4444 
gn  tmnriam mlliaim S. Iqgins.
THREE SERMONS TO YOUNG MEN,
PREACHED BY 
REV. WILLIAM S -IUGGINS,
. OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN,
FUNERAL DISCOURSE,
BY Rzv. SAMUEL HASKELL.
WITH
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL MEETING.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRESBYTERIAN PUBLICATION COMMITTEE.
1862.
'I'..
AND A 
IUTRY B. ASHIMEAD, BOOK AND JOB PRINTItR,
Nos. 1102 and 1104 Sansom Street. 
de* tbt ftmorgw
OF THE
REVEREND WILLIAM SIDNEY HUGGINS,
THE DEVOTED PASTOR, THE ACTIVE CITIZEN, THE FAITHFUL
FRIEND, THE CHRISTIAN SCHOLAR, AND THE
WISE COUNSELOR OF YOUTH,
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
BY THE
YOUNG MEN OF HIS CHURCH AND CONGREGATION.  
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION, 
FUNERAL SERVICES,.
MEMORIAL MEETING, 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE,.....
SERMONS TO YOUNG MEN —
I. THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S HAND-BOOK,
II. THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S COUNSELOR,
III. THE DANGER FROM EVIL COMPANIONS,.
1*
1-33
PAGE
7
11
19
25
55
86
116  
INTRODUCTION.
THIS little volume is the result of an effort on
the part of the Young Men of the church and congregation of Rev. WM. S. HIIUGGCINS to do honor to
his memory, and, in some measure, to perpetuate
his usefulness. A sense of duty that cannot be
escaped, not less than the spontaneous suggestions
of their hearts, impel them to this publication.
While others mourn him as the faithful, devoted
Pastor, the tried and true friend, the public-spirited
citizen, or the accomplished scholar, they sorrow for
him most deeply as the friend to young men. He
had not himself so long passed the period of youth
as to lose his sympathies with and interest in this
large class of the community.    To them were ever
open the treasures of his richly-stored library, or of
his yet more richly-stored mind; with them he conversed freely on the great themes of Christian 
INTRODUCTION.
theology and life, in the Sabbath-School, at their
places of business, in the domestic and social circleliterally obeying the Divine command, "As ye go,
preach;" for them he prayed and labored much,
and in their behalf the last energies of his valuable
life were expended. The great vacancy left by his
death will never for them be wholly filled. Their
language is:
" Gone before us, 0 our brother,
To the spirit-land;
Vainly look we for another,
In thy place to stand."
It seemed fitting, then, that the series of Sermons
written for their temporal and eternal welfare, and
whose composition and delivery, it is now known,
drew heavily upon his failing strength, should receive publication at their hands. It is all that is
left to them now of duty to their beloved Pastorin this and other suitable ways to hallow his me.
mory, and preserve it to posterity. But the Me
morial Volume, the monumental marble towering
above his sleeping dust, or the eulogies that have
been spoken in his honor, cannot so perpetuate his
usefulness as the teachings of his life-the inculcations from his pulpit, the words of wisdom which
he spoke, whose results, it may be hoped, are enduring as the ages of eternity.
8 
INTRODUCTION.
" Servant of God, well done I
Rest from thy loved employ;
The battle fought, the victory won,
Enter thy Master's joy.
"The pains of death are past,
Labor and sorrow cease;
An' life's long warfare closed at last,
His soul is found in peace.
"Soldier of Christ, well done!
Praise be thy new employ;
And while eternal ages run,
Rest in thy Saviour's joy."
Of the three Sermons to Young Men, published
in this volume, the first has already appeared in
print, the second was repeated at the urgent request
of many of his congregation, and the third is the
last sermon written and delivered by the Pastor.
Two other discourses were given in the seriesone an address delivered on a funeral occasion some
years ago, and the other a sermon pronounced at
the ordination of Rev. MARTIN POST, of Schoolcraft, Michigan, in February, 1862. As they were
not prepared especially for the purposes of young
men, and were not among the latest efforts of his
life, it has not been thought well to insert them.
In the hope and with the prayer that the publication of these discourses, with the matter append
9 
INTRODUCTION.
ed, may be effectual in perpetuating the memory of
a wise and good man, and be blessed to the salvation of many young men, wherever they may go,
this volume is now committed to the public.
Kalamazoo, Mich., May 31st, 1862.
10 
FUNERAL SERVICES.
0 
dp 
THE FUNERAL SERVICES.
[From the Kalamazoo Gazette, March 28th, 1862.]
THE funeral services of Rev. W. S. HUGGINS
were held in the Presbyterian Church, on Wednesday afternoon, (26th inst.,) at 1~ o'clock. The
spacious building was densely crowded, and many
left unable to obtain a place. Nearly a thousand
persons were present. Among them were Hon. E.
C. WALKER, of Detroit, an intimate friend and
classmate of the deceased; Rev. O. P. HOYT, of
Elkhart, Ind., formerly Pastor of the Church; Rev.
Messrs. CHAPIN, of Ann Arbor, MCCORKLE, of
Marshall, BRYANT, of Niles, BARTLE, of Decatur,
DAVIES, of Battle Creek, GASTON, of Hastings,
BRADLEY, of Richland, APTHORP, of Cooper, POST,
of Schooleraft, and others from abroad. The clergy
of the village, who were to conduct the exercises,
alone occupied the pulpit.
At the appointed hour, the remains of the lamented dead, deposited in a splendid metallic coffin, inscribed with his name, age, and date of death, and
covered with a rich pall, upon which were laid a
crown of laurel, a cross of evergreen, and a wreath
of immortelles, were borne through the door by
2 
THE FUNERAL SERVICES.
which the living form was accustomed to enter the
sanctuary from his study. The following gentlemen
served as pall-bearers:
HENRY GILBERT,           F. E. WOODWARD,
ALFRED THOMAS,           ALFRED WILSON,
I. D. BIXBY,            JOHN D. RIOCE,
(. W. HALL,             D). O. ROBERTS.
Rev. GEO. WILLARD, (Presbyterian,) opened the
exercises by a solemn invocation, and continued
them by giving out the hymn, entitled
THE PASTOR'S DEATH.*
Rest from thy labor, rest  Soul of the just, set free!
Blest be thy memory, and blest
Thy bright example be! I
Faith, perseverance, zeal,
Language of light and power,
Love,-prompt to act and quick to feel,  Marked thee, till life's last hour.
Now,-toil and conflict o'er,  Go, take with saints thy place:
But go, as each hath gone before,
A sinner saved by grace.
Lord Jesus I to thy hands
Our Pastor we resign;
And now we wait thine own commands;  We were not his, but thine.
* Hymn 54 in the Church Psalmist.
14 
THE FUNERAL SERVICES.
Thou art thy Church's head;
And when the members die,
Thou raisest others in their stead;  To thee we lift our eye.
On thee our hopes depend;
We gather round our Rock;
Send whom thou wilt, but condescend
Thyself to feed thy flock.
He also read appropriate selections of Scripture.
Rev. EDWARD TAYLOR, (Congregational,) followed
in a singularly beautiful and touching prayer, which
melted all hearts, and closed amid the tears and
sobs of the vast audience. The choir then sang:
DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS.*
How blest the righteous when he dies,  When sinks a weary soul to rest!
How mildly beam the closing eyes!
How gently heaves the expiring breast I
So fades a summer-cloud away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore.
A holy quiet reigns around,  A calm which life nor death destroys;
Nothing disturbs that peace profound,
Which his unfettered soul enjoys.
* Hymn 624 in the Church Psalmist.
15 
THE FUNERAL SERVICES.
Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears I
Where lights and shades alternate dwell;
How bright th' unchanging morn appears!
Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!
Life's duty done, as sinks the day,
Light from its load the spirit flies;
While heaven and earth combine to say,  "How blest the righteous when he dies!"
Then, with a voice modulated to the tones of
sorrow, though at tinmes rising in eloquent strains
of eulogy, Rev. SAMUEL HASKELL, (Baptist,) delivered the Funeral Discourse.*
At the close of the discourse, which was listened
to throughout with tearful solemnity and the deepest
interest, Rev. J. D. HEMIENWAY, (Methodist,) offered a brief prayer, and the choir tenderly and beautifully sang:
"THERE IS SWEET REST IN HEAVEN."'t
Though often here we're weary,
There is sweet rest above,
A rest that is eternal,
Where all is peace and love;
O let us then press forward,
That glorious rest to gain:
We'll soon be free from sorrow,
From toil, and care, and pain.
There is sweet rest, &c.
* Published in a subsequent part of this volume.
t Page 360 of the Eclectic Tune Book.  This hymn was
an especial favorite with the deceased.
16 
THE FUNERAL SERVICES.
Loved ones have gone before us,
They beckon us away,
O'er aerial plains they're soaring,
Blest in eternal day;
But we are in the army,
And dare not leave our post;
We'll fight until we conquer
The foe's most mighty host.
There is sweet rest, &c.
Our Saviour will be with us,
E'en to our journey's end,
In every sore affliction,
His present help to lend.
He never will grow weary,
Though often we request;
He'll give us grace to conquer,
And take us home to rest.
There is sweet rest, &c.
All glory to the Father,
Who gives us every good;
All glory be to Jesus,
Who bought us with his blood;
And glory to the Spirit,
Who keeps us to the end;
To the Triune God be glory,
The sinner's only friend.
There is sweet rest, &c.
The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr.
HEMENWAY; and the form of the beloved Pastor
was borne from its accustomed place, never to re                         2*
17 
18       THE FUNERAL SERVICES.
turn. A procession, in carriages and on foot-all
mourners-extending in length a half mile or more,
moved with it to the cemetery, where a hymn was
sung, chiefly by his ministerial brethren:
DEATH AND BURIAL OF SAINTS.*
Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb!
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give these sacred relics room
To seek a slumber in the dust.
Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invade thy bounds;-no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.
So Jesus slept; God's dying Son,
Passed through the grave, and blessed the bed;
Rest here, blest saint!-till, from his throne,
The morning break, and pierce the shade.
Break from his throne, illustrious morn!
Attend, 0 earth! his sovereign word;
Restore thy trust:-a glorious form
Shall then arise to meet the Lord.
Prayer was offered at the head of the grave, and
benediction given by Rev. Mr. BRYANT, of Niles.
The corpse was then lowered to its final restingplace, on a lovely eminence in the "Mountain
Home," and the sad procession twrned homeward.
* Hymn 618 in the Church Psalmist. 
MEMORIAL MEETING. 
I 
THE MEMORIAL MEETING.
IN the evening of the day on which the funeral
services were solemnized, a meeting was held in the
Presbyterian Church, in Kalamazoo, principally to
give the ministers from abroad an opportunity to
express publicly their sense of the great loss sustained by themselves and the Church, and to present their recollections of their deceased co-laborer.
The meeting was numerously attended by a deeply
interested congregation.
Addresses were made during the evening by
Rev. Messrs. IHIOYT, BRYANT, BRADLEY) CHAPIN,
McCORKLE, and GASTON; and Hon. E. C. WALKER,
of Detroit, responded briefly to an invitation to
speak. All the addresses breathed the spirit of the
warmest fraternal affection for the departed Pastor,
and expressed a profound grief for the personal and
public loss experienced in his death. Many interesting reminiscences of personal intercourse, and incidents of his ministerial and social life, were'also given.
Near the close of the meeting, Rev. E. TAYLOR,
of Kalamazoo, rose and said there were hundreds 
22      THE MEMORIAL MEETING.
who sympathized in these utterances of sorrow, but
who had no means of public expression for their
feelings. As the voice of this large class, he would
read a beautiful tribute to the memory of the deceased, which had been placed upon the threshold
of his study that morning, by some person to him
unknown:
Died, March 23d, Rev. WM. S. HUGGINS, Pas   tor of the Presbyterian Church, Kalamazoo.
The Master callethAnd the hands which labored patiently
Are folded, pulseless, over the still heart
Which loved so well. Dead on the field,
With all the scars in front, his harness on,
The battle-cry still sounding-" On for God,
And for the love of Jesus I"
So fell our brother, leader of a host
Whose warfare angels watched with eager hope,
As kindly bending from their own bright home,
Or passing swiftly as they minister
To those who faint with toil.
The Master callethAnd the dear voice which led the host
From earth up to th' eternal throne,
On wings of faith, in prayer, is hushed;
The eye, that open window of the soul,
Beaming so bright with love and joy, is closed;
While all the sweet associations, 
THE MEMORIAL MEETING.
Love's interchanges and life's hopes,
Are numbered with the things that were.
Rest, soldier, rest. Thy sun went down at noon,
But, as thy girded armor witnesseth,
Thou wert ever ready for the call;
And the warm tears which fall like rain
Above thee, like pearls are set within the crown
Thy glorious Master has laid up for those
Who, like the Gentile Teacher, fought the fight,
And kept the faith unswerving.
Rest, soldier, rest-thy Master called for thee.
