be ill - natured ; but it cannot resist 
 the temptation to pick holes in its neighbor's 
 coat merely to show its smartness. 
 
 But sometimes, alas, nothing better can be 
 said of it than that it has its root in a spirit of 
 jealousy, envy, or even wanton malice. " The 
 Devil's heartiest laugh is at a detracting witti- 
 cism. Hence the phrase, ' Devilish good.' " 
 
434 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 So wrote Washington Allston in one of his 
 aphorisms pencilled on the old pine commode I 
 have mentioned. And doubtless all malignant 
 detraction is of the Devil, and the wittier it may 
 be the more its goodness is a " Devilish " good- 
 ness. 
 
 But I have only to hope that in this slight 
 attempt to analyze the detracting spirit I may not 
 have fallen into anything of it myself. It is not 
 necessarily uncharitable, any more than it is un- 
 true, to say that the detracting spirit is a wrong 
 and unlovely spirit. But it is easier to speak of 
 what is good and noble in spirit than it. is to 
 speak exactly as one should of what is the oppo- 
 site to it — avoiding un candid harshness on the 
 one hand, and the mawkish indiscrimination of 
 sentimental charitableness on the other ! The 
 reverse of wrong is not always right. The gold- 
 en mean of just judging doubtless lies some- 
 where between Mr. Malevolus Bitter and Mrs. 
 Semper Sweet. If one could only always hit it! 
 One thing, however, is certain. It is better to 
 cultivate the disposition to look out for what is 
 good in others rather than what is ill, to praise 
 rather than disparage. It is better to be too wide 
 likers than to find nothing to like. There is a 
 great deal of excellence in the world which 
 cynics never see. — C. S. Henry. 
 
TEMPERANCE. A&~ 
 
 Hiattprattijs, 
 
 Bodily enjoyment depends upon health, and health depends upon 
 temperance. — Thales. 
 
 * PPLY the bit and curb 
 To thine untamed desires, 
 Or Judgment will thy life disturb 
 And light consuming fires. 
 
 Let Temperance control 
 
 Desires which God has given, 
 
 And keep them servants of the soul, 
 Then all are gates to heaven. 
 
 Let Riot rule them now, 
 
 And wise restraint repel, 
 No wreath is woven for thy brow, 
 
 For all are gates to hell. 
 
 Reward and Punishment 
 
 Are ever on our way, 
 For comfort and for warning meant, 
 
 God's preachers night and day, 
 
 Temperance first, as it tends to procure that 
 coolness and clearness of head which is so neces- 
 sary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, 
 and a guard maintained against the unremitting 
 attraction of ancient habits and the force of per- 
 petual temptation. — Dr. Franklin. 
 
436 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Temperance gives Nature her full play, and 
 enables her to exert herself in all her force and 
 vigor. — Addison. 
 
 Indeed, the abuse of the bounties of Nature, 
 much more surely than any partial privation of 
 them, tends to intercept that precious boon of a 
 second and dearer life in our progeny, which was 
 bestowed in the first great command to man 
 from the All - Gracious Giver of all, — whose 
 name be blessed, whether He gives or takes 
 away ! His hand, in every page of His book, has 
 written the lesson of moderation. Our physical 
 well-being, our moral worth, our social happi- 
 ness, our political tranquillity, all depend on that 
 control of all our appetites and passions which 
 the ancients designated by the cardinal virtue of 
 temperance. — Burke. 
 
 Temperance, that virtue without pride, and 
 fortune without envy, that gives indolence (in the 
 old and right sense of freedom from pain) of 
 body with an equality of mind ; the best guard- 
 ian of youth and support of old age ; the precept 
 of reason as well as religion, and physician of 
 the soul as well as the body ; the tutelar god- 
 dess of health and universal medicine of life. — 
 Sir William Temple. 
 
 Temperance is a tree which has contentment 
 for its root, and peace for its fruit. — From the 
 Arabian. 
 
 Who is this natural beauty, who advances 
 with so much grace ? The rose is on her cheeks ; 
 
TEMPERANCE. 437 
 
 her breath is pure as morning dew; joy, tem- 
 pered with modesty, animates her countenance. 
 It is Health, the daughter of Exercise and Tem- 
 perance. — From the Hindu. 
 
 While the intemperate man inflicts evil upon 
 his friends, he brings far more evil upon himself. 
 Not only to ruin his family, but also to bring 
 ruin on his own body and soul, is the greatest 
 wrong that any man can commit. — Socrates. 
 
 Far from me be the gift of Bacchus, — per- 
 nicious, inflaming wine, that weakens both body 
 and mind. — Homer. 
 
 Is there anything which reflects a greater 
 lustre upon a man's person than a severe tem- 
 perance, and a restraint of himself from vicious 
 pleasures ? — South. 
 
 ■ The temperate man is dear to the Deity, be- 
 cause he is assimilated to Him. . . . The 
 first and best of victories is for a man to con- 
 quer himself; to be conquered by himself is of 
 all things the most shameful and vile. — Plato. 
 
 If it is a small sacrifice to discontinue the 
 use of wine, do it for the sake of others ; if it is 
 a great sacrifice, do it for your own sake. — 
 Samuel J. May. 
 
 It is not inspiration which we owe to narcot- 
 ics ; it is merely counterfeit excitement and fury. 
 The great, calm presence of the Creator comes 
 not forth to the sorceries of opium or wine. 
 The sublime vision comes to the pure and simple 
 soul, in a clean and chaste body. — Emerson. 
 
438 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 The body oppressed by excesses bears down 
 the mind, and depresses to the earth any por- 
 tion of the Divine Spirit we had been endowed 
 with. — Horace. 
 
 It is said of Diogenes that, meeting a young 
 man who was going to a feast, he took him up 
 in the street and carried him to his own friends, 
 as one who was running into imminent danger, 
 had he not prevented him. What would that 
 philosopher have said had he been present at 
 the gluttony of a modern meal ? Would not he 
 have thought the master of a family mad, and 
 have begged his servants to tie down his hands, 
 had he seen him devour a fowl, fish, and flesh ; 
 swallow oil and vinegar, wine and spices; throw 
 down salads of twenty different herbs, sauces of 
 a hundred ingredients, confections and fruits of 
 numberless sweets and flavors? What unnatural 
 motions and counter -ferments must such a med- 
 ley of intemperance produce in the body ! For 
 my part, when I behold a fashionable table set 
 out in all its magnificence, I fancy that I see 
 gouts and dropsies, fevers and lethargies, with 
 other innumerable distempers, lying in ambuscade 
 among the dishes. 
 
 Nature delights in "the most plain and simple 
 diet. Every animal, but man, keeps to one dish. 
 Herbs are the food of this species, fish of that, 
 and flesh of a third. Man falls upon everything 
 that comes in his way; not the smallest fruit or 
 excrescence of the earth, scarce a berry or a 
 mushroom can escape him. — Addison. 
 
TEMPERANCE. 439 
 
 It is little the sign of a wise or good man to 
 suffer temperance to be transgressed in order to 
 purchase the reputation of a generous entertainer. 
 — Atterbury. 
 
 Drunkenness is a flattering devil, a sweet poi- 
 son, a pleasant sin, which whosoever hath, hath 
 not himself; which whosoever doth commit doth 
 not commit sin, but he himself is wholly sin. — 
 St. Augustine. 
 
 Drunkenness calls off the watchmen from their 
 towers ; and then all evils that proceed from a 
 loose heart, an untied tongue, and a dissolute 
 spirit, we put upon its account. — Jeremy Tay- 
 lor. 
 
 When this vice has taken fast hold of a man, 
 farewell industry, farewell emulation, farewell at- 
 tention to things worthy of attention, farewell 
 love of virtuous society, farewell decency of man- 
 ners, and farewell, too, even an attention to per- 
 son ; everything is sunk by this predominant and 
 brutal passion. In how many instances do we 
 see men who have begun life with the brightest 
 prospects before them, and who have closed it 
 without one ray of comfort or consolation ! 
 Young men with good fortunes, good talents, 
 good tempers, good hearts, and sound constitu- 
 tions, only being drawn into the vortex of the 
 drunkard, have become by degrees the most 
 loathsome and despicable of mankind. In the 
 house of the drunkard there is no happiness 
 for any one. All is uncertainty and anxiety. He 
 
440 IDjl^LS OF LIFE. 
 
 is not the same man for any one day at a time. 
 No one knows his outgoings or his incomings. 
 When he will rise or when he will lie down to 
 rest is wholly a matter of chance. That which 
 he swallows for what he calls pleasure brings 
 pain as surely as the night brings the morning. 
 Poverty and misery are in the train. To avoid 
 those results we are called upon to make no 
 sacrifices. Abstinence requires no aid to accom- 
 plish it. Our own will is all that is requisite: 
 and if we have not the will to avoid contempt, 
 disgrace, and misery, we deserve neither relief 
 nor compassion. — Cobeett. 
 
 No man oppresses thee, O free and independ- 
 ent franchiser! but does not this stupid porter - 
 pot oppress thee ? No son of Adam can bid 
 thee come or go ; but this absurd pot of heavy 
 wet, this can and does ! Thou art the thrall, not 
 of Cedric the Saxon, but of thy own brutal ap- 
 petites, and this soured dish of liquor. And thou 
 pratfest of thy " liberty," thou entire blockhead !— 
 Carlyle. 
 
HOJSESTY. 441 
 
 Iftmssli^ 
 
 ^0S7HEN the genuine article 
 ~^>" Dwindles down to a particle, 
 And the name of it, 
 Oh the shame of it ! 
 Is the stock in the trade of it, 
 Honesty — is afraid of it. 
 
 When " society " cultivates 
 Till to shadow it culminates, 
 
 And but charity 
 
 Sees the rarity, — 
 What becomes of the modesty 
 Of reality — Honesty? 
 
 When one seeks to be beautiful 
 And omits to be dutiful, 
 
 Is not vanity 
 
 Then profanity? 
 Does not folly abound in it? 
 Is there Honesty found in it? 
 
 According to a well-known writer, 'a grocer 
 is a man who buys and sells sugar, and plums, 
 and spices for gain.' 
 
 Happy is the English grocer who can lay his 
 hand upon his commercial heart, and, making 
 answer to the text, say, ' I am the man V For 
 
 29 
 
442 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 of the men who set over their shop - doors the 
 designation of ' Grocer,' how many are there who 
 buy and sell sugar, and sugar only ; who turn 
 the penny upon spices in their purity: vend 
 naught but the true ware — the undoctered clove! 
 
 Great is the villainy of the Chinese ; but it is 
 written in certain books of the prying chemist 
 that the roguery of the Briton — bent, it may be, 
 upon the means of social respectability — doth 
 outblush the pale face of the Mongolian trick- 
 sters. 
 
 The Chinaman glazes his tea with Prussian 
 blue ; he paints his Congo, and adds a perfume 
 to his Twankey ; but he, the pig - tailed heathen, 
 does not recognize in a Britisher a man and a 
 brother, and, in his limited sympathies, fails to 
 acknowledge in any British maiden, of any fabu- 
 lous age soever, a woman and a sister. The 
 China teaman is a benighted barbarian ; the Brit- 
 ish grocer is an effulgent Christian. The China- 
 man's religion is the gust of revenge ; the Brit- 
 on's creed is the creed of common love. 
 
 It is possible, if the effort be made, to drop 
 a tear over the ignorance of the Chinaman who 
 dusts his faded tea-leaves with chromate of lead; 
 but shall not one's eyes flash fire at the enlight- 
 ened British tea-dealer who to the withered leaf 
 imparts the mortal glow of plumbago? Never- 
 theless, there are grocers in the commercial form 
 of men, who treat the stomachs of their custom- 
 ers as their customers treat their stoves — 
 
HONESTY. 443 
 
 namely, they bestow upon their internals the 
 questionable polish of blacklead, innocently swal- 
 lowed in cups of liquid worse and blacker than 
 the Lacedemonian black broth. How many an 
 innocent tea-loving spinster, proud of the jetty 
 loveliness of her fireplace, would vent a spasm 
 of horror did she know that the polish of her 
 own stove and the bloom of her own black tea, 
 fragrant and smoking at her lips, were of one 
 and the same blacklead — of lead that, in due suf- 
 ficiency, is akin to coffin lead ! And the English 
 grocer, intent upon deceit, outvies the chemists, 
 the teamen of the Flowery Kingdom. There is 
 not a toss-up between the two ; and if there be, 
 though China beats by a tail, England fails not 
 to win by a head. 
 
 Of coffee (a word still found in some of the 
 dictionaries) it is hardly necessary to speak; the 
 acres of chicory, wherein the pious grocer as 
 well as his customers may " walk forth to muse 
 at eventide,' have a language and a lesson of 
 their own. It may be added, however, that per- 
 haps there is not a more touching, a more in- 
 structive, and withal a more pathetic picture 
 than either man or woman complacently em- 
 ployed in drinking what the drinker, in more 
 than primitive innocence, believes to be coffee — 
 grocer's coffee, at one shilling per pound. — 
 Douglas Jerrold. 
 
 Show me a people whose trade is dishonest, 
 and I will show you a people whose religion is a 
 sham. — Froude. 
 
444 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 When men cease to be faithful to their God, 
 he who expects to find them so to each other 
 will be much disappointed. The primitive sincer- 
 ity will accompany the primitive piety in her 
 flight from the earth, and then interest will suc- 
 ceed conscience in the regulation of human con- 
 duct, till one man cannot trust another further 
 than he holds him by that tie : hence, by the 
 way, it is, that although many are infidels them- 
 selves, yet few choose to have their families and 
 dependents such; as judging, — and rightly judg- 
 ing, — that true Christians are the only persons 
 to be depended on for the exact discharge of 
 their social duties. — Bishop Horne. 
 
 Wisdom without honesty is mere craft and 
 cozenage ; and therefore the reputation of honesty 
 must first be gotten, which cannot be but by 
 living well: a good life is a main argument. — 
 Ben Jonson. 
 
 Put it out of the power of truth to give you 
 an ill character; and if anybody reports you not 
 to be an honest man, let your practice give him 
 the lie ; and to make all sure, you should resolve 
 to live no longer than you can live honestly ; for 
 it is better to be nothing than a knave. — Anto- 
 nius. 
 
 The arts of deceit and cunning do continually 
 grow weaker and less effectual and serviceable 
 to them that use them; whereas integrity gains 
 strength by use ; and the more and longer any 
 man practices it, the greater service it does him, 
 
.— juioH/zsra/t 
 
 " The river of beneficence to man. 
 
DEVOTION. M5 
 
 by confirming his reputation, and encouraging 
 those with whom he hath to do to repose the 
 greatest trust and confidence in him, which is an 
 unspeakable advantage in the business and affairs 
 of life. — Tillotson. 
 
 'sttolkt; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SECRET OF SUCCESS. 
 
 IJ^EVOTION is the secret of success, 
 
 ^^ And heaven's perennial fount of happiness. 
 
 Devotion marshals all the powers of mind, 
 With every longing of the heart combined ; 
 
 And from the free united exercise 
 
 All blessed hopes and expectations rise. 
 
 The river of beneficence to man, 
 Devotion wafts the worker to the van ; 
 
 And goes forever flowing through the earth, 
 To bring all grand, enduring things to birth. 
 
 Devotion cheers the toiler through the day, 
 And keeps the sense of weariness away. 
 
446 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Devotion makes the garden of the Lord, 
 The deed its own exceeding great reward. 
 
 Devotion bears the lover to his love : 
 Devotion lifts the saint to God above. 
 
 And so Devotion brings success, — the best 
 And dearest presence to the human breast. 
 
 It is the diligent hand and head alone that 
 maketh rich in self- culture, growth in wisdom, 
 and in business. Even when men are born to 
 wealth and high social position, any solid reputa- 
 tion which they may individually achieve is only 
 attained by energetic application; for, though an 
 inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inher- 
 itance of knowledge and wisdom cannot. The 
 wealthy man may pay others for doing his work 
 for him, but it is impossible for him to get his 
 thinking done for him by another, or to purchase 
 any kind of self- culture. Indeed, the doctrine 
 that excellence in any pursuit is to be achieved 
 by laborious application only, holds as true in 
 the case of the man of wealth as in that of 
 Drew and Gifford, whose only school was a cob- 
 bler's stall, or Hugh Miller, whose only college 
 was a Cromarty stone- quarry. 
 
 The knowledge and experience which pro- 
 duce wisdom can only become a man's individual 
 possession and property by his own free action ; 
 and it is as futile to expect these without labor- 
 ious, painstaking effort, as it is to hope to 
 
DEVOTION. 447 
 
 gather a harvest where the seed has not been 
 sown. It is related of Grosteste, an old Bishop 
 of Lincoln, possessing great power in his day, 
 that he was once asked by his stupid and idle 
 brother to make a great man of him. " Brother," 
 replied the Bishop, "if your plough is broken, 
 I'll pay for the mending of it ; or, if your ox 
 should die, I'll buy you another ; but I cannot 
 make a great man of you ; a ploughman I found 
 you, and a ploughman I must leave you." 
 
 Riches and ease, it is perfectly clear, are not 
 necessary for man's highest culture, else had not 
 the world been so largely indebted in all times 
 to those who have sprung from the humbler 
 ranks. An easy and luxurious existence does not 
 train men to effort or encounter with difficulty ; 
 nor does it awaken that consciousness of power 
 which is so necessary for energetic and effective 
 action in life. Indeed, so far from poverty being 
 a misfortune, it may, by vigorous self-help, be 
 converted even into a blessing ; rousing a man 
 to that struggle with the world in which, though 
 some may purchase ease by degradation, the 
 right-minded and true-hearted will find strength, 
 confidence, and triumph. Bacon says, " Men 
 seem to neither understand their riches nor their 
 strength ; of the former they believe greater 
 things than they should ; of the latter much less. 
 Self-reliance and self-denial will teach a man to 
 drink out of his own cistern and eat his own 
 sweet bread, and to learn and labor truly to get 
 
448 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 his living, and carefully to expend the good 
 things committed to his trust." — Smiles. 
 
 To our thinking it is a secret easily guessed 
 » — a secret which the life of every great and good 
 man reveals ; neither less nor more than " doing 
 one's duty." But though the secret is so simple, 
 it is by no means easily applied. We may know 
 it thoroughly, and then not profit by it, like the 
 magicians who professed to have discovered the 
 secret of immortal life, and died in the flush of 
 manhood ! Is there anything harder than doing 
 one's duty ? What a demand it makes upon all 
 our faculties ! How we must be content to strive, 
 and bear, and insist ; to submit to the sternest 
 self-discipline, to practise the most rigorous self- 
 reliance ! and after all, we shall fail — fail egreg- 
 iously — unless we enter on the task in humble 
 imitation of the example of Christ, and with a 
 strong resolve to walk in His footsteps. 
 
 But what do we mean by " success ? " - The 
 phrase, "success in life," has a very different 
 signification for different minds. To one it rep- 
 resents a large account at his banker's ; to an- 
 other, a comfortable estate, enclosed in its own 
 " ring fence ; " to another, a high place in so- 
 ciety ; to yet another, a title or an office ; and 
 to a fifth, the trumpet- voice of fame. It will be 
 modified also by the measure of our aspirations 
 and our sense of our opportunities. So that 
 success in life to some will be embodied in the 
 poet's modest ambition— 
 
DEVOTION. 449 
 
 " I often wish that I had clear 
 
 For life, three hundred pounds a year;" 
 
 to others, it will not fall short of a capital of a 
 quarter of a million. We suppose that by nine 
 men out of ten it is identified, in some way or 
 other, and in a large or limited sense, with 
 money -getting. Now, we do not profess the as- 
 sumption of a tone of extravagant morality, and 
 we shall not pour upon money -getting a flood of 
 indiscriminate censure. On this point we have 
 already hazarded our opinion. It is right enough 
 and honorable enough for a man to covet an in- 
 dependent position, such as only money can 
 secure. Money as an. end is a serious evil ; as a 
 means to an end it is a splendid good. Of 
 course Diogenes despised money ; but then you 
 and I, reader, despise Diogenes. We do not 
 think it a good thing to live in a tub, or a great 
 thing to wear a cloak with more holes in it than 
 substance. God forbid that we should work for 
 money alone, for money as the great aim and 
 object of life ; but God forbid that we should 
 stoop to the pride of humility which rails at it as 
 dross, and pretends that true happiness lies in 
 the lap of poverty. It seems to us very com- 
 mendable in a young man to resolve upon earn- 
 ing a competence, if he can make up his mind 
 as to what is a competence, and to keep his 
 desires under stringent control. But for a man 
 who gives up his nights and days, his heart and 
 soul, to the acquisition of a larger fortune than 
 
450 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 his neighbors, we feel the most supreme ten- 
 tempt. The man whose aspirations point to 
 money, and his thoughts to money, and his feel- 
 ings to money, and his affections to money, may 
 God forgive, for he will have need of forgive- 
 ness ! — Adams. 
 
 If you wish success in life, make perseverance 
 your bosom friend, experience your wise counsel- 
 lor, caution your elder brother, and hope your 
 guardian genius. — Addison. 
 
 The talent of success is nothing more than 
 doing what you can do well, and doing well 
 whatever you do, without a thought of fame. — 
 Longfellow. 
 
 All things religiously taken in hand are pros- 
 perously ended ; because whether, men in the end 
 have that which religion did allow to desire, or 
 that which it teaches them contentedly to suffer, 
 they are in neither event unfortunate. — Hooker. 
 
@ 
 
 ft 
 
*p-&«*«8- 
 
 I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. — St. John xiv. 6. 
 
 However, I am sure that there is a common spirit, that plays within 
 us, and that is the Spirit of God. Whoever feels not the warm gale and 
 gentle ventilation of this Spirit, I dare not say he lives ; for, truly, with- 
 out this to me there is no heat under the tropic, nor any light, though 
 I dwelt in the body of the sun. — Sir Thomas Browne. 
 
 Afflictions are the methods of a merciful Providence to force upon 
 us the only means of setting matters right. — L'Estrange. 
 
 The sensible presence of God, and shining of His clear-discovered 
 face. — Archbishop Leighton. 
 
 The doctrine in which all religions agree, is that new light is added 
 to the mind in proportion as it uses that which it has. — Emfpson. 
 
 Here eyes do regard you 
 
 In Eternity's stillness; 
 
 Here is all fulness, 
 Ye brave, to reward you; 
 
 Work, and despair not. 
 
 * -(iOETHE. 
 
 (452) 
 
Wxd\. 
 
 lie that is of the Truth heareth My voice. — St. John xvii. 37. 
 
 K\ PERFECT Character, 
 
 The Truth, the Life, the Way, 
 Through Thee descends the Comforter 
 To turn our night to day. 
 
 Thou hast endured it all, 
 
 The cross of life below ; 
 And from the wormwood and the gall 
 
 What peace and sweetness flow ! 
 
 Inspire us day by day 
 
 With Thy heroic mind, 
 To leave along our homeward way 
 
 Our little selves behind ; 
 
 And through the Comforter 
 
 Whom Thou dost send us here, 
 
 Approach Thee, Perfect Character, 
 Where Truth is always clear. 
 
 Truth lies in character. Christ did not simply 
 speak truth : He was truth ; truth through and 
 
 (453) 
 
454 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 through ; for truth is a thing, not of words, but 
 of Life and Being. None but a Spirit can be 
 true. 
 
 For example. The friends of Job spoke 
 words of truth. Scarcely a maxim which they 
 uttered could be impugned: cold, hard, theologi- 
 cal verities ; but verities out of place — in that 
 place cruel and untrue. Job spoke many words 
 not strictly accurate — hasty, impetuous, blunder- 
 ing, wrong ; but the whirlwind came, and before 
 the Voice of God the veracious falsehoods were 
 swept into endless nothingness — the true man, 
 wrong, perplexed, in verbal error, stood firm. 
 He was true, though his sentences were not; 
 turned to the truth as the sunflower to the sun, 
 — as the darkened plant, imprisoned in the vault, 
 turns towards the light, — struggling to solve the 
 fearful enigma of his existence. 
 
 Job was a servant of the truth, being true 
 in character. . . . 
 
 Christianity joins two things inseparably to- 
 gether — acting truly, and perceiving truly. Every 
 day the eternal nature of that principle becomes 
 more certain. If any man will do His will, he 
 shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God. 
 
 It is a perilous thing to separate feeling from 
 action ; to have learnt to feel rightly without 
 acting rightly. It is a danger to which, in a 
 refined and polished age, we are peculiarly ex- 
 posed. The romance, the poem, and the ser- 
 mon, teach us how to feel. Our feelings are 
 
" What though the venerable oak be broken, 
 
 And ruthless floods sweep down the mountain-side? 
 
 Ruin is not, perforce, of wrath the token, 
 
 Nor doth stern vengeance on the torrent ride." 
 
TRUTH. 455 
 
 delicately correct. But the danger is this : feel- 
 ing is given to lead to action ; if feeling be suf- 
 fered to awake without passing into duty, the 
 character becomes untrue. When the emergency 
 for real action comes, the feeling is, as usual, 
 produced ; but, accustomed as it is to rise in fic- 
 titious circumstances without action, neither will 
 it lead on to action in the real ones. " We pity 
 wretchedness, and shun the wretched " We utter 
 sentiments, just, honorable, refined, lofty, but 
 somehow, when a truth presents itself in the 
 shape of duty, we are unable to perform it. 
 And so such characters become by degrees 
 like the artificial pleasure-grounds of bad taste, 
 in which the waterfall does not fall, and the 
 grotto offers only the refreshment of an imagi- 
 nary shade, and the green hill does not strike 
 the skies, and the tree does not grow. ■ Their 
 lives are a sugared crust of sweetness trembling 
 over black depths of holiowness ; more truly 
 still, " whited sepulchres," — fair without to look 
 upon, " within full of all uncleaness." — F. W. 
 Robertson. 
 
 Truth indeed came into the world with her 
 Divine Master, and was a perfect shape most 
 glorious to look on ; but when He ascended, and 
 His apostles after Him were laid asleep, then 
 straight arose a wicked race of deceivers, who, 
 as that story goes of the Egyptian Typhon with 
 his conspirators, how they dealt with the good 
 Osiris, took the virgin Truth, hewed her lovely 
 
456 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 form into a thousand pieces, and scattered them 
 to the four winds. From that time ever since, 
 the sad friends of Truth, such as durst appear, 
 imitating the careful search that Isis made for the 
 mangled body of Osiris, went up and down, 
 gathering up limb by limb still as they could find 
 them. We have not yet found them all, Lords 
 and Commons, nor ever shall do till her Master's 
 second coming: He shall bring together every 
 joint and member, and shall mould them into an 
 immortal feature of loveliness and perfection.—^ 
 Milton. 
 