W. G. B.
Rev. O. P. HOYT, of Elkhart, Ind., added a few
fitting remarks, and presented, as the expression of
"ministers from the different parts of the State,
and of various denominations," the following
RESOLUTIONS.
Resolved, 1. That we heartily thank our brother
HASKELL for his truthful, genial, and appreciative
sketch of the life, character, and labors of our
dear, departed brother, whom we have this day
followed to his quiet home.
Resolved, 2. That it is to us a pleasure and a
privilege to add our most unqualified concurrence
with that faithful delineation; and we solicit a copy
for preservation in some permanent and printed
23 
THE MEMORIAL MEETING.
form, as a memorial of one whom none knew but
to love.
Resolved, 3. That, inadequate as any expression
of sympathy must be to alleviate the sorrows occasioned by this great bereavement, we do, nevertheless, in all the fullness of our stricken hearts, tender
our condolence to the bereaved family of our beloved brother, and also to the people of his congregation, in the faith and hope that this great sorrow
may, "through the prayers of many," become the
occasion of great spiritual and eternal consolation.
The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and
the Memorial Meeting closed with prayer by Rev.
E. DAVIEs, of Battle Creek.
24 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
3  
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
THE pastors of the several Churches in
Kalamazoo have for years enjoyed with
each other most intimate fraternal associations. Each week we have met together to join our prayers, to commune of
our Christian and official experiences, to
talk of the doctrines preached unto the
people, and to counsel over the interests
of religion and morals in our field. And
in other ways much endearing social intercourse has been enjoyed between us.
Together we have planned and conducted many Union meetings in these
sanctuaries and places of prayer-never
one like the present! This week is all
new to us. Its earliest dawn found us all
hastening through the breaking darkness 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
to the house of one of our number for
whom the messenger of death had come.
We were to go up with him towards the
gate of Paradise, that Sabbath morning
opening for his admission. He was already
departing. We accompanied him with
many friends, to that boundary where
mortal feet must stop, and the spirit
alone advance into the presence of the
King, and there we parted hands-not
hearts-with Brother HUGGINS.
It is these close and tender associations
that have led friends to feel that our
broken circle may fitly be called to lead
the funeral services for him who is taken
from us. Most of the feelings of our
hearts would rather have selected our
seats with the mourners. Brother Ministers of his own denomination, who are
here from different homes, whom he
strongly loved, and to whom the leading
part to-day would ordinarily have fallen,
we are sure we shall have your sympathy
in our service of saddened love.
28 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
WILLIAM SIDNEY HUGGINS was born in
New  Haven, Conn., March 19th, 1822,
and consequently passed out of his fortieth
year on his sick bed a week ago to-day.
At two years of age he was left, with two
little brothers, fatherless; as his own little
ones are to-day. But he was not a child
to take advantage of the absence of paternal restraint. H]e was loving and dutiful
to his widowed mother, and soon grew to
be her sympathizing helper. It is not in
the recollection of his mother that he ever
needed correction. Toward his brothers
he was ever kind and affectionate, never
having with them a quarrel, and never
willing to be out of their society   When
in later years one of them was taken away
by death, it planted a sorrow in his heart
which remained tenderly sensitive through
his whole life. As a boy of the city he
shrunk from all vicious street associations.
His evenings he always chose to spend at
home, reading aloud to his mother, or
3*
29 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
otherwise gladdening the little domestic
circle; unless, indeed, he went in that
circle to religious or other profitable assemblages. So that the counsels to boys
and young men, as to their companionships and manner of spending evenings,
which many of you have so often heard,
and I think heard in his last utterances
from this pulpit, are enforced by the happy
experiences of his own boyhood and young
manhood, and are embalmed now with
your remembrances of his personal character as a youth. Repeatedly have I
heard him express wonder and pain that
boys are not seen with their parents more
generally in our prayer and conference
rooms, and cite his own different early
habits, with their beneficial effects.
At sixteen he entered Yale College, and
graduated at twenty, with the class of
1842. Like so many other students, his
conversion to Christ dates from his college
course, when the element of godliness was
30 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
planted in his nature, to transform the naturally amiable into the graciously holy
young man.   This change was professed
by uniting with the Congregational Church
in the College.
He himself gives, in a sketch furnished
to the Secretary of his Class, according
to their custom, the following record of
the way over which Providence has led
him since his graduation:
"Spent three years as Private Tutor in the family of James Hamilton Couper, Esq., Glynn Co.,
Ga., and then three years as student in the Theological Department of Yale College, though absent
during the last half of 1846 on a voyage to Europe
for the benefit of hi3 health. He was licensed to
preach in the summer of 1847, and after leaving
the Seminary in 1848, preached for some months in
Hatfield, Mass.; but the failure of his eyes obliged
him to decline settling there and to give up close
application to study for nearly two years. During
this time he spent a summer (1849) in Andover,
Mass., and preached nearly a year in Brunswick
Co., Va. In the years 1851 and 1852 he preached
in various places: N-.tick, MIass., Reading, Pa., East
31 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
Medway and Framingham, Mass., and for several
months in Beloit, Wis. At length, Nov. 9th, 1852,
he was ordained Pastor of the Congregational Church
in Whitewater, Wis. Early in 1853 an attack of
pleurisy compelled him to give up his charge and
for some time he remained unsettled. Sept. 26th.
1854, he was installed Pastor of the Presbyterian
Church in Kalamazoo, Mich."
He was married in October, 1854, to
Miss MARY FRANCES SMITII, daughter of
Hon. Judge A. D. Smith, of Milwaukee.
His wife and four little children are left
to mourn for one of the happiest and wisest
of husbands and fathers. While his still
widowed mother, with but one surviving
son, and with the weight of three score
years and ten, bows to receive this unexpected load of sorrow, still feeling that for
such a son "passed into the skies," she
has vastly more reason to be thankful than
to be mournful.
The rest you know. "How through
infirmity of the flesh he preached the
Gospel unto you" until two weeks ago,
32 
FUNERAL  DISCOURSE.
when he was seized with a violent attack
of Typhoid Pneumonia, which drew him
so rapidly towards the grave, that he was
at its mouth before we were aware. Not
sooner, however, than he was prepared, nor
more swiftly than he was willing. When
I said to him last Saturday, " Can you
leave yourself in the hands of God and say,
' It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth him
good!'" his ready reply was, "Yes
but I wid it were the end; and no more
pain and suffering." He could say but
little; spoke of the difficulty of rising above
his physical sufferings, which now oppressed and had always followed him; reminded
us of his love for us all; wished the family
gathered and prayer offered, and thankfully gave me his fevered parting hand.
When, the next morning, we were all
summoned to his dying room, he requested several times our brief prayers, suppressed his short and moaning breathings
to listen to quoted Scriptures and lines of
33 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
loved hymns, and chimed his feeble voice
to "Rock of Ages," and other dying-room
melodies which we tried to sing. He said,
"It is pleasant to go down into the valley
and go up" on the other side; recognized
and turned his lips to kiss mother, wife,
and each of the children; responded even
playfully to the prattle of the infant, and
said, "comfort the babies." Being reminded of the Sabbath morning, and asked
if he had anything to say for his people
about to assemble, he said, "he had a
great deal to say," but was satisfied with
the thought that he had said all to them
while in health. He struggled, however,
to articulate such messages as, "Tell them
to be active and zealous Christians;"' to
throw away the world outof their thoughts,
and the Lord will direct their minds in all
things;" and requested Brother Willard,
who was to supply the pulpit, to "call
after service." He then sunk into apparent unconsciousness, and while we wor
34 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
shipped in our sanctuaries, he lay in silent
and quiet breathings. Precisely at noon
he died; noon of the Lord's Day, March
23d, 1862. At the noon too of a bright
and holy Christian career, and a wide
ministerial usefulness; his earthly services
ending just as the Sabbath morning services in the sanctuaries where he was so
familiar, came to their end. With the
benedictions of the many thousands of
Israel, his spirit rose to serve in the Temple of which the Lamb is the light.
This event, so joyous to him and so
grateful to his friends in its Christian aspects, will yet cause a chastened but deep
sorrow in many throughout our State,
while it leaves in special bereavement the
whole community in which he lived. At
his responsible post, he has gradually
grown in the respect, esteem and love of
his people, and of an ever widening circle
of friends.
His nature was most genial, and of the
35 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
highest moral tone. His abilities were
good and most evenly balanced; presided
over by a judgment almost intuitively
right and ready in its decisions, and guided
by an exceedingly fine and true sense of
what is appropriate to times and circumstances. His acquisitions were extensive,
and grew steadily more so to the last,
under a wisely systematized and unyielding studiousness, and a diligent practical
use  of his  knowledge-habits  which,
though sorely tested by constitutional illhealth, by frequent severe bodily sufferings and consequent mental depressions,
and by many and varied interruptions,
were yet maintained with rare regularity
and success, up to and past the assault of
his final sickness.
Extensive travel in this and other lands,
and temporary residences in the different
sections of our country, had liberalized his
feelings and given a cultivated ease to his
manners, but never blunted the edge of
36 
FUN1   AL DISCOURSE.
his sharp -moral discernments and sensibilities, nor relaxed the stern precision of
his principles and conscientious habits, nor
displaced his lovely modesty, that ever
shrunk from any ostentatious display of
his traveled and scholarly distinctions.
His piety was that of the whole heart,
developing itself in the whole life. It was
not a mere sensibility, but gracious principle inwrought with his whole being. It
was not:atural goodness acting in religious forms. Though of this few possess
more, of it- few make so little account in
estimating Christian  character.  Hle held
himself bound to find gracious experiences
in his daily inner life, and often called
himself to account, and made.. humbling
confessions to God and with his Chnistian
companions, that these experiences were
so indistinct and feeble.  And before his
abased self he loved to bring.the: exalted
Saviour, and say with trustful fondness,
" Simply to-Thy Cross I cling."
4
37 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
His piety was uniformly and eminently active. No man amongst us had a
livelier or more tireless sympathy with
every form of going about and doing good;
and none has had feet more willing and
wonted in treading these daily rounds of
beneficence. Alas, that their coming will
be waited for in vain henceforth: by the
children of sorrow, of poverty, and of
awakened religious interest; by the stranger in our gates, the young men in our
streets, and shops, and stores, and homes;
by the aged and the children, the wanderers from Christ's fold, and the lost in
the dark world.
Nor was he satisfied with a personal
activity in himself. The burden of the
Lord upon him was that all Christians
should be workers in the vineyard. For
this he prayed, and conversed, and planned, and plead; elaborating schemes of
beneficence for individuals and for the
Church and Society, through which the
38 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
seed could be sown beside all waters,
from those by our own doors to those in
the far deserts of heathenism.
As a preacher he was Scriptural, appropriate, practical, and earnest.  His aim
was the conversion of the impenitent, and
the holiness of the regenerate. Simply
to entertain an audience through an appointed service was in his view a prostitution of the momentous work with which
the preacher is charged of God. Merely
to render a people intelligent in Bible and
Christian knowledge, though he labored
in this so hard and well, he conceived of
as but a means to the preacher's end, not
the end itself. It was the heart and the
life that he was after, not the pleased
crowd, at ease in their sins, whatever of
worldly advantages they might proffer.
It was heart and hand knowledge that he
sought to impart, not mere head knowledge. Hence he was faithful. If he ever
misjudged as to what ought to be preach
39 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
ed, he never hesitated to preach -what he
thought ought to be preached.- And to
this he added the higher and rarer faithfulness of speaking the truth in love; with
every just consideration for the feelings
of those whom the truth might condemn,
coupled with fidelity to their souls, and to
the cause of God.  So that nothing but
misapprehension or perversity itself could
take offense.
In short, our calmest judgment could
ever join with our warm affection and say
to him, what we believe our Master would
apply, "Beloved,  thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest."
I have not drawn this sketch from fancy,
but with the living original continually
before me, and compelling myself to use
only truthful colors.  I am glad to find it
resembling one shown me this morning
from the hand of an older friend,- and one
in some relations more intimate-his class
and room-mate in College, Hon. E. C.
40 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
WALKER, Esq., of Detroit. You will be
grateful for the following passages which
I read from his letter:
"He entered Yale College in 1838, and graduated in a class numbering a hundred and five, in
1842.  He was a contemporary in College with
Donald G. Mitchell, ('Ike Marvel,') Richard Storrs
Willis, and Rev. A. Eldridge, of Detroit; and a
class-mate of Profs. Hadley and J. A. Porter, now
of Yale College, and Gen'l Runyon, of New Jersey.
and Rev. A. H. Clapp, of Providence. He graduated with high honors.  He was a universal favorite in his class. His scholarship was not, like
that of many, in some special department; but his
intellect was roundly and fully developed, and every
department of science and literature received his
attention, and aided to make the thorough student.
I think his most distinguishing characteristic in
College was his elegant and graceful style of composition, which was always, to my mind, his charming characteristic as a preacher.
*  a  "In Georgia he formed many friendships
which ended only with his life. His summers were
spent at the plantation on St. Simond's Island, and
the rest of the year upon the upland. His letters to
me during this period are full of pleasant sketches
4*
41 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
of his every day life.  Having the ministry  in
view, he entered at once into his Master's service, and devoted himself to the good of the
colored population about him; with the aid and
sympathy of Judge Couper, whom he always described as a thoroughly educated and polished gentleman and scholar. He saw slavery in its happiest
lights, yet came home with a quiet but decided
opinion that it was the curse of the white man of
the South; and in the late struggles of our country
this experience of his youth only deepened and made
clear the currents of his patriotism.
* * "e His southern residence seemed to have
undermined his constitution,  and ever since his
health has been precarious, never robust.
*  *  "He  was a thoroughly earnest, sincere
man and Christian. He labored for souls, and not
as a hireling for outward prosperity and the mere
triumphs of success. In his last letter to me, dated
March 6th, 1862, he yearned over his people, as a
father over his first born son.' Oh Lord, revive
thy work,' was on his pen and in his heart. His
merits as a pastor, to us who looked at him from
without his congregation, were those of a practical
kind, that succeeded in accomplishing results, in
moulding his church and building it up in every
good word and work. His church had become one
of the most systematically liberal and benevolent
42 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
churches in the State. His pulpit powers were of
a high order, and had God spared his health and
life, there was no church in the land that might
not beproud of such a pastor and such a preacher.
His social and domestic virtues you doubtless appreciate and admire.   My house was his home -in Detroit, and his agreeable manners and gentlemanly
deportment to all, won the respect of all who met
him. He is a loss to the ministry in Michigan,
which, I fear, will not soon be supplied.
"He  was a Presbyterian from conviction and
from choice, but was no sectarian, and was always
ready to give the right hand of fellowship to any
man or body of men who approached him in the
name and with the spirit of Christ." * * *
Such being the man whom God has perminitted you for nearly eight years to possess as your Pastor, afflicted people of his
charge, what account think you will He
require as to your improvement of the
precious gift? While we all as a community are debtors, how  great is the
claim which has run up in your account!
If you will allow of a text at the end
43 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
of my address, I have one which I wish
to print in your hearts beside the likeness
of this dear servant which you are henceforth to bear there-a text which, I hap
pen to know, was well understood by your
Pastor, and employed to bring to him
sympathy from an Apostle in glory, in
times when earthly sympathies were insufficient.
This text occurs in the second chapter
of the Epistle to the Philippians; where
the Apostle Paul most affectionately urges
those for whom he was laboring to so live
that he might rejoice in the Day of Christ
that he had not run in vain, neither labored in vain, and then at the close of his
exhortations breaks forth in these strong
words:
" YEA, AND IF I BE OFFERED UPON THE
SACRIFICE AND SERVICE OF YOUR FAITH, I JOY
AND REJOICE WITH YOU ALL."
In what would Paul joy and rejoice?
It is told us in his Jewish way, and needs
44 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
simply this exposition: When, in the ant
cient Sanctuary service, the victim for a
burnt offering had been prepared, the carefully dressed- parts of the animal being
laid upon the altar, and the fire beneath
them enkindled, then the Priest stood beside the offering, and poured upon it a
libation, of choicest wine and purest oil,
mingled with fine flour, whence a rich
fragrance, emitted by the burning flame,
went up as a symbol of Jehovah's pleased
acceptance of the sacrifice. Now the sacrifice which the Apostle sought to offer
before God was that of a holy, practical
faith in the people of his care: a faith that
should not be a creed of the head, but — 
state and habit of the soul; turning it
trustingly and lovingly Godward, purifying from all sin through the blood of
Christ, warming with steady life all holy
activities, and shining strongly in the
world with the lighted truths of all Scripture.  Such worth, in Paul's account, had
45 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
this gracious faith, as constituting its possessor a receiver and disburser of all
spiritual and useful gifts, that he would
gladly. sacrifice his life, if necessary, in
helping men to attain and perfect it in
their inner and outer lives.  Striving to
present it as an offering to God, he would
joyfully be not only the ministering priest,
but the consuming libation also; pouring
out his life in labors, or privations, or
martyrdom, that believers might be multiplied and made holy in character and
useful in the world. This Paul was willing to do, and this it fell to him to do.
Need I say that WILLIAM S. HUGGINS
(ame into closer sympathy with Paul, as
here seen, than most ministers come?
God's providence brought him there, as it
brought Paul there. In counting the cost
of his service for you, his people, he had
to include his life itself. Hiis state of
health made it impossible for him to serve
you well without, more literally than any
46 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
other man I have known, pouring out his
life in the service,from week to week. Every
Sabbath night found the fountains of his
vitality drained almost to the bottom.
Then two nights and days of prostration,
with the aching head and the deathly
sickness, yet not in idleness, and, the.
vital reservoirs beginning to fill again, he
returned to stay by the altar of service
and pour there anew the costly libation.
And though this was the cost, did he
not serve you well? Did he slight his
work, in the pulpit or the parish? Did
he, even as frequently as he ought, relieve himself of its burden for a week or
a day, or a single service, so fearful was
he that it might suffer from his absence
or his enjoyment of relief in the pulpit?
And did he not rejoice in his service,
notwithstanding it was thus constantly
draining off his life? Did any one ever
hear him complain of the hardships of the
ministry, or covet the easier allotments
47 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
in life?. "I will very gladly spend and
be spent for you," was language which
his fear of boasting may never have allowed you to hear him appropriate to himself,
but which, in the home-ear of his nearest
earthly friend, was often spoken.
Yes, let me tell you how this labored
yet joyful sacrifice of his life for your salvation and Christian usefulness had so become the habit of his being, that -it was
the most prominent feature in his dying
scene. When his thoughts were left to
himself, they seemed constantly laboring
at the wonted tasks and cares of his ministry.  "I am in perplexity"-" There are
two points"-" I can go no further" —" I
am sick".-" Who will preach next Sabbath?" In such fragments of sentences,
the whole of which he could not articulate,
we were affected in seeing how  in imagination he was toiling on in the study,
the pulpit, and the solicitudes of a faithful pastor: draining off the last drops of
48 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
life upon "the sacrifice and service of
your faith."
And where has he not shown the same
spirit? How he knit his whole life to
your whole life, and spent himself in
struggles to rise and bear you up to the
higher Christian life! Your social life
and home life, your business life and civil
life, your public interests of common and
higher education, and all true reform and
advancement in society,-he has woven
himself with it all, and plied his strength
unsparingly for its elevation. Into how
many places he had thus wrought himself
we but partly know as yet. We shall
learn as we find the vacancies whence he
is now withdrawn. It will be long before
we find the last of them, or fill the first.
Ah, my afflicted friends, if from such a
libation, poured upon the altar of your
sp-iritual welfare, there do not arise sweetly
to God a savor of life, what a savor of
death there must go up! 0 that this pre
49 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
cious outpoured life might now kindle
upon you from the fire of the Holy Ghost,
in flames of a new and holy devotement!
I have wished for a moment that your
dear Pastor could have lived to see the
one more ingathering towards which the
tokens among you have been pointing, and
his soul so eagerly pressing. That the
enlarged and more solemnly attentive
audiences might, as a harvest of souls,
have ripened and been garnered under his
eye, and we have seen his joy, as we have
seen it in the harvests of the past. But
the Lord of the field and the laborers
knows best, and has not made our brother
a loser by calling him to the Father's
House.
Nor is it too late for you yet to minister
that joy to him in Heaven, which he was
not permitted to see on earth. Some of
us-who first the Master knoweth shall
soon go up and rejoin our departed friend.
Would it not be pleasant, for the one thus
5O 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
next honored, to be a bearer of despatches
to him that many whom he had sought as
lost, are found? That many dead, over
whom he wept, are alive; and that the
people of God, for whose holy living he
struggled to the last, are all "zealous and
active" amid the sheaves?
The joy of Paul in Heaven is not yet
at the highest degree of the scale, though
filling all his capacities as it ascends.
"The day of Christ" has yet to reveal to
him how far he has not "run in vain,
neither labored in vain," and thus raise
his rejoicings to far warmer heights.
And so, thank God, the beloved servant,
whose form rests sweetly here, where it
has so often trembled in weariness and sickness, and whose spirit is now completely
blessed, may yet, from new arrivals in
Paradise, and from the great all-revealing
Day, have his joy raised higher and higher
through the faithfulness of you who are
in Christ, and the salvation of you who
51 
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
are out of Christ. O may it be his, with
Christ and through Christ, to see of the
travail of Christ's soul, of which he has
been here a partaker, and be satisfied, as
an humble partaker in Christ's eternal
satisfaction!
With these words, and especially the
words of the text to which I have cited
you, pressed strongly upon your hearts,
as the interpreter to you of your Pastor's
life, and the preacher to you from his
grave, I count my present duty done.
The mourning have many to sympathize
with and counsel them, some of whom may
more fitly than myself assume that office.
And the less public will be the more suitable occasions for our utterances to them:
so heavily afflicted, yet already, and we
trust ever to be, so abundantly sustained
and peacefully comforted. May God bless
in this bereavement the family and bosom
friends, the Church, the ministry, and our
stricken community!
52 
*
6
t=
MY
CD
tn
C4  
I.
THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S
HAND-BOOK.
PREACHED SABBATH EVENING, FEB. 2, 1862.*
PSALM CXIX: 9.
" WHEREWITHAL SHALL A YOUNG MAN CLEANSE HIS WAY?
BY TAKING HEED THERETO, ACCORDING TO THY WORD.
WHEN the traveler is leaving London
for the Continent, he makes up his mind
whither he will go, and seeks for information as to the best routes and the most
desirable modes  of traveling.   He soon
finds that hand-books have been prepared,
each with special reference to some one
or more of the countries which he pro
* Published in pamphlet form soon after, by request
of a number of young men of the congregation. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
poses to visit. He provides himself with
these, glad to get such reliable guides,
and not to be dependent upon the uncertain information which he might seek or
find upon the way.
But when it is simply "the way of
life" along which the traveler is journeying, he generally either asks no questions,
or asks only such as pertain to matters of
subordinate importance. He neglects to
inquire what kind of road it is he has set
out upon, what direction it takes, to
what liabilities it is subject, and toward
what particular point it tends.
Fortunately, these questions are asked
for him, and the same kind Providence
which has asked them, has answered them.
They are summed up in the words of the
text:  "Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto,
according to thy Word." The question
is asked with special reference to youth,
because it needs to be asked and answered
56 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
in advance of manhood and age, and because, if the answer is not heard and
heeded during youth, in a majority of
cases it might as well never have been
answered.
In accordance with the question and
answer of the text, let me to-night commend to you, especially to such of
you as are young, the Bible as the
" Hand-book" of' this way of life."  I
say commend it, for I could not force
it upon you if I would. It is your prerogative to accept or reject whatever
counsel may be given to you; to believe
or disbelieve whatever guide-boards you
may read, and whatever words you may
hear, as you pursue this way; to trust to
the whims and impressions and impulses
of each passing day, or to make the Bible
from this time forth the Hand-book for
your journey. This is your prerogative,
and no one would take it away from you.
Yet at the same time it is the privilege of
57 
58      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
those of us who believe in the Bible, and
believe in it as a book to be followed as
well as possessed, to ask you candidly to
weigh its claims in the light of certain
facts which concern you and all of us.
Let me to-night call your attention to
three such facts.
I. And first, let me remind you that
God made you for a definite end, and that
end was His own glory and your highest
good.
In Paul's Epistle to the Romans we
read: "For of him, and through him, and
to him are all things, to whom be glory
forever." In the book of Proverbs we
read that "the Lord hath made all things
for himself." So also in the Epistle to
Colossians:  "All things were created by
him and for him." And in the first of
Peter:" That God in all things may be
glorified through Jesus Christ."
Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
points us to the great end of our being:
"Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever
ye do, do all to the glory of God."
There is danger, however, especially
with the young, that this language will
be  misunderstood; that the "glory of
God" will be little more than an abstract
idea, true enough, perhaps, as a theoretical end of living, and an end for theologians to talk about, but not a practical
end, within the familiar range of one's
every-day vision. Hence our Catechism
has very happily added a phrase, in defining what "man's chief end" is; it is
"to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." This brings out the important
truth that we have a partnership with
God in the end for which we were made.
We were not only made for his glory, but
for our own enjoyment; and his glory includes and comprehends our highest enjoyment, if we will only have it so. And
there is another interesting truth included
59 
60      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
here, which may be a little more fully expressed.  It is this, that the " chief end"
for which man was made was not only
that he should enjoy God forever, but
that God should enjoy him forever. It
was for mutual enjoyment.
When "God  saw every thing that He
had made, and behold, it was very good,"
is it not meant that there was in it all a
good for Him, as well as for birds and
beasts, and the human pair, and for
angels; and especially that a gratification
and a glory were to be derived from those
whom He had created in his own image?
God's glory, then, for which we are to
live and labor, is not an abstract idea, a
cold logical or theological conclusion, like
the conclusion of a mathematical demonstration. God's blessedness is included
in His glory, and our happiness also.