 Nowadays, men will investigate all things, in- 
 ward and outward. Truth ! canst thou escape 
 from the furious hunt ? They go forth with nets 
 and poles to catch thee; but, with spirit -like 
 tread, thou glidest away through their midst. — 
 Schiller. 
 
 To love truth for truth's sake is the principal 
 part of human perfection, and the seed-plot of 
 all other virtues. — Locke. 
 
 When the majestic form of Truth approaches 
 it is easier for a disingenuous mind to start aside 
 till she is past, and then reappearing, say, "It 
 was not Truth/' than to meet her, and bow, and 
 obey. — John Foster. 
 
 This same Truth is a naked and open day- 
 light, that does not show the masks and mum- 
 meries and triumphs of the world, half so daintily 
 as candle-lights. Truth may perhaps come to 
 the price of a pearl that showeth best by day, 
 
TRUTH. 457 
 
 but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or 
 carbuncle that showeth best in varied lights. A 
 mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. Doth 
 any man doubt that if there were taken out of 
 men's minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false 
 valuations, imaginations as one would, and the 
 like, but it would leave the minds of a number 
 of men poor shrunken things, full of melancholy 
 and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves ? 
 — Lord Bacon. 
 
 Do not be over - fond of anything, or consider 
 that for your interest which makes you break 
 your word, qui your modesty, or inclines you to 
 any practice wwich will not bear the light, or 
 look the world in the face. — x^xtoxixus. 
 
 Speak every man truth with his neighbor; for 
 we are members of one another. — Ephesiaxs 
 iv. 25. 
 
 To speak the truth and perform good offices 
 
 are two things that resemble God 
 
 Every man ought to speak and act with such 
 perfect integrity that no one could have reason 
 to doubt his simple affirmation. — Pythagoras. 
 
 Only they who carry sincerity to the highest 
 point, in whom there remains not a single hair's 
 breadth of hypocrisy, can see the hidden springs 
 of things. — Confucius. 
 
 The sacrifice of a thousand horses has been 
 
 put in the balance with one true word, and the 
 
 true word weighed down the thousand sacrifices. 
 
 No virtue surpasses that of veracity. There are 
 30 
 
458 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 two roads which conduct to perfect virtue : to be 
 true, and to do no evil to any creature. — From 
 the Hindu. 
 
 Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no 
 case whatever, but, as in the exercise of all the 
 virtues, there is an economy of truth. It is a sort 
 of temperance, by which a man speaks truth with 
 measure, that he may speak it the longer. — 
 Burke. 
 
 Whosoever is afraid of submitting any ques- 
 tion, civil or religious, to the test of free discus- 
 sion, is more in love with his own opinion than 
 with the truth. — Bishop Watson. 
 
 Seek truth by thought, not by searching for 
 it in mouldly books. Look up to the sky to see 
 the moon, instead of seeking for it in the pond. 
 — From the Persian. 
 
 Truth and reason constitute that intellectual 
 gold that defies destruction. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 Do not let us lie at all. Do not think of 
 one falsity as harmless, and another as slight, 
 and another as unintended. Cast them all aside. 
 They may be light and accidental, but they are 
 ugly soot from the smoke of the pit, and it is 
 better that our hearts should be swept clean of 
 them. — Ruskin. 
 
 Truth is always consistent with itself, and 
 needs nothing to help it out ; it is always near at 
 hand, and sits upon our lips, and is ready to 
 drop out before we are aware ; whereas a lie is 
 troublesome, and sets a man's invention upon the 
 
TRUTH. 459 
 
 rack, and one trick needs a great many more to 
 make it good. It is like building upon a false 
 foundation, which constantly stands in need of 
 props to shore it up, and proves at last more 
 chargeable than to have raised a substantial 
 building at first upon a true and solid founda- 
 tion ; for sincerity is firm and substantial, and j 
 there is nothing hollow and unsound in it, and, 
 because it is plain and open, fears no discovery ; 
 of which the crafty man is always in danger ; and 
 when he thinks he walks in the dark, all his pre- 
 tences are so transparent, that he who runs may 
 read them ; he is the last man that finds himself 
 to be found out; and whilst he takes it for 
 granted that he makes fools of others, he renders 
 himself ridiculous. — Tillotson. 
 
 A straight line is the shortest in morals as in 
 mathematics. — Maria Edgeworth. 
 
 It is in the determination to obey the truth, 
 and to follow wherever she may lead, that the 
 genuine love of truth consists. — Whately. 
 
 I love truth because I love to have an apple 
 thought to be an apple, and a hand a hand ; and 
 the whole beauty and hopefulness of God's crea- 
 on a truth instead of a lie. — Leigh Hunt. 
 
 The law of Christianity is eminently and 
 transcendently called the word of truth. — South. 
 
400 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 put %m yfjtpmam 
 
 I 
 
 what if bitter things sometimes betide thee ! 
 
 A loving, outstretched Hand is always near, 
 
 Which doth in judgment and compassion guide 
 
 thee, 
 
 And point the way where all is bright and 
 
 clear. 
 
 Lo ! when from cloud to cloud the lightning flashes, 
 What time the storm is plunging through the air 
 
 And in commingling peals the thunder crashes, 
 Needeth the heart be told that God is there ? 
 
 What though the venerable oak be broken, 
 
 And ruthless floods sweep down the mountain 
 side? 
 
 Ruin is not, perforce, of wrath the token, 
 
 Nor doth stern vengeance on the torrent ride. 
 
 Let crimson Battle tread on many a bosom, 
 Let Sorrow clasp the tendrils of the heart, 
 
 If Truth thereby put forth a fairer blossom, 
 And Life a fragrance more divine impart. 
 
 Revenge and punishment have here no places ; 
 
 Severity and tenderness combine, 
 And lo ! descending with celestial graces, 
 
 Proclaim that healing only is divine. 
 
BUT ONE PHYSICIAN. 461 
 
 In heaven and earth there is but one Physician, 
 And though ofttimes He addeth unto pain, 
 
 Like discords in the strains of a great musician, 
 His acts are but the harbinger of gain. 
 
 Some used to say, in old times, — and they 
 may say so again, — This world, so full of pain 
 and death, is a very ill - made world. We will 
 not believe it was made by the good God. It 
 must have been made by some evil being, or at 
 least by some stupid and clumsy being, — the 
 Demiurgus, they called him, .or world -maker, — 
 some inferior god whom the good God would 
 •conquer and depose, and so do away with pain, 
 and misery, and death. A pardonable mistake ; 
 but, as we are bound to believe, a mistake, nev- 
 ertheless. — Charles Kingsley. 
 
 Could we get a view of our world from a 
 high enough point, might we not possibly dis- 
 cover that there is nothing absolutely evil? By 
 aid of the microscope our physical vision finds 
 beauty in mouldiest clods, wonders in dullest 
 matter. Were our moral vision similarly armed, 
 might not that look globular and symmetrical 
 which now seems flat and deformed, that useful 
 which now seems obstructive, that attractive which 
 is now repulsive, that beneficent which now looks 
 malignant? In the bounded view we commonly 
 get we often find that what we thought a calam- 
 ity proves a benefaction. What we call evil is 
 always a consequence of a breach of law. To 
 
462 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 tell your son that his toothache is caused by the 
 breaking of a physiological law by him, or his 
 parents, or his grand - parents, will not, to be 
 sure, check the pain ; nor do I think the tooth - 
 ache a spiritual lever. But man can learn, — 
 and it is the most fruitful of his lessons, — that 
 law is absolute, and in its aim beneficent ; that 
 aim being, along with growth, stability, conserva- 
 tion, improvement. Whichever way we turn we 
 are met by law, and we soon perceive that law 
 is uniform and irresistible, and that we prosper 
 in proportion as we conform ourselves to its be- 
 hests. Could we always submit us to law, physi- 
 cally, morally, intellectually, spiritually, we should 
 be completely prosperous. Law is an ever- 
 active ideal, above us, around us, correcting us, 
 guiding us, cultivating us, inviting us, exalting us. 
 The nations and the individuals that have dis- 
 covered and that obey the most and deepest 
 laws are the most advanced and the wisest and 
 best. . . . 
 
 The creative Mightiness and sufficiency mani- 
 fest themselves in Law. Law is perfection. It is 
 no sign of " deficiency of power " in the creative 
 mind that we and all about us are created imper- 
 fect. Imperfection is demanded for what consti- 
 tutes the life of life, progression, the joy of 
 change, the delight of improvement, the exhilara- 
 tion of ascent. Law, being perfect, is ever beck- 
 oning us toward perfection. Human life could 
 not be lived without hope ; and hope implies a 
 
BUT OXE PHYSICIAN. 463 
 
 something brighter and better and happier in the 
 future, and implies, therefore, a present imperfec- 
 tion and a growth out of it. Imperfection is the 
 ground whence spring up stimulants to motion, 
 to activity, to aspiration. Without imperfection 
 there were no expectation, no curiosity, no color,, 
 no ecstacy, on earth, neither smiles nor tears,, 
 neither comedy nor tragedy. — Calvert. 
 
 As surely as God is good, so surely there is 
 no such thing as necessary evil. For by the 
 religious mind, sickness, and pain, and death are 
 not to be counted evils. Moral evils are of your 
 own making; and undoubtedly the greater part 
 of them may be prevented. — Southey. 
 
 Of divers things evil, all being not evitable 
 [avoidable), we take one; which one, saving only 
 in case of so great urgency, were not otherwise 
 to be taken. — Hooker. 
 
 War, for example, may be chosen rather than 
 dishonorable peace ; and, with all its misery, 
 prove one of the means of a higher civilization, 
 — one of innumerable illustrations of good out 
 of evil. 
 
 Take away honor and imagination and poetry 
 from war, and it becomes carnage. Doubtless, 
 And take away public spirit and invisible prin- 
 ciples from resistance to a tax, and Hampden 
 becomes a noisy demagogue. . . . Carnage 
 is terrible. The conversion of producers into de- 
 stroyers is a calamity. Death, and insults to 
 woman, worse than death, and human features 
 
464 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 obliterated beneath the hoof of the war-horse, 
 and reeking hospitals, and ruined commerce, and 
 violated homes, and broken hearts, — they are all 
 awful. But there is something worse than death. 
 Cowardice is worse. And the decay of enthusi- 
 asm and manliness is worse. And it is worse 
 than death, — aye, worse than a hundred thousand 
 deaths, — when a people has gravitated down into 
 the creed that the " wealth of nations " consists 
 not in generous hearts, — 
 
 " Five in each breast, and freedom in each brow," — 
 
 in national virtues, and primitive simplicity, 
 and heroic endurance, and preference of duty 
 to life; not in men, but in silk, and cotton, 
 and something that they call " capital." Peace is 
 blessed. Peace, arising out of charity. But 
 peace, springing out of the calculations of selfish- 
 ness, is not blessed. If the price to be paid for 
 peace is this, that wealth accumulate and men 
 decay, better far that every street in every town 
 of our once noble country should run blood.— 
 F. W. Robertson 
 
RICIIES. 465 
 
 ]|k!p$* 
 
 POSSESSIONS of the heart and mind, 
 ^ With or without an outward store, 
 And treasures never left behind, 
 Because they always go before. 
 
 And He spake a parable unto them, saying, 
 The ground of a certain rich man brought forth 
 plentifully : and he thought within himself, spy- 
 ing, 'What shall I do r because I have no room 
 where to bestow my fruits ? And he said, This 
 will I do : I will pull down my barns and build 
 greater ; and there will I bestow all my fruits 
 and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, 
 thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; 
 take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But 
 God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul 
 shall be required of thee : then whose shall those 
 things be which thou hast provided ? So is he 
 that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not 
 rich toward God.— St. Luke xii. 16-21. 
 
 Now the Scripture ever considers the heart as 
 that which constitutes a man truly rich or poor. 
 He that has no love of God, no large spiritual 
 affections, no share in the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ, no sympathies with his brethren, is, in 
 fact, " wretched and miserable, and poor and 
 
466 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 blind, and naked," and shall one day find out 
 that he is so, however now he may say, " I am 
 rich and increased with goods, and have need of 
 nothing : " he is poor towards God, he has noth- 
 ing with God ; he has laid up in store, no good 
 foundation against the time to come. On the 
 other hand, he only is truly rich, who is rich 
 toward God — who is rich in God, who has made 
 the eternal and the unchangeable the object of 
 his desires and his efforts. He in God possesses 
 all things, though in this world he were a bee- 
 gar, and for him to die will not be to quit, but 
 to go to, his riches. — Trench. 
 
 True happiness consists in perfect health, a 
 moderate fortune, and a life free from effeminacy 
 and ignorance. — Thales. 
 
 o 
 
 A covetous man does not possess his wealth : 
 his wealth possesses him. — Bias. 
 
 What a rich man uses and gives, constitutes 
 his real wealth. That which thou hoardest, whose 
 is it? Other covetous men will sport with it. — 
 From the Hindu. 
 
 If a man make money at the expense of his 
 virtue, he dishonors his soul. He sells honor 
 for gold. All the gold on earth is of no value 
 compared with virtue. — Plato. 
 
 If the rich have diseases of the soul, they are 
 worse off than the poor afflicted with bodily in- 
 firmities. Bodily infirmities are not of our own 
 seeking, and death will deliver us from them ; 
 but diseases of the soul we bring upon ourselves, 
 and when we die they go with us. — Gregory. 
 
BICHES. 4G7 
 
 Riches are to society what food is to the 
 body. Should any one of the members of the 
 body absorb the nutriment intended for the 
 whole, the body would perish utterly; for it is 
 held together only by the requisite distribution of 
 nourishment to the divers parts. In the same 
 manner, the general harmony of society is main- 
 tained only by the interchange of services be- 
 tween the rich and the poor. — St. Chrysostom. 
 
 In the sight of God no man is poor, but him 
 who is wanting in goodness ; and no man is rich 
 but him who abounds in virtues. — Lactantius. 
 
 Large rivers, great .trees, wholesome plants, 
 and wealthy persons are not created for them- 
 selves, but to be of service to others. — From the 
 Hindu. 
 
 A man has three friends in his life, — wealth, 
 family, and his good actions. When the hour of 
 death approaches, and he calls on friends to de- 
 liver him, wealth and family avail not ; but his 
 good actions respond, " Even before thou hast 
 called upon us, we have preceded thee, and have 
 smoothed the way for thee. — Jewish Talmud. 
 
 Glory not in wealth, if thou have it ; but in 
 God, who giveth all things, and who above all. 
 desireth to give thee Himself. — Thomas a 
 Kempis. 
 
 Wealth bears heavier on talent than poverty 
 does. Under gold mountains and thrones how 
 many a spiritual giant may be crushed down and 
 buried. — Richter. 
 
4G8 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 $jtp*tttiioin 
 
 |j?^ELIGHT in excellence of other folk, 
 
 ^~ Is of Humanity the living yolk : 
 
 It proves the heart is not by self consumed, 
 
 Nor by that tyrant of the world entombed ; 
 
 And bears us into that bright atmosphere 
 
 Where all things good and true and fair appear, 
 
 In fellowship with His elected host, 
 
 Who sends the Comforter the Holy Ghost. 
 
 I do not know anything more loveable and 
 charming than the disposition which shows itself 
 in a quick and full sympathy with whatever is 
 good and noble in others, and a hearty, gen- 
 erous joy in recognizing and praising it. I have 
 a particular delight in seeing this spirit among 
 cotemporaneous men of letters — the greater be- 
 cause in the present age, when literature has 
 come to be so much of a profession (not to say 
 trade), the temptations to rivalries and jealousies, 
 or to a depreciating disposition, are perhaps more 
 numerous and strong. I therefore thank God 
 with especial gladness Tor any example of this 
 generous admiration. — C. S. Henry. 
 
 Appreciation is the bond of peace among 
 neighbors : the manifestation of love in families ; 
 and the shining mark of " the communion of the 
 
EVIL- EYED. 469 
 
 saints." Washington Allston speaks of it, in a 
 very beautiful way, as proof of devotion to our 
 own chosen work. "If an artist," he says, "love his 
 Art for its own sake, he will delight in excellence 
 wherever he meets it, as well in the work of an- 
 other as in his own. This is the test of a true 
 love." And this is true of every calling. Appre- 
 ciation shows that a man is doing- his own work 
 in the right spirit, and is in the free current 
 of Humanity, not a useless wreck on the: 
 shore. . 
 
 £2£s©^p^D- 
 
 JfoH-Jripk 
 
 J?)H, is there any blessed use 
 e *^ That one should see but evil, 
 And every joyful sight refuse 
 
 To prove there is a devil ? 
 
 Behold the shimmer of the stars, 
 Which ride the heavens in glory, 
 
 Enthroned upon their radiant cars, 
 And think of Satan's story; 
 
 Who from his post as Lucifer, 
 That wondrous heaven -adorner,. 
 
470 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Became a vile interpreter, 
 A fallen earthly scorner: 
 
 And answer, Is there any use 
 That one should see but evil, 
 
 And every joyful sight refuse, 
 To prove there is a devil ? 
 
 imittm* 
 
 :REATNESS is divine ; 
 An influence that comes from God alone 
 Which in a house of clay begins to shine ; 
 Beyond, as yet unknown. 
 
 In that narrow place, 
 It kindles more and more, and brighter grows ; 
 And, though unrecognized, imparts a grace 
 
 Whose source no mortal knows. 
 
 Months and years go by: 
 The Giant dwells within those walls of dust, 
 And waits to gather for the victory 
 
 The fire of Truth and Trust: 
 
 Waits, — as giants can ; 
 And when the hour for shining forth arrives, 
 
GREATNESS. 471 
 
 He bursts into the firmament of man 
 To cheer ten thousand lives. 
 
 The power of awakening, enlightening, ele- 
 vating our fellow- creatures may, with peculiar 
 fitness, be called divine, for there is no agency of 
 God so beneficent and sublime as that which He 
 exerts on rational natures, and by which He 
 assimilates them to Himself. This sway over 
 other souls is the surest test of greatness. We 
 admire, indeed, the energy which subdues the 
 material creation, or develops the physical re- 
 sources of a state. But it is a nobler might 
 which calls forth the intellectual and moral re- 
 sources of a people, which communicates new 
 impulses to society, throws into circulation new 
 and stirring thoughts, gives the mind a new con- 
 sciousness of its faculties, and rouses and fortifies 
 the will to an unconquerable purpose of well 
 doing. This spiritual power is worth all other. 
 To improve man's outward condition is a second- 
 ary agency, and is chiefly important as it gives 
 the means of inward growth. The most glorious 
 minister of God on earth is he who speaks with 
 a life-giving energy to other minds, breathing 
 into them the love of truth and virtue, strength- 
 ening them to suffer in a good cause, and lifting 
 them above the senses and the world. 
 
 We know not a more exhilarating thought 
 than that this power is given to men ; that we 
 can not only change the face of the outward 
 
472 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 world, and by virtuous discipline improve our- 
 selves, but that we may become springs of life 
 and light to our fellow-beings. We are thus ad- 
 mitted to a fellowship with Jesus Christ, whose 
 highest end was that He might act with a new 
 and celestial energy on the human mind. We 
 rejoice to think that He did not come to monop- 
 olize this divine sway, to enjoy a solitary grand- 
 eur, but to receive others, even all who should 
 obey His religion, into the partnership of this 
 honor and happiness. Every Christian, in pro- 
 portion to his progress, acquires a measure of 
 this divine agency. In the humblest conditions, a 
 power goes forth from a devout and disinterested 
 spirit, calling forth silently moral and religious 
 sentiment, perhaps in a child, or some other 
 friend, and teaching, without the aid of words, the 
 loveliness and peace of sincere and single-hearted 
 virtue. In the more enlightened classes, individ- 
 uals now and then rise up, who, through a sin- 
 gular force and elevation of soul, obtain a sway 
 over men's minds to which no limit can be pre- 
 scribed. They speak with a voice which is heard 
 by distant nations, and which goes down to fu- 
 ture ages. Their names are repeated with ven- 
 eration by millions ; and millions read in their 
 lives and writings a quickening testimony to the 
 areotness of the mind, to its moral strength, to 
 the reality of disinterested virtue. These are the 
 true sovereigns of the earth. They share in the 
 royalty of Jesus Christ. They have a greatness 
 
GREATNESS. 478 
 
 which will be more and more felt. The time is 
 coming, its signs are visible, when this long -mis- 
 taken attribute of greatness will be seen to be- 
 long eminently, if not exclusively, to those who> 
 by their characters, deeds, sufferings, writings,, 
 leave imperishable and ennobling traces of them- 
 selves on the human mind. Among these legiti- 
 mate sovereigns of the world will be ranked the 
 philosopher, who penetrates the secrets of the 
 universe and of the soul ; who opens new fields 
 to the intellect, who gives a new consciousness of 
 its own powers, rights, and divine original; who 
 spreads enlarged and liberal habits of thought ; 
 and who helps men to understand that an ever- 
 growing knowledge is the patrimony destined for 
 them by the "Father of their spirits." Among, 
 them will be ranked the statesman who, escaping, 
 a vulgar policy, rises to the discovery of the true- 
 interest of a state ; who seeks without fear or 
 favor the common good ; who understands that a 
 nation's mind is more valuable than its soil ; who 
 inspirits a people's enterprise, without making: 
 them the slaves of wealth; who is mainly anxious 
 to originate or give stability to institutions by 
 which society may be carried forward ; who con- 
 fides with a sublime constancy in justice and vir- 
 tue, as the only foundation of a wise policy and 
 of public prosperity ; and, above all, who has so 
 drunk into the spirit of Christ and of God as 
 never to forget that his particular country is a 
 member of the great human family, bound to all 
 
 31 
 
474 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 nations by a common nature, by a common inter- 
 est, and by indissoluable laws of equity and 
 charity. Among these will be ranked, perhaps, 
 on the highest throne, the moral and religious 
 reformer, who truly merits that name ; who rises 
 above his times ; who is moved by a holy im- 
 pulse to assail vicious establishments, sustained 
 by fierce passions and inveterate prejudices ; who 
 rescues great truths from the corruptions of ages; 
 who, joining calm and deep thought to profound 
 feeling, secures to religion at once enlightened 
 and earnest conviction ; who unfolds to men 
 higher forms of virtue than they have yet at- 
 tained or conceived ; who gives brightness and 
 more thrilling views of the perfection for which 
 they were framed, and inspires a victorious faith 
 in the perpetual progress of our nature. — Chan- 
 ging. 
 
 JwLL, whatsoever cometh from the heart, 
 ^^ Which born of life begetteth life, 
 While nothing which proceeds alone from art, 
 Is ever with its flavor rife; 
 
 The lightning flashes of a thoughtful mind, 
 Which place the subject in a light 
 
ORIGINALITY. 475 
 
 Whose clearness, with simplicity combined, 
 Draws out at once responsive sight; 
 
 Wealth of the inner -man, passed through the 
 mint, 
 
 Which makes it current with the race, 
 While that which only has its shining in't, 
 
 Goes tumbling to deserved disgrace ; — 
 
 These, these are thine, Originality, 
 
 Thy worth to God's unnumbered host, 
 
 W T ho know the signet of Reality, 
 Sign - manual of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 It has been justly observed that "flashes of 
 mind" in a writer are struck out by the rapid 
 pen, and that one flash of a man's own mind is 
 more profitable to himself, and will procure him 
 a more favorable reception from the public, than 
 any amount of reprint of second-hand confisca- 
 tions. Of course, the flash may be elicited by 
 contact with another mind. Thorwarldsen's Mer- 
 cury was sugested by the sight of a lad sitting 
 in a graceful attitude of repose. Tennyson's " In 
 Memoriam " might never have been written but 
 for Milton's " Lycidas." Hazlitt records that when 
 Edmund Kean was praised for his action as 
 Richard III., in his final unavailing struggle with 
 victorious Richmond, when, after his sword has 
 been wrested from him, he stood with his hand 
 stretched out, "as if his will could not be dis- 
 armed, and the very phantom of his despair had 
 
476 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 a withering power," he acknowledged that he 
 had conceived the idea by seeing the last effort 
 of Painter in his fight with Oliver. This, how- 
 ever, is not imitation, not the impudent plagiar- 
 ism of the servile copyist. In adopting and act- 
 ing upon a suggestion, or in catching up an 
 illustration, an original mind is often seen at its 
 best. No doubt, as has been remarked, the 
 most original writer, like the bee, will derive his 
 capital stock of ideas, his funded store, from a 
 variety of sources ; but as the bee, though it 
 plunders all the flowers of the field of their 
 "nectared sweets," is careful that its honey shall 
 not tell of any special blossom, so will the man 
 of independent mind ensure that his work shall 
 not speak too directly of any particular master. 
 He will collect his material from every nook and 
 corner of the wide domain of literature, but it 
 will all be filtered through the alembic of his 
 own brain, and its elements recombined before 
 being presented to the public in enduring form. 
 A writer who would seize and retain the ear of 
 the public must have something of his own to 
 say, while at times repeating and transmitting 
 through a new medium the thoughts of others. 
 He may adapt and borrow, but what he adapts 
 and borrows he must invest with a certain de- 
 gree of novelty. His style must be peculiar and 
 proper to himself. To assume another man's 
 style, to write Johnsonese, Carlylese, or Ruskin- 
 ese, is as foolish and unprofitable as to strut 
 
ORIGINALITY. 477 
 
 about in another man's clothes. Ideas become 
 the property of everybody. The thoughts of 
 Plato and Cicero are part of the heritage of well- 
 cultivated minds ; but style is, or should be, a 
 man's self. 
 
 Let the writer, then, who pants for 'notoriety 
 or covets true fame, follow Pat's advice to a 
 bad orator, — come out from behind his nose and 
 speak in his own natural voice. The heaven of 
 popular approbation is to be taken only by 
 storm. Emerson has startled the world by his 
 Emersonisms, and not by echoes of Carlyle, as 
 many imagine, for he is like Carlyle only in be- 
 ing original. 
 