When reminded, therefore, that God made
you for a definite end, do not fail to see
that this purposed end was a mutual good,
and a mutual glory. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
How desirable, now, that this purposed
end should be fulfilled in the case of every
one of you!  God desires it.  The angels
would say that you ought to desire it.
And God not only desires it, but from the
beginning He has been doing all he consistently could to secure it. The most
important of'the instrumentalities which
He is employing for this purpose is the
Bible.
More than fifteen hundred years in
process of preparation; the product, under
the guidance of the Spirit, of more than
thirty different writers, and made up, in
beautiful combination and wonderful'harmony, of history and poetry and prophecy, of biographies and parables, of precepts and promises, of descriptions of this
world and of the world to come, its one,
great, comprehensive aim is to teach you
the chief end for which God made you,
and to teach you how to fulfill that end.
See, now, how miserably man, without
6
61 
62       SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
the Bible, misses this end. Look at the
South Sea Islander, and the Bushmen of
South Africa! Read the first chapter of
Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and remember that that fearful description of
those who know not God, and glorify
Him not as God, applies not only with
striking accuracy, as all missionaries testify, to those whom we commonly call the
heathen, but to the most enlightened pagan nations-to all among whom the light
of the Bible does not shine. Individuals
may be discovered here and there, who
stand somewhat above the common level
of idolatry and ignorance and degradation; but they, if they raise the question
as to the chief end of man, grope in the
dark in their search to find it.
But we need not go to the ends of the
earth, or to the far-off nations of cultivated paganism. - See how miserably man
misses this end, even amid all the restraining influences of a Christian civilization, 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
when he throws away his Bible and casts
off all fear of God. In every Christian
community of any considerable numbers,
there are multitudes of men whose motives and whose end in life are not one
whit higher than those of the heathen.
What is their goal-I do not say their
goal of life, for they do not give dignity
to their career by any forethought of a
lifetime-but what is the goal of each
day's little round? The lowest forms of
sensual indulgence, amid the most disgusting associations. The end for which
they live is no higher than that of the
brute,: and in stooping to such an end, a
man degrades himself below the brute.
O man, how hast thou fallen, and on
how low a level thou every day dost
walk, and to what low depths dost stoop,
in worse than "beastly drink," in vulgar
and obscene and heaven-defying talk, and
in practices most foul and full of outrage
upon the very name of man!
63 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
But there are multitudes besides, who
would shrink from the thought of being
identified with this low and lustful
and almost hopeless class, and whom, as
yet, thanks to the gracious influences
around them, we are not obliged to classify with these, who are nevertheless
identified with them to this extent, that
they are in the same broad road, and that
they are missing life's great end. And
he who simply misses the one path that
leads to the mountain's summit, where
shelter and rest await the traveler; he
who simply misses the one path when the
storm is gathering and the night is coming
on, what will his end be, no matter whether the last you saw of him was only a
little way off the road, or half-way down
some steep declivity?
To lose sight of life's great end is to
lose the way to happiness and heaven.
The'man at the wheel might as'well neglect to look at the compass, and under
64 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
take to steer by the bowsprit. And yet
it is to just this that our nature is extremely liable-to neglect to determine
upon any life-long course, to leave the
chart unrolled in the chest, to steer by
the desire that is uppermost and that
"heads" us, whether this way or that;
to use eye and ear and tongue and hand
and foot, mind and body, without end
and aim; sight-seeing, novel-reading, cardplaying, news-gathering, tattling, dancing,
handling toys and busy with trifles, instead of handling the implements of life's
work, and wielding the weapons of life's
warfare for glory and for good.
What multitudes there are-and oh
how easily the young are recruited to fill
their ranks -!-what multitudes who seem
to live only to laugh and talk, to walk and
ride, to escape being alone and to go into
company, to repeat jokes and scandal,
to see showy trifles and to hear and tell
some n        ew thing, or from day to day re                   6*
65 
66      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
peat the same stale things, to eat and
drink and dress, though not perhaps to
sleep, until night is turned into day, and
mind and body are wearied with unnatural use. Not that all the items of this
catalogue are wholly wrong in themselves;
but to live only for this-how wide of the
mark which Heaven has set before each
deathless soul!
I heard it said the other day, that it
was the recent remark of a gentleman,
whose opportunities for judging had not
been limited, that " there are not half a
dozen young men in this community who
are living with any end in view!" I do
not say that I believe this.  On the contrary, I should say at once that the statement was an exaggerated one, though I
do not know how great or how little' the
exaggeration was; but I repeat the remark as justifying me, if justification be
needed, in thus urging the point upon
you, that God made you for a definite 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
end.  I repeat it, because it is sometimes
well that we should know what others
say of us; because it may be well that
the young men in our shops and stores
and offices, in our homes and upon our
streets, should know what judgment
business men are forming of them. If
it is a slander, you need not fear it,
and there may be a salutary warning in
it; and if it is not a slander, it may
set you to thinking, and sober thought
and the Word of God may bring before
you life's great end, and the result may
be repentance and reformation, God's
glory and your present and eternal good.
Liable thus, as you especially are who
are surrounded by the attractions and
subject to the impulses of youth, to forget, to lose sight of, to miss the great end
of life, let me urge you to take heed to
your way-to its direction, and to the end
toward which it is tending-according to
God's Word. Let me urge you to make
67 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
the Bible the guide of your youth; the
counsels of the Bible, rather than the example and the tempting suggestions or
taunts of your companions; the teachings
of this Word of God, I must add with
pain, rather than the example of some
who profess to be the people of God!
II. Let me remind you, secondly, not
only that you are made for a definite and
high end, which you are so liable to forget or lose sight of, but that with this
end distinctly in view, left to your unaided self, you will never seriously pursue
it; that resolve, and even strive as you
may, to do so, you will find that you are
at war with yourself, or you will be at
war with yourself, whether you find it
out or not; that your own nature will
hinder and successfully oppose all your
attempts at true progress and real elevation; that a secret foe in your own breast
will deceive you and turn you aside, or
68 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
turn you,back to your eternal ruin; and
that with this fact and the philosophy of it,
the Bible, and the Bible alone, acquaints
you; that against this secret foe the Bible,
and the Bible alone, will faithfully warn
you and arm you, and successfully aid
you and give you the victory.
Perhaps I cannot more successfully tell
you just what I mean than by quoting a
passage from a popular English author,
who writes especially for boys and young
men, and has had the credit of speaking
to them in a true and wise and manly
way. I the more readily avail myself of
his language, because it did not originate
with the pulpit. It is not simply professional, as you might regard the utterances
of the minister. It is not a formal exposition of Scripture doctrine, against which
you might be prejudiced. It is an earnest man's setting forth of a fact which he
discovers in himself, and which, as a philosophic observer, he comes in contact
69 
70      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
with, out in the world, as he studies
men.*
~ Two young men stand fronting one another, "the younger,"-who in his heart
is secretly meditating, though half unconsciously, a great wrong toward which his
passions  are  strongly drifting  him-a
wrong which his older companion, acting
the part of a true friend, has just honestly
but somewhat bluntly rebuked-" the
younger, writhing with a sense of shame
and outraged pride, and longing for a
fierce answer" to language he has just
uttered-" a fierce answer, or a blow, anything to give vent to the furies which
were tearing him."
They soon part, and  the younger is
striding up and down by himself in the
pale moonlight.
"Poor fellow! it was no pleasant walking ground
for him.  Shall we follow him up and down in his
tramp? We have most of us walked the like
*' Tom Brown at Oxford, Vol. I., 252. 
SERMON TO YOUNG -MEN.
marches, I suppose, at one time or another in our
lives. The memory of them is by no means one
which we can dwell on with pleasure. Times they
were of blinding and driving storm and howling
winds, out of which voices, as of evil spirits, spoke
close in our ears-tauntingly, temptingly, whispering to the mischievous wild beast which lurks in
the bottom of all our hearts, now,'Rouse up! art
thou a man and darest not do this thing?' now,
' Rise, kill and eat; it is thine, wilt thou not
eat it?  Shall the flimsy scruples of this teacher,
or the sanctified cant of that, bar thy way and balk
thee of thine own? Thou hast strength; brave
them-brave all things in earth, or heaven, or hell;
put out thy strength, and be a man!' Then did
not the wild beast within us shake itself and feel
its power, sweeping away all the' Thou shalt nots,'
which the law wrote up before us in letters of fire,
with the'I will' of hardy, godless self-assertion?
And all the while-which alone made the storm
more dreadful to us-was there not the still, small
voice, never to be altogether silenced by the roarings of the tempest of passion, by the evil voices,
by our own violent attempts to stifle it; the still,
small voice appealing to the man, the true man
within us, which is made in the image of God, calling on him to assert his dominion over the wild
71 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
beast-to obey, and conquer, and live? Ay! and
though we may have followed the other voices, have
we not, while following them, confessed in our
hearts that all true strength and nobleness and
manliness was to be found in the other path? Do
I say that most of us have had to tread the path, and
fight this battle? Surely, I might have said all of
us; all at least who have passed the bright days of
their boyhood. The keen and clear intellect, no
less than the dull and heavy; the weak, the cold,
the nervous, no less than the strong and passionate
of body. The arms and the field have been diverse; can have been the same, I suppose, to no
two men, but the battle must have been the same
to all. One here and there may have had a foretaste of it as a boy; but it is the young man's battle, and not the boy's, thank God for it! That
most hateful and fearful of all realities, call it by
what name we will-self, the natural man, the old
Adam-must have risen up before each of us in
early manhood, if not sooner, challenging the true
man within us, to which the Spirit of God is speaking, to a struggle for life or death.
"Gird yourself, then, for the fight, my young
brother, and take up the pledge which was made for
you when you were a helpless child. This world
and all others, time and eternity, for you hang upon
72 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
the issue. This enemy must be met and vanquished-not finally, for no man, while on earth, I suppose, can say that he is slain; but when once known
and recognized, met and vanquished he must be,
by God's help, in this and that encounter, before
you can be truly called a man; before you can
really enjoy any one even of this world's good
things."
"Met and vanquished," he says, "by
God's help,"-by God's help, if met and
vanquished at all. Now, in this conflict,
how does God propose to help us? By his
Word and through the Holy Spirit, and in
answer to our cries for help. Concerning
the character of this secret foe, and the
realities and possibilities of this inward
warfare, the Bible is our only competent
instructor and counselor and helper.
It gives us the information which we
need; it puts us upon our guard; it gives
us timely exhortation and encouragement;
it rebukes our unconcern and lack of vigilance; it prompts the needful prayer for
help; above all, it brings us to Jesus, if
7
73 
74      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
we will only follow where it would lead
us-to Jesus, the great Captain of Salvation. He is "a stronger" than the "strong
man armed" within us, and He alone can
enable us to cripple and subdue him.
Hence it is that the Bible is commended
to us in the question and answer of the
text, though under a different figure from
that which I have used. Sin is viewed
as a defiler rather than as an armed foe;
and either view is lamentably true. Sin
is a defiler. It pollutes our hearts; it
defiles our character. It makes our way
of life unclean. To him who sees his own
heart and life under the full light of
God's truth and Spirit, the sight is a loathsome one, and his way of life, if he has
followed the tendencies- of his nature,
shocks him and disgusts him. How must
it look to angels and to the all-seeing eye
of perfect purity? And the question of
the text is concerning "the young man."
It does not take long for sin to make 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
the way of life unclean. Its work is the
more apparent, and it shocks us the mores
as we see it in early manhood and early
womanhood; for there is a native beauty
and promise, and apparent innocence
about the freshness of youth.  Upon such
a background the shadings and dark blots
and foul marks of sin are painfully
striking. And often how rapidly they
spread, and how dark their stain, and how
foul their aspect, even before bright boyhood and beautiful girlhood are fairly out
from under the father's hand and the mother's eye! How often the young man
has secrets which he would not have his
father, which he would blush to have his
sister know! How often the young woman has and cherishes secret-thoughts
and feelings which far from conform to
the pure example and prudent counsels of
her Christian mother! How often books
are carefully secreted, and read with a
blush, and a loose rein given to the ima
75 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
gination, and conduct carefully covered
up!  How painful it is to witness the
confidence of fathers and mothers in their
sons and daughters, when to observant
eyes there is a worm already in the bud,
and when it is only falsehood that gives
to it its seeming beauty and promise! Oh
how true it is that the way even of the
young needs to be cleansed! And how
may it be done? By taking heed to his
Word. A wonderful counselor for the
young is the Bible!  More kind and more
faithful, often, than you will find father
or mother, or the best friend you may
have. If every young man and woman
would make the single Book of Proverbs
their counselor, how many would it save
from sad mistakes and bitter regrets; how
many from disgrace and ruin!
III. But let me remind you, thirdly,
though time warns me that it must be
briefly, that you have more than yourself
76 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
to contend with-this heart, this evil nature, this old Adam within us-though
this should be enough to putevery one
on his guard; insubordination in the camp,
treachery in the citadel, is bad enough;
but more than this, that you are in an
enemy's country, and all along your way
you are surrounded by temptations and
by tempters to evil.
The Apostle Peter says, "Be sober, be
vigilant, because your adversary, the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour." And
Peter had had some experience of that
of which he speaks. Jesus had once put
him on his guard, saying, " Simon, Simon
Satan hath desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not." And
Judas Iscariot was what he was, because
Satan had "entered into him."
I know that men make a jest of this,
and that this fearful name is simply made
7*
77 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
a convenience of, for rounding off a vulgar speech; but here it is, in the Bible, in
the Old Testament and in the New, and
on the authority of the Son of God. It
is a fearful fact, and all the more fearful
that we are so unmindful of it, that in the
fall of man, Satan, the great adversary of
truth and righteousness, the arch-deceiver
and the soul's destroyer, gained a hold.
temporary it is true, but a real hold upon
this world; and he reigns here, with a
broken sceptre indeed, but still a powerful one. And the world is full of his
emissaries and servants. Whether they
are consciously laboring to promote his
ends, or his unconscious tools, as we will
presume they generally are, their name
is legion.  They throng the way of life
which you are treading. Some of them
are just ahead of you, and many of these,
probably, are objects of your admiration;
and some are just behind you, and you
are conscious that their eyes are fastened
78 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
upon you, though you are forgetful, perhaps, of the All-seeing Eye; and they are
all around you, not consciously, perhaps,
nor maliciously your enemies, but nevertheless your injurers and your destroyers,
if not on your guard. They may be
pleasant companions, and you may think
them safe; or if you suspect that they
are not altogether what they ought to
be, you may intend to be upon your
guard, and you doubtless feel abundantly
able to take care of yourself. But the
young do not know one atlother, and they
do not know themselves. How little, in
many cases, the young woman knows of
the character of the men with whom she
trusts herself! How little young men'
know the character of those with whom
they associate! We are easily flattered
by a little attention which others may
pay us.  It is not always easy to avoid
their approaches. To the youth it seems
a great step towards manhood to be ad
79 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
mitted into a circle pf young men a little
older than himself; and it may be regarded as a lack of manhood to be in anything
at all behind those of his own years. He
does not like to appear singular. ITe does
not like to be laughed at. The laugh of
even a silly companion often has a power
before which strong resolutions and sacred
promises go down like grass before the
mower's scythe. The truth is, that the
heart within-this nature, often so slavishly fearful, so sensitive, so vacillating,
so cowardly, so vain, so proud, so obstinate, so deceitful, so blind-the heart
within is in league with these tempters
without, and between the two, oh how
great the danger, when the young man or
the young woman goes out from beneath
the shelter and the restraining influences
of home into the wide, wide world! Nay,
how great the danger, in places like this
-though places, after al], are very much
alike-how great the danger, in spite of
80 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
parental influences and the restraints of
home; though the difficulty in part may
be, that parental influence is not what it
should be, and that the restraints of home
are few and feeble. But under all circumstances, between appetite and passion
and weakness within, and the temptations
which everywhere lurk without, how great
the danger! Let a young man get only
so far away from home as the door of the
saloon, under the lead of two or three
companions, and how great his danger!
Let him be invited, amid flattering surroundings, to take his first game of cards;
is he not in great danger? Smile not,
my hearer, at the idea of danger, because
you may have played many a game, and
are not yet a gambler. Could we summon witnesses here, tales might be told
that would appal you. Let impure books
be put into the young man's hand, and by
companions who stand ready to ridicule
any boyish squeamishness which he may
81 
82      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
show, and is he not in great danger? Let
him be invited to take "a social glass,"
amid gay companions, tempted perhaps
by the sex that has suffered enough from
intemperance, one would suppose, to make
them shrink with horror from its first approaches; and how great his danger! Let
him be decoyed by older so-called friends
to her house whose "feet go down to
death, whose steps take hold on hell;"
let the snare be suddenly sprung upon
him-he thinks he is master of himself;
his mother has perfect confidence in her
boy; he is his sister's pride-but who
will answer for his virtue? The young
man is proudly conscious of his strength.
He is not as others have been before him
-of this he is confident.  But what is a
Samson, if he is but a man, and if the
thing to be achieved is but a simple negative? The hero who single-handed would
storm a battery, has often paled and
trembled and been defeated, when all he 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
had to do was simply to face the enemy
and say "No!"  Oh  how weak is man,
and how pitiable his condition, left to his
own unaided self! God help the young
man who trusts to his native strength and
to his self-respect, and to his love for his
father and for her who bore him, and for
the sister whose heart is bound up in his
success! Stronger than all these restraining cords!-oh how often has it proved!
-is this cowardly fear of man, and this
love of present flattery and praise, which
lurk in all our breasts.
These three facts, of which I have just
reminded you, my friends, these are the
basis upon which I commend to you, tonight, this Book. Made for a definite
and exalted end, you will certainly lose
sight of it; seeking to pursue it, and
striving with all your energies to attain
it, you would certainly fail, because your
own nature is against you, and because
83 
84      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
you are in an enemy's country, and temptations and tempters are all around you.
Under these circumstances, the Bible
alone has solved the problem of man's
salvation. It knows his wants, and it
boldly and lovingly meets them-not
with flattery, but with truth! Its solemn
finger points up to God, and points in to
self. Its searching eye searches the
heart to its centre. It probes diseased
nature, regardless of the pain it causes.
It points to the one only remedy, or to
the alternative, everlasting death!
If accepted, now, my hearers, its words
of cheer and promise are for you. If
chosen to-night, (to-morrow we cannot be
sure of) and made henceforth your Counselor and Guide, it will throw around you
a strong arm of support; it will interpose
a shield between you and all evil; it will
show you "the pillar of cloud by day"
and "the pillar of fire by night;" and at
your call it will summon to your side, as 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
your Saviour and Helper and Friendand there is not a man, and never has
been of all the race, who does not need a
Saviour and a Friend-it will summon to
your side, both in life and death, "a
stronger" than the "strong man armed"
without, "a stronger" than the "strong
man armed" within!
8
85 
II.
THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S
COUNSELOR.
PREACHED SABBATH EVENING, FEBRUARY 23,
1862, AND REPEATED, BY REQUEST, ON THE
NEXT SABBATH EVENING.
JOSHUA i. 8, 7.
"THIS BOOK OF THE LAW SHALL NOT DEPART OUT OF THY
MOUTH; BUT THOU SHALT MEDITATE THEREIN DAY AND NIGHT.
THAT THOU MAYEST OBSERVE TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT
IS WRITTEN THEREIN: FOR THEN THOU SHALT MAKE THY WAY
PROSPEROUS, AND THEN THOU SHALT HAVE GOOD SUCCESS.
TURN NOT FROM IT TO THE RIGHT HAND OR TO THE LEFT,
THAT THOU MAYEST PROSPER' WHITHIERSOEVER THOU GOEST."
THESE are the words of the Lord, addressed to Joshua. In the eleventh chapter of Numbers we read: "Joshua, the
* Or, as we have it in the margin, that thou Payest do
wisely. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of
his young men." Although he is not now,
as addressed in the text, a young man,
yet his circumstances are somewhat analogous to those in which a young man
finds himself; and certainly, the words in
which this book of the law is commended
to Joshua as a book of counsel and command, and a sure guide to wisdom and
success, these are most appropriate words
to be addressed, as I address them tonight, to every young man.
Moses had just died, and Joshua finds
himself bereft of the wise counsels and
strong arm on which he had been accustomed to lean; just as the young man
often is without the wise head and the
warm heart and the strong arm of a
father to lean upon. If the father is still
living, the son is often far away from
home, and his father cannot be his constant counselor.   Responsibilities such
as Joshua never knew before, now rest
87 
88      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
upon him; and just as new and fearful
responsibilities rest upon the young man
standing on the threshold of active life.
"The Lord spake unto Joshua, the son
of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses
my servant is dead; now therefore arise,
go over this Jordan, thou and all this
people, unto the land which I do give to
them. Only be thou strong and very
courageous, that thou mayest observe to
do according to all the law which Moses
my servant commanded thee. This book
of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein
day and night, that thou mayest observe
to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have
good success. Turn not from it to the
right hand or to the left, that thou mayest
do wisely whithersoever thou goest."
What the Jordan was to Joshua and
the children of Israel, youth is to the 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
children of men everywhere-the dividing line beyond which lies the land of
promise. And if Joshua then needed this
solemn injunction and this word of encouragement, as they applied to the law
of Moses, equally does the young man
need them as they apply to the whole
Bible. Well is it, as the young man
stands upon the border of this promised
land, if he feels, as Joshua felt, that it is
full of foes, and that it can only be possessed as it is first subdued, and that it
can be subdued only as its battles shall
be fought according to the Word and in
the strength of the Lord of hosts. Well
is it, as he stands upon the threshold of
active life, if the young man makes the
Bible his counselor. Even though he
be highly privileged in the counsels of his
father and mother, and though he have
faithful employers and kind and judicious
friends to give him the benefit of their
experience, and suitable admonition and
8*
89 
90      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
encouragement,- he still needs anothera more faithful, a more constant, and a
wiser counselor than any of these. Such
a counselor is the Bible; one which he
may always have by his side-one which
embodies the sympathy and the wisdom
of Heaven in his behalf-and one which
will always speak the right word at the
right time. Without the Bible, indeed,
for his chosen counselor, there is danger
that he will throw all other wise counsels
to the winds, and follow only the counsels
of foolishness.
I. The young man needs to make the
Bible his counselor, I remark, in the first
place, as he stands upon the threshold of
social life.
Social life is something more than
laughing and  talking, and  eating and
drinking, and walking and riding together.   Bar-rooms and ball-rooms are
not essential to it; nor are brilliantly 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
lighted parlors and gay parties. It is not
limited to the evening hours. It is not
controled by fashion. We are moving
amid its scenes almost every hour of the
day.   It includes all the relations by
which the Creator has bound us together
and made us dependent upon one another. It has its obligations and labors,
as well as its pleasures and pastimes. It
makes its demands upon our intellectual
as well as our animal nature. It appeals
to conscience and taste, as well as to
passion and fashion. It is at once the
source of the highest happiness and of the
greatest misery which we can experience
from any earthly source. It admits of,
and it often calls for, true heroism. It is
full of dangers-dangers to ourselves and
to others. It is full of temptationstemptations to excess in what is in itself
proper, and temptations to indulgence in
what is improper and forbidden. God
may be served in social life, and is to be,
91 
92      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
though the temptation is to serve mammon, and, in serving mammon, to serve
Satan.
As social life, now, opens up before a
young man-eager, impatient, ambitious,
confiding, easily flattered, easily led, wild
and wilful as the young man naturally is,
to a greater or less extent-he needs a
counselor, now to instruct him, now to
stimulate him, now to encourage him, now
to put him on his guard, now to rebuke
him and solemnly warn him; a secret and
constant counselor, one that shall be unseen and unheard, save by himself, even
in the midst of a crowded circle, and one
that shall be by when the battle is going
on in the solemn silence of the heart's
inmost chamber, when there is no eye to
see save the Adversary's and the All-seeing eye.
He not only needs to be well-informed
and faithfully admonished in regard to
the dangers which beset the social side of 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
his nature, but to be counseled in regard
to his duties. Society has claims upon
every man; not only his family and his
place of business, but his neighborhood,
those with whom circumstances have naturally associated him, the religious congregation with which he is connected, and
the community in which he lives.
It is not only religiously, but socially
true that a man is "not his own." Not
only municipal, but social laws justly
subject every man to taxation for the
common good. Every man is bound to
pay tribute to society, in time, in counsel,
in labor, and in money. Analogous to
the loyalty which every one owes to
the government, is the public spirit and
the jealous concern for the public good
which every member of society ought to
feel. Now and then you will find men
who recognize these social obligations and
show their loyalty to society. There are
great public improvements and valuable
93 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
institutions, whose founders and - supporters coming generations will rise up to
bless as benefactors of society. And as
you push your inquiries into the smaller
circles of society, the names multiply of
those who have wrought for the-public
good. And there are social benefits enjoyed, numerous and great, the names of
whose authors are known to few, and
perhaps none; but their works follow
them.
There are thus some who do not live
to themselves. There are some who do
not ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
There are some who remember the poor,
and the unfortunate, and the sick, and the
outcasts, and them that are in prison, and
the orphan, and the stranger, and the
homeless. There are some who consult
their neighbor's feelings and intereststhe common  interest, and  the general
good.
Whence, now, come these good works
94 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
-this remembrance  of others-public
spirit, charity, philanthropy? As you
compare Christianized with heathen and
pagan lands, the answer is, for the most
part, all this comes from the Bible.