 Edgar A. Poe, with all his personal faults, 
 eternized his name on the scroll of American 
 authors simply by being Edgar A. Poe ; but who 
 reads the legion parodies of * The Raven ? ' 
 Cooper has won a great name as a novelist, 
 though his writings are stuck as full of faults as 
 the firmament with stars, while thousands of ro- 
 mances of equal ability have gone to the • tomb 
 of the Capulets/ because they have tried to be 
 unlike themselves. Who can forget how, when 
 Sir Walter Scott first kindled the torch of his 
 genius at the fires of feudal poesy, working out 
 new scenes of interest from the' warblings of 
 scalds and troubadours and minnesingers, his 
 thrilling cadences were imitated by a whole forest 
 of mocking-birds, who made the heavens vocal 
 with the glories of mosstrooper and marauder, 
 
478 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 baron bold and gay ladye, hound in leash and 
 hawk in hand, bastion huge and gray chapele, 
 henchmen 'and servitors, slashed sleeves and 
 Spanish boots, ' guns, trumpets, blunderbusses, 
 drums, and thunder?' No sooner had the Wiz- 
 ard of the North gracefully resigned his wand to 
 a mightier Prospero, whose star of popularity had 
 shot with a burst to the south, then, presto! down 
 went Rhoderick Dhu and Wat of Baccleuch be- 
 fore Hassan and Selim ; the paeans to Rosabelle 
 were exchanged for the praises of Medora, the 
 plaid and the bonnet for the white turban and 
 the baggy trousers ; and over the whole realm of 
 song arose the Oriental dynasty under the prime 
 viziership of Byron. Ten thousand puny rhyme- 
 sters called the moon * Phingair,' daggers 'atta- 
 hans/ drummers ' Tambourgis,' and women 'Hou- 
 ris ; ' became lovers of gin and haters of pork ; 
 discarded their neckcloths and put on sackcloth ; 
 strove perseveringly in turn-down collars to look 
 Conrad - like and misanthropic ; swore by the 
 beard of the Prophet, and raved in Spenserian 
 stanzas about their 'burning brows' or mourned 
 over their ' dark imaginings ; ' dreamed by night 
 of gazelle-eyed beauties, by day of Giaours, 
 jereedmen and janizaries ; and, whether baker's, 
 butcher's, or barber's apprentices, became the 
 oracles of impassioned wretchedness, and — when 
 they could raise money enough — adventured on 
 hacks hired by the hour imitations of Mazeppa 
 at a hand-gallop along the highway. Where are 
 
"The major notes and minor 
 
 Are waiting for their wings- 
 Pray thou the great Diviner 
 To touch the secret springs.' 
 
MUSIC. 479 
 
 they all now ? Alas ! the whole swarm of ro- 
 mances in six cantos with historical notes, alike 
 with the ten thousand echoes of Byron, have 
 long since gone to the land of forgetfulness ; or, 
 they live in an accommodated sense of the term, 
 owe it to the tender mercies of the pastry-cook 
 and the trunk-maker. — Anonymous. 
 
 mtmt. 
 
 ^7[7HERE is a strain eternal 
 ^> In every faithful heart, 
 A melody supernal, 
 Obedient to art. 
 
 There is the music glorious 
 In all the brave and strong, 
 
 Of those who march victorious, 
 Triumphant over wrong. 
 
 God's harmony is written 
 
 All through, in shining bars, 
 
 The soul His love has smitten, 
 As heaven is writ with stars. 
 
 The major notes and minor 
 Are waiting for their wings, — 
 
480 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Pray thou the great Diviner 
 To touch the secret springs ; 
 
 And chant that music glorious, 
 That everlasting" song\ 
 
 Of those who march victorious, 
 Triumphant over wrong. 
 
 The meaning of song goes deep. Who is 
 there that, in logical words, can express the 
 effect music has on us ? A kind of inarticulate, 
 unfathomable speech, which leads us to the edge 
 of the infinite, and lets us for moments gaze 
 into that ! — Carlyle. 
 
 Music is the art of the prophets, the only 
 art that can calm the agitations of the. soul: it is 
 one of the most magnificent and delightful pres- 
 ents God has given us. — Luther. 
 
 There is music in heaven, because in music 
 there is no self-will. Music goes on certain 
 rules and laws. Man did not make these laws 
 of music ; he has only found them out ; and if 
 he be self-willed and break them, there is an 
 end of his music instantly: all he brings out is 
 discord and ugly sounds. The greatest musician 
 in the world is as much bound by those laws 
 as the learner in the school ; and the greatest 
 musician is one who, instead of fancying that, 
 because he is clever, he may throw aside the 
 laws of music, knows the laws of music best, 
 and observes them most reverently. And there- 
 
 
MUSIC. 481 
 
 fore it was that the old Greeks, the wisest of all 
 the heathens, made a point of teaching their 
 children music; because, they said, it taught 
 them not to be self-willed and fanciful, but to 
 see the beauty, the usefulness of rule, the 
 divineness of laws. And therefore music is fit 
 for heaven ; therefore music is a pattern and 
 type of heaven, and of the everlasting life of 
 God, which perfect spirits live in heaven ; a 
 life of melody and order in themselves ; a life 
 of harmony with each other and with God. 
 
 If thou fulfillest the .law which God has given 
 thee, the law of love and liberty, then thou 
 makest music before God, and thy life is a 
 hymn of praise to God. 
 
 If thou art in love and charity with thy 
 neighbors, thou art making sweeter harmony in 
 the ears of our Lord Jesus Christ than psaltry, 
 dulcimer, and all kinds of music. 
 
 If thou art living a righteous and a useful 
 life, doing thy duty orderly and cheerfully where 
 God has put thee, then thou art making sweeter 
 melody in the ears of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 than if thou hast the throat of a nightingale; 
 for then thou in thy humble place art humbly 
 copying the everlasting harmony and melody 
 which is in heaven ; the everlasting harmony and 
 melody by which God made the worlds and all 
 that therein is, and behold it was very good, in 
 the day when the morning stars sang together, 
 and all the sons of God shouted for joy over 
 
482 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 the new - created earth, which God made to be 
 a pattern of His own perfection. — Charles 
 
 KlNGSLEY. 
 
 swmtmmt* 
 
 FOOLISH star once went astray, 
 Through some self - calculation : 
 She vanished from the Milky Way, 
 
 That troubled constellation, 
 Through which long lines of mist you trace,- 
 
 You any night may view it, 
 And see the gleam of many a face 
 
 Come softly struggling through it. 
 But God in mercy led her back, 
 
 And suffered no exclusion ; 
 Yet could not take away, alack ! 
 
 Her tearful self- confusion: 
 It lingers in the Milky Way, 
 
 Shared by her kin forever, 
 Which oft they seek to smile away 
 
 In brave but vain endeavor. 
 
 Now it is difficult to tell men what being- 
 confounded means; difficult and almost needless; 
 for there are those who know what it means 
 
CONFUSION. 48'3 
 
 without beine told ; and those who do not know 
 what it means without being told, are not likely 
 to know by my telling, or any man's telling. 
 No, not if an angel from heaven came and told 
 them what being confounded meant would they 
 understand him, at least till they were confounded 
 themselves; and then they would know by bitter 
 experience, — perhaps when it was too late. 
 
 And who are they? What sort of people are 
 they ? 
 
 First, silly persons, whom Solomon calls fools, 
 — though they often think themselves refined 
 and clever enough, — luxurious and " fashionable " 
 people, who do not care to learn, who think 
 nothing worth learning save how to enjoy them- 
 selves ; who call it " bad form " to be earnest, 
 and turn off all serious questions with a jest. 
 These are they of whom Wisdom says, — " How 
 long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and 
 the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools 
 hate knowledge? I also will laugh at your cal- 
 amity, and mock when your fear cometh." 
 
 Next, mean and truly vulgar persons ; who 
 are shameless ; who do not care if they are 
 caught out in a lie or in a trick. These are 
 they of whom it is written that outside of God's 
 kingdom, in ths outer darkness wherein are 
 weeping and gmsl'.'mg of teeth, are dogs, ind 
 whosoever iovcth ar.d -CScUceth a lie. 
 
 And next, *iA aroat£ of all, self - conceited 
 people. These arc they on whom Solomon says, 
 
484 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 " Seest thou a man who is wise in his own con- 
 ceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him." 
 They are the people who will not see when they 
 are going wrong ; who will not hear reason, nor 
 take advice, no, nor even take scorn and con- 
 tempt ; who will not see that they are making 
 fools of themselves, but, while all the world is 
 laughing at them, walk on serenely self-satisfied, 
 certain that they, and they only, know what the 
 world is made of, and how to manage the world. 
 These are they of whom it is written — " He that 
 being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall 
 suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." 
 Then they will learn, and with a vengeance, what 
 being confounded means by being confounded 
 themselves, and finding themselves utterly wrong, 
 where they thought themselves utterly right. Yet 
 no. I do not think that even that would cure 
 some people. There are those, I verily believe, 
 who would not confess that they were in the 
 wrong even in the bottomless pit, but, like Satan 
 and his fallen angels in Milton's poem, would 
 have excellent arguments to prove that they were 
 injured and ill - used, deceived and betrayed, and 
 lay the blame of their misery on God, on man, 
 on anything but their own infallible selves. 
 
 Who, then, are the people who know what 
 being confused means ; who are afraid, and ter- 
 ribly afraid, of being brought to shame and con- 
 fusion of face? 
 
 I should say, all human beings in proportion 
 
CONFUSION, 485 
 
 as they are truly human beings, are not brutal ; 
 in proportion, that is, in proportion as the Spirit 
 of God is working in them, giving them the ten- 
 der heart, the quick feelings, the earnestness, the 
 modesty, the conscientiousness, the reverence for 
 the good opinion of their fellow-men, which is the 
 beginning of eternal life. Do you not see it in 
 the young ? Modesty, bashfulness, shame - faced- 
 ness — as the good old English word was — that is 
 the very beginning of all goodness in boys and 
 girls. It is the very material out of which all 
 other goodness is made ; and those who laugh at, 
 or torment, young people for being modest and 
 bashful/ are doing the devil's work, and putting 
 themselves under the curse which God, by the 
 mouth of Solomon, the wise, pronounced against 
 the scorners who love scorning, and the fools who 
 hate knowledge. 
 
 This is the rule with dumb animals likewise. 
 The more intelligent, the more high - bred they 
 are, the more they are capable of feeling shame ; 
 and the more they are liable to be confounded, 
 to lose their heads, and become frantic with 
 doubt and fear. Who that has watched dogs 
 does not know that the cleverer they are, the 
 more they are capable of being actually ashamed 
 of themselves, as human beings are, or ought to 
 be? Who that has trained horses does not know 
 that, the stupid horse is never vicious, never 
 takes fright? The failing which high-bred horses 
 have of becoming utterly unmanageable, not so 
 
486 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 much from bodily fear as from being confounded, 
 not knowing- what people want them to do — that 
 is the very sign, the very effect, of their superior 
 organization : and more shame to those who ill- 
 use such horses. If God, my friends, dealt with 
 us as cruelly and as clumsily as too many men 
 deal with their horses, He would not be long in 
 driving us mad with terror, and shame, and con- 
 fusion. But He remembers our frame ; He 
 knoweth whereof we are made, and remembereth 
 that we are but dust: else the spirit would fail 
 before Him, and the souls which He hath made. 
 And to Him we can cry, even when we know 
 that we have made fools of ourselves — Father 
 who made me, Christ who died for me, Holy 
 Spirit who teachest me, have patience with my 
 stupidity and my ignorance. Lord, in Thee have 
 I trusted ; let me never be confounded. — Charles 
 
 KlNGSLEY. 
 
 ittirosmmu 
 
 EMEMBER that happiest day 
 ^ When I from myself turned away, 
 And sought my devotion to prove 
 In acts of adorable love? 
 
COSVEESION. 487 
 
 Escaped from a bottomless hell, 
 How could I forget it, the spell 
 Which lifted me up from my fall, 
 And sang in my bosom the call 
 
 To enter the lonor whitened field 
 That harvests for heaven doth yield, 
 And bind up the bright golden sheaves 
 Which God to a coronet weaves? 
 
 fairest of all to my heart, 
 
 My love for Thee will not depart, 
 Till yonder in bowing me down 
 
 1 cast at Thy footstool my crown. 
 
 Who that compares his heart with the picture 
 of the renewed heart, as the pencil of the Holy 
 Spirit has traced its clear, firm outline in Scrip- 
 ture, will be inclined to cavil at conversion — to 
 dispute as to whether it is in most cases sudden 
 or gradual, initiative or complete, when he feels 
 that in all cases it is needed? The Holy Spirit 
 works upon what it finds, — the history of conver- 
 sion varies with that of each individual soul ; 
 thus, there are persons who need no repentance 
 in the sense of a turning of the outward life, but 
 in a deeper sense, even that of the renewing 
 from on high, all need it. Conversion is the con- 
 sent of the soul to God. It is the acceptance of 
 Christ, and with Him, of pardon, deliverance, 
 freedom ; it is the withdrawal of the soul from 
 its own objects to fix upon those which the doc- 
 
488 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 trine of Christ presents it, and which the natural 
 heart does not, cannot receive. Conversion be- 
 longs to the rationale of spiritual life ; it is a 
 fact, at which, even if it were not revealed, were 
 not insisted upon, in Scripture, the heart of Man 
 would arrive through its own unanswerable logic. 
 — Miss Greenwell. 
 
 In what way, or by what manner of working, 
 God changes a soul from evil to good, how He 
 impregnates the barren rock, — the priceless gems 
 and gold, — is to the human mind an impenetra- 
 ble mystery in all cases alike. — Coleridge. 
 
 As to the value of conversions, God alone 
 can judge. God alone can know how wide are 
 the steps which the soul has to take before it 
 can approach to a community with Him, to the 
 dwelling of the perfect, or to the intercourse and 
 friendship of higher natures. — Goethe. 
 
 One glance of God, a touch of His love, will 
 free and enlarge the heart, so that it can deny 
 all, and part with all, and make an entire re- 
 nouncing of all to follow Him. . . . 
 
 It is in His power to do it for thee. He can 
 stretch and expand thy straightened heart, can 
 hoist and spread the sails within thee, and then 
 carry thee on swiftly; filling them, not with the 
 vain air of men's applause, but with the sweet 
 breathings and soft gales of His own Spirit, 
 which carry it straight to the desired haven. — - 
 Archbishop Leighton. 
 
IMAGINATION. 489 
 
 ^majwaltoju 
 
 vn?HE things unseen alone are everlasting, 
 *** Our wondrous lives before: 
 Imagination finds them, in forecasting, 
 God's anoels evermore. 
 
 The promises of life are in their keeping, 
 
 All things divinely fair; 
 And what, since exaltation follows weepings 
 
 If gloom is sometimes there ? 
 
 The monsters of foreboding Terror 
 
 Abide their proper time ; 
 And in the breaking of the chains of Error 
 
 How Truth becomes sublime ! 
 
 O grasp the marvels of Imagination, 
 And build them into form : 
 
 They all will smile at last, — their fascination 
 Like sunshine after storm. 
 
 The faculty of imagination is the great spring 
 of human activity, and the principal source of 
 human improvement. As it delights in present- 
 ing to the mind scenes and characters more per- 
 fect than those which we are acquainted with, it 
 prevents us from ever being completely satisfied 
 with our present condition or with our past at- 
 
 32 
 
490 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 tainments, ana engages us continually in the pur- 
 suit of some untried enjoyment, or of some ideal 
 excellence. Hence the ardor of the selfish to 
 better their fortunes, and to add to their per- 
 sonal accomplishments ; and hence the zeal of the 
 patriot and philosopher to advance the virtue and 
 the happiness of the human race. Destroy this 
 faculty, and the condition of man will become as 
 stationary as that of the brutes. — Dugald Stewart. 
 
 The truth of it is, I look upon a sound im- 
 agination as the greatest blessing in life, next to 
 a clear judgment, and a good conscience. In the 
 meantime, since there are very few whose minds 
 are not more or less subject to some dreadful 
 thoughts and apprehensions, we ought to arm 
 ourselves against them by the dictates of reason 
 and religion, "to pull the old woman out of our 
 hearts " (as Persius expresses it in the motto of 
 my paper,) and extinguish those impertinent no- 
 tions which we imbibed at a time when we were not 
 able to judge of their absurdity. Or if we be- 
 lieve, as many wise and good men have done, 
 that there are such phantoms and apparitions as 
 those I have been speaking of, let us endeavor 
 to establish to ourselves an interest in Him who 
 holds the reins of the whole creation in His 
 hands, and moderates them after such a manner 
 that it is impossible for one being to break loose 
 upon another without His knowledge and permis- 
 sion. — Addison. 
 
 The imagination may be said in its widest 1 
 
IMAGINATION. 491 
 
 sense, to be synonymous with invention, denoting 
 that faculty of the mind by which it either "bodies 
 forth the form of things unknown," or produces 
 original thoughts or new combinations of ideas 
 from materials stored up in the memory. The 
 fancy may be considered that peculiar habit of 
 association which presents to our choice all the 
 different materials that are subservient to the 
 efforts of the imagination. — Brande. 
 
 It is the divine attribute of the imagination 
 that it is irrepressible, unconfinable ; that when 
 the real world is shut out, it can create a world 
 for itself, and with a necromantic power can con- 
 jure up glorious shapes and forms, and brilliant 
 visions to make solitude populous, and irradiate 
 the gloom of a dungeon. — Washington Irving. 
 
 Generalization is necessary to the advance- 
 ment of knowledge ; but particularity is indispen- 
 sable to the creations of the imagination. In 
 proportion as men know more and think more, 
 they look less at individuals and more at classes. 
 They therefore make better theories and worse 
 poems. They give us vague phrases instead of 
 images, and personified qualities instead of men. 
 They may be better able to analyze human na- 
 ture than their predecessors. But analysis is not 
 the business of the poet. His office is to por- 
 tray, not to dissect. He may believe in a moral 
 sense, like Shaftesbury; he may refer all human 
 actions to self- interest, like Helvetius; or he may 
 never think about the matter at all. His creed 
 
492 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 on such subjects will no more influence his- 
 poetry, properly so called, than the notions which 
 a painter may have conceived respecting the 
 lachrymal glands, or the circulation of the blood, 
 will affect the tears of his Niobe, or the blushes 
 of his Aurora. If Shakespeare had written a 
 book on the motives of human action, it is by no 
 means certain that it would have been a good 
 one. It is extremely improbable that it would 
 have contained half so much able reasoning on 
 the subject as is to be found in the Fable of the 
 Bees. But could Mandeville have created an 
 Iago ? Well as he knew how to resolve charac- 
 ters into their elements, would he have been 
 able to combine those elements in such a manner 
 as to make up a man, a real, living, individual 
 man ? — Lord Macaulay. 
 
 Imagination, although a faculty of quite sub- 
 ordinate rank to intellect, is of infinite value for 
 enlarging the field for the action of the intellect 
 It is a conducting and facilitating medium for the 
 intellect to expand itself through, where it may 
 feel itself in a genial, vital element, instead of a 
 vacuum. — John Foster. 
 
 Nor let it be supposed that terrors of imagi- 
 nation belong to childhood alone. The reprobate 
 heart, which has discarded all love of God, can- 
 not so easily rid itself of the fear of the devil; 
 and even when it succeeds in that also, it will 
 then create a hell for itself. We have heard of 
 unbelievers who thought it probable that they 
 
IMAGINATION. 493 
 
 should be awake in their graves : and this was 
 the opinion for which they had exchanged a 
 Christian's hope of immortality. — Southey. 
 
 When the imagination frames a comparison, 
 if it does not strike on the first presentation, a 
 sense of the truth of the likeness, from the mo- 
 ment it is perceived, grows — and continues to 
 grow 7 — upon the mind ; the resemblance depend- 
 ing less upon the outline of form and feature 
 than upon expression and effect, — less upon 
 casual and outstanding, than upon inherent, inter- 
 nal properties ; moreover, the images invariably 
 modify each other. The law under which the 
 processes of fancy is carried on is as capricious 
 as the accidents of things, and the effects are 
 surprising, playful, ludicrous, amusing, tender, or 
 pathetic, as the objects happen to be oppositely 
 produced, or fortunately combined. Fancy is 
 given to quicken and beguile the temporal part 
 of our nature ; imagination to incite and to sup- 
 port the eternal. Yet it is not the less true that 
 fancy, as she is an active, is also, under her own 
 laws, and in her own spirit, a creative faculty. 
 In what manner fancy ambitiously aims at a rival- 
 ship with imagination, and imagination stoops to 
 work with the materials of fancy might be illus- 
 trated from the compositions of all eloquent 
 writers, whether in prose or verse. . . . 
 
 The grand storehouse of enthusiastic and med- 
 itative imagination, of poetical as contra - distin- 
 guished from human and dramatic imagination, 
 
4)4 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 are the prophetical and lyrical parts of the Holy 
 Scriptures, and the works of Milton, to which I 
 cannot forbear to add those of Spenser. — Words- 
 worth. 
 
 »lp foal fikm 'T{m. 
 
 The same yesterday, to-day, and forever. — Hebrews xiii. 8. 
 
 COHERE is a path — the soul may go and come 
 
 By which to reach the Face* on Cannon's summit,. 
 Full fifteen hundred feet by line and plummet ; 
 Whose mystery has never yet been uttered, 
 Save when the storm with bursting heart has 
 
 muttered, 
 Or hermit eagles round their eyrie fluttered. 
 
 I mean the wondrous Face of Ancient Silence, 
 Older than Egypt's Sphinx, or pyramidic Science, 
 Whose features spell both strength and self-re- 
 liance ; 
 By Nature figured from her blocks of granite, 
 Where four times twenty feet forever span it, 
 And all the mighty winds of heaven fan it. 
 
 *A celebrated natural curiosity on Mount Cannon, Franconia, N H*. 
 
THE GREAT STONE FACE. 495 
 
 I mean the Man whose throne is on the mountain, 
 Whose mighty heart is one unfailing fountain, 
 All history too brief his thoughts to count in ; 
 Who in his solitude an age of ages 
 Has witnessed every war which Nature wages.— 
 Oh wiser he than all our human sages ! 
 
 I lingered yesterday, in silence viewed him, 
 Until my soul with very life endued him, 
 And like an over eager maiden wooed him. 
 To - day will other wondering souls endeavor 
 To guess the thought from which he ceases never, 
 To - morrow too, to - morrow and forever. 
 
 And some will think, as I did, of Another, 
 A far sublimer Face, our Elder Brother, 
 Eternity His Father, Time His Mother ; 
 Of whom the Profile Rock is but a semblance 
 Flung out by Nature with celestial temp'rance, 
 To keep Him in perpetual remembrance. 
 
 Franconia, N. H., Aug., 1878. 
 
 Hugh Miller, the inspired Apostle of Science, 
 found the rudiments of Christ in the Rocks. . 
 . . Jesus Christ in every lamina of the Earth's 
 crust ; and, as with faith in his heart and the 
 iron in his hand, he toiled among the old red 
 sandstone, he saw the fosil flora of his own 
 Scotch hills tipped with tongues of flame, and the 
 fauna rigid with the stress of prophecy. It was 
 as if the blood of Calvary had stained and in- 
 formed with meaning the insensate mass in which 
 
496 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 he wrought ; or as if he were, with a divine in- 
 stinct, hewing away the rock from the door of 
 the sepulchre where the ages had laid his Lord. 
 With a vision that was too wonderful and too 
 glorious for the protracted entertainment of his 
 mighty brain, he saw the various forms of life 
 climbing through the rugged centuries, and leap- 
 ing from creation fco creation, until they took res- 
 olution in the union of matter and spirit in man. 
 But science with a pining heart behind it was 
 not satisfied even then. Not until the complex 
 creature man was united in a chain complete. 
 Then, with the lost link fastened to the Throne, 
 the grand riddle of " the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world " swung clear in the 
 sight of angels and men. — Dr. Holland. 
 
 Qjsm )$*§&>' 
 
 fT WILL not vex His ears with my complaining, 
 
 °^ For unto Him obedience is due ; 
 
 And as a father He forecasts the training, 
 
 To make His children strong and brave and true. 
 
 I will not vex His ears with my repining ; 
 But I will ask Him what for me is best, 
 
PATIEXCE. 497 
 
 Till of His will I see the blessed shining 
 What time my heart is lifted to its rest. 
 
 Patience ! let Him work on, the great Refiner ! 
 
 How vast the work no eyes but His descry. 
 Patience ! of this strange heart, the one Diviner, 
 
 His burning look doth pierce and purify. 
 
 Patience ! and when the day is at the darkest ! 
 
 Patience ! till foes aweary shall despair. 
 And thou, who to celestial voices harkest, 
 
 Shall see the watching skies grow clear and fair, 
 
 Until at length old things, forever passing, 
 
 Shall hold the panting heart no more in thrall, 
 
 And heaven and earth renewed, before thee massine 
 Their glorious things, shall hence be all in all. 
 
 Patience is the guardian of faith, the pre- 
 server of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher 
 of humility. Patience governs the flesh, strength- 
 ens the spirit, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, 
 subdues pride ; she bridles the tongue, refrains 
 the hand, tramples upon temptations, endures 
 persecutions, consummates martyrdom. Patience 
 produces unity in the church, loyalty in the state, 
 harmony in families and societies ; she comforts 
 the poor and moderates the rich ; she makes us 
 humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, un- 
 moved by calumny and reproach ; she teaches us 
 to forgive those who have injured us, and to be 
 the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we 
 
49.3 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 have injured; she delights the faithful, and invites 
 the unbelieving ; she adorns the woman, and im- 
 proves the man ; is loved in a child, praised in a 
 young man, admired in an old man ; she is beau- 
 tiful in either sex and every age. — Bishop Horne. 
 
 But what a lovely sight is it to behold a per- 
 son burdened with many sorrows, and perhaps 
 his flesh upon him has pain and anguish, while 
 his soul mourns within him : yet his passions are 
 calm, he possesses his spirit in patience, he takes 
 kindly all the relief that his friends attempt to 
 afford him, nor does he give them any grief or 
 uneasiness but what they feel through the force 
 of mere sympathy and compassion ! Thus, even 
 in the midst of calamities, he knits the hearts of 
 his friends faster to himself, and lays greater 
 obligations upon their love by so lovely and 
 divine a conduct under the weight of his heavy 
 sorrows. — Dr. Watts. 
 
 The great remedy which Heaven has put in 
 our hands is patience, by which, though we can- 
 not lessen the torments of the body, we can in a 
 great measure preserve the peace of the mind, 
 and shall suffer only the natural and genuine 
 force of an evil, without heightening its acrimony, 
 or prolonging its effects. — Dr. Johnson. 
 
 If thou intendest to vanquish the greatest, the 
 most abominable and wickedest enemy, who is 
 able to do thee mischief both in body and soul, 
 and against whom thou preparest all sorts of 
 weapons, but cannot overcome, then know that 
 
REWARD. 499 
 
 there is a sweet and loving- physical herb to 
 serve thee, named Patientia. — Luther. 
 
 Be patient in the age of pride, when men live 
 by short intervals of reason under the dominion 
 of humor and passion, when it is in the power 
 of everyone to transform thee out of thyself, and 
 run thee into the short madness. If you cannot 
 imitate Job, yet come not short of Socrates, and 
 those patient Pagans who tired the tongues of 
 their enemies, while they perceived they spit 
 their malice at brazen walls and statues. — Sir 
 Thomas Browne. 
 
 £^]?HE glory of the summer morn, 
 ^ From Night's refreshing slumber born, 
 Is unto thankful birds reward, — 
 Their anthem to the Lord. 
 
 Gleams of the True, the Beautiful, 
 The Good, all things of Him so full, — 
 Are they not unto man reward 
 
 Which cometh from the Lord? 
 
 The sense of what is well begun, 
 Pursued with love, and rightly done, 
 
£00 IDEALS OF LIFE 
 
 Is not a poor and low reward, 
 Unworthy of the Lord. 
 
 Think not He bargains with His child, 
 To Duty here unreconciled, 
 And offers some far - off reward 
 To them that own Him Lord. 
 
 I hold the flower enjoys the sun, 
 Rewarded ere the day is done : 
 So our exceeding great reward 
 Is day by day the Lord ; 
 
 And in the blessed time to come, 
 When angels bear us safely home, 
 Will our unspeakable reward 
 Forever be the Lord. 
 
 I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great re- 
 ward. — Genesis xv. t. 
 
 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing 
 the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
 enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is 
 clear, enduring forever : the judgments of the 
 Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to 
 be desired are they than gold, yea, than much 
 fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the 
 honey - comb. Moreover by them is Thy servant 
 warned : and in keeping of them there is great 
 reward. — Psalm xix. 8-ii. 
 
 Love ye your enemies, and do good, and 
 lend, hoping for nothing again ; and your reward 
 
BE WARD. 501 
 
 shall be great, and ye shall be the children of 
 the Highest : for He is kind unto the unthankful 
 and to the evil. — St. Luke vi. 35. 
 
 Justice ought to be pursued for itself, not for 
 rewards springing from it. Justice is itself the 
 best reward to the soul. — Plato. 
 
 The reward of doing one duty is the power 
 to perform another. — -Ben Azai. 
 
 If we practice goodness not for the sake of its 
 own intrinsic excellence, but for the sake of gain- 
 ing some advantage from it, we may be cunning, 
 but we are not good. — Cicero. 
 
 The only reward of virtue is virtue. The 
 only way to have a friend is to be one. — 
 Emerson. 
 
 Beautiful it is to see and understand that no 
 worth, known or unknown, can die, even on this 
 earth. The work an unknown good man has 
 done is like a vein of water flowing hidden un- 
 der ground, secretly making the ground green. 
 It flows and flows ; it joins itself with other veins 
 and veinlets ; and one day it will start forth as a 
 visible and perennial well. — Carlyle. 
 
 The penny is very different to the differ- 
 ent receivers — though objectively the same, 
 subjectively is very different ; it is, in fact, 
 to every one exactly what he will make it. 
 What the Lord said to Abraham, He says 
 unto all, "I am thy exceeding great reward," 
 and He has no other reward to impart to any 
 save only this: namely, Himself. To see Him as 
 
.502 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 He is, this is the reward which He has for all 
 His people, the penny unto all ; but they whom 
 these murmuring laborers represent, had been 
 laboring for something else besides the knowledge 
 and enjoyment of God, with an eye to some 
 other reward, to something on account of which 
 they could glory in themselves and glory over 
 others. It was not merely to have much which 
 they desired, but to have more than others, — not 
 to grow together with the whole body of Christ, 
 but to get before and beyond their brethren — 
 and the penny then, because it was common to 
 all, did not seem enough, — while in fact it was to 
 each what he would make it. For if the vision 
 of God constitutes the blessedness of the future 
 world, then they whose spiritual eye is most en- 
 lightened will drink in most of His glory; then, 
 since only like can know like, all advances which 
 are here made in humility, in holiness, in love, 
 are a polishing of the mirror that it may reflect 
 more distinctly the divine image, a purging of 
 the eye that it may see more clearly the divine 
 glory, an enlarging of the vessel that it may re- 
 ceive more amply of the divine fulness ; and on 
 the contrary, all pride, all self- righteousness, all 
 sin of every kind, whether it stop short with 
 impairing, or end by altogether destroying, the 
 capacities for receiving from God, is in its degree 
 a staining of the mirror, a darkening of the eye, 
 a narrowing of the vessel. — Trench. 
 
£xrt iiiitl. 
 

 The Life was the Light of men. — St. John i. 4. 
 
 Wisdom is that which makes men judge what are the best ends, and 
 what the best means of attaining them, and gives a man advantage of 
 counsel and direction — Sir William Temple. 
 
 Not what I have, but what I do, is my kingdom. — Carlyle. 
 
 Constantly cnoose rather to want less, than to have more. 
 
 — Thomas a Kempis. 
 
 To be happy is not the purpose of our being ; but to deserve 
 happiness. — Fichte. 
 
 Life was not given us to be used up in the pursuit of what we must 
 leave behind us when we die. — Joseph May.. 
 
 I have lived long enough to know what I did not at one time be- 
 lieve — that no society can be upheld in honor and happiness without the 
 sentiment of religion. — Laplace. 
 
 (504) 
 
Jhanmtg. 
 
 To be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 ^^ISDOM is the end of Learning, 
 ' XiiX ^ Wisdom which is life indeed : 
 Learn and use, that end discerning, 
 Thou dost live a hero's creed. 
 
 Books are tools, not for parading, 
 Nor to moulder on their shelves : 
 
 Modestly they bring their lading, 
 Modestly they give themselves : 
 
 Eyes and ears and thoughts are better, 
 
 In the shifting fight of life ; 
 And the spirit, not the letter, 
 
 Makes thee bravest for the strife. 
 
 Wisdom is the end of Learning, 
 
 Wisdom which is life indeed: 
 Learn and use, that end discerning, 
 
 Thou dost live a hero's creed. 
 
 Wear your learning, like your watch, in a 
 private pocket ; and do not pull it out and strike 
 it, merely to show that you have one. If you 
 
 33 ( 505 ) 
 
506 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 are asked what o'clock it is, tell it, but do not 
 proclaim it hourly and unasked, like the watch- 
 man. — Lord Chesterfield. 
 
 A pretender to learning is one that would 
 make all others more fools than himself; for, 
 though he know nothing, he would not have the 
 world know so much. He conceits nothing in 
 learning but the opinion, which he seeks to pur- 
 chase without it, though he might with less labor 
 cure his ignorance than hide it. He is, indeed, a 
 kind of scholar mountebank, and his art our de- 
 lusion. He is tricked out in all the accoutre- 
 ments of learning, and at the first encounter 
 none passes better. He is oftener in his study 
 than at his book, and you cannot pleasure him 
 better than to deprehend him : yet he hears you 
 not till the third knock, and then comes out very 
 angry, as interrupted. You find him in his 
 slippers, and a pen in his ear, in which formality 
 he was asleep. His table is spread wide with 
 some classic folio, which is as constant to it as 
 the carpet, and hath laid open at the same page 
 this half- year. His candle is always a longer 
 sicter - up than himself, and the boast of his win- 
 dow at midnight. He walks much alone in the 
 posture of meditation, and has a book before his 
 face in the fields. His pocket is seldom without 
 a Greek Testament or Hebrew Bible, which he 
 opens only in the church, and that when some 
 stander - by looks over. He has sentences for 
 company — some scatterings of Seneca and Taci- 
 
 I 
 
LEARNING. 507 
 
 tus — which are good upon all occasions. If he 
 reads anything in the morning, it comes out all 
 at dinner ; and as long as that lasts the discourse 
 is his. He is a great plagiary of tavern wit, and 
 comes to sermons only that he may talk of Aus- 
 tin. His parcels are the mere scrapings from 
 company, yet he complains at parting what time 
 he has lost. He is wonderfully capricious in giv- 
 ing judgment, and listens with sour attention to 
 what he understands not. He talks much of 
 Sciliger, and Casaubon, and the Jesuits, and pre- 
 fers some unheard - of Dutch name before them 
 all. He has verses to bring in upon these and 
 these hints, and it shall go hard, but he will 
 wind in his opportunity. He is critical in a lan- 
 guage he cannot construe, and speaks seldom 
 under Arminius in divinity. His business or 
 retirement with callers always is his study, and he 
 protests no delight to it comparable. He is a 
 great nomenclator of authors, which he has read 
 in general in the catalogue, and in particular in 
 the title, and goes seldom so far as the dedica- 
 tion. He never talks of anything but learning, 
 and learns all from talking. Three encounters 
 with the same man pump him, and then he only 
 puts in or gravely says nothing. He has taken 
 pains to be an ass, though not to be a scholar, 
 and is at length discovered and laughed at. — 
 Bishop Earle. 
 
 Learning is, in truth, a very great and a very 
 considerable quality ; and such as despise it suf- 
 
5 OS IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ficiently discover their own want of understand- 
 ing: but yet I do not prize it at the excessive 
 rate some others do ; as Herillus, the philosopher, 
 for one, who therein places the sovereign good, 
 and maintained that, it was only in her to render 
 us wise and contented, which I do not believe : 
 no more than I do what others have said, that 
 learning is the mother of all virtue, and that all 
 vice proceeds from ignorance, which, if it be true, 
 is subject to a very long interpretation. — Mon- 
 taigne. 
 
 No man is wiser for his learning : it may ad- 
 minister matter to work in, or object to work 
 upon ; but wit and wisdom are born with a man. 
 — Selden. 
 
 The pride of learning and the abuse of learn- 
 ing are fatal evils, and without the possession of 
 it, no doubt the man of devoted piety, with 
 merely the vernacular Scriptures in his hand, may 
 be even eminently useful ; but there are higher 
 and more extensive spheres of service which he 
 is clearly not qualified to occupy. Learning, 
 when employed not for ostentation, but for tcse; 
 not to set up human w r isdom in opposition to 
 divine revelation, but humbly, patiently, and la- 
 boriously to trace out, to exhibit, to assert, and 
 to defend the revealed truth of God, and to 
 apply it to all the varied purposes for which it 
 was made known, is of the highest value. And 
 let every younger student remember that he 
 knows not to what scene of service he is destined; 
 
LEARNING. 509 
 
 let it be his humble aim, depending upon, and 
 seeking constantly, the divine blessing, to become 
 as well qualified as possible for that station, be it 
 what it may, to which it may please God to call 
 him. And, in this view, let him duly consider 
 the indefatigable labor, the diligent study, and the 
 patient zeal of those great and good men (the 
 Swiss Reformers), who, devoted to learning as 
 they were, yet did not pursue it for its own 
 sake (or for the earthly distinctions it might gain 
 for them), or lose themselves in a contemplative 
 life, but denied themselves, and studied, and 
 prayed without ceasing, in order that they might 
 act with wisdom and success to the glory of God 
 and the higher good of their fellow-men. There- 
 fore is their memory blessed. — Dr. Thomas 
 Scott. 
 
 Learning maketh young men temperate, is 
 the comfort of old age, standing for wealth with 
 poverty, and serving for an ornament to riches. 
 — Cicero. 
 
 The chief art of learning is to attempt but 
 little at a time. — Locke. 
 
 Learning, like money, may be of so base a 
 coin, as to be utterly void of use ; or, if sterling, 
 may require good management to make it serve 
 the purposes of sense or happiness. — Shenstone. 
 
510 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 fXjHE best of servants thou canst have; 
 ^ A tyrant, if thou be its slave. 
 Joy is not wedded to its use, 
 And life is death in its abuse. 
 
 Money is an exceeding good thing for its 
 proper uses. I am much of the opinion of Rene, 
 the Dutch barber at Cambridge, when I resided 
 at that seat of learning. Rene was a virtuoso in 
 his way, a collector of curious out-of-the-way 
 things — stuffed birds, and other objects in natural 
 history, old coins, medals, urns and vases, and 
 other bits of antique pottery, savage arrows and 
 arrow-heads, and the like. The walls of his two 
 rooms were thickly garnished with these things, 
 neatly put up in glazed cases. He was much 
 pleased to be complimented on his collection ; 
 though he always made a mild disclaimer of any 
 special merit in it — intimating that his taste was 
 superior to anything he could show, and that his 
 collection would be much larger and of a much 
 higher order but for his want of means to make 
 it so. 
 
 "Poverty," he would say, "poverty — it is no 
 disgrace, sir, but a great inconvenience." I am 
 quite of Rene's mind. I do not think any philoso- 
 
MONEY. 511 
 
 pher could put the matter in a juster or better 
 way. 
 
 If a man likes to travel, or has an enjoyment 
 in building, planting and landscape creation ; or 
 in books and a large library ; or is a lover of 
 art and pleased to possess good pictures, sculp- 
 tures, and the like, as well as commodious furni- 
 ture in good taste and keeping; — the want of 
 money to procure these things is a decided in- 
 convenience. And if the man who has plenty of 
 money and sacredly sets apart a generous por- 
 tion of it for the relief and welfare of his fellow- 
 men, chooses to spend, the residue of it in indul- 
 gence of these liberal and cultivated tastes, he is 
 not justly to be blamed for it, and certainly none 
 but a mean - hearted man will envy him the con- 
 veniences and elegancies and refined enjoyments 
 he is able to procure. Who so base as to object 
 to a Peabody's eating off plate and giving hospitable 
 dinners to his friends, so long as he spends more 
 hundreds of thousands for the good of mankind 
 than thousands on himself and friends. 
 
 But the shame and the mischief of the case 
 among us is in the inordinate greed, the universal 
 scramble for money, not for its proper uses, but 
 for selfish or vulgar misuses of it. We are a 
 nation of money seekers, — not from the miserly 
 avarice which gathers and hoards it merely for 
 its own sake as an end in itself (for this, I think, 
 is far from being our vice as a people) but for 
 the sake of the homage it secures, the power or 
 
512 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 influence it gives, or the rivalry with others in 
 ostentations display which the extravagant expen- 
 diture of it enables one to maintain. We are 
 terribly a nation of money - seekers for these and 
 the like selfish and comparatively ignoble ends, 
 with scarcely a thought or desire of becoming 
 able to do good and promote the welfare of so- 
 ciety, actuating and sanctifying the eager, inces- 
 sant struggle after riches. — This is the shame. 
 And the mischief is not only in the lowering 
 effect on the spirit of the people and on the tone 
 of social life, (which is both cause and effect of 
 extravagant expenditure and vulgar, ostentatious 
 rivalry,) but in the reckless gambling disposition, 
 the unscrupulousness, the shipwreck of integrity 
 and honor, the defalcations and falseness to 
 trusts, the dishonesties and frauds, that are en- 
 gendered in this intense selfish struggle after 
 great and quick - gained riches. We are going, 
 morally, the road downwards with tremendous 
 accelerating velocity, and where shall we come 
 to ? Pandemonium was built and paved with 
 molten gold. — C. S. Henry. 
 
 The man who enslaves himself to his money 
 is proclaimed in our very language to be a miser, 
 or a miserable man. — Trench. 
 
 Gold is a wonderful clearer of the under- 
 standing : it dissipates every doubt and scruple 
 in an instant ; accommodates itself to the mean- 
 est capacities ; silences the loud and clamorous, 
 and brings over the most obstinate and inflexible. 
 
CONTENTMENT. 513 
 
 Philip of Macedon was a man of most invincible 
 reason this way. He refuted by it all the wis- 
 dom of Athens, confounded their statesmen, 
 struck their orators dumb, and at length argued 
 them out of all their liberties. — Addison. 
 
 Chilon would say, that gold was tried with the 
 touchstone, and men with gold. — Lord Bacon. 
 
 It is wonderful to consider how a command 
 or call to be liberal, either upon a civil or re- 
 ligious account, all of a sudden impoverishes the 
 rich, breaks the merchant, shuts up every private 
 man's exchequer, and ' makes those men in a 
 minute have nothing who, at the very same in- 
 stant, want nothing to spend. So that, instead of 
 relieving the poor, such a command strangely in- 
 creases their number, and transforms rich men 
 into beggars presently. — South. 
 
 A wise man should have money in his head; 
 but not in his heart. — Swift. 
 
 StmbttlmimL 
 
 IgONTENTMENT uses all the powers 
 ^ Wherewith the Lord His creature dowers. 
 
 Contentment thrives and never knows 
 The trouble which from folly grows. 
 
514 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Contentment is discreet and wise, 
 And never vexed with lustful eyes. 
 
 Contentment trusts in Providence, 
 And finds that trust munificence. 
 
 Contentment is abiding wealth, 
 And measures spiritual health. 
 
 Contentment is a pearl of great price, and 
 whoever procures it at the expense of ten thou- 
 sand desires makes a wise and happy purchase. 
 — Balguy. 
 
 This virtue (content) does indeed produce, in 
 some measure, all those effects which the alchy- 
 mist usually ascribes to what he calls the philoso- 
 pher's stone ; and if it does not bring riches, it 
 does the same thing, by banishing the desire of 
 them, if it cannot remove the disquietudes aris- 
 ing out of a man's mind, body, or fortune, it 
 makes him easy under them. It has, indeed, a 
 kindly influence on the soul of man in respect of 
 every being to whom he stands related. It ex- 
 tinguishes all murmur, repining, and ingratitude 
 towards that Being who has allotted to him his 
 part to act in this world. It destroys all inordi- 
 nate ambition, and every tendency to corruption, 
 with regard to the community wherein he is 
 placed. It gives sweetness to his conversation, 
 and a perpetual serenity to all his thoughts. 
 Among the many methods which might be made 
 
CONTENTMENT. 5 1 5 
 
 use of for the acquiring- of this virtue, I shall 
 mention the two following": First of all, a man 
 should always consider how much he has more 
 than he wants ; and, secondly, how much more 
 unhappy he might be than he really is. — Addison. 
 
 As for a little more money and a little more 
 time, why it's ten to one if either one or the 
 other would make you a whit happier. If you 
 had more time, it would be sure to hang heavily. 
 It is the workingman who is the happy man. 
 Man was made to be active, and he is never so 
 happy as when he is so. It is the idle man is 
 the miserable man. What comes of holidays, and 
 far too often of sight - seeing, but evil ? Half the 
 harm that happens is on those days. And as for 
 money — Don't you remember the old saying, 
 " Enough is as good as a feast ? " Money never 
 made man happy yet, nor will it. There is noth- 
 ing in its nature to produce happiness. The 
 more a man has the more he wants. Instead of 
 its filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies 
 one want, it doubles and trebles that want an- 
 other way. That was a true proverb of the wise 
 man, rely upon it : " Better is little with the fear 
 of the Lord than great treasure, and trouble 
 therewith." — Dr. Franklin. 
 
 There are thousands so extravagant in their 
 ideas of contentment as to imagine that it must 
 consist in having everything in this world turn 
 out the way they wish — that they are to sit down 
 in happiness, and feel themselves so at ease on 
 
516 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 all points as to desire nothing better and nothing 
 more. I own there are instances of some who 
 seem to pass through the world as if their paths 
 had been strewed with rosebuds of delight- but a 
 little experience will convince us 'tis a fatal ex- 
 pectation to go upon. We are " born to trouble ;" 
 and we may depend upon it whilst we live in 
 this world we shall have it, though with inter- 
 missions ; — that is, in whatever state we are, we 
 shall find a mixture of good and evil ; and there- 
 fore the true way to contentment is to know how 
 to receive these certain vicissitudes of life, — the 
 returns of good and evil, so as neither to be ex- 
 alted by the one nor overthrown by the other, 
 but to bear ourselves towards everything which 
 happens with such ease and indifference of mind, 
 as to hazard as little as may be. This is the 
 true temperate climate fitted for us by nature, 
 and in. which every wise man would wish to live. 
 —Sterne. 
 
 That happy state of mind, so rarely possessed, 
 in which we can say, " I have enough," is the 
 highest attainment of philosophy. Happiness con- 
 sists, not in possessing much, but in being con- 
 tent with what we possess. He who wants little 
 always has enough. — Zimmerman. 
 

 " Fie is the Rainbow of the heart, 
 Which was and is sua is to be. 
 
 And, when the Rainbow must depart, 
 The Light that shines eternally." 
 
TRANSFORMATIONS. 51' 
 
 Ifarasfoijttraltcms* 
 
 I.o. I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. 
 
 — St. Matthew xxviii. 20. 
 
 |p3 E is the Rainbow of the heart, 
 
 7 j Sri ' 
 
 ^^ Which was, and is, and is to be, 
 And, when the Rainbow must depart, 
 The Light that sh nes eternally. 
 
 His everlasting loveliness 
 
 A little while is Peace and Rest : 
 
 Nothing of earth can long express 
 The Lord Almighty at His best. 
 
 To - day He is the Energy 
 
 That never falters in the race : 
 
 To-morrow laureled Victory 
 
 Proclaims Him with another Face. 
 
 And I have seen Him in Defeat 
 
 As beautiful as anywhere, 
 Lifting the fallen to their feet, 
 
 And bringing courage from despair. 
 
 His countenance is that of Freedom 
 When men are pulling tyrants down : 
 
 He comes, like One who came from Edom, 
 The toil of His redeemed to crown. 
 
 Devotion is the form He wears 
 Within the cloister's narrow aisle : 
 
518 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And Conscience in her heart declares 
 He is the Life that knows no guile. 
 
 He changes into Charity 
 
 When self is passing out of sight, 
 In pain becomes Humanity 
 
 Through suffering divinely bright. 
 
 The very Bird of Paradise, 
 
 He lights and shows Himself in part, 
 Then flies away to other skies 
 
 In other regions of the heart. 
 
 Ah me ! all moulds distort, or scrimp, 
 Or keep some proper feature back: 
 
 Comparisons forever limp, 
 
 One foot at least forever lack. 
 
 The marks of Christ forever change 
 Through some supreme Eternal law: 
 
 The Universe His mighty range 
 For signs of comfort and of awe. 
 
 O His perennial Life on earth 
 
 Which He bestows upon His own, 
 
 Grows from the feebleness of birth, 
 And in ten thousand forms is known. 
 
 To judge Him who is all in all, 
 As only what He seems below, 
 
 Were into grievous sin to fall 
 
 And bind His grace to what we know. 
 
TBANSFOBMA TIONS. 5 1 9 
 
 The blessed tokens of His love 
 
 Are endless as Eternal Life, 
 And showered forever from above, 
 
 With many a form and aspect rife. 
 
 Dear Lord ! help me to keep my heart 
 From sin and its pollution free ; 
 
 So shall I see Thee where Thou art, 
 And take Thy blessing ere Thou flee : 
 
 Assured that in the change forever 
 Thou art the One who changest not, 
 
 The Infinite in man's endeavor, 
 
 Transformed, indeed, but in his thought. 
 
 Let no man or woman think, who is still 
 young, on whom the necessary calm of age has 
 not fallen, that they will have a quiet life, if they 
 are in earnest, for many years to come, either in 
 the world without or in the world within them. 
 Development must have its rude shocks, evolu- 
 tion its transient earthquakes, progress its back- 
 slidings. Accept the necessity, count the cost, 
 make ready to take your part in the things 
 w r hich are coming on the earth. Be true to the 
 vast Christian principles of the Fatherhood of 
 God and the Brotherhood of Man ; steadily go to 
 war with every opinion and system which tends 
 to limit them and enslave men. But in fighting 
 against systems and opinions, do not be betrayed 
 yourselves into intolerance of men, into inability 
 
520 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 to see the good in the evil, into any statement or 
 action which may practically deny that the men 
 whose views you oppose are children of God and 
 your brethren in Christ. Constantly keep your 
 temper in the battle ; guard jealously your power 
 of looking on ail sides of questions ; watch over 
 yourself that you may be above all things just to 
 men and their opinions. Clear your minds from 
 narrowness— the narrowness of religion, the nar- 
 rowness of skepticism, the norrowness of intel- 
 lectual vanity ; keep yourself apart from particu- 
 lar sets of men and opinion. They tend to fix 
 you down, to limit your life, to fetter your 
 thought, to make you wise in your own conceits. 
 See that you mix with men your brothers, with 
 those who differ from yourselves, who oppose and 
 contradict you. Do not ride at anchor in a safe 
 and land - locked bay, in cultured comfort of 
 thought, having put aside all troublesome ques- 
 tions of the unknown. You cannot quench the 
 spirit within you, without making the intellect 
 one - sided and the conscience intolerant or dull. 
 Rather tempt the ocean paths and sail on to a 
 boundless horizon, gaining strength from trial of 
 your skill, wisdom from the storms of life, tender- 
 ness from its sorrows, love from assisting others, 
 and faith in the final issue from the clear inward 
 consciousness that you are growing up into all 
 that is best in human nature, into all that is of 
 Christ. Progress is the law of the world, it is 
 the law that ought to rule our lives. See that 
 
FATE. - 521 
 
 you are an active part of the great evolution of 
 the race. What matters after all — the catastrophe, 
 the convulsions of heart and intellect you must 
 suffer, the shattered sail, the midnight watch in 
 the hurricane, the loneliness of the mid - ocean ? 
 It is life at least, it is more, it is moving with 
 the movement of the world, and the world is 
 moving in Christ. — Stopford A. Brooke. 
 
 ^WATE is irrevocable Law 
 ^ Which holds the Universe in awe; 
 And measures unto every man 
 
 His place in God's good plan ; 
 
 In which no contradictions are, 
 Or here or in remotest star ; 
 Where truth is truth, and lies are lies r 
 Above, beneath all skies. 
 
 And yet — to make more beautiful 
 A world, of truth and freedom full — 
 Fate turned to Law is changed to Grace 
 Before Immanuel's face. 
 
 34 
 
522 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 And every crying child of Fate, 
 An orphan and without estate, 
 Finds, when escaped from self and thrall, 
 That he possesses all. 
 
 I know not whether there be, as is alleged, in 
 the upper region of our atmosphere, a perma- 
 nent westerly current, which carries with it all 
 atoms that rise to that height, but I see that 
 when souls reach a certain clearness of percep- 
 tion, they accept a knowledge and motive above 
 selfishness. A breath of will blows eternally 
 through the universe of souls in the direction of 
 the Right and Necessary. It is the air which all 
 intellects inhale and exhale, and it is the wind 
 which blows the worlds into order and orbit. . . . 
 
 Fate is unpenetrated causes. The water 
 drowns ship and sailor, like a grain of dust. 
 But learn to swim, trim your bark, and the wave 
 which drowned it, will be cloven by it, and carry 
 it, like its own foam, a plume and a power. 
 The cold is inconsiderate of persons, tingles your 
 blood, freezes a man like a dew - drop. But 
 learn to skate, and the ice will give you a grace- 
 ful, sweet and poetic motion. The cold will brace 
 your limbs and brain to genius, and make you 
 foremost men of time. Cold and sea will train 
 an imperial Saxon race, which nature cannot bear 
 to lose, and after cooping it for a thousand 
 years in yonder England, gives a hundred Eng- 
 lands, a hundred Mexicos. . . . 
 