What of social good, and whatever
exemption from social evil we as a nation
and as a community enjoy, we owe, for
the most part, to the Bible.   Suppose
that all who profess to obey the Bible
were true to its spirit, and constantly and
fully obedient to all its precepts, what a
community we should be! And suppose
all were thus true to the Spirit of the
Bible-those who profess and those
who do not profess-how pleasant, how
pure, how ennobling a social atmosphere
would  surround  us and  our  children!
How the intelligent and refined would
seek a residence among us, to find a safe
retreat for their children from the divers
evils which everywhere else so disgrace
the forms and poison the streams of social
life!
95 
96      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
How desirable, then, that the Bible
should be the counselor of our young
men-your  counselor, my hearers, who
are already giving character, or want of
character, as the case may be, to our social life! Those who have hitherto beenprominent for good, or for no good, here
in social life, are passing away. You are
taking their places, not merely to drink at
fountains already provided, not simply to
enter upon others' labors, not to be recipients only; but to affect, for good or
for evil, these fountains yourselves, and
to open new ones, to sow the seeds from
which our children are to gather grapes
or thorns, to make the social life of this
community and nation better or worse.
Very likely this is more than you have
engaged to do. You have not signed a
contract for doing the one or the other.
But this does not secure us against the
evil you may do; and it does not secure
to us, and to yourselves, and to the world, 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
and to God, the good you may do, and the
good you ought to do!
We want you to make the Bible your
counselor, because we know that it
will continually remind you of this your
responsibility, and reason with you and
entreat you on the one hand, and solemnly
warn you on the other. We want you to
make the Bible your counselor, both on
your own account and on our and our
children's account. When we meet you,
or hear of you, in social life, whether here
at home or abroad, we would be proud of
you. We would have no occasion to
blush for you, or to apologize for you.
Once, at least, when I was away from
home and traveling with a large company, I found that I had a personal interest in the reputation and character of
every young man in Kalamazoo. One
of them was with us. I will not say
whether I had occasion to be proud or to
be ashamed-but it was one of the two!
9
97 
98      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
We want to find you, and every one of
you, worthy of the confidence of your
employers; fit companions for our daughters, and safe examples for our sons; well
informed and cultivated- -in mind; refined
in your manners, and pure in your heart
and life. And we believe the Bible to be
the surest guide to politeness, the best
hand-book for the gentleman, the most
effectual safe-guard for reputation and
character. We want to see each of you
a worthy member of society, taking the
highest place and occupying the largest
sphere to which your abilities entitle you;
wise in counsel, liberal in spirit, earnestly
devoted to the public good, and, for society's sake, making  the most of the
talents which God has committed to
your keeping. For your own sake, we
want you to make the Bible your counselor, as you come within: the range of
the temptations of social life, that you
may be saved from its vices, that you 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
may not disappoint the hopes which, to
a fond mother's eyes, were like a halo
around your cradled head, that you may
not make a wreck of hopes which you
yourself have been cherishing now for
long years.
Other counselors, we know, you are
liable to have-and some of them positively evil counselors, for the young man
almost as certainly falls among such, as
the traveler from Jerusalem to Jericho
fell among thieves-and we fear for you
if you do not make the Bible your chosen
counselor. I cannot dwell longer on this
head, for the time is passing. I had intended to give you a sample of the Bible's
counsels with reference to many things
included in our social life. I can now
only refer you to the portion of Scripture
which was read this evening, from the
first and fourth chapters of the Book of
Proverbs, and quote you the words of the
wise man: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy
99
I I
. I 
100     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways
of thine heart and in the sight of thine
eyes; but know thou that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment." "Remember now thy Creator in
the days of thy youth, while the evil days
come not, nor the years draw nigh, when
thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in
them." And the words of Paul, which I
wish might be written in every young
man's memorandum-book, and inscribed in
letters of gold upon all the avenues of our
social life-" Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there
be any virtue,* and if there be any praise,t
think on these things."
* i. e. Any other virtue.
t i. e. Whatsoever is worthy of praise.
I I 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
11. It is equally important, I remark,
in the second place, that the young man
make the Bible his counselor as he stands
upon the threshold of business life.
This remark, I am afraid, will not be as
readily assented to as the previous one.
Most associate the Bible, to a greater or
less extent, with social life. They have
not forgotten the family Bible, and more
or less of the language of the Bible is
familiar to them, in connection with these
social relations.. which we sustain. But it
is to be feared that many, even of those
who profess to make the Bible their counselor at home, have very little thought
about carrying the Bible with them to
their places of business. And it is to be
feared that many deliberately settle the
question with themselves, at the outset,
that it will not do to undertake to do
business according to the Bible.
To-those who would leave the Bible at
home, as a matter of course, who. regard
9*
101 
102      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
it as a book for the Sabbath, and a book
of abstract doctrine, it needs to be said
that the Bible is one of the most practical
of all books, and as practical for every
other day of the week as for the Sabbath;
as appropriate to the shop as to the parlor,
and as binding on the street and behind
the counter, as in the nursery and in the
Sabbath-school. And to those who have
so summarily settled the question that
business cannot be carried on successfully
according to the principles of the Bible,
it needs to be said that the Bible is no
more out of place in the counting-house
than it is in the dwelling-house. If there
are many who have taken this position,
the Bible would seem to have a special
mission; and none could be more important in these days of extensive trade and
commercial enterprise-to enter at once
the field of business life, and proclaim in
thunder tones its "Thus saith the Lord,"
to.our business men. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
The dangers to be encountered in business life are perhaps as great, and as fatal
to the soul, as those of social life. The
evils of the former are less demonstrative
and less rapid in their destructive work;
but who shall say that a corrupt conscience is not more loathsome in the sight
of God, and ultimately more fatal to the
individual, than corrupt social habits?
Parents often, doubtless, feel that if
their sons can only be got past the unsteadiness of youth, and sobered down to
regular application to business, a long
agony will be over; but although to some
extent this may be true, yet their sons
are only surrounded by new dangers.
Another has described the field of business life as "a most disastrous one to
human virtue. If its chronicles could be
written," he says, "they would furnish as
well some of the saddest as some of the
brightest chapters in the annals of the
race. To an eye gifted with spiritual
103 
SERMON TO  YOUNG MEN.
discernment, it is a field strown with memorials of the dead, surpassing, as much
in their sorrowful significance as in their
numbers, the bones which have whitened
the soil of Leipsic or of Waterloo. Where
War has slain its thousands, Commerce
has slain its tens of thousands; with other
weapons indeed, but with a more terrible
and far-reaching mortality. It presents
to us no batteries and bayonets, no blood
and-carnage. It strikes not at the body,
though this sometimes falls; but at the
soul. It smites with a secret leprosy,
which spreads its fatal virus through the
arteries, even where there is every outward indication of health and happiness."
Young men who stand upon the threshold
of this department of life, " are breathing
an infected atmosphere, and in jeopardy
every hour."
If this be true, does not the young
man, standing where he does, need a
bold, wise, and faithful counselor- a
104 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
counselor that shall be bold enough to
question stereotyped rules and manners,
wise enough to distinguish between apparent and real success, and show that
all is not gold that glitters, and faithful
enough to resist the influence of custom,
and insist upon it-even though it be in
the face of all the world-that a good
conscience and honesty and integrity are
worth more than millions of money?
When the Henry Clay was burned on
the Hudson river ten years ago, among
the number whose lives were sacrificed
was Hon. STEPHEN ALLEN, an aged and
opulent merchant of New York. He had
been mayor of the city, and had filled
various other public offices, greatly to his
own credit and to the satisfaction of his
fellow-citizens. When the body was recovered, there was found in his pocketbook a well-worn newspaper slip, of which
the following is a copy:
105 
106     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
"Keep good company or none.
"Never be idle.
"If your hands cannot be usefully employed,
attend to the cultivation of your mind.
"Always speak the truth.
"Make few promises.
"Live up to your engagements.
"Keep your own secrets, if you have any.
"When you speak to a person, look him in the
face.
"Good company and good conversation are the
very sinews of virtue.
"Good character is above all things else.
"Your character cannot be essentially injured
except by your own acts.
"If any one speaks evil of you, let your life be
so that none will believe him.
"Drink no kind of intoxicating liquors.
"Ever live (misfortunes excepted) within your
income.
"When you retire to bed, think over what you
have been doing during the day.
"Make no haste to be rich, if you would prosper.
"Small and steady gains give competency, with
tranquillity of mind.
"Never play at any kind of game of chance.
" Avoid temptation, lest you may not withstand it. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN. -
" Earn money before you spend it.
" Never run into debt, unless you see a way to
get out again.
"Never borrow, if you can possibly avoid it.
" Do not marry until you are able to support a
wife.
"Never speak evil of any one.
" Be just before you are generous.
"Keep yourself innocent, if you would be happy.
"Save when you are young, to spend when you
are old.
"Read over the above maxims at least once a
week."
As this was published in the newspapers in connection with his death,
doubtless every one felt "that was the
secret of his success." And doubtless
many an employer and many a father said
to himself, "Would that my young men,
would that my sons, would only make
these maxims their rule of life!" And,
very likely, it was the feeling of many,
as they after that met the gay young men
of New York on Broadway, and spending
107 
108     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
their leisure hours about hotels and at
places of amusement, "What a pity they
are not as wise as Stephen Allen!"
And such a little counselor as his in
many a man's pocket-book would be worth
more to him than a fortune to start with.
But what I have to say now is that if
every person of good sense recognized
the wisdom of that eminent merchant,
and felt that they had discovered the
secret of his success, what must every
sensible man's response be to the proposition that the young man, as a business man, should make the Bible his
counselor?
Full of wisdom as these maxims which
I have just read are, some of them, after
all, are somewhat defective, and the best
of them are simply Scripture maxims, the
language only a little varied. Now, why
not supply whatever deficiency there is
in these, and-have them all the very best.
The Bible not only includes the best of 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
these, but many others equally appropriate and equally full of wisdom.  I had
hoped to be able to quote some of these,
and show how luminous they are with
practical wisdom, when we look at them
with an eye to their application to the
business affairs of life; but I have not
time, and I can only add under this head,
that while the Bible abounds in practical
maxims which point directly towards success, it contains no requirements that are
at all inconsistent with any of the true
elements of success. The impression, I
know, of some is that here and there it
would be necessary to leave the Bible to
the right or to the left, in order to be
shrewd, and to maintain a reputation for
business sagacity; but our text- is right,
and they are wrong.' Turn not from it
to the right hand or to the left," and keep
it for this very purpose, in order that
thou mayest do wisely; "then thou shalt
have good success."
10
109 
110     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
III. I remark, thirdly, that the young
man needs to make the Bible his counselor, as he stands on the threshold of
political life.
You will understand that I do not mean
to designate by this term "political life,"
that narrow, tortuous, dirty, and often
underground path which the mere partisan travels, and sometimes travels on
his hands and knees. I mean that broad
and exalted field which stretches out before every young American, full of responsibilities and glorious in its privilegesthe field of citizenship and statesmanship.
Alas! that the word politics has been so
prostituted as to make it seem almost of
the nature of a caricature to place it side
by side with the Bible, as if the two might
be made to stand together without mutual
repulsion! Would that the effort to keep
them side by side were not left, to so
great an extent as it is, to ministers of
the Gospel! Would that the point here 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
made were not so rarely found outside of
the sermon! Would that what the pulpit
thus preaches to young men were practised by all Christians before their eyes!
Christian citizens are not few in numbers, nor small in their influence. Christians are found among our law-makers and
law pleaders; and Christians are to be
found in our national and state and
municipal and military officers; yet the
Christian element is sadly wanting in our
political life. Even high-toned morality,
to say nothing of Christian principle,
Christian sensitiveness, a jealousy for the
honor and glory of God, a concern for the
prog  ss of Christ's kingdom-even hightoned morality seems, almost by common
consent, to be almost wholly ruled out
from the sphere of politics. Even in
these days, when it would seem an easy
thing to be a pure patriot and an honest
citizen, from simple love of country, and
from the simple sight of such strange
spectacles, so shocking as they seem to
ill 
112      SERMON TO- YOUNG: MEN.
our moral sense- -spectacles of -foul treason against and wholesale fraud upon the
Government-even in these  days, how
constantlywe are-shocked by glaring evidence and by painful suspicions of the
corruptness of our political life! How
refreshing  is every exhibition of- pure
patriotism, of political honesty and independence, of official integrity!
Here an( there a Christian of eminent
ability and high position, both in civil and
in military life, shows us-and the exhibition thrills the hearts of even worldly
men-what virtue, what strength, and
what glory the religious element gives to
political life. We were yesterday reminded, here upon this platform-and I
was glad that the testimony came from
one who did not speak as from the pulpit
-reminded of WASHINGTON'S piety as the
crowning excellence of the army's and
nation's  head.*:And who  has not felt
* The anniversary of the birth of Washington had
been observed the day before, in the Presbyterian Church, 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
that the flag-officer of our gun-boats is
the more of a soldier for being a Christian?*
when the remark alluded to was made by the Honorable
CHARLES E. STUART, formerly United States Senator from
Michigan, in his introduction to the reading of the Farewell Address.