FATE. 523 
 
 The annual slaughter from typhus far exceeds 
 that of war; but right drainage destroys typhus. 
 The plague in the sea -service from scurvy is 
 healed by lemon juice and other diets portable 
 or procurable : the depopulation by cholera and 
 small - pox is ended by drainage and vaccination ; 
 and every other pest is not less in the chain of 
 cause and effect, and may be fought off. — 
 Emerson. 
 
 As soon as the relation of cause and effect 
 appears, the aspect of Fate is changed, Yet it 
 does not cease to trouble us. It only dashes 
 away, like an Arab of the desert, to beset us 
 again in some new position. But wherever the 
 next onset may be, we have only to tear off the 
 mask, if that be possible, to find the face of Law. 
 And so on to the end. — . 
 
 No man may fold his arms and say, " Things 
 must be so ; and in erring, I yield but to nature." 
 There is no fate in this world, like the fate that 
 a man makes for himself. That is fate, indeed — 
 the inevitable necessity, that every man must 
 freely work out his own weal or woe — the fact 
 on which hinges the whole moral philosophy of 
 human life and history. It is a fact, unalterable, 
 fixed as adamant. Whether we build upon that 
 rock, or break upon that rock — one thing is cer- 
 tain — it cannot be removed. But we may build 
 upon it : and therefore to point it out, and, amidst 
 the waves, the strifes and perils of human exist- 
 ence, to lift it up clearly to view, is to send out 
 
524 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 a challenge to all the spiritual heroism in the 
 world, aye, and an alarm - call to all the sluggard 
 indolence in the world ; and to summon every 
 man that lives to do all that he can for himself, 
 and to do all that he can for others. To arm 
 the soul to look that dread fact of inalienable 
 moral responsibility fairly in the face, and to 
 arouse the soul to discharge itself of that stu- 
 pendous trust with humility and resolution — 
 these are the highest ends of all right study 
 and of all true wisdom. 
 
 I say in fine, and I say plainly, that for sickly 
 complainers, for poor voluptuaries, for weak 
 worldlings — for ignoble creatures that had rather 
 be innocent sheep and be happy, than wrest- 
 ling angel - natures, taking blows and wounds in 
 the lists of virtue — I have no doctrine to de- 
 liver. I say deliberately and firmly, that I had 
 rather have commenced my existence as I have, 
 than in some imaginary elysium of negative, sta- 
 tionary, choiceless, unprogressive innocence and 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Give me freedom, give me knowledge, give 
 me breadth of experience ; I would have it all. 
 No memory is so hallowed, no memory so dear, 
 as that of temptation nobly withstood, or of suf- 
 fering nobly endured. What is it that we gather 
 and garner up from the solemn story of the 
 world, like its struggles, its sorrows, its martyr- 
 doms? Come to the great battle, thou wrestling, 
 glorious, marred nature; strong nature! weak na- 
 
FREEDOM. 525 
 
 ture ! — come to the great battle, and, in this 
 mortal strife, strike for immortal victory ! The 
 highest Son of God — the best beloved of Heaven 
 that ever stood upon earth — was " made perfect 
 through sufferings." And sweeter shall be the 
 cup of immortal joy, for that it was once dashed 
 with bitter drops of pain and sorrow; and brighter 
 shall roll the everlasting ages, for the dark 
 shadows that clouded this birthtime of our be- 
 ing. — Dewey. 
 
 Ijmkttn 
 
 The Truth shall make you free. — St. John viii. 32. 
 
 9toLL possibilities are his 
 
 W-. Whose life proclaims what Freedom is; 
 
 Joy, joy which is the spirit's token 
 
 The fetters of the man are broken ; 
 
 The bow that spans the firmament 
 
 At the Accuser's banishment ; 
 
 The mountain air of happiness 
 
 Above the breath of selfishness : 
 
 Faith which transfigures and inspires 
 
 And lights in man undying 'fires; 
 
 Bright Hope, which sets the world aglow 
 
 And watches angels come and go ; 
 
526 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Sweet sunshine from the face of Love, 
 
 Which maketh Earth like Heaven above ; 
 
 The vision of a living soul 
 
 That sees in every part the Whole ; 
 
 The will and energy sublime 
 
 To grasp Eternity in Time ; 
 
 Yea, all things born of God are his 
 
 W 7 hose life proclaims what Freedom is ! 
 
 I call that mind free which masters the senses, 
 which protects itself against animal appetites, 
 which contemns pleasure and pain in comparison 
 with its own energy, which penetrates beneath 
 the body and recognizes its own reality and 
 greatness, which passes life, not in asking what it 
 shall eat or drink, but in hungering, thirsting, and 
 seeking after righteousness. 
 
 I call that mind free which escapes the bond- 
 age of matter, which, instead of stopping at the 
 material universe and making it a prison wall, 
 passes beyond it to its Author, and finds in the 
 radiant signatures which it everywhere bears of 
 the Infinite Spirit, helps to its own spiritual en- 
 largement. 
 
 I call that mind free which jealously guards 
 its intellectual rights and powers, which calls no 
 man master, which does not content itself with 
 a passive or hereditary faith, which opens itself to 
 light whencesoever it may come, which receives 
 new truth as an angel from heaven, which, whilst 
 consulting others, inquires still more of the oracle 
 
FREEDOM, 527 
 
 within itself, and uses instructions from abroad 
 not to supersede but to quicken and exalt its 
 own energies. 
 
 I call that mind free which sets no bounds to 
 its love, which is not imprisoned in itself or in a 
 sect, which recognizes in all human beings the 
 image of God and the rights of His children, 
 which delights in virtue and sympathizes with 
 suffering wherever they are seen, which conquers 
 pride, anger, and sloth, and offers itself up a 
 willing 1 victim to the cause of mankind. 
 
 I call that mind free which is not passively 
 framed by outward circumstances, which is not 
 swept away by the torrent of events, which is 
 not the creature of- accidental impulse, but which 
 bends events to its own improvement, and acts 
 from an inward spring, from immutable principles 
 which it has deliberately espoused. 
 
 I call that mind free which protects itself 
 against the usurpations of society, which does not 
 cower to human opinion, which feels itself ac- 
 countable to a higher tribunal than man's, which 
 respects a higher law than fashion, which respects 
 itself too much to be the slave or tool of the 
 many or the few. 
 
 I call that mind free which, through confidence 
 in God and in the power of virtue, has cast off 
 all fear but that of wrong - doing, which no men- 
 ace or peril can enthrall, which is calm in the 
 midst of tumults, and possesses itself though all 
 else be lost. 
 
528 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 I call that mind free which resists the bond- 
 age of habit, which does not mechanically repeat 
 itself and copy the past, which does not live on 
 its old virtues, which does not enslave itself to 
 precise rules, but which forgets what is behind, 
 listens for new and higher monitions of con- 
 science, and rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh 
 and higher exertions. 
 
 I call that mind free which is jealous of its 
 own freedom, which guards itself from being 
 merged in others, which guards its empire over 
 itself as nobler than the empire of the world. 
 
 In fine, I call that mind free which, conscious 
 of its affinity with God, and confiding in His 
 promises by Jesus Christ, devotes itself faithfully 
 to the unfolding of all its powers, which passes 
 the bounds of time and death, which hopes to 
 advance forever, and which finds inexhaustible 
 power, both for action and suffering, in the pros- 
 pect of immortality. — -Channing. 
 
 zzsjfo. 
 
 Jbfitm. 
 
 Why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? — Acts I. n. 
 
 cJ|7 N" gazing up to heaven 
 In idle ecstacy, 
 
 W 
 
ACTION. 529 
 
 What progress make we to the haven 
 Where we at length would be? 
 
 In heaven - appointed work 
 
 The sure advancement lies, 
 Wherein the dearest comforts lurk 
 
 There are beneath the skies. 
 
 How David wrought of old, 
 
 Like One to him unknown, 
 To bring again the Age of Gold 
 
 Which from the world had flown ! 
 
 His conquest of the bear 
 
 And lion in his youth 
 Was prophecy which everywhere 
 
 Proclaimed the way of Truth. 
 
 In action day by day 
 
 His mighty manhood grew, 
 A character to live for aye, 
 
 It was so strong and true. 
 
 He grappled with all rude 
 
 And unpropitious things : 
 A garden from the solitude 
 
 Smiled to the King of kings. 
 
 His enemies became 
 
 As stubble to the fire, 
 Till songs of praise, like leaping flame, 
 
 Burst from his sacred lyre. 
 
530 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 He wrought his people good : 
 He left a name behind, 
 
 The strength of honest brotherhood, 
 And richer made mankind. 
 
 And so it ever is : 
 
 In usefulness and zeal 
 The Lord announces who are His 
 
 And gives eternal weal. 
 
 Action is the highest perfection and drawing 
 forth of the utmost power, vigor, and activity of 
 man's nature. God is pleased to vouchsafe the 
 best that he can give only to the best that we 
 can do. The properest and most raised concep- 
 tion that we have of God is, that He is a pure 
 act, a perpetual, incessant motion. — South. 
 
 Act well at the moment, and you have per- 
 formed a good action to all eternity. — Lavater. 
 
 There is no action of man in this life, which 
 is not the beginning of so long a chain of con- 
 sequences, as that no human providence is high 
 enough to give us a prospect to the end. — 
 Thomas of Malmesbury. 
 
 That every man should regulate his actions 
 by his own conscience, without any regard to the 
 opinions of the rest of the world, is one of the 
 first precepts of moral prudence ; justified not 
 only by the suffrage of reason, which declares 
 that none of the gifts of Heaven are to lie use- 
 less, but by the voice likewise of experience, 
 
ACTION. 631 
 
 which will soon inform us that, if we make the 
 praise or blame of others the rule of our con- 
 duct, we shall be distracted by a boundless 
 variety of irreconcilable judgments, be held in 
 perpetual suspense between contrary impulses, 
 and consult forever without determination. — Dr. 
 Johnson. 
 
 The actions of men are oftener determined by 
 their character than their interest : their conduct 
 takes its color more from their acquired tastes, 
 inclinations, and habits, than from a deliberate 
 regard to their greatest good. It is only on 
 great occasions the mind awakes to take an ex- 
 tended survey of her whole course, and that she 
 suffers the dictates of reason to impress a new 
 bias upon her movements. The actions of each 
 day are, for the most part, links which follow 
 each other in the chain of custom. Hence the 
 great effort of practical wisdom is to imbue the 
 mind with right tastes, affections and habits ; the 
 elements of character and masters of action. — 
 Robert Hall. 
 
 The only things in which we can be said to 
 have any property are our actions. Our thoughts 
 may be bad, yet produce no poison ; they may 
 be good, yet produce no fruit. Our riches may 
 be taken from us by misfortune, our reputation 
 by malice, our spirits by calamity, our health by 
 disease, our friends by death. But our actions 
 must follow us beyond the grave : with respect to 
 them alone we cannot say that we shall carry 
 
532 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 nothing with us when we die, neither that we 
 shall go naked out of the world. Our actions 
 must clothe us with an immortality, loathsome or 
 glorious : these are the only title - deeds of which 
 we cannot be disinherited ; they will have their 
 full weight in the balance of eternity, when every- 
 thing else is as nothing ; and their value will be 
 confirmed and established by those two sure and 
 sateless destroyers of all other earthly things, — - 
 Time and Death. — Colton. 
 
 Under no conceivable set of circumstances are 
 we justified in sitting 
 
 " By the poisoned springs of life, 
 
 Waiting for the morrow which shall free us from the strife." 
 
 Under no circumstances, whether of pain, or 
 grief, or disappointment, or irreparable mistake, 
 can it be true that there is not something to be 
 done, as well as something to be suffered. And 
 thus it is that the spirit of Christianity draws 
 over our life, not a leaden cloud of Remorse and 
 Despondency, but a sky, — not, perhaps, of radiant 
 but yet of most serene and chastened and manly 
 hope. There is a Past which is gone forever. 
 But there is a Future which is still our own. — 
 F, W. Robertson. 
 
THE SOLDIER OF CHRIST. 
 
 Wi\t jSflfom* of dlptsL 
 
 ,|E) CHILD of great affliction, 
 ^^ O child of greater joy ! 
 God, God will grant His benediction, 
 And find for thee employ. 
 
 Go forth — the world is waiting — 
 
 Go forth in all thy youth ; 
 Naught of thy heavenly strength abating, 
 
 Fight thou the fight of truth. 
 
 Thy sword is from the Spirit, 
 
 Whose thrusts are brave and quick: 
 
 Thou hast above thyself a merit — 
 What though the foes be thick ? 
 
 And One who came from Edom 
 
 In greatness of His might, 
 Abides with thee to strike for freedom 
 
 And citadel the right. 
 
 There is no grander mission 
 
 Than God assigneth thee : 
 There is no mightier commission 
 
 Than that of Liberty. 
 
 Rejoice with joy exceeding, 
 O thou forever true ; 
 
534 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 For others fighting, toiling, pleading, 
 Thy heavenly strength renew. 
 
 The Truce of God will hasten 
 With many a psalm of peace, 
 
 Or constant warfare prove and chasten 
 Until the great release. 
 
 Thou canst not miss thy wages ! — 
 What though thine eye be dim ? 
 
 The Master's eye is on the ages, 
 All times belong to Him. 
 
 And when in separation 
 
 Of good and evil here, 
 The long, long wished-for consummation, 
 
 New heavens and earth appear, 
 
 O thine will be the wonder 
 
 All free from wild alarms ; 
 For thou — thou art forever under 
 
 The Everlasting Arms. 
 
 For that terrible saying of Anne of Austria 
 to Richelieu holds true for mercy as well as for 
 judgment : " My Lord Cardinal, God does not 
 pay at the end of every week, but at the last He 
 pays, " God may put His faithful ones upon a 
 long and painful apprenticeship, during which they 
 learn much and receive little, — food only, and 
 " that in a measure, " — often the bread and water 
 of affliction. Yet at the last He pays ; pays 
 
fiEST. - 535 
 
 them into their hearts, pays them into their hands 
 also. We may remember long seasons of faint 
 yet honest endeavor ; the prayers of a soul yet 
 without strength ; the sacrifice of an imperfectly 
 subdued will, bound even with cords to the altar ; 
 we may remember such times, or we may forget 
 them, but their result is with us. Some of the 
 good seed sown in tears is now shedding a heav- 
 enly fragrance within our lives, and some of it 
 will blossom, perhaps bear fruit, over our graves. 
 — Miss Green well. 
 
 \*L 
 
 EST! Rest! Rest! 
 °^ The sweetness of His word, 
 Who speaks to them that are distressed, 
 
 With all their trouble stirred : 
 
 The fellowship with One 
 Who knows the cares which life infest, 
 
 And how release is won. 
 
 Rest! Rest! Rest! 
 The calm within the heart, 
 Which, humbled, has at last confessed, 
 And felt its sin depart; 
 
536 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 As undefined in form 
 And all as hard to be expressed 
 As sunshine after storm. 
 
 Rest ! Rest ! Rest ! 
 
 The sense of something done, 
 A little nearer what is best 
 
 Before the setting sun : 
 
 A fairer, purer light, 
 That does not fear the inner test, 
 
 Self further out of sight. 
 
 Rest! Rest! Rest! 
 
 The beauty of the soul 
 In her ethereal glory dressed, 
 
 Her eye upon the goal : 
 
 Which often-times we feel 
 Along our journey to the West, 
 
 And silently reveal. 
 
 Rest ! Rest ! Rest ! 
 
 Love growing beautiful, 
 Our purposes of Heaven blest, 
 
 Until our days are full : 
 
 The end of Fast and Feast, 
 The folded hands upon the breast, 
 
 The looking to the East. 
 
 Rest! Rest! Res,! 
 To wake all satisfied, 
 With immortality possessed, 
 
BEST. 58Z 
 
 Like Him who for us died : 
 And in the land above 
 To seek some higher mountain-crest, 
 Increasing still in love. 
 
 It is not the lake locked in ice that suggests 
 repose, but the river moving on calmly and rapidly 
 in silent majesty and strength. It is not the cat- 
 tle lying in the sun, but the eagle cleaving the 
 air with fixed pinions, that gives you the idea of 
 repose combined with strength and motion. In 
 creation, the Rest of God is exhibited as a sense 
 of Power which nothing wearies. When chaos 
 burst into harmony, so to speak, God had Rest. 
 
 There are two deep principles in Nature in 
 apparent contradiction, — one the aspiration after 
 perfection ; the other, the longing after repose. 
 In the harmony of these lies the rest of the soul 
 of man. There have been times when we have 
 experienced this. Then the winds have been 
 hushed, and the throb and the tumult of the 
 passions have been blotted out of our bosoms. 
 That was a moment when we were in harmony 
 with all around, reconciled to ourselves and to 
 our God; when we sympathized with all that was 
 pure, all that was beautiful, all that was lovely. 
 
 This was not stagnation, it was fulness of 
 life, — life in its most expanded form, such as 
 Nature witnessed in her first hour. This is life 
 in that form of benevolence which expands into 
 the mind of Christ. And when this is working 
 
 35 
 
538 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 in the soul, it is marvellous how its distils into a 
 man's words and countenance. Strange and magi- 
 cal is the power of that collect wherein we pray 
 to God, "Who alone can order the unruly wills 
 and affections of sinful men, to grant unto His 
 people that they may love the thing which He 
 commands, and desire that which He promises ; 
 that so among the sundry and manifold changes 
 of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed 
 where true joys are to be found. " There is a 
 wondrous melody in that rhythm ; the words are 
 the echoes of the thought. The mind of the man 
 who wrote them was in repose, — all is ringing of 
 rest. We do not wonder when Moses came down 
 from the mount on which he had been bowing in 
 adoration before the harmony of God, that his 
 face was shining with a brightness too dazzling 
 to look upon. 
 
 Brother man, there is Rest in Christ, because 
 He is Love ; because His are the everlasting 
 Verities of Humanity. God does not cease to be 
 the God of Love because men are low, sad, and 
 desponding. In the performance of duty, in meek- 
 ness, in trust in God, is our rest, — our only rest. 
 It is not in understanding a set of doctrines ; not 
 in an outward comprehension of the "scheme of 
 salvation, " that rest and peace are to be found, 
 but in taking up in all lowliness and meekness 
 the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ. — F. W. Rob- 
 ertson. 
 
THANKS. 539 
 
 ifljpmks* 
 
 In every thing give thanks. — I. Thessalonians v. 18. 
 
 ORD, Thou hast all my sins forgiven, 
 Let not my thanks grow old, 
 Thy love assureth me of Heaven, 
 Let not my thanks grow old. 
 
 Through Thee alone my soul prevaileth, 
 Let not my thanks grow old, 
 
 Thy dear compassion never faileth, 
 Let not thy thanks grow old. 
 
 Thou hast been with me in affliction, 
 Let not my thanks grow old, 
 
 And turned it into benediction, 
 Let not my thanks grow old. 
 
 Thou hast not left me in my blindness, 
 Let not my thanks grow old, 
 
 But lighted me with loving-kindness, 
 Let not my thanks grow old. 
 
 Thy Providence has not abated, 
 Let not my thanks grow old ; 
 
 I know I am to Thee related, 
 Let not my thanks grow old. 
 
 I know Thou art my Father, Saviour, 
 Let not my thanks grow old, 
 
540 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Who hast bestowed on me such favor, 
 Let not my thanks grow old. 
 
 New are Thy mercies every morning, 
 Let not my thanks grow old, 
 
 At evening fresh as at the 'dawning, 
 Let not my thanks grow old. 
 
 Through all my days, my good forecasting,. 
 
 Thy love has not grown old, 
 So true and strong and everlasting, 
 
 And can my thanks grow old ? 
 
 Annihilate not the mercies of God by the ob- 
 livion of ingratitude : for oblivion is a kind of 
 annihilation ; and for things to be as though they 
 had not been, is like unto never being. Make 
 not thy head a grave, but a repository of God's 
 mercies. Though thou hadst the memory of 
 Seneca, or Simonides, and conscience, the punct- 
 ual memorist within us, yet trust not to thy re- 
 membrance in things which need phylacteries. 
 Register not only strange, but merciful occurences. 
 Let ephemerides, not olympiads, give thee account 
 of His mercies ; let thy diaries stand thick with 
 dutiful mementos and asterisks of acknowledgment. 
 And to be complete and forget nothing, date not 
 His mercy from thy nativity ; look beyond the 
 world, and before the aera of Adam. — Sir Thomas 
 Browne. 
 
 I saw on the seashore a holy man, who had 
 
THANKS. 541 
 
 been torn by a tiger ; and could get no salve to 
 heal his wound. For a length of time he suffered 
 much pain, and was all along offering thanks to 
 the Most High. They asked him, saying, " Why 
 are you so grateful?" He answered, "God.be 
 praised that I am overtaken with misfortune and 
 not with sin. " — From the Persian. 
 
 I am thankful for small mercies. I compared 
 notes with one of my friends who expects every- 
 thing of the universe, and is disappointed when 
 anything is less than the best; and I found that 
 I begin at the other extreme, expecting nothing, 
 and am always full of thanks for moderate goods. 
 — Emerson. 
 
 Father, we thank Thee that while heaven and 
 the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thine all- 
 trancendent being, yet Thou livest and movest 
 and workest in all things that are ; causing, guid- 
 ing, and blessing all and each. 
 
 We thank Thee for the material world, with 
 which Thou hast environed us, beneath, and about, 
 and overhead. We thank Thee for the night, 
 where Thy moon walks in brightness, with a star 
 or two beside her; and we bless Thee for the 
 sun, who curiously prepares the chambers of the 
 East with his beauty, and then pours out the 
 golden day upon the waiting and expectant earth. 
 We thank Thee for the new life that comes ting- 
 ling in the boughs of every great or little tree ; 
 which is green in the new-ascended grass, and 
 transfigures itself in the flowers to greater bright- 
 
542 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ness than Solomon ever put on. We thank Thee 
 for the seed which the farmer cradles in the 
 ground, which thence lifts up its face of multitu- 
 dinous prophecy, telling of harvests that are to 
 come. We thank Thee also for the garments of 
 prophecy with which Thou girdest the forests, and 
 adornest every tree. We bless Thee for the 
 fresh life which teems in the waters about us, 
 and in the little brooks which run among the hills, 
 which warbles in the branches of the trees, and 
 hums with new-born insects throughout the peo- 
 pled land. O Lord, we thank Thee for this day 
 so fair and sweet, when the trees lift up their 
 hands in a psalm of gratitude to Thee, and every 
 little flower that opens its cup, and every wand- 
 ering bird seems filled with Thy Spirit, and to 
 be grateful unto Thee. We thank Thee for all 
 Thy hand-writings of revelation on the walls of 
 the world ; on the heavens above us, and the 
 ground beneath ; and for all the testimonies re- 
 corded there of Thy presence, Thy power, Thy 
 justice, and Thy love. 
 
 We thank Thee for that perpetual spring- 
 time with which Thou visitest the human soul. 
 We bless Thee for the Sun of righteousness 
 which never sets, never allows any night there, 
 but with healing in His beams, showers down 
 perennial day on eyes that open, and on hearts 
 that longingly lift themselves up to Thee. We 
 thank Thee for the great truths that shine to 
 us ; for the lesser lights, like the moon in the 
 
THANKS. 543 
 
 darkness of the night ; and for those great lights, 
 which pour out a continuous and never-ending 
 day wheresoever we turn our weary mortal feet. 
 We thank Thee for the generous emotions which 
 spring up anew in every generation of mankind; 
 for the justice that faints not, nor is weary ; for 
 the philanthropy which goes out and brings the 
 wanderer home, which lifts up the fallen and heals 
 the sick, which is eyes to the blind and feet to 
 the lame. We thank Thee for the piety which 
 has inspired Thy sons in many a distant age, and 
 in every peopled land; and we bless Thee that 
 it springs anew in our own hearts, drawing us 
 unto Thee, shedding peace along our pathway 
 here, and giving us multitudinous prophecies of 
 glories yet to come. 
 
 O Thou who art Infinite Perfection, we thank 
 Thee for Thyself. We know that out of Thy wis- 
 dom, power and love have proceeded this world 
 of matter, this world of man, and that kingdom 
 of heaven into which we all hope to enter at last 
 We thank Thee for the loving-kindness and ten- 
 der mercies over all Thy works ; and where we 
 can only see through a glass darkly, we will trust 
 in Thee with infinite longing which casteth out 
 every fear.— Theodore Parker. 
 
 God! God! 
 I thank Thee for a life of use : 
 
 God! God! 
 I do not pine for any truce. 
 
544 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Peace, Peace, 
 Has always come from duty done: 
 
 Peace, Peace, 
 Will so, until the end, be won. 
 
 Thanks ! Thanks ! 
 A thankful heart is my reward : 
 
 Thanks ! Thanks ! 
 Befit the children of the Lord. 
 
 Wind ! Wind ! 
 The peaceful reel must still go round : 
 
 Wind ! Wind ! 
 The thread of life will soon be wound. 
 
 ratptps* 
 
 Vials full of odors. — Revelation v. 8. 
 
 Jft THOU who art the flame 
 e ^ To keep the world alive, 
 Burn, burn away my sin and shame, 
 My dying life revive. 
 
 The fire of heart and lip 
 May not in me be lit, 
 
PRAYERS. Cio 
 
 Except, O Breath of Fellowship, 
 Thou somehow kindle it. 
 
 Breathe in my cold, cold heart, 
 
 And in this icy soul, 
 Till warmth shall wondrously impart 
 
 Its likeness to the whole. 
 
 And bid me go in search 
 
 Of what true life desires, 
 And through Thine all-embracing church 
 
 Help light undying fires. 
 
 Gr if that may not be, 
 
 Let me abide Thy will, 
 And drink the cup Thou givest me, 
 
 And in Thy love be still. 
 
 We go to God by prayers, not by steps. 
 — Bishop Andrews. 
 
 Good prayers never come creeping home. I 
 am sure I shall receive either what I ask or what 
 I should ask. — Bishop Hall. 
 
 It was the saying of a learned man, saith Dr. 
 Lightfoot, that he got more knowledge by his 
 prayers than by all his studies. — Bishop Wilson. 
 
 To distort one's eyes in prayer does not seem 
 to me necessary ; I hold it better to be natural. 
 But one must not blame a man on that account, 
 provided he is not a hypocrite. But that a man 
 should make himself great and broad in prayer, 
 
546 
 
 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 that, it seems to me, deserves reproach, and is 
 not to be endured. One may have courage and 
 confidence, but he must not be conceited and wise 
 in his own conceit ; for if one knows how to coun- 
 sel and help himself, the shortest way is to do 
 it. Folding the hands is a fine external decorum, 
 and looks as if one surrendered himself without 
 capitulation, and laid down his arms. But the 
 inward, secret yearning, billow-heaving, and wish- 
 ing of the heart, that, in my opinion, is the chief 
 thing in prayer ; and therefore I cannot under- 
 stand what people mean who will not have us 
 pray. It is just as if they said one should not 
 wish, or one should have no beard and no ears. 
 That must be a blockhead of a boy who should 
 have nothing to ask of his father, and who should 
 deliberate the whole day whether he will let it come 
 to that extremity. When the wish within concerns 
 you nearly, and is of a warm complexion, it will 
 not question long ; it will overpower you like a 
 strong and armed man. It will just hurry on a 
 few rags of words, and knock at the door of 
 heaven. 
 
 Whether the prayer of a mov^d soul can ac- 
 complish or effect anything, or whether the Nexus 
 Rerum (connection of things) does not allow of 
 that, as some learned gentlemen think, — on that 
 point I shall enter into no controversy. I have 
 great respect for the Nexus Rerum, but I cannot 
 help thinking of Samson, who left the Nexus of 
 the gate-leaves unimpared and carried the whole 
 
PRA ?ERS. 547 
 
 gate, as every one knows, to the top of the hill. 
 And, in short, I believe that the rain comes when 
 it is dry, and that the heart does not cry in vain 
 after fresh water, if we pray aright and are 
 rightly disposed. 
 
 "Our Father" is once for all the best prayer, 
 for you know who made it But no man on 
 God's earth can pray it after Him, precisely as 
 He meant it. We cripple it with a distant imi- 
 tation ; and each more miserably than the other. 
 But that matters not, if we only mean well; 
 the dear God must do the best part at any 
 rate, and He knows how it ought to be. Because 
 you desire it, I will tell you sincerely how I man- 
 age with " Our Father. " But it seems to me a 
 very poor way, and I would gladly be taught a 
 better. 
 
 Do you see, when I am going to pray, I think 
 first of my late father, how he was so good and 
 loved so well to give to me. And then I picture 
 to myself the whole world as my Father's house, 
 and all the people in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
 America are then in my thoughts, my brothers 
 and sisters ; and God is sitting in heaven on a 
 golden chair, and has his right hand stretched out 
 over the sea to the end of the world, and His 
 left full of blessings and goods ; and all around 
 the mountain-tops smoke ; and then I begin : — 
 
 Out Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be 
 Thy name. — Here I am already at fault. The Jews 
 are said to have known special mysteries respect- 
 
548 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 ing the name of God. But I let all that be, and 
 only wish the thought of God, and every trace 
 by which we can recognize Him, may, be great 
 and holy above all things, to me and all men. 
 
 Thy Kingdom come. — Here I think of myself, 
 how it drives hither and thither within me, and 
 how this governs, and now that ; and that all is 
 sorrow of heart, and I can light on no green 
 branch. And then I think how good it would be 
 for me, if God put an end to all discord, and 
 govern me himself. 
 
 Thy will be done as in Heaven so on Earth. — 
 Here I picture to myself heaven and the holy 
 angels who do His will with joy, and no sorrow 
 touches them ; . . . and then I think if it were 
 only so here on earth ! 
 
 Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 
 — It hurts when one receives an affront ; and 
 revenge is sweet to man. It seems so to me, 
 too, and my inclination leads that way. But then 
 the wicked servant in the Gospel passes before 
 my eyes, and my heart fails, and I resolve, that 
 I will forgive my fellow-servant and not say a 
 word to him about the hundred pence. 
 
 And lead us not into temptation. — Here I think 
 of various instances where people in such and 
 such circumstances have strayed from the good, 
 and have fallen ; and that it would be no better 
 with me. 
 
 But deliver us from evil. — Here I still think 
 of temptations, and that man is so easily seduced 
 
PRAYERS. 549 
 
 and may stray from the straight path. But at the 
 same time I think of all the troubles of life, of 
 consumption and of old age, of the pains of child- 
 birth, of gangrene and insanity, and the thousand- 
 fold misery and heart-sorrow that is in the world, 
 and that plagues and tortures poor mortals, and 
 there is none to help. And you will find, if tears 
 have not come before, they will be sure to come 
 here ; and one can feel such a hearty yearning 
 to be away, and can be so sad and cast down 
 in one*s self, as if there were no help at all. 
 But then one must pluck up courage again, lay 
 the hand upon the mouth and continue, as it were 
 in triumph. 
 
 For Thine is the kingdom and the power and 
 the glory forever. Amen. — Matthias Claudius. 
 
 For Earnestness. — O God, let us not linger at 
 the threshold of Christianity; conduct us into the 
 inmost depths of life. Help us to break through 
 the obstacles, the doubts, the desponding lethargy, 
 weakness, which hinder us. Open in us an un- 
 quenchable aspiration for truth and virtue. Give 
 us a spirit of rational filial, strong, unreserved, 
 triumphant, glad obedience. Give us perfect con- 
 fidence in Thee, whose laws are the dictates of 
 fatherly wisdom and love, and who dost delight 
 in the purity and glory of Thy children. 
 
 Dispose us to see Thy goodness everywhere, 
 not only when descending upon us, but when 
 diffused abroad, so that we may discern the love 
 which pervades the universe and quickens all 
 spirits. 
 
550 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Make us sensible of inward wants, indigence, 
 destitution, weakness. Lay open to us our cor- 
 rupt motives. Expose to us our hidden vices in 
 all their depravity. Teach us to look steadily into 
 ourselves till we see, with something of Thine 
 own abhorence, every evil affection. Lead us a- 
 way from false resources to a sure dependence 
 on Thy perfect will, and may this reign supreme 
 within us. 
 
 Help us to look through the disguises of self- 
 love, to judge ourselves truly, to anticipate the 
 revelations of the last day ; and let not this know- 
 ledge of our deficiencies and deformities fill us 
 with dejection, but rather endear us to Thy mercy, 
 and lead us to Thy grace, while rousing as to 
 vigilance and to firm and faithful conflict with 
 every irregular desire. — Channing. 
 
 Morning Prayer. — Our Father in Heaven, we 
 thank Thee for the return of this morning, and 
 for the renewal of our daily blessings. We love 
 to feel that we are always surrounded by Thee, 
 and that the blessings of each day are the gifts 
 of Thy providence. We love to feel that Thou 
 art coming to us in the joy and freshness of 
 the morning, in the serenity and peace of the 
 evening, in the love of our loved ones, in the 
 happiness of our home, in the discipline of daily 
 experience, and in all things which make us glad 
 and strong, and heavenly-minded. And now, be- 
 fore entering upon the labors and trials of this 
 day, we meet together that we may think how 
 
PRAYERS. 551 
 
 real and earnest life should be ; how innocently 
 and actively we should enter into it, and how much 
 we need Thy guidance, even when we cannot 
 think of Thee. O Lord, how often have we felt 
 that we would be more obedient to all Thy com- 
 mands ! How often have we said within ourselves, 
 " This day, we will not sin ; we will be kind, and 
 just, and patient, and affectionate all day, and lie 
 down at night without a regretful memory ! " 
 But alas ! as the excitements of duty or pleasure 
 come upon us, we grow anxious and restless, or 
 forgetful and frivolous, and find at the close of 
 the day that we are careful and troubled about 
 many things, and that we have not yet found 
 that "good part" which cannot thus be taken a- 
 way from us. Our Heavenly Father, we now 
 come to Thee in no confidence in our own strength, 
 and pray that Thou wilt help us. Let Thy grace 
 be sufficient for us. Come to us many times this 
 day, in holy strength and reverent feeling, and 
 thus keep us near Thee, even in our forgetful- 
 ness. May all that is beautiful. remind us of Thee, 
 the Infinite Beauty. May all that is lovely remind 
 us of Thee, the One altogether lovely. May all 
 that is true lead us to Thee, the source of all 
 truth. O send us not from Thy presence un- 
 blessed; but breathe Thy loving Spirit upon us 
 all before we take up the burden of our daily 
 duty, that we may go on our way rejoicing, and 
 the words of our mouths, and the meditations of 
 our hearts, may be acceptable in Thy sight, O, 
 
552 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. — Altar 
 at Home. 
 
 Evening Prayer. — O God, Fountain of life, we 
 thank Thee, for Thy good gift of the waters of 
 life, through another day. We bless Thee that we 
 live and move and have our beino- i n Thee. The 
 world presses hard upon us, and we might faint 
 and die if we were alone ; but we are not alone, 
 for the Father is with us. Not one moment in 
 all our life is passed without Thee ; Thou wilt 
 never leave us; no place is without Thee; Thou 
 wilt never forsake us. Thou hast made us for 
 life, Thou hast kept us in life. When our last 
 night in this world shall close about us, Thy love 
 will fold us to sleep, and when we awake in the 
 life to come, we shall still be with Thee, for 
 in Thy love shall we live forever. Our sun shall 
 be turned into darkness, this earth shall pass a- 
 way from our sight, the body shall return to the 
 dust as it was, but the Sun that lights the sun 
 shall shine forever. The Hand in which the earth 
 is but a speck of dust abides ; Thou art the same ; 
 Thy years shall not fail ; and we are the sons of 
 God. Not our will, but Thy will made us ; not 
 our will, but Thine has kept us this day. O God, 
 our Father, help us to a deeper trust in the life 
 everlasting, from the lesson of this one day. 
 May we feel that this love which is now, ever 
 shall be ; this robe of flesh is Thy gift to Thy 
 child, and when it is worn out Thou wilt clothe 
 him a^ain ; this work of life is the work Thou 
 
"-"^t^PF 5 ^ 
 
 Bfc* 1 ' ^ — ^~ r ^ ^Vl^'^i ^Mw 
 
 "Wind! Wind! 
 The peaceful reel must still go round : 
 
 Wind ! Wind 
 The thread of life will soon be wound.' 
 
PRAYERS'. 553 
 
 hast given us to do, and when it is done, Thou 
 wilt give us more; this love, that makes all our 
 life so glad, flows out of the deep fountain of 
 God, for God is love, and we shall love forever. 
 O, set these lessons deep in our hearts ; help us 
 to feel how day after day we see some dim 
 shadow of the eternal day that will break upon 
 us at the last. May the Gospel of Thy Son, 
 the whisper of Thy Spirit, unite to make our 
 faith in the life to come more solid and clear ;. 
 then shall we be glad when Thou shalt call us, 
 and enter into Thy glory in Jesus Christ. — Altar: 
 at Home. 
 
 Prayer before work. — O Eternal God, who hast 
 made all things for man and man for Thy glory, 
 sanctify my body and soul, my thoughts and my 
 intentions, my words and actions, that whatsoever 
 I shall think, or speak, or do, may be by me de- 
 signed to the glorification of Thy name ; and by 
 Thy blessing it may be effective and successful in 
 the work of God, according as it can be capable. 
 
 Lord, turn my necessities into virtue ; the works 
 of nature into works of grace, by making them 
 orderly, regular, temperate, subordinate, and profit- 
 able to ends beyond their proper efficacy ; and 
 let no pride or self-seeking, no covetousness or 
 revenge, no impure mixture or unhandsome pur- 
 poses, no little ends and low imaginations, pollute 
 my spirit and unhallow any of my words and ac- 
 tions ; but let my body be a servant to my spirit, 
 and both body and spirit servants of Jesus ; that 
 
 36 
 
554 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 doing- all things for Thy glory here, I may be 
 partaker of Thy glory hereafter ; through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 For Strength. — Gracious Father, keep me now 
 through Thy Holy Spirit ; keep my heart soft 
 and tender now in health and amidst the bustle 
 of the world ; keep the thought of Thyself pres- 
 ent to me as my Father in Jesus Christ ; keep 
 alive in me a spirit of love and meekness to all 
 men, that I may be at once gentle, active and 
 firm. 
 
 O strengthen me to bear sickness, or pain, or 
 danger, or whatever Thou shalt be pleased to lay 
 upon me, as Christ's soldier and servant ; and 
 let my faith overcome the world daily. Strengthen 
 my faith that I may realize to my mind the 
 things eternal, — death, and things after death, and 
 Thyself. 
 
 How much of God have I received at God's 
 hand, and shall I not also receive evil ? Only, O 
 Lord, strengthen me to bear it, whether it visit 
 me in body, in mind, or in estate. Strengthen 
 me with the grace which Thou didst vouchsafe 
 to Thy martyrs, and let me not fall from Thee 
 in any trial. 
 
 O Lord, let me cherish a sober mind, to be 
 ready to bear evenly, and not cullenl) T . Reveal 
 to me Thyself in Jesus Christ, which knowledge 
 will make all sufferings and all trials easy. — Arnold 
 of Rugby. 
 
PRAYERS. 5 -j 5 
 
 A Teachers Prayer. — Guide, and strengthen, 
 and enkindle me, O Lord, inspire me with zeal, 
 and guide me with wisdom, that Thy name may 
 be known to those committed to my care, and 
 that they may be made and kept always Thine. 
 
 O Lord, save me from idle words, and grant 
 that my heart may be truly cleansed and filled 
 with Thy Holy Spirit, and that I may arise to 
 serve Thee, and lie down in entire confidence in 
 Thee, and submission to Thy will, ready for life 
 or for death. Let me live for the day, not over- 
 charged with worldly cares, but feeling that my 
 treasure is not here. . 
 
 What is it to live for God ? May God open 
 my eyes to see Him by faith, in and through 
 His Son Jesus Christ ; may He draw me to Him, 
 and keep me with Him, making His will my will, 
 His love my love, His strength my strength : and 
 may He make me feel that pretended strength, 
 not derived from Him, is no strength, but the 
 worst weakness. May His strength be perfected 
 in my weakness. — Arnold of Rugby. 
 
 In School. — Give Thy blessing, we pray Thee, 
 to this our daily work, that we may do it in faith 
 and heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men. 
 All our powers of body and mind are Thine, and 
 we would fain devote them to Thy service. Sanc- 
 tify them and the work in which they are en- 
 gaged ; let us not be slothful, but fervent in spir- 
 it, and do Thou, O Lord, so bless our efforts 
 that they may bring forth in us the fruits of true 
 
556 . IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 wisdom. Strengthen the faculties of our minds, 
 and dispose us to exert them, but let us always 
 remember to exert them for Thy glory, and for 
 the furtherance of Thy Kingdom ; and save us 
 from all pride, and vanity, and reliance upon our 
 own power or wisdom. 
 
 Give us this day Thy Holy Spirit, that we 
 may be Thine in body and spirit, in our work 
 and in all our refreshment, through Jesus Christ, 
 Thy Son, our Lord. — Arnold of Rugby. 
 
 For Submission. — Be present with me, Lord 
 Jesus ! in all places, and at all times. May I 
 find consolation in being willing to bear the want 
 of all human comfort. And if Thy consolation 
 also be withdrawn, let Thy will and righteous 
 probation of me, be to me as the chiefest com- 
 fort ; for "Thou wilt not always chide, neither 
 wilt Thou keep Thine anger forever ! " — Thomas 
 a Kempis. 
 
 A Prayer for Communion with God. — Merci- 
 ful and Eternal God ! Love Inexhaustible ! Fa- 
 ther of the Universe! My Father ! If I have 
 but Thee, all things else, that life may bring, are 
 but shadowy phantoms. If I have but Thee, I 
 shall find my way through light and darkness. I 
 shall find my way and not falter, though want 
 and death may threaten me. If I have but Thee, 
 I am rich enough, though all that others call riches 
 may fail me ; I am sufficiently exalted, though all 
 the world look down upon me ; I am strong 
 enough, though many conspire against me ; I am 
 
PRAYERS. 557 
 
 safe, though disasters may befall me, and all my 
 worldly possessions may be lost. If I have but 
 Thee, death itself cannot rob me of joy, even if 
 it should tear from my bleeding heart all the ob- 
 jects of my love. Ah, death is Thy angel mes- 
 seneer ; he carries them to Thee ; and in the 
 bosom of Thy love I shall find them again. If I 
 have but Thee, I possess all things. — Zschokke. 
 
 O God, show compassion on the wicked. The 
 virtuous have already been blessed by Thee, in 
 being- virtuous. — From The Persian. 
 
 A Prayer when one knows not what to ask 
 for. — O Lord, I know not what to ask of Thee. 
 Thou alone knowest what I need. If I am Thy 
 friend, thou lovest me better than I can love my- 
 self. O Lord, give to thy child what is proper, 
 whatsoever it may be. I dare not ask for cros- 
 ses or comforts. I merely present myself before 
 Thee, and open my heart to thee. Look upon my 
 wants, of which I am myself ignorant, and deal 
 with me according to Thy mercy. Smite me, or 
 heal me : depress me, or raise me up, — as seem- 
 eth good unto Thee. I adore all thy purposes, 
 without knowing them. I give myself up to 
 Thee. My only desire is to accomplish Thy will. 
 O Lord, teach me how to pray ! Dwell Thou in 
 me by Thy Holy Spirit. — Fenelon. 
 
 A Prayer for Resignation when in trouble, — O 
 my God ! if Thou art pleased to render me 
 a spectacle to men and angels, Thy will be done ! 
 All I ask is, that Thou wilt be with and save 
 
508 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 those who love Thee; — so that neither life nor 
 death, neither principalities nor powers, may ever 
 separate them from the love of God which is in 
 Jesus Christ. As for me, what matters it what 
 men think of me, or what they make me suffer, 
 since they cannot separate me from that Saviour 
 whose name is engraven in the very bottom of 
 my heart. If I can only be accepted of Him, I 
 am w lling that all men should despise and hate 
 me. Their strokes will polish what may be defec- 
 tive in me, so that I may be presented in peace 
 to Him for whom I die daily. O Saviour ! I pre- 
 sent myself before Thee an offering, a sacrifice. 
 Purify me in Thy blood, that I may be accepted 
 of Thee. — Madame Guyon. (In the Bastile.) 
 
 Self- Examination. — Go up, my soul, into the 
 tribunal of thy conscience: there set thy guilty 
 self before thyself: hide not thyself behind thy- 
 self, lest God bring thee forth before thyself. — St. 
 Augustine. 
 
 For Entire Devotion. — Bring into captivity ev- 
 ery thought to the obedience of Christ. Take 
 what I cannot give : my heart, body, thought, time, 
 abilities, money, health, strength, nights, days, youth, 
 age, and spend them in Thy service, O my cru- 
 cified Master, Redeemer, God. O, let not these 
 be mere words ! Whom have I in heaven but 
 Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire 
 in comparison of Thee. My heart is athirst for 
 God, for the living God. When shall I come and 
 appear before God ? — Robertson. 
 
FRA YEBS. ' 559 
 
 Trust, in view of death. — O Jesus, in Thy rev- 
 elation will I live, and in it will I die. Blessed 
 is the power of Thy word; to it the power of 
 death must yield. I live in Thee, and I shall not 
 die. There is no death, there is no grave ; it 
 is but change and calorification. God is no God 
 of death ; He is our life. He created life, and 
 my spirit is His work. My spirit is life, while 
 it animates my body ; and remains life when the 
 dust which for a time clothed it as a garment, 
 and which was to it as an instrument, returns a- 
 gain to dust. 
 
 Heavenly and Eternal Father, Source of all 
 being, Thou from whom I spring, unto whom I 
 shall return — Thine I shall ever be ! Sweet is 
 life, in truth, but death has nevertheless no ter- 
 rors ; no fear of it shall overwhelm me, shall turn 
 me away from Thee, and from the path of virtue. 
 I hold as naught the days that I do not adorn 
 with good deeds, I hold as naught a life which 
 I cannot glorify by virtue. 
 
 And me also, me also, O God, Thou wilt call 
 unto Thyself when my hour comes, when my 
 earthly goal is reached. Blessed shall I then be 
 if I can say unto myself, / have fought a good 
 fight ; as far as my powers allowed, I have com- 
 pleted a life of well-doing ; the crown of Eter- 
 nal life awaits me also. — Zschokke. 
 
5GJ IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 J 
 
 mm*. 
 
 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. — Hebrews iv. 9. 
 
 2T7HERE is a song — the saints in heaven sing it — 
 ^° Which in this round of toils that never cease, 
 Enters the heart, whatever pain may bring it, 
 Laden with patience and with blessed peace. 
 
 What soul has heard it not, knows not its losses ; 
 
 Nor can it know the secret of the eain 
 Which only comes to men from bearing crosses 
 
 With all their weight of agony and pain. 
 
 The mighty ones and true of all the ages, 
 
 For whose brave lives the world has better grown 
 
 Prophets and prie c ts and holy men and sages, 
 The lofty music of that song have known. 
 
 It fills the soul with never-ending praises, 
 Which is a more exalted life than prayer ; 
 
 For every throb of such existence raises 
 The servant of the Lord to purer air. 
 
 And who may tell the strength and consolation, 
 Which from a sense of God's unfailing care, 
 
 Flow through the wilderness of our vocation, 
 Making it bud and blossom everywhere ? 
 
PXAISES. ' 561 
 
 O comrade, loving God, dost thou need wonder 
 How in the blessed hush of all complaints, 
 
 In looking back, they lift their voices yonder, 
 Thy ways are j hist and true, Thou King of saints ? 
 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who 
 was, and is, and is .to come : heaven and earth 
 angels and men, the air and the sea, give glory, 
 and honor, and thanks to Him that sitteth on the 
 throne, who liveth forever and ever. All the 
 blessed spirits and souls of the righteous cast their 
 crowns before the throne, worship Him that liveth 
 forever and ever. 
 
 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and 
 honor, and power, for Thou hast created all things, 
 and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. 
 Great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord 
 God Almighty : just and true are Thy ways, Thou 
 King of saints. Thy wisdom is infinite, Thy mer- 
 cies are glorious, and I am not worthy, O Lord, 
 to appear in Thy presence, before whom the an- 
 gels hide their faces. 
 
 O holy and eternal Jesus, Lamb of God, who 
 wert slain from the beginning of the world, Thou 
 hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of 
 every nation, and hast made us unto our God 
 kings and priests, and we shall reign with Thee 
 forever. 
 
 Blessing, honor, glory, and power be unto Him 
 that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for- 
 ever and ever. — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
5G2 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 O Lord God, Fountain of comfort and help, 
 of life and peace, of plenty and pardon, who 
 fillest heaven with Thy glory, and earth with 
 Thy goodness ; we give Thee most humble 
 and earnest returns of a glad and thankful heart, 
 for the blessings of nature and the blessings of 
 grace, for the support of every minute, and the 
 gifts of every day. What are we, O Lord, and 
 what is our fathers house, that the great God of 
 men and angels should multiply upon us the 
 proofs of His loving kindness ? Praised be the 
 Lord daily, even the Lord that helpeth us and 
 poureth His blessings upon us. Blessed be the 
 name of His majesty forever, and let all the 
 earth be filled with His glory. — Martineau. 
 
 Praise the Lord, O my soul ; and all that 
 is within me, praise His holy name. Praise the 
 Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His ben- 
 efits; who forgiveth all thy sin, and healeth all 
 thine infirmities ; who saveth thy life from de- 
 struction, and crowneth thee with mercy and loving 
 kindness. — Psalm cm, 1-4. 
 
PROVERBS. 5G3 
 
 ^ r 17HE fruit of old experience, 
 *** The store of golden age — 
 The heart of youth may gain from thence 
 The wealth of many a sage. 
 
 And it may often fare, a word, 
 
 A homely word and true, 
 In thoughtful mood or read or heard, 
 
 Will hint the thing to do. 
 
 Then ponder well the golden store 
 Plucked from the veins of Time ; 
 
 Thy life, more grandly than before, 
 Will daily grow sublime. 
 
 And what thou ownest give thy neighbor 
 
 At fitting time and place, 
 To prosper him in every labor 
 
 And add to thine own grace. 
 
 Knowledge is folly, except grace guide it. 
 Punishment is lame, but it comes. 
 Better good far off than evil at hand. 
 A long tongue is a sign of a short hand. 
 The wise head does not all that the foolish 
 mouth speaks. 
 
5G4 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Man proposeth, God disposeth. 
 
 He begins to die, that quits his desires. 
 
 A handful of good life is better than a bushel of 
 learning. 
 
 He that studies his content, wants it. 
 
 Humble hearts have humble desires. 
 
 He that stumbles and falls not, mends his pace. 
 
 The house shows the owner. 
 
 He that gets out of debt, grows rich. 
 
 All is well with him who is beloved of his neigh- 
 bors. 
 
 The scalded dog fears cold water. 
 
 Pleasing ware is half sold. 
 
 Light burdens, long borne, grow heavy. 
 
 A cool mouth, and warm feet, live long. 
 
 Not a long day, but a good heart, rids work. 
 
 He pulls with a long rope that waits for another's 
 death. 
 
 The Devil is not always at one door. 
 
 When a friend asks, there is no to-morrow. 
 
 He loseth nothing, that loseth not God. 
 
 At dinner my man appears. 
 
 Who gives to all, denies all. 
 
 Benefits please like flowers while they are fresh. 
 
 He that will take a bird, must not scare it. 
 
 A merchant that gains not, loseth. 
 
 Love, and a cough, cannot be hid. 
 
 A dwarf on a giant's shoulder sees further of the 
 two. 
 
 He that sends a fool means to follow him. 
 
 Better the feet slip than the tongue. 
 
PROVERBS. 5G5 
 
 Nothing is to be presumed on, or despaired of. 
 
 In a good house all is quickly ready. 
 
 God oft hath a great share in a little house. 
 
 Ill ware is never cheap. 
 
 A cheerful look makes a dish a feast. 
 
 Virtue never grows old. 
 
 Were there no fools, bad ware would not pass. 
 
 Never had ill workman good tools. 
 
 Were there no hearers, there would be no back- 
 biters. 
 
 Everything is of use to a housekeeper. 
 
 When a dog is drowning, every one offers him 
 drink. 
 
 Who is so deaf as he that will not hear ? 
 
 He that is warm thinks all so. 
 
 He that goes barefoot must not plant thorns. 
 
 He that lives well, is learned enough. 
 
 All truths are not to be told. 
 
 Sleep without supping, and wake without owing. 
 
 Mend your clothes, and you may hold on this 
 year. 
 
 Deceive not thy physician, confessor, nor lawyer. 
 
 Virtue and a trade are the best portion for child- 
 ren. 
 
 He that lives ill, fear follows him. 
 
 To a grateful man give money when he asks. 
 
 Keep good men company, and you shall be of the 
 number. 
 
 A snow year a rich year. 
 
 Better to be blind than to see ill. 
 
 Who hath no more bread than need mu::t not: 
 keep a dog. 
 