* The speaker here referred in glowing terms to the
Christian character of Gen. McCLELLAN, and to the language which the telegraph had just attributed to Gen.
BURNSIDE, implying his unwavering faith in God, amid
the disasters and delays which accompanied the early
movements of the great expedition called by his name.
Upon the repetition of the sermon, Mr. HUGGINS added the
following:  "I am thankful that the past week has furnished me
another name from among the officers and statesmen on
whom our country is especially relying in this the hour
of her trial-another name to enforce the point which I
am making here, viz., that the Bible should be the young
man's counselor in political life. Says Secretary ST.&TON:'Much has recently been said of military combinations and organizing victory.   I hear such phrases
with apprehension. They commenced in infidel France,
with the Italian campaign, and resulted in Waterloo.
Who can organize victory? Who can combine the ele_
ments of success on the battle field? We owe our recent
victories to the Spirit of the Lord, that moved our soldiers
to rush into battle, and filled the hearts of our enemies
with terror and dismay. The inspiration that conquered
10*
113 
114     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
Did the Bible make FRANKLIN any the
less -a statesman? or WILBERFORCE?  In
the closing days of JACKSON and of CLAY,
did the Bible on their tables and in their
hands - their acknowledged counselor
then- dim the lustre of their political
renown?
The time is passing, and I must hasten
to a conclusion. But I have said enough
to enforce the point that our young men,
as they stand upon the threshold of political life, need to make the Bible their
counselor-for their own sake, for our
country's sake, and for the whole world's
sake-for the whole world is becoming
more and more interested, and vitally interested, in the questions of American
politics, and in the character of American
citizenship.
in battle was from on high; and wherever there is the
same inspiration, there will be the same results.'
" It would seem that Mr. STANTON, when he gathered
his books and counselors about him in his youth, did not
leave the Bible out." 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
IV. I remark, in the fourth place, that
the young man needs to make the Bible
his counselor, as he stands upon the
threshold of an endless life.
Upon this point I need not dwell in
order to enforce it. The very mention of
it, side by side with these limited spheres
of life, is enough to startle one! It is as
if we heard the echo of our footfall sounding out from the solemn spaces of eternity!
Standing, though a young man seems
especially to do, in contact only with
those more apparent and apparently more
pressing realities, it is really upon the
threshold of an endless life.  Looking
out now upon this, shall he take counsel
of his own wayward and wicked heartof a vain, deceitful world? Where shall
he find a counselor, as he stands hereand here he is all the time standingexcept in the Bible, which solemnly warns
him of hell and points him to heaven?
115 
III.
THE DANGER FROM EVIL
COMPANIONS.
PREACHED SABBATH EVENING, MARCH 9, 1862.*
PROVERBS i. 10, 15; AND iv. 15.
"MY SON, IF SINNERS ENTICE THEE, CONSENT THOU NOT.
WALK NOT THOU IN THE WAY WIT B THEM; REFRAIN THY FOOT
FROM THEIR PATH.  AVOID IT, PASS NOT BY IT, TURN FROM
IT, AND PASS AWAY."
WE were made social beings.  He who
made us said, "It is not good that man
should be alone."  These words point not
to wedded life only, but also to the corn
* This was the last sermon written and preached by
the lamented Pastor. Early in the week following its
preparation, he was seized with the disease which terminated his life, and he expired the second Sabbath after
its delivery. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
panionships and friendships of childhood
and youth. - If we have a pleasant thought,
or experience a feeling of pleasure, we are
the happier-or we were made to be-for
sharing it with others.  " Two," the wise
man says, "are better than one; for if they
fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe
to him that is alone when he falleth. And
if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a three-fold cord is not
quickly broken."
And yet, alas! beautiful as is childhood
when we see it hand in hand, and beautiful and helpful as the friendships of
youth often are, how often has this fountain of happiness and help, which was
opened in Eden, proved a source only of
evil! Two have often proved worse than
one.  Instead of "the one lifting up," it
has been the one dragging down "his
fellow."  If you are just ready to slip
upon the ice, it does not help you to have
another, who is already going, seize you
117 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
by the hand. If two take each other by
the hand, going in opposite directions —the one down hill, and the other struggling
to get up-the chances are as nine to one
that they will go together; and I need not
say in which direction! So in these companionships of life, the advantage is generally, if the evil and the good are linked
together, on the side of the evil. As moral
beings we are all, indeed, subject to strong
downward tendencies; but, to a greater or
less extent, in various ways, these are
counteracted in the case of most, so that
the great majority, as they start out in
active life, are not standing on the steepest
and most slippery places; and so long as
they are not, we have hope that the grace
of God may intervene to overcome these
downward tendencies, to displace the gravitating principle, and to lift them upward,
as they struggle up the steep ascent of
virtue. The steep descents, and slippery
places, however, are not far off, and the
118 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
shortest road to them lies through evil
companionship. If another reaches out his
hand to us, we had better look well to his
footing. It may be safe for us to go
alone; and yet he may help us.
Thus it is not good to be alone; and
yet it is often worse to be in company,
our companions being what they are.
And hence, next in importance to the
question, who and what our parents arethey who start us on the journey of lifeis the question who and what our companions  are.  For companions or associates we shall certainly have, from our
childhood up, and wa are perpetually surrounded and followed by influences from
this source, either for good or for evil;
and we know that in a world like this, the
evil influences far outnumber the good.
The evil influences from this source lurk
at every door, to corrupt the children of
the household as they pass out.  They
lie along every path to meet them,
119 
120     SERMON TO YOUNG- MEN.
in whatever direction they go.  They
await the young man on the street, at his
place of business, and at every point
where he comes in contact with his fellows. No pains of parents or employees,
and no pains of his own, can wholly prevent his exposure to them. 
And yet it is not just as if he were
breathing an infected atmosphere, or were
exposed to contagious disease; for, as
moral beings, we are not mere passive recipients. Contact with evil does not necessarily injure us.  (It does if we consent to it, and needlessly suffer it.) Mere
exposure is not necessarily fatal. Our
character, and our moral condition and
destiny, are in our own hands. The injunction, "Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you," shows that -we have the
power to resist; and the solemn warnings
and imperative commands of our text show
that evil and its agents are not our masters, except by our own consent. It may 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.,
seem to parents and guardians, as they
look out upon the evil influences which
lurk in the early companionships of life,
that they are fearfully powerful, and that
the ability to resist them is weak and unreliable; yet there can be no mistake as!
to the fact of the responsibility which lies
at the door of every moral being, old or
young. The parent recognizes it, as hecommands and entreats his son to be on
his guard, to be careful what company he
keeps, and to take care of himself, looking
to God for help. The son and the daughter
recognize it, as they reply, "You need not
be anxious on our account;  we are not
afraid; we are able to take care of ourselves."
But now the next question is, will they
take care of themselves? Looking to God!
for help, will they resist the devil, and
the agents and instrumentalities which the
devil employs? This is a question of fearful interest.  Parents ask it with aching
11
121 
122     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
hearts and trembling apprehension. Employers tell us they are almost afraid to
ask it; it awakens so little hope and so
much apprehension. He who is called to
preach God's Word, asks it with anxious
concern, knowing that his voice will be
likely to have little power, whether in the
way of admonition or entreaty, if evil companions have the ear of those to whom he
preaches.
My object to-night, as you see, is to
call the attention, especially of young men,
to the importance of the question what
company they keep, and particularly to
the dangers of evil companionship. Perhaps I have said enough already as to the
fact of danger from this source; and yet
I fear that this is the point of greatest
danger, that the danger is not sufficiently
seen and felt. Let me, therefore, tell you,
young men, directly, and in so many words,
that there is danger, and of the most fearful kind, in these companionships which 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
you form, or which you suffer others to
form-you, as one of the parties, simply
consenting thereto. Would that I could
sound this out so loud and long that it
would ring in your ears wherever you go,
and be a warning voice under just the circumstances when you most need to be
warned.
Warnings in the house of God, I suppose,
seem very much a matter of course.
Would, not that the preacher's voice, but
that this Word of God which he preaches,
would ring in your ears on the corners
of the streets, at the doors of these barrooms and ball-rooms and saloons, and in
whatever rooms or wherever else sinners
entce you. "Walk not thou in the way
with them; refrain thy foot from their
path. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from
it, and pass away!" " He that walketh
with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools"-the wicked are not only
wicked, but fools in the sight of God
123 
124     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
"a  companion  of fools  shall be  de stroyed!"
I might put you on your guard more
particularly against many sins and dangers to which you are exposed —against
profanity, dishonesty, intemperance, gambling, licentiousness; but in this word of
warning to-night, a multitude of dangers
are summed up in one. Escape this, and
you escape them. Pay no heed to this
warning, and it were almost useless to
warn you further.
Suppose I were to approach you, surrounded in a bar-room by a company of
gay companions, or in some retired room
where the cards were on the table, and
you made just the number for the game,
-and that I were to undertake to put you
on your guard against the dangers which
I should see gathering their snaky folds
about you! No matter with what skill I
should seek to accomplish my objecteven though -I could summon from the 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
dead, as Samuel's shrouded form arose before the terror-stricken Saul, the face and
form of some  dear departed friend-a
sainted mother or sister-should I be
likely to succeed under such circumstances? Would you be likely to turn
your back upon that gay company, just
as the invitation went round to drink?
Suppose you should say, "No"  once!
Would you not have te say it twice and
thrice; and would you be likely to hold
out a great while, one against half a dozen?
Would you not be likely to say to yourself, caught in the snare of an easilydeceived and deceiving heart, "The easier
-way, after all, will be to drink this once,
and say no more about it?"  And, by the
way, "this. once"-what a key  " this
once" has been  to  transgressions.and
their consequences, whose name is " legion!"
"'Did you ever attend the theatre?'
said a young man to a blue-eyed maiden,
11*
125 
126     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
who hung on his arm as they promenaded
the streets of New York, one mild evening in October.  The cheek of the lady
crimsoned with a blush as she answered
the interrogatory in the negative, and
added:'My mother has taught me from
childhood that it was wrong to attend
such places.'' But your mother formed
perhaps improper prejudices, from exaggerated accountsogiven by others; for I
have often heard her say she never attended one in her life.' And he spoke
eloquently of the drama, tragedy and
comedy; and dwelt with pathos on the
important lessons which we there learn of
human nature.' Go with me once,' said
he,'and judge for yourself.' Persuasion
and curiosity triumphed over the maternal
precept and example, as she hesitatingly
replied,'I'll go but once.' She went, and
in that theatre a charm came over her like
the one which the serpent sent forth from
his dove-like eye. She went again and 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
again, and from that house of mirth and
laughter, she was led to one from the
portals of which she never returned.
"'Around a centre-table, where an astral lamp
was shedding its mild light, sat three young ladies,
while one held in her hand a pack of cards. At
the back of her chair stood a young gentleman, who
for years had successfully resisted every effort made
by his companions to induce him to learn the
characters on cards.'Come,' said she,'we need
one to make our game; play us once, if you never
play again.' Her eye, cheek, and lip, conspired to
form an eloquent battery which sent forth its attacks upon the fortress of good resolutions, in which
he had long stood secured, until it fell like the walls
of an ancient city, when jarred by the fearful battering-ram.  He learned the cards and played. A  few
weeks afterwards, I was passing his room at a late
hour, and a candle was shedding its dim light
through the window. Since that time I have looked
from my chamber nearly every hour of the night,
'from close of day till morn,' and seen that light
faintly struggling through the curtains that screened
the inmates of that room from every eye save His
which seeth alike in darkness and at noonday.
Gaming brought with it disease, and death came
127 
128     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
just as he had numbered the half of three-score
years and ten. During, his last hours I was sitting
by his bedside, when he fixed on me a look which I
shall never forget, and bade me listen to his dying
words.'I might have been a different man from
what I am, but it is too late now. I am convinced
that there is a state of existence beyond the grave;
and when I think of the retribution which awaits
me in another world, I feel a horror which language
is inadequate to describe.' These were among the
last words he ever uttered."
But to return. The question which I
ask is, would my warning, under the circumstances which I have supposed, be
very likely to succeed? Had I not better
warn you, and had you not better warn
yourself, before you cross the threshold
and before you join the company whose
steps are likely to be turned in that direction?
I point you, therefore, to-night, to the
danger you are in from evil companionships.
And isn't there danger?  Do you not
see it yourself? Look at that young man. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
whom you remember as a boy-his eye
clear, his cheek with the hue of health
upon it, his dress neat, and his whole appearance interesting and promising-but,
as you meet him now, his eye is watery
and restless, his face is bloated, he walks
no longer with the elastic step of earlier
days; all pride in regard to personal appearance is gone, or a little of it still remaining; he will not meet your eye, but
looks the other way. Have you not often
wished that he would not keep the company he does? Have you not felt that
the set he goes with are destroying him?
Is it not often said of him, that evil companions have been his ruin?
Some months ago I used to meet every
day a young man whose personal appearance attracted my attention.  He was particularly well dressed, and his step and all
his movements indicated good habits
energy, and ambition and hope.  Perhaps
I had seen him before, and now observed
129 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
an evident " looking up" in point of character and purpose. After a while I noticed that a change had come over him;
and now there is a total contrast with his
appearance then. Neatness of personal
appearance, and elasticity of step  and
movement, are all gone. There is no ambition now, and apparently little hope;
and "bad habits" seem to be written upon
his face and form. I saw him one morning
the past week, coming out of the back
door of a saloon. I found myself silently
asking the question, whether he probably
found his way into the saloon for the first
time alone.
But look into your own hearts, young
men.  Do you not find there danger enough
to make you tremble, as from time to time
you find how weak you are against the
evil suggestions which come from within?
With all the counteracting influences of
home, and more or less of ambition to
make something of yourself, the struggle
.130 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
you have often found a hard one, with
these temptations of the heart.
Isn't it, now, almost suicidal to cast
yourself away, or to suffer yourself to be
surrounded by those whose habits are
loose, whose lives are aimless, and whose
associations, to say the least, are questionable?
If one stream, subject as it is to sudden
freshets, is liable to carry away bridge and
dam and mill, is it not madness in him
whose property it puts in jeopardy, to suffer others above him to turn other streams
into it, if he can prevent them?
It is enough to have to resist ourselves.
And is he not a fool, both in the Scriptural sense and in the ordinary sense of
the term, who needlessly, and with eyes
open, adds foes without to foes within?
And I do not use this term "foe" merely
in a figurative sense; for the danger is
not simply from contact with evil, and
from-exposure to bad example. There is
131 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
often a strange disposition, and a fiendish
purpose on the part of those who are already on the downward road, to get an
influence over the new-comer, in order to
drag him down too. And how cunningly
they play their game! How  well they
know the weak points of their coveted
prey! How stealthily they weave the
net around him; or, if he resist, how
mercilessly they ply the weapons of their
hellish warfare. How easy to make him
think that he knows better than his parents, or to shame him out of his deference
to their opinions and wishes; and to set
him against his employers, if they are
faithful to keep a watchful eye upon him,
and to prejudice him against the minister
of the gospel, and the Sabbath-school, and
religion; and to break up his habit of
reading the Bible, and of going regularly
to church! How expert they are is quoting-and, alas! what occasion is given
them for it!-in  quoting what church
132 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
members do, and what they do not do;
and, if facts are not readily found, how
easy to make them to suit their purpose,!
It is the nature of the sinner not only
to sin, but, in the language of the text, to
"entice" others to gi  Ad hence? the
injunction is not only " consent thou not,"
as if it were of little use to say that, and
say nothing more, but, "my son, walk not
thou in the way with them; refrain thy
foot from their path;" and then, with a
remarkable repetition of warning and entreaty, to give intensity to it, "avoid their
path, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass
away!"
But even if there were no such fearful
danger of being corrupted- by companionship with the reckless, and the unprincipled, and the impure, how great the injustice which a young man does himself,
and how.miserable the policy, to say the
least, if he- suffers himself to be seen and
identified with such associates!
12
133 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
"People will, in a great degree," says
another, "and not without reason, form
their opinion of you upon that which they
have of your friends; and there is a Spanish proverb, which says very justly,' Tell
me with whom you live, and I will tell
you who you are."'
It will not do to say that you do not
care what others think, nor to place yourself in this attitude, because their opinions
may happen to be incorrect; that you are
not dependent upon others' opinions; and
that it is enough if you take care of yourself and escape, as you expect to, the evils
which are apprehended from this source.
You are dependent upon others' opinions!
Is it of no consequence to you that your
employer begins to suspect your honesty,
because of the company you keep? May
it not make  some difference with you,
what the merchant over the way thinks
of you? Circumstances may throw you
out of your situation, or he may have a
more lucrative one which he wishes to fill.
134
.I
':I-. 
SBRMON TO YOUNG MEN.
You are not independent of the good
opinion of men whose names you do not
know. Suppose some one abroad writes
to one of these men: "My attention has
been called to such a young man in your
eommunity, as a competent, or a promising business man. Please write me what
you think of him, and especially what you
know of his habits and associations." Can
you not conceive of circumstances which
would make it very fortunate for you, if
the answer should be entirely favorable?
But what if it were this: "I am not personally acquainted with the young man
in regard to whom you inquire, and I do
not know any thing against him, except
that I have frequently seen him of late
standing idly about our hotels, and often
in company with young men whose reputation is not very good?"  Would not that
be very likely to close the correspondence?
But it is time for me to ask a question
135 
136     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
which I wish to ask, in view of this great
danger to which all young men are exposed.
My question is this-What do you, my
friends, in view of this danger, propose
to do?
There are, doubtless, multitudes of
young men in the land who never have
asked themselves this question. They
take no thought either for the morrow or
for the day itself, so far as good and evil,
right and wrong, as such, are concerned.
They take things as they come, and as
they affect the pocket, and the conveniences and pleasures of the passing
hour   Apparently they have no  other
personal interests to look after. Reputation and character they have little thought
about. To make money, and have something good to eat and drink, and to enjoy
themselves, seem their only aims.
There are others who have thoughts
about these things, but they are reckless;
. I
I'.ea      
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
they "don't care," particularly if you wish
them to care. If pressed with the question, "What they propose to do?" they
do not propose to do any thing. This, at
least, is the language of their looks and
actions.  If I am addressing any such,.
let me ask you what right, my friends,
you have to be reckless-to assume this
'don't-care" attitude?  Sometimes it is,
"Nobody cares for me, and I care for nobody;" and again, in an uncharitable mood,
you resent the care which is manifested
for you. Others do care for you, and you
are bound to care for yourself and for them.
A want of good sense in such things we
can tolerate in a boy, hoping he will grow
wiser as he grows older; but a young man
ought to be above all real or assumed indifference to the good opinions of others
and of his own interests.
But there are many who have felt the
importance of this question, and they have
given it more or less consideration. - They
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138      SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
do not mean to go with the worst of those
whom they may come in contact with;
and yet they feel as if they must be on
good and familiar terms with most of those
into whose company they may fall. It is
very pleasant to be popular, or, at least,
to be in good favor with those who are.
Hence they make up their minds to avoid
the worst companions; but they do not
propose to be very particular.  They mean
to have their eyes about them, and they
feel a little pride in their conscious ability
to take care of themselves. What they
propose to do is to secure the end, without being troubled about the means.  They
propose to avoid being ruined, as a great
many, they admit, have been.
Conceive of one in a little boat on Niagara river, who hasn't made up his mind
how far down the river he will sail before
he will stop. But he understands what
an awful thing it would be to go over the
falls; he trembles when he thinks of it; 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
he is determined that he will not be
caught down where the waters make that
fearful plunge.  Meanwhile, his hand is
on the oar, and he floats along.   The
waters give an ominous leap now and then,
but he only grasps his oar the tighter, and
determines that he will be on his guard,
and still floats on. He is warned from
the shore, and the warning startles him a
little; but he thinks it unmanly to seem
to be afraid, and still floats on. As he
did not propose to do any thing but to resolve that he would not be caught as
others had been; so he does nothing but
re-resolve. But he is in the rapids, and
now-what?  You may not see, but you
know the end!
Young men! the current of Niagara is
not the only dangerous current. There
are leaping waves and boiling eddies,
and a mighty under-tow, equally resistless, and more fatal than any you see
there.  It will not do simply to determine
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140    SERMON TO YOUNG- MEN.
that you will avoid the worst companions.
but not be very particular whither you
float, and where you are found, and what
you are about!
My advice to you would be, if you will
hear me- though do not follow it, if it is
not wise counsel-my advice would be
this:
I. And first-and in this remark let
me suppose that you are a new comer, nel
stranger among strangers, or just entering
upon early manhood, and as yet with no
intimate associates-make up your mind.
settle it with yourself, that to have no companions is better than to have such as are
of dangerous or doubtful character.  I
have not forgotten the thought we started
with, that "it is not good to be alone."
I know what a young man's social nature
is. I remember that I said that almost
inevitably we shall have associates; but
upon new ground you may certainly take
a little time to look about you.  It is not 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
necessary that you offer yourself at once
as a candidate for companionships, or that
you open your arms and give an unrestricted ear to all who may approach
you. There will be very little embarrassment in pursuing this course; and you can
easily bear the self-denial of going your
own way, and keeping your own counsel
for a while, if you will only give this matter a little consideration in advance, and
give yourself to understand that it is a
matter legitimately under your own control, and one in which a little caution will
be as much in place as in the choice of
your business, or the selection of a boarding-place.
Make up your mind, then, to have no
companions until you can find such as you
have good reason to believe will prove
safe ones. In the meantime, you need not
give any occasion for unkind feelings towards you, or for any reasonable objections to the course which you pursue.
141 
142     SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
You can be a gentleman to all you come
in contact with. You need not seem proud
nor exclusive..  You simply hold yourself
somewhat in reserve.  So long as you do
this, you are easily your own master.
Within these reserved limits it is comparatively easy- to resist the approaches
of temptation, and to say, "No!"  To do
this is a very different thing, if one has
rushed heedlessly into company, and at
the outset let down all the bars of selfrespect and reserve. This is to ignore
the fact that there is danger; or, knowing
it, and seeing it, it is weakly and cowardly
to surrender in advance.
II. Again, not only in the meantime
look well about you, but -take a long look
ahead; and I will add another thing to
this, frequently look back also.
The plans and. expectations of youth
naturally bring the future more or less into
view; but, nevertheless, I think that the 
SERMON TO. YOUNG MEN.
yomung man's eye, especially when he is
forming his first companionships, is very
largely filled by the present. There is so
much that is novel and attractive and exciting in the scenes upon which he enters,
that he is liable to think and feel and act
as if these days were to last always, and
to lose sight of the weightier responsibilities and more important interests which
will be upon his hands a few years later.
Hence, I say, take a long look ahead,
and see the bearing this question of associates has upon those grave responsibilities
and important interests in which the happiness and usefulness of your life are involved.
I say, also, frequently look back, because
in that direction lie the innocent days of
your childhood, which it will do you good
to look back upon, and the sweet associations of home, and fond' memories of father
and mother, and brothers and sisters.  A
look in that direction will remind you of
143 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
what you owe to yourself, to your truer
and better self; and what you owe to your
parents and to your family, and to the
place which gave you birth.
III. Again, it will help you in this
matter of controlling your companionships
to attend closely to your business.
There are other motives for doing this;
but this also is a motive, that it will be a
safeguard to you against dangerous associates. It will be an excuse for saying,
"No," and for going the other way-an
excuse which none can gainsay-your
business, which requires your attention,
and your obligations to your employers;
for do not fail to keep these in mind as an
honest man, and be brave and manly enough
not to be ashained to have this known.
IV. Again, be sure and have some safe
retreat from the social evils to which you
are exposed. 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
It will be fortunate, though you, perhaps, may not think so, if you are not out
of reach of your home. But if away from
home, have some place which will seem
at least a little like home-a room of your
own, if you can command one; and the
more it is out of the way the better-and
make it as pleasant as you can. Invite
yourself thither by all the attractions with
which you can fill it-though they need
not be many nor expensive-but be careful whom else you invite. And here, so
far as you can command the time for it,
make books your companions. A very
little caution will make them safe, pleasant, and profitable companions. They
will never invite you, and almost force you,
to drink, when you do not wish to; and,
if you will make it a rule never to have
one in your room which you would be
ashamed to have your father or mother or
sister see, they will never corrupt you.
With such a castle of your own, and
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145 
146     SEmMON TO YOUNG MEN.
with such pleasant and profitable friends
within its walls, and your careful, deliberate choice of outsiders to meet you there
in your leisure hours, and such social intercourse as you may easily have with intelligent families, it would seem that you
would be'm  comparatively little danger
from this great evil of which I have been
speaking.
V. Again, I would suggest-and if you
are really disposed in self-defence to guard
against this great evil, I think you will
see that the suggestion is a practical suggestion-that you connect yourself with
some Christian congregation, and with the
Bible Class in the Sabbath-school.
It is hardly necessary that I address
you separately who are not new comers,
and who may be already to a greater or
less extent involved in the net-work of
evils which spring from this prolific source.
What is appropriate to any one case, will 
SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.
apply substantially to all cases. The difficulties are greater in your case than in
that of the new comer; but only make
these principles and this policy your own,
and quit yourselves like men, and you
may yet escape the perils that surround
you.
VI. But my counsel would be incomplete without one more suggestion-and
it is the most important of all —ake
Christ your friend and companion.*
* As the pen here dropped from the failing grasp of
the dying Pastor, it appears to have rapidly traced the
words, "He, a young man," referring to Christ, the topic
of the last head-which in the pulpit he developed eloquently, and at some length. There are one or two blank
spaces in the last few pages of the manuscript, indicating an intention to commit further thoughts to paper,
which his departing strength or the pressure of other
duties prevented
THE END.
147