560 • IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 A garden must be looked unto and dressed as 
 
 the body. 
 The fox when he cannot reach the grapes, says 
 
 they are not ripe. 
 Though old and wise, yet still advise. 
 Slander is a shipwreck by a dry tempest. 
 Happy is he that chastens himself. 
 Love your neighbor, yet pull not down your hedge. 
 A drunkard's purse is a bottle. 
 Play with a fool at home, and he will play with 
 
 you in the market. 
 The mill cannot grind with the water that's past. 
 Corn is cleaned with wind, and the soul with 
 
 chastiseings. 
 Good words are worth much, and cost little. 
 None is a fool always, every one sometimes. 
 God heals, and the physician hath the thanks. 
 He that lies long a bed, his estate feels it. 
 A diligent scholar, and the master's paid. 
 Giving much to the poor doth enrich a man's store. 
 Whose house is of glass must not throw stones 
 
 at another. 
 He that looks not before finds himself behind. 
 He that riseth first is first drest. 
 A child's service is little, yet he is no little fool that 
 
 despiseth it. 
 The river past, and God forgotten. 
 The honey is sweet, but the bee stings. 
 In good years corn is hay, in ill years straw is corn. 
 Send a wise man on an errand, and say nothing 
 
 unto him. 
 
" There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." 
 
PROVERBS. 507 
 
 The heart's letter is read in the eyes. 
 
 Sometimes the best gain is to lose. 
 
 Truth and oil are ever above. 
 
 The more women look in their glass, the less they 
 
 look to their house. 
 It costs more to do ill than to do well. 
 Good words quench more than a bucket of water. 
 By suppers more have been killed than Galen 
 
 ever cured. 
 Gossips are frogs, they drink and talk. 
 Prayers and provender hinder no journey. 
 The fox knows much, but, more he that catcheth 
 
 him. 
 Many friends in general, one in special. 
 He is a fool that thinks not that another thinks. 
 Go not for every grief to the physician, nor for 
 
 every quarrel to the lawyer, nor for every thirst 
 
 to the pot. 
 The best mirror is an old friend. 
 A man's discontent is his worst evil. 
 That is not good language which all understand 
 
 not. 
 He is not poor that hath little, but he that de- 
 
 sireth much. 
 Although it rain, throw not away thy watering-pot. 
 When God will, no wind but brings rain. 
 He that sows, trusts in God. 
 Who spits against heaven, it falls in his face. 
 He that is not handsome at twenty, nor strong 
 
 at thirty, nor rich at forty, nor wise at fifty, 
 
 will never be handsome, strong, rich, or wise. 
 
5G8 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 He that doth what he will, doth not what he ought 
 He that hath lost his credit is dead to the world. 
 All things have their place knew we how to place 
 
 them. 
 Little pitchers have wide ears. 
 Dry feet, warm head, bring safe to bed. 
 He is rich enough that wants nothing. 
 One father is enough to govern one hundred sons, 
 
 but not a hundred sons one father. 
 He that seeks trouble never misses. 
 He that makes a thing too fine breaks it. 
 Fly the pleasure that bites to-morrow. 
 Where your will is ready your feet are light. 
 Building is a sweet impoverishing. 
 The first degree of folly is to hold one's self wise 
 
 the second to profess it, the third to despise' 
 
 counsel. 
 Poverty is the mother of health. 
 A poor beauty finds more lovers than husbands. 
 Discreet women have neither eyes nor ears. 
 In choosing a wife, and buying a sword, we ought 
 
 not to trust another. 
 The filth under the white snow the sun discovers. 
 Patience, time, and money accommodate all things. 
 For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of 
 
 a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse 
 
 the rider is lost. 
 Gluttony kills more than the sword. 
 When children stand quiet they have done some 
 
 ill. 
 A penny spared is twice got. 
 
PROVERBS. 569 
 
 Bear with evil and expect good. 
 
 He that tells a secret is another's servant. 
 
 All things in their being are good for something. 
 
 A fair death honors the whole life. 
 
 Living well is the best revenge. 
 
 A fool may throw a* stone into a well, which a 
 
 hundred wise men cannot pull out. 
 To a good spender God is the treasurer. 
 Music helps not the toothache. 
 Help thyself, and God will help thee. 
 Love makes all hard hearts gentle. 
 The shortest answer is doing. 
 He that would have what he hath not should do 
 
 what he doth not. 
 He that hath no good trade it is to his loss. 
 He that lives not well one year sorrows seven 
 
 after. 
 He that is angry at a feast is rude. 
 He that mocks a cripple ought to be whole. 
 When the tree is fallen all go with their hatchet. 
 He that burns most, shines most. 
 It is better to be the head of a lizard than the 
 
 tail of a lion. 
 Valor that parleys is near yielding. 
 There is great force hidden in a sweet command. 
 Little dogs start the hare, the great get her. 
 A wise man needs not blush for changing his 
 
 purpose. 
 Skill and confidence are an unconquered army. 
 To be beloved is above all bargains. 
 Love makes one fit for any work. 
 
 37 
 
570 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Show me a liar, and I will show thee a thief. 
 In the husband wisdom, in the wife gentleness. 
 A wise man cares not for what he cannot have. 
 A holy habit cleanseth not a foul soul. 
 Every one is weary, the poor in seeking, the rich 
 
 in keeping, the good in learning. 
 Dry bread at home is better than roast meat a- 
 
 broad. 
 More have repented speech than silence. 
 Beauty draws more than oxen. 
 One eye of the master's sees more than ten of 
 
 the servant's. 
 When it thunders the thief becomes honest. 
 The tree that God plants no wind hurts it. 
 He is only bright that shines by himself. 
 A valiant man's look is more than a coward's 
 
 sword. 
 Three can hold their peace if two be away. 
 Be what thou wouldst seem to be. 
 He that will not have peace God gives him war. 
 Where there is peace God is. 
 That's the best gown that goes up and down the 
 
 house. 
 The chief disease that reigns this year is folly. 
 Better suffer ill than do ill. 
 Neither praise nor dispraise thyself, thy actions 
 
 serve the turn. 
 Lawsuits consume time, and money, and rest, and 
 
 friends. 
 He that hath a wife and children wants not busi- 
 ness. 
 
PROVERBS. 571 
 
 Courtesy on one side only, lasts not long. 
 
 The best of the sport is to do the deed, and say 
 
 nothing. 
 You must lose a fly to catch a trout. 
 That is gold which is worth gold. 
 He that knows nothing doubts nothing. 
 He that marries late marries ill. 
 It is more pain to do nothing than something. 
 The wife is the key of the house. 
 Life is half spent before we know what it is. 
 Years know more than books. 
 The dainties of the great are the tears of the 
 
 poor. 
 Sins are not known till they be acted. 
 All are presumed good till they are found in a 
 
 fault. 
 Lawyers' houses are built on the heads of fools. 
 The best bred have the best portion. 
 Better be a fool than a knave. 
 To live peaceably with all breeds good blood. 
 Pains to get, care to keep, fear to lose. 
 Should God take the sun out of the heaven, yet 
 
 we must have patience. 
 When God is made master of a family He orders 
 
 the disorderly. 
 He that praiseth himself spattereth himself. 
 He that is surprised with the first frost feels it all 
 
 the winter after. 
 He a beast doth die that hath done no good to 
 
 his country. 
 If the brain sows not corn, it plants thistles. 
 
572 WEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 Whatsoever was the father of a disease, an ill 
 
 diet was the mother. 
 The war is not done so long as my enemy lives. 
 Some evils are cured by contempt. 
 Infants' manners are moulded more by the ex-. 
 
 ample of parents than by stars at their native 
 
 ities. 
 Modesty sets off one newly come to honor. 
 Unsound minds, like unsound bodies, if you feed, 
 
 you poison. 
 He that steels an egg will steel an ox. 
 A city that parleys is half gotten. 
 They that hold the greatest farms pay the least 
 
 rent: (applied to rich men that are unthankful 
 
 to God). 
 He that hath time and looks for better time, time 
 
 comes that he repents himself of time. 
 Of a pig's tail you can never make a good shaft. 
 The devil divides the world between atheism and 
 
 superstition. 
 We do it soon enough, if that we do be well. 
 God gives His wrath by weight, and without weight 
 
 His mercy. 
 We must recoil a little, to the end we may leap 
 
 the better. 
 No day so clear but hath dark clouds. 
 No hare so small but hath his shadow. 
 The healthful man can give counsel to the sick. 
 Virtue flies from the heart of a mercenary man. 
 Say to pleasure, Gentle Eve y I will none of your 
 
 apple. 
 
PRO VERBS. 573 
 
 There is a remedy for everything, could men 
 
 find it. 
 Great fortune brings with it great misfortune. 
 A fair day in winter is the mother of a storm. 
 Tithe, and be rich. 
 
 Stay awhile that we may make an end the sooner. 
 Great deservers grow intolerable presumers. 
 The love of money and the love of learning rarely 
 
 meet. 
 Trust no friend with that you need, fear him as 
 
 if he were your enemy. 
 The devil never assails a man except he find him 
 
 either void of knowledge, or of the fear of God. 
 Much money makes a country poor, for it sets a 
 
 dearer price on everything. 
 The virtue of a coward is suspicion. 
 Every man's censure is first moulded in his own 
 
 nature. 
 What ever is made by the hand of man, by the 
 
 hand of man may be over-turned. 
 Sweet discourse makes short days and nights. 
 Jn a long journey straw weighs. 
 He that serves well need not ask his wages. 
 If a good man thrive, all thrive with him. 
 Pardon all but thyself. 
 The thread breaks where it is weakest. 
 If a staff be crooked, the shadow cannot be straight. 
 The goat must browse where she is tied. 
 Talking pays no toll. 
 
 Where your will is ready your feet are light. 
 He that respects not is not respected. 
 
574 IDEALS OF LIFE. 
 
 He that measures not himself is measured. 
 He that speaks sows, and he that holds his peace 
 
 gathers. 
 The tongue talks at the head's cost. 
 A mountain and a river are good neighbors. 
 Think of ease, but work on. 
 One stroke fells not an oak. 
 Ill comes in by ells, and goes out by inches. 
 Hearken to reason, or she will be heard. 
 Praise day and night, and life at the end. 
 Le^rn weeping, and thou shalt laugh gaining. 
 Better spare • to have of thine own than .ask of 
 
 other men. 
 He that looks not before finds himself behind. 
 Good service is a great enchantment. 
 Love is the true price of love.- — George Herbert. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 [The Author and Editor would here acknowledge the courtesy of those 
 Authors and Publishers who have so kindly allowed him to draw from their 
 copyrighted works: among whom he would especially mention Ralph Waldo 
 Emerson, Dr. C. S. Henry, E. P. Button & Co., and Mr. James Miller.] 
 
 A 
 
 Adams, W. H. Davenport, contemporary English writer, 
 author of The Secret of Success, etc. — 16, 37, 42, 55, 131, 
 144, 183, 202, 448. 
 
 Addison, Joseph, (1672-1719), chiefly known as the author of 
 famous papers in The Spectator— 78, 79, 87, 112, 132, 133, 
 139, 153, 179, 201, 223, 284, 320, 330, 384, 416, 436, 438, 
 450, 490, 513, 514. 
 
 Allston, Washington, (1779-1843), an American historical 
 painter, distinguished for excellence in coloring — 402, 
 469. 
 
 Andrews, Lancelot, (1555-1626), an English bishop, ki tlie 
 ointment of whose name is sweeter than spices " — 292, 
 545. 
 
 Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, (87-161), Roman Emperor 
 and philosopher — 444, 457. 
 
 Arnold, Thomas, (1795-1842), an English divine and 
 scholar, best known as the Master of Rugby School ; 
 the story of whose life has been written by Dean 
 Stanley— 554, 555. 
 (575) 
 
576 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 Ascham, Roger, (1515-1568), a scholar and writer of great 
 repute in his day, author of The School- Master — 163. 
 
 Atterbury, Francis, (1662-1732), distinguished in the ec- 
 clesiastical and literary history of England— 83, 87, 136, 
 289, 439. 
 
 Auerbach, Berthold, (1812 ), a popular German author 
 
 —28. 
 
 Augustine, Saint, (354-430), the most celebrated of the 
 Christian Fathers, author of Confessions, etc. — 23, 149, 
 439, 558. 
 
 B 
 
 Bacon, Francis, (1561-1626). author of the Novum Organum, 
 which marked a new departure in philosophy — 9, 109, 
 456, 513. 
 
 Balguy, John, (1686-1748), an eminent English divine 
 —514. 
 
 Barrow, Isaac, (1630-1677), a distinguished mathematician 
 and divine of England — 28, 154. 
 
 Baxter, Richard, (1615-1691), a famous Nonconformist 
 —355. 
 
 Bayne, Peter, a contemporary Scotch essayist — 261. 
 
 Bartholin, Kaspar, (1585-1630), a Danish writer — 168. 
 
 Beattie, James, (1735-1922), a Scotch poet and moralist, 
 author of Essay on Truth, The Ministrel, etc. — 286, 409. 
 
 Beecher, Henry Ward, (1813 ), 337. 
 
 Ben Azai; Israelite 501. 
 
 Bentham, Jeremy, (1748-1832), author of Principles of Morals 
 and Legislation, etc. — 419. 
 
 Bently, Richard, (1662-1742), one of the most eminent 
 critics of modern times — 332. 
 
 Bias, (about 570 R C), one of the seven sages of Greece 
 —466. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 577 
 
 Blair, Hugh, (1718-1800), a distinguished clergyman of 
 the Church of Scotland— 328, 418. 
 
 Boswell, James, (1740-1822), friend and biographer of Dr. 
 
 Samuel Johnson— 129, 138. 
 Boyle, Robert, (1626-1691), distinguished in Natural Science 
 
 —199. 
 
 Brande, Wm. T., (1788-1866), long associated with Sir 
 
 Humphry Davy — 490. 
 Bremer, Frederika, (1802-1865), a well-known Swedish 
 
 novelist— 397. 
 
 Brewster, Sir David, (1781-1868), a distinguished Scotch 
 philosopher and eloquent writer — 330. 
 
 Bronte, Charlotte, 1816-1855), among the most disting- 
 uished of modern novelists, author of Jane Eyre etc. 
 —360, 375. 
 
 Brooke, Stopford A., contemporary English author and 
 divine— 39, 255, 316, 393, 519. 
 
 Brooks, Philipps, a celebrated American preacher — 239, 
 246, 269, 302. 
 
 Brougham, Lord, (1778-1868), an orator and writer of 
 singularly versatile power — 157. 
 
 Browne, Sir Thomas, (1605-1682), author of Religio Medici, 
 a famous work which appeared in 1642 — 93, 99, 150, 
 303, 321, 360, 363, 452. 
 
 Brown, J. Baldwin, a contemporary English author and 
 divine— 82, 101, 377. 
 
 Brown, John, M. D., author of Rab and his Friends — 192. 
 
 Brown, Dr. Thomas, (1778-1820), a Scotch metaphysician 
 —499. 
 
 Burke, Edmund, (1730-1797), a noted writer, orator, and 
 statesman of Irish birth, among the first of his age — 
 55, 78, 113, 123, 124, 181, 236, 284, 346, 368, 436, 458. 
 
578 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 Burritt, Elihu, (1811-1879), a distinguished American, 
 known as the Learned Blacksmith — 161, 
 
 Burton, Robert, (1576-1639), chiefly known as the author 
 of Anatomy of Melancholy — 29. 
 
 C 
 
 Calvert, an American contemporary essayist — 138, 461. 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, (1795 ), a writer whom Chambers 
 
 calls, not unfittingly, a literary Columbus — 17, 23, 26, 30, 
 31, 32, 76, 170, 179, 199, 252, 275, 338, 343, 346, 347, 
 353, 366, 369, 384, 412, 415, 440, 480, 501, 504. 
 
 Clarendon, Earl of— 304. 
 
 Chalmers, Thomas, (1780-1847), a Scotch divine of great 
 genius, of marvellous efficiency among the poor — 92, 
 162, 279, 343. 
 
 Channing, William Ellery, (1780-1842), an American of 
 rare genius, in his own words, "aloof from all but those 
 who strive and pray for clearer light" — 52, 91, 114, 163, 
 471, 526, 549. 
 
 Charnock, Stephen, (1628-1680), a distinguished Noncon- 
 formist, whose "works are full of force and originality" 
 —70, 92. 
 
 Chateaubriand, (1769-1848), an eminent French writer, 
 author of Les Martyrs, etc — 162. 
 
 Chesterfield, Earl of, (1694-1773), best known as author 
 of Letters to his Son — 124, 505. 
 
 Child, Lydia Maria, (1802 ), an eminent American 
 
 authoress, well-known for two generations — 349, 372. 
 
 Cicero, Marcus Tullius, (105-42 B. C), the most famous 
 of Roman orators and philosophers — 168, 322, 329, 501, 
 509. 
 
 Cobbett, William, (1762-1835), a celebrated English polit- 
 ical reformer — 439. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 579 
 
 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, (1772-1834), "the most im- 
 aginative of modern poets," and the Socrates of his day 
 in philosophy— 9, 75, 156, 347, 364, 488. 
 
 Collier, Jeremy, (1650-1726), a learned English Nonjuror 
 
 of great distinction — 19, 185. 
 Colonna, Vittoria, (1490-1547), the most celebrated poetess 
 
 of Italy— 26. 
 Colton, Charles Caleb, (1780-1832), an English writer, 
 
 best known as the author of Lacon — 48, 107, 146, 156, 
 
 289, 311, 399, 531. 
 Confucius, (about 550 B. C), the greatest Chinese sage and 
 
 religious lawgiver — 457 . 
 
 Coverdale, Miles, (1483-1568), an English prelate, associ- 
 ated with Tyndale in the translation of the Bible — 93. 
 
 Cowper, William, (1731-1800), who "restored the poetic 
 art to England "—279. 
 
 Craik, George Lillie, (1799-1866), a Scotchman by birth, 
 best known as the author of Pursuit of Knowledge under 
 Difficulties— 172. 
 
 Chrysostom, Saint John (347-407), the most eloquent of 
 the Greek Fathers— 467. 
 
 D 
 
 Davy, Sir Humphry, (1778-1829), the great English chem- 
 ist whose fame extends to all countries — 322, 412. 
 
 De Bury, Richard, born 1281, the most learned English- 
 man of his day, author of the Love of Books — 169. 
 
 De Tocqueville, (1805-1859), a French author, the most 
 eminent writer of his age on the science of politics — 26. 
 
 Dewey, Orville, a contemporary American writer — 523. 
 
 Dick, Thomas, (1774-1857), a distinguished Scotchman, 
 well known as author of The Chrldian Philosopher, etc. 
 —323, 329. 
 
580 INDEX OF A UTHORS. 
 
 Dickens, Charles, (1812-1870), the quaint and pathetic 
 English novelist— 191, 312, 347. 
 
 Donne, John, (1573-1631), one of the most famous of the 
 old English divines— 28, 309. 
 
 Dryden, John, (1631-1700), distinguished as a poet, and 
 master also of what he calls " that other harmony of 
 prose "—332. 
 
 Dyer, John, (1700-1758), among the British Poets— 356. 
 
 E 
 
 Earl, John, (1601-1665), author of Microcosmography — 195, 506. 
 
 Edgeworth, Maria, (1767-1849), a writer of Irish birth, 
 noted as a novelist — 459. 
 
 Editor, matter from whose pen is marked with a dash — 
 11, 18, 24, 27, 30, 32, 42, 45, 47, 51, 57, 63, 69, 74, 77, 
 80, 85, 91, 94, 100, 103, 105, 108, 111, 114, 116, 119, 
 125, 130, 133, 137, 140, 148, 153, 160, 165, 171, 178, 182, 
 185, 189, 190, 193, 197, 201, 206, 211, 220, 225, 233, 238, 
 •245, 250, 255, 258, 260, 262, 268, 276, 278, 282, 288, 291, 
 296, 300, 306, 317, 326, 333, 337, 342, 345, 348, 352, 358, 
 362, 365, 368. 371, 376, 385, 390, 398, 400, 404, 406, 408, 
 414, 420, 425, 431, 435, 441, 445, 453, 460, 464, 468, 469, 
 470, 474, 479. 482, 486, 489, 494, 496, 499, 505, 510, 513, 
 517, 521, 525, 528, 533, 535, 539, 544, 560, 563. 
 
 'Emerson, Ralph Waldo, (1803 ), of whom a writer in 
 
 Blackwood's Magazine says : " a more independent and 
 original thinker can no where in this age be found " 
 —29, 90, 198, 335, 346, 437, 452, 501, 522. 
 
 Epictetus, celebrated Stoic philosopher, first century of the 
 Christian Era— 397. 
 
 Epicurus, (about 340-270, B. C), father of the Epicurian 
 Philosophy — 3 12. 
 
 Erasmus, Desiderius, (1467-1536), earliest editor of the 
 Greek Testament, and a prominent factor in the Re- 
 formation — 399. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 581 
 
 Erskine, Lord, (1750 ?-1823), a distinguished Scotchman 
 —324. 
 
 F 
 
 Felltham, Owen, a quaint writer of the 17th century— 
 122, 312. 
 
 Fenelon, (1651-1715), Archbishop of Cambrai, loved and 
 honored wherever known — 104, 398, 557. 
 
 Ferguson, James, (1710-1776), a Scotch scientist — 176. 
 
 Fichte, (1762-1814), a German philosopher, " whose life 
 stirs one like a trumpet " — 504. 
 
 Foster, John, (1770-1843), English essayist, best known 
 as author of Decision of Character — 130, 157, 331, 456, 
 492. 
 
 Fox, Charles James, (1749-1806), an English author and 
 statesman — 237. 
 
 Francis, Dr. S. W., (1789-1861) —343. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, (1706-1790), the famous American 
 philosopher and statesman — 71, 123, 147, 435, 515. 
 
 Frothingham, N. L., (1793-1870), an American divine and 
 poet — 105. 
 
 Frothingham, O. B., American contemporary writer — 29. 
 
 Froude, James Anthony, (1818 ), author of History of 
 
 England, etc. — 443. 
 
 Fuller, Thomas, (1608-1661), author of The Worthies of 
 England, etc.— 90, 168, 259, 268, 269, 355. 
 
 G 
 
 Gladstone, W. E. (1809— — ), English Prime Minister 
 —146. 
 
 Gibbon, Edward, (1737-1794), author of The Decline and 
 Fall— 152, 170. 
 
 Goethe, (1749-1832), the prince of German poets — 316, 
 414, 452, 488. 
 
582 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 Goldsmith, Oliver, (1728-1774), best known as author of 
 The Deserted Village, and The Vicar of Wakefield— AS. 
 
 Greenwell, Dora, an English woman, author of Life of 
 Lacordaire, etc. 23, 74, 85, 318, 339, 359, 387, 487. 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen, (329-389), one of the Greek Fathers 
 —466. 
 
 Gregory of Nyssa, (332-394), most learned of the Greek 
 Fathers— 335. 
 
 Griffeth, an Englishman, author of Behind the Veil — 97. 
 
 Guyon, Madame, (1648-1717), celebrated for her devotional 
 writings and spiritual songs — 557. 
 
 H 
 
 Halford, Sir Henry, (1766-1844), an eminent English 
 Physician— 308. 
 
 Hall, Joseph, (1754-1656), English bishop— 205, 349, 545. 
 
 Hall, Robert, (1764-1831), celebrated English dissenter 
 —86, 229, 238, 267, 289, 325, 404, 407, 531. 
 
 Hamilton, Dr. James, author of Life in Earnest — 192. 
 
 Hamilton, Sir William, (1780-1855), the most learned 
 philosopher of the Scottish School — 223. 
 
 Hamerton, P. G., author of Intellectual Life— 230. 
 
 Hammond, Henry, (1605-1660), a learned English divine 
 —72, 266, 364. 
 
 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, (1804-1864), an eminent American 
 author, of marvellous facination — 220, 336. 
 
 Hare Brothers, A. W. & J. C, authors of Guesses at Truth 
 —152. 
 
 Heber, Reginald, (1783-1826), missionary bishop of Cal- 
 cutta, and author of many sacred lyrics — 374. 
 
 Helps, Sir Arthur, (1811-1873), an English writer of great 
 value, "the most delightful essayist since Lamb and 
 Hunt" — 152, 192, 267, 415, 421,' 425. 
 
INDEX OF A UTHOES. 583 
 
 Henry, C. S., an American writer distinguished in philoso- 
 phy and general literature— 14, 25, 190, 432, 468, 510. 
 
 Herbert, George, (1593-1632), an English divine and 
 poet, mainly known as author of The Temple, which, 
 says Emerson, ought to be among a young man's first 
 reading in English literature — 90, 384, 563. 
 
 Herbert, Lord, (1810-1861),— 280. 
 
 Herder, (1744-1803), German scholar, divine, and poet 
 —411. 
 
 Heraolitus, (about 500 or B. £), a Greek philosopher — 336. 
 
 Herrick, Robert, (1591-1662?), a quaint and eminent 
 
 English poet— 84. 
 Herschel, Sir John, only son of the astronomer Sir 
 
 William— 168. 
 
 Homer, (about 850 B. C), the greatest of Epic poets — 431. 
 
 Hobbes, Thomas, (1588-1679), an English writer on social 
 science — 355. 
 
 Hood, Thomas, (1798-1845), an eminent English poet and 
 humorist — 152. 
 
 Holland, Dr. J. G., (1819 ), American poet, essayist, 
 
 and novelist — 495. 
 
 Hooker, Richard, (1554-1600), author of Ecclesiastical Polity, 
 etc.— 312, 367, 450, 463. 
 
 Hopkins, John Henry, (1792-1868), first Bishop of the 
 Diocese of Vt .— 290. 
 
 Horace, (born 65 B. C.) the famous Roman satirist and 
 lyrist— 438. 
 
 Horne, George, (1730-1792), author of Commentary on the 
 Psalms— 444, 497. 
 
 Hoadley, Benj., (1676-1761), English prelate— 279. 
 Howitt, Mary, a genial story- writer and poetess— 208. 
 Humboldt, Baron Von (1769-1859), one of the greatest of 
 naturalist and travellers — 370, 398. 
 
684 INDEX OF A UTIIOHS. 
 
 Houghton, Lord — 232. 
 
 Hunt, Leigh, (1784-1859), an English poet and essayist 
 —419. 
 
 Howell, James, (1594-1666), author of Familiar Letters 
 —414, 459. 
 
 I 
 Irving, Washington, (1783-1859), among the first to give 
 American literature a standing abroad — 152, 196, 311, 
 491. 
 
 J 
 
 Jacobi, Friederich Heinrich, (1743-1819), a distinguished 
 German writer of romance and philosophical treatises. 
 —28, 384, 411. 
 
 Jameson, Mrs. Anna, (1797-1860), an English authoress, 
 celebrated as an art-critic — 24. 
 
 Jerome, Saint, (345 ?-420), the most learned of the Latin 
 Fathers, translator of the Scriptures into the Latin 
 —109. 
 
 Jerrold, Douglas, (1803-1858), a miscellaneous writer, at 
 one time connected with Punch — 441. 
 
 Johnson, Samuel, (1708-1784), a versatile author of great 
 power, whose life, written by Boswell, is better than 
 the best of novels — 48, 52, 78, 83, 122, 188, 189, 199, 
 222, 310, 401, 458, 498, 530. 
 
 Jonson, Ben, (1574-1637), a dramatic writer, contemporary 
 with Shakespeare, to whom alone he was second — 364, 
 444. 
 
 Judson, L. C, an American lawyer — 46. 
 
 K 
 
 Kant, Emanuel, (1724-1804), the greatest of German meta- 
 physicians — 24. 
 
 Kean, Edmund, (1787-1833), an English actor — 49. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 585 
 
 Kett, Henry, (1761-1825), Bampton Lecturer 1690—310. 
 
 Kingsley, Charles, (1818-1875), an English divine, poet, 
 and prose-writer, of great originality and freshness 
 —9, 167, 232, 316, 378, 461, 480, 482. 
 
 King, Thomas Starr, (1824-1864), an American clergy- 
 man and Lecturer — 336. 
 
 L 
 
 Lactantius (250-323) one of the Christian fathers— 397, 
 467. 
 
 Landon, L. E, (1802-1839), an English poetess— 402. 
 
 Landor, Walter Savage, (1775-1864), an English poet 
 and prose-writer — 345. 
 
 Laplace, Pierre Simon, (1739-1827), a French mathemati- 
 cian and astronomer of great celebrity — 503. 
 
 Lavater, Johann Kaspar, (1741-1801), a German poet and 
 physiognomist — 530'. 
 
 Law, William, (1686-1761), author of the Serious Call, etc. 
 —72, 316, 405. 
 
 Ledyard, John, (1751-1789), American traveller — 219. 
 
 Leighton, Robert, (1611-1685), Archbishop of Glasgow 
 — venerabile nomen — 356, 452, 488. 
 
 Leopold, a German author — 28. 
 
 L'Estrange, Robert, (1616-1704), an English political writer 
 —452. 
 
 Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, (1729-1781), an illustrious 
 German writer, author of Nathan der Weise, etc. — 116. 
 
 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, (1807 ), the most 
 
 eminent of American poets — 104, 450. 
 
 Luther, Martin, (1483-1546), the Reformer, whose words, 
 says Richter, were half-battles— 375, 419, 480, 498. 
 
 Locke, John, (1632-1704), best known as author of the 
 Essay on the Understanding — 230, 254, 456, 509. 
 38 
 
586 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 M 
 
 Macaulay, Thomas Babington, (1800-1859), English poet, 
 essayist, and historian — 157, 491. 
 
 Mann, Horace, (1796-1859), a distinguished American Edu- 
 cationist— 223, 250, 253, 407. 
 
 Martial, the famous author of Epigrammata, first century 
 of Christian Era — 375. 
 
 Martineau, James, (1807 ), an English divine and 
 
 essayist— 23, 104, 304. 
 
 May, Samuel Joseph, (1797-1871), an American divine 
 and writer, "great in moral qualities of the rarest kind" 
 —437, 504. 
 
 Melvill, Henry, (1798-1871), an eloquent English divine 
 —356, 399. 
 
 Menander, a Greek poet, (born 342 B. C), author of many 
 popular comedies — 397. 
 
 Mencius, (about 313 B. C), a Chinese sage — 104, 397. 
 
 Miller, Hugh, (1802-1856), the distinguished Scotch geo- 
 logist— 413. 
 
 Milton, John, (1608-1674), whose prose is as vigorous as 
 his verse— 93, 167, 384, 455. 
 
 Mohammed, (570-632), founder of Mohammedanism — 84. 
 
 Montaigne, (1533-1592), the famous French essayist — 72, 
 221, 370, 508. 
 
 Montholon, (1782 — 1853), author of Memoirs of Napoleon /., 
 etc.— 220. 
 
 More, Hannah, (1745-1833), an English didactic writer 
 
 —361. 
 Mountford, William, American contemporary — 337. 
 Murphy, John, an English contemporary divine, author of 
 
 Scientific Bases of Faith — -328. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 587 
 
 N 
 Napoleon L, (1769-1821)— 123. 
 Norton, Caroline E., (1808 ), poetess and novelist — 209. 
 
 P 
 
 Paley, William, (1743-1805;, author of Natural Theology, 
 
 Uorae Faulinae, etc. — 29, 136. 
 Palgrave, T. F., an English poet — 232. 
 Parker, Theodore, (1819-1860), the boldest of the New 
 
 England Transcendentalists — 541 . 
 Pascal, Blaise, (1623-1662), a celebrated French Thinker, 
 
 whose Thoughts are published in many tongues — 75, 
 
 313. 
 
 Perthes, Caroline, wife of Friederich— 188. 
 
 Perthes, Friederich, (1772-1843;, a famous German book- 
 seller— 135, 419. 
 
 Petrarch, (1304-1374), the great lyric poet of Italy — 166. 
 
 Playfair, John, (1748-1819), a Scotch natural philosopher 
 and mathematician — 413. 
 
 Plato, (429-348 B. C), founder of the Platonic School of 
 Philosophy— 334, 437, 466, 507. 
 
 Plutarch, a Greek biographer and philosopher, first een- 
 tury of the Christian Era — 336. 
 
 Pope, Alexander, (1688-1744), the greatest poet of his 
 time— 280. 
 
 Price, Dr., an English divine of the last century — 106. 
 
 Pythagoras, (500-404 B. C), founder of a school of Greek 
 philosophy— 90, 457. 
 
 Q 
 
 Quintillian, a Roman rhetorician of the first century 
 —397. 
 
588 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 R 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, (1552-1618), "unquestionably one- 
 of the most splendid figures in a time unusually pro- 
 lific of splendid developments of humanity " — 361. 
 
 Ray, John, (1628-1705), an eminent naturalist — 254. 
 
 Richardson, Samuel, (1689-1761), author of Clarissa — 125. 
 
 Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich, (1763-1825), the prose- 
 poet of Germany— 28, 90, 198, 280, 337, 344, 356, 370,. 
 467. 
 
 Robertson, Frederick William, (1816-1853), a famous 
 English clergyman — 73, 232, 286, 292. 297, 300, 306,. 
 316, 353, 389, 453, 463, 532, 558. 
 
 Rochefoucauld, (1613-1680), a celebrated French writer, 
 author of Reflections, etc. — 199. 
 
 Ruskin, John, (1819 ), the most eloquent and original 
 
 of art critics— 41, 163, 410, 458. 
 
 S 
 
 Saint John, J. A. author of Philosophy at the foot of the 
 
 Cross — 305. 
 Saint-Simon, (1760-1825), a French social philosopher — 16. 
 SqHEFFER, Ary, (1795-1858), a French painter — 128. 
 Schiller, German poet and historian — 456. 
 
 Scott, Dr. Thomas, (1747-1821), author of Bible Commentary' 
 —509. 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, (1771-1832), an eminent Scotch poet 
 
 and novelist — 135, 187. 
 Selden, John, (1584-1654), an English lawyer and author 
 
 —508. 
 
 Seneca, a distinguished Roman Stoic, born a few years B. 
 C— 124, 312. 
 
 Sewell, Miss, author of Thoughts for Holy Week — 296. 
 
 Shaftsbury, Earl of, (1621-1683),— 413. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 589 
 
 Shairp, J. C, a Scotch professor — 341. 
 
 Shakespeare, William, (1564-1616), greatest of dramatic 
 
 poets — 1. 
 Shenstone, William, (1714-1763), an English poet. 
 Sherlock, William, (1641-1704), an English divine— 324 4 
 Shuttleworth, Philip N., (1782-1842), an English bishop 
 
 —509, 305. 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, (1554-1586), an English author and 
 
 model gentleman— 136, 181, 199. 
 Smiles, Samuel, a suggestive and helpful English writer, 
 
 author of Self-Help, Character, etc. — 11, 25, 49, 59, 64, 
 
 119, 127, 134, 136, 169, 212, 226, 262, 350, 419, 446. 
 
 Smith, - Adam, (1723-1790), author of Wealth of Nations 
 —332. 
 
 Smith, Sidney, (1771-1845), an English divine celebrated 
 for wit and wisdom— 36, 58, 83, 123, 126, 138, 152, 232. 
 
 Socrates, (469-399 B. C), the greatest of philosophers — 29, 
 305, 325, 437. 
 
 South, Robert, (1633-1716), an English divine of great 
 learning— 90, 113, 125, 136, 199, 254, 356, 405, 437, 459, 
 513, 530. 
 
 Southey, Robert, (1774-1843), an English poet and prose- 
 writer— 307, 344, 463, 402. 
 
 Sprat, Thomas, (1636-1713), an English prelate, "to whose 
 talents, " says Macaulay, " posterity has scarcely done 
 justice"— 83, 185, 407. 
 
 Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, the present Dean of Westmin- 
 ster— 162. 
 
 Stanley, Lord, sometime Lord-Rector of Glasgow Univer- 
 sity— 186. 
 
 Steele, Sir Richard, (1671-1729), author of papers in the 
 Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian— 122, 200, 205. 
 
590 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 Stephen, Sir James, (1789-1859), author of Essays in Ec- 
 clesiastical Biography — 79. 
 
 Sterne, Laurence, (1713-1768), an English divine, most 
 widely known as author of Tristram Shandy — 280, 400> 
 516. 
 
 Stewart, Dugald, (1753-1828), a Scotch philosopher— 139, 
 182, 489. 
 
 Swedenborg, Emanuel, (1688-1772), a Swedish philosopher 
 and religious writer — 104. 
 
 Swift, Jonathan, (1667-1745), Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin r 
 poet and satirist, author of several famous books, a- 
 mong which are Tale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels- 
 —9, 137, 147, 275, 311, 513. 
 
 T 
 Taylor, Jeremy, (1613-1667), an English prelate, best 
 known as author of Holy Living and Dying — 72, 206 r 
 254, 266 284, 307, 408, 439, 553. 
 
 Taylor, Sir Henry, English poet and essayist — 205. 
 
 Temple, Sir William, (1628-1699), an English statesman 
 and author— 222, 436, 504. 
 
 Tennyson, Alfred, (1810 ), the English Laureate — 232. 
 
 Terence, (195-159 B. C), a Roman comic poet — 397. 
 
 Thales, (about 636-546 B. C), a Greek philosopher, and 
 one of the seven wise men — 435, 436. 
 
 Thomas of Malmesbury — 530. 
 
 Thomas a Kempis, (born 1300), author The Imitation of 
 
 Christ, one of the most famous books of the world — 
 
 103, 467, 504, 556. 
 
 Tillotson, John, (1630-1694), an English prelate and pulpit 
 orator— 47, 87, 113. 254, 275, 444, 458: 
 
 Trench, Richard Chenevix, (1807 ), Archbishop of 
 
 Dublin, and a distinguished scholar and author — 465> 
 501, 512. 
 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 591 
 
 w 
 
 Wake, William, (1672-1736), Archbishop of Canterbury 
 — &£, 375. 
 
 Walpole, Horace. (1717-1797), an English Statesmen — 137. 
 
 Walton, Izaak, (1593-1683), author of the Complete Angler 
 
 and several quaint biographies — 113. 
 Watson, Richard, (1737-1816), an English prelate— 458. 
 
 Watts, Isaac, (1674-1748), the celebrated author of Hymns 
 —498. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, (1782-1852), an American statesman, 
 and perhaps the most eminent of modern orators. — 160, 
 398. 
 
 Whately, Richard, (1787-1863), Archbishop of Dublin, 
 and author of many valuable works — 124, 154, 210, 
 276, 280, 459. 
 
 Whipple, H. B., (1819 ), Bishop of Minnesota— 362. 
 
 Williams, Isaac, (1802-1865), author of The Cathedral, etc. 
 
 —282. 
 
 Wilson, Thomas, (1663-1755), an English bishop, distin- 
 guished for Apostolic piety and unquenchable zeal in 
 good works — 419, 545. 
 
 Wilson, Prof. John, (1785-1854), the Christopher North 
 of Blackwood's Magazine — 357. 
 
 Woolman, John, (1720-1772), an eminent philanthropist 
 of the Society of Friends— 239. 
 
 Wordsworth, William (1770-1850), one of the most emin- 
 ent of the English poets — 351, 493. 
 
 Wesley, Susannah, the mother of John — 209. 
 
 Wogan, William, an English author of the last century 
 —357. 
 
592 INDEX OF AUTHORS. 
 
 z 
 
 Zimmermann, Johann Georg, (1728-1795), an eminent 
 Swiss physician and author — 122, 516. 
 
 Zschokke, J. H. D., born 1771, a German by birth, author 
 of Meditations on Death and Eternity, etc. — 556, 559. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 A 
 
 Action. — Editor, South, Lava'ter, Thomas of Malmes- 
 
 bury, Johnson, Colton, Robertson 528 
 
 Affliction. — Editor, Smiles, Jeremy Taylor, Hammond, 
 
 Helps, Robert Hall 262 
 
 Ambition. — Editor, Addison, Burke, Sidney, Stewart . 178 
 
 Appreciation. — Editor, Henry, Allston 468 
 
 B 
 Books. — Editor, Petrarch, Milton, Kingsley, Herschel, 
 Cicero, Thomas Fuller, Bartholin, Richard De Bury, 
 Smiles, Gibbon, Carlyle 165 
 
 Brotherhood. — Editor, Brooke, Menander, Terence, 
 Epictetus, Quintillian, Mencius, Lactantius, Freder- 
 ika Bremer, Fenelon, Humboldt 390 
 
 But One Physician. — Editor, Kingsley, Calvert, Southey, 
 
 Hooker, Robertson 460 
 
 C 
 
 Character. — Editor, Smiles, Perthes, Sir Walter Scott, 
 
 Atterbury, Sidney, South, Paley, Swift .... 133 
 
 Charity. — Editor, J. Baldwin Brown, Wake, Atterbury, 
 
 Sprat, Johnson, Sidney Smith, Mohammed, Herrick 80 
 
594 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Cheerfulness.-— Editor, Carlyle, Helps, Addison, Blair, 
 Smiles, Bentham, Leigh Hunt, Bishop Wilson, 
 Luther, Perthes 414 
 
 Childhood. — Editor, Earle, Irving 193 
 
 Children. — Editor, Mary Howitt, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. 
 
 Wesley, Whately . . < 206 
 
 Cold- Water Pourers. — Editor, Helps 422 
 
 Common Sense. — Editor, Walpole, Sidney Smith, Calvert, 
 
 Boswell, Addison, Stewart ' . 137 
 
 Competition. — Editor, Helps 420 
 
 Concentration. — Editor, Adams, Anon 42 
 
 Confusion. — Editor, Kingsley , . 482 
 
 Conscience. — Editor, Addison, Burke, Walton, South, 
 
 Tillotson . Ill 
 
 Contentment. — Editor, Balguy, Addison, Franklin, 
 
 Sterne, Zimmermann 513 
 
 Conversion. — Editor, Greenwell, Goethe, Coleridge, 
 
 Leighton 486 
 
 Courage. — Editor, Sidney Smith, Smiles, SchefFer, 
 Napoleon I., Boswell 125 
 
 Courtesy. — Editor, Smiles, Johnson, Zimmermann, 
 Steele, Felltham, Sidney Smith, Burke, Franklin, 
 Seneca, Chesterfield, Whately, Richardson, South, 119 
 
 D 
 
 Death. — Editor, Robertson, Jeremy Taylor, Southey, 
 Halford, Donne, Household Words, Kett, Johnson, 
 Irving, Swift, Colton, Dickens, Pascal 306 
 
 Decision. — Editor, Foster, Adams, Addison .... 130 
 
 Detraction. — Editor, Henry . . . , 431 
 
 Duty. — Editor, Kant, Jameson, Smiles, Henry, Colonna, 
 
 Carlyle, De Tocqueville 24. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 595 
 
 Devotion. — Editor, Smiles, Adams, Addison, Long- 
 fellow, Hooker . 445 
 
 E 
 
 Economy. — Editor, Johnson, Channing, Burke, Adams 51 
 
 Education. — Editor, Addison, Barrow, Whately, Coler- 
 idge, Colton, Foster, Macaulay, Daniel Webster . 153 
 
 Eloquence. — Editor, Colton, Melvill, Sterne .... 398 
 
 Employment. — Editor, Lord Stanley, Sir Walter Scott, 
 
 Caroline Perthes, Johnson 185 
 
 Encouragement. — Editor, Ferguson, Craik 171 
 
 Eternity. — Editor. St. Augustine, Sir Thomas Browne 14S 
 
 Evil-Eyed.— Editor ^ . 469 
 
 F 
 
 Failures and Successes. — Editor, Smiles 63 
 
 Faith. — Editor, Greenwell, Pascal, Coleridge, Carlyle . 74 
 
 Fame. — Editor, Johnson, Allston, Landon 440 
 
 Fate. — Editor, Emerson, Dewey . 521 
 
 Food for the Soul. — Editor, Brooks 245 
 
 Forgiveness. — Editor, Cowper, Chalmers, Hoadly, Lord 
 
 Herbert, Pope, Sterne, Richter, Whately .... 278 
 
 Forsaken; — Editor, Sewell, Andrews, Robertson . . 291 
 
 Freedom. — Editor, Channing 525 
 
 G 
 
 Gilead. — Editor, Bayne 260 
 
 God. — Editor, Channing, Chalmers, Charnock, Coverdale, 
 
 Sir Thomas Browne, Milton 91 
 
 Goodness. — Editor, Lord Bacon. St. Jerome .... 108 
 
 Greatness. — Editor, Channing . . - 470 
 
596 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 H 
 
 Health. — Editor, Montaigne, Johnson, Temple, Addison, 
 
 Sir William Hamilton, Mann 220 
 
 Heaven. — Editor, Greenwell, Sir Thomas Browne, 
 
 Charlotte Bronte, Hannah More, Sir Walter Raleigh 358 
 
 Hell. — Editor, Bishop Whipple, Sir Thomas Browne, 
 
 Coleridge, Hammond, Ben. Jonson 362 
 
 Home. — Editor, Dickens, Dr. John Brown, Dr. James 
 
 Hamilton, Sir Arthur Helps 190 
 
 Honesty. — Editor, Douglas Jerrold, Froude, Bishop 
 Home, Ben. Jonson, Antoninus ....... 441 
 
 Hope. — Editor, Addison, Burke, Johnson, Jeremy 
 
 Collier, Stephen 77 
 
 I 
 
 Imagination. — Editor, Stewart, Addison, Brande, Irving, 
 
 Macaulay, Foster, South ey, Wordsworth .... 489 
 
 Immanuel. — Editor, J. Baldwin Brown 100 
 
 Immortality. — Editor, Greenwell, Addison, Sir Thomas 
 Browne, Cicero, Davy, Dick, Erskine, Sherlock, 
 Socrates, Robert Hall 317 
 
 In One. — Editor, J. Baldwin Brown, Kingsley . . . 376 
 
 L 
 
 Labor and Greatness. — Editor, Sidney Smith, Smiles 57 
 
 Learning. — Editor, Chesterfield, Earle, Montaigne, Dr. 
 
 Thomas Scott, Selden, Locke, Shenstone .... 505 
 
 Life. — Editor, Mrs. Child, Charlotte Bronte, Martial, 
 Wake, Luther 371 
 
 Life Work. — Editor, Sidney Smith, Adams, Brooke, 
 
 Ruskin 32 
 
 Life's Completion. — Editor, Robertson, Brooks, Sir 
 Thomas Browne, Clarendon, Martineau, J. A. St. 
 John, Socrates, Shuttleworth 300 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 5 97 
 
 M 
 Money. — Editor, Henry, Addison, Bacon, South, Swift 510 
 
 Music. — Editor, Carlyle, Luther, Kingsley 479 
 
 N 
 Nature. — Editor, Beattie, Ruskin, Jacobi, Herder, 
 Carlyle, Davy, Hugh Miller, Shaftesbury, Playfair, 
 Howell, Goethe . 408 
 
 
 
 Opportunities. — Editor, Adams, Collier, Sprat . . • 182 
 
 Originality. — Editor, Anon 474 
 
 P 
 
 Patience. — Editor, Bishop Home, Watts, Johnson, 
 
 Luther, Sir Thomas Browne 496 
 
 Pastors. — Editor, Robert Hall, Law, South .... 404 
 
 Perseverance. — Editor, Johnson, Goldsmith, Colton, 
 Smiles, Kean 47 
 
 Personality Forever. — Editor, Murphy, Blair, Cicero, 
 Dick, Brewster, Addison, Foster, Dryden, Adam 
 Smith, Bently 326 
 
 Plighted Love. — Editor, Emerson, Richter, Boyle, 
 Carlyle, Rochefoucauld, South, Sidney, Erasmus, 
 Johnson, Steele, Addison . 197 
 
 Praises. — Editor, Jeremy Taylor 56 
 
 Prayer. — Editor, Charnock, Franklin, Law, Jeremy 
 
 Taylor, St. Francis de Sales, Robertson .... 69 
 
 Prayers. — Editor, Hall, Wilson, Matthias Claudius, 
 Channing, Jeremy Taylor, Arnold, Zschokke, Fene- 
 loii, Madame Guyon, Augustine, Robertson . . 544 
 
 Proverbs. — Editor, George Herbert ' . . 563 
 
 Prudence. — Editor, Judson, Tillotson 45 
 
 Purity. — Editor, Brooks 238 
 
598 • INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Pursuit of the Ideal.— Editor, St. Augustine, Carlyle, 
 
 Greenwell, Martineau 18 
 
 R 
 
 Recreation.— Editor, Smiles, Hall, Locke 225 
 
 Reformation.— Editor, Thomas Fuller, Brooks, Swift, 
 
 Tillotson, Carlyle, Whately 268 
 
 Repentance.— Editor, Robert Hall, Atterbury, Colton, 
 Bishop Hopkins 288 
 
 Resignation, — Editor, Burke, Carlyle, Humboldt, 
 
 Montaigne 368 
 
 Rest. — Editor, Robertson . . ' 535 
 
 Reward. — Editor, Plato, Ben Azai, Cicero, Emerson, 
 
 Carlyle, Trench 499 
 
 Riches. — Editor, Trench, Thales, Bias, Plato, Gregory, 
 St. Chrysostom, Lactantius, Thomas a Kempis, 
 Richter 465 
 
 S 
 
 Satisfied. — Editor, Plato, Gregory of Nyssa, Emerson, 
 Heraclitus, Hawthorne, Plutarch, Franklin, Starr, 
 King, Richter, Beecher, Mountford 333 
 
 Simplicity. — Editor, Thomas a Kempis, Mencius, Swe- 
 denborg, Martineau, Longfellow, Fenelon, Frothing- 
 ham .103 
 
 Spiritual Thirst. — Editor, Robertson 296 
 
 Sponge, or Fountain. — Editor, Johnson, Henry . . . 189 
 
 Sympathy. — Editor, Isaac Williams, Addison, Burke, 
 
 Jeremy Taylor, Beattie, Robertson ...... 282 
 
 T 
 
 Teachers. — Editor, Burrit, Chalmers, Stanley, Chateau- 
 briand, Ruskin, Ascham, Channing 160 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 599 
 
 Temperance. — Editor, Dr. Franklin, Thales, Addison r 
 Burke, Temple, Socrates, Homer, South, Plato, 
 Samuel J. May, Horace, Atterbury, St. Augustine, 
 Cobbett, Carlyle . 435 
 
 Temptation. — Editor, Mann, Carlyle, Locke, South, 
 
 Ray, Jeremy Taylor, Tillotson 250 
 
 Thanks. — Editor, Sir Thomas Browne, Emerson, Parker 549 
 
 The Angel of Prayer. — Editor, Brooke 255 
 
 The Beautiful Plant. — Editor, Greenwell, Robertson 385 
 
 The Day of Judgment. — Editor, Greenwell, Robert 
 
 Hall, Atterbury, Tillotson 85 
 
 The Divine Law. — Editor, Carlyle, Hooker . . . . , 365 
 
 The Flowers.— Editor, Mrs. Child, Bishop Hall, Smiles 348 
 
 The Great Stone Face. — Editor, Holland ♦. . . . 494 
 
 The Riddle of the Sphinx. — Editor, Carlyle, Green- 
 well, Shairp 337 
 
 The Second Man. — Editor, GrifTeth, Sir Thomas Browme 94 
 
 The Seven Words from the Cross. — Editor .... 276 
 
 The Soldier of Christ. — Editor, Greenwell .... 533 
 
 The ,Two Helpers.— Editor, Burke, C. J. Fox, Robert 
 
 Hall 333 
 
 Time. — Editor, Adams, Gladstone, Colton, Franklin, 
 
 Swift 140 
 
 Transformations. — Editor, Brooke 517 
 
 Tribulation.— Editor, Thomas Fuller 258 
 
 Truth. — Editor, Robertson, Milton, Schiller, Locke, 
 Foster, Bacon, Antoninus, Pythagoras, Confucius, 
 Burke, Bishop Watson. Johnson, Ruskin, Tillotson, 
 Maria Edgeworth, Whately, Leigh Hunt, South . 453 
 (Truth and Obedience. — Editor, Channing .... 114 
 
 & * 
 
600 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 U 
 
 Unbelief.— Editor, Carlyle, Chalmers, S. W. Francis, 
 
 Richter, Southey 342 
 
 Under the Stars. — Editor, Emerson, Burke, Carlyle, 
 
 Coleridge, Dickens 345 
 
 Uprightness. — Editor, Lessing 116 
 
 V 
 Virtue. — Editor, Price, Colton . . 10c 
 
 W 
 
 Wages op Sin. — Editor, Robertson, Carlyle, Thomas 
 Fuller, Hobbes, Baxter, Dyer, Leighton, Richter, 
 Melvill, Wogan, Prof. Wilson 352 
 
 Wedded Love. — Editor, Adams, Sir Henry Taylor, 
 Bishop Hall, Steele, Jeremy Taylor 201 
 
 What to Live for. — Editor, Smiles, Henry, Adams, 
 
 Carlyle 11 
 
 Woman's Work. — Editor, Smiles, Ledyard, Montholon, 
 
 Hawthorne . 211 
 
 Work. — Editor, Jacobi, Richter, Leopold, Auerbach, 
 Barrow, Donne, Frothingham, Emerson, Socrates, 
 Burton 27 
 
 Work and Worship. — Editor, Carlyle ...... 30 
 
 Z 
 Zeal. — Editor, Sprat, Robert Hall, Horace Mann, 
 
 Jeremy Taylor • • 406 
 
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